Alfred Hitchcock framed shots to maximize empathy in 1998.

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock ( 13 August 1899 -- 29 April 1980 ) was an English film director and producer , at times referred to as `` The Master of Suspense '' . He pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres . He had a successful career in British cinema with both silent films and early talkies and became renowned as England 's best director . Hitchcock moved to Hollywood in 1939 , and became a U.S. citizen in 1955 .   Hitchcock became a highly visible public figure through interviews , movie trailers , cameo appearances in his own films , and the ten years in which he hosted the television programme Alfred Hitchcock Presents ( 1955 -- 1965 ) . He also fashioned for himself a recognisable directorial style . Hitchcock 's stylistic trademarks include the use of camera movement that mimics a person 's gaze , forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism . In addition , he framed shots to maximise anxiety , fear , or empathy , and used innovative forms of film editing . His work often features fugitives on the run alongside `` icy blonde '' female characters . In 1978 , film critic John Russell Taylor described Hitchcock as `` the most universally recognizable person in the world '' , and `` a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius '' .   Prior to 1980 , there had long been talk of Hitchcock being knighted for his contribution to film . Critic Roger Ebert wrote : `` Other British directors like Sir Carol Reed and Sir Charlie Chaplin were knighted years ago , while Hitchcock , universally considered by film students to be one of the greatest filmmakers of all time , was passed over '' . Hitchcock later received his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in the 1980 New Year Honours .   Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades and is often regarded as one of the most influential directors in cinematic history . Following a 2007 critics ' poll by Britain 's Daily Telegraph in which he was ranked Britain 's greatest filmmaker , one scholar wrote : `` Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema , which would be utterly different without him . His flair was for narrative , cruelly withholding crucial information ( from his characters and from the audience ) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else . '' Hitchcock 's first thriller , The Lodger : A Story of the London Fog ( 1926 ) , helped shape the thriller genre in film . His 1929 film , Blackmail , is often cited as the first British sound feature film , while Rear Window ( 1954 ) , Vertigo ( 1958 ) , North by Northwest ( 1959 ) , and Psycho ( 1960 ) are regularly ranked among the greatest films of all time .


The Xbox One is a video game console made by Microsoft.

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft . It represents a series of video game consoles developed by Microsoft , with three consoles released in the sixth , seventh , and eighth generations respectively . The brand also represents applications ( games ) , streaming services , and an online service by the name of Xbox Live . The brand was first introduced on November 15 , 2001 in the United States , with the launch of the original Xbox console .   That original device was the first video game console offered by an American company after the Atari Jaguar stopped sales in 1996 . It reached over 24 million units sold as of May 10 , 2006 . Microsoft 's second console , the Xbox 360 , was released in 2005 and has sold over 77.2 million consoles worldwide as of April 18 , 2013 . The successor to the Xbox 360 and Microsoft 's most recent console , the Xbox One , was revealed on May 21 , 2013 . The Xbox One has been released in 21 markets in total , with a Chinese release on September 29 , 2014 . The head of Xbox is Phil Spencer , who succeeded former head Marc Whitten in late March 2014 .


Xbox One Xbox One is a line of home video game consoles developed by Microsoft . Announced in May 2013 , it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox family . It was first released in North America , parts of Europe , Australia , and Brazil in November 2013 , and in Japan , China , and other European countries in September 2014 . It is the first Xbox game console to be released in China , specifically in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone . Microsoft marketed the device as an `` all-in-one entertainment system '' . The Xbox One line mainly competes against consoles such as Sony 's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 's Wii U as part of the eighth generation of video game consoles .   Moving away from its predecessor 's PowerPC-based architecture , Xbox One marks a shift back to the x86 architecture used in the original Xbox ; it features an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit ( APU ) built around the x86-64 instruction set . Xbox One 's controller was redesigned over the Xbox 360 's , with a redesigned body , D-pad and triggers capable of delivering directional haptic feedback . The console places an increased emphasis on cloud computing , as well as social networking features , and the ability to record and share video clips or screenshots from gameplay , or live-stream directly to streaming services such as Mixer and Twitch . Games can also be played off-console via a local area network on supported Windows 10 devices . The console can play Blu-ray Disc , and overlay live television programming from an existing set-top box or a digital tuner for digital terrestrial television with an enhanced program guide . The console optionally included a redesigned Kinect sensor , marketed as the `` Kinect 2.0 '' , providing improved motion tracking and voice recognition for use in its graphical user interface ( GUI ) and games .   Xbox One received mostly positive reception for its refined controller design , multimedia features , and voice navigation . Its quieter and cooler design was praised for making the console more reliable than its predecessor on-launch , but the console was generally criticized for running games at a technically lower graphical level than the PlayStation 4 . Its original user interface was panned for being nonintuitive , although changes made to it and other aspects of the console 's software post-launch received positive reception . Its Kinect received praise for its improved motion-tracking accuracy , its face recognition logins , and its voice commands .   In August 2016 , Microsoft released a refreshed Xbox One model known as Xbox One S ; it has a streamlined design , native support for 4K video playback and upscaling , and HDR10 high-dynamic-range color . It was praised for its smaller size , its on-screen visual improvements , and its lack of an external power supply , but its regressions such as the lack of a native Kinect port were noted . A future hardware revision codenamed `` Project Scorpio '' is scheduled for late-2017 ; it will feature major hardware upgrades focused on enabling 4K gameplay and support for virtual reality hardware , and will be backward compatible with all existing Xbox One software and hardware .


Moana (2016 film) Moana ( -LSB- moʊˈɑːnə -RSB- ) is a 2016 American computer-animated musical fantasy-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures . It is the 56th Disney animated feature film . Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker , co-directed by Don Hall and Chris Williams , the film introduces Auli'i Cravalho as Moana and features the voices of Dwayne Johnson , Rachel House , Temuera Morrison , Jemaine Clement , Nicole Scherzinger , and Alan Tudyk . The film features music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda , Opetaia Foa'i , and Mark Mancina .   The film tells the story of Moana , the strong-willed daughter of the chief of a Polynesian tribe , who is chosen by the ocean itself to reunite a mystical relic with a goddess . When a blight strikes her island , Moana sets sail in search of Maui , a legendary demigod , in the hope of saving her people .   Moana was released theatrically in the United States on November 23 , 2016 to critical acclaim , with critics particularly praising the film for its animation , music , and voice cast . The film went on to gross over $ 642 million worldwide . Along with Zootopia , it marked the first time since 2002 that Walt Disney Animation Studios released two feature films in the same year . It received two Academy Award nominations at the 89th Academy Awards : one for Best Animated Feature and another for Best Original Song ( `` How Far I 'll Go '' ) .


Azerbaijan Azerbaijan ( -LSB- æzərbaɪˈʒɑːn -RSB- ; Azərbaycan ) , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan ( Azərbaycan Respublikası ) , is a country in the South Caucasus region , situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe . It is bound by the Caspian Sea to the east , Russia to the north , Georgia to the northwest , Armenia to the west and Iran to the south . The exclave of Nakhchivan is bound by Armenia to the north and east , Iran to the south and west , while having an 11 km border with Turkey in the north west .   The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first democratic state in the Muslim orient world . The country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic . The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991 , prior to the official dissolution of the USSR in December 1991 . In September 1991 , the Armenian majority of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region seceded to form the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic . The region and seven adjacent districts outside it became de facto independent with the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994 . These regions are internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan pending a solution to the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh , found through negotiations facilitated by the OSCE .   Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic . The country is a member state of the Council of Europe , the OSCE and the NATO Partnership for Peace ( PfP ) program . It is one of six independent Turkic states , an active member of the Turkic Council and the TÜRKSOY community . Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations . It is one of the founding members of GUAM , the Commonwealth of Independent States ( CIS ) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons . A member of the United Nations since 1992 after its independence , Azerbaijan was elected to membership in the newly established Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 May 2006 . Its term of office began on 19 June 2006 . Azerbaijan is also a member state of the Non-Aligned Movement , holds observer status in World Trade Organization and is a correspondent at the International Telecommunication Union .   The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secularist . However , the majority of the population are of a Shiite Muslim background . Most Azerbaijanis however , do not actively practice any religion , and the country has been seen to be one of the most irreligious countries in the Muslim world , with 53 % stating religion has little to no importance in their lives , according to Pew Research Center and Gallup polls . Azerbaijan has a high level of human development which ranks on par with most Eastern European countries . It has a high rate of economic development and literacy , as well as a low rate of unemployment . According to the Davos World Economic Forum , Azerbaijan 's economy has scored 37th place within 138 countries in 2016 . Global Competitiveness Index 2015 indicates that Azerbaijan scores highest in its region .   ASAN services , established with Presidential Decree , are countrywide known for eliminating bribery and corruption in the provision of public services . ASAN Service has been awarded with United Nations ' Public Service Award 2015 , which is the most prestigious award in the world in the field of public service delivery .   The ruling party , the New Azerbaijan Party , has been accused of authoritarianism and human rights abuses .


New York City has over 120 colleges and universities.

New York City The City of New York , often called New York City or simply New York , is the most populous city in the United States . With an estimated 2016 population of 8,537,673 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 sqmi , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States . Located at the southern tip of the state of New York , the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area , one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world . A global power city , New York City exerts a significant impact upon commerce , finance , media , art , fashion , research , technology , education , and entertainment , its fast pace defining the term New York minute . Home to the headquarters of the United Nations , New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural , financial , and media capital of the world .   Situated on one of the world 's largest natural harbors , New York City consists of five boroughs , each of which is a separate county of New York State . The five boroughs -- Brooklyn , Queens , Manhattan , The Bronx , and Staten Island -- were consolidated into a single city in 1898 . The city and its metropolitan area constitute the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States , and as many as 800 languages are spoken in New York , making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world . New York City is home to more than 3.2 million residents born outside the United States , the world 's largest foreign-born population of any city . By 2016 estimates , the New York City metropolitan region remains by a significant margin the most populous in the United States , as defined by both the Metropolitan Statistical Area ( MSA ) , 20.2 million residents , and the Combined Statistical Area ( CSA ) , 23.7 million residents . In 2013 , the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product ( GMP ) of nearly US$ 1.39 trillion . In 2012 , the CSA generated a GMP of over US$ 1.55 trillion . NYC 's MSA and CSA GDP are higher than the GDPs of all but 11 and 12 countries , respectively .   New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626 . The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother , the Duke of York . New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790 . It has been the country 's largest city since 1790 . The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy . In the 21st century , New York has emerged as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship , social tolerance , and environmental sustainability .   Many districts and landmarks in New York City have become well known , and the city received a record of nearly 60 million tourists in 2015 , hosting three of the world 's ten most visited tourist attractions in 2013 . Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world . Times Square , iconic as the world 's `` heart '' and its `` Crossroads '' , is the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District , one of the world 's busiest pedestrian intersections , and a major center of the world 's entertainment industry . The names of many of the city 's bridges , tapered skyscrapers , and parks are known around the world . Anchored by Wall Street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan , New York City has been called both the most economically powerful city and the leading financial center of the world , and the city is home to the world 's two largest stock exchanges by total market capitalization , the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ . Manhattan 's real estate market is among the most expensive in the world . Manhattan 's Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere , with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city . Providing continuous 24/7 service , the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide , with stations in operation . Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City , including Columbia University , New York University , and Rockefeller University , which have been ranked among the top 35 in the world .


Vladimir Putin was not born in Leningrad.

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin ( ˈ ; born 7 October 1952 ) is the current President of the Russian Federation , holding the office since 7 May 2012 . He was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000 , President from 2000 to 2008 , and again Prime Minister from 2008 to 2012 . During his second term as Prime Minister , he was the Chairman of the ruling United Russia Party .   Born in Leningrad ( now Saint Petersburg ) , Putin studied German in high school and speaks the language fluently . He studied Law at the Saint Petersburg State University , graduating in 1975 . Putin was a KGB Foreign Intelligence Officer for 16 years , rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in 1991 to enter politics in Saint Petersburg . He moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin 's administration , rising quickly through the ranks and becoming Acting President on 31 December 1999 , when Yeltsin resigned . Putin won the subsequent 2000 Presidential election by a 53 % to 30 % margin , thus avoiding a runoff with his Communist Party of the Russian Federation opponent , Gennady Zyuganov . He was re-elected President in 2004 with 72 % of the vote .   During Putin 's first presidency , the Russian economy grew for eight straight years , and GDP measured in purchasing power increased by 72 % . The growth was a result of the 2000s commodities boom , high oil prices , and prudent economic and fiscal policies . Because of constitutionally mandated term limits , Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term in 2008 . The 2008 Presidential election was won by Dmitry Medvedev , who appointed Putin Prime Minister , beginning what has been called a period of `` tandemocracy '' . In September 2011 , after presidential terms were extended from four to six years , Putin announced he would seek a third term as president . He won the March 2012 presidential election with 64 % of the vote , a result which aligned with pre-election polling . Falling oil prices coupled with international sanctions imposed at the beginning of 2014 after Russia 's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in Eastern Ukraine led to GDP shrinking by 3.7 % in 2015 , though the Russian economy rebounded in 2016 with 0.3 % GDP growth and is officially out of the recession .   Under Putin 's leadership , Russia has scored poorly on both the Economist Intelligence Unit 's Democracy Index and Transparency International 's Corruption Perceptions Index . Putin has enjoyed high domestic approval ratings during his career , and received extensive international attention as one of the world 's most powerful leaders . In 2007 , he was the Time Person of the Year . In 2015 , he was # 1 on the Time 's Most Influential People List . Forbes ranked him the World 's Most Powerful Individual every year from 2013 to 2016 .


Chicago Chicago ( -LSB- ʃᵻˈkɑːɡoʊ -RSB- or -LSB- ʃᵻˈkɔːɡoʊ -RSB- ) , officially the City of Chicago , is the third-most populous city in the United States . With over 2.7 million residents , it is also the most populous city in both the state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States . It is the county seat of Cook County . The Chicago metropolitan area , often referred to as Chicagoland , has nearly 10 million people and is the third-largest in the U.S. Chicago has been called a global architecture capital . In terms of wealth and economy , Chicago is considered one of the most important business centers in the world .   Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 , near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed , and grew rapidly in the mid-nineteenth century . Positioned along Lake Michigan , the city is an international hub for finance , commerce , industry , technology , telecommunications , and transportation : O'Hare International Airport is the second-busiest airport in the world when measured by aircraft traffic ; the region also has the largest number of U.S. highways and rail road freight . In 2012 , Chicago was listed as an alpha global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network , and ranked seventh in the world in the 2016 Global Cities Index . Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States -- about $ 640 billion according to 2015 estimates . The city has one of the world 's largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14 % of the workforce .   In 2016 , Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors , a new record making it one of the top visited cities in the nation . Landmarks in the city include Millennium Park , Navy Pier , the Magnificent Mile , Art Institute of Chicago , Museum Campus , the Willis ( Sears ) Tower , Museum of Science and Industry , and Lincoln Park Zoo . Chicago 's culture includes the visual arts , novels , film , theater , especially improvisational comedy , and music , particularly jazz , blues , soul , hip hop , gospel and house music . There are many colleges and universities in the Chicago area ; among these , Northwestern University , University of Chicago , and the University of Illinois at Chicago are classified as `` highest research '' doctoral universities . Additionally , Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues . The city has many nicknames , the best-known being the Windy City .


American Pie was directed by Paramount Pictures.

American Pie (film) American Pie is a 1999 teen sex comedy film written by Adam Herz and directed by brothers Paul and Chris Weitz , in their directorial film debut . It is the first film in the American Pie theatrical series . The film was a box-office hit and spawned three direct sequels : American Pie 2 ( 2001 ) , American Wedding ( 2003 ) , and American Reunion ( 2012 ) . The film concentrates on five best friends ( Jim , Kevin , Oz , Finch , and Stifler ) who attend East Great Falls High . With the exception of Stifler ( who has already lost his virginity ) , the guys make a pact to lose their virginity before their high school graduation . The title is borrowed from the song of the same name and refers to a scene in the film , in which the protagonist is caught masturbating with a pie after being told that third base feels like `` warm apple pie '' . Writer Adam Herz has stated that the title also refers to the quest of losing one 's virginity in high school , which is as `` American as apple pie . ''   The film 's theme song is `` Laid '' by James , which is also the theme for the entire franchise .   In addition to the primary American Pie saga , there are four direct-to-DVD spin-off films bearing the title American Pie Presents : Band Camp ( 2005 ) , The Naked Mile ( 2006 ) , Beta House ( 2007 ) , and The Book of Love ( 2009 ) .   In response to the success of American Reunion , a fifth theatrical film , under the working title American Pie 5 was announced on August 4 , 2012 .


Planets beyond Neptune Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846 , there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit . The search began in the mid-19th century and culminated at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell 's quest for Planet X. Lowell proposed the Planet X hypothesis to explain apparent discrepancies in the orbits of the giant planets , particularly Uranus and Neptune , speculating that the gravity of a large unseen ninth planet could have perturbed Uranus enough to account for the irregularities .   Clyde Tombaugh 's discovery of Pluto in 1930 appeared to validate Lowell 's hypothesis , and Pluto was officially named the ninth planet . In 1978 , Pluto was conclusively determined to be too small for its gravity to affect the giant planets , resulting in a brief search for a tenth planet . The search was largely abandoned in the early 1990s , when a study of measurements made by the Voyager 2 spacecraft found that the irregularities observed in Uranus 's orbit were due to a slight overestimation of Neptune 's mass . After 1992 , the discovery of numerous small icy objects with similar or even wider orbits than Pluto led to a debate over whether Pluto should remain a planet , or whether it and its neighbours should , like the asteroids , be given their own separate classification . Although a number of the larger members of this group were initially described as planets , in 2006 the International Astronomical Union reclassified Pluto and its largest neighbours as dwarf planets , leaving Neptune the farthest known planet in the Solar System .   While the astronomical community widely agrees that Planet X , as originally envisioned , does not exist , the concept of an as-yet-unobserved planet has been revived by a number of astronomers to explain other anomalies observed in the outer Solar System . As of March 2014 , observations with the WISE telescope have ruled out the possibility of a Saturn-sized object ( 95 Earth mass ) out to 10,000 AU , and a Jupiter-sized ( ~ 318 Earth mass ) or larger object out to 26,000 AU .   In 2014 , based on similarities of the orbits of a group of recently discovered extreme trans-Neptunian objects , astronomers hypothesized the existence of a super-Earth planet , 2 to 15 times the mass of the Earth and beyond 200 AU with possibly a high inclined orbit at some 1500 AU . In 2016 further work showed this unknown distant planet is likely on an inclined , eccentric orbit that goes no closer than about 200 AU and no further than about 1600 AU from the Sun . The orbit is predicted to be anti-aligned to the clustered extreme trans-Neptunian objects .  Because Pluto is no longer considered a planet by the International Astronomical Union , this new hypothetical object has become known as Planet Nine .


Pluto Pluto ( minor-planet designation : 134340 Pluto ) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt , a ring of bodies beyond Neptune . It was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered .   Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and was originally considered to be the ninth planet from the Sun . After 1992 , its planethood was questioned following the discovery of several objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt . In 2005 , Eris , a dwarf planet in the scattered disc which is 27 % more massive than Pluto , was discovered . This led the International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) to define the term `` planet '' formally in 2006 , during their 26th General Assembly . That definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet .   Pluto is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun . It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume but is less massive than Eris . Like other Kuiper belt objects , Pluto is primarily made of ice and rock and is relatively small -- about one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume . It has a moderately eccentric and inclined orbit during which it ranges from 30 to 49 astronomical units or AU ( 4.4 -- 7.4 billion km ) from the Sun . This means that Pluto periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune , but a stable orbital resonance with Neptune prevents them from colliding . Light from the Sun takes about 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance ( 39.5 AU ) .   Pluto has five known moons : Charon ( the largest , with a diameter just over half that of Pluto ) , Styx , Nix , Kerberos , and Hydra . Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a binary system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body .   On July 14 , 2015 , the New Horizons spacecraft became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto . During its brief flyby , New Horizons made detailed measurements and observations of Pluto and its moons . In September 2016 , astronomers announced that the reddish-brown cap of the north pole of Charon is composed of tholins , organic macromolecules that may be ingredients for the emergence of life , and produced from methane , nitrogen and other gases released from the atmosphere of Pluto and transferred about 19,000 km to the orbiting moon .


Dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a planetary-mass object that is neither a planet nor a natural satellite . That is , it is in direct orbit of the Sun , and is massive enough for its gravity to crush it into a hydrostatic equilibrium shape ( usually a spheroid ) , but has not cleared the neighborhood of other material around its orbit .   The term dwarf planet was adopted in 2006 as part of a three-way categorization of bodies orbiting the Sun , brought about by an increase in discoveries of objects farther away from the Sun than Neptune that rivaled Pluto in size , and finally precipitated by the discovery of an even more massive object , Eris . The exclusion of dwarf planets from the roster of planets by the IAU has been both praised and criticized ; it was said to be the `` right decision '' by astronomer Mike Brown , who discovered Eris and other new dwarf planets , but has been rejected by Alan Stern , who had coined the term dwarf planet in April 1991 .   The International Astronomical Union ( IAU ) currently recognizes five dwarf planets : ; Pluto ; ; ; and . Brown criticizes this official recognition : `` A reasonable person might think that this means that there are five known objects in the solar system which fit the IAU definition of dwarf planet , but this reasonable person would be nowhere close to correct . ''   Another hundred or so known objects in the Solar System are suspected to be dwarf planets . Estimates are that up to 200 dwarf planets will be identified when the entire region known as the Kuiper belt is explored , and that the number may exceed 10,000 when objects scattered outside the Kuiper belt are considered . Individual astronomers recognize several of these , and in August 2011 Mike Brown published a list of 390 candidate objects , ranging from `` nearly certain '' to `` possible '' dwarf planets . '' '' Brown currently identifies ten known trans-Neptunian objects -- the four accepted by the IAU plus , , , , and -- as `` virtually certain '' , with another twenty highly likely . Stern states that there are more than a dozen known dwarf planets .   Only two of these bodies , Ceres and Pluto , have been observed in enough detail to demonstrate that they actually fit the IAU 's definition . The IAU accepted Eris as a dwarf planet because it is more massive than Pluto . They subsequently decided that unnamed trans-Neptunian objects with an absolute magnitude brighter than +1 ( and hence a diameter of ≥ 838 km assuming a geometric albedo of ≤ 1 ) are to be named under the assumption that they are dwarf planets .   The classification of bodies in other planetary systems with the characteristics of dwarf planets has not been addressed .


Dark Places (2015 film) Dark Places is a 2015 mystery thriller film directed by Gilles Paquet-Brenner . The screenplay , by Paquet-Brenner , is based on Gillian Flynn 's 2009 novel of the same name . It stars Charlize Theron , Christina Hendricks , Nicholas Hoult , and Chloë Grace Moretz .   The film was released in France on April 8 , 2015 , and in the United States on August 7 , 2015 , by A24 . It is the second film Theron and Hoult have collaborated on , after Mad Max : Fury Road .


Belgium is home to a tiny group of German-speakers.

Belgium Belgium ( -LSB- ˈbɛldʒəm -RSB- België -LSB- ˈbɛlɣijə -RSB- ; Belgique -LSB- bɛlʒik -RSB- ; Belgien -LSB- ˈbɛlɡi̯ən -RSB- ) , officially the Kingdom of Belgium , is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France , the Netherlands , Germany , Luxembourg , and the North Sea . It is a small , densely populated country which covers an area of 30528 km2 and has a population of about 11 million people . Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe , Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups : the Dutch-speaking , mostly Flemish community , which constitutes about 59 % of the population , and the French-speaking , mostly Walloon population , which comprises 41 % of all Belgians . Additionally , there is a small group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area , and bordering Germany .   Historically , Belgium , the Netherlands and Luxembourg ( along with parts of Northern France and Western Germany ) were known as the Low Countries ; it once covered a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states . The region was called Belgica in Latin , after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica . From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century , the area of Belgium was a prosperous and cosmopolitan centre of commerce and culture . From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830 , when Belgium seceded from the Netherlands , the area of Belgium served as the battleground between many European powers , causing it to be dubbed the `` Battlefield of Europe , ''  a reputation strengthened by both world wars .   Today , Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance . It is divided into three regions and three communities , that exist next to each other . Its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia . The Brussels-Capital Region is an officially bilingual ( French and Dutch ) enclave within the Flemish Region .  A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia .  Belgium 's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance , made up of six different governments .   Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution  and , during the course of the 20th century , possessed a number of colonies in Africa . The second half of the 20th century was marked by rising tensions between the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking citizens fueled by differences in language and culture and the unequal economic development of Flanders and Wallonia . This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms , resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993 . Despite the reforms , tensions between the groups have remained , if not increased ; there is significant separatism particularly among the Flemish ; controversial language laws exist such as the municipalities with language facilities ; and the formation of a coalition government took 18 months following the June 2010 federal election , a world record . Belgium is one of the six founding countries of the European Union and hosts the official seats of the European Commission , Council of the European Union , and European Council , as well as a seat of the European Parliament in the country 's capital , Brussels . Belgium is also a founding member of the Eurozone , NATO , OECD and WTO , and a part of the trilateral Benelux Union . Its capital , Brussels , hosts several of the EU 's official seats as well as the headquarters of many major international organizations such as NATO.Belgium is a member of , or affiliated to , many international organizations , including ACCT , AfDB , AsDB , Australia Group , Benelux , BIS , CCC , CE , CERN , EAPC , EBRD , EIB , EMU , ESA , EU , FAO , G-10 , IAEA , IBRD , ICAO , ICC , ICRM , IDA , IDB , IEA , IFAD , IFC , IFRCS , IHO , ILO , IMF , IMO , IMSO , Intelsat , Interpol , IOC , IOM , ISO , ITU , MONUC ( observers ) , NATO , NEA , NSG , OAS ( observer ) , OECD , OPCW , OSCE , PCA , UN , UNCTAD , UNECE , UNESCO , UNHCR , UNIDO , UNMIK , UNMOGIP , UNRWA , UNTSO , UPU , WADB ( non-regional ) , WEU , WHO , WIPO , WMO , WTrO , ZC . Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area . Belgium is a developed country , with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as `` very high '' in the Human Development Index .


Demi Lovato Demetria Devonne Lovato ( -LSB- ˈdɛmi_loʊ-ˈvɑːtoʊ -RSB- or ; born August 20 , 1992 ) is an American singer , songwriter , and actress . After making her debut as a child actress in Barney & Friends , Lovato rose to prominence in 2008 when she starred in the Disney Channel television film Camp Rock and released her debut single `` This Is Me '' which peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 . The success of the film and its soundtrack resulted in a recording contract with Hollywood Records . Her debut album , Do n't Forget ( 2008 ) , debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 . The following year , Lovato was cast as the titular character of the television series Sonny with a Chance and she released her sophomore album , Here We Go Again , which became her first one to top the Billboard 200 chart .   After the release of additional television films and their soundtracks in 2010 , including Camp Rock 2 : The Final Jam , Lovato 's personal issues put her career on a hiatus and led to the discontinuation of Sonny with a Chance after a second season . She entered a treatment center in November 2010 to seek help for addictions , an eating disorder , and self-harm . While there , she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder . Work on her third studio album , Unbroken ( 2011 ) , began after she successfully completed treatment . The album addresses several of her difficulties . Its lead single , `` Skyscraper '' , became Lovato 's second top 10 entry in the US , while its second single , `` Give Your Heart a Break '' , was certified triple platinum in the country . Lovato was a judge and mentor on the American version of The X Factor in 2012 and 2013 . Her third album , Demi ( 2013 ) , opened with first-week sales of 110,000 copies . The lead single from her eponymous album , `` Heart Attack '' , became her third top 10 in the US and the album spawned three more singles . While promoting the project , Lovato released a book titled Staying Strong : 365 Days a Year ( 2013 ) . She also returned to acting as a recurring character in Glee , and released a memoir in 2014 . Lovato 's fifth album , Confident ( 2015 ) , reached number two on the Billboard 200 . Its lead single `` Cool for the Summer '' was eventually certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America . All five of Lovato 's albums have received a gold certification in the US .   Musically , Lovato is considered a pop , pop rock , and R&B artist . Lovato has received a considerable number of accolades , including an MTV Video Music Award , 13 Teen Choice Awards , five People 's Choice Awards , an ALMA Award , a Latin American Music Award and a Grammy Award nomination . In 2013 , Maxim ranked her 26th on its Hot 100 list and Billboard ranked her second on its Social 50 Artists of the Year list . Outside the entertainment industry , Lovato has been involved with several social and environmental causes since the launch of her career . In May 2013 , she was cited for her dedication as a mentor to teens and young adults with mental health challenges at a National Children 's Mental Health Awareness Day hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in Washington , D.C. . She has also become an advocate for the LGBT community , and women 's rights . In 2014 , she was announced as the Grand Marshal for LA Pride week , and that same year she became the face for Human Rights Campaign 's Americans for Marriage Equality Campaign . In April 2016 , Lovato was honored with the GLAAD Vanguard Award for making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for LGBT people .


Pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form in the United States and United Kingdom during the mid-1950s . The terms `` popular music '' and `` pop music '' are often used interchangeably , although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many styles . `` Pop '' and `` rock '' were synonymous terms until the late 1960s , when they were increasingly used in opposition from each other .   Although pop music is seen as just the singles charts , it is not the sum of all chart music . Pop music is eclectic , and often borrows elements from other styles such as urban , dance , rock , Latin , and country ; nonetheless , there are core elements that define pop music . Identifying factors include generally short to medium-length songs written in a basic format ( often the verse-chorus structure ) , as well as the common use of repeated choruses , melodic tunes , and hooks .


Demi (album) Demi is the fourth studio album by American singer Demi Lovato . It was released on May 10 , 2013 , by Hollywood Records . Looking to transition from her self-described `` generic '' third album Unbroken ( 2011 ) , Lovato wanted to make her fourth album to `` have songs that excited her '' . The album incorporates pop with elements of synthpop , and bubblegum pop . The album was recorded between 2012 and 2013 , when Lovato served as a judge on the second season from the American version of The X Factor .   Demi received generally favorable reviews from music critics , who complimented Lovato 's vocal performance . The album debuted number three on the US Billboard 200 with the first-week sales of 110,000 copies -- the highest first-week album sales of Lovato 's career . The album also reached the top five in Canada , Ireland , Italy , Mexico and Spain . The album 's lead single , `` Heart Attack '' peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 , marking Lovato 's third US top 10 single . Second single `` Made in the USA '' peaked at number 80 , while later singles `` Neon Lights '' and `` Really Do n't Care '' both reached the top 40 peaking at 36 and 26 .


Unbroken (Demi Lovato album) Unbroken is the third studio album by American singer Demi Lovato . It was released on September 20 , 2011 , by Hollywood Records . Lovato described the album as `` more mature '' and `` a little more R&B / pop '' than her previous material , citing Rihanna as the major influence . While some of the album 's lyrical content was heavily influenced by Lovato 's personal struggles , it also deals with lighter subjects , such as love , self empowerment , and having fun .   The album received generally mixed to mostly positive reviews from music critics , with some who commended its ballad tracks and praised Lovato 's vocals , but others who dismissed it as `` immature '' and criticized its amount of `` party songs '' . Commercially , the album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 , with sales exceeding 97,000 copies in its first week of release . It was eventually certified gold . Unbroken performed well internationally worldwide , and peaked in the top 40 in many countries including , Australia , Canada , Italy , Mexico , New Zealand , Spain and Switzerland . It was certified Platinum in Brazil , and Gold in Chile and the Philippines .   The lead single `` Skyscraper '' was released on July 12 , 2011 . The song was a commercial success and peaked number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 , making it Lovato 's second highest-charting single to date , behind `` This Is Me '' and her most successful until `` Heart Attack '' cracked the Top 10 . It also reached the top twenty in Canada , New Zealand and Scotland and sold over 1,000,000 copies in the United States , where it was certified platinum . The song was well received from music critics , who generally cited as a highlight on the album . `` Give Your Heart a Break '' was released as the second and final single from the album on January 23 , 2012 .


The Lego Movie The Lego Movie is a 2014 3D computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller . The screenplay , penned by Lord and Miller , is based on a story by them and Dan and Kevin Hageman ; while the film features a few live-action scenes , it is primarily an animated film . Based on the Lego line of construction toys , the story focuses on an ordinary Lego minifigure who finds himself being the only one to help a resistance stop a tyrannical businessman from gluing everything in the Lego worlds into his vision of perfection . Chris Pratt , Will Ferrell , Elizabeth Banks , Will Arnett , Nick Offerman , Alison Brie , Charlie Day , Liam Neeson , and Morgan Freeman provide their voices for the film 's main characters . The Lego Movie was the first film produced by Warner Animation Group since the release of Looney Tunes : Back in Action in 2003 , and was an international co-production of the United States , Australia and Denmark . It was dedicated to the memory of Kathleen Fleming , the former director of entertainment development of the Lego company , following her death in Cancun , Mexico in April 2013 .   The film was released on February 7 , 2014 by Warner Bros. . Pictures to near-unanimous acclaim ; critics praised its visual style , humor , voice cast and heartwarming message . It earned more than $ 257 million in the U.S. and Canada and $ 210 million in other territories , for a worldwide total of over $ 469 million , with the film winning the BAFTA Award for Best Animated Film , the Critics ' Choice Movie Award for Best Animated Feature , and the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film ; it was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for `` Everything Is Awesome '' .   The film has since expanded into a major franchise which ties into the Lego brand . A spin-off film , The Lego Batman Movie , was released to theaters on February 10 , 2017 , with a second spin-off , The Lego Ninjago Movie , set to release later in the year . A sequel to the film is scheduled for release on February 8 , 2019 , as well as a third spin-off , The Billion Brick Race , also planned .


3D film A three-dimensional stereoscopic film ( also known as three-dimensional film , 3D film or S3D film ) is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception , hence adding a third dimension . The most common approach to the production of 3D films is derived from stereoscopic photography . In it , a regular motion picture camera system is used to record the images as seen from two perspectives ( or computer-generated imagery generates the two perspectives in post-production ) , and special projection hardware and/or eyewear are used to limit the visibility of each image in the pair to the viewer 's left or right eye only . 3D films are not limited to theatrical releases ; television broadcasts and direct-to-video films have also incorporated similar methods , especially since the advent of 3D television and Blu-ray 3D .   3D films have existed in some form since 1915 , but had been largely relegated to a niche in the motion picture industry because of the costly hardware and processes required to produce and display a 3D film , and the lack of a standardized format for all segments of the entertainment business . Nonetheless , 3D films were prominently featured in the 1950s in American cinema , and later experienced a worldwide resurgence in the 1980s and 1990s driven by IMAX high-end theaters and Disney themed-venues . 3D films became more and more successful throughout the 2000s , culminating in the unprecedented success of 3D presentations of Avatar in December 2009 and January 2010 .


Ed Sheeran was raised only outside of Suffolk.

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher `` Ed '' Sheeran ( born 17 February 1991 ) is an English singer-songwriter , guitarist and record producer . He was born in Halifax , West Yorkshire , and raised in Framlingham , Suffolk . He attended the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford , Surrey , as an undergraduate from the age of 18 in autumn 2009 . In early 2011 , Sheeran independently released the extended play , No. 5 Collaborations Project . After signing with Asylum Records , his debut album , + ( read as `` plus '' ) , was released on 9 September 2011 and has since been certified seven-times platinum in the UK . The album contains the single `` The A Team '' , which earned him the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically . In 2012 , Sheeran won the Brit Awards for Best British Male Solo Artist and British Breakthrough Act .   Sheeran 's popularity abroad began in 2012 . In the US , he made a guest appearance on Taylor Swift 's fourth studio album , Red . `` The A Team '' was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards , where he performed the song with Elton John . He spent much of 2013 opening for Swift 's The Red Tour in North America dates . His second studio album , x ( read as `` multiply '' ) , was released on 23 June 2014 . It peaked at number one in the UK and the US . In 2015 , x won the Brit Award for Album of the Year , and he received the Ivor Novello Award for Songwriter of the Year . His single from x , `` Thinking Out Loud '' , earned him two Grammy Awards at the 2016 ceremony : Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance .   Sheeran 's third album , ÷ ( `` divide '' ) , was released in March 2017 . The album debuted at number one in the UK , the US and other major markets . The first two singles from the album , `` Shape of You '' and `` Castle on the Hill '' , were released in January 2017 and broke records in a number of countries , including the UK , Australia and Germany , by debuting in the top two positions of the charts . He also became the first artist to have two songs debut in the US top 10 in the same week . Sheeran appeared on Debrett 's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK .


A Song of Ice and Fire was written by an American author George R. R. Martin.

A Song of Ice and Fire A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin . He began the first volume of the series , A Game of Thrones , in 1991 and had it published in 1996 . Martin , who initially envisioned the series as a trilogy , has published five out of a planned seven volumes . The fifth and most recent volume of the series published in 2011 , A Dance with Dragons , took Martin five years to write . He is still writing the sixth novel , The Winds of Winter .   A Song of Ice and Fire takes place on the fictional continents Westeros and Essos . The point of view of each chapter in the story is a limited perspective of a range of characters growing from nine , in the first novel , to thirty-one by the fifth . Three main stories interweave a dynastic war among several families for control of Westeros , the rising threat of the supernatural Others in the northernmost reaches of Westeros , and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen , the deposed king 's exiled daughter , to assume the Iron Throne .   Martin 's inspirations included the Wars of the Roses and the French historical novels The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon . A Song of Ice and Fire received praise for its diverse portrayal of women and religion , as well as its realism . An assortment of disparate and subjective points of view confronts the reader , and the success or survival of point of view characters is never assured . Within the often morally ambiguous world of A Song of Ice and Fire , questions concerning loyalty , pride , human sexuality , piety , and the morality of violence frequently arise .   As of April 2015 , the books have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide and , as of January 2017 , have been translated into 47 languages . The fourth and fifth volumes reached the top of The New York Times Best Seller lists upon their releases . Among the many derived works are several prequel novellas , a TV series , a comic book adaptation , and several card , board , and video games .


A Game of Thrones A Game of Thrones is the first novel in A Song of Ice and Fire , a series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin . It was first published on August 1 , 1996 . The novel won the 1997 Locus Award and was nominated for both the 1997 Nebula Award and the 1997 World Fantasy Award . The novella Blood of the Dragon , comprising the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel , won the 1997 Hugo Award for Best Novella . In January 2011 the novel became a New York Times bestseller and reached # 1 on the list in July 2011 .   In the novel , recounting events from various points of view , Martin introduces the plot-lines of the noble houses of Westeros , the Wall , and the Targaryens . The novel has inspired several spin-off works , including several games . It is also the basis for the first season of Game of Thrones , an HBO television series that premiered in April 2011 . A March 2013 paperback TV tie-in re-edition was also titled Game of Thrones , excluding the indefinite article `` A '' .


The last two episodes of Glee was on air on March 20, 2015.

Glee (season 6) The sixth and final season of the Fox musical comedy-drama television series Glee was commissioned on April 19 , 2013 , along with the fifth season , as part of a two-season renewal deal for the show on the Fox network . The final season , consisting of 13 episodes , premiered on Friday , January 9 , 2015 , with the first two episodes , and the last two episodes ( functioning as a single series finale ) aired on March 20 , 2015 .   The series features the New Directions glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School ( WMHS ) in the town of Lima , Ohio , and some of the graduates of McKinley . The season focuses on the former glee club member , Rachel Berry , who returns to McKinley after her TV Pilot bombs to rebuild the disbanded glee club . The central characters are the former glee club director Will Schuester ( Matthew Morrison ) , school principal Sue Sylvester ( Jane Lynch ) , and Glee club graduates Rachel Berry ( Lea Michele ) , Kurt Hummel ( Chris Colfer ) , Blaine Anderson ( Darren Criss ) , Artie Abrams ( Kevin McHale ) , and Sam Evans ( Chord Overstreet ) . Amber Riley returns to the main cast as Mercedes Jones and Dot-Marie Jones , who portrays Shannon Beiste , the school 's football coach , was promoted to the main cast after four years as a recurring character . Jenna Ushkowitz , Naya Rivera , Becca Tobin , Jacob Artist , Melissa Benoist , Blake Jenner , and Alex Newell who have portrayed Tina Cohen-Chang , Santana Lopez , Kitty Wilde , Jake Puckerman , Marley Rose , Ryder Lynn , and Wade `` Unique '' Adams , were demoted from the main cast this season with Ushkowitz , Rivera , Tobin , and Newell recurring during the season , while Artist and Jenner returned briefly in the series finale . Benoist , however , does not appear at all in this season .   The season was nominated for one Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics .


Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System , after Mercury . Named after the Roman god of war , it is often referred to as the `` Red Planet '' because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance . Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere , having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys , deserts , and polar ice caps of Earth .   The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth , as is the tilt that produces the seasons . Mars is the site of Olympus Mons , the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System , and of Valles Marineris , one of the largest canyons in the Solar System . The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40 % of the planet and may be a giant impact feature . Mars has two moons , Phobos and Deimos , which are small and irregularly shaped . These may be captured asteroids , similar to 5261 Eureka , a Mars trojan .   There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars , as well as the possibility of extant life . Future astrobiology missions are planned , including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers . Liquid water can not exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure , which is about that of the Earth 's , except at the lowest elevations for short periods . The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water . The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap , if melted , would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 m . In November 2016 , NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars . The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior .   Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye , as can its reddish coloring . Its apparent magnitude reaches − 2.91 , which is surpassed only by Jupiter , Venus , the Moon , and the Sun . Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 km across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth 's atmosphere .


Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies . The International Astronomical Union , the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature , specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects , but uses mixed `` Solar System '' and `` solar system '' in their naming guidelines document . The name is commonly rendered in lower case ( `` solar system '' ) , as , for example , in the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster 's 11th Collegiate Dictionary . is the gravitationally bound system comprising the Sun and the objects that orbit it , either directly or indirectly.The natural satellites ( moons ) orbiting the Solar System 's planets are an example of the latter . Of those objects that orbit the Sun directly , the largest eight are the planets , Historically , several other bodies were once considered planets , including , from its discovery in 1930 until 2006 , Pluto . See Former planets . with the remainder being significantly smaller objects , such as dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies . Of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly , the moons , two are larger than the smallest planet , Mercury.The two moons larger than Mercury are Ganymede , which orbits Jupiter , and Titan , which orbits Saturn . Although bigger than Mercury , both moons have less than half the mass of Mercury .   The Solar System formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud . The vast majority of the system 's mass is in the Sun , with the majority of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter . The four smaller inner planets , Mercury , Venus , Earth and Mars , are terrestrial planets , being primarily composed of rock and metal . The four outer planets are giant planets , being substantially more massive than the terrestrials . The two largest , Jupiter and Saturn , are gas giants , being composed mainly of hydrogen and helium ; the two outermost planets , Uranus and Neptune , are ice giants , being composed mostly of substances with relatively high melting points compared with hydrogen and helium , called volatiles , such as water , ammonia and methane . All planets have almost circular orbits that lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic .   The Solar System also contains smaller objects . The asteroid belt , which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter , mostly contains objects composed , like the terrestrial planets , of rock and metal . Beyond Neptune 's orbit lie the Kuiper belt and scattered disc , which are populations of trans-Neptunian objects composed mostly of ices , and beyond them a newly discovered population of sednoids . Within these populations are several dozen to possibly tens of thousands of objects large enough that they have been rounded by their own gravity . Such objects are categorized as dwarf planets . Identified dwarf planets include the asteroid Ceres and the trans-Neptunian objects Pluto and Eris . In addition to these two regions , various other small-body populations , including comets , centaurs and interplanetary dust clouds , freely travel between regions . Six of the planets , at least four of the dwarf planets , and many of the smaller bodies are orbited by natural satellites , See List of natural satellites of the Solar System for the full list of natural satellites of the eight planets and first five dwarf planets usually termed `` moons '' after the Moon . Each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other small objects .   The solar wind , a stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the Sun , creates a bubble-like region in the interstellar medium known as the heliosphere . The heliopause is the point at which pressure from the solar wind is equal to the opposing pressure of the interstellar medium ; it extends out to the edge of the scattered disc . The Oort cloud , which is thought to be the source for long-period comets , may also exist at a distance roughly a thousand times further than the heliosphere . The Solar System is located in the Orion Arm , 26,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way .


Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System . It is a giant planet with a mass one-thousandth that of the Sun , but two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined . Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants ; the other two giant planets , Uranus and Neptune are ice giants . Jupiter has been known to astronomers since antiquity . The Romans named it after their god Jupiter . When viewed from Earth , Jupiter can reach an apparent magnitude of − 2.94 , bright enough for its reflected light to cast shadows , and making it on average the third-brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Venus .   Jupiter is primarily composed of hydrogen with a quarter of its mass being helium , though helium comprises only about a tenth of the number of molecules . It may also have a rocky core of heavier elements , but like the other giant planets , Jupiter lacks a well-defined solid surface . Because of its rapid rotation , the planet 's shape is that of an oblate spheroid ( it has a slight but noticeable bulge around the equator ) . The outer atmosphere is visibly segregated into several bands at different latitudes , resulting in turbulence and storms along their interacting boundaries . A prominent result is the Great Red Spot , a giant storm that is known to have existed since at least the 17th century when it was first seen by telescope . Surrounding Jupiter is a faint planetary ring system and a powerful magnetosphere . Jupiter has at least 67 moons , including the four large Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 . Ganymede , the largest of these , has a diameter greater than that of the planet Mercury .   Jupiter has been explored on several occasions by robotic spacecraft , most notably during the early Pioneer and Voyager flyby missions and later by the Galileo orbiter . In late February 2007 , Jupiter was visited by the New Horizons probe , which used Jupiter 's gravity to increase its speed and bend its trajectory en route to Pluto . The latest probe to visit the planet is Juno , which entered into orbit around Jupiter on July 4 , 2016 . Future targets for exploration in the Jupiter system include the probable ice-covered liquid ocean of its moon Europa .


Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun in the Solar System . In the Solar System , it is the fourth-largest planet by diameter , the third-most-massive planet , and the densest giant planet . Neptune is 17 times the mass of Earth and is slightly more massive than its near-twin Uranus , which is 15 times the mass of Earth and slightly larger than Neptune.Neptune is denser and physically smaller than Uranus because Neptune 's greater mass gravitationally compresses the atmosphere more . Neptune orbits the Sun once every 164.8 years at an average distance of 30.1 AU . It is named after the Roman god of the sea and has the astronomical symbol ♆ , a stylised version of the god Neptune 's trident .   Neptune is not visible to the unaided eye and is the only planet in the Solar System found by mathematical prediction rather than by empirical observation . Unexpected changes in the orbit of Uranus led Alexis Bouvard to deduce that its orbit was subject to gravitational perturbation by an unknown planet . Neptune was subsequently observed with a telescope on 23 September 1846 by Johann Galle within a degree of the position predicted by Urbain Le Verrier . Its largest moon , Triton , was discovered shortly thereafter , though none of the planet 's remaining known 14 moons were located telescopically until the 20th century . The planet 's distance from Earth gives it a very small apparent size , making it challenging to study with Earth-based telescopes . Neptune was visited by Voyager 2 , when it flew by the planet on 25 August 1989 . The advent of the Hubble Space Telescope and large ground-based telescopes with adaptive optics has recently allowed for additional detailed observations from afar .   Neptune 's composition can be compared and contrasted with the Solar System 's other giant planets . Like Jupiter and Saturn , Neptune 's atmosphere is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium , along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen , but it contains a higher proportion of `` ices '' such as water , ammonia , and methane . However , its interior , like that of Uranus , is primarily composed of ices and rock , which is why Uranus and Neptune are normally considered `` ice giants '' to emphasise this distinction . Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet 's blue appearance .   In contrast to the hazy , relatively featureless atmosphere of Uranus , Neptune 's atmosphere has active and visible weather patterns . For example , at the time of the Voyager 2 flyby in 1989 , the planet 's southern hemisphere had a Great Dark Spot comparable to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter . These weather patterns are driven by the strongest sustained winds of any planet in the Solar System , with recorded wind speeds as high as 2100 km/h . Because of its great distance from the Sun , Neptune 's outer atmosphere is one of the coldest places in the Solar System , with temperatures at its cloud tops approaching 55 K. Temperatures at the planet 's centre are approximately 5400 K. Neptune has a faint and fragmented ring system ( labelled `` arcs '' ) , which was first detected during the 1960s and confirmed by Voyager 2 .


Mercury (planet) Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in the Solar System . Its orbital period around the Sun of 88 days is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System . It is named after the Roman deity Mercury , the messenger to the gods .   Like Venus , Mercury orbits the Sun within Earth 's orbit as an inferior planet , so it can only be seen visually in the morning or the evening sky , and never exceeds 28 ° away from the Sun . Also , like Venus and the Moon , the planet displays the complete range of phases as it moves around its orbit relative to Earth . Seen from Earth , this cycle of phases reoccurs  approximately every 116 days , the so-called synodic period . Although Mercury can appear as a bright star-like object when viewed from Earth , its proximity to the Sun often makes it more difficult to see than Venus .   Mercury is tidally or gravitationally locked with the Sun in a 3:2 resonance , and rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System . As seen relative to the fixed stars , it rotates on its axis exactly three times for every two revolutions it makes around the Sun . As seen from the Sun , in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion , it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years . An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two years .   Mercury 's axis has the smallest tilt of any of the Solar System 's planets ( about degree ) , and its orbital eccentricity is the largest of all known planets in the Solar System . At aphelion , Mercury is about 1.5 times as far from the Sun as it is at perihelion . Mercury 's surface appears heavily cratered and is similar in appearance to the Moon 's , indicating that it has been geologically inactive for billions of years . Having almost no atmosphere to retain heat , it has surface temperatures that vary diurnally more than on any other planet in the Solar System , ranging from 100 K at night to 700 K during the day across the equatorial regions . The polar regions are constantly below 180 K . The planet has no known natural satellites .   Two spacecraft have visited Mercury : flew by in 1974 and 1975 ; and MESSENGER , launched in 2004 , orbited Mercury over 4,000 times in four years before exhausting its fuel and crashing into the planet 's surface on April 30 , 2015 .


Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun , orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days . It has the longest rotation period ( 243 days ) of any planet in the Solar System and rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets . It has no natural satellites . It is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty . It is the second-brightest natural object in the night sky after the Moon , reaching an apparent magnitude of − 4.6 , bright enough to cast shadows at night and , though rare , occasionally be visible in broad daylight . Because Venus orbits within Earth 's orbit it is an inferior planet and never appears to venture far from the Sun ; its maximum angular distance from the Sun ( elongation ) is 47.8 ° .   Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth 's `` sister planet '' because of their similar size , mass , proximity to the Sun , and bulk composition . It is radically different from Earth in other respects . It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets , consisting of more than 96 % carbon dioxide . The atmospheric pressure at the planet 's surface is 92 times that of Earth , or roughly the pressure found 900 m underwater on Earth . Venus is by far the hottest planet in the Solar System , with a mean surface temperature of 735 K , even though Mercury is closer to the Sun . Venus is shrouded by an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid , preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible light . It may have had water oceans in the past , but these would have vaporized as the temperature rose due to a runaway greenhouse effect . The water has probably photodissociated , and the free hydrogen has been swept into interplanetary space by the solar wind because of the lack of a planetary magnetic field . Venus 's surface is a dry desertscape interspersed with slab-like rocks and is periodically resurfaced by volcanism .   As one of the brightest objects in the sky , Venus has been a major fixture in human culture for as long as records have existed . It has been made sacred to gods of many cultures , and has been a prime inspiration for writers and poets as the `` morning star '' and `` evening star '' . Venus was the first planet to have its motions plotted across the sky , as early as the second millennium BC .   As the closest planet to Earth , Venus has been a prime target for early interplanetary exploration . It was the first planet beyond Earth visited by a spacecraft ( Mariner 2 in 1962 ) , and the first to be successfully landed on ( by Venera 7 in 1970 ) . Venus 's thick clouds render observation of its surface impossible in visible light , and the first detailed maps did not emerge until the arrival of the Magellan orbiter in 1991 . Plans have been proposed for rovers or more complex missions , but they are hindered by Venus 's hostile surface conditions .


Alan Rickman Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman ( 21 February 1946 -- 14 January 2016 ) was an English actor and director known for playing a variety of roles on stage and on screen . Rickman trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London , and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company , performing in modern and classical theatre productions . His first big television part came in 1982 , but his big break was as the Vicomte de Valmont in the stage production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1985 , for which he was nominated for a Tony Award . Rickman gained wider notice for his film performances as Hans Gruber in Die Hard and Severus Snape in the Harry Potter film series .   Rickman 's other film roles included the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves , for which he received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role , Jamie in Truly , Madly , Deeply , Colonel Brandon in Ang Lee 's Sense and Sensibility , the title character in Rasputin : Dark Servant of Destiny , which won him a Golden Globe , an Emmy and a Screen Actors Guild Award , Harry in Love Actually , P. L. O'Hara in An Awfully Big Adventure , Dr. Alfred Blalock in the Emmy-winning HBO film Something the Lord Made , Alexander Dane in Galaxy Quest , and Judge Turpin in the film adaptation of Stephen Sondheim 's musical of Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street .   Rickman died of cancer on 14 January 2016 at the age of 69 . His final film roles are as Lieutenant General Frank Benson in the thriller Eye in the Sky , and the voice of Absolem , the caterpillar in Alice Through the Looking Glass .


Prison Break did not win the People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama.

Prison Break Prison Break is an American television serial drama created by Paul Scheuring , that was broadcast on Fox for four seasons from August 29 , 2005 to May 15 , 2009 , and a fifth season which premiered on April 4 , 2017 . The series revolves around two brothers , one of whom has been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit , and the other who devises an elaborate plan to help his brother escape prison and clear his name . The series was produced by Adelstein-Parouse Productions , in association with Original Television and 20th Century Fox Television . Along with creator Paul Scheuring , the series is executive produced by Matt Olmstead , Kevin Hooks , Marty Adelstein , Dawn Parouse , Neal H. Moritz , and Brett Ratner who directed the pilot episode . The series ' theme music , composed by Ramin Djawadi , was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 2006 .   The series was originally turned down by Fox in 2003 , which was concerned about the long-term prospects of such a series . Following the popularity of serialized prime time television series Lost and 24 , Fox decided to back production in 2004 . The first season received generally positive reviews , and performed well in the ratings . The first season was originally planned for a 13-episode run , but was extended to include an extra nine episodes due to its popularity . Prison Break was nominated for several industry awards , including the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama and the 2006 People 's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama , which it won . In the United States , all four seasons have been released on DVD and released on Blu-ray internationally .   The success of the series has inspired short videos for mobile phones , several official tie-ins in print and on the Internet , as well as a video game . A spin-off series , Prison Break : Proof of Innocence , was produced exclusively for mobile phones . The series has spawned an official magazine and a tie-in novel . The fourth season of Prison Break returned from its mid-season break in a new timeslot on April 17 , 2009 , for the series ' last six episodes . Two additional episodes , titled `` The Old Ball and Chain '' and `` Free '' were produced , and were later transformed into a standalone feature , titled The Final Break . The events of this feature take place before the last scene of the series finale , and are intended to conclude unfinished plotlines . The feature was released on DVD and Blu-ray July 21 , 2009 . A nine-episode fifth season was announced by Fox in January 2016 and premiered on April 4 , 2017 , and aired on Tuesdays at 9:00 pm . The season concluded on May 30 , 2017 .


Werner Herzog Werner Herzog ( -LSB- ˈvɛɐ̯nɐ ˈhɛɐ̯tsoːk -RSB- ; born 5 September 1942 ) is a German screenwriter , film director , author , actor , and opera director .   Herzog is considered one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema , along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder , Margarethe von Trotta , Volker Schlöndorff , Werner Schröter , and Wim Wenders . Herzog 's films often feature heroes with impossible dreams , people with unique talents in obscure fields , or individuals who are in conflict with nature .   French filmmaker François Truffaut once called Herzog `` the most important film director alive . '' American film critic Roger Ebert said that Herzog `` has never created a single film that is compromised , shameful , made for pragmatic reasons , or uninteresting . Even his failures are spectacular . ''  He was named one of the 100 most influential people on the planet by Time magazine in 2009 .


The Ring magazine named George Foreman as one of the 25 greatest fighters of the past 80 years.

George Foreman George Edward Foreman ( born January 10 , 1949 ) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1969 to 1977 , and from 1987 to 1997 . Nicknamed `` Big George '' , he is a two-time world heavyweight champion and an Olympic gold medalist . Outside the sport he went on to become an ordained minister , author and entrepreneur .   After a troubled childhood , Foreman took up amateur boxing and won a gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 1968 Summer Olympics . Having turned professional the next year , he won the world heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of then-undefeated Joe Frazier in 1973 . Two successful title defenses were made before Foreman 's first professional loss to Muhammad Ali in `` The Rumble in the Jungle '' in 1974 . Unable to secure another title opportunity , Foreman retired after a loss to Jimmy Young in 1977 . Following what he referred to as a religious epiphany , Foreman became an ordained Christian minister . Ten years later , he announced a comeback and , in 1994 , at age 45 , he regained a portion of the heavyweight championship by knocking out 27-year-old Michael Moorer to win the unified WBA , IBF , and lineal titles . Foreman remains the oldest heavyweight champion in history , and the second oldest in any weight class after Bernard Hopkins ( at light heavyweight ) . He retired in 1997 at the age of 48 , with a final record of 76 wins 5 losses and 68 knockouts .   Foreman has been inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame . The International Boxing Research Organization ( IBRO ) rates Foreman as the eighth greatest heavyweight of all time . In 2002 , he was named one of the 25 greatest fighters of the past 80 years by The Ring magazine . The Ring ranked him as the ninth greatest puncher of all time . He was a ringside analyst for HBO 's boxing coverage for twelve years , leaving in 2004 . Outside of boxing , he is a successful entrepreneur and is known for his promotion of the George Foreman Grill , which has sold over 100 million units worldwide . In 1999 he sold the naming rights to the grill for $ 138 million .


Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net . Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team 's court under organized rules . It has been a part of the official program of the Summer Olympic Games since 1964 .   The complete rules are extensive . But simply , play proceeds as follows : a player on one of the teams begins a ` rally ' by serving the ball ( tossing or releasing it and then hitting it with a hand or arm ) , from behind the back boundary line of the court , over the net , and into the receiving team 's court . The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court . The team may touch the ball up to 3 times but individual players may not touch the ball twice consecutively . Typically , the first two touches are used to set up for an attack , an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court .   The rally continues , with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches , until either ( 1 ) : a team makes a kill , grounding the ball on the opponent 's court and winning the rally ; or ( 2 ) : a team commits a fault and loses the rally . The team that wins the rally is awarded a point , and serves the ball to start the next rally . A few of the most common faults include :  causing the ball to touch the ground or floor outside the opponents ' court or without first passing over the net ;  catching and throwing the ball ;  double hit : two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player ;  four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team ;  net foul : touching the net during play ;  foot fault : the foot crosses over the boundary line when serving .  The ball is usually played with the hands or arms , but players can legally strike or push ( short contact ) the ball with any part of the body .   A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball , including spiking and blocking ( because these plays are made above the top of the net , the vertical jump is an athletic skill emphasized in the sport ) as well as passing , setting , and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures .


VHS The Video Home System ( VHS ) is a standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes . Developed by Victor Company of Japan ( JVC ) in the early 1970s , it was released in Japan in late 1976 and in the USA in early 1977 .   From the 1950s , magnetic tape video recording became a major contributor to the television industry , via the first commercialized video tape recorders ( VTRs ) . At that time , the devices were used only in expensive professional environments such as television studios and medical imaging ( fluoroscopy ) . In the 1970s , videotape entered home use , creating the home video industry and changing the economics of the television and movie businesses . The television industry viewed videocassette recorders ( VCRs ) as having the power to disrupt their business , while television users viewed the VCR as the means to take control of their hobby .   In the 1980s and 1990s , at the peak of VHS 's popularity , there were videotape format wars in the home video industry . Two of the formats , VHS and Betamax , received the most media exposure . VHS eventually won the war , dominating 60 percent of the North American market by 1980 and emerging as the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period .   Optical disc formats later began to offer better quality than analog consumer video tape such as standard and super-VHS . The earliest of these formats , LaserDisc , was not widely adopted . However , after the introduction of the DVD format in 1997 , VHS 's market share began to decline . By 2008 , DVD had replaced VHS as the preferred low-end method of distribution .


Mission: Impossible 6 is an American film.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation ( also known as Paramount Pictures and simply Paramount ) is an American film studio based in Hollywood , California , that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994 . Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world , the second oldest in the United States , and the sole member of the `` Big Six '' film studios still located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Hollywood . In 1916 , film producer Adolph Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and honored each with a star on the logo . These fortunate few would become the first `` movie stars . '' In 2014 , Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only .   Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America ( MPAA ) .


Mission: Impossible 6 Mission : Impossible 6 is an upcoming American action spy film written , co-produced and directed by Christopher McQuarrie , and produced by J. J. Abrams , Bryan Burk , Tom Cruise , David Ellison , Dana Goldberg , and Don Granger . It is the sixth installment in the Mission : Impossible film series . The film stars Cruise , Rebecca Ferguson , Ving Rhames , Simon Pegg , Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris all reprising their roles from previous films , with Henry Cavill , Vanessa Kirby and Sian Brooke joining the franchise . The film will be released on July 27 , 2018 by Paramount Pictures .


X-Men: Days of Future Past is a Bollywood romantic comedy.

X-Men: Days of Future Past X-Men : Days of Future Past is a 2014 American superhero film based on the fictional X-Men characters that appear in Marvel Comics . Directed by Bryan Singer , it is the seventh installment of the X-Men film series and acts as a sequel to both 2006 's X-Men : The Last Stand and 2011 's X-Men : First Class . The story , inspired by the 1981 Uncanny X-Men storyline `` Days of Future Past '' by Chris Claremont and John Byrne , focuses on two time periods , with Wolverine traveling back in time to 1973 to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants . The film features an ensemble cast , including Hugh Jackman , James McAvoy , Michael Fassbender , Jennifer Lawrence , Halle Berry , Anna Paquin , Ellen Page , Peter Dinklage , Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart . Simon Kinberg wrote the screenplay from a story conceived by Jane Goldman , himself , and Matthew Vaughn .   Vaughn had directed First Class and was set to return in Days of Future Past before leaving for Kingsman : The Secret Service . Thus Singer , who had directed the first two X-Men films , made his return as a director , and brought along most of the crew from those productions . With a budget of $ 200 million , principal photography began in Montreal , Quebec in April 2013 and concluded in August the same year , with additional filming and pick-ups taking place in November 2013 and February 2014 . Twelve companies handled the visual effects .   X-Men : Days of Future Past premiered in New York City on May 10 , 2014 , and was theatrically released on May 23 . It became the best-reviewed film in the X-Men film series released thus far ( surpassed only by Logan in 2017 ) , being praised for its story , visual effects , action scenes , acting and thematic elements . During its theatrical run , the film earned over $ 747 million worldwide , making it the 6th highest grossing film of 2014 , as well as the second highest-grossing film in the series behind Deadpool . The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects , making it the first X-Men film to be nominated for an Oscar . A sequel , X-Men : Apocalypse , was released on May 27 , 2016 .


Ready Player One was passed over for an award for libertarian science fiction novels.

Ready Player One Ready Player One is a 2011 dystopian science-fiction novel , and the debut novel by Ernest Cline . In 2012 , the book received an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association and won the 2012 Prometheus Award .   Cline sold the novel in June 2010 , in a bidding war to the Crown Publishing Group ( a division of Random House ) . The book was published on August 16 , 2011 . An audiobook was released the same day ; it was narrated by Wil Wheaton , who was mentioned briefly in one of the chapters .   A film adaptation , directed by Steven Spielberg , is currently in production , and slated to premiere in spring 2018 .


Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society , which also publishes the quarterly journal Prometheus . L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979 , but it was not awarded regularly until the newly founded Libertarian Futurist Society revived it in 1982 . The Society created a Hall of Fame Award ( for classic works of libertarian science fiction , not necessarily novels ) in 1983 , and also presents occasional one-off awards .


The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is made by a Japanese company.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System ( officially abbreviated the Super NES or SNES , and commonly shortened to Super Nintendo ) is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea , 1991 in North America , 1992 in Europe and Australasia ( Oceania ) , and 1993 in South America . In Japan , the system is called the , or SFC for short . In South Korea , it is known as the Super Comboy ( 슈퍼 컴보이 Syupeo Keomboi ) and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics . Although each version is essentially the same , several forms of regional lockout prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another . It was released in Brazil on September 2 , 1992 , by Playtronic .   The SNES is Nintendo 's second home console , following the Nintendo Entertainment System ( NES ) . The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other systems at the time . The development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated in game cartridges helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace .   The SNES was a global success , becoming the best-selling console of the 16-bit era despite its relatively late start and the fierce competition it faced in North America and Europe from Sega 's Genesis/Mega Drive console . The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era , and continues to be popular among fans , collectors , retro gamers , and emulation enthusiasts , some of whom still make homebrew ROM images .


Nintendo Nintendo Co. , Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto , Japan . Nintendo is one of the world 's largest video game companies by market capitalization . Founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi , it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards . By 1963 , the company had tried several small niche businesses , such as cab services and love hotels . The word Nintendo can be roughly translated from Japanese to English as `` leave luck to heaven '' .   Abandoning previous ventures in favor of toys in the 1960s , Nintendo then developed into a video game company in the 1970s , ultimately becoming one of the most influential in the industry and Japan 's third most-valuable company with a market value of over $ 85 billion . From 1992 until 2016 , Nintendo was also the majority shareholder of Major League Baseball 's Seattle Mariners .   , Nintendo has cumulative sales of over 670.43 million hardware units and 4.23 billion software units . The company has created and released some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises , such as Mario , The Legend of Zelda , and Pokémon .


The Twilight Saga's second film was released in 2009.

The Twilight Saga (film series) The Twilight Saga is a series of five romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four novels by American author Stephenie Meyer . The films star Kristen Stewart , Robert Pattinson , and Taylor Lautner . The series has grossed over $ 3.3 billion in worldwide receipts and consists , to date , of five motion pictures . The first installment , Twilight , was released on November 21 , 2008 . The second installment , New Moon , followed on November 20 , 2009 , breaking box office records as the biggest midnight screening and opening day in history , grossing an estimated $ 72.7 million . The third installment , Eclipse , was released on June 30 , 2010 , and was the first Twilight film to be released in IMAX .   The series was in development since 2004 at Paramount Pictures , during which time a screen adaptation of Twilight that differed significantly from the novel was written . Three years later , Summit Entertainment acquired the rights to the film . After Twilight grossed $ 35.7 million on its opening day , Summit Entertainment announced they would begin production on New Moon ; they had acquired the rights to the remaining novels earlier that same month . A two-part adaptation of Breaking Dawn began shooting in November 2010 with release dates of November 18 , 2011 , and November 16 , 2012 , respectively .


Havoc is composed by Jessica Kaplan and Stephen Gaghan.

Havoc (2005 film) Havoc is a 2005 crime drama film starring Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips , with Shiri Appleby , Freddy Rodriguez , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Michael Biehn , and Laura San Giacomo appearing in supporting roles . The film is about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles , California teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle . They run into trouble when they encounter a gang of drug dealers , discovering they are not as street-wise as they had thought .   Written by Jessica Kaplan and Stephen Gaghan and directed by Barbara Kopple , the film was shown at several film festivals and then went directly to DVD on November 29 , 2005 .


Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been reported in many sporting news and websites.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. ( born Floyd Joy Sinclair ; February 24 , 1977 ) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2015 , and currently works as a boxing promoter . Widely considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time , undefeated as a professional , and a five-division world champion , Mayweather won fifteen world titles and the lineal championship in four different weight classes ( twice at welterweight ) . As an amateur , he won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics . Mayweather is a two-time winner of The Ring magazine 's Fighter of the Year award ( 1998 and 2007 ) , a three-time winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America ( BWAA ) Fighter of the Year award ( 2007 , 2013 , and 2015 ) , and a six-time winner of the Best Fighter ESPY Award ( 2007 -- 2010 , 2012 -- 2014 ) .   In 2016 , Mayweather was ranked by ESPN as the greatest boxer , pound for pound , of the last 25 years . In the same year , he peaked as BoxRec 's number one fighter of all time , pound for pound , as well as the greatest welterweight of all time . Many sporting news and boxing websites ranked Mayweather as the best boxer in the world , pound for pound , twice in a span of ten years ; including The Ring , Sports Illustrated , ESPN , BoxRec , Fox Sports , and Yahoo! Sports . He is also regarded as the best defensive boxer in the sport , as well as being the most accurate puncher since the existence of CompuBox , having the highest plus -- minus ratio in recorded boxing history . He finished his career with a record of 26 wins without a loss or draw in world title fights ( 10 by KO ) ; 23 wins ( 9 KOs ) in lineal title fights ; 24 wins ( 7 KOs ) against former or current world titlists ; 12 wins ( 3 KOs ) against former or current lineal champions ; and 2 wins ( 1 KO ) against International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees .   In addition to his accomplishments in the ring , Mayweather is well known for being one of the most lucrative pay-per-view ( PPV ) attractions of all time , in any sport . He topped the Forbes and Sports Illustrated lists of the 50 highest-paid athletes of 2012 and 2013 respectively , and the Forbes list again in both 2014 and 2015 , listing him as the highest paid athlete in the world . In 2007 , he founded Mayweather Promotions , his own boxing promotional firm after defecting from Bob Arum 's Top Rank . Mayweather has generated approximately 19.5 million in PPV buys and $ 1.3 billion in revenue throughout his career , surpassing the likes of former top PPV attractions including Mike Tyson , Evander Holyfield , Lennox Lewis , Oscar De La Hoya , and Manny Pacquiao .


The Khmer Empire preceded modern Cambodia.

Khmer Empire The Khmer Empire , officially the Angkor Empire , the predecessor state to modern Cambodia ( `` Kampuchea '' or `` Srok Khmer '' to the Khmer people ) , was a powerful Hindu-Buddhist empire in Southeast Asia . The empire , which grew out of the former kingdoms of Funan and Chenla , at times ruled over and/or vassalised most of mainland Southeast Asia .   Its greatest legacy is Angkor , in present-day Cambodia , which was the site of the capital city during the empire 's zenith . The majestic monuments of Angkor -- such as Angkor Wat and Bayon -- bear testimony to the Khmer Empire 's immense power and wealth , impressive art and culture , architectural technique and aesthetics achievements , as well as the variety of belief systems that it patronised over time . Satellite imaging has revealed that Angkor , during its peak in the 11th to 13th centuries , was the largest pre-industrial urban centre in the world .   The beginning of the era of the Khmer Empire is conventionally dated to 802 CE . In this year , King Jayavarman II had himself declared chakravartin ( `` king of the world '' , or `` king of kings '' ) on Phnom Kulen . The empire ended with the fall of Angkor in the 15th century .