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Gremlin
A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft and later in other machinery and processes and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely. Stories about them and references to them as the causes of especially inexplicable technical and mental problems of pilots were especially popular during and after World War II.gremlin on gremlin in the American Heritage Dictionary Use of the term in the sense of a mischievous creature that sabotages aircraft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gremlins Think It's Fun To Hurt You
''Gremlins'' is a 1984 American black comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus, and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main ''mogwai'' character. It draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions—"gremlins"—in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II. The story follows a young man who receives a strange creature as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, mischievous monsters that all wreak havoc on a whole town on Christmas Eve. The film was the center of large merchandising campaigns and opts for black comedy, balanced against a Christmastime setting. Steven Spielberg was the film's executive producer, with the film being produced by Michael Finnell. ''Gremlins'' was theatrically released on June 8, 1984 by Warner Bros. to critical and commercial success. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gremlins
''The Gremlins'' is a children's book written by British author Roald Dahl and published in 1943. In writing the book, Dahl draws on his own experience as a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot during the Second World War. The story's principal character Gus, an RAF pilot, has his Hawker Hurricane destroyed over the English Channel by a gremlin—mischievous creatures who were part of RAF folklore—but as they parachute into the water convinces the gremlins to join forces against a common enemy, Hitler and the Nazis. It was Dahl's first book and was written for Walt Disney Productions, in anticipation of a feature-length animated film that was never made. With Dahl's assistance, a series of gremlin characters were developed, and while pre-production had begun, the film project was eventually abandoned, in part because the studio could not establish the precise rights of the "gremlin" story, and in part because the British Air Ministry was heavily involved in the production because Da ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fifinella
Fifinella was a female gremlin designed by Walt Disney for a proposed film from Roald Dahl's book ''The Gremlins''. During World War II, the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) asked permission to use the image as their official mascot, and the Disney Company granted them the rights. Origins The story of Fifinella began in 1942 when Roald Dahl, who had been removed from flying with the RAF due to injury, wrote ''The Gremlins'', a fairy tale about the hazards of combat flying; in this incarnation, the word "fifinella" only refers to female gremlins as opposed to any specific one. Dahl took the name from the great "flying" filly, Fifinella, who won The Derby and Epsom Oaks in 1916, the year Dahl was born. As an RAF-trained pilot, he was familiar with prewar RAF folklore about the Gremlin, the mischievous source of any unknown problem. Although gremlins predated Murphy's Law that "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong," they were obviously motivated by the same principles. Finell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century". Dahl was born in Wales to affluent Norwegian immigrant parents, and spent most of his life in England. He served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He became a fighter pilot and, subsequently, an intelligence officer, rising to the rank of acting wing commander. He rose to prominence as a writer in the 1940s with works for children and for adults, and he became one of the world's best-selling authors. His awards for contribution to literature include the 1983 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement and the British Book Awards' Children's Author of the Year in 1990. Dahl and his work have been criticised for racial stereotypes, misogyny a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pauline Gower
Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower Fahie (22 July 1910 – 2 March 1947) was a British pilot and writer who established the women's branch of the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War. Early life and education Pauline Mary de Peauly Gower was born on 22 July 1910 to Dorothy Susie Eleanor (née Wills) (1882-1936) and Sir Robert Gower, MP. She had an older sister, named Dorothy Vaughan after their mother and they grew up at Sandown Court in Tunbridge Wells. Pauline Gower was educated at Beechwood Sacred Heart School, which was run by Mother Ashton-Case, a cousin of her mother. She was a strong student and excelled at music and sport. At seventeen she became seriously ill and had to have a mastoidectomy which affected her health, particularly her lungs, for the rest of her life. Leaving school at 18, Gower did a season as a debutant, avoided finishing school in Paris and decided she needed a profession in which to earn her living. Flying Gower first flew with Alan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fremlin's Brewery
Fremlin's was a brewery in Maidstone, Kent, England. It was established by Ralph Fremlin in 1861, who eschewed the pub trade and focused on bottled beer, on religious grounds. The beer was known for the distinctive elephant logo on the bottles. The brewery expanded to become the largest in Kent, before going into decline after being purchased by Whitbread in 1967. History Expansion The original brewery was founded on Earl Street, Maidstone, around 1790. It was bought by Ralph Fremlin in 1861, who rebuilt the premises, and expanded the production plant along the street, taking over a pub further down which was demolished. As well as being in charge of production, Fremlin managed all engineering and accounts. He did not approve of public houses and sold the ten premises associated with the brewery at that point. Instead, he produced bottled beer for the home trade, believing it could be consumed in moderation more easily, delivering bottles door-to-door via horse and cart. The beer w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flibbertigibbet
''Flibbertigibbet'' is a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young woman. In modern use, it is used as a slang term, especially in Yorkshire, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. Etymology Its origin may lie in a meaningless representation of chattering. In literature and culture This word also has a historical use as a name for a fiend, devil, or spirit. In the 15th-century English morality play ''The Castle of Perseverance'', the Bad Angel addresses the vice figure Detraccio (also called Backbiter and the messenger of the World) as ''Flyprgebet'' (line 1724). In William Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' (IV, i (1605)), he is one of the five fiends that Edgar claimed was possessing him, this one in the posture of beggar Tom o' Bedlam. Shakespeare got the name from Samuel Harsnett's ''Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures'' (1603), where one reads of 40 fiends that Jesuits cast out and among which was Fliberdigibbet, described as one of " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himself employed by the British East India company from the age of seventeen until the British government assumed direct rule over India in 1858." * * and lasted from 1858 to 1947. * * The region under British control was commonly called India in contemporaneous usage and included areas directly administered by the United Kingdom, which were collectively called British India, and areas ruled by indigenous rulers, but under British paramountcy, called the princely states. The region was sometimes called the Indian Empire, though not officially. As ''India'', it was a founding member of the League of Nations, a participating nation in the Summer Olympics in 1900, 1920, 1928, 1932, and 1936, and a founding member of the United Nations in San F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RAF St Eval
Royal Air Force St. Eval or RAF St. Eval was a Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command, southwest of Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south west coast. Aircraft from the airfield were also used for photographic reconnaissance missions, meteorological flights, convoy patrols, air-sea rescue missions and protection of the airfield from the Luftwaffe. History The construction of the station The Royal Air Force's 1930s expansion plan included a requirement for a station to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the South-west coast of England. The site at St Eval was chosen as a Coastal Command airfield and work started in 1938. Five widely dispersed cottages, two houses and portions of two farms were acquired by compulsory purchase; the village of St Eval was completely demolished in order to build the airfield. Levelling of the site by G Wallace Ltd involved the remo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Wide Words
Michael Quinion (born c. 1943) is a British etymologist and writer. He ran World Wide Words, a website devoted to linguistics. He graduated from Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he studied physical sciences and after which he joined BBC radio as a studio manager. Writer Quinion has contributed extensively to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' as well as the ''Oxford Dictionary of New Words'' (Second Edition, 1996). He has since written ''Ologies and Isms'' (a 2002 dictionary of affixes) and ''Port Out, Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths'' (2004), published in the US as ''Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins''''Port Out Starboard Home: And Other Language Myths'' is published outside the US by Penguin Books (Hardcover /Paperback ) In the United States it is published by the Smithsonian Institution Press as ''Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds'' (Hardcover /Paperback ) His most recent book is ''Gallimaufry: A Hodgepodge of Our Vanishing Vocabulary' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Attaché
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for liquid water to exist on the Earth's surface, absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect), and reducing temperature extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature variation). By mole fraction (i.e., by number of molecules), dry air contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases. Air also contains a variable amount of water vapor, on average around 1% at sea level, and 0.4% over the entire atmosphere. Air composition, temperature, and atmospheric pressure vary with altitude. Within the atmosphere, air suitable for use in photosynthesis by terrestrial plants and breathing of terrestrial animals is found only in E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
