Guthrum (died c. 890), christened Æthelstan, was King of the Danish Vikings in the Danelaw. He is mainly known for his conflict with Alfred the Great.

Although it's unknown how Guthrum consolidated his rule as king over the other Danish chieftains of the Danelaw (Danish ruled territory of England), what is known is that by 874 he was able to wage a war against Wessex and its King, Alfred. By 876, Guthrum had been able to acquire various parts of the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria and then turn his attention to acquiring Wessex, where his first confrontation with Alfred took place on the south coast. Guthrum sailed his army around Poole Harbour and linked up with another Viking army that was invading the area between the Frome and Trent rivers which was ruled by Alfred. According to the historian Asser, Guthrum’s initial battle with Alfred resulted in a victory, as he was able to capture “the castellum” as well as the ancient square earthworks known as the “Wareham” where a convent of nuns existed. Alfred was able to broker a peace settlement, but by 877 this peace was broken as Guthrum led his army raiding further into Wessex, thus forcing Alfred to confront him in a series of skirmishes that Guthrum continued to win. At Exeter, which Guthrum had also captured, Alfred made a peace treaty with the result that Guthrum left Wessex to winter in Gloucester.

Alfred the Great (Old English: Ælfrēd, Ælfrǣd, "elf counsel"; 849 – 26 October 899) was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.

Alfred successfully defended his kingdom against the Viking attempt at conquest, and by his death had become the dominant ruler in England. He is the only English monarch to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". Details of his life are described in a work by the 10th century Welsh scholar and bishop Asser. Alfred was a learned and merciful man who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal system and military structure.

Alfred was born in the village of Wanating, now Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf of Wessex, by his first wife, Osburh.

In 853, at the age of four, Alfred is said to have been sent to Rome where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was confirmed by Pope Leo IV who "anointed him as king". Victorian writers interpreted this as an anticipatory coronation in preparation for his ultimate succession to the throne of Wessex. However, his succession could not have been foreseen at the time, as Alfred had three living elder brothers. A letter of Leo IV shows that Alfred was made a "consul"; a misinterpretation of this investiture, deliberate or accidental, could explain later confusion. It may also be based on Alfred's later having accompanied his father on a pilgrimage to Rome where he spent some time at the court of Charles the Bald, King of the Franks, around 854–855.

James Hovis "Jim" Hodges (born November 19, 1956) is a Democrat who served one term as the 114th Governor of South Carolina from 1999 until 2003.

James Hovis Hodges grew up in Lancaster, South Carolina, near the North Carolina border. He attended Davidson College and then the University of South Carolina, where he graduated with a business degree in 1979. Later, Hodges earned a juris doctor degree from the USC School of Law in 1982. After graduation, Hodges resettled in Lancaster to practice law. He became Lancaster County Attorney. In 1986 he started his political career at the age of 29 with a successful bid for the South Carolina House of Representatives.

Hodges remained in the State House for eleven years, garnering the support of the National Federation of Independent Business and the National Rifle Association with his conservative voting record. While in the House, Hodges served as chair of the House Judiciary Committee from 1992 until 1994, and as House Democratic Leader from 1995 until 1997.

Raymond Leppard, CBE (born 11 August 1927) is a British conductor and harpsichordist.

He was born in London and grew up in Bath, where he was educated at the City of Bath Boys' School, now known as the Beechen Cliff School. A student of harpsichord and viola at Trinity College, Cambridge, he also was active as a choral conductor and served as music director of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society.

In the 1960s, Leppard played an instrumental role in the rebirth of interest in baroque music; in particular, he was one of the first major conductors to perform baroque opera.

In 1952 he made his London debut and then conducted his own Leppard Ensemble. He became closely associated with the Goldsbrough Orchestra, which became the English Chamber Orchestra in 1960. Also, he gave recitals as harpsichordist, and was a fellow of Trinity College and a lecturer in music from 1958 to 1968. He retired from his post as Director of Music at Trinity College in 1968, being succeeded by Richard Marlow.

In 1957 he conducted a concert featuring the four harpsichordists George Malcolm, Eileen Joyce, Thurston Dart and Denis Vaughan. In 1969 he himself was one of the 4 harpsichordists in a similar concert, this time the other players being Eileen Joyce, Geoffrey Parsons and Simon Preston, with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner.

Clive Stanley Donner (21 January 1926 – 6 September 2010) was a British film director who was a defining part of the British New Wave, directing films such as The Caretaker, Nothing But the Best, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and What's New Pussycat?. He also directed television movies and commercials through the mid-1990s.

Donner was born in West Hampstead, London. His father was a concert violinist and his mother ran a dress shop; his grandparents were Polish immigrants. Donner began his filmmaking career while attending Kilburn Polytechnic. He started in the film industry working as a cutting-room assistant at Denham Studios, having got the spot after joining his father, who was at the studio to record the soundtrack for the 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Donner did national service with the Royal Army Educational Corps, and afterwards was hired by Pinewood Studios as a film editor, where the movies he worked on included The Card, The Million Pound Note starring Gregory Peck, I Am a Camera, Alastair Sim's 1951 Christmas classic Scrooge and the 1953 Genevieve, a comedy about two couples involved in a vintage automobile rally.