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Exactly 25 years ago, on March 15 1985, computer manufacturer Symbolics, Inc registered the first .com web domain ever: symbolics.com. By today’s design standards, and considering how web sites looked back in the late eighties and early nineties, it’s quite decent, although a bit short on content. However, its content and even the (now defunct) company that registered it are far less important than the boom it ignited: in 1997, one million .com web domains were registered, and in 2000 the dot-com bubble peaked, resulting in an inevitable meltdown.

Chinese New Year is the beginning of the new year in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. Because the lunar new year does not coincide with January 1st (unlike the solar calendar, which you might be more familiar with), the date of the celebration usually falls in late January or early February, and continues for fifteen days. There are different activities and traditions that take place on certain days of the celebration. The day before the New Year is a time for cleaning the house in order to prepare for a fresh start. An elaborate dinner is cooked and eaten at midnight, at which time fireworks and firecrackers are set off all over town! New Years Day itself is a day for spending time with (and paying respect to) the most senior members of the family, such as grandparents. The third day of the new year is a day for visiting friends, but is also a day to pay respect to ancestors by praying and tending to the graves of family members who have passed on. The fifth day of the new ...

A young woman celebrates New Year's Eve in Vienna, Austria with some sparklers. Georg Hochmuth/EPA