Q: Found the following article online, use it to answer the question: What was the name of the five year old head of state? Following the hasty departure of Pedro I, Brazil was left with a five-year-old boy as head of state. With no precedent to follow, the Empire was faced with the prospect of a period of more than twelve years without a strong executive, as, under the constitution, Pedro II would not attain his majority and begin exercising authority as Emperor until 2 December 1843. A regency was elected to rule the country in the interim. Because the Regency held few of the powers exercised by an emperor and was completely subordinated to the General Assembly, it could not fill the vacuum at the apex of Brazil's government.The hamstrung Regency proved unable to resolve disputes and rivalries between national and local political factions. Believing that granting provincial and local governments greater autonomy would quell the growing dissent, the General Assembly passed a constitutional amendment in 1834, called the Ato Adicional (Additional Act). Instead of ending the chaos, these new powers only fed local ambitions and rivalries. Violence erupted throughout the country. Local parties competed with renewed ferocity to dominate provincial and municipal governments, as whichever party dominated the provinces would also gain control over the electoral and political system. Those parties which lost elections rebelled and tried to assume power by force, resulting in several rebellions.The politicians who had risen to power during the 1830s had by then become familiar with the difficulties and pitfalls of power. According to historian Roderick J. Barman, by 1840 "they had lost all faith in their ability to rule the country on their own. They accepted Pedro II as an authority figure whose presence was indispensable for the country's survival." Some of these politicians (who would form the Conservative Party in the 1840s) believed that a neutral figure was requiredone who could stand above political factions and petty interests to address discontent and moderate disputes. They envisioned an emperor who was more dependent on the...
A: Pedro II

Q: Found the following article online, use it to answer the question: What was the song that followed the song that peaked at number 2 on the Billboards singles chart? "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"According to author Andy Gill, by starting his new album with what sounded like "a demented marching-band ... staffed by crazy people out of their mind on loco-weed", Dylan delivered his biggest shock yet for his former folkie fans. The elaborate puns on getting stoned combine a sense of paranoiac persecution with "nudge-nudge wink-wink bohemian hedonism". Heylin points out that the Old Testament connotations of getting stoned made the Salvation Army-style musical backing seem like a good joke. The enigmatic title came about, Heylin suggests, because Dylan knew a song entitled "everybody must get stoned" would be kept off the airwaves. Heylin links the title to the Book of Proverbs, chapter 27, verse 15: "A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike." Released as a single on March 22, 1966, "Rainy Day Women" reached number two on the Billboard singles chart, and number seven in the UK. "Pledging My Time"Following the good-time fun of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35", the Chicago blues-influenced "Pledging My Time" sets the somber tone that runs through the album. It draws on several traditional blues songs, including Elmore James' recording of "It Hurts Me Too". For critic Michael Gray, the lines "Somebody got lucky but it was an accident" echo the lines "Some joker got lucky, stole her back again" from Robert Johnson's "Come On in My Kitchen", which is itself an echo of the Skip James 1931 recording "Devil Got My Woman". Gray suggests that "the gulping movements of the melodic phrases" derive from the melody of "Sitting on Top of the World", recorded by the Mississippi Sheiks in 1930. The couplet at the end of each verse expresses the theme: a pledge made to a prospective lover in hopes she "will come through, too". Besides Dylan's vocals and improvised harmonica breaks, the song's sound is defined by Robbie Robertson's guitar, Hargus "Pig" Robbins's blues piano and Ken Buttrey's snare drum rolls. The song was released in edited form as the B-side of "Rainy...
A: Pledging My Time

Q: Found the following article online, use it to answer the question: What is the full name of the person who wrote "Crackerjack?" Three men rob a millionaire of diamonds aboard an airliner in flight. When Police Superintendent Benting tries to intervene, Jack Drake, another passenger, knocks him out to save him from being shot. The thieves force the pilot to land so they can dump the passengers. However, the men find the diamonds have already been stolen by someone else (Drake). Drake is a sort of modern-day Robin Hood. He donates the proceeds of his latest robbery to fund the stalled construction of the "New Social Institute". He even writes a book, "Crackerjack": The true story of my exploits., which becomes a bestseller. Everybody is reading it, including the people at Scotland Yard and Baroness Von Haltz, and wondering if it is fact or fiction. The baroness tells her maid Annie that certain passages somehow remind her of Drake, who broke her heart. By coincidence, she is residing in the same hotel as Drake. He goes to see her, but she does not forgive him for leaving her without a word in Berlin. He explains that he was forced to leave suddenly, but she is not mollified. Meanwhile, Drake instructs Burdge, his secretary, to send a cheque for 10,000 to the Buckingham Hospital for a new wing, even though Burdge informs him he is overdrawn at the bank. Drake tells him that the wealthy Mrs. Humbold's pearls will provide ample funds. The Humbolds are hosting a masquerade ball that night, and the baroness will be there. At the ball, part of the entertainment is a group called the "Four Gangsters", who have been tied up and replaced by a gang of real gangsters, the same thieves from the aeroplane caper. Sculpie, their leader, kills an unarmed man who foolishly tries to resist. Afterward, however, Sculpie is furious to learn that the pearls he took from Mrs. Humbold are fakes. Once again, Drake has the real ones.
A:
Jack Drake