1.
Loughborough
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Loughborough is a town with the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England. It is the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and home to Loughborough University, the town had a population of 57,600 in 2004, making it the second largest settlement in Leicestershire. The town is close to the Nottinghamshire border and is within a distance of locations such as Nottingham. The first mention of Loughborough is in the 1086 Domesday Book, Loughboroughs local weekly newspaper is the Loughborough Echo. The town is served by Leicestershires daily newspaper, the Leicester Mercury. Loughboroughs earliest historical reference was as Lucteburne in the 1086 Domesday Book, Heathcoat, in partnership with the Nottingham manufacturer Charles Lacy, moved his business from there to the village of Hathern, outside Loughborough. The product of this Loughborough machine came to be known as English net or bobbinet, however, the factory was attacked in 1816 by Luddites thought to be in the pay of Nottingham competitors and 55 frames were destroyed. This prompted Heathcoat to move his business to a woollen mill in Tiverton, Devon. In 1888 a charter of incorporation was obtained, allowing a mayor, the population increased from 11,000 to 25,000 in the following ten years. In 1897, Herbert Morris set up a factory in the Empress Works in Moor Lane which become one of the foremost crane manufacturers by the mid-20th century. There was also strong municipal investment, a new works in 1895, then a waterworks in Blackbrook. The corporation took over Loughborough Gas Company in 1900, in 1841, Loughborough was the destination for the first package tour, organised by Thomas Cook for a temperance group from Leicester. Loughborough railway station is the national station serving the town. Network Rail has recently redeveloped the station, increasing the length of platforms, the local council has made concurrent improvements to the surrounding area. The station has services from London St. Pancras International, to which its twice-hourly London service goes, East Midlands Trains is the primary long-distance operator, running services between London and northern England, and provides local services throughout the East Midlands. These rail routes run north–south through Loughborough along the Midland Main Line, going south to Bedford, Luton and London, junctions at Leicester and Derby stations link with CrossCountry trains route, serving the far north-east of Scotland and the south-west of England. Today, the Great Central Railway line is in operation as the Great Central Steam Railway heritage railway and is the terminus of the section of the railway. It has an active Great Central station running services daily, the station was opened by the Great Central Railway on 15 March 1899, closed in 1969 and re-opened again in March 1974
2.
Leicestershire
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Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. The border with most of Warwickshire is Watling Street, the county has a population of just under 1 million with over half the population living in Leicesters built-up area. Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book in four wapentakes, Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote and these later became hundreds, with the division of Goscote into West Goscote and East Goscote, and the addition of Sparkenhoe hundred. In 1087, the first recorded use of the name was as Laegrecastrescir, Leicestershires external boundaries have changed little since the Domesday Survey. These actions were reversed on 1 April 1997, when Rutland, Rutland became a distinct Ceremonial County once again, although it continues to be policed by Leicestershire Constabulary. The symbol of the county council, Leicestershire County Cricket Club, Leicestershire is considered to be the birthplace of fox hunting as it is known today. Hugo Meynell, who lived in Quorn, is known as the father of fox hunting, Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough have associations with fox hunting, as has neighbouring Rutland. A large part of the north-west of the county, around Coalville, the highest point of the county is Bardon Hill at 278 metres, which is also a Marilyn. The lowest point is about 24. 8m, north of Bottesford where the River Devon leaves Leicestershire, the population of Leicestershire is 609,578 people. The county covers an area of 2,084 km2 and its largest population centre is the city of Leicester, followed by the town of Loughborough. Other large towns include Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville, Hinckley, Market Harborough, Melton Mowbray, Oadby, Wigston, some of the larger of villages are, Burbage Birstall, Broughton Astley, Castle Donington, Kibworth Beauchamp, Great Glen, Ibstock, Countesthorpe and Kegworth. One of the most rapidly expanding villages is Anstey, which has seen a large number of development schemes. The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed a resident population for Leicester of 279,921. Approximately 62,000 were aged under 16,199,000 were aged 16–74,76. 9% of Leicesters population claim they have been born in the UK, according to the 2001 UK Census. Mid-year estimates for 2006 indicate that the population of the City of Leicester stood at 289,700 making Leicester the most populous city in East Midlands, the population density is 3, 814/km2 and for every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. Of those aged 16–74 in Leicester,38. 5% had no academic qualifications,23. 0% of Leicesters residents were born outside of the United Kingdom, more than double than the English average of 9. 2%. Engineering has long been an important part of the economy of Leicestershire, John Taylor Bellfounders continues a history of bellfounding in Loughborough since the 14th century. In 1881 John Taylors cast the largest bell in Britain, Great Paul, snibston Discovery Park is built on one of three coal mines that operated in Coalville from the 1820s until 1986
3.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
4.
Burleigh Community College
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Burleigh Community College was a specialist Sports College located on Thorpe Hill in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. The Hickling School for Girls opened in 1690 and lasted until 1876 when, with the pressures of industrialisation, in 1917 it underwent a further change becoming a Junior Technical School, under the control of Dr Schofields Loughborough Technical Institute. In 1921 the word Technical was dropped and, as Loughborough Junior College, the first boarders joined the school in 1923, there were three, one each from New Zealand, Shanghai and Puerto Rica. The first boarding house was in Victoria Street under Mr. & Mrs. Mason, by 1926 there were eighteen boarders. The numbers continued to increase and in 1933 the College purchased Field House for £4000 which is still in use today, in 1971 the boy boarders moved to Charnwood Hall, newly purchased by the Leicestershire County Council and Field House became the boarding house for girls. In 1938 came yet another change of name, this time to Loughborough College School, Dr. Schofield the principal of the Senior College retired in 1950. With his retirement came the transfer of the school to the Leicestershire Education Committee, at the same time the Junior College of Art, which was part of the Colleges Art department, was also merged with the school, bringing with it fifty girls making the school coeducational. The re-admittance of girls after a break of 75 years, the first boarder joined the school in 1952 and 10 years later Field House was purchased to house 50 boys from overseas. With these increasing numbers, new buildings were planned and in 1956 the College moved to its present site at Thorpe Hill, even then the buildings were not large enough and the two junior years remained in the William Street huts until 1962. In 1967 Loughborough College School became an upper school taking pupils from fourteen to nineteen under the Leicestershire Plan. As of September 2012 Burleigh Community College and Garendon High School merged to become Charnwood College, Burleigh had a large facilitated campus, which was spread over four main blocks, K, S, E and G, along with Sports Facilities. Before the closure of the school, Block G was mainly homed to the English, Expressive Arts, Music, PE Theory, Block G also contained the Main Hall which was where assemblies were held for the lower school and Year 12 and the main canteen. Block G also housed the Gymnasium, Multi-Workout Gym and a room that could be used by either gender PE group. Block S was fully dedicated to such as Design, Textiles and Art and computer access rooms. Block K was the newest out of the four blocks and housed Languages, meanwhile, Biology had a separate set of classrooms which were attached to S Block and were also counted as part of S Block. The school had a Sports Centre, Sports Hall, heated swimming pool, outdoor pitches. As well as using the Colleges facilities, most were open for adult classes as well. On site there was a nursery and an all day open day care centre for adults with physical disabilities, some local primary/infant schools and high/secondary schools used the sports coaching and swimming pool, in lessons
5.
Florida Institute of Technology
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The Florida Institute of Technology is a private doctoral/research university in Melbourne, Florida. Florida Tech has seven academic divisions with emphases on science, technology, engineering, mathematics. The universitys 130-acre primary residential campus is located near the Melbourne International Airport and it is about 50 miles from the Kennedy Space Center and 75 miles from Orlando. The university was founded in at the drawn of the Space Race in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College to support NASA and has been known by its present name since 1966. Florida Tech is the independent, technological university in the Southeast and considered one of the Top Tier 1 schools for Aueronautics, Astronomy, Engineering. Florida Institute of Technology was founded as Brevard Engineering College to Support NASA by Dr. Jerome P. Keuper in 1958, classes were originally held at the Melbourne Municipal Airport in buildings formerly used by the Naval Air Station Melbourne. They were also one of the first known colleges to have a Rocket propulsion class, in 1961, the university moved its location to Melbourne, Florida. During the 1960s additional classroom and laboratory buildings, a library, the university was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1964 and officially changed its name to Florida Institute of Technology in 1966. Also in 1966, Dr. Jack Morelock founded the Department of Oceanography, in 1967 The School of Aueronautics was created. Defense scientist and NASA would meet with students recruiting for the space program, in 1969 the Panther Battalion Army ROTC program was formed. In 1972, the university launched its first off-campus program at the request of the United States Navy, the Evans Library was completed in the early 1984. The following year the library was renovated and dedicated as the Jerome P. Keuper Administration Building. In 1988, the Homer R. Denius Student Center was renovated, the student plaza completed, the Claude Pepper Institute for Aging and Therapeutic Research and Skurla Hall, home of the School of Aeronautics, opened in 1990. In 1997, the university received a $50 million grant from the F. W. Olin Foundation, an engineering building and life sciences building were opened in 1999 in result of the grant. Seven new residence halls were completed in 2003, however, Melbourne Beach resident Jim Ortega, who had retired from the University of Virginia to Florida in 1998, stepped forward with the additional funds needed to secure a 32-inch telescope. Naming the Telescope after him the Ortega Telescope, in 2005, the F. W. Olin Physical Sciences Center opened. Construction on the Emil Buehler Center for Aviation Training and Research at Melbourne International Airport began in 2008. The following year, the College of Business became the Nathan M. November 20,2015, marked the unveiling of the Harris Student Design Center and this facility provides space for students completing design projects
6.
Mountain State University
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Mountain State University was a private nonsectarian not-for-profit university based in Beckley, West Virginia, United States. The university ceased to operate effective January 1,2013, all degrees conferred on or before December 31,2012 are valid and were received from an accredited institution. MSU was previously listed as one of the best universities in the Southeast by The Princeton Review, the school had also been named a Military Friendly school by G. I. The University of Charleston established campuses on MSUs former Beckley and Martinsburg, UC later vacated the former Martinsburg campus, and established a new location in Martinsburg. UC vacated the former Beckley campus after the 2014-15 academic year, UC is the permanent holder of MSUs student records. On December 31,2014, West Virginia University announced that it would purchase MSU’s former Beckley campus for $8 million and it is expected that freshman classes will be offered at the Beckley campus in 2016. The move will be completed by the fall 2017 semester, the university was founded in 1933 as Beckley College, a junior college, and continued as such until 1991, when it achieved four-year status and was renamed The College of West Virginia. In 2001, the school was renamed Mountain State University, the university offered more than 60 undergraduate, masters, and certificate programs, as well as a doctoral degree program. Most of the programs focused on the professions in business, technology. Many of MSUs degree programs were available online, the school was also occasionally referred to as MSU Academy. Although founded in 2002, MSA classes first began during the 2003-2004 academic year with grades 8-10, during the 2004-2005 academic year, the Academy eliminated its eighth grade class, but added an eleventh grade class to accommodate advancing sophomores. During the 2005-2006 academic year, the Academy became a high school. The Class of 2006 became the Academy’s first graduating class, members of the Class of 2007 were the first students to attend the Academy for all four of their respective high school years. The school later added grades 6-8, and eventually grades K-6, the Class of 2010 was the Academy’s last graduating class. MSA students were permitted to take classes at MSU for both Academy and college credit free of charge, admission to the Academy was based on a students scholastic merit, the cost of attending the Academy was based on a student’s household income. All students with a 3.5 cumulative GPA or above were designated as honor graduates, however, students were required to attend the Academy for at least three years in order to be considered for the titles of Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Honorarian. The Academy was permanently closed in August 2010, enrollment stood at approximately 100 students at the schools closing. All high school diplomas awarded from the Academy are valid, and were received from an accredited institution, the Academys basketball team, which was nicknamed the Falcons, defeated nationally ranked Oak Hill Academy
7.
Harlem Globetrotters
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The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater, and comedy. Over the years they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 122 countries and territories, the teams signature song is Brother Boness whistled version of Sweet Georgia Brown. Their mascot is an anthropomorphized globe named Globie, the team plays over 450 live events worldwide each year. The team is owned by Herschend Family Entertainment. The executive offices for the team are located in suburban Atlanta, the Globetrotters originated in the south side of Chicago, Illinois, in the 1920s, where all the original players were raised. In 1928, several players left the team in a dispute and that autumn, several of the players, led by Tommy Brookins, formed a team called the Globe Trotters and toured Southern Illinois that spring. Abe Saperstein became involved with the team as its manager and promoter, by 1929, Saperstein was touring Illinois and Iowa with his basketball team called the New York Harlem Globe Trotters. In fact, the Globetrotters did not play in Harlem until 1968, the Globetrotters were perennial participants in the World Professional Basketball Tournament, winning it in 1940. In 1952, the Globetrotters invited Louis Red Klotz to create a team to them on their tours. This team, the Washington Generals, were the Globetrotters primary opponents up until 2015, the Generals were effectively stooges for the Globetrotters, with the Globetrotters handily defeating them in thousands of games. In 1959, the Globetrotters played nine games in Moscow after Saperstein received an invitation from Vasily Gricorevich, the team, which included Wilt Chamberlain, was welcomed enthusiastically by spectators and authorities, they met Premier Nikita Khrushchev and collectively received the Athletic Order of Lenin medal. However, according to one report, spectators were initially confused, A Soviet audience of 14,000 sat almost silently, as if in awe and it warmed up slightly in the second half when it realized the Trotters are more show than competition. The Globetrotters brought their own opponent—not the Washington Generals, but the San Francisco Chinese Basketeers, a review in Pravda stated, This is not basketball, it is too full of tricks but praised the Globetrotters skills and suggested that they have some techniques to show us. The American press—particularly Drew Pearson—made note of the fact that the Globetrotters were paid the equivalent of $4,000, which could be spent only in Moscow. The games were used as evidence that U. S. –Soviet relations were improving, that Moscow was backing off its criticism of race relations inside America, many famous basketball players have played for the Globetrotters. Greats such as Wee Willie Gardner, Connie The Hawk Hawkins, Wilt The Stilt Chamberlain, the Globetrotters signed their first female player, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, in 1985. The Globetrotters have featured 13 female players in their illustrious history, baseball Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Bob Gibson, and Ferguson Jenkins also played for the team at one time or another. Because almost all of its players have been African American, and because of the involved in many of the Globetrotters skits
8.
Texas Legends
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The Texas Legends are an NBA Development League team based in Frisco, Texas and the minor league affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. The franchise began as the Colorado 14ers in 2006, before relocating to Frisco in 2009, the Legends play their home games at the Dr Pepper Arena. In February that year, the pair launched two sports teams, the Rocky Mountain Rage, a hockey franchise, and the Colorado 14ers. However, two later, the 14ers entered the NBA Development League and began play in the 2006–07 season. The franchise was named after Colorados famed 14, 000-foot mountain peaks, onetime Denver Nugget Joe Wolf was hired to be the 14ers inaugural coach, as he and management put together one of the D-Leagues most formidable rosters. Finding quick success in their season, the 14ers shattered Colorado minor league basketball records of many kinds from scoring to fan attendance. Team leaders included Von Wafer and Louis Amundson, who were each called up to the NBA by the end of the season. Nevertheless, the talented and resilient team overcame losing stretches and roster reorganizations, the 14ers made an impressive run through the playoffs, winning the Western Division title before losing the championship game in overtime to the Dakota Wizards. The 14ers second season began with an almost entirely new roster, with only Elton Brown, kevin Hill, also picked in the draft, was the only Canadian selected in the 2007 draft. The 14ers six-game winning streak at the end of the season vaulted them into the playoffs as a wild card, despite this and a slippage in fan attendance, it was overall a successful season under at times challenging circumstances. Colorados third season, the most of any minor league franchise in the state, was a triumph over adversity. Newcomers Dominique Coleman and Josh Davis were both major contributors, as was Sonny Weems, assigned from the Denver Nuggets three times to contribute during the season and playoffs. On June 18,2009, Dallas Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson purchased the 14ers franchise and moved the team to Frisco and they were slated to begin play in 2010–11 with a new nickname, colors and logo. On November 5,2009, womens basketball pioneer Nancy Lieberman was introduced as the Legends head coach, earning the name of Texas Legends, the team began play in the 2010–11 D-League season out of the Dr Pepper Arena. The Legends were one of the attractions in the 16-team league. Texas played their first game in history in front of a nationally televised crowd on VERSUS against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. After dropping the opener, the Legends picked up their first victory in history on November 26 against the Idaho Stampede. Texas returned to Frisco for the much-anticipated inaugural home-opener on November 30 and they dazzled the sold-out crowd by scoring a league record 84 points in the first half of basketball on their new home floor on the way to a 135–112 win over their cross-state rival Austin Toros
9.
Cheshire Phoenix
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The Cheshire Phoenix is a professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, United Kingdom. Founded in 1984, they are members of the British Basketball League, under previous ownership, the team was known as Cheshire Jets, but due to financial difficulties the franchise was withdrawn from the League in November 2012 and was replaced by the Phoenix. From 1993 until 2015 the team was based in Chester, where they enjoyed their most success, at the end of the 2014-2015 season, John Coffino left the team and was replaced by John Lavery, whose tenure came to an end in May 2016. Following the 2016/17 season, the Phoenix replaced John Lavery as head coach with former player, however, after a difficult start to the season, January 2017 saw the return of Robbie Peers as head coach some 13 years after his departure to the now-defunct London Towers. The team was first formed from the ruins of the Ellesmere Port team, the team was initially named after their sponsors Motocraft Centre Ellesmere Port. However, after the loss of their sponsor, they renamed themselves Ellesmere Port Jets, the Jets were admitted to NBL Division 2 in 1986 and finished last in their first season, with just a single victory. Edging up to seventh in 1987–88, they changed their name to Cheshire Jets. They continued a steady mid-table development until, in 1991, they won the title despite suffering five defeats. The same year, the Jets moved up into the BBL joining in with Britains elite basketball teams, later however, the arena in Ellesmere Port became unsuitable, and so in 1993 the Jets were forced to move to Chester, and into the Northgate Arena. The move was reflected in name change to the Chester Jets. Trans-Atlantic recruitment by coach and co-owner Mike Burton resulted in a team finished fifth in the League table in 1997. Subsequent seasons have seen their performances in 2002 and 2003. Burtons announcement, after 19 years at the helm, raised serious doubts of the future, with mounting debts. Shortly after the announcement, fans formed a committee to save the club. When BiG Storage terminated the sponsorship, the director of the company arranged a successor sponsor, Cheshire West. A statement from the BBL said, The BBL have withdrawn the Cheshire franchise from its company with immediate effect. The decision follows an urgent review of the franchise following notification from the club that they were unable to fulfil their fixture this weekend, the BBL is currently exploring a number of options to ensure the continuation of the franchise. It is anticipated there will be an announcement in the coming days
10.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
11.
British Basketball League
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The British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier mens professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the BBL Championship, the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy, as well as the post-season Play-offs. The BBL is not to be confused with the English Basketball League or the Scottish Mens National League, currently the League consists of 12 teams with representation from both England and Scotland. Member franchises of the BBL jointly own the league, and a chairman is elected by the teams to league operations. The head offices are located in Leicester, where the countrys oldest team, in partnership with England Basketball, the BBL launched a womens league in 2014, branded as the Womens British Basketball League. The 1990s also saw a growth in popularity and commercialism of the league, television crews and sponsors such as Peugeot, Lego, Playboy and Budweiser came flooding in, as did the crowds. For three seasons the cream of the north and the followed a American-style system with London Towers invincible in the South. A single-league BBL returned in 2002 and five different franchises won the Championship title in the five years after that, however the new millennium also saw a series of drawbacks for the BBL. The collapse of ITV Digital cost the league dear, with many struggling to recover from the lost revenue that the £21 million contract was providing. That title was one of four pieces of silverware won during the dubbed clean-sweep season of 2005–06, plymouth Raiders also put themselves on the map by overcoming their underdog tags to beat Newcastle on their own court in the BBL Trophy final, their first silverware as a BBL team. Newcastle managed to redeem themselves at the end, after a poor season, by their standards. In February 2014, the announced the 2015 BBL Play-Off Final would take place at The O2 Arena, London. The event saw a record breaking crowd of 14,700 in attendance, the league signed a 32 game broadcast deal with BBC which saw both British Basketball League and Womens British Basketball League games broadcast via the BBC Sport website. The three main finals would also be broadcast on the BBC Red Button, in September 2016, the league agreed a six-year deal with Perform, the leading digital sports content and media group, for the distribution and sale of all global media-related rights. The deal also saw every BBL game broadcast live via LiveBasketball. TV, the British Basketball League is an independent company owned by its member clubs. Ed Percival is the current elected chairman, matches are played according to FIBA rules and games consist of four-quarters of 10 minutes each. Two points are awarded for a win, with overtime used if the score is tied at the final buzzer – unlimited numbers of 5-minute overtime periods are played one team is ahead when a period ends. At the end of the season, the team with the most points is crowned as winners of the BBL Championship
12.
Guinness World Records
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The book itself holds a world record, as the best-selling copyrighted book of all time. As of the 2017 edition, it is now in its 63rd year of publication, the international franchise has extended beyond print to include television series and museums. On 10 November 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver, then the director of the Guinness Breweries, went on a shooting party in the North Slob, by the River Slaney in County Wexford. After missing a shot at a golden plover, he involved in an argument over which was the fastest game bird in Europe. That evening at Castlebridge House, he realised that it was impossible to confirm in reference books whether or not the golden plover was Europes fastest game bird. Beaver knew that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in pubs throughout Ireland and abroad and he realised then that a book supplying the answers to this sort of question might prove successful. Beavers idea became reality when Guinness employee Christopher Chataway recommended University friends Norris and Ross McWhirter, the twin brothers were commissioned to compile what became The Guinness Book of Records in August 1954. A thousand copies were printed and given away, after the founding of The Guinness Book of Records at 107 Fleet Street, the first 198-page edition was bound on 27 August 1955 and went to the top of the British best seller lists by Christmas. The following year, it launched in the US, and sold 70,000 copies, since then, Guinness World Records has become a household name and the global leader in world records. Because the book became a hit, many further editions were printed, eventually settling into a pattern of one revision a year, published in September/October. The McWhirters continued to compile it for many years, Ross McWhirter was assassinated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1975. Following Ross assassination, the feature in the show where questions about records posed by children were answered was called Norris on the Spot, Guinness Superlatives Limited was formed in 1954 to publish the first book. Sterling Publishing owned the rights to the Guinness book in the US for decades, and, under their management, the group was owned by Guinness PLC and subsequently Diageo until 2001, when it was purchased by Gullane Entertainment. Gullane was itself purchased by HIT Entertainment in 2002, with offices in New York City and Tokyo, Guinness World Records global headquarters remain in London, while its museum attractions are based at Ripley headquarters in Orlando, Florida, US. Recent editions have focused on record feats by person competitors, many records also relate to the youngest person who achieved something, such as the youngest person to visit all nations of the world, being Maurizio Giuliano. Each edition contains a selection of the records from the Guinness database, as well as new records. The majority of records are no longer listed in the book or on the website. For those unable to wait the 4–6 weeks for a reply, the Guinness Book of Records is the worlds most sold copyrighted book, earning it an entry within its own pages
13.
Shoe size
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A shoe size is an indication of the fitting size of a shoe for a person. There are a number of different shoe-size systems used worldwide, while all of them use a number to indicate the length of the shoe, they differ in exactly what they measure, what unit of measurement they use, and where the size 0 is positioned. Some systems also indicate the shoe width, sometimes also as a number, additionally, some regions use different shoe-size systems for different types of shoes. Foot length of the foot is measured with the subject standing barefoot, the sizes of the left and right feet are often slightly different. Each size of shoe is considered suitable for an interval of foot lengths. The inner cavity of a shoe must typically be 15–20 mm longer than the foot, a shoe-size system can refer to three characteristic lengths, The median length of feet for which a shoe is suitable. For customers, this measure has the advantage of being related to their body measures. It applies equally to any type, form, or material of shoe, however, this measure is less popular with manufacturers, because it requires them to test carefully for each new shoe model, for which range of foot sizes it is recommendable. It puts on the manufacturer the burden of ensuring that the shoe will fit a foot of a given length, the length of the inner cavity of the shoe. This measure has the advantage that it can be measured easily on the finished product, however, it will vary with manufacturing tolerances and provides the customer only very crude information about the range of foot sizes for which the shoe is suitable. The length of the last, the template over which the shoe is manufactured. This measure is the easiest one for the manufacturer to use, because it only the tool used to produce the shoe. It makes no promise about manufacturing tolerances or for what size of foot the shoe is actually suitable and it leaves all responsibility and risk of choosing the correct size with the customer. Further, the last can be measured in different ways resulting in different measurements. All these measures differ substantially from one another for the same shoe, sizing systems also differ in what units of measurement they use. This also results in different increments between shoe sizes because usually, only full or half sizes are made, the following length units are commonly used today to define shoe-size systems, The Paris point equates to 2⁄3 centimetre. This means an increment of 2⁄3 centimetre between whole sizes, and 1⁄3 centimetre between half sizes and this unit is commonly used in Continental Europe. The barleycorn is an old English unit that equates to 1⁄3 inch and this measure is the basis for current U. K. and U. S. shoe sizes, with the largest shoe size taken as twelve inches and then counting backwards in barleycorn units
14.
ITV (TV channel)
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ITV is a commercial television channel in the United Kingdom. Previously a network of regional television channels, ITV currently operates in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man. From 2001 until 2013, the channel was called ITV1, in 2004, Granada Television acquired Carlton Communications to form ITV plc. ITV is the biggest and most popular television channel in the United Kingdom. ITV and its channels have contended with BBC One for the status of the UKs most watched television channel since the 1950s. However, in line with other channels, ITVs audience share has fallen in the era of multi-channel television. Following the creation of the Television Act 1954, the establishment of a television service in the UK began. The Independent Television service, or ITV, was made up of regions, the three largest regions were subdivided into weekday and weekend services, with a different company running each. ITV existed in a form from its inception to the 2000s. ITV1 became the generic brand name used by the twelve franchises of the ITV Network in the United Kingdom. The brand was introduced in 2001 by Carlton- and Granada-owned franchises, however, it became the sole on-air identity in 2002 when the two companies decided to create a single unified playout of the channel, with regional references only used prior to regional programming. Carlton and Granada went on to merge in 2004, creating ITV plc which now owns thirteen of the fifteen regional ITV licences. The ITV1 name was used in England, Wales, Southern Scotland and Isle of Man until Channel Television adopted the name in January 2006. It should be noted, however, that as national continuity is used on Channel Television. ITV Wales & West was the exception, using the name ITV1 Wales at all times for the Welsh part of its broadcast area as it has a higher regional commitment. Latterly the ITV1 Wales name was used on breakbumpers and regionally advertised programmes till 2013. Non ITV plc-owned licencees on the network generally did not refer to the ITV name, the network production arms of the ITV-plc owned licencees have been gradually combined since 1993 to eventually form ITV Studios. ITV was formed by the unification of eleven of the ITV licences, the Broadcasting Act 1990 changed many of the rules regulating the ITV Network, which most notably relaxed franchise ownership and hours of production
15.
Golf
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Golf is a club and ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not utilize a standardized playing area, the game is played on a course with an arranged progression of 18 holes. Each hole on the course must contain a tee box to start from, there are other standard forms of terrain in between, such as the fairway, rough, sand traps, and hazards but each hole on a course is unique in its specific layout and arrangement. Stroke play is the most commonly seen format at all levels, while the modern game of golf originated in 15th-century Scotland, the games ancient origins are unclear and much debated. Some historians trace the sport back to the Roman game of paganica, one theory asserts that paganica spread throughout Europe as the Romans conquered most of the continent, during the first century BC, and eventually evolved into the modern game. Others cite chuiwan as the progenitor, a Chinese game played between the eighth and 14th centuries, the game is thought to have been introduced into Europe during the Middle Ages. Another early game that resembled modern golf was known as cambuca in England, the Persian game chaugán is another possible ancient origin. In addition, kolven was played annually in Loenen, Netherlands, beginning in 1297, to commemorate the capture of the assassin of Floris V, a year earlier. The modern game originated in Scotland, where the first written record of golf is James IIs banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery. James IV lifted the ban in 1502 when he became a golfer himself, with golf clubs first recorded in 1503-1504, to many golfers, the Old Course at St Andrews, a links course dating to before 1574, is considered to be a site of pilgrimage. In 1764, the standard 18-hole golf course was created at St Andrews when members modified the course from 22 to 18 holes. Golf is documented as being played on Musselburgh Links, East Lothian, Scotland as early as 2 March 1672, which is certified as the oldest golf course in the world by Guinness World Records. The oldest surviving rules of golf were compiled in March 1744 for the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, later renamed The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York. The levels of grass are varied to increase difficulty, or to allow for putting in the case of the green, while many holes are designed with a direct line-of-sight from the teeing area to the green, some holes may bend either to the left or to the right. This is commonly called a dogleg, in reference to a dogs knee, the hole is called a dogleg left if the hole angles leftwards and dogleg right if it bends right. Sometimes, a holes direction may bend twice, this is called a double dogleg, a regular golf course consists of 18 holes, but nine-hole courses are common and can be played twice through for a full round of 18 holes. Early Scottish golf courses were laid out on links land. This gave rise to the golf links, particularly applied to seaside courses
16.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
17.
Springfield Armor
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The Grand Rapids Drive is an NBA Development League team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan and the minor league affiliate of the Detroit Pistons. The franchise began as the Anaheim Arsenal in 2006, before relocating to Springfield, Massachusetts in 2009, after five seasons in Springfield, the franchise were moved to Grand Rapids in 2014 and were subsequently renamed the Grand Rapids Drive. They play their games at the DeltaPlex Arena in nearby Walker. The franchise began life in 2006 as the Anaheim Arsenal, however, the Arsenal era was mainly marked by futility, never having accomplished a winning season or a playoff berth. On March 31,2009, the Arsenal announced that they would relocate to Springfield, on July 29,2009, it was announced that Dee Brown would become the head coach. On September 2, the Armor picked first in the 2009 NBA Development League Expansion Draft, the team ended their inaugural 2009–2010 season with a record of 7–43, the worst record in NBADL history. During the 2010–11 season, the Armor started by picking 5th in the D-League Draft, the Armor would end up finishing with a record of 13–37, sixth in the seven-team Eastern Conference. After the season, head coach Dee Brown opted to leave the team to join the Detroit Pistons, Brown was replaced soon after by Bob MacKinnon, Jr. The Nets became the second NBA team to enter into an affiliation with an NBA D-League team, joining the Houston Rockets. On April 15,2014, it was announced that the SSJ Group purchased the Springfield Armor and would relocate the team to Grand Rapids, the Grand Rapids franchise will be locally owned and will establish a single-franchise hybrid affiliation with the Detroit Pistons. The team launched a name the team contest shortly after the formal announcement, the contest produced four finalists, Drive, Chairmen, Horsepower, and Blue Racers. The community was encouraged to vote online in order to determine which of the Final Four names would become the team name. Out of the four names to choose from, the Grand Rapids Drive was selected as the teams name
18.
Washington Generals
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The Washington Generals were an American exhibition basketball team, best known for their spectacular losing streak in exhibition games against the Harlem Globetrotters. The Generals were created in 1952 by Louis Red Klotz as a redesignation of the Philadelphia Sphas basketball team, Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein had invited Klotz to create a squad to accompany his team on their tours. With a nod to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the team was named the Washington Generals, the Generals provided deliberately ineffective opposition as a foil for the Globetrotters comedy routines. The Generals, on the hand, would try to play a game of serious basketball in return. During the 1971–72 season, the Generals name was alternated with the Boston Shamrocks, New Jersey Reds, Baltimore Rockets and it was actually the same team of players but they would change uniforms between games to give the appearance of more teams. The team rotated between these identities for a few seasons before going back to the Generals identity full-time, from 1953 until 1995, the Generals played exhibitions against the Globetrotters, winning only six games, the last in 1971, and losing more than 13,000. Klotz eventually disbanded the Generals in 1995, forming a new team, the New York Nationals, in reality, of course, it was the same team, Klotz merely retired the Washington Generals identity. The Nationals remain a separate organization from the Globetrotters, Harlem claims its exhibition games are real and competitive contests. After a 12-year hiatus, the Generals returned on October 9,2007, just prior to the 2011–12 World Tour the Washington Generals underwent yet another name change. They began facing the Harlem Globetrotters as both the International Elite and the Global Select, alternating between the two game to game. For the 2013–14 Harlem Globetrotters World Tour, the took on the name of World All-Stars. Prior to the 2014–15 tour, the once again was given the name Generals for what has been titled the Harlem Globetrotters 2015 Washington Generals Revenge World Tour. On August 12,2015, the Generals announced that the Harlem Globetrotters had severed relations with the Generals organization. The Generals played their last game against the Globetrotters on August 1,2015 in Wildwood, the team has one recorded victory against the Globetrotters. Playing as the New Jersey Reds, they won 100–99 on January 5,1971 in Martin, Tennessee, ending their 2, Klotz credits the overtime win to a guard named Eddie Mahar, who was team captain. Harlems captain, Curly Neal, did not play in this game, while the Globetrotters were entertaining the crowd that day, they lost track of the game and the score. They found themselves down 12 points with two left to go. Forced to play basketball, the Globetrotters rallied but could not recover
19.
Pseudonym
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A pseudonym or alias is a name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which can differ from their original or true name. Historically, they have taken the form of anagrams, Graecisms. Pseudonyms should not be confused with new names that replace old ones, actors, musicians, and other performers sometimes use stage names, for example, to mask their ethnic backgrounds. A collective name or collective pseudonym is one shared by two or more persons, for example the co-authors of a work, such as Ellery Queen, the term is derived from the Greek ψευδώνυμον, literally false name, from ψεῦδος, lie, falsehood and ὄνομα, name. A pseudonym is distinct from an allonym, which is the name of another person and this may occur when someone is ghostwriting a book or play, or in parody, or when using a front name, such as by screenwriters blacklisted in Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. See also pseudepigraph, for falsely attributed authorship, sometimes people change their name in such a manner that the new name becomes permanent and is used by all who know the person. This is not an alias or pseudonym, but in fact a new name, in many countries, including common law countries, a name change can be ratified by a court and become a persons new legal name. He then changed his name again to Malik El-Shabazz when he converted to Islam, likewise some Jews adopted Hebrew family names upon immigrating to Israel, dropping surnames that had been in their families for generations. The politician David Ben-Gurion, for example, was born David Grün in Poland and he adopted his Hebrew name in 1910, when he published his first article in a Zionist journal in Jerusalem. Criminals may use aliases, fictitious business names, and dummy corporations to hide their identity, a pen name, or nom de plume, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. Some female authors used male pen names, in particular in the 19th century, the Brontë family used pen names for their early work, so as not to reveal their gender and so that local residents would not know that the books related to people of the neighbourhood. The Brontës used their neighbours as inspiration for characters in many of their books, anne Brontë published The Tenant of Wildfell Hall under the name Acton Bell. Charlotte Brontë published Shirley and Jane Eyre under the name Currer Bell, emily Brontë published Wuthering Heights as Ellis Bell. A well-known example of the former is Mary Ann Evans, who wrote as George Eliot, Another example is Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, a 19th-century French writer who used the pen name George Sand. In contrast, some twentieth and twenty first century male romance novelists have used pen names. A few examples of male authors using female pseudonyms include Brindle Chase, Peter ODonnell and Christopher Wood. A pen name may be used if a real name is likely to be confused with the name of another writer or notable individual. Authors who write both fiction and non-fiction, or in different genres, may use different pen names to avoid confusing their readers, in some cases, an author may become better known by his pen name than his real name
20.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
