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John McAleese
John Thomas "Mac" McAleese, MM (25 April 1949 – 26 August 2011) was a British soldier who took part in several late 20th century conflicts with the British Army's Royal Engineers and the Special Air Service, which is now within the umbrella organisation, United Kingdom Special Forces. During his time in the Special Air Service, he famously had a role in the storming of the Iranian Embassy in London during a hostage taking siege incident in May 1980. Early life McAleese was born in Stirling, Scotland, on 25 April 1949 and grew up in Laurieston, Falkirk. Military career He joined the Royal Engineers in 1969, aged 20, and in 1973 passed the All Arms Commando Course (AACC), which earned him the green beret and a transfer to 59 Independent Commando, Royal Engineers. In 1975 he transferred into the Special Air Service. He was a lance corporal in 1980, serving in Pagoda Troop, 'B' Squadron, 22 SAS Regiment, when he led "Blue Team" in the storming of the Iranian Embassy in London ...
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Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its merchants and tradesmen, the Old Bridge and the port. Located on the River Forth, Stirling is the administrative centre for the Stirling council area, and is traditionally the county town of Stirlingshire. Proverbially it is the strategically important "Gateway to the Highlands". It has been said that "Stirling, like a huge brooch clasps Highlands and Lowlands together". Similarly "he who holds Stirling, holds Scotland" is often quoted. Stirling's key position as the lowest bridging point of the River Forth before it broadens towards the Firth of Forth made it a focal point for travel north or south. When Stirling was temporarily under Anglo-Saxon sway, according to a 9th-century legend, it was attacked by Danish invaders. The sound of a ...
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Lance Corporal
Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equivalent to the NATO Rank Grade OR-3. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corporal derives from an amalgamation of "corporal" from the Italian phrase ''capo corporale'' ("head of the body") with the now-archaic '' lancepesade'', which in turn derives from the Italian ''lancia spezzata'', which literally means "broken lance" or "broken spear", formerly a non-commissioned officer of the lowest rank. It can be translated as "one who has broken a lance in combat", and is therefore a leader. "Lance" or "lances fournies" was also a term used in Medieval Europe to denote a unit of soldiers (usually 5 to 10 men strong). Brazil After the independence of Brazil in 1822, the new Brazilian Army followed the Portuguese system of ranks, h ...
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Martial Art
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage. Etymology According to Paul Bowman, the term ''martial arts'' was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called "chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s. According to John Clements, the term ''martial arts'' itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning "arts of Mars", the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s. The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of East Asia (Asian martial arts) up until the 1970s, while the term ''Chinese boxing'' wa ...
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Airsoft
Airsoft is a team game in which participants eliminate opposing players by tag (game), tagging them out of play with airsoft pellets, spherical plastic projectiles shot with mock air gun, air weapons(usually powered by an electronic motor) called airsoft guns. Although similar to paintball in concept and gameplay, airsoft pellets do not leave visible markings on their target and hits are not always apparent. Though the pellets leave bruises or welts on exposed skin (and so protective gear is recommended), the game relies heavily on an honor system in which players who have been Terminal ballistics, hit are expected to call themselves out. The airsoft guns used are mostly magazine (firearms), magazine-fed, with some having manual/battery (electricity), battery-powered spring (device), spring-piston pump powerplant, power plants similar to Nerf Blasters, or pneumatically powered by replaceable compressed gas (e.g. propane ("green gas"), 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane or ) gas cylinder ...
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IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, plot summaries, trivia, ratings, and fan and critical reviews. IMDb began as a fan-operated movie database on the Usenet group "rec.arts.movies" in 1990, and moved to the Web in 1993. It is now owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon. the database contained some million titles (including television episodes) and million person records. Additionally, the site had 83 million registered users. The site's message boards were disabled in February 2017. Features The title and talent ''pages'' of IMDb are accessible to all users, but only registered and logged-in users can submit new material and suggest edits to existing entries. Most of the site's data has been provided by these volunteers. Registered users with a prov ...
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Lord Ashcroft
Michael Anthony Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft, (born 4 March 1946) is a British-Belizean businessman, pollster and politician. He is a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Ashcroft founded Michael A. Ashcroft Associates in 1972 and is the 132nd richest person in the UK, as ranked by the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List 2021, with an estimated fortune of £1.257 billion. He sat on the Conservative benches of the House of Lords until 2015, having been created a life peer in 2000. His peerage was controversial due to his status as a tax exile. The Cabinet Office stated that he would take up permanent residence in the UK for tax purposes, but it was reported a decade later that he had not done so. Ashcroft holds dual British and Belizean nationality, and is a belonger of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Early life and education Michael Anthony Ashcroft was born in Chichester, West Sussex. His father Eric was a British colonial civil servant; Ashcroft spent some of his earl ...
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Public House
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was used to differentiate private houses from those which were, quite literally, open to the public as "alehouses", "taverns" and "inns". By Georgian times, the term had become common parlance, although taverns, as a distinct establishment, had largely ceased to exist by the beginning of the 19th century. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:GLA Economics, Closing time: London's public houses, 2017 # is open to the public without membership or residency # serves draught beer or cider without requiring food be consumed # has at least one indoor area not laid out for meals # allows drinks to be bought at a bar (i.e., not only table service) The history of pubs can be traced to Roman taverns in B ...
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Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population of 53,112 in 2021 it is by far the largest settlement in Herefordshire. An early town charter from 1189, granted by Richard I of England, describes it as "Hereford in Wales". Hereford has been recognised as a city since time immemorial, with the status being reconfirmed as recently as October 2000. It is now known chiefly as a trading centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals and sausage rolls, as well as the famous Hereford breed of cattle. Toponymy The Herefordshire edition of Cambridge County Geographies states "a Welsh derivation of Hereford is more probable than a Saxon one" but the name "Hereford" is also said to come from the Angl ...
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Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administrative, supervisory, or other specialist duties as part of the staff of a British Army regiment. As such they held seniority over sergeants who were members of a battalion or company, and were paid correspondingly increased wages. Their seniority was indicated by a crown worn above the three sergeant's stripes on their uniform rank markings. National variations Australia In the Australian Army and Cadets, the rank of staff sergeant is being phased out. It was usually held by the company quartermaster sergeant or the holders of other administrative roles. Staff sergeants are always addressed as "Staff Sergeant" or "Staff", never as "Sergeant" as it degrades their rank. "Chief" is another nickname though this is only used for the company chief clerk (in s ...
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Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern prime ministers hold office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the House of Commons, they sit as members of Parliament. The office of prime minister is not established by any statute or constitutional document, but exists only by long-established convention, whereby the reigning monarch appoints as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The prime minister is '' ex officio'' also First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and the minister responsible for national security. Indeed, certain privileges, such as List ...
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County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional Counties of Ireland, counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retains a strong identity in popular culture. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population of about 177,986; its county town is Omagh. The county derives its name and general geographic location from Tír Eoghain, a Gaelic kingdom under the O'Neill dynasty which existed until the 17th century. Name The name ''Tyrone'' is derived , the name given to the conquests made by the Cenél nEógain from the provinces of Airgíalla and Ulaid.Art Cosgrove (2008); "A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534". Oxford University Press. Historically, it was anglicised as ''Tirowen'' or ''Tyrowen'', which are closer to the Irish pronunci ...
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Ambush At Drumnakilly
The Ambush at Drumnakilly was a military confrontation that took place at Drumnakilly in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland on 30 August 1988 during The Troubles, when a detachment of the Provisional IRA (IRA) was ambushed by the British Army. Background The ambush occurred ten days after the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade carried out a successful attack with the Ballygawley bus bombing in Tyrone, which inflicted 36 casualties upon the British Army, including 8 dead. The ambush During the late afternoon of 30 August 1988 a three-man active service unit from the Provisional IRA's East Tyrone Brigade consisting of brothers Gerard (29 years old) and Martin Harte (23), and their brother-in-law Brian Mullin (26), attempted to kill an off-duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, which IRA intelligence had previously identified for targeting from the regular route, time-table and vehicle of his civilian occupation as the driver of a delivery lorry.'The Provos: The I.R.A. & Sinn Fein' by ...
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