Building on the huge success of past Wasaga under Siege events, the Historic Military Establishment of Upper Canada in partnership with the Town of Wasaga Beach, Ontario Parks, Town of Collingwood and Nancy Island Historic Site look forward to hosting you once again from August 16th to the 18th, 2013.

Earlier this year, Sandy Gowland of Old Time Patterns issued a challenge: create an historical costume. Some entrants used existing patterns, while others made their own. The winner was announced on May 25, 2013. The results can be viewed on the website.

In a move that is tragically not part of an SCA Today April Fool's story, two Hollywood production companies are teaming up to make a movie based on Medieval Times "Dinner and Tournament" theme restaurant.

Shipwreck diver Todd Stevens hopes he has found a gem at the bottom of the ocean near the Isles of Scilly in the form of the Lizzy, a shipwreck which may have belonged to Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh lost a ship, the Flying Joan, in the area in 1617.

New small cider and mead breweries are cropping up in Maryland, part of a larger resurgence in these drinks. The brewers are mixing traditional methods with modern sensibilities, like focusing on locally-grown ingredients.

In an Amsterdam mall,  a costumed flash mob chases a thief, rappels down ropes, and surprises modern shoppers to recreate "The Night Watch", and advertise the reopening of the Rijksmuseum. (video)

Copper, bronze and brass cooking pots, which had been buried during the Thirty Years War, were unearthed in Guetzkow, Germany.

Low water in Stockholm's harbor reveals the outline of two sunken warships believed to be from the 17th century.

Aiden Norris, son of Brynjolf Brandrsmitr aka Bruce, of the Barony of the Lonely Tower, has recently been accepted into the ranks of the Junior Team USA for the martial art of Kendo. His family seeks sponsors and donations to help meet mandatory travel expenses for the competitions.

The earliest documents relating to the city of St. Augustine, Florida (USA) are being digitized for preservation. The documents cover the time period from 1594 to 1763 CE.

David J. Brunelle, Co-ordinator Historical Displays/Exhibits for Tall Ships 1812 in Midland and Penetanguishene Ontario is seeking re-enactors, artisans, entertainers, and historical displays for the event to be held August 24-25, 2013.

A copy of a doctorial dissertation by Canadian scholar Emily Frances Winerock has been placed in the University of Toronto Research Repository. An abstract of the paper, Reformation and Revelry: The Practices and Politics of Dancing in Early Modern England, c.1550-c.1640, is available online.

A grad student visiting Fort Vancouver, Washington (USA) in 1982 noticed some bricks at the fort that didn't look like the others. Analysis later revealed that these bricks were made in Roman England.

A stash of "street toys", dated from 1570-1630, was unearthed in an old stairwell of the Market Harborough parish church, England.

Decades after J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, one of the "two towers" which may have inspired the writer in the second book, has been purchased with plans for restoration. (video)

February 9, 2013, marked the 900th birthday of the founding of the Knights of Malta, a Roman Catholic religious order noted for its charitable works. The group celebrated its birthday with a parade around St. Peter's Square and a visit with Pope Benedict XVI, who is himself a member of the Knights.

Ancient meets modern when Pope Benedict XVI tweeked his first message last month - in Latin. Since that time, the Pope has amassed 2.5 million followers.

A complete set of silver playng cards, created in Germany in 1616, was acquired through auction in 2010 by entrepreneur Selim Zilkha. Legend tells that the set was owned by a Portuguese princess who fled Napoleon in 1807. (photos)

Fans of rapier combat and regency romance will appreciate a short film by Leo Burton. The Duel At Blood Creek is the winner of several short film awards. [OOP and PG13]

Want to know what a deck of cards looked like at Henry VIII's table? How about Salladin? The World of Playing Cards is the place to find out!

Lady Anne Clifford, a favorite in Queen Elizabeth I's court, was no shrinking violet, and was, in fact, one of the earliest feminists. Her 600,000-word manuscript, Great Books of Record, is set to be released in a new, complete edition.

In 1609, King James I for England tricked nine Scottish clan chiefs into captivity on the Island of Iona, where they were held until agreeing to submit to the Statutes of Iona, designed to break Scottish allegiance to their homeland and bolster British rule. Sarah Fraser of History Today has the story.

Diver and shipwreck  hunter Todd Stevens thinks he has found a wreck worthy of Hollywood: The John, the craft of notorious privateer John Mucknell, known as the Pirate King of Scilly.

Scientists from Oxford University have determined the diet of sailors aboard the Mary Rose, based on the study of 80 skeletons from the Royal Naval Hospital, as well as the shipwreck. Their report has been published in the American Journal of Phsyical Anthropology.

The next time you are in Seoul, Korea, make sure to visit the Simone Handbag Museum, whick opens in the Gangnam District in August. The museum will feature mostly European purses from the 16th century through modern times.

On his blog Muhlberger's World History, Steve Muhlberger announces an upcoming book The Songs and Travel of a Tudor Minstrel by Andrew Taylor.

A pair of professors from Oxford University believe they have confirmed William Shakespeare's collaborator, at least for the comedy All's Well that Ends Well. They believe it is Thomas Middleton, who worked with the Bard on Timon of Athens.

A shipwreck found off the coast of Ireland carried an exotic cargo of Iberian pottery and coconuts. The coconuts, which likely sank in the late 16th or early 17th century, would mark the earliest known arrival of this fruit in Ireland.

Beneath the earthwork of Fort Pocahontas in Virginia lies a treasure: Fort James, the first permanent English settlement in the New World. Now archaeologists must make a painful decision: preserve a Civil War fort or discover the secrets of the 1607 settlement.

Records from more than 1.8 million ships that sailed through the Danish sound will go online in May 2012. The records date from the mid 15th century to 1857.