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A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film directed by Bob Clark and based on Jean Shepherd's semi-fictional anecdotes in his 1966 book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, with some elements from his 1971 book Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It stars Melinda Dillon, Darren McGavin, and Peter Billingsley.
Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He started his acting career as a child actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Kevin McCallister in the Christmas films Home Alone (1990), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).
Joseph Jason Namakaeha Momoa (born August 1, 1979) is an American actor, writer, film producer, director and model. He is known for portraying Aquaman in the DC Extended Universe, beginning with the 2016 superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and on in the 2017 ensemble Justice League and his 2018 solo film Aquaman.
Peter Billingsley (born April 16, 1971), also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his role as Ralphie in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story and as "Messy Marvin" in the Hershey's Chocolate Syrup commercials during the 1970s. He began his career as an infant in television commercials.
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day. It originated in the United Kingdom, and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire. Boxing Day is on 26 December, although the attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place either on that day or two days later.
The phonautograph is the earliest known device for recording sound. Previously, tracings had been obtained of the sound-producing vibratory motions of tuning forks and other objects by physical contact with them, but not of actual sound waves as they propagated through air or other media. Invented by Frenchman Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, it was patented on March 25, 1857.
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military officer who is among the most honored and popular stars in film history. With a career spanning 60 years, Stewart was a major Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player who was known for his distinctive drawl and down-to-earth persona, which helped him often portray American middle-class men struggling in crisis.
Melinda Ruth Dillon (born October 13, 1939) is an American actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Jillian Guiler in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Teresa in Absence of Malice (1981).
The following deaths of notable individuals occurred in 2018. Names are reported under the date of death, in alphabetical order by surname or pseudonym. A typical entry reports information in the following sequence: Name, age, country of citizenship at birth, subsequent nationality (if applicable), what subject was noted for, cause of death (if known), and reference.
Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts to the homes of well-behaved ("good" or "nice") children on Christmas Eve (24 December) and the early morning hours of Christmas Day (25 December).
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music, and was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury was born in Zanzibar to Parsi parents from India.
Singapore ( (listen)), officially the Republic of Singapore (Malay: Republik Singapura; Chinese: 新加坡共和国; Tamil: சிங்கப்பூர் குடியரசு), is a sovereign city-state and island country in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, with Indonesia's Riau Islands to the south and Peninsular Malaysia to the north.
Vera-Ellen (born Vera-Ellen Westmeier Rohe; February 16, 1921 – August 30, 1981) was an American dancer and actress. She is principally celebrated for her performances with partners Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, and Donald O'Connor. She is best known for her starring roles in On the Town with Kelly and White Christmas (1954) with Kaye.
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is (subject to the caveats explained below) defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. The North Pole is the northernmost point on the Earth, lying diametrically opposite the South Pole.
William Lyle Richardson (May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006), known professionally as Darren McGavin, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayals of gruff and worldly characters. Born in Spokane, Washington, McGavin claimed to have been a child runaway who spent his later childhood squatting in Tacoma.
Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American film and television actress and producer. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.
Vilnius (Lithuanian pronunciation: [ˈvʲɪlʲnʲʊs] (listen), see also other names) is the capital of Lithuania and its largest city, with a population of 574,147 as of 2018. Vilnius is in the southeast part of Lithuania and is the second largest city in the Baltic states. Vilnius is the seat of the main government institutions of Lithuania and the Vilnius District Municipality.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 British musical adventure fantasy film, directed by Ken Hughes and written by Roald Dahl and Hughes, loosely based on Ian Fleming's 1964 novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car. The film stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Adrian Hall, Heather Ripley, Lionel Jeffries, James Robertson Justice, Robert Helpmann and Gert Fröbe.
2. 0 is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by S. Shankar. Produced by Subaskaran under the banner of Lyca Productions. It is the second installment in the Enthiran franchise and standalone sequel to Enthiran (2010), featuring Rajinikanth reprising the roles of Vaseegaran and Chitti, alongside Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson.
Andrea Bocelli, OMRI, OMDSM (Italian pronunciation: [anˈdrɛːa boˈtʃɛlli]; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Celine Dion has said that "if God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli," and David Foster, a record producer, often describes Bocelli's voice as the most beautiful in the world.
1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack
The 1984 Rajneeshee bioterror attack was the food poisoning of 751 individuals in The Dalles, Oregon, through the deliberate contamination of salad bars at ten local restaurants with Salmonella.
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist who rose to fame as a member of the music duo Wham! and later embarked on a solo career. He was widely known for his work in the 1980s and 1990s, including hit Wham!
Cape Cod Air Force Station is a U.S. Air Force station located in the northwest corner of Joint Base Cape Cod, United States, on Flatrock Hill in Massachusetts. It consists of one PAVE PAWS radar station and is in continuous operation. The facility became operational April 4, 1980 as Cape Cod Missile Early Warning Station, but was renamed Cape Cod Air Force Station on January 5, 1982.
Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are British ice dancers and British, European, Olympic and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold and became the highest scoring figure skaters of all time (for a single programme) receiving twelve perfect 6. 0s and six 5. 9s which included artistic impression scores of 6.
Richard Wayne Van Dyke (born December 13, 1925) is an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer, whose entertainment career has spanned seven decades. He first gained recognition on radio and Broadway, then he became known for his role as Rob Petrie on the CBS television sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966.
The Greatest Showman is a 2017 American musical film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya. The film is inspired by the story of P. T. Barnum's creation of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and the lives of its star attractions.
Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and philanthropist. After making her acting debut with a minor role in the thriller Hangmen (1987), she received early attention for her performance in the sci-fi action film Demolition Man (1993). Her breakthrough came in the action thriller Speed (1994).
Kwanzaa () is a celebration held in the United States and in other nations of the African diaspora in the Americas and lasts a week. The celebration honors African heritage in African-American culture and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles (Nguzo Saba).
Lilakoi Moon (born Lisa Michelle Bonet, November 16, 1967) is an American actress. Bonet is best known for her role as Denise Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, which originally aired from September 1984 to April 1992, and later originally starring in its spinoff comedy, A Different World, for its first season (1987–88).
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a 2018 American computer-animated superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is set in a shared multiverse called the "Spider-Verse", which features different alternate universes.
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, politician, and businessman remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017). He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, though he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession… and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me".
Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me", "Mambo Italiano", "Tenderly", "Half as Much", "Hey There" and "This Ole House". She also had success as a jazz vocalist.
Christopher Kamara (born 25 December 1957) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a presenter and football analyst at Sky Sports. As a player, he was known as a tough-tackling midfielder. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of 16, before being signed up to Portsmouth in November 1974.
List of highest-grossing Indian films
This is a ranking of the highest grossing Indian films which includes films from various languages based on the conservative global box office estimates as reported by reputable sources. There is no official tracking of domestic box office figures within India, and Indian sites publishing data are frequently pressured to increase their domestic box office estimates.
Kyoto (京都, Kyōto, ; Japanese: [kʲoːꜜto] (listen)), officially Kyoto City (京都市, Kyōto-shi, Japanese: [kʲoːtoꜜɕi] (listen)), is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture, located in the Kansai region of Japan. It is most well known in Japanese history for being the former Imperial capital of Japan for more than one thousand years, as well as a major part of the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe metropolitan area.
Naveen Kumar Gowda (8 January 1986), known by his stage name as Yash, is an Indian actor best known for his work in Kannada cinema. He began as an actor appearing on stage and in television shows in Kannada language. Yash made his feature film debut in 2007 with Jambada Hudugi, playing a supporting role.
Trevante Nemour Rhodes (born February 10, 1990) is an American actor. He won several accolades and achieved widespread recognition in 2016 for his performance as Chiron in the Academy Award-winning film Moonlight. In his youth, he was an accomplished track and field sprinter, winning a gold medal at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in 2009.
White Christmas is a 1954 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. Filmed in VistaVision and Technicolor, it features the songs of Irving Berlin, including a new version of the title song, "White Christmas", introduced by Crosby in the film Holiday Inn.
Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30 / 33), also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ, was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament.
Otto Frederick Warmbier (December 12, 1994 – June 19, 2017) was an American college student who was arrested in North Korea in January 2016 for attempted theft, for which he was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. He was traveling to Hong Kong for a study abroad program when he decided to visit North Korea on a guided tour.
Funafuti is an atoll on which the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu is located. It has a population of 6,025 people, making it the country's most populated atoll, with 56. 6 percent of Tuvalu's population. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres (66 and 1,312 feet) wide, encircling a large lagoon (Te Namo) 18 km (11 miles) long and 14 km (9 miles) wide.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a 1989 American Christmas comedy film directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik. It is the third installment in National Lampoon's Vacation film series, and was written by John Hughes, based on his short story in National Lampoon magazine, "Christmas '59".
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a 1992 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It is the second film in the Home Alone series and the sequel to Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin reprises his role as Kevin McCallister, while Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern reprise their roles as the Wet Bandits, now known as the Sticky Bandits.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA once every four years. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018. It was the first World Cup to be held in Eastern Europe, and the 11th time that it had been held in Europe.
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Hindustani pronunciation: [əʈəl bɪhaːɾiː ʋaːdʒpai]; 25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian politician who served three terms as the Prime Minister of India: first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 to 1999, and finally, for a full term from 1999 to 2004.
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and vaudevillian. During a career that spanned 45 years, she attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage.
Space Tracking and Surveillance System
The United States Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is developing a Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) which it will use to research the space-based detection and tracking of ballistic missiles. Data from STSS satellites could allow interceptors to engage incoming missiles earlier in flight than would be possible with other missile detection systems.
Amber Laura Heard (born April 22, 1986) is an American actress. She made her film debut in 2004 in the sports drama Friday Night Lights. After small roles in North Country and Alpha Dog, Heard played her first leading role in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006) and appeared in The CW television show Hidden Palms (2007).
The Twelve Days of Christmas (song)
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" (Roud 68) is an English Christmas carol that enumerates in the manner of a cumulative song a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas (the twelve days that make up the Christmas season, starting with Christmas Day). The song, published in England in 1780 without music as a chant or rhyme, is thought to be French in origin.
Seoul (, like soul; Korean: 서울 [sʰʌ. ul] (listen); lit. "Capital"), officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. With surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, Seoul forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area, home to roughly half of the country's population.
Krakatoa, or Krakatau (Indonesian: Krakatau), is a volcanic island situated in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The name is also used for the surrounding island group comprising the remnants of a much larger island of three volcanic peaks which were obliterated in a cataclysmic 1883 eruption.
Avengers: Infinity War is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to 2012's The Avengers and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the nineteenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Elf is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Jon Favreau and written by David Berenbaum. It stars Will Ferrell, James Caan, Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, Daniel Tay, Ed Asner, and Bob Newhart. Ferrel plays one of Santa's elves, who learns he is adopted and goes to New York City to meet his biological father (Caan).
Heidi Klum (pronounced [ˈhaɪ̯diː ˈklʊm]; born 1 June 1973) is a German-American model, television personality, businesswoman, fashion designer, singer, television producer, author, and actress. She appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and in 1999 was the first German model to become a Victoria's Secret Angel.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greek: Γιάννης Αντετοκούνμπο, IPA: [ˈʝanis adetoˈkumbo]; born December 6, 1994) is a Greek professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed the "Greek Freak" due to his athleticism, he primarily plays forward, but is also capable of playing guard with his ball-handling skills.
List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films are an American series of superhero films based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The MCU is the shared universe in which all of the films are set. The films have been in production since 2007, and in that time Marvel Studios has produced and released 20 films, with 11 more in various stages of production.