Free Republic

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Paul Revere's Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five: Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, "If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,-- One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and...

The researchers have been using an established technique known as magnetometry, which involves systematically and rapidly scanning the landscape with small handheld instruments in order to identify localised magnetic anomalies relating to buried ancient structures. These are then mapped out with specialised computer software, providing images similar to aerial photographs, which can be interpreted by archaeologists. In antiquity, the landscape in this recent study was known as the Isola Sacra and was surrounded by a major canal to the north, the river Tiber to the east and south, and the Tyrrhenian sea to the west. At the southernmost side of...

...The contract includes a clause that Demetrius is still to be paid if the judges realize the match is fixed and refuse to reward Nicantinous the win. If "the crown is reserved as sacred, (we) are not to institute proceedings against him about these things," the contract reads. It also says that if Demetrius reneges on the deal, and wins the match anyway, then "you are of necessity to pay as penalty to my [same] son on account of wrongdoing three talents of silver of old coinage without any delay or inventive argument." The translator of the text, Dominic Rathbone,...

Israeli archaeologists have unearthed a rare sarcophagus featuring a slender face and a scarab ring inscribed with the name of an Egyptian pharaoh, Israel's Antiquities Authority said Wednesday. The mystery man whose skeleton was found inside the sarcophagus was most likely a local Canaanite official in the service of ancient Egypt, Israeli archaeologists believe, shining a light on a period when pharaohs governed the region. "This is a really beautiful face, very serene," said Edwin van den Brink, an Egyptologist and archaeologist with Israel's government antiquities authority. "It's very appealing." Van den Brink said archaeologists dug at Tel Shadud, an...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Klahoose carving settles question of territory A face carved into a tree trunk was discovered by forestry workers in a remote location up Toba Inlet. It had been staring down an ancient river valley in the rainforest for almost 200 years. The recent chance discovery was made approximately 60 miles up the inlet and helped to silence a question of doubt regarding the geographic limits of Klahoose First Nation traditional territory. Two employees of Fireball Contracting Ltd., Rob Reynolds and Keith McCrea, were working in a cutblock and turned around to discover the carved face. Klahoose Forestry Limited Partnership manager...

The mayor of a small Missouri town has mostly nice things to say about the white supremacist accused of killing three people at Jewish facilities last weekend. Marionville, Mo. Mayor Dan Clevenger spoke warmly this week of Frazier Glenn Miller, who allegedly went on a killing rampage on Sunday in Overland Park, Kan. "He was always nice and friendly and respectful of elder people, you know, he respected his elders greatly. As long as they were the same color as him," Clevenger said while laughing, according to television station KSPR. "Very fair and honest and never had a bit of...

One week after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt began pressing the U.S. military to immediately strike the Japanese homeland. The desire to bolster moral became more urgent in light of rapid Japanese advances. These included victories in Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, Wake Island, and the Dutch East Indies, as well as sinking the British battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse. Only improbable ideas warranted consideration, because submarines confirmed Japan placed picket boats at extreme carrier aircraft range. One idea even involved launching four engine heavy bombers from China or Outer Mongolia to strike Japan and fly on to Alaska. Captain Francis...

One of the oldest surviving complete Roman mosaics dating from 1,700 years ago, a spectacular discovery made in Lod in Israel, will go on show at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, UK... from 5 June – 2 November 2014. Measuring eight metres long and four metres wide, and in exceptional condition, the Lod mosaic depicts a paradise of birds, animals, shells and fishes, including one of the earliest images of a rhinoceros and a giraffe, richly decorated with geometric patterns and set in lush landscapes.Ancient city of LyddaThe mosaic was accidentally discovered in 1996, during highway construction work in the Israeli...

With luck, I put this in the right place. Though I was born in R.I., my parents moved to VA when I was 2. I lived in the Old Dominion for decades and even though I left there about 10 years ago, I consider it home. I practiced law in NOVA for a long time. I stumbled across this wonderful Facebook page entitled, "Abandoned in Virginia". It is a beautiful pictorial of abandoned old buildings all across the State. Those who live, or who have lived, in VA know how special it is. Enjoy.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 THE NEWS OF THE WEEK IN REVIEW16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE25 26 27

Cut off some cross-shaped chunks from the chicken wire using a bolt cutter. Then cut the ends off again at an angle to make them sharp. Watch out for flying bits of sharp metal hitting you in the eye. Bend the sharp wires as shown. You're done! Be super careful with these nasty things and don't leave them lying around. These are only to carry in your pouch at the renaissance festival as part of your costume.

U. S. Constitution

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — In its prime, a massive steam locomotive known as Big Boy No. 4014 was a moving eruption of smoke and vapor, a 6,300-horsepower brute dragging heavy freight trains over the mountains of Wyoming and Utah. It's been silent for half a century, pushed aside by more efficient diesels, but now it's coming back to life. The Union Pacific Railroad is embarking on a yearslong restoration project that will put No. 4014 back to work pulling special excursion trains. "It's sort of like going and finding the Titanic or something that's just very elusive, nothing that we...

After listening to one of my favorite podcaster, Dan Carlin & his Hardcore History, about the beginning of World War I, I would love to find out more about this time in history. I know that Freepers are a well read bunch and I am asking for any recommendations you may care to make in a good book covering this time in history.

Academics restart work to unlock secrets of mystery medieval civilization with links to Persia on edge of the Siberian Arctic. A red-haired man was found, protected from chest to foot by copper plating [Credit: Kate Baklitskaya/Go East] The 34 shallow graves excavated by archaeologists at Zeleniy Yar throw up many more questions than answers. But one thing seems clear: this remote spot, 29 km shy of the Arctic Circle, was a trading crossroads of some importance around one millennium ago. The medieval necropolis include 11 bodies with shattered or missing skulls, and smashed skeletons. Five mummies were found to be shrouded...

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Next week, the city will celebrate its official, 2,767th birthday. According to a tradition going back to classic times, the brothers Romulus and Remus founded the city on 21 April in the year 753BC. But on Sunday it was reported that evidence of infrastructure building had been found, dating from more than 100 years earlier. The daily Il Messagero quoted Patrizia Fortini, the archaeologist responsible for the Forum, as saying that a wall constructed well before the city's traditional founding date had been unearthed. The wall, made from blocks of volcanic tuff, appeared to have been built to channel water...

Harry Chapman Pincher looks back on his extraordinary career as Daily Express defence correspondent, as he marks his 100th birthday. His employers called him "the lone wolf of Fleet Street", the man who got the stories other journalists seemed to miss. For over 30 years, until his retirement in 1979, Harry Chapman Pincher was the defence and science correspondent for the Daily Express, then Britain's biggest-selling daily newspaper. Few military or atomic secrets in the 1950s and 60s were safe from Pincher. His contacts in the scientific and military establishment brought him one exclusive after another. In retirement he turned...