title: Marie Curie

paragraphs: Maria Salomea Skłodowska–Curie (Marie Curie) (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was a Polish physicist, chemist and feminist. She did research on radioactivity. She was also the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She was the first woman professor at the University of Paris. She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. She received a Nobel Prize in physics for her research on uncontrolled radiation, which was discovered by Henri Becquerel.

paragraphs: She died because of too much exposure to radiation in her laboratory because she had no protection against the effects of radiation.

paragraphs: Curie was born on 7 November 1867 in Warsaw, Poland. She lived there until she was 22. Her original name was Maria. Marie Curie was the fifth child in her family. At the age of ten, her sister Zofia died. Her mother died two years later. Her father was a math teacher. He died when she was 11. As a young girl, she was interested in physics. She was top of her high school class. She graduated at 15. Marie became a teacher so she could earn money to go to school in Paris, France. She also went to an unaccredited college in Poland. Eventually, she left Poland and went to France under the name “Marie" after one of her big sisters gave her the chance. In Paris, she earned higher degrees and did her important scientific work. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw.

paragraphs: Curie did many great things. She and her husband created a theory of "radioactivity" (a term made by her and her husband Pierre Curie). They found different ways to separate radioactive isotopes and discovered two new elements: radium and polonium. The term polonium was named after Poland, her home country. She used her own studies in radioactivity to develop a new treatment for cancer. These treatments used the radioactive isotopes. She was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize. She was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes

paragraphs: Curie discovered radium. It is one of the most radioactive and dangerous metals. She shared this discovery with Pierre Curie and Gustave Bemont. The three found radium in 1898. They discovered it when using a uranium ore. It gave off a lot of radiation. They decided that it was coming from more than uranium. The group found radium in the uranium. Radium is now used for many different things. For example, doctors used to use it to kill cancer cells. Radium was found in paint and watches. Many workers who made radium-containing products developed bone cancer.

paragraphs: Even though Curie became a French citizen, Curie never lost her Polish identity. She graduated first in her class in 1893. One year later she earned a master's degree in mathematics. Later, she met her husband, Pierre, at the Municipal School of Industrial Physics and Chemistry. They were married in July 1895 after only one year. They also started to work together on scientific discoveries. Marie and Pierre had their first daughter, Irene, in 1897. Their second daughter, Eve, was born in 1904. Pierre died on April 19, 1906, after he was hit by a horse-drawn wagon.

paragraphs: After the war, Marie started to raise money for a hospital. The hospital raised money for radiation research. She was invited to tour the United States to recommend and speed up her project. She sailed for the United States in 1921. She collected enough money and equipment for a new laboratory. She then started speaking at meetings to raise more money and became a celebrity. She also supported world peace by serving on the council of the League of Nations.

paragraphs: Near the 1920s, Curie and many of her colleagues began to suffer from symptoms of cancer. Curie began to lose her sight. Cataract surgeries to try to bring back her sight did not help. Curie knew that the element (radium) she discovered might have been causing the symptoms, but she did not want to admit it to herself or others. In the early 1930s, Curie’s health started to quickly get worse. Doctors diagnosed her with pernicious anemia. Pernicious anemia is a blood anemia that happens when someone is overly exposed to radiation. The doctors didn’t tell the public or Curie herself what was going on. On July 4, 1934, at 66 years old, she died in a Sanitorium at the French Alps. She was then buried next to her husband in Sceaux, France. Marie Curie was a physicist and chemist best known for her work on radioactivity; however, she also discovered the elements polonium and radium. She was awarded two Nobel Prizes — one in physics which she won jointly with her husband and Henri Becquerel, and another in chemistry — and was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes. She is still one of only four people (along with Linus Pauling, John Bardeen and Frederick Sanger) to accomplish that feat. Curie is responsible for establishing the theory of radioactivity, but unfortunately she unwittingly also discovered the fatal effect radioactivity can have on your health; she died on July 4, 1934, of aplastic anemia caused by radiation exposure.


title: Flyover

paragraphs: A flyover is something people do with airplanes or helicopters. It means flying over people who are watching. Sometimes the airplanes fly very low to make it more exciting. The Blue Angels are a special group of pilots that do a lot of flyovers at events.

paragraphs: Sometimes military aircraft fly over the enemy to try to scare the people they are fighting against.


title: Blue Angels

paragraphs: The Blue Angels are a group of special pilots who work for the US Navy. They fly F/A-18 fighter jet airplanes that are painted to look different from regular Navy planes. They are very famous. Almost every American has heard of them. The pilots of the Blue Angels are very good at what they do. They are able to fly very close to each other and do very difficult tricks. They are most famous for the flyovers they do at many American sporting events.


title: Stuntman

paragraphs: A stuntman is a man or a woman who performs dangerous acts usually within the television or movie production industry. In this line of work the stuntman (or woman) is paid to do those actions that are deemed too dangerous for the regular actor to perform, these include jumping from a height, falling down, being in a car crash, or pretending to fight with weapons such as swords or knives. These stunts are usually presented as a small feature within a larger production.

paragraphs: Action movies, war movies, martial arts movies, and crime television shows use many stuntmen to do the dangerous actions depicted in the movies or shows. Jackie Chan and the Blue Angels are examples of stuntmen who perform this kind of work.

paragraphs: There are, however, other stuntmen that present dangerous stunts to a live audience as entertainment in their own right rather than as part of a larger story. Sometimes these are as standalone effects and sometimes as a feature within a larger stunt show. Escape artists, sword swallowers and other circus and sideshow acts are an example of this.

paragraphs: These types of stuntmen can be found scattered throughout history with one of the most famous from the last Century being escape artist Harry Houdini.

paragraphs: Modern examples of these types of stuntmen include escape artist and stuntman Roslyn Walker and sideshow veteran Kondini both from the UK.

paragraphs: Stunt work is dangerous regardless of whether you work in movie, television or within a live stunt show. Stuntmen are often hurt during the stunts they perform and in some cases stuntmen have even been killed.

paragraphs: Stunt work is not steady work. Stuntmen who work in movie are only employed on a movie-by-movie basis, sometimes they are needed for a number of months if they are lucky to double for the lead actor but could quite easily only be needed for a single stunt that is filmed over the space of a day or two.

paragraphs: Within the live stunt industry work is very seasonal. A stuntman can be working long hours during the summer months, often seven days a week, but not at all during the winter period.

paragraphs: Stuntmen who perform for movie and television often benefit from having a large safety crew present, which is in stark contrast to those who perform within live shows who often work alone and are responsible for all aspects of the stunt they perform.

paragraphs: Stuntmen also have to travel to many different regions or countries to get work. For people who like to travel, this may be an advantage. However, it can also make it hard to see friends and relatives, if you are away from home.

paragraphs: To become a stuntman, some people go to a stuntman school. There are stuntman schools in California and Florida, where professional stuntmen teach people how to do stunts. Most people do not go to school to become stuntmen, though. People learn the skills from other more experienced stuntmen.

paragraphs: When a stuntman first begins working as a stuntman, they do not make much money. Once a stuntman has experience, they can ask for more money. In many countries, stuntmen have to join a union to work on movie or television show productions, and pay dues (payments) to the union. There are more men working as stuntmen than women.

paragraphs: Usually, a stuntman within movie and television does not work as a stuntman after they become 40 years old. However those who work live stunt shows continue to do so until very late in life. Kondini continues to work as a sword swallower and escape artist despite being in his 70s. Some experienced stuntmen become stunt coordinators or consultants, who plan and devise the stunts performed in TV shows and movies.

paragraphs: Another job for men or women in the television or movie production industry where people replace the actors is the job of body double. When a movie has a scene with a love scene or a nudity scene that the actor does not want to do, the movie or television director may hire a man or a woman to be a body double. The man or woman pretends to be the actor for a short period, so that the love scene or nudity scene can be filmed.


title: Means of production

paragraphs: Means of production (abbreviated MoP; German: "Produktionsmittel"), also called means of labour are the materials, tools and other instruments used by workers to make products. This includes: machines, tools materials, plant and equipment, land, raw materials, money, energy, and anything else labor needs to make things.

paragraphs: The means of production can be owned by different people in different ways in different societies. Capitalism is when the means of production are owned privately. A capitalist society has a market, where things can be sold and bought. Capitalism also has wage labor. Other societies can be socialist, meaning the means of production are owned in common, either by the workers themselves or by the state.


title: Ecosystem services

paragraphs: Ecosystem services are processes by which the natural environment produces resources useful to people, as to economic services. They include:

paragraphs: To look at the way in which ecosystems provide goods is popular now at Stanford University. The concept of ecosystem services is similar to that of natural capital.

paragraphs: The "Millennium Ecosystem Assessment" released in 2005 showed that 60% of ecosystem services are used in a way that destroys them.


title: Year 2000 problem

paragraphs: The Year 2000 problem (also known as the Y2K problem, the millennium bug, Y2K Bug, and Y2K) was a computer problem that affected lots of computer systems. It happened because of the way in which some early computer programs were made to handle only years containing two digits (for example '92 instead of 1992). This meant that the computer could confuse the year 2000 with the year 1900, because both would be written as 00. People started fearing that date-related processing would happen incorrectly for dates and times after December 31 1999. It caused concerns that many industries (such as electricity or financial) and government functions would stop working at exactly midnight, January 1 2000. People were panicked by press coverage and media speculation, as well as corporate and government reports. Companies and organisations around the world had to check and upgrade their computer systems to avoid the bug. The preparation for Y2K had a significant effect on the computer industry. No big computer failures occurred when the year changed to 2000.


title: Biodiversity

paragraphs: The term biological diversity was used first by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in 1968, where he advocated conservation. It was widely adopted only in the 1980s.

paragraphs: The term biodiversity first appeared in a publication in 1988 when entomologist E. O. Wilson used it as a title. Since then, the term has often been used by biologists, environmentalists, political leaders, and citizens. A similar term in the United States is "natural heritage." It predates the others and is more accepted by the wider audience interested in conservation. Broader than biodiversity, it includes geology and landforms.

paragraphs: Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe most circumstances. There are three levels at which biological variety can been identified:

paragraphs: The idea can be used for tackling practical problems in conservation, for example:


title: Aberdeen, Washington

paragraphs: Aberdeen is a city in the American state of Washington. Aberdeen was founded by Samuel Benn in 1884. In 2000, 16,461 people lived in Aberdeen. Aberdeen is sometimes called the "Gateway to the Olympic Peninsula". It is also called the "Birthplace of Grunge" because musician Kurt Cobain is from Aberdeen. Other notable musicians from Aberdeen include The Melvins. Aberdeen is also the hometown of professional wrestler Bryan Danielson, better known as Daniel Bryan.


title: Julián Padrón

paragraphs: Julián Padrón (September 8, 1910 - August 2, 1954) was a Venezuelan writer. He wrote for books, newspapers and magazines.

paragraphs: Julián Padrón was born on September 8, 1910. He was from San Antonio, a small town from Monagas, Venezuela. When he was a little boy, he went to private schools in Cumaná. After Padrón went to a secondary school called Andrés Bello in Caracas. In 1929 Julián Padrón got a degree of secondary education in Philosophy.

paragraphs: Padrón got the first degree at the Supreme Court, a place where judges work. The Supreme Court is in the Federal District. He got the second degree at the Central University of Venezuela, a place of learning. In 1944 Padrón got, at that university, a degree to be a Diplomat and a Consul (a Diplomat and a Consul are persons who are the representatives of a country in other countries).

paragraphs: In 1929 Julián Padrón wrote for the magazine "Elite". In 1935 Julián Padrón, Arturo Uslar Pietri, Pedro Sotillo and Bruno Plá made the magazine El Ingenioso Hidalgo for a short time. In 1936 Padrón made and wrote for the newspaper Unidad Nacional. From 1945 to 1947 he wrote for the newspaper El Universal. He wrote for other newspapers and magazines.

paragraphs: Julián Padrón died in Caracas on August 2, 1954.

paragraphs: Julián Padrón did this group of writings:

paragraphs: In 1940 Padrón and Arturo Uslar Pietri did Antología del Cuento Moderno Venezolano. It was a book that was an anthology (a group of writings) by people from Venezuela. In 1945 Padrón did other book in the anthology Cuentistas Modernos.

paragraphs: This book has a short biography (story) about Julián Padrón:


title: Peter Ham

paragraphs: Peter William Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) was a Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the prominent songwriter and singer of the 1970s group Badfinger.

paragraphs: Ham was born in Swansea, South Wales. He formed a local rock group called The Panthers in 1961. This group became The Iveys in 1965. The band was relocated to London by The Mojos manager, Bill Collins, in 1966, and they continued to perform for three years throughout the United Kingdom. Ham especially took to songwriting and Ray Davies of The Kinks took initial interest in producing his group. In 1968, The Iveys came to the attention of Mal Evans (The Beatles personal assistant) and were eventually signed to the Beatles' Apple label after approval from all four Beatles, who were most impressed by dozens of demos recorded at home, mostly by Pete.

paragraphs: The Iveys changed their name to Badfinger with the single release of "Come And Get It," a song written by Paul McCartney, which became a worldwide Top Ten hit. Ham's hard work paid off eventually as his song "No Matter What" became another worldwide Top Ten hit record in late 1970 . He followed up writing two more huge hits released in 1972, "Day After Day" and "Baby Blue" But the peak came with his co-written song "Without You" - a worldwide No. 1 hit as covered by Harry Nilsson in 1972. The song has since become one of the all-time ballad standards as covered by hundreds of singers including Mariah Carey and Clay Aiken. Ham was also used as a musician on Beatles solo records such as the "All Things Must Pass" LP by George Harrison and the single "It Don't Come Easy" by Ringo Starr.


title: Egalitarianism

paragraphs: Egalitarianism is the belief that groups are, or should be, equal to one another. The word is named for the French word égal, meaning "equal" or "level".

paragraphs: There are many possible kinds of egalitarianism. For example, legal egalitarianism is the belief that groups of people should be equal in law even if they are of different race or religion. Gender egalitarianism is the idea that men and women are equally important, although they are different.

paragraphs: This word may be used when talking about philosophy in many slightly different ways. We can best understand the different kinds of egalitarianism by asking, "Who is equal to whom?" and "How are they equal?"


title: English Wikipedia

paragraphs: The English Wikipedia is the English language edition of the Wikipedia encyclopedia. English is the first language in which Wikipedia was written. It was started on 15 January 2001. It is the largest encyclopedia in the world, and the largest version of Wikipedia since April 2019. It has more than 6,085,700 articles as of May 2020. In October 2015, the total volume of the compressed texts of the English Wikipedia's articles added up to 11.5 gigabytes.

paragraphs: The Simple English Wikipedia is a variation in which most of the articles use only basic English vocabulary (simplewiki). There is also the Old English (Ænglisc/Anglo-Saxon) Wikipedia (). It has a newsletter called The Signpost.

paragraphs: Wikipedias in other languages have imitated some of its technical and organizational features.

paragraphs: As the English Wikipedia is very popular, there can be many people editing the wiki in one minute. This made the less effective for understanding changes. Instead, editors can select and watch for changes in particular articles, using the "watchlist" feature of MediaWiki. Some also use special software to detect and fix vandalism.

paragraphs: Some people think that the English Language Wikipedia shows bias and unfairness. Editors of reference works such as the "Encyclopædia Britannica" have questioned Wikipedia's utility and status as an encyclopedia. An example of bias is that around 90% of Wikipedia editors are male. Other people think that Wikipedia is more useful than other encyclopedias because it is large and can be updated quickly.

paragraphs: In 2012 the logo of the English Wikipedia like most Wikipedias was slightly changed. However, some Wikipedias, like the Simple English Wikipedia, still kept the old logo.


title: Jurisdiction

paragraphs: In law, jurisdiction is the authority given to a judge to take decisions in matters concerning the law. The word comes from the Latin "jus, juris" meaning "law" and "dicere" meaning "to speak": and literally means: telling the law. Jurisdiction may be legally restricted to a certain period of time called a statute of limitations.

paragraphs: It also includes the authority a of formally constituted legal body or a political leader to deal with legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility. Jurisdiction relies on public International Law, conflict of laws, constitutional law and the powers of the executive and legislative branches of government to give resources to best serve the needs of its society.


title: Vacheron Constantin

paragraphs: Vacheron Constantin is a Swiss watch manufacture. It is a part of the Richemont group since 1996. The brand's watch factory is based in Geneva. Vacheron Constantin opened 15 boutiques and 500 shops in 80 countries of the world. Vacheron Constantin is one of the oldest watchmakers.

paragraphs: Jean-Marc Vacheron opened the first workshop in Geneva, Switzerland in 1755. In 1770 the company introduced the first complication (an additional function of a watch besides showing hours and minutes).

paragraphs: The son of Jean-Marc Vacheron, Abraham, became the head of the family business in 1785. In 1810, Jacques-Barthélemy, the grandson of the founder continued the business. He controlled the company's exports of watches to France and Italy.

paragraphs: In 1819 Francois Constantinin became the partner of Vacheron. The name of the company became – "Vacheron & Constantin". Francois Constantin traveled a lot and opened new markets for the company. The main market was North America. Francois wrote the company's motto - Do better if possible and that is always possible. It is kept till the present day.

paragraphs: In 1839 Georges-Auguste Leschot joined "Vacheron & Constantin". He headed the manufacturing process. Leschot's inventions brought great success to the company and watchmaking in general. Leschot invented a device that made possible mechanical production of some watch parts. It helped the company leave behind other watchmakers.

paragraphs: After Francois Constantin and Jacques-Barthélemy Vacheron died, the company was headed by their heirs. Since 1862 Vacheron Constantin explores the field of non-magnetic materials. In 1885, it produced the first anti-magnetic watch. The watch could resist magnetic fields.

paragraphs: In 1877 the company officially changed the name for "Vacheron & Constantin, Fabricants, Geneve". The same year the company chose its symbol - the Maltese cross.In 1887, Vacheron Constantin became a stock company.

paragraphs: The first Vacheron Constantin boutique was opened in Geneva in 1906. Today the store is situated on Quai de l’Ile. Charles Constantin headed the company in 1936. He led it through the Great Depression period. For the first time since 1850s a Constantin family member became the president of the company. When the World War II was over, the company got back its firm position on the watch market.

paragraphs: The history of Vacheron Constantin saw a lot of innovations. The brand's classic Patrimony line was started with the thinnest watch. Its case was only 5.25mm thick. In 1979 Vacheron Constantin created the most expensive wristwatch with initial price of $5 million. The watch named Kallista had 118 diamonds. Today its price is $11 million.

paragraphs: At present day Vacheron Constantin produces about 20,000 watches every year. In 2003 Vacheron Constantin presented a new sports watch line - Overseas. In 2005 the company introduced a new Egérie collection. The collection included women's watches for the first time.

paragraphs: In 2005, Juan Carlos Torres became the Chief of the Vacheron Constantin Company. The same year Vacheron Constantin produced the most complicated wristwatch - Tour de I'lle. The watch consisted of 834 parts and had 16 complications (additional functions). Its price reached over $1 million. In 2006 the company opened a new main office in Genevan Plan-les-Ouates.


title: Thermoplastic

paragraphs: A thermoplastic is a material, usually a plastic polymer, which becomes more soft when heated and hard when cooled. Thermoplastic materials can be cooled and heated several times without any change in their chemical or mechanical properties. When thermoplastics are heated to their melting point, they melt to a liquid. They freeze to a glassy state when cooled below their glass transition temperature.

paragraphs: Thermoplastic materials have many features. Some products made from thermoplastic materials are used for electronic applications. They protect against electrostatic discharge and radio frequency interference. Thermoplastics are one of the main two types of plastics.

paragraphs: Thermoplastic can be moulded into any shape. Thermoplastics differ from thermosetting polymers. Thermosets form irreversible chemical bonds during the curing process.


title: Pete Doherty

paragraphs: Peter Doherty (born 12 March 1979) is an English musician. He was born in Hexham, Northumberland. He is in the popular rock band The Libertines. He is also in a band called Babyshambles.

paragraphs: He receives a lot of media coverage for his drug and legal problems and the relationship he had with fashion supermodel Kate Moss. Doherty has been convicted of many crimes. Some of the crimes are drug offences, car theft, and driving with a suspended licence. He has served prison sentences for drug possession and burglary.


title: Polycarbonate

paragraphs: Polycarbonate is a transparent (something which can be seen through) thermoplastic. This material is tough and stable. It can resist a high temperature of 138°C (280°F) and a low temperature of -40°C (-40°F). It is stain resistant and non-toxic. The weight of polycarbonate is one sixth of glass.

paragraphs: Industries use polycarbonate for making different products, from bulletproof windows to CDs and DVDs. The main advantages of polycarbonate are high strength and light weight.

paragraphs: Industries use clear polycarbonate to make glasses. This is because it has very good transparency and durability. Lenses made from clear polycarbonate can be thinner than lenses made from regular glass.

paragraphs: Companies that make electronic equipment use polycarbonate to make the cover of mobile phones, laptops and other products. Although polycarbonate is not poisonous, the process of making polycarbonate uses toxic chemicals. (See Bisphenol A).


title: Natural disaster

paragraphs: A natural disaster is a major adverse event caused by the natural processes of the Earth, consisting of floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis and other geologic processes. A natural disaster causes loss of life or property damage, and leaves some economic damage afterwards costing millions.

paragraphs: And often human activities also make causes of natural disasters, such as climate change and deforestation.

paragraphs: It is the damage to humans and their property which counts most. Therefore, one can say: "disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability". If a strong earthquake happens in uninhabited areas, it is usually not seen as a disaster or a loss.

paragraphs: An adverse event will not rise to the level of a disaster if it occurs in an area without vulnerable population. In a vulnerable area, however, such as , an earthquake can have disastrous consequences and leave lasting damage, which can require years to repair.

paragraphs: A volcanic eruption occurs when hot materials from the Earth's interior are thrown out of a volcano. Lava, rocks, dust, and gas compounds are some of the ejected materials.

paragraphs: Eruptions can come from side branches or from the top of the volcano. Some eruptions are terrible explosions that throw out huge amounts of rock and volcanic ash and kill many people. Some are quiet outflows of hot lava. Several more complex types of volcanic eruptions have been described by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of eruption has been seen. Some volcanoes may show only one type of eruption during a period of activity, while others may show a range of types in a series.


title: Ibanez

paragraphs: Ibanez is company that makes guitars. The company is from Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. The company was started by Hoshino Gakki. The company is very big and sells many guitars to musicians.


title: Landslide

paragraphs: A landslide includes a wide range of ground movements, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows.

paragraphs: The biggest reason for a landslide is that there is a slope and material goes down the slope because of gravity.

paragraphs: But other things also contribute to landslides:

paragraphs: An underlying reason is the nature of the material. For example, a thixotropic material such as mud or sand and water, can change from a gel to a sol by adding water or pressure, or shaking. It goes from being stable one minute to fluid the next minute. The greatest disasters, like lahars or mudslides, happen suddenly. It is possible for much of a volcano to just slide down suddenly, as with Toba, Krakatoa and Mount St Helens.


title: 2040s

paragraphs: The 2040s is a decade in the Gregorian calendar that will begin on January 1, 2040 and will end on December 31, 2049.

paragraphs: This decade will be called "the twenty-forties". The Roman number will be MMXL.

paragraphs: The first baby boomers will be 100 years old in 2046.


title: Americium

paragraphs: Americium is a chemical element. It is a radioactive metal. It has the chemical symbol Am. It has the atomic number 95. In chemistry it is placed in a group of metal elements named the actinides. Americium is a transuranic element (Transuranic means after uranium. All the elements used after uranium are man-made). It is a radioactive element that does not exist in nature. Americium has to be made. It has a silver color. Americium is made by bombarding a plutonium target with neutrons.

paragraphs: It was the fourth transuranic element to be discovered. It was named for America, like Francium was named for France.

paragraphs: The longest half life of any type of americium is 7370 years.

paragraphs: Americium is used in most smoke detectors. The level of radioactivity is not enough to cause cancer, so it is safe to for the people in an area where smoke detectors with americium are in use.


title: Daddy Yankee

paragraphs: Ramón "Raymond" Ayala or Daddy Yankee (born on ) in San Juan, Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican reggaeton singer. Ayala is famous for making songs in both English and Spanish, but Spanish is used more than English.

paragraphs: During his childhood, Ramón grew up with the influence of his family musician, including those of his father and some members of his mother's family. At twelve, he began singing songs inspired by reggae and hip-hop.

paragraphs: Ramón wanted to become a professional baseball player, he will have to give up this goal after being shot in a neighborhood brawl when he was seventeen. He received two balls of AK-47, one touched his arm and the other touched him on the level of the right thigh, where he was wounded for life. After this incident, he will take a closer look at the underground rap movement, which was nascent at the time.

paragraphs: He began his career flirting with hip-hop and with Latin rhythms like dancehall, but we can say that his greatest hits will come when he begins to perform and produce his Latin hip-hop songs. He will be one of the first artists to perform internationally in reggaeton music.

paragraphs: Ramón invested in the world of reggaeton for thirteen years before experiencing success. He first recorded with DJ Playero, of which he is the featured artist in a production called Playero 37, which will be released in 1992. He has also partnered with artists such as Laurena Snoop Dogg, Nicky Jam, Pitbull, Mey Vidal , DJ Blass, Eric DJ, Eliel, Nas, Tony Touch or members of the G-Unit, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck.

paragraphs: His album Barrio Fino is an essential music to the style: it comes from the deepest of his roots of his life but also his personal experience, in the neighborhoods or residential areas of Puerto Rico. The first excerpts from this album are titled Gasolina, King Daddy and No me dejes solo featuring Wisin y Yandel.

paragraphs: His song, Impacto, released on of 2007, appears in the San Juan Sounds radio station's playlist of Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV and games.

paragraphs: In the Grand Theft Auto IV video game, Daddy Yankee lends his voice to the San Juan Sounds station where he acts as a DJ of the reggaeton radio station; the song "Impacto" also appears. This is an open-world action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North.

paragraphs: Daddy Yankee's latest off-music project was the release of his Trilogy game, a 3D video game based on Tower Defense games. The game was successfully presented at the New York Comic Con and the 3D action video game impressed young and old alike. It was released on November 29, 2013 and also includes Ayala songs such as "Gasolina" and "Limbo".

paragraphs: In 2017, Daddy Yankee forms an amazing duet with Despacito in collaboration with Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, who is a hit in the world.

paragraphs: As an actor he also plays in American movies and series of commemoration Love, Glory and Beauty.

paragraphs: On April 28, 2016, Daddy Yankee received the Industry Leader Award at the 2016 Latin Billboard Awards.

paragraphs: After a long feud with Don Omar for ten years for the title "King of Reggaeton", Daddy Yankee and Don Omar announced in early 2016 at a press conference that they would perform together on stage in a series of concerts entitled The Kingdom World Tour. The announcement of the tour left many fans in disbelief because it sold in minutes in major cities like Las Vegas, Orlando, Los Angeles, New York. The concerts were structured like a boxing match, where the two artists were able to exchange musical tours, and fans voted for their winner in each city via an application designed for the event. "Two kings, one throne," said Pina Records founder Rafael Pina, who had a well-established relationship with both artists and who also came up with the concept of the tour. Speaking of the tour and his rivalry with Daddy Yankee, Don Omar said, "Let me clarify: I'm not his best friend, and he's not my best friend, but we respect each other. 'to be the best is what drove us to be better'.

paragraphs: In 2017, Daddy Yankee, in collaboration with Latin pop singer Luis Fonsi, released the single "Despacito". It became the first Spanish-language song to reach number 1 of the Billboard Hot 100 since the song "Macarena" in 1996. The single has been a worldwide success. The official video of "Despacito" on YouTube was seen the billion times on April 20, 2017 after 97 days, becoming the second fastest video of the site to reach the milestone behind "Hello" Adele. His success led Daddy Yankee to become the most-watched artist in the world on the Spotify streaming service in June 2017, being the first Latin artist to do so.

paragraphs: In 2017, Daddy Yankee donated $ 100,000 to the Puerto Rico Food Bank following the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. The money provided food for about 9,000 families on the island.

paragraphs: Since October 2017. Barrio Fino and Barrio Fino on Directo have been the seventh and thirteenth best-selling Latin albums in the United States. During his career, 63 songs by Daddy Yankees found themselves in the Hot Latin Songs chart, including 24 in the top 10 and 5 in the first place. Daddy Yankee is the ninth musician with the most singles on Hot Latin Songs. Billboard hot 100 list contains 10 songs of musicians.

paragraphs: In August 2018, Daddy Yankee participates in the Janet Jackson video, Made for Now. That same year, Daddy Yankee received an Icon Award at the Latin American Music Awards, and in October 2018, he received the YouTube Creators' Trophy for having more than ten million subscribers on his YouTube channel.

paragraphs: The song Despacito by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, has been inducted into the Guinness World Records 2019 edition for achieving seven milestones, while Daddy Yankee has been recognized for three other records.

paragraphs: In February 2019, Daddy Yankee won a Lo Nuestro 2019 award for all of his works (Lifetime Achievement Award).

paragraphs: On April 17, 2019, the singer announces that a remix of his hit Con Calma will be released soon featuring with American singer Katy Perry. It is by posting a video on his account instagram, listening to the remix, that he confirms the rumors. The two artists then followed each other on the social networks and began to make interactions announcing their collaboration.

paragraphs: On July 8, 2019, Daddy Yankee presents the HR Derby Champ Medallion Presentation to Pete Alonso after the MLB HR Derby victory.

paragraphs: In November 2019, Daddy Yankee inaugurated a reggaeton museum in Puerto Rico, the first of its kind.


title: Phoenix Suns

paragraphs: The Phoenix Suns are a basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Suns play at Talking Stick Resort Arena, originally known as America West Arena and later as US Airways Center.


title: Debris

paragraphs: Debris in a general sense means man-made garbage. Debris is the scattered remains of something that is discarded or destroyed. There are many types of debris, depending on the context. When natural disasters happen, debris is the remains of destroyed buildings and land. In the context of geology, debris is the remains of geological activity such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, avalanches, and so on.

paragraphs: The average American produces garbage, also called trash, at the rate of four pounds per day per person, which translates to 600,000 tons per day, or about 220 million tons per year. This is almost twice the rate of trash generation per person as most other major countries. Trash levels can be reduced primarily by recycling, re-use, and reduced consumption.

paragraphs: Miller, 1989, Potential Hazards from Future Volcanic Eruptions in California: USGS Bulletin 1847


title: Waste heat

paragraphs: Waste heat is the by-product heat of machines and technical processes for which no useful application is found.

paragraphs: A fraction of input energy is always converted to heat by friction between machine parts and other processes such as liquid friction (see: viscosity).

paragraphs: Mechanical drives can be designed to run smoothly, with little loss of energy to heat. Machines for conversion of energy contained in fuels to mechanical work or electric energy produce large amounts of waste heat (see: Second law of thermodynamics).

paragraphs: This waste heat can be re-used if a cogeneration system is used. It is hard to use waste heat because it is difficult to transport the heat to another place, and it is difficult to store the heat for use at another time.

paragraphs: In electrification of waste heat, organic matter can be used as a working medium to produce electricity on much lower temperatures compared to the water steam cycle.


title: Kingda Ka

paragraphs: Kingda Ka is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, USA. It was built by Stakotra, a subcontractor to Intamin. Built in 2005 to be the worlds tallest and fastest roller coaster Kingda Ka is one of only two strata coasters in the world. Kingda Ka held the record for the worlds fastest roller coaster until the completion of Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Kingda Ka goes up and can go . It first opened on May 21, 2005. To get up 456 feet, the train is launched by a machine to 128 miles per hour in 3 seconds. The train goes up the tower, and back down. At the bottom the train goes over a hill while it is slowing down. Soon it is going slow enough to be able to arrive safely back where it started. The ride lasts 28 seconds from the time it is launched.

paragraphs: In the past, Kingda Ka has been struck by lightning and shut down for almost a whole year. The launch cable snapped once and the ride was shut down for a while. Something happened to the braking fins so they shut down the ride. It also can get shut down by weather. The train is made so that if it rolls back it gets placed back to be launched. This happens when the hydraulic launch system does not get enough power to get over the hill or the brakes on the top off the hill stop you too much.

paragraphs: Kingda Ka is named for a 500-pound mythical tiger. A tiger in the safari was named after the roller coaster. It is surrounded by bamboo to make it look more real. It also plays music.

paragraphs: The ride has 4 trains with 5 cars. They are 9 rows in each car that can hold 18 people and there are 2 people in each row. Each seat has shoulder harnesses and buckles that keep the shoulder harness down to make sure passengers are safe. At the top, passengers are weightless for a second, and after riders enjoy a beautiful view, it is followed by a drop.

paragraphs: Passengers must be 4´7 to ride Kingda Ka.

paragraphs: The train may sometimes experience a rollback after it is launched. A rollback happens when the train doesn't make it to the top of the hill and rolls back down the track. The launch track has magnetic brakes so that the train doesn't go back to the station.


title: Vulnerability

paragraphs: Vulnerability means the extent to which changes can hurt or harm a person or a system.

paragraphs: In context with natural hazards and natural disasters, "vulnerability" is a concept that looks at the relationship that people have with their environment and at social aspects.

paragraphs: So it links environment to social forces and institutions and the cultural values that sustain and contest them. “The concept of vulnerability expresses the multidimensionality of disasters by focusing attention on the totality of relationships in a given social situation which constitute a condition that, in combination with environmental forces, produces a disaster” (Bankoff et al. 2004: 11).

paragraphs: Complex definition: Vulnerability is the susceptibility to physical or emotional injury or attack. It also means to have one's guard down, open to censure or criticism; assailable. Vulnerability refers to a person's state of being liable to succumb, as to persuasion or temptation (see Thywissen 2006 for a comparison of vulnerability definitions).


title: Harm

paragraphs: Harm is physical or psychological or emotional damage or injury to a person, animal or other legal entity.

paragraphs: It is generally believed that humans, in addition to other sentient animal species, possess an aversion to causing harm to others.

paragraphs: Many religions consider any harm to another person a sin.


title: Liquid crystal display

paragraphs: A liquid crystal display is a special thin flat panel that can let light go through it, or can block the light. (Unlike an LED it does not produce its own light). The panel is made up of several blocks, and each block can be in any shape. Each block is filled with liquid crystals that can be made clear or solid, by changing the electric current to that block. Liquid crystal displays are often abbreviated LCDs.

paragraphs: Liquid crystal displays are often used in battery-powered devices, such as digital watches, because they use very little electricity. They are also used for flat screen TV's. Many LCDs work well by themselves when there is other light around (like in a lit room, or outside in daylight). For smartphones, computer monitor, TV's and some other purposes, a back-light is built into the product. This is an LED or Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light (CCFL).

paragraphs: The LCD uses technology called electro-optical modulation. This means it uses electricity to change how much light passes through it.

paragraphs: Each pixel (block) of an LCD is made of a thin layer of molecules between two electrodes and two polarizing filters. The electrodes provide electric power to the liquid crystal layer, and don't block the light. Light travels with 'polarity' or direction, and a polarizing filter only lets light with one kind of polarity to go through it, like trying to slide a ruler through a narrow opening. Only when the ruler is lined up right, will it fit. These two filters are perpendicular to one another, so the narrow openings are in different directions. This means that without the liquid crystals between them, they would block all light from passing through – whatever light gets through the first filter will not fit through the second filter.

paragraphs: The layer of liquid crystals between the two filters can 'twist' the light so that the polarity changes. This means the light can then pass through both filters, and the pixel appears clear. When giving an electric current to the liquid crystals, the molecules will untwist and will not change the light. The filters then block the light and the pixel appears dark.

paragraphs: When a large number of pixels are needed in a display, it becomes difficult to have enough wires and electrodes to control each pixel and still have a clean display. Instead, the display is "multiplexed". In a multiplexed display, electrodes on one side of the display are grouped and wired together (usually in columns). On the other side, the electrodes are also grouped (typically in rows), with each group getting a voltage sink. By turning on one row and one column, each pixel can be controlled one at a time.


title: Body language

paragraphs: Body language is a form of non-verbal communication. Body language is about using behaviour to communicate. Both people and animals use this form of communication. Part of this behaviour is done subconsciously. It is therefore different from communicating using sign language, for example. Communication using sign language is intentional, body language is not.

paragraphs: The forms of behaviour used in body language include body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements like winking.

paragraphs: Body language may provide clues as to the attitude or state of mind of a person. For example, it may indicate aggression, attentiveness, boredom, a relaxed state, pleasure, amusement, and intoxication.

paragraphs: Body language is significant to communication and relationships. It is relevant to management and leadership in business and also in places where it can be observed by many people. It can also be relevant to some outside of the workplace. It is commonly helpful in dating, mating, in family settings, and parenting. Although body language is non-verbal or non-spoken, it can reveal much about your feelings and meaning to others and how others reveal their feelings toward you. Body language signals happen on both a conscious and unconscious level.

paragraphs: Body language is less exact than spoken language, so you have to be careful about how you interpret it. A certain movement or facial expression may be quite meaningful, or it may mean nothing at all. As a starting point, the following sections provide you with some common body language terms and their generally-accepted meanings.

paragraphs: Positive body language is generally quite reliable as an indicator of a person's feelings. It signals interest in the other person and in the conversation.

paragraphs: Relaxed posture - Comfortably seated, relaxed breathing, no visible stiffness or abrupt movements. These indicate no major barriers to communication.

paragraphs: Arms relaxed - Uncrossed arms and hands open (palms up or otherwise visible to the other person) are signs of openness.

paragraphs: Good eye contact - Looking in the other person's eyes, particularly when they are speaking, indicates interest in that person. Proper eye contact involves looking away occasionally to avoid staring.

paragraphs: Nodding agreement - When nods are used to punctuate key things the other person has said, they signal agreement, interest and understanding. However, continual unconscious bobbing of the head usually indicates that the listener is tuning out.

paragraphs: Taking notes - Shows interest and involvement, particularly if notes are on what the other person is saying.

paragraphs: Smiling/adding humour - This is a very positive sign. It signals a warm personal relationship.

paragraphs: Leaning closer - Reducing the distance between two people, particularly when the other person is speaking. Indicates interest is up and barriers are down.

paragraphs: Gesturing warmly - Talking with hands, particularly with palms open, indicates involvement in the conversation and openness to the other person.

paragraphs: For all of these positive gestures, moderation is the rule. When they are exaggerated, they can become more negative than positive.

paragraphs: Negative body language is somewhat less reliable as an indicator of the person's comfort with the current conversation than positive body language. Actions that are generally considered negative may just be a matter of comfort for this person, may indicate that the person is tired, or may result from other matters that are weighing on this person's mind.

paragraphs: Body tense - Stiffness, wrinkled brow, jerky body motion, hands clasped in front or palms down on the table. These can indicate concern with the topic or dealing with the other person

paragraphs: Arms folded in front - Creates a barrier; can express resistance to what is being said.

paragraphs: Hand on face - A hand over one's mouth is a closed gesture. Leaning on one's elbow with the chin in the hand can communicate boredom.

paragraphs: Fidgeting - Moving around a lot, playing with things and drumming fingers are usually a sign of boredom, nervousness or impatience.

paragraphs: Arms behind head, leaning back - In a well-established relationship this can be a relaxed gesture. In a new relationship, it is often used to express a desire for control or power.

paragraphs: Yawning - Boredom, confusion. The other person is talking too much or in too much technical detail.

paragraphs: Impatience - Trying to interrupt what the other person is saying, opening one's mouth frequently as if to speak.

paragraphs: Distraction - Eyes flicking about, blank stares, flipping through literature without really reading it, looking at others in the office, looking at the person's body or clothing.

paragraphs: Leaning away - Avoiding moving closer, even when something is handed to the person, is strongly negative.

paragraphs: Negative facial expressions - These include shaking head, eyes narrowed, scowling, frowning


title: Plagiarism

paragraphs: Plagiarism is copying another person's ideas, words or writing and pretending that they are one's own work. It can involve violating copyright laws. College students who are caught plagiarizing can be expelled from school. It can permanently damage a student's reputation. Writers who plagiarize commit serious legal and ethical violations.

paragraphs: Many cases of plagiarism, especially in schools, can lead to internal punishment. Certain people have been punished in a legal court for plagiarism, mostly due to copyright claims. Court cases include:

paragraphs: Any work created in the USA after 1st. Mar 1989 is automatically protected by copyright, even if there is no copyright notice attached to the work. The defendant could sue for any copying of this kind of intellectual property.

paragraphs: It is usually not enough to know what plagiarism is, students must also know how to avoid plagiarism. Writers are as responsible for intentional plagiarism as they are for accidental plagiarism. It is important to cite sources while doing research. Putting this off until later can cause some sources to be forgotten or incorrectly cited.

paragraphs: When using a source, make sure the content is in the same context as the paper. Try to avoid using biased sources. Always take the time to find the correct information about a source. For example, some web pages may be part of a larger website. While a web page article may seem fair and balanced, it can be affected by the overall bias or reputation of the publisher. Using something out of context can also lead to charges of plagiarism. Taking the time to properly cite all sources in a paper or work is paying respect to the original ideas of others. This is all part of doing good work.


title: Rickshaw

paragraphs: A riksha or rickshaw is a kind of vehicle that has two wheels. They are usually pulled by a human but there are types that have been changed to be pulled by a bicycle or have their own motor.


title: Saturation

paragraphs: Saturation or saturated generally means "thoroughly full", while unsaturated means less than full. These terms may be related to:


title: Water content

paragraphs: Water content means the amount of water present in a porous substance, such as soil. This term is used in hydrogeology, soil science and soil mechanics. In saturated groundwater aquifers, all available spaces are filled with water. Above a capillary fringe, pore spaces have air in them too.

paragraphs: Gaps between soil particles are called "pore spaces" or "voids". These voids contain various amounts of either water or air. Soil moisture content can be expressed in different basis:

paragraphs: The amount of void space within a soil depends on the distribution of particle sizes, and is quantified by soil porosity.

paragraphs: Soil moisture is more generally considered within the context of hydrology, where it represents the immediate store of infiltrating rainfall, before it either evapotranspires or contributes to groundwater recharge.


title: Milo Ventimiglia

paragraphs: Milo Anthony Ventimiglia (born July 8, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the hero, Peter Petrelli, on the television series, "Heroes". He played Jess Mariano on the television series Gilmore Girls. He was born in Anaheim, California.


title: Black metal

paragraphs: Black metal is an extreme style of Heavy metal that started in the early 1980s. Lyrics are often for religions such as Satanism. Various black metal bands have relations to satanism in their lyrics and even in outlook. Lyrics may also have subjects such as Paganism. The majority of black metal vocalists are male, although there are a few notable exceptions – for example Cadaveria, Astarte and Lucifugum.

paragraphs: Black metal is divided into two waves. The first wave began in the early 1980s by bands such as Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost and Mercyful Fate. Venom's first albums, Welcome to Hell and Black Metal are usually said to be the first black metal records. The second wave is the most popular wave of black metal and it started in the early 1990s. It started from Norway and includes bands such as Darkthrone, Enslaved, Burzum, Satyricon, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Immortal, and Emperor.

paragraphs: Black metal is also very controversial, especially in Norway. During the early 1990s, certain black metal musicians burned old churches in Norway. One of the people who was found guilty for burning churches, Varg Vikernes, was also found guilty for murdering Øystein Aarseth, a fellow black metal musician.


title: Darkness

paragraphs: Darkness is when there no light. In practice, out in the open air, there almost always is some light, however slight. The darkness of the night sky is estimated by a nine-point scale known as the Bortle scale.

paragraphs: Darkness is made by blocking light from the sun or some other source of light, which makes shadow. At night the Earth blocks the sun, and casts a shadow over one entire side of the world. There is heat radiation even in the dark.

paragraphs: In mythology, darkness is often connected with evil. Many people are uncomfortable or afraid when in the dark, especially children.


title: Des O'Connor

paragraphs: Desmond "Des" Bernard O'Connor (born 12 January 1932) is an English television presenter and singer. He was born in Stepney, London. O'Connor presented the long running game show Countdown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, from January 2007 to December 2008.


title: Tony Romo

paragraphs: Antonio "Tony" Ramiro Romo (born April 22, 1980 in San Diego, California) is an American football quarterback who plays for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He played college football at Eastern Illinois. He is viewed by many as the top quarterback in the NFL.

paragraphs: Romo was signed by the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He has had success with Dallas, and is well known by the media. He has the 3rd highest passer rating in NFL history.


title: Carmelo Anthony

paragraphs: Carmelo Kyam Anthony (born May 29, 1984 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American professional basketball small forward. He is currently a free agent. Anthony also played for the Denver Nuggets and the New York Knicks from 2003-2011 to 2017 and the Houston Rockets from 2018-2019.


title: Dallas Mavericks

paragraphs: The Dallas Mavericks are an American basketball team from Dallas, Texas. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They were founded in 1980. They play their home games at the American Airlines Center. Their owner is Mark Cuban. Though they have had good teams for most of the 2000s, they only made the NBA Finals once, where they lost to the Miami Heat. Dallas Mavericks players include Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion, Caron Butler, and Peja Stojakovic. They won their first NBA Championship in 2011 when they beat the Miami Heat in a 4-2 series.


title: Walter Payton

paragraphs: Walter Payton (July 25, 1954 – November 1, 1999) was an American football player. He was born in Columbia, Mississippi. Payton played for the Chicago Bears from 1975 to 1987. The Bears won Super Bowl XX in 1985. Payton was made a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He died of cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) in 1999.


title: Christopher Benfey

paragraphs: Christopher Benfey (born October 28, 1954) is an American writer. He is a Professor of English language at Mount Holyoke College. He has written several books that people liked a lot. He was born in Marion, Pennsylvania. He later moved to Richmond, Indiana where he grew up. He has attended many colleges including the Putney school, Guilford College, Earlham College, and Harvard University.


title: Harthacanute

paragraphs: Harthacanute (Canute the Hardy, sometimes "Hardicanute, Hardecanute"; Danish: "Hardeknud") (1018 – 8 June 1042) was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and England from 1040 to 1042. He was the only son of Canute the Great and Emma of Normandy.

paragraphs: He followed his father as King of Denmark in 1035, becoming Canute III. Fighting with Magnus I of Norway stopped him from sailing to England to take up his throne. His older, illegitimate half-brother, Harold Harefoot, became regent of England.

paragraphs: Harold took the English crown for himself in 1037. After Harthacanute had settled the situation in Scandinavia he prepared an invasion of England to take over his kingdom. Harold died, and Harthacanute was able to take back his throne peacefully.

paragraphs: Harthacanute was a harsh and unpopular ruler. To pay for his ships, he greatly increased the rate of taxation. In 1041, the people of Worcester killed two of Harthacanute's men who had been collecting the tax. Harthacanute burned the city. The story of Lady Godiva riding naked through the streets of Coventry to persuade the local earl to lower taxes, may come from the reign of Harthacanute. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" says of him: "He never accomplished anything kingly for as long as he ruled".

paragraphs: In 1041, Harthacanute asked his half-brother Edward the Confessor (his mother Emma's son by Ethelred the Unready) back from exile in Normandy to become a member of his household, and probably made Edward his heir. Harthacanute was unmarried and had no children. On 8 June 1042, he died at Lambeth— he "died as he stood at his drink, and he suddenly fell to the earth". He was buried at Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire. Edward became the new king.


title: Harold Harefoot

paragraphs: Harold Harefoot, also Harold I, ("c". 1015 – 17 March 1040) was King of England from 1035 to 1040. He was said to be the son of Canute the Great, King of England, Denmark, Norway, and some of Sweden, by his wife Aelgifu of Northampton. There was skepticism about his being Canute's son.

paragraphs: Upon Canute's death (12 November 1035), Harold's younger half-brother Harthacanute, the son of Canute and his queen, Emma of Normandy, was legitimate heir to the thrones of both the Danes and the English. He was unable to travel to his coronation, because his Danish kingdom was under threat of invasion by King Magnus I of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden. Therefore, he was installed temporarily as regent though Godwin the Earl of Wessex and the Queen were against it.

paragraphs: Harold died at Oxford on 17 March 17 1040, just as Harthacanute was preparing an invasion force of Danes, and was buried at the abbey of Westminster.


title: English Interregnum

paragraphs: The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the English Civil War. It began with the execution of Charles I in 1649 and ended when Charles II became king, after Oliver Cromwell died in 1660.

paragraphs: This era in English history can be divided into four periods.

paragraphs: Oliver Cromwell was a Puritan and during the Interregnum, he imposed a very strict form of Christianity upon the country. Although a main cause of the English Civil War was oppression under Charles I, England during the Interregnum became oppressive in its own fashion. Cromwell granted religious freedom otherwise previously unknown in England, but other forms of expression were suddenly limited (for instance, theatre, which had thrived under the Stuart kings and Elizabeth I, was banned). Cromwell also made certain that his own personal vision of Christianity was enforced upon the masses. Many of Cromwell's actions were called "harsh, unwise, and tyrannical" by some commentators.

paragraphs: His son and successor, Richard Cromwell gave up his position as Lord Protector with little hesitation, resigning or "abdicating" after a demand by the Rump Parliament. This was the beginning of a short period of restoration of the Commonwealth of England.


title: Interregnum

paragraphs: An interregnum is a period between monarchs, between popes of the Roman Catholic Church, emperors of Holy Roman Empire, Polish kings (elective monarchy) or between consuls of the Roman Republic. It can also refer any gap in the continuity of a government, organization, or social order. The period of interregnum may be peaceful, or it may collapse into chaos and anarchy.

paragraphs: In some monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, an "interregnum" is usually avoided due to a rule described as "the king is dead, long live the King", i.e. the heir to the throne becomes a new monarch immediately on his predecessor's death or abdication. This famous phrase signifies the continuity of sovereignty. This is not so in other monarchies where the new monarch's reign begins only with coronation or some other formal or traditional event.

paragraphs: An "interregnum" occurs also upon the death of the Roman Catholic Pope, though this is generally known as a "sede vacante" (vacant seat). The interregnum ends immediately upon election of the new Pope by the College of Cardinals.


title: Oliver Cromwell

paragraphs: Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for making England a republic and leading the Commonwealth of England and primarily because of ethnic cleansing activities in Ireland euphemistically called as Cromwellian Genocide.

paragraphs: Cromwell's actions during his career seem confusing to us today. He supported Parliament against the King, yet he ordered his soldiers to break up parliament. Under his rule, the Protectorate said that people's religious beliefs should be respected, but people who went against what most people believed were sometimes tortured and imprisoned.

paragraphs: Cromwell was the first ruler of England to be a Puritan. He created a new model army. Many English people today think he was one of their greatest leaders.

paragraphs: Cromwell started off as a gentleman from Huntingdon. He first studied at Huntingdon Grammar School. He had a bad relationship with his father. He went on to Sidney Sussex College at the University of Cambridge. This was a new, small college where he had the chance to talk about his new Puritan ideas. However, he never took a degree because his father died in 1617 while he was studying.

paragraphs: In 1628, Cromwell became an MP and a Puritan and supported Parliament in its quarrel with the King. When war broke out, the King's army was stronger and better-prepared than the army of Parliament. Cromwell saw this, and he decided to train men to fight better. Soon the "New Model Army" he had trained began to win battles. As a result, Parliament won the war. By the end of the war, Cromwell was very powerful.

paragraphs: During the following years, Oliver Cromwell conducted two campaigns to subdue the Irish Catholics (1649-1650), and in the battles of Dunbar and Worcester (1650-1651) crushed the Scottish royalists, who had proclaimed King Charles II. , first-born of the executed sovereign.

paragraphs: After the execution of the King, a republic was declared, known as the Commonwealth of England. A Council of State was appointed to manage affairs, which included Cromwell among its members. His real power base was in the army.

paragraphs: In 1652, Cromwell took over Ireland. Many historians believe that Cromwell committed an ethnic cleansing against the Irish Catholic people. Cromwell wanted the Irish Catholics to move out of eastern Ireland into the northwest. According to these historians, Cromwell and his army used massacres, starvation, and threats of execution to force the Irish to leave. Historian Frances Stewart says that 600,000 Irish people 43% of the Irish population died from these policies.

paragraphs: The House of Commons tried hard to control the army, but could not: in 1653, Cromwell dissolved the House of Commons, yielded legislative power to 139 people of his confidence and took the title of Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, with powers wider than those enjoyed by the monarch. During his tenure he reorganized public finances, promoted the liberalization of commerce in order to ensure the prosperity of the mercantile bourgeoisie, promulgated the Navigation Act (1651), through which he imposed on the Netherlands the English maritime supremacy, defeated the United Provinces (1654), snatched Jamaica from Spain (1655), persecuted the Catholics and placed England at the head of the European Protestant countries.

paragraphs: A new constitution known as the Instrument of Government made Cromwell Lord Protector for life. He had the power to call and dissolve parliaments.

paragraphs: In 1657, Cromwell was offered the crown by Parliament. Cromwell thought about the offer for six weeks. Then he rejected it and was ceremonially re-installed as "Lord Protector" (with greater powers than had previously been granted him under this title) at Westminster Hall.

paragraphs: Cromwell is thought to have suffered from malaria (probably first contracted while on campaign in Ireland). He died at Whitehall on 3 September 1658, the anniversary of his great victories at Dunbar and Worcester.

paragraphs: At his death (3 September 1658), however, the Republic was immersed in a period of chaos, which ended with the restoration of the monarchy in the person of Charles II of England by the Parliament (1660). Despite his prudence, the new monarch did not hesitate to order the exhumation of the corpse of the man who had signed the death sentence of his father, to cut off his head and expose it in the Tower of London.

paragraphs: He was succeeded as Lord Protector by his son Richard. Although Richard was not entirely without ability, he had no power base in either Parliament or the Army, and was forced to resign in the spring of 1659, bringing the Protectorate to an end. A year later Parliament restored Charles II as king.

paragraphs: When the Royalists returned to power, Cromwell's corpse was dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded. It is said that his head was lost for months until a soldier found it. His skull was passed around as a token until it was buried at Tyburn.


title: The Incredibles

paragraphs: The Incredibles is a 2004 animated movie. It was written and developed by Brad Bird, who once directed "The Simpsons" and was best known for directing the animated movie "The Iron Giant". The movie was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, and has won an Academy Award. "The Incredibles" was originally developed as a traditionally-animated movie, but after Warner Bros. shut down its animation division, Brad Bird moved to Pixar and took the story with him.

paragraphs: The movie depicts a world where there are super heroes, but after an intense court hearing the government decides that all 'supers' must now go undercover and live normal lives. The main character is Rob Parr (Mr. Incredible). The sequel "Incredibles 2" was released to the public on June 15, 2018.


Restoration


title: English Restoration

paragraphs: The English Restoration, or simply Restoration, was an episode in the history of England beginning in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored under King Charles II after the English Civil War and Interregnum. The term "Restoration" means both the actual event which put a monarch back in power, and the period immediately after Charles II came to power.


title: Commonwealth of England

paragraphs: The Commonwealth of England was the republican government which ruled first England and then Ireland and Scotland from 1649 to 1660. After the execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649, the Commonwealth was declared ("") by the Rump Parliament on May 19, 1649. The government during 1653 to 1659 is properly called The Protectorate, and took the form of direct personal rule by Oliver Cromwell and, after his death, his son Richard, as Lord Protector. The term "Commonwealth" is, however, loosely used to describe the system of government during the whole of 1649 to 1660, the years of the English Interregnum.


title: Declaration of independence

paragraphs: A declaration of independence is a proclamation of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such states are usually formed from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the parent state.

paragraphs: Declarations of independence are typically made without the consent of the parent state, and hence are sometimes called unilateral declarations of independence (UDI), particularly by those who question the validity of John Adams

paragraphs: DADE Republic has won the independence os Spain the 26 October 2017, DADE Republic has become as one of the biggest countries around the world.


title: Presbyterianism

paragraphs: Presbyterianism is a kind of Protestant Christianity. It was started in Scotland by John Knox during the 16th century. It became powerful in England during the Civil War. Today there are Presbyterian churches across the world.

paragraphs: Presbyterians (followers of Presbyterianism) believe that the Bible is the most important thing in their church because it was given to humans by God and has no errors in it. They believe that God has control over everything and has chosen to make some people follow Jesus Christ but not others, and that only followers of Jesus may get into heaven. (See Calvinism)

paragraphs: Presbyterian churches may be led by men called Ministers, Rectors or Elders. Some Presbyterian churches have women as elders. "Presbyter" means "elder" and they rule in committees.

paragraphs: There is no overall leader and there are no bishops in the Presbyterian tradition. On Sunday, the Bible, which they consider the 'Word of God', is read and a sermon preached by the minister is at the heart of a morning worship service, which also includes group singings of some worship songs.

paragraphs: There are Presbyterian churches on every continent except Antarctica, but they do not always agree with each other. There have been many splits ("schisms") caused by various disagreements: some about what they believe, some about how they should be organised. In some cases these splits have been healed but many have not.

paragraphs: In Scotland, where Presbyterianism started, there are at least seven different groups ("denominations"); there are three main groups in England, one in Wales and five in Northern Ireland.

paragraphs: There are dozens of different groups in North America, almost all in the USA. They arrived during the 17th century, mostly from Scotland and already disagreeing with each other. Most countries in South America have had Presbyterian churches since the 19th century.

paragraphs: At least 23 countries in Africa have Presbyterian churches, also since the 19th century.

paragraphs: In Asia, the Korea Presbyterian Church was started through the mission of the Presbyterian Church (USA). After Korean independence, the division was formed afresh as 'Presbyterian Church in Korea (KoRyuPa)' advocating the views of Dutch Reformed churches. In 2012 a new General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church of Korea declared authentic historical succession of John Knox.


title: Declaration of war

paragraphs: A declaration of war is a formal declaration issued by a national government indicating that a state of war exists between that nation, and one or more others.

paragraphs: Declarations of war have been used in diplomacy since the Renaissance, when the first formal declarations of war were issued.

paragraphs: In an effort to force nations to resolve issues without warfare, the United Nations Charter attempted to commit member nations to using warfare only under limited circumstances, such as to defend when attacked. Wars continued to begin and end, but powerful states no longer declared them.


title: Cyrillic alphabet

paragraphs: The Cyrillic alphabet () is a native Slavic alphabet. Now it is used to write Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Rusyn, Bulgarian, Macedonian and for most South Slavic languages. It was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 10th century and it was required by the Soviet Union for many non-Slavic languages in the Caucasus, Siberia, Central Asia and in Northern Russia to be written in Cyrillic.

paragraphs: Old Church Slavonic was the original language of the Slavic people. Old Church Slavonic was used for Russian Orthodox Church. In the 9th century, two monks named St. Cyril and Methodius were missionaries in Eastern Europe who preached to the Slavic people by inventing Glagolitic, which was early Cyrillic. It was based mostly on the Greek alphabet, which was the native language of the two monks, although they added some new letters to represent sounds that were in the Slavonic language and not in Greek.

paragraphs: During the 18th century Nikolay Karamzin added the Э, Й and Ё letters.

paragraphs: In 1708, Peter the Great added lowercase forms to the letters

paragraphs: In 1991, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan decided to drop the Cyrillic script and adopt the Latin script.


title: Silent Spring

paragraphs: Silent Spring is the name of a book by Rachel Carson. It was published in 1962. It tells of the damage done to the environment by the use of chemicals to kill pests. The book is widely credited with helping launch the modern American environmental movement.

paragraphs: The book documented detrimental effects of pesticides such as DDT on wildlife, particularly birds. Carson accused the chemical industry of spreading disinformation, and public officials of accepting industry claims uncritically.


title: Nymph (biology)

paragraphs: In zoology, a nymph is the young stage of some kinds of invertebrates, especially insects.

paragraphs: Insects grow by metamorphosis. In incomplete metamorphosis, an insect egg hatches, and a small nymph comes out. The nymph usually looks just like the adult insect but is much smaller. Nymphs do not become pupae before becoming adults. They just grow larger. They moult through various stages called instars.

paragraphs: Some insects have nymphs that are aquatic, which means they live in water. These nymphs look very different from the adults. Dragonflies have nymphs that live in water, such as in lakes and rivers. Nymphs that live in water are sometimes called naiads.

paragraphs: The other way insects grow is by complete metamorphosis. This way has no nymphs. The adult form is prepared in the pupa, and comes out perfect.

paragraphs: Some insects that are nymphs when they are young are grasshoppers, cockroaches, true bugs and dragonflies.


title: Saab

paragraphs: Saab is a Swedish car and airplane maker, started in Trollhattan, Sweden in 1937. Saab started to make cars in 1947. The automobile part of the business is now owned by Spyker Cars. The aviation and defense parts of Saab are owned by the Wallenberg family.


title: The Protectorate

paragraphs: In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653–59 during which the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland was governed by a Lord Protector.

paragraphs: Before the Protectorate, England (and then Scotland and Ireland) had been ruled directly by Parliament since it had in 1649. The Rump Parliament had been sent away in April 1653 by soldiers led by Oliver Cromwell. Although the replacement, the Barebones Parliament (July–December 1653), was nominated by Cromwell and the leaders of the army, it was just as difficult to control.

paragraphs: The post of Lord Protector was created by a constitution passed in December 1653. Cromwell got this position for life. Although the constitution divided power between the Lord Protector, the Council of State and Parliament, in practice there was again the strong executive power that had been absent since the end of the monarchy. Cromwellian government has been called ‘one of the first experiments in ("de facto") military dictatorship’ (Abbott).

paragraphs: During the Protectorate there was Puritan legislation. Religious toleration was extended to Jews and most Protestants, but not to Anglicans or Roman Catholics.

paragraphs: After Cromwell's death in September 1658, the new Lord Protector, Richard Cromwell, was unable to control the army and resigned in May 1659. After a chaotic ‘interregnum’, the monarchy was restored in May 1660, through the initiative of General George Monck.


title: Vibrator

paragraphs: Vibrator could mean several different types of devices:


title: Rump Parliament

paragraphs: The Rump Parliament was the name given to Parliament until 1660 of the English Parliament that followed the Long Parliament, after Pride's Purge of December 6 1648 had removed those Members of Parliament that were against the plan to try King Charles I for high treason.


title: Vibrator (sensual)

paragraphs: A vibrator is a device that is made to vibrate against the body, thereby stimulating the nerves and giving a pleasurable and possibly erotic feeling.

paragraphs: The electrically powered vibrator was invented in the 1880s by doctors, who were treating women for "hysteria" for centuries by performing what today would be considered masturbation. At the time, however, not only did doctors regard the "vulvular stimulation" required as having nothing to do with sex, they reportedly found that it took a lot of time to do and it was hard work. The vibrator did it more quickly and easily, and because of this it was very popular with doctors. Home versions soon started being made and they were also popular, with adverts in places like "Needlecraft", "Woman's Home Companion", "Modern Priscilla" and the Sears catalog. These disappeared in the 1920s, apparently because their appearance in pornography made it no longer tenable for polite society to avoid the sexual connotations of the devices.

paragraphs: As "body massagers", millions of vibrators have been sold to both men and women. Some people that buy vibrators only use them for pains. However, many people who purchase vibrators marketed as "body massagers" — and, presumably, most people who purchase vibrators marketed as adult toys — use them to get sexual pleasure, most often in masturbation. Vibrators often allow people to achieve orgasm faster and easier and are often said to provide stronger orgasms. They are often recommended by sex therapists for women who have difficulty reaching orgasm by other means. Couples also use them sometimes.

paragraphs: Harper's magazine notes a Durex survey that says 46% of women have vibrators near 2006. This may have been market research relating to their vibrating condom base product.

paragraphs: The sale of vibrators and similar items was forbidden up until recently in several states in the southern United States. In Texas, the sale of vibrators and dildos is technically illegal, but many stores will sell such items provided that the customer sign a statement that the device will be used only for educational purposes. The law’s current status in real life is not certain. The states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Indiana, Virginia, Louisiana and Massachusetts have all had laws that prohibit vibrators, but most of them have been struck down by courts or aren’t actually enforced. Only the law in Alabama is generally enforced.

paragraphs: An enormous range of vibrators exist, falling into several broad categories:

paragraphs: Most vibrators use internal batteries, but some of them have a power cord and must be plugged into a power socket to work.


title: Michael Owen

paragraphs: Michael Owen (born 14 December 1979) is a retired English professional footballer.


title: History of England

paragraphs: Archaeology shows that people came to southern England long before the rest of the British Isles, probably because of the friendly climate between and during the ice ages of long ago.

paragraphs: Julius Caesar invaded what is now England in 55 and 54 BC, as part of the Gallic Wars, and was defeated. He wrote in "De Bello Gallico" that there were many tribes there, very similar to other Celtic tribes in Europe. Coins, and later Roman historians, have given us the names of some of the rulers of the tribes, and what they did.

paragraphs: In 43 AD, Claudius successfully invaded England with 40,000 soldiers landing at Gaul at Richborough, Kent.

paragraphs: For hundreds of years, what is now England was a Roman province, Britannia. The Romans later gave up on the province and left the Celtic people on their own as the Roman Empire began to fall apart. The influence of the Romans meant that the territory of England had already experienced unity before the Anglo-Saxons arrived.

paragraphs: Analysis of human bodies found at an ancient cemetery near Abingdon, England, shows that Saxon immigrants and native Britons lived side-by-side.

paragraphs: The Romano-British population (the Britons) was assimilated. The settlement (or invasion) of England is called the Saxon Conquest, or the Anglo-Saxon or English Conquest.

paragraphs: From the 4th century AD, many Britons left to cross the English Channel from Wales, Cornwall and southern Britain, and started to settle the western part of Gaul (Armorica), where they started a new nation: Brittany. The Britons gave their new country its name and the Breton language, Brezhoneg, a sister language to Welsh and Cornish. The name "Brittany" (from "Little Britain") arose at this time to tell the new Britain apart from "Great Britain". Brezhoneg is still spoken in Brittany today.

paragraphs: After a time of raids, the Vikings also began to settle in England and to trade, eventually controlling an area called the Danelaw from the late 9th century. One Viking settlement was at York, called Jorvik by the Vikings. Viking rule left traces in the English language — because Old English was already related to Old Norse, many Norse words began to be used in English at this time.

paragraphs: The defeat of King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 against Duke William II of Normandy, later called William I of England, and the following Norman conquest of England caused important changes in the history of Britain. William ordered the Domesday Book to be written. This was a survey of the entire population, and their lands and property, to help in collecting taxes.

paragraphs: William also ruled Normandy, then a powerful duchy in France. William and his nobles spoke, and held court, in Anglo-Norman, in Normandy as well as in England. The use of the Anglo-Norman language by the aristocracy was kept up for centuries, and had a great influence on the development of Old English into Middle English.

paragraphs: In England, the Middle Ages was a time of war, civil war, rebellions from time to time, and many plots among the nobles and royalty. England had more than enough cereals, dairy products, beef and mutton. The nation's international economy was based on the wool trade, where wool from northern England was sold to the textile merchants of Flanders to make into cloth. Medieval foreign policy was also shaped by relations with the Flemish cloth business. An English cloth business was developed in the fifteenth century, allowing the English also to become wealthier.

paragraphs: In the reign of Henry II, the king got some power back from the barony and the Church. Henry's successor, Richard I "the Lion Heart", took part in the Third Crusade, and defended his French territories against Philip II of France. His younger brother John, who followed him as king, was not so lucky; he lost Normandy and many other French territories. In 1215, the barons led an armed rebellion and forced him to sign the Magna Carta, which put legal limits on the King's personal powers.

paragraphs: The reign of Edward I (1272–1307) was rather successful. Edward strengthened the powers of his Government, and called the first English Parliament. He conquered Wales. His son, Edward II, lost the Battle of Bannockburn against Scotland.

paragraphs: The Black Death, an epidemic that spread over all of Europe and parts of Asia, arrived in England in 1349 and killed perhaps up to a third of the population.

paragraphs: Edward III gave land to powerful noble families, including many people with royal blood. Because land was like power in these days, some powerful men could now try to claim the Crown.

paragraphs: The Wars of the Roses ended with the victory of Henry Tudor, who became king Henry VII of England, at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, where the Yorkist king, Richard III was killed.

paragraphs: His son, Henry VIII split with the Roman Catholic Church over a question of his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Though his religious position was not entirely Protestant, this led to the Church of England breaking from the Roman Catholic Church. There followed a time of great religious and political troubles, and the English Reformation.

paragraphs: Henry VIII had three children, all of whom would wear the Crown. The first to reign was Edward VI of England. Although he was intelligent, he was only a boy of ten when he took the throne in 1547.

paragraphs: When Edward VI died of tuberculosis in 1553 Mary I took the throne when crowds cheered for her in London, which people at the time said was the largest show of affection for a Tudor monarch. Mary, a loyal Catholic who had been influenced greatly by the Catholic King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, tried to get the country back to Catholicism. This led to 274 burnings of Protestants, and much hatred from her people. Mary lost Calais, the last English possession on the Continent, and became even more unpopular (except among Catholics) at the end of her reign.

paragraphs: The reign of Elizabeth returned a sort of order to England in 1558. The religious question that had divided the country since Henry VIII was put to rest by the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, which set up the Church of England in much the same form it has today.

paragraphs: The slave trade that made Britain a major economic power began with Elizabeth, who gave John Hawkins permission to start trading in 1562.

paragraphs: The government of Elizabeth was more peaceful, apart from the revolt of the northern earls in 1569, and she was able to lessen the power of the old nobility and expand the power of her government. One of the most famous events in English military history was in 1588 when the Spanish Armada lost against the English navy, commanded by Sir Francis Drake. Elizabeth's government did much to make her government stronger, and to make common law and administration more effective throughout England.

paragraphs: In all, the Tudor period is seen as an important one, leading to many questions that would have to be answered in the next century during the English Civil War. These were questions of how much power the monarch and Parliament should have, and how much one should control the other.

paragraphs: Elizabeth died without children who could take the throne after her. Her closest male Protestant relative was the king of Scotland, James VI, of the house of Stuart, so he became James I of England, the first king of the entire island of Great Britain, although he ruled England and Scotland as separate countries.

paragraphs: The English Civil War began in 1642, mainly because of conflicts between James' son, Charles I, and Parliament. The defeat of the Royalist army by the New Model Army of Parliament at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645 destroyed most of the King's forces. The capture and trial of Charles led to his beheading in January 1649 at Whitehall Gate in London. A republic was declared, and Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector in 1653. After he died, his son Richard Cromwell followed him in the office, but soon quit. The monarchy was returned in 1660, after England had a time of anarchy, with King Charles II again in London.

paragraphs: In 1665, London was hit with the plague, and then, in 1666, the capital was burned for 5 days by the Great Fire, destroying around 15,000 buildings.

paragraphs: In 1689, the Dutch Protestant William of Orange, replaced the Catholic King James II in what is called the Glorious Revolution. However, in Scotland and Ireland, Catholics loyal to James II were not so happy, and a series of bloody revolts followed. These rebellions continued until the mid-18th century, when Charles Edward Stuart was defeated at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.

paragraphs: The First Act of Union made Scotland, England and Wales into one country. The history of England after this 1707 Act is a part of Great Britain's history.


title: Anglo-Saxons

paragraphs: The Anglo-Saxons were the dominant people living in England from the mid-5th century AD until the Norman conquest in 1066. They spoke Germanic languages and are identified by Bede as the descendants of three powerful tribes. These were the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Their language, "Anglo-Saxon" or Old English, came from West Germanic dialects. It changed into Middle English from about the 11th century. Old English was divided into four main dialects: West Saxon, Mercian, Northumbrian and Kentish.

paragraphs: The Anglo-Saxons partially displaced the Celtic tribes who had lived in the British Isles before they came. They never conquered Wales but Anglo-Saxon kings did claim overlordship from time to time. Some Anglo-Saxons came to Britain as warriors, but others came peacefully to become farmers or to raise families.

paragraphs: It is not known how many Anglo-Saxons actually came to Britain between the 4th and 6th century AD. Many sources say large numbers of Anglo-Saxon settlers arrived. Because of this, some of the native Britons moved west, towards Wales and Cornwall. Others went to Armorica and became the Bretons. The language of the Anglo-Saxons, Old English, became the main language in southern Britain. A few Celtic and Latin words were borrowed into Old English.

paragraphs: In the areas such as Kent, Sussex, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk, many of the native Britons may have been driven out. In other areas, some Britons likely remained and were absorbed into Anglo-Saxon society.

paragraphs: It was Bede who identified the invaders as Angles, Saxons and Jutes. But he sometimes used the names "Angli" and "Saxones" for the same people in different parts of his writings. In Book I, Chapter 15 he said that by invitation of King Vortigern "Angles "or" Saxons" came to Britain in three longships. Modern authorities confirm that Angles, Saxons, Frisians and some Jutes did come to England during this migration time period. The differences between the tribes that moved to England were not significant. Kent was different in culture from other parts of England, mostly because it had close contact with parts of Europe such as Gaul.

paragraphs: Certain styles of jewellery are recognized by archaeologists as being typical of Anglian, Saxon and Jutish areas in Northern Europe. But why the name England came to be used for the country and English for the language is not clear. In Old English the people called themselves "Engle," and in Latin they were called "Angli," but nothing suggests the Angles made up the largest percentage of the Germanic peoples in Britain. The name "Englaland", which became 'England' was regularly used by the 11th century.

paragraphs: The native British people, who wrote in both Latin and Welsh (a Celtic language), referred to these invaders as "Saxones" or "Saeson". The latter name is still used today in the Welsh word for English people, "Saeson", the English language, "Saesneg", and things related to England, "Seisnig". In the Scottish Gaelic language the word for an English person is "sasannach" and in Irish the word is s"asanach".

paragraphs: Anglo-Saxon art before the time of Alfred (who ruled from 871–899) is a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Celtic techniques and styles. The Sutton Hoo treasure is an excellent example of very early Anglo-Saxon metalwork and jewellery. It came from a royal grave of the early 7th century. The period between Alfred and the Norman Conquest saw a distinct Anglo-Saxon style in art. This was due in part to the revival of the English economy and culture after the end of the Viking raids. This later style appears to have been in touch with trends in western Europe.

paragraphs: Anglo-Saxon art is mainly known today through illuminated manuscripts. Manuscripts were not the only Anglo-Saxon art form, but they have survived in much greater numbers than other types of objects. People in Europe at the time regarded Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing and embroidery as especially fine. The most common examples of Anglo-Saxon art are coins. Anglo-Saxon artists also worked in fresco, ivory, stone carving, metalwork and enamel, but few of these pieces have survived.

paragraphs: Old English literary works include epic poetry, biography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, riddles and others. In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period.

paragraphs: A very famous work from this period is the poem "Beowulf". It has achieved national epic status in Britain. The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" is a collection of important early English history. "Cædmon's Hymn" from the 7th century is the earliest attested literary text in (Old) English. One of the most valuable and important sources on Anglo-Saxon history is Bede's "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation".


title: Norman conquest of England

paragraphs: The Norman conquest of England was a military invasion of England by William the Conqueror in 1066.

paragraphs: William was Duke of Normandy, a country on the other side of the English Channel, now a region in France. He invaded England after the death of King Edward the Confessor because he believed he had the most right to be King of England, but King Harold II had himself crowned king instead. King Harold, with his Saxon army, and Duke William fought at the Battle of Hastings on October 14, 1066. King Harold was killed in the battle and his army left. On December 25, 1066 William was crowned the new King of England.

paragraphs: The Norman conquest was an important change in English history. The conquest linked England more closely with Continental Europe, and made Scandinavian influence less important. It created one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe. The conquest changed the English language and culture, and set the stage for rivalry with France, which would continue (with a few breaks) until the 19th century.

paragraphs: England has never been successfully invaded since the Norman invasion nearly 1000 years ago.


title: Raid

paragraphs: A raid is an attack into enemy territory with no intent to get control of it. For example, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an air raid.

paragraphs: The attackers go away immediately after the attack. Most raids are brief and performed by a small number of people.


title: Restauration

paragraphs: Following the fall from power of Napoleon Bonaparte:


title: English Reformation

paragraphs: The English Reformation was part of the Protestant Reformation. Many Christian churches in Europe broke away from Rome. Each of the countries that went through this process did so in a different way. Earlier the Roman Catholic Church had supreme powers.

paragraphs: Henry VIII broke ties with the church and became head of the English church. This was done in 1534 in the Acts of Supremacy. It was the beginning of the Church of England. His friend Thomas Cranmer became Henry's Archbishop of Canterbury. For years, the Church of England was almost exactly the same as the Catholic Church, except that it was ruled by the King instead of the Pope. This is different from the Reformation on the European continent, where the reformers wanted big changes right away.

paragraphs: There were several causes for the English Reformation. One of these was that Henry VIII, who was King of England, wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon. Another reason was because Henry wanted the Church's wealth and power, and got them with the dissolution of the monasteries.

paragraphs: The Protestant Reformation in Scotland, however, was based more on the teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, so it was more like the Reformation in continental Europe.