World History Blog

I discovered a brief but interesting history from the Philippines. It is Camarines Sur History. The same site also has Camarines Sur Capitol History Both are brief reads and taught me something about a place I knew little about. From the site: In 1569, Luis Enriquez de Guzman, with Augustinian friar Alonzo...

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It doesn't matter if Sasquatch (Bigfoot) exists or not. People still think they are seeing something. The oral accounts and folklore around this topic makes for a rich historical topic to study. Assuming Bigfoot is never found, will not historians still be examining the accounts of people who though they...

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History Carnival LXXXV, a Winter Olympics Edition, is up at Disability Studies. It looks like a good collection. I am pleased to have received a gold medal for my now notorious and most famous post, Did Alexander the Great Fight the Yeti. ...

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  Africville was a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was inhabited by black families. The city of Halifix grew and in the late 60s decided to annex the land that Africville was on. The buildings in the community were destroyed and the population was evicted...

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While on Facebook the other day, I noticed a new meme spreading in people's status updates. It read, "Why the hell do I have to press one for English if I live in America?"I found that amusing. The obvious answer, "Because English is not the original language of North America?"...

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There is an interesting find at of Greenland. The DNA of a 4,000 year old man was sequenced and some surprises were discovered. An article titled After 4,000 years, DNA suggests ancient Greenland man had risk of baldness and even dry earwax was written by Malcom Ritter.The biggest shock...

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In 1909, British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his companions were forced to abandon their attempt to reach the South Pole. In the process, they unknowingly left behind some major historical treasures. The article Plan to recover two crates of Shackleton’s whisky buried in Antarctica has the details. The article notes,...

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While reading the Anabasis Alexandri (Robson translation) at the Ancient History Sourcebook at Fordham, I came upon a curious passage. It reads as though Alexander's men, in the course of the invasion of India, fought a pitched battle with a tribe of Yeti! Very strange but it is indeed in...

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Looking for lots of free K-12 history lessons plans? MrDonn.org is the place as it has hundreds of history and social studies related lesson plans. Also included is lesson plans relating to mythology and free PowerPoint presentations ready to be adapted and sued by history teachers.Here are a few sample...

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EdTechTeacher.org presents The Center for Teaching History with Technology, a resource created to help K-12 history and social studies teachers incorporate technology effectively into their courses. From the site:Find resources for histlaptop classory and social studies lesson plans, activities, projects, games, and quizzes that use technology. Explore inquiry-based lessons, activities,...

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OurStory is a project of the Smithsonian,s National Museum of American History. It is designed to help children and adults enjoy exploring history together through children's literature, everyday objects, and hands-on activities. Some topics covered include:Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nonviolence A Letter to Abraham Lincoln Making the Star-Spangled Banner Life...

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Women's History Month (Library of Congress) - This site pays tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society. The emphasis is on American women.From the site:The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of...

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It appears I am on a philosophy of history kick this holiday season. I just read J. Maritain and N. Berdyaev on the Meaning of History and liked it. It is a comparison between Jacques Maritain and Nicolas Berdyaev's Christian philosophy of history and their impact on the Christian views of history...

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I found an interesting philosophy of history site today. Some Patterns in World History and How they can be Used to Predict the Future provides a summary of William McGaughey's Five Epochs of Civilization, which splits history into four epochs each centered on a key communication technology. The fifth epoch is...

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The History Channel is pleased to announce even more insightful historically significant programming for the holidays. In the tradion of Ice Road Truckers and Monster Quest, we present Santa Quest!For generations, throughout the world, there have been reports of a strange creature who trespasses in homes and often leaves evidence of the...

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I received a free review copy of The World's Bloodiest History - Massacres, Genocide, and the Scars They Left on Civilization last week. On the whole, I enjoyed reading it even if the subject matter was less than pleasant.Here is a description of the book:In a somber survey leavened by sparse...

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Ah, I love the holidays. I get to spend Christmas, New Years, and various free days off from the university with my family. It is relaxing and gives me time for writing and blogging too. And, I get to delete an excessive amount of comment spamfrom this blog.I guess people...

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While browsing online, I found a nice site for Spanish history. It is Overview of Spanish History at Spain Then and Now. It is easy to read and had a surprising amount of depth for a site clearly designed to generate revenue from Google Adsense ads.The site notes:Spain has a fascinating and...

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Alice's Adventures in Algebra: Wonderland Solved - This is a New Scientist article examining the themes and imagery in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from a mathematical and historical perspective. The article is written by Melanie Bayley.From the site:What would Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland be without the...

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The site What Lies Beneath was suggested to me by a reader named Tom Stewart. The YouTube clip notes, "Ah. The Cold War. How very British we all were about the prospect of being vaporised at any moment by a hydrogen bomb - the threat of nuclear war was nothing...

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The poll has closed for the question, "Does the History Channel show too much non-history programming?" Thanks to all who participated by voting.Yes won with 68%. I guess these voters do not believe shows on monsters, UFOs, and ice road truckers are really history. No came in second with 17%....

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The History Computerization Project aims to create a network for exchanging historical information. The site includes details about the computer database program for historical research, writing and cataloging; advice on organizing materials; and links to mostly-US research resources. From the site:The program is used by individual researchers as well as...

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I discovered a nice site on pre-historic Australian fossils. It is The Eromanga Sea - OZ Fossils: The Age of Reptiles. Readers can learn about the Pliosaurs and Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, Ammonites, and Beleminites that lived in the shallow sea that covered inland Australia ten million years ago.From the site:About...

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With permission, I am republishing the post Smithsonian Urban Legends written by Jennie Weber. I think it is interesting and worth publishing again.-----------Smithsonian Magazine had an article on urban myths (to refute) them recently. My personal favorite:Myth #8: There is a subterranean archive center underneath the National Mall.Fact: The Smithsonian’s...

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Mirador: Forgotten Mayan City - New discoveries in the Guatemalan jungle may rewrite Mayan history. See Brooke Baldwin's exclusive report for CNN. ...

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