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Weed Eater
Weed Eater is a string trimmer company founded in 1971 in Houston, Texas by George C. Ballas, Sr., the inventor of the device. The idea for the Weed Eater trimmer came to him from the spinning nylon bristles of an automatic car wash. He thought that he could come up with a similar technique to protect the bark on trees that he was trimming around. His company was eventually bought by Emerson Electric and merged with Poulan. Poulan/Weed Eater was later purchased by Electrolux, which spun off the outdoors division as Husqvarna AB in 2006. Inventor Ballas was the father of champion ballroom dancer Corky Ballas and the grandfather of '' Dancing with the Stars'' dancer Mark Ballas Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986) is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Ballas is a professional ballroom dancer on the ABC program ''Dancing with the Stars''. He began competing on the show .... George Ballas died on June 25, 2011.See "Weed Eater ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food Economic surplus, surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Sheep, goats, pigs and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into Food, foods, Fiber, fibers, fuels, and raw materials (such as Natural rubber, rubber). Food clas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Ballas
George Charles Ballas Sr. (June 28, 1925 – June 25, 2011) was an American entrepreneur. He invented the first string trimmer, known as the Weed Eater in 1971. He is the father of ballroom dancer, Corky Ballas, and grandfather of professional dancer Mark Ballas of ''Dancing with the Stars''. Early life Ballas was born in Ruston, Louisiana. He was the son of Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria (née Lymnaos), who were Greek immigrants that ran a restaurant. His brother is Peter Ballas. He enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 17 in 1942 during World War II and was a bombardier. Ballas would later serve in the Korean War. Family He married Maria Marulanda who was of Mexican and Spanish descent in 1951. He had five children, including Corky Ballas. His grandson Mark Ballas is a dancer in ''Dancing with the Stars''. He had six other grandchildren. Inventor Ballas got the idea for the trimmer while driving through an automatic car wash, where the rotating brushes gav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. Comprising a land area of , Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in the United States (including consolidated city-counties). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Trimmer
A string trimmer, also known by the portmanteau strimmer and the trademarks Weedwacker, Weed eater and Whipper Snipper. is a garden tool for cutting grass, small weeds, and groundcover. It uses a whirling monofilament line instead of a blade, which protrudes from a rotating spindle at the end of a long shaft topped by a gasoline engine or electric motor. String trimmers are commonly used for cutting low foliage near obstacles or on steep or irregular terrain. Most professional-grade line trimmers can accept attachment blades to be used as brush cutters for more dense vegetation. History The first brush cutter was produced in Japan in 1960 by Echo tools, Echo. The U.S. string trimmer was invented in the early-1970s by George Ballas of Houston, Texas, who conceived the idea while watching the revolving action of the cleaning brushes in an automatic car wash. His first trimmer was made by attaching pieces of heavy duty fishing line to a tin can bolted to an edger. Ballas devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emerson Electric Company
Emerson Electric Co. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri. The ''Fortune'' 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets."David Farr" Emerson has approximately 86,700 employees and 170 manufacturing locations. History Emerson was established in 1890 in , as ''Emerson Electric Manufacturing Co.'' by Union veteran |
Poulan
Poulan is a brand name of the Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna AB. History Poulan was founded as Poulan Saw Co. in 1946 by chainsaw pioneer Claude Poulan in Shreveport, Louisiana. Purchased in late 1950s or early '60 by the Beaird Company, also of Shreveport, it was known as Beaird-Poulan. The company was acquired by Emerson Electric in 1972, and was purchased by Electrolux in 1984. In 2006 Electrolux spun off Husqvarna into its own company. Poulan brand today The Poulan brand name is used primarily for outdoor power equipment, such as chainsaws, lawn mowers, and leaf blower A leaf blower, commonly known as a blower, is a device that propels air out of a nozzle to move debris such as leaves and grass cuttings. Leaf blowers are powered by electric or gasoline motors. Gasoline models have traditionally been two-str ...s, aimed at the mid-level consumer market. Since Poulan is owned by Husqvarna, the two brands often share technologies. In recent years Poulan has offered a m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electrolux
Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety of brand names (including its own), and are primarily major appliances and vacuum cleaners intended for home consumer use. Electrolux has a primary listing on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the OMX Stockholm 30 index. History The company originates from a merger of two companies—Lux AB and Svenska Elektron AB, the former an established manufacturer and the latter a younger company founded by a former vacuum salesman who had also been an employee of the former firm. The origins of Electrolux are closely tied to the vacuum, but today it also makes major appliances. Sales company to major manufacturer In 1919, a Svenska Elektron AB acquisition, Elektromekaniska AB, became Elektrolux (the spelling was changed to Ele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Husqvarna AB
The Husqvarna Group () is a Swedish manufacturer of outdoor power products including chainsaws, trimmers, brushcutters, cultivators, and garden tractors. Founded as a firearms manufacturer in 1689, it is one of the oldest continuously running companies in the world. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the group also produces consumer watering products, cutting equipment and diamond tools for the construction and stone industries. Their motorcycle division was spun off in 1987, and is now owned by KTM. Their sewing machine division was sold off in 1997 and is now owned by SVP Worldwide. Husqvarna Group sponsors the Swedish ice hockey club HV71 and several local community engagement projects around the world. History 1689 – Firearms The drilling work at the waterfalls in Husqvarna, southern Sweden, was the first large plant. The state-owned rifle factory had some 1,000 employees at the beginning of the 18th century. The company was spun off from Husqvarna Vapenfabriks ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballroom Dancer
Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ''Ballroom dance'' may refer, at its widest definition, to almost any recreational dance with a partner. However, with the emergence of dance competition (now known as Dancesport), two principal schools have emerged and the term is used more narrowly to refer to the dances recognized by those schools. * The International School, originally developed in EnglandFranks A.H. 1963. ''Social dance: a short history''. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London. and now regulated by the World Dance CouncilWDC and the World DanceSport FederationWDSF, is most prevalent in Europe. It encompasses two categories, Standard and Latin, each of which consist of five dances—International Waltz, International Tango, International Viennese Waltz, International Slow Fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corky Ballas
Mark Alexander Ballas Sr. (born December 25, 1960), known as Corky Ballas, is an American retired competitive ballroom dancer who holds several Latin dance championship titles. His son, Mark Ballas, is a professional dancer on ''Dancing with the Stars''. His father was George Ballas, who invented the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device. Personal life Ballas was born in Houston, Texas. He is the son of Mexican-American Maria Marulanda and Greek-American George Ballas, the inventor of the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device. His paternal grandparents, Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria Lymnaos were immigrants to the United States from Greece. He has three sisters, Michelle, Maria, and Lillian, and one brother, George. He has one son, Mark Ballas. Corky and Shirley Ballas also raised and trained Julianne Hough and Derek Hough. Corky now teaches dancing in San Antonio via his dancing studio, and his website. His plans for the future include more television performances as well as an on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dancing With The Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the format has been licensed to 60 territories. Versions have also been produced in dozens of countries across the world. As a result, the series became the world's most popular television programme among all genres in 2006 and 2007, according to the magazine ''Television Business International'', reaching the Top 10 in 17 countries. The show pairs a number of well known celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, who each week compete by performing one or more choreographed routines that follow the prearranged theme for that particular week. The dancers are then scored by a panel of judges. Viewers are given a certain amount of time to place votes for their favorite dancers, either by telephone or (in some countries) online. The couple with t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Ballas
Mark Alexander Ballas Jr. (born May 24, 1986) is an American dancer, choreographer, singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Ballas is a professional ballroom dancer on the ABC program ''Dancing with the Stars''. He began competing on the show in season five during the fall of 2007 and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Choreography in 2011. Ballas released his first solo CD ''HurtLoveBox'' in March 2011. Personal life Ballas was born in Houston, Texas, the son of dancers Corky Ballas and Shirley Ballas (née Rich). His paternal grandparents were of Mexican and Greek background, and his mother is originally from the United Kingdom and is of predominantly English heritage. His mother also has distant Malagasy ancestry from Madagascar. His paternal grandfather, George Ballas, was the inventor of the Weed Eater lawn-trimming device. His paternal great-grandparents, Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria Lymnaos were immigrants to the United States from Greece. Ballas is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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