Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
More than 6,000 adults dressed up as Santa Claus ran through the streets of Madrid, in Spain, just before Christmas.
Children dressed up as elves and ran the mini-marathon through the streets of Spain’s capital city–about 5.5 kilometres.
The run was organized by one of Europe’s biggest department store chains, El Corte Inglés.
The store’s managers felt that the colourful run would bring people together in a positive way.
A café in France has found a way to encourage politeness.
The more polite you are, the less you have to pay for your coffee.
A cup of coffee at La Petite Syrah cafe costs a whopping €7 (seven Euros, or more than $10).
However, you can bring the price down if you’re nice to the server.
If you say please when you order (or s’il vous plait in French) the price comes down to €4,25 (about $6.18).
And if you say hello as well (“bonjour, un café, s’il vous plait”) the price comes down to a much more reasonable €1,40 (just over $2).
Imagine winning $50-million in a lottery.
Now… imagine losing your ticket.
That’s what happened to Kathryn Jones, from Hamilton, Ont.
In Nov. 2012, Jones bought a Lotto Max lottery ticket from a Shoppers Drug Mart store in Cambridge, near her work.
She didn’t think much about it at the time. In fact, she even misplaced the ticket–she hasn’t seen it since.
That should be the end of the story.
Lots of people buy books and products from Amazon, an online seller.
They order and pay over the Internet and the books are shipped through the mail or a delivery service like FedEx.
One day, people could get their Amazon deliveries from an “unmanned aerial vehicle” — a tiny flying vehicle that looks like a toy helicopter.
And instead of waiting days to get the parcel, it could be at the buyer’s home in half an hour or less.
The company is working on a fleet of tiny vehicles they call “Prime Air.”
The vehicles are also known as “octocopters.”
How much would you pay for a book? $15? $20?
How about more than $14-million?
That’s what businessman David Rubenstein paid for one on Tuesday.
It’s the most expensive book ever purchased in an auction.
It is believed to be the first book ever printed in what is now the United States of America.
It’s called the Whole Book of Psalmes, or the Bay Psalm Book for short.
Think of some of the things that used to be very popular, but which practically don’t exist anymore. Like vinyl records. Or fax machines. Or… door knobs?
Door knobs may become a thing of the past, with door levers taking their place.
That’s because Vancouver, a large city in British Columbia, recently changed its building code to say that new buildings will be built with levers instead of knobs.
The city’s building code is changing to levers because they are easier to open. People with arthritis, for instance, often find door knobs difficult.
Using levers will make doors as accessible to as many people as possible.
Just 20 minutes of walking a day can help people improve their mental health.
That’s according to researcher George Mammen, at the University of Toronto (U of T).
He recently co-authored a study of more than 26 years’ worth of research reports.
He says the reports show that someone who is physically active is less likely to become depressed later in their life.
Most scientists agree that regular exercise is important for people’s physical health. It can help prevent diseases like stroke, heart disease and cancer.
And previous studies have shown that exercise can help to treat depression.
Recently, a Canadian cheese was given the title “Supreme Global Champion” at the Global Cheese Awards in England.
Margaret Peters entered her cheese, called Lankaaster, in the competition. Peters owns Glengarry Cheesemaking and Dairy Supply Ltd. in Lancaster, Ont.
It took the top prize, beating every contender in 167 categories.
Lankaaster was described this way, by the Globe and Mail’s cheese columnist, Sue Riedl:
The Lankaaster has “notes of caramel, butterscotch, pineapple and butter that linger on the palate.”
Move over Psy, there’s a new viral music video on the Internet that’s getting millions of people dancing and laughing.
Psy is a singer who created Gagnam Style, a music video which featured a catchy tune and an interesting dance.
Gagnam Style has been viewed more than one billion times, by people all over the world. It went “viral.”
A “viral video” is one that is seen on the Internet by many people, and then the link to it is passed along to many more people.
Every time someone shares the link, the number of people who see the video increases.
A new music video called, “The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)” has recently gone viral. At 123,000,000 views, it may even catch up to Gagnam.
The video asks the question, “What does the fox say?”
Normally, some cheerleaders going down a street cheering before a big football game wouldn’t be a problem.
Unfortunately for the squad, they were cheering in an area where police were cracking down on excess noise.
Several dozen cheerleaders were cheering for their team, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs, in London, Ont.
They were chanting “Go ‘Stangs, Go” and throwing one cheerleader up into the air.
It was right before a big homecoming football game against the Queen’s University Golden Gaels.
Police in London, Ont. have a “liquor enforcement and reduction of noise” program called “Project LEARN.”
