Word: first
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This gap in the English language shouldn't come as a surprise; the debate over what to name the first decade of this century has been going on since the middle decades of the last one. The 1900s never got a name beyond vague constructions like the turn of the century. One popular term--the aughts--has proved too archaic (and tricky to spell) to be broadly revived. Wordsmiths tried new coinages starting early: in 1963 a New Yorker writer suggested "Twenty oh-oh" for the far-off year 2000, a "nervous name for what is sure...
...taken in more than $100 million in ransom payments since 2007, and this year their attacks became ever more brazen. Somali pirates targeted close to 100 ships in 2009, ranging from supertankers to fishing boats. In April, a raiding party seized the U.S. cargo ship M.V. Maersk Alabama--the first American ship to be successfully hijacked since the 1800s--but all the pirates were killed or captured in the ensuing standoff with a U.S. Navy destroyer. The navies of more than two dozen nations now patrol the Gulf of Aden, and cargo ships have begun to carry onboard deterrents like...
...long-suffering Cubs fan who played Division III college ball, Callahan now plays first base for the embassy's softball team, Los Cañoneros. As team captain, he batted a respectable .347 this season. "I guess for a guy who's 60, that's not bad. But I've got no power anymore, and I can't run." (See the top 10 of everything...
...former Major League greats Dave Stewart and Reggie Smith visited to announce that Nicaragua will be home to the International Baseball Association's first baseball academy in Central America. Smith, longtime player who has since coached Team USA baseball teams, said the association considered locations in Guatemala and Costa Rica but decided on Nicaragua because "here they have the passion and a natural talent for the game, and we won't be competing with soccer...
...growing crowds approached the Hafez overpass, a shout arose to take the bridge. Hundreds streamed into the road. But the same moment saw the first wave of police attacks. More than a dozen police bikes drew up to the crowd. The lead rider pulled out a tear-gas pistol and shot into the crowd at close range...