In which country is the town of Passchendaele?

The Battle of Passchendaele - Historical Sheets - The First World War - History - Remembrance - Veterans Affairs Canada The First World War Canadian Pioneers carrying trench mats with wounded and prisoners in background. Battle of Passchendaele, 1917. (Photo: Library and Archives Canada/PA-002084) Close PDF Version Canadians have made many impressive accomplishments fighting in the cause of peace and freedom. A name from Canada’s First World War military heritage that still stirs emotions is “Passchendaele.” In a muddy corner of Belgium, Canadians overcame almost unimaginable hardships to capture this ruined village in 1917. Canada and the First World War When Britain went to war in Europe in August 1914, Canada—as a member of the British Empire—was automatically at war as well. On the “Western Front,” the First World War soon turned into a stalemate of trench fighting, with a 1,000 km system of trenches stretching across Belgium and France from the English Channel to the border of Switzerland. On one side were the forces of France and Britain (along with other allies such as Canada) and on the other were the Germans. From their opposing trenches they faced one another across a deadly “No Man’s Land” of barbed wire, exploding artillery shells and machine-gun fire. In the fall of 1917, Canada’s army—after their great success at Vimy Ridge that April—was sent north to Belgium. It would be familiar ground for the Canadians who had seen harsh fighting there earlier in the war. Ypres The Ypres area of Belgium, where Passchendaele is located, was the scene of several First World War battles. It was the last portion of Belgium that was not in enemy hands after the initial German advance of 1914 and, as a result, held great symbolic meaning to the Allies. Ypres was a very difficult place to fight. It was a region largely made up of flat, low land that was kept dry only with a series of dykes and drainage ditches. Three years of heavy fighting had destroyed the drainage systems. The ground, churned up by millions of artillery shells, turned to sticky mud when wet. In 1917, the autumn rains came early and turned the battlefield into a sea of mud, the likes of which still make the name Passchendaele a synonym of horrific fighting conditions. The Opening of the Battle The Third Battle of Ypres was undertaken by the British primarily to take the pressure off the French forces to the south. The British commander, Sir Douglas Haig, launched a drive in Belgium to seize strategic German railways in the occupied country and capture the German submarine bases along the coast. The main attack began at the end of July. British, as well as Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) forces, launched an offensive with a heavy artillery barrage. Heavy rains came down the very night the attack began. Shell holes quickly filled with water and turned into filthy ponds, all too often containing the remains of soldiers. A heavy toll was taken on the attackers as they had to struggle through thick mud with little cover while machine-gunners in German pill boxes (reinforced concrete machine gun positions) tore them to pieces. Despite these conditions, they slowly gained much of the higher ground as the summer turned into fall. The main targets of the Allied offensive, however, remained out of reach. The Canadians at Passchendaele Early in October, the Canadians were sent to relieve the battered ANZAC forces and take part in the push to capture Passchendaele. Canadian commander Lieutenant-General Arthur Currie inspected the battlefield and was shocked at the conditions. He tried to avoid having his men fight there but was overruled. As at Vimy, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps would see action. However, the mud, flat terrain, and relative lack of preparation time and artillery support would make Passchendaele a far different battlefield than the one the Canadians encountered at Vimy Ridge. Currie took the time to carefully prepare as much as possible and on October 26, the Canadian offensive began. Success was made possible due to acts of great individu


What were the Penny Black and the Two Pence Blue that first went on sale in England in May 1840?

Penny black stamps | Penny black value | Rare English stamps Penny Black stamps The history and value of first adhesive postal stamp: the penny black stamp The Penny Black is the moniker of the world’s first adhesive stamp used in public postal system. The idea of an adhesive stamp indicates that a letter has been paid. The first postage stamp  was proposed to reform the British postal system by Rowland Hill in 1837. On May 1, 1840 the British postal service sold the first Penny Blacks, and continued to issue the stamps until 1841. The stamp cost 1 pence and was darkly colored, hence the name Penny Black. Nowadays, it is considered as one of the rarest British stamp. It was widely issued in United Kingdom. All London posts offices received the new official stamps but other offices in the country did not. One of the offices like Bath offered the stamp unofficially after May 2. The inscription “postage” appeared at the top of the stamp and “one penny” at the bottom. The word one penny indicates the amount of transmission in which it was affixed on the envelope. The background of the stamp consists of finely engrave engine turnings. The two upper corners contained two star-like designs and the lower corners contained letters designating the position of the stamp it was printed. The sheets were printed by Perkins Bacon. The imperforate Penny Black stamp were printed in sheets of 240 with 12 stamps across and 20 stamps down and had to be individually cut by hand. As the name suggests, the stamp was printed in black ink. The Penny Black was used only for a year. It was found out that red cancellation was hard to see on a black background and the red ink is easy to remove. It was easier to see a black canceling on a Penny Red. Hence, it is not a very rare stamp. Penny Black successors The Penny Red was issued in 21st of January 1841. It was the successor of Penny Black stamp. There were 10,000 sheets of Penny red stamp printed and issued to the public a month later. It was used as the definitive stamp  in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1879. There were only minor changes on the stamp. The color was change from black to red because of the difficulty in seeing the red cancellation mark on the Penny Black. Further more, a black cancellation mark  is readily visible on a Penny Red. The world's second official adhesive stamp was the Two Penny Blue or 2d blue. It was also issued in May 1840 by the United Kingdom. It was more or less the same as the Penny Black. It was planned that 2d blue stamp will be released together with Penny Black. However, the earliest post mark seen on a Two Penny Blue was on May 8, 1840 which is two days after the Penny Black was released. The Two Penny Blue is much rarer and more expensive than the Penny Black. The Legacy of Penny Black This small rectangular stamp developed a new system of processing and delivering mails. It includes transferring parcels, special delivery, air mail, bulk mail and various other options. Sending letters with uniform price made communication possible by all means. The combination of uniform prices, new transportation methods, and more efficient postal system indicates that postal services were low enough that almost everyone could afford to write a letter. Penny Black printing plates Penny Black stamps were printed from 11 plates. Unfortunately, plate 1 needed a thorough investigation for repair due to excessive wear. It was generally considered as two separate plates, 1a and 1b. Plate 11 was solely intended for the new red stamps but a small number were printed in black. These stamps printed with black Plate 11 are very rare. The stamps were printed in unperforated sheets. And it is cut in scissors for sale. Jacob Perkins invented the D cylinder press. It was the original printing press for the first postage stamp. It was patented in 1819 and was on display at the British Library in London. Rare Penny Black postage stamp corner letters Each penny black stamp has an inscription at the four corners of stamp. These inscriptions determine the position of the s


Making a U-turn results in a change of direction of how many degrees?

Illegal U Turns in California | by Nolo Illegal U Turns in California In California, should you fight a ticket for an illegal U turn? Share on Facebook California traffic laws limit when you can make a U-turn. A U-turn is a full 180 degree turn that results in traveling in the opposite direction from when you started. If a law enforcement officer catches you making an illegal U-turn, you will get a ticket, you will have to pay a fine, and the ticket may affect your insurance rates. Consequences will be much worse if your illegal U-turn results in damage to another person or their property. However, you may be able to get out of your ticket if you can prove that your U-turn was not illegal. To fight your ticket, your first step should be to read the text of the law that you allegedly violated to see if every element of the law applies to your situation. California U-turn Laws Here are California’s key U-turn laws from California’s Vehicle Code (VC). Which law applies to you depends on whether you in a residential district, a business district, or an area that was neither residential or business. U-turn in a Business District ( VC § 22102 ) No person in a business district shall make a U-turn, except at an intersection, or on a divided highway where an opening has been provided in accordance with VC § 21651 . This turning movement shall be made as close as practicable to the extreme left-hand edge of the lanes moving in the driver's direction of travel immediately prior to the initiation of the turning movement, when more than one lane in the direction of travel is present. This law says that you can make a U-turn in a business district, but it must be at an intersection or clearly marked opening in the highway. Obviously, if there is a visible sign that prohibits a U-turn in an opening, you may not make a U-turn there. If you get a ticket that charges you with violating this law, make sure that the area really is a business district. According to VC § 235 , a business district a stretch of road in which 50% of the properties within 300 feet are used for business (600 feet if the business area is only on one side). U-Turn in Residence District ( VC § 22103 ) No person in a residence district shall make a U-turn when any other vehicle is approaching from either direction within 200 feet, except at an intersection when the approaching vehicle is controlled by an official traffic control device. This law allows you to make a U-turn anywhere in a residential area, as long as there are no other cars approaching yours within 200 feet. However, this 200 feet rule does not apply at an intersection controlled by a stop light or stop sign. According to VC § 515 , a residential district is one in which there are at least 16 homes or businesses within a quarter mile (13 homes or businesses if only on one side of the road). If you got a ticket for violating VC § 22130 and you can show that the area was not a residential district, that no cars within 200 feet were approaching, or that you made the U-turn at an intersection controlled by a stop sign or stop light, you may be able to fight your ticket. Unobstructed View Necessary for U-Turn ( VC § 22105 ) No person shall make a U-turn upon any highway where the driver of such vehicle does not have an unobstructed view for 200 feet in both directions along the highway and of any traffic thereon. This law says that unless you are not in a business district or a residential district (see laws above), you may make a U-turn as long as you have an unobstructed view of the road for 200 feet. This is true even if you cross over double yellow lines, unless the double yellow lines are two or more feet across, which indicate a divided highway. (U-turns on divided highways are governed by VC§ 21651 .) If you got a ticket for violating this law, you may be able to fight it if you did in fact have an unobstructed view of the road for 200 feet. It will be up to the officer to prove that your view was obstructed. Here’s an interesting fact: Taking a left into a driveway, backing out, and then driving in


What was the title of Stephen Kings first novel, in which a telekinetic woman exacts deadly revenge on her high school classmates?

Stephen King (Creator) - TV Tropes Stephen King You need to login to do this. Get Known if you don't have an account Share In the time it took for you to look at this picture, he wrote a 1500 page novel. "It was a nice day... AND THEN EVIL CAME!" — The Collected Work of Stephen King, ultra-condensed version The current dominant author of the horror genre (although he prefers to not consider himself such), Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) has added much to its stock of tropes. Many of his works reference each other, building up a larger universe . He's known for being ludicrously prolific but also for producing far better writing than most people who pump out stories at his rate, and many who take a lot longer about it. The start of his career is a classic Rags to Riches scenario. While working as a high school teacher and selling short stories on the side, King and his family struggled to make ends meet, with King even choosing to have his phone disconnected to save money. He had written several novels but sold none, then began to write a story about a telekinetic teenage girl that would eventually become Carrie. Ironically, King threw the first few pages (the shower scene) out at first, thinking that he couldn't realistically write a teenage girl. His wife Tabitha found the pages in the garbage and read them, then convinced King that he was on to something and to finish the novel, saying that she wanted "to know what happens." The book was optioned for release by Doubleday, and to King's astonishment, the paperback rights were sold for $400,000 (of which King received $200,000), which lifted him and his family out of debt overnight. King's success did not come without hardship. During the '80s, he fell into severe drug and alcohol abuse, to the point that he claims to have almost no memory of writing Cujo. He eventually got sober and has remained so ever since, and has incorporated the experience into many of his novels since then. Many of his books have been made into films . Few of those have been good films, and most of those that are good are, ironically, not horror films, with the most standout exception being The Shining , even if it is very different from the book. This is often due to the directors of the given movies having no idea how to convey the thoughts of King's characters, which often affect their situations just as much as their actions, into workable scenes even with input from King himself. They also tend to suffer from Special Effects Failure . While calling him a "horror writer" grossly understates and undervalues much of his career and work, he undoubtedly remains one of the most important authors in that genre, and many consider him to be the heir to the legacy begun by Edgar Allan Poe, passed down to H.P Lovecraft and then to King, with no apparent successor in sight (yet). King has, in the past, referred to himself as "ABLB" or "America's Best Loved Boogeyman," a title he sees as originating with Alfred Hitchcock, then passed on to Rod Serling, and then to him. Long typecast as a horror novelist, the success of films like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me , among others, have finally earned him some credit as a good writer both within the horror genre and in others as well. King is also in a rock band with a shifting lineup of fellow writers (including Dave Barry , Amy Tan , Ridley Pearson, and Mitch Albom) called The Rock Bottom Remainders. He is the father of horror author Joe Hill , and is purportedly the inspiration for the G.I. Joe character Crystal Ball (his son Owen is the namesake for the character Sneak Peak). For a list of his works which have pages on the wiki, see Works By Stephen King . Not to be confused with Stephen Hawking .     Stephen King's Works (in order)  Carrie - Scrapbook Story about an abused girl with Psychic Powers who takes a terrible revenge at the prom. King's wife stopped him from throwing the manuscript out and convinced him to finish it. Made into a movie by Brian De Palma that received two Academy Award nominations (for acting), which later re


The group of 48 of the United States that are between Canada and Mexico is referred to as the continental or what United States?

USA Time Zones: Standard Time + Daylight Saving Time + Time Zone information | Greenwich Mean Time United States of America Time in American Cities The United States of America , also referred to as the United States , the U.S. , the USA , America , and the States (colloquially), is a federal republic of 50 states, located primarily in central North America. The United States has land borders with Canada and Mexico and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia and the Bahamas.  The USA is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Forty-eight of the states, "the continental" or "contiguous 48 states" are located in a single region between Canada and Mexico. The other two are Alaska and the archipelago of Hawaii. There is a federal district, the District of Columbia named 'Columbia' for the old poetic name for the country, comprising the capital, Washington, D.C . The United States also owns a number of overseas territories. The largest cities are New York , Los Angeles and Chicago . USA Time Zones The United States spans 6 time zones.  It shares the main four time zones with Canada ( Eastern Time , Central Time , Mountain Time and Pacific Time ). Hawaii Time and Alaska Time are separate Time zones. View current time in all US time zones: World Clock USA Daylight Saving Time Since 2007: Daylight Saving Time begins for most of the United States at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March. Time revert to standard time at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November. Daylight Saving Time, for the U.S. and its territories, is NOT observed in Hawaii , American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the state of Arizona (not the Navajo Indian Reservation, which does observe). Navajo Nation participates in the Daylight Saving Time policy, due to its large size and location in three states. USA & Canada clocks are now on STANDARD TIME


Who became World Snooker Champion for the third time in 2008?

Mark Selby beats Ding Junhui to win World Snooker Championship - BBC Sport BBC Sport Mark Selby beats Ding Junhui to win World Snooker Championship By Shamoon Hafez BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield 2 May Media playback is not supported on this device Highlights: Selby wins second world title England's world number one Mark Selby beat China's Ding Junhui 18-14 to win his second World Championship title. Selby, the 2014 winner from Leicester, led throughout Sunday and went into Monday's final session leading 14-11. Ding, who was bidding to become the first Asian player to win the world title, claimed three frames in a row. But Selby dug deep to seal a brilliant double for the city of Leicester, whose football team became Premier League champions 13 minutes earlier. Media playback is not supported on this device Selby 'over the moon' with world title "It is fantastic," Selby told BBC TV. "It was very special to win it two years ago, but I felt under a lot more pressure now than I did two years ago. "In the first to 18, a 6-0 lead is not a huge one, especially against someone like Ding. He played fantastically earlier today and I had to just hang on to him. "I'm just over the moon. I saved my best performance for the final and I only had two good sessions in the tournament. Luckily my 'B' game is pretty good. And on Leicester City's incredible Premier League title success, he added: "To be Premier League champions is a fantastic achievement and I want to say well done to Claudio Ranieri and the boys." Selby's ranking titles 2008: Beats Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-8 to win Welsh Open 2011: Beats Mark Williams 10-9 in Shanghai Masters final 2012: Wins UK Championship with 10-6 win over Shaun Murphy 2014: Wins World Championship 18-14 against Ronnie O'Sullivan 2015: Wins German Masters and China Open 2016: Clinches second World Championship Also won the Masters, an invitation event, in 2008, 2010 and 2013 Selby among the greats Media playback is not supported on this device Best shots of the World Championship Selby joined snooker's greats by becoming only the sixth multiple world champion in the Crucible era. The 32-year-old, who pulled out of the previous two ranking events in preparation for the season-ending showpiece, had not played his best snooker in the tournament and came in for criticism over his often slow and meticulous style of play. But breaks of 120, 91 and 76 put him 6-0 ahead on Sunday, a lead which he never relinquished. Having played the longest frame ever at the Crucible against Marco Fu in the semi-finals, Selby was involved in further drawn-out tactical battles with play ending at 00:24 BST on the first day. However, Selby - who has remarkable mental toughness and never-say-die attitude - showed his experience to close out the match and the seventh ranking title victory of his career keeps him top of the world rankings for a fifth straight year. Six multiple world champions in Crucible era Stephen Hendry (7), Steve Davis (6), Ronnie O'Sullivan (5), John Higgins (4) and Mark Williams (2) John Spencer, Alex Higgins and Ray Reardon won the title in both the modern and pre-1977 era. Crowning of king Ding must wait Media playback is not supported on this device Selby creates huge cue to play pot China's Ding fell short in his bid to become only the fourth player from outside Britain to win the title and only the third qualifier to lift the trophy. The 29-year-old previously failed to deliver his best at the tournament as two semi-finals were his best showing, but with less pressure of not being one of the favourites this time, he managed to showcase his talent with his renowned heavy scoring. His 15 tournament centuries was only one short of Stephen Hendry's all-time record. They included seven tons in the semi-final win over Alan McManus, a record for a single Crucible match, but he was then overcome by nerves during the opening exchanges against Selby. Although Ding, who moves up to ninth in the world, got to within one frame at stages in the final, Selby displayed his trademark grit and resolve to pull a


Which scientist allegedly used mirrors to focus the sun's rays to burn Roman ships during the Siege of Syracuse around 214212 BC?

History of the white race - Page 9 - Stormfront History of the white race User Name Culture and Customs Music, art, literature. Listen live to Stormfront Radio with Don Black & Friends Followed by Dr. David Duke. Weekdays 9:00-11:00am ET | Archives Location: The white lands of north ga Posts: 1,029 Re: History of the white race Chapter 55 : British North America - Canada The history of Canada's occupation by Whites was not marked by the prolonged race wars which accompanied the settlement of America. Rather the indigenous peoples - also Amerinds - were pushed out by masses of White immigrants - an almost peaceful conquest which contains huge lessons in itself: not all population displacements are the result of violent conquest, but the end result is the same. First White Settlements The first Whites to set foot on what later became known as Canada were the Vikings who established a settlement under Leif Ericson in Newfoundland around the year 1,000 AD. The Vikings did not, however, stay: either through conflict with the Amerinds or other difficulties, White contact with North America was lost until the 15th Century. John Cabot In search of a route to the East, the White explorer John Cabot, a Venetian in the service of England, sailed to Newfoundland in 1497. He was soon followed by Portuguese and other explorers who were seeking a water route to Asia through or around North America. In 1576, Martin Frobisher sailed to Baffin Island. In 1585, John Davis found and named Davis Strait. In 1610, Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay. Hudson was marooned there by his mutinous crew, and Sir Thomas Button's unsuccessful search for him (1612-1613) confirmed that there was no western exit from the bay. Jacques Cartier In 1534, Francis I, King of France, dispatched Jacques Cartier to seek the Northwest Passage in the region Cabot had explored. Sailing beyond Newfoundland, Cartier found the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Above: The French explorer Jacques Cartier, who from 1534 - 1535 explored much of the St. Lawrence river system. In 1541 he led an expedition back to Canada, along with a few hundred colonists, to found New France. The attempt failed, but set the scene for later colonial expeditions. He launched a further three voyages to the gulf (1534, 1535 and 1541) but still failed to find a way around the continent. In 1535, he explored the Saint Lawrence river as far as the modern day city of Montreal, and spent the winter at the site of the present day city of Quebec. English Settlement During the 17th Century, European fishermen sailed to the territory to hunt whales and cod which existed in large numbers off the Canadian coast. Most attempts to found settlements failed, with only a handful surviving past a few winters. One of those that did survive was St. John's harbor in Newfoundland, and in 1583, that territory was officially annexed to England. First Amerind Trade Contacts In the 1600s, permanent English communities grew up around Newfoundland's Avalon peninsula, and French communities grew up on the island's south coast. The first commercial contact with Canadian Amerinds was also started: the primary trade being animal furs. Initially then, there was little conflict between the Whites and the Amerinds in Canada: the White population was simply too small and spread out. As in virtually all of the new lands, the White arrival brought with it new diseases previously unknown to the locals. Although exact figures are unknown (as the Amerinds themselves kept no records) a large number of Canadian Amerinds died as a result of diseases to which they had no resistance between the years 1500 and 1700. French and British From 1600, the French started seriously competing with the British for land in North America. A huge region, to become known as New France, was claimed by the French: this territory stretched from the St. Lawrence River basin, Acadia (now the Maritime provinces), the island of Newfoundland (shared unwillingly with the English), and later Louisiana (along the Mississippi River valley, right down to the Gulf of Mexico). A


"What British institution has the nickname ""The Old Lady Of Threadneedle Street""?"

The Bank of England : money, power, and influence 1694-1994 (Book, 1995) [WorldCat.org] Editorial reviews Publisher Synopsis 'Includes a fascinating table depicting the rise of the state machine this century.' The Guardian The book is generated by a backwrd-looking event, a conference to mark last year's celebration of the bank's 300th anniversary. But the essays tingle with forward-looking speculation- will the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street finally break free from the bad company of politicians? It is rare for a collection of essays to offer such a rich diet, a tribute to the editors' skill. Financial Times The preface and introduction to this collection of essays...which includes several interesting, well-written and worthwhile contributions. The Tablet Accessible survey of three centuries of the Bank's history. Times Literary Supplement Provides an excellent historical summary. Times Higher Education Supplement A distinguished group of historians and economists provide an authoritative assessment of the major themes in the bank's history. Business Horizons This wide-ranging institutional survey will be useful to readers interested in British economic history or banking. Choice The authors have ... provided a refreshing variety of retrospectives on different sub-periods of the Bank's 300 years and on different aspects of its evolution as a central bank. The Economic History Review The book is beautifully produced ... in one good-sized volume there is here an excellent coverage of the origins, growth, and development of the Bank which draws on archives not previously exploited. It is a fitting commemorative volume for the Bank's 300th anniversary. Business History The very praiseworthy ambition of the editors and organisers seems to have been to provide as much coverage as possible of the Bank's history in both its domestic and international setting from its founding to the present day - and to do this thematically ... The book is beautifully produced ... in one good-sized volume there is here an excellent coverage of the origins, growth, and development of the Bank which draws on archives not previously exploited. It is a fitting commemorative volume for the Bank's 300th anniversary. Business History It is to the credit of the editors and the contributors that it represents both a celebration and a serious scholarly analysis of the Bank over the past three centuries ... This book makes two important contributions to understanding this debate. On the one hand, it provides an extremely valuable perspective on how the Bank of England has come to occupy such a critical and influential position in the British economy over the whole of its history. On the other, it underlines how much the Bank's role has altered since Norman became Governor. Business Archives Sources and History this is a serious and scholarly book aimed at the specialist and not the general reader ... There is no shortage of good histories of the Bank of England, but no scholarly ones roam over long periods and analyse long-term developments in the context of specific influences exerted upon the Bank by external forces. This is the task of this book and it is achieved with distinction within 200 pages which is no mean feat; the contributors know their stuff ... a remarkably good, useful and ambitious book. The publishers have also done a good job for the relatively modest cover price. John Orbell, Financial History Review, Vol 3 1996 All of the chapters can be read for substantial intellectual profit and it would be invidious to highlight individual contributions ... the editors are to be congratulated for assembling an excellent team of authors who, collectively, have produced an indispensable work of scholarship on a critically important national institution. The Historical Associaton It succeeds in demystifying many of the Bank's more arcane activities and, in taking the long view, it does offer a different perspective on the Bank's evolution than was available before ... a considerable addition to our understanding of the financial history of modern B


Winston Churchill - Prime Minister - Biography.com Winston Churchill As prime minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Winston Churchill rallied the British people during WWII, and led his country from the brink of defeat to victory. IN THESE GROUPS “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.” “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” “Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities ... because it is the quality which guarantees all others.” “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Winston Churchill Winston Churchill - Mini Biography (TV-14; 4:12) Noted for his military service, Winston Churchill led England during World War II . He took the blame for the Gallipoli landings during World War I, but eventually became Prime Minister and led the fight against Adolf Hitler. Synopsis Born to an aristocratic family in 1874, Winston Churchill served in the British military and worked as a writer before going into politics. After becoming prime minister in 1940, he helped lead a successful Allied strategy with the U.S. and Soviet Union during WWII to defeat the Axis powers and craft post-war peace. Elected prime minister again in 1951, he introduced key domestic reforms. Churchill died at age 90 in 1965. Early Life Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born to an aristocratic family on November 30, 1874. As his life unfolded, he displayed the traits of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, a British statesman from an established English family, and his mother, Jeanette "Jennie" Jerome, an independent-minded New York socialite.  As a young child, Churchill grew up in Dublin, Ireland, where his father was employed by his grandfather, the 7th Duke of Marlborough, John Spencer-Churchill. When he entered formal school, Churchill proved to be an independent and rebellious student. He did poorly at his first two schools and in April 1888, he was sent to Harrow School, a boarding school near London. Within weeks of his enrollment, he joined the Harrow Rifle Corps, which put him on a path to a military career. At first it didn't seem the military was a good choice for Churchill. It took him three tries to pass the exam for the British Royal Military College. However, once there, he did well and graduated 20th in his class of 130. Up to this time, his relationship with both his mother and father was distant, though he adored them both. While at school, Churchill wrote emotional letters to his mother, begging her to come see him, but she seldom came. His father died when he was 21, and it was said that Churchill knew him more by reputation than by any close relationship they shared. Churchill enjoyed a brief but eventful career in the British Army at a zenith of British military power. He joined the Fourth Hussars in 1895 and served in the Indian northwest frontier and the Sudan, where he saw action in the Battle of Omdurman in 1898. While in the Army, he wrote military reports for newspapers The Pioneer and the Daily Telegraph, and two books on his experiences, The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1898) and The River War (1899). In 1899, Churchill left the Army and worked as a war correspondent for the Morning Post, a conservative daily newspaper. While reporting on the Boer War in South Africa, he was taken prisoner by the Boers while on a scouting expedition. He made headlines when he escaped, traveling almost 300 miles to Portuguese territory in Mozambique. Upon his return to Britain, he wrote about his experiences in the book London to Ladysmith (1900). Early Careers: Government and Military In 1900, Churchill became a member of Parliament in the Conservative Party for Oldham, a town in Manchester. Following his father into politics, he also followed his father's sense of independence, becoming a supporter of social reform. Unconvince


"Which artist, born in Leeuwarden in 1898, is famous for his optical illusions such as ""Ascending And Descending"", ""Convex and Concave"", and ""Metamorphosis I""?"

1000+ images about M. C, Escher (1898-1972) on Pinterest | Mc escher, Optical illusion art and Wood engraving Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas M. C, Escher (1898-1972) Maurits Cornelis Escher, (1898-1972) usually referred to as M. C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Wikipedia Born: June 17, 1898, Leeuwarden, Netherlands Died: March 27, 1972, Laren, Netherlands Nickname: Mauk Period: Modern art 186 Pins542 Followers


In Britain, rationing ended, the London gold market reopened, Roger Bannister was first to run a mile in under 4 minutes, and the Queen returned from a tour of the Commonwealth in which year?

2011-08-08T12:31:57.366Z August 19 1909:  First race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  In that first five-mile race on August 19, 1909, 12,000 spectators watched Austrian engineer Louis Schwitzer win with an average speed of 57.4 miles per hour. The track's surface of crushed rock and tar proved a disaster, breaking up in a number of places and causing the deaths of two drivers, two mechanics and two spectators. The surface was soon replaced with 3.2 million paving bricks, laid in a bed of sand and fixed with mortar. Dubbed "The Brickyard," the speedway reopened in December 1909. In 1911, low attendance led the track's owners to make a crucial decision: Instead of shorter races, they resolved to focus on a single, longer event each year, for a much larger prize. That May 30 marked the debut of the Indy 500--a grueling 500-mile race that was an immediate hit with audiences and drew press attention from all over the country. Driver Ray Haroun won the purse of $14,250, with an average speed of 74.59 mph and a total time of 6 hours and 42 minutes. Denise Roth 2011-05-17T13:23:35.412Z May 17 1954  In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down an unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, ruling that racial segregation in public educational facilities is unconstitutional. The historic decision, which brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, specifically dealt with Linda Brown, a young African American girl who had been denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas , because of the color of her skin.  In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that "separate but equal" accommodations in railroad cars conformed to the 14th Amendment's guarantee of equal protection. That ruling was used to justify segregating all public facilities, including elementary schools. However, in the case of Linda Brown, the white school she attempted to attend was far superior to her black alternative and miles closer to her home. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took up Linda's cause, and in 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka reached the Supreme Court. African American lawyer (and future Supreme Court justice) Thurgood Marshall led Brown's legal team, and on May 17, 1954, the high court handed down its decision.  In an opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the nation's highest court ruled that not only was the "separate but equal" doctrine unconstitutional in Linda's case, it was unconstitutional in all cases because educational segregation stamped an inherent badge of inferiority on African American students. A year later, after hearing arguments on the implementation of their ruling, the Supreme Court published guidelines requiring public school systems to integrate "with all deliberate speed."  The Brown v. Board of Education decision served to greatly motivate the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and ultimately led to the abolishment of racial segregation in all public facilities and accommodations. On May 17, 1970, Norwegian ethnologist Thor Heyerdahl and a multinational crew set out from Morocco across the Atlantic Ocean in Ra II, a papyrus sailing craft modeled after ancient Egyptian sailing vessels. Heyerdahl was attempting to prove his theory that Mediterranean civilizations sailed to America in ancient times and exchanged cultures with the people of Central and South America. The Ra II crossed the 4,000 miles of ocean to Barbados in 57 days. On this day in 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one       of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes the first B-17 crew to complete       25 missions over Europe.  The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a bombing raid against Lorient, a German       submarine base. But before returning back home to the United States , film footage was       shot of Belle's crew receiving combat medals. This was but one part       of a longer documentar


What infectious disease, occurring commonly in epidemics and caused by a virus, is characterised by blotchy rash preceded by a running nose and eyes, with a rise in temperature and lassitude?

Bluebook Infectious Deases Bluebook Infectious Deases View More Guidelines for the control of infectious diseases. A total of 64 types of Infectious Deases has been described in four groups. Basically The blue book: guidelines for the control of infectious diseases has been published by the Communicable Diseases Section, Public Health Group, Victorian Department of Human Services of Melbourne,Australia, to assist public health practitioners in the prevention and control of infectious diseases. But I think this document is valuable for the comunity of the human in this world to protect and control of infectious diseases. For the shake of humanity, publishar of this valuable book will forgive me for distributing among the human comunity. Copyright: Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC) Guidelines forthe control ofinfectious diseases The blue book The blue book: Guidelines forthe control ofinfectious diseases i These guidelines have been developedby the Communicable Diseases Section,Public Health Group. The Blue Book–Guidelines forthe control ofinfectiousdiseases firstedition (1996) was used asthe basis forthis update.We would like to acknowledge and thankthose who contributed to thedevelopmentofthe original guidelinesincluding various pastand presentstaffofthe Communicable Diseases Section.We would also like to acknowledge andthankthe following contributors fortheirassistance:A/ProfHeath Kelly,Victorian InfectiousDiseases Reference LaboratoryDrNoel Bennett,contenteditorDrSally Murray,contenteditorMs Kerry Ann O’Grady,contenteditor Published by the Communicable DiseasesSectionVictorian GovernmentDepartmentofHumanServicesMelbourne VictoriaMay 2005© CopyrightState ofVictoria,DepartmentofHuman Services 2005This publication is copyright. No partmay bereproduced by any process exceptinaccordance with the provisions ofthe Copyright  Act1968 .Authorised by the State GovernmentofVictoria,555 Collins St,Melbourne.Printed byThis documentmay also be downloaded fromthe DepartmentofHuman Services web site at: www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas/bluebook These guidelines have been preparedfollowing consultation with experts in thefield ofinfectious diseases and are basedon information available atthe time oftheirpreparation.Practitioners should have regard to anyinformation on these matters which maybecome available subsequentto thepreparation ofthese guidelines.Neitherthe DepartmentofHumanServices,Victoria,norany personassociated with the preparation oftheseguidelines acceptany contractual,tortious orotherliability whatsoeverinrespectoftheircontents oranyconsequences arising from theiruse.While all advice and recommendationsare made in good faith,neithertheDepartmentofHuman Services,Victoria,norany otherperson associated with thepreparation ofthese guidelines acceptslegal liability orresponsibility forsuchadvice orrecommendations. AcknowledgementsDisclaimer infections67Hand,footand mouth disease69 Hand,footand mouth diseaseinformation sheet70 Hendra and Nipah viruses71Hepatitis A73Hepatitis B75Hepatitis C79Hepatitis D (delta hepatitis)83Hepatitis E85Herpes simplex infections87Human immunodeficiencyvirus oracquiredimmunodeficiency syndrome89Hydatid disease (echinococcosis)93Impetigo (school sores)95 Impetigo (school sores)information sheet97 Infectious mononucleosis(glandularfever)99Influenza101Invasive pneumococcal disease105 Japanese encephalitis107Kunjin virus disease109Legionellosis (Legionnaires’disease)111Leprosy (Hansen’s disease)115Leptospirosis117Listeriosis119Malaria123Measles (rubeola)127Melioidosis131Meningococcal disease133Molluscum contagiosum137 Molluscum contagiosuminformation sheet138 Mumps139Murray Valley encephalitis virus141Mycobacterial infections(non-tuberculosis)145Mycobacterial infections(tuberculosis)147 Mycobacterium ulcerans 151Pediculosis orhead lice153Pertussis (whooping cough)155Pinworm infection (threadworm)157Plague161Poliomyelitis163Psittacosis (ornithosis)167 Psittacosis information sheet169 Rabies and Australian batlyssavirusexposure information sheet176 Rickettsial infections179Ringworm ortinea181 Ross Riverviru


Which piece on a chessboard can move only one space in any direction?

Chess Pieces Moves - Learn About Chess Piece Moves Learn About Chess Piece Moves Learn the different chess piece moves so that you know how to move the pieces around a chess board. Here is a tutorial on chess piece moves. Show transcript Hide transcript Transcript: Learn About Chess Piece Moves Hi, my name is Zachery Powell -- I'm with About.com. Today I'm going to teach you how chess pieces move. Set Up Your Chess Board to Learn Chess Piece Moves You need a board and 16 pieces on one side and 16 on the other side, with one side being light and one side being dark. The right hand corner of each player should be the light color. The first thing you want to do is set up your king and queen. They go on the center in the back row. The queen will be on her color and the king will be on the opposite color. On the other side of the king and queen you have your two bishops and on the either side of your bishops you have your two knights. On the outside would be your two rooks, and all your pawns would take up your front row. The King and Queen's Chess Piece Moves The king is the most important piece; it is also the tallest piece. The king has very limited movements. He can only move one space in any direction forward, backwards or diagonal. The king can capture any piece as long as it's in its moving range. The king can never move to a space that would allow him to be captured. The queen is the most powerful chess piece, and can move in any direction for any distance without jumping over any chess pieces. Learn the Chess Piece Moves for Bishops, Knights and Rooks There are two bishops, one on each color. The bishops can move diagonal for any distance without jumping over a piece. The knight is a very interesting piece. It can move forward and back, left or right two spaces and then left or right one space. It is the only one that can jump over other chess pieces. The rook, sometimes called the castle, can move forward, backwards, left and right, any distance without jumping over another piece. The Pawn's Chess Piece Moves Your pawn is the most basic piece; it can only move one space forward unless it's the pawn's opening move -- then it can move two spaces forward. Your pawn cannot move backwards, or cannot move side to side. It can move diagonal and can only move diagonal to take an opponent's piece. The pawn cannot take your opponent's piece while using the forward movement. Check is when the king can be taken in the next move. When you are checked, you must either move the king out of danger or use another piece to block or take the threatening piece. When your king can no longer move out of danger, then you are now in checkmate. That's the end of the game. Thank you very much for watching. For more information, visit us at About.com. About videos are made available on an "as is" basis, subject to the Terms of Use .


What name was applied to legislation regarding the sale of liquor in the U S A between 1919 to 1933?

APIS - About Alcohol Policy About Alcohol Policy CITATIONS AND RELEVANT TEXT EXCERPTS INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND In the United States, public policies that govern the manufacture, sale, and use of alcohol and define society's responses to alcohol-related problems are established by Federal, State, and local governments. The legal basis for Federal and State regulation of alcoholic beverages is derived from the United States Constitution. From 1919 until 1933, the 18th Amendment prohibited "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States and its territories. At the end of 1933, Congress ratified the 21st Amendment, repealing national Prohibition and granting States broad power to regulate alcoholic beverages. Ratification of the 21st Amendment gave States the authority to either permit or prohibit importation or sale of alcoholic beverages within their borders; to determine the specific structure of alcohol distribution within their borders; and to regulate various aspects of alcohol sales and possession. These powers, however, do not preclude regulation by the Federal Government. The Commerce Clause of the Constitution also grants the Federal Congress the authority "[t]o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States..." —an authority that has been broadly interpreted over the past half century. In addition, the U.S. Congress may use its taxing power, granted under Article 1 of the Constitution, to assess and collect taxes on alcoholic beverages. Finally, the Federal Government may regulate alcoholic beverages in all areas subject to direct Federal control, such as public lands or military bases. Federal law can also influence State alcohol policies by means of financial incentives. For example, Federal law requires that a portion of Federal highway funding be withheld from any State that allows the purchase or public possession of alcoholic beverages by persons under the age of 21 years. States vary in the amount of authority they allocate to local government to regulate alcoholic beverages. In many States, municipalities or other local government agencies create laws (often called ordinances) that regulate the sale and distribution of alcohol within their jurisdictions. In other States, alcohol control is retained at the State level with little or no regulation originating at local levels.   THE PREEMPTION DOCTRINE The preemption doctrine holds that higher levels of government can mandate in certain situations the actions and practices of lower levels of government. Thus, State and local governments must adhere to policies appropriately mandated by the Federal government, and local governments must adhere to policies appropriately mandated by State governments. As noted above, alcohol policy has a unique position with regard to Federal preemption. Because of the 21st Amendment, Federal law cannot restrict or preempt most State alcohol-related laws. However, by virtue of the Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the Constitution, Federal preemption may still come into play if a State law conflicts with other Constitutional provisions (such as the Interstate Commerce clause) or falls outside the scope of the 21st Amendment (such as restrictions on health delivery systems). In APIS, the Wholesale Pricing Practices and Restrictions and Health Insurance Parity policies therefore may be impacted by Federal preemption, as noted in the descriptions of those policies. State preemption, which limits the authority of local governments, is applied differently across States and policies and can have a significant effect on the nature and scope of alcohol policies at the local level. As noted above, many States permit local alcohol policy regulation. However, most States apply the preemption doctrine to at least some degree, limiting local authority generally or prohibiting local regulation of specific policies.[ 1 ] Because APIS is focused on State law, State preemption is not addressed in its analysis, although its potential impact is noted in the Explanatory Notes and Limitati


necromancer - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com Random Word necromancer Necromancer is a fancy word for a magician. A necromancer might mix up a love potion or cast a spell on your mortal enemy. You can use the noun necromancer when you talk about a sorcerer of any kind, but it most often refers to someone who can communicate with the dead. Your cousin who has good luck contacting spirits through her Ouija board might be an aspiring necromancer. For many people, the word has a dark, scary connotation, or a connection with black magic. The Greek word at the root of necromancer is nekromanteia, which joins nekros , "dead body," with manteia, "divination."


Which American blues artist died on 21 June 2001?

The Blues . The Songs & the Artists . Biographies . Alphabetic | PBS Born: June 26, 1893, Scott, Mississippi Died: August 15, 1958, Chicago, Illinois Also known as: William Lee Conley Broonzy As a young boy Big Bill Broonzy would return home from a day's fieldwork with cornstalks, which he'd rub together as a homemade fiddle while  his many brothers and sisters  16  danced to the music he made. By the age of 14 he was performing as a professional fiddler, and  after moving to Chicago as an adult he switched to guitar. He became a prolific songwriter as well as a performer and recording artist and was  a foundational contributor to the pre-war Chicago blues scene. He was a clever lyricist with a flair for narrative, and is known for having  one of the largest and most versatile repertoires on record, from a slick urban blues sound to his acoustic country blues roots as well as  folk and traditional spirituals. Broonzy also acted as a mentor to younger musicians, helping many of them secure performing dates and  recording sessions. When the Chicago blues sound was transformed by the emergence of the electric guitar, Broonzy kept performing as a more  itinerant folk-blues act, paving the way for the future of blues in Europe and the U.K. As he aged he continued to perform, even as he suffered  from throat cancer, to which he succumbed in 1958. Essential listening: " When Will I Get to be Called a Man ," "Key to the Highway," "Big Bill Blues," "All by Myself" Ruth Brown Born: January 1, 1928, Portsmouth, Virginia Ruth Brown's smooth vocals made the rhythm and blues charts regularly between 1949 and 1955, and helped a then-fledgling Atlantic Records  establish itself as a formidable presence in the R&B world. Later in her long and versatile career she became known as a rock and roll  and pop singer as well as a stage and film actress, winning a Tony award on Broadway. She has influenced many R&B and soul artists, and  her enduring talent is evidenced by her recent solo recordings and guest appearances with artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Shemekia Copeland  and B.B. King, as well as a Grammy win in the late 1980s. Brown continues to perform. Essential listening: "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean," "Teardrops From My Eyes," "Don't Deceive Me," "Mambo Baby" Willie Brown Born: August 6, 1900, Clarksdale, Mississippi Died: December 30, 1952, Tunica, Mississippi Willie Brown was an outstanding guitarist as well as vocalist who had an enormous influence on the origination and development of Delta blues.  Brown performed regularly with blues legends Charley Patton, Son House and Robert Johnson, and also backed Patton and House on recordings. He  is known as an accompanist rather than a soloist, although he did record three extraordinary solo performances. Later in his career he  primarily performed with Son House. Both Brown and House disappeared from the music scene during the 1940s, and, sadly, Brown died before the  blues revival of the 1960s, when many of his contemporaries were rediscovered by blues scholars. Essential listening: "M & O Blues," "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor," "Future Blues" Paul Butterfield Blues Band Born: December 17, 1942, Chicago, Illinois Died: May 3, 1987, Los Angeles, California At the age of 16, harmonica player Paul Butterfield regularly sat in with blues legends Otis Rush, Magic Sam, and Howlin' Wolf, among others,  at Chicago clubs. Butterfield formed his own soon-to-be-legendary band in 1963 with guitarist  Elvin Bishop and eventually drummer Sam Lay and bassist Jerome Arnold. This lineup was one of the first racially integrated blues bands in the  city. Their 1965 self-titled release, featuring the additions of guitarist Mike Bloomfield and keyboardist Mark Naftalin, had a huge impact on  the 1960s blues revival, and they also broke ground backing Bob Dylan's legendary performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival (the electric  sound outraged many purist folk fans). Later the band changed personnel again, eventually including jazz great David Sanborn (


What is the inherited condition that causes the body to retain copper, which can lead to brain and liver damage?

American Liver Foundation - Wilson Disease Home > Your Liver > Liver Disease Information > Wilson Disease Wilson Disease Explore this section to learn more about Wilson disease, including a description of the disease and how it's diagnosed. What is Wilson disease? Wilson disease is an inherited condition that causes the body to retain excess copper. The liver of a person who has Wilson's disease does not release copper into bile as it should. As the copper builds up in the liver, it begins to damage the organ. After enough damage, the liver releases the copper directly into the bloodstream, which carries the copper throughout the body. The copper buildup leads to damage in the kidneys, brain, and eyes. If not treated, Wilson's disease can cause severe brain damage, liver failure, and death. What are the symptoms of Wilson disease? Wilson Disease is present at birth, but the symptoms usually appear between the ages of 6 and 20 years and can begin as late as age 40. The most characteristic sign is a rusty brown ring around the cornea of the eye called the Kayser-Fleischer ring. This can be seen only through an eye exam. Other signs can be detected only by a health care professional, such as swelling of the liver and spleen; fluid buildup in the lining of the abdomen; anemia; low platelet and white blood cell count in the blood; high levels of amino acids, protein, uric acid, and carbohydrates in urine; and softening of the bones. Some symptoms are more obvious, like jaundice, which appears as yellowing of the eyes and skin; vomiting blood; speech and language problems; tremors in the arms and hands; and rigid muscles. What causes Wilson disease? Wilson disease is a rare inherited disorder that affects about one in 30,000 individuals of any race or ethnicity. Wilson’s disease is an autosomal recessive trait, which means that the affected individual must receive two copies of an abnormal gene for Wilson’s disease, one from each parent. How is Wilson disease diagnosed? The diagnosis of Wilson disease can usually be made by tests of the blood, urine and eyes, or by liver biopsy. Almost all patients with Wilson’s Disease also have a decreased level of serum ceruloplasmin, a copper binding protein, in their blood. An increase of copper in the urine is present in most but not all patients, and corneal Kayser-Fleischer rings are present in 50% of people with the disease. A liver biopsy may be performed to measure the amount of copper in the liver, which is elevated uniformly in all patients with Wilson disease. Genetic testing of DNA samples can be used to screen a confirmed patient’s siblings and other family members. How is Wilson disease treated? Wilson disease is treated with lifelong use of D-penicillamine or trientine hydrochloride, drugs that help remove copper from tissue, or zinc acetate, which stops the intestines from absorbing copper and promotes copper excretion. Patients will also need to take vitamin B6 and follow a low-copper diet, which means avoiding mushrooms, nuts, chocolate, dried fruit, liver, and shellfish. If detected early and treated properly, a person with Wilson disease can enjoy completely normal health. If left untreated, Wilson disease results in increasing damage to the liver and brain, and will be deadly. Patients with acute liver failure due to Wilson disease should be considered for liver transplantation. Liver transplantation effectively cures this disease, with a long-term survival rate of about 80%. If I’ve been diagnosed with Wilson Disease, what should I ask my doctor? Speak to your doctor about the next steps to treat the disease, including changes in your diet. Also ask about protecting your liver from additional injury by receiving the hepatitis A and B vaccines. Who is at risk for Wilson Disease? Wilson Disease occurs with equal frequency in men and women. For a child to inherit it, both parents must carry and pass on a specific gene. Two abnormal genes are required for the child to have the disease. All siblings and children of Wilson disease patients should be tested for the condition


"Who wrote the opera ""The Magic Flute""?"

The opera novice: Mozart’s The Magic Flute - Telegraph The opera novice: Mozart’s The Magic Flute Is there a more crowd-pleasing opera than The Magic Flute, asks Sameer Rahim. Ekaterina Siurina as Pamina and Charles Castronovo as Tamino in Die Zauberflote at the Royal Opera House Photo: Mike Hoban Follow I’ve been listening to a lot of Wagner recently – partly inspired by Nicholas Spice’s recent stimulating essay in the LRB . That was entitled “Is Wagner Bad for Us?” and while I can't answer that question, I do know that a perpetual diet of heavy Teutonic music can leave you yearning for something lighter. So it’s with relief that I turned to Mozart’s pantomime concoction Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), currently playing at the Royal Opera House in David McVicar’s revived production. Any novices expecting a witty romantic comedy in the vein of the Mozart-Da Ponte collaborations like Le Nozze di Figaro or Cosi fan tutte will be surprised. The plot of The Magic Flute is more akin to a fairy tale: a noble prince is ordered by the mysterious Queen of the Night to rescue a beautiful princess who has been kidnapped. The Magic Flute, first performed in 1791 in a suburban Viennese theatre, was called a Singspiel on the playbill. Literally meaning Sing-speak, the form combines spoken dialogue with arias and ensembles, and relies on spectacular visual effects to keep the crowd happy. Interestingly in his letters Mozart referred to it as an opera – he evidently took the piece more seriously than the punters seeing it. He wrote the music to the words of his friend Emanuel Schikaneder, an actor, impresario and fellow enthusiast for the freemasons – a group whose rational ideals had a powerful influence on the opera. It opens in the thick of action. A serpent is attacking Prince Tamino, the hero, when three ladies appear from nowhere and save him. This scene, like many in the opera, could as easily be played for laughs or as genuinely scary – the music indicates the latter, I think. (David McVicar’s Chinese dragon tries scariness without banishing the comic aspect.) These ladies claim to work for the Queen of the Night, whose daughter Pamina has been kidnapped by the evil Sarastro. When Tamino sees her picture he breaks into one of those heart-melting arias (Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön: “This image is enchantingly lovely”) that Mozart seems to have been able to conjure with ease. When we meet the Queen she gives Tamino a magic flute to aid him on his quest. Tamino’s comic sidekick is the birdcatcher Papageno, whose sweet innocence makes him the most endearing of all the characters or – if he’s played badly – the most annoying. It’s arguable that a successful Magic Flute depends on who’s playing Papageno because especially in the second half he almost supersedes the main plot. This oddity made more sense when you realise that in the original production he was played by the librettist Schikaneder. Mozart seems to have been happy to indulge him – and even join in the fun. In a letter he reports how he liked to sit in the wings and play improvisations on the glockenspiel while his friend was performing. Related Articles The opera novice: La Traviata by Verdi 12 Feb 2013 In a dramatic reversal that seems a touch puzzling (there is a theory that the libretto was throw together in a rush) when Tamino eventually meets the kidnapper Sarastro and his temple-goers, they turn out to be anything but evil. In this production we see the temple’s speaker bathed in an enlightened glow, playing with an instrument that measures the heavens – controlling the Queen of the Night's elemental forces. Sarastro’s music is grave, impressive and, for me, a trifle pompous. The trials he makes Tamino and Pamina undergo – walking through fire etc – before they can marry seem more designed to allow dramatic stage enactment than to be true tests of virtue. Before then the Queen of the Night returns for the opera’s most famous aria . While ordering her daughter to murder Sarastro she pushes the human voice to breaking point by climbing to the highest of high


At which Olympic Games were females allowed to compete at track & field athletics for the first time?

First time at the Olympics 1st Olympic Congress : 16 - 24. June 1894 Paris         (Founding Congress) Subject: Study and Diffusion of the Principles of Amateurism and         Revival         of the Olympic         Games.                                      1896 Athens   First Modern Olympic Games held in         Athens.                Statistic          first games The Olympic Hymn of 1896. The text is by Kostis          Palamas, the music is          by Spyros Samaras. It was presented for the first time in the opening ceremony of the          first modern Olympic Games. 1900 Paris Women participate for the first time First female winner: Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain in singles         tennis. 1904 St. Louis   In 1904, for the first time, medals were awarded         to the first three         people to finish each event--a gold medal for first place, a silver         medal         for second, and a bronze medal for third. At the Athens Games 1896 the         winners in each event received silver medals, as there was not enough         money         left to mint them in gold.  1906 Athens The Olympic oath Defeated in WWI, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany,          Hungary and Turkey are          not allowed to participate.  First time of innovation at the Antwerp Games was          the releasing of thousands          of          white doves at the opening ceremony as a symbol of peace among nations. 1924 Paris In 1924 for the first time, the Games returned to         a former venue. The Paris Games were the fist to have an Olympic          Village for the athletes. Olympic motto first officially used. The president of France, Gaston Doumergue, opened the first Games to          adopt the slogan: "Citius, Altius, Fortius" (Swifter, Higher, Stronger)  It was pronounced for the first time from the Dominican          father          Eric Dinon and was  adopted in the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. 1924 - Technology begins to win a place at the          Olympic Games with the          event's first live radio broadcast.  First Olympic Winter Games held in St.          Moritz.  1928 Amsterdam First Olympic Flame to be lit and burned         throughout whole Olympic Games Olympic flame burned at the stadion for the first time ever.  First introduction of large results board. The          objekt of a score board          was to publish the results of the events immediately. Women allowed to compete in track and field          events. First time Greece led parade of nations. Slow-motion film techniques used to judge close          finishes; women's track          and field competitions held for first time. The photography rights were sold to a commercial firm. 1932 Los Angeles Introduction of three-tiered victory stand. Kirby Two-Eyed Electric Timing Camera The stop-watch and photo finish were first used at          the Olympic Games          in Los Angeles, California. When officials found it impossible to          determine          the winner of the 100 meters race by  naked eye and stop watch          alone,          newsreel film was analyzed to determine that Eddie Tolan          (U.S.)  was          the gold medal winner.  First time the national anthem from the winner's          country was played          and the national flag of medallists raised. 1936 Berlin 1948 London   Fanny Blankers-Koen of Netherlands is first woman         to win 4 gold medals         in a single Games. 1952 Helsinki   The first Olympic coin was minted to mark the         1952 Olympic Games in         Helsinki, Finland, 500 markka. 1956 Melbourne   First Games to be held in the Southern Hemisphere         (Melbourne) At


What is the name of the area immediately surrounding a golf hole?

Parts of the golf course: Different shots and different rules About Us Parts of the Golf Course Playing it rough? Lost in a hazard? Different parts of the golf course ask for a different kind of game. The aim of the game – getting from tee to green as fast as possible - is pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, the ball often chooses a more roundabout way to get there. So on occasion, you may find yourself in “uncharted territory”. Some parts of the course have their own rules, like hazards. Parts of the Golf Course An overview: Tee box or teeing ground A closely mown flat area, often on a mount, from which you play your first shot. Each hole has more than one tee box. The color of the markers on the tee box indicate which one you’re playing from. You can tee up your ball anywhere between the 2 markers and up to 2 club lengths behind them (you can be standing outside this area). Fairway Short grass between tee and green that shows the actual lay-out of the hole. Hitting your ball from the fairway is easier, because there’s no long grass to interfere with your shot. A curve in the fairway is called a dog leg left or right. Colored markers indicate the distance you have left to get to the green. Quite often, only key distances like 200, 150 and 100 yards are marked. In other cases, exact yardages will be engraved on the sprinkler heads throughout the fairways. Green Putting surface with ultra short grass that surrounds the hole. Greens vary greatly in size and undulation. “Reading the green” means figuring out which way the ball will turn on the slopes, breaking away from of towards the cup. The type of grass used, the time of day and the presence of water around the green will all have an influence on your line of putting. Once your ball is on the green, remove the flag stick before playing your next shot. Otherwise letting your ball hit the pin will cost you a 2-stroke penalty. Some courses will use different colored flags to indicate whether the hole is in the front, middle or back of the green. Rough The parts of the golf course that are surrounding the fairways, with longer grass and even different kinds of vegetation. The rough is harder to play from, because the longer grass gets caught between the club face and the ball. In “deep” rough, it is recommended to use a higher lofted club to get out of it, even if that means giving up some distance. Hazards The hazards are the most feared parts of the golf course because they add strokes to your score. There are 2 types of hazards on the golf course: water hazards and bunkers. Water hazard: marked by yellow stakes. It is a body of water situated between you and the green. In other words, your ball has to cross the water to get to the green. If your ball end up in a water hazard, you can either replay the shot from its last position or drop the ball as far back as you like on the line that extends from the pin through the point where your ball crossed in to the water. In both cases, a penalty stroke is added. Lateral water hazard: marked by red stakes. This is a body of water that borders the hole you are playing. In other words, your ball does not cross the water to get to the hole. If your ball ends up in a lateral water hazard, you can either Replay the shot from its last position or drop the ball within 2 club-lengths (but not nearer the hole) of the point where the ball last crossed the hazard or drop the ball within 2 club-lengths of a point on the opposite side of the hazard at an equal distance from the hole. Again a penalty stroke is added in all cases. Fairway bunker: is not marked by stakes. It is an indentation or pit in the fairway, filled with sand. No penalty strokes are added to the score. Greenside bunker: sand trap in the immediate surrounding of the green. Playing from this hazard requires a sand wedge and a different set up. The same rule applies for shots from all hazards: you can not set down your club behind the ball before taking the shot. Grounding the club in a hazard would be considered “testing the conditions” and therefore incur a 2-stroke


Portree is the principal town on which island?

Portree Isle of Skye, Scotland Portree Portree, Isle of Skye Portree is the principal town of the Isle of Skye, with a sheltered harbour and small but bustling centre. Portree is where you will find the main banks, shops and administrative offices on the Island.


The design specification for the Ford GT40, which won the Le Mans 24 Hour race four years in a row, specified that car be a maximum of ?

GT40’s – chassis by chassis | autooftheday GT40’s – chassis by chassis PART 2 – Individual Chassis GT/101 – 1964 Proto. fitted with 255 Cui engine   1/4/1964 – Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) 1964 – Le Mans Trials Schlesser Result:  Crashed & Destroyed 1964/65 – Chassis & Parts reused in another car ?? No longer exists   GT/102 – 1964 Proto. fitted with 255 Cui engine   11/4/1964 – Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) 1964 – Le Mans Trials Schlesser Crashed 1964 – Ring 1000KM Hill/ McLaren Retired 1964 – Le Mans Hill/ McLaren Retired 1964 – Rheims 12 Hours Hill/ McLaren Retired 1964 – Monza testing Crashed & Destroyed (throttle jammed) No longer exists   GT/103 – 1964 Proto. fitted with 255 Cui engine   June 1964 – Ford Advanced Vehicles (FAV) 1964 – Le Mans Ginther/ Gregory Retired 1964 – Rheims 12 Hours Ginther/ Gregory Retired 289 Cui engine fitted 1964 – Nassau TT Hill Retired 1964 – Nassau Governors Trophy Hill Retired Ownership passed to Shelby USA (SAI) 1965 – Daytona 2000KM 1965 Miles/ Ruby 1st 1965 – Sebring 12 Hours McLaren/ Miles 2nd 1965 – Le Mans Trials McLaren 1965 – Monza 1000KM McLaren/ Miles 3rd 325 Cui engine fitted 1965 – Ring 1000KM Hill Retired 289 Cui engine fitted 1965 – Bill Wonder USA (Retained until 2005) 1965 – Daytona 24 Hours Wonder/ Wetanson Retired 1966 – Sebring 12 Hours Wonder/ Caldwell Disq. 1967 – Daytona 24 Hours Wonder/ Caldwell 8th 1967 – Sebring 12 Hours Wonder/ Caldwell Retired 1968 – Daytona 24 Hours Wonder/ Cuomo Retired 1968 – Sebring 12 Hours Wonder/ Cuomo DNS. 1969 – Daytona 24 Hours Wonder/ Cuomo DNS. 1970 – Daytona 24 Hours Wonder/ Cuomo 8th 2004 – Symbolic Motors Corp. offered @ USD$ 3.0 mil. 2005 – RM Auctions (Monterey) SOLD for USD$2.5 mil. 2005 – Larry Miller Collection (More information here: http://www.rmauctions.com/CarDetails.cfm?SaleCode=MO05&CarID=r103 )   Courtesy of SCM Magazine – This 1964 Ford GT40 Prototype sold for $2,502,500 at RM’s Monterey sale, held August 20, 2005. This car is a prime example of one of the great dilemmas facing the collector car hobby: What is the “correct” specification for vintage race cars? While street cars come from the factory and don’t change, racing cars can evolve over time, particularly if they have long careers. My favorite thing about racing is that it revolves around the accumulation of knowledge and the development of technology. A race car stands as a clear example of the best machine that a very smart, very motivated group of people could create using the knowledge, technology and materials that were available to them at that particular moment in time. As such, a race car is a cultural artifact, a relic of immense historical interest and value. This is, admittedly, a purist point of view. In the days when race cars actually lasted for more than one season, they were not considered artifacts. They were tools, weapons for the battle, and anything that could be done to make them faster or better was done. This divergence in attitude persists in contemporary vintage racing, with some organizations (notably the FIA) trying to preserve cars to a “point in time” specification while the “I gotta run at the front” crowd tries to find ways to make a 1964 car go as fast as a 1970 one. The GT40 Prototype pictured here started out as Ford’s original concept of what the GT40 should be-however flawed that was-but over its racing life was modified so that today little remains of the original car that left the factory, save its chassis number. Whoever won the battle to own this car spent an absolutely scandalous amount of money to do so, presumably placing far more importance on the history of the car than the current historical correctness of the vehicle. So what was actually purchased here? There seems to be no question that this car really is S/N 103, apparently in single ownership since it left Ford Advanced Vehicles in 1966. There is no suggestion that it was ever crashed or seriously damaged, so the tub is original and serviceable. The car is back in its blue and white Daytona livery, and has a very nice patina. Everything else, however, is j


In the 1960s, who had a hit record with Bob Dylans Blowin in the Wind?

Blowin' in the Wind - Bob Dylan | Song Info | AllMusic Blowin' in the Wind google+ Song Review               by John Bush Inarguably the peak of modern protest songwriting, "Blowin' in the Wind" transformed Bob Dylan from hipster folky to cultural sensation and provided the growing protest community with an anthem equally applicable to every kind of injustice ever visited upon the Earth. Though it'd been brewing in Dylan's head for a while, "Blowin' in the Wind" was first heard in public on April 19, 1962. After finishing the lyric and tune that afternoon, Dylan took the song with him over to the nightclub Gerde's Folk City in Greenwich Village. He ran through it in front of Gil Turner, the host of that night's performances, and Turner immediately decided to add it to his set. After he played it that night, the audience went wild and gave the song an ovation. Still, over a year passed before "Blowin' in the Wind" appeared on a Dylan LP. Finally, in 1963, the song was released as the first track on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Even before it had hit the stores, however, Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman, brought an acetate to Peter, Paul & Mary. The trio cut the record themselves as quickly as they could, and the single hit number two by the summer of 1963. Stevie Wonder also hit the Top Ten with his version three years later. Folkies of all stripes (Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, the Kingston Trio, the New Christy Minstrels, the Chad Mitchell Trio, Judy Collins) have recorded the song, as well as other artists including the Hollies, Cher, King Curtis, Sam Cooke, Marianne Faithfull, Ray Conniff, Chet Atkins, Stan Getz, Earl Scruggs, Lou Donaldson, Bobby Darin, and the Searchers. Of course, only a handful of performers -- Jimi Hendrix ("All Along the Watchtower"), the Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man"), Manfred Mann ("The Mighty Quinn") -- have done Dylan songs better than Dylan himself, so it's no surprise that the definitive reading is the first issued, from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. As with most of his other classics, Dylan makes a complex song sound deceptively simple; in each of the three verses, he asks three rhetorical questions (i.e., "How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?"), and answers each time with the chorus: "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind/The answer is blowin' in the wind." While the questions speak to the unending record of injustice in the long history of the world, the answers reflect the Taoist mantra that the solution is obvious to all who truly think about it, yet impossible to grasp with any type of standard (i.e., written or expressed) explanation. Though it's masked in naturalistic thinking, "Blowin' in the Wind" is an encapsulation of Eastern thinking within abstract songwriting that (surprisingly) made the charts and (not so surprisingly) became one of the most famous standards of the rock era. Appears On


Which one of these scripts was not written or co-written by Harold Pinter?

Harold Pinter - Biography - IMDb Harold Pinter Jump to: Overview  (2) | Mini Bio  (1) | Spouse  (2) | Trivia  (17) | Personal Quotes  (6) Overview (2) 24 December 2008 ,  London, England, UK  (liver cancer) Mini Bio (1) Harold Pinter, the 2005 Nobel Laureate for Literature, was born October 10, 1930, in London's working-class Hackney district to Hyman and Frances Pinter, Eastern European Jews who had immigrated to the United Kingdom from Portugal. Hyman (known as "Jack") was a tailor specializing in women's clothing and Frances was a homemaker. The Pinters, whose families hailed from Odessa and Poland in the Russian Empire, were part of a wave of Jewish emigration to the UK at the turn of the last century. It was a community that revered learning and culture. The Pinter family was close, and young Harold was traumatized when, at the outbreak of World War II, he was evacuated from London to Cornwall with other London children for a year to avoid becoming casualties of German aerial bombing. Pinter has said that his encounter with anti-Semitism while growing up was the fuse that ignited the organic process leading him to becoming a playwright. As the Nobel Prize citation attests, Pinter developed into the greatest English dramatist of the post-World War II era. The young Pinter studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1950 he published several poems and began working as a professional actor. Under the stage name David Baron, he toured the Republic of Ireland with Anew McMaster 's Shakespearean repertory company in 1951-52. Significantly for Pinter's future, 1951 not only marked the debut of his career as a professional actor but also marked the first performance of future Nobel Literature Laureate Samuel Beckett 's absurdist masterpiece "Waiting for Godot." He next appeared with Sir Donald Wolfit 's theatrical company at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, for the 1953- 54 season before becoming a player with various provincial repertory companies, including the Birmingham Rep, until he gave himself over full-time to playwriting in 1959. Two significant events that would change Great Britain forever occurred during his apprenticeship in provincial rep: (1) the Suez Crisis of 1955 that shattered the UK's pretensions to empire in a post-colonial world and doomed the imperial generations represented by Prime Minister Anthony Eden and his mentor Winston Churchill , and (2) the 1956 premiere of John Osborne 's play "Look Back in Anger." The shattering of the United Kingdom's complacency over imperialism meant that many successful people of Pinter's generation, who normally would have become Tories upon achieving some modicum of success, were disillusioned and drifted towards Labour and the left. No longer would a working- class person, if he so chose, have to be ashamed or stymied if \eschewing becoming middle-class or bourgeois. Osborne's play was the seminal work of the "kitchen-sink" school of drama that would dominate English theater for a decade, in which working-class life and struggles were dramatized. The hegemony of this school of theater was such that for the first time, a working-class or provincial accent became something treasured, something to be proud of, as the former world was set firmly upon its head. Even the great Laurence Olivier turned his back on the commercial theater to assay Osbourne's Archie Rice, a down-at-the-heels music hall performer, in "The Entertainer" (1957). The kitchen-sink drama was a movement that Pinter would not be a part of, though it did open the doors for working-class writers who, unlike the working class-born Noël Coward , had no interest in becoming bourgeois. The other major element in the cultural milieu that forged Pinter was the Cold War, the absurdity of facing doomsday everyday under the threat of The Bomb (the USSR had acquired the means to produce a bomb through its atomic spy ring and exploded its first A-bomb in 1949, thus ending the US monopoly on nuclear weapons and making the Korean war, the suppression of an East


What component of tonic water is used to prevent or alleviate the effects of malaria?

The Straight Dope: Will the quinine in tonic water prevent malaria? A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's Storehouse of Human Knowledge Will the quinine in tonic water prevent malaria? August 13, 1999 Dear Cecil: Tonic water contains quinine, because (I gather) quinine was the "tonic" against malaria in Britain's colony days. So is the dose in tonic water today the same as it was when it was being used medicinally? If so, does drinking tonic water today actually affect my chances of getting malaria? If not, why do soft drink companies keep putting it in? — Toph, via the Internet Cecil replies: I can see where you're going with this. You're tossing back that fourth gin and tonic and thinking, Man, I'm really marinating the old hypothalamus here. But at least I won't get malaria. Nice try, sport, but no dice. Tonic water contains less than 20 milligrams of quinine per six fluid ounces. The recommended quinine dosage for treatment of malaria is two or three 200-350 milligram tablets three times a day. If you drink the equivalent of that in gin and tonics, malaria will be the least of your problems. Tonic water was never intended as a cure or preventive for malaria, but malaria is the reason the quinine is in there. Quinine has a bitter taste. To make the stuff palatable when used as an antidote for fevers, legend has it, British colonials in India mixed quinine with gin and lemon or lime. Over time they learned to love the godawful stuff. (You can see this principle at work in a lot of British cuisine.) Tonic water was granted an English patent in 1858, Schweppes brought it to the United States in 1953, and to this day it remains an essential component of Anglo-American mixology. Quinine is also used, along with other herbs, to flavor vermouth. It's only fitting that we toast quinine (well, toast with quinine). Few drugs have been such a boon to humanity. Quinine comes from the bark of the cinchona tree, which grows in the rain forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes. (One begins to comprehend the importance of preserving rain forests.) The Spanish first heard about the medicinal properties of the bark of the "fever tree" from the natives in the early 17th century. According to tradition, the stuff was used in 1638 to cure Countess Anna del Chinchon, wife of the viceroy of Peru, an event commemorated a century later when botanists named the plant. The viceroy shipped a boatload of it to Europe in 1640, and the Jesuits began using it in their missionary work, whence it acquired the nickname "Jesuit's powder." For a time religious and national rivalries kept quinine from being universally adopted, but eventually everybody began using it, and many historians today say it permitted the European conquest of the tropics. Quinine was the only effective treatment for malaria for 300 years. After World War II, however, it was largely supplanted by synthetic drugs such as chloroquine that were safer, more effective, and easier to make. (Though quinine kills malarial parasites in red blood cells and alleviates fever, it doesn't completely destroy malaria in the body, allowing relapses to occur if quinine therapy is halted.) But some strains of the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum became resistant to the synthetic drugs — one reason the global malaria eradication program launched by the World Health Organization in 1955 was declared a failure in 1976 — and in some parts of the world quinine has again become the antimalarial drug of choice. One last thing. (I know we're getting off the track of tonic water, but when else am I going to get a chance to use this stuff?) Schweppes claims to have invented the soft-drink business by patenting a process for carbonating water in 1783. The hard part was keeping the carbonation from seeping out of the bottle when the cork dried out. Schweppes's solution was classic: to ensure that the corks stayed damp, the company used bottles with rounded ends so they couldn't stand upright. Drink enough gin and tonics, and neither will you. — Cecil Adams


What is the scientific symbol for calcium?

Chemical Elements.com - Calcium (Ca) Contains an "Introduction to Tungsten", among other things If you know of any other links for Calcium, please let me know Bentor, Yinon. Chemical Element.com - Calcium. <http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/ca.html>. For more information about citing online sources, please visit the MLA's Website . This page was created by Yinon Bentor. Use of this web site is restricted by this site's license  agreement . Copyright © 1996-2012 Yinon Bentor. All Rights Reserved.


The capital of the U S A, Washington, DC, is bordered by Maryland and which other state?

Washington, D.C. | national capital, United States | Britannica.com national capital, United States Alternative Titles: D.C., District of Columbia Related Topics list of cities and towns in the United States Washington, D.C., D.C. in full District of Columbia, city and capital of the United States of America. It is coextensive with the District of Columbia (the city is often referred to as simply D.C.) and is located on the northern shore of the Potomac River , at the river’s navigation head—that is, the transshipment point between waterway and land transport. The state of Maryland borders the District of Columbia to the north, east, and west, and the state of Virginia borders the District on the southern shore of the Potomac River. Washington, D.C. The White House, Washington, D.C. © MedioImages/Getty Images In 1790 the U.S. Congress established a 100-square-mile (260-square-km) territory to serve as the permanent seat of the federal government. (The territory was later named the District of Columbia, within which the city of Washington was built.) The location for the new territory was centralized among the Eastern Seaboard states and was about 90 miles (145 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean on land ceded by Maryland and Virginia. In the mid-19th century the land south of the Potomac River that had been ceded by Virginia was returned to the state, reducing the District to its present-day size. After the American Civil War (1861–65), the city of Washington expanded beyond its originally planned boundaries and became legally indistinguishable from the District of Columbia . Washington, D.C., remains a territory, not a state, and since 1974 it has been governed by a locally elected mayor and city council over which Congress retains the power of veto. The Washington metropolitan area covers nearly 4,000 square miles (10,360 square km) and encompasses 10 counties, 5 in Maryland ( Montgomery , Prince George’s , Frederick , Charles , and Calvert ) and 5 in Virginia ( Arlington , Fairfax, Loudoun, Stafford, and Prince William). Area District, 68 square miles (176 square km). Pop. (2000) 572,059; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Division, 3,727,565; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Area, 4,796,183; (2010) 601,723; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Division, 4,377,088; Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metro Area, 5,582,170. Character of the city Boston Washington is an extraordinary city, one with multiple personalities: a working federal city, an international metropolis, a picturesque tourist destination, an unmatched treasury of the country’s history and artifacts , and a cosmopolitan centre that retains a neighbourly small-town ambience . The role Washington plays as the capital of the United States often overshadows its lively local history and its complex political, economic, and social issues. About half the land in Washington is owned by the U.S. government, which pays no taxes on it. Several hundred thousand people in the D.C. metropolitan area work for the federal government. The Capitol, Washington, D.C. © Photos.com/Jupiterimages During the last half of the 20th century, “suburban flight” of the middle class contributed to the city’s loss of more than one-fourth of its population. As new jobs, especially those in the high-technology industries, were created in Maryland and Virginia, the population of the suburbs increased as much as 50 percent per decade. By the first decade of the 21st century, however, Washington’s population began to increase as younger workers moved into revitalized city neighbourhoods. Despite these shifts in population, the economies of the District and those of nearby Maryland and Virginia remain interdependent. Landscape City site The city of Washington was built on a gently undulating, low, wide peninsula of land bounded by the Potomac River and its tributary, the Anacostia, in the belief that the location would develop into an important commercial port. (Potomac is an Algonquian word meaning “trading place,” and Anacostia is derived from the name of a local people, the Nacost


What is the only country not to identify itself on its postage stamps?

Great Britain Stamps Great Britain Stamps -- NASA Satellite Image Great Britain is a large island off the Western coast of Europe. It is a combination of the territories of England, Scotland, and Wales. Since the 18th Century, it has been known as the United Kingdom, or simply U.K. The United Kingdom is such a tiny little place, in the scheme of the map of the World.  One might think it quite insignificant. However, since the late Middle Ages, when it began to emerge as one of the major maritime powers, this little island kingdom has had a greater influence on the history of the World than any other country on the face of this vast planet. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, they embarked on a massive program of colonial expansion, establishing colonies on every continent and in every ocean. By the beginning of the 20th Century the British Empire was the largest empire on earth. The famous saying was absolutely true, that "THE SUN NEVER SET ON THE BRITISH EMPIRE". Even today, many countries around the globe owe their cultures, civil laws, and even their languages to Britain, including the United States. Postal systems have existed for over 2,000 years. The earliest systems generally involved couriers delivering government or military communications over great distances. Letter mail came into use in the Middle Ages, and by the 17th Century, some towns began using postmarks to identify the place or origin and the date the letter was mailed. The postal fees were always paid by the recipient, upon the receipt of the letter. "Stamps" have been around since the Middle Ages, though they were primarily tax stamps, embossed on legal or financial transaction documents.  In the 1830's, Great Britain began studying the idea of implementing inexpensive letter postage rates that would be prepaid by the sender with an adhesive postage stamp at the point of origin of the letter. On May 6, 1840, Britain became the first country in the world to issue adhesive stamps, for the prepayment of postage, to be affixed to the letter envelope by the sender. The new stamps featured the portrait of the twenty-one-year-old Queen Victoria.  They are shown in the image above. As no other country at the time was issuing adhesive postage stamps, the country name was not used. For their distinction of being the first stamp issuing country, to this day, Great Britain is the only country in the World that is NOT required to print their country name on their postage stamps. The Very Scarce 1882 ₤5 Orange From the specialist willing to spend the hundreds of thousands of dollars required for a specialized Victorian collection, to the general collector buying sets of modern commemorative or definitive stamps, there are many possibilities for collecting the stamps of Great Britain. For the novice collector, a basic collection of used 19th Century issues, such as the Penny Reds or the less expensive Surface Printed stamps, is possible for a modest investment. A great starting point for new collectors of Great Britain stamps may be all the mint stamps from the coronation of King George VI in 1937 to modern times.  Collecting this period can give the new collector many hours of enjoyment, a great looking historical collection, and the cost of all the stamps will not break the budgets of most dedicated stamp collectors. As far as the content page links of this category go .... The nineteenth Century postage stamps of Great Britain are very complex.  Most specialists prefer to use the Stanley Gibbons Great Britain Specialised Catalog, Volume I .  The stamps of Queen Victoria's reign are separated into three major groups .... Line Engraved Issues, Embossed Issues, and Surface Printed Issues.  These categories will be used for this website's 19th Century content page links, though the stamps within them will be illustrated and reviewed in Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue number sequence. The most complex area of 19th Century British philately is that of the Line Engraved Issues. This group includes the Penny Black, Penn


Which of the Marx Brothers appeared in their vaudeville act, but not in any of their films?

The Marx Brothers - Biography - IMDb The Marx Brothers Jump to: Mini Bio  (1) | Trivia  (2) Mini Bio (1) The Marx Brothers, Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo are a group of actors known for Duck Soup (1933), Animal Crackers (1930) Horse Feathers (1932) A Night in Casablanca (1946) A Day at the Races (1937) and A Night at the Opera (1935). They began their careers in Vaudeville, before becoming stars in the movies. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Alan Caswell Trivia (2) In alphabetical order, they were Chico Marx , Groucho Marx , Gummo Marx , Harpo Marx , and Zeppo Marx . Gummo appeared in their vaudeville act, but not in any Marx Brothers films. In 1971, the Mariner 9 spacecraft arrived in orbit around Mars - to find it entirely engulfed in a planet-wide dust storm. The only features clearly visible were four dark spots (now known to correspond to the Tharsis volcanoes and Olympus Mons). Carl Sagan was so fascinated by these that his colleagues at Cornell University jokingly called them "Carl's Marks"; Sagan, in his turn, nicknamed the four spots Harpo, Groucho, Chico, and Zeppo. See also