Christmas truces between opposing soldiers continued throughout WWI

[BBC]  Dr Thomas Weber, of the University of Aberdeen, says cease-fires continued to take place in 1915 and 1916. However, the academic believes this was played down when it came to official war records.  More...

Sherlock Holmes fans stage last-ditch attempt to save Conan Doyle's home

[History News Network]  A five-year battle to save the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has gone to the High Court after campaigners applied for a judicial review of a decision to allow development of the Grade II listed house.  More...

Rise in Oxygen Drove Evolution of Animal Life 550 Million Years Ago

[ScienceDaily]   Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) at the University of Oxford have uncovered a clue that may help to explain why the earliest evidence of complex multicellular animal life appears around 550 million years ago, when atmospheric oxygen levels on the planet rose sharply from 3% to their modern day level of 21%.  More...

Sovereign's Head Identified After More Than Four Centuries

[ScienceDaily]   The skeletons of kings and queens lying in mass graves in the Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris could finally have the solemn funeral ceremonies they deserve, say experts in the Christmas issue published in the British Medical Journal.  More...

Anglican priests follow ritual from 500-year-old liturgy

[The Australian]  PRIESTS in Australia's new Anglican Ordinariate will celebrate mass facing east, away from their congregations, using 500-year old liturgies. Archbishop John Hepworth, Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, said the traditional sacred liturgies -- more in the language of Shakespeare than modern vernacular -- would be held in parishes in all capital cities, the Gold and Sunshine coasts, Rockhampton and Torres Strait.The process took a major step forward yesterday when Archbishop Hepworth and Catholic Bishop Peter Elliott announced the establishment of an Australian Ordinariate implementation committee comprising senior Catholic, Anglican and TAC clergy.  More...

Ancient Roman Statue Uncovered In Israel Storm

[Huffington Post]  One of the strongest storms Israel has experienced in recent years brought winds of more than 100 kilometers per hour and sent 10-meter-high waves crashing onto the nation's coast. But the harsh weather also brought about something unexpected: the discovery of an ancient Roman statue in amazing condition.  More...

Ancient Mexicans crossbred wolf-dogs

[AP]  Mexican researchers said Wednesday they have identified jaw bones found in the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacan as those of wolf-dogs that were apparently crossbred as a symbol of the city's warriors.  More...

Ancient trove of Egypt statues found in Luxor

[AP]  Archaeologists found what may be a trove of 3,400 year old statues on the west bank of the ancient temple city Luxor, said the head of Egypt's antiquities department on Thursday.  More.. 

Mummified Forest Found on Treeless Arctic Island

[National Geographic]  Pines, spruces buried in landslide millions of years ago, when area was warmer.  More...

Bulgarian Archaeologist Discovers World's Likely Oldest Sun Temple

[Novinite]  Bulgarian archaeologist Georgi Ganetsovski has made a new hit discovering by unearthing what might be the world's oldest sun temple.  More...

Spain rethinks reopening of prehistoric art 'Sistine Chapel'

[AFP]  Spain's Altamira cave, dubbed the "Sistine Chapel" of Paleolithic art because of the paintings of animals on its ceiling, will no longer reopen to the public as planned at the end of the year.The cave located some 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of the northern city of Santander has been closed since 2002 because the breath and body heat from visitors threatened the fragile natural pigments used in the cave art.  More...

Bones found on island might be Amelia Earhart's

[AP]  The three bone fragments turned up on a deserted South Pacific island that lay along the course Amelia Earhart was following when she vanished. Nearby were several tantalizing artifacts: some old makeup, some glass bottles and shells that had been cut open. Now scientists at the University of Oklahoma hope to extract DNA from the tiny bone chips in tests that could prove Earhart died as a castaway.  More...

Indonesian fishermen find old sunken ship

[AP]  A sunken ship that may be several centuries old and containing green and gray ceramics has been found off remote Indonesian islands recently hit by a tsunami, officials said Thursday.  More...

Historians discover tiny numbers and letters in the eyes of the Mona Lisa

[Mail Online]   Mona Lisa was at the centre of a new mystery yesterday after art detectives took a fresh look at the masterpiece – and noticed something in her eyes. Hidden in the dark paint of her pupils are tiny letters and numbers, placed there by the artist Leonardo da Vinci and revealed only now thanks to high-­magnification techniques.  More...