On 1st April 2004, South Korea joined an exclusive club. The first Korea Train Express, KTX, departed Seoul Station and headed south toward Busan, covering a journey that had previously consumed over four hours by the fastest conventional express in under two hours and forty minutes. It was not April Fool’s Day mischief. It was…

On 5th January 2007, a gleaming white train pulled out of Taipei’s newly built Banqiao Station and headed south along Taiwan’s western coastal plain toward Kaohsiung. The journey that had previously consumed four and a half hours by conventional express train, or nearly an hour by plane, would now take around ninety minutes end to…

On the morning of 25th April 2015, Italy’s Liberation Day, a date chosen with deliberate patriotic flair, the Frecciarossa 1000 entered commercial service between Milan and Rome. It was, by any technical measure, the fastest train in Europe at the time. But in Italy, a train is never merely a machine. The Frecciarossa 1000 was…

A Guide to Every Kind of Library in the World When most of us picture a library, we imagine the same thing: a hushed building lined floor to ceiling with shelves, long reading tables, and a librarian behind a desk. It is a powerful image, and it is a real one. But it is only…

A History of the Public Library Around the World There are few institutions as quietly radical as the public library. To walk through its doors is to enter a space that belongs equally to the professor and the schoolchild, the retiree and the refugee, the curious and the desperate. Free to all, demanding nothing in…

Honouring the Sacred Symbol of a Nation Celebrated Every Year on 13 March Every year on 13th March, Thailand pauses to honour one of its most cherished national symbols, the elephant. Known as Wan Chang Thai (วันช้างไทย), National Elephant Day is a celebration steeped in centuries of culture, mythology, and conservation urgency. It is a…

A Nation’s Name Day: Celebrating Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden on the 12th March Each year on the twelfth of March, the Swedish flag flies over every public building, a military band fills the inner courtyard of Stockholm Palace, and a future queen steps out to greet her people, not on her birthday, but on…

GENDER EQUITY | WORKPLACE RIGHTS | MARCH 2026 Equal Pay Day in America: The Fight That Still Isn’t Over Each year, a symbolic date on the calendar forces the nation to confront an uncomfortable truth: women are still working for free. What Is Equal Pay Day? Equal Pay Day is an annual awareness event that…

The Ancient Instrument That Conquered the World 10th March 2026 · Celebrating Over 3,000 Years of the Bagpipe Date 10th March, annually Founded 2012 by the Bagpipe Society and International Bagpipe Organisation Co-founders Andy Letcher and Cassandre Balosso-Bardin Types of bagpipe Over 130 distinct varieties worldwide First event 10th March 2012 from South Africa to…

COMMONWEALTH DAY Heritage, Purpose & the Family of Nations 9 March 2026 · Theme: Unlocking Opportunities Together for a Prosperous Commonwealth What Is Commonwealth Day? Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, observed on the second Monday in March each year. In 2026, it falls on Monday 9 March. It is…