Rafael Nadal has once again proved he is the "King of Clay." On June 5, 2022, the tennis phenom defeated Casper Rudd in three decisive sets to win a record-extending 14th French Open title. The 36-year-old is the oldest men's singles French Open champion and the first male tennis player to win 22 Grand Slam championships — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each hold 20 Grand Slam titles....

Americans are mourning the loss of innocent lives in yet another school shooting. On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, a gunman took the lives of nineteen children and two teachers, and wounded seventeen others, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The tragic incident is the second deadliest school shooting in US history, behind the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, when twenty first-graders and six staff members were killed. It marks the seventh-deadliest shooting in the country since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999....

Those looking for an excuse to indulge in some delicious donuts will be thrilled to know that June 3, 2022, is National Donut Day. This makes it your civic duty to eat at least one — or even a dozen — of the sugary treats. The yummy holiday, observed annually on the first Friday of June, is credited to the Salvation Army....

Electric vehicle (EV) sales have sharply escalated over the past three years. However, their overall global market share remains extremely low. It ranges from about 16 percent in China to just 4.5 percent in the US. One of the biggest hurdles to widespread EV car adoption is the fear of running out of charge while on the road. Israeli startup Electreon hopes to eliminate "range anxiety" by transforming highways into Electric Road Systems (ERS) that wirelessly charge vehicles as they drive....

Most of the athletes that participated in the 126th Boston Marathon on April 18, 2022, probably took some time to recuperate before embarking on another exhausting run. But not Jacky Hunt-Broersma. The Arizona-based ultra-runner completed another marathon the next day — and the day after. In fact, Jacky ran the grueling 26.2-mile distance for 104 consecutive days, from January 17 to April 30, 2022. Even more impressive, the 46-year-old did it with a prosthetic leg....

On May 12, 2022, an international team of astronomers led by scientists at the Harvard—Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics revealed the first image of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Researchers have known about the black hole, called Sagittarius A*, or Sgr A* (pronounced sadge-ay-star), since the 1970s. However, until now, its existence had only been deduced from its effect on surrounding stars and dust. The stunning picture is the first direct visual evidence of our galaxy's black hole....

Laura Young had a feeling that the 52-pound marble sculpture she bought from a Goodwill Store in Austin, Texas, in 2018, was worth more than the $34.99 she paid. However, the vintage store owner never thought it would be a priceless, 2000-year-old Roman relic dating back to the first century AD....

The partial solar eclipse on April 30, 2022, was only seen by a lucky few. However, the total lunar eclipse on the night of May 15, 2022, will be visible to about 2.7 billion people on Earth's night side. This includes the residents of North America, Africa, South America, and Central and Western Europe....

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift may consider 13 her lucky number. However, millions of people worldwide do not share the sentiment.​ The fear of the number increases to a new level when the date coincides with a Friday — as is the case this week. No one knows how Friday the 13th got its fearsome reputation. But experts have some theories....

American wild turkeys have made a remarkable comeback. The birds' population, which had fallen to about 200,000 specimens in the early 1900s, has risen to over 7 million today. But the wildlife conservation success story has a downside. The aggressive birds have become a neighborhood menace, destroying gardens and chasing after residents. The latest to make headlines is an aggressive tom that has been attacking cyclists, runners, and walkers on the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail in Washington, DC, for the past five months....

May marks the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in the United States. The month-long observation celebrates the achievements and contributions of AAPI communities in America. The broad term includes 50 ethnic groups that speak over 100 languages and have roots in more than 40 countries. They include those with connections to China, India, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Korea....

Every Mother's Day, Americans show their appreciation for the remarkable women in their lives by showering them with extravagant gifts. 2022 will be no exception. A recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF) indicates that the approximately 84 percent of adults celebrating the holiday on May 8 will collectively spend $31.7 billion. This is up $3.6 billion from the record $28.1 billion spent in 2021 and the highest in the survey's 19-year history....

Ants are truly fascinating creatures. The industrious insects can lift up to 50 times their own body weight, morph into rafts to protect themselves from floods, predict earthquakes, and even repair their damaged homes. Now, researchers have found that the amazing insects may even be able to help detect cancer in humans....

Stargazers will enjoy two spectacular celestial events on April 30, 2022 — the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus and this year's first solar eclipse. The former will be visible worldwide. But the opportunity to observe the moon "bite" a chunk of the Sun in person, will only be available to a lucky few in parts of South America, Antarctica, and some Southern Ocean areas. The rest of us will have to watch the natural phenomenon online....

The Hubble Space Telescope's record of impressive celestial finds continues. On March 30, 2022, scientists announced that the powerful astronomical observatory had detected the light of a star located about 28 billion light-years away — making it the farthest individual star seen to date....

On April 22, 2022, over a billion people worldwide will celebrate the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day. The modern environmental movement began on April 22, 1970, when US lawmaker Gaylord Nelson mobilized more than 20 million people to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The Earth Day Network (EDN), which now boasts over 50,000 partners in over 190 countries, has led to the passage of landmark environmental laws both in the United States (US) and globally....

Despite biting cold rain, close to 30,000 ticketed guests descended upon the South Lawn of the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll on April 18, 2022. The beloved tradition was canceled for the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fun event featured a variety of Easter-themed activities, along with appearances by popular costumed characters and celebrities....

Easter, which will be observed on April 17, 2022, is the oldest and most significant of all Christian festivals. Many adults observe the holiday, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, by attending special church services and fasting for 40 days before the event. For American kids, the holiday is mainly about egg hunts, parades, and Easter bunnies. But not all countries follow these traditions. Here are a few unique celebrations you may be tempted to adopt....

Russia's unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, shows no signs of abating. After being forced to withdraw from the northern cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy, the Russian army focused its military efforts on the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. Their relentless bombardment has destroyed 80 percent of the city's infrastructure and killed as many as 10,000 civilians....

Ramadan, which began on April 2, 2022, is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar. It was during this ninth month that Jibril (the archangel Gabriel in the Judeo-Christian faith) revealed the first verses of the Quran — Islam's holy text — to the Prophet Muhammad. The auspicious month's start is based on the appearance of the super-slim young crescent Moon, which generally appears one night after the new Moon....

On April 7, 2022, the U.S. Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson as the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. The 51-year-old is the first African American woman and only the sixth female to serve on the nation's highest court....

A flamingo on the "run" from a Wichita, Kansas, zoo for 17 years was recently spotted in Texas. No. 492 and its buddy, No. 347, escaped from the Sedgwick County Zoo in 2005. While No. 347 has disappeared since, No. 492, nicknamed Pink Floyd by Texas officials, has been a frequent visitor to the Lone Star State. The famous fugitive's latest sighting, posted online on March 28, 2022, by the Texas Coastal Fisheries Division, is making headlines worldwide....

In 2020, Stan, one of the world's largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex (T. rex) skeletons, was auctioned for a record $27.5 million ($31.8 million with fees and costs). The precious fossil, bought by an anonymous private buyer, led many paleontologists to fret that the T. rex was lost to science forever. As it turns out, they had nothing to worry about....

The search for famed polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, which sank in 1915, is finally over. On March 9, 2022, the Endurance22 expedition team announced the wreck had been found in the Weddell Sea off the coast of Antarctica....