The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology and is a subset of balloon aircraft.
On Nov 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes in a hot air balloon created by the Montgolfier brothers. Recently, balloon envelopes have been made in all kinds of shapes, such as hot dogs, rocket ships, and the shapes of commercial products. Hot air balloons that can be propelled through the air rather than just being pushed along by the wind are known as airships or, more specifically, thermal airships.
A hot air balloon consists of a bag called the envelope that is capable of containing heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket , which carries passengers and (usually) a source of heat, in most cases an open flame. The heated air inside the envelope makes it buoyant since it has a lower density than the relatively cold air outside the envelope. Unlike gas balloons, the envelope does not have to be sealed at the bottom since the air near the bottom of the envelope is at the same pressure as the surrounding air. In today’s sport balloons the envelope is generally made from nylon fabric and the mouth of the balloon (closest to the burner flame) is made from fire resistant material such as Nomex.
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Volleyball is an Olympic team sport in which two teams of 6 players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team’s court under organized rules. This article focuses on competitive indoor volleyball; numerous other variations of volleyball have developed, most notably the Olympic spin-off sport beach volleyball.
The complete rules are extensive. But simply, play proceeds as follows: A player on one of the teams begins a rally by serving the ball , from behind the back boundary line of the court, over the net, and into the receiving team’s court. The receiving team must not let the ball be grounded within their court. They may touch the ball as many as three times. Typically, the first two touches are to set up for an attack, an attempt to direct the ball back over the net in such a way that the serving team is unable to prevent it from being grounded in their court.
The rally continues, with each team allowed as many as three consecutive touches, until either a team makes a kill, grounding the ball on the opponent’s court and winning the rally or a team commits a fault and loses the rally. The team that wins the rally is awarded a point, and serves the ball to start the next rally. A few of the most common faults include:causing the ball to touch the ground outside the opponents’ court or without first passing over the net;
catching and throwing the ball; double hit: two consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same player;
four consecutive contacts with the ball made by the same team.
The ball is usually played with the hands or arms, but players can legally strike or push the ball with any part of the body.
A number of consistent techniques have evolved in volleyball, including spiking and blocking as well as passing, setting, and specialized player positions and offensive and defensive structures.
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The United States Army is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven uniformed services. The modern Army has its roots in the Continental Army which was formed on 14 June 1775, before the establishment of the United States, to meet the demands of the American Revolutionary War. Congress created the United States Army on 14 June 1784 after the end of the war to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The Army considers itself to be descended from the Continental Army and thus dates its inception from the origins of that force.
The primary mission of the Army is to “provide necessary forces and capabilities … in support of the National Security and Defense Strategies.” Control and operation is administered by the Department of the Army, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The civilian head is the Secretary of the Army and the highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff, unless the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff or Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Army officers. The Regular Army reported a strength of 539,675 soldiers; the Army National Guard (ARNG) reported 360,351 and the United States Army Reserve (USAR) reported 197,024 putting the combined component strength total 1,097,050 soldiers (2008 Financial Year).
”The 7 Army Core Values.” The Army began to teach these values as basic warrior traits. The seven Army Core Values are as follows:
1. Loyalty – Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and fellow Soldiers.
2. Duty – Fulfill your obligations.
3. Respect – Treat others as they should be treated.
4. Selfless Service – Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own.
5. Honor – Live the Army Values.
6. Integrity – Do what’s right, both legally and morally.
7. Personal Courage – Face fear, danger, or adversity, both physical and moral.
This U.S. Army Decal is to remember are men and women over seas. It also makes a great gift for any army solider past or present. My brother-in-law has served in the army for over 20 years all over the world.
The Star of David or Shield of David (Magen David in Hebrew, מָגֵן דָּוִד with nikkud or מגן דוד without, academically transcribed Māḡēn Dāwīḏ by Biblical Hebrew linguists, [maˈɡen daˈvid] in Modern Hebrew and Mogein Dovid [ˈmɔɡeɪn ˈdɔvid] or Mogen Dovid [ˈmɔɡen ˈdɔvid] in Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish) is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.
It is named after King David of ancient Israel; and its earliest known communal usage began in the Middle Ages, alongside the more ancient symbol of the menorah. Geometrically it is the two triangles, with one flipped and laid over the other.
The Star of David, like the Pentagram or the Swastika, was originally a magical protective symbol and was only later associated with the Jews. It didn’t become generally associated with the Jews until the 17th century when the Jewish quarter of Vienna was formally distinguished from the rest of the city by a boundary stone having a hexagram on one side and a cross on the other. It didn’t become internationally associated until it was adopted as the symbol of the Zionist movement after the Dreyfus affair in France in the 19th century.
With the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 the Star of David on the Flag of Israel has also become a symbol of Israel and has become associated with the Zionist movement.
The star of david decal comes in 3 sizes and 12 colors. This decal makes a great gift for all ages.
Gymnastics is an activity and sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, co-ordination, balance, and grace. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are 
governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) with each country having its own national governing body affiliated to FIG. Competitive Artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic sports. It typically involves the women’s events of uneven parallel bars, balance beam, floor exercise, and vault. Men’s events include floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and high bar. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks, that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, and from circus performance skills.
Other gymnastic sports include rhythmic gymnastics, the various trampolining sports, and aerobic and acrobatic gymnastics.
Participants can include children as young as two years old and sometimes younger doing kindergym and children’s gymnastics, recreational gymnasts of all ages, competitive gymnasts at varying levels of skill, as well as world class athletes.
This gymnast decal sign makes a great gift.
T
he plastic football helmet came in 1939. It was invented and patented by John T. Riddell and his son John T. Riddell Jr., of the John T. Riddell Company in Chicago, a sporting goods provider. The single molded shell was stronger, lighter, longer lasting, and didn’t rot the way leather does when damp. Colors could also be baked into the plastic so the paint jobs would be longer lasting. In 1940 Riddell also developed the first chin strap to rest on the chin instead of the neck and the first plastic face mask.
There were problems however. The plastic helmets were brittle when hit head on. And the bar hole that was drilled for the face mask tended to pop loose. Because of this Riddell was in trouble and so was the plastic helmet.
The plastic helmet survived because of an intercession by one George Halas of the Chicago Bears on its behalf, and the plastic helmet was made legal in 1949, the beginning of the end for leather helmets. Riddell’s plastic helmet was a little flat on top at first but it changed to its tear-drop shape, which allowed a blow to slide to one side or the other rather than be met head-on. Its web suspension could be raised or lowered to fit the head of a player.
In 1955. G.E. Morgan a consultant to Riddell, and Paul Brown the coach of the Cleveland Browns, invented the BT-5 face mask which is the single bar design. The year after the BT-5 a single wave radio was installed in a players helmet so the coach could give the play to the quarterback over a radio frequency. It only resulted in game time interference but the experiment was ahead of its time.
1971, Morgan, now chairman of the board of Riddell got a patent for “Energy Absorbing and Sizing Means for Helmets.” The result: new HA-91 and HA-92 energy-absorbing, “microfit” helmets. They had valves on their crown to allow air to be pumped into vinyl cushions that were crammed into every space inside the helmet. The player put it on and then had it pumped up to fit firmly around the player’s head. Sometimes fluid was also used. An anti-freeze solvent, was used by some of the Green Bay Packers to beat the cold of Lambeau field.
Sources are unsure as to who first designed air bladders for football helmets but Dr. Richard Schneider of the University of Michigan Hospital is reported to have believed that air was the most effective way to protect against blunt force. With this theory in mind, he invented an inflatable bladder for use inside a football helmet. The Michigan Wolverines Football team used a prototype and Schutt Sports hired Schnieder and started mass producing the AirTm Helmet in the early 1970s.
Many Vet’s still preferred the old web suspended Riddell TK-2 because it was generally lighter and more breathable. Interior helmet pads were then developed that were lighter didn’t need to be filled with air or fluid by both the Schutt and Riddell sports companies. And because of safety they were soon preferred by all positions.
In 1976 because of concern for safety, four point chin straps were required in college ball. These kept the helmet firmly in place.
Space age rigid Polycarbonate alloy plastic helmets and vinyl coated steel alloy face masks are the norm in the 80′s and 90′s.
In 2002 Riddell released a new more spherical design for the helmet called the Revolution and it is currently the most widely used helmet in the National Football League The Schutt counterpart is called the DNA Pro Adult Helmet. A study released by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center shows that the Riddell Revolution, and others like it, reduce the incidences of concussion by 31%.
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