1.
Austria
Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north and Slovakia to the east and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany.
In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index.
Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
2.
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1. Several scenes specifically parallel episodes in Part 1, the play picks up where Henry IV, Part One left off. Its focus is on Prince Hals journey toward kingship, and his rejection of Falstaff. However, unlike Part One and Falstaffs stories are almost entirely separate, the tone of much of the play is elegiac, focusing on Falstaffs age and his closeness to death, which parallels that of the increasingly sick king. Falstaff is still drinking and engaging in petty criminality in the London underworld and he first appears, followed by a new character, a young page whom Prince Hal has assigned him as a joke. Falstaff enquires what the doctor has said about the analysis of his urine, Falstaff delivers one of his most characteristic lines, I am not only witty in myself, but the cause that wit is in other men. Falstaff promises to outfit the page in vile apparel and he complains of his insolvency, blaming it on consumption of the purse.
They go off, Falstaff vowing to find a wife in the stews, the Lord Chief Justice enters, looking for Falstaff. Falstaff at first feigns deafness in order to avoid conversing with him, as the Chief Justice attempts to question Falstaff about a recent robbery, Falstaff insists on turning the subject of the conversation to the nature of the illness afflicting the King. He adopts the pretense of being a younger man than the Chief Justice. Finally, he asks the Chief Justice for one thousand pounds to help outfit a military expedition and he has a relationship with Doll Tearsheet, a prostitute, who gets into a fight with Ancient Pistol, Falstaffs ensign. After Falstaff ejects Pistol, Doll asks him about the Prince, Falstaff is embarrassed when his derogatory remarks are overheard by Hal, who is present disguised as a musician. Falstaff tries to talk his way out of it, but Hal is unconvinced, when news of a second rebellion arrives, Falstaff joins the army again, and goes to the country to raise forces.
There he encounters an old friend, Justice Shallow. Shallow brings forward potential recruits for the loyalist army, Bullcalf, Feeble and Wart, Falstaff and his cronies accept bribes from two of them and Bullcalf, not to be conscripted. In the other storyline, Hal remains an acquaintance of London lowlife and his father, King Henry IV is again disappointed in the young prince because of that, despite reassurances from the court. Another rebellion is launched against Henry IV, but this time it is defeated, not by a battle, King Henry sickens and appears to die
3.
Journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts and people that are the news of the day and that informs society to at least some degree. The word applies to the occupation, the methods of gathering information, journalistic media include, television, Internet, and, in the past, newsreels. Concepts of the role for journalism varies between countries. In some nations, the media is controlled by a government intervention. In others, the media is independent from the government. In the United States, journalism is protected by the freedom of the clause in the First Amendment. The role and status of journalism, along with that of the media, has undergone changes over the last two decades with the advent of digital technology and publication of news on the Internet. Notably, in the American media landscape, newsrooms have reduced their staff and coverage as traditional media channels, such as television, for instance, between 2007 and 2012, CNN edited its story packages into nearly half of their original time length.
This compactness in coverage has been linked to broad audience attrition, in the United States, journalism is produced by media organizations or by individuals. Bloggers are often, but not always, the Federal Trade Commission requires that bloggers who receive free promotional gifts, write about products, must disclose that they received the products for free. This is to eliminate conflicts of interest and protect consumers, fake news is news that is not truthful or is produced by unreliable media organizations. Fake news is spread on social media. Readers can determine fake news by evaluating whether the news has been published by a news organization. In the US, a news organization is an incorporated entity, has an editorial board. All of these organizations have codes of ethics that members abide by, many news organizations have their own codes of ethics that guide journalists professional publications. The New York Times code of standards and ethics is considered particularly rigorous, when they write stories, journalists are concerned with issues of objectivity and bias.
Some types of stories are intended to represent the authors own opinion, in a physical newspaper, information is organized into sections and it is easy to see which stories are supposed to be opinion and which are supposed to be neutral. Online, many of these distinctions break down, readers should pay careful attention to headings and other design elements to ensure that they understand the journalists intent
4.
Fort Worth, Texas
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, Wise, according to the 2015 census, 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, 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 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, 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 and supplies
5.
West Berlin
West Berlin was an enclave which comprised the western part of the city of Berlin during the Cold War. It was formally controlled by the Western Allies and formed a de facto part of West Germany, and was entirely surrounded by the Soviet-controlled East Berlin and East Germany. West Berlin had great significance during the Cold War, as it was widely considered by westerners as an island of freedom. A wealthy city, West Berlin was noted for its liberal and cosmopolitan character. With about two million inhabitants, West Berlin had the biggest population of any city in Cold War Germany and it was 100 miles east of the Inner German border and only accessible by land from West Germany by narrow rail and highway corridors. It consisted of the American and French occupation sectors established in 1945 and was de facto part of West Germany and it had a special and unique legal status because its administration was formally conducted by the Western Allies. East Berlin, de jure occupied and administered by the Soviet Union, was the de facto capital of East Germany, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961, physically divided West Berlin from its East German surroundings until it fell in 1989.
The Potsdam Agreement established the framework for the occupation of Germany in the wake of World War II. The territory of Germany, as it existed in 1937, would be reduced by most of Eastern Germany thus creating the former territories of Germany. The remaining territory would be divided into four zones, each administered by one of the allied countries, according to the agreement, the occupation of Berlin would end only as a result of a quadripartite agreement. The Western Allies were guaranteed three air corridors to their sectors of Berlin, and the Soviets informally allowed road, at first, this arrangement was intended to be only a temporary administrative structure, with all parties declaring that Germany and Berlin would soon be reunited. However, as the relations between the allies and the Soviet Union soured and the Cold War began, the joint administration of Germany. Soon, Soviet-occupied Berlin and western-occupied Berlin had separate city administrations, in 1948, the Soviets tried to force the Western Allies out of Berlin by imposing a land blockade on the western sectors—the Berlin Blockade.
The West responded by using its air corridors for supplying their part of the city with food, in May 1949, the Soviets lifted the blockade, and West Berlin as a separate city with its own jurisdiction was maintained. Following the Berlin Blockade, normal contacts between East and West Berlin resumed, however, in cases this proved only temporary. In 1952, the East German government began sealing its borders, as a direct result the electrical grids were separated and phone lines were cut. However, the culmination of the schism did not occur until 1961 with the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the legal theory followed by the Western Allies, the occupation of most of Germany ended in 1949 with the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic
6.
Convair B-36 Peacemaker
The Convair B-36 Peacemaker was a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated solely by the United States Air Force from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built and it had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 230 ft. The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the weapons in the U. S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of 10,000 mi and a payload of 87,200 lb. Entering service in 1948, the B-36 was the nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the Strategic Air Command until it was replaced by the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress from 1955. All but five examples were scrapped, the B-36 set the standard for range and payload for subsequent U. S. intercontinental bombers. The genesis of the B-36 can be traced to early 1941, as the Pacific war progressed, the air force increasingly needed a bomber capable of reaching Japan from its bases in Hawaii, and the development of the B-36 resumed in earnest.
The first delivery was due in August 1945, and the last in October 1946, the aircraft was unveiled on 20 August 1945, and flew for the first time on 8 August 1946. The B-36 was the only American aircraft with the range and payload to carry such bombs from airfields on American soil to targets in the USSR, the modification to allow the use of larger atomic weapons on the B-36 was called the Grand Slam Installation. The B-36 was arguably obsolete from the outset, being piston-powered, coupled with the introduction of first generation jet fighters in potential enemy air forces. The other American piston bombers of the day, the B-29 and B-50, were too limited in range. Intercontinental ballistic missiles did not become sufficiently reliable until the early 1960s, Convair touted the B-36 as the aluminum overcast, a so-called long rifle giving SAC truly global reach. While General Curtis LeMay headed SAC, he turned the B-36 arm, through training and development, into an effective nuclear delivery force.
Its maximum payload was more than four times that of the B-29, the B-36 was slow and could not refuel in midair, but could fly missions to targets 3,400 mi away and stay aloft as long as 40 hours. Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation and Boeing Aircraft Company took part in the competition, Consolidated asked for a $15 million contract with $800,000 for research and development and tooling. Two experimental bombers were proposed, the first to be delivered in 30 months, throughout its development, the B-36 would encounter delays. When the United States entered World War II, Consolidated was ordered to slow B-36 development, the first mockup was inspected on 20 July 1942, following six months of refinements. A month after the inspection, the project was moved from San Diego, California, to Fort Worth, Consolidated changed the tail from a twin-tail to a single, thereby saving 3,850 pounds, but this change delayed delivery by 120 days
7.
Houston
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 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, 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, 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
8.
Betty White
Betty Marion White Ludden is an American actress, with the longest television career of a female entertainer. She is known for her Emmy Award-winning roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the Writers Guild of America has included both sitcoms in its list of the 101 Best Written TV Series Of All Time. From 2010 to 2015, she starred as Elka Ostrovsky in the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland, for which she has won two consecutive Screen Actors Guild Awards and she was nominated for an Emmy Award. In a career that has spanned more than 75 years, she has received eight Emmy awards in various categories and she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is a Television Hall of Fame inductee, and a Disney Legend. Betty Marion White was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on January 17,1922 and she has stated that Betty is her legal name and not a shortened version of Elizabeth. She is the child of Christine Tess, a homemaker, and Horace Logan White. Her paternal grandfather was Danish and her grandfather was Greek.
Whites family moved to Alhambra, California and to Los Angeles, to make extra money, her father would build radios and sell them wherever he could. Since it was the height of the Depression, and hardly anyone had a sizable income and she attended Horace Mann School Beverly Hills and Beverly Hills High School and aspired to become a forest ranger. However during this time women werent allowed to become rangers, White pursued an interest in writing. She wrote and played the lead in a play at Horace Mann School. This is where she decided to become an actress, White made rounds to movie studios looking for work, but was always turned down because she was unphotogenic. So she started to look for radio jobs where being photogenic did not matter and her first radio jobs included reading commercials and playing bit parts, and sometimes even doing crowd noises. She made about five dollars a show and she would do just about anything, like singing on a show for no money, or making an appearance on the local game show.
White began her career in 1939, three months after high school graduation, when she and a classmate sang songs from The Merry Widow on an experimental Los Angeles channel. White found work modeling, and her first professional acting job was at the Bliss Hayden Little Theatre, Whites career was disrupted immediately, as World War II broke out, causing her to join the American Womens Voluntary Services. In the 1940s, she worked in radio, appearing on such as Blondie, The Great Gildersleeve. She got her own show, called The Betty White Show
9.
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Cologne, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire.
After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD.
The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
10.
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera, commonly referred to as The Met, is a company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager, the music director position is in transition as of 2016. The music director designate is Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the director emeritus is James Levine. The Met was founded in 1880 as an alternative to the previously established Academy of Music opera house, the Metropolitan Opera is the largest classical music organization in North America. It presents about 27 different operas each year in a season lasts from late September through May. The operas are presented in a rotating schedule with up to seven performances of four different works staged each week. Moving to the new Lincoln Center location in 1966, performances are given in the evening Monday through Saturday with a matinée on Saturday, several operas are presented in new productions each season.
Sometimes these are borrowed from or shared with other opera houses, the rest of the years operas are given in revivals of productions from previous seasons. The 2015-16 season comprised 227 performances of 25 operas, the operas in the Mets repertoire consist of a wide range of works, from 18th-century Baroque and 19th-century Bel canto to the Minimalism of the late 20th century. These operas are presented in staged productions that range in style from those with elaborate traditional decors to others that feature modern conceptual designs, the Mets performing company consists of a large symphony-sized orchestra, a chorus, childrens choir, and many supporting and leading solo singers. The company employs numerous free-lance dancers, musicians, the Mets roster of singers includes both international and American artists, some of whose careers have been developed through the Mets young artists programs. The Metropolitan Opera Company was founded in 1880 to create an alternative to New Yorks old established Academy of Music opera house, the subscribers to the Academys limited number of private boxes represented the highest stratum in New York society.
By 1880, these old families were loath to admit New Yorks newly wealthy industrialists into their long-established social circle. Frustrated with being excluded, the Metropolitan Operas founding subscribers determined to build a new house that would outshine the old Academy in every way. A group of some 22 men assembled at Delmonicos restaurant on April 28,1880 and they elected officers and established subscriptions for ownership in the new company. The first Met subscribers included members of the Morgan, the new Metropolitan Opera House opened on October 22,1883, and was an immediate success, both socially and artistically. The Academy of Musics opera season folded just three years after the Met opened, in its early decades the Met did not produce the opera performances itself but hired prominent manager/impresarios to stage a season of opera at the new Metropolitan Opera House. Henry Abbey served as manager for the season, 1883–84
11.
Dr. Watson
John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and was the narrator in the original stories. Watson is Sherlock Holmess friend and sometime flatmate, and he is described as the typical Victorian-era gentleman, unlike the more eccentric Holmes. He is astute, although he can never match his friends deductive skills, Watson has been adapted in various films, television series, video games and radio programmes, retaining his role as Holmess friend and confidant. In Conan Doyles early rough plot outlines, Sherlock Holmess sidekick was named Ormond Sacker before Conan Doyle finally settled on John Watson and he was probably inspired by one of Doyles colleagues, Dr. James Watson. In the words of William L. De Andrea, Watson serves the important function of catalyst for Holmess mental processes, any character who performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be known as a Watson. Dr. Watsons first name is mentioned on only four occasions, part one of the very first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, is subtitled Being a reprint from the Reminiscences of John H.
Watson, M. D. Late of the Army Medical Department, the preface of the collection His Last Bow is signed John H. Watson, M. D, and in The Problem of Thor Bridge, Watson says that his dispatch box is labelled John H. Watson, M. D. With his health ruined, he was given a daily pension of 11 shillings and 9 pence for nine months. In 1881, Watson is introduced by his friend Stamford to Sherlock Holmes, concluding that they are compatible, they subsequently move into the flat. When Watson notices multiple eccentric guests frequenting the flat, Holmes reveals that he is a consulting detective, Watson witnesses Holmess skills of deduction on their first case together, concerning a series of murders related to Mormon intrigue. When the case is solved, Watson is angered that Holmes is not given any credit for it by the press, when Holmes refuses to record and publish his account of the adventure, Watson endeavours to do so himself. In time and Watson become close friends, in The Sign of the Four, John Watson becomes engaged to Mary Morstan, a governess.
In The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier, Holmes mentions that Watson had at that time deserted me for a wife, at the beginning of A Study in Scarlet, Watson states he had neither kith nor kin in England. Holmes estimates the watch to have a value of 50 guineas, so H. Watson, Holmes deduced from the watch that Watsons brother was a man of untidy habits—very untidy and careless. He was left with good prospects but threw away his chances, lived for time in poverty with occasional short intervals of prosperity and finally. Throughout Doyles novels, Watson is presented as Holmess biographer and you should publish an account of the case. If you wont, I will for you, Holmes suavely responds, You may do what you like, Doctor. Therefore, the story is presented as a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, in the first chapter of The Sign of Four, Holmes comments on Watsons first effort as a biographer, I glanced over it
12.
Cold War
The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war.
The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation.
In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
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