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Five Little Pigs
''Five Little Pigs'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in May 1942 under the title ''Murder in Retrospect'' and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in January 1943 (although some sources state that publication was in November 1942). The UK first edition carries a copyright date of 1942 and retailed at eight shillings while the US edition was priced at $2.00. In the book, detective Hercule Poirot investigates five people about a murder committed sixteen years earlier. Caroline Crale died in prison after being convicted of murdering her husband, Amyas Crale, by poisoning him. In her final letter from prison, she claims to be innocent of the murder. Her daughter Carla Lemarchant asks Poirot to investigate this cold case, based on the memories of the people closest to the couple. Plot summary Sixteen years after Caroline Crale was convicted of fatally poisoning her husband Amyas, her twenty-one-yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Osborne (music Writer)
Charles Thomas Osborne (24 November 192723 September 2017) was an Australian journalist, theatre and opera critic, poet and novelist.Campbell, Ian"Obituaries: Charles Osborne" ''Opera'', November 2017, Vol.68 No.11, p4133. He was the assistant editor of ''The London Magazine'' from 1958 until 1966, literature director of the Arts Council of Great Britain from 1971 until 1986, and chief theatre critic of ''Daily Telegraph'' (London) from 1986 to 1991. He is the only author the Agatha Christie Estate has ever allowed to produce adapted works in her name. Life and career Osborne was born in Brisbane, Australia. He taught himself to play the piano and at age 18 he began singing lessons. Osborne's father hailed originally from Devon and his mother was from Vienna, a fact to which he attributes his lifelong love of opera. He went to school locally, then studied at the University of Queensland. Osborne then worked in literary and musical journalism and in repertory theatre in Austral ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asthma
Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. A sudden worsening of asthma symptoms sometimes called an 'asthma attack' or an 'asthma exacerbation' can occur when allergens, pollen, dust, or other particles, are inhaled into the lungs, causing the bronchioles to constrict and produce mucus, which then restricts oxygen flow to the alveoli. These may occur a few times a day or a few times per week. Depending on the person, asthma symptoms may become worse at night or with exercise. Asthma is thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Environmental factors include exposure to air pollution and allergens. Other potential triggers include medications such as aspirin and beta blockers. Diag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whooping Cough
Whooping cough ( or ), also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable Pathogenic bacteria, bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a rhinorrhea, runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or three months of severe coughing fits. Following a fit of coughing, a high-pitched whoop sound or gasp may occur as the person breathes in. The violent coughing may last for 10 or more weeks, hence the phrase "100-day cough". The cough may be so hard that it causes vomiting, rib fractures, and fatigue. Children less than one year old may have little or no cough and instead have apnea, periods when they cannot breathe. The incubation period is usually seven to ten days. Disease may occur in those who have been vaccinated, but symptoms are typically milder. The bacterium ''Bordetella pertussis'' causes pertussis, which is spread easily through the cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaedo
''Phaedo'' (; , ''Phaidōn'') is a dialogue written by Plato, in which Socrates discusses the immortality of the soul and the nature of the afterlife with his friends in the hours leading up to his death. Socrates explores various arguments for the soul's immortality with the Pythagorean philosophers Simmias and Cebes of Thebes in order to show that there is an afterlife in which the soul will dwell following death. The dialogue concludes with a mythological narrative of the descent into Tarturus and an account of Socrates' final moments before his execution. Background The dialogue is set in 399 BCE, in an Athenian prison, during the last hours prior to the death of Socrates. It is presented within a frame story by Phaedo of Elis, who is recounting the events to Echecrates, a Pythagorean philosopher. Characters Speakers in the frame story: * Phaedo of Elis: a follower of Socrates, a youth allegedly enslaved as a prisoner of war, whose freedom was purchased at Soc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Socrates
Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of Asebeia, impiety and corrupting the youth. After Trial of Socrates, a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conium Maculatum
''Conium maculatum'', commonly known as hemlock (British English) or poison hemlock (American English), is a highly poisonous flowering plant in the carrot family Apiaceae, native to Europe and North Africa. It is Herbaceous plant, herbaceous, with no woody parts, and has a Biennial plant, biennial lifecycle. Hemlock is a hardy plant capable of living in a variety of environments and is now widely naturalised in locations outside its native range, including parts of Australia, West Asia, and North and South America, to which it has been introduced. It is capable of spreading and thereby becoming an Invasive plant, invasive weed. All parts of the hemlock plant are Toxic plant, toxic, particularly the seeds and roots, and especially when ingested. Under the right conditions, the plant grows quite rapidly during the growing season, and can reach heights of , with a long Taproot, penetrating root. The plant has a distinctive odour that is usually considered unpleasant and carries with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coniine
Coniine is a poisonous chemical compound, an alkaloid present in and isolable from poison hemlock ('' Conium maculatum''), where its presence has been a source of significant economic, medical, and historico-cultural interest; coniine is also produced by the yellow pitcher plant (''Sarracenia flava''), and fool's parsley ('' Aethusa cynapium''). Its ingestion and extended exposure are toxic to humans and all classes of livestock; its mechanism of poisoning involves disruption of the central nervous system, with death caused by respiratory paralysis. The biosynthesis of coniine contains as its penultimate step the non- enzymatic cyclisation of 5-oxooctylamine to γ-coniceine, a Schiff base differing from coniine only by its carbon-nitrogen double bond in the ring. This pathway results in natural coniine that is a mixture—a racemate—composed of two enantiomers, the stereoisomers (''S'')-(+)-coniine and (''R'')-(−)-coniine, depending on the direction taken by the chain th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romeo And Juliet
''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Hamlet'', is one of his most frequently performed. Today, the Title character, title characters are regarded as Archetype, archetypal young lovers. ''Romeo and Juliet'' belongs to a tradition of tragic Romance (love), romances stretching back to Ancient history, antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale written by Matteo Bandello, translated into verse as ''The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet'' by Arthur Brooke (poet), Arthur Brooke in 1562, and retold in prose in ''Palace of Pleasure'' by William Painter (author), William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, in particular Mercutio a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hawley Harvey Crippen
Hawley Harvey Crippen (11 September 1862 – 23 November 1910), colloquially known as Dr. Crippen, was an American Homeopathy, homeopath, Otolaryngology, ear and Ophthalmology, eye specialist and medicine dispenser who was hanged in HM Prison Pentonville, Pentonville Prison, London, for the murder of his second wife, Cora Henrietta Crippen. He was the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless telegraphy. Early life and career Hawley Crippen was born in Coldwater, Michigan, Coldwater, Michigan, the only surviving child to Andresse Skinner and Myron Augustus Crippen, a merchant. He was educated first at the University of Michigan's homeopathy school, then graduated from the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College in 1884. After his first wife, Charlotte Jane (née Bell), died of a stroke in 1892, Crippen entrusted his parents, living in San Jose, California, San Jose, California, with the care of his son, Hawley Otto (1889–1974). Having qualified as a homeopath, Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crooked House
''Crooked House'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year. The action takes place in and near London in the autumn of 1947. Christie said the titles of this novel and ''Ordeal by Innocence'' were her favourites amongst her own works. Title meaning The title refers to a nursery rhyme ("There Was a Crooked Man"), a common theme of the author. Narrator Charles's fiancée Sophia says it refers not to dishonesty, but rather "we hadn't been able to grow up independent... twisted and twining", meaning unhealthily interdependent on the intensely strong personality of the family patriarch, Aristide Leonides. Plot introduction Three generations of the Leonides family live together under wealthy patriarch Aristide. His first wife Marcia died; her sister Edith has cared for the household since then. His second wife is the indolent Brenda, decad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Pocket Full Of Rye
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, '' a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest known ancestor of A is ''aleph''—the first letter of the Phoenician ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
