20th century BC

The 20th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2000 BC to 1901 BC.

Events

Common Era

Common Era or Current Era, abbreviated CE, is a calendar era that is often used as an alternative naming of the Anno Domini system ("in the year of the Lord"), abbreviated AD. The system uses BCE as an abbreviation for "before the Common (or Current) Era" and CE as an abbreviation for "Common Era". The CE/BCE designation uses the year-numbering system introduced by the 6th-century Christian monk Dionysius Exiguus, who started the Anno Domini designation, intending the beginning of the life of Jesus to be the reference date. Neither notation includes a year zero, and the two notations (CE/BCE and AD/BC) are numerically equivalent; thus "2016 CE" corresponds to "AD 2016", and "400 BCE" corresponds to "400 BC". The Gregorian calendar and the year-numbering system associated with it is the calendar system with most widespread use in the world today. For decades, it has been the global standard, recognized by international institutions such as the United Nations and the Universal Postal Union.

From Hell

From Hell is a graphic novel by writer Alan Moore and artist Eddie Campbell, originally published in serial form from 1989 to 1996 and collected in 1999, speculating upon the identity and motives of Jack the Ripper. The title is taken from the first words of the "From Hell" letter, which some authorities believe was an authentic message sent from the killer in 1888. The collected edition is 572 pages long. The 2000 and later editions are the most common prints. The comic was loosely adapted into a film of the same title, released in 2001.

About the book

From Hell was originally serialized as one of several features in Taboo, an anthology comic book published by Steve Bissette's Spiderbaby Grafix. After running in Taboo #2–7 (1989–1992), Moore and Campbell moved the project to its own series, published first by Tundra Publishing, then by Kitchen Sink Press. The series was published in ten volumes between 1991 and 1996, and an appendix, From Hell: The Dance of the Gull-catchers, was published in 1998. The entire series was collected in a trade paperback and published by Eddie Campbell Comics in 1999; trade paperback and hardcover versions are now published by Top Shelf Productions in the USA and Knockabout Comics in the UK.

Roland Emmerich

Roland Emmerich (German: [ˈʁoːlant ˈɛməʁɪç]; born November 10, 1955) is a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films, most of which are English-language Hollywood productions, have made more than $3 billion worldwide, including just over $1 billion in the United States, making him the country's 14th-highest grossing director of all time. He began his work in the film industry by directing the film The Noah's Ark Principle (1984) as part of his university thesis and also co-founded Centropolis Entertainment in 1985 with his sister. He is a collector of art and an active campaigner for the LGBT community, and is openly gay. He is also a campaigner for awareness of global warming and equal rights.

Early life and career

Emmerich was born in Stuttgart, West Germany, and grew up in the nearby town of Sindelfingen. As a youth, he traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America on vacations financed by his father, Hans, the wealthy founder of a garden machinery production company. In 1977, he began attending University of Television and Film Munich with the intention of studying to become a production designer. After watching Star Wars, he instead decided to enroll in the school's film director program. Required to create a short film as his final thesis in 1981, he wrote and directed the full-length feature The Noah's Ark Principle, which was screened as the opening film of the 34th Berlin International Film Festival in 1984.

Two Steps from Hell

Two Steps from Hell is an American production music company based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Thomas J. Bergersen and Nick Phoenix in 2006. The company focuses predominantly on movie and trailer music, and has supplied tracks to films such as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and X-Men.

History

Two Steps from Hell was founded in 2006 when Thomas Bergersen and Nick Phoenix joined forces to write original music for movie trailers. Bergersen moved from Trondheim, Norway to the United States in 2003, along with Phoenix, who began composing in 1997, before moving to Los Angeles. The two formed the company in early 2006, and have composed music for over 1,000 major motion picture trailers.

Founding and initial success (2006-10)

Two Steps from Hell mainly produces trailer music, although recently it has also been used for television shows and selected video games.

Despite the company finding success for its music, the tracks were never officially released to the public until the May 2010 release of the commercial album Invincible. In addition to approaching Gold record status, Invincible became the first of several such albums to chart in the iTunes Top 100 Soundtracks. As of July 2014, Two Steps from Hell has published 8 public albums in addition to 20 demonstration albums, with almost 1,000 unique tracks in total.