Cool Runnings is set in Jamaica. When a Jamaican sprinter gets disqualified during the tryouts for the Olympics because he fell over, he still wanted to compete. After seeing a picture of a bobsled, he wanted to become a bobsledder. He managed to get 3 other people to form a team. The first ever Jamaican bobsled team was trained by Irv, a retired athlete. When they went to the Olympics, they successfully passed the track under 1 minute, so they qualified. After being disqualified, Irv went to talk to the judges, and the Jamaican team were back. After a rough first round, they came back surprisingly. however, during the finals the bobsled broke, crashing. They walked to the finish line, with everyone cheering. When they returned, they were heroes and the competed in the next Olympics.
Schmallenberg
Schmallenberg is a town in the German state North Rhine-Westphalia. It has about 24,965 inhabitants.
Schmallenberg is located in the middle of the Sauerland (Rothaargebirge). It is about 25 kilometres south of Meschede, and 120 kilometres from Köln (Cologne).
Lennestadt borders in the north on the communities of Bestwig and Meschede, in the east on Winterberg, in the south on Bad Berleburg, and in the west on the towns of Eslohe and Lennestadt.
Schmallenberg is twinned with
The Benedictine monastery began in 1072 near Schmallenberg on a site at the foot of the Wilzenberg mountain, by Saint Anno, Archbishop of Cologne.
"Alexander de Smalenburg" is said to have given his name to the city of Schmallenberg. The origins of the narrow castle lie in a castle complex that belonged to Cologne, and in 1244 the curtain-walled settlement was officially elevated to city status by Konrad von Hochstaden, Archbishop of Cologne.
During the Middle Ages, textile and ironmongery trades were the main industries in Schmallenberg. Around 1350 there were about 800 living in the town. After an economically quiet period during the 16th century, the new iron hammer technology put the city back on the map. At that time, Schmallenberg’s ironmongery trade was considered the most important one in Westphalia.
In parts of the town like in Oberkirchen there were many witchcraft trials. In 1630 there were 7 processes, from April to June. During these, 58 people were convicted to burn at the stake, for alleged witchcraft. One of the victims was Christine Teipel, a 9 year old child.
After a big fire in 1822, the town was rebuilt using a classical ground plan. This can still be seen today. Ten years before that, the city wall and gates had been torn down. Today, Schmallenberg’s typical features are its half-timbered houses with slated roofs and carved doors, small bays and gables as well as symmetric perrons.
Since the 19th century Schmallenberg was a "Sauerländer centre" of the textile industry (the largest company: FALKE-GROUP). This gave Schmallenberg the nickname "Strumpfstadt" (""socktown""). Since the development of the textile industry in Schmallenberg is declining dominated the economy many medium-sized enterprises and tourism. In 2002 there were 7924 on social insurance jobs.
Important Schmallenberger companies are:
The Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME conducts research in the field of applied life sciences from a molecular level to entire ecosystems. The IME-Institute has around 140 employees working at the locations Schmallenberg and Aachen.
Hiking trails adding up to about 2,500 kilometers, leading through forests, across mountains and through valleys make Schmallenberg. The town at the upper course of the river Lenne has developed into one of Westphalia’s winter sports centers. 250 kilometers of cross-country ski tracks and 30 ski-lifts turn any kind of skiing.
Schmallenberg's airport is Flugplatz Schmallenberg-Rennefeld (ICAO-Code: EDKR).
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War took place between 1754 and 1763 in British North America and French North America. These are now the United States and Canada. The French had Native American allies and the British had other Indian allies. The war is also called "the Seven Years' War".
The conflict was a part of the Seven Years' War among the European great powers including Britain and France, which took place in various parts of the world. France was already fighting Prussia, and did not send many troops to Canada.
The French built a new fort in the disputed territory, and the British decided to expel them. Fighting began with the Battle of Monongahela in 1755. The British commander, General Edward Braddock, died with many of his men in a failed attack against the French in what later became Pittsburgh. Militia officer George Washington led the defeated survivors home.
In the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the British conquered Canada.
The fighting in North America stopped on September 8, 1760, with the French surrender of Montreal and the rest of Canada to the British.
The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763. France lost all of its North American lands east of the Mississippi River. All of Canada was given to Britain except the small islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, near Newfoundland. Britain offered France the choice to give up its Canadian land or the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which British troops had taken during the war. France chose to keep the islands, which were valuable for their sugar plantations.
With the Royal Proclamation of 1763, colonists in British North America became unhappy over their share of the winnings. This became a cause of the American Revolution.
Sif
Sif is a goddess in Norse mythology. She is the wife of Thor and mother of Thrud and Ull.
Sif has hair made of gold. It grows just like normal hair. Her original hair's color looked like wheat. Loki cut off Sif's hair as a prank. When Thor found out he made Loki have golden hair made for her by the Dwarves.
It is believed that Sif was a goddess of the home, of field and of the crop. It is also said that she had some control of destiny.
Thrud is the only daughter of Thor and Sif. Ull is her son with another man. Thor also has two sons with a giantess. In two different poems in Poetic Edda, Sif is said to have a mysterious lover, but no one knows who he is.
A volcano on the planet Venus is named after Sif. Sif is also a character in the comic book The Mighty Thor from Marvel Comics.
Political correctness
Political correctness (or PC for short) means using words that will not offend any group of people. Some offensive words have been used for a long time. Some of these words have now been replaced by other words that are not offensive. These new words are described as politically correct.
The term is often used in a mocking sense when attempts at avoiding offense are seen to go too far.
This term has been used since the early 1970s. It started being used in the modern negative sense in the late 80s in America.
Politically correct words or terms are used to show differences between people or groups in a non-offensive way. This difference may be because of race, gender, beliefs, religion, sexual orientation, or because they have a mental or physical disability, or any difference from what most people believe is normal.
Throughout the 20th century Feminists fought for women to have the same rights as men. In PC language this is seen in changes to job titles such as "policeman", "postman", and "chairman" which now commonly go by the gender-neutral titles "police officer", "letter carrier" and "chairperson" or "chair" as well as with terms having broader application, such as "humankind" replacing "mankind".
People who are attracted to the same gender are usually referred to as 'homosexual'. Likewise, people who are attracted to people of both genders are usually referred to as "bisexual". However, both of these terms are seen as being perfectly fine by the more politically liberal oriented people.