Today’s What We’re Reading features historical reflections on Gaza, a Jeffersonian approach to renaming California’s proposed six states, building a historical website, and much more!

Gaza: Historically Speaking

Crisis Guide: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The Council on Foreign Relations offers historical context to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a timeline and videos.

Microcosm? Modern History & Politics of the Gaza Strip

Thomas W. Hill’s reading list for his course on the history of Gaza at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Gaza Kitchen

Looking beyond the geo-politics that are so much a part of life in the Middle East, The Gaza Kitchen blog provides a different perspective by looking at foodways and culture in the region.

History Links

Six Californias? Here’s What to Call Them

Stephen Mihm uses Thomas Jefferson as inspiration for renaming the potential six states.

Notre Dame Professor Says 1960s Led to Dressing Down of Americans

Linda Przybyszewski teaches a course called A Nation of Slobs, focusing on the history of fashion and clothing in the US.

Technology

Remembering Lincoln Progress Report: User Experience Front and Center

A very clear and useful explanation from Ford’s Theatre on the process of assessing the needs of your audience when building a historical website.

How Google Programmed the “Essence” of Storytelling

Google’s new product called Stories promises to take photos users upload and automatically package them into narratives.

Fun and Off-Beat

Why Legos Keep Washing Up on a British Beach

For the past 17 years, Lego pieces have been washing up on the shores of Cornwall, England. Ironically, most of the 4.8 million pieces were nautical-themed.

In Search of America’s Best Burrito

Combining cultural studies with statistical math and Yelp reviews, Data guru Nate Silver returns to his roots with “In Search of America’s Best Burrito,” an ongoing series that not only offers insight into what goes into the food but also the context surrounding each burrito under examination. All of this is rolled up and presented as a bracket resembling college basketball’s March Madness Tournament. The most recent piece analyzes a group of death from Los Angeles.

16 Celebrities Who Are Definitely Time Lords

Celebrities and their historical doppelgangers.

This post first appeared on AHA Today.