Bowled Over
The U.S. national cricket team defeated Pakistan last week in one of the biggest upsets in T20 World Cup competition. America’s victory against a historically strong team sent shock waves around the world—except in much of America, where cricket isn’t well known. If you’re new to the sport, learn the basics here before Wednesday’s match between the U.S. and India. Or dive into the game’s legends, including Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, and Garfield Sobers.
Basics of the World’s Most Popular Sport: From the Timeless Test to T20
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The Long and Winding History of Cricket
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Interactive: Explore Lord’s Cricket Ground, the Legendary “Home of Cricket”
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Test Your Knowledge
Here There Be Dragons!
Today marks the Dragon Boat Festival, which is celebrated in China and around the world on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Here’s more on the annual event.
How it began
A legend of the festival’s origin recounts the tragic tale of Qu Yuan, a famous poet who drowned himself. People raced their dragon boats to search for him and tossed sticky rice dumplings (zongzi) into the water to distract the fish from eating him. Competitive dragon boat racing and eating zongzi became signature elements of this festival. Dragon boat racing has lately become a popular sport separate from the festival.
Dragons across cultures
In East Asian culture, dragons (long) are divine creatures associated with rain and bodies of water, and they are considered beneficial creatures symbolic of fecundity, power, and prestige. This positive view contrasts with that in the West where dragons (from the Greek drakōn: serpent) mostly symbolize fear and evil. Examples include the Egyptian chaotic demon serpent Apopis; the Greek Hydra killed by Heracles; the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve; and the various dragons conquered by heroes like the Germanic Siegfried or martyrs like St. George, the dragon slayer patron saint of England and Georgia. Then again, dragons in Europe have been symbols of royalty and war for the likes of Agamemnon, in Arthurian legend, and of course the Targaryens in Game of Thrones.
A smaller scale
Although mythological, there are plenty of real “dragons” in the animal and plant world, from the Komodo dragon (watch a video about them here), to leafy sea dragons, to the common dracaena “dragon plants,” many of which are houseplants. Careful, maybe there’s a dragon (plant) in your house!
© Huang Wei—Xinhua News Agency/Getty Images
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