Kids News - Current Events

Honshu, the largest of Japan's four main islands, was hit by a powerful earthquake at 4:10 pm local time on January 1, 2024. The 7.5 magnitude quake and the ensuing aftershocks triggered tsunami warnings across western Japan, sparked fires, and tore apart roads....

Happy 2024! As is the case each year, countries worldwide welcomed the New Year with dazzling fireworks shows. Here are some spectacular displays that lit up the skies at midnight on December 31, 2023....

With Christmas less than a week away, many people worldwide are getting into the festive spirit. For those living in the United States, this means baking and decorating Christmas cookies, buying gifts for loved ones, and binge-watching holiday classics like Elf and Home Alone....

A 109-year-old Babe Ruth card fetched $7.2 million at an online auction on November 17, 2023. This is the most paid for an item belonging to the famed player and the third-highest price for a baseball card ever. However, it was far less than the over $10 million estimated by New Jersey-based Robert Edward Auctions (REA)....

A Seychelles giant tortoise named Jonathan turned 191 years old on December 4, 2023! To put it in perspective, the reptile was born before the invention of the telephone, postage stamps and photographs. With this milestone, Jonathan extended two previously-held Guinness World Records (GWR). He is the oldest living land animal and the oldest documented chelonian (tortoise, turtle, or terrapin)....

The world's largest iceberg is on the move after being stuck to the ocean floor for 37 years. A23a stretches almost 1,500 square miles (3,885 sq. km) wide, or about three times the size of New York City and its five boroughs. The massive slab of ice weighs over one trillion tons and stands 1,313 feet (400 m) tall. For comparison, the Empire State Building measures 1,250 feet (380 m) from top to bottom....

With the days getting increasingly shorter and colder, it may appear that winter is already upon us. However, the astronomical start of the chilly season in the Northern Hemisphere will not be until December 21, 2023. Often referred to as the winter solstice, it marks the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Conversely, Southern Hemisphere residents will celebrate the summer solstice on this day. They will enjoy the longest day and shortest night of 2023....

Dr. Ivan Šprajc has spent the past 30 years looking for Maya cities in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. In 2013, the archeologist and his team found one dating back to the 8th century in the Chactún rainforest. A year later, they unearthed two more cities abandoned over 1,200 years ago. But a massive ancient settlement found deep inside Mexico's Balamkú Ecological Conservation Zone, is the team's most exciting discovery yet....

There are over 30 meteor showers throughout the year. But most of them pale in comparison to the Geminids. Nicknamed the "900-pound gorilla of meteor showers" by NASA, they outweigh other dust streams by factors of between 5 to 500! The "shooting stars" are also easier to see because they go through the skies at about 22 miles (35 km) per second. This is almost half the speed of the Perseid meteors, which zip past at 37 miles (60 km) per second....