gramophone seriously, he conducted a series of recordings of his works between 1914 and 1925. Elgar's music came, in his later years, to be seen as appealing chiefly to British audiences. More recently, some of his works have been taken up again internationally, but the music remains more played in Britain than elsewhere. (more...
reboot, establishing a new timeline and narrative framework not meant to precede or succeed any previous Bond film. Casting the film involved a widespread search for a new actor to portray James Bond, and significant controversy around Craig when he was selected to succeed Pierce Brosnan. It is the third screen adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1953 novel of the same name. The film received largely positive critical response, with reviewers highlighting Craig's performance and the reinvention of the character of Bond. It earned over $594 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing James Bond film to date. (more...
exponent by which a fixed number, the base, has to be raised to produce that number. For example, the logarithm of 1000 to base 10 is 3, because 1000 is 10 to the power 3: 1000 = 103 = 10 × 10 × 10. Logarithms were introduced by John Napier in the early 17th century as a means to simplify calculations. They were rapidly adopted by scientists and engineers to perform computations using slide rules and logarithm tables. These devices rely on the fact—important in its own right—that the logarithm of a product is the sum of the logarithms of the factors. Logarithmic scales reduce wide-ranging quantities to smaller scopes. For example, the decibel is a logarithmic unit quantifying sound pressure and voltage ratios. Logarithms describe musical intervals, measure the complexity of algorithms, and appear in formulas counting prime numbers. They also inform some models in psychophysics and can aid in forensic accounting. (more...
Diplo, and Richard X. The album's title is the political code name used by her father, Arul Pragasam, during his involvement with Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups, and themes of conflict and revolution feature heavily in the lyrics and artwork. Musically, the album incorporates styles that range from hip hop and electroclash to funk carioca and punk rock. Arular was hailed by critics for its blending of styles and integration of political lyrics into dance tunes. Several publications named it as one of the best albums of the year, and by mid-2007, the album had sold 129,000 copies in the US. Arular spawned the singles "Sunshowers", "Bucky Done Gun" and "Galang", which was released twice. (more...
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California's 12th congressional district election, 1946 – Casino Royale
silverware industry. Today, the city's economy has shifted into the service industries, though it still retains significant manufacturing activity. (more...
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California's 12th congressional district election, 1946
Phil Hartman (1948–1998) was a Canadian-born American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was ten. After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in graphic arts, he designed album covers for bands such as Poco and America. Hartman joined the comedy group The Groundlings in 1975 and there helped comedian Paul Reubens develop his character Pee-wee Herman. Hartman co-wrote the screenplay for the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and made recurring appearances on Reubens' show Pee-wee's Playhouse. Hartman became well-known in the late 1980s when he joined the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. He won fame for his impressions, particularly of President Bill Clinton, and stayed on the show for eight seasons. In 1995, after scrapping plans for his own variety show, he starred as Bill McNeal in the NBC sitcom NewsRadio. He also had frequent roles on The Simpsons as Lionel Hutz, Troy McClure, and others. On May 28, 1998, Hartman was shot and killed by his wife while he slept in their California home. In the weeks following his death, Hartman was celebrated in a wave of tributes. Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly opined that Hartman was "the last person you'd expect to read about in lurid headlines in your morning paper ... a decidedly regular guy, beloved by everyone he worked with". (more...)
Late Egyptian first appeared in writing. Scribes of the New Kingdom canonized and copied many literary texts written in Middle Egyptian, which remained the language used for oral readings of sacred hieroglyphic texts. Ancient Egyptian literature has been preserved on a wide variety of media, including papyrus scrolls and packets, limestone or ceramic ostraca, wooden writing boards, monumental stone edifices and coffins. Hidden caches of literature, buried for thousands of years, have been discovered in settlements on the dry desert margins of Egyptian civilization. (more...
dreaming") about two sisters, known as Kungka Kutjarra. She was a member of the Papunya Tula Artists Cooperative, but her work has been described as more spontaneous than that of her fellow Papunya Tula artists. (more...
2009 nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. While the tribute concerts were popular and the album was well-received by critics, album sales were limited. Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall managed to chart in three nations, peaking at number 84 in Belgium, number 88 in the Netherlands, and number 171 on the United States' Billboard 200. (more...
Army coup toppled and killed Diệm in November. The self-immolation is widely seen as the turning point of the Vietnamese Buddhist crisis, which led to the change in regime. (more...
Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in 1991, Cyan's largest project to date, and released it for the Macintosh computer in 1993. Myst puts the player in the role of the "Stranger", who uses a special book to travel to the island of Myst. There, the player uses other special books written by an artisan and explorer named Atrus to travel to worlds known as "Ages". Clues found in each Age help to reveal the back-story of the game's characters. The game has several endings, depending on the player's course of action. On release, Myst was a surprise hit, with critics lauding its ability to immerse the player in a fictional world. The game was the best-selling PC game of all time—until The Sims exceeded its sales in 2002—and helped to drive the adoption of the then-nascent CD-ROM format. Myst's success spawned four direct video-game sequels and several spin-off games and novels. (more...
extratropical on June 14. Across the western Caribbean, the storm produced heavy rainfall, causing minor damage. In Florida, a moderate storm tide caused coastal damage and flooding, while Alberto's outer rainbands produced several tornadoes. Alberto was indirectly responsible for two drownings off the coast of Tampa Bay. In North Carolina, heavy rainfall caused locally severe flooding (pictured), and one child drowned after being sucked into a flooded storm drain near Raleigh. The remnants of Alberto produced strong winds and left four people missing in Atlantic Canada. Overall, damage was minor along Alberto's path. (more...
Adrian Cole (1895–1966) was a founding member of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1921, and became one of its senior commanders. Having joined the army at the outbreak of World War I, Cole transferred to the Australian Flying Corps in 1916 and flew with No. 1 Squadron in the Middle East and No. 2 Squadron on the Western Front. He became an "ace", credited with victories over 10 enemy aircraft, and earned the Military Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1935, "King" Cole gained promotion to group captain. The following year he was appointed as the first commanding officer of Headquarters RAAF Station Richmond. During World War II, Cole led North-Western Area Command in Australia's most northerly city, Darwin, and held a series of overseas posts in North Africa, England, Northern Ireland, and Ceylon. As Forward Air Controller during the Dieppe Raid in 1942, he was wounded in action and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. Cole died in 1966 at the age of 70. (more...)
genetic mutations in genes that code for certain ion channels that transport electrolytes (sodium and potassium) across cell membranes. Treatment of the hypokalemia, followed by correction of the hyperthyroidism, leads to complete resolution of the attacks. It occurs predominantly in males of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Korean descent. Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis is one of several conditions that can cause periodic paralysis. (more...
volcanic hazard—ranging from minor ashfalls to pyroclastic flows—could pose a significant risk to humans and wildlife. Despite its current inactivity, Cerro Azul could produce another major eruption. (more...
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First Roumanian-American congregation – Adrian Cole
Habsburg collections until the 1860s, when it was replaced by a forgery during a restoration by an art dealer, which was not discovered until the 1920s. The reliquary has been described as "one of the supreme achievements of medieval European metalwork", and is currently part of a special exhibition of medieval religious treasures at the British Museum, which opens today. (more...
Wigstan, a 9th-century Mercian king. In 709 Coenred abdicated and went on pilgrimage to Rome, where he later died. Æthelred's son Ceolred succeeded Coenred as king of Mercia. (more...
the scuttling of the fleet. However, British sailors in the harbor managed to board Baden and beach her to prevent her sinking. The ship was re-floated, thoroughly examined, and eventually sunk in extensive gunnery testing by the Royal Navy in 1921. (more...
Fellows' Library, restored in 2007, which contains 11,000 antiquarian books. Further buildings were erected in a third quadrangle during the 20th century, including science laboratories, a new library, and additional accommodation. A project to build new student and teaching rooms opposite the college was completed in 2010. (more...
flyby of Uranus performed by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986, which managed to image 35% of the moon's surface. There are no plans at present to return to study the moon in more detail. After Miranda, Ariel is the second-smallest of Uranus's five round satellites, and the second-closest to its planet. Among the smallest of the Solar System's 19 known spherical moons (it ranks 14th among them in diameter), Ariel is composed of roughly equal parts ice and rocky material. Like all of Uranus's moons, Ariel probably formed from an accretion disk that surrounded the planet shortly after its formation, and, like other large moons, it may be differentiated, with an inner core of rock surrounded by a mantle of ice. Ariel has a complex surface comprising extensive cratered terrain cross-cut by a system of scarps, canyons and ridges. The surface shows signs of more recent geological activity than other Uranian moons, most likely due to tidal heating. (more...
Playing with Fire made allegations that he had been sexually abused by former coach Graham James. Since overcoming his addictions, Fleury has become a businessman, played two professional baseball games for the Calgary Vipers and embarked on a career as a motivational speaker encouraging sexual abuse victims to speak out. (more...
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