In Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Vanity Fair is one of the dangerous places through which Christian journeyed on his pilgrimage to Zion; a fair wherein were displayed all the worldly vanities for tempting him from his way. It has been suggested that Bunyan wrote from recollections of the great annual fair at Stourbridge, near Cambridge.
Vanity Fair was a novel written by W. M Thackeray, in 1848. The author's most characteristic work in the more serious satiric vein, it presents a group of selfish people, living, in his own phrase, without God in the world. Social pretence, snobbery, meanness, chicanery are typified, and held up to reprobation in the astounding gallery of firmly drawn characters presented in this novel of English life during the first half of the 19th century.
Vanity Fair was the first society journal. It was founded in 1868 by Thomas Gibson Bowles and illustrated by Grebville Murray. Vanity Fair was popular for its caricatures of the political and social notabilities of the day. Research Vanity Fair
Zionism is a political movement advocating the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, the 'promised land' of the Bible, with its capital Jerusalem, the 'city of Zion'. The movement commenced in 1896 when, as a response to European anti-Semitism, Theodor Herzl published his 'Jewish State', outlining a scheme for setting up an autonomous Jewish commonwealth under Ottoman suzerainty. Research Zionism
William Drummond was a Scottish poet distinguished for the elegance and tenderness of his verses. He was born in 1585 at Hawthornden House, 7 miles from Edinburgh and died in 1649. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh; after which he spent four years in foreign travels, residing for a part of the time at Bourges, to study the civil law. On his return to Scotland be retired to Hawthornden and gave himself up to the cultivation of poetry and polite literature, and here he spent the most of his life.
He entertained Ben Jonson for three weeks on the occasion of a visit which the English dramatist made to Scotland in the winter of 1618-19, and took notes of Ben Jonson's conversation, which were first published in 1711. He was the first Scottish writer to abandon the native dialect for the language raised to supremacy by the Elizabethan writers. His chief productions are: The CypressGrove, in prose, containing reflections upon death; Flowers of Zion, or Spiritual Poems; Tears on the Death of Moeliades (that is, Prince Henry); Poems, Amorous, Funeral, Divine, Pastoral, in Sonnets, Songs, Sextains, Madrigals; The River Forth Feasting (on King James' Visit to Scotland in 1617); Polemo-Middinia, or the Battle of the Dunghill: a macaronic Poem; and History of the Lives and Beigns of the Five Jameses, Kings of Scotland. As a historian he is chiefly remarkable for an ornate style, and a strong attachment to the High Church principles of the Jacobites.
Gary Coleman is an American actor. He was born in 1968 at Zion, Illinois. He is best known for playing 'Arnold Jackson' in the television series 'Diff'rent Strokes'. Research Gary Coleman
The Zion Mule Corps was a wholly Jewish unit of the British Army. It served with distinction in Gallipoli in 1915, carrying rations and ammunition to the forward troops, and after the evacuation of the peninsula the corps was merged with the Jewish regiment in 1917. It was formed in Egypt from Zionist refugees from Palestine by a Lieutenant Jablonsky, a Russian journalist, and commanded by a British officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson. Research Zion Mule Corps
Bermuda (formerly known as Bermudas, Somers Islands and Summers' Isles) is a group of British possession islands in the Caribbean with a total area of 50 km2. They are the most northernly coral islands in the world. The climate is subtropical mild, humid with gales and strong winds common in the winter. The terrain is low hills separated by fertile depressions. Natural resources are limestone and a pleasant climate fostering tourism. The religion is 37% Anglican, 14% Roman Catholic, 10% African Methodist Episcopal (Zion), 6% Methodist, 5% Seventh-Day Adventist, 28% other. The language is English.
The islands of Bermuda were colonised from Virginia by Sir George Somers after he was shipwrecked at the islands in 1609, and subsequently named after him, Somers. Research Bermuda
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