Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Who knows why something “catches on” through the Internet?
Somehow it sparks the collective imagination and before you know it, it’s gone “viral.”
That’s what happened last week with the “Ikea monkey.”
Bronwyn Page was in an Ikea (furniture store) parking lot in North York, Ont. on Dec. 9 when she saw something unusual.
A little brown monkey wearing a diaper and a tiny, expensive-looking coat.
In 2011, during what was called Arab Spring, protests in the Middle East showed that many people were fed up with their dictator leaders.
One of the largest countries in which people opposed their leader was Egypt.
The protests ended when President Hosni Mubarak was driven out of office and put on trial.
Last June, Egypt’s first freely elected president took office.
But instead of trying to get everyone to agree on how to run the country, President Mohammed Morsi decided to give himself complete power over all laws and all the people.
He said this was the only way to get things done.
Again the protests started as people streamed into the streets because their rights had been removed.
Their message got to Morsi and he cancelled his plans for complete power.
Changing the rules of hockey to reduce aggressive behaviour like bodychecking is the best way to keep kids safer on the ice, according to a group of Canadian researchers.
In hockey, body checking is when one player charges into another player.
The researchers looked at the different ways people have tried to reduce injuries among young hockey players.
They found that the most effective method is to introduce a “no bodychecking” rule, or at least raise the age when players can begin to bodycheck.
The number of young hockey players suffering brain and spinal cord injuries has increased in the past 15 years.
On some teams, as many as one-quarter of the players will suffer a concussion during a season.
These injuries are often caused by bodychecking.
Grown men have been known to tear up upon hearing the famous words: “Touch ’em all, Joe!”
They were spoken by Blue Jays’ baseball radio broadcaster Tom Cheek back in 1993.
Recently, the Baseball Hall of Fame announced that the “voice of the Blue Jays” would receive the prestigious Ford C. Frick award for broadcasting excellence.
Many fans consider the award long overdue.
Cheek was part of the first Blue Jays radio broadcast. He continued to be the voice of the Blue Jays for 27 years.
From his first game to his last, he never missed a game. He worked 4,306 games in a row–from April 1977 until June 2004.
Cheek also broadcast 41 playoff games.
Cheek experienced struggles in his early years.
He was also witness to back-to-back World Series championships for the Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993.
But topping it all was the call he made in 1993.
Blue Jays outfielder Joe Carter had just hit a huge home run to win the World Series.
When the giant tortoise known as Lonesome George died last summer, people thought he was the last of his kind.
Lonesome George lived on Pinta Island, one of a group of islands called the Galapagos, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America.
He belonged to a species called Chelonoidis abingdoni, which was native to that island and not found anywhere else in the world.
When he died, scientists believed the species became extinct.
Now a group of researchers has found giant tortoises, who may be related to Lonesome George, living on another Galapagos island.
These scientists studied the DNA of a group of giant tortoises living on Isabella Island, about 60 kilometres away from Lonesome George’s home.
They found 17 tortoises that had some DNA from the same Pinta Island species as Lonesome George.
These tortoises also had DNA from a different species, which means they had ancestors from both species.
Skier Lindsey Vonn continues to dominate her sport.
Vonn, is an American ski racer with the United States ski team. She recently had a great weekend in Canada. She raced at Lake Louise in Banff, Alberta.
She ended up winning all three races that were held that weekend.
Vonn earned her 14th career win at Lake Louise.
The third person in line to the throne of England will be born in 2013.
The Royal Family announced this week that Kate Middleton and her husband, Prince William, are going to have a baby.
Prince William is Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson.
Kate, also known as the Duchess of Cambridge, married William in a lavish ceremony in London, England last year.
People around the world watched the royal wedding on TV.
A tourist was visiting Times Square in New York when she witnessed a “random act of kindness” she—and thousands of other people—will never forget.
A homeless man was begging for change. He had no shoes or socks on, in the frigid November evening.
As the tourist, Jennifer Foster, watched, a New York police officer approached the man.
The policeman said, “I have these size 12 boots for you; they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you.”
Researchers were investigating a mural painted by Italian artist Vasari in Florence, Italy last year.
They had a hunch that on a wall behind Vasari’s mural, another mural might be lurking — one painted by the famous Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci.
The researchers were right.
They put a probe with a camera on it through the first mural.
Underneath, they found the Leonardo painting, The Battle of Anghiari.
The research team was led by scientist Maurizio Seracini and included specialists from the National Geographic Society, several universities and the City of Florence.
The “strike actions” that teachers are taking in Ontario may escalate in December.
In this case, “strike actions” refer to things the teachers and their union are doing to bring attention to the issues that are important to them.
In order to get that attention, many Ontario teachers have already chosen to not participate in extra-curricular activities as well as other things on certain days of the week.
