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In which European country did Spice Girl Victoria Adams marry?

Biography And Marriage of Victoria And David Beckham 7/10/2011: The Beckhams announced the birth of their fourth child, a daughter. Born: David Robert Joseph Beckham: May 2, 1975 in Leytonstone, London, England. Victoria Caroline Adams aka Posh Spice: April 17, 1974 in Hertfordshire, England. How David and Victoria Met: David on meeting Victoria in November 1996: "My wife picked me out of a soccer sticker book. And I chose her off the telly ... It felt straight away like we'd always been meant to be together." Source: David Beckham, Tom Watt. Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground: An Autobiography. continue reading below our video 7 Tips for a Harmonious Divorce 2004. pg. 83. Victoria and David started dating in 1997 by going on low-keyed dates -- driving around, talking, going to a pub, dinner out, going to the movies. They talked a lot on the telephone. David proposed on one knee. They were engaged on January 25, 1998. The Beckham engagement party was held at Rookery Hall in Nantwich. Victoria and David did not cut their engagement cake. Instead, they donated it to a fund raising event for Goostrey Community Primary School in Cheshire. The cake is "a replica of the hall with Victoria sitting at the top and David sitting behind her." Source: BBC.co.uk Wedding Date: With 29 close friends and family members at the wedding ceremony, David and Victoria were married on July 4, 1999 at the 560-acre estate of the 1794, gothic Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland outside Dublin, Ireland. The wedding ceremony was presided over by the Bishop of Cork Paul Colton Victoria was 25 and David was 24 when they married. Gary Neville was their best man and their 4-month old son Brooklyn was their ring bearer . Victoria and David sat on Golden thrones on a raised platform with Brooklyn's crib at their side. The bridesmaid was Victoria's sister Louise. Louise's daughter Liberty and David's niece Georgia were dressed as angels and served as flower girls . "As they became man and wife, a single dove was released as a symbol of their love. Posh Spice -- one of the architects of the 'girl-power' philosophy -- stuck to her principles and did not pledge to 'obey' the Manchester United player. The new Mr. and Mrs. Beckham both shed tears after exchanging vows." Source: BBC.co.uk Wedding Attire: Victoria wore a crown and a tightly fitting ivory wedding dress designed by Vera Weng. Victoria's attire was matched by David's ivory and cream suit. He later changed into a purple suit because Brooklyn threw up on him. Their party outfits were designed by Antonio Berardi. Brooklyn was wearing a purple cowboy hat. Wedding Reception: David and Victoria had an elaborate and expensive wedding reception with 437 staff serving. All guests at the reception were asked to dress in black or white. The menu included Laurent Perrier rose champagne and sticky toffee pudding. Their wedding cake was topped with a nude (except for a few ivy leaves) sculpture of the newlyweds. Guests at the reception numbered approximately 230 and included David and Debbie Seamon, the Spice Girls, and Sir Bobby Charlton. The wedding reception featured an 18-piece orchestra. Guests were able to disco later on in the evening. The reception ended with a fireworks display. David and Victoria didn't want to receive any presents. They preferred to receive shopping vouchers. Children: Victoria and David have three sons and a daughter. Brooklyn Joseph Beckham: Born in 1999 in London, England. His godfather is Elton John and his godmother is Elizabeth Hurley. Romeo James Beckham: Born in 2002 in London, England. His godfather is Elton John and his godmother is Elizabeth Hurley. Cruz David Beckham: Born in 2005 in Madrid, Spain. Harper Seven Beckham: Born in 2011 in Los Angeles, California. Occupations: David: Professional soccer (footballer) player. He owns soccer academies in London and in Los Angeles. Has his own aftershave scent, David Beckham Instinct. Victoria: As "Posh Spice", performed with the Spice Girls, dancer, composer. The Matching Thing: David and Victoria enjoy wearing matching clothes such as baseball caps, sarongs, and leathers. They have matching diamond rings, had matching haircuts at one time, and matching Rottweilers, Puffy and Snoop Doggy Dog. Denise Knowles, a relationship counsellor and sex therapist, said of their need to be matching, "When couples get together they want to be of each other's lives. But this can lead to their stifling each other ... If they are too busy trying to create a mirror image and concentrating too much on what's on the surface, emotionally things could go wrong." Source: BBC.co.uk Residences: In March 2012, The Mirror reported that Victoria and David decided to make Los Angeles, California their full-time residence. David and Victoria are selling their mansion in Hertfordshire, England and their home in France. Once known as Rowneybury House and now called Beckingham Palace, the Beckhams added indoor and outdoor pools, tennis courts, and a petting zoo to the 22-acre estate they bought in 2003. In April 2007, they spent $22 million on their Italian Villa home in Beverly Hills, California. Quotes About the Marriage of David and Victoria Beckham: David about giving gifts: "If you love someone, you want to treat them, surprise them, remind them how you feel, whether that means a weekend away somewhere, or a bowl of fruit in the morning laid out in the shape of a heart. I know Victoria thinks I'm romantic like that." Source: David Beckham, Tom Watt. Beckham: Both Feet on the Ground: An Autobiography. 2004. pg. 91. David about their marriage: "People can say what they like. But me and Victoria will always stay together as husband and wife ... We'll always stick together."

Ireland

What name is given to the popular holiday area between Marseille and La Spezia?

Victoria Beckham | Spice Girls Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Early Life Victoria Caroline Adams was born on April 17, 1974 to Anthony and Jacqueline Adams at the Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex and raised in Goffs Oak,Hertfordshire. Beckham's father was an electronics engineer and the success of the family business meant a wealthy upbringing for Victoria and her siblings, Louise and Christian. Adams attended St. Mary's High School in Cheshunt. She was embarrassed by her family's wealth and often begged her father not to drop her off outside the school in their Rolls Royce. "Although my parents were comfortable – we always had holidays and a nice car- we weren’t rolling in it." Victoria said that during her schooling days, she was a victim of bullying, having been made to feel like an outsider. She commented: "Children were literally picking things up out of the puddles and throwing them at me. And I just stood there, on my own. No one was with me. I didn't have any friends." Victoria’s talent for drama arose while she was a pupil at Goaff’s Poak Junior Middle Scholl, where she landed the leading role in The Pied Piper. She went on to St Mary’s High in Cheshunt, a teacher commented: "She was very conscientious, very quiet. Victoria didn’t really stand out as an amazingly dynamic person. In fact, she was quite a joy to teach- she pays attention and worked hard." Dream Edit Adams was inspired by watching the musical Fame, from which that point she decided that she wanted to become famous, and to which got her parents to enroll her in Jason Theatre School. Also as a struggling teenager, due to many implications such as unpopularity and acne, she still fought on never letting anything get in her way of her dream. "I think I must have been a kind of jealous, because Louise has loads of friends and boyfriends and was always very popular. At one point, I had hardly any friends at all, so I used to hang around with my sisters and her mates. It was probably really annoying for her to have me there all the time. "Louise had was always to embarrassed to have a boyfriend. But I was a real Bros fan and had stars and stripes jeans like the ones they wore. I remember screaming and going mental at one of their concerts because I was convinced I was going to marry Matt Goss." After graduating at 17-years-old, Victoria went to attend Laine Arts Theatre College in the Surrey town of Epsom, studying dance and modelling. 1990s Edit Main Article: Spice In 1996, the group's first single Wannabe, went to number one in the UK, in the United States and other 29 countries, anduld be followed by eight other successful number one singles from their albums, Spice, Spiceworld and Forever. Each member of the group received a nickname from the media. Victoria was called Posh Spice because of her refined attitude, form-fitting designer outfits, such as little black dresses, and her love of high-heeled footwear. The group was one of the most successful pop acts of the 1990s, selling over fifty-five million records worldwide. Meeting Beckham It was revealed that after a reporter had shown her a picture of David Beckham she didn't know who he was: "I didn't really know who he was. I was never into football." - W Magazine (August 2007) "I had no idea who he was, but I remember thinking one word: gorgeous." - The British's Sun Newspaper (March 1997) Before meeting Victoria ,David Beckham had made known of Victoria when he saw her in Spice Girls' music video Say You'll Be There. In March 1997, Victoria was to then meet David Beckham when she attended a Manchester United football/soccer match, at the request of meeting the Spice Girls. They had then begun to start dating which attracted a lot of media attention. Posh and Becks Edit On January 24, 1998, David, 23, proposes to Victoria, 24, at Chesire's Rookery Hall Hotel. He proposes to her with a $65,000 (£43,000) three-plus-carat ring, which upon asking for her hand, she gives him an $80,000 (£53,000) three-tiered band of 96 diamonds engagement ring. During a Spiceworld tour concert promoting album Spiceworld on May 31, 1998, it was announed that she was that she was pregnant. On March 4, 1999, Victoria gives birth to 7-lb baby boy, Brooklyn Joseph, which David and her commented on commented hours after the birth to a group of reporters in Westminister, London: "A baby is something we have always wanted." - Victoria "Victoria is sitting up drinking champagne, and she has spoken to the other girls." - David The name of Brooklyn was given as it was the New York borough in which Victoria found out that she was pregnant. Becoming Beckhams Victoria and David were married on July 4, 1999, at Bishop of Cork, William Paul Colton, at Luttrellstown Castle, Ireland, with the whole wedding costing at £424,000 ($800,000) inviting 236 guests. An exclusive coverage was sold to British Tabloid OK! at £980,000 ($1.5 Million). Victoria dresses in a one-of-a-kind Vera Wang dress and wearing a crown upon her head. Both Victoria and David were mounted on gold-plated, red-velvet thrones, while their four-month-old son Brooklyn acted as their ring bearer. After giving birth to Brooklyn just after four months, she fits into her corset at 18-inches, raising some issues and worries from the media. Personal Problems Edit Victoria attends a London fashion week party hosted by Mick Jagger's daughter Jade. Wearing a silver chain-mail halter-top, she raised some attention and concerns from fellow guests, as she had jutting collarbone and ribs binging up some rumours of anorexia in the media. She responded by telling them it was due to the reason of having to nurse a child, being on a low-fat diet and doing "200 sit-ups before bed." "You pick up magazines and you see how you are meant to look when you're a famous person. I mean, I was never anorexic, I was never bulimic, but I was probably very close to it." - Victoria Beckham on ABC's 20/20 (2007) 2000s Edit On August 14, 2000, Victoria makes her first solo debut when she is featured in the single Out Of Your Mind by Turesteppers and Dane Bowers. In November 2000, the Spice Girls release their third and last studio album before the split, Forever. Then the girls split to pursue solo careers. In September 2001, she releases her first autobiography Learning to Fly, which shoots up to the top of the best-seller charts in the UK. Victoria releases her first single, Not Such An Innocent Girl, from self-titled album, Victoria Beckham. Death Threats Edit In January 2000, a tip-off to Scotland Yard detectives exposed a plot to kidnap Victoria and Brooklyn Beckham and hold them at a house in Hampstead, London. The family was then moved to a secret location, but no arrests were made. Later in March 2000, she received a death threat prior to performing at the Brit Awards with the Spice Girls, and in the show's rehearsal, a red laser light appeared on her chest and she was rushed off stage. After a fire door was found to be lodged open, it was thought that there had been an assassin there, and Beckham later revealed that she was terrified by the experience. In November 2002, five people were arrested after another plot for her kidnap was infiltrated by a tabloid newspaper. Videotapes were recorded showing that they were to ambush them outside their home and to sedate the family with chloroform, and have them pay a ransom of £5 million ($7.5 million). The Beckhams decided to increase security around their $9.5 million ($13 million) 24-acre Hertfordshire estate (also referred as "Beckingham Palace"). All charges were dropped after a witness was deemed unreliable. Leaving Virgin Edit The second and last single, A Mind Of Its Own, is released from her album Victoria Beckham and made it to sixth of the UK Charts. Rumours were raised that she was to be dropped if she didn't make it into the Top 3. Victoria responded to this by saying: "You know what newspapers are like, they just like to put all the negative stuff in, but as far as I'm concerned and the record company is concerned it is all great." A third single, I Wish, was suppose to be released as it received promoted, but has never materialized. The reason was that she became pregnant with a second child so was to take time off at which point she left Virgin. Telstar Edit In 2002, a deal is made with Simon Fuller with Telstar signing Victoria on to a £1.5 million contract. She begins the process of recording a pop album but the project is shelved as she was displeased with the tracks. Hip Hop producer Damon Dash of Roc-A-Fella Records is then placed into the project to give the album a R&B feel to it. First single is released as an A-Side Let Your Head Go/This Groove, and peaks at number three on the UK Singles Charts. They then set their eyes on breaking into the US. Appearances from Victoria were made to increase her status in America as she made several appearances on US Television including 2003 MTV Movie Awards. She becomes the face of Rocawear, a Urban clothing line created by Jay-Z and Damon Dash, appearing up and down America in Billboards and ad campaign. Moreover, she became the British ambassador for Dolce and Gabbana. Despite all the publicity, the album is shelved due to a dispute between Simon Fuller and Damon Dash over the direction of Victoria's "Urban Sound", so her planned album Come Together and other remaining music-related plans were scrapped. Tabloid Scandal Edit In April 2004, allegations surfaced that David Beckham had had a brief affair with a former personal assistant, Rebecca Loos. The affair had apparently taken place when David had moved to Madrid, although he denied all the allegations. They respond to all the bad media by posing for photos, while holding hands. VB Rocks Edit Main Article: VB Rocks Beckham designed a limited-edition fashion line for Rock & Republic called VB Rocks in November 2004, consisting mainly of jeans for the high end of the market, retailing at approximately $300 in the U.S. She had previously "hit it off instantly" with Rock & Republic designer, Michael Ball, in Los Angeles. He commented: "She not only understands fashion and trends but has been a trend-setter and fashion icon for years." Cruz Edit Main Article: Cruz Beckham On February 20, 2005, their third son Cruz Beckham is born in Madrid, Spain, weighing at 7-lbs. After giving a caesarian, Victoria and David said they were "delighted". Victoria Beckham: Coming to America Edit David signs a five-year deal with the Major League Football/Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy. They move to America in which Victoria is in a NBC hour long special Victoria Beckham: Coming to America. The show sees her preparing her household in L.A. for the rest of the family. Return of the Spice Girls Edit In 2007, Spice Girls reunite to embark on a worldwide tour "We are going to celebrate the past, do a small tour and that will probably be it. Our priority is our families." It was also reported that she turned down a appearance on Sex and the City movie as she was in rehearsals mode for the Spice Girls tour. 2010s In 2009, Victoria Beckham appeared on some magazine covers solidifying her as a fashion icon. Also, she and Eva Longaria formed a partnership with LG phones. She is now signed as a designer for Range Rovers. 2010 Her status as a fashion designer highly rocketed after winning numerous awards for her new fashion line.kijhddv Memorable Quotes Edit "I'm never going to sing again, unless it was a chance to do something with the Spice Girls." - Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper (2006) "The truth is I see myself like one of the characters from the series 'Desperate Housewives' - the one who has the most kids." - Britain's Sunday Mirror newspaper "I have to be done by three o'clock in the afternoon so I can go and get the kids again…they will always be our priority, both myself and David's." - KIIS-FM with Ryan Seacrest (2007) External Links

i don't know

What is the oldest university in Northern Ireland called -- founded in 1908?

Education Education 67 Which is the oldest university in Britain? 64 At what age do children go to school in Britain? Children in Britain must attend school from the age of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) until they are 16. Before the start of formal schooling, many children attend nursery schools or nursery classes attached to primary schools. In addition, some parents elect to send their children to private (fee-paying) nursery schools or kindergartens. In England and Wales, many primary schools also operate an early admission policy where they admit children under 5 into what are called reception classes. Children first attend the infants’ school or department. At 7 they move to the junior school and the usual age for transfer from junior to secondary school is 11 (12 in Scotland). In some areas, however, ‘first’ schools take pupils aged 5 to 8, 9 or 10, and pupils within the 8 to 14 age range go to ‘middle’ schools.   TOP 65 What are the different types of secondary school? Over 85 per cent of secondary school pupils go to comprehensive schools. These take children of all abilities, and provide a wide range of secondary education for all or most of the children in a district from the age of 11 to 16 or 18. There are also other types of secondary school. Grammar schools offer a mainly academic education for the 11 to 18-year age group. Children enter grammar schools on the basis of their abilities, first sitting the ‘11’ plus or entrance examination. Grammar schools cater for four per cent of children in secondary education. A small minority of children attend secondary modern schools (around four per cent). These schools provide a more general and technical education for children aged 11-16. City Technology Colleges (CTCs) aim to give boys and girls a broad secondary education with a strong technological and business slant. They are non-fee-paying independent schools, set up by the Government with the help of business sponsors who finance a large proportion of the initial capital costs and develop links with the schools. There are now 15 such colleges in operation in England and Wales. Specialist schools, which only operate in England, give pupils a broad secondary education with a strong emphasis on technology, languages, arts or sports. There are over 250 specialist schools. They charge no fees and any secondary school can apply for specialist school status.   TOP 66 Why are �public� schools so called? The independent school sector is separate from the state educational system,and caters for some seven per cent of all schoolchildren in England and four per cent in Scotland. Parents of pupils attending independent schools pay for their education, and in some cases fees can amount to several thousand pounds a year. Some pupils gain scholarships and their expenses are covered by the schools. About 250 of the larger independent shools are known for historical reasons as public schools. Eton, which was founded in 1440, is said to have been the first grammar schools to be called a 'public shool' because scholars could come to it from any part of England and not, as was generally the case, just from the immediate neighbourhood. Originally, many public schools stressed a classical education, character training and sports, but the curriculum is now closely allied to state education. In Northern Ireland there are a few independent fee paying schools catering for a very small proportion of the school population; they do not receive any support from public funds. Schools in Scotland supported by public funds are also called 'public schools' but they are not fee-paying, independent schools.   TOP 67 Which is the oldest university in Britain? The University of Oxford was the first university to be established in Britain. Dating from the 12th century, it is organised as a federation of colleges which are governed by their own teaching staff known as ‘Fellows’. The oldest college, University College, was founded in 1249. Other notable colleges include All Souls (founded in 1438), Christ Church (founded in 1546 by Cardinal Wolsey), the college chapel of which is also Oxford Cathedral, and Lady Margaret Hall (founded in 1878), which was the first women’s college. Today Oxford University is made up of 35 separate colleges, of which two are for women students only, and the rest take both men and women. In 1208, scholars running away from riots in Oxford set up the first academic community in Cambridge. The University is also organised as a federation of colleges; the oldest, Peterhouse, dates from 1284. The largest college, Trinity, was founded by King Henry VIII in 1546. Scotland also boasts a number of long- established universities. By the end of the Middle Ages Scotland had four universities at Edinburgh (founded 1583), Glasgow (founded 1450), Aberdeen (founded 1494) and St Andrew’s (founded 1411) compared to England’s two! The University of Wales was founded in 1893. It consists of six colleges, the oldest one being St David’s University College in Lampeter, founded in 1822. Queen’s University, Belfast was founded in 1845 as Queen’s College, Belfast, part of the Queen’s University of Ireland which had other colleges at Cork and Galway. It received its charter as a separate university in 1908.  

Queen's University

Which British architect was responsible with Renzo Piano for the Famous Pompidou Centre in Paris?

Queen's University, Belfast, Attractions and Culture of Northern Ireland HOME • IRELAND • DISCOVER IRELAND • Northern Ireland • Queen's University QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST Queen's University, Belfast - or officially The Queen's University of Belfast is a university in Belfast , Northern Ireland . The university was originally part of Queen's University of Ireland created to encourage higher education for Catholics and Presbyterians as a counterpart to the Anglican Trinity College, Dublin. The university offers academic degrees at various levels and across several faculties including those in dentistry, engineering, humanities, law and medicine. HISTORY OF QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST Queen's is the second oldest university in Ireland and the ninth oldest university in the United Kingdom. The university has its roots in the Belfast Academical Institution, founded in 1810, whilst the university was established as a college in 1845 as Queen's College, Belfast when it was associated with what was then Queen's College, Cork and Queen's College, Galway as part of the Queen's University of Ireland (1850) and later the Royal University of Ireland (1880). The Irish Universities Act, 1908 dissolved the Royal University of Ireland and created two separate universities - the current National University of Ireland and Queen's University of Belfast. On opening in 1849 as a Queen's College it had 23 professors and 343 students. The university was one of only eight UK universities to hold a parliamentary seat in the Westminster Parliament until such representation was abolished in 1950. The university was also represented in the now defunct Northern Irish Parliament from 1920-1968 where it held four seats. The last Member of Parliament for the university's Wesminster seat was Professor D.L. Savory and the last Member of Parliament for the university's Northern Irish parliamentary seat was Dr. H.I. McClure. Both representatives belonged to the Ulster Unionist Party . ACADEMICS OF QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST In addition to the main campus in the centre of Belfast, the university has two associated university colleges, these being St Mary's and Stranmillis both also located in Belfast. Although offering a range of degree courses, these colleges primarily provide training for those wishing to enter the teaching profession. The university has formal agreements with other colleges in Northern Ireland and operates several outreach schemes to rural areas, the most successful of which is at Armagh, the Armagh Campus. INSTITUTES OF QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST Several institutes are also associated with Queen's. Located close to the main campus is the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's which offers training to law graduates to enable them to practice as solicitors or barristers in Northern Ireland, England & Wales and the Republic of Ireland. Admission to the Institute is highly competitive and depends on the graduate's overall academic standing and their performance in an unseen written exam. The Institute of Theology consists of several colleges with a Christian emphasis, including St Mary's (Catholic), Union Theological College (Presbyterian) as well as Baptist and Methodist colleges in Belfast - in all five colleges teach any programmes with a religious emphasis on behalf of the university. REPUTATION OF QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY, BELFAST Independent league tables published by The Guardian newspaper in 2005 placed the university at number 33 out of 132 institutes of higher education within the United Kingdom, commenting "Queen's has a well-deserved reputation for the quality of its teaching and research, particularly in medicine and engineering." The university also hosts the annual Belfast Festival at Queens. Retrieved from Wikiepdia , the Free Encyclopedia The Lanyon Building designed by the Belfast architect Sir Charles Lanyon BELFAST FESTIVAL AT QUEENS: The Belfast Festival at Queens is a yearly arts festival held in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Held annually, usually in November, the festival is primarily run by Queens University, Belfast. Founded by a student called Michael Emmerson in the 1960s, as of 2005 the festival is in it's 43rd year. Stella Hall, head of Culture and Arts at the university, is the current festival director. From small beginnings the festival grew through the 60s and 1970s, expanding to a two week long event. Performers during this time included Jimi Hendrix, Laurence Olivier, Rowan Atkinson and Billy Connolly; the latter two long before they were famous. In recent years the festival has expanded further and now claims to be the largest arts festival in Ireland, showcasing local talent as well as international artists.

i don't know

In Which European city would you go to the Bardini Museum and the Bargello Museum?

Museo Bardini (Florence, Italy): Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor Neighborhood Profile Piazzale Michelangelo Just outside the ancient walls of Florence, Viale Michelangiolo starts. It is a winding road rimmed by wonderful poplars and holm oaks. The long ascent opens up to the most beautiful and famous panoramic viewpoint of Florence: Piazzale Michelangelo, where an elevated terrace offers visitors an incomparable and breathtaking view of the entire city from above. During good weather, Piazzale Michelangelo provides visitors with a serene space surrounded by the amazing landscape, better if accompanied by a fresh gelato from a local kiosk. During night, visitors will be dazzled by the warm lights of the capital of the Renaissance. Spend a second with the silent Romanesque beauty of the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte: the one that wishes good morning and good night to Florence!

Florence

Inishmor is part of which island group?

Florence Tip: Bardini Museum re-opens! | EuroCheapo Florence Tip: Bardini Museum re-opens! Related categories comment The vibrant city of Florence , chock full of some of the most world-renowned Renaissance art and architecture, is always surprising us. This week, we were happy to learn that the Bardini Museum, which kept its doors shut for renovations for nearly a decade, has finally reopened . A little bit of history The museum is named for Stefano Bardini (1836-1922), an art dealer known for his flair for Renaissance art and his love of blue painted walls (he originally trained as a painter). In 1922, Bardini donated his life’s labor—and the building he housed it all in—to the city of Florence. For years, the museum was open to the public and showcased most of his own personal collection. Fun fact: Fans of Bardini’s collection during his lifetime included the famed Bostonian Isabella Stewart Gardner , a great collector in her own right. She even used his signature blue-painted exhibition walls in her own self-made museum . In with the new The improved Bardini Museum is said to be a one-stop for some of the most unique Renaissance art in Europe. This week , and in the future, the museum will be offering lectures and tours too. Highlights of the collection include Roman sarcophagi, delicate wooden sculptures, and works attributed to Donatello and Pisano. Newer acquisitions now grace the halls as well as many others thought to be from between the 12th and 15th centuries. All are presented in the Bardini’s unique setting where columns, altars, and even stairs from original Romanesque and Renaissance-era buildings lend the museum’s spaces an authentic, ethereal feel. If you go… The Bardini is located at Via dei Renai, 37 (Ponte alle Grazie) and is open Saturdays, Sundays,  and on Mondays from 11 AM to 5 PM. Admission is €5 (adults), €4 (students and seniors), or €2 (children). For more information, you can visit the Bardini’s site (only in Italian). Plan your trip through EuroCheapo!

i don't know

What is the name of the lake which remained when the Zuider Zee was closed and reclaimed in 1932?

The Seven Mondern Wonders - The Zuiderzee and Delta Works Other: Turned the Zuiderzee from a bay into a lake. Taming the Zuiderzee One of most notable features of the Netherlands was the Zuiderzee. The name meant "Southern Sea" in Dutch, but it was actually a shallow bay of the North Sea that ran 60 miles (100km) inland and was about 30 miles (50km) wide. Despite its great size covering almost 2000 square miles it was only about 15 feet deep. While the Zuiderzee was a resource for fishing and allowed access for trade, it could become dangerous whenever one of the frequent North Sea storms would push water through the bay's inlet. Dikes would fail and the resulting floods would kill hundreds or even thousands of people. In 1421 a seawall on the Zuiderzee dike broke during a storm and flooded 72 villages killing about 10,000 people. In the 17th century the first plans to address this problem were drawn up. It wasn't until the 19th century, however, that the technology to actually do the job was developed. Cornelis Lely, a Dutch civil engineer, came up with a plan that proposed building a long dam that would close off the Zuiderzee and turn it into a lake. The plan also included building four polders in the lake that would be drained and used mainly for agriculture. Lely became Minister of Transport and Public Works in 1913 and tried to push his plan forward. Not everybody agreed with his ideas, however. Fishermen along the Zuiderzee were concerned that they would lose their livelihood. Others were worried that such a project might create higher water levels at other places along the coast. The government was also alarmed about the enormous price tag of the project. In 1916 during a winter storm, however, several dikes gave way along the Zuiderzee and the result was more damaging floods. After this disaster Lely's bold plan gained much public support. On June 14, 1918 the Zuiderzee Act was passed and the project was officially started. Its goals were to protect the region against floods from the North Sea, increase the country's food supply by creating polders that could be turned into farmland and use what remained of the Zuiderzee to improve water management. Construction on the Afsluitdijk in 1931 The Afsluitdijk The first step in the plan was to enclose the Zuiderzee by building a 20 mile long dam across the bay. Something like this had never been done before, so the Dutch engineers made the wise decision to start by building a much shorter dam out to the island of Wieringen which would form the first part of the enclosure of the bay. The experience gained in the exercise was valuable when the longer dam, the Afsluitdijk, was built from the other side of Wieringen across the bay to the village of Zurich in 1927. The engineers found that a type of material called till (or boulder clay) made an excellent base for the dam. As the name suggests it is a mixture of small boulders and clay that was deposited during the Glacial Period. Fortunately it was readily available as it could be obtained by simply dredging it up from the bottom of the Zuiderzee. The till was loaded into ships which hauled it out to the mouth of the bay and dropped it onto two parallel lines along what would be the course of the dam. The space between the two rows of till was filled with regular sand, and then a layer of till was placed on top. To complete the base of the dam a coating of basalt rock and willow branches was laid down. The dam's design called for it to rise 25 feet above sea level, so another layer of sand was placed to top of that, which was covered with another deposit of till. The surface was then planted with grass to help guard against erosion. The project proceeded faster than planned and was two years ahead of schedule when on May 28, 1932 the last connection to the sea was closed that the Zuiderzee became a lake named Ijsselmeer. Then dam took another year to fully complete as a road was built along the top and 25 sluices were constructed to allow excess water in the lake to be discharged to the sea. Two sets of locks were also created to allow ships to move in and out of the Ijsselmeer to the ocean. It is estimated the dam cost the equivalent of $710 million in 2004 United States dollars. Making Land Even before the Afsluitdijk was complete, the Dutch started working on the first of the polders, the Wieringermeer. It's dikes were completed in 1929 and by 1930 it had been pumped dry, not by windmills, but by one modern diesel powered pumping station and one electrically powered pumping station. Both used large Archimedes screw type pumps to move the water. Additional work took another four years before the land could be used for agriculture and construction. The polder added a total of 75 square miles of area to the country. The second polder, the Noordoostpolder, was started in 1936 and draining it wasn't finished until 1942. The area turned out to be a good resource for the Dutch Underground resistance in World War II as it provided almost 230 square miles of undeveloped land to hide from the Nazi occupation force. World War II also brought some setbacks to the project, however. In April 1945, the retreating German forces blew up the dike of the Wieringermeer, flooding the land again. Fortunately the Dutch managed to reclaim the polder by the end of the year, though much of the infrastructure was destroyed and had to be rebuilt. In 1950 work on the the Oostelijk Flevoland, the third polder, was started and by 1957 it had added 208 square miles of territory to the Netherlands. Two years later work on the fourth polder, Zuidelijk Flevoland, was started and finished in 1967. The Dutch considered building a fifth polder in the Ijsselmeer, but after several false starts, it was never completed. Even so the territory created by the project totaled over 895 square miles. The Delta Works The Delta Works were a series of construction projects started in 1950 designed to limit flooding. Just south of the Netherlands city of Rotterdam the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt rivers meet the North Sea. This estuary area was extremely low lying and had been subject to heavy floods for centuries. Shortly after the completion of the Afsluitdijk, the Dutch decided they could limit the damage to this area by using dams to effectively shorten the coastline. No work was started until the 1950's however. The Zuiderzee plan drawn up by Lely in 1891. A major flood in the region during January 1953 killed more than 1,800 people when a storm surge caused 89 dikes to fail. Over 72,000 residents had to be evacuated and 10,000 houses and buildings were destroyed. Repair and reconstruction cost nearly a billion dollars. This prompted the government move forward with the project as quickly as it could. Originally the plan called for estuaries Oosterschelde, Haringvliet and Grevelingen to be dammed and turned into lakes, just like the Ijsselmeer. Because of environmental concerns, however, it was decided to protect the Oosterschelde from storm surges by a barrier instead. The storm surge barrier is a series of massive values that are normally open so that water can move in and out of the estuary. This helps preserve the natural environment. However the valves can be closed to create a dam during a storm so no high water enters the area. Another storm surge barrier was also built to protect the river Nieuwe Waterweg when raising the existing levees along the waterway proved too difficult. Though officially completed in 1997 at the cost of $7 billion, the Netherlands continues to add infrastructure to the Delta works as needed. It is estimated that it will continue to need construction to protect the area against the rising water levels caused by global warming. Copyright 2011 Lee Krystek. All Rights Reserved.  

IJsselmeer

Sullom Voe is famous for exporting which commodity?

Zuider zee definition by Babylon’s free dictionary Wikipedia Dictionaries English Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia The Zuiderzee (; old spelling Zuyderzee) was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an overall depth of about 4 to 5 metres (13–16 feet) and a coastline of about 300 km (200 miles). It covered . Its name means "southern sea" in Dutch, indicating that the name originates in Friesland, to the north of the Zuiderzee (cf. North Sea). In the 20th century the majority of the Zuiderzee was closed off from the North Sea (leaving the mouth of the inlet to become part of the Wadden Sea) and the salt water inlet changed into a fresh water lake called the IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake) after the river that drains into it, and by means of drainage and polders, an area of some was reclaimed as land. This land eventually became the province of Flevoland, with a population of nearly 400,000 (2011). See more at Wikipedia.org...

i don't know

In which European city is the Atomium?

Atomium (Brussels, Belgium): Top Tips Before You Go - TripAdvisor “A must see if in Brussels!” Reviewed 4 days ago NEW Just standing outside and looking up at the Atomium is pretty impressive. If you want to avoid queuing, get there early - we got there at 10am and didn't have to wait but queues were building when we left around 12pm. Friendly and polite staff at the ticket counter and in fact, all the staff we encountered were the same.... More  Helpful?

Brussels

How are Belgian World Airlines also known?

history :: the Atomium     The story of the Atomium is, above all, one of love, the love that the Belgians have for an extraordinary structure symbolising a frame of mind that wittily combines aesthetic daring with technical mastery. The appearance of the Atomium is unusual and unforgettable. It has a rare quality of lifting everyone’s spirits and firing their imagination.   Diane Hennebert, 2008. A seminal totem in the Brussels skyline; neither tower, nor pyramid, a little bit cubic, a little bit spherical, half-way between sculpture and architecture, a relic of the past with a determinedly futuristic look, museum and exhibition centre; the Atomium is, at once, an object, a place, a space, a Utopia and the only symbol of its kind in the world, which eludes any kind of classification.   Follow Atomium - Googie style and atomic era.   The Atomium was the main pavilion and icon of the World Fair of Brussels (1958), commonly called Expo 58. It symbolised the democratic will to maintain peace among all the nations, faith in progress, both technical and scientific and, finally, an optimistic vision of the future of a modern, new, super-technological world for a better life for mankind.   Follow Expo 58 - Universal Worldfair of Brussels on Pinterest. The peaceful use of atomic energy for scientific purposes embodied these themes particularly   well and, so, that is what determined the shape of the edifice.  At 102 metres high, with its nine interconnected spheres, it represents an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion (thousand million) times. It was dreamed up by the engineer André Waterkeyn (1917-2005). The spheres, though, were fitted out by the architects André and Jean Polak.   Follow Atomium Tubes and Stairs. The Atomium was not intended to survive beyond the 1958 World Fair but its popularity and success soon made it a key landmark, first of Brussels then internationally. Half a century later, the Atomium continues, for that matter, to embody those ideas of the future and universality. And, among other things through its cultural programming, it carries on the debate begun in 1958: What kind of future do we want for tomorrow? What does happiness depend on? Over and above the symbolic value linked to its history, the Atomium has become one of the icons of the city of Brussels: capital of Europe, with which it has a special relationship . Since its inspired restoration (2006), the landmark that many people call the most Belgian monument, is also a museum with its permanent collections and temporary exhibitions . The completely steel-clad Atomium is a kind of UFO in the cultural history of Humanity, a mirror  turned simultaneously towards the past and the future, comparing our Utopias of yesterday with our dreams for tomorrow.   >>> A lot of books and DVD’s about the history of the Atomium and the Expo 58 are available in the Atomium shop . Prepare your visit

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Which tourist islands include the lesser known Majorca and Minorca?

Balearic Islands Holiday Villas & Apartments | HomeAway Make a holiday rental, home, or villa on Balearic Islands your home away from home Accommodations on Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are a province of islands about 100km off the east coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea. The area has become a favourite destination for visitors seeking holiday homes alongside beautiful beaches, good food, and an exciting nightlife. There are various islands to choose from, each with their own feel thanks to the area’s history of many occupying forces including the Greeks, Romans, and Moors. With such eclectic influences as well as different landscapes, holiday homes on the Balearic Islands offer something for everyone. The most coveted spots for a holiday rental, home, or villa on Balearic Islands include Mallorca (Majorca), Menorca (Menorca), Ibiza, and Formentera. Places to holiday on Balearic Islands Mallorca - As the largest island of the Balearics, Mallorca is one of Europe's top holiday destinations. Because of its size, holiday homes on the Balearics have so much to offer from gorgeous beaches and exciting nightlife in the busy city centres of the south like Cala Pi and Sa Rapita to beautiful views of mountainous regions in the north like Santa Ponsa , Soller area, and Andratx. Holiday villas in the capital city ofPalma de Mallorca are known for being some of the Mediterranean's most beautiful and luxurious. And while you’re holiday home may be heavenly, be sure to take a boat trip from the south east to the beautiful untouched region of Cabrera. The clear waters are a dream come true for SCUBA divers and snorkellers. Menorca - In the far east of the Balearic Islands, holiday home seekers will find Menorca to be the most tranquil and unspoilt region of the three main islands. Holiday rentals in South and East Menorca are ideal for families looking to escape the wild nightlife that makes the other islands notorious. Instead holiday homes in Menorca offer uncrowded beaches and traditional fishing towns. Visitors travel far and wide to indulge in Menorca’s fresh seafood. Ibiza - the Island closest to the mainland, Ibiza is known as the party capital of Europe. It has some of the biggest and best nightclubs in the world, attracting A-list celebrities and some of Europe’s poshest partygoers. However don’t be fooled into believing that’s all the island has to offer. Visitors staying at holiday homes and villas, a short distance away from the two main club areas of Ibiza town and San Antonio, will easily discover a lesser-known Ibiza with traditional Spanish villages alongside orange and lemon groves and beautiful cliffs and mountains like Sant Agustin and Santa Eulalia. There are also colourful street markets and local fiestas where the locals gather but. Fromentera - An hour ferry ride from Ibiza town, Fromentera is rumoured to be the Mediterranean’s best kept secret. Holiday homes in the area are ideal for nature lovers. Homes are amid a paradise of gorgeous, clean beaches, clear waters, and hidden coves. Things to do on Balearic Islands Because of the range of things to do in the Balearic Islands, visitors staying at holiday homes will find it difficult to be bored. Depending on which island or islands you choose to explore, there is something for everyone. Most activities focus around the various bays, beaches, and rugged landscapes and cliffs. Majorca has the largest mountains of the islands, with some reaching 1,445 metres (Puig Major) and 1,340 metres (Puig de Massanella). The region is also famous for caves of extraordinary beauty, that include the Drach and the Arta caves in Majorca, and Xoroi cave in Minorca. All of the beaches in the area are well known for their exquisite beauty. But be sure to not get stuck lounging around the whole time. Take advantage of the facilities and services on the major islands, including jet skis and parasailing. For golf lovers, the best location is Mallorca, especially in the area of Capdepera . Art historians should check out the Mallorca Museum. It contains important archaeological remains. There are also paintings, Renaissance and Baroque ceramics, and a section with modern furniture. Nightlife on the Balearic Islands cannot go unspoken for. The islands are home to some of the best nightclubs in the world and while some may be difficult to get into, there are numerous places letting in partygoers with open arms. Most of these places stay open late, so think of your night ending at noon not midnight. If you don't know what to do have a look to our Holiday Idea page Weather on Balearic Islands Like the rest of the Mediterranean, the Balearic Islands can get a little more rain than the mainland, as well as hotter temperatures in the summer. Therefore when planning to stay at a holiday home, people generally prefer to go during the pleasant or hot temperatures from April to early November. Travel to Balearic Islands If you plan on traveling solely to the Balearic Islands, it is best to fly directly to the islands and avoid the mainland. Cheap flights are readily available through Ryanair and easyJet. However if you're already in Spain, the cheapest flights are usually out of Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia or Malaga. Also you can often arrange a cheap flight back to the mainland. Another option in making the trip to Balearic Islands is by boat. The Buque rapido is operated by Trasmediterranea. There's only one a day in the mid-and high season. The same company also operates a fast ferry between Valencia and Palma that stops in Ibiza en route. The third option is the buque convencionale, a slow ferry that operates all year. These go from Barcelona every day.

Balearic Islands

Which country lies to the north of Austria and to the south of Poland?

Majorca | Article about Majorca by The Free Dictionary Majorca | Article about Majorca by The Free Dictionary http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Majorca Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Wikipedia . Related to Majorca: Mallorca Majorca (məjôr`kə), Span. Mallorca (mälyôr`kä), island (1991 pop. 602,074), 1,405 sq mi (3,639 sq km), Spain, largest of the Balearic Islands, in the W Mediterranean. Palma is the chief city. Majorca is mountainous in the northwest, rising to 4,739 ft (1,444 m) in the Puig Major; the south and east form a gently rolling, fertile region. Its mild climate and beautiful scenery have long made Majorca a popular resort; tourism is its major industry. Cereals, flax, grapes, and olives are grown, a light wine is produced, hogs and sheep are raised, and lead, marble, and copper are mined. For the history of Majorca before 1276, see Balearic Islands Balearic Islands , Span. Baleares , archipelago, off Spain, in the W Mediterranean, forming Baleares prov. (1990 pop. 767,918) of Spain; also an autonomous region since 1983. Palma is the capital. The chief islands are Majorca, Minorca, and Ibiza. ..... Click the link for more information. . In 1276 the kingdom of Majorca was formed from the inheritance of James I of Majorca. It comprised the Balearic Islands, Roussillon and Cerdagne (between France and Spain), and several fiefs in S France. Perpignan, in Roussillon, was the capital. In 1343, Peter IV of Aragón took the kingdom from James II and reunited it with the crown of Aragón. The island's flourishing commerce declined, partly because of the warfare between the native peasantry and the Aragonese nobles and Catalan traders, but mainly because of the change in trade routes after the discovery of America. Majorca is known for its stalagmite caves and for its architectural treasures and prehistoric monuments. The abandoned old monastery where Chopin and George Sand lived is an island landmark. The inhabitants speak their own dialect of Catalan. Majorca an island in the W Mediterranean: the largest of the Balearic Islands; tourism. Capital: Palma. Pop.: 730 778 (2002 est.). Area: 3639 sq. km (1465 sq. miles)

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Which European cou8ntry was first this century to give women the vote?

When women won the vote When women won the vote Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 01:00 Leeann Lane     From New Zealand to Saudi Arabia:The representation of People Act, 1918, that granted votes to certain Irish and English women came at a relatively early point in the trajectory of the history of female suffrage in Europe and elsewhere in the world. There were, however, nations that extended that right earlier and other countries, in Europe as well as elsewhere, that did not extend the right until much later into the 20th century. New Zealand was the first nation to grant female suffrage, in 1893, to all adult women, both Maori and pakehas (of European descent). In 1894 women in South Australia were granted the vote and also the right to stand for parliamentary elections. In 1899 women in Western Australia were enfranchised. In 1902 the Commonwealth Franchise Act gave all white women in Australia the vote and the right to stand for election to the Australian Federal Parliament. Aboriginal women in Australia, as well as aboriginal men, did not receive the vote until 1962. In Europe the Nordic countries were pioneers in women’s suffrage. The first European nation to give women the vote was Finland in 1906. Women in the Grand Duchy of Finland, then an autonomous part of the Russian Empire, won the right to be elected members of the eduskunta, the Finnish unicameral parliament, in 1907. Women in Norway received the right in 1913 with Denmark following in 1915. Other Nordic countries, such as Sweden, enfranchised women between 1919 and 1921, women in that country receiving the vote at least a year later than enfranchisement of Irish and English women over the age of 30. The end of the first World War was an important time for the enfranchisement of women in many European nations. Austria, Germany, Poland and Russia granted the vote to women in 1918 with the Netherlands following in 1919. Spanish women received the vote in 1931. However, there were certain countries in Europe in which women did not gain the vote until during or after the second World War. In 1944 French women received the right to vote. In 1945 Italy followed suit. Other European countries were even later to grant women suffrage; Switzerland did not grant the right until 1971 and Portugal not until 1976. ADVERTISEMENT Canadian women, with the exception of Canadian Indians, received the vote in 1917. The latter were not enfranchised until 1960. In the United States women’s suffrage was granted on a local and state level from the late 19th century. In 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution stated that the right to vote of all citizens could not be denied by the US or any state within on the basis of sex. Elsewhere, Mexico, Pakistan, Japan and Argentina granted female suffrage in 1947. China granted the right two years later in 1949 and India in 1950. Examples of countries in which women have only recently been granted the right to vote are South Africa (black women, 1994), Kuwait (2005) and the United Arab Emirates (2006). Women in Saudi Arabia will not have the vote until 2015.    

Finland

Where is the Optimisticeskaja Cave, the second longest in the world?

Close Women’s Suffrage Movement Facts, information and articles about Women’s Suffrage Movement, the struggle for the right of women to vote Women’s Suffrage summary: The women’s suffrage movement (aka woman suffrage) was the struggle for the right of women to vote and run for office and is part of the overall women’s rights movement. In the mid-19th century, women in several countries—most notably, the U.S. and Britain—formed organizations to fight for suffrage. In 1888, the first international women’s rights organization formed, the International Council of Women (ICW). Because the ICW was reluctant to focus on suffrage, in 1904 the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) was formed by British women’s rights activist Millicent Fawcett, American activist Carrie Chapman Catt, and other leading women’s rights activists. Women’s Suffrage In Europe The first country to grant national-level voting rights to women was the self-governing British colony of New Zealand, which passed the Electoral Bill in September 1893. The British colony of South Australia granted full suffrage in 1894, giving women the right to vote and to stand for parliament. Australia federated in 1901 and country-wide women’s suffrage followed quickly in 1902; however, women of Australia’s indigenous people were specifically excluded until 1949, when the right to vote in federal elections was granted to all indigenous people. Remaining restrictions were abolished in 1962. Other countries followed soon after New Zealand, with limited rights granted to women in Sweden, Britain, Finland, and some U.S. states by the early 20th century. When World War I began in 1914, many suffrage organizations shifted their focus to supporting the war effort, although some activists continued to fight for suffrage. Because of manpower shortages in warring countries, women took on many roles traditionally held by men and changed the dominant idea of what women were capable of doing, giving further momentum to the suffrage movement. Britain’s Parliament passed the Eligibility of Women Act in November 1918, which allowed women to be elected to Parliament. Ten years later, the Representation of the People Act granted women the right to vote. Following a path similar to Britain’s, many countries—Denmark, Iceland, the USSR, the Netherlands, Canada, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Sweden, Germany, Luxembourg, the United States—had granted the vote to women by 1920. Other European countries did not grant women the right to vote until much later—Spain in 1931, France in 1944, and Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Yugoslavia in 1946. Later still were Switzerland (1971) and Liechtenstein (1984). In Latin America, national suffrage was granted to women between 1929 (Ecuador) and 1946 (Argentina). In Africa, the right to vote was generally conferred on both men and women as colonial rule ended and nations became independent—the same is true for India, which granted universal suffrage with its constitution in 1949. Middle Eastern countries granted women the right to vote after World War II, although some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, do not have suffrage at all or have limited suffrage and exclude women completely (Kuwait). Women’s Suffrage In the United States The suffrage movement in the United States gained prominence with the first women’s rights convention in the world: the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. The convention was organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton , active members of the abolitionist movement who met in England in 1840 at the World Anti-Slavery Convention. In 1851, Stanton was introduced by a mutual friend to Susan B. Anthony , who was most active in the temperance movement at the time. The two would form a life-long friendship and collaboration focused on obtaining suffrage. They formed the Woman’s National Loyal League in 1863 to support the Thirteenth Amendment to abolish slavery and to campaign for full citizenship for blacks and women. The National Woman Suffrage Association In 1869, with slavery abolished, a rift developed in the suffrage movement over how to gain suffrage. Anthony and Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and campaigned for a constitutional amendment for universal suffrage in America, and for other women’s rights, such as changes in divorce laws and an end to employment and pay discrimination. Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe, and Josephine Ruffin formed the less-radical American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) to focus on obtaining suffrage for black men with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and on winning women’s right to vote state-by-state, ignoring the broader rights the NWSA was campaigning for. By the 1880s, it became clear that the two organizations would be more effective if they merged back into one group, so they formed the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1890, with Stanton as president and Anthony as vice president. Stanton’s position was largely honorary—she departed on a 2-year European speaking tour shortly after being elected, leaving Anthony as acting president. NAWSA was a national, parent organization to hundreds of local groups that campaigned solely for women’s right to vote. However, NAWSA alienated the more radical activists like Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Olympia Brown who were campaigning for broader rights along with the right to vote.

i don't know

What is Europe's second largest city in terms of population?

The 10 largest cities in Europe | Tourist Maker Blog The 10 largest cities in Europe Europe is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Unlike many other parts of the planet, however, European population is fairly evenly distributed throughout the territory of the continent. More and more cities have multimillion population and gradually „absorb“ closer settlements. Cities are connected to each other via excellent infrastructure and regular transport links. This new form of urban unit is typical of the 20 and 21st century and is called agglomeration. It is a typical phenomenon in more developed parts of the world. Here we have compiled a list of 10 biggest cities (or rather the 10 largest urban agglomerations) in Europe . 1.London. With a population of 14,000,000 inhabitants London is the largest city in the European Union and Europe. Its territory is vast. Only London, not counting the nearby towns has a length of about 60 kilometres from east to west. In fact, the British capital occupies a larger area even from the U.S. metropolis New York . This is not surprising given the endless stream of immigrants who have flocked here from all around the world to seek their fortune. Today, London has become the personification of a world city and urban colour. 2.Paris. The French capital Paris is the second largest city in Europe. Paris urban area has a population of about 12,100,000 inhabitants. For you will be probably hard to imagine such a big city if you have never seen it. The streets are full of people. In the central parts of the city traffic does not stop even during the wee hours of the night. For better or worse, today the quiet and relaxing romantic spirit of the French capital gives a way to dynamism and cosmopolitanism. 3.Istanbul. Unlike London and Paris, the third largest agglomeration in the city rank is not a capital, but in spite of fact it is the largest city in Eastern Europe. This is Istanbul. Situated between Europe and Asia this city with a population of 11,000,000 people flourishes and grows since ancient times. Over the centuries, Istanbul was within the boundaries of different countries and empires, but it has been always equally developed, because this is a city with its own soul and personality. 4.Moscow. The capital of the Russian Federation is the fourth most populous city on the continent. It is home to about 10,500,000 people and is one of the largest cities in the world. The two most distant points in the city are located at approximately 55 kilometres to each other! The richest and most developed city in Russia astounds with its scale. For such a large and busy city metro is the main mode of transport, as driving a car through the busy streets of Moscow sometimes can be really frustrating. The hundreds of kilometres of underground railway lines is a great way to escape from the busy roads of this metropolis. 5.Madrid. Madrid metropolitan area has a population of nearly 6,500,000 people, making Madrid one of the largest agglomerations on the continent. The noise on the city’s overcrowded boulevards does not fade even in the small hours of the day. In recent years the population of this cosmopolitan city increases much faster than ever due to the incessant influx of workers from across Europe. The greater and greater Madrid grows as a snowball while gradually absorb the smaller surrounding settlements. 6. Manchester. The sixth largest city in Europe is located on the territory of the densely populated island of Britain. This is Manchester, which is currently home to about 6,000,000 people. The city has developed a very strong economy and is famous as a world-class educational centre. Manchester is an attractive place for many immigrants who settle on the island each year, seeking a better life. 7.St. Petersburg. With a population of nearly 5,000,000 people St. Petersburg is the seventh largest city in Europe and second in Russia. This is the northern-most megalopolis in the world. Its population is increasing rapidly in spite of the trend of declining of the population in Russia. The reason is that in the city come many Russians who prefer to live in a big city instead of the province. Moreover, in local universities arrives to study significant number of foreign students from all around the world. 8.Kiev. Capital metropolitan area of Ukraine is home to almost 5,000,000 inhabitants. It is the largest agglomeration in Ukraine and one of the most populated in Europe. Today this city like most cities in Eastern Europe is modernizing very rapidly and tries to melt the gap in economic terms with the developed urban centres of Western Europe. The city consists of many different ethnic groups, typical for this part of the world. The largest ethnic groups of the population are Ukrainians, followed by Russians. In Kiev live also small groups of Armenians, Jews and Belorussians. 9.Berlin. With a population of 4,900,000 people Berlin is the largest city in Germany . Once the city was divided into two parts – communist eastern and democratic western part, but today it enjoys a booming economy, flourished culture and the construction of more and more new and modern buildings. The city is an attractive educational centre with some of the best universities in Europe. The only period of decreasing population in Berlin was at the time of the Iron Curtain. After the fall of communism, however, Berlin became one of the most colourful cities in the world. 10.Barcelona. Barcelona metropolitan area is home to about 4,500,000 people. This is the eighth largest agglomeration in Europe, the fifth in the European Union and the second largest in Spain . Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia. Besides the multimillion population, city’s streets are always crowded with foreign visitors that make this cosmopolitan city look even bigger. One of the reasons for the countless number of people on the city streets is, of course, the warm weather, which encourages people to spend more time outdoors. Because of these facts Barcelona looks more vibrant and colourful than many other even bigger cities.

London

How many independent 'Baltic states' are there?

The 10 largest cities in Europe | Tourist Maker Blog The 10 largest cities in Europe Europe is one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Unlike many other parts of the planet, however, European population is fairly evenly distributed throughout the territory of the continent. More and more cities have multimillion population and gradually „absorb“ closer settlements. Cities are connected to each other via excellent infrastructure and regular transport links. This new form of urban unit is typical of the 20 and 21st century and is called agglomeration. It is a typical phenomenon in more developed parts of the world. Here we have compiled a list of 10 biggest cities (or rather the 10 largest urban agglomerations) in Europe . 1.London. With a population of 14,000,000 inhabitants London is the largest city in the European Union and Europe. Its territory is vast. Only London, not counting the nearby towns has a length of about 60 kilometres from east to west. In fact, the British capital occupies a larger area even from the U.S. metropolis New York . This is not surprising given the endless stream of immigrants who have flocked here from all around the world to seek their fortune. Today, London has become the personification of a world city and urban colour. 2.Paris. The French capital Paris is the second largest city in Europe. Paris urban area has a population of about 12,100,000 inhabitants. For you will be probably hard to imagine such a big city if you have never seen it. The streets are full of people. In the central parts of the city traffic does not stop even during the wee hours of the night. For better or worse, today the quiet and relaxing romantic spirit of the French capital gives a way to dynamism and cosmopolitanism. 3.Istanbul. Unlike London and Paris, the third largest agglomeration in the city rank is not a capital, but in spite of fact it is the largest city in Eastern Europe. This is Istanbul. Situated between Europe and Asia this city with a population of 11,000,000 people flourishes and grows since ancient times. Over the centuries, Istanbul was within the boundaries of different countries and empires, but it has been always equally developed, because this is a city with its own soul and personality. 4.Moscow. The capital of the Russian Federation is the fourth most populous city on the continent. It is home to about 10,500,000 people and is one of the largest cities in the world. The two most distant points in the city are located at approximately 55 kilometres to each other! The richest and most developed city in Russia astounds with its scale. For such a large and busy city metro is the main mode of transport, as driving a car through the busy streets of Moscow sometimes can be really frustrating. The hundreds of kilometres of underground railway lines is a great way to escape from the busy roads of this metropolis. 5.Madrid. Madrid metropolitan area has a population of nearly 6,500,000 people, making Madrid one of the largest agglomerations on the continent. The noise on the city’s overcrowded boulevards does not fade even in the small hours of the day. In recent years the population of this cosmopolitan city increases much faster than ever due to the incessant influx of workers from across Europe. The greater and greater Madrid grows as a snowball while gradually absorb the smaller surrounding settlements. 6. Manchester. The sixth largest city in Europe is located on the territory of the densely populated island of Britain. This is Manchester, which is currently home to about 6,000,000 people. The city has developed a very strong economy and is famous as a world-class educational centre. Manchester is an attractive place for many immigrants who settle on the island each year, seeking a better life. 7.St. Petersburg. With a population of nearly 5,000,000 people St. Petersburg is the seventh largest city in Europe and second in Russia. This is the northern-most megalopolis in the world. Its population is increasing rapidly in spite of the trend of declining of the population in Russia. The reason is that in the city come many Russians who prefer to live in a big city instead of the province. Moreover, in local universities arrives to study significant number of foreign students from all around the world. 8.Kiev. Capital metropolitan area of Ukraine is home to almost 5,000,000 inhabitants. It is the largest agglomeration in Ukraine and one of the most populated in Europe. Today this city like most cities in Eastern Europe is modernizing very rapidly and tries to melt the gap in economic terms with the developed urban centres of Western Europe. The city consists of many different ethnic groups, typical for this part of the world. The largest ethnic groups of the population are Ukrainians, followed by Russians. In Kiev live also small groups of Armenians, Jews and Belorussians. 9.Berlin. With a population of 4,900,000 people Berlin is the largest city in Germany . Once the city was divided into two parts – communist eastern and democratic western part, but today it enjoys a booming economy, flourished culture and the construction of more and more new and modern buildings. The city is an attractive educational centre with some of the best universities in Europe. The only period of decreasing population in Berlin was at the time of the Iron Curtain. After the fall of communism, however, Berlin became one of the most colourful cities in the world. 10.Barcelona. Barcelona metropolitan area is home to about 4,500,000 people. This is the eighth largest agglomeration in Europe, the fifth in the European Union and the second largest in Spain . Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia. Besides the multimillion population, city’s streets are always crowded with foreign visitors that make this cosmopolitan city look even bigger. One of the reasons for the countless number of people on the city streets is, of course, the warm weather, which encourages people to spend more time outdoors. Because of these facts Barcelona looks more vibrant and colourful than many other even bigger cities.

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Which winter sports venue, home of the Cresta Run, has hosted two Olympic Games in the 20th century?

Guide to Meeting & Event Planning in St. Moritz, Switzerland Promotions St. Moritz, Switzerland Meeting Planning Overview Welcome to Cvent's MICE Guide to St. Moritz, a guide for MICE professionals. A luxurious, upscale mountain resort set in the high-lying valley of the Engadin, St. Moritz is known for its style, cosmopolitan flair, and picture-book surroundings. Boasting the perfect location for meetings, conferences, and events set amid unspoiled nature, St. Moritz is surrounded by spectacular landscapes and a seemingly endless lake plateau, and offers a host of team-building and recreational activities, ranging from mineral spring spa visits to bobsledding. Beyond its fantastic year-round recreation, St. Moritz offers cultural highlights, upscale shopping, exclusive hotels, fine dining, and a number of galleries and museums in its village center and along Lake St. Moritz. Situated 125 miles from Zurich, the Alps destination of St. Moritz is served by Zurich Airport and Samedan Regional Airport. Switzerland’s largest and busiest airport for international flight connections, Zurich Airport serves about 24 million passengers each year, while Samedan Regional Airport, located just three miles from St. Moritz, provides regular air and helicopter service for the Engadin region and connections to Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Milan, and Munich. Delegates can hop aboard the Rhaetian Railway (RhB), the largest train operator in the Swiss Alps, at Chur for a journey to Tienfencastel to the Engadin, or travel from Zurich to St. Moritz in about three and a half hours. Delegates may use the Graubunden Congress Ticket to travel individually by train to St. Moritz; the ticket covers return travel from any station in Switzerland, and costs CHF 69 per person for second-class travel or CHF 107 for first-class travel. Furthermore, the Engadin Bus links the villages and ski areas from Pontresina along the lakes of the Upper Engadin across to Maloja and the Bernina Pass, with several routes serving St. Moritz. Delegates frequently meet and hold small- to medium-sized conventions, meetings, banquets, and conferences at the striking Rondo Convention & Event Center, which sits in the nearby picturesque destination of Pontresina. The highest-altitude convention center in Europe, the Rondo Convention & Event Center features 16,040 square feet of meeting and event space spread throughout four floors, including a 500-person auditorium, seven seminar rooms, and three foyers. The center is completely powered by renewable energy and features such spectacular architectural elements as a stone facade made of quartzite from Soglio and large windows that let in plenty of natural light, as well as fantastic mountain and glacier views. Aside from the Rondo Convention & Event Center, the St. Moritz area is home to a number of unique venues and group gathering spaces–making it no surprise that St. Moritz and Pontresina are two of the most appealing conference destinations in the Alps. Groups can gather at the upscale Casino St. Moritz, which features roulette, blackjack, poker, and slots, all housed in the glamorous Grand Hotel des Bains. Groups can tour the surrounding unspoiled countryside aboard the Bernina Express, the highest mountain railway in the Alps, which connects Northern and Southern Europe, passing glaciers on its descent to Italy. The high-rope challenge course at the Pontresina Rope Park presents a fantastic team-building adventure throughout its series of platforms, rope bridges, zip wires, beams, and obstacles, all set in the forest. Groups can also explore hiking, biking, and walking trails, as well as enjoy hands-on natural displays at Zernez National Park, the largest nature preserve in Switzerland. Perfectly suited for more relaxing group activities, the Medical Therapy Centre & Spa utilizes St. Moritz’s famous carbonated mineral waters in its host of wellness treatments. About St. Moritz, Switzerland / Additional Info Beloved for its pioneering spirit, commitment to clean energy and sustainability, awe-inspiring scenery, and year-round recreation, St. Moritz has hosted two Winter Olympics, is known as the birthplace of winter tourism in the Alps, and boasts mineral springs that have been sought out for thousands of years. St. Moritz’s unspoiled alpine setting, home to glaciers, wild mountain streams, and stone pine forests, serves as the perfect backdrop for skiing, hiking, tobogganing, hiking, mountain biking, and more. Much of St. Moritz’'s history is tied to its tourism development. The city’s summertime tourism was already flourishing in 1864 when Johannes Badrutt wagered with British guests that they would be able to enjoy sunshine on his terrace in their shirtsleeves in the winter. His guests agreed to the bet and returned to St. Moritz at Christmastime–and did not leave until Easter. With their stay, winter tourism in St. Moritz was born, as British guests flocked to the city and with them brought polo and cricket tournaments, as well as skeleton and bobsleigh races. St. Moritz became the birthplace of winter alpine tourism and winter sports in the 19th century and later hosted the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympic games, as well as a number of ski and bobsleigh world championship events. The St. Moritz bob run is the only natural ice track in the world that still hosts World Cup races, while the famous Cresta Run was the birthplace of the sport of skeleton racing; visitors can reach speeds of 55 miles per hour, head first, just four inches above the ice, when experiencing the Cresta Run. Furthermore, St. Moritz’s very own Corviglia mountain boasts nearly 250 miles of single-track trails for mountain biking and hiking, as well as plenty of skiing and other winter sports areas. Many of St. Moritz’s highlight activities celebrate the destination’s natural beauty and affinity for outdoor recreation. The Corviglia Flowtrail mountain biking path, suitable for families to advanced bikers, features panoramic views, while the La Punt – Madulain Forest Trail takes guests along forest paths, beaten tracks, and meadows while identifying 34 species of plants, trees, and shrubs along the way. The Muottas Muragl Climate Trail features a hiking trail of medium difficulty, as well as stunning views of the Bernina massif, information panels about local climate and eateries along the way, while the guide-only Diavolezz-Morteratsch glacier hike allows hikers to learn about the formation of moraines, columns, and boulders up close and personal. For a thrill of another kind, St. Moritz’s glamorous Via Serlas is home to a number of luxury shops and eateries. Visitors also frequent the city’s large number of cultural walks, galleries, and museums, which are situated throughout the village and along Lake St. Moritz. St. Moritz is also home to a strong culinary scene serving local, traditional favorites to modern interpretations. La Marmite on Corviglia specializes in gourmet treats, including truffle and caviar selections, while the sleek El Paradiso serves Engadine cuisine with Italian, French, and global influences. The beloved La Baracca serves family-style fare in a nondescript setting, while both Dorta and Talvo by Dalsass combine tradition and modernity in their old farmhouse settings; at Dorta, guests dine on traditional local cuisine in converted stables, while Talvo by Dalsass serves Mediterranean cuisine and specialty olive oils in one of the oldest farmhouses in the region. St. Moritz, Switzerland Key Stats for Meeting Planners Time Zone: Central Europe Time (CET) Hotel at Convention Center? No Sleeping Rooms 1 Mile from Convention Center: 1,200 Airport(s): German Credit Cards and Travelers Cheques widely accepted? Yes All average costs based on U.S. Government Per Diem rates as published by the U.S. General Services Administration. Cities Near St. Moritz, Switzerland Distance

St. Moritz

What is farther north Hungary, or Bulgaria?

Best ski resorts in the Alps for winter holidays Click here for slopes-maps and more information about the resort BEST SKI PASS The Top Snow Card is a great ski pass for advanced skiers wishing to explore other resorts in the region and the nearby Tyrol. The ski areas included are Mittenwald, Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Zugspitze and Garmisch-Classic), Grainau, Ehrwald,  Lermoos, Biberwier, Bichlbach, Berwang and Heiterwang. WHERE TO STAY Schloss Elmau Luxury Spa & Cultural Hideaway (Elmau 2, 82493 Krün +49 8823 180) Just a short drive away from Garmish-Partenkirchen stands this historic 5 star hotel voted Best Wellness Hotel in Europe. Aside from a quiet location with breath-taking scenery, it is home to the only Michelin starred restaurant near the ski resort and superb sport and relax facilities including a luxury spa, tennis clay courts and two outdoor pools. Rooms from 174 € per night WHERE TO EAT Zum Wildschütz (Bankgasse 9, 82467 Garmisch-Parternkirchen +49 8821 3290) Rustic Bavarian restaurant serving traditional regional recipes in a remarkably cosy and authentic atmosphere with wooden tables and chairs and waitress dressed in Bavarian dresses. The speciality of the house is meat – be sure to try the venison or the schweinshaxe (pork). Reservations highly recommended especially for dinner. Opens until 10pm. Menu: €8 - €20 The restaurant was featured in the TV show “Der Hacker-Pschorr Haferlgucker“ broadcasted by Munchën.TV WHERE TO APRÈS-SKI On the slopes: Drehmöser9 (3 mins from Hausbergbahn +49 8821 797-2020)For those wishing to party right on the slopes, the lively Drehmöser9 is the place to be. Located just a stroll away from the Hausberg station, the traditional cottage has an ample terrace with long tables where aside from cold and hot drinks you can also order warm dishes such as soups, brochettes, pasta and pizza. Vegetarian options are also available. Beverages prices: coffee from €2,10, tea €3, wine from €3,50, beer from €3,20, cocktails and shots from €2,80 and champagne from €25,00. In town: Peaches Cocktail Bar and Music Café (Marienplatz 17, 82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen +49 8821 18727) Although it attracts mainly a young crowd, the popular Peaches is also home to an Italian ristorante-pizzeria that has a contagious atmosphere and delectable menus. It opens daily from 7pm until 1am during the week and 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. Proper attire must be wear to enter the Music Café where you can enjoy live DJ sessions. Beverages prices: beer €3,50, cocktails €10,20 FOR NON-SKIERS & CHILDREN Shopping in Garmisch: the main shopping places are concentrated in the pedestrian area near the Michael-Ende-Kurpark (also known as Michael-Ende spa gardens). Here you can find traditional stores where you can buy a customized regional dresess, souvenir shops and designer boutiques of well-known names. A weekly market takes place on Fridays around the Polznkasparhaus/Mohrenplatz. Shopping in Partenkirchen: Ludwigstraße concentrates most of the shops with goldsmith workshops, bakeries, potteries and even a chocolatier. Restaurants and cafés are also popular here. The weekly market takes place on Thursdays. Sports: snowshoeing, tobogganing or winter hiking are available on the hills. In town you can ice skate at the Olympic Ice Stadium (Zöppritzstrasse 42) where you can also catch a game of ice hockey. Just behind the rink you can find the Water Park Alpspitz Wellenbad (Klammstraße 47) which boast an indoor pool, a parent-child area, some slides and an Olympic outdoor pool (summer only). Entrance fees are €5.30 for 3 hours and €7.20 all day. Entertainment: the Spielbanken Bayern casino (Am Kurpark 10, 82467) is the main entertainment venue in town with 170 slot machines, Blackjack, Poker, Texas Hold ‘em and Roulette tables. Poker tournaments are run on some Fridays. The dress code is formal. For cultural activities the best options are Kleines Theater (Richard-Strauss-Platz 82467) and Bauerntheater Parternkirchen (Ludwigstraße 45, 82467) but be advised that the plays and performances are available in German only. Museums & exhibitions: the Kurhaus Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Fürstenstraße 14, 82467) is a museum hosting art exhibitions as well as a highly recommended dedicated Michael Ende exhibition about the beloved children’s book writer and creator of Momo, who was born in Garmisch. Touristic attractions: the Zugspitze train from Garmisch offers impressive views of the valleys and is great if you don’t wish to spend all day in town. Linderhof castle and Neuschwanstein castle are a must during the sunny seasons thanks to their spellbinding architecture and settings. Lake Kochelsee between Murnau and Kochel is also very popular during that time. Throughout the year Innsbruck and Munich make for great day trips. Click here for more information on what to do in Garmisch-Partenkirchen THE BEST SKI DEALS There are great family discounts available at the resort for 1 or 2 adults travelling with 1 up to 3 children aged 6-18 years old. Ski passes can also be bought online in advance at great prices in the following official address: Zugspitze WHEN TO VISIT From the end of the December to New Year’s Day the ski resort is an absolute thrill with people flying from all over the world in to see the final of the Four Hills Tournament taking place on the 1st of January. Booking a year in advance is often recommended! HOW TO GET HERE Car: the best route is the A95 from Munich Plane: fly to Innsbruck Airport (1 hour away) or Munich Airport (1.5 hours away) Public transport: Garmisch-Partenkirchen Railway Station is well served by regional trains (DB Regio) and long-distance services (Deutsche Bahn) connecting the town to cities such as Innsbruck in Austria. During the ski season the Garmisch Ski-Express train offers frequent connections from Munich (77 minutes) 6. Kitzbühel, Austria WHERE TO SKI For beginners: Although not the best ski resort for unexperienced skiers, the Jochberg area has nursery slopes with free lifts that can be alright for those trying the sport for the first time. Kitzbühel Horn also has easy gentle trails for those who already have a bit of experience but might not be yet ready for challenging red pistes. The Horn has day and two-day lift passes available making it great for second weekers in need of gaining a bit of confidence before further exploration. There is also a children’s area between the Hahnenkammbahn gondola and the Streifalm chair. For intermediates: the resort has lots of blue and red slopes that suit the different abilities of intermediate levelled skiers. Kluasen, Kirchberg and Skirast have ample long blue pistes, Pass Thurn and Resterhöhe offer perhaps the easier red ones while Wurzhöhe has more challenging courses. Upper intermediates can venture into the red slopes of the Hahnenkamm area – watch out for other skiers as it tends to be crowded – and descend Streif-Familienabfahrt. Those confident enough to try their first black piste should ski to Hochsaukaser. Thanks to its location the snow conditions tend to be better and it’s neither too steep nor too long. For advanced: the Streif slope is said to be the world’s most difficult downhill trail and the most famous of the resort. Winners of the downhill race taking place in mid-January on this icy 3km long trail course as part of the FIS Ski World Cup are immediately considered legends, in part thanks to the impressive jump located at the top of the course in an area known as Mausefalle or Mousetrap with an 85% gradient. The race is so epic that there is even a 1969 film starring Robert Redford about it! If travelling before the race be aware that it may be closed off to the public. The resort offers several black pistes and 32 km of ungroomed marked runs ideal for glorious deep powder and moguls enthusiasts. If you have never tried off-piste the Ski School Kitzbühel “Rote Teufel” (Josef-Herold-Straße 23, 6370 Kitzbühel) offers powder lessons and the possibility to hire a guide. Click here for slopes-maps and more information about the resort BEST SKI PASS If you get bored of Kitzbühel, Skiwelt (Austria’s largest ski area) is just a short bus drive away. All you need in order to enjoy it is the KitzAlps AllstarCard which also grants you access to  St Johann in Tirol / Oberndorf, Waidring – Steinplatte, Fieberbrunn – Pillersee, Hochtal Wildschoenau, Alpbachtal, Skicircus Saalbach – Hinterglemm – Leogang, Zell am See and Kaprun – Kitzsteinhorn Glacier. WHERE TO STAY Relais & Châteaux Hotel Tennerhof (Griesenauweg 26, 6370 Kitzbühel +43 5356 63181) This romantic 5 star alpine hotel is strategically located near everything Kitzbühel has to offer. The train station and the ski lifts are only a short walk away as so are the best shops and entertainment. If this were not enough, the hotel boast the only Michelin starred restaurant in town and a luxury spa with world-class facilities and therapies ideal to soothe off tired ski legs. During summer it also boast an outdoor pool. Rooms from €259 per night. On the slopes: Berggasthof Sonnbühel (Hahnenkamm 11, 6370 Kitzbühel +43 (0) 5356 62776) The gathering place of jetsetters and celebrities skiing in the resort. Its sun terrace enjoys enviable views and is a hit with celebrity hunters and skiers more enamoured with the sun than the snow. The atmosphere is delightful and the après-ski parties are almost as legendary as the regional gourmet cuisine on offer. If you feel hungry near the Hahnenkamm area, don’t think about it and stop here; Gault Millau’s ‘Chef of the Century’ Chef Eckart Witzigmann recommends it! In town: The Londoner Pub (Franz-Reisch-Straße 4, 6370 Kitzbühel +43 (0) 5356 71427) The best après-ski atmosphere hands down. Lively crowds of all ages and backgrounds, live music every night, lots of fun and a friendly German and English speaking staff. The only downside we could find is that in Austria it is still allowed to smoke indoors and this is a smokers-friendly pub. After the Hahnenkamm race this is the place to go to; even skiers come to party here! It opens daily from 3pm until 9.30pm. There is no dress code, meaning you can walk in straight from the slopes with your skiwear; although we seriously recommend you to change into fresh clothes. Beverages prices: beer €4.80, cocktails NON-SKIERS & CHILDREN Shopping: shopaholics are in for a treat in Kitzbühel. There are luxury boutiques featuring top brands, alpine styled jewelleries and high-end designer skiwear like the fabulous Daleboot where you can buy genuinely exclusive made to measure ski shoes! Sports: Winter hiking and Nordic walk routes are very popular. In town, ice skating, curling and Alpine curling can be practiced at the magnificent Mercedes-Benz Sports Park (Sportfeld 1, A-6370 Kitzbühel) where you can also see the local ice hockey team “Die Adler” in action. The sport facility also offers the chance to do yoga or play tennis and bowling. The Badewelt Aquarena (Klostergasse 3, 6370 Kitzbühel) is great in any season thanks to its superb indoor pool, spa and mud centre. Tickets cost €13 for adults, € 10 for youths and €6.20 for children. Discount tickets are available with the card Gästekarte. It is possible to purchase evening tickets available from 6pm onwards (€9) or 7pm (€6.50) The use of physio-thermal fit health cabins is included with your ticket! Entertainment: Casino Kitzbühel (Hinterstadt 24, 6370 Kitzbühel) has French and American roulettes, Black Jack and Poker tables and slot machines. Ladies are in for a special treat on Wednesdays when Ladies Day takes place. Museums & exhibitions: Our favourite museum – and highly recommended if you are travelling with children who enjoy trains and automobiles – is the Cable Car Museum (Bergstation Hahnenkamm 6370 Kitzbühel). It opens daily from 10am to 4pm and the entrance is free. The Town Museum Kitzbuehel (Hinterstadt 32) offers its visitors a powerful insight to the village’s history through its art exhibition as well as its location; the town’s old corn hall! It is open from 10 am to 1pm from Tuesday to Friday and from 10am to 5pm on Saturday. However, during November it only opens for groups under request. Touristic attractions: Mittersill Castle (Thalbach 1, Mittersill) where Queen Juliana of the Netherlands spent her honeymoon is great for anyone interested in European history with guided tours available. In Kitzbühel, the now turned hotel Lebenberg Castle (Lebenbergstraße 17, 6370 Kitzbühel) is also worth a visit thanks to its structure. Salzburg, Innsbruck and Munich are great cities for day trips or a quick city break. During the sunnier seasons an excursion to the scenic Lake Chiemsee is a must. Insider tip: If you are staying in Kitzbühel, Aurach, Reith or Jochberg, be sure to ask at your hotel for the Gästekarte; this guest card entitles you to great discounts in these areas and is absolutely free. More information here WHEN TO VISIT January is probably the liveliest time of the year as the Hahnenkam FIS World Cup races take place then. Those not staying for the race but wishing to travel on the day from other Austrian locations can do so by buying an ÖBB Hahnenkamm Kombiticket at the main Austrian stations; this is a reduced train ticket that includes admission to the races. HOW TO GET HERE Car: the main route is Pass Thurn Bundesstraße B161 towards Kitzbühel. Plane: fly to Salzburg (1 hour away), Innsbruck (1.5 hours away) or Munich (2 hours away). Public transport: Kitzbühel train station and Kitzbühel Hahnenkamm train station. This second one is located near the cable lift of the same name and is where more skiers will look to get off. 5. Megève, France WHERE TO SKI For beginners: almost half of the resort is accessible for beginners and offers dedicated areas – the one in Mont D’Arbois is particularly remarkable – and practice lifts close to the main lifts. There are nursery slopes as well as longer green runs such as the one heading down to Le Bettex or the Mandarine piste. There are several ski schools throughout the resort and most of them offer English group lessons. For more information check out our ‘Where to learn to ski in Megève’ guide For intermediates: most slopes are easy intermediate with long and smooth courses that allow skiers to improve their skills as well as enjoy the magnificent landscape surrounding them; a perfect example of this is Le Jaillet area. The easier blue runs are located above Combloux, Le Bettex and La Princesse. The ones on Rochebrune can be a little bit trickier but are great for those transitioning to a more advanced level. Les Communailles, La Petite Fontaine and the red runs at Étudiants are great for upper-intermediates before skiing to Super Megève an easy black piste. For advanced: although there are only 27km of black slopes, powder snow enthusiasts are in for a treat on Mont Joly while moguls fans can ski to the steep slopes of Mont Joux. Magic Garden Coté 2000 also offers good steep runs; after all this is where the Women’s FIS World Cup Downhill takes place and the Emile Allais piste in the Rochebrune sector is an absolute adrenaline rush with its heart-racing 812m vertical drop. Click here for slopes-maps and more information about the resort BEST SKI PASS Advanced skiers wishing to cross to the more challenging Chamonix valley can do so using the Mont Blanc pass. WHERE TO STAY Les Fermes de Marie (163 Chemin de Riante Colline, 74120 Megève +33 457 747 474) This family friendly five-star spa hotel is the perfect choice for both skiers and non-skiers as it is located near the ski slopes and just a short walk from the town centre. It has classically designed rooms and chalets that boasts an authentic alpine style that makes you feel immediately at home while enjoying the impressive mountain views. Additionally guests can enjoy gourmet meals at its superb restaurant and sooth their bodies and minds at the deluxe Pure Altitude spa. Rooms from €340 per night. On the slopes: La Folie Douce Saint Gervais - Megève (at the top of Mont Joux chairlift, 4962 route des Crêtes, 74170 Saint-Gervais-les-Bains +33 (0) 4 50 58 99 67) New for the 2014/2015 season, La Folie Douce is set to liven up the otherwise quiet après-ski available on the slopes. The latest branch of the well-known franchise spreading the Austrian way of partying to the French Alps is due to open on the 20th December and promises to be the gathering place for young crowds and the young at heart. In town: Les Caves de Megève (18 Rue Ambroise Martin, 74120 Megève +33 (0) 450 213 011) Smart bar targeted at the older crowds and a celebrity favourite thanks to its sophisticated atmosphere and live jazz music sessions. Every night resident DJ Sophian C makes sure everyone enjoys themselves at the dance floor playing international hits and the hottest remixes. Additionally, its location in the heart of town makes it easy to bar hop. It opens daily until 5am. The dress code is smart. NON SKIERS & CHILDREN Shopping: Megève is known as the “"the 21st arrondissement of Paris” and is one of the most glamorous ski resorts when it comes to shopping. Big brands such as Versace, Hermes or Escada have boutiques here and there are also wonderful jewelleries like Cartier. You can spend literally hours just window-shopping. One of our favourite places to take a break from all the walking and enjoy a warm chocolate or a tea is Le Prieure (116 Place de l’Eglise) and there is nothing as stylish as taking a ride in a horse drawn carriage on your way back to your hotel. Sports: Les Palais des Sports (247 route du Palais des Sports, 74120 Megève) offers a great choice for those staying in town but wishing to be active. It has an indoor 25m pool, a children’s pool, a spa, a gym, ping-pong tables, tennis and badminton courts, pilates and yoga rooms, basketball and handball courts and climbing facilities. During summer there is also a large outdoor pool. Day tickets are available from €24 for adults (it includes the right to use the pool, the hammam, the ice rink, skates rental and food) and €16,30 for children (includes pool, ice rink, skates rental and food). You can also enjoy ice hockey matches and curling games. If you are visiting in January from the 22nd to 25th of January 2015 you can catch up a match of the prestigious BMW Polo Masters Megève. More on winter camps THE BEST SKI DEALS This autumn if you book a stay for €250 or over between the 19th of September to the 2nd of November, you and the person of your choice will be treated to a 30 minute scenic flight in a glass roof plane over the gorgeous Vallée Blanche to admire this mountaineous region like you have never experienced before. This experience is courtesy of Megève Tourisme and Aérocime. Find out more here! WHEN TO VISIT Spring is the liveliest time of the year in Megève. The temperatures are warmer and the après-ski lifestyle truly blooms then throughout the resort with sun-seekers and younger people visiting the slopes then. Popular events are also organised like the infamous Megève Winter Party taking place every March. Megève Winter Party 2015 HOW TO GET HERE Car: the main route is A40 direction Mont Blanc – Chamonix before turning off at Sallanches and a short 20 minute drive in the direction of Albertville. Plane: fly to Geneva (1 hour away) Public transportation: St. Gervais railway station is the closest station to the resort and is well served by TER trains (from and to Lyon, Annecy and Chamonix) as well as trains departing from Martigny in Switzerland. 4. St Moritz, Switzerland WHERE TO SKI For beginners: while St Moritz is not the best resort for learners due to having their nursery slopes quite wide-spread, there are still great areas where young children and beginners can try the skies or boards for the first time. The best beginner’s areas can be found in Corviglia and Salastrains. Celerina also has gentle nursery slopes but you will need to drive there as it is not connected by a funicular or lift to St Moritz unlike the other two. For intermediates: most runs in the resort are blue and red which means that intermediate skiers have plenty of slopes to master their skills and boost their confidence. However, skiers without too much experience may wish to ski down the nursery slopes first before venturing into the blue slopes as some of them are quite steep and require a certain degree of confidence. The main slopes are located in Corviglia and Corvatsch with both areas offering long runs that invite skiers to practice the ‘ChilloutRiding’ initiative spread throughout the Engadin and that encourages skiers and snowboarders to enjoy the runs in a relaxed way by admiring the scenery and the experience in itself. Upper-intermediate skiers can find more challenging red pistes at Diavolezza. For advanced: with St Moritz hosting the FIS Alpine World Ski Cup in 2017 expert skiers can be rest assured that they will find challenging courses throughout the resort. In fact, they don’t need to ski too far nor wait until 2017 to descend an impressive World Cup downhill slope as it is easily found at Piz Nair in the Corviglia area. Adrenaline junkies will get their fix at the Lagalb at Diavolezza. The slope is considered to be the most challenging in the Engadin and known as ‘the queen of the mountains.’ Powder snow abounds throughout the resort and there are expert guides offering tours to those wishing to make the most out of the freeriding opportunities! Insider tip: For a unique skiing experience there is nothing quite like descending Switzerland’s longest floodlit ski slope: Königsabfahrt. Located in the Corvatsch ski area it opens on Fridays from 7pm until 2am as part of the lively Snow Night taking place every week. Click here for slopes-maps and more information about the resort BEST SKI PASS The standard St Moritz Lift Pass covers almost every lift in the Engadin valley and is available from as little as CHF35. To find out how to benefit from this real bargain check out THE BEST SKI DEALS section further down this page. WHERE TO STAY Hotel Giardino Mountain (Via Maistra 3, 7512 Champfèr +41 818 366 300) Five star family friendly alpine hotel located just 3km away from St Moritz and with only 78 rooms and suites; allowing guests to truly enjoy a relaxing stay. It is one of the few hotels in the region boasting a 2 Michelin stars restaurant a deluxe Dipiu Spa, with traditional and cutting edge therapies that are guaranteed to help skiers recover after a day out in the slopes. Guests travelling with young kids and teenagers will be pleased to hear that there is a fantastic Mountain Kids Club and a wide array of activities that include riding the hotel’s own horses! Rooms from CHF325 per night. On the slopes: Alpina Hütte (Corviglia station, 7500 St Moritz +41 (0)81 833 40 80) This classic mountain hut is the perfect place to kick off the party or relax in-between ski sessions as it boasts a large sun terrace with panoramic views of the Engadin Valley. Its snow bar is one of the most energetic in the resort playing contemporary hits and serving the fanciest hot drinks around like SchümliPlflümli, a coffee with schnapps and whipped cream (CHF11.50) ideal to keep warm on cold days. The traditional Swiss dishes served at the restaurant and the sausages and burgers on offer at the food station next to the bar are also a good reason to give your legs a break! Beverages prices: local beer CHF6, imported beer CHF6-CHF7, Jägertee CHF9.50, homemade Glühmein CHF11 and long drinks CHF18. In town: King’s Club (Via Serlas 27, 7500 St Moritz +41 81 837 10 00) The hottest nightclub in town. Period. Located in the equally luxurious Badrutt’s Palace Hotel this is the place where jetsetters flock to in order to mingle with celebrities and royalty members; it really doesn’t get more glamourous and exclusive than this. It is decorated in a modern style and some of the best DJs keep the buzzing atmosphere until sunrise with the hottest tracks being played. It is only open during the winter season but there is no such thing as closing hours which means you can literally dance the night away! The dress code is, and we quote, ‘dress to impress.’  Beverages prices: beer CHF20, cocktails CHF35, soft drinks CHF20, glass of wine CHF30, glass of champagne CHF35, 75cl bottle of champagne from CHF300 (150cl and 300cl bottles also available.) Click here for more information about Badrutt’s Palace NON SKIERS & CHILDREN Shopping: With over a 100 shops, St Moritz is truly paradise for the shopaholics with the main shopping area located along Via Serlas, one of the most exclusive in the world. Designer boutiques and jewelleries of international brands as prestigious as Armani, Bulgary, Cartier, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Versace can be found here. If you get tired of all the walking Café Hanselmann (Via Maistra 8, 7500 St Moritz) has delicious cakes and coffees and is open from 7.30am until 9pm. Sports: its altitude and weather conditions make St Moritz ideal for athletes and it is in fact the official training centre for Swiss Olympic teams. One of the most impressive sport facilities in town is the Cresta Run, a natural ice skeleton racing toboggan track – and the first one built in the world – where only the bravest dare to race. The course is managed by the male-only St. Moritz Tobogganing Club but beginners can book a session and give the track a go. The Olympia BobRun (Plazza Gunter Sachs, Postfach 283, 7500 St Moritz) is an equal adrenaline rush and an exhilarating experience. You can ride a taxi bob accompanied by a pilot and brakeman and descend the course before taking a diploma back home with you! Polo and ski jeering competitions are very popular during the winter and take place on St Moritz lake. Curling can be played outdoors at the St Moritz Curling Centre Al Parc (Eisplatz Chesa al Parc, 7500 St Moritz). Ice skating and ice hockey are very popular and both can be practiced and enjoyed at the fabulous Eisarena Ludains (Via Ludains 5, 7500 St Moritz) Ice climbing sessions can be organized through Bergbahnen ENGADIN St. Moritz AG. Those wishing to play tennis and squash can do so in the impressive indoor facilities located at the Tennis & Squash Center (Via Mezdi 31, 7500 St Moritz). Entertainment: Casino St Moritz (Via Mezdi 29, 7500 St Moritz in the Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains) It has several slot machines and tables for American Roulette, Black Jack and Stud Poker. Open until 3am every night it is however closed during May and November. Admission is free and adults-only. Kino Scala St Moritz (Via Maistra 29 7500 St Moritz) is a great cinema showing international movies in English and German with subtitles available in German and French and 2D and 3D options. Sessions are at 5pm and 8.30pm and prices range from CHF20 to CHF12. Museums & exhibitions: Art lovers are in for a treat in St Moritz as there are several museums dedicated to painters and design. The Segantini Museum (Via Somplaz 30, 7500 St Moritz) features heartwrenching, inspiring paintings by the talented Giovanni Segantini and the Berry Museum (Via Arona 32, 7500) showcases works by painter and spa physician Peter Robert Berry. Chesa Futura (Via Tinus 7500) displays Norman Foster’s personal take on how humanity will live in the future through 10 private apartments designed by the English architect. Only the exterior can be visited. Touristic attractions: it may not be as famous as the one in Pisa but the 12th century leaning tower of St Moritz (Via Brattas, 7500) is impressive enough to be the symbol of the town. In fact there is only another sightseeing site that rivals it and that’s the Heidi Hut, a quaint cottage (Auf dem Schellenursli-Weg, 7500) used for the filming of the 1952 Heidi movie which can be visited by adults and children. On the sunnier seasons, a trip to Lake of Staz is highly recommended. Insider tip: If you are travelling with young children or pre-teens and wish to have some time of your own some of finest hotels offer exclusive nurseries. Our favourite one is the Kempinski Hotel‘s which accepts kids from 3 months to 12 years old. Badrutt’s Palace Hotel also has a great day nursery. THE BEST SKI DEALS For the 2014-2015 ski season St Moritz is offering a variety of great ski packages some of which are available throughout the season! Hotel and Ski Pass (From 18 October 2014 to 25 May 2015) If you are looking for the cheapest ski pass in the Alps this year, St Moritz has it and you‘d be crazy to turn this offer down. If you stay one night in any of the partner hotels of the ski resort you can purchase a ski pass for just CHF35! How cool is that?   Nordic Special 2014/15 (From 28 November 2014 to 6 April 2015) Nordic skiers can benefit from this superb offer that includes a 2 night stay and a ski trail pass granting them Access to over 200km of perfectly groomed cross-country trails for only CHF220. 150 Years Celebration Deal (From 5-8 December 2014) Ideal offer for the casual weekend skier wishing to celebrate the heritage of St Moritz and its ski history while enjoying a live concert by acclaimed German singer and composer Xavier Naidoo and the exciting St Moritz City Race. From CHF366 per person for 2 night stays. FIS Alpine World Cup Deal(From 23-25 January 2015) Alpine ski enthusiasts will flock to St Moritz for the ladies‘ downhill race on the 23th of January and this year promises to be a thrill with the best skiers still in post-Olympics shape. From CHF173 you can be part of it all; we guarantee you it is better than watching it on TV! Click here for more ski packages WHEN TO VISIT Crowds coming to St Moritz are rarely interested in the ski. That is why the busiest time of the year tends to be late January and February, when the prestigious Polo World Cup takes place on the frozen lake. HOW TO GET HERE Car: The main routes are the Julierpass and the Bernina. Please note that a valid motorway vignette is required to drive on motorways in Switzerland. The cost is CHF40 and can be bought at border controls, petrol stations and post offices. Plane: fly to Engadin Airport (few minutes away) or Zurich Airport (3 hours away) Check out our exclusive private helicopter transfers from Milan to St Moritz. Public transportation: St. Moritz Railway Station is served by national trains from Zurich and Basel and international trains from Milano and Munich. For a picturesque train journey we recommend flying to Zurich and taking the train to Chur where you can board one of the hourly run trains operated by Rhaetian Railway heading to St Moritz. 3. Cortina d´Ampezzo, Italy WHERE TO SKI For beginners: with dedicated baby slopes with colourful rubber play structures such as Baby Socrepes and Baby Guargnè, Cortina d’Ampezzo is a great place for children trying the skis for the first time. The pistes in Mietres are also very gentle and there is a reserved area for toboggans and sleds that is great for children to wind down after their ski lessons. Other easy runs can be found between Pocol and Socrepes. For intermediates: More than half of the runs are blue and red coded which means that those with a bit of experience can ski as much as they want and won’t run out of slopes. Furthermore, most of the runs are long and ample allowing skiers to practice their skills and gain confidence. The best areas are Passo Falzarego where you can descend to Armentarola and take one of taxis or the bus waiting at the base back to the pass, Cinque Torri, Faloria and Tofana where you ski down a 1.6km long slope right back to town. For advanced: the James Bond film ‘For your Eyes Only’ starring Roger Moore was shot in the ski and features one of the most exhilarating ski chases in the history of cinema. Unfortunately, not all of us can be Mr. Bond but Forcella Rossa and Stratofana always prove to be great fun while Canalone, Vertigine Blanca and Olimpia are used every January as the Ladies´ Alpine Ski World Cup racetrack and can challenge even the more experience skier. Off-piste skiing is also possible for those seeking an adrenaline rush and the Gruppo Guide Alpine Cortina offers qualified guides that will make sure you make the most out of the mountains. If that is not exciting enough, snowkite can also be practiced. Click here for slopes-maps and more information about the resort BEST SKI PASS Intermediate and expert skiers wishing for more challenging runs should consider purchasing the Dolomiti Super Ski Pass that gives access to more than 50 resorts in the Dolomites. Parents travelling with children can benefit from the free skipass offer for any child born after 30 November 2006 when purchasing a skipass for an adult. All needed is valid proof of identity. WHERE TO STAY Cristallo Hotel Spa & Golf (Via Rinaldo Menardi 42, 32043 Cortina d’Ampezzo +39 0436 881111) This historic five-star hotel is one of the finest resort retreats not only in the Dolomites region but Italy. Its location offers guest the chance to enjoy the natural beauty of Cortina and its surrounding mountains without interruption and with a high degree of intimacy and tranquillity. It has three exceptional restaurants and a fabulous spa that is the home to the famous Transvital Swiss Beauty Centre and a modern FitWell Club that help guest recover from skiing sessions, shopping sprees or even golf as during the summer the hotel boasts its own private course! Rooms from €345 per night. Ristorante Tivoli (Località Lacedel 34, 32043 Cortina d’Ampezzo +39 0436 866400) This romantic one Michelin starred restaurant overlooking Cortina is the perfect venue to enjoy a meal after a skiing session. Their six-course tasting menu is delectable offering fresh lobster amongst other delicatessen products. The food type is Italian. Please be aware that there is limited seating so booking in advance is highly recommended to avoid disappointment. Menu: €85-€105 – Carte: €74-€144 WHERE TO APRÈS-SKI On the slopes: Rifugio Scoiattoli (in front of Cinque Torri lift station - Loc. 5 Torri, 32043 Cortina d´Ampezzo +39 0436 867939) This cosy mountain hut is the only one out of the many ‘rifugi’ of the ski resort that allows its guests to enjoy a warm outdoor bath in a wooden barrel while enjoying mesmerising alpine views. But we don’t love it just for that. The atmosphere here is electrifying with live music played by DJs and friendly staff always happy to help you out. It doesn’t hurt either that the meals are well worth a grappa toast! In town: LP26 Cortina (Dok-Dall´Ava Prosciutterie) (Largo delle Poste 26, 32043 Cortina d´Ampezzo +39 0436 862284) Since its opening in 2002, this delightful prosciutterie has been attracting mixed crowds thanks to its friendly laid-back atmosphere and delicious ham aperitifs. Skiers and local can be seen here chatting over a good wine of glass or dancing to the live music. It opens from 8pm until 2am daily. Check out their 10th anniversary video on Youtube NON SKIERS & CHILDREN Shopping: the car-free streets of Cortina are home to some of the most fashionable designer boutiques and clothing brands in the Dolomites; even rivalling those of Milan and Rome. The most famous shopping area is Corso Italia (also known in Italian as “via dello struscio”) where it is frequent to see people giving in to the very Italian tradition of passeggiata – taking a walk in the evening. Some of the must-be-visited shops here are Le Noir (Corso Italia 76-78, 32043) which offers some of the best fashion houses’ collections in town and Ballantyne (Corso Italia 52, 32043) featuring delightful cashmere jerseys. Sports and arts shops also abound as so do jewelleries. Stores are open until 8pm during the winter season allowing skiers to join in but they are also open on Sundays and bank holidays! Sports: the host of the 7th Olympic Winter Games back in 1956, Cortina is a haven for sport aficionados throughout the year. The Olympic Ice Stadium (Via A. Bonacossa, 1) is a magnificent venue to practice skating or try it for the first time as there are qualified instructors at hand. You can also catch a game of the Italian Hockey Serie A league. Those seeking an adrenaline fix only have to head to the superb Eugenio Monti bobsled track (Localitá Ronco, cabina “S”) located close to the ice rink where you can jump into a taxi-bob and descend the course at 120km/h accompanied by expert drivers! Those wishing to enjoy the mountains without skis can do so by renting a pair of snowshoes. Most of the routes take you up or down to cosy ski huts where you can treat yourself to a hearty Italian meal. Our favourite ones are the one from Guargnè/Col Tondo to the Mietres Refuge (perfect for those travelling with kids as you can drop them at the baby slopes before heading yourself to adventure), the one from Cian Zopé to the Scoiattoli Refuge (a must for gourmands) and the one from the Falzarego Pass road (easily access by car or bus) to the Dibona Refuge. Entertainment: Cinema-Teatro Eden (Vía Cesare Battisti 46) is a modern 280-seat venue showcasing international films as well as cultural events and meetings. The closest casino is located in Belluno (Via Mariano Tonegutti 15, 32100 Belluno.) Cristallo Hotel Spa & Golf also offers packages that include transfers to and from the elegant Casinò di Venezia, entrance to the casino and a gourmet dinner at the exclusive Ca’ Vendramin Calergi restaurant. Museums & exhibitions: Ciasa de ra Regoles (Corso Italia 69, 32043 Cortina) is a charming building that comprises the exciting Mario Rimoldi Museum of Modern Ar. Prices are €8 for adults, €5 for children (under 6 free) and €15 for families. It opens daily excepting Mondays from 10am until 12am and 3.30pm until 7.30pm. Guided tours are available. The Cultural Centre Hall Alexander Girardi (Via Marangoi 1, Localitá Pontechiesa, 32043 Cortina) is a renovated three-story sawmill housing two wonderful museums – the Rinaldo Zardini Palaeontology Museum and the Ethnographic Museum of the Regole d’Ampezzo – that will surely please those interested in the history of this charming town and the region. Prices are €8 for adults, €5 for children (under 6 free) and €15 for families. It opens daily excepting Mondays from 10am until 12am and 3.30pm until 7.30pm. Guided tours are available. The Planetarium and the Helmut Ullrich Astronomical Observatory (Localitá Col Druscie, 32043 Cortina) are great venues for both children and adults offering a unique experience at a ski resort as well as the opportunity of a lifetime to learn more about the universe from the expert members of the Associazione Astronomica Cortina. 90-minute tours are available on request and with the planetarium being the biggest in the Veneto region guests are surely in for a treat. Touristic attractions: the 18th century Church of St. Filippo & Giacomo (Via Mercato 12, 32043 Cortina) is the main landmark of Cortina and its impressive bell tower can be admired from the slopes as well as most of the pedestrianized streets; you can actually see it in the above photograph. Blacksmith and artist Fabbro Zino offers visitors to his workshop (Loc. Pian da Lago, Capannone B - S.N., 32043 Cortina) the opportunity to discover the ancestral tradition of melting and blending iron with other materials to create fascinating artful objects that will delight the younger ones. The workshop is open to the public from Monday to Friday and from 4pm until 6pm. Visitors wishing to venture away from the Dolomites are up on their luck as both Treviso and Venice are great day trips and only 2 hours away. The nearby lakes Lago di Sorapiss and Lago di Federa make great excursions during the sunnier seasons. THE BEST SKI DEALS One of our favourite things about Cortina is that there are great holidays deals available for both summer and winter that allow visitors to make the most of the region and the mountains in particular. For winter 2014-2015 the resort lowers its prices once more to offer three great packages: Save The Rate (From July 2014 to October 2014) Booking your ski holiday pays off this year with this special online offer for 2 people staying in Cortina for 5 nights for just €405. Gran Fondo Dobbiaco-Cortina (From 6-9 February 2015) Cross-country lovers have no excuses this year to miss this magnificent event taking place on the 9th of February. From €209 this great deal includes 2 nights for 2 people at a partner hotel with breakfast or half-board depending on availability and the hotel selected. Early Snow 2014 (From 29 November to 20 December 2014) Enjoy 1 free night when booking a 3 or 4 night stay this season from as little as €165! The offer includes accommodation, skipass, group clases and equipment rental. Please be aware that solo travellers can only benefit from the 4=3 deal.  For more deals click here WHEN TO VISIT If you want to make the most of the ski is best to avoid the beginning and the end of the season as lack of a snow can be a problem for beginner and intermediate skiers. HOW TO GET HERE Car: the main routes are the A27-Belluno motorway and the A22-Bressannone motorway Plane: fly to Treviso (1.5 hours away), Venice (2 hours away) and Innsbruck (3 hours away). Check out our exclusive private helicopter transfers from Milan to Cortina d’Ampezzo Public transportation: Cortina doesn’t have a railway station but the nearest one is located at Calalzo di Cadore and the Cortina Express leaving from Venice’s Mestre train station takes about 2 hours. From Calalzo di Cadore there are bus transfers available to town. 2. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France WHERE TO SKI For beginners: although most of the ski areas that make up the Chamonix ski resort have beginner slopes some of them are hard to reach – the regions are not interconnected – and others can get quite cold for the younger ones due to their location. However there are sunny spots such as La Vormaine in Le Tour and great confidence building green runs like Trappe and Libellules in La Flegere. For intermediates: there are plenty of blues and reds to keep low and upper intermediates entertained. Those who have just left behind the greener runs will find themselves at home at Le Tour as it has easier slopes than the rest of the ski areas and allows skiers to hone their skills while enjoying breathtaking views; check out the blue Esserts for views of Mont Blanc. Due to this, the area can get quite crowded. Les Houches also has a good selection of blues and reds and magnificent views. For advanced: Les Houches is without a doubt the ski area for the die-hard skier, after all it is one of the training bases of the French National Ski Team and its only black run, the mythic Le Kandahar, is home to one of the most exciting downhill grand slalom races in the World Cup. Le Brevent and La Flagere also offer great runs and overconfident skiers can find themselves in trouble at some of the reds at La Flagere as they could easily be marked as blacks elsewhere. Grands Montets is overall an upper-intermediates and advance skiers area offering challenging blacks like the steep Chamois – almost 4km long – and the icy and bumpy Pylones. To make the most of the off-piste terrain in Chamonix and specially the Mer de Glace glacier it is highly recommended to hire a guide. Click here for slopes maps and more information about the resort BEST SKI PASS Advanced and off-piste skiers should consider purchasing the Mont Blanc Unlimited ski pass which allows them to ski in Chamonix, Courmayeur and Verbier; that is 3 different countries! Les Granges d’en Haut (Route des Chavants, 74310 Les Houches, +33 450 546 536) This superb five-star luxury spa hotel is ideally located in a quiet area at the foot of the fascinating Mont Blanc, offering both an oasis of tranquillity and uninterrupted panoramic views of the valley that will surely delight skiers and non-skiers alike. This magical scenery is only surpassed by the outstanding services and the gourmet cuisine served at Le Crystal and La Table des Granges; considered by many to be one of the finest in the region. The hotel also boasts an exclusive spa where guests can treat themselves to vinotherapy massages and treatments. Rooms from €320 per night. Le Bistrot (151, avenue de l’Aiguille-du-Midi, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc +33 450 535 764) Fabulous one Michelin starred restaurant serving innovative modern cuisine mixed with traditional flavours in an elegant environment that sweeps you off your feet. We highly recommend the inexpensive lunch menu ‘Le classique’ which gives you the chance to savour a gourmet day speciality and pick a dessert from the à la carte menu for as little as €20! The delectable amuse-bouche prepared by the chef and served before your main dish gets to your table will leave your taste buds tingling. The wine list is also excellent and the knowledgeable staff is always at hand to recommend you the best drink to match your meal. Lunch menu: €20 – Menu: €55-€85 – Carte: €30-€148 WHERE TO APRÈS-SKI On the slopes: Bar Club Chavanne (La Chavanne slope, La Flégère, 74400 Chamonix +33(0)4 50 54 27 81)While most of the mountain huts that you can come across in the different valleys offer a calmed atmosphere, this chalet is the place to kick off the party before hitting town. In fact, it’s the liveliest it gets up in the mountains throughout the entire Chamonix ski area! A live DJ on Saturdays and a Jacuzzi make sure the crowds are entertained while those wishing to sit outside and enjoy a quieter drink can lose themselves in the mesmerising view of the Mont Blanc and the Mer de Glace glacier. In town: Les Caves (80 rue des Moulins, Chamonix-Mont-Blanc +33 672 119 619) A wine and cocktail bar, Les Caves is one of the chicest venues in town. Located in the heart of the village, its elegant atmosphere and live jazz and blues bands attract a classy crowd before more energetic tunes played by DJs get them into a dancing mood. While some consider it a pre-drink bar and you can see some people order just a drink before going to one of the two restaurants located upstairs, we loved the fact that if you get hungry you can simply have some sushi brought to your table and keep on partying. It opens from 6pm until 2am from Wednesday to Sunday. The dress code tends to be elegant. NON SKIERS & CHILDREN Shopping: there are plenty of shops in Chamonix for shopaholics ranging from sport equipment stores with great price-quality value products to boutique shops by the most prestigious brands located in the chic Rue Dr Paccard. Here you can find big names like Chanel, Lacoste or Swaroski but also children’s clothing and entertainment boutiques that will surely delight the youngest ones. Local product shops are also very popular and we cannot recommend Le Refuge Payot (166 Rue Joseph Vallot, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) high enough. This gourmet store caters Savoyard delicacies such as tartiflette, cheese, meats and regional products that will make your taste buds dance. One of our guilty pleasures while scouting the streets of this quaint town was however the marvellous patisserie and tea salon Aux Petits Gourmands (168 rue du Dr Paccard, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) with delectable chocolates and French pastries such as macarons and hot drinks to keep everyone warm. Please be aware that shops close down for lunch. Sports: Snowshoeing and sledging is very popular in the ski resorts of the valley but the sport offer is not limited to the mountains. The Centre Sportif Richard Bozon (214 avenue de la Plage, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) is the best bet for sport enthusiasts and energetic children wishing to stay in town. Its huge swimming pool has a fun waterslide that is a big hit with the younger ones while parents can take a break at the sauna, the steam rooms or the state-of-the-art gym. There is also an indoor ice rink where many French hockey players and the national curling team practice and an outdoor ice rink for the more adventurous ones. Furthermore the sport complex also boasts indoor climbing facilities and indoor and outdoor tennis courts. Those travelling with a group of friends or with teenagers can also give Winter paintball a try by contacting Paint Ball Cham (Promenade des Crèmeries, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) at +33 (0)6 07 36 01 51 and enjoy the adrenaline rushed of the paintball experience with a winterish twist. Entertainment: Casino Barrière (12, place H.B de Saussure, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) is an elegant venue with several slot machines and video poker machines and 5 tables where visitors can play French and American roulette and Black Jack. It also organises special nights and deals for couples. The restaurant and the bar are also worth a visit; if only to take a break from the shine lights of the machines and the huge jackpots available! Cinéma Vox (22 cour du Bartavel, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) has 3 screening rooms equipped with 3D facilities and showcases both French and Hollywood films; these last ones are offered in French or in English with French subtitles which is great for those wishing to improve their French while in town. Animated films are also available. Prices are €9 for adults, €4 for children under 14, €7.50 for students and €8 for senior citizens over 60 years old. On Thursdays ticket prices are just €5! Sessions are at 3pm, 6pm and 9pm. Bowling de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (196, Avenue de Courmayeur - Chamonix Sud - 74400 Chamonix Mont-Blanc) features 8 ten-pin bowling lanes, billiard hall with snooker, pool, French and American billiard tables, an indoor minigolf course and an arcade with videogames. It opens from 5pm (2pm if bad weather conditions) until 2am during the ski season. Museums & exhibitions: The modern heritage centre Maison de la Mémorie et du Patrimonie (90 rue des Moulins, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) gives visitors the amazing opportunity to travel back in time and discover the fascinating history of Chamonix Mont Blanc Valley and its people through photographs, objects and sounds. With tickets just €3 for adults and free for children one simply cannot miss it. Those wishing to know even more about this area can head to the Musée Alpin (La residence, 89 avenue Michel Croz, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) housed in the gorgeous Chamonix Palace. In fact, the building itself is worth a visit and is one of the town’s main attractions. Mountaineers and especially children will surely enjoy the interactive Espace Tairraz (Esplanade St Michel, 615 allée du Recteur Payot, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) offers two great museums that are very popular with adults and children alike. The first one is L´Espace Alpinisme, a state-of-the-art museum with audio-visual materials that allow visitors to fully experience alpinism and the mountains without taking the risks of mountaineering while the second one is the Musée des Cristaux, an interesting exhibition of minerals and rocks from Mont Blanc made possible through a collaboration between Chamonix Town and the Mineralogy Club. Tickets are €5 for adults and free for children. Finally, if you are interested in local art, Galerie Pauline Galand (29 rue Dr Paccard, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) is the perfect place for you. Owned by Pauline Galand herself, she welcomes you to admire the work of various artists and have the chance to take a piece of Chamonix back home with you in the form of an oil painting or a fine art photograph to name but a few. Touristic attractions: The Mer de Glace, the largest glacier in France, is perhaps the most popular attraction and you can visit its heart with the thrilling Grotte de glace tour. The glacier can be reached by the Montenvers rack railway or by gondola lift. The Mont-Blanc Tramway is another quaint rack railway taking visitors to nearby Bellevue during winter and St Gervais during the sunnier seasons. This is a great trip for those wishing to admire the mountain views without hitting the slopes. However, if you are truly looking for a panoramic view there is nothing like riding the impressive Aiguille du Midi cable car; but we warn you, it is the highest one in Europe and is not for the faint-hearted. In town, the most prominent landmark is without a doubt the Eglise Saint Michel (82 Place de l´Eglise; 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc), a Baroque Catholic church (in the above picture) originally built in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 18th century after a fire. Day trips are also available throughout the year with the Chamonix Tourist Office (85 place du Triangle de l´Amitié, BP 25, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc +33(0)4 50 53 00 24) arranging weekly trips. Some of the nearby picturesque destinations include Annecy (a must during winter), the medieval town of Yvoire or Evian. Geneva, Montreux and Lausanne in Switzerland are also popular, as so is Martigny which is recommended if you have kids since they have probably the best – and maybe only – St Bernard Dog Museum. Insider tip: If you are visiting Chamonix between May and early October and are travelling with children you have to take Le Petit Train Touristique (42 rue d´Entrèves, 74400 Chamonix-Mont-Blanc) a charming white and red mini-train taking tourist around Chamonix on an educational tour set to delight everyone. Tickets are €6 for adults and €4 for children and journeys depart every 40 minutes from 10am until 7pm. THE BEST SKI DEALS Early booking: Hotel + Ski Pass The best hotels in town offer great deals and up to a 25% discount this season for skiers booking a reservation for a minimum 3 nights stay before the 2014-2015 season kicks off. Participating hotels are 4, 3 and 2 stars. Click here to find out more ski offers WHEN TO VISIT It is best to avoid the half-term holiday weeks when it can get really crowded both up in the mountains and in town. HOW TO GET HERE Car: the main routes are Autoroute Blanche (A40) and the Mont-Blanc tunnel Plane: fly to Geneva (1 hour away), Haute-Savoie Mont Blanc Airport (1 hour away), Lyon (3.5 hours away) and Paris (5 hours away) Public transportation: Sleeper trains from/to Paris, TER and TGV trains serve the St Gervais-les-Bains railway station located just 20km away from Chamonix. The Mont Blanc Express SNCF railway line and Eurolines offer more international connections. 1. Davos, Switzerland WHERE TO SKI For beginners: Both Davos and Klosters are family friendly resorts and have dedicated children areas – or should we say paradises – at the top of Pischa and Madrisa where the younger ones can try the skis for the first time and improve their skills at the superb ski schools and gentle slopes. They can also unwind at a carousel, bouncy castle and a trampoline! Older beginners can head to Bolgen’s nursery slopes located at the base of Jakobshorn before moving to the longer and steeper Bunda, near the base of the Parsenn. Selfranga in Klosters also offers gentle runs to gain confidence before moving to the blue pistes. Click here for more information about ski schools in the resort For intermediates: intermediate skiers are also for a treat as most of the slopes in the resort are blue or red and the vast majority offer really long runs; some up to 10km long even! The blue runs of the Parsenn are very wide and allow skiers to practice their turns. Madrisa is also great to boost your confidence and also boasts one of the longest slopes in Europe, Weissfluhgipfel that takes upper intermediates all the way down to Küblis through 12km of alpine joy where pine forests and scenic views are set to make this holiday unforgettable as so is taking the train back to Klosters before taking the gondola and do it all over again. Not so experienced intermediates can still enjoy this slope by starting it at Weissfluhjoch and avoid the initial section which can be a bit steep. The nearby villages of Sass and Serneus can also be reached by this run. Madrisa is also the starting point of Schalppin, another scenic piste descending to Klosters Dorf although be aware that the last section is marked black. For advanced: the top black runs are located in the Meierhofer Tälli and the Gruobenalp valleys taking skiers down to Wolfgang/Davos Lake from where they can take either the bus, the train or the Parsenn funicular back to town. On the Rinerhorn, skiers can find a wide black slope taking them through scenic woods from Nüllisch Grat down to the cable car. Due to fact that the steeper slopes are on the valleys skiers should be aware that they are likely to come across icy conditions; this is particularly true of the black piste descending down to Davos. If moguls are your type of thing, the best area is located under the Schwarzeealp chair. There are plenty of off-piste opportunities in the resort with eleven routes unpatrolled and often offering fresh tracks. Those wishing to make the most of them are recommended to contact the Top Secret Snowsports, Swiss Snowboard School + Ski School (Brämabüelstrasse 11, 7270 Davos Platz) or Absolute Powder, Privatskilehrer Verein Klosters (Talerbödenstrasse 2, 7250 Klosters). Mountain guides can also be hired. Chocolate Box Chalet We feel that the best way to experience Davos is by renting a ski chalet, especially if you are travelling with young children as they have more space to unwind and all the members of the family can therefore enjoy their ski holidays to their fullest. The Chocolate Box chalet is utterly romantic and perfect for families or couples looking for privacy and a home away from home. Ideally located, it has 2 bedrooms, private gardens and secluded balconies from where you can admire the impressive mountain views. Both the town centre and the ski lifts are nearby. From CHF1,900 per week. Montana Stube (Bahnofstrasse 2, 7260 Davos Dorf +41 081 420 71 77) Traditional Swiss cuisine, family friendly atmosphere and exceptional service; one simply cannot go wrong at this genuine restaurant ideally located near the Parsenn funicular station and the railway station. It even has a sun terrace with scenic views that will leave you breathless! Be sure to try  the “mistkratzerli” (roasted spring chicken) and the hearty all you can eat fondue chinoise. These are also available for children at a smaller price but they can also enjoy finger-licking chicken nuggets with French fries. Menu: CHF30 - CHF46 WHERE TO APRÈS-SKI On the slopes: Jatzhütte (Jakobshorn, Kudi Bachmann, 7270 Davos +41(0)81 413 73 61) Located 2530 metres above the sea this ski chalet is not only considered a local institution but also the craziest and the best après ski in the entire ski resort; it could probably be the best in Switzerland if you ask us! Young crowds gather in this oasis with palm trees – yes, palm trees! – and numerous reclining chairs where skiers can rest their legs with a good drink and take in the gorgeous mountains in front of them before heading back to business. It comprises 3 bars in total and also boasts a large sun terrace where DJs play sick sessions from as early as 2.30pm! But believe it or not that’s not the best part: the two heated outdoor Jacuzzis and the great kitchen serving Grisons specialities are! Be sure to try the famous Cafe Sex (CHF8.50) - the most sold beverage in the bar and a top hit for the past 25 years! Beverages prices: beer CHF5-CHF7, cocktails CHF10 In town: Pöstli Club (Promenade 42, 7270 Davos Platz +41 (0)81 415 45 00) This classy late night club is popular with celebrities visiting Davos and is easy to understand why. The interior is slick and modern yet with a certain Alpine charm about it that allows guests to enjoy intimate moments in cosy areas with comfortable couches. Dancing is encouraged by DJs and fun-filled events. Guests wishing to kick off the night earlier than opening hours can do so at the Pöstli Bar located in the same building. The minimum age of entry to the club is 21. It opens from 10.30pm until 2am on Thursdays and 4am on Fridays and Saturdays. NON SKIERS AND CHILDREN Shopping: although it lacks the glamour of other ski resorts when it comes to designer boutiques, Davos still has plenty to offer to shopaholics, especially if they are interested in sport equipment. The main shopping area is Promenade. Here you can find the well-stocked family business Ettinger Sport store(Promenade 153, 7260 Davos-Dorf), Benetton (Promenade 62, 7270 Davos-Platz ) with a great variety of quality casual clothes for men and women and Bucherer (Promenade 69, 7270 Davos-Platz) a jewellery and watch shop boasting luxury Swiss watches and unique jewels that take your breath away. No shopping spree in Davos is complete without a stop at the enchanting Kaffe Klatsch (Promenade 72, 7270 Davos Platz) where we urge you to sit on an armchair and try their mouth-watering homemade cakes and water it down with one of the 30 types of coffee on offer. Sports: ice hockey, figure skating and curling are incredibly popular here on both indoor venues and outdoor frozen lakes. In fact, Davos-Platz is home to the largest natural ice rink in Europe, the Natureisbahn and tickets to ice skate on it only cost CHF8 for adults and CHF6 for children; a tiny price for a great adventure! You can also sharpen your curling skills with the Davos Curling Club (Hintere Gasse 4B, 7270 Davos-Platz) from CHF40 and if you want to catch an ice hockey game you only have to head to the modern Vaillant Arena (Talstrasse 41, 7270 Davos-Platz) home of HC Davos. Those wanting to swim or relax in a large heated outdoor pool can do so at the state-of-the-art Hallenbad (Promenade 90, 7270 Davos-Platz). Aside from an indoor pool for the serious swimmer, there are aqua adventure pools for the younger ones and a deluxe wellness centre with solarium and massage cabins. Tickets start from CHF9 for adults and CHF5 for children between 6 and 15. The Tennis & Squash Centre (Clavadelerstrasse 2, 7270 Davos-Platz) boasts indoor and outdoor courts that can be rented from 5.30pm until 10.30pm from CHF35. Entertainment: Casino Davos (Promenade 63, 7270 Davos-Platz) is the place in town to try your luck. Slot machines, American roulette and Black Jack and Poker tables keep guests entertained from 2pm until 2am. Kino Arkaden (Promenade 56, 7270 Davos-Platz) showcases European flicks and Hollywood’s latest hits in modern rooms with 3D facilities. Movies are dubbed or with subtitles. Sessions are at 3.30pm and 4pm for children movies and 6pm and 8.30pm for more grown-up titles. Tickets are CHF14 for children under 12 and CHF18 for adults. 101 (Promenade 101, 7270 Davos-Platz) is the perfect place for all the family to unwind with several ten-pin bowling lanes, arcade games and pool tables. Ludothek Davos (Promenade 88, 7270 Davos-Platz) allows guests to borrow classic board games, toys, and video games and is a superb alternative to staying in your hotel room if the weather is poor or your kids don’t feel like skiing. Museums & exhibitions: there are quite a few museums in Davos but our favourite one was without a doubt the Winter Sports Museum (Promenade 43, 7270 Davos-Platz). Although it only opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays it is a must for sport lovers and anyone wishing to know how this small town influenced modern winter sports. Some of the exhibits are particularly interesting and the old sledges, skis and old clothing will surely entertained the younger ones. If you want to know more about Davos and its culture then the Heimatmuseum (Museumstrasse 1, 7260 Davos-Dorf) is the right one for you as it is housed in a medieval burgher’s home known as Altes Pfründhaus. The modern and impressive Kirchner Museum Davos (Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Platz, 7270 Davos Platz) is also a mandatory visit if you are interested in art as it houses the largest collection of works by German expressionist painter Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. There are several art galleries where you can buy impressive paintings and sketches with the best ones showcased in Galerie Iris-Wazzau (Promenade 72, 7270 Davos-Platz) and Galerie Eule Art (Promenade 41, 7270 Davos-Platz). Touristic attractions: the two main landmarks in Davos are the 13th century parish Church of St John the Baptist (Rathausstutz 2, 7270 Davos-Platz ) and the 14th century Church of St. Theodul (Promenade 107, 7260 Davos-Dorf) with an impressive fresco. The Parsenn cable railway is another popular attraction for non-skiers wishing to enjoy the snowed peaks and the alpine views from the top of Weissfluhjoch. Some popular destinations for day trips are Chur, Zurich, St Gallen, Lucerne. Lugano and St Moritz in Switzerland. It is also possible to visit Milan in Italy and Innsbruck in Austria although for these latter ones we recommend hiring a car. THE BEST SKI DEALS Free lift pass offer (From 14 November to 21 December 2014) Pre-season guests in selected Davos and Klosters hotels partners of Davos Klosters will receive a complimentary ski pass for the resort for every overnight stay.

i don't know

What is Ireland's longest river and greatest source of electric power?

Geography of Ireland REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Introduction Ireland is an island on the western fringe of Europe between latitude 51 1/2 and 55 1/2 degrees north, and longitude 5 1/2 to 10 1/2 degrees west. Its greatest length, from Malin Head in the north to Mizen Head in the south, is 486 km and its greatest width from east to west is approximately 275 km. Since 1921 the island has been divided politically into two parts. The independent twenty-six county area, comprising 70,282 sq. km, has a population of 3,523,401 (1991). Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and contains six of the nine counties of the ancient province of Ulster, has a population of 1,569,971 (1991). In 1973 Ireland became a member of the European Union (EU). Physical Landscape The two great mountain systems of Europe, north of the Alps, converge westwards to meet and mingle in Ireland. The older (Caledonian) extends from Scandinavia through Scotland to the north and west of Ireland, where it gives rise to the rugged and mountainous landscapes of Counties Donegal, Mayo and Galway. The higher mountains are of quartzite which weathers into bare, cone-shaped peaks such as Errigal (752 m) in Donegal, Croagh Patrick (765m) in Mayo and the Twelve Bens in Galway. Structures of similar age are responsible for the Wicklow and Blackstairs mountains which extend south-westwards from Dublin Bay for a distance of more than 100 km. In these, long-continued denudation of a great anticlinal structure has exposed a granite core which now forms rounded peat-covered uplands, the crests being notched in places by glacial cirques. The mountains are penetrated by deep glacially modified valleys of which the best known is Glendalough in County Wicklow. The younger structures (Armorican) extend from central Europe through Brittany to southern Ireland, where they reappear as a series of east-west anticlinal sandstone ridges separated by limestone or shale-floored valleys. The hills rise in height westwards culminating in Carrantouhill (1041 m) in the Magillycuddy Reeks, the highest mountain in the country. The famous Upper Lake of Killarney nestles in the eastern slopes of this range. The valleys separating the western extension of these mountains have been flooded by the sea, giving rise to a number of long deep inlets. In north-eastern Ireland basaltic lavas spread widely over the existing rocks in Eocene times and now form the bleak plateau of east Antrim. Westwards the basalt is downwarped and the resultant drift-covered lowland is occupied in part by Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland. The heart of the country is a limestone- floored lowland bounded on the south by the Armorican ridges and on the north and west by the Caledonian mountains. This lowland is open to the Irish Sea for a distance of 90 km between the Wicklow Mountains and the Carlingford peninsula, giving easy access to the country from the east. It also extends westwards to reach the Atlantic Ocean along the Shannon Estuary, in Galway Bay, in Clew Bay and again in Donegal Bay. Numerous hills break the monotony of the lowland which rises westward towards the coast in County Clare where it terminates in the cliffs of Moher, one of the finest lines of cliff scenery in Western Europe. Much of Ireland was covered by ice during the Pleistocene period. This ice finally melted away about twelve thousand years ago, leaving behind evidence of its former presence in most of the minor physical features of the landscape. Throughout the greater part of the lowland the bedrock is hidden by glacial deposits which, in the north central part of the country, form a broad belt of small hills (drumlins). The glacial cover also modified the early drainage pattern and in places created groundwater conditions which facilitated the growth of peat bogs. Rivers The lowland is drained by numerous slow- flowing streams, the largest of which is the River Shannon, 340 km in length. In its middle course this river broadens into a number of attractive lakes but as it approaches the sea its gradient steepens. This is the location of Ireland's earliest hydro-electric power scheme. The main rivers draining eastwards are the Lagan, which flows into Belfast Lough, the Liffey, with Dublin at its mouth, and the Slaney, which enters the sea at Wexford. In the south of Ireland the long east-west synclinal valleys are occupied by such rivers as the Suir, the Lee and the Blackwater which reach the coast by making right-angled turns to pass southwards through the sandstone ridges in narrow gorge-like valleys. Climate Ireland's mild and equable climate is a reflection of the fact that its shores are bathed by the relatively warm ocean waters of the North Atlantic Drift. Valencia, in the extreme south-west, has an average January temperature of 7�C and a July temperature of 1 5�C, a range of only eight degrees. The figures for Dublin are 4.5�C in January and 1 5.5�C in July, a range of eleven degrees. Extremely high or low temperatures are virtually unknown. Influenced by the Atlantic Ocean the weather in Ireland is mild, wet and changeable. It is not too hot and not too cold. Summer temperatures over 30�C (86 �F) are rare enough occurrences (perhaps once or twice a decade). The average monthly temperature in Ireland are: January (5�C = 41�F), February (5�C = 41�F), March (7�C = 45�F), April (8�C = 46�F), May (11�C = 52�F), June (14�C = 56�F), July (16�C = 60�F), August, (16�C = 60�F), September (14�C = 56�F), October (11�C = 51�F), November (8�C = 48�F), December (7�C = 44�F). It can rain at any time in Ireland but prolonged periods of rainfall are rare enough. Snow and severe frost are usually confined to December, January and February. Rainfall is heaviest on the westward facing slopes of the hills where it may exceed 3,000 mm in Kerry, Mayo and Donegal. The east is much drier and Dublin records on average only 785 mm annually. The outstanding feature of the Irish weather is its changeability, a characteristic which it shares with all the countries that lie in the path of the temperate depressions. However more stable atmospheric conditions may arise in winter with the extension of the continental high pressure system bringing clear skies and cool conditions, especially to the eastern part of the country. In summer an extension of the Azores high pressure system may bring periods of light easterly winds and bright sunny weather. Soils Most of the soils of Ireland are derived from glacial drift and reflect its varied composition and texture. There are large areas of fertile grey-brown podzolic soils on the better drained parts of the lowland. These give way to less fertile acid brown earths where the parent material is low in lime or to gleyed soils where the drainage is poor. Thin acid peaty soils are widespread on the hills. Vegetation The visitor to Ireland is immediately impressed by two aspects of the vegetation cover. The first is an impression of intense greenness, the result of the abundant grasses responding to the mild moist air. The second is the relative absence of trees, especially along the western seaboard where strong winds are the main limiting factor to growth. The once extensive oak woodlands of the midlands were cleared over most of the country by the seventeenth century and remain today only as remnants in remote areas. The flora is of more limited variety than elsewhere in Europe but it has some interesting features. In the extreme south- west (Cork/Kerry) there is a vegetation with Mediterranean affinities which includes the Arbutus. The numerous bryophytes and lichens reflect the mildness and high humidity of this part of Ireland. In the Burren in County Clare an Arctic-Alpine flora survives from a colder period in the past. Fauna Apart from seals which breed around the coast and whales which occasionally visit coastal waters, Ireland has twenty-seven species of mammal. These include the red deer, pine marten, badger, otter, hare and stoat which are native to the country, as well as introduced species such as the fallow deer, rabbit and other rodents. Ireland's only reptile is a small lizard and there are three amphibia, the newt, the frog and the toad. The rivers and lakes have salmon, trout, char, pollan, perch, pike and eels. Of the three hundred and eighty species of wild bird recorded in Ireland, only about one-third breed in the country. People Ireland has been inhabited since Stone-Age times and for more than five thousand years has been the recipient of peoples moving westwards across the European continent. Each new group of immigrants has contributed something to its population and culture and no group ever entirely obliterated the character of the earlier ones. It is these diverse elements that have come together to form the distinctive Irish nation of today. The population of all Ireland was 8.2 million in 1841 and four-fifths of those lived in rural areas. After the famine of 1846, when many people died and many more emigrated, the population began to decrease, so that by 1930 it was only half what it had been in 1846. One result of this large-scale emigration, which continued throughout the latter part of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century, was that many people of Irish descent have made their homes in other countries. Irish men and women have made a significant contribution to life in Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. From the 1960s population numbers gradually stabilised and between 1971 and 1986 there was a modest annual increase averaging just over one per cent. From 1986, however, the population declined for a few years as a result of renewed high emigration. The total number of people living in the state in 1991 was 3,523,401, a decrease of 17,242 on the 1986 figure. The overall density of population is 50 per square kilometre. There is a strong and continuing movement from rural areas to towns so that 52 per cent of the population now live in urban areas of 1,500 inhabitants or more. The rural population, which is mainly in dispersed, isolated farmsteads, is fairly evenly distributed throughout the country except in the mountainous areas and the peat bogs. Densities as high as 180 per square kilometre occur along the western seaboard, where the farms are small. Low rural densities are associated with the larger farms on the richer land in the east. The influence of Dublin and other urban areas is clearly seen in the above-average densities in their contiguous rural areas. In Ireland (Republic) Roman Catholics comprise 95 per cent of the community. Other denominations include Church of Ireland (Anglican), Presbyterian, Methodist and a number of smaller Protestant groups. They are strongest in the counties bordering Northern Ireland, especially in Donegal (12 per cent), and in the Eastern Region which includes Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow (7 per cent). In Northern Ireland 65 per cent of the population is Protestant, mainly Church of Ireland and Presbyterian. They dominate in the three eastern counties of Ulster and comprise 40-50 per cent of the population in the west. There is also a small Jewish community centred in Dublin, Belfast and Cork. For the great majority of the people in Ireland, English is the language in everyday use, but a quarter of the population claims to be competent in Irish as well. Irish remains the first language in the Gaeltacht (Irish speaking areas), located along the remoter areas of the western seaboard, and in some very small pockets of Irish speakers in West Cork, Waterford and Meath. Urban Settlement Even quite small village-like settlements are basically service centres providing shopping facilities for the rural community. The larger towns are also service centres but, in addition, usually have industrial, administrative and commercial functions. The main concentration of towns is in the east and south of the country and all of the larger centres grew up as ports. Dublin (city and county population 1,021,449), the focus of the roads and railways, is situated where the central lowland reaches eastwards to the Irish Sea. It is the chief commercial, industrial, administrative, educational and cultural centre. Cork city (127,000) has traditionally been associated with the processing and marketing of agricultural products but it benefits also from the presence of large-scale industrial development around its outer harbour and the use of natural gas from the offshore Kinsale field. Waterford (40,000), Dundalk (26,000) and Drogheda (24,000) are smaller regional centres with industrial functions. On the west coast, the main city is Limerick (52,000), which is located at the lowest crossing place on the river Shannon. It shares in the prosperity of the Shannon Industrial Estate but its harbour facilities are now little used, though significant port and industrial activities are developing westwards along the Shannon estuary. Other significant western urban centres are Galway (51,000) and Sligo (17,000). In Northern Ireland the chief towns are Belfast (400,000), an administrative and engineering centre with a fine harbour, and Derry (190,000), the focus of the Foyle lowland. The new town of Craigavon links the older urban centres of Lurgan and Portadown and together the total population of the three towns is 72,000 people. Agriculture Farms and enclosed fields dominate the Irish landscape. Two-thirds of the surface area is improved agricultural land and much of the remainder is used by farmers as rough grazing for cattle and sheep. Almost all the land is owned by the farmers who work it, the former defective tenancy system as was replaced by owner-occupancy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Farms of small and medium size predominate, over half the holdings being 10-40 hectares. Farm size decreases westwards and northwards and poorer land quality in the west adds to the agricultural difficulties of the area. Although the role of agriculture diminishes as the Economy develops, it is still a major source of income, export earnings and employment. Farm products contribute about 20 per cent of the total value of exports and agriculture's share of employment is 14 per cent (7 per cent in Northern Ireland). The agricultural labour force has halved over the last twenty-five years but the welfare of the farming community has increased, aided since 1973 by the market outlets and financial support of the EU. Irish agriculture is predominantly mixed pastoral farming with some subsidiary arable cropping. The mild, moist climate and the soils are more suitable for the growth of grass than for arable crops. Livestock farming has been further favoured by the large market demand for its products in Britain and continental Europe. Livestock products account for more than four-fifths of the value of agricultural output. Dairying is most important in the south-west and in the north and, apart from urban supply from areas near cities, most of the milk is processed. The beef cattle industry is widespread: the emphasis in the west on rearing young stock, whereas on the better land and the larger farms of midland and eastern areas it is more on fattening. Sheep are of greatest significance in the upland environment and in a traditional sheep area on the dry limestone land of south Connacht. The horse-breeding industry is most concentrated in north Leinster with many stud farms around the Curragh in County Kildare. Pig and poultry production was traditionally associated with the small- farm, dairying areas of Ulster and to a lesser extent with Munster but modern production units have been established in other places also. Tillage occupies one-tenth of the agricultural land, the main crops being barley, wheat, oats, potatoes and sugar beet. They are mainly on the lighter soils in the drier and sunnier east of the country, though oats and potatoes are better able to tolerate conditions in the west. Forestry There has been an active state afforestation programme in this century, especially since 1950. Over 400,000 hectares have been planted by the state. There was a rapid increase in private afforestation in the 1980s. Forests now cover 6 per cent of the land area, but Ireland still remains the least forested country in Europe apart from Iceland. The objectives have been to provide a domestic supply of timber, to make profitable use of land and to afford employment. Forestry policy had been to use land which was less suited for agriculture, mainly in upland and peat bog areas. There the environmental conditions favour coniferous trees which mature rapidly, planting being mainly of sitka spruce and lodgepole pine. From the early 1950s the use of hardier species and of machinery and fertilisers facilitated planting on deep peat and in more difficult environments, resulting in a westward and upward shift in the focus of afforestation. The remoter rural and western areas already derive employment and income benefits but as the forests mature and timber output increases the impact will be much greater. Planting of land which is marginal for agriculture has been encouraged under EU policies from the 1980s. The recreational role of forests has increased dramatically since the 196Os with twenty forest parks and about five hundred other forest sites being open to the public. Fishing The marine environment on the continental shelf around Ireland is generally productive of fish but the bulk of the catch has for long been taken by the fleets of other countries and the fortunes of the Irish fishing industry have fluctuated. From the early 196Os major development efforts were made, including harbour improvement, provision of larger and better-equipped vessels, training, expansion of processing, organisation of distribution and market development at home and abroad. Fish landings expanded dramatically but from the mid-1970s expansion of the industry was hindered by some problems of resource supply, with the need for restrictions on fishing. The total catch of the Irish fleet is about 250,000 tonnes. Mackerel is the leading fish by value, followed by Dublin Bay prawns, cod, herring, salmon and whiting. There are many fishing ports scattered around the coast but the principal ones are Killybegs, Howth, Rossaveel, Dunmore East and Castletownbere, and in Northern Ireland Kilkeel, Ardglass and Portavogie. Many fish farms have been established along the coast, especially in the west. They are contributing an increasing share of fish output, with salmon being the leading variety. Mining Major expansion in Irish mining during the 196Os and 1970s related mainly to the development of metalliferous resources. Mining began at Tynagh in east Galway, at Silvermines and Gortdrum in County Tipperary and at Avoca in County Wicklow but production has ceased at these mines. The greatest development has been at Navan in County Meath where production began in 1977 on one of the largest zinc-lead deposits in the world. The most widespread mining activity is the quarrying of sand, gravel and stone for the large construction industry. Limestone is used as a soil improver and in cement manufacture. Other minerals extracted include barite in Tipperary, gypsum in Cavan and marble in west Galway. Peat is a major mineral fuel and Ireland is the second-largest producer in the world. It has been hand-cut as a domestic fuel for centuries but now output is mainly by mechanised cutting, especially on the large bogs of the central lowland. There has been considerable offshore exploration for oil and natural gas and in 1978 the first gas came ashore from the Kinsale Head gas field off Cork. It is piped from Cork to Dublin and the major towns. Electricity Ireland is dependent on imported fuels for the major part of its energy supply but the policy has been to utilise native resources to the maximum in the generation of electricity. The first major development was the ambitious Shannon hydroelectric scheme in the 1920s, followed by harnessing of the Rivers Liffey, Erne, Lee and Clady in the 1940s and 1950s. There is a pumped storage plant in the Wicklow Mountains. Eleven medium to small peat-fired power stations had begun production by the early 1960s, mainly in the midlands. Electricity is also generated from Kinsale natural gas in the Cork Harbour area and in Dublin. Most of the power stations using indigenous resources are at inland locations but all those based on imported fuels have coastal sites and are generally of much larger size. Production at these stations was initially from coal but later principally from oil. Location had been mainly adjacent to the largest urban markets for electricity in Dublin and Belfast but other sheltered, deep-water sites have been used near Larne in County Antrim and on Lough Foyle, the Shannon Estuary and Waterford Harbour. There is a large coal-fired power station at Moneypoint on the Clare shore of the Shannon estuary. Transport Transport in Ireland is predominantly by road. There are public bus and freight services but most road transport is in private vehicles. The dense road network was developed to serve a population which was larger than at present and traffic density is low by European standards. Yet with increasing motor vehicle ownership there is considerable traffic congestion in and around the major urban centres and some of the main routes are being improved. With the growth of competition from road transport, the railway system which had developed in the nineteenth century contracted through closure of light railways, branch lines, some main routes and smaller stations. The network now comprises 2,300 km of route way with Dublin as the main focus. The railway operates at a substantial loss but its social benefits are recognised. External air and sea links are vital to Ireland because of its island location. Almost all the goods traffic and substantial passenger movement goes by sea. The principal ports are on the east and south coasts, most of the traffic being through Larne, Belfast, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Rosslare, Waterford and Cork. The main international airports are at Dublin, Belfast, Shannon and Cork. Air services operate to the principal British cities and to mainland European countries, with the main role of Shannon being in transatlantic traffic. The considerable expansion in air transport is reflected in the growth of the national airline, Aer Lingus, which carries more than four million passengers annually. Manufacturing Much of early manufacturing development was concentrated in the north-east of Ireland, the Lagan valley becoming the major industrial area in the country, relying mainly on linen and shipbuilding. When both of these industries fell into decline, diversification of the industrial structure became a major objective of policy in Northern Ireland and a variety of new industries were established, principally of British origin and mainly in the east. In the attempt to develop an industrial sector the Irish Government followed at first a protectionist policy with the objective of establishing Irish-owned manufacturing to serve the home market. There was a major reversal of policy from the late 1950s, with the initiation of a movement towards free trade and promotion of export-oriented industry. Foreign involvement has been actively encouraged, the main investment coming from the United States, Britain and Germany. Factory employment is now three times what it was at the time of independence. There had been a high degree of industrial concentration in Dublin and the main urban centres but state policy has been to bring manufacturing to other towns also and to favour development in the west by making higher grants available to firms establishing there. The principal sectors in Irish manufacturing are metals and engineering, the food, drink and tobacco industries, and textiles and clothing. Industries in which there has been substantial recent growth include light engineering, electronics, synthetic fibres, pharmaceuticals and plastics. The food and drink industries are more widely dispersed throughout the country than are other forms of manufacturing, since their raw materials are for the most part produced in rural areas. The remainder of manufacturing is more concentrated in the main industrial centres, principally Belfast and Dublin. With decline in some of the industries in these centres and the establishment of new factories throughout the country, the trend has been towards greater decentralisation of manufacturing . Tourism There has been major growth in Irish tourism since the Second World War, related mainly to increased affluence, improved transport facilities and greater promotion and organisation of the industry. A severe setback occurred in the years 1969-72, principally as a result of violence in Northern Ireland, and subsequent recovery has been slower in the north. Tourism plays an important role in the balance of payments, with over three million people visiting the country annually. Visitors come mainly from Great Britain but also from continental Europe, North America and other areas. There is also substantial tourist traffic within the country. The tourist attractions of Ireland include the relaxed atmosphere and friendliness of the people, the clean rural environment, the varied and attractive scenery, the important historical and literary associations and the opportunities to participate in recreational activities. There is also a major ethnic factor, with emigrants returning home on holiday and people of Irish descent visiting relatives and places of ancestral connection. Tourism is strongly oriented towards the coastal zone, which offers the attractions of the sea, scenic landscapes and the major cities and towns. Dublin is the single most important centre but the western seaboard is the part of the country having the greatest tourist appeal. Other Services Growth of the service or tertiary sector has been a major feature of economic development in recent decades. It accounts for 60 per cent of employment, the role of services being greater in Northern Ireland. The principal service categories are educational and medical services, retail and wholesale distribution, public administration and defence, transport and communication, the insurance, finance and business service group, and varied personal services. The spatial patterns of individual services differ but they are essentially urban activities because of the need to be accessible to consumers and because of interrelationships between services. The high degree of concentration in the major urban centres, especially Dublin and Belfast, and the consequent increase in office activities have been reflected in the extent of office building development. There is an international off- shore services centre at the Custom House Dock in Dublin. Regional Development Regional imbalances in population trends, employment, income and related social conditions have for long been a feature of Ireland. The most striking traditional contrast is between the more prosperous east and the less developed west, though this twofold distinction is a simplification of a more complex regional pattern. The less developed character of the west can be explained mainly in terms of its more difficult physical environment, its remoteness from external influences, markets and financial sources, its heavy dependence on small-farm agriculture and its lower levels of urbanisation and infrastructural provision. The result has been low incomes, high unemployment and underemployment and heavy migration from the area with its social consequences. In recent times inner Dublin and the central districts of other cities have been recognised as problem areas also. Attempts have been made to counteract regional imbalance since the 1950s, at first focusing exclusively on the west but later promoting western development within a broader regional planning framework. The Irish-speaking Gaeltacht areas have been particularly favoured in welfare promotion. The major initial incentive was the allocation of direct state grants to manufacturing firms locating in the west, and although grant provision was later extended to all parts, a differential was maintained in favour of western areas. The largest manufacturing concentration of this type is at Shannon, where an industrial estate was developed as part of a plan to promote traffic through the airport. While manufacturing remained the spearhead of regional policy, development efforts in other sectors assumed an increasing regional dimension, as in agriculture, forestry, fishing and tourism. Some decentralisation of government administration has been introduced. In recent years there has been a growing realisation of the role which service industries could play in regional development. Within Northern Ireland there is also a core- periphery contrast; the main area of development comprises much of Antrim, Down and north Armagh, with most of the remainder, in particular the west, lagging behind. The more peripheral parts tend to be characterised by population, religious and political differences, by a weaker urban structure with more limited economic opportunities and by higher unemployment and emigration rates. Development measures have included infrastructural improvement, advance factory provision and higher industrial grants. Most of the geographical features of Ireland influence the spatial pattern of economic and social development. In turn, the extent to which regional development policies are effective, both north and south, will have a major bearing on the future geography of the island.

Shannon

"How many countries does the river ""Danube pass through?"

Ireland Geographical Facts, Figures and Physical Extremities This page gives some of the physical extremities of Ireland Most northerly point* The most northerly point is Inishtrahull Island, situated in the Atlantic Ocean 7 km north of Inishowen Peninsula, county Donegal. It lies at latitude 55.43�N. Of mainland Ireland, the most northerly point is a headland 2 km northeast of Malin Head, Inishowen Peninsula, county Donegal. It lies at latitude 55.38�N. Most easterly point The most easterly point is Big Bow Meel Island, which is a rock situated 900 metres off the Ards Peninsula, county Down, at longitude 5.42�W. Of mainland Ireland, the most easterly point is Burr Point, Ards Peninsula, county Down at longitude 5.43�W. It is situated 2 km southeast of the village of Ballyhalbert. Most southerly point The most southerly point is Fastnet Rock, which lies in the Atlantic Ocean 11.3 km south of mainland county Cork. It lies at latitude 51.37�N. Of mainland Ireland, the most southerly point is Brow Head, county Cork, which lies 3.8 km east of the marginly more northerly Mizen Head. It lies at latitude 51.43�N. Most westerly point* The most westerly point is Tearaght Island, which lies in the Atlantic Ocean 12.5 km west of Dingle Peninsula, county Kerry. It lies at longitude 10.70�W. Of mainland Ireland, the most westerly point is Garraun Point, Dingle Peninsula, county Kerry which is 2.5 km northwest of Slea Head. It lies at longitude 10.51�W. Geographical Centres The geographical centre of Ireland is to be found in eastern county Roscommon, at a point 3km (2 miles) south of Athlone town. The centre of Ulster is in county Tyrone, at a point 20km (14 miles) east of Omagh town, near the village of Pomeroy. The centre of Munster is in the north of county Cork, at a point 9km (6 miles) south-west of the village of Rath Luirc. The centre of Leinster is in western county Kildare, at a point 5km (3 miles) south-west of Kildare town. The centre of Connaught is in county Mayo, 6km (4 miles) south-east of the pilgrim village of Knock. The centre of Northern Ireland is in eastern county Tyrone, at a point 6km (4 miles) south-east of the town of Cookstown. The centre of the Republic of Ireland is in south-eastern county Galway, at a point 3km (2 miles) south-west of the village of Eyrecourt. Highest altitude The summit of Mt Carrantuohill, county Kerry, rises to 1,041 metres (3414 feet) above sea level. The second highest point is the summit of Mt Beenkeragh, county Kerry, which rises to 1,010 metres (3314 feet) above sea level. The highest point in Northern Ireland is the summit of Slieve Donard, county Down, which rises to 852 metres (2796 feet) above sea level, and is the 8th highest peak in Ireland. Tallest sea cliffs The sea cliffs at Croaghaun, Achill Island off western Ireland fall 668 metres (2,192 feet) into the Atlantic Ocean. Slieve League in county Donegal has a drop of 601 metres (1,972 feet) into the same ocean. Both cliffs are almost twice the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. However, as there is no vantage point to see the cliffs at Achill Island the Donegal cliffs are more famous. (thanks to Michele of irelandyes.com for this information) Most populated county The most heavily populated county is county Dublin, with 1,056,666 inhabitants at the last estimate. The next most heavily populated county is Antrim, with 566,400 inhabitants. Most densely populated county The most densely populated county is county Dublin, with 1147.3 inhabitants per square kilometre at the last estimate. The next most densely populated is county Antrim, with 199.2 inhabitants per square kilometre. Least populated county The county with the fewest inhabitants is county Leitrim with just 25,032 inhabitants at the last estimate. The next lowest is county Longford with 30,128 inhabitants. Most sparsely populated county The most sparsely populated county in Ireland is Leitrim, with a mere 15.8 inhabitants per square kilometre at the last estimate. The next most sparsely populated is county Mayo, which has 19.9 inhabitants per square kilometre. Largest settlements The largest city in Ireland is Dublin, which at 859,976 inhabitants, is home to almost 1 in 5 Irish people, and more than 1 in 4 in the Irish Republic. The next 9 largest settlements are Belfast (counties Down and Antrim, 475,968), Cork (county Cork, 174,400), Limerick (county Limerick, 75,436) Derry (county Londonderry, 72,334), Newtownabbey (county Antrim, 56,811), D�n Laoghaire (county Dublin, 55,540), Bangor (county Down, 52,437), Galway (county Galway, 50,853) and Lisburn (county Antrim, 42,110). More towns . Largest county In terms of area, the largest county in Ireland is county Cork at 7,457 km�. The next largest is county Galway, at 6,148 km�. The largest county in Northern Ireland is county Tyrone, at 3,155 km�. Smallest county The smallest county in Ireland is county Louth, which is just 820 km� in area - 9 times smaller than county Cork. The next smallest is county Carlow, which is 896 km�. The smallest county in Northern Ireland is county Armagh, at 1,254 km�. Longest river The longest river in Ireland is the river Shannon whose source is Shannon Pot, county Cavan, and which enters the sea between counties Clare and Limerick after a journey of 386 km (240 miles). It is, in fact, the longest river in the British Isles. The longest river within Northern Ireland is the river Bann, whose source is in the Mourne Mountains, county Down and which enters the sea in county Londonderry after 122 km (76 miles). Largest lake Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland, which is 396 km� (153 miles�) in area. It forms part of counties Tyrone, Londonderry, Antrim, Down and Armagh. It is, in fact, the largest lake in the British Isles. Closest to Britain The closest point that Ireland comes to Britain is Torr Head, county Antrim, which is just 23 km (14 miles) from the Mull of Kintyre, Scotland. On most days, fields in Scotland can be seen clearly across the North Channel. Largest island Besides Ireland itself (82,463 km�) the largest offshore island in Irish waters is Achill island, county Mayo, with an area of 148 km� (57 miles�). Tallest waterfall Ireland's tallest waterfall is Powerscourt Falls, county Wicklow, where the water drops 106 metres (350 feet). It is the third tallest waterfall in the British Isles. Sunniest town The town in Ireland which enjoys the most sunshine is Rosslare, county Wexford which has over 1600 hours of sunshine per year (4 hrs, 20 mins per day). Cloudiest town The town in Ireland which receives the least sunshine is Omagh, county Tyrone which has less than 1200 hours of sunshine per year (3 hrs, 20 mins per day). Wettest place The wettest place in Ireland is the area of the Maumturk and Partry mountains of counties Mayo and Galway, which receive annually over 2400 mm of rain. Driest place The driest place in Ireland is Dublin city which receives less than 800 mm of rain per year.   *Excludes Rockall Island, which is situated in the north Atlantic 440 km northwest of county Donegal. Although it is merely an uninhabited outcrop of rock a few tens of metres across, it is important in that whoever owns it can claim the fishing and oil rights around it. It is currently in dispute between Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and Denmark. Rockall Island is at latitude 57.61�N, longitude 13.70�W.

i don't know

Where would you spend stotinki?

Cash and Currency Tips for Europe by Rick Steves Upon arrival, take a minute to get acquainted with any new currency. By Rick Steves When I first started traveling in Europe, I’d convert my traveler’s checks into cash at American Express — the convivial, welcoming home to American travelers abroad. When changing dollars into francs in Paris, it felt so good to lose money to that smiling, English-speaking person at the desk. Now with ATMs, the euro, and the general shrinking of the economic world, AmExCo is a dinosaur. Leave the traveler’s checks at home. I cashed my last traveler’s check long ago. They’re a waste of time (long lines at slow banks) and money (fees to get them, fees to cash them). ATMs are the way to go. Avoid (or at least minimize) cash exchange. The financial industry does a masterful job of hiding the fact that you lose money each time you change it. On average, at a bank you lose 8 percent when you change dollars to euros or another foreign currency. When you use currency exchange booths such as Forex or Travelex at the airport, you lose around 15 percent. If you must change cash in Europe, the postal banks inside post offices usually have the best rate. Don’t buy foreign currency in advance. Some tourists just have to have euros or pounds in their pockets when they step off the airplane, but smart travelers don’t bother and know better than to get lousy stateside exchange rates. Wait until you arrive at your destination; I’ve never been to an airport in Europe that didn’t have plenty of ATMs. Use local cash. Many Americans exclaim gleefully, “Gee, they accept dollars! There’s no need to change money.” But the happy sales clerk doesn’t tell you that your purchase is costing about 20 percent more because of the store’s terrible exchange rate. Without knowing it, you’re changing money — at a lousy rate — every time you buy something with dollars. Figure out currency conversions. Local currencies are all logical. Each system is decimalized just like ours. There are a hundred “little ones” (cents, pence, groszy, stotinki) in every “big one” (euro, pound, złoty, lev). Only the names have been changed — to confuse the tourist. Examine the coins in your pocket soon after you arrive, and in two minutes you’ll be comfortable with the nickels, dimes, and quarters of each new currency. You don’t need to constantly consult a currency converter. While you can do real-time conversion with a smartphone app, I’ve never bothered. You just need to know the rough exchange rates. I see no need to have it figured to the third decimal. Very roughly determine what the unit of currency (euros, kroner, Swiss francs, or whatever) is worth in American dollars. For example, let’s say the exchange rate is €1 = $1.40. If a strudel costs €5, then it costs five times $1.40, or about $7. Ten euros is about $14, and €250 = $350 (figure about 250 plus a little less than one half). Quiz yourself. Soon it’ll be second nature. Survival on a budget is easier when you’re comfortable with the local currency. Assume you’ll be shortchanged. In banks, restaurants, at ticket booths, everywhere — expect to be shortchanged if you don’t do your own figuring. Some people who spend their lives sitting in booths for eight hours a day taking money from strangers have no problem stealing from clueless tourists who don’t know the local currency. For 10 minutes I observed a man in the Rome subway shortchanging half of the tourists who went through his turnstile. Half of his victims caught him and got their correct change with apologies. Overall, about 25 percent didn’t notice and probably went home saying, “Mamma mia, Italy is really expensive.” Coins can become worthless when you leave a country. Since big-value coins are common in Europe, exporting a pocketful of change can be an expensive mistake. Spend them (on postcards, a newspaper, or food or drink for the train ride), change them into bills, or give them away. Otherwise, you’ve just bought a bunch of souvenirs. Note, however, that while euro coins each have a national side (indicating where they were minted), they are perfectly good in any country that uses the euro currency. Bring along some US dollars. While you won’t use it for day-to-day purchases, American cash in your money belt comes in handy for emergencies, such as when banks go on strike or your ATM card stops working. I carry several hundred US dollars as a backup (in denominations of easy-to-exchange 20s). I’ve been in Greece and Ireland when every bank went on strike, shutting down without warning. But hard cash is hard cash. People always know roughly what a dollar is worth. If local banks don’t have exchange services, you can always find exchange desks at major train stations or airports. Get back to dollars at the end of your trip. If you have foreign cash left at the end of your trip, change it into dollars at the European airport or simply spend it at the airport before you fly home. You might get a few more dollars from your hometown bank for that last smattering of foreign bills, but it’s clean and convenient to simply fly home with nothing but dollars in your pocket. Related articles Card Fees (and How to Avoid Them) Welcome to €uroland Eighteen EU member countries — and more than 330 million people — use the same currency, the euro. With euros, tourists and locals can easily compare prices of goods between countries. And we no longer lose money or time changing money at borders. Not all European countries have switched to euros. As of now, major EU holdouts are the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Sweden (Norway and Switzerland also have their own currency, but aren’t EU members). Despite the currency’s recent trouble, several Eastern European countries that have joined the European Union — including the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Lithuania — are committed to adopting the euro sometime in the future. For now, these countries still use their traditional currencies. Even in some non-Euroland countries, the euro is commonly used. Montenegro and Kosovo are not in the EU, but the euro is their official currency. In Switzerland, some ATMs give euros, most prices are listed in both Swiss francs and euros, and travelers can get by with euro cash. But if you pay in euros, you’ll get a rotten exchange rate. Ideally, if you’re in a non-euro country for more than a few hours, get some local currency instead. Resources for Money

Bulgaria

Which European country saw one of the major avalanches of the 20th century in December 1916?

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i don't know

When did Euro Disney, now Disneyland Paris, open?

Paris Attacks: Disneyland Paris Closed | Hollywood Reporter COMMENTS AP Images The decision was taken "in light of the recent tragic events in France and in support of our community and the victims of these horrendous attacks." Disneyland Paris said on Saturday that its two theme parks near the French capital will remain closed Saturday after the deadly attacks on Friday night. "In light of the recent tragic events in France and in support of our community and the victims of these horrendous attacks, Disneyland Paris has decided not to open its theme parks on Saturday 14 November," it said on its website. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those affected by these horrible events." Disney theme parks have closed early or remained closed in the past due to major threats or events. Euro Disney is the operator of Disneyland Paris. The Walt Disney Co. is its largest shareholder with a 40 percent stake. Disneyland Paris, which opened in 1992, is located 20 miles east of the center of Paris in Marne-la-Vallee. It is the most visited theme park in all of France and Europe. A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened in 2002 in the same location. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Euro Disney reported 14.8 million theme parks visitors, up from 14.2 million in the year before and down from 14.9 million in the year before that. Tom Wolber, president of Euro Disney, said in recently announcing the figures that they reflect "the benefits of our long-term strategy" of investing in the parks and their attractions. He added: "This strategy also implies incurring higher costs as we continue to improve the guest experience and invest in our cast. This year, we further enriched our guest offerings with new entertainment experiences, such as Frozen Summer Fun and the Jedi Training Academy." Also remaining closed on Saturday will be the Eiffel Tower. Management later in the day said it would remain closed indefinitely. The Louvre museum will be closed as well, according to The Associated Press. A Louvre spokeswoman said the museum opened as normal on Saturday with enhanced security, but was ordered closed by the Culture Ministry after President Francois Hollande called for national day of mourning. The Culture Ministry said "public cultural sites" were closed in the Paris region on Saturday, without specifying.

1992

The Simpleton Tunnel links Italy with which country?

DISNEYLAND TIMELINE The First 50 Years (1955-2005) The Happiest Place on Earth 1954 � Construction starts in Anaheim, which often continues 24 hours a day to get the park ready in time. Hollywood studios and amusement park owners couldn�t understand Walt�s concept of a �theme park,� and figured it would fail within months of opening. Burbank was the desired location, but the city rejected the project fearing the �carnie� type atmosphere and increased crime that was associated with amusement parks of the day. Disneyland, in fact, was based much less on the traditional amusement park and much more on the world�s fair, Denmark�s Tivoli Gardens, Greenfield Village and the �garden city" concept, which also became the model for most of America�s suburbs developed during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s (most of Disneyland's patrons came from those suburbs, and it's a small wonder they found it so appealing). ABC, the smallest of the three networks, begins airing Disneyland television show, which eventually becomes the Wonderful World of Disney. The show is the first time a major Hollywood movie studio has partnered with television, and puts ABC at the top of the rankings. The hour-long show�s programming is divided into four guiding themes, Fantasyland (Disney animated shorts), Frontierland (the amazingly successful Davy Crocket), Adventureland (True-Life Adventures series � the first such films to capture animals in the wild) and Tomorrowland (original programming such as Man In Space). Not only was the show a great way to remind audiences of Disney favorites of the past, but it also was the first time future movies were promoted using television, a practice that is now commonplace. In addition, Walt used the show to show the public plans for his theme park concept. Walt Disney becomes the first publicly recognizable studio head in Hollywood history by insisting that his face be shown on every episode of Disneyland. 1955 � Disneyland opens July 17th with 18 attractions, at a cost of $17.5 million. The five original lands are Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Main Street USA (the only entrance/exit for the park). Opening day ceremonies are overseen by Ronald Reagan, Art Linkletter and Robert Cummings. All three will return for Disneyland�s 35 in 1990, and Art Linkletter will be present for Disneyland�s 50th in 2005. Park crowds swell to 30,000 as more than double the invited number of guests enter as people climb fences and walls around the park to get in. Most attractions break down within the first few hours and many women lose the heels of their shoes (yes people dressed up for Disneyland back then) as the asphalt paving on Main Street USA had just been poured and was still soft. Disneyland is deemed a disaster in Anaheim, although the televised grand opening attracted the largest TV audience in history to that date � over 90 million viewers, which in 1955, was almost everyone that had the ability to view television. By September, Disneyland welcomes its 1,000,000th guest. Disneyland not only charged admission for attractions (which would later change to tickets), but there was also a general admission at the front gate, which kept out certain �undesirables.� Disneyland was also located off a major freeway, far from public transportation and the center of Los Angeles, again, limiting access to those able to afford automobiles. It clearly represented a shift in American entertainment from the city center to the surrounding suburbs. 1956 � By October, 5 million people have visited Disneyland. The "D" ticket is introduced this year. The Skyway opens and is the first aerial tramway of its kind in the US. Tom Sawyer Island opens. Other "lands," Edison Square, International Street and Liberty Street were to be located in the backstage area between Main Street USA and Tomorrowland, however they were never completed (Edison Square served as the inspiration for the Carousel of Progress, International Street eventually morphed into World Showcase at Epcot Center, and Liberty Street is essentially the inspiration for Liberty Square in the Florida Magic Kingdom). These ideas would pop up, sometimes even announced to the visiting public with signage, between late 1955 and the early 1960s. 1957 � By December, 10 million people have visited Disneyland. Sleeping Beauty Castle�s interior walkways open. Construction starts on the first park to attempt the Disney �theme� concept. Financial backers get scared, and Magic Mountain in Denver (no association with Magic Mountain outside of Los Angeles), was never completed, although the site of the old park is now Heritage Square in Denver. 1958 � The first poster-sized, large souvenir map of Disneyland is released to the public. Alice in Wonderland opens in Fantasyland. Pacific Ocean Park (POP) in Santa Monica was converted from a small traditional amusement park into a lavish theme park by new owners CBS and the Hollywood Turf Club. Hoping to cash in on the success Disney seemed to have, $16 million was put into the park. While very popular, POP opted for one low cover charge of $2.50 (the POP also stood for Pay One Price). The crowds poured in, but the low entrance fee didn�t allow for proper maintenance of the facility (it was next to the ocean), and allowed �undesirables� to afford entry into the park. The park ultimately failed and closed in 1968. 1959 � The "E" ticket is introduced this year. The experimental Swiss-made Alweg Disneyland Monorail makes its US debut this year. Soviet Premier, Nikita Krushchev, is denied entry into Disneyland. Disneyland introduces the world to the tubular steel roller coaster with the opening of the Matterhorn Bobsleds to go along with the studio�s new movie, Third Man on the Mountain. The Matterhorn is a 1/100 version of the 14,700ft high Swiss Alps peak, and tops out at 147ft. It is the park�s highest point. Besides being the first tubular steel roller coater (Walt originally wanted actual bobsleds, but was convinced that those would prove unsafe with unskilled riders), the Matterhorn was also the first roller coaster to allow the multiple dispatch of trains. Matterhorn contains breaking blocks, and at any time, all of the trains can be stopped without running into each other. This combination of fantasy and technology suits the location of the Matterhorn at the border of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The Tomorrowland side of the ride (there are two bobsled runs inside the Matterhorn), is actually the faster, but in order to keep the two lines more equal in length, this knowledge is withheld from guests by the late 1970s. Arrow Development Company of the USA (later Arrow Dynamics and now owned by S&S Power), created many of the track systems for Disneyland�s early Fantasyland rides. They turned it up a notch with the experimental tubular track for Matterhorn and revolutionized the coaster industry, going on to create run-a-way mine trains for parks around the country, the Corkscrews at Knott�s Berry Farm and Cedar Point, The Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens, Viper at Magic Mountain, Vortex at Kings Island, Demon at both Great America parks and numerous other coasters. The company also created the first modern log flume (El Aserradero at Six Flags Over Texas), which has been built in several theme and amusement parks around the world. A third attempt to duplicate the success of Disneyland, Pleasure Island, opens outside of Boston at a cost of $4 million. The park fails to impress audiences who continue to patronize the traditional amusement parks in the Boston area that provide standard thrill rides instead of themed areas. The park struggles for ten years and closes in 1969 without ever turning a profit. Busch Gardens opens in Tampa on land surrounding the Busch brewery. At this stage it is literally just a garden with plants and birds. 1960 � Freedomland USA, opens in the Bronx New York. Freedomland was ambitious ($33 million), but unfortunately underfunded. It played heavily on US history, and the park was shaped like a giant map of the United States, with sections themed to Old New York, Old Chicago, The Great Plains, San Francisco, The Old Southwest, New Orleans and Satellite City (the Florida "Space Coast"). Although 60,000 people jammed the half-finished park on opening day, the park was an enormous financial failure, leading many to speculate that Disney�s cleanliness and emphasis on family entertainment over thrill rides was a fluke that only worked in Anaheim. In 1964 Freedomland closed. 1961- First Grad Nite party. The Flying Saucers are added to Tomorrowland. In this space-age version of bumper cars, riders actually float on air that is shot up through the floor by giant fan jets. The technology, while exciting, was difficult to execute consistently, and the attraction closed in 1966. The monorail is extended to the Disneyland Hotel, making it the first monorail in the United States to operate over surface streets (Seattle's Alweg Monorail will open in 1962). The Disneyland Hotel expands and becomes Orange County's first high-rise building. Six Flags Over Texas is opened between Dallas and Fort Worth by oil tycoon and real estate developer, Angus Wynne, Jr. (son of Angus Wynne, Sr.). Wynne liked Disney�s family entertainment concept, but was smart enough to realize that Disney�s national-level success was the result of the park�s promotion on television and the synergy created between the park�s attractions and the company�s movies and characters. Wynne, not having movies or a television show made his park for the local residents of the Dallas metropolitan area and the state of Texas, and thus the �regional theme park� was born. The designer was Randall Duell, an architect and set designer for MGM who would go on to design most of the regional theme parks in the United States. The park had six themed areas, each relating to a �flag� that had flown over the state of Texas (Spain, France, Mexico, the Confederacy, The Republic of Texas and USA). The opening cost was modest, only $3 million, but that small sum could be supported by local visitation. The theming was also not as detailed (and not as expensive) as Disney or the other failed theme parks. The park was an instant success, and is still the most visited theme park in Texas. Nearly all of the US�s theme parks follow this regional theme park concept rather than the Disney �destination park� concept. 1962 � Swiss Family Treehouse opens. 1963 � Disneyland introduces the world to audio-animatronic characters with the opening of the Enchanted Tiki Room. The Haunted Mansion is built in Frontierland, although the desired show isn't technologically available at the time. The first log flume, El Aserradero, opens at Six Flags Over Texas. The Arrow Development designed log flume will become the most popular family ride at US theme parks. 1964 � Disney creates the Carousel of Progress (moved to Disneyland in 1967), It�s A Small World (1966) and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (1965) for the World�s Fair in New York. After their run at the fair, they become Disneyland attractions. The Carousel of Progress is later moved to the Magic Kingdom in Florida and replaced with America Sings at Disneyland in 1974. Disneyland�s first death is recorded as a 15 year old stands up on the Matterhorn and falls out. Not a pleasant sight for those standing near the bottom of the waterfall. Universal Studios (later Universal Studios Hollywood) revives its tour of the 1920s and begins charging the public admission. The first of the four SeaWorld parks opens in San Diego. SeaWorld will later be bought by Busch Entertainment, the family branch of the beer company. 1965 � For the 10th Anniversary, a Disneyland Ambassador to the World begins making trips to Japan, Australia, Europe and other parts of the US to meet with leaders and make press appearances. Disney ends discussions with St. Louis to build an indoor theme park near the riverfront between the new Busch Stadium and the planned Gateway Arch (designed by Eero Saarinen). St. Louis is hoping to save its downtown (one of the first urban-redevelopment plans in the country) by incorporating the theme park concept, which is projected to cost between $30 and $50 million. Disney demands that the city pay for the entire project and once the construction costs are cleared, Disney wants 100% of the profits. The city backs out of the deal. Busch Gardens opens the �Serengeti Plain,� the first zoo to have animals roaming freely. By 1968 it is Florida�s most popular tourist attraction. It will become a full theme park in 1975, calling itself The Dark Continent Busch Gardens (then Busch Gardens The Dark Continent, then Busch Gardens, then Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and finally, Busch Gardens Africa). 1966 � New Orleans Square, the first new �land,� opens at a cost of $18 million at the bend of the Rivers of America in what used to be part of Frontierland. A young man is crushed to death on by the monorail as he tries to sneak into the park by climbing its track during Grad Night. Not a pleasant sight for the high school graduates. Walt Disney dies in December, his older brother and business partner, Roy Disney becomes CEO. Space Mountain first appears on the large, poster-sized, souvenir map of Disneyland. Space Mountain will not open however until 1977. Public is first made aware of plans for �Disneyland East,� for which Walt Disney Productions has been secretly buying land in Central Florida under various names to avoid a sudden increase in the price per acre. Disneyland East�s name is later changed to Disney World. Disney formally announces plans to build a ski resort at Mineral King, adjacent to Sequoia National Park. The site was selected after looking at other now famous ski areas such as Aspen and Mammoth. However, plans never materialized due to a ten year legal battle over the size of Disney�s project. Protesters marched on Disneyland, and in 1978, the Mineral King Valley was added to Sequoia, making it unavailable for development. Busch Gardens opens in Van Nuys surrounding the Busch Brewery. The park closes in 1986. 1967 � Pirates of the Caribbean makes its debut in New Orleans Square, and immediately becomes Disneyland�s most popular attraction, and is the most popular dark ride in the world, with an abbreviated version in Florida, a full-length version in Tokyo, a reverse-story line version in Paris, and soon to be modified, higher-thrill version in Hong Kong. One of the attraction's most popular effects, the two chute hills, actually served a very practical purpose. The actual ride building for Pirates is located beyond the park's berm. In order to transport guests to the ride building, they would have to be lowered underneath the railroad tracks. The mundane task was made exciting by incorporating two downward hills near the beginning of the ride (this is the same reason the Haunted Mansion uses its elevators - imagineers just took the opportunity to make it part of the attraction even though its primary purpose is a practical one). In the mid-1980s, the attraction comes under attack by women�s rights groups that complain of the theme song�s rowdy rape, pillage, hijack and plunder lyrics and several scenes of the attraction that depict men chasing women. Some of the scenes are altered to make the attraction more politically correct. Club 33, a secret club located above Pirates also opens this year. Tomorrowland is revamped at a cost of $23 million. A teenage boy is crushed to death by the PeopleMover as he tries to jump between cars and falls between them. He is torn to pieces by the ride�s cog system. Not a pleasant thing for employees to have to clean up. Six Flags Over Texas and Arrow Development team up again to create the Run-A-Way Mine Train family roller coaster, based on the Matterhorn technology, which will become a standard in theme parks across the country. Six Flags Over Georgia opens outside of Atlanta, becoming the first time a theme park �chain� is established. Theme parks as suburban (or exurban) ventures is firmly established as the idea of an urban park is not attempted again. 1968 � Knott�s Berry Farm begins charging admission to the �Ghost Town� that had joined the chicken dinner restaurant that Cordelia Knott operated since 1934 next to her husband Walter Knott�s boysenberry farm. Ghost Town had opened in 1940 as something Walter built to entertain guests waiting for a table in the restaurant. The chicken dinner restaurant is currently the largest restaurant serving chicken as its main course. 1969 � The Haunted Mansion finally opens in what is now New Orleans Square, becoming the most technologically advanced attraction of the time. Originally conceived as a walk-through attraction, Disney held out until a continuously moving transportation system (named the "omnicar" or "omnimover") could be developed for the ride that never had to stop - even when loading. These "doom buggies" would help control the number of guests per hour, keeping the rate high. At last report, there are still only 999 ghosts within the mansion, and they are still looking for number 1000. Any takers? 1970 � By June, 100 million people have visited Disneyland. Yippies (Youth International Party members) invaded Disneyland and cause for early park closure. Police were called in to round up the trouble-makers that took over Tom Sawyer Island and declared it theirs by raising a Viet Cong flag, filled the now-closed Adventure Through Inner-Space attraction with Marijuana smoke, lit trash cans on fire, and tried to �liberate� Minnie Mouse, whom they saw as oppressed because of her female gender and subordinate role to Mickey. A second SeaWorld park opens in Ohio. In 2001, this SeaWorld will be sold to Six Flags. 1971 � Walt Disney World in Florida opens as the first full-scale vacation resort, and the largest privately funded project on earth. It opens with one theme park (the Disneyland inspired Magic Kingdom), two resort hotels and 43 square miles of recreational land and water space (equal to twice the size of Manhattan or equal to the size of the entire city of San Francisco). Walt Disney World now attracts nearly 40 million people annually, and ranks as the fourth most visited �nation� in the world, falling between the United States and Italy. The �Walt� was added to the name of the �Vacation Kingdom of the World� in honor of Roy Disney�s younger brother, Walt. Walt�s older brother and the Disney financial genius (to match Walt�s creative genius), Roy Disney, dies in December. Don Tatum takes over as CEO. Magic Mountain (originally owned in part by SeaWorld, later purchased by Six Flags and renamed Six Flags Magic Mountain) opens in the northern suburbs on Los Angeles. The park struggles for several years due to bad design and underfunding. Although it began as a family park, by the late 1970s, it relies mainly on thrill rides to attract an audience. The third and final of the three original Angus Wynne Six Flags parks (Six Flags Over Mid-America, now Six Flags St. Louis) opens in St. Louis. It comes with the now signature Six Flags rides, a log flume and a run-a-way mine train. All other Six Flags parks are parks the company purchased after being opened (and proven unsuccessful) by someone else. 1972 � Bear Country (later re-named Critter Country) becomes Disneyland�s seventh themed land, anchored by the Country Bear Jamboree, a huge hit in Florida that never manages to totally take off in California. The highly successful Main Street Electrical Parade debuts this year. Kings Island opens outside of Cincinnati by Taft Broadcasting Company (Hanna Barbera cartoons). Up to this point, theme parks had, like Disney, focused on family rides and small roller coasters like run-a-way mine trains (that used the tubular steel track pioneered on the Matterhorn). Kings Island premiered with its opening, The Racer, a large wooden racing roller coaster designed by coaster veteran, John Allen. The ride was an instant hit, appearing on both the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family, and is credited with beginning the �second golden age of the roller coaster.� After Kings Island, regional theme parks begin to differ substantially from Disneyland by incorporating more thrill rides. 1973 � Disney considered Florida too close to the Caribbean to include its most famous attraction, but after many complaints from Magic Kingdom guests, (a shortened version of) Pirates of the Caribbean opens in Walt Disney World�s Magic Kingdom in an extension of Adventureland called Caribbean Plaza (originally, Thunder Mesa, a huge three-attraction anchor to Frontierland was to be the Florida answer to Pirates, with a mine train, a mule ride and a river-boat ride called the Western River Expedition). Caribbean Plaza so successfully uses the attraction as a guest pull to that section of the park (which translates to dollars spent in nearby shops and restaurants), it wins an architectural design award. A teenager drowns in the Rivers of America surrounding Tom Sawyer Island at Disneyland as he tries to swim across carrying his little brother. Not a nice thing to see from the decks of the Mark Twain. SeaWorld follows Disney to Florida, and opens its third park in Orlando. This will become the most successful sea-life park in the world. 1974 � Disneyland�s first cast member (employee) fatality occurs on America Sings (formerly Carousel of Progress) as a young woman is crushed to death between the walls of the rotating carousel. 1975 � Three teenagers are shot in Tomorrowland in the park�s first reported large-scale gang fight. Space Mountain debuts in the Magic Kingdom in Florida. It has two tracks (Alpha and Omega) and is based closely on Disneyland�s Matterhorn Bobsleds. The attraction is such a huge hit, that a jealous Disneyland immediately begins talks with WED Enterprises (home of Disney�s �imagineers� � the creative people behind all of the attractions) for their own version of the ride. On the success of the Tampa park and Los Angeles park (which would later close), Busch tries its luck in a non-Disney part of the country. The Old Country Busch Gardens (later Busch Gardens The Old Country, then Busch Gardens, then Busch Gardens Williamsburg and finally Busch Gardens Europe) opens in 1975 on land surrounding the Williamsburg brewery. Also in Virginia, Kings Dominion opens in Richmond following the success of Kings Island. The parks will later be purchased by Paramount. Knott�s Berry Farm opens the Corkscrew designed by Arrow Development, as the first successful upside-down roller coaster. 1976 � 150 million people have visited Disneyland. The Jungle Cruise, one of the park's original attractions, is given seven new scenes. The two Marriott�s Great America parks open outside of Chicago and San Jose for the American Bicentennial. Unlike other chain parks, which vary slightly from location to location, the two Marriott parks are identical to the last detail, with a third Washington, DC park planned that is never realized. The two theme parks, designed by Randall Duell and Associates, represent the current state-of-the-art in the industry and are immediately successful. However, Marriott underestimates the reinvestment and maintenance expenditures and opts out of the theme park business by the early 1980s, selling the Chicago park to Six Flags and the San Jose park to the City of Santa Clara (eventually bought by Paramount). Magic Mountain opens the Schwarzkopt/INTAMIN (INTernational AMusement INstallations) designed Great American Revolution (later renamed Revoluc�on and then Revolution) as the world�s first vertical looping roller coaster (the loops on the Corkscrew are barrel rolls and not vertical loops). Disney will not employ upside-down elements in one of its coasters until 1995 when Space Mountain � De la Terre � la Lune opens in Disneyland Paris. Card Walker becomes Disney CEO. 1977 � Space Mountain opens in a new Tomorrowland, and astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard are among the first riders. The $20 million Space Mountain becomes the parks� most popular attraction and is the second time Disneyland has copied an attraction that debuted in Florida, although it is significantly different due to the Florida version�s similarity to Matterhorn and the limited space within Disneyland (Disneyland�s version is only 118ft high while the Magic Kingdom version is 164ft high). The Disneyland version also has only one track inside. 1978 � Disneyland celebrates Mickey Mouse�s 50th birthday. 91,000+ guests cram the park�s 80 acres to be part of the mouse�s birthday. Matterhorn is given an extensive overhaul. A new computer system, new tandem bobsleds and the inside is made to look like snow (instead of showing the steal beams that held up the mountain). Most significantly, the abominable snowman makes his debut. 1979 � Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opens in Frontierland at a cost of $40 million, replacing the Mine Train through Nature�s Wonderland. Some of the Mine Train�s buildings are kept as the set for the mining town in the Big Thunder Mountain attraction. The 104ft high California version is based on the �hoodoo� rock formations of Bryce Canyon, Utah. There are six trains that run on Big Thunder (although not all at once), and they have some pretty clever names. The names are: U.R. Courageous, I.M. Brave, I.M. Bold, U.R. Fearless, I.B. Hearty and U.R. Daring. The ride is seen as a "changing of the guard" at Disneyland. Old, original imagineer, Marc Davis (Pirates, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Carousel of Progress, Mr. Lincoln, Tiki Room, etc.) lost out on his greatest attraction concept, Thunder Mesa, to young, up-and-coming imgineer, Tony Baxter. Baxter's hipper, more exciting mine train pushed him to the front of Disney imagineering, and while the ride was being built, Davis retired from Disney in 1978 (various scenes and characters from the Western River Expedition would later pop up in Epcot Center pavilions, World of Motion and The Land - seamlessly woven into the storylines of those rides). Teresa Salcedo is the first baby born at Disneyland. 1980 � Disneyland turns 25. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opens in the Magic Kingdom, and is similar to Disneyland�s version, although the rock formations are based on those of Monument Valley, Utah, giving the attraction an entirely different appearance. This is the only surviving piece of the never-built Thunder Mesa. The western-themed, Pirate's-like Western River Expedition never materialized, the pack mule ride was not created in Florida, and the mine train portion of Thunder Mesa was given a high-speed upgrade and turned into Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Disney imagineers love to throw in references to things that never happened (but should have), and not only does Thunder Mountain sounds a lot like Thunder Mesa, but in the Paris park, the boat docks in Frontierland are called Thunder Mesa landing (even though there is no Thunder Mesa in the park). The PeopleMover strikes again, as another teen is killed in the cog system while trying to jump between cars. Again, messy clean-up for employees. 1981 � 200 million people have visited Disneyland. 1982 � The all-inclusive Disneyland Passport ($12 for a one-day passport) is introduced, and the A-E tickets are discontinued. The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT � later changed to Epcot) opens in Walt Disney World a few miles from the Magic Kingdom, making it the first time a vacation destination has contained two separately gated theme parks. A new monorail is built connecting the Magic Kingdom resort area to Epcot, giving Walt Disney World more monorail miles than any other location on earth. This �adult� theme park has no Mickey Mouse (that is later changed) and serves alcohol � another first for Disney. EPCOT cost over $1 billion, making it the largest privately funded project in the world. 1983 � The new Fantasyland opens at Disneyland, changing the appearance from the fantasy faire type look to that reminiscent of a European village. Pinocchio's Daring Journey is new with this renovation. Tokyo Disneyland opens and within a year becomes the world�s most visited theme park, routinely out pulling the Magic Kingdom in Florida, which had passed the original Disneyland in annual attendance by 1972. Japanese tourism to the original Disneyland actually increases rather than decreases. Another teen is killed by drowning in the Rivers of America. Walt Disney's son-in-law, Ron Miller, becomes Disney CEO. 1984 � Michael Eisner comes on board as CEO, and begins an aggressive increasing of park admission prices, attempting to put them on scale with Broadway tickets, which commonly went for $50. One-day passports to Disneyland are now $56, having met and surpassed Michael Eisner�s goal. A teen unbuckles her seatbelt for an extra thrill on the Matterhorn, and is thrown from the bobsled. She lands on a lower track, still alive, but is killed by a bobsled that hits her. Rude jolt for those riding that were smart enough to keep their seatbelts on.   1985 - Until now, Disneyland has been closed certain days of the week during spring, fall and winter (always on Monday and sometimes also on Tuesday). This year marks the introduction of year-round, 365 day operation. The Magic Kingdom in Florida (and Epcot Center) have always had year-round operation. 1986 � Captain Eo, the 3-D, musical adventure starring Michael Jackson and Angelica Houston, opens in the specially created Magic Eye Theatre in Tomorrowland. The attraction had opened just six days earlier in the Journey Into Imagination pavilion at EPCOT Center in Florida. At over $1 million a minute, the film is the most expensive film per minute made at the time. Captain Eo closes in 1997. 1987 �Star Tours opens for the 10th anniversary of Star Wars, and is the first time a major Disneyland movie-based attraction is based on a non-Disney movie. Regardless, it becomes a major hit with park guests. A gang member is shot to death by a rival gang member in Tomorrowland and becomes the park�s first gang-related death. 1988 � The Walt Disney Company (formerly Walt Disney Productions) purchases the neighboring Disneyland Hotel, which much of the public already thought Disney owned. This is the first hotel property Disney owns in California. Space Mountain opens at Tokyo Disneyland and is a duplicate of the Disneyland version, not the Magic Kingdom version. The last and largest of the four SeaWorld parks opens in San Antonio. 1989 � 300 million people have visited Disneyland. Splash Mountain opens in Critter Country as the fourth and smallest (87ft high) peak in Disneyland�s mountain range (east to west, Space Mountain, Matterhorn Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain). Many of the characters from the recently removed America Sings in Tomorrowland end up as �extras� in Splash Mountain. The cameras at the top of Splash Mountain�s drop routinely capture women pulling up their shirts, and in the late 1990s, a website called Flash Mountain, created by former Disneyland cast members, pops up and displays several of the photos.  Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World, becoming its third gated theme park. It is a strategic move by Eisner designed to prevent visitors from leaving Walt Disney World to go to Universal Studios Florida, set to open in 1990. It works, and Disney-MGM Studios outdraws Universal Studios each year. 1990 � Disney is anxious to expand it presence in Southern California and capture more days of visitation by tourists. Plans are announced for Port Disney in Long Beach, which will include five resort hotels and the DisneySea theme park. The idea is eventually scrapped, but remnants of DisneySea and Port Disney appear later in Tokyo. Universal Studios Florida opens in Orlando and becomes Florida�s second most popular tourist attraction. 1991 � Plans are announced for a new �Disneyland Resort� that will include a new theme park, Westcot Center (the West coast version of Epcot Center). Westcot is eventually dropped, but Disney�s California Adventure theme park now stands on the proposed Westcot site. 1992 � Fantasmic! debuts on the Rivers of America in Frontierland at a cost of $30 millioin. Euro-Disney (later re-named Disneyland Paris), opens in Marne-la-Valle. While Tokyo Disneyland is essentially based on copies of Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom attractions (even though the Japanese were lead to believe that they were copies of Disneyland attractions), the French park was almost entirely re-designed from scratch, making it much more expensive. Unlike Tokyo, which was a run-a-way success, Euro-Disney struggles for years to turn a profit. Major cultural issues surround the park as Europeans react negatively to many of the Disney-ized versions of what are traditional European stories folk tales (Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, etc.). Profit estimates for restaurants were based on American dining patterns (an average of only 45 minutes), so tables turned over several times per day. French dining habits of two to three hours greatly reduced the money typically made on food. Similarly, American souvenir buying patters mean a push for anything Disney (Americans spend on average $250 per day at Walt Disney World), where-as the French were almost entirely uninterested in shirts with a Mickey Mouse on them. Splash Mountain opens in the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom with re-design �logs� so that riders sit side-by-side, rather than toboggan-style as at Disneyland. 1993 � Mickey�s Toontown opens as an extension of Fantasyland. 1994 � Evil Tower U R Doomed! The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opens in Disney-MGM Studios. The haunted hotel's elevator drops riders thirteen stories (of course) and features a drop sequence that is programmable and altered over the years. The town of Celebration is founded at Walt Disney World as an example of New Urbanism/Neo-Traditionalism, and marks the first time people can actually live full-time on Disney property. Originally Walt wanted EPCOT to be an actual city, but after his death, the Disney board opted to build a Disneyland like theme park on the Florida property, which they figured would be more financially sound. The EPCOT Center that opened in 1982 kept the original name, but was entirely different on concept to what Walt imagined. Two other cities have been founded on Walt Disney World property (Lake Buena Vista � where the Hotel Plaza is located off of I-4, and Reedy Creek � located more north on the property now, but originally located where Celebration stands), but the general public is not allowed residential access to either of these towns. Disney officially announces its plans to cancel the construction of Disney�s America in Virginia, outside of Washington. This theme park, based on America�s history, met with fierce opposition of area residents that worried of Disney�s effect on historic battlegrounds in the area. 1995 � Beware the eyes of Mara! The Indiana Jones Adventure opens in Adventureland as the most technologically advanced dark ride in a theme park. The queue of this attraction is also very well themed, with interactive elements that respond if guests pull ropes or push certain stones, much like in the Indiana Jones movies. There are actually three separate ride paths in the attraction, and the ride vehicles are capable of over 160,000 individual movements, making each trip unique. Disney buys ABC, the network that years ago first aired the Disneyland television show. Space Mountain � De la Terre � la Lune, opens at Disneyland Paris, and is the first Space Mountain to turn riders upside-down. It is also the first roller coaster to have a soundtrack. The ride is designed by Vekoma of the Netherlands. 1996 � Space Mountain is given a soundtrack to approximate the technology in Paris. The wireless-type technology wasn�t great in 1996, and it never quite works and not all rockets are consistently able to receive sound. 1997 � The last original cast member (Disney employee) from 1955 retires. 1998 � Tomorrowland is once again remade. Space Mountain is re-painted in rusts, and browns to match the new color scheme. Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World, becoming the fourth gated theme park in an attempt to block visitors from going to Busch Gardens in Tampa, which has an animal/safari theme. Initially water mammals such as killer whales are to be included to compete directly with Sea World, but animal rights activists protest, and the plans are dropped. The Animal Kingdom Lodge becomes the first resort hotel to be located inside a Disney theme park. The Sailing Ship Columbia on the Rivers of America is responsible for the first death in the park that is determined to be the fault of Disneyland, not the patron. A metal cleat is torn from the ship and strikes three guests in the head, killing one of them. Disneyland�s policy of restricting the entry of outside medical help (to avoid frightening guests) is considered part of the reason the young man died (he was still alive after being struck by the cleat). DisneyQuest, interactive indoor theme park, opens at Downtown Disney Westside in Florida. Although this is the first of 20 to 30 planned locations, the only other location to open is in Chicago in 1999. The Chicago location closes in 2001. 1999 � Fastpass premiers at Disneyland in an effort to deal with the park�s number one guest complaint � long lines. In taking a cue from the movie industry, the free Fastpass service assigns guests specific times to return to an attraction and ride without waiting in line. Fastpass is designed to prevent people from standing in line since while they are in line, they are not walking around the park spending money on souvenirs and food. As it is introduced on Pirates of the Caribbean and the Indiana Jones Adventure, it proves to work almost too well and restaurants in Adventureland and New Orleans Square are swamped with guests, just as Disneyland expected. Frontierland is called in to help with the problem, and a new two-story dining area is built to take the overflow from Adventureland and New Orleans Square. Radio Disney opens in Tomorrowland. Universal Studios Florida opens a second theme park, Islands of Adventure, to compete directly with Disney. The two are re-named Universal Studios Escape, which confuses guests. The name is changed back to Universal Studios Florida (with the movie studio theme park simply called, Universal Studios). 2001 � Disney�s California Adventure opens in what used to be the Disneyland parking lot, to become the second gated theme park at the newly re-named Disneyland Resort (Disneyland is now often referred to as Disneyland Park "Where the Magic Began" to avoid confusion). The Disneyland sign is changed. Fastpass is set up on all major attractions, and proves almost too successful, allowing guests to finish the park by mid-afternoon. Instead of enjoying not having to wait in lines, guests now complain that the new park does not have a day�s worth of entertainment. Attendance is less than expected, although it still manages to beat out every other park in California except Disneyland. California Adventure serves its purpose and keeps many guests from leaving Disney property to visit Universal Studios Hollywood or Knott�s Berry Farm. Downtown Disney entertainment area opens to compete with Universal Studio�s CityWalk. The Grand Californian resort hotel is located within California Adventure. The entire creation of the Disneyland Resort costs $1.5 billion, partly paid for by the City of Anaheim, making it the largest public-private venture in US history. Tokyo DisneySea opens at the newly re-named Tokyo Disneyland Resort, becoming its second gated theme park. Tokyo DisneySea breaks several industry records, being the park to hit the 1,000,000 guests mark the quickest (less than a month), being the park to hit the 10,000,000 guests mark the quickest (in less than nine months) and being the park to have the highest first year attendance ever (13 million guests). In an effort to help attendance at Disney�s California Adventure and keep people in the park later in the day (mainly for dinner, the most expensive meal of the day), the Main Street Electrical Parade, which had been operating in Tokyo Disneyland, returns to California Adventure. Universal Studios Japan opens in Osaka and becomes the most successful of the Universal movie theme parks. 2002 � The Walt Disney Studios theme park opens at the Disneyland Paris Resort and quickly becomes the company's least attended theme park, attracting fewer than three million guests its first year. Disneyland Paris continues to have financial trouble, having spent hundreds of millions on the new park. 2003 � Disneyland is found responsible for another death (the second time in the park�s history) as a young man is killed during the derailment of a train on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Pirates of the Caribbean becomes a successful movie, with many scenes taken directly from the Disneyland attraction. It marks the first time a theme park attraction has generated a successful film (rather than the other way around) and critics and audiences applaud. The success of the film will lead to sequels in 2006, 2007 and 2011 (with more planned). Disneyland airspace is declared a no-fly zone. 2004 � 500 million people have visited Disneyland. Tower of Terror debuts in California Adventure, in a somewhat altered version from the original (it contains one less scene and lacks the horizontal movement of the Florida version). While the ride proves successful, it isn't the attendance windfall expected, and in one of those oddities of west vs. east, it never becomes as popular as it did in Florida (perhaps because of the skimping on certain scenes and effects mentioned above). Rumors of Universal�s Shanghai theme park being shelved crop up and the company finally admits in 2005 that it failed to receive government approval for the Shanghai park. Industry experts expect that Shanghai wants a top-notch theme park and is holding out for Disney. 2005 � Disney blogger and unofficial tour-giver, Jim Hill, is finally escorted out of Disneyland and asked not to return. Hill had been conducting his unofficial tours of the park for years, but in early 2005, three women who had signed up for an official Disney tour ended up in Hill�s group by mistake. They complained to Disneyland officials, and Disneyland promptly put an end to Hill�s work (he charged $25 per person). Disneyland begins its year-long 50th Anniversary Celebration. Space Mountain is completely re-tracked, re-painted white, and re-opens with a new soundtrack (that works) and new special effects. Hong Kong Disneyland is set to open in September, with a press day occurring in July. Much of Hong Kong Disneyland ($3.6 billion) is based on the original Disneyland, which will visually make it different from its sister in Tokyo, although many of the Hong Kong attractions are completely unique in their design. Each of the Disney theme parks around the world prepare to honor the original with new attractions, special festivities and extended operating hours. Some of the most anticipated new attractions are Raging Spirits, a new roller coaster at Tokyo DisneySea and Space Mountain: Mission II at Disneyland Paris. Virtual Magic Kingdom, interactive online game, debuts. Disney officially announces its plans for the long rumored park in Shanghai. The park is set to open in 2012 and the Shanghai property will be approximately three times the size of Hong Kong Disneyland. Six Flags, Inc., operators of more theme parks than any other company, put themselves up for sale and announce that they are over $2 billion in debt. Behind the Magic: 50 Years of Disneyland opens at the Henry Ford in September. The exhibit is planned to tour the US after its debut in Michigan. Robert Iger takes over as Disney CEO.  2006 - Rumors of new parks surface in India and Brazil, and continue for Shanghai. Chinese New Year celebrations force the closing of the gates at Hong Kong Disneyland (the park is filled to capacity). Angry visitors storm the gates and many force their way in, even past top security. Pirates of the Caribbean is taken offline in both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom as the characters for Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa are added to the attractions' storylines. Pirates will re-open in both parks in time for the release of the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie (if you want to ride the ride in the original form, you can still do so in Tokyo and Paris - Hong Kong has planned a very different version of the attraction to open later). The storyline is changed slightly from the original, and now Barbossa is in a race with Jack to find the treasure. Without a great deal of controversy from Disney "purists," Pirates re-opens with a star-studded event at Disneyland that is combined with the premier screening of the new movie (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) on a giant screen set up in the park. It appears the new version of the attraction is a hit, with the movie breaking all box-office records. It has the largest three day opening in history ($132 million, passing Spiderman's $114 million), it's the first movie to hit $100 million in only two days, it also sells more tickets than any other movie has in a three day period. By the end of ten days, it's over the quarter billion mark at approximately $268 million, another record. By the fourth week, Pirates has already become the biggest grossing Disney film in history, pulling in $358  million, passing the Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo's $340 million, which had been Disney's best. While fans know that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (the speculated title, but not yet confirmed by Disney) is already in filming (Rolling Stone Keith Richards will have an appearance) for a Memorial Day 2007 release, rumors begin of talks between Disney and Johnny Depp for a Pirates 4. References to the famous attraction were far fewer in the second film (most notably in the swamp scene - which is completely absent in the Florida version of the ride, so east coast fans probably didn't pick that up at all). The third film will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the ride - expect the waterfall drops to make an appearance in this film as the "end of the world." At Animal Kingdom, the much-anticipated Expedition Everest opens, adding to Disney's mountain range of roller coasters. This is the single most-expensive attraction ever built at Walt Disney World, and it contains a reverse switch-back section and features a scary run-in with the Yeti (to go along with the ride, Yeti Vision is launched on the Disney website). The stand out attraction at Disney's California Adventure has always been Soarin' Over California, and this year a clone of the ride makes its debut at Epcot Center as Soarin' (while the ride is the same, it is decide to drop the "Over California" for the east coast version of the ride). Speaking of "over," Six Flags continues to restructure and sell properties. It also announces that it will focus more on family and characters (Warner Bros.) to create an atmosphere at the parks less centered on teens and thrill rides. 2007 - Disneyland prepares for the debut of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End with a make-over of Tom Sawyer Island. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End opens with the largest Memorial Day weekend take of any film in history ($152 million) with the largest launch of any film in history (4,362 theatres). Still, the film falls a bit short of the actual three-day weekend numbers. The film had early openings on Thursday (officially before the weekend), which consequently may have hurt the film in setting an official record the way Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest did last year. All said and done, the three-day tally was $115 million, making it the fourth largest film opening in history behind Spider-Man 3 ($151 million), Pirates 2 ($136 million) and Shrek 3 ($122 million). The Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opens at Disneyland, marrying the long-closed, classic Submarine Voyage with one of Disney's most popular films. This is the third and most elaborate Nemo attraction, following the Nemo lay over of The Living Seas at Epcot (to become The Seas with Nemo and Friends in October 2006) and Finding Nemo - The Musical at Animal Kingdom, which opened in January. DisneyToon Studios is merged into Disney Animation with the removal of its president. This follows the Disney purchase of Pixar (for about $7.5 billion) in stock to make Pixar head, Steve Jobs of Apple, a board member and Disney's largest stock holder. Jobs ends DisneyToon's straight-to-DVD sequels (Lion King 1 �, Bambi II) saying that the sequels are "embarrassing." Walt Disney World sets a new theme park record by raising the gate prices at all four of its theme parks to $71. Universal Florida, SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa are expected to follow suit.

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On which sea does Croatia stand?

What does BRAC stand for? We've got 24 definitions for BRAC » What does BRAC stand for? What does BRAC mean? This page is about the various possible meanings of the acronym, abbreviation, shorthand or slang term: BRAC. Filter by: What does BRAC mean? Brač Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of 396 square kilometres, making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is 5 to 13 km wide. The island's tallest peak, Vidova gora, or Mount St. Vid, stands at 778 m, making it the highest island point in the Adriatic. The island has a population of 14,436, living in numerous settlements, ranging from the main town Supetar, with more than 3,300 inhabitants, to Murvica, where less than two dozen people live. Bol Airport on Brač is the largest airport of all islands surrounding Split. Couldn't find the full form or full meaning of BRAC? Maybe you were looking for one of these abbreviations: Discuss these BRAC abbreviations with the community: Know what is BRAC ? Got another good explanation for BRAC ? Don't keep it to yourself! Add it HERE! Still can't find the acronym definition you were looking for? Use our Power Search technology to look for more unique definitions from across the web! Search the web

Adriatic Sea

What is the longest river in Portugal, and the fifth longest in Europe?

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Which French phrase described an innovative movement in the cinema?

Movie History - Filmbug   Movie History Movies developed gradually from a carnival novelty to one of the most important tools of communication and entertainment, and mass media in the 20th century. Motion picture films have had a substantial impact on the arts, technology, and politics. The Birth of Film William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, chief engineer with the Edison Laboratories, is credited with the invention of a practicable form of celluloid strip containing a sequence of images, the basis of a method of photographing and projecting moving images. Celluloid blocks were thinly sliced, the slice marks were then removed with heated pressure plates. After this, the celluloid strips were coated with a photosensitive gelatin emulsion. In 1893 at the Chicago World Fair Thomas Edison introduced to the public two pioneering inventions based on this innovation: the Kinetograph, the first practical moving picture camera, and the Kinetoscope. The latter was a cabinet in which a continuous loop of Dickson's celluloid film (powered by an electric motor) was backlit by an incandescent lamp and seen through a magnifying lens. The spectator neared an eye piece. Kinetoscope parlours were supplied with fifty-foot film snippets photographed by Dickson, in Edison's "Black Maria" studio. These sequences recorded mundane events (such as Fred Ott's Sneeze, 1894) as well as entertainment acts like acrobats, music hall performers and boxing demonstrations. Kinetoscope parlors soon spread successfully to Europe. Edison, however, never attempted to patent these instruments on the other side of the Atlantic, since they relied so greatly on previous experiments and innovations from Britain and Europe. This enabled the development of imitations, such as the camera devised by British electrician and scientific instrument maker Robert William Paul and his partner Birt Acres. Paul had the idea of displaying moving pictures for group audiences, rather than just to individual viewers, and invented a film projector, giving his first public showing in 1895. At about the same time, in France, Auguste and Louis Lumi�re invented the cinematograph, a portable, three-in-one device: camera, printer, and projector. In late 1895 in Paris, father Antoine Lumi�re began exhibitions of projected films before the paying public, beginning the general conversion of the medium to projection (Cook, 1990). They quickly became Europe's main producers with their actualit�s like Workers Leaving the Lumi�re Factory and comic vignettes like The Sprinkler Sprinkled (both 1895). Even Edison, initially dismissive of projection, joined the trend with the Vitascope within less than six months. The first public motion-picture film presentation in Europe, though, belongs to Max and Emil Skladanowsky of Berlin, who projected with their apparatus "Bioscop", a flickerfree duplex construction, November 1 through 31, 1895. Still older, May, 1895, was Lauste in the U. S. A. with an Eidoloscope which he devised for the Latham family. The first public screening of film ever is due to Jean Aim� "Acme" Le Roy, a French photographer. On February 5, 1894, his 40th birthday, he presented his "Marvellous Cinematograph" to a group of around twenty show business men in New York City. The movies of the time were seen mostly via temporary storefront spaces and traveling exhibitors or as acts in vaudeville programs. A film could be under a minute long and would usually present a single scene, authentic or staged, of everyday life, a public event, a sporting event or slapstick. There was little to no cinematic technique: no editing and usually no camera movement, and flat, stagey compositions. But the novelty of realistically moving photographs was enough for a motion picture industry to mushroom before the end of the century, in countries around the world. The Silent Era Inventors and producers had tried from the very beginnings of moving pictures to marry the image with synchronous sound, but no practical method was devised until the late 1920s. Thus, for the first thirty years of their history, movies were more or less silent, although accompanied by live musicians and sometimes sound effects, and with dialogue and narration presented in intertitles. Early developments in technique, form and business Paris stage magician Georges M�li�s began shooting and exhibiting films in 1896. His stock-in-trade became films of fantasy and the bizarre, including A Trip to the Moon (1902), possibly the first movie to portray space travel. He pioneered many of the fundamental special effects techniques used in movies for most of the twentieth century, demonstrating that film had unprecedented power to distort visible reality rather than just faithfully recording it (Cook, 1990). He also led the way in making multi-scene narratives as long as fifteen minutes. Edwin S. Porter, Edison's leading director in these years, pushed forward the sophistication of film editing in works like Life of an American Fireman and the first movie Western, The Great Train Robbery (both 1903). Porter arguably discovered that the basic unit of structure in a film is the shot, rather than the scene (the basic unit of structure in a play). These helped establish the medium as more than a fad and encouraged the increase of nickelodeons, the first permanent movie theaters ("The oldest cinema in the world still in operation today is the Pionier Cinema which opened as the Helios on the 26 September 1909 in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland)" � Guinness World Records). There were 10,000 in the U.S. alone by 1908 (Cook, 1990). The previously anarchic industry increasingly became major business, which encouraged consolidation. The French Path� Fr�res company achieved a dominant position worldwide through methods like control of key patents and ownership of theaters. In the U.S., Edison led the creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company, which achieved a brief, virtual monopoly there, using not just aggressive business tactics but sometimes violent intimidation against independent competitors (Parkinson, 1995). Rise of the feature film and film as art The standard length of a film remained one reel, or about ten to fifteen minutes, through the first decade of the century, partly based on producers' assumptions about the attention spans of their still largely working class audiences. The Australian film The Story of the Kelly Gang (also screened as Ned Kelly and His Gang) is widely regarded as the world's first "feature length" film. Its 80 minute running time was unprecedented when it was released in 1906. In 1906 Dan Barry and Charles Tait of Melbourne produced and directed 'The Story of the Kelly Gang.' It wasn�t until 1911 that countries other than Australia began to make feature films. By this time 16 full length feature films had been made in Australia. Soon Europe created multiple-reel period extravaganzas that were even longer. With international box office successes like Queen Elizabeth (France, 1912), Quo Vadis? (Italy, 1913) and Cabiria (Italy, 1914), the feature film began to replace the short as the cinema's central form. Leading this trend in America was director D.W. Griffith with his historical epics The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). Unprecedented in scale, they also did much to fix the developing codes of editing and visual storytelling that remain the foundation of mainstream film grammar. The former film was also notable as perhaps the first to inspire widespread racial controversy. Along with a boom in high-toned literary adaptations, these trends began to make the movies a respectable diversion for the middle class and gain them recognition as a genuine art form with a secure place in the emerging culture of the twentieth century. In France brothers Lafitte in 1907. created so-called Films d'art. They were supposed to draw the higher classes of society into movie theaters. The more educated classes thought that film was just for uneducated people and preferred traditional theater. Films d'art were theater plays shot with camera and played in movie theaters. People didn't like them and the 'experiment' showed that film has its own expressive language different from theater. Hollywood triumphant Until this point, the cinemas of France and Italy had been the most globally popular and powerful. But the United States was already gaining quickly when World War I (1914-1918) caused a devastating interruption in the European film industries. The American industry, or "Hollywood," as it was becoming known after its new geographical center in California, gained the position it has held, more or less, ever since: movie factory for the world, exporting its product to most countries on earth and controlling the market in many of them. By the 1920s, the U.S. reached what is still its era of greatest-ever output, producing an average of 800 feature films annually, or 82% of the global total (Eyman, 1997). The comedies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the swashbuckling adventures of Douglas Fairbanks and the romances of Clara Bow, to cite just a few examples, made these performers� faces well-known on every continent. The Western visual norm that would become classical continuity editing was developed and exported - although its adoption was slower in some non-Western countries without strong realist traditions in art and drama, such as Japan. This development was contemporary with the growth of the studio system and its greatest publicity method, the star system, which characterized American film for decades to come and provided models for other movie industries. The studios� efficient, top-down control over all stages of their product enabled a new and ever-growing level of lavish production and technical sophistication. At the same time, the system�s commercial regimentation and focus on glamorous escapism discouraged daring and ambition beyond a certain degree, a prime example being the brief but still legendary directing career of the iconoclastic Erich von Stroheim in the late teens and the �20s. World film at the peak of the silents But even now, the dominance of mainstream Hollywood entertainment wasn�t as strong as it would be, and alternatives were still widely seen and influential. In 1915, after a ban was ended on foreign imports in France the early Hollywood fare inspired the birth of the cinematic avant-garde. A group of filmmakers began experimenting with optical and pictorial effects as well as rhythmic editing. The trend became known as French Impressionist Cinema. Germany was America�s strongest competitor. Its most distinctive contribution was the dark, hallucinatory worlds of German Expressionism, which advanced the power of anti-realistic presentation to put internal states of mind onscreen, as well as strongly influenced the emerging horror genre. The newborn Soviet cinema was the most radically innovative. There, the craft of editing, especially, surged forward, going beyond its previous role in advancing a story. Sergei Eisenstein perfected the technique of so-called dialectical or intellectual montage, which strove to make non-linear, often violently clashing, images express ideas and provoke emotional and intellectual reactions in the viewer. Meanwhile, the first feature-length silent film was made in India by Dadasaheb Phalke, considered to be the Father of Indian Cinema. The film was the period piece Raja Harishchandra (1913), and it laid the foundation for a series of period films. By the next decade the output of Indian Cinema was an average of 27 films per year. The cultural avant gardes of a number of countries worked with experimental films, mostly shorts, that completely abandoned linear narrative and embraced abstraction, pure aestheticism and the irrational subconscious, most famously in the early work of Spanish surrealist Luis Bu�uel. In some ways, in fact, this decade marked the first serious split between mainstream, "popular" film and "art" film. But even within the mainstream, refinement was rapid, bringing silent film to what would turn out to be its aesthetic summit. The possibilities of cinematography kept increasing as cameras became more mobile (thanks to new booms and dollies) and film stocks more sensitive and versatile. Screen acting became more of a craft, without its earlier theatrical exaggeration and achieving greater subtlety and psychological realism. As visual eloquence increased, reliance on intertitles decreased; the occasional film, such as F.W. Murnau�s The Last Laugh (Germany, 1926) even eschewed them altogether. Paradoxically, at about this time, the silent cinema period ended. The Sound Era Experimentation with sound film technology, both for recording and playback, was virtually constant throughout the silent era, but the twin problems of accurate synchronization and sufficient amplification had been difficult to overcome (Eyman, 1997). In 1926, Hollywood studio Warner Bros. introduced the "Vitaphone" system, producing short films of live entertainment acts and public figures and adding recorded sound effects and orchestral scores to some of its major features. During late 1927, Warners released The Jazz Singer, which was mostly silent but contained the first synchronized dialogue (and singing) in a feature film. It was a great success, as were follow-ups like Warners' The Lights of New York (1928), the first all-synchronized-sound feature. The early sound-on-disc processes such as Vitaphone were soon superseded by sound-on-film methods like Fox Movietone, DeForest Phonofilm, and RCA Photophone. The trend convinced the largely reluctant industrialists that "talking pictures", or "talkies," were the future. Industry impact of sound The change was remarkably swift. By the end of 1929, Hollywood was almost all-talkie, with several competing sound systems (soon to be standardized). Total changeover was slightly slower in the rest of the world, principally for economic reasons. Cultural reasons were also a factor in countries like China and Japan, where silents co-existed successfully with sound well into the 1930s, indeed producing what would be some of the most revered classics in those countries, like Wu Yonggang's The Goddess (China, 1934) and Yasujiro Ozu's I Was Born, But... (Japan, 1932). But even in Japan, a figure such as the benshi, the live narrator who was a major part of Japanese silent cinema, found his acting career was ending. Sound further tightened the grip of major studios in numerous countries: the vast expense of the transition overwhelmed smaller competitors, while the novelty of sound lured vastly larger audiences for those producers that remained. In the case of the U.S., some historians credit sound with saving the Hollywood studio system in the face of the Great Depression (Parkinson, 1995). Thus began what is now often called "The Golden Age of Hollywood," which refers roughly to the period beginning with the introduction of sound until the late 1940s. The American cinema reached its peak of efficiently manufactured glamour and global appeal during this period. The top actors of the era are now thought of as the classic movie stars, such as Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and the greatest box office draw of the 1930s, child performer Shirley Temple. Creative impact of sound Creatively, however, the rapid transition was a difficult one, and in some ways, film briefly reverted to the conditions of its earliest days. The late '20s were full of static, stagey talkies as artists in front of and behind the camera struggled with the stringent limitations of the early sound equipment and their own uncertainty as to how to utilize the new medium. Many stage performers, directors and writers were introduced to cinema as producers sought personnel experienced in dialogue-based storytelling. Many major silent filmmakers and actors were unable to adjust and found their careers severely curtailed or even ended. This awkward period was fairly short-lived. 1929 was a watershed year: William Wellman with Chinatown Nights and The Man I Love, Rouben Mamoulian with Applause, Alfred Hitchcock with Blackmail (Britain's first sound feature), were among the directors to bring greater fluidity to talkies and experiment with the expressive use of sound (Eyman, 1997). In this, they both benefited from, and pushed further, technical advances in microphones and cameras, and capabilities for editing and post-synchronizing sound (rather than recording all sound directly at the time of filming). Sound films emphasized and benefited different genres more so than silents did. Most obviously, the musical film was born; the first classic-style Hollywood musical was The Broadway Melody (1929) and the form would find its first major creator in choreographer/director Busby Berkeley (42nd Street, 1933, Dames, 1934). In France, avant-garde director Ren� Clair made surreal use of song and dance in comedies like Under the Roofs of Paris (1930) and Le Million (1931). The trend thrived best in India, where the influence of the country's traditional song-and-dance drama made the musical the basic form of most sound movies (Cook, 1990); virtually unnoticed by the Western world for decades, this Indian popular cinema would nevertheless become the world's most prolific. (See also Bollywood.) At this time, American gangster films like Little Caesar and Wellman's The Public Enemy (both 1931) became popular. Dialogue now took precedence over "slapstick" in Hollywood comedies: the fast-paced, witty banter of The Front Page (1931) or It Happened One Night (1934), the sexual double entrendres of Mae West (She Done Him Wrong, 1933) or the often subversively anarchic nonsense talk of the Marx Brothers (Duck Soup, 1933). 1939, a major year for American cinema, brought such films as like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with The Wind. The 1940s: the war and post-war years The desire for wartime propaganda created a renaissance in the film industry in Britain, with realistic war dramas like Forty-Ninth Parallel (1941), Went the Day Well? (1942), The Way Ahead (1944) and Noel Coward and David Lean's celebrated naval film In Which We Serve in 1942 , which won a special Academy Award. These existed alongside more flamboyant films like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946), as well as Laurence Olivier's 1944 film Henry V, based on the Shakespearean history Henry V. The onset of US involvement in WWII also brought a proliferation of movies as both patriotism and propaganda. American propaganda movies included Desperate Journey, Mrs. Miniver, Forever and a Day and Objective Burma. Notable American films from the war years include the anti-Nazi Watch on the Rhine (1943), scripted by Dashiell Hammett; Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Hitchcock's direction of a script by Thornton Wilder; the George M. Cohan biopic, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), starring James Cagney, and the immensely popular Casablanca, with Humphrey Bogart. Bogart would star in 36 films between 1934 and 1942 including John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941), one of the first movies now considered a classic film noir. The strictures of wartime also brought an interest in more fantastical subjects. These included Britain's Gainsborough melodramas (including The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady), and films like Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Heaven Can Wait, I Married a Witch and Blithe Spirit. Val Lewton also produced a series of atmospheric and influential small-budget horror films, some of the more famous examples being Cat People, Isle of the Dead (film) and The Body Snatcher. The decade probably also saw the so-called "women's pictures," such as Now, Voyager, Random Harvest and Mildred Pierce at the peak of their popularity. 1946 saw RKO Radio releasing It's a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra. Soldiers returning from the war would provide the inspiration for films like The Best Years of Our Lives, and many of those in the film industry had served in some capacity during the war. Samuel Fuller's experiences in WWII would influence his largely autobiographical films of later decades such as The Big Red One. The Actor's Studio was founded in October 1947 by Elia Kazan, Robert Lewis, and Cheryl Crawford, and the same year Oskar Fischinger filmed Motion Painting No. 1. In 1943, Ossessione was screened in Italy, marking the beginning of Italian neorealism. Major films of this type during the 1940s included Bicycle Thieves, Rome, Open City, and La Terra Trema. In 1952 Umberto D was released, usually considered the last film of this type. In the late 1940s, in Britain, Ealing Studios embarked on their series of celebrated comedies, including Whisky Galore!, Passport to Pimlico, Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Man in the White Suit, and Carol Reed directed his influential thrillers Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol and The Third Man. David Lean was also rapidly becoming a force in world cinema with Brief Encounter and his Dickens adaptations Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger would experience the best of their creative partnership with films like Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. The 1950s The House Un-American Activities Committee investigated Hollywood in the early 1950s. Protested by the Hollywood Ten before the committee, the hearings resulted in the blacklisting of many actors, writers and directors, including Chayefsky, Charlie Chaplin, and Dalton Trumbo, and many of these fled to Europe, especially the United Kingdom. The Cold War era zeitgeist translated into a type of near-paranoia manifested in themes such as invading armies of evil aliens, (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The War of the Worlds); and communist fifth columnists, (The Manchurian Candidate). During the immediate post-war years the cinematic industry was also threatened by television, and the increasing popularity of the medium meant that some movie theatres would bankrupt and close. The demise of the "studio system" spurred the self-commentary of films like Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). In 1950, the Lettrists avante-gardists caused riots at the Cannes Film Festival, when Isidore Isou's Treatise on Slime and Eternity was screened. After their criticism of Charlie Chaplin and split with the movement, the Ultra-Lettrists continued to cause disruptions when they showed their new hypergraphical techniques. The most notorious film is Guy Debord's Bombs in Favor of DeSade of 1952. Distressed by the increasing number of closed theatres, studios and companies would find new and innovative ways to bring audiences back. These included attempts to literally widen their appeal with new screen formats. Cinemascope, which would remain a 20th Century Fox distinction until 1967 , was announced with 1953's The Robe. VistaVision, Cinerama, boasted a "bigger is better" approach to marketing movies to a dwindling US audience. This resulted in the revival of epic films to take advantage of the new big screen formats. Some of the most successful examples of these Biblical and historical spectaculars include The Ten Commandments (1956), The Vikings (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960) and El Cid (1961). Gimmicks also proliferated to lure in audiences. The fad for 3-D film would last for only two years, 1952-1954, and helped sell House of Wax and Creature from the Black Lagoon. Producer William Castle would tout films featuring "Emergo" "Percepto", the first of a series of gimmicks that would remain popular marketing tools for Castle and others throughout the 1960s. In the U.S., a post-WW2 tendency toward questioning the establishment and societal norms and the early activism of the Civil Rights Movement was reflected in Hollywood films such as Blackboard Jungle (1955), On the Waterfront (1954), Paddy Chayefsky's Marty and Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men (1957). Disney's Sleeping Beauty was released on January 29, 1959 by The Walt Disney Company after nearly a decade in production. Across the globe, the 1950s marked a very productive period for Indian Cinema, with more than 200 films being made. Indian films also gained greater recognition through films like Pather Panchali (1955), from critically acclaimed Academy Award winning director Satyajit Ray. Television began competing seriously with films projected in theatres, but surprisingly it promoted more moviegoing rather than curtailing it. 1960s During the 1960s the studio system in Hollywood declined, because many films were now being made on location in other countries, or using studio facilities abroad, such as Pinewood in England and Cinecitt� in Rome. "Hollywood" movies were still largely aimed at family audiences, and it was often the more old-fashioned films that produced the studios' biggest successes. Productions like Mary Poppins (1964), My Fair Lady (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965) were among the biggest money-makers of the decade. The growth in independent producers and production companies, and the increase in the power of individual actors also contributed to the decline of traditional Hollywood studio production. There was also an increasing awareness of foreign language cinema during this period. During the late 1950s and 1960s the French New Wave directors such as Fran�ois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard produced films such as Les quatre cents coups and Jules et Jim which broke the rules of Hollywood cinema's narrative structure. As well, audiences were becoming aware of Italian films like Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita and the stark dramas of Sweden's Ingmar Bergman. In Britain, the "Free Cinema" of Lindsay Anderson, Tony Richardson and others lead to a group of realistic and innovative dramas including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Kind of Loving and This Sporting Life. Other British films such as Repulsion, Darling, Alfie, Blowup and Georgy Girl (all in 1965-1966) helped to reduce prohibitions sex and nudity on screen, while the casual sex and violence of the James Bond films, beginning with Dr. No in 1962 would render the series popular worldwide. During the 1960s, Ousmane Semb�ne produced several French- and Wolof-language films and became the 'father' of African Cinema. In Latin America the dominance of the "Hollywood" model was challenged by many film makers. Fernando Solanas and Octavio Gettino called for a politically engaged Third Cinema in contrast to Hollywood and the European auteur cinema. In documentary film the sixties saw the blossoming of Direct Cinema, an observational style of film making as well as the advent of more overtly partisan films like In the Year of the Pig about the Vietnam War by Emile de Antonio. By the late 1960s however, Hollywood producers were beginning to create more innovative films such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), and The Wild Bunch (1969). Bonnie and Clyde is often considered the beginning of the so-called New Hollywood. 1970s: The 'New Hollywood' or Post-classical cinema 'The New Hollywood' and 'post-classical cinema' are terms used to describe the period following the decline of the studio system during the 1950s and 1960s and the end of the production code. During the 1970s, filmmakers increasingly depicted explicit sexual content and showed gunfight and battle scenes that included graphic images of bloody deaths. 'Post-classical cinema' is a term used to describe the changing methods of storytelling of the "New Hollywood" producers. The new methods of drama and characterization played upon audience expectations acquired during the classical/Golden Age period: story chronology may be scrambled, storylines may feature unsettling "twist endings", main characters may behave in a morally ambiguous fashion, and the lines between the antagonist and protagonist may be blurred. The beginnings of post-classical storytelling may be seen in 1940s and 1950s film noir movies, in films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and in Hitchcock's Psycho. During the 1970s, a new group of American filmmakers emerged, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Brian de Palma. This coincided with the increasing popularity of the auteur theory in film literature and the media, which posited that a film director's films express their personal vision and creative insights. The development of the auteur style of filmmaking helped to give these directors far greater control over their projects than would have been possible in earlier eras. This led to some great critical and commercial successes, like Coppola's The Godfather films, Spielberg's Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and George Lucas's Star Wars. It also, however, resulted in some failures, including Peter Bogdanovich's At Long Last Love and Michael Cimino's hugely expensive Western epic Heaven's Gate, which helped to bring about the demise of its backer, United Artists. The financial disaster of Heaven's Gate marking the end of the visionary "auteur" directors of the "New Hollywood", who had unrestrained creative and financial freedom to develop films. The phenomenal success in the 1970s of Jaws and Star Wars in particular, led to the rise of the modern "blockbuster". Hollywood studios increasingly focused on producing a smaller number of very large budget films with massive marketing and promotional campaigns. This trend had already been foreshadowed by the commercial success of disaster films such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. During the mid-1970s, more pornographic theatres, euphemistically called "adult cinemas", were established, and the legal production of hardcore pornographic films began. Porn films such as Deep Throat and its star Linda Lovelace became something of a popular culture phenomenon and resulted in a spate of similar sex films. The porn cinemas finally died out during the 1980s, when the popularization of the home VCR and pornography videotapes allowed audiences to watch sex films at home. In the early 1970s, English language audiences became more aware of the new West German cinema, with Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders among its leading exponents. The end of the decade saw the first major international marketing of Australian cinema, as Peter Weir's films Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave and Fred Schepisi's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith gained critical acclaim. In 1979, Australian filmmaker George Miller also garnered international attention for his violent, low-budget action film Mad Max. 1980s: sequels, blockbusters and videotape During the 1980s, audiences began increasingly watching movies on their home VCRs. In the early part of that decade, the movie studios tried legal action to ban home ownership of VCRs as a violation of copyright, which proved unsuccessful. Eventually, the sale and rental of movies on home video became a significant "second venue" for exhibition of films, and an additional source of revenue for the movie companies. The Lucas-Spielberg combine would dominate "Hollywood" cinema for much of the 1980s, and lead to much imitation. Two follow-ups to Star Wars, three to Jaws, and three Indiana Jones films helped to make sequels of successful films more of an expectation than ever before. Lucas also launched THX Ltd, a division of Lucasfilm in 1982, while Spielberg enjoyed one of the decade's greatest successes in E.T. the same year. American independent cinema struggled more during the decade, although Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), and The King of Comedy (1983) helped to establish him as one of the most critically acclaimed American film makers of the era. Also during 1983 Scarface was released, was very profitable and resulted in even greater fame for its leading actor Al Pacino. Probably the most successful film commercially was vended during 1989: Tim Burton's version of Bob Kane's creation, Batman, exceeded box-office records. Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the demented Joker earned him $60,000,000 (the most money an actor has ever made from one film) and it brought Tim Burton and Michael Keaton great fame. British cinema was given a boost during the early 1980s by the arrival of David Puttnam's company Goldcrest Films. The films Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, The Killing Fields and A Room with a View appealed to a "middlebrow" audience which was increasingly being ignored by the major Hollywood studios. While the films of the 1970s had helped to define modern blockbuster motion pictures, the way "Hollywood" released its films would now change. Films, for the most part, would premiere in a wider number of theatres, although, to this day, some movies still premiere using the route of the limited/roadshow release system. Against some expectations, the rise of the multiplex cinema did not allow less mainstream films to be shown, but simply allowed the major blockbusters to be given an even greater number of screenings. However, films that had been overlooked in cinemas were increasingly being given a second chance on home video and later DVD. 1990s: New special effects, independent films, and DVDs The early 1990s saw the development of a commercially successful independent cinema in the United States. Although cinema was increasingly dominated by special-effects films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Titanic (1997), independent films like Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape (1989) and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992) had significant commercial success both at the cinema and on home video. The major studios began to create their own "independent" production companies to finance and produce non-mainstream fare. One of the most successful independents of the 1990s, Miramax Films, was bought by Disney the year before the release of Tarantino's runaway hit Pulp Fiction in 1994. The same year marked the beginning of film and video distribution online. Animated films aimed at family audiences also regained their popularity, with Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. During 1995 the first feature length computer-animated feature, Toy Story, was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Disney. After the success of Toy Story, Disney returned to traditional animation and made three more popular films: The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, and Mulan in 1998. In 1999, Disney released Tarzan, which employed the use of a CGI rendering technique called Deep Canvas. During the late 1990s, another cinematic transition began, from physical film stock to digital cinema technology. Meanwhile DVDs became the new standard for consumer video, replacing VHS tapes. 2000s The documentary film also rose as a commercial genre for perhaps the first time, with the success of films such as March of the Penguins and Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. A new genre was created with Martin Kunert and Eric Manes' Voices of Iraq, when 150 inexpensive DV cameras were distributed across Iraq, transforming ordinary people into collaborative filmmakers. The success of Gladiator lead to a revival of interest in epic cinema. Home theatre systems became increasingly sophisticated, as did some of the special edition DVDs designed to be shown on them. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released on DVD in both the theatrical version and in a special extended version intended only for home cinema audiences. Future: Problems of digital distribution to be overcome -- higher compression, cheaper technology. Content security. Expiration of copyrights, enforcing copyright. The Long Tail One major new development in the early 21st century is the development of systems that make it much easier for regular people to write, shoot, edit and distribute their own movies without the large apparatus of the film industry. This phenomenon and its repercussions are outlined in Chris Anderson's theory, The Long Tail. More 

French New Wave

Which actress is ex-beauty queen Miss Orange County 1976?

Movie History - Filmbug   Movie History Movies developed gradually from a carnival novelty to one of the most important tools of communication and entertainment, and mass media in the 20th century. Motion picture films have had a substantial impact on the arts, technology, and politics. The Birth of Film William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, chief engineer with the Edison Laboratories, is credited with the invention of a practicable form of celluloid strip containing a sequence of images, the basis of a method of photographing and projecting moving images. Celluloid blocks were thinly sliced, the slice marks were then removed with heated pressure plates. After this, the celluloid strips were coated with a photosensitive gelatin emulsion. In 1893 at the Chicago World Fair Thomas Edison introduced to the public two pioneering inventions based on this innovation: the Kinetograph, the first practical moving picture camera, and the Kinetoscope. The latter was a cabinet in which a continuous loop of Dickson's celluloid film (powered by an electric motor) was backlit by an incandescent lamp and seen through a magnifying lens. The spectator neared an eye piece. Kinetoscope parlours were supplied with fifty-foot film snippets photographed by Dickson, in Edison's "Black Maria" studio. These sequences recorded mundane events (such as Fred Ott's Sneeze, 1894) as well as entertainment acts like acrobats, music hall performers and boxing demonstrations. Kinetoscope parlors soon spread successfully to Europe. Edison, however, never attempted to patent these instruments on the other side of the Atlantic, since they relied so greatly on previous experiments and innovations from Britain and Europe. This enabled the development of imitations, such as the camera devised by British electrician and scientific instrument maker Robert William Paul and his partner Birt Acres. Paul had the idea of displaying moving pictures for group audiences, rather than just to individual viewers, and invented a film projector, giving his first public showing in 1895. At about the same time, in France, Auguste and Louis Lumi�re invented the cinematograph, a portable, three-in-one device: camera, printer, and projector. In late 1895 in Paris, father Antoine Lumi�re began exhibitions of projected films before the paying public, beginning the general conversion of the medium to projection (Cook, 1990). They quickly became Europe's main producers with their actualit�s like Workers Leaving the Lumi�re Factory and comic vignettes like The Sprinkler Sprinkled (both 1895). Even Edison, initially dismissive of projection, joined the trend with the Vitascope within less than six months. The first public motion-picture film presentation in Europe, though, belongs to Max and Emil Skladanowsky of Berlin, who projected with their apparatus "Bioscop", a flickerfree duplex construction, November 1 through 31, 1895. Still older, May, 1895, was Lauste in the U. S. A. with an Eidoloscope which he devised for the Latham family. The first public screening of film ever is due to Jean Aim� "Acme" Le Roy, a French photographer. On February 5, 1894, his 40th birthday, he presented his "Marvellous Cinematograph" to a group of around twenty show business men in New York City. The movies of the time were seen mostly via temporary storefront spaces and traveling exhibitors or as acts in vaudeville programs. A film could be under a minute long and would usually present a single scene, authentic or staged, of everyday life, a public event, a sporting event or slapstick. There was little to no cinematic technique: no editing and usually no camera movement, and flat, stagey compositions. But the novelty of realistically moving photographs was enough for a motion picture industry to mushroom before the end of the century, in countries around the world. The Silent Era Inventors and producers had tried from the very beginnings of moving pictures to marry the image with synchronous sound, but no practical method was devised until the late 1920s. Thus, for the first thirty years of their history, movies were more or less silent, although accompanied by live musicians and sometimes sound effects, and with dialogue and narration presented in intertitles. Early developments in technique, form and business Paris stage magician Georges M�li�s began shooting and exhibiting films in 1896. His stock-in-trade became films of fantasy and the bizarre, including A Trip to the Moon (1902), possibly the first movie to portray space travel. He pioneered many of the fundamental special effects techniques used in movies for most of the twentieth century, demonstrating that film had unprecedented power to distort visible reality rather than just faithfully recording it (Cook, 1990). He also led the way in making multi-scene narratives as long as fifteen minutes. Edwin S. Porter, Edison's leading director in these years, pushed forward the sophistication of film editing in works like Life of an American Fireman and the first movie Western, The Great Train Robbery (both 1903). Porter arguably discovered that the basic unit of structure in a film is the shot, rather than the scene (the basic unit of structure in a play). These helped establish the medium as more than a fad and encouraged the increase of nickelodeons, the first permanent movie theaters ("The oldest cinema in the world still in operation today is the Pionier Cinema which opened as the Helios on the 26 September 1909 in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland)" � Guinness World Records). There were 10,000 in the U.S. alone by 1908 (Cook, 1990). The previously anarchic industry increasingly became major business, which encouraged consolidation. The French Path� Fr�res company achieved a dominant position worldwide through methods like control of key patents and ownership of theaters. In the U.S., Edison led the creation of the Motion Picture Patents Company, which achieved a brief, virtual monopoly there, using not just aggressive business tactics but sometimes violent intimidation against independent competitors (Parkinson, 1995). Rise of the feature film and film as art The standard length of a film remained one reel, or about ten to fifteen minutes, through the first decade of the century, partly based on producers' assumptions about the attention spans of their still largely working class audiences. The Australian film The Story of the Kelly Gang (also screened as Ned Kelly and His Gang) is widely regarded as the world's first "feature length" film. Its 80 minute running time was unprecedented when it was released in 1906. In 1906 Dan Barry and Charles Tait of Melbourne produced and directed 'The Story of the Kelly Gang.' It wasn�t until 1911 that countries other than Australia began to make feature films. By this time 16 full length feature films had been made in Australia. Soon Europe created multiple-reel period extravaganzas that were even longer. With international box office successes like Queen Elizabeth (France, 1912), Quo Vadis? (Italy, 1913) and Cabiria (Italy, 1914), the feature film began to replace the short as the cinema's central form. Leading this trend in America was director D.W. Griffith with his historical epics The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). Unprecedented in scale, they also did much to fix the developing codes of editing and visual storytelling that remain the foundation of mainstream film grammar. The former film was also notable as perhaps the first to inspire widespread racial controversy. Along with a boom in high-toned literary adaptations, these trends began to make the movies a respectable diversion for the middle class and gain them recognition as a genuine art form with a secure place in the emerging culture of the twentieth century. In France brothers Lafitte in 1907. created so-called Films d'art. They were supposed to draw the higher classes of society into movie theaters. The more educated classes thought that film was just for uneducated people and preferred traditional theater. Films d'art were theater plays shot with camera and played in movie theaters. People didn't like them and the 'experiment' showed that film has its own expressive language different from theater. Hollywood triumphant Until this point, the cinemas of France and Italy had been the most globally popular and powerful. But the United States was already gaining quickly when World War I (1914-1918) caused a devastating interruption in the European film industries. The American industry, or "Hollywood," as it was becoming known after its new geographical center in California, gained the position it has held, more or less, ever since: movie factory for the world, exporting its product to most countries on earth and controlling the market in many of them. By the 1920s, the U.S. reached what is still its era of greatest-ever output, producing an average of 800 feature films annually, or 82% of the global total (Eyman, 1997). The comedies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, the swashbuckling adventures of Douglas Fairbanks and the romances of Clara Bow, to cite just a few examples, made these performers� faces well-known on every continent. The Western visual norm that would become classical continuity editing was developed and exported - although its adoption was slower in some non-Western countries without strong realist traditions in art and drama, such as Japan. This development was contemporary with the growth of the studio system and its greatest publicity method, the star system, which characterized American film for decades to come and provided models for other movie industries. The studios� efficient, top-down control over all stages of their product enabled a new and ever-growing level of lavish production and technical sophistication. At the same time, the system�s commercial regimentation and focus on glamorous escapism discouraged daring and ambition beyond a certain degree, a prime example being the brief but still legendary directing career of the iconoclastic Erich von Stroheim in the late teens and the �20s. World film at the peak of the silents But even now, the dominance of mainstream Hollywood entertainment wasn�t as strong as it would be, and alternatives were still widely seen and influential. In 1915, after a ban was ended on foreign imports in France the early Hollywood fare inspired the birth of the cinematic avant-garde. A group of filmmakers began experimenting with optical and pictorial effects as well as rhythmic editing. The trend became known as French Impressionist Cinema. Germany was America�s strongest competitor. Its most distinctive contribution was the dark, hallucinatory worlds of German Expressionism, which advanced the power of anti-realistic presentation to put internal states of mind onscreen, as well as strongly influenced the emerging horror genre. The newborn Soviet cinema was the most radically innovative. There, the craft of editing, especially, surged forward, going beyond its previous role in advancing a story. Sergei Eisenstein perfected the technique of so-called dialectical or intellectual montage, which strove to make non-linear, often violently clashing, images express ideas and provoke emotional and intellectual reactions in the viewer. Meanwhile, the first feature-length silent film was made in India by Dadasaheb Phalke, considered to be the Father of Indian Cinema. The film was the period piece Raja Harishchandra (1913), and it laid the foundation for a series of period films. By the next decade the output of Indian Cinema was an average of 27 films per year. The cultural avant gardes of a number of countries worked with experimental films, mostly shorts, that completely abandoned linear narrative and embraced abstraction, pure aestheticism and the irrational subconscious, most famously in the early work of Spanish surrealist Luis Bu�uel. In some ways, in fact, this decade marked the first serious split between mainstream, "popular" film and "art" film. But even within the mainstream, refinement was rapid, bringing silent film to what would turn out to be its aesthetic summit. The possibilities of cinematography kept increasing as cameras became more mobile (thanks to new booms and dollies) and film stocks more sensitive and versatile. Screen acting became more of a craft, without its earlier theatrical exaggeration and achieving greater subtlety and psychological realism. As visual eloquence increased, reliance on intertitles decreased; the occasional film, such as F.W. Murnau�s The Last Laugh (Germany, 1926) even eschewed them altogether. Paradoxically, at about this time, the silent cinema period ended. The Sound Era Experimentation with sound film technology, both for recording and playback, was virtually constant throughout the silent era, but the twin problems of accurate synchronization and sufficient amplification had been difficult to overcome (Eyman, 1997). In 1926, Hollywood studio Warner Bros. introduced the "Vitaphone" system, producing short films of live entertainment acts and public figures and adding recorded sound effects and orchestral scores to some of its major features. During late 1927, Warners released The Jazz Singer, which was mostly silent but contained the first synchronized dialogue (and singing) in a feature film. It was a great success, as were follow-ups like Warners' The Lights of New York (1928), the first all-synchronized-sound feature. The early sound-on-disc processes such as Vitaphone were soon superseded by sound-on-film methods like Fox Movietone, DeForest Phonofilm, and RCA Photophone. The trend convinced the largely reluctant industrialists that "talking pictures", or "talkies," were the future. Industry impact of sound The change was remarkably swift. By the end of 1929, Hollywood was almost all-talkie, with several competing sound systems (soon to be standardized). Total changeover was slightly slower in the rest of the world, principally for economic reasons. Cultural reasons were also a factor in countries like China and Japan, where silents co-existed successfully with sound well into the 1930s, indeed producing what would be some of the most revered classics in those countries, like Wu Yonggang's The Goddess (China, 1934) and Yasujiro Ozu's I Was Born, But... (Japan, 1932). But even in Japan, a figure such as the benshi, the live narrator who was a major part of Japanese silent cinema, found his acting career was ending. Sound further tightened the grip of major studios in numerous countries: the vast expense of the transition overwhelmed smaller competitors, while the novelty of sound lured vastly larger audiences for those producers that remained. In the case of the U.S., some historians credit sound with saving the Hollywood studio system in the face of the Great Depression (Parkinson, 1995). Thus began what is now often called "The Golden Age of Hollywood," which refers roughly to the period beginning with the introduction of sound until the late 1940s. The American cinema reached its peak of efficiently manufactured glamour and global appeal during this period. The top actors of the era are now thought of as the classic movie stars, such as Clark Gable, Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and the greatest box office draw of the 1930s, child performer Shirley Temple. Creative impact of sound Creatively, however, the rapid transition was a difficult one, and in some ways, film briefly reverted to the conditions of its earliest days. The late '20s were full of static, stagey talkies as artists in front of and behind the camera struggled with the stringent limitations of the early sound equipment and their own uncertainty as to how to utilize the new medium. Many stage performers, directors and writers were introduced to cinema as producers sought personnel experienced in dialogue-based storytelling. Many major silent filmmakers and actors were unable to adjust and found their careers severely curtailed or even ended. This awkward period was fairly short-lived. 1929 was a watershed year: William Wellman with Chinatown Nights and The Man I Love, Rouben Mamoulian with Applause, Alfred Hitchcock with Blackmail (Britain's first sound feature), were among the directors to bring greater fluidity to talkies and experiment with the expressive use of sound (Eyman, 1997). In this, they both benefited from, and pushed further, technical advances in microphones and cameras, and capabilities for editing and post-synchronizing sound (rather than recording all sound directly at the time of filming). Sound films emphasized and benefited different genres more so than silents did. Most obviously, the musical film was born; the first classic-style Hollywood musical was The Broadway Melody (1929) and the form would find its first major creator in choreographer/director Busby Berkeley (42nd Street, 1933, Dames, 1934). In France, avant-garde director Ren� Clair made surreal use of song and dance in comedies like Under the Roofs of Paris (1930) and Le Million (1931). The trend thrived best in India, where the influence of the country's traditional song-and-dance drama made the musical the basic form of most sound movies (Cook, 1990); virtually unnoticed by the Western world for decades, this Indian popular cinema would nevertheless become the world's most prolific. (See also Bollywood.) At this time, American gangster films like Little Caesar and Wellman's The Public Enemy (both 1931) became popular. Dialogue now took precedence over "slapstick" in Hollywood comedies: the fast-paced, witty banter of The Front Page (1931) or It Happened One Night (1934), the sexual double entrendres of Mae West (She Done Him Wrong, 1933) or the often subversively anarchic nonsense talk of the Marx Brothers (Duck Soup, 1933). 1939, a major year for American cinema, brought such films as like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with The Wind. The 1940s: the war and post-war years The desire for wartime propaganda created a renaissance in the film industry in Britain, with realistic war dramas like Forty-Ninth Parallel (1941), Went the Day Well? (1942), The Way Ahead (1944) and Noel Coward and David Lean's celebrated naval film In Which We Serve in 1942 , which won a special Academy Award. These existed alongside more flamboyant films like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944) and A Matter of Life and Death (1946), as well as Laurence Olivier's 1944 film Henry V, based on the Shakespearean history Henry V. The onset of US involvement in WWII also brought a proliferation of movies as both patriotism and propaganda. American propaganda movies included Desperate Journey, Mrs. Miniver, Forever and a Day and Objective Burma. Notable American films from the war years include the anti-Nazi Watch on the Rhine (1943), scripted by Dashiell Hammett; Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Hitchcock's direction of a script by Thornton Wilder; the George M. Cohan biopic, Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), starring James Cagney, and the immensely popular Casablanca, with Humphrey Bogart. Bogart would star in 36 films between 1934 and 1942 including John Huston's The Maltese Falcon (1941), one of the first movies now considered a classic film noir. The strictures of wartime also brought an interest in more fantastical subjects. These included Britain's Gainsborough melodramas (including The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady), and films like Here Comes Mr. Jordan, Heaven Can Wait, I Married a Witch and Blithe Spirit. Val Lewton also produced a series of atmospheric and influential small-budget horror films, some of the more famous examples being Cat People, Isle of the Dead (film) and The Body Snatcher. The decade probably also saw the so-called "women's pictures," such as Now, Voyager, Random Harvest and Mildred Pierce at the peak of their popularity. 1946 saw RKO Radio releasing It's a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra. Soldiers returning from the war would provide the inspiration for films like The Best Years of Our Lives, and many of those in the film industry had served in some capacity during the war. Samuel Fuller's experiences in WWII would influence his largely autobiographical films of later decades such as The Big Red One. The Actor's Studio was founded in October 1947 by Elia Kazan, Robert Lewis, and Cheryl Crawford, and the same year Oskar Fischinger filmed Motion Painting No. 1. In 1943, Ossessione was screened in Italy, marking the beginning of Italian neorealism. Major films of this type during the 1940s included Bicycle Thieves, Rome, Open City, and La Terra Trema. In 1952 Umberto D was released, usually considered the last film of this type. In the late 1940s, in Britain, Ealing Studios embarked on their series of celebrated comedies, including Whisky Galore!, Passport to Pimlico, Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Man in the White Suit, and Carol Reed directed his influential thrillers Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol and The Third Man. David Lean was also rapidly becoming a force in world cinema with Brief Encounter and his Dickens adaptations Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger would experience the best of their creative partnership with films like Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. The 1950s The House Un-American Activities Committee investigated Hollywood in the early 1950s. Protested by the Hollywood Ten before the committee, the hearings resulted in the blacklisting of many actors, writers and directors, including Chayefsky, Charlie Chaplin, and Dalton Trumbo, and many of these fled to Europe, especially the United Kingdom. The Cold War era zeitgeist translated into a type of near-paranoia manifested in themes such as invading armies of evil aliens, (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The War of the Worlds); and communist fifth columnists, (The Manchurian Candidate). During the immediate post-war years the cinematic industry was also threatened by television, and the increasing popularity of the medium meant that some movie theatres would bankrupt and close. The demise of the "studio system" spurred the self-commentary of films like Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). In 1950, the Lettrists avante-gardists caused riots at the Cannes Film Festival, when Isidore Isou's Treatise on Slime and Eternity was screened. After their criticism of Charlie Chaplin and split with the movement, the Ultra-Lettrists continued to cause disruptions when they showed their new hypergraphical techniques. The most notorious film is Guy Debord's Bombs in Favor of DeSade of 1952. Distressed by the increasing number of closed theatres, studios and companies would find new and innovative ways to bring audiences back. These included attempts to literally widen their appeal with new screen formats. Cinemascope, which would remain a 20th Century Fox distinction until 1967 , was announced with 1953's The Robe. VistaVision, Cinerama, boasted a "bigger is better" approach to marketing movies to a dwindling US audience. This resulted in the revival of epic films to take advantage of the new big screen formats. Some of the most successful examples of these Biblical and historical spectaculars include The Ten Commandments (1956), The Vikings (1958), Ben-Hur (1959), Spartacus (1960) and El Cid (1961). Gimmicks also proliferated to lure in audiences. The fad for 3-D film would last for only two years, 1952-1954, and helped sell House of Wax and Creature from the Black Lagoon. Producer William Castle would tout films featuring "Emergo" "Percepto", the first of a series of gimmicks that would remain popular marketing tools for Castle and others throughout the 1960s. In the U.S., a post-WW2 tendency toward questioning the establishment and societal norms and the early activism of the Civil Rights Movement was reflected in Hollywood films such as Blackboard Jungle (1955), On the Waterfront (1954), Paddy Chayefsky's Marty and Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men (1957). Disney's Sleeping Beauty was released on January 29, 1959 by The Walt Disney Company after nearly a decade in production. Across the globe, the 1950s marked a very productive period for Indian Cinema, with more than 200 films being made. Indian films also gained greater recognition through films like Pather Panchali (1955), from critically acclaimed Academy Award winning director Satyajit Ray. Television began competing seriously with films projected in theatres, but surprisingly it promoted more moviegoing rather than curtailing it. 1960s During the 1960s the studio system in Hollywood declined, because many films were now being made on location in other countries, or using studio facilities abroad, such as Pinewood in England and Cinecitt� in Rome. "Hollywood" movies were still largely aimed at family audiences, and it was often the more old-fashioned films that produced the studios' biggest successes. Productions like Mary Poppins (1964), My Fair Lady (1964) and The Sound of Music (1965) were among the biggest money-makers of the decade. The growth in independent producers and production companies, and the increase in the power of individual actors also contributed to the decline of traditional Hollywood studio production. There was also an increasing awareness of foreign language cinema during this period. During the late 1950s and 1960s the French New Wave directors such as Fran�ois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard produced films such as Les quatre cents coups and Jules et Jim which broke the rules of Hollywood cinema's narrative structure. As well, audiences were becoming aware of Italian films like Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita and the stark dramas of Sweden's Ingmar Bergman. In Britain, the "Free Cinema" of Lindsay Anderson, Tony Richardson and others lead to a group of realistic and innovative dramas including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Kind of Loving and This Sporting Life. Other British films such as Repulsion, Darling, Alfie, Blowup and Georgy Girl (all in 1965-1966) helped to reduce prohibitions sex and nudity on screen, while the casual sex and violence of the James Bond films, beginning with Dr. No in 1962 would render the series popular worldwide. During the 1960s, Ousmane Semb�ne produced several French- and Wolof-language films and became the 'father' of African Cinema. In Latin America the dominance of the "Hollywood" model was challenged by many film makers. Fernando Solanas and Octavio Gettino called for a politically engaged Third Cinema in contrast to Hollywood and the European auteur cinema. In documentary film the sixties saw the blossoming of Direct Cinema, an observational style of film making as well as the advent of more overtly partisan films like In the Year of the Pig about the Vietnam War by Emile de Antonio. By the late 1960s however, Hollywood producers were beginning to create more innovative films such as Bonnie and Clyde (1967), The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), and The Wild Bunch (1969). Bonnie and Clyde is often considered the beginning of the so-called New Hollywood. 1970s: The 'New Hollywood' or Post-classical cinema 'The New Hollywood' and 'post-classical cinema' are terms used to describe the period following the decline of the studio system during the 1950s and 1960s and the end of the production code. During the 1970s, filmmakers increasingly depicted explicit sexual content and showed gunfight and battle scenes that included graphic images of bloody deaths. 'Post-classical cinema' is a term used to describe the changing methods of storytelling of the "New Hollywood" producers. The new methods of drama and characterization played upon audience expectations acquired during the classical/Golden Age period: story chronology may be scrambled, storylines may feature unsettling "twist endings", main characters may behave in a morally ambiguous fashion, and the lines between the antagonist and protagonist may be blurred. The beginnings of post-classical storytelling may be seen in 1940s and 1950s film noir movies, in films such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and in Hitchcock's Psycho. During the 1970s, a new group of American filmmakers emerged, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Brian de Palma. This coincided with the increasing popularity of the auteur theory in film literature and the media, which posited that a film director's films express their personal vision and creative insights. The development of the auteur style of filmmaking helped to give these directors far greater control over their projects than would have been possible in earlier eras. This led to some great critical and commercial successes, like Coppola's The Godfather films, Spielberg's Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and George Lucas's Star Wars. It also, however, resulted in some failures, including Peter Bogdanovich's At Long Last Love and Michael Cimino's hugely expensive Western epic Heaven's Gate, which helped to bring about the demise of its backer, United Artists. The financial disaster of Heaven's Gate marking the end of the visionary "auteur" directors of the "New Hollywood", who had unrestrained creative and financial freedom to develop films. The phenomenal success in the 1970s of Jaws and Star Wars in particular, led to the rise of the modern "blockbuster". Hollywood studios increasingly focused on producing a smaller number of very large budget films with massive marketing and promotional campaigns. This trend had already been foreshadowed by the commercial success of disaster films such as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno. During the mid-1970s, more pornographic theatres, euphemistically called "adult cinemas", were established, and the legal production of hardcore pornographic films began. Porn films such as Deep Throat and its star Linda Lovelace became something of a popular culture phenomenon and resulted in a spate of similar sex films. The porn cinemas finally died out during the 1980s, when the popularization of the home VCR and pornography videotapes allowed audiences to watch sex films at home. In the early 1970s, English language audiences became more aware of the new West German cinema, with Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders among its leading exponents. The end of the decade saw the first major international marketing of Australian cinema, as Peter Weir's films Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave and Fred Schepisi's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith gained critical acclaim. In 1979, Australian filmmaker George Miller also garnered international attention for his violent, low-budget action film Mad Max. 1980s: sequels, blockbusters and videotape During the 1980s, audiences began increasingly watching movies on their home VCRs. In the early part of that decade, the movie studios tried legal action to ban home ownership of VCRs as a violation of copyright, which proved unsuccessful. Eventually, the sale and rental of movies on home video became a significant "second venue" for exhibition of films, and an additional source of revenue for the movie companies. The Lucas-Spielberg combine would dominate "Hollywood" cinema for much of the 1980s, and lead to much imitation. Two follow-ups to Star Wars, three to Jaws, and three Indiana Jones films helped to make sequels of successful films more of an expectation than ever before. Lucas also launched THX Ltd, a division of Lucasfilm in 1982, while Spielberg enjoyed one of the decade's greatest successes in E.T. the same year. American independent cinema struggled more during the decade, although Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), After Hours (1985), and The King of Comedy (1983) helped to establish him as one of the most critically acclaimed American film makers of the era. Also during 1983 Scarface was released, was very profitable and resulted in even greater fame for its leading actor Al Pacino. Probably the most successful film commercially was vended during 1989: Tim Burton's version of Bob Kane's creation, Batman, exceeded box-office records. Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the demented Joker earned him $60,000,000 (the most money an actor has ever made from one film) and it brought Tim Burton and Michael Keaton great fame. British cinema was given a boost during the early 1980s by the arrival of David Puttnam's company Goldcrest Films. The films Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, The Killing Fields and A Room with a View appealed to a "middlebrow" audience which was increasingly being ignored by the major Hollywood studios. While the films of the 1970s had helped to define modern blockbuster motion pictures, the way "Hollywood" released its films would now change. Films, for the most part, would premiere in a wider number of theatres, although, to this day, some movies still premiere using the route of the limited/roadshow release system. Against some expectations, the rise of the multiplex cinema did not allow less mainstream films to be shown, but simply allowed the major blockbusters to be given an even greater number of screenings. However, films that had been overlooked in cinemas were increasingly being given a second chance on home video and later DVD. 1990s: New special effects, independent films, and DVDs The early 1990s saw the development of a commercially successful independent cinema in the United States. Although cinema was increasingly dominated by special-effects films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Titanic (1997), independent films like Steven Soderbergh's sex, lies, and videotape (1989) and Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992) had significant commercial success both at the cinema and on home video. The major studios began to create their own "independent" production companies to finance and produce non-mainstream fare. One of the most successful independents of the 1990s, Miramax Films, was bought by Disney the year before the release of Tarantino's runaway hit Pulp Fiction in 1994. The same year marked the beginning of film and video distribution online. Animated films aimed at family audiences also regained their popularity, with Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. During 1995 the first feature length computer-animated feature, Toy Story, was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Disney. After the success of Toy Story, Disney returned to traditional animation and made three more popular films: The Hunchback of Notre Dame in 1996, Hercules in 1997, and Mulan in 1998. In 1999, Disney released Tarzan, which employed the use of a CGI rendering technique called Deep Canvas. During the late 1990s, another cinematic transition began, from physical film stock to digital cinema technology. Meanwhile DVDs became the new standard for consumer video, replacing VHS tapes. 2000s The documentary film also rose as a commercial genre for perhaps the first time, with the success of films such as March of the Penguins and Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11. A new genre was created with Martin Kunert and Eric Manes' Voices of Iraq, when 150 inexpensive DV cameras were distributed across Iraq, transforming ordinary people into collaborative filmmakers. The success of Gladiator lead to a revival of interest in epic cinema. Home theatre systems became increasingly sophisticated, as did some of the special edition DVDs designed to be shown on them. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was released on DVD in both the theatrical version and in a special extended version intended only for home cinema audiences. Future: Problems of digital distribution to be overcome -- higher compression, cheaper technology. Content security. Expiration of copyrights, enforcing copyright. The Long Tail One major new development in the early 21st century is the development of systems that make it much easier for regular people to write, shoot, edit and distribute their own movies without the large apparatus of the film industry. This phenomenon and its repercussions are outlined in Chris Anderson's theory, The Long Tail. More 

i don't know

Which actor became playwright Arthur Miller's son-in-law in 1997?

Renowned Playwright Arthur Miller, Author of Death of a Salesman, Is Dead at 89 | Playbill Renowned Playwright Arthur Miller, Author of Death of a Salesman, Is Dead at 89 By Kenneth Jones , Robert Simonson , Ernio Hernandez Feb 11, 2005 Arthur Miller, the author of the landmark drama Death of Salesman and widely regarded as America's greatest living playwright, has died. He was 89. Arthur Miller at the July 29, 2004 opening night of After the Fall Photo by Aubrey Reuben Mr. Miller was battling cancer, pneumonia and a heart condition, according to the New York Post, which first reported the writer's illness on Feb. 11. He had been receiving hospice care at sister Joan Copeland's New York apartment but, earlier this week, asked to be taken by ambulance to his longtime home in Roxbury, Connecticut. He died Thursday night. Mr. Miller, a gruff, robust presence at the many recent New York revivals of his dramas, has been a mainstay in the American theatre since the late forties, when Broadway productions of All My Sons and Salesman made his reputation as a serious-minded playwright. His other works include The Crucible, A View From the Bridge, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The Price and The American Clock. After a period in the 1970s and 1980s when Mr. Miller fell out of favor with the critics, his star rose again in the late nineties with acclaimed revivals of A View From the Bridge, Death of a Salesman, The Price and The Crucible—all four were nominated for Tony Awards, with the first two winning—as well as the Broadway debut of a new play, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan and the reclamation of his first, obscure work, The Man Who Had All the Luck, which was acclaimed in a 2002 revival at the Roundabout Theatre Company . Mr. Miller's last known original work, Finishing the Picture, had its world premiere in fall 2004 at The Goodman Theatre. Robert Falls , who helmed Death of a Salesman recently at the Goodman and on Broadway, directed. The starry cast featured Harris Yulin, Frances Fisher, Stacy Keach, Stephen Lang, Linda Lavin , Matthew Modine, Scott Glenn and Heather Prete. The script was inspired by the story of former wife Marilyn Monroe's last movie, 1961's "The Misfits," which was directed by John Huston, and for which Mr. Miller penned the screenplay. During filming, Monroe was struggling with depression, unwieldy moods and substance abuse. The Goodman described the play this way: "A distinguished director is about to lose his picture due to the unstable behavior of a famously fragile movie star. She's recognized all over the world, loved by millions, but unable to believe in herself. The studio owners are threatening to pull the plug, and a temperamental acting teacher is flown in to coax the actress out of bed and onto the set." Upon learning of Mr. Miller's death, director Robert Falls, told Playbill.com: "He had such joy and drive and pleasure in his work, and an engagement in the world. It never felt like working with a legend, it felt like working with a colleague. A greater fortune for me was not working on Death of a Salesman, but working on his last play Finishing the Picture. He treated them exactly the same. They were two plays where he couldn't wait to hear the laughter and applause of the audience. I feel a bit like I've lost my compass [with his passing]. His sense of the world and sense of what is right with the world was great." He continued, "He is to me one of the giants. He, along with Williams and O'Neill, created the serious American play in America. They were fortunate enough to do it at a time when the culture appreciated them on Broadway." Of Mr. Miller's influence, Falls said, "I think of as children of Miller — Tony Kushner , David Mamet and August Wilson . I take those three names off the top of my head as playwrights who stand on the shoulders of Arthur Miller ." Falls continued, "I think for us in the theatre, it's not just Arthur Miller's art. It's the way Arthur Miller lived his life in the world. He defines liberal in the absolute best sense of that word. This is a man who saw the Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, the Cold War, the fall of Communism. All these events were grist for his mill. And he always wrote about these things with a moral sense. He lived the way he wrote." After a 16-year marriage to Mary Grace Slattery, Mr. Miller married movie star Marilyn Monroe in 1956. They divorced in 1961. His 40-year marriage to Inge Morath ended with her death in 2002. Mr. Miller was born in New York City, on 112th Street in Manhattan, in 1915. He was one of three children in a middle-class Jewish home headed by his immigrant father, who was a manufacturer of women's coats. Mr. Miller attended high school in Brooklyn and worked in warehouses as a loader and shipping clerk to save money for tuition to the University of Michigan, where two of his plays were produced in 1934. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1938. Mr. Miller granted permission to the University of Michigan for his only namesake theatre in the world. (There is no Arthur Miller Theatre on Broadway.) Groundbreaking for the new 250-seat space — designed to be a flexible space with recording booth, full scene and costume shops, dressing rooms and balcony — is set for 2005. In an interview with the U-M alumni publication "Michigan Today," Mr. Miller stated he would like to write an inaugural play for the new theatre, but added, "It's easier to build a theater that will stand up than to write a play that will." After graduating Mr. Miller began working with the Federal Theatre Project an wrote radio plays for CBS and the Cavalcade of America. His first play on Broadway was The Man Who Had All the Luck in 1944. In 1949, in the wake of World War II, his All My Sons showed the world he was a writer who faced moral issues head-on: The play's focus is a manufacturer who knowingly allowed shoddy parts to be sold to the government in wartime, causing the death of pilots. The revelation rocks the foundation of his family, ending in further tragedy. Mr. Miller powerfully commingled the American victory in wartime with the dark side of American capitalism, and his career was launched. He won the Pulitzer Prize with Death of a Salesman in 1949. The portrait of the past and present of a Brooklyn family headed by salesman Willy Loman was Mr. Miller's homage to his middle-class past. Struggling with delusions that he will be successful and well liked for many years to come, Willy shudders when confronted by job loss and his son's disgust for him. "In a sense," he once said, "all my plays are autobiographical." The 50th anniversary production of Death of a Salesman, in the 1998-99 Broadway season, started at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, was a smash in New York and later filmed for TV. Brian Dennehy played Willy, Robert Falls directed, and a new generation saw the crafty portrait of a dysfunctional American family. It won Tony Awards for Best Revival, Leading Actor in a Play (Dennehy), Featured Actress in a Play (Elizabeth Franz), Direction of Play (Falls). Willy Loman was a universal character, Dennehy said at the time. "I'd come out of the Goodman [Theatre], and there'd be these guys waiting —- successful guys, beautifully dressed, gray hair, tears pouring down their face, their wives standing behind them, really worried because they've never seen the guy like this before. I can't tell you how many times I heard, 'That's my father you've put up there. Or my uncle.' One of the reasons the audience finds it so moving and compelling is that it's intersecting with things they have felt or suspected or understood about themselves. That's certainly true for me, and when you're up there acting it out, there's a psychic cost that has to be paid." The Crucible, from 1953, was a parable that sprang from Mr. Miller's experience witnessing (and being swept into) the U.S. government's campaign to root out communists from all aspects of American life, but most visibly, from the entertainment industry. The play focused on the Salem, Massachusetts witch hunts and the shattering effect they had on the innocent. Of the time of the early 1950s, when Sen. Joseph McCarthy was dragging supposed communists into hearings, Mr. Miller wrote, in his autobiography, "Timebends": "For me the spectacle was depressing, and not only for the obvious reasons. Certainly I felt distaste for those who groveled before this tawdry tribune of moralistic vote-snatchers, but I had as much pity as anger toward them. It bothered me much more that with each passing week it became harder to simply and clearly say why the whole procedure was vile. …The accused in 1950 and 1951 had not had a political connection since the late thirties or early forties, when in their perfectly legitimate idealism they had embraced the Russian Revolution as an advance for humanity. Yet the Committee had succeeded in creating the impression that they were pursuing an ongoing conspiracy." In 1956 he appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refused to name people at a meeting he had once attended, although he guessed that the meeting may have included Communists. He was convicted of contempt of Congress in 1957, although the Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1958. Although considered a thinly-veiled metaphor for the McCarthy hearings, the play is considered to be one of Mr. Miller's more universal works today. In it, Abigail Williams has an affair with married John Proctor. She accuses his wife of being a witch, and in defense of his wife the adultery is revealed. Liam Neeson and Laura Linney starred in a Tony Award-nominated Broadway revival of the play in 2001-02. Of his bent toward the political, Mr. Miller, a frequent essayist, wrote, "I can no longer take with ultimate seriousness a drama of individual psychology written for its own sake, however full it may be of insight and precise observation. Time is moving: there is a world to make...a world in which the human being can live as a naturally political, naturally private, naturally engaged person, a world in which once again a true tragic victory can be scored." The playwright said, "The play is about hysteria, public mass hysteria, and the attempts by certain interested parties to exploit that hysteria for their own profit. The threat of this kind of hysteria is never really gone. It's with us always." The American playwright Edward Albee released this statement the morning of Feb. 11: "About a year ago Arthur Miller paid me a great compliment. He said that my plays were 'necessary.' I will go one step further and say that Arthur's plays are 'essential.' Arthur and I marched together several times to protest repressive governments. His work teaches us a lot about how to fight evil." In 2000, the Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Mr. Miller's A View From the Bridge , directed by Michael Mayer , won the Tony for Best Revival. The 1955 play, about a tough Italian-American longshoreman, Eddie Carbone, in love with his niece, was originally paired with A Memory of Two Mondays. Mr. Miller later expanded and rewrote A View From the Bridge and it was staged Off-Broadway in 1965, running longer than the initial staging and prompting a wide life in regional theatre (it was revived in New York in 1983 with Tony LoBianco and then by Roundabout in 1997-98, when Anthony LaPaglia snagged a Best Actor Tony or playing Eddie). Mayer directed a revised revival of Mr. Miller's After the Fall (about a man processing the events and people — including a Marilyn-like star —in his life) for the Roundabout Theatre Company on Broadway in 2004. Roundabout also staged All My Sons Off-Broadway in 1974 and 1997 (the latter starring John Cullum as the corrupt and broken Joe Keller; the work won the 1998 Lortel Award for Best Revival). In 1987 it was revived on Broadway starring Richard Kiley. The work remains much-produced in American regional theatre. Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company, which devotes each season to one writer, celebrated the work of Mr. Miller in 1997-98, offering the premiere of Mr. Peters' Connections. Mr. Miller wrote essays ("Tragedy and the Common Man"), short stories, screenplays and teleplays. His screenplays include TV's "Playing for Time," Hollywood's "The Misfits" (the picture starred Marilyn Monroe), "Everybody Wins" and his own film version of "The Crucible" starring his son-in-law, Daniel Day-Lewis. He was Academy Award-nominated for "The Crucible." In 1965 he was elected president of P.E.N., the international society of writers. In November 2001 he received the National Book Foundation's medal for distinguished contribution to American literature. In 1999, he received a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, one of many awards in a long career. Survivors include daughter Rebecca Miller, a screenwriter and actress, and her husband Daniel Day-Lewis; sister Joan Copeland; and Agnes Barley, reported by the Post as Mr. Miller's 34-year-old girlfriend. Today’s Most Popular News:

Daniel Day-Lewis

Which actress perished in the shower in the remake of Psycho?

Daniel Day-Lewis - Biography - IMDb 6' 2" (1.88 m) Mini Bio (2) Born in London, England, Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is the second child of Cecil Day-Lewis (A.K.A. Nicholas Blake ) (Poet Laureate of England) and his second wife, Jill Balcon . His maternal grandfather was Sir Michael Balcon , an important figure in the history of British cinema and head of the famous Ealing Studios. His older sister, Tamasin Day-Lewis , is a documentarian. His mother's family were Jewish immigrants (from Poland and Latvia), and his father was of Northern Irish and English descent. Daniel was educated at Sevenoaks School in Kent, which he despised, and the more progressive Bedales in Petersfield, which he adored. He studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic School. Daniel made his film debut in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), but then acted on stage with the Bristol Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare Companies and did not appear on screen again until 1982, when he landed his first adult role, a bit part in Gandhi (1982). He also appeared on British TV that year in Frost in May (1982) and BBC2 Playhouse: How Many Miles to Babylon? (1982). Notable theatrical performances include Another Country (1982-83), Dracula (1984), and The Futurists (1986). His first major supporting role in a feature film was in The Bounty (1984), quickly followed by My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and A Room with a View (1985). The latter two films opened in New York on the same day, offering audiences and critics evidence of his remarkable range and establishing him as a major talent. The New York Film Critics named him Best Supporting Actor for those performances. In 1986, he appeared on stage in Richard Eyre 's The Futurists and on television in Eyre's production of Screen Two: The Insurance Man (1986). He also had a small role in a British/French film, Nanou (1986). In 1987 he assumed leading-man status in Philip Kaufman 's The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), followed by a comedic role in the unsuccessful Stars and Bars (1988). His brilliant performance as "Christy Brown" in Jim Sheridan 's My Left Foot (1989) won him numerous awards, including The Academy Award for best actor. He returned to the stage to work again with Eyre, as Hamlet at the National Theater, but was forced to leave the production close to the end of its run because of exhaustion, and has not appeared on stage since. He took a hiatus from film as well until 1992, when he starred in The Last of the Mohicans (1992), a film that met with mixed reviews but was a great success at the box office. He worked with American director Martin Scorsese in The Age of Innocence (1993) in 1994. Subsequently, he teamed again with Jim Sheridan to star in In the Name of the Father (1993), a critically acclaimed performance that earned him another Academy Award nomination. His next project was in the role of John Proctor in father-in-law Arthur Miller 's play The Crucible (1996), directed by Nicholas Hytner . Renown for his eloquent acceptance speeches Is very selective in his role choices Trivia (78) Ranked #25 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Moving to County Wicklow, Ireland, he assumed Irish citizenship. [1993] Was in a relationship with Isabelle Adjani from 1989 to 1994; they had one son together. Younger brother of Tamasin Day-Lewis . Chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world. [1990] Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the "100 Sexiest Stars" in film history (#11). [1995] Several times offered and turned down the role of Aragorn (Strider) in Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Son-in-law of playwright Arthur Miller . According to Harvey Weinstein , Day-Lewis was taking time off to work as a cobbler in Florence, Italy when Weinstein, director Martin Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio lured him into coming back to New York "on false pretenses" so they could persuade him to accept lead role in Gangs of New York (2002). Describes himself as "a lifelong study of evasion." According to Gangs of New York (2002) co-star John C. Reilly , he got sick during shooting in Italy, refusing to trade his character's threadbare coat for a warmer coat because the warmer coat did not exist in the 19th century; doctors finally forced him to take antibiotics. Announced that he will star in Rose and the Snake, co-written and directed by his wife, Rebecca Miller . The film was later renamed The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005). [February 2003] Chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world. [2003] Is a skilled woodworker in addition to being able to make his living as a cobbler. He listened to Eminem to get into an angry, self-righteous frame of mind as Bill the Butcher while shooting Gangs of New York (2002). He was Jonathan Demme 's first choice for the part of Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia (1993). He turned the part down to work on In the Name of the Father (1993) and Tom Hanks was cast in Philadelphia (1993) instead. He earned an Oscar nomination for best actor in In the Name of the Father (1993), but Hanks won the Best Actor Oscar for Philadelphia (1993). Always quiet and introverted, he said that he was not popular in school and was mocked as an outsider while growing up in England, partially because he was of half-Jewish/half-Irish stock. The upside was that, instead of socializing, he developed a rich fantasy life that later helped him to delve so deeply into his characters. He was the first of three consecutive British actors to win the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, Jeremy Irons being next and Anthony Hopkins the third. Each of them coincidentally won at their first nomination in the Academy Awards. In The Crucible (1996) Joan Allen plays his wife. In The Boxer (1997) Emily Watson plays his wife. Both have played Reba McLain. Allen played the part in Manhunter (1986), Watson played the part in the remake, Red Dragon (2002). Was considered for the role of Jesus Christ in The Passion of the Christ (2004), but director Mel Gibson thought he looked "too European" and the part instead went to Jim Caviezel . Frequently called the "English Robert De Niro ." He recently referred to De Niro as his champion. Considered doing an adaptation of "Rose and the Snake" in the early 1990s, but the project fell through. After marrying Rebecca Miller , she convinced him to take the lead role and directed him in the adaptation The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005). After Michael Madsen was found to be unavailable for the part, Day-Lewis tried to get the role of Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction (1994), one of the few times he actively pursued a part. However, by that point in the casting, Quentin Tarantino had John Travolta in mind for the part. Hated being at Sevenoaks School so much that he ran away. While filming Gangs of New York (2002) he rarely got out of character and would talk with a New York accent the whole day and would be sharpening his knives at lunch. His performance as Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989) is ranked #11 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). His performance as Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Gangs of New York (2002) is ranked #53 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Grandson of Michael Balcon . Born to Nicholas Blake (aka Cecil Day-Lewis) and his second wife Jill Balcon , he lost his father at the age of 15. Appears in the novel "That Must Be Yoshino". Turned down leading role of Steven Soderbergh film Solaris (2002). The role instead went to George Clooney . While filming The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005) on Prince Edward Island, Canada, he lived alone in a hut on the beach, away from his wife, director Rebecca Miller , and their children. Late in the run of the 1989 production of "Hamlet" at the National Theatre in London, he reported that he had a strange sensation that he was talking to his father, who died of pancreatic cancer when Daniel was 15. Unnerved, he walked off the stage and never returned. He still doesn't like to talk about it. During The Last of the Mohicans (1992) he built a canoe, learned to track and skin animals, and perfected the use of a 12-pound flintlock gun, which he took everywhere he went, even to a Christmas dinner. Dedicated his 2008 SAG Award to Heath Ledger , who was one of his favorite actors. Holds dual citizenship - British and Irish. Was director Alex Cox 's second choice for the role of Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986). Gary Oldman got the part. Supports Millwall Football Club. Trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where colleagues included Miranda Richardson and Greta Scacchi . Owns homes in the US and Ireland. Got to know his future wife Rebecca Miller while working on The Crucible (1996), the film version of her father Arthur Miller 's play. The first non-American actor to win three Academy Awards for Best Actor. He is also the first actor anywhere to win three Oscars in that category--2013's Oscar for Lincoln (2012) was his third. Dedicated his 2008 Oscar to his grandfather, film studio boss Michael Balcon , his poet father Nicholas Blake (aka Cecil Day-Lewis), and his three sons Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis (born on 9 April 1995), Ronan Cal Day-Lewis (born on 14 June 1998) and Cashel Blake Day-Lewis (born in May 2002). He won 23 acting awards for his performance in There Will Be Blood (2007), including the coveted Oscar. My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and A Room with a View (1985) both opened in New York on the same day--March 7, 1986. Both featured him in prominent and very different roles: in "A Room with a View" he played a repressed, snobbish Edwardian upperclassman, while in "My Beautiful Laundrette" he played a lower-class, gay ex-skinhead in love with an ambitious Pakistani businessman in Margaret Thatcher 's London. When American critics saw him--he was then virtually unknown in the US--in two such different roles on the same day, many (including Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times and Vincent Canby of The New York Times) raved about the talent it must have taken him to play such vastly different characters. Is one of 11 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance ( There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012)). The others in chronological order are Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005), Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006), Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (2007), Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008), Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009), Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010), Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010), and J.K. Simmons for Whiplash (2014). Was offered the role of Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) but declined. Son-in-law of photographer Inge Morath and playwright Arthur Miller . His performance as "Daniel Plainview" in There Will Be Blood (2007) was listed as third in TotalFilm's "150 Greatest Movie Performances of All Time" (Dec 2009). Turned down a role in Terminator Salvation (2009). Zack Snyder offered him the role of "Jor-El" in Superman: Man of Steel (2013). Turned down the lead role in Mary Reilly (1996). Turned down a role in Cutthroat Island (1995). Sir John Gielgud said that "he had what every actor in Hollywood wants: talent. And what every actor in England wants: looks". Turned down the lead role in The English Patient (1996). Turned down the role of "Simon Templar" in The Saint (1997). Turned down the lead role in a film based on mass murderer Dennis Nilsen . He originally decided to become a cabinet maker but was not accepted for an apprenticeship. His father was of Northern Irish and English descent. His mother was from a Jewish family that emigrated to the U.K. from Poland and Latvia. He first became interested in acting when he learned to replicate the accent and mannerisms of people in his neighborhood to avoid standing out to bullies. The longest he has gone without an Oscar nomination is 9 years, between In the Name of the Father (1993) and Gangs of New York (2002). Is the second actor to have received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for portraying Abraham Lincoln ; the other is Raymond Massey in Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940). Is one of 5 actors to have won the Academy Award 3 times in their career; the others in chronological order are Walter Brennan , Ingrid Bergman , Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep . These actors have only been surpassed by Katharine Hepburn , who won the Academy Award 4 times during her career. Dedicated his 2013 Best Actor Oscar to his late mother, actress Jill Balcon . He is the first actor to win an Oscar for playing a U.S. President, and the first to win for playing Abraham Lincoln. Only one other actor, Raymond Massey , has been Oscar-nominated for playing the role; despite turning in a critically acclaimed performance as Lincoln in Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Henry Fonda was not nominated for his performance. On March 19, 2013, a two-DVD set entitled "Daniel Day-Lewis Triple Feature", a compilation of much of the actor's performances on British TV programs from 1982 to 1986, was released in the U.S. by BBC Home Entertainment. One of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. [2013] In May 2013 he received an honorary degree from the Julliard School. He partook in the 2013 Millie Miglia driving a 1953 Jaguar XK 120. His co-driver was James Gianopulos , the Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment. In 2013 he used the international premiere of his film Lincoln (2012) in Ireland as a fundraiser for the Wicklow Hospice Foundation. Became a father for the 1st time at age 37 when his ex-girlfriend Isabelle Adjani gave birth to their son Gabriel-Kane Day Lewis on April 9, 1995. Became a father for the 2nd time at age 41 when his wife Rebecca Miller gave birth to their son Ronan Cal Day-Lewis on June 14, 1998. Became a father for the 3rd time at age 45 when his wife Rebecca Miller gave birth to their son Cashel Blake Day-Lewis in May 2002. In Gangs of New York (2002) his character "The Butcher" throws a knife at a picture of President Abraham Lincoln , hitting him right between the eyes. Ten years later he starred in Steven Spielberg 's Lincoln (2012), playing the president himself. As of 2014, has appeared in seven films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Gandhi (1982), A Room with a View (1985), My Left Foot (1989), In the Name of the Father (1993), Gangs of New York (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012). Gandhi (1982) won in the category. He is not only the first actor to win 3 Best Actor Oscars, but the only British Actor to win at least 2 Best Actor Oscars. He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to Drama. His Oscar for Lincoln (2012) makes he and Raymond Massey the eighth pair of male actors to be nominated for playing the same part (Massey for Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940), and he is the only actor to win when his predecessor had lost. Charles Laughton and Richard Burton were both nominated for playing King Henry VIII (Burton for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Laughton for The Private Life of Henry VIII. (1933)), for which Laughton won. Robert Donat and Peter O'Toole were both nominated for playing Mr. Chips (Donat in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), O'Toole for Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)), which Donat won. John Wayne and Jeff Bridges were both nominated for playing Rooster Cogburn (Wayne in True Grit (1969), Bridges in True Grit (2010), which Wayne won. Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro both won for playing Vito Corleone (Brando in The Godfather (1972), De Niro for The Godfather: Part II (1974)). José Ferrer and Gérard Depardieu were both nominated for playing Cyrano de Bergerac (Ferrer for Cyrano de Bergerac (1950), Depardieu for Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)), and Ferrer won. Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella were both nominated for playing Richard Nixon (Hopkins in Nixon (1995), Langella for Frost/Nixon (2008)); both lost. Jason Robards and Leonardo DiCaprio were both nominated for playing Howard Hughes (Robards for Melvin and Howard (1980), DeCaprio for The Aviator (2004)); both lost. Personal Quotes (72) [on acting] If I weren't allowed this outlet, there wouldn't be a place for me in society. I suppose I have a highly developed capacity for self-delusion, so it's no problem for me to believe I'm somebody else. [on whether or not he will act in films more often in the future] Nothing happened over the course of making Gangs of New York (2002) that made me think, "Why don't I do this more often?". In every actor's life, there is a moment when they ask themselves, "Is it really seemly for me to still be doing this?". [on 'Martin Scorsese' (Fqv)] Martin doesn't have to convince me about anything. I can only say that I would wish for any one of my colleagues to have the experience of working with Marty once in their lifetime. If you get it twice, it's a privilege that you don't necessarily look for but you certainly don't try to avoid. Life comes first. What I see in the characters, I first try to see in life. The West has always been the epicenter of possibility. One of the ways we forge against mortality is to head west. It's to do with catching the sun before it slips behind the horizon. We all keep moving toward the sun, wishing to get the last ray of hope before it sets. [on playing Jack Slevin in The Ballad of Jack and Rose (2005)] I was, as always, wary of taking on the role. This was a man whose soul was torn, and once you've adopted that kind of internal conflict, it's difficult to quiet. [on disengaging from a character after filming] There's a terrible sadness. The last day of shooting is surreal. Your mind, your body, your spirit are not in any way prepared to accept that this experience is coming to an end. In the months that follow the finish of a film, you feel profound emptiness. You've devoted so much of your time to unleashing, in an unconscious way, some sort of spiritual turmoil, and even if it's uncomfortable, no part of you wishes to leave that character behind. The sense of bereavement is such that it can take years before you can put it to rest. Before I start a film, there is always a period where I think, "I'm not sure I can do this again". I remember that before I was going to start There Will Be Blood (2007), I wondered why I had said yes. When Martin Scorsese told me about Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York (2002), I wanted to change places with that man. But even then, I did not say yes right away. I kept thinking, "I'm not sure I can do this again". [on seeing his face on posters for The Last of the Mohicans (1992)] That was, and will always be, difficult for me. The work itself is never anything but pure pleasure, but there's an awful lot of peripheral stuff that I find it hard to be surrounded by. I like things to be swift, because the energy you have is concentrated and can be fleeting. The great machinery of film can work against that. I have never had a positive reaction to all the stuff that supposedly promotes the film. The thought of it will make me hesitate to do any films at all. [on learning to box for The Boxer (1997)] I wanted to see if I loved the sport, because if I didn't love the sport, I wouldn't want to tell the story. At its best, boxing is very pure. It requires resilience and heart and self-belief even after it's been knocked out of you. It's a certain kind of a test. And it's hard: the training alone will kill you. And that's before people start giving you a dig. Playing the part of Christy Brown [in My Left Foot (1989)] left me with a sense of setting myself on a course, of trying to achieve something that was utterly out of reach. [after filming The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)] I was hopelessly at sea. I was extremely unhappy most of the time. I think I probably felt I'd made a fundamental error in agreeing to do that movie even though it was the part and the film that everyone wanted to do. And God help us, that is, in itself, a reason not to do something. [while filming My Left Foot (1989)] I needed--and I still need--to create a particular environment. I need to find the right kind of silence or light or noise. Whatever is necessary--and it is always different. I know it sounds a little fussy and a little ridiculous, but finding your own rhythm is one of the most important things you can discover about yourself. And you have to observe it. As actors, we're all encouraged to feel that each job is the last job. They plant some little electrode in your head at an early stage and you think, "Be grateful, be grateful, be grateful". So it's not without a sense of gratitude that I work. But I couldn't do this work at all unless I did it in my own rhythm. It became a choice between stopping and taking the time I needed. Why would I want to play middle-aged, middle-class Englishmen? [T]here's a quality of wildness that exists in Ireland that coincides with utter solitude. I've managed to create a sense of banishment in so many different areas of my life. I live in Ireland, not England. I make films in America. And now I'm banished from the theater because I've slagged it off so much. And I did the unspeakable thing of fleeing from "Hamlet". [on acting school] For a few years at school I tried to play the roles they wanted me to play, but it became less and less interesting to ponce around the place. Even now, when I sometimes think of doing a play, I think of rehearsal rooms and people hugging and everyone talking over cups of coffee because they are nervous. It's both very touching and it makes me a little nauseous and claustrophobic. Too much talk. I don't rehearse at all in film if I can help it. In talking a character through, you define it. And if you define it, you kill it dead. Laurence Olivier might have been a much better actor on film if he hadn't had that flippant attitude. [He] was a remarkable actor, but he was entirely missing the point consistently. He felt that film was an inferior form. The thing that Konstantin Stanislavski lays out is how you do the thing the first time every time - 1,000 times. That's the idea you're always searching for. [on working when he was a teenager as an extra in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)] I was just a local kid. I got to come out of the church, the same church where I sang in the choir, and scratch up a row of cars--a Jag, a Bentley--parked in front. I thought, "I get paid for this!". Years later I saw the director, John Schlesinger , at the Edinburgh festival, where we were showing My Beautiful Laundrette (1985). I play a hooligan punk in that, too. I said to Schlesinger, "I guess I haven't progressed much". I came from the educated middle class but I identified with the working classes. Those were the people I looked up to. The lads whose fathers worked on the docks or in shipping yards or were shopkeepers. I knew that I wasn't part of that world, but I was intrigued by it. They had a different way of communicating. People who delight in conversation are often using that as a means to not say what is on their minds. When I became interested in theater, the work I admired was being done by working-class writers. It was often about the inarticulate. I later saw that same thing in Robert De Niro 's early work--it was the most sublime struggle of a man trying to express himself. There was such poetry in that for me. [on obtaining Irish citizenship] I dare say it was still considered to be an abandonment of England! A betrayal! A heresy! It is not expected that someone from my background will leave England. But I've committed so many heresies that there's no sense in not making the final gesture. [on visiting the west of Ireland every year since childhood] From the day we arrived here, my sense of Ireland's importance has never diminished. Everything here seemed exotic to us. Just the sound of the west of Ireland in a person's voice can affect me deeply. [on researching his role as Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007)] I like to learn about things. It was just a great time trying to conceive of the impossibility of that thing. I didn't know anything about mining at the turn of the century in America. My boarding school in Kent didn't exactly teach that. [on researching his role as Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007)] Back then men would get the fever. They would keep digging, always with the idea that next time they'll throw the dice and the money will fall out of the sky. It killed a lot of men, it broke others, still more were reduced to despair and poverty, but they still believed in the promise of the West. [on researching his role as Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007)] I read a lot of correspondence dating from that period. Decent middle-class lives with wives and children were abandoned to pursue this elusive possibility. They were bank clerks and shipping agents and teachers. They all fled West for a sniff of cheap money. And they made it up as they went along. No one knew how to drill for oil. Initially, they scooped it out of the ground in saucepans. It was man at his most animalistic, sifting through filth to find bright, sparkly things. It was always assumed that the classics were a good line of work for me because I had a decent voice and the right nose. But anybody who comes from an essentially cynical European society is going to be bewitched by the sheer enthusiasm of the New World. And in America, the articulate use of language is often regarded with suspicion. Especially in the West. Look at the president. He could talk like an educated New Englander if he chose to. Instead, he holds his hands like a man who swings an ax. George W. Bush understands, very astutely, that many of the people who are going to vote for him would regard him less highly if he knew how to put words together. He would no longer be one of them. In Europe, the tradition is one of oratory. But in America, a man's man is never spendthrift with words. This, of course, is much more appealing in the movies than it is in politics. [replying to a compliment on his articulation] I am more greatly moved by people who struggle to express themselves. Maybe it's a middle-class British hang-up, but I prefer the abstract concept of incoherence in the face of great feeling to beautiful, full sentences that convey little emotion. [on applying to theater school, the Bristol Old Vic] I picked just one because then it would be a sign from the gods if it was not meant to be. [on his reluctance to expose the mechanics of his acting process] It's not that I want to pull the shutters down. It's just that people have such a misconception about what it is I do. They think the character comes from staying in the wheelchair or being locked in the jail or whatever extravagant thing they choose to focus their fantasies on. Somehow, it always seems to have a self-flagellatory aspect to it. But that's just the superficial stuff. Most of the movies that I do are leading me toward a life that is utterly mysterious to me. My chief goal is to find a way to make that life meaningful to other people. I was deeply unsettled by the script [of There Will Be Blood (2007)]. For me, that is a sure sign. If you remain unsettled by a piece of writing, it means you are not watching the story from the outside; you've already taken a step toward it. When I'm drawn to something, I take a resolute step backward, and I ask myself if I can really serve this story as well as it needs to be served. If I don't think I can do that, no matter how appealing, I will decline. What finally takes over, what took over with this movie, is an illusion of inevitability. I think, "Can this really be true? Is this happening to me again? Is there no way to avoid this?". My love for American movies was like a secret that I carried around with me. I always knew I could straddle different worlds. I'd grown up in two different worlds and if you can grow up in two different worlds, you can occupy four. Or six. Why put a limit on it? I used to go to all-night screenings of [ Clint Eastwood ] movies. I'd stagger out at 5 in the morning, trying to be loose-limbed and mean and taciturn. Where I come from, it was a heresy to say you wanted to be in movies, leave alone American movies. We were all encouraged to believe that the classics of the theater were the fiery hoops through which you'd have to pass if you were going to have any self-esteem as a performer. It never occurred to me that that was the case. One of the great privileges of having grown up in a middle-class literary English household, but having gone to school in the front lines in Southeast London, was that I became half-street-urchin and half-good-boy at home. I knew that dichotomy was possible. England is obsessed with where you came from, and they are determined to keep you in that place, be it in a drawing room or in the gutter. The great tradition of liberalism in England is essentially a sponge that absorbs all possibility of change. America looked different to me: the idea of America as a place of infinite possibilities was defined for me through the movies. I'm glad I did the classical work that I did, but it just wasn't for me. I'm a little bit perverse, and I just hate doing the thing that's the most obvious. I saw Taxi Driver (1976) five or six times in the first week, and I was astonished by its sheer visceral beauty. I just kept going back--I didn't know America, but that was a glimpse of what America might be, and I realized that, contrary to expectation, I wanted to tell American stories. I don't particularly like westerns as a genre, but I do love certain westerns. High Noon (1952) means a lot to me--I love the purity and the honesty, I love Gary Cooper in that film, the idea of the last man standing. I do not like John Wayne --I find it hard to watch him. I just never took to him. And I don't like James Stewart as a cowboy. I love him, but just not as a cowboy; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) is one of my favorite films. I love Frank Capra . I love Preston Sturges . But we're talking about westerns . . . I have always admired Clint Eastwood 's westerns. The spaghetti westerns were a great discovery. And Pale Rider (1985). As a child, the John Ford film Cheyenne Autumn (1964) made a big impression on me. And Five Easy Pieces (1970). It's not really a western, but it is about the possibilities that can be found in the West. Jack Nicholson is sublime in that film, just sublime. It's the most stultifying portrait of middle-class life. You want to flee from that world and head anywhere less civilized. Which is, of course, the appeal of the West: It's not tamed yet. [on creating a characterization] The intention is always the same. To try to discover life in its entirety, or at least create for yourself the illusion that you have, which might give you some chance of convincing other people of it. It's the same thing each time, but it requires totally different work in the process of achieving that. You are set on a path that's strewn with obstacles, but getting over them is the joy of the work. So it's impossible to think in terms of difficulty: it all seems utterly impossible, but the pleasure is in trying to forge ahead anyway. My ambition for many years was to be involved in work that was utterly compelling to me, regardless of the consequences. But I worried a lot as a young man about where such and such a thing might take me; you're encouraged to think that way. You're supposed to build a career for yourself. But there's no part of me that was able to do that. And thank God I was able to recognize it before I sort of went grey with anxiety. [on why he takes long breaks between films] For my sense of continuity, I suppose I work in a certain way. But it goes beyond that. It's really about the sense of joy you have in having worked hard to imagine and discover and--one hopes--to create a world, an illusion of a world that other people might believe in because you believe in it yourself, a form of self-delusion. After achieving that, it seems far crazier to jump in and out of that world that you've gone to such pains to create. And it wouldn't be my wish to do that, because I enjoy being in there. Whenever we reach what we think are the boundaries of our endurance, you know ten minutes later you're thinking: "I could have done that"--like in any athletic pursuit--"I could have gone further than that; I could have jumped higher". I am rather surprised that I haven't made more stories about my own country but it is a mistake to suggest that the biggest influence on my life in terms of movies has been America. It was and remains Ken Loach and his whole body of work, not that I have ever worked with him. There is something unique and pure about the way he works, without a taint on it. His beliefs have remained unwavering since he made I do have dual citizenship, but I think of England as my country. I miss London very much but I couldn't live there because there came a time when I needed to be private and was forced to be public by the press. I couldn't deal with it. I was very influenced by Ken Loach 's work from the moment I saw Kes (1969) when I was a kid. It still remains for me one of the most powerful pieces of work ever. Before that, there was Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960), This Sporting Life (1963) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), which all expressed a new British social realism. Undoubtedly, they opened up the possibility of examining British life in a new way. That was probably the most important film experience I had. I have no illusion about the fact that I'm an Englishman living in Ireland. Even though I do straddle both worlds and I'm very proud to be able to carry both passports. But I do know where I come from. I particularly miss southeast London--the front-lines of Deptford and Lewisham and New Cross and Charlton--because that's my patch. [on accepting the best actor Oscar for There Will Be Blood (2007)] This sprang like a sapling out of the mad, beautiful head of Paul Thomas Anderson . [on the "wisdom" of actors as public figures] Initially it was invigorating. People suddenly wanted to hear my views on all manner of social problems. I was up for it but it palled very soon afterwards. It was not like real conversation, where you listen and learn. It's hard to learn anything when you are talking about it. You only learn doing it. And if you are not learning, what's the point? Theatre invites a nuts-and-bolts process to rehearsing in which all the actors are transparent to each other. For me, even if the truth I am looking for might be a specious one, I still need to believe in a kernel of truth. And I find it hard to do in a rehearsal situation where everyone is saying, "Are you going to do it like that?" It is distracting and deadly in the end to any discovery you might make. I'm never far away from a sense of potential absurdity of what I am doing, and maybe as I get older I have to work harder and harder to obliterate it. That's maybe why I seem to take it far too seriously. [His acceptance speech for Best Actor In A Leading Role SAG award for There Will Be Blood (2007)] Thank you. I'm very, very proud of this. Thank you so much for giving it to me. And I'm very proud to be included in that group of wonderful actors this year. You know, for as long as I can remember, the thing that gave me a sense of wonderment, of renewal, the thing that teased me with the question, "How is such a thing possible?", and then dare you to go back into the arena one more time, with longing and self-doubt, jostling in the balance. It's always been the work of other actors, and there are many actors in this room tonight, including my fellow nominees, who have given that sense of regeneration and Heath Ledger gave it to me. In Monster's Ball (2001), that character that he created, it seemed to be almost like an unformed being, retreating from themselves, retreating from his father, from his life, even retreating from us, and yet we wanted to follow him, and yet we're scared to follow him almost. It was unique. And then, of course, in Brokeback Mountain (2005), he was unique, he was perfect. And that scene in the trailer at the end of the film is as moving as anything that I think I've ever seen. And I'd like to dedicate this to Heath Ledger. So, thank you very much. Thank you so much. [on choosing film roles] I begin with a sense of mystery. In other words, I am intrigued by a life that seems very far removed from my own. And I have a sense of curiosity to discover that life and maybe change places with it for a while. [About Heath Ledger ] As much as I was glad to have a chance to say something in that moment. There was plenty more I could say but we're not just fueling a fire that's already out of control. His family, for instance, at this moment are trying to suffer that unimaginable grief in the full scrutiny of a fucking circus and anything that I say is probably going to contribute even more to that and keep the story running and running and running. There will come a time eventually when people just remember that he was a beautiful man who did some wonderful work and we would have seen great things from him. Right now I can't say that I'm too enthusiastic about just adding more fodder to what is already a horrendously, obscenely overblown machine that's gathered around his death. It's horrible. [on the passing of Pete Postlethwaite ] "Pos" was the one. As students, it was him we went to see on stage time and time again. It was him we wanted to be like: wild and true, lion-hearted, unselfconscious, irreverent. He was on our side. He watched out for us. We loved him and followed him like happy children, never a breath away from laughter. He shouldn't have gone. I wish so much that he hadn't. There's a tendency to make lists at this time of the year. When we get to the Best of British, if Pete isn't at the top of that list, he shouldn't be far from it. [on the rumors surrounding his acting process]: Certainly in England I think they prefer to believe that I'm stone mad. That's how they account for all my eccentric behavior. But I always feel as if that has been largely misrepresented, the details that have been singled out...People are fascinated by the peripheral details. But that's not where the principal work takes place, obviously. That takes place either inside you, or it doesn't happen at all. It's your own life that breathes itself into and through the character. But people prefer to dwell on the stuff that appears on the face of it to be some form of self-flagellation. And for me, everything is part of the joy of discovering this life - that one is trying to inform as well as satisfying an irresistible curiosity. So it's the pleasure in learning that has always been the prevailing feeling for me. And yet consistently it's represented as this tortured thing. Interviews are God's great joke on me. I like to take a long time over things, and I believe that it's the time spent away from the work that allows me to do the work itself. If you're lurching from from one film set or one theater to the other, I'm not sure what your resources would be as a human being. [on playing Abraham Lincoln ] The minute you begin to approach him--and there are vast corridors that have been carved that lead you to an understanding of that man's life, both through the great riches of his own writing and all the contemporary accounts and biographies--he feels immediately and surprisingly accessible. He draws you closer to him. I became conflicted in my late teens. I imagined an alternative life as a furniture maker. For about a year I just didn't know what to do. I did laboring jobs-- working in the docks, construction sites. When I did make the decision to focus on acting, I think my mother was just relieved for me that I had finally started to focus. She probably feared for me much more than she ever let on, because all I got from her, no matter what I was doing was encouragement--so much so that I think I became quite a harsh judge of myself to try to restore some kind of balance. [on the United States] I probably do have a greater fascination for the history of this country than I do for my own. I date that back to the moment that Michael Mann invited me to do The Last of the Mohicans (1992)]. I hedged my bets for a long time because I thought, "Why? Why would he want to do that?". Eventually I thought, "Well, if he's willing to take that chance, who am I to say no?". [on events in America, 2012] I think a lot about what President [ Barack Obama ] is going through at this moment. I look to the extent to which he has aged visibly. I feel I aged visibly just playing [President Abraham Lincoln ], so to actually have that responsibility is a burden that one can only explore in one's imagination. Anyone who has that position of authority must necessarily find themselves very, very alone at certain times. I'm not in any way comparing his work to the work that I do as an actor, but it's a common theme. I'm woefully one-track-minded. Without sounding unhinged, I know I'm not Abraham Lincoln . I'm aware of that. But the truth is the entire game is about creating an illusion, and for whatever reason, and mad as it may sound, some part of me can allow myself to believe for a period for time without questioning, and that's the trick. Maybe it's a terrible revelation about myself that one does feel able to do that. [on playing Abraham Lincoln ] I thought this is a very, very bad idea. But by that time it was too late. I had already been drawn into Lincoln's orbit. He has a very powerful orbit, which is interesting because we tend to hold him at such a distance. He's been mythologized almost to the point of dehumanization. But when you begin to approach him, he almost instantly becomes welcoming and accessible, the way he was in life. [on photos of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner] I looked at them the way you sometimes look at your own reflection in a mirror and wonder who that person is looking back at you. I never, ever felt that depth of love for another human being that I never met. And that's, I think, probably the effect that [ Abraham Lincoln ] has on most people that take the time to discover him . . . I wish he had stayed [with me] forever. [accepting the Best Actor award at SAG, 2013] It occurred to me--it was an actor that murdered Abraham Lincoln . And therefore, somehow it is only so fitting that every now and then an actor tries to bring him back to life again. [on being presented the 2013 Best Actor Oscar by Meryl Streep ] It's strange because three years ago, before we decided to do a straight swap, I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher and Meryl was Steven Spielberg 's first choice for Lincoln (2012). I'd have liked to see that version. Since we got married 16 years ago, my wife [ Rebecca Miller ] has lived with some very strange men. But luckily, she's the versatile one in the family and she's been the perfect companion to all of them. I miss playing [ Abraham Lincoln ]. Very much. I miss the proximity to his character. There was a time in my life when it wasn't clear whether or not I would amount to anything. I was fearful about my future. In England, people were hell-bent on certifying me--to them, the way I work as an actor is the system of someone who is unhinged. As a young man, when I saw the early movies by Martin Scorsese , I saw a way to be, a kind of liberation. In those movies, America seemed like a place of infinite opportunities. In Lincoln (2012), we tried to show that sense of grand democratic possibility. We created a world I didn't want to leave. "I know as an Englishman, it's absolutely none of my business, but I'm so very grateful it was you." [On Barack Obama's re-election, November 2012] [on stage vs. film acting in a 1987 interview] I'm greedy. I prefer both. By that I mean I feel that I'd be missing out if I were to do only one or the other. There's no point in making social comments badly. That is really dangerous... I don't like things that just gripe. [in a 1987 interview about the variety of his roles] I don't set out in search of something that is different, although I probably do go in search of things that involve traveling a certain distance away from my own life and away from the lives of characters I've already explored. But at the end of a job, there's always a sense of having failed to some extent in the exploration - of knowing that there are many, many other factors that might have been explored. Yet at the same time, I always feel it's time to move on, regardless of any dissatisfaction. Salary (1)

i don't know

Who first coined the term cybernetics?

Cybernetics | Article about cybernetics by The Free Dictionary Cybernetics | Article about cybernetics by The Free Dictionary http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/cybernetics Related to cybernetics: cyborg , Systems theory cybernetics [Gr.,=steersman], term coined by American mathematician Norbert Wiener Wiener, Norbert, 1894–1964, American mathematician, educator, and founder of the field of cybernetics, b. Columbia, Mo., grad. Tufts College, 1909, Ph.D. Harvard, 1913. ..... Click the link for more information.  to refer to the general analysis of control systems control systems, combinations of components (electrical, mechanical, thermal, or hydraulic) that act together to maintain actual system performance close to a desired set of performance specifications. Open-loop control systems (e.g. ..... Click the link for more information.  and communication communication, transfer of information, such as thoughts and messages, as contrasted with transportation, the transfer of goods and persons (see information theory). The basic forms of communication are by signs (sight) and by sounds (hearing; see language). ..... Click the link for more information.  systems in living organisms and machines. In cybernetics, analogies are drawn between the functioning of the brain and nervous system and the computer computer, device capable of performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations. A computer is distinguished from a calculating machine, such as an electronic calculator, by being able to store a computer program (so that it can repeat its operations and make logical ..... Click the link for more information.  and other electronic systems. The science overlaps the fields of neurophysiology, information theory information theory or communication theory, mathematical theory formulated principally by the American scientist Claude E. Shannon to explain aspects and problems of information and communication. ..... Click the link for more information. , computing machinery, and automation automation, automatic operation and control of machinery or processes by devices, such as robots that can make and execute decisions without human intervention. The principal feature of such devices is their use of self-correcting control systems that employ feedback, i.e. ..... Click the link for more information. . See servomechanism servomechanism, automatic device for the control of a large power output by means of a small power input or for maintaining correct operating conditions in a mechanism. It is a type of feedback control system. ..... Click the link for more information. . Bibliography See N. Wiener, Cybernetics (rev. ed. 1961) and The Human Use of Human Beings (1967); F. H. Fuchs, The Brain as a Computer (1973). cybernetics ‘the science of control and communication in the animal and the machine’. As coined by Nobert Weiner in the 1940s (see Weiner, 1949), and stimulated by the advent of modern computing, the term was intended to draw attention to common processes at work in systems of Cybernetics   the science of control, communications, and data processing. Subject. The principal objects of cybernetic research are “cybernetic systems.” In general or theoretical cybernetics such systems are considered in the abstract, without reference to their real physical nature. The high level of abstraction enables cybernetics to find general methods for approaching the study of qualitatively different systems—for example, technological, biological, and even social systems. The abstract cybernetic system is a set of interrelated objects, called the elements of the system, that are capable of receiving, storing, and processing data, as well as exchanging them. Examples of cybernetic systems are various kinds of automatic control devices in engineering (for example, an automatic pilot or a controller that maintains a constant temperature in a room), electronic computers, the human brain, biological populations, and human society. The elements of an abstract cybernetic system are objects of any nature whose state can be fully described by the values of a certain set of parameters. For a large majority of the concrete applications of cybernetics the consideration of parameters of two types is sufficient. Parameters of the first type, called continuous parameters, can assume any real value in a certain interval (for example, the interval from — 1 to 2 or from— ∞ to + ∞). Parameters of the second type, called discrete parameters, assume finite sets of values—for example, a value equal to any decimal number or the values “yes” or “no.” Any whole or rational number can be represented by a sequence of discrete parameters. At the same time, discrete parameters may be used in working with qualitative attributes that are not ordinarily expressed in numbers. To do this it is sufficient to list and designate (for example, using a five-point scale) all distinguishable states of an attribute. In this way it is possible to characterize and introduce into consideration such factors as temperament, mood, and the attitude of one person toward another. By the same token, the area of application of cybernetic systems and cybernetics as a whole extends far beyond the bounds of the strictly “mathematicized” fields of knowledge. The state of an element of a cybernetic system may change either randomly or under the influence of certain input signals that it receives either from the outside (outside the system under consideration) or from other elements of the system. In turn, each element of the system may form output signals, which usually depend on the state of the element and the input signals it receives at the moment in question. The signals are either transmitted to other elements of the system (acting as input signals for them) or form part of the output signals of the entire system that are transmitted to the outside. The organization of relationships among elements of a cybernetic system is called the structure of the system. A distinction is made between systems with constant and variable structures. Changes in structure are usually given as functions of the states of all the constituent elements of the system and of the input signals of the system as a whole. Thus, a description of the rules of the system’s functioning is given by three families of functions: those that determine changes in the states of all elements of the system, those that determine the elements’ output signals, and those that cause changes in the structure of the system. A system is called deterministic if all the functions are conventional (single-valued). However, if the functions—or at least some of them—are random functions, the system is called probabilistic or stochastic. A full description of a cybernetic system results if a description of the system’s initial state—that is, the initial structure of the system and the initial states of all its elements—is added to the description of the rules of its functioning. Classification of cybernetic systems. Cybernetic systems are distinguished by the nature of their internal signals. If all the signals, like the states of all elements of the system, are given in continuous parameters, the system is called continuous. Where all the magnitudes are discrete, one speaks of a discrete system. In mixed, or hybrid, systems it is necessary to deal with both types of quantities. The breakdown of cybernetic systems into continuous and discrete is to some extent arbitrary. It is determined by the depth of understanding achieved and by the precision required in studying the object, and sometimes by the convenience of using a particular mathematical technique in studying the system. For example, it is commonly known that light has a discrete, quantum nature; nonetheless, parameters such as the magnitude of a light flux and the level of illumination are customarily characterized by means of continuous values, since adequately smooth change in them has been provided. Another example is the ordinary slide-wire rheostat. Although the magnitude of its resistance changes by jumps, it is possible and convenient to consider the change as continuous where the jumps are small enough. Inverse examples are even more numerous. The discharging function of the kidney on the conventional (nonquantum) level is a continuous quantity. In many cases, however, a five-point system is considered sufficient for characterizing this function; thus, it is viewed as a discrete quantity. In addition, in any actual computation of the values of continuous parameters one must be limited to a certain level of accuracy, but this means that the corresponding quantity is regarded as discrete. The last example shows that the discrete representation is a universal method since, bearing in mind that absolute accuracy of measurement is unattainable, any continuous quantity is finally reduced to its discrete representation. Inverse reduction for discrete quantities that assume a small number of different values cannot give satisfactory results (from the point of view of precision of representation) and therefore is not used in practice. Thus, in a certain sense the discrete method of representation is more general than the continuous method. The division of cybernetic systems into continuous and discrete types is very important from the point of view of the mathematical technique used. For continuous systems this is usually the theory of systems of ordinary differential equations, and for discrete systems it is the theory of algorithms and the theory of automatons. One other basic mathematical theory that is used in the cases of both discrete and continuous systems (and develops accordingly in two aspects) is information theory. The complexity of cybernetic systems is determined by two factors: the first is the “dimensionality of the system”—that is, the total number of parameters that characterize the states of all its elements; the second is the complexity of the system’s structure, which is determined by the variety and total number of links among its elements. A simple set of a large number of noninterrelated elements, like a set of uniform elements with simple links that repeat from element to element, is not yet a complex system. Complex (major) cybernetic systems are systems whose descriptions cannot be reduced to a description of one element and an indication of the total number of such (uniform) elements. The method of consolidated representation of the system as a set of individual units, each of which is a separate system, is used in addition to the ordinary breakdown of the system into its elements when studying complex cybernetic systems. A hierarchy of such unit descriptions is used in studying complex systems. At the top of such a hierarchy the entire system is considered as a single unit, and at the lowest level the individual elements of the system appear as the units that make up the systems. The fact that the very concept of the system element is to some degree arbitrary and depends on the goals set in studying the system and the depth of penetration into the subject must be stressed. Thus, in the phenomenological approach to the study of the brain, when the object of study is not the structure of the brain but the functions it performs, the brain may be regarded as a single element, even though it is characterized by a large number of parameters. The standard approach is to consider individual neurons as the elements that make up the brain. In passing to the cellular or molecular level, each neuron may, in turn, be viewed as a complex cybernetic system. If the exchange of signals among elements of the system is entirely enclosed within its boundaries, the system is called isolated or closed. When viewed as a single element, such a system has neither input nor output signals. In the general case, open systems have both input and output channels, along which signals are exchanged with the environment. Any open cybernetic system is assumed to be equipped with receptors (sensing devices), which receive signals from outside and transmit them into the system. Where a human being is considered as a cybernetic system, the sense organs (organs of sight, hearing, touch, and so on) are the receptors. The output signals are transmitted to the outside by means of effectors, which in this case are the organs of speech and facial expression, the hands, and so on. Since every system of signals carries certain information, regardless of whether the system is formed by intelligent beings or the objects and processes of inanimate nature, any open cybernetic system, just as the elements of any system, open or closed, may be regarded as data processors. In this case the concept of data or information is viewed in a very broad sense, close to the physical concept of entropy. Cybernetic approach to the study of various kinds of objects. Consideration of various animate and inanimate objects as data processors or systems made up of elementary data processors is the essence of the “cybernetic approach” to the study of such objects. This approach, like the approaches based on other fundamental sciences, such as mechanics and chemistry, demands a certain level of abstraction. Thus, in the cybernetic approach to the study of the brain as a system of neurons, their dimensions, shape, and chemical structure are usually disregarded. The states of the neurons (excited or unexcited), the signals they produce, the connections among them, and the rules of changes in their states become the objects of study. The simplest data processors can process information of only one type. For example, a functioning doorbell always responds to pressure on the button (the receptor) with the same action: the bell rings. However, complex cybernetic systems usually are able to accumulate data in some form and accordingly to vary the actions they perform (data processing). By analogy with the human brain, this property of cybernetic systems is sometimes called memory. There are two principal ways in which information can be “memorized” in cybernetic systems: by a change in the states of the system’s elements or by a change in the structure of the system (of course, a mixed variant is also possible). There is essentially no fundamental difference between the two types of “memory.” In most cases the difference depends only on the approach used in describing the system. For example, one current theory explains long-term human memory by changes in the conductivity of the synapses (the connections among the separate neurons that make up the brain). If only the neurons are considered as the elements that make up the brain, then change in the synapses should be regarded as change in the structure of the brain, but if all the synapses (regardless of the level of their conductivity) are included, along with the neurons, then the phenomenon under consideration is reduced to a change in the states of the elements, with an unchanged structure of the system. Computers as data processors. Among the complex technical data processors the most important for cybernetics is the electronic computer. In the simpler computing machines—electromechanical digital and analog types—adjustment for various tasks is done by changing the system of links among the elements on a special switching console. In modern general-purpose computers such changes are made by machine “memorization” of particular working programs in a special unit that accumulates information. Unlike analog machines, which work with continuous information, the modern computer handles discrete information. Any sequences of decimal numbers, letters, punctuation signs, and other symbols may appear as information at the input and output of the computer. Inside the machine this information is usually represented (or coded) in a sequence of signals that assume only two values. Although the capabilities of analog machines (like any other artificially created units) are limited to the conversion of strictly defined types of information, the modern computer is versatile. This means that any conversions of alphanumeric information that can be defined by a random, finite system of rules of any kind (arithmetic, grammatical, and so on) can be performed by the computer after it is fed a properly written program. Digital computers achieve this capability by the versatility of their instruction code, that is, the elementary data processing that is included in the structure of the computers. In the same way that all kinds of buildings can be assembled from the same parts, all kinds of alphanumeric information conversions, of any complexity, can be composed of elementary conversions. The computer program is just such a sequence of elementary conversions. The computer’s property of versatility is not confined to alphanumeric information. As shown by the theory of coding, any discrete information—as well as any random continuous information (with any given degree of precision)—can be represented in alphanumeric (and even simple numeric) form. Thus, modern computers can be considered as universal data processors. The human brain, although based on entirely different principles, is another well-known example of a universal data processor. The modern computer’s property of versatility makes possible its use to simulate any other conversions of information, including any thinking processes. This puts computers in a special position: from the moment of their appearance they have been the main technical equipment and research device of cybernetics. Control in cybernetic systems. In the cases considered thus far, changes in the behavior of the digital computer have been determined by the human being who changes the program of its operation. However, it is possible to write a program that changes the working program of the computer and organizes its communication with the environment through an appropriate system of receptors and effectors. In this way various forms of change in behavior and development that are observed in complex biological and social systems can be simulated. Change in the behavior of complex cybernetic systems is a result of the accumulation of appropriately processed information received by the systems in the past. Two main types of change in system behavior are distinguished, depending on the form of “memorization” of the information: self-adjustment and self-organization. In self-adjusting systems the accumulation of experience is expressed in a change in the values of particular parameters, and in self-organizing systems it occurs as change in the structure of the system. As was mentioned earlier, this difference is to some degree arbitrary and depends on the way in which the system is broken down into elements. In practice, self-adjustment is usually related to changes in a comparatively small number of continuous parameters. Profound changes in the structure of the computer’s working programs, which can be interpreted as changes in the states of a large number of discrete memory elements, are more naturally viewed as examples of self-organization. Purposeful change in the behavior of cybernetic systems occurs through control. The purposes of control vary greatly depending on the types of systems and the degree of their complexity. In the simplest case the purpose may be to maintain a particular parameter at a constant value. For more complex systems the goals may be adaptation to a changing environment or even learning the rules of the changes. The presence of control in a cybernetic system means that the system may be represented in the form of two interacting units: the object of control and the control system. The control system transmits control information along direct-link channels through the corresponding set of effectors to the controlled object. Information on the state of the controlled object is received by means of receptors and transmitted back to the control system along feedback channels. Like any cybernetic system, the system with control described here can also have channels for communication (with appropriate systems of receptors and effectors) with the environment. In the simplest cases the external environment may appear as a source of various types of noise and distortion in the system (most frequently in the feedback channel). In this case the task of the control system includes noise filtering. This task becomes especially important in remote control, where signals are transmitted over lengthy communications channels. The principal task of the control system is to convert information coming into the system and shape control signals in such a way as to ensure the best possible achievement of the goals of control. The main types of control are distinguished on the basis of the types of such goals and the nature of the control system’s functioning. One of the simplest kinds of control is program control. The goal of such control is to feed a particular, strictly defined sequence of control signals to the controlled object. Such control has no feedback. The simplest example of such program control is the automatic traffic light whose changes occur at set moments. More complex control of the traffic light, with counters of approaching vehicles, can include a very simple “threshold” feedback signal; the light changes every time the number of waiting vehicles exceeds a given quantity. Classical automatic control, whose purpose is to maintain a particular parameter (or several independent parameters) at a constant value, is also a very simple kind of control. A system for automatic control of the air temperature in a room may serve as an example. A special thermometer-transmitter measures the air temperature T, and the control system compares this temperature with the given quantity T0 and sends the control information — k(T — T0) to a gate, which regulates the flow of warm water into the central heating units. The minus sign of the coefficient k signifies negative-feedback control—that is, when the temperature T rises above the given threshold T0, the flow of heat decreases, and when it drops below the threshold the flow increases. Negative feedback is essential to provide stability in the control process. System stability means that where there is a deviation in either direction from the equilibrium position (where T =T0) the system automatically tries to restore the equilibrium. With the very simple assumption that there is a linear relationship between the control information and the velocity of the flow of heat into the room, the operation of such a regulator is described by the differential equation dT/dt = — k(T — T0), whose solution is the function T = T0 + δ · e-kt (where δ is the deviation of temperature T from the assigned value T0 at the initial moment). Since this system is described by a linear differential equation of the first order, it is called a linear system of the first order. Linear systems of the second and higher orders, and particularly nonlinear systems, have more complex behavior. Systems are possible in which the principle of program control is combined with the task of regulation in the sense of maintaining a constant value for some particular quantity. For example, a program device that changes the value of the parameter being regulated can be built into the room temperature regulator described above. The functions of such a device may be maintenance of the temperature at + 20°C during the day and reduction to + 16°C at night. In this case the function of simple regulation grows into the function of monitoring the value of the parameter being changed by the program. In more complex servomechanisms the task is to maintain as exactly as possible some fixed functional relationship between a set of randomly changing parameters and a given set of parameters being regulated. An example is the system that continuously follows a randomly maneuvering airplane with a searchlight beam. In optimum control systems the basic purpose is to maintain a maximum or minimum value of some function of two groups of parameters; the function is called the criterion of optimality. The parameters of the first group (external conditions) change independently of the system, and the parameters of the second group are regulated—that is, their values can change under the influence of control signals from the system. The simplest example of optimal control is again the task of regulating room air temperature, with the added condition of considering changes in its humidity. The air temperature that gives the feeling of greatest comfort depends on the humidity of the air. If humidity is always changing but the system can only control change in temperature, the goal of control will naturally be to maintain the temperature that gives the feeling of greatest comfort. This is the task of optimum control. Optimum control systems are very important in control of the economy. In the simplest case optimal control can be reduced to the task of maintaining the maximum or minimum possible value of the regulated parameter under the given conditions. In this case one speaks of extremal control systems. If unregulated parameters in the optimal control system change in a particular time interval, the function of the system reduces to maintenance of the constant values of the regulated parameters that ensure maximization (or minimization) of the desired criterion of optimal control. Here too, as in the case of classical control, the problem of stability of control arises. When planning relatively uncomplicated systems such stability is achieved by appropriate selection of parameters for the system being planned. In more complex cases, where the number of disturbing influences and the dimensionality of the system are very large, the use of self-adjustment and self-organization to achieve stability is sometimes convenient. In this case some of the parameters that determine the nature of the links existing in the system are not preset and can be changed by the system during its operation. The system has a special unit that records the nature of transitional processes in the system when it is put out of balance. When a transitional process is found to be unstable, the system changes the values of the parameters of the links until stability is achieved. Systems of this type are usually called ultrastable. With large numbers of varying parameters of the links, a random search for stable modes may be too time-consuming. In this case various methods of restricting the random search are used—for example, breaking the parameters down into groups and searching within just one group (determined by particular signs). Systems of this type are called multistable. Biology offers a great variety of ultrastable and multistable systems, such as the system for regulation of blood temperature in humans and warm-blooded animals. The task of grouping external influences, which is essential for successful selection of the method of self-adjustment in multistable systems, is one of the tasks of recognition (pattern recognition). Visual and auditory images are particularly important in determining the type of behavior (method of control) in human beings. The possibility of recognizing patterns and joining them in particular classes enables the human being to create abstract concepts, which are an essential condition for conscious awareness of activity and the beginning of abstract thinking. Abstract thinking makes possible the creation in the control system—in this case, the human brain—of models of various processes, their use to extrapolate activity, and the determination of one’s actions on the basis of such extrapolation. Thus, at the highest levels of the hierarchy of control systems the tasks of control are closely interwoven with the tasks of recognizing surrounding reality. In pure form these tasks manifest themselves in abstract cognitive systems, which are also one of the classes of cybernetic systems. The theory of reliability of cybernetic systems has an important place in cybernetics. Its task is the development of methods of constructing systems that ensure correct functioning of the systems when some of their elements malfunction, particular links are broken, or other possible accidental trouble occurs. Methods of cybernetics. With the study of cybernetic systems as its primary object, cybernetics uses three fundamentally different methods of investigation. Two of these, mathematical analysis and the experimental method, are widely used in other sciences. The essence of mathematical analysis is the description of the object of study within the framework of a particular mathematical approach (for example, in the form of a system of equations) and then the study of the various consequences of the description using mathematical deduction (for example, by solving the system of equations). In the experimental method, various experiments are conducted, either with the object itself or with a real physical model of it. If the object under study is unique and there is no possibility of a substantial influence on it (as is the case, for example, with the solar system or the process of biological evolution), the active experiment becomes passive observation. One of the most important achievements of cybernetics is the development and broad use of a new method of research, which has come to be called mathematical (machine) experimentation or mathematical simulation. The essence of the method is that experiments are done not with a real physical model of the object under study but rather with a description of the object. The description of the object and programs that produce changes in the characteristics of the object in accordance with its description are entered in the memory of a computer; various experiments may then be conducted with the object, such as recording its behavior under certain conditions and changing individual elements of the description. The great speed of modern computers often makes possible the simulation of many processes at a rate much faster than normal. The first stage of mathematical simulation is the breakdown of the system being studied into separate units and elements and the establishment of the links among them. This function is performed by systems analysis. The depth and method of the breakdown may vary depending on the purposes of the investigation. In this sense systems analysis is more of an art than an exact science, since parts and links that are insignificant from the point of view of the assigned goal must be discarded a priori in the analysis of truly complex systems. After the system is broken down into parts and the parts have been described with particular sets of quantitative or qualitative parameters, representatives of the various sciences are usually brought in to establish the links among them. Thus, during systems analysis of the human organism typical links have the following form: “When organ A passes from state k1 to state k2 and organ B remains in state M, organ C will, with probability p, pass from state n1 to state n2 in N months.” The statement may be made by an endocrinologist, cardiologist, internist, or other specialist, depending on the type of organs to which it refers. The result of their combined work is a composite description of the organism, which is the mathematical model being sought. Systems programmers translate this model into machine notation, at the same time programming the means necessary for experimenting with it. The conduct of the actual experiments and the drawing of various conclusions from them is the work of operations research. Where possible, however, operations researchers can use deductive mathematical constructions and even physical models of the entire system or of its separate parts. The job of constructing physical models and the task of planning and making various artificial cybernetic systems are part of systems engineering. Historical survey. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato was apparently the first to use the term “cybernetics” for control in the general sense. However, the actual formation of cybernetics as a science took place much later and was determined by the development of technical apparatus for control and data processing. So-called androids, which were human-like toys that were in fact mechanical, program-controlled devices, were made in Europe as early as the Middle Ages. The first industrial regulators, for the water level in a steam boiler and for the speed of shaft rotation of a steam engine, were invented by I. I. Polzunov (Russia) and J. Watt (England). In the second half of the 19th century, increasingly refined automatic regulators were required. Electromechanical and electronic units were used with increasing frequency in such regulators, along with mechanical units. The invention in the early 20th century of differential analyzers, which were capable of simulating and solving systems of ordinary differential equations, played a large role in development of the theory and practice of automatic control. These machines marked the beginning of the rapid development of analog computers and their widespread introduction into engineering. Progress in neurophysiology, in particular the classic works of I. P. Pavlov on conditioned reflexes, exerted a substantial influence on the establishment of cybernetics. The original work by the Ukrainian scientist Ia. I. Grdina on the dynamics of living organisms is also worthy of note. In the 1930’s the development of cybernetics began to be increasingly influenced by the development of the theory of discrete data processors. Two main sources of ideas and problems directed this development. The first was the task of constructing the foundations of mathematics. As early as the mid-19th century, G. Boole laid the foundations of modern mathematical logic. In the 1920’s the foundations of the modern theory of algorithms were laid. In 1934, K. Gödel demonstrated the finiteness of closed cognitive systems. In 1936, A. M. Turing described a hypothetical general-purpose discrete data processor, which later came to be called the Turing machine. These two results, obtained within the framework of pure mathematics, exerted and continue to exert a very large influence on the formation of the basic ideas of cybernetics. The second source of ideas and problems in cybernetics was practical experience in building actual discrete data processors. The simplest mechanical adding machine was invented by B. Pascal (France) in the 17th century. Only in the 19th century did C. Babbage (England) make the first attempt to build an automatic digital calculator, the prototype of the present-day electronic digital computer. By the early 20th century the first models of electromechanical tabulating machines were built and made possible automation of very simple processing of discrete data. The necessity of building sophisticated relay-contact devices, primarily for automatic telephone exchanges, led in the 1930’s to a sharp increase in interest in the theory of discrete data processors. In 1938, C. Shannon (USA) and, in 1941, V. I. Shestakov (USSR) demonstrated the possibility of using the techniques of mathematical logic to analyze relay-contact circuits. This marked the beginning of the development of the modern theory of automatons. The development of electronic computers in the 1940’s (J. von Neumann and others) was of decisive importance for the formation of cybernetics. The computer opened up fundamentally new possibilities for research and actual construction of complex control systems. It remained to bring together all the material accumulated by that time and to give the new science a name. This step was taken by N. Wiener, who in 1948 published his famous book Cybernetics. Wiener proposed that the “science of control and communications in the animal and the machine” be called cybernetics. In Cybernetics and his second book, Cybernetics and Society (1954), Wiener devoted particular attention to the general philosophical and social aspects of the new science, frequently treating them in a highly arbitrary manner. As a result the further development of cybernetics followed two paths. In the USA and Western Europe the narrow understanding of cybernetics began to predominate; this concentrated attention on the disputes and doubts raised by Wiener and on the analogies between control processes in technical devices and in living organisms. In the USSR, after an initial period of negation and doubts, the more natural and meaningful definition of cybernetics took root; this included in the field all achievements that had accumulated in the theories of data processing and control systems. Special attention in this was given to the new problems arising in connection with the extensive introduction of computers in the theories of control and data processing. In the West these questions were treated within the framework of specialized areas of science, which came to be called information science, computer science, systems analysis, and so on. Only at the end of the 1960’s was a tendency observed to broaden the concept of “cybernetics” and include all these areas in it. Principal divisions of cybernetics. Contemporary cybernetics in the broad sense consists of a large number of divisions, which represent independent scientific areas. Theoretically, the nucleus of cybernetics is made up of information theory, coding theory, the theory of algorithms and automatons, general systems theory, the theory of optimal processes, the methods of operations research, pattern recognition theory, and the theory of formal languages. In practice the center of interest in cybernetics has shifted to the construction of complex control systems and various kinds of systems for the automation of mental labor. On the purely cognitive level one of the most interesting future tasks of cybernetics is the simulation of the brain and its various functions. Computers are the chief technical facility for accomplishing all these tasks. Therefore, the development of cybernetics in both the theoretical and practical aspects is closely linked to progress in electronic computer engineering. The demands made by cybernetics for development of its mathematical techniques are determined by the practical tasks mentioned above. A certain practical orientation in research on the development of mathematical techniques is in fact the line that divides the general mathematical part of such research from the purely cybernetic part. Thus, for example, in the part of algorithm theory that is being constructed for the needs of the foundations of mathematics an effort is made to reduce the number of types of elementary operations to a minimum and to make them minor. The algorithmic languages that result are convenient as objects of study, but at the same time it is virtually impossible to use them to describe the real tasks of data processing. The cybernetic aspect of algorithm theory is concerned with algorithmic languages that are especially oriented to particular classes of practical problems. Languages exist that are oriented toward computational problems, formula translations, the processing of graphic information, and so on. A similar situation occurs in other areas that make up the general theoretical foundation of cybernetics. They provide the approach for solving the practical problems of the study of cybernetic systems, their analysis and synthesis, and the determination of optimal control. Methods of cybernetics are particularly important in sciences in which the methods of classical mathematics can be applied only on a limited scale, to solve certain particular problems. Foremost among these sciences are economics, biology, medicine, linguistics, and fields of engineering that deal with complex systems. As a result of the extensive application of cybernetic methods in these sciences, independent scientific areas have arisen that would presumably be called cybernetic economics, cybernetic biology, and so on. For a number of reasons, however, the formation of these fields took place within the framework of cybernetics through specialization of the objects of research rather than in the corresponding sciences through application of the methods and results of cybernetics. Therefore, these fields came to be called economic cybernetics, biological cybernetics, medical cybernetics, and engineering cybernetics. The corresponding area in linguistics has come to be called mathematical linguistics. The tasks of the actual construction of complex control systems (above all in economics), as well as computer-based complex information retrieval systems, automatic design systems, and systems for automatic collection and processing of experimental data, usually belong to the area of the science that has come to be called systems engineering. With the broad interpretation of the subject of cybernetics, most of systems engineering is organically contained within it. The same is true of electronic computer engineering. Needless to say, cybernetics does not occupy itself with designing the elements of computers, structural design of machines, production engineering problems, and so on. At the same time, the approach to the computer as a system, general structural questions, and the organization of complex data processing processes and control of these processes in actuality belong to applied cybernetics and constitute one of its important areas. REFERENCES [sī·bər′ned·iks] (science and technology) The science of control and communication in all of their manifestations within and between machines, animals, and organizations. Specifically, the interaction between automatic control and living organisms, especially humans and animals. Cybernetics The study of communication and control within and between humans, machines, organizations, and society. This is a modern definition of the term cybernetics, which was first utilized by N. Wiener in 1948 to designate a broad subject area he defined as “control and communication in the animal and the machine.” A distinguishing feature of this broad field is the use of feedback information to adapt or steer the entity toward a goal. When this feedback signal is such as to cause changes in the structure or parameters of the system itself, it appears to be self-organizing. See Adaptive control Wiener developed the statistical methods of autocorrelation, prediction, and filtering of time-series data to provide a mathematical description of both biological and physical phenomena. The use of filtering to remove unwanted information or noise from the feedback signal mimics the selectivity shown in biological systems in which imprecise information from a diversity of sensors can be accommodated so that the goal can still be reached. cybernetics the branch of science concerned with control systems in electronic and mechanical devices and the extent to which useful comparisons can be made between man-made and biological systems cybernetics (robotics) /si:`b*-net'iks/ The study of control and communication in living and man-made systems. The term was first proposed by Norbert Wiener in the book referenced below. Originally, cybernetics drew upon electrical engineering, mathematics, biology, neurophysiology, anthropology, and psychology to study and describe actions, feedback, and response in systems of all kinds. It aims to understand the similarities and differences in internal workings of organic and machine processes and, by formulating abstract concepts common to all systems, to understand their behaviour. Modern "second-order cybernetics" places emphasis on how the process of constructing models of the systems is influenced by those very systems, hence an elegant definition - "applied epistemology". Related recent developments (often referred to as sciences of complexity) that are distinguished as separate disciplines are artificial intelligence , neural networks, systems theory, and chaos theory , but the boundaries between those and cybernetics proper are not precise.

Norbert Wiener

Who played Tarzan in the first two Tarzan films?

World Wide Words: Cyberplague Random page Cyberplague William Gibson couldn’t have guessed how the word he invented would breed and infect the lexicon. That word, cyberspace, appeared just at the time when we needed a term for the electronic realm. Gibson is best known for using it in his 1984 novel Neuromancer, but he had actually invented it two years previously in a short story in Omni. The root that became cyber first appeared in the word cybernetics, which was coined by Norbert Wiener in his book of that name in 1948. Wiener derived it from the Greek for steersman and the idea of control is central to it. We quickly had a small rash of cyber words, such as cybernetician, cybernate and cybernation; cyborg was invented about 1960 to describe a person whose abilities have been transformed or augmented by mechanical elements built into the body; followers of the BBC television series Dr. Who will remember the Cybermen; an early edition of the Avengers in October 1965 invented the term cybernaut to mean a type of robot (this programme featured the archetypical mad scientist and the writer gave him the line: “Think yourself fortunate, Mr Steed, the Cybernaut was programmed to stun, not kill.”). Generally, though, we could take it or leave it alone and the prefix settled down to a specialist and unpushy role. But Gibson’s reuse of it spawned a mass of imitative and derivative words, a process which, ironically, is now completely out of control. My own files have more than 200 combinations trawled from science fiction, computer magazines, books and newspapers, and I’m getting cyber-sick of them. Few will stay the course, though a small number look like achieving an entry in the dictionaries. The plague of neologisms even prompted Newsweek in 1994 to speak of “cybertedium”. Thankfully, the peak of journalists’ misplaced inventiveness seems to have passed, but the prefix is still very much alive. So famous has the concept and the coiner of cyberspace become that in the US television series Wild Palms, in which Gibson plays himself in the future, the question “Aren’t you the person who invented the word ‘cyberspace’ back then?” provokes the snarling reply “Yes, and they’ve never let me forget it!” The meaning of the word “cyberspace” has evolved over the past decade. Its original sense in Neuromancer was of electronic space as perceived by what we would now call virtual reality: the brain and senses were directly linked with the world of computers and communications and so could experience it as an actual landscape. With the explosive growth of interest in the Internet its popular sense shifted to a weakened one that referred to the intangible (and hence mysterious) electronic domain: “the place where telephone conversations happen”, as Bruce Sterling defined it. More recently still, it has moved towards becoming a loose synomym for “electronic”. One of the key related words is cyberpunk. This had been coined by Bruce Bethke (in his story Cyberpunk, in Amazing Stories in 1983) and was immediately taken up by Gardner Dozois, the anthologist and editor of Asimov’s SF Magazine, to describe the subgenre of science fiction of which Neuromancer was a canonical example. Cyberpunk novels are morally ambiguous; they describe marginalized people struggling to survive in bleak urbanized futuristic worlds dominated by global businesses or governments, whose control is enhanced by artificial intelligence; plots often involve electronically-augmented individuals (the 1982 film Bladerunner is pure cyberpunk in concept). In the mid eighties, some science-fiction writers and others saw parallels between these future worlds and current society, and began to describe themselves as cyberpunks. Later on, a group of computer scientists and others interested in computer security and cryptography named themselves cypherpunks in imitation. Here’s a brief listing of some of the many compounds starting in cyber: Not surprisingly, there’s a large group of words which describe people who work with words online: cyber-scribe, cyber-publisher, cyber-novellist and, of course, cyber-journalist; such people no doubt work in cyberlibraries and write or read cyberthrillers and cyberzines. The introduction of electronic money and online trading has provoked cybercash, cyber economy, cyberbuck, cyber dollar, cyber-money and other terms to do with cyber-shopping and cybercommerce. Cybernaut today refers to someone who “travels” in cyberspace — a person who uses computers to communicate. The cyberculture is the society of people linked by, and communicating through, electronic means such as Usenet and the Internet; the cyberworld is either the whole of cyberspace, or that part of it relating to virtual reality environments. In a cybercafé or cyber-pub you may take refreshment while accessing the Internet; a cyber-nightclub is also designed for enjoyment, but it’s a virtual space you connect to using the Internet. The concept of cyberfeminism recognises the non-discriminatory advantages of cyberspace to women (the British academic Sadie Plant describes herself as a cyberfeminist, a word she may have invented and the only person I’ve discovered who does so); cyberhippies, also known as Cyberians, are a high-tech development of the 1960s hippie culture, embracing technology rather than shunning it. A cyberlawyer is either an expert on the law relating to online communications (cyberlaw), or who studies the implications of computers and communications for the practice of law. A cybersurfer surfs the Internet in search of interesting things, perhaps cybersex, which is either explicit sexual material transmitted by electronic means or, more particularly, simulated sex using virtual reality techniques. The word cyber appears alone as an adjective and verb, relating generally to computer-mediated communications or virtual sensations (I’ve had reports of cyber as a noun, but haven’t yet found an example); the adjective cyberish is sometimes found, as is the adverb cyberly. After this relentless barrage of neologisms and cyberhype you might be forgiven if you found you were suffering from cyberphobia, a fear of electronic communications or of its technology, but then you wouldn’t be reading this, would you? Share this page

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Which film director was Anthony Quinn's father-in-law?

Anthony Quinn - Biography - IMDb Anthony Quinn Biography Showing all 64 items Jump to: Overview  (5) | Mini Bio  (2) | Spouse  (3) | Trade Mark  (1) | Trivia  (33) | Personal Quotes  (20) Overview (5) 3 June 2001 ,  Boston, Massachusetts, USA  (pneumonia and respiratory failure due to complications from throat cancer) Birth Name 6' 2" (1.88 m) Mini Bio (2) Anthony Quinn was born Antonio Rudolfo Oaxaca Quinn on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, to Manuela (Oaxaca) and Francisco Quinn, who became an assistant cameraman at a Los Angeles (CA) film studio. His paternal grandfather was Irish, and the rest of his family was Mexican. After starting life in extremely modest circumstances in Mexico, his family moved to Los Angeles, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and Echo Park neighborhoods. He attended Polytechnic High School and later Belmont High, but eventually dropped out. The young Quinn boxed (which stood him in good stead as a stage actor, when he played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" to rave reviews in Chicago), then later studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the great architect's studio, Taliesin, in Arizona. Quinn was close to Wright, who encouraged him when he decided to give acting a try. After a brief apprenticeship on stage, Quinn hit Hollywood in 1936 and picked up a variety of small roles in several films at Paramount, including an Indian warrior in The Plainsman (1936), which was directed by the man who later became his father-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille . As a contract player at Paramount, Quinn mainly played villains and ethnic types, such as an Arab chieftain in the Bing Crosby - Bob Hope vehicle Road to Morocco (1942). As a Mexican national (he did not become an American citizen until 1947), he was exempt from the draft. With many actors in the service fighting World War II, Quinn was able to move up into better supporting roles. He had married DeMille's daughter Katherine DeMille , which afforded him entrance to the top circles of Hollywood society. He became disenchanted with his career and did not renew his Paramount contract despite the advice of others, including his father-in-law (whom Quinn felt never accepted him due to his Mexican roots). Instead, he returned to the stage to hone his craft. His portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in Chicago and on Broadway (where he replaced the legendary Marlon Brando , who is forever associated with the role) made his reputation and boosted his film career when he returned to the movies. Brando and Elia Kazan , who directed "Streetcar" on Broadway and on film ( A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)), were crucial to Quinn's future success. Kazan, knowing the two were potential rivals due to their acclaimed portrayals of Kowalski, cast Quinn as Brando's brother in his biographical film of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata , Viva Zapata! (1952). Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for 1952, making him the first Mexican-American to win an Oscar. It was not to be his lone appearance in the winner's circle: he won his second Supporting Actor Oscar in 1957 for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli 's biographical film of Vincent van Gogh , Lust for Life (1956), opposite Kirk Douglas . Over the next decade Quinn lived in Italy and became a major figure in world cinema, as many studios shot films in Italy to take advantage of the lower costs ("runaway production" had battered the industry since its beginnings in the New York / New Jersey area in the 1910s). He appeared in several Italian films, giving one of his greatest performances as the circus strongman who brutalizes the sweet soul played by Giulietta Masina in her husband Federico Fellini 's masterpiece La Strada (1954). Alternating between Europe and Hollywood, Quinn built his reputation and entered the front rank of character actors and character leads. He received his third Oscar nomination (and first for Best Actor) for George Cukor 's Wild Is the Wind (1957). He played a Greek resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation in the monster hit The Guns of Navarone (1961) and received kudos for his portrayal of a once-great boxer on his way down in Rod Serling 's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). He went back to playing ethnic parts, such as an Arab warlord in David Lean 's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and he played the eponymous lead in the "sword-and-sandal" blockbuster Barabbas (1961). Two years later he reached the zenith of his career, playing Zorba the Greek in the 1964 film of the same name (a.k.a. Zorba the Greek (1964)), which brought him his fourth, and last, Oscar nomination as Best Actor. The 1960s were kind to him: he played character leads in such major films as The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) and The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969). However, his appearance in the title role in the film adaptation of John Fowles ' novel, The Magus (1968), did nothing to save the film, which was one of that decade's notorious turkeys. In the 1960s Quinn told Life magazine that he would fight against typecasting. Unfortunately, the following decade saw him slip back into playing ethnic types again, in such critical bombs as The Greek Tycoon (1978). He starred as the Hispanic mayor of a southwestern city in the short-lived 1971 TV series The Man and the City (1971), but his career lost its momentum during the 1970s. Aside from playing a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis in the cinematic roman-a-clef The Greek Tycoon (1978), his other major roles of the decade were as Hamza in the controversial The Message (1976) (a.k.a. "Mohammad, Messenger of God"), as the Italian patriarch in The Inheritance (1976), yet another Arab in Caravans (1978) and a Mexican patriarch in The Children of Sanchez (1978). In 1983 he reprised his most famous role, Zorba the Greek, on Broadway in the revival of the musical "Zorba", for 362 performances. Though his film career slowed during the 1990s, he continued to work steadily in films and television. Quinn lived out the latter years of his life in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he spent most of his time painting and sculpting. He died in a hospital in Boston from pneumonia and respiratory failure linked to his battle with lung cancer. He was 86 years old. Rich smooth voice Trivia (33) Had appeared in more movies with other Oscar-winning actors than any other Oscar-winning actor - a total of 46 Oscar-winning co-stars (28 male, 18 female). Had five children, Christopher Quinn (born October 27, 1938 - died March 15, 1941), Christina Quinn (born December 1, 1941), Catalina Quinn (born November 21, 1942), Duncan Quinn (born August 4, 1945) and Valentina Quinn (born December 26, 1952), with Katherine DeMille . Had three children, Francesco Quinn (born March 22, 1963 - died August 5, 2011), Danny Quinn (born April 16, 1964) and Lorenzo Quinn (born May 7, 1966), with Jolanda Addolori . Had two children, Sean Quinn (born February 7, 1973) and Alex A. Quinn (born December 30, 1976), with Friedel Dunbar and had two children, Antonia Quinn (born July 23, 1993) and Ryan Quinn (born July 5, 1996), with Kathy Benvin. Became a naturalized United States citizen in 1947, just before he was "gray-listed" for his association with Communists such as screenwriter John Howard Lawson and what were termed "fellow travelers", though he himself was never called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. When warned of his gray-listing by 20th Century-Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck (a liberal), Quinn decided to go on the Broadway stage where there was no blacklist rather than go through the process of refuting the suspicions. He had to shave his hair for The Magus (1968). He had an insurance policy against the risk that it might not grow back. Lived in Bristol, Rhode Island, and befriended Providence's controversial mayor Buddy Cianci . Before he launched his acting career, Quinn worked odd jobs as a butcher, a boxer, street corner preacher and a slaughterhouse worker. He also won a scholarship to study architecture with Frank Lloyd Wright , with whom he developed a close relationship. Won his second Oscar for a movie in which he only appeared on screen for a total of 23 minutes and 40 seconds. Brother-in-law of screenwriter Martin Goldsmith . Son of an Irish-Mexican father and Mexican mother, he grew up in the barrio of East Los Angeles shining shoes and selling newspapers. His sidelines were painting and sculpting. Was scheduled to appear in the David Lean -directed "Nostromo" in 1991, but Lean died and the production came to a halt. For extra cash, he entered dance contest, from which he sold the statues. Was nominated for Broadway's 1961 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for Becket. Around 1972, he announced his desire to play Henry Cristophe, the 19th-century emperor of Haiti. Upon this announcement, several prominent black actors, including Ossie Davis and Ellen Holly , stated that they were opposed to a "white man" playing "black". Davis stated, "My black children need black heroes on which to model their behavior. Henry Cristophe is an authentic black hero. Tony, for all my admiration of him as a talent, will do himself and my children a great disservice if he encourages them to believe that only a white man, and Tony is white to my children, is capable of playing a black hero.". Took acting class from Michael Chekhov in Hollywood. According to Joseph McBride's Searching for John Ford (St. Martin's Press, 2001 - ISBN 0312242328), director John Ford was urged to cast Richard Boone and Quinn as the Little Wolf and Dull Knife characters in Cheyenne Autumn (1964), as both allegedly had Native American blood. Ricardo Montalban and Gilbert Roland , who were of Mexican ancestry, were cast instead. Had played in the band of evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson as a youth and as a deputy preacher. While many biographies have the young Quinn, who was the son of an Irish father and Mexican mother, growing up on the streets of East Los Angeles, the truth was that he grew up in Echo Park, attending Polytechnic (which at the time was located in downtown Los Angeles before it moved to North Hollywood) and Belmont High Schools. In later years, he would recount how, while growing up in Echo Park, young Chicano toughs would come over to his house to enlist his help in brawling with the Irish gangs, and that later in the same day, young Irish bruisers would visit him to enlist his services in fighting the Mexicans. He would always beg off choosing sides by having his mother chase the young delinquents out of her house, after which he would resume one of his favorite pastimes, drafting and drawing. He did not get along well with his first father-in-law, legendary producer-director Cecil B. DeMille , though they later developed a civil relationship. Ex-father-in-law of Lauren Holly and Melissa Quinn . He was one of the few actors to move easily and successfully between starring and supporting roles throughout his career. In both categories, the Irish-Mexican Quinn played a vast array of characters and ethnicities, including American, Arab, Basque, Chinese, English, French, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hun, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Mongol, Native American, Filipino, Portuguese, Spaniard and Ukranian. Donated blood to John Barrymore whenever the older actor needed a transfusion. Underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in February 1990. He was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1915, during the Mexican revolution, in which his father was a soldier in the army of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa . After the revolution, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, where Quinn's father eventually secured a job as a cameraman at Selig Film Studios. Quinn often accompanied his father to work, and became acquainted with such stars as Tom Mix and John Barrymore , with whom he kept up the friendship into adulthood.

Cecil B. DeMille

"Who said, ""I squint because I can't take too much light?"""

Citytomb | biography and picturesAnthony Ruldolph Oaxaca Quinn Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m) Life events: Early life Anthony Quinn was born on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, to an ethnic Irish-Mexican father and an ethnic Mexican mother. After starting life in extremely modest circumstances in Mexico, his family moved to Los Angeles, California, where he grew up in the Boyle Heights and the Echo Park neighborhoods. In Los Angeles he attended Polytechnic High School and later Belmont High, but he eventually dropped out. The young Quinn boxed (which stood him in good stead as a stage actor, when he played Stanley Kowalski to rave reviews in Chicago), then later studied architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright at the great architect's studio, Taliesin, in Arizona. Playing career Quinn was close to Wright, who encouraged him when Quinn decided to give acting a try. After a brief apprenticeship in theater, Quinn hit Hollywood in 1936 and picked up a variety of small roles in several films at Paramount, including an Indian warrior in The Plainsman (1936), which was directed by the man who later became his father-in-law, Cecil B. DeMille. As a contract player at Paramount, Quinn mainly played villains and ethnic types, such as an Arab chieftain in the Bing Crosby-'Bob Hope' vehicle Road to Morocco (1942). As a Mexican national (he did not become an American citizen until 1947), he was exempt from the draft. With many actors in the service fighting World War II, Quinn was able to move up into better supporting roles. He had married DeMille's daughter Katherine DeMille, which enabled him to move in the top circles of Hollywood society. He became disenchanted with his career and did not renew his Paramount contract despite the advice of others, including his father-in-law (whom Quinn felt never accepted him due to his Mexican roots). Instead, he returned to the stage to hone his craft. His portrayal of Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in Chicago and on Broadway (where he replaced the legendary Marlon Brando, who is forever associated with the role) made his reputation and boosted his film career when he returned to the movies. Brando and Elia Kazan, who directed "Streetcar" on Broadway and on film, were crucial to Quinn's future success. Kazan, knowing the two were potential rivals due to their acclaimed portrayals of Kowalski, cast Quinn as Brando's brother in his biographical film of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, Viva Zapata! (1952). Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for 1952, making him the first Mexican-American to win an Oscar. It was not to be his lone appearance in the winner's circle: he won his second Supporting Actor Oscar in 1957 for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin in Vincente Minnelli's biographical film of Vincent van Gogh, Lust for Life (1956), opposite Kirk Douglas. Over the next decade Quinn lived in Italy and became a major figure in world cinema, as many studios shot films in Italy to take advantage of the lower costs ("runaway production" had buffeted the industry since its beginnings in the New York / New Jersey area since the 1910s). He appeared in several Italian films, giving one of his greatest performances as the circus strongman who brutalizes the sweet soul played by Giulietta Masina in her husband Federico Fellini's masterpiece La strada (1954). Alternating between Europe and Hollywood, Quinn built his reputation and entered the front-rank of character actors and character leads. He received his third Oscar nomination (and first for Best Actor) for George Cukor's Wild Is the Wind (1957). He played a Greek resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation in the monster hit The Guns of Navarone (1961) and received kudos for his portrayal of a once-great boxer on his way down in Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). He went back to playing ethnic parts, such as an Arab warlord in David Lean's masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia (1962), and he played the eponymous lead in the "sword-and-sandal" blockbuster Barabbas (1961). Two years later he reached the zenith of his career, playing Zorba the Greek in the 1964 film of the same name (a.k.a. Zorba the Greek (1964)), which brought him his fourth, and last, Oscar nomination as Best Actor. The 1960s were kind to him: he played character leads in such major films as The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968/II) and The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969). However, his appearance in the title role in the film adaptation of John Fowles' novel, The Magus (1968), did nothing to save the film, which was one of that decade's notorious turkeys. In the 1960s Quinn told Life magazine that he would fight against typecasting. Unfortunately, the following decade saw him slip back into playing ethnic types again, in such critical bombs as The Greek Tycoon (1978). He starred as the Hispanic mayor of a southwestern city in the short-lived 1971 TV series "The Man and the City" (1971), but his career lost its momentum during the 1970s. Aside from playing a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis in the cinematic roman-a-clef "The Greek Tycoon", his other major roles of the decade was as Hamza in the controversial 1977 movie The Message (1977) (a.k.a. "Mohammad, Messenger of God", as the Italian patriarch in The Inheritance (1976), yet another Arab in Caravans (1978) and a Mexican patriarch in The Children of Sanchez (1978). In 1983 he reprised his most famous role, Zorba the Greek, t on Broadway in the revival of the musical "Zorba", for 362 performances. Though his film career slowed during the 1990s, he continued to work steadily in films and television. Quinn lived out the latter years of his life in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he operated a restaurant. He died in hospital in Boston from pneumonia and respiratory failure linked to his battle with throat cancer. He was 86 years old. Personal life Quinn's personal life was as volatile and passionate as the characters he played in films. His first wife was the adopted daughter of Cecil B. DeMille, the actress Katherine DeMille, whom he married in 1937. The couple had five children: Christopher (born 1939), Christina (born December 1, 1941), Catalina (born November 21, 1942), Duncan (born August 4, 1945), and Valentina (born December 26, 1952). Their first child, Christopher, aged 2, drowned in the lily pond of next-door neighbor W.C. Fields. In 1965, Quinn and DeMille were divorced due to his affair with Italian costume designer Jolanda Addolori whom he married in 1966. They had three children: Francesco Quinn (March 22, 1963 – August 5, 2011), Danny (born April 16, 1964), and Lorenzo Quinn (born May 7, 1966). The union ended in 1997, after Quinn had children with his secretary, Katherine Benvin. He then married Benvin, he had two children, Antonia Quinn (born July 23, 1993) and Ryan Nicholas Quinn (born July 5, 1996). Quinn and Benvin remained together until his death. Quinn also had two more children with Friedel Dunbar: Sean Quinn (born February 7, 1973), a New Jersey real estate agent, and Alexander Anthony Quinn (born December 30, 1976), an event producer in Los Angeles, CA. Education: He attended Hammel Street Elementary School, Belvedere Junior High School, Polytechnic High School and finally Belmont High School in Los Angeles, but left before graduating. Tucson High School in Arizona, many years later, awarded him an honorary high school diploma. He studied art and architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright, at Wright's Arizona residence and his Wisconsin studio, Taliesin. Occupation and Career: Anthony Quinnwas a Mexican American actor, film director, painter and writer. In 1936, Quinn made the leap into the acting profession. That year he had a role in the play Clean Beds with Mae West and appeared in the film Parole! This opened the door to other film roles, often playing the part of the bad guy. Quinn did some of his finest film work in the 1950s and 1960s. He played Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata (1952), a performance that won him the Academy Award for Actor in a Supporting Role. Quinn received that same honor again in 1956 for his portrayal of the painter Paul Gauguin in Lust for Life with Kirk Douglas. He was also nominated for Best Actor in 1957 for Wild Is the Wind and in 1964 for Zorba the Greek. Quinn achieved box-office success with starring roles in The Guns of Navarone (1961) with Gregory Peck and David Niven and Laurence of Arabia (1962) with Peter O'Toole. During the course of his career, Quinn appeared in more than 200 films. In his later years, he took on fewer acting roles and pursued his interest in art by painting, sculpting, and designing jewelry. Early in life Quinn had interest in painting and drawing. Throughout his teenage years he won various art competitions in California and focused his studies at Polytechnic High School in Los Angeles on drafting. Later, Quinn studied briefly under Frank Lloyd Wright through the Taliesin Fellowship—an opportunity created by winning first prize in an architectural design contest. Through Wright's recommendation, Quinn took acting lessons as a form of post-operative speech therapy, which led to an acting career that spanned over six decades. Apart from art classes taken in Chicago during the 1950s, Quinn never attended art school; nonetheless, taking advantage of books, museums, and amassing a sizable collection, he managed to give himself an effective education in the language of modern art. Although Quinn remained mostly self-taught, intuitively seeking out and exploring new ideas, there is observable history in his work because he had assiduously studied the modernist masterpieces on view in the galleries of New York, Mexico City, Paris, and London. When filming on location around the world, Quinn was exposed to regional contemporary art styles exhibited at local galleries and studied art history in each area. In an endless search for inspiration, he was influenced by his Mexican ancestry, decades of residency in Europe, and lengthy stays in Africa and the Middle East while filming in the 1970s and 1980s. By the early 1980s, his work had caught the eyes of various gallery owners and was exhibited internationally, in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Mexico City. His work is now represented in both public and private collections throughout the world. He wrote two memoirs, The Original Sin (1972) and One Man Tango (1997), a number of scripts, and a series of unpublished stories currently in the collection of his archive. Filmography: A Walk in the Clouds (27-May-1995) Hercules in the Maze of the Minotaur (19-Nov-1994) • Zeus Hercules in the Underworld (12-Nov-1994) • Zeus Somebody to Love (15-Sep-1994) Hercules and the Lost Kingdom (7-May-1994) • Zeus Hercules and the Amazon Women (30-Apr-1994) • Zeus Last Action Hero (18-Jun-1993) • Vivaldi Mobsters (26-Jul-1991) • Don Masseria Jungle Fever (5-Jun-1991) • Lou Carbone Only the Lonely (24-May-1991) • Nick The Old Man and the Sea (25-Mar-1990) Revenge (16-Feb-1990) • Tibey Ghosts Can't Do It (17-Oct-1989) Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1-May-1988) Valentina (12-Nov-1982) Lion of the Desert (1980) • Omar Mukhtar The Passage (13-Apr-1979) The Children of Sanchez (22-Nov-1978) Caravans (2-Nov-1978) Target of an Assassin (1976) The Message (1976) • Hamza The Don Is Dead (14-Nov-1973) Across 110th Street (19-Dec-1972) • Capt. Mattelli Arruza (23-Aug-1972) • Himself Deaf Smith & Johnny Ears (1972) Flap (Nov-1970) A Walk in the Spring Rain (17-Jun-1970) • Will Cade King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (24-Mar-1970) • Himself A Dream of Kings (15-Dec-1969) • Matsoukas The Secret of Santa Vittoria (29-Oct-1969) • Bombolini The Magus (10-Dec-1968) The Shoes of the Fisherman (14-Nov-1968) Guns for San Sebastian (20-Mar-1968) The Happening (Mar-1967) • Roc Delmonico The 25th Hour (16-Feb-1967) A High Wind in Jamaica (16-Jun-1965) Zorba the Greek (17-Dec-1964) • Alexis Zorba The Visit (11-Sep-1964) Behold a Pale Horse (14-Aug-1964) Lawrence of Arabia (10-Dec-1962) • Auda abu Tayi Requiem for a Heavyweight (16-Oct-1962) • Mountain Rivera Barabbas (10-Oct-1962) • Barabbas The Guns of Navarone (22-Jun-1961) • Andrea The Savage Innocents (1-Nov-1960) Heller in Pink Tights (29-Feb-1960) Last Train from Gun Hill (29-Jul-1959) • Craig Belden Warlock (1-Apr-1959) Wild is the Wind (11-Dec-1957) • Gino The Ride Back (29-Apr-1957) The River's Edge (11-Apr-1957) • Ben Cameron The Wild Party (21-Dec-1956) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (19-Dec-1956) Man From Del Rio (30-Oct-1956) Lust for Life (17-Sep-1956) • Paul Gauguin Seven Cities of Gold (Sep-1955) • Capt. Gaspar de Portola The Naked Street (Aug-1955) Ride, Vaquero! (15-Jul-1953) • Josd Esqueda City Beneath the Sea (11-Mar-1953) Seminole (Mar-1953) • Osceola The World in His Arms (9-Oct-1952) The Brigand (25-Jun-1952) Mask of the Avenger (27-Jun-1951) • Viovanni Larocca The Brave Bulls (18-Apr-1951) Black Gold (16-Sep-1947) • Charley Eagle The Imperfect Lady (25-Apr-1947) Sinbad the Sailor (17-Jan-1947) • Emir California (14-Jan-1947) • Don Luís Rivera y Hernandez Back to Bataan (31-May-1945) • Capt. Andres Bonifacio Where Do We Go from Here? (23-May-1945) • Chief Badger China Sky (21-Apr-1945) Irish Eyes Are Smiling (19-Oct-1944) • Al Jackson Buffalo Bill (13-Apr-1944) • Yellow Hand Guadalcanal Diary (27-Oct-1943) • Jesus "Soose" Alvarez The Ox-Bow Incident (21-May-1943) • Francisco Morez The Black Swan (23-Dec-1942) • Wogan Road to Morocco (5-Oct-1942) • Mullay Kassim Larceny, Inc. (24-Apr-1942) • Leo Dexter They Died with Their Boots on (1-Jan-1942) The Perfect Snob (19-Dec-1941) Bullets for O'Hara (19-Jul-1941) • Tony Van Dyne Blood and Sand (22-May-1941) • Manolo de Palma Knockout (29-Mar-1941) • Trego Texas Rangers Ride Again (13-Dec-1940) City for Conquest (21-Sep-1940) • Murray Burns The Ghost Breakers (21-Jun-1940) Road to Singapore (14-Mar-1940) • Caesar Island of Lost Men (16-Aug-1939) Union Pacific (27-Apr-1939) • Cordray Bulldog Drummond in Africa (24-Aug-1938) • Fordine Dangerous to Know (11-Mar-1938) The Last Train from Madrid (18-Jun-1937) • Capt. Ricardo Álvarez Waikiki Wedding (23-Mar-1937) Swing High, Swing Low (15-Mar-1937) The Plainsman (1-Jan-1937) Quinn had interest in painting and drawing. Death, place of death, Time of death, place of burial: Quinn spent his last years in Bristol, Rhode Island. He died aged 86 in Boston, Massachusetts from pneumonia and respiratory failure while suffering from throat cancer shortly after completing his role in his last film, Avenging Angelo (2002). His funeral was held in the First Baptist Church in America in the College Hill section of Providence, Rhode Island; late in life, he had joined the Foursquare evangelical Christian community. He is buried in a family plot in Bristol, Rhode Island. Quotes and Memoirs: In Europe an actor is an artist. In Hollywood, if he isn't working, he's a bum. [when asked about his ethnicity] It doesn't make a difference as long as I'm a person in the world. I never get the girl. I wind up with a country instead. They said all I was good for was playing Indians. [speaking in the 1980s] I don't see many men today. I see a lot of guys running around on television with small waists, but I don't see many men. I never satisfied that kid [referring to himself], but I think he and I have made a deal now. It's like climbing a mountain. I didn't take him up Mount Everest, but I took him up Mount Whitney. And I think that's not bad. I have lived in a flurry of images, but I will go out in a freeze frame. [on Ingrid Bergman] I reckon there wasn't a man who came within a mile of her who didn't fall in love with her. [on Marlon Brando] I admire Marlon's talent, but I don't envy the pain that created it. [on Marilyn Monroe] An empty-headed blonde with a fat rear. Oh, Monroe was pretty enough to look at, but there were hundreds of better-looking actresses poking around Hollywood. Even after she hit the big time, with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), I never could see what all the fuss was about. [on Zorba the Greek (1964) (aka "Zorba the Greek")] Nobody wanted to do this role. Burl Ives and Burt Lancaster turned it down. They said 'Who cares about an old man making love to a broken-down old broad?’ References:

i don't know

Who wrote the screenplay for The Crying Game?

The Crying Game (1992) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error A British soldier is kidnapped by IRA terrorists. He befriends one of his captors, who is drawn into the soldier's world. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 29 titles created 29 Mar 2011 a list of 25 titles created 25 Nov 2011 a list of 32 titles created 05 Nov 2012 a list of 25 titles created 18 Jan 2013 a list of 22 titles created 09 Dec 2013 Title: The Crying Game (1992) 7.3/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar. Another 20 wins & 36 nominations. See more awards  » Videos Edit Storyline An unlikely kind of friendship develops between Fergus, an Irish Republican Army volunteer, and Jody, a kidnapped British soldier lured into an IRA trap by Jude, another IRA member. When the hostage-taking ends up going horribly wrong, Fergus escapes and heads to London, where he seeks out Jody's lover, a hairdresser named Dil. Fergus adopts the name "Jimmy" and gets a job as a day laborer. He also starts seeing Dil, who knows nothing about Fergus' IRA background. But there are some things about Dil that Fergus doesn't know, either... Written by Eugene Kim <[email protected]> The movie everyone is talking about... But no one is giving away its secrets. See more  » Genres: Rated R for sexuality, strong violence and language | See all certifications  » Parents Guide: 19 February 1993 (USA) See more  » Also Known As: The Soldier's Wife See more  » Filming Locations: Did You Know? Trivia Debut theatrical feature film of actor Jaye Davidson who got Oscar nominated for his performance upon debut. See more » Goofs During the scene shot at Balbriggan County, Dublin, a Northern Ireland Railways GM locomotive 113 passes in the background, with a passenger train. The sound dubbed in is a British Rail HST railcar set, which is quite different. The sound effect is also too short; most of the train passes silently. See more » Quotes Jody : [playing ring toss at a carnival] Right. [tosses a ring] Jody : And that. And that is cricket, hon. Jody : [wins a large teddy bear] Do you want it? Jude : Sure! Jody : [hands her the teddy bear] Doesn't matter if you don't. You know I won't be offended. Jody's never offended. What'd you say your name was? (Providence, RI, USA) – See all my reviews The first part of The Crying Game is based on a great short story by Frank O'Connor, "Guests of the Nation." The balance of this provocative, brilliantly made film takes you on a journey fueled by guilt, romance, terrorist intrigue, and a plot twist that ranks as one of the most startling in all cinema. The acting, by Forest Whitaker, Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, and others, is all first-rate; the cinematography and score are stellar; and Neil Jordan directs with vigor and empathy. How can anyone give this movie less than a 10? I can't. 40 of 59 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Neil Jordan

Who was the senior US diplomat held in the US Embassy in Tehran?

The Neil Jordan Picture Pages The Crying Game Background: “The only reason I ever want to make movies is if there are characters that find bits of themselves that they didn't understand. I don't believe we are fully rational beings. I don't believe that any explanation that we ever give for our behavior is adequate.” Neil Jordan Academy Award winning Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan first came to fame in Ireland as a successful fiction writer. He made his debut as a screenwriter and director with “Angel” (1982) and gained international recognition thanks to “The Company of Wolves” (1984), from which he picked up two Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival Awards, a Fantafestival Award, three Fantasforto Awards, a London Critics Circle Film Award and an Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival Award. Jordan's real success came with “Mona Lisa” (1986), starring Bob Hoskins, when he nabbed a Golden Palm nomination at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and nominations at the Golden Globes, Writers Guild of America and BAFTA Awards for his direction and screenplay. Jordan made his Hollywood debut with the ill fated comedy “High Spirits” (1988) and after another flop, “We're No Angels” (1989), he returned to Irish cinema and scored a revival with “The Miracle” (1991), from which he picked up a Golden Berlin Bear nomination and an Evening Standard British Film Award for his effort. His biggest victory came with the critically acclaimed thriller “The Crying Game” (1992) when he received an Oscar for his screenplay. He was also nominated for an Oscar for his direction. Other honors he received for the film included a BAFTA Award, an Independent Spirit Award, two London Critics Circle Film Awards, a Writers Guild of America Award and an Evening Standard British Film Award. He has since directed and/or written “Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles” (1994), “Michael Collins” (1996), “The Butcher Boy” (1997), “The End of the Affair” (1999, earned a Golden Globe nomination and BAFTA nominations), “In Dreams” (1999), “The Good Thief” (2002), “Breakfast on Pluto” (2005, netted two IFTA Awards), “The Brave One” (2007) and “Ondine” (2009). Jordan has also published an award winning collection of short stories titled “Night in Tunisia” (1976) and a string of acclaimed novels, including “The Past” (1980), “The Dream of a Beast” (1983), “Sunrise with Sea Monster” (1994) and “Shade” (2005). Ireland Childhood and Family: “I grew up in a respectable, lower-middle class home. Our family was quite educated; my mother was a painter and stuff like that and I didn't chop up my next door neighbor. But I remember those emotions. It was a very strange world. Ireland is very grey and it seems like nothing has changed for centuries. The only bits of color were in churches with statues and gaudy religious vestments. It was a very insanely Catholic country and you have an educational system run by celibate men in skirts, which is bizarre in itself. But, there's just a sweet irrationality to the whole place.” Neil Jordan (about growing up in Ireland) On February 25, 1950, in Sligo, Ireland, Neil Patrick Jordan was born to a university professor named Michael Jordan (died in 1984) and a painter named Angela. He attended St. Paul's School in Dublin and in 1972 earned a degree in English literature and Irish history from the University College, National University of Ireland, in Dublin. He began writing short stories when he was a teenager. He also played the saxophone and guitar in an Irish rock band when he was younger. Neil has been married twice. He and first wife Vivienne Shields share two daughters, Anna and Sarah. After the marriage ended, he began living with a Canadian named Brenda Rawn in 1988. They eventually married on June 30, 2004, and have two children together, Daniel and Dashiel. Neil also has a son named Ben Jordan (born in 1990) from a previous relationship with architect Mary Donohoe. Mona Lisa Career: Neil Jordan launched a career as a fiction writer in Ireland. In 1976, he released a successful collection of short stories titled “Night in Tunisia” and won the Guardian Fiction Prize for the book. Also in 1976, the cofounder of the Irish Writers Co-operative received a grant from the British Arts Council. Three years later, Jordan made his television writing debut with “Miracles & Miss Langan,” directed by Pat O'Connor. He went on to write two more plays for Irish television, one of which titled “Night of Tunisia,” was based on his short stories of the same name. It was filmed by Pat O' Connor in 1983 and broadcasted as part of PBS' “Channel Crossings” in 1993. A former laborer in London, Jordan published his first novel, “The Past,” in 1980. During this time, he also helped establish a theater company in Ireland, for which he also wrote. His first taste with features came when he was recruited as a creative associate for the Academy Award nominated movie “Excalibur,” by London filmmaker John Boorman. He followed it up by making his screenwriting debut with the Irish film “Traveler” (1981), helmed by Joe Comerford. The film won a Special Mention at the 1982 Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland. Jordan made his film directorial debut with “Angel,” which he also wrote. His second movie, “The Company of Wolves” (1984), an adaptation of Angele Carter's short story collection “The Bloody Chamber,” received primarily positive reviews from critics and brought Jordan several awards, including a Caixa de Catalunya for Best Film and Prize of the International Critics' Jury at the 1984 Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on September 15, 1984, and was released theatrically in the U.K. on September 21, 1984, and in the U.S. on April 14, 1985. The horror film, starring Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury, Stephen Rea and David Warner, marked Jordan's first collaboration with producer Stephen Woolley. In between “Angel” and “The Company of Wolves,” Jordan released his novel “The Dream of a Beast” in 1983. After receiving international recognition with “The Company of Wolves,” Jordan experienced breakthrough success with “Mona Lisa” (1986), which he directed and co-wrote with David Leland. The British drama starring Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson and Michael Caine, garnered favorable reviews and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Hoskins). Jordan took home a Golden Globe nomination for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, BAFTA nominations for Best Direction, Best Screenplay - Original and Best Film, a Golden Palm nomination at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Spike Award at the 1986 Valladolid International Film Festival and a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. With his success with “Mona Lisa,” Jordan was confirmed as a rising talent in international cinema and quickly hit the Hollywood scene with the comedy “High Spirits” (1988), which he wrote and directed. Starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Guttenberg, Beverly D'Angelo, Daryl Hannah, Liam Neeson, Jennifer Tilly and John Nee, the film was a commercial flop. He scored another dud with the David Mamet written remake “We're No Angels” (1989), starring Robert De Niro, Sean Penn and Demi Moore. Also in 1988, Jordan made his producing debut as co-executive producer on the Irish made “The Courier,” directed by Frank Deasy and Joe Lee. Jordan left Hollywood in 1989 and the following year, contributed the segments “Miss Otis Regrets” and “Just One Of Those Things” to “Red, Hot and Blue” (ABC), a televised variety salute to the music of Cole Porter that also promoted AIDS awareness. He returned to British cinema when he directed Beverly D'Angelo, Donal McCann and Niall Byrne in the drama “The Miracle,” adapted from his story “Night in Tunisia.” He was handed a Golden Berlin Bear nomination at the 1991 Berlin International Film Festival and a 1992 Evening Standard British Film for Best Screenplay for his work on the film. Jordan was put back in the international spotlight with his subsequent movie, “The Crying Game” (1992), a British/Irish thriller starring Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson, Forest Whitaker, Tony Slattery and Jim Broadbent. The movie received critical praise and was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Rea), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Davidson), Best Film Editing and Best Director. The director/writer won the Oscar in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. He also nabbed the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film and nominations for Best Direction, Best Screenplay - Original and Best Film at the 1993 BAFTA Awards, a Writers Guild of America for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, an Independent Spirit for Best Foreign Film, and an ALFS Awards for British Director of the Year, to name a few awards and nominations. “The Crying Game” became a sleeper hit in America with nearly $60 million in earnings, despite suffering box office failure upon its original releases in Ireland and the U.K. In 1994, Jordan returned to Hollywood when he directed Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater and Stephen Rea in “Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles,” which was based on the book “Interview with the Vampire” by Anne Rice, who also wrote the screenplay. The movie was a moderate success at the box office and Jordan was nominated for a Saturn Award for his directing. The same year, Jordan also released his third novel, “Sunrise with Sea Monster.” Two years later, Jordan wrote and directed the Irish historical biopic “Michael Collins” (1996), which was about General Michael Collins, the founder of the IRA. The film, starring Liam Neeson, earned generally positive reviews and was a huge commercial hit in Ireland and earned Jordan the Golden Lion at the 1996 Venice Film Festival. It was also nominated for Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, among other honors. Next up for Jordan, he executive produced, directed and co-wrote “The Butcher Boy” (1997), based on the novel of the same name by Patrick McCabe. For his effort, Jordan was handed the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Director and a Chicago Film Critics Association nomination for Best Director. In 1999, Jordan directed, produced and adapted the remake of Graham Greene's novel “The End of the Affair,” starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea, co-scripted and directed the psychological thriller “In Dreams,” starring Annette Bening, Katie Sagona, Aidan Quinn, Robert Downey, Jr., Paul Guilfoyle and Stephen Rea, and executive produced the dramatic film “The Last September,” for director Deborah Warner. He netted a BAFTA for Best Screenplay - Adapted, and the David Lean Award for Direction, to name a few awards and nominations, for his efforts. Entering the new millennium, Jordan directed the 14 minute film “Not I” (2000), starring Julianne Moore and written by Samuel Beckett, and embraced theater when he directed his one man show “White Horses” (2001) at the Gate Theater in Dublin. In 2002, he directed Nick Nolte, Emir Kusturica and Nutsa Kukhianidze in the thriller “The Good Thief,” a remake of the 1955 popular French film “Bob le flambeur” by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film brought Jordan the Golden Seashell nomination at the 2002 San Sebastián International Film Festival. After contributing story to Conor McPherson's award winning movie “The Actors” (2003), Jordan returned to the director's chair when he helmed Cillian Murphy, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson and Liam Neeson in the Irish dramatic comedy “Breakfast on Pluto” (2005), which he adapted with Pat McCabe from McCabe's novel of the same name and produced. Also in 2005, he released the novel “Shade.” In 2007, Jordan directed the Hollywood psychological thriller “The Brave One,” starring Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard, Naveen Andrews, Mary Steenburgen, Jane Adams, Nicky Katt, Zoe Kravitz and Dana Eskelson. Under his direction, Foster earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as radio show host Erica Bain. He then wrote and directed the fantasy drama “Ondine” (2009), starring Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda. The film was nominated for eight IFTA Awards, including Best Director for Film, Best Film and Best Script for Film (all for Jordan) and Best Actor in a Lead Role in a Film (for Farrell). Jordan is scheduled to work as director and writer on the upcoming television series “The Borgias” (2011). He is also set to direct and script the film adaptation of Joe Hill's “Heart-Shaped Box” and will do the same duty for the big screen version of Neil Gaiman's “The Graveyard Book.” Awards: Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA): Best Director, “Breakfast on Pluto,” 2007 Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA): Best Script for Film, “Breakfast on Pluto,” 2007 Ljubljana International Film Festival: Audience Award, “Breakfast on Pluto,” 2006 Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA): Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003 Camerimage: Special Award, Film Direction with a Special Visual Sensitivity, 2002 Evening Standard British Film: Best Screenplay, “The End of the Affair,” 2001 BAFTA: Best Screenplay - Adapted, “The End of the Affair,” 2000 Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film: Silver Raven, “In Dreams,” 1999 Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Berlin Bear, Best Director, “The Butcher Boy,” 1998 Brussels International Film Festival: Crystal Iris, 1998 Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion, “Michael Collins,” 1996 Oscar: Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, “The Crying Game,” 1993 Amanda: Best Foreign Feature Film (Årets utenlandske spillefilm), “The Crying Game,” 1993 BAFTA: Alexander Korda Award, Best British Film, “The Crying Game,” 1993 Independent Spirit: Best Foreign Film, “The Crying Game,” 1993 London Critics Circle Film (ALFS): British Director of the Year, “The Crying Game,” 1993 London Critics Circle Film (ALFS): British Screenwriter of the Year, “The Crying Game,” 1993 Writers Guild of America (WGA): Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, “The Crying Game,” 1993 Writers' Guild of Great Britain: Film - Screenplay, “The Crying Game,” 1993 Evening Standard British Film: Best Screenplay, “The Miracle,” 1992 Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA): Best Foreign Film, “The Crying Game,” 1992 New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC): Best Screenplay, “The Crying Game,” 1992 Valladolid International Film Festival: Golden Spike, “Mona Lisa,” 1986 Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival: Special Jury Award, “The Company of Wolves,” 1985 Fantafestival: Special Mention, “The Company of Wolves,” 1985 Fantasporto: Audience Jury Award, “The Company of Wolves,” 1985 Fantasporto: Critics' Award, “The Company of Wolves,” 1985 Fantasporto: International Fantasy Film Award, Best Film, “The Company of Wolves,” 1985 London Critics Circle Film (ALFS): Director of the Year, “The Company of Wolves,” 1985 Evening Standard British Film: Most Promising Newcomer, 1984 Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival: Caixa de Catalunya, Best Film, “The Company of Wolves,” 1984 Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival: Prize of the International Critics' Jury, “The Company of Wolves,” 1984

i don't know

Who was the first freely elected Marxist president in Latin America?

Allende, death of a Marxist dream (Book, 1981) [WorldCat.org] Find more libraries Librarian? Claim your library to Allende, death of a Marxist dream Author: Westport, CT : Arlington House, ©1981. Edition/Format:  Print book : Biography : English View all editions and formats Database: WorldCat Summary: When Salvador Allende took power in Chile a decade ago, he was the world's first freely-elected Marxist president. Major newspapers sized it up as the most important event in Latin America since Fidel Castro, nearly a dozen years earlier, had swept down from the Sierra Maestra to seize power in Havana. Three years later Allende died in the rocket-blasted rubble of his presidential palace. He would rise from the dead to be transformed into what English writer David Holden would describe as the world's most potent cult figure since Che Guevara. - Jacket flap.  Read more... Rating: You are connected to the University of Washington Libraries network Hide local services for this item OCLC FirstSearch Add library to Favorites Please choose whether or not you want other users to be able to see on your profile that this library is a favorite of yours. Allow this favorite library to be seen by others Keep this favorite library private Find a copy in the library Finding libraries that hold this item... Details ix, 230 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm Responsibility: James R. Whelan. Abstract: When Salvador Allende took power in Chile a decade ago, he was the world's first freely-elected Marxist president. Major newspapers sized it up as the most important event in Latin America since Fidel Castro, nearly a dozen years earlier, had swept down from the Sierra Maestra to seize power in Havana. Three years later Allende died in the rocket-blasted rubble of his presidential palace. He would rise from the dead to be transformed into what English writer David Holden would describe as the world's most potent cult figure since Che Guevara. - Jacket flap. Reviews Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Be the first. Add a review and share your thoughts with other readers. Be the first. Tags

Allende

Who was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature?

Salvador Allende Salvador Allende ▼ Primary Sources ▼ Salvador Allende Salvador Allende was born in Valparaiso, Chile , in 1903. As a medical student he became involved in radical politics and he was arrested several times while at university. In 1933 Allende helped to found the Chilean Socialist Party , a Marxist organization that was opposed to the Soviet Union influenced Communist Party . Allende was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1937 and served in the government of Pedro Aguirre Cerda as Minister of Health (1939-41). He was also senator between 1945 and 1970. Allende was an unsuccessful candidate for president in 1952, 1958 and 1964. When he was elected as president in 1970 he became the first Marxist to gain power in a free democratic election. The new government faced serious economic problems. Inflation was running at 30 per cent and over 20 per cent of the male adult population were unemployed. It was estimated that half of the children under 15 suffered from malnutrition. Allende's decide to take action to redistribute wealth and land in Chile . Wage increases of around 40 per cent were introduced. At the same time companies were not allowed to increase prices. The copper industry was nationalized. So also were the banks. Allende also restored diplomatic relations with Cuba , China and the German Democratic Republic . The CIA arranged for Michael V. Townley to be sent to Chile under the alias of Kenneth W. Enyart. He was accompanied by Aldo Vera Serafin of the Secret Army Organization (SAO). Townley now came under the control of David Atlee Phillips who had been asked to lead a special task force assigned to remove Allende. The CIA attempted to persuade Chile's Chief of Staff General Rene Schneider , to overthrow Allende. He refused and on 22nd October, 1970, his car was ambushed. Schneider drew a gun to defend himself, and was shot point-blank several times. He was rushed to hospital, but he died three days later. Military courts in Chile found that Schneider's death was caused by two military groups, one led by Roberto Viaux and the other by Camilo Valenzuela . It was claimed that the CIA was providing support for both groups. Allende's attempts to build a socialist society was opposed by business interests. Later, Henry Kissinger admitted that in September 1970, President Richard Nixon ordered him to organize a coup against Allende's government. A CIA document written just after Allende was elected said: "It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup" and "it is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG (United States government) and American hand be well hidden." David Atlee Phillips set Michael V. Townley the task of organizing two paramilitary action groups Orden y Libertad (Order and Freedom) and Protecion Comunal y Soberania (Common Protection and Sovereignty). Townley also established an arson squad that started several fires in Santiago. Townley also mounted a smear campaign against General Carlos Prats , the head of the Chilean Army. Prats resigned on 21st August, 1973. On 11th September, 1973, a military coup removed Allende's government from power. Salvador Allende died in the fighting in the presidential palace in Santiago. General Augusto Pinochet replaced Allende as president. (1) Larry Rohter, New York Times (13th February, 2000) With a trial of General Augusto Pinochet increasingly unlikely here, victims of the Chilean military's 17-year dictatorship are now pressing legal actions in both Chilean and American courts against Henry A. Kissinger and other Nixon administration officials who supported plots to overthrow Salvador Allende Gossens, the Socialist president, in the early 1970's. In perhaps the most prominent of the cases, an investigating judge here has formally asked Mr. Kissinger, a former national security adviser and secretary of state, and Nathaniel Davis, the American ambassador to Chile at the time, to respond to questions about the killing of an American citizen, Charles Horman, after the deadly military coup that brought General Pinochet to power on Sept. 11, 1973. General Pinochet, now 85, ruled Chile until 1990. He was arrested in London in 1998 on a Spanish warrant charging him with human rights violations. After 16 months in custody, General Pinochet was released by Britain because of his declining health. Although he was arrested in Santiago in 2000, he was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial. The death of Mr. Horman, a filmmaker and journalist, was the subject of the 1982 movie "Missing." A civil suit that his widow, Joyce Horman, filed in the United States was withdrawn after she could not obtain access to relevant American government documents. But the initiation of legal action here against General Pinochet and the declassification of some American documents led her to file a new suit here 15 months ago. William Rogers, Mr. Kissinger's lawyer, said in a letter that because the investigations in Chile and elsewhere related to Mr. Kissinger "in his capacity as secretary of state," the Department of State should respond to the issues that have been raised. He added that Mr. Kissinger is willing to "contribute what he can from his memory of those distant events," but did not say how or where that would occur. Relatives of General René Schneider, commander of the Chilean Armed Forces when he was assassinated in Oct. 1970 by other military officers, have taken a different approach than Mrs. Horman. Alleging summary execution, assault and civil rights violations, they filed a $3 million civil suit in Washington last fall against Mr. Kissinger, Richard M. Helms, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and other Nixon-era officials who, according to declassified United States documents, were involved in plotting a military coup to keep Mr. Allende from power. In his books, Mr. Kissinger has acknowledged that he initially followed Mr. Nixon's orders in Sept. 1970 to organize a coup, but he also says that he ordered the effort shut down a month later. The government documents, however, indicate that the C.I.A. continued to encourage a coup here and also provided money to military officers who had been jailed for General Schneider's death. "My father was neither for or against Allende, but a constitutionalist who believed that the winner of the election should take office," René Schneider Jr. said. "That made him an obstacle to Mr. Kissinger and the Nixon government, and so they conspired with generals here to carry out the attack on my father and to plot a coup attempt." In another action, human rights lawyers here have filed a criminal complaint against Mr. Kissinger and other American officials, accusing them of helping organize the covert regional program of political repression called Operation Condor. As part of that plan, right-wing military dictatorships in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay coordinated efforts throughout the 1970's to kidnap and kill hundreds of their exiled political opponents. (2) Stansfield Turner , Secrecy and Democracy (1985) The most adverse exposure was a series of revelations about more than ten years of CIA interference in Chile, from 1963 to 1973. This was one of the most massive campaigns in US intelligence annals. The earliest effort was an attempt to shape the outcome of the 1964 presidential election in Chile, when the CIA underwrote more than half of the expenses of the Christian Democratic Party's campaign. This support was directed at defeating the communist candidate, Salvador Allende. It was probably not known to the Christian Democratic candidate, Eduardo Frei. In addition to funding Frei, the CIA waged an extensive anticommunist propaganda campaign, using posters, the radio, films, pamphlets, and the press, to convince the Chileans that Allende and communism would bring to their country Soviet militarism and Cuban brutality. As part of this campaign, hundreds of thousands of copies of an anticommunist pastoral letter of Pope Pius XI were distributed. Frei won handily, but allegations of CIA involvement seeped out. As a result, the CIA was reluctant to play as large a role in the next Chilean presidential election, in 1970. Not only was its role smaller; it did not support a specific candidate. The effort was directed strictly against Allende and was based primarily on propaganda, employing virtually all Chilean media and some of the international press as well. The program failed when Allende won a plurality, though not a majority, of the popular vote. Under Chilean electoral law, that threw the choice to a joint session of the legislature some seven weeks later. At the direction of the White House, the CIA moved to prevent the selection and inauguration of Allende. It attempted to induce his political opponents to manipulate the legislative election up to and including a political coup. Some 726 articles, broadcasts, editorials, and similar items were sponsored in the United States and Chile, and many briefings were given to the press. One of those, to Time magazine, reversed the magazine's attitude toward Allende. The overall effort failed, however, because of the unwillingness of the appropriate Chilean politicians to tamper with the constitutional process. Complementing the CIA effort, the US government exerted economic pressure on Chile, again to no avail. A second approach, entirely under CIA auspices, encouraged a military coup. President Richard Nixon directed that neither the Departments of State and Defense nor the US Ambassador to Chile be informed of this undertaking. During a disorganized coup attempt that took place on October 22, the Chief of Staff of the Chilean Army was murdered. The CIA had originally encouraged the group responsible, but sensing that this group was likely to get out of control, the Agency had withdrawn its support a week earlier. Allende was installed as President on November 2. Over the next three years, until 1973, the National Security Council authorized the CIA to expend some $7 million covertly to oppose Allende with propaganda, financial support for anti-Allende media in Chile, and funding for private organizations opposed to Allende. Other agencies of the US government applied economic and political pressure. On September 11, 1973, the Chilean military staged a coup in which Allende died, reportedly by suicide. The CIA did not sponsor this coup, but how much its encouragement of the 1970 coup and its continued liaison with the Chilean military encouraged the action is honestly difficult to assess. With Allende gone, the decade-long covert action program was phased out. More was at stake, though, than covert action in Chile. The coup-related deaths in both 1970 and 1973 and the exposure of the role of the United States in helping to topple a democratically elected government, albeit a Marxist one, brought intense scrutiny to the ethics of using covert action to change the political complexion of other countries. As a result, such covert action came to a near halt by the mid 1970s. (3) Julian Borger, The Guardian (6th July, 2001) A judge in Santiago has drawn up a list of questions for the US statesman and Nobel laureate, Henry Kissinger, about the 1973 killing of the American journalist Charles Horman, whose execution by forces loyal to General Augusto Pinochet was dramatized in the Hollywood film, Missing. The questions, drawn up by the investigating magistrate Juan Guzman and lawyers for the victims of the Pinochet regime, were submitted to Chile's supreme court, which must now decide whether to forward them to the United States. The list is under seal but it is thought to cover the extent of Mr Kissinger's knowledge of the Horman case. Horman's family have repeatedly claimed that the Nixon government, in which Mr Kissinger was national security advisor and secretary of state, knew more about what happened when the journalist was murdered in Chile than it has ever admitted. Mr Kissinger, awarded the Nobel peace prize for his role in bringing the Vietnam war to an end, is now under increased scrutiny for his leading role in a number of controversial US actions abroad, including the bombing of Cambodia and Washington's support for authoritarian rightwing governments such as Gen Pinochet's. Charles Horman's widow, Joyce, said yesterday that Mr Kissinger was "ultimately the one who has to answer the questions for the disappearance of my husband". She added: "He was really calling the shots, as far as I'm concerned, in questions of state and the CIA, with regard to the protection and knowledge of what happened to Americans there." Encouraged by the success of international human rights cases against Gen Pinochet and Balkan war crimes suspects, human rights activists have recently drawn up allegations against Mr Kissinger. While visiting Paris in May, Mr Kissinger was subpoenaed by a French judge to answer questions about the death of French citizens under the Pinochet regime. Mr Kissinger refused to appear in court to answer the questions, saying he had a prior engagement. This year, a Washington-based British journalist, Christopher Hitchens, published The Trial of Henry Kissinger, in which he accused the veteran proponent of realpolitik of conspiring to sabotage 1968 Vietnam peace talks and pursuing an illegal war in Cambodia, among other charges. Mr Kissinger called the book "contemptible". (4) The Boston Globe (12th December, 2006) In America, the danger is not that too much is remembered of the Pinochet era but that too much of the American role in helping to foment those old horrors may be forgotten. There is a deceptively comforting story line that sequesters the present from the past, disguising any continuity between the regime change produced in Chile on Sept. 11, 1973, and other American experiments of that nature. In that reassuring historical narrative, Pinochet was perhaps guilty of trampling on democratic niceties and of kidnapping, torturing, and killing socialists and Marxists , but he represented, after all, the lesser of two evils. The alternative evil was commonly depicted as Soviet influence, left-wing radicalism, the expropriation of private property, and falling pro-American dominoes across Latin America. The former US ambassador to the United Nations, Jeane Kirkpatrick, who passed away three days before Pinochet, once propounded a theory to justify American backing for military dictatorships in Latin America. Her rationale rested upon a distinction between totalitarian states like those in the communist world and mere authoritarian regimes. The latter were supposed to be more tolerable because, in contrast to the communist states, they left open the possibility of eventually permitting a return to democracy. It was a theory that failed the test of time, as demonstrated by the nearly bloodless implosion of communism and the flowering of democracy in Poland, Hungary, and the former Czechoslovakia. Reflecting the spirit of such Cold War notions, a CIA document from the month after Allende was elected president on Sept. 11, 1970, says, "It is firm and continuing policy that Allende be overthrown by a coup" and "it is imperative that these actions be implemented clandestinely and securely so that the USG" - US government - "and American hand be well hidden." Whatever the details of US complicity in Pinochet's eventual seizure of power, Americans must not forget that their own democratic leaders share complicity in the disappearances, torture, and killings perpetrated after 1973 by their man in Chile. (5) Jeremy McDermott, The Scotsman (12th December, 2006) The human-rights abuses committed under Pinochet's military junta were widely known throughout the country. Rights groups estimate that more than 3,000 people were killed after 1973 when Salvador Allende, the democratically elected president, was overthrown and allegedly took his own life with a gun given to him by his friend, Fidel Castro. Most of the murders took place in the first year of military rule, when Santiago's National Stadium was turned into a detention and torture centre. Pinochet was facing charges over the "Caravan of Death" in 1973, when it is alleged a military death squad rounded up suspected leftists from prisons around the country and murdered them. However, it was not such abuses that led to his support eroding - it was allegations of corruption, in 2005, when undeclared foreign bank accounts containing some £15 million were traced to him and members of his family.

i don't know

Who was the first black student at the University of Alabama?

This Day in History: First Black Student Enrolls at University of Alabama This Day in History: First Black Student Enrolls at University of Alabama This Day in History: First Black Student Enrolls at University of Alabama Autherine Lucy faced riots and threats to her life, all to desegregate the university by Cristie Leondis     Posted: February 3, 2015 A-   A   A+   (Image: thedigitalmuse.net) Black History Month is upon us as a reminder of the events during the Civil Rights Movement and the people in history of African Americans who made freedom possible and made great strides to better the world. On this week in 1956 , history was changed as Autherine J. Lucy became the first black student to enroll at the University of Alabama. By today, she’d had her first few classes at the school, and faced tremendous harassment. She was born the youngest of 10 siblings in Shiloh, Alabama in 1929, and attended Selma University, later graduating with a bachelor’s in English from the all-black Miles College in 1952. After completing her education, she and her classmate/ activist Pollie Ann Myers, decided to enroll at the all-white University of Alabama grad school program. Both were accepted, but once university officials were provided with information that they were African Americans, the two students were barred from enrolling. [Related: This Day in History: Ernest Just Receives the Spingarn Medal for Strides in Science] The women were represented by attorneys Thurgood Marshall and Arthur Shores, who petitioned for acceptance and admittance. However, it wasn’t until the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education that Autherine would once again confront and challenge the university’s policies. In Feb. 1955, a federal judge ruled that the university must admit them. After the institution denied Myer’s admission on the basis of being pregnant out of wedlock, Autherine made the bold decision to attend by herself. Three days into classes, she was confronted by a group of students who were armed with rocks, eggs, and bricks, yelling racist comments and even threatening her life. The rioters were protesting her admission, leaving her to hide in the auditorium and eventually be escorted out of the building. Fortunately, she was unharmed, but later that evening she was suspended by the University Board of Trustees “for her protection.” Sadly, attorneys were unable to immediately reverse the expulsion, but several years later in 1988 it was overturned. In 1992, she proudly earned her MA in elementary education from the University of Alabama, which was extremely well deserved. Autherine Lucy will always be remembered for her bravery, persistence, strength, and ultimately achieving her lifetime goal. Follow updates on this series via social media using #BE28andGreat for the whole month of February.  

Autherine Lucy

Who invented the liquid fuel powered rocket?

Vivian Malone Jones, First Black to Graduate From University of Alabama, Dies at 63 | Fox News Vivian Malone Jones, First Black to Graduate From University of Alabama, Dies at 63 Published October 13, 2005 Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Email Print ATLANTA –  Vivian Malone Jones ( search ), one of two black students whose effort to enroll at the University of Alabama led to George Wallace's ( search ) infamous "stand in the schoolhouse door" in 1963, died Thursday. She was 63. Jones, who went on to become the first black to graduate from the school, died at Atlanta Medical Center ( search ), where she had been admitted Tuesday after suffering a stroke, said her sister, Sharon Malone. "She was absolutely fine Monday," Sharon Malone said. Jones, a retired federal worker who lived in Atlanta, grew up in Mobile, Ala. She had enrolled at historically black Alabama A&M University in Huntsville when she transferred to the University of Alabama in 1963. The move led to then-Gov. Wallace's infamous stand in defiance of orders to admit black students. Jones and James Hood, accompanied by then-Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, enrolled after Wallace finished his statement and left. At an appearance last year in Mobile, she recalled meeting with Wallace in 1996, when the former governor was in frail health. He died in 1998. "I asked him why did he do it," she said. "He said he did what he felt needed to be done at that point in time, but he would not do that today. At that point, we spoke — I spoke — of forgiveness." She recalled that she and Hood waited in a car until Wallace read his proclamation. Finally, when he stepped aside, she said, that allowed them to enter the university. "I was never afraid. I did have some apprehensions in my mind, though, especially having gone to segregated, `separate, but equal' schools," she said. Jones said her religious beliefs gave her confidence to persist, and she graduated in 1965. "God was with me," she said. Hood left after a few months, but returned to receive his doctorate in 1997. Now a retired educator living in Madison, Wis., Hood said Jones was a quiet person in public, but she always provided encouragement to him during the events at Alabama. "She was a very determined person, probably more so than I was," he said Thursday. He said the agreement between the White House and Wallace's aides provided that Wallace would step aside. They had already enrolled quietly at the federal courthouse in Birmingham, and all they had to do was pay their fees and leave, he said. He recalled talking to President Kennedy on the telephone. "We knew it was going to be historic but we had no idea what the impact would be," he said. After graduating, Jones went on to work for the U.S. Justice Department in Washington and for the Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta, where she retired, her sister said. "She had a long career in government," Sharon Malone said. Wallace's son, George Jr., called Jones "a true American hero" and said he "was deeply saddened" to hear of her death. University of Alabama President Robert E. Witt paid tribute to Jones on Thursday, saying she "opened the doors of opportunity for thousands of students. She will be remembered for her courage and grace that inspired young people throughout the world. We pray for strength for her family during this difficult time." While Jones was the first black Alabama graduate, she and Hood were not the first to enroll at the school. Autherine Lucy enrolled at Alabama in 1956, but rioting broke out and her stay there was brief. Her husband died last year. She is survived by a son, a daughter and a grandson. Advertisement

i don't know

Who was Geena Davis's husband when they made the loss-maker Cutthroat Island?

FILM REVIEW -- `Island' -- Geena Davis' Ship of Foolishness - SFGate FILM REVIEW -- `Island' -- Geena Davis' Ship of Foolishness PETER STACK, Chronicle Staff Critic Published 4:00 am, Friday, December 22, 1995 CUTTHROAT ISLAND. Adventure drama starring Geena Davis , Matthew Modine , Frank Langella . Directed by Renny Harlin . (PG-13, 123 minutes. At the Kabuki, Century Plaza.) They should have sunk the regretable "Cutthroat Island" before ever casting off. Geena Davis plays a scrappy pirate adroit with sword, haymaker punches and acrobatic leaps. And she looks ridiculous in the role. The film drops anchor today at theaters throughout the Bay Area. It's a swashbuckling extravaganza, but Davis is not convincing. And before anyone objects, it's not because she's a woman. Get out already! This is the '90s, and women can do anything. But they can't escape from a lousy movie any better than a man can. Davis is plenty tough -- and kinda pretty -- as Morgan, the buccaneer who inherits her late father's ship and part of a treasure map. Yet if she seems silly, audiences have only to wait until her pirating companion, played by Matthew Modine, arrives on the scene to show how swashes can buckle entirely. Ever since the fizzle of "Hook," folks interested in pirates have had little to feed on. They might have been looking forward to "Cutthroat Island," even forgiving its promotional trailer that makes the adventure look like a busybox Matthew Modine and Geena Davis co-star in the pirate epic 'Cutthroat Island' of fake effects, over-rollicking mariner types and too much yard- arm derring-do to take seriously. The bad news: The film, which is more than two hours, is as lousy as the trailer made it look. There must have been some other feature idea for Davis to tackle with her considerable charm and intelligence. Maybe director Renny Harlin, who's her husband, rattled her saber enough to make her want to play the part with such pert zeal that "Cutthroat Island" seems at times like a dizzy Gilbert & Sullivan costume show without any saucy music. There is lush scenery in the film. Two replicated 17th century pirate ships will be of interest to some viewers, but somehow they look phony (at least to this ship fancier). Morgan's portion of the treasure map is written in Latin and she can't read it. When she learns that a twit named William Shaw (Modine), who passes himself off as a physician, can read Latin, she buys him at an auction where's he's being sold into slavery because he's a knave. A romantic pairing seems inevitable. But with so many stunts to perform, so many sabers and cannon balls and lashes and muskets to deal with, there isn't much time for kissing. A bullying bad guy named Dawg Brown (Frank Langella) is always nearby in his pursuit of the treasure. A couple of stunts are spectacular, but somehow boring at the same time -- no easy feat. The most punishing aspect of "Cutthroat Island" is that it just wears down the viewer with a helter-skelter, needlessly overblown quality. No wonder those old pirates didn't survive -- they were too tired from so much hyperactivity. Latest from the SFGATE homepage: Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.

Renny Harlin

Which novelist appeared in the film Day For Night?

Cutthroat Island - All The Tropes Cutthroat Island All Subpages Create New Cutthroat Island is a 1995 pirate movie starring Geena Davis and directed by her then-husband Renny Harlin. The film has gone down in history as one of the biggest box office flops of all time; in the same league as the likes of The Adventures of Pluto Nash , Caligula , Cleopatra , Heavens Gate , and Ishtar . It wasn't that the film failed to sell tickets. It earned 10-11 million dollars in the United States market alone, the 108th most successful film of its year. But when your budget is closer to 115 million, do the math. The film's failure effectively led to the closure of Carolco Pictures. The film is thus regarded as one of the last whose failure actually destroyed the studio that produced it. The film also killed the bankability of the pirate genre, which wasn't revived until Pirates of the Caribbean took off. Although it dented their careers at the time, Davis and Harlin both seem to have gotten on more or less okay in the long run. Female pirate Morgan Adams (Geena Davis) and her educated slave, William Shaw (Matthew Modine), are on a quest to recover the three portions of a treasure map. The treasure is hidden on the mysterious Cutthroat Island. Unfortunately, the final portion is held by her villainous uncle, Douglas ('Dawg') Brown (Frank Langella). Her crew is skeptical of her leadership abilities, so she must complete her quest before they mutiny against her. This is made more difficult by the efforts of the Royal Navy from Jamaica under the command of the self-serving Governor Ainslee (Patrick Malahide) to end her piratical career. On her ship, Morning Star, Morgan starts the voyage to Cutthroat Island. Tropes used in Cutthroat Island include: Action Dress Rip : Geena pulls the skirt off her dress whilst being pursued by guards in Port Royal. Chain Pain : One of Dawg's men has chain in the place of his hand.

i don't know

In 1993 who tried to buy the rights of his first movie Sizzle Beach USA?

Malibu Hot Summer Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 8:34 AM, PST NEWS 7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: cheesy 1970's style softcore porn from Los Angeles CA 28 September 1999 Shot in 1974 but not released until 1986 the film can be mainly of interest to anyone because 19-year old Kevin Costner plays a small role as a ranch hand. Interesting thing is, he is actually the best thing about the movie -- he at least tries to act. He's rough around the edges but one can see that a couple years of acting lessons added to that laid-back "aw shucks ma'am" demeanor will make him the star he is today. The rest of the cast gives your typical low budget talent-free performances. Plot (if you can it that) centers around three uniquely untalented women trying to make it in la-la land. lots of t & a, tacky sets and costumes, bad cinematography, a cheesy script, and tuneless music. Was the above review useful to you? 4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Not all bad! from UK 25 December 2007 A fairly decent T and A flick that delivers plenty of nudity in it's runtime.Good looking girls too!There are better beach movies out there but fans of the genre would do well to check it out.Kevin Costners only in a few scenes although he's clearly the most natural actor in the film.IMDb states in "Trivia"that the film was shot in 1974 and released in 1986.I have a hard time believing this,a simple click through the cast list would seem to indicate a shooting date around '79 to '82 otherwise most of the cast would have done this in '74 then nothing else for 6 years before they all started acting again?The films not THAT bad... Was the above review useful to you? 2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: the movie Costner probably wishes he could forget (no not Waterworld, the other one) from United States 6 February 2009 A young lady going out west to make something of herself meets up with two other girls who have the same idea. They then shack up at the the first one's cousin's house. And then nothing much happens. Sure Ditt meets a rancher (played by a young Kevin Costner, the only reason anyone ever saw this film) and we're subject to mind-numbing music (one of the trio wants to be a musician) But otherwise this was a complete and utter waste of time. Forgettable in the most base sense. Eye Candy: Terry Congie gets topless; Victoria Taft shows breasts and bush; Roselyn Royce, Jennifer Stewart & Sylvia Wright all get completely nude. Meanwhile Leslie Brander who shows only one of her tits seems like a prude in comparison My Grade: D- from United States 1 October 2004 Even if you love Troma, you might not fall in love with this movie. The charm of most Troma movies is that even though they're incredibly awful (artistic-wise), the filmmakers don't pretend they're making Shakespeare. "Sizzle Beach, U.S.A." often does take itself seriously, yet sporadically finds room for those quirky Troma elements. There's a scene where a naive, ditsy aspiring actress tries to get a job by sleeping with a morbidly obese man. He sees her naked body and says, "I see real potential in you." Pretty funny. But gags like that are sandwiched between badly played dramatic moments. The film almost plays out like a bad soap opera...with gratuitous female nudity. The nudity is practically the only saving grace of this "film," though it certainly shouldn't be anyone's sole reason to buy a copy of the DVD. I wasn't surprised when I watched an interview on the DVD, in which the film's director mentions that Kevin Costner tried to buy the rights to the movie, so that he can remove it from all stores and selling outlets. It's still amusing to see Costner in such a horrible flick. Anybody who thought "The Postman" was bad should probably check this movie out first. Though not quite the talented actor he is today, Costner probably gives the film's best performance. The rest of the cast put no emotion into their dialogue, and sound as if they're reading off cue cards. I can barely call this a film, because it's basically just a collection of scenes. It's neither character-driven, nor plot-driven. This is one of those movies I expect to see in the bargain bin, for about $4.99. The only minor compliment I can give is Costner does have a pretty substantial supporting role, so this wasn't one of those cases where a now-famous actor is placed on the DVD cover to increase sales, when he only has a small cameo. And on the bright side, it's a Troma DVD, so it has some cool Tromatic extras. (3 out of 10) Was the above review useful to you? Kevin Costner's First Movie from United Kingdom 5 August 2016 I have decided to watch every kevin Costner movie in order. So I start here with his debut. Malibu Hot Summer or Sizzle Beach USA as its called on my DVD. Plot In A Paragraph: 3 female friends (One wants to become an actress, one wants to be a singer, and the other wants to be a gym teacher) go to stay at a beach house for the summer. There are a lot of naked beauties in the movie, and I'm sure a few people still get a kick out of the 1970's soft core porn movie vibe. But it's one to miss. Kevin Costner is given a Special Guest Star Billing, and is in it quite a bit. He plays a cowboy who falls in love with the actress. But truthfully he gives the impression he is reading his lines from a none to helpful prompt book. Was the above review useful to you? 1 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Special place in my heart 15 January 2007 *** This review may contain spoilers *** I had to check the spoiler alert, which is pretty ridiculous considering there's no discernible ending to give away. A woman goes to LA to become a singer and meets two other women along the way in an hilarious{sic} turn of events whereby a doorknob falls off of a diner bathroom door. The two girls want to become a gym teacher and an actress, respectively. Then somehow Kevin Costner turns up working for the shortest man on Earth at a ranch. The girls stay with one of them's cousin and they all make their way through a sea of LA clichés, situational and character-wise. There's a bunch of random ugly sex-scenes with the most fake breasts ever filmed. Then the one girl sings a song and the movie ends. Yet there are these weird side characters and stories that will be introduced and then completely discarded within ten seconds(acting class students), and insane moments(girl and man run into each other on beach) and single shots(afro-ed and moustachioed black man leering at white girl) that make me think that there was some sick genius behind the camera. And then there was the little person. The littlest in my estimation. I first watched this dubbed in French, which was awesome as you can tune out a foreign language if you want and just laugh at the stupidity. I bought the DVD later in English and have yet to make it through. Even my friends who are big into Mystery Science Theater went to play Scrabble after about twenty minutes. But for me it has some nostalgia, and I still think it's the worst thing ever made, in any form of media, visual or otherwise. (Move over Paul Hogan's 'Almost an Angel'!) Was the above review useful to you? 5 out of 10 people found the following review useful: is it really a pre Boogie nNights? from Amsterdam, The Netherlands 14 November 1998 I have seen Sizzle Beach on a DVD and gristly to say, the extra's Troma Studios put on the DVD are more fun than the movie itself. The movie is originally released as Malibu Hot Summer in '74 starring Kevin Costner playing one of his first roles. In this film he is playing a rancher that meets a couple of women who just arrived in L.A. He is showing them the way in the hard and quick city of Los Angeles. If you like Troma movies this is a must see. All the typical Troma aspects can be seen: bare cheasted ladies, a "pimpy" midget, some lesbian scenes, lots of topless swimming and on top some great music. If you are into that and don't mind the absence of acting Sizzle beach might be the predecessor of Boogie Nights. Was the above review useful to you? 0 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Kostner's early work from new jersey 3 July 1999 Sizzle Beach USA is one of those great little films that lets you peer into the time when an actor or actress that has made it, was putting their all into their performance. This is a true work of art with T&A to boot. Was the above review useful to you? 0 out of 2 people found the following review useful: So bad I almost cried *** This review may contain spoilers *** Warning: There might be some spoilers, I'm not sure. There's really nothing to spoil. Blah!! I love Troma. Terror Firmer is my favorite movie of all time. I love low budget movies. But this is too horrible for words. I won't call it the worst movie of all time for 2 reasons: 1. I love Troma 2. I'm sure at one point I've seen worse But as far as I can remember, this is the worst movie I've ever seen. I wanted to like it very badly too. But this movie has it all. The worst acting EVER (the actors have trouble pronouncing words and slur and speak monotonously and slow), horribly annoying as hell music, absolutely no plot (watch the interview with the director on the dvd, he even admits to this), pointless nudity (nothing wrong with nudity, but these girls are ugly and why does the asian chick walk around her house naked for no reason?), completely unbelievable everything (people fall in love with people they've known for 2 minutes FOR NO REASON, people laugh hysterically FOR NO REASON, when people meet, there is absolutely no character introduction), and so much more I could complain about. DON'T EVER watch this movie!!!! I had to force myself to watch the whole thing, and even then I fast forwarded through 2 sex scenes (they were slow and boring as hell), all the random scenes where the music just plays and it shows scenes that it already showed, and like any crap scene that bored the hell out of me too much to bear. Everyone who says that Kevin Costner's acting was good is wrong too. He has the BEST acting in the movie (actually no there were a few characters that had better acting, but they had like 2 line parts), but his acting was equivalent to Adam Sandler. There were 2 scenes that could have been funny, had they been acted better and been in different films (the scene with the principal talking about pregnancies, and the ufo scene thing), but if you're going to have these entirely silly scenes it needs to be in an actual silly movie, not a crappy drama disguised as a comedy. There was one line that actually made me laugh, and that was when the girl says "Damn a**holes" and the guy looks at her and says "Watch your language b*tch". It's not an original idea, it was just funny because the scene was very serious and boring and I just cracked a smile. It wasn't hilarious or anything though. I also enjoyed the midget's character, he wasn't that funny, he just added a LITTLE bit to the movie. But that's about 2 minutes of decent movie, so don't waste your time. Also, the ending was predictable though it didn't really add to the tiny amount of plot there was. Was the above review useful to you? 3 out of 9 people found the following review useful: What a 70's jewel! from East Texas 8 April 1999 I totally adore this film! It is truly among the more terrible creations to ever be released on the world! Definitely watch it with a remote so you can catch all the little oddities. Don't be fooled by Troma's attempts to pass this off as a modern flick--it is from 1974, and definitely NOT a Costner film. He has a very small part, though you can see the budding talent in this 19-year-old. He's the only one with talent, though. Look for fun things like articles of clothing that disappear and reappear--this film is PACKED with unintended hilarity! Enjoy! Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 2:

Kevin Costner

Who was William Taft's Vice President between 1909 and 1912?

A star is porn; (But please forget you ever saw the naked truth). - Free Online Library A star is porn; (But please forget you ever saw the naked truth). Page URL: HTML link: <a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+star+is+porn%3b+(But+please+forget+you+ever+saw+the+naked+truth).-a061306780</a> Citations: APA style: A star is porn; (But please forget you ever saw the naked truth).. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Jan 19 2017 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+star+is+porn%3b+(But+please+forget+you+ever+saw+the+naked+truth).-a061306780 Ask today's biggest stars about "early exposure" and a few will redden furiously - they got their first break in soft-porn movies. Worse still, the cheap flicks that earned them their first pay packet have now come back to haunt them with a vengeance. Sylvester Stallone hates any mention of 1970 soft-core porn movie Party At Kitty And Stud's. He wore nothing but a watch and medallion. It was later retitled Italian Stallion because, by then, Stallone was famous thanks to Rocky. Sizzle Beach USA is a no-no topic for Kevin Costner. Although his big break was The Big Chill - in which he appears as an anonymous dead body - his Sizzle Beach debut was five years earlier. This is a truly embarrassing titillation film now released on video to cash in on Costner's fame. Madonna's first movie role was not, as she usually claims, Desperately Seeking Susan, but in a soft-porn shocker called A Certain Sacrifice. She tried unsuccessfully in court to suppress the film in which she appears in a wet T-shirt, has group sex and is raped. Just like one of her own music videos, really. Even some of the stars of Hollywood's golden age regretted their past. MGM and Joan Crawford spent a fortune - and failed - to buy all copies of her early porn pictures with titles such as The Casting Couch, while Hedy Lamarr's husband tried to buy every print of Ecstasy, the 1933 Czech film in which she notoriously appeared in the buff. Nudity - even in films of more artistic merit - can also make uncomfortable viewing for actors years later. Thelma And Louise star Susan Sarandon began her film career as a junkie in Joe, baring her breasts less than a minute after appearing on screen before taking everything off to get in a bath with her boyfriend. At least Melanie Griffith started as she meant to go on, appearing topless when 16 in Night Moves with Gene Hackman. Others just wince because their earliest roles were awful. Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage, star of Leaving Las Vegas, appeared in the high-school movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982 and can be glimpsed looking very unhappy behind the counter of a burger joint in an apron and a daft hat. Sharon Stone, now tipped for an Oscar for Martin Scorsese's Casino, is no doubt not so proud of her roles in duds such as Police Academy 4. Many actors look geekish in their early days compared to the sophisticated superstars they were to become. Michael Douglas certainly falls into this category in the hippyish Hail Hero, in which he enlists for Vietnam. But that's almost elegant compared to Patrick Swayze's start in roller- disco movie Skatetown USA, in which he played a leather-clad, roller-skating baddie. Even he admits: "It's a piece of garbage." Dashing Harrison Ford was the geekiest of all in his debut as a bellhop in Dead Heat On A Merry-Go-Round in 1966. He was still topping up his meagre acting wages working as a carpenter seven years later, and almost turned down the role that set him on the road to stardom, in American Grafitti, because it didn't pay as much as carpentry. Clint Eastwood has also come a long way since Revenge Of The Creature and Tarantula. So, no matter who the posters tell you are the movie's main actors, keep your eye on those in the background. Who knows? You could be spotting a star in the making. COPYRIGHT 1996 MGN LTD No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder. Copyright 1996 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. Article Details

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"Who said, ""How can you rule a country which produces 246 different kinds of cheese?"

Saving the Raw Milk Cheeses of Provence - A Campaign for Real MilkA Campaign for Real Milk Saving the Raw Milk Cheeses of Provence Saving the Raw Milk Cheeses of Provence Posted on February 12, 2006 Last Modified on January 11, 2017 PDF By Madeleine Vedel For the cheese-lover, France is mecca: a site of pilgrimage, and a land of rapture. And one of the defining reasons for this fact is the large number of small-scale raw milk cheese producers that live and work in the region. Who can forget the witticism of Charles de Gaulle who quipped, “How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” NOT IN THE U.S. Cheese lovers in the United States must content themselves with cheeses, both imported and domestically produced, that abide by the FDA’s cheese laws, which specify that cheese must either be made from pasteurized milk or aged at least 60 days. The industrial makers of the cow’s milk cheeses such as Brie, Camembert and St. André, have adapted to the American market by pasteurizing the milk they use for the cheeses they export. Other cheeses, such as the wood ash-filled Morbier or the St. Nectaire, are sent to the United States after the 60 days’ aging period, making them far older than the age at which they are commonly consumed here in France. The extra aging renders these cheeses more pungent, so they differ substantially from their counterparts in France. But many cheeses from France never cross the Atlantic due to the fact that they are made from raw milk and then sold anywhere from the day of their fabrication to six weeks of age. This is the case with the majority of goat cheeses in Provence. To enjoy the fresh and delicate flavor of the Gardian from the Camargue river delta region of Provence, you must purchase it directly from the cheese-maker at a local market. This cheese is sold in its whey at one day old and eaten with a drizzle of olive oil and herbs. The Banon de Banon is a sweet curdle goat cheese from Haute Provence, known for its small round form wrapped in chestnut leaves. Protected by Appellation of Controlled Origin (AOC) laws, this cheese is ready to eat after two weeks’ aging. Age it far beyond a month and it can become a completely different cheese, far more pungent, and much less desirable. The fresh young goat cheese sold in the United States must be made from pasteurized milk. It is packaged in vacuum seal wrap and must be kept refrigerated. By contrast, in Provence, what starts out as a similar fresh goat cheese made from raw milk, evolves at room temperature from a tart lactic acid cheese, to a mild, creamy, runny cheese to a pungent hard cheese that eventually shrinks in size due to dehydration, which is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. This process is impossible and potentially even dangerous for pasteurized goat cheese. The moist, pasteurized, dead medium of the cheese contains no enzymes and no natural lactic bacteria activity and is therefore an ideal growing ground for many harmful pathogens. For now, only those who visit France will be able to taste raw milk goat cheese in its many guises and through its many stages. And yet, this great tradition of raw milk cheeses has come under attack as France seeks to comply with the new food regulations coming from Brussels and the European Union (EU). Not all cheeses in France are made with raw milk. There is a relatively new production method that lies between raw milk and pasteurized called thermisation, in which the milk is heated to a temperature just below that which kills the enzyme phosphatase. On a label, the cheese-maker can still call this “raw milk,” but in fact it is relatively (if not completely) dead milk that requires the addition of fermenting agents. This method is used for certain soft-centered cow’s milk cheeses, and Christian Fleury, my local cheese-maker from the village of Noves, has told me that it was in these cheeses that occurred an outbreak of Lysteria contamination in recent years. Over the last 20 years, the French cheese-makers have gone to battle to defend their right to produce raw milk cheese, facing the opposition which has spread fear of this traditional product through advertisements, televised reports and newspaper articles—often inspired by the anti-raw milk stance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In a country where the cooperation of small businesses to defend their common interests is practically unknown, the farmer/cheese-makers have managed not only to unite, but also to work together towards greater recognition of their product. They have established a definition of their occupation, created a charter of rules and lobbied successfully for the new EU laws to take into account the realities of raw milk cheese. These cheese-makers have many foes within the EU bureaucracy—often from the pays hygienistes (overly hygiene-concerned countries) as Christian has called them—who would like to apply hygiene codes which are, in many situations, inapplicable and inappropriate to cheese. PRODUCTION STYLES Living and working in Provence for more than ten years now, firmly ensconced in my life as a culinary teacher and guide, I’ve researched the world of raw milk goat and sheep cheese production through farm visits, tastings and personal acquaintances. The traditional cheeses of this region are most often made with cooled (68F/20C) or warm (85F/30C) milk. Rennet, an enzyme found in the second stomach of a young ruminant (such as a goat, sheep or cow) is then applied in varying amounts, depending on the type of cheese desired, as the primary curdling agent. Less rennet is added to the cooler cheeses,as these also receive an innoculation from a batch of lactic acid from cheese of the day before. The result is a “lactic curdle,” what many of us would call a typical goat cheese, with that yogurty bite of lactic acid. In the warmer style of production, larger amounts of rennet are added and the cheese “takes” or curdles in about an hour, producing a less acidic cheese (thus called a “sweet curdle”) that is pressed and aged to produce a Tome de Provence or the Banon de Banon. The Tome de Provence is the traditional cheese of this region, made by the shepherd’s wife in her kitchen. She made it with milk virtually at the temperature it has when it leaves the animal, using enough rennet (or a large enough snip of a dried second stomach) to curdle the cheese in an hour. It is the ideal cheese for a hot climate. It ages at the ambient temperature or in a cellar, wrapped in a bit of paper to prevent too quick a dehydration. You do not often find cow’s milk cheeses in Provence and certainly no tradition of such there for, although Provence is a lovely place to visit, its climate is hot and fierce. Ground cover is rough and not always plentiful. The winds blow very hard and there is little shelter. The animals that do best here are adaptable and hardy, such as goats and sheep. Goats were, and still are, tended in the hills of the Alpilles, and the Cévennes to the west, and sheep covered the plains of the Crau between Arles and Marseille, traveling each summer to the heights of Haute Provence and the Alps beyond for the cool air and grass. To the south of Arles lies the Camargue. Here lives an indigenous race of cattle, called the toro, as well as indigenous white stocky horses. The cattle are fierce in temperament and serve mainly as a source of lean, range-fed meat and for dangerous games in the bull-ring. Getting close enough to milk one would not be advised. Hence, the traditional absence of dairy cows in the region, and of butter, from the traditional cuisine. In the 1970s and 1980s, raw milk cheese-makers enjoyed a period of paradise. It was a time when many came back to the rural life from the cities, and cheese-making became a favored activity. It could support a small family, it was not excessively onerous as a job and, when done with respect for the animals and environment, it contributed to a healthy countryside, all virtues much espoused by the newly conscious who came of age in 1968—a period of political and social turbulence in France. The European Union had not yet begun to write laws affecting the cheese-makers or the outdoor markets. OPTING OUT It was during this period that Claudine Malbosc and her husband Yves opted to leave their office jobs in the city of Marseille and settle on the country farm of Claudine’s family in St. Martin de Crau to make goat cheese. Over the last twenty-five years they have raised two sons on goat’s milk, the entertaining sights of their mother milking the goats and making cheese and, when in the mood, Dad dancing with goats. They have also lived a rigorous life of early mornings, nary a day off and periodic floods that threaten all. But they relish the freedom of their occupation, the joy of caring for their 60 goats—all which they know by name—and making a product for which they can be proud, that people come from miles around to purchase. Claudine tells me that as she listens to the trials and tribulations of her old school friends who chose occupations such as bank teller or teacher, she is ever more grateful that she opted out of that world and into a world of traditional values and rhythm. GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER Christian Fleury and others followed a similar path. And each in his turn has been affected by the shift of policy with the arrival of the EU. As pressure mounted, and the war on raw milk cheeses took a serious turn, these small artisans had to quite simply “get their act together.” From this cooperation was born the Fédération Régionale des Elevages de Côte d’Azur Alpes Provence (FRECAP) [The Regional Federation of Animal Husbandry of the Cote D’Azur, the Alpes and Provence] in 1981, in order to speak in a united voice for the many Provence-based cheese-makers affected by the evolving political movements in Europe. This new entity has helped define farmer-made cheese—fromage fermier—as cheese made under the following circumstances: A small family farm (1-3 workers, 5-200 animals) All the milk processed on the premises and coming from the animals raised and nourished on the premises The cheeses produced and aged on the premises and sold by the farmer himself. These are the pillars of the federation. Of prime importance is the tenet that the cheese be made with milk from the family’s farm, and not milk purchased elsewhere. The alternatives, an artisan cheese-maker (who might purchase milk from a neighbor or other farm) and the industrial cheese-maker (large scale and bulk production that dominates the majority of the grocery stores), limit the control the cheese-maker has over the quality of his primary ingredient: the milk. To assure a high quality of healthy raw milk to make his cheese, the cheese-maker must milk his own animals and use his own milk. If the cheese-maker purchases milk from another farmer who makes his living from selling milk by the quantity, will the latter be careful enough to exclude the milk of an animal with an infection? Or the milk of an animal on antibiotics? Or from one given hormones? Only the cheese-maker is fully aware of the potential destruction that bad milk can have on an entire day’s work and will carefully segregate out the sick animal and throw away the infected milk. The Federation has gone further and established clear outlines for a cheese-making operation, respecting the EU hygiene laws in effect and encouraging the production of a high quality and safe raw milk cheese: Human scale production (7-200 animals)—no more than 120,000 litres (35,000 gallons) of milk production transformed into cheese per year. The average farm in Provence has about 45 animals. Traditional nourishment for a ruminant—high-quality hay, grazing, a small mix of grains as a complement. Here in Provence, we have the hay of the Crau, harvested four times yearly and respected for its mixture and quality. Some herds are also grazed in the hills of Provence on the thyme, rosemary, oak and other scrub brush. Clean barns, and sufficient space to roam—either bring the herds into the hills daily, or provide them with a pasture or prairie they can access freely. Barns must be built to allow two square meters per small animal (goat or sheep) and eight square meters per cow. Aeration of the barns is very important; many are built with an opening in the south wall to allow the animals to enter and exit freely. Respect for the natural reproduction cycle of the animal—goats naturally come into heat in the fall, and give birth from February to Easter. The cheese-maker thus allows them a period of rest during the last two months of gestation; no “de-seasoning” of an animal is allowed, a practice that employs hormonal therapy to force a period of heat in the spring to extend high milk production all year long. This rule permits the cheese-maker a well-earned vacation after 270 non-stop days of cheese production. The Federation also trains “replacement/substitute” cheese-makers who can be hired to care for the animals while the cheese-makers are away. Maintain a healthy herd—stress preventative measures over systematic medical intervention. Optimal sanitation, and testing for cleanliness of the milking machine. Cheese-makers use milking time to carefully look over each animal, check its health, remove burrs from the fur, inspect any insect bites or scratches, etc. All cheese produced on the farm is made with milk from the farm’s own animals. Except for machine milking, the cheese must be made with traditional methods. The cheese-maker must pay careful attention to hygiene, use only raw milk, regularly self-test and invite periodic spot tests by the Federation to guarantee the quality of his milk and the cleanliness of the cheese-making facilities. Testing for pathogenic germs harmful to humans—Lysteria, E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella—is regularly carried out by both the cheese-maker and the representative of the Federation. To be sold, the cheese must be marked with the name and address of the cheese-maker. Much of the cheese can be sold at a local market or from a farm stand, thus eliminating a middleman and reduced profits. Local restaurants, from the simplest to the most elegant, are proud to put fromages fermiers on their menus and are a faithful and important clientele base. MARKET SALES ISSUES Amongst the more important battles that the Federation has helped the cheese-makers win has to do with whether or not the cheese is transported in a refrigerated truck and sold from a refrigerated stand. Traditionally, raw milk cheese-makers packed their cheeses which had aged at 12C/55ºF into one or more insulated ice-boxes or coolers and, once at the market, set up a stand on a board of wood, at waist height, with plates of their various cheeses out for tasting, and a few in the open air ready to wrap up and sell. They had waxed paper on hand to wrap the cheeses in. Extra cheeses were kept in the ice-boxes/coolers till needed. The EU made an attempt to impose very expensive refrigerated trucks and refrigerated stands (which required electricity to run—something not every outdoor market place was equipped with) upon the cheese makers. As with many laws, this set of regulations would have disproportionately affected the smaller producers, whose main source of sales were the markets. For the industrialists, it was a comparatively negligible investment. FRECAP has participated in studies showing that temperature, particularly refrigerator temperatures of 4C/40ºF or less, is not a factor in the safety of a raw milk cheese. The law will not now go into effect, and the small producers can still sell their wares at market. The established food safety rules developed to assure safe transportation of an industrially produced item across hundreds of miles in a truck or train do not necessarily apply to raw milk cheese. For instance, the cardinal rule in the food industry is to refrigerate everything at 4C/40ºF or lower. But if you are selling a fresh cheese that was made at 20C/68ºF that should also be served at this temperature, why bring it down to 4C/40ºF and then bring it back up to 20C/68ºF? Or, if a cheese is ideally aged at 12C/55ºF, and the good bacteria that contribute to its evolution are killed below 8C/48ºF, why then have it delivered and presented in highly refrigerated conditions? Recent studies done by the Federation have shown that cheeses brought from the farm to the market and back again, even multiple times, which experienced shifts in temperature from the stable 12C/55ºF aging room up to 25C/78ºF of the market stand, did not develop any noxious bacteria. In fact, they often had lower levels of bacteria than the cheeses that had not left the aging room. The defenders of raw milk cheeses stress the fact that the good lactic acid bacteria present in raw milk are a protective factor for their cheeses. The lactic bacteria can combat pathogens and protect the milk from further contamination—protecting the consumer from a possible food-borne illness, normally in the form of indigestion. If Staphylococcus is introduced to a pasteurized bath of warm milk, it will proliferate quickly and dangerously, but if introduced to a bath of warm raw milk, it will multiply ever more slowly, and there is the chance that it will be eliminated by the good bacteria present. By pasteurizing, or even semi-pasteurizing milk, we turn it into the ideal medium for dangerous bacteria. So far, the cheese-makers have been able to continue making raw milk cheeses in France, and they are sharing their expertise to encourage and allow others to do the same. In 1990, FRECAP was instrumental in establishing the Carmejane Cheese Center located in le Chaffaut, in Haute Provence, to teach traditional raw milk cheese production. They now train nearly 200 people yearly in cheese-making, arrange professional internships, offer continuing education courses for cheese-makers to improve or diversify their activities, and arrange conferences to share information, and encourage international exchanges with Italy, Tunisia, Israel, Norway, Slovenia, Brazil and other countries. However, while they are no longer as apprehensive about the EU, the spreading influence of the United States (and its very valuable luxury markets) does worry them and may require them to do battle all over again to defend their activity and professional integrity. The battle is no longer being fought by the French cheese-makers alone. Traditional cheese-making spans all of Europe—though no other country has so many different kinds of cheese—and there is wide-spread interest in promoting locally and traditionally made products. In 2003, members from the EU countries England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy established the European Alliance for Artisan and Traditional Raw Milk Products (EAT). Their declared goal is to perpetuate and defend the age-old practice and practitioners of the safe preservation of milk through traditional raw milk cheese-making. They distribute information, encourage exchanges, respond to questions and help resolve technical or administrative problems and communicate positively (rather than defensively) about the benefits of raw milk cheese to journalists and consumers. Recently completed, the National Guide to the Good Practices of Farm Cheese Production or, Le Guide National des Bonnes Pratiques en Production Fromagère Fermiére, is available to those who sign up for training courses organized by raw milk cheese technicians on a regional and national level in France. For more details, I strongly suggest contacting the Centre Fromager de Carmejane. In an ideal world, instead of eliminating the glorious world of traditional cheeses, we would learn from them and preserve and disseminate their techniques to the cheese-making areas around the globe—even in the US. Provence is leading the way. For more information:

Charles de Gaulle

Who invented the Polaroid camera?

Types of Cheese and Classification Simplified! Categorized by Texture, Milk Source, Country of Origin Ask any group of cheese experts and you probably won’t find a consensus about types of cheese or classification. Things can get very technical in the world of cheesemaking, so I’ll stick to a simple method of dividing cheeses into categories, and leave the technical details and arguments to others. Types of Cheese by Texture Every cheese has a texture that defines it. This texture refers to the degree of hardness, or to put it another way, how much moisture remains in the cheese when it is ready to eat. The method of manufacturing the cheese and the length of time it is aged will determine its texture and its degree of firmness. Cheeses which share some basic characteristics can be grouped together according to the following types of cheese: 1. Fresh 2. Soft-ripened or “bloomy rind” cheese 3. Washed-rind 8. Double and triple crème 9. Pasta Filata (meaning spun paste) Cheeses in each of the types of cheeses listed above will also share some taste characteristics and will be best suited for eating, cooking or grating. Click here for more information on Cheese Textures and Examples Types of Cheese by Milk Source Cheese may have first begun with camel’s milk, goat’s milk or sheep’s milk, but today the majority of cheese comes, of course, from cow’s milk. Water buffalo, yak and even horse are also sources of milk for interesting cheeses. There are significant differences between cow's milk, goat's milk and sheep's milk...and as a result, the flavor, the tastes of these three types of cheese differ widely. Goat's milk has less fat and tastes lighter. Goat's milk cheese tends to have a fresh, tangy taste. Sheep's milk contains the most butterfat and so sheep's milk cheese will taste much richer, even when it is fully aged and drier in texture. Both goat's milk and sheep's milk are richer than cow's milk, nutritionally speaking. A surprising fact I turned up in my research revealed that the milk from Jersey cows contains more protein, more vitamins, more minerals and more butterfat (5-6%) than the milk from the industry standard breed Holstein cow (3-3.5% butterfat). (So buy Jersey cow milk when you can find it!) When it comes to milk type, just as important as the animal source is the "terroir" where the animal is raised. Terroir is a French word which encompasses everything from the region of the country, the local microclimate, the altitude, the rainfall, the types of grass and natural pasturage which the animal eats. It also refers to the season in which the milk was produced. Clearly, if a goat for example eats hay in winter...but in summer it grazes in an alpine pasture in France, eating everything from grass, moss, berries and branches to bushes, clover, herbs and flowers, then cheese produced from the goat's summer milk will taste far, far different from the cheese produced by its winter milk. So cheese has seasons, just like the animals do (for reproduction) and the changing climate, season by season. There is a "best" time to make each cheese and a "best" time to eat that cheese (depending on the desired length of the aging process). It's important to keep this in mind when buying cheese. Here are some examples. Goat cheese is usually eaten when it is young and quite fresh...2 weeks to 2 months old. So the ideal time to purchase goat cheese will be in late summer to early fall, because the milk will have been produced when the goat had the richest, most varied diet. An alpine cheese such as Morbier, which is produced from cow's milk, will be best consumed 3 or 4 months after it was produced. Therefore look for it in the cheese shop in November and December. Brie and Camembert will be at their peak in early fall, 1-2 months after they were made. The very hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano or a Pecorino Romano, are less seasonal and the quality is pretty uniform throughout the year. A good rule of thumb to remember is that young, soft cheeses will taste best when purchased in late summer and early fall. The harder cheeses will generally taste best when purchased in winter, because they have been aged longer and come from milk produced the previous spring. Your local cheesemonger should be able to tell you the best seasons for the cheeses you would like to try. One last point to make about milk. In the U.S., by law, ALL cheese which is aged less than 60 days, MUST be made from pasteurized milk. That applies to all cheese imported to the USA as well. Most cheese lovers and cheese experts will agree that raw, unpasteurized milk makes the best, most flavorful cheese. Good examples are some of the Kings of Cheesedom - the royal Camembert de Normandie, Montgomery's Cheddar (English, 300 year history) or the Brie de Meaux. Types of Cheese by Country of Origin The most important cheesemaking countries are France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the United States. Of course cheese is made in many other countries as well. But until cheese and the craft of making cheese spread with trade and exploration beyond the shores of Middle Eastern and European cultures, cheese was almost unheard of in the Far East, in sub-Saharan Africa or in the Americas (pre Columbus days). Today cheese is consumed everywhere, but the real stars of the cheese world, the Kings and Queens of gourmet specialty cheeses, still come from the U.S., France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands. As I discussed above in the section on milk, the terroir will have enormous impact upon the types of cheeses produced in each country. One example would be Alpine Cheeses, a distinctive type of cheese. Obviously alpine cheeses produced in mountainous eastern France or Switzerland, will differ greatly from a cheese produced in Normandy, located in western France bordering the Atlantic Ocean, for example. In fact some experts would say that a cheese produced in one small town will differ greatly from a cheese of the same type and name, produced in the next town! France is known to have more than 700 distinct cheeses, and there are still many more that do not have a specific name - they are simply local cheeses produced and eaten on the spot, so to speak. President de Gaulle (France, 1890 -1970) is quoted to have said...."How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" A good question, but he understated the number of varieties! In the 1960s Clifton Fadiman, an American writer, editor and New Yorker book reviewer wrote "A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be over-sophisticated. Yet it remains - cheese, milk's leap toward immortality." I have created separate sections on this website, dedicated to the Best International Cheeses from Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands, as well as the Best American Artisanal Cheeses. There you will find a lot more information on specific cheeses, along with recommendations of my personal favorites as well as names of those cheeses which top most of the experts' 'Best of the Best' lists. Choices like these are necessarily subjective, but the research involved to make such recommendations is always fun, involving much nibbling and sipping of the appropriately paired wine! HOME › Types of Cheese

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How many films had Christopher Reeve made before Superman in 1978?

superman christopher reeve - Question.com Home › How many times did Christopher Reeve play Superman? How many times did Christopher Reeve play Superman? The movie Superman was so successful, a sequel (Superman II) was made, followed by two more sequels (Superman III and Superman IV), all in the 1980s, and Reeve played the part of Superman in all three. The first Superman movie also starred Marlon Brando as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Terence Stamp as General Zod. (Marlon Brando was paid $4 million for under eight minutes of screen time, a remarkably high sum at the time.) John Williams wrote the score for the film, whose theme song won a Grammy award. Before playing Superman, Christopher Reeve acted onstage and on a television soap opera. His later screen credits include The Bostonians and Somewhere in Time, now a cult classic. In May 1995, Christopher Reeve was paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition. He had largely retired from film production since then, instead devoting his time to rehabilitation therapy. With his wife Dana, he opened the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Resource Center in Short Hills, New Jersey, a center devoted to teaching paralyzed people to live more independently. In 2003 and early 2004, Reeve made two well-received appearances on the television Superman prequel series, Smallville, playing Dr Swann, who gives the young Clark Kent clues to his origins. Christopher Reeve died on 10 October, 2004. Sign In

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Who owned the LA nightclub The Viper Room at the time of River Phoenix's death there in 1993?

How Fast Would SUPERMAN Have to Fly to Reverse the Earth’s Spin? | Nerdist How Fast Would SUPERMAN Have to Fly to Reverse the Earth’s Spin? Posted by Sarah Keartes on December 5, 2015 Share: Television If you’re a “Man of Steel” fan, chances are you’ve read some creative explanations for how Christopher Reeve managed to reverse the Earth’s spin back in 1978. The concept has sparked heavy debate over the years, but in a move that warms the cockles of our nerdy hearts, a group of physics students from the University of Leicester have calculated how fast Superman would have had to fly to make it happen. Now, before we get into the good stuff, there are a few things to note. First, Superman wasn’t reversing the Earth’s spin, he was flying fast enough to go backwards in time. Second, stopping the Earth from spinning (let alone reversing its spin) would have catastrophic results. Most notably, a lot of this: And probably some of this: OK, fine. Not that, but it would be very, very bad . But if Superman did spin the Earth backwards, he would need some mechanism to transfer inertia to the planet. For the purposes of this explainer we’re going to assume he has one (comic book physics, and all that jazz). Through their calculations, the University of Leicester team concluded that Kal-El would have had to fly at an angular velocity of 46.296 radians per second, or 660,000,000 miles per hour — 98% the speed of light (!) — to reverse the spin of the Pale Blue Dot. But that’s not all: compared to the Earth, Superman is a very small blob. In order to have a measurable effect on the massive celestial body then, he would also have to increase his own mass 13.7 million times over. So, that seals the deal – the act is impossible. Mass, is mass, right? Actually, no. The secret to Superman’s ability to become more massive is hiding in Einstein’s famous equation E=mc², which explains the the relationship between energy and mass. By this equation, energy (E) is equal to mass times the speed of light (c) squared. When we humans talk about “mass,” what we’re usually referring to is “rest mass,” that is, the mass of an object is weighed in a stationary frame of reference (not moving relative to the scale used to measure its weight). “Rest mass doesn’t change, as it is independent of speed by definition,” explains Caltech applied mathematician Dr. Spyridon Michalakis. “Still, there is another ‘mass,’ known as ‘relativistic mass,’ which refers to the mass of an object that is moving very, very fast.” By rearranging uncle Albert’s equation E=mc² as m=E/c², we see how a huge boost of energy on the right side of the equation, say the amount needed to move at near-lightspeed, would make the mass on the left side of the equation bigger as well. This new, larger mass is the relativistic mass. “It’s larger than the ‘rest mass’ because of the extra kinetic energy in the system,” says Michalakis. The speed of light is approximately 669,600,000 mph, which is very close to the calculated flight-speed necessary for Superman’s Earth-bending maneuver. By hitting this velocity, he would wrack up an immense amount of energy, which in turn, would produce an equally large relativistic mass. If the now-massive Kent could transfer his inertia to Earth, it would act like a brake. But there is one problem: with mass, comes gravity. This brings us back to the impending doom our outside-underwearing friend would unleash on the planet, should he succeed in stopping it. “Whilst there is no danger of the moon being significantly affected by Superman, the act would would have set near-Earth objects such as asteroids on a course for Earth,” write the authors. Not to mention the resulting changes in atmospheric pressure and wind speeds would likely cause the extinction of the human race, and every other land-going species on the planet. So, in the end, Lois is toast – but on the plus side, Lex’s antics wouldn’t really matter anymore. —

i don't know

Who starred in Roger Vadim's remake of And God Crated Woman?

Roger Vadim - Microsoft Store Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Actor • Director Born in Paris to a Ukranian-French family, Roger Vadim was briefly educated in political science before studying acting under Charles Dulin. From ages 16 through 19, Vadim pursued a performing career. He then spent eight years as an assistant to director Marc Allegret; during this same period, he was a journalist for Paris Match and an occasional television director. Married to Brigitte Bardot in 1952, Vadim burst onto the international film scene when he directed his breathtakingly beautiful young wife in And...God Created Woman (1956). While it was the film's nudity and eroticism that assured its success in the United States, its popularity enabled France's up-and-coming "New Wave" directors to gain attention in the American market. Because Vadim was tagged as a "nudie" director, most of his subsequent films were provocatively (and often misleadingly) retitled when released to the States: for example, the wry and witty Chateau en Suede (1963) was dumbed down to Nutty, Naughty Chateau. Vadim seemed to not only welcome being pigeonholed as a voyeur, but encouraged this perception by presenting his various actress wives--Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Jane Fonda, Maria Schneider--in their birthday suits, whether the plot required it or not. His reputation as an on-camera satyr spilled over into his private life as he pursued romantic relationships with Catherine Deneuve (who bore him a son), Marie-Christine Barrault, and others too numerous to mention. By the 1980s, Vadim's cinematic hedonism seemed a bit antiquated, never more so than in his tiresome remake of ...And God Created Woman, which starred Rebecca De Mornay. In addition to his directing and screenwriting credits, Vadim has acted in Cocteau's Testament of Orpheus (1959), Warhol's Ciao Manhattan (1973), Cukor's Rich and Famous (1981) and John Landis' Into the Night (1985). Roger Vadim is the author of two endearingly egotistical autobiographies: Memoirs of the Devil (1977) and Bardot, Deneuve, Fonda--My Life with the Three Most Beautiful Women in the World (1985).

Rebecca De Mornay

"Who was described by co star Nick Nolte as, ""...a ball buster. Protect me from her?"""

And God Created Woman And God Created Woman Certificate: 18 Synopsis Roger Vadim's remake of his 1957 film classic, starring Rebecca DeMornay in the role made famous by Brigitte Bardot. With Vincent Spano.

i don't know

Who were the first two men to drive on the Moon?

Driving on the Moon: The 40-Year Legacy of NASA's First Lunar Car Driving on the Moon: The 40-Year Legacy of NASA's First Lunar Car By Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer | July 29, 2011 07:22pm ET MORE Astronaut James B. Irwin, lunar module pilot, during the Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) on August 1, 1971, at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. The first Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) on the moon, stands to the right. Credit: NASA When NASA's Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin touched down on the moon 40 years ago, they had an extra special tool packed away on their lunar lander: a dune buggy-size rover that enabled them to become the first humans to drive on the surface of a world beyond Earth. Rover technology has made great strides since Scott and Irwin landed on the moon on July 30, 1971, but the lessons learned from NASA's first Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRVs) are still applicable today. While technology has evolved since the Apollo era, NASA's first rovers are influencing manned and robotic vehicles for exploration on Mars and beyond. "The LRV on Apollo fulfilled a very important need, which was to be able to cover large traverses, carry more samples, and get more scientific exploration done," Mike Neufeld, a curator in the space history division at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. told SPACE.com. "It was a really important part of why Apollo 15, 16 and 17 were so much more scientifically advanced and productive." [ Photos: The Evolution of NASA's Moon Cars ] Driving on the moon Apollo 15 was the fourth mission to land men on the moon, and it was the first of three missions to use the LRVs. The rover had a mass of about 460 pounds (208 kilograms) and was designed to fold up so it could fit inside a compartment of the Lunar Module. Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene A. Cernan makes a short checkout of the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the early part of the first Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing site in 1972. Credit: NASA "It was a very elegant little vehicle," Neufeld said. "It had to be lightweight and had to be folded up in a very compact space. They were very successful – there were no major failures – so clearly it was a successful design." [ Video: NASA's 21st Century Moon Ride ] And they drove relatively well, Neufeld said, given the rocky terrain on the moon. The rovers could reach a top speed of about 8 mph (about 13 kph), but the moon's cratered surface prevented the astronauts from driving too fast. "They weren't driving on flat land – it was more like a dirt buggy than anything else," he explained. "It didn't travel that fast, but for the astronauts who drove it, it seemed like it was exciting and fast. It was a pretty bouncy ride. Even flat looking terrain on the moon is not very flat because there are so many crater pits, so it would have been a fairly exciting ride." The lunar rovers also injected a new level of public enthusiasm for the Apollo program. "Overall public interest had declined after Apollo 11," Neufeld said. "The public was becoming more and more blasé. Apollo 15 provided a blip upwards in public interest. Part of it was because the landing site was so much more attractive, and there were also more television broadcasts from the moon. But, the rovers were definitely a part of that. The public took a lot of interest in this new capability that the astronauts had." The LRVs allowed the Apollo astronauts to explore beyond their landing site, but there were definite limitations, such as the non-rechargeable battery life of the rovers. As a safety precaution, the vehicles were also constrained to a distance that, if the rover broke down, the astronauts would have enough resources in their life support systems to walk back to the Lunar Module. On the Apollo 15 mission, the LRV was driven a total of about 17 miles (27 km), which amounted to 3 hours and 2 minutes of driving time, according to NASA officials. NASA's twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been on the surface of Mars for more than eight years. Credit: NASA/JPL Moon rover legacy In the decades since the end of the Apollo program, engineers have looked to the LRVs for cues on how to develop current and future manned and robotic rovers. [ Coolest Vehicles You'll Never Get to Ride ] At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., engineers collaborated with Apollo-era designers to develop the vehicles for the Mars Pathfinder project. Even though past and current Mars rovers were designed to be robotic, studying the first manned lunar vehicles proved invaluable, said Kobie Boykins, an engineer in JPL's spacecraft mechanical and engineering division. "There was a lot of information that we learned," Boykins told SPACE.com. "We watched videos and saw how the NASA astronauts drove around on the rover. All the basic physics of how we interact with the soil stays the same even without having a human being in the rover. It helped us understand our capabilities and our limits. We needed to then figure out how to drive over rocks and drive on steeper inclines, but it's all applicable." Boykins and his team worked on the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers, which landed on Mars in January 2004 and have greatly outlasted their planned three-month lifespan. Spirit, which got stuck in sand, was declared dead by its operators earlier this year, but Opportunity is still driving steadily on the surface of the Red Planet. In addition to being robotic, the Mars rovers differed from the Lunar Roving Vehicles because they drove at a much slower pace – about 2 inches per second (5cm/s). "It's about the land speed of a Galapagos turtle," Boykins said. "There were a lot of design ideas that came from the Apollo days, but the lunar rovers were orders of magnitude faster." Future space car tech Boykins is also working on NASA's newest Mars rover, a car-sized robotic explorer named Curiosity , which is scheduled to launch into space in late November. But NASA teams are also involved in developing other rovers, ones that could eventually be driven by humans once again on the surface of the moon or Mars. During the 2008 Desert RATS tests at Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona, engineers, geologists and astronauts came together to test the surface version of the Space Exploration Vehicle. Credit: Regan Geeseman The Space Exploration Vehicle (SEV) looks like a luxury RV compared to the more primitive-looking lunar rovers, but the Apollo program definitely put its stamp on this next generation vehicle, said Lucien Junkin, an engineer with the SEV project at NASA's Johnson Space Center. The SEV engineers worked closely with Harrison Schmitt to design and test the new vehicle, which features an enclosed, pressurized cabin, 12 wheels and mounted spacesuits on the back. Schmitt, a former NASA astronaut, drove one of the original lunar rovers during the Apollo 17 mission, the final flight that rounded out the Apollo space program. "We wanted to take all the lessons learned from the Apollo and Mars rovers and combine all that together, but also challenge conventional wisdom," Junkin told SPACE.com. "With the SEV, we built what we call a feature-rich vehicle, so things like cargo, space and other creature comforts. We wanted to keep it simple but move it forward." The SEV is designed to comfortably carry a two-astronaut crew on multiple day excursions. The vehicle was originally designed as part of the now-canceled Constellation program that was going to return astronauts to the moon. The engineering team is now designing and testing the vehicle to be compatible with future missions that could require rovers either on the moon or Mars, Junkin said. "We have to stay away from the policy and keep our nose to the grindstone," he said. "We want to keep developing a rover that is in America's garage, so when it's time for us to go to another heavenly body or another planet, America will be ready with a vehicle." You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow . Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook . Editor's Recommendations

david scott and james irwin

Who in 1996 made the longest spaceflight by a woman?

July 31, 1971: Astronauts Drive on the Moon | WIRED July 31, 1971: Astronauts Drive on the Moon subscribe 6 months for $5 - plus a FREE Portable Phone Charger. Author: Tony Borroz. Tony Borroz Date of Publication: 07.31.09. Time of Publication: 12:00 am. 12:00 am July 31, 1971: Astronauts Drive on the Moon 1971: Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin drive the Lunar Roving Vehicle on the surface of the moon. It’s the first off-planet automobile ride. Forty years after Neil Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind , the Apollo program remains a singular cultural and technological achievement. The application of so much technology to a single goal was nearly without precedent. Amongst all the gadgetry born of the Apollo program, the lunar rover ranks near the top of the cool scale. The rover was the most famous electric vehicle until that slick little two-seater from Tesla Motors came along, and it remains a technological marvel. The amount of tech packed into that little buggy still boggles the mind. The rovers were used to give the astronauts greater leeway in exploring the moon during the later, more science-heavy Apollo missions . Those space suits are bulky, and walking in them wasn’t easy. So, having a set of wheels expanded the astronauts’ range, because they weren’t restricted to walking short distances. Boeing built the rover and needed just 17 short months to develop it. Not only did the rover have to carry two men wearing space suits, but it also had to haul whatever rocks and dirt the astronauts found interesting. The main design concerns were, as always, weight and performance. Cost was not a big concern. The original budget was $19 million for four rovers. Cost overruns — in a government program? I’m shocked, shocked! — doubled the final price tag to $38 mil (worth about $200 million in today’s cash). The rover didn’t arrive on the moon ready to roll. It was folded like a Transformer and packed into a cargo hold. When the time came, the astronauts used a system of pulleys, reels and tapes to lower the vehicle from the payload bay. After that, the rover took over. Its wheels unfolded automatically and locked into place as the rover opened like an Autobot . The LRV was 10 feet, 2 inches long with a 7.5-foot wheelbase and a 6-foot tread width. It was less than 45 inches high. Weight is the enemy of all things that fly, especially those things flying into space. Boeing made the rover supermodel-light. It tipped the scales at a featherweight 463 pounds, a figure that must have made Colin Chapman swoon with envy. The frame was made of welded 2219 aluminum-alloy tubing. Everything else was aluminum, magnesium or other exotic light alloys. Light, but strong: The little lunar runabout could carry a payload of 1,080 pounds. The “tires” weren’t tires at all, but zinc-coated woven steel strands attached to the rim and discs of formed aluminum. On top of the zinc and steel mesh were titanium chevrons that covered 50 percent of the contact area to provide traction. The electric motors — made by GM subsidiary Delco — mounted within the wheels. Each 54-amp DC series-wound motor cranked out 1.9 kilowatts at 10,000 rpm and was attached to its wheel by an 80:1 harmonic drive. The brakes were mechanically operated. Top speed on a smooth, level surface was about 8 mph. The rover was controlled with a joystick-like T-shaped hand controller located between the two seats. It controlled the four drive motors, two steering motors and brakes. Push it forward and off you went. Pulling back slowed you down. Move the joystick in the direction you wanted to go and the rover turned. It was pretty much like using your Xbox. The lunar rovers were used on the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions, and together they covered a little more than 55 miles. That doesn’t sound like much, but it gave the astronauts an upgrade in range, mobility and payload capacity that paid huge dividends in data. On the other hand, it works out to $3.6 million per mile in 2009 dollars. MSRP = Moon Sure Rides Pricey. Three rovers were left in place on the lunar surface. The fourth was intended for the Apollo 18 mission, which was cancelled. That LRV (one owner, never been used) now lives at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The rig on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle is an original Boeing mock-up . But as much rocket science as the Lunar Roving Vehicle had packed in it, it still had an owners manual, which you, the taxpayer, can download here . Source: Various

i don't know

Who won the first of his Nobel prizes in 1956 for research which led to the invention of the transistor?

Nobel Laureates - College of Science and Engineering College of Science and Engineering Nobel Laureates Faculty member 1938-45 Nobel Prize in physics, 1956 and 1972 Bardeen shared the 1956 prize with William B. Shockley and Walter H. Brattain (Physics Ph.D. ’29) for their joint invention of the transistor. Together with Leon N. Cooper and John R. Schrieffer, he won the 1972 prize for the development of the theory of superconductivity. Arthur H. Compton Faculty member 1916-17 Nobel Prize in physics, 1927 Compton won the Nobel Prize (along with C.T.R. Wilson of England) for his discovery and explanation of the so-called “Compton effect,” the change in the wavelength of X-rays when they collide with electrons in metals. William N. Lipscomb Faculty member 1946-59 Nobel Prize in chemistry, 1976 Lipscomb won the Nobel Prize for his research on the structure and bonding of boron compounds and the general nature of chemical bonding. John H. Van Vleck Faculty member 1924-28 Nobel Prize in physics, 1977 Van Vleck shared 1977 Nobel Prize in physics with Philip W. Anderson and Sir Nevill F. Mott. The prize honored Van Vleck’s contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electrons in magnetic, noncrystalline solid materials. Alumni laureates (Physics Ph.D. ’29) Nobel Prize in physics, 1956 Brattain, John Bardeen, and William B. Shockley won the Nobel Prize for the development of the transistor. Melvin Calvin Nobel Prize in chemistry, 1961 Calvin received the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the chemical pathways of photosynthesis. Ernest O. Lawrence (Physics M.A. ’23) Nobel Prize in physics, 1939 Lawrence was honored with the Nobel Prize for his invention of the cyclotron, the first particle accelerator to achieve high energies. Daniel McFadden (Physics ’57, Behavioral Sciences Ph.D.’62) Nobel Prize in economic sciences, 2000 McFadden was honored for his development of theory and methods for analyzing discrete choice.  

John Bardeen

Which electrical engineer invented the triode valve in 1907?

Transistor History - Invention of the Transistor Fascinating facts about the invention of Transistors by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley in 1947. TRANSISTOR Almost every piece of equipment that stores, transmits, displays, or manipulates information has at its core silicon chips filled with electronic circuitry. These chips each house many thousands or even millions of transistors. The history of the transistor begins with the dramatic scientific discoveries of the 1800's scientists like Maxwell, Hertz, Faraday, and Edison made it possible to harness electricity for human uses. Inventors like Braun, Marconi, Fleming, and DeForest applied this knowledge in the development of useful electrical devices like radio. Their work set the stage for the Bell Labs scientists whose challenge was to use this knowledge to make practical and useful electronic devices for communications. Teams of Bell Labs scientists, such as Shockley, Brattain, Bardeen, and many others met the challenge.--and invented the information age. They stood on the shoulders of the great inventors of the 19th century to produce the greatest invention of the our time: the transistor. The transistor was invented in 1947 at Bell Telephone Laboratories by a team led by physicists John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley. At first, the computer was not high on the list of potential applications for this tiny device. This is not surprising—when the first computers were built in the 1940s and 1950s, few scientists saw in them the seeds of a technology that would in a few decades come to permeate almost every sphere of human life. Before the digital explosion, transistors were a vital part of improvements in existing analog systems, such as radios and stereos. When it was placed in computers, however, the transistor became an integral part of the technology boom. They are also capable of being mass-produced by the millions on a sliver of silicon—the semiconductor chip. It is this almost boundless ability to integrate transistors onto chips that has fueled the information age. Today these chips are not just a part of computers. They are also important in devices as diverse as video cameras, cellular phones, copy machines, jumbo jets, modern automobiles, manufacturing equipment, electronic scoreboards, and video games. Without the transistor there would be no Internet and no space travel. In the years following its creation, the transistor gradually replaced the bulky, fragile vacuum tubes that had been used to amplify and switch signals. The transistor became the building block for all modern electronics and the foundation for microchip and computer technology. TO LEARN MORE

i don't know

Who performed the first artificial heart transplant?

Artificial Heart Timeline Artificial Heart Timeline   1911 On February 14, Willem Johan "Pim" Kolff is born in Leiden, the Netherlands. Kolff would later become the world's most prolific inventor of artificial organs, including the Total Artificial Heart. Dr. Willem Kolff* Dr. Kolff enters Leiden University to study medicine, earns his M.D. in 1937.   1938   At Groningen University Hospital, Dr. Kolff begins to collaborate with biochemist Robert Brinkman on a prototype for an artificial kidney after witnessing a farmer's son die of total kidney (renal) failure.   1942   While working as a physician at the City Hospital "Engelenbergstichting" in Kampen, Dr. Kolff produces a rotating drum kidney built out of aluminum from a shot down German fighter plane, a 1937 Ford Model T water pump, an enamel tank and 40 meters of cellophane normally used as artificial sausage skin.   Dr. Kolff begins research on designing a heart-lung machine and an artificial heart.   1950   Dr. Kolff emigrates from the Netherlands with his wife Janke and their five children and begins work at Cleveland Clinic as a research assistant.   Dr. Kolff develops one of the first heart-lung machines.   1957   At Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Kolff and Dr. Tetsuzo Akutsu bring the concept of an artificial heart to reality through a series of animal implants; a dog survives for approximately 90 minutes.   1963   Ventriloquist Paul Winchell is granted the first patent for an artificial heart. Winchell's work is aided by Dr. Henry Heimlich, who later develops the Heimlich maneuver to save choking victims. Years later, Winchell signs over his patent rights to Dr. Kolff at the University of Utah.   1967   Dr. Kolff leaves Cleveland Clinic to start the Division of Artificial Organs at the University of Utah and to continue his work on the artificial heart. Dr. Kolff brings with him surgeon Dr. Clifford Kwan-Gett and engineer Thomas Kessler, who work to improve the artificial heart design begun in Cleveland.   Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa; the patient lives 18 days.   1969   Dr. Denton Cooley at the Texas Heart Institute becomes the first heart surgeon to implant an artificial heart in a human subject. The patient lives on the artificial heart, designed by Dr. Domingo Liotta, for 64 hours, but dies 32 hours after transplantation of a donor heart.   1971-1979   Three important figures join Dr. Kolff's team: veterinarian Don Olsen (leads the implantation experiments on animals), medical engineer Robert Jarvik (designs various artificial heart types) and surgeon Dr. William DeVries (leads the process of shifting from animal to human implantation).     Calf "Alfred Lord Tennyson" lives for 268 days on the Jarvik 5. Dr. Kolff submits a request to the FDA to implant a Total Artificial Heart into a human being.   Don Olsen with "Alfred Lord Tennyson"* 1982   On December 2, Dr. Kolff''s Jarvik 7 Total Artificial Heart is implanted into 61-year-old dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lives for 112 days. The surgery is led by Dr. DeVries and Dr. Lyle Joyce.   Dr. Barney Clark lived for 112 days on the Jarvik 7*. 1983   Dr. Kolff steps down from the board of Kolff Medical, manufacturer of artificial hearts in Utah, including the Jarvik 7. Kolff Medical is renamed Symbion, Inc. on the initiative of Robert Jarvik, CEO of Kolff Medical at the time.   1984   William J. Schroeder was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart at the age of 52. On Nov. 25, 1984, Schroeder became the second human recipient of the Jarvik 7. The transplant was performed at Humana Heart Institute International in Louisville, Ky., by Dr. DeVries. He died on Aug. 7, 1986, of a lung infection, 620 days after receiving the Jarvik 7. This was the longest that anyone had survived with an artificial heart at that time. The headstone marking Schroeder's grave is made of black granite in the shape of two overlapping hearts. One is laser engraved with an image of the Jarvik 7.   1985   March: Dr. Jack Copeland at University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson, Ariz., implants a prototype artificial heart, known as the Phoenix heart, in a patient who had rejected a recently transplanted heart. Michael Creighton, 33, lived on the Phoenix heart for 11 hours, but died 60 hours after transplantation of a second donor heart. August: Dr. Copeland becomes the first surgeon to successfully use the Jarvik 7 Total Artificial Heart as a bridge to human heart transplant. Michael Drummond, 25, lives nine days on the Total Artificial Heart before receiving a donor heart.     L to R: Dr. Mark Levinson, Dr. Jack Copeland, Richard Smith, staff nurse, Michael Drummond and the "Big Blue" driver. Richard Smith and Dr. Jack Copeland with patient Michael Drummond. 1990   The FDA closes Symbion, Inc. operations due to violations of FDA guidelines and regulations. The Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) for the clinical study of the Total Artificial Heart is withdrawn.   1991   To save the Total Artificial Heart technology, UMC and MedForte Research Foundation form a new corporation and joint venture, CardioWest Technologies, Inc. Symbion, Inc. transfers the Jarvik 7 technology to UMC, where the Jarvik 7 is subsequently renamed the CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.   The pivotal clinical study of the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart is completed.   2003   The Heart and Diabetes Center NRW in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, pioneers the clinical study of the Excor portable driver for powering the Total Artificial Heart. The portable driver enables stable European patients to be discharged from the hospital while they wait for a matching donor heart for transplant.   2004   Findings from the IDE pivotal clinical study of the Total Artificial Heart are published in the New England Journal of Medicine; 79 percent of patients receiving the CardioWest survived to transplant. This was and remains the highest bridge-to-transplant rate for any approved heart device in the world^. October 15: The CardioWest becomes the world's first and only FDA-approved Total Artificial Heart. While originally used as a permanent replacement heart, the Total Artificial Heart is approved for use as a bridge to transplant in cardiac transplant-eligible candidates at risk of imminent death from biventricular failure. The official name given to the device through the FDA approval process is the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart. ^The pivotal clinical study of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart used two endpoints: bridged-to-transplant and death. Recent pivotal clinical studies of approved ventricular assist devices state a success rate that includes: patients alive and transplant-eligible at 6 months, patients who recovered and patients who were bridged-to-transplant.   2006   The European portable driver receives the CE Mark for powering the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart in Europe.   Mr. Potiron leaves University Hospital of Nantes in France on the European portable driver. 2007 The 700th implant of the Total Artificial Heart is performed by Mayo Clinic Arizona.   2008   May: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reverses its 1986 national non-coverage policy for artificial hearts and approves reimbursement for the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart when implanted as part of an FDA study that meets CMS specifications. July: CMS issues its final decision to reimburse the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart through the highest paying Diagnostic Related Group codes, plus new technology add-on payments. 2009   February 11: Dr. Kolff dies at age 97. June: The 800th implant of the Total Artificial Heart is performed by the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW. October: The Companion Driver System receives the CE Mark for powering the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart in Europe. November: SynCardia submits an application to the FDA to conduct an IDE clinical study of the Freedom® portable driver. Once approved, the clinical study is designed to demonstrate that stable Total Artificial Heart patients can leave the hospital to wait for a matching donor heart at home.   2010   March: The Freedom portable driver receives the CE Mark to power the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart in Europe. SynCardia also receives approval from the FDA to conduct an IDE clinical study of the Freedom portable driver in the U.S.    May 3: The first Total Artificial Heart patient in the U.S. is discharged from the hospital using the Freedom portable driver as part of the IDE clinical study.   May 28: The first Total Artificial Heart patient in Europe is discharged from University Hospital of Nantes in France using the Freedom portable driver and successfully transplanted a few days later.   June 4: The world's first female Total Artificial Heart patient is discharged from the Bakoulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery in Moscow, Russia, using the Freedom portable driver.  

William DeVries

In which movie did Bogart have his first gangster part?

Artificial Heart Timeline Artificial Heart Timeline   1911 On February 14, Willem Johan "Pim" Kolff is born in Leiden, the Netherlands. Kolff would later become the world's most prolific inventor of artificial organs, including the Total Artificial Heart. Dr. Willem Kolff* Dr. Kolff enters Leiden University to study medicine, earns his M.D. in 1937.   1938   At Groningen University Hospital, Dr. Kolff begins to collaborate with biochemist Robert Brinkman on a prototype for an artificial kidney after witnessing a farmer's son die of total kidney (renal) failure.   1942   While working as a physician at the City Hospital "Engelenbergstichting" in Kampen, Dr. Kolff produces a rotating drum kidney built out of aluminum from a shot down German fighter plane, a 1937 Ford Model T water pump, an enamel tank and 40 meters of cellophane normally used as artificial sausage skin.   Dr. Kolff begins research on designing a heart-lung machine and an artificial heart.   1950   Dr. Kolff emigrates from the Netherlands with his wife Janke and their five children and begins work at Cleveland Clinic as a research assistant.   Dr. Kolff develops one of the first heart-lung machines.   1957   At Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Kolff and Dr. Tetsuzo Akutsu bring the concept of an artificial heart to reality through a series of animal implants; a dog survives for approximately 90 minutes.   1963   Ventriloquist Paul Winchell is granted the first patent for an artificial heart. Winchell's work is aided by Dr. Henry Heimlich, who later develops the Heimlich maneuver to save choking victims. Years later, Winchell signs over his patent rights to Dr. Kolff at the University of Utah.   1967   Dr. Kolff leaves Cleveland Clinic to start the Division of Artificial Organs at the University of Utah and to continue his work on the artificial heart. Dr. Kolff brings with him surgeon Dr. Clifford Kwan-Gett and engineer Thomas Kessler, who work to improve the artificial heart design begun in Cleveland.   Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the first heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa; the patient lives 18 days.   1969   Dr. Denton Cooley at the Texas Heart Institute becomes the first heart surgeon to implant an artificial heart in a human subject. The patient lives on the artificial heart, designed by Dr. Domingo Liotta, for 64 hours, but dies 32 hours after transplantation of a donor heart.   1971-1979   Three important figures join Dr. Kolff's team: veterinarian Don Olsen (leads the implantation experiments on animals), medical engineer Robert Jarvik (designs various artificial heart types) and surgeon Dr. William DeVries (leads the process of shifting from animal to human implantation).     Calf "Alfred Lord Tennyson" lives for 268 days on the Jarvik 5. Dr. Kolff submits a request to the FDA to implant a Total Artificial Heart into a human being.   Don Olsen with "Alfred Lord Tennyson"* 1982   On December 2, Dr. Kolff''s Jarvik 7 Total Artificial Heart is implanted into 61-year-old dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lives for 112 days. The surgery is led by Dr. DeVries and Dr. Lyle Joyce.   Dr. Barney Clark lived for 112 days on the Jarvik 7*. 1983   Dr. Kolff steps down from the board of Kolff Medical, manufacturer of artificial hearts in Utah, including the Jarvik 7. Kolff Medical is renamed Symbion, Inc. on the initiative of Robert Jarvik, CEO of Kolff Medical at the time.   1984   William J. Schroeder was one of the first recipients of an artificial heart at the age of 52. On Nov. 25, 1984, Schroeder became the second human recipient of the Jarvik 7. The transplant was performed at Humana Heart Institute International in Louisville, Ky., by Dr. DeVries. He died on Aug. 7, 1986, of a lung infection, 620 days after receiving the Jarvik 7. This was the longest that anyone had survived with an artificial heart at that time. The headstone marking Schroeder's grave is made of black granite in the shape of two overlapping hearts. One is laser engraved with an image of the Jarvik 7.   1985   March: Dr. Jack Copeland at University Medical Center (UMC) in Tucson, Ariz., implants a prototype artificial heart, known as the Phoenix heart, in a patient who had rejected a recently transplanted heart. Michael Creighton, 33, lived on the Phoenix heart for 11 hours, but died 60 hours after transplantation of a second donor heart. August: Dr. Copeland becomes the first surgeon to successfully use the Jarvik 7 Total Artificial Heart as a bridge to human heart transplant. Michael Drummond, 25, lives nine days on the Total Artificial Heart before receiving a donor heart.     L to R: Dr. Mark Levinson, Dr. Jack Copeland, Richard Smith, staff nurse, Michael Drummond and the "Big Blue" driver. Richard Smith and Dr. Jack Copeland with patient Michael Drummond. 1990   The FDA closes Symbion, Inc. operations due to violations of FDA guidelines and regulations. The Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) for the clinical study of the Total Artificial Heart is withdrawn.   1991   To save the Total Artificial Heart technology, UMC and MedForte Research Foundation form a new corporation and joint venture, CardioWest Technologies, Inc. Symbion, Inc. transfers the Jarvik 7 technology to UMC, where the Jarvik 7 is subsequently renamed the CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart.   The pivotal clinical study of the CardioWest temporary Total Artificial Heart is completed.   2003   The Heart and Diabetes Center NRW in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, pioneers the clinical study of the Excor portable driver for powering the Total Artificial Heart. The portable driver enables stable European patients to be discharged from the hospital while they wait for a matching donor heart for transplant.   2004   Findings from the IDE pivotal clinical study of the Total Artificial Heart are published in the New England Journal of Medicine; 79 percent of patients receiving the CardioWest survived to transplant. This was and remains the highest bridge-to-transplant rate for any approved heart device in the world^. October 15: The CardioWest becomes the world's first and only FDA-approved Total Artificial Heart. While originally used as a permanent replacement heart, the Total Artificial Heart is approved for use as a bridge to transplant in cardiac transplant-eligible candidates at risk of imminent death from biventricular failure. The official name given to the device through the FDA approval process is the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart. ^The pivotal clinical study of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart used two endpoints: bridged-to-transplant and death. Recent pivotal clinical studies of approved ventricular assist devices state a success rate that includes: patients alive and transplant-eligible at 6 months, patients who recovered and patients who were bridged-to-transplant.   2006   The European portable driver receives the CE Mark for powering the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart in Europe.   Mr. Potiron leaves University Hospital of Nantes in France on the European portable driver. 2007 The 700th implant of the Total Artificial Heart is performed by Mayo Clinic Arizona.   2008   May: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reverses its 1986 national non-coverage policy for artificial hearts and approves reimbursement for the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart when implanted as part of an FDA study that meets CMS specifications. July: CMS issues its final decision to reimburse the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart through the highest paying Diagnostic Related Group codes, plus new technology add-on payments. 2009   February 11: Dr. Kolff dies at age 97. June: The 800th implant of the Total Artificial Heart is performed by the Heart and Diabetes Center NRW. October: The Companion Driver System receives the CE Mark for powering the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart in Europe. November: SynCardia submits an application to the FDA to conduct an IDE clinical study of the Freedom® portable driver. Once approved, the clinical study is designed to demonstrate that stable Total Artificial Heart patients can leave the hospital to wait for a matching donor heart at home.   2010   March: The Freedom portable driver receives the CE Mark to power the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart in Europe. SynCardia also receives approval from the FDA to conduct an IDE clinical study of the Freedom portable driver in the U.S.    May 3: The first Total Artificial Heart patient in the U.S. is discharged from the hospital using the Freedom portable driver as part of the IDE clinical study.   May 28: The first Total Artificial Heart patient in Europe is discharged from University Hospital of Nantes in France using the Freedom portable driver and successfully transplanted a few days later.   June 4: The world's first female Total Artificial Heart patient is discharged from the Bakoulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery in Moscow, Russia, using the Freedom portable driver.  

i don't know

Which film maker's first film was Pather Panchali?

Pather Panchali (1955) - IMDb IMDb 17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC NEWS There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC Impoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work. Director: a list of 31 titles created 26 Jan 2012 a list of 35 titles created 08 Jun 2012 a list of 26 titles created 29 Jan 2014 a list of 35 titles created 07 Oct 2014 a list of 28 titles created 18 Oct 2014 Search for " Pather Panchali " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 wins & 1 nomination. See more awards  » Videos Following his father's death, a boy leaves home to study in Calcutta, while his mother must face a life alone. Director: Satyajit Ray This final installment in Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy follows Apu's life as an orphaned adult aspiring to be a writer. Director: Satyajit Ray The lonely wife of a newspaper editor falls in love with her visiting cousin-in-law, who shares her love for literature. Director: Satyajit Ray Depicts the end days of a decadent zamindar (landlord) in Bengal, and his efforts to uphold his family prestige even when faced with economic adversity. Director: Satyajit Ray Life at home changes when a house-wife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a saleswoman. Director: Satyajit Ray En route to Delhi to receive an award, a Bengali film star reevaluates his success through his fellow passengers, dreams and past experiences. Director: Satyajit Ray A well-off family is paid an unexpected, and rather unwanted, visit by a man claiming to be the woman's long-lost uncle. The initial suspicion with which they greet the man slowly dissolves... See full summary  » Director: Satyajit Ray An underpaid middle-aged clerk finds a 'parash pathar', a stone that changes iron to gold on touch. Director: Satyajit Ray A young woman is deemed a goddess when her father-in-law, a rich feudal land-lord, has a dream envisioning her as an avatar of Kali. Director: Satyajit Ray The musical duo of Goopi and Bagha make a comeback when they are invited to play for a king. Director: Satyajit Ray A group of Calcutta city slickers, including the well-off Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee), the meek Sanjoy (Subhendu Chatterjee) and the brutish Hari (Samit Bhanja), head out for a weekend in the wilderness. Director: Satyajit Ray Based on popular Indian stories of great writer Rabindra Nath Tagore, these short films reveal definitive moments in the lives of three young girls. Director: Satyajit Ray Edit Storyline The story of a young boy, Apu, and life in his small Indian village. His parents are quite poor - his father Harihar, a writer and poet, gave away the family's fruit orchard to settle his brother's debts. His sister Durga and an old aunt also still lives with them. His mother Sarbojaya bears the brunt of the family's situation. She scrapes by and sells her personal possessions to put food on the table and has to bear the taunts of her neighbors as Durga is always stealing fruit from their orchard. Things get worse when Harihar disappears for five months and Durga falls ill. Even after Harihar returns, the family is left with few alternatives. Written by garykmcd 22 September 1958 (USA) See more  » Also Known As: Apu was spotted sitting on a neighbor's terrace by the director's wife. See more » Goofs Although the film is set in early 20th Century rural India (a time in which public health campaigns presumably did not exist), when Apu and Durga are shown hiding in the fields waiting to catch a glimpse of the train, a vaccination mark is clearly visible on the right arm of Uma Das Gupta , who portrays Durga. See more » Quotes Sarbojaya Ray : This is my home now too. But just look at it. It's like living in the jungle. Jackals prowling around as soon as night falls. No neighbors to sit and talk to. When you're not here, I'm terribly uneasy. But you wouldn't understand. You eat and sleep and go about your work, unconcerned whether you're paid or not. I had lots of dreams too. All the things I wanted to do... It's A Long Way to Tipperary (uncredited) (India) – See all my reviews ...it is one of those greatest works of art..so lyrical yet so composed. there is one phrase that Ray has used extensively in his writings; something that his professor use to say when he was studying painting in Shantiniketan: "look at Fujiyama, Fire within and Calm without. There is the symbol of true oriental artist..." i think it best describes Ray's work where he suggests in his cinema enormous reserves of power and feelings which never spill into emotional displays. the strength and variety of the cinematic craftsmanship in this film can be explored endlessly, but what strikes me the most, is the way his work has confirmed, sustained and nurtured the existence of an art form, western in origin, transplanted and taking root in Indian soil. in a way pather panchali is so 'rooted'. it is so earthy and 'regional' at core and may be thats why its 'international', may be thats why, despite being the product of its time and place it is universal in its appeal. the moods and moments that he creates are simply 'matchless'. so simple, and yet so profound. the Indir Thakuran sequences of the film remain for me the highest, noblest and rare expression of art in Indian films so far (except films by Ghatak and Mrinal Sen) The film induces a kind of contemplation and a sense of wonder, about the truth, individual and privet. almost without you being aware of it it opens windows to the truth that lies within and beyond the boundaries of cinema itself. 38 of 46 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? 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Satyajit Ray

Which actress was Roger Moor's first Bond girl?

Film Forum · PATHER PANCHALI Friday, May 8 - Saturday, May 9 Friday’s 8:00 show is SOLD OUT ONLINE. Tickets available at box office only. NEW 4K RESTORATION Directed by SATYAJIT RAY (1955) In a poor Bengal village, Mom tries to hold things together while dreamy Dad looks for work, daughter Durga is accused of stealing, aged “Auntie” (82-year-old former actress Chunibala Devi) eats more than her share, while the young Apu (8-year-old Subir Bandopadhyay) drinks it all in — including the memorable run through the field of waving grasses for his first sight of a train. Approx. 125 min. DCP.  Reviews “Beautiful, sometimes funny, and full of love, it brought a new vision of India to the screen.” – Pauline Kael “A triumph of mood and character rather than an exercise in brisk Western storytelling.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum “A hymn to curiosity, courage and conscience, it introduces Apu as an opening eye, innocent of adult anxieties but alert to adventure and, finally, moral discovery. A masterpiece, inarguably.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out (London)

i don't know

Who designed the Geodesic Dome in the US Pavilion at the 1967 Montréal's World's Fair exhibition?

Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome Being Constructed for the United States Pavilion at Expo 67, 1966-1967 - The Henry Ford Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome Being Constructed for the United States Pavilion at Expo 67, 1966-1967 ; THF113726 Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome Being Constructed for the United States Pavilion at Expo 67, 1966-1967 / back back Share Summary Expo 67, held in Montreal, Canada, was the most attended world's fair of the 20th century. The United States pavilion, a 250-foot-diameter geodesic dome designed by visionary Buckminster Fuller and architect Shoji Sadao, was an interactive environmental exhibit. It remains the most iconic and fondly remembered of Fuller's built designs. This pavilion survives today as an attraction called the Biosphere. Expo 67, held in Montreal, Canada, was the most attended world's fair of the 20th century. The United States pavilion, a 250-foot-diameter geodesic dome designed by visionary Buckminster Fuller and architect Shoji Sadao, was an interactive environmental exhibit. It remains the most iconic and fondly remembered of Fuller's built designs. This pavilion survives today as an attraction called the Biosphere. Artifact

Buckminster Fuller

Who was the top star at the US box office in 1935?

The Quirky Buildings of Montreal: Remnants of Expo 67 | Untapped Cities The Quirky Buildings of Montreal: Remnants of Expo 67 Share Expo 67 full view circa 1967 The Sixties and Seventies were an interesting period of time for Montreal . In the race to become a modern metropolis, the city’s skyline became a massive jumble of cranes and concrete. Back then, an ambitious man named Jean Drapeau was mayor of the city. Today, he is often designated as a visionary, as it was under his 29-year rule that many of the city’s biggest projects happened, such as 1967 World Fair (best known as Expo 67) and the 1976 Summer Olympics . Via these two events, Montreal attracted the world’s attention and became the city that it is today, a booming cultural metropolis. The modernization process was aggressive and many neighborhoods and historic buildings were destroyed in order to make place for the new infrastructures that were required to host both happenings. This engendered much protesting at the time and ongoing criticism in the following decades, regarding costs and what to do with the buildings once the events were over. However, today the tumult has calmed a bit and these buildings are usually seen as quirky and retro. Along the way, they have become integral parts of Montreal’s eclectic panorama. In this first installment of a series about the quirky buildings of Montreal, we will talk about 3 buildings that were created for Expo 67 and how they are being used today. Expo 67 was held from April to October 1967. It is estimated that 50 million people made the trip to  Île Sainte-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame to visit the Fair, which hosted the pavilions of 62 nations. Each of these countries had their own designated area and many of them hired prominent architects to create elaborate, audacious buildings for them. Most of these installations have disappeared over the years but a few have remained standing. Here are the most remarkable ones that are still in use: Quirky building #1 The Biosphere today. The Biosphere (United States pavilion, Ile Sainte-Hélène) The United States pavilion is one of the most distinctive installations built on the grounds of Expo 67. Its shape, in the form of a geodesic dome, is directly related to the signature style of its creator, noted inventor and futurist Richard Buckminster Fuller . Inside, an exhibit showcased hundreds of objects recounting a typical vision of American culture (like spaceships, baseball bats, Raggedy Ann dolls and Andy Warhol paintings). Once the Expo was over, the building served various purposes such as hosting private events or being used as a bird sanctuary. In 1976 however, a massive fire destroyed the external (translucent acrylic) skin. Regardless of this, the structure remained intact and in 1990, an environmental museum was installed inside. Recently, it was announced that the museum would be closing in late 2013. So far it is not known what will become of the Biosphere. Close-up of the geodesic dome. Quirky building #2 Casino de Montréal, circa 1967   The France Pavilion today. Casino (France Pavilion and Quebec Pavilion, Ile Notre-Dame) France’s pavilion was one of the largest buildings at the Expo 67. The massive 9 story construction was designed by architects Jean Faugeron and André Blouin. When the gates of the Fair closed, it was turned into the Palais De la Civilization, a historical and sociological museum. In 1993, the Montreal Casino took up the space and has been there ever since. A few years later, Quebec’s pavilion (seen at the right hand side of the last picture) was also annexed into the leisure complex. Quirky building #3 Habitat 67 – Cité du Havre today. The outside premises of Habitat 67 today. Habitat 67 (Cité du Havre): Aside from the country pavilions, Expo 67 also had theme pavilions like: Man the creator, Man the producer or Man the explorer. Habitat 67 was one of these. Designed by eminent architect Moshe Safdie , Habitat was supposed to represent the housing complex of the future. During the Expo, visitors could explore a prototype apartment and witness firsthand the architect’s idea of affordable, modern urban living. Safdie, then a young Mcgill University student, initially hoped to expand the residential complex throughout the surrounding area and even wanted to include boutiques, restaurants and a school but was forced to review his plans due to a lack of funds. The full structure that was finally constructed consists of 354 individual, identical concrete blocks that are assembled to form 3 interconnected pyramids, 12 floors and 146 independent units (each made up of 1 to 5 blocks). Windows are oriented on three sides and each unit has a sizable outdoor terrace. After the Expo, most of the apartments were put up for rent and upkeep of the building was partly neglected. However, starting in the 80s, Habitat 67 became prime real-estate in Montreal. In 2009 the building was classified as a historic monument by the Quebec government. This means that the outer shell, the public spaces and two units (1011 & 1012) are protected by law. The inner area is no longer accessible to visitors but it is possible to walk around the outdoor premises, as long as you stay respectful. Today, as we walk through the subway doors, setting foot on Ile Sainte-Hélène, we are constantly reminded of the Expo and how much of an impact it has had on the city of Montreal. In fact, most of this island, as well as Ile Notre-Dame, were created for the 1967 World Fair. The grounds have since been turned into a large park and now hold the name of Parc Jean-Drapeau , after the former mayor. For more pictures taken during the Fair, check out this video which also features the official anthem of Expo 67: This is the first part in a series about The Quirky Buildings of Montreal . Get in touch with the author  @ModStoryteller and read her blog .

i don't know

How is Paul Reubens also known in the film and TV world?

Paul Reubens - TV.com Paul Reubens 8/27/1952, Peekskill, New York, USA Birth Name EDIT Paul Reubens is a Jewish-American comedian, actor and writer. Reubens is more widely known by his persona Pee-wee Herman, a character he created while performing with the improvisational group, The Groundings. Later Reubens created the Pee-wee Herman Show which ran for five months at the Roxy Theater. He… more Credits S 1: Ep 15 State of Mind 12/30/12 S 1: Ep 14 Tagged 12/23/12 S 1: Ep 10 Scars Part 2 11/2/12 S 1: Ep 9 Scars Part 1 10/26/12 S 1: Ep 8 The Reward 10/19/12 S 1: Ep 1 The Groovenians 11/10/02 S 1: Ep 6 Show #106 7/18/01 S 1: Ep 5 Show #105 7/11/01 S 1: Ep 4 Show #104 7/4/01 S 1: Ep 3 Show #103 6/27/01 S 1: Ep 2 Show #102 6/20/01 S 5: Ep 10 Playhouse for Sale 11/10/90 S 5: Ep 9 Something to Do 11/3/90 S 5: Ep 8 Camping Out 10/27/90 S 5: Ep 7 Fun, Fun, Fun 10/20/90 S 5: Ep 6 Accidental Playhouse 10/13/90 S 6: Ep 3 The Dancing Princesses 11/14/87 S 6: Ep 2 The Little Mermaid 4/6/87 S 6: Ep 1 Rip Van Winkle 3/23/87 S 5: Ep 1 Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp 7/14/86 Max (voice) (as Paul Mall) 1986 S 3: Ep 5 Arioch Cain 10/29/15 S 3: Ep 4 The Djinn 10/22/15 S 3: Ep 3 Eli Matchett 10/15/15 S 2: Ep 4 Dr. Linus Creel 10/13/14 S 2: Ep 3 Dr. James Covington 10/6/14 S 9: Ep 1 Executive Decision 9/16/96 S 8: Ep 8 Bad Company 11/6/95 S 8: Ep 2 The Awful Truth 9/25/95 S 7: Ep 21 The Good Nephew 3/13/95 S 3: Ep 122 Show #0465 10/31/84 S 2: Ep 159 Show #0334 1/3/84 S 1: Ep 148 Show #0148 11/18/82 S 1: Ep 6 Pal Joey 10/20/79 S 3: Ep 12 Mad City: Ghosts 1/16/17 S 2: Ep 16 Wrath of the Villains: Prisoners 3/28/16 S 1: Ep 15 Cereal Criminals 3/23/15 S 2014: Ep 20141030 2014/10/30 10/30/14 S 1: Ep 2 Droids in Distress 10/13/14 S 9: Ep 13 Bike, Borrow & Steal 2/1/12 S 3: Ep 15 Mitefall! 11/18/11 S 3: Ep 2 Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases! 4/1/11 S 2: Ep 18 Emperor Joker! 10/22/10 S 1: Ep 19 Legends of the Dark Mite! 5/29/09 S 2: Ep 64 March 10, 2011 3/10/11 S 36: Ep 12 Gwyneth Paltrow/Cee-Lo Green 1/15/11 S 2: Ep 7 Power Animal 11/22/10 S 18: Ep 44 Earning His Stripes 11/1/10 S 23: Ep 31 October 19, 2010 10/19/10 S 1: Ep 7 7 9/22/09 S 1: Ep 4 Certifrycation Class / Sing Beans 11/16/07 S 1: Ep 9 Corpsicle 12/12/07 S 1: Ep 7 Smell of Success 11/21/07 S 2: Ep 8 Extreme Lamebrains/Still Got It 10/5/07 S 1: Ep 3 Cats 2/25/07 S 4: Ep 7 Reno 911!: Miami 2/23/07 S 1: Ep 8 The Thing Under the Bed 2/20/07 S 1: Ep 12 Black Tie 2/1/07 S 2: Ep 16 Puddins 9/18/06 S 4: Ep 4 Rick's On It 7/30/06 S 13: Ep 173 Show #2586 7/11/06 S 12: Ep 49 Show #2269 11/12/04 S 8: Ep 125 Show #1583 4/4/01 S 1: Ep 8 Drama Class 3/26/06 S 2: Ep 12 Chode's Near Death-Experience 10/12/05 S 8: Ep 16 Babies In Toyland 12/9/02 S 1: Ep 1 Tim Burton 10/3/02 S 4: Ep 20 Cloudy Skies, Chance of Parade 4/30/01 S 5: Ep 120 Paul Reubens 4/9/01 S 9: Ep 66 Show #2024 3/27/01 S 4: Ep 17 Hackidu 2/21/00 S 2: Ep 15 Pee-Wee Herman 6/21/98 S 2: Ep 71 January 5, 1990 1/5/90 S 1: Ep 47 November 8, 1989 11/8/89 S 60: Ep 1 The 60th Annual Academy Awards 4/11/88 S 1: Ep 1 101 9/27/87 S 1: Ep 147 May 15, 1987 5/15/87 S 1: Ep 136 April 30, 1987 4/30/87 S 1: Ep 85 February 11, 1987 2/11/87 S 1: Ep 1 October 9, 1986 10/9/86 S 1: Ep 128 April 20, 1987 4/20/87 S 2: Ep 15 Toyland 2/14/87 S 24: Ep 54 Show #3754 10/31/85 S 3: Ep 60 Show #0403 5/24/84 S 2: Ep 128 Show #0303 (831031) 10/31/83 S 1: Ep 117 Show #0117 (820922) 9/22/82 S 3: Ep 3 Pinocchio 5/14/84 S 4: Ep 7 Long Before We Met... 11/19/81 S 1: Ep 3 The Bank Robbery 9/29/79 S 1: Ep 29 5/18/78 5/18/78 S 1: Ep 145 Robin Williams, Barry Manilow 1/21/10 S 3: Ep 3 Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special 12/21/88 S 2: Ep 10 Pajama Party 11/14/87 S 2: Ep 9 Playhouse in Outer Space 11/7/87 S 2: Ep 8 Spring 10/31/87 S 2: Ep 7 School 10/24/87 S 5: Ep 10 Playhouse for Sale 11/10/90 S 5: Ep 9 Something to Do 11/3/90 S 5: Ep 8 Camping Out 10/27/90 S 5: Ep 7 Fun, Fun, Fun 10/20/90 S 5: Ep 6 Accidental Playhouse 10/13/90 Become a contributor Important: You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload. By clicking "Publish", you are confirming that the image fully complies with TV.com’s Terms of Use and that you own all rights to the image or have authorization to upload it. Please read the following before uploading Do not upload anything which you do not own or are fully licensed to upload. The images should not contain any sexually explicit content, race hatred material or other offensive symbols or images. Remember: Abuse of the TV.com image system may result in you being banned from uploading images or from the entire site – so, play nice and respect the rules! Choose background:

Pee-wee Herman

Who founded the magazine Camera Work?

Pee-wee Herman, Paul Reubens and Sarasota | Television & Film | Sarasota Magazine Mr. Chatterbox Pee-wee Herman, Paul Reubens and Sarasota The comedian is making a comeback this month with a new movie on Netflix. We're reposting our award-winning story from 1991 about the Sarasota incident that derailed his career. By Bob Plunket 3/1/2016 at 4:01pm Editor's note: This article originally appeared in our October 1991 issue. Pee-wee Herman's new movie, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, premieres on Netflix this month. You would think that for a gossip columnist like me, being in the middle of a major sex scandal would be a career highlight. And it was. Unfortunately, it was also many other things. An immensely talented artist’s career was ruined, the town’s eye was blackened by the world press and many, many people were hurt. It was the saddest week I’ve ever spent in Sarasota. When I first heard the news, I was watching TV in a motel near the Miami airport. I remember sitting bolt upright in bed and thinking, “Oh, my God, I was afraid this was going to happen.” Only two days before I had bumped into Paul Reubens’ mother. Judy Rubenfeld, in Morton’s Market. I had known her for years. At first our relationship was business: I was Mr. Chatterbox, the town’s gossip columnist; she was the mother of our most famous celebrity. She gave me news, I gave her son (or rather, Pee-wee Herman) publicity. But over the years a real friendship had developed, and nowdays we were more likely to discuss her other kids, whom I found at least as interesting as Paul. There was Abby, an attorney specializing in gay-rights issues. She had been legal director of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, but now she was moving from New York to Nashville and Judy was worried that it might not be a good town for a lesbian activist. And Luke, the youngest, was having trouble finding himself. He has recently opened a lawn statuary store on the South Trail, and I had dutifully done a story at Judy’s request. During the interview he told me that he and his famous brother were planning a Pee-wee Herman lawn statue; it would have a special weird feature, something like water dribbling out of Pee-wee’s nose into a large seashell he would be holding. But today things were a little awkward. I was in a hurry and Pee-wee Herman wasn’t such big news anymore. We chatted for a while, mostly about how busy we had been lately; and after we said our good-byes and I moved away, I realized that was the first conversation we had ever had where Paul’s name hadn’t come up. If it had, I would have learned that he was right there in Sarasota. And if I thought he was fading into a relic, his moment of glory over, his family and friends certainly did not. They felt he still had unmined depths of talent. He had never intended to spend his whole life being Pee-wee, they insisted. “Don’t you think he feels a little silly, a grown man dressing up in that suit?” Judy once said to me. For years she had been saying that he felt trapped, that he wanted to move on. “He loved Pee-wee,” said his friend Stephanie Moss. “But he wanted out.” The time had finally come. Earlier this year, he had declined to sign a new contract for hit TV show. He hadn’t worked since April. He was on an extended vacation – other trips to Nantucket and Europe were in the works – using his time to relax and try to figure out what to do next. He was considering anything and everything – acting, writing, producing. What did he want to do? I asked Judy later. “He really didn’t know,” she said, and seemed to mean it. Once she had told me how, back in the old days, just as he was becoming famous, he would sometimes stop in Sarasota on his way to appear on the David Letterman show. When he left she would find his room littered with little notes he had written to himself, things he might try on the show. The success of Pee-wee Herman had astonished everyone, even Paul. It started with the appearances with an underground comedy troupe in L.A. in the late ‘70s, then went on to the night-club act that HBO picked up as “The Pee-wee Herman Show” in 1982. Then came two movies, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-wee, “Pee-wee Herman’s Playhouse” with its 16 Emmys, the cover of Life and Rolling Stone, even the keynote speech at the Republican National Convention, in which Michael Dukakis was compared to him. Football players did the Pee-wee dance after scoring a touchdown. By the end of the ‘80s, an incredible 96 percent of all Americans recognized Pee-wee’s name. Image: Geoffrey Franklin And the children – millions of them idolized and imitated him. It always struck me as one of the more bizarre progressions of modern culture that a strange midnight comedy act full of sexual ambiguity and subversiveness – in the original act Pee-wee had mirrors on his shoes so he could look up girls’ skirts – would have evolved into the most important children’s TV show since “Sesame Street.” Paul was known to be at ease with children, but he never pretended that they were his mission in life. Being a kiddie role model was not a position that he aspired to; he was an actor, an entertainer, an artist. His mother told me how he dreaded those encounters with terminally ill children whose last wish was to meet Pee-wee Herman. He couldn’t say no, but seeing them remained a sad and painful ordeal for him. It was only natural that he would come to Sarasota to think and relax. It was, after all, his hometown, the place he grew up in and the place his parents still lived. He came here surprisingly often, sometimes for extended stays. Though his parents’ home on Siesta Key is right across an unpaved road from the beach, in a rustic, expensive, and slightly arty neighborhood – their nearest neighbor is painter Syd Solomon – Paul usually stayed at a hotel. He was, after all, a 38-year-old bachelor. This trip he was at the Resort at Longboat Key, still often referred to by its old name, The Inn on the Beach. It’s hard to say whether it or the Colony can claim title to “Sarasota’s fanciest hotel,” but there is no doubt that the Resort is the more secluded of the two, hidden behind the gates of the Longboat Key Club. Paul had a “club suite” for which he was paying $150 a night, the going summer rate. Judy Rubenfeld would show up regularly, carrying a bag of groceries. Paul and his manager Michael McLean had made a very conscious “creative decision” early on: There was no Paul Reubens, there was only Pee-wee Herman. No interviews with Paul were ever allowed, no photos of him were available, no allusions to him were permitted. The “home-town-boy-makes-good” story I kept wanting to do was always squashed, and with what I considered a very heavy hand. We were even told that if we persisted we would not be allowed to publish any pictures, including ones of Pee-wee. But if McLean’s tactics suggested you were dealing with a paranoid control freak, you also had to admit they were very successful. And the creative decision turned out to have an unexpected bonus. Out of his Pee-wee garb, with the beard and long hair that he would grow whenever on hiatus, Paul was virtually unrecognizable. He could go anywhere and not be noticed, except as a tall, thin man with a blank passive face. He was probably the only major TV star who enjoyed such anonymity. The entire world knew who Pee-wee Herman was, but virtually no one knew who Paul Reubens was. No one except Sarasota, that is. It’s impossible to hide from your hometown, and Paul didn’t try very hard. Though I have never met him, I have run into him twice, once in the post office and once at the Short Stop convenience store downtown. Each time there was that double take. “Gee, that man looks familiar – oh, my God, it’s Pee-wee Herman.” In 1990 he had attended his high school reunion at the Hyatt – as Paul – and had made a moving little speech about the importance of old friendships that was the high point of the evening. Occasionally you would hear about an indiscretion on his part. He had been sighted in the town’s gay bars on several occasions, though I should point out that in a town like Sarasota, the gay bars are the only nightspots that can even remotely be described as “hip.” All sorts of people turn up there – Ringling art students, Lucie Arnaz, when she was in town for a performance, even former society columnist Helen Griffith, at the time well into her 80s. Still, for someone in Paul’s position, it seemed like a slightly dangerous thing to do. What I found much more worrisome was his arrest. Only a handful of people knew about it, but for those of us who did, it was a scary secret. Back in 1983, just as he was starting to become famous, he had been arrested during the Christmas holidays at the adult bookstore on the South Trail. Nobody knew exactly what had happened, but his name and address – actually his parents’ address, as he was by that time living in California – had been printed in the paper. I kept my mouth shut out of loyalty to his mother, but still, it worried me. His manager must be nuts to treat the press the way he did with something like that lurking in the background. What if it got out? It was the sort of thing that could ruin Paul’s career…. Sarasota is not at its best in the summer. Each day is a carbon copy of the last: The temperature hovers in the low ‘90s, in a haze of white heat and wet, muggy air. Lightning is a major public safety problem. Many people, especially the newcomers, hardly ever go outdoors all summer. It’s just too uncomfortable. And then there’s the red tide. An algae that periodically “blooms” in the Gulf, it poisons fish and causes asthma-like attacks in humans. By Friday, July 26, Sarasota’s worst red tide attack in five years was already fermenting in the lukewarm waters offshore. But the biggest problem may well be boredom. The snowbirds have fled north and the social season has ground to a halt. There is little going on to keep one amused, although the antics of the vice cops were titillating the town. It wasn’t the first time. In the past year or two, local cops had arrested beachgoers for wearing too-revealing bathing suits. Then they busted a clerk at Specs – he turned out to be a black honor student, active in church work – for selling a 2 Live Crew tape. Both cases made national headlines. This time it sounded like they had really gone too far. A cop had actually taken off all his clothes while busting a prostitute, and she had touched him “in an orally sexual manner” – then he pulled his badge. They had it all on videotape, or maybe they didn’t, depending on who you talked to. The whole town was debating both the ethics of the case and what exactly “in an orally sexual manner” meant. As an old ‘60s liberal, I was delighted to see that when the paper’s “Inquiring Photographer” asked people at the mall what they thought about the case, all six of them said the police had gone too far. Over at the Asolo Theatre Company, preparations were already underway for the fall season opening of an elaborate new musical called “Svengali,” based on the famous story about an opera star controlled by her evil manager. There were plans to try and take the show to Broadway. That the Asolo would be routinely involved in such a scheme shows how far it had come. The almost brand-new building was another indication of the Asolo’s success. The enormous structure contains a 503-seat professional repertory theater, and acting conservatory, and a film and television school. It had been dedicated only a year-and-a-half before in an elaborate ceremony attended by Burt Reynolds, only fitting since Reynolds personally donated $1 million of the $15 million needed to complete the project. Since it was Friday and not much was happening, Vic Meyrich, the theater’s production coordinator, decided to show the staff an old documentary he had recently come across in a store room. It dealt with the “old Asolo” days – the late ‘60s and early ‘70s – so he put out the call that former members of the company were welcome. Among those who showed up was Paul Reubens. Sarasota is full of people who grew up with Paul Reubens and were his friends. There’s mayor Fredd Atkins, who was a classmate at Sarasota High. There’s the girl who’s always introduced at parties as the real inventor of the Pee-wee dance; there is an Episcopal priest at St. Boniface of Siesta Key; there is Cynthia Porter, who married the town’s leading black minister and now helps run his “Love Campaign.” But the people who worked at the Asolo in the late ‘60s, many of them still involved with the theater, are probably Paul’s closest Sarasota friends. Paul sat in the back; most people in the audience had no idea he was there.  The film brought back powerful memories. As with most things that have turned into institutions, there is a great deal of nostalgia for the Old Asolo, when the place was less professional, perhaps, but more a part of the community. Afterwards, a group of old-timers hung around for a while to reminisce. Then Paul drove over to Vic’s house; Vic and his wife Stephanie Moss are good friends from the old Asolo days. When he called them a week or so ago to check in and say hello, he had spoken with their son Hart, aged six. The boy had been thrilled to be talking to Pee-wee Herman, his parents’ famous friend but someone he had never met. Paul, who is conscientious about such things, promised he would come over to say hello. “He was in great spirits,” Stephanie recalls. He was rested and relaxed and tanned. This wasn’t the way she had found him on his last visit, about a year ago, when the TV show was still in production. That time he had been exhausted. The strain of making “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” was clearly burning him out. Most TV stars only have to act; Paul controlled every aspect of the show, from its concepts to its writing to its direction and production. His perfectionism and obsession with the smallest details were legendary and had won him enormous respect in the business. He even oversaw every aspect of all the Pee-wee merchandising spin-offs; he had reportedly sent one Pee-wee doll back for revision eight times before he was satisfied. He literally worked from the moment he got up until the moment he went back to sleep. “He didn’t have a life,” Stephanie says. “It was the most exhausting thing.” They chatted for the rest of the afternoon, mostly about old friends and Paul’s life in California. Then Paul spent some time with Hart, who was a little puzzled by this person with long hair and a goatee who looked and acted so unlike the Pee-wee he knew from television. Never did Paul suddenly break into Pee-wee; and although he quoted a few Pee-wee catchphrases, he was low-key, soft-spoken, low-energy. Stephanie begged Paul to stay for dinner, but he declined. After an autograph for Hart and a snapshot of the two of them together, Paul drove off in his rented Mazda. He didn’t tell them what his plans were for the evening. Perhaps he didn’t even know himself. But it turned out that he would get his picture taken again that night. The South Trail Cinema is Sarasota’s only adult movie theatre. It is owned by a friend of mine named David Warner, a 42-year-old writer/videomaker, whom I first met at Liar’s Club, that famous Friday lunch gathering of local writers. David has a rough-hewn Southern edge to him, but after a while I began to suspect there was something unusual about his background. I found out what it was when I went with David once to visit his family in Tuscaloosa. His father is Jack Warner, an enormously wealthy Alabama paper manufacturer. We flew up on the Warners’ private jet. David had told me his father collected art, but nothing prepared me for the astonishing paintings that covered the walls of the company headquarters, several historic homes downtown, and the Warner mansion at the Northfield Yacht Club. It may well be one of the most important collections of American art still in private hands. There are Sargents, Churches, Bierstadts, Winslow Homers, and a whole roomful of Georgia O’Keeffes. But the thing that impressed me the most was the snapshot I saw framed and hung on the wall of the laundry room. It was Lord Mountbatten, a family friend, taken when he dropped by Tuscaloosa to visit the Warners. David is one of those enviable young men who can afford expensive toys, and the one thing he has always wanted – other than a redneck bar, which he also bought – was his own movie theater. He started out with the most altruistic of motives: He would show classic and foreign films. But in 1981, when he took over, there wasn’t much of a market for that sort of thing in Sarasota. After several dismal months of trying to make a go of it, he discovered what there was a market for: adult movies. The theatre has been in the black ever since. There have been some problems over the years. The building was firebombed (case still unsolved by the Sarasota police) forcing it to close for six months. And though it seems almost too good to be true, the theater was actually struck by lightning during one showing, frying the projector and forcing another shutdown. But the biggest problem has been the video revolution. People can now watch adult movies at home, and most of them do. To help offset this, David started a video rental club. He asked me to help him pick out the tapes; we spent hours poring through the catalogs, deciding what to order. Ed Baatz, who manages the theater for David, once invited me to the employees’ Christmas party and I leapt at the invitation. I was a little nonplussed to find several families having hot dogs out by the pool, with a lot of dogs and kids running around. But if David’s audience was deserting him, a certain hard-core element remained. They included: 1) Older men who had been attending such theaters regularly for years and weren’t going to change now. 2) Those couples one sees now and then in adult theaters and finds impossible to figure out. 3) Homosexuals, some cruising, some not. 4) “Traveling salesmen” – men who are stuck alone in Sarasota and are interested in some action but not quite sure how to find it. And 5) The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department. That July night there were four deputies inside the theater. They were dressed as usual for a sting operation of this sort, in T-shirts and cut-off jeans. Ed Baatz had always been annoyed at how scruffy they looked; they certainly stood out from the rest of his clientele, who he describes as having more of a “country club” look. The cops had arrived at around five. The would stay 5½ hours. In that time, they would arrest four men. If Paul had arrived a few minutes earlier, he would have seen one of the arrests. The brother of one of Sarasota’s most prominent businessmen had been charged with masturbating while watching the movie. He was a married man in his 50s, with a history of health and alcohol-related problems. Paul parked his car and entered the theater. The ticket seller did not mention the cops. He had been forbidden to do so by the officers; as they flashed their badges for admittance, they told him that if he warned anyone of their presence, he would be arrested for obstruction of justice. After Paul paid admission ($8) he entered the theater itself. It’s a rather grand space that appears larger than its 120-seat capacity. Red sound curtains line the walls, and there is a strong smell of disinfectant. Six ceiling fans kick up a breeze; combined with the air-conditioning – which comes on with a roar that makes everybody flinch – it could easily have been the coolest place in town.  The theater was not full. Although it was Friday, the day the movies change (Catalina Five-O Tiger Shark, Turn up the Heat and Nurse Nancy made up the new triple-bill), if 20 people are there at any given time, it’s a crowd. Paul chose a seat in the third row from the rear, toward the end farthest from the entrance. According to deputies, he masturbated twice, once at 8:25, then again 10 minutes later when a new movie appeared on the screen. The police report gets quite specific; it is this attention to detail that makes you feel when you read it that someone is being spied on in a private act. How long Paul remained in the theater after being observed by the deputies is unclear; one report says five minutes, another over an hour. At any rate, as he was leaving he was stopped in the lobby by Officers Walters and Tuggle, who identified themselves and told him he was being placed under arrest. They escorted Paul out to the parking lot. “This is embarrassing,” Paul told the policemen, according to the report. “Can I show you some I.D.?” Though the dialogue sounds awkward, it is not hard to imagine the growing panic he must have been feeling. He explained his wallet was in the trunk of his car, and the two cops escorted him to the Mazda. There was some confusion; he had concealed it under the carpeting and Sgt. Tuggle lifted it up for him. Paul retrieved his wallet, but before the policeman got a good look at the name on the license, he blurted out “I’m Pee-wee Herman.” According to the deputies, he then made a suggestion: Maybe he could do a charity benefit for the Sheriff’s office. The officers didn’t say no, but told him he would have to be arrested anyway. The report says that Paul told them he knew people got in trouble fooling around with each other in the theater, but he thought it was OK if you were “by yourself.” The police explained Paul’s “court options,” but his mind was elsewhere. “How can I handle this with the least amount of publicity?” he asked. The detectives didn’t have a satisfactory answer to that. They placed Paul in a marked police car and drove to the Sarasota County Jail. There he was fingerprinted and photographed. He was charged with Exposure of Sexual Organs. The bail was $219; he was $40 short. Police Lt. Joan Verizzo, officially on maternity leave, happened to be at the jail. She had been one of his sister Abby’s closest friends for years and was a member of the women’s rap group in high school in which Abby had first publicly confronted her homosexuality. She lent Paul the extra money. It is against official Sheriff’s Department policy for an employee to pay the bail of anyone other than a family member. Though Joan – and Judy Rubenfeld – insisted she was like family, Joan was suspended from the force for a day. Back in the early days it was Judy Rubenfeld who called me, always drumming up publicity for her son’s career. She would call any reporter in town if it meant a story; and she did not hesitate to complain about the lack of coverage he was getting, particularly from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. But as Pee-wee’s fame grew to such astonishing proportions, it was I who started making the begging phone calls. Could I interview Paul? Could I get a picture of the ring Zsa Zsa Gabor had given her the last time she visited Paul in Hollywood? Could she talk Paul into appearing at our AIDS benefit? She always tried to help out. But after Paul got a new manager, Michael McLean, there was little she could do. The policy that hid Paul Reubens from the public extended to his family. Earlier there had been a half-hearted attempt to turn them into Pee-wee’s parents, a couple named Honey and Herman Herman, but this was wisely abandoned. And while they could on special occasions appear in public – the whole family flew out to Los Angeles for the unveiling of Pee-wee’s star on Hollywood Boulevard – they were expected to keep quiet and not talk to the press. When the New York Times did a story about Abby and her work on gay legal issues, it never once mentioned that she was Pee-wee’s sister. Judy told me once how she would have loved to appear on talk shows when they did “celebrity mothers” (she was asked all the time) but the manager just wouldn’t let her. Which is a shame, because she would have been great. A funny, outspoken woman who likes to talk, she speaks with a comedian’s timing, jumping from punchline to punchline. Occasionally, a mild profanity – very mild – is used, but always for comedic effect. In a town whose matrons tend to be Midwestern and whitebread, she is a character. When I heard about Paul’s arrest, I made a decision: I would not write about it. The Rubenfelds had enough troubles at the moment. But human nature being what it is, within 24 hours I had reversed myself. The event was seizing the country’s attention; nobody could “get to the family”; but they might – just might – talk to me. So I called Judy. I got the answering machine, arranged in such a way that it was impossible to leave a message. So I scribbled a note asking her to get in touch with me, and sent it Federal Express. She called the next morning. She didn’t identify herself, and it took a couple of seconds to realize who it was. I was dreading having to deal with a weepy, emotional woman; to my relief she seemed in good spirits, if slightly frantic. A long monologue poured out – she was angry, she was fighting mad, in fact – but still, everything was couched in the wisecracks she is famous for. She described the pain of what they were going through – Abby seemed to be taking it the hardest – and the hysteria and paranoia that had taken over Paul’s managers, lawyers and publicists. She stuck up for Paul’s local attorney Dan Dannheisser, even though he had tried to make a deal with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (again, offering them a benefit if they wouldn’t break the story) and then had told a reporter that Paul’s career was ruined. “He thought he was talking off the record,” Judy insisted. She was upset at the way the Herald-Tribune was handling the story; they jumped on every sordid detail, she said, and had yet to say – or even report – a sympathetic word. I saw my opening. “That’s what I want to do. Tell Paul’s side.” She paused for a moment. “Does that mean I’ll get my subscription on time?” An operator broke in. “I have an emergency call from Dale in New Jersey,” she announced. “I’ll call you back,” Judy said. I stood motionless by the phone until it rang again, three minutes later. “Well, I’m sure you can guess who that was,” Judy began, sounding drained. I got the feeling Paul had yelled at her when he found out who she was talking to. The jokes stopped; she seemed distracted and uncertain. She told me she would get back to me within 24 hours. Like everyone else close to Paul, she stuck by him completely. Never for a second did she suggest that he might have an emotional problem or need for professional help. All she knew was that a terrible hurt had been dealt her child. Judy once told me how fascinated Paul had been when he discovered that he and Mel Gibson had both been born in Peekskill, New York, within six months of each other. The families didn’t know each other, though. The Gibsons moved to Australia shortly thereafter, and eight years later the Rubensfelds were gone, too, off to Florida. Though they had owned a profitable Lincoln-Mercury dealership there, none of them seems to miss the place. Peekskill was the site of the famous ‘50s Peekskill riot, when the police stood by and did nothing as the Klan broke up a Paul Robeson concert. It was perhaps not the best place for a liberal Jewish family. Their new home, Sarasota, was very much a small town back in those days, but it already sported a reputation as a sophisticated place, conservative but socially concerned and a genuine arts colony. It also had a unique and colorful history – it was the home of the circus. It was also the home of the circus stars, people like Sylvana Zacchini, the first woman shot out of a cannon, and Franz Unus, who can – or could, anyway – stand on one finger. There were former Munchkins galore, and all the great clowns, like Lou Jacobs, the creator of scores of classic gags, including the one where all the clowns pile out of the tiny car. The most famous clown of all, Emmett Kelly, lived only a few blocks from the Rubenfeld home, an eccentric and fondly remembered place near McClellan Park. Judy and Milton bought the Lamplighter Shop (they’ve since sold it); the family’s lifestyle was solidly upper middle class, but with a slightly Bohemian bent. The most remarkable think about Paul’s childhood was how early his talent showed and how eager he was, even then, for success. Judy remembered his audition for “A Thousand Clowns” at The Players when he was in sixth grade: “His father didn’t want him to try out. He said, ‘If he gets the part, he’s really going to have the bug,’ ‘cause that was a big part for a kid. I said, ‘I think we should let him try out ‘cause he won’t get the part. There are far better kids, and it will nip it in the bud.’ Of course, he got the part.” By the time he reached Sarasota High, his life was absorbed by the theater. He acted in the school plays – most memorably as Colonel Pickering in “My Fair Lady” – and was voted “Best Actor.” And he was hanging out at the Asolo constantly, an accepted member of the family. He was in awe of the real actors but quickly made friends with them; for their part, they liked this bright young kid enormously and were glad to teach him their craft. “He was incredibly hard-working,” recalls Isa Thomas, who played his mother in “Life With Father.” “And bright.” Everyone mentioned his self-discipline, his eagerness to learn, his astonishing self-confidence. “Paul was not a high-school kid,” says Tim McKenna, a fellow apprentice who shared an apartment with Paul in 1970. “He was popular and well-respected at school, but there was no hanging out. Academically, he did very well, but that was like an after-thought. His life revolved around the Asolo. He was driven. He had a strong sense of where he was going.” He was considered serious and thoughtful, anything but the clown. He was shy unless he knew you well; then his sarcastic wit would bloom. “We used to sit in my dressing room and hoot and howl,” recalls Stephanie Moss, who is nine years his senior. “He was the sharpest and wittiest kid I ever met. He wasn’t loud, but he had a startling satirical edge. These little diamonds were always slipping out of the side of his mouth.” His goal was to become a serious actor. No one doubted he would make it. “I always thought he would end up a respected actor in rep,” says one friend. Isa Thomas recalls being impressed with the way he took to Shakespeare without any training. Over at the Herald-Tribune­ they were collecting columns about the incident from papers all over the country, and the word on Sarasota was not good. The police were coming across as very foolish and the city was becoming identified with some appalling images: porno theaters, lewd beachgoers, tough prostitutes – an atmosphere of heavily charged but vaguely comic sexual tension. But what people found even more disturbing was the behavior of the Sheriff’s Department. Spending hours in an adult theater seemed a poor use of police time. Sheriff Geoff Monge claimed that the South Trail Cinema was targeted only once every three or four months, a remark that startled the employees of the theater. One employee estimates that a more realistic estimate would be twice a month; that the police (in groups of three to six) would spend up to six hours at a stretch in the theater, and that they would sometimes sit in the theater while it was completely empty, for up to an hour waiting for people. When Pee-wee supporters rallied in New York City, County Commissioner David Mills declared that Sarasota stood behind the police and wouldn’t tolerate behavior like Paul’s. But letters to the local paper told a different story. Writer after writer expressed support for Paul and advised the police to “keep their pants on” and concentrate on serious crimes. Community leaders, such as Ed Foster, assistant principal at Sarasota High and advisor to Paul’s senior class in 1970, spoke out for Paul, describing him as "very talented” and “very humble.” Said Foster, “There’s nobody in that entire class, I’ll bet you, that disowns him for anything." A small town operates on its own social contract. People are much gentler with each other than in a big city. Certain things that everybody knows are never said in public. And while it’s OK to embarrass someone if a lucrative political office is at stake, you are never allowed to be cruel. And the Sarasota police had become cruel. At first their sting operations involving victimless crimes were rather funny. The big T-back scandal, in which several beachgoers were arrested for wearing those backless bathing suits, had even ended up on “Donahue.” But when the police began trolling the porno theater and the men’s room out at the beach, the strangest thing happened – instead of uncovering the dregs of society, they were uncovering its pillars. Ministers, bank vice presidents, social leaders – lives and families were being ruined, and people didn’t feel right about it. It’s taken the disaster of Pee-wee Herman to make many realize they don’t want that kind of police force. Judy and I spoke twice a day, so often that she and my father, who was taking my messages, began what she called a “phone affair.” She was sad and angry, but always on. “I hear ‘Prime Time’ is in town,” I told her. “'Prime Time’? Which one is that?” “Diane Sawyer.” “She’s been calling me! Oh, God, how can I lose 20 pounds fast?” But when asked if Paul had any sense of humor about what happened, she was silent. “No,” she said quietly. “He is devastated.” Finally, she called to give me the final decision – Paul was planning to plead innocent; the lawyers and managers and publicists would not allow her to talk to anyone. She was sorry. “I was hoping Hedy Lamarr would knock us off the front pages,” she said, just before she hung up. The day before the 78-year-old former star had been arrested in nearby Altamonte Springs for allegedly shoplifting $20 worth of laxatives. “They’re being much nicer to her,” Judy said. “Not that I have anything against Hedy Lamarr,” she added quickly. There is something so awful and complete about the Pee-wee disaster. The biggest children’s star in the country arrested for masturbating in a porno theater – it has already entered American myth. People will talk about it for years to come; it will affect public attitudes about sex, the police, privacy, and the media. For Sarasota it is a profoundly unhappy event. People realize that more than one reputation was shattered that hot Friday night. “Look what happened to Arcadia,” they shudder. Perhaps the only good thing about a disaster is that it allows the survivors to start over with a clean slate. Pee-wee Herman may be dead, but Paul Reubens isn’t. His friends say it would take more than this to destroy his drive and creative force. “He will turn this around,” they insist. Sarasota may have a harder time.

i don't know

How long is Indianapolis's most famous motor race?

Indianapolis Motor Speedway In what year did the first Indianapolis 500 take place? 1911. Ray Harroun won in the Marmon "Wasp." Why was the distance of 500 miles selected? Having decided to dispense with multi-race programs and concentrate on one major race for 1911, Speedway leader Carl Fisher and his partners envisioned an event that would appeal to the public by lasting approximately seven hours between mid-morning and late afternoon. A distance of 500 miles was settled upon, and Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 in six hours, 42 minutes and eight seconds. What is the distance of one lap around the oval? 2.5 miles. The track has four distinct turns and straightaways, a layout unchanged since the facility opened in 1909. The front and back straightaways are 5/8th of a mile each, with the "short chute" straightaways between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 at 1/8th of a mile each. Each of the four turns is 1/4th of a mile long. What is the degree of banking in the turns? Each of the four turns on the oval is banked at exactly 9 degrees, 12 minutes, the same dimensions as when the track opened in 1909. Which driver has won the Indianapolis 500 the most times? Three drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 four times each: A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977) Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) Who is the youngest winner of the Indianapolis 500? Troy Ruttman was 22 years, 80 days old when he won the 36th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1952. Q. Who is the oldest winner of the Indianapolis 500? A. Al Unser was 47 years, 360 days old when he won the 71st Indianapolis 500 on May 24, 1987. What is the name of the trophy presented to the winner of the race each year? The Borg-Warner Trophy, which was commissioned in 1935 by the Borg-Warner Automotive Company. In 1936, Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer was the first driver to receive the trophy. Why does the winner of the Indianapolis 500 drink milk in Victory Lane? Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since. Have women competed in the Indianapolis 500? Nine women have raced in the Indianapolis 500: Janet Guthrie (1977-79) Lyn St. James (1992-97, 2000) Sarah Fisher (2000-04, 2007-10) Helio Castroneves (2001) Have there always been 33 cars in the starting field of the Indianapolis 500? No. After 40 cars started in the inaugural race in 1911, the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association (AAA), the sanctioning body at the time, mandated a formula for limiting the size of a starting field according to the size of the track. It was determined that the safe distance between each car spread equally around a course would be 400 feet, thereby limiting the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway to 33 cars. Speedway President Carl Fisher, however, placed a limit of only 30 cars for the "500" between 1912 and 1914 and did not adopt AAA's 33 maximum until 1915. Although there had been numerous occasions between 1912 and 1928 when the field was not filled, the allowed number was increased during the Depression years to 40 cars between 1930 and 1932 (only 38 made it in 1930) and further to 42 in 1933. The maximum has been at 33 ever since 1934, although extenuating circumstances expanded the field to 35 starters in 1979 and 1997. What is the fastest official lap ever turned during the month of May? 237.498 mph by Arie Luyendyk during qualifying May 12, 1996. Luyendyk turned a lap of 239.260 during practice May 10, 1996. It was the fastest unofficial lap ever at the Speedway, as practice laps are not official. Has any driver ever won the Indianapolis 500 three times in a row or more? No. Five drivers have won the race two years in a row: Wilbur Shaw (1939-40) Al Unser (1970-71) Helio Castroneves (2001-02). Who was the first driver and team to earn $1 million in one year for winning the Indianapolis 500? Emerson Fittipaldi and Patrick Racing, whose winner's share was $1,001,604 in 1989. Has any driver raced in the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis during their career? Yes, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve. Montoya won the 2000 Indianapolis 500 in his only start in that event, drove in the United States Grand Prix from 2001-06 and raced in the Brickyard 400 in 2007-12. Villeneuve raced in the Indianapolis 500 in 1994-95, winning in 1995, drove in the United States Grand Prix from 2000-03 and 2006, and raced in the Brickyard 400 in 2010. Fourteen drivers have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400: John Andretti, Geoff Brabham, A.J. Foyt, Larry Foyt, Robby Gordon, Sam Hornish Jr., Jason Leffler, Montoya, Max Papis, Scott Pruett, Tony Stewart, Danny Sullivan, Jacques Villeneuve and J.J. Yeley. Tomas Enge, Justin Wilson, Takuma Sato and Jean Alesi each have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Scott Speed and Jacques Villeneuve have raced in the Brickyard 400 and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Who created the term “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing?” Alice Greene coined the phrase in 1955. Camping Options Available Now! Fun Fact #52 At speeds of 220 mph, the front tires of a race car rotate 43 times per second. During a lap at the IMS, front tires experience about 1,955 revolutions and rear tires experience 1,800 revolutions.

500 Miles

Who was the first female to have three consectu8ive US No 1 albums?

Indianapolis Motor Speedway In what year did the first Indianapolis 500 take place? 1911. Ray Harroun won in the Marmon "Wasp." Why was the distance of 500 miles selected? Having decided to dispense with multi-race programs and concentrate on one major race for 1911, Speedway leader Carl Fisher and his partners envisioned an event that would appeal to the public by lasting approximately seven hours between mid-morning and late afternoon. A distance of 500 miles was settled upon, and Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 in six hours, 42 minutes and eight seconds. What is the distance of one lap around the oval? 2.5 miles. The track has four distinct turns and straightaways, a layout unchanged since the facility opened in 1909. The front and back straightaways are 5/8th of a mile each, with the "short chute" straightaways between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4 at 1/8th of a mile each. Each of the four turns is 1/4th of a mile long. What is the degree of banking in the turns? Each of the four turns on the oval is banked at exactly 9 degrees, 12 minutes, the same dimensions as when the track opened in 1909. Which driver has won the Indianapolis 500 the most times? Three drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 four times each: A.J. Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977) Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) Who is the youngest winner of the Indianapolis 500? Troy Ruttman was 22 years, 80 days old when he won the 36th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1952. Q. Who is the oldest winner of the Indianapolis 500? A. Al Unser was 47 years, 360 days old when he won the 71st Indianapolis 500 on May 24, 1987. What is the name of the trophy presented to the winner of the race each year? The Borg-Warner Trophy, which was commissioned in 1935 by the Borg-Warner Automotive Company. In 1936, Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer was the first driver to receive the trophy. Why does the winner of the Indianapolis 500 drink milk in Victory Lane? Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Louis Meyer regularly drank buttermilk to refresh himself on a hot day and happened to drink some in Victory Lane as a matter of habit after winning the 1936 race. An executive with what was then the Milk Foundation was so elated when he saw the moment captured in a photograph in the sports section of his newspaper the following morning that he vowed to make sure it would be repeated in coming years. There was a period between 1947-55 when milk was apparently no longer offered, but the practice was revived in 1956 and has been a tradition ever since. Have women competed in the Indianapolis 500? Nine women have raced in the Indianapolis 500: Janet Guthrie (1977-79) Lyn St. James (1992-97, 2000) Sarah Fisher (2000-04, 2007-10) Helio Castroneves (2001) Have there always been 33 cars in the starting field of the Indianapolis 500? No. After 40 cars started in the inaugural race in 1911, the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association (AAA), the sanctioning body at the time, mandated a formula for limiting the size of a starting field according to the size of the track. It was determined that the safe distance between each car spread equally around a course would be 400 feet, thereby limiting the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway to 33 cars. Speedway President Carl Fisher, however, placed a limit of only 30 cars for the "500" between 1912 and 1914 and did not adopt AAA's 33 maximum until 1915. Although there had been numerous occasions between 1912 and 1928 when the field was not filled, the allowed number was increased during the Depression years to 40 cars between 1930 and 1932 (only 38 made it in 1930) and further to 42 in 1933. The maximum has been at 33 ever since 1934, although extenuating circumstances expanded the field to 35 starters in 1979 and 1997. What is the fastest official lap ever turned during the month of May? 237.498 mph by Arie Luyendyk during qualifying May 12, 1996. Luyendyk turned a lap of 239.260 during practice May 10, 1996. It was the fastest unofficial lap ever at the Speedway, as practice laps are not official. Has any driver ever won the Indianapolis 500 three times in a row or more? No. Five drivers have won the race two years in a row: Wilbur Shaw (1939-40) Al Unser (1970-71) Helio Castroneves (2001-02). Who was the first driver and team to earn $1 million in one year for winning the Indianapolis 500? Emerson Fittipaldi and Patrick Racing, whose winner's share was $1,001,604 in 1989. Has any driver raced in the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400 and United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis during their career? Yes, Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve. Montoya won the 2000 Indianapolis 500 in his only start in that event, drove in the United States Grand Prix from 2001-06 and raced in the Brickyard 400 in 2007-12. Villeneuve raced in the Indianapolis 500 in 1994-95, winning in 1995, drove in the United States Grand Prix from 2000-03 and 2006, and raced in the Brickyard 400 in 2010. Fourteen drivers have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400: John Andretti, Geoff Brabham, A.J. Foyt, Larry Foyt, Robby Gordon, Sam Hornish Jr., Jason Leffler, Montoya, Max Papis, Scott Pruett, Tony Stewart, Danny Sullivan, Jacques Villeneuve and J.J. Yeley. Tomas Enge, Justin Wilson, Takuma Sato and Jean Alesi each have raced in the Indianapolis 500 and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Scott Speed and Jacques Villeneuve have raced in the Brickyard 400 and the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Who created the term “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing?” Alice Greene coined the phrase in 1955. Camping Options Available Now! Fun Fact #52 At speeds of 220 mph, the front tires of a race car rotate 43 times per second. During a lap at the IMS, front tires experience about 1,955 revolutions and rear tires experience 1,800 revolutions.

i don't know

Which detective lived on a boat called St Vitus Dance?

St. Vitus Dance | Miami Vice Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Living on a yacht in a Miami marina helped Crockett to keep his lives as an undercover detective and drug dealing middleman Sonny Burnett separate. The lack of a fixed address also helped him to stay "off the radar" and made him harder to find, even when the St. Vitus was docked at its usual berth, and Crockett's watch-gator Elvis helped ensure anyone who did find his home was given a hostile welcome. The yacht provided Crockett with an unorthodox residence for entertaining his (usually female) guests, as seen frequently in the series; both Gina and Theresa Lyons regularly stayed on the yacht, and associates from his undercover work, such as Jake Pierson , would often visit him there to discuss business. Occasionally, Crockett's yacht played a more active role in his assignments, such as when he used it to "vanish" witnesses Al Lombard in " Lombard " or Keith Mollis in " Line of Fire ", taking them out to sea on the St. Vitus where it would be more difficult for potential hitmen to find and get close to them. In the latter operation, the sailboat was badly shot up by gunmen from the Cantero organisation when they discovered its location due to a departmental leak, firing on the yacht from a helicopter. The vessel was apparently repaired soon after, as Crockett continued to use it as his residence for the remainder of the series, finally saying goodbye when he quit the Metro-Dade police force at the end of " Freefall ". Real Boats Edit The St. Vitus was portrayed by three different yachts during the course of the show's five seasons. In the pilot episode , Crockett lived on a Cabo Rico 38 sailboat, which changed to an Endeavour 40 once the show was picked up as a series. At the start of season 2 , the boat changed to a larger Endeavour 42, although some footage of the Endeavour 40 was still used in some episodes (likely stock footage filmed during season 1 ). By season 3 , the Endeavour 42 was the only boat seen, and would remain so for the rest of the series. It was never stated on the show if these boats were supposed to be the same yacht, or whether they were supposed to be three different vessels each christened the St. Vitus Dance -- however, the use of both the 40 and the 42 during season 2 implies the former. Notes

Crockett

On which river was the Grand Coulee built?

All Miami Vice Episodes | List of Miami Vice Episodes (137 Items) The Vibe of Vice Feb 08 2005 Miami Vice and its ascetic properties. 9 Cool Runnin' Sep 28 1984 Crockett and Tubbs are skeptical of rumors that an undercover FBI agent has betrayed an operation. Switek and Zito setup a burglary sting operation. ; 10 Give a Little, Take a Little Nov 30 1984 Crockett and Tubbs wade through the Everglades after a witness who bolted from custody and must testify in 48 hours. ; 11 Smuggler's Blues Jan 18 1985 Castillo asks Crockett & Tubbs to help him find an old adversary, a drug smuggler who has kidnapped his former wife. ; 12 The Great McCarthy Nov 16 1984 Federal agents join Crockett and Tubbs to stop an arms dealer from selling stolen Stingers. ; 13 The Home Invaders Mar 08 1985 By day, Switek and Zito supervise a pair of jive-talking master informants; by night, they're sharing quarters with Switek's girlfriend --- who's also Zito's ex. ; 14 Rites of Passage Feb 01 1985 Crockett & Tubbs are recruited by DEA to pose as drug smugglers in an effort to expose someone in law enforcement who is murdering drug dealers and their families. ; 15 The Maze Feb 08 1985 Tubbs is reunited with an old flame, an NYPD detective, looking for her missing sister. While he and Crockett are searching for a call girl's killer. ; 16 Made for Each Other Feb 22 1985 Tubbs is taken hostage by a gang in an abandoned hotel, thanks to the would-be heroics of a cop trying to avenge his partner's murder. ; 17 Nobody Lives Forever Mar 15 1985 Crockett resents Castillo's attack on his mentor during an investigation of a string of brutal burglaries in wealthy neighborhoods. ; 18 Evan Mar 29 1985 While three joyriding teenage boys embark on a murderous, drug induced rampage, Sonny is distracted by a new romance. ; 19 Lombard May 10 1985 After crime boss Al Lombard is subpeonaed to testify against the Family, Crockett & Tubbs are assigned to provide his protective custody. ; 20 One-Eyed Jack Nov 02 1984 Tubbs works to save Crockett and his family from falling victim to an Argentinean assassin hired by Calderon. 21 Little Prince Dec 07 1984 In court, Crockett refuses to identify an informant and spends more time in jail than the drug dealer he is trying to bust. Gina and Trudy infiltrate a prostitution ring. Gina is placed in a ; 22 Glades Nov 16 1984 Crockett's renovated cigarette boat is used in an operation to stop a man who smuggles drugs using his speedboat racing hobby. ; 23 Heart of Darkness Sep 16 1984 Sonny Crockett is an undercover Miami vice detective. As part of his cover as Sonny Burnett, he lives on a sailboat called St. Vitus' Dance, guarded by his pet alligator, Elvis and drives a black ; 24 Golden Triangle: Part II Jan 11 1985 Castillo asks Crockett & Tubbs to help him find an old adversary, a drug smuggler who has kidnapped his former wife. ; 25 Golden Triangle: Part I Jan 04 1985 Two naive New Yorkers hope for one big score running coke from Colombia to Miami. 26 Pilot (Brother's Keeper Part 2) Sep 16 1984 Sonny Crockett is an undercover Miami vice detective. As part of his cover as Sonny Burnett, he lives on a sailboat called St. Vitus' Dance, guarded by his pet alligator, Elvis and drives a black ; 27 The Hit List (1) Oct 19 1984 Tubbs works to save Crockett and his family from falling victim to an Argentinean assassin hired by Calderon. 28 Milk Run Dec 14 1984 Two naive New Yorkers hope for one big score running coke from Colombia to Miami. ; 29 Calderon's Demise Oct 26 1984 While on the trail of Calderone in Bimini, Tubbs falls in love with a woman who forces him to consider his loyalties. ; 30 Brother's Keeper Sep 16 1984 Sonny Crockett is an undercover Miami vice detective. As part of his cover as Sonny Burnett, he lives on a sailboat called St. Vitus' Dance, guarded by his pet alligator, Elvis and drives a black ; 31 No Exit Nov 09 1984 Federal agents join Crockett and Tubbs to stop an arms dealer from selling stolen Stingers. 32 Yankee Dollar Jan 17 1986 Crockett falls for the wife of a murderous drug dealer and the Feds want the vice cops to give up a protected witness to help bust a major distributor. ; 33 Whatever Works Oct 04 1985 Crockett & Tubbs go to Manhattan to find a group of Colombian drug dealers who are killing federal agents. 34 Out Where the Buses Don't Run Oct 18 1985 Crockett, Tubbs & Castillo contact a Santerian priestess to help find the link between ritualistic killings of officers and a group of drug traffickers. Crockett and Izzy try to get the Ferrari ; 35 The Dutch Oven Oct 25 1985 Crockett and Tubbs question the sanity of a retired vice cop who wants them to chase after a coke dealer thought to be dead. ; 36 Buddies Nov 01 1985 Trudy is torn between love and duty when she learns that her lover's friend is connected to a big-time cocaine dealer. ; 37 Junk Love Nov 08 1985 Crockett is forced to realize that an old Army buddy may be involved with a contract on a young mother's life. ; 38 Tale of the Goat Nov 15 1985 Crockett and Tubbs' connection to a major smuggler is a young woman who acts like his girl though she claims to hate him, and whose drug habit may blow the bust. ; 39 Bushido Nov 22 1985 Tubbs infiltrates a criminal voodoo cult whose leader has returned from Haiti --- and apparently the grave --- to collect an old debt. ; 40 Bought and Paid For Nov 29 1985 Castillo is contacted by a former associate who's on the run from both the CIA and the KGB. 41 Back in the World Dec 06 1985 Gina is out to nail the man who raped her friend but is frustrated by the suspect's wealth and connections --- and by the victim's sudden recantation. ; 42 Phil the shill Dec 13 1985 A journalist that Crockett knew in Vietnam is ready to break a story about ""The Sergeant""--a shadowy legend thought to have shipped heroin stateside in body bags. ; 43 One Way Ticket Jan 24 1986 Crockett and Tubbs engage a drug dealer in a game of wits and double-crosses to snare bigger game. ; 44 Little Miss Dangerous Jan 31 1986 Efforts to convict a drug dealer who murdered a deputy DA are hampered by a lack of evidence and by a defense attorney disliked by Crockett. ; 45 French Twist Feb 21 1986 A Grand Prix driver has a lot on his mind: first-time fatherhood, a race against his legendary dad --- and the fact that he is suspected of killing a teenage prostitute. ; 46 The Fix Mar 07 1986 An interpol agent arouses Crockett's interest --- and Tubbs' suspicion as they search for an international drug dealing assassin. ; 47 Payback Mar 14 1986 A judge with heavy gambling debts tries to persuade his college all-star son to throw a game. Crockett suspects the judge let a drug dealer go free because of his money troubles. ; 48 Free Verse Apr 04 1986 A reclusive drug supplier thinks Crockett has the $3 million stolen by the dealer's former employee. 49 Trust Fund Pirates May 02 1986 Crockett and Tubbs have trouble keeping a rein on their charge, a recently freed Central American political prisoner who likes to party. ; 50 Definitely Miami Jan 10 1986 Switek has to cool his vendetta against a shady game-show host who could lead the vice cops to an elusive coke dealer. ;

i don't know

In which decade of the 20th century was Brad Pitt born?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (The Criterion Collection) - ComingSoon.net The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (The Criterion Collection) Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button Cate Blanchett as Daisy Taraji P. Henson as Queenie Jared Harris as Captain Mike Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth Abbott Jason Flemyng as Thomas Button Mahershalalhashbaz Ali as Tizzy Elias Koteas as Monsieur Gteau Special Features: – Interviews with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett – Audio Commentary Featuring Academy Award-nominated Director David Fincher – Footage Revealing the Innovative Techniques Behind the Academy Award-winning visual effects and Makeup – Step-by-Step examination of the Motion-capture process aging Brad Pitt – In-depth Exploration of David Fincher’s Creative Process on the Set – Interview with Acclaimed Composer Alexandre Desplat about the Score – Featurettes on the film’s Storyboards, Costumes, and Academy Award-winning art direction – Stills Galleries, Including Costume Designs and Candid behind-the-scenes Production Photos – An Essay by Film Critic Kent Jones Other Info: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound French and Spanish Languages The following is the official description of the film: “‘I was born under unusual circumstances…’ Thus begins ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,’ the Academy Award-winning film starring Brad Pitt as a man who is born in his eighties and ages backward, and Cate Blanchett as the woman he is destined to love forever. ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is a monumental journey – as unusual as it is epic – that follows Benjamin’s remarkable adventure of romance and redemption from the end of World War I through the twenty-first century. Directed by David Fincher, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ is a powerful testament to life and death, love and loss.” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking. The Movie: Every decade deserves its “Forrest Gump” I guess. David Fincher’s adaptation of a little known (and monumentally depressing) F. Scott Fitzgerald story is this one’s. Depending on your point of view, that’s either a damning condemnation or just what the doctor ordered. Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born a prematurely old man, but rather than quickly expiring as everyone expects, he keeps getting bigger and stronger and it soon becomes apparent he’s ageing backwards, at which point all connection to the original story ceases. In a piece of none to subtle commentary (and that about sums up the whole film), Benjamin’s very freaked father abandons him on the doorstep of one of New Orlean’s first retirement homes. Fitzgerald’s story, among other things, was about the oft-made connection between the nature of childhood and old age, and the film version passes no opportunity in doing the same. However, that’s as far as Benjamin’s condition ever gets insofar as it affects his personality. For the most part it passes unnoticed and only is occasionally commented on. And that’s because Benjamin wasn’t born an old man, he was just born looking like one, and that shamelessness is reflected in quite a lot of the rest of the film. Part of that is because Fincher and screenwriter Eric Roth are trying to depict Benjamin’s circumstances in a realistic world. They’re not interested in telling a fairy tale, they want to tell a travelogue. And that’s essentially what “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is. Benjamin is born at the close of World War I, and after a copious amount of time is spent with his youth, pounding in the idea of old childhood (and vice versa), he sets out to make his way in the world. It is without question a wonderful looking film. Fincher is operating at the peak of his powers here. He’s not telling a fairy tale, but he has created a world that’s an ideal–be it frozen Russia, an ocean filled with dead bodies, or rural India–which should give you an idea how his film wanders. It’s constructed as more of a loose set of vignettes, related through Benjamin’s diary (being read in the present day) of different moments. And lots of those moments are fantastic, particularly a nighttime battle between a tugboat and submarine. The cast is also generally excellent. Pitt has to do some of the hardest work of his career, playing both adult and young Benjamin while lathered in old age makeup, with his head composited onto a doubles body. It’s a testament both to Fincher’s ability and Pitt’s performance that the effect is largely seamless. In fact the performances all around are superb, from Cate Blanchett as the love of Benjamin’s life to the various individuals Benjamin meets during his travels. The two real standouts are Tilda Swinton as a lonely diplomat’s wife and Jared Harris as a bawdy ship captain who always wanted to be an artist. The problem is Eric Roth’s script, who not coincidentally also wrote “Forrest Gump” (fourteen years ago! has it been that long?). Meandering would be a nice way to put it. He has some pretensions to a novelistic feel, starting with a fable about a clock that runs backwards and various side stories throughout. A lot of them sound good on paper–a meditation on the confluence of events leading up to a car accident–but a lot of them (particularly a recurring image of a humming bird) land with a dull thud. It can be awfully overwrought and the more the film goes on the more obvious it gets. And did I mention it’s long? I don’t generally have a problem with long movies, if they keep me engrossed. But “Benjamin Button” feels every minute of its nearly three hour running time, and it’s impossible not to feel like at least a half an hour could have been lopped off. Especially towards the end when director and writer seem to become impatient with details and reduce the last decades of Benjamin’s life to a montage. It feels cheap, especially considering how much time and attention was given to Benjamin’s youth. Or maybe it’s just because the lyrics to “Even Rocky Had A Montage” wouldn’t leave me alone. By following the length of Benjamin’s life (and then some), Fincher is able to showcase all the different eras of the 20th century, from the roaring ’20s to World War II to the ’60s and on to the present day, as the readers of the diary sit in a hospital in New Orleans on the eve of Hurricane Katrina. Fincher and Roth are really trying to tell the story of the 20th Century, but they don’t seem to have a clear idea what they want to say about it, just that it happened and should be remembered. Which is something I suppose, but feels more than a little vague. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” just isn’t up to the bar it’s set for itself, largely because of a screenplay that, for all its strengths, lacks focus. There’s a lot to like about it (and a loooot to sit through to get to those moments), and on paper it sounds like it should be great. But it isn’t. The Extras: If you thought the movie was long, wait till you get to the bonus features! If you hit “Play All,” you get about 2 hours and 45 minutes of behind the scenes footage, interviews, and more. I began watching them and found myself quite intrigued by what they had to say. You learn about how Fincher felt connected to the material after dealing with the death of his father. You learn from Kathleen Kennedy that Frank Oz, Steven Spielberg, Spike Jonze, and Ron Howard were all lined up to direct at one point or another. You also learn everyone from Martin Short to Tom Cruise was set to play Benjamin, too. The bonus feature then moves on to pre-production and scouting locations in New Orleans just as Hurricane Katrina hit and all of their logistical challenges in trying to shoot the movie after the disaster struck. Fans of special effects will be amazed at what all they did with CGI and makeup in the movie. I knew there was a lot, but there was way more than I ever thought. From digitally removing wrinkles on Pitt to creating CG submarines, this film used every effect trick in the book. It was impressive. Sprinkled throughout all this are interviews with Pitt, Blanchett, Fincher, and many more. It’s a great look at making movies in general, but like the film itself, it’s best taken in small bits or on a day when you really have nothing else to do for 3 hours. And for some oddball reason, some of the footage was not shown unless you hit “Play All.” If you don’t do that, you don’t see everything the bonus features have to offer.

1960s

Who had an 80s No 1 with Like A Prayer?

Cate Blanchette forges filmmaking bond with Brad Pitt – East Bay Times December 19, 2008 at 4:56 pm | UPDATED: August 15, 2016 at 5:49 pm In the decade since she first achieved international movie stardom as “Elizabeth’s” Virgin Queen, Cate Blanchett has been dancing as fast as she can. She won an Academy Award, has been nominated for four others (two of them this year, which was only the fifth time an actor has done that) and played a wide range of characters, from Katharine Hepburn to a Middle-earth elf to Bob Dylan. Nice work while it lasted. “I suppose I’d have a shot at most films I’d like to make,” the 39-year-old Australian actress says with a shrug. “But you can pick and choose as much as a mother can pick and choose. I have three kids, two of them are in school, and my husband and I are running a theater company. I have a few months off a year, and films can’t always wait.” Fulfilling a dream If Blanchett really will be throttling back on the movie work, at least she’s capping an amazing run with a bang. Not only did a childhood dream come true when she made last summer’s fourth Indiana Jones movie, but Blanchett also co-stars in one of the major releases of the prestige picture season, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” opening Christmas Day, in which she plays a dancer. Freely adapted and greatly expanded from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, the film charts the life of a man who’s born with the constitution of an 80-year-old and ages backward as he grows through the 20th century. Brad Pitt plays Benjamin from his 60s on down (or is it his 20s and up?); breakthrough CGI processes created the incredibly lifelike Ben of the 1920s and ’30s. And Blanchett is his true love, Daisy, a modern dancer fated to grow older as her life partner becomes younger and younger. Directed by the respected David Fincher, whose “Se7en” and “Fight Club” were as diametrically different from the tender and nostalgic “Button” as movies can get, this film offered the classically trained Blanchett the interesting challenges she seems to crave. But they weren’t necessarily the high-tech ones you’d presume. “No,” says the actress, who plays Daisy from her late teens until her death more than six decades later, as the rains of Hurricane Katrina pelt her hospital room window. “There are ways that you can light people to make them look younger and ways to light them that make them look older. Because digital effects are so readily accessible, people forget the actual power of cinematography, which David really harnessed. There was no, ‘Oh, we’ll clean that up later.’ If you could do it with makeup and the old wiglets, you’d lift a bit and pull a bit. There’s an artistry involved in that, too. “There’s a close-up of me when Daisy’s 17, and that’s obviously had some digital enhancement — because I’m a long way from 17! But also, they did light it, so they had to do the bare minimum with CG.” Age difference Not the case with Pitt’s character, whose early incarnations were designed from video maps of all the actor’s expressions, which were then digitized into the wizened child’s face. Computers also made Pitt look much younger than he really is toward the end of the movie. Which is when Daisy is showing her years. This is the second time Blanchett has co-starred with Pitt; in “Babel,” they were a bickering couple whose love was revived when she got shot in Morocco. Of course, that meant the actress spent most of that movie looking like she was at death’s door. Does Blanchett resent Pitt being prettier whenever they work together? “He’s not too pretty in the beginning of this one!” she jokes. “I think Brad’s got really good taste, very interesting taste,” she adds. “And my taste is probably akin to his, given that we’ve both been attracted to the same projects.” Blanchett also did most of her own dancing in the film, but is quick not to take credit for others’ work. “I obviously didn’t do the big series of pirouettes, and there’s one leg lift which is not me, but the rest is me. And I went right from that to the Indiana Jones movie, so it was a very physical year. And then I got pregnant! That was surreal. “Ignatius, Iggy,” Mom tells us. “He is 8 months. He was a surprise. But they’ve all been surprises. We didn’t get married to have children. So when they’ve popped along it’s been ‘whoops!’ but it’s been great. And it is easier the third time around. With a gap of four years, it’s been really great for the first two. Three boys; that’s a lot of adrenaline.” Blanchett and her husband, Andrew Upton, recently moved the family from England back to their home country when the couple were appointed joint artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company. Back to Shakespeare It’s a three-year commitment with an option to extend, and Blanchett will soon appear on stage there in Shakespeare’s “Richard II.” Though her father was American, she considers herself Australian through and through. “Our family is there,” she explains. “We loved living in England, but we were cultural tourists, in a way. Now we’ve gone back to that culture we feel responsible to and for. Also, we didn’t want the children to grow up not knowing their grandmothers.” Reach Bob Strauss at [email protected] .

i don't know

In which decade was Ewan McGregor born?

Ewan McGregor - Biography - IMDb Ewan McGregor Biography Showing all 140 items Jump to: Overview  (3) | Mini Bio  (1) | Spouse  (1) | Trade Mark  (4) | Trivia  (66) | Personal Quotes  (65) Overview (3) 5' 9¾" (1.77 m) Mini Bio (1) Ewan Gordon McGregor was born on March 31, 1971 in Perth, Perthshire, Scotland, to Carol Diane (Lawson) and James Charles McGregor, both teachers. His uncle is actor Denis Lawson . He was raised in Crieff. At age 16, he left Morrison Academy to join the Perth Repertory Theatre. His parents encouraged him to leave school and pursue his acting goals rather than be unhappy. McGregor studied drama for a year at Kirkcaldly in Fife, then enrolled at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama for a three-year course. He studied alongside Daniel Craig and Alistair McGowan , among others, and left right before graduating after snagging the role of Private Mick Hopper in Dennis Potter 's six-part Channel 4 series Lipstick on Your Collar (1993). His first notable role was that of Alex Law in Shallow Grave (1994), directed by Danny Boyle , written by John Hodge and produced by Andrew Macdonald . This was followed by The Pillow Book (1996) and Trainspotting (1996), the latter of which brought him to the public's attention. He is now one of the most critically acclaimed actors of his generation, and portrays Obi-Wan Kenobi in the first three Star Wars episodes. McGregor is married to French production designer Eve Mavrakis , whom he met while working on the television series Kavanagh QC (1995). They married in France in the summer of 1995 and have two daughters, Clara Mathilde and Esther Rose. McGregor formed a production company, with friends Jonny Lee Miller , Sean Pertwee , Jude Law , Sadie Frost , Damon Bryant , Bradley Adams and Geoff Deehan , called "Natural Nylon", and hoped it would make innovative films that do not conform to Hollywood standards. McGregor and Bryant left the company in 2002. He was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to drama and charity. - IMDb Mini Biography By: anonymous Spouse (1) ( 22 July  1995 - present) (4 children) Trade Mark (4) Red hair and blue eyes Mole on his forehead, until he had it removed Trivia (66) Former roommate of Jude Law . They are still close friends. Ranked #36 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] He met his wife, Eve Mavrakis , while filming for Kavanagh QC (1995). Was originally up for the lead role in The Beach (2000), which would have reunited him with director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge who collaborated with McGregor on Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996) and A Life Less Ordinary (1997). The role ultimately went to Leonardo DiCaprio . While McGregor blamed studio influence for the casting decision, he did not speak to either Boyle nor Hodge for years afterwards, commenting in an interview that he felt betrayed and the friendship was over. However, McGregor and Boyle made amends in 2015, with McGregor stating he has changed his opinion about the whole matter, and has moved on. Originally auditioned for the role of Mercutio in the film Romeo + Juliet (1996). He later got his chance to work with "Romeo + Juliet" director Baz Luhrmann when he was cast as Christian in Moulin Rouge! (2001). In the film Moulin Rouge! (2001), McGregor sang alongside Nicole Kidman . Was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Ulster at a graduation ceremony in Belfast, Northern Ireland (July 5, 2001). His first name is pronounced "you-an". He says that he was inspired to get into show business by his uncle, actor Denis Lawson . Lawson played Wedge Antilles in the original Star Wars trilogy. Resided in North London, England with his family until 2008, when they re-located to Los Angeles. Slated to start filming 'Nautic' in Jamaica with Heath Ledger in a couple of months. However Ted Demme , who was picked to direct the film died suddenly at age 38 from a heart attack while playing basketball. Early career dedicated almost exclusively to indie, low-budget, and non-feature films. When cast as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), an interviewer reminded him of his "aversion" to major films, and he replied "I know what I said, but, hey! This is Star Wars!". Ranked #8 in the 2001 Orange Film Survey of greatest British actors. Born to James Charles Stuart McGregor, a physical education teacher, and his wife Carol McGregor , née Lawson, a teacher and school administrator, he grew up in Crieff, Scotland. Studied Alec Guinness ' films in preparation for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) and to ensure accuracy in everything from his accent to the pacing of his words. Father of Clara Mathilde (born February 1996) and Esther Rose (born November 7, 2001). Has a nephew (born 1999). Studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London for three years, graduating in 1992. Received the Film Actor Award for Moulin Rouge! (2001) at the Variety Club Show Business Awards 2002. Was a student in the year-long theatre arts program at Kirkcaldy College of Technology in the fall of 1988. In 1987, after leaving school at age 16, he worked as a stagehand at Perth Repertory Theatre and had small roles in their productions. His brother Colin is part of the RAF's Tornado display team who are based at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland. He and his uncle, Denis Lawson , have worked with two of the same directors. Both have been in Star Wars films, directed by George Lucas . His first film, Being Human (1994), was directed by Bill Forsyth , who also directed Lawson in Local Hero (1983). Embarked on a motorcycle trip around the world along with his friend and fellow actor Charley Boorman (2004). Was voted #9 in the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time (Channel 4). Completed a trip from London to New York 'The Long Way Round' by riding a motorbike east, via Europe, Mongolia, Russia, Alaska and Canada to Manhattan over 115 days in 2004. Was the original choice for the role of Jim in 28 Days Later... (2002), directed by Danny Boyle who has worked with Ewan three times previously (see above). Ewan and his wife, Eve Mavrakis , have the same initials, even with her maiden name. When filming in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), he kept imitating the noise of the lightsaber during his fights. George Lucas explained many times that this would be added in by the special effects people later on. Ewan said "I keep getting carried away.". Is good friends with Naveen Andrews , star of the television series Lost (2004), from drama school. While he usually takes his family along with him during his movie shoots, he left them at home during the shoot of Young Adam (2003). Was the best man at Dougray Scott 's wedding in 2000. His Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi, goes by the call sign "Red Leader" in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005). Wedge Antilles, who was played by his uncle, Denis Lawson , has the same call sign in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983). Is very particular about his children being photographed or seen on television. He strongly believes that just because he is famous, that should not give anyone the right to invade their privacy. According to stunt coordinator Nick Gillard , he picked up the lightsaber swordfighting style very quickly. In an interview on the DVD of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), Gillard commented that Ewan was probably faster than anyone else who was working on the film, including the stunt department. Is a casual supporter of St. Johnstone Football Club. Refused to have his wife and kids visit him on the set of Black Hawk Down (2001), because he felt the content was too violent and too bloody for them to see. Has been involved in a campaign against the closure of the maternity wing of Perth Royal Infirmary, the hospital ward where he was born. Ewan, a UNICEF ambassador, adopted a 4-year-old girl from Mongolia, named Jamyan, whom he met while traveling around the world in 2004. [April 2006] Is near-sighted. Before his trip around the world with Charley Boorman , he had a laser eye operation to improve his eyesight, so he did not have to wear glasses or contact lenses. His best friend is actor Charley Boorman , whom he traveled around the world with on motorbikes ( Long Way Round (2004) trip). They met on the set of the movie The Serpent's Kiss (1997). Attended the Royal Premiere of Moulin Rouge! (2001) alongside Kylie Minogue , Prince Charles and Nicole Kidman . [September 2001] Was rumored to play James Bond in Casino Royale (2006); however, in interviews he said he'd be tempted if offered, but would turn it down as he didn't want to be tied down to an open-ended series. It is unknown if he was ever under serious consideration. Although his motorcycles of choice include an MV Agusta F4S and a KTM Duke, McGregor and friend Charley Boorman each rode a BMW 1150GS Adventure for their marathon trip around the world in Long Way Round (2004). Good friends with Black Hawk Down (2001) co-star Hugh Dancy and Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri . Had two moles, one just below his right eye and one on his forehead, removed after doctors advised him to do so, because the one near his eye was cancerous (2008). Older brother, Colin McGregor , is a pilot in the Royal Air Force. Quit drinking alcohol in November 2000. He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2013 Queen's New Year's Honours List for his services to drama and charity. Adopted another girl, Anouk, as an infant in 2011 (her nationality has not been made public). Adopted a dog on the last day of shooting Beginners (2010). Enjoys playing chess. (May 12, 2007) Left John O'Groats (Scotland) with friend and actor Charley Boorman , marking the beginning of their 15,000 miles long southward trip on motorbike, Long Way Down (2007). (May 22, 2011) Attended the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival for his film Beginners (2010). First attempted to quit smoking cigarettes in November 2000, only to start again three months later. With the help of a hypnotherapist, he finally kicked the habit for good somewhere between 2008 and 2009. Makes an uncredited voice cameo as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Features in the music video for English rock band Catfish and the Bottlemen's "Hourglass". Likes to play the guitar and has even written some of his own songs. Personal Quotes (65) Actually, I really want to play Princess Leia. Stick some big pastries on my head. Now, that would be interesting. I'm doing my bit for the women's movement. The women have always been naked in movies and now I'm just desperate to take my clothes off as much as possible. I've been waiting nearly twenty years to have my own lightsaber. Nothing's cooler than being a Jedi Knight. Isn't Halle Berry the most beautiful woman? I have a film I'd like to be in her with. I mean, I'd like to be with her in" - At the 2002 Golden Globe Awards commenting to Melissa Rivers on Halle Berry , who just walked by. It's a great feeling of power to be naked in front of people. We're happy to watch actual incredible graphic violence and gore, but as soon as somebody's naked it seems like the public goes a bit bananas about the whole thing. I won't buy into the Hollywood thing... I want to be in good movies. I was with a friend of mine recently who was dying and while he was lying there with his family around his bed, I just knew that was it, that was the best you can hope for in life - to have your family and the people who love you around you at the end. I fight cynicism. It's too easy. It's really boring. It's much harder to be positive and see the wonder of everything. Cynicism is a bunch of people who aren't as talented as other people, knocking them because they make them feel even more untalented. [My fans] say, "I've seen Star Wars and Moulin Rouge! What else should we try to see you in?". I always tell 'em to get The Pillow Book (1996). That would be a bit of an eye-opener for them, wouldn't it? My uncle would appear back from London, where he lived in the 70s, in sheepskin waistcoats and beads and no shoes. As an actor he had something about him that I liked and wanted to have. So that's one element: to be like my uncle, to be different. My brother is two years older than me and he was brilliant at everything, it seemed. He was captain of the cricket and rugby teams. We had this rather archaic system of head boys and prefects at my school. I was in my fourth year - in Scotland we finish school in our sixth year - and my brother had become head boy and brilliant at everything: academia, sports. In fact, all the things I wasn't good at. Then he left and I couldn't get my head round anything, so I became depressed and got in trouble a lot. I remember my mother driving me one night through heavy rain, with the windscreen wipers going. It was the first half term of my fifth year and she said that she'd spoken to my dad and that I could leave school if I wanted to. I'd only assumed that I'd have to stick it out until I was 18, but here I was being offered the chance to leave at 16. My whole world opened up. I couldn't believe it. And I was out, as soon as she said those words. It taught me a lesson which was an actor should not say, "I won't do that." Once you've agreed the script, you must be willing to go as far as it needs to go on set. With some directors, you do the scene and they say that it's fine, but you think to yourself, "Is that really enough? Is there not more?". It's not my job to try and alter the director's style - he's in charge, and I'll always give him my trust. I think what happens is that you learn how to deal with it if you're not getting the support you need or if you're not being pushed. Occasionally you're doing two jobs at once: you're fooling the director into thinking you've taken his note while doing what you think is better. It hasn't happened very often, but it's an awful thing when you lose your trust in a director. But it's not for me to say. ...as an actor there's nothing better than a great moody moment to play with nothing to say. It's so much easier to do because you can really get inside your head. [on playing Obi-Wan Kenobi] That was my challenge - to be a young Alec Guinness . People would come up and say to me, "You sound a bit like Alec Guinness . Did that just happen?" No! It's my job, you know? The thrilling bit about it was I immersed myself in Alec Guinness movies, and I found this great one called The Promoter (1952). God, it's a brilliant film. Then I watched the first episode of Star Wars over and over again. I loved it as a kid. It was a bit funny to be paid for it. I'd say to my wife, "I've got to go and watch Star Wars again, Sorry. I just haven't quite got it..." Brilliant. [on Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)] Doing the second one was interesting, because I'd never had to go back to play a character again. It was three years between the two episodes. It was a bit easier because I was more used to the technical demands. In other films you rehearse, crack the scene and shoot it. In Star Wars, that's not the case. It's a very different process with an enormous amount of bluescreen work. It's very difficult - you play scenes with people who aren't there. Acting to mid-air is odd. There's a perverse pleasure to it when you get it right, but often you don't. Aliens are really hard. On the second one [Star Wars: Episode II] I was doing the scene with those tall ones - actually, I quite fancied the female one - and they've got actors there who will actually be providing the voices for the characters. They wore blue hard hats with cardboard cut-outs of heads taped on top of them. So you've got to remember not to talk to the people but to talk to the hats. [on Star Wars Episodes I and II] I love talking to kids about it, because they have great questions about how things work: "Do you have your lightsaber with you?". It's strange to explain off camera what you have done in this or that scene. How redundant, like an artist explaining his painting. As much as I like watching movies I've been in, I can't watch myself in interviews. People shouldn't know how we do it. I am a married man. I haven't been personally involved with all my leading ladies. It would maybe be somewhat glamorous if I had been, but I have not. Filmmaking is like a series of problems that need to be solved. And the excitement, the adrenaline that you get from making a small film is that you all have to pull together. You finish and you feel like you're walking away from your family. I love that. I've always thought as an actor, I'm not very clever about that, not very clear on it. My choices aren't about "Okay, if I choose this film, that will let me carry on," you know. Whether it is a big budget movie or a small budget movie, that isn't part of my decision. Movies are so draining. They pull away from the actor, but theater just fills you up. I needed my fix. [on acting with digital characters in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)] The guy who's creating that character will create their responses off how you respond to their responses which aren't there. It's a nightmare! I like George Lucas and Tim Burton because there's no messing about. No 100 takes of me walking through a door. They know what they want and when they get it, we move on. Naming no names but, with some directors, it's take after take and take 22 is the exact same as the first one. [Aussie World Weekly magazine, 2002] In real life, you don't get up with the sheet after you've had sex. It's not like I'll play a carpenter and wear nothing but a tool belt while constructing a dresser. That's just not safe. [on researching for Moulin Rouge! (2001)] I needed to go and just find out exactly what it meant to be out and having fun in a kind of hedonistic and debauched environment. That's right, something I wasn't familiar with. [on Moulin Rouge! (2001)] Starting with a party scene for 600 cast and end up singing on top of a giant elephant... does it get any better than this? [on learning how to use a gun in Black Hawk Down (2001)] Lying down from 50 feet, I was perfect. So I could really kill someone. Which is always good to know. Nicole, Knickers, as I call her. I would swear, burp and fart in front of her. I'd try and embarrass her and she would pretend to be shocked. I always played up on that. It was a real elder sister-younger brother relationship. [on coming home to Scotland] There is some really good crack when I come back here. This is where I learned to swear. [on his sex appeal] I smoke a lot. I drink far too much-I don't exercise. I torture small animals. An airport customs inspector once recognized me from Trainspotting and strip searched me looking for drugs. I'm naked a lot of the time, and they don't try to frame planted pots in front of my dick like they do in most other films. It's all part of the story, but they don't zoom in on it or anything and go, "Cock shot!". I've been naked in almost everything I've been in, really. I have it written into my contract. My dad saw my full package in The Pillow Book (1996) and said "I'm glad to see you inherited one of my major attributes.". I hated Clueless (1995) with a passion. I thought it would have been a really good film if someone had blown her head off at the end with a really huge gun. I mean, this rich bitch suddenly becomes charitable and then she's okay? And then there's the token black friend. It was so corrupt, so L.A., I hated it. I've always wanted to go to Hollywood, drive big cars and be in big movies. But I hope I won't do just any film to become a star. I just want to carry on working, acting. I don't want to direct or write. I think making films is brilliant. I get excited just going on a film set. Going on location is amazing, hanging about with all these film people doing their thing. If I bump into a star I get all starstruck. [Empire magazine, June 2002] He's quite the gentleman, Obi-Wan. But I don't think he'd have any problems pulling if he wanted to. You know, as a Jedi, he's not allowed to fall in love or get involved with that. So I suppose by now, he's just got really big balls. I started watching golf for the first time yesterday. I'm really worried about myself. I was actually enjoying it. [Twist magazine] My lightsaber flew out of my hands. No one tells you the sabers have about 10 'D' batteries in them. They burn your hands... I tossed the saber in the air and it ended up hitting a technician in the head. [on his co-star Hayden Christensen ] He's quite extraordinary with his moves and spins. I think he was a baton girl in a past life. [on an experience during the filming of A Life Less Ordinary (1997) in Utah] I've got a black woolen hat and it's got Pervert written across the front of it. It's the name of the clothing label. And I was with my wife and my baby at the supermarket and I didn't think. I just put my hat on Clara's head, because it was cold. And the looks. I couldn't figure out why I was getting death looks. And then I realized my 10-month old baby's wearing a hat with the word Pervert written on it and these people were like, "There's Satan! There's Satan out with his kid!". And then I made a point of her wearing it every time we went there. People are incredibly rude about it sometimes. Like "What? You're married?" Strange reaction to have. Proves what people's ideas about marriage are. "We're having a baby." "What?" As if it's the end of the world. Of course, it's the start of a brilliant world. From Velvet Goldmine (1998), I got fond of wearing nail polish and eye makeup. I used to wear it quite a lot. We all wear makeup when we go to events - men and women alike. I've also had some good makeup artists, and I like to let them have a good time. I don't think we should pretend we're not wearing makeup when we are. I quite like the look of it. When I played Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels, I had to transform myself into a young Alec Guinness . I watched his early work to see what he was like on screen. It is interesting how he is only remembered by people younger than myself for appearing in Star Wars. He played a wealth of characters in lots of films - it was like he was the British film industry. [on his decision to quit cigarettes and alcohol] I wasn't someone who could smoke or drink in moderation, and I recognized that those things would kill me. I started visualizing the doctor telling me that I had cancer from smoking or that I was extremely ill because of how much I'd been drinking. What kind of regret would I have if I had to tell my children or my wife that I was dying because of something I could have done something about? I didn't want to be that kind of man. In your 20s, you spend a lot of time being self-conscious about what other people think of you. Then you hit your mid-30s and start to realize they weren't really thinking about you that much. [on rejecting the idea of a Trainspotting (1996) sequel] I wouldn't want to damage Trainspotting (1996)'s reputation, because it was an amazing film and a very important film of its time, a very important film for me and... a very important film for British cinema. I wouldn't want to leave people remembering a poor sequel rather than leaving its reputation where it sits at the moment, which is kind of a phenomenal film. There was talk that Disney fended off the release [of I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)] until after A Christmas Carol (2009) came out. They didn't want kids thinking [ Jim Carrey 's] Ebenezer Scrooge was a bender. [on I Love You Phillip Morris (2009)] I'm very keen that it's a gay movie. There was quite a lot of talk at Sundance (in 2009) that "Well, it's not a gay movie. It's a film about guys who happen to be gay." And I was thinking, it's nothing but a gay movie. It's about a gay couple, about a man's sexuality, and he comes out. It's not the point of the film, but let's not pretend it's not a gay film. I like kissing boys on screen. As a straight guy, it's quite an interesting proposition. Anything on a film set that takes you by surprise like that, that gets your blood up, is good. I'm always interested in playing different people, in different situations. It doesn't matter to me whether someone is in love with a man or a woman. I find the idea of love and romance interesting. I'm a sucker for it. I like playing someone who's falling in love because I like the sensation of it. People do extraordinary things when they're falling in love. I go on my gut instincts. Occasionally, the thought of working for a director pricks up my ears, or being alongside an actor gets me interested, But if the story can't live in my head when I read the script, I feel I can't be bothered to live with it on set. ... There's many different factors in films. The script, I always believe, is the foundation of everything. And if you don't connect to that foundation, if you don't believe in that and feel that you wanna spend three, four months of your life exploring it, then all of the other elements are secondary. But if you've got a great foundation in the script, and you like the story... Sometimes it's the story, sometimes it's the atmosphere in the script, the world that you're gonna create. There's many different things that hook you in, and then, on top of that, you have who's directing, who are the other actors, who's lighting-those creative elements that come in. Everyone's tied to the script. I think the script is the key. Regardless of how great everybody else is working on a film, if you're working on a script that you don't think is great, you're not gonna be able to make a great film. Whereas if the script is great, then you can. [on quitting drinking] I would soon have gotten a reputation for being a drunk actor and therefore would not get any work, so I really felt it was time to give it up. But I remember doing interviews, drinking and smoking, just saying, "I am never, ever going to fucking stop!" And I said it with real pride, you know? 'Cos I wanted to be the best drinker as well as everything else and that's a really bad slippery slope. So it's much easier now and my work's much better. I find that life in general's much more fun without it. My wife's delighted that I stopped, because I'm much more present in our marriage and I'm a much better father. I remember, funnily enough, the last time I had a drink. I was sitting with these guys and we're all talking about how much we love our kids and I thought, "Well, why are we all sitting in a pub? It's four in the morning. How much do we love our kids? Because tomorrow morning none of us will be any use to them." And I thought, "Fuck it." I don't have a problem with people drinking; it's something I chose not to do. It just took me a long time to grow up. [on The Impossible (2012)] When the script first came to me, I wasn't sure about the idea. Would it be a disaster movie that was somehow spectacular? That would be so wrong. But as I read it, I got caught up in Maria's sense of courage. She seemed like a proper hero. Then I spoke to her and she said, no, that's not what it was about - it was all down to luck. She was really emphatic about that. She said, "If anything I did was heroic, what would that mean for the others who weren't so lucky?". The Thai perspective on the tsunami I thought was quite a healthy one. They're very straightforward and honest about it, and very much in the present in terms of moving forward. [on whether he has remained friends with director Danny Boyle after getting dropped from The Beach (2000) for Leonardo DiCaprio ] No, you just don't treat your friends like that. They absolutely made me think that I was playing the character in The Beach and we talked about dates and moving dates and so on, and all the while they were keeping me there just in case Leonardo pulled out - which is really nasty. And then afterwards, I just didn't hear from Danny for years. Pay attention: I recognize it can be boring to play with young children - to tell a story over and over again, let's say - but the secret is being there. If you've made a decision to play with your children, then play with them. Don't be looking through papers on your desk or sneaking off to the computer. Turn off your BlackBerry. Lose yourself in their world. Even if you do it for a short time, it will mean a lot to you and to them. [About his falling out and reconciliation with former friend and director Danny Boyle]: I just think I've changed my opinion about it. We've all moved on and there's a lot of water under the bridge. You know how swimming naked is such a lovely feeling? Well, being naked on set is kind of a bit like that. I'm not a religious person... I'm married to a Jewish woman, so my children are Jewish and my involvement in religion has more to do with the Jewish faith now and not the Christian faith, which I was very vaguely brought up in... My parents were not religious, but my school had prayers at morning assembly... So my early understanding of religion was the Protestant faith in Scotland. But my experience is no longer that. [on the sometimes questionable food he and Charley Boorman encountered on their Long Way Round (2004) and Long Way Down (2007) motorcycle adventures] Usually, it was something like beans and paste with chunks of bread, but occasionally you'd just have to close your eyes, hold your nose, and hope for the best. The only time we ever got sick was when we ate at hotels. That stuff just sits around in its own botulism. [After a fan asks him what advice would give for a young Jedi in training] Don't be ridiculous! See also

1970s

Who produced the first jumbo jet in 1975?

Ewan McGregor - Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor, Producer, Philanthropist - Biography.com Famous People Born in Scotland Synopsis Ewan Gordon McGregor was born March 31, 1971 in Crieff, Scotland. He achieved worldwide critical acclaim with his role in the film Trainspotting in 1996. In 1998, McGregor landed the largest role of his career when he signed on as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In the early 21st century, Ewan McGregor started his own production company called Natural Nylon. Early Life Actor. Born Ewan Gordon McGregor on March 31, 1971 to schoolteachers James Charles Stuart McGregor and Carole Diane Lawson. McGregor was born in Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, just a few miles north of Edinburgh. He also has a brother Colin, who is an RAF pilot. As a child, Ewan McGregor did little acting, but enjoyed singing, and became a soloist for his school's orchestra and choir. He also helped his father at the Crieff Highland Games, where his father was named director. McGregor would eventually be awarded the title of Chieftan of the Games in 2001. After high school, Ewan McGregor joined the Perth Repertory Theater and furthered his education through three years of training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His studies at Guildhall eventually led to McGregor landing a major role as Private Mick Hopper in Dennis Potter's 1993 Lipstick on Your Collar, which was a British made-for-television musical comedy. Early Career In 1993, Ewan McGregor starred in a British television miniseries called The Scarlet & The Black, which was an adaptation of Henri Beyle Stendhal's 1830 novel. In that same year, McGregor made his cinematic debut in Bill Forsyth's American drama Being Human, which starred Robin Williams. The film did not do well in theaters and had a very short run, which limited McGregor's exposure. After filming Being Human, Ewan McGregor continued to make television appearances in the United States and Britain, including Family Style (1993), Doggin' Around (1994) and Kavanagh QC (1995). He also got his first major movie role in the 1994 film Shallow Grave, which was written by Danny Boyle and received some critical acclaim. In 1994, while filming an episode of Kavanagh QC, Ewan McGregor met his future wife, French production designer Eve Mavrakis. They had a whirlwind relationship and married on July 22, 1995 in a small village in France. After Shallow Grave, McGregor continued to get work as a movie actor in the British surfing movie Blue Juice (1995) and Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book (1996), before landing a role in 1996's Trainspotting. Big Break For Trainspotting—his second movie with director Danny Boyle—Ewan McGregor shaved his head and lost 30 lbs to play the main character and heroin addict Mark Renton. The movie and McGregor's role received worldwide critical acclaim, garnering much attention for the young actor. Following his success in Trainspotting, McGregor took a completely different role as Frank Churchill in the historical comedy Emma (1996). McGregor then continued his work in cinema, including Brassed Off (1996), The Serpent's Kiss (1997), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), and Nightwatch (1998). In 1998, Ewan McGregor landed the largest role of his career when he signed on as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. McGregor already had a connection with the iconic movie series as his uncle, Denis Lawson, appeared as Wedge Antilles in the original three films. McGregor first hit the screen as Kenobi in 1999, with Star Wars: Episode I–The Phantom Menace, to much commercial success. The next two installments of the trilogy would follow years later. Also in 1999, McGregor acted in Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine, as a 1970s-era glam rocker in the mode of Iggy Pop. In the early 21st century, Ewan McGregor started his own production company called Natural Nylon. He founded it with fellow actors Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Jonny Lee Miller and Sean Pertwee. The group's first movie was the Pat Murphy biopic Nora in 2000, which was co-produced by Wim Wenders' production company and Metropolitan Pictures. The film dramatized the real-life relationship between Irish author James Joyce and Nora Barnacle. McGregor was the star of the movie as Joyce and he played opposite Susan Lynch as Barnacle. Mainstream Success Following Nora in 2001, McGregor took on another challenging role in Baz Luhrmann's musical Moulin Rouge!, which was set in Paris in 1899. McGregor starred as the young poet Christian, who carries on a tumultuous relationship with Nicole Kidman's character throughout the film. McGregor was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in the film and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Later that same year, Black Hawk Down (2001) was released with McGregor playing one of the ensemble casts' main characters, Grimes. In 2002, Ewan McGregor continued his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the second film of the trilogy, Star Wars: Episode II–Attack of the Clones. Another commercial success, McGregor was able to parlay his popularity into many more films. In his early years as an actor, a magazine told Ewan McGregor that he had a very close resemblance to Albert Finney when he was a young man. So, in 2003, when Tim Burton was looking for someone in McGregor's age range to play Albert Finney as a young man in the fantasy film Big Fish, he was given the part. The film was a critical and commercial success as well. That same year, McGregor also starred in the erotic drama Young Adam, which was directed by David Mackenzie and originally screened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. McGregor played Joe Taylor, one of two barge workers who pull up the corpse of a young woman from a river. Also that year, McGregor and Renée Zellweger starred opposite each other in director Peyton Reed's homage to 1960s romantic comedies in a film called Down With Love. On and Off Camera During 2004, McGregor and his best friend Charley Boorman created a documentary about riding their motorcycles from London to New York. The pair traveled east through Europe and Asia, and then flew to Alaska to finish the journey to New York. The entire journey, entitled Long Way Round, went from April 14, 2004, to July 29, 2004. It was documented as a television series, DVD set, and book. It covered over 19,000 miles and 12 countries. The project was conceived partly to raise awareness of the worldwide efforts of UNICEF and included stops to see UNICEF projects. McGregor reprised his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the final time in 2005 for Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith. That same year he also lent his voice to the animated family film Robots, starred with Scarlett Johansson in The Island, and filmed Marc Forster's Stay, which was a follow-up to the successful Finding Neverland. After multiple commercial and critical successes, Ewan McGregor tried his hand at several arthouse films in 2006. His first was Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Ed Blum's directorial debut about a day in the life of seven British couples. The second was Miss Potter, the much-anticipated Chris Noonan follow up to the 1995 success Babe, a biopic about popular children's author Beatrix Potter. Ewan McGregor has also tried his hand at stage acting, taking the role of Sky Masterson from 2005 to 2007 in the revival of the play Guys & Dolls at London's Piccadilly Theatre. In 2007, Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman created a follow-up documentary to their 2004 trip, entitled Long Way Down. During this trip the two rode their motorcycles again, but this time traveled from John o' Groats in northern Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. This documentary also centered on the pair spending time visiting UNICEF projects along their journey and was distributed as another television series, DVD set, and book. That same year, McGregor appeared in Cassandra's Dream (2007), and was ranked No. 36 by Empire magazine in their list of the "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time." The next year, he appeared in the films Incendiary (2008) and Deception (2008). In 2009, McGregor starred in I Love You Phillip Morris, and will be one of the stars in Ron Howard's blockbuster Angels & Demons, the sequel to the very popular Dan Brown novel and film, The DaVinci Code. Singing and Personal Life In addition to film, McGregor has appeared on several soundtracks as a singer throughout his career, including two duets with Nicole Kidman on the Moulin Rouge! Soundtrack, two singles for the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack and a duet with Renee Zellweger for the movie Down With Love. Ewan McGregor and his wife have three daughters: Clara Mathilde, born in 1996, Esther Rose, born in 2001, and 4-year-old Jamiyan adopted from Mongolia in April 2006. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information

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Who had an 80s No 1 with Let's Hear It For The Boy?

Deniece Williams - Let's Hear It For The Boy (HQ with lyrics) - YouTube Deniece Williams - Let's Hear It For The Boy (HQ with lyrics) Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Apr 26, 2010 Deniece Williams' 1984 hit "Let's Hear It For The Boy" from the movie Footloose with lyrics below. I do not own this, for entertainment purposes only. LYRICS: My baby, he don't talk sweet He ain't got much to say But he loves me, loves me, loves me I know that he loves me anyway And maybe he don't dress fine But I don't really mind 'Cause every time he pulls me near I just wanna cheer Let's hear it for the boy Let's give the boy a hand Let's hear it for my baby You know you gotta understand Maybe he's no Romeo But he's my loving one-man show Whooa, whooa, whooa-oh Let's hear it for the boy My baby may not be rich He's watching every dime But he loves me, loves me, loves me We always have a real good time And maybe he sings off-key But that's all right by me, yeah 'Cause what he does, he does so well Makes me wanna yell Let's hear it for the boy Aaaah, let's give the boy a hand Let's hear it for my baby You know you gotta understand Oh-oh-oh, maybe he's no Romeo But he's my loving one-man show Whooa, whooa, whooa-oh Let's hear it for the boy [Instrumental Interlude] 'Cause every time he pulls me near I just wanna cheer Let's hear it for the boy Aaaah, let's give the boy a hand Let's hear it for my baby You know you gotta understand Maybe he's no Romeo But he's my loving one-man show Whooa, whooa, whooa-oh Let's hear it for the boy.... Category

Deniece Williams

Where in America is the Rockefeller University?

200 GREATEST SONGS OF THE 80'S 21. The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson 22. I'm So Excited - The Pointer Sisters 23. Electric Slide - Marcia Griffiths 24. Mony Mony - Billy Idol 25. I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross 26. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper 27. Take Your Time (Do It Right) - The S.O.S. Band 28. Let the Music Play - Shannon 29. Pump Up the Jam - Technotronic feat. Felly 30. Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force 31. Jump (For My Love) - The Pointer Sisters 32. Fame (I Want To Live Forever) - Irene Cara 33. Let's Groove - Earth, Wind, and Fire 34. It Takes Two (To Make a Thing Go Right) - Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock 35. Pump Up the Volume - M/A/R/R/S 36. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston 37. Relax (Don't Do It) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood 38. You Spin Me Around (Like a Record) - Dead or Alive 39. She Works Hard For the Money - Donna Summer 40. Papa Don't Preach - Madonna 41. Der Kommissar (The Commissioner) - After the Fire 42. The Glamorous Life - Sheila E 43. Whip It! - Devo 44. Rock Lobster - The B-52s 45. Wild Thing - Tone Loc 46. Maniac - Michael Sembello 47. Karma Chameleon - Culture Club 48. She Blinded Me with Science - Thomas Dolby 49. Take on Me - A-Ha 50. Who Can It Be Now? - Men At Work 51. I Ran (So Far Away) - A Flock of Seagulls 52. Our Lips Are Sealed - The Go-Gos 53. Kiss - Prince and The Revolution 54. I Can't Wait - Nu Shooz 55. In My House - The Mary Jane Girls 56. White Horse - Laid Back 57. Our House - Madness 59. Rumours - Timex Social Club 60. Pull Up To the Bumper - Grace Jones 61. Walk Like an Egyptian - The Bangles 62. I Feel For You - Chaka Khan feat. Stevie Wonder and Grandmaster Melle Mel 63. Somebody's Watching Me - Rockwell feat. Michael Jackson 64. Situation - Yaz (Yazoo) 66. You Dropped a Bomb On Me - The Gap Band 67. Heartbeat - Taana Gardner 68. Bust a Move - Young MC 69. Cars - Gary Numan 70. Straight Up - Paula Abdul 71. New Attitude - Patti LaBelle 72. Gloria< - Laura Branigan 73. (Let's Get) Physical - Olivia Newton John 74. Let's Dance - David Bowie 75. I Wonder If I Take You Home - Lisa Lisa and The Cult Jam with Full Force 76. Walking On Sunshine - Katrina and The Waves 77. Genius of Love - Tom Tom Club 78. The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats 79. Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners and Emerald Express 80. Everybody Wants To Rule the World - Tears For Fears 81. Rockit - Herbie Hancock and Grandmaster D.St. 82. Forget Me Nots - Patrice Rushen 83. No Parking on the Dance Floor - Midnight Starr 84. Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson 85. So Many Men, So Little Time - Miquel Brown 86. Double Dutch Bus - Frankie Smith 87. Shout - Tears for Fears 88. Like a Prayer - Madonna 89. Electric Avenue - Eddy Grant 90. What Have You Done For Me Lately? - Janet Jackson 91. Upside Down (Inside Out) - Diana Ross 92. Give it to Me - Rick James 93. Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles 94. The Look of Love (Part I) - ABC 95. Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran 96. Working My Way Back To You/Forgive Me Girl - The Spinners 97. Fresh (remix) - Kool and The Gang 98. Caribbean Queen (No More Love On the Run) - Billy Ocean 99. Little Red Corvette - Prince 100. Raspberry Beret - Prince 101. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow 102. Mickey - Toni Basil 103. Always Something There To Remind Me - Naked Eyes 104. Here Comes the Rain Again - The Eurythmics 105. Please Don't Go - K.C. and The Sunshine Band 106. Rapture - Blondie 107. Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins 108. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean 109. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life - Indeep 110. You're the One for Me - D-Train 111. Oh Sheila - Ready for the World 112. Let it Whip - The Dazz Band 113. Cutie Pie - One Way 114. Ride On Time - Black Box feat. Loleatta Holloway 115. Rock This Town - The Stray Cats 116. 99 Luftballoons - Nena 118. All Night Long (All Night) - Lionel Richie 119. The Loco-Motion - Kylie Minogue 120. Venus - Bananarama 121. A Love Bizarre - Sheila E. and Prince 122. He's So Shy - The Pointer Sisters 123. Lucky Star - Madonna 124. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen 125. Pass the Dutchie - Musical Youth 126. Candy Girl - New Edition 127. Jump To It - Aretha Franklin 128. Cruel Summer - Bananarama 129. Looking For a New Love - Jody Watley 130. Somebody Else's Guy - Jocelyn Brown 131. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - WHAM! 132. Maneater - Daryl Hall and John Oate 133. Touch Me (I Want Your Body) - Samantha Fox 134. Only In My Dreams - Debbie Gibson 135. The Twist '88 - The Fat Boyz and Chubby Checker 136. Promises, Promises - Naked Eyes 137. Talking in Your Sleep - The Romantics 138. French Kissin' (In the U.S.A.) - Debbie Harry 139. Kids in America - Kim Wilde 140. People Are People - Depeche Mode 141. West End Girls - The Pet Shop Boys 142. On the Radio - Donna Summer 143. Jam On It - Newcleus 144. Fascinated (By Your Love) - Company B. 145. Point of No Return - Expose 146. Come Go With Me - Expose 147. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order 148. Vertigo/Relight My Fire - Dan Hartman and Loleatta Holloway 149. I Would Die 4 U - Prince 150. Temptation - Heaven 17 151. Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley 152. Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But the Rent - Gwen Guthrie 153. 19 - Paul Hardcastle 154. When I Hear Music (It Makes Me Dance) - Debbie Deb 155. Lookout Weekend - Debbie Deb 156. Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat 157. Dancing with Myself - Billy Idol 158. And the Beat Goes On - The Whispers 159. Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson 160. Material Girl - Madonna 161. What's On Your Mind? (Pure Energy) - Information Society 162. Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc 163. Private Idaho - The B-52s 164. Heaven Is a Place on Earth - Belinda Carlisle 165. I Need Your Lovin' - Teena Marie 166. You Keep Me Hangin' On - Kim Wilde 167. Let's Hear It For the Boy - Deniece Williams 168. Da Butt - E.U. 169. Don't Make Me Wait (All Night) - The NYC Peech Boys 170. Object of My Desire - Starpoint 171. Let's Go All the Way - Sly Fox 172. Tell It To My Heart - Taylor Dayne 173. Goodbye To You - Scandal 174. One Thing Leads To Another - The Fixx 175. (Keep Feeling) Fascination - Human League 176. When I Think of You - Janet Jackson 177. Neutron Dance - The Pointer Sisters 178. (I've Had) The Time of My Life - Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes 179. Hungry Eyes - Eric Carmen 180. Antmusic - Adam and The Ants 181. Just Got Paid - Johnny Kemp 182. Chains of Love - Erasure 183. Hot! Hot! Hot! - Buster Poindexter and His Banshees of Blue 184. Roam - The B-52s 186. Solid (As a Rock) - Ashford and Simpson 187. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - Michael Jackson 188. Catch Me (I'm Falling) - Pretty Poison 189. Cold Hearted Snake - Paula Abdul 190. 9 to 5 (Modern Train) - Sheena Easton 191. Meeting in the Ladies Room - Klymaxx 192. Let's Get Serious - Jermaine Jackson 193. Dancing In the Dark - Bruce Springsteen 194. No Frills Love - Jennifer Holliday 195. I Beg Your Pardon (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden) - Kon Kan 196. Buffalo Stance - Neneh Cherry 197. Nasty Girl - Vanity 6 198. Boom Boom (Let's Go Back to My Room) - Paul Lekakis 199. High Energy - Evelyn Thomas 200. Footloose - Kenny Loggins

i don't know

In professional football, which state do the Cardinals call home?

Arizona Cardinals Jokes - NFL Jokes Arizona Cardinals Jokes Q: What happened after Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner announced his retirement from football? A: Brett Favre called him a quitter! Q: Want to hear a Cardinals joke? A: Carson Palmer! Q: Why is Carson Palmer like a grizzly bear? A: Every fall he goes into hibernation. Q: What did the Steelers say to the Cardinals? A: Look at my Super bowl Ring Q: Did you hear about the joke that Carson Palmer told his receivers? A: It went over their heads. Q: Why does President Obama want to send Cardinals QB Carson Palmer to Syria? A: The CIA are convinced Carson is the only American who can overthrow Bashir Assad. Q: Why can't Carson Palmer use the phone anymore? A: Because he can't find the receiver. Q. How are the Cardinals like my neighbors? A. They can't pick up a single yard! Q: How many Cardinals fans does it take to change a light bulb? A: None they are happy living in San Francisco's shadow! Q: What's the best part about dating a Cardinals fan? A: She won't be asking for a ring! Q: What do the Cardinals and the Post Office have in common? A: Neither deliver on Sundays! Q: What happened after the Arizona Cardinals lost in the playoffs? A: Kurt Warner asked the team whether they wanted paper of plastic! Q: What do the Arizona Cardinals and a Chick-Fil-A manager have in common? A: Neither one shows up for work on Sunday. Q: Why did hell freeze over January 2, 1999? A: Because the Cardinals were playing a playoff game that day. Q: Why should the Cardinals pay more attention to Anquan Boldin's trade demands? A: He's been hanging out with Plaxico Burress! Q: How many Arizona Cardinals does it take to win a Super Bowl? A: Nobody knows and we may never find out! Q: What's the difference between the Arizona Cardinals and a dollar bill? A: You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill. Q: What do the Arizona Cardinals and possums have in common? A: Both play dead at home and get killed on the road! Q: Why doesn't Tucson have a professional football team? A: Because then Phoenix would want one. Q: Did you hear about the blonde burglar? A: He broke into the Arizona Cardinals' trophy room. Q: How do you know the Arizona State Police are seriously enforcing the Speed Limits into Glendale. A: For the first offense, they give you two Arizona Cardinals tickets. If you get stopped a second time, they make you use them. Q: What is the difference between a Cardinals fan and a baby? A: The baby will stop whining after awhile. Q: How many Arizona Cardinals does it take to change a tire? A: One, unless it's a blowout, in which case they all show up Q: What do you call 53 millionaires around a TV watching the Super Bowl? A: The Arizona Cardinals. Q: What do the Arizona Cardinals and Billy Graham have in common? A: They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell "Jesus Christ". Q: How do you keep an Arizona Cardinal out of your yard? A: Put up goal posts. Q: Where do you go in Phoenix in case of a tornado? A: University of Phoenix Stadium - they never get a touchdown there! Q: What do you call an Arizona Cardinal with a Super Bowl ring? A: A thief. Q: Why are so many Arizona Cardinals players claiming they have the Swine Flu? A: So They don't have to touch the pigskin! Q: What is a Arizona Cardinals fan's favorite whine? A: "We can't beat Pittsburgh." Q: How do you stop an Arizona Cardinals fan from beating his wife? A: Dress her in Pittsburgh Black and Yellow! Q: What is th difference between a bucket of shit and an Arizona Cardinals fan? A: The bucket. Q: If you have a car containing a Cardinals wide receiver, a Cardinals linebacker, and a Cardinals defensive back, who is driving the car? A: The cop. Q: How do you casterate an Arizona Cardinals fan? A: Kick his sister in the mouth Q: What should you do if you find three Arizona Cardinals football fans buried up to their neck in cement? A: Get more cement. Q: What's the difference between an Arizona Cardinals fan and a carp? A: One is a bottom-feeding, scum sucker, and the other is a fish. Q. How did the Arizona Cardinals fan die from drinking milk? A. The cow fell on him! Q: What does an Arizona Cardinals fan do when his team has won the Super Bowl? A: He turns off the PlayStation 3. Q: What do you call an Arizona Cardinal in the Super Bowl? A: A referee. Q: Did you hear that Arizona's football team doesn't have a website? A: They can't string three "Ws" together. Q: What's the best way to teach your dog to roll over and play dead? A: Have him watch a couple Arizona Cardinals football games. Q: What do the Cardinals and the mailman have in common? A: Neither deliver on Sunday. Q: How many Arizona Cardinals fans does it take to change a lightbulb? A: None. Lava lamps don't burn out man! Q: What does a Arizona Cardinals fan and a bottle of beer have in common? A: They're both empty from the neck up. Q. Why do ducks fly over University of Phoenix stadium upside down? A. There's nothing worth craping on! Q: What did the Arizona Cardinals fan say after his team won the Super Bowl? A: "Dammit mom, why'd you wake me up? I was having an amazing dream!" Q: Why do Arizona Cardinals fans keep their season tickets on their dashboards? A: So they can park in handicap spaces. Q: How do the Cardinals spend the first week of training camp? A: Studying the Miranda Rights Q: What's the difference between the Arizona Cardinals and a pinball machine? A: The pinball machine scores more points. Q: How do you keep a Cardinals fan from masterbating? A: You paint his dick St Louis Millennium blue & new century gold and he won't beat it for years! Q: Why do the Arizona Cardinals want to change their name to the Arizona Tampons? A: Because they are only good for one period and do not have a second string! Q: What's the difference between the Arizona Cardinals & the Taliban? A: The Taliban has a running game! Q: Why are Arizona Cardinals jokes getting dumber and dumber? A: Because Cardinals fans have started to make them up themselves. Q: What's the difference between Arizona Cardinals fans and mosquitoes? A: Mosquitoes are only annoying in the summer. Did you hear that University of Phoenix Stadium had to be resodded? Thats really sad when you cant even get your own grass to root for you! According to a new poll 91 percent of people are satisfied with their lives. The other 9 percent are Arizona Cardinals fans. Can an Arizona Cardinals player drive a stick? Only if they remove the clutch. My wife was about to put my son in an Arizona Cardinals jersey, but I reminded her it was a choking hazard. I took my broken vacuum cleaner back to the store. They put a Cardinals jersey on it and now it sucks again. A Cardinals fan doesn't always eat pastries, but when he does it's usually a turnover. Are you scared of catching the flu? Just hang in the Cardinals end zone, they don't catch anything there. Why did the Arizona Cardinals fan cross the road.....I was thinking when I accelerated. Child Welfare A seven-year old boy was at the center of a Fulton County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. \ After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the Child Welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Arizona Cardinals, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone. Steelers Fan On the first day of school a first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Cardinals fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they, too, are Cardinals fans. Wanting to impress their teacher, everyone in the class raises their hand except one little girl. The teacher looks at the girl with surprise, 'Janie, why didn't you raise your hand?' Because I'm not a Cardinals fan,' she replied. The teacher, still shocked, asked, 'Well, if you are not a Cardinals fan, then who are you a fan of?' 'I am a Steelers fan, and proud of it,' Janie replied. The teacher could not believe her ears. 'Janie please tell us why you are a Steelers fan?' Because my mom is a Steelers fan, and my dad is Steelers fan, so I'm a Steelers fan too!'' Well,' said the teacher in a obviously annoyed tone, 'that is no reason for you to be a Steelers fan. You don't have to be just like your parents all of the time. What if your mom was an idiot and your dad was a moron, wha t would you be then?' Then,' Janie smiled, 'I'd be a Cardinals fan.' 4 Football Fans A Redskins fan, an Eagles fan, a Cardinals fan, and a Steelers fan are climbing a mountain and arguing about who loves his team more. The Redskins fan insists he is the most loyal. 'This is for the Redskins! ' he yells, and jumps off the side of the mountain. Not to be outdone, the Eagles fan shouts, 'This is for the Eagles!' and throws himself off the mountain. The Steelers fan is next to profess his love for his team. He yells, 'This is for everyone!' and pushes the Cardinals fan off the mountain.

Arizona

Which musical instrument did Stan Getz play?

Arizona Cardinals Team Page at NFL.com Arians: Cards will use franchise tag on Chandler Jones if necessary 01/02/2017 Coach Bruce Arians made it clear Monday that impending free agent Chandler Jones will not reach the open market in March. Will the Cardinals use the franchise tag to retain the pass rusher? Cards' Johnson has sprained MCL 01/02/2017 Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Monday that David Johnson has been diagnosed with an MCL sprain and won't need surgery. Will Johnson be ready for the team's offseason program? Cards hopeful RB Johnson avoided a serious injury 01/02/2017 The first Sunday of 2017 was not kind to David Johnson. The Cardinals running back did not return after being carted off in the first quarter with a knee injury. Cardinals knock Seahawks out of No. 2 seed in thrilling win 12/24/2016 The NFC West champion Seahawks lost their grip on the conference's No. 2 seed with Sunday's dramatic loss to the Cardinals. Here's what we learned from Arizona's 34-31 victory. Fitzgerald mulling whether to retire after this season 12/24/2016 Larry Fitzgerald could be hanging up the cleats at the end of the season, Ian Rapoport reported. Fitzgerald hasn't made a decision yet but is mulling whether or not this will be his last year. Week 16 Cheat Sheet 12/24/2016 Can Tom Savage propel the Texans into the playoffs? Will the return of A.J. Green be the difference maker for Andy Dalton? Here's what you need to know heading into Week 16. Arians says he'll be back with Cards in '17, hopes Fitz joins him 12/21/2016 As Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald addressed their football futures in the past few days, no one bothered to ask if coach Bruce Arians would return for another season. Now we know the answer. Arians: David Johnson in 'elite' company as he nears record 12/18/2016 Arizona has a one percent chance of making the playoffs, but there's something else to root for. David Johnson needs one more game with 100 or more yards from scrimmage to break a record set by Edgerrin James. Payton: David Johnson a 'transformer-type player' 12/16/2016 Sean Payton has the task of matching up with Cardinals running back David Johnson on Sunday. The Saints coach is impressed with the mismatches Johnson has all over the field. Cards GM Keim: Players who don't compete won't be on '17 team 12/12/2016 With the playoffs a pipe dream, Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim turns his focus to evaluating for 2017. Keim said players that don't compete with passion won't be in Arizona in 2017. Fitzgerald: I will not surpass Rice, Gonzalez marks 12/09/2016 Larry Fitzgerald didn't announce his retirement date, but the NFL's No. 3 all-time receptions leader provided a parameter, saying he won't be around to catch Tony Gonzalez or Jerry Rice on the list. Andrew Luck among NFL Players of the Week 12/07/2016 Andrew Luck's huge game against the Jets earned the quarterback AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Who else took home awards for their Week 13 performances? Warner: Aside from Fitz, no Cardinals WR stepping up 11/27/2016 Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer is shouldering the blame for Arizona's lackluster 2016 season, but Kurt Warner doesn't think he's getting much help from his wide receivers.

i don't know

What kind of orchard did Chekhov write a play about?

SparkNotes: The Cherry Orchard: Context The Cherry Orchard Table of Contents Plot Overview Anton Pavlevich Chekhov was born on January 17th, 1860, in Taganrog, Russia. His father Pavel was a shopkeeper the town, which was small, provincial, and on the Sea of Azov in the south of Russia, and his grandfather was Egor Chekhov, a serf. Serfs were the legal property of the landowners who owned the property on which they resided; it was thus a form of slavery. In 1841, Egor bought freedom for himself and his family at the price of 875 rubles. Russia had been changing ever since the early 18th century, when Tsar Peter the Great carried out a series of reforms with the intent of modernizing Russia in Western Europe's image. European styles in fashion and art were imported, the Western canon was widely read among the nobility, and French was adopted as the language of cultured discourse. A large government bureaucracy was created; the achievement of rank became an obsession of Russian life. During Chekhov's childhood, in the time of Tsar Alexander II, a second wave of reforms was underway, reforms that further liberalized the country and its economy. The most important of these was the Emancipation Declaration of 1861, which freed the serfs from bondage. These reforms caused great controversy, as they introduced what was, in effect, the beginning of a free-market economy, undermining the power of the nobility, and sometimes even impoverishing them. The situation displayed in The Cherry Orchard, of a wealthy landowning family forced to sell their estate in order to pay their debts, was thus a familiar one in the Russian society of Chekhov's day. Chekhov himself had a relatively quiet childhood. He attended the local Russian grammar school, worked in his father's store and occasionally wrote small pieces for the amusement of his family. Taganrog was not a typical provincial town; it was a multicultural port, with Italians, Greeks, and Turks residing in the wealthier sections of town and Russians such as the Chekhovs living in comparatively poor suburbs. It had a theater, which the young Chekhov would often visit. When Chekhov was sixteen, Pavel's store failed, and the entire family had to move to Moscow—the entire family, that is, except for Anton. A merchant (and friend of the family) had helped the Chekhovs with a loan, but insisted on keeping Anton with him in the house as a kind of collateral. As soon as he could, he left Taganrog in order to pursue medical studies in Moscow in 1879 at the age of 19. That year, Chekhov began to write comic stories in order to pay his medical school tuition. By the time he was twenty, he was employed by The Spectator magazine as their regular humorist. Over ninety percent of Chekhov's published work appeared in magazines before he was twenty-eight, and, by this age, he had already established himself as a premier writer of short stories. As he developed as a writer, his stories began to take on deeper and more profound themes, as he moved away from his comic roots. To this day, Chekhov's literary reputation primarily rests with his short stories, and Chekhov's early plays, written primarily in his early 20s, are not well-remembered. It was only in 1896 that he began to turn his attention back to drama; in the eight remaining years before his death, he managed to complete four plays: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. The first performance of The Seagull was nearly laughed off the stage; it was criticized as dull, unimaginative, and lacking any sort of dramatic tension (a critical undercurrent that has survived in Russia to this day). Only gradually did Chekhov's new form of drama, emphasizing characterization, detail and symbolism instead of plot development and incident, gain acceptance. Chekhov was the in-house playwright for the Moscow Arts Theatre, which had been founded by his friend Vladimir Nemirovich-Davchenko. During this time, he fell in love with one of the Theatre's leading actresses, Olga Knipper, and would marry her in 1901. Chekhov wrote his last two plays after he had been diagnosed, in 1898, with tuberculosis. The Cherry Orchard itself was written over a period of more than two years, from early 1901 to late 1903, during which Chekhov was often in doctor-imposed exile from his wife and friends in Moscow, on the Mediterranean island of Yalta, in order to spare his ailing lungs. The germination of The Cherry Orchard probably came from numerous and diverse sources, over a longer period of time than that for any of Chekhov's other works. Chekhov had known cherry trees from his childhood days in Taganrog, before they were all cleared as a result of Alexander's liberal economic policies which encouraged development of the Russian hinterland. Also, Chekhov had himself planted a cherry orchard on an estate in Melikhovo that he purchased in 1892; he lost the estate a short while later, and the new owner cut down the cherry trees. Much of the intellectual discussion in The Cherry Orchard is distinctly influenced by Chekhov's wide reading in literature, philosophy, and the natural sciences, especially Darwin's Origin of the Species (first published only some forty years earlier) and Marxist and socialist philosophy (though Chekhov himself was not himself a member of any revolutionary movements). Chekhov had initially intended his last play to be a comedy, a vaudeville in fact, and though he may have given up that last idea he still subtitles his play A Comedy in Four Acts. Unfortunately for Chekhov, the most common reaction to the play was typified by his wife: "by the fourth act I burst out sobbing". Stanislavsky, the play's director, decided to interpret the play as a drama, against Chekhov's wishes. The debate over whether the play is in fact a comedy or a drama still goes on to this day. The initial reception of the play ranged from the indifference of Maxim Gorky, who thought the play's story to be completely insignificant, to the loathing of Ivan Bunin, who attacked the play for being unrealistic in its depiction of both the central aristocratic family and the outrageously oversized cherry orchard. But it was also praised as one of Chekhov's best works, and possibly his best play. The Russian Symbolist poets saw the play as a narrative poem mourning the loss of beauty in the world, and thus saw Chekhov as a kindred spirit. The Bolsheviks would interpret the play as a harbinger of the 1917 revolution, because of Trofimov's speeches (many of which were censored by the Tsarist regime for the 1904 perfomance). Many noticed and applauded its new formal innovations in terms of the use of the empty stage, lost dialogue and its mixing of comic and tragic elements. But many saw the play as undeniably tragic, focusing on Ranevsky's downfall as the important element of the story. Chekhov's critical reception outside of Russia was mixed, partly due to translation problems and the play's unique "Russian-ness", which Chekhov himself foresaw as being impossible for any foreign audience to overcome. Many foreign readers and viewers faulted the play for being unheroic, negative, and devoid of plot. But no less a figure than George Bernard Shaw said that "hearing Chekhov's plays make me want to tear up my own", and Chekhov's drama has gained increasing acceptance and praise over the course of the last century. Chekhov managed to attend The Cherry Orchard's opening night gala at the Moscow Arts Theatre on January 17th, 1904, his forty-fourth birthday. The night was also intended to celebrate his 25th year in literature; but the sight of the ill, dying Chekhov, now in the last stages of his disease, was not a cause for celebration. He remained in Moscow for the last few months of his life, finally succumbing to tuberculosis on July 1st of that same year, a few days after the The Cherry Orchard's first publication. More Help

Cherry

Who had an 80s No 1 hit with Jack & Diane?

Anton Chekhov - Modernism Lab Essays Anton Chekhov by Pericles Lewis In the plays of Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), tragedy and comedy are inextricably intertwined. Although his major plays are suffused with an air of anxiety and pessimism akin to those of Henrik Ibsen , he insisted on calling The Seagull (1895) and The Cherry Orchard (1903) comedies. He gave Uncle Vanya (1896) the non-committal subtitle “Scenes from Country Life,” and called Three Sisters (1900) a “drama.” Yet none of these plays is either conventionally comic or tragic. In particular, the central aspect of Aristotelian tragedy, the climactic action entailing reversal or recognition, seems absent from Chekhov’s plays. In general, his Russian gentry are in decline, but the decline is gradual and irreversible. They undergo various minor illuminations in the course of the plays but never a blinding recognition that could lead to a change of fortune. Chekhov, a doctor and the grandson of a serf, became famous as a story-writer before his first successes as a playwright. Doctors come and go in his plays, sometimes expressing wisdom and more often resignation. Generally seen by his compatriots as a naturalist, he was later interpreted by the Soviets as a chronicler of the rise of the bourgeoisie, the decline of the aristocracy, and the imminence of revolution (he died in 1904, the year before the first Russian Revolution). However, this interpretation depended on an avoidance of Chekhov’s dramatic innovations, which changed the nature of plot and its relationship to character. The plot of Ibsen's first major play, The Seagull , is fairly conventional; Chekhov’s symbolism and self-conscious reflection on the nature of drama are the main features that distinguish this work from that of earlier realist and naturalist playwrights. In the last decade of his life, however, Chekhov wrote three masterpieces that increasingly resembled the symbolist drama of his fictional playwright Konstantin Treplev. One of the characters in The Seagull complains about a play within the play that "nothing happens”— a complaint that has been repeated by critics of Chekhov’s later plays. In them, he turns away from conventions like the love plot, the climactic final gunshot, even the main character; instead Chekhov explores “the drama of the undramatic.” [1] Like life itself, Chekhov’s plots generally lack resolution. The loaded pistol of his famous aphorism provides an example. In Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, the pistols go off, and if the first one wounds Lovborg in an unexpected way, the second provides a suitably dramatic climax. By contrast, in The Seagull, Konstantin attempts suicide between the first and second acts, and then finally succeeds in killing himself in the last scene. In Uncle Vanya, written a year later, Vanya wants to kill his brother-in-law Professor Serebriakov, a charlatan who has consumed all the money the family estate can produce. As Vanya complains, “For twenty-five years he’s been regurgitating other people’s ideas about realism, naturalism, all that bullshit.” At the end of the third act, Vanya, infuriated with the Professor, shoots at him twice, but misses. The shots do not result in any climactic action. Nothing changes. As Vanya observes in the fourth act, “Funny, isn’t it? I try to kill someone, nobody calls the police, nobody arrests me. Which means you all think I’m crazy.” Vanya thinks of killing himself with a vial of Dr. Astrov’s morphine, but Sonya convinces him to give the morphine back. The Professor and his second wife return to Moscow, and everything on the estate returns to normal, except that the characters are more disillusioned than ever. In his last work, The Cherry Orchard, a minor character boasts in the second act, “I always carry a loaded pistol.” He brandishes the weapon too. Yet, as Chekhov announced proudly, “There’s not a single pistol-shot in the whole play.” [2] Chekhov’s plays move away from the focus on a central heroic figure. Instead of heroes or villains, the later plays tend to feature ensemble casts of characters who are neither particularly good nor particularly bad. In Three Sisters, the sisters are indeed heroines, but their actions are not typically heroic. Mainly, they endure. Throughout the play, the sisters dream of escaping their country estate and going to Moscow. Irina begs to be allowed to go at the end of the second and third acts. Gradually, however, their brother gambles away the family fortune, and at the end of the play the oldest, Olga, realizes: “of course, I’ll never get to Moscow….” As Richard Gilman has observed, the sisters’ waiting to go to Moscow resembles the Vladimir and Estragon’s waiting in Samuel Beckett ’s Waiting for Godot (1952), written half a century later. Beckett’s novel, The Unnamable(1953), would end with the line “you must go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.” Chekhov sounds the same theme of endurance. At the end of Uncle Vanya, Sonya recognizes that nothing in her life or her uncle’s will change and says: “You and I, Uncle Vanya, we have to go on living. The days will be slow, and the nights will be long, but we’ll take whatever fate sends us.” At the end of Three Sisters, Masha says “we have to go on living.” Like the realists and naturalists (and unlike his character Konstantin), Chekhov claims to represent the world as it is, without moral judgments. Most of the climactic action in his works takes place offstage, often before the beginning of the play. What takes center stage is conversation. Not exactly, as Irina puts it in The Seagull, “one long speech,” however; in Chekhov’s plays there are many short speeches and many long silences, only occasionally punctuated by a longer monologue. Characters who do make lengthy speeches, about the environment, or the problem of work, or the future of Russia, usually retract or ironize them. Chekhov’s characters often talk past each other, as if they are not hearing one another. Some, like the old butler Firs, in The Cherry Orchard, are in fact deaf. Chekhov defended the dialogue in his plays on realistic grounds: “Things on stage should be as complicated and yet as simple as in life. People dine, just dine, while their happiness is made and their lives are smashed.” [3] Here, Chekhov claimed to be exposing the drama of everyday life, and he does so, but at the same time the effect of non-sequitur in his speeches prefigures the later absurdist plays of Samuel Beckett or Eugène Ionesco. Throughout Chekhov’s plays, any sort of resolution, comic or tragic, is deferred; he often presents courtships that go nowhere, instead of a conventional love plot. In The Cherry Orchard, the characters expect the successful businessman Lopakhin, the son and grandson of serfs, to propose to Varya, the adopted daughter of impoverished aristocrats. Yet, every time he is left alone with her he seems uneasy. By the end of the play, the family estate is sold to Lopakhin, and Chekhov seems to leave two possibilities open: a comic resolution in which Lopakhin marries Varya and the estate stays in the family, or a tragic one, in which the estate is destroyed for the sake of real estate development (a theme from Ibsen’s Master Builder). Yet, Chekhov resists every opportunity to dramatize this ending. Lopakhin meets with Varya, but instead of proposing he comments on the weather. Uncle Gayev plans to make a speech about the significance of the occasion, but the others dissuade him from speaking. In the final scene, while axes are heard chopping down the orchard offstage, the comic figure Firs reappears; elderly and ill, he has been left behind by the family, who thought he had been taken to an old age home. He has been locked in the house, which is soon to be demolished. So, he lies down on the stage and waits—for someone to come back, or simply for death to come get him. The scene can be played tragically, but it works better as farce. This is one reason why Chekhov insisted on calling the play a comedy. The Cherry Orchard does not resolve itself in marriage, like a conventional comedy, but it deploys farce to come to terms with the modern failure of resolution. For this reason, Chekhov complained about the lugubrious naturalistic staging of his plays at Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Moscow Art Theater, even though these performances made Chekhov famous. Although Chekhov’s representation of passing time, boredom, and silence can be justified in realist or naturalist terms, his plays continually gesture beyond the naturalistic theater, portending the disruption of naturalism in the twentieth century. [4] ↑ Richard Gilman, The Making of Modern Drama (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Girous, 1974), p. 120. ↑ Quoted in James McFarlane, “Intimate Theatre: Maeterlinck to Strindberg,” Modernism 1890-1930, p. 519. ↑ Ilia Gurlyand, “Reminiscences of A. P. Chekhov,” quoted in Donald Rayfield, Anton Chekhov: A Life (Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1997), p. 203. ↑ This page has been adapted from Pericles Lewis's Cambridge Introduction to Modernism (Cambridge UP, 2007), pp. 184-187.

i don't know

Truman Capote wrote about Breakfast at which place?

Mansion where Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's sells for record $12million | Daily Mail Online Mansion where Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's sells for record $12million comments The house in New York where Truman Capote wrote some of his most famous works has been sold for around $12million. It is the most expensive house ever sold in Brooklyn - but the price is nonetheless disappointing for the realtors, who were hoping it would fetch closer to $18million. The appeal of the 11-bedroom mansion is strengthened by its status as the place where Capote hammered out his novella Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1958. Celebrity status: This house in Brooklyn Heights has been brought by the Rockstar Games co-founder for $12.5million Colourful: The golden-yellow house has an extensive back garden, a rarity for New York That work became world-famous when it was adapted into a film starring Audrey Hepburn as the mysterious Holly Golightly. RELATED ARTICLES Share However, the house's attractions are not limited to its celebrity past. It has been described as the best house in Brooklyn's best neighbourhood, Brooklyn Heights, and the agent handling the sale described it as 'like living in a country estate in the middle of New York City'. Pricey: The house is believed to be the most expensive ever sold in Brooklyn Celebrity: Author Truman Capote lived in part of the house for a decade, from 1955 to 1965 Inspiration: While living in the house Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's, later adapted into a film featuring Audrey Hepburn's iconic performance as the mysterious Holly Golightly As well as the huge number of bedrooms, the house - built in 1839 - has 11 fireplaces, parking for four cars and an extensive garden, and is decorated with crystal chandeliers. If it were located in a trendy Manhattan neighbourhood, it would be worth tens of millions of dollars. But after being listed by Sotheby's at $18million in May 2010, the luxurious home took nearly two years to be sold, and lost a third of its estimated value during that time. Now it has finally changed hands after being picked up for a relative bargain by an unidentified buyer. Luxurious: This is just one of the 11 fireplaces installed in the house's 11 bedrooms Kitchen: Another impressive feature of the Brooklyn Heights house, which was built in 1839 Capote rented an apartment in the house from 1955 to 1965, after persuaded its owner, Broadway set designer Oliver Smith, to let him move in. The author held decadent parties there when Smith was out of town. 'You can imagine Capote running around with his slippers on,' Brooklynite screenwriter Peter Hedges told the Daily News. Bargain: The house was eventually sold to Dan Houser for just two thirds of the $18million asking price Haven: The garden will give Houser a refuge from the hustle and bustle of New York City

Tiffany & Co.

On a computer keyboard which letter on the same line is immediately right of the O?

Breakfast at Tiffany's: Truman Capote: 9780679745655: Literature: Amazon Canada By Deidre Shellworth on March 28 2006 Format: Paperback We've all seen the movie, but very few of us have read the book. I finally read it, and, boy, am I glad I did. It is so good. People always say that the book is better than the movie--no matter what the book or movie is. I generally say that they are two different mediums and cannot be compared: apples and oranges. In the case of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S, the two (the book and the movie) are actually very close, but the book will give you insight that the movie won't. Read it. Enjoy it. It's true, Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard are fabulous in the film. But the novel is a masterpiece. Capote writes an exquisite tale about the most endearing characters that I have ever met. Indeed, the novel reveals such a deep complexity in Holly's character, that I stop seeing Hepburn in the title role while reading the book. Instead, a new Holly emerged that is much more than the beautiful party girl that we know and love from the film. Her outward appearance of independence and vivaciousness conceals a deeply confused person with a troubled past that she is determined to defeat. Must also recommend the book KATZENJAMMER by Jackson McCrae (who is greatly influenced by Capote)-this is a hoot! 5 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By ELI (Italy) TOP 500 REVIEWER on Sept. 6 2009 Format: Paperback A young lady's hectic life in New York in the 1940's. A beautiful, unpredictable 19 year-old living life to the fullest, from one party to the next, breaking hearts here & there, in short, quite a tease. A strong character indeed, with a hidden fragility coming from an obscure past, a past that she does not want to share with anyone. Meet Holly Golightly, Travelling. She is here depicted by one of her previous neighbours, a young writer with whom she shared quite a few adventures and a strong bond. Holly doesn't seem to have peace, she is forever on her way out, dazzling, attractive. A young woman of the world, well known by New York socialites and not only. Some of her connections are questionable and will they get her into trouble? That is for you to find out. I loved the narrative. My first book by Truman Capote, better late than never (I had seen the film but could not remember it) and a real discovery. Simple, elegant, to the point, funny and sad simultaneously, conveying Holly's character in a perfect way. I was expecting a heart-breaking love story but this was not it. It was more than that. Strong, fragile Holly (probably still travelling) is a very likeable personage. The other characters including the narrator, mostly in the background, also find a perfect niche to complement the novel. It was an interesting choice by the author that she was depicted in an era when most ladies' place was at home. Independent, not caring a bit about being "judged". Looking for love? Looking for "something"? Is that why she is forever running around? Well, as long as she can relax with breakfast at Tiffany's, all is ok. Read this book, a few delightful pages (it's very short) that will leave you hanging in there for an answer. 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By Marinela Matei on June 28 2013 Format: Paperback Verified Purchase I read this book more than...25 years ago and re-read it about ten times since. I still don't know it by heart and that's why I keep reading it maybe...it gives me pleasure every time. I already wrote that I absolutely hated the movie that was made many years ago with the same title, but not the same theme nor subject. They both, book and film, had the same object though: this girl, hardly a woman, Holly Golightly. Let's make it clear once again for those in love with the movie: there is no love story in this book because it wasn't supposed to be one. The narrator never had a romance with Holly; they were only friends. Yes, they were good friends, but never lovers. It is not said or implied in the book, but the narrator, just like the author of the book, Capote, was gay. Always. Of course that Truman had lady friends and he knew women better than themselves. He loved some, but was never anything other than a friend for them, just as the narrator, "Fred", was for Holly in the book. That's why the book is great and the movie is just another typical Hollywood soapy soup. Last time when I read the book, a few months ago, I wanted to see why I liked it so much and why I was going back to it all the time. I found that, reading it in an unforgiving mood, Holly sometimes seemed "too" original, too paradoxical, too artificial and "too" intentionally and calculated all of these. Like Truman intentionally put together this character in order to vex, to shock, to enchant. He did succeed and Holly is all that I mentioned and much more. In fact this feeling that she's not what she wants people to believe she is and the fact that she is not quite masterful in dissimulating her true self are part of her rich, ineffable nature. Her so called agent, O.J. Read more › One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again. By Jeffrey Swystun TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on June 22 2015 Format: Paperback It took me fifty years to get around to reading this classic. I now look forward to rereading it. The prose is both dense and sparse. Each word is carefully chosen and strung together to form amazing passages. Here are a few favourites... - "What I found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany's. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there, not with those kind men in their nice suits, and that lovely smell of silver and alligator wallets. If I could find a real-life place that made me feel like Tiffany's, then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name." - "She was a triumph over ugliness, so often more beguiling than real beauty, if only because it contains paradox. In this case, as opposed to the scrupulous method of plain good taste and scientific grooming, the trick had been worked by exaggerating defects; she'd made them ornamental by admitting them boldly." - “I loved her enough to forget myself, my self pitying despairs, and be content that something she thought happy was going to happen.” - "Reading dreams. That's what started her walking down the road. Every day she'd walk a little further: a mile, and come home. Two miles, and come home. One day she just kept on.” The book is more direct and grittier than the impression formed by the movie which is such a dominant piece of (pop) culture. I believe Audrey Hepburn was miscast. Holly Golightly is an 'American Geisha' and like anyone who plies that trade tends to fool themselves about the profession while developing a hard, near jaded personality. In Capote's own words, "Holly Golightly was not precisely a call girl. Read more › One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback... Thank you for your feedback. Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again.

i don't know

Abyssinia has become known as what?

Abyssinia (Ethiopia) Abyssinia (now known as: Ethiopia) ABYSSINIA is an extensive country of Eastern Africa, the limits of which are not well defined, and authorities be regarded as lying between 7° 30' and 15° 40' N. lat., and 35° and 40° 30' E. long., having, N. and N.W., Nubia; E., the territory of the Danakils; S; the country of the Gallas; and W., the regions of the Upper Nile [Footnote 61-1]. It has an area of about 200,000 square miles, and a population of from 3,000,000 to 4,000,000. The name Abyssinia, or more properly Habessinia, is derived from the Arabic word Habesch, which signifies mixture or confusion, and was applied to this country by the Arabs on account of the mixed character of the people. This was subsequently Latinised by the Portuguese into Abassia and Abassinos, and hence the present name. The Abyssinians call themselves Itiopyavan, and their country Itiopia, or Manghesta Itiopia, the kingdom of Ethiopia. Sketch Map of Abyssinia (Date: c. 1875) The country of Abyssinia rises rather abruptly from the low arid district on the borders of the Red Sea in lofty ranges of mountains, and slopes away more gradually to the westward, where the tributaries of the Nile have formed numerous deep valleys. It consists for the most part of extensive and elevated table-lands, with mountain ranges extending in different directions, and intersected by numerous valleys. The table-lands are generally from 6000 to 9000 feet above the level of the sea, but in the south there are some of considerable extent, which attain a height of more than 10,000 feet. The mountains in various parts of the country rise to 12,000 and 13,000 feet above the sea, and some of the peaks of Samen are said to reach to 15,000 feet, and to be always covered with snow. The average height of the range which divides the streams flowing to the east from those that flow westward is about 8000 feet, rising to 10,000 or 11,000 in the south, and sinking in the north. The whole country presents the appearance of having been broken up and tossed about in a remarkable manner, the mountains assuming wild and fantastic forms, with sides frequently abrupt and precipitous, and only accessible by very difficult passes. The Samen range of mountains are the highest in Abyssinia, and together with the Lamalmon and Lasta, mountains form a long but not continuous chain, running from north to south. The principal rivers of Abyssinia are tributaries of the Nile. The western portion of the country may be divided into three regions, drained respectively by the Mareb, the Atbara, and the Abai. The most northern of these rivers is the Mareb, which rises in the mountains of Taranta, flows first south, then west, and afterwards turns to the north, where it is at length, after a course of upwards of 500 miles, lost in the sand, but in the rainy season it falls into the Atbara. The Atbara, or Takazza, rises in the mountains of Lasta, and flowing first north, then west, and again turning to the north, at length falls into the Nile, after a course of about 800 miles. The Abai, Bahr-el-Azrek or Blue River, the eastern branch of the Nile, an considered by Bruce ot be the main stream of that river, rises from two mountains near Geesh, in lat. 10° 59' 25" N., long. 36° 55' 30" E., about 10,000 feet above the level of the sea. It flows first north to the Lake of Dembea or Tzana, then takes a long semicircular sweep round the province of Godjam, and afterwards flows northward to about the 15th degree of N. lat., where it unites with the Bahr-el-Abiad, which has now been ascertained to be the true Nile. The Hawash, the principal river of eastern Abyssinia, rises about lat. 9° 30' N., long 38° E., and, flowing in a north-easterly direction towards the Red Sea, is lost in Lake Aussa, lat. 11° 25' N., 41 40° E. The principal lake of Abyssinia is the Dembea, which lies between 11° 30' and 12° 30' N. lat., and 37° and 37° 35' E. long., being about 60 miles in length by 40 in width, and containing a number of small islands. It is fed by numerous small streams. The lake of Ashangi, in lat. 12° 35' N., long. 39° 40' E., is about 4 miles long by 3 broad, and upwards of 8000 feet above the sea. Street in Debark, northern Ethiopia, near the Siemien mountain The fundamental rocks of Tigre, and probably of all Abyssinia, are metamorphic. They compose the mass of the table-land, and while they occupy no inconsiderable portion of its surface, they are exposed, in Tigre at least, in every deep valley. The metamorphics vary greatly in mineral character, "every intermediate grade being found between the most coarsely crystalline granite and a slaty rock so little altered that the lines of the original bedding are still apparent. Perhaps the most prevalent form of rock is a rather finely crystalline gneiss. Hornblende-schist and mica-schist are met with, but neither of the minerals from which the are named appears to be so abundant as in some metamorphic tracts. On the other hand, a compact felspathic rock, approaching felsite in composition, is prevalent in places, as in the Suru defile, between Komayli and Senafe." There are a few exceptions, but as a general rule it may be asserted that in the neighbourhood of the route followed by the British army, so much of the country as is more than 8000 feet above the sea consists of bedded traps, and this is probably the case in general over Abyssinia. "Between the traps and the metamorphics a series of sandstones and limestones intervene, one group of the former underlying the latter. The limestone alone is fossiliferous, and is of Jurassic age." "On the route to Magdala volcanic rocks were first met with at Senafe, where several hills consist of trachyte, passing into claystone and basalt. Trap hills, chiefly of trachyte, are dotted over the country to the southward as far as Fokada, a distance of nearly 30 miles. Here a great range of bedded traps commences, and extends for about 25 miles to the south, passing to the west of Adigerat." At Meshek, two marches south of Antalo, "the route entered high ranges entirely composed of trap, and thence no other rocks were seen as far as Magdala." "The trappers rocks belong to two distinct and unconformable groups. The lower of these is much inclined, while the higher rests on its upturned and denuded edges." Denudation has evidently been going on to a great extent in this country. One of its most striking features are the deep ravines which have been worked out by the action of the streams, sometimes to the depth of 3000 or 4000 feet. "How much of the Abyssinian highlands has been removed by these great torrents, and spread as an alluvial deposit over the basin of the Nile?" "Probably over the whole of northern Abyssinia there existed at least 4000 feet of bedded traps, of which now only a few vestiges remain." -- W.T. Blanford. Abyssinia is said to enjoy "probably as salubrious a climate as any country on the face of the globe." -- Parkyns. The heat is by no means oppressive, a fine light air counteracting the power of the sun; and during the rainy season, the sky being cloudy, the weather is always agreeable and cool, while the rain itself is not very severe. In certain of the low valleys, however, malarious influences prevail before and after the rainy season, and bring on dangerous fevers. On the higher parts the cold is sometimes intense, particularly at night. The natural division of the seasons is into a cold, a hot, and a rainy season. The cold season may be said to extend from October to February, the hot from the beginning of March to the middle of June, and the wet or monsoon period from this time to the end of September. The rainy season is of importance, not only in equalizing the temperature, increasing the fertility, and keeping up the water supply of the country but, as Sir S. Baker has shown, it plays a most important part in the annual overflow of the Nile. Landscape with wooden huts in Ethiopia On the summits and slopes of the highest mountains the vegetation is of a thoroughly temperate and even English character; the plateaux have a flora of the same character; while on the lower slopes of the hills and in the ravines occur many trees and shrubs of warmer climes. "The general appearance of the plateaux and plains is that of a comparatively bare country, with trees and bushes thinly scattered over it, and clumps and groves only occurring round villages and churches. But the glens and ravines in the plateau sides, each with its little bright spring, are often thickly wooded, and offer a delicious contrast to the open country." -- Markham. This refers more particularly to the northern portion of the country, that drained by the Mareb; the central and southern parts are much more fertile and productive. Here the fertility is so great that in some parts three crops are raised annually. Agriculture receives considerable attention, and large quantities of maize, wheat, barley, peas, beans, &c., are grown. Very extensively cultivated is teff (Poa abyssinica), a herbaceous plant with grains not larger than the head of a pin, of which is made the bread in general use throughout the country. The low grounds produce also a kind of corn called tocussa, of which a black bread is made, which constitutes the food of the lower classes. Coffee grows wild on the western mountains, and the vine and sugar-cane are cultivated in favourable localities. Cotton is also grown to a considerable extent. Among the fruit-trees are the date, orange, lemon, pomegranate, and banana. Myrrh, balsam, and various kinds of valuable medicinal plants are common. Most of the domestic animals of Europe are found here. The cattle are in general small, and the oxen belong to the humped race. The famous Galla oxen have horns sometimes four feet long. The sheep belong to the short and fat-tailed race, and are covered with wool. Goats are very common, and have sometimes horns two feet in length. The horses are strong and active. Of wild animals the spotted hyaena is among the most numerous, as well as the fiercest and most destructive, not only roaming in immense numbers over the country, but frequently entering the towns, and even the houses of the inhabitants. The elephants and rhinoceros are numerous in the low grounds. The Abyssinian rhinoceros has two horns; its skin, which has no folds, is used for shields, and for lining drinking vessels, being regarded as an antidote to poison. Crocodiles and hippopotami are plentiful in the rivers; lions, panthers, and leopards are seen occasionally, and buffaloes frequently. Among other animals may be mentioned as common various species of antelopes, wild swine, monkeys, hares, squirrels, several species of hyrax, jackals, &c. The birds of Abyssinia are very numerous, and many of them remarkable for the beauty of their plumage. Great numbers of eagles, vultures, hawks, and other birds of prey are met with; and partridges, snipes, pigeon, parrots, thrushes, and swallows are very plentiful. Among insects the most numerous and useful is the bee, honey everywhere constituting an important part of the food of the inhabitants, and several of the provinces paying a large proportion of their tribute in this article. Of an opposite class is the locust, the ravages of which here, as in other parts of Northern Africa, are terrible. Serpents are not numerous, but several species are poisonous. The inhabitants of Abyssinia form a number of different tribes, and evidently belong to several distinct races. The majority are of the Caucasian race, and are in general well-formed and handsome, with straight or somewhat curled, and colour dark olive, approaching to black. Tuppell regards them as identical in features with the Bedouin. The tribes inhabiting Tigre, Amhara, Agow, &c., belong to this race. The Galla race, who came originally from the south, have now overrun the greater part of the country, constituting a large portion of the soldiery, and indeed, there are few of the chiefs who have not an intermixture of Galla blood in their veins. They are fierce and turbulent in character, and addicted to cruelty. Many of them are still idolaters, but most of them have now adopted the Mohammedan faith, and not a few of them the Christianity of the Abyssinians. They are generally large and well-built, of a brown complexion, with regular features, small deeply-sunk but very bright eyes, and long black hair. A race of Jews, known by the name of Falashas, inhabit the district of Samen. They affirm that their forefathers came into the country in the days of Rehoboam, but it seems more probable that they arrived about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. From the 10th century they enjoyed their own constitutional rights, and w ere subject to their own kings, who, they pretend, were descended from King David, until the year 1800, when the royal race became extinct, and they then became subject to Tigre. St. George Church in Bet Giorgis, Lalibela, Ethiopia. This church was built in the 12th century A.D. and was rock-hewn (that is, constructed by hewing out all pieces of stone not needed). The prevailing religion of Abyssinia is a very corrupted form of Christianity. This is professed by the majority of the people, as well as by the reigning princes of the different states. There are also scattered over the country many Mohammendans, and some Falashas or Jews. Christianity was introduced into this country about the year 330, but since that time it has been so corrupted by errors of various kinds as to have become little more than a dead formality mixed up with much superstition and Judaism. Feasts and fast-days are very frequent, and baptism and the Lord's supper are dispensed after the manner of the Greek Church. The children are circumcised, and the Mosaic commandments with respect to food and purification are observed. The eating of animals which do not chew the cud and which have not cloven hoofs is prohibited. The ecclesiastical body is very numerous consisting of priests of various kinds, with monks and nuns, and is looked upon with great awe and reverence. If a priest be married previous to his ordination, he is allowed to remain so; but no one can marry after having entered the priesthood. The primate or chief bishop is called Abuna (i.e., our father), and is nominated by the patriarch of Cairo, whom they acknowledge as their spiritual father. The churches are rude edifices, chiefly of a circular form, with thatched roofs, the interior being divided into three compartments, - an outer one for the laity, one within for the priests, and in the centre the Holy of Holies, exactly after the manner of a Jewish temple. The worship consists merely in reading passages of Scripture and dispensing the Lord's supper, without any preaching. Like the Greek Church, they have no images of any kind in their places of worship, but paintings of the saints are very common-their faces always in full, whatever may be the position of their bodies. They have innumerable saints, but above all is the Virgin, whom they regard as queen of heaven and earth, and the great intercessor for the sins of mankind. Their reverence for a saint is often greater than for the Almighty, and a man who would not hesitate to invoke the name of his Maker in witness to a falsehood may decline so to use the name of St Michael or St George. Legends of saints and works of religious controversy form almost their entire literature. "At present," says Bishop Gobat, "the Christians of Abyssinia are divided into three parties, so inimical to each other that they curse one another, and will no longer partake of the sacrament together. It is one single point of theology that disunites them-the unceasing dispute concerning the unction of Jesus Christ." In manners the Abyssinians are rude and barbarous. Engaged as they are in continual wars, and accustomed to bloodshed, human life is little regarded among them. Murders and executions are frequent, and yet cruelty is said not to be a marked feature of their character; and in war they seldom kill their prisoners. When one is convicted of murder, he is handed over to the relatives of the deceased, who may either put him to death or accept a ransom. When the murdered person has no relatives, the priests take upon themselves the office of avengers. The Abyssinians are irritable, but easily appeased; and are a gay people, fond of festive indulgences. On every festive occasion, as a saint's day, birth, marriage, &c., it is customary for a rich man to collect his friends and neighbours, and kill a cow and one or two sheep. The principal parts of the cow are eaten raw while yet warm and quivering, the remainder being cut into small pieces, and cooked with the favourite sauce of butter and red pepper paste. The raw meat in this way is considered to be very superior in taste and much tenderer than when cold. "I can readily believe," says Mr Parkyns, "that raw meat would be preferred to cooked meat by a man who from childhood had been accustomed to it." The statement by Bruce respecting the cutting of steaks from a live cow has frequently been called in question, but there can be no doubt that Bruce actually saw what he narrates, though it would appear to have been a very exceptional case. Mr Parkyns was told by a soldier, "that such a practice was not uncommon among the Gallas, and evenoccasionally occurred among themselves, when, as in the case Bruce relates, a cow had been stolen or taken in foray." The principal drinks are mese, a kind of mead, and bousa, a sort of beer made from fermented cakes. Their dress consists of a large folding mantle and close-fitting drawers; and their houses are very rude structures of a conical form, covered with thatch. Marriage is a very slight connection among them, dissolvable at any time by either of the parties; and polygamy is by no means uncommon. Hence there is little family affection, and what exists is only among children of the same father and mother. Children of the same father, but of different mothers, are aid to be "always enemies to each other." -- Gobat. Abyssinia is one of the most ancient monarchies in the world, and has been governed from time immemorial by an emperor. For many years, however, until the accession of the late Emperor Theodore, he had been a mere puppet in the hands of one or other of his chiefs. Each chief is entire master of all sources of revenue within his territory, and has practically full power of life and death. His subjection consists in an obligation to send from time to time presents to his superior, and to follow him to war with as large a force as he can muster. For several generations the emperor had been little better than a prisoner in his palace at Gondar, his sole revenue consisting of a small stipend and the tolls of the weekly markets of that city, the real power being in the hands of the ras or vizier of the empire, who was always the most powerful chief for the time. If at any time a chief "has found himself strong enough to march upon the capital, he has done so, placed upon the throne another puppet emperor, and been by him appointed ras or vizier, till a rival stronger than himself could turn him out and take his place." -- Dr Beke. The three principal provinces of Abyssinia are Tigre in the north, Amhara (in which Gondar the capital is situated) in the centre, and Shoa in the south. The governors of these have all at different times assumed the title of Ras. Three other provinces of some importance are Lasta and Waag, whose capital is Sokota; (Godjam, to the south of Lake Dembea; and Kivara, to the west of that lake, the birth-place of the Emperor Theodore. The two provinces of Tigre and Shoa have generally been in a state of rebellion from or acknowledged independence of the central power at Gondar. The geographical position of Tigre enhances its political importance, as it lies between Gondar and the sea at Massowah, and thus holds as it were the gate of the capital. The province of Shoa is almost separated from that of Amhara by the Wolla Gallas, a Mohammedan tribe, and for a long time the former had been virtually independent, and governed by a hereditary line of princes, to one of whom the Indian government sent a special embassy under Major Harris in 1841. The principal towns are Gondar in Amhara, the former capital of the kingdom, and containing about 7000 inhabitants, and Debra Tabor in Amhara, formerly a small village, but which rose to be a place of considerable size in consequence of the Emperor Theodore having fixed upon it as his residence, and near it was Gaffat, where the European workmen resided. It was burned by the emperor when he set out on his fatal march to Magdala. Adowa is the capital of Tigre, and the second city in the empire, having about 6000 inhabitants. Antalo is also one of the principal towns of Tigre, and the capital of Enderta. Near Antalo is Chelicut. Sokota, the capital of Lasts Waag, is a town of considerable size. The capital of Shoa is Ankobar, and near it is Angolala, also a place of considerable size. The capital of Agame is Adigerat. The language of the religion and literature of the country is the Geez, which belongs to the Ehtiopic class of languages, and is the ancient language of Tigre, of this the modern Tigre is a dialect. The Amharic, the language of Amhara, is that of the court, the array, and the merchants, and is that too which travelers who penetrate beyond Tigre have ordinarily occasion to use. But the Agow in its various dialects is the language of the people in some provinces almost exclusively, and in others, where it has been superseded by the language of the dominant race, it still exists among the lowest classes. This last is believed to be the original language of the people; and from the affinity of the Geez, Amharic, and cognate dialects, to the Arabic, it seems probable that they were introduced by conquerors or settlers from the opposite shores of the Red Sea. The Gallas, who have overrun a great part of Abyssinia, have introduced their own language into various parts of the country, but in many cases they have adopted the language of the people among whom they have come. The literature of Abyssinia is very poor, and contains nothing of much value. During the late war the libraries in connection with the religious communities were found to contain only modern works of little interest. On the capture of Magdala, a large number of MSS. were found there, which had been brought by Theodore from Gondar and other parts. Of these 359 were brought home for examination, and are now deposited in the British Museum. The oldest among them belong to the 15th and 16th centuries, but the great bulk of them are of the 17th and 18th, and some are of the present century. They are mostly copies of the Holy Scriptures, canonical and apocryphal, including the Book of Enoch, prayer and hymn books, missals, lives of saints, and translations of various of the Greek fathers. The trade and manufactures of Abyssinia are insignificant, the people being chiefly engaged in agriculture and pastoral pursuits. Cotton cloths, the universal dress of the country, are made in large quantities. The preparation of leather and parchment is also carried on to some extent, and manufactures of iron and bras. "The Abyssinians are, I think," says Mr Markham, "capable of civilization. Their agriculture is good, their manufactures are not to be despised; but the combined effects of isolation, Galla inroads, and internal anarchy, have thrown them back for centuries." The foreign trade of Abyssinia is carried on entirely through Massowah. Its principal imports are lead, tin, copper, silk, gunpowder, glass wares, Persian, carpets, and coloured cloths. The chief exports are gold, ivory, slaves, coffee, butter, honey, and wax. Abyssinia, or at least the northern portion of it, was included in the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia. The connection between Egypt and Ethiopia was in early times very intimate, and occasionally the two countries were under the same ruler, so that the arts and civilization of the one naturally found their way into the other. In early, times, too, the Hebrews had commercial intercourse with the Ethiopeans; and according to the Abyssinians, the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon, was a monarch of their country, and from her son Menilek the kings of Abyssinia are descended. During the captivity many of the Jews settled here, and brought with them a knowledge of the Jewish religion. Under the Ptolemies, the arts as well as the enterprise of the Greeks entered Ethiopia, and led to the establishment of Greek colonies. A Greek inscription at Adulis, no longer extant, but copied by Cosmos, and preserved in his Topographia Christiana, records that Ptolemy Euergetes, the third of the Greek dynasty in Egypt, invaded the countries on both sides of the Red Sea, and, having reduced most of the provinces of Tigre to subjection, returned to the port of Adulis and there offered sacrifices to Jupiter, Mars, and Neptune. Another inscription, not so ancient, found at Axum, and copied by Salt and others, states that Aeizanas, king of the Axomites, the Homerites, &c., conquered the nation of the Bogos, and returned thanks to his father, the god Mars, for his victory. The ancient kingdom of Auxume flourished in the first or second century of our era, and was at one time nearly coextensive with the modern Abyssinia. The capital Auxume and the seaport Adulis were then the chief centres of the trade with the interior of Africa in gold dust, ivory, leather, aromatics, &c. At Axum, the site of the ancient capital, many vestiges of its former greatness still exist; and the ruins of Adulis, which was once seaport on the Bay of Annesley, are now about 4 miles from the shore. Christianity was introduced into the country by frumentius, who was consecrated first bishop of Abyssinia by St Athanasius of Alexandria about A.D. 330. Subsequnetly the monastic system was introduced, and between 470 and 480 a great company of monks appear to have entered and established themselves in the country. Since that time of Monachism has been a power among the people, and not without its influence on the course of events. In 522 the king of the Homerites, on the opposite coast of the Red Sea, having persecuted the Christians, the Emperor Justinian requested the king of Abyssinia, Caleb or Elesbaan, to avenge their cause. He accordingly collected an army, crossed over into Arabia, and conquered Yemen, which remained subject to Abyssinia for 67 years. This was the most flourishing period in the annals of the country. The Ethiopians possessed the richest part of Arabia, carried on a large trade, which extended as far as India and Ceylon, and were in constant communication with the Greek empire. Their expulsion from Arabia, followed by the conquest of Egypt by the Mohammedans in the middle of the 7th century, changed this state of affairs, and the continued advances of the followers of the Prophet at length cut them off from almost every means of communication with the civilized world' so that, as Gibbon says, "encompassed by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept for near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten." About A.D. 960, a Jewish princes, Judith, conceived the bloody design of murdering all the members of the royal family, and of establishing herself in their stead. During the execution of this project, the infant king was carried off by some faithful adherents, and conveyed to Shoa, where his authority was acknowledged, while Judith reigned for 40 years over the rest of the kingdom, and transmitted the crown to her descendants. In 1268 the kingdom was restored to the royal house in the person of Icon Imlac. Towards the close of the 15th century the Portuguese missions into Abyssinia commenced. A belief had long prevailed in Europe of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the far east, whose monarch was known as Prester John, and various expeditions had been sent in quest of it. Among others who had engaged in this search was Pedro de Covilham, who arrived in Abyssinia in 1490, and, believing that he had at length reached the far-famed kingdom, presented to the Negus, or emperor of the country, a letter from his master the king of Portugal, addressed to Prester John. Covilham remained in the country, but in 1507 an Armenian named Matthew was sent by the Negus to the king of Portugal to request his aid against the Turks. In 1520 a Portuguese fleet, with Matthew on board, entered the Red Sea in compliance with his request, and an embassy from the fleet visited the country of the Negus, and remained there for about six years. One of this embassy was Father Alvarez, from whom we have the earliest and not the least interesting account of the country. Between 1528 and 1540 armies of Mohammedans, under the renowned general Mohammed Gragn, entered Abyssinia from the low country, and overran the kingdom, obliging the emperor to take refuge in the mountain fastnesses. In this extremity recourse was again had to the Portuguese, and Bermudez, who had remained in the country after the departure of the embassy, was ordained successor to the Abuna, and sent on this mission. In consequence a Portuguese fleet, under the command of Stephen de Gama, was sent from India and arrived at Massowah. A force of 450 musqueteers, under the commandof Christopher de Gama, younger brother of the admiral, marched into the interior, and being joined by native troops were at first successful against the Turks, but were subsequently defeated, and their commander taken prisoner and put to death. Soon afterwards, however, Mohammed Gragn was shot in an engagement and his forces totally routed. After this, quarrels arose between the Negus and the catholic primate Bermudez, who wished the former publicly to profess himself a convert to Rome. This the Negus refused to do, and at length Bermudez was obliged to make his way out of the country. The Jesuits who had accompanied or followed Bermudez into Abyssinia, and fixed their head-quarters at Fremona, were oppressed and neglected, but not actually expelled. In the beginning of the following century Father Paez arrived at Fremona, a man of great tact and judgment, who soon rose into high favour at court, and gained over the emperor to his faith. He directed the erection of churches, palaces, and bridges in different parts of the country, and carried out many useful works. His successor Mendez was a man of much less conciliatory manners, and the feelings of the people became more strongly excited against the intruders, till at length, on the death of the Negus, and the accession of his son Facilidas in 1633, they were all sent out of the country, after having had a footing there for nearly a century and a half. The French physician Poncet, who went there is 1698, was the only European that afterwards visited the country before Bruce in 1769. It was about the middle of the 16th century that the Galla tribes first entered Abyssinia from the south; and notwithstanding frequent efforts to dislodge them, they gradually extended and strengthened their positions till they had overrun the greater part of the country. The power of the emperor was thus weakened, independent chiefs set themselves up in different parts, until at length he became little better than a puppet in the hands of themost powerful if his chiefs. In 1805 the country was visited by Lord Valentia and Mr Salt, and again by Salt in 1810. In 1829 Messrs Gobat and Kugler were sent out as missionaries by the Church Missionary Society, and were well received by the Ras of Tigre. Mr Kugler died soon after his arrival, and his place was subsequently supplied by Mr Isenberg, who was followed by Messrs Blumhardt and Krapf. In 1830 Mr Gobat proceeded to Gondar, where he also met with a favourable reception. In 1833 he returned to Europe, and published a journal of his residence here. In the following year he went back to Tigre, but in 1836 he was compelled to leave from ill health. In 1838 other missionaries were obliged to leave the country, owing to the opposition of the native priests. Messrs Isenberg and Krapf went south, and established themselves at Shoa. The former soon after returned to England, and Mr Krapf remained in Shoa till March 1842. Dr Ruppel, the German naturalist, visited the country in 1831, and remained nearly two years. MM. Combes and Tamisier arrived at Massowah in 1835, and visited districts which had not been traversed by Europeans since the time of the Portuguese. In 1839 the French Government sent out a scientific commission under M. Lefebvre. Its labours extended over five years, and have thrown great light on the condition and productions of the country. In 1841 a political mission was sent by the Governor-General of India to Shoa, under the direction of Major Harris, who subsequently published an account of his travels. One who has done much to extend our geographical knowledge of this country is Dr Beke, who was there from 1840 to 1843. Mr Mansfield Parkyns was there from 1843 to 1846, and has written the most interesting book on the country since the time of Bruce. Bishop Gobat having conceived the idea of sending lay missionaries into the country, who would engage in secular occupations as well as carry on missionary work, Dr Krapf and Mr Flad arrived in 1855 as pioneers of that mission. Six came out at first, and they were subsequently joined by others. Their work, however, was more valuable to Theodore than their preaching, so that he employed them as workmen to himself, and established them at Gaffat, near his capital. Mr Stern arrived in Abyssinia in 1860, but returned to Europe, and came back in 1863, accompanied by Mr and Rosenthal. King Theodore Lij Kassa, who came subsequently to be known as the Emperor Theodore, was born in Kuara, a western province of Abyssinia, about the year 1818. his father was of noble family, and his uncle was governor of the provinces of Dembea, Kuara, and Chelga. He was educated in a convent, but, preferring a wandering life, he became leader of a band malcontents. On the death of his uncle he was made governor of Kuara, nut, not satisfied with this, he seized upon Dembea, and having defeated several generals sent against him, peace was restored on his receiving Tavavitch, daughter of Ras Ali, in marriage. This lady is said to have been his good genius and counselor, and during her life his conduct was most exemplary. He next turned his arms against the Turks, but was defeated; and the mother of Ras Ali having insulted him in his fallen condition, he proclaimed his independence. The troops sent against him were successively defeated, and eventually the whole of the possession of Ras Ali fell into his hands. He next defeated the chief of Godjam, and then turned his arms against the governor of Tigre, whom he totally defeated in February 1855. In March of the same year he took the title of Theodore III., and caused himself to be crowned king of Ethiopia by the Abuna. Theodore was now in the zenith of his career. He is described as being generous to excess, free from cupidity, merciful to his vanquished enemies, and strictly continent, but subject to violent bursts of anger, and possessed of unyielding pride and fanatical religious zeal. He was also a man education and intelligence, superior to those among whom he lived, with natural talents for governing, and gaining the esteem of others. He had further a noble bearing and majestic walk, a frame capable of enduring any amount of fatigue, and is said to have been "the best shot, the best spearman, the best runner, and the best horseman in Abyssinia." Had he contented himself with what he now possessed, the sovereignty of Amhara and Tigre, he might have maintained his position; but he was led to exhaust his strength against the galas, which was probably one of the chief causes of his ruin. He obtained several victories over that people, ravaged their country, took possession of Magdala, which he afterwards made his principal stronghold, and enlisted many of the chiefs and their followers in his own ranks. He shortly afterwards reduced the kingdom of Shoa, and took Ankobar, the capital; but in the meantime his own people were groaning under his heavy exactions, rebellions were breaking out in various parts of his provinces, and his good queen was now dead. He lavished vast sums of money upon his army, which at one time amounted to 100,000 or 150,000 fighting men; and in order to meet this expenditure, he was forced to exact exorbitant tributes from his people. The British consul, Plowden, who was strongly attached to Theodore, having been ordered by his Government in 1860 to return to Massowah, was attacked on his way by a rebel named Garred, mortally wounded, and taken prisoner. Theodore attacked the rebels, and in the action the murderer of Mr Plowden was slain by his friend and companion Mr Bell, but the latter lost his life in preserving that of Theodore. The deaths of the two Englishmen were terribly avenged by the slaughter or mutilation of nearly 2000 rebels. Theodore soon after married his second wife Terunish, the proud daughter of the late governor of Tigre, who felt neither affection nor respect for the upstart who had dethroned her father, and the union was by no means a happy one. In 1862 he made a second expedition against the Gallas, which was stained with atrocious cruelties. Theodore had now given himself up to intoxication and lust. When the news of Mr Plowden's death reached England, Captain Cameron was appointed to succeed him as consul, and arrived at Massowah in February 1862. He proceeded to the camp of the king, to whom he presented a rifle, a pair of pistols, and a letter in the Queen's name. In October Captain Cameron was dismissed by Theodore, with a letter to the Queen of England, which reached the Foreign Office on the 12th of February 1863. For some reason or other this letter was put aside and no answer returned, and to this in no small degree is to be attributed the difficulties that subsequently arose with that country. After forwarding the letter, captain Cameron, hearing that the Christians of Bogos had been attacked by the Shangallas and other tribes under Egyptian rule, proceeded to that district, and afterwards went to Kassala, the seat of the Egyptian administration in that quarter. Thence he went to Metemeh, where he was taken ill, and in order to recruit his health he returned to Abyssinia, and reached Jenda in August 1863. In November dispatches were received from England, but no answer to the emperor's letter, and this, together with the consult's visit to Kassala, greatly offended him, and in January 1864 captain Cameron and his suite, with Messrs Stern and Rosenthal, were cast into prison. When the news of this reached England, the Government resolved, when too late, to send an answer to the emperor's letter, and selected Mr Hormuzd Rassam to be its bearer. He arrived at Massowah in July 1864, and immediately dispatched a messenger requesting permission to present himself before the emperor. Neither to this nor a subsequent application was any answer returned till August 1865, when a curt note was received, stating that Consul Cameron had been released, and if Mr Rassam still desired to visit the king, he was to proceed by the route of Metemeh. They reached Metemeh on 21st November, and five weeks more were lost before they heard from the emperor, whose reply was now courteous, informing them that the governors of all the districts through which they had to march had received orders to furnish them with every necessary. They left Metemeh on the 28th December, and on 25th January following arrived at Theodore's camp in Damot. They were received with all honour, and were afterwards sent to Kuareta, on Lake Dembea, there to await the arrival of the captives. The latter reached this on 12th March, and everything appeared to proceed very favourably. A month later they started for the coast, but had not proceeded far when they were all brought back and put into cinfinement. Theodore then wrote a letter to the Queen, requesting European workmen and machinery to be sent to him, and dispatched it by Mr Flad. The Europeans, although detained as prisoners, were not at first unkindly treated; but in the end of June they were sent to Magdala, where they were soon afterwards put in chains. They suffered hunger, cold, and misery, and were in constant fear of death, till the spring of 1868, when they were relieved by the British troops. In the meantime the power of Theodore in the country was rapidly waning. In order to support his vast standing army, the country was drained of its resources: the peasantry abandoned the fertile plains, and took refuge in the fastnesses, and large fertile tracts, remained uncultivated. Rebellions broke out in various parts of the country, and desertions took place among his troops, till his army became little more than a shadow of what it once was. Shoa hadalready shaken off his yoke; Godjam was virtually independent; Walkeit and Samen were under a rebel chief; and Lasta Waag and the country about Lake Ashangi had submitted to Wagsham Gobaze, who had also overrun Tigre, and appointed Dejach Kassai his governor. The latter, however, in 1867 rebelled against his master, and assumed the supreme power of that province, this was the state of matters when the English troops made their appearance in the country. With a view if possible to effect the release of the prisoners by conciliatory measures, Mr Flad was sent back, with some artisans and machinery, and a letter from the Queen, stating that these would be handed over to his Majesty on the release of the prisoners and their return to Massowah. This, however, failed to influence the emperor, and the English Government, at length saw that they must have recourse to arms. In July 1867, therefore, it was resolved to send an army into Abyssinia to enforce the release of the captives, and Sir Robert Napier was appointed commander-in-chief. A reconnoitering party was dispatched beforehand, under Colonel Merewether, to select the landing-place and anchorage, and explore the passes leading into the inerior. They also entered into friendly relations with the different chiefs in order ot secure their co-operation. The landing-place selected was Mulkutto, on Annesley Bay, the point of the coast nearest to the site of the ancient Adulis, and we are told that "the pioneers of the English expedition followed to some extent in the footsteps of the adventurous soldiers of Ptolemy, and met with a few faint traces of this old world enterprise," -- C.R.. Markham. The force amounted to upwards of 16,000 men, besides 12,640 belonging to the transport service, and followers, making in all upwards of 32,000 men. The task to be accomplished was to march over 400 miles of a mountainous and little-known country, inhabited by savage tribes, to the camp or fortress of Theodore, and compel him to deliver up his captives. The commander-in-chief landed on 7th January 1868, and soon after the troops began to move forward through the pass of Senate, and southward through the districts of Agame, Tera, Endarta, Wojerat, Lasta, and Wadela. In the meantime Theodore had been reduced to great straits. His army wasrapidly deserting him, and he could hardly obtain food for his flowers. He resolved to quit his capital Debra Tabor, which he burned, and set out with the remains if his army for Magdala. During this march he displayed an amount of engineering skill in the construction of roads, of military talent, and fertility of resource, that excited the admiration and astonishment of his enemies. On the afternoon of the 10th of April a force of about 3000 men suddenly poured down upon the English in the plain of Arogie, a few miles from Magdala. They advanced again and again to the charge, but were each time driven back, and finally retired in good order. Early next morning Theodore sent Lieut. Prideaux, one of the captives, and Mr Flad, accompanied by a native chief, to the English camp to sue for peace. Answer was returned, that if he would deliver up all the Europeans in his hands, and submit to the Queen of England, he would receive honorable treatment. The captives were liberated and sent away, and along with a letter to the English general was a present of 1000 cows and 500 sheep, the acceptance of which would, according to Eastern custom, imply that peace was granted. Through some misunderstanding, word was sent to Theodore that the present would be accepted, and he felt that he was now safe; but in the evening he learned that it had not been received, and despair again seized him. Early next morning he attempted to escape with a few of his followers, but subsequently returned. The same day (13th April) Magdala was stormed and taken, and within they found the dead body of the emperor, who had fallen by his own hand. The inhabitants and troops were subsequently sent away, the fortifications destroyed, and the town burned. The queen Terunish having expressed her wish to go back to her own country, accompanied the British army, but died during the march, and her son Alam-ayahu, the only legitimate son of the emperor, was brought to England, as this was the desire of his father. The success of the expedition was in no small degree owing to the aid afforded by the several native chiefs through whose country it passed, and no one did more in this way than Prince Kassai of Tigre. In acknowledgement of this several pieces of ordinance, small arms, and ammunition, with much of the surplus stores, were handed over to him, and the English troops left the country in May 1868. Soon after this Prince Kassai declared his independence; and in a war which broke out between him and Wagsham Gobaze, the latter was defeated, and his territory taken possession of by the conqueror. In 1872 Kassai was crowned king of Abyssinia with great ceremony at Axam, under the title of King Johannes. In that year the governor of Massowah, Munzinger Bey, a Swiss, by command of the Viceroy of Egypt, marched an armed force against the Bogos country. The king solicited the aid of England, Germany, and Russia against the Egyptians, whose troops, however, were after a time withdrawn. Sir Bartle Frere, in the blue-book published respecting his mission to Zanzibar, is of the opinion that England, having regard to the passage to India by the red Sea, should not have wholly abandoned Abyssinia. (D.K.) (See Travels of Bruce, 1768-73; Lord Valentia, Salt, 1809-10; Combes et tamisier, 1835-37; Ferrer et Galinier, 1839-43; Ruppell, 1831-33; MM Th. Lefebvre, A. Petit, et Quartin-Dillon, 1839-43; Major Harris; Gobat; Dr C. Beke; Isenberg and Krapf, 1839-42; Mansfield Parkyns; Von Heuglin, 1861-62; H.A. Stern, 1860 and 1868; Dr Blanc, 1868; A Rassam, 1869; C.P. Markham, 1869; W.T. Blanford, 1870; Record of the Expedition to Abyssinia, compiled by order of the Secretary of State for War, by Major T.J. Holland and Captain H. Hozier, 2 vols. 4to, and plates, 1870; various Parliamentary Papers, 1867-68.) Footnotes 61-1 It is usual to include in Abyssinia the flat country which lies between it and the Red Sea, and to regard the latter as forming its boundary on the east. This, however, is not strictly correct. Abyssinia proper comprises only the mountainous portion of this territory, the low lying portion being inhabited by distinct and hostile tribes, and claimed by the Viceory of Egypt as part of his dominions. The low country is very unhealthy, the soil dry and arid, and with few exceptions uncultivated, whereas the highlands are generally salubrious, well watered, and in many parts very fertile. This arid tract of country is only a few miles broad at Massowahm in the north, but widens out to 200 or 300 miles at Tajurrahm in the south. It is, in a great measure, owing to Abyssinia being thus cut off from intercourse with the civilised world by this inhospitable region, which for three centuries has been in the hands of its enemies that it is at present so sunk in ignorance and barbarism. The above article was written by: David Kay, F.R.G.S., author of Austria-Hungary in the Foreign Countries and British Colonies Series. Search the Encyclopedia:

Ethiopia

In which decade of the 20th century was Anne Archer born?

Emperors of Ethiopia Girma Wolde-Giorgis 2001-present A significant traditional empire that fits only imperfectly into the system of Empires discussed in the Index to Lists of Rulers is Ethiopia -- Latin Aethiopia (Æthiopia), from Greek , Aithiopía -- which had few pretentions to universality, but was in the Middle Eastern tradition of universalist titles, since the Ethiopian emperor was styled the Negus Negast, the "King of Kings," as were the Kings of Assyria (Shar Sharim) and the Shâhs of Persia and Iran (Xshayathiya Xshayathiyanam, Shâhanshâh). Ethiopia was its own kind of cultural island universe for centuries, a beleaguered bastion of Christianity in an isolating sea of Islâm, a successor, not just to the Middle Eastern traditions through Yemen , but to the original Ethiopia of the Greeks, the sub-Egyptian kingdom of Kush, , which began with the Egyptian 25th Dynasty (751-656 BC), from Piankhy to Tanuatamun, and which, although driven out of Egypt by the Assyrians, flourished at Napata (where pyramids were actually built) and Meroë for many centuries. Indeed, the highland Ethiopia, or Abyssinia, itself may have brought the kingdom of Meroë to an end, around 355 AD. The Abyssinian kingdom of Aksum (or Axum) had already existed for some time. It left enduring monuments in the obelisk-like stone stelae, with Stela 3 (at left, and in background photograph) still standing at 67 feet tall, which reproduce the "skyscraper" architecture of ancient Yemen . A few kings of Aksum are barely known from their coins, as is also the case with ancient Yemen. As Kush came to an end, Abyssinia had recently converted to Christianity, in communion with the Coptic Egyptian Church . It is not hard to see the reign of the Emperor Ezanas II, under whom this all happened, as the real beginning of classic Ethiopian civilization. The torch of Meroë had been passed, but since the Meroë writing has not been deciphered, Ethiopia becomes the first sub-Saharan African civilization fully open, despite all its uncertainties, to the light of history. Indeed, the ancient language of Axum, Ethiopic or Ge'ez, is still actively used in the Ethiopian Church. After centuries of isolation by Islâm, an important chapter in the history of Ethiopia came when the Portuguese appeared in the Indian Ocean. They had heard rumors of a mythical Christian kingdom, in Asia or Africa, ruled by the saintly "Prester John," surrounded and isolated by enemies of Christianity. One possible source of this story was the Empire of Black Cathay (the Qara-Khitaï or Western Liao Dynasty) in Central Asia, whose rulers, with names like "David" and "Elias," for a time were Nestorian Christians. But when the Portuguese arrived in East Africa, they soon heard of a place there that seemed to fit the description:  Ethiopia. Contact, once established, came at a critical moment. Portuguese influence stimulated and aided Ethiopia when it was under serious threat from the triumphant Ottoman Empire , who control extended all the way to Yemen and whose powerful influence crossed the Strait to Africa. Portuguese firearms, delivered after an appeal for help by the Emperor Lebna Dengel in 1535, enabled the Emperor Galawedos to defeat the Imam of Harer, Ahmad ibn Ibrahim, leader of Moslem forces, who was killed in a great battle in 1543. The Portuguese presence included attempts to convert the country to Roman Catholicism, and for a time there were rival Metropolitans of Ethiopia. Portuguese influence, however, was ultimately rejected, since Ethiopia was religiously Coptic and Monophysite , not Roman Catholic; and the Catholic challenge stimulated a literary and theological response. Ethiopia was finally only conquered, briefly, between 1936 and 1941, by Italy, not, significantly, in the 19th century "scramble for Africa," but in the age of totalitarian conquest in the 1930's. This was Mussolini's revenge for what had happened in the 19th century:  That was the Emperor Menelik II's extraordinary defeat of an Italian army in 1896. Ranking with the later defeat of Russia by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War as one of the great setbacks of European imperialism, the Battle of Adwa is often misrepresented as an army of Africans with spears somehow beating the Italians. This overlooks a number of facts: Ethiopia may have been backward, but it was a vastly more sophisticated state than anything else in sub-Saharan Africa. Menelik was able to mobilize an army of 100,000 men. As it happened, the Italian force, largely Eritreans trained by Italy, was only 35,000. This army was equipped with modern weapons thanks to Ethiopia's relationship with France. The Italians seem to have been unaware, out of a not uncommon European arrogance at the time, that the Ethiopians could put so many men in the field, or that they could be so well equipped. The Italians made one final miscalculation. They unfortunately scheduled an early morning surprise attack on the Ethiopian force for a Sunday, not realizing that Coptic Mass was held at 4 AM! Fully awake and informed, Menelik attacked first, at 5:30 AM, and killed, wounded, or captured fully 70% of the Italian army. This preserved Ethiopia from foreign conquest until, in the 1930's, the confused Allies of World War I determined to appease Fascism rather than oppose it. In the face of Italian aggression, France abandoned its diplomatic and material support of Ethiopia. France and Britain decided that an arms embargo on "all belligerents" was the moral response to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia; and the Italians, who of course made their own arms, actually used poison gas against Ethiopian forces. Thus, Ethiopia fell to Mussolini, not because it was backward, like the Congo (although it was pretty backward relative to Italy), but because it was abandoned, like Czechoslovakia. After Italy entered World War II, however, the liberation of Ethiopia was set in motion, and the Italians, who had committed many atrocities against the constant resistance of the Ethiopian people during the occupation, were easily defeated by the British in 1941, but with some resistance continuing until 1943. One traditional duty of the Coptic Patriarchs of Alexandria was appointing the Archbishop and Primate of Ethiopia, the Abune or Abuna (Arabic for "Our Father"). The first such appointee was Frumentius (Abune Selama I Kesatay Birhan), a Syrian who had been living at the Ethiopian court for some time and journeyed to Alexandria in order to ask for a Bishop to be appointed. Traditionally, it is supposed to have been St. Athanasius himself who then appointed Frumentius to the post. However, the known dates of Athanasius (328-373) are a bit late for a traditonal date of Frumentius's trip (c. 305 AD), although all the dating of the period is very uncertain; and we also see a chronology where Frumentius did not journey to Ethiopia until after 316 AD and was not consecrated, by Athanasius, until between 340 and 346, dying around 383. Given such uncertainties, it is possible that Ethiopia, rather than Armenia , which is often given the credit, was the first officially Christian country in the world. Or it may simply be that Constantine's Rome was, after all, the first Christian country. But Ethiopia, despite its apparent remoteness, is definitely part of the ferment of the times. The Ethiopian practice of carving churches out of the living volcanic rock produced monuments that are close to unique in the world. There is a fair amount of this done in India, but nothing like it elsewhere in Christendom. After the advent of Islâm, communication between the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria and Ethiopia was unreliable and often interrupted; but in the 12th century, regular appointments were resumed. Also, the See was often vacant at least because of the time necessary to procure an appointment from the Patriarch. I have not indicated these gaps because of their frequency, but they can be inferred once the dating becomes more definite. It was always an Egyptian Coptic monk who was appointed; and by the 20th century, Ethiopians were beginning to think that maybe it was time for an Ethiopian to be Primate of Ethiopia. Negotiations over this in 1929 still resulted in an Egyptian monk as Archbishop and Primate, the Abuna Kerlos (Kyrllos, Qerellos), but with four Ethiopians concecrated as Bishops. A full transition would be delayed until after World War II. Primates and Abune Mathias, Mattias 2013 In the table, Primates appointed under the authority of the Coptic Patriarch are in green. The Abuna Kerlos (Qerellos IV) was deposed by the Italians after he fled to Egypt and denounced the Italian occupation. However, previous to that he had negotiated with the Italians, even in Rome, and many people thought of him as compromised and a collaborator because of this. His successor, appointed by the Italians, Abuna Abraham, was excommunicated by the Coptic Patriarch. When Haile Selassie returned to Ethiopia he was not accompanied by Kerlos, who remained in exile in Egypt, but by Gebre Giyorgis, who would be consecrated Abuna Basilos in 1948. After Kerlos died in 1950, Basilos became the Primate. In 1959 the Ethiopian Church was reestablished as an autocephalous Patriarchate, although still in communion, of course, with Alexandria. The next problem for the Church was the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam. In 1976 the Patriarch was arrested and then executed. The Church was disestablished as the State Religion and, like in the Soviet Union, the government began its propaganda campaign against all religion. A quiet monk, Abba Melaku, was made the new Patriarch, as Abuna Tekle Haimanot, and he ended up resisting the regime as much as he could, with the result that he was well thought of despite his official position. His successor, however, Abuna Merkorios, was deposed once the dictatorship ended in 1991. Unfortunately, this resulted in a schism, with Merkorios founding his own Church in exile, while the new Abuna Poulos (at left) reigned in Ethiopia. With all the political upheaval in the recent history of Ethiopia, it is perhaps surprising that something like this hadn't happened already. The period of the strongest Portuguese presence in Ethiopia also meant that there were attempts by the Portuguese to convert the country to Catholicism. The result was at least three Portuguese Catholic Primates, either, briefly, in undisputed possession of the See or as rivals to Coptic Primates. As the immediate threat of the Turks began to pass, both the help and the interference of the Portuguese could be rejected. There has long been a presence of the Ethiopian Church in Jerusalem. This includes a monastery on the actual roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Ethiopian institution is called the Ethiopian Patriarchate of Jerusalem , but there have never been actual Ethiopian Patriarchs in residence. Another feature of Ethiopian religion is the claim that the Church possesses the actual Ark of the Covenant , which is kept in a small sanctuary in Axum. The traditional story is that the Queen of Sheba took the true Ark from Jerusalem, leaving behind a replica. Menelik I then transferred the Ark to Abyssinia. Because of the problems of chronology and believability that go with this story, some modern writers have helpfully supplied alternative explanations. Reports of Greek historians of a Jewish community at Elephantine Island (Aswan) in Egypt have led to the suggestion that the Priesthood of Jerusalem sent the Ark to them for safekeeping. But Jewish mercenaries then subsequently left for Kush , taking the Ark with them. I am not clear what is then supposed to have happened, since the account seems to jump directly to keeping the Ark on an island in Lake Tanis. But the possession of the Ark by the Kings of Kush is one thing, its sudden appearance in the heart of pre-Christian Abyssinia is something else. I sometimes wonder if there is an awareness of the deep historical, cultural, and political differences between Kushite Ethiopia and Abyssinian Ethiopia. Of course, anyone is free to speculate that the Emperor Ezanas fetched the Ark when he invaded and perhaps overthrew Kush around 355 AD, but this adds no more than another speculative element to an entirely speculative fantasy. Since the Ark in Axum has been been inspected by no outsiders, and in fact is closed to all except its particular guardian, there is no way of knowing if it matches Biblical descriptions of the Ark or if it is composed of materials that can be dated to the appropriate era. It is remarkable that such an object is given as much credit as it has by enthusiastic, or credulous, Europeans. The list of Emperor and Primates of Ethiopia is largely based on Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies , with some modification based on lists at Wikipedia. Some alternative dates and Ethiopian readings of names are gleaned from A History of Ethiopia, by Harold G. Marcus [University of California Press, 1994], from Ancient Ethiopia, by David W. Phillipson [British Museum Press, 1998], and from a History of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church website. The photographs of Aksum Stela 3 are from Phillipson. With so many uncertainties in the chronology, very different lists of Emperors, with different dates, may be seen. Gordon gives no less than three lists on his webpage, and one is left with the impession that these may actually reflect different lineages at different locations. I have mixed the lists, beginning with the traditional one that starts with Menelik I but then shifting away when that list doesn't feature Ezanas II. Lists exist that trace the genealogy of the Emperors all the way back to Adam and Eve, with a span of 6500 years. Many people take this sort of thing seriously, and one correspondent has objected to the characterization of Menelik I as "legendary." However, Adam and Eve are not historical persons and much of Ethiopian history even since Ezanas II is not well attested or dated. Even with Melelik I, traditional dates, e.g. 204-179 BC, are far too late for him to have been a son of King Solomon , who now is dated to 970-931 BC. Ethiopia is certainly interesting and important enough without giving credence to pious or nationalistic exaggerations. The uncertainties and gaps are as great with the Primates as with many of the Emperors of Ethiopia. One curious feature about Ethiopia in the 20th Century is that, although its national religion remained confined to its homeland and to expatriot communities, the existence of the Empire, at a time when only one other black state in Africa was independent, inspired relgious developments elsewhere. In distant Jamaica a movement began that exalted Ethiopia to heavenly and the Emperor of the time, Haile Selassie, to divine status. This movement came to be known as Ras Tafarianism, after Haile Selassie's pre-Imperial name and title (Ras). A long, ropy hairdo, "dreadlocks," and marijuana (ganja) smoking became associated with the movement, which seemed threatening to many, with little back-to-Africa or self-improvement overtones, but a great deal of what seemed at the time threatening behavior and rhetoric. Late in his life, Haile Selassie actually visited Jamaica. He had previously not heard of this movement and was exceedingly puzzled, if not unsettled, by it, as a man might be whose name means "Faith in the Trinity" -- though a correspondent has disputed this, saying that the Emperor was actually invited to Jamaica by visiting Rastafarians and knew about them. Be that as it may, he cannot have endorsed the heretical tenets and practices of such a faith. The movement came to international attention mainly through the success of the splendid Reggae music in the 1970's, when musicians like the late Bob Marley (sporting dreadlocks) and Jimmy Cliff found success and celebrity all over the world. As a result of Haile Selassie's visit and local contact with Ethiopia, Ethiopian Coptic churches did open in Jamaica and the West Indies, attracting converts and Rastafarians who either understood that Haile Selassie was not God in Ethiopian Christianity, were disillusioned, or who determined to join the historic Church whatever its teaching. If Ras Tafarianism might have seemed confused to Ethiopians, the popularity of Islâm among black nationalists in the United States and elsewhere must be positively galling. While Ethiopia had preserved its independence and Christian religion for centuries against Islâm , constantly enduring the depredations of Arab slavers, many, or most, of whose male victims were castrated, many foreign blacks now blame and reject Christianity for the Atlantic slave trade which took their ancestors to the New World. Bill Clinton's attempt on a trip to Africa to even apologize for the slave trade was actually rebuked by the President of Uganda, who said that the African chiefs who sold their people to the slavers were really the ones at fault (and still at fault, since it turns out that the West African slave trade still exists, at least in children). Indeed, the Atlantic slave trade simply meant that native West African slavers sold their wares south to the coast rather than north to the trans-Saharan trade, which had already been going on for centuries, probably exacting as great a human toll as the Atlantic trade and noticeably leaving few suriviving blacks, of all those imported, in the Middle East. Although himself a political radical of a harsh, Marxist sort, it is noteworthy that Princeton professor Cornell West (advisor of Democrat Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley in the 2000 campaign) retains his own Christianity, was married to an Ethiopian woman, and avoids the pro-Islâmic idealizations (and anti-Semitism) of many other American black radicals. Ethiopia and her religion thus receive some respect from a source that, in general, one might have expected to be relatively unaware of the country and relatively hostile to the religion. In its long isolation, Ethiopia produced from the old South Arabian alphabet a unique and beautiful syllabary, which is still used to write modern languages like Amharic. This contributed one rich aspect to the island universe of Ethiopian civilization. Since there are now " afrocentrist " claims current that the Ethiopic alphabet was not based on the old South Arabian alphabet, it is worth comparing the two in the table at right. Not only are many of the letters obviously identical, but Ethiopic even preserves most of the South Arabian alphabetical order, which is distinct from the one that we find in Hebrew, Greek, or Arabic. Ethiopic also made some of the same slight alterations in the ancient letters as Greek, producing recognizable counterparts to lambda, omicron, and theta. Why it is thought necessary to take something already splendid and extraordinary and trivialize it with exaggerated claims is sad but not surprising, since it is of a piece with many examples of inflated ethnic (in this case racial) self-importance, as I have noted elsewhere in regard to the the Greeks and India . The splendor of Ethiopia in its history, geography, architecure, and language is little enough known as it is, even as its long struggle against Islâm is ignored in the assault of Western secularists against Christianity and the sympathy of the Left for Islamic Fascism . Until the world is even aware of the Ethiopic syllabary, strange claims about it only obscure the struggle for that awareness. The isolation of Ethiopia, which for so long protected and preserved its civilization and religion in the Abyssinian mountain fastness, also served to keep it, as with many areas in Africa, out of the mainstream of international economic development. It has long been one of the poorest countries in the world. As of 2008, Ethiopia still had the third lowest annual GDP per capita in the world, only $140 [The Economist Pocket World in Figures 2008, p.28]. This meant that the average Ethiopian, 80% of whom were engaged in subsistence agriculture, was living on only 38¢ per day. With prices adjusted for Purchasing Power Party (PPP), the picture improves, with Ethiopia rising to only the 14th poorest; but this is still with only 2.4% of of the per capita GDP of the United States [p.29]. At the same time, the Ethiopian economy has been growing rapidly, at as much as 10% per year; and in PPP the per capita GNP may now be up to $1000 or $1500. But this is a lot of ground to make up. One advantage the country has now is its relative remove from the turmoil of Islamic countries, which, with the majesty of the land and the splendor of its monuments, should make the country relatively attractive both for tourism and for investment. One irony of Ethiopia's isolation and poverty is that it has contributed to world culture one of the prinicpal, indeed signature, products of modernity:  coffee. The legend is that in the 9th-century a goatherder named Kaldi noticed that his goats became excited after eating the beans of the Coffea arabica plant. This account, however, is not attested before 1671; and no evidence appears to exist for coffee drinking until the 15th century in Yemen, whence the beans had been brought from Ethiopia. We get the name of the substance from Yemen, , qahwah. This is of uncertain etymology, and may be of African or purely Arabic origin. As the Arabic "w" becomes a "v" in Turkish (to modern kahve), and the syllable final "h's" become silent, the pronunciation begins to approach what is familiar in European languages, such as caffè in Italian or "coffee" in English. From Yemen, ground coffee and then beans were exported (initially smuggled) to India, Turkey, and finally Europe. The first reference in English to coffee is from 1598 and the oldest coffee house in London was established in 1654. Coffee represented the first non-alcoholic processed beverage intoduced in English culture. Since coffee (like tea, introduced later) involved boiling water, this was also the first non-alcoholic beverage that involved the regular consumption of sterilized water. When people, including Prince Albert, were still dying of water-born diseases in the mid-19th century, a preference for coffee or tea was salutary. This was missed by Benjamin Franklin, who told his co-workers to drink water rather than alcohol when he was a young man in London, not realizing the danger he faced, and was recommending. The best coffees are still grown in tropical highlands that mimic the climate of Ethiopia and Yemen, namely places like Indonesia, Hispaniola, Columbia, Hawaii, etc. This is therefore an area where Ethiopia might devote some effort in its economic development, with the chance to advance its claim as the original coffee producer and to cultivate and market the best coffees that can be made.

i don't know

Cass Gilbert was the major developer of what type of building?

Cass Gilbert Buildings Photo Tours, Travelogues, And Random Topics Cass Gilbert Buildings A Photo Tour Of Twin Cities Area Buildings Designed By Pioneering Architect Cass Gilbert Introduction Cass Gilbert was a famous twin cities architect. While much of his career was spent designing houses and apartment buildings, he caught a major career break in landing the project to design the Minnesota State Capitol building. This brought fame to Gilbert, which allowed him to take on other world famous building projects including a building that would be the tallest skyscraper in the world. But as Gilbert's star rose, the Minnesota natives turned their back on him, forcing him to ultimately leave his twin cities home. Note—click on each photo to see the full size image. Cass Gilbert Park Cass Gilbert lived from 1859 to 1934. Born in Ohio, he spent his youth and early career in Saint Paul. His work in the city is honored with a park and overlook located a block north and east of the Minnesota State Capitol Building, which was his break-through project. Most of Gilbert's twin cities area work was completed between 1880 and 1900. Cass Gilbert's Mother's Home 471 Ashland, Saint Paul Gilbert's mother was well connected in Saint Paul society, which allowed Gilbert to obtain commissions for homes that would otherwise not have been offered to him. This house has since been restored to its original exterior appearance, and is an excellent example of Gilbert's early work. William H. Lightner House 318 Summit Ave, Saint Paul Business was good in 1893 for Saint Paul attorney William Lightner. He had outgrown his first Cass Gilbert house at 322-324 Summit, so he commissioned Gilbert to build a bigger and better home at 318 Summit Avenue. This house is located on Summit Avenue, which is a row of houses built during the gilded age by lumber and railroad executives. It was once occupied by Louis Hill, son of railroad baron James J. Hill. The house was purchased in 2006 by the Nicholson family for 1.4-million. They did a total restoration of the home, resulting in an exterior that looks much like it did 100 years ago. Lightner-Young House 322-324 Summit Ave, Saint Paul This side by side duplex was built in 1886. Attorney William H. Lightner occupied the 322 address, while 324 was occupied by his law partner George B. Young. Some consider the stonework and facade of this home to be the best looking of any building designed by Gilbert in Minnesota. Edgar C. Long House 332 Summit Ave, Saint Paul Built for lumber and railroad tycoon Edgar Long, this house is one of the most expensive and opulent designed by Cass Gilbert. Unfortunately, the exterior has been extensively changed since it was built in 1899, with much of the lavish detail being lost. It remains a very impressive building. Dr. David W. McCourt House 161 S. Cambridge, Saint Paul This 1887 home is built in a design called the urban shingle style. Gilbert worked many round, oval, and angle details in what is otherwise a very square house. The details are essential since this house sits on a triangular lot where all sides are highly visible from the street. The barn was designed in 1897 by Gilbert, which explains why it fits in so well. 1044 Wilson Ave, Saint Paul This is an early Cass Gilbert design. It was built in 1883, and is located in the Dayton's Bluff area of Saint Paul (east of downtown just north of I-94). This is a rather ordinary Victorian design that fits in well with the rest of the neighborhood. The house itself is nearly unchanged since it was built, with the exception of a kitchen update. 4320 Cottage Park Road, White Bear Lake Rail service was extended to White Bear Lake in the late 1860's, and trolley service began in 1879. As a result of this access, a series of resorts built up along White Bear Lake. Wealthy Twin Cities residents built summer homes along the lakeshore between the resorts. Once such summer home, now converted to year around use, is the Cass Gilbert designed cottage at 4320 Cottage Park Road. It is recognized as the first cottage built on the lake in the urban shingle style. This home is located on the south end of White Bear Lake. Banned From Public View Manitou Island Homes Four Cass Gilbert homes are located on Manitou island, an island on the northwest side of White Bear Lake. This island is privately owned and outside traffic is not allowed. These homes include: • Jasper B. Tarbox Home Cass Gilbert Home 1 Heather Place, Saint Paul This is Cass Gilbert's own home. At the time, 1890, Gilbert was not wealthy, nor did he live an opulent lifestyle. He invested every dime he had and called in every possible favor to build this house. The house is large for the era, but not excessive. It is, however, located only a block from Summit Ave, home of the elite of Saint Paul society. The Gilbert Building 413 Wacouta St, Saint Paul The Gilbert Building was one of the first Cass Gilbert office buildings. It was built in 1893 for the Boston And Northwest Realty Company, which used it as a warehouse for its real estate and brokerage businesses. The building was updated in the mid-1980s and it remains a very modern looking structure despite being 115 years old. It is a great example of both form and function, with little detail to distract from its mission as a warehouse, but enough detail to look classy. The building is now a multi-tenant office building. The Allen Building 287 East 6th Street, Saint Paul The Allen Building is attributed to the Office of Cass Gilbert as opposed to being credited exclusively to Cass Gilbert. This six story warehouse was built in 1906 and 1907, with an addition added in 1910. It was built as a warehouse for The Allen Company, a wholesale grocery firm. The exterior building details are comparatively simple, and the arched windows common to Cass Gilbert buildings are not present. The Endicott Building 143 East Fourth, Saint Paul The Endicott family of Boston owned a chain of drygoods stores. They needed to build a new store in Saint Paul, and they wanted a signature building to be built at a high profile location. It is amazing that young Cass Gilbert received this commission despite no previous experience building this kind of building. His link to the project was his mother, and her knowing Luther Cushing, manager of the Boston and Northwest Real Estate Company. The Endicott Building sits on an L-shaped lot. It wraps around the 12 story Pioneer Building, and it shows frontage on two major Saint Paul streets. The building itself would be 6 stories. It features a large vaulted opening, with a glass and marble walkway between the two street entrances. Thirty shops lined this walkway. The remainder of the building housed 320 offices and two banking rooms. The building was completed in 1890. By all accounts, Cass Gilbert hit a home run with the Endicott Building. It gave him the reputation to compete for larger projects, and it earned the respect from his clients leading to many high profile referrals. Gotzian Shoe Company Building 242-280 East 5th Street, Saint Paul This 5 story building was built in 1892 as a factory and warehouse for the Gotzian Shoe Company. The building was extensively restored and converted into apartments in the 1980s. It is now known as The Parkside Apartments. The entrance to the building was set at an angle to look out over Mears Park. Gotzian Shoe Company Outlet 352 Wacouta Street, Saint Paul This 5 story building was built as a outlet and store for the Gotzian Shoe company in 1895. The store idea was abandoned, and the building was used as a rental until it was restored and converted to apartments in the 1980s. Bookstaver House 548, 550, 552, 554 Portland Ave, Saint Paul This is a Cass Gilbert row house built on Portland Ave in Saint Paul. It was built as the Bookstaver House, but is currently known as Portland Terrace. It was built as 4 units, each 2 stories and 2,604 square feet. They vary between four and five bedrooms, but each had two baths. The project was completed in 1885 in the Romanesque Revival style. Some of the units have since been chopped up into apartments. The Cass Gilbert Society is located in the 550 unit. Dayton Ave Presbyterian Church 217 Mackubin Street, Saint Paul Cass Gilbert's mother was a founding member of the Dayton Avenue Presbyterian church, so it is no surprise that they selected Cass Gilbert to design their new church building in 1886. The building is built in the Richardson Romanesque style. The church wished to have a simple building. Gilbert was able to accommodate that, and the embellishments that he did add were in the quality of the materials. Gilbert designed an addition for the church in 1903, which was later built in 1912 adding an assembly hall and Sunday School. This ended up being the largest of the several churches that were designed by Gilbert. Virginia Street Swedenborgian Church 170 Virginia Street, Saint Paul Also known as the Virginia Street New Church, this Cass Gilbert design was completed in 1886. The church believed in a harmony between nature and man-made objects, so Gilbert worked hard to incorporate materials in the building that symbolized aspects of this faith. As an example, the stone foundation represents the enduring faith in Jesus. Roselawn Cemetery 803 Larpenteur Ave, Roseville Cass Gilbert designed two buildings for the Roselawn Cemetery in 1904. This includes the cemetery office building and the cemetery chapel. Both buildings are built of stone and feature massive wooden trusses and ornate oak woodwork. This shows Gilbert's work on two smaller buildings where he applied his talents on an up close and personal basis. Cretin Hall at the University of Saint Thomas Cretin Hall was built for the Saint Paul Seminary in 1894. It was funded by railroad tycoon James J. Hill. The building was renovated in 1989 and now serves as a male undergrad residence hall. The 4-1/2 story building is built in the Northern Italian style. Grace Hall at the University of Saint Thomas Grace Hall was constructed in 1913 using the Cass Gilbert plans for Cretin Hall. It was acquired by the University of Saint Thomas in 1987, and was reopened in 1989 as a residence hall. Loras Hall at the University of Saint Thomas Loras Hall is nearly a twin to Cretin Hall, being built at the same time in 1894. It was built for the Saint Paul Seminary. It was transferred to the Saint Thomas Academy during WWII, and to Saint John Vianney in the 1970s. It was acquired by the College of Saint Thomas in 1982 and is used as a residence hall. University of Saint Thomas Service Center This building was built in 1894 as part of a major expansion of the Saint Paul Seminary. It housed the campus heating plant and the gymnasium. A new gym was built in 1968, and the building was converted for full use of the campus plant services team. The building was acquired by the University of Saint Thomas in 1987. Northern Pacific Railway Depot Little Falls, Minnesota The Northern Pacific Railroad commissioned Cass Gilbert to design a railroad depot in the city of Little Falls, MN, in 1899. This was one of Gilbert's last projects in Minnesota before leaving the state. The depot is built in the Old English shingle style, which features the very large roof structure. The depot suffered a major fire in 1979. Community groups obtained title to the building and renovated the structure. The depot became the home for the Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce in 1991. The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The depot in Little Falls is one of four depots designed by Cass Gilbert for the Northern Pacific Railway. The other three are located in Bismarck, ND, Grand Forks, ND, and Yakima, WA. Minnesota State Capitol 75 Constitution Ave, Saint Paul The state capitol project was Cass Gilbert's break-through project. He designed a building with a central dome modeled after the Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. The unsupported marble dome is the second largest in the world after the Saint Peter's Basilica dome. Gilbert worked to avoid any other religious overtones in the design. Items such as a triumphal arch and palace block were designed out of the building, and sightlines were kept short. The project was started in 1896 and was largely finished in 1904. Cass Gilbert Epilog A major controversy erupted when Cass Gilbert selected the white marble from Georgia to be used on the Minnesota State Capitol. Marble and stone was big business in Minnesota, and many natives, especially business leaders, expected Minnesota stone to be used on the project. Both sides refused to give in. Cass Gilbert got his white stone, and the business community abandoned Cass Gilbert. His business dried up, and he found himself having to move away from the twin cities to avoid going bankrupt. That, however, is not the end of the Cass Gilbert story. Rather, it was just the start of his career as a nationally known architectural superstar. Unlike Frank Lloyd Wright, who dreamed up a lot of projects, Cass Gilbert's projects ended up being built. This included two more state capitols, the Woolworth Building in New York City, and the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC. The Woolworth Building was the tallest skyscraper in the world from 1913 to 1930. Authored by John A. Weeks III, Copyright © 1996—2016, all rights reserved. For further information, contact: [email protected]

Skyscraper

In which state was Madonna born?

Cass Gilbert | Architectural Digest Architectural Digest Remembering the turn-of-the-century urban visionary Text by View Slideshow I sometimes wish I had never built the Woolworth Building because I fear it may be regarded as my only work and you and I both know that whatever it may be in dimension and in certain lines it is after all only a skyscraper." The architect Cass Gilbert wrote these words to his colleague Ralph Adams Cram in 1920 about the building that is generally considered to be his masterpiece. Gilbert was not being falsely modest: When the Woolworth Building was finished in 1913, it was the tallest building in the world, widely acclaimed for the beauty of its Gothic detail and the grace with which it seemed to blend modernist energy and traditional architectural form. It was all but synonymous with the New York skyline until the Chrysler and Empire State buildings came along in the early 1930s. But its architect never overcame a certain uneasiness about the way in which his lyrical tower got all the attention. What Gilbert wanted most of all was to make civic symbols, and he was never fully convinced that tall commercial buildings were the noblest additions to the cityscape. He didn't like the fact that both he and New York City were better known for the Woolworth Building than for a structure like his U.S. Custom House, an extravagant Beaux Arts palace that is barely more than a tenth the height of the Woolworth but that gives off a spectacular aura of civic grandeur. Curiously for a man who was the farthest thing imaginable from a proto-Donald Trump, Gilbert's reputation is about to be tied even more to his great skyscraper, sixty-six years after his death. The owners of the landmark building—conscious of the huge demand for housing in lower Manhattan—have announced plans to convert the upper floors of the Woolworth Building into condominium apartments. You can't live in the Empire State Building—at least not yet—but if the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approves the plans filed by Skidmore, Owings Merrill to redesign the interior of the slender tower section of the Woolworth Building (and add a pair of discreet rooftop penthouses), you will be able to live in what is still, eighty-eight years after its completion, one of the world's iconic skyscrapers. Gilbert would probably have approved, if grudgingly. He embodied a strange combination of pride and pragmatism, and in effect, both of these qualities are reflected in the changes now afoot at the Woolworth. The greatest pleasure of "Inventing the Skyline: the Architecture of Cass Gilbert," the exhibition that is on view at the New-York Historical Society until January 21, 2001 (and that is accompanied by a handsome book of the same title, published by Columbia University Press), is the extent to which it provides an insight into the way the architect thought. Gilbert was formal, stuffy, ambitious, loyal, conservative in the extreme and more than a little prissy. He believed, quite simply, that architecture existed to confer upon institutions, organizations and cities—and, by implication, people—a certain dignity, even nobility. But he believed with equal certainty that an architect's job was to solve problems, and he saw no conflict between these aims. He had an instinctive feel for beauty and composition, but he also sought a balance between form and practical concerns. Gilbert saw a building as something more than an economic entity or a pure shape; to him, architecture was about both of these things, but primarily it was a symbol of a client's aspirations—and a community's. In this sense Gilbert was one of the great American eclectic architects who filled American cities with lavish Neoclassical and Georgian and Tudor and Gothic and Renaissance banks and clubs and courthouses and libraries and churches and city halls and train stations and houses for the rich. McKim, Mead White, Carrère Hastings, James Gamble Rogers, Delano Aldrich: They were all his peers, a fraternity of architects who had close ties not only to one another but to the business and cultural establishments of cities all around the country, and they took pride in their belief that they were carrying on the great architectural traditions of Western history. They did most of their work around the same time as Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright and the developing modern movement in Europe, but they had no particular interest in modernism. They did not question the order of the world; they believed their mission was to continue it. The eclectic architects were more inventive than the modernists gave them credit for being, though, and only rarely copied historical precedent directly. McKim, Mead White set a tone of creative reuse of history, and Gilbert, like his colleagues, followed it. Nothing he designed looked precisely like a building from the past; he saw each style as a kind of language, and his goal, we might say, was not so much to memorize Homer as to write new poetry using the vocabulary of ancient Greek. Gilbert and the other eclectic architects cared passionately about monumentality and continuity, and about the notion that cities were places in which great buildings worked together to form a coherent whole. Gilbert had a narrow view of the world that was typical of his time: He believed that professions were for men—generally white, Protestant men —and professional expertise, like Western cultural history, was invariably to be trusted. His buildings, however, transcended his personal limitations. From the Detroit Public Library to Oberlin College's art museum to the United States Supreme Court building (his last major work, completed just after his death), Gilbert's buildings are masterworks of composition, and they are startlingly fresh. Were he alive today, Gilbert might rant about our continued focus on the Woolworth Building, but "Inventing the Skyline" makes clear how much remains, still, to be learned from looking at this extraordinary tower. It is a story of a client, Frank W. Woolworth, who made a fortune in five-and-tens and wanted to build a symbol of his corporate power (which he paid for in cash, all $13.5 million of it), and of an architect who found in this commission the perfect blend of his romantic and his pragmatic instincts. Gilbert selected an ambiguous mixture of Belgian and French Gothic as the basic style, since he understood, just as completely as Louis Sullivan did, that the skyscraper had to express verticality if it was to have meaning as a new kind of building form—and what expressed verticality more clearly than the Gothic? And yet he also knew that no cathedral was 792 feet high and contained fifty-five floors of offices, so he had to be inventive. Gilbert's ideas had actually begun to form several years earlier, when he designed the West Street Building, a few blocks south of the Woolworth. It was his first attempt to design a Gothic skyscraper, and while only a compromised version of it was built (a central tower was omitted, presumably for reasons of cost), its elegance attracted Frank Woolworth and led him to approach Gilbert when he was ready to design his own building. For Woolworth, Gilbert first produced a larger version of the West Street Building, and then, as architect and client worked together, the skyscraper became taller, somewhat sleeker, lighter and thinner in its feeling and more expressive of height. "Inventing the Skyline" includes several presentation drawings of different versions of the tower, every one of which is stunningly detailed and colored, a world away from the cold computer renderings of today. But more important, they serve as a welcome reminder that no architect, not even Cass Gilbert, developed ideas all at once. The West Street Building and all of the rejected versions of the Woolworth Building were steps in the creative process, every one of them significant. For without them there would have been no masterpiece. Explore

i don't know

In comic books, who featured with Sugar?

Spike | Rare Comic Books Online Rare Comic Books Online Spike at the lowest prices anywhere online.   SPIKE - A Dark Place TPB Comic BUY IT NOW! GOLDEN AGE 1944 #11 SCREAM COMICS 10 cent SPIKE / STUPIE cover rough bright col BUY IT NOW! Sugar & Spike #94 1971 Sheldon Mayer DC Comics v BUY IT NOW! Spike Omnibus Graphic Novel from IDW BUY IT NOW! Sugar And Spike Archives HC Vol 1 DC Silver Age classics Sheldon Mayer humor BUY IT NOW! 1000 Ways To Die TPB ~ Zenescope / Spike TV BUY IT NOW! *1st ED* *UNREAD* Buffy the Vampire Slayer S8 1-40 "A" Covers + Willow/Spike NM BUY IT NOW! SPIKE -- A Dark Place TPB -- Victor Gischler -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer BUY IT NOW! Vintage Spike Kelly of the Commandos Better Little Book WWII #1467 BUY IT NOW! Spike After the Fall (2008) SET#1-4, New/NM BUY IT NOW! DC Comics SUGAR And SPIKE #73 VG/FN 5.0 BUY IT NOW! SUGAR AND SPIKE #74 COVER ART, original approval cover proof 1960'S, SLED, SNOW BUY IT NOW! THE BEST OF DC BLUE RIBBON DIGEST # 47 SUGAR AND SPIKE SHELDON MAYER COMICS BUY IT NOW! DC Archive Editions: Sugar and Spike vol. 1 BUY IT NOW! Spike: A Dark Place #1-5 (2012, Dark Horse) Complete Set Buffy Season 9 Vampire BUY IT NOW! SUGAR AND SPIKE #80 COVER ART, original approval cover proof 1960'S, MONSTER BUY IT NOW! SUGAR & SPIKE 32 GD+ Jan.1961 BUY IT NOW! Peanuts #11 1:20 Spike First Appearance Variant Charles Schultz Boom! Comic BUY IT NOW! Sugar and Spike #88 F- 5.5 Off White Pages BUY IT NOW! Sugar and Spike (1956) #94 VG+ 4.5 BUY IT NOW! DC Comic! Sugar and Spike! Issue 85! BUY IT NOW! Signed Jenny Frison Covers 2 Comic Art Sketch Book Vampirella Buffy Willow Spike BUY IT NOW! Spike Asylum 5 Sketch Variant - Very Fine - IDW HTF BUY IT NOW! SUGAR AND SPIKE #78 (1968) DC Comics VG+ BUY IT NOW! DC Sugar and Spike 5 Jan 1957 1pg paper dolls SCARCE Beauty flat VG/VG+ 4.25 BUY IT NOW!

Spike

John Glenn became Senator for which state?

Spike | Rare Comic Books Online Rare Comic Books Online Spike at the lowest prices anywhere online.   SPIKE - A Dark Place TPB Comic BUY IT NOW! GOLDEN AGE 1944 #11 SCREAM COMICS 10 cent SPIKE / STUPIE cover rough bright col BUY IT NOW! Sugar & Spike #94 1971 Sheldon Mayer DC Comics v BUY IT NOW! Spike Omnibus Graphic Novel from IDW BUY IT NOW! Sugar And Spike Archives HC Vol 1 DC Silver Age classics Sheldon Mayer humor BUY IT NOW! 1000 Ways To Die TPB ~ Zenescope / Spike TV BUY IT NOW! *1st ED* *UNREAD* Buffy the Vampire Slayer S8 1-40 "A" Covers + Willow/Spike NM BUY IT NOW! SPIKE -- A Dark Place TPB -- Victor Gischler -- Buffy the Vampire Slayer BUY IT NOW! Vintage Spike Kelly of the Commandos Better Little Book WWII #1467 BUY IT NOW! Spike After the Fall (2008) SET#1-4, New/NM BUY IT NOW! DC Comics SUGAR And SPIKE #73 VG/FN 5.0 BUY IT NOW! SUGAR AND SPIKE #74 COVER ART, original approval cover proof 1960'S, SLED, SNOW BUY IT NOW! THE BEST OF DC BLUE RIBBON DIGEST # 47 SUGAR AND SPIKE SHELDON MAYER COMICS BUY IT NOW! DC Archive Editions: Sugar and Spike vol. 1 BUY IT NOW! Spike: A Dark Place #1-5 (2012, Dark Horse) Complete Set Buffy Season 9 Vampire BUY IT NOW! SUGAR AND SPIKE #80 COVER ART, original approval cover proof 1960'S, MONSTER BUY IT NOW! SUGAR & SPIKE 32 GD+ Jan.1961 BUY IT NOW! Peanuts #11 1:20 Spike First Appearance Variant Charles Schultz Boom! Comic BUY IT NOW! Sugar and Spike #88 F- 5.5 Off White Pages BUY IT NOW! Sugar and Spike (1956) #94 VG+ 4.5 BUY IT NOW! DC Comic! Sugar and Spike! Issue 85! BUY IT NOW! Signed Jenny Frison Covers 2 Comic Art Sketch Book Vampirella Buffy Willow Spike BUY IT NOW! Spike Asylum 5 Sketch Variant - Very Fine - IDW HTF BUY IT NOW! SUGAR AND SPIKE #78 (1968) DC Comics VG+ BUY IT NOW! DC Sugar and Spike 5 Jan 1957 1pg paper dolls SCARCE Beauty flat VG/VG+ 4.25 BUY IT NOW!

i don't know

The Battle Of New Orleans was a big No 1 for which singer?

Johnny Horton: The Battle of New Orleans - YouTube Johnny Horton: The Battle of New Orleans Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Feb 9, 2012 I don't own the rights to this song. Johnny Horton: The Battle of New Orleans. Category

Johnny Horton

What are the international registration letters of a vehicle from Mexico?

Battle of New Orleans (Words to the Song) 1800 - 1850 The Battle of New Orleans I enjoy adding a little spice to each lesson that I do and the story of the Battle of New Orleans is no different. After students read the chapter, answer as they say, a "kazillion" questions, I story-tell about Jean Lafitte and Sir Packenham, I drag out a ditto of the words to the old Johnny Horton version of The Battle of New Orleans (now on Sony Music cassette) and turn on the tape player. When that 'tinny' music starts the kids groan but strangely enough, many know the song. They begin to quietly sing along with the tape. When the tape finishes, we discuss the differences between the song and the facts. By then they are interested in hearing it again. Now I have them hooked. I ask if anyone needs or wants extra creadit, most raise their hand. I tell them, "OK, go to the front of the room with your music...all of you. Everyone who wants extra credit." Most slowly go to the front. Then I tell them, "I will play the song again and you must sing with the tape. For the extra credit, you MUST be singing. I have to hear you." I start the tape and "they begin to singin'". No one seems embarrassed because most of them are up front. I check for singers and give the extra credit. The amazing part is that all day long I can hear them singing the song in the hallways and at lunch. I have even had them request the song at a school dance! Lyrics to The Battle of New Orleans written by Jimmy Driftwood (c) 1991 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. In 1814 we took a little trip Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip. We took a little bacon an' we took a little beans And we caught the bloody British at the town of New Orleans. Refrain: We fired our guns an' the British kept a'comin'. There wasn't nigh as many as there was awhile ago. We fired once more an' they begin to runnin' Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. We looked down the river an' we seed the British comin', There must a'been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drum. They stepped so high an' they made their bugles ring, We stood beside our cotton bales an'didn't say a thing. Refrain Ole Hickory said we could take 'em by surprise, If we didn't fire our muskets 'til we looked 'em in the eyes. We held our fire 'til we seed their faces well, Then we opened up our squirrel guns an' really gave 'em ...well! � Refrain � Yeah, they ran through the briars an' they ran through the brambles An' they ran through the bushes where the rabbits couldn't go. They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. � We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down, So we grabbed an alligator an' we fought another round. We filled his head with cannon balls an' powdered his behind, An' when they touched the powder off, the 'gator lost his mind. Refrain

i don't know

In which cop series did Phil Collins appear as Phil the Shill?

Phil Collins ('Phil the Shill,' Season Two) | Miami Sound Machine: 16 Best Musical Guest Stars on 'Miami Vice' | Rolling Stone Miami Sound Machine: 16 Best Musical Guest Stars on 'Miami Vice' Why Hundreds of Thousands Are Joining the Women's March Miami Sound Machine: 16 Best Musical Guest Stars on 'Miami Vice' From the Godfather of Soul to the Nuge, here are the more memorable musical greats who graced the iconic Eighties cop show All Stories 1. Phil Collins ('Phil the Shill,' Season Two) A year after his "In The Air Tonight" soundtracked the single most defining musical moment of Miami Vice's first season (and arguably the entire series), Phil Collins appeared on the show as Phil Mayhem, the con-artist host of a TV game show called Rat Race. "Phil the Shill" (which also featured a young Kyra Sedgwick) ranks among Vice's funniest episodes thanks to the comic chemistry between Collins and cast goofballs Martin Ferrero ("Izzy Moreno") and Michael Talbott ("Stan Switek"). Collins even recorded a parodic theme song for Rat Race, which brilliantly bookends the episode.

Miami Vice

"Which US singer said, ""You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on?"""

Life is a Rat Race | Miami Vice Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Life is a Rat Race 2,340pages on Life Is A Rat Race Featured in Episode Top Chart Position (Hot 100) Did Not Chart Switek plays Rat Race and over end credits Previous Song "Life Is A Rat Race" is a song performed by Phil Collins , recorded in 1985. The song appeared in the Miami Vice episode " Phil the Shill ". Notes Edit "Life Is A Rat Race" is a rewrite of the song "The Man With The Horn," a rare B-side from Collins' hit single "One More Night" (recorded during the No Jacket Required sessions), reworked specifically as a tune for this episode. It has not appeared on any album or as a single, making it one of the few Miami Vice songs never to see a release in any form outside of the show. The song is played over the closing credits, one of only three times in the series a song other than the " Miami Vice Theme " has been played at the end.

i don't know

What is the name of the main space exploration center in Florida?

NASA - NASA Facilities NASA Facilities By Frank Seitzen “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” Bold goals - President George W. Bush announced new space exploration goals for the agency at NASA Headquarters on Jan. 14, 2004. Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls When a city’s name is one of the first words spoken on the surface of another world, the link between that city and NASA through its Johnson Space Center is rather obvious. And as the site of the memorable vista of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and shuttle launches, Florida’s Space Coast has a clear connection to NASA and its Kennedy Space Center as well. But when many people think about NASA, places like Moffett Field or Hancock County, Miss., may not immediately come to mind. Yet these locations are also home to vital parts of NASA. Spread out from coast to coast, NASA’s centers and facilities are as diverse as the many different elements of the agency’s missions. That’s no coincidence – each location is home to different areas of expertise, supporting different elements of those missions. Today, for example, Stennis Space Center in Mississippi is conducting rocket engine testing in support of NASA’s exploration mission. At the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, scientists are reviewing information being sent back to Earth from distant reaches of the solar system, supporting the space science mission. Expertise in supercomputing and the search for life beyond Earth is a hallmark of the Ames Research Center in California. Satellites managed by Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland provide atmospheric data vital to NASA’s Earth science research. Ideas for advanced space propulsion are tested at the Glenn Research Center in Ohio. Langley Research Center in Virginia, America’s first civilian aeronautics research laboratory, plays a key role in space transportation for small payloads and satellites. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama develops rockets, spacecraft and instruments for space exploration and scientific discovery. And new remotely piloted aircraft recently delivered to Dryden Flight Research Center in California will not only support the aeronautics research mission, but will also serve as scientific research platforms. NASA’s 10 major centers, plus its headquarters in Washington, D.C., are joined by eight smaller facilities -- Goddard Institute for Space Studies (New York City), Independent Verification & Validation Facility (West Virginia), Michoud Assembly Facility (New Orleans), NASA Shared Services Center (Mississippi), Plum Brook Station (Ohio), Wallops Flight Facility (Virginia), White Sands Test Facility (New Mexico) and Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility (California). As NASA undertakes the monumental task of returning humans to the moon and then exploring farther into the solar system, the agency will draw from all of these diverse areas of expertise. Every one of NASA’s centers has been assigned duties in the development of the new architecture that will return humans to the moon. Each center also has a vital task relating to establishing a productive ongoing presence there once that return is accomplished. An exciting future awaits, and it will take all of NASA, working together, to make it happen. NASA Headquarters (Washington, D.C.) NASA Headquarters, located a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol building, is the leadership nerve center for the agency’s activities. Headquarters management has steered U.S. civil space and aeronautics policy throughout the agency’s history, setting in motion some of the most far-reaching and history-making events in the Space Age. First located in the Dolly Madison House a stone’s throw from the White House, NASA Headquarters has seen its share of history, including visits from Presidents Lyndon Johnson, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. In popular literature, the current headquarters building is the setting for intrigue in Dan Brown’s novel “Deception Point.” Under the agency’s first two administrators, T. Keith Glennan and James E. Webb, the headquarters leadership team made the critical decisions to move forward quickly on America’s man in space program and then assemble the massive government-industry-university partnership required for the Apollo Program. At headquarters, NASA’s leaders also participated in the government’s decision to allow NASA’s activities, including its successes and failures, to be broadcast in real time. This commitment fit with the mandate of the 1958 Space Act for the agency to “provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination of information concerning its activities and the results thereof.” Under Webb’s leadership, headquarters staff members helped draft the 1967 United Nations Treaty on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and dealt forthrightly with addressing the agency’s failings after the tragic Apollo 1 fire. As NASA was recovering from the Apollo 1 tragedy, the Central Intelligence Agency told agency officials in August 1968 that the Soviet Union might be preparing for a manned lunar flyby mission. These reports prompted bold action. NASA managers from around the country met at headquarters to consider sending the second Apollo flight around the moon. Apollo 8 (Dec. 1968) marked the first time astronauts rode aboard the Saturn V, as well as the first time humans ever left Earth orbit. The mission was a huge success and global sensation, leading the way for the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission of July 1969. As the 1970s began, a new relationship was forged between the two space powers when NASA officials, led by George Low, negotiated an agreement with their Soviet counterparts to conduct the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975. More recently, years of patient negotiations directed by Headquarters’ External Affairs office has led to the 15-nation International Space Station partnership. These negotiations and subsequent efforts to manage the partnership have carefully defined each partner’s contributions and responsibilities, established useful technical compatibility standards, and built a foundation for future international space cooperation. On Jan. 14, 2004, NASA Headquarters was the site of an announcement that established an exciting new direction for space exploration for decades to come. That day, President George W. Bush spoke in the Headquarters’ James Webb auditorium and proposed that NASA adopt the new goals of returning humans to the moon, this time to stay for months at a time, and eventually to send pioneering explorers to Mars and beyond. Charged with implementing these objectives is the NASA Headquarters’ leadership team, headed by Administrator Dr. Michael D. Griffin. NASA’s 11th administrator, Griffin previously served the agency as chief engineer and associate administrator for Exploration. More recently, he was Space Department Head at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory. NASA’s Deputy Administrator is Shana Dale, who oversees the day-to-day work of NASA’s functional offices, such as the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General Counsel, and Strategic Communications. Before coming to NASA, Dale was deputy director for Homeland and National Security for the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. NASA’s Associate Administrator is Chris Scolese, formerly the agency’s chief engineer. NASA Headquarters is organized into four Mission Directorates: Aeronautics Research (Associate Administrator Dr. Jaiwon Shin), Exploration Systems (AA Dr. Richard J. Gilbrech), Science (AA Dr. Alan Stern) and Space Operations (AA William Gerstenmaier). These officials have direct oversight of field center performance in implementing NASA policies and programs. In order to effectively carry out the nation’s civil aeronautics and space policies, headquarters maintains close relationships with the White House and other Executive Branch offices (e.g. Office of Science and Technology Policy and Office of Management and Budget). Headquarters through its Office of External Relations also works regularly with other U.S. government agencies such as the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, State, and Transportation. The headquarters’ Legislative Affairs staff interfaces with members of Congress and their staffs, the 50 state governors and other local officials. The headquarters’ Education team works with museums, universities and K-12 schools to promote excellence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. Press briefings and media information requests are handled by the headquarters Public Affairs staff. Ames Research Center (Moffett Field, Calif.) FutureFlight Central - Opened Dec. 13, 1999, at the Ames Research Center, the world’s first full-scale virtual airport control tower helps airlines and airports improve the public’s flying experience. NASA’s Ames Research Center is situated in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, near the high-tech companies, entrepreneurial ventures, universities and other laboratories that fuel the region’s reputation for technology development and research. It’s a fitting location for Ames, a NASA leader in such mission-enabling, cutting-edge work. Named for Joseph S. Ames, a founding member and longtime chairman (1919-1939) of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the center is located at Moffett Federal Airfield, a former naval air base. Following its founding in 1939 as the second NACA laboratory, Ames hosted the worlds’ greatest collection of wind tunnels. In 1958, Ames became part of the NASA family. Today, the center operates more than $3 billion in capital equipment and is home to 2,300 workers. The center’s current director is Dr. Simon P. “Pete” Worden (Brig. Gen., USAF Ret). Ames personnel work on everything from mission design, to fundamental research, to developing critical new technologies, and analyzing scientific data. Ames is a widely recognized leader in all types of information technology, including supercomputing, modeling, networking and intelligent computer systems. Ames scientists are pioneering new autonomous systems for robotic exploration and human space missions. Ames also is at the forefront of research into new materials that will reduce spacecraft weight and increase carrying capacity, and leads in development of advanced thermal protection systems for space transportation and planetary-entry missions. Ames is a NASA force in space biology, biotechnology and human factors work. For more than 30 years the center has flown payloads on a variety of spacecraft to better understand how living organisms respond to microgravity and radiation. Today, Ames is hard at work developing capabilities to expand human life into the universe. Through its work in astrobiology, the center seeks greater understanding of the origins and evolution of life. Ames assets, such as the Kepler telescope to be launched in 2009, support NASA’s search for habitable environments outside our planet. Drawing on its expertise in infrared astronomy and planetary science, the center is also responsible for the scientific aspects of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) astronomy aircraft. SOFIA helps astronomers study how the elements of the universe, from stars to planets to organic molecules, are distributed among the cosmos. In collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies, Ames helps design air traffic control systems to make commercial aviation safer and more efficient. The center is redefining basic concepts of air operations and is developing technologies to boost the capacity of the nation’s air transportation system. For the Constellation Program’s effort to build spacecraft and launch and surface support systems for a new generation of explorers, Ames will help prepare technologies for both human flights to the moon and the robotic precursors that will pave the way.Ames is leading the development of the heat shield that will protect crews aboard the Orion crew exploration vehicle. For this, NASA is drawing on Ames’ rich heritage in developing systems for entry into Earth’s and other planets’ atmospheres, such as the thermal protection system for the planned Mars Science Laboratory. Other Ames responsibilities for Orion include managing flight software development and support for guidance, space navigation and control systems. For Ares I, the first new human launch vehicle to be designed in decades, Ames engineers are helping develop the rocket’s health monitoring system, its fault detection software and vehicle verification systems. Drawing on its experience in computational fluid dynamics, Ames is conducting simulations of the Ares ascent to help identify the best path for the rocket to fly on its way into space. Using its human factors experience, Ames will provide equipment and advanced simulators for flight controllers and develop parts of the Constellation training program. Turning to robotic missions, Ames’ small-satellite projects office is designing probes to gather detailed data about the moon, including the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS). LCROSS will smash into one of the moon’s polar regions to detect and measure water in the lunar soil, much like the hammers used by the ‘49ers and early prospectors to search for precious metals. Dryden Flight Research Center (Edwards, Calif.) The Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center, located in California’s Mojave Desert beneath the spacious skies that gave America its first aviation heroes with the “right stuff,” is recognized as the premier fight research and test organization for the validation of high-risk, pioneering aerospace technology, space exploration concepts and the conduct of science mission observations. The center is named for the aeronautical scientist who served as NACA’s director from 1947-1958 and then served as NASA’s deputy administrator from 1958 until his death in 1965. The center’s current director is Kevin L. Petersen. The center originated in 1946, when researchers from the NACA Langley Aeronautical Memorial Laboratory came to Muroc Army Air Base, now known as Edwards Air Force Base, to support the first X-1 rocket plane supersonic flights. Dryden is located at Edwards adjacent to Rogers Dry Lake, which at 44 square miles is the largest dry lakebed in the world. It provides an unrivaled omni-directional airfield in addition to Edwards’ paved runways. Dryden flies a variety of research aircraft and has participated in many important aerospace achievements. These include supersonic and hypersonic flight, digital fly-by-wire control systems, supercritical wings, and the flight tests and landings of more than 50 space shuttle missions. Dryden also was the location of the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle test flights, flights of the X-15 rocket plane and lifting body flights during the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. The center conducts flight tests to support aeronautics research programs and contributes to aeronautical technologies, aviation safety, space transportation, and Earth and space science missions. Current Dryden projects include: Into the blue - The Dryden Flight Research Center conducted the X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft’s first flight on July 20, 2007. Photo credit: NASA/ Carla Thomas Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Dryden manages development and flight tests of this colossal airborne observatory. SOFIA complements the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories. It carries a 40,000-pound infrared telescope in a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that promises to reveal information about the cosmos unattainable from ground-based infrared telescopes. Constellation Program. Dryden manages the abort flight tests for the Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV). This effort includes two pad abort tests, simulating aborts during a launch-pad emergency, and four ascent aborts, simulating aborts during first-stage flight of the Orion spacecraft. Dryden is managing the development of the CEV flight-test articles and the abort-test booster, which will launch the flight-test article for the ascent abort tests. Dryden also has responsibility for parachute drop tests of the Orion recovery systems. Dryden engineers will check out instrumentation for the Orion/Ares I rocket launch site, and the center’s talent pool will help design the Orion re-entry and landing pathways for its return from space. X-48B Blended Wing Body. This radical, remotely piloted sub-scale technology demonstrator points to a future of efficient aircraft. Dryden’s role in X-48 flight tests, with designer Boeing and Cranfield Aerospace Ltd., of Bedford, England, exemplifies the center’s collaborations with industry. Intelligent Flight Control Systems. Dryden pioneered the application of “self-learning” software in aircraft flight control computers aboard a highly modified NF-15 aircraft. In the future this technology could enable damaged aircraft to reconfigure their flight control systems for safe flight in the face of otherwise catastrophic damage. X-43A. This unpiloted research aircraft became the first scramjet-powered aircraft to fly. Scramjet engines could increase the payload for future hypersonic vehicles by using oxygen from the atmosphere instead of carrying it onboard as an oxidizer. A milestone was achieved in March 2004, when an X-43A test craft flew at 5,000 mph for 11 seconds, setting a world record for air-breathing propulsion. The record was broken the following November when an X-43A flew at nearly Mach 10, almost 7,000 mph. Providing support for the scientific community, Dryden collects information on special atmospheric sampling, environmental modeling and sensor testing missions worldwide, using two high-altitude ER-2 aircraft, derived from the U2 reconnaissance plane. Also, Dryden operates a modified DC-8 jetliner as an airborne laboratory for global environmental surveys. Dryden has supported the space shuttle program since the center hosted the approach-and-landing tests of the prototype shuttle Enterprise in 1977, released from the back of its 747 carrier. Leading shuttle operations for the approach and landing tests was Isaac “Ike” Gillam, later Dryden’s director from 1978-1981. Gillam was NASA’s first African-American center director. Today, when shuttles land at Edwards Air Force Base, they are prepared at Dryden for ferrying to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on top of one of NASA’s two modified Boeing 747 shuttle carrier aircraft. Dryden researchers and specially trained pilots are pioneering the use of remotely piloted aircraft fitted with environmental sensors that can aid in everything from wildfire detection to climatology. Ikhana, a scientifically instrumented Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle, is used by Dryden researchers to conduct Earth science missions. Dryden also tests advanced aeronautics, propulsion and aircraft flight control technologies for future high-altitude, remotely piloted, aircraft. Special facilities at the center include a high-temperature laboratory capable of replicating friction-induced heat on aircraft, a lab for aircraft flight instrumentation design and a data analysis facility to process flight research data. Sophisticated test range facilities enable the capture of precise data from flight research missions. Dryden’s Research Aircraft Integration Facility, unique to NASA, tests aircraft flight controls, avionics and other electronic systems through advanced simulators that can be integrated with the research aircraft. The center also recently established the Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif. Located adjacent to the runways and taxiways of Air Force Plant 42, this former aircraft production plant has become home to several of Dryden’s fleet of science aircraft, including SOFIA and the DC-8 airborne laboratory. They will be joined in the near future by Dryden’s two ER-2s and a Gulfstream-III. The facility incorporates 210,000 square feet of hangar space with an equivalent amount of space devoted to laboratories, maintenance shops, office space and related functions. More than 1,000 federal and contractor employees work at the center in a high desert environment as spectacular as it is Spartan. They take pride in flying the future first. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field (Cleveland, Ohio) Zero-G Locomotion - Astronaut Don Pettit visited NASA Glenn’s Exercise Countermeasures Laboratory to test the Enhanced Zero-gravity Locomotion Simulator (eZLS), which was designed and built by engineers at Glenn and the Cleveland Clinic to simulate how astronauts exercise during space travel. With its long history in aircraft propulsion and its modern involvement in space research, it is only fitting that NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field would have a name that honors both an astronaut and a leader in aeronautics. Located adjacent to Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport, the center is named in honor of John H. Glenn, the former astronaut and U.S. Senator from Ohio who became the first American to orbit the Earth on Feb. 20, 1962, and George W. Lewis, former NACA director of Aeronautical Research. The center’s 325 acres are home to 150 buildings and structures, which include wind tunnels, engine test facilities, microgravity research facilities, space communication facilities, test laboratories and engineering offices. Glenn also manages the 6,400-acre Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio. The center conducts research in aeronautics technology and develops spaceflight systems. More than 3,100 federal employees and contractors work at Lewis Field and Plum Brook Station. The center’s current director is Dr. Woodrow Whitlow, Jr. Following the establishment of the Langley and Ames Research Centers, construction of what was originally NACA’s Aircraft Engine Research laboratory began in 1941. In 1948, the facility was named in honor of Lewis and it was incorporated into NASA 10 years later. Glenn’s name was added to the center’s title on March 1, 1999. Historically, Glenn has led research on liquid hydrogen rocket engines and stages, such as the Centaur cryogenic upper stage used on the Atlas and Titan rockets for high-energy missions to the moon and planets. It has pioneered and tested advanced designs of ion and electric engines and thrusters, including the highly successful primary propulsion system for the Deep Space 1 mission. The electrical power system developed for use on the International Space Station also was a product of Glenn research, design and analysis. On-going aircraft propulsion research at Glenn has contributed to reducing pollution in flight and making aircraft engines safe and environmentally sound. In 1987, the center and the NASA/industry advanced turboprop team were awarded the prestigious Collier Trophy for the development of a new fuel-efficient turboprop propulsion system. The trophy, awarded annually for outstanding American aeronautics and astronautics achievements, recognizes key advances in the performance, efficiency or safety of air and space vehicles. In aeronautics safety research, one of the busiest facilities at Glenn is the icing research tunnel, which is used to continuously improve the flight safety of fixed wing and rotary aircraft, to test ice accumulation on the wings and bodies of airplanes and to verify the results with flight research. Glenn has two large supersonic propulsion wind tunnels: the 8- by 6-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel and the Abe Silverstein 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The 8x6, NASA’s only transonic propulsion wind tunnel, has been actively involved in research testing since 1948. Aircraft such as the Advanced Turboprop, the National Aerospace Plane, the Advanced Tactical Fighter, the Joint Strike Fighter and the High-Speed Civil Transport were tested in this facility. In 1956, under the leadership of Silverstein and Eugene Wasliewski, the 10- by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel was brought on line. The facility was re-named for Silverstein in 1994. The tunnel has made valuable contributions to the advancement of fundamental supersonic propulsion technology, the development of Atlas-Centaur, Saturn and Atlas-Agena class launch vehicles, and vehicle-focused research programs, including the High-Speed Civil Transport, the National Aerospace Plane and the Joint Strike Fighter. Glenn has a long history of developing state-of-the-art communications technologies. In 1988 the center was awarded an Emmy for developing a high-efficiency traveling-wave tube used in the Communications Technology Satellite, which was launched in 1976. The tube allowed the satellite to operate in the Ku-band and at high power levels. As a result, smaller, less-expensive ground receivers could be used and television could be transmitted to remote areas of the world, creating a reliable global communications network. In September 1993, the Advanced Communication Technology Satellite was launched to pave the way for the satellite industry to utilize the Ka-band spectrum and to demonstrate advanced communication technologies and services. The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite was an operational space-based testbed used to validate the use of all-digital, high-bandwidth, on-demand, integrated multimedia services. Glenn’s communications expertise continues to contribute to the aerospace industry and will be applied to future exploration missions. Glenn is NASA’s primary center for work in the fields of fluid, combustion and other flow systems. Glenn laboratories are also used for testing materials and structures for use in both atmospheric flight and space. In the 1990s, nearly every shuttle flight carried an experiment development by Glenn scientists. This research continues aboard the International Space Station. Looking forward, NASA has assigned Glenn the role of managing the service module and spacecraft adapter, both of which are elements of the new Orion crew exploration vehicle. The service module will be used to maneuver Orion while in orbit, to provide electrical power using solar arrays for both it and the crew module housing the astronauts, and to vent thermal energy generated aboard Orion. Glenn will have engineering and management oversight of Lockheed Martin, the Orion prime contractor, and will perform independent verification and validation activities. Glenn engineers will also work with Boeing, the production contractor of the Ares I crew launch vehicle rocket upper stage, applying the center’s previous experience from the Centaur program in large liquid cryogenic engines and stages. Glenn will have lead center roles in the Ares I upper stage thrust vector control system, the stage’s electrical power and distribution system, developmental flight instrumentation system and fuel leak detection sensor system. In support of the Ares I-X flight, Glenn is responsible for the design, fabrication and testing of the upper stage mass simulator. This flight hardware is being built in-house and tested at Glenn facilities. Glenn is supporting other elements of the Constellation Program as they emerge, and will offer conceptual designs of new space vehicle systems and future capabilities, all building on the center’s aeronautics and space propulsion heritage. Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Md.) Big equipment - A Launch Phase Simulator or High Capacity Centrifuge at the Goddard Space Flight Center. Located just outside of Washington, D.C., NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has a rather impressive mandate -- to better understand the entire universe. Named for the father of modern rocketry, Robert H. Goddard, the center was created on May 1, 1959 and is home to more than 8,000 scientists, engineers and researchers engaged in understanding Earth science, the solar system and the universe beyond. The center’s current director is Dr. Edward J. Weiler. In a book celebrating Goddard’s 40th anniversary, Lane E. Wallace wrote, “Engineers and scientists did not go to work for Goddard or NASA for money. They went to work there because they were fired up with excitement over the prospect of exploring a frontier no human had entered before.” Goddard has contributed to more than 287 missions in a period of 48 years, and has built instruments for spacecraft that have studied every planet in our solar system as well as other celestial bodies, including Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus. Goddard scientists have designed and managed some of NASA’s most complex scientific spacecraft that have flown millions of miles in Earth orbit and beyond. These include the Hubble Space Telescope, the Cosmic Background Explorer (which led to a Nobel Prize in physics for its principal investigator, John C. Mather) and the Earth Observing System, which monitors Earth’s changing climate. Goddard is responsible for more than 30 other spacecraft that gather data about Earth’s atmosphere, the environment between Earth and the sun, and make deep space observations that help to expand knowledge about the formation and evolution of galaxies. Goddard’s scientific satellite investigations are supplemented by data gathered from suborbital flights, ground-based observatories and other laboratory instruments in the U.S. and abroad. Goddard’s Greenbelt campus contains more than 50 buildings and research laboratories. The center also operates and manages the Wallops Flight Facility, a launch range located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Also under Goddard’s umbrella are the Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City, a renowned center for climate research, and the Independent Verification and Validation Facility in West Virginia, an organization responsible for independently assuring the safety of mission critical computer software. The Goddard center also has responsibility for NASA’s spaceflight tracking and data acquisition networks, including the White Sands Complex located near Las Cruces, N.M. Operating at Goddard are two functionally identical satellite ground terminals, which ensure uninterrupted communications between various ground stations, NASA’s orbiting fleet of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, customer spacecraft and the computer systems that support such spacecraft. Goddard also manages a suite of ground stations in other locations around the globe for tracking, commanding and acquiring data from NASA spacecraft. The center is tasked with developing ways to archive and distribute the scientific data accumulated from the many missions it supports. Demonstrating NASA’s commitment to external partnerships, Goddard has more than 40 years of experience managing the development of satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to forecast severe weather and track hurricanes. The center has built and operated more research satellites dedicated to the study of our home planet than any other institution in the world and also develops instruments that are flown aboard spacecraft operated by other nations and other federal agencies. Laboratories that develop sophisticated scientific instruments flown aboard satellites are a key Goddard feature. Vacuum chambers, shaker tables, acoustic test cells and a High Capacity Centrifuge allow satellite structures to be subjected to environmental conditions that mimic those encountered in actual spaceflight. Satellite Control Centers are distributed across the center to track and maintain the spacecraft and instruments for 43 ongoing satellite missions. A separate control center in Baltimore, Md., operates and monitors closely the Hubble Space Telescope and the health of its systems and equipment. Goddard scientists and engineers are currently working with teams of astronauts at the Johnson Space Center to plan the shuttle flight to maintain and repair the telescope in the late summer of 2008, including the specific tasks to be performed by spacewalking astronauts. Goddard is also home to one of the largest clean rooms used in the space program. Clean rooms help keep fingerprints, dust and other airborne contaminants away from sensitive instruments. The facility uses five huge fans that provide pure air and an environment where large satellites undergo final test and assembly and space shuttle payloads can be prepared for shipment to launching sites. Tiny microelectronic devices are assembled and semiconductors are processed in a development laboratory at Goddard. In support of NASA’s new exploration goals, Goddard will have a major role in the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, a necessary step in America’s return to the moon. Goddard is responsible for the development of LPRP’s first mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. LRO will provide critical information about the moon to help NASA select safe landing sites with compelling exploration and scientific features. NASA’s Constellation Program will also rely on the Goddard team. Goddard will be responsible for Radio Frequency (RF) engineering, including communications and tracking, for Constellation. Goddard also provides support in the areas of radiation engineering, attitude control system modeling and systems engineering spanning communications, avionics, flight performance, safety and mission assurance. Goddard also has been given responsibility for communications, tracking and data handling for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The center will develop and test Orion’s radio systems and antennas to be used during Earth-orbital and lunar flights. Goddard Institute for Space Studies (New York City, N.Y.) NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, at Columbia University in New York City, is responsible for keeping track of the ever-changing world, or at least its climate. GISS is a component laboratory of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Earth-Sun Exploration Division and a unit of The Earth Institute at Columbia University. Begun in 1961 by Dr. Robert Jastrow to conduct basic research in space sciences in support of Goddard programs, GISS now emphasizes a broad study of global climate change. The facility’s current director is Dr. James E. Hansen. At the institute, scientists across a wide range of disciplines study natural and human-caused changes in our environment that occur on various time scales from decades to millennia and that affect the habitability of our planet. The institute is noted for developing global models of atmospheric, land-surface and oceanic processes as a means of aiding prediction of our climate’s future evolution. Scientists at the institute use comprehensive global data sets, the study of past events on Earth such a paleoclimate change, and evolving knowledge about other planets’ climates to assist their work in this socially important research field. Independent Verification and Validation Facility (Fairmont, W.Va.) Mountaineer state moon - Full moon rising over the Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, W.Va. Located in the heart of West Virginia’s emerging technology sector, the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility was established in 1993 as part of an agency-wide strategy to provide the highest achievable levels of safety and cost-effectiveness for NASA mission critical software. The NASA IV&V Facility was founded under the NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance as a direct result of recommendations made by the National Research Council and the Report of the Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident. Since then, the facility has experienced continual growth in personnel, projects, capabilities and accomplishments, and has contributed tangibly to NASA’s improved safety record. Today, IV&V is an agency-level function delegated from Office of Safety and Mission Assurance to the Goddard Space Flight Center and managed by the facility. The facility’s primary business, software IV&V, is sponsored by OSMA as a software assurance technology. The NASA IV&V Program strives to improve software safety, reliability and quality of NASA programs and missions through effective applications of systems and software IV&V methods, practices and techniques. The program’s vision is to be valued for its superior performance in independent software validation and verification, its ability to provide high-confidence safety and mission assurance of NASA software, its positive impact on the development of high quality software, and its expertise in software engineering. The facility also manages and performs cutting-edge research in the field of software engineering primarily as it relates to software safety, quality, verification and validation testability, and reliability. OSMA has delegated to the facility the management of the OSMA Software Assurance Research Program, which is designed to address fundamental software assurance problems. The facility performs research designed to enable the program to keep pace with developing technologies and to find effective ways of performing IV&V and enhancing software engineering practices throughout NASA. The men and women of the facility work hard to participate in the vitality of the surrounding communities, and to engage the citizens of “Rocket Boy” Homer Hickam’s home state in the exciting experiences and benefits offered by NASA’s pursuit of exploration and discovery. The facility’s workforce consists of 275 government and contractor employees. The current director of the facility is Dr. Butch Caffall. Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, Calif.) From Pasadena to Mars - Mobility testing for the Mars Exploration Rover 2 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When the world sees new images of other planets and moons in our solar system, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has often played a role in obtaining those images. But the lab’s history began long before the Space Age. In 1936, students at what was then the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory, part of the California Institute of Technology under the direction of Theodore von Karman, began to conduct experiments with liquid-propellant rocket engines in the Arroyo Seco just outside of Pasadena. The U.S. Army subsequently helped Caltech acquire land in the Arroyo Seco to build testing facilities for rockets that lifted heavily laden airplanes into the air. During World War II, von Karman’s team developed solid- and liquid-propellant rocket boosters for the airplanes, and designed larger high-altitude rockets. The facility was reorganized in 1944 as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and focused on research and development tests of guided missiles and other explosives. JPL was transferred from the U.S. Army to NASA in December 1958. As opposed to other NASA centers, JPL works for NASA under a contract, a practice that began in 1962. The laboratory is currently directed by Dr. Charles Elachi. JPL today comprises 177 acres next to the site of von Karman’s early rocket test facilities. The oldest original building still standing at JPL is no. 11, first constructed for use in the rocket program. It is today the JPL Space Sciences Laboratory. Other original buildings used in the first rocket test programs remain in use. The Missions Operation building was built in 1958, along with the Low Temperature Laboratory and the High Vacuum Laboratory. A series of laboratories used in space activities were constructed at JPL in the 1960s. These include the Spacecraft Assembly Facility, Control Systems Laboratory, and Celestial Simulator building. The Space Simulator Facility was added in 1962 and the Space Flight Operations Command Facility in 1963. The Earth Space Science, Physical Sciences, Spectroscopy Laboratory, Gyro Laboratory, Magnetic Laboratory, and Environmental Laboratories were added to the JPL roster between 1965 and 1967. The center’s main administration building (180) was completed in 1964. Other new facilities include a Robotics Laboratory, added in 1971, an Isotope Thermoelectric Systems Lab in 1972, an Earth and Space Science Laboratory in 1985, a Microdevices Laboratory in 1986, and the Observational Instruments Lab in 1989. The newest buildings are the In-Situ Instruments Lab (2001) and the Optical Interferometery Development Lab (2002). JPL today comprises 177 acres next to the site of von Karman’s early rocket test facilities. JPL has managed and operated nearly every major U.S. interplanetary exploration mission. These include the early Ranger and Surveyor lunar probes; the Mariner series of spacecraft that flew past Venus and Mars in the 1960s; the Viking landers, which made the first successful U.S. landings and explorations of the Martian surface in 1976; the historic Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, which explored the outer regions of the solar system, including the distant planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The center also managed the hearty Mars Sojourner rover and the twin Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity, which landed on the Red Planet in 2004 and are still roaming and exploring its surface; the orbiting Mars Surveyor and Mars Climate Orbiter, which have snapped hundreds of thousands of high-resolution images of the planet from orbit; the Magellan and Galileo space probes; and many more advanced planetary exploration spacecraft. JPL is responsible for systems engineering in support of the Constellation Program. In addition, JPL will provide support to the Orion crew exploration vehicle thermal protection system advanced development project. Other JPL assignments in NASA’s effort to renew human exploration beyond low Earth orbit include Safety Reliability & Quality Assurance, support for integrated hazard analysis and risk assessment. The laboratory will co-lead systems engineering and integration software and avionics systems integration; support the development of Constellation vehicle requirements, trade studies, and process and tools offices; and support navigation and tracking, power, command, control, communication and information, other program-wide human factors, and ground/mission operations systems integration groups. Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas) Ready for a soaking - An astronaut prepares to train in the Johnson Space Center’s neutral buoyancy laboratory. The heart of NASA’s human spaceflight program lies in Texas at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Named for our nation’s 36th president, the complex sits in the midst of 1,600 acres on the southeast edge of Houston’s city limits. The center opened in 1961 as the Manned Spacecraft Center to house the workforce that would develop the spacecraft, train the astronauts and support our nation’s efforts to land a man on the moon and safely return him to Earth by the end of the decade. The center’s original mission has expanded to include programs with long-duration spaceflights, involving international partners, and preparing for America’s next great leaps in human spaceflight. As part of this ongoing evolution, NASA constructed world-class facilities to provide unique opportunities to meet the challenges and objectives associated with the agency’s goals. The center’s current director is former astronaut Michael L. Coats. Included in the sprawling Johnson campus are buildings designed to support the training of the U.S. astronaut corps and those from the nations who are partners in space shuttle missions and the International Space Station. Highly utilized by these individuals is the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, which houses full-size realistic mockups of the space shuttle flight deck and mid-deck, a full-size shuttle fuselage mockup, and mockups of various modules of the space station. Located within the mockup facility are two tools used in the development and evaluation of spacewalk equipment and techniques: a precision air-bearing floor and a partial gravity simulator. To further prepare for spacewalks, astronauts train at the Sonny Carter Training Facility, located a few miles from the center. This neutral buoyancy laboratory features a pool containing 6.2 million gallons of water where astronauts and their trainers experience simulated weightlessness, allowing them to train for spacewalks, refine procedures and verify hardware compatibility. Astronauts also spend hours in the Jake Garn Training Facility where they prepare for launch, landing, payload and space station operations, and rendezvous activities by training with motion-based simulators imitating the vibrations, noise and views experienced by crews on orbit. Nearby Ellington Field houses the center’s aircraft operations. Astronauts receive spaceflight readiness training in T-38 Talon supersonic jets, and pilot astronauts train with specially modified jet aircraft to mimic the approach and landing of shuttle orbiters. NASA’s operations at the airfield also include programs using a C-9 aircraft for reduced-gravity research, two fully operational WB-57 aircraft for high-altitude research, and the Super Guppy aircraft, whose unique hinged nose allows large pieces of cargo to be transported to other NASA locations. As part of their training, astronaut crews work closely with the teams of the Mission Control Center. Since June 3, 1965, the MCC has been an integral part of the success of NASA’s human spaceflight missions. From liftoff until the crew returns to Earth, the MCC serves as the nucleus of communication and support. Starting with the Gemini IV spacewalking mission, teams of experienced engineers and technicians in Houston have controlled every flight for the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and space shuttle programs and operations aboard the International Space Station. The original MCC configuration of two identical Mission Operations Control Rooms located on separate floors was modified and enhanced in the 1980s, resulting in flight control rooms with capabilities to simultaneously support a space station Expedition crew and a shuttle crew in flight. In the mid-1990s, while NASA’s astronauts resided on the Russian space station Mir, the MCC teams of flight controllers and support staff moved into an era of shared responsibilities with a control center in Moscow. On Nov. 2, 2000, the first Expedition crew arrived at the space station, and since that time, the MCC has monitored the station’s activities every minute of every day, and worked with NASA’s international partners to achieve mission success. Other Johnson facilities contain a treasure trove of 800 pounds of lunar materials returned from the moon between 1969 and 1972. These lunar samples continue to be studied today by scientists from around the world. Originally housed in the center’s Lunar Receiving Laboratory, the materials were moved in 1979 to the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, a virtually indestructible two-story facility under the direction of the center’s Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office. Along with the lunar samples, the office maintains four other collections of extraterrestrial samples, including meteorites from Antarctica, cosmic dust collected in the stratosphere, solar wind samples collected by the Genesis spacecraft, and interstellar and cometary dust samples collected during the recent Stardust mission. To support human spaceflight, teams at Johnson help with the management and development, testing, production and delivery of all U.S. human spacecraft and all human spacecraft-related functions including life support systems, power systems, crew equipment, electrical power generation and distribution guidance, navigation and control, cooling systems, structures, flight software, robotics, spacesuits and spacewalking equipment. Projects developed at Johnson have produced scientific and medical advances, as well as spaceflight technologies that were adapted to benefit humankind in applications for medicine, energy, transportation, agriculture, communications and electronics. In the future Johnson will serve as the site for program management of the agency’s Constellation Program. Teams at Johnson are working with partners from other NASA centers to develop the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Also underway is the testing and analysis of the spacecraft’s human interface and avionics software, its thermal and heat systems, and the crew escape system, as well as the design and creation of the next generation of spacesuits and lunar landers. Kennedy Space Center (Florida) Pea soup - The space shuttle Challenger moves through the fog down the 3-mile crawler way en route to Launch Pad 39A and its first launch in April 1983. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Diller Named for the America’s 35th president, NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center is the primary U.S. spaceport, NASA launch center and home to the nation’s fleet of space shuttle orbiters. It is from Kennedy that the familiar and always dramatic countdown refrain -- “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and we have liftoff!” -- is broadcast to rapt audiences throughout the world. Currently, the shuttle orbiters are housed, maintained and serviced in the center’s orbiter processing facilities, assembled with the other space shuttle components in the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, and launched into space from a pair of launch complexes. From 1968 to 1972, the center launched nine Apollo flights to the moon. It is adjacent to the U.S. Air Force’s Cape Canaveral launch range where missile tests are conducted and expendable satellite-carrying rockets are processed and launched. Kennedy, home to nearly 15,000 civilian, military and industry employees, features a large visitor center complex that includes museum-quality exhibits, shops, restaurants, a space shuttle experience and an IMAX theater. A Saturn V rocket is also housed for public display at the visitor center. Kennedy’s current director is William “Bill” Parsons. Kennedy lies on 219-square miles on Florida’s coast, 50 miles east of the city of Orlando, on Merritt Island, located between the Indian and Banana Rivers with launch pad access on the Atlantic Ocean. The center has a unique designation as a wildlife sanctuary, where bald eagles, alligators, herons and other wildlife coexist with humans. The natural areas include the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and a major part of the Canaveral National Seashore. The first U.S. astronauts launched aboard the Redstone Atlas, and Titan II rockets from military launch pads located at the Air Force Cape Canaveral Air Station. The first Saturn I and IB rockets were also launched from Cape Canaveral. Following President Kennedy’s May 25, 1961 speech to Congress announcing the lunar landing goal, NASA began to acquire lands adjacent to the Air Force base on Merritt Island. On that area, the agency built new buildings and launch complexes to support the Saturn V launch vehicle and Apollo spacecraft. Launch Complex 39, consisting of two nearly identical launch pads, A and B, was constructed, with space reserved for a third such Saturn V pad had it been needed. A launch control center was built where controllers monitored the countdown for each Saturn launch. To assemble each of the moon-bound launch vehicles, the 525-foot tall VAB was erected. Inside the structure, the three stages of the Saturn V, along with the Apollo spacecraft, were assembled and stacked on top of a mobile launch platform. The last Saturn V was launched in May 1973, carrying the Skylab space station to orbit, the only use of the Saturn V as a cargo-carrying space launch vehicle. Using a modified version of the Saturn V pads, the smaller Saturn IB rocket was used from 1973-1975 to launch the three Skylab crews and the American astronauts who participated in the U.S.-Soviet Union Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. For the space shuttle program, Kennedy made modifications to or retained its Apollo-era facilities, including launch Complex 39 A and B and the interior high bays of the VAB, the mobile launching platform and slow-moving crawler transporter. The space shuttle Enterprise was used as a prototype vehicle to test the launch pad modifications, paving the way for the first space shuttle launch in April 1981. Kennedy added other buildings to support shuttle flight operations, including new orbiter processing facilities, which act as hangars for the winged vehicles, as well as payload and ordinance buildings for the shuttles and their booster rockets and cargoes. A runway was built near the launch pads to accommodate the gliding return of the space planes, with the first shuttle landing at the center’s runway taking place at the end of the Challenger STS-41B mission in 1984. A unique 457,000 sq. ft. Space Station Processing Facility was constructed in 1994 to process and test large modules, truss segments, solar panels, etc. prior to launch. Kennedy launches many scientific and weather spacecraft into orbit aboard various expendable launch vehicles such as Delta, Atlas, Pegasus, Taurus, Titan and Athena class rockets. The center has responsibility for managing satellite launches at other launch sites, including Cape Canaveral Air Force Station; Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; and Kodiak, Alaska. To help advance NASA’s Constellation Program, Kennedy will handle all ground operations of our next generation spacecraft and launch vehicles. The two Saturn V-turned-shuttle launch pads will be converted again, this time to support the new crewed Ares I and cargo-carrying Ares V launch vehicles. Kennedy will handle ground processing and launch operations of the Ares rockets and recovery of the Orion crew exploration vehicle capsules and recovery of the first-stage solids of the Ares I and Ares V vehicles. The first test flight launch of an Ares I launch vehicle is planned for early 2009, with the renewal of human launches to the moon from Kennedy slated to begin by 2020. Langley Research Center (Hampton, Va.) Future moon outpost - An inflatable lunar habitat being tested at Langley Research Center. When Langley Research Center became a part of NASA at the agency’s inception, the nascent organization received not only a vital research facility, but also a piece of American history. The Samuel P. Langley Research Center, named for the American aviation pioneer who founded the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, was established in 1917 as America’s first civilian aeronautics research laboratory for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Then known as the Langley Aeronautical Memorial Laboratory, the facility opened its first wind tunnel test center in 1920. Langley’s second tunnel, the Variable Density Tunnel, created by Max Munk and installed in 1922, helped to revolutionize early aeronautical design by characterizing series of airfoils. These airfoil series are still used by aircraft designers today. Research at Langley improved the performance and capabilities of civil and military aircraft. During World War II, the Hampton, Va., facility tested nearly all U.S. military combat planes. After the war, NACA researchers focused on issues relating to high-speed flight. A difference was noted between conventional wind tunnel data and aircraft performance during high-speed maneuvers. To remedy this situation, engineer John Stack developed a concept for a slotted-throat wind tunnel design that enabled testing at high-speed conditions more closely matching actual flight conditions. The slotted-throat tunnel design was awarded a Collier Trophy and opened a pathway to supersonic aircraft development. Langley engineers designed many high-speed test airplanes. These historic aircraft included the sound barrier breaking X-1, and the X-15, the first winged aircraft to fly into space. Later, X-15 research would pave the way for the space shuttle era. When Langley was absorbed into NASA its engineers, research labs and historic aerospace data became the building blocks of the new federal space agency. Currently the center is led by Lesa B. Roe. In the late 1950s, America’s project to put humans in space, Mercury, was developed in Langley research labs and tunnels, and managed at the center by the agency’s space task group. This group later expanded and moved on to become the Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston. Prior to the move, the original seven Mercury astronauts trained and lived at Langley. Langley also played key roles in Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. Langley engineers refined and developed the feasibility of rendezvous and docking while in orbit around the moon. Langley designed and operated simulators that allowed astronauts to learn techniques for piloting the Lunar Module. High-resolution lunar surface maps, made from photographs taken by NASA Langley’s Lunar Orbiter spacecraft, allowed mission planners to choose the safest landing sites for Apollo and the robotic Surveyor spacecraft. Other unmanned space probes that involved Langley researchers include the Echo, Explorer and PAGEOS Earth satellites, which carried experiments for scientific research and telecommunications. Langley has also played a key role in space transportation for small payloads and satellites. In the mid-1950s, Langley researchers began developing a concept that became known as Scout. Scout rockets were launched on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, home to today’s Wallops Flight Facility. The Scout solid-fueled rocket was among NASA’s most reliable ways of lofting small satellites into Earth orbit, beginning with its inaugural flight in 1960. After Apollo, Langley led the development of the Viking missions to Mars. The twin spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and lander and were the first two spacecraft to successfully soft land on the Red Planet, with Viking I landing on Mars’ Chryse Planitia (the Plains of Gold) on July 20, 1976, seven years to the day after Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon. Other Langley space transportation work included design and tests of space plane configurations. These included development of the X-15 rocket plane and the space shuttle. Shuttle designs were subjected to more than 60,000 hours of wind tunnel testing before the final shape of the winged craft was selected. Langley engineers designed a small lifting body called the HL-20 as a possible ferry craft to and from the planned Space Station Freedom. Recent commercial interest has been shown in possibly developing the HL-20 as a taxi for private spaceflights into Earth orbit. One of the space shuttle’s largest payloads, the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), was designed by Langley. The huge satellite carried 57 space experiments and was orbited for six years before its return to Earth, also aboard the shuttle. Data obtained from LDEF has been used in designing future spacecraft. True to its aeronautics roots, Langley engineers continue to shape and improve the way planes fly. Langley researchers are working to make aircraft quieter, safer and more efficient. They’re also developing technologies to reduce delays and help the national air transportation system cope with even more traffic in the future. Current work builds on years of innovation successes. High-speed aircraft feature narrowed fuselages pinched in near the wings and supercritical wings for increased efficiency, thanks to Langley researcher Richard Whitcomb. Airplanes and the space shuttles have graphical “glass cockpit” displays for improved ease of use as a result of Langley work. Airliners are now equipped with airborne predictive radar, developed and tested by Langley, that significantly reduces the possibility of deadly wind shear accidents. Planes are made with more efficient, lighter-weight composite materials because of the center’s extensive work in materials science. Airport runways, as well as highways, are grooved to help reduce hydroplaning accidents during rainy weather, thanks to Langley studies. Today, Langley engineers are developing technology for more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft and rotorcraft. Langley research also is focusing on technologies that will allow airliners and other aircraft to fly faster and higher -- at supersonic and even hypersonic speeds. Researchers are working on cockpit display systems that would improve safety by giving pilots a clear electronic picture of what’s outside, including terrain, other air traffic and the airport surface, no matter what the weather or time of day. Langley researchers continue to work on ways to better diagnose and predict aircraft and mechanical failures, especially in older planes that remain in service. Langley aeronautics also plays a role in supporting space research, studying supersonic and hypersonic speed challenges that are faced by spacecraft during planetary entry, descent and landing. For the Constellation Program, Langley will oversee the Orion crew exploration vehicle’s launch abort system integration, with prime contractor oversight and analysis. Langley will have responsibility for flight test and pathfinder articles production for crew module, launch abort system and separation hardware. It will lead the Orion Landing System Advanced Development Project, support the Thermal Protection System Advanced Development Project, provide aero-thermal, guidance, navigation and control, and avionics software, and provide displays and controls support for Orion’s crew compartment. Langley also will provide independent analysis and systems engineering and integration support for Orion and other elements to be yet developed as part of the Constellation Program. Langley has major roles in the Ares I crew launch vehicle. These include aerodynamic design of the entire launch vehicle, compiling an aerodynamic database and developing aeroelasticity tests and analysis. Langley also will participate in trajectory analyses for the Ares rockets. Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, Ala.) Fire power - A Rocketdyne RS-88 engine test at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in 2003. When President Kennedy called in 1961 for NASA to place a man on the moon, the agency turned to Marshall Space Flight Center to create the incredibly powerful rocket needed to make that possible. Today, NASA is working to return to the moon, and has once again turned to Marshall, for an even more powerful rocket that will enable the establishment of an outpost on the lunar surface. Since its beginning in 1960, Marshall has provided the agency with mission critical design, development and integration of the launch and space systems required for space operations, exploration and scientific missions. Marshall provided the rockets that powered Americans to the moon, developed the space shuttle propulsion system, and managed the development of Skylab, Spacelab, space station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and many other scientific instruments. The center has a rich history of integrating space systems and hardware from conception to operation. Marshall’s unique ability to link science and exploration provides answers to scientific questions, inspiration to a new generation, and innovation for the future of space exploration. The center is named for former Army chief of staff, secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner Gen. George C. Marshall and is located on the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal. The nucleus of the NASA organization in Huntsville was formed in 1960 from the U.S. Army’s Development Operations Division, part of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency. Wernher von Braun and his German rocket engineering team headed the new organization, which was staffed by hundreds of U.S. rocket engineers and scientists. Many facilities, buildings, test equipment and laboratories used in the Army missile and rocket programs were also transferred to NASA. Prior to their transfer to NASA, the Army rocket team in Huntsville had developed the Redstone and Jupiter missiles. The Jupiter became the launch vehicle for Explorer I, America’s first satellite. The Redstone missile evolved into the Redstone rocket that carried astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom in Mercury capsules on the nation’s first suborbital space launches in May and July of 1961. During the 1960s, Marshall engineers developed and tested the stages and engines that powered the Saturn V launch vehicle to the moon. Test firings of the giant Saturn stages and rocket engines sometimes could be heard from as far as 100 miles away. Marshall provided NASA with a total of 32 Saturn rockets, including the six vehicles that lifted astronauts to the lunar surface. Marshall also developed the Lunar Roving Vehicle, the innovative two-seat vehicle driven by the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 astronauts. The 10-foot-long rovers, which traveled across the lunar surface at nine miles per hour, allowed the astronauts to transport tools and equipment to the most geologically interesting sites near their landing base. When their treks were complete, each rover could return as much as 200 pounds of rock and soil samples back to the Lunar Modules for return to Earth. Skylab, America’s first crewed space station, was built at Marshall using the third stage of the Saturn V rocket. Three crews of astronauts lived onboard Skylab during 1973 and 1974 in rotations as long as 84 days. Important elements of the space shuttle were designed and developed at Marshall, including the main engines, external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. The external tank and solid boosters are integral to the design of the new Ares crew launch vehicle. During the 1980s and 1990s, Marshall was also responsible for several shuttle payloads, including Spacelab. Beyond its rocket heritage, Marshall has also been involved in the development and execution of challenging scientific missions. Marshall’s scientific studies range from the birth of a hurricane on Earth to the death of a star in space. The Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope illustrate Marshall’s approach to science – creating and managing platforms that enable the international scientific community to make significant discoveries about Earth and the universe. Marshall also played a leading role in partnership with Stanford University on Gravity Probe B, a gyroscope-based experiment to test two predictions of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. International Space Station operations depend heavily on support from Marshall. The center’s Payload Operations Center serves as NASA’s primary space station science command post, coordinating the operation of all U.S. scientific and commercial experiments on the station, managing constant Earth-to-station science communications. Marshall also continues to develop, integrate, and test major space station components including the Environmental Control and Life Support System, which provides a safe and comfortable environment for the crew and ensures their supply of water and air are pure. Today, under the leadership of center director David A. King, Marshall is spearheading the development of essential hardware, technologies and capabilities to ensure the success of human missions to the moon. The center is responsible for developing and managing a series of robotic probes and landers, paving the way with critical information about the moon’s surface for future human landings. Marshall’s unique capabilities will also be used to help develop the next generation of space transportation and propulsion systems. With the design and development of NASA’s new launch vehicles – the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle – America’s next human journeys to the moon will begin at Marshall. The center manages the Ares Project Office for NASA. Ares I will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle to the International Space Station and deliver uncrewed cargo payloads to space. Ares V will carry heavy-lift payloads to space for use by exploration missions, including those that will return humans to the moon. These vehicles will serve the dual purpose of establishing a permanent lunar outpost and extending our human presence beyond Earth orbit. The Marshall center occupies more than 1,800 acres on Redstone Arsenal and is home to more than 200 buildings and specialized facilities dedicated to supporting current and future missions. The National Park Service has designated four of Marshall’s test facilities as National Historic landmarks. These include the Redstone test stand, the Propulsion and Structural Test Facility, the Saturn V Dynamic Test Stand, and the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator. The center’s Saturn V rocket, on public display in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, was also declared a national landmark. Michoud Assembly Facility (New Orleans, La.) Call it America’s rocket factory. The Michoud Assembly Facility, in eastern New Orleans, managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, was established as a manufacturing complex to produce stages of the Saturn rocket. For the last three decades, it has produced the space shuttle’s large external fuel tanks, and is currently preparing to build stages of the Ares rockets that will power humanity’s return to the moon. The Michoud site, previously operated by the U.S. military, was selected in September 1961 for a Saturn stage fabrication facility. Not only did the site provide the space needed to manufacture the 32.8-foot wide Saturn V first stage, but the Intercoastal Waterway location was ideal for the transportation of the finished products. The location was also convenient to the Mississippi engine test stands at what is now Stennis Space Center. In December 1963, the facility completed its first Saturn I rocket. In the mid-1970s, Michoud was retooled for the production of the space shuttle’s 154-foot-long and 27-foot-wide external tanks. The assembly required the creation of new fixtures more than half the length of a football field, and several stories high. Work supporting the Constellation Program began recently at Michoud. Not only will the facility manufacture the upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the core stage of the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, it will also produce major pieces of the Orion crew spacecraft. NASA Shared Services Center (Mississippi) The NASA Shared Services Center, located on the grounds of NASA’s Stennis Space Center, is an innovative, public-private partnership among NASA, the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, and Computer Sciences Corporation. The center provides consistent, high-quality support services in the areas of financial management, human resources, information technology and procurement to the agency. Richard E. Arbuthnot currently serves as Executive Director. As a shared services organization, the NSSC provides cost savings for the agency through consolidation, standardization and automation of select business processes. Projected annual savings are estimated at $6 million per year after stabilization of the NSSC. This allows NASA to refocus efficiencies gained and its resources on agency core missions. Following Hurricane Katrina, Administrator Michael D. Griffin reaffirmed NASA’s commitment to locate the NSSC in Mississippi, and on March 1, 2006, the NSSC opened for business. One year later, in March 2007, the NSSC was selected first runner-up for the Best New Shared Services Organization Excellence Award. The award, established by the Shared Services and Outsourcing Network, a division of the International Quality and Productivity Center, is recognized nationally as the highest accolade for shared services organizations. Employing nearly 330 civil servants and service provider associates with numbers to approach 470 in the future, the NSSC takes pride in its highly skilled, highly educated professional workforce. Plum Brook Station (Sandusky, Ohio) Managed by Glenn Research Center, the Plum Brook Station is home to four unique NASA test facilities. Plum Brook Station is a former Army Ordinance Works from which the NACA acquired 600 acres in 1956 to build a nuclear test reactor (now being decommissioned). After NASA’s establishment, the agency acquired from the Defense Department the remaining 8,000-plus acres of land for the construction of rocket test facilities. Plum Brook Station was ideal for the large safety zones required for the reactor and other planned test facilities. Plum Brook’s Space Power Facility is the world’s largest space environment simulation chamber, and has been used to test parts of everything from Mars landers to space station elements. The Spacecraft Propulsion Facility tests large liquid-hydrogen-fueled rocket engine upper stages and engines by simulating high-altitude flight. The Cryogenic Propellant Tank Facility is used for large-scale experiments using cryogenic liquid hydrogen, and is supplemented by a Cryogenic Components Laboratory, a new facility for research involving super-cold materials. Finally, the Hypersonic Tunnel Facility is a wind tunnel that can test propulsion systems in conditions simulating flight at speeds exceeding Mach 5. John C. Stennis Space Center (Mississippi) Ready for testing - A worker prepares a space shuttle main engine for testing at the Stennis Space Center. The roar of rockets is frequently heard across Hancock County, Miss., originating on the grounds of the John C. Stennis Space Center. At Stennis, named in 1988 in honor of Mississippi’s long-serving U.S. senator following three previous incarnations – Mississippi Test Operations (1961), Mississippi Test Facility (1965), and National Space Technology Laboratories (1974) – rocket engine propulsion test firings are conducted on a series of static test stands. The stands are structures that hold down individual rocket stages and engines so that they can be fired as they are during an actual spaceflight. The stands are surrounded by a 125,000-acre acoustical buffer zone, which is intended to absorb much of the vibration and sound generated by the testing of the large engines and stages. On Oct. 25, 1961, following President Kennedy’s moon landing proposal, NASA decided to build a testing complex specifically for the Saturn V moon rocket on the 13,500-acre site in rural Mississippi. At the time, the test facility was the largest construction project ever carried out in Mississippi history, and the second largest in the nation. Site selection was driven by the availability of access to canals and waterways that would allow NASA to move rockets from the assembly site in New Orleans to the test site and then onward to their launching base at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first static test firing of a Saturn V S-II second-stage research engine took place on April 23, 1966. Regular testing of S-IC first and S-II second stages began in 1967. At the end of the Apollo Program, the test stands were modified to test the engines used on the space shuttle orbiters. For each shuttle mission, the orbiter’s three liquid engines undergo acceptance testing at Stennis. The engine is mounted vertically in the A-2 Test Stand, where it is ignited and fired for varying durations and thrust settings. The engines are then shipped by truck to the Kennedy Space Center for installation in an orbiter. Stennis engineers also conduct testing for individual engine components, making sure all parts have been subjected to launch environments before use in a shuttle mission. The first successful full-duration shuttle engine test – the first without an early shutdown – took place on June 24, 1975. On Aug. 20, 1990, a major milestone in rocket propulsion testing was reached when shuttle engines were test fired on all three test stands on the same day. Stennis is used to test and flight-certify Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s RS-68 engines used in the Delta IV expendable launch vehicle program. The RS-68 engine will also be used in the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. Stennis was also involved in engine development for the proposed X-33 reusable space vehicle. On March 16, 1996, Stennis conducted the first test of a subscale cryogenic fuel tank intended for use in the X-33 reusable launch vehicle project. Stennis also conducted tests on the XRS-2200 Linear Aerospike engine for the X-33 program, data from which could help with development of the J-2X engine to be used on the Ares launch vehicles. On Aug. 23, 2007, Stennis broke ground for its first new large rocket test stand since the 1960s. The new A-3 test stand will provide altitude testing for the J-2X engine which will power the upper stages of NASA’s next-generation Ares I and Ares V rockets. The 300-foot tall A-3 test stand will allow engineers to simulate conditions at different altitudes by generating steam to reduce pressure in the test cell. Testing on the A-3 stand is scheduled to begin in late 2010. In Nov. 2006, Stennis’ existing A-1 stand was handed over to the Constellation Program for testing J-2X liquid engines which will power the Ares 1 upper stage and the Ares V earth departure stage. The handover marked a return to form for the historic stand, which first tested the original J-2 in the 1960s. Stennis also will develop and test liquid propellant systems for the Ares rockets, such as fuel lines, pipes, tanks, actuators and valve assemblies. All of Stennis’ test facilities are linked together by a seven-and-a-half-mile-long system of canals used for transporting liquid fuel propellants. Other parts of the test complexes include control centers, data acquisition facilities, a large high-pressure gas facility, a high-pressure industrial water facility served by a 66-million-gallon reservoir and a plant for generating electrical power. Since 1988, Stennis has developed a role in remote sensing, providing a number of useful applications for using satellite imagery to enhance agricultural productivity and to support land use planning and natural disaster relief efforts. Stennis hosts NASA’s Rocket Propulsion Test Management Board, which has agency-wide jurisdiction over all NASA rocket engine testing, including facilities at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, and Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio. Stennis, currently headed by former astronaut Robert Cabana, is home to more than its NASA facilities. More than thirty other agencies and organizations are located at the center, including the National Data Buoy Center operated by NOAA, an office of the Naval Research laboratory, Lockheed Martin’s Mississippi Space and Technology Center, the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, Navy Special Boat Team Twenty-Two and the University of Southern Mississippi’s High Performance Visualization Center. Wallops Flight Facility (Wallops Island, Va.) Good Scout - Scout rockets launched at the Wallops Flight Facility have been used to place small satellites into orbit and for research. Located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, and managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops routinely conducts launches of suborbital and small orbital rockets. Established in 1945, Wallops is one of the oldest rocket launch sites in the world. In support of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Wallops-managed suborbital sounding rockets, scientific balloons and aircraft provide scientists and students world wide access to conduct Earth and space research. Partnering with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops, the facility launches small rockets carrying satellites for government and commercial customers. In addition, NASA has established partnerships with other government agencies and education organizations located at Wallops, including the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, NOAA and the Marine Science Consortium. The Wallops Flight Facility is currently directed by Dr. John Campbell. White Sands Test Facility (Las Cruces, N.M.) Located in southwestern New Mexico, the White Sands facility, managed by the Johnson Space Center, tests rocket propulsion systems and hardware used in space flight, including full-size components of the Apollo Service Propulsion engine, the Lunar Module’s engines, and engines used to maneuver the space shuttle vehicles in space. White Sands engineers also have tested rockets used on upper stages of military launch vehicles and planetary spacecraft. In the tests, engineers ensure that the engines and thrusters are burning with the right thrust and temperatures needed in their missions. Other laboratories test the chemical, metallurgical and other physical properties of the hardware. Technicians are also trained at the facility to carefully handle the hazardous and toxic chemicals used to power the engines. Following their test firings, the units are disassembled, cleaned and studied to determine any changes that might be needed in either their design or operations. The White Sands tests make for a safer and more reliable propulsion system for both manned and robotic spaceflight. The facility is currently managed by Frank Benz. David Hitt of the NASA Educational Technology Services team also contributed to this article.  

Cape Canaveral

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was featured in which Clint Eastwood film?

Space Program - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum Space Program Space Program In 1961, President John F. Kennedy began a dramatic expansion of the U.S. space program and committed the nation to the ambitious goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik, and the space race was on. The Soviets' triumph jarred the American people and sparked a vigorous response in the federal go vernment to make sure the United States did not fall behind its Communist rival. A new space program, Project Mercury, was initiated two years later, during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. Seven men were selected to take part in the program: Scott Carpenter, Leroy Gordon Cooper, John Glenn Jr., Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr., Alan Shepard Jr., and Donald "Deke" Slayton. Project Mercury's goals were to orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth, investigate the ability of astronauts to function in space, and recover astronauts and spacecraft safely. Then, in 1961, the nation suffered another shock when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the Earth. The United States, it seemed, was still falling behind. President Kennedy's Challenge President Kennedy understood the need to restore America's confidence and intended not merely to match the Soviets, but surpass them. On May 25, 1961, he stood before Congress to deliver a special message on "urgent national needs." He asked for an additional $7 billion to $9 billion over the next five years for the space program, proclaiming that "this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth." President Kennedy settled upon this dramatic goal as a means of focusing and mobilizing the nation's lagging space eff orts. Skeptics questioned the ability of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to meet the president's timetable. Within a year, however, Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom became the first two Americans to travel into space. An American in Orbit On February 20, 1962, John Glenn Jr. became the first American to orbit Earth. Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Friendship 7 capsule carrying Glenn reached a maximum altitude of 162 miles and an orbital velocity of 17,500 miles per hour. After more than four hours in space, having circled the earth three times, Glenn piloted the Friendship 7 back into the atmosphere and landed in the Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda. Glenn's success helped inspire the great army of people working to reach the Moon. Medical researchers, engineers, test pilots, machinists, factory workers, businessmen, and industrialists from across the country worked together to achieve this goal. By May 1963, astronauts Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra Jr., and L. Gordon Cooper had also orbited Earth. Each mission lasted longer than the one before and gathered more data. To the Moon As space exploration continued through the 1960s, the United States was on its way to the Moon. Project Gemini was the second NASA spaceflight program. Its goals were to perfect the entry and re-entry maneuvers of a spacecraft and conduct further tests on how individuals are affected by long periods of space travel. The Apollo Program followed Project Gemini. Its goal was to land humans on the moon and assure their safe return to Earth. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts—Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr.—realized President Kennedy's dream.  

i don't know

In which decade of the 20th century was Michael Keaton born?

WATCH: New Trailer for 'The Founder' with Michael Keaton - AwardsCircuit.com - By Clayton Davis Featured Post , General , Trailer/Clips April 23, 2016 Clayton Davis We’re already looking at the Oscar season with an anticipatory eye and one of the questions we yearning to have answered is will Michael Keaton get his makeup Oscar for “The Founder” from John Lee Hancock?  In the hands of Harvey Weinstein, he’ll surely be in the hunt but will it live up to the hype? In theaters everywhere August 5th, check out the new trailer below: SYNOPSIS Written by Robert Siegel (BIG FAN), THE FOUNDER is a drama that tells the true story of how Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. He maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire. Check out our latest Oscar Predictions and see where “The Founder” ranks! Sharing ICYMI – Circuit Madness Tournament for Supporting Actor Still Open! VOTE! Tee I’m actually looking forward to this- I’ve never seen Keaton in a “villainous” role since Betelguise (if you count this- it’s a lot more selfish and callous then his usual work). I didn’t see anything impressive personally from the supporting cast, but Keaton looks fantastic. Luke McGowan Well this looks absolutely fantastic. Nuts to those screeners. Big Oscar player for sure. I get the feeling that Laura Dern’s part is going to be more Amy Ryan in Bridge of Spies than Amy Adams in The Master, but Keaton looks amazing. Really feeling those Social Network vibes, and the comparisons I’ve heard made to There Will Be Blood aren’t unfair either. Luke McGowan

1950s

Who performed He's A Tramp in the Disney movie Lady And The Tramp?

History Timeline of the 20th Century History Timeline of the 20th Century History Timeline of the 20th Century A Decade-by-Decade Timeline By Jennifer Rosenberg Browse through this history timeline of the 20th century to examine each decade within this amazing century. Picture courtesy of The Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin. The 1900s This decade opened the century with some amazing feats like the first flight by the Wright brothers, Henry Ford's first Model-T, and Einstein's Theory of Relativity. It also had hardships like the Boxer Rebellion and the San Francisco Earthquake. The 1900s also saw the introduction of the first silent movie and teddy bear. Plus, don't miss out in discovering more about the mysterious explosion in Siberia. Learn more about the this "humdinger" decade through the 1900-1909 timeline . More » continue reading below our video What are the Seven Wonders of the World Picture courtesy the Photos of the Great War Archive. The 1910s This decade was unfortunately dominated by the first "total war" -- World War I. It also saw other huge changes during the Russian Revolution and the beginning of Prohibition. Tragedy struck when a fire rampaged through Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, the "unsinkable" Titanic hit an iceberg, and the Spanish flu killed millions around the world. On a more positive note, people in the 1910s got their first taste of an Oreo cookie and could fill out their first crossword. Take a "gander" at this decade through the 1910-1919 timeline . More » Picture courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [LC-USZ62-30776 DLC] The 1920s The Roaring '20s were a time of speakeasies, short skirts, the Charleston dance, and jazz music. The 1920s also showed great strides in Women's Suffrage and archaeology hit the mainstream with the discovery of King Tut's Tomb. There were an amazing number of cultural firsts in the 1920s, including the first talking film, Babe Ruth hitting his home-run record, and the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. Learn more about this "nifty" decade through the 1920-1929 timeline . More » Picture part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library Collection, courtesy of the National Archives. The 1930s The Great Depression hit the world hard in the 1930s. The Nazis took advantage of this situation and were able to come to power in Germany, establish their first concentration camp, and begin a systematic persecution of Jews in Europe. Other news in the 1930s included the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, a wild and murderous crime spree by Bonnie and Clyde, and the imprisonment of Al Capone for income tax evasion. Learn more about this "snazzy" decade through the 1930-1939 timeline . More » Picture part of the Estelle Bechoefer Collection, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives. The 1940s World War II was already underway by the time the 1940s began and it was definitely the big event of the first half of the decade. Plus, the Nazis established death camps in their effort to murder millions of Jews during the Holocaust. When World War II ended, the Cold War began. The 1940s also witnessed the assassination of Gandhi and the beginning of Apartheid. So you should, "you know," learn more about this decade through the 1940-1949 timeline . More » Picture courtesy of the National Archives. The 1950s The 1950s are sometimes referred to as the Golden Age. Color TV was invented; the polio vaccine was discovered; Disneyland opened; and Elvis gyrated his hips on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Cold War continued as the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union began. The 1950s also saw segregation ruled illegal in the U.S. and the beginning of the Civil Rights movement. Learn more about this "cool" decade through the 1950-1959 timeline . More » Picture courtesy of the National Archives. The 1960s To many, the 1960s can be summed up as the Vietnam War, hippies, drugs, protests, and rock and roll. (A common joke goes "If you remember the sixties, you weren't there.") Although those were important aspects of this decade, other events occurred as well. For instance, the Berlin Wall was built, the Soviets launched the first man into space, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the Beatles become popular, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his "I Have a Dream" speech, and so much more! Learn more about this "groovy" decade through the 1960-1969 timeline . More » Picture courtesy of the National Archives. The 1970s The Vietnam War was still a major event in the beginning of the 1970s. There were other tragic events this decade as well, including the deadliest earthquake of the century, the Jonestown massacre, the Munich Olympics massacre, and the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island. Culturally, disco became extremely popular and Star Wars hit theaters. Learn more about this "far out" decade through the 1970-1979 timeline . More » Picture part of the Ronald Reagan Library Collection, courtesy of the National Archives. The 1980s Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika began the end of the Cold War. This was soon followed by the surprising fall of the Berlin Wall. There were also some disasters this decade, including the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez, the Ethiopian Famine, a huge poison gas leak in Bhopal, and the discovery of AIDS. Culturally, the 1980s saw the introduction of the mesmerizing Rubik's Cube toy, Pac-Man video game, and Michael Jackson's Thriller video. Learn more about this "sweet" decade through this 1980-1989 timeline . More » Picture taken by your About.com Guide, Jennifer Rosenberg. The 1990s The Cold War ends, Nelson Mandela is released from prison, the Internet becomes popular - in many ways the 1990s seemed a decade of both hope and relief. Unfortunately, the decade also saw its fair share of tragedy, including the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine High School massacre, and the Rwandan genocide. Learn more about this "phat" decade through this 1990-2000 timeline . More »

i don't know

In which Center is he Metropolitan Opera House?

50th Anniversary The New Met When the Met opened its doors at Lincoln Center on September 16, 1966, the New York Times declared the event a “crescendo of splendor.” Read the original Times article and explore our special anniversary section celebrating five decades of Met history. Live in HD Jan 7 Verdi’s Nabucco  The Met’s acclaimed global movie-theater transmissions continue with Verdi’s Nabucco, featuring the legendary Plácido Domingo in the title role and Music Director Emeritus James Levine on the podium. Opens Saturday at 6:30 pm Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo take the stage as Shakespeare’s classic star-crossed lovers in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Jersey Joe Walcott was a world champion in which sport?

Metropolitan Opera House, New York - USA - Meet Me At The Opera Tips: Metropolitan Opera Guild Information: The Metropolitan Opera Guild was started during the Great Depression by philanthropist Eleanor Robson Belmont, who had a vision to create a guild that would support the world of opera, and donate its proceeds to the Metropolitan Opera. Eleanor Belmont succeeded: today the Guild is thriving. Membership to it is a fantastic way to support the arts and the Met. There are a number of generous perks and special rewards for Guild Members, and events such as backstage tours, a lecture series, a High School Singer Program, the Singers’ Studio program. Also available are Score-desk seats for $12, which allows one to study an opera’s score during a performance. For these seats, however, there is no view of the stage. Guild Members can access these seats for a discounted rate of $10.   Outside the Opera House: Met Opera on Demand is a streaming service that brings the opera right into your living room. 550 full-length performances are currently featured. Seven-day free trials are available. Check out ‘The Met: Live’ series, in which Metropolitan Opera performances have been played in high-definition in movie theaters across the world.   Eating and Drinking: There are plenty of fantastic dinner options nearby Lincoln Center. We recommend a stop in P.J. Clark’s. Founded in 1884, it is an old-school New York institution with great food, and a well-stocked bar. It also happens to be across the street from the Metropolitan Opera House. For those looking to dine at the Met, check out the Revion Bar and the Grand Tier Restaurant. Anyone with a ticket can dine there, and it opens two hours before a performance begins. One can also reserve a table for the duration of the evening. Dinner can be enjoyed before the performance; and tea and dessert during the intermission. This is a very lovely way to make the most of one’s opera experience. Another restaurant within walking distance (three blocks) to the theater is the excellent French restaurant, Le Boite en Bois. It is quiet, cozy, and authentic, and it has a set pre-theatre menu. The Lincoln Ristorante is a modernist and chic establishment located at Lincoln Center, situated directly beside the reflecting pool and the Henry Moore sculpture. The menu, conceived by world-class chef Jonathan Benno, promises delectable and modern Italian cuisine, with ingredients either grown by local farmers and purveyors; or imported directly from Italy. This is the perfect spot to ensure a successful evening out in Manhattan, as well as a comfortable walk to the opera house. Columbus Circle is also walking distance away, and there are plenty of good eats there, too. Also there is the Center Bar, a relaxing lounge at the Time Warner Center, where one can relax before a performance and enjoy a stunning view of Central Park.   Getting There: The best way to reach the opera house from Grand Central Terminal is to take the shuttle to the uptown 1 train, and get off at 66th Street. Lincoln Center is on Broadway at 64th Street. For easy parking, there are numerous parking garages nearby. If one looks them up in advance, there are usually discounts available online.   Before the Performance: The Metropolitan Opera House Shop is filled with souvenirs, books, CDs and assorted memorabilia. It is certainly worthwhile to browse the shop before taking one’s seat.   Ticket Information: Price range: 35-265 US dollars. Standing-room tickets can be purchased in the morning, on the day of the performance. Tickets begin to sell at 10am, and can be bought at the box office, online or by telephone. The Rush Ticket Program is a great way to get discounted tickets. Previously, tickets were sold using a lottery program, but now tickets are sold first-come-first-serve, online. There is also a student rush program. Student Discount tickets, for students 29 and under, can also be purchased same-day of the performance, beginning at 10am.   Seating Information: Be wary of ‘partial view’ side boxes, as views of the stage can be quite obstructed. However, these seats do provide excellent views of the orchestra pit!

i don't know

Where in Lybia did Australian troops take a seaport occupied by the Italians in 1941?

World War 2 Timelines - War in the Desert 1941 - Worldwar-2.net The Western Desert Force is renamed as the XIII Corps. 02/01/1941 Royal Navy bombards Bardia in North Africa day and night. 03/01/1941 Australian 6th Division breaks through the Italian defences around Bardia. 05/01/1941 General Bergonzoli surrenders the Italian XXIII Corps at Bardia to the Australians. 45,000 Italian prisoners and 130 tanks are captured by the Australians for just 500 casualties. 06/01/1941 Churchill demands that troops be released from Wavell's offensive and sent to Greece. 07/01/1941 Tobruk is surrounded, but the British are unable to assault it immediately as supplies and reinforcements need to be brought up. 11/01/1941 Hitler confirms in Directive No.22, his intentions to send military support to the Italians in Libya. The operation is to be named 'Sunflower'. 17/01/1941 During the night, the Italians evacuate Kassala and Gallalabat in the Sudan. 19/01/1941 British troops under General Platt, re-occupy Kassala in the Sudan and advance into Eritrea. 20/01/1941 Emperor Haile Selassie crosses the Abyssinian border at Um Idla. 21/01/1941 British and Australian forces breach the defenses at Tobruk. 22/01/1941 Tobruk surrenders to British and Australian troops who capture 25,000 Italians, along with 208 guns and 87 tanks. Combined British and Australian losses were about 450. The British government now orders Wavells XIII Corps to capture Benghazi. 23/01/1941 The British 4th Armoured Brigade reaches Mechili, but cannot attack as its garrison is stronger than first thought and so has to bring the rest of the 7th Armoured Division up. 24/01/1941 General Cunningham's 'Southern Force' invades Italian Somaliland from Garissa and Bura in Kenya. 26/01/1941 The Italians evacuate Mechili during the night. 27/01/1941 The 7th Armoured Division captures Mechili. Meanwhile the Australians have bumped into strong Italian defences at Derna and so Wavell decides to halt further offensive action until reinforcements and supply can be brought up. 30/01/1941 Australian troops capture Derna as the Italians begin to withdraw towards Benghazi. The 1st South African Division launches a feint attack against Mega in southern Abyssinia, in order to prevent the Italians from sending troops to reinforce their hard pressed forces in Somaliland. 31/01/1941 The Italian garrison at Metemma in northern Abyssinia, having been under increasing pressure for the past 3 weeks, begins to withdraw towards Gondar, allowing the 9th Indian Brigade to occupy the town.   Agordat in Eritrea falls to the 5th Indian Division after 2 days of fighting. 02/02/1941 5th Indian Division captures Barentu, forcing the Italians to withdraw towards the mountain fortress at Keren. 03/02/1941 The British 'Northern Force' bumps into the Italian defences at Keren, but fail to crack them open. General Platt decides he must build up his forces for a major assault. 04/02/1941 RAF reconnaissance planes report that the Italians are beginning to evacuate Benghazi in a withdrawal towards El Agheila. The 7th Armoured Division is given immediate instructions to advance from Mechili across the desert in order to cut off the Italians escape route. 05/02/1941 An advanced column of armoured cars from the 7th Armoured Division intercept the Italian retreat about 70 miles south of Benghazi. 06/02/1941 Australian forces capture Benghazi along with six senior Italian Generals. Italian forces make repeated attempts to break through the weak British blocking forces at Beda Fomm, but cannot. Lieutenant General Erwin Rommel is appointed to command the German forces being sent to Africa. 12/02/1941 Again, the Italians make further breakout attempts, which all fail. Later in the day the Italians surrender 20,000 men, 200 guns and 120 tanks to just 3,000 British troops. Anthony Eden makes a speech parodying Winston Churchill's famous 'Battle of Britain' speech. He says "Never has so much been surrendered, by so many, to so few". Lieutenant General Rommel arrives in Tripoli and reports to General Gariboldi who has replaced Marshal Graziani as commander of the Italian Army in Libya. 14/02/1941 Kurmuk near the Ethiopian border in Sudan is recaptured by British forces. Leading elements of the German 5th Light Division arrive at Tripoli and are immediately moved up to Sirte to take up defensive positions. 23/02/1941 Free French forces land in Eritrea. 24/02/1941 Reconnaissance elements of the German 5th Light Division clash with British forces for the first time in Africa, at Nofilia near El Agheila. 25/02/1941 British Nigerian troops of the 11th African Division occupy Mogadishu, the capital of Italian Somaliland, having advanced up the coast. Meanwhile the 12th African Division pushes up the river Juba in Italian Somaliland towards the Abyssinian border town of Dolo.   01/03/1941 The 11th African Division begins a lighting pursuit of the retreating Italian forces north from Mogadishu, towards the Ogaden Plateau. 04/03/1941 The British start to transfer the first contingent of troops from Egypt to Greece. These are to be under the command of General Maitland Wilson. 06/03/1941 German aircraft mine the Suez canal, blocking it for 3 weeks. 11/03/1941 The German 5th Light Division has now completely arrived in Libya and is ordered to prepare for an attack on El Agheila. Meanwhile, Rommel has flown back to Germany for further orders and has been told that when the 15th Panzer Division has arrived in Libya at the end of May he is to recapture Benghazi. 15/03/1941 The British 'Northern Force' having concentrated the 4th and 5th Indian Divisions begin their offensive for Italian fortress of Keren in Eritrea. 16/03/1941 British troops from Aden, land at and capture Berbera in Italian occupied British Somaliland. 17/03/1941 The 11th African Division captures Jijiga in central Abyssinia, having advanced 744 miles up the Italian built Strada Imperiale in just seventeen days. 20/03/1941 The Berbera force and elements of the 11th African Division meet at Hargeisa inside British Somaliland. 24/03/1941 Rommel, conducts a limited offensive to recapture El Agheila from the British, which succeeds with startling ease. This encourages Rommel to push forward towards Mersa Brega. British Somaliland is now clear of Italians. 27/03/1941 British troops finally take Keren, although they suffer nearly 4,000 casualties in the process, while the Italians lose some 3,000 men. The Italians are forced to withdraw towards Asmara. The 11th African Division captures Harar in Abyssinia after the Italians have declared it an 'open town'. 31/03/1941 The 5th Light Division engages the British 2nd Armoured Division near Mersa Brega, as it attempts to capture the town. The battle rages all day and results in the British withdrawing towards Agedabia.   01/04/1941 General Platt and his 'Northern Force' capture Asmara, the capital of Eritrea. A pro-axis coup, led by Raschid Ali seizes power in Iraq. 02/04/1941 The 5th Light Division recaptures Agedabia from the British and fans out into three columns, two of which race across the desert in an attempt to cut off the retreating British, while the third pushes up the coast road towards Benghazi. Rear Admiral Bonnetti, the commander of the Italian Red Sea Flotilla orders his seven destroyers out on 'do or die' missions. All the destroyers are sunk or captured without achieving any worthwhile results. 03/04/1941 A Pro-Axis coup in Iraq begins, led by Rashid Ali. 04/04/1941 German and Italian troops enter Benghazi unopposed. 06/04/1941 Elements of the 5th Light Division capture Mechili and threaten to cut of the 9th Australian Division which is withdrawing at speed towards Tobruk along the coast. Haile Selassie's troops occupy the Italian forts at Debra Markos, after their epic march through the Abyssinian hinterland, relying on camels to carry all their supplies. The 11th African Division captures Addis Ababa, the capital of Abyssinia, taking 8,000 Italians prisoner. 07/04/1941 Derna is captured the 5th Light Division along with Generals Neame and O'Connor later in the day. 08/04/1941 The British 'Northern Force' captures Massawa, the last Italian stronghold in Eritrea. This removes any remaining threat to British convoys sailing through the Red Sea. 09/04/1941 The 9th Australian Division withdraws into Tobruk. 11/04/1941 Rommel makes an attempt to capture Tobruk off the march. However, the 9th Australian Division repulses the attack, forcing the Germans to think again. By now the Germans are pretty exhausted after 3 weeks of continuous action and their vehicles in serious need of an overhaul. 12/04/1941 German armoured units complete the encirclement of Tobruk and push on up the coast road towards the Egyptian frontier. 13/04/1941 German advance spearheads capture Sollum. Rommel receives orders from Berlin that he is to consolidate on the Egyptian frontier and concentrate of capturing Tobruk. Only then will he be allowed to push into Egypt. The result of this order is that Rommel decides to rest his exhausted troops and wait until the 15th Panzer Division arrives at the end of May before making a major assault against Tobruk. 18/04/1941 Britain warns Italy that if Cairo is bombed, then the RAF will attack Rome. 19/04/1941 A Brigade from the British 10th Indian Division land at Basra in southern Iraq. 26/04/1941 The Italian fortress of Dessie, south of Amba Alagi is captured by South African forces. 27/04/1941 German troops cross the Egyptian border and capture the Halfaya Pass, forcing the British to pull back to defensive a line running from Buq Buq on the coast to Sofafi, some 50km in to the desert. The British also begin construction of a major defensive line in front of Mersa Matruh. 29/04/1941 Another Brigade from the British 10th Indian Division lands at Basra, ignoring Iraqi's protests. The Iraqi Army lays siege to The RAF base at Habbaniyh, although RAF planes fly numerous air strikes against them. 30/04/1941 The Afrika Korps second attempt to capture Tobruk is again repulsed by the Australians.   The Iraqi's attack the British base at Habbaniya, but are repulsed. 05/05/1941 Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa 5 years after his country was occupied by the Italians. 06/05/1941 The last Brigade of the British 10th Indian Division arrives at Basra with its commander Major General Bill Slim. Axis aircraft begin to land at the Mosul airfield in northern Iraq. 09/05/1941 A British Brigade sized column (Habforce), moves across the Iraqi border from Palastine. 13/05/1941 German aircraft begin to operate over Iraq in support of the rebellion by anti-British Iraqi forces. 14/05/1941 British aircraft launch attacks against airfields in Syria which have been put at axis disposal by the Vichy French authorities. 15/05/1941 The British Army under Auchinleck, launch an offensive, operation 'Brevity' against the Afrika Korps and manage to recapture Halfaya Pass, Sollum and Capuzzo. 16/05/1941 The Afrika Korps counter-attack against the British and retake Sollum and Capuzzo, although the Halfaya Pass remains in British hands. Berlin orders Rommel to leave Tobruk to the Italians and to concentrate the Afrika Korps near the Egyptian border. The Italian forces under the Duke of Aosta surrender to British forces at Amba Alagi in Abyssinia. 18/05/1941 General Dentz tells the French Army in Syria to "match force with force". The 5th Indian Division captures the Italian fortress of Amba Alagi after 18 days of fighting. The British column from Palastine (Habforce), arrives at Habbaniyah and relieves its garrison. 19/05/1941 The British capture Fallujah in Iraq after fierce fighting. They also bomb Baghdad airport. 20/05/1941 Churchill announces the end of Abyssinian campaign as the Duke of Aosta signs the formal Italian surrender. The British took just 94 days to win the East African campaign. 22/05/1941 British forces capture the last Italian stronghold in southern Abyssinia. 24/05/1941 King George VI makes South African Premier, General Smuts a Field Marshal, the first man born in an overseas dominion to attain that rank. 27/05/1941 Having been reinforced by the 15th Panzer Division, Rommel retakes the Halfaya Pass on Egyptian border. The 10th Indian Division begins to advance north from Basra towards Baghdad. 30/05/1941 The revolt in Iraq collapses as the British near Baghdad. The Iraqi leader Rashid Ali flees in to Persia (Iran). 31/05/1941 British forces enter Baghdad and an armistice is signed. The terms of the armistice require that all axis personnel in Iraq are to be interned and that Iraq support the British cause against the axis.   British forces enter Baghdad and reinstate the Regent. 02/06/1941 A Greek government-in-exile is formed in Egypt. 03/06/1941 New Iraqi government is formed. 04/06/1941 Luftwaffe bombers carry out a night raid on the port of Alexandria in Egypt, killing 100 people. The Egyptian Cabinet resigns. 08/06/1941 British, Commonwealth and Free French forces invade Syria and the Lebanon ('Operation Explorer') with air and naval support. The British offer Syria independence in an effort to stimulate Syrian revolt against their Vichy rulers. Vichy France protests vigorously at these British proposals. 09/06/1941 British advance 40 miles into southern Syria and the Lebanon capturing Tyre in the process. 10/06/1941 British advance breaks through Vichy opposition in Syria. 15/06/1941 The British Army begins 'Operation Battleaxe’ to relieve Australian held Tobruk and then advance towards Derna. However, they meet fierce counter attacks by the Afrika Korps and are unable to make any headway. 16/06/1941 The British attempt to continue their offensive, but suffer heavy tank losses to German 88mm Flak guns. 17/06/1941 The Afrika Korps beats back the British attack at Sollum causing the British to call off ‘Operation Battleaxe’ with 1,000 British casualties and 91 tanks lost, for German losses of just 12 tanks. 18/06/1941 Free French troops occupy Damascus in Syria. Germany and Turkey sign a ten-year non-aggression pact. 21/06/1941 British forces occupy Damascus, but Vichy forces continue to fight on. In light of this, British forces from Iraq invade Syria in order to crush their resistance.   05/07/1941 General Wavell is relieved of his command as C-in-C of the Middle East, by General Sir Claude Auchinleck. 06/07/1941 Axis aircraft bomb Tobruk and Sidi Barrani. 09/07/1941 General Dentz sues for peace in the Middle East. 11/07/1941 Vichy government rejects Syrian armistice terms but Dentz accepts. 12/07/1941 The last Vichy French troops in Syria surrender to British and Free French forces. 14/07/1941 An armistice is signed at Acre between Vichy and British/Free French forces. This requires all French material to be handed over to the British and gives the Vichy French the choice of joining the Free French or returning to France. Most opt for the latter. During the campaign the Vichy French suffered 3,350 killed or wounded, while the British and Free French lost about 2,400 men. 15/07/1941 British forces enter Beirut. 26/07/1941 General Sir Claude Auchinleck flies to London for talks about future offensive operations to relieve Tobruk.   Fighting flares up around the perimeter of Tobruk. 19/08/1941 A brigade of the 9th Australian Division which is besieged at Tobruk is relieved by sea, as Polish reinforcements arrive. 25/08/1941 British and Russian troops invade Iran against slight opposition after their initially friendly demands, had been rejected. 26/08/1941 British troops complete the occupation of the vital Abadan oilfields in Iran. 27/08/1941 The Iranian government under Ali Furughi orders a cease-fire. 28/08/1941 After demands from the Australian Prime Minister, the British agree to relieve the remainder of the 9th Australian Division from Tobruk. 31/08/1941 British forces reach Hamadan, Iran and have now secured the Persian Gulf.   02/09/1941 General Sir Claude Auchinleck issues his first directive in respect to the forthcoming British Offensive, 'Operation Crusader', by ordering General Sir Alan Cunningham to produce a plan for the relief of Tobruk and the re-conquest of Cyrenaica. 05/09/1941 British release General Dentz, after Vichy releases British POWs in Syria 10/09/1941 The British and Russians demand that Iran expels all Axis nationals with 48 hours. 14/09/1941 Rommel launches a probing operation with the 21st Panzer Division towards Sidi Barrani in the belief that a British fuel dump was located there. The British forces begin to fall back. 16/09/1941 The Shah of Iran abdicates and his son, Crown Prince 'Mohammad Reza Pahlavi' takes over. 17/09/1941 British and Russian troops occupy Teheran, after Iran failed to comply with their demand to expel all Axis nationals. 25/09/1941 Rommel, having discovered that their wasn't a British fuel dump at Sidi Barrani and believing that that British had taken up a purely defensive posture, withdrew the 21st Panzer Division back to the Libyan-Egyptian border. 26/09/1941 The British Eighth Army is formed in Egypt in preparation for 'Operation Crusader' and now includes both XIII and XXX Corps. At the same time the British Ninth Army is created in Palestine and the Tenth Army in Iraq and Iran to guard against Turkey entering the war on the Axis side. 27/09/1941 After more than 3 months of fighting, British forces in Abyssinia capture the Wolchefit Pass, thereby opening the route to Gondar, the last Italian held town in East Africa.   03/10/1941 General Cunningham's plan for 'Operation Crusader' is approved by General Auchinleck to be launched on the 11th November. The aim is for XXX Corps, which includes the bulk of the British Armour to draw the 15th and 21st Panzer Division into combat and destroy their tank strength. Then, XIII Corps, having contained the axis forces on the frontier, would envelop them from the south and advance on Tobruk, whose garrison would break out at an opportune moment and link up. While all this was happening, a smaller element called 'Oasis Force' would advance further west in to Libya than the main force, in order to deceive Rommel as to where the main effort was to be made. Further smaller operations were to be mounted by the SAS on Axis airfields in Libya in an attempt to destroy aircraft on the ground. 23/10/1941 It is decided that British forces should make their main approach on Gondar in Abyssinia, from the direction of Adowa due to the better road conditions. 31/10/1941 The RAF's Mediterranean raids continue, with Benghazi being bombed 14 times and Tripoli 10 times.   03/11/1941 General Auchinleck is forced to postpone 'Operation Crusader' for 1 week so as to enable the 1st South African Division, which had recently arrived from Abyssinia to under go more training. 17/11/1941 A British night commando raid on what is thought to be Rommel's HQ at Breda Littoria in the Jebel Akhdar in Libya, fails when it is found to be only a logistical HQ and that Rommel is away on a visit to Rome. Also, the SAS raid on axis airfields fails when the transport aircraft are blown off course by a sandstorm. 18/11/1941 At 6am 'Operation Crusader’, the British Eighth Army's offensive to relieve Tobruk begins. Rommel, who arrives back from Rome that day, is caught by surprise, allowing the British XXX Corps to advance 50-miles and capture the axis airfield 10 miles south of Sidi Rezegh. The Germans, believing that the British are about to encircle Bardia, send the Afrika Korps on a wild goose chase in that direction. 20/11/1941 The British garrison is ordered to break out and link up with XXX Corps. However, Rommel, now realizing the threat sent the Afrika Korps to attack at Sidi Rezegh. 22/11/1941 A confused battle continues around Sidi Rezegh, with XXX Corps being forced to stop it advance towards Tobruk after the loss of many tanks and for the Tobruk break-out to be halted. Better news for XIII Corps though as it captures Sidi Omar and Capuzzo. 23/11/1941 Axis forces destroy the 5th South African Brigade after days of tank battles round Tobruk. 24/11/1941 Rommel gives orders for his tanks to cut off the British supply routes by thrusting towards the Egyptian frontier, or as it became known, the 'dash for the wire'. By the end of the day Rommel's tanks had reached the frontier and caused complete confusion in the rear of the Eighth Army. 25/11/1941 Rommel continues his attacks at the rear of the Eighth Army. 26/11/1941 Due to Rommel's bold move, General Cunningham wants to halt the offensive and fall back to the frontier. General Auchinleck overrides him on this and replaces him as commander of the Eighth Army with General Ritchie. 27/11/1941 The Tobruk garrison links up the the New Zealand Division of the Eighth Army at El Duda. Rommel forces, now under constant attack by the RAF is forced to turn his forces around in order to deal with this new development. Gondar, the last Italian held town in East Africa surrenders to British forces after a tough battle. The Italian commander, General Nasi surrenders 23,500 men, while the British suffer 500 casualties.   05/12/1941 In order to mount a final attack on the British forces around Bir El Gobi, Rommel orders the evacuation of the eastern part of the Tobruk perimeter, but the attack fails. 07/12/1941 The German and Italian forces withdraw to a defensive position at Gazala. 08/12/1941 The Eighth Army officially relieves the Tobruk garrison. 15/12/1941 The Eighth Army attack the German and Italian positions at Gazala. Rommel, fearful that the British will outflank him, orders the retreat. 19/12/1941 British retake Derna from axis forces. 21/12/1941 British successes continue in North Africa. 23/12/1941 Under continuous pressure, Rommel and his Afrika Korps start to evacuate Benghazi. 25/12/1941

Tobruk

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Military history of Italy during World War II | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Military history of Italy during World War II 204,343pages on Share Italy and its colonies in May 1940 (Dodecanese islands and Tientsin concession in China are not shown) The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology, politics and diplomacy, in which its military history took place often heavily influenced by external factors. The imperial ambitions of the Fascist regime, which aspired to restore a "Roman Empire" in the Mediterranean ( Mare Nostrum ), soon shattered as poor military planning caused defeats in Greece and East and North Africa . Italy quickly became a satellite of Nazi Germany, until in 1943 dictator Benito Mussolini was ousted and arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III , originating a long civil war . The northern half of the country was occupied by Germans and made a collaborationist puppet state (with more than 600,000 soldiers), while the south was governed by monarchist and liberal forces, which fought for the Allied cause in the Italian Co-Belligerent Army (at its height numbering more than 50,000 men), helped by circa 350,000 [1] partisans of disparate political ideologies that operated all over occupied Italy. Contents Edit Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, marked the beginning of World War II. Despite being an Axis power , Italy remained a non-belligerent until June 1940. Mussolini's Under-Secretary for War Production, Carlo Favagrossa , had estimated that Italy could not possibly be prepared for major military operations until at least October 1942. This had been made clear during Italo-German negotiations for the Pact of Steel , whereby it was stipulated that neither signatory was to make war without the other earlier than 1943. [2] Although considered a great power , the Italian industrial sector was relatively weak compared to other European major powers. Italian industry did not equal more than 15% of that of France or of Britain in militarily critical areas such as automobile production: the number of automobiles in Italy before the war ranged at ca. 374,000, in comparison to ca. 2,500,000 in Britain and France. The lack of a stronger automotive industry made it difficult for Italy to mechanize its military. Italy still had a predominantly agricultural-based economy, with demographics more akin to a developing country (high illiteracy, poverty, rapid population growth and a high proportion of adolescents) and a proportion of GNP derived from industry less than that of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Sweden, in addition to the other great powers. [3] In terms of strategic materials , in 1940, Italy produced 4.4 Tonne of coal, 0.01 Mt of crude oil, 1.2 Mt of iron ore and 2.1 Mt of steel. By comparison, Great Britain produced 224.3 Mt of coal, 11.9 Mt of crude oil, 17.7 Mt of iron ore, and 13.0 Mt of steel and Germany produced 364.8 Mt of coal, 8.0 Mt of crude oil, 29.5 Mt of iron ore and 21.5 Mt of steel. [4] Most raw material needs could be fulfilled only through importation, and no effort was made to stockpile key materials before the entry into war. Approximately one quarter of the ships of Italy's merchant fleet were in foreign ports at the outbreak of hostilities, and, given no forewarning, were immediately impounded. [5] [6] Another handicap was the large number of weapons and supplies given by Italy practically free to the Spanish forces fighting under Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939. [7] [8] The Italians also sent the " Corps of Volunteer Troops " (Corpo Truppe Volontarie) to fight for Franco. The financial cost of this war was between 6 and 8.5 billion lire, approximately 14 to 20% of annual expenditure. [8] Adding to these problems was Italy's extreme debt position. When Benito Mussolini took office in 1921 the government debt was 93 billion lire , un-repayable in the short to medium term. Only two years later this debt increased to 405 billion lire. [9] The Italian Royal Army ( Regio Esercito ) therefore remained comparatively depleted and weak at the commencement of the war. Italian tanks were of poor quality, and radios few in number. The bulk of Italian artillery dated to World War I . The primary fighter of the Italian Air Force ( Regia Aeronautica ) was the Fiat CR-42 , which, though an advanced design for a biplane, with excellent performance characteristics, [10] was obsolete in comparison to the then-current generation of monoplane fighters of other nations. Of the Regia Aeronautica's approximately 1,760 aircraft, only 900 could be considered in any way combat-worthy. The Italian Royal Navy ( Regia Marina ) had several modern battleships , but no aircraft carriers . [11] Italian authorities were acutely aware of the need to modernize [nb 1] and were taking steps to meet the requirements of their own relatively advanced tactical principles. [nb 2] [14] [15] Almost 40% of the 1939 budget was allocated for military spending. [16] Recognizing the Navy's need for close air support, the decision was made to build carriers. [nb 3] Three series of modern fighters [nb 4] , capable of meeting the best allied planes on equal terms, [18] [nb 5] were in development, with a few hundred of each eventually being produced. The Carro Armato P40 tank, [19] roughly equivalent to the M4 Sherman and Panzer IV , was designed in 1940 (though no prototype was produced until 1942 and manufacture wasn't able to begin before the Armistice, [nb 6] owing in part to the lack of sufficiently powerful engines, which were themselves undergoing a development push; total Italian tank production for the war - about 3,500 - was less than the number of tanks used by Germany in its invasion of France). The Italians were pioneers in the use of self-propelled guns, [22] [23] both in close support and anti-tank roles. Their 75/46 fixed AA/AT gun, 75/32 gun, 90/53 AA/AT gun (an equally deadly but less famous peer of the German 88/55 ), 47/32 AT gun, and the 20 mm AA autocannon were effective, modern weapons. [15] [24] Also of note were the AB 41 and the Camionetta AS 42 armoured cars, which were regarded as excellent vehicles of their type. [25] [26] None of these developments, however, precluded the fact that the bulk of equipment was obsolete and poor. [27] The relatively weak economy, lack of suitable raw materials and consequent inability to produce suitable quantities of armaments and supplies were therefore the key material reasons for Italian military failure. [28] On paper Italy had one of the world's largest armies, [29] but the reality was far different. According to the estimates of Bierman and Smith, the Italian regular army could field only about 200,000 troops at the war's beginning. [11] Irrespective of the attempts to modernize, the majority of Italian army personnel were lightly armed infantry lacking sufficient motor transport. [nb 7] There was insufficient budget to train the men in the services, such that the bulk of personnel received much of their training at the front, when it was too late to be of use. [30] Air units had not been trained to operate with the naval fleet and the majority of ships had been built for fleet actions, rather than the convoy protection duties in which they were primarily employed during the war. [31] In any event, a critical lack of fuel kept naval activities to a minimum. [32] Senior leadership was also a problem. Mussolini personally assumed control of all three individual military service ministries with the intention of influencing detailed planning. [33] Comando Supremo (the Italian High Command) consisted of only a small complement of staff that could do little more than inform the individual service commands of Mussolini’s intentions, after which it was up to the individual service commands to develop proper plans and execution. [34] The result was that there was no central direction for operations; the three military services tended to work independently, focusing only on their fields, with little inter-service cooperation. [34] [35] Discrepancies in pay existed for personnel who were of equal rank, but from different units. Nazi successes and the decision to intervene Edit Following the German conquest of Poland, Mussolini would change his mind repeatedly as to whether he would enter the war. The British commander in Africa, General Sir Archibald Wavell , correctly predicted that Mussolini's pride would ultimately cause him to enter the war. Wavell would compare Mussolini's situation to that of someone at the top of a diving board: "I think he must do something. If he cannot make a graceful dive, he will at least have to jump in somehow; he can hardly put on his dressing-gown and walk down the stairs again." [36] Initially, the entry into the war appeared to be political opportunism (though there was some provocation), [nb 8] which led to a lack of consistency in planning, with principal objectives and enemies being changed with little regard for the consequences. [42] Mussolini was well aware of the military and material deficiencies but thought the war would be over soon and did not expect to do much fighting. This led to confusion amongst ordinary Italians and soldiers who had little idea of what they were fighting for and, hence, had little conviction and saw little justification for it. As the war progressed and one disaster followed another, Comando Supremo were forced to take more serious steps in their planning. Italy enters the war: June 1940 See also: Fall of France  and Italian invasion of France Italy and its colonies in 1940, before the start of the Western Desert Campaign. On 10 June 1940, as the French government fled to Bordeaux before the German invasion , declaring Paris an open city , Mussolini felt the conflict would soon end and declared war on Britain and France. As he said to the Army's Chief-of-Staff, Marshal Badoglio : I only need a few thousand dead so that I can sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought. [43] Mussolini had the immediate war aim of expanding the Italian colonies in North Africa by taking land from the British and French colonies. About Mussolini's declaration of war in France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States said: On this tenth day of June 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor. [44] After Italy entered the war, Jewish refugees living in Italy were interned in the Campagna concentration camp . Invasion of France See also: Italian-occupied France Occupied France in 1940; the Italian zone is shown in yellow. In June 1940, after initial success, the Italian offensive into southern France stalled at the fortified Alpine Line . On 24 June 1940, France surrendered to Germany. Italy occupied a swathe of French territory along the Franco-Italian border. During this operation, Italian casualties amounted to 1,247 men dead or missing and 2,631 wounded. A further 2,151 Italians were hospitalised due to frostbite. Late in the Battle of Britain , Italy contributed an expeditionary force, the Corpo Aereo Italiano , which took part in the battle from October 1940 until April 1941, at which time the last elements of the force were withdrawn. In November 1942, the Italian Royal Army occupied south-eastern Vichy France and Corsica as part of Case Anton . From December 1942, Italian military government of French departments east of the Rhône River was established, and continued until September 1943, when Italy quit the war. This had the effect of providing a de facto temporary haven for French Jews fleeing the Holocaust . In January 1943 the Italians refused to cooperate with the Nazis in rounding up Jews living in the occupied zone of France under their control and in March prevented the Nazis from deporting Jews in their zone. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop complained to Mussolini that "Italian military circles... lack a proper understanding of the Jewish question." [45] The Italian Navy established a submarine base at Bordeaux, code named BETASOM , and thirty two Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic . Plans to attack the harbor of New York City with CA class midget submarines in 1943 were disrupted when the submarine converted to carry out the attack, the Leonardo da Vinci , was sunk in May 1943. The armistice put a stop to further planning. North Africa File:Rodolfo Graziani.jpg The Italians fared poorly in North Africa almost from the beginning. Within a week of Italy's declaration of war on 10 June 1940, the British 11th Hussars had seized Fort Capuzzo in Libya. In an ambush east of Bardia, the British captured the Italian Tenth Army 's Engineer-in-Chief, General Lastucci. On 28 June Marshal Italo Balbo , the Governor-General of Libya , was killed by friendly fire while landing in Tobruk. Mussolini ordered Balbo's replacement, General Rodolfo Graziani , to launch an attack into Egypt immediately. Graziani complained to Mussolini that his forces were not properly equipped for such an operation, and that an attack into Egypt could not possibly succeed; nevertheless, Mussolini ordered him to proceed. On 13 September elements of the Italian Tenth Army retook Fort Capuzzo and crossed the border into Egypt. Lightly opposed, they advanced about 100 kilometers to Sidi Barrani, where they stopped and began entrenching themselves in a series of fortified camps. The Italian invasion and British counter-attack. At this time, the British had only 36,000 troops available (out of about 100,000 under Middle Eastern command) to defend Egypt, against 236,000 Italian troops. [46] The Italians, however, were not concentrated in one place. They were divided between the 5th army in the west and the 10th army in the east and thus spread out from the Tunisian border in western Libya to Sidi Barrani in Egypt. At Sidi Barrani, Graziani, unaware of the British lack of numerical strength, [nb 9] planned to build fortifications and stock them with provisions, ammunition , and fuel, establish a water pipeline, and extend the via Balbia to that location, which was where the road to Alexandria began. [48] This task was being obstructed by British Royal Navy attacks on Italian supply ships in the Mediterranean. At this stage Italian losses remained minimal, but the efficiency of the British Royal Navy would improve as the war went on. Mussolini was fiercely disappointed with Graziani's sluggishness. However, according to Bauer [48] he had only himself to blame, as he had withheld the trucks, armaments, and supplies that Graziani had deemed necessary for success. Wavell was hoping to see the Italians overextend themselves before his intended counter at Marsa Matruh. [48] Graziani and his staff lacked faith in the strength of the Italian military. One of his officers wrote: "We're trying to fight this... as though it were a colonial war... this is a European war... fought with European weapons against a European enemy. We take too little account of this in building our stone forts.... We are not fighting the Ethiopians now." [49] (This was a reference to the Second Italo-Abyssinian War where Italian forces had fought against a relatively poorly equipped opponent.) Balbo had previously documented: "Our light tanks, already old and armed only with machine guns, are completely out-classed. The machine guns of the British armoured cars pepper them with bullets which easily pierce their armour." [48] Italian forces around Sidi Barrani had severe weaknesses in their deployment. Their five main fortifications were placed too far apart to allow mutual support against an attacking force, and the areas between were weakly patrolled. The absence of motorised transport did not allow for rapid reorganisation, if needed. The rocky terrain had prevented an anti-tank ditch from being dug and there were too few mines and 47 mm anti-tank guns to repel an armoured advance. [47] Africa Korps intervention and final defeat Edit Rommel meets Italian General Italo Gariboldi in Tripoli, February 1941. On 8 December 1940, the British launched Operation Compass . Planned as an extended raid, it resulted in a force of British, Indian, and Australian troops cutting off the Italian troops. Pressing the British advantage home, General Richard O'Connor succeeded in reaching El Agheila , deep in Libya (an advance of 500 mi/800 km), and taking some 130,000 prisoners. [50] The Allies nearly destroyed the 10th army, and seemed on the point of sweeping the Italians out of Libya altogether. Winston Churchill, however, directed the advance be stopped, initially because of supply problems and because of a new determined effort that had gained ground in Albania, and ordered troops dispatched to defend Greece. Weeks later the first troops of the German Afrika Korps started to arrive in North Africa (February 1941), along with six Italian divisions [51] including the motorized Trento and armored Ariete . [52] German General Erwin Rommel now became the principal Axis field commander in North Africa, although the bulk of his forces consisted of Italian troops. Under Rommel's direction the Axis troops pushed the British and Commonwealth troops back into Egypt but were unable to complete the task because of the exhaustion and their extended supply lines which were under threat from the Allied enclave at Tobruk , which they failed to capture. After reorganising and re-grouping the Allies launched Operation Crusader in November 1941 which resulted in the Axis front line being pushed back once more to El Agheila by the end of the year. In January 1942 the Axis struck back again, advancing to Gazala where the front lines stabilised while both sides raced to build up their strength. At the end of May Rommel launched the Battle of Gazala where the British armoured divisions were soundly defeated. The Axis seemed on the verge of sweeping the British out of Egypt, but at the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942) General Claude Auchinleck halted Rommel's advance only 90 mi (140 km) from Alexandria. Rommel made a final attempt to break through during the Battle of Alam el Halfa but Eighth Army , by this time commanded by Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery , held firm. After a period of reinforcement and training the Allies assumed the offensive at the Second Battle of Alamein (October/November 1942) where they scored a decisive victory and the remains of Rommel's German-Italian Panzer Army were forced to engage in a fighting retreat for 1,600 mi (2,600 km) to the Libyan border with Tunisia. After the Operation Torch landings in the Vichy French territories of Morocco and Algeria (November 1942) British, American and French forces advanced east to engage the German-Italian forces in the Tunisia Campaign . By February, the Axis forces in Tunisia were joined by Rommel's forces, after their long withdrawal from El Alamein, which were re-designated the Italian First Army (under Giovanni Messe ) when Rommel left to command the Axis forces to the north at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass . Despite the Axis success at Kasserine, the Allies were able to reorganise (with all forces under the unified direction of 18th Army Group commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander ) and regain the initiative in April. The Allies completed the defeat of the Axis armies in North Africa in May 1943. East Africa Main article: East African Campaign (World War II) Fascist poster calling for revenge against the British takeover of Italian East Africa. In addition to the well-known campaigns in the western desert during 1940, the Italians initiated operations in June 1940 from their East African colonies of Ethiopia , Italian Somaliland, and Eritrea. As in Egypt, Italian forces (roughly 70,000 Italian soldiers and 180,000 native troops) outnumbered their British opponents. Italian East Africa, however, was isolated and far from the Italian mainland, leaving the forces there cut off from re-supply and thus severely limited in the operations they could undertake. Initial Italian attacks in East Africa took two different directions, one into the Sudan and the other into Kenya. Then, in August 1940, the Italians advanced into British Somaliland. After suffering and inflicting few casualties, the British and Commonwealth garrison evacuated Somaliland, retreating by sea to Aden. The Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the few successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support. In the Sudan and Kenya, Italy captured small territories around several border villages, after which the Italian Royal Army in East Africa adopted a defensive posture in preparation for expected British counterattacks. The Regia Marina maintained a small squadron in the Italian East Africa area. The " Red Sea Flotilla ", consisting of seven destroyers and eight submarines , was based at the port of Massawa in Eritrea. Despite a severe shortage of fuel, the flotilla posed a threat to British convoys traversing the Red Sea. However, Italian attempts to attack British convoys resulted in the loss of four submarines and one destroyer. Italian war cemetery in Keren, Eritrea. On 19 January 1941, the expected British counter-attack arrived in the shape of the Indian 4th and Indian 5th Infantry Divisions, which made a thrust from the Sudan. A supporting attack was made from Kenya by the South African 1st Division , the 11th African Division , and the 12th African Division . Finally, the British launched an amphibious assault from Aden to re-take British Somaliland. Fought from February to March, the outcome of the Battle of Keren determined the fate of Italian East Africa. In early April, after Keren fell, Asmara and Massawa followed. The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa also fell in April 1941. The Viceroy of Ethiopia, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta , surrendered at the stronghold of Amba Alagi in May. He received full military honors. The Italians in East Africa made a final stand around the town of Gondar in November 1941. When the port of Massawa fell to the British, the remaining destroyers were ordered on final missions in the Red Sea, some of them achieving small successes before being scuttled or sunk. At the same time, the last four submarines made an epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to Bordeaux in France. Some Italians, after their defeat, waged a guerrilla war mainly in Eritrea and Ethiopia, that lasted until summer 1943. Notable among them was Amedeo Guillet . Balkans Main articles: Greco-Italian War , Axis Occupation of Greece , and Yugoslavian Front (World War II) In early 1939, while the world was focused on Adolf Hitler 's aggression against Czechoslovakia , Mussolini looked to the Kingdom of Albania, across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. Italian forces invaded Albania on 7 April 1939 and swiftly took control of the small country. Even before the invasion, Albania had been politically dominated by Italy; after the invasion it was formally made part of Italy and the Italian king took the Albanian crown. Along with the intervention in the Spanish Civil War and the invasion of Abyssinia, the invasion of Albania was part of the Italian contribution to the disintegration of the collective security the League of Nations instituted after World War I. As such, it was part of the prelude to World War II. Invasion of Greece File:Ethnos newspaper 28 October 1940.jpg On 28 October 1940, Italy started the Greco-Italian War by launching an invasion of the Kingdom of Greece from Albania . In part, the Italians attacked Greece because of the growing influence of Germany in the Balkans. Both Yugoslavia and Greece had governments friendly to Germany. Mussolini launched the invasion of Greece in haste after the Kingdom of Romania, a state which he perceived as lying within the Italian sphere of influence, allied itself with Germany. The order to invade Greece was given by Mussolini to Badoglio and Army Chief of Staff Mario Roatta on 15 October, with the expectation that the attack would commence within 12 days. Badoglio and Roatta were appalled given that, acting on his orders, they had demobilised 600,000 men three weeks prior. [53] Given the expected requirement of at least 20 divisions to facilitate success, the fact that only eight divisions were currently in Albania, and the inadequacies of Albanian ports and connecting infrastructure, adequate preparation would require at least three months. [53] Nonetheless, D-day was set at dawn on 28 October. The initial Italian offensive was quickly contained, and the invasion soon ended in an embarrassing stalemate. Taking advantage of Bulgaria's decision to remain neutral, the Greek Commander-in-Chief, Lt Gen Alexandros Papagos , was able to establish numerical superiority by mid-November, [nb 10] prior to launching a counter-offensive that drove the Italians back into Albania. In addition, the Greeks were naturally adept at operating in mountainous terrain, while only six of the Italian Army's divisions, the Alpini , were trained and equipped for mountain warfare. Only when the Italians were able to establish numerical parity was the Greek offensive stopped. By then they had been able to penetrate deep into Albania. The following passage aptly summarizes the episode from the perspective of both the successful Greek defence of their homeland and the ill-prepared Italian debacle: No one can deny the victor's laurels to the Greek soldier. But under conditions like these one can only say that the Italian soldier had earned the martyr's crown a thousand times over. [56] An Italian "Spring Offensive" in March 1941, which tried to salvage the situation prior to German intervention, amounted to little. The Italian Army was still pinned down in Albania by the Greeks when the Germans began their invasion of Greece on 6 April. Crucially, the bulk of the Greek Army (fifteen divisions) was left deep in Albania as the German attack approached. After British troops arrived in Greece in March 1941, British bombers operating from Greek bases could reach the Romanian oil fields, vital to the German war effort. Hitler decided that he had to help the Italians and committed German troops to invade Greece via Yugoslavia (where a coup had deposed the German-friendly government). Invasion of Yugoslavia Edit Italian Bersaglieri in Yugoslavia, 1941. On 6 April 1941, the Wehrmacht invasions of Yugoslavia ( Operation 25 ) and Greece ( Operation Marita ) both started. Together with the rapid advance of the German forces the Italians attacked Yugoslavia in Dalmatia and pushed the Greeks finally out of Albania. On 17 April, Yugoslavia surrendered to the Germans and the Italians. On 30 April, Greece too surrendered to the Germans and Italians, and was divided into German, Italian and Bulgarian sectors. The invasions ended with a complete Axis victory in May when Crete fell. On 3 May, during the triumphal parade in Athens to celebrate the Axis victory, Mussolini started to boast of an Italian Mare Nostrum in the Mediterranean sea. Some 28 Italian divisions participated in the Balkan invasions. The coast of Yugoslavia was occupied by the Italian Army, while the rest of the country was divided between the Axis forces (a German and Italian puppet State of Croatia was created, under the nominal sovereign of an Italian Savoia ). The Italians assumed control of most of Greece with their 11th Army , while the Bulgarians occupied the northern provinces and the Germans the strategically most important areas. Italian troops would occupy parts of Greece and Yugoslavia until the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943. In spring 1941, Italy created a Montenegrin client state and annexed most of the Dalmatian coast as the Governorship of Dalmatia (Governatorato di Dalmazia). Yugoslav Partisans fought a guerrilla war against the occupying forces until 1945. In 1942 the Italian military commander in Croatia refused to hand over Jews in his zone to the Nazis . [45] Mediterranean File:Veneto guns at Gaudos.jpg In 1940, the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) could not match the overall strength of the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. After some initial setbacks, the Italian Navy declined to engage in a confrontation of capital ships. Since the British Navy had as a principal task the supply and protection of convoys supplying Britain's outposts in the Mediterranean, the mere continued existence of the Italian fleet (the so-called " fleet in being " concept) caused problems to Britain, which had to utilise warships sorely needed elsewhere to protect Mediterranean convoys. On 11 November, Britain launched the first carrier strike of the war, using a squadron of Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers. This raid at Taranto left three Italian battleships crippled or destroyed for the loss of two British aircraft shot down. The Italian navy found other ways to attack the British. The most successful involved the use of frogmen and riding manned torpedoes to attack ships in harbour. The 10th Light Flotilla , also known as Decima Flottiglia MAS or XMAS, which carried out these attacks, sank or damaged 28 ships from September 1940 to the end of 1942. These included the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and Valiant (damaged in the harbour of Alexandria on 18 December 1941), and 111,527 long tons (113,317 t) of merchant shipping. The XMAS used a particular kind of torpedo, the SLC (Siluro a Lenta Corsa), whose crew was composed of two frogmen, and motorboats packed with explosives, called MTM (Motoscafo da Turismo Modificato). Following the attacks on these two battleships, an Italian-dominated Mediterranean Sea appeared much more possible to achieve. However, this was only a brief happy time for Mussolini. The oil and supplies brought to Malta, despite heavy losses, by Operation Pedestal in August and the Allied landings in North Africa, Operation Torch , in November 1942, turned the fortunes of war against Italy. The Axis forces were ejected from Libya and Tunisia in six months after the Battle of El Alamein , while their supply lines were harassed day after day by the growing and overwhelming aerial and naval supremacy of the Allies, in what had until recently been Mussolini's Italian Mare Nostrum . Eastern Front Main article: Italian participation in the Eastern Front In July 1941, some 62,000 Italian troops of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) left for the Eastern Front to aid in the German invasion of the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ). In July 1942, the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) expanded the CSIR to a full army of about 200,000 men known as the Italian Army in Russia (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR). The ARMIR was also known as the "Italian 8th Army." From August 1942-February 1943, the Italian 8th Army took part in the Battle of Stalingrad . At Stalingrad, the 8th Army suffered heavy losses (some 20,000 dead and 64,000 captured) when the Soviets isolated the German forces in Stalingrad by attacking the over-stretched Hungarian, Romanian, and Italian forces protecting the German's flanks. By the summer of 1943, Rome had withdrawn the remnants of these troops to Italy. Many of the Italian POWs captured in the Soviet Union died in captivity due to the harsh conditions in the Soviet prison camps. Allied Italian Campaign and Italian Civil War Main article: 25 Luglio American soldiers landing on Sicily. On 10 July 1943, a combined force of American and British Commonwealth troops invaded Sicily . German generals again took the lead in the defence and, although they lost the island after weeks of bitter fights, they succeeded in ferrying large numbers of German and Italian forces safely off Sicily to the Italian mainland. On 19 July, an Allied air raid on Rome destroyed both military and collateral civil installations. With these two events, popular support for the war diminished in Italy. [57] On 25 July, the Grand Council of Fascism voted to limit the power of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and handed control of the Italian armed forces over to King Victor Emmanuel III . The next day Mussolini met with the King, was dismissed as prime minister, and was then imprisoned. A new Italian government, led by General Pietro Badoglio and Victor Emmanuel III, took over in Italy. Although they publicly declared that they would keep fighting alongside the Germans, the new Italian government began secret negotiations with the Allies to come over to the Allied side. [58] On 3 September, a secret armistice was signed with the Allies at Fairfield Camp in Sicily. The armistice was publicly announced on 8 September. By then, the Allies were on the Italian mainland. On 3 September, British troops crossed the short distance from Sicily to the 'toe' of Italy in Operation Baytown . Two more Allied landings took place on 9 September at Salerno ( Operation Avalanche ) and at Taranto ( Operation Slapstick ). The Italian surrender meant that the Allied landings at Taranto took place unopposed, with the troops simply disembarking from warships at the docks rather than assaulting the coastline. German panzer in Rome, 1944. Because of the time it took for the new Italian government to negotiate the armistice, the Germans had time to reinforce their presence in Italy and prepare for their defection. In the first weeks of August they increased the number of divisions in Italy from two to seven and took control of vital infrastructure. [59] Once the signing of the armistice was announced on 8 September, German troops quickly disarmed the Italian forces and took over critical defensive positions in Operation Achse . This included Italian-occupied southeastern France and the Italian-controlled areas in the Balkans. Only in Sardinia, Corse and in part of Apulia and Calabria were Italian troops able to hold their positions until the arrival of Allied forces. In the area of Rome only one infantry division—the Granatieri di Sardegna —and some small armoured units fought with commitment, but by 11 September they were overwhelmed by superior German forces. King Victor Emmanuel III, his family, and Marshal Badoglio and Gen. Mario Roatta, along with others, abandoned Rome on September 9. General Caroni, who was tasked with defending Rome was given duplicitous orders to have his troops abandon Rome (something he did not want to do), and to essentially provide rear guard protection to the King and his entourage so they could flee to the Abruzzi hills, and later out to sea (they later landed at Brindisi). Most importantly, Badoglio never gave the order OP 44 for the Italian citizenry to rise up against the Germans until he knew it was too late to do any good; that is, he belatedly issued the order on September 11. However, from the day of the announcement of the Armistice, when Italian citizens, and military personnel and military units decided to rise up and resist on their own, they were sometimes quite effective against the Germans. [60] On 9 September, two German Fritz X guided bombs sank the Italian battleship Roma off the coast of Sardinia. [61] A Supermarina (Italian Naval Command) broadcast led the Italians to initially believe this attack was carried out by the British. [62] Italian soldiers taken prisoner by the Germans in Corfu, September 1943. On the Greek island of Cephallonia , General Antonio Gandin, commander of the 12,000-strong Italian Acqui Division decided to resist the German attempt to forcibly disarm his force. The battle raged from 13–22 September, when the Italians were forced to surrender after suffering some 1,300 casualties. The ensuing massacre of several thousand Italian prisoners of war by the Germans stands as one of the worst single war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht . Italian troops captured by the Germans were given a choice to keep fighting with the Germans. About 94,000 Italians accepted and the remaining 710,000 were designated Italian military internees and were transported as slave labor to Germany. Some Italian troops that evaded German capture in the Balkans joined the Yugoslav (about 40,000 soldiers) and Greek Resistance (about 20,000). [63] The same happened in Albania. [64] After the German invasion, deportations of Italian Jews to Nazi death camps began. However, by the time the German advance reached the Campagna concentration camp, all the inmates had already fled to the mountains with the help of the local inhabitants. Rev. Aldo Brunacci of Assisi , under the direction of his bishop, Giuseppe Nicolini , saved all the Jews who sought refuge in Assisi. In October 1943 Nazis raided the Jewish ghetto in Rome. In November 1943 Jews of Genoa and Florence were deported to Auschwitz . It is estimated that 7,500 Italian Jews became victims of the Holocaust . [45] Civil War, Allied advance and Liberation Mussolini rescued by German troops from his prison in Campo Imperatore on 12 September 1943. Americans entering Bologna, 1945 About two months after he was stripped of power, Benito Mussolini was rescued by the Germans in Operation Eiche ("Oak"). The Germans re-located Mussolini to northern Italy where he set up a new Fascist state, the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI). Many Italian personalities joined the RSI, like General Rodolfo Graziani . The Allied armies continued to advance through Italy despite increasing opposition from the Germans. The Allies soon controlled most of southern Italy, and Naples rose against and ejected the occupying German forces . The Allies organized some Italian troops in the south into what were known as "co-belligerent" or "royalist" forces. In time, there was a co-belligerent army ( Italian Co-Belligerent Army ), navy ( Italian Co-Belligerent Navy ), and air force ( Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force ). These Italian forces fought alongside the Allies for the rest of the war. Other Italian troops, loyal to Mussolini and his RSI, continued to fight alongside the Germans (among them were the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano , the National Republican Army). From this point on, a large Italian resistance movement located in northern Italy fought a guerrilla war against the German and RSI forces. Winston Churchill had long regarded southern Europe as the military weak spot of the continent (in World War I he had advocated the Dardanelles campaign , and during World War II he favored the Balkans as an area of operations, for example in Greece in 1940 and so on). [65] [66] [67] Calling Italy the "soft underbelly" of the Axis, Churchill had therefore advocated this invasion instead of a cross-channel invasion of occupied France. But Italy itself proved anything but a soft target: the mountainous terrain gave Axis forces excellent defensive positions, and it also partly negated the Allied advantage in motorized and mechanized units. The final Allied victory over the Axis in Italy did not come until the spring offensive of 1945, after Allied troops had breached the Gothic Line , leading to the surrender of German and RSI forces in Italy on 2 May shortly before Germany finally surrendered ending World War II in Europe on 8 May. Mussolini was captured and killed on 28 April 1945 by the resistance while attempting to flee. Italy's declaration of war on Japan Edit Although Italy and Japan were part of the Axis Powers , Japan reacted with shock and outrage to the news of the surrender of Italy to the Allied forces in September 1943. Italian citizens residing in Japan and in Manchukuo were swiftly rounded up and summarily asked whether they were loyal to the King of Savoy, who dishonored their country by surrendering to the enemy, or with the Duce and the newly created " Repubblica Sociale Italiana ", which vowed to continue fighting alongside the Germans. Those who sided with the King were interned in concentration camps and detained in dismal conditions until the end of the war, while those who opted for the Fascist dictator were allowed to go on with their lives, although under strict surveillance by the Kempeitai . The news of Italy's surrender did not reach the crew members of the three Italian submarines Giuliani, Cappellini and Torelli traveling to Singapore, then occupied by Japan, to take a load of rubber, tin and strategic materials bound for Italy and Germany's war industry. All the officers and sailors on board were arrested by the Japanese army, and after a few weeks of detention the vast majority of them chose to side with Japan and Germany. The Kriegsmarine assigned new officers to the three units, who were renamed as U-boat U.IT.23, U.IT.24 and U.IT.25, taking part in German war operations in the Pacific until the Giuliani was sunk by the British submarine Tallyho in February 1944 and the other two vessels were taken over by the Japanese Imperial Navy upon Germany's surrender. Alberto Tarchiani , an anti-fascist journalist and activist, was appointed as Ambassador to Washington by the cabinet of Badoglio, which acted as provisional head of the Italian government pending the occupation of the country by the Allied forces. On his suggestion, Italy issued a formal declaration of war on Japan on 14 July 1945. [68] The purpose of this act, which brought no military follow-up, was mainly to persuade the Allies that the new government of Italy deserved to be invited to the San Francisco Peace Conference , as a reward for its co-belligerence . However, the British Prime Minister Churchill and John Foster Dulles were resolutely against the idea, and so Italy's new government was left out of the Conference. Although Italy and Japan negotiated the resumption of their respective diplomatic ties after 1951, and later signed several bilateral agreements and treaties, a formal peace treaty between the two nations was never sealed. Casualties Edit The 11th-century Abbey of Monte Cassino , almost completely destroyed as an effect of Allied bombings in 1944, stands as a powerful symbol of the huge devastation Italy suffered during the war. Nearly four million Italians served in the Italian Army during the Second World War and nearly half a million Italians (including civilians) lost their lives between June 1940 and May 1945. Fascist propaganda poster denouncing Allied bombings of Italian cities ("Here are the 'Liberators'!"). The official Italian government accounting of World War II 1940–45 losses listed the following data: Total military dead and missing from 1940–45: 291,376 Losses prior to the Armistice of Cassibile in September 1943: 204,346 (66,686 killed, 111,579 missing, 26,081 died of disease) Losses after the Armistice: 87,030 (42,916 killed, 19,840 missing, 24,274 died of disease). Military losses in Italy after the September 1943 Armistice included 5,927 with the Allies, 17,488 Italian resistance movement fighters and 13,000 Italian Social Republic (RSI) Fascist forces. [69] Losses by branch of service: Army 201,405 Military losses by theatre of war: Italy 74,725 (37,573 post armistice) France 2,060 (1,039 post armistice) Germany 25,430 (24,020 post armistice) Greece, Albania and Yugoslavia 49,459 (10,090 post armistice) Soviet Union 82,079 (3,522 post armistice) Africa 22,341 (1,565 post armistice) At sea 28,438 (5,526 post armistice) Other and unknown 6,844 (3,695 post armistice). Prisoner-of-war losses are included with military losses mentioned above. Civilian losses were 153,147 (123,119 post armistice) including 61,432 (42,613 post armistice) in air attacks. [70] A brief summary of data from this report can be found online. [71] There were in addition to these losses the deaths of African soldiers conscripted by Italy which were estimated by the Italian military at 10,000 in East African Campaign of 1940–41. [72] Civilian losses as a result of the fighting in Italian Libya were estimated by an independent Russian journalist to be 10,000. [73] Included in the losses are also 64,000 victims of Nazi reprisals and genocide including 30,000 POWs and 8,500 Jews [74] Russian sources list the deaths of 28,000 of the 49,000 Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union (1942-1954). [75] The genocide of Roma people was 1,000 persons. [76] Jewish Holocaust victims totaled 8,562 (including Libya) [77] After the armistice with the Allies, some 650,000 members of the Italian armed forces who refused to side with the occupying Germans were interned in concentration and labour camps. Of these, around 50,000 died while imprisoned or while under transportation. [78] A further 29,000 died in armed struggles against the Germans while resisting capture immediately following the armistice. [78] Aftermath Edit The Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947 spelled the end of the Italian colonial empire , along with other border revisions. The Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 compelled Italy to pay $360,000,000 (US dollars at 1938 prices) in war reparations: $125,000,000 to Yugoslavia, $105,000,000 to Greece, $100,000,000 to the Soviet Union, $25,000,000 to Ethiopia and $5,000,000 to Albania. In the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946 the Italian monarchy was abolished, having been associated with the deprivations of the war and the Fascist rule. Unlike in Germany and Japan, no war crimes tribunals were held against Italian military and political leaders, though the Italian resistance summarily executed some of them (such as Mussolini) at the end of the war. Controversies of historiography Edit Allied press reports of Italian military prowess in the Second World War were almost always dismissive. British wartime propaganda trumpeted the destruction of the Italian 10th Army by a significantly smaller British force during the early phase of the North African Campaign . [79] [80] The propaganda from this Italian collapse, which was designed to boost British morale during a bleak period of the war, [81] left a lasting impression. The later exploits of Rommel and German accounts of events tended to disparage their Italian allies and downplay their contributions; these German accounts were used as a primary source for the Axis side by English-language historians after the war. [82] [83] Kenneth Macksey wrote in 1972 that after the split in the Italian state and the reinforcement of fascist Italy by German troops, "the British threw out the Italian Chicken only to let in the German Eagle", for example. [84] [nb 11] Some more recent scholars have attempted to reassess the performance of the Italian forces, notably James Sadkovich, Peter Haining, Vincent O'Hara, and Ian Walker. Contemporary British reports ignored an action of Bir El Gobi where a battalion of Giovani Fascisti held up the 11th Indian Brigade and destroyed dozens of tanks, [87] and Sadkovich, [88] Walker, [89] and others [90] have found numerous other examples of actions where Italian forces performed strongly, yet are rarely discussed by most histories. During the Tunisian Campaign , where Italian units were involved in most encounters, such as Kasserine Pass, Mareth, Akarit and Enfidaville, it was observed by General Alexander , "...the Italians fought particularly well, outdoing the Germans in line with them". [91] Rommel himself also conceded praise on several occasions. [nb 12] Other times, German mistakes were blamed on Italians, [95] or the Germans left the Italians in hopeless situations where failure was unavoidable. [nb 13] Questionable German advice, broken promises, and security lapses had direct consequences at Matapan , in the convoy war and North Africa. [97] Rommel often retreated leaving immobile infantry units exposed, withdrew German units to rest even though the Italians had also been in combat, [98] would deprive the Italians of their share of captured goods, ignore Italian intelligence, seldom acknowledge Italian successes and often resist formulation of joint strategy. [99] In addition, Italian 'cowardice' did not appear to be more prevalent than the level seen in any army, despite claims of wartime propaganda. [100] Ian Walker wrote: ....it is perhaps simplest to ask who is the most courageous in the following situations: the Italian carristi, who goes into battle in an obsolete M14 tank against superior enemy armour and anti-tank guns, knowing they can easily penetrate his flimsy protection at a range where his own small gun will have little effect; [nb 14] the German panzer soldier or British tanker who goes into battle in a Panzer IV Special or Sherman respectively against equivalent enemy opposition knowing that he can at least trade blows with them on equal terms; the British tanker who goes into battle in a Sherman against inferior Italian armour and anti-tank guns, knowing confidently that he can destroy them at ranges where they cannot touch him. It would seem clear that, in terms of their motto Ferrea Mole, Ferreo Cuore, the Italian carristi really had "iron hearts", even though as the war went on their "iron hulls" increasingly let them down. [102] The problems that stand out to all historians, however, pertain to Italian strategy and equipment. Italy's equipment was not up to the standard of either the Allied or the German armies; [11] an account of the defeat of the Italian 10th army noted that the incredibly poor quality of the Italian artillery shells saved many British soldiers' lives. [nb 15] More crucially, they lacked suitable quantities of equipment of all kinds and their high command did not take necessary steps to plan for most eventualities. [104] This was compounded by Mussolini's assigning unqualified political favourites to key positions. Mussolini also dramatically overestimated the ability of the Italian military at times, sending them into situations where failure was likely, such as the invasion of Greece. See also ↑ Fiat G.55 , Macchi C.205 , & Reggiane Re.2005 ; Italian fighters build around the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine. [17] ↑ For example: the Fiat G55 Centauro received much German interest and was defined by Oberst Petersen, advisor to Goering , as the “best Axis fighter” and the Macchi C.205 "Veltro" fighter has been argued by many to be the best Italian fighter (and one of the best overall) of the war. ↑ The M13/40s and M14/41s were not (initially) obsolete when they entered service in late 1940/1941. Their operators (in the form of the Ariete and Littoro divisions) met with much unaccredited success. Yet they became obsolete as the war progressed. It was necessary to maintain production and they suffered unduly as a result of the Italian's inability to produce a suitable successor in time and in numbers. [20] [21] [22] ↑ In light of the economic difficulties it was proposed, in 1933, by Marshal Italo Balbo to limit the number of divisions to 20 and ensure that each was fully mobile for ready response, equipped with the latest weaponry and trained for amphibious warfare. The proposal was rejected by Mussolini (and senior figures) who wanted large numbers of divisions to intimidate opponents. [30] To maintain the number of divisions, each became binary, consisting of only two regiments, and therefore equating to a British brigade in size. Even then, they would often be thrown into battle with an under strength complement. ↑ The French and British, for their part had caused Italy a long list of grievances since during WWI through the extraction of political and economic concessions and the blockading of imports. [37] [38] Aware of Italy’s material and planning deficiencies leading up to WWII, and believing that Italy’s entry into the war on the side of Germany was inevitable, the English blockaded German coal imports from 1 March 1940 in an attempt to bring Italian industry to a standstill. [25] [39] The British and the French then began amassing their naval fleets (to a twelve-to-two superiority in capital ships over the Regia Marina) both in preparation and provocation. [40] The thinking was that Italy could be knocked out early. Prior to this, from 10 September 1939, the Italian’s made several attempts to intermediate peace. While Hitler was open to it, the French were not responsive and the British only invited the Italian’s to change sides. [41] For Mussolini, the risks of staying out of the war were becoming greater than those for entering. [39] ↑ Graziani believed the British were over 200,000 strong. [47] ↑ Walker states [54] that the Greeks had assembled 250,000 men against 150,000 Italians; Bauer [55] states that by 12 November, General Papagos had at the front over 100 infantry battalions fighting in terrain to which they were accustomed, compared with less than 50 Italian battalions. ↑ Other examples: Bishop and Warner (2001) - "It was Germany's misfortune to be allied to Italy.....the performance of most Italian infantry units risable.....could be relied on to fold like a house of cards.....dash and elan but no endurance"; [85] Morrison (1984) - "There was also the Italian fleet to guard against, on paper, but the 'Dago Navy' had long been regarded by British tars as a huge joke". [86] ↑ Writing about the fighting at the First Battle of El Alamein Rommel stated: "The Italians were willing, unselfish and good comrades in the frontline. There can be no disputing that the achievement of all the Italian units, especially the motorised elements, far outstripped any action of the Italian Army for 100 years. Many Italian generals and officers earned our respect as men as well as soldiers". [92] During the Second Battle of El Alamein the 7th Bersaglieri Regiment exhibited a strong regimental spirit in the fight for Hill 28 that impressed Rommel to comment positively. [93] On a plaque dedicated to the Bersaglieri that fought at Mersa Matruh and Alamein, Rommmel wrote: "The German soldier has impressed the world, however the Italian Bersaglieri has impressed the German soldier." [94] ↑ Ripley asserted: "The Italians supplied the bulk of the Axis troops fighting in North Africa, and too often the German Army unfairly ridiculed Italian military effectiveness either due to its own arrogance or to conceal its own mistakes and failures. In reality, a significant number of Italian units fought skilfully in North Africa, and many "German" victories were the result of Italian skill-at-arms and a combined Axis effort." [96] ↑ Bierman and Smith [101] documented multiple instances of Italian armour advancing against such odds, including when a disproportionate number of their contengent were knocked out. ↑ The account by an Australian Battery Sergeant Major during the 10th Army's destruction: "The Italian artillery was definitely good at their trade. We were saved from serious casualties because of the amazingly poor quality of their projectiles, many failed to burst, and those that did were ineffective. The Italians fought their guns to the last, many were found dead in their gun emplacements. The Italian dead were everywhere. The guns were piled around with empty cases where men had fired to the very last. The Italians fought like hell at Nebeiwa." [103] Citations

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Which mountains stretch from West Virginia to Georgia?

Blue Ridge Mountains - Peakbagger.com  Peakbagger.com Mountain range with well-recognized name Highest Point United States States/Provinces Virginia (33%), North Carolina (25%), Tennessee (12%), Georgia (10%), Maryland (9%), Pennsylvania (6%), South Carolina (3%), West Virginia (1%) (numbers are approximate percentage of range area) Area 34,563 sq mi / 89,517 sq km Area may include lowland areas Extent 418 mi / 672 km North-South 482 mi / 775 km East-West Center Lat/Long 37° 15' N; 79° 35' W Map Link       Yahoo Search The Blue Ridge is the extremely long mountain crest that runs from just north of the Potomac River on the Virginia-Maryland border south all the way to northern Georgia. The Blue Ridge Mountain Complex can be thought of as the Blue Ridge, with two main additions: its low continuations north of the Potomac into Maryland and Pennsylvania, and, more importantly, the whole series of high mountains centered on western North Carolina and extending west into Tennessee and south into Georgia. These high ranges include the Great Smokies and many others, and contain all of the 6000 foot peaks in the Appalachians except New Hampshire's Mt. Washington. The entire huge complex of the Blue Ridge Mountains has clear natural boundaries. On the east, the mountains rise up distinctly from the flatter, rolling hills of the Piedmont. On the west, the Blue Ridge drops to the extraordinary Appalachian Valley, a continuous trough running from Alabama to Montreal. The Blue Ridge and its associated ranges are almost entirely thickly forested, gentle, rounded mountains. Way too far south to even approach having a timberline, even the summits of Mt. Mitchell (6684') and Clingmans Dome (6636') are in the middle of deep forest and would have no views whatsoever if lookout towers hadn't been built. No other large mountain range in the country has as many good, paved roads meandering through the high country and up to important summits. And pointed, craggy summits as rare in the Blue Ridge as low, rounded ones are in the Tetons. However, as with any huge area, generalizations are never totally true. There may not be any timberline, but the summits of many "Balds" in the Blue Ridge area are open meadows with often fine views. There are pockets of rugged, challenging terrain, and even a few peaks with rocky ledges at the summits that poke above the trees and provide spectacular mountain settings--Old Rag-3268 in Virginia and Grandfather Mountain-5984 in North Carolina come to mind. The lack of challenging monster mountains isn't necessarily a drawback, either. The many high roads in this area, plus the gentle slopes and often short walks to summits from high trailheads, make the Blue Ridge an excellent place for mountain explorers who don't go for backpacking, rugged scrambling, or rock-climbing. A family or retired couple in their car doing easy dayhikes can spend huge amounts of time in the highest country in the east without ever getting a mile away from a car. Also, mountains need not present sheer, craggy faces to impress; the Blue Ridge charms with its endless waves of green hillsides, its incredibly diverse flora and fauna in its damp forests, its haunting blue morning mists (which gave the Blue Ridge and the Great Smokies their names), and the fascinating Appalachian culture of the long-time residents. Some of the mountain folk, isolated in their deep mountain hollows, speak English so similar to the Elizabethan dialect of the 1600s that it has interested Shakespearean scholars. The very high average height of the southern Blue Ridge region gives it a climate that most people do not associate with the south. Winter snows can be heavy, and even spring blizzards can happen, as A.T. through-hikers getting an early start in April in Georgia sometimes find out. The area has the greatest rainfall in the contiguous U.S. outside of the Pacific Northwest, and is also much cooler and less humid than the surrounding lowlands. Asheville, NC, the large city in the center of the southern Blue Ridge Complex, has been rated as having one of the most pleasant climates, due to more bearable summers than in, say, Atlanta, with more bearable winters than found in places like New England. This pattern is less true for the northern Blue Ridge in Virginia, with its much lower elevations and much narrower mountain mass. North of Roanoke, VA, the Blue Ridge is pretty much a single mountain crest. South of Roanoke, it startes expanding into a huge, wide, confusing oval of ranges and ridges that extends all the way into Georgia. To make sense of the entire complex, it has been divided into 4 sections: first,the Northern Blue Ridge, the single ridge north of Roanoke; second, the Southern Blue Ridge Front, which forms the eastern and southern edges of the large southern oval; third, the massive Great Smoky Mountains; fourth, the Western Blue Ridge Ranges, which are the other ranges at the western edge of the oval excepting the Smokies; and fifth and finally, the Central Blue Ridge Ranges, the jumble in the middle of the oval, which includes the Black Mountains and its high point, Mt. Mitchell (6684') . Map of Blue Ridge Mountains Click on red triangle icons for links to other ranges. Note: Range borders shown on map are an approximation and are not authoritative.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Under which name did Alfonso D' Abruzzo find fame as an actor?

Blue Ridge Parkway - Home Home Tips for planning your scenic drive or vacation to see the fall color along the Blue Ridge Parkway. What's Happening A journey on the Blue Ridge Parkway offers motorists spectacular views of Southern Appalachia’s diverse beauty for 469.1 uninterrupted miles. What's Happening Don't forget your cameras and binoculars when visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway! Learn when and where to see blooms along your journey. What's Happening Camping is one way visitors traveling through the Blue Ridge Parkway can spend the night under the stars in one of America’s most beautiful natural settings. What's Happening The 67th edition of the Blue Ridge Parkway Directory & Travel Planner is your ultimate source for planning a trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Tools & Quicklinks Cumberland Knob, MP 217.5 Located near the Virginia state line, Cumberland Knob is the site where construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway began in 1935. It was the first recreation area opened to the public and remains a favorite destination for both locals and visitors. The m Julian Price Memorial Park, MP 297 A majestic 4,200 acres at the foot of Grandfather Mountain, named in honor of Julian Price, comprises this popular park and lies directly adjacent to the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. Together these parks make up the largest developed area set as Doughton Park, MP 240 Renew your senses amid this landscape of open meadows. Doughton Park is one of the best places along the Blue Ridge Parkway to view white-tailed deer, raccoons, red and grey foxes, and bobcats.  Flowers burst on the scene in late spring and crea

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According to the inventor Thomas Edison genius is made up how many percent of inspiration?

Thomas Edison - Wikiquote Thomas Edison Jump to: navigation , search Genius is one percent inspiration , ninety nine percent perspiration. Thomas Alva Edison ( 11 February 1847 – 18 October 1931 ) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life worldwide into the twenty-first century. Contents Quotes[ edit ] Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power ! Discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I'll show you a failure. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it. We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything. Hell, there are no rules here — we're trying to accomplish something. Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. To Monsieur Eiffel the Engineer, the brave builder of so gigantic and original a specimen of modern Engineering from one who has the greatest respect and admiration for all Engineers including the Great Engineer the Bon Dieu. When Thomas Edison visited The Eiffel Tower, he signed the guestbook with this message, as quoted in The Tallest Tower by Joseph Harris, p. 95. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. This is presented as a statement of 1877, as quoted in From Telegraph to Light Bulb with Thomas Edison (2007) by Deborah Headstrom-Page, p. 22. During all those years of experimentation and research, I never once made a discovery. All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention, pure and simple. I would construct a theory and work on its lines until I found it was untenable. Then it would be discarded at once and another theory evolved. This was the only possible way for me to work out the problem. … I speak without exaggeration when I say that I have constructed 3,000 different theories in connection with the electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet only in two cases did my experiments prove the truth of my theory. My chief difficulty was in constructing the carbon filament. . . . Every quarter of the globe was ransacked by my agents, and all sorts of the queerest materials used, until finally the shred of bamboo, now utilized by us, was settled upon. On his years of research in developing the electric light bulb, as quoted in "Talks with Edison" by [[w:George Parsons Lathrop|George Parsons Lathrop] in Harper's magazine, Vol. 80 (February 1890), p. 425. The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. This has been reprinted many times with slight variations on the wording; it is part of a much larger quote directly from Edison published in 1903: Nineteen hundred and three will bring great advances in surgery, in the study of bacteria, in the knowledge of the cause and prevention of disease. Medicine is played out. Every new discovery of bacteria shows us all the more convincingly that we have been wrong and that the million tons of stuff we have taken was all useless. The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. They may even discover the germ of old age. I don't predict it, but it might be by the sacrifice of animal life human life could be prolonged. Surgery, diet, antiseptics — these three are the vital things of the future in preserving the health of humanity. There were never so many able, active minds at work on the problems of diseases as now, and all their discoveries are tending to the simple truth — that you can't improve on nature. As quoted in "Wizard Edison" in The Newark Advocate (2 January 1903), p. 1 according to research by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson at snopes.com . Nature is what we know. We do not know the gods of religions. And nature is not kind, or merciful, or loving. If God made me — the fabled God of the three qualities of which I spoke: mercy, kindness, love — He also made the fish I catch and eat. And where do His mercy, kindness, and love for that fish come in? No; nature made us — nature did it all — not the gods of the religions Thomas Edison ""No Immortality of the Soul" says Thomas A. Edison. In Fact, He Doesn't Believe There Is a Soul — Human Beings Only an Aggregate of Cells and the Brain Only a Wonderful Machine, Says Wizard of Electricity". New York Times. October 2, 1910 Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. Spoken statement (c. 1903); published in Harper's Monthly (September 1932). Variants: None of my inventions came by accident. I see a worthwhile need to be met and I make trial after trial until it comes. What it boils down to is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration. Statement in a press conference (1929), as quoted in Uncommon Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James D. Newton, p. 24. Variant forms without early citation: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration. Accordingly, a 'genius' is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework." "Genius: one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come indirectly through accident, except the phonograph. No, when I have, fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go about it, and make trial after trial, until it comes. Commenting on Henry Ford 's currency plan in ”Ford sees wealth in Muscle Shoals”, New York Times (6 December 1921), p. 6 . My mind is incapable of conceiving such a thing as a soul. I may be in error, and man may have a soul; but I simply do not believe it. What a soul may be is beyond my understanding. "Do We Live Again?" an interview with Edison, as quoted in Mr. Edison's New Argument from Design" in The Illustrated London News (3 May 1924). We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. … I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. In conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone (1931); as quoted in Uncommon Friends : Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel & Charles Lindbergh (1987) by James Newton, p. 31. I believe in the existence of a Supreme Intelligence pervading the Universe. As quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 293. We really haven't got any great amount of data on the subject, and without data how can we reach any definite conclusions? All we have — everything — favors the idea of what religionists call the "Hereafter." Science, if it ever learns the facts, probably will find another more definitely descriptive term. As quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 295. It is very beautiful over there! These have sometimes been reported as his last words, but were actually spoken several days before his death, as he awoke from a nap, gazing upwards, as reported by his physician Dr. Hubert S. Howe, in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, Ch. 25 : Edison's Views on Life — His Philosophy and Religion, p. 295. We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything. As quoted in Golden Book (April 1931), according to Stevenson's Book of Quotations (Cassell 3rd edition 1938) by Burton Egbert Stevenson . There is a great directing head of people and things — a Supreme Being who looks after the destinies of the world. I am convinced that the body is made up of entities that are intelligent and are directed by this Higher Power. When one cuts his finger, I believe it is the intelligence of these entities which heals the wound. When one is sick, it is the intelligence of these entities which brings convalescence. You know that there are living cells in the body so tiny that the microscope cannot find them at all. The entities that give life and soul to the human body are finer still and lie infinitely beyond the reach of our finest scientific instruments. When these entities leave the body, the body is like a ship without a rudder — deserted, motionless and dead. As quoted in The Romance and Drama of the Rubber Industry (1936) by Harvey Samuel Firestone Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure. The Diary and Sundry Observations of Thomas Alva Edison (1948), p. 110. Through all the years of experimenting and research, I never once made a discovery. I start where the last man left off. … All my work was deductive, and the results I achieved were those of invention pure and simple. As quoted in Makers of the Modern World : The Lives of Ninety-two Writers, Artists, Scientists, Statesmen, Inventors, Philosophers, Composers, and Other Creators who Formed the Pattern of Our Century (1955) by Louis Untermeyer , p. 227. So far as the religion of the day is concerned, it is a damned fake … Religion is all bunk. As quoted in What on Earth is an Atheist! (1972) by Madalyn Murray O'Hair , p. 251. Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. As quoted in An Enemy Called Average (1990) by John L. Mason, p. 55. If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves. As quoted in Motivating Humans : Goals, Emotions, and Personal Agency Beliefs (1992) by Martin E. Ford, p. 17. To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk. As quoted in Behavior-Based Robotics (1998) by Ronald C. Arkin. p. 8. Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I've stolen a lot, myself. But I know how to steal! They don't know how to steal! As quoted in Tesla : The Modern Sorcerer (1999) by Daniel Blair Stewart, p. 411. Variant: Everyone steals in commerce and industry. I have stolen a lot myself. But at least I know how to steal. I find out what the world needs. Then, I go ahead and invent it. As quoted in American Greats (1999) Edited by Robert A. Wilson and Stanley Marcus, p. 70. Hell! There ain't no rules around here! We are tryin' to accomplish somep'n! Response received (after Edison spat on the floor and before he walked off) when M. A. Rosanoff joined the West Orange, New Jersey team in 1903 and humbly asked: “Mr. Edison, please tell me what laboratory rules you want me to observe.” M. A. Rosanoff’s quote appeared in Harper’s Monthly, September 1932, p. 24. Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. As quoted in Artifacts : An Archaeologist's Year in Silicon Valley (2001) by Christine Finn. p. 90. I never did a day's work in my life, it was all fun. As quoted in Edison & Ford Quote Book (2003) edited by Edison & Ford Winter Estates. I have never seen the slightest scientific proof of the religious ideas of heaven and hell, of future life for individuals, or of a personal God. As quoted in Jesus : Myth Or Reality? (2006) by Ian Curtis, p. 289. I do not believe in the God of the theologians; but that there is a Supreme Intelligence I do not doubt The Freethinker (1970), G.W. Foote & Company, Volume 90, p. 147. I owe my success to the fact that I never had a clock in my workroom. Seventy-five of us worked twenty hours every day and slept only four hours — and thrived on it. Diary entry, as quoted in Defending and Parenting Children Who Learn Differently : Lessons from Edison's Mother (2007) by Scott Teel, p. 12. The Philosophy of Paine (1925)[ edit ] Essay in The Diary and Sundry Observations (1948) edited by Dagobert D. Runes - Full essay online I consider Paine our greatest political thinker. As we have not advanced, and perhaps never shall advance, beyond the Declaration and Constitution , so Paine has had no successors who extended his principles . Tom Paine has almost no influence on present-day thinking in the United States because he is unknown to the average citizen. Perhaps I might say right here that this is a national loss and a deplorable lack of understanding concerning the man who first proposed and first wrote those impressive words , 'the United States of America.' But it is hardly strange. Paine's teachings have been debarred from schools everywhere and his views of life misrepresented until his memory is hidden in shadows, or he is looked upon as of unsound mind. We never had a sounder intelligence in this Republic. He was the equal of Washington in making American liberty possible. Where Washington performed Paine devised and wrote. The deeds of one in the Weld were matched by the deeds of the other with his pen. In Common Sense Paine flared forth with a document so powerful that the Revolution became inevitable. Washington recognized the difference, and in his calm way said that matters never could be the same again. I consider Paine our greatest political thinker. As we have not advanced, and perhaps never shall advance, beyond the Declaration and Constitution , so Paine has had no successors who extended his principles . Although the present generation knows little of Paine's writings,and although he has almost no influence upon contemporary thought, Americans of the future will justly appraise his work. I am certain of it. Truth is governed by natural laws and cannot be denied. Paine spoke truth with a peculiarly clear and forceful ring. Therefore time must balance the scales. Looking back to those times we cannot, without much reading, clearly gauge the sentiment of the Colonies. Perhaps the larger number of responsible men still hoped for peace with England. They did not even venture to express the matter that way. Few men, indeed, had thought in terms of war. Then Paine wrote ' Common Sense ,' an anonymous tract which immediately stirred the fires of liberty. It flashed from hand to hand throughout the Colonies. One copy reached the New York Assembly, in session at Albany, and a night meeting was voted to answer this unknown writer with his clarion call to liberty. The Assembly met, but could find no suitable answer. Tom Paine had inscribed a document which never has been answered adversely, and never can be, so long as man esteems his priceless possession. In 'Common Sense' Paine flared forth with a document so powerful that the Revolution became inevitable. Washington recognized the difference, and in his calm way said that matters never could be the same again.. It must be remembered that 'Common Sense' preceded the declaration and affirmed the very principles that went into the national doctrine of liberty. But that affirmation was made with more vigor, more of the fire of the patriot and was exactly suited to the hour. It is probable that we should have had the Revolution without Tom Paine. Certainly it could not be forestalled, once he had spoken. Many a person who could not comprehend Rousseau , and would be puzzled by Montesquieu , could understand Paine as an open book. He wrote with a clarity, a sharpness of outline and exactness of speech that even a schoolboy should be able to grasp. There is nothing false, little that is subtle, and an impressive lack of the negative in Paine. He literally cried to his reader for a comprehending hour, and then filled that hour with such sagacious reasoning as we find surpassed nowhere else in American letters — seldom in any school of writing. He has been called an atheist , but atheist he was not. Paine believed in a supreme intelligence, as representing the idea which other men often express by the name of deity . His Bible was the open face of nature , the broad skies, the green hills. He disbelieved the ancient myths and miracles taught by established creeds. But the attacks on those creeds — or on persons devoted to them — have served to darken his memory, casting a shadow across the closing years of his life. When Theodore Roosevelt termed Tom Paine a "dirty little atheist" he surely spoke from lack of understanding. It was a stricture, an inaccurate charge of the sort that has dimmed the greatness of this eminent American. But the true measure of his stature will yet be appreciated. The torch which he handed on will not be extinguished. The memory of Tom Paine will outlive all this. No man who helped to lay the foundations of our liberty — who stepped forth as the champion of so difficult a cause — can be permanently obscured by such attacks. Tom Paine should be read by his countrymen. I commend his fame to their hands. Misattributed[ edit ] There is time for everything. This expression greatly predates any use of it by Edison. George Head used it in A Home Tour Through the Manufacturing Districts of England in the Summer of 1835 (1836), p. 198, in which he states: If time be judiciously employed, there is time for everything. There is also an entry in the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1) that says There is [a] time for everything, however this varies a lot between the different translations. I am much less interested in what is called God's word than in God's deeds. All bibles are man-made. John Burroughs, in "Religious Contrasts : Letters of Pantheist and a Churchman", in The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 128, No. 4 (October 1921), p. 520. There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking. Sir Joshua Reynolds. Edison liked the quote and posted it around his factory. If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. ~ Nikola Tesla Quotes about Edison[ edit ] To my simple mind it is not obvious that a successful electrician is an authority on the immortal soul , any more than that a successful military strategist has an ear for music , or an admirable French cook a grasp of the higher mathematics . G. K. Chesterton , on the interview with Edison "Do We Live Again?" in which he stated "My mind is incapable of conceiving such a thing as a soul." He felt there was a central processing core of life that went on and on. That was his conclusion. We talked of it many times together . . . Call it religion or what you like, Mr. Edison believed that the universe was alive and that it was responsive to man's deep necessity . It was an intelligent and hopeful religion if there ever was one. Mr. Edison went away expecting light , not darkness . Henry Ford , as quoted in Thomas A. Edison, Benefactor of Mankind : The Romantic Life Story of the World's Greatest Inventor (1931) by Francis Trevelyan Miller, p. 294. If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. … I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor. Nikola Tesla , as quoted in The New York Times (19 October 1931). He never was an atheist . Although he subscribed to no orthodox creed, no one who knew him could have doubted his belief in and reverence for a Supreme Intelligence, and his whole life, in which the ideal of honest, loving service to his fellowman was predominant, indicated faithfully those two commandments wherein lies "all the law and all the prophets."

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Who produced the first Chinook helicopter in 1961?

Thomas Edison Thomas Edison "Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison, Harper's Monthly (September 1932) Born: West Orange, New Jersey, United States Occupation: Spouse: Mary Edison, Mina Edison Thomas Alva Edison ( February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman who developed many devices which greatly influenced life in the 20th century . Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production to the process of invention, and can therefore be credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory. Some of the inventions attributed to him were not completely original but amounted to improvements of earlier inventions or were actually created by numerous employees working under his direction. Nevertheless, Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,097 U.S. patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom , France , and Germany . Early life Thomas Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, the seventh child of Samuel Ogden Edison, Jr. (1804–1896) (born in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia, Canada) and the former Nancy Matthews Elliott (1810–1871). His family was of Dutch origin. His mind often wandered and his teacher the Reverend Engle was overheard calling him "addled". This ended Edison's three months of formal schooling. His mother had been a school teacher in Canada and happily took over the job of schooling her son. She encouraged and taught him to read and experiment. He recalled later, "My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint." Many of his lessons came from reading R.G. Parker's School of Natural Philosophy. Edison became hard of hearing at the age of twelve. There are many theories of what caused this; according to Edison he went deaf because he was pulled up to a train car by his ears. Edison's life in Port Huron, Michigan was bittersweet. He sold candy and newspapers on trains running from Port Huron to Detroit. Partially deaf since adolescence, he became a telegraph operator after he saved Jimmie Mackenzie from being struck by a runaway train. Jimmie's father, station agent J.U. Mackenzie of Mount Clemens, Michigan, was so grateful that he took Edison under his wing and trained him as a telegraph operator. Edison's deafness aided him as it blocked out noises and prevented Edison from hearing the telegrapher sitting next to him. One of his mentors during those early years was a fellow telegrapher and inventor named Franklin Leonard Pope, who allowed the then impoverished youth to live and work in the basement of his Elizabeth, New Jersey home. Some of his earliest inventions related to electrical telegraphy, including a stock ticker. Edison applied for his first patent, the electric vote recorder, on October 28, 1868. Marriages and children On December 25, 1871, Edison married the then 16 year old Mary Stilwell whom he had met two months earlier. They had three children, Marion "Dot" Estelle Edison ( 1873– 1965) Thomas "Dash" Alva Edison, Jr ( 1876– 1935) William Leslie Edison ( 1878– 1935) Mary Edison died on August 9 1884. On February 24, 1886, at the age of thirty-nine, Edison married 19-year-old Mina Miller in Akron, Ohio. They also had three children: Madeleine Edison ( 1888– 1979) Charles Edison ( 1890– 1969), who took over the company upon his father's death and who later was elected Governor of New Jersey) Theodore Edison ( 1898– 1992) Mina outlived Thomas Edison, dying on August 24, 1947. Beginning his career Edison and early phonograph, 1877 Thomas Edison began his career as an inventor in Newark, New Jersey, with the automatic repeater and his other improved telegraphic devices, but the invention which first gained him fame was the phonograph in 1877. This accomplishment was so unexpected by the public at large as to appear almost magical. Edison became known as "The Wizard of Menlo Park," New Jersey, where he lived. His first phonograph recorded on tinfoil cylinders that had low sound quality and destroyed the track during replay so that one could listen only a few times. In the 1880s, a redesigned model using wax-coated cardboard cylinders was produced by Alexander Graham Bell , Chichester Bell, and Charles Tainter. This was one reason that Thomas Edison continued work on his own "Perfected Phonograph." Thomas Edison was a freethinker, and was most likely a deist, claiming he did not believe in "the God of the theologians", but did not doubt that "there is a Supreme Intelligence". He is quoted, "I believe that the science of chemistry alone almost proves the existence of an intelligent creator." However, he rejected the idea of the supernatural, along with such ideas as the soul, immortality, and a personal God. "Nature", he said, "is not merciful and loving, but wholly merciless, indifferent." Menlo Park Edison's Menlo Park Laboratory, removed to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. (Note the organ against the back wall) Thomas Edison's first light bulb used to demonstrate his invention at Menlo Park. U.S. Patent #223898 Electric Lamp Edison's major innovation was the first industrial research lab, which was built in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was the first institution set up with the specific purpose of producing constant technological innovation and improvement. Edison was legally attributed with most of the inventions produced there, though many employees carried out research and development work under his direction. William Joseph Hammer, a consulting electrical engineer, began his duties as a laboratory assistant to Edison in December 1879. He assisted in experiments on the telephone , phonograph, electric railway, iron ore separator, electric lighting, and other developing inventions. However, Hammer worked primarily on the incandescent electric lamp and was put in charge of tests and records on that device. In 1880 he was appointed Chief Engineer of the Edison Lamp Works. In his first year, the plant under general manager Francis Robbins Upton turned out 50,000 lamps. According to Edison, Hammer was "a pioneer of incandescent electric lighting." Most of Edison's patents were utility patents, which during Edison's lifetime protected for a 17-year period inventions or processes that are electrical, mechanical, or chemical in nature. About a dozen were design patents, which protect an ornamental design for a 14 year period. Like most inventions, his were not typically completely original, but improvements to prior art. The phonograph patent, on the other hand, was unprecedented as the first device to record and reproduce sounds. Edison did not invent the first electric light bulb, but instead invented the first commercially practical incandescent light. Several designs had already been developed by earlier inventors including the patent he purchased from Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans, Moses G. Farmer, Joseph Swan, James Bowman Lindsay, William Sawyer, Sir Humphry Davy, and Heinrich Göbel. Some of these early bulbs had such flaws as extremely short life, high expense to produce, and high current draw, making them difficult to apply on a large scale commercially. In 1878, Edison applied the term filament to the element of glowing wire carrying the current, although English inventor Joseph Swan had used the term prior to this. Edison took the features of these earlier designs and set his workers to the task of creating longer-lasting bulbs. By 1879, he had produced a new concept: a high resistance lamp in a very high vacuum, which would burn for hundreds of hours. While the earlier inventors had produced electric lighting in laboratory conditions dating back to a demonstration of a glowing wire by Alessandro Volta in 1800, Edison concentrated on commercial application and was able to sell the concept to homes and businesses by mass-producing relatively long-lasting light bulbs and creating a complete system for the generation and distribution of electricity . The Menlo Park research lab was made possible by the sale of the quadruplex telegraph that Edison invented in 1874, which could send four simultaneous telegraph signals over the same wire. When Edison asked Western Union to make an offer, he was shocked at the unexpectedly large amount that Western Union offered; the patent rights were sold for $10,000. The quadruplex telegraph was Edison's first big financial success. Incandescent era In 1878, Edison formed the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City with several financiers, including J. P. Morgan and the Vanderbilt families. Edison made the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb on December 31, 1879, in Menlo Park. On January 27, 1880, he filed a patent in the United States for the electric incandescent lamp; it was during this time that he said, "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." On October 8, 1883, the U.S. patent office ruled that Edison's patent was based on the work of William Sawyer and was therefore invalid. Litigation continued for nearly six years, until October 6, 1889, when a judge ruled that Edison's electric light improvement claim for "a filament of carbon of high resistance" was valid. To avoid a possible court battle with Joseph Swan, whose English patent had been awarded a year before Edison's, he and Swan formed a joint company called Ediswan to market the invention in Britain. Other designs for a light bulb included Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla 's idea of utilizing radio frequency waves emitted (in the Tesla effect) from the side electrode plates to light a wireless bulb. He also developed plans to light a bulb with only one wire with the energy refocused back into the center of the bulb by the glass envelope with a centre "button" to emit an incandescent glow. Edison's design won out during this time, although Tesla did go on to invent fluorescent lighting. Edison patented an electric distribution system in 1880, which was critical to capitalize on the invention of the electric lamp. The first investor-owned electric utility was the 1882 Pearl Street Station, New York City . On September 4, 1882, Edison switched on the world's first electrical power distribution system, providing 110 volts direct current (DC) to 59 customers in lower Manhattan, around his Pearl Street generating station. On January 19, 1883, the first standardized incandescent electric lighting system employing overhead wires began service in Roselle, New Jersey. Edison speech on light bulb Video clip of Thomas Edison talking about the invention of the light bulb, late 1920s. . Carbon telephone transmitter In 1877 and 1878 Edison invented and developed the carbon microphone used in all telephones along with the Bell receiver until the 1980s. After protracted patent litigation, a federal court ruled in 1892 that Edison and not Emile Berliner was the inventor of the carbon microphone. (Josephson, p146). The carbon microphone was also used in radio broadcasting and public address work through the 1920s. War of currents Extravagant displays of electric lights quickly became a feature of public events, as this picture from the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition shows. George Westinghouse and Edison became adversaries due to Edison's promotion of direct current (DC) for electric power distribution over the more easily transmitted alternating current (AC) system promoted by George Westinghouse. Unlike DC, AC could be stepped up to very high voltages with transformers, sent over thinner and less expensive wires, and stepped down again at the destination for distribution to users. Despite Edison's contempt for capital punishment, the war against AC led Edison to become involved in the development and promotion of the electric chair as a demonstration of AC's greater lethal potential versus the "safer" DC. Edison went on to carry out a brief but intense campaign to ban the use of AC or to limit the allowable voltage for safety purposes. As part of this campaign, Edison's employees publicly electrocuted dogs, cats, and in one case, an elephant to demonstrate the dangers of AC. AC replaced DC in most instances of generation and power distribution, enormously extending the range and improving the efficiency of power distribution. Though widespread use of DC ultimately lost favour for distribution, it exists today primarily in long-distance high-voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. Low voltage DC distribution continued to be used in high density downtown areas for many years and was replaced by AC low voltage network distribution in many central business districts. DC had the advantage that large battery banks could maintain continuous power through brief interruptions of the electric supply from generators and the transmission system. Utilities such as Commonwealth Edison in Chicago had rotary converters which could change DC to AC and AC to various frequencies in the early to mid 20th century. Utilities supplied rectifiers to convert the low voltage AC to DC for such DC load as elevators, fans and pumps. There were still 1600 DC customers in downtown New York City when the service was discontinued in 2005. Work relations Frank J. Sprague, a competent mathematician and former naval officer, was recruited by Edward H. Johnson, and joined the Edison organization in 1883. One of Sprague's significant contributions to the Edison Laboratory at Menlo Park was to expand Edison's mathematical methods. (Despite the common belief that Edison did not use mathematics, analysis of his notebooks reveal that he was an astute user of mathematical analysis, for example, determining the critical parameters of his electric lighting system including lamp resistance by a sophisticated analysis of Ohm's Law, Joule's Law and economics .) A key to Edison's success was a holistic rather than reductionist approach to invention, making extensive use of trial and error when no suitable theory existed. (See Edisonian approach). Since Sprague joined Edison in 1883 and Edison's output of patents peaked in 1880 it could be interpreted that the shift towards a reductionist analytical approach may not have been a positive move for Edison. Sprague's important analytical contributions, including correcting Edison's system of mains and feeders for central station distribution, form a counter argument to this. In 1884, Sprague decided his interests in the exploitation of electricity lay elsewhere, and he left Edison to found the Sprague Electric Railway & Motor Company. However, Sprague, who later developed many electrical innovations, always credited Edison for their work together. Another of Edison's assistants was Nikola Tesla who claimed that Edison promised him $50,000 if he succeeded in making improvements to his DC generation plants. Several months later, when he had finished the work and asked to be paid, Tesla claimed that Edison said, "When you become a full-fledged American you will appreciate an American joke". Tesla immediately resigned. This anecdote is somewhat doubtful, since at Tesla's salary of $18 per week the bonus would have amounted to over 53 years pay, and the amount was equal to the initial capital of the company. Tesla resigned when he was refused a raise to $25 per week (Jonnes, p110). Although Tesla accepted an Edison Medal later in life and professed a high opinion of Edison as an inventor and engineer, he remained bitter. The day after Edison died the New York Times contained extensive coverage of Edison's life, with the only negative opinion coming from Tesla who was quoted as saying, "He had no hobby, cared for no sort of amusement of any kind and lived in utter disregard of the most elementary rules of hygiene" and that, "His method was inefficient in the extreme, for an immense ground had to be covered to get anything at all unless blind chance intervened and, at first, I was almost a sorry witness of his doings, knowing that just a little theory and calculation would have saved him 90 percent of the labor. But he had a veritable contempt for book learning and mathematical knowledge, trusting himself entirely to his inventor's instinct and practical American sense." When Edison was a very old man and close to death, he said, in looking back, that the biggest mistake he had made was that he never respected Tesla or his work. Later years Edison celebrates his 82nd birthday with President Herbert Hoover , Henry Ford , and Harvey Firestone. Ft. Myers, Florida , February 11, 1929. Edison became the owner of his Milan, Ohio, birthplace in 1906, and, on his last visit, in 1923, he was shocked to find his old home still lit by lamps and candles. Influenced by a fad diet that was popular in the day, in his last few years "he consumed nothing more than a pint of milk every three hours". He believed this diet would restore his health. Edison was active in business right up to the end. Just months before his death in 1931, the Lackawanna Railroad implemented electric trains in suburban service from Hoboken to Gladstone, Montclair and Dover in New Jersey. Transmission was by means of an overhead catenary system, with the entire project under the guidance of Thomas Edison. To the surprise of many, Thomas Edison was at the throttle of the very first MU (Multiple-Unit) train to depart Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, driving the train all the way to Dover. As another tribute to his lasting legacy, the very same fleet of cars Edison deployed on the Lackawanna in 1931 served commuters until their retirement in 1984. A special plaque commemorating the joint achievement of both the railway and Edison, can be seen today in the waiting room of Lackawanna Terminal in Hoboken, presently operated by New Jersey Transit. Edison purchased a home known as "Glenmont" in 1886 as a wedding gift for Mina in Llewellyn Park in West Orange, New Jersey. The remains of Edison and his wife, Mina, are now buried there. The 13.5 acre (55,000 m²) property is maintained by the National Park Service as the Edison National Historic Site. Thomas Edison died on October 18, 1931, in New Jersey at the age of 84. His final words to his wife were "It is very beautiful over there." Mina died in 1947. Edison's last breath is purportedly contained in a test tube at the Henry Ford Museum. Ford reportedly convinced Charles Edison to seal a test tube of air in the inventor's room shortly after his death, as a memento. A plaster death mask was also made. In the 1880s, Thomas Edison bought property in Fort Myers, Florida , and built Seminole Lodge as a winter retreat. Henry Ford , the automobile magnate, later lived a few hundred feet away from Edison at his winter retreat, The Mangoes. Edison even contributed technology to the automobile. They were friends until Edison's death. Criticism Seminole Lodge Although in his early years Edison worked alone, he built up a research and development team to a considerable number while at his Menlo Park research laboratory. This large research group, which included engineers and other workers, often based their research on work done by others before them, as is true of all research and development. Many have claimed that when his staff succeeded, he presented the inventions as his own and got the credit for them as they were patented in his name. His staff generally carried out his directions in conducting research, and when he was absent from the lab, the pace of work slowed greatly. Other inventors had worked on the development of an incandescent light bulb before Edison invented the first which was commercially practical. He is commonly credited as its inventor, even though a number of employees also worked on the device under his direction. His was the first incandescent light bulb with high resistance, a small radiating area, and a commercially useful lifetime. Other critics have claimed that he put obstacles in the way of his competitors, and used other methods which were ethically questionable, even if their technology was superior to what was created by his own workers. Thomas Edison made an electric light bulb and said that in six weeks, he would have a light bulb industry and would be generating electricity from Niagara Falls. Investors, including JP Morgan, invested large amounts of money in Edison's scheme. The breakthrough came in the fourteenth month when they finally found material suitable for use as a filament. They put lights around Menlo Park and lots of people came to see them. After two years, there was a prototype lighting system at his complex. The people working at Menlo Park couldn't create enough light bulbs, so he wanted to mass produce them, however the investors didn't want to spend any more money until the original promise was met. Four years after the original promise, the lights turned on at Central Station. Some other towns then began to install lights. Soon after that, competitors emerged, including George Westinghouse. Edison launched a propaganda campaign to convince people that AC was too dangerous. He repeatedly electrocuted animals with 1000V of alternating current to 'prove' that AC was unsafe. Thomas Edison introduced execution by electrocution. In 1889, a murderer ( William Kemmler) was executed by electrocution. The executioners left the current on for 17 seconds. He was smoking, so it was turned off, but he wasn't dead; he was bleeding out of multiple places and was having spasms, so they quickly turned it back on and left it on for 72 seconds. His body was smouldering. After this, the public outrage was so strong that he was fired from his company, it was renamed "General Electric" and it joined with George Westinghouse. Finally, the company built the hydro-electric plant at Niagra Falls. One of the more notable occasions when Edison electrocuted animals was when in 1903, he electrocuted Topsy the elephant at Luna Park. Edison claimed that it was the AC power's fault that the animals died; not his. He claimed that the animals being electrocuted were being "Westinghoused". Edison even filmed the death of Topsy and gladly distributed the video. Tributes Statue of Thomas Edison in Dearborn, Michigan. As a famous inventor, many tributes have been made to Thomas Edison. Several places and objects have been named after the inventor, including the town of Edison, New Jersey, and Thomas Edison State College, a nationally-known college for adult learners in Trenton, New Jersey. There is a Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum in the town of Edison. In the Netherlands , major music awards are named after him. The City Hotel, in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, was the first building to be lit with Edison's three-wire system. The hotel was renamed The Hotel Edison, and retains that name today. The "Incredible Machines: Contraptions" game series has an alligator The United States Navy named the USS Edison, a Gleaves class destroyer, in his honour in 1940. The ship was decommissioned a few months after the end of World War II . In 1962, the Navy commissioned USS Thomas A. Edison, a fleet ballistic missile nuclear-powered submarine. Decommissioned on 1 December 1983, Thomas A. Edison was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on April 30, 1986. She went through the Navy’s Nuclear Powered Ship and Submarine Recycling Program at Bremerton, Washington, beginning on 1 October 1996. When she finished the program on December 1, 1997, she ceased to exist as a complete ship and was listed as scrapped. The Edison Medal was created on February 11, 1904, by a group of Edison's friends and associates. Four years later the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE), later IEEE, entered into an agreement with the group to present the medal as its highest award. The first medal was presented in 1909 to Elihu Thomson, and ironically, was awarded to Nikola Tesla in 1917. The Edison Medal is the oldest award in the area of electrical and electronics engineering, and is presented annually "for a career of meritorious achievement in electrical science, electrical engineering or the electrical arts." Several landmarks exist in honour of Edison. The Port Huron Museums, in Port Huron, Michigan, restored the original depot that Thomas Edison worked out of as a young newsbutcher. The depot has appropriately been named the Thomas Edison Depot Museum. The town has many Edison historical landmarks including the gravesites of Edison's parents. In Detroit, the Edison Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Park was created to honour his achievements. The limestone fountain was dedicated October 21, 1929. Life magazine (USA), in a special double issue, placed Edison first in the list of the "100 Most Important People in the Last 1000 Years", noting that his light bulb "lit up the world". He was ranked thirty-fifth on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history. In 1940, his life was documented on the screen when Spencer Tracy starred as Edison in "Edison The Man." He has been called the fifteenth Greatest American. In recognition of the enormous contribution inventors make to the nation and the world, the Congress, pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 140 (Public Law 97 - 198), has designated February 11, the anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison, as National Inventor's Day. In 1879, Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam wrote the book "L'Ève Future" (translated into English as "Tomorrow's Eve"), about a fictional Thomas Edison who creates the ideal (artificial) woman. Trivia Edison helped found one of the very first Montessori schools in the United States. Companies bearing Edison's name Edison General Electric, now General Electric Commonwealth Edison, now part of Exelon Consolidated Edison

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