Mexican teachers incensed by sweeping education reforms have attacked the buildings of political parties in the south-western state of Guerrero. For several hours, masked protesters started fires and attacked the offices with pickaxes and sticks, spraying slogans on the walls. Guerrer governor has called for support from the federal government. The reforms impose centralized teacher [...]
April Fools’ Day is a holiday recognized in many countries all over the world on April 1 every year, and has been celebrated since the Roman times. Sometimes referred to as All Fools’ Day, April 1st is widely recognized and celebrated as a day when people play practical jokes and hoaxes on each other. Here [...]
Millions of people around the world switch off their lights to mark Earth Hour between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. in their local times on the last Saturday of March each year. In 2013, Earth Hour occurs one week earlier, on March 23. What is Earth Hour? Earth Hour is a global WWF (formerly known [...]
Pope Francis is the 266th and current pope of the Roman Catholic Church, elected on 13 March 2013. As such, he is both head of the Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. The duties of the 266th successor to the throne of Saint Peter are wide-ranging. The Pope’s regular Vatican appointments are: a weekly [...]
The Ides of March fall on March 15, the date becoming intimately associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar, who was murdered in the Roman Senate on the same date in 44 BC. Because the death of Caesar marked a radical change in Roman society, the time is familiar to most scholars of Western history, [...]
The Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) represent a Catholic order that founded Holy Cross. They are known throughout the world as educators dedicated to “finding God in all things,” exploring wide-ranging cultures and academic fields. There are 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States. Holy Cross is the only one that is exclusively [...]
For math enthusiasts around the world, March 14 (3-14) is Pi Day, honoring the number pi, which is the ratio of circumference to diameter of a circle. Pi number (3.14159265358979323846264338327950288…) has captivated imaginations for thousands of years. Approximately 3.14, pi number has its own holiday on March 14, which also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday. You [...]
Pope Francis I is the first non-European Catholic Church leader for over 1,200 years. The last non-European Pope before Francis I was Gregory III. Pope Saint Gregory III led the Catholic Church from 11 February 731 to 28 November 741, when he died. He was the last Pope to be born outside Europe until the [...]
More than 100 cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church have gathered to Vatican for a new pope election. At some point, white smoke billowing from the Sistine Chapel will show that a decision has been made. What goes on behind the closed doors before the smoke appears? Here are 10 lesser-known facts about the papal [...]
Elba Esther Gordillo, known as Mexico’s most powerful woman, has been arrested on corruption charges. Elba Esther Gordillo, who runs the 1.5 million-member Mexican teachers’ union, is alleged to have diverted about $200 million from union funds to personal accounts. No-one from her legal team has responded to the allegations, but in the past Elba [...]
Alex Rawlings has won a national competition to find the UK’s most multi-lingual student. The 22-year-old Oxford University undergraduate can currently speak 11 languages: English Greek German Spanish Russian Dutch Afrikaans French Hebrew Catalan Italian Entrants in the competition run by the publishers Collins had to be aged between 16 and 22 and conversant in [...]
Pope Benedict XVI is to resign from his office at the end of this month. The Pontiff says he is too old to continue at the age of 85. The move has come as a shock, but in theory, there has never been anything stopping Pope Benedict XVI – or any of his predecessors – [...]
Pope Benedict XVI is to resign on February 28, 2013, at the age of 85. He is thought to the first pontiff to have stepped down since Gregory XII in 1415. Canon Law states: “If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that the resignation is made freely [...]
German Education Minister Annette Schavan has resigned after Heinrich Heine University stripped her of her doctorate for plagiarism. Duesseldorf’s Heinrich Heine University voted last Tuesday to remove her doctorate following a review. Annette Schavan, a close ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, had insisted she would fight the ruling and not resign. In 2011, Defence Minister [...]
University of Duesseldorf in Germany has voted to strip Education Minister Annette Schavan of her doctorate after an investigation into plagiarism allegations. The University of Duesseldorf’s philosophy faculty decided on Tuesday that she had carried out “a deliberate deception through plagiarism”. Annette Schavan has denied the claims and said she will appeal. An earlier plagiarism [...]
Harvard University has imposed academic sanctions on dozens of students for cheating in a final exam, a dean said in an email to students. “More than half” of 125 students under investigation were asked to leave for a period of time; others face probation. An inquiry began when a tutor noticed identical answers to a [...]
University of Duesseldorf is to investigate allegations that German Education Minister Annette Schavan plagiarized parts of her doctoral thesis in 1980. The University of Duesseldorf has voted to back the inquiry into Annette Schavan’s philosophy thesis on the formation of conscience. Annette Schavan has denied the claims first raised by an anonymous blogger. But the [...]
Children from Sandy Hook Elementary School, where a gunman killed 26 people last month, are to start the new term at what police say is the US’s “safest school”. Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown has been closed since Adam Lanza killed 20 pupils and six staff on December 14. Chalk Hill, a disused middle [...]
America’s worst school massacres 1. Virginia Tech – 32 dead plus the shooter 2007, April 16th, Blacksberg, Colorado Student Seung Hui Cho, 23, killed two students in a dorm and then went through building of classrooms armed with two handguns, shooting at random before killing himself. 2. University of Texas – 16 dead plus shooter [...]
English has become a common language for internet users from around the world. In the process, the language itself is changing. When America emerged from the ashes of a bruising war with Britain in 1814, the nation was far from united. Noah Webster thought that a common language would bring people together and help create [...]
The remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have been exhumed to investigate allegations he was poisoned. The bodies of many well-known people have been dug up in the course of history, for myriad reasons. Here is a selection. 1. Oliver Cromwell The English soldier and statesman died in 1658, was embalmed, had a state funeral [...]
The practice of pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving Eve is a phenomenon first observed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 but was not formally made official until President George H.W. Bush in 1989. The presidential turkey pardon is an interesting White House tradition that has captured the attention of the public in recent years. [...]
The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopa) is native to North America and was a staple in the Native American diet. It was imported to Europe in the early part of the 16th century by the Spaniards via Turkey (the country.) It was confused in those early times with the Guinea fowl which also arrived via Turkey, [...]
The history of Black Friday began in 1966, when a story appeared in an ad in The American Philatelist. The Philadelphia Police Department used the name to describe the traffic jams and crowding in the downtown stores. In the past few years media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period [...]
Black Friday is the name given to the shopping day after Thanksgiving. It was originally called Black Friday because so many people went out to shop that it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence. This was first recorded in 1966 by Earl Apfelbaum, a dealer in rare stamps. In his ad, he said: “Black [...]
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Mexican teachers in violent protest against education reforms in Guerrero stateMexican teachers incensed by sweeping education reforms have attacked the buildings of political parties in the south-western state of Guerrero. For several hours, masked…
April Fools' Day: Ten favorite pranks of all timeApril Fools' Day is a holiday recognized in many countries all over the world on April 1 every year, and has been celebrated since the Roman times. Sometimes referred to as…
Earth Hour 2013: Switch off your light for one hour on March 23Millions of people around the world switch off their lights to mark Earth Hour between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. in their local times on the last Saturday of March each year.…
What does the Pope do?Pope Francis is the 266th and current pope of the Roman Catholic Church, elected on 13 March 2013. As such, he is both head of the Church and sovereign of the Vatican City…
What are the Ides of March?The Ides of March fall on March 15, the date becoming intimately associated with the assassination of Julius Caesar, who was murdered in the Roman Senate on the same date in…
What Is A Jesuit?The Jesuits (The Society of Jesus) represent a Catholic order that founded Holy Cross. They are known throughout the world as educators dedicated to "finding God in all…