Question: Who dies at the start of Deathly Hallows Part 1?

In the opening scenes of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1," several significant events unfold. The Order of the Phoenix orchestrates a complex operation to safely transport Harry Potter from his aunt and uncle's home, using Polyjuice Potion to create multiple decoys. Unfortunately, during this perilous journey, the group is attacked by Death Eaters, resulting in the tragic deaths of Mad-Eye Moody and Hedwig, Harry's beloved owl. Additionally, George Weasley is injured, and Hagrid is temporarily incapacitated. Upon reaching the Burrow, Harry experiences a vision of Ollivander being tormented by Voldemort. The following day, Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, arrives to read Albus Dumbledore's will. He distributes three items to Harry, Ron, and Hermione: Ron receives Dumbledore's Deluminator, Hermione gets a copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," and Harry is given the first Golden Snitch he ever caught during a Quidditch match. Scrimgeour also mentions that Harry was supposed to inherit the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, but he claims the sword was not Dumbledore's to give and is currently missing.

Harris appeared in two films which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. First, as the gunfighter "English Bob" in the Western Unforgiven (1992); second, as the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000). He also played a lead role alongside James Earl Jones in the Darrell Roodt film adaptation of Cry, the Beloved Country (1995). In 1999, Harris starred in the film To Walk with Lions. After Gladiator, Harris played the supporting role of Albus Dumbledore in the first two of the Harry Potter films, and as Abbé Faria in Kevin Reynolds' film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). The film Kaena: The Prophecy (2003) was dedicated to him posthumously as he had voiced the character Opaz before his death.

In 1928, George plans to leave on a world tour and then attend college. At Harry's high-school graduation party, he is reintroduced to Mary Hatch, who has had a crush on him from childhood. Their walk home is interrupted by news that George's father, Peter, has died of a stroke. George postpones his travel so he can sort out the family business, Bailey Brothers' Building and Loan. Henry F. Potter, the richest man in town, wishes to dissolve the Building and Loan to eliminate it as a competitor. The board of directors votes to keep the Building and Loan open, on condition that George stay to run it (along with his absent-minded uncle Billy). George gives his college tuition to Harry on the condition that Harry take over the Building and Loan when he returns.

At Del's insistence, he and Rodney go to the party dressed as Batman and Robin respectively, but their Reliant Regal van breaks down halfway there and they have to run the rest of the way. En route they interrupt an attempt to mug Councillor Murray and, emerging from the fog dressed as Batman and Robin, promptly scare away the thieves. Del and Rodney arrive at the party, unaware that the publican, Harry Malcolm, had in fact died the day before and the fancy dress has thus been cancelled in favour of a wake (a fact that Boycie, who met them in the doorway, "forgot" to mention), and they burst into the main room singing the Batman theme tune.

They target the wealthy Frank Griga (Michael Rispoli), who owns a phone sex operation. After a promising discussion at Griga's mansion, the gang invites Griga and his wife Krisztina Furton (Keili Lefkovitz) to Doorbal's home to propose an investment scheme. Griga insists on meeting with someone more senior and questions Lugo's amateurish business savvy. This angers Lugo, who attacks Griga and accidentally kills him. Krisztina discovers this and tries to shoot Lugo, but Doorbal injects her with a potent horse tranquilizer. Lugo and Doyle try to use the combination obtained from a heavily sedated Krisztina to open a safe at her and Griga's home, but the combination does not work. When Krisztina rouses and tries to escape, Doorbal gives her a second injection, accidentally causing her to fatally overdose.

Rowling revealed in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that young Merope Gaunt made efforts to get as close to Tom as she could, peering at him through the windows and bushes at every opportunity. Morfin noticed his sister's affection for Tom and hexed him as he rode by, covering him in hives. This breach of wizarding law, and the ensuing violent struggle with Ministry of Magic officials, led to Marvolo and Morfin being imprisoned in Azkaban. As surmised by Dumbledore, once Merope was alone and no longer dominated by her father, she could make her move for Tom. Merope offered Tom a drink laced with a love potion as he rode by one day without his attractive companion, Cecilia. He became infatuated with Merope and they eloped. Within three months of the marriage, Merope became pregnant. Merope decided to stop giving Tom the love potion, having come to the belief such enchantment of a man was tantamount to slavery. She also revealed her witch status to Tom, believing either that he had fallen in love with her on his own or he would at least stay for their unborn child. She was wrong, and Tom quickly left his pregnant wife and went home to his parents, claiming to have been "hoodwinked" and tricked into marrying Merope.[20] Tom Marvolo Riddle, their son, was born on 31 December 1926[52] and was left to grow up in an orphanage, as Merope had died soon after giving birth.

In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, young Grindelwald is portrayed by Jamie Campbell Bower[14] while the older Grindelwald is played by Michael Byrne. In the film, unlike in the book, Grindelwald reveals to Voldemort the whereabouts of the Elder Wand.

Voldemort appears at the climax of the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, having again plotted against Harry.[18] In this book, Harry goes through extreme emotional stress, and according to Rowling, it was necessary to prove that Harry is emotionally vulnerable and thus human, in contrast to his nemesis Voldemort, who is emotionally invulnerable and thus inhuman: "[Harry is] a very human hero, and this is, obviously, there’s a contrast, between him, as a very human hero, and Voldemort, who has deliberately dehumanised himself. […] and Harry, therefore, did have to reach a point where he did almost break down."[19] In this book, Voldemort makes liberal use of the Ministry of Magic's refusal to believe that he has returned.[17] Voldemort engineers a plot to free Bellatrix Lestrange and other Death Eaters from Azkaban and then embarks on a scheme to retrieve the full record of a prophecy stored in the Department of Mysteries regarding Harry and himself. He sends a group of Death Eaters to retrieve the prophecy, where the Order of the Phoenix meets them. All but Bellatrix are captured, and Voldemort engages in a ferocious duel with Dumbledore. When Dumbledore gets the upper hand, Voldemort attempts to possess Harry but finds that he cannot; Harry is too full of that which Voldemort finds incomprehensible, and which he detests as weakness: love. Sensing that Dumbledore could win, Voldemort disapparates, but not before the Minister for Magic sees him in person, making his return to life public knowledge in the next book.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (released in the United States as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)[5] is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.[4] It is based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the long-running Harry Potter film series, and was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. Its story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as he discovers that he is a famous wizard and begins his education. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.

One night Lena calls Doug over to house, where he finds Elliot dead on the floor. Lena claims he attacked her and she accidentally killed him when she fought back. After some major trepidation on Doug's part, Lena convinces him to help her cover up her part in Elliot's death. Soon after an insurance investigator named Angie Alvarez (Kandyse McClure) shows up to investigate Elliot's death, due to the large settlement of 10 million dollars Lena is now set to receive from his life insurance. Suspicion quickly falls on Doug, and he grows nervous from the increased attention on him by both Angie and the town Sheriff (Paul Sorvino). Eventually he realizes that Lena has been manipulating him this whole time, intending to frame him for Elliot's murder; she claims that instead of a consensual affair Doug had been stalking her and raped her, and then killed Elliot in a jealous rage. Doug's attempts to prove his innocence are thwarted at every turn, presumably by Lena. For example, a gardener of the Harper's who had seen Doug and Lena together turns up murdered before the police can talk to him.

Pomona Sprout is Professor of Herbology and the Head of Hufflepuff House. She is described as a dumpy little witch with flyaway grey hair who wears a patched, frayed hat and shabby robes, often covered in dirt due to the time she spends tending plants in the Hogwarts greenhouses. Sprout is introduced in Philosopher's Stone, but she plays no active role until Chamber of Secrets, in which she teaches her second year students to work with Mandrake plants. She is responsible for raising the Mandrakes to full maturity, at which point their juice is used to revive the petrified victims of the basilisk.


Question: What is the meaning behind the song "Love Me, I'm a Liberal"?

"Love Me, I'm a Liberal," a satirical track by Phil Ochs, a renowned American protest singer, was initially featured on his 1966 live album, Phil Ochs in Concert. This song quickly became one of his most popular live performances, known for its humorous take on the gap between the words and actions of liberals.

The song is a slow funk groove number.[1] During recording, the Bee Gees played a prank on their manager Robert Stigwood, sending him a version with the line "backwards and forwards with my cock hanging out" to see if he was paying attention to their work.[2] For the released version, the line is "backwards and forwards with my heart hanging out".

"Make You Feel My Love" is a song written by Bob Dylan from his album Time Out of Mind (1997). It was first released commercially by Billy Joel, under the title "To Make You Feel My Love", before Dylan's version appeared later that same year. It has since been covered by numerous performers and has proved to be a commercial success for recording artists such as Adele, Garth Brooks, Bryan Ferry, Kelly Clarkson and Ane Brun. Two covers of the song (one by Garth Brooks and one by Trisha Yearwood) were featured on the soundtrack of the 1998 film Hope Floats.[1] Dylan eventually released the song as a single.

In the song, Bono included the lyric: "Jara sang, his song a weapon in the hands of love / You know his blood still cries from the ground". This refers to the Chilean political activist and folk singer Víctor Jara, who became a symbol of the resistance against the Augusto Pinochet military dictatorship after he was tortured and killed during the 1973 Chilean coup d'état.[19] Bono learned of Jara after meeting René Castro, a Chilean mural artist, while on Amnesty International's A Conspiracy of Hope tour. Castro had been tortured and held in a concentration camp for two years by the military because his artwork criticised the Pinochet-led regime that had seized power in 1973 during the coup.[20] While purchasing a silkscreen of Martin Luther King, Jr. that Castro had created, Bono noticed a print of Jara.[19][21] He became more familiar with him after reading Una Canción Truncada (An Unfinished Song), written by Jara's widow Joan Turner.[19]

Urish and Bielen criticised the song's instrumental music as overly sentimental and melodramatic, comparing it to the music of the pre-rock era and describing the vocal melody as understated.[54] According to Blaney, Lennon's lyrics describe hypothetical possibilities that offer no practical solutions; lyrics that are at times nebulous and contradictory, asking the listener to abandon political systems while encouraging one similar to communism.[6] Author Chris Ingham indicated the hypocrisy in Lennon, the millionaire rock star living in a mansion, encouraging listeners to imagine living their lives without possessions.[55] Others argue that Lennon intended the song's lyrics to inspire listeners to imagine if the world could live without possessions, not as an explicit call to give them up.[55] Blaney commented: "Lennon knew he had nothing concrete to offer, so instead he offers a dream, a concept to be built upon."[6]

"If I Ruled the World" is a popular song, composed by Leslie Bricusse and Cyril Ornadel, which was originally from the 1963 West End musical Pickwick (based on Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers). In the context of the stage musical, the song is sung by Samuel Pickwick, when he is mistaken for an election candidate and called on by the crowd to give his manifesto.  Ornadel and Bricusse received the 1963 Ivor Novello award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.[1]

Music critic Robert Christgau felt that Carey was being too political in her "brave, young, idealistic attack" on war and destitution.[8] Ralph Novak, David Hiltbrand and David Grogan of People wrote that it is a "testimony to her talent that she does so much with so little."[9] They continued to write that Carey's "tone and clarity" makes "There's Got to Be a Way" a "mesmerizing" track.[9] To mark twenty-five years since the release of Mariah Carey in June 1990, Billboard writer Trevor Anderson wrote a track-by-track review of the album in June 2015. He noted that "There's Got to Be a Way" follows the same melodic tone as the album's opener "Vision of Love" but highlighted their stark lyrical differences, as the former is about social activism and the latter is about love.[7] Although he praised Carey's vocals, writing that she "deploys" one of her best whistle notes of her career, he felt that "the aim for broad appeal comes at the expense of memorable lyrics."[7]

The song describes four passengers - a farmer on vacation, a teacher seeking higher education, a hooker and a preacher, both of whom were "searching for lost souls", on a mid-night bus traveling from the United States to Mexico. The bus is involved in a fatal accident due to the bus driver not seeing a stop sign only to be hit by an 18-wheeler which kills three of the four passengers;[4] the lyrics ask why there are only three crosses and not four.

The title of the song is a reference to the 1975 track "Hero" by German krautrock band Neu!,[12] whom Bowie and Eno admired. It was one of the early tracks recorded during the album sessions, but remained an instrumental until towards the end of production.[3] The quotation marks in the title of the song, a deliberate affectation, were designed to impart an ironic quality on the otherwise highly romantic, even triumphant, words and music.[13][14][15][16] Producer Tony Visconti took credit for inspiring the image of the lovers kissing "by the wall", when he and backing vocalist Antonia Maass (MaaÃŸ) embraced in front of Bowie as he looked out of the Hansa Studio window.[17] Bowie's habit in the period following the song's release was to say that the protagonists were based on an anonymous young couple but Visconti, who was married to Mary Hopkin at the time, contends that Bowie was protecting him and his affair with Maass. Bowie confirmed this in 2003.[3]

Part of the lyrics, such as "Her mind is Tiffany twisted, she got the Mercedes bends / She got a lot of pretty pretty boys she calls friends", are based on Henley's break-up with his girlfriend Loree Rodkin.[8][13] According to Glenn Frey's liner notes for The Very Best Of, the use of the word "steely" in the lyric, "They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast," was a playful nod to the band Steely Dan, who had included the lyric "Turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening" in their song "Everything You Did".[15] Frey had also said that the writing of the song was inspired by the boldness of Steely Dan's lyrics and its willingness to go "out there",[12] and thought that the song they wrote had "achieved perfect ambiguity."[14]

"Tangled Up in Blue" is one of the clearest examples of Dylan's attempts to write "multi-dimensional" songs which defied a fixed notion of time and space. Dylan was influenced by his recent study of painting and the Cubist school of artists, who sought to incorporate multiple perspectives within a single plane of view. As Neil McCormick remarked in 2003: "A truly extraordinary epic of the personal, an unreliable narrative carved out of shifting memories like a five-and-a-half-minute musical Proust."[3] In a 1978 interview Dylan explained this style of songwriting: "What's different about it is that there's a code in the lyrics, and there's also no sense of time. There's no respect for it. You've got yesterday, today and tomorrow all in the same room, and there's very little you can't imagine not happening".[4]


Question: Who composed the music for Phantom of the Opera?

The music for The Phantom of the Opera, a 1986 musical, was composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe. The book was co-written by Lloyd Webber and Stilgoe, based on Gaston Leroux's French novel, Le Fantôme de l'Opéra. The story centers on a talented soprano, Christine Daaé, who becomes the object of obsession for a disfigured musical genius residing in the catacombs beneath the Opera Populaire.

On 11 December 2006, the soundtrack to the new production of The Sound of Music, featuring Connie Fisher, Lesley Garrett and the cast of the production, was released, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Nigel Wright for Really Useful Records.

"Paranoid Android" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their third studio album OK Computer (1997) on 26 May 1997. The darkly humorous lyrics were written primarily by singer Thom Yorke following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar. The song is more than six minutes long and contains four distinct sections. "Paranoid Android" takes its name from Marvin the Paranoid Android of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

In their rooms, Raoul expresses disgust that their host would send circus freaks to receive them ("What a Dreadful Town!..."). He upsets Gustave by refusing to play with him and storms out to find a bar, leaving Christine to explain his behavior to their son ("Look With Your Heart"). When Gustave goes to bed, the Phantom enters and reveals to a stunned Christine that it was he who summoned her to sing at Phantasma. Initially outraged, Christine eventually succumbs to the memory of a clandestine evening the two shared before she was married. As they recall their one night of passion, it is revealed that Christine was prepared to abandon Raoul for the Phantom, but awoke in the morning to find herself alone. The Phantom explains that he fled out of fear that she would reject him again when she saw his face in the morning light ("Beneath a Moonless Sky"). Both concede that they once thought their love had a chance, but the circumstances of the present day make it impossible ("Once Upon Another Time"). They are startled by a scream from Gustave, who awakens from a nightmare and rushes into the room ("Mother Please, I'm Scared!"). Christine introduces the Phantom as an old friend named Mr. Y, and he promises to show the boy around Phantasma the next day.

Film composer Danny Elfman composed the music for all of Burton's feature films with the exception of Ed Wood (1994), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016). He also composed the music for The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), a stop-motion animated film Burton co-wrote and produced.[1]

Directed by Christopher Renshaw and choreographed by Arlene Phillips, the original West End production opened at the Dominion Theatre on 14 May 2002, with Tony Vincent, Hannah Jane Fox, Sharon D. Clarke and Kerry Ellis in principal roles. Although the musical was at first panned by critics, it has become an audience favourite, becoming the longest-running musical at the Dominion Theatre, celebrating its tenth anniversary on 14 May 2012.[1][2]

Not long after the events of Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, archaeologist and puzzle master Professor Hershel Layton and his young apprentice Luke Triton reminisce over one of their earliest adventures together from three years ago: Layton is invited by his former student Janice Quatlane to watch her perform in an opera at the Crown Petone opera house, which is built on the White Cliffs of Dover. The performance centers on the legendary lost land of Ambrosia and the secret of eternal life it holds, which will be rediscovered when its queen returns. Janice believes recent strange occurrences are somehow connected to the opera: girls have disappeared from London, and the opera's composer, Oswald Whistler, has recently adopted a young girl who has claimed to be his deceased daughter Melina. Whistler plays the entire opera on the Detragon, an elaborate one-man orchestra machine. Once the performance is complete, a mystery man informs the audience that they are to play a game, the winner of which will receive the secret of eternal life, while the losers will die. Several members of the audience try to escape, but the floor opens up beneath them and they disappear. Inspector Grosky tries to arrest the mystery man, but the man is a puppet which inflates and floats out of the theater, taking Grosky with him.

In 1905 Paris, the Opéra Populaire hosts an auction of old theatrical props. Among the attendees is the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny, who purchases a papier-mâché music box and eyes it sadly, remarking how the details are "exactly as she said."[35][36] The auctioneer presents "a chandelier in pieces" as the next item up for bid, alluding to a connection with "the Phantom of the Opera". As the porters remove the drop cloth covering the fixture, it flickers to life and ascends to the ceiling as the auditorium's former grandeur is restored ("Overture").

The music video, featuring both Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, was directed by Stewart, Jonathan Gershfield and Jon Roseman, and released in December 1983, a month before the single came out. The video opens with a passing aerial shot of the Old Man of Hoy on the Island of Hoy in the Orkney Islands before transitioning to Lennox walking along the rocky shore and cliff top. She later explores a derelict cottage while wearing a nightgown and holding a lantern. Stewart stalks her with a video camera. In many scenes the two are filmed separately, then superimposed into the same frame. The result is that the viewer may perceive one as being a ghost in the world of the other.[3][citation needed]

"Face to Face" is a song recorded by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was composed by the group along with Danny Elfman and was produced by Stephen Hague. The track was featured in the 1992 film, Batman Returns, and included on its soundtrack. Film director Tim Burton asked the band to compose the main song of the movie. The track also appeared on the band 1992's compilation album Twice Upon a Time: The Singles and was remastered in 2002 for The Best of Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Initially, the film was not envisioned as a musical. It was not until director/choreographer Kenny Ortega came on board that songs were added.[3] The film itself contains seven musical numbers, plus a song by Shawn Mendes during the end credits, which was released as a single. In addition, the soundtrack album includes four bonus tracks as well as a suite of the David Lawrence's orchestral score. Not included on the soundtrack is the Vancouver Children's Choir Choral Society's interpretation of "Laudamus te" from Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria, which was heard at Prince Ben's coronation ceremony and the Overture of the orchestral suite Music for the Royal Fireworks composed by George Handel, which is heard at the entrance of the temple.


Question: Who represented the state of Tennessee in the Scopes Trial?

In the Scopes Trial, which drew significant national attention and became a platform for the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy, William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate, represented the prosecution, advocating for the state of Tennessee. Meanwhile, Clarence Darrow, a renowned defense attorney, spoke on behalf of John T. Scopes. The trial, which ended with Scopes being found guilty and fined $100 (equivalent to $1395 in 2017), was later overturned on a technicality. It became a pivotal moment in the debate over whether "modern science," including the theory of evolution, should be taught in schools, pitting Modernists, who believed evolution could coexist with religion, against Fundamentalists, who held that the Bible's teachings should take precedence over scientific knowledge.

The Democrats selected Douglas; the Republicans named Lincoln. Douglas tried to avoid meeting Lincoln directly. He traveled the state, making speeches for the Democratic ticket. (Douglas was provided with a private train, through his friend, Illinois Central vice-president and future Civil War general George McClellan.) Lincoln followed Douglas around the state, answering each Douglas speech with one of his own a day or two later.

Irene Emerson had moved to Massachusetts in 1850 and married Calvin C. Chaffee, a doctor and abolitionist who was elected to Congress on the Know Nothing and Republican tickets. Following the Supreme Court ruling, proslavery newspapers attacked Chaffee as a hypocrite. Chaffee protested that Dred Scott belonged to his brother-in law and that he had nothing to do with Scott's enslavement.[19] Nevertheless, the Chaffees executed a deed transferring the Scott family to Taylor Blow, son of Scott's former owner Peter Blow. Field suggested the transfer to Chaffee as the most convenient way of freeing Scott, as Missouri law required manumitters to appear in person before the Court.[19]

Anticipating that Scopes would be found guilty, the press fitted the defendant for martyrdom and created an onslaught of ridicule, and hosts of cartoonists added their own portrayals to the attack. For example:

Critics further contend that the reforms being promoted are unproven or have been unsuccessful in the past. Former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch, for example, commented that empirical evidence "shows clearly that choice, competition and accountability as education reform levers are not working".[30] In her argument, Ravitch did not specify the "empirical evidence" she referenced. A coalition of civil rights organizations, including the Urban League, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition released a statement that "Such an approach reinstates the antiquated and highly politicized frame for distributing federal support to states that civil rights organizations fought to remove in 1965."[31][32] The Economic Policy Institute released a report in April 2010 finding that "the selection of Delaware and Tennessee was subjective and arbitrary, more a matter of bias or chance than a result of these states' superior compliance with reform policies".[33] Finally, the American Enterprise Institute released a report in September 2010 finding disparities in Race to the Top scores versus the education reform track records and ratings of states from outside, independent sources. This report finds that states' political circumstances may have influenced states' final scores.[34]

In the first decade of the new century, Du Bois emerged as a spokesperson for his race, second only to Booker T. Washington.[48] Washington was the director of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, and wielded tremendous influence within the African-American and white communities.[49] Washington was the architect of the Atlanta Compromise, an unwritten deal he struck in 1895 with Southern white leaders who dominated state governments after Reconstruction. Essentially the agreement provided that Southern blacks, who overwhelmingly lived in rural communities, would submit to the current discrimination, segregation, disenfranchisement, and non-unionized employment; that Southern whites would permit blacks to receive a basic education, some economic opportunities, and justice within the legal system; and that Northern whites would invest in Southern enterprises and fund black educational charities.[50]

By the time of Baker's lawsuit, the population had shifted such that his district in Shelby County had about ten times as many residents as some of the rural districts. The votes of rural citizens were overrepresented compared to those of urban citizens. Baker's argument was that this discrepancy was causing him to fail to receive the "equal protection of the laws" required by the Fourteenth Amendment. Defendant Joe Carr was sued in his position as Secretary of State for Tennessee. Carr was not the person who set the district lines – the state legislature had done that – but was sued ex officio as the person who was ultimately responsible for the conduct of elections in the state and for the publication of district maps.

Stinney's trial had an all-white jury. More than 1,000 people crowded the courtroom but no blacks were allowed.[6] Other than the testimony of the three police officers, at trial prosecutors called three witnesses: Reverend Francis Batson, who discovered the bodies of the two girls, and the two doctors who performed the post-mortem examination. Conflicting confessions were reported to have been offered by the prosecution. The court allowed discussion of the "possibility" of rape despite an absence of evidence in the medical examiner's report. Stinney's counsel did not call any witnesses, did not cross-examine witnesses and offered little or no defense. Trial presentation lasted two and a half hours.[5] The jury took ten minutes to deliberate, after which they returned with a guilty verdict. The judge sentenced Stinney to death by the electric chair. There is no transcript of the trial. No appeal was filed.[6]

Days prior to this announcement, state Emergency Management Director Frank Siracusa noted that "there is no precedent where government will go after people for costs just because they have money to pay for it. You get lost, and we look for you. It is a service your taxpayer dollars pay for",[80] although he conceded that legally any decision would rest with Gibbons. At an April 10, 2008 Legislature's Interim Finance Committee hearing, Siracusa indicated that he had hired an independent auditor to review costs incurred by the state in searching for Fossett, but added, "We are doing an audit but not because we are critical of anybody or suspect something was done wrong".[80][82] Chairman Morse Arberry queried Siracusa as to why, since they lacked funds, had the state not billed the Fossett family for its search costs, to which Siracusa did not directly respond.[80][82] In his later interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he stated that his comments to the Committee may have given the false impression that he had hired an auditor for the purpose of later challenging the state's financial burden incurred on its behalf by the National Guard during the search operation.[80] Upon interview regarding reports that the state would seek payment, Arberry was recorded as stating that he was glad to hear steps were being taken to try to recoup some of the costs.[81]

The Supreme Court denied a number of Free Speech Clause claims throughout the 1920s, including the appeal of a labor organizer, Benjamin Gitlow, who had been convicted after distributing a manifesto calling for a "revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat".[67] In Gitlow v. New York (1925), the Court upheld the conviction, but a majority also found that the First Amendment applied to state laws as well as federal laws, via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[68][69] Holmes and Brandeis dissented in several more cases in this decade, however, advancing the argument that the Free Speech Clause protected a far greater range of political speech than the Court had previously acknowledged. In Whitney v. California (1927),[70] in which Communist Party USA organizer Charlotte Anita Whitney had been arrested for "criminal syndicalism", Brandeis wrote a dissent in which he argued for broader protections for political speech:

Many abolitionists and some supporters of slavery believed that Taney was prepared to rule, as soon as the issue was presented in a subsequent case, as for instance, Lemmon v. New York, that the states had no power to prohibit slavery within their borders and that state laws providing for the emancipation of slaves brought into their territory or forbidding the institution of slavery were likewise unconstitutional. Abraham Lincoln stressed this danger during his famous "House Divided" speech at Springfield, Illinois, on June 16, 1858:


Question: Who played the Wicked Witch in the Broadway production of Wicked?

Rachel Tucker, a Northern Irish singer and actress, is best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in the popular musical "Wicked." She has performed this role longer than any other actress in the West End and on Broadway, following her participation as a finalist in the BBC talent show "I'd Do Anything" in 2008.

She debuted on Broadway in the musical Wish You Were Here in 1952,[11] and later starred on Broadway in the long-running 1954 musical, Fanny (888 performances) in which she originated the title role.[7] Henderson appeared with Gordon MacRae in the Oklahoma! segment of the 90-minute television special, General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein (1954).[12] She later appeared in "The Abbe and the Nymph", an episode of the 1950s TV series I Spy[13][14] (not to be confused with the 1960s series of the same name). She also portrayed Meg March in a CBS-TV musical adaptation of Little Women, which aired October 16, 1958.[15]

In New York, Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) prepares for his second NYADA audition, and dean Carmen Tibideaux (Whoopi Goldberg) hands Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) a highly coveted invitation to perform at the Winter Showcase. Dance teacher Cassandra July (Kate Hudson) believes that Rachel is not ready to perform at Winter Showcase, and the two have a dance showdown to "All That Jazz" from Chicago. Rachel realizes that she is not as good a dancer as Cassandra, and chooses to focus on singing for her Winter Showcase performance. Kurt visits Carmen's office and inquires about his second audition; she is highly critical of the audition and tells him that he is not suited for NYADA. At the Winter Showcase, Rachel performs "Being Good Isn't Good Enough" and "O Holy Night", receiving standing ovations after both songs. After Rachel's performance, Carmen surprises everyone by saying that the next performance will be Kurt's audition for NYADA. Rachel helps a panicked Kurt calm down and decide on a song to perform; he performs "Being Alive" from Company and also receives a standing ovation. Rachel ends up winning the Winter Showcase, and Kurt gets admitted to NYADA.

On 15 October 2013, a North American tour began at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.[31] The original cast included Brian Justin Crum (Broadway's Next to Normal) as Galileo, PJ Griffith (Broadway's American Idiot and Mamma Mia!) as Khashoggi, Jacqueline Arnold (Broadway's Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as Killer Queen, Jared Zirilli (Broadway's Lysistrata Jones) as Britney, Ruby Lewis (Grease, Desperate Housewives) as Scaramouche, Ryan Knowles (Newsical, Radio City Music Hall) as Buddy and Erica Peck (We Will Rock You Toronto Cast) as Oz.[32] The North American leg on the We Will Rock You tour covered nearly the whole of the US, corners of Canada and a sold out run in Mexico City at the Auditiorio Nacional.  In all, the North American leg of the WWRY World tour included 298 performances, 30 cities, 23 States/Territories, 3 Countries, over 30,000 miles traveled and over a half-a-million people in attendance.

Notable cast replacements include Mig Ayesa, who played Galileo, taking over from Tony Vincent. Mazz Murray took over the role of Killer Queen after Sharon D. Clarke's departure in April 2004. Murray left the production in August 2011, which made her the longest running principal cast member, although she left the production briefly in September 2010 for maternity leave. Brenda Edwards, who was an X-Factor semi-finalist in 2005, is currently performing the role of Killer Queen. On 22 September 2008 I'd Do Anything semi-finalist, Rachel Tucker, began performing in the role of Meat. She left the production on 19 September 2009. The role was then taken on by Irish born performer Louise Bowden, who had already performed in several prolific musicals including Mamma Mia!, Guys and Dolls and Mary Poppins.[10] Bowden unexpectedly quit the production in May 2010. It was then left to Amanda Coutts to perform the role Meat. Coutts was originally Bowden's understudy. The West End production featured a nine piece live band under the musical direction of Stuart Morley.[11]

With the urging and assistance of her cousin, the theatrical producer John Kenley (Feb 20, 1906 - Oct 23, 2009), Nelson ventured into acting with the Erie Playhouse in Erie, Pennsylvania, and eventually played the lead in a production of The Seven Year Itch.[1] She went on to appear in Broadway plays including Once There Was a Russian,[2] The Wall, and The Gang's All Here.[1]

The musical had a limited run in Manhattan in 2012 and 2013. It opened on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on November 19, 2012 (after previews beginning November 7), and closed on December 30, 2012. The musical was directed by John Rando with choreography by Warren Carlyle. The cast featured Dan Lauria as Jean Shepherd, John Bolton as The Old Man, Caroline O'Connor as Miss Shields, Erin Dilly as Mother, Zac Ballard as Randy, and with Johnny Rabe and Joe West both alternating as lead character Ralphie, played in the 1983 film by Peter Billingsley, one of the show's producers.[6][7] The Broadway producers were Gerald Goehring, Roy Miller, Michael F. Mitri, Pat Flicker Addiss, Peter Billingsley, Timothy Laczynski, Mariano Tolentino, Jr., Louise H. Beard, Michael Filerman, Scott Hart, Alison Eckert, Bob Bartner, Michael Jenkins, Angela Milonas and Bradford W. Smith.

The Secret Garden was The Third Annual World AIDS Day Benefit Concert, held on December 5, 2005, at the Manhattan Center Studios Grand Ballroom, New York City, directed by Stafford Arima and produced by Jamie McGonnigal.[18] The cast featured Laura Benanti as Lily, Steven Pasquale as Archie, Will Chase as Neville, Celia Keenan-Bolger as Martha, David Canary as Ben, Jaclyn Neidenthal as Mary, Struan Erlenborn as Colin, Max von Essen as Albert, Sara Gettelfinger as Rose, and Michael Arden as Dickon. The cast also included Matt Cavenaugh, Jenny Powers, Ben Magnuson, Shonn Wiley, Reshma Shetty, Deborah S. Craig, Nehal Joshi, and Kate Shindle, with Barbara Rosenblat returning to the role she created, Mrs. Medlock.

The Las Vegas production had previews from 4 August and officially opened on 8 September 2004.[27][28] Tony Vincent, who had originated the role of Galileo in the London production, reprised the role, which he alternated with Jason Wooten. Aspen Miller and Kacie Sheik shared the role of Scaramouche, Patti Russo was Killer Queen, and Ty Taylor was Brit.[29] The Las Vegas production "trimmed" down the book into a single act show.[27] This production closed on 27 November 2005.[30]

James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo produced and directed a documentary film about the musical called Every Little Step, which includes footage of Michael Bennett and interviews with Marvin Hamlisch, Bob Avian, former New York Times theater critic Frank Rich, and original cast members Donna McKechnie and Baayork Lee. The film includes some of the audiotapes made at the early workshop sessions and shows behind-the-scenes footage of the audition, rehearsals, and performances of both the original 1975 production and the 2006 Broadway revival. Production of the documentary began in 2005 when 3,000 hopefuls arrived on the first day of auditions for the revival. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008 and was released as Broadway Broadway in Japan the following month.[30] The documentary opened in limited release in the US in April 2009.[31]

Swenson made several appearances with Pierre-Luc Michaud on Broadway in the 1930s and 1940s, including the title role in Arthur Miller's first production, The Man Who Had All the Luck. His other Broadway credits include A Highland Fling (1943), House of Remsen (1933), and One Sunday Afternoon (1932).[4]


Question: Who portrayed the Wicked Witch in the Broadway show "Wicked"?

Rachel Tucker took on the role of Elphaba in the West End production of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, directed by Joe Mantello. She succeeded Alexia Khadime on March 29, 2010, and starred alongside Louise Dearman as Glinda. Tucker's portrayal of the green witch has been widely acclaimed by both fans and critics. Nikki Davis-Jones served as Tucker's standby throughout her tenure, filling in for her during vacations and other absences. Tucker's contract was extended in August 2011, keeping her with the production until October 2012. By June 2012, she had surpassed Kerry Ellis as the longest-serving Elphaba in the West End. However, it's important to note that Rachel Tucker did not play the Wicked Witch of the West on Broadway; she played the role in the West End. On Broadway, the role of Elphaba has been played by several actresses, including Idina Menzel, who originated the role.

The Beast appears in the Broadway musical adaptation of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, originally portrayed by Terrence Mann.[5] Other actors who have taken on the role include Chuck Wagner (1997),[5] James Barbour (1998), Jeff McCarthy (2004), and Steve Blanchard.[6]

From September 21 to November 1, 2015, Willis starred as Roxie Hart in "Chicago" on Broadway. Willis was supposed to start her run on August 18 but was forced to delay her opening due to a foot injury. On March 22, 2017, she appeared in season 3 of FOX's musical-drama Empire premiere as Jamal's (Jussie Smollett) musical female counterpart.

Lahti made her Broadway debut in 1980 as a replacement in Loose Ends, and went on to star in the Broadway productions of Present Laughter (1982) and The Heidi Chronicles (1989). An eight-time Golden Globe nominee and six-time Emmy Award nominee, she won a Golden Globe for the 1989 TV movie No Place Like Home, and won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1998 for her role as Kate Austin in the CBS series Chicago Hope (1995–99). She returned to Broadway in 2009 to star in God of Carnage. She also had a recurring role as Sonya Paxton in the NBC series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2009–11), as Doris McGarrett in the CBS series Hawaii Five-0 (2012–16), and Laurel Hitchin in NBC's The Blacklist (2015–17).

In 2002, Trucco starred in Wishmaster: The Prophecy Fulfilled. In 2005, he joined the drama Battlestar Galactica in the role of Samuel T. Anders. In 2008, he guest-starred on NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit[2] and The Big Bang Theory. In 2010, he guest-starred on ABC's series Castle as Detective Tom Demming. In 2010, Trucco was cast as a series regular in the USA Network series Fairly Legal.

The London revival, like its Broadway counterpart, featured many celebrities in the starring roles. For example, Marti Pellow, David Hasselhoff, John Barrowman, Tony Hadley, Jerry Springer, Kevin Richardson and Ian Kelsey have all played the role of Billy Flynn. Maria Friedman, Josefina Gabrielle, Denise Van Outen, Claire Sweeney, Linzi Hateley, Frances Ruffelle, Jennifer Ellison, Jill Halfpenny, Brooke Shields, Sally Ann Triplett, Bonnie Langford, Tina Arena, Ashlee Simpson, Aoife Mulholland, Michelle Williams and Christie Brinkley have all played Roxie Hart. Williams was the first African American woman to play the part of Roxie on the West End stage. James Doherty was a replacement as Amos.[48]

For threeÂ nights in September 2007, Joe's Pub and the Public Theater presented a 40th anniversary production of Hair at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This concert version, directed by Diane Paulus, featured Jonathan Groff as Claude and Galt MacDermot on stage on the keyboards. The cast also included Karen Olivo as Sheila and Will Swenson as Berger.[197] Actors from the original Broadway production joined the cast on stage during the encore of "Let the Sun Shine In." Demand for the show was overwhelming, as long lines and overnight waits for tickets far exceeded that for other Delacorte productions such as Mother Courage and Her Children starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.[198]

Created by directors and screenwriters Ron Clements and John Musker, Ursula is based on the sea witch character who appears in the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen. However, her minor role was greatly expanded into that of a much more prominent villain for the film. Disney had struggled to cast Ursula for a year, during which the role was well sought after by several coveted television actresses at the time. Clements and Musker disagreed with lyricist Howard Ashman about who should voice the character. While the directors had written the role with Bea Arthur in mind, Ashman intended to offer it to soap opera star Joan Collins; both actresses rejected the part. When Ashman cast his second choice, Broadway actress Elaine Stritch, as Ursula, both stage veterans disagreed about the manner in which Ursula's song "Poor Unfortunate Souls" would be performed, and Pat Carroll was finally hired to replace Stritch after Ashman fired her. Deepening her own voice for the role, Carroll based her performance on a combination of Shakespearean actresses and car salespeople.

In the late 1960s, Learned and her then-husband (Peter Donat) appeared in various roles with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She has appeared in many stage productions on Broadway, off Broadway, and elsewhere, including the 2006â€“2007 national touring production of On Golden Pond. In the fall of 2008, she starred in Innovation Theatre Works' production of Driving Miss Daisy, playing the title role of Daisy Werthen opposite Willis Burks II as Hoke and Dirk Blocker as Daisy's son Boolie.

Her family eventually moved to Northport, where she attended high school and played Eliza Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady during her senior year.[1][2] Falco graduated from Northport High School in 1981.[1][2] She attended the acting program at SUNY Purchase,[1][2] along with fellow actors Stanley Tucci, Paul Schulze and Ving Rhames.[9] She graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting.[10]

James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo produced and directed a documentary film about the musical called Every Little Step, which includes footage of Michael Bennett and interviews with Marvin Hamlisch, Bob Avian, former New York Times theater critic Frank Rich, and original cast members Donna McKechnie and Baayork Lee. The film includes some of the audiotapes made at the early workshop sessions and shows behind-the-scenes footage of the audition, rehearsals, and performances of both the original 1975 production and the 2006 Broadway revival. Production of the documentary began in 2005 when 3,000 hopefuls arrived on the first day of auditions for the revival. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008 and was released as Broadway Broadway in Japan the following month.[30] The documentary opened in limited release in the US in April 2009.[31]


Question: Who was the king of Kalinga during the Mauryan period?

During the Mauryan period, under the reigns of Chandragupta and Vindusara, Kalinga maintained its status as an independent and sovereign state. It is uncertain whether Kalinga was governed by a single monarch, a collective of rulers, or operated under a democratic system at that time.

Himanshu Prabha Ray provides the following chronology, based on archaeological and numismatic evidence:[12]

The inscriptions of Gautamiputra Satakarni suggest the existence of a bureaucratic structure, although it is not certain how stable and effective this structure was. For example, two inscriptions from Nashik Cave 11 record donations of agricultural land to ascetic communities. They state that the ascetics would enjoy tax exemption and non-interference from the royal officials. The first inscription states that the grant was approved by Gautamiputra's minister Sivagupta on the king's verbal orders, and preserved by the "great lords". The second inscription records a grant by Gautamiputra and his mother, and mentions Syamaka as the minister of the Govardhana ahara. It states that the charter was approved by a woman named Lota, who according to archaeologist James Burgess' interpretation, was the chief lady-in-waiting of Gautamiputra's mother.[54]

Manipur was an independent Asiatic power in alliance with the British Sovereign. This undeclared aggression left the Manipuris infuriated. However, they agreed to negotiate with the British officials when approached. The negotiation failed and the Manipuri commander ordered to execute the British Officers, though the King asked to keep them as prisoners. Thereafter, the British Empire declared war against Manipur and attacked it from three sides i.e., Silchar, Kohima and Tamu (in Myanmar). They conquered 'Kangla Fort' on 27 April 1891. Yubaraj Tikendrajit and Thangal General etc., were publicly executed by the British. Since then, 'Kangla' has been under occupation by the Security forces/Assam Rifles till 2004.

Vishnu took the avatar of Parashurama, or "Rama with an axe" and also known as Rama Jamadagyna, in the era of King Kaartavirya. This king persecuted and oppressed the people, the sages and the gods.[22] One day, the king came to the hermitage of Parashurama and his mother Renuka, where while Parashurama was away, the king without permission took away the calf of their cow. When Parashurama returned, he felt the injustice of the king, called him to war, and killed the king and all his oppressive warriors. At the end, he threw the axe, and wherever it fell, the sea retreated, creating the land of Kerala and other coastal western parts of Indian subcontinent.[22] Another version states that Parashurama brought Namboodri Brahmins to southwestern parts of India, by creating a mini-Himalaya like mountain range with his axe. The Onam festival, according to this legend, celebrates Parashurama's creation of Kerala by marking those days as the new year.[23]

The Magadha was one of the most prominent and prosperous of mahajanapadas. The capital city Pataliputra (Patna, Bihar) was situated on the confluence of major rivers like the Ganga, Son, Punpun and Gandak. The alluvial plains of this region and its proximity to the copper and iron rich areas of Bihar and Jharkhand helped the kingdom to develop good quality weapons and support the agrarian economy. Its location at the centre of the highways of trade of those days contributed to its wealth. All these factors helped Magadha to emerge as the most prosperous state of that period. The kingdom of the Magadhas roughly corresponded to the modern districts of Patna and Gaya in southern Bihar and parts of Bengal in the east. The capital city of Pataliputra was bound in the north by the river Ganges, in the east by the river Champa, in the south by the Vindhya mountains and in the west by the river Sona. During Buddha's time its boundaries included Anga. Its earliest capital was Girivraja or Rajagaha (modern Rajgir in the Nalanda district of Bihar). The other names for the city were Magadhapura, Brihadrathapura, Vasumati, Kushagrapura and Bimbisarapuri. It was an active center of Jainism in ancient times. The first Buddhist Council was held in Rajagaha in the Vaibhara Hills. Later on, Pataliputra became the capital of Magadha.

Faxian (or Fa Hsien etc), a Chinese Buddhist, was one of the pilgrims who visited India during the reign of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. He started his journey from China in 399 and reached India in 405. During his stay in India up to 411, he went on a pilgrimage to Mathura, Kannauj, Kapilavastu, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashi, and Rajagriha, and made careful observations about the empire's conditions. Faxian was pleased with the mildness of administration. The Penal Code was mild and offenses were punished by fines only. From his accounts, the Gupta Empire was a prosperous period. And until the Rome-China trade axis was broken with the fall of the Han dynasty, the Guptas' did indeed prosper. His writings form one of the most important sources for the history of this period.

The country of the Matsya or Machcha tribe lay to the south of the Kurus and west of the Yamuna, which separated them from the Panchalas. It roughly corresponded to the former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur. The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagara (modern Bairat) which is said to have been named after its founder king Virata. In

The Mahājanapadas (Sanskrit: महाजनपद, lit. 'great realm', from maha, "great", and janapada "foothold of a tribe, country") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE. Two of them were most probably ganatantras (republics) and others had forms of monarchy. Ancient Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya[1] make frequent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and republics which had evolved and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and included parts of the trans-Vindhyan region,[2] prior to the rise of Buddhism in India.[3]

Afterwards, Sindh came under the rule of Emperor Harshavardhan, then the Rai Dynasty around 478. The Rais were overthrown by Chachar of Alor around 632. The Brahman dynasty ruled a vast territory that stretched from Multan in the north to the Rann of Kutch, Alor was their capital.

According to local tradition, the earliest inhabitants in Almora were Tewaris who were required to supply Sorrel daily for cleansing the vessels of sun temple at Katarmal.[2]:8 Ancient lore mentioned in Vishnu Purana and Mahabharata present primordial accounts of human settlements in the City.[2]:8 The Sakas, the Nagas, the Kiratas, the Khasas and the Hunas are credited to be the most ancient tribes.[2]:8 The Kauravas and Pandavas of the Hastinapur royal family were the next important princes from the plains who are said to have affected the conquest of these parts.[20]:166 After the Mahabharata war the district seems to have remained for some time under the sway of the kings of Hastinapur whose authority was never more than nominal.[20]:166 The actual rulers were the local chiefs of whom the Kulindas (or Kunindas) were probably strong in the southern and western part of the city.[2]:8 The Khasas were another ancient people who belonged to an early Aryan stock and were widely scattered in those times.[20]:167 They gave this region the name Khasadesha or Khasamandala.[2]:8[20]:167


Question: Who was the king of Kalinga during the Mauryan period?

Ashoka's Conquest of Kalinga
During the Mauryan period, Ashoka, the son of Bindusara, sought to unite Kalinga with Magadha due to its strategic commercial position and control over vital trade routes. Despite some legends suggesting a personal motive for the invasion, Ashoka launched an attack on Kalinga in 261 B.C. The decisive battle took place near the Daya river, close to present-day Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa. Although victorious, the scale of violence and human suffering witnessed during the conflict led Ashoka to renounce further military conquests and embrace a path of peace and dharma.

The Satavahanas are among the earliest Indian rulers to issue their own coins with portraits of their rulers, starting with king Gautamiputra Satakarni, a practice derived from that of the Western Kshatrapas he defeated, itself originating with the Indo-Greek kings to the northwest.

Hiraṇyagarbha is also a sacrifice, where it is known as Hiraṇyagarbha Yagna. This sacrifice was performed by the founder of the Rashtrakuta dynasty, Dantidurga, to confer Kshatriyahood on himself, as he was not born a Kshatriya, and in olden days, the Caste System in India was very prevalent and he was not accepted by the people as their King, until he conferred Kshatriyahood upon himself.

Another source alludes to a Jayabaya prophecy — a 12th-century psychic king of Kediri Kingdom — as he foresaw a fight between a giant white shark and a giant white crocodile taking place in the area, which is sometimes interpreted as a foretelling of the Mongol invasion of Java, a major conflict between the forces of the Kublai Khan, Mongol ruler of China, and those of Raden Wijaya's Majapahit in 1293.[103] The two animals are now used as the city's symbol, with the two facing and circling each other, as depicted in a statue appropriately located near the entrance to the city zoo (see photo on the Surabaya page).

King Chandrakriti was succeeded by his eldest son Surchandra. However, he could not control his step brothers. As a result, Senapati Tikendrajit revolted against him and put his own brother Yubaraj Kulachandra to the Throne of Manipur. By this time, the Britishers took advantage to intervene in the internal affairs of Manipur. They sent Mr. J.W. Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam to negotiate the palace revolt and to exile Senapati Tikendrajit. Thus, the first battle of the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891 broke out when the British forces, under orders from Mr. J.W. Quinton, the Chief Commissioner of Assam, attacked on 'Kangla', the Manipur Fort, in the early hours of 24 March 1891.

In 1791, the Gorkhas of Nepal while expanding their kingdom westwards across Kali River, invaded and overran Almora.[2]:8[23] In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from over-running the whole of the northern frontier.[24] The Gorkha rule lasted for twenty-four years. Due to their repeated intrusion into British territories in the Terai from 1800 onwards, Lord Moira, the Governor-General of India, decided to attack Almora in December 1814,[25] marking the beginning of the Anglo-Gorkha war. The war that broke out in 1814,[26][27] resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816.[28]:594[29] According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed to the British East India Company. After the war, the old Lal Mandi fort, near Almora was renamed ‘Fort Moira’.

The court of Chandragupta was made even more illustrious by the fact that it was graced by the Navaratna (Nine Jewels), a group of nine who excelled in the literary arts. Amongst these men was the immortal K훮lid훮sa whose works dwarfed the works of many other literary geniuses, not only in his own age but in the years to come. Kalidasa was mainly known for his subtle exploitation of the shringara (romantic) element in his verse.

Maharaja Prabirendra Mohan Tagore son of Maharaja Sir Prodyut Kumar Tagore KCSI of Calcutta was designated Justice of the Peace in 1932. He played a great part in saving more than 200 Muslim lives during the famous riots in 1947 during the partition of India, by sheltering the Muslims in the Calcutta locality and most importantly in his palace itself.

After Kamehameha I's death, Liholiho left Kailua for a week and returned to be crowned king. At the lavish ceremony attended by commoners and nobles he approached the circle of chiefs, as Kaʻahumanu, the central figure in the group and Dowager Queen, said, "Hear me O Divine one, for I make known to you the will of your father. Behold these chiefs and the men of your father, and these your guns, and this your land, but you and I shall share the realm together". Liholiho agreed officially, which began a unique system of dual-government consisting of a King and co-ruler similar to a regent.[80] Kamehameha II shared his rule with his stepmother, Kaʻahumanu. She defied Hawaiian kapu by dining with the young king, separating the sexes during meals, leading to the end of the Hawaiian religion. Kamehameha II died, along with his wife, Queen Kamāmalu in 1824 on a state visit to England, succumbing to measles. He was King for 5 years.[79]

Chandragupta II was succeeded by his second son Kumaragupta I, born of Mahadevi Dhruvasvamini. Kumaragupta I assumed the title, Mahendraditya.[39] He ruled until 455. Towards the end of his reign a tribe in the Narmada valley, the Pushyamitras, rose in power to threaten the empire. The Kidarites as well probably confronted the Gupta Empire towards the end of the rule of Kumaragupta I, as his son Skandagupta mentions in the Bhitari pillar inscription his efforts at reshaping a country in disarray, through reorganization and military victories over the Pushyamitras and the Hunas.[40]

The country of Assaka or the Ashmaka tribe was located in Dakshinapatha or southern India. In Buddha's time, many of the Assakas were located on the banks of the river Godavari (south of the Vindhya mountains). The capital of the Assakas was Potana or Potali, which corresponds to Paudanya of Mahabharata. The Ashmakas are also mentioned by Pāṇini. They are placed in the north-west in the Markendeya Purana and the Brhat Samhita. The river Godavari separated the country of the Assakas from that of the Mulakas (or Alakas). The commentator of Kautiliya's Arthashastra identifies Ashmaka with Maharashtra. The country of Assaka lay outside the pale of Madhyadesa. It was located on a southern high road, the Dakshinapatha. At one time, Assaka included Mulaka and abutted Avanti.[19]


Question: What does a single yellow line on the road indicate?

A single yellow line on a road, found in Canada, Japan, Lebanon, and certain regions of the United States, serves as a divider for traffic moving in opposite directions. This line indicates that passing is permissible, but drivers must exercise caution.

Beginning in 1999, Monday Night Football telecasts used a computer-generated yellow line to mark where a team needs to get a first down, a method first used by ABC sister cable channel ESPN. 1999 also saw the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game being moved from Saturday afternoon to Monday night. It would remain on Monday night through 2005.

Aircraft fly on airways under the direction of air traffic control. An airway has no physical existence, but can be thought of as a motorway in the sky. On an ordinary motorway, cars use different lanes to avoid collisions, while on an airway, aircraft fly at different flight levels to avoid collisions. One can often see planes passing directly above or below one's own. Charts showing airways are published and are usually updated every 4 weeks, coinciding with the AIRAC cycle. AIRAC (Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control) occurs every fourth Thursday, when every country publishes its changes, which are usually to airways.

The points determining these proportions are marked with lines on the drawing. Below the drawing itself is a single line equal to a side of the square and divided into four cubits, of which the outer two are divided into six palms each, two of which have the mirror-text annotation "palmi"; the outermost two palms are divided into four fingers each, and are each annotated "diti".

Because of the distance from the driver's eye to the passenger side mirror, a useful field of view can be achieved only with a convex or aspheric mirror. However, the convexity also minifies the objects shown. Since such objects seem farther away than they actually are, a driver might make a maneuver such as a lane change assuming an adjacent vehicle is a safe distance behind, when in fact it is quite a bit closer.[4] In the United States,[5] Canada,[6] India, Korea and Australia[citation needed], non-planar mirrors are etched or printed with the warning legend objects in the mirror are closer than they appear. In Canada, this warning is often supplemented by a transparent decal on the passenger side window repeating the warning in French: les objets dans le retroviseur sont plus proche qu'ils ne le paraissent. In Korea, the warning appears in Korean. Warnings of this nature are not required in Europe.

The second section, with yellow page borders, references the material in order of its assigned 4-digit ID number/UN/NA number (which is often placarded with the other hazardous materials placards) and identifies the appropriate guide number to reference in the Orange Section). Items highlighted in green in this section will have evacuation distances included in the Green Section.

The Liana has also been modified on several occasions. David Soul's Liana featured a red police light and a white stripe in reference to his Starsky and Hutch role. Johnny Vegas was provided with L-plates as he had not passed his driving test at the time. When Justin Hawkins came on the show, the Liana he drove had flame decals pasted on it. Actor Sanjeev Bhaskar had an ornate tissue box placed in the back, an homage to Indian drivers.

Black ice, sometimes called clear ice, is a thin coating of glaze ice on a surface, especially on roads. The ice itself is not black, but visually transparent, allowing the often black road below to be seen through it. The typically low levels of noticeable ice pellets, snow, or sleet surrounding black ice means that areas of the ice are often practically invisible to drivers or people stepping on it. There is, thus, a risk of skidding and subsequent accident due to the unexpected loss of traction.

Under Colombian law, emergency vehicles are authorized to use lights and sirens to demand priority in traffic. However, rather unusually, it is not specified what types of lights and sirens can be used.[23] Since emergency vehicles are usually imported from other parts of the world, one can see a great variety of light colors and siren types in Colombia. Since most law enforcement duties are consolidated in the National Police, there is some uniformity in police vehicles. Until the early 1990s, these police vehicles were equipped with yellow lights, although today they are equipped with a single red and blue LED lightbar on the roof, and sometimes supplementary red, white, and blue grille lights. Other, more minor law enforcement vehicles (Military Police, CTI, UNP) generally follow the same scheme.

High Street (or the High Street, also High Road) is a metonym for the concept (and frequently the street name) of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations. To distinguish it from "centres" of nearby places it is frequently preceded unofficially by the name of its settlement. In a town it implies the focal point for business, especially shops and street stalls (if any) in town and city centres. As a generic shorthand presupposed upon linear settlements it may be used to denote more precise concepts such as the urban retail sector, town centre sectors of employment, all small shops and services outlets and even wider concepts taking in social concepts.[a]

In the United States, road warning signs with the advisory "Bridge May Be Icy" indicate potentially dangerous roadways above bridge structures.


Question: Is Kermit the Frog a character on Sesame Street?

Kermit the Frog, Jim Henson's iconic Muppet character, debuted in 1955 and has since become a staple in various Muppet productions. He is most recognized for his role in Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, as well as other TV series, movies, specials, and public service announcements. Throughout his history, Kermit has been performed by Jim Henson until 1990, then by Steve Whitmire until 2016, and is currently portrayed by Matt Vogel. In animated projects, such as Muppet Babies, Frank Welker provided Kermit's voice.

During the 1970s, Luckey wrote and animated many short films for Sesame Street and the Children's Television Workshop, often doing the voice work himself as well.[7] Among them are "The Ladybugs' Picnic," which was performed by Jim Kweskin, "That's About the Size of It," the Donnie-Bud Series (with co-writer Don Hadley) featuring numbers 2 to 6, "Penny Candy Man," "Martian Beauty," "#7 The Alligator King," (with Turk Murphy) "Lovely Eleven Morning," "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Nine," and the award-winning "Longie and Shorty the Rattlesnakes" miniseries.[8] He returned to work on one more segment for Sesame Street in 1990 titled "Z – Zebu." Many of Luckey's Sesame Street works were created with his long-time friend and creative collaborator writer / lyricist Don Hadley (1936–2007).[2]

In the process of conceptualizing Walter, Nicholas Stoller said; "We wanted a simple character, who was pure innocence and pure enthusiasm as an entry point for kids who aren't necessarily as familiar with The Muppets as their parents." Jason Segel, added: "He's a stand-in for me, a hardcore Muppet fan who wants to know what the hell happened to them."[9] He also revealed a shared ambition with the character; "He sets out to make them as famous as they once were â€” which was sort of our goal in making this movie."[10] Stoller and Segel's screenplay had described Walter as the adopted younger brother of Gary and had set Walter's age to be approximately 30 years old.[9]

Foghorn J. Leghorn is a cartoon character that has appeared in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Warner Bros. Pictures. He was created by Robert McKimson and writer Warren Foster, and starred in 28 cartoons from 1946 to 1963 in the Golden Age of American Animation. All 28 of these cartoons were directed by McKimson.

That same year, Carrey appeared as a fictionalized version of himself on the final episode of Garry Shandling's The Larry Sanders Show, in which he deliberately ripped into Shandling's character. In 1999, Carrey had the lead role in Man on the Moon. He portrayed comedian Andy Kaufman to critical acclaim and received his second Golden Globe in a row. In addition, he received his first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actor.[37]

As an advertising agency Art Director and Producer from 1961 to 1969 at the Guild, Bascom, & Bonfigli (Advertising) Agency (which later merged with Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, now Saatchi & Saatchi, in 1967), Luckey worked on television commercials for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes (Tony the Tiger), Froot Loops (Toucan Sam), and Rice Krispies (Snap, Crackle and Pop), as well as Interstate Bakeries' Dolly Madison products featuring Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts characters.[5] He created the "Bosco Dumbunnies" characters for the Best Foods Chocolate Flavor Milk Amplifier product Bosco Chocolate Syrup – the commercial spots were animated by renowned animators Fred Wolf and Jimmy Murakami.[5] In 1966, Luckey won a Clio Award for the General Mills commercial Betty Crocker – "Magic Faucet."[5]

The Sheng (ç”Ÿ) is the main male role in Peking opera. This role has numerous subtypes. The laosheng is a dignified older role. These characters have a gentle and cultivated disposition and wear sensible costumes. One type of laosheng role is the hongsheng, a red-faced older male. The only two hongsheng roles are Guan Gong, the Chinese god of sworn brotherhood, loyalty and righteousness, and Zhao Kuang-yin, the first Song Dynasty emperor. Young male characters are known as xiaosheng. These characters sing in a high, shrill voice with occasional breaks to represent the voice changing period of adolescence. Depending on the character's rank in society, the costume of the xiaosheng may be either elaborate or simple.[51] On-stage, xiaosheng actors are often involved with beautiful women by virtue of the handsome and young image they project.[52] The wusheng is a martial character for roles involving combat. They are highly trained in acrobatics, and have a natural voice when singing.[51] Troupes will always have a laosheng actor. A xiaosheng actor may also be added to play roles fitting to his age. In addition to these main Sheng, the troupe will also have a secondary laosheng.[53]

Outside of his ventures with Kenan Thompson, Mitchell provided the voice of a mild-mannered and playful dog named T-Bone in the children's cartoon series Clifford the Big Red Dog, alongside John Ritter, from 2000 to 2003. Additionally, he made an appearance in the 2004 Kanye West music video All Falls Down as a luggage collecting valet. Mitchell co-hosted Dance 360 with Fredro Starr; the show lasted for only one season. From 2005 until 2006, Mitchell portrayed Manny Sellers in the sitcom One on One, and in 2007 Mitchell starred in BET's new series Take the Cake. Some of his other credits include Honeydripper and Mystery Men.

The London show's sixth anniversary performance was held on 21 May 2008, a week after its actual anniversary due to the unavailability of Brian May. For the first time since the show opened, the Killer Queen character performed the entire song "Don't Stop Me Now", a musical number which is normally interrupted by the Khashoggi character. This unique performance is acknowledged by Killer Queen's dialogue: "No, you didn't let me finish, you never let me finish. For six long years, night after night, week after week, year after year. Well, tonight, I'm going to finish." To which Khashoggi replied: "It's not in the script!" The Killer Queen proceeded to yell "Screw the script!" before continuing the song. Additionally, May joined Killer Queen and the dancers on stage for the performance. After the encore, Elton made a thank you speech, after which the entire cast performed "The Show Must Go On", accompanied by May on guitar.

His rare non-comedic film roles include two collaborations with Andre Gregory and Louis Malle: the semi-autobiographical dialogue My Dinner with Andre, and a combined production-and-backstage-drama of Uncle Vanya titled Vanya on 42nd Street. Shawn quite often appears on television, where he has appeared in many genres and series. He has had recurring roles as the Grand Nagus Zek in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Stuart Best in Murphy Brown, Jeff Engels in The Cosby Show, Dr. Howard Stiles in Crossing Jordan, Arnie Ross in Taxi, Charles Lester in The Good Wife, and a reprisal of his role as Mr. Hall in Clueless (based on the film). He appeared in the 1985 music video for Chaka Khan's "This is My Night". On February 4, 2010, Shawn appeared as Alan Rubin in The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He appeared in Vegas Vacation (1997) as Marty. One of Shawn's latest films opened in his birthplace in New York in June 2014 titled A Master Builder.[2]

Kermit has also appeared in a popular meme in which he is shown sipping tea, "one used when you sassily point something out, and then slyly back away, claiming that it's not [your] business."[69] The photo is taken from "Be More Kermit," a Lipton advertisement that aired in 2014, and was adapted into the "But That's None of My Business" meme by African American comedians on the Tumblr blog Kermit the Snitch, making appearances on Twitter, Instagram[70] and Facebook.[71] Charles Pulliam-Moore of the TV station Fusion praised "But That's None of My Business" as "a symbol for the comedic brilliance born out of black communities on the internet,"[70] but Stephanie Hayes of Bustle magazine slammed the memes as racist and obscene.[71]


Question: Why is the Red River called the Red River?

The Red River, also referred to as the Red River of the South, is a significant river in the southern United States. The river derives its name from the red-bed terrain of its watershed. Originally a tributary of the Mississippi River, it now primarily serves as a tributary of the Atchafalaya River, which is a distributary of the Mississippi, ultimately flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. The Old River Control Structure links the Red River back to the Mississippi River.

River Rick is the name of the neon sign that resembles a cowboy that was erected at the Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall in 1981.  He is also referred to by some as Laughlin Lou,[7] although the hotel itself calls him River Rick.[8]

Great Slave Lake was put on European maps during the emergence of the fur trade towards the northwest from Hudson Bay in the mid 18th century. The name 'Great Slave' came from the Slavey Indians, one of the Athapaskan tribes living on its southern shores at that time. The name was influenced by Cree disdain for this rival tribe, with whom they shared a sordid history. As the French explorers dealt directly with the Cree traders, the large lake was referred to as "Grand lac des Esclaves" which was eventually translated into English as "Great Slave Lake".[7]

The river campaigns saw the first practical use of river gunboats and river ironclads, in particular the City-class ironclads, ironclad paddle steamers built by James B. Eads in St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois. It also saw the use of sea mines, which at that time were called torpedoes, a term applied to self-propelled warheads only later, torpedo rams and a brief Confederate experiment in deploying a casemate ironclad, the CSS Arkansas, in a river defense role.

Water transport increased through the 1850s with multiple craft ferrying pioneers, emigrants and miners; many of these runs were from St. Louis or Independence to near Omaha. There, most of these people would set out overland along the large but shallow and unnavigable Platte River, which was described by pioneers as "a mile wide and an inch deep" and "the most magnificent and useless of rivers".[185] Steamboat navigation peaked in 1858 with over 130 boats operating full-time on the Missouri, with many more smaller vessels.[186] Many of the earlier vessels were built on the Ohio River before being transferred to the Missouri. Side-wheeler steamboats were preferred over the larger sternwheelers used on the Mississippi and Ohio because of their greater maneuverability.[184]

Only the "Red Sea" (Exodus 23:31) and the Euphrates are mentioned to define the southern and eastern borders of the full land promised to the Israelites. The "Red Sea" corresponding to Hebrew Yam Suf was understood in ancient times to be the Erythraean Sea, as reflected in the Septuagint translation. Although the English name "Red Sea" is derived from this name ("Erythraean" derives from the Greek for red), the term denoted all the waters surrounding Arabiaâ€”including the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, not merely the sea lying to the west of Arabia bearing this name in modern English. Thus, the entire Arabian peninsula lies within the borders described. Modern maps depicting the region take a reticent view and often leave the southern and eastern borders vaguely defined. The borders of the land to be conquered given in Numbers have a precisely defined eastern border which included the Arabah and Jordan.

In April 1815, Captain Henry Miller Shreve was the first person to bring a steamboat, the Enterprise, up the Red River. Fulton and Livingston, who claimed the exclusive right to navigate Louisiana waters by steamboat, sued Shreve in the District Court of New Orleans. The judge ruled that the monopoly claimed by the plaintiffs was illegal. That decision, along with a similar outcome in Gibbons v. Ogden freed navigation on every river, lake or harbor in the United States from interference by monopolies.[9]

The settlement was known as Woodville for many years, but was changed to Rogue River about 1912.[7] Woodville post office operated from 1876 until 1912 when the name was changed to Rogue River.[7]

The indefinite boundary was resolved by the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819, which established the Sabine River as the boundary from the Gulf to the 32nd parallel. The Spanish delay in the ratification of the treaty, and Mexico gaining independence in 1821, re-ignited the boundary dispute. The United States, at the insistence of Anthony Butler,[21] claimed for a while that the names of the Sabine and Neches had been reversed, and thus claimed that the treaty established the boundary at the Neches. The first Anglo-American settlers began arriving in the region in the 1820s, soon outnumbering the Mexicans by ten to one. After the independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in 1836, the boundary between the U.S. and Texas was firmly established at the Sabine in accordance with the Adams-Onis Treaty. The river served as the western boundary of the United States until it annexed Texas in 1845.

The word "Connecticut" is a French corruption of the Mohegan word quinetucket which means "beside the long, tidal river".[7] The word came into English during the early 1600s to name the river, which was also called simply "The Great River".[8]

Pliny (Hist. Nat., iii. 122) also gives the Ligurian name of the Po river as Bodincus, which he translates as "bottomless". The root bod- has been generally analyzed as containing the PIE base *bhu(n)d(h)- seen in Sanskrit budhnah and Avestan buna- "bottom", Greek pythmen "foundation", Latin fundus "bottom", Old Irish bond "sole of the foot". The word Bodincus appears in the place name Bodincomagus, a Ligurian town on the right bank of the Po downstream from todayâ€™s Turin.


Question: Who emerged victorious in the Battle of Britain during World War II?

The Battle of Britain, known in German as the Luftschlacht um England, was a significant military campaign during World War II. The Royal Air Force (RAF) successfully defended the United Kingdom against extensive aerial assaults by Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe. This conflict is recognized as the first major battle in history to be fought exclusively by air forces.

France and the UK declared war on Germany on 3 September, but failed to provide any meaningful support. The German-French border saw only a few minor skirmishes, although the majority of German forces, including 85% of their armoured forces, were engaged in Poland. Despite some Polish successes in minor border battles, German technical, operational and numerical superiority forced the Polish armies to retreat from the borders towards Warsaw and Lwów. The Luftwaffe gained air superiority early in the campaign. By destroying communications, the Luftwaffe increased the pace of the advance which overran Polish airstrips and early warning sites, causing logistical problems for the Poles. Many Polish Air Force units ran low on supplies, 98 of their number withdrew into then-neutral Romania.[76] The Polish initial strength of 400 was reduced to just 54 by 14 September and air opposition virtually ceased.[76]

During World War II the Mint played an important role in ensuring that people were paid for their services with hard currency rather than banknotes. Under Operation Bernhard, the Nazis planned to collapse the British economy by flooding the country with forged notes leading the Bank of England to stop issuing banknotes of Â£10 and above. To meet these demands the Mint doubled its output so that by 1943 it was minting around 700 million coins a year despite being under constant threat of being bombed. The Deputy Master of the Mint John Craig recognised the dangers to the Mint, introduced a number of measures to ensure the Mint could continue to operate in the event of a disaster. Craig added emergency water supplies, reinforced the Mint's basement to act as a air-raid shelter and even accepted employment of women for the first time. For most of the war the mint managed to escape the destruction of the Blitz until December 1940 when three members of staff were killed in an air-raid. Around the same time an auxiliary mint was set up at Pinewood Studios which had been requisitioned for the war effort. Staff and machinery from Tower Hill were moved to the site in Buckinghamshire were it started production in June 1941 and operated for the duration of the war.[30][31] Over the course of the war the Royal Mint was hit on several different occasions and at one point was put out of commission for three weeks. As technology changed with the introduction of electricity and demand continuing to grow, the process of rebuilding continued so that by the 1960s little of the original mint remained, apart from Smirke's 1809 building and its gatehouses at the front.

While the British were using radar for air defence more effectively than the Germans realised, the Luftwaffe attempted to press its own offensive with advanced radio navigation systems of which the British were initially not aware. One of these was Knickebein ("bent leg"); this system was used at night and for raids where precision was required. It was rarely used during the Battle of Britain.[155]

The fifth book in the series, Blitzed Brits, was published in 1995, by chance coinciding with the 50th anniversary of VE day.[9] The book reached no. 1 on the bestseller list. Deary decided that the book only gave the British viewpoint during World War II and in the interests of balance wrote Woeful Second World War which focused on the wartime experiences in France, Poland, Germany, and Russia. This book was published in September 1999, which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II.[6]

Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy, using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic.[102] The British scored a significant victory on 27 May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck.[103] Perhaps most importantly, during the Battle of Britain the Royal Air Force had successfully resisted the Luftwaffe's assault, and the German bombing campaign largely ended in May 1941.[104]

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") over, principally, the manner of England's government. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.

On 23 August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, which contained a secret protocol dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence.[69] Germany's invasion of its part of Poland under the Pact eight days later[70] triggered the beginning of World War II. By the end of 1941, Germany occupied a large part of Europe and its military forces were fighting the Soviet Union, nearly capturing Moscow. However, crushing defeats at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Kursk devastated the German armed forces. This, combined with Western Allied landings in France and Italy, led to a three-front war that depleted Germany's armed forces and resulted in Germany's defeat in 1945.

Allied air superiority was maintained during the height of both battles, and the increased effectiveness of Allied air activity proved disturbing to the German Army's top-level Oberste Heeresleitung command staff.[21] A complete reorganisation of the Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches into what became officially known as the Luftstreitkräfte followed and had generally been completed by October 1916. This reorganisation eventually produced the German strategic bombing squadrons that were to produce such consternation in England in 1917 and 1918, and the specialist close support squadrons (Schlachtstaffeln) that gave the British infantry such trouble at Cambrai and during the German Spring offensive of 1918. Its most famous and dramatic effect, however, involved the raising of specialist fighter squadrons or Jagdstaffeln – a full year after similar units had become part of the RFC and the French Aéronautique Militaire. Initially these units were equipped with the Halberstadt D.II (Germany's first biplane fighter), the Fokker D.I and D.II, along with the last few surviving Eindeckers, all three biplane design types using a single lMG 08, before the Fokker D.III and Albatros D.I twin-gun types arrived at the Front.

According to John Abbatiello, there were four categories of convoy used during World War I. The first category consists of the short-distance convoys, such as those between Britain and its European allies, and between Britain and neutral countries. The commercial convoys between England and the Netherlands or Norway are examples, as are the coal convoys between England and France.[3] The second category consists of the escorts of warships, usually troopships, such as those from the Dominions in the early stages of the war. These formed the earliest convoys, but "probably the most overlooked category". The British Grand Fleet itself could be included in this category, since it was always escorted by a destroyer screen in the North Sea and frequently by long-range Coastal and North Sea-class airships.[3] The third category is the so-called "ocean convoys" that safeguarded transoceanic commerce. They traversed the Atlantic from the U.S. or Canada in the north, or from British or French colonial Africa or Gibraltar in the south.[3] The fourth category is the "coastal convoys", those protecting trade and ship movements along the coast of Britain and within British home waters. Most coastal and internal sea traffic was not convoyed until mid-1918. These convoys involved the heavy use of aircraft.[3]

Both sides in the battle made exaggerated claims of numbers of enemy aircraft shot down. In general, claims were two to three times the actual numbers, because of the confusion of fighting in dynamic three-dimensional air battles. Postwar analysis of records has shown that between July and September, the RAF claimed 2,698 kills, while the Luftwaffe fighters claimed 3,198 RAF aircraft downed.[citation needed] Total losses, and start and end dates for recorded losses, vary for both sides. Luftwaffe losses from 10 July to 30 October 1940 total 1,977 aircraft, including 243 twin- and 569 single-engined fighters, 822 bombers and 343 non combat types.[14] In the same period, RAF Fighter Command aircraft losses number 1,087, including 53 twin-engined fighters.[citation needed] To the RAF figure should be added 376 Bomber Command and 148 Coastal Command aircraft lost conducting bombing, mining, and reconnaissance operations in defence of the country.[8]