World Briefs
When we asked a few people to guess which state was the last in the union to officially recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national holiday, many pointed to states in the South or out West. But if you had three chances, would you be able to name the final holdout? The answer might surprise you.
On August 13, 1899, Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, one of the most influential filmmakers in history, was born. Known for revolutionizing the psychological thriller and murder mystery genres, Hitchcock's innovative techniques continue to shape modern cinema.
Archaeologists working at 700-year-old Drum Castle near Drumoak in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, discovered an ancient toilet inside a hidden chamber within one of the structure’s towers.
On August 15, 1248, the cornerstone of the Cologne Cathedral, or Kölner Dom as it is known in German, was ceremoniously laid, marking the beginning of what would become one of the most ambitious and enduring architectural projects in European history. The cathedral's construction, spanning over 600 years, was driven by a deeply religious purpose: to create a grand home for the relics of the Three Kings (the Magi), which had come into the possession of the Archbishop of Cologne. These relics, believed to be the bones of the biblical magi, were of immense religious significance, attracting pilgrims from across Europe and elevating Cologne to a major religious center.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made a bold and controversial decision to move Thanksgiving up by a week, from the last Thursday in November to the second-to-last.
