What ship famously sank after hitting an iceberg?

Titanic threat: Why do ships still hit icebergs? - BBC News BBC News Titanic threat: Why do ships still hit icebergs? By Lauren Everitt BBC News Magazine 20 March 2012 Read more about sharing. Close share panel Next month marks the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic. The disaster spurred maritime nations to start monitoring icebergs, so why are ships still hitting them? Shortly before midnight on 14 April 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank less than three hours later. The tragedy galvanised world leaders to hold the first Safety of Life at Sea convention to address the iceberg threat. With only visual sightings and a shipboard radio to guide the Titanic safely through iceberg-infested waters, the liner was ill-equipped to detect its nemesis. The conference after the sinking resulted in the International Ice Patrol (IIP), which was assigned to monitor "Iceberg Alley", the infamous stretch of ocean around Newfoundland. The IIP has been monitoring the area ever since, using aerial patrols and radar to determine the limits of iceberg danger, which they broadcast in a daily bulletin. In the southern hemisphere captains rely on programmes like the European Space Agency's Polar View for real-time iceberg detection via satellite imagery. Image caption The International Ice Patrol at work circa 1950 With dedicated monitoring teams issuing daily reports, satellites beaming back images and ship radars offering detailed information, the risk of smashing into huge chunks of ice might seem slim. But it still happens. All of these advances could not prevent MS Explorer's encounter with an iceberg on the evening of 23 November 2007. The 154 passengers had to abandon ship, floating on life rafts for several hours in icy waters. Everyone survived, but the incident was dubbed the "modern Titanic" in the New York Times. Less than two months later another Antarctic cruise ship, the MS Fram, lost engine power and struck a glacier. The impact smashed a lifeboat, but the 300 people on board escaped unharmed. Only last year an iceberg tore a hole in the hull of a Russian fishing boat cruising around the Antarctic. The 32-person crew threw cargo overboard to lighten the ship while waiting nearly two weeks for rescue. There are no globally-collated figures for iceberg strikes, but they happen every year. For the northern hemisphere, from 1980 to 2005, there were 57 incidents involving icebergs giving a rate of 2.3 per year, according to Brian Hill, of the Institute for Ocean Technology, who maintains a database of more than 680 iceberg-ship incidents. And while considered less of a menace, iceberg strikes regularly happen in the southern hemisphere. Iceberg removal strategies Titanic tragedy prompted creative methods for iceberg removal, such as: Explosives:US Coast Guard attempts to blow up icebergs (pictured) in the 1950s and 60s proved unsuccessful Towing:Ice-management companies "lasso" icebergs with floating rope, and boats pull them clear of oil rigs and shipping routes Water cannons:High-pressure hoses blast icebergs away from danger zones Melting:In 2001, a Russian oil company proposed melting icebergs by covering them with a water-proof coat and injecting hot water Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica and "Iceberg Wranglers", Legion Magazine Antarctic areas have experienced a slight increase in collisions, according to Hill. "People are pushing into these frontiers a little more," he says. "Typically if you had an accident it would be in the North Atlantic in the shipping routes, that doesn't happen quite so often now. It's more in those remote areas." Many more cruises now head towards the Antarctic. The number of passengers bound for Antarctica have ballooned from a few hundred in 1969 to a projected 31,265 visitors for the 2012-2013 season, according to Steve Wellmeier, executive director of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. While most cruises won't come close to areas where ice is problematic, captains still have to be wary, Wellmeier says. "They have to be on guard the same way that ships do that


What epidemic killed more than 3% of the world's population?

The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 The Deadly Virus The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 True or False? The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 killed more people than died in World War One. View the Documents and Photos Hard as it is to believe, the answer is true. World War I claimed an estimated 16 million lives. The influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people. One fifth of the world's population was attacked by this deadly virus. Within months, it had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history. The plague emerged in two phases. In late spring of 1918, the first phase, known as the "three-day fever," appeared without warning. Few deaths were reported. Victims recovered after a few days. When the disease surfaced again that fall, it was far more severe. Scientists, doctors, and health officials could not identify this disease which was striking so fast and so viciously, eluding treatment and defying control. Some victims died within hours of their first symptoms. Others succumbed after a few days; their lungs filled with fluid and they suffocated to death. The plague did not discriminate. It was rampant in urban and rural areas, from the densely populated East coast to the remotest parts of Alaska. Young adults, usually unaffected by these types of infectious diseases, were among the hardest hit groups along with the elderly and young children. The flu afflicted over 25 percent of the U.S. population. In one year, the average life expectancy in the United States dropped by 12 years. It is an oddity of history that the influenza epidemic of 1918 has been overlooked in the teaching of American history. Documentation of the disease is ample, as shown in the records selected from the holdings of the National Archives regional archives. Exhibiting these documents helps the epidemic take its rightful place as a major disaster in world history.


What group of people were the victims of genocide in the Ottoman Empire?

Armenian Genocide - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google The Roots of Genocide: The Ottoman Empire The Armenian people have made their home in the Caucasus region of Eurasia for some 3,000 years. For some of that time, the kingdom of Armenia was an independent entity–at the beginning of the 4th century AD, for instance, it became the first nation in the world to make Christianity its official religion–but for the most part, control of the region shifted from one empire to another. During the 15th century, Armenia was absorbed into the mighty Ottoman Empire. Did You Know? American news outlets have also been reluctant to use the word “genocide” to describe Turkey’s crimes. The phrase “Armenian genocide” did not appear in the New York Times until 2004. The Ottoman rulers, like most of their subjects, were Muslim. They permitted religious minorities like the Armenians to maintain some autonomy, but they also subjected Armenians, who they viewed as “infidels,” to unequal and unjust treatment. Christians had to pay higher taxes than Muslims, for example, and they had very few political and legal rights. In spite of these obstacles, the Armenian community thrived under Ottoman rule. They tended to be better educated and wealthier than their Turkish neighbors, who in turn tended to resent their success. This resentment was compounded by suspicions that the Christian Armenians would be more loyal to Christian governments (that of the Russians, for example, who shared an unstable border with Turkey) than they were to the Ottoman caliphate. These suspicions grew more acute as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. At the end of the 19th century, the despotic Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II–obsessed with loyalty above all, and infuriated by the nascent Armenian campaign to win basic civil rights–declared that he would solve the “Armenian question” once and for all. “I will soon settle those Armenians,” he told a reporter in 1890. “I will give them a box on the ear which will make them…relinquish their revolutionary ambitions.” The First Armenian Massacre Between 1894 and 1896, this “box on the ear” took the form of a state-sanctioned pogrom. In response to large scale protests by Armenians, Turkish military officials, soldiers and ordinary men sacked Armenian villages and cities and massacred their citizens. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were murdered. The Rise of the Young Turks In 1908, a new government came to power in Turkey. A group of reformers who called themselves the “Young Turks” overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid and established a more modern constitutional government. At first, the Armenians were hopeful that they would have an equal place in this new state, but they soon learned that what the nationalistic Young Turks wanted most of all was to “Turkify” the empire. According to this way of thinking, non-Turks–and especially Christian non-Turks–were a grave threat to the new state World War I In 1914, the Turks entered World War I on the side of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (At the same time, Ottoman religious authorities declared jihad, or holy war, against all Christians except their allies.) Military leaders began to argue that the Armenians were traitors: If they thought they could win independence if the Allies were victorious, this argument went, the Armenians would be eager to fight for the enemy. As the war intensified, Armenians organized volunteer battalions to help the Russian army fight against the Turks in the Caucasus region. These events, and general Turkish suspicion of the Armenian people, led the Turkish government to push for the “removal” of the Armenians from the war zones along the Eastern Front. Genocide Begins On April 24, 1915, the Armenian genocide began. That day, the Turkish government arrested and executed several hundred Armenian intellectuals. After that, ordinary Armenians were turned out of their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. Frequently, the marchers were stripped naked and forced to walk under the scorching sun until they dropped d


What communist faction came to power in Russia?

Lenin in Power | History Today Lenin in Power Russell Tarr explains how the Bolsheviks established their grip on Russia after the 1917 Revolution, and at what cost. Lenin in 1920 Between 1917 and 1924 the Bolshevik party went through a baptism of fire which transformed it from a revolutionary splinter group into a party of government. During that period it faced intense opposition from a bewildering array of political, military, social and national groups. By the time of Lenin’s death, in January 1924, the regime was, despite all the odds, still in power – but at what cost was this success achieved and to what extent was it superficial rather than real? Political Opposition: Constituent Assembly to ‘Red Terror’  Politically, the Bolshevik party faced massive opposition following its seizure of power in 1917. The Social Revolutionaries (the party of the peasants) had more support in the countryside, whilst the Bolsheviks (the party of the proletariat) did not command the overwhelming support of the Soviets. Nevertheless, having made so much political capital out of the Provisional Government’s failure to call a Constituent Assembly throughout 1917, Lenin had no choice but to call elections immediately. For the Bolsheviks, the results were depressingly predictable: they gained barely a quarter of the available seats, whilst the SRs gained almost half.  Given his precarious position, Lenin’s response to this setback at first sight appears reckless: he contemptuously dissolved the Assembly, calling his action ‘true democracy’ because he knew the needs of the proletariat better than they did themselves. He then set up Soviets throughout the country in a desperate attempt to break the power of the SR-dominated Zemstvos. By the end of May 1918 Lenin felt confident enough to expel opposition parties from the Central Executive Committee and to declare that ‘our party stands at the head of soviet power. Decrees and measures of soviet power emanate from our party.’ Trotsky justified this by saying that ‘We have trampled underfoot the principles of democracy for the sake of the loftier principles of a social revolution’. By the time of Lenin’s death political opposition parties had been formally banned and the Bolshevik Party (renamed the Communist Party in 1919) reigned supreme.  Causes of Bolshevik Success  (a) Weaknesses of opponents  The Social Revolutionaries in particular had suffered for years from bitter splits over such issues as the validity of terrorism, participation in the Duma and support for the Provisional Government. So it was no surprise that when the moment came they were deeply divided over whether they should participate in the new Bolshevik government. Ultimately, seven leftist Social Revolutionaries joined the government at the end of 1917 and helped to draft the decree which legitimised the seizure of the land by the peasants. This not only exacerbated the divisions in the party, but consolidated the position of the Bolsheviks in the countryside.  (b) Ruthlessness of Bolsheviks  The weaknesses of their opponents made it much easier for the Bolsheviks to crush them. In summer 1918 a failed rebellion by the SRs in Moscow and an assassination attempt on Lenin persuaded the Bolsheviks to unleash the ‘Red Terror’. This was presided over by the CHEKA, formed shortly after the October Revolution under the leadership of Dzerzhinsky (‘we stand for organised terror: this should be frankly stated’). Within months, membership of the Menshevik and SR parties had fallen by two-thirds. The following year, Victor Serge felt that the Soviet state had ‘reverted to the procedures of the Inquisition’ and by the time of Lenin’s death an estimated 250,000 opponents had been liquidated. Military Opposition: Brest-Litovsk and Civil War  Whilst the Constituent Assembly undermined the regime’s political opponents, the peace treaty signed with Germany in March 1918 served to unite its military opponents. Upon seizing power, Lenin was determined to secure ‘peace at any price’: the war had already brought down the Tsar and the Provisiona


Who was President of the United States for most of the decade?

Roaring Twenties Blog Roaring Twenties The 1920s era went by such names as the Jazz Age, the Age of Intolerance, and the Age of Wonderful Nonsense. Under any moniker, the era embodied the beginning of modern America. Numerous Americans felt buoyed up following World War I (1914-1918). America had survived a deadly worldwide influenza epidemic (1918). The new decade of the roaring twenties would be a time of change for everyone  not all of it good. The presidential administrations The close of World War I saw the United States recede into an inward-looking stance. In spite of President Woodrow Wilson `s unflagging efforts, the Senate refused to ratify the Versailles Peace Treaty that ended World War I, and the U.S. failed to join the League of Nations . Early in the 1920s the U.S. raised tariffs on imported goods, and free immigration came to an end. Elected president in 1920 , Warren G. Harding promoted a "return to normalcy," which signaled a resurgence of nativism, isolationism , and rejection of the progressive era `s governmental activism. Overall, Harding`s policies reflected a conservative, laissez-faire attitude. His administration was blighted by scandals, but most of them did not surface until following his death of a stroke in office in August 1923. One of the most notorious of them was the Teapot Dome Scandal , which appalled the public for years after Harding`s death. Calvin Coolidge was Harding`s vice president (1921-23). When the presidency fell to his lot with Harding`s death, he moved swiftly to sew up the 1924 nomination and mend the effects of the administration`s scandals. Coolidge was elected handily over Democrat John W. Davis and Progressive Robert M. La Follette . He declined to run for reelection in 1929 and left politics for good. Such Coolidge administration policies as high tariffs and federal tax cuts were generally approved of during his four years, but they would become unpopular during the next decade. Having served as secretary of commerce under both Harding and Coolidge, Herbert Hoover was elected to the presidency in 1928 , buoyed by the country`s prosperity. His personal popularity suffered, however, when he vetoed the Veterans`s Bonus proposal . Hoover had been in office just a few months when the Great Depression began to carve its trough into the nation`s economy. His early relief efforts were generally viewed to be inadequate. A banking crisis had seized the nation and in 1932, he lost the presidential election to Franklin D. Roosevelt . Social ferment The so-called Red Scares during the roaring twenties refer to the fear of Communism in the U.S. just before and during the 1920s. It is estimated that there were 150,000 anarchists or Communists in the U.S. in 1920, but they constituted only 0.1 percent of the general population. The highly publicized Sacco and Vanzetti Case exemplified what could happen to people who held radical views.  Historians often point out that Americans had withdrawn into a provincialism as evidenced by the reappearance of the Ku Klux Klan , restrictive immigration laws, and Prohibition . Amendment 18 to the Constitution (1919) had prohibited the manufacture, transport and sale of intoxicating liquor. Prohibitionists anticipated that Prohibition would alleviate social problems and bolster the economy. However, many people disliked the law and imbibed in unlawful nightclubs called speakeasies. Gangsters took control of bootlegging (illegal distribution of liquor) and violent lawlessness erupted. Lacking public support, the federal government was virtually unable to enforce Prohibition. Youthful "Flapper" women provoked older people with brief skirts, bobbed hair, and cavalier use of makeup and cigarettes. Crazes included such dances as the Charleston, dance marathons, flagpole sitting and flying stunts. Baseball `s Babe Ruth and other sports figures became heroes. The arts and ideas The roaring twenties ushered in a rich period of American writing, distinguished by the works of such authors as Sinclair Lewis , Willa Cather , William Faul


"What ""lost"" city of the Incas was rediscovered?"

Machu Picchu & the Sacred Valley of the Incas! Explore, Discover, Travel, Learn!     About 500 years ago the    Spanish conquistadores, lead by Francisco Pizarro, had raided, burned and    demolished Inca cities, but thanks to its remoteness, Machu Picchu had remained    undiscovered, thus untouched. Officially Machu Picchu    was discovered in 1911 by American explorer-historian Hiram Bingham. Since    then it has become the World-wide renowned mystery travel destination    that we know today. In 2007 Machu Picchu    was voted one of the "New 7 Wonders of the World".   The wonderful Inca city was strategically    built 2.450 m high in the Peruvian Andes. The Urubamba Valley in which the    Vilcanota River flows partially surrounds the "Old Peak" on which the    ruins are located. For many photographers visiting Machu Picchu    is a dream come true... Wonderful photos can be taken by skilled    photographers if the weather is clear...   Visiting Machu Picchu    is possible by hiking in the Andean Mountains along the Inca Trail or by    combining train and bus transportation all the way up to the site. The most exciting way    is to get there through the Andes. Also because it lasts about 4 days and    you'll get to see wonderful sights, a number of other sites like: Runcuracay , Huinay Huayna and others.    Any trop needs careful planning and preparing, especially if you are    arriving from far away! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   We can only admire the Incas for what they did... They literally flattened    the top of a high mountain to build a city comprising of hundreds of buildings with    an agricultural production area, irrigation system and other facilities. The rock cutting and shaping, the dry stone techniques (assembling huge    bricks without mortar) used for constructing the buildings of Machu Picchu    are still a mystery and only speculations exist about how this could have    been done. Believe it: many of those stone components are still strongly stuck    together, you couldn't put a paper between them!   Several temples, fountains, a jail and a rock quarry (where they    extracted the construction materials), a flat area known as "The Main    Square"  and an irrigation system that    still functions today are located in the    Urban Sector, which is right near the agricultural terrace-filled    so-called Agricultural Sector where crops were produced for    ensuring food. There even are buildings on top of the high steep mountain called Huayna Picchu ("Young Peak") ,    which you can see on most photos of Machu Picchu. Visitors can climb up    there and get a complete view over Machu Picchu below.   The buildings of Machu Picchu had soft rooftops which had perished    forever... But this way one can clearly see the scheme according to which    the city was built. It is well structured, organized. The rich lived in    one area, the poor or ordinary people in another district. Sacred objects like the Intihuatana and the temples underline    the religious importance of the city... -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   For hundreds of years in the past archaeologists, professional and    amateur explorers have been looking for hidden treasures, lost gold in the    northeastern parts of South America, particularly in the Andes. Legends and myths, stories like those of Paititi (The Lost City of the    Incas) , the El Dorado legend and    others revolving around lost cities and hidden treasures sometimes do have    a little basis: many of the locals seem to believe in them and many of    these tales


What ballet by Igor Stravinsky shocked audiences when it premiered in 1913?

The Rite of Spring Riot, 1913 by Igor Stravinsky By Aaron Green Updated April 17, 2016. In May 1913, Igor Stravinsky debuted his ballet The Rite of Spring.  Though it is one of Stravinsky's most famous works, his creation was first met with harsh criticism, negative reviews, and... a riot.   Watch this YouTube performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring Ballet . The Creation of The Rite of Spring A few years prior to 1910, Stravinsky began flirting with the idea and music of The Rite of Spring ballet to premiere with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company.  Whether or not the music came before the story/setting or visa versa (there are conflicting statements by Stravinsky himself), we do know that by 1910, Stravinsky met with Russian expert Nicholas Roerich to discuss ancient pagan rituals.  Together, they came up with the working title "The Great Sacrifice."  After taking a year hiatus to finish his ballet Petrushka, Stravinsky resumed work on The Rite of Spring with Roerich, and by July 1911, the pair had completed a working draft of the ballet's structure within a few days, changing its title to Vesna sviashchennaia (Russian) or Holy Spring.   continue reading below our video Top 5 Longest Running TV Shows However, the work's French translation Le Sacre du printemps (English: The Rite of Spring) is what stuck.  According to Stravinsky's journals, he returned to his home in Ukraine and wrote two movements before deciding to move to Clarens, Switzerland a month later, where he completed the ballet's first part and drafted the second.  Stravinsky stopped work on the ballet by Spring of 1912, and enjoyed a nice break, even taking a trip to Bayreuth, Germany with Sergei Diaghilev to attend a performance of Richard Wagner 's opera, Parsifal.  Stravinsky returned to Clarens, Switzerland during the Fall season to finish The Rite of Spring - as signed on his orchestral score, he completed it on March 8, 19 The Cause and Events of the The Rite of Spring Riot Stravinsky debuted the The Rite of Spring Ballet at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on May 29, 1913, to an audience accustomed to the grace, elegance, and the traditional music of "conventional" ballets, i.e. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake .  Opposition to Stravinsky's work literally happened within the first few minutes of the piece as members of the audience booed loudly in response to the inharmonic notes accompanying the unrecognizable bassoon's opening solo.  What's more, the work's unconventional music, sharp and unnatural choreography (dancers danced with bent arms and legs and would land on the floor so hard their internal organs would shake), and Russian pagan setting, failed to win over the majority of the audience.  It should hardly come as a surprise given the ballet's thematic content.  The ballet's title and subtitle alone, hints that something darker lurks behind the velvet theatre curtains: The Rite of Spring: Picture of Pagan Russia in Two Parts.  The story centers around ancient Russian tribes and their celebration of Spring.  They then offer a sacrifice to their gods, choosing a young girl whom is forced to dance to death. As the ballet progressed, so did the audience's discomfort.  Those in favor of Stravinksy's work argued with those in opposition.  The arguments eventually turned to brawls and police had to be notified.  They arrived at intermission and successfully calmed the angry crowd (yes, the show wasn't even half way over before people were throwing punches).  As the second half commenced, police were unable to keep the audience under control and rioting resumed.  Stravinsky was so taken aback by the audience's reaction, he fled the scene before the show was over. The Rite of Spring in the 21st Century Just like Beethoven's 9th Symphony changed the future of symphony composition, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring changed the future of ballet.  Up to that point, ballet was beautiful, elegant, and charming.  As I mentioned before, audiences were accustomed to seeing and hearing works like Swan Lake , The Nutcracker , and Sleeping Beauty .  Stravinsky


What Native American athlete won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon?

Native American Olympians Celebrated at New Smithsonian Exhibition | Newsdesk Native American Olympians Celebrated at New Smithsonian Exhibition Honored Athletes Include Jim Thorpe, Billy Mills and Duke Kahanamoku May 9, 2012 On the 100th anniversary of the Olympic Games in which athletes Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox), Duke Kahanamoku (Native Hawaiian), Andrew Sockalexis (Penobscot) and Lewis Tewanima (Hopi) represented the United States in Stockholm, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian presents “Best in the World: Native Athletes in the Olympics.” The exhibition opens Friday, May 25. In 1912, Thorpe swept both the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympic Games, becoming the first and only Olympian to accomplish such a feat and earning the accolades of King Gustav V of Sweden, who proclaimed Thorpe to be “the greatest athlete in the world.” Thorpe was joined that year by fellow Native teammates Kahanamoku, who won the 100-meter freestyle; Sockalexis, who placed fourth in the marathon; and Tewanima, who won the silver medal and set an American record for the 10,000 meters that stood for more than 50 years until Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota) won the gold medal in Tokyo in 1964. A century later, the National Museum of the American Indian celebrates the legacy of the 1912 team and the path they paved for future generations of Native American athletes, including Clarence “Taffy” Abel (Ojibwe), who won a silver medal as part of the 1924 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team and later became the first U.S.-born player in the National Hockey League; Ellison Myers Brown (Narragansett), who ran the marathon at the 1936 Olympics; Sharon and Shirley Firth (Gwich’in), twin sisters who competed in the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Games in cross-country skiing; Theoren Fleury (Métis/Cree), who won a gold medal in 2002 in ice hockey, and Carolyn Darbyshire-McRorie (Métis), who won a silver medal in curling in 2010, among others.  A press preview will be held Friday, May 25, at 10 a.m. in the museum’s Sealaska Gallery, where Mills and members of the Thorpe family will be on hand for interviews and photo opportunities. Olympic Medals and Objects The exhibition will be on view through Sept. 3 in the museum’s Sealaska Gallery. It will feature the gold medals restored to Thorpe’s family in 1983 for his victory in the 1912 decathlon and pentathlon events. Thorpe’s medals will be on view at the museum through July 9, at which point they will travel to the London 2012 Summer Olympics Games, where they will be celebrated and displayed in front of millions of spectators. The silver medal that Kahanamoku won in the 1912 Olympics will also be on display, as well as the gold medal won by Mills in the 1964 Games. The exhibition also features historic photographs of Native athletes competing in the Olympics, including rare images from the 1912 Games, and a commemorative Wheaties box that was released in 2001 to honor Thorpe as “The World’s Greatest Athlete.” Smithsonian magazine selected this object as its “National Treasure” in the June/July 2012 issue. Related Programs Free public programs related to the exhibition will be offered throughout the exhibition’s run, including a presentation by Mills Saturday, July 14, and a meet-and-greet with Hawaiian surfer and craftsman Tom “Pohaku” Stone Friday, May 25. The museum will also host Stone as an artist-in-residence from Sunday, May 20, through Friday, May 25, during which time he will share his knowledge of ancient Hawaiian sports while carving a traditional Hawaiian surfboard (Papahe’enalu) and sled (Papahōlua) in the Potomac Atrium during regular museum hours. In June, film screenings will be offered at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. every day except Wednesday’s in the Rasmuson Theater highlighting Kahanamoku and Thorpe. The 12:30 p.m. film stars Kahanamoku in a 1957 episode of This Is Your Life, the hit television show. The Olympic gold medalist and so-called “Father of Surfing” appeared alongside seven of his siblings, two of whom also competed in the Olympics, former Olympics teammate Johnny Weissmuller, and


What movie by D.W. Griffith glorified the Ku Klux Klan?

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow . Jim Crow Stories . The Birth of a Nation | PBS On the evening of March 21, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson attended a special screening at the White House of THE BIRTH OF A NATION, a film directed by D.W. Griffith and based on THE CLANSMAN, a novel written by Wilson's good friend Thomas Dixon. The film presented a distorted portrait of the South after the Civil War, glorifying the Ku Klux Klan and denigrating blacks. It falsified the period of Reconstruction by presenting blacks as dominating Southern whites (almost all of whom are noble in the film) and sexually forcing themselves upon white women. The Klan was portrayed as the South's savior from this alleged tyranny. Not only was this portrayal untrue, it was the opposite of what actually happened. During Reconstruction, whites dominated blacks and assaulted black women. The Klan was primarily a white terrorist organization that carried out hundreds of murders. After seeing the film, an enthusiastic Wilson reportedly remarked: "It is             like writing history with lightning, and my only regret             is that it is all so terribly true." African-American audiences openly wept at the film's malicious portrayal of blacks, while Northern white audiences cheered. The film swept the nation. Riots broke out in major cities (Boston and Philadelphia, among others), and it was denied release in many other places (Chicago, Ohio, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Minneapolis). Gangs of whites roamed city streets attacking blacks. In Lafayette, Indiana, a white man killed a black teenager after seeing the movie. Thomas Dixon reveled in its triumph. "The real purpose of my film," he confessed             gleefully, "was to revolutionize Northern audiences             that would transform every man into a Southern partisan             for life." As the NAACP fought against the film and tried unsuccessfully to get it banned, the Ku Klux Klan successfully used it to launch a massive recruiting campaign that would bring in millions of members. Griffith later regretted the racial prejudice that his film promoted. He tried to make amends by making INTOLERANCE, a film attacking race prejudice. But INTOLERANCE never approached the success of THE BIRTH OF A NATION. -- Richard Wormser In 1995, Turner Classic Movies cancelled a broadcast of a restored print because of racial tensions spurred by the O.J. Simpson trial.


What yellow-brown chemical weapon was used?

Compound Interest -  Chemical Warfare: Poison Gases in World War 1 Chemical Warfare: Poison Gases in World War 1 Click to enlarge I’ll be accompanying some of the students from my school on a history trip to Ypres and a few other World War 1 battlefields in a few weeks’ time. Obviously, they’d much rather be learning chemistry, so I’ve been reading up on the different chemical agents used during World War 1, and this graphic is a byproduct of that. As it turns out, several of them were used for the first time at Ypres, so it’ll even be topical! A range of different chemicals were used as weapons throughout the conflict. The French were actually the first to utilise them in conflict, when they attempted to use tear gas against the German army in August 1914. The precise agent used seems to be uncertain, with both xylyl bromide and ethyl bromoacetate being mentioned; both are colourless liquids, with the former having an odour described as ‘pleasant and aromatic’, and the latter being described as ‘fruity and pungent’. These tear gases weren’t designed to kill; rather, to incapacitate the enemy and render them unable to defend their positions. They are all lachrymatory agents – that is, they cause crying, due to irritation of the eyes. They also irritate the mouth, throat and lungs, leading to breathing difficulties. Exposure to larger concentrations can lead to temporary blindness, but symptoms commonly resolved within 30 minutes of leaving affected areas. In practice, the use of tear gas on the battlefield wasn’t extraordinarily effective. However, it opened the door to the use of more harmful gases. The first of these was chlorine, first used on a large scale by the German forces at Ypres in April 1915. Chlorine is a diatomic gas, about two and a half times denser than air, with a pale green colour and a strong, bleach-like odour which soldier described as a ‘mix of pineapple and pepper’. It reacts with water in the lungs to form hydrochloric acid, which can quickly lead to death. At lower concentrations, it can cause coughing, vomiting, and irritation to the eyes. In its first uses, chlorine was deadly. Against soldiers not yet equipped with gas masks, it wreaked havoc, and it’s estimated over 1,100* were killed in the first large scale attack at Ypres. The German forces weren’t prepared for just how effective it would prove, and their delay in pressing into the gap formed in enemy lines actually meant they gained very little ground initially. However, chlorine’s effectiveness was short-lived. Its obvious appearance, and strong odour, made it easy to spot, and the fact that chlorine is water-soluble meant that even soldiers without gas masks could minimise its effectiveness by placing water-soaked rags over their mouth and nose. Additionally, the initial method of its release posed problems, as the British learnt to their detriment when they attempted to use chlorine at Loos in France. The released gas changed direction as the wind changed, engulfing the British lines instead of those of the enemy, and leading to a large number of self-inflicted casualties. Phosgene was the next major agent employed, again used first at Ypres by the Germans in December 1915 (although some sources state the French were the first to employ it). Phosgene is a colourless gas, with an odour likened to that of ‘musty hay’. For this odour to be detectable, the concentration of phosgene actually had to be at 0.4 parts per million, several times the concentration at which harmful health effects could be expected. It is highly toxic, due to its ability to react with proteins in the alveoli of the lungs and disrupt the blood-air barrier, leading to suffocation. Phosgene was much more effective and deadly than chlorine, though one drawback was that the symptoms could sometimes take up to 48 hours to manifest. Its immediate effects are coughing, and irritation to the eyes and respiratory tract. Subsequently, it can cause the build-up of fluid in the lungs, leading to death. It’s estimated that as many as 85% of the 91,000 deaths attributed to gas


What oil baron became the first billionaire?

Who was the first U.S. billionaire? | Reference.com Who was the first U.S. billionaire? A: Quick Answer In 1916, John D. Rockefeller was credited as the first person in the United States to become a billionaire, according to The Motley Fool. Rockefeller formed the Standard Oil company in 1870, investing $300,000 of his own money. By 1916 the stock was nearly $2 billion dollars. Full Answer Rockefeller was born in 1839 as the second of six children. He began his career as a bookkeeper in a produce commission firm in September 1855 before starting his own firm with Maurice B. Clark in 1859. In 1866, Rockefeller went into partnership with his brother at an oil refinery in Cleveland. In 1870, Rockefeller then moved on to his own refinery in Ohio, Standard Oil, which made him his billions.


What Frenchwoman won a Nobel Prize for chemistry?

Nobel prize for chemistry: Lindahl, Modrich and Sancar win for DNA research | Science | The Guardian Nobel prizes Nobel prize for chemistry: Lindahl, Modrich and Sancar win for DNA research Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar honoured for mapping and explaining how cells repair their DNA and safeguard the genetic information Wednesday 7 October 2015 05.54 EDT Last modified on Thursday 15 December 2016 11.28 EST Close This article is 1 year old The Nobel prize in chemistry has been awarded to Tomas Lindahl , Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for their research into the mechanisms that cells use to repair DNA. The three scientists, from Sweden, the US and Turkey respectively, received an equal share of the prestigious 8m Swedish kronor (£631,000) award for “mechanistic studies of DNA repair”. Their research mapped and explained how the cell repairs its DNA in order to prevent errors occurring in genetic information. Announcing the prize in Stockholm, Göran K Hansson, the secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said: “This year’s prize is about the cell’s tool box for repairing DNA.” In a call to the Academy, Lindahl said of winning: “It was a surprise. I knew that over the years I have been occasionally considered but so have hundreds of other people. I feel very lucky and proud to be selected.” From the moment an egg is fertilised it begins to divide. Two cells become four, four cells become eight. After one week a human embryo consists of 128 cells, each with its own set of genetic material. Unravel all that DNA and it would stretch for 300 metres. But many billions more divisions take place on the path to adulthood, until we carry enough DNA in our trillions of cells to reach 250 times to the sun and back. The most remarkable feat is how the genetic information is copied so faithfully. “From a chemical perspective, this ought to be impossible,” the Nobel committee said. “All chemical processes are prone to random errors. Additionally, your DNA is subjected on a daily basis to damaging radiation and reactive molecules. In fact, you ought to have been a chemical chaos long before you even developed into a foetus,” they added. Lindahl, Modrich and Sancar worked out how cells repair faults that inevitably creep in when DNA is copied time and time again, and mutations that arise under a barrage of environmental factors such as UV rays in sunlight. Towards the end of the 1960s, many scientists considered DNA to be incredibly stable. But working at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Lindahl worked out that there must be thousands of potentially damaging attacks on the genome every day – an onslaught that would make human life impossible. Working with bacterial DNA, Lindahl began the search for enzymes that repair faulty genetic mateial. He focused on a weakness in the way the DNA letters, G, T, C and A, pair up. Normally, C (cytosine) pairs only with G (guanine), but C can lose an amino group which makes it pair up with A ( adenine) instead. If the mis-pairing stands, it creates a mutation the next time it is copied. Lindahl realised that cells must have a way to protect themselves from such a fate, and published details of the enzyme responsible in 1974. Lindahl moved to the UK in the 1980s and became director of what is now Cancer Research UK’s Clare Hall Laboratory, a place known for its scientific creativity. There he worked out, step by step, the DNA repair processes in humans. But DNA can also be disrupted by environmental factors, such as UV radiation. How organisms survived these mutations piqued the interest of Sancar who noticed that bacteria exposed to deadly doses of UV could repair themselves if lit up blue light. At the University of Texas in Dallas, he discovered an enzyme called photolyase that repairs UV-damaged DNA. At Yale University, Sancar went on to identify enzymes that spot UV damage and then cut the DNA to remove the faulty genetic code. Later, at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, he mapped the equivalent repair process in humans. In an interview with the Academ


What was the nickname of pilot Manfred von Richthofen?

Manfred, baron von Richthofen - World War I - HISTORY.com Manfred, baron von Richthofen A+E Networks Introduction Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918) earned widespread fame as a World War I ace fighter pilot. After starting the war as a German cavalry officer on the Eastern Front, Richthofen served in the infantry before seeking his pilot’s license. He transferred to the Imperial Air Service in 1915, and the following year began to distinguish himself in battle. The leader of a squadron known as the Flying Circus, Richthofen developed a formidable reputation in his bright red Fokker triplane. He was credited with 80 kills before being shot down, his legend as the fearsome Red Baron enduring well after his death. Google Manfred von Richthofen began his career in World War I as a cavalry officer on the Eastern Front, but in 1915, when detailed for quartermaster duty, he rebelled: “I have not gone to war to collect cheese and eggs, but for another purpose.” After initially failing his pilot’s license, the future “ace of aces” saw action above Verdun and Kovel. In August 1916, Baron von Richthofen joined a new fighter squadron at the Somme and recorded his first “kill” on September 17; his eightieth and last came in April 1918; on April 21 he was shot down, probably by ground fire over the Somme. Richthofen’s bright red Fokker aircraft earned him the nicknames “red knight,” “red baron,” and “diable rouge,” and his habit of moving the squadron, tents, and equipment from base to base gave rise to the sobriquet “flying circus.” The war in the air became Richthofen’s blood sport. He possessed the courage to kill or be killed, flaunting his daring with reckless abandon and dispatching his victims in a brutal, pitiless manner. Preferring not to fight alone, he remained above his squadron in a dogfight until he spied his chance to swoop down, hawklike, upon unfortunate stragglers. “Everything in the air,” he once boasted, “belongs to me.” Many of his “kills” were, in fact, joint efforts, but were credited to Richthofen to enhance his stature as a national hero. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. Copyright © 1991 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Tags


What British adventurer fought in the Arab Revolt?

British adventurer, soldier and author, T E Lawrence, the leader of the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, 1916 [Getty] By @james_barr James Barr is the author of A Line In The Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that shaped the Middle East. One hundred years ago this week, in the middle of World War I, an uprising erupted at the axis of the Islamic world, in Mecca. Encouraged by the British, the ruler of the holy city, Sharif Hussein, launched a revolt against the Ottoman Turks. The British hoped that Hussein's ancestry and authority - he was a descendant of Muhammad and his phone number was Mecca 1 - made him the ideal man to disrupt the jihad called by the Ottoman Sultan in 1914. Middle East bears scars of Sykes-Picot Treaty To persuade him to help them, the British promised him and his Arab nationalist supporters independence in the post-war world if they rebelled against the Turks. The British never really believed that they would have to make good on that offer, and weeks later, to pacify a different ally, they would promise much the same territory to the French, in the infamous Sykes-Picot Agreement. Double-dealing Oblivious to this double-dealing, Hussein fired the first shot of the rebellion from a window in his palace on June 10, 1916. When his revolt then quickly fizzled out, the British began arguing among themselves about whether or not to send in troops to support him. READ MORE: Sykes-Picot is not to blame for Middle East's problems In London, British ministers did not want to divert men to a place few of them could locate on a map. In October 1916, an intelligence officer named T E Lawrence was sent in to assess the situation. At the Peace Conference in Paris, the Emir Faisal who became King Faisal I of Iraq and Lawrence of Arabia [Getty] His beleaguered chief had correctly calculated that a vivid witness report from this highly regarded young officer would tip the argument against intervention, restoring his own credit with the politicians in London. So political expediency fashioned Lawrence's conclusions that Hussein's Bedu tribesmen were natural guerrillas who simply needed more weaponry and money. Personal frustration - he was fed up with his desk job - made him add that they might benefit from an adviser. As it happened, Lawrence's advice was good. He went on to mastermind a war of extraordinary fluidity and economy. "This is a war of dervishes against regular troops," Lawrence observed, "and we are on the side of the dervishes." This is a war of dervishes against regular troops and we are on the side of the dervishes. T E Lawrence What was a mischievous insight in 1916 has become an unremarkable military orthodoxy a century later. Most recently, US special forces have been photographed shoulder-to-shoulder with communist Kurdish fighters in eastern Syria. Arabs' right of conquest  These American soldiers are operating under exactly the same constraints as Lawrence was in 1916. They are in Syria because there is no appetite to send a larger force, whose very arrival might in any case be counterproductive. And there is another pressure these Americans will face, which Lawrence would have recognised. For what Lawrence lacked in materiel, he compensated for by enthusiastically supporting the Arab nationalists' political aims. In particular, he emphasised his expectation that the Arabs' right of conquest would trump the secret deal his own country had cooked up with the French. READ MORE: Iraq, Sykes-Picot and Mr Five Percent The danger of this tactic became clear only after the Arabs reached Damascus in October 1918, just before the war's end. Having been spurred on by Lawrence to reach the city, which lay inside the zone Britain had also promised to the French, they naturally expected that the British government would now honour its earlier promise to Hussein. Emir Abdullah ibn Hussein of Transjordan, Lord Allenby and TE Lawrence attend a military review during the Arab Revolt, circa 1917 [Getty] A sense of lasting betrayal followed when the British government did not because it valued its all


Who was Chicago's most notorious gangster?

Share Tweet By Brent DiCrescenzo and Adam Selzer Posted: Wednesday March 4 2015 Chicago mobsters of the 1920s have become a sort of "Pirates of the Caribbean" for our city. There are gangster tours , a Tommy Gun's dinner theater, speakeasies that are no longer speakeasies, and we once had a sports team called the Chicago Hitmen. So it's easy to gloss over the fact that these murderous lawbreakers introduced the world to concepts like the drive-by shooting. The Prohibition-era criminal is romanticized in gangster movies and pop music. And, yeah, some of them in hindsight seem particularly silly and curious, despite being evil, with their goofy hats and names like "Willie Potatoes" and "Cockeyed Louie." The Irish North Side Gang and South Side Italian Chicago Outfit waged bloody war on what is now our doorsteps and doughnut shops. Here, we rank the 17 most notorious killers, thieves, bootleggers and, yes, politicians that continue to fascinate us. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best  gangster movies  of all time 17 Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti An underling and eventual puppet successor to Al Capone, Nitti ran the Outfit's bootlegging operations, channeling whiskey from Canada into Chicago speakeasies. In The Untouchables, Kevin Costner threw him off a roof, an in other films he has been portrayed by Sylvester Stallone and Stanley Tucci. In reality, he was softer and bureaucratic, pushing the mobsters into polical coercion, extorting money from Hollywood studios. In name he took over for Capone, though others ran the show. His survival is testament. Severe claustrophobia led him to commit suicide in a rail yard rather than face prison. 16 John "Papa Johnny" Torrio An opera enthusiast sometimes known as "Johnny the Fox," Torrio was the man who brought Capone in from Brooklyn. He was the one who really built the empire Capone ended up in charge of. He worked hard to keep gangs from fighting, but when a gang working for him was blamed for the death of Dean O'Banion, original head of the North Side Gang, North Siders took revenge by shooting Torrio outside of his house in January 1925. He miraculously survived and was smart enough to retire and get out of town while the getting was good. 15 "Diamond Joe" Esposito Esposito grew from a Black Hand extortionist and bootlegger in Little Italy to the elected Republican head of the 19th Ward. (And people say our politicians today are corrupt.) A sort of talent scout for the Outfit, Esposito brought Paul Ricca, Frank Nitti and Jack McGurn into the mob. Not to be confused with the close friend of Elvis Presley with the same name, this Diamond Joe ended up with five shotgun shells in him. 14 Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci First making the news after taking daring leap over the Michigan Avenue bridge while it was being raised during a car chase, Drucci was known for coming up with zany schemes such as running for mayor and going to London to steal the crown jewels. His favorite trick was to dress as a priest and mess with people on the street. He was killed by the cops in 1927. 13 Louis "Two Gun" Alterie Obsessed with the Wild West, Alterie never went without a pair of Colt 45 pistols in holsters at his side, hence his nickname. A thug for Dean O'Banion, the temperamental hitman challenged rival gang members to a shootout on State Street and once punched a horse in the face. He pretended to be insane as a defense, but probably was. I mean, look at that hat. It's like being executed by the Arby's logo. 12 Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn One of Capone's top hitmen, McGurn (born in Sicily as Vincenzo Gibaldi) actually may not have been the shooter at the famous St. Valentine's Day Massacre (it's one of those cases where there's a new theory every six months), but local gangsters certainly blamed him for it. When he was eventually shot down himself in a Milwaukee Avenue bowling alley in 1936, the killers left a valentine at his feet reading "You've lost your job, you've lost your dough / Your jewels and car and handsome houses / But things could still be worse, you know / At least you haven't lost your trousers!"


Planes: The Spirit of St. Louis The Spirit of St. Louis The plane that made Charles Lindbergh an instant hero by Gerry Brown Spirit of St. Louis Specs Length: 8.41 m (27 ft, 7 in.) Wingspan: 14.02 m (46 ft) Height: 2.99 m (9 ft, 10 in.) Engine: Wright Whirlwind J-5C, 223 horsepower Max weight: 2,330 kg (5,135 lbs) Empty weight: 975 kg (2,150 lbs) Manufacturer: Ryan Airlines Co., San Diego, Calif., 1927 Related Links National Aviation Hall of Fame Charles A. Lindbergh , perhaps the most famous pilot since the Wright Brothers , made the first nonstop solo transatlantic flight in the silver Ryan strut-braced monoplane The Spirit of St. Louis. Early on May 20, 1927, Lindbergh began the 3,610-mile trip from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, to Le Bourget Field outside Paris, France, landing 33½ hours later to a mob of 100,000 ecstatic Parisians. Lucky Lindy instantly became an international hero for the daring and lucrative flight. Prize Money as Motivator Part of the reason for his daring was the $25,000 prize first offered in 1919 by French-American and New York hotelier Raymond Orteig to the first aviator to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean between New York and Paris. Others, usually in a multi-engine plane design, had either already attempted or were planning an attempt when Lindbergh, in his single-engine design, made his famous crossing. But the plane had already made history on its maiden voyage. Following several test flights, Lindbergh flew the aircraft from San Diego to New York, stopping only in St. Louis. The flight time of 21 hours and 40 minutes broke the transcontinental record. Custom Design The plane itself was custom designed by Donald Hall under the direct supervision of Lindbergh but based on a standard Ryan M-2 aircraft. Due to the extended nature of the flight, the wingspan was lengthened by 10ft, and the fuselage was slightly enlarged and strengthened to bear the weight of a larger fuel load. The cockpit was moved toward the back of the plane a bit, and the Wright Whirlwind J-5C engine was moved forward. The fuel tanks were placed in front of the cockpit; in order to see forward Lindbergh used a periscope or turned the plane and looked out the side window. The plane, which was officially named Ryan NYP The Spirit of St. Louis, was named in honor of Lindbergh's financial backers, several men from St. Louis who paid for the building of the airplane. The NYP stands for New York–Paris. Museum Piece The plane now can be seen at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.


What was F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel?

F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays | GradeSaver Fitzgerald, F. Scott Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was a Jazz Age novelist and short story writer who is considered to be among the greatest twentieth-century American writers. Born on September 24, 1896, he was the only son of an aristocratic father and a provincial, working-class mother. He was the product of two divergent traditions: while his father's family included the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner" (after whom Fitzgerald was named), his mother's family was, in Fitzgerald's own words, "straight 1850 potato-famine Irish." As a result of this contrast, he was exceedingly ambivalent toward the notion of the American dream: for him, it was at once vulgar and dazzlingly promising. Like the central character of The Great Gatsby , Fitzgerald had an intensely romantic imagination; he once called it "a heightened sensitivity to the promises of life." The events of Fitzgerald's own life can be seen as a struggle to realize those promises. He attended both St. Paul Academy (1908-10) and Newman School (1911-13), where his intensity and outsized enthusiasm made him unpopular with the other students. Later, at Princeton University, he came close to the brilliant success of which he dreamed. He became part of the influential Triangle Club, a dramatic organization whose members were taken from the cream of society. He also became a prominent figure in the literary life of the university and made lifelong friendships with Edmund Wilson and John Peale Bishop. Despite these social coups, Fitzgerald struggled academically, and he eventually flunked out of Princeton. In November 1917, he joined the army. While stationed at Camp Sheridan (near Montgomery, Alabama), he met Zelda Sayre, the daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court judge, and the two fell deeply in love. Fitzgerald needed to improve his dismal financial circumstances, however, before he and Zelda could marry. At the first opportunity, he left for New York, determined to make his fortune in the great city. Instead, he was forced to take a menial advertising job at $90 per month. Zelda broke their engagement, and Fitzgerald retreated to St. Paul, Minnesota. There, he rewrote a novel that he had begun at Princeton. In the spring of 1920 the novel, This Side of Paradise , was published. Though today's readers might find its ideas dated, This Side of Paradise was a revelation to Fitzgerald's contemporaries. It was regarded as a rare glimpse into the morality and immorality of America's youth, and it made Fitzgerald famous. Suddenly, the author could publish not only in prestigious literary magazines such as Scribner's but also high-paying, popular publications including The Saturday Evening Post. Flush with his new wealth and fame, Fitzgerald finally married Zelda. The celebrated columnist Ring Lardner christened them "the prince and princess of their generation." Though the Fitzgeralds reveled in their notoriety, they also found it frightening, a fact which is perhaps represented in the ending of Fitzgerald's second novel. This novel, The Beautiful and Damned, was published two years later, and tells the story of a handsome young man and his beautiful wife, who gradually deteriorate into careworn middle age while they wait for the young man to inherit a large fortune. In a predictable ironic twist, they only receive their inheritance when it is too late. To escape this grim fate, the Fitzgeralds (together with their daughter, Frances, who was born in 1921) moved in 1924 to the Riviera, where they became part of a group of wealthy American expatriates whose style was largely determined by Gerald and Sara Murphy. Fitzgerald described this society in his last completed novel, Tender is the Night , and modeled its hero on Gerald Murphy. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's reputation as a heavy drinker tarnished his reputation in the literary world; he was viewed as an irresponsible writer despite his painstaking revisions numerous drafts of his work. Shortly after their relocati


Which ancient Egyptian pharaoh was dug up?

The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs Home The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs The Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were considered to be both divine deities as well as mortal rulers. Throughout the 30+ dynasties in ancient Egyptian history, it is speculated that some 170 or more rulers reigned over the great land of Egypt during a three thousand year time span. The throne of Egypt was primarily intended to be succeeded from father to son, however in many cases this line of kingship was interrupted by murder, mayhem and mysterious disappearances. Pharaohs were the god kings of ancient Egypt who ruled between 3150 B.C. and 30 B.C. (when Rome conquered Egypt). Each time a new family took control of the throne, a new kingdom began in the history of this fascinating nation. While rulers often intermarried with daughters, granddaughters, sisters and brothers to keep the throne within the family the throne still managed to shift hands multiple times; creating a dynamic and complex pharonic history. © Xuan Che - Pharaoh's Bust Definition: the word pharaoh refers to the title of the ancient Egyptian kings. The title “pharaoh” means the “great house” and refers to the royal palace. Thirty-one Dynasties ruled from the Early Dynastic Period to the Ptolemaic Period. Scholars also include a Dynasty 0 but any kings from this period are not well represented in the archaeological record. Some Dynasties ruled at the same time in different areas of Egypt during the intermediate periods. 10 Famous Pharaohs Below is a top 10 of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs: Tutankhamun (aka King Tut) restored the capital to Thebes after the death of Akhenaten and restored the worship of the old gods. Later pharaoh's erased his name from some king lists so scholars found his tomb's goods intact in the 1920s. Cleopatra VII was the last pharaoh of Egypt who tried to hold off the Romans under Augustus. She ruled beside three pharaohs including her young son and was the lover of Marc Antony. Ramses II ruled during the New Kingdom for either 66 years. He built all over Egypt and many of his statues and temples are still standing today. He is probably the most prolific of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, siring over 100 children with more than a dozen wives. Ramses III was the last king of the New Kingdom and is considered the last great pharaoh. He was murdered by one of his wives. Hatshepsut ruled during the New Kingdom for around 20 years. She organized military campaigns and sent out trade expeditions to bring exotic goods to Egypt. Akhenaten ruled during the New Kingdom for less than 20 years. Scholars call him the hieratic pharaoh because he forbade the worship of the old gods. He built Amarna as the center for the worship of his god, Aten. Khufu also known as Cheops, ruled during the Old Kingdom and built the Great Pyramid. Djoser ruled during the Old Kingdom and built the first true stone pyramid, the Step Pyramid. Thutmose III was the 6th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He ruled Egypt for 45 years and created the largest empire ever in Egypt. Thutmose was buried in the Valley of the Kings. Amenhotep III was the son of Thutmose IV and was the 9th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He ruled during the peak of ancient Egypt's power.   Click here for a list of the 25 most famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt   © Mary Harrsch - King Tut's Sarcophagus   Symbols of Kingship Below is a list of some of the symbols used by the pharaoh to show his/her kingship. Images of the pharaoh show him/her wearing a crown or headdress with the uraeus (cobra) over the forehead. S/he also had a bull’s tail coming from his/her belt to show personal power and wore a false beard which was a sign of divinity. White Crown - the crown of Upper Egypt symbolized control over this region. The Pharaoh wore it on occasions that concerned only Upper Egypt. It resembles a tall white mitre or a white bowling pin without a bottom. Red Crown - the crown of Lower Egypt that symbolized control over this region. Pharaoh wore it on occasions that concerned only Lower Egypt. The bottom of this crown is c


What group of women wore short skirts, had bobbed hair, drank booze, and listened to jazz?

1000+ images about Fashion of 1920s: The Roaring 20s! on Pinterest | Tea dresses, Showgirls and Clouche hats Pinterest • The world’s catalog of ideas Fashion of 1920s: The Roaring 20s! 30 Pins129 Followers One of the best things to ever happen in fashion history.. The Flapper Girl! Women freed themselves out of corsets (and also traditions) with boyish silhouette! Flapper in the 1920s was a “new breed” of young western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Women dresses were flowing and bias cut.


What escape artist died after being punched in the stomach?

Death of Houdini : snopes.com - - Claim:   Escape artist Harry Houdini died from a ruptured appendix caused by his being punched in the stomach. LEGEND Origins:   Nearly everyone familiar with world-famous magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, no matter how little they know about his life, knows one thing about his death: That a boastful Houdini died from trying to impress some college students with his toughness. As legend has it, Houdini was fond of explaining to his fans that by tightening his abdominal muscles he could withstand the hardest punches to the midsection a man could deliver, and one day a college student who was present when Houdini repeated his boast decided to test the claim by raining blows to the magician's midriff. The stomach punches caught Houdini by surprise before he had time to prepare himself, however, resulting in a trauma that ruptured his appendix and ultimately caused his death a few weeks later. Although some of the basic facts of this narrative are correct, its assumption of the cause and effect that led to Houdini's untimely demise likely is not. The chain of events leading up to Houdini's final passing began in mid-October 1926, while he was undertaking a series of shows in the northeastern part of North America. Despite having broken his ankle while performing his famous Water-Torture Cell escape in Albany several days earlier, Houdini, ever the trouper, kept his engagement at the Princess Theater in Montreal and opened there on 18 October 1926. The following day Houdini delivered a lecture at McGill University about exposing fraudulent spiritualists and mediums, and afterwards he stayed around to chat with various faculty members and students. A student named Samuel J. Smilovitch approached Houdini with a sketch he'd made of the escape artist; Houdini was impressed with the drawing and invited the young man to come backstage after one of his shows and do a full portrait. Smilovitch took Houdini up on his offer, bringing along his friend Jack Price to meet the magician in the lobby of the Princess Theater the morning of Friday, 22 October. They followed Houdini to his dressing room, and a few minutes later another McGill student named Joselyn Gordon Whitehead knocked on the door. What then occurred was later described by Jack Price and included in a book by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Houdini was facing us and lying down on a couch at the time reading some mail, his right side nearest us. This first-year student [Whitehead] engaged Houdini more or less continually whilst my friend Mr. Smilovitch continued to sketch Houdini. This student was the first to raise the question of Houdini's strength. My friend and I were not so much interested in his strength as we were in his mental acuteness, his skill, his beliefs, and his personal experiences. Houdini stated that he had extraordinary muscles in his forearms, in his shoulders and in his back, and he asked all of us present to feel them, which we did. The first-year McGill student asked Houdini whether it was true that punches in the stomach did not hurt him. Houdini remarked rather unenthusiastically that his stomach could resist much, though he did not speak of it in superlative terms. Thereupon he gave Houdini some very hammer-like blows below the belt, first securing Houdini's permission to strike him. Houdini was reclining at the time with his right side nearest Whitehead, and the said student was more or less bending over him. These blows fell on that part of the stomach to the right of the navel, and were struck on the side nearest to us, which was in fact Houdini's right side; I do not remember exactly how many blows were struck. I am certain, however, of at least four very hard and severe body blows, because at the end of the second or third blow I verbally protested against this sudden onslaught on the part of this first-year student, using the words, "Hey there. You must be crazy, what are you doing?" or words to that effect, but Whitehead continued striking Houdini with all his strength. Houdini stopped him suddenly in th


"What trumpeter was known as ""Satchmo""?"

Louis Armstrong - Trumpet Player, Singer - Biography.com Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong was a trumpeter, bandleader, singer, soloist, film star and comedian. Considered one of the most influential artists in jazz history, he is known for songs like "Star Dust," "La Via En Rose" and "What a Wonderful World." IN THESE GROUPS “The memory of things gone is important to a jazz musician.” “If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.” “All music is folk music. I ain't never heard a horse sing a song.” “The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky are also on the faces of people going by.” “The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night. I think to myself, what a wonderful world.” “Seems to me it ain't the world that's so bad but what we're doing to it, and all I'm saying is: see what a wonderful world it would be if only we'd give it a chance. Love, baby - love. That's the secret.” “We all do 'do re mi,' but you have got to find the other notes yourself.” “Making money ain't nothing exciting to me. You might be able to buy a little better booze than the wino on the corner. But you get sick just like the next cat and when you die you're just as graveyard dead as he is.” “What we play is life.” “The bottom line of any country in the world is what did we contribute to the world? ...We contributed Louis Armstrong.” Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong - Mini Biography (TV-14; 3:55) Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo," "Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch," was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians. Synopsis Louis Armstrong, nicknamed "Satchmo," "Pops" and, later, "Ambassador Satch," was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana. An all-star virtuoso, he came to prominence in the 1920s, influencing countless musicians with both his daring trumpet style and unique vocals. Armstrong's charismatic stage presence impressed not only the jazz world but all of popular music. He recorded several songs throughout his career, including he is known for songs like "Star Dust," "La Via En Rose" and "What a Wonderful World." Armstrong died at his home in Queens, New York, on July 6, 1971. Younger Years Louis Armstrong was born on August 4, 1901, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in a section so poor that it was nicknamed "The Battlefield." Armstrong had a difficult childhood. His father was a factory worker and abandoned the family soon after Louis's birth; his mother, who often turned to prostitution, frequently left him with his maternal grandmother. Armstrong was obligated to leave school in the fifth grade to begin working. A Jewish family, the Karnofskys, gave young Armstrong a job collecting junk and delivering coal. They also encouraged him to sing and often invited him into their home for meals. On New Year's Eve in 1912, Armstrong fired his stepfather's gun in the air during a New Year's Eve celebration and was arrested on the spot. He was then sent to the Colored Waif's Home for Boys. There, he received musical instruction on the cornet and fell in love with music. In 1914, the home released him, and he immediately began dreaming of a life making music. While he still had to work odd jobs selling newspapers and hauling coal to the city's famed red-light district, Armstrong began earning a reputation as a fine blues player. One of the greatest cornet players in town, Joe "King" Oliver, began acting as a mentor to the young Armstrong, showing him pointers on the horn and occasionally using him as a sub. By the end of his teens, Armstrong had grown up fast. In 1918, he married Daisy Parker, a prostitute, commencing a stormy union marked by many arguments and acts of violence. During this time, Armstrong adopted a three-year-old boy named Clarence. The boy's mother, Armstrong's cousin, had died in childbirth. Clarence, who had become mentally disabled from a head injury he had suffered at an early age, was taken care of by Armstrong his entire life. Meanwhile, Armstrong's reputation as a musician continued to grow: In 1918, he replaced Oliver in Kid


What invention of 1928 was the greatest thing since ... ever?

Are these the greatest inventions since sliced bread? | Europeana Blog Are these the greatest inventions since sliced bread? written by Beth on November 14, 2013 in News with no comments ← older posts newer posts → This week is International Week of Science and Peace and so we’ve prepared two blogs for you – today’s is about ‘science’ and tomorrow’s is about ‘peace’. ‘Science’ is a broad term that covers many things, including the development of new ideas, tools and equipments – inventions. So we’ve searched Europeana for some of the best inventions in human history. So, do you think these are the greatest inventions since (or before) sliced bread? Let us know what you think! Find facts about each invention below the gallery…   The plough: This tool to help farmers turn their soil and sow seeds is probably as old as agriculture itself. Farmers first used sticks and hoes, which developed into larger tools that could be pulled along by animals. The automobile: The modern car was invented in 1886 by Carl Benz. The first widely affordable car was the Model T Ford, which became available in 1908. You might have heard the story that Henry Ford said  ‘Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black’, but in fact he said this in 1918, and when the car first came out it was available in grey, green, blue, and red… not black! The wheel: There is evidence of wheeled vehicles as long ago as the 4th century BC. The wheel is commonly thought of as the fundamental human invention – something so simple and yet so life-changing. And it has become part of a phrase about what not to do when inventing or creating -make sure you don’t waste your time re-inventing the wheel! Communications technology: From telegraphs to the telephone and radio, science has changed the way we communicate.  Samuel Morse invented the electric telegraph in 1836. Now, we receive dozens of communications a day through our telephones (mobiles and landlines), emails and TV and radio. Most of us would feel lost without these connections to the big bad world – crazy to think that less than 200 years ago, handwritten letters and face-to-face conversations were the only options available. The computer: Mechanical computing devices have been in existence since the 1880s but electronic computers were invented in the 20th century.  Whilst the first computers filled entire rooms, now many of us carry a super-powerful version in our pockets in the form of a smartphone. The steam engine: Steam engines have been a great source of mechanical power since the late 1700s, using the pressure created by heating water into steam to create motion. The first prototype steam locomotive was built in Scotland in 1784. Steam engines were central to the Industrial Revolution. The internet: The internet began life as a military network in the 1960s. Since the mid1990s, with the introduction of email and the world wide web, it’s fair to say that the internet has taken over the world. The lightbulb: Thomas Edison is widely known as the inventor of the lightbulb, but several others came up with the idea first. Edison’s in 1878 was just the best. Refrigeration: The idea for refrigeration dates back over 200 years and the kitchen must-have has transformed our domestic lives as well as food safety and medical advancements. It’s not just our milk and frozen chips that are preserved – what about all the blood transfusions and transplant organs that can now be safely transported thanks to refrigeration? The printing press: Movable print technology comes from China in the 11th century. In the West, the invention of movable type mechanical printing technology is credited to the German printer Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. The printing press allowed large numbers of texts to be reproduced quickly and cheaply, spreading news, literature and current thinking around the globe much more easily than had ever been possible before. And if you still think sliced bread is the best of all inventions – a little fact for you – sliced bread was first sold in 1928, advertised as ‘the g


Who wore a bowler hat, had a mustache, and often carried a cane?

12 Of the Most Iconic Hats in Movie History 12 Of the Most Iconic Hats in Movie History Prev Article Next Article If I’m out of the office during the week or it’s a weekend, chances are I’m wearing a hat.  And chances are that hat is a beat-up, dirty, blue Gators hat that I’ve had since college.  It’s as if it’s permanently attached to my head, making me comfortable and to the disgust of others.  Oh well. I don’t know of any movie characters that wear blue Gator hats, but there are certainly quite a few movie characters that seem inseparable from their hats.  They’ve got their own attachments to hats, from fedoras to bowlers to even magic hats.  Below, check out 12 of the most iconic hats in movie history.  As always, if you think I’ve left one off, let me know in the comments. By the way, I realize that some of these hats may not really be “iconic,” but some of them certainly are, and I didn’t want to title this list “Iconic and/or memorable hats.”  So just, like, bear with me. Indiana Jones’ fedora – Indiana Jones movies I think it’s pretty clear that out of every hat on this list, Indy’s fedora is by far the most recognizable and iconic.  Like Indy, the hat has been through a lot, but it always seems to find its way back to its owner.  I love the scene in The Last Crusade when the fedora somehow rides a gust of wind back to Indy after he nearly goes over a cliff while fighting on a tank. The Cat in the Hat’s top hat – The Cat in the Hat It’s tough to deny that the Cat in the Hat’s large, striped top hat isn’t instantly recognizable.  It’s also tough to deny that Mike Myers has fallen so far from grace. The Mad Hatter’s top hat – Alice in Wonderland The Mad Hatter’s top hat, according to Lewis Carroll, was of the 10/6 style.  I have no idea what that means, but it’s cool to see that Disney did what they could with that information. Doughboy’s Detroit Tigers cap – Boyz n the Hood Cube wore a lot of Raiders gear throughout his rapping career, but in his role as Doughboy, he’s rarely seen without his Detroit Tigers baseball cap.  It must have been soaked with jheri curl juice after a hot day in Los Angeles. Freddy Krueger’s fedora – Nightmare on Elm Street movies Jason has the hockey mask, Michael Myers has the William Shatner mask, and Freddy Krueger has his old, beat up fedora to go with his clawed glove and filthy sweater. The Blues Brothers’ fedoras – The Blues Brothers The Blues Brothers have a great sense of style, capped off with their sweet-looking fedoras.  At least I think they’re fedoras.  Either way, they look great, and no Blues Brother costume can be completed without ’em. The Sorting Hat – Harry Potter movies I’d imagine having a magical, talking hat with a face on it placed on your head during your first few days at Hogwarts would be one of the creepier experiences of your life.  Get it off me!  Kill it with fire! Oddjob’s bowler – Goldfinger Oddjob’s bowler not only looks slick, it can be used as a deadly weapon, too, as it is fitted with a metal disc in the rim.  But seriously – who throws a hat?  And yes, using Oddjob in Bond for the N64 is crazy cheap. Sherlock Holmes’ deerstalker cap – Sherlock Holmes movies Sherlock Holmes’ deerstalker cap is so well known that it’s often referred to as…”the Sherlock Holmes hat.”  My favorite example of this reference can be seen in Best in Show, when Fred Willard’s character suggests that the bloodhound be fitted with a Sherlock Holmes hat and a pipe. Alex DeLarge’s derby – A Clockwork Orange Like with the Blues Brothers, no droogie costume is complete without a derby.  Alex dresses to impress. Angier’s top hat – The Prestige They are all your hat. Charlie Chaplin’s bowler – as “The Tramp,” various Charlie Chaplin is perhaps most well known for his character “The Tramp” (as seen above), and it’s hard to imagine him without his hat, twirling his cane and walking like a penguin.


"Who wrote ""Farewell to Arms"" and ""The Sun Also Rises""?"

Ernest Hemingway - Biographical Ernest Hemingway The Nobel Prize in Literature 1954 Ernest Hemingway Share this: Ernest Hemingway - Biographical Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), born  in Oak Park, Illinois, started his career as a writer in a  newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen. After  the United States entered the First World War, he joined a  volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army. Serving at the  front, he was wounded, was decorated by the Italian Government,  and spent considerable time in hospitals. After his return to the  United States, he became a reporter for Canadian and American  newspapers and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events  as the Greek Revolution. During the twenties, Hemingway became a member of the group of  expatriate Americans in Paris, which he described in his first  important work, The Sun Also Rises (1926). Equally  successful was A Farewell to Arms (1929), the study of an  American ambulance officer's disillusionment in the war and his  role as a deserter. Hemingway used his experiences as a reporter  during the civil war in Spain as the background for his most  ambitious novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Among his  later works, the most outstanding is the short novel, The Old  Man and the Sea (1952), the story of an old fisherman's  journey, his long and lonely struggle with a fish and the sea,  and his victory in defeat. Hemingway - himself a great sportsman - liked to portray  soldiers, hunters, bullfighters - tough, at times primitive  people whose courage and honesty are set against the brutal ways  of modern society, and who in this confrontation lose hope and  faith. His straightforward prose, his spare dialogue, and his  predilection for understatement are particularly effective in his  short stories, some of which are collected in Men Without  Women (1927) and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine  Stories (1938). Hemingway died in Idaho in 1961. From Nobel Lectures , Literature 1901-1967, Editor Horst Frenz, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1969 This autobiography/biography was written  at the time of the award and first   published in the book series Les   Prix Nobel .   It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures . To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.   Selected Bibliography Baker, Carlos. Hemingway: The    Writer as Artist. Fourth edition, Princeton University    Press: Princeton, NJ, 1972. Bruccoli, Matthew J. (Ed.). Ernest    Hemingway's apprenticeship: Oak Park, 1916-1917. NCR    Microcard Editions: Washington, D.C., 1971. Bruccoli, Matthew J., and Robert W.    Trogdon (Eds.). The Only Thing That Counts: The Ernest    Hemingway-Maxwell Perkins Correspondence 1925-1947.    Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1996. Clifford, Stephen P. Beyond the    Heroic "I": Reading Lawrence, Hemingway, and    "masculinity". Bucknell Univ. Press: Cranbury, NJ,    1999. Hemingway, Ernest. By-Line: Ernest    Hemingway. Selected articles and dispatches of four    decades. Edited by William White, with commentaries by    Philip Young. Collins: London, 1968. - Complete poems. Edited with    an introduction and notes by Nicholas Gerogiannis. Rev. ed.,    University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln, 1992. - The Complete Short Stories.    The Finca Vigía ed. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York,    1998. - Death in the Afternoon.    Jonathan Cape: London, 1932. - Ernest Hemingway: Selected    Letters, 1917-1961. Ed. Carlos Baker. Charles Scribner's    Sons: New York, 1981. - A Farewell to Arms. Charles    Scribner's Sons: New York, 1929. - Fiesta. Jonathan Cape:    London, 1927. - For Whom the Bell Tolls. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York 1940. - The Garden of Eden. Charles    Scribner's Sons: New York, 1986. - Green Hills of Africa.    Charles Scribner's Sons: New York 1935. - In Our Time. Boni and    Liveright: New York, 1925. - Islands in the Stream.    Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1970. - A Moveabl


BBC - Primary History - Famous People - John Logie Baird John Logie Baird   Why is Baird famous? What Baird did John Logie Baird was a pioneer of television. Other people helped to invent television (TV). But Baird was the first to show TV pictures to the world. When did he live? Baird was born in 1888. He was born before there was radio or television. There were few cars on the roads, and no planes in the skies. When Baird died in 1946, there were rockets, jet planes, the first computers - and television. TV changed the world Baird's television showed 'live' pictures in people's homes. TV today works on a different system from Baird's. However, by showing that TV was possible, Baird helped change the world. Today, almost every home has television. Growing up Baird's family John Logie Baird was born in Scotland. He lived in the small fishing town of Helensburgh. His father John was a Christian church minister. His mother, Jessie Inglis, was from Glasgow. John was born on 13 August 1888. He had an older brother James, and two older sisters, Annie and Jean (known as 'Tottie'). School days John hated school. He was often ill, so he missed lessons. He did not like games lessons, after which the boys had to take cold baths! He saved his pocket money to buy a camera. He was excited by cameras, cars and telephones. The young engineer When John was 12, he made his own telephone. He joined his phone to the homes of four friends, by hanging wires from trees and chimneys. He had to take down his wires after the driver of a horse bus had his hat knocked off! John and his friend Godfrey made a glider . Somehow it flew off the roof with John in it! He was lucky not to be badly hurt when the glider crashed in the garden. Ahead of the times The Bairds' house was the first in the town to have electricity. At 13, John built a generator , to make electric power to light the house. Sometimes he behaved like an absent-minded professor. How his cousins laughed when he scratched his head, holding a sticky porridge spoon! Becoming an inventor Student days Baird liked science. He loved stories about the future. One day people might send pictures through the air. Radio (then called 'wireless') did this with sounds. Why not pictures? In 1906, aged 18, Baird went to college in Glasgow to study engineering. It took him eight years to finish, because he had time off for illness. Making money World War I began in 1914. Baird tried to join the Army, but was unfit. So he worked in a factory . He did not like it, and felt sorry for factory workers. He went into business on his own, hoping to get rich. Baird in business Baird sold medicines. He invented a shaving razor made of glass (so it would not rust). He sold extra warm socks for soldiers. He was still not well. His doctor told him he needed sunshine. So Baird went to the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. He started a factory making jam and pickles. Mystery experiments People passing Baird's house were puzzled. What were those strange flashing lights? Baird was busy with experiments . He was trying to send pictures through the air. Back to London Back in Britain, Baird started a shop in London. He sold a soap called 'Baird's Speedy Cleaner'. In 1923, he moved to Hastings, beside the sea. One day he wrote to a friend, 'I have invented a means of seeing by wireless [radio]'. His friend said, 'stick to soap'! Moving pictures By the 1920s people could watch films in cinemas. The films were 'silent' (no sound). At home, people could listen to the 'wireless', but only 1 million people in Britain had radios. No one had yet seen moving pictures at home - television. Baird's first TV picture To make his first TV in 1924, Baird used boxes, biscuit tins, sewing needles, card, and the motor from an electric fan. His first TV picture showed a cross cut out of card. Baird's TV used spinning discs. His idea was to scan an image (the cross) with a spinning disc with tiny holes. Light from the image came through the holes in flashes. Baird then changed the flashes of light into electric signals. He sent the signal


"What type of movie declined after the release of ""The Jazz Singer"", starring Al Jolson?"

Jazz Singer Movie - The First Talkie By Jennifer Rosenberg Updated November 22, 2015. When The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, was released as a feature-length movie on October 6, 1927, it was the first movie that included dialogue and music on the filmstrip itself. Adding Sounds to Film Before The Jazz Singer, there were silent films. Despite their name, these films were not silent for they were accompanied by music. Often, these films were accompanied by a live orchestra in the theater and from as early as 1900, films were often synchronized with musical scores that were played on amplified record players. The technology advanced in the 1920s, when Bell Laboratories developed a way to allow an audio track to be placed on the film itself. This technology, called Vitaphone, was first used as a musical track in a film titled Don Juan in 1926. Although Don Juan had music and sound effects, there were no spoken words in the film. Actors Talking on Film When Sam Warner of the Warner Brothers planned The Jazz Singer, he anticipated that the film would use silent periods to tell the story and the Vitaphone technology would be used for the singing of music, just as the new technology had been used in Don Juan. continue reading below our video 4 Tips for Improving Test Performance However, during the filming of The Jazz Singer, superstar of the time Al Jolson ad-libbed dialogue in two different scenes and Warner liked the end result. Thus, when The Jazz Singer was released on October 6, 1927 it became the first feature-length film (89 minutes long) to include dialogue on the filmstrip itself. The Jazz Singer made way for the future of "talkies," which is what movies with audio soundtracks were called. So What Did Al Jolson Actually Say? The first words Jolson recites are: “Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!” Jolson spoke 60 words in one scene and 294 words in another. The rest of the film is silent, with words written on black, title cards just like in silent movies. The only sound (besides the few words by Jolson) are the songs. The Storyline of the Jazz Singer The Jazz Singer is a movie about Jakie Rabinowitz, the son of a Jewish cantor who wants to be a jazz singer but is pressured by his father to use his God-given voice to sing as a cantor. With five generations of Rabinowitz men as cantors, Jakie's father (played by Warner Oland) is adamant that Jakie has no choice in the matter. Jakie, however, has other plans. After being caught singing "raggy time songs" at a beer garden, Cantor Rabinowitz gives Jakie a belt whipping. That's the last straw for Jakie; he runs away from home. After setting off on his own, adult Jakie (played by Al Jolson) works hard to become a success in the field of jazz. He meets a girl, Mary Dale (played by May McAvoy), and she helps him improve his act. As Jakie, now known as Jack Robin, becomes increasingly successful, he continues to crave the support and love of his family. His mother (played by Eugenie Besserer) supports him, but his father is disgusted that his son wants to be a jazz singer. The climax of the movie revolves around a dilemma. Jakie must choose between starring in a Broadway show or returning to his deathly ill father and singing Kol Nidre at the synagogue. Both occur on the very same night. As Jakie says in the film (on a title card), "It's a choice between giving up the biggest chance of my life -- and breaking my mother's heart." This dilemma resonated with audiences for the 1920s were full of such decisions. With the older generation holding tight to tradition, the newer generation were rebelling, becoming flappers , listening to jazz , and dancing the Charleston . Ultimately, Jakie couldn't break his mother's heart and so he sang Kol Nidre that night. The Broadway show was cancelled. There is a happy ending though -- we see Jakie starring in his own show just a few months later. Blackface In the first of two scenes where Jakie is struggling with his choice, we see Al Jolson applying black makeup all over his face (except for near his lips) and then co


Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time - Feb 12, 1924 - HISTORY.com Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time Share this: Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time Author Rhapsody In Blue, by George Gershwin, performed for first time URL Publisher A+E Networks “The audience packed a house that could have been sold out at twice the size,” wrote New York Times critic Olin Downes on February 13, 1924, of a concert staged the previous afternoon at the Aeolian Hall in New York City. Billed as an educational event, the “Experiment In Modern Music” concert was organized by Paul Whiteman, the immensely popular leader of the Palais Royal Orchestra, to demonstrate that the relatively new form of music called jazz deserved to be regarded as a serious and sophisticated art form. The program featured didactic segments intended to make this case—segments with titles like “Contrast: Legitimate Scoring vs. Jazzing.” After 24 such stem-winders, the house was growing restless. Then a young man named George Gershwin, then known only as a composer of Broadway songs, seated himself at the piano to accompany the orchestra in the performance of a brand new piece of his own composition, called Rhapsody In Blue. “It starts with an outrageous cadenza of the clarinet,” wrote Downes of the now-famous two-and-a-half-octave glissando that makes Rhapsody in Blue as instantly recognizable as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. “It has subsidiary phrases, logically growing out of it…often metamorphosed by devices of rhythm and instrumentation.” The music critic of the New York Times was in agreement with Whiteman’s basic premise: “This is no mere dance-tune set for piano and other instruments,” he judged. “This composition shows extraordinary talent, just as it also shows a young composer with aims that go far beyond those of his ilk.” It may be true that George Gershwin had always hoped to transcend the category of popular music, but the piece he used to accomplish that feat was put together very hastily. Just five weeks prior to the “Experiment in Modern Music” concert, Gershwin had not committed to writing a piece for it, when his brother Ira read a report in the New York Tribune stating that George was “at work on a jazz concerto” for the program. Thus painted into a corner, George Gershwin pieced Rhapsody In Blue together as best he could in the time available, leaving his own piano part to be improvised during the world premiere. Rhapsody would, of course, come to be regarded as one of the most important American musical works of the 20th century. It would also open the door for a whole generation of “serious” composers—from Copland to Brecht—to draw on jazz elements in their own important works. Related Videos