When we hear of sunken cities, images of stone ruins might come to mind — eerie, beautiful and forever trapped in an underwater world. One would never imagine that a sunken city might return to the surface. Yet that is exactly what has happened in Iraqi Kurdistan, where a 3,400-year-old city believed to have once … Lire la suite

“And have you those excellent receipts, madam, to keep yourselves from bearing of children?” runs a line in an early 17th-century century English drama, Ben Jonson’s “Epicene.” A New World example of a pregnancy-ending receipt (an old word for recipe) appeared in a how-to manual, “The American Instructor,” adapted from an English title and published … Lire la suite

For centuries historians have debated just exactly where the Black Death — the world’s deadliest plague — originated.   Now, thanks to 14th-century tombstones near Issyk-Kul, a lake in a mountainous area in what is now Kyrgyzstan, scientists claim that they’ve discovered the genesis of the plague that, in the span of eight years, killed 60% … Lire la suite

In 1926 author Walter Noble Burns published The Saga of Billy the Kid, the first book-length biography of the Kid since Charlie Siringo’s History of Billy the Kid, published in 1920. As Burns explained to readers, the unprovoked, sadistic murder of Englishman John Henry Tunstall on Feb. 18, 1878, was the event that kicked off … Lire la suite

The admiral stood victorious, his battered vessel rocking gently with the changing of tide that had served him so well. With his sword stained crimson and his face blackened with soot, he observed with elation the seascape of carnage laid out before him. He’d performed a miracle this day, and the exhausted yet heartened crews … Lire la suite

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected within days to rule on the validity of a New York state law that places strict limits on carrying handguns, New York State Rifle & Pistol Inc. v. Bruen — and the decision could rewrite the heated American debate over gun control. Opponents of the law, which requires those seeking … Lire la suite

By the summer of 1945, Japan had, by every reasonable standard, lost the war. The American juggernaut had destroyed its navy, breached its island defenses, choked its economy, and firebombed its cities. Yet the Japanese government approached the question of surrender with great trepidation, in part because any move to capitulate would likely trigger a … Lire la suite

Book review by Elizabeth Foxwell Girdle checks. Public weigh-ins. Automatic termination at age 32. Such were the conditions experienced by many female flight attendants in the not-so-friendly skies of the 1960s and 1970s, as journalist Nell McShane Wulfhart makes clear in this compelling account. Far from living the chic image of international jet-setters, American flight … Lire la suite

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been marked by a return to the type of armored warfare that hasn’t been seen since World War II — with at least one major difference — the development of “fire and forget” anti-tank guided missiles. This advancement in warfare has given the infantryman unprecedented parity against the tracked … Lire la suite

A D-Day “Assault Ration Pack” believed to be the only one currently in existence was recently discovered in Dorset, England – complete with biscuits as well as oatmeal, raisin chocolate and all ingredients needed to brew tea. What more could a hungry British soldier in World War II ask for? First discovered in 2006, the … Lire la suite