Free Republic

If the web were a person, it wouldn't have trouble renting a car from now on: the world's first website, Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web, went online 25 years ago today. The inaugural page wasn't truly public when it went live at CERN on December 20th, 1990 (that wouldn't happen until August 1991), and it wasn't much more than an explanation of how the hypertext-based project worked.

Sydney (dpa) - Relatives of eight children slain in their beds one year ago gathered Sunday to plant eight blossoming frangipani trees in their memory. The stabbings of three sisters, ages 2, 11 and 12, their four brothers, ages 5, 6, 8 and 9, and their 14-year-old cousin still shocks the community of Manoora, a suburb of Cairns in tropical far north Australia. The mother of the children, Raina Thaiday, 38, was found by her 20-year-old son in the garden of 34 Murray Street that the morning covered in blood and suffering self-inflicted wounds. Within days she was charged with...

SHORTLY after his death from prostate cancer in 1993, the musician and sometime film director Frank Zappa was honored by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre which named an asteroid after him. The citation announcing the naming of 3834 Zappafrank appeared in the Minor Planet Circular and noted that “Zappa was an eclectic, self-trained artist and composer with incredible energy and a biting wit”. [snip] In high school he was a drummer in his first band but gradually he moved on to guitar. It was one of several instruments he would go on to master. Rolling Stone magazine ranked...

12/02/2015 is a significant tragic day for San Bernadino, and the USA. It also happens to be a Very significant Martyrdom Anniversary for Islam... Connections? Islamic Education Center, Atlanta http://www.zainabia.com/sample-page/calendar/important-dates/ Important Islamic Dates 1437 AH (2015 – 2016): 20 Safar, 1437 = December 02, 2015 * Arbayeen (40th Day of Imam Hussain Martyrdom Anniversary)  Muslims observe Arbaeen in Iran - The Iran Project www.theiranproject.com/ blog/ 2015/ 12/ 02/ mus... Proxy Highlight 17 hours ago ... ... elegies are recited in memory of Imam Hussein and his 72 loyal companions. The Arbaeen mourning ceremony is one of the largest religious...

Today is my 15th FR Anniversary. In that time I've seen the rise and fall of the Clintons, 9/11, Bush, and Obama. I've posted 1191 threads, and 18,994 posts. I've seen a lot of good FReepers come and go, and a lot of not-so-good FReepers come and go. I've truly enjoyed my time here and this has become my go-to site for any news that happens around the world. I've learned that FR and its denizens can be counted upon to break most news stories quickly and reasonably accurately. The discussions here have not only opened my eyes to new...

The Official Government 'Warren Report' concluded that JFK was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald who was subsequently killed by Jack Ruby.Everyone knows the background of this day and the events.But did the Official 'Warren Report' really report what actually happened?Tell me if you believed the 'Warren Report' or you have other 'inside' information.

After the attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris France, what significant event occurred in Islamic Radicalism History

The organizers of an anti-Nazi event in Sweden face controversy Monday, after declining to invite the Jewish community to the event. "Umeå against Nazism" will run in the city of Umeå on Tuesday and Wednesday, commemorating Kirstallnacht, or the "Night of Broken Glass," the massive 1938 pogrom against Austrian and German Jews which is seen as marking the start of the holocaust. But, absurdly, Jews will not be invited. The organizers claim that inviting the Jewish community presents a security risk, nt.se reports, citing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel protests present at past events.

From November of 1980, here is CBS's coverage of Election Night. Taped from WJKW-TV8, Cleveland. This is part 1 of 3

Twenty-three years and still going strong.Here's to many more. #Happy Anniversary Barack Obama wishes Barack Obama a happy wedding anniversary with a picture of . . . Barack Obama

Country singer Trace Adkins wrote this song a couple days after the attacks. He doesn't perform it live except on the anniversary of 9/11. It happened that the anniversary fell in 2010 while he was doing a concert in Bristow, VA at the Jiffy Lube Center. This was the final song that evening. It was recorded by an audience member, so it's not studio quality, but it's good enough. Enjoy.Welcome to Hell-LIVE 2010

VJ Day Kiss - 70 years ago 70 years ago ... August 14, 1945 was the dawn, ending those dark days from 1939 - 1945 which were marked by a horrific world war. World War II left no continent untouched and a devastating body count. With causalities approaching 70 million, it may have been the worst war in recorded human history, such seen in this interactive video: The Fallen of World War II on Vimeo But as the Psalmist wrote: "... weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5 (KJV) Finally the night of...

I can't believe I almost missed this most important day. I am privileged to be here and thank you all for the great education you have given me these last 10 years. I certainly have pissed off a few here and there but that is what is great about FR, we get up, shake hands and go on to the next thread. Thank you for that best 10 years!!!!! Oh and for the millionth time, NAPSCOORDINATOR means Naval Academy Preparatory School Coordinator......it is a prep school for a year before the Naval Academy to prepare students for the rigors of...

It began with a routine traffic stop, blossomed into a protest with the help of a rumor and escalated into the deadliest and most destructive rioting Los Angeles had seen. --SNIP-- The commission that investigated the riots recommended better schooling, job training, more low-income housing, public transportation, health services and better relations between the police and the community. Few of those things were realized. Today, the Watts neighborhood is largely Hispanic, but remains poor. Unemployment is high.

Residents in the Japanese city of Hiroshima are commemorating the 70th anniversary of the first atomic bomb being dropped by a US aircraft.

James McDougal DALLAS (CNN) -- Jim McDougal, President Bill Clinton's former partner in the Whitewater land deal, died Sunday in federal prison in Texas. He was 57. McDougal, who was suffering from a heart condition, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 1996. He died one minute past noon at John Petersmith Hospital, according to the coroner's office in Tarrant County, Texas. The office would not reveal a cause of death. After his conviction, McDougal made a deal with Whitewater independent counsel Ken Starr for a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation with the investigation. His death is a...

Forty years ago Saturday saw the release of Jaws, an adaptation of a beach-read made by a promising but relatively untested young director, Steven Spielberg. Forty years later, Jaws‘ impact can be felt across moviegoing. The shark tale is perhaps most notable for its box-office success; Jaws became the top-grossing film of all time after its release (and did so more quickly than had its predecessors, with a marketing plan based on blanket advertising rather than a slow rollout). Jaws, with its technical mastery and ability to manipulate the audience into fearing something that for so much of the film’s...

WASHINGTON, DC – The leaders of the United States Congress will hold a ceremony next month to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The ceremony will take place on Wednesday, July 8 at 3:00 pm in Emancipation Hall of the United States Capitol Visitor Center. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will take part in the event. More than 58,000 Americans were killed in action during the Vietnam War, and more than 153,000 were wounded. All told, 658 U.S. prisoners...

Few narrative historians have been able to capture the essence of war quite like Stephen Ambrose. The Eisenhower biographer published several books on the war later in his life, including Citizen Soldiers, Band of Brothers, and perhaps the best one volume treatment of the Normandy invasion, D-Day: June 6, 1944. One theme running through all of those books was the sheer ordinariness of the American GI and how, when confronted by the greatest challenges of their lives, outperformed, outfought, and outsmarted the seemingly invincible Nazi war machine. From a blurb advertising D-Day: They wanted to be throwing baseballs, not hand...

Just wanted to briefly say Thanks to everyone who made this site possible and celebrate my 10th Anniversary here. I started off as a 'rat die-hard Kerry voter but simply being here made me see EVERYTHING better and my life has been completely different ever since. Thank you all for all the great posts, amazing insights, excellent debates, the goofiness and , of course, all those threads with "rules". Can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring Let's Roll!