Mumbai Bans Urban Elephants
Tuesday July 31, 2007
The Associate press has this report, "Mumbai, India’s largest city, has banned domesticated elephants, saying that forcing them to walk on its crowded, scorched and polluted streets was an act ... Read More
Glacial Lake Vanishes
Tuesday July 31, 2007
In May, a small glacial lake in Chile emptied after the ice dam holding back the water melted. Chilean scientists blame the disappearance of the lake on global warming. ... Read More
Brazil Hoping to Host World Cup and Olympics
Monday July 30, 2007
Brazil is aiming to host the 2014 World Cup as well as the 2016 Summer Games. The World Cup hosting could be on the horizon as FIFA (the world ... Read More
U.S. State Tetris
Friday July 27, 2007
You'll be addicted to StateTris just as much as you're addicted to Tetris. StateTris is a Tetris-style game utilizing the U.S. states. Try it out! Thanks to ... Read More
Tourism in Turkmenistan
Wednesday July 25, 2007
Turkmenistan, home to one of the worlds' craziest leaders (who tried to rename the months of the year, has eliminated hospitals and libraries outside of the capital, who spends a ... Read More
Taiwan Rejected Again For U.N. Membership
Tuesday July 24, 2007
While Taiwan exists as a de facto country, it was rejected for the fifteenth time by the United Nations for membership in the world body. The UN rejected Taiwan ... Read More
UK Floods
Tuesday July 24, 2007
Recent flooding in the United Kingdom is the worst the country has faced in perhaps as long as several hundred years. The flooding, which is not over, have already ... Read More
Future Ghost Cities
Tuesday July 24, 2007
Forbes has an interesting article about ghost towns, or in this case ghost cities, of the future - major world cities that are in danger of losing their status ... Read More
China Will Confirm 59 "Famous" Mountain Elevations
Sunday July 22, 2007
The Xinhua news agency in China reports that over the next two years, the country will confirm the elevation of the peaks of 59 famous and popular mountain peaks throughout ... Read More
Bolivia May Have One Capital City
Sunday July 22, 2007
Bolivia is one of a handful of countries with multiple capital cities. Its judicial capital is Sucre but its legislative and executive capital is La Paz. Now, delegates ... Read More
10 Tallest Buildings in the World
Sunday July 22, 2007
Since 2004, Taipei 101 has held the title of the tallest building in the world. Unfortunately, it would appear that it will lose that title in about a year ... Read More
Tony Blair and the Quartet
Friday July 20, 2007
Former British Prime Minster Tony Blair was recently appointed special envoy or diplomat for the four-entity "Quartet" that is heading up the push for peace between Israel and the Palestinian ... Read More
California Earthquake
Friday July 20, 2007
A moderate 4.2 earthquake struck near Oakland, California at 4:42 a.m. today and since it's so relatively small, it caused no reported damage or injuries. (Californians don't suffer damage ... Read More
Russia Blocking Kosovo Independence
Thursday July 19, 2007
Russia, as a member of the United Nations Security Council, is threatening to veto any resolutions that would advance the cause of independence for Kosovo. Serbia, a Russian ally, ... Read More
Northern Cyprus
Wednesday July 18, 2007
Dory writes to ask why Northern Cyprus isn't among my listing of the 194 independent countries of the world. I replied that as soon as more than just Turkey ... Read More
Large Earthquakes Hit Japan
Monday July 16, 2007
At 10:13 a.m. on Monday, July 16, 2007 (local time), a 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit near the west coast of Honshu, Japan. Eight people have been reported killed and hundreds ... Read More
Earth Finely Calculated
Sunday July 15, 2007
An international team of scientists has determined that the earth's circumference (normally stated as 24,901.55 miles or 40,075.16 km) is a whopping 0.1 inch (2.5 mm) smaller than previously thought. ... Read More
The Northwest Passage
Sunday July 15, 2007
The Northwest Passage is a water route in Northern Canada north of the Arctic Circle that decreases ship travel time between Europe and Asia. Currently, the Northwest Passage is only ... Read More
Canada's Northern Sovereignty
Sunday July 15, 2007
FP Passport reports on Canada's strong desire to protect their sovereignty over their northern lands as ice begins to melt and waterways, such as the Northwest Passage, begin to become ... Read More
Landform Picture Gallery
Thursday July 12, 2007
About.com Guide to Geology Andrew Alden provides a fantastic photo gallery of various landforms, rocks, fossils, minerals, and so much more. It's definitely worth looking at and bookmarking as ... Read More
History of the First Everest Climb
Tuesday July 10, 2007
About.com 20th Century History Guide Jen Rosenberg provides a history of the first successful climb to the top of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest by New Zealander Edmund Hillary ... Read More
Taiwan Plans Referendum on U.N. Membership
Sunday July 8, 2007
Next March, Taiwan is planning a referendum to allow its citizens to vote as to whether to apply for United Nations membership under the name Taiwan. The referendum, likely ... Read More
The Twelve Nations of the U.S.
Sunday July 8, 2007
Matt Kirkland has developed a plan and a map to divide the United States into twelve independent countries, along the lines of Joel Garreau's Nine Nations of North America. ... Read More
Heat Index Tells How it Feels
Sunday July 8, 2007
The U.S. National Weather Service uses the Heat Index based on temperature and humidity to give the apparent temperature of the air. Visit the Heat Index Calculator to measure ... Read More
Russia to Host 2014 Winter Games
Sunday July 8, 2007
The International Olympic Committee has announced that the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia (population 329,000) will host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Sochi beat out strong contender ... Read More
New Seven Wonders Announced
Sunday July 8, 2007
It was 7-7-07 and the hype was amazing but finally, after years of marketing and online voting, a panel of worldwide experts (i.e. everyone with a Internet connection) selected the ... Read More
New Seven Wonders
Friday July 6, 2007
On Saturday, July 7, (7-7-07), the hype comes to a climax when an organization announces the "New Seven Wonders" of the world, as voted on over the Internet. I ... Read More
Endangered Monuments
Wednesday July 4, 2007
The World Monuments Fund has published a list of the 100 most endangered world monuments. The focus of the site is a overview map, which allows the user to ... Read More
Japan Seeks Students
Tuesday July 3, 2007
Japan's young adult population had declined dramatically over the past few years. In in 1992, the number of Japanese 18-year-olds 2.05 million in 1992 and has dropped to 1.3 ... Read More
Norwegian Women Receive 62% of College Degrees
Monday July 2, 2007
The Population Reference bureau reports that in Norway, women earn college and university degrees far more often than their male peers. 62 percent of the college degrees awarded in ... Read More
Independence Day Data
Sunday July 1, 2007
The U.S. Census Bureau has published its annual summary of fun Independence Day facts. The one piece of data that I found most fascinating was that of the $1.7 ... Read More
10th Anniversary of Hong Kong's Reunification with China
Sunday July 1, 2007
Today, July 1, marks the ten-year anniversary of the reunification of Hong Kong with China and the formation of the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong under Chinese control. ... Read More
International Trade Partners of the U.S.
Sunday July 1, 2007
It is interesting to explore the most popular trading partners of the United States. Many are surprised to discover that the country's top trading partner is none other than our ... Read More