Giacomo Puccini was an Italian opera composer. He was born in 1858 at Lucca and died in 1924. He studied under local teachers and in 1877 produced a cantata, 'Juno'. He worked at Milan conservatoire from 1880 until 1883 and in 1884 his one-act opera 'Le Villi' was produced at Milan, followed by Edgar in 1889. His first great success was with 'Manon Lescaut', staged at Turin in 1893, and its triumph was outdone by that of 'La Boheme', founded upon Murger's novel, in 1896. In addition he wrote 'La Tosca' in 1900, 'Madame Butterfly' in 1904, 'The Girl of the Golden West' in 1910, 'La Rondine' in 1917 and others. Research Giacomo Puccini
SaintValentine is the name of several saints. Two of the name, a priest and a bishop, are said to have been martyred near Rome on the same day, February the 14th, about 270. The practice of sending love tokens on their festival, February the 14th, is a survival of the Roman custom of boys drawing the names of girls by lot in honour of Juno Februalis at the Lupercalia about the same date. Research St Valentine
In Greek mythology the Argus was a beast and son of Arestor with a hundred eyes of which he could only close two at a time. He was placed by Juno to guard Io, whom Jupiter had changed into a heifer. But Mercury, who was sent to carry her off, managed to surprise and kill Argus whereupon Juno transferred his eyes to the tail of a peacock, her favourite bird. In Greek mythology, Argus was the name of the builder of the Argo, the ship that carried the hero Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece Research Argus
Hebe was the Greek and Roman goddess of youth. She was the daughter of Zeus and Hera, or in Roman mythology of Jupiter and Juno. In Olympus she appears as a kind of handmaiden, presenting the nectar at the banquets of the gods, preparing chariots, and tending to wounds. In the arts she is represented as a young virgin crowned with flowers arrayed in a variegated garment, with an eagle by her side. She was believed to have the power of restoring the bloom of youth and beauty to the aged. Research Hebe
In Greek and Roman mythology, Hercules (called by the Greeks Heracles) was the most celebrated hero or semi-divine personage, he was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) by Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon and was brought up at Thebes, and before he was eight months old he had strangled two snakes sent by the jealous Hera (Juno) to devour him.
In his youth he had several distinguished instructors, among them the CentaurCheiron. Early in life he had, at the command of Zeus, to subject himself for twelve years to the will of Eurystheus, on the understanding that after he had acquitted himself of this duty he should be reckoned in the number of the gods. He, therefore, went to Mycenae, and performed at the bidding of Eurystheus the tasks known as the twelve labours of Hercules. These were
Bring from the infernal regions Cerberus the three headed dog of Hades.
Besides these labours, he also achieved of his own accord others equally celebrated. Thus, he assisted the gods in their wars against the giants, and it was through him alone that Zeus obtained the victory.
Having attempted to plunder the temple at Delphi, he became engaged in conflict with Apollo, and was punished by being sold to Omphale, queen of Lydia, as a slave, who restored him to liberty and married him. Having latterly returned to Greece, he became the husband of Dejanira, who unwittingly brought about his death by giving him a tunic poisoned with the blood of the Centaur Neasus, which she innocently believed would retain for her Hercules' love. The poison took effect whenever the garment was put on, and as the distemper was incurable, Hercules placed himself on a burning pile on the top of Mount OEta, was received up into heaven, and being there reconciled to Hera, received her daughter Hebe in marriage. At the death of Hercules Deianira killed her self also through grief.
In ancient works of art Hercules is generally represented naked, with strong and well-proportioned limbs; he is sometimes covered with the skin of the Nemaean lion, and holds a knotted club in his hand, on which he often leans. The principal ancient statue of him which remains is the Farnese Hercules at Naples, a work of the Athenian Griycon, The myth of Hercules is believed by many writers to represent the course of the sun through the twelve signs of the zodiac. His marriage with Hebe was explained even by the ancients as symbolic of the renewing of the sun's course after its completion. Research Hercules
In Roman mythology, Turnus was the son of King Daunus and the nymph Venilia. He was a favourite of Juno, who granted him invulnerability in battle so long as he was pure, honourable and steadfast. In the war between
Turnus' people, the Rutulians and the Trojan settlers led by Aeneas, Turnus showed all these qualities, leading his troops with as much dignity and honour as Aeneas himself. But he let his guard slip for an instant, killing the young prince Pallas who had rashly challenged him to single combat and wore his belt as a trophy. Juno withdrew her protection and Aeneas killed him in hand-to-hand combat. Research Turnus
Operation Overlord was the codename of the Allied Normandy invasion on June the 6th 1944 (D-Day). Allied land, naval, and air troops invaded the northern shores of Nazi-held France, and established beachheads (codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword) in five key areas by the next day, opening the area for other Allied troops. The invasion marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi war effort. The invasion, the largest amphibious landing in history, was overseen and executed by General Eisenhower with British field marshalMontgomery in command of Allied ground forces during the invasion. The invasion involved some 800,000 combat troops that had been massed in Britain (mainly in the southern counties) for the operation; over 4,000 ships, under the command of British admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay; and about 5,000 fighters and almost 6,000 bombers that were used to provide air support. Research Operation Overlord
The standard English deck of cards consists of four suits of cards: diamonds, clubs, hearts and spades; each suit containing pip cards ranging in value from one (ace) to ten, plus three court cards: knave (jack), queen, and king.
The Spanish deck of playing cards comprised four suits: pinks (diamonds); rabbits (clubs); roses (hearts) and columbines (spades) which later evolved into dineros (diamonds); bastos (clubs); copas (hearts) and espados (spades).
The French deck comprised four suits: carreaux (artisans, equivalent to diamonds); trefle (clover, equivalent to clubs); choeur (ecclesiastics, equivalent to hearts) and pique (pikemen, equivalent to spades).
From the French and Spanish playing card decks evolved the British form, with spades being represented by the French form of a pike with an evolution of the Spanish name (swords); clubs being the French trefoilclover and hearts being a corruption of the French choeur into coeur.
The court cards are so named on account of their heraldic dress. The king of clubs originally represented the arms of the pope; the king of spades the King of France; the king of diamonds the King of Spain and the king of hearts the King of England. In the French deck the king of spades is called David; the king of clubs Alexander; the king of diamonds Caesar and the king of hearts is called Charles - representing the Jewish, Greek, Roman and Frankish empires.
The queens or dames are Argine - the queen of hearts is Juno, the queen of clubs Judith, the queen of diamonds Rachel and the queen of spades is Pallas representing royalty, fortitude, piety and wisdom. The four queens were originally depicted in likeness of Marie d'Anjou, the queen of Charles VII; Isabeau, the queen mother; Agnes Sorel, the king's mistress; and Joan of Arc, the dame of war.
Playing cards are typically manufactured from pasteboard, but sometimes from plastic which is much more har wearing, and are produced in a number of shapes and sizes. The standard deck or bridge deck consists of rectangular cards 3.5 inches by 2.25 inches with rounded corners. The poker deck is slightly larger, 3.5 inches by 2.375 inches. Patience decks are roughly half the size of a standard deck and are designed for sole play.
In ancient times, the best playing cards were known as Mogul cards, because the wrapper they were contained within carried a picture of the Great Mogul. Playing cards with a speck, mark or imperfection were known as Harrys.
Formerly in Britain playing cards were taxed. In 1862 a government duty of 3d was levied on each pack. Previously it was 1 shilling, and in the earlier part of the 19th century century 2 shillings and 6d. Manufacturers in Britain formerly had to pay an annual license of twenty shillings. Research Playing Cards
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Giacomo Puccini
