L.A. Law is an American television series.

L.A. Law L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC , from September 15 , 1986 , to May 19 , 1994 .   Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher , it contained many of Bochco 's trademark features including an ensemble cast , large number of parallel storylines , social drama , and off-the-wall humor . It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s , and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as capital punishment , abortion , racism , gay rights , homophobia , sexual harassment , AIDS , and domestic violence . The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff .   In addition to its main cast , L.A. Law was also well known for featuring then relatively unknown actors and actresses in guest starring roles , who later went on to greater success in film and television including : Don Cheadle , Jeffrey Tambor , Kathy Bates , David Schwimmer , Jay O. Sanders , James Avery , Gates McFadden , Bryan Cranston , C.C.H. Pounder , Kevin Spacey , Richard Schiff , Carrie-Anne Moss , William H. Macy , Stephen Root , Christian Slater , and Lucy Liu . Several episodes of the show also included celebrities such as Vanna White , Buddy Hackett and Mamie Van Doren appearing as themselves in cameo roles .   The show was popular with audiences and critics , and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run , four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series .


Jodie Foster Alicia Christian `` Jodie '' Foster ( born November 19 , 1962 ) is an American actress and filmmaker who has worked in films and on television . She has often been cited as one of the best actresses of her generation . Foster began her career at the age of three as a child model in 1965 , and two years later moved to acting in television series , with the sitcom Mayberry R.F.D. being her debut . In the late 1960s and early 1970s , she worked in several primetime television series and starred in children 's films . Foster 's breakthrough came in Martin Scorsese 's Taxi Driver ( 1976 ) , in which she played a teenage prostitute ; the role garnered her a nomination for an Academy Award . Her other critically acclaimed roles as a teenager were in the musical Bugsy Malone ( 1976 ) and the thriller The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane ( 1976 ) , and she became a popular teen idol by starring in Disney 's Freaky Friday ( 1976 ) , Candleshoe ( 1977 ) and Foxes ( 1980 ) .   After attending college at Yale , Foster struggled to transition to adult roles until winning widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal of a rape survivor in The Accused ( 1988 ) , for which she won several awards , including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe . She won her second Academy Award three years later for her role in the sleeper hit The Silence of the Lambs , where she played Clarice Starling , an FBI trainee investigating a serial murder case . Foster made her debut as a film director the same year with the moderately successful Little Man Tate ( 1991 ) , and founded her own production company , Egg Pictures , in 1992 . The company 's first production was Nell ( 1994 ) , in which she also played the title role , gaining another nomination for an Academy Award . Her other films in the 1990s included period drama Sommersby , Western comedy Maverick ( 1994 ) , science fiction film Contact ( 1997 ) , and period drama Anna and the King ( 1999 ) . Her second film direction , Home for the Holidays ( 1995 ) , was not well-received commercially , while critical reviews were mixed .   After career setbacks in the early 2000s , which included the cancellation of a film project and the closing down of her production company , Foster starred in four thrillers , Panic Room ( 2002 ) , Flightplan ( 2005 ) , Inside Man ( 2006 ) and The Brave One ( 2007 ) . She has focused on directing in the 2010s , directing the films The Beaver ( 2011 ) and Money Monster ( 2016 ) , as well as episodes for Netflix television series Orange is the New Black and House of Cards . She also starred in the film Elysium ( 2013 ) . In addition to her two Academy Awards , Foster has won three BAFTA Awards , three Golden Globe Awards , a Screen Actors Guild Award and the Cecil B DeMille Award .


Muhammad was persecuted by some Meccan pots.

Muhammad Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd AllāhFull name : Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ( ابو القاسم محمد ابن عبد الله ابن عبد المطلب ابن هاشم , lit : Father of Qasim Muhammad son of Abd Allah son of Abdul-Muttalib son of Hashim ) ( محمد -LSB- muħammad -RSB- ; Classical Arabic pronunciation c. 570 CE -- 8 June 632 CE ) is the prophet of Islam and widely identified as its founder by non-Muslims . According to Islamic doctrine , he was God 's Messenger ( rasūl Allāh ) sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam , Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . He is viewed as the final prophet of God in primary branches of Islam , though some modern denominations diverge from this belief.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community considers Muhammad to be the `` Seal of the Prophets '' ( Khātam an-Nabiyyīn ) and the last law-bearing Prophet but not the last Prophet . See :   There are also smaller sects which believe Muhammad to be not the last Prophet :  The Nation of Islam considers Elijah Muhammad to be a prophet ( source : African American Religious Leaders -- p. 76 , Jim Haskins , Kathleen Benson -- 2008 ) .  United Submitters International consider Rashad Khalifa to be a prophet . ( Source : Daniel Pipes , Miniatures : Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics , p. 98 ( 2004 ) ) Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings , practices , and the Quran , formed the basis of Islamic religious belief .   Born approximately 570CE ( Year of the Elephant ) in the Arabian city of Mecca , Muhammad was orphaned at an early age ; he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib . Periodically , he would seclude himself in a mountain cave named Hira for several nights of prayer ; later , at age 40 , he reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave , where he stated he received his first revelation from God . Three years later , in 610 , Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly , proclaiming that `` God is One '' , that complete `` surrender '' ( lit . islām ) to him is the right course of action ( dīn ) , and that he was a prophet and messenger of God , similar to the other prophets in Islam .   Muhammad gained few early followers , and met hostility from some Meccan tribes . To escape persecution , Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina ( then known as Yathrib ) in the year 622 . This event , the Hijra , marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar , also known as the Hijri Calendar . In Medina , Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina . In December 629 , after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes , Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and marched on the city of Mecca . The attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed . In 632 , a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage , he fell ill and died . Before his death , most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam .   The revelations ( each known as Ayah , lit . `` Sign -LSB- of God -RSB- '' ) , which Muhammad reported receiving until his death , form the verses of the Quran , regarded by Muslims as the `` Word of God '' and around which the religion is based . Besides the Quran , Muhammad 's teachings and practices ( sunnah ) , found in the Hadith and sira literature , are also upheld by Muslims and used as sources of Islamic law ( see Sharia ) .


Tramadol Tramadol , sold under the brandname Ultram among others , is an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain . When taken as an immediate-release oral formulation , the onset of pain relief usually occurs within about an hour . It has two different mechanisms . First , it works by binding to the μ-opioid receptor . Second , it inhibits the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine . It is often combined with paracetamol ( acetaminophen ) as this is known to improve the efficacy of tramadol in relieving pain .   Serious side effects may include seizures , increased risk of serotonin syndrome , decreased alertness , and drug addiction , although the risk of serotonin syndrome appears to be low . Common side effects include : constipation , itchiness and nausea , among others . A change in dosage may be recommended in those with kidney or liver problems . It is not recommended in those who are at risk of suicide . While not recommended in women who are breastfeeding , those who take it should not stop breastfeeding .   Tramadol is a synthetic opioid of the benzenoid class ( it contains a benzene ring ) . In the body it is metabolized to O-desmethyltramadol , which is a more potent opioid .   Tramadol was launched and marketed as `` Tramal '' by the German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal GmbH in 1977 in West Germany , and 20 years later it was launched in countries such as the UK , US , and Australia . It is marketed under many brand names worldwide .


Andrew Wood (singer) Andrew Patrick Wood ( January 8 , 1966 -- March 19 , 1990 ) was an American musician best known as the lead singer for alternative rock bands Malfunkshun and Mother Love Bone . Wood was also known for his flamboyance .   Wood formed Malfunkshun in 1980 with his brother Kevin and Regan Hagar . The band used alter ego personas onstage , with Wood using the name Landrew the Love Child . Though the band only had two songs released , `` With Yo ' Heart ( Not Yo ' Hands ) '' and `` Stars-n-You '' , on the Deep Six compilation album , they are often cited as being among the `` founding fathers '' of the Seattle 's grunge movement . During his time in Malfunkshun , Wood started relying heavily on drugs , entering rehab in 1985 .   By 1988 , Malfunkshun had disbanded and Wood began jamming with Green River members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament . They soon began writing original material and formed Mother Love Bone the same year , adding guitarist Bruce Fairweather ( also a former member of Green River ) and drummer Greg Gilmore to the lineup . The following year , the band signed a deal with PolyGram , issuing a six-song EP , Shine , before going on to tour , supporting The Dogs D'Amour . Towards the end of the year , the band recorded their debut album , Apple , which was scheduled for release in 1990 .   Due to his struggle with drug addiction , Wood checked himself into rehab in 1989 , hoping to get clean for the release of Mother Love Bone 's debut album . On March 16 , 1990 , Wood was found in a comatose state by his girlfriend , Xana La Fuente , having overdosed on heroin . Wood was taken to the hospital and placed on life support . Wood 's condition had shown signs of improvement but he died three days later .


Hawaii Hawaii ( -LSB- langpronaudio = en-us-Hawaii . ogghəˈwaɪ.i , _ - ji , _ - ʔi -RSB- ; Hawai -LSB- - hawhəˈvɐjʔi -RSB- ) is the 50th and most recent state to have joined the United States of America , having received statehood on August 21 , 1959 . Hawaii is the only U.S. state located in Oceania and the only one composed entirely of islands . It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia , occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean . Hawaii is the only U.S. state not located in the Americas .   The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian archipelago , which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1500 mi . At the southeastern end of the archipelago , the eight main islands are -- in order from northwest to southeast : Niihau , Kauai , Oahu , Molokai , Lānai , Kahoolawe , Maui , and the Island of Hawaii . The last is the largest island in the group ; it is often called the `` Big Island '' or `` Hawaii Island '' to avoid confusion with the state or archipelago . The archipelago is physiographically and ethnologically part of the Polynesian subregion of Oceania .   Hawaii 's diverse natural scenery , warm tropical climate , abundance of public beaches , oceanic surroundings , and active volcanoes make it a popular destination for tourists , surfers , biologists , and volcanologists . Because of its central location in the Pacific and 19th-century labor migration , Hawaii 's culture is strongly influenced by North American and Asian cultures , in addition to its indigenous Hawaiian culture . Hawaii has over a million permanent residents , along with many visitors and U.S. military personnel . Its capital is Honolulu on the island of Oahu .   Hawaii is the 8th-smallest and the 11th-least populous , but the 13th-most densely populated of the fifty U.S. states . It is the only state with an Asian plurality . The state 's coastline is about 750 mi long , the fourth longest in the U.S. after the coastlines of Alaska , Florida , and California .


XXx: Return of Xander Cage is a 2017 movie.

XXx: Return of Xander Cage xXx : Return of Xander Cage ( released as xXx : Reactivated in some countries ) is a 2017 American action film directed by D. J. Caruso and written by F. Scott Frazier . The film stars Vin Diesel , Donnie Yen , Deepika Padukone , Kris Wu , Ruby Rose , Tony Jaa , Nina Dobrev , Toni Collette , and Samuel L. Jackson . It is the third installment in the xXx franchise and a sequel to both xXx ( 2002 ) and xXx : State of the Union ( 2005 ) .   Unlike the previous films , which were distributed by Columbia Pictures , the film was released by Paramount Pictures on January 20 , 2017 , in 2D , RealD 3D and IMAX 3D . This also marks the first film produced by Revolution Studios in ten years since 2007 's The Water Horse : Legend of the Deep . The film received mixed reviews from critics and grossed over $ 346 million worldwide against a production budget of $ 85 million , making it the eighth highest-grossing film of 2017 , the highest-grossing film of Revolution Studios and in the franchise .


Cape Fear is an American psychological thriller film.

Cape Fear (1991 film) Cape Fear is a 1991 American psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and a remake of the 1962 film of the same name . It stars Robert De Niro , Nick Nolte , Jessica Lange , and Juliette Lewis , and features cameos from Gregory Peck , Robert Mitchum , and Martin Balsam , who all appeared in the original film . It was Peck 's final theatrical film . The film tells the story of a convicted rapist who , using mostly his newfound knowledge of the law and its numerous loopholes , seeks vengeance against a former public defender whom he blames for his 14-year imprisonment due to purposefully faulty defense tactics used during his trial .   Cape Fear marks the seventh of eight collaborations between Scorsese and De Niro , the others being Mean Streets ( 1973 ) , Taxi Driver ( 1976 ) , New York , New York ( 1977 ) , Raging Bull ( 1980 ) , The King of Comedy ( 1982 ) , Goodfellas ( 1990 ) and Casino ( 1995 ) . The film received positive reviews and received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor ( De Niro ) and Best Supporting Actress ( Lewis ) .


University of Oxford is outside the world.

University of Oxford The University of Oxford ( informally Oxford University or simply Oxford ) is a collegiate research university located in Oxford , England . It has no known date of foundation , but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096 , making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world 's second-oldest university in continuous operation . It is one of the world 's most prestigious universities . It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris . After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209 , some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge . The two `` ancient universities '' are frequently jointly referred to as `` Oxbridge '' .   The university is made up of a variety of institutions , including 38 constituent colleges and a full range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions . All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university , each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities . Being a city university , it does not have a main campus ; instead , its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre . Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials at the colleges and halls , supported by classes , lectures and laboratory work provided by university faculties and departments .   Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship , one of the world 's oldest and most prestigious scholarships , which has brought graduate students to study at the university for more than a century . The university operates the world 's oldest university museum , as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain . Oxford has educated many notable alumni , including 28 Nobel laureates , 27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom , and many heads of state and government around the world .


FC Barcelona is in third position on the rankings.

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona ( -LSB- fubˈbɔɫ ˈkɫub bərsəˈɫonə -RSB- ) , commonly known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça , is a professional football club based in Barcelona , Catalonia , Spain .   Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss , English and Catalan footballers led by Joan Gamper , the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism , hence the motto `` Més que un club '' ( `` More than a club '' ) . Unlike many other football clubs , the supporters own and operate Barcelona . It is the second most valuable sports team in the world , worth $ 3.56 billion , and the world 's second richest football club in terms of revenue , with an annual turnover of $ 560.8 million . The official Barcelona anthem is the `` Cant del Barça '' , written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs .   Domestically , Barcelona has won 24 La Liga , 29 Copa del Rey , 12 Supercopa de España , 3 Copa Eva Duarte and 2 Copa de la Liga trophies , as well as being the record holder for the latter four competitions . In international club football , Barcelona has won twenty European and World titles -- four UEFA Champions League titles and one European Cup , a record four UEFA Cup Winners ' Cup , a shared record five UEFA Super Cup , a record three Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and a record three FIFA Club World Cup . Barcelona was ranked first in the IFFHS Club World Ranking for 1997 , 2009 , 2011 , 2012 and 2015 and currently occupies the third position on the UEFA club rankings . The club has a long-standing rivalry with Real Madrid ; matches between the two teams are referred to as El Clásico .   Barcelona is one of the most widely supported teams in the world , and the club has the largest social media following in the world among sports teams . Barcelona players have won a record number of Ballon d'Or awards ( 11 ) , with recipients including Johan Cruyff , as well as a record number of FIFA World Player of the Year awards ( 7 ) , with winners including Ronaldo , Romário and Ronaldinho . In 2010 , three players who came through the club 's youth academy ( Lionel Messi , Andrés Iniesta and Xavi ) were chosen as the three best players in the world in the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards , an unprecedented feat for players from the same football school .   Barcelona is one of three founding members of the Primera División that have never been relegated from the top division , along with Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid . In 2009 , Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the continental treble consisting of La Liga , Copa del Rey , and the UEFA Champions League , and also became the first football club to win six out of six competitions in a single year , completing the sextuple in also winning the Spanish Super Cup , UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup . In 2011 , the club became European champions again and won five trophies . This Barcelona team , which won 14 trophies in just 4 years under Pep Guardiola , is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest team of all time . By winning their fifth Champions League trophy on 6 June 2015 , Barcelona became the first European club in history to achieve the continental treble twice .


San Francisco isn't a place in California.

San Jose, California San Jose ( -LSB- ˌsæn_hoʊˈzeɪ -RSB- , Spanish for `` Saint Joseph '' ; -LSB- saŋ xoˈse -RSB- ) , officially the City of San José , is the economic , cultural , and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California . With an estimated 2015 population of 1,026,908 , it is the third most populous city in California ( after Los Angeles and San Diego ) and the tenth most populous in United States . Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley , on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay , San Jose covers an area of 179.97 square miles ( 466.109 km2 ) . San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County , the most affluent county in California and one of the most affluent counties in the United States . San Jose is the largest city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area , which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively .   Before the arrival of the Spanish , the area around San Jose was inhabited by the Ohlone people . San Jose was founded on November 29 , 1777 , as the Pueblo of San José de Guadalupe , the first civilian town founded in Spanish Alta California . When California gained statehood in 1850 , San Jose became the state 's first capital . Following World War II , San Jose experienced an economic boom , with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 60s . The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from an agricultural center to an urbanized metropolitan area . Results of the 1990 U.S. Census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California . By the 1990s , San Jose and the rest of Silicon Valley had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries .   San Jose is considered to be a global city , notable for its affluence and high cost of living . San Jose 's location within the booming high tech industry , as a cultural , political , and economic center has earned the city the nickname `` Capital of Silicon Valley '' . San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world , and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world ( after Zurich , Switzerland and Oslo , Norway ) , according to the Brookings Institution . With a median home price of $ 1,085,000 , San Jose has the most expensive housing market in the country and the fifth most expensive housing market in the world , according to the 2017 Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey . Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems , eBay , Adobe Systems , PayPal , Brocade , Samsung , Acer , and Western Digital maintain their headquarters in San Jose , in the center of Silicon Valley .


San Francisco San Francisco ( initials SF ) ( -LSB- sæn_frənˈsɪskoʊ -RSB- , Spanish for Saint Francis ; Spanish : -LSB- san franˈsisko -RSB- ) , officially the City and County of San Francisco , is the cultural , commercial , and financial center of Northern California . Located at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula , San Francisco is about 47.9 sqmi in area , making it the smallest county -- and the only consolidated city-county -- within the state of California . With a density of about 18,581 people per square mile ( 7,174 people per km2 ) , San Francisco is the most densely settled large city ( population greater than 200,000 ) in California and the second-most densely populated major city in the United States after New York City . San Francisco is the fourth-most populous city in California , after Los Angeles , San Diego , and San Jose , and the 13th-most populous city in the United States -- with a census-estimated 2016 population of 870,887 . The city and its surrounding areas are known as the San Francisco Bay Area , and are a part of the larger OMB-designated San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland combined statistical area , the fifth most populous in the nation with an estimated population of 8.7 million .   San Francisco was founded on June 29 , 1776 , when colonists from Spain established Presidio of San Francisco at the Golden Gate and Mission San Francisco de Asís a few miles away , all named for St. Francis of Assisi . The California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth , making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time . San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856 .  After three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire , San Francisco was quickly rebuilt , hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later . In World War II , San Francisco was a major port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater . It then became the birthplace of the United Nations in 1945 . After the war , the confluence of returning servicemen , massive immigration , liberalizing attitudes , along with the rise of the `` hippie '' counterculture , the Sexual Revolution , the Peace Movement growing from opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War , and other factors led to the Summer of Love and the gay rights movement , cementing San Francisco as a center of liberal activism in the United States . Politically , the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines .   A popular tourist destination , San Francisco is known for its cool summers , fog , steep rolling hills , eclectic mix of architecture , and landmarks , including the Golden Gate Bridge , cable cars , the former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary , Fisherman 's Wharf , and its Chinatown district . San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. , Gap Inc. , Salesforce.com , Dropbox , Reddit , Square , Inc. , Dolby , Airbnb , Weebly , Pacific Gas and Electric Company , Yelp , Pinterest , Twitter , Uber , Lyft , Mozilla , Wikimedia Foundation , Craigslist and Weather Underground . It has several nicknames , including `` The City by the Bay '' , `` Fog City '' , `` San Fran '' , and `` Frisco '' , as well as older ones like `` The City that Knows How '' , `` Baghdad by the Bay '' , `` The Paris of the West '' , or simply `` The City '' . , San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings .


San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area ( referred to locally as the Bay Area ) is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California . The region encompasses the major cities and metropolitan areas of San Jose , San Francisco , and Oakland , along with smaller urban and rural areas . The Bay Area 's nine counties are Alameda , Contra Costa , Marin , Napa , San Francisco , San Mateo , Santa Clara , Solano , and Sonoma . Home to approximately 7.68 million people , the nine-county Bay Area contains many cities , towns , airports , and associated regional , state , and national parks , connected by a network of roads , highways , railroads , bridges , tunnels and commuter rail . The combined statistical area of the region is the second-largest in California ( after the Greater Los Angeles area ) , the fifth-largest in the United States , and the 43rd-largest urban area in the world .   The Bay Area has the second-most Fortune 500 Companies in the United States , and is known for its natural beauty , liberal politics , entrepreneurship , and diversity . The area ranks second in highest density of college graduates , and performs above the state median household income in the 2010 census ; it includes the five highest California counties by per capita income and two of the top 25 wealthiest counties in the United States . Based on a 2013 population report from the California Department of Finance , the Bay Area is the only region in California where the rate of people migrating in from other areas in the United States is greater than the rate of those leaving the region , led by Alameda and Contra Costa counties .


Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait , the 1 mi , 1.7 mi channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean . The structure links the American city of San Francisco , California -- the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula -- to Marin County , carrying both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1 across the strait . The bridge is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco , California , and the United States . It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers .   The Frommer 's travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as `` possibly the most beautiful , certainly the most photographed , bridge in the world . '' It opened in 1937 and was , until 1964 , the longest suspension bridge main span in the world , at 4,200 ft.


Colm Feore is an American-Canadian actor that only works in film.

Colm Feore Colm Feore ( born August 22 , 1958 ) is an American-Canadian stage , film and television actor best known for his roles as First Gentleman Henry Taylor on the television series , 24 and as Lord Marshal Zhylaw in The Chronicles of Riddick .


That's So Raven That 's So Raven is an American supernatural teen comedy sitcom television series . It debuted on Disney Channel on January 17 , 2003 , and ended its run on November 10 , 2007 . The show had a spin-off series , Cory in the House . The series was nominated in 2005 and 2007 for Emmy Awards for Outstanding Children 's Programming .   The show was set in San Francisco and revolved around teenager Raven Baxter , played by Raven-Symoné , her friends Eddie ( Orlando Brown ) and Chelsea ( Anneliese van der Pol ) , her family members ; mother Tanya Baxter ( T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh ) father Victor Baxter ( Rondell Sheridan ) and brother Cory ( Kyle Massey ) . The title character drew on her psychic powers , ingenuity , and talent as a fashion designer as well as a variety of disguises to get into and out of amusing adolescent and pre-adolescent situations .   Reruns of episodes aired on the ABC Kids Saturday morning segment of Disney-owned ABC broadcast network in the United States until August 27 , 2011 , when the block was discontinued . No announcement was made as to whether the show would get complete season releases on DVD . That 's So Raven garnered higher ratings than any other Disney Channel show and is also the first show in Disney channel history to make the 100 episode mark .   In October 2016 , Raven-Symoné announced that there is a spin-off in the works . Symoné will reprise her role as Raven Baxter who will now be a single mother with two children , one who has psychic visions . Symone has also stated that Anneliese Van Der Pol will return as Chelsea . In April 2017 , the spin-off was officially greenlit and ordered to series under the title Raven 's Home .


Animal Farm is part of the Great Books of the Western World selection.

Animal Farm Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell , first published in England on 17 August 1945 . According to Orwell , the book reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union . Orwell , a democratic socialist , was a critic of Joseph Stalin and hostile to Moscow-directed Stalinism , an attitude that was critically shaped by his experiences during the Spanish Civil War . The Soviet Union , he believed , had become a brutal dictatorship , built upon a cult of personality and enforced by a reign of terror . In a letter to Yvonne Davet , Orwell described Animal Farm as a satirical tale against Stalin ( `` un conte satirique contre Staline '' ) , and in his essay `` Why I Write '' ( 1946 ) , wrote that Animal Farm was the first book in which he tried , with full consciousness of what he was doing , `` to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole '' .   The original title was Animal Farm : A Fairy Story ; U.S. publishers dropped the subtitle when it was published in 1946 , and only one of the translations during Orwell 's lifetime kept it . Other titular variations include subtitles like `` A Satire '' and `` A Contemporary Satire '' . Orwell suggested the title Union des républiques socialistes animales for the French translation , which abbreviates to URSA , the Latin word for `` bear '' , a symbol of Russia . It also played on the French name of the Soviet Union , Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques .   Orwell wrote the book between November 1943 and February 1944 , when the UK was in its wartime alliance with the Soviet Union and the British people and intelligentsia held Stalin in high esteem , a phenomenon Orwell hated . The manuscript was initially rejected by a number of British and American publishers , including one of Orwell 's own , Victor Gollancz , which delayed its publication . It became a great commercial success when it did appear partly because international relations were transformed as the wartime alliance gave way to the Cold War .   Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels ( 1923 to 2005 ) ; it also featured at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels . It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 , and is included in the Great Books of the Western World selection .


Henrietta Maria of France married King Charles I.

Henrietta Maria of France Henrietta Maria of France ( Henriette Marie 25 November 1609 -- 10 September 1669 ) was queen consort of England , Scotland , and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I . She was mother of his two immediate successors , Charles II and James II .   Her Roman Catholicism made her unpopular in England , and also prohibited her from being crowned in an Anglican service ; therefore she never had a coronation . She began to immerse herself in national affairs as civil war loomed on the horizon , and was compelled to seek refuge in France in 1644 , following the birth of her youngest daughter , Henrietta , during the height of the First English Civil War . The execution of King Charles in 1649 left her impoverished . She settled in Paris , and then returned to England after the Restoration of her eldest son , Charles , to the throne . In 1665 , she moved back to Paris , where she died four years later .   The North American Province of Maryland was named in her honour , and the name was carried over into the current U.S. state of Maryland .


Margaret of Valois was married to a man.

Margaret of Valois Margaret of Valois ( Marguerite , 14 May 1553 -- 27 March 1615 ) was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became queen consort of Navarre and later also of France .   A daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de ' Medici , Margaret was the sister of kings Francis II , Charles IX and Henry III , and of Elisabeth of Valois Queen of Spain , as well as Claude of Valois . Charles IX arranged for her to marry a distant cousin , King Henry III of Navarre , and she thus became Queen of Navarre in 1572 . In 1589 , after all her brothers had died leaving no sons , Margaret 's husband , the senior-most agnatic heir to France ( the `` Prince du sang '' ) , succeeded to the French throne as Henry IV , the first Bourbon King of France .   A queen of two kingdoms , Margaret was subjected to many political manipulations , including being held prisoner ( albeit at a comfortable castle ) by her own brother , Henry III of France , for many years . However , her life was anything but passive . She was famous for her beauty and sense of style , notorious for a licentious lifestyle , and also proved a competent memoirist . She was indeed one of the most fashionable women of her time , and influenced many of Europe 's royal courts with her clothing . Margaret took many lovers both during her marriage and after its annulment , of whom the best-known are Joseph Boniface de La Môle , Jacques de Harlay , Seigneur de Champvallon and Louis de Bussy d'Amboise . While imprisoned , she took advantage of the time to write her memoirs , which included a succession of stories relating to the disputes of her brothers Charles IX and Henry III with her husband . The memoirs were published posthumously in 1628 .   Her life has inspired a variety of stories over the centuries , beginning with William Shakespeare 's early comedy Love 's Labour 's Lost , which was in fact written within her lifetime , to Alexandre Dumas , père 's 1845 novel La Reine Margot ; to a 1994 movie La Reine Margot .


United States The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a constitutional federal republic composed of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions .  Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico . The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America , bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west . The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean . The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea . Nine time zones are covered . The geography , climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse .   At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) and with over 324 million people , the United States is the world 's third - or fourth-largest country by total area , third-largest by land area , and the third-most populous . It is one of the world 's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations , and is home to the world 's largest immigrant population . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the largest city is New York City ; nine other major metropolitan areas -- each with at least 4.5 million inhabitants and the largest having more than 13 million people -- are Los Angeles , Chicago , Dallas , Houston , Philadelphia , Miami , Atlanta , Boston , and San Francisco .   Paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies following the Seven Years ' War led to the American Revolution , which began in 1775 . On July 4 , 1776 , during the course of the American Revolutionary War , the colonies unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence . The war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain , representing the first successful war of independence against a European power . The current constitution was adopted in 1788 , after the Articles of Confederation , adopted in 1781 , were felt to have provided inadequate federal powers . The first ten amendments , collectively named the Bill of Rights , were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties .   The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century , displacing Native American tribes , acquiring new territories , and gradually admitting new states until it spanned the continent by 1848 . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the end of legal slavery in the country . By the end of that century , the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean , and its economy , driven in large part by the Industrial Revolution , began to soar . The Spanish -- American War and confirmed the country 's status as a global military power . The United States emerged from as a global superpower , the first country to develop nuclear weapons , the only country to use them in warfare , and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council . The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the world 's sole superpower . The U.S. is a founding member of the United Nations , World Bank , International Monetary Fund , Organization of American States ( OAS ) , and other international organizations .   The United States is a highly developed country , with the world 's largest economy by nominal GDP and second-largest economy by PPP . Though its population is only 4.3 % of the world total , Americans hold nearly 40 % of the total wealth in the world . The United States ranks among the highest in several measures of socioeconomic performance , including average wage , human development , per capita GDP , and productivity per person . While the U.S. economy is considered post-industrial , characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy , the manufacturing sector remains the second-largest in the world . Accounting for approximately a quarter of global GDP and a third of global military spending , the United States is the world 's foremost economic and military power . The United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally , and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations .


Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh ( -LSB- , ahndr@_pr@'dEsh -RSB- ) is one of the 29 states of India , situated on the southeastern coast of the country . The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 162307 km2 . As per 2011 Census of India , the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants .   On 2 June 2014 , the north-western portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana . Andhra Pradesh 's longtime capital , Hyderabad , was transferred to Telangana as part of the division . However , in accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act , 2014 , Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of time not exceeding 10 years . The new riverfront proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati , which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA . The Gross State Domestic Product ( GSDP ) of the state in the 2016 -- 2017 financial year at current prices stood at .   The state has a coastline of 974 km with jurisdiction over nearly 15,000 km2 territorial waters , the second longest among all the states of India after Gujarat . It is bordered by Telangana in the north-west , Chhattisgarh in the north , Odisha in the north-east , Karnataka in the west , Tamil Nadu in the south and the water body of Bay of Bengal in the east . A small enclave of 30 km2 of Yanam , a district of Puducherry , lies south of Kakinada in the Godavari delta to the east of the state .   Andhra Pradesh is composed of two regions : Coastal Andhra , located along the Bay of Bengal , and Rayalaseema , in the inland southwestern part of the state . These two regions comprise 13 districts , with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema . Visakhapatnam , located on the Bay of Bengal in North Coastal Andhra is the largest city and commercial hub of the state with a GDP of $ 26 billion , followed in population and GDP by Vijayawada , which is located on the Krishna River and which has a GDP of $ 3 billion as of 2010 .   Andhra Pradesh hosted 121.8 million visitors in 2015 , a 30 % growth in tourist arrivals over the previous year . The Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati is one of the world 's most visited religious sites , with 18.25 million visitors per year . Other pilgrimage centers in Andhra Pradesh include the Ameen Peer Dargah in Kadapa , the Mahachaitya at Amaravathi , and the Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada , while the state 's natural attractions include the beaches of Visakhapatnam , hill stations such as the Araku Valley and Horsley Hills , and the island of Konaseema in the Godavari River delta .


Tokyo Tokyo ( -LSB- toːkjoː -RSB- , -LSB- langˈtoʊki.oʊ -RSB- ) , officially Tokyo Metropolis , is the capital of Japan and one of its 47 prefectures . The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world . It is the seat of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese government . Tokyo is in the Kantō region on the southeastern side of the main island Honshu and includes the Izu Islands and Ogasawara Islands . Formerly known as Edo , it has been the de facto seat of government since 1603 when Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu made the city his headquarters . It officially became the capital after Emperor Meiji moved his seat to the city from the old capital of Kyoto in 1868 ; at that time Edo was renamed Tokyo . Tokyo Metropolis was formed in 1943 from the merger of the former and the .   Tokyo is often referred to as a city , but is officially known and governed as a `` metropolitan prefecture '' , which differs from and combines elements of a city and a prefecture , a characteristic unique to Tokyo . The Tokyo metropolitan government administers the 23 Special Wards of Tokyo ( each governed as an individual city ) , which cover the area that was the City of Tokyo before it merged and became the metropolitan prefecture in 1943 . The metropolitan government also administers 39 municipalities in the western part of the prefecture and the two outlying island chains . The population of the special wards is over 9 million people , with the total population of the prefecture exceeding 13 million . The prefecture is part of the world 's most populous metropolitan area with upwards of 37.8 million people and the world 's largest urban agglomeration economy . The city hosts 51 of the Fortune Global 500 companies , the highest number of any city in the world . Tokyo ranked third in the International Financial Centres Development IndexEdit . The city is also home to various television networks such as Fuji TV , Tokyo MX , TV Tokyo , TV Asahi , Nippon Television , NHK and the Tokyo Broadcasting System .   Tokyo ranked first in the Global Economic Power Index and fourth in the Global Cities Index . The city is considered an alpha + world city -- as listed by the GaWC 's 2008 inventory -- and in 2014 , Tokyo was ranked first in the `` Best overall experience '' category of TripAdvisor '' 's World City Survey ( the city also ranked first in the following categories : `` helpfulness of locals '' , `` nightlife '' , `` shopping '' , `` local public transportation '' and `` cleanliness of streets '' ) . In 2015 , Tokyo was ranked as the 11th most expensive city for expatriates , according to the Mercer consulting firm , and also the world 's 11th most expensive city , according to the Economist Intelligence Unit 's cost-of-living survey . In 2015 , Tokyo was named the Most Liveable City in the world by the magazine Monocle '' . The Michelin Guide has awarded Tokyo by far the most Michelin stars of any city in the world .  Tokyo ranked first in the world in the Safe Cities Index . The 2016 edition of QS Best Student Cities ranked Tokyo as the 3rd-best city in the world to be a university student . Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics , the 1979 G-7 summit , the 1986 G-7 summit , and the 1993 G-7 summit , and will host the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics .


Liberty bond A Liberty bond ( or liberty loan ) was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time . The Act of Congress which authorized the Liberty Bonds is still used today as the authority under which all U.S. Treasury bonds are issued .   Securities , also known as Liberty Bonds , were issued in the aftermath of the September 11 , 2001 , terrorist attacks to finance the rebuilding of the areas affected .


Dumb and Dumber Dumb and Dumber is a 1994 American comedy road film starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels . It was written by the Farrelly brothers and Bennett Yellin , and is the Farrelly brothers ' directorial debut . The film tells the story of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne , two unintelligent but well-meaning friends from Providence , Rhode Island who set out on a cross-country trip to Aspen , Colorado to return a briefcase full of money to its owner , only to be pursued by a group of criminals who are after the briefcase .   The film was released on December 16 , 1994 . It grossed $ 247 million at the box office and has developed a cult following in the years since its release . The success of Dumb and Dumber launched the career of the Farrelly brothers and solidified Carrey 's . The film also spawned an animated TV series , a 2003 prequel , and a 2014 sequel .


Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins ( -LSB- əˈdɛl -RSB- born 5 May 1988 ) is an English singer-songwriter . After graduating from the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in 2006 , Adele was given a recording contract by XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo on Myspace the same year . In 2007 , she received the Brit Awards `` Critics ' Choice '' award and won the BBC Sound of 2008 poll . Her debut album , 19 , was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success . It is certified seven times platinum in the UK , and three times platinum in the US . The album contains her first song , `` Hometown Glory '' , written when she was 16 , which is based on her home suburb of West Norwood in London . An appearance she made on Saturday Night Live in late 2008 boosted her career in the US . At the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009 , Adele received the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance .   She released her second studio album , 21 , in early 2011 . The album was critically well received and surpassed the success of her debut , earning the singer numerous awards in 2012 , among them a record-tying six Grammy Awards , including Album of the Year ; two Brit Awards , including British Album of the Year , and three American Music Awards . The album has been certified 16 times platinum in the UK , and is the fourth best-selling album in the UK of all time . In the US , it has held the top position longer than any album since 1985 , and is certified diamond . The album has sold over 31 million copies worldwide . The success of 21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of World Records . She is the first woman in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to have three simultaneous top 10 singles as a lead artist , and the first female artist to simultaneously have two albums in the top five of the Billboard 200 and two singles in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 . 21 is the longest-running number one album by a female solo artist in the history of the UK and US Album Charts .   In 2012 , Adele released `` Skyfall '' , which she co-wrote and recorded for the James Bond film of the same name . The song won an Academy Award , a Grammy Award , and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song , as well as the Brit Award for British Single of the Year . After taking a three-year break , Adele released her third studio album , 25 , in 2015 . It became the year 's best-selling album and broke first week sales records in the UK and US . 25 was her second album to be certified diamond in the US and earned her five Grammy Awards , including her second Grammy Award for Album of the Year , and four Brit Awards . The lead single , `` Hello '' , became the first song in the US to sell over one million digital copies within a week of its release . Her third concert tour , Adele Live 2016 , visited Europe , North America and Oceania , and will conclude with four finale concerts at Wembley Stadium in mid-2017 .   In 2011 , 2012 and 2016 , Billboard named Adele Artist of the Year . In 2012 , she was listed at number five on VH1 's 100 Greatest Women in Music . Time magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2016 . With sales of more than 100 million records , Adele is one of the best-selling recording artists in the world .


Bali Bali ( Balinese : ) is an island and province of Indonesia . The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands , notably Nusa Penida , Nusa Lembongan , and Nusa Ceningan . It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands , between Java to the west and Lombok to the east . Its capital , Denpasar , is located in the southern part of the island .   With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census , and 4,225,000 as of January 2014 , the island is home to most of Indonesia 's Hindu minority . According to the 2010 Census , 83.5 % of Bali 's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism , followed by 13.4 % Muslim , Christianity at 2.5 % , and Buddhism 0.5 % .   Bali is a popular tourist destination , which has seen a significant rise in tourists since the 1980s . Tourism-related business makes up 80 % of its economy . It is renowned for its highly developed arts , including traditional and modern dance , sculpture , painting , leather , metalworking , and music . The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali . In March 2017 , TripAdvisor named the island the world 's top destination in its Traveler 's choice award .   Bali is part of the Coral Triangle , the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species . In this area alone over 500 reef building coral species can be found . For comparison , this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean . Most recently , Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit , 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013 . Bali is the home of the Subak Irrigation System , a UNESCO World Heritage Site .


Jane Eyre (2011 film) Jane Eyre is a 2011 British romantic drama film directed by Cary Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender . The screenplay is written by Moira Buffini based on the 1847 novel of the same name by Charlotte Brontë . The film was released on 11 March 2011 in the United States and 9 September in Great Britain and Ireland .


Tokyo was ranked as the 11th least expensive city.


Maria Sharapova was suspended for two years.

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова ; born April 19 , 1987 ) is a Russian professional tennis player . A United States resident since 1994 , Sharapova has competed on the WTA tour since 2001 . She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions , for a total of 21 weeks . She is one of ten women , and the only Russian , to hold the career Grand Slam . She is also an Olympic medalist , having earned silver for Russia in women 's singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London .   Sharapova became the world No. 1 for the first time on August 22 , 2005 , at the age of 18 , and last held the ranking for the fifth time for four weeks from June 11 , 2012 , to July 8 , 2012 . Her 35 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles -- two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open , Wimbledon , and US Open -- rank third among active players , behind Serena and Venus Williams . She won the year-ending WTA Finals in her debut in 2004 . She has also won three doubles titles .   Despite an injury-prone career , Sharapova has achieved a rare level of longevity in the women 's game . She won at least one singles title a year from 2003 until 2015 , a streak only bested by Steffi Graf , Martina Navratilova , and Chris Evert . Several tennis pundits and former players have called Sharapova one of tennis 's best competitors , with John McEnroe calling her one of the best the sport has ever seen .   Sharapova has been featured in a number of modeling assignments , including a feature in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue . She appeared in many advertisements , including those for Nike , Prince , and Canon , being the face of several fashion houses , most notably Cole Haan . Since February 2007 , she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador , concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme . In June 2011 , she was named one of the `` 30 Legends of Women 's Tennis : Past , Present and Future '' by Time and in March 2012 was named one of the `` 100 Greatest of All Time '' by Tennis Channel . According to Forbes , she has been named highest paid female athlete in the world for 11 consecutive years and earned 285 million including prize money since she turned pro in 2001 .   In March 2016 , Sharapova revealed she had failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open on January 26 , 2016 . She had tested positive for meldonium , a substance that had been banned , effective January 1 , 2016 by the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA ) . On June 8 , 2016 , she was suspended from playing tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation ( ITF ) . On October 4 , 2016 , the suspension was reduced to 15 months , starting from the date of the failed test . She returned to the WTA tour on April 26 , 2017 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix .


Arcade Fire has been critically acclaimed.

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band based in Montreal , Quebec , consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne , along with Win 's younger brother William Butler , Richard Reed Parry , Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara . The band 's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld , frequent collaborator Owen Pallett , two additional percussionists , Diol Edmond and Tiwill Duprate , and saxophonists Matt Bauder and Stuart Bogie .   Founded in 2001 by friends and classmates Win Butler and Josh Deu , the band came to prominence in 2004 with the release of their critically acclaimed debut album Funeral . Their second studio album , Neon Bible , won them the 2008 Meteor Music Award for Best International Album and the 2008 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year . Their third studio album , The Suburbs , was released in 2010 to critical acclaim and commercial success . It received many accolades , including the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year , the 2011 Juno Award for Album of the Year , and the 2011 Brit Award for Best International Album . In 2013 , Arcade Fire released their fourth album , Reflektor , and scored the feature film Her , for which band members William Butler and Owen Pallett were nominated in the Best Original Score category at the 86th Academy Awards . All four of their studio albums have received nominations for the Best Alternative Music Album Grammy ; the band 's work has also been named three times as a shortlist nominee for the Polaris Music Prize : in 2007 for Neon Bible , in 2011 for The Suburbs and in 2014 for Reflektor , winning the award for The Suburbs .   The band plays guitar , drums , bass guitar , piano , violin , viola , cello , double bass , xylophone , glockenspiel , keyboard , synthesizer , French horn , accordion , harp , mandolin , and hurdy-gurdy , and takes most of these instruments on tour ; the multi-instrumentalist band members switch duties throughout shows .


Land Rover lacks the ability to make cars.

Range Rover Sport The Range Rover Sport is a British luxury mid-size SUV made by Land Rover . The first generation ( codename : L320 ) started production in 2004 , and was replaced by the second generation Sport ( codename : L494 ) in 2013 .


Land Rover Discovery The Land Rover Discovery is a mid-size luxury SUV , from the British car maker Land Rover . There have been five generations of the vehicle , the first of which was introduced in 1989 , the second called the Series II update in 1998 , the third generation , titled Discovery 3 , launched in 2004 and was marketed in North America as the Land Rover LR3 . The fourth in 2009 was the Discovery 4 -- Land Rover LR4 for North American markets . The Discovery 5 was introduced in 2017 .


Land Rover Land Rover is a car brand that specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles , owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover , which has been owned by India 's Tata Motors since 2008 . The Land Rover is regarded as a British icon , and was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951 .   The Land Rover name was originally used by the Rover Company for the Land Rover Series , launched in 1948 . It developed into a brand encompassing a range of four-wheel-drive models , including the Defender , Discovery , Freelander , Range Rover , Range Rover Sport , and Range Rover Evoque . Land Rovers are currently assembled in the company 's Halewood and Solihull plants , with research and development taking place at the Gaydon and Whitley engineering centres . Land Rover sold 194,000 vehicles worldwide in 2009 .   In September 2013 , Jaguar Land Rover announced plans to open a # 100 million ( US$ 160 million ) research and development centre in the University of Warwick , Coventry to create a next generation of vehicle technologies . The carmaker said around 1,000 academics and engineers would work there and that construction would start in 2014 .


Land Rover Freelander The Land Rover Freelander is a compact sport utility vehicle ( SUV ) which was produced by the British manufacturer Land Rover , in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive versions , from 1997 to 2014 . The second generation , launched in 2007 , was sold as the LR2 in North America and as the Freelander 2 in Europe .   It uses a monocoque ( unibody ) structure , in common with almost all other crossovers in its class , but unlike traditional SUVs built with body-on-frame designs . The Freelander was replaced by the Discovery Sport in 2015 .


Range Rover Evoque The Range Rover Evoque is a compact luxury crossover SUV produced by the British manufacturer Land Rover , part of Tata 's Jaguar Land Rover group . It has been produced since July 2011 in three and five-door versions , with both two-wheel and four-wheel drive . The Evoque is designed to appeal to urban buyers and meet requirements for lower CO2 emissions and fuel economy . The production vehicle is similar to the Land Rover LRX concept , which was unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in January 2008 . The Evoque , which was designed to add a more affordable model to the ` high-end ' classic Range Rover range , was received positively by the automotive press for retaining the features , amenities , and off-road capabilities of a traditional Range Rover in a smaller package .  Land Rover sold nearly 88,000 units of the Evoque in its first year of production .


Adventure Time Adventure Time is an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network . It follows the adventures of a boy named Finn ( voiced by Jeremy Shada ) and his best friend and adoptive brother Jake ( John DiMaggio ) a dog with the magical power to change shape and size at will . Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo , where they interact with Princess Bubblegum ( Hynden Walch ) , the Ice King ( Tom Kenny ) , Marceline the Vampire Queen ( Olivia Olson ) , BMO ( Niki Yang ) , and others . The series is based on a 2007 short produced for Nicktoons and Frederator Studios ' animation incubator series Random ! Cartoons . After the short became a viral hit on the Internet , Cartoon Network commissioned a full-length series , which previewed on March 11 , 2010 , and officially premiered on April 5 , 2010 .   The series draws inspiration from a variety of sources , including the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons and video games . It is produced using hand-drawn animation ; action and dialogue for episodes are decided by storyboarding artists . Because each episode takes roughly eight to nine months to complete , multiple episodes are worked on concurrently . The cast members record their lines in group recordings , and the series regularly employs guest actors for minor and recurring characters . Each episode runs for about eleven minutes ; pairs of episodes are often telecast to fill half-hour program slots . Eight seasons of the program have aired , and a ninth and final season premiered on April 21 , 2017 . , a feature-length film is in development .   Since its debut , Adventure Time has been a ratings success for Cartoon Network , with the highest-rated episodes having attracted over 3 million viewers . The show has received positive reviews from critics anddespite being aimed primarily at childrenhas developed a following among teenagers and adults . Adventure Time has won awards including : six Primetime Emmy Awards , a Peabody Award , three Annie Awards , two British Academy Children 's Awards , a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award , a Pixel Award , and a Kerrang ! Award . The series has also been nominated for three Critics ' Choice Television Awards , two Annecy Festival Awards , a TCA Award , and a Sundance Film Festival Award , among others . Of the many comic book spin-offs based on the series , one received an Eisner Award and two Harvey Awards . The series has also inspired various clothing items and related merchandise , video games , and DVD compilations .


Tunisia Tunisia ( تونس ; ⵜⵓⵏⴻⵙ Tunisie ) , officially the Tunisian Republic is a country in North Africa , covering 165,000 km2 . Its northernmost point , Cape Angela , is the northernmost point on the African continent . It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest , Libya to the southeast , and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east . Tunisia 's population was estimated to be just under 11 million in 2014 . Tunisia 's name is derived from its capital city , Tunis , which is located on Tunisia 's northeast coast .   Geographically , Tunisia contains the eastern end of the Atlas Mountains and the northern reaches of the Sahara desert . Much of the rest of the country 's land is fertile soil . Its 1,300 km of coastline includes the African conjunction of the western and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Basin and , by means of the Sicilian Strait and Sardinian Channel , features the African mainland 's second and third nearest points to Europe after Gibraltar .   Tunisia is a unitary semi-presidential representative democratic republic . It is considered to be the only full democracy in the Arab World . It has a high human development index . It has an association agreement with the European Union ; is a member of La Francophonie , the Union for the Mediterranean , the Arab Maghreb Union , the Arab League , the OIC , the Greater Arab Free Trade Area , the Community of Sahel-Saharan States , the African Union , the Non-Aligned Movement , the Group of 77 ; and has obtained the status of major non-NATO ally of the United States . In addition , Tunisia is also a member state of the United Nations and a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court . Close relations with Europe in particular with France and with Italy have been forged through economic cooperation , privatisation and industrial modernization .   In ancient times , Tunisia was primarily inhabited by Berbers . Phoenician immigration began in the 12th century BC ; these immigrants founded Carthage . A major mercantile power and a military rival of the Roman Republic , Carthage was defeated by the Romans in 146 BC . The Romans , who would occupy Tunisia for most of the next eight hundred years , introduced Christianity and left architectural legacies like the El Djem amphitheater . After several attempts starting in 647 , the Arabs conquered the whole of Tunisia by 697 , followed by the Ottomans between 1534 and 1574 . The Ottomans held sway for over three hundred years . The French colonization of Tunisia occurred in 1881 . Tunisia gained independence with Habib Bourguiba and declared the Tunisian Republic in 1957 . In 2011 , the Tunisian Revolution resulted in the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali , followed by parliamentary elections . The country voted for parliament again on 26 October 2014 , and for President on 23 November 2014 .


Superior Donuts is a situational comedy.

Superior Donuts (TV series) Superior Donuts is an American sitcom that airs on CBS . The series aired as a `` special preview '' on February 2 , 2017 , following The Big Bang Theory . It then premiered in its regular Monday at 9:00 p.m. timeslot on February 6 , 2017 . The series is based on the play of the same name by Tracy Letts .   On March 23 , 2017 , CBS renewed the series for a second season , which will premiere on October 30 , 2017 .


A Wrinkle in Time has been made into an opera.

A Wrinkle in Time A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy novel written by American writer Madeleine L'Engle , first published in 1963 , and in 1979 with illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon . The book won a Newbery Medal , Sequoyah Book Award , and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award , and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award . It is the first book in L'Engle 's Time Quintet , which follows the Murry and O'Keefe families . The book was made into a film , A Wrinkle in Time , in 2003 , and another film , also called A Wrinkle in Time , is in production with a scheduled release of April 2018 . It has also been made into an opera , a graphic novel , and several plays .


Isabella of France Isabella of France ( 1295 -- 22 August 1358 ) , sometimes described as the She-Wolf of France , was Queen of England as the wife of Edward II , and regent of England from 1326 until 1330 . She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre . Queen Isabella was notable at the time for her beauty , diplomatic skills , and intelligence .   Isabella arrived in England at the age of 12 during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions . Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite , Piers Gaveston , but the queen supported Edward during these early years , forming a working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power . After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312 , however , Edward later turned to a new favourite , Hugh Despenser the Younger , and attempted to take revenge on the barons , resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England . Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser and by 1325 her marriage to Edward was at a breaking point .   Travelling to France under the guise of a diplomatic mission , Isabella began an affair with Roger Mortimer , and the two agreed to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family . The Queen returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326 , moving rapidly across England . The King 's forces deserted him . Isabella deposed Edward , becoming regent on behalf of her son , Edward III . Many have believed that Isabella then arranged the murder of Edward II . Isabella and Mortimer 's regime began to crumble , partly because of her lavish spending , but also because the Queen successfully , but unpopularly , resolved long-running problems such as the wars with Scotland .   In 1330 , Isabella 's son Edward III deposed Mortimer in turn , taking back his authority and executing Isabella 's lover . The Queen was not punished , however , and lived for many years in considerable style -- although not at Edward III 's court -- until her death in 1358 . Isabella became a popular `` femme fatale '' figure in plays and literature over the years , usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel , manipulative figure .


Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson ( born 19 May 1992 ) is a British tennis player and a Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champion . She is a former British No. 1 and current British No. 2 behind Johanna Konta .   She holds the Mixed Doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships with Henri Kontinen .   On 14 October 2012 , Watson won her first WTA singles title with a win over Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan in the final of the Japan Open , becoming the first British female to win a WTA singles title since Sara Gomer in 1988 .   In her junior career , Watson won the US Open and gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games . She had been as high as No. 3 in the world on the ITF Junior Circuit .


Anorexia nervosa affected 200 more people in 2013 than in 1990.

Anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa , often referred to simply as anorexia , is an eating disorder characterized by a low weight , fear of gaining weight , a strong desire to be thin , and food restriction . Many people with anorexia see themselves as overweight even though they are in fact underweight . If asked they usually deny they have a problem with low weight . Often they weigh themselves frequently , eat only small amounts , and only eat certain foods . Some will exercise excessively , force themselves to vomit , or use laxatives to produce weight loss . Complications may include osteoporosis , infertility and heart damage , among others . Women will often stop having menstrual periods .   The cause is not known . There appear to be some genetic components with identical twins more often affected than non-identical twins . Cultural factors also appear to play a role with societies that value thinness having higher rates of disease . Additionally , it occurs more commonly among those involved in activities that value thinness such as high-level athletics , modelling , and dancing . Anorexia often begins following a major life-change or stress-inducing event . The diagnosis requires a significantly low weight . The severity of disease is based on body mass index ( BMI ) in adults with mild disease having a BMI of greater than 17 , moderate a BMI of 16 to 17 , severe a BMI of 15 to 16 , and extreme a BMI less than 15 . In children a BMI for age percentile of less than the 5th percentile is often used .   Treatment of anorexia involves restoring a healthy weight , treating the underlying psychological problems , and addressing behaviors that promote the problem . While medications do not help with weight gain , they may be used to help with associated anxiety or depression . A number of types of therapy may be useful including an approach where parents assume responsibility for feeding their child , known as Maudsley family therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy . Sometimes people require admission to hospital to restore weight . Evidence for benefit from nasogastric tube feeding , however , is unclear . Some people will just have a single episode and recover while others may have many episodes over years . Many complications improve or resolve with regaining of weight .   Globally , anorexia is estimated to affect 2.9 million people as of 2015 . It is estimated to occur in 0.9 % to 4.3 % of women and 0.2 % to 0.3 % of men in Western countries at some point in their life . About 0.4 % of young females are affected in a given year and it is estimated to occur ten times less commonly in males . Rates in most of the developing world are unclear . Often it begins during the teen years or young adulthood . While anorexia became more commonly diagnosed during the 20th century it is unclear if this was due to an increase in its frequency or simply better diagnosis . In 2013 it directly resulted in about 600 deaths globally , up from 400 deaths in 1990 . Eating disorders also increase a person 's risk of death from a wide range of other causes , including suicide . About 5 % of people with anorexia die from complications over a ten-year period , a nearly 6 times increased risk . The term anorexia nervosa was first used in 1873 by William Gull to describe this condition .


30 Seconds to Mars is the debut album of the band of the same name.

30 Seconds to Mars (album) 30 Seconds to Mars is the debut studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars . It was first released on August 27 , 2002 , by Immortal Records and distributed by Virgin Records . The album was produced by Bob Ezrin , Brian Virtue , and Thirty Seconds to Mars , and was recorded in rural Wyoming during 2001 and early 2002 . It had been in the works for a couple of years , with lead vocalist Jared Leto writing the majority of the songs .   30 Seconds to Mars was described as a concept album centering on human struggle and self-determination , characterized by personal lyrics that use otherworldly elements and conceptual ideas to illustrate a truthful personal situation . The album incorporates progressive sounds with influences and elements from new wave , space rock , and electronica . Upon release , 30 Seconds to Mars received mostly positive reviews from music critics , who commended the album 's lyrical content and the band 's musicianship , which has been compared to the works of Pink Floyd , Tool , and Brian Eno .   The album debuted at number 107 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the US Top Heatseekers . It was a slow-burning success that eventually sold two million copies worldwide . It produced two singles , `` Capricorn ( A Brand New Name ) '' and `` Edge of the Earth '' . Thirty Seconds to Mars promoted the album by opening concerts for bands such as Puddle of Mudd , Incubus , Sevendust , and Chevelle .


King Kong (2005 film) King Kong is a 2005 epic monster adventure film co-written , produced , and directed by Peter Jackson . A remake of the 1933 film of the same name , the film stars Naomi Watts , Jack Black , Adrien Brody , and , through motion capture , Andy Serkis as the title character . Set in 1933 , King Kong tells the story of an ambitious filmmaker who coerces his cast and hired ship crew to travel to the mysterious Skull Island . There they encounter Kong , a legendary giant gorilla , whom they capture and take to New York City .   Filming for King Kong took place in New Zealand from September 2004 to March 2005 . The project 's budget climbed from an initial $ 150 million to a then-record-breaking $ 207 million . It was released on December 14 , 2005 in Germany and on December 16 in the United States , and made an opening of $ 50.1 million . While it performed lower than expected , King Kong made domestic and worldwide grosses that eventually added up to $ 550 million , becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film in Universal Pictures history . It also generated $ 100 million in DVD sales upon its home video release . The film garnered positive reviews from critics and appeared on several top ten lists for 2005 . It was praised for its special effects , performances , sense of spectacle and comparison to the 1933 original . It won three Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing , Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects .


Tennis is the kind of sport that uses racquets.

Tennis Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent ( singles ) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles ) . Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent 's court . The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return . The player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point , while the opposite player will .   Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all ages . The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket , including wheelchair users . The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham , England , in the late 19th century as `` lawn tennis '' . It had close connections both to various field ( `` lawn '' ) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis . During most of the 19th century , in fact , the term `` tennis '' referred to real tennis , not lawn tennis : for example , in Disraeli 's novel Sybil ( 1845 ) , Lord Eugene De Vere announces that he will `` go down to Hampton Court and play tennis . ''   The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s . Two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times , and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s . A recent addition to professional tennis has been the adoption of electronic review technology coupled with a point challenge system , which allows a player to contest the line call of a point , a system known as Hawk-Eye .   Tennis is played by millions of recreational players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport . The four Grand Slam tournaments ( also referred to as the `` Majors '' ) are especially popular : the Australian Open played on hard courts , the French Open played on red clay courts , Wimbledon played on grass courts , and the US Open played also on hard courts .


Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( -LSB- ˈriːoʊ_di_ʒəˈnɛəroʊ , _ - deɪ_ʒə - , _ - də_dʒə - -RSB- -LSB- ˈʁi.u d ( ʒi ) ʒɐˈnejɾu -RSB- ; River of January ) , or simply Rio , is the second-most populous municipality in Brazil and the sixth-most populous in the Americas . The metropolis is anchor to the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area , the second-most populous metropolitan area in Brazil and sixth-most populous in the Americas . Rio de Janeiro is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil 's third-most populous state . Part of the city has been designated as a World Heritage Site , named `` Rio de Janeiro : Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea '' , by UNESCO on 1 July 2012 as a Cultural Landscape .   Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese , the city was initially the seat of the Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro , a domain of the Portuguese Empire . Later , in 1763 , it became the capital of the State of Brazil , a state of the Portuguese Empire . In 1808 , when the Portuguese Royal Court transferred itself from Portugal to Brazil , Rio de Janeiro became the chosen seat of the court of Queen Maria I of Portugal , who subsequently , in 1815 , under the leadership of her son , the Prince Regent , and future King João VI of Portugal , raised Brazil to the dignity of a kingdom , within the United Kingdom of Portugal , Brazil , and Algarves . Rio stayed the capital of the pluricontinental Lusitanian monarchy until 1822 , when the War of Brazilian Independence began . This is one of the few instances in history that the capital of a colonising country officially shifted to a city in one of its colonies . Rio de Janeiro subsequently served as the capital of the independent monarchy , the Empire of Brazil , until 1889 , and then the capital of a republican Brazil until 1960 when the capital was transferred to Brasília .   Rio de Janeiro has the second largest municipal GDP in the country , and 30th largest in the world in 2008 , estimated at about R$ 343 billion ( IBGE , 2008 ) ( nearly US$ 201 billion ) . It is headquarters to Brazilian oil , mining , and telecommunications companies , including two of the country 's major corporations -- Petrobras and Vale -- and Latin America 's largest telemedia conglomerate , Grupo Globo . The home of many universities and institutes , it is the second-largest center of research and development in Brazil , accounting for 17 % of national scientific output according to 2005 data .   Rio de Janeiro is one of the most visited cities in the Southern Hemisphere and is known for its natural settings , Carnival , samba , bossa nova , and balneario beaches such as Barra da Tijuca , Copacabana , Ipanema , and Leblon . In addition to the beaches , some of the most famous landmarks include the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain , named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World ; Sugarloaf Mountain with its cable car ; the Sambódromo ( Sambadrome ) , a permanent grandstand-lined parade avenue which is used during Carnival ; and Maracanã Stadium , one of the world 's largest football stadiums .   Rio de Janeiro was the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics , making the city the first South American and Portuguese-speaking city to host the events , and the third time the Olympics were held in a Southern Hemisphere city . The Maracanã Stadium held the finals of the 1950 and 2014 FIFA World Cups , the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup , and the XV Pan American Games .   The city is divided into 33 administrative regions .


K2 is also known as the Savage Mountain.

K2 K2 ( -LSB- ) , also known as Mount Godwin-Austen or Chhogori ( Balti and -LSB- ) , is the second highest mountain in the world , after Mount Everest , at 8611 m above sea level . It is located on the China-Pakistan border between Baltistan , in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan , and the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang , China . K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram range and the highest point in both Pakistan and Xinjiang .   K2 is known as the Savage Mountain due to the extreme difficulty of ascent . It has the second-highest fatality rate among the eight thousanders . With around 300 successful summits and 77 fatalities , about one person dies on the mountain for every four who summit . It is more difficult and hazardous to reach the peak of K2 from the Chinese side , so it is usually climbed from the Pakistani side . Unlike Annapurna , the mountain with the highest fatality-to-summit rate ( 191 summits and 61 fatalities ) , or the other eight thousanders , K2 has never been climbed during winter .


Veronica Mars (character) Veronica Mars is the fictional protagonist , occasional narrator ( through voiceovers ) , and antiheroine of the American television series Veronica Mars , which aired on UPN from 2004 to 2006 and on The CW from 2006 to 2007 . The character was portrayed by Kristen Bell through the duration of the series . Following the show 's cancellation , Bell reprised the role in the 2014 film continuation . The character , created by Rob Thomas , was originally male and the protagonist of his unproduced novel Untitled Rob Thomas Teen Detective Novel , which eventually became the basis of the series . After the work 's transition from novel to television series , Thomas changed the character 's gender from male to female as he believed a noir piece told from a female point of view would be more interesting .   Prior to the series , Veronica had to deal with her best friend Lily being murdered , her father losing his reputation as sheriff and her mother leaving him as a result , and losing her status as one of the popular girls in high school because of it .


Silicon Valley refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California.

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area , in the northern part of the U.S. state of California . The `` valley '' in its name refers to the Santa Clara Valley in Santa Clara County , which includes the city of San Jose and surrounding cities and towns , where the region has been traditionally centered . The region has expanded to include the southern half of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County , and southern portions of the East Bay in Alameda County .   The word `` silicon '' originally referred to the large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers in the region , but the area is now the home to many of the world 's largest high-tech corporations , including the headquarters of 39 businesses in the Fortune 1000 , and thousands of startup companies . Silicon Valley also accounts for one-third of all of the venture capital investment in the United States , which has helped it to become a leading hub and startup ecosystem for high-tech innovation and scientific development . It was in the Valley that the silicon-based integrated circuit , the microprocessor , and the microcomputer , among other key technologies , were developed . As of 2013 , the region employed about a quarter of a million information technology workers .   As more high-tech companies were established across the Santa Clara Valley , and then north towards the Bay Area 's two other major cities , San Francisco and Oakland , the `` Silicon Valley '' name eventually came to refer to all high-tech businesses in the region . The term is now generally used as a synecdoche for the American high-technology economic sector . The name also became a global synonym for leading high-tech research and enterprises , and thus inspired similar named locations , as well as research parks and technology centers with a comparable structure all around the world .


Maria Sharapova held the title of the world No. 1 zero times.

Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова ; born April 19 , 1987 ) is a Russian professional tennis player . A United States resident since 1994 , Sharapova has competed on the WTA tour since 2001 . She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions , for a total of 21 weeks . She is one of ten women , and the only Russian , to hold the career Grand Slam . She is also an Olympic medalist , having earned silver for Russia in women 's singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London .   Sharapova became the world No. 1 for the first time on August 22 , 2005 , at the age of 18 , and last held the ranking for the fifth time for four weeks from June 11 , 2012 , to July 8 , 2012 . Her 35 singles titles and five Grand Slam titles -- two at the French Open and one each at the Australian Open , Wimbledon , and US Open -- rank third among active players , behind Serena and Venus Williams . She won the year-ending WTA Finals in her debut in 2004 . She has also won three doubles titles .   Despite an injury-prone career , Sharapova has achieved a rare level of longevity in the women 's game . She won at least one singles title a year from 2003 until 2015 , a streak only bested by Steffi Graf , Martina Navratilova , and Chris Evert . Several tennis pundits and former players have called Sharapova one of tennis 's best competitors , with John McEnroe calling her one of the best the sport has ever seen .   Sharapova has been featured in a number of modeling assignments , including a feature in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue . She appeared in many advertisements , including those for Nike , Prince , and Canon , being the face of several fashion houses , most notably Cole Haan . Since February 2007 , she has been a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador , concerned specifically with the Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme . In June 2011 , she was named one of the `` 30 Legends of Women 's Tennis : Past , Present and Future '' by Time and in March 2012 was named one of the `` 100 Greatest of All Time '' by Tennis Channel . According to Forbes , she has been named highest paid female athlete in the world for 11 consecutive years and earned 285 million including prize money since she turned pro in 2001 .   In March 2016 , Sharapova revealed she had failed a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open on January 26 , 2016 . She had tested positive for meldonium , a substance that had been banned , effective January 1 , 2016 by the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA ) . On June 8 , 2016 , she was suspended from playing tennis for two years by the International Tennis Federation ( ITF ) . On October 4 , 2016 , the suspension was reduced to 15 months , starting from the date of the failed test . She returned to the WTA tour on April 26 , 2017 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix .


Robert Browning Robert Browning ( 7 May 1812 -- 12 December 1889 ) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of the dramatic monologue made him one of the foremost Victorian poets . His poems are known for their irony , characterization , dark humour , social commentary , historical settings , and challenging vocabulary and syntax .   Browning 's early career began promisingly , but was not a success . The long poem Pauline brought him to the attention of Dante Gabriel Rossetti , and was followed by Paracelsus , which was praised by William Wordsworth and Charles Dickens , but in 1840 the difficult Sordello , which was seen as wilfully obscure , brought his poetry into disrepute . His reputation took more than a decade to recover , during which time he moved away from the Shelleyan forms of his early period and developed a more personal style .   In 1846 Browning married the older poet Elizabeth Barrett , who at the time was considerably better known than himself . So started one of history 's most famous literary marriages . They went to live in Italy , a country he called `` my university '' , and which features frequently in his work . By the time of her death in 1861 , he had published the crucial collection Men and Women . The collection Dramatis Personae and the book-length epic poem The Ring and the Book followed , and made him a leading British poet . He continued to write prolifically , but his reputation today rests largely on the poetry he wrote in this middle period .   When Browning died in 1889 , he was regarded as a sage and philosopher-poet who through his writing had made contributions to Victorian social and political discourse -- as in the poem Caliban upon Setebos , which some critics have seen as a comment on the theory of evolution , which had recently been put forward by Darwin and others . Unusually for a poet , societies for the study of his work were founded while he was still alive . Such Browning Societies remained common in Britain and the United States until the early 20th century .   Browning 's admirers have tended to temper their praise with reservations about the length and difficulty of his most ambitious poems , particularly The Ring and the Book . Nevertheless , they have included such eminent writers as Henry James , Oscar Wilde , George Bernard Shaw , G. K. Chesterton , Ezra Pound , Jorge Luis Borges , and Vladimir Nabokov . Among living writers , Stephen King 's The Dark Tower series and A.S. Byatt 's Possession refer directly to Browning 's work .   Today Browning 's critically most esteemed poems include the monologues Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came , Fra Lippo Lippi , Andrea Del Sarto , and My Last Duchess . His most popular poems include Porphyria 's Lover , How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix , the diptych Meeting at Night , the patriotic Home Thoughts from Abroad , and the children 's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin . His abortive dinner-party recital of How They Brought The Good News was recorded on an Edison wax cylinder , and is believed to be the oldest surviving recording made in the United Kingdom of a notable person .


Browning Society Browning societies were groups of people who met regularly to discuss the works of Robert Browning . Emerging from various reading groups , the societies were an indication of the poet 's fame and , unusually , were actively forming during his lifetime . Browning was not consulted on the foundation of these societies in appreciation of his work , and the idea did not meet with his immediate approval .


Wikipedia Wikipedia ( -LSB- wɪkiˈpiːdiə -RSB- ) is a free online encyclopedia with the aim to allow anyone to edit articles . Wikipedia is the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet and is ranked among the ten most popular websites . Wikipedia is owned by the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation .   Wikipedia was launched on January 15 , 2001 , by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger . Sanger coined Wikipedia , a portmanteau of wiki and encyclopedia . There was only the English language version initially , but it quickly developed similar versions in other languages , which differ in content and in editing practices . With articles , the English Wikipedia is the largest of the more than 290 Wikipedia encyclopedias . Overall , Wikipedia consists of more than 40 million articles in more than 250 different languages and , , it had 18 billion page views and nearly 500 million unique visitors each month .   As of March 2017 , Wikipedia has about forty thousand high-quality articles known as Featured Articles and Good Articles that cover vital topics . In 2005 , Nature published a peer review comparing 42 science articles from Encyclopædia Britannica and Wikipedia , and found that Wikipedia 's level of accuracy approached Encyclopædia Britannicas . Criticism of Wikipedia includes claims that it exhibits systemic bias , presents a mixture of `` truths , half truths , and some falsehoods '' , and that , in controversial topics , it is subject to manipulation and spin .


Modern liberalism in the United States strongly supports spending on education.

Modern liberalism in the United States Modern American liberalism is the dominant version of liberalism in the United States . It is characterized by social liberalism , and combines ideas of civil liberty and equality with support for social justice and a mixed economy . The term `` modern liberalism '' in this article refers only to the United States . In a global context , this philosophy is usually referred to as social liberalism .   The American modern liberal philosophy strongly endorses public spending on programs such as education , health care , and welfare . Important social issues today include addressing inequality , voting rights for minorities , affirmative action , reproductive and other women 's rights , support for LGBT rights , and immigration reform .   Modern liberalism took shape during the twentieth century , with roots in Theodore Roosevelt 's New Nationalism , Woodrow Wilson 's New Freedom , Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal , Harry S. Truman 's Fair Deal , John F. Kennedy 's New Frontier , and Lyndon B. Johnson 's Great Society . American liberals oppose conservatives on most issues , but not all . Modern liberalism is historically related to social liberalism and progressivism , though the current relationship between liberal and progressive viewpoints is debated .   John F. Kennedy defined a liberal as follows :   Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941 defined a liberal party as one ,   Keynesian economic theory has played an important role in the economic philosophy of modern American liberals . Modern American liberals generally believe that national prosperity requires government management of the macroeconomy , in order to keep unemployment low , inflation in check , and growth high . They also value institutions that defend against economic inequality . In The Conscience of a Liberal Paul Krugman writes : `` I believe in a relatively equal society , supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty . I believe in democracy , civil liberties , and the rule of law . That makes me a liberal , and I 'm proud of it . '' Liberals often point to the widespread prosperity enjoyed under a mixed economy in the years since World War II . They believe liberty exists when access to necessities like health care and economic opportunity are available to all , and they champion the protection of the environment .   Modern American liberalism is typically associated with the Democratic Party , as modern American conservatism is typically associated with the Republican Party .