Countries Where New Year’s Day Is Not a Public Holiday
Learn why some countries don’t recognize January 1 as a public holiday, along with intriguing New Year’s traditions from around the world.
Read More
Cultural cartography
Cartographic representation of cultural explanations of definite areas.
The Story Behind America’s School Book Bans
New data reveals surprising patterns of book bans in American schools, with some states removing thousands of titles while others maintain open access. Here’s what’s happening state by state.
Read More
Mapped: What the Boogeyman Looks Like Across the Globe
Around the world, there are mythical creatures meant to scare children into doing the right thing and behaving well. However, often they become the subject of terrifying nightmares. The Boogeyman. Krampus. Ninki Nanka. These frightening creatures are found all over the world, where they are available to enforce discipline when necessary.
Read MoreWhen Americans Eat Dinner?
According to survey data, Americans typically eat dinner between 5:07 PM and 8:19 PM, with peak dinner time at 6:19 PM. Pennsylvania and Vermont have the earliest dinners, at 5:37 PM and 5:40 PM, respectively. The District of Columbia has the latest dinner at 7:10 PM.
Read More
The high-rated Book in Every Country by a Local Author, mapped
Goodreads is social media for bookworms: a site where 125 million bibliophiles meet to boost slate or ‘meh’ their latest reading project. Bookworms have “shelved” 3.5 billion books globally, which is a lot to sift through to find a read that is not just first-rate but just your taste.
With BookCrossing, your options are narrowed. Some 2 million readers have found or collected over 14,105,640 pass-me-down paper books in public, tracking each particular book object’s story through a special code attached to each one. Serendipity plays a more significant role here. You can chase for a book you know has been left, but more probably, your affinity with it will begin when you stumble upon it on a bus seat or in a British telephone booth.
Read More
Predominant Generations by Country
The naming of different generations is commonly used to categorize and identify particular age groups or cohorts based on shared experiences, cultural shifts, and technological advancements.
Read More
What to say to someone who leaves the door open after coming in European languages
In English, a common expression in this situation is “Were you born in a barn?” This expression is often used in a playful or teasing manner, and implies that the person who left the door open has no manners or was raised in a way that did not emphasize the importance of closing doors.
Read More
The world’s most streamed artists on YouTube
In 2022, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) acknowledged that YouTube is now one of the “pillars in people’s music discovery.” And they created a framework for the official pop charts worldwide to include YouTube plays in their estimates. So which music — new and old — are the listenerships from country to country discovering? And then sticking on replay, free from the risk of wearing out the record?
Read More
A comprehensive guide to tipping in 162 countries, mapped
To tip or not to tip – that is the question. Whether or not you hand extra money to a bellhop or round up the eatery bill often relies on a country’s local traditions. For instance, if you live in the United States, you know that tipping is pretty much always expected by specific employees in the service industry, like bartenders and servers, who usually rely on tips to make up the prevalence of their earnings. In other nations, like Japan, staff will probably see a tip as insulting.
Read MoreCalendar systems used throughout the world
The Gregorian calendar is the most widespread civil calendar and de facto global standard nowadays. 168 of the world’s nations use the Gregorian calendar as their only calendar. Although the Gregorian calendar is associated with the Catholic Church, it has been embraced by many nonreligious and non-Christian nations as a matter of convenience.
Read More