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Mudslingers Today No Match for Jefferson
Mudslingers Today No Match for Jefferson
ANALYSIS
Oct 13, 2008 3:23 PM CDT

Mudslingers Today No Match for Jefferson

Dirty campaigning has always been a feature of American democracy

(Newser) - The 2008 presidential race is getting rough, but the combatants look well-mannered compared to mudslingers of the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson was called an “infidel” and an “unbeliever,” while John Adams was accused of possessing a “hideous hermaphroditical character.” Although “everybody always assumes there...

Why Bush Is a Great President
 Why Bush Is a Great President 
OPINION
Sep 19, 2008 8:58 AM CDT

Why Bush Is a Great President

Hindsight will vindicate expanded powers, Iraq war

(Newser) - George Bush may not be everyone’s favorite leader right now, but history will polish the wartime president’s image, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post. No one knew war was imminent when Bush entered office—but 9/11 changed that. Yet Bush has kept us safe and paved the...

Phelps: Great, or Greatest?

 Phelps: Great,
 or Greatest? 
olympics
Aug 15, 2008 10:50 AM CDT

Phelps: Great, or Greatest?

The debate rages on

(Newser) - Everyone agrees that Michael Phelps is one of the greatest Olympians ever—but is he the greatest? It’s become a hot topic of debate in Beijing, the New York Times reports. Phelps stands alone in the gold medal column, but swimming hands out a lot of medals, and some...

How 5,000 Years of Marriage Led Us to 'I Do'
How 5,000 Years of Marriage Led Us to 'I Do'
REVIEW
Aug 10, 2008 3:38 PM CDT

How 5,000 Years of Marriage Led Us to 'I Do'

Modern lovers aim to invert roles long 'set in stone,' author says

(Newser) - Author Susan Squire takes a long view of marriage—about 5,000 years, in fact. Her new book, I Don’t: A Contrarian History of Marriage, traces matrimony’s bizarre historical journey, from pure mating ritual to Christian "lust-containment facility" to modern romance. In an interview with Salon, she...

Dirty Jokes of the Ancients Unearthed

Academics discover 3,000-year-old Sumerian fart joke

(Newser) - Academics studying ancient texts have discovered bawdy jokes that wouldn't be out of place in a Farrelly brothers movie, the Daily Telegraph reports. "What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole that it’s often poked before?" asks a thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon manuscript. "...

Leonardo Lifted from Chinese, Historian Claims

Popular amateur says texts brought to Italy 'ignited Renaissance'

(Newser) - Leonardo da Vinci’s renowned mechanical drawings were derived from Chinese originals brought to Europe decades before he was born, a British amateur historian contends in a new book. “This was the spark that really ignited the Renaissance,” Gavin Menzies tells Reuters, a claim that could force “...

Abe Lincoln Artifacts May Stay in Indiana

State group a finalist to take control of Fort Wayne collection

(Newser) - A prized collection of Abraham Lincoln artifacts and memorabilia may not leave his boyhood home of Indiana after all. A coalition of state groups, including the Allen County Public Library and the Indiana State Museum, is one of the three finalists to take control of the collection housed by the...

'King of Beers' Gets a Taste of Own Medicine

...and realize it's a lot like watery piss, actually

(Newser) - Anyone who thinks InBev’s buyout of Budweiser represents the end of American beer needs a history lesson, writes Edward McClelland in Salon. Budweiser became the “King of Beers” by killing every other heir to the throne. In 1960, America had 175 traditional, regional breweries, making lagers just like...

What Early July Says About Early November

Independence Day poll numbers send mixed signals for 2008 race

(Newser) - Barack Obama currently leads John McCain 47% to 43%, but does that mean anything this early? Yes and no. Early July Gallup polls have correctly predicted the eventual popular vote winner in 10 of the last 15 elections, but they missed the mark in four of the last five. Politico...

A Weekend for 2 Nations to Celebrate
 A Weekend for 2
 Nations to Celebrate 
OPINION
Jul 3, 2008 7:39 AM CDT

A Weekend for 2 Nations to Celebrate

400th anniversary of Quebec City offers chance to reflect: historian

(Newser) - Tomorrow is Independence Day, but north of the border today marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City, the first settlement of New France and one of the oldest cities in Canada. David Hackett Fischer, a historian writing in the New York Times, uses the occasion to explore...

Dig Finds Washington's Home (No Cherry Tree)

Archaeologists excavate boyhood home of founding father

(Newser) - Archaeologists have found the childhood home of George Washington, the New York Times reports—and despite the popular legend, there's no cherry tree anywhere on the premises. Researchers describe the founding father's Virginia digs as “a very nice gentry house” sporting eight rooms—not the simple cottage pictured in...

Roosevelt. Reagan. Obama?
Roosevelt.
Reagan.
Obama?
OPINION
Jun 25, 2008 7:26 AM CDT

Roosevelt. Reagan. Obama?

Gary Hart: candidate could inaugurate new political epoch

(Newser) - The novelty of minorities seeking the White House has occluded the more profound historical importance of this year's contest, Gary Hart says. The 2008 election is a hinge moment that could usher in a new era in American life, writes the former senator in the New York Times, and a...

Book Reawakens Doubts About Polish Hero Walesa

Did the country's democratic pioneer collaborate with Poland's secret police?

(Newser) - A new book is stirring up an old debate in Poland: Did democratic hero Lech Walesa, leader of the Solidarity union and former president, collaborate with the secret police? Walesa has successfully defended himself against the claim for 15 years, in and out of court. But historians working with police...

Napolean Didn't Meet Aresenic-Laced End

Italian researchers deflate claim of arsenic death

(Newser) - For decades scholars have debated whether Napoleon, who died in exile on the island of St. Helena in 1821, was poisoned with arsenic by his British captors; as recently as 2002 a biographer wrote that there was "nothing improbable about the hypothesis." But now a team of Italian...

Campaign Tarnishes Clintons' Legacy

Divisive tactics take shine off long-time winners

(Newser) - Hillary and Bill Clinton have led complicated public lives, but they’ve always been winners. Now Hillary’s defeat has jeopardized that legacy, thanks to a campaign that saw her repeatedly stretch the truth, invoke assassination, and lose African-American support. It’s one thing to employ questionable tactics and win,...

On 64th Anniversary, a D-Day Vet Looks Back

He recalls old battles with pride

(Newser) - It’s not the horrors of Normandy that haunt Clifton Raynor these days; it’s the horrors of growing old. “Every day is a trying day for me,” the 86-year-old says. Raynor is part of a dying breed who saw D-Day firsthand, and today, on the 64th anniversary...

Lincoln's Failings Offer Modern Lesson
Lincoln's Failings Offer Modern Lesson
Opinion
Jun 6, 2008 7:58 AM CDT

Lincoln's Failings Offer Modern Lesson

Politicians must learn to face their flaws, not exult in strengths

(Newser) - Abraham Lincoln had his dark days. For a while, Lincoln was mercury-pill-popping, sleep-deprived wreck who briefly considered suicide. “Lincoln went Crazy,” wrote friend Joshua Speed. “It was horrible.” Lincoln, of course, grew out of it, facing his flaws in a way today’s leaders ought to...

Shoot at the Facts, Not at the Messenger
Shoot at the Facts,
Not at the Messenger
OPINION
May 30, 2008 5:21 PM CDT

Shoot at the Facts, Not at the Messenger

Noonan, finding book believable, urges shift in debate on McClellan's work

(Newser) - Scott McClellan isn't someone Peggy Noonan found herself admiring, she writes in the Wall Street Journal, but she did end up “believing him" after finishing his memoir. He didn’t pen his story to make friends or salvage his image, but rather to set the record straight as he...

10 Score Later, America Still Loves Lincoln

As bicentennial nears, an industry springs up around Honest Abe

(Newser) - Honest Abe may be gone, but an industry of books, debates, and a Spielberg biopic are all alive and well. With Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial coming next year, all three White House hopefuls have invoked his name, and the US Mint is issuing pennies to honor states where he lived. "...

Collosal Squid Has World's Biggest Eyes

They're the size of dinner plates, 'largest ever recorded'

(Newser) - With eyes bigger than dinner plates and orange-sized lenses, a colossal squid being dissected by New Zealand scientists boasts the biggest peepers of any animal—and larger relatives could lurk in the deep, the Telegraph reports. It's "certainly not the largest specimen out there," said one marine biologist,...

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