Kids News - Social Studies for Kids

Reaching the summit of Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, is every climber's dream. However, despite improvements in equipment and weather forecasting systems, the treacherous trek continues to claim a few lives annually. But with eleven deaths already reported this year, the 2019 season has been the deadliest since 2014, when fourteen Sherpas, who act as guides and help carry the climbers' gear, lost their lives after an icefall ledge collapsed....

Though the Scripps National Spelling Bee has crowned two co-champions on rare occasions — five times in the past 91 years, to be exact — the number of joint winners has never risen beyond that. However, history was made on May 31, 2019, when Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao, and Rojan Raja became the prestigious competition's first "octo-champions." In addition to the coveted title, the middle school students from five states — New Jersey, Texas, Alabama, Maryland and California — each took home an engraved trophy and a cash prize of $50,000....

To say that Americans love donuts is an understatement. A 2017 survey conducted by Dawn Foods, a global manufacturer and ingredients supplier to bakeries worldwide, found that the average US resident eats 31 donuts a year — or about two or three a month. The consumption, of course, goes up exponentially on National Donut Day, which this year will be celebrated on June 7, 2019!...

Fictional British detective Sherlock Holmes is probably one of the most popular and well-known detectives in literary history. Known for his brilliant analytical skills and ability to decipher complicated clues, the consulting sleuth has been depicted on screen 254 times and even holds the Guinness World Record for the most portrayed literary human character in film & TV. Hence, it is not surprising to hear that the Royal Mint, responsible for producing coins in the United Kingdom, has honored the iconic detective with a commemorative coin....

For most people, completing the "Explorers Grand Slam," which requires climbing the Seven Summits — the highest mountain in each of the seven continents — and reaching the North and South Poles, would be achievement enough. However, not for American explorer and adventurer Victor Vescovo, who completed the challenge in 2017. Since December 2018, the 54-year-old former US naval officer has been on a new quest — to become the first person to take a manned submersible to the deepest-known point in each of the world's five oceans....

When Robert F. Smith rose to address the 400 graduates of Atlanta's Morehouse College on May 19, 2019, the students expected the commencement speaker to be entertaining, inspiring, and encouraging. What they did not expect, however, was that he would change their lives forever by pledging to pay off all their student debt....

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and the world's wealthiest person, was just five years old when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. However, he has never forgotten the grainy black-and-white footage from the historic moment. Since then, the moon has always been the center of the entrepreneur's space-faring ambitions which are channeled through his self-funded spaceflight company, Blue Origin....

Memorial Day, which will be celebrated on Monday, May 27, 2019, is considered by many Americans as the unofficial start of summer. For some, that means kick-starting the warm season with a three-day getaway; for others, it is a day to host barbecues or lounge by the pool with family and friends. Though these are great ways to celebrate the holiday, what often gets forgotten is its real purpose — to honor and remember the brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives to defend America's freedom....

On Wednesday, May 15, 2019, an anonymous buyer paid slightly over $91 million to acquire American artist Jeff Koons' "Rabbit" sculpture at Christie's Post War and Contemporary Sale in New York. The price, which includes the auction house's commission, is the highest-ever paid for work by a living artist. The previous record was held by British artist David Hockney, whose acrylic-on-canvas pop art painting "Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)" sold for $90.3 million in November 2018....