Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a soccer-loving nun from Brazil who was believed to be the oldest person in the world and whose longevity had been celebrated by Pope Francis, died on Wednesday. She was 116 years old and would have turned 117 in a few more weeks, according to her religious congregation, the Irmãs Teresianas…
Fridrik Olafsson, a chess grandmaster who helped make his native Iceland a bastion of the game, in part by defeating four world champions, including Bobby Fischer, the dominant American player, died on Friday in Reykjavík, the country’s capital. He was 90. The death, in a hospital, was announced by the International Chess Federation, the game’s…
When Iichi Marumo competed in his first international race seven years ago in Moscow, the Japanese speedskater moved down the ice at about the pace of a brisk jog. It took him three times longer to cross the finish line than most of the other skaters that day. It didn’t matter, because Mr. Marumo was…
Anyone who has sat through a third-grade science class knows there are three primary states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. Microsoft now says it has created a new state of matter in its quest to make a powerful machine, called a quantum computer, that could accelerate the development of everything from batteries to medicines…
The new king of the Chinese box office is an adorably ugly, demonic child fighting off monsters. In less than two weeks since its release, “Ne Zha 2,” an animated film based loosely on Chinese mythology and a famous 16th century novel, has become the highest-grossing movie ever in China, with more than $1 billion…
Arthur Blessitt, whose fervent efforts to convert the hippies, freaks and addicts along Hollywood’s Sunset Strip were just a prelude to his decision to carry a 110-pound wooden cross from Los Angeles to New York City — and then to keep going, eventually traveling 43,340 miles through every country on the planet — died on…
Tomiko Itooka, a Japanese woman born before the start of World War I and the sinking of the Titanic who was believed to be the oldest person in the world, died at a nursing home in Ashiya, Japan. She was 116. In a statement released on Saturday, the mayor of Ashiya said Ms. Itooka passed…