Which American, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, proved that lightning is a form of electricity?

BBC - History - Benjamin Franklin z Benjamin Franklin    © Franklin was a statesman, diplomat, writer, scientist and inventor, one of the most versatile and talented men in colonial America and a leading figure in the American struggle for independence. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on 17 January 1706. He attended school only briefly, and then helped his father, who was a candle and soap maker. He was apprenticed to his brother, a printer, and began writing anonymously for his brother's newspaper. Franklin and his brother quarrelled, and in 1723 Franklin ran away to Philadelphia. After 18 months in London, Franklin settled in Philadelphia, establishing himself as a printer. He bought the 'Pennsylvania Gazette', which he edited and which became one of the American colonies' major newspapers. He also wrote and published 'Poor Richard's Almanack', an astronomy journal. By 1748, Franklin had made enough money to retire from business and concentrate on science and inventing. His inventions included the Franklin stove and the lightning rod. He demonstrated that lightning and electricity are identical with his famous kite experiment. Franklin also became more active in politics. He was clerk of the Pennsylvania Assembly (1736-1751), a member of the Assembly (1750-1764), and deputy postmaster for the Colonies (1753-1774), reorganising the postal service to make it efficient and profitable. Franklin was also involved in many public projects, including founding the American Philosophical Society, a subscription library and, in 1751, an academy which later became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1757 to 1774, Franklin lived mainly in London where he was the colonial representative for Pennsylvania, Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts. His attempts to reconcile the British government with the colonies proved fruitless. On his return to America, the war of independence had already broken out and he threw himself into the struggle. In 1776, he helped to draft, and was then a signatory to, the Declaration of Independence. His illegitimate son William, royal governor of New Jersey between 1762 and 1776, remained loyal to Britain, causing a rift that lasted for the rest of Franklin's life. Later that year, Franklin and two others were appointed to represent America in France. Franklin negotiated the Franco-American Alliance which provided for military cooperation between the two countries against Britain and ensured significant French subsidies to America. In 1783, as American ambassador to France, Franklin signed the Treaty of Paris, ending the American War of Independence. He was extremely popular and well known in France, but in 1785 returned to America. He continued to be deeply involved in politics, helping to draft the Constitution. Franklin died in Philadelphia on 17 April 1790.


John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, became the effective ruler of England during the reign of Richard II in the 14th century. Later the father of Henry Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV, what was John of Gaunt's official title?

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster Born: March 6, 1340 Leicester, Leicestershire, England (Age 58) John of Gaunt in History Prince John, the future Duke of Lancaster, was born the third surviving son of King Edward III and Philippa of Hainault at some point in March 1340 while the royal family was stationed in the Flemish city of Ghent. Unsurprisingly, the new prince would take on the moniker John “of Gaunt” (an Anglicization of his birthplace); this is the name by which he is best known to history. The royal couple’s presence in Flanders was due to the alliances which Edward III had formed with the various princes and nobles of the Low Countries in order to create an effective coalition against his fellow monarch, Philip VI of France, with whom he was at war. In the opening years of what has come to be known as the Hundred Years’ War, it was common for the English to launch attacks from this region, and it was in Ghent that Edward first proclaimed himself King of France, giving the city a degree of significance. By the fall, John was in England and, by the following year, he was elevated to the peerage as Earl of Richmond (thought this was not officially confirmed by the king for another ten years). The title, which had been affiliated with the Counts and Dukes of Brittany since the mid-twelfth century, had become vacant when Duke John III had died without a direct heir.  Clearly, the king and queen wanted to make sure that all of the members of their growing family were well provided for. Relatively little information is available pertaining to John’s formative years, including his education and general upbringing, though it appears that he was a member of the household of Edward the “Black Prince,” his eldest brother, from a young age. John got his first taste of martial experience in 1350, at the age of ten, when he was a passenger on his father’s ship during the bloody Battle of Winchelsea, where the English defeated a French-allied Castilian fleet in the English Channel; obviously, John played no role in the actual fighting. In 1355, John accompanied his father to Normandy in what was supposed to be a campaign of conquest (though this is questionable) against the French and their king, now John II. However, the credit for victory was destined to go to the Black Prince, who the following year would win his great victory over the French at Poitiers. The contingent led by the king, which included John, was forced to return to England when it was discovered that the Scots had captured the important Anglo-Scottish border town of Berwick. John accompanied his father into Scotland and took part in the largely unsuccessful raiding campaign that took place. As a reward for his services, the king granted John an important northern lordship and, more importantly, had him betrothed to Blanche of Lancaster, a co-heiress of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, arguably the wealthiest noblemen in England. The marriage between John and Blanche duly took place in the spring of 1359 and was highly significant, as Lancaster had no male heirs and his vast fortune was due to be split between his daughters upon his death, ultimately making John one of the kingdom’s premier noblemen in right of his wife. That fall, John took part in the Rheims campaign – the result of unsuccessful peace negotiations between French and English moderators after the capture of John II at Poitiers three years earlier – and accompanied the force led by his brother, the Black Prince. The English forces did besiege Rheims but were unable to take the city where, for centuries, the Kings of France had been crowned. John did take part in some of the raiding that took place in the areas surrounding Paris, but the Rheims campaign was, overall, ineffective. Though John was back in England by the spring of 1360, he returned with his father to English-controlled Calais in the summer to take part in the final ratification of the Treaty of Bretigny, which had put an end to this first phase of the Hundred Years War (though many important det


"Who wrote the opera ""The Bartered Bride""?"

A Rearranged Marriage: 'The Bartered Bride' : NPR Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus Jiri Belohlavek, conductor The Bartered Bride was Smetana's second opera. His first, a drama called The Brandenburgers in Bohemia, was an early success in Prague — but quickly disappeared. With The Bartered Bride, it was exactly the opposite. It got off to a slow start after its premiere in 1866. But by the mid-1870s, it was arguably the most popular Czech opera of all time — and many would say it still is. The opera is in three acts, all set in a small Bohemian village, and it begins with a well-known overture — a piece that's often heard in the concert hall. As ACT ONE begins, the village is preparing for a festival, but the young woman Marenka is hardly in a festive mood. She's in love with a young man called Jenik — but she's afraid of what's about to happen. Her father owes a debt to Micha, a wealthy, older man. Micha wants Marenka to marry his son, Vasek, and he's due in town any time now to seal the deal. Marenka tells Jenik that she'll stay faithful to him — no matter what her father and Micha want. Jenik doesn't seem at all concerned about their future — a casual attitude that Marenka doesn't understand. She also wants to know more about Jenik's past. He says he was born into a wealthy family, but his mother died when he was just a child. Then, when his father remarried, Jenik's stepmother threw him out of the house, and he hasn't seen his family since. In the next scene, Marenka's parents, Krusina and Ludmila, are talking with the Kecal, the local marriage broker. Kecal knows Micha's son Vasek, and says he'd be a fine husband for Marenka. But when Marenka joins the conversation, she tells them she's in love with someone else. Kecal goes off to find Jenik, hoping to work it all out, while the villagers join in a lively polka. Act Two opens with a drinking song, and after that we finally meet Vasek, the prospective bridegroom. He comes into the village alone, and he's clearly nervous. Marenka approaches him, and she's got the upper hand. He doesn't realize that she's the woman he's supposed to marry — but she knows exactly who he is. Without introducing herself, she tells him that if he's really the guy who's going to marry Marenka, he'd better watch his back. Marenka, she says, is in love with someone else, and has said she'll see Vasek dead before she marries him. She then flirts with him, and wins his promise that he'll refuse to marry the deadly Marenka, no matter what his father wants. Meanwhile, Kecal has found Jenik, and wants to make a deal. He offers him 300 gulden to give up his claim on Marenka. Surprisingly, he agrees — but he has very specific conditions. Jenik says he'll take the money, and in return he'll only allow Marenka to marry "the son of Micha." Satisfied, Kecal announces the deal he's made, and the villagers are angry to learn that Jenik has actually "sold" his bride to someone else. As ACT THREE begins, Vasek is more than a little bit confused. His father had promised him a beautiful young wife. But now, it seems, his bride wants to kill him! But for the moment, Vasek is distracted from his troubles when a circus comes to town. The star attraction is a great American "bear," who will dance with the seductive maiden Esmerelda. But there's a problem. It seems the bear is too drunk to perform. Always willing, Vasek agrees to take his place. The circus people leave to prepare their show, and Vasek amazes his parents by refusing to marry Marenka. But when they introduce him to her for the first time — and he realizes she's the same woman who flirted with him when he first came to town — he promptly agrees to the wedding. On top of that, Marenka is told about the deal that Jenik has made with Kecal, the marriage broker — that he's agreed to let Marenka marry "the son of Micha" in return for 300 gulden. Marenka is furious, and when Jenik tries to explain she refuses to listen. After all, what does she really know about this guy? All he's told her about his past is that his mother d


Simon de Montfort led the Barons Revolt against King Henry III and became the effective ruler of England in the 13th century. Later defeated and killed at the Battle of Evesham what was Simon de Montfort's official title?

The Establishment of English Unity - king, england, edward, kings, reign, time and royal The Establishment of English Unity Loading THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ENGLISH UNITY From the outset there was one powerful factor making for unity. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes may have been distinct in origin, but there can be no doubt of their close relationship. No fundamental differences separate the culture of Angles and Saxons, and the superior arts and crafts of the Jutes in eastern Kent and in the Isle of Wight were acquired probably during temporary residence in Frankish territory immediately before their migration to Britain. The language differences between these peoples can only have been slight in the 7th century. All three peoples, for example, used the same general stock of personal names, and recent investigation of local nomenclature has brought out an essential similarity in words denoting places of settlement and natural features throughout Britain. Kent indeed stands apart from the rest of England in legal custom, agrarian organization, and at a later time to some extent in language. But Kent, save for the reign of its greatest king, Ethelbert, was never an impor tant kingdom, and though the distinctive features of its society may have intensified its particularism they did not seriously com plicate the general uniformity of the English culture of the earliest period. The Ancient Dynasties. English history between the 6th and the 9th century is nevertheless the record of incessant wars, and for long afterwards jealousies between kingdoms once inde pendent remained politically important ; for instance, it was long before the men of the great Mercian kingdom finally acquiesced in the overlordship of the kings of Wessex. To the ordinary peasant these jealousies arose from no profounder source than instinctive distrust of strangers. His view was confined to the region of which he had personal knowledge, and we have no reason to believe that a West Saxon ceorl from Berkshire felt more antipathy to a Mercian of his own class than to another West Saxon from Somerset. The rivalry which was dangerous to peace, and delayed the accomplishment of English unity, was rivalry between kings. The number of separate dynasties estab lished in England, each with its own reputed descent from ancient gods, was very remarkable. Among the Anglian peoples of the north and east there can be traced separate royal lines ruling in Bernicia, between Tees and Forth, in Deira, between Humber and Tees, in Lindsey, in East Anglia, and in Mercia, along the middle Trent. No doubt the degree of nobility implied by the pedigrees asserted by these families varied greatly. No royal house in England claimed so illustrious a descent as the kings of the Mercians, who included among their ancestors men who had ruled the Angles in their continental home. But every royal house asserted its descent from Woden, and therefore, none could acknowledge a fundamental superiority in any rival. It has been argued often that the influence of the church coun teracted this tendency, that the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury set an example which was ultimately followed in the temporal sphere. There is a measure of truth in this opinion. A great archbishop like Theodore of Tarsus was the effective ruler of the church everywhere among the English people. But no other archbishop was a man of Theodore's quality, and after 734, when an independent archbishopric of York was created, the organization of the church was a serious obstacle to the unifica tion of England. Moreover the administration of the church was closely adapted to the contemporary political divisions of the land. The typical bishop of the 7th century was bishop of a kingdom and counsellor of its king. It was only an exceptional man who in such a position could work for the establishment of a wider unity than prevailed in the world which alone he knew. Reasons for West Saxon Supremacy.---On the eve of the Norman Conquest, Edward the Confessor, heir of the


What is the biggest city by population in the US state of Wisconsin?

Wisconsin Population Wisconsin ranked 20th in population in the US (down from 16th in 1990)    with an estimated total of 5,441,196 in 2002, an increase of 1.4% since    2000. Between 1990 and 2000, Wisconsin's population grew from    4,891,769 to 5,363,675, an increase of 9.6%. The population is projected    to reach 5.9 million by 2025. The population density in 2000 was 98.8    persons per sq mi. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the area that is now Wisconsin    was very sparsely settled by perhaps 20,000 Indians and a few hundred    white settlers, most of them engaged in the fur trade. With the    development of lead mining, the population began to expand, reaching a    total of 30,945 (excluding Indians) by 1840. During the next two decades,    the population increased rapidly to 775,881, as large numbers of settlers    from the East and German, British, and Scandinavian immigrants arrived.    Subsequent growth has been steady, if slower. In the late 19th century,    industry expanded and, by 1930, the population became predominantly urban. In 2000, the median age for Wisconsinites was 36. In the same year, 25.5%    of the populace were under age 18 while 13.1% were age 65 or older. The majority of Wisconsinites live in urban areas, most of them in the    heavily urbanized southeastern region. Milwaukee, the largest city in    Wisconsin and the 19th largest in the US, had a population of 590,895 in    2002. Other large cities, with their 2002 population estimates, were    Madison, 215,211, and Green Bay, 101,515. Racine had 81,855 residents in    2000, and Kenosha had 90,352. The state's largest metropolitan    area, Milwaukee-Racine, had an estimated 1,648,199 residents as of 1999.


Are Raw Cashews Really Poisonous? (with pictures) Law Are Raw Cashews Really Poisonous? Last Modified Date: 29 November 2016 Copyright Protected: Top 10 facts about the world Unless you happen to work in a cashew plant or pick cashew apples, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter completely raw cashews . The so-called raw cashews sold in natural food stores are not exactly raw, but instead are steamed. It is the case that the double shell surrounding the raw cashew, which is technically a seed and not a nut, contains urushiol , a resin that can create significant skin rashes, and can be toxic when ingested. Urushiol is the same chemical found in poison ivy , and it is present on the leaves of the cashew tree as well as in the raw cashew shell. Processing raw cashews can be a laborious and nightmarish ordeal, and people who work in cashew processing plants tend to exhibit greater allergies to cashew shells over time. There is a high incidence of skin rashes among people who either harvest or process raw cashews.  Greater sensitivity to urushiol can lead to extreme allergic reaction when raw cashews are ingested, and anyone allergic to poison ivy could potentially have a fatal reaction to eating true raw cashews. Ad This is why we don’t eat strictly raw cashews. Even the “unroasted’ varieties are steamed to release urushiol from the nut and make it safe to eat. Certainly, those raw cashews sold as raw have been processed to remove urushiol, so there is no danger in consuming them. As nuts and seeds go, safely prepared cashews actually cause very few allergies, especially when compared to nuts like walnuts or legumes like peanuts. The cashew tree is a New World food, and it’s certainly a testament to the ingenuity of New World races that we even eat “raw” cashews. At some time, pre-dating written history, the people of Brazil figured out that the fruit surrounding the cashew “nut” could be eaten, but the shell could not. Also, early Brazilians were able to understand that the nut could be used when steamed or cooked.  This may have been a trial and error process, with many people getting ill from error testing, but it ultimately brought us to the enjoyment of one of the most popular nuts, now grown in many places throughout the world. Though cashew nut oil from the shells is not safe to consume, it does have uses. It may be distilled and used to line brakes to provide friction, or may make up one of the resins in epoxy finishes and coatings. Touching these extractions from raw cashews may create rashes, but this is less common, since the oils and resins made from them undergo extensive processing. Ad Post 65 Cashew nuts and the apple of the cashew are not poisonous. The only place where urushiol exists is in the shell around the seed. The steaming or boiling opens the shell without exposing the seed to the resin. anon994557 Post 64 Another possible health concern. I had some kind of heart congestion feeling, for lack of a better description, it made it hard to sleep for a few days and had me worried. I am very good with my diet, eating vegan, mostly organic and virtually only real food, (no ingredient label). I am also very athletic but don't overdo my workouts. So I got this strange feeling in my chest -- not a pain, but like my heart had enlarged and was uncomfortable. The only two new things I had added to my diet were new, cheaper, raw cashew pieces from the health food store bulk bin, and I changed over from a regular coffee brewer to a french press. A naturopathic doctor said sometimes a nerve in the stomach area can be triggered causing a person to think it is the heart giving a problem when in fact, something is irritating the stomach. I just went back to organic brewed coffee today so I don't know if it was too much coffee grounds from the french press irritating the nerve or a poorly processed cashew raw bulk cashew. I had never noticed this sensation before I bought that bag of bulk cashew pieces. It scared me a bit. After reading this article, I am starting to think it is more likely the poorly processed c


In what film did the character Vincent Vega played by John Travolta appear?

(Character) - Biography biography (Character) from The content of this page was created by users. It has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. Warning! This character biography may contain plot spoilers. Visit our Character Biography Help to learn more. Character Biography History Discuss Vincent Vega is a character in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, portrayed by John Travolta in an Academy Award-nominated performance. He is the only character to appear in all story lines in the movie (aside from Marsellus Wallace and Mia Wallace). He is the brother of Sadistic Psychopath Vic Vega, a character from Reservoir Dogs remembered for Torturing a Cop for Fun. Vincent is a hitman working for mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). He is usually partnered with Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) when he is ordered to kill someone. Vincent is an "Elvis man": He wears a bola tie with his suit, he has long hair pulled back into a ponytail, and he orders his Douglas Sirk Steak "bloody as hell." Despite being a hitman, Vincent shows some signs of humanity, such as scrupulous loyalty and a general concern for the few people he cares about. He is also a heroin user. He resides in Redondo Beach, as he mentions to Winston Wolfe when Wolf offers him a ride home. Does not Believe in God, Miracles, & is a Hit-Man. Killing a Person for no other Reason then He is the brother of Reservoir Dogs-character Vic Vega, played by Michael Madsen. Page last updated by donniebaseball87871 , 2 years ago


In which year was the city of Rome founded?

The Founding Your browser does not support the IFRAME tag. �The Founding� Chronology Please scroll down 1200 beginning of the first iron age. The Prisci Latini migrate to Italy from the Danube region. c. 1000 Latins settle in Latium Your browser does not support the IFRAME tag. c.1000 Beginning of Etruscan migrations into Italy 10th century bc first settlement on the Palatine Hill on the future site of Rome 753 foundation of the city of Rome (according to Varro) c. 750 Beginning of Greek colonization in Italy: foundation of Ischia, Cumae (754), Naxos in Sicily (735), Syracuse (c.734) c. 700 Etruscan civilization begins to flourish c. 750-670 Septimonium: union of settlers of Palatine, Cermalus, Velia, Fagutal, Cuspius, Oppius and Caelius c. 650 Etruscan expansion into Campania c. 625 historical founding of Rome The Founding of Rome The Founding of Rome is very much embroiled in myth. Traces found by archaeologists of early settlements of the Palatine Hill date back to ca 750 BC. This ties in very closely to the established legend that Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC, which was traditionally celebrated in Rome with the festival of Parilia. Two founding legends exist - Romulus and Remus and Aeneas. Rather than contradict each other, the tale of Aeneas adds to that of Romulus and Remus. Romulus and Remus King Numitor of Alba Longa was ejected by his younger brother Amulius. To do away with any further possible pretenders to his usurped throne, Amulius murdered Numitor's sons and forced Numitor's daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a vestal virgin. (Vestal virgins were priestesses to the goddess Vesta and were expected to guard their virginity in the goddess' honour on pain of death.) However Mars, the god of war became enchanted by her beauty and had his way with Rhea Silvia while she slept. As a result of this Rhea Silvia bore twins, Romulus and Remus. An enraged Amulius had Rhea Silvia thrown into the river Tiber where she was caught beneath the waves by the river god who married her. The twins were set adrift on the river in a reed basket. They floated downstream until the basket was caught in the branches of a fig tree. This was where they were found by a she-wolf who suckled them (wolves are sacred to Mars) until a shepherd found them. Another version of the same story tells of the shepherd finding them and taking them to his wife, who had just lost a stillborn child and who breast fed them. The tale says the shepherd's wife was a former prostitute. Which one of the two versions is the original is hard to tell. In Latin lupa means both 'she-wolf' and 'prostitute'. For large image click on picture The she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus Capitoline Museum, Rome As the two boys had grown to men in the care of the couple, they were told of their true origins. True to their heroic status they raised an armed and marched on Alba Longa. Amulius was slain in battle and Numitor was restored to his throne. The twins decided to found a new city close to where they had been washed ashore, caught by the fig tree. The twins disputed which hill their city should be built on, Romulus favouring the Palatine, Remus choosing another (possibly the Aventine). Taking the auspices to read the will of the gods, Remus on his hill saw six birds, Romulus saw twelve. So it was decided that Romulus� choice was the right one and he and his followers took to building their city on Palatine Hill. Romulus took to marking the city's sacred boundary with a plough drawn by a white bull and a white cow. Remus however leapt over the furrow, either in jest or derision. This was an ill omen suggesting the city�s defences could easily be overcome. Remus was slain, either by Romulus himself or by one of his chief followers. Aeneas If the tale of Romulus and Remus appears the more popular Roman founding tale today, then the tale of Aeneas, harking back to yet earlier times, was perhaps the more popular in the days of the Roman Empire. In fact through Virgil the Aeneid became the national epic of the Roman empire and the most famous poem of the Roman era. Aenea


What was the name of the Italian cruise liner which sank in January 2012 with substantial loss of life?

Costa Concordia embarks on last voyage to Genoa where it will be broken up for scrap | Daily Mail Online Costa Concordia embarks on its last voyage: Italian cruise liner finally heads home to Genoa where it will be broken up for scrap Four tugboats and several escort ships were lined up to tow the 114,000-tonne vessel It is being taken to a port near Genoa in northern Italy where it is due to arrive on Sunday The once-gleaming white luxury liner sank off the holiday island of Giglio in January 2012 32 people died in the disaster after the ship struck rocks and capsized  What followed was the most daunting - and expensive - salvage operation ever attempted Environmental groups have grave concerns warning the operation could be a 'maritime Chernobyl' Indian waiter Russel Rebello is still missing, but authorities are hopeful that his body may be found


"Which Irish comedian had the catchphrase ""It's the way I tell 'em""?"

Frank Carson obituary | Culture | The Guardian Frank Carson obituary Northern Irish comedian renowned for bawdily irreverent humour and his catchphrase, "it's the way I tell 'em" Frank Carson, the Belfast-born comedian had an ingenuous, robust and manically assertive way with a gag. Photograph: Mike Lawn/Rex Features Wednesday 22 February 2012 19.17 EST First published on Wednesday 22 February 2012 19.17 EST Share on Messenger Close The catchphrase of Frank Carson was "it's the way I tell 'em". The Belfast-born comedian, who has died aged 85, had an ingenuous, robust and manically assertive way with a gag, but could sometimes be insensitive to the possible effect on other people. In some ways he was a more animated version of Bernard Manning . He had a raucous laugh ("like John Cole on steroids", said one commentator), which shook his bulky frame, but it was not always a complete protection against an inability to walk the fine line between what was acceptable and what was not. Most of his material was no worse than bawdily irreverent, such as one of his favourites about the priest aboard an aircraft who confides that the wine now being served is the one always consumed by the pope: "No wonder His Holiness drops to his knees every time he gets off a plane." Or the joke about a petrol bomb thrown at Ian Paisley: "He drank it." Or saying, in the presence of the Duke of Edinburgh, that the last time he had seen him, he had been in the Queen's arms: "That's a small pub in the Edgware Road." But it was not entirely uncharacteristic when, in 1987, the comedian arrived one hour and 40 minutes late for an engagement at a miners' club near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and, asked by the club chairman where he had been, replied: "I am not speaking to you, you black bastard." Later he said it was only a joke and apologised, adding: "Most of my jokes are racist – usually about the Irish." He himself had needed to be thick-skinned – he was a Belfast Catholic. Carson also needed a thick skin to survive in northern clubland, where he earned up to £5,000 a night. Booed off the stage in Sheffield, he was asked to refund some of his £1,000 fee after he had used the same jokes he had just employed on his TV show, Laughs from the Palladium. Far from enduring this grave misjudgment on his part stoically, the audience threw beer mats at him, shouted out punchlines before he could get to them, and jeered him when he left the stage 20 minutes early. From his early boyhood, Carson had been no stranger to strife. His background in Northern Ireland was indeed of a grim and stressful sort that was best turned into a joke for the sake of survival. He was born near Belfast docks, the son of a former dustman and a newspaper seller. As a tubby, fair-haired five-year-old, nicknamed Snowball, he tried to make people laugh as a way of showing that he was not a nobody. "I wasn't meant to be just another boy in the class," he said when he was in his 60s, admitting that he had always wanted to be loved and had dreamed of meeting such people as the Queen, the pope and Princess Margaret – which by then he actually had done. When he left school at 14, he first worked as an apprentice electrician. He recounted how when digging a hole outside a house, he severed a cable and cut off the electricity to the north side of Belfast. Then he worked as a plasterer. He was not much better at that but escaped the sack because he made his colleagues laugh and his employers realised that made them work better. He began performing at pubs and clubs in the evenings, standing outside handing out leaflets and selling tickets and then surprising ticket-buyers once inside by being the man who was doing the comedy routine. He even managed to find comedy in his national service with the Parachute Regiment, which he joined when he was 18, training on the Isle of Wight and at Manchester Ringway airport, and serving in Palestine. More than 50 years later, he recalled with unusual solemnity how he shot dead an armed terrorist. He himself was shot in the leg and on another occasion narrowl


In which famous film love story did the lovers meet in a railway station?

Brief Encounter Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 165 out of 185 people found the following review useful: An excellent, charming, moving film. from Newcastle, Blighty 22 November 2000 Have you really never seen Brief Encounter? What have you been doing all these years? You have a treat in store. I have a great love for British films of the 1940s. There seems to have been a great flowering of creative talent then, and the films of the period look beautiful, and have such wonderful characters in them. David Lean is more famous for his huge Technicolor epics, like Lawrence of Arabia, or A Passage to India, but Brief Encounter is his most moving film. It is shot in atmospheric black and white, and tells the story of two people who fall in love, in mundane little England. Celia Johnston plays Laura, a middle class woman who lives a happy but predictable life, who meets Dr. Alec Harvey, played by craggy Trevor Howard. There starts a doomed love affair, set to the sweeping romantic sounds of Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto. This single piece of music plays throughout the film, and stirs up exactly the right emotions. The film will make you want to own a recording of the music. Such is the power and influence of this film, that it has been remade a few times, and spoofed on countless occasions. It created the archetype for the romantic farewell on a station platform, with steam hissing from trains, and an orchestra playing in the background. Though this has been copied often, it has never been bettered. The film involves a few scenes on railway platforms, and some of these are mundane, others joyous, or despairing, wretched. The director uses many deft tricks to heighten the emotion all along the way. A simple tilt of the camera, or contrasting mood of another character, serves to add tremendous power to the emotion of the scenes. Times were different then. People were brasher, accents were stronger, and social attitudes to affairs quite different. The period of the film gives it much of its charm. It does not make it a cold study of a different culture, however. The film is very personal. The character of Laura's husband is hardly seen in the entire film, which means that we identify more with Laura's feelings. We see the affair and next to nothing else. Celia Johnson brings a great deal to the film. She is so likeable, and so able to express the misery that her new love brings her. Her manner of speaking is quite alien to a modern ear. In the 1940s, it was quite normal to add a Y sound to many words. "Hat" became "hyat". The accents are not forced, though - they come across as quite natural, and very likeable. This film would not be made this way today. The modern audience would demand younger stars, and nudity. See this film to witness how it was once possible to make films about love without bedroom scenes. Brief Encounter is very much stronger for lack of these. Stoicism and restraint are under-rated traits in modern cinema. Modern directors and writers would do well to remind themselves with this film, that a story can be given tremendous emotional power by techniques which seem to have been lost. Was the above review useful to you? 153 out of 191 people found the following review useful: Ignore That First Review. This Is A Classic from Los Angeles 30 December 2003 The person who wrote the first review of this movie must be either a complete moron or has an acute lack of appreciation for what constitutes great moviemaking. "Brief Encounter" is the perfect encapsulation of a very specific time in both women's and British history. The immediate post-WW 2 era in the UK was a period that saw Brits struggling with the disppearance of traditional social mores that had endured for over a century and the new world order that came about at the conclusion of the war. (For another, beautifully crafted cinematic example, see Neil Jordan's exquisite movie "The End of the Affair.") Food rationing was still in place in postwar Britain. Women were having to deal with getting to know their menfolk again, after their years of absence at


"Which recording artist, originally a folk singer had top ten hits in the early 1970's with ""Amazing Grace"" and ""Send in the Clowns""?"

The 111 Greatest Acts of the Anglo-American Folk Music Tradition version        2 by         Charles H. Smith, Ph.D. I have seen         several lists of this type posted on the Internet by well-meaning         but sometimes agenda-driven individuals, so I thought I would         take a shot at this myself, consulting some hard data along the         way.  I have a long and continuing interest in folk music         going back to the early 1960s, when my older sister started buying         Peter, Paul & Mary albums.  For many years I purchased related material         for the library collection at the University where I work (see         notes here ,         including further youtube.com links), and some years back opened         a website featuring the lyrics of the fondly remembered topical         and children's songs writer, Malvina         Reynolds .  I also maintain a site called "The         Classical Music Navigator" , and have a lot         of experience in statistical analysis. (See my homepage for contact and other information.) Please         read THESE NOTES before proceeding to the list, at the possible risk of assuming         a number of things about this compilation that were not intended! Following         below is the ranked list of 111--with a few "honorable mentions"         to add up to an even 150 thrown in at the end.  In the main         list, the artist's name is linked to, first: (1) a leading website concerned with them (in         red) and (2) their Wikipedia entry (in         purple); then two pieces of information in parentheses: (3) f.r.:  "folkie rating" (on         scale of 1 [least] to 5 [most], my subjective rating of how "folky"         the artist is), and (4) y(es)/n(o) (has or         doesn't have individual entry in The New Grove Dictionary of         Music and Musicians); then, as appropriate, (5) some representative compositions         or recordings by the artist (in blue)         and (6) related youtube.com and myspace.com pages         (in green); and finally, (7) a rough list of the artist's main genres, indexed by the following         asterisk-with-two-letter coding (in orange)         that can be used to search across artists by plugging the codes         into your browser's "Edit > Find" function: *ac alt-country  *af alt-folk  *bl blues  *ce Celtic  *cf contemporary folk  *ff folk revival/traditional folk  *fj folk-jazz fusion  *fp folk-pop *fr folk-rock  *mi master instrumentalists  *mv master vocalists  *na New Age  *pf folk-punk  *ss singer-songwriter  *tf topical/political folk *         Special Note for Librarians *   *                    *                    *                    * 1. Woody         Guthrie (1912-1967)   Wikipedia         entry (f.r.: 5; y). Woody represents the point at which         the "folk tradition" in music (which we had had for many years         before him) became dominantly transmitted through songs associated         with particular individuals:  'Goin'         Down the Road Feelin' Bad,' 'This         Land is Your Land,' 'Pretty Boy Floyd,'         'Pastures of Plenty,' 'I Ain't Got No Home,' 'So Long It's Been         Good to Know Ya,' 'Tom Joad,' 'Reuben James,' 'Deportee,' 'Hobo's         Lullaby,' 'Take a Whiff on Me,' 'Union Maid,' Dust         Bowl Ballads   youtube.com         videos   myspace.com   *ff         *ss *tf 2. Bob         Dylan (1941-)   Wikipedia         entry (f.r.: 4; y). Dylan followed Guthrie's         lead but marched a step further: into a literary realm in which         folk song became high art:  'Blowin'         in the Wind,' 'It Ain't Me Babe,'


What is the name of the leader of the British UKIP Party?

UKIP: The story of the UK Independence Party's rise - BBC News BBC News UKIP: The story of the UK Independence Party's rise By Alex Hunt Politics editor, BBC News website 21 November 2014 Close share panel Image copyright Reuters Image caption Nigel Farage was in jubilant mood as his party took its second Westminster seat With its second elected MP at Westminster in as many months, the UK Independence Party has cemented its place as the new force in British politics. But its achievements are no overnight success. The UK Independence Party has, as its name implies, one key policy - to leave the European Union. It is a simple, understandable message, which has led to the party gaining bigger and bigger support in European elections, culminating in it topping the vote in May this year. But it is also a message which meant people often dismissed it as a single-issue party, unlikely to transfer its success to Westminster politics. It has spent considerable effort on broadening its appeal, spelling out how leaving the EU is the answer to a whole range of issues, notably controlling immigration, while also outlining plans to cut taxes for middle earners, speaking up for grammar schools and opposing gay marriage. And the message from leader Nigel Farage - if any party has been associated with one man it is UKIP and Farage - seems to have struck a chord with disenchanted voters from the "big three". Image copyright AFP Image caption Nigel Farage enjoys an everyman image It became clear in the 2013 Eastleigh by-election that UKIP, rather than Westminster's official Labour opposition, seemed to have become the party of choice for the anti-government vote and the anti-politics vote. It has since proved capable of causing upsets in local elections in Tory and Lib Dem heartlands in the South of England and, as the South Shields and Heywood and Middleton by-elections demonstrated, Labour strongholds in the North. Its crowning moment came in October, when the party won its first Westminster seat, after the Conservative MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell, defected to Mr Farage's team. UKIP's share of the vote in Westminster by-elections: November 2014: 42.1% October 2014: Heywood and Middleton 38.7% June 2014: Newark 25.9% Feb 2014: Wythenshawe and Sale East 18% May 2013: South Shields 24.2% Feb 2013: Eastleigh 27.8% Nov 2012: Croydon North 5.7% Nov 2012: Manchester Central 4.5% Nov 2012: Corby 14.3% Nov 2012: Cardiff South and Penarth 6.1% Mar 2012: Bradford West 3.3% Dec 2011: Feltham and Heston 5.5% July 2011: Inverclyde 1% May 2011: Leicester South 2.9% March 2011: Barnsley Central 12.2% Jan 2011: Oldham East and Saddleworth 5.8% UKIP has realised the hard way that it is not enough just to pitch up at a by-election with a loud hailer and some media-friendly stunts, it requires months, even years, of groundwork in the local area. The party's campaigning effort has become far more professional and well-funded in the past three years as a result. It is learning the highly specialised discipline, once the domain of the Lib Dems, of winning elections. But UKIP is no overnight success or, as it can sometimes seem from the ubiquity of Mr Farage on the airwaves, a one-man party. It has had more twists and turns - and splits and schisms - in its 20-year history than many a soap opera, with an equally colourful cast of characters. Image caption Nigel Farage, pictured at a party event in 1997 How UKIP became a political force Small parties have a habit of disintegrating into internal warfare or being wiped out by the vagaries of the electoral system and political fashion - British politics has seen a few come and go over the years. But UKIP managed to keep its show on the road and defy the predictions of those who were ready to write the party off as, in the often-quoted words of David Cameron, "fruitcakes and loonies". The party was founded on 3 September 1993 at the London School of Economics by members of the Anti-Federalist League, which had been founded by Dr Alan Sked in November 1991 with the aim of running candidates opposed to the Maastr


"Which recording artist, originally a folk singer, had top ten hits in the early 1970's with ""There but for fortune"" and ""The night they drove old Dixie down""?"

1960s | Canadian Music Blog | Page 2 Canadian Music Blog Getting the rock and snowball rolling for fans of Canadian recording artists Main menu 1966’s Biggest Canadian Hits A total of 45 Canadian singles made RPM magazine’s Top 40 throughout 1966. None was able to reach the top. Bobby Curtola, The Carlton Showband, and Wes Dakus authored songs that peaked at #4. Below is a list of all Canadian Top 40 hits for the year with their peak chart position. Bear in mind, that this is a picture of cross-Canada success. Songs may have charted much higher or lower in various cities as radio stations usually give local artists more support. Below the list, check out some cool trivia on the year’s hits and their artists. WP = Weekly chart peak position. 1966 HITS Hey Girl Go It Alone Big Town Boys Bobby Kris and the Imperials 8 Little Caesar and the Consuls 9 What Am I Gonna Do Robbie Lane and the Disciples 10 Baby It’s All Worthwhile Dee and the Yeomen It’s a Long Way Home The Staccatos That’s Why I Love You Joey Hollingsworth Don Norman and the Other Four 27 Stop Me From Fallin’ in Love Beau Hannon Whatcha Gonna Do About It The British Modbeats In a Minute or Two Dee and the Yeomen Little Caesar and the Consuls 38 1965’s Biggest Canadian Hits 1965 was the first full year that Canada had nationwide weekly singles charts thanks to RPM magazine. What is most surprising is that, in the midst of the British Invasion, there were over 50 Top 40 hits by Canadian artists through the year. Two of these made it to #1: The Guess Who’s “Shakin’ All Over” and “You Really Got a Hold On Me” by Little Caesar and the Consuls, both of which were covers. The year saw the first Canadian Franco song make the nationwide Top 40—Michel Louvain’s “C’est un secret”. Note that The Staccatos were the embryonic form of The Five Man Electrical Band and The Sparrows of Steppenwolf. Below is a list of all Canadian Top 40 hits for the year with their peak chart position. Bear in mind, that this is a picture of cross-Canada success. Songs may have charted much higher or lower in various cities as radio stations usually give local artists more support. Below the list, check out some trivia on the year’s hit artists. WP = Weekly chart peak position. 1965 HITS 1964’s Biggest Canadian Hits 1964 was the year in which RPM magazine debuted and began publishing nationwide music charts. The first Canadian Top Singles chart available is from June 22, so we do not have a list of the most popular singles for the entire year. It is difficult for the more obscure artists from the period to determine, due to a lack of online information, whether or not they were Canadians. We have only included artists for which we have received confirmation that they were. Lorne Greene scored the only Canadian #1 hit during the latter half of 1964, a country and western spoken word piece entitled “Ringo”. Below is a list of all Canadian Top 40 hits from 1964 with their peak chart position. Bear in mind, that this is a picture of cross-Canada success. Songs may have charted much higher or lower in various cities as radio stations usually give local artists more support. Below the lists, check out some cool trivia regarding the year’s hits. WP = Weekly chart peak position. 1964 HITS Birth of Nationwide Music Charts (1964-1966) Prior to 1964, Canada did not have national song charts. Walt Grealis, OC, eager to develop a dynamic music industry in Canada, decided to take it upon himself to establish this via his magazine RPM. Single-handedly, he contacted record stores and radio stations across the country and painstakingly compiled the charts every week often working into the night. RPM became the authority for national music charts for 36 years and until Nielsen took over the role in the new millennium. The first single from a Canadian artist to top the nationwide charts was “Ringo” by broadcaster and actor Lorne Greene. It was a spoken word country and western tune. Another country artist in the period was Lucille Star who scored several hits, some with her partner Bob Regan (the duo was dubbed The


In which famous film love story did the lovers meet in a book shop?

Notting Hill (1999) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The life of a simple bookshop owner changes when he meets the most famous film star in the world. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 22 titles created 12 Dec 2010 a list of 33 titles created 22 Feb 2012 a list of 32 titles created 03 Nov 2013 a list of 43 titles created 11 months ago a list of 22 titles created 2 months ago Search for " Notting Hill " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for     3     Golden Globes. Another    12 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards  » Videos A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love. Director: Garry Marshall When a woman's long-time friend reveals he's engaged, she realizes she loves him herself and sets out to get him, with only days before the wedding. Director: P.J. Hogan Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion that he may have discovered love. Director: Mike Newell A British woman is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary. Director: Sharon Maguire Two women troubled with guy-problems swap homes in each other's countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love. Director: Nancy Meyers A cynical, immature young man is taught how to act like a grown-up by a little boy. Directors: Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz Stars: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette A smart but sensible new graduate lands a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine. Director: David Frankel A reporter is assigned to write a story about a woman who has left a string of fiances at the altar. Director: Garry Marshall Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England. Director: Richard Curtis An unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply. Director: Steven Soderbergh After finding love, Bridget Jones questions if she really has everything she's dreamed of having. Director: Beeban Kidron Two business rivals who despise each other in real life unwittingly fall in love over the Internet. Director: Nora Ephron Edit Storyline Every man's dream comes true for William Thacker, an unsuccessful Notting Hill bookstore owner, when Anna Scott, the world's most beautiful woman and best-liked actress, enters his shop. A little later, he still can't believe it himself, William runs into her again - this time spilling orange juice over her. Anna accepts his offer to change in his nearby apartment, and thanks him with a kiss, which seems to surprise her even more than him. Eventually, Anna and William get to know each other better over the months, but being together with the world's most wanted woman is not easy - neither around your closest friends, nor in front of the all-devouring press. Written by Julian Reischl <julianreischl@mac.com> Can the most famous film star in the world fall for just an ordinary guy? Genres: Rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language | See all certifications  » Parents Guide: 28 May 1999 (USA) See more  » Also Known As: Coup de foudre à Notting Hill See more  » Filming Locations: £152,532        (UK) (21 May 1999) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia The blue door was auctioned at Christie's Film and Entertainment sale in London. Soon after, graffiti appeared on a wall close by saying something along the lines of "R.I.P. blue door" next to the new door. The


"Which Irish comedian had the catchphrase ""and there's more""?"

Jimmy Cricket, comedian : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide Leicester Square Theatre Juggler Mat Ricardo was annoyed by the lack of variety in the West End and on TV, so decided to do something about it. His London Varieties show has grown from a small East London club to a regular slot at the Leicester Square Theatre, and he makes the footage available online for free. While the genre is undergoing something of a hip reinvention through the likes of La Clique and its spin-offs, Ricardo is an unashamedly old-fashioned vaudevillian. The tricks he does here wouldn’t have been out of place on a Seventies seaside spectacular. The 1870s, that is. Indeed, his hero is Kara, a ‘gentleman juggler’ of the turn of last century – a well turned-out chap employing the sort of props a fellow might encounter in his society life: champagne bottles, walking canes, billiard cues, and so forth. Ricardo has set himself the task of mastering some of those historic tricks, sometimes with only the month between shows to learn them, and he showcases a couple tonight. There’s a gag piece that was also once part of Tommy Cooper’s repertoire which he fumbles, even though he laughs it off with good grace, while the others showcase the dexterity of a man whose spent years plying his trade on the street. Ricardo isn’t, however, the most amazing or inventive juggler you’ll see – at least on tonight’s evidence – but he makes for an excellent curator of these shows, being both an enthusiastic barker with a firm but restrained showmanship and a passionate communicator of his love of the artform. And while he cheerleads for the traditional, he can rely on his guests to bring something different; which is where Rod Laver comes in. Not the chap of Arena fame, he’s a satchel-jowled juggler who performs the most brilliantly memorable act with ping-pong balls you’ll see this side of Bangkok – firing them out of his mouth in the air, at the floor, at a basketball-style backboard, and at a ‘keyboard’ of gin bottles with various amounts of liquid in them, allowing him to perform a snatch of Beethoven. It’s an act that’s almost impossible to do justice to by mere description; but it’s both funny – especially the ridiculous visual gag of seeing his cheeks puffed out by the balls – and impressive. Bravo! If you’d had to hazard a guess as to which of tonight’s guests had emptied Laver’s gin bottles, you’d have to go for Jenny Eclair – blustering around like the sozzled, flirtatious, and outlandishly inappropriate aunt at a wedding. With her talk of ‘lady guttering’ and stories that start: ‘I was wanking this chap off in a bus shelter...’ you know subtlety and nuance is not her her strong point, but she blasts through on a dynamic force of personality. It was ever thus, but as she gets older her lack of decorum is increasingly unseemly; and so all the more amusing. But her routine, including her own suburban take on the 50 Shades Of Grey novel – is not all bluster over content; she has some decent lines as well. A 20-minute set is perfect to get a blast of her outrageousness without wallowing excessively in the filth. Twenty years ago you would never have envisaged Eclair on the same bill as Jimmy Cricket, but here we are... Cricket’s in an odd place for the modern world – not quite falling into the category of ironic throwback, nor quite sharp enough to be cutting it with the best of them. He has some delightful flourishes. The way he subtly untangled the lead from the microphone stand – even though the mic was cordless – was inspired; his turn of phrase can be elegantly back-to-front; and his child-like silliness is infectious. Yet at least half the gags are of ancient Christmas cracker quality, and the best performance in the world couldn’t elevate them beyond ‘mildly amusing’ status. That said, the woman in front of me was in hysterics; and he has other gags that are not from kids’ joke books that are charmingly innocent, rather than just hoary. Cricket also showed off some juggling skills of his own, culminating in a pun-laden showdown with Ricardo, evidence of the c


"Which British artist painted ""The Light of the World"" and ""The Scapegoat""?"

Artwork details, Liverpool museums See a larger version About the artwork In 1854 William Holman Hunt completed 'The Light of the World', which along with 'The Scapegoat' remains one of the best known religious images of the 19th century. His continuing interest in religious subjects for his paintings and a determination to paint directly from Nature culminated in his first trip to the Holy Land in 1854-6. Here he could pursue his desire to paint religious narratives in the landscape in which they took place. He travelled to Jerusalem in June 1854 and then on to Oosdoom, on the southern shore of the Dead Sea, in October of that year. Here he started a smaller study for the Lady Lever painting, which is now in Manchester City Art Gallery. Before a second trip to the area in the November, he bought a rare, white goat in Jerusalem then spent about ten days working on the Lady Lever canvas at Oosdoom, painting the distant mountains and lake and making sketches of the goat. The goat proved a somewhat fidgety subject, refusing to stand still or hold a pose. When poor weather forced Hunt to return to Jerusalem for the winter, the goat died on the journey home. By early 1855, Hunt had purchased another goat for use as a model and completed its image and the sky in his Jerusalem studio, having waited most of the winter for the right sort of clouds. In his diary he describes standing the long-suffering goat in a tray of salt and mud, collected in Oosdoom, to create the dried and cracked lake shore beneath his hoofs. In March he bought a camel skeleton and borrowed an ibex skull from a friend to add these grisly details to the painting. The painting was not completed in time for the Royal Academy exhibition of 1855 but was submitted in 1856. People were puzzled by the subject of the painting and were generally uncomplimentary. A review in the Times commented, ‘Were it not for the title annexed it would be difficult to define the nature of the subject.’  Other criticisms were levelled at the composition and the artist’s concentration on his subject matter at the expense of draughtsmanship.  Ruskin’s review was particularly harsh when he said, ‘This picture, regarded merely as a landscape, or as a composition, is a total failure. Mr Hunt …in his earnest desire to paint the Scapegoat has forgotten to ask himself first, whether he could paint a goat at all’. Hunt took his subject from Leviticus XV1 and the Jewish ceremony of Atonement held in the Temple at Jerusalem. Two goats were used during the proceedings; one was sacrificed as a burnt offering to God, the second was led out of Jerusalem to carry the sins of the community. A crowd followed this goat, jeering and chasing it.  Tied between its horns was a scarlet cloth which, if their offerings were accepted, would turn white. The whole episode was regarded as typological, a biblical Old Testament narrative prefiguring a New Testament event, in this case the sacrifice of Christ to carry away the sins of the world. The frame was designed by Hunt in Jerusalem and was an integral part of the iconography of the image. He sent sketches and detailed letters to his frame maker, Joseph Green, in London. The carved design includes a dove with an olive branch, a heartsease set within a cross, a seven-branched candlestick and seven stars. Biblical inscriptions at top and bottom read as follows:  ‘Surely he hath borne our Griefs and carried our Sorrows,  yet did we esteem him, stricken, smitten of GOD and afflicted’. ‘And the Goat shall bear upon him all their Iniquities unto a Land not inhabited’. The original frame is currently being conserved and this replica was carved and gilded by National Museums Liverpool’s Frame Conservator. William Holman Hunt was a founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with his close friends John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti . Their central concern was to work from nature wherever possible, using the pure, bright palettes of medieval and early renaissance painters whose works in the National Gallery they admired enormously. Their pain


What is the largest island in the Caribbean Sea?

The Biggest Caribbean Islands | USA Today The Biggest Caribbean Islands Havana is the capital of the largest Caribbean island. (Photo: Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images ) What Are Physical Landforms of the Caribbean Islands? The Caribbean region has hundreds of islands, spread out over an area that runs from the southern coast of the U.S. to the east coast of Venezuela. Some of these islands are so small that no one can live on them. All but one of the largest islands in the Caribbean are destinations that have good infrastructure, budget and luxury tourist facilities, convenient transportation options and a choice of activities that make your trip exciting or relaxing, depending on your preference. Cuba Cuba (gocuba.ca) is the largest island in the Caribbean at 42,803 square miles. Just 83 miles from Key West, Florida, it is also the closest Caribbean destination to the United States. The regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control in the U.S. Department of the Treasury govern allowable or licensed travel to Cuba. Due to long-standing U.S. foreign policies, the U.S. government does not permit American tourist travel to Cuba. Travel licenses that do not require a formal application include visits to relatives who are Cuban nationals, trips by full-time journalists and employees of specific nongovernmental organizations in which the U.S. is a member. OFAC does not require a license application for professional research and conference trips or business trips by employees of telecommunications, agricultural and medical device companies. Trips for educational programs, religious and humanitarian aid activities, freelance journalists, performing artists and athletics require an application for a travel license from OFAC. The Cuban government requires that licensed U.S. travelers obtain a visa before leaving the U.S. Hispaniola Hispaniola is the second largest Caribbean island, and it is home to two different countries. The Dominican Republic (godominicanrepublic.com) is the larger of this island's two countries, with an area of 18,792 square miles. Spanish is the official language of the Dominican Republic. In tourist areas, English is common. Haiti (haititourisme.org) occupies the eastern third of Hispaniola. It has an area of 10,714 square miles. The official language of Haiti is French; however, a Creole variation of French is the more common unofficial language. U.S. citizens and permanent residents need a passport to travel to both countries on the island of Hispaniola. Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (seepuertorico.com) is a U.S. Territory and the third largest Caribbean island at 5,324 square miles. The land area of Puerto Rico is only 3,425 square miles; the remainder of the island’s total area is water. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can travel to Puerto Rico without a passport. You still need a valid government-issued photo I.D. to board a plane or cruise ship to this destination. English is the official language, but Spanish is commonly the first language of most residents of this island. Jamaica With a total area of 4,244 square miles, Jamaica (visitjamaica.com) is the fourth largest island in the Caribbean. However, its total land area of 4,181 square miles is larger than Puerto Rico's land area. It is the largest English-speaking island in the Caribbean. Flights from the U.S. are available on major carriers and the country's national airline, Air Jamaica. Visitors also have a choice of cruise lines that travel to Jamaica. The Jamaican government requires that U.S. citizens and permanent residents present a passport at all ports of entry. The Bahamas At 5,359 square miles in area, the 700-island chain of the Bahamas (bahamas.com) is larger than Puerto Rico and Jamaica; however, these islands are in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Caribbean Sea. Cuba’s location blocks this chain's access to the waters of the Caribbean. They are closer to the U.S. than Cuba, at 50 miles from the southernmost point in Florida. References


On whic racecourse does the Irish Derby take place each year?

The Curragh Racecourse, County Kildare | The Curragh Horse Racing The Curragh Racecourse, County Kildare THE CURRAGH RACECOURSE, Co. Kildare (Gaelic: An Currach. Meaning: The Racecourse) The Curragh is mentioned in the earliest Irish manuscripts as a meeting place of the Celtic Kings where much sporting activity, including horseracing, took place. The first official racing to take place at the Curragh was in 1741. Quick Facts About The Curragh The Curragh is a right-handed horseshoe shaped course with a circuit of 2 miles with no sharp bends and a straight run in of 3 furlongs uphill. The Curragh includes a straight mile course and two round courses and is widely recognised as a very fair galloping track. The Curragh is also the largest horse training centre in Ireland and boasts extensive facilities on its grounds. The surrounding area is home to thousands of racehorses in training yards and stud farms. The Curragh Revealed For those who enjoy seeing the best racehorses and horsemen in the world doing what they do best on a glorious stage then a visit to the Curragh is a must. This racecourse, steeped in tradition, is where the Five Classic races are held: The Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby; The Darley Irish Oaks; The Etihad Airways Irish 1000 Guineas; The Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas and The St Leger along with many other great races. All season long, from the first meeting in March to the conclusion of the flat racing season in October, the Curragh holds centre stage in Irish racing. All the best flat horses run there each year following the pantheon of former great horses that have tread the same famous turf. The jewel in this racing crown is the Irish Derby which is usually run on the last Sunday in June. For more details, see www.curragh.ie Racing Tours Ireland will provide you with all the thrills and spills of a day at the races, with the added comfort of luxury transport, your own reserved table, and a hearty meal to keep you going. You’ll also get up close and personal with the horses prior to going racing. All in all, we can provide the best horse racing experience you can get in Ireland!


"Which American city has the nickname ""Beantown""?"

The City of Brotherly Love, and Beantown The City of Brotherly Love, and Beantown September 08, 2013 Fireworks explode over the Philadelphia Museum of Art during an Independence Day celebration, July 4, 2013, in Philadelphia. Share Copy and paste the embed code below. The code has been copied to your clipboard. Pop-out player Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories. Almost all American cities have nicknames. They help establish a city’s identity. They can also spread unity and pride among its citizens. Two east coast cities -- Philadelphia and Boston -- were both important in the early history of the United States. Philadelphia is best known as “The City of Brotherly Love.” Fireworks explode over the Philadelphia Museum of Art during an Independence Day celebration, Thursday, July 4, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) In 1681, King Charles the Second, of England, gave William Penn a large amount of land to establish a colony. The king named the colony Pennsylvania in honor of Penn’s father. William Penn was a Quaker. He brought his beliefs about equality, religious freedom and brotherly love to this new land. Penn was also an expert in Latin and Greek. He established a city and named it Philadelphia, which is Greek for “brotherly love.” An ancient city called Philadelphia was also noted in Christianity’s holy book, the Bible. Philadelphia became the social, political and geographical center of the American colonies. In the late 1700s, many events that took place in Philadelphia gave birth to the American Revolution and independence. For example, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed in the city. Philadelphia was the temporary capital of the new nation from 1790 to 1800. Some of Philadelphia’s other nicknames are “The Quaker City,” “The Cradle of Liberty” and “The Birthplace of America.” Philadelphia is a long name. So many people just call it “Philly.” A Philly cheese steak Boston is another important city. It is one of the oldest cities in the United States. In 1630, Puritan settlers from England established Boston in what would become the state of Massachusetts. Several major events took place in Boston before and during the American Revolution. You may have heard of the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party and the Battle of Bunker Hill. So, like Philadelphia, Boston is called “The Cradle of Liberty.” Another nickname is “The Cradle of Modern America.” Re-enactors march away from the Old State House following a public reading of the United States Declaration of Independence, part of July Fourth Independence Day celebrations, in Boston, Massachusetts July 4, 2013. However, Boston's most famous nickname is “Beantown.” But it was not because the city grew a lot of beans. In the 1700s, Boston was a major trading center. It received a lot of sugarcane from the West Indies. Beans baked in molasses -- a sugar product -- became a favorite food in the city. Today, no companies there make Boston baked beans. Restaurants in Boston rarely serve it. But many Americans eat this tasty dish at home. This program was written by Shelley Gollust. I’m Barbara Klein. You can find more Words and Their Stories at our website, voaspecialenglish.com.


The Ashmolean Museum is Britain's oldest public museum. In which city is it located?

On the up: the Ashmolean museum strides into the 21st century | Art and design | The Guardian Architecture On the up: the Ashmolean museum strides into the 21st century It's Britain's oldest museum – and it's just had a thrilling revamp. Here's a sneak preview of the all-new Ashmolean New school … a glass walkway snakes its way through the Ashmolean Museum Extension, Oxford. Photograph: Richard Bryant/Arcaid Monday 26 October 2009 17.30 EDT First published on Monday 26 October 2009 17.30 EDT Share on Messenger Close The redevelopment of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum cost £61m. Where has all that money gone? Looking from the street, it's hard to believe a single penny has been spent on this glorious early Victorian building that contrasts so strikingly with the medieval and neo-Gothic buildings it faces. The Ashmolean – an architectural wonder by Charles Robert Cockerell that fuses ancient Roman, Greek and English baroque design – seems all but unchanged since the day it opened in 1845. This, though, is part of the conjuring trick Christopher Brown, director of the museum since 1998, and his architect Rick Mather have pulled off. While Cockerell's facades have been spruced up a little and the magnificent central door once again forms the museum's principal entrance (a side door was used for many years), those millions have been spent almost entirely out of sight. It is behind Cockerell's neo-classical facades that a new world opens up, one that radically transforms the scale of this, Britain's oldest public museum. Beyond the Grecian entrance lobby, Mather's unexpectedly large six-storey extension might easily be considered the tail that wags the Ashmolean dog, were it not so restrained and refined. Mather has shoehorned a huge, modern concrete-and-glass box into the courtyard behind Cockerell's creation. From the surrounding streets, this generous extension is invisible; the streetscape, a heady mix of medieval, Georgian, Regency and Victorian Oxford, is untouched. The huge concrete-and-glass extension is invisible from the street By any standards, this is a clever sleight of hand, since Mather's extension actually doubles the museum's display space. Its six floors – one underground – boast no fewer than 39 new galleries, including four for temporary exhibitions, together with an education centre, offices and Oxford's first rooftop restaurant. Yet, for all its space, clarity and light, this is a complex design. The galleries are set on two different axes (north-south and east-west) over the six floors. Some are three metres high, others six. They come together like a multidimensional jigsaw puzzle, the pieces connected by enclosed glass bridges passing through and over a great central stairwell, lit from above. This stairwell is itself a quietly spectacular space, one side of which is given over to a gleaming white architectural cliff into which are set flight after flight of white Portland stone stairs, linking the tiers of galleries and the rooftop restaurant. While the geometry is intricate, the effect is relaxed, engaging and generous. "The idea," says Mather, "is to entice visitors to make a great figure of eight – up, down and through the galleries. The contents of each can be glimpsed from the one before, through openings and windows. So you get pulled along. And, wherever you go, whatever you're looking at, the central stairwell, which holds the design together, is easy to find. We know a lot about 'museum fatigue', so we've made a sequence of spaces that, hopefully, will keep this to a minimum." Wherever they walk, on whatever crisscrossing floor or bridge, visitors will circle back to that six-storey stairwell, only to be lured into ever more galleries, each presenting more of the Ashmolean's rich collection than has ever been seen before. "Much of what we have has been in store for donkey's years," says Brown, the Ashmolean's 17th director. The first was Robert Plot in 1683, when the museum was housed in what is now the University of Oxford's Museum of History and Science, a building commissioned for the celebrate


In what television knockout competition did Zara Brownless become the winner for the year 2011?

Young Apprentice winner Zara Brownless gives her tips for winning over Lord Alan Sugar | Daily Mail Online comments Zara Brownless was not only the most mature of her rivals when she won Young Apprentice last year; she was probably the most mature of all of Lord Sugar's apprentices, young or old. The 16-year-old refused to cave in to pressure to put down her colleagues or blame them when things went wrong. She also avoided the me-me-me attitude that makes The Apprentice such fascinating entertainment. Zara Brownless, left, was probably the most mature of all of Lord Sugar's (right) apprentices, young or old, when she won Young Apprentice last year Instead, Zara went in with a well-rehearsed game plan that this year's Young Apprentice contestants might want to take note of. 'I looked at mistakes people have made in the past and thought about how I was going to avoid repeating them,' she says. 'I put a lot of effort into how I was going to present myself on the show. I gave myself some policies to follow; do what is best for the task not what is best for you, try and keep ego out of the equation, don't get catty in the boardroom.' RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share Zara, the well-spoken elder daughter of an architect and a private tutor from Harpenden in Hertfordshire, has often been called mature – or old before her time – by family friends. She won a sock-designing competition at the age of seven and by the time she appeared on Young Apprentice last year she'd already made a video for a local charity and come top of her school in her GCSEs. The new intake of contestants on this year's Young Apprentice, with Lord Sugar, centre She insists the more challenging the task on Young Apprentice, the more she enjoyed it, 'The whole challenge element of the show is part of its charm.' So the small matter of trying to impress Lord Sugar was never going to intimidate her. 'I try not to be intimidated by anybody because if you are that limits the interaction you'll have with them,' she says sagely. She's still in touch with his Lordship – he recently gave her advice on which video equipment she should buy with some of her £25,000 winnings. Since winning Young Apprentice last year she's been busy studying for her A-Levels – she's determined to fulfil her 'childhood dream' of getting into Oxford to read English literature – and learning more about making videos. She won't be spending all her money at once as she wants to save it for when she goes into film production. Lord Sugar, centre, with fellow Young Apprentice judges Karren Brady and Nick Hewer But she's not all work and no play. 'I completely indulge in a very lazy habit of watching TV,' she admits. 'There are lots of business people who work around the clock, but I believe in watching television and having the odd early night. Very middle-aged, I know.' Indeed. The only time she sounds even the teensiest bit like a teenager is when I ask about boys. She giggles. 'There are a couple of men who've become more interested in me since I was on national TV but I haven't returned that sentiment. But I'm sure they're lovely gentlemen; that's just one of the things that comes with fame.' So, no boyfriend then? 'No, I'm too busy with more important things,' she says sternly. Smart cookie. Young Apprentice starts on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.


Who is the chairman of Newcastle United who also owns the chain of sports shops known as Sports Direct?

Sports Direct buys fashion chains USC and Cruise Clothing | Business | The Guardian Sports Direct International Sports Direct buys fashion chains USC and Cruise Clothing Sports Direct paid £7m for an 80% stake in USC and Cruise, which specialise in designer brands such as Ugg boots and the Adidas Originals range Sports Direct has taken a controlling stake in USC clothing stores Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian Wednesday 6 July 2011 04.35 EDT First published on Wednesday 6 July 2011 04.35 EDT Share on Messenger Close Mike Ashley , the founder of Sports Direct, is teaming up with Scottish retail tycoon Sir Tom Hunter to try to rid the sports chain of its discount image and take it more upmarket. Sports Direct told the City on Wednesday morning that it was acquiring majority stakes in the USC and Cruise Clothing fashion chains controlled by Hunter. Sports Direct, Britain's biggest sporting goods retailer, whose brands include Umbro, Lonsdale and Slazenger, is thought to have fought off competition from rival JD Sports. It paid £7m for an 80% stake in USC and Cruise, which specialise in designer brands such as Ugg boots and the Adidas Originals range. Hunter will keep the remaining 20% in both businesses and will remain as chairman of both companies, as well as providing "strategic guidance". USC has 38 stores across the UK and made sales of £70m in the year to January, while Cruise has 10 UK stores and an annual turnover of about £20m. The shops will be run separately from Sports Direct's 470 UK stores in a newly established premium and luxury lifestyle division. Sports Direct, which is majority owned by Newcastle United owner Ashley, will provide a facility of up to £20m to develop the two businesses. New USC stores are due to open in Swindon and Newbury in the autumn. "This deal will transform the prospects for both USC and Cruise and our employees at a time of extraordinary turbulence in the high street," said Hunter. "I've known the Sports Direct team for many years and have huge respect for their talent, and look forward to co-investing with them." Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey said: "While USC and Cruise will remain independent of Sports Direct, we will support the businesses with our operational expertise." Topics As the first M-local opens its doors, the grocer says that fresh food and own-label goods will cost the same as in its big supermarkets Published: 8 Jul 2011 About 4,000 chain-store shops shut in first five months of 2011, new study reveals Published: 7 Jul 2011 Ernst & Young said they would hold the clearance sale in case they failed to find a buyer for the retailer's 57 stores, which employ 4,000 people Published: 7 Jul 2011 Homeform, trading as Moben Kitchens, Dolphin Bathrooms and Kitchens Direct, closes with 557 job losses Published: 6 Jul 2011


Who is the chairman of Wigan Athletic who also owns the chain of sports shops known as JJB Sports?

JJB Sports has evidence of 'pernicious' allegations against chairman | Business | The Guardian JJB Sports has evidence of 'pernicious' allegations against chairman • JJB dossier shows forged bank statements • FSA expected to launch inquiry to find culprits JJB Sports is to provide a dossier to the City watchdog detailing “pernicious” allegations made against chairman Sir David Jones.Photograph Newscast Sunday 11 October 2009 12.25 EDT First published on Sunday 11 October 2009 12.25 EDT Close This article is 7 years old JJB will tomorrow hand a dossier over to the Financial Services Authority detailing "pernicious" allegations made against chairman Sir David Jones which the sportswear chain claims amounts to "market abuse" designed to wreck its £100m rights issue. The City watchdog is expected to launch an investigation to find out who planted the false rumours, which as well as Jones, also target David Whelan, chairman of Wigan Athletic football club and the former chief executive of JJB, and his daughter Jayne Sharpe. The sports retailer was forced to pull the rights issue on Friday as rumours circulated on the financial markets and John Clare, its senior independent director, was called in to investigate them. JJB which plans to go ahead with its rights issue this week, says the claims are false and without foundation. The dossier handed to the FSA includes forged bank statements which were given to two national newspapers on Friday, the day the retailer had planned to launch its rights issue. Investors in JJB were called that morning by unnamed parties and warned against taking part in the issue claiming damaging revelations about Jones were due to be published over the weekend. That afternoon Jones's personal accountant gave the retailer's board and its lawyers, Herbert Smith, his bank statement to show that the documents alleging improper payments provided to the newspapers were forged. The FSA declined to comment this weekend. Jones, who this summer was at the centre of a scandal over a £1.5m loan from rival boss of Sports Direct, Mike Ashley , was said to be "deeply shocked and speechless with rage" this weekend which he spent at his holiday home in Spain. It is understood that the intention behind the allegations about the financial affairs of Jones was to smear his reputation and wreck JJB's rights issue. In a statement to be released to the stock market tomorrow , JJB reiterated its support for Jones: "During the course of Friday morning, the company was made aware of rumours that were circulating in the press and financial markets in relation to Sir David Jones's personal financial affairs and decided to delay the proposed capital raising until it had the opportunity to further investigate these rumours." It added: "The board has now concluded its investigation and found these rumours to be totally unfounded ... The Board is very concerned by the timing and concerted nature of these rumours and has passed on full details, with the results of its investigation, to the relevant regulatory authorities. The Board remains fully supportive of Sir David Jones and committed to proceeding with a capital raising." It also emerged this weekend that Steve Johnson, who was chief executive of collapsed high street chain Woolworths, is on the short list of candidates to fill the vacant position of chief executive of JJB. Johnson is said to be one up to ten names on the list. An announcement on who has been selected is not expected for several months, clouding the sports retail sector in the UK. The sector is characterised by shifting alliances, shared interests and almighty bust-ups when big egos fall out. Jones became executive chairman of JJB in January when chief executive Chris Ronnie was sacked. Jones, who turned around retailer Next in the 1990s was tasked with sorting out JJB. But Jones was roundly criticised this summer when it emerged that he had borrowed £1.5m from Newcastle Football club owner Mike Ashley, who owns Sports Direct, a big rival of JJB. Sports Direct also owns brands such as Slazenger tennis balls whi


"Which British artist painted ""The Grand Canal, Venice"" and ""The Shipwreck""?"

JMW Turner Prints, Posters, Paintings, Biography & Quotes Michelangelo JMW Turner JMW Turner was perhaps the most famous English romanticist landscape artist. William Turner became known as ‘the painter of light’. He is the most famous Romanticist painter. Turner is respected alongside other British artists such as Gainsborough and Constable for developing British art from the medieval and renaissance eras up to the more contemporary styles. In 1910 the main part of the Turner Bequest, which includes unfinished paintings and drawings, was rehoused in the Duveen Turner Wing at the Tate Gallery. In 1974, the Turner Museum was founded in the USA by Douglass Montrose-Graem to house his collection of Turner prints. Turner left a great legacy in British art . For example, a prestigious annual art award, the Turner Prize, created in 1984, was named in Turner’s honour, and twenty years later the Winsor & Newton Turner Watercolour Award was founded. indeed, In 2005, Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire was voted Britain’s “greatest painting” in a public poll organised by the BBC. The intensity of hue and interest in evanescent light not only placed Turner’s work in the vanguard of English painting, but later exerted an influence upon art in France, as well; the Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet , carefully studied his techniques. Famous oil paintings by JMW Turner include those in the following comprehensive list: Warkworth Castle, Northumberland – Thunder Storm Approaching at Sun-Set The Battle of Trafalgar, as Seen from the Mizen Starboard Shrouds of the Victory Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army Crossing the Alps Eruption of Vesuvius The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons The Grand Canal, Venice The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken up Slave Ship (Slavers Throwing Overboard the Dead and Dying, Typhoon Coming On) Glaucus and Scylla Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water Rain, Steam and Speed – The Great Western Railway Shrimpers, Lyme Regis


"Who composed the music for the ballet ""Spartacus""?"

Aram Khachaturian - Spartacus - Classic FM Schedule Aram Khachaturian - Spartacus Khachaturian was just hitting his fiftieth birthday when he produced his music to the ballet Spartacus. It later became one of our favourite TV themes. The plot of the ballet had been around for some fifteen years and was suggested to him by a critic called Volkov. The composer finally got to work ‘with a feeling of enormous creative excitement’, but his preparation had been nothing if not extensive. He’d had a blast of a trip around Italy, visiting the very places at the centre of the famous story of a slave rebellion. Despite taking a fair few liberties with the plot, the ballet score won Khachaturian the Lenin Prize in 1954, and was premiered in what is now the Mariinsky Theatre, in St Petersburg, just two years later. By far the most captivating moment comes in Act II when Spartacus manages to free his wife Phrygia and the lovers celebrate with the heart-rending Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia. It’s a popular moment, made only all the more popular by this particular tune’s starring role in the 1970s and 1980s television drama The Onedin Line, where its waves of pleasure suited perfectly the waves of the ocean. Recommended Recording


On which racecourse does the Irish Grand National take place?

Easter Festival - April 16th to 18th at Fairyhouse | Fairyhouse.ie | Fairyhouse Racecourse Ryanair Gold Cup Sunday 16th April 2017 The Ryanair Gold Cup is a Grade 1 race of the highest quality and attracts some of England and Ireland’s best novice chasers aged five years and up. As one of the highlights of the Irish racing calendar punters are promised a day full of excitement and unpredictability. Whether you find yourself in one of our private luxury suites, the famous BobbyJo Bistro or cheering your horse home trackside, you’re sure to be captivated by the top class racing. The BoyleSports Irish Grand National Monday 17th April 2017 Nearing its 150th running, the BoyleSports Irish Grand National has become a stalwart at the heart of the Irish sporting calendar. A race which encapsulates everything that is great about Irish racing, affords connections the opportunity to etch their names into history and join an elusive group who have been fortunate enough to be successful in this race. The race is now the richest Jumps race in the country, standing at a whopping €500,000. The substantial prize fund, coupled with the reputation of the race attracts the game’s best runners and riders to Fairyhouse to take on this demanding course.


"Which American city has the nickname ""Alamo City""?"

City nicknames The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists of "Ten Best". — H. Allen Smith     City nicknames The following is my list of City Nicknames, started around 1993. I had collected suggestions from the rec.games.trivia newsgroup, and had heard someone on KGO (San Francisco's AM news-talk radio station) use the phrase "... 10,000 residents of The City, of complications from ...". So I appropriated that phrase "The City of Complications", as an exceptionally apt nickname for San Francisco, and went on to collect a few other names. When I had enough of them, I posted the list to that newsgroup. So far, I have only been able to re-locate the quiz version of my list, so I haven't actually merged all of the answers back into the list yet. This past year or two (2001-2002), I added a few from the "Isaac Asimov" quiz column in the newspaper, a Sunset Magazine article (which lists California as the "World Capital of Agricultural World Capitals"), and other sources. I also found two other lists on the web (URLs below). I now keep this merged version in both http://got.net/~landauer/lists/CityOf.html and the stories link in my Radio Weblog, http://radio.weblogs.com/0100945/stories/2002/07/24/cityNicknames.html . The one at http://got.net/~landauer/CityOf_was.html is older. Other web locations that have some similar lists include: http://www.pe.net/~rksnow/mottos.htm is (today) the top Google result for City nicknames , with good reason. "COMMUNITY MOTTOS & NICKNAMES" looks like they've been actively collecting these for a lot longer than I have. The Trivia asylum http://www.triviaasylum.com/lists/cities.html http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=Siliconia Most recent additions (8 February 2003): Albany, OR; Alpine, TX; Beaver, OK; Bemidji, MN; Brainerd, MN; Bristol, TN; Burlington, Iowa; Cody, WY; Douglas, WY; Frannie, WY; Gallup, NM; Granby, CO; Isleton, CA; Laramie, WY; Lowell, WY; Meeteetse, WY; New York (as "Never Sleeps"); Noxubee County, Alabama; Philadelphia, PA; Rockport, MA; Santa Rosa, NM; Sonora, CA; Sturgis, Michigan; Taxco, Mexico; Tijuana, Mexico; Westwood, CA. My List of City Nicknames: City Nickname Aberdeen, Scotland The Granite City Akron, OH Rubber City Albany, Georgia Good Life City Albany, ORHome of the Timber Carnival Alexandria, Egypt Pearl of the Mediterranean Allentown, Pennsylvania Cement City Alpine, TXGateway to the Big Bend Annapolis, Maryland Crabtown Atlanta, GA The Athens of the South Atlanta, GA The City Too Busy to Hate Atlanta, GA Dogwood City Atlanta, GA Gate City of the South Auckland, NZ City of Sails Baltimore, Maryland Charm City Baltimore, Maryland Monument City Banaras, India Luminous City Bandon, OR Storm Capital of the World Bangkok, Thailand Venice of the East Beaver, OKCow Chip Throwing Capital of the World Bemidji, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox  (see Brainerd and Westwood) Beograd The White City Bickleton, WA Bluebird Capital of the World Birmingham, AL Pittsburgh of the South Boston, MA The Athens of America Boston, MA Beantown Boston, MA The City of Kind Hearts Boston, MA The Cradle of Liberty Boston, MA The Hub of the Universe Boston, MA Puritan City Brainerd, MNHome of Paul Bunyan & Babe, the Blue Ox — The legend on the Brainerd city limits     sign shows up in the film "Fargo".     (See Bemidji and Westwood) Bristol, TNFood City Brandon, Manitoba The Wheat City Bucharest, Romania The Little Paris Budapest, Hungary The Pearl of the Danube Buffalo, New York Bison City Buffalo, New York Flour City Buffalo, NY The City of Good Neighbors Buffalo, NY The Nickel City Buffalo, NY The Queen City (of the Great Lakes) Burlington, IowaLoader/Backhoe Capital of the World Butte, Montana Copper City Byran, Ohio The Fountain City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Stampede City Calgary, Alberta, Canada The Heart of The New West      (that's the New Convention and Visitors Bureau slogan) Calgary, Alberta, Canada Canada's oil capital      (Because of high concentration of oil company head offices,      as in Houston) C


In which classic novel is Maggie Tulliver the heroine?

Rereading: George Eliot's Mill on the Floss | Books | The Guardian Rereading Rereading: George Eliot's Mill on the Floss On the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Mill on the Floss, Kathryn Hughes celebrates George Eliot's most deeply autobiographical novel Tom and Maggie overwhelmed by the flood Photograph: Rischgitz/Getty Images Friday 26 March 2010 20.05 EDT First published on Friday 26 March 2010 20.05 EDT Share on Messenger Close On 5 March 1860, the scientist and journalist GH Lewes reported to the publisher John Blackwood that "Mrs Lewes is getting her eyes redder and swollener every morning as she lives through her tragic story. But there is such a strain of poetry to relieve the tragedy that the more she cries, and the readers cry, the better say I." "Mrs Lewes" was, of course, George Eliot , and "the tragic story" on which she was working so damply was The Mill on the Floss, published by Blackwood 150 years ago next week. What was making Eliot cry was having to write the last few pages of her novel in which the heroine Maggie Tulliver and her estranged brother Tom drown in the swollen River Floss, locked together "in an embrace never to be parted". More than mere melodrama, the watery hug represented a wishful reworking of Eliot's fractured relationship with her own adored brother, with whom she had grown up on the Warwickshire family farm in the 1820s. Ever since she had written to Isaac Evans three years before to explain that she was now cohabiting in London with the married Lewes – "Mrs Lewes" was a term of social convenience, her legal name remained Mary Ann Evans – the rigidly respectable Isaac had refused to have anything to do with her. Even more hurtfully, he had instructed their sister to break off contact too. This silence was to stretch bleakly over the coming quarter of a century. The brother and sister who, like Tom and Maggie, had once "roamed the daisied fields together" in loving childhood, would never meet again. Unusually for such an intensely autobiographical novel, The Mill on the Floss was not Eliot's first work of fiction, but her third. Shortly before it came out she explained to a friend that my "mind works with most freedom and the keenest sense of poetry in my remotest past", and her first two novels had indeed truffled her own prehistory. Scenes of Clerical Life (1858) was drawn from stories circulating around her childhood community about a series of mild scandals that had taken place several decades earlier. Adam Bede (1859) was based on the young adulthood of her father, her uncle and her uncle's wife. It was as if Eliot had been working through what she called the "many strata" of collective memory before she was ready, finally, to confront her own past. Literary theorists tend not to approve of reading novels as if they were fictionalised autobiography. Still, it is a stern critic who would deny readers the pleasure of spotting which parts of her own childhood George Eliot transferred to Tom and Maggie. The dynamics and personalities of the Tulliver family are remarkably similar to what we know of the Evanses. Mr Tulliver, the hot-headed miller, is described as finding "the relation between spoken and written language, briefly known as spelling, one of the most puzzling things in this puzzling world", and you only have to glance at the diaries of Eliot's father, Robert Evans, to realise that he too was an uncertain penman. Evans, like Tulliver, was a fond father, who doted on "his little wench", born when he was already middle aged. And while he was far too astute to follow Tulliver's example of mounting ruinous law suits, Evans often found himself called into court to give expert witness on matters of land management. Then there is Tom Tulliver, whose rigid respectability and lack of capacity for original thought makes him a ringer for Isaac. Some of the best scenes in the book show Tom struggling over schoolboy Latin while the younger Maggie races ahead, exhibiting a cleverness that upsets the gender expectations of her highly conventional family. Isaac, like Tom, gre