Coded American Civil War message in bottle deciphered
A message in a bottle delivered to a Confederate general during the American Civil War has been deciphered, 147 years after it was written.
In the encrypted message, a commander tells Gen John Pemberton that no reinforcements are available to help him defend Vicksburg, Mississippi.
“You can expect no help from this side of the river,” says the message, which was deciphered by codebreakers.
The text is dated 4 July 1863 – the day Vicksburg fell to Union forces.
Ancient Bone’s DNA Suggests New Human Ancestors
DNA taken from a pinkie bone at least 30,000 years old is hinting at the existence of a previously unknown population of ancient humans. It’s just the latest example of how modern genetic techniques are transforming the world of anthropology.
The pinkie bone in question was unearthed in 2008 from what’s called the Denisova Cave…Reich says there were several remarkable things about the group of people this girl is from, a group he and his colleagues call Denisovans.
“On the one hand it’s a sister group to Neanderthals, which means that it’s more closely related to Neanderthals on average than it is to modern humans,” he says.
Did Abe Lincoln’s Assassin Escape? DNA May Solve Mystery
Descendants of John Wilkes Booth have agreed to exhume his brother’s body for DNA testing in an attempt to determine whether the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln escaped capture and eluded justice, as the family has been told.
“I’m absolutely in favor of exhuming Edwin,” Joanne Hulme, a Booth family historian, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Let’s have the truth and put this thing to rest.” […] Hulme and her family want to compare DNA from Booth’s brother, Edwin, to that of a bone specimen at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington. The bone is from the man who was gunned down inside the barn.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tammy Bruce and PalinPromotions. PalinPromotions said: Via @HeyTammyBruce Your History Fix for the Weekend http://bit.ly/hHX15B […]
History fascinates me. After finishing reading Sarah Palin’s America by Heart, I started reading a book Tammy suggested called Operation Mincemeat written by Ben MacIntyre. It is a fabulous read. This book is the larger font size, which makes the read easier on the eyes.
Karan
A friend of mine shared this on Facebook, and it seems appropriate for a history thread on the day after Christmas. Where were you when…?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD38IMT1EdY&feature=player_embedded
(I was in 5th grade.)
I’ve been to the Vicksburg battle site. The battle lines were, in places, maybe 20 feet from each other. The soldiers would talk to each other at night, then start shooting at each other in the morning. The Union forces surrounded them and starved them out. But, when the Confederates surrendered, the Union soldiers took their own food and fed the starving Confederates.
booth’s body was returned to the family- their dentist identified the remains from the barn as booth but nothing is more tenacious than an american conspiracy theorist. he’s buried unmarked in a family plot- why wouldn’t they seek to prove that body is his rather than a bit of bone?
perhaps booth did escape but was a kitten eating reptilian- he just returned home to Alpha Draconis in his space buggy.
http://www.historybuff.com/library/refbooth.html
are they also checking the dna of a side show exhibit that was billed as the “Mummy of John Wilkes Booth” aka “Booth the Mummy”? finis bates also thought that was booth. good grief. notice how they leave that little tidbit out.
i found this book by accident- and it’s fascinating. the only known written account of lincoln’s assassination by someone who knew the conspirators and was directly involved – he was a boarder of mary surratt’s- louis j. weichman. his testimony sent her to the gallows. he quotes many sources that are lost to us now. at his request his book was published only after his death- 75 years after. highly recommended. and out of print.
http://amzn.com/0394722604
This is another really good one: Manhunt: The 12-Day Hunt for Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson. It’s out in paperback now, my son has my hardback copy and I’ve been trying for months and months to get it back, lol! It reads like a novel, I couldn’t put it down. We all know the story of Lincoln’s assassination, and the subsequent arrest of John Wilkes Booth. But you’ll discover when you read this book that you didn’t REALLY know the story. I want to read this one again, which is why I’m trying to get my copy back.
Re decoded Civil War message…nice to see that Julian Assange isn’t the only one leaking classified military data to the public 🙂
These were all Very Cool, especially the Civil War message… But, tonight I found a bit of a historical document and I would like your opinions good people. http://chzhistoriclols.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/goodhousekeeping.jpg Take a look and let me know what you think. Straight out of a 1955 lady’s magazine. Interesting, priceless and just WOW… Amazingly it was Not written as satire at the time, but was in all seriousness. And the Leftist Feminists would have you believe that we have made little progress.