India's Spring Festival Is Like None Other!Indians love festivals! Not a month goes by without a celebration. But none are as fun as Holi, the festival of color. Held annually at the beginning of spring on the day after a full moon, this year's festival happens to be today - March 27th, 2013....
Read news articleApollo Rocket Engines Salvaged From Seabed After More Than 40 YearsThanks to the efforts of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, two engines from the Apollo rockets that delivered man to the moon, have been dug up from their watery grave, more than 40 years after they landed back on earth....
Read news articleWant To Save Our Planet? Take The Earth Hour Challenge This SaturdayWhile all of us cannot be as enterprising as Felix Finkbeiner, the 13-year-old German school boy that has spearheaded a global eco campaign, we can still help reverse global warming trends with small things - Like switching off all lights and electronic devices for an hour, which is what hundreds of millions of people all over the world are planning to do from 8.30-9.30 on Saturday, March 23rd, in celebration of Earth Hour. Believe it or not, this minor action will go a long way in helping global warming....
Read news article600-Year-Old Rare Coin Found In Kenya May Change HistoryThanks to the discovery numerous Portuguese chronicles, historians have always believed that it was Vasco Da Gama, the Portuguese explorer that sailed around Africa to India and back between 1497 and 1499, who first began trading with East Africa. However, the recent discovery of a rare coin in Kenya, may convince them to rethink that theory....
Read news articleCelebrating Women's History MonthAmerican historian Laurel Ulrich once said 'Well-behaved women rarely make history' - And she was right! Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and others did not help win the war against slavery and apartheid by following the rules. Today in honor of Women's History Month, we present a few more women and a teenager, whose bold behavior and courage to break conventional wisdom helped pave the way for the respect and equality enjoyed by their counterparts today....
Read news articleHappy Saint Patrick's Day!Happy St. Patrick's Day! Unfortunately it is a Sunday, which means that you cannot pinch your school friends (not wearing green) and get away with it, but there are always unsuspecting family members and neighbors that you can have fun with. Also, be sure to go on an extensive search for those lucky four-leaf clovers and seek out leprechauns that will hopefully lead you to the elusive pot of gold. But before you do all that, don't forget to read about the man whose death anniversary we celebrate and how all these unusual customs began....
Read news articleWill The World's Largest Telescope Help Unveil The Secrets Of Our Origins?On March 13th, 2013, hundreds of scientists, government officials and journalists, made the trek to Northern Chile to witness the official inauguration of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array or ALMA, the world's most powerful ground-based telescope....
Read news articlePi Day Celebrates 25th Anniversary!Today is the 25th birthday of Pi Day! Yes, believe it or not, we actually set aside a day to celebrate the numerical constant that represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, on a flat plane surface. Why was March 14th selected? Because while Pi has been calculated to one trillion digits past the decimal point, we all simply recognize it as 3.14, which also happens to be, today's date....
Read news articleWelcome To Coober Pedy - Australia's Bustling Underground TownWalk into the small Australian town of Coober Pedy on any given day, and you will get the eerie feeling of an abandoned ghost town - One where even the structures seem to have been razed to the ground, leaving behind just barren land. So why even call it a town? Because that's exactly what it is, complete with 4,000 plus residents of 48 nationalities all of whom - Live underground!...
Read news articleYay! Daylight Saving Time Is Here!For those of you that are a little tired of the recent snowstorms here is some good news - Winter is finally over at least, as far as the clocks are concerned. That's because this weekend most Americans, as well as, a number of other countries in the Northern Hemisphere will 'Spring Forward', by moving their clocks ahead by an hour. Also referred to as Daylight Saving or British Summer Time, this age-old tradition dates all the way back to World War One....
Read news articleNordic Babies Take 'Chilling Out' To A New LevelIf you happen to visit the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway or Denmark, you may encounter a rather strange sight - Babies napping in their strollers outside homes, daycare centers and coffee shops even, during mid-winter when temperatures are below freezing....
Read news articleContinue Celebrating 'Read Across America Day' With These Inspiring AuthorsFriday, March 1st, was Read Across America - A special day set aside to honor the birthday of our beloved author, Dr. Seuss - one during which schools, libraries and bookstores all around the country, hosted special events to encourage kids to read....
Read news articleAlaska's 41st Iditarod Race Begins With Ceremonial StartOn Saturday, March 2nd, sixty-six mushers and their teams of between 12-16 dogs received a rousing send off from enthusiastic fans in Anchorage, Alaska, as they began the first-leg of the grueling world-renowned trail sled dog competition - The Iditarod!...
Read news articleMona Lisa Upstaged - By A Younger, Happier Version!While 15th Century artist Leonardo da Vinci painted many masterpieces, including the 'Last Supper, which depicts the final meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his crucifixion, he is most famous for a small 77 cm x 53 cm painting that sits encased in bullet proof glass at the Louvre museum in Paris - The Mona Lisa! Now, it turns out that she may have some competition - A younger, happier version believed to have been painted by the Renaissance artist sometime between 1410-1455....
Read news articleArtist 'Sculpts' Shimmering Tapestries From Flattened Bottle TopsFrom a distance, El Anatsui's shimmering tapestries look like just any other beautiful work of art made from the best silks available. However, come closer and you will realize that they are not made from the finest materials but, from flattened bottle tops. Come even closer and you will be able to read the names of all the liquor bottles they came from!...
Read news articleNorwegian Television Special Featuring 8-Hours Of A Crackling Fire Draws One Million ViewersOn Friday February 22nd, over one million people or about 20 percent of Norway's population settled down with their buckets of popcorn to watch a 12-hour special mini-series! The highlight? Eight exciting hours of a crackling fire!...
Read news articleMeet Nine-Year-Old Quvenzhane Wallis - Oscar's Youngest Lead Actress Nominee EverGetting any kind of role in a movie is a dream come true for an aspiring actor. However, what if in the very first audition he/she gets cast in the lead role, which leads to the nomination of Hollywood's prestigious Oscar award. That, is exactly what is happening with the lead star of Beasts of the Southern Wild - Nine-year-old, Quvenzhane Wallis....
Read news articleHomeless Man's Honesty Pays Back In SpadesOn February 9th, 2013, Kansas City resident Sarah Darling was walking along the street when she encountered a homeless man by the name of Billy Ray Harris. Instinctively, she reached into her change purse and emptied out all the coins she had into his collection can. Little did either realize that this small act of generosity, would change their lives forever....
Read news articlePresidents Are Just Like Us!If you live in the USA, chances are you are enjoying a three-day weekend or better still, a week-long 'ski' break, thanks to President's Day, a holiday to honor all the brave men that have led our country and in some cases, even sacrificed their lives....
Read news articleWhy This Nickel Could Be Worth Millions Of DollarsA nickel is a nickel is a nickel right? Wrong! Turns out that once in very rare blue moon, this five-cent coin may be worth millions! That apparently is the case with this special 1913 nickel, only five of which, were ever minted....
Read news articleOMG - The New Kid In Class Is A . . . Robot!On February 5th, 2013, the fifth grade students at Japan's Higashihikari Elementary School welcomed a new student. However, unlike other newcomers, he was not shy and seemed to instantly recognize all 119 kids by their names. Impressed? You will be even more so, when you find out that Robovie is not human but a robot, masquerading as a fifth-grade student!...
Read news articleEx-Paratrooper Shares Special Bond With WolvesHumans have been known to develop strong bonds with the most dangerous of animals - Kevin Richardson treats lions like kitty cats, Andre Hartman has a special bond with Great White Sharks and now there is 79-year old Werner Freund who has spent the last 40 years of his life, in the company of wolves....
Read news articleKila Raipur's Rural Olympics Are Like None OtherIf you think Olympic athletes that have four years to train in between events have it rough, then you haven't met the sportsmen and women that participate in the Kila Raipur Olympics. Not only do they compete every year, but also, do so in 'sporting events' that require very unusual skills and in some cases, almost inhuman strength. Also, even though the villagers don't spend millions of dollars on special venues, shows and firework extravaganzas, these games appear to be much more fun than the real deal!...
Read news articleChina Welcomes Year Of The SnakeToday, over 1.3 billion people in China and millions of ethnic Chinese all over the world will celebrate the first day of the Chinese or Lunar New Year - the longest and most significant of all Chinese Festivals. Also known as the Spring Festival, it is a four thousand year-old tradition that began as a way to mark the end of the dreary winter season and beginning of spring....
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