Word: 17th
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...China has rewarded Guo for her loyalty. The comely diver is China's most celebrated female Olympian, and that has translated into more, officially approved lucrative advertising contracts. (The Chinese state sports system makes sure to keep a chunk of her endorsement revenue.) On August 17th, Guo will defend her second Olympic gold, this time in the individual 3m springboard event...
...also reveal evidence that Chinese may have settled in Africa long before the 17th century arrival of settlers from Europe. The first known map of southern Africa was drawn by Chinese cartographer Chu Ssu-pen in 1320. Sung dynasty porcelain (960-1279 AD) has been found at archaeological digs in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Chinese admiral Zheng He explored Africa's east coast between 1405-1433. Most compelling of all, until a few years ago, there lived, north of Cape Town, tribes with light colored skin, Mongolian features and a language tonally similar to Mandarin, who traced their origins...
Pirates have plagued seafarers for millenniums. Homer and Cicero noted incidents involving ancient Greek and Roman mariners, and West Europeans weathered Viking onslaughts during the Middle Ages. In the 16th and 17th centuries, monarchs frustrated by Spain's dominance of the Caribbean commissioned privateers to harass the Spanish fleet--helping to usher in piracy's golden age, when swashbuckling marauders like Edward (Blackbeard) Teach roamed the sun-splashed islands, plundering gold and silver...
...July 17, Kay Ryan became the 16th U.S. poet Laureate, one of the most coveted positions in American letters. Yet when Senator Spark Matsunaga, himself an amateur poet, pushed Congress to create the post in 1985, the American literary community was appalled. With its roots in 17th century England, where the laureate still writes occasional verses marking royal births and weddings, the title was one that few American poets rushed to adopt. "It's in the field of politics," scoffed Allen Ginsberg. With artists serving renewable eight-month terms, the U.S. "may be down to third-rate poets pretty quickly...
...almost all professional golfers play the game the way Norman did, with the balls he helped introduce. Harrington's approach shots to the par-5 15th and 17th holes on Sunday - the latter of which set up an eagle that put him out of reach - were Normanesque in their distance and unwavering accuracy. But even the primary practitioner of modern golf couldn't overcome Harrington's ability to fuse flawless technique with sunny implacability. Sports psychologist Bob Rotella - who reportedly stayed in Harrington's house this whole week of the Open - says the key to golf is to enjoy...