Sometimes called the "Master of Menace," actor Vincent Price was born on May 27, 1911, and
grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. His
father served as the president of a candy company, and he had a cultured
upbringing. Price was educated in
private schools, and toured Europe at the age of 16. At Yale University, Price
studied art history and English. He then traveled to England to pursue the fine
arts at University of London. In 1935,
Price landed his first major stage role, playing Prince Albert
in a London production of Victoria Regina. The play moved to Broadway, with Helen Hayes as
Price's co-star, and it became a big hit. Before long, Price made his way to the silver
screen. Price enjoyed success in many
arenas outside of cinema; he made numerous television appearances, ranging from
The Brady Bunch to the TV series Batman. In the 1980s, he hosted the PBS series Mystery.
He also added an ominous air to the Michael Jackson's
1983 "Thriller" video, by delivering an opening monologue. Price also worked with rocker Alice
Cooper.
The
Associated Press has been breaking
news since it was created in 1846. That
year, five New York City newspapers got together to fund a pony express route
through Alabama in order to bring news of the Mexican War north more quickly
than the U.S. Post Office could deliver it. In the decades since, AP has been first to
tell the world of many of history’s most important moments, from the
assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of
the shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul. When it was founded, words were the only
medium of communication. The first
private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale, AP
delivered news by pigeon, pony express, railroad, steamship, telegraph and
teletype in the early years. In 1935, AP
began sending photographs by wire. A
radio network was formed in 1973, and an international video division was added
in 1994. In 2005, a digital database was
created to hold all AP content, which has allowed the agency to deliver news
instantly and in every format to the ever expanding online world. Often called the “Marine Corps of
journalism”—always first in and last out—AP reports history in urgent
installments, always on deadline. AP
staff in 300 locations in more than 100 countries deliver breaking news that is
seen or read by half the world’s population on any given day. It remains a not-for-profit cooperative, owned
by 1,500 U.S. newspapers, which are both its customers and its members. http://www.ap.org/company/history/ap-history
The playing field for North American football is marked with solid, parallel lines that form a
grid. These lines appear every 5 yards
(about 4.6 m) for the entire length of the field, which is 100 yards (91.44 m)
in American football and 110 yards (about 100.6 m) in Canadian football. Sidelines mark the edges of the field, and at
each end is an end zone. There also are
hash marks that appear at 1-yard (about 0.9-m) intervals near the center of the
field and near the sidelines. The solid lines and hash
marks on the field are collectively called yard lines, and they are used to
mark the location of the ball. The team
that is in possession of the ball, the offense, must advance 10 yards (9.14 m)
within a certain number of plays to maintain possession of the ball. This is
why the exact location of the ball is important . In addition, the cost of
committing a penalty usually includes having the ball moved a certain number of
yards either forward or backward, depending on which team committed the
penalty. The yard lines also aid in the
keeping of various statistics, such as the number of yards that a player or
team gains by running or passing the ball.
North American football is derived from the sport of rugby and
originally had no lines on the field other than those that marked the
boundaries. In 1882, a football coach
named Walter Camp instituted a rule requiring the offense to gain at least 5
yards (4.57 m) within three plays; this was later changed to 10 yards (9.14 m)
within four plays for American football and within three plays for Canadian
football. To facilitate the enforcement
of this rule, yard lines were added to the field at 5-yard (4.57-m) intervals. The lined field's resemblance to a cooking
gridiron was quickly noted, and the use of the term to refer to the field
became common. http://www.wisegeek.com/in-football-what-is-the-gridiron.htm
Room to Read is an award-winning non-profit organization for improving literacy and gender
equality in education in the developing
world. Headquartered in San Francisco, California and founded on
the belief that World Change Starts With Educated Children, the
organization focuses on working in collaboration with local communities,
partner organizations and governments. Room to Read develops literacy skills and the
habit of reading among primary school children, and supports girls in
completing secondary school with the relevant life skills
to succeed in school and beyond. Room to
Read is currently serving communities in ten countries in Asia and Africa: South Africa,
Zambia, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh,
Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. John Wood, founder and board co-chair,
launched Room to Read in 1999 after a trek through Nepal where he visited
several local schools. He was amazed by
the warmth and enthusiasm of the students and teachers, but also saddened by
the shocking lack of resources. Driven
to help, John quit his senior executive position with Microsoft and
built a global team to work with rural villages to build sustainable solutions
to their educational challenges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_to_Read See
also: http://www.roomtoread.org/AboutUs
Why do we keep books, spend money on books, and
keep looking after them in libraries?
Venessa Harris comments on the
value of books at: http://scarlettlibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/02/05/what-is-it-about-books-that-matters/
Peter Blauner (1959- ) is the author of six novels, including Slow Motion Riot,
which won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was named
an International Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement. His novel The Intruder was a New York Times bestseller
and a bestseller in England as well. His
early literary influences ranged from writers like Raymond
Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor, and Philip Roth
to film directors like Martin Scorsese, Robert
Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Werner Herzog. He studied at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and won the
Paul Horgan prize for best short fiction by a student. He started in journalism as an assistant to
writer Pete Hamill before reporting for the Newark Star-Ledger in New Jersey
and the Norwich Bulletin in Connecticut. He reported on crime for New
York magazine but found inspiration for his first novel at the New York
Department of Probation saying that it was a "virtual social
microcosm." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Blauner
See also: http://www.peterblauner.com/biography.php
Manhattan's Grand Central Terminal, 100 in February 2013, has an opal-faced clock (a
century old and valued at more than $10 million), flawless marble staircases
(modeled on those in the Paris Opera House), gleaming chandeliers (fitted with
35,000 custom-designed, low-energy light bulbs) and the deepest basement in new
York City--200 feet. Read its
fascinating history at: http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/01/travel/grand-central-terminal-100-year-anniversary
From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the
portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just
off the New Jersey coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Through the years, this gateway to the new
world was enlarged from its original 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres mostly by landfill
obtained from ship ballast and possibly excess earth from the construction of
the New York City subway system. Before
being designated as the site of the first Federal immigration station by
President Benjamin Harrison in 1890, Ellis Island had a varied history. The local Indian tribes had called it
"Kioshk" or Gull Island. Due to
its rich and abundant oyster beds and plentiful and profitable shad runs, it
was known as Oyster Island for many generations during the Dutch and English
colonial periods. By the time Samuel
Ellis became the island's private owner in the 1770's, the island had been
called Kioshk, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson's Island. In this way, Ellis Island developed from a
sandy island that barely rose above the high tide mark, into a hanging site for
pirates, a harbor fort, ammunition and ordinance depot named Fort Gibson, and
finally into an immigration station. From
1794 to 1890 (pre-immigration station period), Ellis Island played a mostly
uneventful but still important military role in United States history. When the British occupied New York City during
the duration of the Revolutionary War, its large and powerful naval fleet was
able to sail unimpeded directly into New York Harbor. Therefore, it was deemed critical by the
United States Government that a series of coastal fortifications in New York
Harbor be constructed just prior to the War of 1812. After much legal haggling over ownership of
the island, the Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State
in 1808. http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp
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