Only Fools and Horses was a British BBC comedy series which run from 1981 until 2003. The series followed the trials and tribulations of wannabe entrepreneur Derek Trotter, his younger brother Rodney and originally their grandfather. When the actor playing the grandfather died, he was replaced by a new but similar character, 'Uncle Albert' the ex-Royal Navy sailor. The Trotter family lived in Peckham, south London, and the series followed their wheeling and dealing - from their famous yellow three-wheeled van - as they attempted to realise their dreams of becoming millionaires. Research Only Fools and Horses
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a story by Mrs H. Beecher-Stowe published in portions in a newspaper in 1850 and then in a complete form in 1852. The story, based on the real-life events of Josiah Henson who recounted his tale to Mrs Beecher-Stowe, set forth the evils of slavery and was an enormous seller and contributed greatly to the abolition of slavery in Britain. The hero of the story, Uncle Tom, is a black slave noted for his fidelity, piety and hardwork who is sold and has to submit to terrible cruelty. Research Uncle Tom's Cabin
The Abbassides were an Arabian dynasty, descendents of Mahomet's uncle, Abbas-Ben-Abdul-Motalleb. Thirty-seven Abbasside caliphs reigned from 750 to 1258. They settled at Baghdad. Research Abbassides
Albert was first Duke of Prussia, and last grand-master of the Teutonic Order. He was born in 1490 and died in 1568. In 1511 he was chosen by the Teutonic knights grand-master of their order. Being nephew of Sigismund, King of Poland, the knights hoped by his means to be freed from the feudal superiority of Poland, and placed under the protection of the empire. This superiority, however, Sigismund refused to surrender, and war broke out between uncle and nephew. He subsequently became reconciled to his uncle, and obtained his investiture as hereditary duke of Prussia under the Polish crown, the territorial rights of the Teutonic Order being thus set aside. The latter years of his reign were spent in organizing the government and promoting the prosperity of his duchy; he founded schools and churches, established a ducal library, and opened the University of Konigsberg in 1543. Research Albert
Alexander VI (real name Rodrigo Borgia) was Pope from 1492 to 1503. He was born in 1431 at Valencia, in Spain, and died in 1503. When he was only twenty-five years of age his uncle, PopeCalixtus III, made him a cardinal, and shortly afterwards appointed him to the dignified and lucrative office of vice-chancellor. By bribery he prepared his way to the papal throne, which he attained in 1492, after the death of Innocent VIII.
In 1493 he issued a bull dividing the non-Christian world into two parts, Spain to have the western half and Portugal the eastern. This line of division was to be a meridian 100 leagues west of the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, but in 1494 was moved to a meridian 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands.
At the time of Alexander's crowning as pope, both the authority and revenues of the popes were much impaired, and he set himself to reduce the power of the Italian princes, and seize upon their possessions for the benefit of his own family. To effect this end he is said not to have scrupled to use the vilest means, including poison and assassination. His policy, foreign as well as domestic, was faithless and base, and his private life was stained by sensuality. He understood how to extract immense sums of money from all Christian countries under various pretexts. He sold indulgences, and set aside, in favour of himself, the wills of several cardinals. His excesses roused against him the powerful eloquence of Savonarola, who, by pen and pulpit, urged his deposition, but had to meet his death at the stake in 1498. Not long after his election Alexander had the honour of deciding the dispute between the kings of Portugal and Castile concerning their respective claims to the foreign countries recently discovered. His son, Cesare Borgia, and his daughter Lucrezia Borgia, are equally notorious with himself. Research Alexander VI
Andrew Jackson Donelson was an American politician. He was born in 1800 and died in 1871. A nephew of General Andrew Jackson, he was private secretary to his uncle during the latter's Presidency, Minister to Prussia and the German Confederation from 1846 to 1849, and in 1856 was nominated for the Vice-Presidency by the American party on the ticket with Fillmore. Research Andrew Donelson
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, was a British politician. He was born in 1848 and died in 1930. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, he represented Hertford in 1874 to 1885, and then was member for East Manchester representing the Conservative party. For a time he was private secretary to his uncle, LordSalisbury, under whom he was president of the Local Government Board, and afterwards secretary for Scotland (1886-87), with a seat in the cabinet. He showed much firmness and ability as chief secretary for Ireland during Lord Salisbury's administration in 1887-91. He succeeded Mr. W. H. Smith as leader of the House of Commons and first lord of the treasury in 1891-92, and held the position again from 1895 until 1900, and from that year until 1902. On the retirement of LordSalisbury in 1902 he became prime minister, a position which he retained until December 1905. Under him as premier were passed the new English Education Act (which owed much to his personal influence and exertions), that for London, and a new Licensing Act, and he advocated a change of fiscal policy, at least as far as having recourse to retaliation, denying that he in any way favours protection. He was given to studies bearing on philosophy and religion, and published a Defence of Philosophic Doubt (1879), Essays and Addresses (1893), and The Foundations of Belief (1895). He was president of the British Association in 1904. As foreign secretary from 1916 to 1919 he was responsible for the Balfopur declaration of 1917 which promissed Zionists a national home in Palestine. He resigned from parliament in 1922, was made an earl, and served again as Lord President from 1925 until 1929. Research Arthur Balfour
Attila (Etzel) was King of the Huns. He was born in 406 and died in 453. The son of Mundzuk, and the successor, in conjunction with his brother Bleda, of his uncle Rhuas, he succeeded to the chieftainship in 434 when his people were masters of eastern Europe north of the Danube, and were terrorising western Europe as far as the Rhine and western Asia. They threatened the Eastern Empire, and twice compelled the weak Theodosius II to purchase an inglorious peace. Attila caused his brother Bleda to be murdered in 444, and in a short time extended his dominion over all the peoples of Germany and exacted tribute from the eastern and western emperors. The Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Gepidse, and a part of the Franks united under his banners, and he speedily formed a pretext for leading them against the Empire of the East. He laid waste all the countries from the Black Sea to the Adriatic Sea, and in three encounters defeated the Emperor Theodoeius, but could not take Constantinople.
Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece all submitted to the invader, who destroyed seventy flourishing cities; and Theodosius was obliged to purchase a peace. Turning to the west, the 'scourge of God,' as the universal terror termed him, crossed with an immense army the Rhine, the Moselle, and the Seine, came to the Loire, and laid siege to Orleans. The inhabitants of this city repelled the first attack, and the united forces of the Romans under Aetius, and of the Visigoths under their king Theodoric, compelled Attila to raise the siege. He retreated to Champagne, and waited for the enemy in the plains of Chalons.
In apparent opposition to the prophecies of the soothsayers the ranks of the Romans and Goths were broken; but when the victory of Attila seemed assured the Gothic prince Thorismond, the son of Theodoric, poured down from the neighbouring height upon the Huns, who were defeated with great slaughter. Rather irritated more than discouraged, he sought in the following year a new opportunity to seize upon Italy, and demanded Honoria, the sister of Valentinian III, in marriage, with half the kingdom as a dowry. When this demand was refused he conquered and destroyed Aquileia, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, and Bergamo, laid waste the plains of Lombardy, and was marching on Rome when Pope Leo I went with the Roman ambassadors to his camp and succeeded in obtaining a peace. Attila went back to Hungary, and died on the night of his marriage with Hilda or Ildico in 453, either from the bursting of a blood-vessel or by her hand. The description that Jornandes has left us of him is in keeping with his Kalmuck-Tartar origin. He had a large head, a flat nose, broad shoulders, and a short and ill-formed body; but his eyes were brilliant, his walk stately, and his voice strong and well-toned. Research Attila
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