The Christmas Rebellion, also known as the Christmas Uprising and the Great Jamaican Slave Revolt of 1831–32, was a 10-day rebellion that mobilized as many as 60,000 of Jamaica's 300,000 slave population. Led by 'native' Baptist preacher, Samuel Sharpe, it was waged largely, though not only, by his Baptist followers amongst the slaves.

The missionary-educated rebels were attuned to the abolitionist movement in London; their intention was to call a peaceful general strike. Compared with their Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and Moravian counter-parts, the greater propensity of Baptist slaves to mobilization may have reflected a higher level of absenteeism among white Baptist missionaries; the relative independence of Black deacons facilitated greater slave ownership over religious life, including reinterpretations of Baptist theology away from European orthodoxy (for example, the emphasis placed on John the Baptist, sometimes at the expense of Jesus Christ) Thomas Burchell, a missionary in Montego Bay returned from England following Christmas vacation. A wide expectation among the Baptist ministry was that he would return with papers for emancipation from King William. There was furthermore expectation that the King's men would enforce the order. Thus, discontent escalated when the Jamaican governor proclaimed that no emancipation had been granted.

Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music artist. In 2001, he made his debut with the single "Austin". Released as the lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" went on to spend five weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This song was the first single from his gold-certified debut album, which also produced two more Top 20 hits. Although the album was released on Giant Records Nashville, Shelton was transferred to Warner Bros. Records Nashville after Giant closed in late 2001.

His second and third albums, 2003's The Dreamer (his first for Warner Bros. proper) and 2004's Blake Shelton's Barn & Grill, were each certified gold as well. Shelton's fourth album, Pure BS, was issued in 2007, and re-issued in 2008 with a cover of Michael Bublé's pop hit "Home" as one of the bonus tracks. This cover was also that album's third single. A fifth album, Startin' Fires, was released in November 2008. It was followed by the extended plays Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight in 2010, and the album Red River Blue in 2011. He is currently a vocal coach on the NBC reality talent show The Voice with Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, and Cee Lo Green.

William Ashford (1746 – 17 April 1824) was an English landscape painter who worked exclusively in Ireland.

Ashford was born in Birmingham, England in 1746 and arrived in Dublin, Ireland in 1764 at the age of eighteen. Within three years of his arrival, Ashford was exhibiting with the Society of Artists on William Street. At first, he was an amateur painter specializing in flower paintings and still life, but in 1772 he exhibited his first landscape at the Dublin Royal Society of Arts. He turned professional soon after. He spent a year in London (1789–90) where he became a member of the Society of Artists (London).

He was elected President of the Irish Society of Artists in 1813, was a founding member of the Royal Hibernian Academy, becoming its first elected President in 1823. In the early 19th century he painted a number of landscapes in and around Mount Merrion for Lord Fitzwilliam. It was near this time that he completed his Marino Casino, one of his finest works. Ashford was among the most respected landscape painters of Ireland in his time, on par with Thomas Roberts and George Barret. The architect, James Gandon, designed his home in Sandymount, County Dublin.