Squash

The use of stringed rackets is shared with tennis, which dates from the late sixteenth century, though is more directly descended from the game of rackets from England. In "rackets", instead of hitting over a net as in sports such as tennis, players hit a squeezable ball against walls.

Squash was invented in Harrow School out of the older game rackets around 1.830 before the game spread to other schools, eventually becoming an international sport. The first courts built at this school were rather dangerous because they were near water pipes, buttresses, chimneys, and ledges.

The school soon built four outside courts. Natural rubber was the material of choice for the ball. Students modified their rackets to have a smaller reach to play in these cramped conditions. The rackets have changed in a similar way to those used in tennis. Squash rackets used to be made out of laminated timber.

In the 1980s, construction shifted to ligheter materials (such as aluminium and graphite) with small additions of components like Keylar, boron and titaniun. Natural "gut" strings were also replaced with synthetic strings. In the 19th century the game increased in popularity with various schools, clubs and even private citizen building squash courts, but with no set dimensions. The first squash court in North America appeared at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire in 1884.

In 1904 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the earliest national association of squash in the world was formed as the United States Squash rackets Association, (USSRA), now known as U.S. Squash. In April 1907 the Tennis, rackets and Fives Association set up a sub committee to set standards for squash. Then the sport soon formed, combining the three sports together called "Squash". In 1912, the RMS Titanic had a squash court in first clash. The 1st-Class Squash Court was situated on G-Deck and the Spectators Viewing Gallery was on the deck above on F-Deck. 

Triathlon

A triathlon is a multiple-stage competition involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance disciplines. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances. 

Triathletes compete for fastest overall course completion time, including timed "transitions" between the individual swim, cycle, and run components. The word "triathlon" is  of Greek origin from "treis" or three and "athlos" or sport.

The most recognized branded Ultra Distance is the Ironman triathlon. A transition area is set up where the athletes change gear for different segments of the race. This is where the switches from swimming to cycling and cycling to running occur. 

Karate

Karate is a martial art developed on the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It developed from the indigenous martial arts of Ryukyu Islands (called te) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane.

Karate is nowpredominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open hand techniques such as knife-hands, separ-hands, and palm-heel strikes. Historically and in some modern styles grapling, throws, joint locks, restraints, and vital point strikes are also taught.

A Karate practitioner is called a karateka. Karate developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Chinese.

It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taisho era. In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. In 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in mainland Japan by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs.

In this era of escalating Japanese miliarism, the name was changed from "Chinese hand" or "empty hand", both of which are pronounced karate, to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat from in Japanese style. After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.

Hiking

The idea of taking a walk in the countryside for pleasure developed in the 18th-century, and arose because of changing attitudes to the landscape and nature, associated with the Romantic movement. In the earlier times walking generally indicated poverty and was also associated with vagrancy.

Thomas West, an English clergyman, popularized the idea of walking for pleasure in his guide to the Lake District of 1778. In the introduction he wrote that he aimed to encourage the taste of visiting the lakes by furnishing the traveller with a Guide; and for that purpose, the writer has here collected and laid before him, all the select stations and points of view, noticed by those authors who have last made the tour of the lakes, verified by his own repeated observations.

To this end he included various "stations" or viewpoints around the lakes, from which tourists would be encouraged to enjoy the views in terms of their aesthetic qualities. Published in 1778 the book was a major success. Another famous early exponent of walking for pleasure, was the English poet William Wordsworth. 

In 1790 he embarked on an extended tour of France. Switzerland, and Germany, a journey subsequently recorded in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude (1850). His famous poem "Tintern Abbey" was inspired by a visit to the Wye Valley made during a walking tour of Wales in 1798 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth.

Wordsworth's friend Coleridge was another keen walker and in the autumn of 1799, he and Wordsworth undertook a three weeks tour of the Lake District. John Keats, who belonged to the next generation of Romantic poets began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland, and the Lake District with his friend Charles Armitage Brown.

More and more people undertook walking tours through the 19th-century, of which the most famous is probably Robert Louis Stevenson's journey through the Cévennes in France with a donkey, recorded in this "Travels with a Donkey" (1879). Stevenson also published in 1876 his famous essay "Walking Tours". The subgenre of travel writing produced many classics in the subsequent 20th-century.

Bridge of Spies

This film is a 2.015 American historical drama-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screen-play written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. The main characters are Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda. 

Based on the 1.960 U-2 incident during the Cold War, the film tells the story of lawyer James B. Donovan who is entrusted with negotiationg the release of Francis Gary Powers, a pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, in exchange for Rudolf Abel, a captive Soviet KGB spy held under the custody of the United States.

Bridge of Spies was shot under the working title of St. James Place. Principal photography began on September 8,2.014, in Brooklyn, New York City and the production proceededat Babeisberg Studios in Potsdam.

The film was released by Touchstone Pictures on October 16,2.015 in North America and distributed by 20th Century Fox in other territories. The name of the film refers to the Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam with Berlin, where the spy exchange took place.

About the plot, in 1.957 Brooklyn, New York, Rudolf Abel retrieves a secret message from a park bench and reads it just before FBI agents burst into his rented room. He prevents discovery of the message, but other evidence in the room leads to his arrest and prosecution as a Soviet spy.

James B. Donovan, a lawyer who specializes in insurance settlements, is asked by his partners to take on Abel's defense. The United States believe that Abel is a KGB spy, but want him to have a fair trial to reduce the Soviet Union's opportunity to use it for propaganda. Donovan meets with Abel in prison, where the Russian agrees to accept his help.

The Martian

The Martian is a 2.015 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The film is based of Andy Weir's 2011 novel "The Martian", which was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Damon starts as an astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind on Mars, and who then fights to survive.

The film also features Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, and Chiwetel Ejiofor in supporting roles. Producer Simon Kinberg began developing the film after 20th Century Fox optioned the novel in March 2013.

Drew Goddard adapted the novel into a screenplay and was initially attached to direct, but the film did not move forward. Scott replaced Goddard, and with Damon in place as the main character, production was green-lit.

Filming began in November 2.014 and lasted approximately 70 days. Around 20 sets were built on a sound stage in Budapest, Hungary, one of the largest in the world. Wadi Rum in Jordan was also used as a practical backdrop for filming.

The film premiered at the 2.015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2.015. 20th Century Fox released the film in theaters in the UK on September 30, 2.015, and in the US on October 2, 2.015. The film was released in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX. The film has grossed over $430 million worlwide.

Everest (2015)

Everest is a 2.015 British-American disaster drama and adventure thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur and written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy.  The film opened the 72nd Venice International Film Festival on September 2nd, 2.015, and was released theatrically on September 18th. 

It is based on the real events of the 1.996 Mount Everest disaster, and focuses on the survival attempts of two expedition groups, one led by Rob Hall (Clarke) and the other by Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal).

The film was first released in IMAX 3D on September, 11th, 2.015, in the UK and in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, and 2D internationally, and exclusively in IMAX 3D, September, 18th, 2.015, across 545 theaters in the United States and Canada, and along 36 other countries.

It began a U.S. wide release on September, 25th, 2.015, across 3.006 theaters. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed over 103 million dollars. The plot is about March 1.996, two expeditions arrive in Lukla in preparation for climbing Mount Everest.

Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) is one of three guides for Adventure Consultants whose several clients include Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), an experienced climber, Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), a former mailman pursuing his dream, and Yasuko Namba (Naoco Mori), who had previously climbed six of the Seven Summits and was attenpting to become the oldest woman to summit Everest, they will try to complete this along with many others.

Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the chief guide for Mountain Madness. At Everest Base Camp, the two expeditions meet Helen Wilton (Emily Watson), the base camp manager, who communicates with them all via walkie-talkies while they climb.