Captured in 1511, Malacca became the springboard for further eastward penetration ; several years later the first trading posts were established in the Moluccas, or " Spice Islands ," which was the source for some of the world's most hotly demanded spices.

Piedmont was an initial springboard for Italy's unification in 1859 – 1861, following earlier unsuccessful wars against the Austrian Empire in 1820 – 1821 and 1848 – 1849.

The performance was a springboard for one of the best known interpreters of Brecht and Weill's work, Lotte Lenya, who was married to Weill.

The springboard for Jagan's political career was the Political Affairs Committee ( PAC ), formed in 1946 as a discussion group.

For some this was their springboard to composition, since their clerical education equipped them with an understanding of musical and poetic forms as well as vocal training.

The haste with which the Danes resumed their attack on Norse Dublin before consolidating their control of Saxon England indicates that the entire Danish invasion was not primarily aimed at the conquest of Saxon England, but to secure a North Sea base of operations to use as a springboard in the conflict with the Norwegians, who controlled an extensive trade network in the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, and Ireland, which exported goods as the Danes did, from the British Isles south-east through Kievan Rus as far as Constantinople and Baghdad, following the Dniepr from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

Ariminum was seen as a bastion against invaders from Gaul and also as a springboard for conquering the Padana plain.

He did not intend to abandon this position, as he was planning to use it as a springboard for his upcoming crossing.

Selective breeding was used by Darwin as a springboard to introduce the theory of natural selection, and to support it.

Jones finished third in the championship hunt that year, and it was the springboard to an excellent 1980 campaign.

Needell was completely dominant in that car and series which provided him with the springboard into Formula 3.

The region was incorporated into the Kingdom of Asturias and, after surviving the assaults of the Moors and Vikings, became the springboard for the Reconquista.

The show acted as a springboard for Hill's television career, and his Channel 4 show, Harry Hill, was similar in style and structure to Fruit Corner.

Ham had initially protested against using a non-original to promote the band, as he had gained confidence in the group's compositions, but he was quickly convinced of the springboard effect of having a likely hit single.

His first UK television appearance came on the ITV show, Saturday Variety, but it was his appearance in the 1972 Royal Variety Performance that provided his springboard to national recognition.

Hitler was also convinced that yielding southern Italy would provide the Allies with a springboard for an invasion of the Balkans with its vital resources of oil, bauxite and copper.

The Piave served as a natural barrier where the Italians could establish a new defensive line, which was held during the subsequent Battle of the Piave River and later served as springboard for the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, where the Austro-Hungarian army was finally defeated after 4 days of stiff resistance.

In 1996, when Fu was 17 years old, she captured both the 10-meter platform gold and the 3-meter springboard gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Secretly, the party wished to nominate Henry Clay, giving him a springboard from which to launch another presidential campaign, but it was unknown whether he would be able to secure enough votes for confirmation ; it was decided that Crittenden would be the nominee, and if the voting favored the Whigs by a large enough margin, Crittenden would withdraw and allow them to confirm Clay instead.

As Evans writes, " Lacan used this observation as a springboard to develop an account of the development of human subjectivity that was inherently, though often implicitly, comparative in nature.

When Reeves came close to suffering a concussion in the episode " Ghost Wolf " ( the supporting wires snapped and he fell to the studio floor ), cables and wires were discarded and a springboard was brought in, designed by Thol " Si " Simonson, who remained with the series until its end.

The best antidote for the bitterness and disappointment that poisoned him was hard work.

He didn't think it was possible for this couple to be pretending.

It must have hurt her even to walk, for the sole was completely off her left foot and Morgan saw that it was bruised and bleeding.

It was the only thing in his life for which he felt guilt.

He knew who was riding after him -- the men he had known all his life, the men who had worked for him, sworn their loyalty to him.

Still, I was disgusted with myself for agreeing with Montero's methods.

He was naked except for a clout.

Now under me I could see him for what he really was, a boy dressed up in streaks of paint.

Well, the grass was there, though in some places the ground was too steep for a cow to get to it.

But it was not easy for him and he often slipped.

Now, here was something of obvious importance to me, yet when I reached for the tickets he snatched them away from my hand.

It was, I felt, possible that they were men who, having received no tickets for that day, had remained in the hall, to sleep perhaps, in the corners farthest removed from the counter with its overhead light.

I was constantly searching for clues around the neighborhood of the hall.

No one was behind it, but in the rear wall of the office I noticed, for the first time, a door which had been left partially open.

Was I sure, he asked, that I knew what I was applying for??

At one and the same time, she was within it but still searching for the drawbridge that would give her entry.

That was the day that he had practically mopped up the main street of Big Sands with Aaron McBride, field boss for the Highlands Oil & Gas Company.

It was payday for Highlands, and he was packing a lot of money back into the oil fields.

I was just doing my job, just following orders, and for that he's going to kill me.

Somehow more terrible than the certainty that he was about to die was the knowledge that Lord would probably not suffer for it: the murder would go unpunished.

He was readying a batch of sourdough biscuits for the Dutch oven.