Maronites (, transliterated: Mawārinah, , ) are members of one of the Syriac Eastern Catholic Churches, with a heritage reaching back to Maron in the early 5th century. The first Maronite patriarch, John Maron, was appointed in the late 7th century. Although reduced in numbers and estimated to have lost their status as a majority in Lebanon itself. Today, Maronites remain one of the principal religious groups in the country.
Before the conquest by Arabian Muslims reached Lebanon, which resulted in the Arabization of both those who would become Islamized and those that would remain non-Islamized, the Lebanese people, including Maronites, spoke a dialect of Aramaic, but have been Arabic-speaking since at least the 15th century. Syriac however, still remains the liturgical language of the Maronite Church.
Pantomime
Pantomime (often called panto) is a kind of theatre entertainment usually performed around Christmas and the New Year in Britain and a few other English-speaking countries. It must not be confused with mime (acting with gestures but no speech). It is known for its comedy and audience participation. Pantomimes are usually meant for children-however they can be directed at adults.
A "pantomimos" in Ancient Greece used to be an entertainment performed by a solo dancer. In the Middle Ages a form of theatre developed called Commedia dell'arte. This was similar to a pantomime. They told a story which had certain fixed characters: the lovers, the father, the servants etc.
The pantomime first arrived in England as a short entertainment (entr'acte) between opera pieces. Eventually it became a separate show.
Today the pantomime is traditionally performed at Christmas. It is a show for children, but grownups like it as well. Usually a well-known story is told, e.g. Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Pinocchio, The Three Little Pigs, Puss in Boots, The Musicians of Bremen, Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Snow White etc. There is a lot of spoken dialogue but there are also songs, and sometimes the audience join in. There are many traditions in pantomime. These are some of the main ones:
Michael Collins (astronaut)
Michael Collins (October 31, 1930 – April 28, 2021) was an American astronaut and test pilot. He was the pilot of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon.
Collins went to the United States Military Academy. After training, he joined the United States Air Force. He flew F-86s at Chambley-Bussieres Air Base, France. He got into the USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1960. He tried to get into the second astronaut training group but he was not accepted. He did get into the third group.
Collins joined the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963. He had 2 space flights. His first spaceflight was in Gemini 10. With John Young they joined up in space with two different spacecraft. Collins also did two space walks.
His second space flight was in "Apollo 11" where he was the command module pilot. While he kept going around the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the lunar surface. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.
Collins left NASA in 1970. He took a job in the Department of State as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs during the Richard Nixon presidency. A year later he became the director of the National Air and Space Museum. He did this job until 1978. He then became the undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1980 he took the job as Vice President of LTV Aerospace. He left in 1985 to start his own business.
He was married to Patricia. They have three children: Kate, Ann and Michael, Jr. Kate is an actress, best known for her role as Natalie Marlowe Dillon in the daytime television drama "All My Children."
Collins died of cancer in Naples, Florida on April 28, 2021 at the age of 90.
Saturn V
Saturn V was the kind of launch vehicle used by NASA in a space program named after a god that ancient people liked (the Apollo program). The Saturn V carried Apollo 11 and the people in it to the Moon in 1969. Much of the rocket was planned by German engineer and scientist Wernher von Braun. 32 Saturn rockets were sent up to space, and the Saturn V was the largest. 15 Saturn V rockets were made and 13 were sent up to space. There were two Saturn V launches with no people in them, and the first manned Apollo flight using a Saturn V was Apollo 8 sent around the Moon on December 21, 1968.The Saturn V rocket was a three part machine. It stood high and weighed . The first rockets were able to carry . This was went up to for the later Apollo flights. The first and second stages gave the power to lift the rocket off the Earth. The first and second stages each had five engines. The first stage burned kerosene and liquid oxygen together. The other stages burned liquid oxygen with liquid hydrogen.
The first stage engines burned for 168 seconds which was able to lift Apollo to a height of and about away from the launch pad. The second stage burned for about 8 minutes to take Apollo through the upper atmosphere. At this time it was going .
The third stage was used for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to put Apollo into an Earth orbit. This was at a height of above the Earth. The third stage was started again and burned for 6 minutes to make the speed go up to needed to send Apollo off to the Moon.
Kajaani
Kajaani () is a town in the region of Kainuu, Finland. In 2009, it had a population of about 38,000. It covers an area of .
The forestry and lumber industries are important in Kajaani.
The former municipality of Vuolijoki was merged with Kajaani in 2007.
Michael Collins
There are several people named Michael Collins:
Michael Collins (Irish leader)
Michael "Mick" Collins ( 16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader. He was a Minister for Finance and Teachta Dála (TD "member of parliament") for Cork South in the First Dáil of 1919. He was also the Director of Intelligence for the IRA, and member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations. After that he was both Chairman of the Provisional Government and Commander-in-chief of the National Army. Throughout this time, at least as of 1919, he was also President of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. Under the rules of the Brotherhood this meant that he was President of the Irish Republic. Collins was shot and killed in August 1922, during the Irish Civil War.
He was born on his family farm named Woodfield in Sam's Cross near Clonakilty, West Cork. Michael Collins was the third son and youngest of eight children. Most biographies state his date of birth as 16 October 1890; however, his tombstone gives his date of birth as 12 October 1890. His father, also named Michael, was a member of the republican Fenian movement, but had left and settled down to farming. Collins was six years old when his father died.
After leaving school aged 15, Collins took the British Civil Service examination in Cork in February 1906. In 1910, he moved to London where he became a messenger at a London firm of stock brokers, Horne and Company. While in London he lived with his elder sister, and studied at King's College London. He joined the London GAA and, through this, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a secret, oath-bound society dedicated to achieving Irish independence. In 1915, he moved to the Guaranty Trust Company of New York where he remained until his return to Ireland the following year.
Michael Collins first became known during the Easter Rising in 1916. A skilled organiser and very intelligent, he was highly respected in the IRB. When the Rising itself took place on Easter Monday, 1916, he fought alongside Patrick Pearse and others in the General Post Office in Dublin.