Each year, for the past thirty or so years, I have found a copy of The World Almanac and Book of Facts in my stocking. The first section I go to always is the obituaries. Each year, without fail, I am surprised to find people I thought either still alive, or long dead, on the list.
For the past few years, the second place I go is the Computers & Telecommunications section.
Besides some interesting facts, such as Yahoo sites combined got more hits in July of 2006 than Google sites, there is a list of what the editors believe to be useful webpages.
Each year they've become more selective, weeding out the popular for the interesting. Now it's my turn to weed even more. I have visited each of the recommended sites not already in my bookmarks, or Google Reader feeds.
Using Thunderbird's option of Bookmarking All Tabs, I name the folder 2008Almanac.
Here is the list of sites that have made it through the weeder.
The first has to be The World Almanac Blog. The feed from this delivers a daily dose of interesting facts to my reader.
The rest I will list without comment for you to explore on your own:
Resource Shelf
American Memory & Exhibitions
The British Library
Internet Archive
NYPL Digital Gallery
Though each of the sites listed above are of interest, the one that kept me the longest this morning was Our Documents. Here are digital images of the actual documents in file at the National Archives. See the Gettysburg Address in Lincoln's handwriting, the hand corrected copy of FDR's December 8, 1941 speech to a joint session of congress. See the actual treaty completing the Louisiana Purchase... 100 documents going up to the Civil Rights Act.
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