The Alfa Romeo 147 is an Italian automobile produced in three- and five-door models since 2001 when it was voted European Car of the Year, before undergoing revisions in 2005. The Alfa Romeo 147 is marketed as a stylish family car and is powered by a 1.9 litre four-cylinder engine providing a top speed of 129 mph, acceleration of 0 to 60 mph in just under nine seconds and a combined fuel consumption of almost 48 mpg. The Alfa Romeo 147 has been plagued by reliability issues and in October 2003 models were recalled due to a fire risk caused by an engine bay wiring short circuit on cars built between January 2002 and April 2003. Another recall occurred in April 2004 due to the power-assisted steering which could fail on GTAs made between November 2000 and March 2003. In May 2005 another recall occurred due to fuel leaks discovered on cars built between May and September 2004, in September 2006 a braking fault was discovered with the space-saver spare fitted on non-GTAs made between June 2004 and February 2006 resulting in a recall of these vehicles and in October 2006 clutch issues were discovered on vehicles made between March 2003 and October 2005. Research Alfa Romeo 147
In September 2001 the USA was attacked by letters containing the phrases 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' infected with anthrax being sent through the post. Five people died, 18 more were injured, and 35000 were forced to take precautionary antibiotics. Official reports suggested that the anthrax was released by the Muslim al-Qaeda terrorist movement, but investigations by forensic scientists at the FBI revealed that the sender of the poisoned letters was most likely a member of the American CIA, probably trying to encourage support for President Bush's 'war on terrorism' by spreading terror and paranoia throughout the western world directed at the more fundamental Islamic countries.
The FBI's conclusion was further proved when on the 17th of June, 2003 the head of the British intelligence service, MI5Ms Manningham-Buller, warned that an attack on a Western city was 'only a matter of time', and went on to say 'We are faced with a realistic possibility of a form of unconventional attack that could include chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN)'. 'It is only a matter of time before a crude version of a CBRN is launched on a Western city.' Clearly indicating that to date no such terrorist attack had taken place, and that the FBI were correct in their finding that the Anthraxattack had been carried out by a member of the CIA, though suggesting that he was not a rogue criminal at all. Research Anthrax Killer
Autumn is the season between summer and winter, in the northern hemisphere traditionally regarded as embracing August, September, and October, or three months about that time. The beginning of the astronomical autumn is September the 22nd, the autumnal equinox; and the end is December the 21st, the shortest day. The autumn of the southern hemisphere takes place at the time of the northern spring. Research Autumn
Barley-month was the Anglo-Saxon name for the month we now call September. It was so called barley-month as it was the month when barley-beer was made. Research Barley-Month
The Burwell Fire occurred in a barn at Burwell, near Newmarket on 8th September 1727. A number of people had assembled to see a puppet-show in the barn when a candle set fire to a heap of straw. Seventy-six people died at the scene and others died later of their injuries. Research Burwell Fire
A calendar (named from the Latin calendarium, from calendce, the first day of the month), is a record or marking out of time as systematically divided into years, months, weeks, and days.
The periodical occurrence of certain natural phenomena gave rise to the first division of time, the division into weeks being the only purely arbitrary partition. The year of the ancient Egyptians was based on the changes of the seasons alone, without reference to the lunar month, and contained 365 days divided into twelve months of thirty days each, with five supplementary days at the end of the year.
The Jewish year consisted of lunar months of which they reckoned twelve in the year, intercalating a thirteenth when necessary to maintain the correspondence of the particular months with the regular recurrence of the seasons.
The Greeks in the earliest period also reckoned by lunar and intercalary months, but after one or two changes adopted the plan of Meton and Euctemon, who took account of the fact that in a period of nineteen years, the new moons return upon the same days of the year as before. This period of nineteen years was found, however, to be about six hours too long, and subsequent calculators still failed to make the beginning of the seasons return on the same fixed day of the year. Each month was divided into three decads.
The Romans at first divided the year into ten months, but they early adopted the Greek method of lunar and intercalary months, making the lunar year consist of 354, and afterwards of 355 days, leaving ten or eleven days and a fraction to be supplied by the intercalary division. This arrangement continued until the time of Julius Caesar. The first day of the month was called the calends. In March, May, July, and October the 15th, in other months the 13th, was called the ides. The ninth day before the ides (reckoning inclusive) was called the nones, being therefore either the 7th or the 5th of the month. From the inaccuracy of the Roman method of reckoning the calendar came to represent the vernalequinox nearly two months after the event, and at the request of Julius Caesar, the Greek astronomer Sosigenes with the assistance of Marcus Fabius, contrived the so-called Julian calendar. The chief improvement consisted in restoring the equinox to its proper place by inserting two months between November and December, so that the year 707 (46 BC), called the year of confusion, contained fourteen months.
In the number of days the Greek computation was adopted, which made it 365.25. To dispose of the quarter of a day it was determined to intercalate a day every fourth year between the 23rd and 24th of February. This calendar continued in use among the Romans until the fall of the empire, and throughout Christendom until 1582.
By this time, owing to the cumulative error of eleven minutes, the vernalequinox really took place ten days earlier than its date in the calendar, and accordingly PopeGregory XIII issued a brief abolishing the Julian calendar in all Catholic countries, and introducing in its stead the one now in use, the Gregorian or reformed calendar. In this way began the new style, as opposed to the other or old style. Ten days were to be dropped; every hundredth year, which by the old style was to have been a leap year, was now to be a common year, the fourth excepted; and the length of the solar year was taken to be 365 days, five hours, forty-nine minutes, and twelve seconds, the difference between which and subsequent observations is immaterial. The new calendar was adopted in Spain, Portugal, and France in 1582; in Catholic Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands in 1583; in Poland in 1586; in Hungary in 1587; in ProtestantGermany, Holland, and Denmark in 1700; in Switzerland in 1701; in England in 1752; and in Sweden, 1753.
In the English calendar of 1752, also, the 1st of January was now adopted as the beginning of the legal year, and it was customary for some time to give two dates for the period intervening between 1st January and 25th March, that of the old and that of the new year, as January 1752/3. Russia alone retained the old style, which by 1906 differed twelve days from the new.
In France, during the revolution, a new calendar was introduced by a decree of the rational Convention, on November the 24th, 1793. The time from which the new reckoning was to commence was the autumnal equinox of 1792, which fell upon the 22nd of September, when the first decree of the new republic had been promulgated. The year was made to consist of twelve months of three decades each, and, to complete the full number, five fete days, or sansculotides (in leap years six) were added to the end of the year. The seasons and months were as follows: Autumn; 22nd September to 22nd December Vendimiaire, vintage month; Brumaire, foggy month; Frimaire, sleet month. Winter; 22nd December to 22nd March: Nivose, snowy month; Plumose, rainy month; Ventose, windy month. Spring; 22nd March to 22nd June: Germinal, budmonth; Floreal, flowermonth; Prairial, meadowmonth. Summer; 22nd June to 22nd Sept.: Messidor, harvest month; Thermidor, hot month; Fructidor, fruit month. The common Christian or Gregorian calendar was re-established in France on the 1st of January, 1806, by Napoleon. Research Calendar
The Canada Company was a company formed by Sir William Alexander in 1621. On September the 21st James I granted to the Canada Company an enormous territory in America, covering a large part of what is now the USA and the whole of Canada. Sir William Alexander and his associate, David Kirke, endeavoured to sell the land as baronetcies, but the scheme failed and the Canada Company was dissolved. Research Canada Company
Casale Media is a Canadian interactive marketing and technology company that operates an online advertising network launched in September 2003 by Joe Casale. Within a year of its launch, Casale Media was ranked the second largest online advertising network by comScore Media Metrix. Key features of the Casale Media network are: campaignstatistics that are updated and delivered in real-time; both advertisers and publishers can pause or make changes to campaigns at any time of the day or night instantly, without delay; advertisers only pay for the CPMinventory they buy; publishers receive the industry's highest payouts - 70% of the gross revenue; adverts can be precisely targeted to specific markets using a variety of targeting filters including sixteen content categories that include time-of-day targeting, geo-targeting (down to individual cities) and capping the frequency with which end users will be delivered the same advert; no minimum spend for advertisers, which makes Casale Media accessible to smaller businesses. Research Casale Media More information about Casale Media
Among the Romans, a circus was a nearly rectangular building without a roof, in which public chariot-races and exhibitions of pugilism and wrestling, etc, took place. It was rectangular, except that one short side formed a half-circle; and on both sides, and on the semicircular end, were the seats of the spectators, rising gradually one above another, like steps. On the outside the circus was surrounded with colonnades, galleries, shops, and public places. The largest of these buildings in Rome was the Circus Maximus, capable, according to Pliny, of containing 260,000, and according to Aurelius Victor, 385,000 spectators. At present, however, but few vestiges of it remain, and the circus of Caracalla is in the best preservation. The games celebrated in these structures were known collectively by the name of ludi circenses, circensian games, or games of the circus, which under the emperors attained the greatest magnificence.
The principal games of the circus were the ludi Romani or magni (Roman or Great Games), which were celebrated from the 4th to the 14th of September, in honour of the great gods, so called. The passion of the common or poorer class of people for these shows appears from the cry with which they addressed their rulers - panem et circenses (bread and the games!). The festival was opened by a splendid procession, or pompa, in which the magistrates, senate, priests, augurs, vestal virgins, and athletes, took part, carrying with them the images of the great gods, the Sibylline books, and sometimes the spoils of war. On reaching the circus the procession went round once in a circle, the sacrifices were performed, the spectators took their places, and the games commenced. These were:
1. Races with horses and chariots, in which men of the highest rank engaged.
2. The gymnastic contests.
3. The Trojan games, prize contests on horseback, revived by Julius Caesar.
4. The combats with wild beasts, in which beasts fought with beasts or with men (criminals or volunteers).
5. Representations of naval engagements (naumachioe), for which purpose the circus could be laid under water.
The expense of these games was often immense. Pompey, in his second consulship, brought forward 500 lions at one combat of wild beasts, which, with eighteen elephants, were slain in five days.
The modern circus is a place where horses and wild animals are trained to perform antics, and where exhibitions of acrobats and various pageantries, including a large amount of buffoonery, are presented. Research Circus
Abbreviations
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