Member of Parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. By the end of the strike, ten prisoners had starved themselves to death including Sands, and 100,000 people attended his funeral. The strike radicalised nationalist politics, and was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party. (more...
Hellenistic and Roman collectors of myths, but there is no record of him comparable to that of other Greek heroes, such as that of Jason in the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes or in Euripides' Medea. The remaining fragments of legend have provided a fertile field for speculation about the prehistory of Greek myth. Ancient sources tell several different stories about Orion. There are two major versions of his birth and several main versions of his death. The most important recorded episodes are his birth somewhere in Boeotia, his visit to Chios where he met Merope and was blinded by her father, Oenopion, the recovery of his sight at Lemnos, his hunting with Artemis on Crete, his death by the blow of Artemis or of the giant scorpion which became Scorpio, and his elevation to the heavens. (more...
binary system because the barycentre of their orbits does not lie within either body. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has yet to formalise a definition for binary dwarf planets, and until it passes such a ruling, Charon is classified as a moon of Pluto. Pluto has two known smaller moons, Nix and Hydra, discovered in 2005. From the time of its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was counted as the Solar System's ninth planet. (more...
specialized breeds of guinea pig, with varying coat colors and compositions, are cultivated by breeders. "Guinea pig" is also used as a by-word in English for a subject of experimentation; this usage became common in the first half of the twentieth century. Biological experimentation on guinea pigs has been carried out since the seventeenth century; the animals were frequently used as a model organism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but have since been largely replaced by other rodents such as mice and rats. (more...
at least eighty-five people for political reasons. Most of those killed were members of the "Storm Division" (SA), a Nazi paramilitary organization. Adolf Hitler moved against the SA and its leader, Ernst Röhm, because he saw the independence of the SA and the penchant of its members for street violence as a direct threat to his power. Hitler also wanted to forestall any move by army leaders, who both feared and despised the SA, to curtail his rule. Finally, Hitler used the purge to act against conservative critics of his regime, especially those loyal to Vice-Chancellor Franz von Papen, and to settle scores with old enemies. The Schutzstaffel (SS), an elite Nazi corps, and the regime's secret police, or Gestapo, carried out most of the killings. The purge strengthened and consolidated the support of the army, or Reichswehr, for Hitler. The phrase "Night of the Long Knives" in the German language predates the massacre itself, and until it became synonymous with the purge, it referred generally to acts of vengeance. (more...
narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1590 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the sixteenth century. Next he wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, producing plays, such as Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime; and in 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's. Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day; but his reputation would not rise to its present heights until the nineteenth century. (more...
shoegazer-style production and, in later recordings, electronica. Frontman Billy Corgan is the group's primary songwriter—his grand musical ambitions and cathartic lyrics have shaped the band's albums and songs, which have been described as "anguished, bruised reports from Billy Corgan's nightmare-land." With approximately 18.3 million albums sold in the United States alone as of 2006, The Smashing Pumpkins were one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands of the 1990s. However, internal fighting, drug use, and diminishing sales hampered the band and led to a 2000 break-up. In April 2006, the band officially announced that they were reuniting and recording a new album. (more...
guided missile. The growing range of engagement led to the battleship's replacement as the leading type of warship by the aircraft carrier during World War II, being retained into the Cold War only by the United States Navy for fire support purposes. These last battleships were removed from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register in March 2006. (more...
cut scenes to advance the game's plot, and integrating multiple stages into the gameplay. Despite initial misgivings on the part of Nintendo's American staff, Donkey Kong proved a tremendous success in both North America and Japan. Nintendo licensed the game to Coleco, who developed home console versions for numerous platforms. (more...
M dwarf star due to its proximity and favourable location for observation near the celestial equator. Research has focused on stellar characteristics, astrometry, and refining the limits of possible planets. It has also been the subject of some controversy. For a decade from the early 1960s onward, an erroneous discovery of a planet or planets in orbit around Barnard's Star was accepted by astronomers. The star is notable as the target for a study on the possibility of rapid, unmanned travel to nearby star systems. (more...
ranked third in the world. The history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official Test match. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship (now the Six Nations) which started in 1883. England players traditionally wear white shorts, navy socks with white tops, and a white shirt with a red rose embroidered on it. Their home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910. The team is administered by the Rugby Football Union. Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame. (more...
substrates. These target molecules bind to an enzyme's active site and are transformed into products through a series of steps known as the enzymatic mechanism. The study of an enzyme's kinetics provides insights into the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme, its role in metabolism, how its activity is controlled in the cell and how drugs and poisons can inhibit its activity. Knowledge of the enzyme's structure is helpful in visualizing the kinetic data. (more...
Ben Gurion International Airport, El Al operates regular international passenger and cargo flights to Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America as well as local flights to Eilat. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has steadily grown, and now serves 48 destinations on four continents. As the national carrier, El Al has played an important role in Israel's humanitarian rescue efforts, airlifting Jews from Ethiopia, Yemen, and other countries where their lives were in danger. The airline holds the world record for the highest number of passengers on a commercial aircraft, a record set by Operation Solomon, when Jewish refugees were brought over from Ethiopia. El Al is regarded as the most secure airline in the world, after foiling many attempted hijackings and terror attacks through its vigilant security protocols. (more...
1996. It produced heavy rainfall and strong winds, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of houses and leaving up to 500,000 homeless. Nine died as a result of the cyclone. (more...
Baseball Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. He led the American League in home runs (33), runs batted in (138) and extra-base hits (79) in 1925. Nicknamed "Long Bob" because of his height, Meusel hit a .309 career batting average while making 368 doubles, 94 triples, 156 home runs, and driving in 1,067 runs in his career. Meusel played his entire career with the Yankees, with the exception of the 1930 season in which he played for the Cincinnati Reds. He drove in 100 runs five times and hit .300 seven times. He hit for the cycle a record-tying three times. His brother, Irish, was a star outfielder in the National League. He had a comparable career batting average (.310) but, unlike Meusel, he had a weak throwing arm which prevented him from being a great outfielder. (more...
petrified bamboos that were preserved underground in a dry northern habitat that did not support their growth in his time. Shen Kuo wrote extensively about movable typeprinting invented by Bi Sheng, and because of his written works the legacy of Bi Sheng and the modern understanding of the earliest movable type has been handed down to later generations. (more...
social welfare of young women and as a female counterpart to the Boy Scouts of America. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and is based on the Scouting principles developed by Robert Baden-Powell. The GSUSA uses the Scout method to build self-esteem and to teach values such as honesty, fairness, courage, compassion, character, sisterhood, confidence, and citizenship through activities including camping, community service, learning first aid, and earning numerous badges that can teach lifelong skills. Girl Scouts are recognized for their achievements through rank advancement and various special awards. GSUSA has programs for girls with special interests, such as water-based activities. Membership is organized according to age levels with activities appropriate to each age group. (more...
vehicle to grid applications. As of September 2007, plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles are not yet in production. However, Toyota, General Motors, Ford, and Chinese automaker BYD Auto have announced their intention to introduce production PHEV automobiles. (more...
Samuel J. Loomis's efforts to track and kill Myers. Stylistically, the sequel reproduces certain key elements that made the original Halloween a success such as first-person camera perspectives and unexceptional settings. The film, however, departs significantly from the original by incorporating more graphic violence and gore, making it imitate more closely other films in the emerging splatter film sub-genre. Still, Halloween II was not as successful as the original, even though it grossed $25.5 million at the box office in the United States despite its $2.5 million budget. Halloween II was intended to be the last chapter of the Halloween series to revolve around Michael Myers and the Haddonfield setting, but after the lacklustre reaction to Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Myers returned in the film Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). (more...
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