WWII Navajo code talker dead at 91

[UPI] He was among American Indians used to transmit information by radio because enemy eavesdroppers couldn't understand languages such as Navajo. More...

Ancient Greeks spotted Halley's comet

[New Scientist] According to ancient authors, from Aristotle onwards, a meteorite the size of a "wagonload" crashed into northern Greece sometime between 466 and 468 BC. The impact shocked the local population and the rock became a tourist attraction for 500 years.  More...

Archaeologists discover 200-year-old skeleton of London's 'Moby Dick' washed up on banks of the Thames

[Mail Online] Scientists have discovered the bones of a gigantic whale that was the size of the legendary Moby Dick and which was abandoned on the banks of the Thames more than 200 years ago. More ...

2000-year-old pills found in Greek shipwreck

[New Scientist] DNA analyses show that each millennia-old tablet is a mixture of more than 10 different plant extracts, from hibiscus to celery. More...

For Chile, Colossal Trouble On Easter Island

[NPR] Easter Island's ancient stone statues number nearly 1,000 and stand like sentries on the dramatic landscape. The descendants of the indigenous Rapanui people who made the carvings have a dispute with Chile over land and rights.  More...

SIUC researchers debunk ancient comet-strike theory

[Carmi Times] A team of researchers led by a geology professor from Southern Illinois University Carbondale recently punched a hole in a well-known theory involving an ancient alleged comet or meteor strike wiping out a great deal of life on Earth and changing its climate. More...

American Legion rails against Stalin bust

[The Roanoke Times] The 2.5 million-member American Legion expressed its displeasure Thursday with the placement of a bust of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, saying the site now has the "notorious distinction of probably having the only bust or statue of Stalin in America."  More...

New clues to ship’s history found at ground zero dig site

[Newton Daily News] Archaeologists trying to unravel the history behind an 18th century ship excavated from ground zero have found some important maritime clues: birdshot pellets, musket balls and small cannon shot the size of golf balls embedded in the ship’s wooden planks. More...

Iraqi Treasures Return, but Questions Remain

[NY Times] The returned items include a 4,400-year-old statue of King Entemena of Lagash looted from the National Museum here after the American invasion in 2003; an even older pair of gold earrings from Nimrud stolen in the 1990s... and 362 cuneiform clay tablets smuggled out of Iraq that were seized by the American authorities in 2001 and were being stored in the World Trade Center when it was destroyed. More...

Dresden mayor 'to lobby against building of Bomber Command memorial’

[History News Network] Dresden was turned into rubble over two days and nights in February 1945 by British and American bombers. Some 25,000 people, mostly women and children, died in savage firestorms whipped up by the intense heat of 2,400 tons of high explosive and 1,500 tons of incendiary bombs. The raid was controversial because the war was almost over and Dresden had no strategic value as a military target.  More...

An ancient echo of NYC mosque debate in Córdoba, Spain

[The Christian Science Monitor] The Islamic cultural center and mosque that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf hopes to build was originally named Córdoba House, after the city that was ruled by Muslims from the 8th to13th centuries. More...

Ancient city by the sea rises amid Egypt's resorts

[Associated Press] Nearly 25 years after its discovery, Egyptian authorities are preparing to open ancient Leukaspis' tombs, villas and city streets to visitors — a rare example of a Classical era city in a country better known for its pyramids and Pharaonic temples. More...

Egyptian papyrus found in ancient Irish bog

[Physorg.com] Irish scientists have found fragments of Egyptian papyrus in the leather cover of an ancient book of psalms that was unearthed from a peat bog, Ireland's National Museum said on Monday.  More...

Double space strike 'caused dinosaur extinction'

[BBC] The dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago by at least two space impacts, rather than a single strike, a new study suggests. More...

"Lost" Language Found on Back of 400-Year-Old Letter

[National Geographic] Notes on the back of a 400-year-old letter have revealed a previously unknown language once spoken by indigenous peoples of northern Peru, an archaeologist says. More...

Greek archaelogists discover Odysseus’ palace in Ithaca

[Greek Reporter] Nearly 3,000 years after Ulysses returned from his journey, two archaelogists from Ioannina, who have been realizing excavations in the area of Agios Athanasios, on Ithaca island for 16 years, say that there is serious evidence proving that they discovered the royal residence of Ulysses. More...