title: Observer effect

paragraphs: The observer effect, or observer bias, means several things in different situations, although there are similarities.

paragraphs: In science, the term observer effect means that the act of observing will influence the phenomenon being observed.

paragraphs: For example, for us to "see" an electron, a photon must first interact with it, and this interaction will change the path of that electron. It is also theoretically possible for other, less direct means of measurement to affect the electron; even if the electron is simply put into a position where observing it is "possible", without actual observation taking place, it will still (theoretically) alter its position.

paragraphs: In physics, a more mundane observer effect can be the result of instruments that by necessity alter the state of what they measure in some manner. For instance, in electronics, ammeters and voltmeters usually need to be connected to the circuit, and so by their very presence affect the current or the voltage they are measuring. Likewise, a standard mercury-in-glass thermometer must absorb some thermal energy to record a temperature, and therefore changes the temperature of the body which it is measuring.

paragraphs: A common lay misunderstanding of the term refers to quantum mechanics, where, if the outcome of an event has not been observed, it exists in a state of '', which is something like being in all possible states at once. In the famous thought experiment known as Schrödinger's cat, the cat is empirically neither alive nor dead until observed – until that time, the cat is theoretically "both" alive and dead (technically half-alive and half-dead in probability terms). However, most quantum physicists, in resolving Schrödinger's seeming paradox, now understand that the acts of 'observation' and 'measurement' must also be defined in quantum terms before the question makes sense. From this point of view, there is no 'observer effect', only one vastly entangled quantum system. A significant minority still find the equations point to an observer; , who probably worked more deeply on this subject than any physicist thus far, devised a graphic in which the universe was represented by a "U" with an eye on one end, turned around and viewing itself, to describe his understanding.

paragraphs: The Heisenberg uncertainty principle is also frequently, confused with the "observer effect". The uncertainty principle actually describes how precisely we may measure the position and momentum of a particle at the same time – if we increase the precision in measuring one quantity, we are forced to lose precision in measuring the other. Thus, the uncertainty principle deals with "measurement", and not "observation". The idea that the Uncertainty Principle is caused by disturbance (and hence by observation) is not considered to be valid by some, although it was discussed in the early years of quantum mechanics, and is often repeated in popular treatments.

paragraphs: There is a related issue in quantum mechanics relating to whether systems have pre-existing – prior to measurement, that is – properties corresponding to measurements that could possibly be made on them. The assumption that they do is often referred to as "realism" in the literature, although it has been argued that the word "realism" is being used in a more restricted sense than philosophical realism. A recent experiment in the realm of quantum physics has been quoted as meaning that we have to "say goodbye" to realism, although the author of the paper states only that "we would [..] have to give up certain features of realism". These experiments demonstrate a puzzling relationship between the act of measurement and the system being measured, but it is unclear if they require a conscious observer or not.

paragraphs: In information technology, the observer effect refers to potential impact of the act of observing a process output while the process is running. For example, if a process records its progress in a log file, the act of viewing the file while the process is running could cause an I/O error in the process, which could, in turn, cause it to stop.

paragraphs: Another example would be observing the performance of a CPU by running both the observed and observing programs on the same CPU. This will lead to inaccurate results because the observer program itself affects the CPU performance (modern, heavily cached and pipelined CPUs are particularly affected by this kind of observation).

paragraphs: Observing (or rather, "debugging") a running program by modifying its source code (such as adding extra output or generating log files) or by running it in a debugger may sometimes cause certain bugs to diminish or change their behavior. This makes more difficulty for the person trying to isolate the so-called "Heisenbug".

paragraphs: In the social sciences and general usage, the effect refers to how people change their behavior when aware of being watched (see Hawthorne effect). For instance, in the armed forces, an announced inspection is used to see how well soldiers can do when they put their minds to it, while a surprise inspection is used to see how well prepared they generally are.

paragraphs: The related social-science term observer bias is error introduced into measurement when observers overemphasize behavior they expect to find and fail to notice behavior they do not expect. This is why medical trials are normally organized as double-blind tests. Observer bias can also be introduced because researchers see a subject doing something, and interpret it according to what it means to them, whereas it may mean something else to the subject.


title: Canton Township, Michigan

paragraphs: Canton, Michigan is a township in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. About 85,539 people live in it according to an educated guess of the U.S. Census Bureau. The FBI decided that it is the 20th safest city in the United States.


title: Probability theory

paragraphs: Probability theory is the part of mathematics that studies random situations. Probability theory usually studies random events, random variables, stochastic processes, and non-deterministic events (events that do not follow a simple pattern).

paragraphs: Tossing a coin, winning the lottery, or rolling a die are random events. However, random events have certain patterns, which can be studied and predicted, using probability theory.

paragraphs: Scientists can use probability theory to obtain information about things that would be too complex to deal with, like statistical mechanics. Also, scientists discovered (in the 20th century) that atoms, and everything that we know, obeys something called quantum mechanics, which uses lots of probability theory.

paragraphs: The theory of probability was created by Gerolamo Cardano, a medical doctor and gambler who tried to calculate his luck. Years later, Pierre de Fermat and Blaise Pascal helped develop Cardano's theory.

paragraphs: Today, probability theory is used in statistics, which is useful to all kinds of areas: like medicine, economy, Science, Mathematics...


title: The Raven

paragraphs: "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It tells the story of a mysterious talking raven who visits a lover; it shows how the lover is slowly going insane. It is often called Poe's most famous poem, its publication made him famous in his day, and today it is still one of the most recognized and respected poems in American literature.


title: Mayan civilization

paragraphs: The Maya civilization were people who lived in Mesoamerica, with Maya languages and Maya religion. They lived there for a long time and some of the Maya people live there even today.

paragraphs: The Maya lived there 4,000 years ago (about 2000 BC). At that date complex societies were living in the Maya region. The staple foods of the Maya diet were cultivated. Their food included maize, beans, squashes, and chili peppers. The first Maya cities developed around 750 BC.

paragraphs: The Maya people used a written language and a numeral system. They were good at art, building, and math. Their priests studied stars and planets, which helped them make calendars.

paragraphs: The Maya civilization was biggest between the years of 420 AD and 900 AD. The Maya civilization spread all the way from central Mexico to Honduras, Guatemala, and northern El Salvador. It is estimated that at its maximum, the civilization had at least ten million people. The Maya people traded with other people in the Americas. Their art and buildings have many different styles. This shows they traded a lot. They made changes to their buildings to make them even better. The Maya civilization started getting smaller after 900 AD.

paragraphs: The Conquistadors arrived in the 15th century and took over Mexico and later Central America, even in the Mayan areas. However, the Maya people still live there today. They live in the same areas the Mayan civilization used to live in. They keep the old Mayan traditions and beliefs.

paragraphs: There are many Mayan languages still spoken today, including one called the Achi language. A play called "Rabinal Achi" is considered important.

paragraphs: The people of the Maya civilization lived in three different areas: the southern Maya highlands, the central lowlands, and the northern lowlands. They had many different types of land, including mountains and dry plains. People living in the low plains by the sea were affected by hurricanes and tropical storms from the Caribbean.

paragraphs: The area covered what we now call the southern Mexican states of Chiapas and Tabasco, and the Yucatán Peninsula states of Quintana Roo, Campeche and Yucatán. They also included where we now call Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and western Honduras.

paragraphs: The first Maya settlements started about 1800 BC. They lived in the Soconusco region, now the state of Chiapas in Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. This is called the "early pre-classic period" in Mayan history'. People in Central America had been nomads who went from place to place to find food and shelter. Around this time they began to settle down.They started to farm animals and make pottery and small clay figures. They buried their dead in simple burial mounds. Later they started to make these mounds into step pyramids.

paragraphs: There were other people around at the time, especially in the north. The Olmec, the Mixe-Zoque, and Zapotec civilizations mostly lived in the area we now call Oaxaca. We don't know exactly where the borders of the Maya civilization were. Many of the most important early examples of writing and buildings appeared in north, so these cultures probably affected the Maya civilization.

paragraphs: From about 250 to 909, the Maya civilization built many monuments and cities, and made many important carvings. The "southern lowlands" were an important place at the time. The Maya civilization made many discoveries about art and thinking there.

paragraphs: Like Ancient Greece, their civilization was made up of numerous cities, which all worked in different ways. People gathered around these cities to farm. Well-known cities were Tikal, Palenque, Copán and Calakmul. Lesser-known cities were Dos Pilas, Uaxactun, Altun Ha, and Bonampak, among others. In general, we know more about where the cities were in the south than we do in the north. Some northern cities we do know about were Oxkintok, Chunchucmil, and Uxmal.

paragraphs: Their most famous monuments are the pyramids they built as part of their religious centers, and the palaces. The palace at Cancuén is the largest we know about in the Maya area. The Maya also made carved stone slabs which they called "tetun", or "tree-stones". These slabs show rulers along with hieroglyphic writing describing their family, military victories, and other things that they did well.

paragraphs: The Maya had trade routes that ran over long distances. They traded with many other Mesoamerican cultures, such as Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, and other groups in central and gulf-coast Mexico. They also traded with groups that were farther away. For example, people who study the Maya civilization found gold from Panama in the Sacred well at Chichen Itza.

paragraphs: Some important things they traded were cacao, salt, sea shells, jade and obsidian.

paragraphs: Between 900 AD and 1000 AD, the cities in the southern lowlands had more and more problems until all the people left. The Maya civilization there stopped making big monuments and carvings. People who study the Maya civilization are not sure why this happened. They have many different ideas - some people think there was a big environmental disaster, or a disease affected a lot of people, or there were just too many people for the amount of food they could grow.

paragraphs: In the north, the Maya civilization kept going. Other cultures started mixing with Mayan culture much more. Some of the important sites in this time were Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Edzná, and Coba. At some point, the families who ruled over Chichen and Uxmal got weaker and the rulers in the city of Mayapan ruled all of the Mayan civilization in the Yucatán peninsula until there was a revolt in 1450. After the revolt, the whole area broke up into different cities who fought against each other, until the Spanish conquest of Yucatán.

paragraphs: The Itza Maya, Ko'woj, and Yalain groups around what is now Guatamela were still around, but there were not very many of them. By 1520, they had built themselves back up again and started to build cities. The Itza had their capital at Tayasal (also known as Noh Petén), and people who study the Maya civlisation think what's left of this city is below the modern city of Flores, Guatemala on Lake Petén Itzá. The Ko'woj had their capital at Zacpeten. Some Mayan cultures were still living in the southern highlands.

paragraphs: The Quiché kingdom produced the most famous Mayan work, the Popol Vuh. It talks about the creation of the world, the Mayan gods and goddesses, how humans and animals were created and why the Quiché kingdom was the best one in the Maya civilization.

paragraphs: The Spanish started to conquer Maya lands. It took them a long time (170 years) to finish doing this because the Mayans had no capital city and each city had a different culture. The last Mayan states, the Itza city of Tayasal and the Ko'woj city of Zacpeten, still had people living in them late into the 17th century. They were finally conquered in 1697.

paragraphs: There are still about 6 million Maya people living in Central America.


title: Mesoamerican chronology

paragraphs: Looking at the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica one can see some rather different periods between the first humans and the early Colonial period (which followed the Spanish colonization of the Americas) in the end.

paragraphs: The Paleo-Indian (not so often Lithic) period or era is that which begins with the first signs of human presence in the region and leads to agriculture and other practices (e.g. pottery, permanent settlements) characteristic of proto-civilizations. In Mesoamerica, the end of this phase was at ca. 8,000 BC. It was a period of hunter-gatherers.

paragraphs: In this time agriculture and permanent villages developed in the region. Late in this era, people used pottery and started weaving with a .

paragraphs: Nation-states developed and with them the first large scale ceremonial architecture and cities. That were the Olmec civilization, the early Zapotec, Monte Alto Culture in Guatemala's pacifc lowlands, and Maya civilization.

paragraphs: Teotihuacan grows to a metropolis and its empire dominates Mesoamerica. During this time the cities of the Maya southern lowlands, such as Tikal, Palenque, and Copán have their greatest era.

paragraphs: The Classic Era ended earlier in Central Mexico, with the fall of Teotihuacan around the 7th century, than it did in the Maya area, which continued for centuries more. Around this time, many southern lowland sites (most notably in Tikal) experienced a short period of limited decline, called the Middle Classic Hiatus. The later period of Maya's continued growth is sometimes known as the Florescent Era.

paragraphs: In the early 20th century, the term Old Empire was sometimes given to this era of Maya civilization in an analogy to Ancient Egypt; the term is now considered inaccurate and has long been out of use by serious writers on the subject.

paragraphs: Many of the great nations and cities of the Classic Era collapsed, but some continue, such as in Oaxaca, Cholula, and the Maya of Yucatán, such as at Chichen Itza and Uxmal. This is sometimes seen as a period of increased chaos and warfare. The Toltec for a time dominate central Mexico in the 11th - 13th century, then collapse. The northern Maya are for a time united under Mayapan. The Aztec Empire rises in the early 15th century and seems on the path to gain a dominance over the whole region not seen since Teotihuacan, when Mesoamerica is discovered by Spain and conquered by the Conquistadores.

paragraphs: The late florescence of the northern Maya was sometimes called the New Empire in the early 20th century, but this term is no longer considered appropriate and is no longer used.

paragraphs: Arguably, the Post-Classic continued until the conquest of the last independent native state of Mesoamerica, Tayasal, in 1697.


title: Beck

paragraphs: Beck Hansen (better known as simply Beck) (born Bek David Campbell, July 8, 1970 in Los Angeles, California) is an American singer, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for folky rock music, unusual lyrics, and post-modern arrangements, which has made him one of the most outstanding in 1990s alternative rock.

paragraphs: He became extremely popular with his hit song "Loser" in 1994. Beck is known for including various styles of music into his songs, including folk music, electronica, indie music, techno, rock music, and alternative music, among others.

paragraphs: Hansen married actress Marissa Ribisi in 2004. They currently have two children: a son, Cosimo Henri, and a daughter, Tuesday.


title: Prime Meridian

paragraphs: The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of longitude) that goes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in London it is also known as the International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian. Other longitudes are given as east or west of the Prime Meridian.

paragraphs: Lines like this are not actually lines on the ground, but are ways of saying where a place is on the globe. The ones that run horizontal (east to west) are called latitude. They tell us how far a location is from the equator. The other lines are vertical and are known as longitudes.

paragraphs: Such is the Meridian's fame that each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors from all around the world make their way to the Observatory to stand astride the Line. But its position is marked in hundreds of other places too. On its path from pole to pole, the Meridian passes through England, France, Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana and Antarctica.


title: Retirement

paragraphs: Retirement is when people stop working. People may retire when they reach a certain age, or if they get sick or have an accident, or even for their own choice. Some people may semi-retire and keep some sort of job.people typically due this after working for so many years and growing tired of it.


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title: Trdat the Architect

paragraphs: Trdat the Architect (c. 950-1020) (Armenian: Տրդատ ճարտարապետ), known in Latin as Tiridates, was chief architect of the Bagratuni Dynasty of Armenia.

paragraphs: After a great earthquake in 989 destroyed the dome of Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine officials sent Trdat to Byzantium to organize repairs. The restored dome was completed by 994.


title: Byzantium

paragraphs: Byzantium () was an ancient Greek city. The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion.

paragraphs: The city became the center of the Byzantine Empire, (the Greek-speaking Roman Empire of late Antiquity and the Middle Ages), but at that time it was already called Constantinople.

paragraphs: The origins of Byzantium are not clear. There is only a legend. It tells that a certain Byzas from Megara (a town near Athens), founded Byzantium, when he sailed northeast across the Aegean Sea. He had asked the Oracle at Delphi where he should found his new city. The Oracle told him to find it "opposite the blind." At the time, he did not know what this meant. But when he came upon the Bosporus he realized what it meant: on the Asiatic shore was a Greek city, Chalcedon. It was they who must have been blind because they had not seen that obviously superior land was just a half mile away on the other side of the Bosporus. Byzas founded his city here in this "superior" land and named it Byzantion after himself.

paragraphs: Byzantion was mainly a trading city due to its strategic location at the Black Sea's only entrance. Byzantion later conquered Chalcedon, across the Bosporus.

paragraphs: When it fought with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus, the city was besieged by Roman forces and suffered extensive damage in 196 AD. Byzantium was rebuilt by Septimius Severus, when he had become emperor, and quickly regained its earlier prosperity.

paragraphs: When Roman Emperor Constantine I decided to move his capital to the Eastern part of the Roman Empire he chose the place of Byzantion because of its strategical value. He refounded it, in 330 AD, as "Nova Roma". After his death the city was called Constantinople ('city of Constantine'). It remained the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which was later called the Byzantine Empire by historians.

paragraphs: Following the legend the citizens of Byzantium claimed the crescent moon as their state symbol, after an important victory in 670 BC. However, the origin of the crescent and star as a symbol dates back much earlier - to ancient Babylon and ancient Egypt. But Byzantium was the first city that used the crescent moon as its symbol. In 330 AD Constantine I added the Virgin Mary's star to the flag.


title: Coat of Arms of Armenia

paragraphs: The national coat of arms of Armenia consists of an eagle and a lion supporting a shield. The coat of arms combines new and old symbols. The eagle and lion are ancient Armenian symbols dating from the first Armenian kingdoms that existed prior to Christ.

paragraphs: The current coat of arms was adopted on 19 April 1992 by the Armenian Supreme Council decision. On 15 June 2006, the law on the state coat of arms of Armenia was passed by the Armenian Parliament.

paragraphs: The shield consists of many parts. In the center is an image of Mount Ararat with Noah's Ark sitting on top of it. According to tradition, the ark is said to have finally rested on the mountain after the great flood. Ararat is considered the national symbol of Armenia and so is of significant importance to the coat of arms. Surrounding Mount Ararat are symbols of old Armenian dynasties. In the lower left portion of the shield, there are two eagles looking at each other, symbolizing the length of the Armenian territory during the reign of the Artaxiad Dynasty that ruled in the 1st century BC. In the upper left portion, there is a lion with a cross, the emblem for the Bagratuni dynasty that ruled during the Middle Ages, between 7th and 11th centuries. Under this dynasty, Armenia blossomed culturally, making its capital, Ani, one of the most important cultural, social and commercial centers of its time. Bagratuni was destroyed by the Byzantine Empire's encroachment and by Seljuk invasions in the 11th century AD. In the upper right portion, there is a two-headed eagle, the emblem of the first dynasty to reign over a Christian Armenia, the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia. Tiridates III of Arsacid Dynasty made Armenia the first Christian nation in 301 AD. This dynasty ruled from the 1st century AD to 428 AD. In the lower right portion, there is a lion with a cross, the emblem of the Rubenid dynasty. This dynasty reigned in Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, a state that expanded and prospered during the 12th and 13th centuries, until the Mamelukes and Turks eventually conquered it.

paragraphs: The eagle supports the shield on the left side of the coat of arms, while the lion on the right side. The eagle was the symbol of the Artaxiad Dynasty and later on the symbol of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia. It holds the Artaxiad Dynasty's branch of the shield. Whereas, the lion was the symbol of the Bagratuni Dynasty and later on the symbol of the Rubenid Dynasty. It holds the Rubenid Dynasty's branch of the shield.

paragraphs: Both of these animals were chosen because of their power, courage, patience, wisdom, and nobility in animal kingdom.

paragraphs: The present-day Armenian coat of arms has its origins with the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA) in 1918. In that year, an early variation of the coat of arms was adopted by the DRA. The symbols on this earlier version were placed in a slightly different order and the eagle and lion have their tongues out, giving them a more menacing look. It's also worthy to note that only Mount Ararat (along with Little Ararat) are depicted while Noah's Ark is absent. The coat of arms was designed by architect and member of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts Alexander Tamanian (best known for his work on Yerevan's city plan) and artist Hakob Kojoyan.

paragraphs: In 1922 Armenia was incorporated into Transcaucasian SFSR with Georgia and Azerbaijan. The coat of arms of the Transcaucasian SFSR was adopted by the government of the Transcaucasian SFSR. It is uncertain when exactly it was adopted. It incorporates designs from each of the three major groups that combined in the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Armenians, Azeri and Georgians, and unusually features Islamic art and communist elements side by side. The latticework in the star itself bespeaks the former coat of arms of Georgia from 1918-1921 and adopted again from 1991-2004; the crescent moon represents the Muslim Azeris, on a background depicting the national symbol of the Armenians, Mount Ararat.

paragraphs: In 1937, a new coat of arms was adopted. Like the DRA coat of arms, this coat showed Mount Ararat along with the Soviet hammer and sickle and red star behind it. The inclusion of Ararat brought objections from Turkey because the mountain is part of its territory. The Kremlin retorted that although the Turkish symbol was the crescent, it did not mean that they laid claim to the moon. The Soviet Union broke apart in 1991 and Armenia thus became an independent republic.


title: Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia

paragraphs: The Arsacid Dynasty or (sometimes called the Arshakuni Dynasty) ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 54 to 428. They started as a branch of the Parthian Arsacids but became a distinctly Armenian dynasty later on. Armenia was between the Parthian and Roman Empires and both were trying to control it. Arsacid Kings reigned intermittently throughout the chaotic years after the fall of the Artaxiad Dynasty until 62 when Tiridates I of Armenia secured Arsacid rule in Armenia.

paragraphs: An independent line of Kings was established by Vologases II of Armenia (Valarses/Vagharshak) in 180. Two of the most notable events under Arsacid rule in Armenian history were the conversion of Armenia to Christianity by St. Gregory the Illuminator in 301 and the creation of the Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots in 405.


title: Hakob Kojoyan

paragraphs: Hakob Karapetovich Kojoyan (1883 - 1959) was an Armenian artist. He worked in genres of painting, landscapes, and applied art. Hakob Kojoyan was awarded the designation of "People's Artist of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic." He helped Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian to create the coat of arms for the Democratic Republic of Armenia.

paragraphs: Hakob Kojoyan was born in Akhaltsikhe (now in Georgia) to a family of Armenian jewelers. As a boy he apprenticed to the goldsmith's craft and learned engraving. At age 20 he went to study art in Munich, Germany, and in 1905 went to the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in Russia, where he studied for two years. He later spent time in Paris and Moscow, then in 1918 returned to Armenia.


title: Alexander Tamanian

paragraphs: Alexander Tamanian (, March 4, 1878, Yekaterinodar - February 20, 1936, Yerevan) was an Armenian neoclassical architect, who is remembered today for his work in the city of Yerevan.


title: Ani

paragraphs: "This article is about the city in Turkey. For the Etruscan god, see Ani"

paragraphs: Ani (, Latin: Abnicum) is a ruined and uninhabited medieval city-site in Turkey. It is in the province of Kars, beside the border with Armenia. It was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present-day Armenia and eastern Turkey.

paragraphs: At the height of its great times, Ani had a population of 100,000 - 200,000 people and was the rival of Constantinople, Baghdad and Cairo. Long ago renowned for its splendor and magnificence, Ani has been abandoned and largely forgotten for centuries.

paragraphs: Armenian chroniclers first mention Ani in the 5th century AD. They describe it as a strong fortress built on a hilltop and a possession of the Armenian Kamsarakan dynasty.

paragraphs: By the early 9th century the former territories of the Kamsarakans in Arsharunik and Shirak (including Ani) had been incorporated into the territories of the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty. Their leader, Ashot "Msaker" (Ashot the Meateater) (806-827) was given the title of "ishkhan" (prince) of Armenia by the Caliphate in 804.

paragraphs: There are many other minor monuments at Ani. These include a convent known as the Virgins' chapel; a church used by Chalcedonian Armenians; the remains of a single-arched bridge over the Arpa river; the ruins of numerous oil-presses and several bath houses; the remains of a second mosque with a collapsed minaret; a palace that probably dates from the 13th century; the foundations of several other palaces and smaller residences; the recently excavated remains of several streets lined with shops; etc.


title: Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

paragraphs: The Armenian SSR or Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia, came into being on 29 November 1920. On 1 December 1920, the Prime Minister Simon Vratsian handed over control of the country to the Communist Party of Armenia. The name was later changed to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

paragraphs: The modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union.


title: Extinct language

paragraphs: An extinct language is a language that no longer is the first language or the second language of anyone. The opposite of a modern language, an extinct language is not spoken anymore and so no longer develops or changes. The first recorded example in human history is Sumerian.

paragraphs: It is not to be confused with a dead language, such as Latin, which is still spoken as a second language.

paragraphs: With last known speaker and/or date of death.


title: Armenian Americans

paragraphs: An Armenian American is an American whose ancestry is from Armenia. During the 2009 Census in the United States, 1,270,000 Americans indicated either full or partial Armenian ancestry.

paragraphs: The first Armenian known to have moved to America is nicknamed "Martin the Armenian". He was one of the settlers in the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. He arrived in Jamestown in 1618, when the colony was only 11 years old. Martin was invited to the colony to raise silk worms. Other Armenians were also brought to the colony but they went back to Europe.

paragraphs: Armenians began to arrive in the United States in high numbers in the late 19th century. However, the influx was intensified when over 100,000 Armenian refugees came after World War I to flee the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.


title: Thomas Cavendish

paragraphs: Sir Thomas Cavendish (or Candish) (1560-1592) was an English sea explorer. He was known as "the Navigator" because he led the third expedition to travel around ("circumnavigate") the globe. Cavendish was the first who set sail to do this. Magellan and Francis Drake were the first two to circumnavigate the globe, but they did not intend to do so. Cavendish died at sea on his second voyage around the world.


title: William Saroyan

paragraphs: William Saroyan () (August 31, 1908 - May 18, 1981) was an American author who wrote many plays and short stories about growing up impoverished as the son of Armenian immigrants. These stories were popular during the Great Depression. Saroyan grew up in Fresno, the center of Armenian-Americans in California, where many of his works are set (although he sometimes gave the city a fictional name).

paragraphs: Asked how to say his name, he told "The Literary Digest" "In Armenian it is "sor-row'yan", accent on "row". In America it is mispronounced with... 'roy.'"

paragraphs: Saroyan was born in Fresno, California, the son of an Armenian immigrant. His father moved to New Jersey in 1905 - he was a small vineyard owner, who had been educated as a Presbyterian minister. At a certain point his father was forced to take farm-laboring work, and he died in 1911. At the age of four, William Saroyan was placed in the Fred Finch Orphanage in Oakland, California, together with his brother and sister - an experience he later described in his writing. Five years later the family reunited in Fresno, where his mother, Takoohi, had obtained work in a cannery.


title: Raphael Lemkin

paragraphs: Raphael Lemkin, (June 24, 1900 in Belarus – August 28, 1959 in New York City) was a lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent. Before World War II, Lemkin was interested in the Armenian Genocide and campaigned in the League of Nations to ban what he called "barbarity" and "vandalism". He is best known for his work against genocide, a word he coined in 1943 from the root words "genos" (Greek for family, tribe or race) and "-cide" (Latin for killing).

paragraphs: Lemkin died of a heart attack at the public relations office of Milton H. Blow in New York City in 1959, at the age of 59. In an ironic final twist for a man whose life was dedicated to the remembrance of millions of victims of genocide, seven people attended his funeral.


title: Vakıflı

paragraphs: Vakıflı Köyü ( — Vakif) is the only ethnic Armenian village in Turkey. It is on the slopes of Musa Dagh in the Samandağ district of Hatay Province. It has a view of the Mediterranean Sea. From the village, people can see the Syrian border. There are about 130 Turkish-Armenians.


title: Spanish colonization of the Americas

paragraphs: The Spanish colonization of the Americas began with the arrival in America of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón) in 1492. This was the first part of the European colonization of the Americas.

paragraphs: The Spanish expanded their territories in America over the years until they included Central America, most of South America, Mexico, the South of what today is Southern United States, the Western part of what today is the United States, the Southwestern part of what today is British Columbia in Canada, and even reaching Alaska. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Spanish possessions in America began a series of independence movements, which led to the complete separation from Spain by the mid 1820's of Mexico, and the colonies in Central and South America. The remaining Spanish colonies, Cuba and Puerto Rico, were lost in 1898 as a consequence of the Spanish-American War


title: Conquistador

paragraphs: A Conquistador (English: "Conqueror"; : "Conquistadores", or "Conquistadors") was a Spanish soldier, explorer and adventurer. The "Conquistadors" invaded and conquered much of the Americas and the Philippines Islands and other islands in Asia Pacific. Many of them were "hidalgos" (noblemen of low category).

paragraphs: Their conquests brought these lands under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 17th centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement by Christopher Columbus in what is now the Bahamas. They created what is now called Latin America.

paragraphs: The first immensely successful conquistador was Hernán Cortés. Between 1520 and 1521, Cortés, along with native enemies of the Aztecs, conquered the mighty Aztec Empire. Present day Mexico came under the dominion of the Spanish Empire, as New Spain. Francisco Pizarro later found and conquered the similarly large Inca Empire.


title: Shushanik Kurghinian

paragraphs: Shushanik Kurghinian (Popoljian) (1876-1927) was an Armenian poet. Kurghinian received little or no recognition for her outstanding poems. Although a socialist with some stirring poems of labour's rebellion to her name, she remained a dim star even in the Soviet era. Today she is almost unknown, away from the literary canon in Armenia and the Diaspora.

paragraphs: Shushanik Kurghinian was born on August 18, 1876, in Alexandrapol, in the Yerevan province of Eastern Armenia, into a poor family of Popolji Harout. In her autobiography Shushanik writes of her childhood: “Sometimes father would bring his [shoe-repair] ‘workstation’ home, in order to save money, and I would work for him – demanding my wages, every single kopek (Coin). My mother, having been raised in a traditional household, would reprove my ‘ill behavior toward my parent,’and blamed those harmful books for corrupting me.”

paragraphs: `Whoever is without hope, dulled, without spirit,<br>


title: Gyumri

paragraphs: Gyumri (Armenian:Գյումրի) is the capital and largest city of the Shirak province in northwest Armenia. It is located about 75 miles from the capital Yerevan, and, with a population of 150,917 (2001 census), is the second-largest city in Armenia.


title: Arminianism

paragraphs: Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought in Protestant Christian theology founded by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius.


title: Ruben Sevak

paragraphs: Sevak Ruben or Ruben Sevak (February 15, 1885 - August 26, 1915) was an Armenian poet a prose-writer, and a doctor.

paragraphs: Among many others, he was arrested on April 24, 1915 and killed on August 26, 1915 during the Armenian Genocide.


title: National Gallery of Armenia

paragraphs: National Gallery of Armenia at Yerevan, Armenia.

paragraphs: The old Armenian subdivision owns works of famous Armenian artists of early medieval and succeeding periods.

paragraphs: Today its collection is over 19,000 specimens shown in the Russian, Armenian and West-European divisions of paintings, sculptures, graphic and applied arts.

paragraphs: The National Art Gallery of Armenia has a lot of branches in Yerevan and other towns of the republic. The memorial-houses of the artist Hakop Kojoyan and the sculptor Ara Sarkissian are in the capital. They exhibit the best works of the two far-famed men of arts.

paragraphs: In 1935 the art section was changed into Art Museum, in 1947 it was called State Museum of Armenia and from 1991 it was renamed as National Gallery of Armenia. In 1978 a new 8 storey building was put into exploitation. Now the collection of the NGA includes about 26.000 museum exhibits and the building has 56 exposition halls in which there are presented the museums treasures by temporary and permanent exhibitions.

paragraphs: Armenian art presents the considerable part of the exposition. It begins with ancient and Medieval Art: Urartu frescoes, with valuable documental copies of Garni temple’s mosaics and Medieval wall-paintings and miniatures, also Clerical paintings of XVII-XIX centuries, silver book-covers of manuscripts, crosses, etc.

paragraphs: The exposition is continued by the works of Armenian classics /H.Hovnatanian, H.Ayvazovski, G.Bashinjaghian, P.Terlemezian, V.Sureniants, V.Mahokian / by works of XX century artists /M.Saryan, H.Kojoyan, H.Gurdjian, E.Chahin, G.Khanjian, M.Avetisian and by works of other remarkable artists /.

paragraphs: Russian art is representative in the collection of NGA. Here you can see sacred images of XVI-XVII centuries and works of XVIII-XX centuries well known artists F. Rokotov, I.Argunov, F.Shubin, I.Repin,V.Serov,M.Goncharova,I.Mashkov,S.Konenkov,W.Kandinski,M.Chagal, etc.

paragraphs: In the halls of foreign art the exposition begins with the culture of Ancient World Egypt and Greece. Here there are presented works by well-known artists of Italian, Holland, Flemish and French art schools /F. Guerchino, Jan Van Goyen, P. Claesz, E. M. Falconet, J. B.Greuze, T.Rousseau, A. Monticelli/.

paragraphs: In 2008 there was opened pavilion of Hakob Gurjian’s works, also reopened and enlarged the permanent exposition of XVII-XIX centuries Armenian Clerical art.

paragraphs: The restoration and conservation studios operate in the gallery. There is a library, an archive, cafeteria, souvenir and book store, also operates film and lecturing hall.

paragraphs: The National Gallery of Armenia participates to international exhibitions with separate art works from his collection, organizes exhibitions of Armenian art in different countries greatly facilitating the recognition of national art.

paragraphs: The National Gallery has branch museums in Yerevan/ H.Kojoyan and A.Sargsian home-museum, Jotto /G. Grigorian studio/,in Echmiadzin/The Echmiadzin gallery,Mher Abeghian museum/in Hrazdan/Hrazdan gallery/,in Jermuk/The Jermuk gallery/,in Sisian/The Sisian gallery/, in Alaverdi/The Alaverdi gallery/in Eghegnadzor /The Eghjegnadzor gallery/, in Gavar/the Academician H.Buniatian Gavar gallery/, in Martuni/the Martuni gallery/and in Jajur the M. Avetissian museum/.

paragraphs: In different years the gallery directed R. Drambian /1925-1951/, R.Parsamian /1952-1962/, A.Chilingarian/1962-1967/, E.Isabekian/ 1967-1986/, A.TerGabrielian/ 1986-1990/, Sh.Khatchatrian/ 1991-2002/ and P.Mirzoyan/2002/ noted artists who has great contribution to the enlargement of the collection in the field of popularization and scientific research.


title: Armenian Evangelical Church

paragraphs: The Armenian Evangelical Church (Armenian: Հայաստանեայց Աւետարանական Եկեղեցի) was established on July 1, 1846 by thirty-seven men and three women in Constantinople.

paragraphs: In the 19th century, there was intellectual and spiritual awakening in Constantinople. This awakening and enlightenment pushed the reformists to study the Bible. Under the patronage of the Armenian Patriarchate, a school was opened, headed by Krikor Peshdimaljian, one of the leading intellectuals of the time. The principal aim of this school was to train qualified clergy for the Armenian Apostolic Church.

paragraphs: Today, there are 88 Armenian Evangelical Churches in the following countries: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, England, France, Georgia, Greece, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay, and the United States of America.


title: Armenian alphabet

paragraphs: The Armenian alphabet is an alphabet that has been used to write the Armenian language since the 5th century.

paragraphs: The Armenian word for "alphabet" is այբուբեն (CA, EA: , or WA: ), named after the first two letters of the Armenian alphabet.


title: Orontid Dynasty

paragraphs: The Orontid Dynasty (in Armenian: Երվանդունիների թագավորություն) was the first Armenian dynasty. The Orontids established their supremacy over Armenia around the time of the invasions by the Scythians and Medes in the 6th century BC.


title: Armenian Highland

paragraphs: The Armenian Highland (also known as the Armenian Upland or Armenian Plateau) is part of the Transcaucasian Highland and constitutes the continuation of the Caucasus mountains, also referred as eastern Armenia.

paragraphs: The apricot is native to China and spread to Europe through the Armenia Highlands. It came to be known throughout the ancient world as the Armenian fruit. Its botanical name Prunus armeniaca, derives from the Latin vernacular for apricot, armeniacum, which some scholars have linked to its Akkadian name "".

paragraphs: Many scholars place the Indo-European homeland in the Armenian Highlands and the plateau of Asia Minor to the southwest.

paragraphs: Others believe that it was in Eastern Europe or southern Russia.

paragraphs: Some scholars believe, for example, that the earliest mention of the Armenians is in the Akkadian inscriptions dating to the 28th-27th centuries BC, in which the Armenians are referred to as the sons of Haya, after the regional god of the Armenian Highlands.


title: Armenian Quarter

paragraphs: The Armenian Quarter is one of the four quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. Although the Armenian people are Christians, the Armenian Quarter is distinct from the Christian Quarter.


title: Paulo César Fonseca do Nascimento

paragraphs: Paulo César Fonseca do Nascimento (born 13 January 1978) is a Brazilian football player. He plays for Borussia Dortmund.


title: Lina Hahne

paragraphs: Lina Hahne (born January 23, 1984) was crowned Miss Sweden on June 26. She represented the country in Miss Universe 2008.


title: Miss Universe

paragraphs: Miss Universe is an international beauty contest. It was started in 1952 and today has over 190 countries taking part. About one billion people watch it on television every year.

paragraphs: The pageant is owned by WME and IMG, with Fox owning the rights to broadcast the pageant on television. Until 2015, it was owned by NBC and Donald Trump. In 2015, Trump started his campaign for President of the United States and said he wanted to stop illegal immigrants from Mexico from coming into the US. NBC then stopped working with him, and so Trump bought Miss Universe out, and sold it to its current owners a few days later.


title: Frank Thomas

paragraphs: Frank Thomas (born May 27, 1968) is a former American Major League Baseball player who spent most of his career with the Chicago White Sox. Near the end of his career, he also played with the Oakland Athletics and Toronto Blue Jays. He hit his 500th career home run on June 28, 2007. He was the 21st person to hit 500 home runs.

paragraphs: Thomas was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014, and will officially enter the Hall on July 27.


title: Northwest

paragraphs: Northwest or north west is the direction halfway between North and West on a compass. It is the opposite of Southeast.


title: Southeast

paragraphs: Southeast or south east is the direction halfway between south and east. It the opposite of northwest.


title: Silvia Night

paragraphs: Silvia Night is a fictional (not real) character played by Eva Augusta from Iceland. Silvia Night participated in Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in "Greece". She is famous for her larger than life and narcissistic persona.


title: Donald Trump

paragraphs: Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is the 45th and current President of the United States. Before becoming president, he was a businessman and television personality. Trump was also the chairman and president of The Trump Organization. Much of his money was made in real estate in New York City, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City. He used to own the Miss Universe pageant. He was the star in his own reality show "The Apprentice". In October 2019, Trump changed his official residency state from New York to Florida.

paragraphs: In June 2015, Trump announced that he would run for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election. Starting mid-July, polls showed that Trump was the front-runner in the Republican field. This was true even after much criticism from his party due to his comments on illegal immigration, Muslims, and ISIS. His campaign has gained support from mostly middle-class families. It has gained opposition from Democrats, some Republicans, business people, some world leaders and the pope.

paragraphs: On May 4, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee after his only remaining challengers, Texas United States senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, dropped out. He became the president-elect November 9, 2016, after a close race with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Each of them needed 270 electoral votes to win. Trump had 304 while Clinton had 227. He was inaugurated as the 45th president on January 20, 2017. At 70 years old, Trump became the oldest person ever to become President of the United States.

paragraphs: On September 24, 2019, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that the House of Representatives would begin an impeachment inquiry into Trump. On October 31, 2019, the House voted 232–196 to establish procedures for public hearings. On December 16, the House Judiciary Committee released a report specifying criminal bribery and wire fraud charges as part of the abuse of power charge. The house voted to impeach Trump in December 2019, making him the third president in American history to be impeached. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 2020.

paragraphs: Donald John Trump was born at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York City. He is the son of Fred Trump and his wife Mary Anne (née MacLeod). They married in 1936. His mother was born on the Isle of Lewis, off the west coast of Scotland. Donald was one of five children. Donald's oldest brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 at the age of 43, due to an alcohol addiction. Trump's sister, Maryanne, is a judge in New York. Trump's father's parents were German immigrants.

paragraphs: His grandfather, Frederick Trump, immigrated to the United States in 1885. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1892. Frederick married Elisabeth Christ (October 10, 1880 – June 6, 1966) at Kallstadt, State of Bavaria, Germany, on August 26, 1902. They had three children. He studied at Fordham University until transferring to the University of Pennsylvania.

paragraphs: Trump was not drafted during the Vietnam War. This was due to four college deferments and one medical deferment. In an interview with "The New York Times", he said his medical deferment was because of heel spurs.

paragraphs: Trump began his career at his father's real estate company, Elizabeth Trump & Son. He later renamed the company The Trump Organization, which has its headquarters at 40 Wall Street. The company focused on middle-class rental housing in Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. One of Trump's first projects, while he was still in college, was the revitalization of the foreclosed Swifton Village apartment complex in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father had purchased it for $5.7 million in 1962. Trump became closely involved in the project. With a $500,000 investment, he turned the 1200-unit complex with a 66 percent vacancy rate to 100 percent occupancy within two years. In 1972, the Trump Organization sold Swifton Village for $6 million.

paragraphs: Trump has developed many real estate projects. They include Trump International Hotel and Tower in Honolulu, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto, and Trump Tower in Tampa. In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, one Trump construction project was put on hold in favor of another (Trump International Hotel and Tower in Fort Lauderdale). Trump Towers in Atlanta was being developed in the housing market, however the project fell after the 2008 recession and instead buildings that didn't belong to Trump were built.

paragraphs: In its October 7, 2007 "Forbes" 400 issue, "Acreage Aces", "Forbes" valued Trump's wealth at $3 billion. Since 2011, his net worth has been estimated from $2 billion to $7 billion. "Forbes" estimated his net worth at $3.1 billion in 2019.

paragraphs: From 1996 until 2015, Trump owned part or all of the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants.

paragraphs: Trump is a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) fan, and a friend of WWE owner Vince McMahon. In 1988–89 he hosted WrestleMania IV and V at Boardwalk Hall (dubbed "Trump Plaza" for storyline purposes) and has been an active participant in several of the shows. Trump was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013 at Madison Square Garden for his contributions to the promotion. He made his sixth WrestleMania appearance the next night.

paragraphs: In 2003, Trump became the executive producer and host of the NBC reality show "The Apprentice", in which a group of competitors battled for a high-level management job in one of Trump's commercial enterprises. In 2004, Trump filed a trademark application for the catchphrase "You're fired!"

paragraphs: For the first year of the show, Trump earned $50,000 per episode (roughly $700,000 for the first season), but following the show's initial success, he was paid $1 million per episode. In a July 2015 press release, Trump's campaign manager said that NBCUniversal had paid him $213,606,575 for his 14 seasons hosting the show.

paragraphs: On February 16, 2015, NBC announced that they would be renewing "The Apprentice" for a 15th season. On February 27, Trump stated that he was "not ready" to sign on for another season because of the possibility of a presidential run. On June 29, after widespread negative reaction stemming from Trump's campaign announcement speech, NBC released a statement saying, "Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump." Trump was replaced by former Governor of California and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

paragraphs: Trump made a formal announcement of his candidacy for president of the United States for the 2016 elections on June 16, 2015. He made the announcement at 11am EST from his headquarters in Trump Tower in New York City. Trump launched his campaign saying, "We are going to make our Country Great Again" with a commitment to become the "greatest jobs president." Trump's official campaign slogan is "Make America Great Again." That was Ronald Reagan's campaign slogan, but Trump trademarked it.

paragraphs: On May 4, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee after his only challengers, Texas United States senator Ted Cruz and Governor of Ohio John Kasich, dropped out.

paragraphs: During his announcement speech he stated in part, "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." On July 6, 2015, Trump issued a written statement to clarify his position on illegal immigration, which drew a reaction from critics.

paragraphs: Trump has described his political leanings and positions in many ways over time. "Politico" has called his positions as "eclectic, improvisational and often contradictory". He has listed several different party affiliations over the years, and has also run as a Reform Party candidate. The positions that he has revised or reversed include stances on progressive taxation, abortion, and government involvement in health care.

paragraphs: He has supported Christian groups in the U.S., claiming that he will reverse unfavorable tax treatments preventing them from expressing themselves in the political arena and promising to revive a more widespread use of the phrase "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays" in department stores. Other issues he highlights include taking care of military veterans, making the military "strong", aggressive bombing of the Mideast terrorist group ISIS, surveillance of certain mosques in the U.S., and making trade agreements more favorable to American workers.

paragraphs: Trump entered a large field of candidates consisting of 16 other Republican candidates campaigning for the nomination, the largest presidential field in American history. By early 2016, the race had mostly centered on Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. On , Trump won the majority of the delegates and remained the front-runner throughout the primaries.

paragraphs: Finishing in June 2016 with nearly 14 million votes, Trump broke the all-time record for winning the most primary votes in the history of the Republican Party.

paragraphs: After becoming the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump's focus shifted to the general election, urging remaining primary voters to "save [their] vote for the general election." Trump began targeting Hillary Clinton, who became the presumptive Democratic nominee on June 6, 2016 after beating Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries, and continued to campaign across the country. Clinton had established a significant lead in national polls over Trump throughout most of 2016. In early July, Clinton's lead narrowed in national polling averages following the FBI's conclusion of its investigation into her ongoing email controversy.

paragraphs: On September 26, 2016, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off in the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. Lester Holt, an anchor with NBC News, was the moderator. This was the most watched presidential debate in United States history.

paragraphs: On November 8, 2016, Trump won the presidency with 306 electoral votes to Clinton's 232 votes, even though Trump won a smaller part of the popular vote than Clinton. He is the fourth person to become president without winning the popular vote. The final popular vote difference between Clinton and Trump is that Clinton finished ahead by 2.86 million or 2.1 percentage points, 48.04% to 45.95%, with neither candidate reaching a majority. Trump's victory was considered a big political upset, as nearly all national polls at the time showed Hillary Clinton with a modest lead over Trump, and state polls showed her with a modest lead to win the Electoral College. In the early hours of November 9, 2016, Trump received a phone call in which Clinton conceded the presidency to him. Trump then delivered his victory speech before hundreds of supporters in the Hilton Hotel in New York City.

paragraphs: Trump's transition team was led by Chris Christie until November 11, 2016, when Vice President-elect Mike Pence took over. His nominees for cabinet and other positions include:

paragraphs: On January 20, 2017, Trump was sworn in by Chief Justice John G. Roberts as President of the United States at his inauguration ceremony at the United States Capitol Building. Within his first hour as president, he signed several executive orders, including an order to minimize "the economic burden" of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

paragraphs: On the Saturday following Trump's inauguration there were massive demonstrations protesting Trump in the United States and worldwide, including the 2017 Women's March.

paragraphs: On January 23, 2017 Trump signed the executive order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement between the United States and eleven Pacific Rim nations—Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam that would have created a "free-trade zone for about 40 percent of the world's economy." Two days later, he ordered the construction of the Mexico border wall. He reopened the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipeline construction projects.

paragraphs: On January 27, an order suspended admission of refugees for 120 days and denied entry to citizens of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days, citing security concerns about terrorism. Later, the administration seemed to reverse a portion of part of the order, effectively exempting visitors with a green card. Several federal judges issued rulings that curtailed parts of the immigration order, stopping the federal government from deporting visitors already affected.

paragraphs: On January 30, 2017, Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates because of her criticisms of Trump's immigration suspension. On January 31, 2017, Trump nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

paragraphs: After "The Wall Street Journal" reported that Trump's National Security Advisor Michael T. Flynn was under investigation by U.S. counterintelligence agents for his communications with Russian officials, Flynn resigned on February 13, 2017. Two days later on February 15, Trump's Secretary of Labor-nominee Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination due to not having support from Democrats or Republicans to confirm his nomination.

paragraphs: On April 7, 2017, Trump ordered the launch of 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Mediterranean Sea into Syria, aimed at Shayrat Air Base as a reaction to the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.

paragraphs: On May 3, 2017, Puerto Rico filed for bankruptcy after a massive debt and weak economy. It is the largest bankruptcy case in American history.

paragraphs: On May 4, 2017, the American Health Care Act of 2017 (AHCA) was passed narrowly to replace and repeal Obamacare by the United States House of Representatives with a vote of 217 to 213, sending the bill to the Senate for voting. This is the second time the AHCA was voted in the House as the first version was not approved by the House in March 2017.

paragraphs: On May 9, 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey after he reportedly asked for more information and funding for the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. The White House stated that this was not true and that Trump fired Comey in order to end the investigation.

paragraphs: On June 1, 2017, he announced that the United States would withdraw from the Paris Climate agreement, making the United States one of only three nations, including Syria and Nicaragua, to do so. On June 16, 2017, President Trump announced that he was "cancelling" the Obama administrations deals with Cuba, while also expressing that a new deal could be negotiated between the Cuban and United States governments.

paragraphs: On July 12, 2017, California Representative Brad Sherman formally introduced an article of impeachment, H. Res. 438, accusing the president of obstructing justice regarding the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. On July 26, 2017, Trump tweeted that the "United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." Trump cited the alleged "disruption" and "tremendous medical costs" of having transgender service members. Polling showed that the President's approval rating was at 41% while Clinton's approval rating was only at 39% in July 2017.

paragraphs: Between August 11 and 12, 2017, Trump oversaw the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia regarding the removal of Confederate statues. Trump did not speak out against white nationalists explicitly, instead condemning "hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides" leading people to think he did not take a harsh approach on racism. In late August, Trump dramatically escalated tensions against North Korea, warning that further threats against the U.S. will be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen." North Korean leader Kim Jong-un then threatened to direct the country's next missile test toward Guam. Trump responded that if North Korea took steps to attack Guam, "things [would] happen to them like they never thought possible."

paragraphs: In September 2017, Trump controversially oversaw the rescinding of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or "DACA" which removed protections for children immigrants and removed benefits. The decision was announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Two injunctions in January and February 2018 allowed renewals of applications and stopped the rolling back of DACA, and in April 2018 a federal judge ordered the acceptance of new applications; this would go into effect in 90 days.

paragraphs: On September 29, 2017, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price resigned after using tax payer's money for private traveling.

paragraphs: On October 3, Trump visited Puerto Rico after it was damaged by Hurricane Maria and the next day visited Las Vegas to visit the victims from the Las Vegas shooting.

paragraphs: In December 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which cut the corporate tax rate to 21%, lowered personal tax brackets, increased child tax credit, doubled the estate tax threshold to $11.2 million, and limited the state and local tax deduction to $10,000.

paragraphs: In February 2018, Trump praised the bill for increasing pay for millions, after announcements of bonuses from many companies. These bonuses have been criticized by the bill's opponents as publicity stunts, and economists have said many of them would have happened anyway due to low unemployment.

paragraphs: In March 2018, Trump fired United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replaced him with Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo. Later that month, the White House confirmed that President Trump would accept a meeting invitation from Kim Jong-un. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that "in the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain."

paragraphs: As of March 2018, Trump is reportedly a "subject" of the Robert Mueller investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections, meaning his conduct is being looked at, but not a "target" which would indicate the likelihood of criminal charges.

paragraphs: In April 2018, Trump hosted his first state dinner to honor French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron.

paragraphs: In May 2018, Trump announced on Twitter that he will meet with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un on June 12, 2018 in Singapore for peace talks.

paragraphs: On December 18, 2019, the House of Representatives voted to have Trump impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 5, 2020, the Senate found Trump not guilty of all charges.

paragraphs: Trump announced his plans to run for a second term by filing with the FEC within a few hours of assuming the presidency. This transformed his 2016 election committee into a 2020 reelection one. Trump marked the official start of the campaign with a rally in Melbourne, Florida, on February 18, 2017, less than a month after taking office.

paragraphs: By January 2018, Trump's reelection committee had $22 million in hand, and it had raised a total amount exceeding $67 million by December 2018. $23 million was spent in the fourth quarter of 2018, as Trump supported various Republican candidates for the 2018 midterm elections. He made an official re-election campaign launch on June 18, 2019 in Orlando, Florida.

paragraphs: In the 2020 primaries, Trump is facing primary challenges from former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld and former U.S. Representatives Joe Walsh. Former South Carolina Governor and former U.S. Representative Mark Sanford also campaigned against him, but withdrew from the race.

paragraphs: Trump has five children by three marriages, and has eight grandchildren. Trump is a Presbyterian. As a child, he began going to church at the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens.

paragraphs: Trump married his first wife, Czech model Ivana Zelníčková, on April 7, 1977, at the Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. They had three children: son Donald Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977), daughter Ivanka (born October 30, 1981), and son Eric (born January 6, 1984). Ivana became a naturalized United States citizen in 1988. By early 1990, Trump's troubled marriage to Ivana and affair with actress Marla Maples had been reported in the tabloid press. They were divorced in 1992.

paragraphs: Trump married his second wife, actress Marla Maples in 1993. They had one daughter together, Tiffany (born October 13, 1993). The couple were separated in 1997 and later divorced in 1999.

paragraphs: In 1998, Trump began a relationship with Slovene model Melania Knauss, who became his third wife. They were engaged in April 2004 and were married on January 22, 2005, at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, in Palm Beach, Florida. In 2006, Melania became a naturalized United States citizen. On March 20, 2006, she gave birth to their son, whom they named Barron Trump.

paragraphs: A medical report by his doctor, Harold Bornstein MD, showed that Trump's blood pressure, liver and thyroid function were in normal range. Trump says that he has never smoked cigarettes or consumed other drugs, including marijuana. He also does not drink alcohol, a decision after his brother's death caused by alcoholism. His BMI, according to his December 2016 visit on Doctor Oz, is just under 30, which is "high".

paragraphs: In February 2019, a new medical test found Trump to be clinically obese. He was later diagnosed with coronary artery disease.

paragraphs: On October 1, 2020, Trump announced on Twitter that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19. He was briefly hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.


title: Northeast

paragraphs: Northeast or north east is the direction halfway between north and east. It is the opposite of southwest.


title: Mona Sahlin

paragraphs: Mona Ingeborg Sahlin (born Andersson on March 9, 1957 in Sollefteå, Sweden) is a former leader for the Swedish Social Democratic Party, when she replaced Göran Persson after his ten years as leader, she was the first woman to do so. She was the minister responsible for the handling of the Heart 2 Art Exhibition in Stockholm 2002. Toblerone Scandal or Sahlin Scandal is the name of a Swedish scandal, in which there in October 1995 came to public attention that the Socialist politician Mona Sahlin during her time as Minister for Employment, 1990-1991, on several occasions used its credit cards for private expenses.


title: Swedish Social Democratic Party

paragraphs: The Swedish Social Democratic Party () was established on 23 April 1889, and is Sweden's biggest political partyof social democracy. The party has been in the lead with a Prime Minister for the longest and most amount of time in Sweden. Stefan Löfven is the current leader for the party. The party lost to the Moderate Party in the 2006 elections, but will have a new chance to take over the power again in 2014.

paragraphs: Olof Palme, one of Sweden's most famous politicians, was the party leader from October many years before he was murdereed in February 1986.


title: Olof Palme

paragraphs: Olof Palme (30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party from 1969-1986 until his death and Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969-1976 and 1982-1986.

paragraphs: He was shot to death in Stockholm after going to the cinema on 28 February 1986. The killer has never been identified, and the gun has never been found. His murder is still a mystery for Swedish police, even though people have been arrested in connection with it.

paragraphs: He was a pacifist and against "apartheid", The Vietnam War, and nuclear weapons. He made efforts to improve welfare and economic, social and cultural rights for workers.


title: Elena Paparizou

paragraphs: Elena Paparizou also known as Helena Paparizou (born January 31, 1982) in Borås, Sweden. She is a Swedish-Greek singer and model who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005 for Greece, performing the song "My Number One" which won the entire contest.


title: Miss World

paragraphs: Miss World is a international beauty pageant that started in 1951. It is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. The contest was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley, and run as part of the Mecca Leisure Group. Since his death in 2000, Morley's wife, Julia Morley, co-chairs the pageant.

paragraphs: With its rivals Miss Universe and Miss Earth, this is one of the most publicised beauty contests in the world.

paragraphs: The winner spends a year travelling to represent the Miss World Organization and its various causes. The current Miss World is Toni-Ann Singh of Jamaica who was crowned on December 14, 2019, in London, England, United Kingdom. She is the fourth Jamaican woman to win Miss World. Traditionally, Miss World lives in London during her reign.


title: Gregory the Illuminator

paragraphs: Saint Gregory the Illuminator or Saint Gregory the Enlightener (Armenian: Գրիգոր Լուսաւորիչ translit. Grigor Lusavorich, Greek: Γρηγόριος Φωστήρ or Φωτιστής, Gregorios Phoster or Photistes), the founder and patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, he was born about 257.

paragraphs: He belonged to the royal line of the Arsacid Dynasty, being the son of a Parthian named Anak, who assassinated Chosroes I of Armenia, and thus brought ruin on himself and his family.


title: Bow Wow

paragraphs: Shad Gregory Moss, better known as Bow Wow or formerly Lil' Bow Wow (born March 9, 1987, Columbus, Ohio) is an African-American rapper, actor, and music producer. He began his rap career when he was 13.


title: John Cage

paragraphs: John Milton Cage, Jr. usually known as just John Cage, (September 5, 1912 - August 12, 1992) was an American composer, writer, philosopher, and visual artist. He was one of the first composers (or "musicians") to introduce different styles of music to popular culture. He made mostly avant-garde music and electronic music, and was very well known for making the piece 4'33", which challenged what music is. He also wrote music for pianos that had been "prepared" by having screws and nails placed in them. He was gay. His life partner from 1943 until his death was choreographer Merce Cunningham (1919-2009). Cage died of a stroke in New York City.

paragraphs: This piece is in 3 movements (sections), and is special in that all of the movements are silent, the score having the Latin word for silence three times (tacit, tacit, tacit). Some people think that it is just a joke because of this, as there is nothing to listen to. It was written in 1952, and is 4 minutes and thirty three seconds long. Cage got the idea from being in a soundless chamber, but realising that even here there was no true silence because he could hear his heart beating.


title: 4′33″

paragraphs: 4′33″ is a musical composition written by avant-garde (non-traditional) musician John Cage. It is his most famous work. It consists of no notes, only 4 minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. The piece challenges the definition of music. The only thing the sheet music says is "tacet", or "it is silent". It was first played by David Tudor in Woodstock, New York.


title: McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet

paragraphs: The F/A-18 is used by many countries, including the United States Navy

paragraphs: The United States navy is the biggest user of the hornet. The hornet is currently only used by the United States Marine Corps, but until 2019 the U.S. Navy also had them.

paragraphs: The USMC currently has 143 F/A-18 hornets.

paragraphs: The Blue Angels are the aerobatic team of the USMC. They use the F/A-18. Before the F/A-18 existed, they used the A-4 Skyhawk.

paragraphs: The Royal Australian Air force (RAAF) bought 57 F/A-18A and 18 F/A-18B (the b was used for training) in 1981 to replace the old Mirage III. The difference between the RAAF hornet and the US hornet is that the RAAF removed the carrier Capabilities, because Australia doesn't have any aircraft carriers big enough to fit the plane.

paragraphs: The hornet can carry a lot of bombs, missiles, rockets and guns. It can also carry pods, pods give the aircraft more options, the Litening targeting pod,for example, lets the pilot see the ground and guide bombs to the target.

paragraphs: Paveway laser guided bombs (the bombs are guided by the targeting pod)


title: McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle

paragraphs: The F-15 Eagle is a fighter jet that originally made by McDonnell-Douglas (later Boeing). It is known around the world for its toughness and "undefeated" record, meaning that it has never been shot down by an enemy plane. It is used primarily by the United States Air Force, but it is also used in Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea. It usually carries missiles and an M61 Vulcan gun to shoot down enemy fighter jet planes. More than a thousand have been made.

paragraphs: In 1981, the F-15 was redesigned to include the ability to carry bombs, allowing the F-15 to do the job of attack aircraft. This means it can also destroy things on the ground. This new variant of the aircraft was called the McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle.


title: Dicotyledon

paragraphs: The dicotyledons, also known as dicots, were one of the two groups of flowering plants or angiosperms. The name refers to one of the characteristics of the group, namely that the seed has two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. There are around 200,000 species in this group. The other group of flowering plants were called monocotyledons or monocots, with one cotyledon. Historically, these two groups formed the two divisions of the flowering plants.

paragraphs: From the 1990s onwards, molecular phylogeny showed what botanists already suspected: dicotyledons are not a monophyletic group. They are a number of lineages, such as the magnoliids. Groups now known as basal angiosperms diverged earlier than the monocots did. The traditional dicots are a paraphyletic group. The largest clade of the dicotyledons are known as the eudicots. They are definitely monophyletic. They are distinguished from all other flowering plants by the structure of their pollen. Other dicotyledons and monocotyledons have an older type of pollen, whereas eudicots have derived pollen.

paragraphs: Apart from cotyledon number, there are other differences between monocots and dicots. These are differences mainly between monocots and eudicots. Many early-diverging dicot groups have "monocot" characteristics such as scattered vascular bundles, trimerous flowers, and old-type pollen. Also, some monocots have dicot characteristics such as reticulated leaf veins.


title: James Clark Ross

paragraphs: Sir James Clark Ross (April 15, 1800 – April 3, 1862), was a English naval officer and explorer. He explored the Arctic with his uncle Sir John Ross and Sir William Parry. He later led his own journey to Antarctica. He was born on April 15, 1800 in London, England and died on April 3, 1862 in Aylesbury, England.


title: Hrant Dink

paragraphs: Hrant Dink (, IPA: [həɹɑnt diːnk]) (15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and columnist.

paragraphs: As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper "Agos" (Ակօս), Dink was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey.

paragraphs: Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul on 19 January 2007, by Ogün Samast, a 17 year old ultra-nationalist Turk.


title: Agos

paragraphs: Agos (, "Furrow") established 5 April, 1996 is an Armenian weekly newspaper published in Turkey. It is published in Istanbul and has a circulation of around 5,000. It has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an on-line English edition. Hrant Dink was its chief editor from the newspaper's start until his assassination outside of the newspaper's offices in Istanbul in January 2007.

paragraphs: Hrant Dink's son Arat Dink who worked as the executive editor of the weekly was named as a co-defendant in the dispute brought against Hrant Dink for insulting Turkishness. After Hrant Dink's murder, the editor-in-chief of the weekly became Etyen Mahçupyan and Arat Dink continued to work as the executive editor. The present editor-in-chief is Rober Koptaş.


title: St Kilda Football Club

paragraphs: St Kilda Football Club (nicknamed The Saints) is an Australian Rules Football club who play in the Australian Football League. The club first played in 1873. Their home ground is the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne. Their current captain is Jarryn Geary and their current coach is Brett Ratten. They wear a guernsey that is red, white and black, in a vertical stripes.

paragraphs: The first mention of a football team in St Kilda was made in 1859. The current club was started in 1873, based on the South Yarra Football Club which had closed the year before. The club colours were formed when the red and white of the South Yarra Football Club merged with the black and white of the new St. Kilda Football Club. The first guernsey worn by the club was red and black striped horizontally, with a white neckerchief. The club joined the new Victorian Football League in 1897, and lost its first 48 games. Their home ground was the Junction Oval, in the Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda. In 1964, the team moved from St Kilda to Moorabbin, where they now train.

paragraphs: The team won their first and only premiership in 1966, beating Collingwood. In recent years they have been more competitive, playing in the 1997 Grand Final, losing to Adelaide. Between 2004 and 2011, St. Kilda established a period of dominance, playing in all but the 2007 finals series, and playing in the Preliminary Finals in 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2009, St. Kilda went the first 19 games of the season without being beaten, only to lose to Geelong in the Grand Final by 12 points. In 2010 they played in the Grand Final and drew with Collingwood. A moment etched in the memories of St. Kilda supporters was the moment Stephen Milne opted to let the ball bounce through for a behind in the dying minutes, when he had the opportunity to secure St. Kilda's second premiership with a goal. They were defeated convincingly in a replay the next week. They have also placed last on the ladder 26 times since their establishment, the most of any team.

paragraphs: St. Kilda has featured a number of star players, with 10 , including Ian Stewart and Robert Harvey, who won the award twice. In 1987, Tony Lockett won the Brownlow Medal as well as the Coleman Medal kicking 117 goals.


title: Ingvar Carlsson

paragraphs: Ingvar Carlsson (born 9 November 1934 in Borås, Västra Götaland County (then Älvsborg County), Sweden), is a Swedish politician, former Prime Minister of Sweden (March 1986–October 1991; October 1994–March 1996) and leader of the Social Democratic Party (March 1986–March 1996). He became Prime Minister in 1986 when Olof Palme was assassinated.


title: Shilpa Shetty

paragraphs: Shilpa Shetty (Tulu: ಶಿಲ್ಪ ಶೆಟ್ಟಿ) (born 8 June 1975) in Mangalore is a four-time Filmfare Award-nominated Indian movie actress and model. Since making her debut in the movie "Baazigar" (1993), she has appeared in nearly 50 more movies and made her first lead role in 1994's "Aag". She currently resides at the centre of the Hindi-language movie industry in Mumbai, India. Her younger sister Shamita Shetty is also a Bollywood movie actress.

paragraphs: Shilpa was announced as the winner of "Celebrity Big Brother UK" on 28 January 2007 with 63% of the final votes, after an international reported racism controversy involving her and fellow contestants Jade Goody, Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd. She is also a yoga practitioner, particularly interested in the Ashtanga vinyasa form of yoga and power yoga.


title: Third party (politics)

paragraphs: In any two-party system of politics, a third party is a party other than the two main ones. While the term should be used only when discussing the third largest party, it is often used to describe any smaller party. For example, in the United Kingdom a third party is a national political party other than the Conservative Party and Labour Party that has a presence in the House of Commons. In the United States, a third party is a political party other than the Democratic Party or Republican Party that has national influence.

paragraphs: The term "third parties" is used in countries with first past the post electoral systems as these systems tend to create a two-party system because successful smaller parties are rare.

paragraphs: Countries using proportional representation have less of a tendency to create a two-party system because successful smaller parties are common. In fact, coalitions between the smaller parties are normal in such a country. A party generally needs to have a certain level of success to be called a third party. Smaller parties that only win a small percentage of the vote and no seats in the legislature are often called "minor parties" or "fringe parties".

paragraphs: Third parties are not usually likely to win the presidency. Despite this, there are many reasons for third parties to run. In an election, the two main parties listen to the opinions of third parties. The larger parties must respond to these opinions, and sometimes the larger parties copy ideas from third parties. Some third parties also hope that the party can slowly build its support and eventually become one of the dominant parties, as the Labour Party did in Britain.


title: Paula DeAnda

paragraphs: Paula DeAnda (born 1989 in Corpus Christi, Texas) is an American singer. She is best known for her 2007 hit songs "Doing Too Much", "Walk Away (Remember Me)" and "Easy". DeAnda is of Mexican descent.

paragraphs: "Easy" is a song by DeAnda. It also has a remix with Bow Wow. This version is used in the PC video game, "Bratz Babyz".


Republican


title: Third party

paragraphs: Third party is often used in the English language to refer to a person or group that has some connection to a relationship between two parties. Here, a "party" is a person or group of people who act together. If two parties share a close relationship, a third party is farther away or more different from them. It could more directly mean:


title: Canton of Fribourg

paragraphs: Fribourg is one of the twenty-six cantons of Switzerland. About 250,000 people live in the canton. Of these, about 100,000 live in the urban area of the capital of this canton: Fribourg City.

paragraphs: The canton of Fribourg is found in the west of Switzerland. The river Saane (Sarine) flows from the south to the north of the canton. It borders the cantons of Vaud, Bern and Neuchâtel.

paragraphs: There are 168 municipalities in the canton of Fribourg:


title: Fribourg

paragraphs: Fribourg can mean one of two areas in Switzerland


title: Compass rose

paragraphs: A compass rose is a drawing on a map that shows the cardinal directions.


title: Cardinal direction

paragraphs: Cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main directions or points of the compass: north, east, south and west. These direction are also written in short form as N, E, S and W.

paragraphs: North and south are directed towards the north and south poles of the Earth. The Earth's rotation defines east and west. The sun rises in the morning in the east, and sets in the evening in the west.

paragraphs: If a needle is magnetised and allowed to move freely (for example floated on water) it will align itself with the Earth's magnetic field which is almost in the same direction as north. The direction of the needle in this situation is called magnetic north which in some places differs from the direction of the North Pole by a few degrees.

paragraphs: Through history, different cultures have given different values to each direction. For example, in old Asian culture, each direction is given a color, as follows:


title: Social Democratic Party

paragraphs: The name Social Democratic Party has been used by many parties in various countries around the world.

paragraphs: Note: Country names and dates in parentheses are not part of official party names.


title: Knight (chess)

paragraphs: A knight is a piece in the game of chess. Each player starts the game with two knights. It moves in an L pattern, two squares in one direction then one square in another. It is the only piece in chess to be able to jump over other pieces. It is also the only piece that can be in position to attack a king, queen, bishop, or rook without also being attacked by that piece. Because of this, the knight plays forks well in a game of chess.

paragraphs: 'Knight' is shortened to Kt or N when recording games. In printed game scores it is represented by a figurine.


title: Queen (chess)

paragraphs: The queen in chess is piece which stands next to the King at the start of the game. It can move any number of unoccupied squares diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. When recording games it is shortened to Q.

paragraphs: The queen moves like a bishop and rook both. Although both players start with one queen each. A player may promote a pawn to a piece, usually a queen, when the pawn reaches the last line of the opponent team.

paragraphs: The IndoArabic game lasted for nearly a thousand years until the end of the 15th century. In it, the piece next to the Shah was the Firzān or Visier, who was a counsellor. This piece had a movement even more limited than the king: it moved just one square at a time, on the diagonal. Not surprising, then, that when the move changed into its modern form, the Italians called the new game "schacci alla rabioso" (~furious chess).


title: Dennis the Menace

paragraphs: Dennis the Menace is the name of two different comic strips, which both debuted in 1951. One is a British comic strip, that is featured in the UK comic magazine, The Beano. The other is a daily newspaper comic strip from the United States. This daily strip was a single panel, but the Sunday strip was longer. The single panels were sometimes collected into small paperbacks. Dennis also had a comic book.

paragraphs: In Britain, Dennis is usually drawn as wearing a red and black striped jumper, and spikey black hair. He is normally with his black dog called Gnasher.

paragraphs: In the United States, Dennis the Menace (Dennis Mitchell) wore a red and white striped tee-shirt and bib overalls. He had blond hair and a large cowlick. His dog was a sheepdog called Ruff. Dennis' parents are Henry and Alice. His neighbors are George and Martha Wilson. Dennis wants to be helpful but his attempts often end in disaster. Dennis' friends are Tommy Anderson, Joey McDonald, and Margaret Wade. In 1959, the comic strip was developed into a CBS television sitcom called "Dennis the Menace". It stars Jay North as Dennis and Joseph Kearns as George Wilson. The series aired for four years and has been released to DVD.


title: Taner Akçam

paragraphs: Altuğ Taner Akçam (born October 23 1953) is a Turkish historian, sociologist and author. He is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and discuss openly the Armenian Genocide by the Ottoman Turkish government in 1915.


title: International Date Line

paragraphs: The International Date Line (IDL), also known as just the Date Line, is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, going from north to south in the Pacific Ocean. The date becomes one day later as one travels across it in western direction, and one day earlier as one travels across it in eastern direction.

paragraphs: The reason for this effect is that the countries on the western side of the International Date Line, (in or outside eastern Asia) have the time zone 10–12 hours more than Greenwich. And the countries on eastern side of it (Alaska/Hawaii and other areas) have the time zone 9–12 hours less than Greenwich. So when travelling across the line, one's watch has to be adjusted 20–24 hours, depending on the time zones.

paragraphs: For example, New Zealand is twelve hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time while Hawaii is ten hours behind Greenwich Mean Time. When travelling from New Zealand to Hawaii the clocks must be switched 22 hours backwards, about one day.

paragraphs: International Date Line follows the meridian of 180° longitude down the middle of the Pacific Ocean for some time. So that it does not cross nations, it passes around the far east of Russia and other archipelagos in the Pacific.

paragraphs: In the north the date line turns to the east through the Bering Strait and then west past the Aleutian Islands in order to keep Alaska and Russia on opposite sides of the line. This is to keep it in agreement with the date of the rest of those countries. The date line passes equidistantly between the two Diomede Islands—Little Diomede Island (US) and Big Diomede Island (Russia)—at a distance of 1.5 km (1 mi) from each island.

paragraphs: The date line circumvents the territory of Kiribati by swinging far to the east, almost reaching the 150° meridian.

paragraphs: In the South Pacific the date line swings east such that Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand's Kermadec Islands have the same date but Samoa is one day earlier.

paragraphs: The International Date Line can cause confusion among airline travelers. The most problematic situation usually occurs with short journeys from west to east. To travel from Tonga to Samoa by air, for example, takes about two hours but involves crossing the International Date Line, causing passengers to arrive the day before they left. This often causes confusion in travel schedules, like hotel bookings. Some examples of time zone adjustments for real air trips are: Alaska-Siberia 21 hours, New Zealand-Cook Islands 22 hours, and Samoa-Tonga 24 hours.

paragraphs: If someone travels around the globe in an airplane from east to west (the same direction as Magellan), they should subtract one hour for every 15° of longitude crossed, losing 24 hours for one circuit of the globe; but 24 hours are added when crossing the International Date Line (from east to west). The International Date Line must therefore be observed in conjunction with Earth's time zones: the net adjustment to one's watch is zero. If one crosses the date line at precisely midnight, going westward, one skips an entire day; while going eastward, one repeats the entire day.

paragraphs: For two hours every day, at UTC 10:00–11:59, there are actually three different days observed at the same time. At UTC time Thursday 10:15, for example, it is Wednesday 23:15 in Samoa, which is eleven hours behind UTC, and it is Friday 00:15 in Kiritimati (separated from Samoa by the IDL), which is fourteen hours ahead of UTC. For the first hour (UTC 10:00–10:59), this phenomenon affects inhabited territories, whereas during the second hour (UTC 11:00–11:59) it only affects an uninhabited maritime time zone twelve hours behind UTC.

paragraphs: Originally, the date line ran along the 180° meridian. This is a relatively good choice, because most of the time, there is no land there. There are however some problems.

paragraphs: Looking from the north, one of the first places where the meridian runs over dry land is the Chukchi Peninsula, which is part of Russia. The whole peninsula has been declared part of the UTC+12. This means that all of Russia (and with it, all of Asia) is on the same side of the date line.

paragraphs: There are many groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean. These groups belong to states, who do not want some islands on one side of the date line, and the rest on the other. They have therefore decided to move the date line, so that all islands are in the same time zone. Examples of this are the Aleutian Islands, which are on both sides of the 180° meridian. They are part of Alaska, and are therefore all in the UTC-10 timezone. The date line has a "bump" to the west, there.

paragraphs: There are a few Islands, east of the 180°, which belong to New Zealand. It was decided that they should have the same date as New Zealand, so the date line runs east of the meridian there.

paragraphs: Kiribati is a state consisting of many small islands, spread over a huge portion of the Pacific; the meridian runs right through the state. Because the state needed the same date over all its territory, the date line was shifted east, the biggest shift to occur, in 1995. The easternmost island of Kiribati was renamed to Millennium Island, because it was the first part of the world which saw the new millennium.

paragraphs: The Philippines had very good trade relations with Mexico. They therefore decided they wanted the same date, date line to the west of the state. When the trade with China grew, this was inconvenient. They changed, after Monday, 30 December 1844, came Wednesday, 1 January 1845.

paragraphs: Jews and Muslims and Christians regard particular days of the week as holy. For Muslims this is Friday, Jews (and a few Christian denominations) regard Saturday as the Sabbath, while most Christians observe Sunday as "the Lord's Day" in honour of the resurrection of Jesus on that day. This works well if the traveller stays on the same side of the date line, but there is a problem when travellers move across it. For the traveller it might still be Friday, but the place where he is might say that it is Saturday.


title: Boredom

paragraphs: Boredom is an emotional state that comes when a person has nothing to do, and is not interested in anything. To stop boredom, most people do something to occupy or amuse themselves.

paragraphs: The first known use of the word "boredom" is in the novel "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens, written in 1852, but the saying "to be a bore" had been used to mean "to be tiresome or dull" since 1768.

paragraphs: Psychologically, boredom is a bad state in which the person feels a deep lack of interest in what is going on around them, and where it is hard to focus.


title: Circle of latitude

paragraphs: On the Earth, a circle of latitude is an imaginary east-west circle that connects all locations with a given latitude. A location's position along a circle of latitude is given by its longitude. Circles of latitude are often called parallels because they are parallel to each other. It is measured in absolute location.

paragraphs: The five major circles of latitude are, from north to south:


title: J-pop

paragraphs: J-pop is a popular music in Japan. J-pop is a short name for Japanese pop, which means popular music or songs in Japan. Some people calls "歌謡曲" toward older songs. From around 1940s until recently, J-Pop has been influenced (affected) by Western popular music and culture. But new J-Pop nowadays sounds different than older J-Pop. This kind of music is common in Japan and it is often played by young and old music groups.

paragraphs: There are many songwriters and singer-songwriters who have been playing Japanese pops. Such musicians follows:


title: Ara Darzi

paragraphs: Ara Darzi (born 7 May 1960) is a British doctor. He was appointed head of Minister of Healthcare of Great Britain.

paragraphs: Ara Darzi was born in Iraq in a family with Armenian descent, which escaped the Genocide of 1915. But most of his life was lived in Ireland.


title: Puffy AmiYumi

paragraphs: Puffy AmiYumi was the one of the more popular J-pop groups of the 1990s. The band has two members, Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. It was first formed in 1996.

paragraphs: They had some success when they went to the United States to record and perform. They had a short-lived (April 22, 2003 – June 27, 2006) (118 episodes) cartoon television series on Cartoon Network called Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. It can still be seen occasionally on the Japanese version of Cartoon Network.