63 résultats pour "popularity"
-
Country Music
I
INTRODUCTION
Willie Nelson
Country singer and musician Willie Nelson gained national popularity during the 1970s for a string of country hits,
including the 1978 hits "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and "Georgia On My Mind.
Singer and mandolin player Bill Monroe is known as the father of bluegrass music. A virtuoso mandolin player, Monroe combined traditional folk ballads and gospel songswith string-band music played at very fast tempos. Monroe, with his band The Blue Grass Boys, performed from the mid-1920s until Monroe’s death in 1996. Otherwell-known bluegrass performers include banjo player Earl Scruggs, who played with Monroe during the 1940s; the Osborne Brothers, a duo from Kentucky known forits work during...
-
Rap
I
INTRODUCTION
Jay-Z
Rapper Jay-Z rose to popularity with such albums as Vol.
Run-DMCTypically in rap music, vocalists recite rhyming lyrics in time to a beat that may be sampled from prerecorded music byother groups. Black youths developed rap music on the streets of inner cities in the United States during the 1970s, butthe style has expanded to include a wider variety of performers and audiences. The rap group Run-DMC, shown here, wasa powerful early influence in the genre. The group helped bring rap music into the mainstream when it released “WalkThis Way” (1986), a s...
-
Victoria (queen)
I
INTRODUCTION
Victoria (queen) (1819-1901), queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837-1901) and empress of India (1876-1901).
Queen Victoria never truly recovered from Albert’s death in December 1861 at the age of 42. For almost a decade she remained in strict mourning. She rarely set footin London, and she avoided most public occasions, including the state opening of Parliament. She made an exception, however, for the unveiling of statues dedicated toPrince Albert and, after a few years, for attendance at army reviews. Behind the scenes, she continued to correspond with and talk to her ministers, and she took comfort...
-
Victoria (queen).
Queen Victoria never truly recovered from Albert’s death in December 1861 at the age of 42. For almost a decade she remained in strict mourning. She rarely set footin London, and she avoided most public occasions, including the state opening of Parliament. She made an exception, however, for the unveiling of statues dedicated toPrince Albert and, after a few years, for attendance at army reviews. Behind the scenes, she continued to correspond with and talk to her ministers, and she took comfort...
-
Brian Mulroney.
At the party convention Mulroney was one of the candidates who ran against Clark. This time Mulroney did not have to contend with a rival candidate from Québec. Healso had the support of the remnants of the Diefenbaker faction—who disliked Clark even more than they disliked Mulroney. Mulroney was also endorsed by asubstantial group of members of Parliament; this endorsement helped allay concerns about whether he could provide effective leadership in Parliament. Mulroney waselected leader of the...
-
Brian Mulroney - Canadian History.
At the party convention Mulroney was one of the candidates who ran against Clark. This time Mulroney did not have to contend with a rival candidate from Québec. Healso had the support of the remnants of the Diefenbaker faction—who disliked Clark even more than they disliked Mulroney. Mulroney was also endorsed by asubstantial group of members of Parliament; this endorsement helped allay concerns about whether he could provide effective leadership in Parliament. Mulroney waselected leader of the...
-
Popular and Social Dance
I
INTRODUCTION
The Cakewalk
The cakewalk, a dance of African American origin, was intended to lampoon high-strutting whites at fancy dress balls.
master. The dance manuals published between 1550 and 1630, written by Thoinot Arbeau of France, Cesare Negri of Italy, and other dancing masters, describe dances such asthe pavane, galliard, allemande, courante, saltarello, and volta, as well as circular branles and progressive longways dances (for a line of couples, in which each couplerepeats the pattern with one new couple after another; see Country Dance). The sense of order and harmony so important during the Renaissance gave rise to forma...
-
Michael Jordan.
playoffs the Bulls pushed the Pistons to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing again. As he grew older, Jordan made a concerted effort to help his teammates reach their own potential. The result of his renewed commitment to team-oriented play was theBulls’ first NBA championship title. After the 1990-91 season the Bulls swept the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers inthe NBA Finals. Jordan won the league MVP award for the second...
-
-
Michael Jordan
I
INTRODUCTION
Michael Jordan, born in 1963, American professional basketball player, considered by many to be the greatest player in basketball history.
playoffs the Bulls pushed the Pistons to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals before losing again. As he grew older, Jordan made a concerted effort to help his teammates reach their own potential. The result of his renewed commitment to team-oriented play was theBulls’ first NBA championship title. After the 1990-91 season the Bulls swept the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and then defeated the Los Angeles Lakers inthe NBA Finals. Jordan won the league MVP award for the second...
-
Tobacco - biology.
quality cigars are made entirely by hand, most cigars are manufactured by machine. Chewing tobaccos are generally made from thick grades of leaves to which binders and flavorings are added. Chewing tobacco is formed by pressing the tobacco intoblocks known as plugs. Snuff is made by grinding tobacco into fine powder, which is then allowed to ferment for a long period of time. Frequently, snuff is scented withspices, such as jasmine or cloves. V TOBACCO INDUSTRY Over 6 million tons of commercial...
- Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (1905-1990), Swedish-American motion-picture actor, noted for her beauty and her reticence, who became a virtual recluse while still at the height of her popularity.
-
Gymnastics.
harmoniously with the equipment to perform a graceful and error-free routine. There are also two team events in which five competitors perform together. At thehighest international levels, rhythmic gymnastics is judged on a 30-point scale rather than with the traditional 10-point scoring system. IV TRAMPOLINE Trampoline first appeared in the Olympics as a medal sport at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, with a men’s individual event and a women’s individual event.Contestants bounce up and d...
-
Horse Racing.
interested parties claim the same horse at the same price, lots are drawn to determine the winning offer. Knowledgeable owners and trainers may use claiming races toobtain, at bargain prices, horses whose former owners underestimated the potential of their animals. Two other types of contests are match races and walkovers. A match race pits only two horses, almost always that season’s most successful racers, in a head-to-headduel. A walkover occurs when only one horse has not been scratched (w...
-
George Herbert Walker Bush.
Lebanon. More troubling was the disclosure that agents operating under direct White House supervision used profits from the arms sales to buy weapons for thecontras, a group of anti-government Nicaraguan rebels, despite an explicit congressional ban on such aid. Bush later claimed that he opposed the arms-for-hostagesdeal, but offered little evidence to back his claims ( see Iran-Contra Affair). C 1988 Presidential Election While the Reagan-Bush program helped produce prosperity for the wealth...
-
George Herbert Walker Bush - USA History.
Lebanon. More troubling was the disclosure that agents operating under direct White House supervision used profits from the arms sales to buy weapons for thecontras, a group of anti-government Nicaraguan rebels, despite an explicit congressional ban on such aid. Bush later claimed that he opposed the arms-for-hostagesdeal, but offered little evidence to back his claims ( see Iran-Contra Affair). C 1988 Presidential Election While the Reagan-Bush program helped produce prosperity for the wealth...
-
Bicycle.
narrow as possible to minimize weight and interference with pedaling. F Specialty Bicycles Many other types of bicycles are designed for special purposes. Although not as common as standard single-rider racing, touring, mountain, or recreational bicycles,they nonetheless have significant niches. Recumbent bicycles are bicycles on which the rider sits upright as if in a chair, with legs and feet stretched out in front. Because they support the rider’s lower back,recumbents allow the rider far mo...
-
-
Popular Music
I
INTRODUCTION
Satchmo Sings "Back O' Town Blues"
One of the founders of instrumental jazz music, American Louis Armstrong, known as Satchmo, also profoundly influenced
vocal jazz and popular song.
disseminating popular music until the 1920s remained printed sheet music. By the late 19th century, the music-publishing business was centralized in New York City,particularly in an area of lower Manhattan called Tin Pan Alley. “After the Ball” (1892) by Charles K. Harris, the first popular song to sell 1 million copies—in this case, ofsheet music—inspired rapid growth in the music-publishing industry. Composers were hired to rapidly produce popular songs by the dozens, and the techniques ofFost...
-
Cycling.
gather to cheer the riders as they pedal by on each lap. Unlike stage racing and time trialing, the emphasis in a criterium is on speed and bike handling rather thanendurance. Track racing is done in a stadium-like arena called a velodrome. A modern velodrome is an oval track with steeply banked corners that facilitate high speed. Velodromes can be enclosed or open-air, and the tracks are constructed of wood or concrete. Popular in Europe and the United States at the beginning of the 20th cent...
-
Comics
I
INTRODUCTION
Comics, series of drawings arranged to tell a story.
is still used to refer to sensationalistic techniques that publishers use to draw more readers to their newspapers. Outcault finally won the right to continue his strip andgradually adopted the panel style and balloon narration that mark “The Yellow Kid” as the first true comic strip. Other early comics included “Little Bears” by JamesSwinnerton, which first appeared in the San Francisco Examiner in 1892, and “The Katzenjammer Kids” by Rudolph Dirks, which first appeared in The American Humo...
-
William Shakespeare
I
INTRODUCTION
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists.
Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...
-
William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...
-
Communism.
In Britain, Robert Owen, a philanthropic Welsh manufacturer, strove against the social problems brought about by the Industrial Revolution and sought to improve thewelfare of workers. As manager of a cotton mill, he enhanced the environment of his workers by improving their housing, modernizing mill equipment for greater safetyand sanitation, and establishing low-priced stores for the workers and schools for their children. Owen believed that workers, rather than governments, should createthe in...
-
Communism .
In Britain, Robert Owen, a philanthropic Welsh manufacturer, strove against the social problems brought about by the Industrial Revolution and sought to improve thewelfare of workers. As manager of a cotton mill, he enhanced the environment of his workers by improving their housing, modernizing mill equipment for greater safetyand sanitation, and establishing low-priced stores for the workers and schools for their children. Owen believed that workers, rather than governments, should createthe in...
-
Extreme Sports.
racing events are the Raid Gauloises and the Eco-Challenge. Created in 1989 by French journalist Gerard Fusil, the Raid Gauloises is a grueling two-week adventure racein which five-person teams cross rugged and remote terrain. The inaugural Raid was held in New Zealand, and subsequent races have been staged in Costa Rica,Madagascar, Borneo, and Chile. The race has five separate stages designed to fit each location’s unique terrain. Stages may require horseback riding, white-waterpaddling, mounta...
-
-
Chinese Literature
I
INTRODUCTION
Chinese Literature, writings of the Chinese people, with a continuous history of more than 3,000 years.
(Huang) River basin region in the north. The verses are in lines of four characters (or syllables) and use rhyme and alliteration (repetition of the initial letter). Confuciusquoted them in his works. Because he described them as “without depraved thoughts,” all the verses in the Shi jing have been treated as moral allegories. (4) The Li ji (Book of Ritual ) contains detailed discussions of the principles of conduct at court and in private ceremonies. Although the Han dynasty and later ruler...
-
Chinese Literature
I
INTRODUCTION
Chinese Literature, writings of the Chinese people, with a continuous history of more than 3,000 years.
(Huang) River basin region in the north. The verses are in lines of four characters (or syllables) and use rhyme and alliteration (repetition of the initial letter). Confuciusquoted them in his works. Because he described them as “without depraved thoughts,” all the verses in the Shi jing have been treated as moral allegories. (4) The Li ji (Book of Ritual ) contains detailed discussions of the principles of conduct at court and in private ceremonies. Although the Han dynasty and later ruler...
-
Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
IV PRIME MINISTER After the resignation of Lester Pearson as leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau was chosen as his successor, and on April 20, 1968, he became prime minister. He calleda general election and showed himself to be a brilliant campaigner, projecting an image of youthful charm and vitality. He argued for a united Canada with equal rightsfor French- and English-speaking citizens and opposed special status for any province. The voters gave him a substantial majority over Robert Stan...
-
Pierre Elliott Trudeau - Canadian History.
IV PRIME MINISTER After the resignation of Lester Pearson as leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau was chosen as his successor, and on April 20, 1968, he became prime minister. He calleda general election and showed himself to be a brilliant campaigner, projecting an image of youthful charm and vitality. He argued for a united Canada with equal rightsfor French- and English-speaking citizens and opposed special status for any province. The voters gave him a substantial majority over Robert Stan...
-
Martial Arts.
These movements are based on stylized renditions of ancient kung fu arm and foot blows. C Tae Kwon Do Tae kwon do (Korean for 'way of hands and feet') was founded in 1955 by a group of masters led by Korean general Choi Hong Hi. It is the national sport and pastimeof Korea and is also popular throughout the world. Often referred to as Korean karate, tae kwon do is reputedly based on ancient Korean and modern Japanesemethods of combat. Basic to tae kwon do are many spectacular kicks, particularl...
-
Golf.
I
INTRODUCTION
Golf, outdoor game in which individual players use specially designed
caddie or caddy. (Caddies, once an integral feature of the game, have now been replaced on many courses by motorized carts and pull carts.) In England the game was made popular by the attention given it by James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, and his son Charles I. In the 18th century the first golf associations were established. They included the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers (founded 1744) in Edinburgh, Scotland;the Saint Andrews Society of Golfers (1754) in Saint Andrew...
-
Zachary Taylor.
army fled back across the Río Grande into Mexico. When Polk got word of the victories, he promoted Taylor to major general. Congress awarded him two gold medals. B1 Battle of Monterrey In September 1846, Taylor began an invasion of northern Mexico. His army of 6000 consisted of regulars and volunteers. On September 21 he attacked the fortifiedcity of Monterrey, which was defended by more than 7000 Mexicans under General Pedro de Ampudia. Taylor divided his army, giving Brigadier General William...
-
Zachary Taylor
army fled back across the Río Grande into Mexico. When Polk got word of the victories, he promoted Taylor to major general. Congress awarded him two gold medals. B1 Battle of Monterrey In September 1846, Taylor began an invasion of northern Mexico. His army of 6000 consisted of regulars and volunteers. On September 21 he attacked the fortifiedcity of Monterrey, which was defended by more than 7000 Mexicans under General Pedro de Ampudia. Taylor divided his army, giving Brigadier General William...
-
-
Electronic Games.
arcade game of all time. With Pizza Time Theaters legitimizing the idea of arcades and hits such as Ms. Pac-Man , Asteroids , Donkey Kong , Tempest , Frogger , and Defender bringing new excitement to gaming, the coin-operated video game business boomed. In 1981 Americans spent 75,000 person-years and $5 billion playing video games at anestimated 4,300 arcades in the United States. Many popular arcade games also were translated for use on the Atari 2600 and its chief rivals in the homemarket—M...
-
Chess.
There are two standard methods of recording chess moves: the algebraic system and the descriptive system. In both systems, the pieces are designated by capitalinitials: K for king, Q for queen, R for rook, B for bishop, and N for knight. The initial P for pawn is used in the descriptive system only. Castling is noted as either 0-0(“short” castling on the king’s side) or 0-0-0 (“long” castling on the queen’s side). Each square is part of both a file and a rank, and in the algebraic system, that u...
-
Automobile Racing.
beginning in 1906 at Le Mans it came to refer to the principal F1 auto race in a given nation, except in the United States, where the term continues to be used lessdiscriminately. After the end of World War I in 1918, when automobile racing blossomed internationally, a series of GP races in several nations became reserved for F1competition, and an annual GP calendar was developed consisting of national races, such as the French Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix. An annual award calledthe Wor...
-
Martin Van Buren.
political ambitions. The Clintonians cited as one example of Van Buren's unscrupulous methods his support of a convention in 1821 to revise the state's constitution. Van Buren and hisBucktails said they wanted to make the constitution more democratic. The Clintonians retorted that the real aim was to oust them from office. Both sides were right. Therevised constitution introduced a needed extension of voting rights and improved the operation of the state government. However, it also removed many...
-
Martin Van Buren
political ambitions. The Clintonians cited as one example of Van Buren's unscrupulous methods his support of a convention in 1821 to revise the state's constitution. Van Buren and hisBucktails said they wanted to make the constitution more democratic. The Clintonians retorted that the real aim was to oust them from office. Both sides were right. Therevised constitution introduced a needed extension of voting rights and improved the operation of the state government. However, it also removed many...
-
Basketball.
rebound. Play continues as the teams score and possession changes. A time-out, when the game is stopped for a certain amount of time, allows coaches to instructplayers or to develop a new game strategy. A Offense Playing offense is perhaps the most prominent part of playing basketball, as it allows players to demonstrate and improve upon individual skills necessary to beingsuccessful. Many of basketball's best players have exceptional talents on offense. Basic offensive skills are passing, ball...
-
Games.
For most of human history, a game could not gain much popularity unless it was fairly easy for players to make their own equipment. The invention of printing (whichoccurred in the mid-1400s in the West) made this process easier, but it was not until the advances of the 18th-century Industrial Revolution that it became possible tomass-produce many new varieties of games. Twentieth-century technological advances such as the invention of plastic and the computer revolution led to the creationof mor...
-
Indian Music
I
INTRODUCTION
Classical Dance of South India
The southern Indian kathakali is a dance drama that dates from the 17th century.
Sangita Ratnakara, was written in the 13th century. However, subsequent writers tended to focus on the emotional connotations of individual ragas, associating them with moods, performance times, colors, and deities, and grouping them in terms of families. The modern theoretical system began in the 16th century, when ragasbegan to be classified according to scale—72 in the Karnāṭak system and 10 principal ones in the Hindustani. The 72 mela, as the Karn āṭak scales are called, are derived thro...
-
-
Mark Twain.
father, who keeps him prisoner in an isolated cabin. The boy escapes and, together with a runaway slave, Jim, sails down the Mississippi on a raft. During their trip,Huck and Jim encounter many unusual characters, including two families involved in a senseless feud and a pair of scoundrels who swindle innocent townspeople. Theirexperiences bring about a strong friendship between the boy and the slave, but their adventures end when Jim is captured and held at the farm of Tom Sawyer’s AuntSally. W...
-
Mark Twain
I
INTRODUCTION
Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), American writer and humorist, whose best work is characterized by broad, often irreverent humor
or biting social satire.
father, who keeps him prisoner in an isolated cabin. The boy escapes and, together with a runaway slave, Jim, sails down the Mississippi on a raft. During their trip,Huck and Jim encounter many unusual characters, including two families involved in a senseless feud and a pair of scoundrels who swindle innocent townspeople. Theirexperiences bring about a strong friendship between the boy and the slave, but their adventures end when Jim is captured and held at the farm of Tom Sawyer’s AuntSally. W...
-
Mark Twain - USA History.
father, who keeps him prisoner in an isolated cabin. The boy escapes and, together with a runaway slave, Jim, sails down the Mississippi on a raft. During their trip,Huck and Jim encounter many unusual characters, including two families involved in a senseless feud and a pair of scoundrels who swindle innocent townspeople. Theirexperiences bring about a strong friendship between the boy and the slave, but their adventures end when Jim is captured and held at the farm of Tom Sawyer’s AuntSally. W...
-
John Diefenbaker.
only Conservative elected from Saskatchewan, which had gone solidly to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a coalition party dedicated to social andwelfare reforms. In 1952 the Liberals in Saskatchewan abolished Diefenbaker's Lake Centre seat altogether by merging it with the neighboring legislative district of Moose Jaw, where theCCF had a vast majority. In 1953 Diefenbaker decided to run for election in Prince Albert. Again he was the only Conservative returned to Parliament fromSa...
-
John Diefenbaker - Canadian History.
only Conservative elected from Saskatchewan, which had gone solidly to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), a coalition party dedicated to social andwelfare reforms. In 1952 the Liberals in Saskatchewan abolished Diefenbaker's Lake Centre seat altogether by merging it with the neighboring legislative district of Moose Jaw, where theCCF had a vast majority. In 1953 Diefenbaker decided to run for election in Prince Albert. Again he was the only Conservative returned to Parliament fromSa...
-
Gambling.
C Lotteries Lotteries are another form of gambling. In a lottery, tickets are sold for a set amount and a share of the proceeds is returned to the winners, usually through a randomdraw. Most games allow players to pick their own numbers or let a computer randomly pick for them. Lotteries offer a wide variety of games, including weekly drawings,instant “scratch” tickets, daily games, and superlottos with prizes increasing until there is a winner. Large lottery prizes sometimes exceed $100 millio...
-
Benito Mussolini.
Mussolini threatened to order his tens of thousands of armed Black Shirts to occupy Rome if he were not asked to form the new government. Bands of Fascists beganmoving towards the capital in what would become known as the March on Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III at first leaned towards declaring a state of emergency andsending the army against the Fascists, but powerful interest groups, state officials, and army leaders convinced him that Mussolini should be given the chance to endwhat they consi...
-
Benito Mussolini .
Mussolini threatened to order his tens of thousands of armed Black Shirts to occupy Rome if he were not asked to form the new government. Bands of Fascists beganmoving towards the capital in what would become known as the March on Rome. King Victor Emmanuel III at first leaned towards declaring a state of emergency andsending the army against the Fascists, but powerful interest groups, state officials, and army leaders convinced him that Mussolini should be given the chance to endwhat they consi...
-
-
Republican Party.
the reaction to the depression that the Republican Party controlled Congress for only 4 of the 48 years between 1932 and 1980. The Republicans did win the presidencyfour times during that period—in 1952, 1956, 1968, and 1972—when the Democratic Party split or when some unusual combination of circumstances occurred. Fromthe 1930s through the 1970s, however, the Democratic Party was the dominant party in the United States. The response of the Republicans to this new situation was confusion, anger,...
-
Marketing.
Where advertising reaches a mass audience, personal or direct selling focuses on one customer at a time. That kind of individual attention makes direct sellingexpensive, but it also makes it effective. As the costs of personal selling have risen, the utilization of salespeople has changed. Simple transactions are completed byclerks. Salespeople are now used primarily where the products are complex and require detailed explanation, customized application, or careful negotiation over priceand paym...