In 1884 Merrick wrote to a showman called Sam Torr. Merrick asked Torr to show him as a "freak" exhibition. Torr showed Merrick around the East Midlands, and then Merrick went to London. He stayed in a shop on Whitechapel Road. People would pay to look at him. A surgeon doctor, Frederick Treves, came to see Merrick and took photographs of him. Soon afterwards, Torr's freak shop was closed by the police and Merrick went to Belgium.
In Belgium, Merrick was robbed by his manager and left Brussels alone. He found his way back to London. Frederick Treves took him to the London Hospital where Treves worked. Merrick was allowed to live there for the rest of his life. Rich and famous people of Victorian London came to visit him there.
Merrick died on 11 April 1890, aged 27. He died of either asphyxia (not being able to breathe properly) or a broken neck. He had tried to lie down to go to sleep, but his head was too heavy for him to do that. Today, nobody knows for sure what was wrong with Merrick. Scientists think that he either had an illness called neurofibromatosis type I, one called Proteus syndrome, or both of these illnesses. In 1980, movie director David Lynch made a movie about Merrick. It is called "The Elephant Man".
John Logie Baird
John Logie Baird (13 August 1888 – 14 June 1946) was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first working television system, and the world's first fully electronic colour television tube.
Baird was born in Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire, Scotland. He went to school at Larchfield Academy in Helensburgh and then went to the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College (which later became the University of Strathclyde); and the University of Glasgow. He stopped being a student at the beginning of World War I.
Although lots of inventors helped to make television, Baird was an important person and made big advances. Especially in Britain, lots of people say that Baird was the first person to make a live, moving, greyscale television picture from reflected light. Baird did this by making a better photoelectric cell and making the signal conditioning better.
In 1925, Baird showed people his moving pictures on television at Selfridges department store in London. In 1928, he showed the world's first colour television transmission.
In 1927, Baird made a signal go over between London and Glasgow; Baird sent the world's first long-distance television pictures to the Central Hotel at Glasgow Central Station.
Baird then started the Baird Television Development Company Ltd, and in 1928 it made the first transatlantic television transmission, from London to Hartsdale, New York, and the first television programme for the BBC.
Baird's television systems were replaced by the electronic television system developed by EMI-Marconi.
Baird did lots of work for the field of electronic television after mechanical systems stopped being used. In 1939, he showed colour television using a cathode ray tube.
Some of Baird's early inventions did not work. In his twenties he tried to make diamonds by heating graphite and ruined Glasgow's electricity supply. Later Baird made a glass razor which did not get rusty
From December 1944 until he died two years later, Baird lived at a house in Station Road, Bexhill-on-Sea, immediately north of the station. Baird died in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England on 14 June 1946 after a stroke in February 1946. The old house was knocked down in 2007.
John Logie Baird was buried with his mother, father and wife in Helensburgh Cemetery, Dunbartonshire.
The Co-operative Food
The Co-operative Food, sometimes simply known as the Co-op, is a brand used by the supermarket divisions of several consumer co-operatives in the United Kingdom, with The Co-operative Group being the largest most well known user. Co-operatives are businesses which are ultimately owned by their customer-members and staff-members with each member having an equal say in the business is run. Members elect the board and may vote on the strategic decisions of the business but are not usually involved in its day-to-day operations. Members also receive a percent of the company's earnings each year as a 'Dividend'.
The Co-operative Group purchased Somerfield in early 2009 and encorporated it into The Co-operative Food branding.
Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group is a United Kingdom consumers' cooperative, and, after the acquisition of Somerfield supermarkets, is the world's largest consumer-owned business, with over 4.5 million members and 123,000 employees across all its businesses. Regional and local retail co-operative societies are corporate members of the Group.
Each member (each person registered to the 'Co-operative Membership' scheme) and every person employed has an equal say in how business is run. Everyone has a right to help shape the company. The Co-operative Group runs several businesses, including the famous Co-op supermarket chain.
Every year members receive a share of the profits that they helped to create, based on the amount made in profits that year and the how much they had spent with any of its businesses.
Somerfield
Somerfield was a small UK supermarket chain. It was founded in 1875 and is similar to the Co-op.
In early 2009 It was bought out by the Co-operative Group.
Alvin and the Chipmunks (movie)
Alvin and the Chipmunks is a 2007 family comedy movie using Live-action/CGI. The movie stars Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson and Jane Lynch and the voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney.
Dave Seville, a desperate song producer, meets three talking, singing chipmunks named Alvin (the awesomest one), Simon (the smart one), and Theodore (the cute one). Dave says that they can live with him if they sing his songs, but he later thinks that he made a terrible mistake when they ruin his house, his friendship with Claire Wilson (his girlfriend and next-door neighbor), and his job. Dave gets along with them better when they became very popular singers. Later on Dave's old friend and roommate, Ian Hawke trys to take the chipmunks away for fame and money. Eventually, Dave gets the chipmunks back, and he learns to consider them as his family. Also he and Claire get back together.
AIDS orphan
An AIDS orphan is a child who became an orphan because at least one of their parents died of AIDS. (An orphan is a child with no parents.)
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), use the term "AIDS orphan" to talk about children whose mothers died of AIDS before the child's 15th birthday, whether the child's father is still alive or not. Because of this, some people say that 80% of all "AIDS orphans" still have one parent who is still alive.
There are 70,000 new AIDS orphans a year. People in the past have guessed that by the year 2010, over 20 million children would be AIDS orphans.
Because most people who get AIDS are people who have sex, most people who die of AIDS are people who make most of their family's money (because most people who have sex are old enough to work). This means that many AIDS orphans need help from their country's government to live, and need money. This happens a lot in Africa especially.
In 2007, South Africa had more AIDS orphans than any other country, (although South Africa uses the term "AIDS orphan" differently than UNICEF and WHO. South Africa uses the term to talk about children under age 18 who lost either their father or their mother to AIDS). In 2005, the country with the highest percentage of AIDS orphans among the country's orphans was Zimbabwe.
Hejaz
Hejaz is the western region of Saudi Arabia, stretching along the Red Sea (Sea of Hejaz). It extends from Taif in the south to Jordan in the north. There are four important cities in this region:
Endianness