FAMOUS BRITONS
Знаменитости
Великобритании
Страноведческий материал
к урокам английского языка
History
D. Sir Francis Drake (c. 1543-1596)
(English admiral privateer, active 15671596)
Some sailors were given permission to attack
ships from enemy countries (in return for a share
in the loot). These sailors didn't call themselves
pirates, but were known as 'privateers'. A
legendary privateer Drake was the first captain to
take his own ship around the world. During his
long career he made no more than seven voyages
to the Spanish Main in search of treasure,
adventure and revenge. One of his most famous
exploits was the night attack on Nombre de Dios
in 1572.
In 1577—80 he made the first circumnavigation
of the world by an Englishman and returned with
a cargo of splendid plunder taken from Spanish
galleons and raids upon the coasts of Chile and
Peru.
To the English Francis Drake was a hero who
attacked the hated Spanish. To the Spanish he was
a pirate who would steal anything.
Artists
John Constable
English landscape painter (1776-1837). John Constable's
father was a corn merchant who owned Flatford Mill in
East Anglia. He expected his son to continue the successful
family business, but John did not seem happy. So his father
allowed him to train as an artist and at the age of 23 John
began at the Royal Academy School in London.Constable
devoted himself almost entirely to landscape painting.
Unlike a lot of earlier landscape artists, who painted
pleasant but imaginary scenes, Constable chose to show
real places under differing conditions of light and weather.
He caught the movement of clouds, and the drama of
storms, painting with vigorous strokes of the brush. Most of
all he enjoyed painting the places he knew and loved best,
particularly Suffolk countryside. Although Constable was
not a popular painter until after his death, his posthumous
biography by C.R.Leslie assured his fame, and led to a
good deal of interest in his work in the following decades.
J. Constable
The Cornfield
Skilled
craftsman
Thomas Chippendale
English furniture maker (1718-1779). He was born in
Otley, Yorkshire, the son of a carpenter. The exact
date of his birth is a mystery, but we do know that
he was baptised on June 5. Like his birth,
Chippendale's early life is lost to us. We do know
that he married Catherine Redshaw in 1748 in
London, and five years later he moved his
furniture showrooms and workshop to St. Martin's
Lane, where he lived and worked for the rest of his
life. In 1754 Chippendale published his masterful
collection, Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's
Director, a compilation of fashionable English
furniture design. This work is Chippendale's
enduring legacy, and shows his gift in adapting
existing design styles to the fashion of the mid
18th century. So pervasive was the influence of the
book that the name of Chippendale is often
indiscriminately applied to mid-18th century
furniture as a whole.
From the 1760s Chippendale was influenced heavily by the
Neoclassical work of architect Robert Adam, with whom he
worked on several large projects, notably at Harewood House and
Nostell Priory. His designs were widely copied, and his Gentleman
and Cabinet-Maker's Director was used heavily by other makers in
both England and North America.
Even when a piece can be attributed with certainty to Chippendale's
workshop, it is impossible to say for certain that he worked on the
furniture himself. As the Chippendale firm became successful,
more and more work was carried out by trained workmen rather
than Chippendale himself. Thomas Chippendale died in 1779 and
his business was carried on by his son, also named Thomas.
Discoveries and
Inventions
ISAAC NEWTON (1642-1727)
Newton was an English physicist. He discovered
gravitational force. The famous (probably untrue) story about him is that he was sitting under
a tree when an apple fell on his head. In fact, he
conducted a series of experiments with falling
objects, including apples. He noticed that the
speed of a falling object depended on the
distance that it fell. He concluded that the earth
had a gravitational force.
Isaac Newton was born in the village of
Woolthrope, not far from the university town of
Cambridge on December 25, 1643. Little Isaac
was left to the care of his mother, grandmother
and uncle who sent him to school. In his early
years young Isaac showed more as one who
could make things with his hand than a scholar.
He made various things. He made a clock that
worked by water. He also made a sun-dial. When
Isaac grew older, he took a considerable interest
in mathematics. His ability as mathematician and
physicist was very important. His first physical
experiment was carried out when he was sixteen
years old.
On June 5, 1661 Newton entered the University
of Cambridge where he studied mathematics.
Soon he became famous for his contribution
to mathematics by the time he was twentyone. When Newton was twenty-two years old
he began studying the theory of gravitation.
In 1665, while he was on a visit in his native
village, he saw an apple fall from a tree and
began wondering what force made the apple
fall.
At Cambridge Newton read with great interest
the writings of Galileo, he knew the
geometry of Descartes, he worked out the
methods of calculus. So when he began to
think "of gravity extending to the orb of the
moon" he immediately put this idea to the
test of calculation. Newton performed many
experiments with light and found that white
light was made up of rays of different
colours. He invented a reflecting telescope,
that was very small in diameter but
magnified objects to forty diameters. Newton
developed a mathematical method which is
known as the Binomial Theorem and also
differential and integral calculus.
In 1669 Newton was appointed professor and began lectures on
mathematics and optics at Cambridge and continued his work on
the problem of gravitation. In 1673 Newton gathered together all
his earlier calculations and succeeded in completing his whole
theory. He examined the attraction of one mass by another. He
showed that a massive sphere here attracts another as if the whole
mass were in the centre. This was of great importance. It enabled
Newton to treat the problems of the sun, moon and earth like problems of geometry. He at last justified the method of treatment
which he had first adopted for the problem of the earth and moon.
The proof of his universe square law was not complete. He had
demonstrated that the gravitation pull of the earth extends as far as
the moon and keeps it in its orbit. He demonstrated that this pull is
in accordance with the same law as that by which a stone falls to
the ground, namely gravity. Newton's great work "Elements of
Natural Philosophy1 was published only in the middle of 1687.
Newton's law of universe squares joined in one simple mathematical
statement the behaviour of the planets as well as of bodies on this
earth. It was the first synthesis of physical knowledge. As such his
contribution to science is unique.
Isaac Newton died in 1727 at the age of 85. He was buried with
honours as a national hero. It was the first time that national
honours of this kind had been accorded in England to a man of
science.
Literature
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was born in Stratfordupon-Avon not far from London. His father,
John Shakespeare, came to Stratford from a
village and opened a shop there. He never
became a rich man but at one time he was an
important official in the city. William
Shakespeare lived in Stratford until he was
twenty-one. He got married and had three
children. At the age of 21 William left
Stratford for London to join a company of
actors. He was a very good actor and an
excellent playwright, William Shakespeare
lived and worked in London for 25 years. By
the end of the 16th century William
Shakespeare and his friends had enough
money to build their own theatre - the Globe.
Shakespeare wrote 37 plays, 2 long poems, a sonnet cycle of 155
small pieces. William Shakespeare had a natural gift for comedy.
In his comedies "Two Gentlemen of Verona", "As you Like It",
"The Twelfth Night" William Shakespeare describes the
adventures of young men and women, their love, friendship,
happiness.
Shakespeare's tragedies "King Lear", "Othello", "Romeo and
Juliet" depict noblemen who opposed evil in the world. Since they
were written there has never been a time when at least some of
Shakespeare's plays were not staged.
In England and other countries it is the highest honour for an actor
to be invited to play in a comedy or a tragedy by Shakespeare. In
the last 35 years all the plays by W.Shakeapeare have been filmed.
Since 1879 Shakespeare's Festival has been held every year at
Stratford-upon-Avon.
Stratford-upon-Avon is probably the best-known town in Great
Britain after London. Located in Warwickshire, in the heart of
England, it's known internationally as the birthplace of the world's
greatest playwright, William Shakespeare, and as the home of the
Royal Shakespeare Company.
The rolling Shakespearean countryside, the romantic river Avon with
its swans, the beautiful sixteenth-century Tudor cottages and all
things theatrical bring to this little town visitors from all over the
world. The largest crowd gathers there on the Bard's birthday, this
is April 23rd, the day when William Shakespeare was born and,
by a strange coincidence, died.
There are lots of places in Stratford associated with
Shakespeare and his life. The main attractions
include:
• Shakespeare's Birthplace (the house where
William Shakespeare was born and spent his
childhood)
• Holy Trinity Church (where Shakespeare was
baptized and buried)
• Shakespeare's Grammar School
• Anne Hathaway's Cottage (the house where
Shakespeare's sweetheart and future wife lived
before her marriage)
• New Place (the house where Shakespeare spent
the last days of his life)
• Hall's Croft (the home of Shakespeare's daughter,
Susanna, and her husband)
• Mary Arden's House (the house where
Shakespeare's mother spent her childhood)
• The Royal Shakespeare Company (which has
three different theatres in the town: the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre, The Swan and The Other
Place)
The 23rd of April is the anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, and it's a time of
celebrations in Stratford-upon-Avon. On the Saturday closest to this date,
thousands of people arrive in Stratford to honour the great poet, to see the
sights and to take part in spectacular celebrations.
Celebratory events span the whole weekend and include a Birthday parade, a
ceremony of the flags, a Birthday performance by the Royal Shakespeare
Company, a special church service, a marathon and lots of street
entertainment.
The most spectacular event takes place on Saturday. A huge procession of
bands, local dignitaries, important guests, actors and actresses, school
teachers and pupils, morris dancers and townspeople walks through the
town to lay flowers at Shakespeare's grave. By tradition, anyone with a
flower may join the parade at any point as it goes through the town and
into the church.
On the way to Holy Trinity Church the procession pauses for the flag
ceremony. The bugles are blown and then flags of many countries
are unfurled, to applause from the crowd. At the same time,
banners representing all the works by Shakespeare are unfurled on
flag poles lining the streets.
After the flag ceremony the procession makes its way to the King
Edward VI School, where it stops. The boys from Shakespeare's
old school run out of the school building and join the procession.
The procession ends at Holy Trinity Church and participants lay
flowers at Shakespeare's grave.
Meanwhile, the fun continues with street entertainment of morris
dancing, music and theatre.
Music
He is 29-year-old Aquarius, slightly
chubby, chain-smoking and he is
called the king of pop. The title
seems well-deserved and Robbie
Williams proved it again this year
by winning the Brit award for
British Male Solo Artist for the
fourth time.
Robbie (born in 1973) grew up in
Stoke-on-Trent. His parents split up
when he was three, but Robbie
remained close to his father Pete
Williams, who was an entertainer.
Pete worked in clubs and holiday
camps and since Robbie spent
almost every summer with his dad,
he often watched Pete telling jokes
and singing before the campers. The
way his father commanded the
attention of his audience fascinated
the boy and gave him a taste for
showbiz. However he didn't want to
be a singer, he wanted to be an
entertainer like his father.
By the way, Pete in his youth worked as a policeman, and probably if
he'd stayed a policeman, Robbie would be a policeman too, for his
father was a major influence on him and he wanted to follow in his
footsteps. Robbie's fans should thank Pete for having changed his
profession. With a father like that and a mother who entered the
boy for various talent shows it's no wonder Robbie grew up to love
performing. At the age of 12 and 13 he took part in several
musicals and at 16 he was offered a place in a boy band Take That.
He was the youngest member of this chart-topping group - and the
wildest. He was more known for his heavy drinking and
outrageous stage behaviour than for his singing, so when he left the
band in 1997 to start a solo career nobody expected the huge
success that was to follow. True, his debut solo album didn't make
much of an impact on the charts, but when his smash hit Angels
was released it became clear that a new star was born. Or that
Robbie Williams was a born star.
Robbie had — and has all the necessary qualities of a superstar — the
talent, great looks and a flamboyant personality. He made an
incredible career and has achieved colossal fame and fortune.
However he had to fight hard for his success and his greatest
enemy was Robbie Williams. He seemed determined to selfdestruct. His drinking and drugs problems became legendary. He
won about a dozen Brit Awards — more than anyone else, but as
he himself admitted after 1999 award ceremony he was so drunk
that he hadn't realized until next morning that he had got three
statuettes. At the next ceremonies, however, the singer appeared
absolutely sober. For the past few years he's been attending
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and it looks like he's winning the
battle with drink and drugs.
This year Robbie Williams didn't come to the award ceremony, but
sent a video message of thanks, which he concluded with "I'll see
you next year, I suppose." Time will show if Robbie will break his
own record and get more Brit awards — he has a good chance to
do it.
Moby... To me this is immediately associated with Moby Dick, a
book by the classic of American literature Herman Melville. In
fact, he is Richard Hall's great-great granduncle. But for today's
teenager this name is associated mainly with a spectacled bald guy
who creates fantastic electronic music. Moby fuses different
genres: trash, break-beat, ambient, dance-pop. Combining the
simple and the complicated he comes to create a masterpiece. He
has a phenomenal sense of rhythm. One of his singles ‘Thousand’
was even put into the Guinness Book as the fastest single ever,
approximately clocking in at 1000 beats a minute. Moby also
remixed a number of mainstream and underground acts, including
Michael Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Orbital.
He is a star but star fever hasn't spoilt him. Moby is perfectly modest
and touching. For instance, he refuses to complain about doing a
lot of interviews.
He says the alternative to doing a lot of interviews, is doing none. He
remembers the time when there were only two journalists who
wanted to interview him. "So if you ever hear me complaining
about the arduous life of a travelling musician just hit me (but
gently, I'm little and I bruise easily...)."
He is also sincere. Moby openly speaks about his personal convictions.
He is known as a fervent vegetarian. However, Moby doesn't eat meat
not because he considers it unhealthy. He is certain that a cow or a
hen has the same sacred right for life as we do. He even called one
of his albums "Animal Rights". He is a member of several
organizations which struggle for the rights of animals, he finances
such organizations and gives concerts contributing to their funds.
Moby's views on religion are somewhat contradictory. On the one
hand, Moby does not go to church, as he doesn't feel any necessity
for it. On the other hand, he says it is hard to believe that a human
being
As a result of a chemical reaction in the ocean millions of years ago.
So virtually he may be considered a Christian as he believes in
Christ and tries to follow the commandments.
Moby works all by himself. The studio where he is working now is
equipped in his house. So for months he doesn't see a single soul.
Moby says that he had a period when he stayed at his place for 3
years. There were only a few people with whom he communicated.
He was totally isolated. The studio became a kind of microcosm
protecting Moby from harmful outer influence. Moby loves music
as such, not just jazz, rock or electronic music but Music. In any
genre there can be a masterpiece or a commonplace. For his music
he draws inspiration from nature. There is a glass ceiling in his
bathroom and at night he gazes at the stars.
Cinema
Orlando Bloom
Full name: Orlando Bloom (His mother named
him after a character in a book by Virginia
Woolf.)
Nicknames: Orli, OB
Date of birth: 13 January, 1977
Place of birth: Canterbury, Kent, England
Star sign: Capricorn
Family: He has a mother and a sister,
Samantha, who is two years older than him.
His father, Harry Bloom, died
when Orlando was only four years old.
Marital status: Not married.
Education: National Youth Theatre,
British-American Drama Academy,
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Languages: He can speak French.
Films: Wilde, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Black Hawk Down,
Pirates of the Caribbean, Ned Kelly, The Calcium Kid, Troy,
Kingdom of Heaven
Orlando was inspired to become an actor by Superman: 'Once I
realised Superman was an actor, I thought, "That's for me, mate.'"
His fave actors: Johnny Depp, Edward Norton, Paul Newman, and
Daniel Day-Lewis
His fave films: Stand By Me, The Hustler, Amelie
Fave food: Pasta, pizza, oatmeal, rice, vegetables, baked potatoes. Orlando
is a vegetarian.
His fave music: He says he's into 'all sorts of music, mostly the Ben Harper,
the David Gray, and the Bob Dylan type of folk music'
His fave football team: Manchester United
His fave colour: yellow
Tattoos: He's got two tattoos — a sun on his stomach and the number nine in
Elvish — which lots of the young Rings actors had done together to mark
their close bond while filming The Lord of the Rings.
Bad habits: He used to smoke, but recently gave up and now he bites his
nails.
Sports: He likes all sorts of extreme sports. While filming The Lord of the
Rings in New Zealand, he got into skydiving, bungee jumping, surfing and
snowboarding. He also had to learn archery, how to ride a horse bareback
(while shooting an arrow), and how to fight two swords.
Likes and dislikes: He enjoys photography, shopping and buying old
antiques. He 'can't stand computers.'
Incredible fact: Orlando says he's accident-prone, and has the injury
list to prove it. He's broken his back, his ribs, his nose, both his
legs, his arm, his wrist, a finger and a toe, and cracked his skull
three times! A year before doing The Lord of the Rings, he fell 3
stories off a friend's balcony and broke his back. For a while he
thought he might never walk again, but he miraculously recovered.
Royal Family
The Happy Prince
Prince Henry Charles Albert David, born on
September 15, 1984 at St Mary's Hospital,
in central London, is third in line of
succession to the throne, behind his father,
the Prince of Wales, and his elder brother,
Prince William.
Henry Charles Albert has always been known
as Prince Harry and as he's been outgoing
and fun-loving boy ever since he was a kid,
he was later dubbed the Happy Prince. His
mother, Princess Diana, was determined
that her sons should enjoy a 'normal'
lifestyle, and the three were often seen at
amusement parks, going into McDonald's
restaurants or the cinema.
Harry attended the same schools as William,
and in September 1998, he followed his
elder brother to Eton, the most famous
private school in Britain. Founded in 1440
by Henry VI, Eton College has given
Britain 20 prime ministers and quite a few
outstanding poets and writers.
Harry wasn't as academically gifted as his brother William, but he
earned a place at Eton and became instantly popular with his
fellow students. He soon settled into the school's routine. He got
used to Eton's school uniform — black tailcoat and waistcoat, stiff
collar and pinstriped trousers. It's one of the oldest uniforms in the
world (dating back to Tudor times) and can't be thrown on in a
hurry. Harry also learned a whole new language. At Eton
homework is called EWs or 'extra works', the teachers are 'beaks'
and each school term is known as a half, though there are three of
them in a year.
At Eton Harry had a reputation for being 'one of the lads', unlike
his more serious brother William. But in his seventeenth year his
name hit the headlines in a rather unpleasant way. His experiments
with cannabis became public knowledge. Prince Charles's reaction
was quick. Even before the newspapers appeared with Harry's
Drugs Shame, Trouble with Harry headlines, he had already taken
his son to a drug clinic for a day. Talking to doctors and drug
addicts seemed to have a sobering effect on Harry.
Princess Diana's influence on Harry is very
strong. And while most people note the
marked resemblance between Princess
Diana and William, some friends of the
family say that in reality, it is Harry who
is more like his mother in many ways.
Harry's academic achievements at Eaton
were not outstanding, but he was
excellent at sports and arts. Prince Harry
plays rugby, football and cricket, enjoys
swimming and skiing and is an excellent
polo player. Specialists say that he has
got a great eye for the ball, he rides
well, and if he worked hard, he could
join the elite group of 100 professional
polo players in Britain.
Like his father, Harry loves painting. He is
a talented artist and has had his work
exhibited at the school.
In March, 2003 Harry played one of the
leading parts in Much Ado About
Nothing.
After school Prince Harry decided to enroll in a military academy.
Before that he had taken a gap year. That means he spent a year
not working or studying but travelling and working. Prince Harry
was in Australia. He was working at a cattle station and 'learning a
bit how to be a jackaroo'. He became an expert in rounding up
cattle.
What does the future hold for Prince Harry? William's role as the
future king is clearly defined, but Harry, is the 'spare', as his
mother called him. William is always on his guard, instinctively
aware of his position. Harry is much more relaxed, showing his
feelings and saying what he thinks. He seems to enjoy his second
son's status to the full, although once some years ago, when
William expressed his concern about his future role as a king,
Harry exclaimed 'I'd love it!'