Diego

Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. It derives from a re-analysis of Sant Yago ("Saint Jacob"), viz. in reference to Saint James the Greater, re-analysed as San Diego.

In today's Spanish-speaking countries, Diego and Santiago are common as given names; Diego, Santiago and Sandiego are found as surnames. The forms Tiago, Thiago, Diago and Diogo are seen mostly in Portuguese speaking (Lusophone) countries.

History

The name is on record since the High Middle Ages (Diego de Acebo, d. 1207).

During the medieval era, the names "Sant Yago", "Diago" and "Diego" seem to have coexisted. "Sant Yago" is used, for example, in a letter by James II of Aragon dated 1300: "[...] maestro de la cavalleria de Sant Yago et de la dita orden [...]".

"Diago" is recorded, for example, in "Et fue a casa del Rey. e mostrolo a don diago que era adelantado del Rey" (Fuero de Burgos, c. 1240)

In the Renaissance era, the name was Latinized as Didacus (from Greek διδαχή (didache) "teaching").

"Diego" as a generic name or term for a Spaniard is documented from around 1615, and "dago" is used as such still in the 19th century. By the early 20th century, the term "dago" became an ethnic slur chiefly for Italian Americans, besides also for anyone of Hispanic or Portuguese descent.

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On the surface of the Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the Sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space. Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the regions in which they occur, and their effect. The strongest observed winds on a planet in the Solar System occur on Neptune and Saturn. Winds have various aspects, an important one being its velocity; another the density of the gas involved; another is the energy content or wind energy of a wind.

In meteorology, winds are often referred to according to their strength, and the direction from which the wind is blowing. Short bursts of high speed wind are termed gusts. Strong winds of intermediate duration (around one minute) are termed squalls. Long-duration winds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, and hurricane. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two main causes of large-scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect). Within the tropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In coastal areas the sea breeze/land breeze cycle can define local winds; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes can dominate local winds.

Edmund De Wind

Edmund De Wind, VC (11 December 1883 – 21 March 1918) was a British Army officer during the First World War, and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Both his native Northern Ireland and his adopted home of Canada count De Wind amongst the men of their militaries who have earned the VC

Background

De Wind was born in Comber, County Down, Ireland on 11 December 1883 to Arthur Hughes De Wind, C.E., and Margaret Jane De Wind. He was educated at Campbell College and then went to work for the Bank of Ireland, Clones branch.

De Wind was living in Canada in 1914 and working for the CIBC when World War I broke out.

He served with The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada for a period of six months prior to his enlistment as a private on 16 November 1914 in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force. He arrived in France with 2nd Division of C.E.F. in September 1915. He saw action in the Battle of the Somme (1916) and at Vimy Ridge (1917). He earned a commission in September 1917 in the British Army.

Zwarte Piet

Zwarte Piet (pronounced [ˈzʋɑrtə ˈpit]; English: Black Peter or Black Pete, Luxembourgish: Schwaarze Péiter) is the companion of Saint Nicholas (Dutch: Sinterklaas, Luxembourgish: Kleeschen) in the folklore of the Low Countries. The character first appeared in his current form in an 1850 book by Jan Schenkman and is commonly depicted as a blackamoor. Traditionally Zwarte Piet is said to be black because he is a Moor from Spain. Those portraying Zwarte Piet typically put on blackface make-up and colourful Renaissance attire, in addition to curly wigs, red lipstick and earrings. In recent years, the character has become the subject of controversy, especially in the Netherlands.

Traditions

The Zwarte Piet character is part of the annual feast of St. Nicholas, celebrated on the evening of 5 December (Sinterklaasavond, that is, St. Nicholas' Eve) in the Netherlands, Curaçao and Aruba and on 6 December in Belgium and Luxembourg, when sweets and presents are distributed to children. The characters of Zwarte Pieten appear only in the weeks before Saint Nicholas's feast, first when the saint is welcomed with a parade as he arrives in the country (generally by boat, having traveled from Madrid, Spain). The tasks of the Zwarte Pieten are mostly to amuse children, and to scatter pepernoten, kruidnoten and strooigoed (special sinterklaas candies) for those who come to meet the saint as he visits stores, schools, and other places.