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Dead Fairy Hoax
The dead fairy hoax was an April Fools' Day prank in 2007. Dan Baines, a sculptor and illusion designer, managed to sell his creation, the fake corpse of a fairy, on an internet auction for nearly £300.April fool fairy sold on internet " from BBC News Retrieved on July 31, 2007. The hoax A few days before April first 2007 Dan Baines, a 31-year-old illusion designer for s from London, posted images on his website purporting to show the remains of a |
April Fools' Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbour has been relatively common in the world historically. Origins Although the origins of April Fools’ is unknown, there are many theories surrounding it. A disputed association between 1 April and foolishness is in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbury Tales'' (1392). In the "Nun's Priest's Tale", a vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox on "Since March began thirty days and two," i.e. 32 days since March began, which is 1 April. However, it is not clear that Chaucer was referencing 1 April since the text of the "Nun's Priest's Tale" also states that the story takes place on the day when the sun is "in the sign of Ta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the north-west, West Yorkshire to the north, South Yorkshire to the north-east, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the west and south-west and Cheshire to the west. Kinder Scout, at , is the highest point and Trent Meadows, where the River Trent leaves Derbyshire, the lowest at . The north–south River Derwent is the longest river at . In 2003, the Ordnance Survey named Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms, near Swadlincote, as Britain's furthest point from the sea. Derby is a unitary authority area, but remains part of the ceremonial county. The county was a lot larger than its present coverage, it once extended to the boundaries of the City of Sheffield district in South Yorkshire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairies
A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin, but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a Christian tradition, as deities in Pagan belief systems, as spirits of the dead, as prehistoric precursors to humans, or as spirits of nature. The label of ''fairy'' has at times applied only to specific magical creatures with human appearance, magical powers, and a penchant for trickery. At other times it has been used to describe any magical creature, such as goblins and gnomes. ''Fairy'' has at times been used as an adjective, with a me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
April Fools' Day Jokes
By tradition, in some countries, April 1 or April Fools' Day is marked by practical jokes. Notable practical jokes have appeared on radio and TV stations, newspapers, web sites, and have even been done in large crowds. History * In February 1708, satirist Jonathan Swift issued an almanac titled ''Predictions for the Year 1708'' by a pseudonym "Isaac Bickerstaff", in which he predicted the death of astrologer John Partridge on March 29 of that year. * In January 1749, London newspapers published that a showman would squeeze his entire body into a wine bottle at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. However, the story was a bet between Duke of Portland and the Earl of Chesterfield, in which the former wanted to fool the public who filled the house but no performer ever showed up, which eventually led to riots. * In 1956, a rhinoceros called "Cacareco" (Portuguese for "rubbish") won a city council seat in São Paulo, Brazil with 100,000 votes, due to a campaign led by students who were tired ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Collector
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual or organization, either for temporary exhibition or for the long term. This source is usually an art collector, although it could also be a school, church, bank, or some other company or organization. By contrast, collectors of books, even if they collect for aesthetic reasons (fine bookbindings or illuminated manuscripts for example), are called bibliophiles, and their collections are typically referred to as libraries. History Art collecting was common among the wealthy in the Ancient World in both Europe and East Asia, and in the Middle Ages, but developed in its modern form during the Renaissance and continues to the present day. The Royal collections of most countries were originally the grandest of private collections but ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble. eBay is a multibillion-dollar business with operations in about 32 countries, as of 2019. The company manages the eBay website, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a wide variety of goods and services worldwide. The website is free to use for buyers, but sellers are charged fees for listing items after a limited number of free listings, and an additional or separate fee when those items are sold. In addition to eBay's original auction-style sales, the website has evolved and expanded to include: instant "Buy It Now" shopping; shopping by Universal Product Code, ISBN, or other kind of SKU number (via Half.com, which was shut down in 2017); a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Legends Reference Pages
''Snopes'' , formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been seen as a source for both validating and debunking urban legends and similar stories in American popular culture. History 1990s In 1994, David and Barbara Mikkelson created an urban folklore web site that would become ''Snopes.com''. ''Snopes'' was an early online encyclopedia focused on urban legends, which mainly presented search results of user discussions. The site grew to encompass a wide range of subjects and became a resource to which Internet users began submitting pictures and stories of questionable veracity. According to the Mikkelsons, ''Snopes'' predated the search engine concept of fact-checking via search results. David Mikkelson had originally adopted the username "Snopes" (the name of a family of often unpleasant people in the works o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
April Fool's Day
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may be revealed as such the following day. The custom of setting aside a day for playing harmless pranks upon one's neighbour has been relatively common in the world historically. Origins Although the origins of April Fools’ is unknown, there are many theories surrounding it. A disputed association between 1 April and foolishness is in Geoffrey Chaucer's '' The Canterbury Tales'' (1392). In the " Nun's Priest's Tale", a vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox on "Since March began thirty days and two," i.e. 32 days since March began, which is 1 April. However, it is not clear that Chaucer was referencing 1 April since the text of the "Nun's Priest's Tale" also states that the story takes place on the day when the sun is "in the sign of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duffield, Derbyshire
Duffield is a village in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, north of Derby. It is centred on the western bank of the River Derwent at the mouth of the River Ecclesbourne. It is within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Area and the southern foothills of the Pennines. History Early history There have been humans in the area, probably, from the Iron Age. A palaeolithic hand axe has been discovered near the head of the River Ecclesbourne at Hopton. In the Duffield area itself, settlement by the Celts occurred in 400BCE. Although it has been suggested that, once farming began, they would have inhabited the plains of the Derwent and Ecclesbourne, they would most likely have retreated to higher ground during the winter floods. The Romans arrived in the area in 43CE. It has been suggested that they built a fort to protect the ford across which the caravans of lead from Wirksworth joined Rykneld Street at Derby, en route for the North Sea ports, though this is disput ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition exist and are described in the section about different types. The branch of economic theory dealing with auction types and participants' behavior in auctions is called auction theory. The open ascending price auction is arguably the most common form of auction and has been used throughout history. Participants bid openly against one another, with each subsequent bid being higher than the previous bid. An auctioneer may announce prices, while bidders submit bids vocally or electronically. Auctions are applied for trade in diverse contexts. These contexts include antiques, paintings, rare collectibles, expensive wines, commodities, livestock, radio spectrum, used cars, real estate, online advertising, vacation packages, emission ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firestone Hill
Milford Tunnel is a double-track railway tunnel on the Midland Main Line in Derbyshire which runs under a hill called the Chevin between Duffield railway station, Duffield and Belper railway station, Belper. It was built in 1840 by the Robert Stephenson, Stephensons for the North Midland Railway. At long, Milford Tunnel was the second-longest tunnel on the North Midland Railway when it was built. The west side of the River Derwent, Derbyshire, Derwent valley has a number of gritstone outcrops, one being Burley Hill to the south of Duffield, another being Castle Hill in Duffield itself. The valley here however was too narrow, and already occupied by the village of Milford, Derbyshire, Milford from which the tunnel gets its name, and one of Jedediah Strutt's cotton mills. The name Chevin has Celtic origins, but the hill is often called Firestone Hill, for the spot on which the beacon fires were lighted to rouse the country when peril of invasion or other dangers were imminent. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mummified
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least 1615 AD (see the section Etymology and meaning). Mummies of humans and animals have been found on every continent, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. Many of the Egyptian animal mummies are sacred ibis, and radiocarbon dating suggests the Egyptian Ibis mummies that have been analyzed were from time frame that falls between approximately 450 and 250 BC. In addition to the mummi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
