title: Berlin Wall

paragraphs: The Berlin Wall (German: "Berliner Mauer") was a wall that separated the city of Berlin in Germany from 1961 to 1989. It separated the eastern half from the western half. Many people thought it was a symbol of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was taken down on November 9, 1989. The Berlin Wall was about long. It was built to prevent people from escaping from the eastern half of Berlin.

paragraphs: After World War II ended, Germany was divided into four zones, one zone for each of the main Allied countries: France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union. Its capital Berlin was also divided into four zones, so that it was an enclave, like an island inside the Soviet zone. On May 8, 1949, the French, United Kingdom and US zones were made into West Germany ("Federal Republic of Germany", "Bundesrepublik Deutschland", "BRD") and West Berlin. The Soviet zones were made into East Germany and East Berlin. East Germany (German Democratic Republic, "Deutsche Demokratische Republik", "DDR") was founded on October 7, 1949. Europe, Germany and Berlin were divided by an iron curtain.

paragraphs: After Germany split into West and East Germany on May 8, 1949, 2.6 million East Germans left to go to "West Germany". In Berlin alone, 3.6 million people fled to the west. To stop this, on August 13, 1961, the Communist government of East Germany built a wall separating East and West Berlin.

paragraphs: The wall was built to keep the country's people in. But the Soviets and East German government said it was to keep capitalism out. They said that West Germany refused to recognize East Germany as an independent country because they wanted to take over North-East Germany just like Hitler took over Poland.

paragraphs: People still tried to escape even though the Berlin Wall was there. They used many methods to get around the guards and barbed wire on the Berlin Wall.

paragraphs: In the late 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev said that the Soviet Union would not use the Red Army to stop the people of Eastern and Middle Europe from changing their government. After he said that, several countries began to change the way they governed their people. Hungary opened its border and people from East Germany began moving to the west through Hungary. In October 1989 mass demonstrations against the government in East Germany began. The long-time leader, Erich Honecker, resigned and was replaced by Egon Krenz a few days later. Honecker had predicted in January 1989 that the wall would stand for a "hundred more years" if the conditions which had caused its construction did not change. This did not turn out to be true.

paragraphs: In November, 1989, the Central Committee of East Germany decided to make it easier for East Germans to pass through the wall. A mistake by the press officer meant the border was opened several hours before it should have been. Millions of East German citizens celebrated the opening of the wall. Many collected souvenirs with chisels and some television stations filmed people hitting the wall with sledge hammers.

paragraphs: This image of people in West Berlin hitting the wall is often said to be East Berliners breaking out. This is not true. The eastern side of the wall had no graffiti on it. All pictures of people chipping away at the wall show people hitting graffiti covered walls. Less than one year after the Berlin Wall was broken down, Germany again became one country.

paragraphs: In the 28 years of its existence, between 125 and 206 people were killed when trying to cross the Berlin Wall. At least 800 more people were killed outside Berlin, trying to cross from East Germany to the west.

paragraphs: The East Germans did not record all of the deaths, so the real number of how many people died may never be known.

paragraphs: Those people who were caught alive in an attempt to flee, had to go to jail for at least five years. The first victim of the Wall was Ida Siekmann. She was fatally injured after jumping out of the window of her apartment. She fell onto the pavement on the west side. The first victim of the Wall to be shot at was Günter Litfin. He was 24 years old and was shot by police, near the railway station of Berlin Friedrichstrasse, when he tried to get into the West. This was on 24 August, 1961, only eleven days after the border had been closed.

paragraphs: Peter Fechter bled to death in the "death strip", on 17 August, 1962. This led to a public outcry. American troops watched him, but could not help him. The East-German border policemen, who had wounded him, did not help him either.

paragraphs: In 1966, two children, aged ten and thirteen years, were killed in the border strip. This is unusual because the East German border police had orders to not shoot on pregnant women, children or mentally ill people.

paragraphs: On 6 February, 1989, border guards shot and killed Chris Gueffroy as he tried to cross the wall. He was the last person to be killed by border guards. On 8 March, 1989, Winfried Freudenberg died after falling from a gas balloon. He was the last person to die trying to cross the Berlin Wall and escape into West Berlin.

paragraphs: The Berlin wall eventually started to fall once people rioted. Many jumped on top of the wall, and even crowded against it. This caused the wall to collapse in some areas, and more people could get through to the refugee camps that were set up on the other side. "Tear down this wall!" was a speech made by United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the wall. The speech was made at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987. It was made to honor the 750th anniversary of Berlin. His speech and its fallout might have aided in the wall's demolition.

paragraphs: By late 1989 the GDR was suffering from many problems such as a struggling economy, and large-scale protests. The Hungarian regime had collapsed and was dismantling its border fences with Austria by August 1989. Since the Warsaw Pact allowed citizens to travel within the Soviet bloc, many East German tourists fled to the west via Hungary. When the Hungarian government refused the GDR's demand to stop defectors, East Germany banned all travel to Hungary; prompting demonstrations and protest. This began the GDR's isolation within the bloc.

paragraphs: Erich Honecker, leader of the GDR since 1971, was forced to resign on October 18, 1989. He was replaced by Egon Krenz after a unanimous vote by the politburo. Under Krenz's regime, East Germans could still escape to Hungary via Czechoslovakia.

paragraphs: The number of defectors grew and caused tensions between East Germany and Czechoslovakia. The Krenz regime decided to allow people to leave directly to the west through border checkpoints in East Berlin. This prompted many East Germans, who learned about it broadcast from West German media, to go to the border crossings and demand to be let through immediately.

paragraphs: Border guards at each checkpoint told the people to go back home as they had no orders that the wall would open that night. As time passed, the number of people arriving at the checkpoint was increasing and the guards were becoming alarmed. They began taking the more aggressive people aside and stamped their passports with a special stamp that allowed them access to West Berlin however, the people were not aware that they were effectively revoking their East German citizenship and were shocked to be refused entry back into the GDR. The Chief Guard of the checkpoint frantically telephoned his superiors hoping to get answers as to why so many people thought that the wall was to open. By 22:45, it was clear that the outnumbered and overwhelmed border guards would not use their weapons to suppress the crowds. The Chief Guard surrendered and ordered the gates to West Berlin to be opened. The crowds of East Berliners were met with crowds of West Berliners in a happy scene as the Berlin wall had just fallen.

paragraphs: Many people even climbed up onto the wall by the Brandenburg Gate in protest and began to chisel away at the wall. The GDR authorities responded to this initially by blasting the people with water cannons; this proved to be ineffective. The East German army later climbed up onto the wall to prevent others from standing on the wall. The government began demolishing the wall the next day. The fall of the wall destroyed the SED, the ruling party of the GDR, and caused many of its officials to resign. The German Democratic Republic would cease to exist less than a year later; reuniting with the Federal Republic of Germany on October 3, 1990.

paragraphs: The wall was changed and added to several times. It was not really a wall, but a collection of walls and fences and other devices. This is what the "border fence" was made of, starting from the east, going west

paragraphs: The whole was done in an a zone of between 30 and 500 m wide. The official ("civil" border) began before the first fence. Entering the installation required a special permit. The real border was about one or two metres in front of the concrete wall, so that the whole of the wall complex was inside East Germany (only the East Berlin part of the wall was inside East Berlin).

paragraphs: The border between East Germany and West Germany was also heavily defended with fences and mines. East Germans needed a special permit to live close to the border.

paragraphs: After the Reunification of Germany in October 3, 1990, the Berlin Wall was demolished and taken away. A few sections of the wall remain; some of the sections became a museum.

paragraphs: The East Berlin special police who guarded the wall had the order to shoot if this was necessary to stop people fleeing. East German leaders such as Egon Krenz were arrested after German reunification because guards were ordered to shoot to kill.

paragraphs: However, after the Wall was built, many people were no longer able to leave East Berlin using normal border posts. The only way they could do so was to race through the Wall or try to dig a tunnel underneath.

paragraphs: After the unification of Germany, border guards who had shot people were convicted by West German Courts. The judges said, that some of the laws of the border police (about shooting) were against human rights. They therefore should have refused to shoot.

paragraphs: The same was of course applied to those people who had shot border police on their flight.

paragraphs: Border guards who did shoot, and stop someone from fleeing could get a reward of up to 500 Marks. Some of those guards were sentenced after the unification.

paragraphs: The other choice was to not shoot, or to miss badly. Such guards risked losing their well-paid jobs.

paragraphs: Another strip of land was given to West Berlin. This strip was only the width of a road which joined West Berlin with a tiny exclave.


title: Łódź

paragraphs: Łódź (pronounced like this, "whootch") is the third-largest city in Poland, with 776,000 inhabitants. It is in the Łódź Voivodeship in the centre of the country. In Polish the name also means "boat". The mayor of Łódź is Hanna Zdanowska.

paragraphs: The first documents mentioning the city date from 1332. Łódź was awarded city rights (according to the Magdeburg law) in 1432. The Congress of Vienna decided in 1815 that the city should be part of Russia. Only in 1918 did the city fall back to Poland.

paragraphs: The city is about 120 km south-west of Warsaw. In and around the city, there are some textile and electronics industries. Because of prolonged economic difficulties, there has been a decline in the population of the city. The city has a university and a film academy. Łódź has a humid continental climate ("Dfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).

paragraphs: There are two major football teams in Łódź: the first is called ŁKS Łódź and the second is Widzew Łódź.


title: Kraków

paragraphs: Kraków (Polish: "Kraków"; (pronounced: ); variant English spelling Cracow; in full Royal Capital City of Krakow, Polish: Królewskie Stołeczne Miasto Kraków) is one of the oldest and largest cities in Poland. In 2014 in Kraków lived 759,800 people. It is on the Vistula river. Krakow is the capital of Lesser Poland Voivodeship ("województwo małopolskie"); before that it was the capital of Kraków Voivodship (since 14th century).

paragraphs: During the mid-early 19th century, Krakow became an independent city-state, under the name of "The Free, Independent and Strictly Neutral City of Krakow". However, it was annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1846.

paragraphs: Pope John Paul II was raised in Krakow and was its archbishop from 1964 until he was elected as Pope in 1978. When it was later announced that the city will host World Youth Day in 2016, it will be a tribute to the late Pope who became a saint in 2014.

paragraphs: The current mayor of Krakow is Jacek Majchrowski.

paragraphs: Kraków is twinned, or maintains close relations with:


title: Portland, Oregon

paragraphs: Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the county seat of Multnomah County. About 538,544 people live in the city of Portland, and about 1,927,881 people live in the city's metropolitan area. It is found in the north part of the state, where the Willamette River meets the Columbia River. Portland has the second most people of any city in the Northwest United States, after the city of Seattle.

paragraphs: Portland has many nicknames. One of these is "The City of Roses," because roses grow well there. Some other nicknames of Portland are "Stumptown" (from the fact that Portland was built over a forest), and "Puddletown" (from the fact that it often rains in Portland).

paragraphs: Many things are from Portland. Some of these things are Powell's Books, Beverly Cleary (and some of her most popular fictional characters, Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby, which also have statues in the city's "Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden for Children"), and the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team.


title: Frame of reference

paragraphs: In physics, a frame of reference, or reference frame, is a perspective that one uses to determine if an object is moving. A frame of reference consists of an object or environment that is considered to be stationary. Typically the observer is at rest in the reference frame; in this context, the term is "observational frame of reference."

paragraphs: For example, when you see a ball roll down a street, you can tell the ball is moving because the frame of reference is the streets, whatever may be on the side of the roads, or the Earth. All of these are frames of reference.

paragraphs: All measurements of motion will be compared to a frame of reference. Therefore, the most commonly used frame of reference is Earth itself, even though it moves. Stars are used as a frame of reference when discussing the motions of the Earth.

paragraphs: When we walk from one side of a ship to the other, our frame of reference is the ship; whether the ship is moving is not relevant to that frame of reference.

paragraphs: An inertial frame of reference is a frame that is either not moving or moving at a constant velocity. In other words, an inertial frame of reference has no net force acting upon it, and therefore Newton's laws of motion are observed.

paragraphs: Inertial reference frames are often used in general relativity and special relativity to describe relative motion of observers or objects and the effects they will endure.

paragraphs: Inertial frames of reference are useful in everyday life as well. For example, consider a situation where two cars are traveling along a road. See Figure 1. If they are separated by a distance of 100 meters, the car in the back is moving at 10 meters per second and the car in front is moving at 5 meters per second, both relative to the ground.

paragraphs: There are three obvious inertial reference frames that can be used to determine when the cars will be even with each other: one where the back car is not moving but the front car is moving backwards at 5 m/s, one where the front car is stationary and the back car is moving forward at 5 m/s, or one where the ground is not moving and the cars are moving at their given velocities. These three perspectives all describe the situation accurately and are physically identical.


title: Broadway

paragraphs: Broadway is a -long main street in New York City. It is different from other streets in that it runs diagonally across the street grid of Manhattan, diagonally crossing newer streets. The street also goes through the Bronx. It continues north as U.S. Route 9 to Albany, the capital of New York State.

paragraphs: Times Square, where Broadway meets 7th Avenue and 42nd Street, is a center of entertainment and is famous for its many theaters and stage plays.

paragraphs: One of the New York City Subway lines, the BMT Broadway Line, runs under the street in Manhattan, south of Times Square. The IRT Broadway - Seventh Avenue Line runs under Broadway, north of Times Square.


title: Schrödinger equation

paragraphs: The Schrödinger equation is a differential equation (a type of equation that involves an unknown function rather than an unknown number) that forms the basis of quantum mechanics, one of the most accurate theories of how subatomic particles behave. It is a mathematical equation that was thought of by Erwin Schrödinger in 1925. It defines a wave function of a particle or system (group of particles) which has a certain value at every point in space for every given time. These values have no physical meaning (in fact, they are mathematically complex), yet the wave function contains all information that can be known about a particle or system. This information can be found by mathematically manipulating the wave function to return real values relating to physical properties such as position, momentum, energy, etc. The wave function can be thought of as a picture of how this particle or system acts with time and describes it as fully as possible.

paragraphs: The wave function can be in a number of different states at once, and so a particle may have many different positions, energies, velocities or other physical properties at the same time (i.e. "be in two places at once"). However, when one of these properties is measured it has only one specific value (which cannot be definitely predicted), and the wave function is therefore in just one specific state. This is called wave function collapse and seems to be caused by the act of observation or measurement. The exact cause and interpretation of wave function collapse is still widely debated in the scientific community.

paragraphs: For one particle that only moves in one direction in space, the Schrödinger equation looks like:

paragraphs: where formula_2 is the square root of -1, formula_3 is the reduced Planck's constant, formula_4 is time, formula_5 is a position, formula_6 is the wave function, and formula_7 is the potential energy, an as yet not chosen function of position. The left hand side is equivalent to the Hamiltonian energy operator acting on formula_8.

paragraphs: Assuming that the wave function, formula_9, is separable, i.e. assuming the function of two variables can be written as the product of two different functions of a single variable:

paragraphs: then, using standard mathematical techniques of Partial differential equations, it can be shown that the wave equation can be rewritten as two distinct differential equations

paragraphs: where the first equation is solely dependent on time formula_13, and the second equation depends only on position formula_14, and where formula_15 is just a number. The first equation can be solved immediately to give

paragraphs: where formula_17 is Euler's number. Solutions of the second equation depend on the potential energy function, formula_7, and so cannot be solved until this function is given. It can be shown using quantum mechanics that the number formula_15 is actually the energy of the system, so these separable wave functions describe systems of constant energy. Since energy is constant in many important physical systems (for example: an electron in an atom), the second equation of the set of separated differential equations presented above is often used. This equation is known as the Time independent Schrödinger Equation, as it does not involve formula_4.

paragraphs: There are many philosophical interpretations of the wave function, and a few of the leading ideas will be considered here. The main idea, called the Born probability interpretation (named after physicist Max Born) comes from the simple idea that the wave function is square integrable; i.e.

paragraphs: This rather simple formula has great physical implications. Born hypothesized that the above integral determines that the particle "exists somewhere in space". But how can we find it? We use the integral

paragraphs: formula_22 to formula_23. In other words, all that can be known in advance about a particle in general are probabilities, averages, and other statistical quantities associated with its physical quantities (position, momentum, etc.). Basically, this is the Born interpretation.

paragraphs: An extension of the above ideas can be made. Since the Born interpretation says that the actual position particle cannot be known, we can derive the following. If formula_24 are solutions to the wave equation, then the superposition of those solutions, i.e.

paragraphs: is also a solution. This implies, then, that the particle exists in every possible position. When an observer comes and measures the position of the particle, then the superposition is reduced to a single possible wave function. (i.e., formula_26 → formula_27, where formula_27 is any of the possible wave function states.) This idea that a particle's position cannot exactly be known, and that a particle exists in multiple positions simultaneously gives rise to the Uncertainty principle. The mathematical formulation of this principle can be given by

paragraphs: Where formula_30 is the uncertainty in position, and formula_31 is the uncertainty in momentum. This principle can be mathematically derived from the Fourier transforms between momentum and position as defined by quantum mechanics, but we will not derive it in this article.

paragraphs: There are various other interpretations, such as the many-worlds interpretation, and quantum determinism.


title: Nutmeg

paragraphs: The nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) is a species of evergreen tree in the genus "Myristica". It is found in tropical Southeast Asia and Australia. From the fruit of the tree, two spices are made:


title: Run (island)

paragraphs: Pulau Run is an island in Indonesia. It is one of the smallest Islands of the Banda Islands. It is about 3 km long and less than 1 km wide.

paragraphs: It used to be of great importance, because of the value of the spices nutmeg and "mace". Both spices are from the same tree. The trees were only grown on the Banda Islands. During the history of the spice trade sailors of the British East India Company of the second expedition of James Lancaster, John Davis and John Middleton who stayed in Bantam on Java first reached the Island in 1603. They made good contacts with the people who lived there.

paragraphs: Two wars were fought over the extremely costly spices.

paragraphs: The Treaty of Westminster ended the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652–1654. According to the treaty, Run should have been returned to England. The first attempt in 1660 failed due to formal constraints by the Dutch; after the second in 1665 the English traders were expelled in the same year and the Dutch destroyed the nutmeg trees.

paragraphs: After the second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–1667 England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands agreed in the Treaty of Breda to the status quo: The English kept the island of Manhattan which a fleet sent by the Duke of York (the future Charles II), had occupied illegally in 1664 and renamed from New Amsterdam to New York. Run was officially given to the Dutch.

paragraphs: The Dutch monopoly on nutmeg and mace was destroyed by the transfer of nutmeg trees to Ceylon, Singapore and other British colonies in 1817 after the capture of the main Island Bandalontor in 1810 by Captain Cole. This led to the decline of the Dutch supremacy in the spice trade, but there are still nutmeg trees growing on Run today.


title: Shinty

paragraphs: Shinty a traditional game now mainly played in the Scottish Highlands. It involves 2 teams of twelve players using a stick (known as a "caman" from Scottish Gaelic) to put a ball in the opposing team's net.

paragraphs: It was once played over all Scotland but is now played mostly in the Scottish Highlands and Highland communities in the big Scottish cities. It is also played in universities and in America by enthusiasts.

paragraphs: The sport's rules and regulations are decided by the Camanachd Association.

paragraphs: It has a common ancestor with the Irish game of hurling and hurlers and shinty players sometimes hold internationals.


title: Manx

paragraphs: The word Manx could mean many things related to the Isle of Man:


title: Hierarchy

paragraphs: A hierarchy (in ; this comes from '-hieros, sacred, and '-arkho, rule) is a way of ranking and organizing things or people. Beneath the top of the hierarchy, each part of it is below some other part. This turns out to be like a pyramid. It is a system to decide who can make decisions, and who is forced to comply with those decisions.

paragraphs: An example with people would be the structure of a company. There is the top manager, and there are a few levels of middle and lower management. At the bottom are the common workers. Another example would be an army that might have a general, followed by colonels, corporals, and sergeants, then privates.

paragraphs: In democracy this is done by educating people in the issues and then voting - in an election to choose leaders, or a referendum to actually choose one option from several. Competing power networks each form a political party and each offers only one leader or one option to the public, to simplify the issues to make decisions possible. After the decision, they typically do not fight it to the point of civil war, but wait for the next election.

paragraphs: In dictatorship this is done by asking one powerful person to make the decision and then agreeing to force everyone to follow it. Any who will not are exiled, imprisoned, or killed, even if the decision is not very important, since the refusal to follow is taken as a challenge to the power structure itself. There is only one power network and all others are forced to become part of it, or fight it. Civil war is much more common in a dictatorship than in a democracy.

paragraphs: In these examples, people who are higher up have more authority and power than people below them.


title: Sultan

paragraphs: Sultan is a name for Islamic rulers. There is no specific word for a sultan's wife.

paragraphs: The word "sultan" was from Arabic language. It means "strength", "authority", or "rulership". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain Muslim rulers who claimed full sovereignty. They did not have to take orders from any higher monarch, without claiming the overall caliphate.

paragraphs: The dynasty and lands ruled by the Sultan is called a sultanate. During the 20th century several Sultans changed their title to "Malik" which means "king".


title: States and union territories of India

paragraphs: The Republic of India is divided into twenty-eight States,and eight union territories including the National Capital Territory.


title: Finnish language

paragraphs: Finnish () is a Uralic language. It is one of the two official languages of Finland. It is also an official minority language in Sweden. Finnish is one of the four national languages of Europe that is not an Indo-European language. The other three are Estonian and Hungarian, which are also Uralic languages, and Basque.

paragraphs: The Finnish grammar and most Finnish words are very different from those in other European languages, because Finnish is not an Indo-European language. The two other national languages that are Uralic languages as Finnish are Estonian and Hungarian. Estonians and Finns usually may understand each other, but their languages are very different. Even though Finnish and Hungarian are related languages, they do not look or sound similar. The Finnish and Hungarian languages separated a long time ago, and each language developed its own vocabulary. People who can speak Finnish cannot understand Hungarian without extra study, and Hungarians cannot understand Finnish. However, there are some basic words that are very similar, for example: 'hand' (Finnish 'käsi' vs. Hungarian 'kéz') 'to go' (Finnish 'mennä' vs. Hungarian 'menni'), 'fish' (Finnish 'kala' vs. Hungarian 'hal').

paragraphs: Finnish is a synthetic and an agglutinative language. This means that words in Finnish have a stem called "body", and other parts inside them which make up the meaning. Finnish is similar in this respect to the Japanese language, Turkish language, and Latin language. In Finnish, there are 17 cases/word types (sanatyypit). You can think of a "case" as an ending added to a word that helps describe its purpose in the sentence. Verbs have 5 tempora (present tense, past tense, perfect, pluperfect and future tense). In addition, verbs have two participle (active and passive) cases. Gerunds, which are nouns made from verbs (for example: reading - to read) also exist in Finnish (lukeminen - lukea), are abundant in Finnish.

paragraphs: Finnish is a complex, self-morphing language. It has been ranked as a highly difficult language for native speakers of English by the U.S. Department of State. The difficulty is due not only to the grammatical structure of the language, but also pronunciation and intonation as compared to English.

paragraphs: Finnish is pronounced the way it is spelled. The pronunciation of some letters is similar to English. However:

paragraphs: English speakers often exhale when saying letters like "k", "p", and "t". They don't do this in Finnish, and to "swallow the sound", as the old saying goes, takes a lot of practice.

paragraphs: The proper pronunciation for the Finnish diphthongs (öy, yö, äy, eu, etc.) is difficult.


title: Sleep

paragraphs: Sleep is a state of rest, which happens in animals, including humans. Animals that sleep are in an unconscious state, or mostly so. Most of the muscles that animals can control on purpose are inactive. Animals that are asleep do not react to stimuli as fast as those that are awake. They can wake up from sleep more easily than from hibernation or coma. All mammals and birds, and many reptiles, amphibians, and fish, sleep. In humans, other mammals, and most other animals that were studied, sleeping regularly is essential for survival.

paragraphs: Just as water and food are immensely critical, sleep is crucial to human health and well-being. Humans and animals require sleep in order for their bodies to repose and become invigorated for the next day. Everyday activities, one’s appearance, and how one expresses themselves all rely on this necessity. If one is tired, s/he will not be able to function properly. Being sleep deprived leads to many outcomes such as struggling to remember information, altering one’s mood, health, and a plethora of other continuing effects. Also, the immune system releases compounds known as cytokines which are used to help fight inflammation and infection. If one does not receive enough sleep, then they will not have enough cytokines to protect them from getting sick. The body will also not have time to finalize memory recollection, muscle repair, and release hormones that regulate growth and appetite.

paragraphs: The purpose of sleep is not fully known, and it is still studied today. We do know for sure, though, that sleep is necessary to most animals for survival. Not having enough sleep can even be used for torture.

paragraphs: A person sleeps when he or she is not awake. Usually, this is during the night. During the day time, most people are awake. They work, go to school, college, or university, or do other things. Many people sleep for a short time in the early afternoon for a quick rest or because they are not able to sleep during the day.This is often called a nap. A successful nap should run between 15-30 minutes. Longer naps such as 30-60 minutes will result in feeling dazed and less attentive.

paragraphs: In some countries, most notably where the weather is warm, there is a tradition to take a nap right after noon, or early in the afternoon. This tradition is called "siesta", and is most common in Spain and Latin America. Some stores and services even have closed while their owners and/or employees take their "siesta".

paragraphs: The word "sleep" comes from the old Old Germanic verbs for sleep. In Old and Middle High German it was called "SLAF". The original meaning of the word was "to slap", which was related to the word for "flabby" (not hard or firm).

paragraphs: Many words related to "sleep" have very different meanings, though. For example, "sleep" was also used to mean death, so that "putting an animal to sleep" meant to kill the animal without pain. "Sleep with someone" can also have a sexual meaning.

paragraphs: Generally, the reason for sleep is that the brain has work to do during sleep. The details are not fully understood, but it is important to get enough sleep for the body and the brain to be healthy and work properly. Usually animals (and people) sleep at periodic intervals, such as once a day. Certain animals send out signals to the others that they will soon go to sleep. Yawning is such a signal.

paragraphs: Both humans and many animals sleep about once a day. Some animals, such as cats, sleep many times a day for short periods.

paragraphs: When people sleep they often have dreams. Probably some animals do, too.

paragraphs: Not only people sleep, all mammals and birds, and most fish, reptiles and other animals do, too.

paragraphs: While humans sleep, REM and NREM are sleep patterns that help with long term memory, remembering information, procedural memory, and creative thinking.

paragraphs: In mammals and birds, sleep can be divided into two categories. In one of them, the eyes move rapidly. It is called REM-sleep (from rapid eye movement). Most dreams take place in this phase as well as energy from the brain to the body progressing, the body becoming relaxed, and the eyes dashing back and forth while sleeping. This phase helps prepare one with vitality for performance in the next day.REM-sleep occurs normally at intervals throughout the night, and the periods of REM-sleep increase in length in the second half of the night. It is often encountered 90 minutes after falling asleep and continues to occur every 90 minutes.REM-sleep was first discovered in 1952-53.

paragraphs: REM sleep is found in mammals and songbirds, but is "poorly established" in reptiles and fish. A survey suggests:

paragraphs: The other category, where this movement of the eyes does not happen, is called NREM-sleep (Non-REM sleep). Usually, dreams do not occur during this time. There are three or four stages of NREM-sleep. Stage I is just barely sleeping, or dozing. Stage II is also light sleep. Normally, in adult humans, about half of the time spent asleep is spent in light sleep. Stages III and IV are called deep sleep. Deep sleep is necessary for growth and healing. It can be quite difficult to awaken someone who is in stage III or stage IV sleep. Sometimes stages III and IV are combined and called stage III.

paragraphs: Adult humans normally sleep in cycles of 90 to 110 minutes each. The night's sleep can be 4 or 5 of these cycles. Each cycle includes, in this order: stage I, stage II, stage III (IV), and REM.

paragraphs: People who receive less than 8 hours of sleep a night tend to complain more and feel very fatigued throughout the day. Receiving the appropriate amount of sleep is extremely important as it could affect one’s body and increase the chances of serious health problems. For each age, there are different amounts of sleep that are recommended:

paragraphs: - Toddlers (4 to 12 months): 12 to 16 hours (w/ naps)

paragraphs: - Toddlers (1-2 years): 11 to 14 hours (w/ naps)

paragraphs: - Preschoolers (3-5 years): 10 to 13 hours (w/ naps)

paragraphs: - Grade Schoolers (6 to 12 years): 9 to 12 hours

paragraphs: - Adults (including old age): 7 to 9 hours

paragraphs: The timing of sleep and the amount of it are both important. Both are different for different people. Some adults sleep best from 22:00 to 05:00 or 06:00 or 07:00. Some sleep best from midnight to seven or eight. These variations are normal.

paragraphs: How much sleep is enough also depends on age. Children need more sleep than adults. Newborn babies sleep about 18 hours per day. Small babies sleep many times a day; human babies do not develop circadian rhythms before they are 3 – 4 months old. At the age of 1 year, they sleep for about 14 hours.

paragraphs: A nine-year-old should sleep about 9–10 hours per day and teenagers, too, also need that much sleep. Adults who sleep less than about 8 hours a day perform worse than those who sleep that long.

paragraphs: Poor habits could affect one’s sleep schedule in many ways without taking notice. A few habits that are very common and ruin sleep are:

paragraphs: A good night’s sleep is extremely important for one’s quality of life. People may have trouble going to sleep, staying asleep or getting enough sleep. This usually means that they are too sleepy in the daytime.

paragraphs: There are many things that influence sleep. Also some substances, called stimulants – coffee is an example – can cause poor sleep. When people have just eaten something, the body is busy digesting what they have ate. This can cause poor sleep, too. Worrying and stress can cause poor sleep.

paragraphs: There are many diseases that cause poor sleep. Fever can lead to bad dreams. Poor sleep can be a side effect of some medications.

paragraphs: Sleep disorders directly influence how a person sleeps. Examples of sleep disorders are narcolepsy, sleep apnea and circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

paragraphs: - Insomnia which consists of difficulties going to sleep at night, having no energy, waking up often in the middle of the night, waking up earlier than planned, and changing mood behaviors.

paragraphs: - Sleep Apnea which is due to the lack of breathing for several seconds which results in the brain awakening and forcing a respiratory effect to breathe harder. As a result of the multiple occurrences during the night, the body cannot go back to sleep, leading to fatigue.

paragraphs: - Restless Leg Syndrome is a need to move one’s leg while resting. While having the urge to move your feet during the night, this may affect the ability to fall and stay asleep.

paragraphs: - Narcolepsy, the inability to control the brain’s sleep/wakefulness cycle which leads to daytime sleepiness and falling asleep at unexpected times.

paragraphs: Sleep specialists - doctors specialized in sleeping problems - often suggest better sleep hygiene to people with sleeping problems. Sleep hygiene means things people can try, such as:


title: North Macedonia

paragraphs: North Macedonia (Macedonian: Северна Македонија - Severna Makedonija) officially the Republic of North Macedonia (Macedonian: "Република Северна Македонија" - "Republika Severna Makedonija" (Albanian: Republika e Maqedonisë së Veriut ) is a country located on the Balkan peninsula and in Southeastern Europe. North Macedonia borders Serbia to the north, Albania to the west, Greece to the south, and Bulgaria to the east. The country's currency is the Macedonian denar (MKD).

paragraphs: The capital and largest city is Skopje, with more than 500,000 residents. It has many smaller cities. Some important ones are Bitola, Prilep, Tetovo, Kumanovo, Ohrid, Veles, Stip, and Strumica.

paragraphs: North Macedonia is often called "a land of lakes and mountains". There are more than 50 large lakes and sixteen mountains higher than 2000 meters above sea level.

paragraphs: North Macedonia is a member of the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO). It joined NATO on 27 March 2020. Since December 2005, it is a candidate for joining the European Union.

paragraphs: The language spoken by the majority of the population is Macedonian. Albanian is also spoken by the Albanian minority (25%) living in the country. North Macedonia has two official languages, Macedonian and Albanian (since 2019).

paragraphs: What is now North Macedonia used to be a state called Socialist Republic of Macedonia in the southeastern part of the country of Yugoslavia. When that country broke up in 1991, North Macedonia became independent.

paragraphs: In past centuries the territory which today is the Republic of North Macedonia was ruled by many different states and empires.

paragraphs: Greece and the Republic of North Macedonia were arguing over the name Macedonia. The United Nations calls the Republic of North Macedonia, "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM) (Macedonian: "Поранешна Југословенска Република Македонија - ПЈРМ" - "Poranešna Jugoslovenska Republika Makedonija -PJRM"). The north and northeast part of Greece has been called Macedonia for ages and officially since 1912, just like Kent, the southeast county of England, has been called Kent for a long time. 'FYROM' is also used by NATO and many other international organisations. But, many countries now call the country 'Republic of Macedonia'. The United Kingdom, for example, uses Republic of Macedonia in the diplomatic list.

paragraphs: On 17 June 2018, North Macedonia and Greece agreed to the Prespa agreement which would see the country change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia. The government started completing the constitutional change needed to change the country's name, which was completed on 12 February 2019.

paragraphs: Macedonia is a democratic country with a parliament.


title: Anorexia nervosa

paragraphs: Anorexia nervosa (usually just called anorexia) is an eating disorder.

paragraphs: People with anorexia think that they are fat, or desperately fear becoming fat even if they are very skinny. To try to lose weight, anorexics do not eat enough. When they do eat, they do not eat the amount of food their body needs, in an effort to avoid gaining weight. This causes them to lose too much weight too quickly. This is very harmful to a person's body. There are various treatments for anorexia. One example is the Maudsley Method. This type of treatment is for patients who are 18 or younger. Two thirds of adolescent anorexia patients are 'recovered' at the end of this treatment. People with anorexia are more likely to die than people with any other mental illness.

paragraphs: Doctors use the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" to make a medical diagnosis and decide if a person has anorexia or not. Four signs of anorexia are listed in the manual. People do not have to show all four signs for the doctor to decide that they have anorexia.

paragraphs: There is no single cause of anorexia. Researchers believe that it is caused by a combination of biological and environmental factors. It has been linked to the media. Many people think that anorexia is caused by wanting to be thin like models in magazines. However, it is not that simple.

paragraphs: People who develop anorexia tend to be perfectionistic. They are also more likely to have problems socializing. There has been research about the link between anorexia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a disorder that involves problems with socializing. Another symptom of autism spectrum disorder is OCD, which has also been linked to anorexia. Starvation is known to create antisocial behavior so there needs to be research that compares those traits in anorexics with people who have recovered.


title: Madness

paragraphs: Madness (or Insanity) is a word that can have different meanings:

paragraphs: Being able to tell right from wrong is the base of a working society and of law; for this reason, the law treats those people differently who are not able to make this distinction.


title: Rabies

paragraphs: Rabies is a neurotropic (referring to the nuerons) virus, viral zoonotic disease (can spread to humans by animals) that causes acute encephalitis.

paragraphs: Usually, people (and animals) die from it (it is fatal). There is no cure for it. People who are treated soon after becoming infected have a chance to survive.

paragraphs: The disease is transmitted through the saliva and the blood. The usual form of getting it is a bite of a rabid mammal. Pets, like dogs need to be vaccinated against it, in most countries.

paragraphs: There is no cure for Rabies. There is a vaccine (medicine to try to prevent rabies) against it. The vaccine was first developed by Louis Pasteur and Pierre Paul Émile Roux in 1885. This vaccine used a live virus grown in rabbits, and weakened (through drying it). The first person to be vaccinated was Joseph Meister (a 9-year-old boy who had been bitten by a dog). Vaccines similar to this are still used today, but other vaccines (growing the virus using cell cultures) are more used.

paragraphs: There is also a form of treatment that can be done once a person has been bitten. It needs to be done within 6 days of being bitten. There is no way to know whether someone is infected, until it's too late. Treatment starts with washing the wound. This is done to reduce the number of virus particles that enter the body. Often patients are given one dose of immunoglobulin and a certain number of vaccines, over a determined period of time, usually a month.


title: Tirana

paragraphs: Tirana ( or "Tirana") is the capital city of Republic of Albania. It is the largest city in that country. The population of the city is estimated at 353,400 people (2003). Other people think there may be up to 1 million people who live in the city. Tirana was founded in 1614. It became Albania's capital city in 1920.


title: John Forbes Nash Jr.

paragraphs: John Forbes Nash Jr. (June 13, 1928 – May 23, 2015) was an American mathematician who worked in game theory and differential geometry. He was born in Bluefield, West Virginia. He shared the 1994 Memorial Prize in Economics with two other game theorists, Reinhard Selten and John Harsanyi.

paragraphs: Nash was born on June 13, 1928, in Bluefield, West Virginia. He studied at Princeton University and at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

paragraphs: The winner of a Westinghouse scholarship, he attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he received both his bachelor's degree and his master's degree in 1948. From Pittsburgh he went to Princeton University where he worked on his equilibrium theory. He received a Ph.D. in 1950 with a dissertation on non-cooperative games. The thesis, which was written under the supervision of Albert W. Tucker, contained the definition and properties of what would later be called the Nash equilibrium. His studies on this subject led to three articles:

paragraphs: Nash also did important work in the area of manifolds (complex spatial structures):

paragraphs: This work led to "Nash embedding theorem": "Two real algebraic manifolds are equivalent if and only if they are analytically homeomorphic."

paragraphs: He is best known in popular culture as the subject of the Hollywood movie, "A Beautiful Mind", about his mathematical genius and his struggles with schizophrenia, with which he was diagnosed.

paragraphs: Nash married Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Lardé in 1957. They had one son. Nash had a first son out of wedlock to Elenor Stier.. In 1963, the couple divorced. They later remarried in 2001. Nash lived in West Windsor Township, New Jersey for a long time.

paragraphs: On May 23, 2015, Nash and his wife Alicia were killed in a car accident near Monroe Township, New Jersey. A taxi that they were riding in was struck by another vehicle and the pair was ejected from the taxi. Nash was 86 years old.


title: Calisthenics

paragraphs: Calisthenics is a series of exercises used to develop strength, power and balance or a repeated rhythmical exercise that uses the weight of the body as resistance or the systematic exercises for attaining strength-gracefulness or the practice of calisthenic exercises.

paragraphs: The name calisthenics is Greek in origin, a combination of the words 'beauty' and 'strength'.

paragraphs: Calisthenics is recommended for general good health, light exercises designed to promote general physical fitness.


title: Muteness

paragraphs: Muteness means not being able to speak. A person that can not speak using sound is called a mute. It is a type of speech disorder. A person who chooses not to speak can also be said to be mute.


title: Wooden spoon

paragraphs: A wooden spoon is a spoon that can be made from wood. Wooden spoons are used for mixing food. Wooden spoon is also a term for last place in a sporting contest.


title: Table tennis

paragraphs: Table tennis, also known as Ping Pong (a trademarked name), is one of the most popular sports in the world, with players in many countries. It is played by two or four people on a table. To play this game, people use bats and small celluloid balls. You need also a net and a table. Table tennis was invented in England in 1880.

paragraphs: The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), the worldwide organization, was founded in 1926. Table tennis has been an Olympic sport since 1988.

paragraphs: Many of the best players in the world today come from China.

paragraphs: The sport comes from England during the Victorian era, where it was played by the upper-class as a game to be played after meals. It has been suggested that simpler versions of the game should be developed by British military officers living in India during the 1860s or 1870s, who brought it back with them. A row of books stood up along the center of the table as a net, two more books served as rackets and were used to continuously hit a golf-ball.

paragraphs: The name "ping-pong" was in wide use before British manufacturer J. Jaques & Son Ltd coined the term in 1901. The name "ping-pong" then came to describe the game played using the rather expensive Jaques's equipment, with other manufacturers calling it table tennis. A similar situation arose in the United States, where Jaques sold the rights to the "ping-pong" name to Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers then enforced its trademark for the term in the 1920s making the various associations change their names to "table tennis" instead of the more common, but trademarked, name.

paragraphs: The next most important innovation was by James W. Gibb, a British addict of the sport, who discovered novelty celluloid balls on a trip to the US in 1901 and found them to be ideal for the game. This was followed by E.C. Goode who, in 1901, invented the modern version of the racket by fixing a sheet of rubber to the wooden blade. Table tennis was becoming more popular by 1901 to the extent that tournaments were being organized, books being written on the subject, and an unofficial world championship was to be held in 1902.

paragraphs: In 1921, the Table Tennis Association was founded, and in 1926 renamed the English Table Tennis Association. The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) followed in 1926. London hosted the first official World Championships in 1926. In 1933, the United States Table Tennis Association, now called USA Table Tennis, was formed.

paragraphs: In the 1930s, Edgar Snow commented in "Red Star Over China" that the Communist forces in the Chinese Civil War had a "passion for the English game of table tennis" which he found "bizarre". On the other hand, the popularity of the sport waned in 1930s Soviet Union, partly because of the promotion of team and military sports, and partly because of a theory that the game had adverse health effects.

paragraphs: In the 1950s, paddles that used a rubber sheet combined with an underlying sponge layer changed the game dramatically, introducing greater spin and speed. These were introduced to Britain by sports goods manufacturer S.W. Hancock Ltd. The use of speed glue beginning in the mid 1980s increased the spin and speed even further, resulting in changes to the equipment to "slow the game down". Table tennis was introduced as an Olympic sport at the Olympics in 1988.


Ping Pong


title: Nayarit

paragraphs: Nayarit is a middle sized Mexican state. It is on the West coast of Mexico (on the Pacific Ocean shore).

paragraphs: Native people from Nayarit are called Nayaritas (singular: Nayarita).


title: Mindanao

paragraphs: Mindanao is one of the three main island groups in the Philippines. It is the southernmost major island of the Philippines, and is the only island in the Philippines to have many Muslim people. Mindanao is northeast of Sabah. It may also refer to the main island in the group.


title: Phylum

paragraphs: A phylum (plural: phyla) is the third highest rank used in the biological taxonomy of all organisms. The second rank is kingdom and the highest is domain. Usually biologists count about 32 phyla of animals, about 14 of plants, and about 8 phyla of fungus, but definitions vary.

paragraphs: With genome analysis, groups of phyla have been put together based on evolutionary relationships. These are informal, not part of the standard classification.

paragraphs: Botanists usually prefer the word "division" instead of "phylum".


title: Knuckle

paragraphs: A knuckle, in anatomy, is where two bones join in the hands or feet. When talking about humans, knuckles most often refer to the joints in the fingers.

paragraphs: Animal knuckles, such as "pig knuckles" are sometimes sold as food.


title: Conduction

paragraphs: Conduction in physics is about forms of energy, namely heat or electricity.

paragraphs: Besides conduction, the other major ways of moving energy are by radiation and convection.


title: Royal family

paragraphs: A royal family is the family of a monarch (king or queen of a country). Or, it is someone who is related to a queen, king or a monarch. Examples of royal families are the British Royal Family, Dutch Royal Family and Thai Royal Family. Some countries have abolished royalty altogether, as in post-revolution France, the United States, Brazil, China and Russia.


title: General election

paragraphs: A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to mean the elections held for a nation's primary legislative body. This is different from primary elections, by-elections or local elections. In the United Kingdom when Parliament is dissolved every seat in the House of Commons becomes vacant and a general election is held.


title: 2005 United Kingdom general election

paragraphs: The 2005 United Kingdom General Election was an election held on May 5, 2005 to elect 646 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. The three main candidates to become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom are shown to the right.

paragraphs: The election resulted in the Labour Party and it's leader Tony Blair winning a majority in the House of Commons for the third time in a row. The Labour Party did lose 47 of their seats in parliament and the amount of votes they got dropped by 5.5% from the 2001 General Election. Many people believe the Labour Party lost support because of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair's unpopular decision to send troops to Iraq in 2003.

paragraphs: The constituencies of Blaenau Gwent and Wyre Forest elected Independent candidates. The seat of Glasgow East was won by the Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin, who is not considered to be of any political party.

paragraphs: The next election was held on May 6, 2010. See United Kingdom general election, 2010


title: Milenko Stefanovic

paragraphs: Milenko Stefanović (born February 19, 1930 in Belgrade, Serbia, then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) is the most famous Serbian classical and jazz clarinet player – soloist, former Principal Clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra and Professor at the Josip Slavenski School of Music, University of Pristina and University of the Arts in Belgrade.

paragraphs: Stefanovic began his music study at the age of five. He graduated and completed his postgraduate studies from the Belgrade Conservatory. His major teacher was Professor Bruno Brun, the founder of modern Serbian school of clarinet playing. Additionally, he studied chamber music and orchestral playing in Salzburg, Austria, in the class of Igor Markevich, Erich Leinsdorf and Fernand Oubradous.

paragraphs: Stefanovic was a top-prize winner or finalist in the major Yugoslavian and international competitions, including the competitions in Sarajevo (1952), Skopje (1954), Ljubljana (1956), Moscow (1957), Munich (1957), Geneva (1957) and Prague (1959). Additionally, he was honored with the Award of the Yugoslavian Radio-Television (Ohrid, 1972), awards of the City of Belgrade for the best concert in the previous concert season (1976, 1981, 1986), as well as with 7th July Award (1962), the state’s highest award for the arts. In 2007, upon recommendation of the Expert Committee of the Ministry of Culture, he was awarded Special Acknowledgement for the Highest Contribution to the National Culture of the Republic of Serbia. In 2010 the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia awarded him with The Lifetime Achievement Award.

paragraphs: During his long career, Stefanovic performed throughout Europe, Africa and North America. Stefanovic recorded for the leading radio and television stations in the country and abroad: United Kingdom, Italy, France, USSR, Germany, etc. As a soloist, member of various chamber groups and orchestras, he collaborated with distinguished Yugoslavian and international artists, including: Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel, Leopold Stokowski, Kirill Kondrashin, Bernard Keeffe, Oivin Fjeldstad, Francesco Mander, Jerzy Katlewicz, Jovan Sajnovic, Uros Lajovic, Anton Kolar, Anton Nanut, Petr Vronsky, Zbigniew Chwedczuk, Oskar Danon, Dusan Skovran, Josef Daniel, Zivojin Zdravkovic, Julio Maric, Franc Klinar, Roman Skrepek, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Vanco Cavdarski, Bogo Leskovic, Djura Jaksic, Mladen Jagust, Aleksandar Lekovski, Bogdan Babic, Vojislav Simic, Eric Hope, Evgeni Korolyov, Michel Dussault, Andreja Preger, Viktor Jakovcic, Freddy Dosek, Zorica Dimitrijevic-Stosic, Mirjana Krsljanin, The Zagreb Soloists, The Belgrade Trio, The Serbian String Quartet, The Zagreb Quartet and many others.

paragraphs: He was one of the few artists honored to perform Copland’s Clarinet Concerto under the baton of Maestro Aaron Copland (1961).

paragraphs: He was a long-time principal clarinetist of the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (1954-1976).

paragraphs: Stefanovic also played jazz – as a soloist and member of the Belgrade Jazz Trio and Markicevic Quintet.

paragraphs: He has a number of personally dedicated clarinet works by prominent Yugoslavian composers: Dejan Despic, Aleksandar Obradovic, Petar Bergamo, Dusan Radic, Petar Ozgijan, Miodrag Ilic.

paragraphs: Stefanovic was the chair of the committee in numerous Yugoslavian and international competitions.

paragraphs: Stefanovic wrote numerous jazz compositions and some film music.

paragraphs: He taught at the Josip Slavenski School of Music, University of Pristina and University of the Arts in Belgrade. His former students hold teaching positions in music schools and universities and play in orchestras in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. Stefanovic wrote several textbooks for the clarinet students.

paragraphs: He served as the Vice-Chancellor and member of the Board of Trustees of the University of the Arts in Belgrade.

paragraphs: Stefanovic is an honorary member and former president of the Association of Musical Artists of Serbia.


title: Flash memory

paragraphs: Flash memory is a memory storage device for computers and electronics. It is most often used in devices like digital cameras, USB flash drives, and video games. It was developed in the 1980s from the earlier and similar EEPROM.

paragraphs: Flash memory is different from RAM because RAM is volatile (not permanent). When power is turned off, RAM loses all its data. Flash can keep its data intact with no power at all. A hard drive is also permanent (non-volatile) storage, but it is bulky and fragile. Flash memory is one kind of Non-volatile random-access memory. It is slower than RAM but faster than hard drives. It is often used in small electronics because of its small size and lack of moving parts.

paragraphs: The main weakness of flash memory is that it is more expensive than hard drives for the same amount of storage. Another weakness is the number of times that data can be written to it. Data can be read from flash as many times as desired, but after a certain number of "write" operations, "write cycles", it will stop working. Most flash devices are designed for about 100,000 - 1,000,000 write cycles.

paragraphs: EEPROM has the same limitation that flash does: ones made in the 20th century could only survive about 100,000 write cycles, later increased to about a million. It is more expensive than flash, so it is rarely used for storage greater than 128kB. The main difference between EEPROM and flash memory is that most EEPROM devices can erase any byte of memory at any time. Flash memory can only erase an entire chunk, or "sector", of memory at a time. Both EEPROM and flash are subject to the limitation that only bytes in an 'erased' state can be written, which means that if the user wants to change only one byte of flash, the entire sector must be erased and re-written. This means that flash memory can wear out faster than EEPROM. Some flash memory can store hundreds of gigabytes, or even terabytes. Many are in the form of a pen drive.

paragraphs: Flash memory is used in USB Drives, solid-state drives, computer RAM (occasionally), hybrid drives (small SSD + hard drive), graphics cards, and memory cards.


title: Bottrop

paragraphs: Bottrop is a city in west central Germany, on the Rhine-Herne Canal, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen). Bottrop is in the Ruhr industrial area, It is next to Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail center. There are factories producing coal-tar derivatives, chemicals, textiles, and machinery. The population is currently 119,655. Bottrop grew as a mining center beginning in the 1860s and was chartered as a city in 1921. In 1975 it was put together with the unification with the neighbor communities of Gladbeck and Kirchhellen, but Gladbeck left in 1976.

paragraphs: The place is first heard of in 1150, as "Borthorpe". This name means "village on the hillside". In the year 1423, Bottrop is awarded the status of a market town. In 1786 the first cotton mill opens. Coal mining starts in 1856. The city gets town privileges in 1919. In 1953, the population passed 100.000 people for the first time.


title: Puducherry

paragraphs: Puducherry, which used to be called Pondicherry is a Union territory of India. Pondicherry is divided into four separate parts: Puducherry district, Karaikal district, Yanam district , and Mahe district. These four areas are under one name because they were all once ruled by the French. Chandranagore, the fifth former French colony 30 kilometers north of Kolkata, in West Bengal, India, is now outside this unconnected territory.

paragraphs: When India took control of them, they took them in as one territory. Pondicherry is going through a name change to Puducherry, which means "new village" in the local language. It covers an area of 183 mi² or 474 km²; it is bigger than Andorra but smaller than Saint Lucia.

paragraphs: Its a very nice tourist place. Its has many heritage buildings with old French architecture. The Boulevard is ellipse-shaped with two clock towers of the Small Market and the Big Market as the foci of it. The area of boulevards close to the Beach is called White Town. This was the area where initial French settlements were made. Henceforth it is called White town area.


title: New York Yankees

paragraphs: The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in New York City, New York in the Bronx. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the American League (AL) east division. They are one of two MLB teams based in New York City, the other being the National League's (NL) New York Mets. They won 27 World Series championships to date, more than any other team in the Major Leagues. From 1923 to 2008, the Yankees home stadium had been Yankee Stadium. Currently, they are playing at their new Yankee Stadium.

paragraphs: The word "Yankee" (slang for "American") and the "Uncle Sam" top hat, make up part of what they are all about. As with the more common use of the term "Yankee", the team name is more often called "the Yanks". Their most commonly used "unofficial" nickname is "the Bronx Bombers", or simply "the Bombers". This nickname was given to them by the press a long time ago. It refers to their ability to hit home runs a lot (a home run is sometimes called a "bomb"). A less used nickname is "the Pinstripers", for their well-known uniform style.

paragraphs: The Yankees currently don't have a team captain. Derek Jeter retired after the 2014 season

paragraphs: The Yankees' current team ace is Geritt Cole.

paragraphs: The New York Yankees' main rival is the Boston Red Sox.

paragraphs: The Yankees' current team manager is Aaron Boone.

paragraphs: The Yankees' current General Manager is Brian Cashman.

paragraphs: The official fight song for the Yankees is "Here Come the Yankees".

paragraphs: After the game, they play Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York".

paragraphs: They have 18 retired numbers, more than any other teams in MLB. The number 42 was retired not only in the Yankees but also throughout Major League Baseball in honor of Jackie Robinson who broke the color barrier.

paragraphs: The Yankees were also the last team to repeat as World Series champions. They won three straight titles from 1998 to 2000.


title: Terry Pratchett

paragraphs: Sir Terry Pratchett OBE (Terence David John Pratchett; 28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author. He was known for his fantasy works, including the famous "Discworld" series. His first novel, "The Carpet People", was published in 1971. He was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was born in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England.

paragraphs: Pratchett died at his home in Broad Chalke, Wiltshire, England on 12 March 2015 from a severe chest infection with final complications from his Alzheimers, aged 66.


title: Critic

paragraphs: A critic is a person who reviews things like movies, books, and food to see if they are any good and if other people would like them. They write reviews about what they have seen or read.

paragraphs: Critics may write about art, music, theatre, politics, movies, television, books, or anything in which good or bad is a matter of personal opinion.

paragraphs: Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Raymond Williams, Susan George, John Ruskin, Rene Ricard, John Amis, Vladimir Vladimirovich Kara-Murza, George Bernard Shaw, Robert Schumann and Pauline Kael are some famous critics of art, music, politics and movies.


title: Søren Kierkegaard

paragraphs: Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855), was a 19th-century Danish philosopher and theologian, and is usually thought of as the first existentialist philosopher.

paragraphs: He wrote many philosophical books about faith, existence, emotions, and feeling. He disliked people who tried to make Christianity political and people who tried to limit the single individual in favour of groups of many people. Many people have found his works interesting and have said that they were great works of philosophy. Ludwig Wittgenstein, a 20th-century philosopher, thought Kierkegaard was "by far, the most profound thinker of the nineteenth century".

paragraphs: He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He attended Copenhagen University and earned his master's degree in 1841. During this time, he met and fell in love with Regine Olsen in 1837. Although they were engaged for a time, Kierkegaard ended the engagement in 1841.

paragraphs: After breaking up with Regine, he spent much of his time writing book after book, in a highly dramatic yet subtle way. He also wrote some of his works using pen names, or pseudonyms. He died in Copenhagen. Although his works were not very popular during his lifetime, after his death they became influential in the 20th century.

paragraphs: Books by Kierkegaard. "Either/Or" and "Fear and Trembling", both published in 1843, are thought to be especially significant.


title: Despotism

paragraphs: Despotism is a form of government that is controlled by one person or a small group of people. The person who controls the state is called a "despot". The despot has complete control of the state, like a dictator or tyrant. In history, the pharaohs of Egypt were despots. The word "despot" is thought to come from the Ancient Greek word "despotes", which means "the master".

paragraphs: According to Montesquieu, the difference between absolute monarchy and despotism is as follows. In the case of the monarchy, a single person governs with absolute power by fixed and established laws, whereas a despot governs by his or her own will and caprice.

paragraphs: The importance of the idea of despotism is that today it is a very common type of dictatorship or direct rule. Ruling monarchies are today few in number.

paragraphs: Even when there are elections, as there are for the Russian presidency, opposition candidates are at such a disadvantage that they are rarely, if ever, successful.

paragraphs: Despotism has always been associated with Eastern rather than Western states. Of the former Soviet Union, it is only the new states to the west which have attempted, with difficulties, to build genuine democracies (such as Moldova and Ukraine).


title: Lakshadweep

paragraphs: Lakshadweep (; ISO: , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy and Aminidivi Islands (), are a group of islands in the Arabian Sea. They belong to India. Their capital is Kavaratti. It covers an area of . Eleven of the 36 coral XXX

paragraphs: Xnxx atoll islands of Lakshadweep are inhabited. The islands are the only coral atolls in India. The people living there are Malayalam and Mahl people, who have been influenced by Arab traders. Lakshadweep is a Muslim region just like the neighbouring Maldives, where tourism is strictly regulated. Lakshadweep has the largest percentage of Muslims - 98%, even larger percentage than Jammu and Kashmir and is the only Muslim-majority Indian administrative division entirely within India. Apart from the emerging tourism, government jobs, fishing and coconut production are the mainstays of the Lakshadweep economy.


title: Daman and Diu

paragraphs: Daman and Diu is a union territory in India. It covers an area of 50 mi² or 130 km², it is bigger than Saint Helena but smaller than Wallis and Futuna.

paragraphs: The territory used to belong to Portugal.


title: Riding helmet

paragraphs: A riding helmet, sometimes called a horse riding helmet, is a type of helmet made for people who ride horses. It is important to wear a riding helmet when riding. It is easy for a person to fall off a horse and hit his or her head. Riding helmets keep the rider of a horse from being hurt. Horses can accidentally step on a person who has fallen to the ground.

paragraphs: Helmets should be worn by all riders, but are most often worn by English style riders.


title: Ketchup

paragraphs: Ketchup is a kind of thick, liquid sauce. It is made from tomatoes, so it is sometimes called tomato sauce. Usually it is used to add flavour to food. Some people like to eat sausages, burgers, hotdogs or fishsticks with ketchup. Ketchup tastes very unlike the real tomato.

paragraphs: Although today's ketchup is tomato based, it did not appear until about a century after other types. By 1801, a recipe for tomato ketchup was created by Sandy Addison. It was later printed in an American cookbook, the "Sugar House Book". James Mease published another recipe in 1812. In 1824, a ketchup recipe using tomatoes appeared in "The Virginia Housewife". This was an important 19th-century cookbook written by Mary Randolph, Thomas Jefferson's cousin.

paragraphs: As the century went on, ketchup became more popular in the United States. More Americans began to like tomatoes. Tomato ketchup was sold locally by farmers. A man named Jonas Yerks (or Yerkes) is believed to have been the first man to make tomato ketchup a national phenomenon. By 1837, he had produced and distributed the condiment nationally. Shortly after that, other companies did the same. F. & J. Heinz created their tomato ketchup in 1876. Heinz tomato ketchup was advertised: "Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!"

paragraphs: The "Webster's Dictionary" of 1913 defined "catchup" as a "table sauce made from mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts, etc. [Written also ketchup]."

paragraphs: Modern ketchup emerged in the early years of the 20th century. This came from a debate over the use of sodium benzoate as a preservative in condiments. Harvey W. Wiley challenged the safety of benzoate. In response, business owners, particularly Henry J. Heinz, pursued a different recipe that did not use that preservative.

paragraphs: Prior to Heinz (and his fellow innovators), commercial tomato ketchups of that time were watery and thin. This was due to the use of unripe tomatoes. Those tomatoes were low in pectin. They were less vinegary than modern ketchups. By pickling ripe tomatoes, the need for benzoate was eliminated. There was also no spoiled ketchup or loss in flavor. The changes also helped make it an important American condiment according to some experts.

paragraphs: Until Heinz, most commercial ketchups appealed to two of the basic tastes: bitterness and saltiness. But the switch to ripe tomatoes and more tomato solids added a stronger "umami" taste. The major increase in the concentration of vinegar added sourness and pungency to the range of sensations experienced while eating it.

paragraphs: In the past, ketchup was produced from fresh tomatoes after harvesting. Vacuum evaporation made it possible to turn tomatoes into a very thick tomato paste. This made it easy to store at room temperature. This allows a factory to produce ketchup throughout the year.

paragraphs: In fast food chains, ketchup is often put in small packets that hold ketchup inside. Users tear the side or top of the packet. They then squeeze the ketchup out of the ketchup packets. In 2010, Heinz is offering an alternate squeeze and dip cup. This is meant to offer a cleaner method of dispensing the product.

paragraphs: In an earlier approach, some fast food outlets dispense ketchup from pumps into paper cups. Some restaurants still use this method.

paragraphs: In October 2000, Heinz introduced colored ketchup products called EZ Squirt. They included green, purple, pink, orange, teal, and blue colored ketchup. These products were made by adding food coloring to the traditional ketchup. these products have been discontinued.

paragraphs: In Canadian markets, the manufacturing of ketchup is regulated by the Food and Drug Regulation. Ketchup, a heat processed product, must be made from the juice of red-ripe tomatoes or sound tomato trimmings where the skins and seeds have been removed. The ketchup must contain vinegar, salt, seasoning and a sweetening ingredient. They may also contain a class II preservative and food colouring, though not required.

paragraphs: In the United States, ketchup is regulated and standardized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ketchup must be prepared from a tomato concentrate, juice from mature red Lycopersicum esculentum tomatoes or liquid residue from preparing tomatoes for canning or partial juice extractions. The tomato skins, seeds and other hard substances must be strained. Additionally, ketchup must contain any combination of vinegars, nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners, and/or spices, flavouring, onions or garlic.


title: Dadra and Nagar Haveli

paragraphs: Dadra and Nagar Haveli is a territory in India. It covers an area of 188 mi² or 487 km², it is bigger than Andorra, but smaller than Saint Lucia.


title: Birthday

paragraphs: A birthday is the day when a person was born. In many places, on a person's birthday, he or she celebrates with friends and family at a party, where they eat cake or other foods, and get gifts.

paragraphs: Not everyone celebrates birthdays, including Jehovah's Witnesses.

paragraphs: In many English-speaking countries, people sing the song "Happy Birthday to You" to the person celebrating her or his birthday. There are similar songs in other languages.

paragraphs: A birthday cake is usually decorated and covered with candles. Most of the time, the number of candles is the same as the age of the birthday person.

paragraphs: Children usually reach their age of majority on a birthday.

paragraphs: A person's astrological sign is based on his or her birthday.

paragraphs: A birthstone symbolizes the month of birth. In 1912, the Jewelers of America agreed on a list of birthstones:


title: Yi I

paragraphs: Yi I (December 26, 1536–1584) was a Korean Confucian scholar. His mother was a famous calligraphist, Shin Saimdang. He was very intelligent as a child, learning to read at three and being very bright at his studies. He was also devoted to his parents: when his mother was sick, he prayed to his ancestors to heal her; and when his father was sick, he cut his own finger with a knife and let his father drink his blood (at that time, people thought human blood was very good medicine).


title: Sunrise (company)

paragraphs: Sunrise is a Japanese animation company. The staff uses the name Hajime Yatate in all their productions by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but this is not a real person--it is a name that all the people who work for the studio use for themselves.


title: X-ray

paragraphs: X-radiation is a kind of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays are waves of X-radiation. X-rays have a shorter wavelength, and therefore more energy, than ultraviolet radiation. They have a much shorter wavelength than visible light (the light that we can see). Radiation with shorter wavelengths (more energy) than the X-ray is called Gamma radiation (γ-rays). These are all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

paragraphs: The wavelength of X-rays covers a wide range. Most X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometres. This corresponds with frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz (3×10 Hz to 3×10 Hz) and energies in the range 100 eV to 100 keV.

paragraphs: X-rays can go through many solid materials. For this reason, taking photograms with X-rays is used in medicine in order to see bones and other things inside the body. Sometimes the term "X-Ray" means these pictures instead of the radiation that makes them.

paragraphs: What these images show will depend on three things: Rayleigh scattering, Compton scattering and photoabsorption. The images show bone because it is dense enough that X-rays are not able to pass through it. Instead, the X-rays are either absorbed or scattered. The images do not show skin and muscle, however, because these tissues are transparent enough for the X-rays to pass through them without being absorbed too much. To detect tumors, other imaging devices are used; such as magnetic resonance imaging. A computed tomography scanner combines an X-ray machine and computer to construct a three dimensional (3D) picture. This has some ability to see other things besides bone.

paragraphs: X-rays are made by hitting metal with fast-moving electrons. They are photons, tiny packets of energy that can move atoms and change chemicals in the body. They are ionizing radiation but the things they do depend on the wavelength of the X-rays (or how much energy they have). X-rays with smaller energies ("soft" x-rays) cause the photoelectric effect. Mid-level energies cause Compton scattering. High-level energies ("hard" X-rays) cause pair production. X-rays used for making pictures of people have low to medium energy. Radiation therapy that treats cancer uses Compton scattering and sometimes Pair production.

paragraphs: There are small amounts of X-rays in the air. Like other energy in the air, X-rays can change living cells. Exposing the human body to high doses of X-rays for a long time is dangerous. It can cause cancer. However, cancer cells are hurt more easily, so X-rays are sometimes used to kill them.


title: Computed tomography scanner

paragraphs: A computed tomography (CT) scanner is an X-ray machine that takes cross section images. They can help a doctor in diagnosis.


title: Hanoi

paragraphs: Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam. It is also the second most populated city in the country. In 2004, about 3,083,800 people lived in the city. It has been the capital of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) since 1945 and the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (all of Vietnam) since 1976. Before that, it was the capital of the country now called Vietnam for most of the time from at least the 11th century until 1802. The city is on the right of the Red River, and the city's name translates to English as "inside the river". Things made there include machine tools, plywood, textiles, chemicals and handicrafts. Hanoi is at 21°2' North, 105°51' East, 1,760 km north of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Popular tourist sites in the city include Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Hoa Lo Prison, and the Palace of Literature. Nearby Hanoi is also where pho, Vietnamese beef noodle soup, was first created.


title: The Chronicles of Narnia

paragraphs: The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy books, written by British author C. S. Lewis. They have been published since 1954 and have sold over 100 million copies in 41 languages. The books were written by Lewis between 1949 and 1954, they were also illustrated by Pauline Baynes. In 2005, 2008 and 2010, the first three books were made into movies.

paragraphs: Completed by the end of March 1949 and published by Geoffrey Bles in London on 16 October 1950, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" tells the story of four ordinary children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, who have been evacuated to the English countryside from London in 1940 following the outbreak of World War II. They discover a wardrobe in Professor Digory Kirke's house that leads to the magical land of Narnia. The Pevensie children help Aslan, a talking lion, save Narnia from the evil White Witch, who has reigned over the land of Narnia for a century of perpetual winter. The children become kings and queens of this new-found land and establish the Golden Age of Narnia, leaving a legacy to be rediscovered in later books.

paragraphs: This book is set 1300 years after "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". Narnia is ruled by the Telmarines, a very mean people. The Pevensie children are called to Narnia by Susan's horn, which is blown by Prince Caspian. There is a big war between the Telmarines and Narnians. At the end of the book, Peter and Susan are told that they will not be able to come back to Narnia. The book was published in 1951.

paragraphs: In the third book, Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia with their cousin, Eustace. They travel on a ship with Caspian, now King of Narnia. They are looking for seven lords who were sent away from Narnia by Caspian's uncle, Miraz. This book was published in 1952.

paragraphs: Eustace returns to Narnia with Jill, a friend from school. He finds Caspian very old. Aslan tells Jill to find Rillian, Caspian's son, who has been missing for many years. A Marsh-Wiggle named Puddleglum travels with them. This book was published in 1953.

paragraphs: This book is set during the rule of the Pevensies. Shasta, is a young boy living in the country of Calormen. He decides to run away when he finds out he is not the son of Arsheesh. He heads north to Narnia with a talking horse, Bree, a Calormene noblewoman, Aravis, and her talking horse, Hwin. It was published in 1954.

paragraphs: This book is set before any of the others. It tells about a boy, Digory, and his friend, Polly. They travel to Narnia through the experiments of Digory's uncle, Andrew. It describes the creation (beginning) of Narnia and the first King and Queen. It also shows the beginning of Jadis, who is called the White Witch in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". The book was published in 1954.

paragraphs: Completed in the spring of 1953 and published in 1956," The Last Battle" tells about the end of the world of Narnia. Jill and Eustace return to save Narnia from Shift, an ape, who tricks Puzzle, a donkey, into pretending to be the lion, Aslan. The Pevensie children (without Susan, who has decided that Narnia was just part of a game they played as children), along with their parents and friends, die in a train crash and lived in Narnia forever with Aslan.

paragraphs: "The Chronicles of Narnia" have been made into several movies, TV films, video games, and stage plays.

paragraphs: The first was "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", which was released in 2005, made a world-wide total of $744,783,957. "Prince Caspian," released on May 16 2008, is the second of seven movies to be released by Disney Pictures. Disney also had plans to create the third book in the series: "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," which was released in 2010.


title: Asatru

paragraphs: Asatru (or Ásatrú) is a religion which involves the worship of ancient Germanic spirits and Gods. It was officially recreated in the 1970s in Iceland, but its roots go back many thousands of years. The name comes from two words in a language called Old Norse. It means "faith in the Æsir." The Æsir are the Germanic gods.

paragraphs: A person who practices Asatru is called an "Asatrui (pl. Asatruar)", and is sometimes referred to as a heathen. Sometimes Asatru is also called Wodanism, Wotanism or Germanic (neo)paganism.

paragraphs: Common books that describe the knowledge in depth include the Sagas and the Eddas.

paragraphs: Asatru is a polytheistic religion in which various goddesses and gods are worshipped. The most prominent are Thor, Odin, Freyja, Frigg, Freyr, Tyr, Loki, and Heimdall.

paragraphs: Major holidays revolve around the changing seasons with Yule being the most important. It is celebrated in late December and continues for twelve days.


title: Otherkin

paragraphs: Otherkin are people who believe that part of them is not human inside. They say that, inside themselves, they feel more like another animal than a human. That other animal can be e.g. a wolf, a dragon or an alien. Some otherkin say that they are vampires and are usually acting like them, e.g. by drinking blood.

paragraphs: Otherkin may also identify as feeling a special connection to other natural elements, i.e. minerals, the likes of fire, water, and wind, plants, etc..

paragraphs: Otherkin is a neologism—a new word—and it is usually used only by people who say they "are" otherkin. The definition can change depending on who uses the word. Some otherkin say that their souls or minds are not human, that they were another species in a past life, or that being not-human is part of their religion. (Otherkin practice many different religions, however.) A few of them say that their physical bodies are not human, either, but there is no proof either for or against that.


title: Pedro Romeiras

paragraphs: Pedro Romeiras was a Portuguese principal ballet dancer born 3 July 1961, in Lisbon. He was the gold medal winner of the II Prix Français de la Danse 1982.


title: Bonfire

paragraphs: A bonfire or balefire is a large controlled outdoor fire made from bales of straw or wood. The word is believed to come from "bone fire". In the time of the Celts, there were midsummer festivals where animal bones were burnt to ward off evil spirits.

paragraphs: In Great Britain, bonfires are particularly associated with "Guy Fawkes Night". This night is also known as "fireworks night" or "bonfire night". On this night, people celebrate that the Gunpowder Plot was discovered. This discovery took place on 5 November 1605. They do this celebration each year. (It is called an "annual celebration".)

paragraphs: In Northern Ireland, "bonfires" are associated with celebrations on the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne.

paragraphs: In Japan, large fires called bon-bi are set to welcome the return of the spirits of the ancestors. Though the two terms are not etymologically or historically related, they serve similar purposes and indicate the universal importance of large fires.

paragraphs: Bonfires were also used for rituals. The idea was that the fire would purify. It was used to consecrate things, or people, that is to make them sacred, in some way. In ancient times, cattle were important symbols of wealth and status. Such cattle were led through the smoke of a bonfire. Couples who were to be wed on May Day would leap through the flames of the bonfire to seal their vows. Coals from a bonfire would be taken home to light the fires in family hearths. This practice was thought to bring good fortune. People also believed that the residents of the Faery realm were incapable of producing fire themselves; embers of bonfires would be carried to the underworld and tended there.

paragraphs: Along with the Maypole, the bonfire is an important component of the Wiccan and Neopagan celebration of Beltaine, also known as May Day.

paragraphs: Nine woods are placed into a traditional Wiccan balefire. These woods are rowan, dogwood, elder, poplar, oak, juniper, holly, cedar, and apple. Occasionally, pine is also used instead of holly or elder, as are a handful of other woods. In some regions, superstition, religious belief, or tradition prohibits the cutting of certain trees.


title: Bic Runga

paragraphs: Bic Runga (born January 13, 1976) is a singer from New Zealand. She was born in Christchurch. She has sold lots of albums in New Zealand.


title: Sputnik programme

paragraphs: The Sputnik programme was a Soviet Union spacecraft programme. Sputnik 1, the first satellite in the programme, was launched on October 4, 1957. This was the first man-made satellite ever to enter orbit.

paragraphs: The United States was very surprised when the Soviet Union sent Sputnik 1 into space. It did not want to fall behind. So, it began spending more money on science and education. This was when the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States began.


title: Carnival

paragraphs: Carnival is a public festival which takes place in many cities and towns in many countries around the world. It is in February or March each year. Carnival can sometimes last for several weeks. In some places there is only one day of celebration. There are often street parades, bands, costumes and many people wear masks. Carnival is linked to religious traditions in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, and it is also linked to local customs.

paragraphs: Many Christian churches have a 40-day "season" of fasting called Lent, in which Christians prepare for Easter which is one of the two most important feasts in the Christian year (the other being Christmas). Easter is in late March or April. Lent always begins on a Wednesday, which is called Ash Wednesday in February or March. On that day, many people go to church and have some ash smeared on their forehead as a sign of sorrow for their sins. Then for 40 days, they try to work hard on improving themselves and thinking about the teachings of Jesus. It is usual for people to "give up" something for Lent. They might stop smoking or stop watching TV so they can spend more time reading the Bible or talking with the family. Many people give up all their favourite foods and have no cake, wine, beer, chocolate, ice cream or other luxury foods.

paragraphs: The name "carnivale" comes from Italian and means "putting aside the flesh". This means that during Lent people were not to think about their "flesh" (their bodies) but do things that were good for their souls. The word "flesh"" also means "meat" so many people would eat no meat during Lent.

paragraphs: Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday". This was the day just before Lent. The first day of Lent was called Mecredi Meagre meaning "Mean Wednesday". ("Mean" used to mean "poor" and "thin" rather than "nasty".)

paragraphs: During the Middle Ages in Europe, it was normal for people to have a big feast on the Tuesday before the Lenten fast started. In many towns this developed into a big public party, with entertainment in the town square. There is a famous painting by Pieter Bruegel dating from the 1550s and showing the "Battle of Carnival and Lent". (See top of page)

paragraphs: In this picture by Pieter Bruegel, a man representing Carnival is pushed on a barrel by people in costumes and masks. He is about to do battle with Lent. His weapon is a skewer covered with pieces of roast meat. He balances a blackbird pie on his head. Lent, who is very skinny, fights him with two little fish on a bread-board. The person at the front wears a mask and plays a very noisy instrument called a "rummelpott".

paragraphs: Nowadays many cities and towns around the world celebrate Carnival for a week or more. The final day of the celebration is Mardi Gras, when there is often a parade. In some cities the Mardi Gras parade is held on the weekend before Lent begins, rather than on the Tuesday, so as not to disturb the business and traffic of the town.

paragraphs: In some towns such as the Belgian town of Binche the preparations for the Carnival are complex and start many weeks before Carnival takes place, with most of the town's people taking part in some way. The Carnival of Binche is listed with UNESCO as an event of great historic importance because it has been held there in almost the same way for more than 500 years.

paragraphs: Carnival is celebrated differently around the world, but there are some things that are similar:

paragraphs: In the Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, which is one of the biggest and most famous in the world, a major feature is the glamorous costumes as both men and women wear bright colours and wonderful headdresses to dance down the street to the sound of many bands. In Rio there are many very large and expensive decorated "floats".

paragraphs: In New Orleans the bands are one of the most important parts of the Carnival celebrations. In Düsseldorf in Germany, one of the features of the Carnival parades are the enormous models of politicians and other well-known people. In Sydney, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras which started out as a parade for Sydney's homosexual community, now includes exhibitions, live theatre and competitions, and stretches over two weeks.

paragraphs: In Venice the Carnival was celebrated from December 26 until Lent began. During that time, people were allowed to disguise themselves by wearing masks in the street. In the 1930s this was forbidden by the Italian Government, but in 1980 a mask-makers shop was set up in Venice again. Soon the old tradition was brought back, and now many people dress in costume and wear masks for two weeks before Lent begins.

paragraphs: In Brussels in Belgium, the main Carnival procession is held in the Grande Place, the town square in front of the Gothic Town Hall with its huge tower. Every part of the procession is ruled by a tradition, but some of the traditions are so old that no-one remembers what they mean anymore. At the beginning of the procession is a large group of people dressed in beautiful costumes of silk and velvet, who act out an historic scene of the coming of the King of Spain and his royal court to Brussels 500 years ago. When they have taken their seats, there comes an amazing procession which includes stilt walkers, fire eaters, Goldilocks with a dancing bear, a mad camel, a wizard, lots of men in huge feathery headdresses, and the Archangel Michael whose job is to frighten the Devil. These characters are traditional to Brussels. In every city, the characters that take part are different.

paragraphs: The country of Uruguay in South America is a fun place to be during Carnival. In Uruguay, Carnival has its own special musical performance.

paragraphs: During February and March, it is summer in Uruguay. Everybody goes into the streets, from old people to children. There are people dancing, singing, and playing a special kind of music. This kind of dance and music is called murga.

paragraphs: People do murga performances in groups. The biggest groups have 17 people. They wear funny clothes with lots of colors. They play the drums and sing. The members of the groups are not professional singers or dancers. They are people with other jobs. Each group prepares and practices their own dance and songs for months. Then, they try to be the best group at the festival. Each group's dance and songs last about 45 minutes. The songs are stories about important people or events in the news, so people think watching murga is like watching a play at the theater.

paragraphs: Uruguay’s Carnival started over 100 years ago. It is the world's longest and is about 40 days long. People still work during that time, but in the evenings and on weekends, they enjoy the festival.

paragraphs: Although the word "carnival" still has its old meaning, it is often used to mean public entertainments of different kinds. Some towns have carnivals that have nothing to do with Lent and are at different times of year. Nowadays there are all sorts of different carnivals. Some of these carnivals, like the Notting Hill Carnival in London and the Melbourne Cup Racing Carnival in Australia are very famous.

paragraphs: The word "carnival" is now used for festivals, parades and competitions of all sorts. There are school sports carnivals, folk carnivals, multi-cultural carnivals, horse-racing carnivals, wine and food carnivals and boating carnivals.


title: Fasting

paragraphs: Fasting is a kind of abstinence. It is when someone does not eat or drink for some specified period of time. It is only the case if the person does so of his or her own will. It may also be that the person only eats and drinks certain kinds of food. Most often, fasting is done for religious reasons. Depending on the tradition, fasting practices may forbid sexual intercourse, (or any sexual desire), masturbation, as well as refraining from eating certain types or groups of food (e.g. meat).

paragraphs: Fasting for religious and spiritual reasons has been a part of human custom since pre-history. It is mentioned in the Qur'an, in the Mahabharata, in the Upanishads, and in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testament. In Buddhism it is also taught as a way to getting Nirvana.

paragraphs: In almost all cases, there are exceptions for observing the fasting. These are made for the following groups of people