One of my beefs with our current world of instant news is that many of these stories started a long time ago and the current event is only a small chapter in this story. So it is nice to find a site dedicated to looking at these events with a historical perspective.
Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective was originally done in magazine form years ago – it went away much to the lament of its readers – it is now back as a monthly online site. The site is part of the History Department of The Ohio State University. It is worth checking out.