Which 1993 Disney film starred Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker as witches?

Hocus Pocus (1993) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error | Comedy , Family , Fantasy | 16 July 1993 (USA) After three centuries, three witch sisters are resurrected in Salem, Massachusetts on Halloween night, and it is up to two teenagers, a young girl, and an immortal cat to put an end to their reign of terror once and for all. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 45 titles created 10 Jul 2011 a list of 24 titles created 05 Apr 2012 a list of 49 titles created 12 Dec 2012 a list of 34 titles created 06 Mar 2014 a list of 31 titles created 3 months ago Search for " Hocus Pocus " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 2 wins & 9 nominations. See more awards  » Videos A paranormal expert and his daughter bunk in an abandoned house populated by three mischievous ghosts and one friendly one. Director: Brad Silberling Story of a wonderful little girl, who happens to be a genius, and her wonderful teacher vs. the worst parents ever and the worst school principal imaginable. Director: Danny DeVito After learning she is a witch, a girl (Kimberly J. Brown) helps save a town full of other supernatural creatures. Director: Duwayne Dunham Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home cause confusion. Director: Henry Selick A woman kidnaps puppies to kill them for their fur, but various animals then gang up against her and get their revenge in slapstick fashion. Director: Stephen Herek Edit Storyline 300 years have passed since the Sanderson sisters were executed for practicing dark witchcraft. Returning to life thanks to a combination of a spell spoken before their demise and the accidental actions of Max, the new-kid-in-town, the sisters have but one night to secure their continuing existence... Written by anonymous It's just a bunch of Hocus Pocus! Genres: Rated PG for some scary sequences, and for language | See all certifications  » Parents Guide: 16 July 1993 (USA) See more  » Also Known As: £1,430,123        (UK) (12 November 1993) Gross: Did You Know? Trivia When Bette Midler takes the stage at the town Halloween Party, she says "Hello Salem, my name is Winifred. What's yours?". This is a take-off of the famous line, "Hello world, my name is Rose, what's yours?" that is spoken by Mama Rose in the musical "Gypsy". Midler played Mama Rose in the television version, Gypsy (1993), the same year this film was released. See more » Goofs During the adult's Halloween party scene, Dani tries to tell her mother about the Sandersons, and Jenny, thinking she's just on a sugar high, asks "How much candy have you had, honey?" To which Dani replies "I haven't OD'd! I haven't even had a piece!" This is a lie. She had a chocolate witch lollipop at Allison's Halloween party earlier, though she could've forgotten with all the excitement. See more » Quotes See more » Crazy Credits The Walt Disney logo at the start is tinted blue (the one at the end has the usual coloring). See more » Connections


Ruby Catherine Stevens first became famous in the 1930s under which name?

introduction introduction In 1926, director Willard Mack was casting a play                                    entitled "The noose" and he decided to give a chorus girl                                      named Ruby Stevens the chance of a lifetime and expand                                     her part. This is the story of how Ruby went on to become                                      one of the greatest Hollywood stars of all times.........................Barbara Stanwyck............ Biography: Ruby Stevens was born in Brooklyn July 16, 1907 - the fifth child of Byron and  Catherine McGee Stevens. Orphaned at  four , she was looked after by her  sister Millie - a showgirl  who paid foster  homes for keeping her and her three years older only brother, Malcolm. Her two older sisters, Maude and Mabel were already married and had their own  families. Young  Ruby was strongly drawn to things she would love all her life, the Westerns. Her idol was Pearl  White, the heroine of the "Perils of Pauline" At 14 Ruby graduated from grammar school and took  her first job and soon after she got a job as floor-show chorine  at a nightclub, "The Strand Roof"  over the Strand  Theatre on Times Square. She then went to work for Willard Mack, in a play called  "The Noose"  as a chorus girl. Before the play opening on Broadway Ruby's part was upgraded and she was given an important dramatic scene in the third act. She was very good in it and when the play opened on Broadway, on October 20, 1926, it was a success. Mack and theatrical impresario David Belasco also decided to change Ruby's name and picked her new one from an old program's  ttitle page that read" Jane Standwyck in 'Barbara Frietchie'   The two men pondered the names for a few moments and almost in unison came up with a name that would become one of the most well-known names in show business. Exit Ruby Stevens. Enter Barbara Stanwyck Malcolm Stevens and Ruby Stevens Malcolm became an actor under the name "Bert Stevens", little Ruby an actress under the name Barbara Stanwyck. (Right) Barbara Stanwyck, Rex Cherryman and  Ann Shoemaker in "The Noose"  that became one of the biggest hit of the Broadway season. Barbara's performance earned her rave reviews  from all critics. While playing in "The Noose"Barbara was summoned by producer Bob Kane to make a screen test. She landed a small part  (fifth billing as a dancer) in what can be considered her first film, "Broadway Nights" a silent film starring Lois Wilson and Sam Hardy . (for years Miss Standwyck did her best to ignore its existence. It also was the  film debut of another actress who became famous, Sylvia Sydney)) "The Noose" closed in June of 1927 and Barbara auditioned for a new play "Burlesque" . She got the lead opposite Hal Skelly. "Burlesque " opened on September 1, 1927, and was an overwhelming success.  Barbara got again rave reviews.  One of the coworkers in the play, Oscar Levant introduced Barbara to one of his friends,  a vaudeville star, twice divorced and  known ladies' man,  an impish man with a shock of red hair named Frank  Fay.                                 Frank Fay and Barbara Stanwyck were married on August 26, 1928 and soon after their marriage  both were offered work in Hollywood, Frank  to appear in the Warner Brothers 'extravaganza "Show of Shows" and Barbara   to star in United Artists 'film version of  Channing Pollock's play " The Sign on the Door"  . They went to Hollywood  in the fall of 1929  in  the private railroad car of Joe Schenck, head of United Artists. Hal Skelly & Barbara Stanwyck in "Burlesque" Barbara Stanwyck in "Burlesque"


Whose music looms large in the novel (and its film version) 'A Clockwork Orange'?

A Clockwork Orange Audiobook | Anthony Burgess | Audible.com "Great book, great narration, but not for everyone" On the surface, A Clockwork Orange is a depiction of an apalling young man who commits a variety of violent acts and the government's attempts to redeem him. On a deeper level, it is also a social commentary on youth violence, psychiatry, morality, and other social issues (this is much more apparent in the book than it is in the film). It alternates between being humorous, shocking, and thought-provoking. Overall it is an amazing book, and the narration is phenomenal. However, this book employs some rather extreme violence, (e.g., the raping of young girls, the beating of an old man) to convey its messages. If you think this might be a problem for you, then you should probably not purchase this audiobook. Also, the book employs a great deal of slang, called Nadsat. It makes the story a bit difficult to comprehend at first, but you get used to it before long. The narrator also does a wonderful job with it (pausing in all the right places, etc.), and makes it much more comprehensible. I thought it added humor to the story and made it more enjoyable, but other listeners may find it to be overwhelming. "This audio book beats written and even the movie" No matter whether you've seen the Stanley Kubrick movie, or read the book - "Clockwork Orange" demands the spoken word, especially all the bits of British accents but also a made-up language and a very neat "voice" for "little Alex" (the Malcolm McDowell character in the iconic picture, bowler hat, eye makeup and stiletto). This audio book adds-back the last chapter, deleted from the US book and the film. Burgess explains his logic, while admitting the reasons why we may agree with the US editor (I agree with Burgess, myself, but then I'd been utterly unaware of the question). Burgess personally speaks an introduction, and at the end, reads aloud 3 critical chapters, adding surprising depth to the minor characters even as you can feel his identification with little Alex. There is substance here, though it works neatly just as "ultra-violence" with minimal human depth. With the added arc of character, and Burgess reading key bits of little Alex narrating, and even adding some of the capital-R Romantic classical music that's interwoven with ultra-violence in little Alex's soul, "voice" seems the best word for the way Burgess uses linguistic razzle-dazzle to get us all inside little Alex. A note on "ultra-violence," especially the graphic rapes clearly motivated more by violent hatred than anything like merely erotic desire. The plot and Alex's arc are about free will, good and evil, and may even work as an odd Christian apologetic. The violence is central and deeply thought-out, about as far from gratuitous exploitation as I can imagine. Still and all, the violence is horrible, terrible and even a bit nauseating - but then that's what makes "evil" a meaninful word, yes? "Excellent!" I read this in high school, and I was initially concerned that the "language" would be difficult to understand in audio form. No worries! The reader is PERFECT for this book. He reads with a Cockney accent that is very entertaining for this subject matter. The story itself is ultra-violent, the first person account of a violent criminal describing his horrible misdeeds in a colorful slang dialect. The main character refers himself as "your most humble narrator" and to the reader as "oh my brothers", both of which come off perfectly in the Cockney accent of the reader. Think: Michael Caine relating the events of the movie "Pulp Fiction" in the first person. I loved it. A warning though: the main character, with whom we are to sympathize, is a despicable character. If you don't like extreme violence, this is not for you. But it's almost a comic-book type of violence (again, think Pulp Fiction) and there are parts that are really laugh-out-loud funny. Also, if you don't like Cockney accent, you won't like this. The slang dialect turned out to be no problem at all for me. There are times


Which hot drink did J S Bach enjoy so much he wrote a cantata for it?

Bach & Drinking Bach & Drinking wrote (January 5, 2007): Eric Bergerud wrote: << This is not a picture that I buy at all. My conservative guess is that everybody in Saxony drank in this era. It would have been extremely odd not to. When I made my first trip to Europe (too long ago) it struck me that entire towns went to the pub almost every day in Britain. It didn't mean that everyone was blasted (although I never saw public drunkenness in the US the way I saw it in Berlin) it's just that the pint was part of life. >> Somebody wrote: < The fact that there might be good reason for alcohol because "everybody" does or the town water supply is bad still does not mitigate the effects of the alcohol. Indeed, if people were drinking with every meal...I mean, today, alcohol with breakfast gets you into a 12-step program, no questions asked. I'm not moralizing about drink. I'm sure I'd have been no different (tho I like to think I might take coffee once in a while). But, the negative effects--as well as the inspirationally positive ones--would still exist. In Bach's favor regarding his being a "responsible" drinker, I doubt a falldown drunken Cantor would last long. I think there was something in his contract about being a good example to the boys. It would seem unlikely that his alcohol use caused embarrassment.(tho if everybody else was drinking, this could be somewhat relative) btw, regarding "everybody", I think I may have heard something about the Thomaners of the time receiving a daily ration of (weak) beer >. Eric Bergerud wrote: << I don't think we have the last word on this subject, but it does seem that genuine alcoholics metabolize sugar differently than about 85-90% of the population. In practice this means that after two or three drinks most people feel they've had enough - many begin to get a little tired. An alcoholic, however, has just primed the pump. >> Somebody wrote: < But, then can we really expect a "tired" Bach to maintain his notoriously challenging schedule? > Eric Bergerud wrote: << I would consider Bach's life a similar journey, except it was mental. >> Somebody wrote: < Resisting the temptation to quote the Grateful Dead here...I think you might be onto something. > Eric Bergerud wrote: << I can't imagine a drunk reaching his artistic peak at age 60. >> Somebody wrote: < Does "drunk" = "alcoholic"? "Drunk" strikes me as being rather public about it. But, my interest is not so much whether or not he was a "drunk" (and if you accept my "public" qualification of the word, then Bach was not a "drunk"). I'm interested in the effect alcohol played in his composing. Especially, since it now appears that he had alcohol in his blood from the time he got up in the morning until he went to bed. (and please...wine is so much more creative. Beer is...NASCAR and "om-pah-pah" bands. During the day, maybe; but, for inspiration, go with wine--unless there were other spirits available) I'm not sure I'd agree with you about not being able to reach artistic peaks at later ages despite alcohol/substance abuse (I assume we can drop the substance abuse in connection with Bach, tho what exactly is "snuff"?) But, Hemingway sort of springs to mind. I mean, these writers go off on these benders, and when they sober up they throw out all the stuff that looks like it was written by a drunk, and what's left is pure gold. But, they don't have to be young to do this. Indeed, over time, this can turn into an effective creative technique. I'm not saying Bach did precisely that, but I believe he became more and more aware of the positive effect alcohol had on his creativity--and that he would attempt to recreate this effect whenever he wished to compose. > Where to start? Hemingway or Scott Fitzgerald are pretty good examples of the kind of artists ruined by booze (although I suppose some fans might say their failing talents made the booze problem worse). Both were dead and artistic wrecks at an age Bach was working on Art of the Fugue. We actually have pretty good figures from the colonial and early Republican era of US history and i


In 1643 Evangalista Torichelli invented the world's first what?

Barometer invented by Evangelista Torricelli in year 1643 Invented by : Evangelista Torricelli Invented in year : 1643 A Barometer is an instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure. It can measure the pressure exerted by the atmosphere by using water, air, or mercury. There are two common types of Barometer, these are the Aneroid Barometer And the Mercurial Barometer which was invented first. The classic Mercury Barometer is typically a glass tube about 3 feet high with one end open and the other end sealed. The tube is filled with mercury. This glass tube sits upside down in a container, called the reservoir, which also contains mercury. The mercury level in the glass tube falls, creating a vacuum at the top. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. The barometer works by balancing the weight of mercury in the glass tube against the atmospheric pressure just like a set of scales. If the weight of mercury is less than the atmospheric pressure, the mercury level in the glass tube rises. If the weight of mercury is more than the atmospheric pressure, the mercury level falls. Atmospheric pressure is basically the weight of air in the atmosphere above the reservoir, so the level of mercury continues to change until the weight of mercury in the glass tube is exactly equal to the weight of air above the reservoir. In areas of low pressure, air is rising away from the surface of the earth more quickly than it can be replaced by air flowing in from surrounding areas. This reduces the weight of air above the reservoir so the mercury level drops to a lower level. In contrast, in areas of high pressure, air is sinking toward the surface of the earth more quickly than it can flow out to surrounding areas. There is more air above the reservoir, so the weight of air is higher and the mercury rises to a higher level to balance things out. Numerous measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis to help find surface troughs, high pressure systems, and frontal boundaries. The Invention Evangelista Torricelli invented the first barometer. It was also known as the Torricelli's Tube. He was born October 15, 1608, in Faenza, Italy. He was a physicist and mathematician. It was Galileo that suggested Evangelista Torricelli use mercury in his vacuum experiments. Torricelli filled a four-foot long glass tube with mercury and inverted the tube into a dish. Some of the mercury did not escape from the tube and Torricelli observed the vacuum that was created. He became the first scientist to create a sustained vacuum and to discover the principle of a barometer. Torricelli realized that the variation of the height of the mercury from day to day was caused by changes in the atmospheric pressure. Torricelli built the first mercury barometer around 1644. Pump makers of the Grand Duke of Tuscany attempted to raise water to a height of forty feet or more, but found that thirty-two feet was the limit to which it would rise in the suction pump. Strange enough, Galileo, who knew all about the weight of the air, had recourse to the old theory that Nature Abhors a Vacuum, modifying the law by stating that the horror extended only to about thirty-two feet. Torricelli at once conceived the correct explanation. He tried the experiment with quicksilver, a liquid fourteen times as heavy as water, expecting the column which would counterbalance the air to be proportionally smaller. He filled a tube three feet long, and hermetically closed at one end, with mercury and set it vertically with the open end in a basin of mercury, taking care that no air-bubbles should get into the tube. The column of mercury invariably fell to about twenty-eight inches, leaving an empty space (Torricellian vacuum) above its level . Role of Barometer in the Improvement Of Human Life Barometer became a commonly used instrument for weather predictions. This further helped in weather forecasting which helped farmers, geologists, scientists and people in general As barometers measure air pressure, they were also used for measuring altitude


Who invented the first safety razor in 1895?

First Safety Razor was Invented at Boston in 1901 First Disposable Razor Blade  (1901) King Camp Gillette (1855-1932) and William Emery Nickerson invented the world's first disposable razor blade in 1901. Until that time, portable shaving devices consisted of a wedge shaped heavy metal (forged) blade on top of a handle. When dull, the wedge was stropped by hand until it could no longer keep a sharp edge. It is said traveling salesmen referred to such shaving devices as cut-throat razors, as they were quite dangerous to use on a train. Gillette conceived the idea of a disposable blade in 1895. He was told by leading metallurgists of the day that it was economically unfeasible to mass produce (stamp) such thin pieces of sharpened metal. He soon met W.E. Nickerson, and after six years they were able to invent the equipment necessary to produce the first disposable blade. They patented the invention in 1901 and started the American Safety Razor Company (re-named the Gillette Safety Razor Company in 1904). King Gillette The safety razor was a huge success. By 1910, King Gillette was a millionaire. His portrait was printed on every package of blades, which gained him great celebrity. In personal life he believed in utopian concepts, and wrote a number of books promoting common social advancement. Sadly, Gillette lost most of his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. The Gillette Company thrived independently for 101 years, and was purchased by brand-savvy Proctor & Gamble Company in 2005. King C. Gillette was a also marketing pioneer. He invented the Razors and Blades Business Model of selling razors at little or no profit, and making more money by selling great quantities of high quality disposable blades for those razors (today known as the Freebie Marketing Model). The Gillette Company has also been a text book product life-cycle innovator, with new features or products introduced every few years. This author has used the Trac II, Atra, Sensor, and Mach III (tm's) products over the past 30 years, and looks forward to future generations of shaving technology. In 1926, Gillette built a large home on 588 acres of land in Calabasas, California. The mansion was later owned by Clarence Brown, a famous MGM film director, and then by comedian Bob Hope and others. The property is now a state park called King Gillette Ranch, and was thankfully preserved.


Palermo, Sicily - Information and Culture | The Thinking Traveller A guide to Palermo, the bustling and fascinating capital of Sicily TOWNS AND CITIES IN SICILY An introduction to Palermo Villas in Sicily near Palermo >> Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily, is one of those cities with its own very distinct, almost tangible atmosphere, a place of mystery where reality often outperforms the traveller’s imagination and preconceived stereotypes. It is a buzzing Mediterranean centre whose 1 million inhabitants are a fascinating cocktail of apparently conflicting characteristics. Palermo’s history has been anything but stable as the town passed from one dominating power to another with remarkable frequency. Its strategic position in the middle of the Mediterranean brought wave upon wave of invaders including the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Saracen Arabs, the Normans, the Swabians, the French and the Spanish Bourbons just to name the most influential. The result of this quilted history is evident today in the vast range of architectural styles, the intriguing fusion of ingredients used in many local dishes and in many place names which are obviously not of Italian origin. Visiting Palermo is still somewhat of an adventure in a world where so many places have become tourist-friendly to a fault. You won’t find many restaurants with menus translated into 5 different languages, you may have trouble communicating in English in many places, and some parts of the old town centre have remained untouched since they were bombed during the war. There are many back streets that have only just opened up to those from without and it is still often difficult to obtain any information worth having. However, this is also a stimulus to those who wish to embark on a little adventure, to discover things for themselves, to dig into the very fabric of the city and to try to understand what really makes Palermo (and its people) tick. The often faded grandeur of many of Palermo’s wonderful palaces and churches in the centre gives way to popular areas whose way of life doesn���t fully belong to the 21st Century. This is particularly true of the markets, whose Arabic origins are still evident today thanks to their noise, smells, colours, narrow labyrinthine streets, the splendid array of food and other goods on display and the general ‘souk’ atmosphere. Artistic delights abound at every corner, maybe most strikingly in the spectacular mosaics in the Palatine Chapel in Palermo and the Duomo of Monreale. In his book “The Normans in Sicily” John Julius Norwich described the Palaine Chapel as follows: “It is in this building, with more stunning effect than anywhere else in Sicily, that we see the Siculo-Norman political miracle given visual expression - a seemingly effortless fusion of all that is most brilliant in the Latin, Byzantine and Islamic traditions into a single harmonious masterpiece.”  In 2015, Arab-Norman Palermo and its neighbouring cathedrals were granted status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spread over a combined 6,235 hectares and including nine monuments - the Royal Palace and Palatine Chapel, the Zisa Palace, Palermo Cathedral, the Palermitan Churches of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio and San Cataldo, the Admiral’s Bridge, and the cathedrals of Monreale and Cefalù - the site provides, in UNESCO's words, "an outstanding example of a socio-cultural syncretism between Western, Islamic, and Byzantine cultures. This interchange gave rise to an architectural and artistic expression based on novel concepts of space, structure, and decoration that spread widely throughout the Mediterranean region... The innovative re-elaboration of architectural forms, structures, and materials and their artistic, decorative, and iconographic treatments – most conspicuously the rich and extensive tesserae mosaics, pavements in opus sectile, marquetry, sculptural elements, paintings, and fittings – celebrate the fruitful coexistence of people of different origins". The aim of this little guide to Pale


What is the state capital of New Jersey?

The Official Web Site for The State of New Jersey | A Short History of New Jersey Home / About NJ / History / A Short History of New Jersey A Short History of New Jersey Delaware Indians The first people to live on the land now known as New Jersey were the Delaware Indians. They lived here starting at least 10,000 years ago. Anywhere from 8,000 to 20,000 Delaware Indians lived in the area when the first Europeans arrived. Their name means "original people" or "genuine people." They spoke an Algonquian dialect. Though they were considered one tribe, the Delaware Indians didn't act as one unified group. Instead, they lived in small communities made up mostly of extended family members. The men would hunt or fish during the day. Depending on the season they might search for clams off the Jersey shore or hunt in the woods. The women worked in the gardens. They grew squash, beans, sweet potatoes, and corn. When the first explorers came, the Delaware Indians lived in parts of Delaware, New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania. Europeans called them the Delaware Indians. Colonial Times Around 1524, Giovanni de Verrazano became the first European to explore New Jersey. He sailed along the coast and anchored off Sandy Hook. The colonial history of New Jersey started after Henry Hudson sailed through Newark Bay in 1609. Although Hudson was British, he worked for the Netherlands, so he claimed the land for the Dutch. It was called New Netherlands. Small trading colonies sprang up where the present towns of Hoboken and Jersey City are located. The Dutch, Swedes, and Finns were the first European settlers in New Jersey. Bergen, founded in 1660, was New Jersey's first permanent European settlement. In 1664 the Dutch lost New Netherlands when the British took control of the land and added it to their colonies. They divided the land in half and gave control to two proprietors: Sir George Carteret (who was in charge of the east side) and Lord John Berkley (who was in charge of the west side). The land was officially named New Jersey after the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel. Carteret had been governor of the Isle of Jersey. Berkeley and Carteret sold the land at low prices and allowed the settlers to have political and religious freedom. As a result, New Jersey was more ethnically diverse than many other colonies. Primarily a rural society, the colony grew to have about 100,000 people. Eventually, governing power was transferred back to England. For many years, New Jersey shared a royal governor with New York. The governorship was finally split in 1738 when New Jersey got its own governor, Lewis Morris.   Revolution In the years before the Revolution, anti-British feelings spread throughout the state. About one-third of the people living here supported the rebels, one-third supported England, and one-third remained neutral. In 1776 New Jersey declared itself an independent state and joined the colonial side in the Revolutionary War. New Jersey was an important state during the Revolutionary War because of its location near the center of the thirteen colonies and between New York City and Philadelphia. Because of this, more battles were fought in New Jersey than in any other state. The Americans and British fought 100 battles, both large and small, here. Many people consider the Battle of Trenton to be the turning point of the Revolution. Immediately after winning Trenton, General George Washington won the battle of Princeton. Having lost two battles in a matter of hours, the British fled New Jersey for New York. Washington and his troops spent the rest of the winter in Morristown, and the United States was well on its way to victory. Battle of Trenton In November of 1776 the British gained control of New Jersey and forced Washington to flee into Pennsylvania. They thought no one would fight during winter, so the British and Hessian soldiers in New Jersey divided into camps to stay until spring. Trenton was considered the most desirable post, and it went to the Hessian soldiers as a reward for their good service. The Hessians used the O


Whom did a jealous Athena turn into a spider?

Myth of Arachne, the spider woman - Greeka.com Discover the myth of Arachne, the spider woman The offence to the gods Arachne in Greek mythology, was a Lydian woman, thought by some to be a princess, who was highly gifted in the art of weaving. Born to Idmon, a famous dyer in Lydia, Arachne was no ordinary weaver and the very act of her weaving was sheer magic and a sight to behold. Soon news of Arachne's artistry spread far and wide and it is said that nymphs from the forests left their frolicking and gathered around Arachne to watch her weave. So moved were they by her skills that they remarked that she surely must have been trained by none other than Goddess Athena, the goddess of weaving. The weaving contest All this adulation was more than Arachne could handle and being an ordinary mortal who was quite vulnerable to human failings, she became quite arrogant about her superior skills. She was annoyed at being regarded as a pupil of Athena and began bragging about her skills, proclaiming herself to be far more superior to even Athena. Now, when the goddess of weaving heard of Arachne's bold claims, she was upset, but nonetheless decided to give the young woman a chance to regret her folly. Disguised as an old woman, Athena appeared before Arachne and warned her of the consequences of provoking the wrath of the gods, but Arachne was not a bit remorseful and challenged Athena to a contest, declaring that if she lost, she would accept any punishment that Athena would decide for her. That time Athena revealed her true form and accepted the challenge. The stage was set for a battle in which a god and a mortal pitted their artistic skills to decide who the better artist was. The nymphs who had come to watch Arachne weave shrank back, horrified at Arachne's audacity, but Arachne was unshakable and stood her ground. And so the contest began, Athena at her loom and Arachne at hers, each working with threads of gold and a splendid array of colors to decide who would outdo the other in this ultimate trial. What unfolded next was a feast for the eye. Athena created a tapestry replete with scenes from the history of the gods. She portrayed Zeus at the center of the Olympic pantheon as well as her own contest with Poseidon and her victory, which ultimately made the people of Athens name their city after her. At the corner of her tapestry, she artfully depicted humans who had dared to defy the gods and who had been punished without a trace of mercy. As for Arachne, she deliberately chose scenes that depicted the infidelities and amours of the gods. She vividly portrayed Zeus and his string of indiscretions. She showed how Zeus had turned into a swan to rape the Spartan queen Leda; a bull to entice Europa; an eagle to abduct Aegina; as a shower of gold to seduce Danae; and as a satyr to seduce Antiope. Arachne's work of art, according to the Latin narrative, featured twenty-one scenes of the various misdemeanors of the mighty gods, including Poseidon, Apollo, Dionysus and others. The transformation into a spider Although Arachne had shown little respect for the gods by choosing a subject that made a mockery of the supreme deities of the Olympus, even Athena had to admit that her work was brilliant and flawless. That, however, was not enough to calm down Athena who was incensed by Arachne's humiliating portrayal of the gods. At last, Athena destroyed in anger Arachne's tapestry and loom. Arachne, like many other foolish mortals, had dared to question the supremacy of the gods. She had, in her arrogance over her art, been blind to the consequences of challenging the gods. Still in anger, Athens transformed Arachne into a disgusting insect. She turned her into a spider ("arachni" in Greek), proclaiming that Arachne and all her descendants would henceforth hang forever from threads and be skillful weavers. An interesting fact that relates myth to history is that the art of weaving is said to have originated in Anatolia, a part of modern Turkey and spiders have been a constant source of inspiration for man to perfect his weaving skill. Th


Who was the beautiful sister of the twins Castor and Pollux and mother to Hermione?

Castor and Pollux Castor and Pollux Posted by: Occult World in Greek Gods , Greek Gods C March 6, 2013 0 Views The origins of some constellation myths are heavily debated. Gemini mythology, luckily, is pretty straightforward. By all accounts, the twins represented in Gemini mythology are Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology. They share the same mother, Leda (Greek mythology), but have different fathers. Castor’s father is Tyndarus, the King of Sparta, and Leda’s husband. Pollux’s father is the god Zeus (Greek mythology). As such, Pollux is an immortal while his twin brother Castor is mortal. The twins were young, handsome, and adventurous. They took part in many adventures together and were well known for their livelihood and curiosity. Castor was a renowned horseman, while Pollux was known for his great strength. Gemini Zodiac Symbol Their sister is the beautiful Helen of Troy, whom the great Trojan War is fought over. The twins not only took part in that war together, but were also Argonauts on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Where Gemini mythology comes into play is when Castor, being mortal, finally dies. Having spent their whole lives together, Pollux is distraught. He doesn’t want to live without his twin brother, but since he is immortal, there is nothing he can do. He begs his father, Zeus, for help. Zeus decides that rather than killing Pollux so he can be with Castor, he makes Castor immortal also, and the two of them get to live together forever as the constellation Gemini. Perhaps the reason that this story is rarely contested is because two of the actual stars in the constellation of Gemini are named “Castor” and “Pollux”. This is a rare case where astronomy and mythology actually agree, and thus, Gemini mythology is born. Facebook Comments


Jocasta was the wife of Laius and the mother of which other famous individual?

Jocasta from "Oedipus the King" - Jocasta's Monlogue This dramatic female monologue comes from the Greek play Oedipus the King , Sophocles’ most famous tragedy. Some Necessary Background Information Queen Jocasta (Yo-KAH-stuh) is one of Greek mythology’s most ill-fated characters. First, she and her husband King Laius (LAY-us) learn from the Delphic Oracle (a sort of ancient fortune teller) that their newborn child is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. So, in the play’s first attempt by characters to outwit Fate , they pierce their baby’s ankles to bind them together and leave the child out in the wilderness to die. Little does Jocasta know that a kindly herdsman saves her child. The baby is called Oedipus (ED-uh-pus) – which means swollen ankles - by his adoptive parents, King Polybus (PAH-lih-bus) and Queen Merope (Meh-RUH-pee) from the nearby city state of Corinth. When Oedipus grows up, completely unaware that he was a “ foundling ,” he learns of the prophecy that claims that he will commit both patricide and incest. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge Because he believes that this prediction applies to Polybus and Merope, the parents that he loves, he quickly leaves town believing that he can avoid that terrible fate. This is the play's second attempt by a character to outwit Fate. His escape route has him heading towards the city of Thebes . On his way there, he is almost run over by the chariot of an arrogant king. This king just happens to be King Laius (Oedipus’s biological father). They fight and guess what? Oedipus slays the king. Prophecy Part One fulfilled. Once in Thebes, Oedipus solves a riddle that saves Thebes from a monstrous Sphinx and therefore he becomes the new king of Thebes. Since the previous king died in an incident of ancient road rage, which for some reason no one ever connects to Oedipus, the current queen Jocasta is a widow and needs a husband. So Oedipus weds the older but still beautiful Queen Jocasta. That’s right, he marries his mother! And over the years, they produce four children. Prophecy Part Two fulfilled – but almost everyone, including Oedipus himself, remains unaware of all of the thwarted efforts to trick Fate. Just prior to the monologue below, news has arrived that the king Oedipus believes to be his father has died – and it was not at Oedipus’s hand! Jocasta is exceedingly pleased and relieved, but Oedipus is still bothered by the second part of the prophecy. His wife tries to ease the fears of her husband (who is also her son – but she has not figured this out yet) in this speech. JOCASTA: Why should a mortal man, the sport of chance, With no assured foreknowledge, be afraid? Best live a careless life from hand to mouth. This wedlock with thy mother fear not thou. How oft it chances that in dreams a man Has wed his mother! He who least regards Such brainsick fantasies lives most at ease. See another translation of the same monologue in a copy of the script translated by Ian Johnston . (Locate Line 1160.) This translation is more modern than the one above and will help you understand the heightened language. (It's also worth looking through this version of the play for additional monologues by Jocasta.) Many Freudian scholars have paid particular attention to this short dramatic monologue. Read up on Freud’s Oedipal Complex and you will understand why. Resources If you want to learn more about the ancient Greek playwright, Sophocles, read this article . Video Resources


In the 'Eagle', who was Dan Dare's greatest enemy?

Who was Dan Dares greatest enemy in the Eagle Mekon 19 What is - MBA - 217 View Full Document Who was Dan Dare's greatest enemy in the Eagle Mekon 19 What is Dick Grayson better known as Robin (Batman and Robin) 20 What was given on the fourth day of Christmas Calling birds 21 What was Skippy ( on TV ) The bush kangaroo 22 What does a funambulist do Tightrope walker 23 What is the name of Dennis the Menace's dog Gnasher 24 What are bactrians and dromedaries Camels (one hump or two) 25 Who played The Fugitive David Jason 26 Who was the King of Swing Benny Goodman 27 Who was the first man to fly across the channel Louis Bleriot 28 Who starred as Rocky Balboa Sylvester Stallone 29 In which war was the charge of the Light Brigade Crimean 30 Who invented the television John Logie Baird 31 Who would use a mashie niblick Golfer 32 In the song who killed Cock Robin Sparrow 33 What do deciduous trees do Lose their leaves in winter 34 In golf what name is given to the No 3 wood Spoon 35 If you has caries who would you consult Dentist - its tooth decay 36 What other name is Mellor’s famously known by Lady Chatterlys Lover 37 What did Jack Horner pull from his pie Plum 38 How many feet in a fathom Six 39 which film had song Springtime for Hitler The Producers 40 Name the legless fighter pilot of ww2 Douglas Bader 41 What was the name of inn in Treasure Island Admiral Benbow 42 What was Erich Weiss better known as Harry Houdini 43 Who sailed in the Nina - Pinta and Santa Maria Christopher Columbus 44 Which leader died in St Helena Napoleon Bonaparte 45 Who wrote Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell 46 What does ring a ring a roses refer to The Black Death 47 Whose nose grew when he told a lie Pinocchio 48 Who has won the most Oscars Walt Disney 49 What would a Scotsman do with a spurtle Eat porridge (it’s a spoon) 50 Which award has the words for valour on it Victoria Cross Page 2 This is the end of the preview. Sign up to access the rest of the document. TERM 10000 general knowledge questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro No Questions Quiz 4 Answ 10000_questions 9


As leader of the Teen Titans, ‘Robin’ aka Dick Grayson took on which other identity?

Robin | Teen Titans Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia [ show ] Physical Appearance Robin is usually shown in just his costume that is consisted of green tights with black ankle-high steel-toed boots, green elbow-high gloves, a short-sleeve green t-shirt underneath a red armored vest with a yellow letter "R" inside a black circle over his left pectoral muscle, a yellow utility belt and a black cape that has a yellow interior. He always has on a black-and-white domino mask, has his black hair spiked backwards, light skin and an athletic-build. When he is briefly shown as Slade's apprentice, he wears a black bodysuit with armor plating on the legs, knees, forearms, shoulders, the top-half of his suit is split into black and orange sides and an ash-gray utility belt. Robin's appearance in "Trouble in Tokyo". The most notable costume change he goes through is during the movie " Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo ", he briefly changes into a costume with his hair down with black shades and a skinny black suit with a long jacket in order to hide from Tokyo Troopers when he was wanted for the "murder" of Saico-Tek . He took a man into an alley and switched clothes with him. He also wore a tux briefly in Date With Destiny . Robin might be short for his age. Out of his four companions, Beast Boy seems to be the only one shorter, and it should be noted that whilst Raven is usually depicted as the same height or a little shorter than Robin, there are occasions when she is taller. Also, in Calling All Titans , when he gave Bushido the communicator, Bushido seemed to be at least a couple inches taller than him. In the Season 3 episode Revolution , Mad Mod drains Robin's youth which makes Robin a frail old man and him young again. As an old man, Robin is so weak he can't even walk, he also seems to be very thin and his arms and legs are like bones. Robin is thin everywhere on his body except for his stomach where he seems to have grown a potbelly. While the young Robin wears his hair spiked backwards, the old and frail Robin has white hair which seems to be slicked back. When Robin is Nightwing, he has long hair which almost touches his shoulders, he also doesn't spike his hair anymore. He also has a more muscular build and has grown much taller, his costume is a black jumpsuit with steel bracelets and a utility belt, he also still wears his steel toed boots. Nightwing's costume also has a symbol of a bird like a hawk, on his torso and it is a dark shade of blue. The bird on his costume also seems to be spreading its wings out as if it is flying. It might also be true that he is around 4 ft. with reference to the episode Divide and Conquer  when Cyborgs says " ....is 4 ft. tall and smells like cheap hair gel!" However this is unlikely as 4 ft is very, very short, and logic would suggest that Robin would be closer to 5 ft. Personality Robin is a natural-born leader. He is heroic, noble, kind, selfless, stubborn, brooding and usually serious in tone, but has had his number of funny moments. In DC Comics and other incarnations, Robin is even toned and playful despite some outbursts of rage; such as when he learns of his parents' killer and when he eventually stops working as Batman's sidekick (a situation that is mentioned in a roundabout way in the episode Go! ). However, in this series, Robin is closer to Batman; serious, stern, strict and obsessed with hunting down criminals, which is most prominently displayed in the first season, where he goes so far as to masquerade as a villain to catch Slade. Despite this, Robin does maintain a more relaxed, at times even playful side, which he sometimes expresses when the team is not actively engaged in crime fighting. Out of all the villains the team has faced, the one that is most hated is Slade. Robin will stop at nothing to defeat Slade. Robin insists that the two are nothing alike, despite Slade's claims to the contrary. Several encounters with him have lead dangerously close to causing rifts between Robin and his friends. Another flaw Robin has is he is competitive and still a bit immature but, des


Joe Shlabotnik is which fictional character's favourite (and also fictional) baseball player?

Jump to: navigation , search Joe Shlabotnik is a fictional baseball player featured in the Peanuts comic strip. Shlabotnik was often mentioned as Charlie Brown's favorite player. Brown spent much of his free time trying to hunt down Joe memorabilia -- baseball cards, autographs, personal meetings, and organized a Joe Shlabotnik Fan Club, complete with a newsletter which folded after one issue. Shlabotnik was demoted to the minors after having a .004 batting average over an entire season; his one hit was a bloop single with his team comfortably ahead. His greatest achievements included making spectacular plays on routine fly balls and throwing out a runner who had fallen down between first and second. After being sent down to the Green Grass League (a bush league ), Shlabotnik retired as a player and agreed to manage the Waffletown Syrups . Sadly, he was fired after only one game, after calling for a squeeze play ... with no one on base. Linus van Pelt once invited Shlabotnik to a testimonial dinner for Charlie Brown; unfortunately, the ballplayer got lost en route from his day job at a car wash. Another time he was scheduled to appear at a sports banquet where fans could dine with their favorite athletes (the guest list included Willie Mays , Hank Aaron , Jack Nicklaus, and Peggy Fleming), and Charlie Brown, Linus, and Snoopy bought tickets to sit at Joe's table. He was the only athlete who didn't show up, explaining later that he had marked the wrong event, city, and date on his calendar. Charlie Brown never did meet his hero.


The title of whose best-known book translates into English as 'My Struggle'?

My Struggle Review - AskMen AskMen Messages You have no messages Notifications You have no notifications 3 Page 1 of 3 This was not supposed to happen. This is meant to be the age of diminished attention spans, of lists and memes, of the destructively opportunistic microbes that are brought to mind by the phrase “ going viral .” So how is it that a sprawling, serialized, six-part account of growing up in 1970s Norway has become the shaggy darling of the literary world? Is there anything, save some sort of perverse editorial dare, that might explain the publication of a 3,600-page autobiography by a 45-year-old man? Whose title (Min Kamp in the original Norwegian) was first made famous by Adolf Hitler? On the tenth page of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s epic of the examined self, we find ourselves in a suburban backyard on the Norwegian island of Tromøya, where the author’s (for this is only nominally a novel) father is splitting rocks with a sledgehammer. Though the situation is mundane, the detail with which it is recalled is fantastical. Between young Karl Ove’s arrival on the scene and his father’s next attack on the stone lies a four-page digression on the senior Knausgaard’s marital history, career trajectory, political leanings, and academic background. We learn that he owns two cars and spends his winters collecting stamps — a hobby for which he has become regionally prominent. He is interested in botany and watches the news on television. Karl Ove is afraid of him. “When my father raised the sledgehammer above his head and let it fall on the rock that spring evening in the mid-1970s,” writes Knausgaard, “he was doing so in a world he knew and was familiar with. It was not until I myself reached the same age that I understood there was indeed a price to pay for this.” The cost of familiarity, or the degree to which life’s demands come to obscure its mysterious grandeur, is the true subject of My Struggle (whose third installment will be made available to English-speaking readers in May). When the first book was published in Norway in 2009, it created a furor; there were lawsuits and recriminations, and reporters scurried to all corners of Scandinavia to speak with anyone whose name or likeness was featured in its pages. For English-speaking readers, however, these issues — the familial outrage, the charges of misrepresentation and betrayal — are more distant. When a small, Brooklyn-based non-profit by the name of Archipelago Books published Don Bartlett’s translation of Book One in May 2012, few among its audience were up-to-date regarding the headlines of the Oslo tabloids. This, I think, was something of a mercy. I am not sure whether such things as literary scandals are still possible in the America of 2014, but I do know that wounded accusations, desperate apologies and severed families are much easier (and more immediately rewarding) things to discuss than the natures of life and death and the struggle to give one’s life meaning. For readers of the translated editions, our separation-by-language-and-time from the initial uproar was probably beneficial. In Book One, the novelist-as-young-father recalls his childhood, the crushingly quotidian demands of adulthood (“apart from the details, everything is always the same”) and the squalid death-by-drinking of his own father. The notes of elegy that are present are not directed at Knausgaard Sr. but rather at the absurd phantasmagoria that is pre-adolescent life. When the author’s young daughter sits across from him at a café and rattles off a list of improbable questions (“Is the sky fixed? Can anything stop autumn coming? Do monkeys have skeletons?”), he allows himself a qualified happiness, “perhaps even, at certain moments, joy.” When the young Knausgaard watches a news report of a helicopter crash on television, the forces of “the realm of death” — that hideous, blank world of “lamps, suitcases, carpets, door handles, windows, fields, marshes” and eventually us — somehow coalesce into a face he (and he alone) sees rising through the sea. He is frightened and goes to te


According to his business card, the gangster Al Capone dealt in what?

Al Capone | Organized Crime Encyclopedia Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Organized Crime Encyclopedia Wiki January 17, 1899 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. Died January 25, 1947 (aged 48) Palm Island (Florida), U.S. Gender Chicago Outfit/Head of the Outfit Status Mount Carmel Cemetery, but he was originally buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois Predecessor Paul Ricca "faggot." - Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), popularly known as Al Capone, was an American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to the smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Brooklyn, New York New York, to southwest Italy emigrants Gabriele and Teresina Capone, Capone began his career in Brooklyn before moving to Chicago and becoming the boss of the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit (although his business card reportedly described him as a used furniture dealer). By the end of the 1920s, Capone had gained the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigation following his being placed on the Chicago Crime Commission’s “public enemies” list. Although never successfully convicted of racketeering charges, Capone’s criminal career ended in 1931, when he was indicted and convicted by the federal government for income tax invasion. Contents Edit Capone was born to Gabriele Capone (December 12, 1864 – November 14, 1920) and his wife Teresina Raiola (December 28, 1867 – November 29, 1952) in Brooklyn, on January 17, 1899. Gabriele was a barber from Castellammare di Stabia, a town about 15 miles (24 km) south of Naples, Italy. Teresina was a seamstress and the daughter of Angelo Raiola from Angri, a town in the province of Salerno in southwestern Italy. The Capones had emigrated to the United States in 1894 and settled in the Navy Yard section of downtown Brooklyn. When Al was 14, the Capone family moved to 21 Garfield Place in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The new home was where Al met Mae Josephine Coughlin, whom he married a few years later at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church, and gangster Johnny Torrio. Gabriele and Teresina had seven sons and two daughters:Edwardo Capone (1852 – October 1, 1952), Raffaele Capone (January 12, 1894 – November 22, 1974), Salvatore Capone (January 1895 – April 1, 1924) Alphonse Gabriel Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), Erminio Capone (born 1901, date of death unknown), Umberto Capone (1906 – June 1980), Matthew Capone (1908 – January 31, 1967), Rose Capone (born and died 1910) and Mafalda Capone (later Mrs. John J. Maritote, January 28, 1912 – March 25, 1988). Early Criminal Days Edit Capone’s life of crime began early. As a teenager, he joined two gangs, the Brooklyn Rippers and engaged in petty crime. Capone left school in the sixth-grade at age 14, after being expelled for punching a teacher in the crotch at Public School 133. He then worked at odd jobs around Brooklyn, including in a candy store and a bowling alley. After his initial stint with small-time gangs, Capone joined the notorious Five Points Gang, headed by Frankie Yale. It was at this time he began working as a bartender and a bouncer at Yale’s establishment, the seedy Harvard Inn. It was there that Capone got the scars that gave him the nickname “Scarface”. Capone was still working for Frankie Yale and is thought to have committed at least two murders before being sent to Chicago in 1919, mainly to avoid the retribution of Bill Lovett, a violent lieutenant in the White Hand Gang, who was busy searching for Capone who had supposedly hospitalized one of his subordinates. Capone was familiar with Chicago, having been sent there previously by Yale in order to help crime boss James “Big Jim” Colosimo dispose of a troublesome group of Black Hand extortionists. Capone went to work for Colosimo’s empire under Giovanni “Johnny” Torrio, another Brooklyn native. Capone also met a man named Anthony Accetturo, who he helped in many things. Accetturo repaid him by killing Capone’s slight enemies. Accetturo wa


Agrippina married her uncle, later having him poisoned. Which Roman Emperor was he?

How Empress Agrippina the Younger Scandalized Rome By  N.S. Gill's Ancient/Classical History Glossary Roman Empress Julia Agrippina, also known as Agrippina the Younger, lived from A.D. 15 to 59. The daughter of Germanicus Caesar and Vipsania Agrippina, Julia Agrippina was the sister of the Emperor Caligula, or Gaius. Her influential family members made Agrippina the Younger a force to be reckoned with, but her life was plagued by controversy and she would die in a scandalous manner as well. Marriage Woes In A.D. 28, Agrippina married Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus. He died in A.D. 40, but before his death Agrippina bore him a son, the now notorious Emperor Nero. After a short time as a widow, she married her second husband, Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, in A.D. 41, only to be accused of fatally poisoning him eight years later. That same year, A.D. 49, Julia Agrippina married her uncle, the Emperor Claudius. The union may not have been the first time Agrippina was involved in an incestuous relationship. She is also rumored to have had sexual relations with Caligula when he served as emperor. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge Historical sources on Agrippina the Younger include Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio Cassius. Historians indicated that Agrippina and Caligula might have been lovers as well as enemies, with Caligula exiling his sister from Rome for allegedly conspiring against him. She wasn’t banished forever but returned to Rome two years later. Thirst for Power It’s unlikely that Julia Agrippina, described as power hungry, married Claudius for love.  A year after they wed, she persuaded Claudius to adopt her son, Nero, as his heir. He agreed, but that proved to be a fatal move. Early historians argued that Agrippina poisoned Claudius. She certainly profited after his death, as it led to Nero, then roughly 16 or 17 years old, assuming power, with Julia Agrippina as regent and Augusta, an honorary title given to women in imperial families to highlight their status and influence. Unexpected Turn of Events Under Nero’s reign, Agrippina did not end up exerting more influence over the Roman Empire. Instead, her power waned. Because of her son’s young age, Agrippina tried to rule on his behalf, but events did not turned out as she’d planned. Nero eventually exiled Agrippina. He is said to have considered his mother overbearing and wanted to distance himself from her. Their relationship grew especially strained when she objected to his romance with his friend’s wife, Poppaea Sabina, according to the editors of Encyclopaedia Brittanica. His mother also challenged his right to rule, arguing that her stepson Brittanicus was the real heir to the throne, the History Channel notes. Brittanicus later died in mysterious circumstances likely orchestrated by Nero. The young emperor also plotted to kill his mother by arranging for her to board a boat designed to sink, but that ploy failed when Agrippina swam safely back to shore. Still determined to commit matricide, Nero later ordered his mother be assassinated in her home. All in all, a scandalous woman met a scandalous end. Nero would rule Rome until his suicide in A.D. 68. Debauchery and religious persecution characterized his reign.  Links to Websites Cited: http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/nero Go to Other Ancient / Classical History Glossary pages beginning with the letter


Besides Agatha Christie who is the most widely translated English author?

The Mysterious Affair at Styles : Agatha Christie : 9781479321575 The Mysterious Affair at Styles Paperback We can notify you when this item is back in stock Notify me Try AbeBooks Description In the midst of World War I, the residents of Styles wake one morning to find Emily Inglethorpe fatally poisoned. Captain Hastings, staying with the family, enlists the help of his old friend, Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. With the evidence mounting against one member of the family, Poirot uses his unique deductive technique to prove who really killed Emily. show more Product details 152                   x 226                   x 18mm                                   | 381.02g Publication date Crime About Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Miller; 15 September 1890 - 12 January 1976) was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and more than 15 short story collections, most of which revolve around the investigations of such characters as Hercule Poirot, Miss Jane Marple and Tommy and Tuppence. Born to a wealthy upper middle-class family in Torquay, Devon, Christie served in a hospital during the First World War before settling into married life with her first child in London. Although initially unsuccessfull at getting her work published, in 1920, The Bodley Head press published her novel The Mysterious Affair at Styles, featuring the character of Poirot. This launched her literary career. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Her novels have sold roughly four billion copies, and her estate claims that her works rank third, after those of William Shakespeare and the Bible, as the world's most widely published books. According to Index Translationum, Christie is the most translated individual author, and her books have been translated into at least 103 languages. And Then There Were None is Christie's best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world's best-selling mystery ever, and one of the best-selling books of all time. In 1971, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. Christie's stage play The Mousetrap holds the record for the longest initial run: it opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in London on 25 November 1952 and as of 2012 is still running after more than 24,600 performances. In 1955, Christie was the first recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's highest honour, the Grand Master Award, and in the same year Witness for the Prosecution was given an Edgar Award by the MWA for Best Play. Many of her books and short stories have been filmed, and many have been adapted for television, radio, video games and comics. show more Follow us


The Thin Man Movie Review & Film Summary (1934) | Roger Ebert Tweet William Powell is to dialogue as Fred Astaire is to dance. His delivery is so droll and insinuating, so knowing and innocent at the same time, that it hardly matters what he's saying. That's certainly the case in "The Thin Man" (1934), a murder mystery in which the murder and the mystery are insignificant compared to the personal styles of the actors. Powell and Myrna Loy co-star as Nick and Nora Charles, a retired detective and his rich wife, playfully in love and both always a little drunk. Advertisement Nick Charles drinks steadily throughout the movie, with the kind of capacity and wit that real drunks fondly hope to master. When we first see him, he's teaching a bartender how to mix drinks ("Have rhythm in your shaking ... a dry martini, you always shake to waltz time"). Nora enters and he hands her a drink. She asks how much he's had. "This will make six martinis," he says. She orders five more, to keep up. Powell plays the character with a lyrical alcoholic slur that waxes and wanes but never topples either way into inebriation or sobriety. The drinks are the lubricant for dialogue of elegant wit and wicked timing, used by a character who is decadent on the surface but fundamentally brave and brilliant. After Nick and Nora face down an armed intruder in their apartment one night, they read about it in the morning papers. "I was shot twice in theTribune," Nick observes. "I read you were shot five times in the tabloids," says Nora. "It's not true," says Nick. "He didn't come anywhere near my tabloids." After a prologue set three months earlier, most of the movie takes place over the holiday season, including cocktail parties on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and the exposure of the killer at a dinner party sometime around New Years' Eve. The movie is based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett, one of the fathers of noir, and it does technically provide clues, suspects and a solution to a series of murders, but in tone and intent it's more like an all-dialogue version of an Astaire and Rogers musical, with elegant people in luxury hotel penthouses and no hint of the Depression anywhere in sight. Advertisement "The Thin Man" was one of the most popular films of 1934, inspired five sequels, and was nominated for four Oscars (best picture, actor, direction and screenplay). Yet it was made as an inexpensive B-picture. Powell and Loy had been successful together earlier the same year in "Manhattan Melodrama" (the last film John Dillinger ever saw), and were quickly cast by MGM in this crime comedy that was filmed, incredibly, in only two weeks. The quick shooting schedule was possible because there are very few sets and negligible exteriors, because there is much dialogue and little action, and because the director, W. S. Van Dyke, was known for sticking to a schedule. That "The Thin Man" cost so little and looks so good is possibly because the interiors are simple and elegant, and the black and white photography flatters the loungewear and formalwear worn by a great-looking cast (which in addition to Powell and Loy, included Maureen O'Sullivan and a young Cesar Romero ). And there is a kind of grace in the way the 6-foot Powell hovers protectively over the 5-6 Loy (or sometimes simply leans as if blown in her direction). Although Dashiell Hammett was known for hard-boiled fiction, and John Huston's 1941 film of Hammett's The Maltese Falcon was one of the first examples of film noir, "The Thin Man" is essentially a drawing-room comedy with dead bodies. The plot is so preposterous that no reasonable viewer can follow it, and the movie makes little effort to require that it be followed. Nick Charles typically stands in the midst of inexplicable events with a drink in his hand, nodding wisely as if he understands everything and is not about to share. When a reporter asks him, "Can't you tell us anything about the case?" Nick replies: "Yes. It's putting me way behind in my drinking." Briefly, the film involves the mysterious disappearance of an inventor (Edward E


Who was the author of 'Gulliver's Travels'?

Jonathan Swift (Author of Gulliver's Travels) edit data Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for Whigs then for Tories), and poet, famous for works like Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapier's Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. Swift is probably the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. Swift published all of his works under pseudonyms — such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, M.B. Drapier — or anonymously. He is also known for being a master of two styles of satire; the Horatian and Juvenalian styles.


Who wrote the stories 'Billy Budd' and 'Moby Dick'?

Review: Melville by Andrew Delbanco | Books | The Guardian Melville: His World and Work by Andrew Delbanco 415pp, Picador, £25 Andrew Delbanco's life of Herman Melville is beautifully shaped, lucid and shrewd as a psychological portrait of a tormented writer whose work and world were often at terrible odds. Up to now, Melville (1819-91) has had no satisfactory biographer, although a fair number have tried their hand at this puzzling story of the man who wrote Moby-Dick and Billy Budd as well a number of unforgettable stories, such as "Bartleby, the Scrivener". It's a puzzle because Melville left few traces of himself: his letters have largely disappeared, and his contemporaries said little about him. Rather mysteriously, he withdrew from the public sphere during the second half of his adult life, during which time he worked as a lowly agent at a customs house in New York, toiling in self-imposed obscurity for decades. His astonishing late masterpiece, Billy Budd, lay in manuscript form, unpublished, until decades after his death, by which time his name had disappeared from view. Even the New York Times could not spell his name correctly in its obituary. Like biographers of Shakespeare, those who approach Melville must draw important conclusions about the life from the work. This is unstable ground for any biographer, who may in frustration choose to write around his subject (as did Hershel Parker, author of two exhaustive and exhausting volumes on Melville) or attempt to tease the author's "real" opinions and feelings from the fiction, risking misrepresentation. Andrew Delbanco, a professor at Columbia and a well-known critic, has chosen a middle ground, artfully reading the fiction (and even Melville's late, ungainly poems) for evidence of the author's attitudes toward such things as his strained marriage to Lizzie Shaw, the daughter of a prominent Boston judge, or his own reputation. Unlike Parker, Delbanco knows when to shut up. He never gives the reader an excess of historical detail, but he understands that Melville's books were hardly written in a vacuum. Even though Melville was reticent on the major issues of the day, such as slavery or the politics of Tammany Hall, his work often reflects his genuine interest in such topics. Sometimes the political undercurrents of the work actually drive its reputation. Indeed, Benito Cereno - his brilliantly compact novel about rebellion on a slave ship - has "in our own time of terror and torture" says Delbanco, "emerged as the most salient of Melville's works". The Melville story is compelling on any number of fronts. The son of a well-known family in decline, Melville struggled throughout his life to keep up appearances. In the usual search for adventure, he went to sea as a young man, and most of his fiction - certainly his best work - takes place aboard ships, often in exotic locations. Indeed, "Melville's four years at sea were the seedtime for his imagination," Delbanco says. Working aboard various commercial and naval vessels, he visited England, the Galapagos and the South Seas, acquainting himself with the world in all its tumult and variety. His earliest novels, the sensationalist Typee and Oomo, were essentially memoirs, and Delbanco treats them as such. They made a name for the young writer, and confirmed him in his career as author. Home from sea and newly married, Melville lived for several years (1847-50) in New York City before retreating to the lovely Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts, where he bought a farm that spread out over 160 acres below Mount Greylock. The house itself, still a target for pilgrims, was called Arrowhead. A summer neighbour from nearby Lenox was Nathaniel Hawthorne, and the two met at a picnic one afternoon in 1850. This friendship peaked early, however. Melville proved a difficult friend, moody and unforthcoming. Yet the two remained in contact until Hawthorne's death. One would have to call this friendship the highpoint of Melville's public life as a writer. Melville appears to have grown jealous of Hawthorne, whose reputat


Who was nicknamed 'Queen of the Blues', but was later elevated to 'Empress'?

Bessie Smith - Singer - Biography.com Bessie Smith Jazz and blues vocalist Bessie Smith's powerful, soulful voice won her countless fans and earned her the title "Empress of the Blues." IN THESE GROUPS “I've been poor and I've been rich, and rich is better.” Bessie Smith Bessie Smith - Mini Biography (TV-14; 3:20) A short biography of Bessie Smith, who became known as the "Empress of the Blues." Her distinctive voice made her one of the first jazz singers to appear on records. Synopsis Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 15, 1894. She began to sing at a young age and in 1923 signed a contract with Columbia Records. Soon she was among the highest-paid black performers of her time with hits like "Downhearted Blues." By the end of the 1920s, however, her popularity had lessened, though she continued to perform and made new recordings at the start of the Swing Era. Her comeback and life were cut short when she died on September 26, 1937 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident outside of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Early Life Bessie Smith was born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was one of seven children. Her father, a Baptist minister, died soon after her birth, leaving her mother to raise her and her siblings. Around 1906, her mother and two of her brothers died and Smith and her remaining siblings were raised by their aunt. It was around this time that Smith began to perform as a street singer, accompanied on the guitar by one of her younger brothers. In 1912, Smith began performing as a dancer in the Moses Stokes minstrel show, and soon thereafter in the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, of which blues vocalist Ma Rainey was a member. Rainey took Smith under her wing, and over the next decade Smith continued to perform at various theaters and on the vaudeville circuit. The Empress of the Blues By the early 1920s, Smith had settled down and was living in Philadelphia, and in 1923 she met and married a man named Jack Gee. That same year, she was discovered by a representative from Columbia Records, with whom she signed a contract and made her first song recordings. Among them was a track titled "Downhearted Blues," which was wildly popular and sold an estimated 800,000 copies, propelling Smith into the blues spotlight. With her rich, powerful voice, Smith soon became a successful recording artist and toured extensively. Going forward with an idea presented by her brother and business manager Clarence, Smith eventually bought a custom railroad car for her traveling troupe to travel and sleep in. READ ARTICLE: “The Mother and The Empress: Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith” about Rainey’s influence on the life and career of Bessie Smith. In her recording career, Bessie Smith worked with many important jazz performers, such as saxophonist Sidney Bechet and pianists Fletcher Henderson and James P. Johnson . With Johnson, she recorded one of her most famous songs, "Backwater Blues." Smith also collaborated with the legendary jazz artist Louis Armstrong on several tunes, including "Cold in Hand Blues" and "I Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddle." By the end of the 1920s, Smith was the highest-paid black performer of her day, and had earned herself the title "Empress of the Blues." Decline and Revival However, at the height of her success, Bessie Smith’s career began to flounder, due in part to the financial ravages of the Great Depression and a change in cultural mores. In 1929 she and Jack Gee permanently separated, and by the end of 1931 Smith had stopped working with Columbia altogether. However, ever the dedicated performer, Smith adapted her repertoire and continued to tour. In 1933, Smith was contacted by producer John Hammond  to make new recordings, which hinted at the coming Swing Era. Death and Legacy Over the next few years, Smith continued to perform. However, on September 26, 1937, Smith was en route to a show in Memphis, Tennessee with her companion of many years, Richard Morgan, when he sideswiped a truck and lost control of their car. Smith was thrown from the vehicle and badly injured. She


Who famously set James Thomson's poem, 'Rule, Britannia' to music?

Rule Britannia Poem by James Thomson - Poem Hunter Rule Britannia Poem by James Thomson - Poem Hunter Rule Britannia - Poem by James Thomson Autoplay next video When Britain first, at Heaven's command, Arose from out the azure main; This was the charter of the land, And guardian angels sung this strain: "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." The nations, not so blest as thee, Must, in their turns, to tyrants fall: While thou shalt flourish great and free, The dread and envy of them all. "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." Still more majestic shalt thou rise, More dreadful, from each foreign stroke: As the loud blast that tears the skies, Serves but to root thy native oak. "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." Thee haughty tyrants ne'er shall tame: All their attempts to bend thee down, Will but arouse thy generous flame; But work their woe, and thy renown. "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." To thee belongs the rural reign; Thy cities shall with commerce shine: All thine shall be the subject main, And every shore it circles thine. "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." The Muses, still with freedom found, Shall to thy happy coast repair: Blest isle! with matchless beauty crown'd, And manly hearts to guard the fair. "Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves." Rule, Britannia, rule the waves; Britons never will be slaves. and from these verses by James Thomson, set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740, the British patriotic song, ''Rule, Britannia! '' originated....


Whose estranged wife Ingrid was granted a 'quickie divorce' at London's High Court?

Chris Tarrant - Latest news on Metro UK | Page 2 Chris Tarrant Johnny and Denise reunite Johnny and Denise will be reunited on breakfast radio Former Big Breakfast presenters Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen are being reunited on a breakfast radio show. Denise, 33, will join Capital 95.8 DJ Vaughan, 41, on the London show he has presented since 2004. The pair last fronted Channel 4 show the Big Breakfast […] Showbiz quiz – September 20 1 – Who was thrown off Alan Titchmarsh’s chat show for insulting Chris Tarrant’s estranged wife Ingrid? 2 – Which US comedy star has released a video on YouTube calling for UN action on Burma? 3 – Which troubled singer was awarded two top music gongs last night? 4 – Which actor has admitted he’s […] McCririck marched of Titchmarch chatshow Racing pundit John McCririck was thrown off Alan Titchmarsh’s chat show for insulting Chris Tarrant’s estranged wife, Ingrid. McCririck told her: “You must be terrible in bed for Chris to leave you.” Tarrant recently gave an interview claiming that her ex was bad in bed. Her revelations angered McCririck, who said: “You had a cheek […] Chris with new blonde? Chris has been spotted with another woman Chris Tarrant has been spotted cosying up to a new blonde lady friend on holiday in Italy. The TV gameshow host, whose 14-year marriage to Ingrid ended earlier this year, was photographed kissing Jane Bird, who he apparently met after she was in the audience at Who Wants […] Star postcards raise £5,000 Chris Tarrant was one of the stars who took part A collection of postcards drawn by celebrities and artists to raise money to protect the countryside fetched nearly £5,000 at auction. Chris Tarrant, Jon Snow, Dame Ellen MacArthur and Tony Robinson were among those who put pen to paper for the Campaign to Protect Rural […] Celebrity postcards go under the hammer Chris’s work of art will go up for auction A collection of postcards drawn by celebrities including Chris Tarrant and Tony Robinson is being auctioned to raise money to protect the countryside. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host Chris and Blackadder star Tony are among those who put pen to paper for the Campaign […] Millionaire show cuts jackpot route Chris Tarrant TV quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is changing its format, cutting the number of questions it takes to reach the £1 million jackpot. The prize money will start at £500 rather than £100 and there will be only 12 questions to replace the former 15. After reaching £1,000, five questions […] Changes for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Could Millionaire be in for some changes? Hit quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire might be about to leave its Saturday night slot, according to host Chris Tarrant. The ITV programme, which was launched in 1998, has been suffering from falling ratings. Chris told The Sun: “Millionaire has been going for nine years. It’s […] Millionaire quiz show ‘faces axe’ Chris Tarrant has revealed that Who Wants to be a Millionaire? could be axed, reports claim. The ITV1 quiz show has suffered falling ratings and scrapping it or moving it to another time slot are among several ideas being considered for the programme. Tarrant told The Sun: ‘Millionaire has been going for nine years. ‘It’s […] Tarrant ambushed by phantom flan flinger It may be 25 years since the last flan was flung on anarchic kids TV show Tiswas but today, the Phantom Flan Flinger was back with a vengeance. Former Tiswas presenter Chris Tarrant was apprearing on ITV’s This Morning when the masked intruder burst onto the set and splatted a flan in Tarrant’s face. As […]


Which Indian 'Celebrity' thanked Tony Blair for his support during her torrid time on TV?

Big Brother star meets Tony Blair - Wikinews, the free news source Big Brother star meets Tony Blair From Wikinews, the free news source you can write! (Credit: Fayyaz Ahmed) Tony Blair The winner of the British television reality show Celebrity Big Brother , Shilpa Shetty expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Tony Blair during a meeting at the U.K. Houses of Parliament. The Bollywood actress observed prime minister's question time in the Commons before meeting Mr Blair himself. She thanked him for his support, describing him as "very sweet." The visit took place following an invitation by Labour MP for Leicester South, Keith Vaz , who led calls for action against the treatment of Ms Shetty during her stint on the reality TV show. Celebrity Big Brother was criticised by public and politicians alike last month after Ms Shetty's treatment by other contestants erupted in an international race row. Today, she told reporters she had thanked the PM for his support "to me and my country". Her visit drew widespread media attention and she was greeted at Parliament by a media scuffle, including over 20 reporters from her native India . "To see how so much respect has been bestowed upon me has truly been an honour," she added. According to organisers, the Commons chef had even prepared a special dessert in her honour "Shilpa's delight" and she was also introduced to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. The actress was crowned winner of Celebrity Big Brother, following confrontations with fellow housemates Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd who were accused of bullying and racism. Despite denying the claims, all three lost most of their major endorsements and Jade and Danielle's partners are said to have left them. Politicians became embroiled in the proceedings when media regulator Ofcom received more than 40,000 complaints from viewers.This resulted in the row reached both the House of Commons and India, where chancellor Gordon Brown's bridge-building visit was overshadowed by controversy caused by the programme. In the evening, Ms Shetty travelled to the city of Leicester to meet with members of Keith Vaz' constituency. Reena Combo, editor of British Asian entertainment magazine Ikonz, was one of the guests. Ms Combo felt the visit would boost a sense of belonging amongst Leicester-South's largely Asian population. "I think it's wonderful to see Shilpa Shetty taking the time to visit the people of Leicester. There has been a great deal of national interest in Shilpa since her appearance on Big Brother but many of the people here, especially the Asian community, have been fans of the Bollywood star for much longer so it’s nice to see her rewarding her loyal supporters." "She has over the last few weeks become an inspiration to many and become very much a part of British life." As yet, the Bollywood actress continues her tour of the country as an unofficial ambassador for the Indian film industry and has been invited to attend a Commonwealth reception at London's Marlborough House on March 12, where she will be meeting with the Queen. Related news


At the beginning of a game of chess, which pieces are found on b1, b8, g1 and g8?

Rules of Chess RULES OF CHESS Chess is a two-player game played on a square board called chessboard. The chessboard is divided into 64 squares (8x8), alternating light and dark squares. The chessboard is placed so that a light square is in each player's near-right corner: h1 and a8. There are 8 horizontal rows, called ranks, and 8 vertical columns, called files. The ranks are labelled from 1 to 8. The files are labelled from a to h. The half of the chessboard formed by the files a, b, c, d is called queenside. The half of the chessboard formed by the files e, f, g, h is called kingside. Chess Pieces Each player controls sixteen pieces: 8 Pawns (♙♙♙♙♙♙♙♙,♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟), 2 Knights (♘♘,♞♞), 2 Bishops (♗♗,♝♝), 2 Rooks (♖♖,♜♜), 1 Queen (♕,♛), 1 King (♔,♚). The player with the white pieces has 8 Pawns on rank 2 (a2, b2, c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, h2), 2 Rooks on a1 and h1, 2 Knights on b1 and g1, 2 Bishops on c1 and f1, 1 Queen on d1, 1 King on e1. The player with the black pieces has 8 Pawns on rank 7 (a7, b7, c7, d7, e7, f7, g7, h7), 2 Rooks on a8 and h8, 2 Knights on b8 and g8, 2 Bishops on c8 and f8, 1 Queen on d8, 1 King on e8. The white Queen starts on the light square d1; the black Queen starts on the dark square d8. The player with the white pieces always moves first. Each player can move only one piece at a time, except during a special move called castling. A square can be occupied only by a piece. A piece cannot move to a square occupied by a piece of the same color. When a piece moves to a square occupied by an enemy piece, the enemy piece is captured and removed from the chessboard. Chess Notation In chess notation, each piece, except the Pawn, is identified by an uppercase letter: the King by K, the Queen by Q, the Rook by R, the Bishop by B, the Knight by N, the Pawn by no letter. Describing a game of chess, at the beginning is written the number of the move, then a period, then the move of the player with the white pieces, then the move of the player with the black pieces. The movement of a piece is indicated by the coordinates of the destination square. The capture of a piece is represented by a lowercase letter x written before the coordinates of the destination square. When a Pawn captures an enemy piece, a lowercase letter written before the x identifies the file of the Pawn. To avoid ambiguity in some cases, it is necessary to indicate the letter of the file of the piece or the number of the rank of the piece before the coordinates of the destination square. Other symbols used in chess notation: O-O for kingside castling, O-O-O for queenside castling, = for promotion, + for check, # for checkmate. Pawn This example is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6. The white Pawn on d2 moves to d4; the black Pawn on d7 moves to d5. The white Pawn on c2 moves to c4; the black Pawn on e7 moves to e6. A Pawn moves by advancing a single square, but on its first move may advance two squares. The Pawn is the only piece that cannot move backward and the only piece that moves and captures differently. A Pawn captures diagonally, one square forward and to the left or right. After 1.d4 d5 2.c4, the black Pawn on d5 can capture the white Pawn on c4, but the black Pawn on e7 advances to e6, defending the black Pawn on d5. Pawn - En Passant This example is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.c5 b5 4.cxb6. A Pawn can perform a special move called en passant capture. A Pawn on its fifth rank may capture an enemy Pawn on an adjacent file that has moved two squares forward from the starting rank, as if the Pawn had moved only one square. The en passant capture can only be performed immediately after the double-square Pawn advance. In this example, the black Pawn on b7 advances to b5, and the white Pawn on c5 performs the en passant capture by moving to b6. Pawn - Promotion A Pawn is promoted when it reaches the last rank, becoming a Queen, or a Rook, or a Bishop, or a Knight; the most obvious choice is usually to promote a Pawn to a Queen. A white Pawn is promoted when it reaches the rank 8. A black Pawn is promoted when it reaches the rank 1. In particular situations, the best choi


Which poker variant features cards referred to as 'the flop' or 'the river'?

Texas Hold'em Poker Rules & Strategy - PokerVIP Texas Hold'em Poker Rules & Strategy Texas Hold'em Poker Rules & Strategy Adam Jones • 4,855 Views • 0 Comments • on 18/5/15 Texas Hold'em is by far the most popular format of poker played all over the World. This article will teach you how to play Texas Hold'em. History  The general consensus is that Texas Hold'em had its origins in Texas in the early 1900s. It was first introduced to Las Vegas in 1967 where it was modified from its original form so that Aces were now high instead of low. It became the main event of the newly established World Series of Poker in 1972 where there were 8 entrants. By 1982 there were over 100 entrants, and by 1991 over 200. The popularity of NLHE continued to grow after the inception of online poker in 1998. However, one event singlehandedly initiated the biggest explosion of poker, often named “the poker boom”. It occurred in 2003 when an unknown online qualifier by the name of Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP. By 2004 interest in the Series had tripled. Regular every-day people now saw it was possible to make it big if they had just a few dollars in their online account. To date, Texas no-limit hold'em remains the most popular poker variant, although admittedly the “Texas” part is often omitted these days. Generally if someone tells us they are playing poker we should assume they are referring to No Limit Hold'em. The majority of films with poker scenes depict no-limit hold'em, whereas older movies would typically show stud or draw games. The 1998 cult classic “Rounders” also played a big role in boosting the popularity of poker as we know it. "Poker boom" started after an online qualifier, Chris Moneymaker, won WSOP Main Event in 2003 Texas Holdem Poker Rules Keeping Score Similar to all other variants of poker each player starts with a number of “chips”. These are small circular bits of plastic or clay used for betting and keeping score. Generally these chips can be traded in for their monetary value after the game is over. The objective of any poker game – to win your opponents chips. In a poker tournament, you win by accumulating all of the chips on the table. Blinds/Position A poker table can consist of anywhere between 2 and 10 players, with one player being the dealer. The dealer will have a button indicator beside him, which is a plastic disc marked “dealer”. This moves round the table clockwise after every hand to indicate whose turn it is to deal. In a home game  the player with the dealer button will generally shuffle and deal the cards, although in a casino this job is performed solely by a designated dealer. The dealer button will still be used in such cases to indicate the various positions players occupy at the table. To create a starting “pot”, certain players must make mandatory blind payments before any cards are dealt.  These players are located immediately to the left of the dealer button: firstly, the “small-blind” (SB) position, and to the left of the SB is the “big-blind” (BB). Both these players must make the mandatory blind payments.  In most games the BB blind be will be twice as much as the SB blind is, although this can vary depending on the casino. The best position at the table is generally considered to be the BTN, while the worst is considered to be either the SB or UTG Immediately to the right of the “button” (BTN), is the “cut-off” (CO), followed by “middle position” MP, and “under-the-gun” (UTG). Specifically on a 9 or 10 handed table, the position directly to the right of the CO may be referred to as the “hi-jack”, while the position to the right of the “hijack” may be referred to as the “lo-jack”. Generally the main difference between a 6-handed table and a 10-handed table is that the 10-handed table will have 3 middle positions and 3 under-the-gun positions whereas a 6-handed table has only one of each. Position is very important in NLHE because it determines the order of betting. The best position at the table is generally considered to be the BTN, while the worst is considered to be either the SB or UTG.


Now at 38 St Mary Axe, London, which ‘exchange’ started in a coffee house in 1744?

St Mary Axe Flashcards - Course Hero What was St Mary Axe church's full name ? St. Mary, St. Ursula and her 11,000 Virgins - Aldgate ward (25 wards ) Explain the Axe in St Mary Axe ? From "the sign of an Axe against the East End (According to John Stow in A Survey of London (1603) - Tudor document: relic held in the church; "An axe, one of the 3 that the 11.000 Virgins were beheaded with” At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries who was given St Mary Axe as a place of worship ? Spanish Protestant refugees  - 1562 ERI  - The church's patrons were the Skinners' Company The street of St. Mary Axe was the location of which operetta & by who ? Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta "The Sorcerer" (The sorcerer's shop) Name some artists who had their art exhibited in St Mary Axe ? Damian Hirst "Charity" - Ai Weiwei "Forever" - Sculpture in the City Where does the name St Andrew Undershaft derives from ? From the shaft of the maypole (wooden pole around which a maypole dance often takes place) that was traditionally set up each year opposite the church What happened to the maypole outside St Andrew Undershaft in 1547 ? It was seized by a mob and destroyed as a "pagan idol" - 1547 For how long there has been a church on the site of St Andrew Undershaft ? 1147 - Present building was constructed in 1532 in perpendicular style What is St Andrew Undershaft a rare example of ? City church that survived both the Great Fire of London and the Blitz Who built the organ in St Andrew Undershaft in 1696 ? Renatus Harris 1696 - The organ has been awarded a Grade I historic organ certificate by the British Institute of Organ Studies Name the author of the Survey of London buried in 1605 in St Andrew Undershaft ? John Stow 1605 - The quill pen held in the hand of his alabaster monument is renewed every 3 years by the Lord Mayor of London Name a famous painter who was a former parishioner of St Andrew Undershaft ? Hans Holbein the Younger - memorial plaque in the church Which other names is 30 St Mary Axe known as ? Gherkin - previously as the Swiss Re Building - Designed by Norman Foster (City Hall, Reichstag in Berlin, Wembley Stadium) How long did it take to complete 30 St Mary Axe ? How tall & how many floors ? Completed in 2003 -  180 m tall - 41 floors  -  just over 2 years to build What stood on the site where 30 St Mary Axe is now ? Baltic Exchange and Chamber of Shipping - extensively damaged in 1992 by an IRA bomb What is unique about 30 St Mary Axe ? Uses energy-saving methods which allow it to use half the power that a similar tower would typically consume Gaps in each floor create 6 shafts in 30 St Mary Axe, what are they for ? Natural ventilation system - The shafts pull warm air out of the building during the summer and warm the building in the winter (passive solar heating) - Allows sunlight to pass through the building, keeping the lighting costs down How many curved glass shaped are there in 30 St Mary Axe ? Only 1 - the lens-shaped cap at the very top -  2.4 m in diameter & weighs 250 kg What is on the 40th floor of 30 St Mary Axe ? Bar for tenants and their guests featuring 360° view of London Which restaurant is on the 39th floor of 30 St Mary Axe ? Searcys The Gherkin -  Available to employees of the building & can be booked by the public From how far can 30 St Mary Axe be seen ? 32 km away, M11 motorway - From the statue of George III in Windsor Great Park Which prizes did 30 St Mary Axe win for Lord Norman Foster ? 2004 RIBA Stirling Prize. For the first time in the prize's history, the judges reached unanimous decision (building of the Year Award had been running since 1988 & Stirling Prize since 1996) - 2006 voted as the most admired new building in the world Name few films that featured 30 St Mary Axe ? Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Russell Crowe's A Good Year -  Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct 2 -  Woody Allen's Match Point In 2006 Swiss Re sold 30 St Mary Axe, for how much ? £630 million, making it Britain's most expensive office building. Swiss Re