title: Eucalyptus

paragraphs: Eucalyptus is a genus of trees. There are over 700 species of eucalypts, and almost all of them are in Australia. Eucalypts can be found in almost every part of the Australia, and they are adapted to many different habitats.

paragraphs: "Eucalyptus" is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred to as "eucalypts", the others being "Corymbia" and "Angophora".

paragraphs: Many species, but far from all, are known as gum trees because they exude copious sap from any break in the bark.

paragraphs: Eucalypts have many local names, like 'gum trees', 'mallee', 'box', 'ironbark', 'stringybark' and 'ash'.

paragraphs: Eucalypts have special flowers and fruits that no other trees have. When it flowers a bud cap made of petals grows around the flower until it is ready to open. Then the bud cap falls off to reveal a flower with no petals.

paragraphs: The woody fruits are called gumnuts. They are roughly cone-shaped and open at one end to release the seeds.

paragraphs: Nearly all eucalypts are evergreen but some tropical species lose their leaves at the end of the dry season. The leaves are covered with oil glands. These oils are often used to treat coughs and colds.

paragraphs: Many eucalypts also change the shape of their leaves as they get older. Young eucalypts have round leaves. When one to a few years old, the leaves of most kinds become longer and spearhead or sickle shaped. A few kinds keep the round leaf shape all their lives. Most species do not flower until the adult leaves starts to appear.

paragraphs: The bark dies every year. In smooth-barked trees most of the bark falls off the tree, leaving a smooth surface that is often colourfully marked. With rough-barked trees the dead bark stays on the tree and dries out. Many kinds of eucalyptus trees have smooth bark at the top but rough bark lower down. These different kinds of bark are used to arrange the eucalypts into groups – this is useful because there are hundreds of kinds of eucalypts, and breaking down the group in this way makes the group easier to understand.

paragraphs: Today, specimens of the Australian Mountain Ash, are among the tallest trees in the world at up to 92 metres in height and the tallest of all flowering plants: taller trees such as the coast redwood are all conifers. There is evidence that at the time of European settlement of Australia some Mountain Ash were indeed the tallest plants in the world.

paragraphs: Most eucalypts cannot survive frost, or can only stand light frosts down to -3 °C to -5 °C. The hardiest eucalypts are the so-called Snow gums such as "Eucalyptus pauciflora" which is capable of withstanding cold and frost down to about -20 °C. Two sub-species (wild varieties) of this tree can survive even colder winters.

paragraphs: Several other kinds, especially from the high plateau and mountains of central Tasmania, have produced extreme cold-hardy forms. It is seed from these hardy strains that are planted for ornamental trees in colder parts of the world.

paragraphs: An oil found in eucalyptus leaves is a strong, natural disinfectant, which is used in some medicines, but can be poisonous if too much is taken. Several marsupials, such as koalas and some possums, are partly resistant to it. These animals can tell which plants are safe to eat by their smell.

paragraphs: Eucalypts make a lot of nectar, providing food for many insects.

paragraphs: Eucalypts have a habit of dropping entire branches off as they grow. Eucalyptus forests are littered with dead branches. The Australian Ghost Gum "Eucalyptus papuana" is sometimes called the "widow maker", due to the high number of tree-felling workers who were killed by falling branches. Many deaths were actually caused by simply camping under them, as the trees shed whole and very large branches to save water during droughts. For this reason, you should "never" camp under large eucalyptus branches.

paragraphs: On warm days eucalyptus oil vapour rises above the bush to create the well-known distant blue haze of the Australian landscape. Eucalyptus oil catches fire very easily, and bush fires can travel quickly through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns. The dead bark and fallen branches are also flammable. Eucalypts are well adapted for periodic fires – in fact most species are dependent on them for spread and regeneration. They do this in several ways: by sprouting from underground tubers, hidden buds under their bark and from seeds sprouting in the ashes after the fire has opened them.

paragraphs: Eucalypts began between 35 and 50 million years ago, not long after Australia and New Guinea separated from Gondwana. Their coming coincides with an increase in fossil charcoal deposits (which might mean that fire was important to them even then), but they remained a minor component of the rainforest until about 20 million years ago, when the gradual drying of the continent and lessening of soil richness led to the growth of a more open forest type, with mainly "Casuarina" and "Acacia" trees. With the arrival of the first humans about 50 thousand years ago, fires became much more frequent and the fire-loving eucalypts soon came to account for roughly 70% of Australian forest.

paragraphs: The two valuable timber trees, Alpine Ash and Mountain Ash, are killed by fire and only grow back from seeds. The same fire which had little impact on forests around Canberra has resulted in thousands of hectares of dead forests.

paragraphs: Eucalypts have many uses which have made them important. Because of their fast growth, the main benefit of these trees is the wood. They provide many uses, such as planting in parks and gardens, timber, firewood and pulpwood. Fast growth also makes eucalypts suitable as windbreaks.

paragraphs: Eucalypts draw a very large amount of water from the soil. They have been planted (or re-planted) in some places to lower the water table and reduce the amount of salt in the soil. Eucalypts have also been used as a way of reducing malaria by draining the soil in such places as Algeria, Sicily mainland Europe and California. Drainage removes swamps which provide a habitat for mosquito larvae, but such drainage can also destroy harmless habitats by accident.

paragraphs: Eucalyptus oil is refined from the leaves by steaming. It can be used for cleaning, deodorising, and in very small amounts in food supplements, especially sweets, cough drops and decongestants. Eucalyptus oil is an insect repellent (Fradin & Day 2002).

paragraphs: The nectar of some eucalyptus produces high quality honey. In the western United States the flowering is in late January, before the flowering of other nut and fruit trees; this means that its nectar can be easily made into its own kind of honey, which is said to have a buttery taste.

paragraphs: The ghost gum's leaves were used by Aborigines to catch fish. Soaking the leaves in water releases a mild tranquiliser which stuns fish, making them easy to catch.

paragraphs: Eucalyptus is also used to make the digeridoo, a musical wind instrument made popular by the Aborigines.

paragraphs: Eucalypts were first introduced to the rest of the world by Sir Joseph Banks, botanist on the Cook expedition in 1770. They have since been introduced to many parts of the world. Several species have become invasive (spreading out of the area they were planted in) and are causing major problems for local wildlife.

paragraphs: In Spain, they have been planted in pulpwood plantations, replacing native oak woodland. As in other such areas, while the original woodland supports kinds of native animal life, the eucalypt groves cannot support the local wildlife, leading to silent forests and the decline of wildlife populations. On the other hand, eucalypts helps several industries, such as sawmilling, pulp, and charcoal making.

paragraphs: In the 1850s many Australians traveled to California to take part in the California Gold Rush. Much of California has similar climate to parts of Australia, and some people had the idea of introducing eucalypts. By the early 1900s thousands of hectares of eucalypts were planted with the encouragement of the state government. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction and furniture making. However this did not happen partly because the trees were cut when they were too young and partly because the Americans did not know how to process the cut trees to prevent the wood from twisting and splitting.

paragraphs: One way in which the eucalypts, mainly the blue gum, proved valuable in California was in providing windbreaks for highways, orange groves, and other farms in the mostly treeless central part of the state. They are also admired as shade and ornamental trees in many cities and gardens.

paragraphs: "Eucalyptus" forests in California have been criticized because they drive out the native plants and do not support native animals. Fire is also a problem. The 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm which destroyed almost 3,000 homes and killed 25 people was partly fueled by large numbers of eucalyptus in the area close to the houses.

paragraphs: In some parts of California eucalypt forests are being removed, and native trees and plants restored. Some people have also illegally destroyed some trees and are suspected of bringing in insect pests from Australia which attack the trees.

paragraphs: In 1910 eucalypts were introduced to Brazil for timber substitution and the charcoal industry. Regrettably the long term effects were not studied, and in the present the eucalyptus is causing problems because of its high consumption of water. This causes the soil to dry out, killing many local plants which the local animals need to survive.


title: Cell theory

paragraphs: In biology, cell theory is the historic scientific theory, now universally accepted, that living organisms are made up of cells. Cells are the basic unit of structure in all organisms and also the basic unit of reproduction. With continual improvements made to microscopes over time, magnification technology advanced enough to discover cells in the 17th century. This discovery is largely attributed to Robert Hooke, and began the scientific study of cells, also known as cell biology. Over a century later, many debates about cells began amongst scientists. Most of these debates involved the nature of cellular regeneration, and the idea of cells as a fundamental unit of life. Cell theory was eventually formulated in 1839. This is usually credited to Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann. However, many other scientists like Rudolf Virchow contributed to the theory.

paragraphs: By the mid-century cells were identified as being the substance in a body part containing what's called germs in A cell just like a fungi.


title: Silicone

paragraphs: Silicones () are polymers that include any inert, synthetic compound made up of repeating units of siloxane. This is a functional group of two silicon atoms and one oxygen atom frequently combined with carbon and/ or hydrogen. They are typically heat-resistant and rubber-like. Silicones are used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking utensils, and thermal and electrical insulation. Some common forms include silicone oil, silicone grease, silicone rubber, silicone resin, and silicone caulk. Silicone is also used for cosmetics. Silicone has very little to do with the element silicon ().


title: Oxfordshire

paragraphs: Oxfordshire (short Oxon, from the Latinised form "Oxonia") is a county in the South East of England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire.

paragraphs: It is divided into five local government districts: Oxford, Cherwell, Vale of the White Horse (after the "Uffington White Horse"), "West Oxfordshire" and "South Oxfordshire".

paragraphs: The county has a major tourism industry. The area is known for the concentration of motorsport companies and facilities. Oxford University Press has headed a concentration of print and publishing firms; the university is also linked to the concentration of local biotechnology companies.

paragraphs: The main centre of population is the city of Oxford. Other significant settlements are Bicester, Banbury, and Chipping Norton to the north of Oxford; Witney to the west; Thame and Chinnor to the east; and Abingdon, Wantage, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames to the south. Future population growth in the county is hoped to be concentrated around Banbury, Bicester, Didcot and Witney, near the South Midlands growth area.

paragraphs: The highest point of the county is Whitehorse Hill, in the Vale of White Horse, reaching 856 feet (261m).

paragraphs: The county of Oxfordshire was formed in the early years of the 10th century.

paragraphs: Historically the area has always had some importance, it has been good agricultural land resting between the main southern cities and Oxford (whose name came from Anglo-Saxon "Oxenaford" = "ford for oxen"). The area was part of the Cotswolds wool trade from the 13th century. The Great Western Railway reached Didcot in 1839. Morris Motors was founded in Oxford in 1912 and MG in Abingdon in 1929. The importance of agriculture as an employer has gone down in the 20th century; today less than one percent of the county's population are involved.

paragraphs: The Vale of the White Horse and parts of South Oxfordshire south of the River Thames were historically part of Berkshire, but were added to the administrative county in 1974.


title: Minnie Mouse

paragraphs: Minnie Mouse is a cartoon character. She is Mickey Mouse's significant other. They were both created by Walt Disney. Her birthday is on 18th November 1928. She only first appeared in 1928, in “Plane Crazy”. She is also known as Princess Minnie and Maestro Minnie. Minnie's favorite foods are cheese, chocolate and cake. She loves listening to jazz music, cooking, baking, shopping and makeup.

paragraphs: She was voiced by Walt Disney from 1928 to 1929, then by Marcelite Garner, and then voiced by Russi Taylor.

paragraphs: Minnie Mouse’s parents are unknown, but Marcus Mouse may be her father’s name. His name was first used in the comic strip story “Mr. Slicker and the Egg Robbers” (published 22 September — 26 December, 1930). The same story featured photographs of Minnie's uncle Milton Mouse with his family and her grandparents Marvel Mouse and Matilda Mouse. She also has an uncle named Mortimer Mouse and twin nieces, Millie and Melody Mouse.

paragraphs: Minnie Mouse has two pets, a dog and a cat. The dog is called Fifi. Fifi has 5 puppies with Mickey’s dog, Pluto. Pluto was Mickey’s first dog; he was called Rover at that time. She also has a cat called Figaro. This is the same cat which appears in the Disney movie Pinocchio. It has been recently discovered that she has adopted two new pets, a lizard and a snake, their names are Lolly and Pop, respectively. This is due to her sudden fascination with reptiles.

paragraphs: Walt Disney said in a interview in 1933 that in private Mickey and Minnie are married. He also said that many people asked him about this. Depending on the movie, Minnie and Mickey are married or sometimes not married. They also, at least in public, have no children yet.

paragraphs: From 19th January 1942 to 2nd May 1942 there was a comic magazine called “The Gleam”. In this magazine once it said that Minnie’s real name was Minerva Mouse. But the Walt Disney head office said that there is no register about her real name as Minerva. There is not much information about Minerva, but she is similar to Minnie’s character. Therefore, many people misunderstood that Minerva was Minnie’s real name. Formally Minnie’s name is only registered as “Minnie Mouse”.

paragraphs: However some sources say that Minerva is Minnie’s real name, and that Minnie’s full name is Minerva “Minnie” Mouse.

paragraphs: More likely is that Minnie's original name was the German/Dutch Wilhelmina, which is about the only name for which Minnie is the "official" abbreviation (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Minnie). Possibly, this fact was suppressed during the 1930s, as Germany became more unpopular due to its political and racial leanings.

paragraphs: In episode 14 of season 4 of the series Mickey Mouse, which began airing on the Disney Channel in June 2013, Mickey addresses Minnie as "Minifred" (a pun on the name "Winifred"), but this is non-canon.

paragraphs: It seems that Minnie’s closest friends are Daisy Duck, Donald Duck’s girlfriend, and also sometimes Clarabelle Cow. She often goes shopping with Daisy and she spends a lot of time with her. Her friendship with Daisy is more of a product of recent cartoons, as they never interacted with each other during the classic shorts. Minnie also has another friend called Honor the Hippo and they keep their secrets in bits of moss on the pavement. Minnie's other friend Carly the Cat has a middle parting in her long hair.


title: Notostraca

paragraphs: The order Notostraca has just two living genera in it. "Triops" and "Lepidura". The two genera are considered 'living fossils', as they have not changed in outward form since the Triassic.

paragraphs: Notostracans, or tadpole shrimps, are omnivores living on the bottom of temporary pools and shallow lakes. They live in pools of water on every continent except Antarctica. They grow very quickly, and can reach adulthood in a week. "Triops" only live for a short time; a record-breaking female only lived to be 100 "days". When their pools dry up,adult tadpole shrimp die. Their eggs, however, stop developing for a time. When they are in water again, they come to life, and new "Triops" are hatched. This is because of a state known as diapause, where eggs can lie dormant for up to twenty years before hatching again.

paragraphs: The fossil record of Notostraca is extensive. They occur in a wide range of geological deposits, reaching back to the Carboniferous. The lack of major morphological change since 250 million years ago has led to Notostraca being described as living fossils.

paragraphs: The Notostraca abandoned filter feeding in open water, and took up a benthic lifestyle in muddy waters, taking up food from particles of sediment and preying on small animals.

paragraphs: Notostracans keep the ancient condition of having two separate compound eyes. These touch but do not become united, as does happens in other groups of Branchiopods.


title: Porphyria

paragraphs: Porphyria is the name for certain medical conditions or diseases, which have been known since the days of Hippocrates. Those who suffer from the disease can not make certain substances in the blood. They have disorders of certain enzymes which normally work in the production of porphyrins and heme.

paragraphs: The condition is usually caused by a genetic deficiency, but chemicals which affect metabolism may also cause it. Arsenic is an example. It can be triggered by various drugs or by some environmental conditions. The disease causes skin problems, or some diseases of the nervous system, or both. Severe pain is often present. Drugs are available that can at least treat the symptoms. This disease is most common in European countries and often affects the skin. When someone is affected by porphyria they will start to lose their hair about two weeks after having an attack. There is no cure for the hair loss. However, there is medication available to help prevent attacks.


title: Diatom

paragraphs: Diatoms ( = through + "temnein" = to cut: "cut through") are a big group of eukaryotic algae. They are one of the most common types of phytoplankton. Most diatoms are unicellular, although some form chains or simple colonies. Diatom cells are encased within a unique cell wall made of silica (SiO). These walls, called frustules, take many forms, some quite beautiful and ornate. They usually consist of two asymmetrical sides with a split between them, which gives the group its name.

paragraphs: Diatom chloroplasts were probably derived from those of red algae. The fossil record of diatoms starts in strata of the Lower Jurassic, ~185 million years ago. Molecular clock evidence suggests an earlier date for their origin. The entire genomes of two species of diatom have been analysed. The analysis reveals that hundreds of genes in both species came from bacteria.

paragraphs: Diatoms have some practical uses. Diatom communities are a popular tool for monitoring environmental conditions, past and present. They are commonly used in studies of water quality. They are also of interest to nanotechnology.


title: Decapitation

paragraphs: Decapitation or beheading is the act of cutting off the head from the rest of the body of a living thing. "Beheading" usually means that the removal of the head is deliberate. It is generally done during an execution with an axe, sword, or guillotine. If the removal of the head is an accident or unintentional, it is called "decapitation". It can happen because of an auto accident, explosion, factory accident, a mistake during a hanging or some other violent accident.

paragraphs: Decapitation is always fatal, that is, the result is always death. This is because it causes all other organs to stop receiving nervous signals from the brain that are needed to function, while the supply of blood, and therefore oxygen, to the brain itself is also cut off.

paragraphs: Decapitation can also describe the removal of a head from a body that is already dead. In these situations, the head is usually a trophy or a public display of warning.

paragraphs: Beheading was the usual means of death penalty in Scandinavian countries in the past. Noblemen were beheaded with a sword, commoners with an axe. The last execution by beheading in Finland occurred in 1822, when a farmhand Tahvo Putkonen was beheaded for murder. The last beheading in Sweden occurred in 1910, when Johan Andersson-Ander was guillotined for murder. Also Germany, France and Belgium favoured beheading in the past. In those countries was carried out by guillotine.

paragraphs: Last beheading in Europe occurred 1977, when a Tunisian murderer Hamida Djandoubi was guillotined in France.

paragraphs: Some countries, especially Arab countries or former French colonies, still use beheading as the means of execution. In Saudi Arabia, the convicts are beheaded with a sword.

paragraphs: The executioner who performs beheadings is called a headsman.

paragraphs: The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has had centuries of public beheadings, but in 2013 is considering firing squads as an alternative means of execution.


title: Dmitri Mendeleev

paragraphs: Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (born 8 February (O.S. 27 January) 1834 near Tobolsk – 2 February (O.S. 20 January 20) 1907 in Saint Petersburg) was a Russian chemist who created the periodic table of elements. Many of the predictions made in his periodic table (such as the properties of elements undiscovered at the time) were later proved correct by experiments. Chemical element 101 was named Mendelevium.

paragraphs: Mendeleev was born in village of Verkhnie Aremzyani, near Tobolsk, to Ivan Pavlovich Mendeleev and Maria Dmitrievna Mendeleeva (née Kornilieva). His grandfather was Pavel Maximovich Sokolov, a priest of Russian Orthodox Church from the Tver region. Ivan, with his brothers and sisters, got new family names while attending theological seminary. Later in life, he invented the periodic table of elements.

paragraphs: Mendeleev is thought to be the youngest of 14 siblings, but the exact number differs between sources. At the age of 13, after the death of his father and the destruction of his mother's factory by fire, Mendeleev attended the Gymnasium in Tobolsk.

paragraphs: In 1849, the now poor Mendeleev family went to Saint Petersburg, where he entered the Main Pedagogical Institute in 1850. After graduation, tuberculosis caused him to move to the Crimean Peninsula on the northern coast of the Black Sea in 1855. While there he became a science master of the Simferopol gymnasium №1. He returned with fully restored health to Saint Petersburg in 1857.

paragraphs: Others in the 1860s suggested that elements group together. For example, John Newlands, published his Law of Octaves in 1865. The lack of spaces for undiscovered elements and the placing of two elements in one box were criticized and his ideas were not accepted. Another was Lothar Meyer, who published a work in 1864, describing 28 elements. Neither attempted to predict new elements. In 1863 there were 56 known elements with a new element being discovered at a rate of approximately one each year.

paragraphs: Mendeleev made other important contributions to chemistry. The Russian chemist and science historian L.A. Tchugayev called him "a chemist of genius, first-class physicist, a fruitful researcher in the fields of hydrodynamics, meteorology, geology, certain branches of chemical technology (explosives, petroleum, and fuels, for example) and other disciplines adjacent to chemistry and physics, a thorough expert of chemical industry and industry in general, and an original thinker in the field of economy". Mendeleev was one of the founders, in 1869, of the Russian Chemical Society. He worked on the theory and practice of protectionist trade and on agriculture.


title: Wakizashi

paragraphs: The wakizashi is a traditional Japanese sword. It is shorter than the katana, which was well known in the beginning of the 17th century as a "kodachi" sword. The two swords were always carried together: the wakizashi finished off the work of the katana sword. Such a sword could be from 30cm to 60cm (12 to 24 inches) long. A small version was called a "ko-wakizashi", a longer one was called an "o-wakizashi". The wakizashi has a handle made of stingray skin and the blade is made from the finest metal and stone.

paragraphs: A wakizashi had a slightly curved blade with a square-shaped hilt (handle). The hilt and the scabbard (the case in which the sword is kept) of a wakizashi was richly decorated with traditional motifs. A wakizashi was more decorated than a katana because it was not used as much as a katana, but still carried everywhere. Another distinctive feature is the scabbard (called a "saya"). The sayas were made to be like the katana but they could have extra pockets for smaller knives, a hair arranger, etc.

paragraphs: The katana and the wakizashi together are called a daishō, which is translated as "large and small". The first part of the word ("dai") means "big" and stands for the katana sword; the second ("sho") stands for wakizashi. Wakizashi was more decorated than a katana and it was thinner, this is why it was designed to cut through softer targets. So it was a sword to make dangerous cuts in weak points of the human body. The use of a daishō on the battlefield gave its user a big advantage. With the two swords the samurai could keep the enemies within a radius of action ranging from 2 to 7 feet (1 to 3 1/2 meters). Miyamoto Musashi, a famous Japanese samurai, was especially skilful at using the daishō.

paragraphs: A wakizashi sword was an irreplaceable weapon for a samurai. The tradition says that when entering a house or any other building, the samurai has to leave his katana with a servant, but the wakizashi could be worn at all times and places. This is why the wakizashi is often called the samurai's "side arm". The wakizashi followed his master even when he went to sleep, because it was always near the bed.

paragraphs: The wakizashi was carried along the thigh and was usually used with one hand; the other hand was used for the katana. The wakizashi proved to be very effective when the katana's length and weight made it hard to use. The wakizashi needs less force to use and it is more maneuverable.

paragraphs: The wakizashi was also the sword used by merchants and artisans (types of traders) who were forbidden from wearing a katana. This fact explains a greater number wakizashi swords were found than katanas. There are even more wakizashi swords than katana swords, although the katana swords had greater meaning for Japanese society.

paragraphs: The wakizashi sword was much used in the ritual of seppuku (suicide because of lost honor). In this ritual it was used along with the shortest Japanese sword - Tanto. The wakizashi was thrust into the torso (body), cutting open vertically. This kind of death was considered honorable for a samurai. When a female samurai committed seppuku she would only cut her own throat.


title: Albert Camus

paragraphs: Albert Camus (7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher and writer. Camus wrote novels and plays. Camus was born in Algeria, a country in North Africa. He had French parents. Camus was an existentialist philosopher. Existentialism is a philosophy that is very different from other ways of thinking. Camus won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

paragraphs: He was the second-youngest recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, after Rudyard Kipling, and the first African-born writer to receive the award. He is the shortest-lived of any Nobel literature laureate to date, having died in an automobile accident just over two years after receiving the award.

paragraphs: Albert Camus was born in Algeria to a poor working-class family. His mother was Spanish and his father was French. His father died in battle and he was left to live with his grandmother. When he was 17 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, which was very impactful on him at that point in his life. It limited him greatly in his athletics as well as in his career opportunities, due to the fact that tuberculosis is quite contagious. For this reason he claimed that his disease “set him free” because he would have done something else with his life had he seen the opportunity. He went to the University of Algiers, where he graduated with a degree in 1935. In the 1930s, Camus became interested in politics. In 1935, Camus joined the French Communist Party, a political group. In the late 1930s, Camus was a writer for the socialist newspaper, the "Alger-Republicain".

paragraphs: In 1941, Camus wrote his first novel, which was called "The Stranger". During World War II, Camus joined the French Resistance to fight against the Nazi army. After World War II, Camus became friends with another writer named Jean-Paul Sartre. Camus and Sartre often talked about philosophy and politics in small restaurants called cafés.

paragraphs: Camus wrote books about philosophy (ways of thinking) which said that life was "absurd" (makes no sense, or has no meaning). In the 1950s Camus tried to improve human rights. In 1960, Camus died in a car crash. He had two children, Catherine and Jean.


title: Angevin Empire

paragraphs: The Angevin Empire was a collection of states ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty. The Plantagenets, Henry II of England, Richard I of England, and John of England, ruled over an area from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries. Their empire was roughly half of medieval France as well as all of England and Ireland. The name "Angevin" came from the French region and town of Anjou which was the home of the Plantagenet family.


title: Spine

paragraphs: The spine is a column of vertebrae in the back part of the torso (upper body). It is also called the backbone or vertebral column. There is a spinal canal that runs through the length of the spine. Inside this canal is the spinal cord. Animals that have a spine are called vertebrates, and animals that do not have one are called invertebrates. Humans have a spine, so we are vertebrates. Many vertebrates, including mammals, have intervertebral discs separating the vertebrae.

paragraphs: The vertebral column has five "regions". These regions from top to bottom are:

paragraphs: The spinal column has an opening called spinal canal and this opening is used for nerves. The part of the central nervous system in the spinal column is called spinal cord.


title: Pyrenees

paragraphs: The Pyrenees (; ; ; ; ; ) are a range of mountains in southwest Europe that form a natural border between France and Spain. They separate the "Iberian Peninsula" from France, and extend for about 430 km (267 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) to the Mediterranean Sea (Cap de Creus).


title: Sea of Galilee

paragraphs: The Sea of Galilee is Israel's largest freshwater lake, about 53 kilometers (33 miles) around, about 21 km (13 miles) long, and 13 km (8 miles) wide; it has a total area of 166 km², and a depth of about 43 meters. At 209 meters below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth, and the second lowest lake in the world after the Dead Sea, a saltwater lake. It is not a real sea - it is called a sea because of tradition.

paragraphs: The lake is also known on modern maps as Lake Galilee or Lake Tiberias, in the region of Galilee. In modern Hebrew, it is known as (), "Sea of Kinnereth" (Numbers 34:11; Joshua 13:27). It has also been called the Lake of Gennesaret or the Sea of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1) after the name of a small fruitful plain on its western side. The Arabic name for the lake is (بحيرة طبريا) meaning "Lake Tiberias". Other names are: Ginnosar, Lake of Gennesar, Sea of Chinneroth, Sea of Tiberias (Roman) and Waters of Gennesareth.

paragraphs: Its main source is the Jordan River, which flows through it from north to south. The lake is deep in the Jordan Great Rift Valley, the valley caused by the separation of the African and Arabian Plates. Because of this, the area has earthquakes and, in the past, volcanic activity.

paragraphs: Due to its low-lying position in the rift valley, surrounded by hills, the sea can get sudden violent storms; as in the New Testament story about Jesus calming the storm. A main feature of the lake seems to be that it is always changing. It is still famous, just as in New Testament times, for having plenty of fish, and in today's restaurants, "St. Peter's Fish" (tilapia) is very popular.

paragraphs: The Sea of Galilee is on the ancient Via Maris road which linked Egypt with the northern empires. The Greeks, Hasmoneans, and Romans started towns and settlements here: Gadara, Hippos, Tiberias and others. The 1st century historian Flavius Josephus wrote of a large fishing industry at this time, with 230 boats regularly working in the lake.

paragraphs: Much of the ministry of Jesus was on the shores of Lake Galilee. In those days, there were many settlements and villages all around the lake and plenty of trade and ferrying by boat. The gospels of Mark (1:14-20), Matthew (4:18-22), and Luke (5:1-11) tell how Jesus got four of his apostles from the shores of Lake Galilee: the fishermen Simon and his brother Andrew, and the brothers John and James. One of Jesus' famous teachings, the Sermon on the Mount, was given on a hill overlooking the lake. Many of his miracles were also recorded to have been here: his walking on water, calming a storm, feeding five thousand people and many others.

paragraphs: In 135, the second Jewish revolt against the Romans, called Bar Kokhba's revolt, was put down. The Romans responded by sending all Jews away from Jerusalem and not letting them come back. The center of Jewish culture and learning thus moved to the region of the Kinneret, particularly to the city of Tiberias.

paragraphs: In the time of the Byzantine Empire, the lake's importance in Jesus' life made it a major destination for Christian pilgrims. This led to the growth of a tourist industry, with package tours and plenty of comfortable inns.

paragraphs: The lake lost importance when the Byzantines lost control of it. The area came under the control of the Umayyad Caliphate and later Islamic empires. Except for Tiberias, little by little, the major towns and cities began to be left empty. In 1187, Saladin defeated the armies of the Crusades at the Battle of Hattin, mainly because he cut the Crusaders off from the valuable fresh water of the Sea of Galilee.

paragraphs: In 1909 Jewish pioneers built their first cooperative farming village (kibbutz), Kvutzat Kinneret which trained Jewish immigrants in farming and agriculture. Kinneret was the center of the Kibbutz culture of early Zionism.

paragraphs: In 1923 an agreement between the United Kingdom and France set the border between the British Mandate of Palestine and the French Mandate of Syria. The British gave the southern Golan Heights to the French in return for the northern Jordan Valley. The border was drawn again so that both sides of the Jordan river and the whole of the Sea of Galilee, including a 10-meter wide strip along the northeastern shore, were made a part of Palestine . The 1947 UN Partition Plan put this area inside the Jewish state.

paragraphs: During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Syria occupied the lake's northeastern shore. In 1967, the State of Israel took control of the entire Sea of Galilee, as well as the Golan, during the Six Day War. Syria still claims the northeastern shore of the sea , arguing it is a part of the Golan Heights.

paragraphs: Israel's National Water Carrier, built in 1964, takes water from the lake to the population centers of Israel, and is the source of most of the country's drinking water. Israel also supplies water from the lake to the West Bank and to Jordan (under the terms of the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace). More demand for water and some dry winters have resulted in a lower water level that is sometimes dangerous.

paragraphs: Today, tourism is again very important in the area. The entire Sea of Galilee is a popular holiday resort area. The many historical and spiritual sites around the lake, especially its main town Tiberias, are visited by millions of local and foreign tourists every year. Other economic activities include fishing in the lake and agriculture, particularly bananas, in the fertile belt of land surrounding it.

paragraphs: A key attraction is the site where the Kinneret's water flows into the Jordan River. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the world come to be (re-)baptized there every year.


title: Dartmoor

paragraphs: Dartmoor is a national park in Devon, a county in England. Its highest point is High Willhays, 621 metres high. This is the highest point in the south of England. It has a large area of moorland, and is very hilly. There is much woodland on its lower slopes.

paragraphs: Dartmoor is famous for its tors—outcrops of rock on top of many of its hills. These are the remains of volcanic activity in the Carboniferous period.

paragraphs: Animal life on Dartmoor includes birds such as the ring ouzel and dunlin, and the endangered marsh fritillary butterfly. Its bogs are home to many unusual plants such as the sundew.


title: Cirencester

paragraphs: Cirencester is a town in Gloucestershire in England. People first moved there in Roman times. It currently has a population of 19,000. It is 93 miles west of London, and is between Swindon, Cheltenham and Gloucester.


title: Seppuku

paragraphs: Seppuku is a Japanese ritual where a samurai kills himself by cutting into his belly. After one had done so, a second person would cut off his head. It was thought that seppuku was an honorable way to die. Sometimes, it is called hara-kiri, which is translated from Japanese as "belly-cutting".

paragraphs: Seppuku was a key part of bushido, the honor code of the samurai warriors. It was used by warriors so that they would not fall into enemy hands and be shamed. It was possible also that a samurai received an order from his master to commit seppuku.

paragraphs: Because seppuku was an honorable act, a warrior who was caught by the enemy was sometimes given the choice between seppuku and being executed. If he chose seppuku, he could protect his honor. Samurai women had to ask for permission to commit seppuku.

paragraphs: This act could be performed either with a ritual, or quietly on the battlefield while other warriors fight the enemy.

paragraphs: The main weapon used was the samurai's knife called tantō or the short sword, called wakizashi. A samurai who wants to commit seppuku would take the weapon, open his kimono and stab the blade into his belly. He would make a deep cut from Right to left. An assistant of the warrior committing seppuku (called "kaishakunin") would immediately cut off his head.


title: Sow bug

paragraphs: A sow bug or woodlouse is a small land arthropod (jointed-legged animal). They are often confused with centipedes, millipedes or insects, but are actually crustaceans. They have fourteen legs and breathe through gills. Because of the gills, woodlice need water in the air around them. They mostly eat dead plants, and are considered helpful, because they act as "garbage collectors." Some species can roll up into a ball when in danger. In such position, their hard shell faces out, protecting the softer parts of the body.

paragraphs: Sow bugs do not look like shrimps or crabs, although they are closely related.


title: Lady beetle

paragraphs: Lady beetles are the Coccinellidae, a family of beetles. All species are protected by noxious fluids based on cyanide, and most have warning colouration, such as red with black spots or black stripes.

paragraphs: They are often called ladybugs or ladybirds, but biologists prefer the term 'coccinellid' or 'lady beetle'.

paragraphs: Coccinellids are found worldwide, with over 5,000 species. Most species are insectivorous, feeding mainly on

paragraphs: the "true bugs", the Hemiptera. These are insects which feed on plants, such as aphids (greenfly) or scale insects. Ladybeetle larvae are also voracious (greedy) eaters of greenfly.

paragraphs: "Harmonia axyridis" (or harlequin ladybug) was introduced into North America from Asia in 1988 to control aphids. It is now the most common species there, out-competing many of the native species. It has since spread to much of western Europe, reaching the UK in 2004.

paragraphs: Coccinellids are often brightly coloured to warn potential predators. This phenomenon is called aposematism. It works because predators learn by experience to associate certain prey phenotypes (appearance) with a bad taste or being poisonous.

paragraphs: Mechanical stimulation (such as a predator attack) causes "reflex bleeding" in both larval and adult ladybird beetles. A toxin is put through the joints of the exoskeleton, deterring feeding. This method works well: birds and cats seldom try twice.

paragraphs: Most people know lady beetles as small, round, red beetles with black spots on their backs. In Europe, the most common lady beetle is seven-spotted "Coccinella septempunctata".

paragraphs: Not all lady beetles are red, and not all red lady beetles have spots. Some lady beetles are very small, black and hairy. Lady beetles vary in color as red, orange, pink, or yellow with black spots. They can also be black with red spots. Some are missing spots altogether. There are even a few kinds of ladybeetles with metallic blue iridescence, and some have checkerboard markings or stripes.

paragraphs: The (usually) black front part ("pronotum") of the ladybeetle is the thorax and the head.

paragraphs: Most coccinellids as adults. In "Harmonia axyridis", eggs hatch in 3–4 days from clutches numbering from a few to several dozen. Depending on the supply of aphids, the larvae pass through four instars over 10–14 days, after which pupation occurs. After several days, the adults become reproductively active and are able to reproduce again, though not late in the season. On average, the lifespan on the lady beetle is 1-2 years.

paragraphs: It only takes about four weeks for the ladybeetle to transform from a tiny egg to an adult. Some females can lay up to 1,000 eggs in one summer. The ladybeetle may lay her eggs near an aphid colony, or on plants where the larvae will have a ready supply of food when they hatch.

paragraphs: Almost all lady beetles are insectivores: they eat other insects. Many of these insects have soft bodies, such as aphids. Even the larvae eat other insects. Aphids are a huge problem for farmers and gardeners, and therefore a ladybug is a great help to the farmer. Some species of ant herd aphids like sheep, and will attack a ladybeetle that tries to eat one of their aphids.

paragraphs: Lady beetles can typically be found on plant foliage located in areas the get direct sunlight. They play important roles in keeping the diversity around gardens and forest under control through pest control.

paragraphs: Jessica Sickler created a research program called "The Lost Ladybug Project" to get families and children outside and looking at wildlife. The team are able to keep track of what species of lady beetles are located in what regions. Families are invited to join.


title: Lou Pearlman

paragraphs: Louis Jay Pearlman (June 19, 1954 - August 19, 2016) was an American record producer and fraudster. He was born in Flushing, Queens, New York City. He used to live in Orlando, Florida.

paragraphs: In 2008, Pearlman was convicted and sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. He died of a stroke in prison in Texarkana, Texas.


title: Thirteen Colonies

paragraphs: The Thirteen Colonies were British North American colonies in which is now the eastern seaboard of the United States. There were a few reasons for the colonies founding. Some people thought they would make a lot of money in new goods in America that could not be found in Europe, such as tobacco. Others left to find freedom of religion or just to make a new start. Some wanted to be in charge and change things that they did not like back at England. The first colony was Virginia. It was started in 1607 at Jamestown. The last colony of the thirteen to be started was Georgia in 1732.

paragraphs: The Thirteen Colonies (listed from north to south):

paragraphs: The colonies are often divided into three groups. The northern group was called New England and included New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. There were four Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The South had five colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. New England had small farms and focused on fishing, forestry (trees and lumber), shipping, and small industry to make money. The South had large plantation farms that grew tobacco and later cotton. Plantations were farmed first by indentured servants (people who would work for a period of years in return for passage to America and land), and later by slaves. The Middle Colonies had medium-sized farms. These colonies also had people from many different cultures with many different beliefs.

paragraphs: All three regions were tied to the "Atlantic economy". Colonists built merchant vessels, and merchants traded slaves, agricultural goods, gold, fish, lumber, and manufactured goods between America, the West Indies, Europe and Africa.

paragraphs: After the French and Indian War, Great Britain made new taxes and other laws that angered some people in the colonies. This led to war between Great Britain and its former colonies. This war was called the American Revolutionary War. The colonies said they were independent of Great Britain on July 4, 1776, in the Declaration of Independence. The colonies became known as the United States of America.


Jamestown


title: Stillbirth

paragraphs: A stillbirth happens when a fetus (unborn baby) dies while still inside the mother or dies during delivery (childbirth). It is said that the delivered baby is "stillborn". Stillbirth is different from a miscarriage because a stillbirth happens after the baby has been living inside its mother 20 to 24 weeks (depending on the country). It is called a miscarriage if the baby lived inside the mother for less time.

paragraphs: The causes of many stillbirths are unknown, even when special tests are done to learn the cause.

paragraphs: The number of stillbirths in the United States is about 1 in 115 births, which is about 26,000 a year, or one every 20 minutes. In developing countries, where medical care is not as advanced or good, the number of stillbirths is higher.

paragraphs: In Australia, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the rate is about 1 in 200 babies.

paragraphs: The death of the baby is usually treated like the death of an older baby. The family may have a funeral. The body of the dead baby can be buried or cremated (burned). In some places, there are special places for putting the bodies or the ashes of stillborn babies.

paragraphs: The mother may be ill. Her body may be hurt from having the baby.

paragraphs: In the UK, any baby that leaves its mother's body after 24 weeks and does not show any signs of life is called a "stillbirth". The mother or father must tell the government about the baby. A Stillbirth Certificate is given to the family.

paragraphs: In Australia, any stillborn fetus that weighs more than 400 grams and lived in the mother for more than 20 weeks must be reported to the government.

paragraphs: The United States does not have a formal definition of "stillborn" babies. All pregnancies are legally called either: "live birth", "fetal death", or "induced termination of pregnancy" (abortion). The law does not have a difference between a stillbirth and a miscarriage. However, it is recommended to register infants who weighed over 350 grams or who lived over 19 weeks inside the mother before dying.


title: Arizona Cardinals

paragraphs: The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. They are the oldest continuous professional American football club in the United States, founded in 1899 in Chicago, Illinois. They moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1960 before moving to Phoenix in 1988. The head coach of the team is Kliff Kingsbury. As of 2019, their starting quarterback is Kyler Murray. Drew Stanton is currently the number 2 quarterback. Arizona Cardinals play their home games at State Farm Stadium. The Arizona Cardinals played in Super Bowl XLIII, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers.


title: Totnes

paragraphs: Totnes is a town in South Devon, South West England. 7,800 people live there. It has many old buildings dating back to Tudor times, and it has the remains of a Norman castle. The town stands on the River Dart, at the highest point reached by the tide.

paragraphs: Totnes is well known in Britain for its large New Age community, although some of these people are moving away from the town. The town has many interesting shops selling health food and books, and there are also many art and craft shops.

paragraphs: A local legend says that Totnes was begun by Brutus of Troy after the Trojan war. There is a stone in the high street called the Brutus Stone. This is where people say he first stepped on British soil.


title: Chiffon cake

paragraphs: A chiffon cake is a type of sponge cake. It is a cake that is made using vegetable oil instead of butter. This gives the cake a foam-like texture. Because there is no butter in the cakes, they are more healthy but have less flavor. Chiffon cakes are usually served by soaking the cake layer in a cake syrup (which is nothing more than 2 parts water to 1 part sugar) to provide it with moisture since it's dry in nature.

paragraphs: The chiffon cake was invented in 1927 by Harry Baker, a California insurance salesman turned caterer. Baker kept the recipe secret for 20 years until he sold it to General Mills. At this point the name was changed to "chiffon cake" and a set of 14 recipes and variations was released to the public in a Betty Crocker pamphlet published in 1948.


title: Three Character Classic

paragraphs: The Three Character Classic, Trimetric Classic or San Zi Jing (三字經, 三字经) is a written work from China. Many people believe that Wang Yinglin wrote it during the Song Dynasty. It is named Three Character Classic because each line has three Chinese words, which are called "characters." It is often used to teach children how to say words.


title: Art film

paragraphs: Art films are a type of movie that is very different from the popular Hollywood blockbuster movies. Art films have many other names. Some people call them art movies, independent films, indie films, arthouse films, auteur films ("auteur" is a French word which means "author") or experimental films.

paragraphs: Art films are usually made by smaller movie companies. These companies do not have much money compared to the Major movie studios large movie studios, for example, Paramount or Disney. Art films usually have different plots (stories) than blockbuster movies. They usually tell more creative or unusual stories than blockbuster movies.

paragraphs: Art films often show controversial or sad stories. These types of movies may have sad endings. They are sometimes hard to understand, because the movie may be about people's feelings, thoughts, or dreams.

paragraphs: For these reasons, art films are not shown in many cinemas or theaters. They do not have large audiences and do not make much money. They are generally promoted by word of mouth. People see the movie and then tell their friends to go see it.

paragraphs: The opposite of an art film is a popular blockbuster movie. Blockbuster movies have famous actors and large budgets. Some have expensive special effects. They are made so that millions of people will pay money to see the movie.

paragraphs: Blockbuster movies are part of the reason why people make art films. Movie directors making art films try to make them very different from blockbuster movies. The movie is a more personal statement by the director. Blockbusters are made for commercial reasons and art films are made for personal reasons.

paragraphs: The large budgets of blockbuster movies are not only to make the movie. The money also pays for advertisements. Art movies have small budgets. They usually have unknown or little-known actors. Some even use amateur actors. Some art films will even use regular people with no experience as actors to work as the actors. It is not uncommon for Art film directors to use friends and family members as actors.

paragraphs: Blockbusters often use simple stories and characters that have been used before in other movies. Art movies usually use strange or unusual stories and characters that the audience may not have seen before.

paragraphs: In blockbuster movies, there is usually a happy ending. All of the problems in the story are figured out or fixed by the end of the movie. In art movies, there is often a sad ending. They can also have endings which are either hard to understand or could mean many different things. These endings are used so that the audience will have to think about what might have happened in the story.

paragraphs: Blockbuster movies have a large amount of television advertising, billboards and internet sites. Art films often have little or no advertising.

paragraphs: Blockbuster movies are very popular. This causes more movies to be made using the same story and characters. For example, the "James Bond" movies all tell stories about the British spy named James Bond. The "Star Wars" science fiction movies all tell stories about spaceships and outer space wars. Art films are very rarely made into franchises with sequels. This is because directors of art films are often trying to create a new movie with new ideas for each movie they make. Some art films do have sequels. This will most often happen when the movie was very well liked and the director wanted to tell more stories using some of the same characters.

paragraphs: Rarely, an art film can be so well liked that a franchise is created because of it. The "View Askew" universe is an example of this. Kevin Smith wrote and directed the movie "Clerks". He produced the movie himself with a friend, Scott Mosier. They named their production company, View Askew Productions. This movie was an art film. It had a small budget, dealt with personal issues and its actors were mainly Smith's friends and family. Smith even played one of the characters himself. The movie was very popular and sold well when it was released on DVD. Universal Pictures, a large Hollywood studio, asked him to make a movie for them. He used two of his characters from "Clerks", Jay and Silent Bob, as part of the new movie. He later used Jay (played by Jason Mewes and Silent Bob (played by Smith) is three other movies he wrote: "Dogma", "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "Clerks 2", a sequel to "Clerks".

paragraphs: David Bordwell is a professor from the United States. He studies movies at a university. He thought of a way of explaining what an "art film" is in 1979. He wrote that art films are different from regular Hollywood movies. Regular Hollywood movies have a clear story and plot. Art film often have much stranger stories. In an art film, the stories may be hard to understand. As well, in an art film, the audience may have a hard time understanding what is going on. Art movies are often about people's feelings and thoughts. Art movies are often about big questions that a person has to answer about who they are or what they should do in a situation.


title: Palm OS

paragraphs: Palm OS is an operating system that is made to work on small computer devices, mostly Personal Digital Assistants. Palm OS was first released in 1996, when the Palm 1000 was released.


title: Ural Mountains

paragraphs: The Ural Mountains (), also known simply as the Urals, is a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia.

paragraphs: The Urals stretch 2,500 km from the Kazakh steppes along the northern border of Kazakhstan to the coast of the Arctic Ocean. The island of Novaya Zemlya forms a further continuation of the chain. Geographically this range marks the northern part of the border between Asian and European sections of the Eurasian continent. Its highest peak is Mount Narodnaya (Poznurr, 1895 m).


title: Ishmael

paragraphs: Ishmael (, إ ʾIsmāʿīl) was the first son of Abraham and , an Egyptian servant. He and his mother had settled in the valley and was the meeting of , nomads of Yemen and descendants of who had also spotted the water source and incorporate. He is the father of the "North Arabs" ().

paragraphs: It was derived from Abraham, descendant of , son of , son of Noah, grandson of Methuselah and coming from line of Seth, son of Adam and Eve, first human.


title: Steppe

paragraphs: In physical geography, a steppe is a plain without trees (apart from those near rivers and lakes). It is similar to a short-grass prairie, although a prairie is generally considered as North America, and the steppe is in eastern Europe and central Asia. Sometimes the short-grass prairie in North America is also called a steppe. Similar places in Africa are called savanna. The world's largest steppe, sometimes called The Great Steppe, is in Russia.

paragraphs: The Mongolian Steppe, also known as the Eastern Steppe, is located in northern Mongolia. It is between the Altai Mountains in the west and the Greater Khingan Region in the east.

paragraphs: It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs or both, depending on the season and latitude. It is the sort of climate that is in regions too dry for a forest, but not so dry that there are only deserts. The soil is too moist for a desert, but too dry for normal forest life. Steppes receive slightly more rain than deserts do. The climates in steppes are usually temperate. They are pretty dry because there is very minimal rain.

paragraphs: This is an open area, and often there were long distances between places with good water. People who lived in this type of area were often nomads, often traveling by horses. Genghis Khan was a great warrior from Mongolia who lived on the steppe. The majority of people in the steppe are nomads. Families in Mongolia live in "gers" which is a large portable tent. Mongolians are also master horse riders so many families own many horses that roam the steppe. The people in the steppe interact with the steppe with using the animals there for there food and drink. They also have a very prominent musical culture with a wide variety of traditional Mongolian songs.

paragraphs: In the United States, the cowboy herded cattle in the steppe, moving from place to place by horse. During the Dust Bowl in the 1930s in North America, farmers who had recently settled on the land and started farms suddenly found themselves without food. Many of them left. Eventually they learned to plow differently and plant crops that survived a drought better, and to plant trees in rows called windbreaks.


title: Plain

paragraphs: In geography, a plain is a large area of land with no hills or mountains. Plains mostly are more suitable for farming than plateaus or mountains.


Mint


title: French fries

paragraphs: French fries (called chips in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Commonwealth, French fried potatoes or just fries in North America), are a type of food made out of potatoes that originated in Belgium. The potatoes are cut into thin strips and fried in oil. In the UK "chips" are seen as different to "fries" with chips being thicker cut than the thinner fries.

paragraphs: They are usually eaten with fish, burgers, sausages, pies, fried chicken, or by themselves. Many things can be put on them to make them taste better, such as salt and vinegar, gravy, curry, cheese, ketchup or mayonnaise. These extra flavours are called condiments.

paragraphs: In the UK, a "chip shop" is a shop which sells cooked chips, usually to take home to eat. They also sell fried fish, sausages, pies, pickled eggs and pickled onions. Fish and chips is a very popular meal in Great Britain, and other places. American style burger take-aways, such as McDonald's, sell the thinner fries rather than chips.


Champagne


title: Champagne (wine)

paragraphs: Champagne is a French sparkling wine. It is named after the Champagne wine region in Grand Est. This is a region in France with many vineyards that grow grapes and make wine. Note that this region is not identical to the French region of Champagne-Ardenne, nor the historical province Champagne. Champagne contains carbon dioxide. One of the features of Champagne wine is that this carbon dioxide originates from a second fermentation in the bottle, and is not added.

paragraphs: Many people call all sparkling wines "champagne" but according to trade laws, only sparkling wine from the Champagne region can be called champagne.

paragraphs: Champagnes must be made from certain kinds of grapes. They can be made from white Chardonnay grapes, or red Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier grapes. Even if red grapes are used, most champagnes look white or sometimes pink (rosé).

paragraphs: Champagnes have different names depending on how much sugar is added. Here is a list of kinds of champagnes from least sweet (called "dry") to most sweet (called "wet"/"doux"):

paragraphs: "Brut" is the most common type of champagne.

paragraphs: Champagne, like all sparkling wines, is carbonated. Because of all the bubbles, champagne is sometimes called "bubbly" (ex. "We're going to have "bubbly" at our wedding.")

paragraphs: Champagne can be opened in a way that the cork "pops" out and the champagne sprays out in a bubbly foam. Usually this is done only at celebrations. It can be achieved by shaking the bottle before opening it. Normally, care should be taken when opening champagne bottles so that it does not make a mess. When done correctly, the cork will come out quietly, more like a sigh than a pop.

paragraphs: Champagne is usually served in a champagne flute (a tall, narrow glass). The shape of the glass helps keep the bubbles for a longer time.

paragraphs: Champagne is always served cold (chilled). The best temperature is 7 to 9 °C (43 to 48 °F). Often the bottle is chilled in a bucket of ice before and after opening.

paragraphs: In English it is pronounced like "shampain" (). In French is sounds more like "shampany" ().


title: Caesarion

paragraphs: Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion (little Caesar; ; June 23, 47 BC – August, 30 BC) was the son of Cleopatra VII. He ruled Egypt as a child along with Cleopatra until 30 BC. He was murdered by Octavian, who would later become the Roman emperor Augustus.

paragraphs: Caesarion is probably the son of Julius Caesar. If so, he is the only known son of Caesar.

paragraphs: Caesarion was the last king (pharaoh) of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.


title: Lorca

paragraphs: Lorca is a town in Murcia, Spain. The 2010 census recorded that 92,694 people live there. On 11 May 2011, an earthquake occurred, causing the deaths of ten people.


title: Alexander Pushkin

paragraphs: Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born 6 June (26 May, Old Style) 1799, Moscow, and died 10 February 1837 (29 January, New Style), St Petersburg. He was a Russian poet, novelist, dramatist and writer of short stories.

paragraphs: Many think he was the greatest Russian poet. He started the great tradition of Russian literature. Pushkin wrote in a way that no other Russian had done before: he used the Russian language as it was spoken instead of writing in a style based on old church books. His influence on other Russian writers was enormous and several Russian composers set his stories and poems to music. His poetry is very hard to translate well into other languages because the words are full of special meanings in Russian culture. His novels, especially Eugene Onegin, are widely read.

paragraphs: Pushkin was the great-grandson of an African of the Tzar Peter the Great. He was killed in a duel in 1837 at the age of 37.

paragraphs: Pushkin's father came from an old aristocratic family. On his mother's side Pushkin had African ancestors. His great-grandfather Abram Gannibal was an Abyssinian who was living in a palace of the Turkish sultan in Istanbul. The Russian ambassador bought him as a present for Peter the Great, the tsar of Russia. Gannibal became a favourite of Peter the Great and he was sent to Paris to study. He became very rich. Pushkin was proud of his great-grandfather and wrote about him in a novel called "The Negro of Peter the Great".

paragraphs: In 19th century Russia all aristocratic families learned to speak French, so Pushkin and his brother and sister spoke and wrote in French more than in Russian. The children were cared for by a nurse, Arina Rodionovna Yakovleva. It was the nurse who taught them to love the Russian language. She told the children Russian folktales. Pushkin also spoke Russian to the peasants and he read many books in his father's library.

paragraphs: When he was 12 he went to a new school called the Imperial Lyceum at Tsarskoye Selo. Years later this school was renamed Pushkin after their famous pupil. He soon started writing romantic poems in Russian using Russian tales of heroes and adventures. "Ruslan and Ludmila" was a poem that was later to be made into an opera by Mikhael Glinka.

paragraphs: In 1817, Pushkin got a job in the foreign office at St. Petersburg. He soon became interested in politics and supported the Decembrist revolt of 1825 when a group of noblemen and army officers tried to put another tsar in power and make him less powerful. Pushkin wrote some political poems. The result was that he was told he had to leave St. Petersburg. He had to spend six years in exile in the south of the country: in the Caucasus and the Crimea. He wrote about his experiences in the south in several romantic narrative poems (long poems which tell a story). He started work on a novel in verse called "Yevgeny Onegin" (or "Eugene Onegin"). He did not finish it until 1833. This was to be his most famous work. It was used by many musicians including Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky who made it into an opera. The poem shows typical Russian people in the society of his day.

paragraphs: Pushkin was angry that he was still in exile and he wrote many letters to his friends. Many of these letters were later published. He spent a lot of time drinking, gaming and fighting with swords. He fell in love with the daughter of a Count for whom he was working. The Count managed to get Pushkin exiled to his mother's estate near Pskov at the other end of Russia. Pushkin spent two years here. He was lonely, but he studied Russian history and talked to the peasants. The poems he wrote were full of ideas from Russian culture. He wrote one of his major works: "Boris Godunov", a drama about a story from Russian history. The composer Modest Mussorgsky later made an opera from it. Boris Godunov was a cruel tsar in the 17th century. Pushkin's play shows that the ordinary people had a lot of power. This made it difficult for Pushkin to get it published.

paragraphs: After the revolt in 1825 the new tsar Nicholas I realized that Pushkin was by now very famous. He also realized that he had not taken part in the revolt, so he allowed him to return. The tsar said that he himself would censor Pushkin's works before they were allowed to be published. He said that he was going to be a good tsar and help the poor people (the serfs) to become free. Pushkin was in a difficult position because he could not write anything that the tsar would not like.

paragraphs: He had to be very careful not to say bad things about the rulers of the country. The police watched him very carefully. Yet at this time Pushkin wrote a large number of great works, almost each one of them being the first of their kind in Russian literature. One example is the short story "The Queen of Spades", which Tchaikovsky made into an opera and which was to be a great influence on the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky.

paragraphs: In his last years, Pushkin was again in government service in St. Petersburg. He married in 1831 and had to spend a lot of time in society at court. He wrote more and more prose. He wrote a history of Peter the Great and a historical novel "The Captain's Daughter". He kept asking the tsar to let him resign from his job and go to the country to spend his time writing. The tsar would not allow that. In 1837, Pushkin was killed in a duel. He had been forced to fight the duel in order to defend his wife's honour.

paragraphs: The Russian language today would be very different if it had not been for Pushkin. Using the language as it was spoken by the people he made it into a language which was simple but which could also express deep feelings. His works were a great influence on later writers like Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Goncharov and Leo Tolstoy. "Yevgeny Onegin" was the first Russian novel which told a story about the society of the time. His works have been translated into all the major languages


title: Exile

paragraphs: Exile means being sent away from the country or area where you live. People are usually exiled for political reasons or sometimes because they have committed a crime. They may have said bad things about the rulers in that country or tried to get into power themselves. People are not exiled in democratic countries, but many famous people in history have been sent into exile.

paragraphs: Exile may mean that someone is sent out of the country, but sometimes they are sent to another part of the country (this is called "internal exile"). Sometimes people have made their own decision to leave their country as a protest against the way it was being ruled. This is called "self-imposed exile".

paragraphs: In the Old Testament the Jews were exiled to Babylon. In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome people were often sent into exile. For several centuries Russia (in the 20th century the Soviet Union) sent many people into exile, often to labour camps in Siberia. Thousands of people from Europe including many famous people went to the United States when the Nazis came to power in Germany in the 1930s.

paragraphs: One famous person who was sent into exile was Napoléon Bonaparte who was exiled from France, first to Elba and then to Saint Helena after his defeat against the allied forces.

paragraphs: The cellist Pablo Casals went into self-imposed exile as a protest against the government of Francisco Franco. He said he would not come back until Spain was a democracy. But he never could, because he died two years before Franco.


title: Lager

paragraphs: Lager (which is short for Lager beer) is a kind of beer. It is made from a kind of yeast. Fermentation will be a slow process. It usually has a clear color. That color comes from the beer being stored for some time. During that time, the yeast can settle at the bottom of the barrel. The yeast is removed before the beer is bottled or served.

paragraphs: Lagers are usually drunk while they are cold.


title: Ryszard Kapuściński

paragraphs: Ryszard Kapuściński (b. March 4 1932 in Pińsk, d. January 23 2007 in Warsaw) was a popular Polish journalist. He was well regarded both at home, and abroad. During his life he became known for his way of reporting news. He was a foreign correspondent for the Polish press agency. He was shortlisted as a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature, but also received many other awards. He is one of the Polish authors whose works get translated most often.


title: Republican National Committee

paragraphs: The Republican National Committee (the R.N.C. or RNC) is a group of people who coordinate the activities of the U.S. Republican party in all fifty states. The R.N.C. has its headquarters in Washington, DC. It also has state Republican party headquarters in each of the 50 state capitals.

paragraphs: The current chairwoman of the committee is Ronna Romney McDaniel of Michigan.


title: Democratic National Committee

paragraphs: The Democratic National Committee (D.N.C. or DNC) is a group of people who coordinate the activities of the U.S. Democratic party in all fifty states. The D.N.C. is headquartered in the nation's capital, Washington, DC. It also has state Democratic party headquarters in each of the 50 state capitals.

paragraphs: The current chairman is Thomas Perez of Maryland and the Deputy Chairman is Keith Ellison of Minnesota.


title: Four Corners

paragraphs: The Four Corners is the place in the Southwestern United States where the four corners of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona meet. Three of the four corners (AZ, NM, UT) are on the Navajo Indian Reservation and the fourth corner (CO) is on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation.

paragraphs: The Four Corners Monument is at the coordinates .


title: Southwestern United States

paragraphs: The Southwestern United States (called the American Southwest or simply the Southwest) is a region of the western United States. The region is than the northern states and than the eastern states. The area includes Arizona and New Mexico, sometimes called the "Desert Southwest." Often counted as part of the Southwest are Southern California, parts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado and western Texas. The Southwest has seen large amounts of growth in recent years, both the Phoenix, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada areas are amongst the fastest growing in the country.


title: Flagellum

paragraphs: A flagellum (plural: "flagella") is a long, whip-like structure that helps some single celled organisms move. It is composed of microtubules. They help propel cells and organisms in a whip-like motion. The flagellum of eukaryotes usually moves with an “S” motion, and is surrounded by cell membrane.

paragraphs: Flagella are structurally almost identical with the much smaller Cilia. So much so that it has been proposed protists bearing either should be unified in the Phylum "Undulipodia". Previously, Margulis had proposed that the Ciliates alone should be placed in a Phylum "Ciliophora". Admittedly, the Protista is a collection of disparate single-celled forms, but while a more sophisticated taxonomy is in flux (changing), Protista is still a useful term.

paragraphs: Cilia and flagella are cell organelles, specialised units which carry out well-defined functions, like mitochondria and plastids. It is fairly clear now that all or most of these organelles have their origin in once-independent prokaryotes (bacteria or archaea), and that the eukaryote cell is a 'community of micro-organisms' working together in 'a marriage of convenience'.

paragraphs: Three types of flagella have so far been distinguished; bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic. The main differences among these three types are summarized below:


title: Walkman

paragraphs: Walkman is the invention as well as the brand name of Sony. It represents a portable audio player. Today, similar devices are also called "Walkman". The name describes players that have small sizes and can be carried by one anywhere. The portable player was a revolutionary device since one could take favorite music with him or her.

paragraphs: The original Walkman was released in 1979. The name "Walkman" was used in Japan, while abroad it had other names, one of which was "Soundabout". First the product did not have a name, and then one of the company's staff proposed "Walkman". Because it was a direct translation from Japanese, Sony's leadership seemed skeptical. They thought "Walkman" was not a suitable name for a device which was to be launched in the United States and Europe.

paragraphs: Sony used new ways to introduce its new product on the market and advertise it. The main idea of Sony was to make people aware that Walkman is a product that is unique on the market and that it is both new and fun. On June 22 (the date of release), Sony Walkman appeared in Tokyo. The company held an unusual press conference where different journalists were invited to Yoyogi, which is Tokyo's major park. They were given a Walkman to prove that the portable player is fun and easy to use.

paragraphs: By 1995 there were already about 150 million Walkman portable players produced. Later, MP3 players became more popular.


title: Semantics

paragraphs: Semantics is the study of meaning. Meaning in this case refers to the relation between "signifiers" and what they stand for. Signifiers are words, signs and symbols.

paragraphs: The word "semantics" was first used by a French man named Michel Bréal. He studied the way that language was put together, how language changed as time passed, and the connections in languages. Semantics can include simple or very complicated ideas. In everyday speech, it means a problem with understanding language that can confuse because of the words or their connotation (another idea created by a word that is not in its definition). This problem of understanding has been studied for a long time, especially in the field of formal semantics, where people explain the connection between words and their meanings in a clear way.

paragraphs: In linguistics (the study of language), semantics is the study of the attempts to understand signs or symbols used in agents (the words that cause an action) or communities in different situations. Other items of language that are said to have meaning are sounds, facial expressions, body language, and proxemics, which is the use of personal space. Each of these topics connects to many ways of studying. In writing, things like the way paragraphs are written and the use of punctuation show meaning. Other types of language create other meanings.

paragraphs: Formal semantics is sometimes similar to many other areas of language study. Some of these are lexicology (study of words), syntax (ordering of words), pragmatics (the study of language in different situations), and etymology (the history of words). Semantics is also a well-defined field on its own.


title: Governance

paragraphs: Governance is the term for the way a group of people such as a country do things. Many groups create a government to decide how things are to be done. Governance is different from politics. Politics deals with people with different ideas working together to create an agreement about what to do, and governance is doing what politics decided needed to be done.Governance is also how government decision making affects people in that nation.


title: Snowball

paragraphs: A snowball is a ball of snow. They are usually made by a person picking snow up in their hands and pressing it together in the ball the size of their hand. Snowballs are usually thrown at people or objects as a game called a snowball fight. Making snowballs is a common activity for children when it snows.

paragraphs: Larger snowballs are made by using a ball the size of a hand and rolling it on the ground. As more snow sticks to it, the ball grows larger. Larger snowballs are often used to make Snowmen. The term "Snowball effect" comes from this. It means as things go on, they get larger in the same way that a snowball gets larger as it rolls.


title: MPEG-4

paragraphs: MPEG-4 is a video and audio standard (type). Movies in MPEG-4 need less space on a computer. At the same time, they still have DVD quality. MPEG means Moving Picture Experts Group. Many researchers and engineers all over the world worked to develop MPEG-4. The work on this standard ended in 1998. MPEG-4 became a standard all over the world.

paragraphs: Movies that use MPEG-4 standard are high quality and take up less computer memory. Older standards were MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Compared to these older versions, MPEG-4 has more features. For example, it has a way to fix problems, lots of quality and size choices, and a better picture quality.

paragraphs: MPEG-4 is designed for the special needs of computers, television areas and telecommunications. It is able to be individual objects in a certain area, besides rectangular pieces of computer information. For example, this could be a car driving in front of a background. The background does not change. The car can be treated as separate thing, because it is not a fixed background. This is because MPEG-4 can be many rectangular images at the same time.


title: Warship (TV series)

paragraphs: Warship was an extremely popular British television drama series produced by the BBC between 1973 and 1977.

paragraphs: The series was about life on board a Royal Navy warship, the fictional HMS Hero. It was mainly filmed aboard the Leander-class frigate HMS Phoebe.

paragraphs: Four Leander class frigates played the role of HMS Hero. They were HMS Phoebe, HMS Dido, HMS Hermione and HMS Jupiter. All the crews of these warships were given HMS Hero cap tallies for filming purposes.

paragraphs: The creator of the series was a serving Royal Navy officer, Ian Mackintosh. He wrote three books based on episodes of the series. They were simultaneously published in hardback and paperback. The books were:

paragraphs: The opening music of the series was a march played by the Royal Marines, called "Warship", and written by Anthony Isaac. It is still played by Royal Marine bands.


title: Jerry Lewis

paragraphs: Jerry Lewis, born as "Jerome Levitch", (March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, screenwriter, singer, humanitarian, producer, director, philanthropist and actor. He was of Jewish descent. He was best known for acting in comedy movies in the 1950s and 1960s such as "The Nutty Professor". He also helped to raise money for people with muscular dystrophy, through the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

paragraphs: Lewis was born in Newark, New Jersey. He studied at Irvington High School though he dropped out in his sophomore year.

paragraphs: Lewis first became famous as part of Martin & Lewis, working with singer Dean Martin. They worked together for ten years. They appeared on stage, radio and television, and in movies. They stopped working together in 1956 and did not speak for years. They reunited a few times from the 1970s to the 1990s.

paragraphs: Lewis directed of many of his movies. He was the first director to use video cameras with movie cameras, to help with filming scenes. Film takes time to process, but videotape can be played back right away, saving time and work if a scene needs to be redone. Other directors soon started using his technique, and it is still used today.

paragraphs: During the 1970s, Lewis' movies became less popular. He moved away from acting and directing. In the 1990s, he returned to performing onstage. He continued to perform during the 2000s.

paragraphs: Lewis was a Republican though he was friends with President John F. Kennedy. He supported Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.

paragraphs: Lewis died at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada at 9:15 AM of cardiomyopathy on August 20, 2017 at the age of 91.

paragraphs: Jerry Lewis acted in many movies, including:


title: Breakdance

paragraphs: Breakdance (also called breaking, b-boying or b-girling) is a type of dance that is done by people who are part of the hip hop culture. "B-boy" means boy who dances on breaks (breakbeats). Breakdancing was invented in the early 1970s by African American and Latino American inner-city youth in the South Bronx in New York City.The dance style evolved during the 70s and 80s in big cities of the United States.

paragraphs: Breakdancing uses different body movements, spins, arm movements, leg movements, all of which are done to the rhythm of hip hop music. Breakdancing was most popular in the 1980s but continues to be common today.

paragraphs: There are four categories in breakdance. They are power moves (windmill, tomas, airtrax and so on), style moves, toprock, downrock (footwork), and freezes (chair, airchair and so on). Many of moves come from gymnastics and kung-fu.

paragraphs: Breakdancers dance with breakbeats. The difficulty of their skills decides the better b-boy. One of the biggest breakdance contests in the world is Battle of the Year (BOTY). It has several different types of contests. There are one-on-one battles, team battle, contest of showcase and so on. B-boy battle means dancing on random music. In 2013, the team coming from South Korea, Fusion MC, won the championship. Floorriorz coming from Japan got the award of best show.Good behavior with the sub

paragraphs: Breakdance occurred around a time where there was a lot of violence, on the streets of New York

paragraphs: A freeze is a technique where the dancer suddenly stops, often in an interesting or balance-intensive position. Freezes often incorporate various twists of the body into stylish and often difficult positions.

paragraphs: The two-step move sets up the direction of movement and builds up momentum when dancing. This move allows the dancer to stay low and in contact with the ground, which places him in a good position for performing other dance moves.  As such, the two-step is often one of the first moves a break-dancer learns and it leads onto the 6-step.

paragraphs: A kick in breakdance is a one-handed handstand, with often an impressive leg position and the free arm in some stylish position. They are often executed quickly to impress.

paragraphs: -Guillaume Éradel, C'est quoi le breakdance? Saint-Denis, Edilivre, 2015 ()


title: Constantine (movie)

paragraphs: Constantine is a 2005 American movie starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz. It is based on a comic book series called "Hellblazer".

paragraphs: The main character, John Constantine, fights demons.


title: East Anglia

paragraphs: East Anglia is a region of eastern England, named after one of the ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, which was named after the homeland of the Angles, Angeln in northern Germany. The kingdom consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk ("North folk" and "South folk") but the region's borders are vague.

paragraphs: Farming and gardening are very successful in this fertile country. The landscape has been heavily influenced by Dutch technology.


title: Simone de Beauvoir

paragraphs: Simone de Beauvoir (January 9, 1908 – April 14, 1986) was a French author (writer) and philosopher (person who writes about ways of thinking).

paragraphs: She wrote novels (stories in a book), articles about philosophy ways of thinking or ways of living, and politics, biographies (books about other people's lives) and an autobiography (a book about her life).

paragraphs: Her best known books are "She Came to Stay" and "The Mandarins". Her best known writing about ideas is "The Second Sex", which was written in 1949. It describes the bad experiences of women in European society, and suggests how women's lives can be improved.

paragraphs: Her full name was Simone Lucie-Ernestine-Marie-Bertrand de Beauvoir. She was born on January 9, 1908 in Paris. She studied mathematics and ways of thinking at the Institut Catholique. Then she studied literature and languages at the Institut Sainte-Marie. As well, she studied ways of thinking at the Sorbonne, which is at the University of Paris.

paragraphs: In 1943, de Beauvoir published "She Came to Stay", a story about her lover Jean-Paul Sartre (who was also a writer and a philosopher). Next, she wrote a novel called "The Mandarins", which won prize.

paragraphs: In 1944 de Beauvoir wrote an article called "Pyrrhus et Cinéas", which was about a way of thinking about hard choices that people have to make.

paragraphs: In 1949, she wrote Le deuxième sexe. It was translated by Howard Parshley to "The Second Sex". It describes the bad experiences of women in European society, and suggests how women's lives can be improved. The book also discussed ways of thinking about hard choices.

paragraphs: At the end of World War II, de Beauvoir and Sartre started a newspaper about ways of living called "Les Temps Modernes".

paragraphs: De Beauvoir was bisexual and had sexual relationships with some of her female students.

paragraphs: She died of pneumonia. She is buried next to Sartre at the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris.


title: Katie Couric

paragraphs: Katherine "Katie" Anne Couric (born January 7, 1957) was a co-host of the top-rated "Today" show, broadcast live on NBC affiliates, from 1991 until late 2006, earning nearly $14 million each year for the last 4 years of her contract.

paragraphs: Couric was born in Arlington, Virginia. She was hired by the news division at CBS in late 2006 to anchor and be the main editor of the CBS Evening News, which operated with temporary anchors after Dan Rather's departure. Ratings have been disappointly low despite the initial fanfare and introduction of new theme music at the beginning of each show.

paragraphs: Couric is active in charities, especially related to colon cancer, after the death of her husband (to colon cancer) in 1998. Couric received a colonoscopy on live television in March 2000. She also released pictures of her mammogram on television.

paragraphs: Couric has two daughters, Ellie and Caroline.


title: Slave trade

paragraphs: During the history of slavery, there were many different forms of human exploitation across many cultures. Slavery is a condition in which people are owned or completely controlled by other people. Buying and selling slaves is a trade as old as many of the oldest civilizations. A modern form of the slave trade is called human trafficking.

paragraphs: In one form or another slavery has been practiced since the earliest civilizations. Early hunter-gatherers had no use for slaves They did everything for themselves. Having another pair of hands to help them meant another mouth to feed. Slavery or owning another person made no sense to these people. Once men gathered in cities and towns and there was more than enough food, having a cheap supply of labor made sense. This is when the earliest forms of slavery appeared. The main source of slaves was war. When a town was captured, the men were killed and the women were enslaved to work in the fields or as concubines. Slaves made up only a small percentage of the earliest civilizations. These included China's Yangtze River valley, India's Indus Valley, Egypt's Nile valley and the Tigris and Euphrates valleys in Mesopotamia.

paragraphs: Once slavery became a major part of the workforce, slave trading became a business. Ancient Greece was the first civilization where slaves made up a large part of the population. Between the 4th and 6th centuries (BC) it is estimated that from one-third to one-half of the population were slaves. There were many sources of slaves. Prisoners captured in war, kidnapping, people selling their children and criminals were some of the more common sources. The market price for slaves would go down after a battle in which many slaves were taken. Slavery was a large part of the Greek economy. A slave could earn money and could earn enough to purchase their freedom. Ancient Rome was even more dependant on slaves.

paragraphs: Slavery was also a part of medieval Europe. Societies that did not depend on slaves were often the source of slaves. In the Viking world, slavery was an important part of the economy. Not only the taking of slaves in raids and battles, but also selling slaves in other markets. The Vikings were slave traders. They captured slaves, used slaves and sold slaves. Most forms of slavery declined in Northern Europe but was practiced elsewhere in Europe. In Sicily, Italy, Spain, France, Russia and North Africa slavery lasted through much of the middle ages. Most of these slaves were "white" and came from other parts of Europe and Eastern Europe. As the New World was colonized, slavery was a well-established source of cheap labor. By the time Columbus came to the Americas, Europeans had already been using African slaves in their colonies in West Africa. Before that, historians estimate that between 650 AD and the 1960s, 10 to 18 million people were enslaved by Arab slave traders. They were taken from Europe, Asia and Africa across the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and the Sahara desert.

paragraphs: For four centuries, beginning in the late 15th century, millions of Africans were taken as slaves by Europeans. Europeans began exporting Africans to the New World as a source of cheap labor on colonial plantations. This was called the Atlantic slave trade. Early attempts to enslave Native Americans failed which gave rise to the African slave trade. Africans were a relatively easy source of slaves as European traders did not have to capture them, but relied on Arabs and other Africans to do it for them. Even before outside slave traders took advantage of Africans, the Africans themselves had established slave trading. Theirs was not an economy based on money, but on trading. Slaves were a Commodity (a substitute for money).

paragraphs: Slaves were often sold at markets and auctions. Slave auctions show that slaves were not thought of as human beings with human rights. Instead, they were thought of as property, which could be bought or sold. Slaves that were for sale were often advertised in the newspapers, like today's newspapers advertise cars or houses. Slave traders were even listed in public directories (like today's phone books).

paragraphs: Slaves did not have any say in what happened to them. Many times, families were split up and sold to different owners for different amounts of money. Millions of families became separated this way and never saw each other again.

paragraphs: There were three types of auctions: "Grab and go," "May the highest bidder win", and "the scramble".

paragraphs: In a "grab and go" auction, a buyer would give the slave trader a certain amount of money and would get a ticket. When a drum roll sounded, the pen holding the slaves would open. The buyer would rush in and grab the slave or slaves that he wanted. He would then show his ticket to the slave trader before he left.

paragraphs: In a "may the highest bidder win" auction, slaves would be shown to the buyers one at a time. If more than one buyer wanted a particular slave, all of the buyers would have to bid on the slave (making offers for what they were willing to pay). Slaves would be investigated by the buyer and would be forced to be poked, and tortured by the buyer. The buyer who bid the highest would be able to buy that slave for the amount of money he bid.

paragraphs: In "the scramble," buyers would quickly grab whichever slaves they wanted and would take them to work.

paragraphs: Slaves were prepared for this when the sellers put fat and tar on them to make them look more healthy


title: Central line (London Underground)

paragraphs: The Central Line is a line of the London Underground. Its colour is red on the tube map. It runs east-west through London. The line was the longest line until the line between Epping and Ongar was closed. Outside the rush hours trains run every 3-4 minutes in Central London and every 6-7 minutes on the branches.

paragraphs: "In order from west to east. Station in italics are not in the on the Central line anymore"

paragraphs: "The Greater London boundary with Essex is at Grange Hill"

paragraphs: "Terminates at Woodford [see Ongar Branch] (except for rush hours)"

paragraphs: "The Greater London boundary with Essex is between Woodford and Buckhurst Hill"

paragraphs: "Note: the remaining stations to Ongar were served by a shuttle service from Epping."