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Whitehall's disquiet at the failures of the RAF led to the replacement of Dowding (who was already due for retirement) with Sholto Douglas on 25 November. Douglas set about introducing more squadrons and dispersing the few GL sets to create a carpet effect in the southern counties. Still, in February 1941, there remained only seven squadrons with 87 pilots, under half the required strength. The GL carpet was supported by six GCI sets controlling radar-equipped night-fighters. By the height of the Blitz, they were becoming more successful. The number of contacts and combats rose in 1941, from 44 and two in 48 sorties in January 1941, to 204 and 74 in May (643 sorties). But even in May, 67% of the sorties were visual cat's-eye missions. Curiously, while 43% of the contacts in May 1941 were by visual sightings, they accounted for 61% of the combats. Yet when compared with Luftwaffe daylight operations, there was a sharp decline in German losses to 1%. If a vigilant bomber crew could spot the fighter first, they had a decent chance at evading it. | What did a bomber crew need to do for a good chance at evasion? | spot the fighter first |
In October 1961, Nasser embarked on a major nationalization program for Egypt, believing the total adoption of socialism was the answer to his country's problems and would have prevented Syria's secession. In order to organize and solidify his popular base with Egypt's citizens and counter the army's influence, Nasser introduced the National Charter in 1962 and a new constitution. The charter called for universal health care, affordable housing, vocational schools, greater women's rights and a family planning program, as well as widening the Suez Canal. | What was the document Nasser backed to push his socialist reforms? | National Charter |
Sometimes only partial compliance with license agreements is the cause. For example, in 2013, the US Army settled a lawsuit with Texas-based company Apptricity, which makes software that allows the army to track their soldiers in real time. In 2004, the US Army paid US$4.5 million for a license of 500 users, while allegedly installing the software for more than 9000 users; the case was settled for US$50 million. Major anti-piracy organizations, like the BSA, conduct software licensing audits regularly to ensure full compliance. | Who did Texas software company Apptricity write software for? | US Army |
In Japan, the Mayor of Nagano, Shoichi Washizawa said that it has become a "great nuisance" for the city to host the torch relay prior to the Nagano leg. Washizawa's aides said the mayor's remark was not criticism about the relay itself but about the potential disruptions and confusion surrounding it. A city employee of the Nagano City Office ridiculed the protests in Europe, he said "They are doing something foolish", in a televised interview. Nagano City officially apologized later and explained what he had wanted to say was "Such violent protests were not easy to accept". Also citing concerns about protests as well as the recent violence in Tibet, a major Buddhist temple in Nagano cancelled its plans to host the opening stage of the Olympic torch relay, this temple was vandalised by an un-identified person the day after in apparent revenge, | Who was the mayor of Nagano? | Shoichi Washizawa |
In 1880, the newspapers News and Observer combined to form The News & Observer. It remains Raleigh's primary daily newspaper. The North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now known as North Carolina State University, was founded as a land-grant college in 1887. The city's Rex Hospital opened in 1889 and included the state's first nursing school. The Baptist Women's College, now known as Meredith College, opened in 1891, and in 1898, The Academy of Music, a private music conservatory, was established. | What year was the college founded? | 1887 |
Neptune has 14 known moons. Triton is the largest Neptunian moon, comprising more than 99.5% of the mass in orbit around Neptune,[e] and it is the only one massive enough to be spheroidal. Triton was discovered by William Lassell just 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself. Unlike all other large planetary moons in the Solar System, Triton has a retrograde orbit, indicating that it was captured rather than forming in place; it was probably once a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt. It is close enough to Neptune to be locked into a synchronous rotation, and it is slowly spiralling inward because of tidal acceleration. It will eventually be torn apart, in about 3.6 billion years, when it reaches the Roche limit. In 1989, Triton was the coldest object that had yet been measured in the Solar System, with estimated temperatures of 38 K (−235 °C). | How many moons does Neptune have? | 14 |
NARA also maintains the Presidential Library system, a nationwide network of libraries for preserving and making available the documents of U.S. presidents since Herbert Hoover. The Presidential Libraries include: | Who is the earliest President that is represented in the archives of the Presidential Library system? | Herbert Hoover |
The integer factorization problem is the computational problem of determining the prime factorization of a given integer. Phrased as a decision problem, it is the problem of deciding whether the input has a factor less than k. No efficient integer factorization algorithm is known, and this fact forms the basis of several modern cryptographic systems, such as the RSA algorithm. The integer factorization problem is in NP and in co-NP (and even in UP and co-UP). If the problem is NP-complete, the polynomial time hierarchy will collapse to its first level (i.e., NP will equal co-NP). The best known algorithm for integer factorization is the general number field sieve, which takes time O(e(64/9)1/3(n.log 2)1/3(log (n.log 2))2/3) to factor an n-bit integer. However, the best known quantum algorithm for this problem, Shor's algorithm, does run in polynomial time. Unfortunately, this fact doesn't say much about where the problem lies with respect to non-quantum complexity classes. | The integer factorization problem essentially seeks to determine if the value of of an input is less than what variable? | k |
New Haven is the birthplace of former president George W. Bush, who was born when his father, former president George H. W. Bush, was living in New Haven while a student at Yale. In addition to being the site of the college educations of both Presidents Bush, as Yale students, New Haven was also the temporary home of former presidents William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, and Bill Clinton, as well as Secretary of State John Kerry. President Clinton met his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, while the two were students at Yale Law School. Former vice presidents John C. Calhoun and Dick Cheney also studied in New Haven (although the latter did not graduate from Yale). Before the 2008 election, the last time there was not a person with ties to New Haven and Yale on either major party's ticket was 1968. James Hillhouse, a New Haven native, served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1801. | What New Haven institution did former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton both attend? | Yale Law School |
Lorde, 2016-present: Melodrama: In January 2016, Lorde purchased a $2.84 million home in Herne Bay, Auckland. At the 2016 Brit Awards, she gave a performance of "Life on Mars" in tribute to the late English singer David Bowie. According to Billboard, Lorde said she'd be writing new material in December 2013. While responding to a fan on her Instagram account in August 2016, she said that the record had been written and they were in production stages. In November, she posted a note on her Facebook account stating: "Writing Pure Heroine was my way of enshrining our teenage glory, putting it up in lights forever so that part of me never dies, and this record - well, this one is about what comes next. [...] The party is about to start. I am about to show you the new world." On 16 February 2017, her recording label, Republic Records, published a date of 3/7 under "Confidential Title" that revealed her much anticipated sophomore record, which later was cleared by the label. On 26 February, Lorde teased her new music in New Zealand in an ad with the dates 3.2.17 NYC and 3.3.17 NZ. Two days prior to the release, it was revealed that her debut single from her second album would be "Green Light". Lorde revealed the title of her second album, Melodrama on 2 March. She released a new song from the album titled "Liability" on 9 March 2017. Lorde performed "Green Light" and "Liability" publicly for the first time as the musical guest on 11 March 2017 episode of Saturday Night Live. She revealed the 11 tracks of the album in May. The second single, "Perfect Places" was released on 2 June 2017. Six days later, the Melodrama World Tour was announced, beginning in Manchester on 26 September 2017, with Khalid acting as support for the European portion of the tour. The final promotional single, "Sober", was released on 9 June 2017, and the album Melodrama was released on 16 June 2017. Two months later, a remix of "Homemade Dynamite", featuring vocals from Khalid, Post Malone and SZA was released on the third single from the album. It received a nomination for Album of the Year at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony. | What did she do in 2016? | In January 2016, Lorde purchased a $2.84 million home in Herne Bay, Auckland. |
Nando Reis, Childhood: Nando Reis was born in Sao Paulo to Cecilia Leonel and Jose Carlos Galvao Gomes dos Reis. He was given his prename "Jose" just like his brothers, Jose Carlos, the oldest of the children, and Jose Luiz (who is deaf), the younger. His two sisters also shared the same prenames: Maria Cecilia, the older, and Maria Luiza, the youngest of the five, which developed cerebral palsy. His mother was an acoustic guitar teacher and his father was an engineer. Jose Carlos taught him a little bit of Rock 'n' Roll, showing him Rolling Stones's album Between the Buttons. Maria Cecilia taught him to play the acoustic guitar and took him to a show of Gal Costa and Gilberto Gil. He was given his first acoustic guitar by his grandmother, at the age of 7, and was taught his first chords by his sister. However, most of his skills were acquired alone, when he learned songs of Caetano Veloso all by himself. Some friends of Jose Carlos played in a rock band. Once, he took Nando to a small performance at the garage of the bassist house. Impressed with the solos of the guitarist, he asked him to teach him, but he never made it. He also tried the drums, but gave up. He decided then to play the bass guitar, as his attempts to play the electric guitar and the drums failed. Other artists, such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Alice Cooper kept joining his main influences. At the age of eleven, he had classes of classic guitar and harmony with Alexandre ("Maranhao"), a friend of Jose Carlos. His first compositions were all based on poems. Most of them were long, showing his appreciation for long songs. In 1978, he entered Equipe School. There, he formed a band called "Os Camaroes" (The Shrimps) with some friends, and managed to win a local music festival. When he met Paulo Miklos and Arnaldo Antunes, who took part of the festival, he made the first compositions with what would later become Titas. When the high school was over, he waited three years to pass the Mathematics vestibular. Even though Titas where already planning their first show, the university occupied most of his time. Therefore, he decided to quit it. | What was his parents professions? | His mother was an acoustic guitar teacher |
Jessica Mauboy, 2010-12: Get 'Em Girls and The Sapphires soundtrack: In January 2010, Mauboy signed to Universal Music for an exclusive worldwide long-term publishing agreement. In May 2010, Mauboy collaborated with four other international artists representing their continents--Sean Kingston representing America, Jody Williams representing Africa, Tabitha Nauser (Asia), Steve Appleton (Europe), with Mauboy representing Oceania--on the theme song for the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics titled "Everyone". Mauboy, Williams, Nauser and Appleton performed "Everyone" at the opening of the Youth Olympics held in Singapore on 14 August 2010. Kingston was unable to attend the performance, due to a passport mix-up. Mauboy released her second studio album Get 'Em Girls on 5 November 2010; it debuted at number six and was certified gold. She had travelled to the United States in February of that year to work on the album in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta with American songwriters and producers, most of whom she had not worked with previously. Mauboy co-wrote eight of the album's songs. Get 'Em Girls received mixed reviews from critics. Majhid Heath of ABC Online Indigenous gave the album two-and-a-half out of five stars, writing that it's a "non-cohesive mess of similar sounding, auto-tuned ravaged pop/R&B that diminishes the talent of this brilliant young songstress". The album's title track, featuring American rapper Snoop Dogg, peaked at number 19. Mauboy performed "Get 'Em Girls" at the 2010 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards, where she co-hosted the award ceremony with Liam Hemsworth and Jerry Trainor, and won the award for Fave Aussie Muso. The following singles, "Saturday Night" featuring American rapper Ludacris and "What Happened to Us" featuring English singer Jay Sean, peaked at numbers seven and 14, respectively. The former single was certified double platinum while the latter was only certified platinum. At the 2010 Australian of the Year Awards, Mauboy received her first nomination for Young Australian of the Year. On 10 December 2010, she performed in front of an audience of 92,000 at the Federation Square in Melbourne, ahead of Oprah Winfrey's visit to the place. Mauboy's performance was shown in the first of the four Australian specials of The Oprah Winfrey Show on 18 January 2011. In April 2011, she served as a support act for Chris Brown's Australian leg of his F.A.M.E. Tour. Get 'Em Girls was re-released as a deluxe edition on 12 August 2011, which included the singles "Inescapable" and "Galaxy" featuring Stan Walker. The former single peaked at number four and was certified double platinum, while the latter peaked at number 13 and was certified platinum. "Galaxy" also reached number 36 on the New Zealand Singles Chart and became Mauboy's first single to chart in that country. On 17 November 2011, Mauboy performed for the Australian troops at RAAF Base Darwin, ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to the place. In January 2012, Mauboy and Walker embarked on their Galaxy Tour across Australia, which served as her first headlining tour. Mauboy recorded 15 songs for The Sapphires' soundtrack album, which was released on 27 July 2012. The album debuted at number one and was certified platinum. Mauboy released "Gotcha" as the album's lead single, which peaked at number 43 and was certified gold. At the 2012 ARIA Music Awards, she was nominated for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Release for "Gotcha", and Song of the Year for "Galaxy". | Where there any singles from Get 'Em Girls? | The album's title track, featuring American rapper Snoop Dogg, peaked at number 19. |
In France, the established men of letters (gens de lettres) had fused with the elites (les grands) of French society by the mid-18th century. This led to the creation of an oppositional literary sphere, Grub Street, the domain of a "multitude of versifiers and would-be authors". These men came to London to become authors, only to discover that the literary market simply could not support large numbers of writers, who, in any case, were very poorly remunerated by the publishing-bookselling guilds. | What was the term for the oppositional literary sphere of a "multitude of versifiers and would-be-authors"? | Grub Street |
Sam Harris, Islam: Harris considers Islam to be "especially belligerent and inimical to the norms of civil discourse," relative to other world religions. He asserts that the "dogmatic commitment to using violence to defend one's faith, both from within and without" to varying degrees, is a central Islamic doctrine that is found in few other religions to the same degree, and that "this difference has consequences in the real world." In 2006, after the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, Harris wrote, "The idea that Islam is a 'peaceful religion hijacked by extremists' is a dangerous fantasy--and it is now a particularly dangerous fantasy for Muslims to indulge. It is not at all clear how we should proceed in our dialogue with the Muslim world, but deluding ourselves with euphemisms is not the answer. It now appears to be a truism in foreign policy circles that real reform in the Muslim world cannot be imposed from the outside. But it is important to recognize why this is so--it is so because the Muslim world is utterly deranged by its religious tribalism. In confronting the religious literalism and ignorance of the Muslim world, we must appreciate how terrifyingly isolated Muslims have become in intellectual terms." He states that his criticism of the religion is aimed not at Muslims as people, but at the doctrine of Islam. Harris wrote a response to controversy over his criticism of Islam, which also aired on a debate hosted by The Huffington Post on whether critics of Islam are unfairly labeled as bigots: Is it really true that the sins for which I hold Islam accountable are "committed at least to an equal extent by many other groups, especially [my] own"? ... The freedom to poke fun at Mormonism is guaranteed [not by the First Amendment but] by the fact that Mormons do not dispatch assassins to silence their critics or summon murderous hordes in response to satire. ... Can any reader of this page imagine the staging of a similar play [to The Book of Mormon] about Islam in the United States, or anywhere else, in the year 2013? ... At this moment in history, there is only one religion that systematically stifles free expression with credible threats of violence. The truth is, we have already lost our First Amendment rights with respect to Islam--and because they brand any observation of this fact a symptom of Islamophobia, Muslim apologists like Greenwald are largely to blame. Harris has criticized common usage of the term "Islamophobia". "My criticism of Islam is a criticism of beliefs and their consequences," he wrote following a controversial clash with Ben Affleck in October 2014 on the show Real Time with Bill Maher, "but my fellow liberals reflexively view it as an expression of intolerance toward people." During an email exchange with Glenn Greenwald, a critic of the New Atheists, Harris argued that "Islamophobia is a term of propaganda designed to protect Islam from the forces of secularism by conflating all criticism of it with racism and xenophobia. And it is doing its job, because people like you have been taken in by it." | What did Harris write? | In confronting the religious literalism and ignorance of the Muslim world, we must appreciate how terrifyingly isolated Muslims have become in intellectual terms. |
Jewel (singer), 1993-1997: Beginnings and Pieces of You: For a time, Kilcher lived in her car while traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs, mainly in Southern California. She gained recognition by singing at The Inner Change Cafe and Java Joe's in San Diego; she would later make her debut record at Java Joe's when it was in Poway, where she had worked as a barista. Her friend Steve Poltz's band, The Rugburns, played the same venues. She later collaborated with Poltz on some of her songs, including "You Were Meant for Me". (He also appeared in the song's second, better-known video.) The Rugburns opened for Jewel on her Tiny Lights tour in 1997. Poltz appeared in Jewel's band on the Spirit World Tour 1999 playing guitar. Kilcher was discovered by Inga Vainshtein in August 1993 when John Hogan, lead singer from the local San Diego band Rust, whom Vainshtein was managing, called to tell her about a girl surfer who sang at a local coffee shop on Thursdays. Vainshtein drove to The Inner Change with a representative from Atlantic Records, and after the show they called Danny Goldberg, the head of Atlantic Record's West Coast operations, and asked him to pay for her demo, since at the time she was living in a van and lacked the means to record any of her own music. Vainshtein, who at the time was working as a film executive at Paramount, eventually became her manager and was instrumental in creating a major bidding war that led to her deal with Atlantic Records. She continued to manage Jewel until the end of the first album cycle. Her debut album Pieces of You was released the eponym of Jewel, in 1995 when she was 21 years old. Recorded in a studio on singer Neil Young's ranch, it included Young's backing band, The Stray Gators, who played on his Harvest and Harvest Moon albums. Part of the album was recorded live at The Inner Change Cafe in San Diego, where she had risen to local fame. The album stayed on the Billboard 200 for two years, reaching number four at its peak. The album spawned the Top 10 hits "You Were Meant for Me", "Who Will Save Your Soul", and "Foolish Games". The album eventually sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. In the late 1990s, Mike Connell created an electronic mailing list for fans, known as "Everyday Angels". Although Jewel herself does not subscribe to this mailing list, she maintained communication with her EA fans. On July 18 and 19, 1996, she gave a two-day concert known as "JewelStock" at the Bearsville Theatre. Jewel allowed the concert to be taped, and fans circulated the concert without profit. | How did her career begin? | traveling around the country doing street performances and small gigs, |
By spring 1950, Stalin believed the strategic situation had changed. The Soviets had detonated their first nuclear bomb in September 1949; American soldiers had fully withdrawn from Korea; the Americans had not intervened to stop the communist victory in China, and Stalin calculated that the Americans would be even less willing to fight in Korea—which had seemingly much less strategic significance. The Soviets had also cracked the codes used by the US to communicate with the US embassy in Moscow, and reading these dispatches convinced Stalin that Korea did not have the importance to the US that would warrant a nuclear confrontation. Stalin began a more aggressive strategy in Asia based on these developments, including promising economic and military aid to China through the Sino–Soviet Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance Treaty. | Where did Stalin engage in an aggressive political strategy? | Asia |
Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Voldemort does not appear in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, although his presence and actions are felt: he once again declares war, and begins to rise to power once more. He murders Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and begins to target members of the Order of the Phoenix, including Emmeline Vance. Rowling uses several chapters as exposition to establish Voldemort's backstory. In a series of flashbacks, using the pensieve as a plot device, she reveals that Voldemort was the son of the witch Merope Gaunt and a Muggle called Tom Riddle. Riddle abandoned Merope before their child's birth, soon after which Merope died, just hours after giving birth. After living in an orphanage, young Riddle met Dumbledore, who told him he was a wizard and arranged for him to attend Hogwarts. Riddle was outwardly a model student, but was in reality a psychopath who takes sadistic pleasure in using his powers to harm and control people. He eventually murdered his father and grandparents as revenge for abandoning him. The book also discusses Riddle's hatred of "Muggles", his obsession with Horcruxes, and his desire to split his soul to achieve immortality. Rowling stated Voldemort's conception under the influence of a love potion symbolises the prejudicial circumstances under which he was brought into the world. In the main plot of the book, Voldemort's next step is to engineer an assault on Hogwarts, and to attack Dumbledore. This is accomplished by Draco Malfoy, who arranges transportation of Death Eaters into Hogwarts by a pair of Vanishing Cabinets, which bypass the extensive protective enchantments placed around the school. The cabinets allow Voldemort's Death Eaters to enter Hogwarts, where battle commences and Dumbledore is cornered. Hogwarts professor (and re-doubled agent) Severus Snape uses the Killing Curse against Dumbledore when Draco could not force himself to do so. | What was the witches name? | Merope Gaunt |
In 1938 the Nazis altered about one-third of the toponyms of the area, eliminating, Germanizing, or simplifying a number of Old Prussian names, as well as those Polish or Lithuanian names originating from colonists and refugees to Prussia during and after the Protestant Reformation. More than 1,500 places were ordered to be renamed by 16 July 1938 following a decree issued by Gauleiter and Oberpräsident Erich Koch and initiated by Adolf Hitler. Many who would not cooperate with the rulers of Nazi Germany were sent to concentration camps and held prisoner there until their death or liberation. | In what year did the Nazi's alter around one-third of the toponyms of the area? | 1938 |
I-275 runs north–south from I-75 in the south to the junction of I-96 and I-696 in the north, providing a bypass through the western suburbs of Detroit. I-375 is a short spur route in downtown Detroit, an extension of the Chrysler Freeway. I-696 (Reuther Freeway) runs east–west from the junction of I-96 and I-275, providing a route through the northern suburbs of Detroit. Taken together, I-275 and I-696 form a semicircle around Detroit. Michigan state highways designated with the letter M serve to connect major freeways. | Michigan uses what letter to designate roads that connect major highways? | M |
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Post-DRA civil war: A highly controversial commander, Hekmatyar has been dubbed the "Butcher of Kabul", accused of being responsible for the destruction and civilian deaths Kabul experienced in the early 1990s. According to the U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan in 1989-1992, Peter Tomsen, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was hired in 1990 by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to conquer and rule Afghanistan in the benefit of Pakistani interests, which plan was delayed until 1992 due to US pressure to cancel that plan. In April 1992, as the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan began to collapse, government officials joined the mujahideen, choosing different parties according to their ethnic and political affinities. For the most part, the members of the khalq faction of the PDPA, who were predominantly Pashtuns, joined with Hekmatyar. With their help, he began on 24 April to infiltrate troops into Kabul, and announced that he had seized the city, and that should any other leaders try to fly into Kabul, he would shoot their plane down. The new leader of the "Islamic Interim Government of Afghanistan", Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, appointed Ahmad Shah Massoud as defense minister, and urged him to take action. This he did, taking the offensive on 25 April, and after two days heavy fighting, the Hezb-i Islami and its allies were expelled from Kabul. A peace agreement was signed with Massoud on 25 May 1992, which made Hekmatyar Prime Minister. However, the agreement fell apart when he was blamed for a rocket attack on President Mojaddedi's plane. The following day, fighting resumed between Burhanuddin Rabbani's and Ahmed Shah Massoud's Jamiat, Abdul Rashid Dostum's Jumbish forces and Hekmatyar's Hezb-i Islami forces. From 1992 to 1996, the warring factions destroyed most of Kabul and killed thousands of people, most of them civilians, during the Afghan civil war. All the different parties participated in the destruction, but Hekmatyar's group was responsible for most of the damage, because of his practice of deliberately targeting civilian areas. Hekmatyar is thought to have bombarded Kabul in retaliation for what he considered its inhabitants' collaboration with the Soviets, and out of religious conviction. He once told a New York Times journalist that Afghanistan "already had one and a half million martyrs. We are ready to offer as many to establish a true Islamic Republic." His attacks also had a political objective: to undermine the Rabbani government by proving that Rabbani and Massoud were unable to protect the population. In 1994 Hekmatyar would shift alliances, joining with Dostum as well as Hizb-e-Wahdat, a Hazara Shi'a party, to form the Shura-i Hamahangi ("Council of coordination"). Together they laid Siege of Kabul, unleashing massive barrages of artillery and rockets that led to the evacuation of U.N. personnel from Kabul, and caused several government members to abandon their posts. However the new alliance did not spell victory for Hekmatyar, and in June 1994, Massoud had driven Dostum's troops from the capital. | What was he like during this time? | A highly controversial commander, Hekmatyar has been dubbed the "Butcher of Kabul", accused of being responsible for the destruction and civilian deaths Kabul |
Dancing on Ice, Format: Each week the celebrities and their partners perform a live ice dance routine. The four/five (as of Series 8) judges (commonly known as the Ice Panel) judge each performance and give a mark between 0.0 and 10.0 (0.0 to 6.0 between series 1 and 5), depending on the performance. These total scores then create a leaderboard which combines with the public vote in order to determine the two lowest placed couples. As this is the case, the pair with the lowest score from the judges can avoid being in the bottom two if the public vote for them. Once the scores and votes are combined to form the final leaderboard for that week's show, the two/three couples at the bottom compete in a final showdown known as the "Skate Off", where they perform their routine again. Once the couples have performed their routines for the judging panel, the judges decide on who deserves to stay and cast their votes, based on their second performance. The couple with the most votes from the judges receives a place in the following week's show, while the couple with the fewest votes leaves the competition. One couple leaves each week, but in series 7, two couples left in one week, due to numbering issues. A live reunion special was staged one week after the end of each season, with all celebrities talking about their experiences during the season, and answering questions from a live studio audience. Torvil and Dean themselves then made a special in-studio appearance towards the end, thanking the contestants, hosts and judges, and of course, the home viewers for their votes. | How are performances judged? | a mark between 0.0 and 10.0 (0.0 to 6.0 between series 1 and 5 |
Spielberg has filmed and is currently in post-production on an adaptation of Roald Dahl's celebrated children's story The BFG. Spielberg's DreamWorks bought the rights in 2010, originally intending John Madden to direct. The film was written by E.T. screenwriter Melissa Mathison and is co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, marking the first Disney-branded film to be directed by Spielberg. The BFG is set to premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2016, before its wide release in the US on July 1, 2016. | When will 'The BFG' be in most theaters? | July 1, 2016 |
Stepper motors can be rotated to a specific angle in discrete steps with ease, and hence stepper motors are used for read/write head positioning in computer floppy diskette drives. They were used for the same purpose in pre-gigabyte era computer disk drives, where the precision and speed they offered was adequate for the correct positioning of the read/write head of a hard disk drive. As drive density increased, the precision and speed limitations of stepper motors made them obsolete for hard drives—the precision limitation made them unusable, and the speed limitation made them uncompetitive—thus newer hard disk drives use voice coil-based head actuator systems. (The term "voice coil" in this connection is historic; it refers to the structure in a typical (cone type) loudspeaker. This structure was used for a while to position the heads. Modern drives have a pivoted coil mount; the coil swings back and forth, something like a blade of a rotating fan. Nevertheless, like a voice coil, modern actuator coil conductors (the magnet wire) move perpendicular to the magnetic lines of force.) | Why were stepper motors abandoned in computer drive designs? | precision and speed limitations |
Orrin Hatch, Opioid crisis: Hatch introduced the Ensuring Patient Access and Effective Drug Enforcement Act, narrowing the broad authority of the DEA to suspend drug "manufacturers, distributors, and dispensers". Hatch stated the bill was also written to protect patients from disruptions in the production and delivery of their prescription drugs: "The fact that prescription drugs can be abused should not prevent patients from receiving the medications they need. This bill takes a balanced approach to the problem of prescription drug abuse by clarifying penalties for manufacturing or dispensing outside approved procedures while helping to ensure that supply chains to legitimate users remain intact". The bill passed the Senate unanimously and Tom Marino passed a version of the bill in the House and was signed by President Barack Obama. Critics of the bill claim the new law fuels the opioid crisis by limiting the DEA's ability to halt production and distribution by predatory drug companies. DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge John J. Mulrooney II wrote in the Marquette Law Review: "At a time when, by all accounts, opioid abuse, addiction and deaths were increasing markedly, this new law imposed a dramatic diminution of the agency's authority. It is now all but logically impossible for the DEA to suspend a drug company's operations for failing to comply with federal law." Donald Trump's Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the law "dubious" and joined 44 state attorneys general calling for "repeal or amendment of the law to restore some of the DEA's authority." Jim Geldhof, a former DEA program manager whom spent 43 years with the DEA called the bill "outrageous. It basically takes any kind of action DEA was going to do with a distributor or manufacturer as far as an immediate suspension off the table. And then the other part of that really infuriates me is that corrective action plan." Mulrooney compared the corrective action plan to one that would "allow bank robbers to round up and return inkstained money and agree not to rob any more banks -- all before any of those wrongdoers actually admit fault and without any consequence that might deter such behavior in the future." Hatch responded to a Washington Post and 60 Minutes investigation into the bill by writing a Washington Post opinion article calling the investigation "misleading" and asking to "leave conspiracy theories to Netflix". Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a co-sponsor of the senate bill, also defended the bill: "This bill was drafted in consultation with the DEA to offer better guidance for companies working to safely and responsibly supply prescription drugs to pharmacies, and to promote better communication and certainty between companies and regulators." Republican Pat Toomey Pat Toomey expressed doubts that a conspiracy existed, but still suggested amending the bill: "I'm a little surprised that it passed unanimously in both houses, was signed by President Obama and got no opposition from the DEA at the time. That's not the way controversial legislation usually ends up, but hey, if there's problems, then we ought to revisit them." Hatch received $177,000 in donations from the drug industry while pushing the bill through and has received $2,178,863 from the Pharmaceuticals/Health Products industry from 1989-2014 according to required filings by the Federal Election Commission. | Did the bill cause controversy? | Jeff Sessions called the law "dubious" and joined 44 state attorneys general calling for "repeal or amendment of the law to restore some of the DEA's authority. |
The Somerset Coal Canal was built in the early 19th century to reduce the cost of transportation of coal and other heavy produce. The first 16 kilometres (10 mi), running from a junction with the Kennet and Avon Canal, along the Cam valley, to a terminal basin at Paulton, were in use by 1805, together with several tramways. A planned 11.7 km (7.3 mi) branch to Midford was never built, but in 1815 a tramway was laid along its towing path. In 1871 the tramway was purchased by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), and operated until the 1950s. | What was laid on the path to Midford | in 1815 a tramway was laid along its towing path |
After Austerlitz, Napoleon established the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806. A collection of German states intended to serve as a buffer zone between France and Central Europe, the creation of the Confederation spelled the end of the Holy Roman Empire and significantly alarmed the Prussians. The brazen reorganization of German territory by the French risked threatening Prussian influence in the region, if not eliminating it outright. War fever in Berlin rose steadily throughout the summer of 1806. At the insistence of his court, especially his wife Queen Louise, Frederick William III decided to challenge the French domination of Central Europe by going to war. | What other royal figure strongly influenced Frederick William III's decision to go to war with France? | Queen Louise |
The first Sky television rights agreement was worth £304 million over five seasons. The next contract, negotiated to start from the 1997–98 season, rose to £670 million over four seasons. The third contract was a £1.024 billion deal with BSkyB for the three seasons from 2001–02 to 2003–04. The league brought in £320 million from the sale of its international rights for the three-year period from 2004–05 to 2006–07. It sold the rights itself on a territory-by-territory basis. Sky's monopoly was broken from August 2006 when Setanta Sports was awarded rights to show two out of the six packages of matches available. This occurred following an insistence by the European Commission that exclusive rights should not be sold to one television company. Sky and Setanta paid a total of £1.7 billion, a two-thirds increase which took many commentators by surprise as it had been widely assumed that the value of the rights had levelled off following many years of rapid growth. Setanta also hold rights to a live 3 pm match solely for Irish viewers. The BBC has retained the rights to show highlights for the same three seasons (on Match of the Day) for £171.6 million, a 63 per cent increase on the £105 million it paid for the previous three-year period. Sky and BT have agreed to jointly pay £84.3 million for delayed television rights to 242 games (that is the right to broadcast them in full on television and over the internet) in most cases for a period of 50 hours after 10 pm on matchday. Overseas television rights fetched £625 million, nearly double the previous contract. The total raised from these deals is more than £2.7 billion, giving Premier League clubs an average media income from league games of around £40 million-a-year from 2007 to 2010. | Why did this happen? | This occurred following an insistence by the European Commission that exclusive rights should not be sold to one television company. |
Both finalists found success after the show, but Aiken out-performed Studdard's coronation song "Flying Without Wings" with his single release from the show "This Is the Night", as well as in their subsequent album releases. The fourth-place finisher Josh Gracin also enjoyed some success as a country singer. | What was the name of Studdard's coronation song? | Flying Without Wings |
Mark Donohue, Ford GT40 and joining with Penske: In 1966, thanks to his friendship with Hansgen, word quickly spread to the Ford Motor Company about the young driver. Ford immediately signed Donohue to drive one of their GT-40 Mk II race cars campaigned at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Holman & Moody racing team. Le Mans proved frustrating for Donohue. Hansgen died while testing the GT40 in preparation for Le Mans so Donohue partnered with Australian Paul Hawkins. Donohue and Hawkins only completed twelve laps due to differential failure and finished 47th. Earlier that year, co-driving with Hansgen, Donohue finished third at the 24 Hours of Daytona and second at the 12 Hours of Sebring. At Hansgen's funeral, Roger Penske spoke to Donohue about driving for him. In his first race for Penske, at Watkins Glen in June 1966, Donohue qualified well but crashed the car at the top of a hill, destroying it. Donohue was invited back to Le Mans by Ford in 1967. Ford had developed a new GT, the Mark IV. Donohue co-drove in the No. 4 yellow car with sports car driver and race car builder Bruce McLaren for Shelby American Racing. The two drivers disagreed on many aspects of racing and car setup, but as a team were able to muster a fourth-place finish in the endurance classic. In 1967, Penske contacted Donohue about driving Penske's brand new Lola T70 spyder in the United States Road Racing Championship. Donohue dominated the 1967 race, driving a Lola T70 MkIII Chevrolet for Penske. Donohue raced in seven of the eight races that year, winning six (at Las Vegas, Riverside, Bridgehampton, Watkins Glen, Pacific Raceways, and Mid-Ohio) and finishing third at the Laguna Seca Raceway round behind Lothar Motschenbacher and Mike Goth. In 1968, Donohue and Penske returned to defend their USRRC championship with the McLaren M6A Chevrolet. Donohue did not start the first race of the year at Circuit Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City due to problems getting the engine to start. Despite this, Donohue still dominated the series, even though he suffered three DNFs during the season due to mechanical problems with the M6A. | when did Mark Join Penske? | In 1967, |
Terry Neill was recruited by the Arsenal board to replace Bertie Mee on 9 July 1976 and at the age of 34 he became the youngest Arsenal manager to date. With new signings like Malcolm Macdonald and Pat Jennings, and a crop of talent in the side such as Liam Brady and Frank Stapleton, the club enjoyed their best form since the 1971 double, reaching a trio of FA Cup finals (1978, 1979 and 1980), and losing the 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup Final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was a last-minute 3–2 victory over Manchester United in the 1979 FA Cup Final, widely regarded as a classic. | What Arsenal manager replaced Mee? | Terry Neill |
The region also experiences occasional periods of drought, during which the city sometimes has restricted water use by residents. During the late summer and early fall, Raleigh can experience hurricanes. In 1996, Hurricane Fran caused severe damage in the Raleigh area, mostly from falling trees. The most recent hurricane to have a considerable effect on the area was Isabel in 2003. Tornadoes also have on occasion affected the city of Raleigh most notably the November 28, 1988 tornado which occurred in the early morning hours and rated an F4 on the Fujita Tornado Scale and affected Northwestern portions of the city. Also the April 16, 2011 F3 Tornado which affected portions of downtown and North east Raleigh and the suburb of Holly Springs. | When does Raleigh experience hurricanes? | late summer and early fall |
Nolan Ryan, New York Mets (1966, 1968-1971): In 1965, after graduating from Alvin High School, Ryan was drafted by the New York Mets in the 12th round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft. He was assigned the minor league Marion Mets in the Appalachian League. When Ryan was called up to the New York club the following year, he was the second-youngest player in the league. His first strikeout was Pat Jarvis, and he gave up his first major league home run to Joe Torre, a future NL MVP and Hall of Fame big-league manager. Ryan missed much of the 1967 season due to illness, an arm injury, and service with the Army Reserve; he pitched only 7 innings for the Mets' minor league affiliate in Jacksonville. Ryan returned to the major leagues to stay starting with the 1968 season. Ryan was unable to crack the Mets' pitching rotation, led by Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. Ryan was used more as a reliever and spot starter by the 1969 Mets. To deal with frequent blisters on his throwing hand he often soaked his fingers in pickle brine, although the technique's effectiveness was questioned by Ryan's teammates and coaches. Ryan pitched well for the Miracle Mets in the 1969 postseason. Against the Braves in the NLCS, Ryan completed a Mets sweep by throwing seven innings of relief in Game 3, getting his first playoff win (it would take him 12 years to get another). Then in the 1969 World Series, Ryan saved Game 3, pitching 2 1/3 shutout innings against the Baltimore Orioles. The Game 3 victory gave the Mets a 2-1 lead in the Series, which they went on to win in five games. It would be Ryan's only World Series appearance in his career. On April 18, 1970, Ryan tied a Mets record by striking out 15 batters in one game. Four days later, Ryan's teammate, Tom Seaver, topped it with a then MLB record 19 against the San Diego Padres (though Ryan would tie this record four years later). Ryan has credited his time with Seaver and the Mets with turning him from just a flamethrower to a pitcher. Contrary to popular belief, Ryan never wanted to be traded from the Mets and felt betrayed by the team that drafted him. His views on this only calmed once he started running the Rangers and gained a better understanding of the business side of baseball. | What did he do | He was assigned the minor league Marion Mets in the Appalachian League. |
Howard Hughes, Near-fatal crash of the XF-11: During the 1940s to the late 1950s, the Hughes Tool Company ventured into the film industry when it obtained partial ownership of the RKO companies which included RKO Pictures, RKO Studios, a chain of movie theaters known as RKO Theatres and a network of radio stations known as the RKO Radio Network. In 1948, Hughes gained control of RKO, a struggling major Hollywood studio, by acquiring 25% of the outstanding stock from Floyd Odlum's Atlas Corporation. Within weeks of acquiring the studio, Hughes dismissed three-quarters of the work force and production was shut down for six months during which time investigations were conducted of each employee who remained with RKO as far as their political leanings were concerned. Only after ensuring that the stars under contract to RKO had no suspect affiliations would Hughes approve completed pictures to be sent back for re-shooting. This was especially true of the women who were under contract to RKO at that time. If Hughes felt that his stars did not properly represent the political views of his liking or if a film's anti-communist politics were not sufficiently clear, he pulled the plug. In 1952, an abortive sale to a Chicago-based group connected to the mafia with no experience in the industry also disrupted studio operations at RKO even further. In 1953, Hughes was involved with a high profile lawsuit as part of the settlement of the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. Antitrust Case. As a result of the hearings, the shaky status of RKO became increasingly apparent. A steady stream of lawsuits from RKO's minority shareholders had grown to be extremely annoying to Hughes. They had accused him with financial misconduct and corporate mismanagement. Since Hughes wanted to focus primarily on his aircraft manufacturing and TWA holdings during the Korean War years, Hughes offered to buy out all other stockholders in order to dispense with their distractions. By the end of 1954 Hughes had gained near-total control of RKO at a cost of nearly $24 million, becoming the closest thing to a sole owner of a Hollywood studio seen in three decades. Six months later, Hughes sold the studio to the General Tire and Rubber Company for $25 million. Hughes retained the rights to pictures that he had personally produced, including those made at RKO. He also retained Jane Russell's contract. For Howard Hughes, this was the virtual end of his 25-year involvement in the motion picture industry. However, his reputation as a financial wizard emerged unscathed. During that time period, RKO became known as the home of film noir classic productions thanks in part to the limited budgets required to make such films during Hughes' tenure. Hughes reportedly walked away from RKO having made $6.5 million in personal profit. General Tire was interested mainly in exploiting the value of the RKO library for television programming even though it made some attempts to continue producing films. After a year and a half of mixed success, General Tire shut down film production entirely at RKO at the end of January 1957. The studio lots in Hollywood and Culver City were sold to Desilu Productions later that year for $6.15 million. Beyond extending his business prowess in the manufacturing, aviation, entertainment, and hospitality industries, Hughes was a successful real estate investor. Hughes was deeply involved in the American real estate industry where he amassed vast holdings of undeveloped land both in Las Vegas and in the desert surrounding the city that had gone unused during his lifetime. In 1968, the Hughes Tool Company purchased the North Las Vegas Air Terminal. Originally known as Summa Corporation, The Howard Hughes Corporation was formed in 1972 when the oil tools business of Hughes Tool Company, then owned by Howard Hughes Jr., was floated on the New York Stock Exchange under the Hughes Tool name. This forced the remaining businesses of the "original" Hughes Tool to adopt a new corporate name Summa. The name "Summa"--Latin for "highest"--was adopted without the approval of Hughes himself, who preferred to keep his own name on the business, and suggested HRH Properties (for Hughes Resorts and Hotels, and also his own initials). In 1988, Summa announced plans for Summerlin, a master-planned community named for the paternal grandmother of Howard Hughes, Jean Amelia Summerlin. Initially staying in the Desert Inn, Hughes refused to vacate his room, and instead decided to purchase the entire hotel. Hughes extended his financial empire to include Las Vegas real estate, hotels, and media outlets, spending an estimated $300 million, and using his considerable powers to take-over many of the well known hotels, especially the organized crime connected venues. He quickly became one of the most powerful men in Las Vegas. He was instrumental in changing the image of Las Vegas from its Wild West roots into a more refined cosmopolitan city. Hughes was involved in another near-fatal aircraft accident on July 7, 1946, while performing the first flight of the prototype U.S. Army Air Forces reconnaissance aircraft, the XF-11, near Hughes airfield at Culver City, California. An oil leak caused one of the contra-rotating propellers to reverse pitch, causing the aircraft to yaw sharply and lose altitude rapidly. Hughes attempted to save the aircraft by landing it at the Los Angeles Country Club golf course, but just seconds before reaching the course, the XF-11 started to drop dramatically and crashed in the Beverly Hills neighborhood surrounding the country club. When the XF-11 finally came to a halt after destroying three houses, the fuel tanks exploded, setting fire to the aircraft and a nearby home at 808 North Whittier Drive, owned by Lt Col. Charles E. Meyer. Hughes managed to pull himself out of the flaming wreckage but lay beside the aircraft until he was rescued by Marine Master Sgt. William L. Durkin, who happened to be in the area visiting friends. Hughes sustained significant injuries in the crash, including a crushed collar bone, multiple cracked ribs, crushed chest with collapsed left lung, shifting his heart to the right side of the chest cavity, and numerous third-degree burns. An oft-told story said that Hughes sent a check to the Marine weekly for the remainder of his life as a sign of gratitude. However, Durkin's daughter denied that he received any money from his rescue of Hughes. Despite his physical injuries, Hughes was proud that his mind was still working. As he lay in his hospital bed, he decided that he did not like the bed's design. He called in plant engineers to design a customized bed, equipped with hot and cold running water, built in six sections, and operated by 30 electric motors, with push-button adjustments. The hospital bed was designed by Hughes specifically to alleviate the pain caused by moving with severe burn injuries. Although he never used the bed that he designed, Hughes' bed served as a prototype for the modern hospital bed. Hughes' doctors considered his recovery almost miraculous. Hughes, however, believed that neither miracle nor modern medicine contributed to his recovery, instead asserting the natural life-giving properties of fresh-squeezed orange juice were responsible. Many attribute his long-term dependence on opiates to his use of codeine as a painkiller during his convalescence. The trademark mustache he wore afterward was used to hide a scar on his upper lip resulting from the accident. | Were those his only injuries? | shifting his heart to the right side of the chest cavity, and numerous third-degree burns. |
By contrast, Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities (1987) portrays a wealthy, white protagonist, Sherman McCoy, getting lost off the Major Deegan Expressway in the South Bronx and having an altercation with locals. A substantial piece of the last part of the book is set in the resulting riotous trial at the Bronx County Courthouse. However, times change, and in 2007, the New York Times reported that "the Bronx neighborhoods near the site of Sherman's accident are now dotted with townhouses and apartments." In the same article, the Reverend Al Sharpton (whose fictional analogue in the novel is "Reverend Bacon") asserts that "twenty years later, the cynicism of The Bonfire of the Vanities is as out of style as Tom Wolfe's wardrobe." | Who was the main character of 'Bonfire of the Vanities'? | Sherman McCoy |
Bitumen was used in early photographic technology. In 1826 or 1827, it was used by French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce to make the oldest surviving photograph from nature. The bitumen was thinly coated onto a pewter plate which was then exposed in a camera. Exposure to light hardened the bitumen and made it insoluble, so that when it was subsequently rinsed with a solvent only the sufficiently light-struck areas remained. Many hours of exposure in the camera were required, making bitumen impractical for ordinary photography, but from the 1850s to the 1920s it was in common use as a photoresist in the production of printing plates for various photomechanical printing processes.[not in citation given] | What photographer used bitumen to make the earliest extant nature picture? | Joseph Nicéphore Niépce |
From the American Civil War until the mid-20th century, Philadelphia was a bastion of the Republican Party, which arose from the staunch pro-Northern views of Philadelphia residents during and after the war (Philadelphia was chosen as the host city for the first Republican National Convention in 1856). After the Great Depression, Democratic registrations increased, but the city was not carried by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in his landslide victory of 1932 (in which Pennsylvania was one of the few states won by Republican Herbert Hoover). Four years later, however, voter turnout surged and the city finally flipped to the Democrats. Roosevelt carried Philadelphia with over 60% of the vote in 1936. The city has remained loyally Democratic in every presidential election since. It is now one of the most Democratic in the country; in 2008, Democrat Barack Obama drew 83% of the city's vote. Obama's win was even greater in 2012, capturing 85% of the vote. | What party dominated until the mid-20th century | Republican Party |
Also in 2005, Spielberg directed a modern adaptation of War of the Worlds (a co-production of Paramount and DreamWorks), based on the H. G. Wells book of the same name (Spielberg had been a huge fan of the book and the original 1953 film). It starred Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, and, as with past Spielberg films, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) provided the visual effects. Unlike E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which depicted friendly alien visitors, War of the Worlds featured violent invaders. The film was another huge box office smash, grossing over $591 million worldwide. | Which studios produced Spielberg's 'War of the Worlds'? | Paramount and DreamWorks |
Ron \Pigpen\" McKernan", Grateful Dead: Along with Garcia and second guitarist Bob Weir, McKernan was a participant in the predecessor groups leading to the formation of the Grateful Dead, beginning with the Zodiacs and Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann was added and the band evolved into the Warlocks. Around 1965, McKernan urged the rest of the Warlocks to switch to electric instruments. Bassist Phil Lesh joined soon after, and they became the Grateful Dead. The group were keen to involve McKernan in the band, as he was the group's original leader and was considered the best singer and frontman. The Dead's early sets centered around blues and R&B covers chosen by McKernan. By the end of 1966, Garcia had improved his musical skills and wanted to assert himself more as a leader and musical director, changing the band's direction and reducing McKernan's contributions. In 1967, drummer Mickey Hart joined the Grateful Dead, followed by classically trained keyboardist Tom Constanten in 1968, further changing the group's style. Constanten often replaced McKernan on keyboards in the studio, as McKernan found it difficult to adapt to the new material that Garcia and Lesh composed for the band. In October 1968, McKernan and Weir were nearly fired from the band after Garcia and Lesh believed their playing was holding the band back from lengthy and experimental jamming. Garcia delegated the task of firing them to Rock Scully, who said that McKernan "took it hard." Weir promised to improve, but McKernan was more stubborn. According to Garcia biographer Blair Jackson, McKernan missed three Dead shows before vowing not to "be lazy" any more and rejoining, while Kreutzmann objected to replacing McKernan and said the event never happened. Following his discharge from the United States Air Force in November 1968, Constanten officially joined the band, having only worked in the studio while on leave up to that point. Road manager Jon McIntire commented that "Pigpen was relegated to the congas at that point and it was really humiliating and he was really hurt, but he couldn't show it, couldn't talk about it." He began to take Hammond organ lessons and learned how to use the various drawbars and controls. After Constanten's departure in January 1970 over musical and lifestyle differences, McKernan nominally resumed keyboard duties. He contributed instrumentation to only two tracks (Hammond organ on "Black Peter" and harmonica on "Easy Wind", the latter as lead vocalist) on Workingman's Dead (1970), the band's breakthrough studio release. On the follow-up album American Beauty, keyboard parts were handled by Garcia and Lesh, along with session musicians Howard Wales and Ned Lagin. The 1971 live album Grateful Dead featured three overdubbed organ parts from Merl Saunders in addition to McKernan's contributions on "Big Railroad Blues", "The Other One", and "Me & Bobby McGee". While Garcia expressed frustration at McKernan's missed rehearsals and his inability to keep up with new material, Lesh was more forgiving, opining that "it was okay for Pigpen to lay out... we kept wanting Pigpen to be there because he was 'one of us.'" | why were they nearly fired? | Garcia and Lesh believed their playing was holding the band back from lengthy and experimental jamming. |
In 1866, the feud between Austria and Prussia finally came to a head. There were several reasons behind this war. As German nationalism grew strongly inside the German Confederation and neither could decide on how Germany was going to be unified into a nation-state. The Austrians favoured the Greater Germany unification but were not willing to give up any of the non-German-speaking land inside of the Austrian Empire and take second place to Prussia. The Prussians however wanted to unify Germany as Little Germany primarily by the Kingdom of Prussia, whilst excluding Austria. In the final battle of the German war (Battle of Königgrätz) the Prussians successfully defeated the Austrians and succeeded in creating the North German Confederation. | Who won the battle of Koniggratz? | Prussia |
The Freeview HD service currently contains 10 HD channels (as of December 2013[update]) and was rolled out region by region across the UK in accordance with the digital switchover process, finally being completed in October 2012. However, Freeview HD is not the first HDTV service over digital terrestrial television in Europe; | How was the Freeview HD service rolled out in the UK? | region by region |
An early non-Christian reference to the crucifixion of Jesus is likely to be Mara Bar-Serapion's letter to his son, written sometime after AD 73 but before the 3rd century AD. The letter includes no Christian themes and the author is presumed to be a pagan. The letter refers to the retributions that followed the unjust treatment of three wise men: Socrates, Pythagoras, and "the wise king" of the Jews. Some scholars see little doubt that the reference to the execution of the "king of the Jews" is about the crucifixion of Jesus, while others place less value in the letter, given the possible ambiguity in the reference. | What does the letter reference? | retributions that followed the unjust treatment of three wise men |
The Wildhearts, 2007-2010: In January 2007, the band spent a week in Tutbury Castle recording vocals and finishing their new self-titled album The Wildhearts. The album was released on 23 April, preceded two weeks earlier by the download-only single "The Sweetest Song". The album received favorable reviews in the British rock press, with the Sun newspaper giving it 5 out of 5 ("probably the rock album of the year") and Rocksound magazine also giving it full marks (10 out of 10). The band were to play a handful of shows across America, but due to delays in their Visa application they were forced to cancel the US tour. The band ended up playing multiple sold-out dates in New York, one of which was aboard a ferry. The band made up to their American fans for postponed gigs by playing very long sets of approximately two hours each night. An extensive UK tour followed in April and May. "The New Flesh" was released as a single on 1 October 2007 and became the first proper release from the self-titled album. The video for the song was shot in black and white and featured a number of children, including Ginger's own son Jake. The band released "Destroy All Monsters" as their next single. The video had a heavy theme of violence and horror. On 19 May 2008 the Wildhearts released the all-covers album Stop Us If You've Heard This One Before, Vol 1.. Artists covered include Icicle Works, Fugazi, Helmet, Lee Harvey Oswald Band, The Distillers, The Descendents, and The Georgia Satellites. The first version of the album was a download-only collection of 12 tracks, followed by a full release with 15 tracks. In mid-2008, Rhino Records also released the three-CD compilation The Works. Described by the band as "licensed but unofficial," the compilation consists of album tracks and B-sides from the 1992-1996 era at East West Records. The band traveled to Denmark to record their ninth studio album, !Chutzpah!, which was released on 31 August 2009, followed by a tour of the United Kingdom in September and October. At these shows, the band played the new record in its entirety, followed by an encore of older songs. Around the same time as the release of Chutzpah!, they won the award for Spirit of Independence at the 2009 Kerrang! Awards, as well as playing on the Bohemia stage during the very first UK Sonisphere Festival; a four-day music festival designed by those formerly behind Download Festival. On 25 November 2009 The Wildhearts announced the release of !Chutzpah! Jnr., a mini-album composed of tracks recorded during the Chutzpah sessions that were either unreleased or only appeared as bonus tracks on the Japanese version of !Chutzpah!. The eight-track CD was publicized as only being available at concerts during the coming "Merry Xmess 2009" tour. However, this news caused something of a backlash from some fans, and resulted in band leader Ginger advocating the distribution of tracks via file sharing technology, as well as vowing that the album would be made available at future shows beyond the Xmess tour. The mini-album is now also available via the Wildhearts online store. | When was it released? | The album was released on 23 April, preceded two weeks earlier by the download-only single "The Sweetest Song". |
D'Angelo, 2014-present: Black Messiah: D'Angelo released his third studio album, Black Messiah in December 2014, D'Angelo originally wanted to release Black Messiah in 2015, but the controversial decisions in the Ferguson and Eric Garner cases inspired him to release it earlier. On December 12, 2014, Kevin Liles, D'Angelo's manager, shared a 15-second teaser of the album on YouTube. Two days later, the track "Sugah Daddy", which had been part of D'Angelo's set list since 2012, premiered at 3 am EST and 1,000 downloads were available on Red Bull's 20 Before 15 website. After an exclusive listening party in New York, Black Messiah was released digitally on December 15 through iTunes, Google Play Music, and Spotify. The album's unexpected release was compared to Beyonce's self-titled release in 2013. On January 13, 2015, "Really Love" was released to urban adult contemporary radio in the US. The album was met with universal acclaim from critics and it currently has a 95/100 mean score on review aggregator Metacritic. In its first week of release, Black Messiah debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 and sold 117,000 copies in the United States. In its second week, the album dropped to number twenty five on the chart and sold another 40,254 copies. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number 47 on the UK Albums Chart with first-week sales of 7,423 copies. D'Angelo supported Black Messiah with a tour called The Second Coming. His band, The Vanguard, includes drummer Chris Dave, bassist Pino Palladino, guitarists Jesse Johnson and Isaiah Sharkey, vocalists Kendra Foster, Jermaine Holmes, and Charles "Redd" Middleton, and keyboardist Cleo "Pookie" Sample. The European leg commenced in Zurich on February 11, 2015, and concluded in Brussels on March 7. In June 2015, D'Angelo confirmed to Rolling Stone that he was working on more material for a new album, calling it "a companion piece" to Black Messiah. In 2016 Black Messiah won Best R&B Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards as well as Best R&B Song for "Really Love" which also was nominated for Record of the Year. Black Messiah, Beyonce's self-titled album (2013), Run the Jewels' Run the Jewels 2 (2014), and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (2015) were noted as laying the groundwork down for the political charged releases that happened in 2016, which included Rihanna's Anti, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, and Beyonce's "Formation". D'Angelo performed Prince's "Sometimes it Snows in April" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April 2016 accompanied by Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberum as a tribute to the late musician, appearing 'overcome with emotion' at the passing of a major influence. | Was Black messiah an album? | third studio album, Black Messiah in |
John Butler (musician), Solo: On 29 June, Butler gave a live solo performance at Twist and Shout Records in Denver, Colorado, which was released in January 2008 as an eight-track EP, One Small Step, with A$1 from each record sold being donated to Oxfam's "Close the Gap" campaign. One Small Step was Butler's first official solo release. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2007, Butler performed "Funky Tonight" in a collaboration with fellow Australian musician Keith Urban. Radio station, Triple J's listeners voted Grand National their favourite album for 2007. "Ocean" garnered John Butler newfound success when recordings of live performances of the song went viral on the internet. Butler made a cameo appearance in 2009 Australian film, In Her Skin, as a busker. The film's soundtrack featured three songs by the John Butler Trio, "Ocean", "Caroline" and "What You Want". In July 2009, Butler undertook a solo overseas tour commencing in North America, where he played at the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan and The Mile High Music Festival in Denver. In North America he sold out headline shows in Toronto and Los Angeles. In Europe, Butler played at the Folies Bergere in Paris and London's Union Chapel. He also performed at Cannes, Amsterdam and Antwerp. Upon his return in August, he took part in the Cannot Buy My Soul concert at the Queensland Music Festival. Butler performed alongside other local musicians (including Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Troy Cassar-Daley, Clare Bowditch, Tex Perkins and Bernard Fanning) reinterpreting the catalogue of indigenous Australian musician Kev Carmody. Butler's interpretation of the song, "Thou Shalt Not Steal", was included on the compilation album, and later was featured on the iTunes Deluxe album of Grand National. Butler participated at the Garma Festival of Traditional Cultures located in Northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. | When did his solo career begin | In July 2009, Butler undertook a solo overseas tour commencing in North America, where he played at the Montreal Jazz Festival, |
There is little consensus on the precise beginning of the Age of Enlightenment; the beginning of the 18th century (1701) or the middle of the 17th century (1650) are often used as epochs. French historians usually place the period, called the Siècle des Lumières (Century of Enlightenments), between 1715 and 1789, from the beginning of the reign of Louis XV until the French Revolution. If taken back to the mid-17th century, the Enlightenment would trace its origins to Descartes' Discourse on Method, published in 1637. In France, many cited the publication of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica in 1687. It is argued by several historians and philosophers that the beginning of the Enlightenment is when Descartes shifted the epistemological basis from external authority to internal certainty by his cogito ergo sum published in 1637. As to its end, most scholars use the last years of the century, often choosing the French Revolution of 1789 or the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1804–15) as a convenient point in time with which to date the end of the Enlightenment. | In what year was Issaac Newton's Principia Mathematica published? | 1687 |
Bohemian Rhapsody, Lyrics: The New York Times commented that "the song's most distinct feature is the fatalistic lyrics". Mercury refused to explain his composition other than saying it was about relationships; the band is still protective of the song's secret. Brian May supports suggestions that the song contained veiled references to Mercury's personal traumas. He recalls "Freddie was a very complex person: flippant and funny on the surface, but he concealed insecurities and problems in squaring up his life with his childhood. He never explained the lyrics, but I think he put a lot of himself into that song." May, though, says the band had agreed that the core of a lyric was a private issue for the composer. In a BBC Three documentary about the making of "Bohemian Rhapsody", Roger Taylor maintains that the true meaning of the song is "fairly self-explanatory with just a bit of nonsense in the middle". When the band released a Greatest Hits cassette in Iran, a leaflet in Persian was included with translation and explanations (refers to a book published in Iran called The March of the Black Queen by Sarah Sefati and Farhad Arkani, which included the whole biography of the band and complete lyrics with Persian translation (2000)). In the explanation, Queen states that "Bohemian Rhapsody" is about a young man who has accidentally killed someone and, like Faust, sold his soul to the devil. On the night before his execution, he calls for God saying, "Bismillah" ("In the name of God" in Arabic), and with the help of angels, regains his soul from Shaitan (the devil in Islam). Despite this, critics, both journalistic and academic, have speculated over the meaning behind the song's lyrics. Some believe the lyrics describe a suicidal murderer haunted by demons or depict events just preceding an execution. The latter explanation points to Albert Camus's novel The Stranger, in which a young man confesses to an impulsive murder and has an epiphany before he is executed, as probable inspiration. Others believe the lyrics were only written to fit with the music, and have no meaning; Kenny Everett quoted Mercury as claiming the lyrics were simply "random rhyming nonsense". Still, others interpreted them as Mercury's way of dealing with personal issues. Music scholar Sheila Whiteley observes that Mercury reached a turning point in his personal life in the year he wrote "Bohemian Rhapsody". He had been living with Mary Austin for seven years but had just embarked on his first love affair with a man. She suggests that the song provides an insight into Mercury's emotional state at the time, "living with Mary ('Mamma', as in Mother Mary) and wanting to break away ('Mamma Mia let me go')". | When were the lyrics written? | The March of the Black Queen by Sarah Sefati and Farhad Arkani, which included the whole biography of the band and complete lyrics with Persian translation (2000)). |
In the year 712, Muhammad bin Qasim, an Umayyad general, sailed from the Persian Gulf into Sindh in Pakistan and conquered both the Sindh and the Punjab regions along the Indus river. The conquest of Sindh and Punjab, in modern-day Pakistan, although costly, were major gains for the Umayyad Caliphate. However, further gains were halted by Hindu kingdoms in India in the battle of Rajasthan. The Arabs tried to invade India but they were defeated by the north Indian king Nagabhata of the Pratihara Dynasty and by the south Indian Emperor Vikramaditya II of the Chalukya dynasty in the early 8th century. After this the Arab chroniclers admit that the Caliph Mahdi "gave up the project of conquering any part of India." | Who was a notable king in this period from the Pratihara dynasty? | Nagabhata |
Mystique (comics), Rogue: Mystique becomes the adoptive mother of the four-year-old girl Rogue. Rogue had run away from her home in rural Caldecott County, Mississippi. The girl was living alone in a wooded area, brandishing a shotgun and trusting no one, when Mystique found her. Destiny foresees that Rogue will be important to them and Mystique seeks her out, gains her trust, and takes her in. She and Destiny raise the girl, and Mystique grows to be very protective of her. Mystique, as Raven Darkholme, rises rapidly through the United States Civil Service to the trusted position of Deputy Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the United States Department of Defense. This position gives her access to military secrets and advanced weaponry, both of which she uses for her own criminal and subversive purposes. In this position, she attempts the theft of the Centurion weaponry from S.H.I.E.L.D. She also beat Ms. Marvel's lover Michael Barnett to death, and sought to kill Ms. Marvel. To help her in her criminal activities, Mystique organizes her own incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, consisting of herself, Avalanche, the Blob, Destiny, and Pyro. The Brotherhood attempts to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly, a notoriously anti-mutant politician. The X-Men thwart the assassination attempt, and all of the Brotherhood save Mystique herself are incarcerated. Rogue is trained by Mystique and eventually joins the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Her mutant power is the ability to absorb the memories, personality, and skills or powers of whomever she touches. To free the other members of the Brotherhood, Mystique concocts a plan involving Rogue absorbing the powers of Ms. Marvel and the Avengers. Though the plan is successful, the Avengers ultimately defeat the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, capturing all of them except Rogue and Mystique. Moreover, Rogue finds that she has absorbed Ms. Marvel's memories, personality, and powers permanently. In a further humiliation, a confrontation at the Pentagon ends with Mystique being defeated and turned over to the authorities by a powerless Ms. Marvel. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants eventually escape, and battle against Dazzler. In an act of revenge against Mystique, Mastermind unbalances Rogue's psyche with the one she absorbed from Ms. Marvel, which prompts her to defect to the X-Men. Because Rogue left without a word, Mystique assumes that Professor X, the X-Men's mentor, brainwashed her. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants accordingly launches an attempt to kill Professor X. Rogue stops Mystique, and explains that she joined the X-Men because Professor X, as the world's most powerful telepath, is her best hope of healing for her fragmented psyche. Mystique reluctantly relinquishes her guardianship of Rogue. | Anything else of importance or unique in any way? | The Brotherhood attempts to assassinate Senator Robert Kelly, a notoriously anti-mutant politician. |
Darrell Waltrip, Early years in NASCAR: 1972-1975: Waltrip started in NASCAR Winston Cup, NASCAR's top racing series at age 25, (25 years, 3 months, 2 days), on May 7, 1972, at the 1972 Winston 500, at Talladega, Alabama, the series' fastest and longest track at 2.66 miles, (4.281 kilometers), driving a 1969 Mercury Cyclone he purchased from Holman Moody, originally the Ford Fairlane driven by Mario Andretti to victory in the 1967 Daytona 500. Waltrip finished 38th in his first NASCAR Winston Cup race after retiring on lap 69 due to engine failure. Waltrip paid $12,500 for the car, a spare engine and some spare parts and drove it in 5 cup series events until mid-1973. The car was converted from the Ford Fairlane Andretti drove, to a 1969 Mercury Cyclone as driven by Waltrip, and later converted to a 1971 Mercury Cyclone. The car was sponsored by Terminal Transport of Owensboro, Kentucky, Waltrip's first major sponsor. Waltrip still owns the car today as part of a collection of cars he has raced and is one of his favorites. The early years found Waltrip competing against legendary stock car racers such as Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison, among others. Waltrip soon earned the respect of his more experienced peers. He was given the #95 as a number but Waltrip preferred car #17 because his hero, David Pearson, had success with the number in earlier years. As an owner/driver, Waltrip ran 5 races in 1972, 14 races in 1973, 16 races in 1974, with 7 top-five finishes, and 17 races as an owner/driver in 1975, with his first Winston Cup victory coming at his home track, May 10, 1975, at age 28, (28 years, 3 months, 5 days), in the Music City 420, outpacing the field by two laps at the track where he had won 2 track championships in Nashville, Tennessee, in the #17 Terminal Transport Chevrolet, a car Waltrip owned. During the 1973 season, Waltrip drove 5 NASCAR Cup races for Bud Moore Engineering. | Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? | The early years found Waltrip competing against legendary stock car racers |
Following Garreth Mallory's promotion to M, on a mission in Mexico City unofficially ordered by a posthumous message from the previous M, 007 James Bond kills three men plotting a terrorist bombing during the Day of the Dead and gives chase to Marco Sciarra, an assassin who survived the attack. In the ensuing struggle, Bond steals his ring, which is emblazoned with a stylised octopus, and then kills Sciarra by kicking him out of a helicopter. Upon returning to London, Bond is indefinitely suspended from field duty by M, who is in the midst of a power struggle with C, the head of the privately-backed Joint Intelligence Service, consisting of the recently merged MI5 and MI6. C campaigns for Britain to form alongside 8 other countries "Nine Eyes ", a global surveillance and intelligence co-operation initiative between nine member states, and uses his influence to close down the '00' section, believing it to be outdated. | Which character is promoted to M? | Garreth Mallory |
Jean-Philippe Rameau, Instrumental music: Along with Francois Couperin, Rameau is one of the two masters of the French school of harpsichord music in the 18th century. Both composers made a decisive break with the style of the first generation of harpsichordists, who confined their compositions to the relatively fixed mould of the classical suite. This reached its apogee in the first decade of the 18th century with successive collections of pieces by Louis Marchand, Gaspard Le Roux, Louis-Nicolas Clerambault, Jean-Francois Dandrieu, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Charles Dieupart, and Nicolas Siret. Rameau and Couperin have different styles. They seem not to have known one another (Couperin was one of the official court musicians while Rameau was still an unknown; fame would only come to him after Couperin's death). Rameau published his first book of harpsichord pieces in 1706 while Couperin (who was fifteen years his senior) waited until 1713 before publishing his first "ordres." Rameau's music includes pieces in the pure tradition of the French suite: imitative ("Le rappel des oiseaux," "La poule") and character ("Les tendres plaintes", "L'entretien des Muses") pieces and works of pure virtuosity that resemble Scarlatti ("Les tourbillons," "Les trois mains") as well as pieces that reveal the experiments of a theorist and musical innovator ("L'Enharmonique", "Les Cyclopes"), which had a marked influence on Daquin, Royer, and Jacques Duphly. The suites are grouped in the traditional way, by key. Rameau's three collections appeared in 1706, 1724 and 1726 or 1727, respectively. After this, he only composed a single piece for the harpsichord: "La Dauphine" (1747). Other works, such as "Les petits marteaux," have been doubtfully attributed to him. During his semiretirement in the years 1740 to 1744, he wrote the Pieces de clavecin en concert (1741), which some musicologists consider the pinnacle of French Baroque chamber music. Adopting a formula successfully employed by Mondonville a few years earlier, these pieces differ from trio sonatas in that the harpsichord is not simply there as basso continuo to accompany other instruments (the violin, flute or viol) playing the melody but has an equal part in the "concert" with them. Rameau also claimed that the pieces would be equally satisfying as solo harpsichord works--although this statement is far from convincing, since the composer took the trouble to transcribe five of them himself--those where the lack of other instruments would show the least. | Who is the other master? | Along with Francois Couperin, |
Missionary efforts to Scandinavia during the 9th and 10th centuries helped strengthen the growth of kingdoms such as Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, which gained power and territory. Some kings converted to Christianity, although not all by 1000. Scandinavians also expanded and colonised throughout Europe. Besides the settlements in Ireland, England, and Normandy, further settlement took place in what became Russia and in Iceland. Swedish traders and raiders ranged down the rivers of the Russian steppe, and even attempted to seize Constantinople in 860 and 907. Christian Spain, initially driven into a small section of the peninsula in the north, expanded slowly south during the 9th and 10th centuries, establishing the kingdoms of Asturias and León. | Along with Sweden and Norway, what country saw missionary activity in the 9th and 10th centuries? | Denmark |
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, 1966-69: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was founded around 1966 in Long Beach, California by singer-guitarist Jeff Hanna and singer-songwriter guitarist Bruce Kunkel who had performed as the New Coast Two and later the Illegitimate Jug Band. Trying, in the words of the band's website, to "figure out how not to have to work for a living," Hanna and Kunkel joined informal jam sessions at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Long Beach. There they met a few other musicians: guitarist/washtub bassist Ralph Barr, guitarist-clarinetist Les Thompson, harmonicist and jug player Jimmie Fadden, and guitarist-vocalist Jackson Browne. As Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the six men started as a jug band and adopted the burgeoning southern California folk rock musical style, playing in local clubs while wearing pinstripe suits and cowboy boots. Their first paying performance was at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, California. Browne was in the band for only a few months before he left to concentrate on a solo career as a singer-songwriter. He was replaced by John McEuen on banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and steel guitar. McEuen's older brother, William, was the group's manager, and he helped the band get signed with Liberty Records, which released the group's debut album, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band during 1967. The band's first single, "Buy for Me the Rain," was a Top 40 success, and the band gained exposure on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, as well as concerts with such disparate artists as Jack Benny and The Doors. A second album, Ricochet, was released later during the year and was less successful than their first. Kunkel wanted the band to "go electric", and include more original material. Bruce left the group to form WordSalad and Of The People. He was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Chris Darrow. By 1968, the band adopted electrical instruments anyway, and added drums. The first electric album, Rare Junk, was a commercial failure, as was their next, Alive. The band continued to gain publicity, mainly as a novelty act, making an appearance in the 1968 film, For Singles Only, and a cameo appearance in the 1969 musical western film, Paint Your Wagon, performing "Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans". The band also played Carnegie Hall as an opening act for Bill Cosby and played in a jam session with Dizzy Gillespie. | When was the band created? | The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was founded around 1966 |
Federico Fellini, Early screenplays (1940-1943): Retained on business in Rimini, Urbano sent wife and family to Rome in 1940 to share an apartment with his son. Fellini and Ruggero Maccari, also on the staff of Marc'Aurelio, began writing radio sketches and gags for films. Not yet twenty and with Fabrizi's help, Fellini obtained his first screen credit as a comedy writer on Mario Mattoli's Il pirata sono io (The Pirate's Dream). Progressing rapidly to numerous collaborations on films at Cinecitta, his circle of professional acquaintances widened to include novelist Vitaliano Brancati and scriptwriter Piero Tellini. In the wake of Mussolini's declaration of war against France and England on 10 June 1940, Fellini discovered Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Gogol, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner along with French films by Marcel Carne, Rene Clair, and Julien Duvivier. In 1941 he published Il mio amico Pasqualino, a 74-page booklet in ten chapters describing the absurd adventures of Pasqualino, an alter ego. Writing for radio while attempting to avoid the draft, Fellini met his future wife Giulietta Masina in a studio office at the Italian public radio broadcaster EIAR in the autumn of 1942. Well-paid as the voice of Pallina in Fellini's radio serial, Cico and Pallina, Masina was also well known for her musical-comedy broadcasts which cheered an audience depressed by the war. In November 1942, Fellini was sent to Libya, occupied by Fascist Italy, to work on the screenplay of I cavalieri del deserto (Knights of the Desert, 1942), directed by Osvaldo Valenti and Gino Talamo. Fellini welcomed the assignment as it allowed him "to secure another extension on his draft order". Responsible for emergency re-writing, he also directed the film's first scenes. When Tripoli fell under siege by British forces, he and his colleagues made a narrow escape by boarding a German military plane flying to Sicily. His African adventure, later published in Marc'Aurelio as "The First Flight", marked "the emergence of a new Fellini, no longer just a screenwriter, working and sketching at his desk, but a filmmaker out in the field". The apolitical Fellini was finally freed of the draft when an Allied air raid over Bologna destroyed his medical records. Fellini and Giulietta hid in her aunt's apartment until Mussolini's fall on 25 July 1943. After dating for nine months, the couple were married on 30 October 1943. Several months later, Masina fell down the stairs and suffered a miscarriage. She gave birth to a son, Pierfederico, on 22 March 1945, but the child died of encephalitis a month later on 24 April 1945. The tragedy had enduring emotional and artistic repercussions. | what was it about? | The Pirate's Dream |
The Sun switched support to the Labour party on 18 March 1997, six weeks before the General Election victory which saw the New Labour leader Tony Blair become Prime Minister with a large parliamentary majority, despite the paper having attacked Blair and New Labour up to a month earlier. Its front page headline read THE SUN BACKS BLAIR and its front page editorial made clear that while it still opposed some New Labour policies, such as the Minimum Wage and Devolution, it believed Blair to be "the breath of fresh air this great country needs". John Major's Conservatives, it said, were "tired, divided and rudderless". Blair, who had radically altered his party's image and policies, noting the influence the paper could have over its readers' political thinking, had courted it (and Murdoch) for some time by granting exclusive interviews and writing columns. | Who did The Sun declare political endorsement of in 1997? | Labour party |
Joe McGinnity, Later career: McGinnity purchased the Newark Indians of the Class-A Eastern League (EL) for $50,000 ($1,361,852 in current dollar terms) in 1909 from Frank J. Farrell. The press reported that McGinnity would operate the team as a farm team of the Giants, though he denied these reports. When McGinnity could not retain manager Harry Wolverton, he stepped in as player-manager for the Indians. That season, he had a 29-16 record. His 422 innings pitched and 11 shutouts set EL single-season records. He also won both games of doubleheaders on August 27, 1909, and July 23, 1912. McGinnity played for and managed the Indians through 1912. The Indians finished second in the EL in 1909 and 1910. McGinnity sold his interests in the Indians to Ebbets and Ed McKeever and purchased the Tacoma Tigers of the Class-B Northwestern League for $8,500 ($215,548 in current dollar terms), spending another $50,000 ($1,267,931 in current dollar terms) on the franchise in renovating the stadium. He served as player-manager the Tigers at the start of the 1913 season, but stepped down as manager, hiring Russ Hall to serve as manager in June. McGinnity sold stock in the team in 1915 in order to afford operating expenses. He also briefly played for the Venice Tigers of the Class-A Pacific Coast League in 1914. McGinnity sold the Tigers and purchased the Butte Miners of the Northwestern League in 1916, serving as player-manager and bringing with him several players from Tacoma. In June 1917, he sold his stock in the team and secured his release. He played for the Great Falls Electrics of the Northwestern League for the remainder of the 1917 season. He later became the manager of the A. E. Staley factory baseball team. McGinnity served as player-manager of the Danville Veterans of the Class-B Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in the 1922 season and Dubuque Climbers of the Class-D Mississippi Valley League during the 1923 season. With Dubuque, McGinnity won 15 games at age 52. One of those wins was a shutout, pitched in a record one hour and seven minutes. Two years later, he returned to play for Dubuque and Springfield Senators of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League during the 1925 season. He pitched in his final professional game on July 28, 1925, after participating in an old-timers game earlier in the day. McGinnity joined the coaching staff of former teammate Wilbert Robinson, along with Kelley, for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1926 MLB season. McGinnity and Kelley were not retained after the season. | what career did he have? | McGinnity sold his interests in the Indians to Ebbets and Ed McKeever |
On matchdays, in a tradition going back to 1962, players walk out to the theme tune to Z-Cars, named "Johnny Todd", a traditional Liverpool children's song collected in 1890 by Frank Kidson which tells the story of a sailor betrayed by his lover while away at sea, although on two separate occasions in the 1994, they ran out to different songs. In August 1994, the club played 2 Unlimited's song "Get Ready For This", and a month later, a reworking of the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic "Bad Moon Rising". Both were met with complete disapproval by Everton fans. | Where did "Johnny Todd"--the theme song for Everton matchdays--originate? | Liverpool |
Gifford Pinchot, Forestry policy and institutions: In 1896, the National Academy of Sciences formed the National Forest Commission. Pinchot was the only non-Academy member. President Grover Cleveland later asked Pinchot to develop a plan for managing the nation's Western forest reserves. In 1897, Pinchot became a member of Boone and Crockett Club one of North America's first conservation organizations, which was founded by Theodore Roosevelt. In 1898, Gifford Pinchot succeeded Bernhard Fernow as chief of the Division of Forestry, later renamed the United States Forest Service in 1905. Thus, management of the federal forests changed from the United States Department of the Interior to this agency within the Department of Agriculture. Pinchot introduced better forestry methods into the operations of private owners, large and small, by using new forestry school graduates to demonstrate good practices and help make working plans. In 1900, Pinchot established the Society of American Foresters. This helped bring credibility to the new profession of forestry, and was part of the broader professionalization movement underway in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. Until 1900, only two American schools trained professional foresters, the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell and the Biltmore Forest School. The Pinchot family endowed a 2-year graduate-level School of Forestry at Yale University (now the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies), and at Pinchot's urging, fellow Yale alumnus Henry S. Graves, along with James W. Toumey, left the Division in 1900 to start the school. By the fall of 1900, Cornell's forestry program had 24 students, Biltmore 9, and Yale 7. One unique feature of the Pinchot/Yale approach was requiring students to first experience the forest at a camp at Grey Towers before beginning their academic studies. Pinchot sought to turn public land policy from one that dispersed resources among private holdings, to one that maintained federal ownership and management of public land. As a progressive, Pinchot strongly believed in the efficiency movement. Waste was his great enemy, and he well knew the tragedy of the commons, the destruction of resources for short-term gains. His successes, in part, were grounded in the personal networks that he started developing as a student at Yale and continued developing throughout his career. His personal involvement in the recruitment process led to high morale in the Forest Service and allowed him to avoid partisan political patronage. Pinchot capitalized on his professional expertise to gain adherents in an age when professionalism and science were greatly valued. | Was he a member of anything? | In 1896, the National Academy of Sciences formed the National Forest Commission. Pinchot was the only non-Academy member. |
Beyoncé further expanded her acting career, starring as blues singer Etta James in the 2008 musical biopic, Cadillac Records. Her performance in the film received praise from critics, and she garnered several nominations for her portrayal of James, including a Satellite Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Beyoncé donated her entire salary from the film to Phoenix House, an organization of rehabilitation centers for heroin addicts around the country. On January 20, 2009, Beyoncé performed James' "At Last" at the First Couple's first inaugural ball. Beyoncé starred opposite Ali Larter and Idris Elba in the thriller, Obsessed. She played Sharon Charles, a mother and wife who learns of a woman's obsessive behavior over her husband. Although the film received negative reviews from critics, the movie did well at the US box office, grossing $68 million—$60 million more than Cadillac Records—on a budget of $20 million. The fight scene finale between Sharon and the character played by Ali Larter also won the 2010 MTV Movie Award for Best Fight. | What thriller film did Beyonce star in? | Obsessed |
The Puget Sound Convergence Zone is an important feature of Seattle's weather. In the convergence zone, air arriving from the north meets air flowing in from the south. Both streams of air originate over the Pacific Ocean; airflow is split by the Olympic Mountains to Seattle's west, then reunited to the east. When the air currents meet, they are forced upward, resulting in convection. Thunderstorms caused by this activity are usually weak and can occur north and south of town, but Seattle itself rarely receives more than occasional thunder and small hail showers. The Hanukkah Eve Wind Storm in December 2006 is an exception that brought heavy rain and winds gusting up to 69 mph (111 km/h), an event that was not caused by the Puget Sound Convergence Zone and was widespread across the Pacific Northwest. | What is a very significant part of Seattle's weather system? | Puget Sound Convergence Zone |
Susan Boyle, Britain's Got Talent (2008-2009): In August 2008, Boyle applied for an audition for the third series of Britain's Got Talent (as contestant number 43212) and was accepted after a preliminary audition in Glasgow. When Boyle first appeared on Britain's Got Talent at the city's Clyde Auditorium, she said that she aspired to become a professional singer "as successful as Elaine Paige". Boyle sang "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables in the first round, which was watched by over 10 million viewers when it aired on 11 April 2009. Programme judge Amanda Holden remarked upon the audience's initially cynical attitude, and the subsequent "biggest wake-up call ever" upon hearing her performance. Boyle was "absolutely gobsmacked" by the strength of the reaction to her appearance. Afterwards, Paige expressed interest in singing a duet with Boyle, and called her "a role model for everyone who has a dream". Boyle's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" was credited with causing a surge in ticket sales in the Vancouver production of Les Miserables. Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of the musical, also praised the performance, as "heart-touching, thrilling and uplifting". Boyle was one of 40 acts that were put through to the semi-finals. She appeared last on the first semi-final on 24 May 2009, performing "Memory" from the musical Cats. In the public vote, she was the act to receive the highest number of votes to go through to the final. She was the clear favourite to win the final, but ended up in second place to dance troupe Diversity; the UK TV audience was a record of 17.3 million viewers. The Press Complaints Commission (PCC) became concerned by press reports about Boyle's erratic behaviour and speculation about her mental condition and wrote to remind editors about clause 3 (privacy) of their code of press conduct. The day after the final, Boyle was admitted to The Priory, a private psychiatric clinic in London, Talkback Thames explained, "Following Saturday night's show, Susan is exhausted and emotionally drained." Her stay in hospital attracted widespread attention, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown wishing her well. Cowell offered to waive Boyle's contractual obligation to take part in the BGT tour. Her family said "she's been battered non-stop for the last seven weeks and it has taken its toll [...but...] her dream is very much alive," as she had been invited to the Independence Day celebrations at the White House. Boyle left the clinic three days after her admission and said she would participate in the BGT tour. Despite health concerns, she appeared in 20 of the 24 dates of the tour, and was well received in cities including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dublin, Sheffield, Coventry, and Birmingham. The Belfast Telegraph stated that "Despite reports of crumbling under the pressure..., she exuded a confidence resembling that of a veteran who has been performing for years". | how did it take its toll? | Boyle left the clinic three days after her admission and said she would participate in the BGT tour. Despite health concerns, |
With its myriad islands, Alaska has nearly 34,000 miles (54,720 km) of tidal shoreline. The Aleutian Islands chain extends west from the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians and in coastal regions. Unimak Island, for example, is home to Mount Shishaldin, which is an occasionally smoldering volcano that rises to 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above the North Pacific. It is the most perfect volcanic cone on Earth, even more symmetrical than Japan's Mount Fuji. The chain of volcanoes extends to Mount Spurr, west of Anchorage on the mainland. Geologists have identified Alaska as part of Wrangellia, a large region consisting of multiple states and Canadian provinces in the Pacific Northwest, which is actively undergoing continent building. | How much tidal shoreline does Alaska have in miles? | nearly 34,000 miles |
On June 21, 1880, Bell's assistant transmitted a wireless voice telephone message a considerable distance, from the roof of the Franklin School in Washington, D.C., to Bell at the window of his laboratory, some 213 metres (700 ft) away, 19 years before the first voice radio transmissions. | How many years after this photophone message would the first message take place over radio? | 19 |
Kate Tsui, 2012-2014: 2012 is arguably Tsui's peak year in her TV career. In Highs and Lows, Tsui portrays an extremely tragic character that struggled with substance abuse, gang rape, and eventually, drug dealing. Tsui described her experience of filming this drama as "being on an emotional roller coaster", to the extent that she did not wish to speak to anyone or pick up the phone after work. The producer of the drama, Lam Chi Wah, referred to Tsui's role in Highs and Lows as the greatest breakthrough in her career and applauded her for setting down her image as a beauty pageant winner to dive into such a complex character in the drama. Film director, Patrick Kong, also noted in his column that Tsui's acting has greatly matured in Highs and Lows, particularly in her portrayal of emotional scenes. The role at last earned her the Favourite Female Character award for the TVB Anniversary Awards 2012. Tsui was also nominated in the Best Actress category and was one of the top 5 finalists for the award. Aside from the aforementioned Hong Kong TVB-based awards show, Tsui also received a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the Asian Television Awards, which is an awards show held in Singapore that recognizes production excellence in over 15 Asian countries. In 2014, Tsui took part in a TVB-produced micro film, A Time of Love, which consists of four individual stories, each with a separate theme. Tsui starred opposite Taiwanese actors, James Wen and Chris Wang, in the "sorrow" themed story. After the airing of the micro film, TVB received 39 individual viewer statements that commended Tsui of her outstanding performance in the micro film. Column writer, Ko Leung, of Macao Daily, also stated Tsui portrayed her character in the micro film perfectly and that Tsui's acting is comparable to that of Bai Baihe in The Stolen Years. In 2015, Tsui's management contract with TVB ended. However, Tsui said that she is still on very good terms with TVB, and TVB has settled job arrangements for her up until February 2016. Despite having received several offers, Tsui stated that she will not finalize any management contract agreements until she has completed her jewelry design courses. | What did she do of note in 2012? | 2012 is arguably Tsui's peak year in her TV career. |
In 1636 George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruler of the Brunswick-Lüneburg principality of Calenberg, moved his residence to Hanover. The Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg were elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor to the rank of Prince-Elector in 1692, and this elevation was confirmed by the Imperial Diet in 1708. Thus the principality was upgraded to the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, colloquially known as the Electorate of Hanover after Calenberg's capital (see also: House of Hanover). Its electors would later become monarchs of Great Britain (and from 1801, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). The first of these was George I Louis, who acceded to the British throne in 1714. The last British monarch who ruled in Hanover was William IV. Semi-Salic law, which required succession by the male line if possible, forbade the accession of Queen Victoria in Hanover. As a male-line descendant of George I, Queen Victoria was herself a member of the House of Hanover. Her descendants, however, bore her husband's titular name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Three kings of Great Britain, or the United Kingdom, were concurrently also Electoral Princes of Hanover. | Who elevated the status of the Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg? | Holy Roman Emperor |
In Western culture, the study of politics is first found in Ancient Greece. The antecedents of European politics trace their roots back even earlier than Plato and Aristotle, particularly in the works of Homer, Hesiod, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Euripides. Later, Plato analyzed political systems, abstracted their analysis from more literary- and history- oriented studies and applied an approach we would understand as closer to philosophy. Similarly, Aristotle built upon Plato's analysis to include historical empirical evidence in his analysis. | What did Aristotle add to Plato's work? | historical empirical evidence |
The State Council declared a three-day period of national mourning for the quake victims starting from May 19, 2008; the PRC's National Flag and Regional Flags of Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions flown at half mast. It was the first time that a national mourning period had been declared for something other than the death of a state leader, and many have called it the biggest display of mourning since the death of Mao Zedong. At 14:28 CST on May 19, 2008, a week after the earthquake, the Chinese public held a moment of silence. People stood silent for three minutes while air defense, police and fire sirens, and the horns of vehicles, vessels and trains sounded. Cars and trucks on Beijing's roads also came to a halt. People spontaneously burst into cheering "Zhongguo jiayou!" (Let's go, China!) and "Sichuan jiayou" (Let's go, Sichuan!) afterwards. | How long was the national mourning for the quake victims to last? | three-day period |
As of 2010, those of Hispanic or Latino ancestry ancestry accounted for 22.5% (4,223,806) of Florida's population. Out of the 22.5%, the largest groups were 6.5% (1,213,438) Cuban, 4.5% (847,550) Puerto Rican, 3.3% (629,718) Mexican, and 1.6% (300,414) Colombian. Florida's Hispanic population includes large communities of Cuban Americans in Miami and Tampa, Puerto Ricans in Orlando and Tampa, and Mexican/Central American migrant workers. The Hispanic community continues to grow more affluent and mobile. As of 2011, 57.0% of Florida's children under the age of 1 belonged to minority groups. Florida has a large and diverse Hispanic population, with Cubans and Puerto Ricans being the largest groups in the state. Nearly 80% of Cuban Americans live in Florida, especially South Florida where there is a long-standing and affluent Cuban community. Florida has the second largest Puerto Rican population after New York, as well as the fastest-growing in the nation. Puerto Ricans are more widespread throughout the state, though the heaviest concentrations are in the Orlando area of Central Florida. | What percentage of Cuban Americans live in Florida | Nearly 80% of Cuban Americans live in Florida, especially South Florida |
Grace Jones, 1948-73: Early life, and modeling career: Grace Jones was born in 1948 (though most sources say 1952) in Spanish Town, Jamaica, the daughter of Marjorie (nee Williams) and Robert W. Jones, who was a local politician and Apostolic clergyman. The couple already had two children, and would go on to have four more. Robert and Marjorie moved to the East Coast of the United States, where Robert worked as an agricultural labourer until a spiritual experience during a failed suicide attempt inspired him to become a Pentecostal minister. While they were in the US, they left their children with Marjorie's mother and her new husband, Peart. Jones knew him as "Mas P" ('Master P') and later noted that she "absolutely hated him"; as a strict disciplinarian he regularly beat the children in his care, representing what Jones described as "serious abuse". She was raised into the family's Pentecostal faith, having to take part in prayer meetings and Bible readings every night. She initially attended the Pentecostal All Saints School, before being sent to a nearby public school. As a child, shy Jones had only one schoolfriend and was teased by classmates for her "skinny frame", but she excelled at sports and found solace in the nature of Jamaica. Marjorie and Robert eventually brought their children - including the 13 year old Grace - to live with them in the US, where they had settled in Lyncourt, Salina, New York, near Syracuse. It was in the city that her father had established his own ministry, the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, in 1956. Jones continued her schooling and after she graduated, enrolled at Onondaga Community College majoring in Spanish. Jones began to rebel against her parents and their religion; she began wearing makeup, drinking alcohol, and visiting gay clubs with her brother. At college, she also took a theatre class, with her drama teacher convincing her to join him on a summer stock tour in Philadelphia. Arriving in the city, she decided to stay there, immersing herself in the Counterculture of the 1960s by living in hippie communes, earning money as a go-go dancer, and using LSD and other drugs. She later praised the use of LSD as "a very important part of my emotional growth... The mental exercise was good for me". She moved back to New York at 18 and signed on as a model with Wilhelmina Modelling agency. She moved to Paris in 1970. The Parisian fashion scene was receptive to Jones' unusual, androgynous, bold, dark-skinned appearance. Yves St. Laurent, Claude Montana, and Kenzo Takada hired her for runway modelling, and she appeared on the covers of Elle, Vogue, and Stern working with Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer. Jones also modelled for Azzedine Alaia, and was frequently photographed promoting his line. While modelling in Paris, she shared an apartment with Jerry Hall and Jessica Lange. Hall and Jones frequented Le Sept, one of Paris's most popular gay clubs of the 1970s and '80s, and socialised with Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld. In 1973, Jones appeared on the cover of a reissue of Billy Paul's 1970 album Ebony Woman. | Who were his parents? | Marjorie (nee Williams) and Robert W. Jones, |
The United States has become essentially a two-party system. Since a conservative (such as the Republican Party) and liberal (such as the Democratic Party) party has usually been the status quo within American politics. The first parties were called Federalist and Republican, followed by a brief period of Republican dominance before a split occurred between National Republicans and Democratic Republicans. The former became the Whig Party and the latter became the Democratic Party. The Whigs survived only for two decades before they split over the spread of slavery, those opposed becoming members of the new Republican Party, as did anti-slavery members of the Democratic Party. Third parties (such as the Libertarian Party) often receive little support and are very rarely the victors in elections. Despite this, there have been several examples of third parties siphoning votes from major parties that were expected to win (such as Theodore Roosevelt in the election of 1912 and George Wallace in the election of 1968). As third party movements have learned, the Electoral College's requirement of a nationally distributed majority makes it difficult for third parties to succeed. Thus, such parties rarely win many electoral votes, although their popular support within a state may tip it toward one party or the other. Wallace had weak support outside the South. More generally, parties with a broad base of support across regions or among economic and other interest groups, have a great chance of winning the necessary plurality in the U.S.'s largely single-member district, winner-take-all elections. The tremendous land area and large population of the country are formidable challenges to political parties with a narrow appeal. | Which party was anti-slavery? | Democratic Party |
To extend and consolidate the dynasty's control in Central Asia, the Kangxi Emperor personally led a series of military campaigns against the Dzungars in Outer Mongolia. The Kangxi Emperor was able to successfully expel Galdan's invading forces from these regions, which were then incorporated into the empire. Galdan was eventually killed in the Dzungar–Qing War. In 1683, Qing forces received the surrender of Taiwan from Zheng Keshuang, grandson of Koxinga, who had conquered Taiwan from the Dutch colonists as a base against the Qing. Zheng Keshuang was awarded the title "Duke Haicheng" (海澄公) and was inducted into the Han Chinese Plain Red Banner of the Eight Banners when he moved to Beijing. Several Ming princes had accompanied Koxinga to Taiwan in 1661-1662, including the Prince of Ningjing Zhu Shugui and Prince Zhu Honghuan (朱弘桓), son of Zhu Yihai, where they lived in the Kingdom of Tungning. The Qing sent the 17 Ming princes still living on Taiwan in 1683 back to mainland China where they spent the rest of their lives in exile since their lives were spared from execution. Winning Taiwan freed Kangxi's forces for series of battles over Albazin, the far eastern outpost of the Tsardom of Russia. Zheng's former soldiers on Taiwan like the rattan shield troops were also inducted into the Eight Banners and used by the Qing against Russian Cossacks at Albazin. The 1689 Treaty of Nerchinsk was China's first formal treaty with a European power and kept the border peaceful for the better part of two centuries. After Galdan's death, his followers, as adherents to Tibetan Buddhism, attempted to control the choice of the next Dalai Lama. Kangxi dispatched two armies to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and installed a Dalai Lama sympathetic to the Qing. | Who did Kangxi fight? | Dzungars |
Devika Rani, Elopement: Najm-ul-Hassan was also Devika's co-star in the studio's next venture, Jeevan Naiya. The two co-stars developed a romantic relationship, and during the shooting schedule of Jeevan Naiya, Devika eloped with Hassan. Himanshu was both enraged and distraught. Since the leading pair were absent, production was stalled. A significant portion of the movie had been shot and a large sum of money, which had been taken as credit from financers, had been spent. The studio therefore suffered severe financial losses and a loss of credit among bankers in the city while the runaway couple made merry. Sashadhar Mukherjee, an assistant sound-engineer at the studio, had a brotherly bond with Devika Rani because both of them were Bengalis and spoke that language with each other. He established contact with the runaway couple and managed to convince Devika Rani to return to her husband. In the India of that era, divorce was legally almost impossible and women who eloped were regarded as no better than prostitutes and were shunned by their own families. In her heart of hearts, Devika Rani knew that she could not secure a divorce or marry Hassan under any circumstances. She negotiated with her husband through the auspices of Sashadhar Mukherjee, seeking the separation of her finances from those of her husband as a condition for her return. Henceforth, she would be paid separately for working in his films, but he would be required to single-handedly pay the household expenses for the home in which both of them would live. Himanshu agreed to this, in order to save face in society and to prevent his studio from going bankrupt. Devika Rani returned to her marital home. However, things would never be the same between husband and wife again, and it is said that thenceforth, their relationship was largely confined to work and little or no intimacy transpired between them after this episode. Despite the additional expense involved in re-shooting many portions of the film, Himanshu Rai replaced Najm-ul-Hassan with Ashok Kumar, who was the brother of Sashadhar Mukherjee's wife, as the hero of Jeevan Naiya. This marked the debut, improbable as it may seem, of Ashok Kumar's five-decade-long career in Hindi films. Najm-ul-Hassan was dismissed from his job at Bombay Talkies (this was the period in which actors and actresses were paid regular monthly salaries by one specific film studio and could not work in any other studio). His reputation as a dangerous cad established, he could not find work in any other studio. His career was ruined and he sank into obscurity. | How did he take all this? | His reputation as a dangerous cad established, he could not find work in any other studio. |
Meanwhile, U.S. garrisons in Japan continually dispatched soldiers and matériel to reinforce defenders in the Pusan Perimeter. Tank battalions deployed to Korea directly from the U.S. mainland from the port of San Francisco to the port of Pusan, the largest Korean port. By late August, the Pusan Perimeter had some 500 medium tanks battle-ready. In early September 1950, ROK Army and UN Command forces outnumbered the KPA 180,000 to 100,000 soldiers. The UN forces, once prepared, counterattacked and broke out of the Pusan Perimeter. | Who was able to counterattack and move the KPA away from the Pusan Perimeter? | UN forces |
Since at least the time of the Ancient Greeks, a proportion of Jews have assimilated into the wider non-Jewish society around them, by either choice or force, ceasing to practice Judaism and losing their Jewish identity. Assimilation took place in all areas, and during all time periods, with some Jewish communities, for example the Kaifeng Jews of China, disappearing entirely. The advent of the Jewish Enlightenment of the 18th century (see Haskalah) and the subsequent emancipation of the Jewish populations of Europe and America in the 19th century, accelerated the situation, encouraging Jews to increasingly participate in, and become part of, secular society. The result has been a growing trend of assimilation, as Jews marry non-Jewish spouses and stop participating in the Jewish community. | Name a Jewish community that disappeared entirely? | Kaifeng Jews of China |
The first British Mont Blanc ascent was in 1788; the first female ascent in 1819. By the mid-1850s Swiss mountaineers had ascended most of the peaks and were eagerly sought as mountain guides. Edward Whymper reached the top of the Matterhorn in 1865 (after seven attempts), and in 1938 the last of the six great north faces of the Alps was climbed with the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand (north face of the Eiger). | What year did Edward Whymper reach the top of the Matterhorn? | 1865 |
Grigory Potemkin, Death: A distant relative of the Moscovite diplomat Pyotr Potemkin (1617-1700), Grigory was born in the village of Chizhovo near Smolensk into a family of middle-income noble landowners. The family claimed Polish ancestry. His father, Alexander Potemkin, was a decorated war veteran; his mother Daria was "good-looking, capable and intelligent", though their marriage proved ultimately unhappy. Potemkin received his first name in honour of his father's cousin Grigory Matveevich Kizlovsky, a civil servant who became his godfather. It has been suggested that Kizlovsky fathered Potemkin, who became the centre of attention, heir to the village and the only son among six children. As the son of an (albeit petty) noble family, he grew up with the expectation that he would serve the Russian Empire. After Alexander died in 1746, Daria took charge of the family. In order to achieve a career for her son, and aided by Kizlovsky, the family moved to Moscow, where Potemkin enrolled at a gymnasium school attached to the University of Moscow. The young Potemkin became adept at languages and interested in the Russian Orthodox Church. He enlisted in the army in 1750 at age eleven, in accordance with the custom of noble children. In 1755 a second inspection placed him in the elite Horse Guards regiment . Having graduated from the University school, Potemkin became one of the first students to enroll at the University itself. Talented in both Greek and theology, he won the University's Gold Medal in 1757 and became part of a twelve-student delegation sent to Saint Petersburg later that year. The trip seems to have affected Potemkin: afterwards he studied little and was soon expelled. Faced with isolation from his family, he rejoined the Guards, where he excelled. At this time his net worth amounted to 430 souls (serfs), equivalent to that of the poorer gentry. His time was taken up with "drinking, gambling, and promiscuous lovemaking", and he fell deep in debt. Grigory Orlov, one of Catherine's lovers, led a palace coup in June 1762 that ousted the Emperor Peter III and enthroned Catherine II. Sergeant Potemkin represented his regiment in the revolt. Allegedly, as Catherine reviewed her troops in front of the Winter Palace before their march to the Peterhof, she lacked a sword-knot (or possibly hat plumage), which Potemkin quickly supplied. Potemkin's horse then (appeared to) refuse to leave her side for several minutes before Potemkin and horse returned to the ranks. After the coup Catherine singled out Potemkin for reward and ensured his promotion to second lieutenant. Though Potemkin was among those guarding the ex-Tsar, it appears that he had no direct involvement in Peter's murder in July. Catherine promoted him again to Kammerjunker (gentleman of the bedchamber), though he retained his post in the Guards. Potemkin was soon formally presented to the Empress as a talented mimic; his imitation of her was well received. Potemkin then embarked on a period of city-founding. Construction started at his first effort, Kherson, in 1778, as a base for a new Black Sea Fleet he intended to build. Potemkin approved every plan himself, but construction was slow, and the city proved costly and vulnerable to plague. Next was the port of Akhtiar, annexed with the Crimea, which became Sevastopol. Then he built Simferopol as the Crimean capital. His biggest failure, however, was his effort to build the city of Ekaterinoslav (lit. The glory of Catherine), now Dnipropetrovsk. The second most successful city of Potemkin's rule was Nikolayev (now better known as Mykolaiv), which he founded in 1789. Potemkin also initiated the redesign of Odessa after its capture from the Turks; it was to turn out to be the greatest. Potemkin's Black Sea Fleet was a massive undertaking for its time. By 1787, the British ambassador reported twenty-seven battleships. It put Russia on a naval footing with Spain, though far behind the British Navy. The period represented the peak of Russia's naval power relative to other European states. Potemkin also rewarded hundreds of thousands of settlers who moved into his territories. It is estimated that by 1782 the populations of Novorossiya and Azov had doubled during a period of "exceptionally rapid" development. Immigrants included Russians, foreigners, British convicts diverted from Australia, Cossacks and controversially Jews. Though the immigrants were not always happy in their new surroundings, on at least one occasion Potemkin intervened directly to ensure families received the cattle to which they were entitled. Outside of Novorossiya he drew up the defensive Azov-Mozdok line, constructing forts at Georgievsk, Stavropol and elsewhere and ensured that the whole of the line was settled. In 1784 Lanskoy died and Potemkin was needed at court to console the grieving Catherine. After Alexander Yermolov was installed as the new favorite in 1785, Catherine, Yermolov and Potemkin cruised the upper Volga. When Yermolov attempted to unseat Potemkin (and attracted support from Potemkin's critics), he found himself replaced by Count Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov in the summer of 1786. Potemkin returned to the south, having arranged that Catherine would visit in the summer of 1787. She reached Kiev in late January, to travel down the Dnieper after the ice had melted (see Crimean journey of Catherine the Great). Potemkin had other lovers at this time, including a 'Countess' Sevres and a Naryshkina. Leaving in April, the royal party arrived in Kherson a month later. On visiting Sevastopol, Austria's Joseph II, who was traveling with them, was moved to note that "The Empress is totally ecstatic... Prince Potemkin is at the moment all-powerful". Potemkin fell ill in the fever-ridden city of Jassy, though he kept busy, overseeing peace talks, planning his assault on Poland and preparing the army for renewed war in the south. He fasted briefly and recovered some strength, but refused medicine and began to feast once again, consuming a "ham, a slated goose and three or four chickens". On October 13 [O.S. October 2], he felt better and dictated a letter to Catherine before collapsing once more. Later, he awoke and dispatched his entourage to Nikolayev. On October 16 [O.S. October 5] 1791 Potemkin died in the open steppe, 40 miles from Jassy. Picking up on contemporary rumor, historians such as the Polish Jerzy Lojek have suggested that he was poisoned because his madness made him a liability, but this is rejected by Montefiore, who suggests he succumbed to bronchial pneumonia instead. Potemkin was embalmed and a funeral was held for him in Jassy. Eight days after his death, he was buried. Catherine was distraught and ordered social life in St. Petersburg be put on hold. Derzhavin's ode Waterfall lamented his death; likewise many in the military establishment had looked upon Potemkin as a father figure and were especially saddened by his death. Polish contemporary Stanislaw Malachowski claimed that Aleksandra von Engelhardt, a niece of Potemkin and wife to Franciszek Ksawery Branicki, a magnate and prominent leader of the Targowica Confederation, also worried for the fate of Poland after the death of the man who had planned to revitalise the Polish state with him as its new head. Potemkin had used the state treasury as a personal bank, preventing the resolution of his financial affairs to this day. Catherine purchased the Tauride Palace and his art collection from his estate, and paid off his debts. Consequently, he left a relative fortune. Catherine's son Paul, who succeeded to the throne in 1796, attempted to undo as many of Potemkin's reforms as possible. The Tauride Palace was turned into a barracks, and the city of Gregoripol, which had been named in Potemkin's honor, was renamed. Potemkin's grave survived a destruction order issued by Paul and was eventually displayed by the Bolsheviks. His remains now appear to lie in his tomb at St. Catherine's Cathedral in Kherson. The exact whereabouts of some of his internal organs, including his heart and brain first kept at Golia Monastery in Jassy, remain unknown. | Do many believe foul play? | but this is rejected by Montefiore, |
Isaac Asimov, Biography: Asimov was born on an unknown day between October 4, 1919 and January 2, 1920, inclusive. Asimov himself celebrated it on January 2. Asimov's parents were Anna Rachel (nee Berman) and Judah Asimov, a family of Jewish millers. He was named Isaac after his mother's father, Isaac Berman. When he was born, his family lived in Petrovichi near Klimovichi, which was then Gomel Governorate in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (now Smolensk Oblast, Russia). Asimov wrote of his father, "My father, for all his education as an Orthodox Jew, was not Orthodox in his heart", noting that "he didn't recite the myriad prayers prescribed for every action, and he never made any attempt to teach them to me". In 1921, Asimov and 16 other children in Petrovichi caught double pneumonia. Only Asimov survived. He later had two younger siblings: a sister, Marcia (born Manya, June 17, 1922 - April 2, 2011), and a brother, Stanley (July 25, 1929 - August 16, 1995), who was vice-president of New York Newsday. His family emigrated to the United States when he was three years old. Since his parents always spoke Yiddish and English with him, he never learned Russian, but he remained fluent in Yiddish as well as English. Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Asimov taught himself to read at the age of five, and his mother got him into first grade a year early by claiming he was born on September 7, 1919. In third grade he learned about the "error" and insisted on an official correction of the date to January 2. After becoming established in the U.S., his parents owned a succession of candy stores, in which everyone in the family was expected to work. The candy stores sold newspapers and magazines, a fact that Asimov credited as a major influence in his lifelong love of the written word, as it presented him with an unending supply of new reading material as a child that he could not have otherwise afforded. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1928 at the age of eight. | Did they ever move from Russia or did he spend his whole childhood there? | His family emigrated to the United States when he was three years old. |
The top three single agent/disease killers are HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. While the number of deaths due to nearly every disease have decreased, deaths due to HIV/AIDS have increased fourfold. Childhood diseases include pertussis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, measles and tetanus. Children also make up a large percentage of lower respiratory and diarrheal deaths. In 2012, approximately 3.1 million people have died due to lower respiratory infections, making it the number 4 leading cause of death in the world. | How much have deaths due to HIV/AIDS increased? | fourfold |
A dense wave of smog began in the Central and Eastern part of China on 2 December 2013 across a distance of around 1,200 kilometres (750 mi), including Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai and Zhejiang. A lack of cold air flow, combined with slow-moving air masses carrying industrial emissions, collected airborne pollutants to form a thick layer of smog over the region. The heavy smog heavily polluted central and southern Jiangsu Province, especially in and around Nanjing, with its AQI pollution Index at "severely polluted" for five straight days and "heavily polluted" for nine. On 3 December 2013, levels of PM2.5 particulate matter average over 943 micrograms per cubic metre, falling to over 338 micrograms per cubic metre on 4 December 2013. Between 3:00 pm, 3 December and 2:00pm, 4 December local time, several expressways from Nanjing to other Jiangsu cities were closed, stranding dozens of passenger buses in Zhongyangmen bus station. From 5 to 6 December, Nanjing issued a red alert for air pollution and closed down all kindergarten through middle schools. Children's Hospital outpatient services increased by 33 percent; general incidence of bronchitis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections significantly increased. The smog dissipated 12 December. Officials blamed the dense pollution on lack of wind, automobile exhaust emissions under low air pressure, and coal-powered district heating system in North China region. Prevailing winds blew low-hanging air masses of factory emissions (mostly SO2) towards China's east coast. | On what days did Nanjing have to issue a Red Alert because of the severe air pollution? | From 5 to 6 December |
These territories are sometimes referred to as the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries), a denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that has also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Various interpretations of the term may include some or all of these regions. | What are the Paisos Catalans | Catalan Countries |
The States General of the United Provinces were in control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC), but some shipping expeditions were initiated by some of the provinces, mostly Holland and/or Zeeland. | Who was in control of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC)? | The States General of the United Provinces |
The Kinks, Theatrical incarnation (1973-1976): In 1973, Ray Davies dived headlong into the theatrical style, beginning with the rock opera Preservation, a sprawling chronicle of social revolution, and a more ambitious outgrowth of the earlier Village Green Preservation Society ethos. In conjunction with the Preservation project, the Kinks' line-up was expanded to include a horn section and female backup singers, essentially reconfiguring the group as a theatrical troupe. Ray Davies' marital problems during this period began to affect the band adversely, particularly after his wife, Rasa, took their children and left him in June 1973. Davies became depressed; during a July gig at White City Stadium he told the audience he was "fucking sick of the whole thing", and was retiring. He subsequently collapsed after a drug overdose and was taken to hospital. With Ray Davies in a seemingly critical condition, plans were discussed for Dave to continue as frontman in a worst-case scenario. Ray recovered from his illness as well as his depression, but throughout the remainder of the Kinks' theatrical incarnation the band's output remained uneven, and their already fading popularity declined even more. John Dalton later commented that when Davies "decided to work again ... I don't think he was totally better, and he's been a different person ever since." Preservation Act 1 (1973) and Preservation Act 2 (1974) received generally poor reviews. The story on the albums involved an anti-hero called Mr Flash, and his rival and enemy Mr Black (played by Dave Davies during live shows), an ultra-purist and corporatist. Preservation Act 2 was the first album recorded at Konk Studio; from this point forward, virtually every Kinks studio recording was produced by Ray Davies at Konk. The band embarked on an ambitious US tour throughout late 1974, adapting the Preservation story for stage. Musicologist Eric Weisbard: "[Ray] Davies expanded the Kinks into a road troupe of perhaps a dozen costumed actors, singers and horn players. ... Smoother and tighter than on record, Preservation live proved funnier as well." Davies began another project for Granada Television, a musical called Starmaker. After a broadcast with Ray Davies in the starring role and the Kinks as both back-up band and ancillary characters, the project eventually morphed into the concept album The Kinks Present a Soap Opera, released in May 1975, in which Ray Davies fantasised about what would happen if a rock star traded places with a "normal Norman" and took a 9-5 job. In August 1975, the Kinks recorded their final theatrical work, Schoolboys in Disgrace, a backstory biography of Preservation's Mr Flash. The record was a modest success, peaking at number 45 on the Billboard charts. Following the termination of their contract with RCA, the Kinks signed with Arista Records in 1976. The song "Father Christmas" has remained a popular track. Driven by session drummer Henry Spinetti's drumming and Dave Davies' heavy guitar the song "Father Christmas" has become a classic seasonal favorite on mainstream radio. With the encouragement of Arista's management they stripped back down to a five-man core group and were reborn as an arena rock band. | Were there any problems during this time? | Ray Davies' marital problems during this period began to affect the band adversely, |
Marilyn Chambers, Hollywood: Chambers dreamed of having a career in mainstream films and believed her celebrity as the star of Behind the Green Door and the Ivory Snow girl would be a stepping stone to other endeavors. "The paradox was that, as a result of Green Door, Hollywood blackballed me," she said later. "[Green Door] became a very high-grossing film...But, to a lot of people, it was still a dirty movie; for me to do anything else, as an actress, was totally out of the question. I became known as a porno star, and that type of labeling really hurt me. It hurt my chances of doing anything else". Throughout the 1970s she was up for roles in several Hollywood films. Her biggest opportunity came in 1976 when it was announced in Variety that she was to star alongside Rip Torn in City Blues, a film about a young hooker defended by a seedy lawyer. The film was to be directed by Nicholas Ray. Ray had never seen Behind the Green Door or even screen-tested Chambers. Instead the two met and Ray was impressed. "I have a camera in my head," he said, adding that Chambers would "eventually be able to handle anything that the young Katie Hepburn or Bette Davis could." However, the project never came to fruition, in large part due to Ray's alcohol and drug abuse. Chambers claimed that Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel brought her in to talk about a role in the 1978 film Goin' South, then asked her for cocaine and grilled her about whether her orgasms in Behind the Green Door were real; she was angered to the point where she stormed out of the interview. She was going to be cast in the film Hardcore, opposite George C. Scott, but the casting director took one look at her and said she was too wholesome to be cast as a porn queen. "The Hardcore people wanted a woman with orange hair who chews gum, swings a big purse, and wears stiletto heels. That's such a cliche," Chambers said years later. Season Hubley was cast instead. | What else is interesting about her time in Hollywood? | Chambers claimed that Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel brought her in to talk about a role in the 1978 film Goin' South, |
Joaquin Phoenix, Personal life: During the comeback portion of his career, Phoenix went back to his given name Joaquin and was often cast in supporting roles as conflicted, insecure characters with a dark side. In 1995, he co-starred in To Die For, as the disturbed young man Jimmy who gets seduced by Suzanne Stone (Nicole Kidman) to commit murder. Directed by Gus Van Sant, the film was screened out of competition at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival and became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of $21 million. New York Times critic Janet Maslin praised Phoenix's performance, writing "So pity poor Jimmy. Rivetingly played by Mr. Phoenix with a raw, anguished expressiveness that makes him an actor to watch for, Jimmy is both tempted and terrified by Suzanne's slick amorality. In that, he speaks for us all." In 1997, Phoenix played a small-town troublemaker in Oliver Stone's U Turn, and a poor man in love with a rich woman in Inventing the Abbotts. The films were received with mostly mixed and negative reviews, respectively, and neither performed well at the box office. The following year, Phoenix starred in Clay Pigeons (1998) as a young man in a small town who befriends a serial killer. Budgeted at $8 million, the film became a box office flop, grossing only $1 million and was, like Phoenix's previous projects, not well received by critics. In his next film, 8mm (1999), Phoenix co-starred as an adult video store employee who helps Tom Welles (Nicolas Cage) penetrate the underworld of illegal pornography. The film turned out be a box office success, grossing $96 million worldwide, but found few admirers among critics. In 2006, Phoenix was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2007, Phoenix reunited with director James Gray for the film We Own the Night, which he also produced. In the film, Phoenix played a New York nightclub manager who tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men. The film premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide. Critic Peter Travers described Phoenix as "electrifying and then some", and he was awarded the People's Choice Award for Favorite Leading Man for the performance. For his second film of 2007, Phoenix also reunited with director Terry George for the film Reservation Road. In it, Phoenix played a father obsessed with finding out who killed his son in a hit-and-run accident. The film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from critics, with film critic Peter Travers writing "Even the best actors -- and I'd rank Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo among their generation's finest -- can't save a movie that aims for tragedy but stalls at soap opera." Phoenix made his third collaboration with director James Gray in the film Two Lovers (2008), where he played a bachelor torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor. Two Lovers premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May, receiving largely positive reviews, especially Phoenix who was praised by film critics David Edelstein who wrote "He [Phoenix] is, once again, stupendous, and stupendous in a way he has never been before" and Roger Ebert describing his performance as "perfect pitch". Two Lovers grossed $16 million worldwide. Phoenix's mockumentary film I'm Still Here (2010) premiered at the 67th Venice International Film Festival on September 6, 2010. The film was directed by Phoenix's then brother-in-law Casey Affleck and was also written by Affleck and Phoenix himself. The film purports to follow the life of Phoenix, from the announcement of his retirement from acting, through his transition into a career as a hip hop artist. Filming officially began on January 16, 2009 at a Las Vegas nightclub. Throughout the filming period, Phoenix remained in character for public appearances, giving many the impression that he was genuinely pursuing a new career. Although widely suspected to be a "mockumentary," the fact that the events of the film had been deliberately staged was not disclosed until after the film had been released. The film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office. After the releasing of the film, Phoenix took a self-imposed break from acting. Since 2006, he has been living on top of the Hollywood Hills. In early April 2005, Phoenix checked into rehab to be treated for alcoholism. On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix ran off the road and rolled his car. The crash was reportedly caused by brake failure. Shaken and confused, Phoenix heard a tapping on his window and a voice say, "Just relax." Unable to see the man, Phoenix replied, "I'm fine. I am relaxed." The man replied, "No, you're not," and stopped Phoenix from lighting a cigarette while gasoline was leaking into the car cabin. Phoenix then realized that the man was famed German film director Werner Herzog. While Herzog helped Phoenix out of the wreckage by breaking the back window of the car, bystanders phoned for an ambulance. Phoenix approached Herzog to express gratitude, but Herzog downplayed his heroism and returned to his home nearby. Phoenix unexpectedly announced in late 2008 that he had retired from acting to pursue a rapping career, and that the forthcoming Two Lovers would be his last film. On February 11, 2009, Phoenix appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman to promote Two Lovers. He seemed incoherent and was largely unresponsive towards David Letterman's questions about the film and his career plans. Phoenix appeared on Late Show again on September 22, 2010, and revealed that his "retirement" and eccentric behavior were for a mockumentary, I'm Still Here (2010), that he and Casey Affleck were filming. In October 2012, Phoenix proclaimed the Academy Awards to be "bullshit". He later gave an interview amending his earlier comments and acknowledging that the Oscars provide an important platform for many deserving filmmakers. He added more to the topic while on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2015, saying that he is uncomfortable receiving accolades for his work in films when he considers the filmmaking process to be a collaborative one. | Did he ever do anything stupid while drinking alcohol? | On January 26, 2006, while driving down a winding canyon road in Hollywood, Phoenix ran off the road and rolled his car. |
With the gold rush largely over by 1860, Melbourne continued to grow on the back of continuing gold mining, as the major port for exporting the agricultural products of Victoria, especially wool, and a developing manufacturing sector protected by high tariffs. An extensive radial railway network centred on Melbourne and spreading out across the suburbs and into the countryside was established from the late 1850s. Further major public buildings were begun in the 1860s and 1870s such as the Supreme Court, Government House, and the Queen Victoria Market. The central city filled up with shops and offices, workshops, and warehouses. Large banks and hotels faced the main streets, with fine townhouses in the east end of Collins Street, contrasting with tiny cottages down laneways within the blocks. The Aboriginal population continued to decline with an estimated 80% total decrease by 1863, due primarily to introduced diseases, particularly smallpox, frontier violence and dispossession from their lands. | What was one of the major agricultural products of Victoria around 1860? | wool |
PAL LaserDiscs have a slightly longer playing time than NTSC discs, but have fewer audio options. PAL discs only have two audio tracks, consisting of either two analog-only tracks on older PAL LDs, or two digital-only tracks on newer discs. In comparison, later NTSC LDs are capable of carrying four tracks (two analog and two digital). On certain releases, one of the analog tracks is used to carry a modulated AC-3 signal for 5.1 channel audio (for decoding and playback by newer LD players with an "AC-3 RF" output). However, older NTSC LDs made before 1984 (such as the original DiscoVision discs) only have two analog audio tracks. | Which has a longer playing time: PAL LaserDiscs or NTSC discs? | PAL LaserDiscs |
Eleanor Rigby, Historical artefacts: In the 1980s, a grave of an Eleanor Rigby was "discovered" in the graveyard of St Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, and a few yards away from that, another tombstone with the last name "McKenzie" scrawled across it. During their teenage years, McCartney and Lennon spent time sunbathing there, within earshot of where the two had met for the first time during a fete in 1957. Many years later, McCartney stated that the strange coincidence between reality and the lyrics could be a product of his subconscious (cryptomnesia), rather than being a meaningless fluke. An actual Eleanor Rigby was born on 29 August 1895 and lived in Liverpool, possibly in the suburb of Woolton, where she married a man named Thomas Woods on Boxing Day 1930. She died on 10 October 1939 of a brain haemorrhage at the age of 44 and was buried three days later. Regardless of whether this Eleanor was the inspiration for the song or not, her tombstone has become a landmark to Beatles fans visiting Liverpool. A digitised version was added to the 1995 music video for the Beatles' reunion song "Free as a Bird". In June 1990, McCartney donated to Sunbeams Music Trust a document dating from 1911 which had been signed by the 16-year-old Eleanor Rigby; this instantly attracted significant international interest from collectors because of the coincidental significance and provenance of the document. The nearly 100-year-old document was sold at auction in November 2008 for PS115,000. The Daily Telegraph reported that the uncovered document "is a 97-year-old salary register from Liverpool City Hospital". The name "E. Rigby" is printed on the register, and she is identified as a scullery maid. She also did many things for the Liverpool City Hospital. | What was the document that was sold? | 97-year-old salary register from Liverpool City Hospital |
Emilie Autumn, Influences and musical style: Her music encompasses a wide range of styles. Autumn's vocal range is contralto, but also has the ability to perform in the dramatic soprano range. Her vocal work has been compared to Tori Amos, Kate Bush, and The Creatures. She has released two instrumental albums (On a Day... and Laced/Unlaced), and four featuring her vocals: Enchant, Opheliac, A Bit o' This & That, and "Fight Like A Girl". The 2003 album Enchant drew on "new age chamber music, trip hop baroque, and experimental space pop". Autumn layers her voice frequently, and incorporates electronics and electronic effects into her work on Enchant; she also combines strings and piano for some songs, while others feature mainly the piano or violin. The 2006 release Opheliac featured "cabaret, electronic, symphonic, new age, and good ol' rock & roll (and heavy on the theatrical bombast)". A classically trained musician, Autumn is influenced by plays, novels, and history, particularly the Victorian era. She enjoys the works of Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and her husband Robert, and Edgar Allan Poe. She incorporates sounds resembling Victorian machinery such as locomotives, which she noted was "sort of a steampunk thing". While a young Autumn cited Itzhak Perlman as an influence because of the happiness she believed he felt when he played, her main musical influence and inspiration is the English violinist Nigel Kennedy. Her favorite singer is Morrissey from The Smiths. She takes inspiration for her songs from her life experiences and mixes in "layers and layers of references, connections, other stories and metaphors". Autumn describes her music and style as "Psychotic Vaudeville Burlesque". She alternatively labels her music and style as "Victoriandustrial'", a term she coined, and glam rock because of her use of glitter onstage. According to Autumn, her music "wasn't meant to be cutesy" and is labeled as "industrial" mainly because of her use of drums and yelling. Her adaption of "O Mistress Mine" was praised by author and theater director Barry Edelstein as "a ravishing, guaranteed tearjerker". For her live performances, which she calls dinner theatre because of her practice of throwing tea and tea-time snacks offstage, Autumn makes use of burlesque--"a show that was mainly using humour and sexuality to make a mockery of things that were going on socially and politically"--to counterbalance the morbid topics such as abuse and self-mutilation. She incorporates handmade costumes, fire tricks, theatrics, and a female backing band, The Bloody Crumpets: Veronica Varlow, Jill Evyn (Moth), and formerly The Blessed Contessa, Lady Aprella, Little Lucina, Lady Joo Hee, Captain Vecona, Little Miss Sugarless, Mistress Jacinda, and the model Ulorin Vex. Another crumpet, Captain Maggot, has taken a leave. Her wish for the live shows is to be an "anti-repression statement" and empowerment. | Where did she perform? | theater |
Nobuo Uematsu, Freelancer (2004-present): Uematsu left Square Enix in 2004 and formed his own production company, Smile Please. He later founded the music production company and record label Dog Ear Records in 2006. The reason for Uematsu's departure was that the company moved their office from Meguro to Shinjuku, Tokyo, and he was not comfortable with the new location. Also, he cites the fact that he had reached an age where he should gradually take his life into his own hands. He does, however, continue to compose music as a freelancer for Square Enix. In 2005, Uematsu and several members of The Black Mages created the score for the CGI film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Uematsu composed only the main theme for Final Fantasy XII (2006); he was originally offered the job of creating the full score, but Sakimoto was eventually assigned as the main composer instead. Uematsu was also initially going to create the theme song for Final Fantasy XIII (2010). However, after being assigned the task of creating the entire score of Final Fantasy XIV, Uematsu decided to hand the job over to the main Final Fantasy XIII composer, Hamauzu. Uematsu also works closely with Sakaguchi's development studio Mistwalker, and has composed for Blue Dragon (2006), Lost Odyssey (2007), Away: Shuffle Dungeon (2008); The Last Story (2011); and Terra Battle (2014). He also wrote music for the cancelled game Cry On. Uematsu created the main theme for the multi-composer game Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008. He then composed the music for the 2009 anime Guin Saga; this marked the first time he provided a full score for an animated series. Uematsu recently contributed music and storyline to an e-book titled called "Blik-0 1946". He is currently working on soundtracks for multiple games, including Project Phoenix. Uematsu appeared five times in the top 20 of the annual Classic FM Hall of Fame. In 2012, "Aerith's Theme", written by Uematsu for Final Fantasy VII, was voted into the number 16 position in the annual Classic FM (UK) "Hall of Fame" top 300 chart. It was the first time that a piece of music written for a video game had appeared in the chart. In 2013, music from the Final Fantasy series received even greater support and was voted into the third position on the Classic FM Hall of Fame. Uematsu and his Final Fantasy music subsequently appeared at number seven in 2014, number nine in 2015, and number 17 in 2016. | What happened in 2004 | Uematsu left Square Enix in 2004 and formed his own production company, |
The city of Bern or Berne (German: Bern, pronounced [bɛrn] ( listen); French: Berne [bɛʁn]; Italian: Berna [ˈbɛrna]; Romansh: Berna [ˈbɛrnɐ] (help·info); Bernese German: Bärn [b̥æːrn]) is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their (e.g. in German) Bundesstadt, or "federal city".[note 1] With a population of 140,634 (November 2015), Bern is the fifth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the Canton of Bern, the second most populous of Switzerland's cantons. | Bern is the capitol of which canton? | Canton of Bern |
The technical rules for the Japanese version of men's rhythmic gymnastics came around the 1970s. For individuals, only four types of apparatus are used: the double rings, the stick, the rope, and the clubs. Groups do not use any apparatus. The Japanese version includes tumbling performed on a spring floor. Points are awarded based a 10-point scale that measures the level of difficulty of the tumbling and apparatus handling. On November 27–29, 2003, Japan hosted first edition of the Men's Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship. | What apparatuses do groups use? | Groups do not use any apparatus |
Once (film), Critical response: Once was met with extremely positive reviews from critics. Upon its March 2007 release in Ireland, RTE's Caroline Hennessy gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and termed it "an unexpected treasure". About the acting, this Irish reviewer commented, "Once has wonderfully natural performances from the two leads. Although musicians first and actors second, they acquit themselves well in both areas. Irglova, a largely unknown quantity alongside the well-known and either loved or loathed Hansard, is luminous." Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, calling it "irresistibly appealing" and noting that "Carney makes the point - without ever labouring it - that his protagonists are living in a changing city where the economic boom has passed them by. His keen eye for authentic locations is ... evident". In May, on Ebert & Roeper, both Richard Roeper and guest critic Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave enthusiastic reviews. Phillips called it, "the most charming thing I've seen all year", "the Brief Encounter for the 21st century", his favorite music film since 1984's Stop Making Sense and said, "It may well be the best music film of our generation". Roeper referred to the film's recording studio scene as "more inspirational and uplifting than almost any number of Dreamgirls or Chicago or any of those multi-zillion dollar musical showstopping films. In its own way, it will blow you away." Once won very high marks from U.S. critics; it is rated 97% "fresh" by the film review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and scored a grade of 88 ("universal acclaim") according to Metacritic. In late 2007, Amy Simmons of Time Out London wrote, "Carney's highly charged, urban mise-en-scene with its blinking street lamps, vacant shops and dishevelled bed-sits provides ample poetic backdrop for the film's lengthy tracking shots, epitomised in a sequence where the Girl walks to the corner shop in pyjamas and slippers while listening to one of the Guy's songs on her personal stereo. With outstanding performances from Hansard and new-comer Irglova, Carney has created a sublime, visual album of unassuming and self-assured eloquence." The Telegraph's Sukhdev Sandhu said, "Not since Before Sunset has a romantic film managed to be as touching, funny or as hard to forget as Once. Like Before Sunset, it never outstays its welcome, climaxing on a note of rare charm and unexpectedness." The film appeared on many North American critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007: In 2008, the film placed third on Entertainment Weekly's "25 Best Romantic Movies of the Past 25 Years". | did it get any other good reviews | Michael Dwyer of The Irish Times gave the film the same rating, |
Particularly since the mid-1960s there have been advances in understanding of the physics of plant physiological processes such as transpiration (the transport of water within plant tissues), the temperature dependence of rates of water evaporation from the leaf surface and the molecular diffusion of water vapour and carbon dioxide through stomatal apertures. These developments, coupled with new methods for measuring the size of stomatal apertures, and the rate of photosynthesis have enabled precise description of the rates of gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere. Innovations in statistical analysis by Ronald Fisher, Frank Yates and others at Rothamsted Experimental Station facilitated rational experimental design and data analysis in botanical research. The discovery and identification of the auxin plant hormones by Kenneth V. Thimann in 1948 enabled regulation of plant growth by externally applied chemicals. Frederick Campion Steward pioneered techniques of micropropagation and plant tissue culture controlled by plant hormones. The synthetic auxin 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid or 2,4-D was one of the first commercial synthetic herbicides. | What enables the regulation of plant growth? | auxin plant hormones |
Sonata Arctica, Formation and early years (1996-1999): The band was founded by Marko Paasikoski (guitar), Jani Liimatainen (guitar) and Tommy Portimo (drums) in Kemi at the end of 1995 (Tony Kakko (vocals) and Pentti Peura (bass) joined in early 1996). Originally named Tricky Beans, they played hard rock rather than the power metal with which they grew to fame. Kakko explained that when he was invited to join the band, Paasikoski said the band was going to play "a mixture of Megadeth and Spin Doctors". During their early career, they recorded three demos which were never sent to a recording label -- Friend 'til the End, Agre Pamppers and PeaceMaker. According to Kakko, the band's first name was based on one of their early songs, which was "about a lady who was tricky and I didn't really know what I was talking about (laughs)". Their first show was about to take place but they were still unnamed, so they had to come up with something. In 1997 the band changed their name to Tricky Means, and from that point until 1999 their style was thoroughly worked upon and ultimately was drastically changed, acquiring a strong emphasis on the keyboard melodies and relying on an easily distinguishable rhythm line maintained both by the bass and the guitar. Vocalist Tony Kakko developed a clean singing style which relies both on falsetto and tenor voices. Kakko has stated that the change of sound was influenced by fellow Finnish power metal band Stratovarius. At that time, Pentti Peura was fired and Marko Paasikoski left due to a lack of gigging. Two months later the band got signed to a three-album deal with Spinefarm, which left Marko displeased. The band finally changed their name to Sonata Arctica, because they thought they wouldn't be able to sell metal albums with the previous name and also because Spinefarm asked them to do so. "Sonata Arctica" was suggested by a friend of the band: "sonata" for the music and "arctica" for their home (Kemi, in Northern Finland). In 1997, they recorded a demo entitled FullMoon in Kemi's Tico Tico Studios, which was their first real metal recording. The line-up consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Tony Kakko, guitarist Jani Liimatainen, new bassist Janne Kivilahti (who started first as second guitarist) and drummer Tommy Portimo. The demo was sent to Spinefarm Records by a friend of the band and a recording deal soon followed. | What label were they with? | Spinefarm, |
Philippa York, Early life and amateur career: York was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, as Robert Millar. At one time destined for a career as a factory engineer, York attended Shawlands Academy in the south of the city. In 2017, York revealed that she had first felt "different" aged five, but was unaware that this difference came from discomfort with her gender. She initially began riding for Glenmarnock Wheelers cycling club and quickly established herself as a leading amateur road racing rider. As Robert Millar, she was a relatively small man meaning she had comparatively less weight to carry uphill and she excelled as a specialist hill and mountain cyclist. She won the Scottish junior title in 1976 and was Scottish hill-climb champion the following year. In 1978, York established herself on the British scene. She was twenty-first in the Milk Race, and won the British amateur road race championship. She moved to France in 1979 to join the Athletic Club de Boulogne Billancourt (A.C.B.B.), one of Europe's top amateur teams. York was as ever focused and quickly began winning races such the Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers. This success brought her the admiration of her A.C.B.B. manager Claude Escalon. In 1979, after retaining her British road title, taking fourth place in the world amateur road championship, claiming five wins in France and winning the French 'Best Amateur' Trophy, she turned professional for the Peugeot cycling team, and as a climbing specialist focused on single-day road races and stage races in hilly or mountainous terrain. York was happy to travel abroad and wasn't homesick. As Millar, she married a French woman and lived with her in France. | did Philippa win any other trophies? | British road title, |
The data indicate that the individual was from a population directly ancestral to present South American and Central American Native American populations, and closely related to present North American Native American populations. The implication is that there was an early divergence between North American and Central American plus South American populations. Hypotheses which posit that invasions subsequent to the Clovis culture overwhelmed or assimilated previous migrants into the Americas were ruled out. | What does the data indicate about the population the individual was from? | directly ancestral |
The topic of language for writers from Dalmatia and Dubrovnik prior to the 19th century made a distinction only between speakers of Italian or Slavic, since those were the two main groups that inhabited Dalmatian city-states at that time. Whether someone spoke Croatian or Serbian was not an important distinction then, as the two languages were not distinguished by most speakers. This has been used as an argument to state that Croatian literature Croatian per se, but also includes Serbian and other languages that are part of Serbo-Croatian, These facts undermine the Croatian language proponents' argument that modern-day Croatian is based on a language called Old Croatian. | Today's Croatian language has its roots in what other language? | Old Croatian |
Bernie Leadon, Early life and musical beginnings: Leadon was born in Minneapolis, one of ten siblings, to Dr. Bernard Leadon Jr. and Ann Teresa (nee Sweetser) Leadon, devout Roman Catholics. His father was an aerospace engineer and nuclear physicist whose career moved the family around the U.S. The family enjoyed music and, at an early age, Bernie developed an interest in folk and bluegrass music. He eventually mastered the 5-string banjo, mandolin and acoustic guitar. As a young teen he moved with his family to San Diego, where he met fellow musicians Ed Douglas and Larry Murray of the local bluegrass outfit, the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers. The Barkers proved a breeding ground for future California country rock talent, including shy, 18-year-old mandolin player Chris Hillman, with whom Leadon maintained a lifelong friendship. Augmented by banjo player (and future Flying Burrito Brother) Kenny Wertz, the Squirrel Barkers eventually asked Leadon to join the group, upon Wertz's joining the Air Force in 1963. His stint in the Scottsville Squirrel Barkers did not last long. In late 1963, his family once again relocated to Gainesville, Florida, when his father accepted a position as Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida. Leadon attended Gainesville High School, where he met classmate and future Eagles lead guitarist Don Felder, whose band, the Continentals, had just lost guitarist Stephen Stills. Upon Leadon's joining the group, rechristened Maundy Quintet, they gigged locally, even sharing the bill with future Gainesville legend Tom Petty and his early band the Epics (a band that also included Bernie's brother, musician Tom Leadon). A call from ex-Squirrel Barker Larry Murray in 1967, to join his fledgling psychedelic country-folk group, Hearts & Flowers, was enticing enough for Leadon to return to California, where he soon became involved with the burgeoning L.A. folk/country rock scene. Leadon recorded one album with the band, their second release Of Horses, Kids, and Forgotten Women for Capitol Records. The record was a local hit but failed to make much of a dent on the national album charts. Discouraged, the group disbanded the following year. | What instrument did he play in that band ? | banjo |
In 1941, Nasser was posted to Khartoum, Sudan, which was part of Egypt at the time. Nasser returned to Sudan in September 1942 after a brief stay in Egypt, then secured a position as an instructor in the Cairo Royal Military Academy in May 1943. In 1942, the British Ambassador Miles Lampson marched into King Farouk's palace and ordered him to dismiss Prime Minister Hussein Sirri Pasha for having pro-Axis sympathies. Nasser saw the incident as a blatant violation of Egyptian sovereignty and wrote, "I am ashamed that our army has not reacted against this attack", and wished for "calamity" to overtake the British. Nasser was accepted into the General Staff College later that year. He began to form a group of young military officers with strong nationalist sentiments who supported some form of revolution. Nasser stayed in touch with the group's members primarily through Amer, who continued to seek out interested officers within the Egyptian Armed Force's various branches and presented Nasser with a complete file on each of them. | Who was Nasser's contact in the armed forces, giving Nasser dossiers? | Amer |
Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record: In June 2009, the band played a short set to launch This Book Is Broken at the North by Northeast festival. They played a mix of new songs from their then-upcoming album and old favourites, and were joined by Feist, who also joined them on their second visit to Mexico City in October. During the band's free performance at the Harbourfront Centre on July 11, 2009, they were joined by nearly all past contributors, including Feist, Emily Haines and James Shaw, Amy Millan and Evan Cranley, John Crossingham, Jason Collett and Julie Penner. This revue-like show celebrated other projects by members as well as including material from the then-upcoming album. Emcee Bruce McDonald announced the filming of a documentary directed by him and written by Don McKellar, Titled This Movie Is Broken, it includes concert footage and a fictional romance. Although McDonald announced at the concert that film submitted by fans would be used in the movie, the final cut of the movie included only one submission, a front-row recording of "Major Label Debut". Broken Social Scene released their fourth full-length album on May 4, 2010. Entitled Forgiveness Rock Record, it was recorded at Soma in Chicago, with John McEntire producing, and in Toronto at the studio of Sebastian Grainger and James Shaw. For the first time, Amy Millan, Emily Haines, and Leslie Feist recorded a track together (albeit at different times). This album was short-listed for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize. In August 2010, Broken Social Scene initiated their "All to All" remix series, which included seven different versions of the track from Forgiveness Rock Record. Every Monday a new remix was released and available for 24 hours via a different online partner. The first version, "All to All (Sebastien Sexy Legs Grainger Remix)", by Sebastien Grainger, was released August 9 via Pitchfork. | was the album successful? | This album was short-listed for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize. |