The idea behind the film is probably the same - to take a feared, powerful figure and make him into more of a joke figure, by exaggerating his more extreme or absurd qualities. But although that may have helped with the inspiration, The Dictator is in... (read more)

The first professional men's tournament was held in 1889 in the US. It was named the SAP open, is the second oldest US tournament in total and is still held today. Names from that tournament include the champion, William H Taylor, and Valentine Gadesden... (read more)

Not exactly - that is, there is no specific classic fairy tale that it's based on, like Snow White and the Huntsnman, for example. It would be more true to say that it has created a new fairy tale out of the traditional fairy tale elements, using them... (read more)

The founder of the Tetra Pak company was Ruben Rausing in 1951. Rausing was a Swedish businessman who founded an earlier packaging company together with his business partner Erik Ackerlund. The original company was just named after its founders (Rausing... (read more)

Alaska became an American territory on 11 May 1912. It had been bourght from Russia in 1867, but it was many years before all the formalities were completed that allowed it to be an official part of the US. A major reason why Alaska was wanted as US territory... (read more)

To be quite sure, you need some equipment including a good magnifying glass, needles or pins and a flame - you can find the full list of recommended equipment here. Real ivory, when looked at closely is not smooth... (read more)

Nia Long began to study acting, dance and other performance arts from an early age, but her first actual screen role was in 1986, at the age of 16. She had a part in the Disney movie BRAT patrol. Her next role... (read more)

Prince's official website was called NPGMusicClub.com, and he closed it on 4 July 2006 with no warning. The only announcement about it was an email sent out by the NPG... (read more)

Muse are a top selling band and have had several hits, but there is one song that will become one of the best known in the world this week: Survival, the track chosen as the official... (read more)

Sports commentators and members of the public have already started this; quite often in sports articles both names are used together. As Murray will no doubt be playing for some years yet, and is much younger than Henman, probably in a year or two we... (read more)

If you are interested in Scientology you can find an outline of their official beliefs on their website. As for becoming a Scientologist, that isn't a problem at all - they are always on the lookout for new members,... (read more)

Kourtney Kardashian has two children with her partner, Scott Disick. They... (read more)

Veronica Campbell-Brown has a personal best of 21.74 seconds in the 200 metres. This puts her in the all time world top ten of runners, and makes her the second fastest woman runner of the 21st century,... (read more)

The total budget for the film is $250 million. Even by the standards of recent blockbusters, this is huge - even the high-tech Prometheus was 'only' about $130 million. However, the signs are that the film will stil make a profit. Most reviews are good,... (read more)

The estimated budget for Prometheus was $120-130 million, and the final cost was around $125 million. So it didn't run over budget, but of course such a big budget film would need to do very well at the box office to cover its costs anyway. The marketing... (read more)

There are three major airports. The largest and the one that handles most international flights is JFK (For John F Kennedy). This airport is located in Queens and is about a 30 minute drive from... (read more)

Since this question was asked, of course the answer is no longer in doubt. On 21 July 2012, Bradley Wiggins made history by being the first British cyclist ever to win the Tour de France. Wiggins is 32 years... (read more)

The original idea for Groupon came from Andrew Mason, a former music student from Pittsburgh who has also worked in web design. He came up with the idea for group coupons (the basis of the name Groupon) offering large discounts in 2008. He then joined... (read more)

I expect the question the midwife would ask is why it is a necessity. If there is a medical reason, normally she would be willing for you to have this procedure. If you know that there is such a reason and you feel that your midwife is wrongly refusing... (read more)

The first thing is to choose your book carefully. Look for something which is about your interests or is in a genre that you like. And if you aren't in the habit of reading it's probably best to go for something very light, popular fiction for instance... (read more)