A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets without protective function are sometimes worn. Soldiers wear helmets made from lightweight plastic materials; the word helmet is diminutive from a medieval word for protective combat headgear. The medieval great helm covers the whole head and is accompanied with camail protecting throat and neck as well. A helmet was a helm which covered the head only and protected it from injury in accidents. In civilian life, helmets are used for recreational sports. Since the 1990s, most helmets are made from resin or plastic, which may be reinforced with fibers such as aramids; some British gamekeepers during the 18th and 19th centuries wore helmets made of straw bound together with cut bramble. Europeans in the tropics wore the pith helmet, developed in the mid-19th century and made of pith or cork. Military applications in the 19th-20th centuries saw a number of leather helmets among aviators and tank crews in the early 20th century.

In the early days of the automobile, some motorists adopted this style of headgear, early football helmets were made of leather. In World War II, Soviet, German and French flight crews wore leather helmets, the German pilots disguising theirs under a beret before disposing of both and switching to cloth caps; the era of the First and Second World Wars saw a resurgence of metal military helmets, most notably the Brodie helmet and the Stahlhelm. Modern helmets have a much wider range of applications, including helmets adapted to the specific needs of many athletic pursuits and work environments, these helmets often incorporate plastics and other synthetic materials for their light weight and shock absorption capabilities; some types of synthetic fibers used to make helmets in the 21st century include Aramid and Twaron. Helmets of many different types have developed over time. Most early helmets had military uses, though some may have had more ceremonial than combat applications. Two important helmet types to develop in antiquity were the Roman galea.

During the Middle Ages, many different military helmets and some ceremonial helmets were developed all being metal. Some of the more important medieval developments included the great helm, the bascinet, the frog-mouth helm and the armet; the great seal of Owain Glyndŵr depicts the prince of Wales & his stallion wearing full armour, they both wear protective headgear with Owain's gold dragon mounted on top. This would have been impractical in battle, so therefore these would have been ceremonial. In the 19th century, more materials were incorporated, namely leather and pith; the pith helmet and the leather pickelhaube were important 19th century developments. The greatest expansion in the variety of forms and composition of helmets, took place in the 20th century, with the development of specialized helmets for a multitude of athletic and professional applications, as well as the advent of modern plastics. During World War I, the French army developed the Adrian helmet, the British developed the Brodie helmet, the Germans produced the Stahlhelm.

Flight helmets were developed throughout the 20th century. A multitude of athletic helmets, including football helmets, batting helmets, cricket helmets, bicycle helmets, motorcycle helmets and racing helmets, were developed in the 20th century. Helmets since the mid-20th century have incorporated lightweight plastics and other synthetic materials, their use has become specialized; some important recent developments include the French SPECTRA helmet, Spanish MARTE helmet or the American PASGT and Advanced Combat Helmet, or ACH. As the coat of arms was designed to distinguish noble combatants on the battlefield or in a tournament while covered in armour, it is not surprising that heraldic elements incorporated the shield and the helmet, these being the most visible parts of a knight's military equipment; the practice of indicating peerage through the display of barred or grilled helmets first appeared around 1587-1615, the heraldic convention of displaying helmets of rank in the United Kingdom, which came into vogue around Stuart times, is as follows: Sovereign: a gold barred-face helm placed affronté Peer's helmet: silver barred-face helm placed in profile Knight's or baronet's helmet: steel helm placed affronté with visor open Esquire's helmet: steel helm placed in profile with visor closedEarlier rolls of arms reveal, that early heraldic helmets were depicted in a manner faithful to the styles in actual military or tournament use at the time.

Balaclava Cap Combat helmet Face shield Firefighter's helmet Helmet boxing The Stackhat "Helmets... A Medieval Note In Modern Warfare", August 1942, Popular Science evolution of military helmets

Cecil Tremayne Buller was a Canadian artist. She was born in Montreal and studied with William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal and at the Art Students League in New York City. Buller went to Paris in 1912 with Edwin Holgate. In 1916, she went to London to study printmaking with Noel Rooke at the Central School of Art and Design, she met her future husband John J. A. Murphy there. In 1929, she produced a series of wood engravings for her book Song of Solomon, she provided illustrations for Cantique des cantiques published in Paris in 1931. In 1945, she received the Pennell Prize from the Library of Congress. Buller moved to Montreal in 1961 and died there at the age of 87, her work is included in the collections of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, British Museum, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris and the National Gallery of Canada

Death of a Gossip is a mystery novel by M. C. Beaton, first published in 1985, it is set in the fictional town of Lochdubh, Scotland and is the first novel of a series featuring the local constable Hamish Macbeth. Eight people of varied background meet in the fictional village of Lochdubh in Northern Scotland, they attend the Lochdubh School of Casting: Salmon and Trout Fishing and operated by John Cartwright and his wife Heather. What should be a relaxing holiday amid glorious Highland lochs and mountains becomes a misery. One of the party, Lady Jane Withers, a society widow and notorious gossip columnist, upsets everyone with her snobbishness, sharp tongue and rudeness. Lady Jane soon learns that each of her fellow guests has a secret in their past that they would prefer to remain unknown; when her Ladyship is found dead in Keeper's Pool, no-one is surprised and everyone is relieved. Hamish Macbeth, Lochdubh's local policeman, has to search for a murderer amongst the many suspects. No-one is willing to talk.

With the assistance of Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, the love of his life, Hamish solves the mystery in his usual unorthodox style. Hamish's success does not endear him to Chief Inspector Blair, a senior detective from the nearby fictional town of Strathbane. John Cartwright: Owner of the Lochdubh School of Casting: Salmon and Trout Fishing Heather Cartwright: Wife of John, believed to be the better angler Hamish Macbeth: Lochdubh's village constable Mr. Marvin Roth: An American from New York who used to operate a sweatshop Mrs. Amy Roth: An ex-stripper from New York Lady Jane Winders: Widow of a Labour Peer; this type of mystery brings together a group of people, one of the group is murdered and the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth solves the crime by careful observation of the group. At the end of the novel they are all brought together in a drawing room where one by one each person is shown to be innocent and the guilty party is exposed. 1985, USA, St. Martin's Press ISBN 978-0-312-18637-1, Pub Date March 1985, Hardcover 1988, USA, Fawcett Publications publisher ISBN 978-0-312-18637-1, Pub date 12 April 1988, Mass Market Paperback 1999, USA, Grand Central Publishing, ISBN 978-0-446-60713-1, Pub Date 01 Feb 1999, Mass Market Paperback 1989, UK, Savannah Koch publisher, ISBN 978-0-9514464-0-9, Pub Date 5 August 1989, Hardcover 1994, UK, Bantam Books, London, ISBN 978-0-553-40791-4, Pub Date 28 July 1994, Paperback 2008, UK, Robinson Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84529-665-0, Pub Date 23 April 2008, Paperback 2013, UK, C & R Crime, ISBN 978-1-4721-0520-2, Pub Date 2013, Paperback Death of a Gossip web page on UK publisher Constable & Robinson's web site