The BCG vaccine gives immunity against which disease?

WHO | Disseminated bacille Calmette–Guérin disease in HIV-infected South African infants Disclaimer Disseminated bacille Calmette–Guérin disease in HIV-infected South African infants AC Hesseling a, LF Johnson b, H Jaspan c, MF Cotton c, A Whitelaw d, HS Schaaf c, PEM Fine e, BS Eley f, BJ Marais a, J Nuttall f, N Beyers a & P Godfrey-Faussett g a. Desmond Tutu TB Centre, Stellenbosch University, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, South Africa. b. Centre for Actuarial Research, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. c. Tygerberg Academic Hospital and Children’s Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Unit, Stellenbosch University, Tygerberg, South Africa. d. Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. e. Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene, London, England. f. Paediatric Infectious Diseases Unit, Red Cross Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa. g. Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene, England. Correspondence to AC Hesseling (e-mail: annekeh@sun.ac.za ). (Submitted: 10 June 2008 – Revised version received: 11 October 2008 – Accepted: 20 October 2008 – Published online: 16 April 2009.) Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2009;87:505-511. doi: 10.2471/BLT.08.055657 Introduction Vaccination with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), a live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, is almost universally given in sub-Saharan African countries where the brunt of the global burden of paediatric infection with type-1 HIV is concentrated. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that 390 000–420 000 children < 15 years of age acquire HIV infection each year. 1 BCG vaccination is usually given at birth or in the perinatal period. In 2002, an estimated 75% of the 130 million children born worldwide were vaccinated with BCG. 2 BCG has consistent efficacy for the prevention of disseminated tuberculosis in young children without HIV infection. A recent meta-analysis has shown a summary protective BCG effect of 73% (95% confidence interval, CI: 67–79) against tuberculous meningitis and 77% (95% CI: 58–87) against miliary tuberculosis. 2 In contrast, there is limited evidence that BCG has a protective effect in HIV-infected infants and children. 3 , 4 In South Africa, the reported incidence of culture-confirmed tuberculosis among HIV-infected infants is 1596 per 100 000 (95% CI: 115–2132), a rate 24.2 times higher than among infants not infected with HIV. 5 It is possible that HIV-related suppression of T cells compromises specific T-cell mediated immune responses and reduces BCG efficacy in infants. Adverse events linked to BCG vaccination range from mild, localized complications to more serious, systemic or disseminated BCG disease in which M. bovis BCG is confirmed in one or more anatomical sites far from both the site of injection and regional lymph nodes. 6 Disseminated BCG disease is associated with a case-fatality rate of > 70% in infants. 6 , 7 By comparison, the background mortality rate among South African HIV-infected infants is 12.2 per 100 person-years (95% CI: 8.2–17.4). 8 Systemic or disseminated BCG disease may be clinically indistinguishable from tuberculosis and can only be confirmed through positive mycobacterial culture species identification, preferably by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the RD1 genetic region that is lost during attenuation of BCG. 9 While the documented risk of disseminated BCG disease in non-HIV-infected infants is < 5 per 1 million vaccinees and is associated with rare congenital immune deficiencies, 10 it has been shown to be 1100 to 4170 per 1 million in HIV-infected infants routinely vaccinated at birth. 3 , 11 Consequently, in 2007 the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety and the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts recommended revising BCG vaccination policy for HIV-infected infants. 12 , 13 This milestone recommendation and the ensuing change in policy 14 have resulted in HIV infection becoming a full contraindication for BCG


Who, in 1882 shot and killed Jesse James in St Joseph, Missouri?

St. Joseph, MO - Official Website - Jesse James Home Jesse James Home The End of Jesse James Notorious outlaw Jesse James was shot and killed in this house on April 3, 1882. He was killed by Bob Ford, a member of the James gang, to collect a $10,000 reward offered by Governor Tom Crittenden. Jesse died at the age of 34 after living a lawless career for 16 years. He was living with his wife and two children under the assumed name of Tom Howard at the time of his death. Jesse was shot from behind while he stood on a chair to straighten a picture in his own home. After the shooting, Jesse's wife and two children and his mother, Mrs. Zerelda Samuel, spent the next two nights at Patee House, which was then called the World's Hotel. Current Influence Today the James Home is a museum dealing with the life and death of Jesse James. In 1995 forensic scientist James Starrs exhumed the outlaw's body at Kearney, Missouri, for DNA tests. The results showed a 99.7% certainty that it was Jesse James who was killed here in 1882. Artifacts from the grave are now on display including the coffin handles, a small tie pin Jesse James was wearing the day he was killed, a bullet removed from his right lung area, and a casting of his skull, showing the bullet hole behind his right ear. The Jesse James Museum is operated by the Pony Express Historical Association with all proceeds from admission charges going to help maintain both the James Home and Patee House Museum. About the James Home The James Home was originally located about two blocks north of its present location, at 1318 Lafayette Street, on a high hill overlooking Patee House. In 1939 it was moved to the Belt Highway in St. Joseph as a tourist attraction. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Keatley purchased the James Home in 1977 and donated it to the Pony Express Historical Association. The house was moved back to its original neighborhood and today it is located on the grounds of Patee House Museum. Visit the Patee House Museum and Jesse James Home website .


Vouvray and Sancerre wines come from which wine region of France?

Vouvray Wine - A Guide to the Wines of Vouvray Vouvray Wine Shop all wines from Vouvray Join the Vouvray group Vouvray Vouvray is a large, varied appellation in the Touraine region of the Loire Valley. The grape variety used is Chenin Blanc. Vouvray can be dry (usually labeled “sec”), demi-sec, sweet, or sparkling. In cooler years, most wines made are dry, off-dry, or sparkling; in the best years, the top producers come out with what Vouvray is really known for -- the exceptional, long-lived Moelleux or Liquoreux wines. Demi-Sec Vouvray can also be excellent and ageworthy. One reason the wines often benefit from a great deal of time in bottle is the extremely high natural acidity of the Chenin Blanc grape. Some of the top producers include Huet, Champalou, and Pinon. Their wines are up there with the best white wines in the world, and are very different from commercial Vouvray, which is usually a simple, off-dry white wine that does not benefit from time in bottle.


Which boarding school, near Tunbridge Wells, was attended by both Princess Anne, and the actress Rachel Weisz?

Louise Leggatt: Woman under police protection after her house is set alight and a mysterious gunman tries to kill her | Daily Mail Online comments In limbo: Louise Leggatt is still living at a secret address after she was shot and her house gutted by fire in an arson attack On a still March night deep in the peaceful  Kent countryside, Louise Leggatt was putting on her fleece and wellies to walk to the stable block to check on her horses. It was a gentle stroll of a few hundred yards from her secluded farmhouse and one she made like clockwork alone each night at about 9.30pm. Letting her impatient terrier Trev out of the rear patio doors first, Louise was mildly surprised when he began barking angrily at a shadow by the hedge to her right. Then, the unmistakable blast of a shotgun split the night and Louise crumpled to the ground as the pellets ripped through her leg and pelvis. The shooting by a mystery gunman, which came just two months after an arson attack gutted Louise’s family home, horrified the picturesque  village of Benenden. Known for its private girls’ boarding school, where the Princess Royal and actress Rachel Weisz were educated, this well-to-do community was not accustomed to brutal events such as this.  The story, with all of its drama and intrigue, could have been lifted straight from a plotline of television drama Midsomer Murders. Louise’s former lover, local farmer Brian Fraser, 63, was arrested for attempted murder following the shooting on March 15 last year. He had allegedly become enraged at the end of their five-year affair. But police also suspected Louise’s  ex-husband, property dealer Philip Gorringe, also 63, and he too was arrested over the shooting and also the fire. Even Louise’s youngest son Tom, 23, was briefly questioned over the attack because he was one of the few who knew her evening routines. RELATED ARTICLES Share this article Share But Mr Gorringe was released without charge on both counts, and last week Mr Fraser was found not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court. So the identity of whoever tried to kill keen horsewoman Mrs Leggatt remains a mystery – and police have admitted they have no further leads. Targeted: The Pippins, the house that burnt down after an arson attack just after renovations, costing £100,000, had been done For Louise, 55, who has been under police protection since the shooting and will now remain under specialist surveillance indefinitely, it is a particularly desperate situation and one she is still grappling to understand. She has chosen to speak to The Mail on Sunday from Kent Police headquarters in Maidstone, on the advice of officers, in order to protect details of where she is currently living.  ‘My life has changed immeasurably,’ she says. ‘In the past 12 months it’s gone from being quite a boring existence, really, to something which has become a complete nightmare. ‘I’d finished renovating my house and enjoyed living there. I had lots of friends I saw, I had horses I rode and a job I enjoyed. 'The fire, the shooting... it genuinely feels like fiction' ‘Now, my house has been totally destroyed, I’ve lost most of my possessions and my sons have been through hell. ‘I thought I was a nice, ordinary kind of person and am horrified that someone has such a grudge against me they’ve burned my house down and tried to shoot me.  ‘It genuinely feels like fiction.’  Certainly genteel Benenden is used to a much more relaxing pace of  life. It is the type of respectable rural community where cricket on the village green in the summer is the focus of life. Many of the locals are involved in the local hunting set and it is a place where secrets are hard to keep. The area seemed the perfect place for Louise Leggatt to bring up her sons Ben, 25, and Tom. Privately educated Louise was  married first to Francis Leggatt, the father of her children, and then in 1997 to wealthy Philip Gorringe, a member of the Gorringe estate agent family from Lewes, East Sussex. They met while both were involved with the South Downs Hunt. Louise, who has competed in dressage and event


The port of Ullapool, in the Scottish highlands, lies on which loch?

Ullapool Scotland | Echoes of the Past Echoes of the Past Mill Street Old Burial Ground, Ullapool, The Scottish Highlands The last post on Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands of 2014, is the Mill Street Old Burial Ground. We had walked along the seafront, when I noticed the old cemetery over looking the loch.  It was getting a little late, but it would be the only chance I would get to take some photos, as we were leaving the following day.  So I walked through the old iron railing gates and then in front of me appeared the most wonderful view of Loch Broom.  There was just enough light left to record this, the oldest established burial ground in Ullapool, dating from the towns creation in 1788.   Ardmair Point, The Scottish Highlands – A Touring Site with a View Our home for a couple a days in 2014, after leaving the Outer Hebrides, was a wonderful site at Ardmair Point, about three miles from Ullapool where the ferry terminal to the Outer Hebrides is located.  I would not normally post about where we stayed in the motorhome, but this place was amazing.  2104 Postcards From Ullapool, The Scottish Highlands We arrived in Ullapool on the ferry from Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides in 2014, after a wonderful trip through the Islands.  Our second part of the holiday was to tour the Scottish Highlands, up to John o’Groats and then back home to Norfolk. Ullapool is a surprise, a lovely one, it is how one thinks of a Highland small fishing town.  Lots of white buildings and the harbour is full of fishing vessels of one kind or another.  There are lots of lovely little one off shops and the Caledonian Hotel, built in the 1900’s, is one of the oldest hotels in the area. A little history…..On the east shore of Loch Broom, Ullapool was founded in 1788 as a herring port by the British Fisheries Society. It was designed by Thomas Telford. May 2014


"In Gustav Hoist's work, ""The Planet Suite"", which planet is known as ""The Magician""?"

Gustav Holst - The Planets: Suite for large orchestra (1916) - Music Sales Classical The Planets: Suite for large orchestra (1916) Work Notes 1) Mars, the Bringer of War 2) Venus, the Bringer of Peace 3) Mercury, the Winged Messenger 4) Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity 5) Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age 6) Uranus, the Magician7) Neptune, the Mystic Publisher I Holst / C Matthews (1979) Duration 2 Piano Arrangement / Organ Arrangement (3 movements only) Availability Gustav Holst The Planets: Suite for large orchestra (1916) Gustav Holst: The Planets The Planets, composed between 1914 and 1916, is a suite of seven movements. Holst's starting point for the music was the astrological character of each planet, though his interest in astrology went no deeper than its musical suggestiveness. His daughter wrote that once the underlying idea had been formulated 'he let the music have its way with him'. There was, therefore, no programme for the suite, and the composer himself pointed out that it has no connection with the deities of classical mythology. The many clues to the meaning of the music are the subjects of the individual movements. MARS, the bringer of war. Three musical ideas are used to create this martial piece: (1) a brutally rhythmic figure of five beats relentlessly hammered out, (2) a principal theme in triads moving by chromatic steps with no true harmonic purpose; (3) a second theme consisting of a tattoo in the tenor tuba answered by a flourish of trumpets. There is no glory, no heroism, no tragedy in this music. It is entirely inhuman. Not even death is in it, for Mars is as insensitive to death as to life. War is a senseless, mechanised horror is Holst's real subject here. VENUS, the bringer of peace. She is announced by four ascending notes in the solo horn and a sequence of converging chords in the flutes and oboes. Most of her music lies, symbolically, in the middle and upper registers of the instruments; and harps, celestes, and glockenspiel further characterise her heavenly nature. In addition there are beautiful melodies for her in the solo violin and oboe. Though this is music of surpassing serenity it is not simple in harmony, texture or orchestral sonority. One cannot help but observe how fitting it is that the state of peace be described in complex terms, in contrast to the complicity of the depiction of war. MERCURY, the winged messenger. This is the quickest and, in duration, the shortest movement of the suite. Aside from its speed, however, its particular quality comes from the opposition of two simultaneous keys and two simultaneous rhythms. The two keys, which are sounded in the very first bar, are B-flat and E (which, being separated from one another by the interval of the tritone, have no note in common). The two rhythms arise out of different groupings of six beats, the first being ONE-two-three-FOUR-five-six, the second being ONE-two-THREE-four-FIVE-six. This opposition of contrasting patterns is one of Holst's principal characteristics, and other examples of it can be found not only in The Planets but abundantly throughout his works. JUPITER, the bringer of jollity. The exuberance of this movement shows itself not only in its tempo and rhythm but also in the multiplicity of subjects. You can count four, five or six of them, depending on whether you divide the first two into their component parts - they do behave like independent themes. Jupiter might well be designated as 'the English movement' because it shows how profoundly Holst was influenced by the folk music of his country. Certainly this is rustic English, music for a fair; there are crowds of people in it and infinite good spirits. The grand tune that ends the parade of themes has become the setting for a patriotic hymn with the words 'I vow to thee my country'. SATURN, the bringer of old age. Unlike the previous movements, which are static in the sense that each depicts various aspects of a single trait, this one moves through a series of 'events' that bring the music to conclusions not envisioned at the beg


"Who is the American financier, who is nicknamed ""The Sage of Omaha""?"

Oracle Of Omaha Definition | Investopedia Oracle Of Omaha DEFINITION of 'Oracle Of Omaha' A nickname for Warren Buffett , who is arguably one of the greatest investors of all time. He is called the "Oracle of Omaha" because his investment picks and comments on the market are very closely followed by the investment community, and he lives and works in Omaha, Nebraska. BREAKING DOWN 'Oracle Of Omaha' Warren Buffett is one of the richest men in the world. He built his fortune using a simple yet powerful investment strategy . His investments are long-term positions, accomplished by the purchase of strong companies that are trading well below their intrinsic value . Some of his most well-known investments include Coca-Cola and Gillette. Trading Center


In the stories by Michael Bond, which family finds Paddington Bear, and adopts him?

A Bear Called Paddington – The Sibling Writery Reading and Refreshments A Bear Called Paddington Our “Reading and Refreshments” choice for October is Michael Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington . It is the first volume of a long series of amusing tales that Bond wrote about this unpredictable bear and the Brown family that adopts him after his emigration from “Darkest Peru” to Great Britain. Paddington’s adventures provoke laughter from all ages, making them ideal for reading with the family. And the stories are particularly well suited for reading out loud if you have a limited amount of time, as each chapter consists of one short “episode.” These are equally enjoyable read singly or all together, and range from a day at the seaside to a night at the theatre—Paddington keeps things lively no matter where he goes.      “I’m sure you must have had lots of wonderful adventures.”      “I have,” said Paddington earnestly. “Lots. Things are always happening to me. I’m that sort of bear.”                                                                                – A Bear Called Paddington  And, of course, it is only fitting that you should pass around a plate of buns—just like Paddington and Mr. Gruber do for their “elevenses”—while reading about his adventures. So Alexandra has developed a special bun recipe (see below) that also incorporates Paddington’s favorite food: marmalade.      “Every morning?” The bear looked as if it could hardly believe its ears. “I only had it on special occasions at home. Marmalade’s very expensive in Darkest Peru.”      “Then you shall have it every morning starting tomorrow,” continued Mrs. Brown. “And honey on Sunday.” – A Bear Called Paddington  These buns were adapted from the Chelsea bun, a popular London treat. A tender, cinnamony dough is coiled around a filling of marmalade, currants, butter, and sugar, and then the baked buns are glazed with honey as a finishing touch once they come out of the oven. They are deliciously sweet and sticky. But hopefully we can stay neater eating them than Paddington would.      “I’m glad I emigrated,” said Paddington, as he reached out a paw and pulled the plate nearer. “Do you think anyone would mind if I stood on the table to eat?”      Before Mr. Brown could answer he had climbed up and placed his right paw firmly on the bun. It was a very large bun, the biggest and stickiest Mr. Brown had been able to find, and in a matter of moments most of the inside found its way on to Paddington’s whiskers. People started to nudge each other and began staring in their direction. Mr. Brown wished he had chosen a plain, ordinary bun, but he wasn’t very experienced in the way of bears. He stirred his tea and looked out of the window, pretending he had tea with a bear on Paddington station every day of his life.” – A Bear Called Paddington  After the reading and buns, some conjuring tricks would round the entertainment off suitably, provided you read the instructions more thoroughly than Paddington does!      Paddington looked rather worried. Having turned over the page he’d just read the ominous words, ‘It is necessary to have a second watch for this trick.’ Gingerly, he lifted up a corner of the handkerchief. Several cogs and some pieces of glass rolled across the table. Mr. Curry let out a roar of wrath.      “I think I forgot to say Abracadabra,” faltered Paddington. –  A Bear Called Paddington Or you could always stick to a nice quiet game of rummy, if magic tricks aren’t in your line.      “How about that card trick you were telling me about, Mr. Brown?” asked Mr. Gruber. “The one where you tear up a card and make it come out of someone’s ear.”      “Yes, that sounds a nice quiet one,” said Mrs. Brown. “Let’s see that.”      “You wouldn’t like to see another disappearing trick?” asked Paddington, hopefully.      “Quite sure, dear,” said Mrs. Brown. – A Bear Called Paddington And remember, if you decide to hold your own “Reading and Refreshments,” please let us hear about it! Tell us how your family enjoyed the book and whether or not you made th


In which English county is the town of Market Harborough?

Leicestershire | county, England, United Kingdom | Britannica.com county, England, United Kingdom Walter Langton Leicestershire, administrative, geographic, and historic county in the East Midlands region of England , bordered by Nottinghamshire , Lincolnshire , Rutland , Northamptonshire , Warwickshire , Staffordshire , and Derbyshire . The administrative, geographic, and historic counties occupy slightly different areas. The administrative county comprises seven districts: Blaby , Harborough , North West Leicestershire , and the boroughs of Charnwood , Hinckley and Bosworth , Melton , and Oadby and Wigston . The geographic county encompasses the entire administrative county together with the unitary authority of Leicester . The historic county is nearly coterminous with the geographic county, but it excludes two small areas: one, in the Charnwood borough east of Wymeswold, lies in the neighbouring historic county of Nottinghamshire ; and the other, in the Harborough district, is the part of the town of Market Harborough that lies south of the River Welland and that belongs to the historic county of Northamptonshire . Leicestershire’s central axis, containing most of its population and industry, is the valley of the River Soar, which crosses the county from south to north on its way to join the River Trent . East of the Soar valley lies an upland; reaching elevations of 300 to 500 feet (100 to 150 metres), it forms a deeply rural, scenic area. This sparsely populated upland is the territory of some of England’s most famous foxhunts, such as the Fernie Hunt. West of the Soar valley lie the hills of Charnwood Forest , where some of Britain’s oldest bedrock is exposed at the surface in the form of Precambrian gritstone. North and west of the forest lies the Leicestershire coalfield, the site of some of the earliest developments of the Industrial Revolution in canal and rail transport. Mining declined in the second half of the 20th century and had ceased by the 1980s. Archeological evidence, much of it from Charnwood Forest, shows that Leicestershire was inhabited during prehistoric times. The remains of a Roman settlement underlie the town of Leicester. The county was invaded by the Angles in the 6th century, and it formed part of the kingdom of Mercia during the 7th and 8th centuries. Danish settlers arrived during the 9th century and gradually merged with the Anglo-Saxon population. Norman nobles and religious orders shared control of the land during the later Middle Ages. In 1485 Bosworth was the site of the final battle of the Wars of the Roses , which secured the English throne for the Tudor dynasty . Similar Topics


"""Mama, just killed a man"", is the opening line of which hit song by Queen?"

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video) - YouTube Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody (Official Video) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Aug 1, 2008 Subscribe to the official Queen channel Here http://bit.ly/Subscribe2Queen Taken from A Night At The Opera, 1975. Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody' The official 'Bohemian Rhapsody' music video. Taken from Queen - 'Greatest Video Hits 1'. Please favourite/like and subscribe! Lyrics below: Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Look up to the skies and see I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy Because I'm easy come, easy go A little high, little low Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me Mama, just killed a man Put a gun against his head Pulled my trigger, now he's dead Mama, life had just begun But now I've gone and thrown it all away Mama, ooo Didn't mean to make you cry If I'm not back again this time tomorrow Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters Too late, my time has come Sends shivers down my spine Body's aching all the time Goodbye everybody - I've got to go Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth Mama, ooo - (anyway the wind blows) I don't want to die I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all I see a little silhouetto of a man Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango Thunderbolt and lightning - very very frightening me Gallileo, Gallileo, But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me He's just a poor boy from a poor family Spare him his life from this monstrosity Easy come easy go - will you let me go Bismillah! No - we will not let you go - let him go Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go Bismillah! We will not let you go - let me go Will not let you go - let me go (never) Never let you go - let me go Never let me go - ooo No, no, no, no, no, no, no - Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me for me So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye So you think you can love me and leave me to die Oh baby - can't do this to me baby Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here Ooh yeah, ooh yeah


"Who is the writer and star of the BBC TV comedy series, ""Not Going Out""?"

BBC - Comedy - Not Going Out Not Going Out Not Going Out Not Going Out Lee is a man with a problem. His flatmate, Kate, has moved out for good and his best mate and landlord, Tim, has put the apartment up for sale. Faced with the prospect of losing the flat, not to mention his well-meaning, but utterly useless, cleaner Barbara, Lee rents the spare room to Tim's ambitious younger sister, Lucy. The arrangement turns out to be far from perfect, however, with high-flyer Lucy taking on Lee in a bidding war for the flat. Sibling rivalry turns into full-on anxiety as uptight accountant Tim quickly becomes suspicious of Lee's influence on his kid sister. Still unburdened by ambition or drive, Lee finds his plans for keeping the flat are not plain sailing. On the plus side, his new domestic set-up does lead him to discover the art world, the underworld, and the lengths one man will go for tickets to an England football match. Audiences will know Lee Mack from Would I Lie To You? (BBC ONE) where he is a resident team captain. Lee was a key performer in the BAFTA award winning The Sketch Show (ITV1), which ran for two series. He then worked alongside Kelsey Grammer in an American version of The Sketch Show. He also wrote and starred in two series of the Sony Radio Award nominated, The Lee Mack Show (BBC Radio 2) and hosted They Think It's All Over (BBC One). Returning in the second series of Not Going Out, Tim also co-starred with Lee Mack in both series of The Sketch Show (ITV1). Tim is also known as a TV host, having devised and presented Fluke (Channel 4), which was nominated for a Golden Rose at the International Rose d'Or Television Festival. Tim is also the Guinness World Record holder for Telling The Most Jokes in an Hour - smashing the previous record with a total of 499.


In 1967, the Republic of Biafra declared independence from which country?

Flashback: Declaration of independence of the republic of Biafra ▷ NAIJ.COM The declaration of the Independent Republic of Biafra in 1967 caused a civil war that resulted in the death of millions of people. The official map of Biafra in 1967 The republic was formally recognized by the Republic of Gabon, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Tanzania, Zambia. Other nations which provide support and assistance to the Republic of Biafra comprised Israel, France, Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa. Forty-six years after that civil war ended, the country is again facing a possible rebellion in the southeast. READ ALSO:  IPOB will be prosecuted over Abia herdsmen killing? Since the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Nnamdi Kanu in October, a protest movement has increased in Nigeria, with thousands of people naming themselves as pro-Biafrans protesting in the streets across the country demanding the release of Kanu. NAIJ.com proposes you to read a declaration of independence of Biafra in 1967 that led to civil war: “Fellow countrymen and women, you, the people of Eastern Nigeria: Conscious of the supreme authority of Almighty God over all mankind, of your duty to yourselves and posterity; Aware that you can no longer be protected in your lives and in your property by any Government based outside Eastern Nigeria; Believing that you are born free and have certain inalienable rights which can best be preserved by yourselves; Unwilling to be unfree partners in any association of a political or economical nature; Rejecting the authority of any person or persons other than the Military Government of Eastern Nigeria to make any imposition of whatever kind or nature upon you; Determined to dissolve all political and other ties between you and the former Federal Republic of Nigeria; Prepared to enter into such association, treaty or alliance with any sovereign state within the former Federal Republic of Nigeria and elsewhere on such terms and conditions as best to subserve your common good; Affirming your trust and confidence in me; Having mandated me to proclaim on your behalf, and in your name, that Eastern Nigeria be a sovereign independent Republic, Now, therefore, I, Lieutenant-Colonel Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Military Governor of Eastern Nigeria, by virtue of the authority, and pursuant to the principles, recited above, do hereby solemnly proclaim that the territory and region known as and called Eastern Nigeria together with her continental shelf and territorial waters shall henceforth be an independent sovereign state of the name and title of "The Republic of Biafra". And I do declare that- i. all political ties between us and the Federal Republic of Nigeria are hereby totally dissolved; READ ALSO:  Biafra is analogue of Boko Haram – Prominent cleric reveals reasons of Nigeria’s problems ii. all subsisting contractual obligations entered into by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or by any person, authority or organization or government acting on its behalf, with any person, authority or organization operating, or relating to any matter or thing, within the Republic of Biafra, shall henceforth be deemed to be entered into with the Military Governor of the Republic of Biafra for and on behalf of the Government and people of the republic of Biafra, and the covenants thereof shall, subject to this Declaration, be performed by the parties according to their tenor; iii. all subsisting international treaties and obligations made on behalf of eastern Nigeria by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, shall be honoured and respected; iv. Eastern Nigeria's due share of all subsisting international debits and obligations entered into by the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on behalf of the Federation of Nigeria shall be honoured and respected; v. steps will be taken to open discussions of the question of Eastern Nigeria's due share of the assets of the Federation of Nigeria and personal properties of the citizens of Biafra throughout the Federation of Nigeria; vi. the rights, privileges, pen


Which instrument is used to examine the interior of the human eye?

Ophthalmic Examination Instruments Copyright ©1999 by Larry Bickford. All Rights Reserved. This document may be copied one time for your personal use only. The publication must be copied in its entirety and include the copyright notice. Any use or sale for profit is strictly prohibited. PLEASE READ THIS: The information contained herein is not intended as a substitute for medical advice and care from qualified, licensed health care providers. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his or her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention. The information is presented here to educate and inform and to guide you to an understanding of cause, prevention as well as treatment. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Instruments Commonly Used For Examination of the Eye by E. Lawrence Bickford, O.D.   There are many instruments that the eye doctor might use to evaluate the eye and the vision system. This report presents some of the more commonly used items and includes some photographs of what this writer uses daily. It is divided in to two sections: instruments for the diagnosis of eye health and instruments used to determine the status of the vision system. Note: This report is under construction. Photographs are to help with identification. Models from various manufacturer's may appear somewhat different. I will soon add additional photos providing examples of similar instruments from other manufacturers.   Eye Health: Evaluation and Diagnosis   Ophthalmoscope (aahp-thalmo-scope) There are two kinds of ophthalmoscopes: the smaller hand-help monocular direct (MO) and the larger binocular indirect (BIO). The MO is used to examine the back of the eye; that is, the optic nerve, blood vessels, the macula and the "fundus"---the general term for the back of the eye. The MO allows for a somewhat magnified view with limited viewing field. It can also detect changes in the clarity or obstructions in the normally transparent ocular media. The doctor must locate the instrument within a few millimeters of the pupil for viewing of the back of the eye and about 20-60cm in front for viewing the media. The BIO is an instrument which is either mounted on the doctors head or in a spectacle-type mounting like a virtual reality goggle. It has a separate light source and optical system and is used along with a condensing lens placed in front of the eye. The doctor is positioned in front of the patient usually at a distance of 40-70cm (16-30 inches). Drops are most often used to dilate the pupil. This allows for a stereoscopic (3-D) view of the back of the eye. The image is somewhat reduced in size relative to the MO, but the field of view is far wider, allowing the examination of parts of the eye inaccessible with the MO. The stereoscopic ability also allows for the detection of elevated lesions that might not be apparent with the MO.   The Slit Lamp Biomicroscope   This instrument provides a high magnification view of the front structures of the eye, including the cornea, iris and lens, and with the use of the condensing lens, it allows a detailed, stereoscopic view of the retina. It is used to detect tissue damage to the ocular surface including the cornea (often with the use of yellow fluorecein, red rose bengal or green dye), conjunctiva and lids. It also can detect inflammation of the internal structures, cataract changes of the crystalline lens and more. It is used extensively for the fitting of contact lenses and is the instrument of choice for detecting contact lens related tissue changes to the cornea and surrounding tissues. The Zeiss system (this one of the original Zeiss brand units) is shown on the left, a Haag Streit, a somewhat different design, is the picture on the right. A number of manufacturers make Zeiss-design and Haag Streit-design units.   Visual Fields Tester   Most eye doctors use some sort of automated visual field apparatus. Visual field testing is essential in determining retina disease or neurologi


Who is the only African footballer, to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award?

Best African Footballer of 2014 - SuperSport - Football Best African Footballer of 2014 by Segun Odegbami 19/12/2014, 10:13 Tweet Football without super stars is like tea without sugar. We are in the season of celebrating the super stars of African football, the players whose light has shone brightest in the football constellation. Next January the Confederation of African Football, CAF, will elect its winner of the prestigious African Footballer of the Year Award for 2014. The event has become very significant for the players because it shoots their status and profile sky high onto a new pedestal of respect and prosperity. In the final list of five players for the 2014 award there are a few surprise inclusions. The first is Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama. It is not common to find goalkeepers listed for the African award. If it were not so, there is no reason why Vincent should not have been listed, or have even won the award, in 2013. Easily, his stellar performances in the French league for Lille FC, and for Nigeria during the African Cup of Nations, earned him more than enough credit to merit an indisputable place among Africa’s best players. The belated observation made by a few of us who commented on his omission last year may have precipitated the present attention on him (and possibly on other goalkeepers in the next few years). Goalkeepers occasionally used to be nominated. Unfortunately, it’s been a long time since the last one was done. Before Vincent’s present nomination the last goalkeeper to be listed (and he did not win it even then) was Antoine Bell of Cameroon in 1989. Before him there were Badou Zaki of Morocco in 1986 (winner), Thomas Nkono of the Cameroon in 1979 and 1981 (winner) and Ahmed Faras of Morocco (winner) in 1975. The good thing is that Vincent’s nomination has reawakened a look-in at the performances of African goalkeepers often overlooked for mostly strikers or midfielders. That may also explain why ALL of the players that have won the award since inception (except for the goalkeepers listed earlier) have been goal scorers (strikers and midfielders). No defender has ever won the award despite the whole army of absolutely brilliant defenders in the continent’s history. Vincent’s nomination could therefore produce an attitudinal re-alignment and change. The other surprise nominee is Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Pierre-Emerick, I believe, has been one of the most underrated African players in Europe. He has been around the football circuit in Europe ‘quietly’ plying his trade and honing his goal-scoring skills and instincts. Joining Borussia Dortmund FC last season has changed not only his profile but also the quality of his football, providing him the platform to showcase his immense striking prowess and nose for goals. This past year, particularly, he has matured into one of the deadliest strikers from Africa playing in the Bundesliga and in the European Club Championship. His speed, pace and deadliness in front of goal have been phenomenal. Playing for one of Europe’s best teams along side other world class players has surely sharpened the edge to his game. He is attracting raving reviews, lots of attention, respect and accolades to himself. Coming from a small African country that does not win anything in the continent surely has reduced his direct impact in Africa, but since such hardly came into consideration as in the cases of George Weah in 1995 and Frederic Kanoute in 2007, it would not surprise me if, purely on the strength of present performance, he is acknowledged in a year that few Africans have really been exceptional. Surely, in terms of ability and his contribution to the ongoing success of his Borussia Dortmund club, week in week out, he stands shoulder to shoulder with any of others in the CAF nominees list. Ahmed Musa is another surprise inclusion. He is a regular in CSKA Moscow FC. He is one of the fastest footballers in the world with the uncanny ability to outsprint defenders. His finishing and crosses could be inconsistent and that has often reduced his overall impact.


Which former college of the University of London became independent in July 2007?

Imperial College London courses and application information £12,090-13,000 Overview Imperial College London is consistently ranked amongst the best universities in the world and forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of six elite British universities, which also includes Oxford and Cambridge. Imperial is traditionally known for world class science, engineering and medicine programmes, although more recently the Imperial College Business School and Humanities department have gained high regard. Imperial College London is part of the prestigious Russell Group and is ranked the 4th best university in the UK by the latest Times Good University Guide. It is currently the 2nd best university in the world in the QS World Rankings. Ground breaking work and cutting edge research is consistently performed at the University, with 14 Nobel Prizes and 81 Fellowships from the Medical Sciences being awarded in the past. Imperial College's main campus is located in South Kensington in central London. Formerly a constituent college of the University of London, Imperial College became independent of the University of London on 8 July 2007, the 100th anniversary of its founding. Services for International Students The International Office manages the delivery of immigration advice to international students at Imperial, with particular focus on UK student visas and the rules on working during and after study. In addition, it works on pre-arrival communication and information, with Welcome Events and Orientation sessions for international students. There are numerous trips offered to famous locations around the UK throughout the year, while Imperial also has links to outside organisations that provide homestays. Ranking 5th in the Times University Guide 2017 7th in the Guardian University Guide 2017 9th in the QS World University Rankings 2017 Imperial College is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in the world, with most rankings placing it in the top 10 globally. In the 2014 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Imperial was ranked 22nd overall in the world. The Financial Times ranked the MSc Management Program 1st in the United Kingdom and 12th in the world in 2013 and in the Financial Times MBA survey 2014, the Imperial MBA was ranked 8th in the UK, 15th in Europe and 49th in the world. Across other subjects, medicine (3rd), engineering (2nd), life sciences (3rd) and physical sciences (3rd) all perform well nationally. Accommodation Imperial College London currently has 20 halls of residence, almost exclusively in the South Kensington and Chelsea areas of London. Availability is generally prioritised for new first-year undergraduate students of Imperial, who are guaranteed a place in a college residence. The majority of older students and postgraduates find accommodation in the private sector, help for which is provided by the Imperial College private housing office. Location Imperial has a number of campuses in London and the South East, and all have excellent travel links and are easily accessible through the use of public transport. The main campus is in South Kensington in London, very near the Royal Albert Hall, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. The University is well served by three of the biggest airports in the UK. Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are all accessible through special services. Alumni Alexander Fleming (Pharmacologist and Nobel Laureate) Thomas Huxley (Biologist)


Colonel Nicholson is one of the main characters in which famous 1957 war film?

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - IMDb IMDb ‘Generation KKK’: Why A&E is Considering Rebranding Their Show After Backlash 22 December 2016 4:51 PM, UTC There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The Bridge on the River Kwai ( 1957 ) PG | From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. Director: a list of 40 titles created 10 Nov 2011 a list of 25 titles created 12 Dec 2011 a list of 39 titles created 01 Apr 2012 a list of 35 titles created 07 Apr 2012 a list of 36 titles created 21 Jun 2012 Title: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 8.2/10 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. Won     7     Oscars. Another    23 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards  » Videos Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II. Director: John Sturges The story of T.E. Lawrence , the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks. Director: David Lean An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania. Director: Michael Cimino When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge. Director: William Wyler Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close. Director: George Roy Hill A young recruit in Vietnam faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man. Director: Oliver Stone Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, and 1 more credit  » Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell In Chicago in September 1936, a young con man seeking revenge for his murdered partner teams up with a master of the big con to win a fortune from a criminal banker. Director: George Roy Hill The claustrophobic world of a WWII German U-boat; boredom, filth, and sheer terror. Director: Wolfgang Petersen Fred Dobbs and Bob Curtin, two Americans searching for work in Mexico, convince an old prospector to help them mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains. Director: John Huston A man refuses to conform to life in a rural prison. Director: Stuart Rosenberg A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel. Director: J. Lee Thompson Edit Storyline The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge. Written by alfiehitchie It spans a whole new world of entertainment! Genres: Rated PG for mild war violence | See all certifications  » Parents Guide: 14 December 1957 (USA) See more  » Also Known As: El puente sobre el río Kwa


Which actress and singer is known as J Lo?

Top Ten Best Singer / Actresses - TheTopTens® Top Ten Best Singer / Actresses Irina2932 The Top TenXW 1Cher Cher is an American singer and actress. Described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment, as well as adopting a variety of styles and appearances during her five-decade-long ... read more . Cher... She had her own musical TV show with Sonny Bono, she starred in numerous films, from drama to comedy! She also published many hit songs solo, or with others! And yet Lindsay Lohan is above her!? HellO! Cher has done it all and done it well. She is timeless and brings more to the table than most of her colleagues! What is wrong with you people? Cher did way more and is more talented that Lohan and Lopez! I had no idea she was an actress - Ajkloth V3 Comments 2Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, producer, and model. In 2009, Guinness World Records cited her as the most awarded female act of all time. Houston is one of pop music's best-selling music artists of all-time, with an estimated 170–200 ... read more . You all should go somewhere because whitney houston is better than all the people on this list. She has been in the biz for years and she sings to the deepest and can give you chills unlike the people ahead of her. I'm sorry but have you seen some of her original movies like the body guard and stuff not many people can sing the way she does and nowadays you don't really have that. She may not be a great actress, but there is no one better at singing, period! Even after 20 years, her voice and charisma rings in my heart. She is the best singer ever in one of the best actress V2 Comments 3Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. She influenced a lot of singers such as: Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Beyonce Knowles and Britney Spears . She is known as Queen of Pop and at modern pop culture specifically in 2012 "Madge" or MDNA . She has ... read more . Madonna did some bad roles but she was really great in "Desperately Seeking Susan" (1985), "Bloodhounds of Broadway" (1989), "Dick Tracy" (1990), "A League of Their Own" (1992), "Dangerous Game" (1993), "Evita" (1996), "Girl 6" (1996). To be honest, I enjoyed her acting in "The Next Best Thing" (2000) too. Her character wasn't that likable but overall, I liked her performance 4Selena Gomez Selena Marie Gomez is an American actress and singer. She is best known for songs like "Come & Get It", "Good For You", "Same Old Love", and "Naturally". Selena Gomez's voice is mezzo-soprano but she usually sing in alto . Well I love Selena and she is beautiful funny and different but in a good way she has a loving heart and she likes us for who we are so I love her I'm like her number 1 fan so ya that's all She is such a darling! She totally deserves to be #1.. Lots of Love from Pakistan darling. She is great! She have a good voice and her acting is wonderful! She's so amaizing and talented. I LOVE YOU SELENA! She is the best V7 Comments 5Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez, also known as J. Lo, is an American singer, actress, dancer, fashion designer, author and producer. She docent show true beauty. Just what all those guys want to see. She's a wonderful women, I love what she've done and achieved, and offcourse she is a sexy woman. V2 Comments 6Beyonce Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, is an American singer and actress, who started out in the popular pop/r&b girl group Destiny's Child. They had multiple top 5 hits such as "No, No, No", "Say My Name", "Bills, Bills, Bills", "Survivor", "Independent Women", "Bootylicious", and "Jumpin', Jumpin" from ... read more . She is an overrated trash! Her voice is annoying. Her acting is God-awful. Her dancing is ridiculous She can't act! Deal with it guys! She wasn't even good in Ddreamgirls and Cadillac Records where she played singers. Then she was in Obsessed and it was worse tha


What is the better known name of St Sylvester's Day?

St. Sylvester's Day | Article about St. Sylvester's Day by The Free Dictionary St. Sylvester's Day | Article about St. Sylvester's Day by The Free Dictionary http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/St.+Sylvester%27s+Day Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . St. Sylvester's Day Sylvester Abend On December 31 the Roman Catholic Church honors St. Sylvester, a Roman Christian who became pope in 314 and continued in that role until his death in 335. His feast day falls on December 31 and is celebrated in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Life and Legends of St. Sylvester Little is known about Sylvester's life. His tenure as pope took place during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine I. Legend claims that Sylvester played an active role in the conversion of Constantine to Christianity, but historians reject this tale. As Pope Sylvester witnessed the divisions between Christians caused by the rise of Arianism, a doctrine concerning the nature of Christ, he sent two representatives to the Council of Nicea. Convened by Emperor Constantine, the Council debated and rejected Arianism. His feast day was established in 1227 by Pope Gregory IX. At least one writer has suggested that his feast day was placed on December 31 for symbolic reasons. Just as December 31 ushers in a new year, so, too, did the conversion of the emperor Constantine usher in a new epoch in the history of Christianity. Customs Since Silvester Abend, or "Sylvester's Eve," is also New Year's Eve, many Germans and Austrians hold late-night parties (see also New Year's Day). In Germany these festive gatherings may include drinking, eating, dancing, singing, and fortune-telling. The traditional method of St. Sylvester's Eve fortune-telling is called Bleigiessen. This technique involves melting a small lump of lead in a spoon held over a candle. The molten lead is cast into a bowl of cold water. It hardens into a distinctive shape which is then interpreted to represent some aspect of one's fortune for the coming year. In at least one Swiss town - Urnäsch in Appenzell Canton - bands of mummers known as "Silvesterclausen" still parade through the streets in costumes, bells, and headdresses on December 31, as well as on St. Sylvester's Day Old Style, which falls on January 13 (see also Old Christmas Day). They visit homes, yodel three times, and are rewarded with wine by the occupants. Some of the customs associated with St. Sylvester's Day cannot easily be connected with the life of the saint. In past eras the Germans celebrated St. Sylvester's Day with mumming and noisemaking. In some parts of Austria, a rather sinister figure called Sylvester haunted New Year's Eve gatherings. He wore a grotesque mask, flaxen beard, and a wreath of mistletoe. He lurked in some dark corner until someone foolishly walked under the pine boughs suspended from the ceiling. Then he leaped forward, seized them, and roughly kissed them. At midnight the guests drove him away as the last remnant of the old year. Although this custom bears little association with the saint's life, it can be connected to the saint's name. The name "Sylvester" comes from the Latin word for forest, silva. Nearby forests probably provided the mistletoe associated with the startling Austrian Sylvester. Further Reading Brewster, H. Pomeroy. Saints and Festivals of the Christian Church. 1906. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990. Del Re, Gerard, and Patricia Del Re. The Christmas Almanack. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1979. MacDonald, Margaret Read, ed. The Folklore of World Holidays. Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1992. Miles, Clement A. Christmas in Ritual and Tradition. 1912. Reprint. Detroit, Mich.: Omnigraphics, 1990. Stevens, Patricia Bunning. Merry Christmas!: A History of the Holiday. New York: Macmillan, 1979. Web Site A site sponsored by German instructor Robert J. Shea, Missouri: St. Sylvester's Day Type of Holiday: Religious (Christian) Date of Observation: December 31 Where Celebrated: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland Symbols and Customs: Bells, Pig Rela


Which cyclist won Gt. Britain's first gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Nicole Cooke wins first gold medal for Britain - Beijing Olympics 2008 - Telegraph Advertisement Nicole Cooke wins first gold medal for Britain - Beijing Olympics 2008 Nicole Cooke got Britain's Olympic campaign off to a glorious start when she  defied treacherous conditions to win gold in the women's cycle road race in  a thrilling sprint finish. By Simon Hart in Beijing 10:55AM BST 10 Aug 2008 The 25-year-old rode a perfect race, conserving energy in the peloton before breaking away with four other riders six kilometres from the end of the 126km course. On the punishing final incline at Juyonggguan, Cooke looked as she was about to be dropped by the leaders with half a kilometre to go but, showing her immense power, fought back to the front before holding off a strong challenge from Sweden's Emma Johannsson to cross the line first by half a wheel length. Italy's Tatiana Guderzo was third. "We did it," said Cooke. "It was perfect. It's a dream come true. I want to thank all the people who've been there from the start. I've worked so hard. I am so happy." Her gold medal was the first by a British female cyclist and the first by any British cyclist, male or female, in a road race. It was also Britain's 200th ever gold medal in summer and winter Olympics. Cooke, who celebrated wildly after her win, was shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award two years ago after she won the women's Tour de France and shot to the top of the world rankings, but this was her first triumph in a one-off major championship race. Related Articles


Who became the first English swimmer for 100 years to win two Olympic gold medals, when she won both the 400m and 800m freestyle events in Beijing?

Olympic Swimming | Swimming | British Swimming Olympic Swimming Follow @britishswimming Rio 2016 Team GB Media Guide All the information you need about Rio-bound Team GB including important and useful contacts, sport specific details and more about selected athletes competing at the 2016 Olympic Games here . KEY STATS/ BRIEF HISTORY The Great Britain Swimming Team has won a total of 65 medals at the Olympic Games made up of 15 Gold, 22 Silver and 28 Bronze medals The most recent gold medals were won by Rebecca Adlington in both the 400m and 800m Freestyle events in Beijing 2008, ending Great Britain’s 20 year wait for an Olympic Champion. In London the Swimming Team came home with a silver for Michael Jamieson in the 200m Breaststroke and two bronze medals in the 400m and 800m Freestyle for Rebecca Adlington.  In Beijing Britain's other medallists alongside Adlington were Jo Jackson who won bronze in the 400m Freestyle, Keri-anne Payne and Cassandra Patten, who won silver and bronze respectively in the 10km and David Davies who also won a silver in the 10km. The six medals won in Beijing was Great Britain’s largest medal haul since the 1912 Olympics. The largest Swimming Team at an Olympics was in 1976 when GB took 39 different swimmers to Montreal, the smallest squad was the six participants in Athens in 1906. William Henry is the oldest GB swimming medallist with bronze in the relay in 1906 aged 47 while Sarah Hardcastle is the youngest at age 15 winning silver in 1984. Overall Great Britain has won more medals in the 200m Breaststroke than any other, winning ten medals including four gold WOMEN’S OLYMPIC FACTS • Great Britain has won six gold medals in the women’s program: the 4x100m Freestyle Relay team in 1912, Lucy Morton in the 200m Breaststroke in 1924, Judith Grinham in the 100m Backstroke in 1956, Anita Lonsborough in the 200m Breaststroke in 1960 and Rebecca Adlington in both the 400m Freestyle and 800m Freestyle in 2008. • At the 2008 Beijing Games, Rebecca Adlington became Britain’s most successful swimmer for 100 years when she won two gold medals. Her feat of winning the 400m Freestyle and the 800m Freestyle gave her the honour of being the first British swimmer to have won two gold medals since 1908 and the first Olympic Champion since 1988. • The Beijing Olympics also saw the inaugural 10km Marathon Swimming event which saw Keri-anne Payne and Cassandra Patten win two of the three medals on offer. • Britain is still searching for its first Olympic medal in both the 50m Freestyle and 200m Freestyle events. • No Backstroker has won a medal since Natalie Steward took silver in the 100m in 1960.  • In reaching the final of the 100m Backstroke in Beijing 2008 Gemma Spofforth became Britain’s first finalist in the event since 1984. • Britain has had a finalist in the last two Olympics in the 200m Backstroke through Lizzie Simmonds (2008) and Katy Sexton (2004). • The last women’s Breaststroke medallist was in 1960 when Anita Lonsborough struck gold. • No Briton has reached a breaststroke final since 1984 and no Briton has won a medal in the 100m Breastroke. • Great Britain has never won an Olympic medal in either the 100m or 200m Butterfly events. Jemma Lowe reached the 100m final in Beijing 2008 while the last finalist in the 200m event was Samantha Purvis in 1984. • Sharron Davies is the only Individual Medley medallist, taking the silver in 1980 in the 400m in Moscow, while the last British finalist in the 200m Individual Medley was Shelagh Ratcliffe in 1968. • Great Britain has not been on the relay podium since 1980 where the 4x100m Medley Relay team won silver. • Joyce Cooper holds the record for the most Olympic swimming medals by a British woman with four: silver in the 400m Freestyle Relay in 1928, and three bronzes in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke also in 1928, plus the 400m Freestyle Relay four years later. • June Croft swam in a British women’s swimming record eight Olympic finals, three in 1980 in Moscow and five more 4 years later in Los Angeles. MEN’S OLYMPIC FACTS • Grea


In which month of the year is Walpurgis Night celebrated in Europe and Scandinavia?

Walpurgis Night – Nature Travels Blog April 28, 2016 Walpurgis Night Walpurgis Night is a tradition celebrated on the 30th April in northern Europe and Scandinavia.  The date strangely is exactly 6 months before All Hallows Eve or as it’s more commonly known – Halloween. Described by Bram Stoker in his short story, ‘Dracula’s Guest’: ‘Walpurgis Night was when, according to the belief of millions of people, the devil was abroad – when the graves were opened and the dead come forth and walked.  When all evil things of earth and air and water held revel.’ Photo credit: Ola Ericson/ImageBank.sweden.se ‘Walpurgis Night’ originates from Pagan celebrations of fertility rites and the coming of spring.  The name itself is taken from Saint Walburga, an English born nun who was to become Abbess of a monastery in Francia in the 8th century.  Walburga was believed to have had the power to cure illnesses of local residents. Photo Credit: Aline Lessner/ImageBank.sweden.se In Germanic folklore Walpurgisnacht, also called Hexennacht, is believed to be the night when the witches met on the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz Mountains, in central Germany.  In Germany it is celebrated by dressing in costumes, playing practical jokes, and creating loud noises in an effort to keep evil at bay. Many people also hang blessed plants and foliage from houses and barns in an attempt to ward off witches. In Sweden, typical Walpurgis Night activities include the singing of traditional folk songs, fireworks and the lighting of bonfires. The Vikings, who called it ‘Valborg’ picked up the habit of lighting bonfires to keep away evil spirits and wild animals so that the livestock would not get harmed by witches and evil spirits. They also used the bonfires to celebrate and attempt to bring spring in a bit quicker. Photo credit: Lola Akinmade Åkerström/ImageBank.sweden.se In Sweden many people tidy up their gardens this time of year. The leaves and branches are good material for the bonfires, and so are the Christmas trees after Christmas. In many places, people gather material for their bonfires for months ahead.   Unofficially the goal is to have a bigger bonfire than the next village!


"What is the name of the convict in Charles Dickens novel, ""Great Expectations""?"

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - Google Books Great Expectations 658 Reviews https://books.google.com/books/about/Great_Expectations.html?id=fhUXAAAAYAAJ One of the finest novels by iconic British author Charles Dickens, this Victorian tale follows the good-natured orphan Pip as he makes his way through life. As a boy, Pip crosses paths with a convict named Magwitch, a man who will heavily influence Pip’s adulthood. Meanwhile, the earnest young man falls for the beautiful Estella, the adoptive daughter of the affluent and eccentric Miss Havisham. Widely considered to be Dickens's last great book, the story is steeped in romance and features the writer's familiar themes of crime, punishment, and societal struggle.   What people are saying -  Write a review User ratings Novels purchased User Review  - Maria - Target I purchased a class set of Great Expectations Abridged. It was a quick, easy purchase. I was notifited immediately when the shipment had to be split, but everythig arrived, as described, within a week. I'm very satisfied and would use online purchasing again. I also got free shipping! Read full review LibraryThing Review User Review  - miss_scarlet - LibraryThing The first of Dickens' novels that I have read, it captured my attention from the start. The relation among all the characters was amazing. However, I read it for school, so my version was the abridged one. Very engrossing read. I now look forward to discovering more of Dickens' novels. Read full review


Which composer, born in Pesaro, in Italy, in 1792, was known by the nickname, Monsieur Crescendo?

Rossini Home Page History Instrumentation Band News Photos & Trivia Music Diary Young Generation Honours Links Members Page Contact us Search Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro on the Adriatic coast of Italy on 29 February 1792. He was a prolific composer but was best known in his lifetime and ever since for his operas of which William Tell, The Barber of Seville, Cinderella and Thieving Magpie are four out of thirty- nine.  He made great use of dynamics, earning the nickname of Mr. Crescendo – he was also referred to as the Italian Mozart. Born into a musical family, he started training early. By the time he was six, he was playing the triangle in his father’s band, and he went on to learn the harpsichord, piano and subsequently the cello.  He was also composing from a tender age - his first opera appeared when he was twenty but he had actually composed it six or seven years earlier. At twenty- one, his big break came with the two Naples Theatres where his opera output plus his share from the gambling tables earned him more money than any musician of the time could have imagined. He is generally accepted today as one of the world’s great opera composers. Written for singers, Rossini’s music lends itself readily to flutes, and many of his overtures have appeared as flute band test pieces including William Tell, Thieving Magpie, Barber of Seville, Turk in Italy, Silken Ladder.


"At which sport did Theodore ""Ted"" Kennedy, who died aged 83 in 2009, play fourteen seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs?"

vol105issue05 by The Recorder - issuu issuu Sports: CCSU, NHL hockey analysis See Sports pull-out Pages 8-14 Volume 105 No. 5 Forget Paris: Entertainment Editor Nick Viccione’s Q & A with a local band Page 20 Puerto Vallarta: How does the little Mexican restaruant on the Berlin Turnpike fare? Page 19 Remembering Prof. Brian O’Connell Amanda Ciccatelli News Editor Faculty, students and friends of the late professor Brian M. O’Connell gathered on Wednesday to remember his influential presence at CCSU and share memories of the highly regarded professor. O’Connell worked in computer science and philosophy at CCSU as he taught courses in subjects such as computer ethics, jurisprudence, professional responsibility and programming and robotics. Before he started his career in education, O’Connell was a lawyer as well as a systems programmer and network designer. Upon the introduction of the memorial, Dr. David Blitz of the philosophy department emphasized the positive memories of people who knew O’Connell. “What’s the most important are the living memories we have,” said Blitz, who also spoke of O’Connell’s many accomplishments. Blitz also expressed the hope that O’Connell’s Web site will be well preserved since the work of O’Connell was very important and should be made available to students and colleagues. “He was the only person I have known that completely reinvented himself,” said Blitz. Dr. Richard Judd, former president of CCSU, said that O’Connell had the thoughts and interests of what a university should strive to be. “He had a contagion of intimacy,” said Judd, who described O’Connell as a person who loved his career and his life and had compassion about every single thing he did. Dr. Tim Craine participated in the memorial held for the late Prof. Brian M. O’Connell. Edward Gaug / The Recorder portunities to teach with O’Connell. Craine said he was impressed with O’Connell’s ability to expand the knowledge of his students. “He had a broad range of interests and expertise,” said Craine. He also explained that while O’Connell was battling cancer, he kept up his spirits until he died. “We have lost a great teacher and a dear friend,” said Craine. “O’Connell’s students were highly engaged in becoming original think- ers,” he continued. Craine also pointed out O’Connell’s immense contribution to the community with his research and wide range of abilities. “He lifted my spirits so often,” said Philosophy Professor Dr. Eleanor Godway. According to Godway, she and O’Connell used to converse about their favorite philosophy books, and now, she thinks of O’Connell whenever she reads those books. “The one thing that endeared me about [O’Connell],” continued Judd, “was his love of students.”  Judd characterized O’Connell as “effervescent” and, looking up to the ceiling, thanked O’Connell for sharing his positivity and accomplishments with everyone. “Thank you for letting us be part of your continuity,” he said. Dr. Tim Craine, mathematical sciences department chair, also spoke to audience members about his op- “We loved him there,” she said. “There’s a big hole in the philosophy department.” Professor Robert White of CS shared his experiences with O’Connell, whom he met when O’Connell was 14 years old. White explained that while he was working at Wesleyan University O’Connell would visit the planetarium and ask White questions about outer space. O’Connell even suggested that he and White build a spaceship together. Although that curious 14-year-old grew up and that spaceship was never built, White did eventually build one himself and has since called it the memorial to O’Connell. Wendy Peak, a friend of O’Connell’s, said that the students at Central were one of O’Connell’s greatest passions. “He worked tirelessly to launch their own great careers,” she said. She also talked about a recent fundraiser that was created in honor of O’Connell, which will include a lecture series of his favorite topics and fields of study and a scholarship available to CCSU students. Anna Gawkowska, a 2007 CCSU graduate, described her former professor


In which town is the Devonshire Royal Hospital, now the Devonshire campus of the University of Derby?

Peak District View : Devonshire Royal Hospital Devonshire Royal Hospital Devonshire Royal Hospital The Devonshire Royal Hospital building (now popularly known as the Devonshire Dome) is a Grade II listed 18th-century former stable block located in Buxton , Derbyshire. It was added to by architect Robert Rippon Duke, with what was then the world's largest unsupported dome, with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft). It is now the site of the Devonshire campus of the University of Derby . Built between 1780 and 1789, it was designed by John Carr of York for William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire. An octagonal building, it housed up to 110 horses and the servants of the guests of the Crescent Hotel , built in combination as part of the plan to promote Buxton as a spa town. In 1859, the Buxton Bath Charity had persuaded the Duke of Devonshire to allow part of the building ï¿½ by then accommodating nothing like the 110 horses for which it was designed ï¿½ to be converted to a charity hospital for the use of the ï¿½sick poorï¿½ coming in for treatment from the ï¿½Cottonopolisï¿½ of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The Devonshire estate architect, Henry Currey, architect for St Thomasï¿½s Hospital in London, converted two thirds of the building into a hospital. In 1881, the Buxton Bath Charity trustees under their chairman Dr William Henry Robertson, persuaded William Cavendish, 7th Duke of Devonshire to give them the use of the whole building in exchange for providing new stables elsewhere in the town. Local architect Robert Rippon Duke was commissioned to design a 300-bed hospital to rival Bath and Harrogate for charity medical provision. The Cotton Districts Convalescent fund put up ï¿½25,000 for the conversion. The steel structure was clad in slate, and proposed to be supported by 22 curved steel arms. However, during construction the Tay Bridge disaster occurred on 28 December 1879, and so the number of arms was revised upwards. Railway engineer Mr Footner advised that the designers of the Tay Rail Bridge had not taken into account the stresses of lateral wind and storms. Further changes were undertaken, with the clock tower and lodge completed in 1882, surgical wards in 1897, spa baths in 1913, and the dining room and kitchens in 1921. The building became known as the Devonshire Royal Hospital in 1934. The Devonshire Royal was the last of the eight hydropathic hospitals in England to close when it closed in 2000. On 31 January 2001, the University of Derby acquired the Devonshire Royal Hospital. The University received ï¿½4.7m Heritage Lottery Fund backing for the restoration and redevelopment project. Included in his design what was the world's largest unsupported dome with a diameter of 44.2 metres (145 ft); beating the Pantheon 43 metres (141 ft) and St Peter's Basilica 42 metres (138 ft) in Rome, and St Paul's Cathedral 34 metres (112 ft). Overtaken by the West Baden Springs Hotel designed by Harrison Albright in 1902 (59.45 metres (195.0 ft)), the record is now routinely surpassed today by space frame domes, such as the Georgia Dome 256 metres (840 ft); but the Devonshire it is still the largest unsupported dome in the UK. The dome provides 16,511 cubic feet (467.5 m3) of space. Refurbished and reopened in 2003, the main building and its surrounding Victorian era villas are now part of the University of Derby. It is being used routinely as a wedding venue, and exhibition space. Open to the public, the space houses cafï¿½s, shops, restaurants and study spaces, and visitors can observe the swing of a Foucault pendulum during certain times of the year. The original spa of the hydropathic hospital has been reopened as a commercial spa centre, offering a range of treatments and as a training venue for spa management and therapists. There are currently no panoramic photographs for this location.


In 1967, French Somaliland became the French Territory of the Afars and Issas. To what did the country change its name on gaining independence in 1977?

Djibouti Djibouti —Djiboutian, adj., n. /ji booh"tee/, n. 1. Formerly, French Somaliland , French Territory of the Afars and Issas. a republic in E Africa, on the Gulf of Aden: a former overseas territory of France; gained independence 1977. 434,116; 8492 sq. mi. (21,994 sq. km). Cap .: Djibouti. 2. a seaport in and the capital of this republic, in the SE part. 399,000. Djibouti Introduction Djibouti  - Background: The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. A peace accord in 1994 ended a three-year uprising by Afars rebels.    Geography Djibouti Location: Eastern Africa , bordering the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, between Eritrea and Somalia Geographic coordinates: 11 30 N, 43 00 E Area: total : 23,000 sq km water: 20 sq km land: 22,980 sq km Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts Land boundaries: total : 516 km border countries: Eritrea 109 km, Ethiopia 349 km, Somalia 58 km Coastline: 314 km Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 24 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM territorial sea: 12 NM Climate: desert ; torrid, dry Terrain: coastal plain and plateau separated by central mountains Elevation extremes: lowest point: Lac Assal -155 m highest point: Moussa Ali 2,028 m Natural resources: geothermal areas Land use: arable land: 0% permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (1998 est.) Irrigated land: 10 sq km (1998 est.) Natural hazards: earthquakes; droughts; occasional cyclonic disturbances from the Indian Ocean bring heavy rains and flash floods      Environment - current issues: inadequate supplies of potable water; desertification; endangered species       Environment - international party to: Biodiversity , Climate agreements: Change , Desertification , Endangered Species , Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection , Ship Pollution signed , but not ratified: none of the selected agreements Geography - note: strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa    People Djibouti  - Population: 472,810 (July 2002 est.) Age structure: 0-14 years: 42.6% ( male 100,903; female 100,420) 15-64 years: 54.5% ( male 135,409; female 122,209) 65 years and over: 2.9% ( male 7,220; female 6,649) (2002 est.) Population growth rate: 2.59% (2002 est.) Birth rate: 40.33 births/1,000 population (2002 est.) Death rate: 14.43 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.) Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 est.) Sex ratio: at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.11 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.09 male(s)/ female total population: 1.06 male(s)/ female (2002 est.) Infant mortality rate: 99.7 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)        Life expectancy at birth: total population: 51.6 years female: 53.52 years (2002 est.) male: 49.73 years Total fertility rate: 5.64 children born/woman (2002 est.)    HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 11.75% (1999 est.)   HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ 37,000 (1999 est.) AIDS: HIV/AIDS - deaths: 4,400 (2002 est.) Nationality: noun : Djiboutian(s) adjective: Djiboutian Ethnic groups: Somali 60%, Afar 35%, French, Arab, Ethiopian , and Italian 5% Religions: Muslim 94%, Christian 6% Languages: French ( official ), Arabic ( official ), Somali , Afar Literacy: definition : age 15 and over can read and write total population: 46.2% male: 60.3% female: 32.7% (1995 est.)    Government Djibouti  - Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Djibouti conventional short form: Djibouti former: French Territory of the Afars and Issas , French Somaliland Capital: Djibouti Administrative divisions: 5 districts (cercles, singular - cercle); 'Ali Sabih, Dikhil, Djibouti , Obock, Tadjoura Independence: 27 June 1977 (from France ) National holiday: Independence Day , 27 June (1977) Constitution: multiparty constitution approved by referendum 4 September 1992 Legal system: based on French civil law system, traditional practices, and Islamic law Suffrage:


"Which musician and actor played the part of Wayne Norris in the TV series, ""Auf Wiedersehen Pet""?"

Gary Holton - Auf Wiedersehen Pet & The Geordies  Auf Wiedersehen Pet & The Geordies  Escape to Victory Gary Holton Gary Frederick Holton (22 September 1952 – 25 October 1985) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids, for whom he played lead vocals, guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards and harmonica, and played the part of Wayne in the UK television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. Holton died from an overdose of morphine combined with alcohol in 1985. Acting Career Playing the part of Wayne Winston Norris in the smash hit comedy drama Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Holton became a household name. People came to have great affection for all the characters in the show. Holton played a Cockney carpenter who liked his women, music and drink, which was actually very similar to his off-screen personality. He landed the part (the first of the seven to be cast), after he was introduced to Ian La Frenais at a party. La Frenais and his writing partner Dick Clement had been drafting storylines and working on an idea given to them by Franc Roddam, ex-foreign worker and director of Quadrophenia. The first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ran between 1983 and 1984 with viewing figures steadily rising and topping the 14 million mark, Ian la Frenais and Dick Clement and their supporting writers had a huge hit on their hands. The true-to-life storylines were believable, capturing the reality of honest working men screwed by the system. The first series ended with the lads returning to Britain unemployed, which was a reflection of British society in the early 1980s. The British public wanted more. In February 1985 filming began on Auf Wiedersehen Pet 2. The cast were no longer unknowns. Auf Wiedersehen Pet had turned Gary Holton and his colleagues all into stars in their own right and the pressure to come up with high quality material to match or even surpass the original was great. Gary became very close to his acting colleagues. The remaining members did not want to continue making the show, which was planned for a third series set in the Russian Embassy without him. The final episode of the second series, broadcast after Holton's death, was dedicated to his memory. The show was successfully revived in 2002 with the original writers and all of the surviving cast members. Gary, despite being dead for seventeen years, was not forgotten, and Wayne was still essential to the plot. The gap in the line-up left by Holton was filled by Wyman, Wayne's illegitimate son, played by Noel Clarke.


"In the hit record ""Bohemian Rhapsody"", by Queen, who is asked to do the fandango?"

Queen: 20 Things You Probably Never Knew About 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - NME NME 3:07 pm - Jun 24, 2015 0shares 0shares Getty Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ – a masterful, if ludicrous, six-minute suite of operatic cock-rock about a lad who’s killed someone, sold his soul to Beelzebub and wants to know if Scaramouche can do the Fandango – was written 40 years ago this December, lodging itself at number 1 in the UK charts for nine weeks after release. Is it a rejigged myth? A metaphor for a failed Mercury relationship? Well, your guess is good as ours. It was a mammoth undertaking for a band about to become one of the biggest in the world – and these are the facts. How many did you know? 1. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’’s nine consecutive weeks at No.1 at the end of 1975 was the joint third UK total at the time, trailing David Whitfield’s ‘Cara Mia’ (10 weeks, 1954) and yodeling country star Slim Whitman’s ‘Rose Marie’ (11 weeks, 1955). It was eventually supplanted by ABBA’s ‘Mamma Mia’, a title curiously contained in ‘Bo Rhap’’s lyrics. Some Hallowe’en spookiness for you there. 2. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ producer Roy Thomas Baker was one of the ill-fated pilots of Guns N’ Roses’ forever delayed ‘Chinese Democracy’, parachuting in in 2000 to drive everyone mad getting the guitar sound just right. Obviously he failed. At least in the exacting eyes of Axl Rose. 3. Scaramouche is a stock character from commedia dell’arte, a buffoon who always manages to wriggle out of the sticky situations he invariably finds himself in, usually at the expense of someone else. Original name ‘Scaramuccia’ means ‘skirmish’. 4. It was introduced to radio by comedian Kenny Everett, then a Capital DJ. At first he thought it was crazily long, but had a change of heart: “Forget it, it could be half an hour long, it’s going to be number one for centuries!” 5. Freddie Mercury plays the same piano that Paul McCartney used for ‘Hey Jude’. You can tell, can’t you? 6. EMI in the UK and Elektra in the UK both tried to cut chunks off the epic. As Roger Taylor says: “They said it was too long and wouldn’t work. We thought, ‘Well we could cut it, but it wouldn’t make any sense’, it doesn’t make much sense now and it would make even less sense then; you would miss all the different moods of the song. So we said no. It’ll either fly or it won’t.” 7. The song was Freddie’s baby. Here’s Brian May in 2002: “He knew exactly what he was doing… We just helped him bring it to life.” 8. The opera parts took more than 70 hours to complete. 9. Freddie wrote the whole song – including the composite harmonies – on telephone books and scraps of paper, making it a little tricky for everyone else to get a handle on the thing. 10. After the crucial first radio play the Capital switchboard went nuts and EMI realised they had a hit – however unusual – on their hands. That was the moment they agreed to release the full-length single. 11. 180 overdubs were needed to get the track into epic condition. 180! Treble top. 12. It only made No.9 in the States on its initial release but hi-jinks in the Wayne’s World car saw it storm all the way to No.2 in 1992. It was held off top spot by Kriss Kross’s classic ‘Jump’. 13. In 2007, Radio 1 confessed this was their most-played song since the station was launched. It’s probably ‘Chasing Cars’ now or something. 14.At live shows, Queen preferred to use tapes for the fiddly bits of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Well, you would, wouldn’t you? 15. That video cost around £4,500 to make and centred around a formation of the band familiar from the cover of ‘Queen II’, released 18 months earlier. Apparently, they liked themselves that way. 16. There was a lot of chat that Queen recorded their seminal ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ promo because they were out of the country and couldn’t do Top Of The Pops, but the plain fact was they couldn’t be arsed. Taylor told the Observer in 2004: “We did everything we possibly could to avoid appearing on Top Of The Pops. It was… the most boring day known to man.” 17. At 5 minutes 55 seconds, it was a riskily long song to fire at the top of the charts,


In which English county is the town of Chipping Norton?

Chipping Norton Tourist Information Guide Cotswolds England UK Chipping Norton Tourist Information and Visitor Guide Chipping Norton is the highest town in Oxfordshire, situated on the western slopes of a hillside that was once the site of a Norman castle. 'Chipping' is derived from ceapen, an old English word meaning market. Alternatively the meaning comes from the medieval word Chepynge meaning long Market Square as will also be found at Chipping Campden and Chipping Sodbury . There has been a market here since the 13th century and was a major wool-trading town in the 15th century; the great 'wool' church of St Mary, built in perpendicular style, testifies to its prosperity. The church has one of the finest interiors among the great Cotswold churches. The slender supporting pillars and the clerestory windows form an almost continuous band of glass above the nave to give the church a feeling of great height and lightness. The church is also noted for its unusual hexangonal porch with vaulted ceiling. The lively little town has a vibrancy about it, but remains unpretentious and the everyday lives of those who live and work there have so far not been overshadowed by the effects of tourism - in other words its a 'real' Cotswold town with 'real' shops and fondly known as 'Chippy' to the locals. It is also known, importantly, for having the last fish and chip shop for 30 miles in the Cheltenham direction. Chipping Norton offers the visitor plenty of retail therapy including several antique shops and a wide selection of restaurants, Inns and Pubs. Bliss Mill Until not too long ago 'Chippy', apart from being a small market town, had a real industrial base in wool and tweed production. Just outside the town stands Bliss Tweed Mill, designed by George Woodhouse, it looks like a cross between a mansion and a folly, rather than a late 19th century factory having an unusual domed based chimney which is a landmark for Chipping Norton from miles about. Tweed of high quality was made here for many years. The owner William Bliss was instrumental in bringing the railway here to supply coal for his mill's steam engines. The Mill finally closed in 1980 and has now been converted to luxury apartments. The town's railway and it's station closed in the 1960s. Strange Things - Read about - Wife Selling in Chipping Norton The Almshouses Henry Cornish, who died in 1650, was the founder of the almshouses. Named in Chipping Norton's Royal Charter of 1606 as one of the first members of the new Corporation which was to govern the town, he was clearly a man of property and considerable social standing in the community. In spite of this wealth his private life had many sadnesses. In about 1600 he married Sarah Browne, daughter of Thomas Browne who built Fletchers House in Woodstock (the present county museum), but although they had twelve children no fewer than ten died in childhood, and the remaining two only lived into their thirties. There is a pitiful brass plate at the back of St Mary's church commemorating the death of a son, named Henry after his father, who died aged nine. The lack of surviving children was one reason why he left such generous bequests to the town.The other was his strongly held puritan belief in charity to the poor. The almshouses were provided at his own expense for eight aged widows who had to be of honest and godly life and conversation: In addition, he left money to provide coats and gowns for two poor men and two poor women, and fourpence each to 40 other widows. He bequeathed 12 other cottages around the town to be let to honest people who could afford to rent them, but stipulated that the rents should never be increased. At the other end of the social scale he also gave his fellow members of the corporation, the'Bailiffs and Burgesses of Chipping Norton; money for an annual dinner at the White Hart (then the leading inn in the town) which became known as The Bailiffs Feast, and was held for nearly two hundred years after his death. The Town Hall Chipping Norton's Town Hall is a proud symbol of the days when the town w


With which antique dealer did Paddington Bear have his elevenses each day?

Paddington Bear ditches Marmalade for Marmite in new TV ad | Daily Mail Online Paddington Bear ditches Marmalade for Marmite in new TV ad Last updated at 09:00 13 September 2007 Marmalade's most famous fan has turned to the dark side. After 50 years of nibbling sandwiches made from the orange sticky stuff, Paddington Bear will today have his first taste of Marmite. The teddy has been brought back to life in his animated form for the first time in 20 years in an advert for the savoury spread. It has the slogan: 'You love it or you hate it.' Scroll down for more... The commercial has the bear, who was found by the Brown family at Paddington station in West London, tasting Marmite for the first time since his arrival from Peru in 1958. He loves it and shares his sandwich with a pigeon, who hates it. The U-turn was thrashed out in a deal between food giant Unilever, which owns the Marmite brand, and Paddington and Company, owner of the rights to the bear. Cheryl Calverley, of Unilever, said: "The Marmite brand and Paddington Bear are British institutions and have broad appeal, transcending generations." However, the move has got the bear in a jam with Dundee marmalade maker Mackays. A spokesman said: "Paddington has sold out. It's a very sad day for marmalade." The London that greeted Paddington Bear in 1958 is a far cry from that of today. The small brown bear was found sitting on his suitcase with a note attached to his coat reading 'Please look after this bear', having been sent to England from Peru by his aunt. That would count as a plea for asylum these days and land him a place in a detention centre. At the very least he would be likely to be ordered to spend six months in quarantine before the Brown family could take him home. Offering a pigeon a bite of his sandwich could land him with a £500 fine in London. On the bright side, presuming he is a spectacled bear, the only bear species in Peru, he would then be taken to a zoo with a breeding programme as the species is threatened with extinction. If he was not a real bear, but in fact a teddy, Mr Brown would be required to tell station staff or police and the station would be closed and the poor bear blown up by a bomb disposal squad 'due to security'. If Mr Brown did get to bring him back to his Edwardian family home in Notting Hill, it would now be extremely expensive flats. In 1958, Paddington would have elevenses (a refreshment between breakfast and lunch) with Mr Gruber, an antique dealer on Portobello Road. If his shop had survived the sky-high rents of today, they'd now be more likely to grab a Starbucks coffee regularly interrupted by their mobiles.


In October 1870, Britain issued its smallest ever (in size), postage stamp. It is known in philatelic circles as a bantam. How much did it cost?

Stamps Info   I Inherited a Stamp Collection... This article could have just as easily been titled, "I just found some stamps in an old desk..." or "I found my old stamp collection up in the attic from when I was a kid..." or some similar theme.  This is intended for someone who knows next to nothing about stamp collecting, has come into possession of some stamps and wishes to know what they are worth.  As with all collectible items, stamps are worth what someone is willing to pay for them.  Learning what that might be will require doing your homework. It is highly unlikely that you will instantly find someone who will give you enough for your retirement, but by searching through the philatelic world for the best place to sell your stamps, you could do very well.  The first step in educating yourself should be to check your local public library for a Scott or Minkus (or other) stamp catalog.  Check the catalog out from the library, take it home, and compare your stamps to the listings.  Read the introductory paragraphs in the catalog to see how stamps' values are determined and how you should judge the stamps.  Remember that stamp catalog values are for excellent examples of each given stamp and that stamps with heavy cancels or tears or pieces missing will bring much less, if anything at all.  And remember that most unused stamps released since 1940 aren't worth much more than face value if you're trying to sell them; a lot of those you can use for postage.  Also be aware that a dealer will likely pay less than half catalog value, since he has to make his profit margin and cover his expenses to stay in business selling stamps.  After you've consulted a catalog, if you don't know any stamp collectors to ask, check your local yellow pages for stamp dealers.  Find three or four if you can and ask them to take a look at your stamps.  This process will take time, and you will have to go to their locations to get them to look at your stamps.  Or if a stamp show is held in your area, go to the show and ask dealers there.  In the stamp business, as in any collectibles area, you need to find the right dealer for the material you have.  The "right" dealer will know to whom he can resell your material.  As you "do your homework" by asking several dealers about value, you will begin to get an idea of the true worth of your stamps.  You will have to use your own judgement to evaluate the honesty of those you ask, but you will find that most are honest, even if they're not knowledgeable.  If your stamps turn out to be fairly valuable (hundreds or thousands of dollars), it might be worth your while to offer the material at auction.  As with finding a dealer, you'd need to do your homework on auction houses to find the best place to offer your stamps.  The point of all this is that the more time you spend "doing your homework," the better price realization you are likely to get for your stamps.  You may find that after only a short search for information you will learn that what you have isn't worth much.  That is the most likely outcome.  However, if the collection was put together by a knowledgeable collector, it may well have "goodies" that have appreciated tremendously over the decades.  There's only one way for you to find out if that's true: Do your homework!! After doing your homework, you may find yourself fascinated to the point you will not only be the owner of an old collection but a builder of a new and better collection!   How is a postage stamp made? Background The postage stamp is a relatively modern invention, first proposed in 1837 when Sir Rowland Hill, an English teacher and tax reformer, published a seminal pamphlet entitled Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability. Among other reforms, Hill's treatise advocated that the English cease basing postal rates on the distance a letter traveled and collecting fees upon delivery. Instead, he argued, they should assess fees based on weight and require prepayment in the form of stamps. Hill's ideas were accepted almost immediately, and the first English adhesive