1.
Houston
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Houston is the most populous city in the state of Texas and the fourth-most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million within an area of 667 square miles, it also is the largest city in the southern United States and the seat of Harris County. Located in Southeast Texas near the Gulf of Mexico, it is the city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land. Houston was founded on August 28,1836, near the banks of Buffalo Bayou and incorporated as a city on June 5,1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded, the burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the citys population. Houstons economy has an industrial base in energy, manufacturing, aeronautics. Leading in health care sectors and building equipment, Houston has more Fortune 500 headquarters within its city limits than any city except for New York City. The Port of Houston ranks first in the United States in international waterborne tonnage handled, the city has a population from various ethnic and religious backgrounds and a large and growing international community. Houston is the most diverse city in Texas and has described as the most diverse in the United States. It is home to cultural institutions and exhibits, which attract more than 7 million visitors a year to the Museum District. Houston has a visual and performing arts scene in the Theater District. In August 1836, two real estate entrepreneurs from New York, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen, purchased 6,642 acres of land along Buffalo Bayou with the intent of founding a city. The Allen brothers decided to name the city after Sam Houston, the general at the Battle of San Jacinto. The great majority of slaves in Texas came with their owners from the slave states. Sizable numbers, however, came through the slave trade. New Orleans was the center of trade in the Deep South. Thousands of enslaved African Americans lived near the city before the Civil War, many of them near the city worked on sugar and cotton plantations, while most of those in the city limits had domestic and artisan jobs. Houston was granted incorporation on June 5,1837, with James S. Holman becoming its first mayor, in the same year, Houston became the county seat of Harrisburg County and the temporary capital of the Republic of Texas
2.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
3.
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
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
Actor
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An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. Simplistically speaking, the person denominated actor or actress is someone beautiful who plays important characters, the actor performs in the flesh in the traditional medium of the theatre, or in modern mediums such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is ὑποκριτής, literally one who answers, the actors interpretation of their role pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character. Interpretation occurs even when the actor is playing themselves, as in forms of experimental performance art, or, more commonly, to act, is to create. Formerly, in societies, only men could become actors. When used for the stage, women played the roles of prepubescent boys. The etymology is a derivation from actor with ess added. However, when referring to more than one performer, of both sexes, actor is preferred as a term for male performers. Actor is also used before the name of a performer as a gender-specific term. Within the profession, the re-adoption of the term dates to the 1950–1960s. As Whoopi Goldberg put it in an interview with the paper, Im an actor – I can play anything. The U. K. performers union Equity has no policy on the use of actor or actress, an Equity spokesperson said that the union does not believe that there is a consensus on the matter and stated that the. subject divides the profession. In 2009, the Los Angeles Times stated that Actress remains the term used in major acting awards given to female recipients. However, player remains in use in the theatre, often incorporated into the name of a group or company, such as the American Players. Also, actors in improvisational theatre may be referred to as players, prior to Thespis act, Grecian stories were only expressed in song, dance, and in third person narrative. In honor of Thespis, actors are commonly called Thespians, the exclusively male actors in the theatre of ancient Greece performed in three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Western theatre developed and expanded considerably under the Romans, as the Western Roman Empire fell into decay through the 4th and 5th centuries, the seat of Roman power shifted to Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire. Records show that mime, pantomime, scenes or recitations from tragedies and comedies, dances, from the 5th century, Western Europe was plunged into a period of general disorder
6.
Fort Worth, Texas
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Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. The city is in North Central Texas and covers nearly 350 square miles in the counties of Denton, Parker, Wise, according to the 2015 census, estimates, Fort Worths population is 833,319. The city is the second-largest in the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, the city was established in 1849 as an Army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River. Today, Fort Worth still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architecture, USS Fort Worth is the first ship of the United States Navy named after the city. Fort Worth is home to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, also of note is the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, designed by Tadao Ando. The Amon Carter Museum of American Art, designed by Philip Johnson, the Sid Richardson Museum, redesigned by David M. Schwarz, has one of the most focused collections of Western Art in the U. S. emphasizing Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. The Treaty of Birds Fort between the Republic of Texas and several Native American tribes was signed in 1843 at Birds Fort in present-day Arlington, Texas. Article XI of the treaty provided that no one may pass the line of trading houses without permission of the President of Texas and these trading houses were later established at the junction of the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River in present-day Fort Worth. At this river junction, the U. S, War Department established Fort Worth in 1849 as the northernmost of a system of 10 forts for protecting the American Frontier following the end of the Mexican–American War. The City of Fort Worth continues to be known as where the West begins, originally 10 forts had been proposed by Major General William Jenkins Worth, who commanded the Department of Texas in 1849. In January 1849, Worth proposed a line of 10 forts to mark the western Texas frontier from Eagle Pass to the confluence of the West Fork, One month later, Worth died from cholera in South Texas. General William S. Harney assumed command of the Department of Texas, Arnold to find a new fort site near the West Fork and Clear Fork. On June 6,1849, Arnold, advised by Middleton Tate Johnson, established a camp on the bank of the Trinity River, in August 1849, Arnold moved the camp to the north-facing bluff, which overlooked the mouth of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. The United States War Department officially named the post Fort Worth on November 14,1849, E. S. Terrell from Tennessee claimed to be the first resident of Fort Worth. The fort was flooded the first year and moved to the top of the bluff, the fort was abandoned September 17,1853. As a stop on the legendary Chisholm Trail, Fort Worth was stimulated by the business of the cattle drives, millions of head of cattle were driven north to market along this trail. Fort Worth became the center of the drives, and later. It was given the nickname of Cowtown, during Civil War, Fort Worth suffered from shortages of money, food, and supplies
7.
Boris Karloff
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He portrayed Frankensteins monster in Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein, which resulted in his immense popularity. His best-known non-horror role is as the Grinch, as well as the narrator, Karloff guest starred in a 1966 TV episode of The Wild Wild West, The Night of the Golden Cobra. He also had a role in the original Scarface. For his contribution to film and television, Boris Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on 23 November 1887, at 36 Forest Hill Road, Camberwell, London, England. Pratt himself stated that he was born in Dulwich, which is nearby in London and his parents were Edward John Pratt, Jr. and Eliza Sarah Millard. His maternal grandparents were James Millard and Eliza Julia Edwards, a sister of Anna Leonowens, the two sisters may have had some Anglo-Indian ancestry. Pratt spent his years in Enfield, in the County of Middlesex. He was the youngest of nine children, and following his mothers death was brought up by his elder siblings and he received his early education at Enfield Grammar School, and later at the private schools of Uppingham School and Merchant Taylors School. After this, he attended Kings College London where he took studies aimed at a career with the British Governments Consular Service. However, in 1909, he left university without graduating and drifted, departing England for Canada and his brother, Sir John Thomas Pratt, became a distinguished British diplomat. He was bow-legged, had a lisp, and stuttered as a young boy and he conquered his stutter, but not his lisp, which was noticeable throughout his career in the film industry. He began appearing in theatrical performances In Canada, and during this period he chose the screen name Boris Karloff, some have theorised that he took the stage name from a mad scientist character in the novel The Drums of Jeopardy called Boris Karlov. However, the novel was not published until 1920, at least eight years after Karloff had been using the name on stage, however, his daughter Sara Karloff publicly denied any knowledge of Slavic forebears, Karloff or otherwise. One reason for the change was to prevent embarrassment to his family. Whether or not his brothers actually considered young William the black sheep of the family for having become an actor, Karloff apparently worried they felt that way. He did not reunite with his family until he returned to Britain to make The Ghoul, extremely worried that his siblings would disapprove of his new, instead, his brothers jostled for position around him and happily posed for publicity photographs. After the photo was taken, Karloff’s brothers immediately started asking about getting a copy of their own of it, the story of the photo became one of Karloff’s favorites. Karloff joined the Jeanne Russell Company in 1911 and performed in towns like Kamloops, British Columbia, after the devastating tornado in Regina on 30 June 1912, Karloff and other performers helped with clean-up efforts
8.
Scrubs (TV series)
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Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created by Bill Lawrence that aired from October 2,2001, to March 17,2010, on NBC and later ABC. The series follows the lives of employees at the fictional Sacred Heart teaching hospital, the title is a play on surgical scrubs and a term for a low-ranking person because at the beginning of the series, most of the main characters are medical interns. The series is fast-paced, with slapstick and surreal vignettes presented mostly as the daydreams of the character, Dr. John J. D. Dorian. The main cast for all but its last season consisted of Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Neil Flynn, Ken Jenkins, the series featured multiple guest appearances by film actors, such as Brendan Fraser, Heather Graham, and Colin Farrell. Scrubs, produced by the production division of Disney–ABC Television Group, premiered on October 2,2001. The series received a Peabody Award in 2006, during the seventh season, NBC announced that it would not renew the show, ABC announced it had picked up the eighth season of the series, which began January 6,2009. The ninth season premiered on December 1,2009, and on May 14,2010, most episodes feature multiple story lines thematically linked by voice-overs done by Braff, as well as the comical daydreams of J. D. According to Bill Lawrence, What we decided was, rather than have it be a monotone narration and it opened up a visual medium that those of us as comedy writers were not used to. Actors were given the chance to improvise their lines on set with encouragement by series creator Bill Lawrence, with Neil Flynn, almost every episode title for the first eight seasons begins with the word My. Bill Lawrence says this is because each episode is Dr. John Dorian writing in his diary, a few episodes are told from another characters perspective and have episode titles like His Story or Her Story. Apart from a period of narration from J. D. at the beginning and the end. The transfer of the duties usually occurs at a moment of physical contact between two characters. Starting with season nine, the titles start with Our. as the focus has shifted from the perspective of J. D. to a new group of medical students. The webisodes that accompanied season eight, Scrubs, Interns, also were named Our, for the first eight seasons, the series featured seven main cast members, with numerous other characters recurring throughout the course of the series. Starting with the season, many of the original cast left as regular characters. Zach Braff portrays John Michael J. D. Dorian, the shows protagonist, J. D. is a young attending physician, who begins the series as a staff intern. His voice-over to the series comes from his thoughts and often features surreal fantasies. J. D. describes himself as a sensi, enjoying acoustic alternative music, J. D. has a son with ex-girlfriend Kim Briggs and a child with wife Elliot Reid
9.
Community (TV series)
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Community is an American television sitcom created by Dan Harmon that premiered on NBC on September 17,2009. It makes heavy use of meta-humor and pop references, often parodying film and television clichés. Harmon based the program on his own experiences attending a community college, Each episode was written in accordance with Harmons story circle template, a methodology designed to create effective, structured storytelling. Harmon served as the showrunner for its first three seasons, but was fired prior to the fourth and replaced by writers David Guarascio. After a lukewarm response from fans and critics, Harmon was re-hired for the fifth broadcast season. Screen commissioned a sixth season, which premiered on March 17,2015, Community received acclaim for its acting and writing, and appeared on numerous critics year-end best-of lists for 2009,2010, and 2011. Despite low ratings, it developed a following, united by the mantra six seasons and a movie. The show completed six seasons and an adaptation is in development. The show entered broadcast syndication in 2013, was released on DVD, Stan in Australia, and Netflix in the UK, Canada, Ireland, and Latin America. Jeff Winger is disbarred and suspended from his law firm when it is discovered that he lied about possessing a degree from Columbia University. This leaves him no choice but to enroll at Greendale Community College to earn a legitimate degree. Jeff quickly becomes attracted to his activist classmate, Britta Perry, despite their differences, the group soon become close friends. The show features an ensemble cast of characters, focusing on the members of a study group, Joel McHale as Jeff Winger, a former lawyer who enrolls at Greendale after being suspended from his law firm for falsely claiming to have a bachelors degree. Jeff is a sarcastic, outspoken, self-confident lothario who constantly manipulates people to get what he wants, however, throughout the series, becoming closer to his new study group changes some of Jeffs habits and views. He is more willing to make sacrifices for his friends over time and selectively reveals that he can be more patient. Gillian Jacobs as Britta Perry, a self-proclaimed anarchist, atheist, Danny Pudi as Abed Nadir, a film student of Palestinian and Polish descent, with an encyclopedic knowledge of TV shows and movies. Abed struggles to interact with others via normal means, so he chooses to interpret the groups everyday activities by comparing them to film. Despite being out-of-touch with reality at times, Abed is an observer of human behavior
10.
The Scotsman
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The Scotsman is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website published from Edinburgh. It was a broadsheet until 16 August 2004, the Scotsman Publications Ltd also issues the Edinburgh Evening News and the Herald & Post series of free newspapers in Edinburgh, Fife, and West Lothian. As of February 2016, it had a print circulation of 22,740, with a full-price paid-for circulation of 61. 6% of this figure. Scotsman. com websites, including the site, job site, property site, mobile site. The paper was pledged to impartiality, firmness and independence, after the abolition of newspaper stamp tax in Scotland in 1850, The Scotsman was relaunched as a daily newspaper priced at 1d and a circulation of 6,000 copies. Their premises were originally at 257 High Street on the Royal Mile, in 1860 they obtained a purpose built office on Cockburn Street in Edinburgh designed in the Scots baronial style by the architects Peddie & Kinnear. This backed onto their original offices on the Royal Mile, the building bears the initials JR for John Ritchie the founder of the company. In 1902 they moved to new offices at the top of the street, facing onto North Bridge. This huge building had three years to build and also had connected printworks on Market Street. The printworks connected below road level direct to Waverley Station in an efficient production line. In 1953 the newspaper was bought by Canadian millionaire Roy Thomson who was in the process of building a media group. The paper was bought in 1995 by David and Frederick Barclay for £85 million, the daily was awarded by the Society for News Design the World’s Best Designed Newspaper™ for 1994. Ian Stewart has been the editor since June 2012, after a reshuffle of senior management in April 2012 during which John McLellan who was the papers editor-in-chief was dismissed, ian Stewart was previously editor of Edinburgh Evening News and remains as the editor of Scotland on Sunday. In 2012, The Scotsman was named Newspaper of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards, Johnston Press have downsized to refurbished premises at Orchard Brae House in Queensferry Road, Edinburgh, a move which was quoted as saving the group £1million per annum in rent. The newspaper backed a No vote in the referendum on Scottish independence and it has had live webcams and panoramas around Scotland. It also has sections for other Scotsman Publications including Scotland on Sunday, List of newspapers in Scotland List of newspapers by date Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The worlds great dailies, profiles of fifty newspapers pp 273–79 Official website The Scotsman Digital Archive 1817-1950 Johnston Press Comprehensive Design Architects
11.
Sun Valley, Los Angeles
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Sun Valley is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood is known for its youthful population and moderate racial diversity. There are three centers in Sun Valley, one of which is a historic site. The neighborhood has thirteen public schools — including John H. Francis Polytechnic High School and Sun Valley High School — and four private schools. The 2000 U. S. census counted 75,848 residents in the 9. 42-square-mile Sun Valley neighborhood—or 8,048 people per square mile, in 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 81,788. In 2000 the median age for residents was 28, considered young for city and county neighborhoods, the neighborhood was considered moderately diverse ethnically within Los Angeles, with a high percentage of Latinos. The breakdown was Latinos,69. 4%, whites,17. 9%, Asians,8. 1%, blacks,1. 9%, and others,2. 7%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 51. 9% of the residents who were born abroad—a high percentage for Los Angeles. The median yearly income in 2008 dollars was $51,290, considered average for the city. The percentages of households that earned $20,000 to $60,000 were high for the county, renters occupied 46. 1% of the housing stock, and house or apartment-owners held 53. 9%. Relation of Sun Valley to nearby places, not necessarily contiguous, In 1874, the area extended from Sunland Blvd. all the way west to the Chatsworth Hills. East of Sunland was Rancho San Rafael, a land grant to José María Verdugo by the Spanish Crown. By 1876, the Southern Pacific Railroad was constructed through the eastern San Fernando Valley, the area once had a general store named Roberts Store, and the town was named Roberts until the 1890s when the name was changed to Roscoe. The current name of Sun Valley was chosen in 1950 by residents, the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants is located in Sun Valley, it is dedicated to helping people discover the beauty of California native plants. The Consulate-General of the Dominican Republic in the County of Los Angeles is located in Suite 204 at 9001 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Los Angeles Fire Department Fire Station 77 is located in the Sun Valley area. The station is in the Battalion 12 district, the United States Postal Service Sun Valley Post Office is located at 10946 Ratner Street. One of every ten of Sun Valley residents aged 25 and older had earned a degree by 2000. The percentage of the residents with less than a high school diploma was high for the county
