The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms. Chǔshǔ, Shosho, Cheoseo, or Xử thử (traditional Chinese: 處暑; simplified Chinese: 处暑; pinyin: chǔshǔ; Japanese: 処暑; rōmaji: shosho; Korean: 처서; romaja: cheoseo; Vietnamese: xử thử; literally: “limit of heat”) is the 14th solar term. It begins when the Sun reaches the celestial longitude […]
Background After almost 20 years in space, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft begins the final chapter of its remarkable story of exploration: its Grand Finale. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will undertake a daring set of orbits that is, in many ways, like a whole new mission. Following a final close flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan, […]
Cursive writing is looping back into style in schools across the country after a generation of students who know only keyboarding, texting and printing out their words longhand. Alabama and Louisiana passed laws in 2016 mandating cursive proficiency in public schools, the latest of 14 states that require cursive. And last fall, the 1.1 million-student […]
Black History Month, or National African American History Month, Begins February 1st – February 28th/29th, is an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. The event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and […]
It’s time to say goodbye to the Monkey and hello to the year of the Rooster. This year’s Lunar New Year, which marks the beginning of the 15-day Spring Festival in China, begins on January 28. It’s the biggest holiday of the year for many Chinese — and for some the only time they get […]
Aziz Ansari opened his Saturday Night Live hosting gig with a nine-minute monologue where the comedian took aim at Donald Trump and the “lower-case KKK” while applauding the efforts of the massive Women’s March that took place earlier in the day. “Pretty cool to know though [Trump’s] probably at home right now watching a brown […]
Eight tumultuous years at the helm of American power have come and gone, and for President Barack Obama, this is finally the end. The president is spending his last full day at the White House on Thursday before becoming an ex-president. The big decisions and grand pronouncements are all behind him, but Obama is still […]
Jack Nicholson has said goodbye to his days as a working actor, if pal Peter Fonda is any authority on the subject. Fonda — who co-starred with Nicholson in 1969’s “Easy Rider” and has been friends with him ever since — claimed that the Oscar-winning actor, now 79, had officially called it quits. “I think […]