title: Liancourt Rocks

paragraphs: Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima　竹島 in Japanese, Dokdo 독도 in Korean) are a group of small islands in the Sea of Japan. The islands are currently occupied under the South Korean armed police. The name Liancourt Rocks comes from the French whaling ship Liancourt. The people on the Liancourt made a map of the islands in 1849. The islands have been in dispute for some time by both Korea and Japan. Japan has been suggesting to sort the dispute in International Court of Justice but South Korean government keeps refusing it.

paragraphs: Liancourt Rocks consists of two islets, that are 150 metres apart. These small islands are called West Islet and East Islet. The western islet is the larger of the two islets. Altogether, there are about 90 islets and reefs. The islands and rocks have a volcanic nature. A total of 37 of these islets are recognized as permanent land. The eastern islet formed 4.5 million years ago. Ulleungdo formed 2 million years later. Both are quickly eroding and weathering.

paragraphs: The total area of the islets is about 187,450 square meters. Their highest point is 169 meters on the western islet. The western islet is about 88,640 square meters in area; the eastern islet about 73,300 square meters. Liancourt Rocks is at about 131°52′ East longitude and about 37°14′ North latitude. The western islet is at and the eastern islet is at . The main islands coast lines are 217 km apart from mainland Korea and 212 km apart from main island's of Japan (Honshu). The nearest Korean territory (Ulleung-do) is 87 km away and can be visible on fair days; the nearest Japanese territory (Oki islands) is 157 km away.

paragraphs: The western islet is made of a single peak. It has many caves along the coastline. The cliffs of the eastern islet are about 10 to 20 meters high. There are two caves giving access to the sea, as well as a crater.

paragraphs: 40 Korean people are staying on the islets, several Korean telecom service providers (namely SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+) have also installed stations on Liancourt Rocks to cover the islets in the South Korean wireless telephone network. There is also regular ferry service from Ulleung-do.

paragraphs: Although the islets themselves are barely habitable, the Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding them has rich fishing grounds and possible reserves of natural gas. As of 2006, the expected reserves have not been found. A wide variety of fish as well as seaweed, kelp, sea slugs, and clams live around the islets. Major fishery catches in the area are squid, Alaskan pollock, codfish, and octopus. There are 102 species of seaweed, although many of these have no economic value.

paragraphs: This area used to be one of the largest breeding grounds of sea lions ("Zalophus californianus japonicus") and a good spot for hunting them and also a spot for obtaining abalone at the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912). Until the 1950s, sea lions were observed on the islets by the voluntary guards.

paragraphs: Over 900 Korean citizens say that they live on the islands. Over 2,000 Japanese do the same. However, only two people, a married Korean couple, are living there permanently.

paragraphs: Because they are classified as a nature reserve, special permits are required for tourists to land on the islets rather than just circling them. There were 1,507 and 1,597 recorded tourists in 2003 and 2004 respectively. Visitors generally come by boat from Ulleung-do.

paragraphs: In 2005, the first wedding ceremony was held on the islets. The South Korean couple chose the location to protest against Japanese territorial claims.

paragraphs: Liancourt Rocks can have harsh weather conditions. This is because of its location, and small size. Sometimes, ships are unable to dock because of strong northwestern winds in winter. The climate is warm and humid. It is heavily influenced by warm sea currents. There is a lot of rain throughout the year (annual average - 1324 mm), with occasional snowfall. Fog is a common sight. In the summer, southerly winds dominate. The water around the islets is about 10 degrees Celsius in spring, when the water is coolest. It warms to about 25 degrees Celsius in August.

paragraphs: Like Ulleung-do, the islets are volcanic rocks, with only a thin layer of soil and moss. About 80 species of plants, over 22 species of birds, and 37 species of insects have been recorded on the islets, in addition to the local maritime life.

paragraphs: Since the early 1970s, trees and some types of flowers were planted along with the indigenous flora and fauna. (Trees are required under international law for the islets to be recognized as natural islands rather than reefs.)

paragraphs: Liancourt Rocks was declared "Natural Monument #336" by South Korea in the 1990s. Some birds actually live on the islands, but most are just using them as a stopover to fly elsewhere. The fork-tailed petrel, streaked shearwater, and black-tailed gulls live on the islands. The population of breeding birds counted on the rocks, however, has been declining in recent years.

paragraphs: In 1999, the islets were designated a special environmental protected area by the South Korean government. They are older than any other Korean volcanic islands, including Ulleung-do.

paragraphs: It was announced in 2005 that three new genera and five new species of bacteria had been identified by ROK scientists in the waters off the islets. The genera are "Dokdonella koreensis", "Dokdonia donghaenensis", and "Donghae dokdoensis". The newly identified species are "Virgilbacillus dokdoensis", "Maribacter dokdoensis", "Marimonas dokdoensis", "Polaribacter dokdoensis", and "Porphyrobacter dokdoensis".

paragraphs: The islets are of importance not only for economic reasons, but also for military ones. They have occasionally served as a military base, most notably during the Russo-Japanese War. The South Korean government has built a radar station and helicopter landing pad on the islets, enabling it to track foreign naval forces.

paragraphs: South Korean armed force captured 3929 and killed 44 Japanese people between 1952 and 1965 until was set. The dispute between South Korea and Japan over the islands has gained heat in 2008 with new Japanese school books mentioning the islands, and a visit by the South Korean Prime Minister in July. Ten years ago, no people lived on the islands. But South Korea started to populate the island to make its claim stronger. South Korea insists that the islet was called Usan-do or Sokdo in a past and later changed its name, but there is no historical proof which shows when the name was changed.

paragraphs: 512: In the 13th year of King Jijeung of Silla, Isabu, conquered the umbrella country and incorporated it into Silla territory (Records of the Three Kingdoms)

paragraphs: An Yong-bok, fisherman : and 1693 shogunate mourning, Japan forcibly removed and to find why in the ocean near Ulleungdo to Dokdo and Ulleung Island is Korean territory Seogye for getting (the Annals of the reign.History).

paragraphs: Banpo Uldo Ulleung Island to King Gojong, an Imperial decree No. 41 : 1900, logistics and the guide and as the Dokdo uldogun to will result in a jurisdiction

paragraphs: Takeshima in 1905 : Japan, Dokdo, (Takeshima) by Shimane and as the number 40, and that Japan will result in (Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905 in November 1905, to losing sovereignty,).

paragraphs: In 1907 : jurisdiction of Ulleungdo and Dokdo, Gangwon Province to Gyeongsang Province in two speed.

paragraphs: In 1946 : gho scapin in (Allied Supreme Command) (supreme head-quarters allied command) subparagraph at 677 in accordance with the Japan excluded from control over the Dokdo.

paragraphs: Dokdo : 1953 and a volunteer (Colon 32 agents, hongsunchil) garrison organizations.

paragraphs: And 1956 : National Police, Dokdo over expenses.

paragraphs: Dokdo : in 1981, first resident registration card (Choi Jong-Duk Dodong-ri, Ulleung-eup, bought 67).

paragraphs: State-designated cultural property : 1982, and was designated as Natural Monument No. 336 (Dokdo marine algae a breeding ground).

paragraphs: 1998: Signing a fisheries agreement between Shinhan and Japan

paragraphs: State-designated cultural property : in 1999 and management organizations and Natural Monument No. 336, Dokdo a name change management guidelines, the Cultural Heritage (→ Dokdo a Dokdo algae reproduce natural resource conservation area).

paragraphs: Dodong-ri bought 42 : a lot number to 76 / Administrative divisions : name and number (Dodong-ri → the Eastern Island and Dokdo, (the opening. - Class 1 - 2 class : Regions), 2000 → Dokdo, a mountain, at 37 to 1.

paragraphs: Dokdo, and the Ministry of Information and Communication : In 2003, postal number ‘799 - 805’.

paragraphs: 2005: Undesignation of 11 public areas (Dongdo) including the trail (Admission Permit System → Switch to the reporting system), and Zip Bungyeong (1-37 Mountains → 1-96 Streets)

paragraphs: And 2008 : Addressing the new street address 'Dokdo to Kim Isabu' and 'Dokdo An Yong-bok gil' according to changes in.


title: Pentagram

paragraphs: A pentagram is a five-pointed star, with all lines the same length and all angles the same. A 'pentangle', 'star pentagon', or 'pentalpha' means the same thing.

paragraphs: The word "pentacle" originally meant 'any symbol that protects against evil spirits'. There are many of such symbols, only a few of which include a pentagram. During the modern age of Wicca, the word 'pentacle' acquired a second definition, due to sounding similar to the word 'pentagram', and the fact that wiccan pentacles use a pentagram. That second definition of 'pentacle' is 'a circumscribed pentagram', which means 'a pentagram drawn inside a circle so that the points of the pentagram touch the circle'.

paragraphs: The pentagram means different things to different people. These meanings have changed over time.

paragraphs: In ancient times, the pentagram was used as a Christian symbol. It stood for the five wounds that Jesus Christ received during his crucifixion (the nails in each hand and foot, and the spear wound in his side).

paragraphs: In the past, the pentagram was commonly seen as a symbol for good and for protection against evil.

paragraphs: In Taoism, a pentagram shows how the five classical oriental elements (earth, water, wood, fire, and metal) are related.

paragraphs: Today, the pentagram is the most commonly used symbol of Wicca. Some post-Gardnerian wiccans, imitating Taoism, associate the five points of the pentagram with the four classical Greek elements (fire, water, earth, and air) and spirit.

paragraphs: Some Satanists, especially members of the Church of Satan, use an upside-down pentacle as a symbol for their religion. The Church of Satan's official symbol is an upside-down pentacle with a goat head inside, called the "Sigil of Baphomet." (A 'sigil' is a symbol of a supernatural being). It was originally the influential 1800s French occultist Eliphas Levi who associated the pentagram with the goat-headed baphomet, by drawing a pentagram on the baphomet's forehead. Anton LaVey, who created the Church of Satan in 1966, took the idea from Levi.

paragraphs: In "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," a 14th century romance story, the pentagram is mentioned as a symbol for Gawain's good character and truth.

paragraphs: More recently, the meaning of the pentagram was discussed in "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. According to the book, the pentagram actually belonged to the ancient religion of Pagan Sun Worship, and was tied to the female planet Venus: every 8 years Venus traces a perfect pentagram across the sky. The book says that the pentagram was a symbol for the sacred female, but was later taken by Christianity and said to mean the devil in order to destroy beliefs that females were sacred.

paragraphs: A pentacle is on the flag of Morocco, as well as Ethiopia's.


title: Benzene

paragraphs: Benzene, also known as benzol, is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH. It is a colorless and flammable liquid with a sweet smell. Benzene molecules are a ring of six carbon atoms that are each bonded to one hydrogen atom. It is an "aromatic" compound, meaning the ring has alternating double bonds.

paragraphs: Benzene is carcinogenic, which means it can cause cancer. It has many real-world uses. It is used as an additive in gasoline, plastics, synthetic rubber, dyes and it is an industrial solvent, which means it can dissolve many other chemical molecules. Benzene is also a natural part of crude oil and is therefore present in gasoline. Many medicines contain parts made from benzene.

paragraphs: Benzene has special properties called aromaticity. All six carbon atoms in the ring are on the same flat plane. To account for all the bonds on a six carbon ring, there must be alternating double carbon bonds (Conjugated system):

paragraphs: If benzene had three double bonds, three sides of its ring would be shorter than the other three sides. X-ray diffraction shows that all of six carbon-carbon bonds in benzene are of the same length of 140 picometres (pm). The C–C bond lengths are greater than a double bond (135 pm) but shorter than a single bond (147 pm). This intermediate distance is consistent with electron delocalization: the electrons for C–C bonding are distributed equally between each of the six carbon atoms. The molecule is planar. One representation is that the structure exists as a superposition of so-called resonance structures, rather than either form individually. (In other words, the molecule's double bonds switch quickly between pairs of carbon atoms.) The delocalization of electrons is one explanation for the thermodynamic stability of benzene and related aromatic compounds. It is likely that this stability contributes to the peculiar molecular and chemical properties known as aromaticity. To indicate the delocalized nature of the bonding, benzene is often depicted with a circle inside a hexagonal arrangement of carbon atoms.

paragraphs: As is common in organic chemistry, the carbon atoms in the diagram above have been left unlabeled. Realizing each carbon has 2p electrons, each carbon donates an electron into the delocalized ring above and below the benzene ring. It is the overlap of p-orbitals both above and below the ring that produces the pi clouds.

paragraphs: In 1986, some chemists disputed the delocalized view of benzene in an article published in the journal "Nature". They showed that the electrons in benzene are almost certainly localized to particular carbon atoms. They showed the aromatic properties of benzene come from spin coupling rather than electron delocalization. Other scientists wrote articles to support this view in "Nature" in 1987. But, chemists are slow to switch from the delocalized electrons view.

paragraphs: Derivatives of benzene occur sufficiently often as a component of organic molecules that there is a Unicode symbol in the Miscellaneous Technical block with the code U+232C (⌬) to represent it with three double bonds, and U+23E3 (⏣) for a delocalized version.


title: Tasmanian devil

paragraphs: The Tasmanian devil ("Sarcophilus harrisii") is a meat eating mammal. It is a marsupial, which means it has a small pouch to carry its babies. It is the largest meat eating marsupial in the world. It is nocturnal, which means it sleeps during the day and is awake during the night. Tasmanian devils now live only in Tasmania, an island state of Australia.

paragraphs: The devil is the same size as a small dog with a wide head and a short tail. Male devils can weigh 12 kg and be 30 cm tall. It has black fur and makes a loud and very scary screeching noise. It will hunt other animals and also feed on dead animals. The devil has strong teeth and jaws and will eat all its prey, even bones and fur.

paragraphs: The Tasmanian devil became extinct on the Australian mainland about 3,000 years ago - before European settlement in 1788. They were hunted in Tasmania. In the 1930s the Van Dieman's Land Company offered 25 cents for each male and 35 cents for each female killed. In 1941 they became officially protected.

paragraphs: In 1996 the devils began to get very sick and then die with large tumours on their faces. Devil facial tumour disease has greatly reduced the number of devils and now threatens their survival. In some areas 85% of devils have been found with the disease. In the places where the tumours were seen first, devil numbers have dropped by 95%. The tumour is spread by biting. Because the devils are all closely related (not enough genetic diversity), the tumour cells are not seen as new; so the devil's immune system does not fight it. In May 2008 the Tasmanian devil was listed as endangered. Programs are being tried by the Tasmanian government to reduce the impact of the disease. About 60 devils without the disease have been captured and are to be kept as a tumour free group for rebreeding. Scientists have been looking at ways to give the devils immunity but so far this has not worked.

paragraphs: New research is showing the devils are having babies earlier, they use to breed at two years, but now are breeding at one year old. Devils used to have babies every year for three years, but they are now dying before they can produce a second litter (family).

paragraphs: The devils have a low genetic diversity which is consistent with a 'founder effect'. What this means is: a small number colonised Tasmania from Australia at some stage. So their genetic variety was much less than the parent population. Disease like the present may have happened before, and reduced the population to a small number. These events are called 'population bottlenecks'. A small population which carries less variation is always vulnerable to extinction, because none of the animals may be resistant to the infection.

paragraphs: Its genome was sequenced in 2010 by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. There is some hope for their survival because, since 2005, three females have been found that are partially resistant to the disease.


title: Joseph Haydn

paragraphs: Joseph Haydn (also known as Franz Joseph Haydn) was an Austrian composer. He was born on March 31 or April 1, 1732, and died on May 31, 1809. He was one of the most famous composers in the Classical music period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony."

paragraphs: Haydn's father made wheels for a living, and had the skills of a blacksmith, stonemason, and carpenter. He used that skill in his spare time to make musical instruments for his family to play. The Haydn family would give informal weekend concerts. One of Joseph's relatives thought that Joseph had a great singing voice and should go with him to a boarding school where he would start studying to become a priest.

paragraphs: Haydn did not like it very much at the boarding school, but his voice developed to a point where he was selected to be a part of the Boy's Choir of the Vienna Cathedral. He stayed there until his voice changed.

paragraphs: Haydn made a living teaching lessons and playing in the streets for handouts until he met Nicolai Porpora, who hired Haydn as an accompanist and general servant.

paragraphs: Eventually Haydn got a job working for Nicholas Esterhazy. He worked for the Esterhazys for over 30 years. He wrote symphonies, string quartets, operas, piano sonatas, and other pieces.

paragraphs: After he was released from his duties with the Esterhazys, Haydn travelled to London. Even at the age of 60 he was still active and wrote some of his most famous symphonies there.

paragraphs: While in London, he heard Handel's Messiah, and was inspired to write two oratorios of his own, The Seasons and The Creation.

paragraphs: While working on these oratorios in Vienna, Haydn gave lessons to Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven had first wanted to study with Mozart, but by the time Beethoven was ready to study in Vienna, Mozart had died.

paragraphs: The house in Vienna where Haydn wrote his oratorios has been turned into a museum called 'haydnhaus'.

paragraphs: Haydn was so well-respected in Vienna that he was known as "Papa Haydn" and his influence on music was profound and great.


title: Scale (music)

paragraphs: In music, a scale is a set of notes in order of their pitch (that is, their frequency). If the scale starts with the note which has the lowest pitch and goes up to the note with the highest pitch, the scale is called "ascending". If the scale starts with the note which has the highest pitch and goes down to the note with the lowest pitch, the scale is called "descending". Scales are often the same both ascending and descending, but this is not always true. Very often, a scale is defined over an interval (such as an octave). The most common scales use intervals of five, six or seven different notes.

paragraphs: On a piano, there are white keys and black keys. If we start on the note "C" and play each white key going up until we come to the next "C", we have played the "C Major" scale. It has eight notes because there are eight notes from each "C" to the next one: "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "A", "B", "C".

paragraphs: The note played by each black key has two names: it can be named by the note after it, or the note before it. For example, the black key after "C" can be called "C♯" (C-sharp). "Sharp" means higher in pitch. That same note can also be called "D♭" (D-flat) because it is the note before "D". "Flat" means lower in pitch.

paragraphs: There are half steps (or semitones) between two keys next to each other on the piano. The key to the right plays a note half a step higher (sharp) and the key to the left plays a note half a step lower (flat). So between the third and the fourth note, and between the seventh and eighth note, there is only half a step. Starting the scale at the next white key (D), two black keys will need to be touched to get the same scale, the first one for the third note, the second for the seventh note: "D", "E", "F♯", "G", "A", "B", "C♯", "D". The pattern for an ascending major scale is up a whole step, up another whole step and then a half step, then a whole step, a whole step and another whole step, then half a step to complete the octave. This is often shown as: WWHWWWH or TTSTTTS (where "T" stands for "tone" and "S" stands for "semitone").

paragraphs: Scales use either just sharps or just flats when choosing between the two names for the same note, when this is possible. In a scale of seven different notes, each letter is used only once. This means that some scales have one or two notes named with a sharp or a flat even though they are played by white keys. In the "C♯" Major scale, for example, all the notes have names with a sharp: "C♯", "D♯", "E♯", "F♯", "G♯", "A♯", "B♯", "C♯". In this scale, "E♯" is the name for the note played by the key that plays "F" and the "B♯" is the name for the note played by the key that plays "C". The same notes are used in the "D♭" Major scale, but they all have different names: "D♭", "E♭", "F", "G♭", "A♭", "B♭", "C", "D♭".

paragraphs: Sometimes the major scale is sung to the words "do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do" ("solfège"). In the musical "The Sound of Music", Maria teaches the children to sing by teaching them a song called "Doe, a deer, a female deer". Each line starts on the next note of the scale and uses a different English word for each note ("doe", "ray", "me", "far", "sew", "la" and "tea").

paragraphs: There are also minor scales. These work the same way as major scales, but use different patterns of intervals:

paragraphs: Traditional western music generally uses seven notes, and repeats the first note (an octave higher or lower) to complete the octave.

paragraphs: During the Middle Ages, and the Renaisssance, the diatonic scale (the white keys of the piano) was used most often. Black keys (called accidentals) were less common. The classical period (1600 to 1900) generally used major and minor scales, as outlined above. Natural minor was used less. From about 1900, there are other scales, for example the chromatic scale (12 half tones).


title: Orthology (language)

paragraphs: Orthology is the study of the right use of words in language. The word comes from Greek "ortho"- ("correct") and -"logy" ("science of"). This science is a place where psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and many other fields of learning come together. The most noted use of "Orthology" is for the selection of words

paragraphs: for the language of Basic English by the Orthological Institute.

paragraphs: The book, "The Meaning of Meaning", by C.K. Ogden and I.A. Richards, is an important book dealing with orthology. The term "Orthology" comes from the book "The Grammar of Science" by Karl Pearson.


title: Toei Company

paragraphs: Toei is a Japanese company that makes cartoons and movies (films). Some of their cartoons, for example Sailor Moon, are watched in many countries.


title: Naoko Takeuchi

paragraphs: Naoko Takeuchi (武内直子 Takeuchi Naoko), born March 15, 1967, is a manga artist from Japan. She lives in Tokyo. She wrote the manga Sailor Moon, which was so popular it was made into an anime, musicals, video games and more. Her husband, Yoshihiro Togashi, is the creator of "YuYu Hakusho" and "Hunter × Hunter".


title: Kimi Ga Yo

paragraphs: Kimigayo (きみ が よ; Kanji: 君が代) is the national anthem of Japan. The name of the song roughly means 'Imperial Reign' in English. The anthem is based on a poem written by an unknown poet from Japan about one thousand years ago. The music was written more recently (about two hundred years ago) and was then rewritten shortly afterwards because the original tune was unpopular.

paragraphs: Although popular for a long period and sung in situations where people from other countries would usually sing their country's national anthem, Kimi Ga Yo was only considered as Japan's official national anthem in 1999. The law that stated this also defined the Flag of Japan in a similar way.

paragraphs: "Kimigayo" is one of the shortest known national anthems of any country. It is only 56 seconds long.


title: April Fools' Day

paragraphs: April Fools' Day (also known as April Fool's Day) is celebrated in many countries on April 1 every year. On this day, practical jokes (or "April Fools") are played on friends and family. The jokes are done to embarrass them. In some countries, April Fools only last until noon, and if someone plays a joke after, they are an April Fool.

paragraphs: People have set aside a special day for playing jokes for centuries. The ancient Romans had a holiday called Hilaria.

paragraphs: In the Middle Ages, New Year's Day was celebrated on March 25 in most European towns. In some areas of France, New Year's was a week-long holiday ending on April 1. Some people think that April Fools' started because those who celebrated on January 1 made fun of those who celebrated on other dates.

paragraphs: In the U.K., a person playing a joke would yell "April Fool!" at the recipient. According to tradition, the joking was supposed to stop at midday.

paragraphs: In the Nordic countries, many news outlets would publish or broadcast a fake news story on April 1.

paragraphs: In France, an April fools joke is called a "Poisson d'Avril'. One tradition there is to try and stick a paper fish on one's friends back, and shout "Poisson d'Avril!' when it is discovered.

paragraphs: Sometimes a large media corporation would broadcast or publish a fake news story on April 1. For example, in 1957 the BBC broadcast a story about spaghetti trees. According to the story, people in Switzerland grew spaghetti on trees. Later, many people called the BBC asking how they could get a spaghetti tree.


title: Baroque music

paragraphs: Baroque music is a set of styles of European classical music which were in use between about 1600 and 1750.

paragraphs: The word "Baroque" is used in other art forms besides music: we talk about Baroque architecture, painting, sculpture, dance and literature. The Baroque period comes between the Renaissance and the period of Classicism.

paragraphs: Musicians think of the Baroque period as starting around 1600. The famous Renaissance composers Palestrina and Lassus had died a few years earlier. Claudio Monteverdi wrote some music in Renaissance style, and other music in Baroque style. Opera was being invented. It was a time of musical change.

paragraphs: The change from writing music in the Baroque style to the Classical style was much more gradual. 1750 is the year that Bach died, so it is an easy date to choose for the end of the Baroque period.

paragraphs: The Baroque was a time when people liked large spaces and a lot of ornamentation. This can be seen in the architecture of famous buildings such as St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, or St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. They were built at this time. In Venice there were churches with galleries on either side of the church. Composers liked to write music for two groups of musicians placed in opposite galleries. Giovanni Gabrieli wrote a lot of music like this.

paragraphs: The idea of two contrasting groups was used a lot in Baroque music. Composers wrote concertos. These were pieces for orchestra and a solo instrument. Sometimes a concerto contrasted a group of soloists with the rest of the orchestra. These are called by the Italian name "Concerti Grossi. Bach's Brandenburg Concertos are good examples.

paragraphs: Organs, and some harpsichords, had at least two manuals (keyboards). The player could change from one manual to the other, contrasting two different sounds.

paragraphs: Baroque music was often a melody with a bass line at the bottom. This could be, for example, a singer and a cello. There was also a harpsichord or organ that played the bass line as well, and made up chords in between. Often the composer did not bother to write out all the chords (harmonies) but just showed some of the chords by figures, leaving it to the performer to decide exactly which notes to play. This is called “figured bass” or “basso continuo”. The soloist, who played or sang the melody on top, often put in lots of ornamental notes. Again: the composer did not write this all down but left it to the performer to improvise something nice around the notes he had written.

paragraphs: Because composers were now writing opera it was important for the audience to hear the words clearly. In the Renaissance the groups of a choir were often singing several different words using different melodies all at once. This was called “polyphony”. Polyphony was widely used in instrumental music, but was not used in opera, which needed to tell a story without being confusing.

paragraphs: When a soloist in an opera sings a song (an aria) the aria is in a particular mood. They called this “affection”. There were several “affections” or moods: there were arias about revenge, jealousy, anger, love, despair, peaceful happiness etc. Each movement in a concerto also had one particular mood. Music from later periods is different. For example: Haydn in the Classical Period would often change its mood during a piece.

paragraphs: The Baroque suite is a collection of dance movements written in the style of Baroque music. There is an accepted standard order in which the dances are performed. The five primary dances are the Overture, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande and Gigue. Many times a composer would add a Prelude before all the dances. Sometimes a composer would add another piece in between the Sarabande and the Gigue.

paragraphs: There are many exceptions to the standard order, but the order of Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Other, and Gigue is most common. This can be easily remembered by the acronym PACSOG.

paragraphs: Here are a few of the most important composers of the Baroque period:


title: Canyon

paragraphs: A canyon (or gorge) is a big crack in the ground, or a very deep valley. Most canyons are made by rivers. A few are made by earthquakes. They can be big, like the Grand Canyon, or small.

paragraphs: Canyons can be formed by erosion by running water which will take rocks and soil away.


title: Pattern language

paragraphs: Pattern language is used to mean a system of patterns that have a certain meaning other than just the pattern.

paragraphs: The pattern can be a pattern which has a hidden meaning shown through any sense like sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

paragraphs: The most obvious form of sight-based pattern language comes in the form of writing. Nearly every language has a unique written form, which grammatically follows the spoken form.


title: National Maritime Day

paragraphs: In the United States, National Maritime Day is held every May 22 to honor people who have served in the United States Merchant Marine service.

paragraphs: The first National Maritime Day was May 22, 1933, based on a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress on May 20, 1933. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first President to issue a proclamation about the day.

paragraphs: The biggest National Maritime Day celebration was in 1946, the first National Maritime Day after the Allied Powers won World War II. That year, governors of many U.S. states also officially named the day National Maritime Day or "Maritime Day" for their state. The first National Maritime Day after the end of the Korean War, in 1954, was also more widely celebrated than most.

paragraphs: In the 2006 annual proclamation by president George W. Bush, he made special mention of the Merchant Marine service's hurricane aid work following Hurricane Katrina and the other hurricanes of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.


title: Nuclear fusion

paragraphs: Nuclear fusion is the process of making a single heavy nucleus (part of an atom) from two lighter nuclei. This process is called a nuclear reaction. It releases a large amount of energy.

paragraphs: The nucleus made by fusion is heavier than either of the starting nuclei. However, it is not as heavy as the combination of the original mass of the starting nuclei (atoms). This lost mass is changed into lots of energy. This is shown in Einstein's famous "E=mc" equation.

paragraphs: Fusion happens in the middle of stars, like the Sun. Hydrogen atoms are fused together to make helium. This releases lots of energy. This energy powers the heat and light of the star.

paragraphs: Not all elements can be joined. Heavier elements are less easily joined than lighter ones. Iron (a metal) cannot fuse with other atoms. This is what causes stars to die. Stars join all of their atoms together to make heavier atoms of different types, until they start to make iron. The iron nucleus cannot fuse with other nuclei. The reactions stop. The star eventually will cool down and die.

paragraphs: On Earth it is very difficult to start nuclear fusion reactions that release more energy than is needed to start the reaction. The reason is that fusion reactions only happen at high temperature and pressure, like in the Sun, because both nuclei have a positive charge, and positive repels positive. The only way to stop the repulsion is to make the nuclei hit each other at very high speeds. They only do that at high pressure and temperature. The only successful approach so far has been in nuclear weapons. The hydrogen bomb uses an atomic (fission) bomb to start fusion reactions. Scientists and engineers have been trying for decades to find a safe and working way of controlling and containing fusion reactions to generate electricity. They still have many challenges to overcome before fusion power can be used as a clean source of energy.


title: Concertmaster

paragraphs: The Concertmaster (American English) or leader (British English) is the most important violinist in an orchestra. He or she will sit in the front seat, by the conductor's left. The word "concertmaster" comes from the German "Konzertmeister".

paragraphs: The leader will be the highest paid member of the orchestra. He has to decide how the violins will play the music and write in the bowing. He will decide where each member of the violins should sit. He will probably also interview them and offer them the job in the orchestra. He will talk to the conductor about anything the orchestra are not happy about (he may have to remind the conductor when it is time to stop the rehearsal!). If part of the music is marked "solo" then he will play it as a solo while the other violins stop playing.

paragraphs: In the United States it is usual for the concertmaster to be on the platform before the concert and to tell the orchestra to tune their instruments, playing on his A string to give them the correct pitch. In European orchestras it is usually the oboe that gives an A for tuning. In Britain the leader usually comes on stage after the orchestra have tuned, and gets an applause.


title: Mutual assured destruction

paragraphs: Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a military strategy in which two opposing military forces are powerful enough to completely destroy each other. It should help to avoid a nuclear war. This usually happens when both forces have nuclear weapons. If a state attacks another with nuclear weapons, the state attacked will potentially be able to attack back. The attacker must think that he will be destroyed with his victim if he attacks. The theory is that no state would start an attack if attacking its enemy means its own destruction.

paragraphs: The concept was discussed by Herman Kahn. It was part of the background to the film "Dr. Strangelove".


title: Stairway to Heaven

paragraphs: Stairway to Heaven was a 1971 song by Led Zeppelin. It was on the album Led Zeppelin IV.

paragraphs: Some listeners claim that by reversing the song, a hidden Satanic message is revealed. The message is:

paragraphs: The one whose little path would make me sad whose power is Satan<br>

paragraphs: There was a little toolshed where he made us suffer, sad Satan


title: Thin Lizzy

paragraphs: Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band that started in Dublin in 1969. Up to 1984 the band were led by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott (1949-1986). The band's famous song "The Boys Are Back in Town" is still played a lot on classic rock radio stations. Since Lynott's death, other former members have carried on using the band name.

paragraphs: Phil Lynott wrote most of the band's songs. The band's music showed many musical styles including: country music, psychedelic rock, Celtic music and folk music which Lynott mixed with hard rock and heavy metal styles.

paragraphs: Thin Lizzy were listed at number 51 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".


title: Aziz al-Abub

paragraphs: Aziz al-Abub (a.k.a. Ibrahim al-Nadhir or al-Nahdhir) was a Lebanese Hezbollah psychiatrist and mind control expert.

paragraphs: Aziz was a disciple of Ewen Cameron and a graduate of the Soviet Union's that specialized in mind control techniques.

paragraphs: Aziz al-Abub used mind-control, drugs and physical torture in the infamous 444-day (1984-1985) torture and mental derangement of American in Beirut.


title: Hobbit

paragraphs: Hobbits are a fictional race in the Middle-earth world invented by J. R. R. Tolkien, also often called "halflings".

paragraphs: They appeared in the books "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". Several important main characters in those books are hobbits, such as Bilbo Baggins and Frodo Baggins.

paragraphs: Hobbits (or similar beings) have become very popular and are now often used in fantasy fiction and (video) games.

paragraphs: Hobbits are like small humans between two and four foot tall (between 60 and 120 centimeters). They have hair/fur on the top side of their feet, leathery foot-soles, and slightly pointed ears. They tend to be stout and often have brown and curly hair. Male hobbits do not have beards. Hobbits live longer compared to humans, and many hobbits reach the age of 100.

paragraphs: Hobbits are a peaceful people and live a simple, pre-industrial life in the land which they call The Shire, and also in Bree-land.

paragraphs: A typical hobbit-house has a long hallway with rooms on both sides, and round doors and windows. Originally these were underground in hills, then the house was called a "smial"; but this architecture(style of building) is also used for 'normal' houses above ground.


title: Middle-earth

paragraphs: Middle-earth is a fictional fantasy world invented by J. R. R. Tolkien. Several of his books take place there, such as "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". It is supposed to be a long gone mythological time of our earth.

paragraphs: Although Middle-earth is only one continent in Tolkien's world, it is often used for the whole fictional world and all stories Tolkien invented for it. Tolkien created and worked on Middle-earth through most of his life, and it is this creation for which he is most famous.

paragraphs: Middle-earth has its own geography, several different species and peoples (elves, dwarves, humans, hobbits), their languages, and a history that spans thousands of years. The stories of Middle-earth are also a kind of 'artificial myth'.

paragraphs: "Middle-earth" is called "Endor" (or "Endóre") and "Ennor" in the fictional Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin.

paragraphs: The oldest people of Middle-earth are the immortal Elves. Second were the Dwarves. After them came mortal Men. In the Third Age, there appeared another people, the Hobbits. There are also the tree-like Ents.

paragraphs: The history of the Middle-earth world is thousands of years long. Sometimes, when big historical events happen, a new "Age" is begun, which starts counting again with the year 1.


title: Arnold Rosé

paragraphs: Arnold Josef Rosé (October 24, 1863 – August 25, 1946) was a famous violinist. He was the leader (concertmaster) of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for 50 years.

paragraphs: Arnold Rosé was born in Iaşi (Jassy) in what is now Romania. His family was Jewish. Their name at that time was Rosenblum. He had three brothers. All four boys were musical and so his parents decided to move to Vienna which was a big city in Austria where there was lots of music. Arnold’s father was a carriage builder. In those days people often travelled by horse and cart. His father made good quality carriages and he made plenty of money from his business.

paragraphs: When Arnold was seven he started music lessons. When he was ten he was good enough to study the violin at the Vienna Conservatorium which was a special school for musical pupils.

paragraphs: In 1881 he played a violin solo with a famous orchestra and famous conductor: the Vienna Philharmonic under Hans Richter. The piece he played was the Violin Concerto by Otto Goldmark. Soon he was offered the job of orchestral leader. This was a very important position for such a young man. He stayed in that job for 50 years!

paragraphs: Rosé did other things as well as playing with the orchestra. He gave violin lessons to talented pupils. He like to play string quartets and he got together with three other players to make up the Rosé Quartet. They were very good and for more than half a century people said they were the best string quartet in Europe. Arnold’s brother Eduard was the cellist in the quartet. They played works by lots of composers, especially Haydn, Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Rosé knew the composer Johannes Brahms and they played some of Brahms’s compositions when they had only just been written, e.g. the clarinet quintet (for clarinet and string quartet). The Rosé Quartet also knew the composer Schoenberg and helped him to get well known by playing his music.

paragraphs: Another composer Rosé knew very well was Gustav Mahler. Mahler had two sisters. Arnold Rosé married one of them, and his brother Eduard married the other.

paragraphs: Arnold was kept very busy at his job as leader of the orchestra. The orchestra played in the concert hall as well as for the opera. At one special concert lots of flowers and plants had been brought in to the concert hall. The orchestra were busy playing when Arnold noticed people were looking at his shoes. He thought maybe he had an odd pair of shoes on. When he looked down at his feet he saw a mouse sitting there.

paragraphs: Arnold and his wife Justine had a son and a daughter who both became musicians. They had plenty of money to live quite comfortably. He was given the title of Royal and Imperial Court Musician, and he had a special court carriage to take him to the opera. He also had a carriage of his own with a footman in livery (uniform) to drive him about.

paragraphs: However, things changed in 1938. The Nazis took over Austria and made life very difficult for Jewish people. They were in great danger. In the autumn his wife died and Arnold had to save his life by going to England. He stayed there for most of his remaining years. He died in London.


title: Pontiac Silverdome

paragraphs: The Pontiac Silverdome is a domed stadium in the town of Pontiac, Michigan, near Detroit. It opened in 1975 and closed in 2007. The largest crowds to come to the stadium were for WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987, where the main event was a match between Hulk Hogan and André the Giant. The crowd attendance for that night reached 93,173, which is also the record for indoor attendance. The Detroit Lions NFL team played at the stadium from 1975 until 2001.


title: Estonian language

paragraphs: The Estonian language () is a Uralic language. It is mainly spoken in Estonia. The Estonian language is similar to Finnish and is one of the few national languages of Europe not to be an Indo-European language.

paragraphs: The Estonian alphabet uses the Latin alphabet. It has many vowels, including Ö, Ä, Õ and Ü.

paragraphs: It has been influenced by and adopted many words from German and Swedish. Estonian language also has different dialects.


title: Chromosome

paragraphs: The chromosomes of a cell are in the cell nucleus. They carry the genetic information. Chromosomes are made up of DNA and protein combined as chromatin. Each chromosome contains many genes. Chromosomes come in pairs: one set from the mother; the other set from the father. Cytologists label chromosomes with numbers.

paragraphs: Chromosomes are present in every cell nucleus with very few and special exceptions. This means they are found in all eukaryotes, since only eukaryotes have cell nuclei. When eukaryote cells divide, the chromosomes also divide.

paragraphs: When a somatic (body) cell (such as a muscle cell) divides, the process is called mitosis. Before mitosis, the cell copies all the chromosomes and then it can divide. When they duplicate, chromosomes look like the letter "X". When they are doubled, the two halves are called chromatids (see diagram). The chromatids are joined at the centromere.

paragraphs: There are 46 chromosomes in a human, 23 pairs. Everyone has a set of chromosomes from their father and a matching set from their mother. They include a pair of sex chromosomes. The mother's eggs always contain an X chromosome, while the father's sperm contains either a Y chromosome or an X chromosome. That determines the sex of the child. To produce sex cells (gametes), the stem cells go through a different division process called meiosis. This reduces the 23 pairs (diploid) to 23 singles (haploid). These, when combined by fertilisation, produce the new set of 23 pairs.

paragraphs: Different animals have different numbers of chromosomes. If a person does not have the usual number of chromosomes, they may die or have one or more peculiarities. For example, they might get a genetic disorder like Down syndrome (extra chromosome 21) and Klinefelter syndrome (a male with two X chromosomes). Some genetic disorders are more common than others.

paragraphs: Polytene chromosomes are over-sized chromosomes which have developed from standard chromosomes. Specialized cells undergo repeated rounds of DNA replication without cell division (endomitosis). Polytene chromosomes form when multiple rounds of replication produce many sister chromatids that are stuck together in parallel.

paragraphs: Polytene chromosomes are found in "Drosophila" species and in nonbiting midges of the Chironomidae family. They are also present in another group of arthropods of the class Collembola, a protozoan group Ciliophora, mammalian trophoblasts and antipodal, and suspensor cells in plants.

paragraphs: Polytene cells have a metabolic function. Multiple copies of genes allows a high level of gene expression. In "Drosophila melanogaster", for example, the chromosomes of the larval salivary glands undergo many rounds of endoreduplication. This produces large amounts of glue before pupation.

paragraphs: Chromosome puffs (seen in diagram) are diffused uncoiled regions of the polytene chromosome. They are sites of active transcription.


title: Giovanni Gabrieli

paragraphs: Giovanni Gabrieli (probably born Venice date unknown, about 1553-57; died Venice 21 August 1612) was an Italian organist and composer.

paragraphs: He was very famous in his day and composed a great deal of church music; motets and madrigals. He lived at the end of the Renaissance period and beginning of the Baroque.

paragraphs: About 1575, Giovanni began working for Orlando di Lasso at the Bavarian court, as his uncle Andres Gabrieli had before him. Little is known of his time in Munich, and he left in 1579 after the death of his patron, Duke Albrecht. There is no record of Gabrieli's activities until 1584 when he'd returned to Venice. That year he replaced organist Claudio Merulo at Basilica di San Marco, church of Venice's patron saint. Due to Merulo's resignation, a contest was eventually held January 1, 1585 to fill his post, which Gabrieli won, having already occupied the position anyway. Giovanni and his uncle, who had raised him and taught him music, worked together only a short time at the church before Andres died in August 1585. Giovanni held his post until he died in 1612.

paragraphs: Also in 1585 Giovanni had been appointed as organist of Scuola Grande di San Rocco, where he composed ceremonial music.

paragraphs: During all this, he was also a music teacher. Heinrich Schutz was one of his students.

paragraphs: Giovanni is well known for being one of the first composers who specified volume markings and instrumentation in music.


title: Arcangelo Corelli

paragraphs: Arcangelo Corelli (b.Fusignano, Imola, 17 Feb.1653; d.Rome, 8 Jan.1713) was an Italian violinist and composer. He composed some of the most important Italian music of the Baroque period. He was also very famous as a player. Other violinists learned from his style of playing and developed the art of playing the violin. His works include sonatas and concerti grossi. Perhaps his most famous is the La Folia sonata for Violin.


title: Henry Purcell

paragraphs: Henry Purcell was an English composer. He was born in 1659 in Westminster, London; he died 21 November 21 1695, Westminster). Many musicians think he is the greatest English composer of all times. Although he only lived until he was 36, he wrote a large amount of music. His compositions include church music, instrumental music, music for the theatre, even popular drinking songs. He wrote the first English opera. He lived in the time called the Baroque period. He liked Italian and French music, and combined those styles to make something that was typically English.

paragraphs: We do not know very much about Purcell’s childhood. His mother’s name was Elizabeth. In 1664, Henry Purcell senior died and the widow took her children to live with her brother in law, Thomas Purcell, who was very kind to them. Thomas Purcell was a gentleman of the Chapel Royal which meant that he sang in the king’s choir. Soon Henry was singing in the Chapel Royal. This was the best musical training a boy could have in England. His teachers were Captain Henry Cooke, and then Pelham Humfrey. Henry sang in the choir until his voice broke in 1673. He was then given the job of looking after the king’s musical instruments.

paragraphs: Purcell may have been composing already when he was nine. We know that he wrote an ode for the King's birthday in 1670. When Humfrey died Purcell studied with the famous composer John Blow. He went to Westminster School. In 1676 he was made organist at Westminster Abbey. He started writing music for the theatre. He also wrote church music, including an anthem for a singer called John Gostling who had a very good, deep bass voice. Purcell wrote several anthems for him during his life. One is called "They that go down to the sea in ships". It goes down to a low D.

paragraphs: In 1680, Blow, who had been made organist of Westminster Abbey in 1669, resigned so that the 22-years-old Purcell could have his job. Purcell then spent the next six years just writing sacred (religious) music. Later he went back to writing music for the theatre, including the first English opera "Dido and Aeneas".

paragraphs: In 1682 Purcell became organist of the Chapel Royal. He did this job as well as being organist at Westminster Abbey. His first printed composition, "Twelve Sonatas", was published in 1683. Music printing was expensive in those days, so it was unusual to have something printed. He continued to write music including odes to the king and royal family. In 1685, he wrote two of his finest anthems, "I was glad" and "My heart is inditing", for the coronation of King James II.

paragraphs: In 1687 he wrote more "theatre music." Sometimes this music was for masques (a kind of ballet with some singing as well), sometimes it was music for tragedies, e.g. plays by Dryden. In 1691, he wrote "King Arthur", also written by Dryden. In 1692, he composed songs and music for "The Fairy-Queen" (an adaptation of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"). Purcell’s music for this was lost for many years, and was rediscovered and published in 1901. In these works the characters in the plays do not sing, they speak their lines.

paragraphs: Purcell's "Te Deum and Jubilate" was written for Saint Cecilia's Day, 1693, the first English "Te Deum" ever composed with orchestral accompaniment. He composed an anthem and two elegies for Queen Mary II's funeral.

paragraphs: He was very famous when he died in 1695, possibly from tuberculosis. His wife and two of his six children survived him.

paragraphs: Purcell is buried next to the organ in Westminster Abbey. His epitaph reads, "Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that blessed place where only his harmony can be exceeded."

paragraphs: Purcell wrote a lot of music for the theatre. He was born one year before the time known in England as the “Restoration”. Before the Restoration Oliver Cromwell had been ruling England for nearly 20 years. Most music had been banned. People were therefore very glad to be able to make music again, and they wanted lots of songs and instrumental music in their plays. Opera, however, was not wanted. In Europe opera was very popular in countries such as Italy, Germany and France, but it did not become popular in England until Handel came to England in 1709 and introduced Italian opera.

paragraphs: "Dido and Aeneas" is an exception because it is a real opera: everything is sung, and the words are in English. It was written for a performance at a girls’ school. It is quite short, lasting just one hour. It contains the famous lament "When I am laid in earth" sung by Dido.

paragraphs: Purcell wrote a very large amount of music for the church. This includes anthems and service settings. Although he was an organist he wrote very little for organ. He wrote chamber music, including some very beautiful fantasias for viols.

paragraphs: Although Purcell was recognized as a great composer at the time he did not have much influence on other composers after his death. He was the last in a line of great English musicians in the 16th and 17th centuries. After his death English music was not as important as it had been. In the 18th century the music heard in England was largely imported from the continent, e.g. Italian opera.

paragraphs: Much later, in the 20th century, English composers were often inspired by Purcell’s music. Benjamin Britten wrote a piece called "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" which is based on a tune from Purcell's "Abdelazar". The aria "I know a bank" from Britten's opera "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is inspired by Purcell's aria "Sweeter than Roses". Sir Michael Tippett loved Purcell’s harmonies and rhythms and they influenced him in his compositions.


title: François Couperin

paragraphs: François Couperin (born in Paris on 10 November 1668; died in Paris, on 12 September 1733) was a French composer who lived in the Baroque period. Many of his relatives were composers. He is often called "François Couperin le Grand" (The Great) because he was the most famous of the Couperin family. He is best known today for his harpsichord music. He wrote several pieces which he called "Ordres" meaning the same as the word "suite" i.e. a collection of dance movements. Sometimes these movements have strange titles and we cannot always be sure what they mean. Some of them may have been nicknames of people he knew. He also wrote important organ music. He never had a family of his own before he died.


title: Christoph Willibald von Gluck

paragraphs: Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck (b.Erasbach nr. Berching, July 2, 1714; d.Vienna, November 15, 1787) was a German composer. He is famous for his operas which were written in a new and exciting way. He was not interested in writing operas which were just a series of songs for singers to show off. He wanted to make his operas into good pieces of drama. His operas had a big influence on later composers like Mozart, Weber and Wagner. He wrote Italian operas and French operas. "Orfeo ed Euridice" includes song “Che farò senza Euridice” which is one of the best-known opera songs ever written.


title: Jan Ladislav Dussek

paragraphs: Jan Ladislav Dussek (b. Ĉáslav, Bohemia, 12 Feb.1760; d.Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 20 March 1812) was a Bohemian composer of the Classical period. He travelled a lot, living in Holland, Lithuania, Italy, France and England. He lived nearly twelve years in London where he was a fashionable teacher and famous composer. He is best remembered now for his piano music.


title: Johannes Brahms

paragraphs: Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 - 3 April 1897) was a famous German composer. He started his career as a pianist. He was always very self-critical and destroyed any composition he thought was not really good. He thought that people were expecting him to be the “next Beethoven”, and spent many years on his first symphony before he allowed it to be performed. In the end, he wrote four symphonies altogether, as well as four concertos and a number of choral works, including a requiem. He also wrote chamber music, piano music, and German art songs, or "Lieder". One of his best known songs is "Wiegenlied" ("cradle song"), often called "Brahms' Lullaby," which is often heard in music boxes.

paragraphs: Brahms was born in Germany. His father was a double bass player in the Hamburg city orchestra. He probably gave the young boy his first music lessons. He soon was learning the piano with a teacher named Otto Cossel. When Brahms played in a public concert in 1843 an American agent asked him to tour America, but his teacher realized he was too young. He said that Johannes should study with Eduard Marxsen, a well-known teacher in Hamburg. By 1848 he was playing piano recitals. He also started to compose, and he sent some of his compositions to Robert Schumann to ask for his advice. Schumann sent the parcel back unopened.

paragraphs: At this time there were many Hungarian musicians in Hamburg. Brahms liked their folk music with its unusual rhythms, little triplet figures and sense of rubato. It was to influence his own style of composition. One of the Hungarians was called Remenyi. He played the violin and Brahms often accompanied him at concerts. They went on tour together and met famous people such as the composer Franz Liszt and the violinist Joseph Joachim who became a close friend of Brahms for many years. Joachim told Brahms to go and see Schumann and his wife Clara in Düsseldorf. Schumann liked Brahms and could see that he was going to be a great composer, so he wrote an article in his music journal about him. The article had the title: "Neue Bahnen" ("New Paths"). Schumann turned out to be correct: Brahms did become a famous composer and found “new paths” (new ways of composing).

paragraphs: Brahms remained a very close friend of Schumann. When Schumann had a nervous breakdown, Brahms went all the way to Düsseldorf to see him. Brahms soon fell in love with Clara who was 14 years older than himself. He continued to be in love with her after Robert Schumann’s death, and they had a close relationship, though Brahms became interested in other women and was briefly engaged. However, he never married.

paragraphs: In 1859, Brahms settled in Hamburg. He founded a women’s chorus and wrote and arranged a lot of music for them. His "First Piano Concerto" was a great success in Hanover and Hamburg, but not in Leipzig, where a lot of people preferred the wildly Romantic music of Liszt which was quite different from Brahms’s style based on the Classical music style. Brahms decided to go to Vienna. He was to stay there for the rest of his life.

paragraphs: In Vienna he soon made many friends who liked his music. For a short time he was director of a choir called the Vienna Singakademie, who sang some of his compositions. He met Wagner. Wagner was afraid that Brahms would start to write operas which would be more famous than his own. So Wagner wrote an article saying that Brahms was a very bad conductor. Wagner had made himself an enemy of Brahms, who never did write any operas anyway.

paragraphs: In 1870, Brahms became director of a concert series called Vienna Gesellschaftskonzerte. He became more and more famous as a composer, but he was never very good at conducting, and in 1875 a conductor called Hans Richter took over conducting the concerts. During these years he finished one of his greatest works: "Ein deutsches Requiem" ("A German Requiem"), as well as one of his most popular works: the "Variations on the St Anthony chorale" (sometimes wrongly known as "Variations on a Theme by Haydn)".

paragraphs: At last, in 1876, he allowed his "First Symphony" to be performed. It was not very successful at first, but in Vienna the audience liked it. He started to compose a lot of his greatest works and received many honours from universities. In the winter he gave concerts and in the summer he spent his time composing. He wrote his last symphony ("Fourth Symphony") in 1885 and conducted it, going on tour with the orchestra through Germany and the Netherlands.

paragraphs: From 1889, Brahms spent each summer in Ischl where he had many friends. By 1890 he had decided to stop composing, although he did still write four beautiful works for clarinet after meeting the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. In 1896 he wrote "Four Serious Songs" which were probably inspired by the sad death of Clara Schumann. The next year Brahms died from cancer in Vienna. His father had died of the same illness.

paragraphs: Brahms wrote a great deal of vocal music. The greatest of these works is the "German Requiem". There were many works for choirs, and a large collection of songs with piano accompaniment (Lieder). He wrote a lot of piano music which includes sonatas and many shorter pieces such as fantasias, rhapsodies, ballades, intermezzos, capriccios and romances. His chamber music includes string quartets, quintets and sextets and piano trios, quartets and a piano quintet. He wrote four symphonies and four concertos: two for piano, one for the violin and one for violin and cello (the "Double Concerto"). The "German Requiem" is his greatest vocal work.

paragraphs: Brahms was also very interested in old music and helped to edit music by François Couperin as well as the music of his friend Robert Schumann.


title: Frederick Delius

paragraphs: Frederick Delius (b.Bradford, 29 Jan.1862; d.Grez-sur-Loing, 10 June 1934) was an English composer. At first his parents did not let him study music, so he went off to Florida to work on an orange plantation. He later returned, studied music, and settled in France for the rest of his life. His music is often quite gentle and atmospheric, with chords that shift about in unusual ways. One of his best known orchestral works is "On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring". In his last years he was very ill, but he still wanted to compose, so he dictated the music he heard in his head to a man called Eric Fenby.


title: Béla Bartók

paragraphs: Béla Bartók (b. Nagyszentimiklós, Hungary, 25 March 1881; d. New York City 26 September 1945) was a famous Hungarian composer and pianist. He was one of the most important and original composers of the 20th century. He became very interested in folk music and travelled a lot in Hungary and other countries, including Romania, listening to the folk songs which the country people sang. He often used the style of these songs in his music. He is famous for his piano music, string quartets and several pieces for orchestra including one called "Concerto for Orchestra". Bartók’s harmonies and lively rhythms were sometimes quite new to classical music and some audiences found them difficult to understand at first.

paragraphs: Béla Bartók was born in the small town of Nagyszentmiklós. In those days it was in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but today it is in Romania. When he was very small he showed great musical talent, and his mother taught him to play the piano.

paragraphs: Béla was often ill when he was a child. When he was seven his father died, and his mother took him and his sister to live in Nagyszőlős (today it is called Vinogradiv and is in the Ukraine), and then to Pozsony (today it is Bratislava in Slovakia). There he gave his first public recital when he was eleven. He included some music which he had composed himself.

paragraphs: Soon he was studying the piano with István Thoman who had studied with the famous Franz Liszt. He had lessons in composition from János Koessler at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest. There he met the composer Zoltán Kodály, who was a great influence on him and who became a lifelong friend.

paragraphs: He soon started to compose longer pieces of music. He liked the music of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy and these influenced his style of music. He started to be interested in folk music. This can be heard in the first of his six string quartets.

paragraphs: Bartók and Kodály travelled together into the countryside to collect and study old Hungarian folk melodies. People in those days thought that real Magyar (old Hungarian) folk music was Gypsy music. Bartók and Kodály showed that there were other traditions beside these. They found music which used pentatonic scales similar to those used in some parts of Asia. The two composers started to use these folk ideas in their own compositions. Kodály often quoted (copied) actual folk songs in his own music, while Bartók preferred to compose music which sounded like folksong without actually copying it.

paragraphs: In 1909, Bartók married Márta Ziegler. Their son, also named Béla, was born in 1910.

paragraphs: In 1911, Bartók wrote his only opera, "Bluebeard's Castle". There are only two singers in the opera: Bluebeard and his wife Judith. He also wrote a ballet called "The Wooden Prince". This started to make him famous abroad. Another ballet, "The Miraculous Mandarin", is even more famous today. It shows the influence of Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, as well as Richard Strauss. He wrote a lot of chamber music including a total of 6 string quartets, 2 violin sonatas and a "Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion". He wrote some pieces for smaller orchestras: "Divertimento for strings" and "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta".

paragraphs: Bartók divorced Márta in 1923, and married a piano student, Ditta Pásztory. His second son, Péter, was born in 1924.

paragraphs: When World War II broke out Bartók criticized the Nazis. After they came into power in Germany, he refused to give concerts there and did not use his German publisher. His political ideas gave him a great deal of trouble in Hungary.

paragraphs: Having first sent his manuscripts out of the country, Bartók felt he had to emigrate to the USA with Ditta Pásztory. They lived in New York City. Their son Péter joined them in 1942 and later joined the United States Navy. Bartók ‘s older son Béla stayed in Hungary.

paragraphs: Bartók did not feel comfortable in the USA, and found it very difficult to compose. He was also not very well known in America, and not many people were interested in his music. He and his wife Ditta gave concerts, and for a while, they were given some money to work on a collection of Yugoslav folk songs. They did not have very much money, although he had some friends who gave them enough to live on. Serge Koussevitsky asked him to write the " Concerto for Orchestra ". This soon became Bartók's most popular work, and brought him some money. He was also asked by Yehudi Menuhin to write a "Sonata for Solo Violin". This seemed to make him interested again in composing, and he went on to write his "Piano Concerto No. 3" and began work on his " Viola Concerto".

paragraphs: Bartók died by polycythemia in New York City from on 26 September 1945, aged 64. He left the Viola Concerto unfinished at his death; it was later finished by his pupil Tibor Serly.

paragraphs: Bartók’s music has many modern techniques such atonality, bitonality and modern harmonies. He often uses different kinds of scales (not just major and minor ones), and very complicated rhythms. A lot of these are inspired by the folk music he heard. He wrote a lot of piano music, including some easy pieces for people who are learning the piano. This includes a collection of pieces in six volumes called "Mikrokosmos" which are very popular with young musicians today.


title: Benjamin Britten

paragraphs: Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, OM CH (born Lowestoft, 22 November 1913; died Aldeburgh, 4 December 1976) was probably the greatest English composer of his time. He came from East Anglia (a region in the East of England) and he often thought about the East Anglian landscape and the sea when writing his music. He wrote a lot of music for his long-term partner, the tenor Peter Pears. His operas include "Peter Grimes", "Billy Budd", "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", and "Death in Venice". His "War Requiem" was performed in Coventry Cathedral in 1962 after it had been rebuilt because the old cathedral had been destroyed in the war. He wrote music for children which sounds like proper, adult music. Britten started the Aldeburgh Festival. He was an excellent pianist and conductor.

paragraphs: Benjamin Britten started composing music at the age of five although he had no one to help him. When he was ten years old he took part in an amateur music festival in Norwich. A composer called Frank Bridge heard him and was so impressed that he offered to teach him composition. He helped Britten to compose using proper musical techniques. Britten started to get to know music by a lot of important modern composers including Schoenberg and Bartók. In 1930 he went to the Royal College of Music. He had excellent piano teachers but he did not learn much from his composition teacher John Ireland and most of the music he wrote was never performed. Britten was more interested in music from abroad than in English music. In 1934 he heard the opera "Wozzeck" by Alban Berg. He wanted to go to Austria to study with Berg but he was not allowed to. Meanwhile, some of his first proper compositions started to be performed. He wrote some music for movies that were being made by the General Post Office, including one about a train delivering mail. The music describes the rhythm of the train rushing along.

paragraphs: While working on the movie music he met the writer W. H. Auden. He started to be interested in political ideas. These can be heard in some works he wrote at this time such as "Our Hunting Fathers" (1936) and "Ballad of Heroes" (1939). When Auden emigrated to the United States Britten followed him. With him was the tenor Peter Pears who was to become a lifelong friend and partner, and who was to be the inspiration for many songs and operas.

paragraphs: Britten wrote several compositions in the USA including "Sinfonia da Requiem" (1940) and his "First String Quartet" (1941). The following year he was reading about the poet George Crabbe who came from Suffolk, the same part of England where Britten had grown up. Britten suddenly became homesick. He realized that he could not work and be himself in a foreign country. So he returned with Pears to England.

paragraphs: As soon as he was on the boat sailing back to England he started work on "Ceremony of Carols". Back in England, Britten and Pears gave concerts to audiences of all kinds and took part in opera productions of Sadler's Wells Opera Company, which was having a new theatre built. On the 7 June 1945 the new theatre was opened with a performance of Britten’s opera "Peter Grimes". This opera was to make Britten into the most famous English composer of his time. It was soon being performed abroad as well as in England.

paragraphs: Britten was now composing lots of music: songs, chamber music and a very popular piece called "Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra" (also known as "Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell"). This piece shows off each instrument of the orchestra in turn so that young people can get to know the sound of the musical instruments. It is based on a tune written by Henry Purcell 300 years ago. There were more popular works: St Nicolas and the Spring Symphony. There were not many opportunities for big operas to be performed, so he wrote some “chamber operas” which only needed small orchestras and a small number of singers. These were performed in places such as local churches by a group which called themselves English Opera Group. He wrote "The Rape of Lucretia" (1946) and "Albert Herring" (1947). In 1948 the group helped to start a music festival in Aldeburgh. Benjamin Britten spent the rest of his life mainly working on music which was to be performed at the Aldeburgh Festival. He composed some of his greatest works for the festival, and he took part in the performances as conductor and pianist.

paragraphs: One of Britten’s most popular pieces of music for amateurs including children was "Noye’s Fludde" (1957). He wrote three “church parables”. His large operas include "Billy Budd" (1951) which was soon produced in Covent Garden. In June 1953 he wrote "Gloriana", an opera about Queen Elizabeth I, written for the coronation celebrations of Elizabeth II. When he travelled with Peter Pears to the Far East he was influenced by the music of Bali and he composed a ballet called "The Prince of the Pagodas", performed in Covent Garden in 1957. Another great work inspired by the East was the parable "Curlew River" (1964). The opera "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" was written for the Aldeburgh Festival in 1960. In 1962 he wrote the "War Requiem" to celebrate the new Coventry Cathedral. This is one of the greatest musical works of the 20th century.

paragraphs: In 1961 he became friends with the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. He composed a "Cello Sonata" and a "Cello Symphony" (1963) (a kind of cello concerto), as well as three suites for solo cello. He travelled with Pears to the Soviet Union.

paragraphs: In 1967 the Aldeburgh Festival had a new concert hall, the Maltings at Snape. His next opera was "Owen Wingrave" (1970), written for television but soon produced in Covent Garden. In June 1973 Britten produced another great opera "Death in Venice". The main character, called Aschenbach, was perhaps the best music he ever wrote for Peter Pears. It was performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, but Britten was ill by this time and unable to be at the performance. His heart condition made it impossible to work on any more large works, but he still wrote some harp music for the harpist Ossian Ellis, a song called "Phaedra" for Janet Baker, and a "Third String Quartet". He died in Aldeburgh on 4 December 1976.

paragraphs: Britten received many honours both in Britain and in other countries. He became a Companion of Honour in 1952 a member of the Order of Merit in 1965 and, in the year he died, he was the first musician ever to receive a life peer (the title Lord Britten).

paragraphs: Britten’s early works were often written for instruments. His "Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge" (1937) for string orchestra is a very popular work today. He often borrowed and reinvented themes by other composers (this is called “parody” technique). During his last years he again gave much attention to instrumental music, mainly chamber music.

paragraphs: After he met Peter Pears much of his music was vocal. This includes more than 100 songs, a number of operas, chamber operas as well as three works for tenor solo and orchestra: "Les Illuminations", the "Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings" and the "Nocturne". His songs are often grouped in cycles. He also wrote many folksong settings. These were very popular as encore pieces when he accompanied Peter Pears in song recitals.

paragraphs: Britten wrote music for choirs, including "Hymn to St Cecilia" (Britten was proud of having been born on St Cecilia’s day: 22 November). The "War Requiem" is his greatest work which combines writing for choir and orchestra. It describes the horrors of war (Britten had refused to fight in World War II).

paragraphs: He wrote a lot of work for children. There are even parts for children in some of his operas, e.g. "Peter Grimes", "The Turn of the Screw" and "Owen Wingrave". He even wrote an opera in which all the main parts are sung by children: "The Little Sweep" (1949).

paragraphs: Many of his great operatic roles, from Peter Grimes to Aschenbach in "Death in Venice", deal with the theme of the outsider, the person who does not quite fit into society, or who is misunderstood. Britten’s homosexuality (which was something that was never discussed in his lifetime) may have something to do with this. He also knew what it was like to be an outsider when he tried to live in the United States, and his refusal to fight in the war may have distanced him from some people.

paragraphs: The Aldeburgh Festival at the Maltings in Snape (a village near Aldeburgh) continue to be a focus for Britten’s music. Every year the Brittens-Pears School of Music organizes lessons and performance opportunities for young musicians. A series of “Prom” concerts is held there every year in August.


title: Claudio Monteverdi

paragraphs: Claudio Monteverdi (b.Cremona, 1567; d.Venice 25 November 1643) was the most important composer of the early Baroque period. He lived at a time of great change in musical style. The first opera ever written was composed in 1597 by a composer named Jacopo Peri. Just eleven years later Monteverdi wrote an opera "Orfeo" which was a really great work. Other important operas of his are "Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda" and "Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria". He wrote 9 books of madrigals. He also wrote a lot of church music including the "1610 Vespers". He was director of music at St Mark’s, Venice, which was the most important musical job in Italy.

paragraphs: Monteverdi was the son of an apothecary and a doctor. He was very talented as a young boy and was only 15 when he published his first pieces of music. In the introduction to this music he says that his music teacher was Marc’ Antonio Ingegneri, the maestro di cappella of Cremona cathedral. We cannot find anything that shows that he sang in the cathedral choir. He probably had private music lessons. He learned composition, singing and how to play string instruments such as the viol and viola da braccio. He got several compositions published in Venice. By the time he got his first job he had already published two books of madrigals.

paragraphs: His first job was working at the court of the Duke of Mantua. In Mantua there was a small band of excellent musicians. The musical director was the famous Giaches de Wert. Monteverdi got to know many famous poets, and there were famous singers at Ferrara which was not far away.

paragraphs: At first Monteverdi had a low-paid job. He married the daughter of one of the court musicians in the string band. Monteverdi soon became well-known. He sent several of his compositions to be performed at Ferrara, and he went with the duke to when his army was fighting the Turks.

paragraphs: The young Monteverdi was developing a new musical style. The old style was known as "prima pratica" (“first practice”) and the new style was called the "seconda pratica" (“second practice”). The "prima pratica" continued to be used for church music. In this style of writing the music was thought to be more important than the words. This meant that the music could be very contrapuntal, with several things going on at once so that the words could not be clearly heard. However, in the "seconda pratica" the words were more important than the music, i.e. it was important to be able to hear all the words clearly, and the music had to be simple enough for this to happen. This was particularly important in opera and in madrigals.

paragraphs: There were a lot of arguments among musicians about these two styles of composition, and this is perhaps the reason why there was a gap of 11 years between Monteverdi’s 3rd and his 4th book of madrigals. His opera "Orfeo" (1608) was performed at least twice at court, and several times at Salzburg. Monteverdi was becoming famous all over Europe.

paragraphs: Monteverdi went back to Cremona. His wife died, leaving him with their three small children. It was a terrible tragedy for Monteverdi, and he did not want to go back to Mantua, but the Duke wrote to him telling him he must come back to provide music for the wedding of Prince Francesco Gonzaga and Margharita of Savoy.

paragraphs: Monteverdi returned to Mantua, where he composed his opera "Arianna". The performance was a great success, and the audience were moved to tears by the music Arianna’s lament. This song is the only part of the opera that has not been lost.

paragraphs: Although Monteverdi’s fame was increasing, there were a lot of arguments with his employer. Eventually he found another job, this time as a church musician, in the biggest church in Venice. Monteverdi had a difficult journey from Mantua to Venice. The passengers were robbed by highwaymen on the way. He arrived in Venice in October 1613.

paragraphs: The job of maestro (director of music) at San Marco (Saint Mark’s church) in Venice was perhaps the most important job for a church musician in the whole of Europe. However, the music was in a bad state because previous directors of music had not been very good. Monteverdi started to reorganize the music there: he bought new music for the library and got some new musicians. He had to compose music for many special feast days during the year. He was doing a good job, and in 1616 his salary was increased to 400 ducats (about 44.28 ounces of gold, worth about $73,500USD today). The duke of Mantua was probably cross that he had lost such a good musician. He still asked Monteverdi to write music for him. Monteverdi probably had to obey, as he was still a Mantuan citizen (Italy did not become one country until more than two centuries later). He wrote music for important events such as weddings and carnivals at Mantua.

paragraphs: By 1619 Monteverdi had published his seventh book of madrigals. However, he then started to publish less music. Perhaps it was because he was so busy, or perhaps because he no longer needed to look for fame. He probably wrote a lot of church music which is now lost.

paragraphs: During the 1620s continued his work in Venice, although he may have tried to get other jobs. His hobbies include alchemy. He welcomed the composer Heinrich Schütz who visited Venice for a second time. After the Duke of Mantua died in 1626 Monteverdi wrote less music for Mantua. He was supposed to receive an annual salary from them, but he often did not get it. There was a war in Mantua, a lot of buildings were destroyed and the invading armies brought the plague. Monteverdi became a priest in 1632. It is not clear whether he did this because he really was religious or whether he thought it would help his career.

paragraphs: In 1637 public opera was started in Venice. Monteverdi, who was now in his 70s, wrote operas for Venice. "Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria" (1640) and "L'incoronazione di Poppea" (1642) form a brilliant end to his career. After the performance of this opera he made a six-month trip to Lombard and Mantua, where again he had to argue at the court about not being paid his pension. After he returned to Venice he was ill for nine days and then died.


title: Charlie Kaufman

paragraphs: Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman (born November 1, 1958) is an American screenwriter. Some of the movies he wrote screenplays for are "Being John Malkovich", "Adaptation", "Human Nature", and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Charlie Kaufman is known for writing very surreal movies - that is, movies where the plot has things in it that could never happen in real life, or that make the audience notice that they are watching a movie.


title: Oxbow lake

paragraphs: An oxbow lake is a lake, or area of water, in a U-shape. It is made by special bends in a river, called meanders, getting farther away from the river until they become separate. The river becomes straight and the bend becomes a lake. This happens due to floods or when a meander's neck gets too thin.

paragraphs: Water flows at different speeds at different parts of the river. In the middle, farthest away from the sides (or banks), the water flows fastest. At the banks, the water flows slowest. When the river bends, water flows faster on the outside of the bend than the inside. The fast water on the outside 'erodes' the outside of the bend. This means it breaks bits of the bank off. At the same time, the slow water on the inside of the bend leaves behind mud, sand and parts of plants (deposition). Together, these make the bend move in the direction of the outside of the bend.

paragraphs: The bend moves farther and farther along until it leaves the river. The river becomes straight and the bend is left as an oxbow lake.


title: Sequel

paragraphs: A sequel is a story, book, or movie that comes or takes place after another story, book, or movie. The opposite is called a prequel. A combination of the two makes a midquel. When there are many sequels, this is called a film series.

paragraphs: A sequel has important parts of the first story like characters and places. Audiences like sequels because they have more of the characters and places they like. Storytellers and publishers like sequels because they are popular and people buy them.

paragraphs: Sequel names are often similar to the name of a first story or other stories in a series. They often have a second title or a number to show that they are alike or different from a first story or other stories in a series. Sometimes sequels have different names in different countries because they mean different things to different audiences.


title: Major League Soccer

paragraphs: Major League Soccer (MLS) is an American soccer league that started in 1996. As of the upcoming 2020 season, 26 teams will play in the league. Two more teams are planned to start play in 2021, and two others in 2022. The commissioner of the league (the person in charge) is Don Garber.

paragraphs: MLS, founded in the United States, is a fully professional league with 26 teams, three of which are based in Canada, and is the top soccer league in both countries. Referees are approved by the United States Soccer Federation and Canadian Soccer Association, which run the sport in the two countries. In turn, U.S. Soccer and the CSA are members of FIFA, which governs all play between national teams and sets the rules for the sport along with the national governing bodies of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

paragraphs: MLS was formed in 1993 as a professional league, with play starting with 10 teams in 1996. The MLS regular season starts in late March and ends in October, with each team playing 34 games. The regular season is followed by a 14-team playoff tournament to decide the league champion.


title: Chicago Fire FC

paragraphs: Chicago Fire FC (officially Chicago Fire Football Club, and before 2020 Chicago Fire Soccer Club) is a soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer in Chicago. They started in 1998 and won an MLS Cup in that year. The club is named after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.


title: Columbus Crew SC

paragraphs: Columbus Crew SC (known before 2015 as simply "Columbus Crew") are an American soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer in Columbus, Ohio. They started play in 1996, and have played in their own stadium, Mapfre Stadium (known before 2015 as Columbus Crew Stadium), since 1999.


title: Sporting Kansas City

paragraphs: Sporting Kansas City are an American football (soccer) team that plays in Major League Soccer in Kansas City, Kansas.

paragraphs: They started out as the Kansas City Wiz, before changing their name to the Kansas City Wizards in 1997. Later, in November 2010, they changed their name again to Sporting Kansas City, as the team was moving into a new stadium in the 2011 season. The stadium has been known by several names, first Livestrong Sporting Park, then Sporting Park, and now Children's Mercy Park.


title: New England Revolution

paragraphs: The New England Revolution are a United States football (soccer) team from Foxborough, Massachusetts that plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer. They share the Gillette Stadium with the New England Patriots, a football team in the NFL.

paragraphs: The team is owned by Robert Kraft, who also owns the New England Patriots.

paragraphs: The team won their first major trophy when they won the U.S. Open Cup in 2007. They won the North American SuperLiga in 2008.


title: New York Red Bulls

paragraphs: The New York Red Bulls are an American soccer team. They play in Major League Soccer in Harrison, New Jersey. Until 2006, they were known as the MetroStars. Their homeground is the Red Bull Arena in Harrison.

paragraphs: The club was founded in 1995 by John Werner Kluge and Stuart Subotnick, two managers for MetroMedia, under the name MetroStars. The club was a founding member of Major League Soccer. In 2006 the team was sold to the Austrian company Red Bull and renamed the New York Red Bulls. The team is the only one in the MLS which never reached a major title. There were a lot of well-known soccer players on the team from all over the world such as Roberto Donadoni, Lothar Matthäus (FIFA World Cup 1990, UEFA Champion 1980), Adolfo Valencia, Youri Djorkaeff, Amado Guevara, Juan Pablo Angel,Daniel Rodriguez, Thierry Henry, and Rafael Márquez.

paragraphs: Former players Tony Meola, Tab Ramos, Tim Howard, Alexi Lalas, Clint Mathis, Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Claudio Reyna, Eddie Pope, and Tim Ream have all played for the U.S. national team. Current players Juan Agudelo,Daniel Rodriguez, Dax McCarty, and Kenny Cooper have also played for the USMNT.


title: Colorado Rapids

paragraphs: The Colorado Rapids are an American soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer. They are one of the founding clubs of the MLS. The hometown of Rapids is Denver, Colorado. The club was formed in 1996.

paragraphs: The Rapids play their home games at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado (ca. 8 miles north of the center of Denver). The stadium capacity is 19,680 and cost $131 million to construct. It is a stadium for football only. The soccer stadium opened on April 7, 2007. Before moving to DSG Park in 2007, Colorado Rapids shared Mile High Stadium and then Invesco Field at Mile High with the Denver Broncos an American football team.

paragraphs: Note: MLS did not allow ties prior to the 2000 season as games were decided by shootout when tied at full-time.


title: FC Dallas

paragraphs: FC Dallas is an American soccer team. They play in Major League Soccer (MLS) in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, Texas. The team is a founding member of the MLS. Before 2005, they were known as the Dallas Burn. The team is owned by the Hunt Sports Group, which also owns the National Football League team Kansas City Chiefs.

paragraphs: The following players have won the MLS Scoring Champion or the Golden Boot.

paragraphs: From 1996–2002 the team played in the 92,100-capacity Cotton Bowl in Dallas. To save money the club played its 2003 home games at Dragon Stadium, a high school stadium in Southlake, a Fort Worth suburb. The club lost money in the high school stadium because Texas law does not allow the sale of alcohol on a public high school campus. The team moved back to the Cotton Bowl for the 2004 season. In August 2005, the club moved into Pizza Hut Park, a soccer stadium in the northern suburb of Frisco. The contract that allowed Pizza Hut to put its name on the stadium ended in January 2012, and the stadium was renamed FC Dallas Stadium. In September 2013, a new sponsorship contract was signed with Toyota, and the stadium was renamed Toyota Stadium. Following renovations to the south end of Toyota Stadium, the relocated National Soccer Hall of Fame opened at the stadium in October 2018.


title: Houston Dynamo

paragraphs: The Houston Dynamo are an American soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer in Houston, Texas. In late 2005, the San Jose Earthquakes moved to the city because of financial problems in San Jose, California.

paragraphs: The Dynamo opened a new stadium, which opened as BBVA Compass Stadium and is now known as BBVA Stadium, in downtown Houston in May 2012, after playing their first seven games of the season on the road.


title: San Jose Earthquakes

paragraphs: The San Jose Earthquakes are an American soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer in San Jose, California. In December 2005, they moved to Houston, Texas to become the Houston Dynamo. Failure to secure funding for a new stadium caused the team to move. In July 2007, they were granted an expansion team, which would bring them back in 2008. From 1994 to 1999 they were known as the San Jose Clash. By agreement between MLS, the Dynamo, and the Earthquakes, the history of the original San Jose franchise belongs to the current Earthquakes.


title: Los Angeles Galaxy

paragraphs: The Los Angeles Galaxy, branded as the LA Galaxy, are an American soccer team that plays in Major League Soccer in Carson, California. They shared their home field, Dignity Health Sports Park, with Chivas USA before that team folded at the end of the 2014 season.

paragraphs: Until he left when his contract ended after the 2012 season, the team's best-known player was English icon David Beckham, signed from Real Madrid in 2007. Landon Donovan, the joint all-time leading goal scorer for the US national team, played with the Galaxy from 2005 until his first retirement in 2014, and briefly returned to the team in the last part of the 2016 season. Robbie Keane, the Republic of Ireland's captain, leading scorer, and most-capped (most games) player, was a Galaxy captain. The team also included longtime Liverpool and England star Steven Gerrard. Currently, the Galaxy's best-known player is Sweden all-time leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimović.


title: Real Salt Lake

paragraphs: Real Salt Lake is an American soccer team. They play in Major League Soccer in Salt Lake City, Utah. They began playing in 2005. Their head coach is Jason Kreis. They play at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. Their rival is the Colorado Rapids.

paragraphs: "MLS regular season only, through 2006 season"


title: Toronto FC

paragraphs: Toronto Football Club, usually known as Toronto FC, is a soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. They have played in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS) since the 2007 season. They were the first Canadian soccer team to join MLS. They play their home games at BMO Field in Downtown Toronto. The team is coached by Greg Vanney and operated by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.

paragraphs: Toronto FC has won the Canadian Championship five times, most recently in 2016. They also made it to the 2016 MLS Cup but lost to Seattle Sounders 4-5 in penalties. They were also semi-finalists of the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League.


title: President of Germany

paragraphs: The President of Germany (German: "Bundespräsident", literally: "federal president") is the head of state of the Federal Republic of Germany. His functions are mostly supervising and representative, because of the negative experiences with the office of its predecessor the Reich President ("Reichskanzler").

paragraphs: The president is elected every five years by the Bundesversammlung.


title: Miami Fusion F.C.

paragraphs: The Miami Fusion were an American soccer team that played in Major League Soccer from 1998 to 2001. They played in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.


title: Tampa Bay Mutiny

paragraphs: Tampa Bay Mutiny was an American soccer team that played in Major League Soccer from 1996 to 2001. They played in Tampa, Florida. Their stadium was the Raymond James Stadium.

paragraphs: The Mutiny went out of business after the 2001 season, after having low attendance and finishing in last place.


title: The Gillette Company

paragraphs: Global Gillette (formerly The Gillette Company) is an American company famous for making shaving products. It has been merged recently into Procter & Gamble's operations.


title: Abkhazia

paragraphs: Abkhazia is a partially recognised independent country on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

paragraphs: The country fought a war with Georgia for its independence in 1991, the Georgian–Abkhaz conflict. Since its declaration of independence from Georgia in 1991, it has been ruled by the partly-recognized Republic of Abkhazia.

paragraphs: Georgia believes Abkhazia is part of its territory and has listed the province, in its official subdivisions, as an autonomous republic On 28 August 2008, the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution declaring Abkhazia a "Russian-occupied territory".

paragraphs: The Republic of Abkhazia, with Sukhumi as its capital, is a client state of Russia. It is formally recognised by Russia and by Nicaragua, and the "de facto" independent republics of South Ossetia and Transnistria. The European Union, OSCE, and NATO recognise Abkhazia as an integral part of the territory of Georgia.

paragraphs: The secessionist movement of the Abkhaz minority led to the Georgian–Abkhaz conflict. The War in Abkhazia resulted in a Georgian military defeat and the mass exodus and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population from Abkhazia.

paragraphs: There was a 1994 ceasefire agreement. There is a UN-monitored and Russian-dominated CIS peacekeeping operation. The sovereignty dispute has not been resolved. The dispute is a source of conflict between Georgia and Russia.