The hurdy-gurdy is a stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents—small wedges made of wood—against one or more of the strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic stringed instruments, it has a sound board and hollow cavity to make the vibration of the strings audible. Most hurdy-gurdies have multiple drone strings, which give a constant pitch accompaniment to the melody, resulting in a sound similar to that of a violin. For this reason, the hurdy-gurdy is used interchangeably or along with bagpipes in Occitan, Cajun French and contemporary Asturian, Galician and Slavic folk music. Many folk music festivals in Europe feature music groups with hurdy-gurdy players; the most famous has been held since 1976 at Saint-Chartier in the Indre département in Central France.

In 2009, it relocated nearby to the Château d'Ars at La Châtre, where it continues to take place during the week nearest July 14. The hurdy-gurdy is thought to have originated from fiddles in either Europe or the Middle East some time before the eleventh century A. D; the first recorded reference to fiddles in Europe was in the 9th century by the Persian geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih describing the lira as a typical instrument within the Byzantine Empire. One of the earliest forms of the hurdy-gurdy was the organistrum, a large instrument with a guitar-shaped body and a long neck in which the keys were set; the organistrum had a single melody string and two drone strings, which ran over a common bridge, a small wheel. Due to its size, the organistrum was played by two people, one of whom turned the crank while the other pulled the keys upward. Pulling keys upward is cumbersome, so only slow tunes could be played on the organistrum; the pitches on the organistrum were set according to Pythagorean temperament and the instrument was used in monastic and church settings to accompany choral music.

Abbot Odo of Cluny is supposed to have written a short description of the construction of the organistrum entitled Quomodo organistrum construatur, known through a much copy, but its authenticity is doubtful. Another 10th-century treatise thought to have mentioned an instrument like a hurdy-gurdy is an Arabic musical compendium written by Al Zirikli. One of the earliest visual depictions of the organistrum is from the twelfth-century Pórtico da Gloria on the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela, Spain: it has a carving of two musicians playing an organistrum. On, the organistrum was made smaller to let a single player both turn the crank and work the keys; the solo organistrum was known from Spain and France, but was replaced by the symphonia, a small box-shaped version of the hurdy-gurdy with three strings and a diatonic keyboard. At about the same time, a new form of key pressed from beneath was developed; these keys were easier to handle. Medieval depictions of the symphonia show both types of keys.

During the Renaissance, the hurdy-gurdy was a popular instrument and the characteristic form had a short neck and a boxy body with a curved tail end. It was around this time; the buzzing bridge is an asymmetrical bridge. When the wheel is accelerated, one foot of the bridge lifts from the soundboard and vibrates, creating a buzzing sound; the buzzing bridge is thought to have been borrowed from the tromba marina, a bowed string instrument. During the late Renaissance, two characteristic shapes of hurdy-gurdies developed; the first was guitar-shaped and the second had a rounded lute-type body made of staves. The lute-like body is characteristic of French instruments. By the end of the 17th century changing musical tastes demanded greater polyphonic capabilities than the hurdy-gurdy could offer and pushed the instrument to the lowest social classes. During the 18th century, French Rococo tastes for rustic diversions brought the hurdy-gurdy back to the attention of the upper classes, where it acquired tremendous popularity among the nobility, with famous composers writing works for the hurdy-gurdy.

The most famous of these is Nicolas Chédeville's Il pastor Fido, attributed to Vivaldi. At this time the most common style of hurdy-gurdy developed, the six-string vielle à roue; this instrument has four drones. The drone strings are tuned so that by turning them on or off, the instrument can be played in multiple keys. During this time the hurdy-gurdy spread further to Central Europe, where further variations developed in western Slavic countries, German-speaking areas and Hungary. Most types of hurdy-gurdy were extinct by the early twentieth century, but a few have survived; the best-known are the French vielle à roue, the Hungarian tekerőlant, the Spanish zanfoña. In Ukraine, a variety called the lira was used by blind street musicians, most of whom were purged by Stalin in the 1930s; the hurdy-gurdy tradition is well-developed in Hungary, Belarus

Mount Redington is a mountain located in Franklin County, Maine. Redington is flanked to the west by Black Nubble. Redington stands just northeast of the U. S. Navy Survival Escape and Evasion Training Facility; the southeast side of Redington drains into the South Branch of the Carrabassett River into the Kennebec River, into the Gulf of Maine. The northwest side of Redington drains into Nash Stream into the South Branch of the Dead River, Flagstaff Lake, the Dead River and the Kennebec; the Appalachian Trail, a 2,170 mi National Scenic Trail from Georgia to Maine, is routed around Mt. Redington, to instead pass near the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain — the second highest peak in the state of Maine; the AT runs from Saddleback Junior to the southwest, over Spaulding Mountain and Sugarloaf to the east, passes about a mile northeast of Redington, at the summit of South Crocker. Mount Redington and Owl's Head in New Hampshire are the only New England four-thousand footers without a maintained trail to the summit.

In 2005, Maine Mountain Power filed an application with the Maine Land Use Regulation Committee for a permit to develop a 30-turbine wind farm on Redington and neighboring Black Nubble. After years of contentious debate, the proposal was voted down by the LURC in 2007; the summit of Redington was seen as too ecologically sensitive — a sub-alpine fir habitat providing a home for two rare species, the bog lemming and Bicknell's thrush. The development would have been visible for miles along the AT. A revised proposal, which would have developed wind power only on Black Nubble, was rejected by the LURC in 2008; as of early 2009, the wind farm project was being planned as the Sugarloaf Community Wind Farm. List of mountains in Maine

Afif Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer. In February 2018, he was named in Bangladesh's Twenty20 International squad for their series against Sri Lanka, he made his T20I debut for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka on 15 February 2018. He was a student of the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan, Bangladesh's biggest sports institute, that has produced the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, he was known as a big-hitter at the U-19 level, coaches found him similar to Tamim Iqbal. At 17 years and 72 days, he became the youngest bowler to take a T20 five-wicket haul on his debut on 3 December 2016 for Rajshahi Kings in the BPL 2016. Playing in the closing stages of the league phase, he ran through Chittagong Vikings with his 5 for 21, including the wicket of Chris Gayle, he made his first-class debut for East Zone in the 2016–17 Bangladesh Cricket League on 11 February 2017. Opening the batting, he was named player of the match. On 5 June 2017, in the 2016–17 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, he took a hat-trick playing for Abahani Limited.

In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Sylhet Sixers team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League. In August 2019, he was one of 35 cricketers named in a training camp ahead of Bangladesh's 2019–20 season. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Rajshahi Royals in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League, he was the vice-captain of the Bangladesh U-19 side for the 2016 Asia Cup. In December 2017, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup, he was the leading run-scorer for Bangladesh in the tournament, with 276 runs. Following Bangladesh's matches in the tournament, the International Cricket Council named Hossain as the rising star of the squad. In December 2018, he was named in Bangladesh's team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. Afif made his international debut in 2018 against Sri Lanka in the first T20I but his second-ball duck with the bat and 1/26 in 2 overs with ball witnessed him to be dropped from next match.

He was included in the squad for 2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series, in the first match against Zimbabwe, while Bangladesh was on the verge of defeat losing 6 wicket for 60 runs and still needing 85 runs to win, he came to bat at no. 8 and scored a blistering knock of 52 off 26 balls and made a crucial 82-run stand with Mosaddek Hossain to overcome the target. Subsequently, he was selected for Man of Match award for his knock.. His current international T20 batting average is 15.40 and Bowling average is 11.66In November 2019, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh. The same month, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the cricket tournament at the 2019 South Asian Games; the Bangladesh team won the gold medal. In February 2020, he was named in Bangladesh's One Day International squad for their series against Zimbabwe, he made his ODI debut for Bangladesh, against Zimbabwe, on 6 March 2020