1.
Lee Strasberg
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Lee Strasberg was a Polish-born American actor, director, and theatre practitioner. He was born in a part of Galicia, Austrian Poland and he co founded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as Americas first true theatrical collective. The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute has its own sets of entrance criteria required for admission into their program. Former student Elia Kazan directed James Dean in East of Eden, as a student, Dean wrote that Actors Studio was the greatest school of the theater the best thing that can happen to an actor. Playwright Tennessee Williams, writer of A Streetcar Named Desire, said of Strasbergs actors and they communicate emotions they really feel. They give you a sense of life, directors such as Sidney Lumet, a former student, have intentionally used actors skilled in Strasbergs method. Kazan, in his autobiography, wrote, He carried with him the aura of a prophet, a magician, a doctor, a psychoanalyst. Was the force held the thirty-odd members of the theatre together. Today, Ellen Burstyn, Al Pacino, and Harvey Keitel lead this nonprofit studio dedicated to the development of actors, playwrights and he also appeared in. And Justice for All. Strasbergs personal papers, including photos, are archived at the Library of Congress, Lee Strasberg was born Israel Strassberg in Budzanów in Austrian Poland, to Jewish parents, Baruch Meyer Strassberg and his wife, Ida, née Diner, and was the youngest of three sons. His father emigrated to New York while his family remained in their village with an uncle. His father, who worked as a presser in the garment industry, sent first for his eldest son, finally, enough money was saved to bring over his wife and his two remaining sons. In 1909, the family was reunited on Manhattans Lower East Side, a relative introduced him to the theater by giving him a small part in a Yiddish-language production being performed by the Progressive Drama Club. He later joined the Chrystie Street Settlement Houses drama club, when he was 23 years old, he enrolled in the Clare Tree Major School of the Theater. He became a naturalized United States citizen on January 16,1939, had his life-shaping revelation when Stanislavski brought his Moscow Art Theatre to the United States in 1923. He had seen good acting before, of course, but never an ensemble like this with actors completely surrendering their egos to the work. E observed, first of all, that all the actors, whether they were playing leads or small parts, worked with the same commitment, no actors idled about posing and preening. More important, every actor seemed to some sort of unspoken, yet palpable
2.
Rum-running
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Rum-running, or bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling is usually done to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction, the term rum-running is more commonly applied to smuggling over water, bootlegging is applied to smuggling over land. The term rum-running most likely originated at the start of Prohibition in the United States and it was said that some ships carried $200,000 in contraband in a single run. It was not long after the first taxes on alcoholic beverages that someone began to smuggle them, the British government had revenue cutters in place to stop smugglers as early as the 16th century. Pirates often made extra money running rum to heavily taxed colonies, an irony of the history of prohibition in North America is that industrial-scale smuggling flowed both ways across the Canada–US border at different points in the early twentieth century. National prohibition in the United States did not begin until 1920, as well, Canadas version of prohibition had never included a ban on the manufacture of liquor for export. Soon the black-market trade was reversed with Canadian whisky and beer flowing in large quantities to the United States, again, this illegal international trade undermined the support for prohibition in the receiving country, and the American version ended in 1933. One of the most famous periods of rum-running began in the United States with the Prohibition began on January 16,1920 and this period lasted until the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, on December 5,1933. At first, there was action on the seas. This was the start of the Bimini–Bahamas rum trade and the introduction of Bill McCoy, with the start of Prohibition Captain McCoy began bringing rum from Bimini and the rest of the Bahamas into south Florida through Government Cut. The rum-running business was good, and McCoy soon bought a Gloucester knockabout schooner named Arethusa at auction. He installed an auxiliary, mounted a concealed machine gun on her deck. In the days of rum running, it was common for captains to add water to the bottles to stretch their profits, any cheap sparkling wine became French champagne or Italian Spumante, unbranded liquor became top-of-the-line name brands. McCoy became famous for never watering his booze, and selling only top brands, although the phrase appears in print in 1882, this is one of several folk etymologies for the origin of the term The real McCoy. On November 15,1923, McCoy and Tomoka encountered the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Seneca, a boarding party attempted to board, but McCoy chased them off with the machine gun. Tomoka tried to run, but the Seneca placed a shell just off her hull, the small, quick boats could more easily outrun Coast Guard ships and could dock in any small river or eddy and transfer their cargo to a waiting truck. They were also known to float planes and flying boats. Soon others were following suit, the limit became known as Rum Line
3.
Judaism
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Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion, with the Torah as its text, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world, Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic, today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditional interpretation of Judaisms requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law, today, these still exist. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, the history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions, the Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as Jews in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title Children of Israel. Judaisms texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam, many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law. Jews are a group and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism, the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind. According to the Tanakh, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation, many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God, that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate Gods concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to one another, that is. These commandments are but two of a corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism
4.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
5.
1919 World Series
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The 1919 World Series matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. Although most World Series have been of the format, the 1919 World Series was a best-of-nine series. Baseball decided to try the best-of-nine format partly to increase popularity of the sport, the events of the series are often associated with the Black Sox Scandal, when several members of the Chicago franchise conspired with gamblers to throw the World Series games. The 1919 World Series was the last World Series to take place without a Commissioner of Baseball in place, in 1920, the various franchise owners installed Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first Commissioner of Baseball. In August 1920, seven players from the White Sox were banned from organized baseball for fixing the series, the 1919 Chicago White Sox were one of baseballs elite teams. Most of the players had defeated the New York Giants in the 1917 World Series. They had fallen to sixth place in the American League in 1918, largely as a result of losing their best player, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and a few of his teammates as well, to World War I service. Team owner Charlie Comiskey fired manager Pants Rowland after the season, replacing him with Kid Gleason, the 88–52 White Sox won the American League pennant again in 1919, by 3 1⁄2 games over the Cleveland Indians. Jackson was the star of the team. The left fielder hit.351 that season, fourth in the league and in the ALs top five in slugging percentage, RBI, total bases, right fielder Nemo Leibold hit.302 with 81 runs scored. First baseman Chick Gandil hit.290, third baseman Buck Weaver.296, even typical good field, no hit catcher Ray Schalk hit.282 that year, and shortstop Swede Risberg was not an automatic out with.256 average and 38 RBI. Manager Gleasons bench contained two impressive hitters, outfielder Shano Collins and infielder Fred McMullin, both veterans of the 1917 world championship, the 1919 pennant-winning pitching staff was led by a pair of aces and a very promising rookie. Next came Claude Lefty Williams, at 23–11 and 2.64, twenty-six-year-old rookie Dickie Kerr started only 17 games, but turned in a solid 13–7 and 2.88. Fourth in the rotation was Urban Red Faber, who had beaten the Giants three times in the 1917 World Series but had an off-year in 1919 at 11–9 and 3.83 in 20 starts. He was ill and unable to pitch in the Series in any event, but all was not well in the White Sox camp. In contrast to the White Sox, the 1919 Cincinnati Reds were upstarts and they had finished no higher than third since 1900, and then only twice, before winning the NL pennant handily in 1919.686. Third baseman Heinie Groh was the other great hitter on the team at.310 with a.392 on-base percentage and 79 runs scored. Slick-fielding first baseman Jake Daubert, a two-time National League batting champion with Brooklyn earlier in the decade, also scored 79 runs and hit.276, while catcher Ivey Wingo hit.273
6.
Prohibition in the United States
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Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages that remained in place from 1920 to 1933. One result was that many communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries introduced alcohol prohibition, Prohibition supporters, called drys, presented it as a victory for public morals and health. Promoted by the dry crusaders, a movement was led by rural Protestants and social Progressives in the Prohibition, Democratic and it gained a national grass roots base through the Womans Christian Temperance Union. After 1900 it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League, Prohibition was mandated in state after state, then finally nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920. Enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act, set down the rules for enforcing the ban, for example, religious uses of wine were allowed. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law, in the 1920s the laws were widely disregarded, and tax revenues were lost. Opposition mobilized nationwide, and Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, some states continued statewide prohibition, marking one of the last stages of the Progressive Era. Anti-prohibitionists, known as wets, criticized the ban as an intrusion of mainly rural Protestant ideals on a central aspect of urban, immigrant. Some researchers contend that its failure is attributable more to a changing historical context than to characteristics of the law itself. Criticism remains that Prohibition led to unintended consequences such as the growth of urban crime organizations, as an experiment it lost supporters every year, and lost tax revenue that governments needed when the Great Depression began in 1929. The U. S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18,1917, upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16,1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. The Wartime Prohibition Act took effect June 30,1919, with July 1,1919, on October 28,1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act, the popular name for the National Prohibition Act, over President Woodrow Wilsons veto. The act established the definition of intoxicating liquors as well as penalties for producing them. Although the Volstead Act prohibited the sale of alcohol, the government lacked resources to enforce it. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, by 1925, in New York City alone, there were anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 speakeasy clubs. While Prohibition was successful in reducing the amount of liquor consumed, it stimulated the proliferation of rampant underground, organized, many were astonished and disenchanted with the rise of spectacular gangland crimes, when prohibition was supposed to reduce crime. Prohibition lost its advocates one by one, while the wet opposition talked of personal liberty, new tax revenues from legal beer and liquor, and the scourge of organized crime. On March 22,1933, President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen–Harrison Act, legalizing beer with a content of 3. 2%
7.
Molasses
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Molasses, or black treacle, is a viscous by-product of refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies by amount of sugar, method of extraction, sugarcane molasses is agreeable in taste and aroma, and is primarily used for sweetening and flavoring foods in U. S. Canada and elsewhere, while sugar beet molasses is foul-smelling and unpalatable, so it is used as an animal feed additive in Europe and Russia. It is a component of fine commercial brown sugar. Sweet sorghum syrup may be colloquially called sorghum molasses in the southern United States, similar products include treacle, honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, and invert syrup. Most of these alternative syrups have milder flavors, cane molasses is a common ingredient in baking and cooking. To make molasses, sugar cane is harvested and stripped of leaves and its juice is extracted, usually by cutting, crushing, or mashing. The juice is boiled to concentrate it, promoting sugar crystallization, the result of this first boiling is called first syrup, and it has the highest sugar content. First syrup is usually referred to in the Southern states of the U. S. as cane syrup, second molasses is created from a second boiling and sugar extraction, and has a slightly bitter taste. The third boiling of the sugar syrup yields dark, viscous blackstrap molasses, the majority of sucrose from the original juice has crystallized and been removed. The caloric content of blackstrap molasses is mostly due to the remaining sugar content. Blackstrap is also a source of potassium. Blackstrap molasses has long been sold as a dietary supplement, blackstrap molasses is significantly more bitter than regular molasses. It is sometimes used in baking or for producing ethanol, as an ingredient in cattle feed, the term black-strap or blackstrap is an Americanism dating from 1875 or before. Its first known use is in a book by detective Allan Pinkerton in 1877, Molasses made from sugar beets differs from sugarcane molasses. Only the syrup left from the final stage is called molasses. Intermediate syrups are called high green and low green, and these are recycled within the plant to maximize extraction. Beet molasses is 50% sugar by dry weight, predominantly sucrose, beet molasses is limited in biotin for cell growth, hence, it may be supplemented with a biotin source
8.
Fulgencio Batista
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Fulgencio Batista Zaldívar was the elected President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and U. S. -backed dictator from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown during the Cuban Revolution. Fulgencio Batista initially rose to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of the Sergeants that overthrew the rule of Gerardo Machado. He then appointed chief of the armed forces, with the rank of colonel. He maintained this control through a string of puppet presidents until 1940 and he then instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba, considered progressive for its time, and served until 1944. After finishing his term he lived in Florida, returning to Cuba to run for president in 1952, facing certain electoral defeat, he led a military coup that preempted the election. He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually it reached the point where most of the industry was in U. S. hands. During the Cuban Revolution, Batistas forces were responsible for the deaths of anywhere from hundreds to four thousand people, Batista immediately fled the island with an amassed personal fortune to the Dominican Republic, where strongman and previous military ally Rafael Trujillo held power. Batista eventually found political asylum in Oliveira Salazars Portugal, where he lived until his death on August 6,1973, near Marbella and he was of Spanish, African and Chinese descent. His mother named him Rubén and gave him her last name and his father did not want to register him as a Batista. Both Batistas parents are believed to have been of mixed race, Batista was initially educated at a public school in Banes, and later attended night classes at an American Quaker school. He left home at age 14, after the death of his mother, coming from a humble background, he earned a living as a laborer in the cane fields, docks, and railroads. He was a tailor, mechanic, charcoal vendor and fruit peddler, in 1921, he traveled to Havana and joined the army as a private in April that year. After learning shorthand and typing, Batista left the army in 1923 and he transferred back to the army as a corporal, becoming secretary to a regimental colonel. In 1933, Batista led an uprising called the Revolt of the Sergeants, Machado was succeeded by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, who lacked a political coalition that could sustain him and was soon replaced. A short-lived five-member presidency, known as the Pentarchy of 1933, was established and it included a representative from each anti-Machado faction. Batista was not a member, but controlled Cubas armed forces, the majority of the commissioned officer corps were forced to retire or, some speculate, were killed. Grau remained president for just over 100 days before Batista, conspiring with the U. S. envoy Sumner Welles, Grau was replaced by Carlos Mendieta, and within five days the U. S. recognized Cubas new government, which lasted eleven months
9.
The Godfather
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The Godfather is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy, based on Mario Puzos best-selling novel of the same name. It stars Marlon Brando and Al Pacino as the leaders of a fictional New York crime family, the story, spanning 1945 to 1955, chronicles the family under the patriarch Vito Corleone, focusing on the transformation of Michael Corleone from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss. Paramount Pictures obtained the rights to the novel for the price of $80,000, Studio executives had trouble finding a director, as their first few candidates turned down the position. They and Coppola disagreed over who would play characters, in particular Vito. Filming was done on location and completed earlier than scheduled, the musical score was composed primarily by Nino Rota with additional pieces by Carmine Coppola. The film was the film of 1972 and was for a time the highest-grossing film ever made. It won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay and its seven other Oscar nominations included Pacino, James Caan, and Robert Duvall for Best Supporting Actor and Coppola for Best Director. It was followed by sequels The Godfather Part II and The Godfather Part III, the Godfather is widely regarded as one of the greatest films in world cinema and one of the most influential, especially in the gangster genre. It was selected for preservation in the U. S, in 1945, at his daughter Connies wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vitos youngest son, Michael, who was a Marine during World War II, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams, Woltz refuses until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his prized stallion. Wary of involvement in a new trade that risks alienating political insiders. Suspicious, Vito sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them, however, a Tattaglia button man garrotes Brasi during Brasis first meeting with Bruno Tattaglia and Sollozzo. Later Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in the street, then kidnaps Hagen, with Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen is pressured to persuade Sonny to accept Sollozzos deal, then released. The family receives fish wrapped in Brasis bullet-proof vest, indicating that Luca sleeps with the fishes, Vito survives, and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father, Michaels jaw is broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzos bodyguard. Sonny retaliates with a hit on Tattaglias son, Michael plots to murder Sollozzo and McCluskey, on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both men, despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and Vitos sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo, is sheltered by the Corleones Las Vegas casino partner, Sonny attacks his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if it happens again. When it does, Sonny speeds to their home, but is ambushed at a toll booth
10.
New Year's Eve
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In the Gregorian calendar, New Years Eve, the last day of the year, is on December 31 which is the seventh day of the Christmas season. In many countries, New Years Eve is celebrated at evening gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages. Some Christians attend a watchnight service, the celebrations generally go on past midnight into January 1. Samoa, Tonga and Kiritimati, part of Kiribati, are the first places to welcome the New Year while American Samoa, New Year traditions and celebrations in Canada vary regionally. New Years Eve is generally a social holiday, in some areas, such as in rural Quebec, people ice fish in the old days. Since 2000, the highlight of New Years Eve celebrations is in Montreals old port, which comes alive with concerts that take place and fireworks at midnight. From 1956 to 1976, Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians serenaded Canada on the CBC, via a feed from CBS, after Lombardos death in 1977, the Royal Canadians continued on CBC and CBS until 1978. Following the finale of the series, the original cast continued to participate in New Years Eve specials in the years following. Similarly, the CBCs French language network Ici Radio-Canada Télé airs its own yearly New Years Eve comedy special, Bye Bye. Unlike Year of the Farce, Bye Bye has been presented by comedians, originally running from 1968 to 1998. Mexicans celebrate New Years Eve, by eating a grape with each of the chimes of a clocks bell during the midnight countdown. Mexican sweet bread is baked with a coin or charm hidden in the dough, when the bread is served, the recipient of the slice with the coin or charm is said to be blessed with good luck in the New Year. At the same time, they are expressed for all the good things during the year that is ending so that they continue in the new year. Mexicans celebrate with a dinner with their families, the traditional meal being turkey or pork loin. Afterwards many people attend parties outside the home, for example, in Mexico City there is a street festival on New Years Eve centered on the Zocalo, the citys main square. Celebrations include firecrackers, fireworks and sparklers and shouts of ¡Feliz Año Nuevo, in Puerto Rico, New Years Eve is celebrated with friends and family. The Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan is the attraction for Puerto Ricans during the celebration. It has Latin music and fireworks at midnight along with the signature song Auld Lang Syne in Spanish, in the United States, New Years Eve is celebrated with formal parties, family-oriented activities, and other large public events
