1.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
3.
Bob Hope
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Bob Hope KBE, KC*SG, KSS was an American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, athlete, centenarian and author. With a career spanning nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in over 70 feature films and short films, in addition to hosting the Academy Awards 19 times, he appeared in many stage productions and television roles and was the author of 14 books. The song Thanks for the Memory is widely regarded as Hopes signature tune, born in Eltham, Kent, Hope arrived in America with his family at the age of four and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He began his career in business in the early 1920s, initially on stage. He was praised for his timing, specializing in one-liners and rapid-fire delivery of jokes. He also appeared in numerous specials for NBC television, starting in 1950, Hope participated in the sports of golf and boxing and owned a small stake in his hometown baseball team, the Cleveland Indians. He died at age 100 at his home in Toluca Lake, Hope was born in Eltham, Kent the fifth of seven sons. They married in April 1891 and lived at 12 Greenwood Street in Barry, before moving to Whitehall, Bristol, and then St George, Bristol. In 1908, the family emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Philadelphia and passed through Ellis Island on March 30,1908, before moving to Cleveland, from age 12, Hope earned pocket money by busking, singing, dancing, and performing comedy. He entered many dancing and amateur talent contests and won a prize in 1915 for his impersonation of Charlie Chaplin, for a time, he attended the Boys Industrial School in Lancaster, Ohio. As an adult, he donated sizable sums of money to the institution, Hope had a brief career as a boxer in 1919, fighting under the name Packy East. He had three wins and one loss and participated in a few staged charity bouts later in life, Hope worked as a butchers assistant and a lineman in his teens and early twenties. Hope also had a stint at Chandler Motor Car Company. Deciding on a business career, he and his girlfriend signed up for dancing lessons. Encouraged after they performed in an engagement at a club, Hope formed a partnership with Lloyd Durbin. Silent film comedian Fatty Arbuckle saw them perform in 1925 and found work with a touring troupe called Hurleys Jolly Follies. Within a year, Hope had formed an act called the Dancemedians with George Byrne, Hope and Byrne had an act as a pair of Siamese twins as well and danced and sang while wearing blackface before friends advised Hope that he was funnier as himself. In 1929, Hope informally changed his first name to Bob, in one version of the story, he named himself after racecar driver Bob Burman
4.
How Green Was My Valley (film)
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How Green Was My Valley is a 1941 drama film directed by John Ford. The movie, based on the 1939 Richard Llewellyn novel of the name, was produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The movie features Walter Pidgeon, Maureen OHara, Anna Lee, Donald Crisp and it was nominated for ten Academy Awards, famously beating Citizen Kane for Best Picture along with winning Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Supporting Actor. The movie tells of the Morgans, a hard-working Welsh mining family living in the heart of the South Wales Valleys during the 19th century, the story chronicles life in the South Wales coalfields, the loss of that way of life and its effects on the family. The fictional village in the movie is based on Gilfach Goch, Llewellyn spent many summers there visiting his grandfather, in 1990, the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry of the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. The Academy Film Archive preserved How Green Was My Valley during 1998, the movie begins with a monologue by an older Huw Morgan, I am packing my belongings in the shawl my mother used to wear when she went to the market. And Im going from my valley, and this time, I shall never return. The valley and its villages are now blackened by the mines that fill the area. A young Huw, the youngest child of Gwilym Morgan, walks home with his father to meet his mother, Beth. His older brothers, Ianto, Ivor, Davy, Gwilym Jr. and Owen all work in the mines with their father. Huws childhood is idyllic, the town, not yet overrun with mining spoil, is beautiful, Huw is smitten on meeting Bronwyn, a girl engaged to be married to his oldest brother, Ivor. At the boisterous wedding party Angharad meets the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd, trouble begins when the mine owner decreases wages, and the miners strike in protest. Gwilyms attempt to mediate by not endorsing a strike estranges him from the miners as well as his older sons. Beth interrupts a late night meeting of the strikers, threatening to kill anyone who harms her husband, while returning home, crossing the fields in a snowstorm in the dark, Beth falls into the river. Huw dives in to save her with the help of the townspeople and he recovers with the help of Mr. Gruffydd, which further endears him to Angharad. The strike is settled, and Gwilym and his sons reconcile. Angharad is courted by the owners son, Iestyn Evans. Mr Gruffydd loves her too, to the delight of the gossipy townswomen
5.
Sergeant York (film)
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Sergeant York is a 1941 biographical film about the life of Alvin York, one of the most-decorated American soldiers of World War I. It was directed by Howard Hawks and was the film of the year. The film was based on the diary of Sergeant Alvin York, as edited by Tom Skeyhill, and adapted by Harry Chandlee, Abem Finkel, John Huston, Howard Koch, and Sam Cowan. York refused, several times, to authorize a film version of his life story, Cooper went on to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal. The film also won for Best Film Editing and was nominated in nine categories, including Best Picture, Director, Supporting Actor. The American Film Institute ranked the film 57th in the its 100 most inspirational American movies and it also rated Alvin York 35th in its list of the top 50 heroes in American cinema. In 2008, Sergeant York was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant. Alvin York, a poor young Tennessee hillbilly, is a marksman, but a neer-do-well prone to drinking and fighting. He then meets winsome Gracie Williams, and works night and day at strenuous odd jobs to accumulate the payment for a certain bottomland farm so shell marry him. Alvin is given an option on the bottomland by its owner as part of an agreement that Alvin can raise the purchase price in sixty days. Alvin drinks heavily and swears revenge, late that night, Alvin is struck by lightning during a rainstorm while en route to attack the man who had cheated him. He survives the lightning strike, but his mule is knocked down, finding himself outside the church house where a revival meeting is being held, he enters and undergoes a religious awakening and vows never to get angry at anyone ever again. He makes amends with the men who cheated him out of the land and he reluctantly reports to Camp Gordon for basic training. His superiors discover that he is a marksman and decide to promote him to corporal. York still wants nothing to do with the Army and killing, Major Buxton, his sympathetic commanding officer, tries to change Yorks mind, citing sacrifices made by others all throughout the history of the United States. He gives York a leave to go home and think it over and he promises York a recommendation for his exemption as a conscientious objector if York remains unconvinced. While York is fasting and pondering, the wind blows his Bible open to the verse Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars, and unto God the things that are Gods. York reports back for duty and tells his superiors that he can serve his country, despite not having everything figured out to his satisfaction, York is still ridiculed by some superiors for his beliefs, until he demonstrates his skill in firing his rifle to the surprise of all
6.
13th Academy Awards
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The 13th Academy Awards honored American film achievements in 1940. This was the first year that sealed envelopes were used to keep secret the names of the winners which led to the phrase, May I have the envelope. The accounting firm of Price Waterhouse was hired to count the ballots, for the first time, the award for Best Screenplay was split into two separate categories, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay. Independent producer David O. Selznick, who had produced the previous years big winner Gone with the Wind, also produced the Best Picture winner in 1940, Rebecca –, Selznick was the first to produce two consecutive winners of the Best Picture Oscar. The films studio – United Artists – was the last of the film studios to win the Best Picture Oscar. Rebecca was the first American-made film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock had two films nominated for Best Picture, the other being Foreign Correspondent. Two other directors also had two films in the running this year, Sam Wood and John Ford, pinocchio was the first animated film to take home competitive Oscars, for both Best Score and Best Song, starting a long tradition of animated films winning in these categories. The Thief of Bagdad received the most Oscars of the evening, winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface. Bob Hope Colonel Nathan Levinson For the first time, names of all winners remained secret until the moment they received their awards, franklin D. Roosevelt gave a six-minute direct radio address to the attendees from the White House. It is the first time an American president participated in the event
7.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
