british
culture
something
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UKMagz
EDITION #001 ▪ MAY 2013
BEAUTIFUL UK LANDMARKS YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO MISS! DISCOVER WHAT IS UK’S MOST POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION
& SCIENTISTS THAT CHANGED THE WAY WE LIVE
& WONDERFUL UK FOODS YOU NEED TO TRY
UKMAGZCONTENTS
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UKMAGZ/ CONTENTS MAY 2013
Index
04 Beautiful landmarks you would not want to miss! 05 Stonehenge 06 Palace of Westminster 07 Windsor Castle 08 The Big Ben 09 London Eye 10 Most Popular Attraction 11 Top 5 Popular Attraction 12 Wonderful Foods 14 Education System 16 Science 19 Music, Movies & TV 20 The Beattles
05 strongehenge
19 movies
14
education system
MESSAGE FROM
THE EDITORS Our inspiration in the making off this magazine is a simple quote from Albert Einstein that says “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning“. We hope you enjoy this magazine as we enjoyed developing this for you.
UKmagz@info UKmagz CO., Pedro de Alba S/N, San Nicolás de Los Garza, Nuevo León
UKmagz team EDITOR & SENIOR DESIGNER: JORGE ALBERTO SANDOVAL ORTIZ ID:1417087
WRITTERS & EDITORS JOSE ANGEL CONTRERAS OCHOA ID: 1411682 BRUNO CASTILLO MAR ID: 1468079 TERESA NOHEMI PEREZ ALMANZA ID: 1500763 CESAR DE LA CRUZ MONTEMAYOR ID: 1411681 JORGE EDUARDO ORTIZ TORRES ID: 1535020
LANDMARKSUK
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BEAUTIFUL UK LANDMARKS
YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO MISS!
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Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds. Archaeologists believe it was built anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Radiocarbon dating in 2008 suggested that the first stones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC,[2] whilst another theory suggests that bluestones may have been raised at the site as early as 3000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace is the official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch.[1] Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focus for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today’s palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705 on a site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761[2] as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as “The Queen’s House”. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the East front, which contains the well-known balcony on which the royal family traditionally congregates to greet crowds outside. However, the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in World War II; the Queen’s Gallery was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection. The original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which still survive, included widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle Époque cream and gold colour scheme. Many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House. The Buckingham Palace Garden is the largest private garden in London. The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September, as part of the Palace’s Summer Opening.
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Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Commonly known as the Houses of Parliament after its tenants, the Palace lies on the Middlesex bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London. Its name, which derives from the neighbouring Westminster Abbey, may refer to either of two structures: the Old Palace, a medieval building complex that was destroyed by fire in 1834, and its replacement New Palace that stands today. For ceremonial purposes, the palace retains its original style and status as a royal residence. The first royal palace was built on the site in the eleventh century, and Westminster was the primary London residence of the Kings of England until a fire destroyed much of the complex in 1512. After that, it served as the home of Parliament, which had been meeting there since the thirteenth century, and the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall. In 1834, an even greater fire ravaged the heavily rebuilt Houses of Parliament, and the only structures of significance to survive were Westminster Hall, the Cloisters of St Stephen’s, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft and the Jewel Tower.
Tower of London Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison since at least 1100, although that was not its primary purpose. A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries. The general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history. It was besieged several times and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, a procession would be led from the Tower to Westminster Abbey on the coronation of a monarch. In the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period. In the late 15th century the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence, and despite attempts to refortify and repair the castle its defences lagged behind developments to deal with artillery.
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Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. The castle is notable for its long association with the British royal family and for its architecture. The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I, it has been used by succeeding monarchs and it is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle’s lavish, early 19th-century State Apartments are architecturally significant, described by art historian Hugh Roberts as “a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste”. The castle includes the 15th-century St George’s Chapel, considered by historian John Robinson to be “one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic” design. More than five hundred people live and work in Windsor Castle.
@HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT” REDIRECTS HERE”
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The Big Ben Each Country has a particular icon, for example the statue of liberty in the United States of America, the Angel of Independence in Mexico or the Eiffel Tower in France. England has an icon called the Big Ben, a clock that is called this way but it is the palace of Westminster’s clock. The first clock was built in 1290 and in 1707 was demolished and the bell that had this clock was sold to St Paul’s Cathedral. An Interesting fact is that in this clock the citizens of England and many other people who travel to the country celebrate the New Year with fireworks. It is known that the maintenance is not easy, the structure, the most complicated task is to put the clock on time, and there are other enemies of the Big Ben such as the wind, the doves, the snow, among other things. The maintenance on the clock is pretty important because many people take clock as a reference for their watches so it has to be very accurate in its time.
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Hadrian’s Wall Hadrian’s Wall (Latin: Vallum Aelium, “Aelian Wall” – the Latin name is inferred from text on the Staffordshire Moorlands Patera) was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today. The wall was the most heavily fortified border in the Empire.[citation needed] In addition to its role as a military fortification, it is thought that many of the gates through the wall would have served as customs posts to allow trade and levy taxation. A significant portion of the wall still exists, having been rescued in the 19th century by John Clayton, who, alarmed at the destruction by quarrying, bought a number of sections.[2] For much of its length, the wall can be followed on foot by Hadrian’s Wall Path or by cycle on National Cycle Route 72. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. English Heritage, a government organisation in charge of managing the historic environment
London Eye This may be the most attractive place in England nowadays. The London Eye is the tallest Ferris wheel with a 450 feet (135m) high in all Europe (the third one in the entire world) and spins smoothly at a speed of 26 cm per second. Each rotation takes around 30 minutes, in this time you can marvel at the majestic views that spread around (on a clear day) up to 40km in all directions. The London Eye was officially opened by the ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair on December 31st, 1999, in the new millennium; although it was opened to the public until March 9th, 2000 because of technical problems. The London Eye has become a 21st Century symbol for Britain. Since its opening, the Eye has become one of the major landmarks and tourist attraction and one of the iconic sights of London. It even appeared in Fantastic Four Movie (Rise of the Silver Surfer, 2007) generating a lot of more fame. The rime of the Eye is supported by tie roods and resembles a huge spooked bicycle wheel. The lighting for the London Eye was redone with LED lighting from Color Kinetics in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes. From January 2011, its official name was changed to the UK’s most popular paid for visitor attraction, visited by over 3.5 million people a year.
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British Museum named Britain’s
MOST POPULAR
ATTRACTION ABOUT BRITISH MUSEUM The British Museum is a museum in London dedicated to human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some eight million works, is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
The British Museum was the UK’s most popular visitor attraction in 2012 - the sixth year running it has been so. The London venue was last year’s top British attraction, with more than 5.57 million visitors, helped by the Grayson Perry: The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman exhibition curated by the Turner Prizewinning artist. The top five most popular attractions included the Tate Modern, which featured a retrospective of Damien Hirst, with 5.32 million visitors, followed by the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). The V&A had its strongest year ever welcoming more than 3.23 million visitors last year, boosted by the success of its Hollywood costume exhibition.
The Museum of Liverpool, which opened in July 2011, was the most-visited museum in England outside of London, with a 53 per cent increase in visitors from last year. The most-visited free attraction outside London was the National Museum of Scotland, with 1.89 million visitors, making it the first Scottish attraction to make the Alva top ten, while Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum was the most visited combined art gallery and museum with more than one million visitors last year.
“TOP 5 MOST VISITED UK ATTRACTIONS 2012 1. BRITISH MUSEUM 5,575,946 2. TATE MODERN 5,318,688 3. NATIONAL GALLERY 5,163,902 4. NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM 5,021,762 5. V&A 3,231,700”
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WONDERFUL UK FOODS
YOU NEED TO TRY YORKSHIRE PUDDING
Also known as batter pudding, is an English dish made from batter and usually served with roast meat and gravy. Despite the name there is no evidence it originated in Yorkshire.
ROAST BEEF Roast beef is a dish of beef which is roasted in an oven. Essentially prepared as a main meal, the leftovers can be and are often served within sandwiches and sometimes are used to make hash. In the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Ireland, and Australia, roast beef is one of the meats traditionally served at Sunday dinner, although it is also often served as a cold cut in delicatessen stores, usually in sandwiches.
BUBBLE AND SQUEAK Bubble and squeak is a traditional English dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The main ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, or any other leftover vegetables can be added. The chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potatoes or crushed roast potatoes until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides. The dish is so named because it makes bubbling and squeaking sounds during the cooking process.It is often served with cold meat from the Sunday roast, and pickles or brown sauce, or as an accompaniment to a full English breakfast.
FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST A traditional full English breakfast includes bacon (traditionally back bacon), poached or fried eggs, fried or grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or toast with butter, sausages and baked beans, usually served with a mug of tea. As nearly everything is fried in this meal, it is commonly called a “fry-up”. Black pudding is often added, as are fried leftover mashed potatoes (called potato cakes) or, less commonly, hash browns. Originally a way to use up leftover vegetables from the main meal of the day before, bubble and squeak, shallow-fried leftover vegetables with potato, has become a breakfast feature in its own right. Onions, either fried or in rings, occasionally appear. In the North Midlands, fried or grilled oatcakes sometimes replace fried bread. When an English breakfast is ordered to contain everything available it is often referred to as a Full English, or a Full Monty.
BLACK PUDDING Black pudding, blood pudding or blood sausage is a type of sausage made by cooking blood or dried blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. The dish exists in various cultures from Asia to Europe and the Americas. Pig, cattle, sheep, duck, and goat blood can be used depending on different countries. In México it is known as a “moronga”.
TOAD IN THE HOLE Toad in the hole is a traditional English dish consisting of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with vegetables and onion gravy. The origin of the name “Toad-in-the-Hole” is often disputed. Many suggestions are that the dish’s resemblance to a toad sticking its head out of a hole provides the dish with its somewhat unusual name. It is rumored to have been called “Frog-in-the-Hole” in the past, although little evidence exists to support this theory.It can also be referred to, less popularly, as “Jimmy toad”
TEA The famous tea is a very old tradition from the people of England. It is made from boiling tea leaves in de concoction. Its is a commonly black tea, Now a days, the British people follow the tradition of drinking it as ir has been done for ages.
CHEESECAKE Cheesecake is usually served as a dessert. Cheesecake is a sweet dish consisting primarily of a mixture of soft, fresh cheese (not always cream cheese), eggs, and sugar; often on a crust or base made from crushed cookies or graham crackers, pastry or sponge cake.[1] It may be baked or unbaked. Cheesecake is usually sweetened with sugar and may be flavored or topped with fruit, whipped cream, nuts, fruit sauce and/or chocolate. Cheesecake can be prepared in many flavors, such as strawberry, pumpkin, key lime, or toffee.
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EDUCATIONINUK
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EDUCATION
SYSTEM
OF UNITED KINGDOM
In first world countries like the united kingdom education is a very important aspect of their government and according to the education act of 1944, all children have a right to free school education and at the education and the same time education is compulsory between ages between five and sixteen .The means that almost 75% of children stay at school beyond the age of 16 and 44% of them go on to higher education. The diversity that exists between the exists between the different countries that form the UK produces different needs and therefore different education systems. The United Kingdom has an international reputa-
Educational institutions directly depend of LEA. There are basically two different kinds of system used in the UK: 1.The one that covers the regions of England, wales and north Ireland 2.The one that is only used in Scotland The national curriculum was introduced into the UK for guiding the stated schools to a common curriculum in all of them even though private schools may deviate from it. The subjects requires in order to follow the national curriculum are: 1. English 2. Mathematics 3. Science 4. Art 5. Citizenship 6. Design and Technology 7. Geography 8. History 9. Information foreign languages. 10. Modern foreign languages.
tion for giving home to several top universities that are located across the countries that are part of it. As in many other countries, the Uks education system is composed by several different levels of education which varies in every autonomous country as the subjects and qualifications required for studying. The goals of the education at a national level are determined by the central education authorities. They promote, manage, and supervise woks for improving the development of the curricula and national exams .They promote, manage, and supervise works for minimum shares of educational provision.
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PRIMARY Period is provided by the primary schools. Students stay in them from five to eleven years old (except in Scotland, were students stay until twelve years old) these first six years of compulsory education are structured in two periods in primary schools 1. Infant schools that covers the stage1 2. Juniors schools that covers the stage2
SECONDARY At the end of the primary school, there are no final exams and students don’t get any kind of title. After the primary school, at the age of 11 years old, students have to choose one of two options these options are the starting of the secondary School and it is cover by the stages 3 and 4 previously mentioned Option 1 Grammar schools Option 2 Comprehensive school
EDUCATIONS IN THE UK IS PROVIDED IN THE FALLOWING INSTITUTIOS UNIVERSITIES There about 50 universities in the united Kingdom, eight of them are in Scotland two are in northerm Ireland, there is one in wales and the rest are in England. These institutions have great autonomy in spite of which they are public funded, supported by the university grants committee. UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Oxford is considered the oldest university in the English- speaking world; oxford is a unique and historic institution. Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the university of Paris. UNIVERSITY OF HARVAR Harvard was established in 1636, it is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The name Harvard comes from the college´s first benefactor, the young minister John Harvard of Charlestown. Upon his death in 1638, he left his library and half of his estate to the institution established in 1636 by vote of the great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
COLLEGES They consist of nature centers and extensive options.They are not universities and they have several names: Collage of higher education, Collages of arts, agriculture collages, etc. Also the polytechnics institutions and some collages may issues degrees that the national council degree grants
EDUCATIONS AND POLITICS Education is one of the most important topics of political debate in Britain. Governments of both main political parties have recognized the importance of education in helping Britain to adapt to its role as a post –industrial society. The loss of millions of manufacturing jobs in the 1980s created an urgent need for an education system that equipped all school- leavers for the demands of a modern economy.
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SCIENTISTS THAT CHANGED THE WAY WE LIVE
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Sir Richard Arkwright (December 23, 1732 - August 3, 1792) was an English industrialist who patented the water-powered rotating frame (Water Frame) en1769, and founded the first cotton factory in Cromford hydraulic world, Derbyshire in 1771 , one of the catalysts of the industrial revolution. He was knighted in 1786.
Sir Henry Bessemer (Charlton, England, January 19, 1813-London March 15, 1898) was an engineer, founder of typefaces, modern steel industry pioneer, and inventor of the steel refining process that bears his name (Bessemer Process, which applies in the Thomas-Bessemer furnaces of the steel). During the Crimean War artillery shell invented a very effective, however military technicians reported that cast iron cannons of the time were not able to withstand the force of this new projectile.
Alexander Graham Bell, known as the inventor of the telephone, was a passionate educator and innovator throughout his life. Developed the telephone in 1874 while working with the deaf, and then experienced ideas that ranged from recording cylinders (precursors gramophone disks) to a hydrofoil boats. Alexander Graham Bell built this prototype phone in 1875. The apparatus consisted of a coil, magnetic arm and a membrane tension. Any sound vibration produced in the membrane and, therefore, the magnetic arm. The movement of the magnet in the coil induces an electrical current variable. This electrical signal is converted back into sound with a device identical to the other end of the circuit.
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George Boole (November 2, 1815 - December 8, 1864) was an British mathematician and logician. As the inventor of Boolean algebra, which marks the foundations of modern computer arithmetic, Boole is regarded as one of the founders of the field of Computer Science. In 1854 he published “An Investigation of the Laws of Thought” which developed a set of rules that allowed him to express, manipulate and simplify logical and philosophical problems whose arguments support two states (true or false) by mathematical procedures. You could say he is the father of logical operations and with its algebra is now possible to manipulate logical operations.
Charles Robert Darwin (February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882) was an English naturalist who postulated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through a process called natural selection. The evolution was accepted as fact by the scientific community and much of the public life of Darwin, while his theory of evolution by natural selection was not considered as the primary explanation of the evolutionary process until the 1930s. Currently forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discoveries are still the foundation charter of biology as a science, since they constitute a logical explanation that unifies observations about the diversity of life.
George Stephenson (June 9, 1781 - August 12, 1848) was a mechanical engineer and British civil engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives (Stockton-Darlington, 1825) as well as the first line passenger railway with steam locomotives that used (Canterbury-Withstable, 1830). Known as the “Father of Railways”, completely designed the first modern railway line (LiverpoolManchester, 1830) as well as its rolling stock and locomotives. He is also the creator of the gauge of 4 ft 8 1/2 inches (1435 mm), known as “standard gauge”.
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MUSIC MOVIES &TELEVISION
In today´s world the music and the movies are two of the most influential platforms globally. They influence the society, mostly the youth with fashion trends, gadgets, language and also cultural and economic development.
MUSIC MUSIC IS ONE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MANKIND. THROUGHOUT THE WORLD´S HISTORY MANY STYLES HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED ///////
BRITISH MUSIC. The 1970´s decade gave us new styles influenced by a more relaxed and confused youth, with groups like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabath and Deep Purple Rock and roll in Britain at that time started as a liberation from pre-war austerity; teenagers could dance, drink and smoke, and enjoy the new sounds and freethinking lyrics of these bands and singers. The era momentum coincided with the advent of the pill and the sexual liberation creating a big part of this intoxicating package. The Beatles. One of the most representative groups of music were The Beatles, it was an English rock band known as the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed in the history of popular music. The band was formed in Liverpool in 1962 by Jhon Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The Rolling Stones. The name of the band comes from a song by Muddy Waters, after the creation of the group; the band found itself playing in places like the crown of the song “Little Red Rooster” reach the top on the lists, their career took aff and a new band called “The Yarbirds” came to take their same place.
MOVIES BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED IN THE WORLD//////////// BRITISH CINEMA HISTORY. The first public performances of films before a paying audience in Great Britain began at the polytechnic in Upper Regent Street, central London, in February 1896. The 1960´s saw a huge boom in British film: “the kitchen sink” realism promoted through such classics such as the birth of James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer lan Fleming, who was a British intelligence employee at that time and featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. He wrote in just 3 months his first Bond novel “Casino royale”. Another famous British film series is Harry PotterThese movies are based on the book series of the same name written by J. K.Rowling, they tell us the adventures of a wizard boy and his friends defying the evil plans of Lord Voldemort. It is the most successful film series and all the eight movies are in the top 50 of most grossing movies of all the times. Actors and actresses from the United Kingdom. Charles Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin was a comedian, composer, producer, film director and English writer best known for his popular performances during the silent era. Since then, he has been considered of the most representative figures of comedy. Dame Julie Andrews She is a British actress, stage actress and singer. She was one of the most beloved awarded actresses wining numerous awards like Golden Globes, Emmys, SAG award and an Oscar. She began acting as a child and appeared in many musicals one of which is the sound of Music, my fair Lady and Mary Camelot and the princess Diaries.
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THE BEATLES HISTORY: THE BEGINNING OF A CREATIVE REVOLUTION
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NOT EVERY GROUP STICKS OUT FROM WAY THE BEATLES DO. TO BE MORE JUST STAND OUT. THEY ARE PART OF THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN MUSIC. TO BE, POPULAR MUSIC AS WE KNOW
THE ANNALS OF HISTORY THE EXACT, THIS GROUP DOESN’T WHAT DEFINES THE STORY OF IF THE GROUP NEVER CAME IT WOULD NOT BE THE SAME.
The group’s origins can be traced back to 1960 when a teenage John Lennon set up The Quarrymen. The original line up included Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best. Paul McCartney and George Harrison joined at a later date. Sutcliffe eventually decided to leave the group but remained in good terms with the group until his early death in 1962 due to brain hemorrhage. Best on the other hand was let go and replaced by Ringo Starr. It was not clear to Best why he was dismissed and the only explanation given was that the others did not want him in the group anymore. Apparently though, the drummer did not fit in with the group, being the only one who did not adopt the uniform band member appearance and who did not hang out after gigs. He was also deemed musically limited despite being hugely popular among fans. There is no telling for sure if the group would be the legend that it is now if Best was not pushed out. With Starr on drums, the Beatles, as immortalized in history and collective memory was born in 1962. From the very start, Lennon and McCartney took the roles of songwriters and composers. Clearly though, the two composers differed significantly in style and form, a point of disparity that would later become more pronounced as relations among band members became strained. McCartney’s music has been cited to be the more positive and extroverted of the two while Lennon’s work is said to be more mature and grounded in reality. Regardless of the differences between the composers though, they found common ground in merging a myriad of genres and influences. The revolutionary and inclusive approach of The Beatles is perhaps the main reason why their appeal has stretched across five decades. They are primarily labeled a rock and roll band but they have been known to integrate elements of folk, blues, pop, country, psychedelic and even classical and Celtic music. What ultimately made the group special was that the variety of influences and styles did not appear to be the effect of evolution. The group’s sound simply flowed naturally and smoothly wherever its focus lay. Listening to their albums today, there is no unbearable dissonant mixture of sound. There is only a mixing of elements into homogeneous masterpieces. This sat well with listeners all over the world as the group eventually took the US by storm in 1964 in a phenomenon that was to be permanently known in history as Beatlemania. A deeper analysis of the story and style of band would probably be too excessive. After all, greater musical minds have weighed in and attempted to define the group’s genius and outstanding commercial success. In a sense, there is no definite way to put a box around The Beatles history. Suffice it to say that they opened the doors to the popular acceptance of revolutionary, inventive and overreaching creativity.