Hero

A hero (masculine or gender-neutral) or heroine (feminine) (Ancient Greek: ἥρως, hḗrōs) is a person or main character of a literary work who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through impressive feats of ingenuity, bravery or strength, often sacrificing his or her own personal concerns for some greater good.

The concept of the hero was first founded in classical literature. It is the main or revered character in heroic epic poetry celebrated through ancient legends of a people; often striving for military conquest and living by a continually flawed personal honor code. The definition of a hero has changed throughout time, and the Merriam Webster dictionary defines a hero as "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities". Examples of heroes range from mythological figures, such as Gilgamesh, Achilles and Iphigenia, to historical figures, such as Joan of Arc and Gandhi, to modern societal heroes like Rosa Parks.

Etymology

The word hero comes from the Greek ἥρως (hērōs), "hero, warrior", particularly one such as Heracles with divine ancestry or later given divine honors. (literally "protector" or "defender") Before the decipherment of Linear B the original form of the word was assumed to be *ἥρωϝ-, hērōw-; R. S. P. Beekes has proposed a Pre-Greek origin.

Deus

Deus (Latin pronunciation: [ˈdeːʊs]) is Latin for "god" or "deity". Latin deus and dīvus "divine", are descended from Proto-Indo-European *deiwos, "celestial" or "shining", from the same root as *Dyēus, the reconstructed chief god of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. Compare Greek Zeus (Ζεύς dzeus; Aeolic Greek Δεύς deus) and Sanskrit देव deva. Latin dies ("day") is considered to have derived from the same PIE root that originated deus. This is to say that a celestial shining body, the Sun, gives material form to the words for "day" in the Romance Languages.

In Classical Latin, deus (feminine dea) was a general nounreferring to a deity, while in technical usage a divus or diva was a figure who had become divine, such as a divinized emperor. In Late Latin, Deus came to be used mostly for the Christian God. It was inherited by the Romance languages in French Dieu, Spanish Dios, Portuguese and Galician Deus, Italian Dio, etc, and by the Celtic languages in Welsh Duw and Irish Dia.

Latin Bible

Fireman Sam

Fireman Sam is an animated comedy children's television series about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the fictional Welsh rural town of Pontypandy (a portmanteau of two real towns, Pontypridd and Tonypandy, which are situated approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) apart in the South Wales valleys). The original idea for the show came from two ex-firemen from Kent, who took their idea to artist and writer Rob Lee who developed the concept, and the show was later commissioned by S4C.

Fireman Sam first appeared in Welsh on S4C as Sam Tân in 1987, and later that year in English on BBC1. The original series finished in 1994, and a new series that expanded the character cast commenced in 2005. The series was also shown in Gaelic in Scotland, where it was known as Sam Smalaidh. The series was sold to over 40 countries and has been used across the United Kingdom to promote fire safety.

Development

The original idea came about from two ex-firemen from Kent – Dave Gingell and David Jones. They approached Mike Young, creator of SuperTed in Barry, Wales, and asked them to further develop their concept. The idea was then brought to S4C's Director of Animation, Chris Grace, who saw potential in the idea and commissioned the series. Grace had previously commissioned Superted, which had achieved success across the United Kingdom and worldwide. The characters and storylines were created by Rob Lee, an illustrator from Cardiff, and the program was produced using stop-motion. It could take up to 4 days to produce 1 minute of this form of puppet animation. Fireman Sam has to this day been translated into over 25 different languages including Mandarin. In the first four series, all the character voices were performed by John Alderton (in English) and Gareth Lewis (in Welsh). The later series used several actors' voices. Voice direction in Welsh was by Pat Griffiths.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is an upcoming American superhero film featuring the DC Comics characters Batman and Superman, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is intended to be the follow-up to 2013's Man of Steel and the second installment in the DC Extended Universe. The film is directed by Zack Snyder, with a screenplay written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. The film stars Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, and Gal Gadot. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will be the first live-action film to feature both Batman and Superman, as well as the first theatrical film to feature live-action portrayals of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg.

The film was announced at 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, after the release of Man of Steel. Snyder and Goyer were both brought back in June 2013. Snyder stated that the film would take inspiration from the Batman limited series The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, but that it would follow an original premise. Pre-production began at East Los Angeles College in October 2013, with principal photography starting in May 2014 in Detroit, Michigan, with additional filming in Chicago, Illinois. Filming concluded in December 2014. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is scheduled to be released in the United States on March 25, 2016, in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.

Fire station

A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, or firemen's hall) is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire hoses and other specialized equipment. It may also have dormitory living facilities and work areas for the use of fire fighters. Living areas are sometimes arranged above the garage bays where personnel without specific station duties during the night shift are allowed to sleep unless a dispatch is called. In that situation, firefighters may have special means to allow entry to the ground floor quickly when a call for help is received, such as sliding down a brass pole called a fireman's pole. This arrangement also allows for a raised area to hang hoses to dry to prevent damage. In a single story station, a tower-like structure is sometimes used for hose hanging.

An occupied station will usually have a station alarm system for receiving and annunciating an alarm, and indications of where and what caused the alarm. However, sometimes the only "alarm" is a telephone that is rung in case of emergency. In a volunteer fire department where volunteers do not staff the station, the firefighters may be summoned to the fire station by siren, radio or pagers, making a station alarm system superfluous.