Springtime means baseball for sports fans, flowers and plants for gardeners, and new dictionary words for wordsmiths. Some of the new words appearing on the pages of various dictionaries reflect the demographic and cultural…
When filmmakers say a movie is based on true events, they are trying to give the motion picture a stamp of legitimacy. For the most part, moviegoers understand that they are going to see…
Few institutions stamp the cultural identity of a nation, region, or city like museums. Whether they are venerable sites such as the Art Institute of Chicago, whimsical venues like the Kazoo Museum in South…
Corporations rise and fall on their reputation, depending on the trust and confidence of their employees and customers, as well as the faith of their shareholders. Companies spend decades burnishing their reputations. But as…
Ah, going away with the kids…The actual travel experience is probably the most stressful part of vacationing with the youngest members of the family. Before the fun begins, parents have a few obstacles to…
The United States has the world’s third-largest population, behind China and India, with about 328.7 million people as of April 9, 2019. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the country, a person is…
The United States has by far the strongest military in the world, with the responsibility to maintain the defense of America and its allies and provide peacekeeping forces all over the world. To do…
Central banks and finance ministries currently hold more than 33,000 tons of gold worth about $1.4 trillion, at today’s prices. These authorities are among the world’s largest holders of gold. While the United States,…
We take the “www” prefix for URL (uniform resource locator) code for granted as shorthand for the World Wide Web, but the online communication platform might have been called something different when it was…
On March 3, 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a congressional act making “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official national anthem of the United States. It had been the de facto national anthem for at least…
At the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump was enmeshed in a power struggle with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over that country’s development of nuclear capabilities. The stakes could not be higher —…
This month, we were encouraged by positive actions regarding the environment; touched by heroic deeds of people and animals; drew hope from developments in medical research; cheered the good works of celebrities and church…
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures“Wings,” the silent film epic about World War I aviators, won the first Academy Award for Best Picture 90 years ago. The motion picture was the only silent movie to win…
If a story about the most influential women of the 20th century were written 100 years ago, the choices would have been limited. Outside of female stars in the emerging movie industry or altruistic…
The first all-girls troops in the organization formerly known as the Boy Scouts of America took the Scout Oath last weekend and now belong to a new organization called Scouts BSA. About 200 girls…
How does the world end? With a bang, or as poet T.S. Eliot suggested, a whimper? Humans have been pondering the end of days since we first contemplated our mortality. The threats to our…
The most popular fashion designers of all time are names familiar even to those who are not fashionistas. Coco Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan, Christian Dior are just some of the design icons whose…
Movie directors are the authors of the motion picture. From screenplay writing or supervision to cinematography, the vision, tone, and, of course, direction, of the film belongs to them. That’s why the director’s name…
A record number of Americans are expected to have traveled to other countries in 2018, buoyed by a strong dollar and a surging economy. In 2017, the number of U.S. visits overseas rose by 9.1%…
The latest Corruption Perceptions Index from Transparency International indicates the failure of most countries to control corruption, and the organization believes this is leading to a “crisis of democracy around the world.” In the…
