Alabama Women's Hall of Fame had the member Helen Keller inducted in 1971.

Helen Keller Helen Adams Keller ( June 27 , 1880 -- June 1 , 1968 ) was an American author , political activist , and lecturer . She was the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree . The story of how Keller 's teacher , Anne Sullivan , broke through the isolation imposed by a near complete lack of language , allowing the girl to blossom as she learned to communicate , has become widely known through the dramatic depictions of the play and film The Miracle Worker . Her birthplace in West Tuscumbia , Alabama , is now a museum and sponsors an annual `` Helen Keller Day '' . Her birthday on June 27 is commemorated as Helen Keller Day in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and was authorized at the federal level by presidential proclamation by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 , the 100th anniversary of her birth .   A prolific author , Keller was well-traveled and outspoken in her convictions . A member of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World , she campaigned for women 's suffrage , labor rights , socialism , antimilitarism , and other similar causes . She was inducted into the Alabama Women 's Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of twelve inaugural inductees to the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame on June 8 , 2015 . Helen proved to the world that deaf people could all learn to communicate and that they could survive in the hearing world . She also taught that deaf people are capable of doing things that hearing people can do . She is one of the most famous deaf people in history and she is an idol to many deaf people in the world .


Emily Browning starred in Something in the Air.

Emily Browning Emily Jane Browning ( born 7 December 1988 ) is an Australian actress and singer .   Browning made her film debut in the Australian television film The Echo of Thunder , subsequently , she played recurring roles in the Australian television shows Blue Heelers and Something in the Air . Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship , which introduced her to a wider audience . In 2005 , Browning won the Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Violet Baudelaire in the film Lemony Snicket 's A Series of Unfortunate Events ( 2004 ) .   Browning is also known for her roles in the horror film The Uninvited ( 2009 ) , the action film Sucker Punch ( 2011 ) , and the independent drama Sleeping Beauty ( 2011 ) . She was named the Breakthrough Performer of The Year by Hamptons International Film Festival in 2011 for her role in Sleeping Beauty . Her other films include The Host ( 2013 ) , Pompeii ( 2014 ) and Legend ( 2015 ) .


Sherlock (TV series) Sherlock is a crime drama television series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes detective stories . Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss , it stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson . Thirteen episodes have been produced , with three-part series airing from 2010 -- 2017 , and a special episode airing on 1 January 2016 . The series is set in the present day , while the one-off special features a Victorian period fantasy resembling the original Holmes stories . Sherlock is a co-production of the British network BBC and the American station WGBH Boston for its Masterpiece anthology series on PBS , along with Hartswood Films , with Moffat , Gatiss , Sue Vertue and Rebecca Eaton serving as executive producers . The series is primarily filmed in Cardiff , Wales , with North Gower Street in London used for exterior shots of Holmes and Watson 's 221B Baker Street residence .   Critical reception has been highly positive , with many reviews praising the quality of the writing , performances , and direction . Sherlock has been nominated for numerous awards including BAFTAs , Emmys , and a Golden Globe , winning several awards across a variety of categories . The show won in three categories at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries , Movie or a Dramatic Special for Moffat , Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Cumberbatch , and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Freeman . Two years later , it won Outstanding Television Movie . In addition , the show was also honoured with a Peabody Award in 2011 . The third series has become the UK 's most watched drama series since 2001 while interest in the fourth series appeared to slip by approximately twenty percent . Sherlock has been sold to 180 territories .   All of the series have been released on DVD and Blu-ray , alongside tie-in editions of selected original Conan Doyle stories and original soundtrack composed by David Arnold and Michael Price . In January 2014 , the show launched its official mobile app called Sherlock : The Network .


MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni ( ; commonly known as MS Dhoni ; born 7 July 1981 ) is an Indian cricketer who captained the Indian team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014 . An attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper , he is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket . He is also regarded to be one of the best wicket-keepers in world cricket and is known to have very fast hands . He made his One Day International ( ODI ) debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh , and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka .   Dhoni holds numerous captaincy records such as most wins by an Indian captain in Tests and ODIs , and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs . He took over the ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid in 2007 and led the team to its first-ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand . Under his captaincy , India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 , the CB Series of 2007 -- 08 , the 2010 Asia Cup , the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy . In the final of the 2011 World Cup , Dhoni scored 91 not out off 79 balls handing India the victory for which he was awarded the Man of the Match . In June 2013 , when India defeated England in the final of the Champions Trophy in England , Dhoni became the first captain to win all three ICC limited-overs trophies ( World Cup , Champions Trophy and the World Twenty20 ) . After taking up the Test captaincy in 2008 , he led the team to series wins in New Zealand and West Indies , and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008 , 2010 and 2013 . In 2009 , Dhoni also led the Indian team to number one position for the first time in the ICC Test rankings . In 2013 , under his captaincy , India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series . In the Indian Premier League , he captained the Chennai Super Kings to victory at the 2010 and 2011 seasons , along with wins in the 2010 and 2014 editions of Champions League Twenty20 . He announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014 .   Dhoni holds the post of Vice-President of India Cements Ltd. , after resigning from Air India . India Cements is the owner of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings , and Dhoni has been its captain since the first IPL season .  Dhoni is the co-owner of Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC .   Dhoni has been the recipient of many awards , including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 ( the first player to win the award twice ) , the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2007 and the Padma Shri , India 's fourth highest civilian honour , in 2009 . He was named as the captain of ICC World Test XI and ICC World ODI XI teams for 2009 . The Indian Territorial Army conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel to Dhoni on 1 November 2011 . He is the second Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to have received this honour . In 2011 , Time magazine included Dhoni in its annual Time 100 list as one of the `` Most Influential People in the World . '' In 2012 , SportsPro rated Dhoni as the sixteenth most marketable athlete in the world . In June 2015 , Forbes ranked Dhoni at 23rd in the list of highest paid athletes in the world , estimating his earnings at US$ 31 million . In 2016 , a biopic M.S. Dhoni : The Untold Story was made on him .


The Boot Monument has only ever been a memorial for the character Boots from Dora the Explorer.

Boot Monument The Boot Monument is an American Revolutionary War memorial located in Saratoga National Historical Park , New York . It commemorates Major General Benedict Arnold 's service at the Battles of Saratoga in the Continental Army , but contrives not to name him .


The Strangers (2008 film) The Strangers is a 2008 American horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino and starring Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman . The film follows a young couple who are terrorized by three masked assailants over the course of an evening at a remote summer home .   Writer-director Bertino was inspired by two real-life events : the Manson family Tate murders , a multiple homicide that occurred in California in 1969 ; and a series of break-ins that occurred in his own neighborhood as a child . Made on a budget of $ 9 million , the film was shot on location in rural South Carolina in the fall of 2006 . At the 2007 San Diego Comic Con , Bertino appeared with stars Tyler and Speedman , and premiered a teaser trailer promoting the film .   Originally slated for a theatrical release in November 2007 , its release date was postponed , and it received a wide theatrical release on May 30 , 2008 . It grossed $ 82.4 million at the box office worldwide . Although a commercial success , it received mixed reviews from critics , with some praising its atmosphere and tension , and others criticizing its script and characters . Contemporary film scholars have interpreted the film as a criticism of the perceived safety of pastoral life , as well as an exploration of stranger-on-stranger violence .


The Crazies is an American film released in 2010.

The Crazies (2010 film) The Crazies is a 2010 American science fiction horror film directed by Breck Eisner , with a screenplay by Scott Kosar and Ray Wright . The film is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name by George A. Romero , who is an executive producer of the remake .   The Crazies stars Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell . The film takes place in the fictional town of Ogden Marsh , Pierce County , Iowa , `` friendliest place on Earth , '' whose town water supply is accidentally infected with the `` Trixie '' virus . After an incubation period of 48 hours , this virus gradually transforms the mental state of the infected into that of cold , calculating , depraved , bloodthirsty killers , who then prey on family and neighbors alike . The film was released on February 26 , 2010 to positive reviews from critics , and was a modest box office success .


Marlon Brando was in a film that was from a William Shakespeare play and he was American.

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando , Jr. ( April 3 , 1924 -- July 1 , 2004 ) was an American actor , film director and political activist . He is credited with bringing realism to film acting . He helped to popularize the Stanislavski system of acting , studying with Stella Adler in the 1940s . Brando is widely known for his Academy Award-winning performances as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront ( 1954 ) and Vito Corleone in The Godfather ( 1972 ) , as well as his performances in A Streetcar Named Desire ( 1951 ) , Viva Zapata ! ( 1952 ) , Julius Caesar ( 1953 ) , The Wild One ( 1953 ) , Guys and Dolls ( 1955 ) , Sayonara ( 1957 ) , Reflections in a Golden Eye ( 1967 ) , Last Tango in Paris ( 1972 ) , and Apocalypse Now ( 1979 ) . Brando was also an activist for many causes , notably the Civil Rights Movement and various Native American movements .   He initially gained acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for reprising the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1951 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams ' play A Streetcar Named Desire , a role that he had originated successfully on Broadway . He received further praise for his performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront , and his portrayal of the rebel motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One proved to be a lasting image in popular culture . Brando received Academy Award nominations for playing Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata ! ; Mark Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewicz 's 1953 film adaptation of Shakespeare 's Julius Caesar ; and Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver in Sayonara ( 1957 ) , an adaption of James Michener 's 1954 novel . Brando was included in a list of Top Ten Money Making Stars three times in the 1950s , coming in at number 10 in 1954 , number 6 in 1955 , and number 4 in 1958 .   The 1960s proved to be a fallow decade for Brando . He directed and starred in the cult western film One-Eyed Jacks , a critical and commercial flop , after which he delivered a series of box-office failures , beginning with the 1962 film adaptation of the novel Mutiny on the Bounty . After 10 years , during which he did not appear in a successful film , he won his second Academy Award for playing Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola 's The Godfather , a role critics consider among his greatest . The Godfather was then one of the most commercially successful films of all time . With that and his Oscar-nominated performance in Last Tango in Paris , Brando re-established himself in the ranks of top box-office stars , placing sixth and tenth in the Money Making Stars poll in 1972 and 1973 , respectively . Brando took a four-year hiatus before appearing in The Missouri Breaks ( 1976 ) . After this , he was content with being a highly paid character actor in cameo roles , such as in Superman ( 1978 ) and The Formula ( 1980 ) , before taking a nine-year break from motion pictures . According to the Guinness Book of World Records , Brando was paid a record $ 3.7 million ( $ million in inflation-adjusted dollars ) and 11.75 % of the gross profits for 13 days ' work on Superman . He finished out the 1970s with his controversial performance as Colonel Kurtz in another Coppola film , Apocalypse Now , a box-office hit for which he was highly paid and which helped finance his career layoff during the 1980s .   Brando was ranked by the American Film Institute as the fourth-greatest movie star among male movie stars whose screen debuts occurred in or before 1950 . He was one of only three professional actors , along with Charlie Chaplin and Marilyn Monroe , named in 1999 by Time magazine as one of its 100 Most Important People of the Century . He died of respiratory failure on July 1 , 2004 , at age 80 .


Julius Caesar (1953 film) Julius Caesar is a 1953 epic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film adaptation of the play by Shakespeare , directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz , who also wrote the uncredited screenplay , and produced by John Houseman . The original music score is by Miklós Rózsa . The film stars Marlon Brando as Mark Antony , James Mason as Brutus , John Gielgud as Cassius , Louis Calhern as Julius Caesar , Edmond O'Brien as Casca , Greer Garson as Calpurnia , and Deborah Kerr as Portia .


Dead Man Down Dead Man Down is an 2013 American neo-noir crime thriller film written by J.H. Wyman and directed by Danish director Niels Arden Oplev . The film stars Colin Farrell , Noomi Rapace , Dominic Cooper , and Terrence Howard , and was released on March 8 , 2013 . Dead Man Down was Oplev 's first film since The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ( 2009 ) , also starring Rapace and scored by Jacob Groth .


Israel Israel ( -LSB- ˈɪzreiəl -RSB- ; ) , officially the State of Israel ( -LSB- mediˈnat jisʁaˈʔel -RSB- دَوْلَة إِسْرَائِيل -LSB- dawlat ʔisraːˈʔiːl -RSB- ) , is a country in the Middle East , on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea . It has land borders with Lebanon to the north , Syria to the northeast , Jordan on the east , the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west , respectively , and Egypt to the southwest . The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area . Israel 's economy and technology center is Tel Aviv , while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , although the state 's sovereignty over East Jerusalem is internationally unrecognized.The Jerusalem Law states that `` Jerusalem , complete and united , is the capital of Israel '' and the city serves as the seat of the government , home to the President 's residence , government offices , supreme court , and parliament . United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 ( 20 August 1980 ; 14 -- 0 , U.S. abstaining ) declared the Jerusalem Law `` null and void '' and called on member states to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Jerusalem . The United Nations and all member nations refuse to accept the Jerusalem Law ( see ) and maintain their embassies in other cities such as Tel Aviv , Ramat Gan , and Herzliya ( see the CIA Factbook and Map of Israel ) . The U.S. Congress subsequently adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act , which said that the U.S. embassy should be relocated to Jerusalem and that it should be recognized as the capital of Israel . However , the US Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the provisions of the act `` invade exclusive presidential authorities in the field of foreign affairs and are unconstitutional '' . Since passage of the act , all presidents serving in office have determined that moving forward with the relocation would be detrimental to U.S. national security concerns and opted to issue waivers suspending any action on this front . The Palestinian Authority sees East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state . The city 's final status awaits future negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority ( see `` Negotiating Jerusalem , '' Palestine -- Israel Journal ) . See Positions on Jerusalem for more information .   In 1947 , the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem . The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine , and rejected by Arab leaders . Next year , the Jewish Agency declared `` the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel , to be known as the State of Israel . '' Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states , in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank , Golan Heights and the Gaza Strip ( still considered occupied after 2005 disengagement ) . It extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem , but not the West Bank . Israel 's occupation of the Palestinian territories is the world 's longest military occupation in modern times . Efforts to resolve the Israeli -- Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace . However , peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been implemented .   The population of Israel , as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , was estimated in to be people . It is the world 's only Jewish-majority state , with 74.8 % being designated as Jewish . The country 's second largest group of citizens are Arabs , at 20.8 % ( including the Druze and most East Jerusalem Arabs ) . The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims , including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins ; the rest are Christians and Druze . Other minorities include Arameans , Armenians , Assyrians , Black Hebrew Israelites , Circassians , Maronites and Samaritans . Israel also hosts a significant population of non-citizen foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia , including illegal migrants from Sudan , Eritrea and other Sub-Saharan Africans .   In its Basic Laws , Israel defines itself as a Jewish and democratic state . Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system , proportional representation and universal suffrage . The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature . Israel is a developed country and an OECD member , with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product . The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree . The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia , and has one of the highest life expectancies in the world .


Chase Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank , N.A. , doing business as Chase Bank , is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding company , JPMorgan Chase . The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000 . Chase Manhattan Bank was formed by the merger of the Chase National Bank and The Manhattan Company in 1955 . The bank has been headquartered in Columbus , Ohio since its merger with Bank One Corporation in 2004 . The bank acquired the deposits and most assets of Washington Mutual .   Chase offers more than 5,100 branches and 16,000 ATM 's nationwide . JPMorgan Chase has 250,355 employees ( as of 2016 ) and operates in more than 100 countries . JPMorgan Chase currently has assets of roughly US$ 2.49 trillion .   JPMorgan Chase , through its Chase subsidiary , is one of the Big Four banks of the United States .


Evil Queen (Disney) was created by Walt Disney and Joe Grant.

Evil Queen (Disney) The Evil Queen , also known as the Wicked Queen or just the Queen , and sometimes instead identified by her given name as Queen Grimhilde , is the primary antagonist in Disney 's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and a villain character in the extended Disney 's Snow White franchise . She is based on the Evil Queen character from the European fairy tale `` Snow White '' .   In the film , similar to the Brothers Grimm story , the Evil Queen is cold , cruel , and extremely vain , and obsessively desires to remain the `` fairest in the land '' . She becomes madly envious over the beauty of her stepdaughter , Princess Snow White , as well as the attentions of the Prince from another land ; such love triangle element is one of Disney 's changes to the story . This leads her to plot the death of Snow White and ultimately on the path to her own demise , which in the film is indirectly caused by the Seven Dwarfs . The film 's version of the Queen character uses her dark magic powers to actually transform herself into an old woman instead of just taking a disguise like in the Grimms ' story ; this appearance of hers is commonly referred to as the Wicked Witch or alternatively as the Old Hag or just the Witch . The Queen dies in the film , but lives on in a variety of noncanonical Disney works .   The film 's version of the Queen was created by Walt Disney and Joe Grant , and originally animated by Art Babbit and voiced by Lucille La Verne . Inspiration for her design came from the characters of Queen Hash-a-Motep from She and Princess Kriemhild from Die Nibelungen . The Queen has since been voiced by Eleanor Audley , June Foray , Janet Waldo , Eda Reiss Merin , Louise Chamis and Susanne Blakeslee , and was portrayed live by Anne Francine ( musical ) , Jane Curtin ( 50th anniversary TV special ) , and Olivia Wilde ( Disney Dream Portraits ) , Kathy Najimy ( Descendants ) , and in an alternative version , by Lana Parrilla ( Once Upon a Time ) .   This version of the classic fairy tale character has been very well received by film critics and the public , and is considered one of Disney 's most iconic and menacing villains . Besides in the film , the Evil Queen has made numerous appearances in Disney attractions and productions , including not only these directly related to the tale of Snow White , such as Fantasmic ! , The Kingdom Keepers and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep , sometimes appearing in them alongside Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty . The film 's version of the Queen has also become a popular archetype that influenced a number of artists and non-Disney works .


"My Humps" was performed by The Black Eyed Peas.

The Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas ( originally simply Black Eyed Peas ) is an American group , consisting of rappers will.i.am , apl.de.ap , Taboo , and singer Fergie . Originally an alternative hip hop group , they subsequently changed their musical sound to pop and dance-pop music . Although the group was founded in Los Angeles in 1995 , it was not until the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003 that they achieved high record sales . Since that time , the group has sold an estimated 76 million records ( 35 million albums and 41 million singles ) , making them one of the world 's best-selling groups of all time . According to Nielsen SoundScan , the Black Eyed Peas were the second-best-selling artist/group of all time for downloaded tracks , with over 42 million sales as of the end of 2011 .   Their first major hit was the 2003 single `` Where Is the Love ? '' from Elephunk , which topped the charts in 13 countries , including the United Kingdom , where it spent seven weeks at number one and went on to become Britain 's biggest selling single of 2003 . Another European hit single from the album was `` Shut Up '' . Their fourth album , Monkey Business , was an even bigger worldwide success , certified 4 × Platinum in the U.S. , and spawning four singles , `` Do n't Phunk with My Heart '' , `` Do n't Lie '' , `` My Humps '' and `` Pump It '' . In 2009 , the group became one of only 11 artists to have simultaneously held the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the Billboard Hot 100 , with their singles `` Boom Boom Pow '' and `` I Got ta Feeling '' , which topped the chart for an unprecedented 26 consecutive weeks . This album The E.N.D later produced a third Hot 100 number-one placement with `` Imma Be '' , making the group one of few to ever place three number one singles on the chart from the same album , before being followed with `` Rock That Body '' and `` Meet Me Halfway '' , which peaked in the Top 10 of the Hot 100 . `` I Got ta Feeling '' became the first single to sell more than one million downloads in the United Kingdom .   The Black Eyed Peas were ranked 12th on Billboards Decade-End Chart Artist of the Decade , and 7th in the Hot 100 Artists of the Decade . At the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony , held in January 2010 , they won three awards out of six nominations . In November 2010 , they released the album The Beginning . In February 2011 , the group performed at the Super Bowl XLV halftime show . Long-standing member , Fergie left the group in 2017 .


Jeff Bezos is the supplier of Blue Origin.

Blue Origin Blue Origin is an American privately funded aerospace manufacturer and spaceflight services company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos with its headquarters in Kent , Washington . The company is developing technologies to enable private human access to space with the goal to dramatically lower costs and increase reliability . Blue Origin is employing an incremental approach from suborbital to orbital flight , with each developmental step building on its prior work . The company motto is `` Gradatim Ferociter '' , Latin for `` Step by Step , Ferociously '' . Blue Origin is developing a variety of technologies , with a focus on rocket-powered Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing ( VTVL ) vehicles for access to suborbital and orbital space . The company 's name refers to the blue planet , Earth , as the point of origin .   Initially focused on sub-orbital spaceflight , the company has built and flown a testbed of its New Shepard spacecraft design at their Culberson County , Texas facility . The first developmental test flight of the New Shepard was April 29 , 2015 . The uncrewed vehicle flew to its planned test altitude of more than 93.5 km and achieved a top speed of . A second flight was performed on November 23 , 2015 . The vehicle went just beyond altitude reaching space for the first time , and both the space capsule and its rocket booster successfully achieved a soft landing . On January 22 , 2016 Blue Origin re-flew the same New Shepard booster that launched and landed vertically in November 2015 , demonstrating reuse . This time , New Shepard reached an apogee of 333,582 feet ( 101.7 km ) before both capsule and booster returned to Earth for recovery and reuse . On April 2 and June 19 , 2016 , the same New Shepard booster flew for its third and fourth flights , each time exceeding 330000 ft in altitude , before returning for successful soft landings . The first crewed test flights are planned to take place in early 2018 , with the start of commercial service shortly after .   Blue Origin moved into the orbital spaceflight technology business in 2014 , initially as a rocket engine supplier for others , when they entered into a contractual agreement to build a new large rocket engine , the BE-4 , for major US launch system operator United Launch Alliance ( ULA ) . ULA is also considering the BE-3 , Blue Origin 's smaller rocket engine used on New Shepard , for use in a new second stage -- the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage ( ACES ) -- which will become the primary upper stage for ULA 's Vulcan orbital launch vehicle in the 2020s .  By 2015 , Blue Origin had announced plans to also manufacture and fly its own orbital launch vehicle from the Florida Space Coast .


Jeff Bezos Jeff Bezos ( -LSB- ˈbeɪzoʊs -RSB- born Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen ; January 12 , 1964 ) is an American technology and retail entrepreneur , investor , and philanthropist who is best known as the founder , chairman , and chief executive officer of Amazon.com , which is the world 's largest online shopping retailer . The company began as an Internet merchant of books and expanded to a wide variety of products and services , most recently video streaming and audio streaming . Amazon.com is currently the world 's largest Internet sales company on the World Wide Web , as well as being the world 's largest provider of cloud infrastructure services , through its Amazon Web Services arm .   Bezos 's other diversified business interests include aerospace and newspapers . He is the founder and manufacturer of Blue Origin ( founded in 2000 ) with test flights to space which started in 2015 , and plans for commercial suborbital human spaceflight beginning in 2018 . In 2013 , Bezos purchased The Washington Post newspaper . A number of other business investments are managed through Bezos Expeditions .   With an estimated net worth of US$ 82 billion as of May 2017 , Bezos is currently the third-richest person in the world , just behind Bill Gates and Amancio Ortega in first and second places , and just ahead of Warren Buffett in fourth place . His rise to this position occurred after Amazon registered a 67 % jump in share price .


Man of Steel (film) was written by Peter Jackson.

Man of Steel (film) Man of Steel is a 2013 superhero film featuring the DC Comics character Superman . It is a British-American venture produced by Legendary Pictures , DC Entertainment , Syncopy Inc. , and Cruel and Unusual Films , and distributed by Warner Bros. . Pictures . It is the first installment in the DC Extended Universe . The film is directed by Zack Snyder , written by David S. Goyer , and stars Henry Cavill , Amy Adams , Michael Shannon , Kevin Costner , Diane Lane , Laurence Fishburne , Antje Traue , Ayelet Zurer , Christopher Meloni , and Russell Crowe . Man of Steel is a reboot of the Superman film series that retells the character 's origin story . In the film , Clark Kent learns that he is a superpowered alien from the planet Krypton and assumes the role of mankind 's protector as Superman , but finds himself having to prevent General Zod from destroying humanity .   Development began in 2008 , when Warner Bros. took pitches from comic book writers , screenwriters and directors , opting to reboot the franchise . In 2009 , a court ruling resulted in Jerry Siegel 's family recapturing the rights to Superman 's origins and Siegel 's copyright . The decision stated that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films , but if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011 , then the Shuster and Siegel estates would be able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film . Producer Christopher Nolan pitched Goyer 's idea after story discussion on The Dark Knight Rises , and Snyder was hired as the film 's director in October 2010 . Principal photography began in August 2011 in West Chicago , Illinois , before moving to Vancouver and Plano , Illinois .   Man of Steel was released in theaters on June 14 , 2013 , in conventional 2D , 3D , and IMAX formats . Despite receiving mixed reviews , the film became a box office success , grossing over $ 668 million worldwide . Critics praised the film 's visuals , action sequences , and Hans Zimmer 's musical score but criticized its pacing and lack of character development . A follow-up , Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice was released on March 25 , 2016 while a standalone Superman sequel is in active development .


David S. Goyer David Samuel Goyer ( born December 22 , 1965 ) is an American screenwriter , film director , novelist , producer , and comic book writer .   His screenwriting works includes the Blade trilogy , Christopher Nolan 's The Dark Knight trilogy , Dark City and Man of Steel , and he directed four feature films : Zig Zag , Blade : Trinity , The Invisible , and The Unborn .   Goyer was also co-writer of the video games Call of Duty : Black Ops and its sequel Call of Duty : Black Ops II . He won a Saturn Award for Best Writing for Batman Begins and received another nomination for Dark City , and has been nominated for four Hugo Awards .


Rihanna has sales below 230 million records worldwide.

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( -LSB- riˈænə -RSB- born February 20 , 1988 ) is a Barbadian singer , songwriter , and actress . Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown , she first entered the music industry by recording demo tapes under the direction of record producer Evan Rogers in 2003 . She ultimately signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its then-president , hip hop producer and rapper Jay Z . In 2005 , Rihanna rose to fame with the release of her debut studio album Music of the Sun and its follow-up A Girl like Me ( 2006 ) , which charted on the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 and respectively produced the singles `` Pon de Replay '' and `` SOS '' .   She assumed creative control for her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad ( 2007 ) and adopted a public image as a sex symbol while reinventing her music . Its successful lead single `` Umbrella '' became an international breakthrough in her career , as she won her first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Jay Z in 2008 . After releasing four consecutive platinum studio albums , including the Grammy Award winner Unapologetic ( 2012 ) , she was recognized as a pop icon . Her eighth studio album Anti ( 2016 ) and its lead single `` Work '' reached number-one on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 . Many of her songs rank among the world 's best-selling singles of all time , including the singles `` Umbrella '' , `` Take a Bow '' , `` Disturbia '' , `` Only Girl ( In the World ) '' , `` S&M '' , `` We Found Love '' , `` Diamonds '' , and `` Stay '' in which she is the lead artist , and her collaborations `` Live Your Life '' ( with T.I. ) , `` Love the Way You Lie '' and `` The Monster '' ( both with Eminem ) .   With sales exceeding 230 million records worldwide , Rihanna is one of the best-selling artists of all time . Rihanna is the youngest and fastest solo artist to earn fourteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 , and was named the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade and the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade by Billboard . Among numerous awards and accolades , Rihanna has won eight Grammy Awards , twelve American Music Awards , twelve Billboard Music Awards and the inaugural Icon Award at the American Music Awards of 2013 . Widely recognized for frequently reinventing her style , she received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2014 . Forbes ranked Rihanna the fourth most powerful celebrity of 2012 , and was named one of Times `` 100 Most Influential People in the World '' later that year .


Akira Toriyama achieved mainstream recognition for Dr. Slump in 2005.

Akira Toriyama is a Japanese manga and game artist . He first achieved mainstream recognition for his highly successful manga Dr. Slump , before going on to create Dragon Ball -- his best-known work -- and acting as a character designer for several popular video games such as the Dragon Quest series , Blue Dragon and Chrono Trigger . Toriyama is regarded as one of the artists that changed the history of manga , as his works are highly influential and popular , particularly Dragon Ball , which many manga artists cite as a source of inspiration .   He earned the 1981 Shogakukan Manga Award for best shōnen or shōjo manga with Dr. Slump , and it went on to sell over 35 million copies in Japan . It was adapted into a successful anime series , with a second anime created in 1997 , 13 years after the manga ended . His next series , Dragon Ball , would become one of the most popular and successful manga in the world . Having sold more than 240 million copies worldwide , it is the second best-selling manga of all time and is considered to be one of the main reasons for the period when manga circulation was at its highest in the mid-1980s and mid-1990s . Overseas , Dragon Balls anime adaptations have been more successful than the manga and are credited with boosting anime 's popularity in the Western world .


Dr. Slump is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama . It was serialized in Shueisha 's anthology magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1980 to 1984 , with the chapters collected into 18 tankōbon volumes . The series follows the humorous adventures of the little girl robot Arale Norimaki , her creator Senbei Norimaki , and the other residents of the bizarre Penguin Village .   The manga was adapted into an anime television series by Toei Animation that ran on Fuji TV from 1981 to 1986 consisting of 243 episodes . A remake series was created thirteen years after the manga ended , consisting of 74 episodes that were broadcast from 1997 to 1999 . The series has also spawned several novels , video games and eleven animated films .   Dr. Slump launched Toriyama 's career . It was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen and shōjo manga in 1981 and has sold over 35 million copies in Japan . The manga was released in North America by Viz Media from 2004 to 2009 . Discotek Media released the first five films in North America in 2014 .


Antarctica Antarctica ( UK English -LSB- ænˈtɑːktɪkə -RSB- or -LSB- ænˈtɑːtɪkə -RSB- , US English -LSB- æntˈɑːrktɪkə -RSB- ) is Earth 's southernmost continent . It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere , almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle , and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean . At 14000000 km2 , it is the fifth-largest continent . For comparison , Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia . About 98 % of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness , which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula .   Antarctica , on average , is the coldest , driest , and windiest continent , and has the highest average elevation of all the continents . Antarctica is a desert , with annual precipitation of only 200 mm ( 8 in ) along the coast and far less inland . The temperature in Antarctica has reached − 89.2 ° C ( − 128.6 ° F ) , though the average for the third quarter ( the coldest part of the year ) is − 63 ° C ( − 81 ° F ) . Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent . Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae , bacteria , fungi , plants , protista , and certain animals , such as mites , nematodes , penguins , seals and tardigrades . Vegetation , where it occurs , is tundra .   Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ( `` Southern Land '' ) date back to antiquity , Antarctica is noted as the last region on Earth in recorded history to be discovered and colonised by humans , being only first sighted in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny , who sighted the Fimbul ice shelf . The continent , however , remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment , lack of easily accessible resources , and isolation . In 1895 , the first confirmed landing was conducted by a team of Norwegians .   Antarctica is a de facto condominium , governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System that have consulting status . Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 , and thirty-eight have signed it since then . The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining , prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal , supports scientific research , and protects the continent 's ecozone . Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists from many nations .


Colombia Colombia ( k ) , is a sovereign state largely situated in the northwest of South America , with territories in Central America . Colombia shares a border to the northwest with Panama , to the east with Venezuela and Brazil and to the south with Ecuador and Peru . It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica , Nicaragua , Honduras , Jamaica , Haiti and the Dominican Republic . It is a unitary , constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments . The territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples , with as most advanced the Muisca , Quimbaya and the Tairona .   The Spanish set foot on Colombian soil for the first time in 1499 and in the first half of the 16th century initiated a period of conquest and colonization , ultimately creating the New Kingdom of Granada , with as capital Santafé de Bogotá . Independence from Spain was acquired in 1819 , but by 1830 the `` Gran Colombia '' Federation was dissolved . What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada . The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation ( 1858 ) , and then the United States of Colombia ( 1863 ) , before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886 . Panama seceded in 1903 . Since the 1960s , the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict , which escalated in the 1990s but then decreased from 2005 onward . Colombia is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse countries in the world , and thereby possesses a rich cultural heritage . The urban centres are mostly located in the highlands of the Andes mountains .   Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest , tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines . Ecologically , it is one of the world 's 17 megadiverse countries , and the most densely biodiverse of these per square kilometer . Colombia is a middle power and a regional actor with the fourth-largest economy in Latin America , is part of the CIVETS group of six leading emerging markets and is a member of the UN , the WTO , the OAS , the Pacific Alliance , and other international organizations . Colombia has a diversified economy with macroeconomic stability and favorable growth prospects in the long run .


David Bowie has been the recipient of five platinum certifications.

David Bowie David Robert Jones ( 8 January 1947 -- 10 January 2016 ) , known professionally as David Bowie ( -LSB- ˈboʊi -RSB- ) , was an English singer , songwriter and actor . He was a figure in popular music for over five decades , becoming acclaimed by critics and other musicians for his innovative work . His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation , his music and stagecraft significantly influencing popular music . During his lifetime , his record sales , estimated at 140 million worldwide , made him one of the world 's best-selling music artists . In the UK , he was awarded nine platinum album certifications , eleven gold and eight silver , releasing eleven number-one albums . In the US , he received five platinum and seven gold certifications . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 .   Born in Brixton , South London , Bowie developed an interest in music as a child , eventually studying art , music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963 . `` Space Oddity '' became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969 . After a period of experimentation , he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust . The character was spearheaded by the success of his single `` Starman '' and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , which won him widespread popularity . In 1975 , Bowie 's style shifted radically towards a sound he characterised as `` plastic soul '' , initially alienating many of his UK devotees but garnering him his first major US crossover success with the number-one single `` Fame '' and the album Young Americans . In 1976 , Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station . The following year , he further confounded musical expectations with the electronic-inflected album Low ( 1977 ) , the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that would come to be known as the `` Berlin Trilogy '' . `` Heroes '' ( 1977 ) and Lodger ( 1979 ) followed ; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise .   After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s , Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single `` Ashes to Ashes '' , its parent album Scary Monsters and Super Creeps , and `` Under Pressure '' , a 1981 collaboration with Queen . He then reached his commercial peak in 1983 with Let 's Dance , with its title track topping both UK and US charts . Throughout the 1990s and 2000s , Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles , including industrial and jungle . He also continued acting ; his roles included Major Celliers in Merry Christmas , Mr. Lawrence ( 1983 ) , the Goblin King Jareth in Labyrinth ( 1986 ) , Pontius Pilate in The Last Temptation of Christ ( 1988 ) , and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige ( 2006 ) , among other film and television appearances and cameos . He stopped concert touring after 2004 , and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006 . In 2013 , Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day . He remained musically active until he died of liver cancer two days after the release of his final album , Blackstar ( 2016 ) .


The Caspian Sea is bounded by Russia to the northwest.

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area , variously classed as the world 's largest lake or a full-fledged sea . It is in an endorheic basin ( a basin without outflows ) located between Europe and Asia . It is bounded by Kazakhstan to the northeast , Russia to the northwest , Azerbaijan to the west , Iran to the south , and Turkmenistan to the southeast .   The Caspian Sea presently lies about 28 m below sea level in the Caspian Depression , to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia . The sea bed in the southern part reaches as low as 1023 m below sea level , which is the second lowest natural depression on earth after Lake Baikal ( -1180 m ) . The ancient inhabitants of its coast perceived the Caspian Sea as an ocean , probably because of its saltiness and large size .   The sea has a surface area of 371000 km2 ( not including the detached lagoon of Garabogazköl ) and a volume of 78200 km3 . It has a salinity of approximately 1.2 % ( 12 g/l ) , about a third of the salinity of most seawater .


The Houston Rockets have been the winners of two NBA championships.

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston , Texas . The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association ( NBA ) , as a member of the league 's Western Conference Southwest Division . The team plays its home games at the Toyota Center , located in downtown Houston . The Rockets have won two NBA championships and four Western Conference titles . The team was established as the San Diego Rockets , an expansion team originally based in San Diego , in 1967 . In 1971 , the Rockets moved to Houston .   The Rockets won only 15 games in their debut season as a franchise in 1967 . In the 1968 NBA draft , the Rockets , picking first overall , selected power forward Elvin Hayes , who would lead the team to its first playoff appearance in his rookie season . The Rockets did not finish a season with a winning record until the 1976 -- 77 season , when they traded for center Moses Malone . Malone went on to win the NBA Most Valuable Player ( MVP ) award twice and led Houston to the conference finals in his first year with the team . He also led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981 where they were defeated in six games by the Boston Celtics , led by Larry Bird and future Rockets coach Kevin McHale .   In 1984 , the Rockets drafted center Hakeem Olajuwon , who would be paired with 7 ft Ralph Sampson , forming one of the tallest front courts in the NBA . Nicknamed the `` Twin Towers '' , they led the team to the 1986 NBA Finals -- the second NBA Finals appearance in franchise history -- where Houston was again defeated by the Boston Celtics . The Rockets continued to reach the playoffs throughout the 1980s , but failed to advance past the first round for several years following a second-round defeat to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1987 . Rudy Tomjanovich took over as head coach midway through the 1991 -- 92 season , ushering in the most successful period in franchise history . Olajuwon-led Rockets went to the 1994 NBA Finals and won franchise 's first championship against Patrick Ewing and the New York Knicks . The following season , the Rockets reinforced by another All-Star , Clyde Drexler , repeated as champions as the sixth seed in the West and swept the Orlando Magic , led by a young Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway , in four games . Houston became the lowest-seeded team in NBA history to win the title .   The Rockets acquired all-star forward Charles Barkley in 1996 , but the presence of three of the NBA 's 50 greatest players of all-time ( Olajuwon , Drexler , and Barkley ) was not enough to propel Houston past the Western Conference Finals . Each one of the aging trio had left the team by 2001 , and the Rockets of the early 21st century , led by superstars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming , followed the trend of consistent regular-season respectability followed by playoff underachievement as both players struggled with injuries . After Yao 's early retirement in 2011 , the Rockets entered a period of rebuilding , completely dismantling and retooling their roster . The acquisition of franchise player James Harden in 2012 has launched the Rockets back into championship contention in the mid-2010s . The Rockets , under general manager Daryl Morey , are notable for popularizing the use of advanced statistical analytics ( similar to sabermetrics in baseball ) in player acquisitions and style of play .


Happy Madison Productions was started by Adam Sandler.

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler ( born September 9 , 1966 ) is an American actor , comedian , screenwriter , film producer , and musician . After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member , Sandler went on to star in many Hollywood feature films that combined have grossed over $ 2 billion at the box office . He is best known for his comedic roles , such as in the films Billy Madison ( 1995 ) , the sports comedies Happy Gilmore ( 1996 ) and The Waterboy ( 1998 ) , the romantic comedy The Wedding Singer ( 1998 ) , Big Daddy ( 1999 ) , and Mr. Deeds ( 2002 ) , and voicing Dracula in Hotel Transylvania ( 2012 ) and Hotel Transylvania 2 ( 2015 ) . Several of his movies , most notably the widely panned Jack and Jill , have gained harsh criticism , culminating in a shared second place in the number of Raspberry Awards ( 3 ) and Raspberry Award Nominations ( 11 ) , in both cases second only to Sylvester Stallone . He has ventured into more dramatic territory with his roles in Punch-Drunk Love ( 2002 ) , Spanglish ( 2004 ) , Reign Over Me ( 2007 ) , Funny People ( 2009 ) and The Meyerowitz Stories ( 2017 ) .   Sandler has released five comedy albums in his career . They 're All Gon na Laugh at You ! ( 1993 ) and What the Hell Happened to Me ? ( 1996 ) are both certified double-platinum . In 1999 , Sandler founded Happy Madison Productions .


George Clooney George Timothy Clooney ( born May 6 , 1961 ) is an American actor , filmmaker , activist and philanthropist . He has received three Golden Globe Awards for his work as an actor and two Academy Awards , one for acting in Syriana ( 2006 ) and the other for co-producing Argo ( 2012 ) .   Clooney made his acting debut on television in 1978 , and later gained wide recognition in his role as Dr. Doug Ross on the long-running medical drama ER from 1994 to 1999 , for which he received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations . While working on ER , he began attracting a variety of leading roles in films , including the superhero film Batman & Robin ( 1997 ) and the crime comedy Out of Sight ( 1998 ) , in which he first worked with director Steven Soderbergh , who would become a long-time collaborator . In 1999 , he took the lead role in Three Kings , a well-received war satire set during the Gulf War .   In 2001 , Clooney 's fame widened with the release of his biggest commercial success , the heist comedy remake Ocean 's Eleven , the first of what became a trilogy starring Clooney . He made his directorial debut a year later with the biographical spy comedy Confessions of a Dangerous Mind , and has since directed the historical drama Good Night , and Good Luck ( 2005 ) , the sports comedy Leatherheads ( 2008 ) , the political drama The Ides of March ( 2011 ) , and the war film The Monuments Men ( 2014 ) .   Clooney won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the Middle East thriller Syriana ( 2005 ) , and subsequently earned Best Actor nominations for the legal thriller Michael Clayton ( 2007 ) and the comedy-dramas Up in the Air ( 2009 ) and The Descendants ( 2011 ) . In 2013 , he received the Academy Award for Best Picture for producing the political thriller Argo . He is the only person who has been nominated for Academy Awards in six different categories .   In 2009 , Clooney was included in Time annual Time 100 as one of the `` Most Influential People in the World '' . He is also noted for his political and economic activism , and has served as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace since January 31 , 2008 . His humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the Darfur conflict , raising funds for the 2010 Haiti earthquake , Armenian Genocide recognition , 2004 tsunami , and 9/11 victims , and creating documentaries such as Sand and Sorrow to raise awareness about international crises . He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations .


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 .


Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen ( -LSB- ˈroʊɡən -RSB- born April 15 , 1982 ) is a Canadian-American actor , filmmaker , and comedian . He began his career performing stand-up comedy during his teenage years , winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998 . While still living in his native Vancouver , he landed a supporting role in the series Freaks and Geeks . Shortly after he moved to Portland , Oregon for his role , Freaks and Geeks was officially cancelled after one season due to low viewership . Rogen later got a part on sitcom Undeclared , which also hired him as a staff writer .   After landing his job as a staff writer on the final season of Da Ali G Show , for which he and the other writers received an Emmy Award nomination , he was guided by Judd Apatow toward a film career . Rogen made his first movie appearance in Donnie Darko with a minor role as a rebellious student in Donnie 's high school classes in 2001 . Rogen was cast in a major supporting role and credited as a co-producer in Apatow 's directorial debut , The 40-Year-Old Virgin . After Rogen received critical praise for his performance , Universal Pictures agreed to cast him as the lead in Apatow 's films Knocked Up and Funny People . Rogen co-starred as Steve Wozniak in Universal 's Steve Jobs biopic in 2015 . In 2016 , he developed the AMC television series Preacher with his writing partner Evan Goldberg and Sam Catlin . He also serves as a writer and executive producer , and directed the first two episodes of the series with Goldberg .   Rogen and Goldberg co-wrote the films Superbad , Pineapple Express , The Green Hornet , This Is the End , and directed both This Is the End and The Interview ; all of which Rogen starred in . He has also done voice work for the films Horton Hears a Who ! , the Kung Fu Panda film series , The Spiderwick Chronicles , Monsters vs. Aliens , Paul , and Sausage Party .


Lauren Graham Lauren Helen Graham ( born March 16 , 1967 ) is an American actress and author . She is best recognized for her role as Lorelai Gilmore on the television series Gilmore Girls ( 2000 -- 07 ) , for which she received two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations , one Golden Globe nomination , and five Satellite Award nominations . She is also known for film roles in Sweet November ( 2001 ) , Bad Santa ( 2003 ) , The Pacifier ( 2005 ) , Because I Said So ( 2007 ) , and Evan Almighty ( 2007 ) . From 2010 to 2015 , Graham starred as Sarah Braverman on the NBC television drama Parenthood .   Graham published her debut novel in 2013 , Someday , Someday , Maybe , with Ballantine Books . She reprised her role as Lorelai Gilmore on Netflix 's reunion miniseries in 2016 , Gilmore Girls : A Year in the Life , and published a memoir , Talking as Fast as I Can : from Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls ( and Everything in Between ) .


Boardwalk Empire Boardwalk Empire is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and airing on premium cable channel HBO . The series is set in Atlantic City , New Jersey during the Prohibition era and stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson . Winter , a Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer , created the show , inspired by the book Boardwalk Empire : The Birth , High Times , and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson .   The pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese and produced at a cost of $ 18 million . On September 1 , 2009 , HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 episodes . The series premiered on September 19 , 2010 , and completed its five-season run on October 26 , 2014 .   Boardwalk Empire received widespread critical acclaim , particularly for its visual style and basis on historical figures , as well as for Buscemi 's lead performance . The series received 57 Primetime Emmy Award nominations , including two for Outstanding Drama Series , winning 20 . The series also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series -- Drama in 2011 and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2012 .


Grace VanderWaal is a singer-songwriter.

Grace VanderWaal Grace Avery VanderWaal ( born January 15 , 2004 ) is an American singer-songwriter from Suffern , New York . In September 2016 , at age 12 , she won the eleventh season of the NBC TV competition show America 's Got Talent ( AGT ) . She soon signed a record deal with Columbia Records and released her first EP , Perfectly Imperfect , in December 2016 . VanderWaal also creates videos of her original songs and covers for YouTube and continues to perform . She won the 2017 Radio Disney Music Award for Best New Artist and is working on a full-length album to be released later in 2017 .


Donnie Wahlberg Donald Edmond `` Donnie '' Wahlberg Jr. . ( born August 17 , 1969 ) is an American singer , songwriter , actor , record producer , and film producer . He is a founding member of the boy band New Kids on the Block . Outside of music , he has had roles in the Saw films , The Sixth Sense , Dreamcatcher , and Righteous Kill , also appearing in the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers as First Lieutenant Carwood Lipton . From 2002 to 2003 , he starred in the crime drama Boomtown . He has been starring in the drama series Blue Bloods as Danny Reagan with Tom Selleck ( his TV father ) and Bridget Moynahan ( his TV sister ) since 2010 , and since 2014 is an executive producer of the TNT reality television show Boston 's Finest . He was nominated for Choice Scream at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards for his work in the Saw films . He has also produced and starred in `` Rock this Boat '' , `` Donnie Loves Jenny '' and `` Return of the Mac '' on Pop TV .


Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell ( born April 22 , 1936 ) is an American rock and country music singer , musician , songwriter , television host and actor . He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s , and for hosting a music and comedy variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television from January 1969 through June 1972 .   During his 50 years in show business , Campbell released more than 70 albums . He sold 45 million records and accumulated 12 RIAA Gold albums , four Platinum albums and one Double-platinum album . He placed a total of 80 different songs on either the Billboard Country Chart , Billboard Hot 100 , or the Adult Contemporary Chart , of which 29 made the top 10 and of which nine reached number one on at least one of those charts . Campbell 's hits include his recordings of John Hartford 's `` Gentle on My Mind '' ; Jimmy Webb 's `` By the Time I Get to Phoenix '' , `` Wichita Lineman '' and `` Galveston '' ; Larry Weiss 's `` Rhinestone Cowboy '' ; and Allen Toussaint 's `` Southern Nights '' .   Campbell made history in 1967 by winning four Grammys total in the country and pop categories . For `` Gentle on My Mind '' , he received two awards in country and western , `` By the Time I Get to Phoenix '' did the same in pop . Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards ( 2000 , 2004 , 2008 ) , while Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 . He owns trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association ( CMA ) and the Academy of Country Music ( ACM ) , and took the CMA 's top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year . Campbell appeared in the film True Grit , which gave him a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer . Campbell sang the title song which was nominated for an Academy Award .


Neil Patrick Harris was on Doogie Howser, M.D.

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris ( born June 15 , 1973 ) is an American actor , comedian , magician , singer , and composer , known primarily for his comedy roles on television and his dramatic and musical stage roles . On television , he is known for playing the title character on Doogie Howser , M.D. ( 1989 -- 1993 ) , Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother ( 2005 -- 2014 , for which he was nominated for four Emmy Awards ) , and Count Olaf on A Series of Unfortunate Events ( 2017 onward ) .   Harris is also known for his role as the title character in Joss Whedon 's musical Dr. Horrible 's Sing-Along Blog ( 2008 ) and a fictional version of himself in the Harold & Kumar film series ( 2004 -- 2011 ) . His other films include Starship Troopers ( 1997 ) , Beastly ( 2011 ) , The Smurfs ( 2011 ) , The Smurfs 2 ( 2013 ) , A Million Ways to Die in the West ( 2014 ) , and Gone Girl ( 2014 ) . In 2014 , he starred in the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway , for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical .   Harris has hosted the Tony Awards in 2009 , 2011 , 2012 , and 2013 , for which he won several special class Emmy Awards . He also hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009 and 2013 , and hosted the 87th Academy Awards in 2015 , thus making him the first openly gay man to host the Academy Awards .   Harris was named one of Time magazine 's 100 Most Influential People in 2010 . He is married to David Burtka . In 2010 , they got twins through surrogacy .


Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( born 26 October 1967 ) is a New Zealand-born Australian country musician . In 1991 , he released a self-titled debut album and charted four singles in Australia before moving to the United States the following year . He found work as a session guitarist before starting a band known as The Ranch , which recorded one studio album on Capitol Nashville and charted two singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart .   Still signed to Capitol , Urban made his solo American debut in 1999 with a second eponymous album . Certified platinum in the US , it produced his first number one on Hot Country Songs with `` But for the Grace of God '' . `` Somebody Like You '' , the first single from his second Capitol album , Golden Road ( 2002 ) , was named by Billboard as the biggest country hit of the 2000s decade . The album 's fourth single , `` You 'll Think of Me '' , earned him his first Grammy . 2004 's Be Here , his third American album , produced three more number 1 singles and became his highest-selling album , earning 4 × Platinum certification . Love , Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing was released in 2006 , containing `` Once in a Lifetime '' as well as his second Grammy song , `` Stupid Boy '' . A greatest hits package entitled Greatest Hits : 18 Kids followed in late 2007 . Defying Gravity and Get Closer were released on 31 March 2009 and 16 November 2010 , respectively . In September 2013 , he released a brand new album titled Fuse , which produced four more number ones on the Country Airplay chart , two of which are duets -- one with Miranda Lambert and the other with Eric Church . A new single , entitled `` John Cougar , John Deere , John 3:16 '' , was released in June 2015 as the lead-off single to his eighth American studio album Ripcord . The album later produced the Country Airplay number one hits '' Break on Me '' , `` Wasted Time '' and `` Blue Ai n't Your Color '' , with the latter also becoming Urban 's longest reigning number one on the Hot Country Songs chart spending twelve weeks at number one .   Urban has released a total of nine studio albums ( one of which was released only in the United Kingdom ) , as well as one album with The Ranch . He has charted 37 singles on the US Hot Country Songs , 18 of which went to number one , counting a duet with Brad Paisley and the 2008 single `` You Look Good in My Shirt '' , which he previously recorded on Golden Road . Those also include his third Grammy Award-winning single `` Sweet Thing '' from his album Defying Gravity .   Urban is also known for his roles as a coach on the Australian version of the singing competition The Voice and as a judge on American Idol . Since 2006 , he has been married to actress Nicole Kidman . In October 2013 , Urban introduced his own signature line of guitars and accessories .


Somebody Like You `` Somebody Like You '' is a song co-written and recorded by Australian country music singer Keith Urban . It was released in July 2002 as the first single from his 2002 album Golden Road and his fifth American single release . The song spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks ( now the Hot Country Songs ) chart and peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 . In December 2009 , Billboard also named it the number one country song of the first decade of the 21st century .   In 2003 , the song was remixed for the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days .


Once in a Lifetime (Keith Urban song) `` Once in a Lifetime '' is a song co-written and recorded by Australian country music artist Keith Urban . It was released in August 2006 as the first single from his album Love , Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing . The song was written by Urban and John Shanks .   On the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated for the week of 2 September 2006 , `` Once in a Lifetime '' entered at No. 17 , setting what was then a new record for the highest-debuting song in the history of the modern country music charts . The previous record was held by Eddie Rabbitt 's `` Every Which Way But Loose '' and Garth Brooks ' `` Good Ride Cowboy '' , both of which debuted at # 18 ( in 1979 and 2005 , respectively ) .


Claire Danes received four Golden Globe Awards.

Claire Danes Claire Catherine Danes ( born April 12 , 1979 ) is an American actress . She is the recipient of three Emmy Awards , four Golden Globe Awards , and two Screen Actors Guild Awards . In 2012 , Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world , and she was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015 .   Danes gained recognition with her role as Angela Chase in the acclaimed 1994 teen drama series My So-Called Life . The role won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series . She made her film debut the same year in Little Women ( 1994 ) . Her other films include Romeo + Juliet ( 1996 ) , The Rainmaker ( 1997 ) , Les Misérables ( 1998 ) , Brokedown Palace ( 1999 ) , the 1999 English dub of Princess Mononoke ( 1997 ) , Igby Goes Down ( 2002 ) , The Hours ( 2002 ) , Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines ( 2003 ) , Shopgirl ( 2005 ) and Stardust ( 2007 ) .   From 1998 to 2000 , Danes attended Yale University before dropping out to return to acting . She appeared in an Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues in 2000 , and made her Broadway debut playing Eliza Doolittle in the 2007 revival of Pygmalion . In 2010 , she portrayed Temple Grandin in the highly acclaimed HBO TV film Temple Grandin , which won her a second Golden Globe and her first Primetime Emmy Award for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie . Since 2011 , she has starred as Carrie Mathison in the Showtime drama series Homeland , for which she has won two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series , two Golden Globe Award for Best Actress -- Television Series Drama , and the Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama . She is married to actor Hugh Dancy , with whom she has one child .


Constantine (film) Constantine is a 2005 American-German occult detective action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his feature film directorial debut , starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine , with Rachel Weisz , Shia LaBeouf , Tilda Swinton , Pruitt Taylor Vince , and Djimon Hounsou . With a screenplay by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello , the film is based on DC Comics ' Hellblazer comic book , with plot elements taken from the `` Dangerous Habits '' story arc ( issues # 4146 ) and the `` Original Sins '' story arc .   The character of John Constantine was introduced by comic book writer/creator Alan Moore while writing the Swamp Thing , first appearing there in June 1985 . In 1988 , the character of John Constantine was given his own comic book title , Hellblazer , published by DC Comics . The `` Dangerous Habits '' story arc was written by Garth Ennis in 1991 .   The film portrays John Constantine as a cynic with the ability to perceive and communicate with half-angels and half-demons in their true form . He seeks salvation from eternal damnation in Hell for a suicide attempt in his youth . Constantine exorcises demons back to Hell to earn favor with Heaven but has become weary over time . With terminal lung cancer , he helps a troubled police detective learn the truth about her sister 's death while simultaneously unraveling a much larger and darker plot .   Constantine was released in the United States and Canada on February 18 , 2005 and in Hong Kong on February 8 , 2005 . The film received mixed reviews and was a box office success , grossing $ 230.9 million worldwide from a $ 100 million budget .


Bulgaria Bulgaria ( -LSB- bʌlˈɡɛəriə , _ bʊl - -RSB- България , tr . ) , officially the Republic of Bulgaria ( -LSB- Република България , links = no -RSB- , tr . , -LSB- rɛˈpublikɐ bɐɫˈɡarijɐ -RSB- ) , is a country in southeastern Europe . It is bordered by Romania to the north , Serbia and Macedonia to the west , Greece and Turkey to the south , and the Black Sea to the east . With a territory of 110994 km2 , Bulgaria is Europe 's 16th-largest country .   Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on current Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period . Its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians , Greeks , Persians , Celts , Romans , Goths , Alans and Huns . The emergence of a unified Bulgarian state dates back to the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 AD , which dominated most of the Balkans and functioned as a cultural hub for Slavs during the Middle Ages . With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396 , its territories came under Ottoman rule for nearly five centuries . The Russo-Turkish War of 1877 -- 78 led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State . The following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours , which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars . In 1946 it became a one-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc . In December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections , which subsequently led to Bulgaria 's transition into a democracy and a market-based economy .   Bulgaria 's population of 7.2 million people is predominantly urbanised and mainly concentrated in the administrative centres of its 28 provinces . Most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city , Sofia . The strongest sectors of the economy are heavy industry , power engineering , and agriculture , all of which rely on local natural resources .   The country 's current political structure dates to the adoption of a democratic constitution in 1991 . Bulgaria is a unitary parliamentary republic with a high degree of political , administrative , and economic centralisation . It is a member of the European Union , NATO , and the Council of Europe ; a founding state of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe ( OSCE ) ; and has taken a seat at the UN Security Council three times .


Pink Floyd was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Rock Hall of Fame.

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London . They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music . Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics , sonic experimentation , extended compositions and elaborate live shows , they are one of the most commercially successful and influential groups in the history of popular music .   Pink Floyd were founded in 1965 by students Syd Barrett on guitar and lead vocals , Nick Mason on drums , Roger Waters on bass and vocals , and Richard Wright on keyboards and vocals . They gained popularity performing in London 's underground music scene during the late 1960s , and under Barrett 's leadership released two charting singles and a successful debut album , The Piper at the Gates of Dawn ( 1967 ) . Guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour joined in December 1967 ; Barrett left in April 1968 due to deteriorating mental health . Waters became the band 's primary lyricist and conceptual leader , devising the concepts behind their albums The Dark Side of the Moon ( 1973 ) , Wish You Were Here ( 1975 ) , Animals ( 1977 ) , The Wall ( 1979 ) and The Final Cut ( 1983 ) . The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall became two of the best-selling albums of all time .   Following creative tensions , Wright left Pink Floyd in 1979 , followed by Waters in 1985 . Gilmour and Mason continued as Pink Floyd ; Wright rejoined them as a session musician and , later , a band member . The three produced two more albums -- A Momentary Lapse of Reason ( 1987 ) and The Division Bell ( 1994 ) -- and toured through 1994 . After nearly two decades of acrimony , Gilmour , Wright , and Mason reunited with Waters in 2005 to perform as Pink Floyd in London as part of the global awareness event Live 8 ; Gilmour and Waters later stated they have no plans to reunite as a band again . Barrett died in 2006 , and Wright in 2008 . The final Pink Floyd studio album , The Endless River ( 2014 ) , was recorded without Waters and based largely on unreleased material .   Pink Floyd were inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 . By 2013 , the band had sold more than 250 million records worldwide , including 75 million certified units in the United States .


Bam Margera Brandon Cole `` Bam '' Margera ( -LSB- mɑrˈdʒɛərə -RSB- or ; born September 28 , 1979 ) is an American professional skateboarder , stunt performer , and television personality . He came to prominence after appearing in MTV 's Jackass crew . He has since appeared in MTV 's Viva La Bam and Bam 's Unholy Union , all three Jackass movies , and Haggard and Minghags , both of which he co-wrote and directed .


National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( NORML -LSB- ˈnɔrməl -RSB- ) is an American non-profit organization based in Washington , DC whose aim is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the legalization of non-medical marijuana in the United States so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty . According to their website , NORML `` supports the removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults , including the cultivation for personal use , and the casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts , '' and `` supports the development of a legally controlled market for cannabis . '' NORML and the NORML Foundation support both those fighting prosecution under marijuana laws and those working to legalize marijuana . Similar affiliated organizations operate under the NORML banner in other countries , among them NORML New Zealand , NORML Ireland , NORML Canada , NORML UK and NORML France - Hemp & Freedom .   In the 2006 United States midterm elections , NORML promoted several successful local initiatives that declared marijuana enforcement to be the lowest priority for local law enforcement . NORML claims that this frees up police resources to combat violent and serious crime .


Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson ( born April 29 , 1933 ) is an American musician , singer , songwriter , author , poet , actor , and activist . The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie ( 1973 ) , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger ( 1975 ) and Stardust ( 1978 ) , made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music . He was one of the main figures of outlaw country , a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound . Nelson has acted in over 30 films , co-authored several books , and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana .   Born during the Great Depression , and raised by his grandparents , Nelson wrote his first song at age seven and joined his first band at ten . During high school , he toured locally with the Bohemian Polka as their lead singer and guitar player . After graduating from high school in 1950 , he joined the Air Force but was later discharged due to back problems . After his return , Nelson attended Baylor University for two years but dropped out because he was succeeding in music . During this time , he worked as a disc jockey in Texas radio stations and a singer in honky-tonks . Nelson moved to Vancouver , Washington , where he wrote `` Family Bible '' and recorded the song `` Lumberjack '' in 1956 . In 1958 , he moved to Houston , Texas , after signing a contract with D Records . He sang at the Esquire Ballroom weekly and he worked as a disk jockey . During that time , he wrote songs that would become country standards , including `` Funny How Time Slips Away '' , `` Hello Walls '' , `` Pretty Paper '' , and `` Crazy '' . In 1960 he moved to Nashville , Tennessee , and later signed a publishing contract with Pamper Music which allowed him to join Ray Price 's band as a bassist . In 1962 , he recorded his first album , ... And Then I Wrote . Due to this success , Nelson signed in 1964 with RCA Victor and joined the Grand Ole Opry the following year . After mid-chart hits in the late 1960s and the early 1970s , Nelson retired in 1972 and moved to Austin , Texas . The ongoing music scene of Austin motivated Nelson to return from retirement , performing frequently at the Armadillo World Headquarters .   In 1973 , after signing with Atlantic Records , Nelson turned to outlaw country , including albums such as Shotgun Willie and Phases and Stages . In 1975 , he switched to Columbia Records , where he recorded the critically acclaimed album Red Headed Stranger . The same year , he recorded another outlaw country album , Wanted ! The Outlaws , along with Waylon Jennings , Jessi Colter , and Tompall Glaser . During the mid-1980s , while creating hit albums like Honeysuckle Rose and recording hit songs like `` On the Road Again '' , `` To All the Girls I 've Loved Before '' , and `` Pancho and Lefty '' , he joined the country supergroup The Highwaymen , along with fellow singers Johnny Cash , Waylon Jennings , and Kris Kristofferson .   In 1990 , Nelson 's assets were seized by the Internal Revenue Service , which claimed that he owed . The difficulty of paying his outstanding debt was aggravated by weak investments he had made during the 1980s . In 1992 , Nelson released The IRS Tapes : Who 'll Buy My Memories ? ; the profits of the double album -- destined to the IRS -- and the auction of Nelson 's assets cleared his debt . During the 1990s and 2000s , Nelson continued touring extensively , and released albums every year . Reviews ranged from positive to mixed . He explored genres such as reggae , blues , jazz , and folk . Nelson made his first movie appearance in the 1979 film The Electric Horseman , followed by other appearances in movies and on television . Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws ( NORML ) , which is in favor of marijuana legalization . On the environmental front , Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel , which is made from vegetable oil . Nelson is also the honorary chairman of the Advisory Board of the Texas Music Project , the official music charity of the state of Texas .


Canada Canada ( -LSB- ˈkænədə -RSB- -LSB- kanadɑ -RSB- ) is a country in the northern part of North America . Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean , covering 9.98 e6km2 , making it the world 's second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area . Canada 's border with the United States is the world 's longest binational land border . The majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate , but southerly areas are warm in summer . Canada is sparsely populated , the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains . It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities , many near the southern border . One third of the population lives in the three largest cities : Toronto , Montreal and Vancouver . Its capital is Ottawa , and other major urban areas include Calgary , Edmonton , Quebec City , Winnipeg and Hamilton .   Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization . Beginning in the 16th century , British and French claims were made on the area , with the colony of Canada first being established by the French in 1535 during Jacques Cartier 's second voyage to New France . As a consequence of various conflicts , Great Britain gained and lost territories within British North America until it was left , in the late 18th century , with what mostly geographically comprises Canada today . Pursuant to the British North America Act , on July 1 , 1867 , the colonies of Canada , New Brunswick , and Nova Scotia joined to form the semi-autonomous federal Dominion of Canada . This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada .   In 1931 , Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931 , but at the time , Canada decided to allow the British Parliament to temporarily retain the power to amend Canada 's constitution , on request from the Parliament of Canada . With the Constitution Act 1982 , Canada took over that authority ( as the conclusion of Patriation ) , removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom , giving the country full sovereignty .   Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy , with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state . The country is officially bilingual at the federal level . It is one of the world 's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations , the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries . Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world , relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks . Canada 's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture .   Canada is a developed country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index . It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency , civil liberties , quality of life , economic freedom , and education . Canada is a Commonwealth realm member of the Commonwealth of Nations , a member of the Francophonie , and part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations , the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the G8 , the Group of Ten , the G20 , the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum .


Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( -LSB- ˈwɪnzər -RSB- ) is a city in Ontario and the southernmost city in Canada . It is located on the southern shore of the Detroit River , directly across the river from Detroit , Michigan . Windsor is a major contributor to Canada 's automotive industry and has a storied history and a diverse culture .   Windsor is among the best places to retire in Ontario , according to Comfort Life , a publication for seniors , partly because of the low cost of living . According to this source , the Globe and Mail also makes this recommendation .


James A. Woods starred in a 2003 independent comedy film.

James A. Woods James Andre Woods ( born 30 October 1979 ) is a Canadian actor , who has appeared in films , television and video games .   Woods trained at New York City 's Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute before returning to his native Montreal to pursue an acting career . Woods starred in Hatley High , distributed in Canada by Seville Films and winner of Best Director and Best Screenplay awards at The Comedy Festival . Additional film credits include the TVA Films theatrical release Eternal and the Ed Solomon directed Levity . He also starred in The Watch ( 2008 ) .   Woods ' television credits include Seriously Weird ( YTV/ITV ) , Big Wolf on Campus ( Fox Family ) , Undressed ( MTV ) , Fries with That ? ( Télé-Action ) , Naked Josh ( Showcase/Oxygen ) and Galidor ( Fox Kids ) .


Hatley High Hatley High is a 2003 independent comedy film directed by Phil Price and written by Myles Hainsworth . It was shown at various film festivals from September 2003 to 2005 including the San Diego Film Festival and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival .


Spider Spiders ( order Araneae ) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom . They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other orders of organisms . Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica , and have become established in nearly every habitat with the exceptions of air and sea colonization . , at least 45,700 spider species , and 113 families have been recorded by taxonomists . However , there has been dissension within the scientific community as to how all these families should be classified , as evidenced by the over 20 different classifications that have been proposed since 1900 .   Anatomically , spiders differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata , the cephalothorax and abdomen , and joined by a small , cylindrical pedicel . Unlike insects , spiders do not have antennae . In all except the most primitive group , the Mesothelae , spiders have the most centralized nervous systems of all arthropods , as all their ganglia are fused into one mass in the cephalothorax . Unlike most arthropods , spiders have no extensor muscles in their limbs and instead extend them by hydraulic pressure .   Their abdomens bear appendages that have been modified into spinnerets that extrude silk from up to six types of glands . Spider webs vary widely in size , shape and the amount of sticky thread used . It now appears that the spiral orb web may be one of the earliest forms , and spiders that produce tangled cobwebs are more abundant and diverse than orb-web spiders . Spider-like arachnids with silk-producing spigots appeared in the Devonian period about , but these animals apparently lacked spinnerets . True spiders have been found in Carboniferous rocks from , and are very similar to the most primitive surviving suborder , the Mesothelae . The main groups of modern spiders , Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae , first appeared in the Triassic period , before .   A herbivorous species , Bagheera kiplingi , was described in 2008 , but all other known species are predators , mostly preying on insects and on other spiders , although a few large species also take birds and lizards . It is estimated that the world 's 25 million tons of spiders kill 400 -- 800 million tons of prey per year . Spiders use a wide range of strategies to capture prey : trapping it in sticky webs , lassoing it with sticky bolas , mimicking the prey to avoid detection , or running it down . Most detect prey mainly by sensing vibrations , but the active hunters have acute vision , and hunters of the genus Portia show signs of intelligence in their choice of tactics and ability to develop new ones . Spiders ' guts are too narrow to take solids , and they liquefy their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes . They also grind food with the bases of their pedipalps , as arachnids do not have the mandibles that crustaceans and insects have .   Male spiders identify themselves by a variety of complex courtship rituals to avoid being eaten by the females . Males of most species survive a few matings , limited mainly by their short life spans . Females weave silk egg-cases , each of which may contain hundreds of eggs . Females of many species care for their young , for example by carrying them around or by sharing food with them . A minority of species are social , building communal webs that may house anywhere from a few to 50,000 individuals . Social behavior ranges from precarious toleration , as in the widow spiders , to co-operative hunting and food-sharing . Although most spiders live for at most two years , tarantulas and other mygalomorph spiders can live up to 25 years in captivity .   While the venom of a few species is dangerous to humans , scientists are now researching the use of spider venom in medicine and as non-polluting pesticides . Spider silk provides a combination of lightness , strength and elasticity that is superior to that of synthetic materials , and spider silk genes have been inserted into mammals and plants to see if these can be used as silk factories . As a result of their wide range of behaviors , spiders have become common symbols in art and mythology symbolizing various combinations of patience , cruelty and creative powers . An abnormal fear of spiders is called arachnophobia .


Buddy Holly Buddy Holly ( born Charles Hardin Holley ; September 7 , 1936 -- February 3 , 1959 ) was an American musician and singer-songwriter who was a central figure of mid-1950s rock and roll . Holley was born in Lubbock , Texas , to a musical family during the Great Depression ; he learned to play guitar and to sing alongside his siblings . His style was influenced by gospel music , country music , and rhythm and blues acts , and he performed in Lubbock with his friends from high school . He made his first appearance on local television in 1952 , and the following year he formed the group `` Buddy and Bob '' with his friend Bob Montgomery . In 1955 , after opening for Elvis Presley , Holly decided to pursue a career in music . He opened for Presley three times that year ; his band 's style shifted from country and western to entirely rock and roll . In October that year , when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets , Holly was spotted by Nashville scout Eddie Crandall , who helped him get a contract with Decca Records .   Holly 's recording sessions at Decca were produced by Owen Bradley . Unhappy with Bradley 's control in the studio and with the sound he achieved there , Holly went to producer Norman Petty in Clovis , New Mexico , and recorded a demo of `` That 'll Be the Day '' , among other songs . Petty became the band 's manager and sent the demo to Brunswick Records , which released it as a single credited to `` The Crickets '' , which became the name of Holly 's band . In September 1957 , as the band toured , `` That 'll Be the Day '' topped the US `` Best Sellers in Stores '' chart and the UK Singles Chart . Its success was followed in October by another major hit , `` Peggy Sue '' .   The album Chirping Crickets , released in November 1957 , reached number five on the UK Albums Chart . Holly made his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in January 1958 and soon after , toured Australia and then the UK . In early 1959 , Holly assembled a new band , consisting of future country music star Waylon Jennings ( bass ) , famed session musician Tommy Allsup ( guitar ) , and Carl Bunch ( drums ) , and embarked on a tour of the midwestern U.S. . After a show in Clear Lake , Iowa , Holly chartered an airplane to travel to his next show , in Moorhead , Minnesota . Soon after takeoff , the plane crashed , killing Holly , Ritchie Valens , The Big Bopper , and pilot Roger Peterson in a tragedy later referred to by Don McLean as `` The Day the Music Died '' .   During his short career , Holly wrote , recorded , and produced his own material . He is often regarded as the artist who defined the traditional rock-and-roll lineup of two guitars , bass , and drums . Holly was a major influence on later popular music artists , including The Beatles , The Rolling Stones , Eric Clapton , and Elton John . He was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , in 1986 . Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 13 in its list of `` 100 Greatest Artists '' .


Popeye (film) Popeye is a 1980 American musical comedy film directed by Robert Altman . It is a live-action film adaptation of E. C. Segar 's Popeye comic strip and stars Robin Williams as Popeye the Sailor Man and Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl .   The film premiered on December 6 , 1980 in Los Angeles , California , to mixed reviews and disappointing box office results . Harry Nilsson 's soundtrack received mostly positive reviews .