About.com 20th Century History

The First Peanuts Cartoon Strip

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:35:41 +0000

We all love Snoopy and sympathize with Charlie Brown. Yet when did the Peanuts cartoon strip first appear? Which characters were in the very first four panels?

The First Peanuts Cartoon Strip originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 13:35:41.

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When Does the Past Become History?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:23:33 +0000

A recent BBC History Magazine survey asked readers, "When do events in the past become history?" The survey received 1,897 votes. The most popular answer, with 31 percent of the vote, was that the past becomes history a second ago. The next most popular answer also considered the past turning to history quite quickly, with 28 percent of the voters responding that the past turns to history within ten years. Answers that ranged from 20 to 50 years ago each received one to six percent of the vote. A few (4 percent) believed that events were only history if they occurred before that individual was born.

When do you think past events become history?

When Does the Past Become History? originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 23:23:33.

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High Hopes for New SS Memoir

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:53 +0000

Fritz Darges, the last surviving member of Hitler's inner circle, passed away at the age of 96 on October 24, 2009. Darges' will stipulated that upon his death his memoirs would be published. Since Darges was very close to Hitler, some historians hope his memoirs may contain an eye-witness account to Hitler giving verbal orders for the Final Solution. For more of the story, see this Telegraph article.

High Hopes for New SS Memoir originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 23:00:53.

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Restoring a Section of the Berlin Wall

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:05:56 +0000

When the Berlin Wall toppled in 1989, most of the Wall was chiseled away or taken down. However, there was one long stretch that remained and artists from around the world came to Berlin and painted murals on it. Unfortunately, time and the elements have worn down those paintings.

In order to prepare this stretch of the Berlin Wall for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the same artists who painted the original murals were asked to come back to Berlin and repaint their murals once again.

To prepare the section of the Berlin Wall for the new art, the disintegrating old murals were scraped off and the concrete on the Wall had to be removed and replaced.

Restoring a Section of the Berlin Wall originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 22:05:56.

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Is It Wrong for Relatives of Top Nazis to Sell Memorabilia?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:50:54 +0000

Recently, the grandson of Auschwitz commander Rudolf Hoess contacted Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel, via a letter. In this letter, Reiner Hoess offered to sell the museum rare artifacts that had belonged to his grandfather. The objects included a fireproof box that was a gift from Heinrich Himmler, a letter opener, pictures of Auschwitz that have never been seen before, and letters written by Hoess when he was imprisoned in Krakow before he was executed.

Yad Vashem was disgusted by the offer. They would accept the items as a donation, but would never pay for them. Reiner Hoess said that others had offered to pay for the items, but thought it would be most appropriate for Yad Vashem to have the items.

Should people buy Nazi memorabilia from relatives of Nazi officials?

Is It Wrong for Relatives of Top Nazis to Sell Memorabilia? originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 09:50:54.

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The Berlin Twitter Wall

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:44:12 +0000

In messages of up to 140 characters, people can make comments about the Fall of the Berlin Wall and have them appear on The Berlin Twitter Wall website. This happens when someone uses the hashtag #fotw (fall of the Wall) in their "tweet" on Twitter. The short message will then be automatically displayed on a backdrop of a section of the Wall that still stands.

The Berlin Twitter Wall website was established in time for the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and asks that people will "Share your thoughts on the Fall of the Berlin wall now or let us know which walls still have to come down to make our world a better place!"

The Berlin Twitter Wall originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 22:44:12.

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Amelia Earhart Hair Found to Be Just Thread

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:17:16 +0000

Since 1986, the International Women's Air and Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio believed it had in their possession a lock of hair from famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart. The lock of hair had been retrieved from a wastebasket at the White House by a maid after Earhart stayed there shortly before her disappearance. When the museum recently sent a sample of the hair to a lab for DNA analysis, it was discovered that the "hair" was actually a piece of thread.

Amelia Earhart Hair Found to Be Just Thread originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 22:17:16.

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Lenin Died From Syphilis

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:59:24 +0000

In her new book, Conspirator: Lenin in Exile, historian Helen Rappaport reveals evidence that V.I. Lenin might have died of the sexually transmitted disease syphilis. For decades, it had been believed that Lenin died after suffering an assassination attempt and three strokes. Rappaport believes that top Kremlin doctors knew Lenin suffered from syphilis but were not allowed to reveal that secret. Rappaport thinks Lenin might have contracted syphilis from a prostitute in Paris in about 1902. Find out more about how Rappaport discovered this information and what scientist Ivan Pavlov had to do with this discovery, by reading this Mail Online article.

Lenin Died From Syphilis originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 21:59:24.

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Saplings From Anne Frank's Tree Will Soon Grow in the U.S.

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:22:55 +0000

Confined to small, cramped quarters while hiding from the Nazis, Anne Frank's only experience of the outdoors for more than two years was a view from a single window. In her diary, Anne made several references to a chestnut tree that stood just outside.

That chestnut tree, now about 150 to 200 years old, has recently been attacked by a fungus and is expected to only live for another five to fifteen years before it succumbs to the deadly fungus.

To keep the spirit of the tree alive, saplings have been grown from the tree and will be planted at 11 sites in the United States. Institutions that wanted one of the saplings had to apply to the Anne Frank Center USA. Out of 34 applications, 11 have been chosen. Here is a list of the 11 locations who will each receive a sampling.

World Trade Center
Little Rock Central High School (place of the Little Rock Nine)
White House
Boston Common
Children's Museum of Indianapolis
Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan
Holocaust Education Resource Center in Seattle
William J. Clinton Foundation in Little Rock
Boise, Idaho (where an Anne Frank monument was vandalized)
Sonoma State University in California
Southern Cayuga Central School District in upstate New York

The saplings are expected to be shipped to the U.S. this year but then will have to wait two years in quarantine before they can be delivered and planted.

Saplings From Anne Frank's Tree Will Soon Grow in the U.S. originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 09:22:55.

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Jokes From Behind the Berlin Wall

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 08:43:47 +0000

Jokes can tell a lot about a society. So, during the Cold War, spies from West Germany's Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) would collect jokes and send them back to their superiors for analysis in an attempt to understand the thoughts of the East German people. The BND spies collected the jokes by secretly opening mail and listening in on phone calls. Here are a few examples of East German jokes that were collected.

Q: Did East Germans originate from apes?
A: Impossible. Apes could never have survived on just two bananas a year.
Q: What would happen if the desert became communist?
A: Nothing for a while, and then there would be a sand shortage.
Chernobyl, incidentally, wasn't an accident. It was just a Soviet program to X-ray its population.

For more East German jokes and information about how they were collected, read this Spiegel article.

Jokes From Behind the Berlin Wall originally appeared on About.com 20th Century History on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 08:43:47.

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