Friendship 9 Convictions Erased
January 28, 2015 – A South Carolina judge has erased the convictions of the Friendship 9, nine black men who staged a famous “sit-in” protest at a whites-only lunch counter in the early 1960s. They were convicted of trespassing and protesting at the McCrory’s variety store in Rock Hill in 1961. The case drew national attention when the […]
Massive Blizzard Hits Northeast … in 1888
January 26, 2015 – The massive winter storm hitting New York and neighboring New England states this week is expected to bring 12 to 18 inches of snow and cause widespread traffic disruptions. But it might not be as bad as the Great Blizzard of March 1888. The 19th century storm, considered one of the […]
Before Parkour: Daredevils of the Early 20th Century
January 22, 2015 – Construction workers and daredevils of the early 1900s were “cowboys of the skies,” often flirting with death and injury during the period’s skyscraper boom. While carrying out their normal duties, some workers slipped and fell to their deaths, were blown off scaffolding by gusts of wind, or were crushed by massive steel girders being put in […]
Skydivers Release Video of Record-Breaking Jump
January 22, 2015 – A team of skydivers has released a video of their record-breaking formation over the skies of Phoenix, Arizona, last November. They joined hands while maintaining a difficult “head up” position. The participants represented various nationalities, including American, British, Russian, Australian, Canadian, Mexican, and German. They broke the record on the first day of the two-day event with a 44-person formation, then […]
Lost Colony Found?
January 21, 2015 – Researchers are back in North Carolina to see if an obscure clue discovered on a period map may shed light on what happened to English settlers on Roanoke Island, the so-called Lost Colony. The settlement was found deserted in 1590. The fate of the colonists is one of the biggest mysteries […]
Holocaust Survivor Reunites with American Liberator after 70 Years
January 21, 2015 – A survivor of the Holocaust recently reunited in Huntington Beach, California, with the G.I. who liberated him from the Dachau Nazi concentration camp nearly 70 years ago. Upon meeting, Joshua Kaufman, now 87, a Jew originally from Hungary, and 89-year-old army veteran Daniel Gillespie saluted each other. Kaufman then took Gillespie’s […]
Mystery of Abandoned Rifle
January 20, 2015 – An archaeologist is still baffled by her discovery of a relatively modern relic – a Winchester repeating rifle, the legendary “gun that won the West.” Last November, Eva Jensen and her team were looking for petroglyphs and other ancient Native American artifacts in Nevada’s Great Basin National Park when she came upon […]
Two Mechanics for Tuskegee Airmen Die on Same Day in Same City
January 11, 2015 – Two mechanics for the famous all-black World War II fighter squadron known as the Tuskegee Airmen passed away on January 5 just hours apart at their respective homes in Los Angeles. Clarence E Huntley Jr. and Joseph Shambrey, lifelong friends, enlisted together in 1942 as teenagers. Both were 91. Link: ABC […]
1795 Time Capsule of Samuel Adams and Paul Revere
January 7, 2015 – A time capsule placed in the cornerstone of the Massachusetts State House in 1795 by Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and others has been opened. The contents included five tightly folded newspapers, a medal depicting George Washington, a silver plaque, and two dozen coins, the oldest dating to the year 1652. Link: […]
Hubble Space Telescope Revisits “Pillars of Creation”
January 5, 2015 – NASA has released new, sharper images taken last year of a cosmic landscape first captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995. Nicknamed the “Pillars of Creation,” the three giant columns of cold gas are lighted by a cluster of massive young stars 6,500 light years away in the Eagle Nebula. The […]