Brands (стр. 3 из 5)
Festivals
Christmas
Origin:
The origins of Christmas and the dates of it’s celebration are rooted deeply in the history of the early church. There has been much debate concerning the exact time of the year when Jesus was born.
The most accepted conclusion is that Christmas originated in Roman culture. On December 25 pagans(язычники) celebrated the winter solstice on December 25. Winter solstice was a celebration of the birth of the sun . They believed that in this day the sun began it’s annual circle, that marked the change of seasons and renewal of the earth. Christians were reluctant to participate in the pagan festivals. So by the early fourth century, they began celebrating the birth of Jesus at this time. So it is likely that Christmas was as an alternative to the pagan winter solstice.
Santa Claus:
Santa Claus is an Americanized version of Europe’s Saint Nicholas. They say that SN is an ancestor of Santa Claus. There are many similarities between them. Saint Nicholas was a bishop who lived in the 4th century. There are many stories and legends about Nicholas protecting and caring for the poor, including giving gifts to poor children and tossing coins into the windows of poor families.
So, their physical and character similarity was shaped to a now familiar Santa Clause. A jolly old man with beard belly who wears red-and-white tunic and cape. His principal role is to bring presents on Christmas Eve (December 24 to December 25) to all the children who have been nice.
Christmas tree:
In Northern Europe the Vikings considered the evergreen a symbol of spring. With this tree the darkness and cold of winter would end and the green of spring would return.
For the Druids of ancient England and France decorated oak trees were the honor to their gods of harvests.
Early Christmas trees were often decorated with apples, nuts, cookies, colored popcorn and candles. The invention of electricity in the early 20th century and use of electrical Christmas lights helped spread the use of the Christmas tree.
Carol:
A song about Christmas or the winter season in general, which is traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.
Christmas carols in English first appeared in a 15 century. 2 priests wrote 25 caroles that were then sung by people who was already a bit drunk. They were singing while going from house to house. It was only later that carols began to be sung in church, and to be specifically associated with Christmas. Now they gather the family, bring joy, spread the word about Christmas, and make everyone feel the Christmas spirit.
Jingle Bells
The world’s most widely known Xmas carol is ”Silent Night”, which is sung in many languages all over most of the globe. The song originates from Austria, but enjoyed great recognition as early as the First World War, when soldiers on each side of the frontline laid down their weapons on Christmas Eve and sung the carol, “Silent Night”, across no man’s land.
St. Valentine’s Day The origins of Valentine's Day, like the origins of love itself, are somewhat obscure — a combination of myth, history, destiny, chance.
Other experts connect Valentine's Day with two saints of the early Christian church. According to one story, St. Valentine's was a priest who would marry young couples against the orders of the Roman Emperor Claudius 11, who believed that single young men made better soldiers.
There also was another St. Valentine who was a good friend to children. Because he would not worship the gods decreed by the Roman emperor, he was put in prison. While he was imprisoned, the children that he had befriended missed him and brought him loving notes. Many of the notes expressed the thought that "absence makes the heart grow fonder." He was supposedly executed on February 14. Some people think this is why we exchange friendly and caring messages on this day.
Cupid is the most famous of Valentine symbols and everybody knows that boy armed with bow and arrows, and piercing hearts. There is a very interesting story about Cupid and His mortal Bride Psyche in Roman mythology. Venus was jealous of the beauty of Psyche, and ordered Cupid to punish the mortal. But instead, Cupid fell deeply in love with her. He took her as his wife, but as a mortal she was forbidden to look at him. Psyche was happy until her sisters persuaded her to look at Cupid. as soon as Psyche looked at Cupid, Cupid punished her by leaving her. Their lovely castle and gardens vanished too. Psyche found herself alone in an open field with no signs of other beings or Cupid. As she wandered trying to find her love, she came upon the temple of Venus. Wishing to destroy her, the goddess of love gave Psyche a series of tasks, each harder and more dangerous then the last.
Cupid found her lifeless on the ground. He gathered the deadly sleep from her body and put it back in the box. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche's love for Cupid made her a goddess.
Today, Cupid and his arrows have become the most popular of love signs, and love is most frequently depicted by two hearts pierced by an arrow, Cupid's arrow.
Halloween Halloween Day celebration owes its origin to the ancient fire festival called the Feast of the Sun, marked the end of the “season of the sun” (Summer) and the beginning of “the season of darkness and cold”. The Celts believed that evil spirits came with the winter cold and darkness. According to Celts beliefs, on the night of the Feast of the Sun the barriers between our world and the spirits world were at their weakest and therefore spirits were most likely to be seen on earth.
Interesting facts:
Why we see a lot of peoples wearing mask in Halloween? The function of the mask is to hide the face of living from the dead creature
Pumpkin: It came from Ireland and people on this country hollowed turnips out and filled it with candles to keep evil and ghost away from their houses.
Some people involve their pets into celebration
Transport
London Heathrow Airport is the largest airport in the United Kingdom. Heathrow is 22 km west of Central London, and has two parallel main runways spanning east-to-west and four operational terminals. Terminal 5 was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 March 2008 and opened to passengers on 27 March 2008.
- Before aviation started, Heathrow was a hamlet, an isolated row of cottages
- World War I: hamlet were turned into a military airfield.
- was used for aircraft assembly and testing.
- 31 May 1946: The airport opened fully for civilian use.
Today Heathrow Airport is used by over 90 airlines which fly to 170 destinations worldwide.
The London Underground (also known as the Tube) is the oldest underground railway in the world. Despite its name, about 55% of the network is above ground. The Underground has 270 stations and 402 kilometres (250 mi) of track, making it the second longest metro system in the world after the Shanghai Metro. The nickname "the Tube" comes from the circular tube-like tunnels through which the trains travel.
EscalatorsThe escalators in Underground stations include some of the longest in Europe and all are custom-built. The longest escalator is at Angel station, 60 m
Standing on the right Signs ask people using escalators on the Underground to stand on the right-hand side so as not to obstruct those in a hurry walking past them on the left. The explanation for overtaking on the left, although road traffic in Britain overtakes on the right, is that, unlike modern "comb" escalators, where the end of the moving stairway is at right angles to the direction of travel, older "shunt" escalators ended with a diagonal so that the stairway finished sooner for the right foot than for the left. The idea was to allow passengers to keep their left foot on a moving stairway as they stepped off with their right. Passengers who chose not to walk down the escalators were asked to stand on the right so that anyone wishing to overtake them at the end would be able to take advantage of the extra section of moving stairway.
The introduction date of the very first commercial double decker bus seems to be open to some debate. Generally what is agreed upon is that commercial buses were first widely introduced in the 1820′s, and as this is some time before the introduction of the combustion engine, they were horse drawn.
These early buses were called ‘Omnibuses‘ and ran in France and England, and it wasn’t until 1847 when Adams & Co of Fairfield works, manufactured a vehicle with a clerestory roof with built in upper seats running the length of the bus. These were first operated by the Economic Conveyance Company of London, and to encourage people to use these the fare was half of the cost of sitting inside.
These open top double decker horse drawn buses were not initially popular, and it took nearly 10 years for the idea to catch on, when in 1852 John Greenwood introduced a much larger double decker with enough space for up to 42 passengers and needed pulling by 3 horses, with the top deck still accessed by a ladder.
The next major development was the introduction of the Routemaster London Bus, first built in 1954, and put into commercial service two years later. It’s key benefits were a unique construction whereas most buses used a separate ladder chassis onto which the panels and engine were bolted, the Routemaster had an alloy body shell, to which separate front and rear sub-frames were attached each end, the front carrying the engine, steering and front suspension, the rear carrying the axle and rear wheels. The Routemaster, in bright red became one of the iconic sights to see in London and is well known worldwide.
More modern double decker bus designs are now in service throughout the world produced by many different manufacturers.
Police vehicles in the United Kingdom differ considerably depending on the duties that the vehicle is purchased to fulfil, along with the standard of training the driver has received.
the black cab is recognised as an icon of England the world over. Its roots lie in the 17th century when there appeared Hackney Carriages a four-wheeled, two-horse, six-passenger coach.
Come the early 19th century, the ‘Cabriolet’, a two-wheeled vehicle from France, had replaced the heavier and more massive Hackney Carriages
Battery-operated taxis appeared briefly at the end of the 19th century, but the modern taxicab service took off with the appearance of petrol-powered taxis in 1903. Today the famous is black cab.
The Black Cab Sessions is a series of one-song performances by musicians and poets recorded in the back of a black cab and filmed for an internet audience. Other performances stray from the rock music scene, featuring poetry and beatboxing, for example.
Train
The rail transport system in Great Britain developed during the 19th century. Britain's railways were initially owned by four companies, then during WWII they were the railways taken into state control and they were nationalised in 1947. And only in 1996 that they were privatised again!
Today there are 25 train operators who run the services. One infrastructure company - Network Rail and operating companies that own and maintain railway engines and carriages. There are also a number of government organisations like the Strategic Rail Authority and the Health and Safety Executive which are involved in running the railways, making the whole structure extremely complicated.
British Rail introduced a special train, the 'Imp Special', in October 1963. It could carry a 100 cars at a time, being a quarter of a mile long (400 meters). These overnight trains travelled from Linwood to the Midlands
Boats
The Romans came by sea and they moved goods around Britain by water. At the start of the Roman era in Britain there were native skin craft and dugouts or dugout canoe - is a boat which
is basically a hollowed tree trunk. A narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of England and Wales. The term is extended to modern "narrowboats" used for recreation and occasionally as homes, whose design is an interpretation of the old boats for modern purposes and modern materials.Boat
Now boating activities became an entertainment, people like having so-called canal holidays -Canal Boat Trip
Boats and sport The British Dragon Boat Racing Association (BDA) is the UK governing body for dragon boat racing in Great Britain. Dragon boat racing is one of the fastest growing and most exciting water sports you can take part in.
Bikes
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle.
1st was made of wood, this was basically like a bicycle with the pedals, gears and chain removed - you pushed it along with your feet, but was faster than walking.
Since the 1980's there has been a lot of technological innovation. New materials have become widespread. Combined brake and gear systems have been developed.
In Britain and elsewhere in Europe there is a growing awareness that cycling is a fun, healthy, and non-polluting activity. That's why Britain's 6,000-mile National Cycling Network (NCN) is being laid along city streets and on minor country roads, woodland paths, abandoned rail lines, canal tow paths, and the like. The vast network is accessible to hikers and the disabled as well as cyclists.
Subcultures
Young people have a particular relationship with the world. A particular cultural grouping is a way for young people to express their individuality (identity). By the mid-60s teenagers had begun to form distinct cultural groupings. Most young people in Britain follow some kind of youth culture: rocker, skinhead, hippies, Goth, punk, baker…
The inspiration to form a youth culture comes out of a combination of fashion, style and music. A subculture is group with a distinct style and identity. Different subcultures have their own beliefs, values, fashions…
Nevertheless, members of different subcultures may have something similar in their image, behavior, etc…
Rockers, leather boysor ton-up boys are a bikersubculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centered around British cafe racer motorcycles and rock and roll music.
Until the post-World War II years, motorcycling held a prestigious position within British society and enjoyed a positive image, being associated with wealth and glamour. Starting in the 1950s, the middle classes were able to buy inexpensive motorcars, and motorcycles became transport for the poor. The rocker subculture came about due to factors such as: the end of post-war rationing in the UK, a general rise in prosperity for working class youths, the recent availability of credit and financing for young people, the construction of race track-like arterial ring roads around British cities, and the development of transport cafes. Largely due to their clothing styles and dirtiness, the rockers were not widely welcomed pubs and dance halls. Rockers also transformed rock and roll dancing into a more violent, individualistic form beyond the control of dance hall management.[ They were generally reviled by the British motorcycle industry and general enthusiasts as being as an embarrassment and bad for the industry and the sport. Originally, many rockers opposed recreational drug use, and according to Johnny Stuart, they had no knowledge of the different sorts of drugs. To them amphetamines, cannabis, heroin were all drugs - something to be hated. Their ritual hatred of Mods and other sub-cultures was based in part on the fact that these people were believed to take drugs and were therefore regarded as sissies. Their dislike of anyone connected with drugs was intense
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their shaven heads. They often tattoos and tend to wear high boots, tight jeans. The skinhead subculture was originally associated with blackpopular music genres such as soul, ska, rocksteady. In the late 1960s, some skinheads in the United Kingdom (including black skinheads) had engaged in violence against South Asian immigrants (an act known as Paki bashing in common slang). There had, however, also been anti-racist and leftist skinheads since the beginning of the subculture, especially in Scotland and northern England.