1.
Human
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Modern humans are the only extant members of Hominina tribe, a branch of the tribe Hominini belonging to the family of great apes. Several of these hominins used fire, occupied much of Eurasia and they began to exhibit evidence of behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago. In several waves of migration, anatomically modern humans ventured out of Africa, the spread of humans and their large and increasing population has had a profound impact on large areas of the environment and millions of native species worldwide. Humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication for self-expression and the exchange of ideas. Humans create complex structures composed of many cooperating and competing groups, from families. Social interactions between humans have established a wide variety of values, social norms, and rituals. These human societies subsequently expanded in size, establishing various forms of government, religion, today the global human population is estimated by the United Nations to be near 7.5 billion. In common usage, the word generally refers to the only extant species of the genus Homo—anatomically and behaviorally modern Homo sapiens. In scientific terms, the meanings of hominid and hominin have changed during the recent decades with advances in the discovery, there is also a distinction between anatomically modern humans and Archaic Homo sapiens, the earliest fossil members of the species. The English adjective human is a Middle English loanword from Old French humain, ultimately from Latin hūmānus, the words use as a noun dates to the 16th century. The native English term man can refer to the species generally, the species binomial Homo sapiens was coined by Carl Linnaeus in his 18th century work Systema Naturae. The generic name Homo is a learned 18th century derivation from Latin homō man, the species-name sapiens means wise or sapient. Note that the Latin word homo refers to humans of either gender, the genus Homo evolved and diverged from other hominins in Africa, after the human clade split from the chimpanzee lineage of the hominids branch of the primates. The closest living relatives of humans are chimpanzees and gorillas, with the sequencing of both the human and chimpanzee genome, current estimates of similarity between human and chimpanzee DNA sequences range between 95% and 99%. The gibbons and orangutans were the first groups to split from the leading to the humans. The splitting date between human and chimpanzee lineages is placed around 4–8 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch, during this split, chromosome 2 was formed from two other chromosomes, leaving humans with only 23 pairs of chromosomes, compared to 24 for the other apes. There is little evidence for the divergence of the gorilla, chimpanzee. Each of these species has been argued to be an ancestor of later hominins
2.
Pilum
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The pilum was a javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about 2 metres long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 millimetres in diameter and 60 centimetres long with pyramidal head. The shank was joined to the shaft by either a socket or a flat tang. The purpose was so the enemy could not throw the pilum back at the Roman army. The total weight of a pilum was between 2 and 5 kilograms, with the versions produced during the earlier Republican era being slightly heavier than those produced in the later Empire era, the iron shank was the key to the function of the pilum. The weapon had a hard pyramidal tip but the shank was made of softer iron and this softness would cause the shank to bend after impact, thus rendering the weapon useless to the enemy who might throw it back. Even if the shank did not bend, the pyramidal tip still made it difficult to pull out, although the bending of the pilums shank is commonly seen to be an integral part of the weapons design and as an intentional feature, there is little evidence to suggest this. The combination of the weight and the aforementioned pyramidal tip. That the pilum needed to pierce layers of armour necessitated a lengthy shank, the momentum of the pilum caused the shank to bend upon impact, and, although unintended, proved to be a useful characteristic of the weapon. Most other javelins of the time were unable to penetrate a shield, the length of the shank and its depth of penetration also made it hard to pull out of a shield even if it failed to bend. If the bearer of the shield was charging and a Pilum penetrated the shield, on some pila there was a spike on the end of the shaft which made it easier to dig into the ground. Pila were divided into two models, heavy and light, pictorial evidence suggests that some versions of the weapon were weighted by a lead ball to increase penetrative power but archeological specimens of this design variant are not so far known. Recent experiments have shown pila to have a range of approximately 33 metres, the origin of the pilums design is a matter of contention. Considering that there are two versions of the pilum, it may be possible that the Roman pilum had as ancestors two different weapons, perhaps from different cultural groups respectively. The two weapon designs may have coalesced into the form of the typical Roman pilum, as is known today, legionaries of the Late Republic and Early Empire often carried two pila, with one sometimes being lighter than the other. The effect of the throw was to disrupt the enemy formation by attrition. Pila could also be used in combat, one documented instance of this occurred at the Siege of Alesia. Additionally, pila could be employed as a thrusting implement and a barrier against cavalry charges, some pila had small hand-guards, to protect the wielder if he intended to use it as a melee weapon, but it does not appear that this was common. When once fixed in the shield it was impossible to them out
3.
Anchor
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An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα. Anchors can either be temporary or permanent, permanent anchors are used in the creation of a mooring, and are rarely moved, a specialist service is normally needed to move or maintain them. Vessels carry one or more anchors, which may be of different designs. A sea anchor is a drogue, not in contact with the seabed, used to control a drifting vessel, anchors achieve holding power either by hooking into the seabed, or via sheer mass, or a combination of the two. Permanent moorings use large masses resting on the seabed, semi-permanent mooring anchors and large ships anchors derive a significant portion of their holding power from their mass, while also hooking or embedding in the bottom. Modern anchors for smaller vessels have metal flukes which hook on to rocks on the bottom or bury themselves in soft seabed, the vessel is attached to the anchor by the rode, which is made of chain, cable, rope, or a combination of these. A10,1 scope gives the greatest holding power, Anchoring with sufficient scope and/or heavy chain rode brings the direction of strain close to parallel with the seabed. If necessary, motoring slowly around the location of the anchor also helps dislodge it, anchors are sometimes fitted with a tripping line attached to the crown, by which they can be unhooked from rocks or coral. The term aweigh describes an anchor when it is hanging on the rope and is not resting on the bottom and this is linked to the term to weigh anchor, meaning to lift the anchor from the sea bed, allowing the ship or boat to move. An anchor is described as aweigh when it has broken out of the bottom and is being hauled up to be stowed. Aweigh should not be confused with under way, which describes a vessel which is not moored to a dock or anchored, the earliest anchors were probably rocks, and many rock anchors have been found dating from at least the Bronze Age. Pre-European Maori waka used one or more hollowed stones, tied with flax ropes, many modern moorings still rely on a large rock as the primary element of their design. However, using pure mass to resist the forces of a storm only works well as a permanent mooring, the ancient Greeks used baskets of stones, large sacks filled with sand, and wooden logs filled with lead. According to Apollonius Rhodius and Stephen of Byzantium, anchors were formed of stone, such anchors held the vessel merely by their weight and by their friction along the bottom. Iron was afterwards introduced for the construction of anchors, and an improvement was made by forming them with teeth, or flukes, the Admiralty Pattern, A. P. or simply Admiralty, and also known as Fisherman, is the anchor shape most familiar to non-sailors. It consists of a shank with a ring or shackle for attaching the rode. At the other end of the shank there are two arms, carrying the flukes, while the stock is mounted to the other end, when the anchor lands on the bottom, it will generally fall over with the arms parallel to the seabed
4.
Bicycle pump
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A bicycle pump is a type of positive-displacement air pump specifically designed for inflating bicycle tires. It has a connection or adapter for use with one or both of the two most common types of valves used on bicycles, Schrader or Presta, a third type of valve called the Dunlop valve exists, but tubes with these valves can be filled using a Presta pump. Several basic types are available, Floor pumps Frame mounted Compact or mini Foot operated Double action In its most basic form, during the up-stroke, this piston draws air through a one-way valve into the pump from the outside. During the down-stroke, the piston displaces the air from the pump into the bicycle tire. Most floor pumps, also commonly called track pumps, have a built in pressure gauge to indicate tire pressure, electrically-operated pumps intended to inflate car tires can in principle be used to inflate a bicycle tire if the right type of connection is available. Some such pumps are designed to cut off before a suitable pressure, others may not cut off, but deliver a high rate of flow to fill the larger car tire, with a risk of overinflating and bursting a bicycle tire unless it is stopped with split-second timing. The first bicycle pump consisted of a cylinder that had a metal rod running down the middle of it. This would have forced the air out of the cylinder and then sucked in new air when the rod was pulled up again. Many modern pumps use a similar method, while some, such as the electric pumps. When the cylinder is compressed, air is pushed down the tube of the pump and then into the tire via the valve, which is forced open by the pressure of the air. When the handle is pulled up again, the valve shuts off automatically so that the air cannot escape from the tire, some pumps have a gauge that shows the pressure of air that is forced into the tire. Once the tire is at the pressure, the pump valve can be removed from the tire. There are two types of tire valves to which the bicycle tire pump attaches. These are the Presta valve and the Schrader valve, some pumps fit both types of valves, whereas others do not, but adapters are available that enable the pump to fit any type of valve. The AVACS feature is available on pump models and can also be bought as a separate valve attachment. There are three types of bicycle pumps Stand pump Hand pump Foot pump Also known as a floor or track pump. To operate, the user rests the base of the pump on the floor, resting feet at the base, an additional tube must connect the pump to the fill valve, which may create dead volume. There are two types, tubed and integral
5.
Nail (fastener)
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In woodworking and construction, a nail is a pin-shaped object of metal which is used as a fastener, as a peg to hang something, or sometimes as a decoration. Generally nails have a point on one end and a flattened head on the other. Nails are made in a variety of forms for specialized purposes. The most common is a wire nail, other types of nails include pins, tacks, brads, and cleats. Nails are typically driven into the workpiece by a hammer, a nail gun. A nail holds materials together by friction in the axial direction, the point of the nail is also sometimes bent over or clinched after driving to prevent pulling out. The history of the nail is divided roughly into three periods, Hand-wrought nail Cut nail Wire nail To make a wrought-iron nail, iron ore is heated with carbon. To make a nail, a blacksmith heats the rod in a forge, next, the smith cuts off the taper, and inserts it into a nail heading tool with a square hole. The top of the taper is hammered downward to form a head, Nails date back at least to Ancient Egypt — bronze nails found in Egypt have been dated 3400 BC. The Romans made extensive use of nails, the Roman army, for example, left behind seven tons of nails when it evacuated the fortress of Inchtuthil in Perthshire in the United Kingdom in 86 or 87 CE. The term penny, as it refers to nails, probably originated in medieval England to describe the price of a hundred nails, Nails themselves were sufficiently valuable and standardized to be used as an informal medium of exchange. Until around 1800 artisans known as nailers or nailors made nails by hand – note the surname Naylor, at the time of the American Revolution, England was the largest manufacturer of nails in the world. Nails were expensive and difficult to obtain in the American colonies, families often had small nail-manufacturing setups in their homes, during bad weather and at night, the entire family might work at making nails for their own use and for barter. Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter, In our private pursuits it is an advantage that every honest employment is deemed honorable. I am myself a nail maker, the production of wrought-iron nails continued well into the 19th century, but ultimately was reduced to nails for purposes for which the softer cut nails were unsuitable, including horseshoe nails. Originally, nails were handmade, and the process was slow, nails were relatively few. This naturally produced a desire to create machines to speed up and these nails were known as cut nails or square nails because of their roughly rectangular cross section. Cut nails were one of the important factors in the increase in balloon framing beginning in the 1830s, though still used for historical renovations, and for heavy-duty applications, such as attaching boards to masonry walls, cut nails are much less common today than wire nails
6.
Television in the United Kingdom
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Television in the United Kingdom started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising. There are six main channel owners who are responsible for most viewing, there are 27,000 hours of domestic content produced a year at a cost of £2.6 billion. Since 24 October 2012, all broadcasts in the United Kingdom are in a digital format. Digital content is delivered via terrestrial, satellite and cable as well as over IP, set-top boxes are generally used to receive these services, however integrated digital televisions can also be used to receive Freeview or Freesat. Most TVs sold in the UK come with a DVB-T tuner for Freeview – a rare thing in Europe, BT TV and TalkTalk Plus TV, both based on YouView, utilise hybrid boxes which receive Freeview as well as additional subscription services. Households viewing TV from the internet are not tracked by Ofcom, the UKs five most watched channels, BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, are available from all providers. Digital terrestrial television launched in 1998 as a service named ONdigital. Since October 2002, the broadcaster is Freeview, with BT TV providing additional subscription services. In all cases cable TV is a subscription service normally bundled with a phone line, smallworld Cable is available in south-west Scotland and north-west England. Pricing ranges from £10.50 to £80 per month, wightFibre is available in the Isle of Wight. Virgin Media is available to 55% of UK households, pricing ranges from £11 a month to £30.50 a month, with additional fees for premium services such as Sky Sports. Virgin also market V+, a video recorder and high-definition receiver. Virgin Media is the cable provider to supply high-definition television and video on demand. There are three distinctly marketed direct-broadcast satellite services, Sky is a subscription service owned by Sky plc. It is the satellite provider to offer premium channels with the largest total number of channels compared to all other television providers. As of January 2017, subscriptions starts at £22 per month for the basic package, there is an upfront cost of £15 on sign up. Sky TV markets SkyQ Silver & SkyQ boxes as well as SkyQmini boxes, Sky TV also provides video on demand branded as SkyTV On Demand. As of October 2016, Sky UK stopped offering there aging Sky+HD hardware, Freesat from Sky, is a free satellite service owned by Sky plc
7.
Swordfish
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Swordfish, also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill. They are a sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfish are elongated, round-bodied, and lose all teeth and scales by adulthood and these fish are found widely in tropical and temperate parts of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, and can typically be found from near the surface to a depth of 550 m. They commonly reach 3 m in length, and the maximum reported is 4.55 m in length and 650 kg in weight and they are the sole member of their family, Xiphiidae. The swordfish is named after its bill, which resembles a sword and this makes it superficially similar to other billfish such as marlin, but upon examination, their physiology is quite different and they are members of different families. They commonly reach 3 m in length, and the maximum reported is 4.55 m in length and 650 kg in weight, the International Game Fish Associations all-tackle angling record for a swordfish was a 1,182 lb specimen taken off Chile in 1953. Females are larger than males, and Pacific swordfish reach a greater size than northwest Atlantic and they reach maturity at 4–5 years of age and the maximum age is believed to be at least 9 years. The oldest swordfish found in a recent study were a 16-year-old female, swordfish ages are derived, with difficulty, from annual rings on fin rays rather than otoliths, since their otoliths are small in size. Swordfish are ectothermic animals, however, along some species of sharks, they have special organs next to their eyes to heat their eyes. Temperatures of 10 to 15 °C above the water temperature have been measured. The heating of the eyes greatly improves their vision, and consequently improves their ability to catch prey, of the 25, 000+ fish species, only 22 are known to have a mechanism to conserve heat. These include the swordfish, marlin, tuna, and some sharks, contrary to popular belief, the sword is not used to spear, but instead may be used to slash at its prey to injure the prey animal, to make for an easier catch. Mainly, the swordfish relies on its speed and agility in the water to catch its prey. It is undoubtedly among the fastest fish, but the basis for the frequently quoted speed of 97 km/h is unreliable, swordfish prefer water temperatures between 18 and 22 °C, but have the widest tolerance among billfish, and can be found from 5 to 27 °C. This highly migratory species typically moves towards colder regions to feed during the summer, swordfish feed daily, most often at night, when they rise to surface and near-surface waters in search of smaller fish. During the day, they occur to depths of 550 m and have exceptionally been recorded as deep as 2,878 m. Adults feed on a range of pelagic fish, such as mackerel, barracudinas, silver hake, rockfish, herring, and lanternfishes, but they also take demersal fish, squid. Large prey are typically slashed with the sword, while small are swallowed whole and they swim alone or in very loose aggregations, separated by as much as 10 m from a neighboring swordfish
8.
Phineas Gage
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Phineas P. Historically, published accounts of Gage have almost always severely exaggerated and distorted his behavioral changes, frequently contradicting the known facts. A social recovery hypothesis suggests that Gages work as a driver in Chile fostered this recovery by providing daily structure which allowed him to regain lost social and personal skills. Gage was the first of five born to Jesse Eaton Gage and Hannah Trussell Gage of Grafton County. As Gage was doing this around 4,30 p. m. his attention was attracted by his men working behind him, circumstances to which the patient perhaps owes his life. I first noticed the wound upon the head before I alighted from my carriage, the top of the head appeared somewhat like an inverted funnel, as if some wedge-shaped body had passed from below upward. Mr. Gage, during the time I was examining this wound, was relating the manner in which he was injured to the bystanders, I did not believe Mr. Gages statement at that time, but thought he was deceived. Mr. Gage persisted in saying that the bar went through his head, Mr. G. got up and vomited, the effort of vomiting pressed out about half a teacupful of the brain, which fell upon the floor. Harlow took charge of the case around 6 p. m and you will excuse me for remarking here, that the picture presented was, to one unaccustomed to military surgery, truly terrific, but the patient bore his sufferings with the most heroic firmness. He recognized me at once, and said he hoped he was not much hurt and he seemed to be perfectly conscious, but was getting exhausted from the hemorrhage. His person, and the bed on which he was laid, were literally one gore of blood, with Williams assistance Harlow shaved the scalp around the region of the tamping irons exit, then removed coagulated blood, small bone fragments, and an ounce of protruding brain. A wet compress was applied, then a nightcap, then further bandaging to secure these dressings, Harlow also dressed Gages hands and forearms and ordered that Gages head be kept elevated. Late that evening Harlow noted, Mind clear, constant agitation of his legs, being alternately retracted and extended like the shafts of a fulling mill. Says he does not care to see his friends, as he shall be at work in a few days. Despite his own optimism, Gages convalescence was long, difficult, and uneven. Though recognizing his mother and uncle,12,30 on the morning after the accident, on the day he lost control of his mind. By the fourth day he was again rational, knows his friends, and after a weeks further improvement Harlow entertained, for the first time, the thought that it was possible for Gage to recover. This improvement, however, was of short duration, coma deepened, the globe of the left eye became more protuberant, with,61,283 pushing out rapidly from the internal canthus from the wounded brain, and coming out at the top of the head. By the fourteenth day, The exhalations from the mouth and head horribly fetid, comatose, but will answer in monosyllables if aroused. Will not take nourishment unless strongly urged
9.
Mercy Ships
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Mercy Ships is an international charity. Mercy Ships has operated in more than 57 developing nations and 18 developed nations around the world, the organization has its International Services Center in Garden Valley, Texas. A major inspiration for Mercy Ships president and founder Don Stephens was the work of the hospital ship SS Hope. Stephens research showed that 95 of the 100 largest cities in the world were port cities, therefore, a hospital ship could deliver healthcare very efficiently to large numbers of people. The birth of Stephens profoundly disabled son, John Paul, also inspired him to forward with his vision of a floating hospital. A visit with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, further deepened his commitment to serving the worlds neediest people, Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens. It has outfitted and operated a total of four ships to serve developing nations since 1978. Originally, it was a part of the YWAM family of Christian ministries, the organization uses retired ocean liners and ferries that have been transformed into floating hospitals. The first ocean liner acquired was the Victoria, which was purchased for its value of US$1 million. The nine-deck vessel was transformed into the hospital ship MV Anastasis over a four-year period, the 522-foot ship was equipped with three operating rooms, a dental clinic, an x-ray machine, a laboratory and 40 patient beds. The ships 350-member crew included Mercy Ships founders Don and Deyon Stephens, in 1983, the Anastasis began operations in the South Pacific, then moved to Central America and the Caribbean Sea in the mid-80’s. The ship moved on to Africa in 1991 and remained in there until 2007. The final port of call for the Anastasis was Monrovia, Liberia, Mercy Ships purchased the Norwegian coastal ferry Polarlys in 1994 and transformed it into the MV Caribbean Mercy, a hospital ship serving Central American and Caribbean ports. The ship offered berths for 150 crew and was equipped initially for medical clinics. Over the course of years, the ship was equipped with modern eye-surgery capabilities. The first eye surgery was performed on board The Caribbean Mercy in early 1997, on land, volunteers from the Caribbean Mercy also provided dental, orthopedic and healthcare services. The Caribbean Mercy visited 138 ports of call and remained in service until May 2005, in 1983, the Canadian ferry Petite Forte was donated to Mercy Ships to provide relief operations in the Caribbean. Initially christened the Good Samaritan, the ship was re-christened the MV Island Mercy in 1994, the 60-berth vessel remained in service until spring of 2001
10.
Maggot
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Maggot is not a technical term and should not be taken as such, in many standard textbooks of entomology it does not appear in the index at all. In many non-technical texts the term is used for insect larvae in general, other sources have coined their own definitions, for example. The term applies to a grub when all trace of limbs has disappeared, and. Applied to the footless larvae of Diptera. Anglers use maggots usually provided by suppliers to catch non-predatory fish. Maggots are the most popular bait for anglers in Europe, anglers throw handfuls into the swim they are targeting, attracting the fish to the area. The angler will then use the largest or most attractive maggots on the hook, commercial maggot breeders from the UK sell their maggots to tackle dealers throughout the E. U. and North America. In North America, maggots have been used primarily as ice fishing bait, recently, however, live maggots of certain species of flies have been applied since antiquity as an effective means of wound debridement. In controlled and sterile settings by medical practitioners, maggot therapy introduces live, currently the only maggots cleared for marketing in the United States are larvae of Calliphorid flies of the species Phaenicia sericata. This species of maggots is most widely used in the world as well and they feed on the dead or necrotic tissue, leaving sound tissue largely unharmed. Studies have also shown that maggots are used to kill bacteria, there are three midgut lysozymes of P. sericata that have been confirmed to show antibacterial effects in maggot debridement therapy. The study demonstrated that the majority of Gram-positive bacteria were destroyed in vivo within the section of the P. sericata midgut where lysozymes are produced. During the passage through the intestine of the maggots, the ability of bacteria to survive drastically decreased, as of 2008, maggot therapy was being used in around 1,000 medical centers in Europe and over 300 medical centers in the United States. The presence and development of maggots on a corpse are useful in the estimation of time elapsed since death, depending on the species and the conditions, maggots may be observed on a body within 24 hours. The eggs are directly on the food source and when the eggs hatch. By studying the insects present at a scene, forensic entomologists can determine the approximate time of death. Insects are usually useful after an interval of approximately 25–80 hours. After this interval, this becomes less reliable. As with fleas and ticks, maggots can be a threat to pets and livestock
11.
Sky One
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Sky 1 is the British flagship channel operated and owned by Sky plc. It is the entertainment channel operated in the United Kingdom. Sky 1 launched across Europe on 26 April 1982 by founder Connor Baskey as Satellite Television and is the oldest non-terrestrial TV channel in the United Kingdom. In the UK, the channel is available via satellite on Sky, digital cable on Virgin Media, IPTV on TalkTalk TV. In Ireland, the channel is available via Sky Ireland, Virgin Media Ireland, on 27 June 1983, the shareholders of Satellite Television agreed a £5 million offer to give News International 65% of the company. Murdoch extended the broadcast hours and the number of countries the station broadcast to including the United Kingdom, on 16 January 1984 the channel was renamed Sky Channel. On 8 June 1988, Murdoch announced his plans to expand Skys service to four channels, the show had a mix of entertainment, gossip, fashion, etc. The Channel continued with the childrens programmes, soaps, and US action series. On 31 July 1989, the channel was renamed Sky One and closed in most European countries, broadcasting to only the United Kingdom, in 1990 Sky One begin to acquire more recent programming, an early success being Moonlighting, which the BBC had previously screened but not repeated. Sky One also picked new programming such as The Simpsons,21 Jump Street and the last series of Falcon Crest, the channel also commissioned a number of home grown programmes while also expanding its Australian television series to include E Street, Chances and Paradise Beach. In contrast to the Sky2 that was relaunched, this channel featured even more first-run programmes. In 2000, a feed of Sky One for Ireland was launched. For most of this Irish feeds existence, the difference between it and the United Kingdom feed has been differing commercials and programme promotions. In June 2003, the channel started broadcasting in 16,9 widescreen, however, all TV commercials were broadcast in 4,3 until November 2005, because they were played off the same servers for all Sky channels, many of which were not broadcast in widescreen. On 21 September 2004, Sky One Mix was subsequently renamed Sky Mix, on 31 October 2005, Sky Mix was renamed as Sky Two with the launch of a second sister channel Sky Three. An on-screen message instead appears redirecting viewers to Sky 1, to coincide with launch of Sky HD, Sky 1 HD began broadcasting on 22 May 2006. Programmes that are not available in HD are upscaled, a new Sky 1 HD logo was introduced along with the rebrand on 31 August 2008. On 1 October 2010, Sky 1 HD launched on Virgin Media channel 122, with Sky 2 moving to channel 123 and Sky 3 moving to channel 180 on 22 September 2010, to make way for the new channel
12.
Channel 4
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Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services, BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, after some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. Indeed, television sets throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare channel called ITV/IBA2. It was most likely politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of almost three decades before the commercial channel became a reality. The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, the result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by Sianel Pedwar Cymru. Operated by a specially created authority, S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, since then, carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available. The first programme to air on the channel was the game show Countdown. The first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second, the first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Carol Vorderman and was a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words, On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast controversial soap opera Brookside, which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashleys ground-breaking television opera Perfect Lives, which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of period, however. Channel 4 for many years had a poorer quality signal compared to other channels, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay, during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 also faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in the documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Drivers Wife. After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, instead of aiming for the fringes of society, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many US programmes in peak viewing time and it gave such shows as Friends and ER their UK premières. In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained the rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and this new direction increased ratings and revenues. In addition, the corporation launched a number of new channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4, At the Races, E4
