British languages 'in danger of dying out within a generation'

From the Telegraph

"Researchers from Cambridge University compiled a database of all that is known about languages which have disappeared in the recent past or are at risk.

Among them are Old Kentish Sign Language, a forerunner to the standard British Sign Language which was documented by Samuel Pepys in his diaries when he noted a silent conversation between a friend and his deaf servant about a fire in Whitehall in November 1666. However, no one is now thought to use it."

BBC chief Reith's abdication verdict revealed

From the BBC

"The head of the BBC believed a "miserable, second-rate American woman" was behind the abdication of Edward VIII, archive documents reveal.

The corporation's then director general Sir John Reith made the comments after Edward's historic 1936 radio address."

14th-century King Arthur manuscript sold for £2.4m

From the Indy

"An illuminated 14th century manuscript containing what is believed to be the oldest surviving account of the legends of King Arthur sold today for more than £2 million.

The Rochefoucauld Grail, a colourful illustrated account of the knights of the round table, Merlin and the Holy Grail, was sold by auction house Sotheby's in London."

Neanderthals: how needles and skins gave us the edge on our kissing cousins

From the Guardian

"On the ground floor of the Natural History Museum in London, arrays of Formica-covered cabinets stretch from floor to ceiling and from one end of the great building to the other. Some of nature's finest glories are stored here: pygmy hippo bones from Sicily, mammoth tusks from Siberia and skulls of giant sloths from South America.

Many treasures compete for attention, but there is one sample, kept in a small plywood box, that deserves especial interest: the Swanscombe skull. Found near Gravesend last century, it is made up of three pieces of the brain case of a 400,000-year-old female and is one of only half-a-dozen bits of skeleton that can be traced to men and women who lived in Britain before the end of the last ice age. Human remains do not get more precious than this."

Down Pompeii? The ruin of Italy's cultural heritage

From the Indy

"Collapses at the ancient site of Pompeii underline what experts have been warning for years: Italy's priceless cultural heritage is slowly but surely disintegrating and the famous archeological site's decay is a metaphor for the nation."

Operation Mincemeat: How a dead tramp fooled Hitler

From the BBC

"During World War II, the Nazis fell for an audacious British plot to pass off a dead tramp as an officer carrying secret documents. How - and are such tactics still in use today?

Rat poison does not furnish the desperate with an easy death. But this was how Glyndwr Michael, jobless and homeless in the winter of 1943, ended his life."

Staffordshire Hoard wanted by museums around the world

From the Birmingham Post

"The Staffordshire Hoard could be taken on a world tour after dozens of museums said they would like to host the Anglo-Saxon treasure."