Earth Day, which is celebrated annually on April 22, is usually commemorated with outdoor activities demonstrating support for environmental protection. These include planting trees, collecting roadside or beach trash, and conducting, or participating in, recycling and conservation programs....

With over three-quarters of the country under mandatory shutdown orders, and more joining daily, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced hundreds of businesses to shutter and led to widespread layoffs. To mitigate the coronavirus outbreak's economic impact, US lawmakers have passed a $2.2 trillion emergency relief bill, the largest economic rescue package in the nation's history....

With schools and businesses closed and many cities and towns under mandatory shelter-in-place orders, the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has drastically changed lives globally within a matter of weeks. To bring joy, optimism, and strength during this difficult period, people and organizations worldwide are performing random acts of kindness for total strangers. Here are a few heartwarming deeds that will bring a smile to your face during these unprecedented times....

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the COVID-19 coronavirus global emergency is now a pandemic. The UN health agency urged countries worldwide to "double-down" on their efforts to curtail the spread of the infectious disease, which has swept into at least 114 countries and killed over 4,000 people in less than three months....

And in the blink of an eye, winter is over — at least when it comes to the clocks. On March 8, 2020, most Americans will "spring forward" by moving their clocks an hour ahead. Though the start of Daylight Saving Time (DST) means sacrificing sixty minutes of precious sleep or playtime on Sunday, it provides for longer spring and summer days....

March 3, 2020, marked the most significant day of voting in the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination fight. Also known as Super Tuesday, it was the day when 14 states and one US territory (American Samoa) held primary elections and caucuses. The results provided the first real indication of the likely Democratic nominee for the November presidential elections against the incumbent Republican nominee, President Donald Trump....

Though India is home to numerous fun festivals, few are as revered or as widely celebrated as Holi, the festival of colors. Commemorated annually on the last full moon day of the Hindu calendar month Phalguna, this year, the joyous holiday will take place on March 10, 2020....

Since the beginning of 2020, the East African country of Kenya has been battling the nation's worst desert locust outbreak in over 70 years. The destructive swarms, some as big as three times the size of New York City — an estimated 192 billion insects — are eating their way through thousands of acres of crops and animal pastures, decimating livelihoods in the process. Even worse, the locusts, which arrived from neighboring Somalia and Ethiopia, are now spreading to other countries, including Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Congo....

At first sight, Sky Brown may appear to be like any other 11-year-old with a passion for skateboarding. However, spend a few minutes observing the young girl on the ramp, and you will realize that she is no ordinary skater, but a prodigy with several accolades under her belt. In addition to clinching the gold at the United Kingdom (UK) National Skateboarding Championship in 2019, she is currently ranked third in the world for women in the "park" discipline....

As is the case during every election year, the race for the US Presidency kicked off on February 3, 2020, with the Iowa caucus. However, after a malfunction in an app used to count and report the votes put the results of the Democratic winner in doubt, all attention turned to the year's second noteworthy poll — the New Hampshire primary, which took place on Tuesday, February 11, 2020....

On December 31, 2019, Chinese officials announced that 27 people in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei province, had been infected with a new strain of the coronavirus. Since then, the number of cases of the contagious affliction labeled 2019-nCoV, COVID-19, or Wuhan virus, have rapidly increased, with new cases being reported daily. On Thursday, January 30, 2020, The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global emergency, highlighting the urgency for a rapid coordinated international response to curb this global health risk....

Sports fans around the world are struggling to reconcile with the sudden loss of American basketball icon Kobe Bryant. The 41-year-old died on January 26, 2020, when his private helicopter crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California — about 30 miles away from Los Angeles. The crash also killed the chopper's eight other occupants — Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna, her middle school basketball assistant coach Christina Mauser, Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan....

In early January 2020, less than two years after their fairytale wedding, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle announced their intention to step away as "senior" members of the Royal Family. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who revealed the surprising news on their official Instagram account, @sussexroyal, said that though they planned to divide their time between North America and England, they fully expected to continue fulfilling their royal obligations....

On January 25, 2020, over 1.6 billion people of Asian descent across the globe will celebrate the first day of the Chinese New Year — China's grandest festival and longest public holiday. Also known as the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, it is observed on the first day of the lunar calendar, the dates of which fall somewhere between January 21 and February 20 annually....

Happy 2020! At the stroke of midnight on December 31, 2019, cities worldwide rang in both a new year and a new decade with dazzling fireworks shows. Here are some of this year's most spectacular displays from around the world....

On Wednesday, December 18, 2019, members of the US House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump on two charges — abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198). The historic decision culminates a three-month inquiry by House Democrats into whether or not the US leader pressured Ukraine to conduct investigations for his personal political benefit. However, the impeachment process is far from over. Here is how we got to this moment and what to expect next....

Hanukkah is one of the most anticipated and joyous of all Jewish festivals. Although the celebration always begins on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month on the Hebrew calendar, that date can fall anywhere between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar. This year, the eight-day festival will begin at sundown on December 22, 2019, and continue through December 30, 2019....

Time Inc.'s "Person of the Year" tradition began in 1927, when the magazine commemorated 25-year-old aviator Charles Lindbergh for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Though the media franchise has since recognized several young people for their global influence, it has never given the important distinction to a teenager. But then again, few teens are as passionate about their mission as 2019's "Person of The Year"— 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg....

While America's highest office — the presidency — remains elusive to women, Finland has just elected its third female premier. Even more impressive, 34-year-old Sanna Marin, who was sworn into office on December 10, 2019, is the youngest prime minister in Finland's history, and the world's youngest sitting government head. Prior to this, that honor belonged to New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern, who was 37 years old when she took office in October 2017....

On December 7, 2019, David Datuna was admiring the modern and contemporary works of art on display from 200 of the world's leading galleries at Miami's Art Basel, when hunger pangs hit. Fortunately for the New York-based artist, there was a ripe banana just waiting to be eaten. The only problem? The tropical fruit stuck to the wall with duct tape was no ordinary banana — it was an art installation that had just been sold by Perrotin, an international art gallery, for $120,000!...

The low percentage of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is often attributed to men being believed to be better at the sort of thinking those fields require. Though several studies have debunked the myth, they have largely been based on results acquired from various standardized tests. Now, researchers from Pennsylvania's Carnegie Mellon University have found evidence that is hard to overlook: brain scans proving that young girls and boys use the same mechanisms and networks in the brain to solve math problems....

A perfectly-preserved copy of Marvel's first-ever comic book was sold to an anonymous buyer for a record $1.26 million by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions on November 21, 2019. Published in 1939 by Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics, it features an android superhero called The Human Torch, a costumed detective known as Angel, and a mutant anti-hero dubbed Namor the Sub-Mariner....

Not a fan of the increasingly shorter winter days? Then you may want to avoid the town of Utqiagvik, Alaska. That's because the northernmost city in the US just experienced its last sunset of the year on November 19, 2019. Even worse, it will not witness a sunrise again until January 23, 2020. More precisely, that means 65 consecutive days, or 1,560 hours, of no daylight....

Venice, which is built on 118 small islands in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon at the tip of the Adriatic Sea in Northern Italy, is no stranger to floods. The picturesque city experiences water surges from the rising tides at least four times a year, usually during winter....