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He Saved Hemingway's Life at 18. Now He Has a Name

Author, historian identify Fedele Temperini as wartime savior

(Newser) - Ernest Hemingway made it out of World War I only because a soldier was "blown to bits," as the Telegraph puts it. Now you have Fedele Temperini to thank in part for classics like For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea. Researchers have...

One Particular Year May Have Been Worst for Humans

Be glad you avoided 536

(Newser) - It's an interesting bar bet for armchair historians: Name the worst year in human history. For Harvard medieval historian Michael McCormack, the smart money is on 536. "It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year," he tells...

The Vote Is In: Hillary Set to Be Cut From Texas History Lessons

And also Helen Keller, if state Board of Education's vote is finalized in November

(Newser) - The Texas Board of Education says it's trying to "streamline" the social studies curriculum in its public schools, and one way it plans on doing so is by getting rid of two big names from the required learning plan. The Dallas Morning News reports that on Friday, the...

Teacher on Leave After 'Gross' Slavery Assignment

Worksheet at Texas charter school asked students to list both negative and positive aspects of slavery

(Newser) - When Roberto Livar's wife picked up their son Wednesday from Great Hearts Monte Vista charter school in San Antonio, Texas, the 8th-grader was "distraught" over an assignment in history class, Livar tells KABB . The worksheet he completed was entitled "The Life of Slaves: A Balanced View,"...

Marco Polo's Will Only Boosts His Travel Lore

Mention of Tatar indentured servant suggests he did reach China

(Newser) - In 1298, Marco Polo wrote a manuscript, now dubbed The Travels of Marco Polo, describing his adventures along the Silk Road to China, his meeting with Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, and the innovations he came across, like eyeglasses. In the centuries since, some historians have doubted whether the Venetian actually...

The Most Important Event in the History of Each State

Yes, even Nebraska

(Newser) - Every state has been home to at least one major historical event—yes, even Nebraska—and 24/7 Wall St. has picked the most majorly historical event for each of the 50 states. The website chose the events—which range from court battles to actual battles, scientific discoveries to natural disasters—...

2 Men Alive Today Are Grandkids of Our 10th President

John Tyler's descendants have second wives to thank

(Newser) - "I think it had to do with second wives." Pretty much. CBS News is out with a good bit of historical trivia: John Tyler, who was born in 1790 when George Washington was president and became America's 10th president in 1841, has two living grandsons. As the...

France Wouldn't Loan This to Queen in 1953. Now, a Change

Bayeux Tapestry is expected to be loaned to the UK

(Newser) - As the story goes, before Queen Elizabeth's 1953 coronation, Britain asked France if it might borrow the storied Bayeux Tapestry. The answer was no. Heinrich Himmler was also unsuccessful in transferring it to Nazi Germany. The 220-foot-long tapestry, which is on permanent display in Bayeux, France, has not left...

Ken Burns&#39; Vietnam War Is &#39;Required Viewing&#39;
Ken Burns'
Vietnam War Is
'Required Viewing'
TV REView
Sep 15, 2017 10:47 AM CDT

Ken Burns' Vietnam War Is 'Required Viewing'

Critic calls 18-hour series a 'masterpiece'

(Newser) - A decade in the making, Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary series, The Vietnam War, premieres on PBS Sunday, but it's already gaining quite the reputation among critics. The 18-hour documentary, told in 10 episodes, digs deep into the conflict, meshing first-person interviews with historical footage. Then it...

Salem's 'Witches' Finally Getting Their Due

City will honor them at site of hangings more than 300 years ago

(Newser) - In the late 1600s, three mass executions took place on a rocky ledge on the outskirts of Salem, Mass. Yes, the result of the witch trials. The city-owned site is undeveloped and largely out of view, but a new memorial aims to respectfully commemorate those who lost their lives because...

One of Pennsylvania's Oldest Homes Hid in Plain Sight

1704 log home hidden by 5 layers of exterior

(Newser) - Based on a line in a local history book, Jude Plum suspected the two-story home he purchased out of pre-foreclosure in 2013 was old. He just didn't know it was one of the oldest surviving homes in Pennsylvania. That fact, and more of the home's history, surfaced only...

Lost Islamic City Held Riches From a World Away

It was a trade center in Ethiopia beginning in the 10th century

(Newser) - Residents of the small town of Harlaa in eastern Ethiopia have long suspected that ancient coins and pottery fragments uncovered there represented a trail to undiscovered riches. They weren't far off, reports Quartz . After two years of digging in Harlaa, archaeologists have found ancient beads in almost every color...

University Uncovers Songs From Holocaust Survivors

Songs were sung in Krakow cellars to inspire people to resist the Germans

(Newser) - At the end of World War II, a Jewish trauma psychologist in Illinois went to Europe to record conversations with Holocaust survivors in the hopes of better understanding how they were coping, reports Newsweek . He often broke the ice by having people sing, but when he died in 1961 and...

How to Buy a Piece of Parisian Real Estate for $75

Old cobblestones from the city are for sale

(Newser) - Parisian streets have been paved with stones since the 12th century, and while asphalt now covers large swaths of the city, the cobblestones still adorn squares, boulevards, and alleyways. For years as the city dug them up (about 10,000 tons a year) to continue building or repaving, it paid...

The History of Why the Feds Spell Pot 'Marihuana'

Plant formerly known as cannabis got a new name thanks to Spanish-American War

(Newser) - The Washington Post wades through the weeds to get the linguistic scoop on weed—specifically, why an "archaic" spelling of marijuana is still in use. A Federal Register post last week announcing that CBD hemp oil is now considered a Schedule 1 drug offered a new code for "...

5 Most Significant Historic Events of Americans' Lifetimes

9/11 overwhelmingly tops the list

(Newser) - The Pew Research Center recently asked 2,025 US adults to name the 10 most significant historic events of their lifetimes and found that "nothing else has come close to being as important or as memorable" to Americans as the September 11 terrorist attacks, which ranked No. 1 on...

Teacher Suspended After Comparing Trump to Hitler

'I’m not pulling these facts out of my hat'

(Newser) - A California high school teacher is on administrative leave after a parent complained about him drawing parallels between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. Frank Navarro, a recognized academic expert on the Holocaust at Mountain View High School, tells the Oracle student newspaper that he was not equating Trump with Hitler....

Austria to Tear Down House Where Hitler Was Born

Feared the house becoming a rallying point for neo-Nazis

(Newser) - After a long national debate, Austria has agreed—in principle—to demolish the house where Adolf Hitler was born, the BBC reports. The infamous German dictator was born on April 20, 1889, in a rented room on the top floor of a guesthouse in the town of Braunau am Inn,...

Tourist Shatters Historic Statue in 'Boneheaded' Selfie Attempt

24-year-old awaits trial

(Newser) - Portugal's revered King Sebastiao, also known as the child king, was crowned as a 3-year-old when his grandfather died in 1557. His father, having died two weeks before his birth, never got to meet the near-mythical figure. And now, reports the International Business Times , tourists are being denied a...

Austria Wants to Seize Hitler's Birth Home

The vacant building, sometimes a Neo-Nazi hot spot, is proving quite a headache

(Newser) - In an effort to prevent the "increasingly decrepit" building from falling into further disrepair, Austrian officials say they plan to draft a law that would allow them to seize Adolf Hitler's birth home in Braunau, a quaint town of 17,000 on the German border, reports the New ...

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