Passa ai contenuti principali

Post

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher was Britain's first female prime minister (1979-1990). She was known for her tough uncompromising, conservative political views, and became dubbed as ‘The Iron Lady’. On the UK domestic front she instituted many free market reforms, implemented the controversial poll tax and reduced the power of trades unions. She was active also on the foreign front as she cultivated a close relationship with American President Donald Regan. Early life Margaret was born 13 October 1925 in Grantham. Her father owned a grocery store and was active in the local Methodist Church and Liberal politics. Margaret won a scholarship to the local Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School, where she became head-girl. She graduated in 1947 with second-class honours in chemistry. After graduating, she moved to Colchester, where she worked as a research chemist and long after in 1951 she was invited to stand as the Conservative candidate in the safe Labour seat of Dartford. Although she lost, s
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere
Post recenti

Alexander Mosaic

The Alexander Mosaic is a Roman floor mosaic from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. It was made in 100 BC and the author is anonymous. It shows a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. It measures 2.72 x 5.13m. The originalm is at the Naples National Archeological Museum. The mosaic is based on a 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting, by Philoxenos of Eretria. The mosaic shows a battle between Alexander and Darius. Alexander won the Battle of Issus. Alexander won again two years later at the Battle of Gaugamela. The work shows the Battle of Issus. The two main figures are easy to see. Darius has a worried expression on his face. The Persian soldiers have a stem look. The mosaic was found again on October 24, 1831 in Pompeii. It was moved to Naples in Septmber 1843. It is in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere

Prince Philip to step down from carrying out royal engagements.

The Duke of Edinburgh is retiring from royal duties this autumn, Buckingham Palace has announced. The decision was made by Prince Philip himself and is supported by the Queen, a palace spokesman said. The duke, who turns 96 next month, will attend previously scheduled engagements between now and August but will not accept new invitations. The Queen "will continue to carry out a full programme of official engagements", the palace said. The duke carried out 110 days of engagements in 2016, making him the fifth busiest member of the royal family, according to Court Circular listings. He is patron, president or a member of more than 780 organisations and will continue to be associated with them, but "will no longer play an active role by attending engagements", Buckingham Palace said. In the statement, the spokesman said the duke "may still choose to attend certain public events from time to time".
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere

Confessions of a tweeter.

This is an article of The New York Times where Larry Carlat talks about his experience with Twitter . He says that he started to tweet in 2008, and before long he started to post 20 to 30 times a day, and soon his life was based on tweeting. He says that it became an obsession: for example, when he was out with his friends, he used to go into the bathroom with his iPhone. He also posted when he was asleep, using a web site that let him tweet. After, he lost his job, but, after a year, he got a job at men's magazine, but his boss told him that someone in H.R.* had found his tweets and was shocked, because they were a violation of the company's socialmedia policy. He had a choice: to delete the account or face termination . He decided to leave . He also separated from his wife, but, finally, he decided to stop posting, and now that compulsion has gone.
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere

Exercise is contagious because of social media

A new study has shown that physical activity and exercise are 'contagious' because of social media. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discovered that people who post details of their exercise patterns and achievements on social media sites motivate and encourage other people to be more active. Researchers tracked the exercise routines of 1.1 million runners over a period of five years. They looked at the geographic location of the runners, their social network use, distance, time, pace and the calories they burned. The researchers concluded that sharing personal exercise data via social media can inspire others to exercise more, exercise harder and do so more competitively. The journal 'Nature Communications' has published the research. The study includes detailed accounts of how inspiring it can be to read about a friend's physical activity. Researchers said: "On average, an additional kilometre run by friends can inspire someone
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere

The Physician's Tale

This is a domestic drama about the relationship between a daughter and her father and it is one of the earliest poems in English about such subjects and relationships. Virginius, a nobleman of Rome, has a beautiful, fourteen-year-old daughter. She is spotted one day by a judge, Appius, who decides he must have her and forms a plan. His accomplice, a "churl" by the name of Claudius, claims in court that Virginia is his run-away slave and Appius decrees that her real father must relinquish her to the court. Virginius goes home and tells his daughter he must kill her to protect her honour. She resigns herself to her fate and swoons, and he cuts her head off. He takes her head to the court and when Appius demands his exucution for murder, the populace instead rises up and deposes the corrupt official. Appius kills himself in jail, but Virginius spares Claudius' life and condemns him to exile instead.  The Physician's Tale is usually regarded as an early work of Chauce
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere

International Women's Day

It is celebrated on March 8 every year. It commemorates the movement for women's rights. The earliest Women's Day observance was held on February 28, 1909 in New York and organized by the Socialist Party of America. On March 8, 1917, in the capital of the Russian Empire, Petrograd. a demonstration of women textile workers began, covering the whole city. This was the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Seven days later, the Emperor of Russia Nicholas II abdicated and the provisional Government granted women the right of vote. March 8 was declared a national festivity in Soviet Russia in 1917. The day was predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations. Women's demonstration for bread and peace - March the 8th, 1917, Petrograd, Russia.
Posta un commento
Continua a leggere