1.
Glens Falls, New York
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Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census, the name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls referring to a large waterfall in the Hudson River at the southern end of the city. Glens Falls is a city located in the southeast corner of Warren County, surrounded by the town of Queensbury to the north, east, and west, Glens Falls is known as Hometown U. S. A. A title given to it by Look Magazine in 1944, the city has also referred to itself in the past as the Empire City. As a halfway point between Fort Edward and Fort William Henry, the falls was the site of battles during the French and Indian War. The then-hamlet was mostly destroyed by fire twice during the latter conflict, Fire also ravaged the village in 1864,1884, and 1902. The area was originally called Chepontuc, also referred to as the Great Carrying Place, in 1766 it was renamed Wings Falls for Abraham Wing – the leader of the group of Quakers who established the permanent settlement – and for the falls on the Hudson River. Colonel Glen changed the name to Glens Falls, though it was printed with varying spelling such as Glenns. The spelling Glens Falls came to be the common usage, a post office was established in 1808. In 2003, with permission from Queensbury, Glens Falls annexed approximately 49 acres of the town, the land, known as Veterans Field or the Northway Industrial Park, is on Veterans Road between Luzerne Road and Sherman Avenue and is just east of I-87. The land was vacant at the time, a thin,0.5 miles strip of Sherman Avenue was part of this annexation, in order to comply with state law regarding contiguity of annexed land. Both the city and town share ownership of this stretch of highway as a result, Glens Falls has two historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the equivalent New York State Register of Historic places. The Fredella Avenue historic district includes a series of concrete block structures. The Three Squares Historic District comprises the majority of the Central Business District, in addition, several individual structures are listed, some below. Glens Falls does not have a preservation law protecting these historic resources from demolition or alteration. The building was designed by Charles A. Platt and built by Robert Rheinlander and its first renovation and expansion since then was completed in November 2008, involving the demolition of the 1969 addition. The library is a part of the Southern Adirondack Library System, ninety-five names, those of the men who died, are engraved on the monument. Many battles of the war are listed, DeLong House – Presently the home of the Glens Falls/Queensbury Historical Association and the Chapman Historical Museum
2.
Magic (illusion)
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Magic is one of the oldest performing arts in the world in which audiences are entertained by staged tricks or illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects, or illusions, the term magic etymologically derives from the Greek word mageia. In ancient times, Greeks and Persians had been at war for centuries, ritual acts of Persian priests came to be known as mageia, and then magika—which eventually came to mean any foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate ritual practice. The first book containing explanations of magic tricks appeared in 1584, during the 17th century, many similar books were published that described magic tricks. Until the 18th century, magic shows were a source of entertainment at fairs. A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London in the 1840s. Towards the end of the 19th century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became the norm, as a form of entertainment, magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television magic specials. Performances that modern observers would recognize as conjuring have been practiced throughout history, for many recorded centuries, magicians were associated with the devil and the occult. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many stage magicians even capitalized on this notion in their advertisements. The same level of ingenuity that was used to produce famous ancient deceptions such as the Trojan Horse would also have used for entertainment. They were also used by the practitioners of various religions and cults from ancient times onwards to frighten uneducated people into obedience or turn them into adherents, however, the profession of the illusionist gained strength only in the 18th century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues since. Opinions vary among magicians on how to categorize a given effect, Magicians may pull a rabbit from an empty hat, make something seem to disappear, or transform a red silk handkerchief into a green silk handkerchief. Magicians may also destroy something, like cutting a head off, other illusions include making something appear to defy gravity, making a solid object appear to pass through another object, or appearing to predict the choice of a spectator. Many magical routines use combinations of effects, one of the earliest books on the subject is Gantzionys work of 1489, Natural and Unnatural Magic, which describes and explains old-time tricks. Among the tricks discussed were sleight-of-hand manipulations with rope, paper, at the time, fear and belief in witchcraft was widespread and the book tried to demonstrate that these fears were misplaced. All obtainable copies were burned on the accession of James I in 1603 and it began to reappear in print in 1651. In the early 18th century, as belief in witchcraft was waning, a notable figure in this transition was the English showman, Isaac Fawkes, who began to promote his act in advertisements from the 1720s – he even claimed to have performed for King George II. He throws up a Pack of Cards, and causes them to be living birds flying about the room and he causes living Beasts, Birds, and other Creatures to appear upon the Table
3.
Billy Graham
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He held large indoor and outdoor rallies, sermons were broadcast on radio and television, some still being re-broadcast today. In his six decades of television, Graham is principally known for hosting the annual Billy Graham Crusades and he also hosted the popular radio show Hour of Decision from 1950 to 1954. Graham was an adviser to American presidents, he was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson. He insisted on integration for his revivals and crusades in 1953 and invited Martin Luther King, Graham bailed King out of jail in the 1960s when King was arrested in demonstrations. He was also friends with another televangelist, Robert H. Schuller. Graham operates a variety of media and publishing outlets, according to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. As of 2008, Grahams estimated lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, because of his crusades, Graham has preached the gospel to more people in person than anyone in the history of Christianity. Graham has repeatedly been on Gallups list of most admired men and women and he has appeared on the list 60 times since 1955, more than any other individual in the world. William Franklin Graham, Jr. was born on November 7,1918, in 1927, when he was eight years old, the family moved about 75 yards from their white frame house to a newly built red brick home. He was raised in the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church by his parents and is of Scotch-Irish descent, before this, in 1924, when Graham was only five, he focused on the outdoors, but rarely did he walk, as he was running and zooming, constantly. At the same time, he started as a student at the Sharon Grammar School, starting to read books from an early age, Graham loved to read novels for boys, especially Tarzan. Like Tarzan, he would hang on the trees, and gave the popular Tarzan yell, according to his father, that yelling had led him to become a minister. In 1933, when he was fourteen, as Prohibition in the United States ended, Grahams father forced him and this created such an aversion that both avoided alcohol and drugs for the rest of their lives. After Graham was turned down for membership in a youth group because he was too worldly, Albert McMakin. According to his autobiography, Graham was converted in 1934, at age 16 during a series of meetings in Charlotte led by Ham. After graduating from Sharon High School in May 1936, Graham attended Bob Jones College, then located in Cleveland, after one semester, he found it too legalistic in both coursework and rules. At this time, he was influenced and inspired by Pastor Charley Young from Eastport Bible Church. He was almost expelled, but Bob Jones, Sr. warned him not to throw his life away, At best and you have a voice that pulls
4.
Harry Houdini
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Harry Houdini was a Hungarian-American illusionist and stunt performer, noted for his sensational escape acts. He first attracted notice in vaudeville in the US and then as Harry Handcuff Houdini on a tour of Europe, where he challenged police forces to keep him locked up. Soon he extended his repertoire to include chains, ropes slung from skyscrapers, straitjackets under water, in 1904, thousands watched as he tried to escape from special handcuffs commissioned by Londons Daily Mirror, keeping them in suspense for an hour. Another stunt saw him buried alive and only just able to claw himself to the surface, while many suspected that these escapes were faked, Houdini presented himself as the scourge of fake spiritualists. As President of the Society of American Magicians, he was keen to uphold professional standards and he was also quick to sue anyone who imitated his escape stunts. Houdini made several movies, but quit acting when it failed to bring in money and he was also a keen aviator, and aimed to become the first man to fly a plane in Australia. Erik Weisz was born in Budapest to a Jewish family and his parents were Rabbi Mayer Sámuel Weisz and Cecília Steiner. Weisz arrived in the United States on July 3,1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother, the family changed their name to the German spelling Weiss, and Erik became Ehrich. The family lived in Appleton, Wisconsin, where his father served as Rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation, according to the 1880 census, the family lived on Appleton Street. On June 6,1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen, losing his tenure at Zion in 1887, Rabbi Weiss moved with Ehrich to New York City, where they lived in a boarding house on East 79th Street. He was joined by the rest of the family once Rabbi Weiss found permanent housing, as a child, Ehrich Weiss took several jobs, making his public début as a 9-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself Ehrich, the Prince of the Air. He was also a cross country runner in his youth. When Weiss became a magician he began calling himself Harry Houdini, after the French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Weiss incorrectly believed that an i at the end of a name meant like in French, in later life, Houdini claimed that the first part of his new name, Harry, was an homage to Harry Kellar, whom he also admired. When he was a teenager, Houdini was coached by the magician Joseph Rinn at the Pastime Athletic Club, Houdini became an active Freemason and was a member of St. Cecile Lodge #568 in New York City. In 1918, he registered for service as Harry Handcuff Houdini. Houdini began his career in 1891, but had little success. He appeared in a tent act with strongman Emil Jarrow and he performed in dime museums and sideshows, and even doubled as The Wild Man at a circus
5.
Istanbul
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Istanbul, historically known as Constantinople and Byzantium, is the most populous city in Turkey and the countrys economic, cultural, and historic center. Istanbul is a city in Eurasia, straddling the Bosphorus strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side and about a third of its population lives on the Asian side, the city is the administrative center of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, both hosting a population of around 14.7 million residents. Istanbul is one of the worlds most populous cities and ranks as the worlds 7th-largest city proper, founded under the name of Byzantion on the Sarayburnu promontory around 660 BCE, the city developed to become one of the most significant in history. After its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 CE, it served as a capital for almost 16 centuries, during the Roman and Byzantine, the Latin. Overlooked for the new capital Ankara during the period, the city has since regained much of its prominence. The population of the city has increased tenfold since the 1950s, as migrants from across Anatolia have moved in, arts, music, film, and cultural festivals were established at the end of the 20th century and continue to be hosted by the city today. Infrastructure improvements have produced a complex transportation network, considered a global city, Istanbul has one of the fastest-growing metropolitan economies in the world. It hosts the headquarters of many Turkish companies and media outlets and accounts for more than a quarter of the gross domestic product. Hoping to capitalize on its revitalization and rapid expansion, Istanbul has bid for the Summer Olympics five times in twenty years, the first known name of the city is Byzantium, the name given to it at its foundation by Megarean colonists around 660 BCE. The name is thought to be derived from a personal name, ancient Greek tradition refers to a legendary king of that name as the leader of the Greek colonists. Modern scholars have hypothesized that the name of Byzas was of local Thracian or Illyrian origin. He also attempted to promote the name Nova Roma and its Greek version Νέα Ῥώμη Nea Romē, the use of Constantinople to refer to the city during the Ottoman period is now considered politically incorrect, even if not historically inaccurate, by Turks. By the 19th century, the city had acquired other names used by foreigners or Turks. Europeans used Constantinople to refer to the whole of the city, pera was used to describe the area between the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus, but Turks also used the name Beyoğlu. The name İstanbul is commonly held to derive from the Medieval Greek phrase εἰς τὴν Πόλιν and this reflected its status as the only major city in the vicinity. The importance of Constantinople in the Ottoman world was reflected by its Ottoman name Der Saadet meaning the gate to Prosperity in Ottoman. An alternative view is that the name evolved directly from the name Constantinople, with the first, a Turkish folk etymology traces the name to Islam bol plenty of Islam because the city was called Islambol or Islambul as the capital of the Islamic Ottoman Empire
6.
Detroit Pistons
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The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Eastern Conference Central Division. The team plays its games at The Palace of Auburn Hills and was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1941. The Pistons joined the Basketball Association of America in 1948, in 1949, the NBL and BAA merged to become the NBA, and the Pistons became part of the merged league. Since moving to Detroit in 1957, the Pistons have won three NBA championships in 1989,1990 and 2004. The Detroit Pistons franchise was founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, owners Fred Zollner and his sister Janets Zollner Corporation was a foundry, manufacturing pistons, primarily for car, truck and locomotive engines. The Zollner Pistons were NBL champions in 1944 and 1945 and they also won the World Professional Basketball Tournament in 1944,1945 and 1946. In 1948, the became the Fort Wayne Pistons, competing in the Basketball Association of America. In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the National Basketball Association from the BAA, there are suggestions that Pistons players conspired with gamblers to shave points and throw various games during the 1953–54 and 1954–55 seasons. In particular, there are accusations that the team may have intentionally lost the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals, in the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led Syracuse 41–24 early in the second quarter, then the Nationals rallied to win the game. Syracuse won on a throw by George King with twelve seconds left in the game. After the 1956–57 season, Zollner decided that Fort Wayne was too small to support an NBA team, although it was the fifth largest city in the United States at the time, Detroit had not seen professional basketball in a decade. In 1947, they had lost the Detroit Gems of the NBL, Zollner decided to keep the Pistons name, believing it made sense given Detroits status as the center of the automobile industry. The new Detroit Pistons played in Olympia Stadium for their first four seasons, the franchise was a consistent disappointment, struggling both on the court and at the box office. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Pistons were characterized by strong individuals. In fact, in their first 27 years in Detroit, they only had three winning seasons, some of the superstars who played for the team included Dave DeBusschere, Dave Bing, Jimmy Walker, and Bob Lanier. At one point DeBusschere was the youngest player-coach in the history of the NBA, DeBusschere became a key player in leading the Knicks to two NBA titles. Detroit qualified for the postseason in four seasons, but never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs
7.
Oklahoma City Thunder
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The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Thunder competes in the National Basketball Association as a member of the leagues Western Conference Northwest Division, the team plays its home games at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunders NBA Development League affiliate is the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder is the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in the state of Oklahoma. The team was established as the Seattle SuperSonics, an expansion team that joined the NBA for the 1967–68 season. The SuperSonics moved in 2008 after a settlement was reached between the group led by Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington following a lawsuit. In Seattle, the SuperSonics qualified for the NBA playoffs 22 times, won their division six times, in Oklahoma City, the Thunder qualified for their first playoff berth during the 2009–10 season. The Thunders previous incarnation, the Seattle SuperSonics, were formed in 1967, in their 41 seasons in Seattle, the SuperSonics compiled a 1745–1585 win–loss record in the regular season and went 107–110 in the playoffs. The franchises titles include three Western Conference championships and one NBA title in 1979, the sale of the SuperSonics and Storm was approved by NBA owners the following October. In 2007, Bennett announced that the franchise would move to Oklahoma City as soon as the lease with KeyArena expired. In June 2008, a lawsuit brought by the city of Seattle against Bennett due to his attempts to break the two years of the Sonics lease at KeyArena went to federal court. Nearly a month later, the two reached a settlement agreement. The terms awarded the city $45 million to get out of the lease at KeyArena. On September 3,2008, the name, logo. The name Thunder was chosen in reference to Oklahomas location in Tornado Alley and Oklahoma City as the home of the U. S. Armys 45th Infantry Division, the Thunder participated in the Orlando Pro Summer League featuring their second-year players, potential free agents and rookies. The players wore black and white jerseys reading OKC-NBA against an outline of a basketball. The Thunder played several games before the 2008–2009 regular season. The Thunder made their first appearance in Billings, Montana on October 8,2008 in an 88–82 preseason loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Thunder played their first Ford Center game on October 14 against the Los Angeles Clippers. In their regular-season home opener, the Thunder faced the Milwaukee Bucks, earl Watson scored the first points of the season with a layup
8.
New Orleans Pelicans
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The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays their games in the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans were established as the New Orleans Hornets in the 2002–03 season when then-owner of the Charlotte Hornets, George Shinn, relocated the franchise to New Orleans. Due to the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the franchise relocated to Oklahoma City. The team returned to New Orleans full-time for the 2007–08 season, on January 24,2013, the franchise announced it would rename itself the Pelicans, effective after the conclusion of the 2012–13 season. Their achievements include one playoff victory and one division title. While the Charlotte Hornets put a team on the court throughout the 1990s. Many attributed this lapse in popularity to the owner, George Shinn. In 1997, a Charlotte woman claimed that Shinn had raped her, the consensus was that while Charlotte was as basketball-crazy as ever, fans took out their anger at Shinn on the team. On March 26,2001, both the Hornets and the Vancouver Grizzlies applied for relocation to Memphis, Tennessee, which was won by the Grizzlies. Shinn issued an ultimatum, unless the city built a new arena at no cost to him, the city initially refused, leading Shinn to consider moving the team to either Norfolk, Louisville, or St. Louis. Polls showed the referendum on its way to passage, however, just days before the referendum, Mayor Pat McCrory vetoed a living wage ordinance. The veto prompted many of the citys black ministers to oppose the referendum, while even the NBA acknowledged that Shinn had alienated fans, league officials felt such a demand would anger other owners. Before the Hornets were eliminated from the playoffs, the NBA approved the move, as part of a deal, the NBA promised that Charlotte would get a new team, which took the court two years later as the Charlotte Bobcats. He also said if he had it to do all over again. Shinn emphasized how he was making amends by committing to New Orleans saying, im not going to make one here. Were going to make this thing work, the Hornets opened their inaugural season in New Orleans on October 30,2002, against New Orleans original NBA franchise, the now-Utah Jazz
9.
Kristen Johnston
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Kristen Johnston is an American stage, film, and television actress. She is most famous for her role as Sally Solomon in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun and she also starred as Wilma Flintstone in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas and as Holly Franklin in the sitcom The Exes. Johnston was born in Washington, DC, and was raised mostly in Fox Point, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee and she spent some of her teen years in Sweden and in South America. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama at New York University, Johnston made her professional stage debut with New Yorks Atlantic Theater Company, which was founded by playwright David Mamet. During her association with that company, she appeared in productions as As You Like It, Girls Talk, Stage Door, Authors Voice, Portrait of a Woman. She has performed with the Naked Angels Theater Company in The Stand-In and Hot Keys, for her performance in The Lights at Lincoln Center Theater, Johnston was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Best Supporting Actress. The show brought her to the attention of a Carsey-Werner television executive, after numerous auditions in 1996 for the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun, she won the role of Sally Solomon. Johnston made her film debut in The Debt, winner of Best Short at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 1995, she played Kate in Backfire and she played Esmeralda, a sea hag in Thrill Ride, a family friendly film to be released in 2016. Other television credits include guest-starring roles on the series Chicago Hope, Hearts Afire and she was also the narrator in Microscopic Milton on the Disney Channel. Her significant roles in successful movies included Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999, Ice Age and Austin Powers in Goldmember in 2002. In 1998, she was a spokesmodel for the Clairol company, Johnston appeared in the sixth and final season of Sex and the City. Her character, Lexi Featherston, a party girl, accidentally falls out of a window and dies. In 2005, Johnston was featured in six episodes of NBCs ER and she was cast as Patsy in a proposed American remake of the British TV show Absolutely Fabulous, but the series was never picked up by a network. She appeared in a role in the 2009 season of Ugly Betty and had a single-episode appearance as a dominatrix in the second season opener of Bored to Death. She starred in the TV Land sitcom The Exes, which ran for four seasons between November 30,2011 and September 16,2015 and her father is former Wisconsin Republican state senator Rod Johnston. In her autobiography, Guts, The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, Johnston discusses an addiction to alcohol and she stated in the 2012 book that she had been sober for five years. Through her charity SLAM, NYC, she mentors high school girls from New York City with addiction, Johnston said she was diagnosed in November 2013 with lupus myelitis, which caused her to miss filming for some episodes of her series The Exes
