The Executive calculator and the Black Watch were products from which inventor?

Sinclair & the Pocket Calculator Clive Sinclair and the Pocket calculator © 2003 Nigel Tout This is a new article which was not originally in "The International Calculator Collector".   The Sinclair Exectuive For people in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s Clive Sinclair was known as "the inventor of the pocket calculator". Although not really true (it depends on how big your pocket is), Sinclair stunned the world in the summer of 1972 when he launched his first electronic calculator, the Executive, which was           smaller and considerably thinner than any other on the market. The vital statistics of the Sinclair Executive are 56mm x 138mm x 9mm / 2.2" x 5.4" x 0.35" and it fits easily into a shirt pocket without making a bulge. The first Sinclair calculator, the Executive. The memory version, the Executive Memory. Side view showing how thin the executive models are. Clive Sinclair is an electronics genius and is noted for his miniature products achived by using very innovative designs. The Executive uses one of the standard calculator chips of the time, the Texas Instruments GLS 1802. This           normally has a current consumption of about 300 mA which dictates that normal AA size batteries, or larger, need to be used to give a decent battery life. Sinclair in his quest for miniturisation, to produce a true pocket calculator, wanted to use button cells rather than normal batteries, but these would be drained in minutes by the chip and the LED display. However, Chris Curry           and JimWestwood at Sinclair Radionics, in Huntingdon, England, found that the power to the chip did not have to be on continuously, it could be pulsed and the internal capacitance of the chip would store enough electrical           charge to keep it working till the next power pulse. Power pulses lasting 1.7 microseconds are used, at a frequency of 200 KHz during calculations and 15KHz between each operation, reducing the power consumption to 25 to 30 mW.           Texas Instruments did not recommend operating in this way, but it allows the Executive to get about 20 hours continuous operation from 3 small mercury button cells. The unusual, Sinclair designed keyboard also contributes to the small size of the Executive, with the little rubber pips which press directly on the beryllium-copper contacts.   Early days Born in 1940, Clive became intensely interested in mathematics and electronics at school, and designed his own electronic circuits. While at school he wrote his first           article for the magazine Practical Wireless which was published, and he went for holiday jobs in electronic companies. Clive left school just before his eighteenth birthday. Although he could have gone to university, he did not, reckoning that he could find out anything that he wanted to know by himself. Clive's father was a business man, and           Clive showed the same business flair. While at school he had drawn up details in an exercise book of the Sinclair Micro Radio Kit, complete with costings to the last detail, including postage and packing. He realised that           electronic components were very cheap if bought in thousands, and that large advertisements in the hobby electronics magazines would be eye-catching and bring in orders. Fortunately, the magazine Practical Wireless advertised for an editorial assistant, which Clive applied for and got. Shortly afterwards, in 1958, Bernard Babani enticed Clive away to run his technical publishing company, where Clive also wrote thirteen contructor's books by 1962. Clive still had ambitions to form his own company, and had registered the company Sinclair Radionics in 1961. Having found financial backing he left Babani's, only to have the backer get cold feet and withdraw. Clive then got a           job as technical editor with the journal Instrument Practice, for which he also wrote articles. One of his tasks was to produce a comprehensive survey of the available semiconductors, which opened the door fo


Which English King fought at the battle of Bannockburn?

Battle of Bannockburn Battle of Bannockburn Robert the Bruce’s iconic victory of the Scots over the English Robert de Bruce addresses his troops before the Battle of Bannockburn on 23rd June 1314: click here to buy this picture The previous battle in the British Battles series is the Battle of Hastings The next battle in the British Battles series is the Battle of Sluys Date:  23rd and 24th June 1314. Place:  In Central Scotland, to the South of Stirling. The Royal Arms of England at the time of Edward II: Battle of Bannockburn 23rd June 1314: picture by Mark Dennis, Ormond Pursuivant War:  The Scottish War of Independence against the English Crown of Edward I and Edward II. Contestants:  A Scots army against an army of English, Scots and Welsh. Generals:  Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, against Edward II, King of England. Size of the Armies:  There is great controversy over every aspect of the Battle of Bannockburn due to the lack of contemporary accounts.  The eminent Scottish historian William Mackenzie came to the conclusion that the English army comprised around 3,000 mounted men, knights and men-at-arms, and around 13,000 foot soldiers, including a detachment of Welsh archers.  William Mackenzie put the Scots at around 7,000 men.  Robert de Bruce’s army comprised foot soldiers with a force of around 600 light horsemen commanded by Sir Robert Keith, the Marischal. Winner:  The Scots trounced the English in the 2 day battle. Uniforms and equipment:  In order to re-conquer Scotland from Robert the Bruce King Edward II of England summoned his feudal army.  The most important element in the feudal array was the mounted knighthood of Angevin England.  A fully equipped knight wore chain mail, re-enforced by plate armour, and a steel helmet.  He carried a shield, long lance, sword and, according to taste, axe or bludgeon and dagger.  He rode a destrier or heavy horse strong enough to carry a fully equipped rider at speed.  The heraldic devices of the knight were emblazoned on his shield and surcoat, a long cloth garment worn over the armour, and his horse’s trappings.  An emblem might be worn on the helmet and a pennon at the point of the lance.  Other knights on the field, including enemies, would be able to identify a knight from the heraldic devices he wore.  Socially inferior soldiers such as men-at-arms would wear less armour and carry a shield, short lance, sword, axe, bludgeon and dagger.  They rode lighter horses. Knights of the period of the Battle of Bannockburn 23rd and 24th June 1314: picture by Edward Burne-Jones : click here to buy this picture Within each army units comprised men raised from particular areas or a nobleman’s household knights and men-at-arms.  In the English army the King’s household provided a sizeable and homogenous fighting force. The foot soldiers on each side fought with whatever weapons they had, which might be bows, spears, swords, daggers, bill hooks, bludgeons or any other implement capable of inflicting injury.  They wore metal helmets and quilted garments if they could get them.  Traditional feudal armies of the time considered battle to be an exercise between mounted knights.  No account was taken of those further down the social scale and little sensible use made of them.  For the English the battle was to be decided by the attack of their cavalry.  The dismounted soldiers were present for other purposes, largely menial, in the eyes of the knighthood. Battle of Bannockburn 24th June 1314: picture by Willilam Hole RSA Because of the nature of the guerrilla war Robert de Bruce and the Scots had been fighting over the previous years against the English they had few mounted knights available for the battle.  The Scots army comprised foot soldiers mostly armed with spears and that was the force Robert the Bruce had to rely upon. While Bannockburn is held up as an important event for Scottish nationalism it is intriguing to remember that the knights on each side were essentially of the same stock, Norman-French or Northern European.  The language spoken was in many instances still


Which was the only French metropolitan department never visited by the Tour de France, prior to the 100th tour in 2013?

2013 Route - Sporting aspects, stage cities - Tour de France 2013 Distinctive aspects of the race First up Corsica... then nothing but the French mainland Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse were the only two departments in metropolitan France that had never before hosted the Tour. The Grand Départ of 2013 will put an end to that. Once back on the mainland, the race will continue entirely within France and not take in any foreign countries – a concept last applied in 2003. IndividuaL and team time-trials The 4th stage, contested at Nice across 25 km, will represent the team time trial challenge, last carried out in 2011. Two individual time trials are also scheduled over a distance of 33 km between Avranches and Mont-Saint-Michel on stage 11, then over 32 km between Embrun and Chorges, on stage 17. Alpe-d’Huez 1 and 2 The most significant change and, without a shadow of a doubt one of the highlights of this 100th edition: the Alpe-d’Huez will be climbed twice on the 18th stage. The first passage at the top of Alpe-d’Huez 1 will take place 50 kilometres before the finish at Alpe-d’Huez 2. Three further summit finishes are planned: Ax 3 Domaines, Mont Ventoux and Annecy-Semnoz, a new venue on the Tour map. 10 first-time city stages


First published in 1929, for which character is Belgian George Remi best known?

Hergé | Tintin Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia "I seek above all to tell a story…and to tell it clearly." —Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (22 May 1907 - 3 March 1983 ), better known by the pen name Hergé, was a Belgian comics writer and artist. "Hergé" is the French pronunciation of "RG," or his initials reversed. His best known  and most substantial work is The Adventures of Tintin comic book series, which he wrote and illustrated from 1929 until his death in 1983, leaving the twenty-fourth Tintin adventure Tintin and Alph-Art unfinished. His work remains a strong influence on comics, particularly in Europe. He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2003 . Contents Biography Childhood and early career Georges Prosper Remi was born in 1907 in Etterbeek, in Brussels, Belgium to middle class parents, Alexis Remi and his wife Elisabeth Dufour. [1] His four years of primary schooling coincided with World War I (1914–1918), during which Brussels was occupied by the German Empire. Georges, who displayed an early affinity for drawing, filled the margins of his earliest schoolbooks with doodles of the German invaders. [2] Except for a few drawing lessons which he later took at l'école Saint-Luc he never had any formal training in the visual arts. In 1920 he began studying in the collège Saint-Boniface, a secondary school where the teachers were Catholic priests. [3] Georges joined the Boy Scouts troop of the school, where he was given the totemic name "Renard curieux" (Curious fox). Recently an old strip by him was found on a wall of this school. [4] His first drawings were published in 1922 in Jamais assez, the school's Scout paper, and in Le Boy-Scout Belge, the Scout monthly magazine. [5] From 1924, he signed his illustrations using the pseudonym "Hergé." [6] His subsequent comics work would be heavily influenced by the ethics of the Scouting movement, as well as the early travel experiences he made with the Scout association. [7] On finishing school in 1925 Georges worked at the Catholic newspaper Le XXe Siècle under the editor Norbert Wallez, a Catholic abbot who kept a photograph of Mussolini in his office. [8] The following year, he published his first cartoon series, Totor , in the Scouting magazine Le Boy-Scout Belge. [9] In 1928, he was put in charge of producing material for the Le XXe Siècle's new weekly supplement for children, Le Petit Vingtième . He began illustrating The Adventures of Flup, Nénesse, Poussette, and Cochonnet, a strip written by a member of the newspaper's sports staff, but soon became dissatisfied with this series. Wallez asked Remi to create a young hero, a Catholic reporter who would fight for good all over the world. [8] He decided to create a comic strip of his own, which would adopt the recent American innovation of using speech balloons to depict words coming out of the characters' mouths, inspired by their use by established French comics author Alain St. Ogan. [10] Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (1929) Tintin in the Land of the Soviets , by "Hergé," appeared in the pages of Le Petit Vingtième on 10 January 1929, and ran until 8 May 1930 . The strip chronicled the adventures of a young reporter named Tintin and his pet fox terrier Snowy (Milou) as they journeyed through the Soviet Union. The character of Tintin was partly inspired by Georges's brother Paul Remi, an officer in the Belgian army. In January 1930 Hergé introduced Quick & Flupke (Quick et Flupke), a new comic strip about two street urchins from Brussels, in the pages of Le Petit Vingtième. For many years, Hergé continued to produce this less well-known series in parallel with his Tintin stories. In June he began the second Tintin adventure, Tintin in the Congo (then the colony of Belgian Congo), followed by Tintin in America and Cigars of the Pharaoh . On 20 July 1932 he married Germaine Kieckens , the secretary of the director of the Le XXe Siècle, [8] whom he had first met in 1927. [11] They had no children, and eventually divorced in 1977 . [12] The early Tintin adventures each took about a year to complete, upon whic


In The Goodies TV series a martial art form known as 'Eckythump' was practised using which foodstuff as a weapon?

What is the best fictional martial arts? [Archive] - RPGnet Forums Jackob 07-09-2007, 01:26 PM Assuming the "two men (women/animals/aliens/whatever) enter, one ... leaves", featureless arena scenario, what do you think would be the best fictional martial arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_martial_arts). I think we might want to split it up in armed and unarmed. My votes: Unarmed: Sinanju or Deja Fu Armed: Lightsaber Combat David Goodner 07-09-2007, 01:34 PM Does the Weirding Way from Dune count as a martial art? If so, the ability to blow stuff up by talking to it is a pretty impressive martial art. I will, at the moment, bow to lightsabre combat as opposed to the suggestion I was thinking of - the Gun Kata. Lightsabres can deflect bullets, QED. David G. Jackob 07-09-2007, 01:39 PM Does the Weirding Way from Dune count as a martial art? If so, the ability to blow stuff up by talking to it is a pretty impressive martial art. It's mentioned on the page I link to, so I'd say yeah. I will, at the moment, bow to lightsabre combat as opposed to the suggestion I was thinking of - the Gun Kata. Lightsabres can deflect bullets, QED. David G. Are you sure lightsabers can deflect bullets? I'd think they'd just vaporize them, which would mean you can't deflect 'em back at your oppoenent... ParadoxBoy I'll go ahead and bring up Gymkata, so no one else can. :D Jackob I'll go ahead and bring up Gymkata, so no one else can. :D I said "featureless arena", not "parallel bars". :P David Goodner 07-09-2007, 01:44 PM Are you sure lightsabers can deflect bullets? I'd think they'd just vaporize them, which would mean you can't deflect 'em back at your oppoenent... Vaporize, deflect, either way, the Jedi's not getting hit. They can certainly deflect blaster bolts, and I'm sure if a sufficiently bloodymidned Jedi wanted to deflect bullets with his lightsabre, he could find a way. :) All I really meant was "block" though. David G. Walker 07-09-2007, 01:47 PM Mkunga lalem it includes the move "make the zombie takes his own head off" it may not be ultimate martial art but is very cool Coyote's Own 07-09-2007, 01:47 PM Akashic Brotherhoods Do, which encompasses all the martial arts? Kalindo was lso a fun concept, but it reacquires the martial artist to posses shapeshifting abilities. Jackob Akashic Brotherhoods Do, which encompasses all the martial arts? And gets you eaten by Paradox... :D MoltenPlastic 07-09-2007, 01:53 PM All of the styles used by Inigo Montoya; Agrippa, Capo Ferro, Thibault, Bonetti, and McBone. (Of these, I think only Capo Ferro has any historical basis, but I might be under-informed.) Lee Casebolt 07-09-2007, 01:53 PM Whatever it is Douglas Hill's Moros Legionaries (http://www.amazon.com/DEATHWING-OVER-VEYNA-Last-Legionary/dp/0440917433/ref=sr_1_4/102-2521505-2758560?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184010675&sr=8-4) use. Lee Casebolt 07-09-2007, 01:55 PM All of the styles used by Inigo Montoya; Agrippa, Capo Ferro, Thibault, Bonetti, and McBone. (Of these, I think only Capo Ferro has any historical basis, but I might be under-informed.) Agrippa, Thibault, and Bonetti I also know to be legitimate fencing instructors. Coyote's Own 07-09-2007, 01:56 PM And gets you eaten by Paradox... :D Not Do itself. But if start flinging vulgar magic while doing it, well that your problem. Also Mo Chi (Devil Judgment) Kung Fu used by the Shih. oWoD had a a hell lot of fictional Martial Arts. Hell the Big Book of Ass Whooping (aka WoD: Combat) had one made for the kindred. Save-vs-DM 07-09-2007, 01:58 PM I have to go with Gnome-Fu - it is unbeatable (and also only exists in our home games, but oh well). Save vs DM I've never beaten someone who used Violet Bier of Sorrows. Buddha's Palm is another good one. A Kao-Ken master probably wouldn't win, but they'd place for sure. Of course, there's also the super secret martial art that I created long ago, practiced only by myself and three students. It is known as Splitjitsu, and it is the art of doing the splits in a manner so painful that it causes your enemy to die from empathy. Jackob


Grey Dagger, Forester and Dingy Footman are species of what?

Macro Moths page 1 Six-spot Burnet Zygaena filipendulae There are several Burnet moths to be found in the UK (the Six-spot being the most common) but fortunately a quick count of the red spots on each wing will 'usually' be sufficient to identify each species. There will always be aberrations and on rare occasions this one will even have yellow spots! This species, a day flying moth, usually flies during June, July and August and is often found on the flowers of Knapweed and thistles. It is well distributed across England, Wales, Isle of Man and Ireland but, is largely coastal in Scotland and only occasional in the Channel Islands. Initially, the larvae are small chunky green caterpillars with bristles and black spots. But, in the final laval instar, still chunky and bristly, they become bright yellow with black spots. The larvae feed on Trefoils from August through to June the following year, undergoing a 'diapause' resting state (not a true hibernation) during adverse winter conditions. Trefoils contain traces of cyanide which build up in the caterpillars and pass through the metamorphosis into the adult moth. There is a theory that the 'sinister' black and red wing coloration warns birds that the moths are unpalatable but whether the cyanide influences the wing colour or, it is just a chance of evolution, is not known. The Cinnabar moth shares this same attribute. Date Seen feeding on Knapweed nectar. . Chinese Character Cilix glaucata This is a tiny little macro moth, unusual and quite unique. It has a forewing length of only 9mm. It's size, resting position and coloration mimics a bird dropping and acts as very successful camouflage against hungry birds. Its markings and coloration remain remarkably consistent throughout the species. It belongs to the Drepanidae (Hook-tip) group of moths of which only six species are resident in the UK - and this one lacks hook tips to its wings! The wing markings are very delicate and precise. There are two generations per year, flying in May-June and then in August. (That is the theory. The late, warm summer of 2006 saw them flying throughout July.) It is widespread in England and Wales but quite localised in lowland Scotland, usually frequenting hedgerows and scrub. The larvae feed on Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Bramble. Date Common Footman Eilema lurideola There are several species of Footman moths which get their name from the simple classic uniforms of the footmen traditionally employed by royalty and the nobility. Some of the species need a good eye to positively identify them but, this is the classic Common Footman. It has the characteristic lead grey wings with a dull yellow leading edge which does not quite extend to the gently curved wingtip. It is a single generation species, flying from June to August and quite commonly comes to light in good numbers. The larva overwinters from August to late May, eventually growing to about 25mm. Larval foodplants are lichens and algae growing on trees and stone. But it will also feed on leaves of Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Bramble. Date Attracted to light but not as common as previously. . Eilema griseola and ..... E. griseola f. stramineola The upper image shows the standard grey version of the Dingy Footman, the wings being, appropriately, a pale dingy grey (compared to the slate grey of the Common Footman) with a faint pale leading edge. When variation in wing coloration or differing light conditions starts to cause confusion, the distinguishing feature that separates it from the Common Footman is the noticeably broader wing with a curved leading edge and a less well defined pale leading edge stripe. It is also a single generation species, flying a little later than the Common Footman, from July to August. The middle image, is of the 'yellow form' of the Dingy Footman, E. griseola f. stramineola. This should not be confused with the pale forrm of the Buff Footman which has a pale leading edge to the wing - nor the Orange Footman which has a distinctive wing shape and is not at all common in Lincolnshire. The apparently different wing s


Which group performed the first ever song in the first episode of Top of the Pops in 1964?

BBC - Top of the Pops - Through The Ages Contact Us Top Of The Pops shimmied onto our TV screens on New Year's Day 1964, armed with hordes of a scary new faction called 'young people' and presented by cigar-chomping tracksuit-model Jimmy Savile (although he was relatively normal back then). If that wasn't enough to scare the bejesus out of parents across the nation, the show was shot live, and in its first edition featured such greats as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Dusty Springfield and the Hollies. And here's a shocker for the uninitiated, although the early shows were live, the acts actually MIMED to their songs! Lost for words? So were they! Sadly, the first ever show is lost to history forever, but hey, that miming thing really took off, eh?   The Beatles - 'I Feel Fine' Performed 3rd Decmber 1964


Which Welsh professional Rugby player, who was capped 100 times for his country, became the first openly gay rugby playerin 2009?

When Gareth told me he was gay, it was as if the man I loved had died | Daily Mail Online comments In Saturday's Mail rugby legend Gareth Thomas revealed he was gay. So what does the childhood sweetheart he married say about his confession? Jemma Thomas cries when she remembers her wedding. It was, she says, the proudest, happiest, most perfect day of her life. Everything was magical about that sunny August afternoon in 2001 in the pretty South Wales town of St Brides Major; her first day as the wife of Wales rugby star and sporting legend Gareth Thomas. 'I absolutely adored Gareth with every bone in my body,' says Jemma, 33. 'As I said my vows, all I could think was: "He's mine, this wonderful, amazing man is all mine."' Or so Jemma believed at the time. For the truth was Gareth Thomas could never entirely be hers, no matter how much he loved her or desperately wanted to be. Moving on: Jemma Thomas today 'It was the proudest day of my life. I'll never forget the way Gareth turned to look at me as I walked down the aisle and told me I was beautiful and that he loved me,' says Jemma. 'He was my childhood sweetheart and best friend. We told each other everything. We had no secrets from each other.' Except one. Gareth took his marriage vows keeping one devastating secret to himself; that he was gay - something he had, since the age of 17, tried to suppress and push into a dark corner, hoping the feelings would go away. In an exclusive interview in Saturday's Daily Mail, the former Wales and British Lions captain revealed publicly for the first time how he struggled for almost 20 years to come to terms with his true sexuality. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share 'I was like a ticking bomb. I thought I could suppress it, keep it locked away in some dark corner of myself, but I couldn't. It was who I was and I just couldn't ignore it any more. It was like a tight knot in my stomach, always threatening to seep out,' said Gareth, who knew he was gay at the age of 17, but refused to accept it, convincing himself his love for Jemma would rid him of these feelings. 'I've been through all sorts of emotions, tears, anger and absolute despair. I used to hope that I would wake up one morning and all these feelings could be gone. I would pray to God: "I have Jemma, I love her, please take away these feelings." 'Sometimes I felt so alone and depressed. I used to go to the cliffs overlooking the beach near our cottage in St Brides Major and think about jumping off and ending it all,' he said, admitting he felt 'horrible and guilty' for cheating on Jemma with men he met in the gay bars he secretly visited while away on tour. 'Outing' himself, in the hope that young people confronting the same dilemma might be encouraged to phone the NSPCC's ChildLine, the sporting legend said he could no longer live a lie. He also hoped that by going public - the first international rugby player still in the game to do so - sport would follow other professions by accepting openly gay people. Yesterday, 35-year-old Gareth, who in 2005 led Wales to their first Grand Slam victory since 1978 and was capped 100 times for his nation - more than any other Welshman - praised the 'amazing response' from players and fans. Jemma Thomas on her wedding day with Gareth in 2001 But what of his ex-wife? There are some who, far from admiring Gareth Thomas for his honesty, reserve all their sympathy for Jemma and are appalled at the way he behaved. Indeed, Jemma Thomas could be forgiven for hating her ex-husband for his deception. No one would blame her for feeling angry, bitter and humiliated by his betrayal. Least of all Gareth. Remarkably, she does not. Jemma was heartbroken when Gareth told her the truth in 2006, and three years later her heart remains broken. But she forgave him long ago. 'I still love Gareth and I will never stop loving him,' says Jemma, in her first interview since he publicly announced he was gay. 'What happened to us is just so terribly sad. He really was the perfect husband in every other way. 'I'm incredibly proud of him for comin


Under whose leadership did the RMT become one of Britain's fastest growing Trade Unions between 2002 and 2008?

Harry Cockburn | Reporter | LondonlovesBusiness.com Harry Cockburn LondonlovesBusiness.com Harry Cockburn is associate editor at LondonLovesBusiness.com.  His background is in politics, financial and culture writing.  Can be found tweeting @HarryCockburn email: harry.cockburn@londonlovesbusiness.com Stories by this contributor. Tue, 26 Apr 2016 Oh, that’s not right Syria’s Arch of Triumph demolished by ISIS recreated in Trafalgar Square Tue, 19 Apr 2016 Built by the Romans, demolished by ISIS. The original Arch of Triumph in Palmyra, SyriaA replica of Palmyra’s Arch of Triumph has been erected in Trafalgar Square in London, following the destruction of the 2,000 year old arch in Syria by the so-called Islamic State.The scale model is made of Egyptian mar Tue, 5 Apr 2016 But small rise in temperatures could benefit some investorrs Mon, 4 Apr 2016 93% of people in the UK have opted into location tracking Mon, 21 Mar 2016 The dystopian hellscape of the apparently unstoppable bridge Trump presidency rated among top ten world risks Thu, 17 Mar 2016 As president of the US, Tump would be “potent recruitment tool for jihadi terrorism”, claims Economist Intelligence Unit Zac Goldsmith trailing Sadiq Khan by 7% in latest poll Mon, 14 Mar 2016 A new YouGov poll today puts Labour candidate Sadiq Khan on course to win London’s mayoral election on 5 May.The Tooting MP now has a seven point lead over his nearest rival, Conservative MP for Richmond Zac Goldsmith.According to the poll, Goldsmith has the support of 25% of Londoners, while Khan has 32% of Londoners backing him.The last YouGov poll of voting intentions for London’s mayoral candidates was in Jaunary, and since then Khan and Goldsmith have each increased David Cameron “petrified” of Boris Johnson leadership bid, says ex- minister Mon, 14 Mar 2016 David Laws, who was a Lib Dem minister in the coalition spills the beans on his time at the top    Tue, 8 Mar 2016 Bullying, harassment and old rolling stock to blame for “comprehensive breakdown” in relations Mon, 7 Mar 2016 Resignation is latest blow in string of setbacks for world’s most expensive power project Fri, 4 Mar 2016 “I would be the mayor of all London”, Zac Goldsmith says. But what does he mean? Fri, 4 Mar 2016 Mother’s Day is on Sunday. What is it? Should I buy anyone a gift? Big business demands better cycle infrastructure, as 71% of the public support cycle superhighways Thu, 3 Mar 2016 40 high-profile businesses announce support for cycle lanes, as new poll shows growing demand for better cycling facilities MPs warn of energy price hikes as renewable subsidy cuts alarm investors Thu, 3 Mar 2016 Old and new: a German coal-fired power station with wind turbines behindMPs have warned that the government’s cuts to renewable energy subsidies could put off investors in the sector and lead to higher energy bills. Wed, 2 Mar 2016 Should we follow Norway’s example? What about Switzerland? Wed, 2 Mar 2016 Government begins internal war of words as EU referendum looms Tue, 1 Mar 2016 A look at how the iconic design has changed through the years Tue, 1 Mar 2016 Bank will also cut its dividend by more than 50% Mon, 29 Feb 2016 Over 50,000 apartments in London’s most exclusive areas are planned. But who will buy them? Fri, 26 Feb 2016 Whether you walk or Tube, drive, cycle or micro scoot, here’s how to do it better Thu, 25 Feb 2016 But companies are failing to plan response strategies Crowdfunding for homes? Residential investment for as little as £50? Sounds incredible. We meet Property Partner's Dan Gandesha Wed, 24 Feb 2016 The founder and CEO of Property Partner, Dan Gandesha, tells us how he plans to build a “global property stock exchange” Tue, 23 Feb 2016 Are hotpants evil? Siân Berry: Leaving Europe is not a tenable position for any mayoral candidate to take Tue, 23 Feb 2016 Greens’ mayoral candidate tells London Loves Business why she supports the EU and why she thinks Boris is campaigning for a Brexit James Bond Aston Martin sells at auction for £2.4m Fri, 19 Feb 2016 An Aston Martin DB10 car used in the most recent


Who is known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the middle ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Comer of Westminster Abbey?

Geoffrey Chaucer - Geoffrey Chaucer Biography - Poem Hunter Geoffrey Chaucer - Geoffrey Chaucer Biography - Poem Hunter Biography Biography of Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin. Life Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location of his birth remain unknown. His father and grandfather were both London vintners; several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich. (His family name derives from the French chausseur, meaning "shoemaker".) In 1324 John Chaucer, Geoffrey's father, was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the twelve-year-old boy to her daughter in an attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and the £250 fine levied suggests that the family was financially secure—bourgeois, if not elite. John Chaucer married Agnes Copton, who, in 1349, inherited properties including 24 shops in London from her uncle, Hamo de Copton, who is described in a will dated April 3, 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as "moneyer"; he was said to be moneyer at the Tower of London. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie' . While records concerning the lives of his contemporary poets, William Langland and the Pearl Poet are practically non-existent, since Chaucer was a public servant, his official life is very well documented, with nearly five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first of the "Chaucer Life Records" appears in 1357, in the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections. She was married to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of the king, Edward III, and the position brought the teenage Chaucer into the close court circle, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king, collecting and inventorying scrap metal. In 1359, in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims. Edward paid £16 for his ransom, a considerable sum, and Chaucer was released. After this, Chaucer's life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, and Flanders, possibly as a messenger and perhaps even going on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford, who later (ca. 1396) became the third wife of John of Gaunt. It is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas's daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk. Thomas's great-grandson (Geoffrey's great-great-grandson), John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geof


Which word describes a painting or sculpture of the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Christ?

The Virgin with the Dead Christ | Master of Rimini | V&A Search the Collections The Virgin with the Dead Christ Master of Rimini The Virgin with the Dead Christ Object: Given by Sir Thomas Barlow Museum number: Download PDF version This alabaster was made to be a devotional piece, and other similar examples survive in various collections across Europe, but this piece is particularly fine, being a perfect example of a combination of older, traditional styles, with the the most up-to-date developments in art and the realism and naturalism of painters like Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. The sculpture emphasises Christ's physical suffering and the anguish of his mother. The object helped focus the mind of individuals on contemplation of man’s redemption by Christ’s sacrifice, and the Virgin’s acceptance of his death for the sake of mankind. The southern Netherlands were an important centre for the production of alabaster sculpture during the 15th century, and while not producing the numbers that the English alabaster workshops turned out, they certainly exceeded their English counterparts in quality of craftsmanship. The English alabaster-carvers dominated the lower end of the market, catering for patrons right across Europe who could not afford to spend very much but were eager to furnish their parish churches and homes with religious imagery. The Netherlandish workshops, by contrast, produced fewer but many times more carefully finished alabaster sculptures, which were also considerably more expensive to buy. Physical description Statue in alabaster of The Virgin with the Dead Christ. The Virgin sits on a low bench supporting the Dead Christ on her lap; she holds His outstretched left arm with her left hand, and supports His head with her right hand. Her head is covered with a short veil and she wears a full mantle over a belted gown. The Dead Christ lies across her knees wearing the crown of thorns on His head and with the spear-wound visible on the right side of his chest. Place of Origin Height: 39.7 cm, Width: 32.6 cm base, Depth: 11.4 cm, Weight: 8.52 kg Object history note The present alabaster group is almost certainly by the artist known to us by the alias of the 'Rimini Master' (see P. Wiliamson and P. Evelyn, 'Northern Gothic Sculpture 1200-1450', V&A publication, London, 1988, pp.187-191), a sculptor who has been shown to be probably a South Netherlandish alabasterer. He - or perhaps they, being presumably an export workshop - was also responsible for the famous alabaster Crucifixion scene from the church of St. Maria delle Grazie in Rimini-Covignano, now in the Liebieghaus, Frankfurt. The Rimini Master's work was exported to North-east Italy, amongst other places. This alabaster was made to be a devotional piece, and other similar examples survive in various collections across Europe, but this piece is particularly fine, being a perfect example of the Rimini workshop's combination of older, traditional styles, with the the most up-to-date developments in art and the realism and naturalism of painters like Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. Interestingly, we know that alabaster, a fine-grained form of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulphate), from England was exported raw in blocks to the Continent for use by sculptors. Unfortunately, it is not yet been possible to identify the national origin of alabaster from its appearance or geology; alabaster was also mined in the Netherlands itself, and this is more likely to be, therefore, native stone. Alabaster was popular amongst medieval artists because it is softer and far easy to work than marble, but still very suited to detailed, closely observed work, such as the very fine folds of the drapery seen here, which southern Netherlandish alabaster-carvers always carefully reproduced, and also takes paint and gilding well. Indeed, this Pietà bears traces of paint on the beard of Christ, his mouth and hair too, his crown of thorns and in places on the Virgin's clothing. At the same time, it is likely that areas of alabaster, in particular flesh and skin, would


Which country banned the use of the word Hashtag in February 2013?

Are the French right to ban the word "hashtag"? Are the French right to ban the word "hashtag"? Cultural anxiety on twitter. Print HTML Last Wednesday, the French government’s snappily-named General Commission for Terminology and Neology issued a recommendation that French social media users should shun the term “hashtag” in favour of French alternative mot-dièse, or "hash word". The recommendations of the Commission, which was created in 1996 in order to combat the influx of Anglo-American words, have been met with widespread criticism. The proposed term mot-dièse has been accused of not being Twitter friendly (it is longer than "hashtag" and contains an accent), and of being inaccurate– dièse actually denotes a musical sharp symbol (♯), rather than a hash sign. The outlawing of "hashtag" is also seen by many social media users as reactionary and futile; it has variously been described as a “Frankenstein word”, “ridiculous” and, fittingly (or ironically), it has been branded  an #epicfail on Twitter. On first glance, the recommendation may seem ill-judged or even risible, but it begins to look a little more raisonnable when put in the context of a more general cultural anxiety. In the last fifty years, English words have become increasingly ubiquitous in French day-to-day life. This is largely thanks to the import of a great deal of American – and some British – television programmes and films, which are watched in VO (version originale) with subtitles. American music is also very popular in France; nothing is guaranteed to fill a French dance floor like the opening bars of the Black Eyed Peas hit I Gotta Feeling, though clubbers will sing along to only a few selected lyrics: “up!….off!… masel tov!… good, good night!”. French governments of all political colours have fought to protect their culture from being dominated by a tradition alien to their own. Whilst Chirac’s conservative government introduced the terminology Commission in 1996, it was France’s much-revered socialist president, François Mitterrand, who created the “cultural exception”, which necessitated ‘cultural goods’ to be treated differently to other commercial products, encouraging the autonomous production of French art.  Mitterrand also introduced the controversial radio quota that necessitates that at least 40 per cent of music on France’s airwaves is in French. For the British, who tend to find patriotism a little embarrassing (though the Olympic Games proved an exception), this cultural approach may seem a little precious. But it is worth remembering that we too grumble about the "Americanisation" of the English tongue, despite the fact that we, at least, share the same language as our U.S. counterparts. The proliferation of Anglicisms is particularly present in the world of beez-ness where terms like “debrief”, “meeting”, and “manager” are d’un common. In recent years, Paris metro carriages have been splattered with adverts for courses to learn "Wall Street English", depicted on the posters is a tanned man in a business suit, his mouth opened wide to reveal a tongue decorated with the stars and stripes. Little wonder, then, that many French people are often anxious about, what writer and French culture expert Lucy Wadham terms, the “relentless advance of Anglo-American capitalism.” The dominance of English-based terms is nowhere more prevalent than in the ever-developing world of technology. The same Commission that coined mot-dièse has fought since the birth of the internet to preserve French terminology; along the way it has tried to promote French alternatives for ‘the web’ (la toile) and ‘email’ (courrier-électronique). But is it realistic, in a domain where new products, systems and concepts are being developed and created all the time – and therefore where words signify completely new phenomena – to seek translations for digital terminology? Speaking to The New Statesman, David Carzon, the web editor of French cultural magazine Télérama suggested that there is a distinction to be made between official and colloquial language. “[The state] can


Which range of mountains in France and Switzerland gives its name to the middle period of the Mesozoic era?

The Jurassic Period Online exhibits : Geologic time scale : Mesozoic Era The Jurassic Period Great plant-eating dinosaurs roaming the earth, feeding on lush ferns and palm-like cycads and bennettitaleans … smaller but vicious carnivores stalking the great herbivores … oceans full of fish, squid, and coiled ammonites, plus great ichthyosaurs and long-necked plesiosaurs … vertebrates taking to the air, like the pterosaurs and the first birds. This was the Jurassic Period, 199.6 to 145.5 million years ago*  a 54-million-year chunk of the Mesozoic Era . Named for the Jura Mountains on the border between France and Switzerland, where rocks of this age were first studied, the Jurassic has become a household word with the success of the movie Jurassic Park. Outside of Hollywood, the Jurassic is still important to us today, both because of its wealth of fossils and because of its economic importance  the oilfields of the North Sea, for instance, are Jurassic in age. Clockwise from top left, Ichthyosaurus intermedius, a Lower Jurassic ichthyosaur from Glastonbury, England. Karaurus sharovi, one of the earliest known salamanders, from Kazakhstan. Diplodocus, a large, long-necked sauropod. Modern cycads. Life Today, the name "Jurassic" conjures up images of the phenomenally successful book and movie, Jurassic Park. It is quite true that the dinosaurs dominated the land fauna  although many of the dinosaurs featured in Jurassic Park, such as Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex , did not evolve until after the Jurassic was over. The largest dinosaurs of the time  in fact, the largest land animals of all time  were the gigantic sauropods , such as the famous Diplodocus (top right, above), Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus. Other herbivorous dinosaurs of the Jurassic included the plated stegosaurs. Predatory dinosaurs of the Jurassic included fearsome carnosaurs such as Allosaurus, small, fast coelurosaurs , and ceratosaurs such as Dilophosaurus . The Jurassic also saw the origination of the first birds, including the well-known Archaeopteryx, probably from coelurosaurian ancestors. But there was more to life than dinosaurs! In the seas, the fishlike ichthyosaurs (top left, above) were at their height, sharing the oceans with the plesiosaurs, giant marine crocodiles, and modern-looking sharks and rays. Also prominent in the seas were cephalopods  relatives of the squids, nautilus, and octopi of today. Jurassic cephalopods included the ammonites, with their coiled external shells (upper left), and the belemnites, close relatives of modern squid but with heavy, calcified, bullet-shaped, partially internal shells. Among the plankton in the oceans, the dinoflagellates became numerous and diverse, as did the coccolithophorids (microscopic single-celled algae with an outer covering of calcareous plates). Land plants abounded in the Jurassic, but floras were different from what we see today. Although Jurassic dinosaurs are sometimes drawn with palm trees, there were no palms or any other flowering plants  at least as we know them today  in the Jurassic. Instead, ferns, ginkgoes, bennettitaleans or "cycadeoids," and true cycads  like the living cycad pictured above, lower left  flourished in the Jurassic. Conifers were also present, including close relatives of living redwoods, cypresses, pines, and yews. Creeping about in this foliage, no bigger than rats, were a number of early mammals. Localities Blue Nile Gorge, Ethiopia : Come along on a fossil-hunting trip to Ethiopia with UCMP researchers and see the first dinosaur fossils found there. Solnhofen Limestone, Germany : Exquisitely detailed fossils have come from these Jurassic deposits in southern Germany. Resources


In 2012, in which country were six scientists convicted of manslaughter for failing to predict an earthquake?

Scientists convicted of manslaughter for failing to warn of earthquake | Science | The Guardian Geology Scientists convicted of manslaughter for failing to warn of earthquake A court in L'Aquila, Italy, has sentenced defendants to six years in prison despite lack of any reliable way to predict quakes Associated Press Monday 22 October 2012 14.05 EDT First published on Monday 22 October 2012 14.05 EDT Close This article is 4 years old An Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter on Monday for failing to adequately warn citizens before an earthquake struck L'Aquila in central Italy in 2009, killing more than 300 people. The court in L'Aquila sentenced the defendants to six years in prison. Each is a member of the country's Grand Commission on High Risks. In Italy, convictions aren't definitive until after at least one level of appeals, so it is unlikely any of the defendants will face jail immediately. Scientists worldwide had decried the trial as ridiculous, contending that science has no reliable way to predict earthquakes. Among those convicted were some of Italy's most prominent and internationally respected seismologists and geological experts, including Enzo Boschi, former head of the country's Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. "I am dejected, desperate," Boschi said after the verdict. "I thought I would have been acquitted. I still don't understand what I was convicted of." The trial began in September 2011 in L'Aquila, whose devastated historic centre is still largely a ghost town. The defendants were accused of giving "inexact, incomplete and contradictory information" about whether small tremors felt by L'Aquila residents in the weeks and months before the 6 April 2009 quake should have constituted grounds for a quake warning. The 6.3-magnitude quake killed 308 people in and around the medieval town and forced survivors to live in tent camps for months. Many much smaller tremors had rattled the area in the months before the quake, causing frightened people to wonder if they should evacuate. "I consider myself innocent before God and men," said another convicted defendant, Bernardo De Bernardinis, a former official of Italy's Civil Protection Agency. Prosecutors had sought a conviction and four-year sentences during the non-jury trial, which was led by a judge. A defence lawyer, Filippo Dinacci, told reporters that the sentence would have "big repercussions" on public administration since officials would be afraid to "do anything." Roger Musson , head of seismic hazards and archives at the British Geological Survey, said: "This is a very sad business indeed, these are people I know, who were doing their best to give an accurate account of large earthquakes. It seems to be wrong that they should be prosecuted for offering scientific advice to the best of their ability." He added: "It will certainly make scientists less free in speaking out where perhaps their expertise is really needed." John Elliott of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences said: "This verdict is a sad end to a tragic series of events in L'Aquila. Earthquakes cannot be predicted, and these scientists should not even have been on trial accused of providing incomplete information, because it is unfair to have expected them to have provided an exact and complete warning of an earthquake in the first place – this is something which is not yet credibly possible for earthquake science."


The supermodel Jodie Kidd represented England at which sport?

My sporting life: Jodie Kidd | Sport | The Guardian My sporting life My sporting life The model and Strictly Come Dancing star Jodie Kidd on headstrong horses, memorable birdies and humbling Jay Kay on the race track Jodie Kidd with her horse. Photograph: James Boardman/Rex Features Saturday 31 January 2009 19.07 EST First published on Saturday 31 January 2009 19.07 EST Close You seem to have tried your hand at everything ... I'm slowly making my way through most of the sports. The ﬁrst I did was riding, from a very early age. I had no choice in the matter; I was put on a horse and that was it. I screamed and shouted and hated it and I was about nine before I really fell in love with horses. Do you need the same skills for polo and showjumping? No, completely diﬀerent. To do showjumping you have to be – the polo people are going to hate me saying this – a better horseman. Polo ponies are much easier to get on – they're more like machines – whereas showjumpers are more temperamental and they're serious athletes. Showjumpers take a lot more riding. Any remaining ambitions? I'm not going to be like Jordan and have delusions and say I want to represent Great Britain in the Olympics or anything like that. But if you hadn't been a model … I would have been a showjumper, that was my dream. My dad's one of the only people who's represented England in polo and showjumping. My sister, Jemma, was on the British team for dressage, and my brother, Jack, was on the British team for polo, so it was something that was very reachable in my family. Was motor racing a natural progression? It came completely out of the blue, from meeting Jeremy Clarkson and him saying, "Come on my show". I'd never raced a car in my life – I'd only just got my driving licence, actually. But I just understood a race car and how to control it and fell in love with it. Do you like watching sport as much as playing it? I have to watch everything, whether it's horse racing or tennis or motor sport or equestrianism or football. And it's terrible because I don't have enough time in my life. How has Strictly Come Dancing aﬀected your sporting routine? I'm on tour now and I've done nothing but dancing since I started Strictly. I haven't seen a horse let alone ridden one , and the golf bag has cobwebs on it. Does being sporty help you with the dancing? I don't think so. I normally do things I'm naturally talented at, and ballroom dancing is not one of them. You're a Liverpool supporter. Why? It was all to do with France 98. I had never been really into football but I was watching England play Argentina and was down in Marseille and watched Michael Owen 's wonder goal and thought, "How cool", and followed him back to Liverpool and supported him there. He, of course, left, but I've been an avid supporter ever since. It's a bit diﬃcult when I'm in West Sussex but I go and watch them when they're playing the London teams. What is your greatest sporting achievement? That would be the birdie, net eagle, on the 17th at St Andrews playing against Colin Montgomerie. Unfortunately I didn't have any money on it. Representing England in the women's world championships playing polo was pretty cool, too. That was after only two years of learning to play. And you topped the leaderboard on Top Gear ... Beating Jay Kay was quite nice. But he's a friend of mine so I can't gloat too much. Ever had any bad crashes? Oh god, yeah, all the time. Every time I raced in England I crashed, actually. Silverstone is not my favourite track at all. Which is worse: crashing a race car or falling oﬀ a horse? Falling oﬀ a horse, deﬁnitely. It's awful. With a car you're wearing safety harnesses, you're wearing a helmet, you're fully prepared for accidents, whereas on a horse, when you're going 40mph and you've got nothing but the ground, it's very hard. But you've avoided serious injury, happily ... Yes. [Silence.] I hate talking about this because there's not enough wood in the house.


A targeted group of assassinations in France on St Bartholomew's Day in 1572 led to which word entering the English language?

Saint bartholomews day massacre - English to English Translation Saint bartholomews day massacre Wikipedia English - The Free Encyclopedia The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French Wars of Religion. Traditionally believed to have been instigated by Catherine de' Medici, the mother of King Charles IX, the massacre took place five days after the wedding of the king's sister Margaret to the Protestant Henry III of Navarre (the future Henry IV of France). This marriage was an occasion for which many of the most wealthy and prominent Huguenots had gathered in largely Catholic Paris. See more at Wikipedia.org...


What name is given to the Jewish candlestick with special religious meaning?

Candles a Christian Symbol Candles a Christian Symbol The Importance of Catholic Symbolism or Icons in Religious Art Religious Information, Meaning and Definition of Candles a Christian Symbol Candles a Christian and Religious symbolism with Bible References Symbolism and early religious meaning in art of Candles Religious Christian Symbolism of Candles Ancient history, biblical meanings and practices of the church Facts, Information, Meanings and Definitions Significance and representations of the Candles Candles a Christian Symbol Christian Symbolism The definition and the meaning of Symbols or Icon in early religious art forms. A Catholic sign or icon, such as the Candles a Christian Symbol, is an object, character, figure, or color used to represent abstract ideas or concepts - a picture that represents an idea. A religious icon, such as the Candles provide an image or symbolic representation with sacred significance. The meanings, origins and ancient traditions surrounding Christian symbols date back to early times when the majority of ordinary people were not able to read or write and printing was unknown.     Many were 'borrowed' or drawn from       early pre-Christian traditions. The       candle is used in the religious       ceremonies of many different faiths.       The lighting effects created by       candles were used for for decoration       and ambiance. In Christianity a       candle is a symbol that represents       the light of God or the light of       Christ. The Definition and Meaning of the Candles as a Catholic Christian Symbol Catholic Christian symbolism in art provides a clear graphic illustration which represents people or items of religious significance. What is the definition and the meaning of the use of Candles in religion? The Candles as Christian Symbols represents the light of God or the light of Christ. Candles are used in processions, at the altar and are lit as a sign of remembrance or to accompany prayer. Candlemas Candlemas celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple which is held on February 2nd. The term Candlemas derives from the tradition of blessing candles on this feast and carrying them in procession as a symbol of the "Light to Lighten the Nations". The Seven-Branched Candlestick - the Menorah The The Seven-Branched Candlestick, called the Menorah,  represents the Holy Spirit and its seven gifts: Wisdom The Colors of the Candles The colors of candles is significant: White Candles represent the liturgical color of Christmas. On Christmas Eve the Christmas wreath has a white candle in the center symbolising purity and joy. It is known as the Christ candle which represents Christ born on Christmas day. The Pink candle, the Advent candle used on the third Sunday of Advent traditionally when the congregation was given a break from fasting Purple candles match the liturgical color of Advent Some religions use Blue candles during Lent Reference to the Candles in the Bible The Easton Bible Dictionary provides the following definition, meaning and emblem for the Candles a Christian Symbol in the Bible. Heb. ner, Job 18:6; 29:3; Ps. 18:28; Prov. 24:20, in all which places the Revised Version and margin of Authorized Version have "lamp," by which the word is elsewhere frequently rendered. The Hebrew word denotes properly any kind of candle or lamp or torch. It is used as a figure of conscience (Prov. 20:27), of a Christian example (Matt. 5:14, 15), and of prosperity (Job 21:17; Prov. 13:9). John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. "I am the Light of the World" (John 8:12).   The Importance of Catholic Symbolism of candles Religious Information, Meaning and Definition of Candles Candles a Christian and Religious sym


The concept of 'cloud-cuckoo land' originated with which Ancient Greek playwright?

Where Is Cloud Cuckoo Land? | Mental Floss UK Where Is Cloud Cuckoo Land? Fancy a trip to Cloud Cuckoo Land? It does actually exist... Aliya Whiteley Image  If you're a fan of The Lego Movie (2014) you'll know that Cloud Cuckoo Land makes an appearance as a place where everyone can live together happily, if not entirely realistically, high in the sky. It's a fantasy of the ideal city, and can't really be taken seriously, even by Lego minifigures. But Cloud Cuckoo Land does have a location. If you want to find it, you should look up in the sky over Athens. You may have heard the phrase before, but it's much older than you might think. In fact it dates back to the fourth century, and to the very beginnings of classical drama. The playwright Aristophanes created 'Cloud-cuckoo-land' in his comic play The Birds, and here's the plot: Two men have left the city of Athens because they are fed up of the bureaucracy in the city. They meet a number of birds and persuade them to set up their own city in the sky, and when asked to come up with a name one of the men suggests (as translated by Reverend Henry Francis Cary in 1824) Cloud-Cuckoo-Land. The birds do so, dreaming of a perfect society in which birds are gods; however, the existing gods of Greek mythology aren't so keen on the idea. Image  A funny and topical play, it retained its appeal and the idealistic concept of this land in the sky has reappeared a number of times since. Here's just a few of them: Schopenhauer used the term figuratively in his letters and books to suggest that other philosophers were not talking about the real world in their works. The 1990 debut album of The Lightning Seeds was called Cloudcuckooland. It was also the title of a 1997 book of poetry by Simon Armitage. The phrase has been a favourite of politicians for years, being used in speeches by notables such as Margaret Thatcher, Ann Widdecombe, and Newt Gingrich. In 2012 the economist Paul Krugman called German EU policies "Wolkenkuckucksheim" (from Schopenhauer's translation). Cloud Cuckoo Land in Alton Towers theme park features a carousel, a chairswing, and a 4D cinema experience amongst other attractions. Cloud Cuckoo Land not-for-profit festival, a "a cultural festival that brings the music, cinema, musical concerts, workshops, kid's program, and many more" was first held in 2011 in Somerset. So it seems you can find Cloud Cuckoo Land in other locations beside the sky over Athens; from movies to political statements, from bookshelves to social events, the Ancient Greek phrase for mad, wonderful idealism continues to pop up all over the place. Read more about:


John James Audubon is famous for his paintings of what?

John James Audubon Biography John James Audubon Biography Famous Names in Art - A John James Audubon Biography John James Audubon (American, b. Haiti, 1785-1851). Robert Havell (American, 1793-1878), Engraver after John James Audubon. American Flamingo, 1838. From The Birds of America (plate CCCCXXX1). Hand-colored etching and aquatint on Whatman paper.  Image courtesy of the Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. By Shelley Esaak The Basics: The word "Audubon" has long been synonymous with anything related to the creatures of flight. And it's all because of this artist. John James Audubon was a French-American naturalist and painter. He is best known for his study and illustrations of birds in their natural habitats. Early Life:   Audubon was born Jean Rabine on April 26, 1785 in Les Cayes, Santo Domingo (modern Haiti). He was the illegitimate offspring of French sea captain Lieutenant Jean Audubon and Spanish–Creole chambermaid Jeanne Rabine, the latter of whom was killed in a slave uprising a few months after her son's birth. Lieutenant Audubon brought three year old Jean back to France in 1788 and, along with his new (and legitimate) wife, formally adopted the boy. Jean Rabine then became Jean-Jacques Fougère Audubon. On the heels of a childhood spent largely outdoors in the countryside near Nantes, it is believed that Audubon went to Paris sometime before 1802 to train as an artist. continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World He later claimed that Jacques-Louis David had been one of his teachers, although there is no surviving record of such. Whatever training he did (or didn't) receive was short-lived. In 1803 Jean Audubon sent his son to America for two reasons. (1) Ostensibly, he'd purchased an estate near Philadelphia that needed overseeing and, (2) primarily, the youth had turned 18 and was due at any moment to be conscripted into Napoleon's army. It was after his move to American that he became known as "John James Laforest Audubon." His Art: At the Mill Grove, Pennsylvania estate, Audubon met the great passions of his life: American birds and his neighbor's daughter, Lucy Bakewell (whom he married in 1808). He began collecting all things ornithological and making pencil and pastel sketches of birds. As his confidence as an artist grew, he ventured into watercolors -- the medium he would most often employ for the rest of his career. It quickly became evident that Audubon was ill-suited to oversee an estate or, indeed, much of anything that kept him away from the study of birds. He would go on to try his hand at several other business ventures, all of which failed. Audubon largely became a traveling artist, teaching occasional pupils, but always painting local birds and their natural habitats. After finally declaring bankruptcy in 1819, his only goal in life became to publish a folio of his bird paintings. Interestingly, he had to take his work to London in order to make the book Birds of America a success in America. Audubon is best known today for his highly dramatic bird and animal watercolors (along with around 70 oil canvases), as well as the National Audubon Society (formed in 1886) named in his honor. Audubon died on January 27, 1851 in New York City. Important Works: The Birds of America, 1827-38; the original, "double elephant" folios The Ornithological Biographies, 1831–38 (text complementing Birds...) The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, 1845-48 Famous Quote: "I am at work, and have done much, but I wish I had eight pairs of hands and another body to shoot the specimens." -- from a letter dated October 11, 1829 Sources and Further Reading: Audubon, John James, and Lucy Audubon (ed.). The Life of John James Audubon, the Naturalist New York : G. P. Putnam & Son, 1869. Reynolds, Gary A. (ed.) John James Audubon and his Sons (exh. cat.). New York : Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, 1982. Rodgers, David. "Audubon, John James" The Oxford Companion to Western Art. Ed. Hugh Brigstocke. Oxford University Press, 2001.


The President of France and the Bishop of Urgell are the joint rulers of which country?

Political system of Andorra Andorra’s political system The official name of the country is the Principality of Andorra . Nowadays Andorra has a status of being a legally, democratically and socially independent country. On May 14th,1933 the referendum over the first Constitution was held. That Constitution was approved by the majority of the citizens. According to this document a parliamentary principality was considered to be the basis of the state political regime. The form of government is a Parliamentary Principality. Historically, the Co-princes of Andorra as well as the Head of the State possess general and inseparable powers and can represent the Principality at the highest level. As stated in different versions of “Pariatge”, the decree of the co-Princes of the State is personal and inseparable and belongs to the bishop of Urgell and to the President of France. According to the same decree, the bishop of Urgell and the President of France guarantee the stability of Andorra’s political system. The Co-Princes are also in a position to solve controversial issues of the Principality and participate in the process of taking decisions by the governmental and constitutional powers. According to the new Constitution of 1993, that was adopted as a result of the work of a three-party commission (the representatives of joint rulers, General Council (Parliament) and Executive Council (Government)), the joint rulers keep on governing the state affairs, but the Head of the Government keeps executive power. These two joint rulers keep equal authorities that, nevertheless, do not include the veto right in response to the governmental decisions. Both are represented in Andorra by the delegates, though since 1993 France and Spain have got their own embassies in Andorra. The Andorran flag: Look for details here The General Council represents the opinions from the general population of the country. The minimimum amount of general councillors is 28, and the maximum is 42. Half of them participate in general elections; another part is elected from the national lists. Consequently, each of the 7 administrative divisions is represented by an equal amount of councilors. The councillors are elected for a 4-year period by the citizens of Andorra on the basis of equal voting rights. The General Council (Parliament) possesses legislative power, approves the budget of the country, controls the political activity of the Government, and elects out of its staff members the representative who will perform the functions of General Sindic or the Head of Council. The Government of Andorra consists of the Head of the State; elected by the Parliament and ministers and appointed by the President. All Andorran citizens aged 18 and above may use their general election right to vote. The judicial system is independent. The courts of Andorra implement general laws. Civil cases are heard at the Tribunal Court (Tribunal de Corts) by a group of 4 judges (Batlles). The appeals are heard at the Appellate Court. The highest judicial body is the Supreme Court, which consists of 5 members. Andorra has no military forces, only its small internal police. All the male population who own firearms should serve in the army on a non-material basis, although the Andorran army consists exclusively of officers. Currently, the main function of the army is to present the national flag at official events. The army of Andorra hasn’t taken part in any conflicts or wars for 700 years. During WW2 Andorra also took a neutral position, giving shelter to a large number of refugees. Since 1975 there have been political parties in Andorra. Although 3 out of 5 parties that dominated the political arena in the previous years, broke apart at some point during their power. The Liberal Union changed its name to the Liberal Party of Andorra. Later on, the liberals became the basis of a reformist coalition. Another political union was born under the aegis of a socially-democratic party of Andorra with the purpose of unifying the parties oriented for socialist ideals. Taking into consideration


Which Italian painter killed an opponent in a duel in 1606?

'Red-blooded Caravaggio killed love rival in bungled castration attempt' - Telegraph 'Red-blooded Caravaggio killed love rival in bungled castration attempt' By Catherine Milner, Arts Correspondent 12:01AM BST 02 Jun 2002 One of the greatest murder mysteries in the history of art appears to have been solved with new evidence that Caravaggio, the Italian artist, killed a rival in a botched attempt to castrate him. For almost 400 years historians have asserted that Caravaggio, who painted a number of Renaissance masterpieces, murdered Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606 in a row over a tennis match. A BBC documentary by Andrew Graham-Dixon, one of the world's leading art historians, will, however, disclose this week that the killing followed a dispute between the two over Fillide Melandroni, a female prostitute, whose services both men sought. It will use documents held in the Vatican and Rome State archives to show that Tomassoni, a pimp, died when Caravaggio attempted to cut off his testicles. The disclosures will also alter a widely held perception of Caravaggio as a homosexual because of the large number of nude males that he painted. This image was consolidated in the 1986 film Caravaggio , directed by Derek Jarman, in which the painter was projected as a brooding homosexual. Related Articles Mr Graham-Dixon said, however, that a report written by the barber surgeon who examined Tomassoni's dead body provided evidence that Caravaggio was, at least on one occasion, aggressively heterosexual. "Sure, he had an eye for male beauty, but he probably swung both ways," said Mr Graham-Dixon, who is also a columnist for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine. "The new research shows that Caravaggio didn't just lash out after a game of tennis but that he was avenging his honour in a way that was utterly in keeping with the culture of the Rome of his day. "One of the fascinating things is the discovery that particular wounds in Roman street fights meant particular things. If a man insulted another man's reputation he might have his face cut. If a man insulted a man's woman he would get his penis cut off." The barber surgeon's report, made on the night that Tomassoni died, has also been re-examined by experts in the Italian art world. Monsignor Sandro Corradini, another historian who has combed the Vatican archives, said that the document showed that Tomassoni bled to death through the femoral artery in his groin, having been floored during the duel. Mgr Corradini, who is author of a book about the artist, Evidence for a Trial, holds the post of Devil's Advocate in the Vatican, assisting the Pope on whether long-dead nominees for sainthood should be beatified. He believes that Caravaggio pinned Tomassoni to the ground with his sword and then made a bungled attempt to castrate him. Maurizio Marini, a leading art historian and author of one of the main monographs of Caravaggio, has collaborated with Mgr Corradini on the new research. "The game of tennis was a pretext for a duel, not the cause of it," he said. "The documents say that he probably wanted to castrate him if it was a question of a woman. But Tomassoni probably moved and he got him in the femoral artery." Caravaggio met Fillide Melandroni when he was commissioned to paint her for an Italian nobleman. Tomassoni is believed to have been her pimp. "Judging by the way he painted her, Caravaggio had clearly succumbed to her sexual charms," said Mr Graham-Dixon, whose documentary Who Killed Caravaggio will be broadcast on BBC2 on Saturday. Caravaggio was born in 1571, the son of a mason in Lombardy. He was the last great master of the Italian Renaissance and is most famous for the dramatic contrasts of light and shade in his paintings - or chiaroscuro - which has widely affected artists since. After being charged with the death of Tomassoni, he fled to Malta and thereafter to Porto Ercole, in Italy. It was there, legend has it, that he died. The new revelations about his murder of Tomassoni have also led scholars to question the circumstances of Caravaggio's death. Some now believe that he might


Which brewery was the 2012 Champion Beer of Britain with `No. 9 Barley Wine'? They won the same award in 1998 with 'Bluebird Bitter'.

Cumbrian beer judged Best in Britain Cumbrian beer judged Best in Britain By Editor on 08/08/2012 A LAKE DISTRICT micro brewery is celebrating after scooping the most prestigious award in UK brewing, for the second time. On Tuesday 7th August, at the annual Campaign for Real Ale’s Great British Beer Festival at London’s Olympia, Coniston Brewing Company’s ‘No. 9 Barley Wine’ was crowned Champion Beer of Britain. Ian Bradley, owner and Head Brewer of Coniston Brewing Company said “We’re absolutely blown away to win Champion Beer of Britain again. This award is something that many breweries are still working on so to have won it for a second time is brilliant for everyone who works at the brewery or who has supported us and enjoyed our beers over the years.” Coniston Brewing Company first won CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain in 1998 with their now world famous Bluebird Bitter, one of the very first beers they produced when they established the micro brewery at the family pub, The Black Bull, in the Lakeland village from where they take their name. David Smith collected the award on behalf of the brewery at the GBBF. He said “We were delighted to win the competition in 1998 with Bluebird and even more delighted to win again, not least because there are so many other fantastic microbreweries in Britain now. We’re glad to win this recognition with an all-British beer using solely British ingredients – very fitting for this Diamond Jubilee year.” Judging for the competition started almost a year ago as beers from all over the UK were scrutinised by local CAMRA organisations. The winners of each category were forwarded to regional finals before the final national judging at the Great British Beer Festival taking place in Olympia this week. No.9 Barley Wine, so called because it is the ninth beer created by Coniston Brewing Company, won the Champion Winter Beer of Britain before progressing to the final blind tasting this week, where it was up against beer from other categories including Golden Ales, Strong Bitters and Speciality Beers. Runners up in the overall judging at Great British Beer Festival were Green Jack Brewery from Suffolk and Dark Star Brewery from West Sussex. Cumbrian Legendary Ales, based at Esthwaite near Hawkshead, also managed to get amongst the accolades with a well-deserved Silver award in the Golden Ales category. Ian explains how to drink his latest winning beer, “No.9 Barley Wine is the strongest beer ever to win the challenge, coming in at 8.5% Abv, but it’s very much a sipping beer rather than one you’d consider drinking by the pint. We brew it just once a year – it’s a classic strong beer which undergoes a long maturation period to give a smooth and warming character. The flavours have are rich in fruit with marzipan, herbal hoppy-ness and Cognac overtones finishing with a warming alcohol essence. It’s also perfect for making Christmas puddings with!” No.9 Barley Wine has a thoroughly British pedigree being brewed using English Goldings and Challenger hops, and both pale and crystal malts, not to mention the crystal clear waters from the Lakeland fells. A traditional style of strong beer, No.9 Barley Wine can trace its history back to ancient Greece. The ‘wine’ reference being that its fruit flavours and strength (typically between 8% Abv and 12% Abv) make it comparable in strength. Mr Bradley continues, “Barley wine is quite intricate to brew and I’d like to thank my great team at the brewery for their incredible hard work and superb efforts to create this amazing beer. It’s a style of beer which had perhaps fallen out of favour, as drinkers have tended to prefer lighter, golden ales but there’s been resurgence in more historical brewing styles in recent years as craft breweries like us are now producing a wider variety of beers including India Pale Ales (IPA), strong bitters, milds and stout. We’re delighted that No.9 has won this amazing award and we hope it will introduce a new generation of drinkers to a great brewing tradition.” Share this:


Who was the man who devised shorthand writing in 1937?

Shorthand (Pitman, Gregg, Teeline) Search Shorthand Shorthand is any system of rapid handwriting which can be used to transcribe the spoken word. Shorthand systems use a variety of techniques including simplifying existing letters or characters and using special symbols to represent phonemes, words and phrases. A brief history of shorthand systems Ever since the invention of writing scribes have used various techniques to enable them to take notes quickly and efficiently. The Ancient Egyptians devised two scripts, Hieratic and Demotic , as alternatives to their complex Hieroglyphic script, which was used mainly for monumental inscriptions. Both Hieratic and Demotic worked on the same principles as the Hieroglyphs but the symbols were considerably simplified. During the 4th century BC, the Greeks devised a number of symbol systems which reduced letters to a single stroke and which could also be used to represent common words, suffixes and prefixes. Such systems are generally referred to as stenography (narrow writing), brachygraphy (short writing) or tachygraphy (swift writing). Their purpose was to make writing more compact and/or faster. One shorthand system popular with the Romans was Tironian Notes or Notae Tironianae, which was invented by Cicero's secretary Tiro in order to record Cicero's speeches. It used a combination of simplified letters and special symbols and was used in Europe in various forms until the Middle Ages. During the Han Dynasty (207BC - 220AD) the Chinese devised two methods of rapid writing known as xíngshū (running script) and căoshū (draft script). In the Running script some of the strokes that make up characters are joined and others are left out. In the Draft script each character is written with a single continuous stroke and there is considerable variation in how this is done. As a result, the Draft script is very difficult to read without special training. Attempts have been made to standardise the way the characters are written in the Draft script but they have not met with popular acclaim. Modern shorthand systems There are a number of different shorthand systems currently in use. The most popular ones include: Pitman Shorthand Pitman Shorthand was devised by Sir Isaac Pitman (1813-1897) and was first published in 1837. Over the years is has been gradually improved and has been also adapted for 15 different languages. The system was widely used in the UK and USA by secretaries, reporters and writers, but lost popularity with the invention of pocket tape recorders. Notable features Pitman is phonetic: it records the sounds of speech rather than the spelling. For example, the sound [f] in form, elephant and rough is written in the same way for each word. Vowel sounds are optional and are written with small dots, dashes or other shapes next to the main strokes. This helps increase writing speed because most words can be identified from their consonants only. The thickness, length and position of the strokes are all significant. There are many special abbreviations and other tricks to increase writing speed. The record for fast writing with Pitman shorthand is 350 wpm during a two-minute test by Nathan Behrin in 1922. Pitman consonants Sample text in Pitman 'Translation' All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) Gregg Shorthand Gregg was invented by John Robert Gregg (1867-1948) and was first published in 1888. Since then many different versions have appeared, including some for languages other than English. Gregg is still used, particularly in the USA. Notable features Gregg is phonetic: it records the sounds of speech rather than the spelling. For example, the sound [f] in form, elephant and rough is written in the same way for each word. Vowels are written as hooks and circles on the consonants. Gregg consonants


Which group of medieval people traditionally wore the emblem of a cockleshell in their hats?

Cockleshell | Article about cockleshell by The Free Dictionary Cockleshell | Article about cockleshell by The Free Dictionary http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/cockleshell Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Medical . cockleshell 1. the shell of the cockle 2. any of the valves of the shells of certain other bivalve molluscs, such as the scallop 3. any small light boat 4. a badge worn by pilgrims Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: References in periodicals archive ? Occupying more than 150 acres, the Cockleshell Bay development is expected to be fully complete by 2013. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and St. Michael's Foundation announce 2013 opening of Park Hyatt St. Kitts Hotel and Residences Waterscapes were connected by a series of pads (bidi) that extended through and from the present-day Perth area south to Mandurah and Pinjarra and beyond and north to Cockleshell Gully (Jurien Bay) and the north-west (Bates 1985; Hammond 1933). Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and St. Michael's Foundation Limited Announce New Resort at Cockleshell Bay St. Kitts We started our meal with sushi "lollipops", laughed at spring rolls set imaginatively in "bed springs", and rounded off the feast with visited - like lovely Cockleshell Bay, a $7 taxi ride from the cruise terminal at St Kitts, and Sharp Bay on St Lucia.


Which mixed drink, popular at parties, takes its name from the Hindi or Sanskrit word for 'five'?

Seriously Dude, Buy A Punch Bowl Already - Food Republic Seriously Dude, Buy A Punch Bowl Already Seriously Dude, Buy A Punch Bowl Already Why punch should be the focus this holiday season Naren Young December 18, 2014 Food Republic thinks it’s time to buy a punch bowl and start mixing this holiday season. Here’s why. Long before the cocktail was, well, a cocktail, there was punch. While the word “cocktail” was first mentioned in print in 1798 in London, the first recipe for punch can be traced back to 1670. Any cocktail geek out there will tell you that the most important date for “cocktail” came in 1806, when it was first defined in a New York journal as a rudimentary mix of “spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters”. Punch, on the other hand, was often something much more exotic and complex , and as drinks historian David Wondrich states in his wonderful book Imbibe! “from the 1670s to the 1850s, the Kingdom of Mixed Drinks was ruled by the Bowl of Punch.” In 1862, the world’s first celebrity bartender Jerry Thomas released the first edition of his now famous book How To Mix Drinks . In it, he lists 59 different punch recipes yet only nine “cocktails.” Related Articles How To Make Great Cocktails At Home Without Being A Pretentious Jerk The story of punch begins with the lucrative Oriental spice trade. During the 15th and 16th centuries, as curious explorers and powerful seafaring nations were discovering the New World and looking for an easier passage to the Far East, the spices of these distant lands were worth their weight in gold. They were, in fact, a highly valuable currency. The race was on. In 1600, Queen Elizabeth I gave her official approval for the formation of the East India Trading Company, a charter of vessels that would sail east from England to India and China in search of cotton, silk, tea and, of course, spices. It was these last two items that would be key ingredients in the drink that would, over the next 200 years, be consumed in many corners of the globe. The British sailors and officers discovered punch in India and took to this intriguing drink with gusto. Before long, it was being consumed back in the motherland and, later, by the new colonists in the Northeastern United States. The drink takes its name (or so the most widespread theory suggests) from the Hindi word for five — panch — referring to the five most common ingredients: spirit, citrus, sugar, water and spice. Like many great cocktail fables, no one really knows for sure, but let’s not allow the truth to get in the way of a good yarn. Pretty soon, no self-respecting bourgeois gathering would start without a few glasses from the flowing bowl. This was a time of convivial drinking and punch was seen as the perfect libation to serve to a large group. Well, it seems that this time is upon us again and is part of the reason why the once popular punch bowl is again now finding favor with bartenders around the world, seeking to re-create many of the forgotten mixed drinks of centuries past. The modern incarnation of punch usually calls for a thoughtless mishmash of whatever one can find in their fridge or liquor cabinet: a glorified and fortified bowl of insipid fruit juices and bad hooch. Punch was a dirty word for a long time. Not anymore. It was, in fact, some of the star bartenders of London who began the punch renaissance only a few short years ago, uncovering old cocktail books to find forgotten recipes with intriguing names like the Philadelphia Fish House Punch and the Spread Eagle Punch. Now, potent bowls of such curiosities can be found all over London town. Closer to home, punch was brought back from extinction at bars such as Death & Co.  in New York’s East Village and perhaps with most reverence at The Dead Rabbit , where each guest is not only greeted with a Lilliputian cup of punch but is also served various kinds in all their regalia from ostentatious bowls that managing partner Jack McGarry sourced online (below is one of his personal favorites from his current menu). Here’s a breakdown of the five key components and,


Who coined the phrase 'My flabber has never been so gasted?

World Wide Words: Flabbergasted Flabbergasted Pronounced /ˈflæbəˌɡɑːstɪd/ The British comedian Frankie Howerd used to say in mock astonishment: “I’m flabbergasted — never has my flabber been so gasted!”. That’s about as good an explanation for the origin of this strange word for being surprised or astonished as you’re likely to get. It turns up first in print in 1772, in an article on new words in the Annual Register. The writer couples two fashionable terms: “Now we are flabbergasted and bored from morning to night”. (Bored — being wearied by something tedious — had appeared only a few years earlier.) Presumably some unsung genius had put together flabber and aghast to make one word. The source of the first part is obscure. It might be linked to flabby, suggesting that somebody is so astonished that they shake like a jelly. It can’t be connected with flapper, in the sense of a person who fusses or panics, as some have suggested, as that sense only emerged at the end of the nineteenth century. But flabbergasted could have been an existing dialect word, as one early nineteenth-century writer claimed to have found it in Suffolk dialect and another — in the form flabrigast — in Perthshire. Further than this, nobody can go with any certainty. Share this page


Who was on the British throne 1100-1135?

King Henry I | Britroyals Born: September, 1068 at Selby, Yorkshire Parents: William I and Matilda of Flanders Relation to Elizabeth II: 24th great-grandfather House of: Normandy Ascended to the throne: August 3, 1100 aged 31 years Crowned: August 6, 1100 at Westminster Abbey Married: (1) Edith (Matilda), Daughter of Malcolm III (2) Adelicia, Daughter of Geoffrey VII, count of Louvain Children: Daughter Matilda, son William, and reputedly around 20 illegitimate children Died: December 2, 1135 at St Denis le Fermont, Normandy, aged 67 years, 2 months, and 29 days Buried at: Reading Reigned for: 35 years, 3 months, and 28 days Succeeded by: his nephew Stephen King of England from 1100. Youngest son of William the Conqueror, he succeeded his brother William II. He won the support of the Saxons by granting them a charter and marrying a Saxon princess, Edith, daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland. She was known as Matilda after her marriage, a name more acceptable to the Norman Barons than her Saxon name Edith. Henry's daughter was also called Matilda. He was an able administrator, and established a professional bureaucracy and a system of travelling judges. He was called Beauclerc because of his scholarly interests. In 1101 his elder brother Robert, Duke of Normandy, attempted to seize the crown by invading England. However, after the Treaty of Alton, Robert agreed to recognise his brother Henry as King and returned to Normandy. They fought again in 1106 at Battle of Tinchebrai at which Robert was captured and Henry became Duke of Normandy as well as King of England. Henry's only legitimate son and heir, William, was drowned in 1120 in wreck of the White Ship and Henry tried to settle the succession on his daughter Matilda and her son Henry (later Henry II). However, Matilda widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, was unpopular when she re-married into the House of Anjou rival of the House of Normandy. The throne was taken by Henry's nephew Stephen, who, towards the end of his reign, agreed to adopt Matilda's son as his heir. Henry died in Normandy in 1135 of food poisoning according to legend from eating a 'surfeit of Lampreys' (an eel type fish). His body was taken to Rouen and then back to England where he was buried in Reading Abbey. The Abbey was subsequently destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 to 1541. Plans to try and locate his bones have been announced by the same team who found Richard III's remains in Leicester. Quotes: He was a good man, and there was great awe of him. In his day no man dared harm another' - The Peterborough Chronicle on Henry 1's character, 12th Century 'He preferred to contend by council rather than by the sword' - William of Malmesbury on Henry 1 c.1125 Timeline for King Henry I Year


Rwanda Facts, Facts about Rwanda capital city, currency, language, population, symbols Rwanda Facts Where is Rwanda? Rwanda is located in central and eastern Africa. Located a few degrees south of Equator, it shares its borders with Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, Burundi to the south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. What is the capital of Rwanda? The capital of Rwanda is Kigali. Founded in 1907 under German colonial rule, it is located near the geographic center of the country. It became the capital of free Rwanda in 1962. It is an important economic, cultural, and transport hub of the country. How big is Rwanda? Rwanda covers a total area of 10,169 square miles and has an estimated population of 11,370,425. What is the currency of Rwanda? Rwandan franc is the official currency of Rwanda. Its ISO 4217 code is RWF and is subdivided into 100 centimes. It is regulated by the National Bank of Rwanda. Which is the largest city of Rwanda? Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, is the largest city of Rwanda. It covers an area of 281.9 square miles and has an estimated population of 965,398. What is the official language of Rwanda? Kinyarwanda, French, and English are the official languages of Rwanda. What is the religion of Rwanda? Majority of the population in Rwanda are Christians. Traditional African religion, Muslims, and atheists constitute the minority. What is the literacy rate of Rwanda? The total adult literacy rate of Rwanda is 70%. Who is the political leader of Rwanda? Rwanda is a presidential unitary republic. The president is the head of the state and has the power to create policy, administer government agencies, exercise the prerogative of mercy etc. The Parliament is responsible for overseeing the President and the Cabinet. Paul Kagame is the current and the sixth President of the Republic of Rwanda. He assumed office on March 24, 2000. Pierre Habumuremyi is the current Prime Minister of Rwanda. He was sworn in on October 7, 2011. When is the National Day of Rwanda celebrated? National Day of Rwanda is celebrated on July 1, while its Independence Day is celebrated on July 4. Two rival groups were formed after the second World War: the Tutsi, who favored early independence, and the Hutu emancipation movement. Tensions between these two groups led to the Rwandan Revolution in 1959. Rwanda was granted independence in 1962, under Kayibanda, the Hutu leader. What is the economy of Rwanda like? The economy of Rwanda was hugely affected by the 1994 Genocide. In 2006, its GDP and per capita income were $3.7 billion and 41,600 respectively. Agriculture accounts 37.4% of the GDP and employs more than 70% of the population. Services sector accounts for 37.3%, followed by industry (25.3%). 55% of the population live below poverty line. Major trading partners are China, Germany, US, Kenya, and Uganda. Cement, agricultural products, soap, furniture, shoes, plastic goods, and cigarettes are the main industries in the country.


If Monday's child is fair of face what is Saturday's child?

Monday's Child Is Fair of Face by Mother Goose Monday's child is fair of face. You are good-looking, especially when you smile!   You are beautiful inside and out.   TUESDAY: Tuesday's child is full of grace. You have many talents, and are fun to be around.   You dance through life! Wednesday's child is full of woe. You are a serious person, and try to change things that seem unfair. You make the world a better place! THURSDAY: Thursday's child has far to go. You have many ideas, and you want to do them all.   You will go far in life! FRIDAY: Friday's child is loving and giving. You are caring and sharing.  You are kind,   you love people, and people love you! SATURDAY: Saturday's child works hard for a living. You are ambitious, enjoy work, and like to accomplish things.   You know what you want! SUNDAY: But the child born on the Sabbath day, Is fair and wise and good and gay. You are sunny, fun, and loving. You bring much joy to other people!


In which Shakespeare play are the following characters, Mistress Margaret Page and Master George Page?

Characters: the Merry Wives of Windsor — Utah Shakespeare Festival Characters: the Merry Wives of Windsor Characters: the Merry Wives of Windsor Sir John Falstaff: A farcical old knight, Sir John tries to “woo” Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. He is unsuccessful and becomes, instead, the butt of their jokes. Fenton: A penniless gentleman and suitor of Anne Page, Fenton is Anne’s true love and elopes with her, in defiance of her parents. Robert Shallow: A country justice, Shallow encourages his nephew Slender’s suit of Anne Page. Abraham Slender: A cousin of Shallow and unsuccessful suitor of Anne Page, Slender’s wit is as slim as his name implies. Francis Ford: A gentleman of Windsor and husband of Mistress Alice Ford, Master Ford disguises himself as “Brook” to spy on his wife and Falstaff. George Page: A gentleman of Windsor and husband of Mistress Margaret Page, Master Page is more reasonable and less jealous than Master Ford. William Page: The youngest son of Master and Mistress Page Sir Hugh Evans: A Welsh parson Doctor Caius: A French physician and unsuccessful suitor of Anne Page Host of the Garter Inn Bardolph: A follower and friend of Falstaff Pistol: A follower and friend of Falstaff Nym: A follower and friend of Falstaff Robin: A page of Falstaff Peter Simple: A servant of Slender, Simple’s name describes him well John Rugby: A servant of Doctor Caius Mistress Alice Ford: The wife of Francis Ford and one of the objects of Falstaff’s wooing, Mistress Ford not only teaches Falstaff a lesson, but also exposes her husband’s jealousy and foolishness. Mistress Margaret Page: The wife of George Page and one of the objects of Falstaff’s wooing, Mistress Page helps in teaching Falstaff a much-needed lesson. Mistress Anne Page: The daughter of Master and Mistress Page, Anne is in love with and eventually elopes with Fenton. Mistress Quickly: A servant of Doctor Caius ×