Abbey Carper

Cardinal Robert Prevost, Now Pope Leo XIV, Is The First U.S.-Born Pope. The 69-Year-Old Chicago Native Holds Dual Citizenship With The U.S. And Peru, Where He Once Served As A Bishop. His Election Signals Continuity With Pope Francis‘ Reforms. He Previously Led The Vatican Office That Appoints Bishops. Global Leaders Welcomed His Appointment.

Pope Francis, Who Died On 4/21/2025 At 88, Will Be The First Pope Buried Outside The Vatican Since Leo XIII In 1903. He’ll Be Laid To Rest At Santa Maria Maggiore—Founded In 432, A Year After Mary Was Declared Mother Of God—Rome’s Only Basilica Retaining Its Original Early Christian Form. His Burial Honors His Humility & Deep Devotion To Mary.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower (MS) Peaked Early Friday, 1/03/25, Marking The First MS Of 2025. The Crescent Moon Had Set Before The Peak, Providing A Clear View Of The Shower. Best Seen From Mid-To-Far Northern Latitudes Before Dawn, It Produced Bright Fireballs, With Up To 120 Meteors/Hr. Debris From Asteroid 2003 EH1 Caused This Dazzling Display.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Released A Capsule 63,000 Miles From Earth. The Capsule, Containing The First Asteroid Sample Collected In Space By NASA, Landed In Utah, On 9/24/2023, After A 4-hr Journey. OSIRIS-REx Will Now Divert To The Asteroid Apophis, With The Same Mission To Better Understand Similar Asteroids From The Early Solar System.

An Olympic Swimming Pool-Sized Asteroid, 2023 DW, Has A Small, 1 In 560, Chance Of Impacting Earth On Feb 14, 2046, According To Nasa. It Is Estimated To Fly Pass Earth At A Distance Of ~1.1m Miles, Making It The Only Space Rock On Nasa’s Risk List To Rank 1 On The Torino Impact Hazard Scale—Indicating An Unlikely Risk For An Impact.

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NASA Has Launched A Spacecraft To Test The First Technology That Could Save The Earth From Catastrophic Asteroid Impact. The Nasa’s Dart Mission Will, In Late Sept. Or Early Oct. 2022, Crash A Spacecraft Into A Non-threatening Asteroid Called Dimorphos, At 15,000 Miles/Hour, To Test How Difficult It Is To Stop A Huge Space Rock From Colliding With Earth.

Lock&Stock Is Another App That Incentivises Students To Stay Off Their Phones During Class Or While Studying. The App Does This Via The Credits/Keys That Students Earn For Every Minute Their Phones Stay Locked. The keys Can Then Be Used To, E.G., Apply For Scholarships Via Partnered Universities Or Get Discounts Via Partnered Brands.

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Pope Francis Made A Historic First-Ever Papal Visit To Iraq On The 5th Of March, 2021. The Vist Also Marks The First International Travel For The Pope Since The Coronavirus Pandemic Began. His Trip Will Seek Peace And Reconciliation In A Country With Extraordinary Biblical History, A Surging Coronavirus Outbreak, And Ongoing Political Turmoil.

The Catholic Pope, In His Desire For Greater Participation Of Women In Decision Making, Has For The First Time Appointed A Woman, Sister Nathalie Becquart, Age 52, Who Is From France, As An Undersecretary To The Synod Of Bishops (SOB). SOB Advises The Pontiff And Debates Some Of The Most Controversial Issues In The Roman Catholic Church.

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The Catholic Pope, On 11/28/2020, Has Appointed Archbishop Wilton Gregory, Age 72, As The First Black Cardinal In The Catholic Church. Wilton Has Served As The Archbishop Of Washington, DC Since May 2019. And During The Same Event, Brunei And Rwanda Got Their First-Ever Cardinals, Cornelius Sim, And Antoine Kambanda, Respectively.

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NASA’S OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft, On 10/20/2020, Successfully Collected Samples From Asteroid Bennu, Currently 200 Million Miles From Earth. The Spacecraft Collected Too Much Sample That Some Are Leaking To Space. NASA Plans To Stow The Samples ASAP, As The Sample Study May Inspire Science For Decades. OSIRIS-REx Is Expected To Return To Earth In 2023.

Notre Dame, A 850-Year-Old Gothic Cathedral, Will Not Be Celebrating It First Christmas In 200 Years Because Of The Fire In April 2019. The French Government Said That Nearly $1.1Bn Has Been Raised Or Pledged For Its Reconstruction. The Catholic Church Has Only Missed Christmas When It Was Closed During The French Revolution in 1792.

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Tunisia, In December 2019, Is Set To Become The First Nation In The Arab World To Introduce Sex Education To Kids From The Age Of Five. The Education, Emphasizing On Consent And Safety, Will Be Embedded In Different Parts Of The School’s Curriculum And Not Taught As A Subject Dedicated To The Discipline.

Tunisia becomes first Arab…

From Lifting The Hotel Room And Driving Ban To, Recently, The Hosting Of The First WWE Women’s Wrestling Match, This Conservative Country, Saudi Arabia, Thought To Be Repressive To Women, Is Looking Very Progressive With Some Of These Relaxed Laws. The Wrestling Contest, In Riyadh, Featured WWE Stars Natalya and Lacey Evans.

More Progressive Transformation From Saudi Arabia, As It Is Now Okay For Only Unmarried Foreign Couples To Rent A Hotel Room Together. Previously, Foreign Folks Were Asked To Show Proof Of Their Relationship As Married Couples To Rent A Hotel Room. Even Women, Including Saudis, Will Now Be Allow To Stay Alone In Hotel Rooms.

Foreig…

A Country That Has Been Severely Criticized On Women’s Rights Has Now Appointed A Woman As Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador To The United States. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, Who Has Always Advocated For Women’s Rights, Will Be The First Woman, In Saudi Arabia, To Be Appointed To Serve As An Ambassador.

Saudi Arabia appoints its…

Pretty Cool! The First Smart App Called “Second Chance” Is Said To Be Able To Monitor Opioid Overdose From 3 Feet Away. The App, Which Uses Sonar, Is Said To Be Able To Detect Overdose Symptoms From A Person’s Breathing Pattern 90% Of The Time. When Overdose Is Detected The Apps Sends Out A Call For Help.

First smartphone app to…

Any Help Towards Solving Long Shopping Check-out Queues Would Be Much Appreciated. This Is What An App, Perpule, In India Does. It Enables A User To Find Their Product, Scan The Bar Code, And Then Pay For It Via The App, Thereby Bypassing The Long Queues. Big Shopping Corporations Could Use Such An App.

Bypass Long Lines At The S…

Folks Are Becoming Too Distracted And Over Dependent On Smartphones, And This Includes Those In The Elementary And Junior High Schools, That The French Government Has Placed A Ban On The Use Of Smartphone, For Children Under 15 Years, At All Times During School. However, Schools May Decide If They Want To Implement The Ban.

The…

The Miles App, Aside From Mining Personal Data, Seems Cool Because It Tries To Encourage Folks, Through More Rewards, To Use Environmentally Friendly Means Of Transportation Like Biking And Walking. These Rewards Can Then Be Redeemed In Stores Like Starbucks And Target. BTW, Just Signing Up Gets One 2000 Miles (About $5 Freebies Worth).

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