title: Nico di Angelo

paragraphs: Nico di Angelo is a fictional character in Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson & The Olympians" and "The Heroes of Olympus" series and in The Hidden Oracle. (It has been confirmed that he and his boyfriend Will Solace will have a big role in the upcoming book The Tower of Nero) In the series, he is the demigod son of Hades and mortal Maria di Angelo. As such, Nico has extraordinary powers of necromancy and the power to command the dead; he is a son of one of the "Big Three" Greek gods, the other two being Hades' younger brothers Poseidon and Zeus. Nico is chronologically over seventy years old as a result of his prolonged stay in the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas, an enchanted hotel where one does not age and time does not pass at its normal pace. He was ten years old in the Titans Curse. He and his sister, Bianca Di Angelo, were placed in the Lotus Casino sometime around World War II and eventually taken out by a “lawyer” (The Fury, Alecto) when Hades commanded. He is currently in a relationship with Will Solace.

paragraphs: Nico is said to have shaggy, messy black hair, olive skin (Although it has paled over time) and dark brown eyes. After his time in the maze, he is described as having a pale complexion. He usually wears dark clothing and is also mentioned on several occasions to be wearing an aviator's jacket. By the end of "The Battle of the Labyrinth", he also wears a skull ring, a gift from his deceased sister Bianca.

paragraphs: In "The Titan's Curse", Nico is a composed kid who loves a trading card game called Mythomagic. However, since his sister's death in "The Titan's Curse" at the hands of a defective Talos, he has a hateful resentment toward Percy. He later thinks Mythomagic is a stupid game, and burns all his cards in a fire. He becomes more sullen and solitary, saying that "only the dead respect him... and only out of fear". He believes that he will never be accepted with the living, but forgives Percy after Bianca tells him that it wasn't Percy's fault that she died. He also accepts the small figurine of Hades that Bianca wanted him to have before she died in "The Titan's Curse". In the fifth book, he brings Percy to his father to get information that proves to be the least his father can give, and his father ends up putting Percy in a dungeon. However, Nico rescues Percy from the dungeon and takes him to the River Styx where Percy becomes almost invincible. In the end of "The Last Olympian", Nico convinces his father, Hades, to help the other gods fight in the war against the Lord of Time, Kronos, and his army, and plays a major role in the victory. The relationship between Percy and Nico becomes close for they both might have been the child of the Great Prophecy.

paragraphs: Nico Di Angelo's fatal flaw is holding grudges, as Bianca tells him. In his case, it can lead to not wanting help or not asking to be saved in deadly situations because he does not like someone. Examples are his not wanting to be helped by Percy, even when Geryon was going to sell him to the Titans and not wanting to go back in the Labyrinth with them. Bianca shares this with him, as she also had the same fatal flaw in life, although this did not lead to her death. Bianca also says that holding grudges is the demigods of Hades' fatal flaw. In the fifth book, Nico tells his father, Hades, that he is holding a grudge that could end up killing the Olympians and the campers.

paragraphs: In "The House of Hades", Nico is forced by Cupid to reveal that he had had a crush on Percy Jackson. This reveals that he is homosexual. In The Blood of Olympus, he later says that he does not feel that way anymore about Percy and that he had been young and impressionable at the time, (by saying Percy is: "not his type) and is seen to be potentially crushing on Will Solace (head counselor of the Apollo cabin).

paragraphs: In The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle, Nico is in a romantic relationship with Will and receives the passive support of Apollo for their relationship.

paragraphs: Nico is ten years old and first appears with his sister, Bianca, in a military school called Westover Hall in Bar Harbor, Maine. They are sought out by Grover Underwood, the satyr, who believes them to be two very powerful unknown half-bloods. Nico seems to be very interested in Mythomagic, a game about Greek mythology. When his sister Bianca accepts Artemis's proposal to become a Hunter, Nico gets angry at her for "abandoning" him. Percy finds Nico eavesdropping on Bianca and Zöe Nightshade (one of the Hunters of Artemis, a daughter of Atlas), and Nico makes Percy to promise to keep his sister safe. He does not appear again until the end of the book, where Percy explains to him that Bianca died to save the others on the quest. Nico creates a large crack in the ground to swallow up the skeletons that were chasing Percy. The he immediately turns on Percy, telling him he hates him, and reminds him of the oath he took to keep Bianca safe. Nico is last seen running into the woods at night, after screaming at Percy.

paragraphs: Nico is supposedly eleven years old in this book. He is first seen talking with an unknown ghost who is trying to tell Nico how to trade his sister's soul for another soul, when Percy is sent a collect Iris Message sent by Bianca Di Angelo, Nico's sister. It is revealed in this book that Nico can summon the dead. Nico is then seen when Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson visit Triple G Ranch, where Percy then saves Nico from being sent to the Titans. Nico, still angry at Percy, finally understands that it was Bianca's choice to go into the Talos robot, and that he shouldn't be mad at Percy. The others leave Nico at the Ranch, where he supposedly meets King Minos (in ghost form) again, who convinces him to go back into the Labyrinth to supposedly save Percy and the others.

paragraphs: He is next seen being dragged into Daedalus' workshop by one empousa and two Laistrygonians, in chains, after being tricked by King Minos. He escapes with Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who have to go back into the Labyrinth to find Grover and Tyson, who had stayed behind to look for Pan, god of the Wild. Along the way, they see Kronos in the form of Luke, and Nico, in a desperate attempt to save everyone, shows his true powers, and makes it known to Kronos that he is a son of Hades. They meet the wild god Pan, who gives everyone except for Nico a cryptic future reading and then vanishes. After they get out of the Labyrinth, a full-fledged battle erupts between the Titans and Camp Half-Blood, in which Nico summons a dozen undead soldiers to fight the dracanae, passing out in the process. He is revived with nectar and ambrosia, and he states that summoning that many soldiers required a lot of energy. After the campfire, he is seen talking with the ghost of his sister Bianca. He then tells Percy, who came out to see what was going on, that he did not belong at camp, but instead in the Underworld; he would train there instead. He also goes to search for his mother. He is last seen on Percy's apartment fire escape giving Percy news on Daedalus and a way to beat Luke for good. Before mentioning it, Nico is distracted by Percy's blue birthday cake, and Percy invites him in to talk.

paragraphs: Nico is twelve years old in this book. His theory to gain an edge over the Titans is to make Percy invincible by having him bathe in the River Styx, similar to the myth of Achilles. It is shown that after Bianca died, Hades feels he has no competent child, repeatedly mentioning that Bianca could do a better job at fulfilling their father's demands than Nico. It is also revealed that the lawyer who removed the children from the Lotus Casino was Hades' lead Fury, Alecto, in disguise.

paragraphs: Although he does not appear in the book, he is mentioned by Annabeth to be searching for Percy.

paragraphs: Nico appears in the beginning of the book, He is visiting his half-sister Hazel, who was showing Percy (after losing his memory) Camp Jupiter at the time. Nico lies to Percy about knowing him after he finds out that Percy's memories have been stolen and simply says that he's an ambassador for Pluto at the Roman camp. It is later made clear that this was to preserve diplomacy (since Greeks and Romans didn't get along) and not interfere with Hera's plans - rather than a malicious urge.

paragraphs: Though Nico was inside of a bronze jar (after getting captured) during most of The Mark of Athena, he does get rescued by Piper, Jason and Percy. Nico also explains to the others where and the doors of death are and how to close them. When Percy and Annabeth are holding on for dear life at the edge of a chasm that lead to Tartarus, Nico desperately tries and fails to save them before they fall into Tartarus.

paragraphs: Nico admits his feelings for Percy when he is confronted by Cupid. This makes Nico the first demigod acknowledged as homosexual in the series. He indirectly shares this secret with Jason, who is with him at the time, and then is obliged to explain. Nico appears to trust Jason in this scene, even if only grudgingly.

paragraphs: Nico helps transport the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-blood to halt the attack from the Camp Jupiter. He is joined by Reyna and Coach Hedge. The trio shadow travel halfway around the world, causing Nico to lose a lot of his strength and start to "fade". When facing Bryce Lawrence, it was demonstrated that Nico could turn people into ghostly specters with enough effort.

paragraphs: Hades was also alluded to have been aware about Nico's romantic feelings for Percy during one of his conversations with his son. Hades gives Nico his blessing and tells him he'll prepare a room for Nico in the Underworld for if his mission should fail. He also informs Nico that he wants him to be happy, and that he is proud of his son.

paragraphs: Upon landing at Camp Half-Blood with Reyna and Coach Hedge he leaves them to destroy the onagers, where he finds Will Solace, Lou Ellen and Cecil. Will Solace and Nico start bickering, which amuses Lou Ellen and Cecil.

paragraphs: Later on, it is shown that Nico has not visited the infirmary or spoken to Will since the battle, and Will expresses his dismay at this, saying that Nico could at least have dropped by and Will would have been glad to see a friendly face. This surprises Nico, who hadn't realized Will might want to see him, and says that his face is usually not welcome, especially around the wounded/sick. Will is upset by this and protests, stating that people were always trying to befriend Nico, it was simply that Nico would not allow them to.

paragraphs: Some time later, when Nico answers the door to his cabin and sees Jason Grace, he momentarily mistakes him for Will, feeling disappointed when he realizes his mistake. He then feels annoyed with himself at being disappointed, and it is implied that he is interested in Will Solace.

paragraphs: After a conversation later on in which Will orders Nico to stay at the infirmary for three days of rest, Nico sees Percy and Annabeth and decides to clear the air between them, since they will be seeing a lot of each other in the next few years. He confesses his old feelings for Percy, while Annabeth looks on, smiling reassuringly and even offering him a high-five for managing both to say the words and to utterly astound Percy, who was oblivious of his feelings (at the time they existed). He says that Percy is not his type, and he was simply young, confused, lonely and scared, with no one else to turn to or trust at the time, and walks towards a waving Will Solace, the boy he chooses. In Trials of Apollo we get a glimpse of their relationship. It is the first Homosexual couple in Rick's books with the ship name ‘Solangelo’.

paragraphs: Nico's sword is made of Stygian Iron, which will kill monsters, and, unlike the other metals of Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold, is capable of harming mortals. The metal, when being forged, is cooled in the River Styx, making it indestructible. It is implied that only beings of the Underworld, such as Hades and his children, are able to use a Stygian iron weapon. The sword helps him channel his power to control and summon the dead, along with draining an enemy's soul to reinforce his sword's power. He can also use it to create fissures in the ground, trapping anyone unlucky in the underworld. This is like what he did to king Minos. Nico being an incredibly powerful demigod; he has many powers and is aware that “With great power... comes a great need to take a nap," as he says after putting to sleep all of the skeleton guards in the Palace of Hades during his and Percy's escape from imprisonment during the Last Olympian.


title: Thalia Grace

paragraphs: Thalia Grace is a fictional supporting character in Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" series, as well as a minor character in the Heroes of Olympus, as Jason's sister. She is the demigod daughter of Zeus and Beryl Grace, a famous mortal actress. Thalia has electric-blue eyes, black spiky hair, and a spray of freckles.

paragraphs: Thalia Grace is the daughter of Zeus, one of the "Big Three" Greek Gods, the other two being Poseidon and Hades. Grover Underwood was meant to watch over her when she ran away from home at ten years old, reaching Camp Half-Blood two years later. On her journey, she met Annabeth Chase and Luke Castellan. They had brief encounters with the Hunters of Artemis, and were almost convinced to join, but got angry with Zoe Nightshade and did not join. When she was twelve, they were all attacked by a herd of monsters and caught by a Cyclops in New York. She was captured, but thanks to Annabeth, freed. They ran, but the monsters they had briefly escaped from caught up to them. As they reached Half-Blood Hill, Thalia sent Luke, Grover, and Annabeth over the boundary line while she faced the monsters. She sacrificed her life for her friends, but her father Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree to preserve her, keeping the rest of the camp safe.

paragraphs: Thalia is a very skilled fighter and as she stated in "The Titan's Curse"; she can always beat Luke in a battle (which Percy has only done once). It is also mentioned throughout the series that she has a punk sort of style, hates Barbie dolls, and likes Green Day. She is always listening to rock bands and is into the punk subculture. Annabeth compares her to Percy, telling him, "You guys are so alike it's scary. Either you would have been best friends, or you would have strangled each other."

paragraphs: Thalia wants to be strong as many people believe, but sometimes is very sensitive. She loves Chiron as a father and believes that her father does not care about her. She deeply respects Poseidon but does not know why. Her favorite god is Pan. She is also known to like cheeseburgers, mentioned twice in the series. She also appears reluctant to use her mother's surname.

paragraphs: It is mentioned that Thalia was turned into a pine tree when she risked her life saving her friends atop of Half-Blood Hill, which guarded the boundary line for Camp Half-Blood. She also appeared in Percy's dream. this is one of the first movies that came from the series in fact it is the first movies however she was mentioned a few times no on ein t he beginning really knew why

paragraphs: Thalia appears in Percy's dreams throughout the book. At the end of "The Sea of Monsters", she is brought back to life by the Golden Fleece which Clarisse places on her pine tree. Zeus gives her a spear which shoots electricity and turns into a small mace canister that fits in her pocket, and Athena gives her a bracelet that turns into Aegis, a shield with the Medusa's head carved into it. It is a replica of her father’s. Thalia is now potentially the child of the prophecy, and Kronos soon takes advantage of the fact. in the sea of monsters Percy uses the sea as a compass to naviagate to find the golden sheet which will bring back Thalia as her tree was dying in front of the camp

paragraphs: Thalia and Percy quarrel occasionally at camp because their similar personalities tend to clash. Thalia is called "Pinecone Face" by Percy; in retaliation, she calls him "Seaweed Brain", which Percy does not like because it's Annabeth's pet name for him. Thalia goes on the quest to find Artemis, hunt down the dangerous Ophiotaurus Artemis was seeking, and rescue Annabeth, along with Percy, Zoë Nightshade, Bianca di Angelo, and Grover. Thalia, Percy, Zoe, Bianca, and Grover come upon the Junkyard of the Gods and told not to take anything from the junkyard, and just as the group is about to leave, a metal giant rises because Bianca took a figurine of her father, Hades, for Nico. Bianca goes inside of the metal giant and tries to control it, causing the giant to fall over and Bianca to die. Together, they face the Titan General, Atlas's army, and make it to Mount Tamalpais. Already weakened by dragon poison, while facing her father, Atlas, Zoe dies from a final blow from Atlas. There, Thalia fights her old friend Luke, and it seems that she has strong feelings for him, and they discover that Kronos used Thalia to twist destiny into her hands, since she would be turning sixteen on the day following the Winter Solstice. She escaped this deadly path and turned to her half-sister, Artemis, who made her a Hunter, which would stop her from being sixteen, because whoever becomes a Hunter becomes immortal, unless they shall die in battle, or break the oath by falling in love.

paragraphs: Thalia's tree still remains standing on Half-Blood Hill with the Golden Fleece for energy, and is currently being guarded by a baby dragon called Peleus.

paragraphs: Thalia is absent from Camp Half-Blood this summer due to her adventures with Artemis and the Hunters, but she is mentioned once by Percy when talking to Hera, the goddess of marriage, about Zeus and Ms. Grace's past relationship.

paragraphs: Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis show up when Percy is looking for someone to defend the Lincoln Tunnel against the Titans. Thalia helps Percy and the other demigods defend Manhattan. At the end of the story, Thalia is still alive, and is granted help in getting more Hunters, because a lot of the Hunters died.

paragraphs: Thalia shows up at the cave by Aeolus' palace, along with the other hunters. She also fights at the wolf house when the hunters help Leo, Jason, and Piper fight the monsters and the giant.

paragraphs: There are two parts in which she is either mentioned or appeared. First, in Percy's dream which was a flashback of him in "The Titan's Curse", Thalia, Percy and Zoë Nightshade battling on Mt. Tam going against Atlas, Luke, and trying to save Annabeth and Artemis. Percy later sees Zoë dying and rise to the stars. Second, though Thalia was never mentioned, when Hylla, the Queen of the Amazons, talks to Hazel Levesque she mentions a group of archers that travel around who follow the goddess Artemis, which refers to the Hunters.

paragraphs: Thalia and the hunters abducted Reyna Ramírez-Arellano in San Juan and took her to her sister Hylla Ramírez-Arellano. She explained that the hunters and Amazons have been fighting monsters while the demigods have been fighting each other. Orion then attacked their stronghold, killing many Hunters and Amazons though Thalia and Hylla manage to survive. When Nico and Hedge appear, she protects them while they and Reyna shadow travel away. She survives the battle.

paragraphs: Thalia and the hunters were close by when Apollo signaled for back up. They arrived with Leo and Festus to aid in the rescue operation and she decided to rode on Livia with Apollo, so she could help them to escape. After they fled, the lieutenant of Artemis offered the fallen god Moonwater to regain his strength. Then she finally says Artemis was forbidden by Zeus from interfering with Apollo but still ordered the Hunters to help him. They three then head back to the Waystation.

paragraphs: She and Apollo ride Livia in to the Waystation and she goes to stop her hunters from possibly killing Lityerses. After they rally everyone for battle she requests more arrows from Emmie.

paragraphs: Halfway through the battle, she along with Lit, Calypso and Josephine stood by as Commodus had Emmie, Leo and Georgie hostage. Apollo asks her to stand down before he goes not his Divine Form and blinds the emperor. She takes out one of his guards and searched the surrounding area for Commodus with no results. After that, she sits with everybody and discuss about the prophecy revealed by Meg, saying that the Hunters can't help because they just have one mission to finish.

paragraphs: Before she and the Hunters leave, she asks Apollo to say hello to Jason and Piper. In return, the god asks her to say hi to Artemis for him, which she agrees to do.

paragraphs: It is implied that she has a weak resistance when she is offered power. She is also afraid of heights, a quality Percy finds strange, as her father is the Lord of the Sky. She is also extremely determined, as revealed in the short story "The Sword of Hades" in "The Demigod Files". She has trouble abandoning a difficult task that she has started but is not able to complete.


title: Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

paragraphs: Javier Felipe Ricardo Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra (January 19, 1920March 4, 2020) was a Peruvian diplomat who served as the 5th Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from 1982 to 1991. From 2000 to 2001, he served as the 135th prime minister of Peru.

paragraphs: In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully against Alberto Fujimori for President of Peru. He was the president of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister), as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, between November 2000 and July 2001, during the unstable period following Fujimori's resignation over corruption charges. In 2004, he stepped down from his position as Peru's ambassador to France.

paragraphs: From the death of Kurt Waldheim in 2007 until his own death in 2020, Pérez de Cuéllar was the oldest-living former secretary-general of the UN.

paragraphs: He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.

paragraphs: Pérez de Cuéllar joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1940 and the diplomatic service in 1944, serving subsequently as Secretary at Peru's embassies in France, where he met and married his first wife (the former Yvette Roberts); the United Kingdom; Bolivia; and Brazil. Later, he was ambassador to Switzerland, the Soviet Union (at the same time in Poland), and Venezuela. From his first marriage, Perez de Cuellar had a son (Francisco, born in Paris) and a daughter (Agueda Cristina, born in London).

paragraphs: He was a junior member of the Peruvian delegation to the General Assembly at its first session, held in London in 1946, and a member of the delegations to the 25th through 30th sessions of the Assembly. In 1971, he was made permanent representative of Peru to the United Nations, and led his country's delegation to all sessions of the Assembly from then until 1975.

paragraphs: In 1973 and 1974, he represented his country in the Security Council, serving as its president at the time of the events in Cyprus in July 1974. On 18 September 1975, he was appointed Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Cyprus, a post he held until December 1977, when he rejoined the Peruvian Foreign Service. During his time in Cyprus, Perez de Cuellar married his second wife, the former Marcela Temple Seminario.

paragraphs: On December 31, 1981, Pérez de Cuéllar succeeded Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General and was re-elected for a second term in October 1986. During his two terms, he led mediations between Britain and Argentina in the aftermath of the Falklands War and promoted the efforts of the Contadora Group to bring peace and stability to Central America. He also interceded in the negotiations for the independence of Namibia, the conflict in Western Sahara between Morocco and the Polisario Front, and the Cyprus issue.

paragraphs: Shortly before the end of his second term, he was unofficially requested by members of the Security Council to run for a third term of two years, to give time for a successor to be found.

paragraphs: Pérez de Cuéllar died in Lima on March 4, 2020, at age 100.


title: Boutros Boutros-Ghali

paragraphs: Boutros Boutros-Ghali ( ""; 14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat. He was the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) from January 1992 to December 1996.

paragraphs: Boutros-Ghali graduated from Cairo University in 1946. He received a PhD in public international law from the University of Paris. Then he received a diploma in international relations from the Sciences Po in 1949.

paragraphs: Boutros-Ghali's political career took off during the days of former president Anwar El-Sadat. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Arab Socialist Union (1974-77). He had been Egypt's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from 1977 until early 1991. He then became Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs for several months before moving to the UN. As Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, he played a part in the peace agreements between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

paragraphs: Elected to the top post of the UN in 1991, Boutros-Ghali's term in office remains controversial. He was criticised for the UN's failure to act during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, which officially left about 937,000 people dead, and he appeared unable to muster support in the UN for intervention in the continuing Angolan Civil War. One of the hardest periods for his office during his term was dealing with the crisis of the Yugoslav wars after the disintegration of former Yugoslavia. His reputation thus became entangled in the larger controversies over the effectiveness of the UN and the role of the United States in the UN. For his detractors, he came to symbolise the UN's alleged inaction in the face of humanitarian crises.

paragraphs: In 1996, ten Security Council members, led by African members Egypt, Guinea-Bissau and Botswana, sponsored a resolution backing Boutros-Ghali for a second five-year term, until 2001. However, the United States vetoed a second term for Boutros-Ghali. In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, South Korea, and Italy did not sponsor this resolution, although all four of those nations voted in support of Boutros-Ghali after the US had firmly declared its intention to veto. Although not the first vetoed (China vetoed the third term of Kurt Waldheim in 1981), Boutros-Ghali was the first and only UN secretary-general not to be elected to a second term in office. He was succeeded at the UN by Kofi Annan.

paragraphs: US counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke, Michael Sheehan, and Jamie Rubin participated in what they called "Operation Orient Express." From page 201 of Clarke's book Against All Enemies: "Albright and I and a handful of others (Michael Sheehan, Jamie Rubin) had entered into a pact together in 1996 to oust Boutros-Ghali as Secretary General of the United Nations, a secret plan we had called Operation Orient Express, reflecting our hope that many nations would join us in doing in the UN head. In the end, the US had to do it alone (with its UN veto) and Sheehan and I had to prevent the President from giving in to pressure from world leaders and extending Boutros-Ghali's tenure, often by our racing to the Oval Office when we were alerted that a head of state was telephoning the President. In the end Clinton was impressed that we had managed not only to oust Boutros-Ghali but to have Kofi Annan selected to replace him. (Clinton told Sheehan and me, 'Get me a crow, I should eat a crow, because I said you would never pull it off.')"

paragraphs: From 1997 to 2002 Boutros-Ghali was Secretary-General of La Francophonie, an organisation of French-speaking nations. From 2003 to 2006, he served as the Chairman of the Board of the South Centre, intergovernmental research organisation of developing countries. He was currently President of the Curatorium Administrative Council at the Hague Academy of International Law. In 2003 Boutros-Ghali was appointed as The Director of the Egyptian National Council of Human Rights.

paragraphs: From April 2007 Boutros-Ghali had supported the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. He was one of the initial signers of the campaign's appeal. In a message to the campaign, he stressed the necessity to establish democratic participation at the global level.

paragraphs: Boutros-Ghali died on 16 February 2016 at a hospital in Cairo, Egypt after suffering from a broken pelvis. He was 93.


title: José Saramago

paragraphs: José de Sousa Saramago, (pronounced|ʒuˈzɛ sɐɾɐˈmagu; born November 16, 1922; died June 18, 2010) was a Portuguese writer, playwright and journalist.

paragraphs: Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1998. He lived on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands, Spain.

paragraphs: Saramago was born into a family of landless peasants in Azinhaga, Portugal, a small village in the province of Ribatejo some hundred kilometers north-east of Lisbon.

paragraphs: Saramago married Ilda Reis in 1944. Their only child, Violante, was born in 1947. Since 1988, Saramago has been married to the Spanish journalist Pilar del Río, who is the official translator of his books into Spanish.

paragraphs: José Saramago was in his mid-fifties before he had international success; his novel "Baltasar and Blimunda" brought him an international readership. This novel won the Portuguese PEN Club Award.

paragraphs: Saramago was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party from 1969, until his death as well as an atheist and self-described pessimist. His views have aroused considerable controversy in Portugal, especially after the publication of "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ".

paragraphs: Saramago uses for his works fantastic scenarios. In his 1986 novel, "The Stone Raft", the Iberian Peninsula breaks off from the rest of Europe and sails about the Atlantic Ocean. In his 1995 novel, "Blindness", an entire country is stricken with a mysterious plague called “white blindness”.


title: Upasni Maharaj

paragraphs: Upasni Maharaj (May 15, 1870 – December 24, 1941) was a Hindu guru who lived in a small village called Sakori in Maharashtra, India. Upasni had been a yogi and after coming to the famous Indian saint Sai Baba of Shirdi, and staying in his care for three years, he is said to have become a sadguru. Upasni is most famous as the guru of Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba. There are still disciples of Upasni Maharaj today who live in Sakori and take care of his temple there.

paragraphs: The principal teachings of Upasni Maharaj were:


title: Finntroll

paragraphs: Finntroll is a folk metal band from Finland. They mix elements of extreme metal with Finnish polka, called "humppa". Finntroll's lyrics are in Swedish, one of Finland's two national languages, because they say "Swedish just sounds damn trollish". Finntroll means "Troll from Finland" or "a spotty troll".

paragraphs: Finntroll was founded in 1997, by Teemus Raimoranta. One year later they recorded their first demo, "Rivfader". After the demo Samu Ruotsalainen (drums),Samuli Ponsimaa (guitar), Henri Sorvali (keyboard) and Sami Uusitalo joined the band. The record company Spinefarm got interested in the band and then their first album "Midnattens Widunder" was recorded.

paragraphs: In 2001 the album "Jaktens Tid" (English: "The time of the Hunt") was released. As they became more and more popular, Century Media started to promote Finntroll. That summer Finntroll played their first open air festivals in Finland. The year after the release of the album "Jaktens Tid" the band could not go on tour, because their singer had a tumor in his vocal cords. That is why he stopped singing in the band after the album "Visor om Slutet" (English: "Songs about the End"). This album was recorded in January 2003, in a forest cabin near Helsinki. Shortly before the release of "Visor om Slutet" Raimoranta died, because he fell off a bridge in Helsinki. He had drunk too much alcohol. Finntroll went on tour to Europe anyway, together with the band Katatonia. The guitarist Mikael Karlbom replaced Raimoranta. In 2004, the band released an EP, "Trollhammaren" (English: "The Troll Hammer"), and an album called "Nattfödd" (English: "Nightborn").

paragraphs: On January 29th, 2006, Tapio Wilska, vocalist of the band since 2003, left the band.

paragraphs: A new album, called Ur Jordens Djup (English: "From the Depths of the Earth"), was released March, 2007. This album had more epic keyboard riffs to make it sound more like polka.


title: Crucified Barbara

paragraphs: Crucified Barbara are a Swedish all-female band, formed in Stockholm in 1998.

paragraphs: Their music can be described as a mix between heavy metal and rock music.

paragraphs: Crucified Barbara started out in 1998 as a punk rock band, but they speedily changed their style to heavy metal. They signed in 2003 with GMR music group of Stockholm. Recordings took place in Kristianopel, Sweden at Pama Studios/Blakk Records with producer-engineer Mankan Sedenberg during the spring of 2004. The single, for the debut album In Distortion We Trust, was 'Losing The Game'. It was released on December 8, 2005 and went straight to no. 8 on the Swedish Hitlist. The video was recorded and produced by M Industries. The debut album was released in Sweden on January 19th and is sold with a big interest in United States, United Kingdom and in half Europe.

paragraphs: In 2006 the band worked too in part of the Motörhead tribute album, called "St Valentine's Day Massacre".

paragraphs: In November 2006, they supported Motörhead along with Clutch.


title: John Mayer

paragraphs: John Clayton Mayer (surname pronunciation: ) (born October 16, 1977) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. From Connecticut, he went to the Berklee College of Music, before moving to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1998. His first two albums, "Room for Squares" and "Heavier Things", were successful and were made multi-platinum by the RIAA. In 2003, he won a Grammy Award for his song "Your Body Is a Wonderland". In 2005 he started a band called The John Mayer Trio with bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan. In 2008 a live cover he did of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" with Fall Out Boy was released.

paragraphs: His sixth album, "Paradise Valley", was released in August 2013.


title: Burg Fürsteneck

paragraphs: Burg Fürsteneck is a castle, situated in the middle of Germany between the towns of Fulda and Bad Hersfeld. It belongs to the commune of Eiterfeld. The castle lies at an altitude of 406 meters on a small plateau.

paragraphs: Burg Fürsteneck belonged to the monastery of Fulda. It was first mentioned in 1309, but it might have been built one or two hundred years before. Since 1802 it became the property of the German state of Hesse. The castle Burg Fürsteneck is preserved completely in a good condition.

paragraphs: Since 1952 Burg Fürsteneck became an academy for vocational and cultural education. It was rebuilded by the architect Otto Bartning. Each year about 4000 participants take part in one of more than 175 courses, with 15.000 overnight stays.


title: Pronunciation

paragraphs: Pronunciation is a way a word is usually spoken. It can be affected by many different factors:

paragraphs: Mispronunciation is an actual mistake in speaking. It is not used for how a speaker of a dialect pronounces a word. Examples occur in many place names and personal names. For instance, Leicester Square is actually pronounced like "Lester Square".


title: Margate

paragraphs: Margate is a town in Thanet, Kent, Southeast England.


title: Henry I

paragraphs: Many different people were named Henry I, including


title: Robert I of France

paragraphs: Robert I (after September 866 – June 15, 923), king of West Francia (922 – 923), was the younger son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou, and the brother of Odo of France. Robert I was at the Siege of Paris in 885. Robert had the title of "Dux Francorum". He did not call himself king of West Francia when his brother died in 898. Instead he served the Carolingian king, Charles the Simple and defended northern Francia from the attacks of the Norsemen.


title: Rudolph of France

paragraphs: Rudolph (also Radulf, Ralph, or Raoul) ("c." 890 – 15 January 936) was the Duke of Burgundy between 921 and 923. He was King of France from July 13, 923 until his death. He married Emma of France, daughter of Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois. The nobles elected him King of France after his father-in-law died.


title: Louis IV of France

paragraphs: Louis IV (920 – September 10, 954), was king of France from 936 to 954. He was a member of the Carolingian dynasty and was son of Charles III and Eadgifu of England.


title: Ratchet & Clank (2002 video game)

paragraphs: Ratchet & Clank is a platforming and shooting game for the PlayStation 2. It was made by Insomniac Games and published by Sony. It was released on November 7, 2002 in North America, November 8, 2002 in Europe, and December 3, 2002 in Japan. It is the first game in the "Ratchet & Clank" series.

paragraphs: The game is about the character Ratchet, a made-up animal called a Lombax, and his robot friend Clank. Ratchet and Clank travel around the galaxy to defeat an evil alien named Chairman Drek, who is trying to destroy planets. The player is able to use many weapons and machines to attack enemies and solve puzzles.

paragraphs: In this game, the player plays as Ratchet most of the time, but can play as Clank sometimes. Ratchet can use lots of weapons and gadgets to attack enemies, solve puzzles, and jump over gaps. Clank can control smaller robots called "Gadgebots" who do things for him that Clank can not do on his own. There are lots of different places the player can go to.

paragraphs: A factory making lots of big robots is seen. One day a small robot is made by accident. He sees a video of an alien leader called Drek. Drek wants to break up lots of planets, and then use the pieces to make a new planet for his people, because his people'sold planet has become too polluted to live in. The video scares the robot, and he gets away in a spaceship, but crashes on a made-up planet called Veldin.

paragraphs: Ratchet is a made-up animal called a Lombax, who lives on Veldin. He wants to leave Veldin in his spaceship, and have adventures. Ratchet finds the small robot and calls him "Clank". Clank wants to stop Drek, and wants Ratchet to help him find a superhero called Captain Qwark, who he thinks will stop Drek. Clank fixes Ratchet's ship, so that Ratchet will help him.

paragraphs: Later on, Ratchet and Clank find Qwark. But Qwark is working for Drek, and he tries to kill Ratchet and Clank. They both get away from Qwark, but Ratchet is angry at Clank. Clank wants to stop Drek, but Ratchet only wants to find Qwark and kill him.

paragraphs: Soon, Ratchet shoots down Qwark's spaceship. After this happens, he sees a video with Drek's army destroying a city. The video makes Ratchet feel bad, and he says sorry to Clank for not helping him to find Drek.

paragraphs: They soon find out that Drek has a weapon called the "Deplanetizer". He is going to destroy Veldin, Ratchet's home, and this makes Ratchet angry. They find Drek, but he tells them he only did he whole thing to get money. People bought parts of his new planet, and Drek has made lots of money. But after the whole planet has been bought, he is going to pollute it. Then he will have to make another new planet, and get lots more money. But Ratchet and Clank kill Drek after a long fight, and use the Deplanetizer to destroy Drek's new planet. This makes lots of rocks fall down to Veldin. Clank gets his arm hurt, and Ratchet asks if he wants it fixed, and they both walk away together.


title: Snow Patrol

paragraphs: Snow Patrol is an alternative rock band from Scotland and Northern Ireland. They are based in Glasgow and are signed to Polydor Records. Snow Patrol was started as an indie rock band, but began to play more alternative rock and pop songs. The band has released six albums, "Songs for Polarbears", "Final Straw", "When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up", "Eyes Open", "A Hundred Million Suns" and "Fallen Empires". "Eyes Open" won the award for Best Irish Album at the National Irish Music Awards.


title: Pollyanna

paragraphs: Pollyanna is a book for children written by Eleanor Hodgman Porter. It was published in 1913.

paragraphs: A girl called Pollyanna is an orphan (her parents are dead). She goes to live with her Aunt Polly (who did not marry) in Beldingsville, Vermont. Pollyanna is happy all the time, and makes other people happy. She plays a game called the "glad game", where you find something to be happy about even when you are sad. Soon, everyone in the town is happy. But then Pollyanna falls out of a tree and she is sad because she cannot walk. She has to learn to be happy again, and then she gets better because a doctor makes her well again. Aunt Polly and the doctor marry.

paragraphs: Miss Polly Harrington is known around town for being a stern, hard woman who is set in her ways. So it is only a sense of duty that causes her to open her home to Pollyanna, her newly orphaned niece. But Pollyanna is a very special little girl, with a very special game that she teaches to the townspeople. Soon, everyone in town is happier, and glad that Pollyanna came into their lives - everyone, that is, but Aunt Polly. But then a terrible accident threatens to ruin Pollyanna's game forever, and everyone wonders who can teach this little girl to be happy again.

paragraphs: If someone is called "Pollyanna", it means they are always happy like Pollyanna is. The "Pollyanna principle" means people say yes to positive statements (For example, instead of "What do you think of green?", you can say "Don't you agree that green is a nice colour?").

paragraphs: Pollyanna was an irrepressibly, cheerful child. So cheerful that her name survives in any standard American Dictionary. - 'an excessively or blindly optimistic person.'


title: Middle Chinese

paragraphs: Middle Chinese (), or "Ancient Chinese" as used by linguist Bernhard Karlgren is a name given to an older version of the Chinese language. People spoke it during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties (6th century - 10th century). The term "Middle Chinese", in contrast to Old Chinese and Modern Chinese, is usually used for historical Chinese phonology, which wants to reconstruct the pronunciation of Chinese used during these times.

paragraphs: Middle Chinese can be divided further. There was an early period and a later period. These can be told apart by the pronunciation of certain sounds that changed.


title: Uyghur people

paragraphs: The Uyghurs (wee-ger; 维吾尔人) are Chinese Turkic people living mainly in Xinjiang, China. Over 11 million Uyghurs live there, more than any other part of the world. Some Uyghurs seek independence from China.

paragraphs: Uyghurs also live in Beijing, Shanghai and Taoyuan County (Hunan, South-Central China). There are Uyghur diasporic communities in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Mongolia.

paragraphs: They are mainly Muslim and speak Uyghur, a Turkic language. They write in the Uyghur alphabet, which is based on the Arabic alphabet.

paragraphs: Uyghurs were originally from Mongolia and immigrated to Xinjiang during the 8th or 9th centuries AD. There they mixed with local Indo-European people.


title: Chopstick rest

paragraphs: A is a piece of tableware. It is used to keep chopsticks away from the table and also to prevent used chopsticks from coming in contact with or rolling off tables. Chopstick rests are made in various shapes from clay, wood, glass, or precious stone such as jade. Some people prepare them from bags of half-split disposable chopsticks in origami manner.

paragraphs: In Japan, chopstick rests are usually used at formal dinners and placed on the front-left side of the dishes. The chopsticks are placed parallel to the table edge with the points toward the left.


title: Grindelwald

paragraphs: Grindelwald is a municipality in the administrative district of Interlaken-Oberhasli in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is at the base of the railway to the Jungfraujoch.


title: Solvation

paragraphs: Solvation, commonly called dissolution, is the process of attraction and association of molecules of a solvent with molecules or ions of a solute. The solvation is the action of dissolving the mix to form the solution.


title: Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

paragraphs: The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a duchy in northern Germany, it was about the same as the modern rural district of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The duchy also had three exclaves near the town of Fürstenberg and the area around Ratzeburg in modern Schleswig-Holstein.

paragraphs: The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was set up in 1701. The capital was Neustrelitz. In 1808, the duchy joined the Confederation of the Rhine. The Congress of Vienna made it a grand duchy and member of the German Confederation. Mecklenburg-Strelitz joined the North German Confederation in 1867, and became a part of the German Empire in 1871. On January 1, 1934 it was joined with the neighbouring state of Mecklenburg-Schwerin to form the State of Mecklenburg (today part of the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania).

paragraphs: The US county Mecklenburg (Charlotte, North Carolina) is named after Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Strelitz-born Princess Charlotte (queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom). The flower "Strelitzia" ("Bird of Paradise") also is in honor of her home country. Queen Luise of Prussia also was a born princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.


title: Household Cavalry

paragraphs: The British Household Cavalry, is an army corps (pronounced "core") of two regiments of soldiers. Cavalry regiments, until the end of World War I, were always "mounted" on horses. Nowadays "cavalry regiments" are mounted on tanks. The British Household Cavalry is unusual because half of them are also still mounted on horses. The two Regiments of Household Cavalry, the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, which parades with horses and the Household Cavalry Regiment, which has light armoured vehicles, are manned by equal numbers of soldiers from The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals both of which are part of the "Household Division". In Britain the "Household Division" has the special privilege of guarding the Sovereign and the Royal Household. The term "Household Division" is used in all Commonwealth countries.

paragraphs: In many other countries there are similar highly-trained army corps which guard the head of state and have ceremonial duties as well as operational military roles. Regiments of this sort can be found in Australia, Brunei, Belgium, Canada, Denmark and many other countries. But when speaking in English of the "Household Cavalry", the term generally refers to the "British Household Cavalry".

paragraphs: In Britain there are seven regiments in the Household Division. They are generally referred to as "The Guards". Five of the Guards regiments are "infantry", which means that they are "foot soldiers" and are Foot Guards, and the senior two regiments are "cavalry" meaning they are first and foremost armoured soldiers who also have a ceremonial role "mounted" on horses for ceremonial duty.

paragraphs: The British Household Cavalry is made of two regiments: The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals. They are the senior regular regiments in the British Army, with traditions dating from 1660. The "Horse Guards", (as they are known, for short), have their barracks in Hyde Park Barracks in Knightsbridge in London and perform their principal duty of forming daily The Queen's Life Guard at a building in London which was formerly the headquarters of the British Army. There are always mounted guards on duty ouside the "Horse Guards" building in front of which lies the famous Horse Guards Parade where The Queen's Birthday Parade takes place. There, the daily ceremony of the "Changing of The Queen's Life Guard" takes place. (This is a different Changing of the Guard to the one at Buckingham Palace.)

paragraphs: The Colonel-in-Chief of both Regiments of Household Cavalry is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The Colonel of The Life Guards is General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank GCB, LVO, OBE. The Colonel of The Blues and Royals is Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal KG, KT, GCVO, QSO.

paragraphs: The motto of both regiments is "Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense" (Shame on him who thinks evil of it).

paragraphs: As military regiments, The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals have served in these places:

paragraphs: The ceremonial uniform of the Household Cavalry has two features that are not often seen on other soldiers. They wear a shiny Silver helmet With Brass and Silver fittings, with a long "plume" of horse hair hanging from the top. When on "mounted guard" duty they also wear a "cuirasse" (metal chest armour). The two regiments can be told apart by the colour of their jacket (which is called a "tunic") and by the "plumes" on their helmets. The Life Guards wear red tunics with white plumes while The Blues and Royals wear blue tunics and have red plumes to their helmets. While on guard, the soldiers carry swords. When mounted on horses, the soldiers wear white riding-breeches, known as buckskins, and tall black winged leather boots, which are called jack boots, having been "jacked" or reinforced against sword blows (Fr. Jaque: chainmail).

paragraphs: The "farrier" assists the Regimental Veterinary Officer in of taking care of the horses. When the farrier is mounted on parade, he carries the traditional symbol of an axe. In battle, one of the farrier's jobs was to kill horses that were badly injured. They also had to cut off one of the hooves so that there was proof of the horse's death so that a new one could be purchased. The horses are all black three quareter bred Irish draught horses except for the trumpeters' horses, which are grey, and the drumhorses which are large draught horses. They are almost invariably coloured horses, Shires or Clydesdales and are "piebald" (black and white), "skewbald" (brown and white) or roan. The drumhorses each carry two solid silver kettle drums on parade.

paragraphs: The trumpeter, whose job is to relay messages by trumpet, can be told apart because he does not wear a cuirrass, and has a grey (white) horse. On "State occasions" when The Queen or another member of the Royal Family is present, the bands of The Household Cavalry wear gold coats designed at the time of King Charles II made of gold braid and dark blue velvet jockey hats. Each regiment has its own Quick March and Slow March. They both use a Scottish tune the "Keel Row" for a ceremonial "trot past".

paragraphs: The Household Cavalry Regiment is an armoured reconnaissance regiment based in Windsor. Most Household Cavalry soldiers begin their careers on mounted duty before being posted, normally after about two years at ceremonial duty, to the reconnaissance regiment, which has Scimitar light tanks, where they are trained in driving, gunnery ands signals. This regiment has deployed more than almost any other in the British Army to operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. Gallantry medals awarded to soldiers of the Household Cavalry since 2003 include: a George Cross (GC) to Trooper Christopher Finney of The Blues and Royals, a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC) and a Military Cross (MC) to Staff Corporal Michael Flynn of The Blues and Royals (making him the most decorated serviceman in the British Army), a CGC to Lance Corporal of Horse Andrew Radford, a Distinguished Service Order to Major Richard Taylor of The Life Guards, and MCs to Captain Paddy Williams of The Blues and Royals and to Staff Corporal Shaun Fry of The Life Guards. All these were awarded on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.


title: Pica (disorder)

paragraphs: Pica ( ) is an eating disorder where a person wants to eat things that are not normal to eat, for example nails, rocks or feces. A person with pica may also have a strong want to eat unusual things that are normally considered food but not in the normal way, for example, uncooked potatoes, flour or starch. It is common in small children.


title: Camillo Berneri

paragraphs: Camillo Berneri (also known as Camillo da Lodi; 1877, Lodi–May 5 1937, Barcelona) was an Italian professor of philosophy, anarchist militant, propagandist and theorist.

paragraphs: Berneri, a World War I veteran, University of Florence professor of humanities, and a member of the Unione Anarchica Italiana, fought always Fascists, and he started to fight fascism until 1926, when he was forced to escape from Italy and he went in France, then Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, and finally the Netherlands. In all these countries, Berneri was frequently placed under arrest, and then often expelled, because he was an anarchist. When he was in these countries he wrote lot of anti-clerical and anti-fascist articles.

paragraphs: With Carlo Rosselli, Berneri organized the first troop (column) of Italian volunteers to fight in the Spanish Civil War against Francisco Franco. After months he became highly critical of the involvement of Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) members in the Popular Front government, and he sent a letter to Federica Montseny (Anarchist minister for Health in the government against fascism).

paragraphs: During the Barcelona May Days, as troop of Communist Party of Spain members (apparently under orders from Joseph Stalin) searched and then murdered him. His body, riddled with bullets, was found during the night, near the headquarters of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

paragraphs: He was married to Giovanna Berneri and was father of Marie-Louise Berneri and Giliane Berneri. The children were anarchists as the father Camillo.


title: Scenario

paragraphs: In context with theatre and movies a scenario (from Italian, "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a description of an event or series of actions and events. In the "Commedia dell'arte" it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the story of a play that was literally pinned to the back of the scenery.

paragraphs: Surviving scenari from the Renaissance contain little other than character names, brief descriptions of action, and references to specific lazzi with no further explanation. It is believed that a scenario forms the basis of a fully improvisational performance though it is also likely that they were simple reminders of the plot for those members of the cast who were literate.

paragraphs: In the creation of an opera or ballet, a scenario is often developed initially to indicate how the original source, if any, is to be adapted. This sketch can be helpful in "pitching" the idea to a prospective producer, director, or composer.

paragraphs: Scenarios are also used in policy planning, and when trying out strategies against uncertain future developments. Here the key idea is for the scenario to be an overview, a summary, of a projected course of action, events or situations. Scenarios are widely used by organizations of all types to understand different ways that future events might unfold.


title: Wu Cheng'en

paragraphs: Wu Cheng'en (, ca. 1500–1582), courtesy name Ruzhong (汝忠), was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty. He was born in "Huainan, Jiangsu". He studied in ancient Nanjing University for more than 10 years.

paragraphs: His most famous novel is "Journey to the West" in which a monk encounters the "Flaming Mountains". The novel has been enjoyed by many generations of Chinese and is the most popular Chinese classic folk novel. The most famous English translation of the novel is by Arthur Waley and entitled "Monkey".


title: Nanjing

paragraphs: Nanjing is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province, and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. Nanjing was the capital of China during several historical periods, including the former capital city of Republic of China, and is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. Nanjing is also one of the fifteen sub-provincial cities in the People's Republic of China's administrative structure. It has autonomy for jurisdiction and economy only slightly less than that of a province.

paragraphs: It lies in the downstream Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta. With an urban population of over five million, it is also the second largest commercial center in the East China region, behind only Shanghai.

paragraphs: The Mandarin Chinese name of the city is ', which means "The Southern Capital". It got this name when the Yongle Emperor of the Ming family of rulers moved most of his government to Beijing ("The Northern Capital") in the early 1400s. In Chinese, Nanjing's name is written . Today, people spell it "Nanjing" because they use the pinyin way of spelling. Pinyin tries to show how the word should sound in Mandarin. People also used to write it , using Mr.Wade and Mr.Giles's way of spelling, and "Nanking", using the Chinese Postal Map's way.

paragraphs: Nanjing Municipality is divided into 11 districts.

paragraphs: Nanjing currently has 18 sister cities (areas), namely:


title: Arthur Waley

paragraphs: Arthur David Waley (August 19, 1889 – June 27, 1966) was a famous English Orientalist and Sinologist.

paragraphs: Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent England, as Arthur David Schloss. He changed his surname to the maiden name of his grandmother, Waley, in 1914, because he was a Jew. He was appointed Assistant Keeper of Oriental Prints and Manuscripts at the British Museum in 1913. During this time he taught himself Chinese and Japanese. In 1929 he left to concentrate himself fully to his literary and cultural interests.


title: Oriental studies

paragraphs: Oriental studies include Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, and peoples and their histories; in recent years the term Asian studies has mostly replaced the older term. European study of the region had primarily religious origins, which has remained an important motivation until recent times.


title: Lev Chernyi

paragraphs: Lev Chernyi (18??-1921) was a Russian anarchist poet who was imprisoned in Siberia under the Russian Czarist regime for his revolutionary activities.

paragraphs: In 1907, he published a book entitled "Associational Anarchism", in which he speak about the "free association of independent individuals.". Chernyi was greatly influenced by individualist-anarchist Max Stirner.

paragraphs: On his return from Siberia in 1917 he enjoyed great popularity among Moscow workers. He was also Secretary of the Moscow Federation of Anarchist Groups, which was formed in March, 1917.

paragraphs: In the spring of 1918, in reaction to the growing repression of all opposition and free expression, the anarchist groups within the Moscow Federation formed armed gangs, the Black Guards, and Lev Chernyi played an active part in these.

paragraphs: On the night of April 11, 1918 the Cheka, the secret police, attacked the building of the Moscow Federation, and the Black Guards offered armed resistance. About forty anarchists were killed or striked and about five hundred were imprisoned.

paragraphs: In 1919 Chernyi joined a group called the Underground Anarchists, who published two numbers of a broadsheet which denounced the Communist dictatorship as the biggest tyranny in human history. On September 25, 1919, a little group of social revolutionaries and anarchists bombed the headquarters of the "Moscow Committee" of the Communist Party in protest at the growing repression. Twelve Communists were killed and forty-five others were mutilated.

paragraphs: August, 1921, the Moscow "Izvestia" published an official report announcing that ten "anarchist bandits" had been shot without hearing or trial. Among the dead was Lev Chernyi although Paul Avrich indicates in two of his books on the Russian anarchists that Chernyi was executed in September of that year, not August. Although he was not involved in the bombing of the Moscow Communist headquarters, he was, because of his association with the Underground Anarchists, a likely candidate for a frame-up. The Communists refused to turn over his body to his family for burial, and there were persistent rumors that he had in fact died of torture.


title: Luigi Fabbri

paragraphs: Luigi Fabbri (1877 – 1935), was an Italian anarchist, writer, agitator and propagandist who was charged with defeatism during the World War I. He was the father of Luce Fabbri.

paragraphs: Born in Fabriano (Ancona), Italy in 1877, Fabbri was first sentenced for anarchist activities at the age of 16 in Ancona, and spent many years in and out of Italian prisons. Fabbri was a long time supporter of to the anarchist press in Europe and later South America, including co-editing, with Errico Malatesta, the paper "L'Agitazione". He helped edit the paper "Università popolare" in Milan.Fabbri was a delegate to the International Anarchist Congress held in Amsterdam in 1907. He died in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1935.


title: Francisco Ferrer y Guardia

paragraphs: Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (; 10 January 1859 – 13 October 1909) commonly known as Francisco Ferrer, was a Spanish Catalan "free-thinker" and anarchist.

paragraphs: He was born in Alella (a small town near Barcelona). A supporter of Spanish republican leader Ruiz Zorilla, Ferrer was exiled to Paris with his wife and children in 1885. Divorcing his first wife in 1899, he remarried a rich Parisian teacher some time after.

paragraphs: In 1901 he returned to Spain and opened la Escuela Moderna ("The Modern School") to teach middle-class children (then) radical social values, the school was free. In 1906 he was arrested and accused of helping with Mateu Morral's attack on King Alphonso XIII and released a year later. His school failed and closed while he was incarcerated.

paragraphs: Early in the summer of 1908, after his release from jail, he wrote the story of the Modern School. The book was called "The Origins and Ideals of the Modern School" and was translated into English by Joseph McCabe and published by the Knickerbocker Press in 1913.

paragraphs: When the martial law was reused in 1909 during the Tragic Week, he was arrested, convicted without any proof and executed by firing squad at Montjuich Fortress in Barcelona on 13 October.

paragraphs: After his execution, numerous supporters of Ferrer's ideas in the United States formed what were called Modern Schools, or Ferrer Schools. The first and most important Modern School was formed in New York City in 1911, and then later a community was founded around a school, known as Ferrer Colony and Modern School.


title: Gaetano Bresci

paragraphs: Gaetano Bresci (November 10, 1869 - May 22, 1901) was an Italian American anarchist who killed Italian King Umberto I. He is still considered a hero by many anarchists and republicans.

paragraphs: Bresci was born in Tuscany, and he went from Italy to the United States, he lived for many time Paterson, New Jersey, where there was a large Italian-American community. He was one of the founders of "La Questione Sociale", the Italian language anarchist paper published in Paterson.

paragraphs: In 1898, the high bread prices led to demonstrations all over Italy. In Milan, an unarmed group of workers, women and children marched together for protesting, near the palace, which was surrounded by a strong military force under command of General Fiorenzo Bava-Beccaris. The people ignored the order to stop, so the General gave the signal of fire with rifles and cannons, resulting in a massacre of innocent people. Ninety people died, one of whom was Bresci's sister.

paragraphs: King Humbert later decorated Bava-Beccaris, and the king after said thanks to him,for "the defense of the royal house", the king did not do anything for the innocent people died, he decorated the murtder, this is the reason that made Bresci determined to kill the king.Bresci had his loan to the paper returned (without telling his comrades why), and with the money he went to Italy. In Monza, where the king was visiting on July 29, 1900, he shot him three times.

paragraphs: Bresci was captured and put on trial, where he was defended by the anarchist lawyer Francesco Saverio Merlino. He was sentenced in Milan on August 29, 1900, to life imprisonment on the jail of Santo Stefano Island near Ventotene, where lot of other anarchists had also been sent over the years. Less than a year later he was found dead in prison. It is not clear whether he committed suicide, as officially announced, or whether he was murdered by his guards.


title: Songs for Polarbears

paragraphs: Songs for Polarbears is the debut album by the alternative rock group Snow Patrol. It was released on August 31 1998. Gary Lightbody wrote all of the lyrics, and helped Mark McClelland and Jonny Quinn write the music. The name of the album is a reference to how Snow Patrol was once called 'Polar Bear', but changed their name.

paragraphs: "Songs for Polarbears" was re-released in 2006.


title: San José de Ocoa (city)

paragraphs: The Dominican city of San José de Ocoa is the head municipality of the San José de Ocoa province, on the southern part of the country and close to the Ocoa river.

paragraphs: "Ocoa" is the name of the river that crosses the province; it is a Taíno word that means "a place with many mountains".

paragraphs: The old name of the town was "El Maniel".

paragraphs: The city had, in , a total population of 25,710: 12,819 men and 12,891 women. The urban population was of the total population.

paragraphs: San José de Ocoa has a total area of , about of the total area of the province of San José de Ocoa. The city is an elevation of , and at to the northwest of Santo Domingo.

paragraphs: San José de Ocoa is on the southern side of the "Cordillera Central" ("Central mountain range"). The city is along the Ocoa river.

paragraphs: The municipality of San José de Ocoa has the Azua province to the west, the Peravia province to the south, the municipality of Sabana Larga to the north, the municipality of Rancho Arriba to the northwest and the San Cristóbal province to the west.

paragraphs: San José de Ocoa has a tropical wet and dry/savanna climate (Köppen-Geiger classification: Aw) with a pronounced dry season in winter.

paragraphs: The average amount of rainfall for the year in the city is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with of rainfall, followed by September with .

paragraphs: The driest season is winter. The month with the least rainfall on average is January with an average of and the second is February with .

paragraphs: San José de Ocoa is in a warm region; the average temperature for the year is . The warmest month, on average, is August with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

paragraphs: The municipality of San José de Ocoa has four municipal districts:

paragraphs: The main economic activity of the municipality is farming; the main products are coffee, beans and potato. Other vegetable, as cabbage and carrot are also grown as well as some tropical fruits (avocado and mango).


title: Starfighter Pilot

paragraphs: Starfighter Pilot was the debut, or first, EP from the alternative rock band Snow Patrol, and was finished in 1997. It was released on the Electric Honey record label. The song "Starfighter Pilot" was also put on the band's first full-length album, "Songs for Polarbears".


paragraphs: When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up is the second full-length album by the Alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released on March 5 2001. Gary Lightbody wrote all of the lyrics, and wrote the music with Mark McClelland and Jonny Quinn.

paragraphs: When the album first was released, it was not bought enough to get its name onto the top 200 albums chart. After the next album, "Final Straw", became popular, people began buying "When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up", and it went onto the chart.


title: Final Straw

paragraphs: Final Straw is the third full-length album by the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released in the United Kingdom in 2003 and in the United States in 2004, under Polydor Records. Gary Lightbody wrote all of the lyrics, and wrote the music with Nathan Connolly, Mark McClelland and Jonny Quinn. The album was the first by Snow Patrol to become popular outside Northern Ireland and Scotland. "Final Straw" was re-released in the UK in 2004 with two extra tracks, and then was able to be bought in the U.S. without the bonus tracks.


title: Live and Acoustic at Park Ave.

paragraphs: Live and Acoustic at Park Ave. is the second EP by alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released in 2005. All of the songs are played live and are taken from one performance.


title: Eyes Open

paragraphs: Eyes Open is the fourth full-length album by the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released May 1, 2006 internationally, and May 9, 2006 in the United States. The "Special Edition" of the album has a bonus DVD with music videos of "You're All I Have". "Eyes Open" was the best-selling album in the UK in 2006, and sold more than one and a half million copies.

paragraphs: The album reached #1 in its 11th week on the New Zealand chart and reached 2x Platinum there for shipping over 30,000 units. In the UK, the album became 5x Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. It has also reached #1 in the ARIA Albums Chart, and became 3x Platinum on January 8, 2007 (210,000+ units shipped). On November 26, 2006, it became the best-selling album of the year in the UK.

paragraphs: The untitled track is a recording of background noise and one of Jacknife Lee's young children talking.


title: Epimetheus

paragraphs: Epimetheus is a titan in Greek mythology, and is the brother of Prometheus, a Greek titan who gave all of the creatures something to protect themselves from the elements. By the time he came to the humans, he had run out of feathers and fur to give. He went to his brother, and he gave humans fire.

paragraphs: Epimetheus literally means "thinks after" and Prometheus means "thinks before".


title: Wrestling

paragraphs: Wrestling is a competition in which two people try to pin the other person to the ground during matches. The people who wrestle are called wrestlers. Striking is not allowed in wrestling. Wrestlers use throws, takedowns, and trips to get their opponents down to the ground. On the ground, they use holds and pins to control their opponent. Wrestling is a popular and effective base for fighters in mixed martial arts competitions.


title: Diode

paragraphs: A diode is an electronic component with two electrodes (connectors) that allows electricity to go through it in one direction and not the other direction.

paragraphs: Diodes can be used to turn alternating current into direct current (Diode bridge). They are used in power supplies and sometimes to decode amplitude modulation radio signals (like in a crystal radio). Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a type of diode that produce light.

paragraphs: Today, the most common diodes are made from semiconductor materials such as silicon or sometimes germanium.

paragraphs: The first types of diodes were called Fleming valves. They were vacuum tubes. They were inside a glass tube (much like a lightbulb). Inside the glass bulb there was a small metal wire and a large metal plate. The small metal wire would heat up and emit electricity, which was captured by the plate. The large metal plate was not heated, so electricity could go in one direction through the tube but not in the other direction. Fleming valves are not used much anymore because they have been replaced by semiconductor diodes, which are smaller than Fleming valves. Thomas Edison also discovered this property when working on his light bulbs.

paragraphs: Semiconductor diodes are made of two types of semiconductors connected to each other. One type has atoms with extra electrons (called the n-side). The other type has atoms that want electrons (called the p-side). Because of this, the electricity will flow easily from the side with too many electrons to the side with too few. However, electricity will not flow easily in the reverse direction. These different types are made by doping (semiconductor). Silicon with arsenic dissolved in it makes a good n-side semiconductor, while silicon with aluminum dissolved in it makes a good p-side semiconductor. Other chemicals can also work.

paragraphs: The connector to the n-side is called the cathode, the connector to the p-side is called the anode.

paragraphs: If you give positive voltage to the p-side and negative voltage to the n-side, the electrons in the n-side will want to go to the positive voltage at the p-side and the holes of the p-side will want to go to the negative voltage at the n-side. Because of this, current flow is able to exist, but it takes a certain amount of voltage to get this started (very small amount of voltage is not enough to get the electric current to flow). This is called the cut-in voltage. The cut-in voltage of a silicon diode is at about 0.7 V. A germanium diode needs a cut-in voltage at about 0.3 V.

paragraphs: If you instead give negative voltage to the p-side and positive voltage to the n-side, the electrons of the n-side want to go to the positive voltage source instead of the other side of the diode. Same thing happens on the p-side. So, current will not flow between the two sides of the diode. Increasing the voltage will eventually force electric current to flow (this is the break-down voltage). Many diodes will be destroyed by a reverse flow but some are made that can survive it.

paragraphs: When the temperature increases, the cut-in voltage goes down. This makes it easier for electricity to pass through the diode.

paragraphs: There are many types of diodes. Some have very specific uses and some have a variety of uses.

paragraphs: Here are some common semiconductor diode symbols used in schematic diagrams:

paragraphs: This changes A/C (alternating current, like in a wall plug in a house) to D/C (direct current, used in electronics). The standard rectifier diode has specific requirements. It should handle high current, not be much affected by temperature, have a low cut-in voltage and support quick changes in the direction of current flow. Modern analog and digital electronics use such rectifiers.

paragraphs: An LED produces light when electricity flows through it. It is a longer lasting and more efficient way of creating light than incandescent light bulbs. Depending on how it was made, the LED can make different colors. LEDs were first used in the 1970's. The light-emitting diode may eventually replace the light bulb as developing technology makes it brighter and cheaper (it is already more efficient and lasts longer). In the 1970's the LEDs were used to show numbers in appliances such as calculators, and as a way to show the power was on for larger appliances.

paragraphs: A photodiode is a photo detector (the opposite of a light-emitting diode). It responds to light that comes in. Photodiodes have a window or optical fiber connection, which lets light in to the sensitive part of the diode. Diodes usually have strong resistance; the light reduces the resistance.

paragraphs: A zener diode is like a normal diode, but instead of being destroyed by a big reverse voltage, it lets electricity through. The voltage needed for this is called the breakdown voltage or Zener voltage. Because it is built with a known breakdown voltage it can be used to supply a known voltage.

paragraphs: The varicap or varactor diode is used in many appliances. It uses the region between the p-side and n-side of the diode where electrons and holes balance each other. This is called the depletion zone. By changing the amount of reverse voltage, the size of the depletion zone changes. There is some capacitance in this area, and it changes based on the size of the depletion zone. This is called variable capacitance, or varicap for short. It is used in PLLs (Phase-locked loops) which are used to control the high-speed frequency a chip runs at.

paragraphs: The symbol is the symbol of a diode with a kind of snag. It is used in circuits with high frequencies up to GHz. It turns off very quickly when the forward voltage stops. It uses the current that flows after the polarity was reversed to do this.

paragraphs: The construction of this diode has an intrinsic (normal) layer between the n- and the p-sides. At slower frequencies, it acts much like a standard diode. But at high speeds it can not keep up with fast changes and starts to act like a resistor. The intrinsic layer also lets it handle high power inputs, and can be used as a photodiode.

paragraphs: The symbol of this is the diode symbol, with an ‘S’ at the peak. Instead of both sides being a semiconductor (like silicon), one side is metal, like aluminum or nickel. This reduces the cut-in voltage to about 0.3 volt. This is about half of the threshold voltage of a usual diode.

paragraphs: The function of this diode is that no minority carriers are injected - the n-side only has holes, not electrons, and the p-side only has electrons, not holes. Because this is cleaner, it can react faster, without diffusion capacitance that can slow it down. It also creates less heat and is more efficient. But it does has some current leakage with reverse voltage.

paragraphs: When a diode switches from moving current to not moving current, this is known as switching. It takes dozens of nanoseconds in a typical diode; this creates some radio noise, which temporarily degrades radio signals. The Schottky diode switches in a small fraction of that time, less than a nanosecond.

paragraphs: In the symbol of the tunnel diode there is a kind of additional square bracket at the end of the usual symbol.

paragraphs: A tunnel diode consists of a highly doped pn-junction. Because of this high doping, there is only a very narrow gap where the electrons are able to pass through. This tunnel-effect appears in both directions.

paragraphs: After a certain quantity of electrons have passed, the current through the gap decreases, until the normal current through the diode at the threshold voltage begins. This causes an area of a negative resistance.

paragraphs: These diodes are used to deal with really high frequencies (100 GHz). It is also resistant to radiation, so they are used in spacecraft. They are also used in microwaves and refrigerators.

paragraphs: The symbol has at the end of the diode a sign that looks like a big I. It is made similar to the tunnel diode, but the n- and the p-layer are not doped as high. It allows current to flow backwards with small negative voltages. It can be used to rectify low voltages (less than 0.7 volts).

paragraphs: Instead of two layers like a normal diode, this has four layers, it is basically two diodes put together, with a gate in the middle. When voltage goes between the gate and the cathode the lower transistor will turn on. This lets the current go through, which activates the upper transistor, and then the current will not need to be turned on by a gate voltage.


title: Power trio

paragraphs: The power trio is a popular type of a rock and roll band format since the 1960s. The usual power trio has three people playing the guitar, bass, and drums. It does not include the rhythm guitar or keyboard often included in other rock music. In more recent years, the term has come to mean any type of a three-person band.


title: Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

paragraphs: Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando (Ratchet & Clank 2: Locked and Loaded in Europe, Australia and New Zealand) is a 3D platform/shooter for the PlayStation 2. It was developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony in 2003. It is the second game in the "Ratchet & Clank" series. The words "Going Commando" are a phrase, or set of words, for wearing pants with no underwear.

paragraphs: Similar to "Ratchet & Clank", "Going Commando" got high review scores, and has a 92% on Game Rankings, and a 90% from Metacritic. IGN gave the game a score of 9.4/10, and Gamestats gave it a 9.1/10. Game Informer magazine called it Game of the Month when it was released. "Going Commando" was given a 4/5 from Gamespy and a 5/5 from X-Play.


title: Gillian Welch

paragraphs: Gillian Howard Welch (born October 2, 1967 in New York City) is an American singer-songwriter. Her musical style combines bluegrass, country, and folk into a style she calls "American Primitive".


title: David Rawlings

paragraphs: David Todd Rawlings is a United States guitarist. He is best known as the musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch. Rawlings has also been a record producer, producing albums such as those by Welch and other artists like Old Crow Medicine Show.


title: Meitnerium

paragraphs: Meitnerium is a chemical element in the periodic table. Its atomic number is 109. It is not found on earth naturally. Because of this, it needs to be made in a science laboratory. Its half life, or the amount of time it takes for half of the element to go away is a little over one second. Meitnerium was first made in 1982.

paragraphs: The element is named in honor of Lise Meitner (1878-1968).

paragraphs: The two letter abbreviation is "Mt" and is a solid. Nobody knows for sure what meitnerium looks like, but scientists think it is a white, gray, or silver color.


title: 4-1-1

paragraphs: 4-1-1 is a telephone number in the United States and Canada. 411 is called to get help or information on something, for example what the address of a building is, or the telephone number of a company.


title: The Convent (Gibraltar)

paragraphs: The Convent has been the home of the Governor of Gibraltar since 1728. The building is located near the southern end of Main Street. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of a nun.


title: Pomp and Circumstance Marches

paragraphs: The "Pomp and Circumstance Marches" are a group of five marches for orchestra composed by Sir Edward Elgar. Their full title is: "Pomp and Circumstance Military Marches"). Elgar started to write a sixth march, but never finished it.

paragraphs: The first of the marches is especially famous and has a tune which is one of the best known tunes in Britain. It is often sung to the words " Land of Hope and Glory".

paragraphs: The title “Pomp and Circumstance”is taken from Act III, Scene iii of Shakespeare's "Othello":

paragraphs: The first five were all published by Boosey & Co. as Elgar's Op. 39. Elgar dedicated each march to one of his musical friends.

paragraphs: Each march takes about five minutes to play.

paragraphs: " March No. 1 in D " is the best known of the set. It was completed, together with March No. 2, in 1901, soon after the first performance of his “Dream of Gerontius” which had been badly performed. Elgar dedicated it to Alfred Rodewald who conducted its first performance with the Liverpool Orchestra Society on 19 October 1901. Both marches were played two days later at a Promenade Concert in the Queen's Hall London, conducted by Henry Wood. Elgar knew that the audience would love the big tune in the middle of March No. 1, so that march was played second. Henry Wood tells in his autobiography that “the people simply rose and yelled. I had to play it again – with the same result; in fact, they refused to let me get on with the programme….merely to restore order, I played the march a third time.”

paragraphs: The next year King Edward VII was due to be crowned in June. The King liked the big tune, and wanted it performed with words at the coronation. So Elgar used it at the end of his "Coronation Ode" with words by A.C. Benson. The coronation did not take place because the king became ill just before the big day. "Land of Hope and Glory" was sung in June 1902 by Clara Butt, and the whole Ode was performed in Sheffield four months later.

paragraphs: In Britain "Land of Hope and Glory" is sung every year at the Last Night of the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall as part of the Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1.

paragraphs: In the United States the tune is sometimes known as "Pomp and Circumstance" or as "The Graduation March", and is played as the processional tune at high school and college graduation ceremonies.

paragraphs: " March No. 2 in A minor " was dedicated to the composer Granville Bantock". It was first performed at the same concert as March No. 1. It the shortest and simplest of the marches.

paragraphs: " March No. 3 in C minor " was finished in November 1904 and published in 1905. It was dedicated to Ivor Atkins". It was first performed on 8 March 1905, in the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by the composer. It sounds quite serious at first, then it becomes very energetic.

paragraphs: " March No. 4 in G " is very grand, like No. 1. Again there is a big tune in the middle. It was dedicated to Dr. G. Robertson Sinclair, the organist of Hereford Cathedral. It was first performed on 24 August 1907, in the Queen's Hall, London, conducted by Elgar himself.

paragraphs: " March No. 5 in C ", composed in 1930, was dedicated to Percy Hull, a friend from Hereford. It has some brilliant orchestral effects.

paragraphs: " March No. 6 in G minor " was started, but when Elgar died there were only sketches left. The musician Anthony Payne recently discovered some more sketches for it in the library of the Royal School of Church Music. He finished composing in the way that Elgar might have done, and the work was first performed on 2 August 2006 with Andrew Davis conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra at The Proms at Royal Albert Hall.


title: 704 Interamnia

paragraphs: 704 Interamnia is a very big asteroid. Scientists think it is 350 kilometers wide. Its mean distance from the Sun is 3.067 (AU). It was found on October 2, 1910 by Vincenzo Cerulli. It is named after the Latin name for Teramo, Italy, which is where Cerulli worked. It is the fifth heaviest asteroid after Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea, and scientists think that it makes up 2.0% of the mass of the whole asteroid belt.

paragraphs: Although the biggest asteroid apart from the "big four", Interamnia is not studied a lot.

paragraphs: It is easily the biggest of the F-type asteroids, but there exist very few details of what the inside is made of or shape and no lightcurve analysis has yet been done to find out the ecliptic coordinates of Interamnia's poles (and hence its axial tilt). Its apparently high bulk density (though subject to much error) suggests a very solid body entirely without internal porosity or traces of water. This also strongly suggests that Interamnia is big enough to have fully withstood all the collisions that have happened in the asteroid belt since the Solar System was made.

paragraphs: Its very dark surface and fairly far distance from the Sun means Interamnia can never be seen with 10x50 binoculars. At most oppositions its magnitude is around +11.0, which is less than the "minimum" brightness of Vesta, Ceres or Pallas. Even at a near-perihelion opposition its magnitude is only around +9.9, which is over four magnitudes lower than Vesta.

paragraphs: Its orbit is a bit more eccentric that of Hygiea (15% versus 12%) but is different because Hygiea's orbit is much more inclined and takes a bit shorter to complete one orbit. Another difference is that Interamnia's perihelion is at the other side of the perihelia of the "big four", so that at Interamnia at perihelion is actually closer to the Sun than Ceres and Pallas are at the same longitude. It is unlikely to collide with Pallas because their nodes are located too far apart, whilst although its nodes are located on the opposite side from those of Ceres, it is generally clear of Ceres when both cross the same orbital plane and a collision is again unlikely.


title: River Ocoa

paragraphs: The River Ocoa is a river in the southern side of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. It is 68 km long and flows through mountains except near its end in the Caribbean Sea.

paragraphs: Ocoa is a Taíno word that means "a place with mountains"; "coa" meant "place" and "o" meant, in some cases, "mountain".

paragraphs: The source of the Ocoa is at the La Chorreosa mountain (also known as La Chorriosa), on the eastern side of Valle Nuevo (Cordillera Central). It flows through the San José de Ocoa province and then form part of the limits between the Azua and Peravia provinces.

paragraphs: It ends at the eastern side of Ocoa Bay, on the Caribbean Sea.

paragraphs: The city of San José de Ocoa is the most important city near the river. Other towns are Las Carreras, Sabana Buey and Villa Fundación, in the Peravia province, and Palmar de Ocoa in the Azua province, near its mouth. The water of the river is used for irrigation in those towns; it is not used for the houses because it has too much solid materials because mountains have very few trees.

paragraphs: The most important tributaries are Banilejo, Canal and Arroyo Parra, all in the higher part of the river. There is not any important tributary in the lower part.

paragraphs: In the 16th century, sugar cane was grown near the mouth of the river to produce sugar.

paragraphs: On April 1849, there was an important battle (the "Battle of Las Carreras") here during the Dominican-Haitian War; the fight was on the western side of the river in Las Carreras, a place at about 20 km from the mouth. The Dominican army won the battle against the Haitian army.


title: Louise Michel

paragraphs: Louise Michel (1830-1905) was a French anarchist, school teacher and medical worker. She sometimes used the pseudonym "Clémence" and was also known as "the red virgin of Montmartre".

paragraphs: Louise Michel was born at the Château of Vroncourt (Haute-Marne) on 29 May 1830, the daughter of Marianne Michel, and of Etienne Charles Demahis. She was brought up by her father's parents, and received a libertaria education. After her grandfather's death in 1850 she was trained to teach, but after few times she saw that Napoleon III prevented her from serving in a state school. She became violently anti-Bonapartist, and is said to have thought about the assassination of Napoleon III. She became anarchist in 1866 to a school in the Montmartre quarter of Paris, where she saw that his destiny was to work for charity and follow the revolution.

paragraphs: She was active during the Paris Commune as an ambulance woman, she helped mutilated or injured on the barricades. During the Siege of Paris she was in resistance against the Prussians. On the establishment of the Commune, she joined the National Guard. She offered to shoot Thiers, and suggested the destruction of Paris for its surrender.

paragraphs: She was with the Communards who made their last stand in the cemetery of Montmartre, and was closely allied with Théophile Ferré, who was executed in November 1871. Michel dedicated a moving farewell poem to Ferré, "l’œillet rouge" ("The Red Carnation"). It is without a doubt that upon learning of this loss, Victor Hugo dedicated his poem to Michel, "Viro Major". This ardent attachment was perhaps one of the sources of the exaltation which marked her career, and gave many handles to her enemies. After December 1871, she was making propaganda, for help poor people, trying to destroy the government, and supporting people to arm themselves, and herself using weapons and wearing a military uniform. She never renounced the Commune, and few times later the judges to sentence her to death. She spent twenty months in prison and was sentenced to deportation.

paragraphs: She was put onto the ship "Virginie" on the 8th of August, 1873, to be deported. She arrived in New Caledonia 4 months later. On board, she met Henri Rochefort, a famous polemist, who became her friend until her death. She also met Nathalie Lemel, another figure active in the commune. Louise was in New Caledonia for seven years. She refused special treatment reserved for women. In 1878 she was a leader in a revolt. The following year, she received authorisation to become a teacher in Nouméa for the children of the deported—among them many Kabyles (Kabyles du Pacifique) from Cheikh Mokrani's rebellion (1871)—and later in schools for girls.

paragraphs: Michel returned to Paris in 1880 after amnesty was given to the Communards. Her revolutionary never died and she controlled freely a libertarian school. She travelled everywhere in France, supporting revolution. In 1883 she led a Paris mob which pillaged a baker's shop. For this she was given six years imprisonment, but was released in 1886, at the same time as Kropotkin and other prominent anarchists. After a short period of freedom she was again arrested for speaking bad about the social system.

paragraphs: She was soon free again, but, hearing that her enemies hoped to put her in a lunatic asylum, she went to England in 1890. She returned to France in 1895, taking part in the revolt made by the Dreyfuss affair in 1898. Few months ago she was constantly followed by the police, until she died in "Room 11", in the Hotel Oasis, Marseilles on January 10, 1905.

paragraphs: Michel became highly admired by French workers and revolutionaries, particularly for her association with the Paris Commune. From after her death until 1916, a demonstration was held every year at her tomb at Levallois-Perret. Frequently, the language used to describe her is that reserved for saints and heretics; she is often referred to as ""Bonne Louise"" (Good Louise) or the ""Vierge rouge"" (red Virgin). She was always respected same in periods when women were without right.

paragraphs: On May 1, 1946, the Parisian "métro" station "Vallier" was renamed Louise Michel, see: Louise Michel (Paris Metro).


title: Louise Michel (Paris Metro)

paragraphs: Louise Michel is a station of the Paris Métro, serving Line 3. It is located in the commune of Levallois-Perret northwest of the French capital, Paris.

paragraphs: Before 1946, this station was named "Vallier" after a mountain (2839m)in the Pyrenees near the Val d'Aran.

paragraphs: The station was renamed on May 1, 1946 to "Louise Michel", in honour of the French anarchist and communarde.


title: Louise Michel Battalions

paragraphs: Two battalions (made up of volunteer troops) of French-speaking people in the International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War against fascism, were named after Louise Michel, a heroine of the 1871 Paris Commune.


title: Idol

paragraphs: An idol is a religious item that represents a god. It can also mean someone who is admired by many people, like a pop idol. Idolatry refers to the worship of idols.

paragraphs: Christians disagree about what idolatry is. Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy see Christian art and icons as good, because they see Christ's Incarnation as having made images of God lawful. However many Protestants regard much Catholic art as idolatry.

paragraphs: This is due to differences in the understanding of the Ten Commandments. "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (RSV Exodus 20:3-6)

paragraphs: Islamic art is often based on Geometric abstraction or calligraphy to avoid idolatry, but Jewish art is somewhat broader. Hindus have murtis, a term often translated as “idols”.


title: Catholic Encyclopedia

paragraphs: The Catholic Encyclopedia, or the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English language encyclopedia. It was published by The Encyclopedia Press. The first volume appeared in March 1907. It was completed in April 1914.

paragraphs: The encyclopedia was designed for the Roman Catholic Church. It does not include information which has nothing to do with the Church. It explains matters from the point of view of the official Catholic doctrine, as it was during the time of Pope Pius X. It tells the accomplishments of Catholics and some others in nearly all intellectual and professional pursuits. These include artists, educators, poets and scientists.


title: Bright Eyes

paragraphs: Bright Eyes may mean several different things:


title: Stanley, Falkland Islands

paragraphs: Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is found on the island of East Falkland and has a population of 2,000. Stanley was the sight of fighting in the 1982 Falklands War, where Argentinian forces captured Government House, the seat of the Falklands Government. Today, Stanley is the biggest town in the Falkland Islands. It has an airport and a seaport. Cruise ships going through the South Atlantic often make a stop in Stanley, which has a small tourism industry to serve cruise ship passengers and others visiting the islands.


title: Numismatics

paragraphs: Numismatics is the study and collecting of coins and the history behind the coins. A Numismatist is either a collector of coins or a scholar who studies the history of coins.

paragraphs: The term comes from a word meaning "of coins." The original word is French (numismatique), which itself is from a Latin origin (numismatis).

paragraphs: Coin collectors may have existed in ancient times. Caesar Augustus may have been an example. The first known book about coin collecting was in 1514, "De Asse et Partibus", by Guillaume Budé. However, only royalty really enjoyed coin collecting until the 19th century. That's when professional organizations started to sprout, like the American Numismatic Society in 1858.

paragraphs: Modern numismatics is a sub-field that focuses on when coins started being stamped by machines (around 17th century on). Because of its focus, modern numismatics is more popular with collectors than with historians. Other subfields/variants include exonumia (focus on coin-like objects), notaphily (focus on paper money instead of coins), and scripophily (focus on stocks and bonds instead of coins).


title: Philately

paragraphs: Philately is the study and collection of postage stamps and postal history.


title: Charles of Valois

paragraphs: Charles of Valois (March 12, 1270–December 16, 1325) started the House of Valois as the first Count of Valois. He was the third son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary. He was part the Capetian dynasty.