title: The Turn of the Screw (opera)

paragraphs: The Turn of the Screw is an opera by Benjamin Britten. It is a chamber opera (an opera for a small number of characters and very small orchestra). The story is based on a story with the same title by Henry James. The libretto (the words of the opera) were written by Myfanwy Piper. The story of the opera is almost exactly the same as in Henry James’s book. Britten was asked by the Venice Biennale to write the opera. It was first performed on 14 September, 1954, at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice. Its first performance in Britain took place a month later on 6 October 1954 at Sadler’s Wells Opera in London.

paragraphs: The opera is divided into two acts. It is further divided into a prologue and sixteen scenes. Before each scene starts we hear a variation on the 'Screw' theme. This theme is based on twelve notes which are all the 12 notes in the octave. This is called twelve-tone row, but it is tonally based (the music is in traditional keys, unlike the music of Schoenberg). There are only 13 players in the orchestra.

paragraphs: The prologue is just for a solo singer (tenor) and piano. He tells us about a young governess he once knew who looked after two children at Bly House. The children’s parents were dead, and they were supposed to be cared for by their uncle. The uncle, who lived in London, was far too busy to care for them, and he hired a governess for them. He told the governess (who is just called “the governess” in the opera) that she must never write to him about the children. She must make any decisions about them herself. She must never ask him about the history of Bly House, and she must always continue to care for the children.

paragraphs: The Governess wonders what the children will be like. The children wonder what their new governess will be like. When the Governess arrives at Bly House she is greeted by the housekeeper, Mrs. Grose, and the children who (bow and curtsey). She thinks that the boy, Miles, looks strangely familiar. Miles goes to a boarding school, but he has come home for the holidays. A letter from his school arrives saying that he has been expelled because he had been threatening other children. The Governess is sure that Miles, like his sister Flora, is too kind and innocent to have done such terrible things. Mrs Grose also thinks the same thing. The Governess decides not to take any notice of the letter.

paragraphs: The Governess sings about her wonderful position at the house and the beautiful children she has in her care. But at night she hears strange footsteps and a cry outside her door. Suddenly, she sees a pale-faced man sitting on a tower of the house. When the man disappears, she becomes frightened and wonders if she has seen a ghost. But then she is comforted when she hears the children singing the nursery rhyme "Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son". The Governess doubts that she saw anything, but decides to tell Mrs. Grose. The housekeeper tells the Governess about Peter Quint, who used to be a servant at Bly House. What Mrs. Grose says seems to suggest that Quint had done nasty things to Miles. At that time Miles had a governess called Miss Jessel. Mrs. Grose suggests that Quint had a sexual relationship with Miss Jessell, and that they both had sexual relations with the children. The housekeeper said she could do nothing about it, as Quint cleverly found any letters that came for her and he threatened her with physical harm. But when Miss Jessel became pregnant and people found out how bad she was, she abandoned the children and ran away. Soon afterwards she died. Shortly after that Quint died a mysterious death on an icy road near Bly House.

paragraphs: The next morning, the Governess is teaching Miles Latin when he goes into a trance-like state and sings a song which shows that Quint had abused him.

paragraphs: Later that day, the Governess sits by the side of a lake with Flora. Flora names the seas of the world, finishing with the Dead Sea. Flora compares the Dead Sea (where nothing can live) to Bly House. This worries the Governess. As Flora plays on the shore with her doll, the Governess suddenly sees a strange woman across the lake who seems to be watching Flora. It is the ghost of Miss Jessel, who has returned to get Flora. The Governess hurries Flora home to safety.

paragraphs: That night, Miles and Flora slip out into the woods to meet Miss Jessel and Peter Quint. The children fantasize about a world where dreams come true. The Governess and Mrs. Grose arrive as the children are about to be possessed, and the spirits depart. Miles sings a song about how he has been a bad boy.

paragraphs: The ghosts of Peter Quint and Miss Jessel reappear. They argue about who harmed whom first when they were alive, and accuse one another of not acting quickly enough to possess the children. In her room, the Governess worries about the evil she feels in the house.

paragraphs: The next morning, the family goes to church. The children sing a song which sounds like a song praising God. Mrs. Grose does not realize the meaning of the song until the Governess tells her they are singing about horrors. The Governess runs off and goes to her room. She can feel the presence of Miss Jessel and sees her sitting at her desk. The Governess now knows that she cannot abandon the children. She writes to the children’s uncles saying that she must see him.

paragraphs: When the Governess asks Miles what happened at school Quint’s voice is heard. Miles shrieks and the candle goes out. Miles is tempted by Quint to pick up the letter. He steals it and rushes off. Miles distracts the grown-up’s attention by playing the piano, so they do not notice Flora going off to the lake. Mrs Grose and the Governess find Flora by the lake. The Governess tries to make Flora say that she can see Mrs Jessel, but she shouts that she can’t see anybody. Mrs Grose takes her home.

paragraphs: In the last scene Flora has become mad. Mrs Grose tells the Governess that her letter to the uncle must have been stolen. She asks Miles whether he stole it. He denies it, but all the time he can see Peter Quint who is telling him he must not tell them the truth about him. In the end Miles screams: “Peter Quint! You devil!” and then dies. The Governess is left holding the dead boy in her arms.

paragraphs: The instruments used in the orchestra are: 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, flute/alto flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, harp, oboe/cor anglais, piano, celesta and percussion.


title: Demonic possession

paragraphs: Demonic possession is a term used to describe a situation when a demon (a devil) controls a human being. In many cultures and religions people often used to believe that a devil could enter the body of a person and control them. They often thought this was happening when a person seemed to be mad, or when they had a fit, or when they fainted.


title: PAS Hamedan F.C.

paragraphs: PAS Hamedan Football Club () is an Iranian football club based in Hamedan, Iran.


title: Malavan F.C.

paragraphs: Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club () is an Iranian football club based in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran.


title: Cosworth

paragraphs: Cosworth is a high performance engineering company. It was founded in London in 1958. It builds engines and electronics for automobile racing, mainstream automotive and defence industries. Cosworth is based in Northampton, England. It has North American facilities in Torrance, California; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Mooresville, North Carolina. It also has a facility in Pune, India.

paragraphs: Cosworth has had a long and well respected career in Formula One, beginning in 1963. Cosworth stepped away from Formula One for three years when no team decided to use their engines for . Cosworth returned to F1 in , suppling engines to Williams, HRT, Lotus, and Virgin. The first Formula One engines shipped in January. Cosworth's 176 wins make it the second most successful engine manufacturers in F1, after Ferrari.

paragraphs: The company was founded as a British racing internal combustion engine maker in 1958 by Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth (1933-2005) The name Cosworth came by combining their last names. (COStin and duckWORTH). Even thought it was an independent company, it was supported by the Ford Motor Company for many years. Most of the Cosworth engines were named Ford engines.

paragraphs: The company went through a several ownership changes. The business was growing. Keith Duckworth did not want to run the day-to-day business.

paragraphs: Cosworth was sold to United Engineering Industries (UEI) in 1980. Duckworth remained as president for life, and technical involvement with Cosworth. He became a UEI board director. UEI was a group of small to medium-sized technology companies.

paragraphs: UEI was taken over by Carlton Communications in 1988. Carlton wanted some of the audio-visual companies that were part of UEI. Cosworth was a poor fit, so Carlton sold the Cosworth part off.

paragraphs: In 1990, Cosworth was sold to Vickers, a British engineering company.

paragraphs: In 1998, Cosworth was sold to Audi, which is a part of Volkswagen. Hours later, Audi sold the Cosworth Racing division to Ford.

paragraphs: In September, 2004 Ford announced that it was selling Cosworth, along with Cosworth Racing Ltd and its Jaguar Formula One team. On 15 November 2004, the sale of Cosworth was completed to Champ Car World Series owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven They are the current owners of the Cosworth Group.

paragraphs: The road car engine division of Cosworth was renamed Cosworth Technology. It was sold to MAHLE in 2005. Cosworth Technology was then renamed as MAHLE Powertrain on 1 July 2005.

paragraphs: Cosworth has had a long relationship with the Ford Motor Company. This started when Cosworth started building racing engines in 1959. These engines were modified versions of the Inline-four Ford Kent engine for Formula Junior. Cosworth built a engine for the Lotus 7. and engines were built use in Formula B, sports car racing, and the Lotus Cortina. The final version of the Cosworth-Kent, in 1965, was the MAE. It was used in Formula 3 when engines were allowed. This was the dominate engine.

paragraphs: The Cortina engine was also the basis for the FVA, a Formula Two engine introduced in 1966. This engine featured dual overhead camshafts with 16 valves. It produced at least at 9000 rpm. This engine dominated the category until 1971. It was also used in sports car racing as the FVC. The FVA was part of the same Ford contract that gave rise to the DFV.

paragraphs: A larger engine was built for endurance racing in the mid 1970s. The FVC displaced . The FVC produced only .

paragraphs: In 1966, Colin Chapman of Lotus Cars was the founder and principal of Team Lotus. He got Ford to finance Keith Duckworth's design for a new lightweight 3.0 litre Formula One engine. Cosworth received the order along with £100,000 from Ford. The contract told Duckworth to build a four-cylinder Ford-based F2 engine to prove it would work (see the FVA above). After that, a pure Cosworth V8 would be built. The DFV design used a similar cylinder head to the one on the FVA engine with custom cylinder block and crankcase. This created the legendary DFV - literally meaning "Double Four Valve". This engine, and its version were used for a quarter of a century. It was the most successful engine in the history of Formula One / Grand Prix motor racing. With 167 winning races it put Cosworth Engineering on the map. Although designed for Formula One, the engine has been modified for use in many other areas.

paragraphs: The DFV won on its first outing, at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix. Jim Clark drove a Lotus 49 with the DFV engine. Starting in 1968, any F1 team could purchase the engine. During the 1970s, it was common for almost the entire field to use one of the DFV engines. Ferrari never used a Cosworth engine. Most teams just built a car around a Cosworth DFV and a Hewland gearbox. It won a record 155 World Championship races. The last was the Detroit Grand Prix in 1983 in a Tyrrell driven by Michele Alboreto.

paragraphs: The DFV with 410 horsepower did not produce as much power as some of its rival 12-cylinder engines. It was lighter, resulting in a better power to weight ratio. It was also a structural part of the car.

paragraphs: The DFY, introduced in 1982 was upgrade of the DFV for Formula One with 520 horsepower. While it produced more power, it no match for the turbocharged cars of the day. It was the advent of turbocharged engines which ended the use of the DFY. In 1986 Cosworth returned to the lower levels of racing. They modified the DFV for the newly created Formula 3000. The DFV remained in F3000 until 1992.

paragraphs: In Formula One, a new DFV-based design was introduced for the new rules in . 3.5 litre normally-aspirated (non-turbocharded) engines were allowed. In 1988 Cosworth built the DFR, which was used in F1 by the smaller teams until 1991. It scored its last points in 1990.

paragraphs: The DFV is still being used in Classic F1 racing. The FIA given them World Championship status in 2004.

paragraphs: One of the most successful and longest-lived projects of Cosworth has been its CART / Champ Car engine program. In 1975, Cosworth developed the DFX engine. A turbocharged 2.65 litre engine, the DFX became the standard engine to run in IndyCar racing. It ending the reign of the Offenhauser, and maintaining that position until the late 1980s.

paragraphs: While designed as an F1 engine, the DFV was also used as in endurance racing. Its design led to vibrations putting stress on devices surrounding the engine. It was hard on the exhaust system. The first sports car to use a DFV failed to finish a single race because of repeated breakdowns. The DFV did win the 24 hours of Le Mans twice in its original 3.0 litre form. A special endurance version, the DFL, was then developed. The 3.3 litre was reliable. The 4.0 litre was largely remembered as a failure.

paragraphs: A variant of the Ford Essex engine was developed for the Ford Capris. The Capris were raced in Group 2 in the early 1970s. This engine had a displacement of 3.4 L. The GA was also used in the last few years of Formula 5000 in Europe.

paragraphs: The FBA and FBC engines were found in the Ford Granada and Ford Scorpio Ultima. The FBA came first in 1991, and was also known as the 'BOA'. It was based on the Ford Cologne V6. It was a twin overhead camshaft with 24 valves, and produced 192 horsepower. In 1995, it was updated to produce 201 horsepower. This engine was known as the 'BOB'.

paragraphs: A racing version was also available for a short time. The FBE had individual throttle butterflies for each cylinder. The FBB and FBD engines were developed but never released.

paragraphs: Cosworth increased its work with Ford in 1969. Cosworth developed a double overhead camshaft (DOHC) 16-valve inline four cylinder engine for road use in the European Ford Escort. Working from the Kent block, Cosworth created a 1.6 Litre engine for homologation (standarding) purposes. The camshafts were driven by a toothed timing belt. The name BDA, came from "Belt Drive, A type". Running in Group 2 and Group 4 on either rallying or touring car racing, this engine could be enlarged to 2.0 litres. The standard 1.6 L engine could be used in cars competing overall wins, not just first in class.

paragraphs: In 1970, the BDC version received fuel injection. In 1972, the 1.8 L BDA series was being used in Formula 2. In 1973, it went to 1.98 L as the BDG engine. The BDG also had an aluminum engine block.

paragraphs: Other versions of the engine were made for Formula Atlantic in 1970, and SCCA club racing and sports car racing. A 1.7 L BDR version was built in the 1980s. A 1.8 L BDT was built for the Escort RS1700T and the Ford RS2000.

paragraphs: A 2.14 L version was developed by Brian Hart just as Group B was canceled by the FIA. The Hart 420R owes much to the BDA series. It is basically an aluminum block version with similar cylinder heads.

paragraphs: In 1970, Ford asked Weslake and Co to build the BDA Engine for them, and by the end of 1970 the production line had been installed at Rye and production was under way.

paragraphs: The YB series of 2.0 L engines are based on the older Pinto engine block. They were introduced in the road-going Ford Sierra RS Cosworth in 1986 with 201 horsepower. Racing versions could develop about 400 horsepower. A limited edition version was introduced in 1987. The RS500 could produce 550 horsepower in full racing setup.

paragraphs: The YB series engine was replace in 1997, with the Zetec engine design.

paragraphs: Cosworth tested turbocharged BD version. They finally built an all-new turbocharged 1.5 L V6 engine. This engine was badged (named) the Ford TEC. Inside Cosworth, it was known as the GB-series. This engine had a long development history. It only raced only for a short time. In was used by the Haas Lola team in and the Benetton Formula team in .

paragraphs: The final replacement for the DFV/DFZ/DFR series was the 3.5 L HB V8 engine. It was used by the Benetton team midway through 1989. It won the Japanese Grand Prix that year. This engine had a narrower v-angle than the DFV.

paragraphs: As the works (factory supported) team, Benetton was the only team to use this model through the rest of and . In , customer units became available. The customer engines did not have all the updates the works engines did. In 1991, these engines were supplied to the new Jordan Grand Prix team. In 1992, they went to Team Lotus. 1993 saw McLaren added to the customer engine deal. McLaren won five Grands Prix with Ayrton Senna that year. A new Cosworth unit, badged as a Ford Zetec-R was built in 1994. That year, Michael Schumacher won the Drivers World Championship with Benetton. This was the last Ford powered F1 title.

paragraphs: A Jaguar-badged version of the HB was used for a short time in sports car racing with the Jaguar XJR-14. Cosworth also developed a 72° V10 engine for the Sauber Formula One team. It was baged as a Ford engine.

paragraphs: Cosworth has made several 3.0 L V10 engines for other Formula One teams. The Stewart Grand Prix team basically became the Ford works team. They used Cosworth CR-1 engines from their first season in 1997. Stewart became Jaguar Racing which became Red Bull Racing. They used Cosworth V10 engines until 2006. Minardi also used re-badged Cosworth engines until 2005.

paragraphs: Williams began using the new CA2006 Cosworth V8 engines for the 2006 season. In the same year, Scuderia Toro Rosso used detuned V10 engines based on the 2005 units.

paragraphs: In 2007, Williams and Scuderia Torro Rosso both switched to other engines. This left Cosworth out of Formula one for three years. Honda left F1 in December 2008. This led to Cosworth being selected to provide a standard engine to any interested team. Teams could purchase entire engines, or build their own from the Cosworth designs.

paragraphs: In 2010 Cosworth returned as the engine supplier for Williams. They also supplied three new teams; Hispania Racing, Lotus Racing and Virgin Racing. The CA2010 is the same 2.4 litre V8 base of the CA2006 used by Williams. It has been re-tuned from 20,000 rpm to the current 18,000 rpm limit required on all engines. The first engines were shipped to teams in mid-January, 2 weeks prior to first track testing for the year.

paragraphs: Cosworth needed to replace the DFS engines used in IndyCar and Champ Car racing. Cosworth designed the X-series, beginning in 1992 with the XB. The XF was built for the 2000 season to replace the XD. It was picked as the spec engine for the Champ Car World Series in 2003. The most recent version is the 2.65 litre XFE, used through 2007. The Champ Car World Series set a rev limit of 12,000 rpm. The 2004 model of the XFE was rated at 750 horsepower for normal running. It could produce 800 horsepower during the "Push-to-Pass" mode.

paragraphs: In mid 2003, Cosworth provided the 3.5L V8 XG badged as a Chevrolet Gen 4 engine to IRL IndyCar Series teams. The XG finished 2nd in its first race at Michigan on 27 July 2003. Sam Hornish, Jr. went on to win 3 races that season with the new XG. The XG was reduced in size to 3L for 2004 season. It won one race in 2005 during Chevrolet's final season in IRL.

paragraphs: In 2007, the Ford name was removed from the XFE engine. The Champ Car World Series merged into the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series prior to the 2008 season. Cosworth does not currently provide engines to any American open wheel racing series.

paragraphs: These are 300 horsepower 2.3 L inline-four engines based on the Mazda MZR engine. A detuned (reduced power) 250 horsepower version is sold to the consumer market. This version is intended for club racers. Both engines are built by Cosworth in Torrance, California.

paragraphs: Cosworth is best known in Europe for its relationship with Ford. Cosworth is in the vehicle name on the high performance Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and Ford Escort RS Cosworth.

paragraphs: In the United States, Cosworth has also appeared in the name of a road car, the Chevrolet Vega. Only 3,508 1975 and 1976 Cosworth Vegas were built. The engine featured the Vega sleeveless, aluminum-alloy block fitted with forged components. The twin-cam, 16 valve, aluminum cylinder head design was assisted by Cosworth. The engine featured electronic ignition, electronic fuel injection, and stainless steel headers. The final US version produced 110 bhp. Cosworth's EA racing version was not successful due to engine block structural failures. Projected sales of the Cosworth Vega had been 5,000. The 1500 unused hand-built Cosworth Vega engines were simply scrapped for lack of demand.

paragraphs: Cosworth became involved with Mercedes-Benz in the mid-1980s. Mercedes-Benz wanted to create a Group B rally car. They turned to Cosworth to development the engine.

paragraphs: Mercedes wanted a 320 bhp engine based on the 136 bhp Mercedes M102 2.3 litre 4-cylinder engine. The task was given to Mike Hall, who design the famed DFV and BDA engines. Designed around the existing M102 engine, its valves set a 45° angle, rather than the 40° of the BDA. The valves were the biggest that could be fitted into the combustion chamber. Flat top pistons gave a 10.5:1 compression ratio. The new Cosworth WAA engine also was Cosworth’s first one-piece head. The camshaft carrier was cast with the head itself.

paragraphs: Cosworth tried to design a full Formula One Grand Prix car in 1969. The car was designed by Robin Herd. It used a new design of a 4WD transmission designed by Keith Duckworth. This transmission was different from the Ferguson transmission used by all other 4WD F1 cars of the 1960s. It was powered by a version of the DFV engine built out of magnesium. The plan was to drive the car at the British Grand Prix. Cosworth withdrew the car without any explanation. Herd left Cosworth to form March Engineering. The F1 car project was canceled. The external design of the car was Herd's use of Mallite sheeting. Mallite is a product made from layers of wood and aluminum. The Mallite was for the main structural monocoque (car body) sections. This is a procedure he developed on the first McLaren single-seat race cars, including the McLaren M2B of 1966.


title: Carbon tetrachloride

paragraphs: Carbon tetrachloride, also known as carbon tet or Freon 10, is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is CCl. It contains carbon in its +4 oxidation state and chloride ions.

paragraphs: It is a colorless liquid. It smells like ether. It evaporates quite quickly. It can dissolve fats and oils as well as other stuff such as iodine. It doesn't burn, but it does make phosgene when heated to a high temperature.

paragraphs: It is made by reacting methane with chlorine. This reaction is similar to the burning of methane (reaction of methane with oxygen). Hydrogen chloride is a byproduct (left over substance). It used to be made by reacting carbon disulfide with chlorine. This reaction would produce sulfur(I) chloride.

paragraphs: The uses of carbon tetrachloride have diminished lately because it is known to be damage people's health. People think it might damage the ozone layer. Today, it is rarely used for anything.

paragraphs: Previously, was used in fire extinguishers. It was also used to make freon, used in dry cleaning and as a refrigerant.

paragraphs: Carbon tetrachloride is very poisonous to the liver, the kidneys and the nervous system; it might also cause cancer.


title: Freon

paragraphs: Freon is a word for certain chemical compounds, often used as refrigerants. Thomas Midgley, Jr. invented using Freon as a refrigerant. "Freon" is a registered trademark of DuPont. Freon was first used to describe chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants, but it is now used to describe many other kinds of chemicals used as refrigerant. Refrigerants may contain carbon, chlorine, fluorine and sometimes bromine. For example, Freon 10 is carbon tetrachloride. Many kinds of freon are not toxic to animals. They also are cheap and work well. However, most refrigerants can reduce the amount of ozone from the upper atmosphere. Reducing ozone lets more ultraviolet light to come through. Too much ultraviolet light can cause skin cancer and cataracts, and can kill off plankton in the oceans.

paragraphs: The chlorine part of CFC refrigerants can reduce ozone. Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) can also damage ozone. Newer Hydrofulorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants do not have chlorine in them and do not reduce ozone in the atmosphere. Most refrigerants also increase global warming because they are powerful greenhouse gasses. These refrigerants increase global warming thousands of times more than carbon dioxide (CO).


title: Refrigerant

paragraphs: A refrigerant is a chemical substance that is found in an air conditioner, a refrigerator, and in other refrigeration equipment. Refrigerants are chosen for the ease of converting them from liquid to vapor or vice versa, depending on their temperature and pressure. Most refrigerants in their liquid state will evaporate very fast if at atmospheric pressure.

paragraphs: In refrigeration equipment, a refrigerant vapor is compressed by a compressor. Compression makes it hot. It enters a condenser, where it condenses into a liquid. The refrigerant then passes through a part called a metering device, or an expansion device (there are several types of this part) where the pressure is reduced to a point where the liquid begins to boil. At this point, the refrigerant is very cold and it enters an evaporator, where it absorbs heat from the air passing over it. By the time the refrigerant leaves the evaporator, it is all a vapor again, and it goes back to the compressor where the cycle begins again. This is called the refrigeration cycle. This is one example of the use of a refrigerant, as in a residential air conditioning system.


title: 2010 Canterbury earthquake

paragraphs: The 2010 Canterbury earthquake was a powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake, which struck the South Island of New Zealand at 4:35 am September 4, 2010 local time (16:35 3 September UTC).

paragraphs: It was centred 40 km west of Christchurch, near the town of Darfield, at a depth of 10 km. Strong aftershocks were reported, including ones of magnitude 5.3.

paragraphs: The main quake was felt widely across the South Island, and in the North Island as far north as New Plymouth.

paragraphs: It caused a lot of damage and cut off power and water supply, mainly in the city of Christchurch. Two people were seriously injured. The quake caused damage to historic buildings in Lyttelton, near Christchurch, including a church and parts of a hotel. Businesses in the city centre were closed the day of the quake. The total cost of damages may be as high as NZ$2 billion.

paragraphs: A state of emergency was declared by Civil Defence for Christchurch and the Selwyn District.

paragraphs: New Zealand sits on the boundary between the Australian and Pacific plates. In the South Island, these plates mainly slide past each other horizontally, producing earthquakes along fault lines such as the Alpine fault. The 2010 earthquake was centred about 80–90 km to the southeast of the plate boundary through the island, probably on one of a network of smaller faults linked to the main faults that mark the plate boundary itself.


title: William Langland

paragraphs: William Langland (c. 1332 – c. 1386) was an English poet. He wrote a long and complicated poem called Piers Plowman. The poem is an allegory about the struggle to lead a virtuous Christian life when the institution of the Church is often corrupt.

paragraphs: We do not know for sure that this poem was written by Langland. The strongest evidence we have is one manuscript which says that the poem was written by 'Willielmi de Langlond', son of 'Stacy de Rokayle, who died in Shipton-under-Wichwood, a tenant of the Lord Spenser in the county of Oxfordshire'. Other manuscripts also name the author as 'Robert or William langland', or 'Wilhelmus W.' (probably an abbreviation for 'William of Wichwood', since Wychwood is the village he probably came from). Another piece of evidence is within the poem itself. At one stage the narrator says: 'I have lyved in londe...my name is longe wille'. Scholars agree that this is a code for the poet's name: Longe-Land, and Wille meaning Will, short for William. This may seem unlikely, but this method of hiding the poet's name within a poem was used in Roman times, and was quite common in late-medieval literature.


title: Alexandra David-Néel

paragraphs: Alexandra David-Néel (full name Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David) born in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne on 24 October 1868, and died in Digne-les-Bains, on 8 September 1969. She was a Belgian-French explorer.


title: Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

paragraphs: Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which includes the City of Oxford and the surrounding countryside as far north as Banbury. It is also, uniquely, the chapel of Christ Church, the largest college of the University of Oxford.

paragraphs: The cathedral was originally the church of St Frideswide's Priory.

paragraphs: In 1522, the priory was surrendered to Cardinal Wolsey, who chose it as the site for his proposed college. However, in 1529 it was taken over by King Henry VIII. Work stopped, but in June 1532 the college was refounded by the King. In 1546, Henry VIII transferred to it from Osney Abbey to the see of Oxford. The cathedral has the name of "Ecclesia Christi Cathedralis Oxoniensis", given to it by King Henry VIII's foundation charter.

paragraphs: The nave, choir, central tower, and transepts (as far as the roofs) are late Norman, and were probably erected during the lifetime of Canutus, the second prior, in the 12th century. As a whole the cathedral contains examples of the various styles from late Norman to Perpendicular.

paragraphs: Once this was the smallest cathedral in England. But according to their website, this has changed:

paragraphs: Cathedral (or Christ Church) Time is traditionally five minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time. This dates back to the days before the railways when each region of the country kept to its own local time. Hence what is now called Cathedral Time is a survival of old Oxford Time.


title: Tattva

paragraphs: Tattva is a Sanskrit word that means 'thatness', 'principle', 'reality' or 'truth'. According to many Indian schools of philosophy, a tattva is an element or aspect of reality conceived as an aspect of deity.


title: Mahābhūta

paragraphs: Mahābhūta is Sanskrit and Pāli for "great element." In Buddhism, the "four great elements" (Pali: cattāro mahābhūtāni) are earth, water, fire and air. Hinduism adds a fifth "great" or "gross" element: ether.


title: Cyma Zarghami

paragraphs: Cyma Zarghami is an Iranian-American cable television executive and the current president of the TV channel Nickelodeon and the MTV Networks' Kids & Family Group.


title: Coccyx

paragraphs: The coccyx is a set of bones that are fused together (joined up). It is found at the base of the vertebral column. This collection of bones is often called the tailbone. At birth, these bones are separate. These bones do not contain cartilage between them.


title: Småland

paragraphs: Småland is a historical province ("landskap") in southern Sweden.

paragraphs: Småland borders the provinces Blekinge, Scania or Skåne, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means "Small lands". The latinized form "Smolandia" has been used in other languages. The highest summit in Småland is Tomtabacken with its 377 m.

paragraphs: Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren comes from Småland, and many of her stories are also set there. Famous Swedish expresseions are "Mörkaste Småland" ("Darkest Småland") and "För allt smör i Småland" ("For All Butter in Småland").


title: Åryd, Växjö municipality

paragraphs: Åryd is a locality in Växjö Municipality in Kronoberg County in Sweden. In 2010, 684 people lived there. Swedish singer and Melodifestivalen 1995 contestant Jessica G. Pilnäs was born in Åryd.


title: Typhoon Kompasu (2010)

paragraphs: Typhoon Kompasu was noticed on August 28, the United States Air Force base in Okinawa began preparing for what was then Tropical Storm 08W. Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness (TCCOR) level three was issued the following morning. By August 30, forecasts showed that a strengthening storm would strike the area, possibly bringing winds in excess of . Following this, the TCCOR level was increased to two. For the first time in over three years, TCCOR level one was declared on August 31. Military personnel and residents across the island were urged to complete their preparations and remain indoors for the duration of the typhoon. During the storm's passage on August 31, the highest warning level, TCCOR One-E (emergency) was declared. Following Kompasu's passage, the emergency warning was changed to recovery as conditions improved.

paragraphs: Throughout Okinawa, Kompasu brought strong winds and heavy rains, leaving an estimated 32,000 residences without power. The highest rainfall total was measured in Motobu at . Winds in excess of felled a 300-year-old tree. The Sion Pine Tree was the last of its kind on the island and was once the symbol of the northern Okinawa Region. The Okuma Recreation Facility sustained substantial damage and was closed to the public for at least a week. According to United States Air Force captain Adam Vaccarezza, concrete towers fell during the storm. Although Kompasu was a strong typhoon when it passed over Okinawa, no loss of life took place; however, five people were injured. Some homes sustained roof damage across the region, prompting a few evacuations. Additionally, Kompasu resulted in the cancellation of 432 flights to and from the island chain, stranding 57,126 people.


title: Yu Myung-hwan

paragraphs: Yu Myung-hwan (born April 8, 1946) is a South Korean diplomat, he was Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade from February 2008 to September.4 2010. His resigntation was caused when his daughter was givent a job in his department . He has previously held posts including Ambassador to Israel, Japan and the Philippines. Yu is a graduate of Seoul National University.


title: Kosovo national football team

paragraphs: Kosovo national football team is the national football team of Kosovo.


title: Greenland national football team

paragraphs: Greenland national football team is the national football team of Greenland.


title: Gibraltar national football team

paragraphs: Gibraltar national football team is the national football team of Gibraltar. The team joined UEFA in May of 2013 and played their first match against Slovakia on 19 November 2013. They were also accepted into FIFA on 13 May 2016. So far, they have not qualified for any major tournament.


title: The Vicar of Dibley

paragraphs: The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom that was shown on BBC One between 1994 and 2007. It starred Dawn French as Geraldine Granger, the new female vicar of Dibley, Oxfordshire.


title: Alphaville

paragraphs: Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold (real name "Hartwig Schierbaum", born 26 May 1954 in Herford), Bernhard Lloyd (real name "Bernhard Gößling", born 6 June 1960 in Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia), and Frank Mertens (real name "Frank Sorgatz", born 26 October 1961 in Enger, North Rhine-Westphalia).

paragraphs: The band was at first named Forever Young before changing to Alphaville. They are best known for their two biggest hits, "Big in Japan" and "Forever Young".


title: Emerald Coast

paragraphs: The Emerald Coast is an area in the US state of Florida on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, roughly bounded by Pensacola, Florida on the west and Port St. Joe, Florida on the east.


title: Iberian Cup

paragraphs: The Iberian Cup was a football game between the champions teams of Spain and Portugal.


title: Chula Vista, California

paragraphs: Chula Vista (; , due to its scenic location between the San Diego Bay and coastal mountain foothills) is the second largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area as well as the 7th largest city in Southern California.

paragraphs: According to the City's 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

paragraphs: Local area freeways in within the city of Chula Vista include


title: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

paragraphs: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious () is an English word, with 34 letters, that was in the song with the same title in the Disney musical movie "Mary Poppins". The song was written by the Sherman Brothers, and sung by Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It also appears in the stage show version of Mary Poppins.

paragraphs: The writers of the "Oxford English Dictionary" think that the word "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" was first used in the 1940s. The word is a compound word, and said by Richard Lederer in his book "Crazy English" to be made up of these words: super- "above", cali- "beauty", fragilistic- "delicate", expiali- "to atone", and -docious "educable", with all of these parts combined meaning "Atoning for educability through delicate beauty." According to the movie, in which the word became widely used, the word is "something to say when you have nothing to say". However, a lot of people think the word means "extraordinarily good" or "wonderful" because all mentions of the word in the movie can be thought of as good.


title: Nogales, Arizona

paragraphs: Nogales is a city in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 20,837 at the 2010 census. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 20,833. The city is the county seat of Santa Cruz County.


title: Mount Olivet Cemetery (Chicago)

paragraphs: Mount Olivet Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery in Chicago, Illinois. The cemetery is at 2755 West 111th St.

paragraphs: There are over 142,200 people buried at the cemetery. The cemetery is 93 acres in size. It became one of the first major area cemeteries to become full before more land was purchased on its east side.

paragraphs: Mount Olivet was the first burial place of Al Capone, who was put between the graves of his father and brother. A few years after his mother's death, the remains of all three men were moved to Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.


title: Dominici

paragraphs: Dominici is a progressive metal band that started in 2005 by former Dream Theater vocalist, Charlie Dominici. Their only published works are the three albums that make up the .

paragraphs: Dominici also opened for three Dream Theater concerts, during Dream Theater's "Chaos in Motion Tour."


title: Pinball

paragraphs: Pinball is a type of arcade game. In pinball, the player tries to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The main objective of the game is to score as many points as the player can. Other objectives are to play as long as possible (by earning "extra balls" and keeping the ball in play as long as possible) and to earn free games (known as "replays").

paragraphs: From the 1940s through the 1970s pinball was banned in many American cities because it was thought to be a game of chance and therefore was considered gambling. The ban stopped in New York City in 1976, when Roger Sharpe, a player renowned for his talent, played so well in front of the City Council that he convinced them that pinball was indeed a game of skill, not just of luck.


title: Avebury

paragraphs: Avebury is the site of the largest ancient monument in Great Britain. It consists of a large henge, several stone circles, stone avenues and barrows. The main henge and stone circle surrounds the village of Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire.

paragraphs: Avebury is one of the finest and largest Neolithic monuments in Europe, about 5,000 years old. Although older than the megalithic stages of Stonehenge to the south, the two monuments were made by people of the same culture.

paragraphs: At , Avebury is roughly midway between the towns of Marlborough and Calne, just off the main A4 road. Avebury is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, a World Heritage Site, and a National Trust property.

paragraphs: On the World Heritage list, Avebury and Stonehenge are listed together as 'Avebury, Stonehenge and Associated Sites'. However, Stonehenge is really a different site built at a different time.

paragraphs: Most of the surviving structure is composed of earthworks, known as the dykes, consisting of a massive ditch and external bank henge. Although the henge is not perfectly circular, it has a diameter of about . The only known comparable sites of similar date are only a quarter of the size of Avebury. The ditch alone was 21 metres (69 ft) wide and 11 metres (36 ft) deep, with a sample from its primary fill carbon dated to 3300 - 2630 BC (4300+/-90).

paragraphs: Within the henge is a great outer circle. This is one of Europe's largest stone circles, with a diameter of , Britain's largest stone circle. It was either contemporary with, or built around four or five centuries after the earthworks. There were originally 98 sarsen standing stones, some weighing over 40 tons. The stones varied in height from 3.6 to 4.2 m, as exemplified at the north and south entrances. The fill from two of the stoneholes has been carbon dated to between 2900 and 2600 BC (3870+/-90, 4130+/-90)

paragraphs: Nearer the middle of the monument are two additional, separate stone circles. The northern inner ring is in diameter, but only two of its four standing stones remain upright. A cove of three stones stood in the middle, its entrance facing northeast. The southern inner ring was in diameter before its destruction in the eighteenth century. The remaining sections of its arc now lie beneath the village buildings. A single large monolith, high, stood in the centre along with an alignment of smaller stones.

paragraphs: The West Kennet Avenue, an avenue of paired stones, leads from the southeastern entrance of the henge; and traces of a second, the Beckhampton Avenue, lead out from the western entrance.

paragraphs: Findings of archaeological geophysics suggests that a timber circle of two concentric rings stood in the northeast sector of the outer circle. This has not yet been confirmed by excavation. A ploughed barrow is visible from the air in the northwestern quadrant.

paragraphs: The henge had four opposing entrances, two on a north by northwest and south by southeast line, and two on an east by northeast and west by southwest line.


title: Henge

paragraphs: A henge is a Neolithic earthwork. Henges are typical of the British Isles (for example Stonehenge), but there are a few similar structures in continental Europe.

paragraphs: Henges have a ring bank and ditch. They are not thought to be primarily defensive, because their ditch is inside the wall or rampart. For defence, it would seem better to have the ditch outside the bank. That way, attackers would need to climb up further. Their function is thought to be mainly ceremonial. This is discussed often in relation to Stonehenge.


title: Carnac stones

paragraphs: The Carnac stones are the largest collection of megalithic standing stones in the world. The more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were cut from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany.

paragraphs: The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period, probably around 3300 BC, but some may be as old as 4500 BC. The stones occur in a number of Neolithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany. They include rows of stones (alignments), dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs.

paragraphs: In recent centuries, many of the sites have been neglected, with reports of dolmens being used as sheep shelters, chicken sheds or even ovens. Stones have been removed to make way for roads, or used as building materials. The management of the sites is a controversial topic.

paragraphs: There are three major groups of stone rows — "Ménec", "Kermario" and "Kerlescan" — which may have once formed a single group, but have been split up as stones were removed for other purposes.

paragraphs: Eleven converging rows of menhirs stretching for . There is what may be the remains of stone circles at either end. According to the tourist office there is a "cromlech containing 71 stone blocks" at the western end and a very ruined cromlech at the eastern end. The largest stones, around high, are at the wider, western end; the stones then become as small as 0.6m high along the length of the alignment before growing in height again toward the extreme eastern end.

paragraphs: This fan-like layout recurs a little further along to the east in the "Kermario" alignment. It consists of 1029 stones in ten columns, about in length. A stone circle to the east end, where the stones are shorter, was revealed by aerial photography.

paragraphs: A smaller group of 555 stones, further to the east of the other two sites. It is composed of 13 lines with a total length of about , ranging in height from to . At the extreme west, where the stones are tallest, there is a stone circle which has 39 stones. There may also be another stone circle to the north.

paragraphs: A much smaller group, further east again of Kerlescan, falling within the commune of La Trinité-sur-Mer. These are now set in woods, and most are covered with moss and ivy.

paragraphs: There are several tumuli, mounds of earth built up over a grave. In this area, they generally feature a passage leading to a central chamber which once held neolithic artefacts.

paragraphs: The tumulus of Saint-Michel was constructed between 5000 BC and 3400 BC. At its base it is , and is high. It required of stone and earth. Its function was the same as that of the pyramids of Egypt: a tomb for the members of the ruling class. It contained various funerary objects, such as 15 stone chests, pottery, jewellery, most of which are currently held by the Museum of Prehistory of Carnac. It was excavated in 1862 by René Galles with a series of vertical pits, digging down . Le Rouzic also excavated it between 1900 and 1907 discovering the tomb and the stone chests.

paragraphs: A chapel was built on top in 1663 but was rebuilt in 1813, before being destroyed in 1923. The current building is an identical reconstruction of the 1663 chapel, built in 1926.

paragraphs: Also known as "Er Mané", it is a chamber tomb long, wide, and high. It has a dolmen at the west end, and two tombs at the east end. A small menhir, approximately high, is nearby.

paragraphs: There are several dolmens scattered around the area. These dolmens are generally considered to have been tombs, however the acidic soil of Brittany has eroded away the bones. They were constructed with several large stones supporting a "capstone", then buried under a mound of earth. In many cases, the mound is no longer present, sometimes due to archeological excavation, and only the large stones remain, in various states of ruin.

paragraphs: There are some individual menhirs and at least one other formation which do not fit into the above categories.

paragraphs: An arrangement of stones to form the perimeter of a large rectangle. Originally a "tertre tumulus" with a central mound, it is long, and aligned to east of northeast. The quadrilateral is wide to the east, but only wide at the west.

paragraphs: Near the quadrilateral is a single massive menhir, now known as the "Giant". Over tall, it was re-erected around 1900 by Zacharie Le Rouzic, and overlooks the nearby Kerlescan alignment.


title: Mike Douglas

paragraphs: Mike Douglas, born Michael Delaney Dowd, Jr. (August 11, 1920 – August 11, 2006) was an American entertainer.

paragraphs: Douglas was born in Chicago, Illinois, and began singing as a choirboy. He was singing on a Lake Michigan dinner cruise ship when he was a teenager. After being in the United States Navy for a short time, he moved to Los Angeles. He was on the Ginny Simms radio show. Then, he became a singer in the big band of Kay Kyser.

paragraphs: In 1950, he was the singing voice of Prince Charming in Walt Disney's "Cinderella".

paragraphs: In the 1950s Douglas, who was living in Burbank, California, tried to keep his singing job going. He didn't change to rock and roll, which shortened his chances of being a singer as big band music was becoming less popular. In the hardest years, he and his wife got by "flipping" their Los Angeles homes.

paragraphs: He next showed up in 1961 in Cleveland, where a Chicago friend hired him for $400 a week as an afternoon television host at WKYC-TV. "The Mike Douglas Show" quickly got popular and had national broadcasting in August 1963.

paragraphs: Many famous people were on the show. For example, Truman Capote, The Rolling Stones,Herman's Hermits and Kiss were on the show. The show helped show entertainers for the first time, like Barbra Streisand and Aretha Franklin. After the move to Philadelphia, Douglas tried to sing again, but it did not work work well.

paragraphs: By 1967, "The Mike Douglas Show" had 6,000,000 viewers each day, mostly women. It earned $10.5 million from advertisers. Douglas was paid more than $500,000. In 1967, the program got the first Emmy Award for Individual Achievement in Daytime Television from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Most weeks, Douglas would be joined by a co-host, like John Lennon & Yoko Ono, and Anne Baxter. The show went off the air in 1980.

paragraphs: He came down with prostate cancer in 1990, but after surgery he was cancer-free. Douglas died in August 11, 2006, on his 86th birthday from complications of dehydration.

paragraphs: His wife Genevieve, daughters Kelly and twins Michele and Christine lived after him.


title: Muckrakers

paragraphs: Muckrakers was a term for the group of people who wrote books and newspaper articles in the United States around 1900. Most of their books were about showing how bad things were in "Gilded Age" in America. Some things they wrote about were the power of big business, unclean practices in factories, and the condition of poor people. The books the Muckrakers wrote led to changes in America during the Progressive Era, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 and the breakup of the Standard Oil company.

paragraphs: The following people were among the Muckrakers:


title: Renata Tebaldi

paragraphs: Renata Tebaldi (February 1, 1922 - December 19, 2004) is an Italian operatic soprano and one of the leading lyric-dramatic sopranos of the postwar period. She possessed a voice of great beauty and considerable power which she used with unfailing musicianship and style.

paragraphs: Born in Pesaro, Italy, she studied first at the Parma Conservatory with Branducci and Campogaliani, and at the Pesaro Conservatory with Carmen Melis and Giuseppe Pais. She made her debut in Rovigno in 1944, as Elena in "Mefistofele".

paragraphs: She was chosen by conductor Arturo Toscanini to sing at the reopening of La Scala in Milan in 1946, where she sang until 1954. She also appeared at all the major opera houses of Italy.

paragraphs: She then began singing abroad and made her debut at the Royal Opera House in 1950, at the Paris Opéra in 1951, and at the Metropolitan Opera in 1955, where she was to sing regularly until 1973. She also appeared in San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, etc.

paragraphs: She was particularly admired in operas like Verdi's "La forza del destino", "Aida", "Otello", Puccini's "Manon Lescaut", "La bohème", "Tosca", "Madama Butterfly", Ponchielli's "La Gioconda", Boito's "Mefistofele", Giordano's "Andrea Chénier", Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur", Catalini's "La Wally".

paragraphs: Renata Tebaldi retired from the stage in 1977. She died at her home in San Marino, at the age of 82.

paragraphs: The so-called rivalry between Tebaldi and soprano Maria Callas was mostly fueled by admirers of these two singers and by the press.


title: Lincoln Heights Jail

paragraphs: Lincoln Heights Jail was a jail building in Lincoln Heights. It closed in 1954. It is said to be haunted. The jail is sometimes used as a movie set. It was used to make parts of the music video for "Telephone" by Lady Gaga.


title: Br'er Rabbit

paragraphs: Br'er Rabbit (also spelled Bre'r Rabbit or Brer Rabbit or Bruh Rabbit, with the title "Br'er" ) is an important character in the Uncle Remus stories in the Southern United States. He is a tricky character, and usually wins or escapes because he is clever, not because he is strong.

paragraphs: Br'er Rabbit came from both African and Cherokee cultures. Disney later used the character for their "The Song of the South".

paragraphs: In a Cherokee story, "the fox and the wolf throw the trickster rabbit into a thicket from which the rabbit quickly escapes." There was a "melding (mixing) of the Cherokee rabbit-trickster ... into the culture of African slaves." "In fact, most of the Br'er Rabbit stories originated in (came from) Cherokee myths."


title: Madison County, Florida

paragraphs: Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, and was formed on December 26, 1827. As of 2000, 18,733 people lived there. Its county seat is Madison.


title: Flag of Sweden

paragraphs: The flag of Sweden is a yellow cross on a blue background. It was adopted on June 22, 1906.


title: Hisingen

paragraphs: Hisingen is an island on the west coast of Sweden. It has an area of . It is Sweden's fourth biggest island, but its most populated island. It is north of Gothenburg. Göteborg City Airport is there.


title: Göteborg City Airport

paragraphs: Gothenburg City Airport or Göteborg City Airport is an airport on Hisingen above Gothenburg, Sweden. It was opened in 1940. It is the eighth biggest airport in Sweden, after Luleå Airport.


title: Nebraska Cornhuskers football

paragraphs: The Nebraska Cornhuskers are the athletic football team of The University of Nebraska and they play in the Big 12 Conference. They will play in the Big Ten Conference at the beginning of the 2011-2012 season. The current head coach of Cornhuskers is Bo Pelini and he is in his 3rd year with them. The Cornhuskers play at Memorial Stadium, Lincoln which seats about 81,067. The Cornhuskers have won 24 bowl games. The Cornhuskers have two retired jersey numbers #60 for Tom Novak and #64 for Bob Brown.


title: Over-the-counter drug

paragraphs: Over-the-counter drugs (OTC) are drugs that do not need a prescription to be bought. When they are properly used, these drugs do not put the health of the patient in danger. Many OTC drug ingredients which were prescription drugs are now considered safe enough for use without a prescription. In many countries, there are special government agencies that regulate OTC drugs, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States. Certain drugs are classified as over-the counter drugs, but may only be given by a pharmacist. This is often the case with emergency contraception medicine. It may also be the case that a small packet of a certain drug is available over the counter, but that larger packets require a prescription.


title: Fabian Washington

paragraphs: Fabian Washington (born June 9, 1983 in Bradenton, Florida) is an American football cornerback. He last played for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Washington was drafted out of the University of Nebraska by the Baltimore Ravens with the 23rd pick in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft.


title: Heart of Neolithic Orkney

paragraphs: Heart of Neolithic Orkney refers to a group of Neolithic monuments found on Mainland, one of the islands of Orkney, Scotland. The name was adopted by UNESCO when it proclaimed these sites as a World Heritage Site in 1999.


title: Acrostic

paragraphs: An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing. In an acrostic, the first letter, syllable, or word of every line, paragraph, or other feature spells out a word or a message. It can be used to remember things. For example, Edgar Allan Poe wrote an acrostic poem in English:

paragraphs: "Love not" — thou sayest it in so sweet a way:

paragraphs: Zantippe's talents had enforced so well:

paragraphs: Ah! if that language from thy heart arise,

paragraphs: Breath it less gently forth — and veil thine eyes.

paragraphs: To cure his love — was cured of all beside —

paragraphs: His follie — pride — and passion — for he died.

paragraphs: The first letters of each line (E, L, I, Z, A, B, E, T, H) spell out "Elizabeth".


title: Stan Baluik

paragraphs: Stanley Baluik (born October 5, 1935 in Port Arthur, Ontario) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre and professional golfer.

paragraphs: In hockey, Baluik played from 1954 to 1964 in the Ontario Hockey Association, Quebec Hockey League, Western Hockey League, American Hockey League, and National Hockey League. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award as Rookie of the Year while playing with the Providence Reds of the AHL in 1959-60. He played in 7 games for the Boston Bruins in the NHL during the 1959-60 season.

paragraphs: In golf, Baluik turned professional in 1955 and was club pro at the Fort William Country Club in Fort William, Ontario during the hockey off-season. In 1963, he accepted a position at the Kirkbrae Country Club in Lincoln, Rhode Island where he continues to work. He won several amateur and professional tournaments in Canada and New England, including the 1965 Vermont Open and the 1971 Rhode Island Open.


title: St Kilda

paragraphs: St Kilda is a small archipelago of Hebridean islands. It is northwest of the coast of Scotland. The islands are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

paragraphs: St Kilda has large seabird colonies. The island has the largest colony of North Atlantic gannets in the world.

paragraphs: It is known that people have lived on St Kilda for over 2000 years. The entire population was evacuated from the island in 1930. St Kilda was given to the National Trust for Scotland in 1957.

paragraphs: In the 21st century, the only year-round residents are defence personnel. Many conservation workers, volunteers and scientists spend time on the islands in the summer months.

paragraphs: St Kilda became a National Nature Reserves (NNR) in 1957. It is one of 71 NNRs in Scotland. In 2004, the NNR was expanded. The nearby marine features were added. The islands were also added.

paragraphs: In July 2005, it became one of the few World Heritage Sites to have a "mixed" status for its natural and cultural qualities. They are also a National Scenic Area.


title: Barton Bradley

paragraphs: Barton William "Bart" Bradley (July 29, 1930 - September 16, 2006) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre.

paragraphs: Bradley played junior hockey in the Thunder Bay Junior Hockey League for the Port Arthur West End Bruins from 1946 to 1949, winning the playoff championship in 1948 and 1949 as well as the 1948 Memorial Cup. He turned pro in 1949 and signed with the American Hockey League's Hershey Bears, but was called up to play one game for the Boston Bruins, which turned out to be his only game in the National Hockey League. He spent time in the United States Hockey League for the Tulsa Oilers and the Pacific Coast Hockey League with the Tacoma Rockets followed by a seven-year tenure in the Western Hockey League, beginning with the Rockets who only lasted one season. He then spent time with the Seattle Bombers, New Westminster Royals, Victoria Cougars and the Seattle Americans.

paragraphs: In 1957, Bradley began playing senior hockey, beginning with two seasons with the Belleville McFarlands. He also played for the Port Arthur Bearcats and the Fort William Beavers before officially retiring in 1966.


title: Rick Bragnalo

paragraphs: Richard James Bragnalo (born December 1, 1951 in Fort William, Ontario) is a retired Canadian ice hockey centre.

paragraphs: Signed by the Washington Capitals as a free agent in 1976, Bragnalo played parts of four seasons for the Capitals. After playing a few years in the minors, Bragnalo moved onto playing hockey in Italy with the team of the Val Pusteria Wolves, former EV Bruneck. He signed for HC Milano Saima in 1990, scoring the goal that permitted Milano to win the league in 1990/91. He retired in 1992.


title: Celestial navigation

paragraphs: Celestial navigation is a method of navigation where a person figures out their location and direction using the stars in the night sky. It has been used by sailors to help them find their way in the night. They look for familiar stars or constellations, which will help them find their way.

paragraphs: Celestial navigation involves comparing the angle of certain stars to other stars and how high they are above the Earth's horizon. By doing this, a person can find their longitude.


title: Bizaar

paragraphs: Bizaar is the sixth studio album by American Horrorcore band, Insane Clown Posse and is the second half of "Bizzar". It was released on October 31, 2000. The producers of the album were Mike E. Clark. While on the Howard Stern show, ICP talked with Sharon Osbourne who bet $50,000 they could not sell more than 200,000 copies, and that it would be subsequently dropped from its distributor. Violent J predicted that the group's next album would sell at least 500,000 units and they sold 400,000 units but Sharon never paid them. They left Island Records after "Bizaar" and "Bizzar" because their contract expired.


title: Hokus Pokus (Insane Clown Posse song)

paragraphs: "Hokus Pokus'" is a 1997 midwest hip hop song by the American Horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse and is the third single from their fourth studio album "The Great Milenko", which was released in 1997. The song was produced by Mike Clark.

paragraphs: The song also featured a remix that Insane Clown Posse titled "Hokus Pokus (Headhunta'z Remix)" and there are also two other versions of the song a red cover and a green cover which are both featured on the rarities album, "Forgotten Freshness Volumes 1 & 2".


title: Ken Brown

paragraphs: Kenneth Murray Brown (born December 19, 1948 in Port Arthur, Ontario) is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. Despite winning the CMJHL Goaltender of the Year and being on the CMJHL First All-Star Team in 1967, Brown went undrafted coming out of junior, so he signed a free agent contract with the Dallas Black Hawks of the CHL, the Chicago Black Hawks minor league affiliate. He played one game with Chicago, where he was behind Tony Esposito and Gerry Desjardins on the depth chart, and this was his only time game in the National Hockey League. He was selected by Calgary-Cleveland in the 1972 WHA General Player Draft, although his rights were traded to the Alberta/Edmonton Oilers for cash. Brown won 21 games over two seasons as the backup to Jacques Plante.


title: David Bruce

paragraphs: David Bruce (born October 7, 1964 in Thunder Bay, Ontario) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, and San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League (NHL).


title: Vindolanda

paragraphs: Vindolanda was a Roman fort at Chesterholm, just south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England. Near the modern border with Scotland, it guarded the Stanegate, the Roman road from the River Tyne to the Solway Firth. It is noted for the Vindolanda tablets, one of the most important find of military and private correspondence (written on wooden tablets) found anywhere in the Roman Empire.

paragraphs: The Vindolanda tablets are fragments of wooden leaf-tablets with writing in carbon-based ink. They were found at Vindolanda in northern England. The tablets date from the first and second centuries AD, which makes them roughly contemporary with Hadrian's Wall, which is near Vindolanda. The tablets contain messages to and from members of the garrison of Vindolanda, their families, and their slaves. Similar records on papyrus were known from elsewhere in the Roman Empire, but wooden tablets had not been recovered until archaeologist Robin Birley discovered them at Vindolanda in 1973. Pages have since been found at Carlisle in Cumbria, and continue to be found at Vindolanda.

paragraphs: Most of the tablets are official military documents. However, the best-known document is perhaps Tablet 291, written around 100 AD from Claudia Severa, the wife of the commander of a nearby fort, to Sulpicia Lepidina, wife of the commandant of Vindolanda, inviting her to a birthday party. The invitation is one of the earliest known examples of writing in Latin by a woman. It has even been claimed that this is the earliest surviving letter known to be written by a woman in any language.

paragraphs: The tablets are written in Roman cursive script (joined-up writing). One of the tablets confirms that Roman soldiers wore underpants ("subligaria"), and also testifies to a high degree of literacy in the Roman army.

paragraphs: The tablets do not throw much light on the native Celts, but there are references. Until the discovery of the tablets, historians could only speculate on whether the Romans had a nickname for the Britons. "Brittunculi" ('little Britons') found on one of the Vindolanda tablets, is now known to be a derogatory, or patronizing, term used by the Roman garrisons to describe the locals.

paragraphs: The tablets are on display in the British Museum. They are regarded by the Museum as one of its 'top ten British treasures'.

paragraphs: The garrison were auxiliaries, Roman infantry or cavalry units, not parts of Roman legions. From the early third century AD onwards, this was the Fourth Cohort of Gauls. An inscription found in recent excavations suggests that native Gauls were in the regiment, and that they liked to distinguish themselves from British soldiers. The inscription reads:

paragraphs: A free translation would be "The troops from Gaul dedicate this statue to the goddess Gallia with the full support of the British-born troops".

paragraphs: In 1970, the Vindolanda Trust, a registered charity, was founded to administer the site and its museum. In 1997, the Trust took over the running of the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran, another Hadrian's Wall fort, which it had acquired in 1972.


title: Reincarnation research

paragraphs: Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson, from the University of Virginia, interviewed young children who claimed to remember a past life. He did more than 2,500 interviews over a period of 40 years and wrote twelve books, including "Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation".

paragraphs: Stevenson found that childhood memories possibly related to reincarnation normally occurred between the ages of three and seven years. He compared the memories with reports of people known to the deceased, attempting to do so before any contact between the child and the deceased's family had occurred.

paragraphs: Some 35 per cent of the children examined by Stevenson had birthmarks or birth defects. Stevenson believed that the existence of birth marks and deformities on children, when they occurred at the location of fatal wounds in the deceased, provided the best evidence for reincarnation. However, Stevenson has never claimed that he had proved the existence of reincarnation, and cautiously referred to his cases as being "of the reincarnation type" or "suggestive of reincarnation".

paragraphs: Stevenson retired in 2002, and psychiatrist Jim B. Tucker took over his work, and wrote "Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children’s Memories of Previous Lives".


title: Jim B. Tucker

paragraphs: Jim B. Tucker is medical director of the Child and Family Psychiatric Clinic, and associate professor at the Division of Perceptual Studies, at the University of Virginia. His main research interests are reincarnation research, and prenatal and birth memories. Tucker, a child psychiatrist, worked for several years on this research with Ian Stevenson before taking over upon Stevenson’s retirement in 2002. Tucker is the author of "Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children’s Memories of Previous Lives". He has been interviewed about reincarnation in print and broadcast media in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.


paragraphs: Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation is a 1974 book written by psychiatrist Ian Stevenson on reincarnation research. The book focuses on twenty cases investigated by the author. It has been translated into seven foreign languages.

paragraphs: Reviews of "Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation" have been published in the "American Journal of Psychiatry", "British Journal of Psychiatry", "British Journal of Medical Psychology", "Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease" and some other journals.


title: Angiography

paragraphs: Angiography or arteriography is the name for several imaging techniques to show the inside of blood vessels. These techniques include:


title: Monk parakeet

paragraphs: The Monk parakeet, Quaker parrot or Seatowerian Budgerigar, ("Myiopsitta monachus") lives in Argentina and the countries around South America. The bird is also known for passing one of its tail feathers through its bill to reconnect the barbules. This locking process is similar to pressing Velcro strips together.

paragraphs: The parakeet is on average 29 cm long, with a 48 cm wingspan, and weighs 100 g. Females tend to be 10-20% smaller, but it is hard to tell the sexes apart, unless they test the feather or blood DNA. It has bright green upperparts. The forehead and breast are pale grey. The bill is orange, and when it calls, it makes a loud and throaty "chape(-yee)" or "quak quaki quak-wi quarr". Sometimes, it also screeches, "skveet".

paragraphs: Domestic kinds of Monk parakeets may have different colors such as white, blue, and yellow instead of green.

paragraphs: Monk parakeets are very intelligent and social birds. When they are kept as pets, they can memorize large vocabularies. They are also able to learn many words and phrases.


title: Silicon oxide

paragraphs: Silicon oxide may be either of the following:


title: Jean Cocteau

paragraphs: Jean Cocteau (Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau, 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French artist, poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, moviemaker and actor.

paragraphs: Cocteau wrote or worked on 21 stage performances, some of which were ballets, and some were plays. Cocteau's movies, most of which he both wrote and directed, were particularly important in introducing the avant-garde into French cinema and influenced the upcoming French New Wave genre.

paragraphs: He also worked with Pablo Picasso on several projects and was friends with most of the European art community. In all his creative work, he was a modernist.

paragraphs: In 1955, Cocteau was made a member of the "Académie Française" and The Royal Academy of Belgium. During his life Cocteau was made a Commander of the "Légion d'honneur".

paragraphs: Cocteau was bisexual. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María Félix, Édith Piaf (whom he cast in one of his one-act plays entitled "Le Bel Indifferent" in 1940), and Raymond Radiguet.

paragraphs: In the 1930s, Cocteau had an affair with Princess Natalie Paley, the beautiful daughter of a Romanov grand duke. She became pregnant. To Cocteau's distress and Paley's life-long regret, the foetus was aborted. Cocteau's longest-lasting relationships were with the French actors Jean Marais (who played 'tough guy' roles in movies and TV), and Édouard Dermit, whom Cocteau formally adopted. Cocteau cast Marais in four of his movies.

paragraphs: At times, Cocteau was addicted to opium.

paragraphs: Biographer James S. Williams describes Cocteau's politics as "naturally right-leaning". In his diary, Cocteau accused France of disrespect towards Hitler and speculated on the Führer's sexuality. His views became known, and he was arraigned on charges of collaboration after the war. He was cleared of any wrongdoing: it turned out that he had used his contacts to try and save friends from the Nazis.

paragraphs: Cocteau died of a heart attack in Milly-la-Foret, Essonne.

paragraphs: He was involved in Diaghilev's "Ballets Russes" from the first season in Paris, 1909. He wrote scenarios ("librettos") for Fokine's "Le Dieu Blue" in 1912, Massine's "Parade" in 1917 and Nijinska's "Le Train Bleu" in 1924. He also design company posters, and worked for several other ballet companies. He wrote many articles on dance, and made sketches of many in Diaghilev's circle.

paragraphs: In 1940, "Le Bel Indifférent", Cocteau's play written for and starring Édith Piaf, was enormously successful.

paragraphs: Cocteau directed eleven movies in "avant-gard" style, wrote scripts for six movies and dialogue for three, and directed the photography for one more. Some of his most well-known were "Blood of a Poet" (1930), "Les Parents terribles" (1948), and "Orpheus" (1949).

paragraphs: Cocteau wrote extensively. including poetry. All of it is in French, but some is available in translation.

paragraphs: Cocteau wrote five novels. The most important of these was probably "Les Enfants terribles" (1929). He also published 23 books or pamphlets of original poetry, and 26 volumes of poetic criticism and collections. He illustrated 12 works of poetry. He made a number of recordings, mostly spoken poems.


title: Ron Busniuk

paragraphs: Ronald Edward Busniuk (born August 13, 1948 in Fort William, Ontario), is a Canadian hockey player. He played NCAA hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth and was an All-American his senior year. After graduation, he played in the AHL with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs and the Cincinnati Swords. He took First Team AHL All-Star honors. Bosniuk played most of his career in the WHA with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, New England Whalers and Edmonton Oilers. He played only 6 NHL games, all with the Buffalo Sabres.

paragraphs: After retiring as a player, Busniuk became a coach. He led the Thunder Bay Twins Senior Hockey Team to two consecutive championships in the 1980s. He was later inducted into the Northern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Minnesota Duluth Athletic Hall of Fame.

paragraphs: He is the older brother of Mike Busniuk of the Philadelphia Flyers.


title: Samantha Cameron

paragraphs: Samantha Gwendoline Cameron ("née" Sheffield; born 18 April 1971) is a British businesswoman. She is the wife of David Cameron, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016.

paragraphs: Until 13 May 2010, Cameron was the Creative Director of Smythson of Bond Street.


title: Larry Cahan

paragraphs: Lawrence Louis Henry "Hank" Cahan (December 25, 1933 - June 25, 1992), was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played in several Canadian and U.S. teams, including Fort William Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Hornets, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Baltimore Clippers, Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Cougars.

paragraphs: Cahan was born in Fort William, Ontario. His career as a player began in 1949 and ended in 1974.

paragraphs: On January 13, 1968, Cahan, playing with the Oakland Seals against the Minnesota North Stars, was involved in the accident that caused the death of Bill Masterton.


title: Şehrazat

paragraphs: Şehrazat Kemalî Söylemezoğlu (born September 3, 1952), known by her stage name Şehrazat or Şehro, is a well-known Turkish television personality, composer, songwriter, producer, and singer.


title: Water music

paragraphs: Water music can refer to different pieces of music:


title: Sodium azide

paragraphs: Sodium azide, also known as sodium trinitride, is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is NaN. it will go bang if there is water inside an air bag

paragraphs: It is a white crystalline solid. It is an explosive. It can be detonated by an electric spark. It contains sodium and azide ions. It reacts with acids to produce hydrazoic acid. It can be destroyed by reacting it with nitrous acid. This reaction produces nitric oxide, nitrogen, and sodium hydroxide. It is a powerful reducing agent, which makes it explosive. It contains nitrogen in its -/ oxidation state.

paragraphs: It is made by reacting ammonia with sodium to make sodium amide. The sodium amide then reacts with nitrous oxide to make sodium azide. It can also be made by reacting sodium nitrate with sodium amide. Another process is reacting sodium nitrite with hydrazine.

paragraphs: It is used in airbags. It makes the airbags puff out. A computer detects that the car is crashing and ignites the sodium azide. This makes sodium metal and a lot of nitrogen gas. The nitrogen gas inflates the airbag. It can be used to make other explosives, such as lead azide.

paragraphs: Sodium azide is very toxic. It reacts with acids to make the explosive hydrazoic acid, which also is a very toxic gas. It is similar to cyanide poisoning. It attacks the respiratory system and the circulatory system.


title: Hydrazine

paragraphs: Hydrazine, also known as diazine, is a chemical compound. It is composed of nitrogen and hydrogen ions. Its chemical formula is NH. It contains hydrogen in its +1 and nitrogen in its -2 oxidation state.

paragraphs: It is a colorless liquid. It smells like ammonia, but it is more reactive than ammonia. It is a strong reducing agent. It is explosive. It can mix with water. It is a base similar to ammonia.

paragraphs: It is made by reacting sodium hypochlorite with liquid (not household) ammonia. If it is reacted with household ammonia, toxic fumes will be released. It can be made by reacting urea with sodium hypochlorite.

paragraphs: It is used to make foam. It is also used in rocket fuels. It can be used in fuel cells. It is used to make sodium azide by reacting sodium amide with sodium nitrite.


title: Azide

paragraphs: Azide, also known as trinitride, is an ion. It is formed when hydrazoic acid is deprotonated. It is a powerful reducing agent. Its chemical formula is N. The most common azide is sodium azide. Many azides are explosive and very toxic.


title: Hydrazoic acid

paragraphs: Hydrazoic acid is a chemical compound. (It is similar to hydrogen azide, which is the gas form. Hydrazoic acid is hydrogen azide dissolved in water.) Its chemical formula is HN. It contains hydrogen and azide ions.

paragraphs: Hydrazoic acid is very explosive. It is a powerful reducing agent. It is used to make other azides. It has an unpleasant smell.

paragraphs: It can be made by reacting sodium azide with an acid. It can be made pure by distillation.

paragraphs: It does not have many uses, because it is very explosive and toxic.

paragraphs: Hydrazoic acid is extremely toxic, even more toxic than sodium azide. It can make very bad headaches. It has a bad odor. It does not accumulate in the body. Once again, It is dangerous to drink!


title: Sodium nitrite

paragraphs: Sodium nitrite is a chemical compound. It contains sodium and nitrite ions. Its chemical formula is NaNO.

paragraphs: It is a white or yellowish crystalline compound. It is a strong oxidizing agent, being reduced to nitrogen. It is also a weak reducing agent, being oxidized to nitrate. It contains nitrogen in its +3 oxidation state. It is toxic in large amounts.

paragraphs: It is found in some vegetables. It is also found in some meat in small amounts. Otherwise, it is manmade.

paragraphs: It is used in meat like ham to preserve it. The nitrites are disinfecting, which helps preserve the meat. Almost all processed meat (like cold cuts, hot dogs) contains nitrites. Some people get headaches when they eat nitrites. These headaches have been named "hot dog headaches". It is used to make other chemicals and to get rid of sodium azide. It also can be used when someone is poisoned by cyanide.

paragraphs: Nitrites can form toxic chemicals when heated. These toxic chemicals are carcinogens, which means they can cause cancer. That is why some people do not want nitrites in foods. Others say that because nitrites kill bacteria, they should be included in foods. Sodium nitrite used in food is colored bright pink so it is not mistaken for salt or sugar.


title: Nitrite

paragraphs: Nitrite is an ion. Its chemical formula is NO. It contains nitrogen in its +3 oxidation state. Nitrites are normally strong oxidizing agents. Most of them are colorless crystalline compounds. Sodium nitrite is a common nitrite. They are also weak reducing agents, being oxidized to nitrates (NO).


title: Lithium nitride

paragraphs: Lithium nitride is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is LiN. It contains lithium and nitride ions.

paragraphs: Lithium nitride is a red or purple solid. It reacts with water to make lithium hydroxide and ammonia. It is the only alkali metal nitride that is stable. It is a very strong base. It reacts with hydrogen to make lithium hydride and lithium amide.

paragraphs: It is made by reacting lithium with nitrogen. This is unusual because almost no other elements react with nitrogen at room temperature like lithium. It can also be made by reacting nitrogen with lithium dissolved in sodium.

paragraphs: It can be used to store hydrogen. It can also be used as a source of the nitride ion.

paragraphs: Lithium nitride is toxic and corrosive. It releases ammonia when put in water.


title: Nitrous acid

paragraphs: Nitrous acid is a chemical compound. It is a weak acid. Its chemical formula is HNO. It is unstable. It is made by reacting a strong acid with sodium nitrite. It is a light blue solution. It breaks down to make nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, and water when it is concentrated. Nitrogen dioxide can be reacted with water to make a mixture of nitrous acid and nitric acid. It is used to make chemicals.


title: Arteriosclerosis

paragraphs: Arteriosclerosis is a diseased condition of the arteries. The artery walls are thickened, hardened and lose stretchiness, called elasticity.

paragraphs: The effects of arteriosclerosis can lead to lack of regular blood flow. Low blood flow to the brain can make you dizzy, numb, have slurred speech, and have other symptoms. Thromboses can further block the blood flow. This causes you to be at risk of getting stroke, or a heart attack.

paragraphs: Arteriosclerosis is a major health problem. Arteriosclerosis can be prevented by reducing risks. Risks are smoking, obesity, and low amounts of exercise. Doctors recommend dieting and exercise. Diets consist of low amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats. Some patients may take drugs that lower the amount of cholesterol in their blood.


title: Indian Grand Prix

paragraphs: The Indian Grand Prix is the 17st race of the FIA Formula One World Championship racing calendar in 2011, following the cancellation of the season opener in Bahrain. It is scheduled to take place at the Buddh International Circuit on 30 October 2011 in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh in India. It is subject to approval of the circuit.

paragraphs: Starting in 1997, there have been plans to host an Indian Grand Prix at Calcutta. In 2003, India had only two permanent raceways. One in Chennai (Irungattukottai), and Kari Memorial Speedway in Coimbatore. Two sites in the area of the Bangalore airport were consired. In the state Andhra Pradesh, land near the airport at Hyderabad were set aside. In December 2003, an seven-year preliminary agreement to host the GP in Hyderabad in 2007 was signed. The track was to be build near Gopanapally village, near the outskirts of Hyderabad. In 2004 pressure came from Mumbai, to shift the track from Hyderabad to Mumbai.

paragraphs: F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone expected India to host a Grand Prix within three years. He wanted a locating at either Hyderabad or Mumbai. Both projects then were declared 'dead' when Mumbai's government decided "not to waste money on car fumes while there are more serious issues".

paragraphs: As of 2007, five locations remained in the running for hosting the Indian Grand Prix: Bangalore, the Gurgaon district district in the state Haryana, a permanent track somewhere near New Delhi, a street circuit in New Delhi, as proposed by Vijay Mallya., and a site in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

paragraphs: In June 2007, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Bernie Ecclestone announced a provisional agreement for India to host its first Grand Prix in the 2009 F1 season. The track would be built in the Gurgaon, on recommendation by architect Hermann Tilke.

paragraphs: In September 2007 the IOA announced that the debut race would take place in 2010 on the Jaypee Group Circuit in Greater Noida. In September 2008, Bernie Ecclestone announced that the Indian Grand Prix has been delayed to 2011.

paragraphs: On 8 September, 2010, the FIA announced the schedule. The Indian Grand Prix was on the schedule. It was scheduled as the 18th race of a 20 race schedule. Before the season started, the Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for 13 March, was called off due to the political unrest in the country.

paragraphs: On 3 June, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix would be added back to the schedule. The Bahrain GP was to be held on 30 October, the original date of the Indian Grand Prix. The Indian GP would have been moved to the end of the schedule. The race teams objected to adding the Bahrain GP back to the schedule. It was removed again, and the Indian GP was set to run on the original date of 30 October.

paragraphs: In April, 2011, the circuit was renamed to the Buddh International Circuit

paragraphs: The race will be held at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, 50 km from Delhi. The circuit will be roughly 5.5 kilometres (3.1 miles) and will be designed by F1 circuit designer Hermann Tilke. The 10-year contract for the race has been given to the Indian construction company Jaiprakash Associates.

paragraphs: There have been a lot of infrastructure developments in Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. There has been no direct funding provided for an Indian Grand Prix. According to experts, the benefits of India joining the F1 calendar are clear. The hotel and tourism industry get an immediate boost, and the country's profile would get a lift. Experts are also that once the Indian Grand Prix starts, it could generate $170 million in revenue and employ as many as 10,000 people. There will also be opportunities for advertising between manufacturers and F1.

paragraphs: Leading businessman Vijay Mallya said after signing a sponsorship agreement between his Kingfisher Airlines and the Force India team that he was confident the sport would come to the subcontinent. "It has always been my dream to bring Formula One to India," he told a news conference on the sidelines of the launch of Force India's car in . "The government of Delhi I think really wants Formula One in India and I am optimistic that maybe we will be able to host our first race in 2009."

paragraphs: Both the Motorsports Association of India and the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) have their doubts. FMSCI president, Rajat Mazumbar, has said that "The only authorized body that can run motorsports in the country is ours" despite the fact the deal has been signed with the Indian Olympic Association.

paragraphs: Increased awareness has led to the popularity of merchandise, Formula 1 tickets, and race tours to F1 destinations.


title: Georges Braque

paragraphs: Georges Braque (Argenteuil, 13 May 1882 – Paris, 31 August 1963) was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, with Pablo Picasso, developed the art movement known as Cubism.

paragraphs: French art critic Louis Vauxcelles first used the term "Cubism", or "bizarre cubiques", in 1908 after seeing a picture by Braque. He described it as 'full of little cubes', after which the term quickly gained wide use. Art historian Ernst Gombrich described cubism as "the most radical attempt to stamp out ambiguity, and to enforce one reading of the picture – that of a man-made construction, a colored canvas". The Cubist movement spread quickly throughout Paris and Europe.

paragraphs: A major idea of Braque's was the fractured stringed instrument as a cubist model. This he painted a number of times with variations, and made sculptures with fractured violins, guitars, etc., inside transparent acrylic (perspex) blocks. Examples:


title: Vaslav Nijinsky

paragraphs: Vaslav Nijinsky (Kiev, Ukraine, 12 March 1890–London, England, 8 April 1950) was the most famous male ballet dancer of the early 20th century, and an important choreographer. He was born to Polish parents, both of whom were dancers.

paragraphs: Nijinsky was famous for his dancing ability, and of his ability to show the character of the part he was playing. He could dance "en pointe", a rare skill among male dancers at the time. His ability to perform seemingly gravity-defying leaps was legendary. The ballerina and choreographer Bronislava Nijinska was his sister. They both danced for the Imperial Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre, and later for the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev.

paragraphs: In 1900 Nijinsky joined the Imperial Ballet School at St Petersburg, where he studied under great trainers such as Enrico Cecchetti. At 18 he was given a string of leads. In 1910, the company's "prima ballerina assoluta" Mathilde Kschessinska selected Nijinsky to dance in a revival of Marius Petipa's "Le Talisman". Nijinsky created a sensation in the role of the Wind God Vayou.

paragraphs: His performance in "The Sleeping Beauty" (music by Tchaikovsky) was a tremendous success. In 1910 he performed in "Giselle", and Fokine's ballets "Carnaval" and "Scheherazade" (based on the orchestral suite by Rimsky-Korsakov). His partnership with Tamara Karsavina, in the Mariinsky Theatre, was highly praised: they were called the "most exemplary artists of the time".

paragraphs: A turning point for Nijinsky was his meeting Sergei Diaghilev. Diaghilev was a celebrated entrepreneur (organiser) of ballet and art exhibitions, who promoted Russian visual and musical art abroad. From that moment on, Diaghilev directed and managed Nijinsky's career, and they became lovers.

paragraphs: In 1909 Diaghilev took a company of Russian opera and ballet stars to Paris, featuring Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova. The season of colourful Russian ballets and operas, works mostly new to the West, was a great success. It led Diaghilev to create his famous company "Les Ballets Russes" with choreographer Michel Fokine and designer Léon Bakst. The Paris seasons of the Ballets Russes were an artistic and social sensation; setting trends in art, dance, music and fashion for the next decade.

paragraphs: Nijinsky also choreographed ballets. They were avant-garde and controversial. His ballets were "L'après-midi d'un faune" ("The Afternoon of a Faun", based on Claude Debussy's music) (1912), "The Rite of Spring" (1913), "Jeux" (1913) and "Till Eulanspiegel" (1916).

paragraphs: In "The Rite of Spring" ("Le Sacre du Printemps"), with music by Stravinsky (1913), Nijinsky created choreography which went beyond the limits of traditional ballet. For the first time, his audiences got a sight of modern dance. The angular movements expressed the heart of Stravinsky's radically modern score. The music and dance caused a riotous reaction at the "Théâtre de Champs-Élysées" when they premiered in Paris. Both the music and dance were landmarks in modernism.

paragraphs: In 1913 the Ballets Russes toured South America. Diaghilev did not make this journey, because of a fear of sea travel. Free from Diaghilev's supervision, Nijinsky became acquainted with Romola de Pulszky, a Hungarian countess. Eventually, she succeeded in engaging his affections. They were married in Buenos Aires, and later had a daughter, Kyra. When the company returned to Europe Diaghilev flew into a rage, and dismissed Nijinsky.

paragraphs: During World War I Nijinsky was interned in Hungary. Diaghilev succeeded in getting him out for a North American tour in 1916. During this time, Nijinsky choreographed and danced the leading role in "Till Eulenspiegel". Around this time, signs of his schizophrenia was noticed by members of the company. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1919, and his career effectively ended. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and taken to Switzerland by his wife. He spent the rest of his life in and out of psychiatric hospitals and asylums, as his family travelled round Europe. He never danced again.


title: Nitric oxide

paragraphs: Nitric oxide also known as nitrogen monoxide is a chemical compound. It contains nitrogen in its +2 oxidation state. It contains nitrogen and oxide ions. Its chemical formula is often given as ·N=O.

paragraphs: It is a colorless gas. It is easily oxidized to nitrogen dioxide by air. It can react with a mixture of air and water to make nitrous acid. It glows when reacted with ozone.

paragraphs: It is made by reacting ammonia with oxygen with a catalyst. It is also made in lightning. It can be made in small amounts by reacting copper with nitric acid. It can also be made by reducing nitrous acid with compounds such as iron(II) sulfate.

paragraphs: Nitric oxide is used in making nitric acid from ammonia. Ammonia is reacted with air to make nitric oxide, and the nitric oxide is oxidized by air to make nitrogen dioxide. The nitrogen dioxide is dissolved in water to make nitric acid and more nitric oxide.

paragraphs: It is also used as a stimulant in the human body. It has many actions in the human body that are being studied.

paragraphs: Nitric oxide is toxic when breathed in. It also easily is oxidized to nitrogen dioxide, a toxic brown choking substance.


title: Nitrogen dioxide

paragraphs: Nitrogen dioxide is a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is NO. It contains nitrogen and oxide ions. The nitrogen is in the +4 oxidation state.

paragraphs: Nitrogen Dioxide is a reddish-brown gas with a distinct, pungent odor similar to that of Chlorine. It causes significant and damaging pulmonary effects when it is inhaled, due to the formation of both Nitric (HNO3) & Nitrous (HNO2) acids when it reacts with Water present in the lungs. When Nitrogen Dioxide is compressed or cooled to near 0° C, two molecules of the Dioxide bond, forming the colorless Dinitrogen Tetroxide. It is a strong oxidizing agent. Upon heating, Nitrogen Dioxide decomposes back into lower oxides of Nitrogen (NO) as well as Oxygen. It reacts with iodides to form nitrites and elemental iodine. The presence of NO2 in concentrated Nitric acid causes the acid to take on a yellow color, depending on the concentration of the dissolved gas.

paragraphs: Nitrogen dioxide is normally made by oxidation of nitric oxide by oxygen in air. It can also be made by heating some nitrates. It can be made by reacting concentrated nitric acid with copper or tin.

paragraphs: It is used to make nitric acid by dissolving it in water. Nitric oxide is also released.

paragraphs: Nitrogen dioxide is very toxic. It has a foul odor, which aids in its detection. Much care should be taken to avoid contact with this compound.


title: Kansas City, Kansas

paragraphs: Kansas City is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is the county seat of Wyandotte County. Kansas City is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. About two million people live in this region. The city is part of the "Unified Government". This also includes the cities of Bonner Springs and Edwardsville. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 146,867. The city is at Kaw Point, which is the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers.

paragraphs: Kansas City formed in 1868. It was first officially mentioned in October 1872. The Kansas-Missouri border area became the first battlefield in the conflict over slavery that led to the American Civil War. The first city election was held on October 22, 1872. It resulted in the election of Mayor James Boyle. The mayors of the city after its organization have been James Boyle, C. A. Eidemiller, A. S. Orbison, Eli Teed and Samuel McConnell. John Sheehan was appointed Marshal in 1875. He was also Chief of Police. He had the control over five policemen. In June 1880, the Governor of Kansas made the city of Kansas City a city of the second class with the Mayor Samuel McConnell present. James E. Porter was Mayor in 1910.

paragraphs: It was one of the 100 largest cities for many US Census counts, from 1890–1960, including 1920, when it had over 100,000 residents for the first time. In 1997, voters approved a proposition to unify the city and county governments.

paragraphs: On March 30, 2011, Internet search company Google Inc. announced that Kansas City had been selected as the site of an experimental fiber-optic network that Google will build at no cost to the city. Kansas City was chosen from a field of 1,100 US communities that had applied for the network. Google plans to have the network in operation by 2012.

paragraphs: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 127.8 sq mi (331.0 km²). 124.3 sq mi (321.8 km²) of it is land and 3.5 sq mi (9.2 km²) of it is water.

paragraphs: Kansas City is organized into a system of neighborhoods, some with histories as independent cities or the sites of major events.

paragraphs: Kansas City is near "Tornado Alley", a region where cold air from the Rocky Mountains and Canada meets warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. This situation causes the formation of powerful storms. The most recent tornado to strike Kansas City itself was in May 2003. The region is also prone to ice storms, such as the 2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands lost power for days and (in some cases) weeks. The MoKan area was subject to flooding, including the Great Flood of 1993 and the Great Flood of 1951.

paragraphs: As with Kansas City, Missouri, the percentage of the city's biggest ethnic group, non-Hispanic whites, has gone down from 76.3% in 1970 to 40.2% in 2010.

paragraphs: Kansas City has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International: