Pegasus (hovercraft)

The Pegasus is a hovercraft vehicle made for educational purposes. The plans could be purchased from an article in the January 1984 issue of Popular Mechanics.

In the construction process, larger lawn mower engines could be added to lift a heavier payload.

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Pegasus (Mt. Olympus Water and Theme Park)

Pegasus is the name of a wooden roller coaster located at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. The trains were built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company.

Track layout

Pegasus travels over and around Medusa's drop. It covers 1,600 feet (490 m) of track, reaching 60 feet (18 m) above the ground, and includes a 45-foot (14 m) drop at speeds reaching approximately 40mph (64km/h)

University of Central Florida

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is an American public research university in Orlando, Florida. It is the largest university in the United States by undergraduate enrollment, and the second largest by total enrollment.

Founded in 1963, UCF opened with a mission of providing personnel to support the U.S. space program at the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida's Space Coast. As its academic scope surpassed an original focus on engineering and technology, however, it was renamed from Florida Technological University to the University of Central Florida in 1978. While initial enrollment was only 1,948 students, enrollment today amounts to some 60,821 students from 140 countries and all 50 states, including Washington, D.C. The majority of the student population is located on the university's main campus just 13 miles (21 km) east-northeast of downtown Orlando, and 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Daytona Beach. The university offers over 200 degrees through thirteen colleges and twelve satellite campuses in Central Florida. Since its founding, UCF has awarded almost 280,000 degrees, including 50,000 graduate and professional degrees, to over 240,000 alumni worldwide.

Holiday

A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tradition of cultural or religious significance. Holidays may be designated by governments, religious institutions, or other groups or organizations. The degree to which normal activities are reduced by a holiday may depend on local laws, customs, the type of job being held or even personal choices.

The concept of holidays has most often originated in connection with religious observances. The intention of a holiday was typically to allow individuals to tend to religious duties associated with important dates on the calendar. In most modern societies, however, holidays serve as much of a recreational function as any other weekend days or activities.

In many societies there are important distinctions between holidays designated by governments and holidays designated by religious institutions. For example, in many predominantly Christian nations, government-designed holidays may center on Christian holidays, though non-Christians may instead observe religious holidays associated with their faith. In some cases, a holiday may only be nominally observed. For example, many Jews in the Americas and Europe treat the relatively minor Jewish holiday of Hanukkah as a "working holiday", changing very little of their daily routines for this day.

Holiday (America album)

Holiday is the fourth original studio album by American folk rock band America, released by Warner Bros. Records in June 1974 (see 1974 in music). The album was produced in London by noted Beatles producer George Martin.

The album was a big hit in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard album chart and being certified gold by the RIAA. It produced two hit singles: "Tin Man" reached number 4 on the Billboard singles chart and went to number 1 on both the adult contemporary chart as well as the Radio & Records chart; and "Lonely People" which peaked at number 5 on the Billboard singles chart and also hit number 1 on the adult contemporary chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "Baby It's Up To You" and "Another Try".

History

Bandmember Dewey Bunnell was thrilled at the prospect of working with Martin as producer. He was quoted as saying that it "was great working with George. It was like we knew each other. We were familiar with the Beatles, of course, and we had that British sense of humor." In a separate interview, Dan Peek recalled to Circus magazine: "Gerry (Beckley) had been in England, and we'd talked about using George Martin as our producer. He's such a hot arranger, thinking about all the stuff he's done. There were several other people we wanted to use, but that idea sort of flashed and George was available."

Christmas music

Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season.

History

Early music

Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest examples are hymnographic works (chants and litanies) intended for liturgical use in observance of both the Feast of the Nativity and Theophany, many of which are still in use by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The 13th century saw the rise of the carol written in the vernacular, under the influence of Francis of Assisi.

In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Audelay, a Shropshire priest and poet, who lists 25 "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of wassailers, who went from house to house. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.