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The Friday Digest 05/04/13

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THP Friday digest


The Friday Digest brings you the best of the week's history news gathered from the experts:
 

*  Do you remember the dawn of the mobile phone in the 1970s? 3 April marked the 40th anniversary of the first call. Motorola's press release for the first mobile phone makes for pretty interesting reading too, the dimensions are mind-boggling to modern readers!

As Amazon Acquires Goodreads, Twitter Shock Ensues. Amazon's acquisition of the popular booksharing platform has sent shockwaves rippling through the publishing industry. Will this move introduce Goodreads to a new audience or does the idea of them cosying up to Amazon make you less inclined to use the platform?

Is the dislike for Amazon justified? Mackenzie Bezos, author and wife of Amazon founder, defends the online retailer, and this discussion from Publishing Perspectives suggests that this move could actually work in authors and readers' favours. 


* Jennifer Fosberry looked at 6 ways that libraries can inspire you after writing a book encouraging her daughter to expand her horizons. As the Horrible Histories book series 'naturally comes to an end' do you think that libraries and the books you read as a child helped to inspire your love of reading and expand your horizons? 



* The BBC's Great British Class Survey has suggested there are seven identifiable social groupings in the UK but Tom Heyden believes that it's not that easy to see where you fit into the class structure.  What class are you? Take the test now and share your results on Twitter



* The English language has been in the news a lot this week with people asking whether spelling really does matter (controversial topic, I know!) and also where some commonly used words in the English language came from. Do you know the far-flung origins of the word bungalow or robot?  Test your etymological knowledge with the Telegraph's English language quiz



* We at THP are big fans of social media and we always encourage our authors to get involved in social networking. This article looks at the top ten most prolific authors on Twitter and this one explains why authors should embrace the second most popular social media platform. (hint, that accolade may tell you why...)



* From the 6 April 2013, the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, Bodleian Libraries, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin, gain powers to archive the entire UK web, along with e-journals, e-books and other formats. Curators and experts from all the participating libraries have chosen 100 websites which they judge will be essential reading for future generations researching our life and times in 2013.

Narrowing this list down to only 100 websites sounds like a daunting task but these experts have done a good job. Are there any websites that you would add?


* As tensions escalate on the Korean peninsula, Rowena Hammal explains how the division of Korea led to the Korean War and the ongoing tension between North and South Korea.



* The ring that may have inspired JRR Tolkien goes on display at The Vyne exhibition. A "Ring Room" has been created in association with the Tolkien Society. A spokesman said it told the "incredible story of this ring, the Roman tablet inscribed with a curse on the man who stole it, and its fascinating connections with Tolkien."

I imagine that there will be a lot of excited Tolkien fans queueing up to see the one ring that inspired it all...


On that note, happy Friday!


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