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Holiday gift crazes and fads of the past century

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

The holidays are about family, friends, feasting, and yes, if we're being honest, presents. Overall, holiday spending is expected to reach record levels in the 2023 season, up to $966.6 billion, according to the National Retail Federation's holiday forecast. (That's $37 billion more than in 2022.) The number is inclusive of gifts, food, decor, and other holiday-related purchases, but there's no doubt the first category is a hefty portion of the total spending.The memories may outlast the gifts themselves, but each year, it seems like a handful of items rise to the top of holiday wish lists. Who could forget getting the toy they wished for as a child years ago or scouring the store for the hottest gadget as a parent or grandparent today? To look back on those moments, Stacker researched the holiday gift crazes and fads of years past, from 1919 until 2023. 20 of the best Christmas albums of all time The information comes from lists of the hardest-to-find and the most popular gifts; ...

20 of the best Christmas albums of all time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

Perhaps more than any other holiday season, Christmas is full of nostalgia. As the years go on, whether anyone likes it or not, it can be nearly impossible to avoid memories of the seasons that have passed and Christmas traditions around the tree, whether spent with family or alone. As different as those holiday memories are for everyone, so, too, is the music often heard during this time, be it traditional Christmas carols or new tunes.With the holiday season fast approaching, Stacker dug into articles and data from various leading music websites and curated a list of great Christmas albums across various genres and eras as of November 2023. Ariana Grande’s ‘Last Christmas’ is most dangerous Christmas song for driving: study Of course, traditional Christmas music makes up the greatest Christmas albums. The tunes that generations have grown up with—from such recording artists as Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, and Nat King Cole—have endured. More recent Christmas albums, such as Maria...

Poland’s parliament elects centrist party leader Donald Tusk as prime minister

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s parliament elected centrist party leader Donald Tusk as prime minister on Monday, paving the way for a new pro-EU government after eight years of stormy national conservative rule.Tusk becomes prime minister nearly two months after a national election that was won by a coalition of parties ranging from left-wing to moderate conservative. The parties ran on separate tickets but promised to work together under Tusk’s leadership to restore democratic standards and improve ties with allies. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government lost a confidence vote in parliament on Monday, paving the way to power for a broad pro-EU alliance under the leadership of the centrist political veteran Donald Tusk.Morawiecki’s government was defeated 266-190 in the 460-seat lower house, the Sejm. The vote marked the ended of eight tumultuous years in which the natio...

Poland’s parliament elects centrist party leader Donald Tusk as prime minister after 8 years of stormy conservative rule

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s parliament elects centrist party leader Donald Tusk as prime minister after 8 years of stormy conservative rule.Source

Special counsel Smith asks the Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether ex-President Trump is immune from prosecution

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Smith asks the Supreme Court to rule quickly on whether ex-President Trump is immune from prosecution.Source

Jury seated in election workers’ defamation damages trial against Rudy Giuliani

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury was sworn in Monday in the federal case that will determine how how much Rudy Giuliani might have to pay two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of fraud while pushing Donald Trump’s baseless claims after the 2020 election. The former New York City mayor has already been found liable in the defamation lawsuit brought by Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, who endured threats and harassment after they became the target of a conspiracy theory spread by Trump and his allies. The only issue to be determined at the trial is the amount of damages, if any, Giuliani must pay. Giuliani did not speak to reporters as he entered Washington’s federal courthouse — the same building where Trump is set to stand trial in March on criminal charges accusing the former president of scheming to overturn his loss to President Joe Biden. Opening arguments in the case were expected to start Monday afternoon.Giuliani is expected to take the witne...

Colorado spot named one of the best ski restaurants in North America

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Gone are the days when the best food at a ski lodge is deli meat and french fries. Restaurants across North America now serve gourmet food near the slopes, and one of the best spots for post-ski grub is in Colorado.USAToday released winter surveys of the best cross-country skiing, ski resorts, places to learn how to ski and ski hotels in the U.S. and across North America. These Colorado spots are the best in US for cross-country skiing Unsurprisingly, Colorado made all of these lists.USAToday also surveyed experts and readers on the best ski restaurants across North America, and a restaurant in Crested Butte restaurant ranked. No 6 on the list.Here's the full list of the best ski restaurants in North America:The Reserve - Tamarack, IdahoCorbet's Cabin - Jackson Hole, WyomingThe Chalet at Alpine Meadows - Alpine Meadows, CaliforniaWhitehorn Bistro - Lake Louise, AlbertaThe Goldener Hirsch Restaurant - Park City, UtahUley's Cabin - Mt. Crested Butte, ColoradoThe Mar...

‘Day of the Dozens’: Krispy Kreme selling dozen donuts for $1 for annual celebration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

Donut lovers, listen up! Krispy Kreme’s dozen donuts will be on sale for $1 on December 12th as part of their “Day of the Dozens” annual celebration.Customers can purchase the dozen donuts for $1 with the purchase of any dozen or a 16-count of Minis at regular price.The deal will only last one day and can be redeemed in-store, through the drive-thru, or online using promo code “DOZEN.” at all participating restaurants. Customers who buy it in-store or through the drive thru will be limited to two boxes of donuts while those who buy it online will be limited to one box.

52-foot-long dead fin whale washes up on San Diego beach; cause of death unclear

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A 52-foot-long (16-meter-long) dead fin whale washed up on a San Diego beach over the weekend and officials said there was no obvious sign of the cause of death.The young female whale was found Sunday in Mission Beach and was later towed out to sea, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.Fin whales are the second largest whales in the world after blue whales. They can grow to 70 to 80 feet (21 to 24 meters) long and weigh about 50 tons, or 100,000 pounds (45,000 kilograms). They are endangered and thought to number around 8,000 off the West Coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.“It’s probably in the first couple years of its life,” Michael Milstein, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries West Coast region, told the newspaper. “It didn’t appear to have been dead very long because there wasn’t much evidence of scavenging or decomposition. But there was also no obvious sign of the cause of death.”In cases where whales have been killed by...

Trump who? Republicans in Dubai try to carve out their own climate agenda.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:10:37 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Republicans at global climate summits don’t talk about Donald.The GOP lawmakers who trekked to Dubai for the U.N. climate gathering made it plain they’re not eager to discuss Donald Trump and his long history of denouncing climate change as a Chinese-inspired “hoax.” The reality is that the former president’s views are several multiverses away from the mainstream at this nearly 200-nation gathering in Dubai. Never mind his commanding lead in the 2024 Republican primary race and the polls suggesting he would beat President Joe Biden.The lawmakers insist they came to COP28 to promote their own Republican vision of climate action, one that champions American fossil fuels and nuclear energy while acknowledging the need — and growing political imperative — to offer some plan for cutting greenhouse gas pollution. They prefer not to dwell on the chances of that agenda surviving the tsunami of a second Trump administration.“No. 1, he’s not the nominee right now...