The evidence that backs up World War II stereotypes

From the BBC

"We all know the cliches of World War II - that the German military was ruthless and brutal, for example, and Italian soldiers gave up without a fight.

But sometimes cliches are true. New evidence published this month in Germany indicates that the stereotypes were not mere propaganda but accurate pictures of reality."

Coal miner to future Queen : Kate Middleton's family tree

The BBC have an interesting infographic showing the comparative family trees of the royal couple ahead of their marriage in a few days. Kate Middleton's family tree is interesting as on one side of her family are coal miners and general labourers up until the end of the First World War and manual workers up until the mid part of the 20th century.

It should be noted though that this isn't that unusual. The 1920s saw a great social upheaval with many families moving up (and down) the "social scale".

• Kate Middleton family tree

Signed up for the Masters

After months of "umming" and "ahhing" i have finally made a decision about my future academic career and signed up for a Masters degree... actually no that is a lie i knew it was going to do MA History with the Open University at least a month ago but just didn't get around to actually signing up for it! Still thats done now and i shall be a student again on the 1st of October (assuming they accept me and i can't see why not).

I think it will take about 3 years to do the Masters, half the time it took me to get my 2:1 BA Honours with them but i guess it will all be at a higher level without the need for the introductory stuff but i am ready. This was my long term goal really when i started my OU career over 6 years ago, BA, MA and then PhD? And then have my own history programme on Channel 5. Well maybe not the latter.

I am looking forward to it though maybe not the TMAs again and the dissertation i will have to do eventually i shall try and keep from my mind for now...

Yuri Gagarin: First human space flight celebrated

From the BBC

"Russia is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed a single orbit of Earth.

It will be marked by ceremonies and a 50-gun salute at the Kremlin in Moscow."

• Follow Yuri Gagarin's flight (Guardian)
• The day the Earth stood still (Indy)
• Yuri Gagarin in pictures (Telegraph)

Luftwaffe Dornier 17 at Goodwin Sands 'still intact'

From the BBC

"The discovery of a unique German warplane off the Kent coast left experts "incredulous". New images suggest the Dornier 17 is still intact and there are hopes that it will go on show.

They called it "the flying pencil": a slim, elegant aircraft originally designed in 1934 to carry passengers, which by the start of World War II had been converted into a deadly weapon of war."

First homosexual caveman found

From the Telegraph

"The male body – said to date back to between 2900-2500BC – was discovered buried in a way normally reserved only for women of the Corded Ware culture in the Copper Age.

The skeleton was found in a Prague suburb in the Czech Republic with its head pointing eastwards and surrounded by domestic jugs, rituals only previously seen in female graves."