Stories about History from February, 2010
Nepal: Photos Of Old Kathmandu
Going Global posts some pictures of the old town of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Chile: The Legacy of the 1960 Earthquake in Valdivia
Fifty years ago, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in history rocked the city of Valdivia, Chile. The legacy that the earthquake has had on Chile's history was on the minds of many around the country, including many Twitter users in that city.
Trinidad & Tobago: New Opposition Leader
“Kamla Persad-Bissessar will take her seat today in the Red House in Port-of-Spain as Trinidad & Tobago’s first female Oppostion Leader”: Islandista and Trinidad and Tobago News Blog weigh in.
Americas: International Mother Language Day
February 21 marked International Mother Language Day promoted by UNESCO. It was a time in the Americas to reflect on the use of Spanish, as well as the importance of preserving indigenous languages.
Slovenia: Tribute to Janez Drnovšek
Two years after the death of former Slovenian president Janez Drnovšek, Sleeping With Pengovsky observes that “most of the nation is on the prowl against any sort of deviation from ‘normality’, be this deviation actual or imagined, personal or political”: “President Drnovšek rarely passed judgement. […] But when he spoke,...
Montenegro: The Language Issue
“Not content to watch Serbia and Croatia fight it out over Serbo-Croatian, Montenegro now wants its own language,” Eternal Remont reports.
Poland: “Plenty of Money”
“Years ago, when the inflation in Poland was in triple figures, we were all multi-millionaires,” writes the POLSKI blog and links to a Flickr set of photos of the Polish banknotes from the 1980s and the early 1990s.
Puerto Rico: Artifacts Seized
The Voice of the Taino People Online notes that “the French authorities confiscated a piece of the Taino culture valued as high as one million euros…”
Ukraine, Russia: The Plight of Chekhov's Yalta Museum
Rosamund Bartlett, Anton Chekhov's English biographer and director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, writes about the plight of Chekhov's house-museum in Yalta, Crimea, at OpenDemocracy.net.
Slovenia: Carnival in Ptuj
Adventures in Wheelville posts pictures and video and writes about the carnival in Ptuj: “The carnival was a good time like a mini Mardi Gras and it gave me hope that at least some people in this country know and want to have a good time.”
Estonia: Lessons of the Ukrainian Election
Itching for Eestimaa writes that “the underwhelming victory of Viktor Yanukovich over Yulia Tymoshenko last week has caused all sorts of soul searching in Estonia and, in general, the West”: “Indeed, there are lessons to be learned.”
EU, Greece: Greek PM Parody
Greater Surbiton mocks the the Greek prime minister's comment on the EU-Greek relationship in the time of financial crisis.
The Balkans, Italy: Berlusconi's “Albanian Girls” Comment; Doctored Photo
Balkan Travellers re-posts a Balkan Insight piece about the Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi's comment that “his country would accept only pretty Albanian girls as immigrants.” Belgraded writes about the photoshopped photos of Berlusconi and Slobodan Milosevic: “Fours days after the [doctored] photo was published, Milosevic lost the elections by a...
Kenya: Walk Thru Black History Month in Nairobi
Walk Thru Black History Month will take place in Nairobi on February 27, 2010: “To honor Black History Month 2010, Paa Ya Paa has invited two distinguished African-American scholars from International Foundation for Education and Self-Help (IFESH) to further enlighten us about our mutual cultural, historical and spiritual heritage.”
Macedonia: Official Website of Skopje Old Bazaar
Archaeological Diary informs [MKD] about the opening of the official website [MKD] for governmental Program for Revitalization of the Old Bazaar in Skopje, one of the most significant cultural treasures from the Ottoman period. Archeologist Vasilka Dimitrovska notes that for true revitalization, one has to work on providing content and...
Ada Lovelace Day 2010
Ada Lovelace Day is an international initiative striving to increase content about achievements of women in technology and science, named after the world's first programmer Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), Lord Byron‘s daughter, also famous as a character in the seminal steampunk novel The Difference Engine by Gibson...
Jamaica, U.S.A.: R.I.P. Rex
Both Labrish and Repeating Islands republish The New York Times’ obituary on the late Jamaican educator and choreographer, Rex Nettleford.
Bahamas, Haiti: Migration Debate
“The level of ignorance, fear and hate-mongering surrounding the Haitian migration to the Bahamas is astounding – especially when one considers the fact that Africans living in Haiti achieved the first successful slave revolt in history against one of the world's most advanced nations”: Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit weighs...
Cuba: Educational Autonomy
“In these two years since Raul Castro came to power, expulsions for ideological reasons have continued – and are on an upward course – in the centers of higher education”: Generation Y blogs about evictions in Cuban universities.
Cambodia: “Please don't walk through the mass grave”
Anne Elizabeth Moore posts a picture of a signpost from Cambodia which reads: “Please don't walk through the mass grave”
Africa: Colonialism alive and well after 50 years of independence
2010 will mark the 50th year of francophone African countries' independence from Belgium and France. While official celebrations are under way, debate about colonialism, past and present, is simmering on blogs in North, Central and Western Africa.