cyanic-selkie/wikianc huggingface dataset:
Irish language
Figures
There are around 2 million speakers. The places where Irish is spoken a lot are called Gaeltacht areas or in Irish, Gaeltachtaí. Around 70% of the people in these areas speak Irish.
Sam Bass (artist)
Sam Bass (November 20, 1961 – February 16, 2019) was an American motorsports artist. He was known for being NASCAR's first officially licensed artist. He was born in Hopewell, Virginia. Bass was the designer for four-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon's No. 24 cars throughout his Cup career. Bass also designed the cars and uniforms for the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Bass died of sepsis complicated by kidney disease and diabetes on February 16, 2019 in Concord, North Carolina at the age of 57.
Le Tronquay, Calvados
Le Tronquay, Calvados is a commune. It is in the region Basse-Normandie in the Calvados department in the northwest of France.
License
A license (in American English) or licence (in British English) allows someone to do something that they otherwise are not allowed to do. A person usually has to pay some money, and maybe pass a test to get a license. A license is usually written but it does not have to be. Most kinds of licenses can only be used by the person they were given to. Licenses may be temporary or permanent. Some licenses can not be taken away once they are given. A person with a license is called a licensee.
In many countries, if a person tries to do something without the correct license to do it, they might have to pay a fine or go to prison.
Examples of licenses
There are many different types of licenses.
Driver's license
The laws of most countries say that people are only allowed to drive cars if they have a driver's license. If a person does not have a license, they may have to pay a fine if they are caught by the police. In many countries, a person must take a test and pay money to get a license. The test would check that they know the road rules, and have the skill to drive a car.
Hunting license
Other licenses give permission to shoot animals (often called a hunting license). The hunting license usually says when a person may hunt. A hunter may have to pass a test to show that they understand the rules about hunting.
Television licence
In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, if someone has a television set, they must buy a "television licence" every year.
Prince Philippe, Count of Paris
Prince Philippe of Orléans, Count of Paris (Louis Philippe Albert; 24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894), was disputedly King of the French from 24 to 26 February 1848 as Louis Philippe II, although he was never officially proclaimed as such.
License
Copyright licenses
Copyright is a law that gives the owner of a creative work the right to decide what other people can do with it. A person or a company can give a license to a copyright that they own. So in order for another person to use an owner's copyright they need permission from the owner. For example, when someone buys computer software, they also need a license from the creator of the software (a copyright owner) allowing the buyer to use the software.
Difference between license and licence
"License" is a verb and "licence" is a noun. "Licensing sessions" were the meetings of magistrates which decided about giving licences to sell alcohol.
In American English there is no difference in spelling between the verb "to license" meaning to give permission, and the noun "a license" meaning the permission to do something.
Distinction between a licence and a qualification
A degree in medicine is a qualification showing a person has successfully studied medicine. It is awarded for life. A licence to practice medicine is a legal permission to do so within the territory covered by the licensing authority. The licence may be taken away ('revoked') in certain situations.
Leviathan
Leviathan (לִוְיָתָן, "twisted, coiled"), is a monster mentioned in the Bible. In Satanism Leviathan is believed to be one of the princes of Hell. The word has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In classical literature (such as the novel Moby-Dick) it refers to great whales, and in Modern Hebrew, it means simply "whale."
C. Narayana Reddy
C. Narayana Reddy (29 July 1931 – 12 June 2017) popularly known as Cinare was an Indian Telugu and Urdu poet and writer. Reddy won the Jnanpith Award in 1988 for his poetic work, Viswambara. He had been awarded an honorary Kala Prapoorna by Andhra University in 1978, having been a recipient of the Padma Shri in 1977.
Reddy was honored with the Raja-Lakshmi Award by the Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation in 1988 and in 1992 he was honoured with India's third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan.
Reddy died from complications from heart disease at a hospital in Hyderabad, Telangana on 12 June 2017 at the age of 85.
Jumbo
Jumbo (about Christmas 1860 – September 15, 1885) was the first international animal superstar. He was the first African bush elephant to reach modern Europe alive. He was born in eastern Africa, and captured there by Arabian hunters in early 1862. He was sold first to a traveling zoo in Germany, then to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. He was traded to the London Zoological Gardens for a rhinoceros.
Jumbo lived in the London Zoo about 16 years. He was the biggest elephant in captivity. American circus showman P. T. Barnum simply had to have this huge elephant in his circus. He bought Jumbo in 1882. The elephant made his debut in the United States on Easter Sunday 1882 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He toured with Barnum's circus for three years. In September 1885, he was killed in a railroad accident in Canada.
Jumbo attracted as much attention after his death as he did in life. His hide was stuffed and his bones preserved. His hide and skeleton were displayed first with Barnum's circus and then with museums. His hide was destroyed in a fire at Tufts University in 1975. His skeleton was displayed for many years in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. As time passed, children forgot about him. His skeleton was put away.
Jumbo's sale in 1882 created public anger in Britain. It drew the attention of people around the world. "Jumbomania", a fad for all things Jumbo, was born. The civilized world was flooded with Jumbo neckties, jewelry, and other souvenirs. People around the world were sad when he died. Jumbo's greatest legacy is his name. In the English language, it is now a word that means "very large".
Early life
The explorer estimated that Jumbo was 4 ft tall and weighed about 500 lb. Based on his height and weight, Jumbo was about one year old. He was probably born at Christmas 1860.
Jumbo had a long, hot journey ahead of him. He walked several hundred miles with other wild animals to the Red Sea. At the port of Suakin, the little elephant was put aboard a steamship. In time, he arrived in Trieste, Italy. From Italy, he was taken by train to Dresden, Germany. He was then sold to a traveling zoo.
Jardin des Plantes
In late 1862, Jumbo was sold to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. Jumbo was probably brought to his new home in either late 1862 or early 1863. The French were disappointed with him; they thought he would be larger. Jumbo lived in the Rotunda for Large Herbivores with two Asian elephants, several camels and giraffes, and a hippopotamus.
In October 1863, two more baby African elephants and several camels were brought to the Rotunda. The little elephants were called Castor and Pollux. They played together and slept together. Children loved the new elephants. The two animals came to be called "the pets of young Paris". Jumbo did not want attention from people; he stayed in his stable. Five elephants now lived in the Rotunda of the Jardin.
In April 1865, the government found that the living conditions in the Jardin were very bad. Officials thought some of the elephants should be sent to zoos in other countries. The officials of the London Zoological Gardens in Regent's Park wanted an African elephant. They traded an Indian rhinoceros and a few other animals for Jumbo. He was brought to the London Zoo in June 1865. Jumbo was lucky. Castor and Pollux were killed during a war with Prussia in 1871. They were eaten by the French.
London Zoological Gardens
Jumbo was very ill when he arrived at the London Zoo. He had not been fed properly. His hide was covered with filth that had to be scraped and scrubbed off. The nails on his feet were overgrown, and the soles of his feet were covered with sores.
Abraham Bartlett, the Superintendent of the London Zoological Gardens, put the little elephant into the care of animal keeper Matthew "Scotty" Scott. Scotty had a talent for understanding and managing animals. Jumbo grew stronger and healthier under Scotty's care.
The little elephant was named Jumbo. There is no record of the origin of this name. He may have been named after Mumbo Jumbo, a west African tribal holy man. This is not certain though. Bartlett may have named the elephant Jumbo because he liked the sound of the word. He had once named a gorilla Mumbo. There is a very slim possibility that Jumbo may have been named in Paris.
Jumbo became a great attraction in the London Zoo. Queen Victoria and members of the Royal Family adored him. Children rode in the saddle (howdah) on his back for a penny. The young Winston Churchill (and probably Queen Victoria's children Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice) rode in Jumbo's howdah.
By the time Jumbo was seven years old, he had a huge appetite. Every day he ate 200 lb of hay, a barrel of potatoes, two bushels of oats, fifteen loaves of bread, and lots of onions. He also drank several pails of water. If Scotty thought Jumbo needed some medicine, the elephant was given a gallon or two of whiskey.
In 1880, Jumbo hit his iron cage doors with his tusks and broke both off near the jawbone. He was in pain. He stopped eating. He leaned against the walls for support. Bartlett and Scotty were forced to perform some crude surgery with a harpoon-like tool they had made. Bartlett was disappointed with the damage to Jumbo's tusks. He had been hoping that Jumbo would grow to be a "tusker" — an elephant with huge tusks. After the surgery, Jumbo kept his tusks worn away by rubbing them against the walls of the Elephant House. They never grew more than a few inches long.
In 1882, Jumbo was 12 ft tall at the shoulder. He weighed more than 12000 lb. His trunk was 7 ft long. It could reach high into the trees. In the magazine Harper's Weekly, Jumbo was said to be "as gentle with children as the best-trained poodle dog." The magazine said he gently took biscuits and lumps of sugar from zoo visitors.
Jumbo is sold
When Jumbo was brought to the zoo in 1865, Bartlett had wanted to raise the elephant himself. He needed a keeper who would obey him. He chose Scotty because he was rather inexperienced. Bartlett would be disappointed. Scotty had his own opinion on how to raise Jumbo. The close relationship that grew between the keeper and the elephant was something Bartlett hated.
In 1882, Jumbo was the biggest elephant living in captivity. Bartlett thought it best to find a new home for Jumbo for two reasons. First, he thought Jumbo was about to enter musth. This is a difficult time in a male elephant's life. Certain glands in the elephant's head become inflamed causing the animal to behave violently. The other reason Bartlett wanted to move Jumbo was the elephant's close relationship with Scotty. Bartlett thought Jumbo might go on a dangerous rampage if Scotty should die.
Jumbo had tantrums. He would try to damage the Elephant House at night. He may have been frightened and angry because Scotty went home every night. He was only calm during the day when Scotty was nearby or when he carried children around the zoo in his howdah. Jumbo's behavior only made Bartlett more sure that he must find another home for the elephant. Years after Jumbo's death, zoologists studied casts of the elephant's teeth. They discovered that his molars were erupting abnormally and probably causing him pain. This was likely the reason for Jumbo's tantrums.
Bartlett and members of the London Zoological Society were happy when P. T. Barnum, a circus showman from the United States offered to buy Jumbo for $10,000. Barnum had once owned two museums in New York City. They had burned to the ground. He was now part-owner of the Barnum, Bailey, & Hutchinson Circus. Barnum knew the huge elephant would make him a fortune if he appeared with the circus.
Barnum's partner Hutchinson did not want to buy Jumbo. "What difference does it make if an elephant is seven feet high or eleven or twelve feet high? An elephant is an elephant!" he said. But Barnum wanted Jumbo more than he wanted any other elephant in the world because Jumbo was the biggest elephant in the world. Bartlett and the London Zoological Society took only two days to decide that Jumbo would be sold to Barnum.
Le Vey
Le Vey is a commune. It is found in the region Basse-Normandie in the Calvados department in the northwest of France.
Jumbo
Jumbo is sold
When the British learned that their beloved Jumbo was going to be sold, they were outraged. Bartlett received many angry letters. Children begged Bartlett to keep Jumbo in London. Art critic John Ruskin wrote that the English were not "in the habit of selling their pets." An effort was made to stop the sale by going to court, but Barnum won. The British courts said he was the legal owner of Jumbo.
A large wheeled box was built to hold Jumbo during his journey to America. It was made of heavy pine boards bolted to a strong oak base, and made even stronger with iron straps. It measured 14 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 12 ft high. It was large enough for Jumbo to stand in it, but it was not large enough for him to lie down or turn around. Although the ends of the box were open, they were made strong with iron bars. Jumbo could look out the open end and swing his trunk.
Plans were made to move Jumbo on February 18. Jumbo would not get into the box. A second attempt was made on February 19 with the same result. Jumbo laid down in the street. Crowds of people cheered for Jumbo. He stayed in the street for a week. Bill Newman, Barnum's agent in London, sent the showman a telegram. "Jumbo won't get up", it read. Barnum sent a telegram back reading, "Let him stay there as long as he wants. It's great publicity."
Bartlett thought Scotty was controlling Jumbo with a secret signal to keep him from getting into the box. He told Scotty he would be fired if Jumbo did not get into the box. The next day, Scotty got Jumbo to enter the box. Barnum hired Scotty to take care of Jumbo even though he had many elephant keepers in the United States.
Jumbomania
People around the world were interested in the sale of Jumbo. Souvenirs such as Jumbo neckties, fans, and hats were sold in England and America. Jumbo's picture was printed on thousands of advertisements. Some of these advertisements showed Jumbo in strange places like the opera house and a saloon in the Wild West.
Potholders, cigars, and a large sewing machine were all named after Jumbo. Soap, thread, and baking powder were sold using Jumbo's name. One advertisement from this time shows Jumbo in leather boots running across a desert. Another picture shows Jumbo feeding a baby elephant a laxative called Castoria.
Thousands of letters were sent to London Zoo officials. The writers of these letters wanted Jumbo to live at peace in England. A "Jumbo Retention Fund" was set up to keep Jumbo in the London Zoo. One lady sent her new sewing machine to the fund. A bride sent Jumbo a piece of her wedding cake. Thousands of children wrote to Barnum begging him to leave Jumbo in his London home. Barnum refused.
Jumbo leaves England
Jumbo lived sixteen years and nine months in the London Zoo. He was now about to start a new life in another land. His trip to America started on the cold morning of March 22, 1882. Jumbo was put into a harness early in the morning. He was led to the box. He did not want to get into it, but he did. It took two hours to chain the fighting elephant inside the box.
Six horses pulled the box from the yard at the Elephant House. It sank into the soft soil of a path. It took three hours to pull the box from the path. It sank into soft soil two more times on its way to the zoo gates. Four more horses were harnessed to the box. It passed through the main gate about 1:30 a.m. The five-mile trip to the London docks started.
The most level way to the Thames was chosen because the horses could not pull the box up any hills. Crowds were watching. Scotty rode on the front of the box. He comforted Jumbo and stroked his trunk. Jumbo was quiet through most of the journey. The box started down a steep hill near the old Clerkenwell House of Detention at the top of Farrington Road. Jumbo shook his head in alarm. The box was forced to move very slowly.
Three hours later, the tide was favorable. The barge was towed into the river by tugboats bearing the Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes. Thousands of people had gathered in every empty space to say good-bye to Jumbo. The barge floated downstream to the Isle of Dogs.
Jumbo took alarm again when the barge passed Dundee Docks. He rammed the bars of his crate. The bars were loosened. The engines were cut. Scotty comforted the frightened elephant. The trip was resumed. At the Millwall Docks, the box was lifted by crane about 3:45 p.m. to the quayside. It was here that Jumbo would spend the night.
The box was weighed as it was lifted. It weighed twelve and a half tons. It was known that the wood and iron of the box weighed six and a half tons. Jumbo therefore weighed six tons. Scotty and Bartlett had always thought Jumbo weighed six tons. But this was the first time Jumbo had actually been weighed mechanically. On Friday March 24, it took only eight minutes to lower Jumbo and his box to the Assyrian Monarch.
There were 600 passengers on the Assyrian Monarch. They were mostly Russian Jews going to the United States. There were 90 crew members. Food was brought on the ship for Jumbo's 13–14 day voyage. There were 65 bales of hay, 300 lb of ship's biscuits, 50 loaves of white bread, three sacks of oats, three sacks of bran, and two sacks of onions.
A lunch party was held on the ship for London Zoo officials, the Sheriff of London, businessmen, Barnum's agents, and others interested in the adventure. Barnum's agent Bill Newman was given the Zoological Society's Gold Medal for calmly and skillfully handling Jumbo. Scotty — the man who had given Jumbo devoted care and love for 18 years — was ignored. The ship left the next morning. Lady Angela Burdett-Coutts was Jumbo's great friend. She came from London to Gravesend with friends to feed the elephant his last English buns. When the visitors left, the ship put out to sea.
Scotty took off most of Jumbo's chains to make him comfortable. His head, body, and trunk were free. His feet were chained. The elephant leaned against the side of the box. He fell asleep for the first time in several days. Jumbo's box got plenty of fresh air. Passengers fed him bread and fruit. Barnum had news stories about Jumbo put in rubber bags then dropped into the sea. Weeks later, the first bag washed ashore in southern Ireland. A telegram was sent to London after passing the last point of British soil called the Lizard. It read, "Jumbo well; very quiet; unchained."
Jumbo arrives in America
The Assyrian Monarch arrived in the New York harbor about midnight on Easter Sunday April 9, 1882 after almost two weeks on the sea. A telegram was sent to the London Times telling the British that Jumbo had arrived safely in America and was in good health. Jumbo's crate was lifted from the hold of the Assyrian Monarch to a small steamer called Only Son. Jumbo was ferried across the Hudson River to the New York docks.
Barnum and his partners Bailey and Hutchinson went aboard the Only Son with several journalists to see Jumbo. The elephant had traveled well. He drank a bottle of whiskey. Barnum did not drink alcoholic beverages and protested. He looked at Scotty and said, "I do believe that elephant's growth has been stunted by the use of beer."
Some journalists were disappointed with Jumbo's height. They said he was just as big as the other elephants in Barnum's circus. Barnum told them there was a big difference between an elephant's actual height and his "museum" height. The journalists were satisfied with this explanation (whatever it meant). Barnum was thrilled with Jumbo. Everyone was talking about the animal, and this meant ticket sales.
Superintendent Hatfield of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children came aboard the Only Son. He had heard reports of Jumbo's bad temper, and boarded the ship to be certain Jumbo was not a threat to the children of New York City. Barnum told him Jumbo was "perfectly lamb-like". Hatfield took a long look at Jumbo, then left the ship with the sense that Jumbo was indeed a gentle animal.
A crowd of hundreds had gathered on shore to welcome Jumbo. By late afternoon, the crowd had grown to 10,000 impatient, noisy onlookers. Jumbo became frightened. His crate swayed as it was lifted and lowered to a waiting barge. Three cheers were raised. By 7:00 pm, Jumbo was ashore. His crate had been put on a strong wagon.
The crowd wanted Jumbo to walk up Broadway to Madison Square Garden where the circus was playing. Bailey would not allow it, fearing the animal might attack the crowd. Eight horses and 500 men could not move the wagon. Another eight horses were brought in as well as Gypsy and Chief, two Asian elephants from the circus. The eight additional horses were not needed. They were led behind the wagon as it started to move. The elephants were used as needed to push the wagon out of ruts.
When the procession arrived at Madison Square Garden, Jumbo's crate was too tall for the building's entrance. He was left on the sidewalk for the night, his crate covered with tarpaulins. In the morning, blacksmiths removed the iron bars of the crate. Jumbo was free, but he would not leave the crate. Scotty stood aside to let Jumbo take his time. The elephant finally stepped out, and went into the building. Floorboards shattered under his weight. When he reached the race track, he knelt and rolled over. Scotty assured everyone Jumbo was not dead but only resting after his long trip. He finally rose and was taken to his stall, after another rest period. Once in his stall, a heavy chain fastened to a stake was wrapped around his leg. He yanked the stake from the ground and tossed it aside. Meanwhile, the largest crowd in circus history was waiting for the afternoon performance to start.
Jumbo in America
Barnum bought Jumbo for $10,000. Jumbo's entire costs actually amounted to $30,000. Barnum later wrote that Jumbo earned his costs in his first two weeks with the circus at Madison Square Garden. Jumbo did no tricks, but 20,000 customers per day saw him in the circus zoo and the parade at the start of the show. The London Zoo had sent Jumbo's howdah to America. The great elephant gave rides to circus customers.
On a trip to England in late May 1882, Barnum met a crowd of children on the street who were still angry that the elephant had been taken away. Barnum made plans the same month to raise an iron building on the Thames Embankment for his circus shows. People in the neighborhood did not like the idea. They said they would go to court to stop the plan. Barnum dropped the idea.
Barnum had another publicity plan. The Brooklyn Bridge was finished in 1883. This was a long-awaited and exciting event. Barnum offered the bridge company $5,000 to allow Jumbo to cross the bridge before the official opening. The company directors believed Barnum was using the bridge for circus publicity. They said "no" to his offer.
Jumbo travelled in luxury when he went on tour every year. He had his own railway boxcar. Barnum called it "Jumbo's Palace Car". It was a red and gold boxcar with huge double doors at the center for Jumbo to be able to go in and out easily. Scotty slept in a bunk in a little room near Jumbo's head. Jumbo would never let Scotty close the door to the little room. He loved his friend and wanted to be near him always.
Scotty and Jumbo always shared a bottle of beer before going to bed for the night. It was a little ritual Jumbo loved. One night Scotty drank the bottle of beer and fell asleep. Jumbo picked him up very carefully and set him down near the empty bottle. Scotty woke up and found the bottle. He "got the message". He never forgot to share a bottle of beer with Jumbo again.
In his last years with the circus, Jumbo's health grew poor. He could not eat his food because his teeth were worn out. There was no treatment. Jumbo would sooner or later die of this trouble with his teeth. Barnum made plans to have Jumbo preserved after his death by a taxidermist. He arranged everything while Jumbo was still alive — just in case the elephant died suddenly.
Jumbo's death
Jumbo was 24 when he was killed on September 15, 1885, in the rail yards at St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. It was about 9:30 pm. The circus had just finished a performance. The elephants were being led along the main track in the rail yards to their boxcars. To their left was a steep bank; to their right was the circus train. An unscheduled freight train roared down upon them from the east. The engineer tried to stop the train, but failed.
Animal keepers got most of the elephants to safety down the bank. Jumbo and a dwarf elephant called Tom Thumb were the last act on the programme and the last to leave the Big Top. Tom Thumb was behind Jumbo. the little elephant was hit by the train and thrown into a ditch. His left leg was broken, but he lived. Jumbo ran down the track away from the oncoming train with Scotty beside him. The locomotive struck Jumbo from behind. He roared in pain as the train carried him 300 ft down the track. He was wedged partly above and partly below a flatcar.
Jumbo's skull was fractured in several places. He had serious injuries inside his body. Blood poured from his mouth and trunk. Jumbo reached for and held Scotty's hand in his trunk. He died within minutes of the accident. The locomotive and the tender were thrown off the track. They were destroyed in the collision.
Neither Barnum or Bailey was on the scene of the accident. Hutchinson directed the clean up. One hundred men were needed to remove Jumbo's body from the tracks. Policemen were sent to the scene to drive away souvenir hunters. Scotty became hysterical when he discovered half of Jumbo's ear had been cut off by a collector.
Taxidermists from Rochester, New York, eventually arrived to take charge of the body. Jumbo's death was a serious loss for the circus. So much so that Barnum took the first steps in bankruptcy proceedings a few days after the tragedy.
Just before Jumbo's trip to America in 1882, Barnum had insured the elephant for $500,000. The policy expired once Jumbo stepped on American soil. The elephant was not insured at the time of his death. He had been brought into the United States as "breeding stock". No insurance company would cover livestock for accidents. Jumbo left no children — in spite of the fact that he had an elephant "wife" in the London Zoo named Alice. He had completely ignored her during the 18 years he had called London home. Alice was given black and a widow's cap to wear after the death of her "husband".
Barnum sues the railway
Barnum sued the Canadian Grand Trunk Railway for $100,000. The case was heard in April 1887. The company claimed it was not liable for Jumbo's death. They said the circus workers were responsible for the death of the elephant. The circus workers had cut down part of a fence so they could lead the elephants across the track. If they had used the regular crossing further down the track, the company stated, railway workers would have warned them of the approaching train. The accident could have been avoided.
The railway also claimed Jumbo was worthless. The London Zoo had sold him, the railway stated, because he was a dangerous animal. They also pointed out that they were not liable for losses above $15,000 — as stated in their contract with the circus. The circus argued the contract was illegal, and presented statements from Scotty and other professional animal people who had worked with Jumbo. These statements said Jumbo was not dangerous.
Barnum finally withdrew the lawsuit. He needed the good will of the Grand Trunk Railway if he wanted to move his circus around Canada. He settled out of court for $5,000. He was also granted the right to use the Grand Trunk rails for free in the coming year. This was worth $5,000 in itself. Barnum left court with $10,000.
Conspiracy theories
Two weeks after Jumbo's death, a news reporter named C. F. Richtel of the Hartford, Connecticut, Sunday Globe suggested Barnum had killed the elephant "for advertising purposes". Richtel was an old enemy of Barnum's, and accused the showman of masterminding Jumbo's death because the elephant had tuberculosis. Barnum sued the newspaper for $50,000. He settled out of court. The editor of the Globe learned the truth about Jumbo's death when he interviewed Scotty and others who had been present at the elephant's end. The editor fired Richtel and published a meek apology to Barnum.
A theory put forth in 1960 alleged that Jumbo's flatulence had created a nasty problem for Barnum and the circus, so the showman decided to get rid of the elephant. Under cover of darkness and amid the clamor of the rail yard, Barnum was said to have had an animal keeper fire a single shot from a powerful pistol into Jumbo's eye. The elephant staggered some distance, trampled the dwarf elephant, collapsed, and died beneath a railway car. No projectiles were found during examinations of Jumbo after his death or later examinations of his skull. The theory has been proven false.
Aftermath
Barnum tried to get as much publicity as possible from Jumbo's death. He called a publisher three days after the accident. He wanted a children's book printed at Christmas about the event. He also told news reporters a lie about Jumbo saving both the dwarf elephant and Scotty, then turning to face the train alone and head-on.
On April 14, 1975, Jumbo's hide and many other museum pieces which could never be replaced were destroyed in a fire at Tufts. Some of what was believed to be Jumbo's ashes was put in a Peter Pan Crunchy Peanut Butter jar. The jar was kept in the university's athletic department. School athletes rubbed it for good luck before games.
On the 100th anniversary of Jumbo's death in 1985, a monument by Winston Bronnum was built to the great elephant in St. Thomas. It stands on a bluff above the city. Not far away is a bright red caboose. It is a souvenir stand. There is also a museum at the site that displays a model of a small circus.
Legacy
Jumbo's legacy was the joy he gave millions of people just by being himself. His name however may be his greatest legacy. Before the big elephant, the word 'Jumbo' was not known in the English language. The word has entered the language to mean anything that is huge. People will always remember Jumbo because of this word.
Jumbo's enormous size caused scientists to think he was a separate species of elephant. He was the largest elephant ever known. He was named the type specimen for this new species. At a later time, it was learned that Jumbo was not a separate species, but a variant of a known species. He became then a subspecies.
After Jumbo's death, it was important that he be dissected by scientists. It was important that his skeleton be carefully kept for future scientists to study. The dissection was started in St. Thomas, and completed in Rochester, New York. Jumbo's stomach was cut open. Coins, keys, rivets, screws, and a policeman's whistle fell out.
Just before the stuffed Jumbo and his skeleton were put on display, Barnum asked newspaper people and high-society ladies to come to a fancy hotel for a party. He made speeches, then served his guests a gelatin dish made from Jumbo's ground tusks.
Avatar (2009 movie)
Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction adventure movie. The two main characters are played by Sam Worthington (Jake) and Zoe Saldana (Neytiri). Avatar was directed by James Cameron.
In 1994, Cameron wrote an 80-page story about Pandora. He did not start to develop the movie until 12 years later, in early 2006. He did this because the level of technology at the time was not good enough. The cost of the movie was high. It cost $280–310 million to make it and $150 million for marketing. The movie was released in traditional 2-D and 3-D. Only three weeks after it was released (December 18, 2009 in the United States), Avatar has earned more money worldwide than any movie other than Cameron's previous movie, Titanic. Due to the movie's success, Cameron signed with 20th Century Fox to direct four sequels. The first sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, was released on December 16, 2022. Avatar 3 is set to be released in 2024, with further sequels scheduled for release in 2026 and 2028.
It has been nominated for nine Academy Awards (winning three) and eight BAFTA awards (winning two).
Plot
The story takes place on Pandora, a moon of a far away planet, in the year 2154. The movie opens with Jake Sully (played by Sam Worthington), a paraplegic marine, getting into a fight in a bar on Earth before he goes to Pandora. Pandora is a fictional Earth-like moon in a distant planetary system.
Some humans have traveled from Earth to Pandora because it is a source of a very valuable mineral called unobtanium. The largest deposit of the mineral is under a large tree that the local Na'vi people have named "Hometree" (kelutral in the Na'vi language). The tree is very important to the Na'vi. Parker Selfridge (played by Giovanni Ribisi) is the military leader of the mining operation. He uses marines for security. The marines need to move the Na'vi people before they can start mining the unobtanium. They have tried to do this many times. They have offered the Na'vi clothing, education, and such, but none has been working. Their next plan is to just blow the place up.
Pandora is inhabited by the Na'vi. They are a blue-skinned species of humanoids with feline characteristics. Physically, the Na'vi are much stronger and taller than humans. They live in harmony with Nature and worship a mother goddess called Eywa. The human scientists on Pandora want to learn about the Na'vi's culture. To do this, they have created "avatars". Avatars are Na'vi bodies modified with human DNA. They are controlled mentally by human operators. These avatars are used to interact with the Na'vi people, to try to create peace. Jake's brother was a scientist trained to be an avatar operator. After his brother dies, Jake replaces him to control his avatar. Jake receives the mission to form relations with the Na'vi. His goal is to get the Na'vi to move away from Hometree so the humans can mine for unobtanium there. To do this, he was to become friends with the Na'vi so he could learn what it would take to get them to move. Many people, like Grace (played by Sigourney Weaver), an avatar specialist, did not think Jake had enough experience and intelligence to be useful. On a mission in avatar form, he gets lost in the jungle.
Jake's avatar is saved by Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), a female Na'vi. Neytiri takes Jake to Hometree, where her clan, the Omaticaya, live. As a shaman, Neytiri's mother shows interest in Jake. She asks her daughter to teach Jake about their culture. Together, Jake and Neytiri have many adventures in Pandora. Neytiri shows Jake the spirit that every living thing has. Jake is respected when he first comes to the Na'vi. They call him a "sky-dreamer". Once he learns their culture, he impresses all of them and earns their respect. He becomes a member of the Omaticaya clan and is seen as one of them. At first, Neytiri does not like him. Their friendship forms as he becomes more skilled and her equal. They mate under the tree of Eywa. At first, Neytiri's father is quite mad about it. Over time, he accepts it.
Time passes and Jake has not gotten the Na'vi people to move. Park Selfridge sees this. He tells Jake that it has taken too long and that they are going to bomb Hometree. Jake tries to warn the Na'vi people. The Na'vi people feel that he has betrayed them because he knew this was going to happen. The Na'vi try to fight back but their bows and arrows are useless against the Marines. The Hometree is bombed and thousands of Na'vi people died. Neytiri's father is one of the dead. Jake and Grace have failed. They are jailed by the mining company because they fought with the Na'vi.
With the help of a woman marine pilot named Trudy (played by Michelle Rodriguez), they escape in a helicopter. They go to a nearby base to change into avatar mode. They then go to Hometree to see the Na'vi. Jake tells the Na'vi people that they still must fight. He joins with one of the Na'vi warriors to train them. Soon, more Na'vi come to defend their land. The marines choose to just destroy the Na'vi rather than try and move them. Many people do not think this was right. They think it is inhumane. These people are not listened to and the Marines went to attack the Na'vi. There is a very large battle between the Marines and Na'vi. When it looks as if the marines are going to win, many of the animals of Pandora join the battle. They fight with the Na'vi against the marines. Near the end of the battle, Jake, in his avatar, fights Parker Selfridge. When he is almost dead, Neytiri saves him. The Na'vi eventually win but many die. After the battle, the Marines are sent home to planet Earth. Jake Sully is changed into his avatar permanently and becomes the leader of the Na'vi with Neytiri.
Release
Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was released worldwide from December 16 to 18. It was originally set for release on May 22, 2009, but it was delayed to allow more time for post-production and for theatres worldwide to install 3D projectors.
Home media
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the movie on Blu-ray and DVD in the US on April 22, 2010, and in the UK on April 26. The US release was to coincide with Earth Day. The first DVD and Blu-ray releases do not contain any additional features other than the theatrical movie and the disc menu. This was made in favor of and to make space for optimal picture and sound.
The Avatar three-disc Extended Collector's Edition on Blu-ray and DVD was released on November 16, 2010. Three different versions of the movie are present on the discs: the original theatrical cut (162 minutes), the special edition cut (170 minutes), and a collector's extended cut (178 minutes). The Blu-ray set presents the movie in a single disc, while the DVD set spreads it across two discs. The collector's extended cut contains 8 more minutes of footage, thus making it 16 minutes longer than the original theatrical cut. There is also an "Earth opening", which Cameron stated that it is an additional 4 1⁄2 minutes of scenes that were initially in the movie but were eventually cut before the movie's theatrical release. The release also has an additional 45 minutes of deleted scenes and other extras.
Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 335 reviews are positive. The average rating is 7.40/10. On Metacritic, the movie has a score of 83 out of 100 based on 38 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
Julie Felix
Julie Ann Felix (14 June 1938 – 22 March 2020) was an American-born, British-based folk singer and guitarist. She became successful in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
She later performed and released albums on her own record label. In 1966, Felix became the resident singer on the BBC television programme The Frost Report, presented by David Frost. She hosted her own shows for the BBC from 1967 to 1970, including the series Once More With Felix (the first episode was transmitted on 9 December 1967).
Felix lived in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, England, until her death, still recording and performing, appearing on stage on her 80th birthday in 2018.
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Rotelsee
Rotelsee is a lake near Simplon Pass in the canton of Valais, Switzerland.
2004 Pacific hurricane season
The 2004 Pacific hurricane season officially started May 15, 2004 in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, 2004 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 2004. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.
Hurricane Darby
Tropical Depression Five-E formed south of Mexico on July 26. Later that day, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Darby, and only four hours later, at 2 am (0900 UTC) on July 27, is upgraded to Hurricane Darby. It moved due west at this point, aiming directly for the big island of Hawaii. It reached Category 3 strength on July 29, the first major hurricane in the northeastern Pacific basin since 2002. However, long before it reached Hawaii, it lost strength and dissipated on the evening of July 31.
Hurricane Javier
Tropical Depression Thirteen-E formed out of an area of low pressure south-southeast of the Gulf of Tehuantepec on September 10. It slowly moved northwest, being designated Tropical Storm Javier on the morning of September 11. It was upgraded to a hurricane on the afternoon of September 12, and peaked at Category 4 strength on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale after rapidly strengthening on September 13.
Warnings began to be issued on September 15 for Baja California. While Javier peaked at Category 4, with windspeeds of 150 mph (240 km/h), it weakened dramatically before striking land south of San Ignacio in Baja Sur as only a tropical depression. Its remnants continued over Baja and inland.
Nive
The Nive (Errobi, Niva) is a river in France. It flows through the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The river starts in the Pyrenees. It is a left tributary of the Adour river.
York County, South Carolina
York County is a county located in the north-central section of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 226,073. Its county seat is York, South Carolina, and its largest city is Rock Hill.
2004 Pacific hurricane season
Tropical Storm Lester
An area of tropical disturbance centered about 90 miles (150 km) south-southwest of Puerto Angel, Mexico, developed into Tropical Depression Fifteen-E on the afternoon of October 11. Due to its proximity, attention was immediately paid to it, and Mexico began issuing watches early the next day. With the 2 pm PDT (2100 UTC) update on October 12, it was upgraded to a tropical storm and named Lester.
It sat mainly stationary just off the coast of Mexico, spending most of October 13 only 25 miles (40 km) west of Acapulco. In the afternoon, it became clear that Lester was falling apart, and with the 2 pm update, even though it was still close to shore, it was downgraded to a tropical depression and advisories ended as it rapidly disintegrated.
Nive
Geography
The Nive river has a length of 79.3 km, and a drainage basin with an area of approximately 1030 km2.
Its average yearly discharge (volume of water which passes through a section of the river per unit of time) is 30.00 m3/s at Cambo-les-Bains in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department.
Course
The Nive proper is formed from three small rivers in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port:
The Nive passes through the towns of Estérençuby (Nive de Béhérobie), Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, Bidarray, Cambo-les-Bains, Ustaritz, Villefranque and Bayonne, where it flows into the Adour.
It joins the Adour in the city of Bayonne, on its left bank, at an altitude of 3 m and at about 10 km from the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean).
Main tributaries
Left tributaries:
Right tributaries:
The Doll with Millions
The Doll with Millions (Кукла с миллионами) is a 1928 Soviet silent comedy movie directed by Sergei Komarov. It stars Igor Ilyinsky, Vladimir Fogel, and Galina Kravchenko.
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A k-line or kill line is an IRC term. When a user is k-lined, he or she is banned from a certain server, either for some time or forever. When the user is banned they are not allowed to join that server again and have to join another one to get back onto IRC. This is recorded as a line in the server's IRC daemon configuration file which has the letter "K" at the beginning. This is where "K-line" comes from.
Leffard
Leffard is a commune. It is found in the Basse-Normandie region in the Calvados department in the northwest of France.
Roman Reigns
Leati Joseph "Joe" Anoa'i (born May 25, 1985 in Pensacola, Florida) better known by his ring name Roman Reigns is a professional wrestler in the WWE. He is a member of the Anoa'i family which is a renowned Samoan-American wrestling dynasty. His religion is Christianity. He was a member of The Shield along with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, until group broke on Raw on the 2nd of June, 2014 before reuniting again in 2019.
Career
Before he started his professional wrestling career, Reigns played football at the Georgia Institute of Technology and was named first-team All-ACC his senior year. He went drafted in the 2007 NFL Draft but ended up being signed by the Minnesota Vikings. He was picked up by the Jacksonville Jaguars to provide depth at defensive end to their roster and in 2008 he was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and accepted a spot on the team's practice roster.
In July 2010, he was signed to a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was put on their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He debuted under the ring name Roman Leakee on September 9, 2010 and competed in a singles match that resulted in a loss to Richie Steamboat. He then lost to Idol Stevens and Wes Brisco and finally earned his first win on September 21 in a match against Fahd Rakman.
In late 2011, he formed a team with Donny Marlow and they challenged the Florida Tag Team Champions Calvin Raines and Big E Langston on July 8 but were unsuccessful in winning their match. On the February 5 episode of FCW television, he defeated Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to become the number one contender for the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship but he was unable to win the championship when he was defeated by champion Kruger. He was able to win the Florida Tag Team Championship with Mike Dalton before they lost the belts to CJ Parker and Jason Jordan.