Question: Which French film pioneer introduced newsreels in 1910?

Newsreel, a significant cinematic format, was introduced by French film pioneer Charles Pathé in 1911. This film genre was a key feature of movie programming in North America, Britain, Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as in Europe until the 1960s. It was eventually replaced by television news. The National Film and Sound Archive in Australia preserves a comprehensive collection of 4,000 newsreel films and documentaries, encompassing coverage of all major historical events.

After 1750, general news became accessible, and the newspapers show more and more interest in public affairs. The literary first page was no longer necessary, though occasionally used to cover a dull period. A new type of vigorous polemic gradually superseded the older essay. A few of the well-known conventions were retained, however. We still find the fictitious letter, with the fanciful signature, or a series of papers under a common title, such as The Virginia-Centinel, or Livingston’s Watch-Tower. The former is a flaming appeal to arms, running through The Virginia Gazette in 1756, and copied into Northern papers to rouse patriotism against the French enemy. The expression of the sentiment, even thus early, seems national. Livingston’s well-known Watch-Tower, a continuation of his pamphlet-magazine The Independent Reflector, has already the keen edge of the Revolutionary writings of fifteen and twenty years later. The fifty-second number even has one of the popular phrases of the Revolution: "Had I not sounded the Alarm, Bigotry would e’er now have triumphed over the natural Rights of British Subjects." (Gaine’s Mercury in 1754–1755)

However, by the end of World War I the colonial empires had become very popular almost everywhere in Europe: public opinion had been convinced of the needs of a colonial empire, although most of the metropolitans would never see a piece of it. Colonial exhibitions had been instrumental in this change of popular mentalities brought about by the colonial propaganda, supported by the colonial lobby and by various scientists. Thus, the conquest of territories were inevitably followed by public displays of the indigenous people for scientific and leisure purposes. Karl Hagenbeck, a German merchant in wild animals and a future entrepreneur of most Europeans zoos, thus decided in 1874 to exhibit Samoa and Sami people as "purely natural" populations. In 1876, he sent one of his collaborators to the newly conquered Egyptian Sudan to bring back some wild beasts and Nubians. Presented in Paris, London, and Berlin these Nubians were very successful. Such "human zoos" could be found in Hamburg, Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Milan, New York City, Paris, etc., with 200,000 to 300,000 visitors attending each exhibition. Tuaregs were exhibited after the French conquest of Timbuktu (visited by René Caillié, disguised as a Muslim, in 1828, thereby winning the prize offered by the French Société de Géographie); Malagasy after the occupation of Madagascar; Amazons of Abomey after Behanzin's mediatic defeat against the French in 1894. Not used to the climatic conditions, some of the indigenous exposed died, such as some Galibis in Paris in 1892.[39]

By the turn of the century (i.e., circa 1900), Wolff, Havas, and Reuters formed a news cartel, dividing up the global market into three sections, in which each had more-or-less exclusive distribution rights and relationships with national agencies.[129] Each agency's area corresponded roughly to the colonial sphere of its mother country.[130] Reuters and the Australian national news service had an agreement to exchange news only with each other.[131] Due to the high cost of maintaining infrastructure, political goodwill, and global reach, newcomers found it virtually impossible to challenge the big three European agencies or the American Associated Press.[132] In 1890 Reuters (in partnership with the Press Association, England's major news agency for domestic stories) expanded into "soft" news stories for public consumption, about topics such as sports and "human interest".[133] In 1904, the big three wire services opened relations with Vestnik, the news agency of Czarist Russia, to their group, though they maintained their own reporters in Moscow.[134] During and after the Russian Revolution, the outside agencies maintained a working relationship with the Petrograd Telegraph Agency, renamed the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA) and eventually the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS).[135]

Ted Turner's creation of the Cable News Network (CNN) in 1980 inaugurated a new era of 24-hour satellite news broadcasting. In 1991, the BBC introduced a competitor, BBC World Service Television. Rupert Murdoch's Australian News Corporation entered the picture with Fox News Channel in the USA, Sky News in Britain, and STAR TV in Asia.[159] Combining this new appartus with the use of embedded reporters, the United States waged the 1991â€“1992 Gulf War with the assistance of nonstop media coverage.[160] CNN's specialty is the crisis, to which the network is prepared to shift its total attention if so chosen.[161] CNN news was transmitted via INTELSAT communications satellites.[162] CNN, said an executive, would bring a "town crier to the global village".[163]

In 1914, Pitt athletic booster Joseph Trees and athletic director A. R. Hamilton hired Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner as Pitt's head coach. Warner, who had previously led Carlisle, Cornell, and Georgia, had been successful at his previous stops, mentoring the likes of Jim Thorpe, and was known as an innovator of the game who originated the screen pass, single- and double-wing formations, and use of shoulder and thigh pads. His arrival at Pitt gave the program instant national credibility, lifting the perception of the program from a regional power to that of a national one.[29] Warner's impact was immediate. Led by center Robert Peck, Pitt's first First Team All-American, and All-American end James Pat Herron, Warner's first Pitt team in 1915 went 8–0, shutting out five opponents, and was trumpeted by football historian Parke H. Davis as that season's national champion.[30] His second season duplicated that success, repeating an 8–0 record while collectively outscoring opponents 255–25, and garnering what is widely regarded as a consensus national championship.[31] The lone scare of the 1916 season occurred at Navy when, following a delay of the team's train heading to Annapolis that caused a late arrival, the team overcame several fumbles and eked out a 20–19 victory.[32] The 1916 team was led again by Herron and Peck, now in his last season, as well as All-Americans fullback Andy Hastings and guard "Tiny" Thornhill. Also on that team were Jock Sutherland and H.C. "Doc" Carlson, who both would garner First Team All-American selections while members of the undefeated 1917 team, and go on to become perhaps Pitt's most legendary coaches in football and basketball, respectively. The 1917 team, nicknamed "The Fighting Dentists" because over half the roster became doctors or dentists, finished 10–0 with five shutouts despite losing several players to military service at the outbreak of World War I. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which took the life of former Pitt star Tex Richards,[33] saw the implementation of quarantines that eliminated much of that year's college football season, including five of Pitt's originally scheduled contests. All of Pitt's games that year were played in November, including a high-profile game played as a War Charities benefit against undefeated, unscored upon, and defending national champion Georgia Tech, coached by the legendary John Heisman. Pitt swept through its first two games and then dismantled Georgia Tech 32–0 in front of many of the nation's top sports writers including Walter Camp. The final game of the season at Cleveland Naval Reserve resulted in Warner's first loss at Pitt and is one of the most controversial in school history. Warner, along with some reporters covering the game, insisted Pitt was robbed by the officials who, claiming the official timekeeper's watch was broken, arbitrarily ended the first half before Pitt was able to score and then allowed the Reserves extra time in the fourth quarter to pull ahead 10–9 before calling an end to the game.[34][35] Despite the loss, the 4–1 Panthers of 1918 were named by multiple selectors as a national champion for that season.[36]

The film was scheduled to premiere at RKO's flagship theater Radio City Music Hall on February 14, but in early January 1941 Welles was not finished with post-production work and told RKO that it still needed its musical score.[11]:205 Writers for national magazines had early deadlines and so a rough cut was previewed for a select few on January 3, 1941[10]:111 for such magazines as Life, Look and Redbook. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (and Parsons' arch rival) showed up to the screening uninvited. Most of the critics at the preview said that they liked the film and gave it good advanced reviews. Hopper wrote negatively about it, calling the film a "vicious and irresponsible attack on a great man" and criticizing its corny writing and old fashioned photography.[11]:205 Friday magazine ran an article drawing point-by-point comparisons between Kane and Hearst and documented how Welles had led on Parsons, Hollywood correspondent for Hearst papers.[10]:111 Up until this Welles had been friendly with Parsons. The magazine quoted Welles as saying that he couldn't understand why she was so nice to him and that she should "wait until the woman finds out that the picture's about her boss." Welles immediately denied making the statement and the editor of Friday admitted that it may be false. Welles apologized to Parsons and assured her that he had never made that remark.[11]:205

News programming was the bedrock of NTA's and the government's plan to forge national unity. The new NTA network made sure news presenters not only read prepared scripts but were part of the news gathering team and because many of the pioneer news writers came from print journalism, it made sure writers understood the importance of writing for visual presentation. The broadcaster introduced a new line of newscasters and reporters such as Ronke Ayuba, John Momoh, Cyril Stober, Bimbo Oloyede, Ruth Opia, Sienne Allwell-Brown and Sola Omole. Specialized news programmes such as Frank Olise's Newsline were also introduced.[16] The major news programmes at NTA were the Network News at Nine, a five-minute News in Brief at 5.00 P.M., and a fifteen minutes Newscap at 11.00 P.M.

In early 1910, director D. W. Griffith was sent by the Biograph Company to the west coast with his acting troupe, consisting of actors Blanche Sweet, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Lionel Barrymore and others. They started filming on a vacant lot near Georgia Street in downtown Los Angeles. While there, the company decided to explore new territories, traveling several miles north to Hollywood, a little village that was friendly and enjoyed the movie company filming there. Griffith then filmed the first movie ever shot in Hollywood, In Old California, a Biograph melodrama about California in the 19th century, when it belonged to Mexico. Griffith stayed there for months and made several films before returning to New York. After hearing about Griffith's success in Hollywood, in 1913, many movie-makers headed west to avoid the fees imposed by Thomas Edison, who owned patents on the movie-making process.[21] Nestor Studios of Bayonne, New Jersey, built the first studio in Hollywood in 1911.[22] Nestor Studios, owned by David and William Horsley, later merged with Universal Studios; and William Horsley's other company, Hollywood Film Laboratory, is now the oldest existing company in Hollywood, now called the Hollywood Digital Laboratory. California's more hospitable and cost-effective climate led to the eventual shift of virtually all filmmaking to the West Coast by the 1930s. At the time, Thomas Edison owned almost all the patents relevant to motion picture production and movie producers on the East Coast acting independently of Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company were often sued or enjoined by Edison and his agents while movie makers working on the West Coast could work independently of Edison's control.[23]

In the years following the October Revolution of 1917, the Soviet government sponsored the Russian film industry with the purpose of making propaganda films. The development of Russian cinema in the 1920s by such filmmakers as Dziga Vertov and Sergei Eisenstein saw considerable progress in the use of the motion picture as a propaganda tool, yet it also served to develop the art of moviemaking. Eisenstein's films, in particular 1925's The Battleship Potemkin, are seen as masterworks of the cinema, even as they glorify Eisenstein's Communist ideals. In depicting the 1905 Russian Revolution Potemkin sought to create a new history for Russia, one led and triumphed over by the formerly oppressed masses. Eisenstein was heavily influenced by the ideology of the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, which results in it providing better insight into the mindset of the later revolution than that which it depicted. Its dual purpose beyond forging a national Russian identity was to bring its revolutionary Communist message to the West. Its influence was feared in Germany to the extent that the government banned the film when it was released in the late 1920s.[71] Another of Eisenstein's films, 1927's October, depicted the Bolshevik perspective on the October Revolution, culminating in the storming of the Winter Palace which provided Soviet viewers with the victory that the workers and peasants lacked in Battleship Potemkin, ending with Lenin (as played by an unknown worker) declaring that the government is overthrown. Because no documentary material existed of the storming of the palace, Eistenstein's re-creation of the event has become the source material for historians and filmmakers, giving it further legitimacy as the accepted historical record, which illustrates its success as a propaganda film.[73]

Jean Marie Maurice Schérer or Maurice Henri Joseph Schérer, known as Éric Rohmer (French: [eʁik ʁomɛʁ], 21 March 1920[1] – 11 January 2010), was a French film director, film critic, journalist, novelist, screenwriter and teacher.


Question: Who has won the Eurovision Song Contest the most number of times?

The Eurovision Song Contest has been won by 27 different countries over its 62 contests. Ireland holds the record for the most victories, with seven wins in total. Johnny Logan, a singer from Ireland, is the only person to have won the contest more than once as a performer, securing victories in 1980 and 1987. Additionally, he is one of five songwriters to have penned more than one winning song, making him the only individual with three Eurovision victories as either a singer, songwriter, or both. The other four songwriters with multiple winning entries are Willy van Hemert (Netherlands, 1957 and 1959), Yves Dessca (Monaco, 1971 and Luxembourg, 1972), Rolf Løvland (Norway, 1985 and 1995), and Brendan Graham (Ireland, 1994 and 1996).

The club is also one of the most successful clubs in international club football, having won 17 official trophies in total, 14 of which are UEFA competitions excluding a record 3 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, considered the predecessor of the UEFA Europa League.[7] They have won five UEFA Champions League titles, a record five UEFA Super Cup, a record four UEFA Cup Winners' Cups, a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cups [8] and a record three FIFA Club World Cup trophies.[9]

The fastest selling debut single is "Anything Is Possible/Evergreen" by Will Young, which sold 1.11 million copies in its first week on sale.[12] Publicity had built up due to the televised talent contest Pop Idol with 8.7 million people phoning in to vote for the finalists.[13]

Most of the Cypriot entries have been sung in Greek or English; the exceptions are in 2000, in which the song "Nomiza" included both Greek and Italian, and in the 2007 contest, in which Evridiki performed "Comme Ci, Comme Ça" entirely in French.

France Gall, winner of the 1965 contest for Luxembourg.

Lordi, winner of the 2006 contest for Finland.

Ireland was drawn to compete in the first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest which took place on 8 May 2018. He sang in 18th position and successfully qualified for the final, marking the country's first qualification since the 2013 Contest.[1]

Udo Jürgens, winner of the 1966 contest for Austria.

Totals include all instances where an artist is actually credited as part of the act. Therefore, for example, The Shadows score for their own hits as well as those where they backed Cliff Richard, and Diana Ross scores for both her solo hits and those as Diana Ross & the Supremes. However, Paul McCartney, for example, is not credited for any of The Beatles' hits as he does not have a separate credit, (although his hits with Wings do count towards his total as they are classed together in the Guinness Book of Hit Singles).

Argentina, Brazil, Germany[note 2] and France are the only national teams that have won the three most important men's titles recognized by FIFA: the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and the Olympic tournament. They have also won their respective continental championship (Copa AmÃ©rica for Argentina and Brazil, and UEFA European Championship for Germany and France).[4][5]

Richard Herrey from Herreys, winners of the 1984 contest for Sweden.


Question:
Who has won the Eurovision Song Contest the most times? (Since the original question is already clear and simple, the similar question is exactly the same.)

However, if you want a different but similar question: Which country has the highest number of Eurovision Song Contest victories?

Ireland has emerged victorious in the Eurovision Song Contest a record seven times, outpacing any other country. Remarkably, Ireland achieved three consecutive wins in 1992, 1993, and 1994, a feat unmatched by any nation. Spain, Luxembourg, and Israel are the only countries to have won the contest in back-to-back years, achieving this in 1968 and 1969, 1972 and 1973, and 1978 and 1979, respectively. Switzerland was the inaugural winner in the first contest, and Serbia is the only other country to triumph on its debut, in 2007, although Serbia had previously participated as part of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro. Under the voting system utilized from 1975 to 2015, the contest's victor was determined by the final voting nation on eleven separate occasions.

Isabelle Aubret, winner of the 1962 contest for France.

The championship was contested by England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. France won the tournament, achieving a final 12â€“10 victory over England to win the Grand Slam, their first since 2004 and ninth overall (including six in the Five Nations).[1][2] This was also their seventeenth outright victory, including twelve victories in the Five Nations, excluding eight titles shared with other countries. France also retained the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy by defeating Italy in the tournament, to whom they had (then) never lost within the Six Nations.

IndurÃ¡in won five consecutive Tours de France from 1991 to 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times.[2] He won the Giro d'Italia twice, becoming one of seven people to achieve the Giro-Tour double in the same season. He wore the race leader's yellow jersey in the Tour de France for 60 days.[1] Since the revoking of Lance Armstrong's seven wins, he now holds the record for the most consecutive Tour de France wins and shares the record for most wins with Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Eddy Merckx.[3]

Bobbysocks!, winners of the 1985 contest for Norway.

Most of the Cypriot entries have been sung in Greek or English; the exceptions are in 2000, in which the song "Nomiza" included both Greek and Italian, and in the 2007 contest, in which Evridiki performed "Comme Ci, Comme Ça" entirely in French.

Dima Bilan, winner of the 2008 contest for Russia.

Ireland performed eighteenth in the first semi-final, following the entry from Switzerland and preceding the entry from Cyprus. At the end of the show, Ireland was announced as one of the ten countries who qualified to the grand final, making it their first qualification since 2013. Following the semi-final, Ryan O'Shaughnessy participated in a press conference with the other winners in which they drew which half of the final they'd perform in. Ireland was drawn to perform in the second half of the grand final.

Every player who has won this award and has been eligible for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has been inducted. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won the award a record six times.[3] Both Bill Russell and Michael Jordan won the award five times,[4] while Wilt Chamberlain and LeBron James won the award four times. Russell and James are the only players to have won the award four times in five seasons.[5] Moses Malone, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson each won the award three times, while Bob Pettit, Karl Malone, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry have each won it twice.[4] Only two rookies have won the award: Wilt Chamberlain in the 1959–60 season and Wes Unseld in the 1968–69 season.[6] Hakeem Olajuwon of Nigeria,[b] Tim Duncan of the U.S. Virgin Islands,[c] Steve Nash of Canada[d] and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany are the only MVP winners considered "international players" by the NBA.[9]

The national team has won the FIFA World Cup twice (in 1978 and 1986), successive Olympic gold medals (in 2004 and 2008), fourteen Copas América, one Confederations Cup and six World Youth Championships. Argentine clubs have won the Copa Libertadores, the top continental competition, a record 22 times and the Intercontinental Cup or FIFA Club World Cup 8 times, a record shared with Brazilian clubs. The Argentine Primera División is the top level domestic competition. The country's most famed football idol is Diego Maradona. Actually the most famous football player is Lionel Messi.

In the 1990s, British pop duo Robson & Jerome recorded the song as part of a double A-side release, coupled with "Unchained Melody"; the single stayed at No. 1 for seven weeks in the UK, selling over a million copies. The Jive Aces released a swing version in 2005 (similar to Acker Bilk's arrangement).


Question: When did the revolution start in the United States?

The American Revolution, which began as a colonial revolt against British rule, started in 1765 and lasted until 1783. During this period, the American Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies fought for and eventually secured independence from Great Britain, establishing the United States of America. They achieved victory in the American Revolutionary War with the help of France and other allies.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), was among the most influential leaders in early America; during the American Revolutionary War (1775–83), Jefferson served in the Virginia legislature, the Continental Congress, was governor of Virginia, later serving as U.S. minister to France, U.S. secretary of state, vice president under John Adams (1735-1826), writer of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president. During Jefferson’s two terms in office (1801-1809), the U.S. purchased the Louisiana Territory and Lewis and Clark explored the vast new acquisition. After leaving office, he retired to his Virginia plantation, Monticello, and helped spearhead the University of Virginia.[4] Jefferson was also a student of agriculture who introduced various types of rice, olive trees, and grasses into the New World. He stressed the scientific aspect of the Lewis and Clark expedition (1804–06),[5] which explored the Pacific Northwest, and detailed, systematic information on the region's plants and animals was one of that expedition's legacies.[6]

The War of 1812 (1812–1815) was a conflict fought between the United States, the United Kingdom, and their respective allies. Historians in Britain often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars; in the United States and Canada, it is seen as a war in its own right.

At the outset of the Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania State House. On account of British military actions, the Congress was forced to relocate to Baltimore, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and then York, Pennsylvania for a time before returning to Philadelphia.[2] Upon gaining independence, the Congress of the Confederation was formed, and Philadelphia became the new nation's first seat of government. Congress did not remain in the city long however, for in June 1783, a mob of angry soldiers converged upon Independence Hall demanding payment for their service during the war. Congress requested that John Dickinson, the governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey on June 21, 1783,[3] and met in Annapolis and then Trenton, before ending up in New York.

The American Revolution was the first wave of the Atlantic Revolutions: the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Latin American wars of independence. Aftershocks reached Ireland in the Irish Rebellion of 1798, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and in the Netherlands.[185][186]

When the French Revolution led to war in 1793 between Britain (America's leading trading partner), and France (the old ally, with a treaty still in effect), Washington and his cabinet decided on a policy of neutrality. In 1795 Washington supported the Jay Treaty, designed by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to avoid war with Britain and encourage commerce. The Jeffersonians vehemently opposed the treaty, but Washington's support proved decisive, and the U.S. and Britain were on friendly terms for a decade. However the foreign policy dispute polarized parties at home, leading to the First Party System.[3][4]

The First Industrial Revolution took place from the 18th to 19th centuries in Europe and America. It was a period when mostly agrarian, rural societies became industrial and urban.[6] The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution.[6]

Many colonists, however, had developed a different conception of the empire. The colonies were not directly represented in Parliament, and colonists argued that Parliament had no right to levy taxes upon them. This tax dispute was part of a larger divergence between British and American interpretations of the British Constitution and the extent of Parliament's authority in the colonies.[14] The orthodox British view, dating from the Glorious Revolution of 1688, was that Parliament was the supreme authority throughout the empire, and so, by definition, anything that Parliament did was constitutional.[15] In the colonies, however, the idea had developed that the British Constitution recognized certain fundamental rights that no government could violate, not even Parliament.[16] After the Townshend Acts, some essayists even began to question whether Parliament had any legitimate jurisdiction in the colonies at all.[17] Anticipating the arrangement of the British Commonwealth,[18] by 1774 American writers such as Samuel Adams, James Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson were arguing that Parliament was the legislature of Great Britain only, and that the colonies, which had their own legislatures, were connected to the rest of the empire only through their allegiance to the Crown.[19]

The First Congress of the United States was called to convene in New York on March 4, 1789, marking the beginning of government under the Constitution. On September 2, 1789, Congress created a permanent institution for the management of government finances:

There had been a continuing contest between the states and the national government over the power of the latter—and over the loyalty of the citizenry—almost since the founding of the republic. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798, for example, had defied the Alien and Sedition Acts, and at the Hartford Convention, New England voiced its opposition to President James Madison and the War of 1812, and discussed secession from the Union.


Question: When did the revolution start in the United States?

The American Revolution began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, after Massachusetts was declared in a state of rebellion in February 1775. British forces were ordered to disarm the rebels and arrest their leaders, leading to these pivotal battles. The Patriots then laid siege to Boston, expelled royal officials, and took control through the establishment of Provincial Congresses. The Battle of Bunker Hill, a costly British victory, followed on June 17, 1775. The Second Continental Congress, divided on the best course of action, eventually produced the Olive Branch Petition to seek peace with King George, but the king responded with a Proclamation of Rebellion, declaring the states in rebellion and labeling Congress members as traitors.

At the time of the American Revolution, the institution of slavery was firmly established in the American colonies. It was most important in the six southern states from Maryland to Georgia, but the total of a half million slaves were spread out through all of the colonies. In the South, 40% of the population was made up of slaves, and as Americans moved into Kentucky and the rest of the southwest, one-sixth of the settlers were slaves. By the end of the war, the New England states provided most of the American ships that were used in the foreign slave trade while most of their customers were in Georgia and the Carolinas.[10]

Prior to the Constitution, the thirteen states were bound together by the Articles of Confederation. These were in essence a military alliance between sovereign nations adopted to better fight the Revolutionary War. Congress had no power to tax, and as a result was not able to pay debts resulting from the Revolution. Madison, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others feared a break-up of the union and national bankruptcy.[2] Like Washington, Madison felt the revolution had not resolved the social problems that had triggered it, and the excesses ascribed to the King were now being repeated by the state legislatures. In this view, Shays' Rebellion, an armed uprising in Massachusetts in 1786, was simply one, albeit extreme, example of "democratic excess" in the aftermath of the War.[3]

Before the Revolution, individuals like Benjamin Franklin and William Goddard were the colonial postmasters who managed the mails then and were the general architects of a postal system that started out as an alternative to the Crown Post.

As the Confederation Congress attempted to govern the continually growing American states, delegates discovered that the limitations placed upon the central government rendered it ineffective at doing so. As the government's weaknesses became apparent, especially after Shays' Rebellion, individuals began asking for changes to the Articles. Their hope was to create a stronger national government. Initially, some states met to deal with their trade and economic problems. However, as more states became interested in meeting to change the Articles, a meeting was set in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. This became the Constitutional Convention. It was quickly realized that changes would not work, and instead the entire Articles needed to be replaced.[3] On March 4, 1789, the government under the Articles was replaced with the federal government under the Constitution.[4] The new Constitution provided for a much stronger federal government by establishing a chief executive (the President), courts, and taxing powers.

The territory was acquired by Great Britain from France following victory in the Seven Years' War and the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Great Britain took over the Ohio Country, as its eastern portion was known, but a few months later closed it to new European settlement by the Royal Proclamation of 1763. The Crown tried to restrict settlement of the thirteen colonies between the Appalachians and the Atlantic, which raised colonial tensions among those who wanted to move west. With the colonials' victory in the American Revolutionary War and signing of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the United States claimed the territory, as well as the areas south of the Ohio. The territories were subject to overlapping and conflicting claims of the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Virginia dating from their colonial past. The British were active in some of the border area until after the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812.

In Shays' Rebellion, a Massachusetts militia that had been raised as a private army defeated the main Shays site force on February 3, 1787. There was a lack of an institutional response to the uprising, which energized calls to reevaluate the Articles of Confederation and gave strong impetus to the Constitutional Convention which began in May 1787.

At the time, revolutionaries were called "Patriots", "Whigs", "Congress-men", or "Americans". They included a full range of social and economic classes, but were unanimous regarding the need to defend the rights of Americans and uphold the principles of republicanism in terms of rejecting monarchy and aristocracy, while emphasizing civic virtue on the part of the citizens. Newspapers were strongholds of patriotism (although there were a few Loyalist papers), and printed many pamphlets, announcements, patriotic letters and pronouncements.[134]

The Industrial Revolution brought factories to Europe, especially England and Scotland, 1750s to 1830s. France and the U.S. experienced its industrial revolution in the early 19th century; Germany in the 19th century; and to Russia in the early-mid 20th century.

As United States Surgeon General, Benjamin Rush saved countless lives of soldiers during the American Revolutionary War by promoting hygiene and public health practices. By introducing new medical treatments, he made the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia an example of medical enlightenment, and after his military service, Rush established the first free clinic in the United States.[6]

On July 29, 1775, the Second Continental Congress assigned the responsibility for the administration of the revolutionary government's finances to Joint Continental Treasurers, George Clymer and Michael Hillegas. The Congress stipulated that each of the colonies contribute to the Continental government's funds. To ensure proper and efficient handling of the growing national debt in the face of weak economic and political ties between the colonies, the Congress, on February 17, 1776, designated a committee of five to superintend the Treasury, settle the accounts, and report periodically to the Congress. On April 1, a Treasury Office of Accounts, consisting of an Auditor General and clerks, was established to facilitate the settlement of claims and to keep the public accounts for the government of the United Colonies. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, the new-born republic as a sovereign nation was able to secure loans from abroad.


Question: Through what process did the Colorado River form the Grand Canyon in the USA?

The Grand Canyon, a magnificent natural wonder in the USA, was formed through the relentless process of erosion by the Colorado River. This process has gradually carved through layers of rock, revealing one of the most comprehensive geological columns found anywhere on Earth.

The river flows through the Black Warrior Basin, a region historically important for the extraction of coal and methane. The cities of Tuscaloosa and Northport grew at the historical head of navigation at the fall line between the Appalachian Highlands (specifically, the Cumberland Plateau) and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Birmingham, though not directly on the river, became a manufacturing hub and one of the largest cities in the South through use of the Black Warrior River in a small part for the transportation of goods. Birmingham actually grew up around a major junction of north-south and east-west railroads, just as Atlanta, Georgia, did.

The Gila River is 650 miles (1,050 km) long, and extends from southwestern New Mexico to its confluence with the Colorado River near Yuma. While the upper Gila River is free-flowing, the portion of the river below the Phoenix area is usually either a trickle of completely dry because of the diversion of water for irrigation. The only major dam on the Gila River is Coolidge Dam, located 31 miles (50 km) southeast of Globe, Arizona.

Deposition of levees is a natural consequence of the flooding of meandering rivers which carry high proportions of suspended sediment in the form of fine sands, silts, and muds. Because the carrying capacity of a river depends in part on its depth, the sediment in the water which is over the flooded banks of the channel is no longer capable of keeping the same amount of fine sediments in suspension as the main thalweg. The extra fine sediments thus settle out quickly on the parts of the floodplain nearest to the channel. Over a significant number of floods, this will eventually result in the building up of ridges in these positions, and reducing the likelihood of further floods and episodes of levee building.

The Sinagua were a cultural group occupying an area to the southeast of the Grand Canyon, between the Little Colorado River and the Salt River, between approximately 500 and 1425 CE. The Sinagua may have been ancestors of several Hopi clans.

Uniformitarianism was proposed in contrast to catastrophism, which states that the distant past "consisted of epochs of paroxysmal and catastrophic action interposed between periods of comparative tranquility"[37] Especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most geologists took this interpretation to mean that catastrophic events are not important in geologic time; one example of this is the debate of the formation of the Channeled Scablands due to the catastrophic Missoula glacial outburst floods. An important result of this debate and others was the re-clarification that, while the same principles operate in geologic time, catastrophic events that are infrequent on human time-scales can have important consequences in geologic history.[38] Derek Ager has noted that "geologists do not deny uniformitarianism in its true sense, that is to say, of interpreting the past by means of the processes that are seen going on at the present day, so long as we remember that the periodic catastrophe is one of those processes. Those periodic catastrophes make more showing in the stratigraphical record than we have hitherto assumed."[39]

For over 12,000 years, people have depended on the Missouri River and its tributaries as a source of sustenance and transportation. More than ten major groups of Native Americans populated the watershed, most leading a nomadic lifestyle and dependent on enormous bison herds that once roamed through the Great Plains. The first Europeans encountered the river in the late seventeenth century, and the region passed through Spanish and French hands before finally becoming part of the United States through the Louisiana Purchase. The Missouri was long believed to be part of the Northwest Passage – a water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific – but when Lewis and Clark became the first to travel the river's entire length, they confirmed the mythical pathway to be no more than a legend.

According to the San Francisco Herald, in a series of articles run in 1853, Captain Joseph R. Walker in January 1851 with his nephew James T. Walker and six men, traveled up the Colorado River to a point where it joined the Virgin River and continued east into Arizona, traveling along the Grand Canyon and making short exploratory side trips along the way. Walker is reported to have said he wanted to visit the Moqui Indians, as the Hopi were then called by whites. He had met these people briefly in previous years, thought them exceptionally interesting and wanted to become better acquainted. The Herald reporter then stated, "We believe that Captain Joe Walker is the only white man in this country that has ever visited this strange people."[citation needed]

Aside from casual sightseeing from the South Rim (averaging 7,000 feet [2,100 m] above sea level), skydiving, rafting, hiking, running, and helicopter tours are popular. The Grand Canyon Ultra Marathon is a 78-mile (126 km) race over 24 hours. The floor of the valley is accessible by foot, muleback, or by boat or raft from upriver. Hiking down to the river and back up to the rim in one day is discouraged by park officials because of the distance, steep and rocky trails, change in elevation, and danger of heat exhaustion from the much higher temperatures at the bottom. Rescues are required annually of unsuccessful rim-to-river-to-rim travelers. Nevertheless, hundreds of fit and experienced hikers complete the trip every year.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Missouri River has been extensively engineered for water transport purposes, and about 32 percent of the river now flows through artificially straightened channels.[10] In 1912, the USACE was authorized to maintain the Missouri to a depth of six feet (1.8 m) from the Port of Kansas City to the mouth, a distance of 368 miles (592 km).[15] This was accomplished by constructing levees and wing dams to direct the river's flow into a straight, narrow channel and prevent sedimentation. In 1925, the USACE began a project to widen the river's navigation channel to 200 feet (61 m); two years later, they began dredging a deep-water channel from Kansas City to Sioux City. These modifications have reduced the river's length from some 2,540 miles (4,090 km) in the late 19th century to 2,341 miles (3,767 km) in the present day.[9][189]

It has been recently suggested that Valles Marineris is a large tectonic "crack" in the Martian crust.[4][5] Most researchers agree that this formed as the crust thickened in the Tharsis region to the west, and was subsequently widened by erosion.[citation needed] Near the eastern flanks of the rift, there appear to be channels that may have been formed by water or carbon dioxide. It has also been proposed that Valles Marineris is a large channel formed by the erosion of lava flowing from the flank of Pavonis Mons.[6]


Question: Through what process did the Colorado River form the Grand Canyon in the USA?

The Grand Canyon was formed through the process of erosion by the Colorado River. Approximately 5.3 million years ago, the Gulf of California opened, causing a significant drop in the river's base level. This event accelerated the erosion rate, leading to the creation of the canyon's current depth by about 1.2 million years ago. The terraced walls that characterize the canyon were shaped by differential erosion, resulting in the stunning geological formation we see today.

The three most common amphibians in these riparian communities are the canyon tree frog, red-spotted toad, and Woodhouse's Rocky Mountain toad.[58] Leopard frogs are very rare in the Colorado River corridor, they have undergone major declines and have not been seen in the Canyon in several years.[58] There are 33 crustacean species found in the Colorado River and its tributaries within Grand Canyon National Park. Of these 33, 16 are considered true zooplankton organisms.[59]

During the 20th century, the Missouri River basin was extensively developed for irrigation, flood control and the generation of hydroelectric power. Fifteen dams impound the main stem of the river, with hundreds more on tributaries. Meanders have been cut and the river channelized to improve navigation, reducing its length by almost 200 miles (320Â km) from pre-development times. Although the lower Missouri valley is now a populous and highly productive agricultural and industrial region, heavy development has taken its toll on wildlife and fish populations as well as water quality.

These estuaries are formed by subsidence or land cut off from the ocean by land movement associated with faulting, volcanoes, and landslides. Inundation from eustatic sea level rise during the Holocene Epoch has also contributed to the formation of these estuaries. There are only a small number of tectonically produced estuaries; one example is the San Francisco Bay, which was formed by the crustal movements of the San Andreas fault system causing the inundation of the lower reaches of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.[7]

West of the Rocky Mountains lies the Intermontane Plateaus (also known as the Intermountain West), a large, arid desert lying between the Rockies and the Cascades and Sierra Nevada ranges. The large southern portion, known as the Great Basin, consists of salt flats, drainage basins, and many small north-south mountain ranges. The Southwest is predominantly a low-lying desert region. A portion known as the Colorado Plateau, centered around the Four Corners region, is considered to have some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. It is accentuated in such national parks as Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde National Park and Bryce Canyon, among others. Other smaller Intermontane areas include the Columbia Plateau covering eastern Washington, western Idaho and northeast Oregon and the Snake River Plain in Southern Idaho.

Further to the east, the canyon system runs into Coprates Chasma, which is very similar to Ius and Tithonium chasmata. Coprates differs from Ius in the eastern end which contains alluvial deposits and eolian material[10] and like Ius, has layered deposits, although the deposits in the Coprates Chasma are much more well defined. These deposits pre-date the Valles Marineris system, suggesting erosion and sedimentary processes later cut by the Valles Marineris system. Newer data from Mars Global Surveyor suggest that the origin of this layering is either just a succession of landslides, one over another, volcanic in origin, or it may be the bottom of a basin of either liquid or solid water ice suggesting that the peripheral canyons of the Valles Marineris system could have been at one time isolated lakes formed from erosional collapse. Another possible source of the layered deposits could be wind-blown, but the diversity of the layers suggests that this material is not dominant. Note that only the upper layers are thin, while the bottom layers are very big, suggesting that the lower layers were composed of mass wasted rock and the upper layers come from another source.[14] Some of this layering may have been transferred to the floor by landslides in which the layers are kept semi-intact, yet the layered section looks highly deformed with thickening and thinning beds that have multitudes of folds in them as seen in MOC image #8405. This complex terrain could also be just eroded sediment from an ancient Martian lake-bed and appear complex because all that we have is an aerial view like a geologic map and not enough elevation data to see if the beds are horizontal.

In Colorado there is the Mesa Verde National Park, Royal Gorge, Blue Mesa Reservoir, Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, Yucca House National Monument, San Juan National Forest, Uncompahgre National Forest, San Isabel National Forest, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, and Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site.

The Church Rock uranium mill spill occurred in New Mexico on July 16, 1979, when United Nuclear Corporation's Church Rock uranium mill tailings disposal pond breached its dam.[62][63] Over 1,000 tons of solid radioactive mill waste and 93 million gallons of acidic, radioactive tailings solution flowed into the Puerco River, and contaminants traveled 80 miles (130Â km) downstream to Navajo County, Arizona and onto the Navajo Nation.[62] The accident released more radioactivity than the Three Mile Island accident that occurred four months earlier and was the largest release of radioactive material in U.S. history.[62][64][65][66] Groundwater near the spill was contaminated and the Puerco rendered unusable by local residents, who were not immediately aware of the toxic danger.[67]

Flowing eastwards through the plains of eastern Montana, the Missouri receives the Poplar River from the north before crossing into North Dakota where the Yellowstone River, its greatest tributary by volume, joins from the southwest. At the confluence, the Yellowstone is actually the larger river.[n 1] The Missouri then meanders east past Williston and into Lake Sakakawea, the reservoir formed by Garrison Dam. Below the dam the Missouri receives the Knife River from the west and flows south to Bismarck, the capital of North Dakota, where the Heart River joins from the west. It slows into the Lake Oahe reservoir just before the Cannonball River confluence. While it continues south, eventually reaching Oahe Dam in South Dakota, the Grand, Moreau and Cheyenne Rivers all join the Missouri from the west.[14][15]

The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics.[3] The Gulf of Mexico basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles (1,500 km; 930 mi) wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U.S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean (with which it forms the American Mediterranean Sea) via the Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba. With the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2 (615,000 sq mi). Almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters (550 quadrillion Imperial gallons, 660 quadrillion US gallons, 2.5 million km3 or 600,000 cu mi).[4]

Coulee Dam National Recreation Area (now called Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area) was established in 1946, under an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation patterned after Lake Mead. Construction of Grand Coulee Dam began in 1933 and the dam went into operation in 1941. It impounds a huge body of water named Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, 151 miles (243 km) long with 660 miles (1,060 km) of shoreline.


Question: What is the function of reverse transcriptase in retroviral infection?

Reverse transcriptase plays a crucial role in retroviral infection by converting the single-stranded RNA genome of the virus into double-stranded cDNA. This cDNA can then integrate into the host's genome, leading to a persistent infection that is often challenging to eliminate. This process is analogous to laboratory techniques where RNA is converted to DNA for various applications such as molecular cloning, RNA sequencing, PCR, and genome analysis.

As the immune system is relatively conserved between zebrafish and humans, many human infectious diseases can be modeled in zebrafish.[72][73][74][75] The transparent early life stages are well suited for in vivo imaging and genetic dissection of host-pathogen interactions.[76][77][78][79] Zebrafish models for a wide range of bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens have already been established; for example, the zebrafish model for tuberculosis provides fundamental insights into the mechanisms of pathogenesis of mycobacteria.[80][81][82][83] Furthermore, robotic technology has been developed for high-throughput antimicrobial drug screening using zebrafish infection models.[84][85]

When only one strand of the DNA is damaged, the lost information (nucleotide sequence) can ordinarily be recovered by repair processes that remove the damaged sequence and fill the resulting gap by copying from the opposite intact strand of the double helix. However, ROS also cause a type of damage that is difficult to repair, referred to as double-strand damage. One common example of double-strand damage is the double-strand break. In this case, genetic information (nucleotide sequence) is lost from both strands in the damaged region, and proper information can only be obtained from another intact chromosome homologous to the damaged chromosome. The process that the cell uses to accurately accomplish this type of repair is called recombinational repair.

Because of the lack of nuclei and organelles, mature red blood cells do not contain DNA and cannot synthesize any RNA, and consequently cannot divide and have limited repair capabilities.[42] The inability to carry out protein synthesis means that no virus can evolve to target mammalian red blood cells.[43] However, infection with parvoviruses (such as human parvovirus B19) can affect erythroid precursors, as recognized by the presence of giant pronormoblasts with viral particles and inclusion bodies, thus temporarily depleting the blood of reticulocytes and causing anemia.[44]

V(D)J recombination begins when V(D)J recombinase (through the activity of RAG1) binds an RSS flanking a coding gene segment (V, D, or J) and creates a single-strand nick in the DNA between the first base of the RSS (just before the heptamer) and the coding segment. This is essentially energetically neutral (no need for ATP hydrolysis) and results in the formation of a free 3' hydroxyl group and a 5' phosphate group on the same strand. The reactive hydroxyl group is positioned by the recombinase to attack the phosphodiester bond of opposite strand, forming two DNA ends: a hairpin (stem-loop) on the coding segment and a blunt end on the signal segment.[13] The current model is that DNA nicking and hairpin formation occurs on both strands simultaneously (or nearly so) in a complex known as a recombination center.[14][15][16][17]

"Computer simulations of the evolution of linear sequences have demonstrated the importance of recombination of blocks of sequence rather than point mutagenesis alone. Repeated cycles of point mutagenesis, recombination, and selection should allow in vitro molecular evolution of complex sequences, such as proteins."[301] Evolutionary molecular engineering, also called directed evolution or in vitro molecular evolution involves the iterated cycle of mutation, multiplication with recombination, and selection of the fittest of individual molecules (proteins, DNA, and RNA). Natural evolution can be relived showing us possible paths from catalytic cycles based on proteins to based on RNA to based on DNA.[301][302][303][304]

V(D)J recombination is the unique mechanism of genetic recombination that occurs only in developing lymphocytes during the early stages of T and B cell maturation. It involves somatic recombination, and results in the highly diverse repertoire of antibodies/immunoglobulins (Igs) and T cell receptors (TCRs) found on B cells and T cells, respectively. The process is a defining feature of the adaptive immune system and its development was a key event in the evolution of jawed vertebrates.

Gene expression first involves transcription, in which DNA is used as a template to produce RNA. In the case of genes encoding proteins, that RNA produced from this process is messenger RNA (mRNA), which then needs to be translated by ribosomes to form a protein. As ribosomes are located outside the nucleus, mRNA produced needs to be exported.[56]

The process of V(D)J recombination is mediated by VDJ recombinase, which is a diverse collection of enzymes. The key enzymes involved are recombination activating genes 1 and 2 (RAG), terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT), and Artemis nuclease, a member of the ubiquitous non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) pathway for DNA repair.[7] Several other enzymes are known to be involved in the process and include DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK), X-ray repair cross-complementing protein 4 (XRCC4), DNA ligase IV, non-homologous end-joining factor 1 (NHEJ1; also known as Cernunnos or XRCC4-like factor [XLF]), the recently discovered Paralog of XRCC4 and XLF (PAXX), and DNA polymerases λ and μ.[8] Some enzymes involved are specific to lymphocytes (e.g., RAG, TdT), while others are found in other cell types and even ubiquitously (e.g., NHEJ components).

Nonsense mutations are changes in DNA sequence that introduce a premature stop codon, causing any resulting protein to be abnormally shortened. This often causes a loss of function in the protein, as critical parts of the amino acid chain are no longer created. Because of this terminology, stop codons have also been referred to as nonsense codons.

Stohl and Seifert showed that the bacterial RecA protein, which mediates repair of DNA damage, plays an important role in gonococcal survival.[25] Michod et al. have suggested that N. gonorrhoeae may replace DNA damaged in neutrophil phagosomes with DNA from neighboring gonococci.[26] The process in which recipient gonococci integrate DNA from neighboring gonococci into their genome is called transformation.


Question: What is the function of reverse transcriptase in retroviral infections?

Reverse transcriptase plays a critical role in the replication of retroviruses, such as HIV, by enabling the reverse transcription of their RNA genomes into DNA. This DNA is then integrated into the host genome and replicated alongside it. Without this enzyme, the viral genome would fail to integrate into the host cell, preventing the virus from replicating. Reverse-transcribing DNA viruses, like hepadnaviruses, also utilize this enzyme to convert RNA into DNA strands.

Since the nucleus is the site of transcription, it also contains a variety of proteins that either directly mediate transcription or are involved in regulating the process. These proteins include helicases, which unwind the double-stranded DNA molecule to facilitate access to it, RNA polymerases, which bind to the DNA promoter to synthesize the growing RNA molecule, topoisomerases, which change the amount of supercoiling in DNA, helping it wind and unwind, as well as a large variety of transcription factors that regulate expression.[57]

To maintain the specificity of recombination, V(D)J recombinase recognizes and binds to Recombination Signal Sequences (RSSs) flanking the variable (V), diversity (D), and joining (J) genes segments. RSSs are composed of three elements: a heptamer of seven conserved nucleotides, a spacer region of 12 or 23 basepairs in length, and a nonamer of nine conserved nucleotides. While the majority of RSSs vary in sequence, the consensus heptamer and nonamer sequences are CACAGTG and ACAAAAACC, respectively; and although the sequence of the spacer region is poorly conserved, the length is highly conserved.[9][10] The length of the spacer region corresponds to approximately one (12 basepairs) or two turns (23 basepairs) of the DNA helix. Following what is known as the 12/23 Rule, gene segments to be recombined are usually adjacent to RSSs of different spacer lengths (i.e., one has a "12RSS" and one has a "23RSS").[11] This is an important feature in the regulation of V(D)J recombination.[12]

Gene expression first involves transcription, in which DNA is used as a template to produce RNA. In the case of genes encoding proteins, that RNA produced from this process is messenger RNA (mRNA), which then needs to be translated by ribosomes to form a protein. As ribosomes are located outside the nucleus, mRNA produced needs to be exported.[56]

Transformation involves the uptake of named DNA from the environment. Through transformation, DNA can be transmitted between distantly related organisms. Some bacterial species, such as Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, are continuously competent to accept DNA. Other species, such as Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus pneumoniae, become competent when they enter a particular phase in their lifecycle.

Hershey and Chase inserted the radioactive elements into the bacteriophages by adding the isotopes to separate media within which bacteria were allowed to grow for 4 hours before bacteriophage introduction. When the bacteriophages infected the bacteria, the progeny contained the radioactive isotopes in their structures. This procedure was performed once for the sulfur-labeled phages and once for phosphorus-labeled phages.[1] The labeled progeny were then allowed to infect unlabeled bacteria. The phage coats remained on the outside of the bacteria, while genetic material entered. Disruption of phage from the bacteria by agitation in a blender followed by centrifugation allowed for the separation of the phage coats from the bacteria. These bacteria were lysed to release phage progeny. The progeny of the phages that were originally labeled with 32P remained labeled, while the progeny of the phages originally labeled with 35S were unlabeled. Thus, the Hersheyâ€“Chase experiment helped confirm that DNA, not protein, is the genetic material.

The ascending reticular activating system (ARAS), also known as the extrathalamic control modulatory system or simply the reticular activating system (RAS), is a set of connected nuclei in the brains of vertebrates that is responsible for regulating wakefulness and sleep-wake transitions. The ARAS is a part of the reticular formation and is mostly composed of various nuclei in the thalamus and a number of dopaminergic, noradrenergic, serotonergic, histaminergic, cholinergic, and glutamatergic brain nuclei.[2][10][11][12]

V(D)J recombination begins when V(D)J recombinase (through the activity of RAG1) binds an RSS flanking a coding gene segment (V, D, or J) and creates a single-strand nick in the DNA between the first base of the RSS (just before the heptamer) and the coding segment. This is essentially energetically neutral (no need for ATP hydrolysis) and results in the formation of a free 3' hydroxyl group and a 5' phosphate group on the same strand. The reactive hydroxyl group is positioned by the recombinase to attack the phosphodiester bond of opposite strand, forming two DNA ends: a hairpin (stem-loop) on the coding segment and a blunt end on the signal segment.[13] The current model is that DNA nicking and hairpin formation occurs on both strands simultaneously (or nearly so) in a complex known as a recombination center.[14][15][16][17]

An assay is a form of biological titration used to determine the concentration of a virus or bacterium. Serial dilutions are performed on a sample in a fixed ratio (such as 1:1, 1:2, 1:4, 1:8, etc.) until the last dilution does not give a positive test for the presence of the virus. The positive or negative value may be determined by visually inspecting the infected cells under a microscope or by an immunoenzymetric method such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This value is known as the titer.[38]

Viruses are not typically considered to be organisms because they are incapable of autonomous reproduction, growth or metabolism. This controversy is problematic because some cellular organisms are also incapable of independent survival (but are capable of independent metabolism and procreation) and live as obligatory intracellular parasites. Although viruses have a few enzymes and molecules characteristic of living organisms, they have no metabolism of their own; they cannot synthesize and organize the organic compounds from which they are formed. Naturally, this rules out autonomous reproduction: they can only be passively replicated by the machinery of the host cell. In this sense, they are similar to inanimate matter. While viruses sustain no independent metabolism, and thus are usually not classified as organisms, they do have their own genes, and they do evolve by mechanisms similar to the evolutionary mechanisms of organisms.

TAL effectors are found in bacterial plant pathogens of the genus Xanthomonas and are involved in regulating the genes of the host plant in order to facilitate bacterial virulence, proliferation, and dissemination.[11] They contain a central region of tandem 33-35 residue repeats and each repeat region encodes a single DNA base in the TALE's binding site.[12][13] Within the repeat it is residue 13 alone that directly contacts the DNA base, determining sequence specificity, while other positions make contacts with the DNA backbone, stabilising the DNA-binding interaction.[14] Each repeat within the array takes the form of paired alpha-helices, while the whole repeat array forms a right-handed superhelix, wrapping around the DNA-double helix. TAL effector repeat arrays have been shown to contract upon DNA binding and a two-state search mechanism has been proposed whereby the elongated TALE begins to contract around the DNA beginning with a successful Thymine recognition from a unique repeat unit N-terminal of the core TAL-effector repeat array.[15] Related proteins are found in bacterial plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum,[16] the fungal endosymbiont Burkholderia rhizoxinica[17] and two as-yet unidentified marine-microorganisms.[18] The DNA binding code and the structure of the repeat array is conserved between these groups, referred to collectively as the TALE-likes.


Question: Where is the location for filming the Young and the Restless?

The Young and the Restless has been filmed at CBS Television City, utilizing studios 41 and 43 in Hollywood since its premiere on March 26, 1973. Initially distributed by Columbia Pictures Television, now Sony Pictures Television, the show was revolutionary for its emphasis on visual production quality. Unlike traditional soap operas that prioritized dialogue and story over visuals, The Young and the Restless adopted unique lighting techniques and camera angles, reminiscent of Hollywood productions. This included the use of unconventional camera angles and frequent close-ups with bright lighting on actors' faces, creating a distinctive and influential style. Executive producer H. Wesley Kenney later adjusted the lighting to achieve a more balanced look.

Principal photography began on May 9, 2016,[9] in the Massachusetts towns of Cohasset, Tewksbury, Scituate, Westwood, and Wellesley,[10] concluding on June 5, 2016, 14 days before Yelchin died.[11] Finley said of his experience with Yelchin: "The whole experience was really amazing. As soon as he came on board, we had a great dinner, where we talked about film noir as a genre. He was very keyed into that aspect of this movie, he loved film noir. I felt really, like I knew nothing about movies, talking to him. He was also the sweetest guy, he would never make you feel less-than for not knowing these things. He was just delightful and funny from the beginning, he was awesome throughout and brought a jolt of energy."[12]

In South Africa, the show airs on e.tv. The show was originally aired in South Africa in the early 1990s, dubbed into the Afrikaans language, and entitled 'Rustelose Jare' (Restless Years). In 1999 The Young and the Restless was canceled but the show returned to South African television screens in June 2004, with no overhead foreign translations. As of June 2014, episodes are screened nine months behind the US. Because of "continual viewing" with no breaks, South African audiences will catch up with the US broadcast by mid-2016.

Star Trek: Discovery is filmed at Pinewood Toronto Studios.[91] Some of the series' sets took over six weeks to create,[88] and new sets were being built up until the end of production of the season.[92] Discovery took advantage of multiple soundstages at the studio, including the largest soundstage in North America.[55] Some episodes for the show were filmed solely on existing sets, making them bottle episodes, though Harberts said the series would not do anything "as bottle-y as 'everyone is stuck in the mess hall!'"[92]

Before filming, Mendes sought to produce a period film that would avoid clichÃ©s in the gangster genre. He chose to film Road to Perdition on location in downtown at the University Club of Chicago, the Chicago neighborhood of Pullman as well as the Chicago suburb of Geneva, Illinois. The Armory, the state's largest location mainstay which houses the Illinois State National Guard, was provided to the studio by the Illinois State Film Commission. Sets were built inside the Armory, including interiors of the Sullivan family's home and the Rooney mansion. The availability of an inside location provided the crew complete control over the lighting environment, which was established with the rigging of scaffoldings.[17]

The second series filmed under the code name "Tea and Sympathy"[78] in Devon, Dorset, North Somerset,[88] and the town of Reading in Berkshire.[76] A car park next to the West Bay Hotel in Bridport served as the production's base camp.[91] Each episode took 12-and-a-half days to film.[89] Filming began in late May 2014.[92] Shooting has taken place outside the George Hotel in Bridport,[93] at a Munchees cafÃ© in Reading,[94] and at the Riverside Restaurant, Wynn's funfair,[91] the seafront, and The Lazy Lizard nightclub in the town of Weymouth.[86] A few scenes were shot on a beach between Freshwater Beach and East Beach in West Bay.[95] St Andrew's Church in Clevedon has been used to depict the Broadchurch parish church and graveyard. Other Clevedon filming locations include Marshall's Field and Hill Road, and the house used to represent the Latimer family home in Lavington Close.[89] The Forum building on the campus of the University of Exeter was used to represent the Wessex police station,[96] while another campus structure served as a local courtroom.[86][97] Some filming occurred in Bracknell Forest, in particular the Jennett's Park suburb and the John Nike Leisuresport Complex in Bracknell. The shopping district in Bracknell was decorated to mimic the Christmas holidays for filming.[98] The production team was strongly criticised by the West Bay coastguards in June 2014 for filming too close to the edge of East Cliff at West Bay, Dorset. Severe weather and recent rock-slides left the cliffs unstable, and a coastguard volunteer said the production team should have used stakes, safety lines, harnesses, and helmets. A spokesperson for the Broadchurch production defended the film crew, noting that the production team had received all necessary filming permits, had visited the site numerous times to ensure safety, and taken other reasonable health and safety precautions.[99]

The Best Years of Our Lives began filming on April 15, 1946 at a variety of locations, including the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Ontario International Airport, Ontario, California, Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, and the Samuel Goldwyn/Warner Hollywood Studios.[13] The Best Years of Our Lives is notable for cinematographer Gregg Toland's use of deep focus photography, in which objects both close to and distant from the camera are in sharp focus.[14] For the passage of Fred Derry's reliving a combat mission while sitting in the remains of a former bomber, Wyler used "zoom" effects to simulate Derry's subjective state.[15]

The pilot episode was filmed in New York City, where the series is set.[14] The rest of the series is filmed in Toronto (at Downsview Park Studios), where the sets are built to be identical to the New York law offices seen in the pilot.[15] To promote the series debut, USA had an advance screening of the pilot on June 2, 2011, at the Hudson River Park and distributed free Häagen-Dazs Sundaes cones at the viewing.[16][17] The network also had a branded ice cream carts, bikes, and scooters give away at the Sundaes and USA/Entertainment Weekly 2011 promotion summer guides on June 22 and 23. They also held the promotion in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston to endorse the pilot.[16][18]

Neil Ellis Winters is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, the role has been portrayed by Kristoff St. John since 1991. Neil is the most prominent and longest-running male African American character to appear on the series.

In 2001, Luckinbill was also featured in an episode of the MTV documentary series True Life and appeared in Madonna's "Don't Tell Me" video as the cowboy who was thrown from his horse at the end of the song.[7] On November 3, 2017, it was announced that Luckinbill would reprise his portrayal of J.T. on The Young and the Restless, beginning December 12, 2017. Thad's run on " The Young and the Restless " ended on April 13, 2018 when Nikki Newman hit him on the back of his head with a fireplace poker.[8]

20 Million Miles to Earth began production in Rome, Italy in September 1956, using only William Hopper of the main cast, and moved to the U.S. from October 30 to November 9 of that year.[2] Rome was chosen as the location for filming because Harryhausen wanted to vacation there.[2] The working title of the film was The Giant Ymir,[2] and it has also been released as The Beast from Space. All references to the name Ymir were removed from the released version of the film, as Harryhausen was concerned that audiences might confuse it with the Arabic title "Emir".


Question: Who initiated WWII and what were the events that led to its outbreak?

The origins of World War II can be traced back to the ambitions of the Empire of Japan and Nazi Germany. Japan had been at war with China since 1937, aiming to dominate Asia and the Pacific. However, the global conflict is generally acknowledged to have begun on September 1, 1939, with Germany's invasion of Poland, prompting declarations of war from France and the United Kingdom. In the subsequent two years, Germany, in alliance with Italy and Japan, exerted control over much of continental Europe through military campaigns and treaties. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939 led to the division and annexation of territories from Poland, Finland, Romania, and the Baltic states. The war escalated with the Axis powers facing off against the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth in various campaigns across North Africa, East Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. A significant turning point occurred on June 22, 1941, when the Axis powers invaded the Soviet Union, initiating the largest land conflict in history. This was followed by Japan's attack on the United States and European colonies in the Pacific in December 1941, which led to Japan's rapid conquest of much of the Western Pacific.

There were several causes for the U.S. declaration of war: First, a series of trade restrictions introduced by Britain to impede American trade with France, a country with which Britain was at war (the U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law);[2] second, the impressment (forced recruitment) of U.S. seamen into the Royal Navy; third, the British military support for American Indians who were offering armed resistance to the expansion of the American frontier to the Northwest; fourth, a possible desire on the part of the United States to annex Canada.[3] An implicit but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honor in the face of what they considered to be British insults (such as the Chesapeake affair).[4]

From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, the First World War was called simply the World War or the Great War and thereafter the First World War or World War I.[17][18] At the time, it was also sometimes called "the war to end war" or "the war to end all wars" due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation.[19]

Historians such as Ernest R. May have approached the process of American entry into the war as a study in how public opinion changed radically in three years' time. In 1914 most Americans called for neutrality, seeing the war a dreadful mistake and were determined to stay out. By 1917 the same public felt just as strongly that going to war was both necessary and wise. Military leaders had little to say during this debate, and military considerations were seldom raised. The decisive questions dealt with morality and visions of the future. The prevailing attitude was that America possessed a superior moral position as the only great nation devoted to the principles of freedom and democracy. By staying aloof from the squabbles of reactionary empires, it could preserve those ideals—sooner or later the rest of the world would come to appreciate and adopt them. In 1917 this very long-run program faced the severe danger that in the short run powerful forces adverse to democracy and freedom would triumph. Strong support for moralism came from religious leaders, women (led by Jane Addams), and from public figures like long-time Democratic leader William Jennings Bryan, the Secretary of State from 1913 to 1916. The most important moralist of all was President Woodrow Wilson—the man who dominated decision making so totally that the war has been labelled, from an American perspective, "Wilson's War".[94]

It is often assumed that Blitzkrieg is the strategy that Germany first used in Poland. The ideas of Blitzkrieg and mobile warfare had already been used in Spain, China and Siberia. Many early post-war histories, such as Barrie Pitt's in The Second World War (BPC Publishing 1966), attribute German victory to "enormous development in military technique which occurred between 1918 and 1940", and cite that "Germany, who translated (British inter-war) theories into action... called the result Blitzkrieg". That idea has been repudiated by some authors. Matthew Cooper writes:

On 23 May 1939, Hitler explained to his officers that the object of the aggression was not Danzig, but the need to obtain German Lebensraum and details of this concept would be later formulated in the infamous Generalplan Ost.[109][110] The invasion decimated urban residential areas, civilians soon became indistinguishable from combatants, and the forthcoming German occupation (both on the annexed territories and in the General Government) was one of the most brutal episodes of World War II, resulting in between 5.47 million and 5.67 million Polish deaths[111] (about 20% of the country's total population, and over 90% of its Jewish minority)â€”including the mass murder of 3 million Polish citizens (mainly Jews as part of the final solution) in extermination camps like Auschwitz, in concentration camps, and in numerous ad hoc massacres, where civilians were rounded up, taken to a nearby forest, machine-gunned, and then buried, whether they were dead or not.[citation needed]

World War I had radically altered the political European map, with the defeat of the Central Powers—including Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire—and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia, which eventually led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I, such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman and Russian Empires.

The geography of World War One helped it to play out the way it did. The brutal conditions, geographic landmarks, and outbreaks of disease as well as location helped in bringing the defeat of the Central Powers. After the war at the Treaty of Versailles, Austria-Hungary was broken up into two separate countries, and much of the German landspace was given away to France, Poland, and others. This angered Germany and set up tensions for another war of the worlds.[11]

An attack by Japan on the U.S. could not guarantee the U.S. would declare war on Germany.[46][pageÂ needed] After such an attack, American public anger would be directed at Japan, not Germany, just as happened. The Tripartite Pact (Germany, Italy, Japan) called for each to aid another in defense; Japan could not reasonably claim America had attacked Japan if she struck first.[47] For instance, Germany had been at war with the UK since 1939, and with the USSR since June 1941, without Japanese assistance. There had been a serious, if low-level, naval war going on in the Atlantic between Germany and the U.S. since summer of 1941, as well.[48] Nevertheless, it was only Hitler's declaration of war on 11 December, unforced by treaty, that brought the U.S. into the European war.

Officially, the Pact of Steel obliged Germany and Italy to aid the other country militarily, economically or otherwise in the event of war, and to collaborate in wartime production.[7] The Pact aimed to ensure that neither country was able to make peace without the agreement of the other.[8] The agreement was based on the assumption that a war would not occur within three years.[8] When Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and war broke out on 3 September, Italy was not yet prepared for conflict and had difficulty meeting its obligations.[9] Consequently, Italy did not enter World War II until June 1940, with a delayed invasion of Southern France.[10]

In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which only served as a pretext to worsen relations.[61] On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig, and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession.[61] The Poles refused to comply with the German demands and on the night of 30â€“31 August in a violent meeting with the British ambassador Neville Henderson, Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected.[62]


Question: Who is the blue character from Guardians of the Galaxy in prison?

Michael Rooker, an American actor born on April 6, 1955, is widely recognized for his diverse roles in film and television. Among his notable portrayals are Henry in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), Rowdy Burns in Days of Thunder (1990), and Merle Dixon in The Walking Dead (2010-2013). Rooker also gained fame for playing Yondu Udonta in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series. However, he is not the "blue guy" who appears in prison in Guardians of the Galaxy; that character is Drax the Destroyer, portrayed by Dave Bautista.

The episode opens with a recap of the story, with Ford and Arthur about to be captured. After being read Vogon poetry, they are thrown out of an airlock and improbably rescued by the Starship Heart of Gold, which has been stolen by Ford's semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox, accompanied by Trillian, a young woman who Arthur once met at a party. Ford and Arthur are escorted to the bridge by Marvin the Paranoid Android and meet Zaphod and Trillian. The episode ends after they are introduced, with no cliffhanger.

In the present, he is imprisoned in the Iron Heights. Hunter Zolomon speaks to him, saying they can help each other be better. In Gorilla City, one of the apes warns that Professor Zoom has done something horrible to their jungles, something even they do not know.[11]

In Blu-ray DVD commentary on the Deleted Scenes with Cassavetes and writer James Kearns, the main theme of the movie was said to be "about a miracle and John's faith in God creating the miracle". They also mentioned how SWAT team advisors for the film related a similar true incident in Toronto where a man (Henry Masuka) took an ER hostage after it would not provide immediate service to his infant son on New Year's Eve 1999. When he exited the ER he was shot and killed and found to be carrying an unloaded pellet gun.[2][3][4] A character building scene at the beginning of the film was shot in Cambridge, ON at a manufacturing facility owned by Babcock & Wilcox. Washington is shown using a grinder as he stands over a tubesheet destined for a steam generator for a nuclear power generating facility.[5]

In the fourth season of the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ackbar is captain of the royal army of Mon Calamari. After the planet's king is assassinated, the Mon Calamari and the Quarren, another of the planet's races, argue about who should be the next king. Ackbar is meant to protect the prince of Mon Calamari, Lee Char, as a battle for the planet begins, led by the Separatist commander Riff Tamson. The battle is lost, however, even with the assistance of the Jedi Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, and Kit Fisto. Ackbar is captured, leaving Ahsoka and Char to fend for themselves. However, after learning that Tamson plans to forcibly make himself the new king, the Quarren betray the Separatists at Char's public execution, Ackbar is freed and a battle ensues to retake the planet. Tamson is defeated and Char is crowned king.

A member of the Firefly family, namely Tiny's older brother. Rufus was abnormally tall, and often shot down nearby cars so their drivers would have to stop by the Firefly house for help. His Father was a man named Rufus, hence Rufus Jr or R.J. He was a fairly minor character in House Of 1000 Corpses. In The Devil's Rejects, Rufus defended the house from police covered in homemade steel body armor. In the end of the assault, Rufus fought alone while the others retreated and was shot to death by Wydell and his men. He is named after the Groucho Marx character in the film Duck Soup.

In Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Buzz is a space ranger working for Star Command, protecting the universe from Evil Emperor Zurg. He works in a team alongside Mira Nova, a Tangean princess with phasing powers, Booster, a janitor from the planet Jo-Ad, and XR, a robot created by the Little Green Men (the aliens from the movies, LGM for short). This version of Buzz is completely different from the one in Toy Story, in looks and personality. Buzz also has had many love interests on the show. He once had a friend and partner named Warp Darkmatter, however, he later joined Zurg and became his primary agent. Buzz also seems to never take off the purple headwear that he has with his Space Ranger uniform. Aside from his regular catch phrase, he has a habit of telling villains that "Evil never wins!"

Guardians of the Galaxy had the most successful August opening weekend ever, until 2016's Suicide Squad.[36] It went on to become the highest grossing August release ever[68] as well as 2014's top-grossing film domestically.[37] These accomplishments led industry observers to reconsider whether they should be so dismissive of August, a trend that had been building even before that year. Cary Carling noted afterwards in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that recent Augusts had seen a number of critical and commercial successes, not only franchise movies such as The Bourne Ultimatum and Rise of the Planet of the Apes but films that appealed to adult audiences such as Blue Jasmine, The Help, and the James Brown biopic Get on Up, whose $14 million opening weekend against Guardians "met expectations."[35]

Hannu Rajaniemi set the opening scene of his The Quantum Thief trilogy in a "dilemma prison". The main theme of the series has been described as the "inadequacy of a binary universe" and the ultimate antagonist is a character called the All-Defector. Rajaniemi is particularly interesting as an artist treating this subject in that he is a Cambridge-trained mathematician and holds a PhD in mathematical physics – the interchangeability of matter and information is a major feature of the books, which take place in a "post-singularity" future. The first book in the series was published in 2010, with the two sequels, The Fractal Prince and The Causal Angel, published in 2012 and 2014, respectively.

Iden, Zay, and Shriv return to Vardos. Iden has Zay stay behind on the Corvus while she and Shriv investigate the surface, where they see a bright red light appear in the sky. Iden and Shriv discover Gleb's dead body and are then captured by Hask, who taunts them by telling them that he killed Gleb and Del and the First Order has already destroyed the Senate and the Hosnian System- the red lights from earlier. He then orders his star destroyer the Retribution to destroy the Corvus along with Zay. Jinata Security personnel, angry at the First Order betraying them, attack Hask's men, giving Iden and Shriv an opportunity to escape. They rescue Zay who managed to eject in an escape pod before the Corvus was destroyed, and they board the Retribution.

Hawk steals the only hard-drive containing Big Time Rush's second album, and gives the songs to Zwagger, a new band that he's producing. Gustavo, Kelly, and the boys go to Hawk Records to retrieve the hard drive, but are caught and sent to jail. Kelly bails them out, but they are warned that if they are seen near Hawk Records again, there will be no bail. They assume super-hero personas, and go back to get the drive away from Hawk. In a Ghostbusters parody at the Palm Woods, Katie helps Buddha Bob rid the Palmwoods of a persistent clog that once shut down the building for a year, and appears ready to do so again.


Question: What occurred to the West Wing of the White House during a Christmas party in 1929?

On December 24, 1929, during a Christmas party, the West Wing of the White House suffered substantial damage due to an electrical fire. President Herbert Hoover, who had recently rebuilt and reinforced the West Wing with structural steel, undertook its restoration once again. This time, he also introduced air-conditioning to the area.

The Chief Usher is an ex officio member of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, which coordinates the decoration, maintenance, refurbishment, and historic preservation of the White House. Other members of the committee include the White House Office of the Curator, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Chairman of the United States Commission of Fine Arts, and Director of the National Gallery of Art, with whom the Chief Usher works closely.[23][24] Once a month, the Chief Usher hosts a meeting with the National Park Service (which owns the main White House building and its grounds), the General Services Administration (which owns the East Wing, West Wing, and ancillary buildings scattered in the South Lawn; the Eisenhower Executive Office Building; the New Executive Office Building; the Blair House; and various other government-owned townhouses and structures on Jackson Place NW), the Secret Service, and the White House Military Office to review maintenance, repair, security, and other needs at the White House and plan for upkeep.[25]

For many years, ending with Hudson's withdrawal in 1979, the parade began at Woodward and Putnam near the Detroit Public Library and ended at Hudson's Marquee near Gratiot Avenue, where Santa alighted his sleigh and received the key to the hearts of children of Detroit from the mayor.[3] In 1979, the route was moved several blocks north, beginning at Antoinette Street and ending at Adams Street, near Grand Circus Park. During this period, Santa alighted on the steps of the Detroit Institute of Arts to be welcomed by the mayor, then remounted to travel the remainder of the parade route.

Starting with 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 during the Great Depression, the party dominated the Fifth Party System, with its liberal/progressive policies and programs with the New Deal coalition to combat the emergency bank closings and the continuing financial depression since the famous Wall Street Crash of 1929 and later going into the crises leading up to the Second World War of 1939/1941 to 1945. The Democrats and the Democratic Party finally lost the White House and control of the executive branch of government only after Roosevelt's death in April 1945 near the end of the war and after the continuing post-war administration of Roosevelt's third Vice President Harry S Truman, former Senator from Missouri (for 1945 to 1953, elections of 1944 and the "stunner" of 1948). A new Republican Party President was only elected later in the following decade of the early 1950s with the losses by two-time nominee, the Governor of Illinois Adlai Stevenson (grandson of the former Vice President with the same name of the 1890s) to the very popular war hero and commanding general in World War II, General Dwight D. Eisenhower (in 1952 and 1956).

Years later, Blanc revealed that during his recovery, his son Noel "ghosted" several Warner Bros. cartoons' voice tracks for him. Warner Bros. had also asked Stan Freberg to provide the voice for Bugs Bunny, but Freberg declined, out of respect for Blanc. At the time of the accident, Blanc was also serving as the voice of Barney Rubble in The Flintstones. His absence from the show was relatively brief; Daws Butler provided the voice of Barney for a few episodes, after which the show's producers set up recording equipment in Blanc's hospital room and later at his home to allow him to work from there. Some of the recordings were made while he was in full-body cast as he lay flat on his back with the other Flintstones co-stars gathered around him.[23] He also returned to The Jack Benny Program to film the program's 1961 Christmas show, moving around by crutches and a wheelchair.[24]

From 1980 through 1982, The Beach Boys and The Grass Roots performed Independence Day concerts on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., attracting large crowds.[11][12] However, in April 1983, James G. Watt, President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, banned Independence Day concerts on the Mall by such groups. Watt said that "rock bands" that had performed on the Mall on Independence Day in 1981 and 1982 had encouraged drug use and alcoholism and had attracted "the wrong element", who would mug individuals and families attending any similar events in the future.[12] Watt then announced that Newton, a friend and supporter of President Reagan and a contributor to Republican Party political campaigns, would perform at the Mall's 1983 Independence Day celebration.[12][13] When Newton entered an Independence Day stage on the Mall on July 4, 1983, to mostly cheering members of the audience with some members booed.[14]

Many items from Blue Peter's history have become embedded in British popular culture, especially moments when things have gone wrong, such as the much-repeated clip of Lulu the elephant (from a 1969 edition)[5] who urinated and defecated on the studio floor, appeared to tread on the foot of presenter John Noakes and then proceeded to attempt an exit, dragging her keeper along behind her. Although it is often assumed to have been broadcast live, the edition featuring Lulu was one of the rare occasions when the programme was pre-recorded, as the presenters were en route to Ceylon for the summer expedition at the time of transmission. Other well-remembered and much-repeated items from this era include the Girl Guides' campfire that got out of hand on the 1970 Christmas edition, John Noakes's report on the cleaning of Nelson's Column,[6] and Simon Groom referring to a previous item on the production of a facsimile door knocker for Durham Cathedral which was displayed alongside the original, with the words 'what a beautiful pair of knockers'.[7]

On June 20, 2000, ground was broken for the Capitol Visitor Center, which opened on December 2, 2008.[42] From 2001 through 2008, the East Front of the Capitol (site of most presidential inaugurations until Ronald Reagan began a new tradition in 1981) was the site of construction for this massive underground complex, designed to facilitate a more orderly entrance for visitors to the Capitol. Prior to the center being built, visitors to the Capitol had to line up in the basement of the Cannon House Office Building or the Russell Senate Office Building. The new underground facility provides a grand entrance hall, a visitors theater, room for exhibits, and dining and restroom facilities, in addition to space for building necessities such as an underground service tunnel.

On Christmas Eve of 2009, 29-year-old Alexis Martínez of Loro Parque, Tenerife, Spain was killed by a whale named Keto. After spending two and a half minutes at the bottom of the 12-meter-deep main pool, his body was retrieved but he could not be revived. The park initially characterized the death as an "accident" and claimed that the body showed no signs of violence, but the subsequent autopsy report stated that Martinez died due to grave injuries sustained by an orca attack, including multiple compression fractures, tears to vital organs, and the bite marks of the animal on his body.[89] During the investigation into the death of Alexis Martinez, it came to light that the park had also mischaracterized to the public a 2007 incident with Tekoa, the other male, and claimed it was also an accident rather than an attack.[90]

During filming, in the scene where Uncle Billy gets drunk at Harry and Ruth's welcome home/newlyweds' party, George points him in the right direction home. As the camera focuses on George, smiling at his uncle staggering away, a crash is heard in the distance and Uncle Billy yells, "I'm all right! I'm all right!" Equipment on the set had actually been accidentally knocked over; Capra left in Thomas Mitchell's impromptu ad lib (although the "crashing" noise was augmented with added sound effects).

The designers created an interior using marble imported from Italy and Africa, and rare woods and mosaics from countries around the world. It also included architectural elements purchased from chateaux in France, such as the library mantel. Expansion was finally finished in 1892.[5]