A key part of many adventure fictions is the hero. In most stories the hero has to succeed. At the same time the hero may be the least interesting character in the story. The hero is often timid, submissive and easily pushed around. The hero may be a superhero, a spy, a detective or even an antihero. But the hero manages to meet the challenge. All great adventure heroes seem to find the ability to beat their enemies or win over hostile environments.
Sometimes the villain wins. In Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Cask of Amontillado", the villain is the narrator of the story. Sometimes the villain wins only to be confronted again in a sequel.
In many adventure fictions, the adventure takes place in foreign lands or exotic places. One of the earliest adventure fiction writers was Daniel Defoe. His stories of "Robinson Crusoe" and "Captain Singleton" helped set the standards for the adventure fiction genre. Another British author Sir Walter Scott built on the formula. He combined history with adventure fiction. His historical romance novels "Waverley", "Rob Roy" and "Ivanhoe" were classic adventures. They helped the reader understand the hero and gave him a code of chivalry. French author Alexandre Dumas wrote "The Three Musketeers", "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "Man in the Iron Mask". These were very popular in Europe and America. His stories had strong elements of revenge and forgiveness. James Fenimore Cooper in his adventure stories "The Pioneers", "The Last of the Mohicans" and "The Pathfinder" were set in exotic new world locations. But Cooper changed the aristocratic hero into one who was noble even though not born into the nobility.
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was an English novelist who wrote 47 novels and a number of other books.
His mother Frances Trollope was also a writer. Trollope became an official of the Post Office and lived in Ireland from 1841 to 1859; he left his Post Office job in 1867.
Trollope is well known for his series of novels set in the imaginary county of Barsetshire. His first novel was published in 1847 and "The Warden", the first Barsetshire novel, in 1855. The rest of the series were published during the next 12 years: "The Barchester Chronicles" (1857), "Doctor Thorne" (1858), "Framley Parsonage" (1861), "The Small House at Allington" (1864), and "The Last Chronicle of Barset" (1867). Barsetshire is imagined as a county in southwest England. The county town is Barchester, which is the seat of the Bishop of Barchester.
Trollope also wrote a series of political novels featuring the Palliser family. These began in 1864 with "Can You Forgive Her?". The rest of the series is "Phineas Finn" (1869), "The Eustace Diamonds" (1873), "Phineas Redux" (1876), "The Prime Minister" (1876), and "The Duke's Children" (1880). Trollope was an industrious and disciplined writer who wrote short stories, travel books and biographies as well as novels.
Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum of 925 in continental European terms.
Pure silver, for example 99.9% pure, is generally too soft for making objects for use. Therefore, the silver is usually alloyed with copper to give it strength while keeping the ductility and beauty of the precious metal. Other metals can replace the copper, to improve various properties of the basic sterling alloy such as increasing resistance to tarnish. These replacement metals include germanium, zinc and platinum, as well as a variety of other additives, including silicon and boron. Alloys such as argentium silver have appeared in recent decades. Argentium silver has some germanium added, and resists tarnishing well.
The first legal definition of sterling silver appeared in 1275. A statute of Edward I specified that 12 ounces of silver for coinage should contain 11 ounces  pennyweights of silver and  pennyweights of alloy, with 20 pennyweights to the Troy ounce.
Sterling silver standards are protected by hallmarks stamped on pieces by officials.
Christina of Sweden
Queen Christina of Sweden (; – 19 April 1689), was the queen of
Sweden from 1632 to 1654. She then resigned to become a Roman Catholic.
She also liked humanities and had invited philosophers such as René Descartes in Sweden.
Richard Benson (musician)
Richard Philip Henry John Benson, known as Richard Benson (born 10 March 1955, Woking, England) is an English–Italian guitarist.
Benson probably moved to Rome in 1965. In 1971 he joined the progressive rock band Buon Vecchio Charlie. In 1972, he took part in the festival "Villa Pamphili".
From 1978 to 2013 he hosted TV shows relating to new musical releases of the time. The music was mostly hard rock and heavy metal, but also jazz, funk, blues, fusion and Italian rock.
In 1983, Benson released his first LP, "Animal Zoo". In 1984, he released the LP "Renegade". In 1987 he was included on the compilation album, "Metal Attack" (RCA Italy – Talent).
In 1992, Benson played himself in Carlo Verdone's movie "Maledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrato". In the second half of the 1990s he gave concerts in Rome. In 1999, he released his first CD, "Madre Tortura".
Benson has then appeared in Italian national broadcast television as a music critic (Rai 2), together with Max Giusti. His work in the show was comical instead of serious. He played a sort of parody of his own character. In June 2013, he created an online television channel, "RichardBensonTV". He hosts a show there about heavy metal music. RichardBensonTv closed after just over a year.
In 2015 he released his second CD, "L'inferno dei vivi".
Kjell Arnljot Wig
Kjell Arnljot Wig (31 December 1924 – 18 January 2015) was a Norwegian media personality. He was a journalist for "Morgenbladet" from 1948. He was later with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation from 1963 to 1992. He hosted a series of television shows, including "Aktuell debatt", "Vindu mot verden", and "Åpen post". Some of his novels were "Det skjulte Norge" (1969), "Kongen ser tilbake" (1977), and "Eventyret om Blaafarveværket" (1995}.
Wig was born in Stjørdal. He was married and had children.
Wig died after an illness on 18 January 2015 at Bærum hospital. He was 90.
Bob Barr (1880s pitcher)
Robert McClelland Barr (December, 1856 - March 11, 1930) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He also made some appearances as an outfielder, first baseman, and third baseman.
Barr played for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys, Washington Nationals, Indianapolis Hoosiers, and Rochester Broncos. He also played for the Washington Nationals and New York Giants.
Suspicion (1941 movie)
Suspicion is a 1941 romantic thriller movie. It is based on the novel Before the Fact. The movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Cary Grant plays Johnnie, a gambler. Joan Fontaine plays Lina. Dame May Whitty plays Martha.
This movie was nominated for Academy Awards for the Best Picture and the Best Original Score. Fontaine won the Best Actress award.
Pike Place Fish Market
The Pike Place Fish Market is an open air fish market located in Seattle, Washington at the corner of Pike Street and Pike Place. It is known for their tradition of fishmongers throwing fish that customers have purchased, before they are wrapped. After nearing bankruptcy in 1986, the fish market owner and employees decided to become "world famous", changing their way of doing business by introducing their flying fish, games, and customer performances. Four years later, they were featured repeatedly in the national media and television shows. The store is now a popular tourist destination in Seattle, attracting up to 10,000 daily visitors, and is often billed as world-famous.