VALENTINE'S CARDS

Valentine's card

The first Valentine's cards were sent in the 18th century, initially these were handmade; lovers decorated paper with romantic symbols (flowers, love knots, puzzles and lines of poetry). These cards were slipped secretly under a door. Perhaps the oldest surviving example dates from 1797, it was decorated with flowers and images of Cupid.  With the industrialization in the 19th century, it became easier produce Valentine's cards. But not all Victorian Valentine's cards were romantic. There were some cards designed to insult. One example that survives features a cartoon of a woman with a large nose with the title ''Miss Nosey''.  

Victorian Valentine's card

''Miss Nosey''

THE UNGRATEFUL LION!

In a dense forest, lived a fierce lion. He was very cruel. One day the lion was caught in a hunter's trap. One by one animals passed by. ''Please help me!'' pleaded the lion. But none of the animals listened to his plea. After a while, a man happened to come into the forest. He saw the lion. The lion said, ''I will die of hunger and suffocation. Please help me out, oh kind man!'' The man was thoughtful. ''I assure you I will never harm you. Please help me now. The hunter will be anytime now'' said the lion. The man felt sorry for the lion and set the beast free. As soon as the lion was free, he let out a fierce roar. ''I have been trapped in the cage for a long time. I am hungry. I will have to eat you'' said the lion, looking at the man. ''But you promised me that you would not harm me'', said the man, in a meek tone. “Yes, I said that. But only to convince you to free me. Now, I am terribly hungry," said the lion.  The terrified man thought quickly. He said, ''Alright, you can eat me. But let a judge decide if you are right in eating the person who has rescued you."  The lion agreed. He was sure that no animal would speak against him. Just then a jackal came that way and the lion asked the jackal to be the judge. He addressed the lion, ''Sir, would you please show me how it all happened?" The lion was only too willing. He entered the cage and closed the cage door. The jackal immediately bolted the cage from outside.  ''Now the lion is trapped again. Run away, you foolish man! And never offer help to anyone without thinking" said the jackal. The frightened man ran for his life. And the ungrateful lion was trapped in the cage again. The hunter came and took the lion away to his circus. 

ANGELINA JORDAN

Angelina Jordan is a singer & author based in Norway; born and raised in Oslo. At the age of one and a half, Angelina was introduced to Whitney Houston via YouTube. She then discovered Billie Holiday and Dianah Washington, which are her inspirations to this day, but her ultimate influence was and will always be jazz music. When she was just nine years old, Angelina authored her first book, making her the youngest published author countrywide. Most notably, Angelina was the Winner of Norway’s Got Talent in 2014. Angelina has performed for the Rainforest Alliance , for 13 NASA astronauts in California, for  Ein Herz für Kinder in Berlin and for Rotary in Seoul; she even performed for a Noble Peace Prize Winner. Angelina’s videos have received over 100 million views on YouTube and over 600 million views on Facebook. Her dream is to perform for the entire world and to sing endlessly.

LEGEND OF CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS

A tradition of Christmas is hanging stockings up on the window sill or near the hearth, is readiness to receive gifts from Santa. 17 centuries ago in Turkey, Nicholas was known all over his benevolence because he used to distribute gifts to children on Christmas Eve. While he was passing a house, he heard a father and his daughters lamenting how they were unable to be married because they were poor. So Nicholas placed enough gold pieces in each stockings for the girls. Another variation is putting hay and carrots in their shoes by Dutch children for the horse of Sinterklass, who is their patron saint and brings them presents. Swedish children wait for a kindly gnome instead of Santa. This gnome believed to live under the floorboards. In some part of France, Mexico and Spain, children wait for the Three Kings to fill their shoes with presents. Finally, in Italy there is ''La Befana'', another version of Santa that visits the Italian children and gives them gifts albeit on Epiphany or 6th of January.  

BEFANA.

FRANK GEHRY AND THE BEEKMAN TOWER

-Frank Gehry was born on February 28, 1929, in Toronto. Frank was creative at a young age, building imaginary homes and cities from items found in his grandfather's store. His early experiments are perhaps best embodied by the “renovations” he made to his own home in Santa Monica. Gehry’s trademark style had become buildings that resemble undulating free-form sculpture. An example is the Beekman Tower.

-8 Spruce Street, originally known as Beekman Tower is a skyscraper in New York. 8 Spruce Street is one of the tallest residential towers in the world. The building contains a public elementary school but above the elementary school, the building is a 904-unit luxury residential tower clad in stainless steel. There are also public plazas on both the east and the west sides of the building. 

NEYMAR

Neymar is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for French club Paris Saint-Germain. He made his professional debut aged 17 at Santos. In 2012 he moved to Europe to join Barcelona. In August 2017, Neymar moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for 222.000.000 making him the world's most expensive player. With 52 goals in 81 matches, Neymar is the fourth-highest goalscorer for his national team. Known for his ability, hen has earned comparisons to Pelè and ESPN cited him as the world's fourth-most famous athlete in 2016.   



Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain was formed in 1970 after the fusion of Paris FC (football club) and Stade Saint-Germain. In 1974 Paris SG won promotion to Ligue 1. They won 34 trophies, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. 

CHRIST THE REDEEMER

Christ the Redeemer is a colossal statue (30 metres) of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro. Christ the Redeemer is located at the top of the Corcovado Mountain. The Statue is the largest Art Deco-style sculpture in the world. The idea of building a Christ statue was first suggested in 1850 to honour
 princess Isabel, the princess regent of Brazil but the idea was dismissed. It wasn't until 1920 that the idea resurfaced from the Catholic community and was finally accepted and put into practice. The construction began in 1922 and it was completed in 1931. It is an important tourist attraction that attracts 1.800.000 people per year. The record number of tourists in a single day was at Easter 2011, when 14.000 people went to see the statue.