Jacopo Prisco, CNN NASA’s first space shuttle was meant to be named Constitution — a nod to the United States Bicentennial that year. But a write-in campaign by “Star Trek” fans prompted President Gerald Ford to change his mind. Instead, the orbiter was called Enterprise, like the TV show’s starship. That’s why members of the
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By Marianne Garvey, CNN Octavia Spencer has privately apologized to Britney Spears following a joke she made after the singer announced her engagement to Sam Asghari. “Y’all, a few days ago Sam and Britney announced their engagement and me being me I made a joke,” Spencer wrote in an Instagram post with a photo of
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By Chloe Melas, CNN It was the place to be Tuesday night. Fat Joe and Ja Rule hit the stage at Madison Square Garden for Verzuz, the epic music battles created by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland during the Covid-19 pandemic. The hip-hop legends went 20 rounds, playing their hit songs like Ja Rule’s “Between Me
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By Marianne Garvey, CNN Late night is stepping up for the planet. Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, James Corden, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah will unite across networks on Sept. 22 for “Climate Night,” focusing their programming on climate change. Shows that will participate include TBS’s “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” ABC’s
Continue Reading By Marianne Garvey, CNN Late night is stepping up for the planet. Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, James Corden, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah will unite across networks on Sept. 22 for “Climate Night,” focusing their programming on climate change. Shows that will participate include TBS’s “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” ABC’s
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Francesca Street, CNN A touchless airplane bathroom concept and a next-generation economy seat have been named as winning designs in an annual contest highlighting airplane cabin innovations that could reshape the future of flying. French cabin designer Safran’s hands-free bathroom design Beacon won the Clean and Safe Air Travel category in this year’s Crystal Cabin
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By Lisa Respers France, CNN It’s his first season of “The Morning Show,” but it sounds like Hasan Minhaj has been training for his role for quite some time. “I’ve been playing a fake TV anchor for seven years, so this wasn’t a stretch for me,” Minhaj joked about going from “The Daily Show” to
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By Marianne Garvey, CNN Chrissy Teigen is opening up about a recent medical procedure she underwent. In an Instagram Story this week, Teigen showed off her cheekbones, saying, “I did that Dr. Diamond buccal fat removal thing here,” pointing her her face. “And since I quit drinking, I’m really seeing the results, and I like
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By Lisa Respers France, CNN Julianne Hough has responded to the backlash about a new reality competition show she’s judging. “The Activist” is a forthcoming CBS series in which six activists from around the world come together “to bring meaningful change to one of three urgent universal causes: health, education and the environment. “The activists
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By Diane Selkirk, CNN Five years ago, Iceland had a problem. International tourism had more than tripled since 2000, and many of the visitors were first-timers who were unfamiliar with the rugged Icelandic landscape. “In the media, you’d often see negative stories about tourists doing something that they weren’t supposed to,” says Sigríður Dögg Guðmundsdóttir,
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By Cheri Mossburg and Christina Maxouris, CNN A pair of wildfires burning in California’s parched Sierra Nevada mountains have forced the closure of much of Sequoia National Park — including its most treasured areas, home to some of the largest trees on Earth. While firefighters are “aggressively attacking” the fires to help suppress them, the
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Megan C. Hills, CNN Two pairs of 17th-century glasses are expected to fetch millions of dollars at auction next month. The jewel-encrusted spectacles, which feature lenses made from diamond and emerald rather than glass, are believed to have originally belonged to royals in the Mughal Empire, which once ruled over the Indian subcontinent. Designed to
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By Lisa Respers France, CNN Norm Macdonald, a comic who was beloved as anchor of “Saturday Night Live’s” popular “Weekend Update” segments, died Tuesday, according to multiple reports, citing his manager. He was 61. Deadline was first to report the news. Macdonald had been battling cancer for several years but kept his diagnosis private, his
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By Chloe Melas, CNN Britney Spears deleted her Instagram late Tuesday afternoon. The move comes just two days after she announced her engagement to her longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari. CNN has reached out to representatives for Spears for comment. A source close to the singer says that “it was her decision” to delete the account
Continue Reading By Lisa Respers France, CNN Norm Macdonald, a comic who was beloved as anchor of “Saturday Night Live’s” popular “Weekend Update” segments, died Tuesday, according to multiple reports, citing his manager. He was 61. Deadline was first to report the news. Macdonald had been battling cancer for several years but kept his diagnosis private, his
Continue Reading By Lisa Respers France, CNN Norm Macdonald, a comic who was beloved as anchor of “Saturday Night Live’s” popular “Weekend Update” segments, died Tuesday, according to multiple reports, citing his manager. He was 61. Deadline was first to report the news. Macdonald had been battling cancer for several years but kept his diagnosis private, his
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By Scottie Andrew, CNN Performances at the very first Newport Jazz Festival, the “grandaddy of all music festivals,” took place outside because they had to — there was no venue large enough to hold the thousands of fans clamoring to hear from future legends like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. George Wein created the Newport
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Jacqui Palumbo, CNN On the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art last night, celebrities interpreted this year’s Met Gala theme, “In America: A lexicon of fashion” with homages to American icons, blunt political statements and thoughtful takes on the US identity and heritage. But Kim Kardashian West made a dramatic entrance later in the
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By Rhea Mogul, CNN A “megapod” of more than 100 humpback whales has been filmed surrounding a boat off the coast of Australia — an incredibly rare event an expert says has only ever been captured once before in the country’s waters. The whales skirted the boat near Bermagui, about 236 miles (380 kilometers) from
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By Jack Guy, CNN New Zealand’s Māori Party has launched a petition to change the official name of the country to Aotearoa, its name in the te reo Māori language. The campaign also calls on the House of Representatives to restore the Māori names for all towns, cities and place names, according to a statement
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