Articles for Grade 3

While America's highest office — the presidency — remains elusive to women, Finland has just elected its third female premier. Even more impressive, 34-year-old Sanna Marin, who was sworn into office on December 10, 2019, is the youngest prime minister in Finland's history, and the world's youngest sitting government head. Prior to this, that honor belonged to New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern, who was 37 years old when she took office in October 2017....

While dogs openly demonstrate joy or displeasure through grins and grimaces, discerning a cat's emotions from its face is often hard, even for its owners. Now, researchers from Canada's University of Guelph assert that stoic as they may appear, cats also express emotions on their faces — one just has to learn how to interpret them!...

Every holiday season, Canada's WestJet airlines finds a unique way to bring Christmas cheer to hundreds of unsuspecting families. Past "miracles" have included surprising weary travelers with iPods, fulfilling extravagant Christmas wishes from passengers aboard two late-night flights, and reuniting loved ones living in different countries for the holidays. In 2019, the company decided to let customers determine if they wanted to keep the generous gift being offered to them or donate it to a family in need....

To say that space is tight in the Principality of Monaco is an understatement. The pint-sized country, which has a surface area of just 0.78 square miles (2.02 square kilometers), boasts a total population density of 48,466 people per square mile — the highest in the world. With building space stretched to the limit, architects in the world's second-smallest country have been constructing up towards the sky, tunneling down into the ground, and even carving out the surrounding cliffs. Now, they have built a multi-million dollar luxury home inside a rock....

Though it has been over a century since the R.M.S. Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg, modern-day ships remain as vulnerable to such catastrophes. The most recent disaster occurred in May 2019, when a sightseeing boat on the Danube River in Hungary capsized and sank after colliding with a river cruise ship, killing 28 of the 35 tourists aboard. Now, researchers from New York's University of Rochester may have found a way to avert such tragedies, with a water-repellant metal that can stay afloat even after having several holes drilled in it....

Celebrated annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and the popular shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday is designed to kick off the season of generosity. Now in its eighth year, the charitable event uses the power of social media to encourage organizations and individuals to donate funds or resources towards worthy causes. Established in 2012 by New York City nonprofit 92nd Street Y, #GivingTuesday is now observed worldwide, with millions of people coming together each year to bring positive change to their communities....

A perfectly-preserved copy of Marvel's first-ever comic book was sold to an anonymous buyer for a record $1.26 million by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions on November 21, 2019. Published in 1939 by Timely Comics, which later became Marvel Comics, it features an android superhero called The Human Torch, a costumed detective known as Angel, and a mutant anti-hero dubbed Namor the Sub-Mariner....

Not a fan of the increasingly shorter winter days? Then you may want to avoid the town of Utqiagvik, Alaska. That's because the northernmost city in the US just experienced its last sunset of the year on November 19, 2019. Even worse, it will not witness a sunrise again until January 23, 2020. More precisely, that means 65 consecutive days, or 1,560 hours, of no daylight....

Two years ago, aerospace manufacturer SpaceX stunned the world by landing its reusable booster engine — the biggest and most costly part of the rocket used to power spacecrafts into low orbit — on an autonomous drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Now, California-based startup Rocket Lab, has come up with an even bolder idea: using parachutes and helicopters to capture the returning booster, or first stage as it is often called, in midair!...