It seems that there is no simpler invention in the world. There is even an expression “Don’t reinvent the wheel”, in Russian it sounds like “Don’t reinvent the bicycle”. It means don’t invent (or say) something that is well known to everyone. But for a long time people did without wheels and bicycles, of course.
It is believed that the Ural blacksmith Yefim Artamonov built the world’s first bicycle with pedals and steering wheel in 1801. From the Urals, he came to Moscow and his bike appeared in the royal museum of rarities and… was forgotten. But until now, there are disputes, whether this event is real or just a historical tale.
In 1815 the German Baron Karl von Dreze invented a device which he called “machine for running”. It looked like a two-wheeled scooter with the steering wheel and without pedals, with wooden frame and could have a good speed for that time. People were delighted!
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Pearly Kings and Queens give London its unmistakable atmosphere. They are as much a symbol of London and England as James Bond, Mr. Bean, David Beckham and Paul McCartney.
In 1875 Henry Croft started the London tradition of Pearly Kings and Queens. The boy’s parents died when he was a baby and he was put in an orphanage. It was normal for children to earn their own living in those days. When Henry was thirteen, he had to leave the orphanage and find a job. His first job was as a sweeper in the Somers ‘ own market. He soon made lots of friends amongst the local traders, called Costermongers, who sewed pearly buttons on the seams of their trousers, jackets and caps to show their status. Henry’s new friends were kind and caring and ready to help each other. Henry wanted to do something for poor people and decided to help the kids at his old orphanage.
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There are a lot of cases in the history when people sacrificed their career, social status, wealth in favor of the spiritual life. In fact, Prince Siddhartha Gautama known as the Buddha was the first downshifter. He left his home, family and renounced the inheritance to become a monk and dedicate his life to the study of how to overcome suffering.
The life of American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau is a classic example of downshifting. Harvard graduate decided to live in a hut, eat anything he can get and do not communicate with people. Upon returning to civilization, he created the book Walden which later became a cult.
Poet Arthur Rimbaud decided to escape from problems and went to distant countries – Europe, Middle East and Africa. The reports on the visits contained valuable information so they were published by the French Geographical Society.
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Too often we erect barriers guided by stereotypes and prejudices. If we put aside all unnecessary things, there would be much more warmth, friendship and love in the world.

The tale about friendship between the kitten and the mouse
In one city, in one of the apartments little mouse Manya lived. She lived there for a long time and remembered all its residents. One came, others left, and almost every family had a cat who was trying to catch her. Manya was a very lucky mouse. She ran away and hid herself in her nice, clean and warm burrow. There she had many different and useful things.
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“There’s no handbook on what it’s like to become famous and how to survive it. Fame is a monster that you have no control over. If you try to fight it, it just feeds the fire,” says Leonardo DiCaprio.

Have you ever dreamed of being rich and famous? You know, there are a lot of disadvantages of it. You might change your mind if you considered all of them.
First of all celebrities have to look perfect all the time. Photographers are ready to take an unflattering picture of a famous person.
Celebrities don’t have private lives. They are followed by paparazzi wherever they go. Their personal problems, divorces, or family tragedies all end up as front page news.
Famous persons worry constantly about their reputation. Actors may lose their popularity, singers may lose their voices, athletes may be injured…
It’s difficult for famous people to know who to trust. Ex-lovers may sell their stories to the newspapers, heir accountants or impresarios may be secretly cheating them…
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Do you like travelling? I think you do. And I’m sure every time you are going to travel you take your camera to take unforgettable photos. You know, Teresa Lim is an unusual tourist. Instead of the camera she takes a needle and threads with her. Teresa embroiders pictures of interesting places. She didn’t want to be like the average tourist and therefore chose a very non-standard and unique way to preserve her travel memories. She makes embroidered miniature depicting landscapes and landmarks of the places she’s visited. To date, she has her own handmade souvenirs from Vietnam, Germany, Tokyo and Prague.
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Octopus is a strange undersea creature. It is, without doubt, the Terror of the Deep. It has eight arm-feet, which are just like eight snakes all moving at the same time. And the strength of these arms is almost unnatural.
His eyes are quite different from any sea creature. They are not round but oval, small and full of terrifying expression of cold anger.
There’s no animal in the whole world which can equal the octopus in imitating anything. He can imitate pink, red, purple, blue… and even be striped!
He can do almost everything. He can crawl like a huge spider, on the bottom or over rocks. He can paddle or swim through the water. He can jump backwards like a rocket, faster than the eye can follow him.
In addition to all this, he has an ink sac. When he wants to prepare for an attack, he squirts out a cloud of this blue-black liquid and hides in the rocks. Then he creeps out from an unexpected point ready for a new attack. He is as cunning as a fox.
His body is elastic and can easily change shape.
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