Ninety-six years ago, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, which precipitated the start of the War to End All Wars, World War I. And today, we can finally put that Great War to rest: Germany paid back the final installment of reparation payments set in 1919's Treaty of Versailles. The Allied victors, particularly Britain, France and America, agreed to an initial sum for war damages, around £132 billion by today's equivalency. Hitler stopped the payments in the 1930's, which helped propel him to power. Germany paid over £60 million today in a bond to erase the debt. Today is also the 20th anniversary of reunification in Germany. Hopefully now they will think twice before starting WWII. more ›

It may not feel like the time to think about the beach, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has cleanup crews combing the sand of Surf City, NJ—so far, it's found over 450 "potentially explosive fuses and ordnance" (from the World War I period) since late January. The AP reports, "The corps unwittingly sucked the munitions from the sea bed and pumped them ashore as part of a beach replenishment project begun in late 2006. Beachgoers began finding them in 2007." D'oh! While some people are upset they had no idea there was a sandbag bunker nearby, one woman told NBC 10, "I don’t think they’ll explode -- they’re old and they’re rusted." Over a thousand have been found in the past two years and it's hoped the cleanup will be completed by May for this year's beach season. more ›

We suppose that if you're a UN inspector who just investigated an Iraqi chemical weapons facility, you might be too tired to store poisonous chemicals properly and might just throw them into storage. Last week, archivists at the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission discovered phosgene, a hazardous material that was "used during World War I as a choking agent" in files dating back to the 1990s, prompting the FBI and NYPD to head to the UNMOVIC's offices on 48th Street at 1st Avenue. more ›

TASTING: Forget wine and cheese...come pair up your favorite fromages with some beer! FreeNYC points us to Bierkraft - Park Slope's proprietor of some of the finest microbrews, cheeses, and chocolates. They're having a pairing of 5 beers with 5 cheese tonight, here's what's on the menu: more ›

THEATER: This week is your last chance to see Roundabout’s acclaimed revival of George Bernard Shaw’s comedy Heartbreak House, which dips into the unlikely romantic combos that blossom on an estate on the English countryside. But amidst all the clever conversation and flirtation, Shaw hones in on the stunning complacency that pervaded the privileged classes at the dawn of World War I. Heartbreak House stars the brilliant Swoozie Kurtz, who the Times says “may just be the most seductive woman on a New York stage right now.” - John Del Signore more ›

Wednesday night, recently installed barriers helped avert a disaster at Teterboro Airport. WABC 7 Eyewitness News reports that a ten ton jet missed a turn while taxiing after landing and "was headed toward the airport fence and busy Route 46." Luckily, it hit an "arrestor bed," which is a "system of collapsible concrete barriers that can stop a plane" yet not damage it. Brilliant! But what's extra lucky: The arrestors were only installed a few days ago. more ›

Fashion Week is upon us once again, and even outside of Bryant Park it's hard to not notice. Coinciding with Fashion Week, the Museum at FIT opens a new show, Love and War: The Weaponized Woman. more ›

Playbill reported yesterday that South Pacific, the only Rodgers & Hammerstein musical not yet revived, will be back next year. No surprise there – every other hit show from the 20th century has had a second stint now, so it’s more a wonder that this one has taken so long. A Chorus Line just closed in 1990 and is already scheduled to reappear this fall; there are even rumors of Cats embarking on a second life in the not-too-distant future, and it only closed in 2000. This is why we would keep going to off-off-Broadway shows even if we could afford the big tickets: while there are certainly plenty of small troupes that perform from a standard repertoire of old classics, these are often adapted beyond recognition, and in general at any given time there are far more brand-new works than warmed-over, recycled stuff. more ›

Teterboro Airport was originally a World War I airplane manufacturing site.
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