Drutsk

Druck or Drutsk (Belarusian: Друцк, [drutsk]; Russian: Друцк, also known as Дрютескъ (Dryutesk) or Дрюческъ (Druchesk) in the Middle Ages), is a historical town in Belarus, 40 kilometres (ca. 25 miles) west of Mahilyow.

The town was established in 1078 as an outpost of the Principality of Polatsk on the road from Polatsk to Kiev and Chernihov. According to the Drutsk Gospel, the town was built around one of the oldest Christian churches in White Ruthenia erected in 1001.

In the 12th century and 13th century it was a centre of the early medvieval Principality of Druck, ruled by the dukes of the Polatsk branch of the Rurikid dynasty. Since the 13th century there is only limited information about the town available in the chronicles.

In 1524 Drutsk has been burned down by Russians in a war and started to lose its political importance. Exact time and reasons of the town's decline are unknown. Historians estimate the period of decline to between the 15th and 17th centuries.

Archaeological researches state that Drutsk has been an important military fortress for some period of time. Until the mid 17th century it had a castle. Both the castle and the town have been destroyed and rebuilt for several times.

Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels is a brand of 1:64, 1:43, 1:18 and 1:50 scale die-cast toy cars introduced by American toy maker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997 when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then-owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have licensed Hot Wheels to make scale models of their cars, allowing the use of original design blueprints and detailing. Although Hot Wheels were originally intended for children and young adults, they have become popular with adult collectors, for whom limited edition models are now made available.

History

1968

Hot Wheels were conceived to be more like "tricked out" cars as compared to Matchbox cars which were more city or "real life" cars. There were sixteen castings released in 1968, eleven of them designed by Harry Bentley Bradley. The first one produced was a dark blue Custom Camaro. Bradley was from the car industry and had designed the body for the (full-sized) Dodge Deora concept car and the Custom Fleetside, (based on his own customized 1968 Chevrolet C-10 Fleetside).