What is the English title of the Christmas carol originally written in Latin as Adeste Fideles?

Adeste Fideles - Notes On The Carol Adeste Fideles "Hymn on the Prose for Christmas Day" Also known as Prosa In Nativitï¿½te Dï¿½mini, the Portuguese Hymn, and Adeste, Fidelis Adeste Fideles , No. 42, from Chandler, 1837 Adeste Fideles (Dom John Stï¿½phan). Words and Music: John Francis Wade (c. 1711/2-1786), circa 1743/4 (and possibly as early as 1740) MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML Versions on this site are found on Adeste, Fideles Translations . The history of Adeste Fideles was shrouded in mystery for many years.  At various times, the lyrics were attributed to St. Bonaventura, the 13th century Italian scholar, and others, including  the Portuguese, the Germans, the Spanish, and the Cistercian order of monks. The music was attributed to many composers, including the English organist John Reading, Sr. (d. 1692), John Reading, Jr. (1677-1764), Handel, and Marcos Antonio da Fonesca (1762-1830), a Portuguese musician (who, it was later determined, was born 19 or 20 years after the first publication of the score). However, in 1946, Rev. Maurice Frost, Vicar of Deddington, Oxford, discovered a new manuscript of the hymn (written in Latin). Regrettably, it's cover ï¿½ and the possible signature of its author ï¿½ was missing. The next year, Dom John Stï¿½phan, OSB, published his 32-page monograph, The Adeste Fideles: A Study On Its Origin and Development ( Buckfast Abbey Publications: Devon, 1947) concluding that the hymn and the tune were both written by the same man: John Francis Wade was born circa 1711 in England the son of a cloth merchant, John Wade, who had numerous connections to Leeds. A Catholic layman, he fled religious persecution in England, and by 1731 he was copying plainchant at the Dominical college at Bornhem, Flanders. Subsequently, he settled in Douai (or Douay), France, the location of a major Catholic college established by Phillip II of Spain in 1559. Wade made his living "by copying and selling plain chant and other music," 1a and the teaching of Latin and Church song. According to his obituary, he produced beautiful copies of plainchant and hymn manuscripts for local chapels and private use. Wade was also well connected with prominent Catholic musicians of the time, including Thomas Arne (1720-1778), and Samuel Webbe (1740-1816). According to Bennett Zon, Wade was also an instrumental force in the English revival of plainchant. 1b 1. Adeste fideles Verbum caro factum:     Venite ... His famous "Adeste Fideles" appears to have been produced by at least 1743, and possibly as early as 1740. Both the words and the music appear in five existing manuscripts (four of which were signed by Wade 1c ) including: The "Jacobite" manuscript was written circa 1743 or 1744   according to Dom Stï¿½phan ï¿½ and possibly as early as 1740 according the   editors of the New Oxford Book of Carols. This is said to be the   earliest known copy in Wade's hand; a facsimile was reproduced in Dom Jean   Stï¿½phan's "The Adeste Fideles: A Study On Its Origin and   Development" (Devon, England: Buckfast Abbey Publications, 1947).   It was this copy found by Rev. Frost in 1946, and is the only one lacking   the signature of Mr. Wade. According to Dr. Zon, this manuscript has now  gone missing. At Stonyhurst College, Lancashire, 1750. This is the version found in   Wade's Cantus Diversi pro Dominicis et Festis. In that volume, the   name of this carol is In Nativitate Domini Hymnus. According to the   curator of the library at Stonyhurst College, the first line is spelled Adeste   Fideles (and not Adeste Fidelis as some have asserted). This copy was written for the English College at Lisbon, Portugal. At the Henry Watson Music Library, Manchester, England, around 1751. Two copies at Edmund's College, Old Hall, Ware, England, 1760, a Graduale and a Vesporal. A sixth copy at Clongowes Wood College, Kildare, Ireland, dated from 1746 or 1749, was reportedly lost or stolen in the 1940s. Until its loss, it was believed to be the oldest known copy. Dom Stephan argues that Wade wrote both the words


Which French Impressionist produced the 1873 work Wild Poppies, Near Argenteuill?

Wild Poppies near Argenteuil (1873) - workART Prints and Picture Frames Wild Poppies near Argenteuil (1873) Click Image to Enlarge   Easy Payment You can pay via EFT or by Credit Card using PayFast's secure payment platform. Proceed to checkout for details.   100% Satisfaction guaranteed! We sell only the finest quality prints, canvas prints and custom frames. See our Terms & conditions at the bottom of your screen for details of our money-back guarantee. Buy Online with Confidence! Credit Card payments use the PayFast gateway. workART do not receive your credit card details. PayFast's business IS to manage your payment securely and reliably using the most sophisticated security. Description Additional Images (0) Related Products (50) Fine art giclee print called Wild Poppies near Argenteuil (1873) by the French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet (1840-1926).  Monet's primary love was to paint outdoors - working quickly to capture the fleeting colours and tones of the landscape.  See all our Monet pictures here Available as a giclee print on paper or as a canvas print.  Giclee prints display exceptional detail and vivid colour and are created using the finest digital printmaking technology available.  Our stretched canvas prints are on archival canvas using archival inks - the finest prints available. Our custom picture frames will further enhance and preserve this great artwork.  read more ... Fine Art Prints There are no additional images for this product.


Which term originating in the game of poker is used to describe the most reliable, profitable companies or their stocks?

Business and management dictionary and glossary of terminology,  words, terms, and definitions - mian terms and unsusual amusing  business-speak. 1-10   A B   C D   E F   G H   I J   K L   M N   O P   Q R   S T   U V   W X   Y Z This glossary of business terms and definitions includes the main    terminology used in business, plus many more unusual, interesting and amusing    words and expressions found in business and management, and the wider world of    work and modern life. The definitions are designed to be quick, easy and enjoyable to    read. It's not meant to be an encyclopedia. Please send your suggestions for additional terms, and any corrections. If you can't find a term try the search box at the top of the    page. There are many other subjects covered on this website aside from    these dictionary definitions. Also use the search box for more information about a particular    subject. Some of these terms can have different meanings in situations    outside of business and management, and some can even have different meanings    in different areas of business. Generally this glossary lists the most common    uses and meanings. If you hear or read a term which does not make sense according to    the definition in this dictionary, check elsewhere or ask the person what    he/she meant. People do not always use terminology correctly, which means it's    very important to seek clarification when you hear a strange term. Seeking    clarification can be helpful for others too who might not be so bold as to    ask.  Recently added definitions are shown on the right. Please note that UK-English spellings for words such as colour,    behaviour are different to US-English spellings (color, behavior). UK-English    spellings of many words ending in 'ise', such as organise, realise, etc., may    also appear on this page (compared to US-English 'ize'). Please adapt the    materials for your own situation accordingly.   1-10 1-10   A B   C D   E F   G H   I J   K L   M N   O P   Q R   S T   U V   W X   Y Z 1.4142 - The diagonal (approximate, to four decimal places)    of a 1 x 1 square, also known as Pythagoras's Constant, and therefore also the    ratio (1:1.4142) for calculating the diagonal side of a right-angled triangle    in which the two short sides are of equal length. 1.6180 - The Golden Number (to four decimal places). Also    known as the Golden Section, Divine Proportion, and phi (pronounced 'fy' as in    the word 'fly') the twenty-first letter of the Greek alphabet . Also loosely referred to as Golden    Ratio (1:1.618). Phi is used intentionally or instinctively in many different    areas of design, for example architecture, music, and art. Phi is also an easy    'secret' to achieving aesthetically pleasing positioning and proportions. The    Golden Ratio is found in diverse designs such as Stradivarius violins, the    Pyramids, Notre Dame Cathedral, and in nature, for example the human face. 3.14159 - Pi, normally represented by the Greek letter pi (P)    symbol π. Pi is typically used for calculating the    area (π x radius squared) or circumference (π x diameter) of a circle. Pi has an infinite number of    decimal places, and fascinates mathematicians in calculating pi itself, and    memory experts too in memorizing as much of it as possible. 4/4 - Four beats to the bar, the most common rhythm in    music. 10:10 - A UK environmental campaign that    asks businesses, organisations and individuals to cut their carbon emissions by    10% in the year 2010. 13 - The most superstitious number, 13 affects business in    surprising ways through absenteeism, cancellations, and design. Western    airlines, for example, tend not to have seats and rows numbered 13. Friday 13th    is a particularly superstitious date. Friday and the number 13 derive their    superstitious reputations mostly from Christian beliefs and Norse folklore. 21-Gun Salute - Traditio


Kitchener was one of the original members of the Order of Merit together with which surgeon and pioneer of antiseptic surgery?

Joseph Lister Joseph Lister Location of death: Walmer, Kent, England Cause of death: unspecified Nationality: England Executive summary: Pioneer of antiseptic surgery English surgeon, born at Upton, in Essex, on the 5th of April 1827. His father, Joseph Jackson Lister, F.R.S., was eminent in science, especially in optical science, his chief claim to remembrance being that by certain improvements in lenses he raised the compound microscope from the position of a scientific toy, "distorting as much as it magnified", to its present place as a powerful engine of research. Other members of Lister's family were eminent in natural science. In his boyhood Joseph Lister was educated at Quaker schools; first at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, and afterwards at Tottenham, near London. In 1844 he entered University College, London, as a student in arts, and took his B.A. degree at the University of London in 1847. He continued at University College as a medical student, and became M.B. and F.R.C.S. in 1852. The keen young student was not long in bringing his faculties to bear upon pathology and the practice of medicine. While house-surgeon at University College Hospital, he had charge of certain cases during an outbreak of hospital gangrene, and carefully observed the phenomena of the disease and the effects of treatment upon it. He was thus early led to suspect the parasitic nature of the disorder, and searched with the microscope the material of the spreading sore, in the hope of discovering in it some invading fungus; he soon convinced himself of the cardinal truth that its causes were purely local. He also minutely investigated cases of pyaemia, another terrible scourge of hospitals at that time, and made camera lucida sketches of the appearances revealed by the microscope. To realize Lister's work it is necessary to remember the condition of surgical practice at that date. About the middle of the 19th century the introduction of anaesthetics had relieved the patient of much of the horror of the knife, and the surgeon of the duty of speed in his work. The agony of the sufferer had naturally and rightly compelled the public to demand rapid if not slap-dash surgery, and the surgeon to pride himself on it. Within decent limits of precision, the quickest craftsman was the best. With anaesthetics this state of things at any rate was changed. The pain of the operation itself no longer counted, and the surgeon was enabled not only to be as cautious and sedulous as dexterous, but also to venture upon long, profound and intricate operations which before had been out of the question. Yet unhappily this new enfranchisement seemed to be but an ironical liberty of Nature, who with the other hand took away what she had given. Direct healing of surgical wounds ("by first intention"), far from being the rule, was a piece of luck too rare to enter into the calculations of the operator; while of the graver surgical undertakings, however successful mechanically, the mortality by sepsis was ghastly. Suppuration, phagedaena and septic poisonings of the system carried away even the most promising patients and followed even trifling operations. Often, too, these diseases rose to the height of epidemic pestilences, so that patients, however extreme their need, dreaded the very name of hospital, and the most skillful surgeons distrusted their own craft. New hospitals or new wards were built, yet after a very short time the new became as pestiferous as the old; and even scrupulous care in ventilation and housemaids' cleanliness failed to prevent the devastation. Surgery had enlarged its freedom, but only to find the weight of its new responsibilities more than it could bear. When Lister was appointed to the chair of surgery in Glasgow the infirmary of that city was a hotbed of septic disease; so much so that his hospital visits evidently distressed him greatly. Windows were widely opened, piles of clean towels were supplied, but still the pestilence stalked through the wards. The building stands today as it stood then, with no substantial alteration; but by th


Easter Island is a territory belonging to which country?

Rapa Nui Map of Easter Island Chile and Easter Island Map and Information - World Atlas Easter Island Description Easter Island History Rapa Nui, or Easter Island as it is known today, is a Polynesian island positioned in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 3,510 km (2,180 mi) west of continental Chile . Easter Island is one of the world's most isolated inhabited islands, with its nearest inhabited neighbor (Pitcairn Island), located some 2,075 km (1,289.35 mi) to the west. Its history is captivating and mysterious to this day mainly because of the nearly 900 (still surviving) monumental statues, called Moai, created by the early Rapanui people. Over the centuries Easter Island and its durable inhabitants lived through colonialism, epidemics, food shortages, internal wars and slave raids....and they still survive. Archaeologists believe that the initial inhabitants arrived between 700–1000, and they journeyed here in canoes or catamarans from the Marquesas Islands of Polynesia. Important remnants of that culture are the massive Moai statues, reportedly representing deified ancestors. Most early settlements were located along the coastline and Moai were erected there so they could watch over their descendants, with their backs toward the spirit world in the sea. Like most cultures. as population increased different factions surfaced, and internal war was inevitable. On Easter Sunday, 1722, Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen arrived, named it Easter Island. He later reported the island was lined with massive stone statues. In 1770 that was still the case when two Spanish ships sailed in. Captain Felipe Gonzalez y Haedo claimed Easter Island for Spain and renamed it San Carlos. He also reported the island lined with statues When James Cook visited in 1774, he noted that several Moai were lying face down. History reports that Moai toppling continued into the 1820s because of fierce internal fighting, and the British ship HMS Blossom reported seeing no standing statues in 1825 In the 1860s slave raiders from Peru captured 1,500 men and women, half of the island's population. Later those same raiders spread smallpox to the island; a disease that eventually caused a fatal epidemic in the Marquesas islands. A few years later, tuberculosis, introduced by whalers, killed 25% of the remaining population. In the following years, the managers of a sheep ranch and missionaries started buying the newly available lands of the deceased, and this led to great confrontations between natives and settlers. In the 1870s, because of unsolveable disputes, missionaries evacuated most of the Rapanui population to the Gambier islands. By the end of the decade a mere 100 people lived on the island, and much of its cultural knowledge had been lost. Easter Island was annexed by Chile on September 9, 1888, and the validity of that land grab is still contested by some of the Rapanui to this day. At that time the surviving Rapanui were confined to the settlement of Hanga Roa. The rest of the island was rented to the Williamson-Balfour Company as a sheep farm. In 1914 British citizen Katherine Routeledge visited for a yearlong expedition. It was the first in-depth study of local artifacts and inhabitants. She and her team found connections between elders’ tattoos and the Moai. She detailed the clan system in a 1919 book called "The Mystery of Easter Island" In the mid-1950s Thor Heyerdahl organized the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island. After several months on the island the expedition published two large volumes of scientific reports In 1995 an airport was constructed and the island was then managed by the Chilean Navy. In 1966, Chile declared Easter Island a province and the Rapanui given Chilean citizenship Today tourism is the major industry, and although isolated and a bit difficult to reach, thousands visit here to experience for themselves the culture and mystery that is Easter Island.


The CERN laboratory is in the suburbs of which city?

Geneva, CERN | The European Organization for Nuclear Researc… | Flickr Allan Watt By: Allan Watt Geneva, CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. The laboratory was established in 1954 and its main function is to provide particle accelerators for high energy physics research. Most of the current activities are directed towards operating the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is a worldwide cooperation project.   Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland, after Zurich, and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French speaking part of Switzerland. The municipality (city) of Geneva has a population of approximately 196,000 while the Canton (city plus the suburbs) has a population of approximately 480,000. Geneva hosts the highest number of international organisations in the world including agencies of the United Nations and the headquarters of the International Red Cross. Geneva was ranked as the 9th most important financial city, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zurich. Geneva was ranked as the fifth most expensive city in the world during 2011. Done


What was the code name of the World War II operation in which British children were evacuated from the cities to the countryside?

Children and World War Two - History Learning Site Home   »   World War Two   »  Children and World War Two Children and World War Two Citation: C N Trueman "Children and World War Two" historylearningsite.co.uk. The History Learning Site, 6 Mar 2015. 16 Aug 2016. Children were massively affected by World War Two . Nearly two million children were evacuated from their homes at the start of World War Two; children had to endure rationing , gas mask lessons, living with strangers etc. Children accounted for one in ten of the deaths during the Blitz of London from 1940 to 1941 .   World War Two was the first war when Britain itself was the target of frequent attacks by the enemy. With the success of the Battle of Britain and the suspension of ‘ Operation Sealion ’, the only way Germany could get at mainland Britain was to bomb it. This occurred during the Blitz and seemed to reinforce the government’s decision to introduce evacuation (what the government of the time described as “the biggest exodus since Moses”) at the start of the war. On August 31st, 1939, the government issued the order “Evacuate Forthwith” and ‘Operation Pied Piper’ was started the very next day. The impact of evacuation on children depended to an extent on which social strata you were in at the time. Parents who had access to money invariably made their own arrangements. Children at private schools based in the cities tended to move out to manor houses in the countryside where children at that school could be, in the main, kept together. But 1.9 million children gathered at rail stations in early September not knowing where they were going nor if they would be split from brothers and sisters who had gathered with them. ‘Operation Pied Piper’ was a huge undertaking. Six cities had been deemed vulnerable to German bombing – memories of Guernica were still fresh – and in London alone there were 1,589 assembly points for children to gather at before they were moved on. Those children who were evacuated were given a stamped postcard to send from their billet address to inform their parents where they were. ‘Operation Pied Piper’ planned to move 3.5 million children in three days. In the event, the 1.9 million who were evacuated was a remarkable achievement though some children stayed with their parents as evacuation was not compulsory. With such numbers involved, it was to be expected that some children would have a smooth passage to their reception area while some would not. Anglesey expected 625 children to arrive and 2,468 did. Pwllheli, North Wales, was not allocated any evacuees – and 400 turned up. Children already experiencing a stressful situation were put in an even more difficult situation. Elsewhere, children who had been used to being in school in the same class were spilt up. “I have had few worse hours in my life than those I spent watching the school being taken off in drizzling rain and gathering gloom to those unknown villages, knowing I was powerless to do anything about it.”Dorothy King, teacher What impact this had on the children involved was never overly studied at the time as the government simply wanted to herald evacuation as an overwhelming success. That some children continued their education in pubs, church halls or anywhere else there was the space to accommodate them was seen as the accepted face of a requirement that had been foist on the government. The clash of cultures experienced by many children must have also been difficult. The children from the cities had been tarred by a reputation that was undeserved – but many of those in rural England expected children to be riddled with parasites and to engage in anti-social behaviour. Such was the perception at the time. “I noticed a woman looking at evacuees’ hair and opening their mouths, but one of the helpers said, “They might come from the East End, but they’re children, not animals.” R Baker, evacuee from Bethnal Green. However, many mothers brought their children home during the ‘ Phoney War ’ when it seemed clear that the danger of bombing had been exaggerated. By January


In which country would you find the ruined city of Machu Pichu?

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu The Ruins on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu Brief Notes on the Main Archaeological Sites, with     Photographs Part 4 : The Lost City of the Incas     View from Intipunku, the Sun Gate. This is        the first sight of Machu Picchu that hikers following        the Inca Tail get.   by Linda Davies   "Helen had always feared that it would be        an anticlimax, that something dreamed of for a        lifetime would inevitably be smaller than the dream.        She had lived so much of her life in the imagination        that it was for her more powerful than reality. But        what towered before her was greater than anything she        might have conjured. Photographs were as ashes to a        live body. Nothing captured Machu Picchu, a kingdom        ruined but alive."   "The power was not just in the         configurations of stones, but in the awesome         setting. A thousand feet below, the Urubamba river         churned through the gorge that cut around the base         of the mountain. Surrounding them a circle of         snow-covered peaks and green ranges towered into a         dazzling sky. The Citadel at the centre."   The quotations above, describing the goal         and fitting climax of the Inca Trail hike are from Into the         Fire , the thriller by Linda Davies , who lived in Peru for three years. She used her experiences,         and what she learnt there, in the plot of the         novel. She travelled extensively in the country and         hiked the Inca Trail on various occasions. Into the Fire is now available world-wide in a new paperback edition published by Twenty First Century Publishers and may also be downloaded as an ebook from Diesel eBooks .   Of course, Machu Picchu is an amazing         spectacle, even if you arrive by train - the easy         way!   The Classic view showing the ruined city        perched on a hill with the mountain Huayna Picchu in        the background.


Sebastian Vettel won the Formula One championship four years running from 2010-2013 driving for which team?

Sebastian Vettel - 2010-2013 Sebastian Vettel Share The youngest ever world champion's accumulation of age-related records that began in 2010 continued for four consecutive seasons, culminating in a one-sided 2013 title triumph that confirmed his status as one of the sport’s all-time greats. Sebastian Vettel’s first championship, at the age of 23, provided a surprise ending to an intensely competitive 2010 campaign. There was surely more to come from this fast rising racer, and it came quickly when he completely dominated in 2011 to become the youngest double world champion. In 2012, with a series of comebacks from setbacks against the strongest opposition in the longest ever season, his third driving title in a row was hard-earned and well-deserved. In 2013, and still just 26 years old, he made short work of becoming the youngest ever quadruple world champion. In truth the precocious youngster who came so far so fast was in a hurry from the time he was a toddler... Just three years and half years after he was born, on July 3, 1987, Sebastian Vettel began the way of life that would take him to the very pinnacle of motorsport. His method of transport was a miniature kart, the venue was the yard at his home in Heppenheim, a town in south-western Germany. Little Sebastian quickly mastered the machine and began lapping faster and faster, shrieking with glee and refusing to stop until he was exhausted. The source of little Seb's joy soon became a focal point of family life for the Vettels. Norbert, a carpenter by trade and in his spare time an enthusiastic karter and occasional hillclimber, and his wife Heike had three other children: older daughters Stefanie and Melanie, and a younger son Fabian. His family's support helped the would-be racer fulfil a destiny that would make the Vettel name a household word around the world. 1 / 6 Sebastian Vettel (GER), KSN Team. ICA Junior European Championship, St Amand, France. 15 July 2001. © Sutton Images L-R, Christopher Wassermann (AUT) and Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Junior sponsored drivers, BMW ADAC Championship. Formula BMW ADAC Championship Testing. 21 February 2003. Adria International Speedway Circuit, Italy. © Sutton Images Sebastian Vettel (GER) tests a Williams BMW FW27. Formula One Testing, Day One, Jerez, Spain, Tuesday 27 September 2005. © Sutton Images Sebastian Vettel (GER) BMW Sauber Third Driver. Formula One World Championship, Rd 14, Turkish Grand Prix, Practice Day, Istanbul Park, Turkey, 25 August 2006. © Sutton Images Sebastian Vettel (GER) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR02. Australian Grand Prix, Rd 1, Qualifying Day, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, Saturday 15 March 2008. © Sutton Images Pole position man Sebastian Vettel (GER) Scuderia Toro Rosso in parc ferme. Formula One World Championship, Rd 14, Italian Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monza, Italy, Saturday 13 September 2008. © Sutton Images Info Close He made his kart racing debut at the age of seven and immediately began winning races and championships. One of his early trophies was presented by his idol Michael Schumacher, who befriended the awestruck boy, noting their similar backgrounds and encouraging him to follow his passion and reach for the top. But that would take more money than the Vettels could afford. The solution came in the form of sponsorship from Red Bull, whose talent-spotters decided Sebastian was worthy of inclusion in the energy drink maker's young driver training programme. Learning and improving all the time, he graduated with flying colours into single-seaters. As a 17-year-old schoolboy he won an unprecedented 18 of 20 races to dominate the German Formula BMW championship. At 18 he distinguished himself testing a BMW Williams F1 car. At 19 he became a test driver for the BMW Sauber F1 team, underlining his commitment to the cause by moving to a village near the Swiss-based team's headquarters. His Formula One race debut came in the 2007 US Grand Prix at Indianapolis. There, deputising for the injured Robert Kubica, he qualified seventh and finished eighth, becoming the youngest driver


Which composer wrote the tune to which Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is sung?

The Debunker: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? - Woot Woot! The Debunker: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? The Debunker: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? by Ken Jennings 2 years ago Human ignorance, sadly, isn't limited to planet Earth. Even today, over 400 years after the Age of Enlightenment began, plenty of people are still getting plenty of stuff wrong--not just about our home planet, but about the whole universe. Luckily, Jeopardy!s Ken Jennings is the author of a new book about the mysteries of the cosmos, the Junior Genius Guide to Outer Space . In this month's Debunker columns, he'll set us straight on a whole sky full of starry slip-ups. These are some misconceptions of truly astronomical proportion. The Debunker: Star Myth #4: Did Mozart Write "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"? The little-known fact that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the melody for the children's song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is not so little-known as the wiseacre typically volunteering the "fact" would have you believe. I've seen the claim in Frommer's travel guides, children's books about Mozart, and even (ironically) a book about scientific misconceptions by Phil Plait, who blogs at Bad Astronomy. It's plausible enough, I guess. Who else would compose one of the world's most famous kids' songs but the world's most famous kid composer? The melody to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is ubiquitous--you may or may not have noticed that we also use it for "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "The Alphabet Song." But it's an actually an old French folk song called "Ah! vous dirais-je Maman" ("Oh! Shall I Tell You Mommy"). About fifty years after the melody was first published, it was borrowed for "The Star," a nursery rhyme written by London poets Jane and Ann Taylor. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" was born. How did Mozart, of all people, get the credit? Around 1781, when "Ah! vous dirais-je Maman" was already an old classic, Mozart composed twelve variations on the simple tune. But so did plenty of other classical composers, including Franz Liszt and Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach. The melody would have been enormously popular with or without Mozart, and he certainly didn't originate it. But don't feel too bad for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He has a pretty solid musical résumé to fall back on, with or without "Twinkle Twinkle." Quick Quiz: What novel features an off-kilter parody of the famous rhyme that begins, "Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! How I wonder what you're at"?


Which poet wrote the lines: “Theirs is not to question why, Theirs is but to do and die”?

Alfred Lord Tennyson - 'Theirs but to do and die' Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. . . . In his memoir, Hallam Tennyson describes his father as a "soldier at heart," one proud to to have received a note from a returning veteran saying, "I escaped with my life and my Tennyson." The poem was so popular among those serving in the Crimea that a thousand copies were handed out at the front, and at Tennyson's funeral in Westminster Abbey survivors of the Balaclava battle lined the aisles. As poet laureate, Tennyson wrote a number of nationalistic poems, but he was anxious not to be perceived as a jingoist or war-lover. His epilogue to "The Charge of the Heavy Brigade," a poem written decades later, contains the lines, "And who loves War for War's own sake, / Is fool or crazed or worse." But the story behind Tennyson's later, "Heavy Brigade" poem is an interesting and more complicated one. Many of the surviving Balaclava soldiers, long returned to England and long forgotten, were so destitute that a charity drive was undertaken on their behalf. When little money was raised, the charity organizers suggested that the veterans visit Tennyson, who might rally support. When they did so, he wrote his "Heavy Brigade" poem and appealed for more donations. Money came in, and then the politicians gave a lot of it to other causes -- prevention of cruelty to animals, for one. This so angered Rudyard Kipling that he penned "The Last of the Light Brigade" documenting the scandal. At this moment, Kipling's veterans visit the "Master-singer," Tennyson: The old Troop-Sergeant was spokesman, and "Beggin' your pardon," he said, "You wrote o' the Light Brigade, sir. Here's all that isn't dead. An' it's all come true what you wrote, sir, regardin' the mouth of hell; For we're all of us nigh to the workhouse, an' we thought we'd call an' tell. Tennyson recorded an excerpt from "The Charge of the Light Brigade" near the end of his life; it can be found in various compilations and at several web sites. And, of course, an entirely different approach to the Light Brigade, England, and pretty much everything else awaits any reader of George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman at the Charge. — SK


Which capital city houses the headquarters of the African Union?

Obama African Union Speech In Ethiopia: President Ends Africa Visit With Historic Address Obama African Union Speech In Ethiopia: President Ends Africa Visit With Historic Address 07/28/15 AT 8:27 AM Close U.S. President Barack Obama ended his historic tour of East Africa with a speech Tuesday at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. It was the first time a sitting American president addressed the 54-member regional bloc, which promotes peace and security throughout Africa. Obama said it was time for the world to change its approach to Africa during his keynote speech. “I stand before you as a proud American. I also stand before you as the son of an African,” Obama said during his address Tuesday. “A half century into this independence era, it is long past time to put aside old stereotypes of an Africa forever mired in poverty and conflict. The world must recognize Africa’s extraordinary progress." The U.S. president embarked on the five-day, two-nation trip to Africa last Friday, starting with a visit to Kenya, the homeland of his late father. It was the first time Obama traveled to Kenya during his presidency. While in the capital city of Nairobi, Obama co-hosted the sixth annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and held bilateral talks on business development, security, human rights and LGBT equality. The American president’s comments on gay rights came on the heels of protests against LGBT rights in Kenya , where homosexuality is illegal. U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on July 28, 2015. Obama said it was time for the world to change its approach to Africa, as he made the first address to the African Union by a U.S. leader. Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images NOW ON: US President Barack Obama addresses #AU in Addis Ababa #ObamaAU http://t.co/Yr75zkCGcI pic.twitter.com/qHWVOnjPPz More Vocal, More Organized And Much More Visible Obama and his high-profile entourage flew to Ethiopia Sunday, making history once again as the first sitting U.S. president to visit the country. While in the capital city, Obama met with African leaders, including African Union chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, to discuss regional terrorism and South Sudan’s civil war. He also held a  joint press conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, during which Obama pressed the Ethiopian government to clean up its record on human rights and good governance. However, Obama drew criticism from human rights groups when he described the Ethiopian government as “democratically elected” after a controversial election cycle in the East African country that was largely deemed illegitimate. Earlier Tuesday, Obama emphasized his administration's efforts to combat world hunger while touring a factory operated by Faffa Foods, which is the main supplier of baby food for Ethiopian children and also participates in the U.S. Feed the Future program. The U.S. government announced $140 million in investments to the program aimed at getting climate-resilient seeds to smallholder farmers in 11 African nations. Approximately 44 percent of Ethiopian children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnourishment, according to  U.S. Agency for International Development . “The goal is to drastically increase the productivity of small farmers all throughout Africa because what we know is that a huge percentage of Africans are still getting their incomes from agriculture and most of them are very small plots, and not a lot of technology,” the U.S. president said Tuesday. "But with just a few smart interventions, a little bit of help, they can make huge improvements in their overall yield.” The U.S. president was scheduled to arrive back at the White House in Washington, D.C. early Wednesday, according to the  Associated Press .


What is the alter-ego of the Marvel Comics super-hero Iron Man?

Superheroes: Iron Man Iron Man Back to Biographies Iron Man was introduced by Marvel Comics in the comic book Tales of Suspense #39 in March 1963. The creators were Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby. What are Iron Man's powers? Iron Man possesses a wealth of powers through his powered armor suit. These powers include super strength, the ability to fly, durability, and a number of weapons. The primary weapons used by Iron Man are rays that are shot from the palms of his gauntlets. Who is Iron Man's alter ego and how did he get his powers? Iron Man gets his superpowers from his metallic suit of armor and other technologies invented by his alter ego Tony Stark. Tony is a genius engineer and wealthy owner of a technology company. Tony built the Iron Man suit when he was kidnapped and suffered an injury to his heart. The suit was meant to save his life and help him escape. Tony also has an improved artificial nervous system which gives him greater healing powers, super perception, and the ability to merge with his suit of armor. Outside of his armor he has been trained in hand-to-hand combat. Who are Iron Man's Enemies? The list of foes that Iron Man has battled over the years is long. Here is a description of some of his main enemies: Mandarin - Mandarin is Iron man's archenemy. He has superhuman abilities in the martial arts as well as 10 rings of power. The rings grant him the powers such as Ice blast, flame blast, electro blast, and matter rearranger. These powers together with his martial arts skill make Mandarin a formidable foe. Mandarin is from mainland China. Crimson Dynamo - The Crimson Dynamo's are agents of Russia . They wear power suits similar to, but not as good, as the one Iron Man wears. Iron Monger - The Iron Monger wears armor like Iron Man. Obadiah Stane is the original Iron Monger. Justin Hammer - Justin Hammer is a businessman and strategist who wants to take down Tony Stark's empire. He uses henchmen and helps steal and build armors similar to Iron Man's for his foes to use. Other enemies include Ghost, Titanium Man, Backlash, Doctor Doom, Firepower, and Whirlwind. Fun Facts about Iron Man Tony Stark was based off of millionaire industrialist Howard Hughes. Stark has a piece of shrapnel near his heart. His magnetic chest plate keeps the shrapnel from reaching his heart and killing him. He must recharge the chest plate every day or die. He also built specialized suits for other environments like deep sea diving and space travel. He graduated from MIT with multiple degrees when he was 21 years old. He is friends with Captain America. Robert Downey Jr. played Iron Man in the movie version.


What was the name of the pop-up exhibition organised by street artist Banksy in a disused lido at Weston-Super-Mare? It was open to the public for a short time in Autumn 2015.

Banksy | Stage Jobs Pro Services Banksy Dismaland was a temporary art project organised by street artist Banksy, constructed in the seaside resort town of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England.[1] Prepared in secret, the pop-up exhibition at the Tropicana, a disused lido, was "a sinister twist on Disneyland" that opened during the weekend of 21 August 2015[2] and closed permanently on September 27, 2015, 36 days later. Banksy described it as a "family theme park unsuitable for children." Members of Stage Jobs Pro who have worked for Banksy 2015 , Gallery Assistant, Photographer and Steward Dismaland Beamusement Park


Benjamin Britten's last opera. Death in Venice, is based on a 1912 short story by which author?

TRANS Nr. 16: Ernest W.B. Hess-Lüttich (Bern, Switzerland): The language of music, gaze, and dance. Benjamin Britten's opera Death in Venice   1. The language of music: syntactical meaning The relationship between language and music is, in music theory, not a particularly popular subject, which, in any case, all too easily evades exact analysis. Or do we know precisely what is described when we read the following, for example: "Through the melody the composer [...] speaks directly to the feeling, the still unreal, pre-conscious, the premonition [Der Komponist <...> spricht durch die Melodie das Gefühl, das noch Unwirkliche, Vorgewußte, Erahnte unmittelbar an]" Behr (1983: 34)? In his "Fragment über die Sprache" (in Quasi una Fantasia) Theodor W. Adorno wrote as early as 1963: "Music is like language [...] But music is not language. Its similarity to language leads the way into the interior, but also into the vague [Musik ist sprachähnlich <...> Aber Musik ist nicht Sprache. Ihre Sprachähnlichkeit weist den Weg ins Innere, doch auch ins Vage.]" (Adorno 1997: 251). Why is this so? Is it because music lacks a strictly denotative stratum of meaning (Gruhn 1979: 265)? Or is it the other way around: what do music and language have in common? In search of an answer in terms of the semiotics of music, Peter Faltin suggests that "the similarity of music and language does not rest on the real function of language - to enable communication - but rather on one aspect of language, its ability to articulate and share thoughts [Die 'Sprachähnlichkeit' von Musik beruht nicht auf der eigentlichen Funktion der Sprache, Verständigung herbeizuführen, sondern nur auf einem Aspekt der Sprache, auf ihrer Fähigkeit, Gedanken zu artikulieren und zu vermitteln]" (Faltin 1985: 178). It is obviously not easy to grasp the relationship between language and music precisely; and even more difficult to speak concretely, not vaguely, about music; and hardest of all to speak about opera, about the union of codes of music, language, and theatre into an aesthetic whole, a union of "text and music [...] two sign strata that refer to each other but remain separate [Text und Musik <...> zwei aufeinander bezogene, aber dennoch getrennte und von einander abhebbare Zeichenschichten]" (Gruhn 1979: 265). As it seems so difficult to speak about music in a non-metaphorical manner, which is the well-established language of musical critics, semiotics may provide the analytical instruments for describing opera as a "poly-coded text" (cf. Hess-Lüttich ed. 1982; id. 1994). This is the starting point of an excellent study on opera as textual Gestalt: Klaus Kaindl (1995: 41) suggests an integrated approach to analyse the various media of the performance as a holistic complex of signs. This means looking at the functional relations of the verbal and non-verbal subtexts ["Oper als gestalthaft-semiotisches Relationsgefüge verbaler und non-verbaler Subtexte in ihren funktionalen Zusammenhängen"]. The interdisciplinary approach profits from models developed in literary theory, linguistics, theatre studies, musicology, psychology, and translation theory. It allows to understand the complexity of the textual structure of a message composed of language, music, stage, voice, and sound the Gestalt of which is determined by certain theatrical conventions not only of the libretto, with its linguistic condensation according to modes of articulation, pitch, and interval, but also of all the other simultaneous channels of signifying, of visual scene, of body language, and their combination with musical components of tones, voice qualities, rhythm, tempo, harmony, melody, sound, etc. (Kaindl 1995: 257 ff.). It is the specific interrelation of all these aspects which constitutes the enchantment of opera up to the present day, the powerful effect of what Thomas Mann referred to as "Beziehungszauber" of a "Gesamtkunstwerk" (Richard Wagner). The process of semiotic transformation from the score to the stage is even more complex in the case of operas made from literary texts. What sort of inf


What is the young of a squirrel called ?

term for young squirrel? term for young squirrel? Only a zoologist would say anything other than 'a baby squirrel'. Best wishes, Clive CalifJim: <Only a zoologist ...> Yes. In my experience, the young of squirrels, mice, and rats are all called pups in scientific studies. CJ what is a baby squirrel called : They are called babies or infants while in the nest. Then for their first year they're referred to as Juveniles. After their first year, they become adults and are simply called squirrels." ADD: And yes, "kitten" is also used. "2. A young rabbit, rat, hedgehog, squirrel, fox or badger." Baby squirrels are called Kits or pups. Male squirrels are called "bucks" female squirrels are called "does" and a group of squirrels is called a "dray" or a "scurry"


In which city did the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, known informally as The Earth Summit, take place in June 1992?

The Rio Earth Summit: summary of the United Nations conference on Environment and Development (BP-317E) SUMMARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT We do not inherit the       earth from our fathers, we borrow it from our children. (Inuit saying) We cannot betray future       generations. They will judge us harshly if we fail at this critical       moment. (Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway, UNCED, 1992) ...we can waste the planets       resources for a few decades more...we must realize that one day the       storm will break on the heads of future generations. For them it will       be too late. (UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali, UNCED, 1992) Every bit of evidence       I've seen persuades me we are on a course leading to tragedy. I don't       agree with those who say the status quo is the answer. (UNCED Secretary       General Maurice F. Strong, UNCED, 1992) INTRODUCTION From 3-14 June 1992, Rio      de Janeiro hosted the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development      (UNCED). The focus of this conference was the state of the global environment      and the relationship between economics, science and the environment in      a political context. The conference concluded with the Earth Summit, at      which leaders of 105 nations gathered to demonstrate their commitment      to sustainable development. This paper will summarize the goals of the      Conference, what was accomplished, and what it all means to Canadians.    A.      History of the Summit In 1972, Stockholm, Sweden,      hosted the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which      was attended by 113 delegates and two heads of state (Olaf Palme of Sweden      and Indira Gandhi of India). This conference raised a generation's awareness      of an issue hitherto little talked about, the global environment. The      Stockholm conference secured a permanent place for the environment on      the world's agenda and led to the establishment of the United Nations      Environment Program (UNEP). The conference and its aftermath made known      the international nature of the environment and introduced the idea of      the relationship between development and the environment. It has been      said that the only way to unite the countries of the world is for them      to face a common enemy; perhaps environmental degradation will be that      enemy. Since the 1972 conference,      there have been many international environmental agreements, a number      of which have been ratified by Canada. These include the 1978 Great Lakes      Water Quality Agreement; the 1979 Geneva Convention on Long-range Transboundary      Air Pollution; the 1985 Helsinki Agreement (a 21-nation commitment to      reduce sulphur dioxide emissions); the 1988 Montreal Protocol on Substances      That Deplete the Ozone Layer; and the 1989 Basel Convention on Transboundary      Movements of Hazardous Wastes (see Appendix). (1) It was this kind of international cooperation that the 1992 Rio conference      sought, but on a larger scale. In 1983, the UN General      Assembly set up the World Commission on Environment and Development, known      as the Brundtland Commission after its chairperson, Norwegian Prime Minister      Gro Harlem Brundtland. Its aim was to link environmental issues to the      findings of the 1980 Brandt report on North-South relations. The Brundtland      report, published in 1987 as Our Common Future, declared that the      time had come for a marriage between the environment and the economy and      used the term "sustainable development" as the way to ensure      that economic development would not endanger the ability of future generations      to enjoy the fruits of the earth. (2) On the twentieth anniversary      of the Stockholm Conference on the Huma


Between 1903 and 1905 who composed the orchestral composition La Mer?

Charleston Symphony Orchestra presents Debussy's "La mer" | French Culture Charleston Symphony Orchestra presents Debussy's "La mer" Composed between 1903 and 1905, "La mer" was initially not well received but soon became Claude Debussy's most admired and frequently performed orchestral works. Conducted by Edward Polochick and performed by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, with Baritone Brandon Hendrickson and Soprano Marinel Cruz, this acclaimed composition is a masterpiece of suggestion and subtlety in its rich depiction of the ocean. Combining unusual orchestration with daring impressionistic harmonies, Debussy's work has proven very influential, and its use of sensuous tonal colours and orchestration methods have influenced many film scores. Pre-concert conversations are held from 6:30 - 7:00 pm prior to every Masterworks performance from the stage at the Sottile Theatre. For more information, please click here . When: Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 pm. Where: Sottile Theatre - 44 George Street, Charleston SC 29401 03/19/2015 Sottile Theatre 44 George Street, Charleston SC 29401 Charleston Symphony Orchestra presents Debussy's "La mer" When 44 George Street, Charleston SC 29401 Charleston Symphony Orchestra Composed between 1903 and 1905, "La mer" was initially not well received but soon became Claude Debussy's most admired and frequently performed orchestral works. Conducted by Edward Polochick and performed by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, with Baritone Brandon Hendrickson and Soprano Marinel Cruz, this acclaimed composition is a masterpiece of suggestion and subtlety in its rich depiction of the ocean. Combining unusual orchestration with daring impressionistic harmonies, Debussy's work has proven very influential, and its use of sensuous tonal colours and orchestration methods have influenced many film scores. Pre-concert conversations are held from 6:30 - 7:00 pm prior to every Masterworks performance from the stage at the Sottile Theatre. For more information, please click here . When: Thursday, March 19 at 7:30 pm. Where: Sottile Theatre - 44 George Street, Charleston SC 29401 Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.


Rudolf Abel was exchanged by the Americans for the return of whom?

Spies swapped - Feb 10, 1962 - HISTORY.com Spies swapped Publisher A+E Networks On February 10, 1962, American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is released by the Soviets in exchange for Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States five years earlier. The two men were brought to separate sides of the Glienicker Bridge, which connects East and West Berlin across Lake Wannsee. As the spies waited, negotiators talked in the center of the bridge where a white line divided East from West. Finally, Powers and Abel were waved forward and crossed the border into freedom at the same moment–8:52 a.m., Berlin time. Just before their transfer, Frederic Pryor–an American student held by East German authorities since August 1961–was released to American authorities at another border checkpoint. In 1957, Reino Hayhanen, a lieutenant colonel in the KGB, walked into the American embassy in Paris and announced his intention to defect to the West. Hayhanen had proved a poor spy during his five years in the United States and was being recalled to the USSR, where he feared he would be disciplined. In exchange for asylum, he promised CIA agents he could help expose a major Soviet spy network in the United States and identify its director. The CIA turned Hayhanen over to the FBI to investigate the claims. During the Cold War, Soviet spies worked together in the United States without revealing their names or addresses to each other, a precaution in the event that one was caught or, like Hayhanen, defected. Thus, Hayhanen initially provided the FBI with little useful information. He did, however, remember being taken to a storage room in Brooklyn by his superior, whom he knew as “Mark.” The FBI tracked down the storage room and found it was rented by one Emil R. Goldfus, an artist and photographer who had a studio in Brooklyn Heights. Emil Goldfus was Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a brilliant Soviet spy who was fluent in at least five languages and an expert at the technical requirements of espionage. After decorated service as an intelligence operative during World War II, Abel assumed a false identity and entered an East German refugee camp where he successfully applied for the right to immigrate to Canada. In 1948, he slipped across the Canadian border into the United States, where he set about reorganizing the Soviet spy network. After learning of Hayhanen’s defection, Abel fled to Florida, where he remained underground until June, when he felt it was safe to return to New York. On June 21, 1957, he was arrested in Manhattan’s Latham Hotel. In his studio, FBI investigators found a hollow pencil used for concealing messages, a shaving brush containing microfilm, a code book, and radio transmitting equipment. He was tried in a federal court in Brooklyn and in October was found guilty on three counts of espionage and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. He was sent to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. Less than three years later, on May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers took off from Peshawar, Pakistan, at the controls of an ultra-sophisticated Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. Powers, a CIA-employed pilot, was to fly over some 2,000 miles of Soviet territory to Bodo military airfield in Norway, collecting intelligence information en route. Roughly halfway through his journey, he was shot down over Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains. Forced to bail out at 15,000 feet, he survived the parachute jump but was promptly arrested by Soviet authorities. On May 5, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced that the American spy aircraft had been shot down and two days later revealed that Powers was alive and well and had confessed to being on an intelligence mission for the CIA. On May 7, the United States acknowledged that the U-2 had probably flown over Soviet territory but denied that it had authorized the mission. On May 16, leaders of the United States, the USSR, Britain, and France met in Paris for a long-awaited summit meeting. The four powers were to discuss tensions in the two Germanys and negotia


In the 2003 film Love Actually, which actor plays the part of the pop star Billy Mack who is first seen recording the song Christmas is All Around?

Love Actually (2003) - Bill Nighy info Bill Nighy info Bill Nighy – Billy Mack – Love Actually – as cool as it gets Awards and nominations Bill Nighy won a BAFTA for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his role as Billy Mack in Love Actually (2003). He also won the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy for this role. And won a ALFS award (London Critics Circle Film Awards), and a LAFCA Award (Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards). Apart from that he was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award. Bill Nighy about Billy Mack “There’s a frustrated rock’n’roller inside me,” says Bill, 53. “I used to practise in front of the wardrobe mirror with a tennis racquet when was I was 14, trying to throw a few moves that might suggest I could be good in bed. “But I don’t know what I’d do it if really becomes Number One at Christmas. It would be incredibly marvellous.” — Journalist: Bill, you played your part excellent as the rock star. Do you have any dreams of being a rock star, being in a band or something? Bill Nighy: Thank you very much! Yes I dreamed that dream when I was a young boy, like I was a rock star… and I did throw a few shapes in front of the bathroom mirror. I hoped that I might get “selected”, you know… This rock´n´roll life didn’t happen. And I used to be a keen air guitar player and was hoping that at some point visit Finland, where the world championships are found each year. I thought I’d be the first air guitar player that actually takes time to tune the air guitar! They never tune it right… — “I was actually in a band once, in the garage with five guys, but we were all so self-conscious and damaged by it all that we never really saw the light of day – we never got out of the garage.” Trailer The critics: The connecting thread in the film provides some of the funniest moments, thanks in part to a wonderful comic performance from Bill Nighy as ageing pop idol Billy Mack. A former drug addict and reformed hellraiser, he’s on the comeback trail with a sickly seasonal version of ‘Love Is All Around’ that gradually starts to work its way up the charts. As Billy makes the round of television and radio shows (a handy opportunity for cameos from Parky and Ant and Dec), he displays a glorious ability to speak the truth and embarrass with his frankness. It would not be at all surprising if Nighy were to wind up with the genuine Christmas number one. (The Scotsman) Aside from all the hearts and flowers, though, it’s Bill Nighy’s uproarious turn as an over-the-hill rocker promoting a novelty record that really delivers the laughs. Radiotimes.com Bill Nighy gives one of the two memorable performances in Love Actually (the other one is Emma Thompson’s) and the film would collapse without their support. Guardian The best, hands down, involves a former rock star, Billy (Bill Nighy), who wants to have a Christmas hit so badly he’s willing to be honest with his fans and the media. He’s a kick. eugeneweekly.com Now for the good stuff. Bill Nighy as an aging rock star is a comedic delight, with his cheesy Christmas hit video paying brilliant homage to pop star Robert Palmer’s 80s music video for Addicted To Love. It’s also a fabulous send up of any rock star who hasn’t realised he’s well past his sell-by-date. Nighy clearly thoroughly enjoys hamming it up to within an inch of his acting life. […] However the must-see is Billy Mack’s (Nighy) send up of and tribute to Robert Palmer’s video for Addicted To Love, shown in all it’s full hysterical glory. It panders to every aging rocker’s fantasy. moviehole.net – DVD review Plot: Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England. It is an English, Portuguese, French movie, released in 2003 and Bill Nighy, Gregor Fisher, Rory MacGregor, Colin Firth played the lead parts. The genre of this movie is Comedy, Drama, Romance. Love Actually has an IMDB Rating of 7.7 and a Metascore of 55. It has been directed by Richard Curtis and is written b


What is the name of the former Bolton Wanderers footballer who survived the cardiac arrest he suffered during an FA Cup tie (against Spurs) in March 2012?

78 minutes in the life (and near death) of Fabrice Muamba | Football | The Guardian The Observer 78 minutes in the life (and near death) of Fabrice Muamba When Bolton Wanderers star Fabrice Muamba, 23, dramatically collapsed last Saturday he came perilously close to death. This is the remarkable story of the team that saved him Fabrice Muamba of Bolton Wanderers is taken off on a stretcher after receiving CPR on the pitch. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Saturday 24 March 2012 20.08 EDT First published on Saturday 24 March 2012 20.08 EDT Share on Messenger Close At 18.13 GMT last Saturday, 43 minutes after kick-off in the FA Cup tie between Bolton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur , played at White Hart Lane, north London, home of Spurs, 23-year-old Fabrice Muamba collapsed. As the stadium fell silent and medical staff huddled around him, the match was abandoned. Muamba's heart stopped beating for 78 minutes. 18.13-18.19 THE COLLAPSE The first minutes after Muamba collapsed were crucial. Every minute lost before applying CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation: the urgent and sometimes necessarily savage – it can break ribs – application of downthrusts to the chest to keep oxygen artificially flowing from the heart) is estimated to decrease chances of survival by 10%. Cardiac arrest, which is what Muamba suffered, is significantly different from a heart attack. The second is usually caused by coronary heart disease, through which a clot starves the heart of blood and oxygen and damages the heart muscle itself. Cardiac arrest, which can be caused by electrocution and the like, but is usually the result of a genetic unhappiness, can affect the healthiest hearts and simply means that they suddenly stop pumping blood properly, the heart's internal electrical system having become temporarily scrambled: CPR is urgent and further more complex treatment is mandatory. It didn't take long, in Muamba's case, for the CPR to be administered. According to Amy Lawrence, who had been covering the match for the Observer, the reason everyone knew something was wrong was that Muamba, though out of the current run of play, suddenly "fell like a tree trunk. He didn't put his arms out to break his fall, or anything, he just dropped." It was seconds before other players noticed. Rafael van der Vaart, a Spurs player, was the first to do so, and frantic signalling to the pitchside medical teams brought on the men in green. Spurs had five fully medically trained assistants pitchside that day, and there was, as ever, aid from the St John Ambulance unit. It was a far cry from 2006, when Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech fractured his skull playing against Reading. He had to crawl off the pitch by himself and wait for an ambulance: the resultant outcry saw standards of medical pitchside preparation improved to their current high standards. "The medical issues and the structure has changed for the better," Cech said last week. "[Fabrice] still has a chance to survive because of all the equipment around the pitch. It's a great change because sometimes it takes only a few seconds to change a whole life and a whole career." Muamba began to get, if we can call it that, lucky. Instantly given oxygen and professional CPR, his chances were already raised. The CPR is the main thing, although oxygen certainly helps, a priority recognised in the recent British Heart Foundation television advert featuring player-turned-actor Vinnie Jones, which makes a point of ignoring the kiss of life. I asked the foundation why it had apparently changed its stance after school generations had been taught, on dummies, to both breathe and push. "The kiss of life helps if possible, but it's not a priority," said a spokesman. "And, if people haven't been trained, sometimes they'll stand back, afraid they'll mess it up – our message is simply that it's better to get in and start CPR, rather than worrying about co-ordinating all that with mouth-to-mouth and somehow getting it wrong." So push-down CPR is now the official priority, but do not kid yourself it is not hard work – you ne


Within one year either way, in what year were Concorde planes retired from service?

THE BETRAYAL OF CONCORDE THE BETRAYAL OF CONCORDE BY DONALD L. PEVSNER On June 26, 1988, a newly-delivered Air France Airbus A320 aircraft (F-GFKC) approached Mulhouse-Habsheim/MLH Airport, France, to perform a low level fly-by as part of an air show.  The aircraft did not maintain sufficient airspeed, and descended  through 100 feet (30m) to 30 feet (10m) above the runway.  Then, it struck trees near the end of the runway and crashed into the adjacent forest.  Three passengers of the 130 passengers and crew on board were killed.  The final results under French criminal law were dramatic: the Captain, his First Officer, two Air France officials and the President of the Flying Club were all charged with involuntary manslaughter.  All were found guilty, with the Captain being sentenced to 6 months in prison plus 12 months' probation; the others were sentenced to probation. (The crew disputed the proper functioning of  both  the altimeter and the throttles, to little avail in the official accident report.) On the day of the crash, the Head of the Minister  of Transport’s Cabinet was Jean-Cyril Spinetta. On January 20, 1992, an Air Inter Airbus A320  aircraft (F-GGED) was descending toward Strasbourg-Entzheim/SXB  Airport after a routine flight from Lyon/LYS.  The crew  improperly  configured a poorly-designed Flight Control Unit (FCU), resulting in an  overly-steep descent through cloud cover.  As the aircraft was not equipped  with a Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), there was no automatic warning  of the error.  The aircraft struck a mountain, killing 87 of the 96  passengers and crew. More than fourteen years later, six French aviation  officials (including top Air France and AIRBUS executives) were charged with  involuntary manslaughter as a result of the crash.  On November 17, 2006,  both Air France and AIRBUS were found liable for this crash, but all six  officials were cleared of criminal responsibility. As Air France had already  paid damages of Euros 21 million to the families of those killed in the crash,  the remaining paperwork dealt with how much of that loss AIRBUS’ insurers would  be compelled to reimburse to Air France’s insurers. On the day of the crash, the Chairman and CEO of  Air Inter was Jean-Cyril Spinetta. Thus were sown the seeds that led directly to the  premature retirement of Concorde, at least a decade before this would have been  technically necessary, on October 24, 2003.  The saga of the secret  betrayal of Concorde by senior executives at both Air France (AF) and British  Airways (BA), and the secret collusion between the Chairman of Air France and  the President of AIRBUS to ensure that AF would not have to suffer the "loss of face" that would ensue from  its unilaterally retiring its  Concorde fleet, thereby leaving BA with a monopoly on supersonic transatlantic  passenger service, is a nasty litany of hypocrisy, cowardice and "corporate politics."  It is long overdue, as we recently passed  the eleventh anniversary of Concorde's premature retirement, that the facts be  revealed. Jean-Cyril Spinetta is a  top-level French government bureaucrat from the prestigious Ecole Nationale d'Administration.  Born in 1943, he  served in several French government Ministries before becoming Head of the  Minister of Transport’s Cabinet from 1988-1990.  In 1990, he was named  Chairman and CEO of Air Inter, the government-owned French domestic airline  that was merged into Air France in 1997, and ran  it until 1993.  After  serving as a personal adviser to the French President, in the European  Commission and in several more Ministries, his big break arrived in September,  1997, when he was named Chairman and CEO of Air France. On January 1,  2009, he was “kicked upstairs” as Chairman-only, and Pierre-Henri Gourgeon succeeded him as AF  CEO.  He retired  on July 1, 2013: one year before reaching the age of 70, at which time this  would have become  mandatory. As an aviation enthusiast since I saw the first  BOAC Comet 4 aircraft leave Idlewild Airport/IDL,  New


Which novel first published in 1871 has the first line “Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress”?

American Book Review :: Home 100 Best First Lines from Novels 1. Call me Ishmael. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851) 2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813) 3. A screaming comes across the sky. —Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973) 4. Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967; trans. Gregory Rabassa) 5. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955) 6. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett) 7. riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. —James Joyce, Finnegans Wake (1939) 8. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, 1984 (1949) 9. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859) 10. I am an invisible man. —Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952) 11. The Miss Lonelyhearts of the New York Post-Dispatch (Are you in trouble?—Do-you-need-advice?—Write-to-Miss-Lonelyhearts-and-she-will-help-you) sat at his desk and stared at a piece of white cardboard. —Nathanael West, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) 12. You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. —Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885) 13. Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. —Franz Kafka, The Trial (1925; trans. Breon Mitchell) 14. You are about to begin reading Italo Calvino's new novel, If on a winter's night a traveler. —Italo Calvino, If on a winter's night a traveler (1979; trans. William Weaver) 15. The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new. —Samuel Beckett, Murphy (1938) 16. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. —J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951) 17. Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo. —James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916) 18. This is the saddest story I have ever heard. —Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier (1915) 19. I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly considered how much depended upon what they were then doing;—that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;—and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost:—Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,—I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that, in which the reader is likely to see me. —Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy (1759–1767) 20. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybod


What name is given to the bone and cartilage in the nose that separates the nasal cavity into the two nostrils?

The Anatomy of a Nose | Rhinoplasty in NYC Tatler Magazine (2013) - Top Rhinoplasty Surgeon in NYC/New York Understanding the anatomy of the nose will help us to understand what gives noses their distinctive appearances. The anatomy of the nose can be used to refer to the structure of the nose while discussing facial features. Dr. Rizk stresses the importance for any surgeon to understand the nose structure before performing rhinoplasty. This is necessary so that the surgeon can develop the rhinoplasty surgery plans according to the structure of the nose. The nasal anatomy is very complicated. The support of your nose is made of nasal bones (which are not moveable and which you can feel between your eyelids) and of cartilage (which is moveable and makes up the support of the middle part and end of your nose (nasal tip). The space inside your nose is divided into two passages by your nasal septum. Your nasal cavities are lined with nasal mucous membrane, except for the areas just inside your nostrils, which are lined with skin and hair. The vertical structure between the two nostrils that attaches your nasal tip to your upper lip is called columella. The attachments of your nostrils on each side to your cheeks are called alae. If your nasal septum is crooked or deviated because it grew that way, or because you suffered a nasal injury with a fracture of your nose and septum, then the outside shape of your nose may be crooked in the same way. A crooked nasal septum can also restrict breathing on one side or both sides of your nose. Sometimes, correcting a crooked nose not only enables you to breathe better but also reduces snoring. A surgeon changes the shape of your nose by modifying or reducing the size or shape of the nasal cartilages and bones. Cartilage may be harvested from your nasal septum, your ear, or a rib if you need extra cartilage to replace or augment an injured or depressed area. Cartilage may be useful in improving the shape of your nasal tip. The human nose is mainly composed of bones, cartilage and fibro fatty tissues. The external features of the nose depend upon the underlying bones and cartilage. Depending upon external features, human nose can be divided into the following types: Roman or aquiline Nubian Turn up The upper part of the nose consists mainly made of bones which act as a support structure. The portion of the nose near the eye sockets is made up of two nasal bones which join to form the nasal bridge. On the sides, nasal bones are connected with lateral process by a fibrous membrane and at the base; these nasal bones are connected with the nasal cartilage. The lower part of the nose is made up of cartilages which are responsible for the shape of external features of the nose. The nose bridge and the septal cartilage form the nasal septum. This nasal septum separates the nostrils. The nostrils continue with nasal cavity. The turbinate or conchae are the bones that divide nasal cavity into air passages. The diagram below explains the anatomy of the nose: Two lateral cartilages surround the septal nasal cartilage. Below the lateral nasal cartilage, the greater alar cartilage is present. This alar cartilage forms the lateral and medial walls of the nostrils. There are four lesser alar cartilages which along with the greater alar cartilage provide the overall shape to nostrils. The nostrils and nasal cavity both have a lining of mucous membrane and cilia. The mucous membrane secretes the mucus which filters the air and along with cilia prevents microorganisms from entering the body. The face region around the nose contains sinuses which are hollow air cavities. The nasal muscles are divided into four categories. These include elevators, depressors, compressors and dilators. These muscles are interconnected by what is called nasal superficial masculoaponuerotic system. The surface anatomy of the nose can be divided into four classes. The frontal anatomy of the nose consists of glabella, nasion, tip defining points and alar sidewalls of the nose. The basal anatomy consists of columella, soft ti


What specifically was advertised with the slogan “Cool as a mountain stream”?

UK television adverts 1955-1985 Pure Gold, from Benson & Hedges. The length you go to for pleasure. Benson and Hedges 100s Oh the disadvantages of the new Benson and Hedges 100s! They’re a lot longer than King-size — and that takes some getting used to! (Clips of people getting these long cigarettes trapped in lift doors and setting light to beards etc.) Benson and Hedges 100s are the new, longer filter cigarettes. Three puffs longer, four puffs longer — maybe five puffs longer than King-size — Once you get the hang of them! Benson and Hedges pipe tobacco Prim-looking woman bringing home her new boyfriend to meet her dragon of a mother Daughter: Mother, this is Tony. They sit down and Tony lights up his pipe and mother, appalled at first by the smoke, looks at her errant daughter, who looks back beseechingly. Then mother notices the brand and hits on the alleged wonderful aroma, and then looks at Tony flirtatiously. Tony, totally oblivious to the consternation he's caused, looks back, smiles and winks. Voiceover: Live in peace with your pipe. Bic lighters Cadets bring quality to smaller cigarettes! Cambridge Rothmans Cambridge — we’ve got the taste! Camel cigarettes I’d walk a mile for a Camel! Capstan cigarettes (1) Never go without a Capstan, Wherever you go, Never go without a Capstan. Capstan cigarettes (2) When the kids are getting out of hand And driving you insane — Let Capstan take the strain! Capstan Full Strength cigarettes For men who feel strongly about cigarette taste. Ask for Capstan Full Strength in the brown packet. Castella cigars (1) The big cigar for the price of a pint Castella cigars (2): 1970s You know, you can come across some funny old partnerships! There’s the George and Dragon, the Dog and Duck … and even the Punch and Judy! But there’s one double act that gets on famously everywhere … A Pint and Castella … a Castella cigar … long, smooth, and mellow. Wherever there’s a friendly pub, have a Pint and Castella. Get them together! Condor pipe tobacco (1) Aaah — Condor! A man with a pipe followed by a group of Japanese visitors in an aerodrome. An airplane loops the loop. The man sucks the pipe and after a long pause says: “Ahh … Condor”. The Japanese look puzzled and repeat “AHHH … COND-OW, COND-OW!!!” Condor pipe tobacco (2) It’s that Condor moment Consulate cigarettes Cool as a mountain stream The finest taste in smoking! Craven A cigarettes For your throat’s sake, smoke Craven A — They never vary Internationally acknowledged to be the finest cigarette in the world. Gallaher’s Condor Tobacco: 1965 A man is sitting in a small sailing dinghy moored to a riverbank (“GALLAHER’s CONDOR”; is superimposed). He picks up a packet of Gallaher’s Condor Sliced tobacco, fills his pipe, sits back, lights up, and reclines. Voiceover: Rich, slow-burning Condor — a man’s taste. Taste! That’s what a pipe-smoker wants from his tobacco, and Condor gives it richly! Condor! Real value at 5s. 11d. an ounce! Grandee cigars: 1960s They’ve got to be great to be Guards! Guards cigarettes (2) People are changing to Guards! Hamlet cigars: 1964 Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet, The mild cigar from Benson & Hedges. [Background music: Bach’s “Air on a G-string”] Harlequin Cigars: 1965 Michael Medwin: These Harlequin cigars are super, and they’re not just made for actors on the telly. Harlequin are superb cigars, but they cost no more than twenty cigarettes! [A tin of of the cigars and “HARLEQUIN FROM J.R.FREEMAN 5/- FOR 10” is superimposed] Michael Medwin: You try Harlequin! Imperial Panatellas Everything a really good cigar should be! John Cotton Cigarillos Join the smoking revolution with John Cotton Cigarillos! Kensitas cigarettes; 1960s No thank you, I’d rather have a Kensitas! Kim Long and slender, light and mellow. Lambert & Butler cigarettes (1) Lambert: They’ve gone down! Butler: But not in my estimation, Sir! Lambert & Butler cigarettes (2) Lambert: The price is frozen! Butler: Looks pretty hot to me, Sir! Manikin Cigars (1): mid-1960s You’re never alone with a Strand, The cigarette of the moment. Swan Vesta matches


In 2008 who became the first British female jockey to ride one hundred winners in a calendar year?

Horse racing:Hundred winners up in style for history woman Hayley Turner | Sport | The Guardian Share on Messenger Close Hayley Turner became the first British woman jockey to ride a hundred winners in a calendar year last night when she all but carried a rapidly tiring two-year-old named Mullitovermaurice over the line to victory in a claiming race under the lights at Wolverhampton. A humble stage it might have been but the style in which the 25-year-old Turner reached her century aptly summed up her remarkable season – fitness and strength in the finish, allied to the sort of dedication that drove her up the motorway to the Midlands on a freezing night, after riding winner No99 in the afternoon all-weather meeting at Lingfield. She received a rousing welcome from the Wolverhampton crowd, but the stewards took a less enthusiastic view of the way she pushed out the veering Mullitovermaurice and handed her a two-day ban for careless riding. The ban must have felt like a small price to pay for making a piece of British racing history. "It's brilliant - and I'm really pleased to have done it tonight. My agent Guy Jewell has done a fantastic job and he was insistent I was going to do it, so I owe it to him over the last few weeks. He's done a fantastic job and I'm lucky to have him," said the Southwell-born Turner. "When I started as an apprentice at Michael Bell's it was difficult for him to get me on some of his horses but I'm very grateful to him. Gerard [Butler] has been very good to me as well and has not been frightened of putting me up on his better horses. It would be nice [to be offered a job as a stable jockey] but hopefully it will snowball next year." Before travelling north to Wolverhampton she had admitted she was "ready for a break" after her success on Newlyn Art at Lingfield. Only the fourth woman in Britain to ride out her apprentice claim, following Alex Greaves, Emma O'Gorman and Lisa Jones, Turner will sign off at Lingfield today with new targets already in mind for 2009. "The aim is to ride better horses in better races," she said. Turner had set herself a target of 70 winners this year, but hard work and determination, plus a good job done by Jewell, has taken her to a new level. "Things have been building up nicely," she says. "Riding so much, my fitness has improved and you learn a lot through trial and error." With her upper-body strength evident in tight finishes, Turner loses nothing against her weighing-room colleagues, male or female, in the heat of battle. She was named one of the "top 10 riders in the country" by the trainer Marcus Tregoning after she had ridden Taameer to victory for the stable at Newbury in September. Owned by Hamdan Al Maktoum, Taameer is a Classic prospect for next year. "I suppose that was an important win," she says. "But winning a valuable handicap on Furnace at Ascot was great." Furnace is trained by Michael Bell, who provided Turner with 24 of the 58 winners she rode in the Flat jockeys' championship which runs from March to November. She now is quoted at 33-1 with Hill's to win next year's title in betting without the champion, Ryan Moore, and is the same price to ride a Classic winner in 2009. Kevin Darley, a former champion Flat jockey and now working for the Professional Jockeys' Association, has no doubt that Turner has what it takes to reach the highest level. "I put her among the top 10 riders and believe she will be there for some time. In the past it has been difficult for women jockeys to get so many rides. She's an inspiration to any rider."


What was the name of the former Russian spy who died in London in November 2006 of polonium poisoning?

Alexander Litvinenko: Profile of murdered Russian spy - BBC News BBC News Alexander Litvinenko: Profile of murdered Russian spy 21 January 2016 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Alexander Litvinenko fell ill after a meeting with former KGB contacts in London in 2006 A public inquiry into the killing of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko has concluded that President Putin probably approved his assassination. But who was he and why did his death cause such controversy? Former spy Alexander Litvinenko was killed in November 2006, leading to a clouding of relations between London and Moscow. The 43-year-old had been an officer with the Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the KGB, but he fled to Britain where he became a fierce critic of the Kremlin. In his final years he also became a British citizen. After he was killed by radioactive polonium-210 , believed to have been administered in a cup of tea, it emerged the father-of-one was being paid by the British secret service MI6. 'Serious poisoning' It is alleged Mr Litvinenko was investigating Spanish links to the Russian mafia and had planned to fly to Spain with former agent Andrei Lugovoi - the main suspect over his murder. At a central London hotel on 1 November 2006, he took tea with Mr Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, who was also a former Russian agent. Mr Litvinenko fell ill soon afterwards and spent the night vomiting. Three days later he was admitted to Barnet General Hospital in north London, where his condition gradually became a cause for concern. On 11 November he was interviewed by the BBC Russian Service and said he was in "very bad shape" after a "serious poisoning". Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Litvinenko had moved to the UK in 2000 During that same interview, Mr Litvinenko - a critic of the Putin regime - said he had been looking into the assassination of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya , who had received death threats before being shot at her Moscow apartment block the previous month. On 17 November he was transferred to University College Hospital in London after his condition worsened. He died six days later, with his wife Marina, father Walter, and son Anatoli at his bedside. His widow has said he blamed the Kremlin as he lay dying in hospital, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for "everything that happened to him". Russia denies any involvement. Assassination plot claims Born in the city of Voronezh in 1962, Mr Litvinenko joined a military unit of the Soviet Union's interior ministry in 1980 and reportedly joined the KGB eight years later. He rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel when the KGB became the FSB in the 1990s. Mr Putin was his ultimate boss at the FSB but they reportedly fell out over corruption within the FSB. In 1998, Mr Litvinenko was arrested on charges of abusing his office after exposing an alleged plot to assassinate Boris Berezovsky, the Russian tycoon who was found dead at his Ascot home in March 2013. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Police investigating the poisoning sealed off several premises, including this Itsu restaurant, for a period afterwards He spent nine months in a remand centre before being acquitted. After leaving the service Mr Litvinenko wrote a book, Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within, in which he claimed FSB agents had been responsible for the bombing of apartment blocks in Moscow and two other cities in 1999. The bombings were blamed on Chechen separatists and his book claimed they were used as a pretext for the second Russian invasion of Chechnya. Mr Litvinenko fled to the UK in 2000, claiming persecution, and was granted asylum. He is understood to have taken British citizenship in 2006. After his death, suspicion fell on Mr Lugovoi and Mr Kovtun, the two Russians he had met for tea at the Millennium Hotel. The inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death heard that he may have also been poisoned with polonium in the October before he died, at an earlier meeting with the suspects at a private security firm in Mayfair, central London.


Within one year either way, in what year did the Channel Tunnel first open for business to fee-paying passengers?

The Channel Tunnel Japan Railway & Transport Review No. 26 (pp.38–45) Feature: Trends in Rail Freight The Channel Tunnel John Noulton A 250-year Dream Although the Channel Tunnel between England and France only opened for business in 1994, the story of the project is far, far longer. As much as 250 years ago, people in France, at least, were trying to think of a better way than boat of crossing the Channel. In 1751, the Academy of Amiens launched a competition on how to cross the Channel and history records that the winner was Nicolas Desmarets, who suggested construction of a tunnel. In those days, cross-Channel travel was not dominated by the leisure business as it is today. Other than military action, the main reasons were to do with trade. For the next 100 years, a succession of mainly French proposals emerged with increasingly sophisticated ideas for the new link. Since this was before the development of railways, these tunnels were inevitably road tunnels. One proposal by Hector Thoreau involved two artificial islands where stagecoaches using the gas-lit tunnel would come above ground to change the horses. Although Desmarets is the first documented proponent of a fixed link, the generally acknowledged ‘Father of the Tunnel’ was the 19th century French engineer Thomé de Gamond whose investigation of the seabed—at great personal risk—was the groundwork for the eventual Eurotunnel project. Photo: One of runnning tunnels (Eurotunnel) Photo: Breakthrough of service tunnel on 1 December 1990 (Eurotunnel) Why Not a Bridge? De Gamond showed that the chalk measures underlying Kent and Nord/Pas de Calais also lay beneath the seabed. Subsequent geological studies revealed that at an average depth of about 40 m below the seabed, the chalk merged with clay to form an almost uniform stratum of chalk marl, probably the best tunnelling medium in the world. This accident of geology was one of the two reasons why the fixed link is a tunnel and not a bridge. The other reason is that the Channel is the busiest seaway in the world, with over 600 shipping movements each day. Any bridge or other structure in the Channel would almost certainly be rammed by a ship in due course. If anything, the risks of such an accident would have been even greater during construction than during subsequent operation. Previous Tunnel Attempts Despite the French enthusiasm for a tunnel, actual excavation did not start until the latter 19th century. The British viewed their continental neighbours with considerable suspicion, particularly after the Napoleonic campaigns earlier in the century, and were reluctant to end their ‘splendid isolation.’ Lord Palmerston, the Tory Prime Minister, greeted one proposal with the words, ‘You surely do not expect me to agree to shorten a distance I already consider short enough?’ Many people did not share Palmerston's distaste for things French. Even during Anglo-French hostilities, there was still a ready market in Britain for French wines and brandy and cross-Channel trade continued without interruption, much of it by smuggling. The south coast of England closest to France has many relics of the illegal trade, and the 18th- century smugglers have now been succeeded by a much less romantic breed of villain who take advantage of the sharp differences in excise duty between Britain and its neighbours. It is estimated that 20% of the bottled or canned beer consumed in Britain is bought in France. Much of it is British beer that has been exported to France only to be reimported by British shoppers or ‘bootleggers.’ In the 1880s, it did begin to seem as though the dream of a tunnel would be realized. Colonel Beaumont, a British military engineer, led a construction team that bored nearly 2 km of undersea tunnel from Dover. A French team of engineers began work on a similar tunnel from Sangatte. But it was not to be. Senior members of the British defence establishment were still obsessed by the fear of invasion and persuaded the government to stop the project. Oddly enough, it was not until after the two World


Which 1953 novel begins with the line “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there”?

Rereading: The Go-Between by LP Hartley | Books | The Guardian Rereading Rereading: The Go-Between by LP Hartley A story of lost innocence, hypocrisy and Britishness – but LP Hartley's masterpiece can also be read as a sophisticated gay novel Julie Christie in Joseph Losey's 1970 film of The Go-Between. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar Ali Smith Friday 17 June 2011 18.55 EDT First published on Friday 17 June 2011 18.55 EDT Share on Messenger Close "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." For the past year or so, when I've been giving readings, I've asked the people in the audience if they know or remember LP Hartley's 1953 novel, The Go-Between. Generally there's a single yes or a couple of yeses; otherwise silence, a shaking of heads. Then I'll say the first half of its first line and the audience will come back loud and strong on their own with the second half. Certainly Hartley and his multi-awardwinning work (his Eustace and Hilda trilogy, completed in 1947, was hugely acclaimed, and the film version of his 1957 novel, The Hireling, won the main award at Cannes in 1973) have all but disappeared from contemporary literary consciousness. I first read his best-known novel, The Go-Between, at the age of 16 in 1979 (in a Penguin copy with Julie Christie under a parasol on the front, a still from Joseph Losey's 1970 film adaptation), because Hartley was the most contemporary writer on our Sixth Year Studies English course. I opened the same book again for the first time in three decades a couple of years ago. Can a book ambush you? From the prologue ("Are you vanquished, Colston, are you vanquished?") to the epilogue ("Tell him there's no spell or curse except an unloving heart") it felt, as I reread, uncannily familiar, like something I knew – and had no idea I knew – by heart. A combination of knowing and not-knowing is this novel's driving force. It announced itself to Hartley when he was in Venice in May 1952, working on a completely different project; he put it immediately aside and wrote The Go-Between quite fast, revising his draft as soon as October and November. It's set at – or rather, framed by – the mid-point of the 20th century, "the most changeful half a century in history", when Leo Colston, a man in his mid-60s, sits down in a drab realist 1950s room, the rain hammering at the window, to sort through some old papers. Almost straight away he comes upon a red cardboard box once used for his childhood Eton collars: in it are inconsequential odds and ends; some dried-up sea-urchins, some rusty magnets, "which had almost lost their magnetism", and a diary. He picks each thing up in turn. "Something came and went between us: the intimate pleasure of recognition." But about the "Diary for the year 1900", with its Zodiac figures circling the announcement of this new "Golden Age", the "glorious destiny of the 20th century", he can remember nothing except a sense of baleful loss. He opens it: the combination lock, which he knows without knowing, is set to the letters of his own name. His own long-gone story breaks open on him all over again. Leo is 12 years old and visiting his upper-class schoolfriend Marcus's family seat, Brandham Hall in Norfolk, in the summer of 1900. He is wearing his too-hot Norfolk jacket (which makes him a sort of clothing joke), having come away unprepared for heat, in fact confident there wouldn't be any such thing, since he considers himself something of a magician; in the novel's prologue he relates how a curse he wrote in blood in his diary last term has caused two bullies to concuss themselves by falling off the school roof. He has ordered up a cool summer in the same way. But the summer is hotter than is imaginable. "In the heat, the commonest objects changed their nature. Walls, trees, the very ground one trod on, instead of being cool were warm to the touch: and the sense of touch is the most transfiguring of all the senses . . . In the heat the senses, the mind, the heart, the body, all told a different tale. One felt another person, one was another pers