Internet Archaeology's purpose is to "preserve these [graphic] artifacts and acknowledge their importance in understanding the beginnings and birth of an Internet Culture."  Their collection ranges from Flash, MIDI, Y2K and various still and moving images.  Link [via MeFi]

[Pictured Above, www.geocities.com/TheTropics/2428/bldg/05-1.gif - 1998 - Ron's Beach House]

Christine Adams tells the story of her aunt's determination to fight developers from destroying her cottage and moving her home brick by brick 100 miles away.

For May Savidge was determined to beat developers and planners who threatened to crush her historic cottage under a road-building project.

Long before conservation became fashionable, she decided to move her home lock, stock and barrel from busy Ware High Street in Hertfordshire to a Norfolk backwater 100 miles away.

And move it she did, in a 23-year labour of love, during which she battled the authorities, deathwatch beetles, rats and her failing health, accompanied only by her faithful dog, Sasha.

Full article - Link (via MeFi)

Here is a quick history of Cinco de Mayo [wiki] brought to you by the folks over at Rocketboom.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

David Griner twitters the line-a-day diary written by his great-aunt, Genny Spencer, from 1937 to 1941:

Late last year, my family found a line-a-day diary maintained by my great-aunt from 1937 to 1941. She was in her early teens, living on a small farm in rural Illinois with her two brothers, one of which was my grandfather.

It's a fascinating account of life in a bygone era, a time when my family's only connections to the world were schoolhouse chatter and a neighbor's radio.

Looking at the terse journal, my sister quipped, "This is the Twitter of the 1930s."

Twitter account of Genny Spencer - Link
A daily diary of Depression-era life, told on Twitter: The Social Path - Link

Irish photographer David Creedon has put together an online photographic gallery called Ghosts of the Faithful Departed.  Creedon writes:

It has been estimated that between 1949 and 1989 well over 800,000 people were forced to leave Ireland.  Something in the order of half of this outflow occurred during the 1950s.  The peak was reached in 1955 when 55,000 young people left our shores.  In a census taken in 1956 the population of the country fell to 2.8 million the lowest ever recorded and led one author to question "Are we becoming the Vanishing Irish and would we survive as a race if something wasn't done to stem the outflow"?

Those who stayed had to suffer continued hardships, isolation & social exclusion.  The rural communities were decimated by the impact of emigration.  Many of those who stayed in this decade did so in silence as they watched family members and friend's leave.  Now in a new millennium these people have passed on and their homes stand as a monument to a bygone age.

Creedon's photos are currently on display at Photofusion in London from January 23 through March 6, 2009.

Link (via MeFi)

Here is a pictorial history of how the Joker evolved from campy, annoying prankster to murderous, dark villain.  Link.

Any reviews on The Dark Knight?  Share it in the comments.

Historians have found the earliest digital computer music recording, which was made in 1951 by the BBC for a musical performance in a children's radio show.

The recording captures one of the earliest computers to use short term random access memory playing God Save the King, Baa Baa Black Sheep and a short piece of Glenn Miller's In The Mood.

The Ferranti Mark 1 computer was built by UK electrical engineering firm Ferranti in collaboration with Manchester University, UK. It was the world's first commercial computer, and nine were sold between 1951 and 1957.

Link to article.
Link to mp3 file of recording
[via MeFi]

This is a Chachapoyas mummy that was found in the Amazon rainforest of nothern Peru.  Link.

Here is a map which shows the first moonwalk done on July 21, 1969.  Link to full image.

Here is an animated mockumentary that omaggs2000 put together explaining the history of evil in western civilization from Ancient Greece to present day.  If you don't enjoy the story, you will enjoy the animation.  Link.