title: Warren G. Harding

paragraphs: Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865–August 2, 1923) was the 29th President of the United States (Republican Party). Before becoming president, he was a senator and the assistant governor of Ohio. Before he was in government, he was an important newspaper manager. He was the president starting in 1921 until his death in 1923.

paragraphs: After World War I, he was elected on the promise to return the United States back to normal. He supported limited government in the economy. During his term, he lowered taxes and believed that the economy should not be regulated too much.

paragraphs: Warren G. Harding made the mistake of appointing his friends to high political positions. In result, they corruptly abused their power for their personal gain and several scandals happened during his presidency, including the infamous Teapot Dome scandal based in Teapot Dome in Wyoming and involving Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall. Other untrustworthy people included Edward Doheny and Harry Sinclair.

paragraphs: He died of a heart attack in 1923 while he was the president and visiting Alaska.

paragraphs: Harding cheated on his wife with Carrie Phillips, a family friend. She supported Germany during World War I. In fact, many people thought she was a spy.

paragraphs: He also cheated with Nan Britton, who was over 30 years younger than him. He fathered a child with Britton. Afterward, she wrote a book called "The President's Daughter", telling her story, but most people didn't believe her. However, in 2015, DNA testing confirmed that she was telling the truth about the baby.

paragraphs: His vice president Calvin Coolidge became president after he died.

paragraphs: Historians generally consider him one of the worst presidents because of all the scandals he was a part of.


title: Honduras

paragraphs: Honduras is a country in Central America. Its capital is Tegucigalpa. Most people of Honduras speak the Spanish language. 7,483,763 people live in Honduras and it is in size. It is next to El Salvador. To one side is the Caribbean Sea and to the other in the Pacific Ocean.

paragraphs: The ethnic makeup of Honduras is 90% mestizo, 7% amerindian, 2% black, and 1% white.

paragraphs: Honduras has the world's highest murder rate.

paragraphs: Honduras is divided into 18 departments. The capital city is Tegucigalpa in the Central District.


title: Bangladesh

paragraphs: Bangladesh (officially called People's Republic of Bangladesh) is a country in South Asia. It is next to the North-east Indian provincial regions of India, which converges with Southeast Asia to the east. Its full name is The People's Republic of Bangladesh. The capital and the largest city is Dhaka (formerly "Dacca"). Bangladesh is surrounded on three sides by the Republic of India (Bharat), and Myanmar (Burma) on the south-eastern corner. It is near the People's Republic of China, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal. The Bay of Bengal is situated to the south of the country.

paragraphs: It declared itself as independent in 1971 from Pakistan after a liberation war in which over a million people died. After Indian military intervention, the provisional government returned from exile in Calcutta, Bengal (India). After the Instrument of Surrender, the Bengali peoples became a sovereign nation. Its founder was released from political imprisonment in 1972. Present day Bangladesh has an area of 57,320 mi² or (142,576 km²) and it is bigger than the Somali breakaway territory of Somaliland, but is smaller than the Turkic state of Kyrgyzstan. It is slightly smaller than the Indian state of Orissa. It ranks 92 out of 195 sovereign countries by area.

paragraphs: Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country.

paragraphs: The currency is called Taka. The official language is Bengali.

paragraphs: There are two main rivers in Bangladesh; the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers are holy to Hindus. There are often floods because of these two rivers.

paragraphs: Bangladesh is a new country in an ancient land. Like the rest of South Asia, it has been described as continually challenged by contradictions, marred by inconsistencies to say the least. It is neither a distinct geographical entity, nor a well-defined historical unit. Nevertheless, it is among the 10 most populous nations; a place whose search for a political identity has been protracted, intense and agonizing.

paragraphs: The word Bangladesh is derived from the word “Vanga” which was first mentioned in the Hindu scripture Aitareya Aranyaka (composed between 500 BC and 500 AD). Bengal was reputedly first colonized by Prince Vanga, the son of King Bali and Queen Sudeshna of the Lunar dynasty. The roots of the term Vanga may be traced to languages in the neighbouring areas. One school of linguists maintain that the word “Vanga” is derived from the Tibetan word “Bans” which implies “wet and moist”. According to this interpretation, Bangladesh literally refers to a wetland. Another school is of the opinion that the term “Vangla” is derived from Bodo (aborigines of Assam) words “Bang” and “la” which connote “wide plains.” The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang/Banga that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. Other accounts speculate that the name is derived from Vanga (bôngo), which came from the Austric word "Bonga" meaning the Sun-god. According to Mahabharata, Purana, Harivamsha Vanga was one of the adopted sons of king Vali who founded the Vanga Kingdom. The Muslim Accounts refer that "Bong", a son of Hind (son of Hām who was a son of Prophet Noah/Nooh) colonized the area for the first time. The earliest reference to "Vangala"(bôngal) has been traced in the Nesari plates (805 AD) of Rashtrakuta Govinda III which speak of Dharmapala as the king of Vangala. Shams-ud-din Ilyas Shah took the title "Shah-e-Bangalah" and united the whole region under one government for the first time.

paragraphs: The West Bengal assembly has passed a resolution saying the Indian state of West Bengal will, henceforth, be called Pashchim Banga. Will Bangladesh follow too? No one will tell you what ‘Bang’ in Bangladesh means, except some bold joiners of the dots in ancient history. Bangladesh is old Banga or Bangla with a history as old as 1,000 BC. Does it originate in the Tibetan word ‘bans’ which means wet or moist? Banga (Bengal) is a wet country, criss-crossed by a thousand rivers and washed by monsoons and floods from the Himalayas. The Chinese text Wei-lueh (3rd century AD) referred to Pan-yueh (i.e. Vanga) as the country of Han-yueh (Xan-gywat) or the Ganga. Some others believe that the name originated in the Bodo (original Assamese in North Eastern India) ‘Bang La’, which means wide plains. One of the tribes which emerged from the Indus Civilisation after its demise had entered the plains of Bengal, while others went elsewhere. They were called the Bong tribe and spoke Dravidian. We know from many ancient Aryan texts of a tribe called Banga.

paragraphs: Anciently, Sri Lanka was Singhal, home of lions, which changed to Sihala (sic!) in 543 BC. (We have our Sihala near Islamabad.) The Portuguese called it Cilaon probably from Sanskrit Sri Lanka, which the Sri Lankans prefer today. The Portuguese are funny. They changed Arabic ‘mausim’ to ‘monsaon’, which has given us the word ‘monsoon’. In Punjabi, the word ‘aal’ is found in two words: ‘aalna’ (diminutive) for nest and ‘aalay-dawalay’ for ‘that which surrounds’. The name Gujranwala was formed from Gujran-aala. ‘Him’ in Sanskrit means ‘frozen’, from where we have the word Himal or Himala. ‘Shivala’, used by Allama Iqbal in Urdu, means home of Shiva.

paragraphs: From the sense of ‘surrounding’ we get the Hindi word ‘aali’ which is the root of our Urdu word ‘sahaili’ meaning ‘friend of the bride’ because girlfriends sit ‘around’ the bride. ‘Sa’ is the prefix for ‘good’. This could be cognate with ‘saali’ (sister-in-law) and ‘saala’. The home of the father-in-law (sassur) is called ‘sassur-aal’. Lovers too are included, as in the bhajan ‘angana main ayay aali’. Here ‘aali’ is master (of home). In Sanskrit there are dozens of words for home, many of them indirect like ‘aal’. In the Urdu word ‘ghonsala’ (nest) there is ‘ghun’ (concealed) and ‘shala’ (home). A whole lot of them come from the sense of being ‘cut off’. Of that next time. Remnants of civilisation in the greater Bengal region date back four thousand years, when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, and Austro – Asiatic peoples. The exact origin of the word “Bangla” or “Bengal” is not known, though it is believed to be derived from Bang, the Dravidian-speaking tribe that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. The same is applies to the naming of Bangala desh or Bangadesh. There are various logic presented by various people of various disciplines.

paragraphs: The Banga-desh is a land of the two mighty rivers of India, one flows from east and other one from west. The area covered jointly by these two rivers were probably known as “Ganga Lohit Desha”, which gradually became Gangalo Desh and Gangal Desh and then to Bangal Desh or Bangla desh or Bangadesha. Bangalo in place of Gangal is probably used to differentiate from the land of Ganga, i.e., from Hardwar onwards along the route of Ganga.

paragraphs: ”Banga” means a place located near to river in Sanskrit, which fits with both the parts of Bengal.

paragraphs: “alaya” (As in Himalaya) in Sanskrit means “house” Bangla is also known as Vanga. The movement against break up of Bagladesh by British was famously known as “Vang Bhang” movement. Bhang in Hindi means -to break. You are right about “aal” as home. Actually, “aalay” means home itself. “Devalay” home of Gods, that is Temple, Mrigalay is home of animals (mrig), that is Zoe. Vanga has thus been a distinct geographical identity and the restoration of the old name can be one option. And Bengal is nothing but the Vanga, and the easiest way to maintain the legacy is to drop the 'West' from West Bengal. Vanga is synonymous with Banga because the alphabets V and B are interchangeable in Sanskrit. Banga in its etymological sense means Vanga or Vanka — marshy land. It denotes the entire stretch of lower Bengal when the sea receded and the landmass became fit for human habitation. One more thought BANGA – BA stands for river Brahmaputra and NGA for Ganga, as both the river meets here.

paragraphs: Nepal: Naya-pal Kingdom of Naya - Bengal: Vaang desh

paragraphs: The delta and surrounding hills has been inhabited for hundreds of generations (thousands of years). The area supported agriculture very early on. About 500 BC there was a shift to growing rice. This led to the development of urban areas. Because there were no stone quarries in the area houses were built of wood and mud (including adobe). Because of the monsoon climate very little evidence of the earliest inhabitants remains. From about 300 BC to the 1700s AD the Bengal delta saw the development of writing, the Bengali language, religions and the rise and fall of states. By the 1500s, the area was prosperous and even peasants had plenty to eat.

paragraphs: The Islamic faith took in shape foothold in the 13th century when it fell to Turkish armies. The last major Hindu Sena ruler was expelled from his capital at Nadia in Western Bengal in 1202, although lesser Sena rulers held sway for a short while after in Eastern Bengal.

paragraphs: Bengal was loosely associated with the Delhi Sultanate, established in 1206, and paid a tribute in War elephants in order to maintain autonomy. In 1341 Bengal became independent from Delhi, and Dhaka was established as the seat of the governors of independent Bengal. Turks ruled Bengal for several decades before the conquest of Dacca by forces of the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great (1556-1605) in 1576. Bengal remained a Mughal Province until the beginning of the decline of the Mughal Empire in the eighteenth century.

paragraphs: Under the Mughals, the political integration of Bengal with the rest of the subcontinent began, but Bengal was never truly subjugated. It was always too remote from the centre of government in Delhi. Because lines of communications were poor, local governors found it easy to ignore imperial directives and maintain their independence. Although Bengal remained provincial, it was not isolated intellectually, and Bengali religious leaders from the fifteenth century onwards have been influential throughout the subcontinent.

paragraphs: The Mughals in their heyday had a profound and lasting effect on Bengal. When Akbar ascended the throne at Delhi, a road connecting Bengal with Delhi was under construction and a postal service was being planned as a step toward drawing Bengal into the operations of the empire. Akbar implemented the present-day Bengali calendar, and his son, Jahangir (1605-27), introduced civil and military officials from outside Bengal who received rights to collect taxes on land.

paragraphs: The development of the zamindari (tax collector and later landlord) class and its later interaction with the British would have immense economic and social implications for twentieth-century Bengal. Bengal was treated as the "Breadbasket of India" and, as the richest province in the empire, was drained of its resources to maintain the Mughal Army. The Mughals, however, did not expend much energy protecting the countryside or the capital from Arakanese or Portuguese pirates; in one year as many as 40,000 Bengalis were seized by pirates to be sold as slaves, and still the central government did not intervene. Local resistance to imperial control forced the emperor to appoint powerful generals as provincial governors. Yet, despite the insecurity of the Mughal regime, Bengal prospered. Agriculture expanded, trade was encouraged, and Dhaka became one of the centres of the textile trade in South Asia.

paragraphs: In 1704 the provincial capital of Bengal was moved from Dhaka to Murshidabad. Although they continued to pay tribute to the Mughal court, the governors became practically independent rulers after the death in 1707 of Aurangzeb, the last great Mughal emperor. The governors were strong enough to fend off marauding Hindu Marathas from the Bombay area during the eighteenth century. When the Mughal governor Alivardi died in 1756, he left the rule of Bengal to his grandson Siraj ud Daulah, who would lose Bengal to the British the following year. For the last half a century Bangladesh used to be called East Bengal, after they had fought hard for a united Muslim Indian homeland in 1947 and was made politically a part of the United Pakistan, However, by 1955 its citizens were commonly referred to as East Pakistanis. Dacca was then the legislative capital of Pakistani Bengal provincial region. The peoples of East Pakistan were mostly ethnic Bengalis who had a different language and culture to the people of western Pakistani. These differences eventually led to the so-called Bangladesh Liberation War. On 16 December 1971, Bangladesh gained independence, with the help of allied forces against West Pakistani forces. Nonetheless, the very existence of a Bangladesh state is a blow to the rhetoric of Islamic Unity that most Pakistanis and Muslims in general like to crow about. The present-day Muslims of Bangladesh live in greater harmony with its 14% Hindu minority counterpart than they did with Muslims of non-Bengali origins. Bangladesh is not the only case where interests other than Islamic Unity have proven more powerful. The quick disintegration of the United Arab Republic, a union of Syria and Egypt that combined Islam, Asabiyyah (Arab nationalism) and external threat (from Israel), is another case of Islamic entities splitting for interests other than Islam, other examples of co-existing Islamic countries cohabiting side by side with each other are the entities of Kuwait and Iraq, Brunei and Malaysia as neighborly and have brotherly diplomatic relations on a mission level.

paragraphs: After the birth of Bangladesh, Bangla replaced Urdu and English as the sole national and official language, and was the language taught in schools and used in business and government. The Bangla Academy was important in this change. In the 1980s, British-style education was maintained through private English-language institutions attended by upper class children. English continued to be taught in higher education and was offered as a subject for university degrees.

paragraphs: At first, Arabic also lost ground in independent Bangladesh. This trend ended in the late 1970s, however, after Bangladesh strengthened its ties with Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich, Arabic-speaking countries. An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1983 to introduce Arabic as a required language in primary and secondary levels. Arabic is widely studied in Madrassas and Islamic institutions around the country for better understanding of the Qurān, Hadith and any other Islamic texts.

paragraphs: For much of its history the area was simply just called Bengal and was considered a part of India. The last few centuries several foreign powers involved themselves with the area resulting in several wars. The 20th century brought more wars, genocide, and political states. Bengal was under British rule from 1757–1947. It was a part of British India. In 1947 East Bengal and the Dominion of Pakistan were separated from present-day Republic of India and thus formed a new birth of country named Pakistan. But the east and west provinces were on either side of India and separated by . In 1949 the Bangladesh Awami League formed to favor separation between east and west Pakistan. In 1955 East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan. Dacca was then the legislative capital of Pakistani Bengal provincial region. The peoples of East Pakistan were mostly ethnic Bengalis who had a different language and culture to the people of western Pakistan. These differences eventually led to the Bangladesh Liberation War. On 16 December 1971, Bangladesh gained independence, with the help of allied forces against West Pakistani forces.

paragraphs: The East Bengal Legislative Assembly was the law-making body of the province of East Bengal. It was later renamed the East Pakistan Legislative Assembly and would be succeeded by the Jatiyo Sangshad in 1971.

paragraphs: At first, Arabic also lost ground in independent Bangladesh. This trend ended in the late 1970s, however, after Bangladesh strengthened its ties with Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich, Arabic-speaking countries. An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1983 to introduce Arabic as a required language in primary and secondary levels. Arabic is widely studied in Madrassas and Islamic institutions around the country for better understanding of the Quran, Hadith and any other Islamic texts.

paragraphs: The President, while Head of State, holds a largely ceremonial post, with the real power held by the Prime Minister, who is Head of Government. The president is elected by the legislature every 5 years and his normally limited powers are substantially expanded during the tenure of a Caretaker Government, mainly in controlling the transition to a new government.

paragraphs: The prime minister is appointed by the president and must be a member of parliament (MP) whom the president feels commands the confidence of the majority of other MPs. The Cabinet is composed of ministers selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president.

paragraphs: The unicameral Bangladeshi parliament is the House of the Nation or "Jatiya Sangsad", whose 300 members are elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies for five-year terms of office. The highest Judiciary body is the Supreme Court, of which the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president.

paragraphs: After its independence from Pakistan, the people of Bengal thereon had formally become Bangladeshis and they became a Parliamentary democracy, with Mujib as the Prime Minister. In the 1973 parliamentary elections, the Awami League gained an absolute majority. A nationwide famine occurred during 1973 and 1974, and in early 1975, Mujib initiated a one-party socialist rule with his newly formed BAKSAL. On the August 15th, 1975, Mujib and his family were a target for assassination by mid-level military officers.

paragraphs: A series of bloody coups and counter-coups in the following three months culminated in the ascent to power of General Ziaur Rahman, who reinstated multi-party politics and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Zia's rule ended when he was himself assassinated in 1981 by elements of the junta military. Bangladesh's next major ruler was General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, who gained power in a bloodless coup in 1982 and ruled until 1990, when he was forced to resign under western donor pressure in a major shift in international policy after the end of communism when anti-communist dictators were no longer felt necessary. Since then, Bangladesh has reverted to a parliamentary democracy. Zia's widow, Khaleda Zia, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to parliamentary victory at the general election in 1991 and became the first female Prime Minister in Bangladesh's history and the second one in the Muslim world. However, the Bangladesh Awami League, headed by Sheikh Hasina, one of Mujib's surviving daughters, clinched power at the next election in 1996 but lost to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party again in 2001.

paragraphs: In January 11, 2007, following widespread violence, a caretaker government was appointed to administer the next general election. The country had suffered from extensive corruptions, disorder and political violence. The new caretaker government has made it a priority to root out corruption from all levels of government. To this end, many notable politicians and officials, along with large numbers of lesser officials and party members, have been arrested on corruption charges. The caretaker government held a fair and free election on December 29, 2008. Awami League's Sheikh Hasina won the elections with a landslide victory and took oath of Prime Minister on the 6th January 2009.

paragraphs: Despite 46 years of independence, Bangladesh is still a poor country and has problems with corruption and political troubles. Presently more than half of the people can read and write.

paragraphs: Bangladesh has heavy cyclones and natural disasters, due to this many lives are often lost. The country is one of the most densely populated in the world. Cyclones are very common in the Bay of Bengal during the middle of the year, particularly in the south of country in areas like Sundarban, Chittagong, Cox's Bazaar, or in neighboring Myanmar and Republic of India. Despite the many storms, Bangladesh does not have a very effective storm prevention system, and cyclones usually inflict heavy damage.

paragraphs: Bangladesh is in the Ganges Delta. This is where the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna come together. Most parts of Bangladesh are less than above the sea level. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the southeast of the country. Cox's Bazar, south of the city of Chittagong, has a beach that is uninterrupted over .

paragraphs: A large part of the coastline is a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans. They are the largest mangrove forest in the world.

paragraphs: Bangladesh is divided into eight administrative divisions: Barisal (বরিশাল), Chittagong (চট্টগ্রাম), Dhaka (ঢাকা), Khulna (খুলনা), Rajshahi (রাজশাহী), Sylhet (সিলেট), and Rangpur (রংপুর).

paragraphs: Divisions are divided into districts. There are 64 districts in Bangladesh.

paragraphs: Dhaka is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. Other major cities include Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal, Bogra, Comilla, Mymensingh and Rangpur. For more locations see List of settlements in Bangladesh.

paragraphs: The main religion in Bangladesh is Islam (90.39%). The second largest religion is Hinduism (8.70%). Most Muslims are Sunni. Islam was made the state religion in the 1980s in the country's constitution. Christians make up less than 1% of the population.

paragraphs: The earliest literary text in Bengali is the 8th century Charyapada. Medieval Bengali literature was often either religious or from other languages. The 19th century had poets such as Rabindranath Tagore, Michael Madhusudan Dutt and Kazi Nazrul Islam.

paragraphs: The musical tradition of Bangladesh is lyrics-based with little instruments. Folk music is often accompanied by the ektara, an instrument with only one string. Bangladeshi dance forms are from folk traditions.

paragraphs: Bangladesh makes about 80 films a year. Mainstream Hindi films are also quite popular. Around 200 daily newspapers are published in Bangladesh, along with more than 500 magazines.

paragraphs: Rice and fish are traditional favorite foods. Biryani is a favorite dish of Bangladeshis.

paragraphs: The sari is by far the most widely worn dress by Bangladeshi women.The salwar kameez (shaloar kamiz) is also quite popular among especially the younger females, and In urban areas some women wear western attire. Among men, western attire is more widely worn.

paragraphs: Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha are major religious festivals in Bangladesh. Buddha Purnima, which marks the birth of Gautama Buddha, and Christmas, called "Bôŗodin" (Great day), are both national holidays. The most important non-religious festival is Pohela Boishakh or Bengali New Year, the beginning of the Bengali calendar year.

paragraphs: Cricket is the most popular sport in Bangladesh. Next is football (soccer). The national cricket team was in their first Cricket World Cup in 1999. In 2011, Bangladesh successfully co-hosted the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 with India and Sri Lanka.

paragraphs: Hadudu (kabaddi) is the national sport in Bangladesh. Other popular sports include field hockey, tennis, badminton, handball, basketball, volleyball, chess, shooting, angling, and carrom.

paragraphs: The National symbols of the Bangladesh consist of symbols to represent Bengali traditions and ideals that reflect the different aspects of the cultural life and history of the country.


title: West Germany

paragraphs: West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; , BRD; ), retrospectively designated the Bonn Republic, was a country in Central Europe. It was created on May 23, 1949. It ended on October 3, 1990 due to German Reunification. During the Cold War, West Germany was part of the Western bloc.


title: Yugoslavia

paragraphs: Yugoslavia was a country in Europe, mostly in Balkan Peninsula, its meaning South Slavs deriving from Slavs who came from area what is now Poland in 7th century. It existed in three forms during 1918–2006.

paragraphs: From 1918 until 1928 it was called the "Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes". From 1928 until World War II it was the "Kingdom of Yugoslavia". After WWII it was renamed to the "Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" with six republics, 2 autonomous provinces: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia and two autonomous provinces in Serbia: Vojvodina in the north, and Kosovo, next to Albania.

paragraphs: In 1991, came the independence of Slovenia, Croatia, in 1992, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, causing the end of the country. Serbia and Montenegro, were the last two republics in the Socialist Yugoslavia. In 1992, they formed a new "Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" (FRY) which fell in 2006

paragraphs: In 1903 the Serbian king was murdered and replaced with Peter I. After this Serbia became more nationalist. Tensions with Austria-Hungary heightened when it conquered Bosnia in 1908. During this period Serbia managed to extend its borders and capture Kosovo and North Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire. Many Serbian nationalists wanted to create a unified state for the Slavs of the Balkans. Covert gangs attempted to assassinate Austro-Hungarian officials, like the Bosnian governor. In June 1914 a Bosnian Serb called Gavrilo Princip killed Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia. This event eventually led to the outbreak of the Great War (World War One).

paragraphs: Yugoslavia came into existence in 1918 after World War I. Most of its northern territories were given to it from Austria-Hungary when it collapsed during the war. Southern territories were taken by Serbia from the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan Wars (1912-13). The reigning king in Serbia became the king of all Yugoslavia.

paragraphs: For ten years it was known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It began using the name 'Yugoslavia' in 1929. The name 'Yugoslavia' is Serbo-Croatian for 'Land of the Southern Slavs'. The Kingdom was invaded by axis powers in 1941 and quickly fell during World War II. A Federal Democratic Republic was declared in 1943 with the King's approval, but the monarchy was abolished shortly after.

paragraphs: A People's republic was created in 1945 by a newly established communist government. It was ruled by Josip Tito from then until 1980. The country renamed itself SFR Yugoslavia in 1963. It was made up of six individual Socialist Republics: SR Croatia, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SR Macedonia, SR Montenegro, SR Serbia and SR Slovenia. The SFR Yugoslavia was different to other socialist states of the Cold War, deciding to keep itself out of it. Yugoslavia was the only socialist state to have open borders and allowed Yugoslavs and tourists to freely move around the country. Yugoslavia also kept warm relations with the West. It was also an enemy of the Soviet Union after the Tito-Stalin split as Stalin considered him a traitor. In 1968 the Soviet Union invaded socialist Czechoslovakia to stop its leader from making the country more free. Tito told the Czechoslovak leader that he was willing to fly to Prague to help him face the Soviets if he wanted.

paragraphs: The Yugoslav republics began turning against one another in the 1970s and 1980s. Josip Tito ruled Yugoslavia with an iron fist and crushed any nationalist movements that wanted to see the country break up. His government forced the six republics to stay part of Yugoslavia. When he died in 1980, the new leaders were less strict and let nationalist feelings to grow in the republics of Yugoslavia. The breakup was caused by many things like nationalism, economic difficulty and ethnic problems. The Socialist state was dissolved in 1992 during the Yugoslav wars. Serbia and Montenegro stayed together as FR Yugoslavia.

paragraphs: After the dissolution of the SFR Yugoslavia only Serbia and Montenegro were willing to remain in union. They renamed themselves the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. The country was led by the controversial statesman Slobodan Milosevic from 1996 until 2000. He was widely accused of having his opposition assassinated in 2000. Yugoslavia applied for UN membership in October 2000 and was granted the following month. For most of its existence the country was involved with what was called the Yugoslav Wars. There was much ethnic violence including mass genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995) and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo (1998). It was the worst acts of war seen in Europe since World War II. The country was bombed by NATO forces in 1999 during the Kosovo war. In the late 1990s separatism was growing in Yugoslavia and the country dropped the name Yugoslavia in favour of a state union in 2003. Serbia and Montenegro became independent states in 2006, formally ending the last remaining parts of Yugoslavia

paragraphs: Now, Yugoslavia has been split up and made into these countries:


title: Major League Baseball

paragraphs: Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league in North America. It is often considered to be the highest level of professional baseball in the world. There are two leagues that make up the MLB: the American League, also called AL, and National League, also called NL. There are currently 30 teams in the MLB, 29 from the United States and one from Canada, the Toronto Blue Jays.

paragraphs: The official website of MLB is known as "MLB.com" (www.mlb.com).

paragraphs: The 30 teams in MLB are divided into two leagues: American and National. Each league is divided into three divisions: East, Central, West. Since the 2013 season, each division has had five teams. The most recent change took place after the 2012 season, when the Houston Astros moved from the NL Central to the AL West.

paragraphs: Each team in Major League Baseball is scheduled to play a 162-game season. The season begins in April (or sometimes the end of March) and ends in October. The teams play other teams in their own division the most, and play very few (no more than six) games against teams in the other league. Teams usually play each other in series of three or four games at a time. If a game is canceled because of bad weather, it may be held later, sometimes as part of a doubleheader (two games in one day). Sometimes these games are not held again if it would not affect either team's place in the standings (the list of teams ordered by their number of wins and losses).

paragraphs: Highest ranking teams after this regular season enter a post-season of "playoff" games. Teams that are tied at the end of a season may play another game to decide which team(s) will enter the playoffs. The playoff games determine the champion for each of the two leagues.

paragraphs: In July, there are three days where teams do not play normal games, and a group of the best players play in the "Major League Baseball All-Star Game". This period is called the "All-Star Break", and it is thought of as the point where half of the season is over. Some games at the beginning of the regular season have been played in other countries, such as Japan.

paragraphs: There is one difference between games played in the American League and games played in the National League. The American League teams play with a "designated hitter", a player who bats in place of the pitcher and does not play in the field. In the National League, the pitcher must bat along with the other players. In games played in teams from both leagues, the rule that the home team usually plays by is used.

paragraphs: At the end of every season, ten teams play in the playoffs. Five teams from the AL, and five teams from the NL are in the playoffs. The team from the West, Central, or East division from each league with the most wins makes the playoffs (a team with the best record in its division is said to have "won its division"). The next two best teams in the AL and the next two best teams in the NL also get to play in the playoffs. They are called "wild card" teams. The first playoff round is called the Wild Card game. The two wild card teams from each league play each other in a one-game playoff. The winner of each game moves on to the Division Series. The team with the best record in each league plays the winner of its league's Wild Card game. The division winner with the second best record plays against the division winner with the third best record.

paragraphs: In the Division Series, teams play "best out of 5". Once one team beats the other three times, the winning team moves onto the next round of the playoffs. The teams that lose are out of the playoffs. The AL teams that win play in the AL Championship Series. The NL teams that win play in the NL Championship Series. The Championship series is "best out of 7 games". Once one team beats the other four times, the winning team moves onto the next round of the playoffs. After the Championship Series, there are only two teams left.

paragraphs: These two teams play each other in the World Series, which is also a "best out of 7 games" series. The winner of the World Series is the champion of the league.

paragraphs: The first league of professional baseball teams began in 1871 and was called the National Association. This league did not play baseball the same way MLB does. For example, batters would walk after nine pitches instead of four. Many of the teams had problems with money and split up after only one or two seasons. However two teams are still playing today. Those teams were the Boston Red Stockings, which today are the Atlanta Braves, and the Chicago White Stockings, which today are the Chicago Cubs.

paragraphs: In 1876, the National League began, and included the Red and White Stockings as well as six other teams. This league was run better, but many teams still would split up after only a few seasons. Some, like the teams that are now called the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants, are also still playing today. There were other leagues also. The American Association started in 1882 and was almost as good as the National League. However many of its teams would go to the National League, and the American Association disappeared in 1891. The National League had problems, though. Players and fans did not behave well, and in 1894 a fire started during a game and destroyed the stadium and part of Roxbury, Boston.

paragraphs: "A star (*) means a relocation of a franchise. See team articles for more information."


title: Lou Gehrig

paragraphs: Henry Louis Gehrig (born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig; June 19, 1903 — June 2, 1941) was an American baseball player. Due to his reliability and stamina, he was nicknamed the Iron Horse. He played with Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees who were thought the best team of that time. He played with the Yankees for most of his playing time which started in 1923 and ended in 1939. He played in 2,130 games without a rest, which was the most of any player until Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1995. When he stopped playing as well, he went to a doctor who found out Gehrig had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS – which is now sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease). The doctor told Gehrig he had only a short time to live. On July 4, 1939, there was a celebration of Gehrig by the other Yankees, and Gehrig gave a speech that became well-known. When he spoke that day he said he was "the luckiest man on the face of the earth". The mayor of New York City congratulated him for his teamwork. He died less than two years later in New York City.


title: United States Senate

paragraphs: The United States Senate is part of the United States Congress, which is a small group of elected people who decide the laws of the country. Every U.S. state elects two people to represent them in the US Senate. These people are called senators. Since there are 50 US states, there are 100 senators. Senators only serve six years at a time, and one-third of them are picked every two years. Originally the legislature of each state decided who their senators would be. After 1913, all the people of the state chose their senators by vote. The Vice President of the United States is in charge of the Senate, but only does anything when there is a tie vote or a special event.

paragraphs: In order to be a senator, a person has to be 30 years old or older, and has to be a citizen of the United States for 9 years or more. They must also live in the state they represent at election time.

paragraphs: The Senate, along with the United States House of Representatives, votes on which laws the United States should have. In most cases, both of these groups have to agree on the suggested law and the President has to sign it before it becomes a law.

paragraphs: The Senate is the side of Congress where every state has the same number of votes (two). This is different from the House of Representatives, where states with more people have more votes than states with fewer people. This was decided at the Constitutional Convention, because small states like Delaware did not want the larger states to be able to decide everything. Also, only part of the Senate runs for election during elections. Every two years, 33 (two elections) or 34 (one election) senators are elected. For each state, this means that after two elections to the Senate, during one election no one will be elected to the Senate.

paragraphs: Also, like the House, the Senate can override the president's veto with a ⅔ (67 votes) vote. But unlike the house, some bills require a 3/5 (60 votes) vote (it used to be ⅔ of the vote) to overcome the filibuster. A filibuster is when senators band together, they can stop bills from going through the senate.

paragraphs: The United States Senate was formerly the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which, along with the United States House of Representatives ― the lower chamber ― comprised the legislature of the United States.

paragraphs: The Senate is also in charge of agreeing to treaties with other countries. The Senate has the sole responsibility for confirming presidential appointments. These include federal judges, foreign ambassadors and Cabinet members. If the Senate and President do not agree, the President has to pick someone else the Senate will agree to.

paragraphs: Committees of the United States Senate and other important jobs in the Senate are assigned by the majority political party. Right now, the Senate is made up of 53 Republicans (they are the majority). There are 46 Democrats, and 1 Independents.


title: Fair use

paragraphs: Fair use is the idea that it should be okay for a person to reuse something that another person has created, in certain amounts and for certain purposes, without breaking the law.

paragraphs: In most countries, art and other made-up things, like stories, books, TV shows, and pictures, are owned by the person that first made them. This person can let someone else own the things they make, sometimes for money. The person that owns these things has a "copyright" for them, which means that person can decide who can copy their work. If someone else copies that work without asking the owner first, that person is breaking the law. The owner can take the person to court and try to get money from them because of what they did.

paragraphs: Since a lot of creative work is popular, people want to talk about them, and they may want to talk about them on TV or in a book. This might mean that they want to use a little bit of it when they talk about it. The idea of "fair use" was added to most copyright laws to make sure that it would be OK do to this, as long as only a little bit of someone's work is used.

paragraphs: Since a lot of creative work is now on computers and on the Internet, it is very easy to copy things and send them to lots of people. To make sure that people cannot always do this, there are computer programs that try to stop people from copying other people's work (known as digital rights management). One problem with these programs is that they also mean that you cannot copy even a small part of someone's work, so you cannot do "fair use" without cheating the program. In some countries, cheating those software programs is also breaking the law.


title: Duodenum

paragraphs: The duodenum is a short section of the small intestine that receives secretions from the pancreas and the liver via the pancreatic and common bile ducts. It is the place where most digestion occurs.


title: Soil erosion

paragraphs: Soil erosion is the washing or blowing away (by water or wind) of the top layer of soil (dirt). This is a serious problem for farmers. If the soil has eroded, the crops that make food will not grow very well.

paragraphs: Soil erosion was a big problem in the Midwestern United States in the 1930s dust bowl.

paragraphs: Erosion also leaves large sinkholes in the ground, which can weaken buildings and even cause them to collapse. Urban areas are usually protected from soil erosion, so not many buildings collapse from erosion.

paragraphs: Soil erosion can be conserved in several ways:


title: Compost

paragraphs: Compost is a type of fertilizer that is made from rotting plants. It is easy and cheap to make, as all it really requires is vegetable waste. The vegetable waste is broken down by bacteria (germs), and made into compost.

paragraphs: To make a compost heap, you need some space fairly far from anyone who might have a problem with the smell. The bottom corner of a garden, or some other place a distance from the house is a good place. Compost heaps should also be placed on soil, or grass: a paved yard or concrete are bad places.

paragraphs: The compost heap should not be in a dark or closed corner.

paragraphs: The best base for a compost heap is a layer of sand, bricks or gravel about 1m long by 1m wide. This is not needed, but it can be a good idea. If using bricks, leave spaces to allow the air to move through. It also allows for the water to run away. The best compost heaps have lots of little spaces inside, to allow air to move around.

paragraphs: Once the first layer is down, one can begin adding the waste.

paragraphs: Adding meat scraps is a bad idea, as they rot slowly, smell bad and attract rats and other vermin. Human or pet feces is also a very bad idea, as this can transmit disease. Waste from plants that have died of disease is also bad. The disease can spread to the plants that the compost is used with.

paragraphs: When making a compost heap, different types of waste should be layered. A layer of cut grass can be followed by a layer of vegetable waste and table scraps.

paragraphs: Watering the compost heap is a good idea, especially in dry areas. The water helps encourage the waste to rot and turn into compost.

paragraphs: In anywhere from 3 to 6 months, the compost will be ready. The compost is ready when it smells like thick earth, with no smell of decay or rot. Of course, if you have been adding waste all this time, the compost will all be at the bottom of the heap, and will have to be dug out.

paragraphs: The stuff that has not rotted can be used as part of a new compost heap.


title: Haiti

paragraphs: Haiti (French: "Haïti"; Haitian Creole: "Ayiti"), officially the Republic of Haiti (French: "République d'Haïti"; Haitian Creole: "Repiblik d Ayiti") is a country on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. The other country on the island is the Dominican Republic. Haiti has two official languages: French and Haitian Creole, or ""Kreyol"", which is a simple version of French mixed with African languages. Its capital city is Port-au-Prince.

paragraphs: Haiti has a tropical climate. In French, the country is called ""La Perle des Antilles"" (The pearl of the Antilles), because of its natural beauty. There are many mountains in Haiti. The country used to be covered with forests. However, it no longer is, because of deforestation. It is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

paragraphs: Haiti is divided into ten "departements". The main religion is Roman Catholicism. However, many Haitians also practice Voodoo. This is a religion which came from African folk beliefs in Benin. Haiti has many holidays; the largest and most important is the "Mardi Gras".

paragraphs: Haiti has a total area of 27,750 km². Most of it is in the western third of the Hispaniola island. There are also smaller islands near the Haitian coast, like "Gonâve", "Île de la Tortue", "Les Cayemites", "Île-à-Vache" and "La Navase".

paragraphs: Haiti has many mountains. There are only some coastal plains and few valleys. The largest valley is the "Cul-de-Sac". Port-au-Prince is in the western end of this valley. The country's main river is the Artibonite, which is also the longest in Hispaniola. Haiti's biggest city is Port-au-Prince, with more than 3 million people in its metropolitan area. The second largest city is Cap-Haïtien.

paragraphs: Haiti has a tropical climate. The rainy season lasts from April to June, and from October to November. Hurricanes are common during summer. In the past, hurricanes have caused a lot of damage and killed many people.

paragraphs: The Taino people were a tribe of Arawak Amerindians. They lived on the island of Hispaniola before Christopher Columbus found the island and started a European colony there. Columbus found the island of Hispaniola on his first trip to the Americas. Within twenty-five years after Columbus arrived, all of the Arawaks had been killed by Spanish conquistadors.

paragraphs: In the early 17th century, the French set up a colony on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain sold the western third of the island - Haiti - to the French. The French colony was based on forestry and making sugar. It became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean. However, to do this, the colony brought many slaves over from Africa and destroyed much of the environment.

paragraphs: By the late 18th century, there were nearly half a million slaves in Haiti. They revolted, led by Toussaint L'Ouverture. After a hard and bloody struggle, they won their independence. In 1804, Haiti became the first independent black republic in the world. Today there are many monuments in Haiti remembering the Haitian Revolution. One of the largest is "La Citadelle Laferriere".

paragraphs: On January 12, 2010, in the afternoon of a Tuesday, Haiti was struck by a magnitude-7.0 earthquake. This was the worst earthquake to hit the country in the past 200 years. The quake's epicenter was just outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. The quake caused major damage to Port-au-Prince and nearby areas. Over 200,000 people were thought to have been killed, but it was hard to be sure because many people were buried in mass graves before they could be identified.

paragraphs: Haiti is made of ten regions known as departments (, singular "départment"). These departments are further divided into 41 "arrondissements", and 133 "communes". These are the second and third level units of administration.

paragraphs: The 10 departments, with their capital cities in parentheses, are:

paragraphs: The Republic of Haiti is divided into 10 departments, but the central government has control over most political affairs. The president is head of state and is normally elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The president cannot serve consecutive terms. However, because of inconclusive election results in 2015, Haiti's current interim president was elected by the legislature. The prime minister is head of government and is appointed by the president and confirmed by the bicameral National Assembly. The National Assembly's upper house is the 30-seat Senate, and the lower house is the 118-seat Chamber of Deputies. Members of both houses are elected through a majoritarian system. Senators serve six-year terms and deputies serve four-year terms. There have been efforts toward constitutional reform to ensure that more women are represented in politics on the national level, but these reforms have not yet resulted in concrete changes.

paragraphs: Official holidays (on the same day every year)

paragraphs: Traditional and religious holidays (dates vary according to the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church)

paragraphs: Haiti is the least developed country in the Americas. It is also one of the least developed and poorest countries in the world.

paragraphs: There are indicators that can be used to compare social and economic situations between countries. Some indicators show that Haiti has fallen behind other poor developing countries since the 1980s. In 2006, Haiti ranked 146th of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index (2006). About 90% of the Haitian people were living in poverty in 2003. Haiti is the only country in the Americas on the United Nations list of Least Developed Countries and it is the poorest country in the Americas. The economy was staying even or falling behind even before their big earthquake.

paragraphs: About 66% of all Haitians work in agriculture. Most of them do small-scale subsistence farming (meaning that they are able to grow just enough to survive). This does not bring in much money.

paragraphs: Very few jobs were created in the last ten years. However, the informal economy is growing. Mangoes and coffee are two of Haiti's most important exports. Haiti has consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

paragraphs: About one third of the national government's budget is money given to them by other countries. The United States gives the most money. Canada gives the second largest amount of money. The European Union, Venezuela and Cuba also give and help Haiti's economy in different ways. Haiti has renewed its alliances with Venezuela and Cuba in 2006 and 2007.

paragraphs: From 2001-2004, the United States stopped giving aid to Haiti completely. The aid was cut off after Haiti's 2000 election. The election's results were questioned, and President Aristide was accused of cheating to win the election. Aristide was overthrown in 2004. After that, the United States started giving aid to Haiti again. The United Nations led a peacekeeping operation called the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti. (The Mission is called called MINUSTAH in Haiti; this is an acronym for the Mission's name in French). The Brazilian army led the peacekeeping operation.

paragraphs: Even after President Aristide was overthrown, corruption continued to be very common in Haiti.

paragraphs: Haiti has a large amount of foreign debt (money owed to other countries and international institutions to repay loans). The Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program planned to forgive about $525 million of Haiti's debt by mid-2009.

paragraphs: In 2009, the population of Haiti (the number of people living in the country) was about 10,090,190. Figures from the DNA Nationwide Studies Institute say that the racial makeup of the population is:

paragraphs: Some East Asians also live in the country.


title: Hodgenville, Kentucky

paragraphs: Hodgenville is a town in the American state of Kentucky. It is the county seat of Larue County. It is most famous as the birthplace of President Abraham Lincoln. A memorial featuring a replica (copy) of the cabin Lincoln was born in is near the town.


title: University of Oxford

paragraphs: The University of Oxford is a university in Oxford, England. It is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings said it is the best university in the world.

paragraphs: The university is 38 colleges and six private halls. All of these colleges have their own buildings and their own staff. Oxford is quite different from most modern universities where all the students live on a campus. Oxford does not have a campus, although it does have some central places where students from different colleges can come together (for example, libraries).

paragraphs: The Bodleian Library (founded in 1602) is the main library of the University of Oxford, and one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It is the second largest library in the United Kingdom after the British Library.

paragraphs: Oxford is the world's third-oldest university after the University of Bologna, and the world's second-oldest surviving university.

paragraphs: There is no known date of foundation, but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. English students were not allowed to continue studying in Paris after Thomas Becket was murdered.

paragraphs: There were fights between the students in Oxford and the people who lived there in the early 13th century. Some students and teachers left the university in 1209, and made a new university in Cambridge. These two universities are now great rivals, and together are sometimes known as "Oxbridge".

paragraphs: Until 1920, women were not allowed to take degrees at Oxford, although some women studied at Oxford before that time. Nowadays, all the colleges allow both men and women as students, and the number of male and female students is roughly equal.

paragraphs: One of the most famous teachers at the university was Lewis Carroll, author of "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking-Glass", stories for children.

paragraphs: There are 38 colleges at Oxford and 6 permanent private halls.

paragraphs: A college will normally offer the students accommodation (a room to sleep and study in) for the first and last years of their time at University. Many also offer accommodation for other years. A college will also have space for teaching and socializing. When most of the older colleges started they were only for people of one sex, but St Hilda's College, the last college to allow only women to study there, recently allowed men as well.

paragraphs: A permanent private hall is slightly different to a college. They were normally started by religious groups to educate their members in philosophy and theology, but some have since grown and offer a broader range of subjects. Some halls are run by monks, and one of them – St Benet's Hall – will only accept male students.

paragraphs: Most colleges will teach at both undergraduate (the more basic first degree that a student takes) and postgraduate (a higher level of study) level. There are also some special colleges that are more restrictive. Five colleges only offer space to postgraduate students. Harris Manchester College is only for "mature students" (those who are over 21 when they start their degree). All Souls College does not take students – all of its members teach students or do research.

paragraphs: Oxford, like Cambridge, is very popular, but there are only a limited number of spaces for students. It is therefore harder for students to get into these universities. The colleges look for the students with the best school results in the subjects for which they are applying, typically A marks on A-levels.


title: Def Leppard

paragraphs: Def Leppard was one of the first hard rock bands. They formed in Sheffield, England in 1977. Its founding members include: lead singer Joe Elliot, bassist Rick Savage, guitarist Pete Willis, and drummer Tony Kenning. When Kenning was fired from the band in 1978, he was replaced by Frank Noon. The same year, Def Leppard had their first recording. They recorded "The Def Leppard EP". Frank Noon was replaced by drummer Rick Allen the same year and guitarist Steve Clark joined the band shortly after. They played their first show at Westfield School in Sheffield in the same year.

paragraphs: Their first album, "On Through the Night" (1980), was a hit in many parts of England. In April 1980, Def Leppard signed with Leber Krebs management. In the same year they went of their first U.S. tour with Ted Nugent, AC/DC, and Judas Priest. In 1981 the band released their second album, "High ‘n’ Dry". At that time, MTV aired Def Leppard for the first time. MTV aired their hit “Bringin’ on the Heartbreak.”

paragraphs: In 1982, Pete Willis was replaced by Phil Collen. The same year, the recording with Mutt Lange for their third album takes place. In 1983, their third album "Pyromania" is released. The single “Photograph” was released and the album sells 100,000 copies a week for that year. In 1984, drummer Rick Allen suffers the loss of an arm due to a car accident. He soon mastered an electronic drum kit and teaches himself how to play with one arm. In 1986, Rick Allen plays his first gig out with the band since his accident. In 1987, the band’s fourth album, “Hysteria” is released. The album has 12 hit singles and sells 16 million copies.

paragraphs: In 1991, guitarist Steve Clark passes away. His death was due to a mixture of alcohol and a drug overdose of prescription pain killers. In 1992 Vivian Campbell joins the band. Vivian Campbell was the former guitarist for Dio and Whitesnake. That year, the album “Adrenalize” is released. This album remains number one for five weeks and sells six million copies.

paragraphs: In 1993 the band has their first expirence having their music in movies. Their song “Two Steps Behind” was used for the end credits of “Last Action Hero”. The same year the album “Retro Active” is released. In 1995 “The Vault” is released. It is a compilation of all of Def Leppard’s biggest hits. “The Vault” hits number two on the charts. In 1996, the album “Slang” is released.

paragraphs: In 1998, Def Leppard had their first taste of TV. VH1 produced a “Behind the Music” episode on Def Leppard. Other TV exposure followed such as “Storytellers”, and “Ultimate Albums.” In 1999, they receive the Diamond Award in the U.S. Also in 1999, the album “Euphoria” is released. In the year 2000, the band is inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame.

paragraphs: In 2001, the band releases their first DVDs, “In the Round, In your Face” and “Historia”. The same year, VH1 broadcasts the movie “Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story.” n 2002 the album “X” is released. In 2004 the band releases a newer version of the album “The Vault”. In 2005 the album and DVD “Rock of Ages” is released. In 2006, Def Leppard releases their album “Yeah”. The album “Yeah” is a cover album. In 2008 the band’s 12th album “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge” is released. The same year the band crosses genres with the country hit “Nine Lives.”


title: Winter storm

paragraphs: Winter storms or snowstorms happen when warm, wet air meets with cold air. The warm, wet air mass and the cold air mass can each be 1000 km or more in diameter. Snowstorms affecting Northeastern United States often get their moisture from air moving north from the Gulf of Mexico and cold air from air masses coming down from the Arctic. In the Northwest United States warm, wet air from the Pacific Ocean cools when it is pushed upward by the mountains. Many different things can affect the direction of movement, content and temperature of air masses. All of these differences affect the type and severity of the snowstorm.

paragraphs: Winter storms and blizzards can make several feet of snow that blow into big drifts. Sometimes the drifts can be over ten feet tall. They could even cover a house.

paragraphs: Lots of popular winter storms are part of North America's history. In 1846 the Donner Party traveled away by covered wagons from Illinois headed for Sutter's Fort near Sacramento, California. As an answer of bad decisions and slow going, they tried to go across the big Sierra Nevada Mountains in the late October. Usually, California is still warm at that time of the year. As the party crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains, they did not see any snow and was not worried.

paragraphs: However, after they left, a huge snowstorm hit. The party was forced to camp near Truckee, California. The snow was so deep that the wagon wheels became stuck, so they could not move anyplace. They tried to wait the storm out, but when one blizzard ended, another began immediately before they had time to escape.

paragraphs: Their food became short, so some of the people decided to hike out and find help rather than to starve to death. Most of them died in the freezing weather, and many of those who stayed behind in the camp survived. Of the 87 people who started in Illinois, only 47 lived.


title: Sri Lanka

paragraphs: The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (ශ්‍රී ලංකා in Sinhala, இலங்கை in Tamil) is a tropical island nation off the southeast coast of the Indian subcontinent. The capital of the country is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte while the largest city is Colombo.

paragraphs: It was known as Ceylon before 1972, and Serendib and Sinhale, among other names, before that. It was South Asia's oldest democracy.

paragraphs: Sri Lanka has three main ethnic groups. They differ in their religions and origins, and there has often been difficulties between the groups. The total population of the island is over 20 million people, and rapidly expanding.

paragraphs: The largest of the three groups is the population of Sinhalese people. Most of them are Buddhist. Their language is Sinhala. They make up about 75% of the population.

paragraphs: The second largest group is the Tamil people. They are Hindu. There are about 2,271,000 Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Civil War against Tamil separatists lasted 28 years.

paragraphs: The third largest group is the Sri Lankan Moors. They are Muslim. There are over one and a half million people in this group. They use Tamil as their language today.

paragraphs: Other than these three main groups , there are burghers (descendants of colonial ancestors) , malays and chinese.

paragraphs: In areas such as Dabana , Mahiyangaya ; lives the indigenous group called 'veddas' who are said to descend from Kuweni and Vijaya's son 'Jeewahaththa'.

paragraphs: Buddhist missionaries arrived from India in 250 BC during the time period of King Devanampiyatissa. The kings of the island, and eventually most of the Sinhalese people, became Buddhists. Legend has it that Buddha visited the island three times.

paragraphs: The island was subject to waves of European settlement and eventually colonisation. The Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch in the 17th and 18th centuries, and lastly the British from 1796 to 1948. The British traded as the others had done, but also developed plantations of coffee and tea. Tea was planted after a fungus destroyed the coffee plantations in 1869. The tea plantations were the basis of Sri Lankan prosperity for a hundred years. Lastly, rubber plantations were started in the early 20th century. In 1965, Ceylon became the world's leading exporter of tea, with 200,000 tonnes of tea being shipped internationally annually.

paragraphs: Independence from the British was got in 1948, together with Dominion status in the British Commonwealth of Nations. In 1972, Ceylon changed its name officially to the Republic of Sri Lanka, and is still a member of the Commonwealth.

paragraphs: In 2009 came the end of a long Sri Lankan Civil War between Sinhalese and Tamils. Since then tourism has rapidly grown as a source of foreign investment and currency.

paragraphs: The Sri Lanka flag is also known as the Lion flag because of the Lion on it. The Lion is holding a sword in its right paw. There is a crimson background with four leaves in each corner. There is a yellow border. On the left of the flag there are the colors green and saffron.

paragraphs: The lion represents bravery. The four leaves represents Karuna, Meththa, Muditha and Upeksha. The orange stripe represents the Sri Lankan Tamils and the green stripe represents the Sri Lankan Moors.

paragraphs: On April 21, 2019, bombings hit churches and hotels and left at least 290 people dead and 500 injured in the cities of

paragraphs: cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa. According to officials a Sri Lankan group called "National Thowheed Jamath" was behind the attacks.

paragraphs: Most of those killed were Sri Lankan nationals but there were also thirty one foreigners who died, including

paragraphs: eight British, eight Indian, two Turkish, two Australian, one Bangladeshi, one Portuguese and four American nationals.


title: Reptile

paragraphs: Reptile is the common name for one of the main groups of land vertebrates. It is not used so much by biologists, who use more accurate terms.

paragraphs: The name "reptile" comes from Latin and means "one who creeps". All living reptile species are cold blooded, have scaly skin, and lay cleidoic eggs. They excrete uric acid (instead of urea), and have a cloaca. A cloaca is a shared opening for the anus, urinary tract and reproductive ducts. Reptiles also share an arrangement of the heart and major blood vessels which is different from that of mammals.

paragraphs: Many important groups of reptiles are now extinct, for example the mosasaurs. We used to say the dinosaurs were extinct, but they survive in the form of their feathered descendants (birds). Ancient reptiles that do survive include the turtles, the crocodiles and the Tuatara, the lone survivor of its group. The great majority of present-day reptiles are snakes and lizards.

paragraphs: The study of living reptiles is called "herpetology".

paragraphs: Some reptiles are more closely related to birds than they are to other reptiles. Crocodiles are more closely related to birds than they are to lizards. Theropod dinosaurs are even more closely related, because birds evolved from them.

paragraphs: Cladistic writers prefer a more unified (monophyletic) grouping. This puts the birds (over 10,000 species) with what people normally call reptiles. (see Sauropsida)

paragraphs: Reptilia is an evolutionary grade rather than a clade. The main reason is that the term 'reptile' does not include birds, the descendents of theropod dinosaurs. Another reason is that the word 'reptile' is misleading because many extinct types were very different from living reptiles.

paragraphs: So instead of Reptilia as a taxonomic class, today many experts use Class Sauropsida (which includes all reptiles and birds, living and extinct). Class Synapsida includes mammals and all their forebears. "Reptile" is still the usual informal term to describe living snakes and lizards. Mammals are a genuine clade, and so Mammalia is still the taxonomic term.

paragraphs: Since reptiles are not monophyletic, reclassifying them is one of the key aims of researchers. Some taxonomists, such as Benton, make Sauropsida and Synapsida as class-level taxa. The two groups split in the Carboniferous, from stem-group Amniotes (the early tetrapods, which laid cleidoic eggs).

paragraphs: A membrane forms an inner eyelid in reptiles and birds. Whitish or translucent, it can be drawn across the eye to protect it from dust and keep it moist. It is called the "nictitating membrane".


title: Snake

paragraphs: Snakes are reptiles. They are part of the order Squamata. They are carnivores, with long narrow bodies and no legs. There are at least 20 families, about 500 genera and 3,400 species of snake.

paragraphs: The earliest known fossils are from the Jurassic period. This was between 143 and 167 million years ago.

paragraphs: Their long, slender body has some special features. They have overlapping scales which protect them, and help them move and climb trees. The scales have colours which may be camouflage or warning colours.

paragraphs: Many species have skulls with more joints than the skulls of their lizard ancestors. This allows the snakes to swallow prey much larger than their heads. In their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side. Most have only one working lung. Some species have kept a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. They have no eyelids or external ears. They can hiss, but otherwise make no vocal sounds.

paragraphs: They are very mobile in their own way. Most of them live in the tropics. Few snake species live beyond the Tropic of Cancer or Tropic of Capricorn, and only one species, the common viper ("Vipera berus") lives beyond the Arctic Circle. They can see well enough, and they can taste scents with their tongues by flicking them in and out. They are very sensitive to vibrations in the ground. Some snakes can sense warm-blooded animals by thermal infrared.

paragraphs: Most snakes live on the ground, and in the trees. Others live in the water, and a few live under the soil. Like other reptiles, snakes are ectotherms. They control their body temperature by moving in and out of the direct sunshine. That is why they are rare in cold places.

paragraphs: Snakes range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm (4 inch)-long thread snake to the reticulated python of in length. The extinct snake "Titanoboa" was long.

paragraphs: Snakes are thought to have evolved from lizards. The earliest snake fossils are from the Lower Cretaceous. A wide range of snakes appeared during the Paleocene period ("c" 66 to 56 million years ago).

paragraphs: The Squamata are definitely a monophyletic group: it is a sister group to the Tuatara. Judged by their fossil record, the squamates were present in the Mesozoic, but had a minor place in the land ecology. Three of the six lines are recorded first in the Upper Jurassic, the others in the Cretaceous. Probably all, certainly the lizards, arose earlier in the Jurassic. The Mosasaurs of the Upper Cretaceous were by far the most successful of all the lizards, becoming the top predator in their ecosystem.

paragraphs: Although snakes and lizards look very different, "neither is a proper clade". Snakes did descend from early lizards, not once, but a number of times.

paragraphs: There is a monophyletic clade within the Squamata. It is the Toxicofera. It includes all venomous snakes and lizards, and many related non-venomous species. The evidence for this is in recent molecular analyses.

paragraphs: The fossil of a primitive snake from the Lower Cretaceous has been found. It lived about 113 million years ago. It had rather small front and rear legs. Several other fossil snakes have been found with small rear legs, but this is the first one with all four legs. The snake, "Tetrapodophis amplectus", lived on land and was adapted to burrowing. The researcher said there were "a lot of very advanced snake features, including its hooked teeth, flexible jaw and spine – and even snake-like scales. And there's the gut contents – it's swallowed another vertebrate. It was preying on other animals, which is a snake feature". The snake came from the Crato Formation in Brazil, and lay in a private collection for many years. It was re-discovered in a museum at Solnhofen, Bavaria.

paragraphs: Most snakes are nonvenomous. Those that have venom use it mainly to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some have venom potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by squeezing.

paragraphs: Two taxonomic families are entirely venomous:

paragraphs: A third family with the "rear-fanged" snakes (and most of the other snake species) is the

paragraphs: Many snakes have skulls with more joints than their lizard ancestors. This helps them swallow prey much larger than their heads. The bones of the head and jaws can move apart to let large prey move into their body. The throat, stomach and intestines can also expand in a most extraordinary manner. In this was, a thin-looking snake can swallow and digest a larger animal.

paragraphs: To fit their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) are one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most snakes have only one working lung. Some species have a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. This is a relic of the legs which do not appear in modern snakes.

paragraphs: Snakes need to shed their skin regularly while they grow. This is called moulting. Snakes shed their skin by rubbing their head against something rough and hard, like a piece of wood or a rock. This causes the skin, which is already stretched, to split open. The snake keeps on rubbing its skin on various rough objects until the skin peels off from its head. This lets it crawl out, turning the skin inside out.

paragraphs: All snakes are carnivorous; they eat other animals. Some are venomous; they inject poison along grooves in their teeth. Some snakes are constrictrors. Constrictors are not venomous, so they squeeze their prey to death. Snakes swallow their food whole, and they cannot chew. Because snakes are cold-blooded, they do not have to eat as regularly as mammals. People who own pet snakes feed them as infrequently as once per month. Some snakes can go as long as six months without a good meal.

paragraphs: Snakes have a very flexible lower jaw, the two halves of which are not rigidly attached, and many other joints in their skull. They can open their mouths wide enough to swallow their prey whole, even if the prey is larger in diameter than the snake itself.

paragraphs: Not having arms and legs doesn't stop snakes from moving. They have developed several different ways of moving to deal with particular environments. Each type of snake movement is discrete and distinct from the others.

paragraphs: Lateral undulation is a snake's only way of moving in water, and the most common way of moving altogether. In this mode, the body of the snake alternately bends to the left and right, resulting in a series of rearward-moving "waves". While this movement appears rapid, snakes have rarely been seen moving faster than two body-lengths per second, often much less. This mode of movement has the same amount of calories burned per meter moved as running in lizards of the same mass.

paragraphs: Terrestrial lateral undulation is the most common mode of moving for most snake species. In this mode, the posteriorly moving waves push against contact points in the environment, such as rocks, twigs, irregularities in the soil, etc. Each of these environmental objects, in turn, generates a reaction force directed forward and towards the midline of the snake, resulting in forward thrust while the lateral components cancel out. The speed of this movement depends upon the density of push-points in the environment, with a medium density of about 8 along the snake's length being ideal. The wave speed is precisely the same as the snake speed, and as a result, every point on the snake's body follows the path of the point ahead of it, allowing snakes to move through very dense vegetation and small openings.

paragraphs: Snakes move forward in water by moving their bodies in a wave-like motion. The waves become larger as they move down the snake's body, and the wave travels backwards faster than the snake moves forwards. Thrust is got by pushing their body against the water: this results in the observed slip. In spite of overall similarities, studies show that the pattern of muscle activation is different in aquatic versus terrestrial lateral undulation, which justifies calling them separate modes. All snakes can laterally undulate forward (with backward-moving waves), but only sea snakes have been observed reversing the motion (moving backwards with forward-moving waves).

paragraphs: This is most often used by colubroid snakes (colubrids, elapids, and vipers). They use it when the environment lacks anything firm to push against, such as a slick mud flat, or a sand dune. Sidewinding is a modified form of lateral undulation in which all of the body segments oriented in one direction remain in contact with the ground, while the other segments are lifted up. This results in a peculiar "rolling" motion. This mode of moving overcomes the slippery nature of sand or mud by pushing off with only static portions on the body, thereby minimizing slipping. The static nature of the contact points can be shown from the tracks of a sidewinding snake, which show each belly scale imprint, without any smearing. This mode of moving has very low caloric cost, less than ⅓ of the cost for a lizard or normal snake to move the same distance.

paragraphs: When push-points are absent, but the space is too narrow for sidewinding, such as in tunnels, snakes rely on concertina moving. In this mode, the snake braces the back part of its body against the tunnel wall while the front of the snake extends and straightens. The front portion then flexes and forms an anchor point, and the back part is straightened and pulled forwards. This mode of moving is slow and very demanding, needing up to seven times the energy of laterally undulating over the same distance. This high cost is due to the repeated stops and starts of portions of the body as well as the need to use the muscles to brace against the tunnel walls.

paragraphs: The slowest mode of snake moving is rectilinear moving, which is also the only one where the snake does not need to bend its body laterally, though it may do so when turning. In this mode, the belly scales are lifted and pulled forward before being placed down and the body pulled over them. Waves of movement and stasis pass posteriorly, resulting in a series of ripples in the skin. The ribs of the snake do not move in this mode of moving and this method is most often used by large pythons, boas, and vipers when stalking prey across open ground as the snake's movements are subtle and harder to detect by their prey in this manner.

paragraphs: The movement of snakes in trees has only recently been studied. While on tree branches, snakes use several modes of moving depending on species and bark texture. In general, snakes will use a modified form of concertina moving on smooth branches, but will laterally undulate if contact points are available. Snakes move faster on small branches and when contact points are present, in contrast to limbed animals, which do better on large branches with little 'clutter'.

paragraphs: Gliding snakes ("Chrysopelea") of Southeast Asia launch themselves from branch tips, spreading their ribs and laterally undulating as they glide between trees. These snakes can perform a controlled glide for hundreds of feet depending upon launch altitude and can even turn in midair.


title: Freddie Mercury

paragraphs: Farrokh Bulsara (5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991), better known as Freddie Mercury, was a British singer, songwriter, record producer, and lead singer of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest lead singers in the history of rock music, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and four-octave vocal range. Mercury wrote numerous hits for Queen, including "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Killer Queen", "Somebody to Love", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", and "We Are the Champions". He led a solo career while performing with Queen, and occasionally served as a producer and guest musician for other artists.

paragraphs: He formed Queen in 1970 with guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor. Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS, having confirmed the day before his death that he had contracted the disease. In 1992, Mercury was posthumously awarded the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and a tribute concert was held at Wembley Stadium, London. As a member of Queen, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2002, he was placed number 58 in the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. He is consistently voted one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music.

paragraphs: Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on 5 September 1946 in Stone Town in the British protectorate of the Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). His parents were Jer and Bomi Bulsara. They were both Parsi. His father worked as a cashier in the British Colonial Office, a branch of the government. Mercury had a younger sister named Kashmira. His friends at school gave him the name "Freddie." His family then began calling him Freddie, too.

paragraphs: At age eight, Mercury was sent to a boarding school in India. The school, St. Peters English Boarding school in Panchgani, was about 50 miles outside the city of Bombay (now called Mumbai). He began to show talent as an artist and a sportsman. At age ten, he was named the school champion of Table Tennis. When he was twelve, he received a trophy called the Junior All-rounder.

paragraphs: While in school he joined a choir and began to learn to play the piano. He had a four-octave vocal range.

paragraphs: In 1964, Mercury moved to London with his family. He studied art at Ealing Art College. While in London, he became fond of Mary Austin, a woman he met through his guitarist, Brian May. They lived together for several years before and after the band became famous. They moved into a house in London nicknamed "The Court of King Freddie". Mary still lived in that house after she and Mercury broke up.

paragraphs: Mercury was in love with a local barber when he died. He had been with him in a relationship for six years when it was learned by the media that Mercury had AIDS. One day after the news was broadcast, Mercury died of a type of pneumonia caused by AIDS on 24 November 1991.


title: Sun Tzu

paragraphs: Sun Tzu (544 BC – 496 BC) also called Sun Wu, was an ancient Chinese general, military expert and philosopher. He is widely believed to have been the author of the most important work of military strategy and theory, "The Art of War". His name means 'Master Sun'. His family name is Sun, Tzu is an honorific (title of respect) meaning 'master'.

paragraphs: Most of what we know about Sun Tzu comes from Ssu-ma Ch'ien's "Shih chi", also called the Records of the Grand Historian. According to the Grand Historian, Sun Tzu lived during the period called 'The Spring and Autumn Period of China'. This era dates from 770 BC to 476 BC.

paragraphs: Sun Tzu was born in the State of Qi (modern Shandong province). This is according to the Records of the Grand Historian. However, the "Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yueh" claim he was born in Wu. Sun Tzu lived during the turbulent period of the late Chou dynasty. His grew up in a military family and he studied military science. Not much is known about his childhood or early life. It is known that at some point in his life he became known as a great general and a military strategist. He became a general for King Helü of Wu.

paragraphs: Sun Tzu won battles by not actually fighting his enemy when it wasn't necessary. He recommended spies, deception and a commander having complete control of his soldiers. When he did fight, he understood warfare better than most of his opponents. Sun Tzu learned to win battles with the least loss of his own men.

paragraphs: Many historians believe he was the victor at the Battle of Boju in 506 BC. The great historian Sima Qian (145/135–86 BC), author of "Shiji" (Historical Record), called Sun Tzu an exceptional strategic battlefield commander. He also said Sun Tzu was both flexible and had unlimited surprises for his enemies. Sima Qian wrote that in his nearly 40-years as a general, Sun Tzu never lost a battle, a campaign or a war.

paragraphs: The Art of War was one of the earliest books on Chinese warfare. It remains one of the best known and most influential books ever written. The book was widely copied in the ancient world. An early copy was discovered in 1972. It was written on bamboo slats that were sewn together. It became known in the western world during the late 18th century. It wasn't translated into English until the 20th century.

paragraphs: At that time the rules for warfare were based on chivalry. War was the sport of rich noblemen. Sun Tzu refused to see war as a sport. He used Taoist principles and applied them to warfare. In doing this he changed the rules of war. Unlike generals who enjoyed long campaigns, he understood war was serious. Sun Tzu believed that once a war started, the goal was to defeat the enemy. Sun Tzu was unconventional in that he didn't follow the prevailing wisdom of his time. Other generals were simply unprepared for Sun Tzu's tactics.

paragraphs: For at least the last two thousand years, Sun Tzu has had a tremendous influence on military thinking. The Art of War is credited by Mao Zedong as having helped him defeat Chiang Kai-Shek in the Chinese Civil War. Ho Chi Minh was a fan of Sun Tzu. He led the Communist Vietnamese in their fight against American-backed South Vietnam. American generals Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell followed principals in the Art of War in the Gulf War.


title: Western world

paragraphs: Western world has meant various things at various times. In the earliest history of europe it referred to Ancient Greece and the Aegean. During the Roman Empire, it meant the Western Roman Empire (covering the area from Croatia to Britain). At other times, it has meant Western Europe or Europe or Christendom. During the Cold War, it sometimes meant the democratic countries or those allied with the various NATO powers.

paragraphs: In this day and age, it often refers to the places that have a European heritage culture. This european heritage itself is a combination of, Judeo-Christian ethic, Classical Greco-Roman thinking and the cultural practices of the "barbarian" peoples of Northern Europe. Under the strictest definition, it would include North America, Australia and Western/Central Europe: with the identities of Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Singapore, Israel and South Africa being disputed due to the mix of both western and non western culture.


title: Mouse

paragraphs: A mouse (plural "mice") is a rodent, which is a kind of mammal.

paragraphs: It has a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse ("Mus musculus"). Usually, house mice are brownish-gray. It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. They are known to invade homes for food and occasionally shelter.

paragraphs: These small animals are often used in science experiments, or sometimes kept as pets. Some mice carry diseases. In some places they damage crops. This causes some people to think of mice as vermin or pests. Many other people think mice are cute and fun animals.

paragraphs: Mice are rodents, therefore they are related to squirrels, rats, and beavers. Mice eat weeds, seeds, berries, and more. They are eaten by owls, foxes, and cats, amongst others.

paragraphs: The word "mouse" should only be used for small murines, but does get used for other distantly-related small rodents. The murines are the largest subfamily of mammals. In fact, it is larger than almost all mammal orders.

paragraphs: The common house mouse is thought of as a pest. They are found in the homes of humans.

paragraphs: Voles are "not" mice, they are in a different family of rodents.

paragraphs: These are not mice either, or only distantly related. These mice live in forests. They can run and jump better than mice, and they get their common name from this.

paragraphs: The aggressive "grasshopper mouse" rarely eats other mice, but it does like grasshoppers and insects. It is also only a distant relative.

paragraphs: Anthropomorphism makes cartoon mice look and act more like people than like real mice. For example, the Disney characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse walk, talk, and act like people. Jerry, the mouse star of Tom and Jerry cartoons, is similarly humanized.


title: Advance Wars

paragraphs: Advance Wars is a video game for the Game Boy Advance. It is based on earlier games for Nintendo systems such as the Famicom and Game Boy. It is a strategy game: players must think of ways to win.

paragraphs: The game can be played with two, three, or four players at a time. Each player takes turns controlling their military-style playing pieces, called "units." Every unit can move along the playing field, which is split up into squares. The amount of squares a unit can move in one turn is different for each unit.

paragraphs: Most units can attack other units. Each unit has its own strength and defense. Strength is how much damage the unit can do to another unit. Defense is how much damage it can avoid taking whenever it is attacked. For example, the tank unit has more defense than the soldier, so even though the helicopter always has the same amount of attacking power, it can do more damage to the soldier than the tank.


title: Solomon Islands

paragraphs: The Solomon Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific. They are known for their beauty and for the many languages spoken there. The capital of the Solomon Islands is Honiara.

paragraphs: In the 1890s the islands became a protectorate of the British Empire.

paragraphs: Empire of Japan forces arrived in early 1942 and the United States Marine Corps attacked them, starting the Guadalcanal Campaign.

paragraphs: There was civil untrest between 1998 and 2003, commonly called "the tensions" or "the ethnic tension"; it included fighting between the Isatabu Freedom Movement (also known as the Guadalcanal Revolutionary Army) and the Malaita Eagle Force (as well as the Marau Eagle Force). (Although much of the conflict was between Guales and Malaitans, two research papers say that the 'ethnic conflict' label is an oversimplification.

paragraphs: In 2006, riots broke out following the election of Snyder Rini as Prime Minister, destroying part of the capital's Chinatown and displacing more than 1,000 Chinese residents; The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), the 16-country Pacific Islands Forum initiative set up in 2003 with assistance from Australia, intervened, sending in additional police and army officers to bring the situation under control. A motion of no confidence was passed against the Prime Minister. Following his resignation, a five-party Grand Coalition for Change Government was formed in May 2006, with Manasseh Sogavare as Prime Minister, quelling the riots and running the government. The army part of RAMSI was removed and rebuilding took shape.

paragraphs: On 13 December 2007, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was toppled by a vote of no confidence in Parliament, following the defection of five ministers to the opposition. It was the first time a prime minister had lost office in this way in Solomon Islands. On 20 December, Parliament elected the opposition's candidate (and former Minister for Education) Derek Sikua as Prime Minister, in a vote of 32 to 15.

paragraphs: On 2 April 2007 at 07:39:56 local time (UTC+11) an earthquake with magnitude 8.1 occurred at hypocenter S8.453 E156.957, 349 kilometres (217 miles) northwest of the island's capital, Honiara and south-east of the capital of Western Province, Gizo, at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). More than 44 aftershocks with magnitude 5.0 or greater occurred up until 22:00:00 UTC, Wednesday, 4 April 2007. A tsunami followed killing at least 52 people, destroying more than 900 homes and leaving thousands of people homeless. Land upthrust extended the shoreline of one island, Ranongga, by up to 70 metres (230 ft) exposing many once pristine coral reefs.

paragraphs: On February 6, 2013, an earthquake with magnitude of 8.0 occurred at epicentre S10.80 E165.11 in the Santa Cruz Islands followed by a tsunami up to 1.5 metres. At least nine people were killed and many houses demolished. The main quake was preceded by a sequence of earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 6.0.

paragraphs: The country is divided into nine provinces and the town of Honiara.


title: Intestine

paragraphs: The intestines of an animal are like a hollow tube so that food and bile from the stomach can reach the small

paragraphs: The first part of the small intestine is called the duodenum. It is where most of the food is broken down by enzymes. Further on, the small intestine absorbs useful compounds from the digested food. It does this through small villi or tiny microvilli. These are very small, hair-like structures in the walls of the intestine.

paragraphs: The large intestine is also called the bowel. It absorbs water, and any nutrients still remaining. It also absorbs vitamins made by the gut flora in the colon. Finally it expels waste through the anus.


title: Chemical equation

paragraphs: A chemical equation is a way to predict the way that two or more chemicals will work together. Using what chemists know about the way chemicals act, we add the letter symbols together just like a math problem. In this way we can correctly guess if we will get a new chemical when we mix two or more chemicals together, and what that chemical will be.

paragraphs: Chemical equations are either worded or written using the elements' symbols, how much of the element and in what state (solid[s], liquid[l], gas[g]) it is in.

paragraphs: For example: An aqueous solution of sodium chloride (NaCl[aq]) and another aqueous solution of silver nitrate (AgNO[aq]). These mixed together form sodium nitrate (NaNO[aq]) and silver chloride (AgCl[s])

paragraphs: NaCl(aq) + AgNO(aq) → NaNO(aq) + AgCl(s)

paragraphs: The solutions formed the solid AgCl. This formation can be called a precipitate and the reaction between the two solutions a precipitation reaction, because the solid produced is not dissolved, whereas all the other products are dissolved.

paragraphs: Chemical equations need to be balanced to satisfy the law of conservation of matter. Chemical equations tell that in a closed system matter is neither created nor destroyed. The chemical equation needs to be balanced so that it follows the law of conservation of mass. A balanced chemical equation happens when the number of the different atoms of elements on the reactants side is equal to that of the products side.

paragraphs: Balancing chemical equations is a process of trial and error. To balance the equation, the amounts of the reactants and products must be changed. As necessary, by adding coefficients in front of the appropriate formulas. When balancing an equation, never change the subscripts, because that changes the substance. To determine the number of atoms of each element, the coefficient is multiplied times the subscripts in each formula.

paragraphs: A chemical equation is a written symbolic representation of a chemical reaction. The reactant chemicals are given on the left-hand side and the product chemical on the right-hand side. The law of conservation of mass says that no atoms can be made in a chemical reaction. Also, it cannot be destroyed. So the number of atoms that are present in the reactants has to balance the number of atoms that are present in the reaction.

paragraphs: There are two practices of balancing a chemical equation. The first one is balancing by Inspection. Balancing by inspection is the most basic method used. It works best for simple problems. More complicated ones require experience. The second one is Balancing by Numerical Method. The most important parts of the numerical methotrexate, contrary to the inspection method, it gives the answer. If the reaction can be balanced, coefficients can be seen. If the reaction can't be balanced, it means that there are more unidentified than independent statements, or that statements are opposite. With inspection method, it won't prove that the equation can't be balanced.

paragraphs: why do we need to balance a chemical equation?

paragraphs: "we need to balance a chemical equation because "law of conservation of mass"" state that mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.

paragraphs: So number of elements involved in a chemical reaction should remain same at reactant and product side.