In what constellation is the multiple star Polaris found?

Polaris: The North Star – Alpha Ursae Minoris | Constellation Guide by admin Polaris, also known as the North Star, Alpha Ursae Minoris or Star of Arcady, is the brightest star in Ursa Minor constellation. Polaris is notable for currently being the closest bright star to the North Celestial Pole. The pole marks true north, which makes the North Star important in navigation, as the star’s elevation above the horizon closely matches the observer’s latitude. The North Star has a reputation for being bright, but it is not among the top 10 or even the top 40 brightest stars in the night sky. It is only the 48th brightest star, and owes its reputation to the fact that it is the nearest relatively bright (second magnitude) star to the North Celestial Pole. Polaris is also the star that marks the end of the Little Dipper ‘s handle. It is approximately 434 light years or 133 parsecs distant from Earth. Polaris goes by many different names, including the Northern Star, Pole Star, Lodestar, Guiding Star, and Cynosūra, derived from the Greek κυνόσουρα for “the dog’s tail.” In ancient Greek times, Ursa Minor was taken to represent a dog, not a bear. The close view to the Polaris trinary star system. Credit: NASA, ESA, N. Evans (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), and H. Bond (STScI) Most of the names used for Alpha Ursae Minoris (Alpha UMi) reflect the star’s role as the pole star. The name Polaris itself is an ellipsis for Stella Polaris, the Latin for “pole star.” In Latin, the star is also known as Stella Maris, or “the sea star.“ In medieval Islamic astronomy, Polaris was known as Mismar, meaning “needle” or “nail,” al-kaukab al-shamaliyy or “the north star,” and al-kutb al-shamaliyy or “the northern axle (or spindle).” Alpha Ursae Minoris is slightly off the pole, making a circle around it roughly 1.5 degrees across. As a result of the 26,000 year precession of the Earth’s axis, the celestial pole is currently moving closer to Polaris. Once it reaches the separation of 14 arc minutes around the year 2105, the pole will start to move away from the star again. Eventually, another star will take over as the navigational benchmark for true north. LOCATION How to find the North Star Because the Little Dipper is not bright enough to be seen from areas where there is too much light pollution, the easiest way to locate the North Star is by using the stars of the bigger and brighter Big Dipper in the nearby Ursa Major constellation . Polaris, the North Star, is found by imagining a line from Merak (β) to Dubhe (α) and then extending it for five times the distance after Dubhe (α). Legend: α UMa (Dubhe), β UMa (Merak), γ UMa (Phecda), δ UMa (Megrez), ε UMa (Alioth), ζ UMa (Mizar), η UMa (Alkaid) and α Ursae Minoris (Polaris), image: Alex Zelenko The stars Dubhe and Merak in Ursa Major , also known as the Pointers, are the easiest way to find Polaris. These are the two bright stars that outline the outer part of the bowl of the Big Dipper . An imaginary line through these stars leads directly to the North Star. Polaris is located at about five times the distance between the Pointer stars. It is the first bright star in that direction. The Big Dipper completes a circle around Polaris every 23 hours and 56 minutes, with the Pointer stars always pointing toward the North Star. The only nearby bright stars that are readily seen are Kochab and Pherkad, which are also part of the Little Dipper . The two stars are known as the “Guardians of the Pole” because they appear to march around the North Star like sentries. Polaris marks the end of the handle of the Little Dipper , or the tip of the tail of the Smaller Bear . The stars of the Little Dipper are relatively faint and can only be seen without binoculars in good conditions, with clear skies, no light pollution, and little or no moonlight. Pole Star Polaris lies almost in a direct line with the Earth’s rotation axis, which is to say almost exactly “above” the North Pole. The star is almost motionless, with all the other stars in the northern sky seemingly rotating around it. The North Star never rises or


Sturgis in South Dakota, USA, annually hosts an international rally for racing, stunts and similar by what vehicles?

November | 2012 | Motor Sports Newswire Motor Sports Newswire Sturgis Buffalo Chip To Be Featured On The Travel Channel 30 11 2012 STURGIS, SD – November 29, 2012 – (Motor Sports Newswire) – The Sturgis Buffalo Chip®, legendary mega camping resort and world class entertainment complex, will be featured in 3 new hour long specials premiering on the Travel Channel over the next three weeks beginning this Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 9:00PM Eastern Standard. During the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally the Buffalo Chip hosts the majority of the rally’s estimated 400,000 plus visitors with its 9 day-and-night music festival, high-end camping amenities, interactive activities and exhibits, and breathtaking location. Catch 3 hours of action from the 2012 Buffalo Chip experience beginning Sunday, December 2, 2012 on the Travel Channel. Go to www.BuffaloChip.com for more information, to learn about the growing 2013 music festival line up and to make your reservations at The Legendary Sturgis Buffalo Chip®. The Sturgis Buffalo Chip® has for 31 years been the cornerstone  destination for visitors from around the world as they flock to the Black Hills of South Dakota for the famed Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The Buffalo Chip, with it’s 580 acre camping resort and world class concert series known as The Largest Music Festival in Motorcycling™, annually attracts such legendary artists as Journey, The Zac Brown Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Shinedown, Boston, Sugarland, Kid Rock, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan and Toby Keith. The Buffalo Chip®, a longtime favorite of production companies looking to capture the authentic Sturgis experience, will once again be the centerpiece for 3 new one-hour TV specials airing on the Travel Channel. These 3 new programs, “Sturgis Overdrive” airing Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 9:00pm EST, “Sturgis Metal Mania” airing Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 9:00pm EST and “Sturgis Biker Madness” airing Sunday, December 16, 2012 at 9:00pm EST, will each take a unique look inside the world’s largest motorcycle rally and feature all that Sturgis has to offer to those who come to visit, ride and enjoy the lifestyle of this truly unique American event. “We are thrilled that the Travel Channel has once again chosen the Buffalo Chip as a key element of its new Sturgis Rally programs,” says Buffalo Chip owner Rod Woodruff. “The Chip has been featured in numerous international television series and specials over the years, but we expect these three shows from the Travel Channel will give a new perspective of the culture of the rally. They will also highlight the entertainment, activities and overall excitement that only takes place at the Buffalo Chip.” 2012 was the biggest year ever at the Buffalo Chip, with more campers and concert goers having enjoyed the Chip’s one-of-kind atmosphere and entertainment than ever before. 2013 looks like it will be another record-breaking year for the Sturgis Buffalo Chip’s 9 day and night music festival, with confirmations already announced from multi-platinum country star Toby Keith and the iconic rock band ZZ Top. More band announcements are expected soon. Go to www.BuffaloChip.Com or www.Facebook.com/SturgisBuffaloChip for all the latest Buffalo Chip news and information. About The Sturgis Buffalo Chip The Sturgis Buffalo Chip®, The Official Destination of the Sturgis Rally®, will hold its annual concert series on August 2– 10 2013, The Largest Music Festival in Motorcycling™ and the Sturgis rally’s cornerstone event will celebrate its 32nd consecutive annual concert series at their famed camping resort and entrainment complex. Since 1982, the Sturgis Buffalo Chip® has provided unforgettable live music experiences and exciting activities for fans from around the world. The Sturgis Buffalo Chip® attracts the music industry’s hottest stars and emerging talent and hosts a diverse selection of food and beverage vendors and interactive exhibits. Set on 580 acres, three miles East of Sturgis, the Buffalo Chip® is a festival experience like no other. More details are available at www.BuffaloChip.com . ####


"In a lonely hearts advertisement, what does ""GSOH"" mean?"

GSOH | Definition, meaning & more | Collins Dictionary good sense of humour : used in lonely hearts columns and personal advertisements Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers Example sentences containing 'GSOH' You look down their ads in the Lonely Hearts columns and they all ask for GSOH... but they never tell you what jokes they laugh at. Robert Wilson A DARKENING STAIN


The three mascots for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics were a polar bear, a snow leopard and what other animal?

Meet the Animals Behind the Mascots of the 2014 Winter Olympics – National Geographic Society (blogs) More » Statues of the 2014 Winter Olympic mascots stand on display in downtown Sochi on February 1. Photograph by B. Streeter Lecka, GETTY When the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, kick off with the opening ceremony this Friday, a leopard, a hare, and a polar bear will be among those gathering with athletes, dignitaries, and journalists. But fear not, these four-legged animals are Sochi’s official mascots. Leopards, hares, and polar bears are found in Russia, and each possesses characteristics like speed, strength, and agility—along with a wintery aspect—that suits their inclusion in the Winter Games. Naturally, in this day and age, the mascots have their own  website and a Facebook page that has quickly racked up 20,000 “Likes.” Heck, you can even buy plush toy versions of the mascots on Amazon , and folks have been spotted wearing hare-shaped hats . But what’s so special about these animals? Read on as we introduce the real animals behind Sochi’s mascots. The Leopard A remote camera captures an endangered snow leopard. Photograph by Steve Winter, National Geographic At some point in the run-up to this year’s Winter Olympics, the leopard on Sochi’s promotional materials went from being a white snow leopard to a more generic tan one. This change is perhaps more inclusive since Russia has historically been home to multiple species of leopards, including the Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), which once inhabited the Western Caucasus around Sochi and which Vladimir Putin recently vowed to restore to the region. But the big cat that’s perhaps most winter-appropriate is the snow leopard (Panthera uncia). The cat is found far to the east of Sochi in the mountain ranges of Central Asia. These days, of the approximately 2,000 to 6,000 snow leopards thought to exist, the vast majority are found in China and Mongolia, said James Gibbs , a conservation biologist at State University of New York in Syracuse. Gibbs estimates there are only 20 to 40 snow leopards living in the wild within Russia, although that’s a rough estimate since snow leopards are extremely elusive and roam great distances. (See “Rare Pictures: Snow Leopards Caught in Camera Trap.” ) The snow leopard is officially protected in Russia, so hunting them is illegal. But that doesn’t stop poachers from setting snares, which has had a devastating effect on snow leopard populations. The cats also face a dwindling supply of prey—primarily a goat relative called the ibex . The ibex fall victim to poaching as well as displacement by livestock, added Gibbs. While there’s some evidence that the Russian snow leopard population has recovered slightly in the past few years, Gibbs says it remains critical. “I’d say it’s an absolute bare minimum for recovery with some concerted effort,” he said.  “[The population numbers] can’t go much lower before it falls apart.” The games themselves may provide a glimmer of hope. Gibbs is cautiously optimistic that the attention generated by the Winter Olympics will result in increased efforts to aid the snow leopard. “I’m extremely hopeful. The more publicity the better,” said Gibbs. “The next step is really difficult: to get good intentions to translate to things on the ground.” Gibbs said that would entail “providing alternative livelihoods and poverty alleviation” to help curb poaching, along with increased patrols and efforts to remove snares, and increased logistical support for biologists.  The Hare An arctic hare in its winter coat sits on the tundra. Photograph by Peter Caims, Foto Natura, Minden Pictures/Corbis Contrary to popular belief, hares are not rabbits, although they are related. Hares are generally larger, with longer ears and taller hind legs. Russia is home to several species of hares, including the arctic hare  (Lepus arcticus), although this species is more common in North America. The mountain hare (Lepus timidus) is found all over Russia, from its border with Scandinavia to the farthest reaches of Siber


Which stringed instrument is named for its ability to convey a range of volume?

History of the Piano | Pianonet History of the Piano Contact Us History of the Piano The story of the piano begins in Padua, Italy in 1709, in the shop of a harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori (1655-1731). Many other stringed and keyboard instruments preceded the piano and led to the development of the instrument as we know it today. Mankind’s knowledge that a taut, vibrating string can produce sound goes back to prehistoric times. In the ancient world, strings were attached and stretched over bows, gourds, and boxes to amplify the sound; they were fastened by ties, pegs and pins; and they were plucked, bowed or struck to produce sounds. Eventually, a family of stringed instruments with a keyboard evolved in Europe in the 14th century. The earliest of these was a dulcimer, a closed, shallow box over which stretched wires were struck with two wooden hammers. The dulcimer led to the development of the clavichord, which also appeared in the 14th century. These were followed by the spinet, virginal, clavecin, gravicembalo, and finally, the harpsichord in the 15th century. The harpsichord, however, was limited to one, unvarying volume. Its softness and loudness could not be varied while playing. Therefore, performing artists could not convey the same degree of musical expression as that of most other instruments. The artistic desire for more controlled expression led directly to the invention of the piano, on which the artist could alter the loudness and tone with the force of one’s fingers. The harpsichord was a particularly important development leading to the invention of the piano. Its ability to project sound more loudly than its predecessors, and refinements in the action (or touch) inspired many more musicians to compose for the keyboard and thus, to perform keyboard works. First exhibited in Florence in 1709, Cristofori’s new instrument was named gravicembalo col piano e forte (roughly “soft and loud keyboard instrument”). Eventually, it was shortened to fortepiano or pianoforte, and finally just piano. His earliest surviving instrument dates from 1720 and is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Despite many improvements during the past 300 years, it is truly astonishing to observe how similar Cristofori’s instruments are to the modern piano of today. New Technology in Pianos We are living in perhaps the most exciting time in history to buy, own or play that eternal instrument, the piano. Whether your goal is to purchase something as small as software that can record what you play, a newly designed player piano, a digital instrument or a classic acoustic model, there have never been as many choices for the consumer. Player Pianos Also called “reproducing pianos,” this class of instrument represents a modern update on the paper-roll player pianos you remember from old movies, and they’ve grown enormously in popularity over the last decade. These are not digital instruments – they’re real, acoustic pianos with hammers and strings that can be played normally – but they can also “play themselves” using sophisticated electronic technology. Instead of punched paper, they take their cues from floppy disks, specially formatted CDs or internal memory systems. Several manufacturers offer vast libraries of pre-recorded titles for their systems—music in every genre from pop to the classics—recorded by some of the world’s top pianists. These sophisticated systems capture every nuance of the original performances and play them back with startling accuracy—providing something that’s actually much better than CD fidelity, because the performances are live. Thanks to these new systems, many people who don’t play the piano are enjoying live piano music any time of the night or day. Whether they’re accompanying dinners for two or entertaining a houseful of partygoers, these high tech pianos take center stage. For people who do play the piano, these systems can be used to record their own piano performances, interface with computers, aid in music education, assist with composing and many o


Charlotte was the queen of which British king?

Queen Charlotte | FRONTLINE | PBS WATCH SCHEDULE TOPICS ABOUT FRONTLINE SHOP TEACHER CENTER With features as conspicuously Negroid as they were reputed to be by her contemporaries, it is no wonder that the black community, both in the U.S. and throughout the British Commonwealth, have rallied around pictures of Queen Charlotte for generations. They have pointed out the physiological traits that so obviously identify the ethnic strain of the young woman who, at first glance, looks almost anomalous, portrayed as she usually is, in the sumptuous splendour of her coronation robes. Queen Charlotte, wife of the English King George III (1738-1820), was directly descended from Margarita de Castro y Sousa, a black branch of the Portuguese Royal House. The riddle of Queen Charlotte's African ancestry was solved as a result of an earlier investigation into the black magi featured in 15th century Flemish paintings. Two art historians had suggested that the black magi must have been portraits of actual contemporary people (since the artist, without seeing them, would not have been aware of the subtleties in colouring and facial bone structure of quadroons or octoroons which these figures invariably represented) Enough evidence was accumulated to propose that the models for the black magi were, in all probability, members of the Portuguese de Sousa family. (Several de Sousas had in fact traveled to the Netherlands when their cousin, the Princess Isabella went there to marry the Grand Duke, Philip the Good of Burgundy in the year 1429.) Six different lines can be traced from English Queen Charlotte back to Margarita de Castro y Sousa, in a gene pool which because of royal inbreeding was already minuscule, thus explaining the Queen's unmistakable African appearance. Queen Charlotte's Portrait: The Negroid characteristics of the Queen's portraits certainly had political significance since artists of that period were expected to play down, soften or even obliterate undesirable features in a subjects's face. Sir Allan Ramsay was the artist responsible for the majority of the paintings of the Queen and his representations of her were the most decidedly African of all her portraits. Ramsey was an anti-slavery intellectual of his day. He also married the niece of Lord Mansfield, the English judge whose 1772 decision was the first in a series of rulings that finally ended slavery in the British Empire. It should be noted too that by the time Sir Ramsay was commissioned to do his first portrait of the Queen, he was already , by marriage, uncle to Dido Elizabeth Lindsay, the black grand niece of Lord Mansfield. Thus, from just a cursory look at the social awareness and political activism at that level of English society, it would be surprising if the Queen's negroid physiogomy was of no significance to the Abolitionist movement. Lord Mansfield's black grand niece, for example, Ms. Lindsay, was the subject of at least two formal full sized portraits. Obviously prompted by or meant to appeal to abolitionist sympathies, they depicted the celebrated friendship between herself and her white cousin, Elizabeth Murray, another member of the Mansfield family. One of the artists was none other than Zoffany, the court painter to the royal family, for whom the Queen had sat on a number of occasions. It is perhaps because of this fairly obvious case of propagandistic portraiture that makes one suspect that Queen Charlotte's coronation picture, copies of which were sent out to the colonies, signified a specific stance on slavery held, at least, by that circle of the English intelligencia to which Allan Ramsay, the painter belonged. More on Queen Charlotte


Who was instrumental in 1996 in bringing world attention to Dunblane Primary School?

Dunblane (Cullen Report) (Hansard, 16 October 1996) The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Michael Forsyth) With permission, Madam Speaker, I should like to make a statement about the publication of the report of Lord Cullen's inquiry and the Government's response. On 21 March, following a resolution of both Houses, I appointed the Hon. Lord Cullen to inquire into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the events at Dunblane Primary School, to consider the issues arising therefrom, to make such interim and final recommendations as may seem appropriate and to report as soon as practicable. Lord Cullen concluded that he should not make an interim report. He completed his report within the demanding timetable he set himself by the end of September. But I received a letter from the hon. Member for Hamilton (Mr. Robertson) saying that it would be wrong for the Report to be published during any one of the party conferences". I discussed that request with him, and with the hon Members for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) and for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond), and with their approval I requested Lord Cullen to delay submitting his report to me until Monday 14 October. It is being published today, together with the Government's response, as a Command Paper. I can also tell the House that the report will be available on the Internet, so that there will be access around the world for those who expressed support for the community of Dunblane. I am also grateful to you, Madam Speaker, for your agreement that I should allow the families of the victims to receive copies of the report and the Government's response ahead of its presentation to Parliament. I am enormously grateful to Lord Cullen for the dedicated, prompt and efficient way in which he has carried out the inquiry. I appointed him in the knowledge of the careful way in which he conducted the Piper Alpha inquiry and the rigour and the practicality of his conclusions on that occasion. He approached the present inquiry with sensitivity, courtesy and care. As the inquiry proceeded, he deservedly gained the wide respect of the parties to the inquiry, the media and the public. He has had to consider the most harrowing of circumstances, and to acquaint himself with a number of very complex issues—issues which are of great concern to the people of Dunblane and throughout Scotland. It was right for there to be a full investigation of all the background to the events of that day and of the policy questions raised by them. And it was essential that the House had before it a full analysis and the facts before attempting to reach conclusions about further action. I can tell the House that we are going to accept all Lord Cullen's recommendations, and in some respects intend to go further. Many of the recommendations relate to firearms legislation for which my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary has lead policy responsibility. He will be making a statement about that immediately after mine. Lord Cullen's report describes in detail the tragic events of Wednesday 13 March. The gunman, Thomas Hamilton, entered Dunblane primary school shortly after 9.30 am and made his way to the gymnasium armed with two 9 mm Browning self-loading pistols and two .357 824 Smith and Wesson revolvers, together with 743 rounds of ammunition—all of which he lawfully held, and which he legally kept at home, together with more than 1,000 further rounds of ammunition. Within three or four minutes, he fired 105 rounds with the 9 mm Browning, resulting in the deaths of Mrs. Gwen Mayor and 16 children, and injuring a further three teaching staff and 14 children. He then used the .357 Smith and Wesson to take his own life. Of the head teacher and his staff, the report says that they did everything that they possibly could to assist, far beyond what might reasonably have been expected of them". Lord Cullen also commends the general quality of the work of Central Scotland police and, in particular, the individual officers involved. He records the gratitude of the relatives and the school authoriti


What club, the first of many bars with entertainment by big name drawcards, opened at 116 E. Walton in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA on 29 February 1960?

FROM SONNY BLOUNT TO SUN RA: The Chicago Years From Sonny Blount to Sun Ra: The Chicago Years © Robert L. Campbell, Christopher Trent, and Robert Pruter Revised: September 9, 2016 Sun Ra at the piano, 1958. From the film The Cry of Jazz. Revision note: Our thanks to Dikko Faust for careful listening to the Dukes of Swing sides from 1948. We have added some details on Paul Severson, whose bands shared the soundtrack of The Cry of Jazz with the Arkestra. We are continuing to add entries from the 14-CD boxed set produced by Michael Anderson, Sun Ra: The Eternal Myth Revealed Vol. 1 (Transparency 0316); all previously unreleased Sun Ra material has now been added through the end of 1953. We are also adding vocal material from the three Norton CDs, which were compiled by Michael Anderson and issued in 2009. And we have begun adding in documentation that is preserved in the Alton Abraham Collection of Sun Ra 1822-2008, now housed in the Special Collections at the University of Chicago Library. All of this has led to many changes in our listings, especially for 1956, 1958, and 1960; session numbers will be out of order for a while yet. Sun Ra's musical career is hard to generalize about. He led bands for nearly 60 years. He made something like 125 LPs. He performed everything from 1930s hotel-band schmaltz to synthesizer pieces that twittered and clunked like a demented Pac-man machine. This page will follow Sunny through the first half of his career—from his days as Sonny Blount in Birmingham through the end of his breakthrough period in Chicago, where he changed his name and founded his Arkestra. Sun Ra believed in eternal being. Birth was a bad word in his lexicon. One of his "equations of sound-similarity" was B-I-R-T-H = B-E-R-T-H. If you were born, that meant you were going to find your place of B-E-R-T-H — i.e., your final resting place — i.e., the grave. Sunny preferred to say he had "arrived on the planet," and was more than a little vague about when that happened — maybe in 1055, he would say, maybe a few thousand years before that. His passport and his high school records tell a more mundane story. Herman Poole Blount was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on May 22, 1914. From very early on he was known as Sonny — spelled with an "o," of course. About his family we know little. He had an older brother, Robert, an older half-sister, Mary, and an older stepbrother, Cary Blount, Jr. Three more stepsiblings resided in Demopolis, Alabama. His mother ran restaurants. The family home was in a strange location. In a Southern city that was heavily segregated by race, the Blounts did not live in either a black neighborhood or a white neighborhood. Theirs was the only house on an entire city block. They were located across the street from the Post Office and close to the main railroad station. As a child, Sonny could look out the window and see the big sign over the railroad tracks that greeted visitors to The Magic City; many years later that would become the title of one of his greatest (and most avant-garde) compositions. To the north, there were just open fields. There was a piano in the house (Sunny told interviewers it was a present for his tenth "arrival day") and his family seems to have encouraged his musical aspirations. He was a genuine prodigy, but his boasts that he could read music without training should be discounted—even Mozart needed instruction. Though a shy and reserved individual, he struck up a friendship with another young pianist, Avery Parrish (1917-1959). They played duets together and challenged each other to write their first compositions. And while attending Industrial High School — where he was a straight A student — he came under the tutelage of John Tuggle "Fess" Whatley. Fess Whatley has grown legendary as a music educator (now duly celebrated in the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame ), so it may come as a shock to realize that he was employed as a shop teacher, and all of his musical instruction took place after hours. One of Sonny's first compositions (writt


What shape is the ground which has been home to the Surrey County Cricket Club since 1845?

Archive / History - Kia Oval Archive / History THE HISTORY OF SURREY COUNTY CRICKET CLUB Club and Ground History The history of Surrey County Cricket Club and The Oval cricket ground is in itself a history of the game in this country. Formed in 1845 at the Horns Tavern in Kennington, Surrey CCC have won the County Championship nineteen times – including a record seven consecutive titles from 1952 to 1958 – and have also won eight trophies in limited overs cricket – including the inaugural Twenty20 Cup in 2003. The home county of many of the greatest players to ever play the game – including Sir Jack Hobbs, Jim Laker, Peter May, Sir Alec Bedser, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher – Surrey CCC is one of the most historic sports clubs in the country. Based in kennington, The Oval has been Surrey’s Home Since 1845 Ever since 1845 Surrey have been based at The Oval, a stadium iconic the world over for its history and unique gasholders that have overlooked every game played at the ground since 1853. In cricketing terms, the ground hosted the first ever Test Match in England in 1880 and was the place the Ashes were created in 1882. In the twentieth century, 1938 saw Sir Len Hutton hit the highest ever Test Match score by an Englishman at The Oval before, ten years later, the great Sir Donald Bradman played his last ever innings at the ground, memorably just failing to score the four runs he required for a Test Match average of 100. Later in the century the ground became a home from home for the all conquering West Indies teams of the 1970s and 1980s, with Michael Holding taking 8/92 in 1976 and Sir Vivian Richards hitting 291 in same match. THE greatest series ever played oval hosted the finale to 2005 ashes In more recent times The Oval hosted the finale of the 2005 Ashes – for many the greatest series ever played – and once again staged England Ashes victories in 2009 and 2013. Away from cricket, some say The Oval is where English team sport was founded. In 1870 the ground hosted the first ever International football match in England – between England and Scotland – and two years later, in 1872, hosted the first ever FA Cup Final between Wanderers and Engineers, won 1-0 by the Wanderers. The Engineers gained a measure of revenge in 2012 when the ground re-staged the match, winning 7-1. The same year, 1872, also saw the ground also host the first ever Rugby Union fixture to be played in England, between England and Scotland. timeline of club history Click the button below to view a detailed timeline view of the history of Surrey County Cricket Club. View Timeline Surrey Archive Find details of all former Surrey first XI players, scorecards of all first class & List A matches since 1846. Kia Oval Library Click below to view the homepage of the Library Catalogue where you can search the collection online.


Types of Swallowtail Butterflies Types of Swallowtail Butterflies Black Swallowtail on Swamp Milkweed There are about 33 types of Swallowtail Butterflies found in North America. The genus (family name) is Papilionidae. The most common and often seen Swallowtail Butterflies and where they are found include: Eastern Tiger - E. North America from Ontario S. to Gulf Coast and W. to CO plains and central TX Western Tiger - W. North America from B.C. S. to S. NM and Baja CA; E. to W. SD and S.E. CO A rare stray to central NE Canadian Tiger - From central AK S.E. across Canada and the N. Great Lakes states to N. New England Black - Most of the E. U.S., N. into Quebec, W. into S. Saskatchewan, CO and S.E. CA; S. to N. South America Zebra - S. Eastern U. S. and Mexico Anise - From British Columbia S.E. to ND, S. to S. CA, AZ, NM; Baja California; Mexico; a rare stray to central NE and E. North Dakota Pipevine - Rare stray to Canada (s. Manitoba). Tropical lowlands S. to S. Mexico Giant - Throughout E. North America W. to the Rocky Mountains, S. through the desert Southwest to South America; a rare stray to Quebec, ND, and Bermuda. Spicebush - E. states from S. Canada to FL; W. to OK and central TX. Occasionally strays to North Dakota, central Colorado, and Cuba Swallowtails are large, beautiful butterflies which have long tails like Swallows (bird). Their long tails supposedly look sort of like antennae, which confuse predators. This is why you might see Swallowtail with one or both tails missing. Swallowtail eggs are round. Swallowtail Caterpillars Swallowtail caterpillars have a "forked gland" called the osmeterium. This looks like a snake's tongue and gives off a rancid odor...which scares off predators. Swallowtail crysalis are green or brown depending to what it is attached. The Swallowtail caterpillars spin a silk "button" to attach themselves, then a silk thread which acts as a "sling" or "girdle" to hold them in place. All types of Swallowtail Butterflies in North America overwinter in the chrysalis stage. Adult swallowtails feed on flower nectar. Caterpillars feed on a variety of plants. If you are interested in learning about Raising Swallowtails click here.


In 1961 an entire American sports team was lost in a plane crash when travelling to the World Championships in its sport; which sport was it?

Retrospective: 1961 US Figure Skating Championships Retrospective: 1961 US Figure Skating Championships by Sandra Loosemore August, 2000 Most skating fans who have followed the sport for any length of time have heard the story of the plane crash that killed the entire US Figure Skating Team and their parents and coaches while they were on their way to the 1961 World Championships. But to me, and probably to other people who were born after the crash or who were too young to have any memory of it, the skaters who were killed have been just names, and ghostly images posing for a photograph on the steps of their doomed aircraft. I wanted to know more about these people -- and, particularly, I wanted to see what their skating was like. Earlier this summer, I made a trip to the World Figure Skating Museum in Colorado Springs to find some answers. There, I was able to watch a video tape of 1961 Nationals, and read some background information in the museum's library. The tape was made from the television broadcast of 1961 Nationals, as shown on the CBS "Sunday Sports Spectacular". This broadcast would have been of historical significance even without the plane crash, because it was the first time that the US Championships were covered on network television. Even at this early date, Dick Button was there to provide commentary -- but in 1961, he still had hair! I was amused to see that he was actually quite handsome in those days, when he was still actively skating. The commercials included on the tape were also amusing, starting out with a cigarette commercial featuring a pair of professional skaters puffing away before skating out to do a trick, and then a whole bunch of beer commercials. (It seemed that it took the networks a long time to figure out that most of the people who tuned in to watch skating were not big beer-drinkers, as I remember the "Wide World of Sports" skating broadcasts from the 1970's being full of beer commercials, too.) On to the actual competition, which was held at the old Broadmoor rink in Colorado Springs, on January 25th of 1961. First up was the pairs competition. Judging by this tape, pairs in 1961 was a vastly different discipline than it is today. The most obvious difference is that the pairs were doing basically no true overhead lifts at all -- in fact, the rulebook of the time explicitly disallowed "hovering" at the top of a lift. The pairs did a lot of lifts, but most of them were more of the nature of assisted jumps than true lifts. The woman would jump up with the support of the man and then go right back down again, in most cases without the man ever lifting the woman above shoulder height. There were also no twist lifts, no throw jumps, and the only death spiral that was being done was the classic back outside one (this being before the Protopopovs invented the other three variations). So what did the pairs do instead? Well, besides all the little lifts, they did a lot of dance-like steps in a Kilian hold, and also some single jumps in unison in a Kilian hold, which is something one never sees today in pairs. The first competitors shown were Ila Ray Hadley and Ray Hadley Jr, who finished second. They were a brother-and-sister team from Seattle, coached by their parents. Their elements were: side-by-side single axels, some dance-type skating, a non-overhead lift that Dick Button described as an "axel lift", another little lift, and a third one that I identified as a loop lift. Then some slow dance steps and stroking, a pair change-edge spiral, single axels directly into a pair back camel spin and mirror spiral sequence. Another non-overhead lift where the woman was swung behind the man's back, a pair spin with the woman in a layback position, another little lift, back outside death spiral. Straight-line steps, jump sequence, dance lifts, side-by-side flying camels and double salchows, then a pair spin combination where the woman was in an upside-down camel position, and finally running threes into a pair salchow in Kilian position. I didn't get a strong sense of persona


Who owned the fictional plantation of Tara?

Where's Tara? Atlanta's Gone with the Wind Legacy | My American Odyssey 4 Deeply flawed, at times downright contemptible, Scarlett nevertheless wins our admiration. Even 70 years later, one of the most common questions asked by tourists visiting Atlanta is “Where is Tara?” Not where is Coca Cola, where is CNN or where is Olympic Park.  They want to see the iconic antebellum home where Scarlett flirted with her beaus and later, having been brought low by the war, gnawed a turnip and vowed never to go hungry again. The real Tara doesn’t exist.  It was a Hollywood invention and a fantasy in the minds of screenwriters who took the original modest middle-class dwelling of Margaret Mitchell’s vaguely autobiographical novel and re-imagined it as the quintessential southern plantation house. In fact, none of the scenes in Gone with the Wind were shot in Atlanta.  The film was shot entirely in California.  But that doesn’t stop people from going to Atlanta to find it. The real Tara doesn’t exist. It was a Hollywood invention and a fantasy in the minds of screenwriters. Groundbreaking and Audacious Perhaps no movie is more associated with a place than Gone with the Wind.  Margaret Mitchell’s panoramic tale of the fall and rise of Scarlett O’Hara and the Civil War era South is an American fable of such power and resonance that even today it has the ability to bring viewers to tears. Gone with the Wind was ahead of it’s time.  At a time when nearly all movies were about white males, this was a movie about females.  What’s more, African-Americans played pivotal roles.  At a time when Tarzan movies were still painting white actors in black face to play Africans, Hattie McDaniels won an Oscar for her role as Mammy in the film. Scarlett O’Hara, a Different Kind of Heroine In this clip from the beginning of the film Scarlett is seen at Tara being courted by her beaus. Seen through the prism of today’s sensibilities, Scarlett O’Hara is the perfect anti-hero.  Deeply flawed, at times downright contemptible, she nevertheless wins our admiration. While anti-heroes are common today, in 1939 the idea that the hero could be so petty, narcissistic and ruthless was unimaginable – until one saw the movie.  And what they saw was a character more complex and realistic than anything they had seen before. Gone with the Wind made people examine themselves as individuals and as Americans at a time when the nation was about to embark on one of its greatest challenges.  One month after the movie’s premier the Nazis invaded Poland, setting off World War II. Atlanta Under Siege After a series of flanking movements, the Union Army confronted the Confederate Army at Kennesaw Mountain. With all this to inform it, it’s little wonder Gone with the Wind still holds Americans in its thrall.  In Atlanta, the city and its surrounding communities have had to be inventive to answer tourists’ demands to see something of its legacy.  By the 1980’s even the theatre it premiered in had been gutted by fire and torn down.  The sets and costumes had been dismantled or lost.  Only the tiny depression-era apartment where Margaret Mitchell had written the book remained, although it was dilapidated and boarded up. Still, that was a start, that and the battlefield. The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was a turning point in the American Civil War and the first domino to fall in what would become the defeat of Atlanta.  Today Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is a 2884 acre site comprised of 16 miles of hiking trails and activity grounds.  The park is a favorite haunt of joggers, hikers and picnickers from nearby Marietta.  A self-guided cell phone audio tour walks history buffs through the events of June 27, 1864. After a series of flanking movements, the Union Army under General William T. Sherman confronted the Confederate Army at Kennesaw Mountain.  While the Union Army lost 3,000 men in the frontal assault, it was able to exploit a weakness and force a Confederate withdrawal.  It was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy and for Atlanta.  In little more than a mo


What was the first finished product to roll off Henry Ford's moving assembly line established in 1913?

Ford’s assembly line starts rolling - Dec 01, 1913 - HISTORY.com Ford’s assembly line starts rolling Share this: Ford’s assembly line starts rolling Author Ford’s assembly line starts rolling URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1913, Henry Ford installs the first moving assembly line for the mass production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes. Ford’s Model T, introduced in 1908, was simple, sturdy and relatively inexpensive–but not inexpensive enough for Ford, who was determined to build “motor car[s] for the great multitude.” (“When I’m through,” he said, “about everybody will have one.”) In order to lower the price of his cars, Ford figured, he would just have to find a way to build them more efficiently. Ford had been trying to increase his factories’ productivity for years. The workers who built his Model N cars (the Model T’s predecessor) arranged the parts in a row on the floor, put the under-construction auto on skids and dragged it down the line as they worked. Later, the streamlining process grew more sophisticated. Ford broke the Model T’s assembly into 84 discrete steps, for example, and trained each of his workers to do just one. He also hired motion-study expert Frederick Taylor to make those jobs even more efficient. Meanwhile, he built machines that could stamp out parts automatically (and much more quickly than even the fastest human worker could). The most significant piece of Ford’s efficiency crusade was the assembly line. Inspired by the continuous-flow production methods used by flour mills, breweries, canneries and industrial bakeries, along with the disassembly of animal carcasses in Chicago’s meat-packing plants, Ford installed moving lines for bits and pieces of the manufacturing process: For instance, workers built motors and transmissions on rope-and-pulley–powered conveyor belts. In December 1913, he unveiled the pièce de résistance: the moving-chassis assembly line. In February 1914, he added a mechanized belt that chugged along at a speed of six feet per minute. As the pace accelerated, Ford produced more and more cars, and on June 4, 1924, the 10-millionth Model T rolled off the Highland Park assembly line. Though the Model T did not last much longer–by the middle of the 1920s, customers wanted a car that was inexpensive and had all the bells and whistles that the Model T scorned–it had ushered in the era of the automobile for everyone. Related Videos


The Thirty-Nine Steps (1978) - IMDb (South Wales, UK) – See all my reviews I read one contribution here stating quite correctly that this is not a remake of the Hitchcock film, it is an entirely different treatment of the John Buchan book. Where I thoroughly disagree with that reviewer though is in his comment that some parts of the Hitchcock film were 'stodgy', "particularly the crofter scene"! How he could say that is beyond belief. The crofter scene is BRILLIANT! It involves fantastic acting from all 3 in the scene (including a young John Laurie from Dad's Army) who convey amazing thoughts and emotions without dialogue simply with their eyes and small gestures. It is pure cinema and pure genius as is the rest of that film. The Hitchcock version is light years better than this as a film (near perfect actually) but is only loosely based on a few ideas from the Buchan novel. This is more close to the novel but still strays from its source, wrongly so in this case. The novel is very good but this film drags and is quite poorly directed. It loses most suspense or interest and is very disappointing, I think. 5 of 7 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? Yes


What is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occurs without fertilisation by a male?

Parthenogenesis and activation of mammalian oocytes for in vitro embryo production: A review Parthenogenesis and activation of mammalian oocytes for in vitro embryo production: A review ABSTRACT Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction found in females, where growth and development of embryos occurs without fertilization by a male. Parthenogenesis occurs naturally in aphids, Daphnia, rotifers, nematodes and some other invertebrates but can also be induced efficiently in mammalian oocytes by providing appropriate stimuli invitro. Recently, parthenogenesis has attracted wide attention because of the role of activated oocytes in the field of research that have been described such as intra cytoplasmic sperm injection, cloning by nuclear transfer, somatic cell cloning, investigating culture conditions etc. & potential for deriving pluripotent stem cell lines and their differentiation into various cell lines that can be utilized for various tissue engineering applications. The parthenogenetically activated oocytes possess maternal genome and can developed in to either haploid, diploid or polyploidy embryos with the help of it we can analyze the possible role of all the genes involved in imprinting processes as well as the role the paternal genome plays during early embryo development by comparing them with fertilized embryos. Several methods are able to induce parthenogenetic activation through the elevation of cytoplasmic free calcium in oocytes. But one common, universal method or activation agents has not been developed for all species because the process is highly specific for each species. Therefore, activation step for each species need to be optimized accordingly. This review describes the general method of activation of mammalian oocytes and their genomic imprinting analysis. KEYWORDS Epigenetic Modification; Genomic Imprinting; In-Vitro Maturation; Oocytes Activation; Parthenogenesis Cite this paper Kharche, S. and Birade, H.  (2013) Parthenogenesis and activation of mammalian oocytes for in vitro embryo production: A review. Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 4, 170-182. doi: 10.4236/abb.2013.42025 .


Lieutenant General Aman Andom, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen, Brigadier General Tafari Benti, Major Mengistu Haile Mariam and Major Atnafu Abate were involved in the politics of which country between 1974 and 1987?

Derg Derg Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia የኅብረተሰብአዊት ኢትዮጵያ ጊዜያዊ ወታደራዊ መንግሥት ye-Hebratasabʼāwit Ītyōṗṗyā Gizéyāwi Watādarāwi Mangeśt 1974–1987 ኢትዮጵያ, ኢትዮጵያ, ኢትዮጵያ ቅደሚ Ethiopia, Ethiopia, Ethiopia be first Capital Addis Ababa Languages Amharic Government Marxist–Leninist military junta Chairman  •  1974 Aman Michael Andom  •  1974–1977 Tafari Benti  •  1977–1987 Mengistu Haile Mariam Legislature Shengo Historical era Cold War  •  Coup d’état 12 September 1974  •  Monarchy abolished 21 March 1975 [2]  •  Constitution adopted 22 February 1987 Area  •  1987 [3] 1,221,900 km² (471,778 sq mi) Population  •  1987 [3] est. 46,706,229       Density 38.2 /km²  (99 /sq mi) Currency Ethiopian birr ( ETB ) Calling code +251 Preceded by Emperor The Derg, Common Derg or Dergue ( Ge’ez : ደርግ, meaning “committee” or “council”) is the short name of the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army that ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987. It took power following the ousting of Emperor Haile Selassie I . Soon after it was established, the committee was formally renamed the Provisional Military Administrative Council, but continued to be known popularly as “the Derg”. In 1975, it formally abolished the monarchy and embraced Communism as an ideology. Its regime eventually became formally known as the Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia. [4] Between 1975 and 1987, the Derg executed and imprisoned tens of thousands of its opponents without trial. [5] In 1987 Mengistu Haile Mariam , its chairman since 1977, abolished the Derg and replaced it with the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia . However, Mengistu and the surviving members of the Derg dominated the new government. After years of warfare by a coalition of ethnic-based parties, Mengistu was overthrown in 1991. Contents High ranking Derg members: Mengistu Haile Mariam , Aman Mikael Andom and Atnafu Abate The Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army, or the Derg ( Ge’ez “Committee”), was officially announced 28 June 1974 by a group of military officers. This was done in order to maintain law and order, due to the powerlessness of the civilian government following widespread mutiny in the armed forces of Ethiopia earlier that year. Its members were not directly involved in those mutinies (as far as anyone knows), nor was this the first military committee organized to support the administration of Prime Minister Endelkachew Makonnen . Alem Zewde Tessema had established the Armed Forces Coordinated Committee 23 March. Over the following months, radicals in the Ethiopian military came to believe Makonnen was acting on behalf of the hated feudal aristocracy. When a group of notables petitioned for the release of a number of government ministers and officials who were under arrest for corruption and other crimes, three days later the Derg was announced. [6] The Derg, which originally consisted of soldiers at the capital, broadened its membership by including representatives from the 40 units of the Ethiopian Army , Air Force , Navy , Kebur Zabagna (Imperial Guard), Territorial Army and Police : each unit was expected to send three representatives, who were supposed to be privates, NCOs and junior officers up to the rank of major. According to Bahru Zewde, “Senior officers were deemed too compromised by close association to the regime.” [7] It is often said that the Derg consisted of 120 soldiers, [8] a statement which has gained wide acceptance due to the habitual secretiveness of the Derg in its early years. But, Bahru Zewde notes that “in actual fact, their number was less than 110″, [7] and Aregawi Berhe mentions two different sources which record 109 persons as being members of the Derg. [9] No new members were ever admitted, and the number decreased, especially in the first few years, as some members were expelled or killed. The committee elected Major Mengistu Haile Mariam as its chairman and Major Atnafu Abate as its vice-chairman. The Derg was initially supposed to study the grievances of v


The Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch painted his works in which centuries AD?

Hieronymus Bosch Paintings, Prints & Artwork Breaking News: Art.com announces sale on all Hieronymus Bosch paintings, prints and posters (Use voucher code on their site) Hieronymus Bosch - Artist Biography with Portfolio of Prints, Posters and Paintings Netherlandish artist Hieronymus Bosch followed his own artistic path during the Dutch Renaissance, producing attention grabbing art works which were out of sync with the North European artists of the 15th and 16th centuries Hieronymus Bosch was a painter of dreams, and nightmares. Instead of depicting nature as we all see it, this was an artist who would create stunning scenes of activity based on religious passages, adding his own imagination and technical ability. The inventiveness of Bosch was to impress art followers across Europe during and beyond his lifetime, but many were uncomfortable with the scary creatures depicted in many of his paintings. The 15th and 16th centuries were far less open to new artistic directions than the art public that we have today are, and so this Netherlandish painter would not follow a smooth path of attaining academic respect for his art works. A clear contrast can be made between the styles of Bosch and famous artists of that era such as Albrecht Durer, who concentrated on animal depictions, flowers and portrait etchings. Indeed, Durer, more of a true Renaissance artist in style, was to imply that Bosch was a "painter of dreams" in one of his own books. Little was known about the man behind the paintings for several centuries after his career, but what we do now know is that Hieronymus Bosch was to become a significantly respected individual in his local region of 's-Hertogenbosch as a result of his work. He was to rise to the elite ranks of social circles after being backed by several notable patrons. We can conclude as to Bosch's detailed knowledge of the Bible and Christian beliefs as well as religious symbolism, due to the content found in his paintings. There is therefore considerable thought that has gone into his art, rather than wild fantasies being outputted onto canvas. The grotesque creatures of Bosch's art were to encourage others in future generations, with Dutchman Pieter Bruegel and Spaniard Francisco de Goya among those who used similar themes in their own artistic content. There have been wide ranging opinions on Bosch from a variety of sources over recent centuries but it is generally accepted that the artist aimed to use his art to teach moral and spiritual lessons to others. This was common at that time within Northern Renaissance art and literature. Typical of artists from the 15th and 16th centuries, there are not that many art works remaining from Bosch's career, with many other of those that have been confidently attributed to him having fallen into considerable disrepair. It is also likely that Hieronymus was not the most productive of artists anyway, and would put a lot of time into several large scale triptych altarpieces. Several members of Hieronymus's family had artistic links, including his father Anthonius van Aken. It is likely that either his father or uncles had taught him to paint, but there is no real evidence to confirm this. The family also had held links to the Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady and this continued with Hieronymus. There are many symbols and themes of religious influence to be found in his work. The Garden of Earthly Delights


Shane Lynch, Mikey Graham and Keith Duffy were members of which group?

Boyzone | Keith Duffy BOYZONE   Boyzone was Europe’s most successful boy band during the second half of the 1990s. Comprised of five Irish vocalists and funded by music manager Louis Walsh, the group embraced a similar style of pop music as Take That, whose breakup in 1996 created a void that Boyzone happily filled. By combining boyish charm with slick songwriting (much of which was co-written by the bandmates themselves), the singers found enormous success throughout the U.K., where 16 of their first 17 singles became Top Five hits. Six of those songs made it to number one, establishing Boyzone as the first Irish group to top the British charts so regularly, and bandmate Stephen Gately garnered additional headlines in 1999 by announcing his homosexuality, making Boyzone one of the only boy bands to include an openly gay member. The group didn’t fare nearly as well in America, where acts like *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys reigned supreme, but Boyzone’s success in Europe was nearly unparalleled during the group’s heyday. Boyzone was founded in 1993 by Louis Walsh, an aspiring music mogul who — like Maurice Starr and Lou Pearlman — formed, funded, and managed the group from day one. Over 300 vocalists auditioned for Walsh’s project, including future actor Colin Farrell, but the competition was ultimately narrowed down to five males: Mikey Graham, Stephen Gately, Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy, and lead vocalist Ronan Keating. The quintet initially honed its sound by performing covers of ’70s pop tunes, including Detroit Spinners’ “Working My Way Back to You,” which became a number three hit on the Irish charts, and the Osmonds’ “Love Me for a Reason,” Boyzone’s first single to chart in the U.K. When it came time to write original material, however, the group hired Ray Hedges of Take That to lend his songwriting assistance. Love Will Save The Day The Anniversary Tour 2013


Which poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and inspired by Gray's thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742, was so popular in London literary circles that Gray was forced to publish the work on 15 February 1751 to pre-empt a magazine publisher from printing an unlicensed copy?

Thomas gray has been classified as a pre-romantic, what evidence from the  poem "elegy written in a country churchyard" supports grays classification  as a You have new items in your feed. Click to view. Question and answer Thomas gray has been classified as a pre-romantic, what evidence from the  poem "elegy written in a country churchyard" supports grays classification  as a a poem by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750 and first published in 1751. The poem’s origins are unknown, but it was partly inspired by Gray’s thoughts following the death of the poet Richard West in 1742. [ Originally titled Stanza's Wrote in a Country Church-Yard, the poem was completed when Gray was living near the Stoke Poges churchyard. It was sent to his friend Horace Walpole, who popularised the poem among London literary circles. Gray was eventually forced to publish the work on 15 February 1751, to pre-empt a magazine publisher from printing an unlicensed copy of the poem. The poem is an elegy in name but not in form; it employs a style similar to that of contemporary odes, but it embodies a meditation on death, and remembrance after death. The poem argues that the remembrance can be good and bad, and the narrator finds comfort in pondering the lives of the obscure rustics buried in the churchyard. The two versions of the poem, Stanzas and Elegy, approach death differently; the first contains a stoic response to death, but the final version contains an epitaph which serves to repress the narrator's fear of dying. With its discussion of, and focus on, the obscure and the known, the poem has possible political ramifications, but it does not make any definite claims on politics to be more universal in its approach to life and death. The poem quickly became popular. It was printed many times, translated into many languages, and praised by critics even after Gray's other poetry had fallen out of favour. Later critics tended to praise its language and universal aspects, but some felt the ending was unconvincing, failing to resolve the questions the poem raised; or that the poem did not do enough to present a political statement that would serve to help the obscure rustic poor who forms its central image. ] Expert answered| jojo94 |Points 0|


What saline basin in Central Asia, once the world's fourth largest lake with an area of 68,000 square kilometres (26,000 sq miles), has been steadily shrinking since the 1960s when the rivers feeding it were diverted by irrigation projects?

1000+ images about Education: Aral Sea on Pinterest | Lakes, The 1960s and Deserts Forward Located in Kazakhstan, Lake Balkhash is the 12th largest lake in the world, but that characteristic is hardly what makes it interesting. This lake is bizarre because half of the lake consists of freshwater and the other half is saltwater. Balkhash maintains this unlikely balance in part because the two halves are joined by a narrow straight that is 3.5 kilometers wide and six meters deep. There is some concern that Lake Balkhash could dry up like the Aral Sea, since many of its… See More


"Who wrote ""The Seven Pillars of Wisdom""?"

Victoria U. Library Exhibition - T.E. Lawrence And The Book Thomas Edward Lawrence, popularly known as 'Lawrence of Arabia', was  more than the dashing soldier of fortune depicted in David Lean's film. Lawrence  was an authority on the history of the crusades, military history and archaelogy,  and an expert in guerilla warfare who was well- versed in intelligence operations.  His character provoked varying responses, and he seemed to be at once regarded  as self-aggrandizing and self-effacing; a man who "backed into the limelight",  but wrote poetry and essays, often requesting that his name not appear on his  published work. He translated from Greek and French; and for a time he reviewed  books regularly for a weekly journal. As his efforts towards the production  of Seven Pillars of Wisdom suggests, Lawrence had a love for books and  for printing and had hoped to have his own press after he retired from the military.  He died before fulfilling this ambition. For more information on Lawrence, try the Lawrence of Arabia Factfile . Seven Pillars of Wisdom The title, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, comes from the Book of Proverbs 9:1 where Wisdom is personified as a good woman enlightening mankind (the whole of Proverbs is a 'wisdom-book'): 'Wisdom hath builded a house: she hath hewn out her seven pillars. Give instruction to the wise man, and he will yet be wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.' However, it has been questioned whether the title had any relation to the subject matter of Lawrence's book. In 1913, Lawrence wrote a book entitled Seven Pillars of Wisdom, 'a moral symphony' which recounted adventures in seven cities of the East. He later burned his early effort, but in its memory, he named the later work. Three drafts were written and one earlier edition of the Seven Pillars was published prior to the 1926 edition. The earliest manuscript, written in 1919, was lost by Lawrence at Reading Train Station. A later draft, written from memory, was re-worked into a third draft. Lawrence sold the first three chapters to Robert Graves and they were published between July and October 1921 in The World's Work, an American journal. The three chapters of Seven Pillars of Wisdom published in The World's Work are all that remain of the second version. Lawrence was dissatisfied with it and eventually burnt it with a blow lamp in 1922. Though Lawrence felt that the story in the third manuscript was "diffuse and unsatisfactory", eight copies were printed in 1922 by the Oxford Times staff. The volumes were large and the text was printed in double column lino-type. This is considered the first English edition of Seven Pillars, and it was not available for sale to the public. Of the original eight, six copies remain extant. The first readers of this edition included Bernard Shaw, E.M. Forster, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling and Siegfried Sassoon. In December 1923, Lawrence, David Hogarth , Guy Dawnay, and Lionel Curtis conceived of the idea to produce 100 copies of Seven Pillars at thirty guineas a copy if sufficient subscribers could be found. An edition of 230 copies resulted. Subscribers were requested to write to Lawrence for details and conditions. Published in December 1926, the book weighed five pounds. Copies of the book were privately printed by Manning Pike, an American studying at the London School of Printing, and C.H. Hodgson and bound by some of London's foremost bookbinders: Sangorski and Sutcliffe, Macleish, Wood, Harrison and Best. The copy in Victoria University Library is bound by Best. Other copies of the 1926 Subscribers' Edition are held by the New York  Public Library. No author's name, printer's name, or place of publication,  appears on the title page. In addition, each book had a different binding in  order that there be no first edition, in the collector's sense. The Binding Victoria University Library's    1926 edition of Seven Pillars of Wisdom is bound by Best. Text and    decorations printed by Manning Pike with the assistance of H.J. Hodgson    at


How to get to Bondi Beach How to get to Bondi Beach Contents: Transport Trivia Bondi Beach is a suburb of Sydney and Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales. If you are coming to Bondi Beach, try to leave your car at home. Public transport in Sydney is pretty dismal but parking can be even more of a problem at the beach. Be warned of parking meters in the shopping streets close to the beach. There are residents parking schemes in most streets which limit visitors to 2 hours. Buses run to the beach at 10 minute intervals or better all day from Bondi Junction. Services are less frequent after about 7:30 pm at night, with buses every 15 minutes until midnight and, as your last resort, a bus runs every hour all night. On Friday and Saturday nights there are buses every half hour all night. The railway station at Bondi Junction is about 2 kilometres back from the beach. The train service is supposed to run every 10 minutes on weekdays, and every 15 minutes at weekends. All, repeat all, buses from the beach to the city go via the railway station at Bondi Junction. For more timetable and route information on Sydney buses go to Sydney Buses .  For train information go to Sydney Trains .  For ferry timetables and routes go to Sydney Ferries .   For discussion and articles about public transport (good and bad) visit Action for Public Transport . Hint: Print this section now for a reliable pocket guide to the buses and trains. Travelling from the City to Bondi Beach     Bus: All buses from the city start from Circular Quay and the ride to Bondi Beach takes 45 minutes. The starting point is in Alfred Street, close to ferry wharf number 2 (opposite Customs House and the AMP buildings). The bus may be numbered 380 or 333 with the destination showing North Bondi, Dover Heights, Watsons Bay or Bondi Beach. Collectively this is called "the 380 bus" and all buses go to Bondi Beach. Buses go along Elizabeth Street next to Hyde Park, turning left at Liverpool street, up to Taylor Square, thence to Paddington and Bondi Junction via Oxford Street. The 389 bus also starts from Circular Quay at the same bus stop, and reaches North Bondi via the back streets of Paddington. It does not go along the waterfront at Bondi Beach, instead it goes along Glenayr Avenue, about two blocks back from the beach.     Train: The stations in order are Central, Town Hall, Martin Place, Kings Cross, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction. The train ride takes 11 minutes from Town Hall to Bondi Junction. Then change into a 380, 381, 382 or 333 bus for a 15 minute ride to the beach. Travelling from Bondi to the City     Bus: Catch any bus marked 380 or 333 but make sure it's marked Circular Quay not Bondi Junction. The trip to Circular Quay takes 45 minutes on the 380 bus, and about six minutes less on the 333. All 381 and 382 buses terminate at Bondi Junction.     Train: Catch any bus (Bondi Junction or Circular Quay) and change to join the train at the Bondi Junction interchange. Follow the crowds. This is generally quicker on weekdays especially in peak hour, but not as scenic as staying on a bus for the full trip to the city. General Bus Information In the last two years there has been a strong push to make the buses pre-pay At the time of writing this, you can still pay your fare direct to the bus driver after 7pm, but never on a 333 bendy-bus which are pre-pay only. Bus fares are calculated according to the number of sections you travel. It's not a single price system, and it's a bit complex for tourists but briefly from Bondi Beach it's $2.10 to Bondi Junction (it's called 1 or 2 sections), $3.50 for Paddington and Darlinghurst (3 to 5 Sections) and $4.50 right down to Circular Quay. New fare systems. For enquiries ring 131500. Timetables are displayed on posts at most bus stops. Concessions, transfers, fares on Sundays. Brief advice for tourists: If you are here for more than three days... There are concession fares and tickets for genuine students on their way to classes, and for pensioners. As a tourist, don't bother with these, as the ticke


"Who was instrumental in defeating the Mahdi at Omdurman in 1898, and was British Secretary for War from 1914 until he died on the cruiser ""Hampshire"" when it struck a mine on 5 June 1916?"

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener - History of World War I - WW1 - The Great War Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener - History of World War I - WW1 - The Great War POPULAR TODAY I would rather have a million friends than a million dollars. - Eddie Rickenbacker Quote RESOURCES Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Information Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Field Marshal The Right Honourable The Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC Place of birth: Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland Place of death: HMS Hampshire, sunk west of the Orkney Islands, Scotland (aged 65) Allegiance: United Kingdom Commands held: Mahdist War (1884-1899) Second Boer War (1900-1902) Awards: Knight of the Garter Knight of St Patrick Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Order of Merit Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of India Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Indian Empire Aide-de-camp Privy Council of the United Kingdom Relations: Henry Kitchener, 2nd Earl Kitchener Sir Frederick Walter Kitchener Other work: British Consul-General in Egypt (1911-1914) Secretary of State for War, United Kingdom (1914-1916) Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC (24 June 1850 - 5 June 1916), was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War. Kitchener won fame in 1898 for winning the Battle of Omdurman and securing control of the Sudan, after which he was given the title "Lord Kitchener of Khartoum"; as Chief of Staff (1900-02) in the Second Boer War he played a key role in Lord Roberts' conquest of the Boer Republics, then succeeded Roberts as commander-in-chief - by which time Boer forces had taken to guerrilla fighting and British forces imprisoned Boer civilians in concentration camps. His term as Commander-in-Chief (1902-09) of the Army in India saw him quarrel with another eminent proconsul, the Viceroy Lord Curzon, who eventually resigned. Kitchener then returned to Egypt as British Agent and Consul-General (de facto Viceroy). In 1914, at the start of the First World War, Lord Kitchener became Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet Minister. One of the few men to foresee a long war, one in which Britain's victory was far from secure, he organized the largest volunteer army that the UK had seen and a significant expansion of materiels production to fight Germany on the Western Front. His commanding image, appearing on recruiting posters demanding "Your country needs you!", remains recognised and parodied in popular culture to this day. He was blamed for the shortage of shells in the spring of 1915 - one of the events leading to the formation of a coalition government - and stripped of his control over munitions and strategy. He died in 1916 near the Orkney Islands when the warship taking him to negotiations in Russia was sunk by a German mine. Throughout his adult life Kitchener was a dedicated and very active Freemason, being a Founder Member of numerous Masonic Lodges and having several Lodges named after him. After his death Kitchener was often dismissed as a great poster but not a great administrator. He was criticised by Lloyd George - who may have taken credit for some of Kitchener's achievements in the field of munitions - in his War Memoirs and by others. After many years' experience of commanding relatively small forces in imperial campaigns, Kitchener had made his reputation worse by his habit of secrecy, unwillingness to explain his actions to his colleagues, and reluctance to organise and delegate. However, since 1970, new records have opened and historians have to some extent rehabilitated Kitchener's reputation. His strategic vision in World War I is now praised, especially his laying the groundwork for the expansion of munitions production and his central role in the raising of the British army in 1914 and 1915, which provided an army capable of meeting Br


"The name of which cheese describes its method of manufacture, of being ""cooked again""?"

The General Cheesemaking Process Home | Resources | Cheesemaking Process | Recipes | Troubleshooting | Email Me The General Cheesemaking Process This page describes the steps taken in making cheeses at home. Most recipes require all but two or three of these steps. By familiarizing yourself with this general process you will be able to better read and interpret published recipes, make up recipes of your own, and troubleshoot any problems you have. A first step, of course, is to make sure you have the right equipment. Many cheeses can be made using equipment you already have in your kitchen. More information about equipment and tools . The general cheesemaking process: Tasting and enjoying When you make a cheese, you should keep a record of each step. For a form that I use click here . This column shows the steps generally used in making a "hard cheese" such as Gouda, Jack, Parmesan, Cheddar etc. There are, of course, differences even among these cheeses, and, not all cheeses need all these steps, so study your recipe well. This column has links to Quicktime movies of each major step in the making of a Spanish Manchego cheese. This is a relatively easy hard cheese that illustrates many of the steps well. The recipe can be found in the recipes section of this web site. Warming the milk The milk called for in the recipe is warmed to a temperature appropriate for the culture that will be used. This is often done in a "double boiler" fashion, by placing the pot of milk in a larger pot, or sink, of warm water. This process must be done slowly as the quality of the cheese depends on slow warming in this and subsequent steps. The highest available quality of milk should be used. It is possible to use goat, ewe or cow's milk in any recipe, although most recipes call for a specific type of milk. If you have access to raw milk, you should pasteurize it first and age any cheeses you make for at least 60 days. Avoid milk that is labeled as "ultra-pasteurized". Warming the milk in a double boiler. Notice the pot in the background with boiling water in which I sterilize my utensils, molds, etc. Introduction (19 seconds, 664K) Regulating the milk temperature (47 seconds, 1.6Mb) Ripening the milk Either naturally occurring lactic bacteria or added bacterial cultures are used to acidify the milk through the digestion of lactose (a sugar) into lactic acid. The use of direct set cultures helps ensure consistency across batches. The correct temperature of the milk, as called for in the recipe, must be maintained during the ripening process. Cheeses that are prepared at lower temperatures will tend to use mesophilic cultures. Cheeses that call for higher temperature cooking call for thermophilic cultures. Of course, there are hundreds of cultures that are used in commercial cheesemaking. The home cheesemaker can benefit from prepared direct set cultures from the sources listed on this site. Here I am adding one packet of direct set culture to the warm milk. I sprinkle it on top, wait about 5 minutes and then gently whisk it in. Gently whisk the culture into the warm milk until it is well combined. Then cover and allow to set for the time prescribed in the recipe. Adding the cultures (61 seconds, 2MB) Additives Once the milk has ripened, you can add other ingredients that may be optional or may be necessary for a specific type of cheese. These could be: coloring, additional cultures, calcium chloride, or lipase (for flavor in certain cheeses). These must be added one-at-a-time prior to adding the rennet. They are usually diluted in a small amount of cool bottled water prior to adding them to the milk. And, they must be well incorporated into the milk by stirring gently from bottom to top. I always add liquid calcium chloride to my cultured milk if the milk is store-bought. This seems to create a firmer curd. Just dilute the CaCl in 1/4 cup of cool bottled water, then pour it into the milk through a strainer or ladle. Use an amount of CaCl equal to the amount of rennet you plan to use. Then stir it in gently with a cheese ladle using a bottom-t


Iron Maiden, Saxon, Def Leppard, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath are associated with what style of music?

Iron Maiden | Similar Artists | AllMusic Iron Maiden Biography by Barry Weber At the forefront of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and a major metal contender from the late '70s into the 21st century.


Gobi Desert Gobi Desert At a Glance Size:The Gobi desert covers 1.3 million square kilometers and is elevated with hot summers and cold winters. Climate: Gobi is a very cold desert yet it rarely snows. It is located above sea level. Rainfall is up to 7.6 inches per anum. Conservation and ecology: The eggs of dinosaur were first identified in Gobi desert. The desert is a main source of various important fossil finds. Adaptations: To survive in Gobi desert, the plants have to lose their leaves until it rains again. They are gifted with long roots that absorb water from a large area. Animals get their water from the food they eat, and come out at night. The Gobi Desert Although it's only the fifth largest in the world, the Gobi Desert is the most expansive arid region on the Asian continent. The desert spans two countries, covering parts of northern and northwestern China and up into southern Mongolia. A rain shadow desert, Gobi suffers from having most of its rain blocked by the Himalayas. However, this doesn't mean the region receives zero precipitation. In fact, the Gobi gets about 7 inches of rainfall each year. Gobi is a cold desert, thanks to its northern location and height (roughly 1520 meters above sea level at the area's highest points). As a result, sometimes frost and even snow can be seen capping Gobi's dunes. Temperatures can fall as far minus-40 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Summer is no picnic, either, with the heat occasionally rising to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. The desert is also far less sandy than other deserts. Instead, the desert floor is mostly bare rock, due in most part to the high winds that whip across the plateau. Gobi may be the fifth largest desert on the planet, but the area actually contains five distinct ecological regions: The Eastern Gobi desert steppe, the Alashan Plateau semi-desert, The Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe, the Dzungarian Basin semi-desert, and the Tian Shan range. The Eastern Gobi desert steppe covers the easternmost region, encompassing 281,800 square kilometers. This region spans the area from the Inner Mongolian Plateau in China northward into Mongolia itself. There are many salt ponds and low-lying areas in the Eastern Gobi, as well as the Yin Mountains. The Alashan Plateau semi-desert sits to the west-southwest of the Eastern Gobi desert steppe. Most of this plateau is made up of desert basins and low-lying mountain ranges, including the Gobi Altai range, the Helan Mountains, and the Qilian Mountains. The Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe lies between the Khangai Mountains and the Gobi Altai range, north of the Alashan Plateau. The Dzungarian Basin semi-desert is situated between the Tian Shan range in the south and the Altai mountains to the north. The area extends from the southeastern corner of Mongolia into China, covering the northern part of Xinjiang province in China. The Tian Shan range acts as a border between the Dzungarian Basin and the Taklamakan Desert to the west. The Taklamakan is deemed separate from the Gobi because of its sandy basin surrounded by high mountain ranges. A lot of history has happened across Gobi's dunes, too. The desert is home to the first fossilized dinosaur egg ever found, as well as many other important fossil discoveries. It was part of the great Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous empire in history, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Gobi also contained a few important cities for traders to stop and rest while traveling the Silk Road from Europe to China. The Italian explorer Marco Polo encountered Gobi's fabled cities on his epic 24-year journey through Asia back to Venice, which he recounted in his book "The Travels of Marco Polo." The Gobi Desert continues to grow, and its rapid growth is alarming its neighbors. China is hardest hit, losing valuable grassland to the expanding desert. The Chinese government has announced plans to plant the Green Wall of China, a line of new forest intended to slow the desert's expansion. Even thought its expansion threatens human habitation, the Gobi remains a distinctly beautiful area of


"A quote from Samuel Johnson is that ""when a man is tired of London he is tired of ..."" what?"

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life: Samuel Johnson The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page -> London -> When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.   When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life. "Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." — Samuel Johnson Boswell and Johnson were discussing whether or not Boswell's affection for London would wear thin should he choose to live there, as opposed to the zest he felt on his occasional visits. (Boswell lived in Scotland, and visited only periodically. Some people are surprised to learn that Boswell and Johnson were far from inseparable over the last twenty years of Johnson's life, the period Boswell knew him.) This discussion happened on September 20, 1777, and Johnson, someone who hated to spend time alone, was always going out and enjoying what London had to offer. For more of what Johnson had to say about London, click here . For more of what he had to say about city life, click here .


Which sea surrounds the island of Martinique?

Martinique - Best Caribbean Islands, Caribbean Tourism, Best Caribbean Destination Page suivante Must see in Martinique Mount Pelée Réserve Biologique Intégrale (nature protected area), this world famous volcano on clear days offers a magnificent panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc1.jpg mount-pelee The islet of Sainte-Marie and its tombolo Natural wonder related to ocean tides, the Tombolo, located in the town of Sainte-Marie in the north Atlantic coast is a sandbar connecting the islet of Sainte-Marie to the mainland November to April. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc2.jpg islet-sainte-marie-and-its-tombolo Saint-Pierre, City of Art and History Ranked 101st city of art and history, Saint-Pierre was the capital of Martinique before the 1902 eruption of the Mount Pelée volcano.. Since the destruction, Saint-Pierre is an open air museum. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc3.jpg saint-pierre Caravelle peninsula Dry forest, thickets, mangrove, savannah, sheltered bays and steep cliffs of the Caravelle peninsula, a classified natural reserve, offers an environnement ideal for the development of many native species. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc4.jpg caravelle-peninsula Fort-de-France bay Nearly 1.000 endemic species, numerous economic activities can be found at Fort-de-France Bay, also known as Bay of the Flemish. This site was also ranked among the most beautiful bays in the world in 2011 ! /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc5.jpg fort-de-france-bay La Pointe du Bout Highly touristic, La Pointe du Bout in Trois-Ilets features hotels, restaurants, shops and numerous sandy beaches, not to mention the beautiful view of the Bay of Fort de France ! /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc6.jpg la-pointe-du-bout Les Salines Fine sand, coconut trees, turquoise water Salines beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Lesser Antilles. It epitomizes postcard-perfect Martinique. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc7.jpg les-salines Diamond Rock A paradise for seabirds, and an exceptional diving spot, this rocky outcrop in the middle of the Caribbean Sea has lived an eventful history. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc8.jpg diamond-rock Coeur-Bouliki Enjoy greenery and freshness in this unique ecosystem of St. Joseph. In the heart of Martinique, you will find Coeur Bouliki forest. Nicknamed "the green lung of Martinique, this forest surrounds the La Rivière Blanche(White River), which originates from the Carbet peaks. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc9.jpg coeur-bouliki The petrified savannah A protected geological site, La Savane des Pétrifications is an amazing, arid Savannah that extends to the site of an ancient volcano. It is named after the wood petrified that once stood there. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc10.jpg petrified-savannah Josephine's Bath and white shoals This is the most spectacular and famous, sandy shallow commonly called "Les Fonds Blancs" typical to the Atlantic coast south of Martinique. This site offers exceptional swimming. /sites/martinique/themes/martinique/img/accueil/inc11.jpg josephines-bath-and-white-shoals


What is the first name of Capt. W E Johns's fictional flying hero, Biggles?

Captain W.E. Johns Captain W.E. Johns You can find an extensive biography in the Captain W.E. Johns Catalogue . Here are some highlights: William Earl Johns was born in 1893 in Bengeo, Hertfordshire, England as son of a tailor. During World War I he first served as machine-gunner and from 1918 as fighter pilot with the RFC in France. He was shot down over Mannheim, became a POW, escaped, was caught again and sentenced to death. He was saved by the sudden ending of the war! He stayed with the Royal Air Force until 1931, as flight instructor and later recruiting officer. When he left his rank was "Flying Officer". When several years later he became a successful author he added "Captain" to his name. He started his career as a very skilful aviation artist/ illustrator/ painter for many purposes (magazines, brochures, postcards, posters, books). William Earl Johns In the early thirties he created his most famous hero, James Bigglesworth - "BIGGLES" -, in short stories based on his own World War I experiences and on those of his friends. Biggles almost immediately became very popular en was turned into a junior hero for boys. Altogether Johns wrote 98 books , not in chronological order ( see chronology list ), on Biggles! He was also very successful as author of non-fiction (aviation, gardening) and other fiction series with other heroes/heroines, like the female pilot Worrals , Gimlet and Steeley and even a science fiction series. Johns wrote 167 books and probably hundreds of short stories! He died in 1968, while writing the book "Biggles does some homework"; Biggles was to retire in that particular story! His books were published in 26 countries and he was the second best selling children's author (after Enid Blyton) in the UK! There was also published one movie about Biggles. Still his Biggles books are being republished in several countries ( the Netherlands , Belgium , Czech Republic , United Kingdom ) and also new stories, based on the original characters, are frequently found. Over than 40 years after his death Captain W.E. Johns is still very much with us!


"If a Greek person calls ""Eureka"" what are they saying?"

Eureka! A Word of Discovery Eureka! A Word of Discovery September 17, 2016 Ancient Greek discoveries still play a part in our modern American English. Here an actor plays the role of an ancient Greek High Priestess during the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Rio 2016. (REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis) Share Copy and paste the embed code below. The code has been copied to your clipboard. Pop-out player Hello! This is the VOA Learning English program, Words and Their Stories. On this weekly program, we explore the origin and usage of common expressions in American English. For example, sometimes when Americans do not understand something they say, ‘It’s all Greek to me.” This saying does not make sense, of course, if you actually speak Greek. But today, we are going to talk about a Greek word and what it means in American English. “Eureka!” is Greek for “I have found it!” It is something we say when we have figured out a solution to a complex problem. “Eureka” is a kind of interjection. Interjections are the quick, short words or sounds we cry out when we are feeling intense emotion. They can express pain, surprise, anger or joy. These kinds of words also are called exclamations. Someone cries “Eureka” to express excitement when that person makes a discovery. When you finally find the answer to something you have been working on for a long time, nobody would blame for yelling “eureka!” from the rooftops. The story behind “Eureka,” however, is somewhat of a guess. Some say it goes all the way back to the time of ancient Greece and an inventor named Archimedes (c. 287-212 B.C.E.). The king of Syracuse, Heiro II, gave Archimedes a difficult problem to solve. The king wanted to know if goldsmiths had used pure gold to make his crown. This problem troubled Archimedes. How could he learn if the crown was pure gold? One day, he stepped into the water of a bathtub. He saw that the water flowed over the top of the tub. The water that overflowed was displaced by his body. When Archimedes climbed in and out of the bath, he carefully studied the displaced water. He noticed that the more his body sank into the water, the more water was displaced. This meant that the displaced water measured his volume exactly. Suddenly, Archimedes realized how he could test the gold in the king’s crown. He knew that gold is heavier than silver. So, he reasoned that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier than one made only of gold if both weighed the same. Therefore, it would displace more water than a crown of pure gold. Archimedes, allegedly, became so excited by this discovery that he jumped out of the bath and ran naked through the city streets, shouting: “Eureka! Eureka!” meaning, “I have found it! I have found it!” In another version of the story, the king gives a different puzzle to Archimedes to solve. Archimedes must figure out how to build a massive ship that won’t sink. Again, he supposedly makes his discovery in a public bath. This TedED video was written by Armand D'Angour and animated by Zedem Media. Both are great stories, but most likely, Archimedes never said “Eureka!” And who knows if he really ran through the streets naked. What we do know is that Archimedes discovered the law or buoyancy, or what engineers still call today, the Archimedes principle. But let’s go back to “eureka” as an expression. “Eureka!” has another historic connection to gold. This time it happened during more modern times in the United States. During the California gold rush, prospectors looking for gold in the Californian hills were said to yell “Eureka! I found it!” when they struck gold. To this day, California’s state motto is Eureka! The word “Eureka!” also lives on in scientific communities. The American Association for the Advancement of Science calls its breaking scientific news site EurekAlert. However, these days, saying “Eureka!” as a way of expressing an amazing discovery is out of style. One interjection that has replaced “eureka” is “a-ha!” But both “eureka moments” and “a-ha moments” are used to describe the times we are experiencing a b


In what continent was freestyle swimming first developed?

The Development of the Modern Stroke The Development of the Modern Stroke Beginnings Ancient civilizations left ample evidence of their swimming abilities. Bas-relief artwork in an Egyptian tomb from around 2,000 B.C. shows an overarm stroke like the front crawl. The Assyrians showed an early breaststroke in their stone carvings. The Hittites, the Minoans, and other early civilizations left drawings of swimming and diving skills. Even the Bible refers to movement through the water-in Ezekiel 47:5, Acts 27:42, and Isaiah 25:11. Competitive swimming is at least as old as 36 B.C., when the Japanese held the first known swimming races. The earliest published work on swimming was written in 1538 by Nicolas Wynman, a German professor of languages. In 1696, The Art of Swimming by the French author Thevenot first described a type of breaststroke done with the face out of the water and an underwater arm recovery (the stage of a stroke when the arms and/or legs relax and return to the starting position). This stroke gives the swimmer good stability, even in rough water. After the English trans- lation of Thevenot's work became the standard swimming reference, the breaststroke was the most common stroke for centuries. dRise of Competitive Swimming The English are considered the first modem society to develop swimming as a sport. By 1837, when modern competitive swimming began in London, several indoor pools already existed. The National Swimming Society regulated competition. The breaststroke and the recently developed sidestroke were used. In 1844, Native Americans swam in a London meet. Flying Gull swam 130 feet in 30 seconds to defeat Tobacco and win a medal. Their stroke was described as thrashing the water with their arms in a motion "like a windmill" and kicking in an up-and-down motion. This early form of the front crawl was successful in that race, but the English continued to prefer the breaststroke for competition. The English also liked to compete against nature. In 1875, Captain Matthew Webb first swam the English Channel. With the breaststroke, he swam the 21.26 miles in 21 hours and 45 minutes. The first woman to swim the channel was Gertrude Ederle in 1926. Marcus Hooper, the youngest person to complete the swim, swam the channel in 1979 at age 12. In 1983, Ashby Harper swam the channel just a few days before his 66th birthday, making him the oldest. Penny Dean had held the world record for the channel swim since 1978, but in 1994 American Chad Hundeby rewrote the mark. This challenge continues to attract distance swimmers as the ultimate feat in this sport. Early interest in stroke development Throughout the 1800s, a series of swimming strokes evolved. The sidestroke, in which the swimmer lies on one side, was soon modified to become the overarm sidestroke. One arm was recovered above the water for increased arm speed. The legs were squeezed together in an uncoordinated action. In 1895, J. H. Thayers of England, using the overarm sidestroke, swam a record 1:02.50 for 100 yards. (Note: Swimming times are expressed in minutes, seconds, and hundredths of seconds. So this record means the 100 yards were swum in 1 minute, 2 and 50/100 seconds. A time of less than a minute would be designated as 48.25-48 and 25/100 seconds. Times that last longer than an hour-as for a triathlon or a marathon-would be expressed 3:22:15.30, for 3 hours, 22 minutes, 15 and 30/100 seconds.) John Trudgen developed the hand-over-hand stroke, then named the trudgen. He copied the stroke from South American Indians and introduced it in England in 1873. Each arm recovered out of the water as the body rolled from side to side. The swimmer did a scissors kick with every two arm strokes. This stroke was the forerunner of the front crawl. Kick variations included different multiples of scissors kicks or alternating scissors and flutter kicks. F. V. C. Lane showed the speed of the trudgen in 1901 by swimming 100 yards in 1:00.0. Modern Times: Swimming in the Twentieth Century Leisure swimming Swimming for leisure has become tremendously popular since