On the morning of 30 July 1929, a man carrying a small axe entered the upper terrace of the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura and struck one of its principal branches several
It is worth considering, in light of humanity’s profound struggle against the world’s climate and matters of elemental justice, how the onset of the Biblical tale of Noah is relevant today. According
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“To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~ J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone “Jananam Shokam; Maranam Karunam ( from an ancient Sanskrit sloka. Birth is sorrow;
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Prehistory is a modern idea. The word was “coined” only in the 1830s. Before the 19th century, we didn’t know much about dinosaurs or cavemen, and fossils remained a scientific curiosity. When
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Recent revelations regarding Christopher Columbus’s heritage—suggesting that he may have been a Sephardic Jew from Spain rather than an Italian Catholic—have reignited debates about his legacy and the historical narratives surrounding his
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The question arises: how did Indian mythology merge to turn an actual Sinhala hero-king into a villain? You don’t have to go far to find the answer. It was the Tamil Nadu
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On October 1, 1949, the leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Mao Zedong (1893–1976) announced the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Three hundred thousand people gathered in
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On the 2nd of October 1995, the calm seas off the coast of Mullaitivu hid a brewing storm. Sri Lanka was in the throes of a brutal civil war, and the Sea
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On the 50th anniversary of the Pinochet regime’s first act of international terrorism, the National Security Archive is posting a compilation of documents, including CIA intelligence reports and a judicial confession of
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Let me think back to the USSR. Soviet nostalgia is still alive and well in today’s Russia. Looking back at the USSR, which existed from 1922 to 1991, is like taking a
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A furore has erupted in North America over reports that Russia plans to expand its armed forces by an additional 180,000 men, bringing the total to 1.32 million. This increase brings Russia
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On September 2nd 1945, within hours of Imperial Japan’s Emperor Hirohito formally signing an instrument of surrender and ending World War II in the Pacific, Ho Chi Minh, leader of the Viet
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Newly declassified documents from the National Security Archive reveal that Henry Kissinger, then National Security Advisor, deliberately misled President Gerald Ford, his Cabinet, and journalists regarding the CIA’s covert operations in Chile.
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The human capacity for invention is unparalleled. We have developed technologies that have allowed us to survive and thrive far beyond the ecological niches that constrained our ancestors. While our innovation has
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Scientific breakthroughs about human origins have captured the curiosity of audiences eager to learn more about the past. We are entering a new phase, thanks to the accumulation of evidence and new
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The political involvement of wives and family members in Sri Lanka’s political history has long been a subject of public discourse, particularly during elections. Today, this phenomenon has resurfaced, as political leaders’
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