Yahoo! Answers

Flowers, breakfast in bed, and handmade cards are popular gifts to give to your mother on Mother’s Day.  Sunday, May 13, marks the day this year and in honor of mothers here are five fun facts about Mother’s Day:

1. Mother’s Day is celebrated all over the world, mainly during the months of March, April and May.
2. The word for mother in most languages starts with the letter M.
3. Anne Marie Jarvis is the founder of Mother’s Day, but it didn’t become an official holiday until 1915.
4. Next to Christmas and Easter, Mother’s Day is the third most popular holiday.
5. Red Carnations are the flower associated with Mother’s Day and is meant to honor mothers.

Happy Mother’s Day to our community enjoy your special day!  How do you plan on spending this Mother’s Day?  Please leave a comment below.

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The first Academy Awards ceremony was on May 16, 1929 hosted by Douglas Fairbanks. It wasn’t broadcast on radio or television and only lasted 15 minutes. Times have changed since then. The Oscars are now broadcast to more than 1 billion people worldwide and three hours long!

How did the Academy Award get the nickname “Oscar”? According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences the nickname “Oscar” came about when then “Academy librarian (and eventual executive director) Margaret Herrick remarked that it resembled her Uncle Oscar. The Academy didn’t adopt the nickname officially until 1939, but it was widely known enough by 1934 that Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used it in a piece referring to Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win.”

The Oscar’s official name is the Academy Award® of Merit, weighs 8.5 pounds is 13.5 inches and takes 3-4 weeks to manufacture. So who will be the lucky winners this year to take home the coveted prize?

The nominations were announced on January 24, 2012 and our very own Academy Awards on Yahoo! Movies will be providing complete coverage of the event. You can also make your predictions there and share them with your friends. The winners will be announced at the 84th Academy Awards on February 26, 2012 and will be hosted by Billy Crystal. So find out then to see if your predictions were right!

What do you think of the nominations? Do you think anyone or film was overlooked? Please leave a comment below.

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In last week’s Year in Review we showcased our 10 Most Popular Questions answered. But we’re not done!  In addition to our questions and answers, we now present our 10 Most Read Blogs of 2010. A few highlights below.

This past summer, our Answers team took to the streets of New York City and San Francisco to find answers to some of YOUR questions. Watch our video series, especially Episode 1 and 8, which made the top list.

Becoming a parent is no easy task. Layla, our hands-on-mom, loves getting advice from the community. Her topics tend to focus on what every parent asks him or herself.

Our second annual Yamster Halloween Costume was once again very popular. Costumes ranged from the Joker to Super Mario, and even Paris Hilton! Oh yes — be afraid, be furry afraid…

Last but not least: Don’t forget our great blogger, Ask Mike! Mike does all the dirty work researching the most random topics buried in the back of our minds (for instance, why are some fuel tanks on the passenger side while others are on the driver’s?)

Below, check out the rest of our most read and commented-on blogs:

1. Choose a “Best of Answers” earn 100 pts

2. Answers Halloween Costume Contest

3. Yahoo! Answers hits the streets: Episode 8

4. Ask Mike: Nicknames

5. Ask Mike: The mysterious gas tank

6. Yahoo! Answers hits the streets: Episode 1

7. Ask Mike: Addicted to lip balm

8. Nanny or day care? That is the question

9. Ask Mike: Blondes have more fun

10. Changes to the Answers Homepage

These have been some great reads. Whether it’s another Answers on the Street question or Ask Mike topic, anything you’d like to see covered in 2011? We’d love to hear your suggestions!

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Yahoo! has the unique ability to connect the individual to a community of 600 million people so they can change the world together. One small act of kindness can create a ripple of generosity.  That’s how good grows on Yahoo!.

This holiday season, Yahoo! is encouraging people like you to do a random act of kindness and update your online status to get others to join in. The more people who take action, the larger your ripple will be. You can see your ripple grow on kindness.yahoo.com as more people are inspired by your one simple act.

Question: What random act of kindness will you do this month?

Whether you pay for a stranger’s baggage fees at the airport or donate canned goods to the food bank, now is the time to start spreading joy. Check out kindness.yahoo.com to see ripples others have already started.

Need more inspiration?  Check out our Year In Review site where we’re featuring 10 inspiring individuals who changed the world this past year starting with just one simple act.

-Yahoo! for Good Team

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October is the month of the pink ribbon.

In fact, I myself have worn the pink ribbon proudly as I know many women who have been afflicted with breast cancer. Some of them bounced back to life after surgery or treatment and a few others succumbed to the disease.

So when I decided to write a blog post about breast cancer, I was absolutely certain that it would take me less than ten minutes to do so. After all, I knew stories about all these women. And I thought I was mighty pink because as a woman I knew how to protect myself. Right?

Wrong. As I started to write this post, I realized how little I actually knew about this deadly disease though it had touched my life often enough, albeit indirectly.

Photo by merfam

Worldwide, breast cancer comprises 10.4% of all cancer incidence among women, making it the most common type of non-skin cancer in women and the fifth most common cause of cancer death. This explains the number of awareness campaigns about breast cancer during the month of October.

And yet I was finding it difficult to write about breast cancer. So I decided to take a look at Answers.

It was no surprise that I found a list of commonly asked questions about breast cancer. I decided to post these questions so it could help women and men like me who know about breast cancer but are hardly aware of the facts relating to the disease.

Links to save a life!

Understand this cancer better so you can treat it on time if need be!

• How does breast cancer develop in women and what are the preventive measures for it?

• What are the symptoms of breast cancer and what are the consequences?

• What kind of tests or examinations should be done for breast cancer?

Three typical doubts about preventing and treating breast cancer

• Is it true that deodorants can cause breast cancer in women?

• Are there any Ayurvedic treatments for breast cancer?

• How exactly does breast feeding lower the risk of breast cancer?

Other useful links to understand breast cancer better

I may have breast cancer, what questions should I ask my doctor?

• http://www.medicinenet.com/breast_cancer/article.htm#1imayhave

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer

And here’s how you can help people with breast cancer. http://shine.yahoo.com/page/breast-cancer-awareness-2010!

So do you have a breast cancer story? Is there some knowledge about breast cancer you would like to share? Do send us your story at  y_answrs_favorites@yahoo.com or leave us a comment.

Go pink!

Bhumika Anand – Community Manager, IN

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