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Exploding Cigar
An exploding cigar is a variety of cigar that explodes shortly after being lit. Such cigars are normally packed with a minute chemical explosive charge near the lighting end or with a non-chemical device that ruptures the cigar when exposed to heat. Also known as "loaded cigars," the customary intended purpose of exploding cigars is as a practical joke, rather than to cause lasting physical harm to the smoker of the cigar. Nevertheless, the high risk of unintended injuries from their use caused a decline in their manufacture and sale. Although far rarer than their prank cousins, the use of exploding cigars as a means to kill or attempt to kill targets in real life has been claimed, and is well represented as a fictional plot device. The most famous case concerning the intentionally deadly variety was an alleged plot by the CIA in the 1960s to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Notable real-life incidents involving the non-lethal variety include an exploding cigar purportedly ...
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Exploding Cigar Advert - Popular Mechanics 1917
An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated by a slower expansion that would normally not be forceful, but is not allowed to expand, so that when whatever is containing the expansion is broken by the pressure that builds as the matter inside tries to expand, the matter expands forcefully. An example of this is a volcanic eruption created by the expansion of magma in a magma chamber as it rises to the surface. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are known as detonations and travel through shock waves. Subsonic explosions are created by low explosives through a slower combustion process known as deflagration. Causes For an explosion to occur, there must be a rapid, forceful expansion of matter. There are numerous ways this can happen, both naturally and artificially, s ...
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Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 14th-largest city in Germany. Nuremberg sits on the Pegnitz (river), Pegnitz, which carries the name Regnitz from its confluence with the Rednitz in Fürth onwards (), and on the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, that connects the North Sea to the Black Sea. Lying in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Middle Franconia, it is the largest city and unofficial capital of the entire cultural region of Franconia. The city is surrounded on three sides by the , a large forest, and in the north lies (''garlic land''), an extensive vegetable growing area and cultural landscape. The city forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring ...
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Laurel And Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in the silent film era, they later successfully transitioned to "sound film, talkies". From the late 1920s to the mid-1950s, they were internationally famous for their slapstick comedy, with Laurel playing the clumsy, childlike friend to Hardy's pompous bully. Their signature theme song, known as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer Marvin Hatley, T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as emblematic of them as their bowler hats. Prior to emerging as a team, both had well-established film careers. Laurel had acted in over 50 films, and worked as a writer and director, while Hardy was in more than 250 productions. Both had appeared ...
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Fool's Paradise (1921 Film)
''Fool's Paradise'' is a 1921 American Silent film, silent romance film directed by Cecil B. DeMille. The film stars Dorothy Dalton and Conrad Nagel. The film was based on the short story "Laurels and the Lady" by Leonard Merrick published in his 1908 collection ''The Man Who Understood Women''. It was adapted for the screen by Sada Cowan and Beulah Marie Dix. Plot As described in a film magazine, Arthur Phelps (Nagel) was injured during World War I and while in a French hospital had become dazzled by the beauty of French dancer Rosa Duchene (Harris). Back in the United States in an oil town along the Mexican border, Arthur meets American dancer Poll Patchouli (Dalton) in a Mexican cantina, and she falls in love with him. Rosa and her troupe are billed for a show in the local theater and while Arthur is waiting at the stage door to see his charmer, he lights a cigar that had been given to him by Poll. The cigar is of the Exploding cigar, trick kind, and the explosion that follo ...
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Cecil B
Cecil may refer to: People with the name * Cecil (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) * Cecil (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Places Canada *Cecil, Alberta, Canada United States *Cecil, Alabama *Cecil, Georgia *Cecil, Ohio *Cecil, Oregon *Cecil, Pennsylvania *Cecil, West Virginia *Cecil, Wisconsin *Cecil Airport, in Jacksonville, Florida *Cecil County, Maryland Computing and technology *Cecil (programming language), prototype-based programming language *Computer Supported Learning, a University of Auckland#CECIL, learning management system by the University of Auckland, New Zealand Music *Cecil (British band), a band from Liverpool, active 1993-2000 *Cecil (Japanese band), a band from Kajigaya, Japan, active 2000-2006 Other uses * Cecil (novel), ''Cecil'' (novel), an 1841 novel by Catherine Gore *Cecil (lion), a famed lion killed in Zimbabwe in 2015 *Cecil (Passions), Cecil (''Passions''), ...
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Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local political machine of the History of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party and played a major role in controlling History of New York City, New York City and New York (state), New York state politics. It helped immigrants, most notably Irish Americans in New York City, the Irish, rise in American politics from the 1850s into the 1960s. Tammany usually controlled Democratic nominations and political patronage in Manhattan for over 100 years following the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854, and used its patronage resources to build a loyal, well-rewarded core of district and precinct leaders; after 1850, the vast majority were Irish Catholics due to mass immigration from Ireland during and after the Great Famine (Ireland), ...
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Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam (with the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the United States, depicting the federal government of the United States, federal government or the country as a whole. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of the U.S. government in American culture and a manifestation of Americanism (ideology), patriotic emotion. Uncle Sam has also developed notoriety for his appearance in military Propaganda in the United States, propaganda, popularized by a 1917 World War I recruiting poster by James Montgomery Flagg. According to legend, the character came into use during the War of 1812 and may have been named after Samuel Wilson. The actual origin is obscure. The first reference to Uncle Sam in formal literature (as distinct from newspapers) was in the 1816 allegorical book ''The Adventures of Uncle Sam, in Search After His Lost Honor''.pp. 40–41 of Albert Matthews, "Uncle Sam". ''Proceedings of the American Ant ...
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Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th Vice President of the United States, vice president under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1961, and also as a United States House of Representatives, representative and United States Senate, senator from California. Presidency of Richard Nixon, His presidency saw the reduction of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, ''détente'' with the Soviet Union and China, the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and the establishment of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Nixon's second term ended early when he became the only U.S. president to resign from office, as a result of the Watergate scandal. Nixon was born ...
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The Public Burning
''The Public Burning'' is a 1977 novel by American writer Robert Coover. It is an account of the events leading to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. An uncharacteristically human caricature of Richard Nixon serves as protagonist and narrator for the primary continuity. The novel satirizes the Cold War politics of Joseph McCarthy by portraying "The Phantom" as the embodiment of global Communism and everything that threatens the American way of life—a vague, terrifying, and omnipresent enemy. The ugly side of the American psyche this draws out is characterized by an incarnation of Uncle Sam who unleashes a torrent of interminable verbosity in a folksy, foul-mouthed style whenever he appears. The ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' figure centrally as symbols of institutional failure not only to question whether the truth was a victim in this hyperpoliticized trial but also whether the official narrative was in fact a bunch of political lies. Coover first expe ...
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Robert Coover
Robert Lowell Coover (February 4, 1932 – October 5, 2024) was an American novelist, Short story, short story writer, and T. B. Stowell Professor Emeritus in Literary Arts at Brown University. He is generally considered a writer of fabulation and metafiction. He became a proponent of electronic literature and was a founder of the Electronic Literature Organization. Background Coover was born in Charles City, Iowa. He attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale, received his B.A. in Slavic Studies from Indiana University Bloomington in 1953, then served in the United States Navy from 1953 to 1957, where he became a lieutenant. He received an M.A. in General Studies in the Humanities from the University of Chicago in 1965. In 1968, he signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War. Coover served as a teacher or writer in residence at many universities. He taught at Brown University from 1981 to 2012. ...
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Gravity's Rainbow
''Gravity's Rainbow'' is a 1973 novel by the American writer Thomas Pynchon. The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military. In particular, it features the quest undertaken by several characters to uncover the secret of a mysterious device, the ("black device"), which is slated to be installed in a rocket with the serial number "00000". Traversing a wide range of knowledge, ''Gravity's Rainbow'' crosses boundaries between high and low culture, between literary propriety and profanity, and between science and speculative metaphysics. It shared the 1974 US National Book Award for Fiction with ''A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories'' by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Although selected by the Pulitzer Prize jury on fiction for the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Pulitzer Advisory Board was offended by its content, some of which was described as 'unreadable', 'turgid', 'overwr ...
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Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, Literary genre, genres and Theme (narrative), themes, including history, music, science, and mathematics. For ''Gravity's Rainbow'', Pynchon won the 1974 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. (With essays by Casey Hicks and Chad Post from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog. The mock acceptance speech by Irwin Corey is not reprinted by NBF.) He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American novelists. Hailing from Long Island, Pynchon served two years in the United States Navy and earned an English degree from Cornell University. After publishing several short stories in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he began composing the novels for which he is best known: ''V.'' (1963), ''The Crying of Lot 49'' (1966), and ''Gravity's Rainbow'' (1973). Rumors of a historical novel about Charles ...
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