110 world leaders pledge to end deforestation by 2030 Nov. 2, 2021
A total of 110 world leaders have pledged nearly $20 billion to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. Among the countries signing on was Brazil, home to an ever dwindling Amazon rainforest. China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are also part of the pledge. In all, the countries signing the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use have 85 percent of the forests on the planet. The result would be more trees, which naturally trap large amounts of carbon dioxide, preventing it from escaping into earth's atmosphere and contributing to temperature rise and climate change.
COP26: Climate change summit to focus on hard choices Oct. 31, 2021
Tensions are expected to be high at COP26, the annual climate change summit attended by world leaders and diplomats. This year, the gathering is in Glasgow, Scotland, and more than 20,000 people are expected to attend events from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. About 120 heads of state are expected to attend, including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Joe Biden. Among the elements of the 2015 Paris Agreement was the target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. A recent United Nations report found that global temperatures were predicted to increase by 2.7 degrees Celsius. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere was at a record high last year despite the presence of a pandemic that experts say should have potentially curtailed such activity. That doesn't bode well, the organization said, for the target of cutting such emissions in half by 2030.
HALLOWEEN
The History of Halloween Where does Halloween come from anyway? Where do Americans get those ideas about jack-o-lanterns and "trick-or-treating?
The Story of the Jack-O-Lantern
Who was Jack? Why did he have a lantern? Why are pumpkins carved with goofy faces? This fun articles tells you the story behind the story.
The First Trick-Or-Treaters
Trick-Or-Treating hasn't been around forever. Find out where it started and why it's still popular.
IN DAYS GONE BY
Sistine Chapel Ceiling Revealed After four long years of labor, Michelangelo revealed to the public the paintings he had done on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. How did he paint on the ceiling, which was nearly 68 feet off the ground? Did he become rich because of this masterpiece? Find out the answers to these and other questions in this illustrated, easy-to-read article.
King Tut's Tomb Opened The treasures found in King Tut's Tomb are almost beyond imagining. They certainly were in 1922, when Howard Carter and others opened the tomb. The last resting place of the "boy king" was unknown for more than 3,000 years. But Carter and his team found the tomb and then opened it. The first opening took place on Nov. 1, 1922. The team found many amazing things inside, including the famous golden mask at right.
ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL MESOAMERICA AND SOUTH AMERICA
The Ancient Olmecs
The Olmecs were one of the first advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica and, as such, influenced later, more well-known civilizations in that area. Historians estimate that the Olmec civilization arose somewhere between 1400 and 1200 B.C. (although some estimates push this back to 1600 B.C.). The people found very helpful the land and waters of the Coatzacoalcos river basin, with the Gulf of Mexico to the north. As the civilization grew, it spread out, to what is now southern and western Mexico and Guatemala. Prime among the remnants of the Olmec civilization are the colossal stone heads, some of which still adorn wings of modern museums. The heads weigh several tons and are, in some cases, more than 10 feet in height. Moreover, archaeologists have discovered that the stone heads rested, in some cases, dozens of miles from where the stone was quarried.
The Ancient Maya
From humble beginnings in the Yucatan, the Maya rose to dominance across what is now Central America and southern Mexico, spreading their knowledge of science, architecture, and survival far and wide. The Maya are famous for many things, among them advanced farming techniques, writing in hieroglyphs, superior knowledge of astronomy and the passage of time, creators of sturdy art, and a war-based ball game that has echoes down through the centuries. Maya settlements began about 1800 B.C. in what is now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Three distinct areas evolved: the Northern Lowlands on the Yucatan Peninsula, the Southern Lowlands in the Petén district of what is now northern Guatemala and an area of what is now Mexico, and the Southern Highlands, in the mountains of what is now Guatemala.
The Aztecs
The Aztecs were an economic and cultural powerhouse, ruling much of what is now Mexico and the surrounding area for a few centuries in the late Middle Ages. They came to power by defeating internal rivals, and they lost power by underestimating an overseas foe. The Aztecs arrived in what became their most well-known homeland, what many today call Mesoamerica, in the early 13th Century, taking over from the Toltecs (and, some sources say, having a hand in their downfall). The Aztecs eventually ruled over a large amount of territory; the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, was one of the largest cities in the world at its height. The Spaniards arrived in 1519 and, two years later, conquered the Aztecs, laying waste to Tenochtitlan and to the rest of the empire, through a combination of superior weaponry and firepower and the spreading of European diseases for which the Native Americans had neither immunity nor cure.
The Inca
The Inca Empire stretched thousands of miles along the western coast of South America. At its height, this empire, with its capital at Cuzco, was the largest in the world. It enjoyed supremacy over its neighbors for a few centuries in the early Middle Ages but fell victim to conquest by Spanish forces. Inca lands stretched for thousands of miles up and down the western coast of South America, with a large network of roads connecting the far-flung reaches of the empire. A succession controversy eventually consumed the Inca hold on power, at the same time that a Spanish force arrived in search of gold and territory. The result was the conquest of the Inca.
Why Is It Called Big Ben? Big Ben is actually the giant bell inside the famous Clock Tower in London. It is not the only bell in the tower, and it is certainly not the tower itself. The giant bell, the official name of which is the Great Bell, is more than 7 feet tall and more than 9 feet wide and weighs 13.5 tons. It sounds an E-natural note. As to why any of it is called Big Ben, that's a matter of some debate.
Significant Sevens are the highest, the lowest, the deepest, the farthest, the oldest, the youngest, and a host of other lists in economics, geography, history, and much more.
A total of 110 world leaders have pledged nearly $20 billion to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. Among the countries signing on was Brazil, home to an ever dwindling Amazon rainforest. China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States are also part of the pledge. In all, the countries signing the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use have 85 percent of the forests on the planet. The result would be more trees, which naturally trap large amounts of carbon dioxide, preventing it from escaping into earth's atmosphere and contributing to temperature rise and climate change.
Tensions are expected to be high at COP26, the annual climate change summit attended by world leaders and diplomats. This year, the gathering is in Glasgow, Scotland, and more than 20,000 people are expected to attend events from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12. About 120 heads of state are expected to attend, including U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and U.S. President Joe Biden. Among the elements of the 2015 Paris Agreement was the target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. A recent United Nations report found that global temperatures were predicted to increase by 2.7 degrees Celsius. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the level of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere was at a record high last year despite the presence of a pandemic that experts say should have potentially curtailed such activity. That doesn't bode well, the organization said, for the target of cutting such emissions in half by 2030.
Where does Halloween come from anyway? Where do Americans get those ideas about jack-o-lanterns and "trick-or-treating?
After four long years of labor, Michelangelo revealed to the public the paintings he had done on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. How did he paint on the ceiling, which was nearly 68 feet off the ground? Did he become rich because of this masterpiece? Find out the answers to these and other questions in this illustrated, easy-to-read article.
The treasures found in King Tut's Tomb are almost beyond imagining. They certainly were in 1922, when Howard Carter and others opened the tomb. The last resting place of the "boy king" was unknown for more than 3,000 years. But Carter and his team found the tomb and then opened it. The first opening took place on Nov. 1, 1922. The team found many amazing things inside, including the famous golden mask at right.
The Olmecs were one of the first advanced civilizations in Mesoamerica and, as such, influenced later, more well-known civilizations in that area. Historians estimate that the Olmec civilization arose somewhere between 1400 and 1200 B.C. (although some estimates push this back to 1600 B.C.). The people found very helpful the land and waters of the Coatzacoalcos river basin, with the Gulf of Mexico to the north. As the civilization grew, it spread out, to what is now southern and western Mexico and Guatemala. Prime among the remnants of the Olmec civilization are the colossal stone heads, some of which still adorn wings of modern museums. The heads weigh several tons and are, in some cases, more than 10 feet in height. Moreover, archaeologists have discovered that the stone heads rested, in some cases, dozens of miles from where the stone was quarried.
From humble beginnings in the Yucatan, the Maya rose to dominance across what is now Central America and southern Mexico, spreading their knowledge of science, architecture, and survival far and wide. The Maya are famous for many things, among them advanced farming techniques, writing in hieroglyphs, superior knowledge of astronomy and the passage of time, creators of sturdy art, and a war-based ball game that has echoes down through the centuries. Maya settlements began about 1800 B.C. in what is now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Three distinct areas evolved: the Northern Lowlands on the Yucatan Peninsula, the Southern Lowlands in the Petén district of what is now northern Guatemala and an area of what is now Mexico, and the Southern Highlands, in the mountains of what is now Guatemala.
The Aztecs were an economic and cultural powerhouse, ruling much of what is now Mexico and the surrounding area for a few centuries in the late Middle Ages. They came to power by defeating internal rivals, and they lost power by underestimating an overseas foe. The Aztecs arrived in what became their most well-known homeland, what many today call Mesoamerica, in the early 13th Century, taking over from the Toltecs (and, some sources say, having a hand in their downfall). The Aztecs eventually ruled over a large amount of territory; the Aztec capital, 
The Inca Empire stretched thousands of miles along the western coast of South America. At its height, this empire, with its capital at Cuzco, was the largest in the world. It enjoyed supremacy over its neighbors for a few centuries in the early Middle Ages but fell victim to conquest by Spanish forces. Inca lands stretched for thousands of miles up and down the western coast of South America, with a 
