Four Pillars of Destiny is a Chinese and Japanese conceptual term that describes the four components creating a person's destiny or fate. The four components within the moment of birth are year, month, day, and hour. The four pillars is used alongside fortune telling practices such as Zǐ wēi dòu shù within the realm of Chinese Astrology.

The four pillars is an English translation of the Chinese dynastic phrase "Shēng Chén Bā Zì". The Chinese term (生辰八字 , ShēngChén BāZì) translates to "The Eight Characters of Birth Time". This is also referred to by the Chinese term (四柱命理學, Sì Zhù MìngLǐ Xué) which translates to Study of "Four Pillars of Life" Principles.

Commonly referred to by the shortened terms, "Four Pillars" or "BāZì", one of the most frequently^{[citation needed]} used alternate phrase is "Four Pillars of your birth time". It is called BāZì (八字), Eight Characters, because each of the four pillars (representing the year, month, day, and hour of one's birth respectively) is represented by two characters; one character for a Heavenly Stem and one character for an Earthly Branch. There are 10 Heavenly Stems (天干; TiānGān) and 12 Earthly Branches (地支; DìZhī). The 12 zodiac animal reference is a folkloric representation of the 12 Earthly Branches.

John Mathew Nickolaus, Jr. (May 18, 1913 – February 10, 1985) was an American cinematographer.

Nickolaus began his career as a camera operator for MGM in the late 1940s. By the 1950s, he was working as a director of photography in both film and television. He worked on such popular television series as Perry Mason, Rawhide, and Gunsmoke. Together with Conrad Hall, he helped establish the visual style of the original The Outer Limits (1963 – 1965).

He continued to work in television until shortly before his death in Malibu, California in 1985.

Shah Abdul Karim (February 15, 1916 - September 12, 2009; Bengali: শাহ আবদুল করিম), was one of the most famous legends of Bangladeshi folk music. He specialized in Bengali Baul music. Born and brought up in the village of Ujan Dhol, in Derai Upazila(Thana) of Sunamganj, he lived there until his death. He was awarded the Ekushey Padok in the year 2001 for his outstanding musical achievements. His contribution reflected by the modern singer Habib Wahid. He also received Drouhee Kotha-shahitayk Abdur Rouf Choudhury Award in 2000. He died in Sylhet on 12 September 2009 at 7:58 am Bangladesh time due to respiratory problems

Raimond Valgre (born Raimond Tiisel; 7 October 1913 – 31 December 1949) was an Estonian composer and musician, whose songs have become some of the most well-known in Estonia. During World War II, he was a member of the orchestra of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps of the Red Army and, as a result of his service on the Eastern Front he became an alcoholic after the war. His music was banned from 1948 by the Soviet authorities. Raimond Valgre died in an accident on 31 December 1949.

The revival of Valgre's compositions began in the Soviet Union of the 1960s. This included Armenian jazz vocalist Tatevik Oganesyan's rendition of "A Little Story in the Music" in her album Day Dream. The biographical feature film Need vanad armastuskirjad ("Those Old Love Letters") followed in 1992. In 2001, guitarist Francis Goya recorded twelve of the composer's song in his album Pleased to Meet You, Mr. Valgre. The hosts of Eurovision Song Contest 2002, Annely Peebo and Marko Matvere performed "A Little Story in the Music" as part of the interval act.