May 12th, 2011 at 10:00AM: On 9 April 1865, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met at Appomattox, Virginia, so that Lee could surrender his Army of Northern Virginia.
This momentous event effectively ended the American Civil War. With Lee and his army gone, the Confederate cause lost hope. General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee on April 26, and in Louisiana General Kirby Smith surrendered his ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Robert E. Lee's sword to go on display at Appomattox
May 12th, 2011 at 10:00AM: On 9 April 1865, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant met at Appomattox, Virginia, so that Lee could surrender his Army of Northern Virginia.
This momentous event effectively ended the American Civil War. With Lee and his army gone, the Confederate cause lost hope. General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee on April 26, and in Louisiana General Kirby Smith surrendered his ...Last WWI combat veteran dies: where can you see his legacy?
May 5th, 2011 at 8:30AM: Claude Choules, the last known combat veteran of WWI, has died aged 110. Born in England in 1901, he was too young to enlist in the army when the war broke out in 1914, so he waited until he was 15 and enlisted in the Royal Navy, where he saw service throughout the war.
Unlike most veterans, he liked the service and stayed on. While working as a visiting instructor for the Australian Navy, he ...Gallipoli battlefield being mapped by GPS
Apr 24th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
Archaeologists in Turkey are making a detailed survey of the famous World War One battle of Gallipoli. Using period military maps and GPS technology, they're mapping the old trenches and redoubts used by both sides.
Gallipoli was the scene of fierce fighting starting in 1915. A peninsula with highlands dominating the Dardanelles strait linking the Black and the Aegean seas, it guarded the ...American Civil War anniversary remembered. . .in Dublin
Apr 16th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
As the United States begins a series of commemorations of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, this momentous conflict is even being marked beyond the nation's borders.
This weekend the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin is having a series of events to mark the contribution of Irish immigrants on both sides of the Civil War. While most Irish immigrants went to the industrial North and ...Photo of the Day - Chairman Mao Portrait
Apr 10th, 2011 at 6:00PM:
History is all around us, particularly in a country like China. Whether you're walking along the magnificent Great Wall or gazing in awe at the Forbidden City in Beijing. Today's photo, taken by Flickr user Trent Strohm, offers us yet another unique glimpse of China's remarkable history: Chairman Mao, leader of the Chinese Revolution. Trent's inclusion of the soldier in front of Mao's portrait ...Warsaw, Poland: an up-and-coming European museum destination
Mar 16th, 2011 at 9:30AM:
As an EU member with a good exchange rate and low prices, Poland is becoming a popular tourist destination in Eastern Europe. Most of the love goes to Krakow, with its original architecture and "new Prague" charm, but capital city Warsaw has plenty to offer as a European museum destination. While much of the old town was leveled in World War II, the restorations have been painstakingly done and ...Madrid daytrip: a Renaissance castle and Spanish Civil War bunker
Feb 18th, 2011 at 1:30PM:
Madrid has a lot to offer--tasty tapas, wonderful wine, and amazing art. There's so much to do in the center of town it's easy to spend your entire vacation there without ever seeing the outskirts. Yet several daytrips offer a different look at Spain.
One possibility just opened up last year. Near the Metro stop Alameda de Osuna on the outskirts of town, the city government has recently ...Nation gears up for Civil War sesquicentennial: reenactments, exhibitions mark the 150th anniversary of America's bloodiest conflict
Feb 17th, 2011 at 10:30AM: A hundred and fifty years ago, the United States descended into a bloody Civil War. Young men on both sides eagerly signed up for what they thought would be a short and glorious conflict. A typical example is this private from the Fourth Michigan Infantry, pictured here courtesy of the Library of Congress. He poses, way too young and unconvincingly cocky, in the early days of the war in 1861. It's ...Archaeologists discover "Great Wall of Vietnam"
Jan 29th, 2011 at 10:00AM: Archaeologists in central Vietnam have discovered what locals are calling the "Great Wall of Vietnam", The Korean Times reports.
The wall is up to 4 meters (13 ft.) high in spots and stretches for 127 km (78 miles). While parts of it are an earth embankment instead of a stone wall, it's still a major engineering feat and the longest monument in Southeast Asia. It's almost as long as Hadrian's ...Top five castles of Extremadura, Spain
Jan 10th, 2011 at 9:00AM:
Spain is one of the best countries in the world to see castles. Throughout the Middle Ages, the Iberian peninsula was split between various Christian states and the Moors, Muslim invaders from North Africa. These factions fought and traded with each other in a constantly changing network of political alliances. Leaders protected their domains with castles and walled cities. One of the hot ...Remembering the Confederate dead
Dec 8th, 2010 at 11:00AM: Next year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. As state and local planning committees gear up for a host of events, a quiet spot in western Missouri has been commemorating the war for more than a century.
The Confederate Memorial State Historic Site in Higginsville, 53 miles east of Kansas City, opened as a retirement home for Confederate veterans in 1891. More than 1,600 ...North Korea says South Korea "Hell-Bent" on war
Dec 5th, 2010 at 5:00PM:
There's always a lot of tension on the Korean peninsula, but the action just got a little hotter. According to Bloomberg News, the Korea Central News Agency, which is the official mouthpiece of the North Korean regime, "reported" that South Korea "is so hell-bent on the moves to escalate the confrontation and start a war that it is recklessly behaving bereft of reason." Meanwhile, the KCNA ...Mystery tunnel discovered at Lincoln Castle
Nov 27th, 2010 at 1:00PM: Archaeologists excavating at Lincoln Castle in England have discovered a mysterious tunnel under the courtyard. The tunnel is linked to a circular structure of unknown use and delves into the ground. The archaeological team hasn't finished its work or discovered where the tunnel leads.
Europe has many traditions of hidden tunnels connecting buildings or going to secret caves or hideouts.
The ...Jesse James robs his first bank
Nov 25th, 2010 at 1:30PM: The Civil War was over. In Missouri, defeated Confederate soldiers trudged home and tried to pick up their lives. This was harder in Missouri than many states. Many discovered their land had been seized during the war for nonpayment of taxes, and now Union veterans farmed their fields. New Missouri laws forbade ex-Confederates from voting, holding public office, teaching, or even preaching. Former ...Pilot body scans and counter-terror operations: distant consideration for special forces
Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The uproar over TSA body scanners and pat-downs has hit every corner of the aviation world, from passengers to pilots. The vocal consensus, at least, is that nobody likes them, even though 64 percent of Americans support the practice and 70 percent don't expect it to impact their travel. A friend of mine, flying today, tweeted that he made it through security at New York's JFK airport in a mere ...The Jesse James farm
Nov 24th, 2010 at 12:30PM:
Jesse James grew up both lucky and unlucky. His father, Baptist preacher Robert Sallee James, owned a prosperous farm in Clay County. His slaves cultivated hemp and other cash crops, and Jesse and his older siblings Frank and Susan grew up in comfort. Robert kept a large library and both his sons became avid readers. Frank loved Shakespeare, while Jesse was more devoted to the Bible and ...Archaeologists discover Roman swimming pool in Jerusalem
Nov 24th, 2010 at 11:00AM:
Roman soldiers liked a good swim, especially after a hard day's work suppressing rebellions.
Archaeologists digging in Jerusalem have discovered the remains of a Roman swimming pool. Some roof tiles at the site bear the inscription "LEG X FR", which stands for Tenth Legion Fretensis ("of the sea strait", referring to one of the legion's early victories). This legion was responsible for ...Jesse James: the birth of a legend
Nov 23rd, 2010 at 2:30PM: Legends often start quietly, with ordinary people making ordinary decisions that change history. In 1946 in Tupelo, Mississippi, a working-class mother gave her son a guitar for his birthday. Elvis Presley wanted a bicycle, but he started practicing music anyway. In 1913, an unknown music hall comedian named Charlie Chaplin decided to try his luck with the new medium of motion pictures. His first ...Making sense of the North Korean artillery attacks
Nov 23rd, 2010 at 12:30PM:
I left Uijongbu, South Korea in the second half of September 1998. My olive drab duffle bag slung over my shoulder, I walked to the bus that would take me to Osan Air Base and a flight back to Boston. My one-year tour had come to an end, and it was time to leave, with eight months in Georgia all that stood between me and my discharge.
It was a busy year, particularly because of the U.S. ...Touring World War One battlefields
Nov 11th, 2010 at 1:30PM:
On the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the First World War ended. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and it redrew the map of Europe. As the 100th anniversary of the start of the war approaches in 2014, there's been an increased interest in visiting the places where it was fought.
War historian Mike Hanlon is leading three ...
