Ash Wednesday falls on Wednesday, March 5 this year. In Western churches, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of spiritual reflection before Easter. Lent runs through April 17, 2025. Palm Sunday, the first day of the Holy Week which commemorates Jesus Christ's entry to Jerusalem, is on Sunday, April 13, 2025.

Ash Wednesday, a Christian holy day, is around the corner. It is the first day of the Lenten season and is considered a reminder of human mortality,

In 2025, Easter will be on April 20 this year. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, it is a “movable feast” that can happen between March 22 and April 25 on the Gregorian calendar. On the Julian calendar, used by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Easter can be between April 4 and May 8.

It was a surprising discovery when scientists examining the remains of a man who died in bed in the ancient city of Herculaneum after Italy's Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD found dark fragments resembling obsidian inside his skull.

Nearly 2,000 years after a young man died in the Vesuvius volcanic eruption, scientists have discovered that his brain was preserved when it turned to glass in an extremely hot cloud of ash. Researchers found the glass in 2020 and speculated that it was a fossilised brain but did not know how it had formed.