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Larry Walters
On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) made a 45-minute flight in a homemade aerostat made of an ordinary lawn chair and 42 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft rose to an altitude of about , drifted from the point of liftoff in San Pedro, California, and entered controlled airspace near Long Beach Airport. During the final descent, the aircraft became entangled in power lines, but Walters was able to climb down safely. The flight attracted worldwide media attention and inspired a movie ('' Danny Deckchair''), a musical and numerous imitators. Background Lawrence Richard "Larry" Walters had often dreamed of flying, but was unable to become a pilot in the United States Air Force because of his poor eyesight. Therefore, he became a truck driver. He first thought of using weather balloons to fly at age 13, after seeing them hanging from the ceiling of a military surplus store. In 1982, he decided to try his flying idea. His intention was to f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cluster Ballooning
Cluster ballooning is an extreme sport and a form of ballooning where a harness attaches a balloonist to a cluster of helium-inflated rubber balloons. Unlike traditional hot-air balloons, where a single large balloon is equipped with vents enabling altitude control, cluster balloons are multiple, small, readily available and individually sealed balloons. To control flight, arrest a climb or initiate a descent, the pilot incrementally jettisons or deflates balloons. Ballast, e.g., bottled water, can also be jettisoned to facilitate ascent. Notable flights and balloonists The Swiss adventurer Jean Piccard experimented with cluster balloon flight in Rochester, Minnesota, in July 1937. In September of the same year, inspired by Piccard, an American photographer for Paramount News used 32 weather balloons for a feature photography assignment near Old Orchard Beach in Maine. Suspended from the balloons by a parachute harness in order to take aerial film footage, his mooring rope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CB Radio
Citizens band radio (CB radio) is a land mobile radio system, a system allowing short-distance one-to-many bidirectional voice communication among individuals, using two-way radios operating near 27 MHz (or the 11-m wavelength) in the high frequency or shortwave band. Citizens band is distinct from other personal radio service allocations such as FRS, GMRS, MURS, UHF CB and the Amateur Radio Service ( "ham" radio). In many countries, CB operation does not require a license and may be used for business or personal communications. Like many other land mobile radio services, multiple radios in a local area share a single frequency channel, but only one can transmit at a time. The radio is normally in receive mode to receive transmissions of other radios on the channel; when users want to communicate they press a "push to talk" button on their radio, which turns on their transmitter. Users on a channel must take turns transmitting. In the US and Canada, and in the EU and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timex Group USA
Timex Group USA, Inc. (formerly known as Timex Corporation) is an American global watch manufacturing company founded in 1854 as the Waterbury Clock Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. In 1944, the company became insolvent but was reformed into Timex Corporation. In 2008, the company was acquired by Timex Group B.V. and was renamed Timex Group USA. Thomas Olsen purchased the Waterbury Clock Company in New York in 1941 and renamed it ''Timex'', a portmanteau of the names of ''Time'' magazine and Kleenex. History Waterbury Clock Company (1854–1944) Brass manufacturer Benedict & Burnham created Waterbury Clock Company in 1854 to manufacture clocks using brass wheels and gears. Waterbury Clock Company was legally incorporated on March 27, 1857, as an independent business with $60,000 in capital. The American clock industry was producing millions of clocks with scores of companies located in Connecticut's Naugatuck River Valley, earning the region the nickname "Switzerland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motivational Speaker
A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers can deliver speeches at schools, colleges, places of worship, companies, corporations, government agencies, conferences, trade shows, summits, community organizations, and similar environments. Early motivational speakers One of the earliest known motivational speakers credited for what was considered his revolutionary work was Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), an American essayist, poet, and philosopher. Techniques and theories The two main theories for why motivational speakers may need to be externally searched out is to fill the need of content theory or the process theories. The content theories were created by different philosophers, such as Abraham Maslow, Clayton Alderfer, Frederick Herzberg, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Night With David Letterman
''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. In 2013, this series and ''Late Show with David Letterman'' were ranked No. 41 on TV Guide's 60 Best Series of All Time. During its run, the show was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Series 11 times. It was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series 14 times, winning 4, and won one Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series out of 7 nominations. History In the wake of his NBC morning show being cancelled in October 1980 after 18 weeks on the air, David Letterman was still held in high enough regard by the network brass, especially NBC president Fred Silverman, that upon hearing the 33-year-old come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darwin Awards
The Darwin Awards are a rhetorical tongue-in-cheek honor that originated in Usenet newsgroup discussions around 1985. They recognize individuals who have supposedly Culling, contributed to human evolution by natural selection, selecting themselves out of the gene pool by dying or becoming sterilization (medicine), sterilized by their own actions. The project became more formalized with the creation of a website in 1993, followed by a series of books starting in 2000 by Wendy Northcutt. The criterion for the awards states: "In the spirit of Charles Darwin, the Darwin Awards commemorate individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives. Darwin Award winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival." Accidental self-sterilization also qualifies, but the site notes: "Of necessity, the award is usually bestowed posthumously." The candidate is disqualified, though, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Funny Farm
A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and eating disorders, among others. Overview Psychiatric hospitals vary considerably in size and classification. Some specialize in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients, while others provide long-term care for individuals requiring routine assistance or a controlled environment due to their psychiatric condition. Patients may choose voluntary commitment, but those deemed to pose a significant danger to themselves or others may be subject to involuntary commitment and treatment. In general hospitals, psychiatric wards or units serve a similar purpose. Modern psychiatric hospitals have evolved from the older concept of lunatic asylums, shif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airworthiness Certificate
A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-sprayers, a Special Airworthiness Certificate (not for commercial passenger or cargo operations) must be issued. Legal authority A certificate of airworthiness (CoA), or an airworthiness certificate, is issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state in which the aircraft is registered. The CoA attests that the aircraft is airworthy insofar as the aircraft conforms to its type design. Each certificate is issued in one of a number of different categories when the aircraft is registered in the name of the owner. Thereafter, a yearly currency fee is payable to renew the CoA. If this fee is not paid when due, the certificate expires and the owner must apply again for the certificate. The CoA can only be issued when a mainten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major U.S. daily newspapers and radio and television broadcasters. Since the award was established in 1917, the AP has earned 59 Pulitzer Prizes, including 36 for photography. The AP is also known for its widely used ''AP Stylebook'', its AP polls tracking National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA sports, sponsoring the National Football League's annual awards, and its election polls and results during Elections in the United States, US elections. By 2016, news collected by the AP was published and republished by more than 1,300 newspapers and broadcasters. The AP operates 235 news bureaus in 94 countries, and publishes in English, Spanish, and Arabic. It also operates the AP Radio Network, which provides twice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Aviation Regulations
The Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs comprise Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR). A wide variety of activities are regulated, such as aircraft design and maintenance, typical airline flights, pilot training activities, hot-air ballooning, lighter-than-air aircraft, human-made structure heights, obstruction lighting and marking, model rocket launches, commercial space operations, model aircraft operations, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and kite flying. The rules are designed to promote safe aviation, protecting pilots, flight attendants, passengers and the general public from unnecessary risk. FAR vs. 14 CFR Since 1958, these rules have typically been referred to as "FARs", short for Federal Aviation Regulations. However, another set of regulations (Title 48) is titled "Federal Acquisition Regulations", and this has led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long Beach Police Department (California)
The Long Beach Police Department provides law enforcement for the city of Long Beach, California. History The Long Beach Police Department was founded January 30, 1888, on the day twenty-four-year-old Horatio Davies was elected as the city's first city marshal. From January 1888 to January 1908, the city elected eight different men to serve as city marshal until the city council adopted Ordinance Number 3, New Series, doing away with the office of city marshal and allowing for the appointment of a chief of police. Thomas W. Williams was the first Long Beach chief of police. Fanny Bixby Spencer was sworn in as a special police matron on January 1, 1908, making her one of the first women police officers in the country.Harris, Marcia Lee. ''Fanny Bixby Spencer: Long Beach's Inspirational Firebrand''. ThLong Beach Police Officers Association(LBPOA) was established on June 24, 1940. ThLong Beach K-9 Officers Association(LBK9OA) was established in October 1982. ThLong Beach Police ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yahoo!
Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its advertising platform, Yahoo Native. It is operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc., which is 90% owned by Apollo Global Management and 10% by Verizon. Yahoo was established by Jerry Yang and David Filo in January 1994 and was one of the pioneers of the early Internet era in the 1990s. However, its use declined in the 2010s as some of its services were discontinued, and it lost market share to Facebook and Google. Etymology The word "yahoo" is a backronym for "Yet another, Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle" or "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle". The term "hierarchical" described how the Yahoo database was arranged in layers of subcategories. The term "oracle" was intended to mean "sourc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
