title: Concerto grosso

paragraphs: A Concerto Grosso is a piece of music from the 18th century in which there are a small group of instruments and a large group of instruments. These two groups are contrasted with one another. Sometimes both play together, sometimes one plays by itself, or the two groups might imitate one another. The small group is called “concertino” and the large group is called "tutti", “ripieno” or “concerto grosso” (the same name as the musical piece). “Concerto grosso” is Italian for “big concerto”. The plural is “concerti grossi”. Notice that the second “c” in “concerto” is pronounced like an English “ch”.

paragraphs: A concerto grosso has several parts that differ in speed and character. There are usually three movements; the first is fast, the second is slow, and the last is fast. The first movement contrasts the tutti and the soloists, the second movement is quiet, while the last movement is lively.

paragraphs: The composer who made the concerto grosso very popular was the Italian Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). The instruments in the small group of soloists in his concerti grossi were usually two violins and one cello. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) also used that combination for his concerti grossi.

paragraphs: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote a set of six concertos known as the "Brandenburg Concertos". Each of the Brandenburg Concertos is for a different combination of instruments. Most of them are concerti grossi. The second one, for example, has a concertino group of four instruments: trumpet, violin, recorder and oboe.

paragraphs: After the Baroque period, few composers wrote concerti grossi. They were more interested in the solo concerto. However, in the 20th century, some composers, including Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and Bela Bartok (1881-1945), wrote pieces of music that are like concerti grossi.


title: Hyundai Grandeur

paragraphs: The Hyundai Grandeur is a car made by Hyundai Motor Company. It was first sold in 1986. In North America the car was called Hyundai XG (third generation) and Hyundai Azera (fourth generation).

paragraphs: The first Grandeur of 1986 was developed together with Mitsubishi(Mitsubishi Debonair).

paragraphs: The New Grandeur was developed together with Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi Debonair). Mitsubishi provided the powertrain and Hyundai took care of the exterior and interior design. Production of the car began in September 1992 and ended in 1998.

paragraphs: The Grandeur XG, this time developed by Hyundai alone, used the same platform and engines as the Kia Amanti. In North America and Europe, it was called the Hyundai XG. Originally powered by a 3.0 L 6-cylinder engine, the XG300 was renamed to XG350 in 2002, to reflect the increase in engine size to 3.5 litres of displacement.

paragraphs: Sold as the Hyundai Azera in North America, the Grandeur TG is a full-size sedan introduced for the 2006 model year. It shares many of its components with the mid-size Sonata.

paragraphs: Being a step up from the Sonata, the Azera is the most luxurious model sold by Hyundai outside of Korea. Pricing for the base model starts at starts at US$24,995. The 2006 Hyundai Azera has a 3.8 L 6-cylinder engine, automatic gearbox, cruise control, automatic air-conditioning, power front seats, anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), and several airbags. The better equipped Limited trim level adds 17-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats, leather seat-upholstery, and a power sunshade for the rear window, and costs US$27,495.

paragraphs: The Hyundai Azera was named "Best New Family Car (over CAN$35,000)" in the 2006 Canadian Car of the Year awards.


title: Ape

paragraphs: Apes are mammals belonging to the primate family Hominoidea. Its members are called hominoids. They are native to Africa and Southeast Asia. Its living members are divided into two families:

paragraphs: One clear difference between monkeys and apes is that monkeys almost always have tails, but hominoids never do. There are also differences in their teeth and the way they move their arms. They have a wide degree of freedom at the shoulder joint, which helps them swing by their arms in the trees (brachiation).

paragraphs: The diets of apes are similar to those of other primates. They eat fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves and sometimes other animals. They are typically omnivores, though most of their intake is herbivorous.


title: Hattingen

paragraphs: Hattingen an der Ruhr is a city about 60.000 people in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It belongs to the Ruhr area. It lies south of Bochum and Essen. Very famous is its "Altstadt".


title: Shart

paragraphs: Shart is the name of several Bollywood and Tollywood movies.


title: Morning wood

paragraphs: Morning wood is an informal term for a morning erection, for which the technical medical term is "nocturnal penile tumescence". It means an erection that a man sometimes has while asleep or right after waking up. Men who do not have erectile dysfunction can experience this sensation. It usually happens during Rapid Eye Movement sleep. Other slang terms include "morning glory" and "morning tent".


title: Accompaniment

paragraphs: An accompaniment in music is music that accompanies (goes with) something else.

paragraphs: A piece of music may have a melody (tune) and an accompaniment underneath. The music may be played on the piano with the right hand playing the tune and the left hand playing the accompaniment. The accompaniment might also be played on a different instrument.

paragraphs: Music does not have to be a tune with accompaniment, although it often is. The accompaniment does not always have to be lower than the tune. To play the piano, the pianist has to learn to play a tune in the right hand and accompaniment in the left hand, or the tune might be passed from one hand to the other. The tune should usually be played a little louder than the accompaniment. The accompaniment must not ‘drown’ the tune.

paragraphs: An accompaniment might be single notes, or chords, or any other pattern. The accompaniments help us to feel the harmony. An accompaniment might be another tune (this is called counterpoint). Tunes can be played or sung without accompaniment. Folk songs are traditionally sung unaccompanied.

paragraphs: If one instrument accompanies another, the person who plays the accompaniment is an "accompanist". The piano is the most popular instrument for accompanying in Western music. A good pianist can accompany a violin, cello, oboe, trumpet, singer or choir. They have to listen carefully to the instrument(s) they are accompanying, and play with the same kind of feeling.

paragraphs: When a soloist plays a concerto the orchestra are accompanying the soloist. An organist playing a hymn is accompanying the congregation. A percussion player in a rock band is accompanying the lead instrument.

paragraphs: Guitars and electric keyboards are often used for accompaniment. In Elizabethan times the lute was popular. People sang songs and often accompanied themselves on the lute or harp. In the Baroque period the accompaniment was often played by the basso continuo (harpsichord or organ with cello or bassoon on the bass line).

paragraphs: The pianist Gerald Moore was a famous accompanist. When he started his career in the 1920s people did not think that the accompanist was very important. Sometimes their name would not even be printed in the programme. A singer would expect the audience to start to clap as soon as they had sung their last note, even if the piano had several more bars to play. This might not matter too much with some music, but in songs by Schubert, Wolf and other composers of Lieder the piano parts are very important. Gerald Moore made people realize how important the accompanist is. A good performance can be ruined by a bad accompaniment.


title: Tagalog language

paragraphs: Tagalog is one of the main languages spoken in the Philippines. More than 22 million people speak it as their first language.

paragraphs: It was originally spoken by the Tagalog people in the Philippines, who were mainly in Bulacan, Cavite, and some parts of Luzon. Now, Tagalog is spoken nationwide, just like English, and is a mix of Spanish, Malay, and English.

paragraphs: It originally was used with an abugida, the Baybayin script, but the Latin alphabet is now used.


title: Basso continuo

paragraphs: Basso continuo is a form of musical accompaniment used in the Baroque period. It means "continuous bass".

paragraphs: Basso continuo, sometimes just called "continuo", was played by an instrument providing chordal accompaniment such as a keyboard instrument or plucked string instrument such as the lute along with another bass instrument such as cello, violone, or bassoon. The keyboard instrument was normally a harpsichord but could also be an organ, such as a small portative instrument.

paragraphs: It was not usual to write out all the notes for the keyboard player. The composer normally just wrote the bass line which would be played by the left hand and doubled on the other bass instrument. The composer would indicate what the harmony should be (which chords should be played) by writing figures underneath the music.


title: Diwali

paragraphs: Diwali (also: Deepawali) is one of India's biggest festivals. The word 'Deepawali' means rows of lighted lamps. It is a festival of lights and Hindus celebrate it with joy. During this festival, people light up their houses and shops with Diyas (small cup-shaped oil lamp made of baked clay). They worship the Lord Ganesha for welfare and prosperity and Goddess Lakshmi for wealth and wisdom.

paragraphs: This festival is celebrated in the Hindu month of Kartikamasam which falls sometime during October or November. It is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Rama after 14 years of exile and his victory over the Demon Ravana. In many parts of India, Deepawali is celebrated for five consecutive days. Hindus regard it as a celebration of life and use the occasion to strengthen relationships. In some parts of India, it marks the beginning of a new year. People clean and decorate their house before the festival. They do colorful rangoli art works on floors.

paragraphs: Deepawali is celebrated and is a public holiday in countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji, Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago. It is also a school holiday in many states of the United States with a large Hindu population.

paragraphs: President George W. Bush had the first celebration of the holiday in the White House.

paragraphs: Hindus light up their homes and shops to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi and to give them good luck for the year ahead. A few days before Ravtegh, which is the day before Deepavali, houses, buildings, shops and temples are thoroughly cleaned, whitewashed and decorated with pictures, toys and flowers. On the day of Deepawali, people put on their best clothes and exchange greetings, gifts and sweets with their friends and family.

paragraphs: At night, buildings are illuminated with earthen lamps, candle-sticks and electric bulbs. Sweets and toy shop are decorated to attract the passers-by. The bazaars and streets are overcrowded. People buy sweets for their own families and also send them as presents to their friends and relatives. The Goddess Lakshmi is also worshiped in the form of earthen images, silver rupee. Hindus believe that on this day, Lakshmi only enters houses which are neat and tidy. People offer prayers for their own health, wealth and prosperity. They leave the light on in buildings believing that Lakshmi will not have difficulty in finding her way in.


title: Arthashastra

paragraphs: Arthashastra is an ancient book of India. Kautilya (also known as Chanakya) wrote this book. Kautilya was a minister of Chandragupta Maurya (321 BC – 297 BC), an emperor of Ancient India. After many revisions and additions, the book took its present form about 1800 years before, in the 2nd century.

paragraphs: The book is divided into fifteen sections. It tells about politics and administration. Different sections of the book talk about many subjects, such as: war and politics "rule with a harsh hand"


title: Hanuman

paragraphs: Hanuman is one of the most popular gods of Hindus. He is also known by other names like Hanumat. His mother’s name was Anjana. Based on her mother’s name, Hanuman is sometimes called "Anjaneya", that is, one born of Anjana. His father’s name was Kesari.

paragraphs: He is blessed by Vayu as the god of winds. Hanuman’s image shows him as a strong man with the face of a monkey. He also has a tail it represents the morality, higher pride of being self.

paragraphs: Hanuman was awarded boon of Immortality by Mother Sita ( Wife of Lord rama) and is still alive

paragraphs: Hanuman is a very powerful and strong god. He finds an important place in the Ramayana. He was a devotee of Rama, a form (avatar) of Vishnu, a god of Hindus. Hanuman is a figure of strength, perseverance and devotion. When he was young he thought the sun a mango.


title: Indra

paragraphs: Indra resides in a mythical city located above in the sky. The city’s name is Amravati. He lives there with his wife named Indrani, and several other smaller gods. There are many apsaras in amravati.

paragraphs: Indra was a very important God during the Vedic period. Later his importance became less. Gods like Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva became more important in Hinduism.

paragraphs: Indra in current form of mythology is similar to that of Zeus in Greek mythology. Though his importance has come down, he is still considered to be king of Gods. His status is below that of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Thus, he is considered to be king of lesser Gods.

paragraphs: Again, his weapon is Vajra which is represented by Thunderbolt! His means, at times, treacherous and he is shown as, at times, jealous and vengeful. Further, he is made to suffer his own bad deeds.


title: Badrinath

paragraphs: Badrinatha is an important pilgrimage place for the Hindus. The place is in Uttarakhand state of India, and is located at a high altitude in the Himalayas. The Hindu scriptures say that the place is sacred to Vishnu, one of the gods of Hindus.

paragraphs: Badrinath gets its name from a tree's name. The name of that tree is "badri-tree" or Indian Jujube tree. The botanical name of a badri-tree is "Zizyphus jujba Lam".

paragraphs: The modern Badrinath temple was established by Adi Shankaracharya in the ninth century after the old temple fell to ruin. The Badrinath area is referred to as Badarikaashram (बदरिकाश्रम) in Hindu scriptures.

paragraphs: The temple was renovated many times because of age or damage by avalanche. In the 17th century, the temple was renovated by the kings of Garhwal. After the great 1803 Himalayan earthquake, it was rebuilt by the King of Jaipur.


title: Kanchipuram

paragraphs: Kanchipuram is one of the seven most holy cities of Hindus. It is about southwest of Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India. Kanchipuram was an important religious and cultural place of Ancient India. The city continues to be an important religious place.

paragraphs: For a long time, from the 6th century till the 8th century, the city was capital city of the Pallava dynasty.

paragraphs: There is a Math (religious centre) of Shankaracharya in this city.


title: History of Japan

paragraphs: The History of Japan in written form dates from the 1st century, but archeologists have found proof of people living in Japan for the last several thousand years from the time when the last Ice Age ended.

paragraphs: The first period of Japan's history is its prehistory, before the written history of Japan. Archeologists have found pottery from that time. Japan’s Paleolithic era covers a period from around 100,000 BC to around 12,000 BC. Archeologists have found some polished tools made of stones. Some of them are kept in Tokyo National Museum. These tools are more than 32,000 years old.

paragraphs: The Jomon period lasted for about 10,000 years, from 10,000 BC to around 300 BC. This was the Mesolithic era for Japan. Some scholars say that during this period, Neolithic culture also developed in Japan.

paragraphs: Some believe that the Jomon people were the first people in the world to create pottery but other scholars do not think so. Archeologists have found several pieces of pottery of that time. Some are clay figures and some are vessels and potteries of different shapes.

paragraphs: The Yayoi period covered about 550 years, from around 300 BC till around 250. The period's name came from a location in Tokyo.

paragraphs: By that time, Japanese people had learnt the cultivation of rice, and agriculture became the main part of the Japanese society. Because of this, differences in social status started to occur.

paragraphs: Different clans controlled different areas and they also fought among themselves. Some Chinese texts tell about this time. These texts describe Japan as Wa. Later, the Yamatai came into being when about 30 smaller parts of Japan of that time united under a queen named Himiko.

paragraphs: The Ancient and Classical period covers about 900 years, beginning from the mid-3rd century till the end of the 12th century. Japanese history during this period may further be divided into several smaller periods. These are described below.

paragraphs: In the history of Japan, the period from the mid-3rd century till the mid-6th century is known as the Kofun period.

paragraphs: Kofun is a large tomb made at this era, and people who had social power were buried. Buddhism had not reached Japan by this time. Many kofuns were made in many places. This fact lets us to know that many social groups all around the country made up an authority, and this leads to the Yamato dynasty.

paragraphs: The Yamato dynasty started to have take more action against Korea and China. In the 4th century, they started to advance to Korea to get iron. By this, cultures and technologies of Korea and China started to be introduced to Japan. They also fought with Goguryeo and Silla, which are countries in Korea. In the 5th century, the five kings of Wa made effort to have relationship with China.

paragraphs: The second period is called the Asuka period (mid-6th century till around 710). Asuka is the place where the base of Yamato dynasty took place. By this time Buddhism had reached Japan.

paragraphs: From the end of the 6th century to the early 7th century, Empress Suiko and her nephew Prince Shotoku innovated the political system so that the emperor gets power. They also sent missions to the Sui dynasty.

paragraphs: The trend of centralization still continues. In 645, the Taika Reforms takes place, and the political system changes a lot.

paragraphs: In 663, the nation fights with the Tang dynasty and Silla (Battle of Baekgang), but looses.

paragraphs: In 672, the Jinshin war occurs and Prince Ōama becomes the emperor (Emperor Tenmu). In his era, Japan starts to make a Chinese style law system (Ritsuryo). Also, the word , which means "Japan" in Japanese, was started to be used in the era of Tenmu.

paragraphs: During this period, from the year 707, steps were taken to shift the capital to Heijō-kyō, a place near present-day Nara. This was completed in 710. A new city was built. The city was built to look like the Chinese capital city of that time. At that time, the Tang Dynasty was ruling China, and the capital was at Chang'an (now Xi'an).

paragraphs: During the Nara period, development was slow. The Emperor’s family members were always fighting for power with the Buddhists and other groups. At that time, Japan had friendly relations with Korea and China’s Tang Dynasty. The capital was shifted twice. In 784, the capital was moved to Nagaoka and in 794 to Kyoto.

paragraphs: The years from 794 to 1185 are known as the . This grouping of years is named after city of Heian-kyō, which is the early name of present-day Kyoto. The Heian period produced many cultural achievements, such as the Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. The Heian Period ended due to the Genpei War.

paragraphs: The period from around the 12th century through the 19th century is called feudal period in the history of Japan. The Japanese Emperor was the head of the government, but he had no real power. Many powerful families (called daimyo and military groups called shogun) ruled Japan during this period. The feudal period of Japan is generally sub-divided into different periods named after the shogunate which ruled during that period.

paragraphs: The years 1185 to 1333 are known as the . This grouping of years is named after city of Kamakura which was the center of power of the Kamakura shogunate. Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate.

paragraphs: The Muromachi Period began in 1336 and ended in 1573. Emperor Go-Daigo lost his throne. The government of the Ashikaga shogunate took control of most parts of Japan. This period ended in 1573. In that year the 15th and the last shogun named Ashikaga Yoshiaki was forced to leave the capital Kyōto.

paragraphs: During this period, in 1542, a Portuguese ship reached Japan and made the first direct contact between both cultures, including the knowledge of firearms. In the next few years, merchants and also some Christian missionaries from several European countries, mainly Portugal, the Netherlands, England, and Spain, reached the shores of Japan.

paragraphs: Azuchi-Momoyama period covers the years from 1568 to 1600. During these years, different parts of Japan became united again. Japan's military power grew. In 1592, Japan wanted to conquer China. At that time China was ruled by the Ming dynasty. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was one of the main leaders of Japan. He sent an army of 160,000 samurai to Korea. The Japanese could not win and retreated back to Japan. In 1597, Japan again sent an army to Korea. In 1598, Toyotomi Hideyoshi died. After his death, the Japanese dropped the idea of conquering Korea and China.

paragraphs: During this period, the Japanese brought many Koreans to Japan. These Koreans were very good at making pottery and at other arts. Some of them were very educated. Japan gained new information and knowledge from these Koreans.

paragraphs: During the Edo period, Japan had many small rulers. There were about 200 of them. They were called daimyo, and they were all ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate which was leaded by the Tokugawa clan. The shoguate's capital was relocated to Edo. This place was at modern-day Tokyo. Fifteen shoguns controlled the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo Period.

paragraphs: The Edo period is also a very important period in the history of Japan. The main developments include:

paragraphs: In 1867, the Tokugawa Shogunate returned its political power to the emperor. Although, the emperor did not know how to rule the country because the last time the emperor had power was 500 years ago. So, the shogunate still remained in authority.

paragraphs: In 1868, the Boshin War occurred between the Japanese emperor and the Tokugawa shogunate. Japan again came under the actual rule of an emperor as the Tokugawa shogunate was defeated.

paragraphs: Beginning from the early 17th century, the Tokugawa shogunate followed a policy of seclusion, known as sakoku in Japanese language. They suspected that traders, merchants, and missionaries from Europe wanted to bring Japan under the control of European powers. All traders and missionaries from other countries were forced to leave Japan, except for the Dutch, the Koreans, and the Chinese.

paragraphs: Even during the period of seclusion, the Japanese continued to gain information and knowledge about other parts of the world.

paragraphs: This policy of seclusion lasted for about 200 years until it ended under American military force. On July 8th 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry of the United States Navy reached Edo with four warships. The ships were heavily armed and their guns pointed towards the city. After this display of American military power, Japan was forced to agree to trade with other countries. The Japanese called these ships the "kurofune" or the Black Ships.

paragraphs: Next year, on March 31st 1854, Perry came with seven ships and the Japanese signed a treaty (known as the Convention of Kanagawa) that established a diplomatic relationship with the United States. Another treaty (known as the Harris Treaty) was signed with the United States on July 29th 1858. This treaty gave more facilities to foreigners coming to Japan and expanded trade with Japan. Many Japanese were not happy with reopening diplomatic relations and trade with other countries.

paragraphs: The Meiji Restoration is an important period of history of Japan. Emperor Meiji ruled Japan and regained power from the shogunate. The Meiji Restoration began with the Boshin War of 1868. Emperor Meiji wanted Japan to become Westernized. Many changes occurred in Japan’s government and culture.

paragraphs: At the end of the 19th century, many Japanese believed that Japan needed to expand in order to face Western foreign powers. This resulted in wars with its neighboring counties. In 1894-1895, Japan and China had a war. Another war took place with Russia in 1904-1905. Japan became a world power after these wars. Russian influence continued to grow inside China.

paragraphs: By the beginning of the 20th century, Russian influence was increasing in China. Japan and the United Kingdom used to get economic and other benefits from their relationship with China. Japan and the United Kingdom did not like Russia’s growing influence in China. Japan and the United Kingdom formed a military alliance, called the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, on January 30th 1902. Russia was not happy at this type of agreement between Japan and the United Kingdom. Russia tried to form a similar military alliance with Germany and France. On March 6th 1902, Russia formed a military alliance with France but not Germany.

paragraphs: The Russo-Japanese War began between Japan and Russia. Japan won the Russo-Japanese War. The United States mediated the peace negotiations between Japan and Russia. Japan got a number of concessions. In 1910, Japan invaded and annexed Korea.

paragraphs: In 1914, the First World War broke out. Japan also entered the war. It attacked several places (of East Asia), which were colonies of Germany. After the war ended in 1919, Japan developed very fast. It became one of the major powers of Asia.

paragraphs: Before the beginning of the Second World War, Japan was fighting with China. This is called Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Japan went to the side of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The fighting continued for years. When the USA dropped the first atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan accepted defeat and surrendered in 1945.

paragraphs: World War II and Japanese occupation of the Philippines

paragraphs: Japan launched a surprise attack on the Clark Air Base in Pampanga on December 8, 1941, just ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Aerial bombardment was followed by landings of ground troops on Luzon. The defending Philippine and United States troops were under the command of General Douglas MacArthur. Under the pressure of superior numbers, the defending forces withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay.

paragraphs: On January 2, 1942, General MacArthur declared the capital city, Manila, an open city to prevent its destruction. The Philippine defense continued until the final surrender of United States-Philippine forces on the Bataan Peninsula in April 1942 and on Corregidor in May of the same year. Most of the 80,000 prisoners of war captured by the Japanese at Bataan were forced to undertake the infamous Bataan Death March to a prison camp 105 kilometers to the north. It is estimated that about 10,000 Filipinos and 1,200 Americans died before reaching their destination.

paragraphs: President Quezon and Osmeña had accompanied the troops to Corregidor and later left for the United States, where they set up a government in exile. MacArthur was ordered to Australia, where he started to plan for a return to the Philippines.

paragraphs: The Japanese military authorities immediately began organizing a new government structure in the Philippines and established the Philippine Executive Commission. They initially organized a Council of State, through which they directed civil affairs until October 1943, when they declared the Philippines an independent republic. The Japanese-sponsored republic headed by President José P. Laurel proved to be unpopular.

paragraphs: Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground and guerrilla activity. The Philippine Army, as well as remnants of the U.S. Army Forces Far East, continued to fight the Japanese in a guerrilla war and was considered an auxiliary unit of the United States Army. Their effectiveness was such that by the end of the war, Japan controlled only twelve of the forty-eight provinces. One element of resistance in the Central Luzon area was furnished by the Hukbalahap, which armed some 30,000 people and extended their control over much of Luzon.

paragraphs: The occupation of the Philippines by Japan ended at the war's conclusion. The American army had been fighting the Philippines Campaign since October 1944, when MacArthur's Sixth United States Army landed on Leyte. Landings in other parts of the country had followed, and the Allies, with the Philippine Commonwealth troops, pushed toward Manila. However, fighting continued until Japan's formal surrender on September 2, 1945. The Philippines suffered great loss of life and tremendous physical destruction, especially during the Battle of Manila. An estimated 1 million Filipinos had been killed, a large portion during the final months of the war, and Manila had been extensively damaged.

paragraphs: After the end of the Second World War, Japan came under international control. Japan became an important friend of the USA when it entered into the Cold war with Korea. Over next few years, many political, economic and social changes took place. Japanese Diet (legislature) came into being. In 1951, USA and 45 other countries signed an agreement with Japan, and Japan again became an independent nation with full power (a country with full sovereignty) on 28th April 1952.

paragraphs: Post-Occupation Japan means Japan after its occupation and control by a group of nations had ended. This is the period after the Second World War. The Second World War had damaged Japan very badly. It has almost lost its industry and economy was in a very bad shape. After the war, Japan received assistance and technology from the USA and several other countries of Europe. The progress was very rapid. For about 30 years, from around the 1950s to the 1980s, Japan grew very fast. It became one of the major economic powers of the world.

paragraphs: When the UN forces were fighting in Korea during the Korean War, Japan was one of the major suppliers. This also helped Japan’s economy. By 1980s, Japan had become the world’s second largest economy, after the USA. At first, there was very close relationship between Japan and the USA. But, Japan’s economic might resulted into trade deficit for the USA. A trade deficit results when imports are more than exports. Thus, USA was importing more than it exported to Japan.

paragraphs: For various reasons, this phase of rapid development ended in the 1990s. Some historians have described this decade as the lost decade of Japanese economy. About 5 to 10 persons in 100 persons could not find any work.

paragraphs: By 1952, Japan had become free from most of the controls of the occupation period. It got its own democratic system. Various political parties came into being and Japan’s political life became active.

paragraphs: Historians and sociologists call the recent era modern life. In Japanese, this is called the Heisei period. By 1989, Japan’s economy had become very large. Much development had taken place. In the Gulf war of 1991, Japan gave billions of dollars.

paragraphs: Japan also faced some problems. In 1995, a big earthquake took place in Kobe. Another earthquake took place on 23rd October 2004 in Niigata Prefecture, and a very destructive tsunami damaged the north east coast in March 2011, causing a nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.


title: History of Saudi Arabia

paragraphs: settlements had always existed around oases; these are places in the deserts where growth and water are available.

paragraphs: Saudi Arabia became an important center, as Islam rose in the 620s. The cities of Medina and Mecca became the holiest places of Islam. They also became the two holiest cities for the Muslims in the whole world. The rulers and kings of Saudi Arabia also got more power.

paragraphs: The beginning of the modern history of Saudi Arabia was when an Islamic reformer named Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab and a local ruler named Muhammad bin Saud founded the Saudi state in the year 1744. It was founded in the central part of the Arabia. Over the next Century and a half, the Saud family saw bad and good times. The family also faced opposition from rulers of Egypt and the Ottoman Empire. The family also faced opposition from other powerful families of Arabia

paragraphs: Finally after many decades,The modern state of Saudi Arabia could be established by King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (also known as Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud). In 1902, he took over the city of Riyadh from another family, named Al-Rashid. He continued to win more areas, and on 8 January 1926, he became the King of Hijaz. On 29 January 1927, he took the title of King of Nejd. On 20th May 1927, the government of the United Kingdom accepted him as the King of the areas ruled by him. His kingdom now became a sovereignty. All the regions under his control were united to form the state of Saudi Arabia by the year 1932. Petroleum oil was found in Saudi Arabia on 3 March 1938, which made the country rich as export of oil started to bring a lot of money.

paragraphs: Saudi Arabia discussed from the beginning of the 1920s with its neighboring countries about fixing of definite boundaries. It finalized its boundaries with Iraq, Jordan, and Kuwait. On borders with Iraq and Kuwait, two neutral zones were created – one with Iraq, and the other one with Kuwait. In 1934, borders with Yemen were almost finalized.

paragraphs: In 1965, Saudi Arabia gave some of its areas to Jordan, and Jordan gave some of its areas to Saudi Area. In 1971, the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait was partitioned between these two countries. Likewise, Saudi Arabia and Iraq decided in 1981 to partition the neutral zone between them. The zone was partitioned between the two countries in 1984.

paragraphs: Still, Saudi Arabia's borders with the United Arab Emirates and Oman are not final. The border with Qatar was finalized in 2001.

paragraphs: King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud died in 1953. His son named Saud became the king. He reigned for 11 years. In 1964, he was forced to step down, and his half-brother, Faisal, became the king. Faisal had the support of the senior members of the royal family and the religious leaders. Faisal also held the post of the Prime Minister. This tradition of being both the King and the Prime Minister still continues in Saudi Arabia. All Kings after Faisal had followed this practice.

paragraphs: Faisal took a number of new steps for economic development of Saudi Arabia. During his reign, many important political events also happened like the ones noted below:

paragraphs: In 1975, King Faisal was assassinated by one of his nephews. The nephew was found guilty, and he was sentenced to death. King Faisal's half-brother Khalid became the King and the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. During the reign of King Khalid, Saudi Arabia's importance in regional politics increased. The economic growth of the country also continued at a good rate.

paragraphs: King Khalid died in 1982. After his death, Fahd became the King. At the same time, he also became the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. His half-brother Prince Abdullah became the Crown Prince.

paragraphs: The income of Saudi Arabia became less during the period of King Fahd's reign. This was a result of lower price of petroleum oil. King Fahd's government used an economic policy which helped the country to survive with a lower income.

paragraphs: King Fahd helped Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. Iraq's economy had become very bad on account of this war. The King also discussed with these two countries to stop war. Both countries (Iran and Iraq) stopped the war in August 1988. The King also helped in making Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) a stronger organization. The GCC is an organization of six countries of the Persian Gulf. The purpose of the organization is to increase development and cooperation among the member countries.

paragraphs: In 1990, Saddam Hussain was ruling Iraq. The Gulf War of 1991 was when he invaded Kuwait. Many people thought that his army would also invade Saudi Arabia. King Fahd allowed some Western countries and USA to send their forces to the country. Many Muslims were against that their most holy land was used by non-Muslim soldiers.

paragraphs: During and after the Gulf War, King Fahd’s role was very important. During the war, he allowed the entry of the royal family of Kuwait inside Saudi Arabia and followed by 400,000 other persons from Kuwait to stay on a temporary basis. The King allowed the troops of countries like USA to mount attacks on Kuwait to liberate it. He also helped in arranging support of other Muslim countries for liberation of Kuwait. Iraqi forces were eventually ousted from Kuwait.

paragraphs: Presence of troops from the Western countries has angered many Muslims. One of them was the rich man Osama bin Laden. He was forced to leave Saudi Arabia when he disagreed and opposed the King of Saudi Arabia. Other than Osma bin laden and his groups, there were several other persons and groups who did not like the presence of Western troops inside Saudi Arabia.

paragraphs: These persons and their groups attacked people, they tried manly to attack the foreign troops in Saudi Arabia. Some examples of such attacks are given below:

paragraphs: September 11, 2001 attacks in New York had resulted into many deaths and big destruction. After enquiry, it came to light that out of 19 suspected persons for these attacks, 15 were from Saudi Arabia.

paragraphs: Such things attracted the attention of the government of Saudi Arabia. The government started a policy to check such activities. Even then, terrorist activities of such persons and groups continued.


title: Linga

paragraphs: A linga or a lingam is a very complex symbol of Hinduism. It is associated with Shiva, supreme god in main gods of the Hindus. The Hindu scriptures say that a linga represents energy and strength. In almost all the temples of Shiva, Shiva is shown in the form of a linga.

paragraphs: The Hindu scriptures also say that Shiva took twelve forms as Jyotirlinga, that is, "a linga of light". In India, there are twelve places where this form of Shiva is worshiped. The Hindu scriptures also tell about five more forms of lingas. These form of lingas represent the earth, the water, the fire, the air and the sky (or ether). There are five different places in India where Hindus worship these forms of Shiva. These places are located at the following locations:

paragraphs: Beside above places, in almost all the towns and villages of India, Shiva’s temples are found. In all such temples, lingas are worshipped.

paragraphs: LINGA is also used to describe the rounded stones themselves. They can be found at sites as far west as Europe. For instance, a Linga was found on the grounds surrounding the Masoleum of Rumi in Turkey. As well as it's obvious shape, that of a 4ft capsule, it also has the same energy fields that are displayed by all Linga still undamaged or "alive" as Yogis refer to them. The Linga in Turkey is known to be 4,200+ years old. At one time it is believed that all across from Asia through Europe, consecrated sites with these Linga were built not for worship, but to sit with and to be able to gain from access to a quiet place consecrated to being a more spiritual being.


title: United States National Guard

paragraphs: The United States National Guard is an organization of the United States Army and the United States Air Force. The U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force are both branches of the United States military. The National Guard is a militia (an emergency army) for the United States. Each U.S. State has its own National Guard, usually under the control of that state's government. When needed, they are mobilized under control of the United States.

paragraphs: There are two parts of the United States National Guard, administered by the National Guard Bureau of the United States Department of Defense. The Air National Guard is part of the United States Air Force; the Army National Guard is part of the United States Army. The two National Guard groups are identified by the kinds of jobs they do. The Air National Guard does mainly air defense jobs, while the Army National Guard does the jobs on the ground.


title: Bishop's Stortford

paragraphs: Bishop's Stortford is a town in Hertfordshire in south-east England, with about 35,000 people living there.

paragraphs: People have lived in the area for hundreds of thousands of years but it became a permanent town by the time of the Saxons.

paragraphs: The Domesday Book says there were 120 people living there in the 1100s. The Normans built a small castle there but it was unused and broken by the time of the Tudors.

paragraphs: The town grew as an important centre for transport. After 1769, ships were able to use the river. It was a stagecoach stop for travel on the road between London and Cambridge. In 1842 the town got a railway station.

paragraphs: In 1901 there were 7,000 people living there, and by 1951 it was 13,000.

paragraphs: The town is popular for travellers to London because of the M11 motorway (an important road) and good train services to London. Stansted Airport has also caused development.


title: Raven

paragraphs: A raven is a big black bird, ("Corvus corax"). It may be called the common raven or the northern raven. It is similar to a crow but bigger. It and the thick-billed raven are the two largest birds in the crow family, and perhaps the heaviest perching birds. The raven's feathers are all black, but a crow has feathers that are white at the bottom. This cannot be seen from a distance.

paragraphs: The most famous raven is in the Edgar Allan Poe story called "The Raven".

paragraphs: The common raven can be tamed. Some think it is mischievous and sly, and it has been regarded as a bird of evil and mysterious character.


title: Malnutrition

paragraphs: Malnutrition is eating a diet which does not supply enough nutrients. There are two broad cateogries of malnutrition:

paragraphs: Sometimes, people need to lose weight, and eat according to a special diet. This is usually not called malnutrition.

paragraphs: Malnutrition is considered a more scientific and official term than starvation which has negative associations. Malnutrition is not, however, simply a matter of eating too little. Someone can be malnourished if they eat an unhealthy diet. This can be cured by eating a proper balanced diet.

paragraphs: Children whose daily diet contains less carbohydrate and protein do not grow well. They do not gain weight. Their hands and legs appear as skin and bones. They cry all the time with hunger. They are not active and have sunken eyes. Such children often fall sick. Lack of a particular vitamin is another kind of malnutrition which can cause a particular deficiency disease, such as beriberi and rickets.

paragraphs: Malnutrition becomes a bigger problem during famine because most of the people do not get enough food, hence increasing the death rate.


title: Carolina parakeet

paragraphs: The Carolina parakeet is an extinct species of parrot.

paragraphs: It was the last parrot type to have lived before the European conquest in the eastern United States. It was found from the Ohio Valley to the Gulf of Mexico, and lived in old woods along rivers.

paragraphs: The last wild Carolina parakeet was killed in Okeechobee County in Florida in 1904, and the last bird kept by people died at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918. This was the male bird called "Incas", who died within a year of his mate "Lady Jane". It was not until 1939, however, that it was agreed that all the Carolina parakeets had died.

paragraphs: At some date between 1937 and 1955, three parakeets looking like this sort of bird were seen and recorded on videotape in the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia. However, the American Ornithologists Union thought that they had probably recorded escaped pets. Additional sightings were recorded in Okeechobee County in Florida until the end of the 1920s.

paragraphs: The Carolina parakeet died out for a number of reasons. To make space for more farms, large areas of forest were cut down, taking away its living space. The colorful feathers (green body, yellow head, and red around the bill) were in demand as decorations in ladies' hats, and the birds were kept as pets. Even though the birds were bred easily in captivity, little was done to make sure enough birds were bred to avoid their dying out. Finally, they were killed in large numbers because farmers thought they were pests.

paragraphs: Another reason that led to their extinction was that, unfortunately, they liked to return in large flocks to places where some of them had just been killed. This led to even more being shot by hunters as they gathered about the wounded and dead members of the flock.


title: Match Game

paragraphs: Match Game was a game show that ran from 1962-1999. Hosted Premierie on 1973 Present CBS GSN & More Premierie June 26 2016 on ABC During $100,000 Pyramid Match Game The Hollywood Squares (1983) Like The Price is Right in Wheel of Fortune October 31 1983 on 1962-2016 Present Finale Until of 1979 in 1980-1982 in 1990 Theme in 1960s-2010s Like Pyramid

paragraphs: First the challenging contestant would pick a question, A or B. Host Gene Rayburn would read it to the contestant. Then the contestant and the six celebrities would write their answer to the question on a piece of paper. Then after the contestant and the celebrities got done with their answer, Gene would ask for the contestant's answer. They would tell it to him. Then he would ask the celebrities for their answers. If the contestant's and a celebrity's answer are the same the contestant would get a point, and a green triangle would light up.

paragraphs: Then the defending contestant would take the remaining question. Then the process was the same as above, except red circles lit up.

paragraphs: Whoever had the most points at after two rounds of the above procedures would win $100 and go on to the Big Money Super Match.

paragraphs: Before the game show, the audience would be surveyed. Their top 3 answers to the question (e.g. Road ___) would be worth (3rd most popular) $100, (2nd most popular) $250, and (most popular) $500. The contestant would pick 3 celebrities to give them answers they thought would be under the $500 slot. Then the contestant would choose one of those answers or make up their own. The answers were revealed one at a time.

paragraphs: If the contestant won the Audience Match, they would get a chance to win 10 times that money. They had to match a celebrity's answer exactly to questions like ____ Bee. At first, the contestant chose the celebrity they wanted to play with. In 1978, the Star Wheel was introduced. The contestant spun a wheel to determine which celebrity they would be playing with. If the wheel stopped on a gold star section, the money the contestant would be playing for was doubled.

paragraphs: The first "Match Game" had different rules from this one and was shown on the NBC network starting in 1962 and ending in 1969. Then, this "Match Game" was introduced on the CBS network in 1973. That version ended in 1979. In 1975, a syndicated version titled "Match Game PM" started. It had three rounds of gameplay, and two Audience Matches in the Big Money Super Match. It ended in 1981. A second syndicated version with the same gameplay as "Match Game PM" started in 1979, and ended in 1982. In 1983, it was combined with another game show, "Hollywood Squares", to form the "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour", which was on television for one year. Six years later, in 1990, it was brought back for the ABC network with a new host, Ross Shafer. In this version, contestants played for cash. It also featured a new round called the "Match Up" round. It was played at the end of both rounds. To start, a contestant chose one of the celebrities. The contestant had 30 seconds (45 in the second round) to match the celebrity in Super Match-style questions. Each question had two choices. Matches were worth $50 in the first round and $100 in the second. This version ended in 1991, but in 1998 it returned with Michael Burger as host. It featured five celebrities instead of six. This version was not very famous, however, and ended in 1999.


title: Melanesia

paragraphs: Melanesia is a region of islands in Oceania.

paragraphs: It stretches from the western side of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, to the Arafura Sea, northeast of Australia. Its name was invented in 1832 and means "black islands".

paragraphs: The following islands and groups of islands since the 19th century have been considered part of Melanesia:

paragraphs: Islands whose long-established inhabitants are of mixed ancestry and do not necessarily self-identify as Melanesian:

paragraphs: Some of the islands to the west of New Guinea such as Halmahera, Alor, and Pantar can also be considered part of Melanesia, although people in this area do not make use of the term.


title: Diaphragm

paragraphs: The diaphragm is a muscle that is at the bottom of the ribcage of mammals.

paragraphs: When breathing in, the diaphragm pulls down so that the size of the lungs increases, allowing air to enter the lungs.

paragraphs: When breathing out, the diaphragm rests and goes up making a dome shape, decreasing the size of the lungs and pushing air out.

paragraphs: This increases the surface area of the air so that there is more oxygen that the lungs can hold.


title: Germ theory of disease

paragraphs: The Germ theory of disease is a theory in biology. It says that small organisms (called germs), also known as microbes, cause some diseases. These diseases are called infectious diseases. The germ theory states that small organisms cause a reaction in the body of those who are infected. The body's reaction to infection is called a disease.

paragraphs: Many scientists and doctors in history figured out that diseases are caused by microscopic organisms. Even after the microscope was invented, people still didn't know that germs caused diseases. People long believed that "bad air" from stinky trash dumps and from rotting meat was the cause of diseases. So people thought that covering their mouth and nose with a cloth would help filter out the "bad air." Scientists and doctors would use garlic and perfumes to ward off the bad air. But people still got sick and even died, so this theory was wrong. Polluted air is not the cause of disease.

paragraphs: One problem with the old theories of disease was that people believed that living things were spontaneously generated. Spontaneous generation is when something like a fly grows from a small speck of smelly meat. That old theory is called abiogenesis. In the seventeenth century, Francesco Redi (February 18, 1626 – March 1, 1697) discovered that flies lay eggs that become maggots. Prior to this, people thought that maggots came from rotting meat. He discovered this by sealing some meat in a jar and watching it. No maggots were found on the sealed meat. He also put some meat in a jar and covered it with gauze. Maggots were found on the gauze but not inside the jar. But when he placed meat in an open jar, maggots were found on the meat and inside the jar. Experiments like this proved that maggots come from flies who lay eggs, not from rotting meat. Later scientists would prove that diseases did not come from the air. Diseases are spread by infection.

paragraphs: Also in the eighteenth century, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered the first microscopic organisms with a microscope. He was the first microbiologist. He saw some of the microscopic organisms that cause diseases, but he didn't know what they were. In 1700, Nicolas Andry thought that some of these microscopic organisms caused smallpox and other diseases. Over 100 years later, Agostino Bassi figured out what caused disease in silkworms. Ignaz Semmelweis was a doctor who figured out that if doctors washed their hands after touching dead people, that other patients wouldn't get sick. That was in 1847. It was about this time that sanitation and hand washing became popular with some, but not all doctors. Doctors began to use chemicals to cleanse wounds and clean their tools between each patient.

paragraphs: One of the most famous experiments of the nineteenth century was when John Snow discovered the source of a cholera outbreak. It turns out that cholera is transmitted when human waste contaminates water that people drink. Snow found out that there was a large number of sick people in Soho in London. After talking to many people in the area and mapping where each sick person lived, he realized that the sick people were almost all getting their drinking water from the same public water pump. He solved the epidemic by having the water pump's handle removed so that the people would get water from some other place. It worked, and the epidemic was soon over.

paragraphs: Louis Pasteur showed that the germ theory of disease was true. In 1862, he invented a process that heats up a liquid to a high temperature to keep it from spoiling. This process is known as pasteurization, named after Pasteur. Pasteurization is used to kill microscopic organisms in liquids like milk, wine, and beer. Liquids that are pasteurized will last much longer before they spoil.

paragraphs: Later, he did an experiment with fermentation. In one case he made a broth that he put inside a jar with a very long winding tube, so that no particles could pass to it from outside. Air could get inside the tube, but almost no dust. The broth he made did not change, and no fermentation took place.

paragraphs: He then took a similar broth, but this time he allowed air and dust to go inside the jar. This time, fermentation took place. The thing that caused fermentation therefore needed to come from outside (the environment). And it wasn't just air that caused fermentation, it must be something floating in the air which was very small. We now know that small particles called yeast cause fermentation.

paragraphs: In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Robert Koch and Joseph Lister would go on and help establish the germ theory of disease as an important part of science and medicine. Koch's theories are called "postulates" and helped medical researchers know what causes diseases. Lister's ideas would help establish sanitation as a major defense against disease. Koch's postulates and Lister's sanitation discoveries are still very important today.

paragraphs: We now know that small things cause diseases. Each one of these things can cause infection: fungus, bacteria, virus, prion, yeast, protist.


title: Labor Day

paragraphs: Labor Day is a holiday in the United States and Canada on the first Monday of September. This holiday honors workers. It is similar to the May Day holiday in other countries. Many businesses close on Labor Day. Many students start school the day after Labor Day.

paragraphs: In some countries, it is known as International Workers' Day. It is celebrated every year on May 1 in almost 80 countries in the world. The day is celebrated on a different day, such as the first Monday of September in the United States.


title: Christian cross

paragraphs: The Christian cross is the main symbol of the Christian religion. These crosses are usually found on Christian churches.

paragraphs: Jesus, who many Christians believe is God the Son and their Messiah, was crucified (nailed to a large wooden cross). This was a commonly used method for killing people in Roman times.

paragraphs: Christians believe that Jesus' death made the sins of all humans who trust in him, go away, and that they are forgiven. They also believe that Jesus was resurrected (came back to life) after three days. Because of this, the cross is a symbol for Jesus' sacrifice and suffering, but also a symbol of hope, forgiveness of sins, and victory over death.

paragraphs: There are several different Christian crosses that are symbols for different Christian groups or persons.

paragraphs: A cross with the body of Jesus on it is called a Crucifix.

paragraphs: The empty cross is usually favoured by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox, and the symbol reminds them of the Resurrection of Jesus, though the Orthodox will add a slanted footbar, as well. The crucifix is favoured by Catholic churches and is a reminder of Christ's sacrifice. Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus died on a simple upright pole, a "torture stake" ; and only display it as a picture of an impaled Jesus in their literature.

paragraphs: Christians remember the death of Jesus on the cross on Good Friday every year.

paragraphs: The most common cross is the Latin Cross. The cross represents and memorializes Christ's death.

paragraphs: This cross is a symbol of hope over death, and of victory in returning to life. (See Philippians 2:8-9)


title: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

paragraphs: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a US Federal Holiday. It commemorates civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. It is celebrated on the third Monday in January and is one of only four United States Federal holidays to honor an individual person.

paragraphs: President Ronald Reagan signed a bill, proposed by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, to create a federal holiday honoring King. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. It is observed on the third Monday of January.


title: Washington's Birthday

paragraphs: Presidents' Day, originally was two separate observances, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, which was February 12, and George Washington's birthday, which was February 22. The two observances were combined in 1971 into a single observance which is held on the third Monday in February.


title: Memorial Day

paragraphs: Memorial Day is a national holiday in the United States. It is also a state holiday in many states. The holiday honors troops who have died in past wars like World War I and the Korean War. Memorial Day was first held in 1865 after the American Civil War. It was called Decoration Day at that time. The holiday was first called Memorial Day in 1882, and became a federal holiday in 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress made a law that said that the official Memorial Day holiday is May 30, but that Memorial Day was to be observed by Federal Employees as a paid holiday on the last Monday in May. Memorial Day is thought of by many Americans as being the start of summer. It was founded by John A. Logan(General).He fought in the Civil and Mexican–American War.


title: Columbus Day

paragraphs: Columbus Day is a holiday celebrating the day Columbus landed on San Salvador. It is celebrated in many countries. This holiday is very controversial because of the way Columbus treated the Native Americans at the time.


title: Veterans Day

paragraphs: Veterans Day is the American holiday when people who had served in the military during war-time are remembered and thanked. It is both a federal and a state holiday. The holiday is celebrated on the same day as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other countries. These holidays are all November 11. This is the day seen as the end of World War I. The first World War ended on November 11, 1918.

paragraphs: The holiday was first created as Armistice Day in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson. Thirty states made it a state holiday that year. It was made a holiday for the entire country in 1938. In June 1, 1954, the name was changed to Veterans Day.


title: Ralph Vaughan Williams

paragraphs: Ralph Vaughan Williams (b. Down Ampney, Gloucestershire, 12 October 1872; d. London, 26 August 1958) was the most important English composer of his generation.

paragraphs: Vaughan Williams always pronounced his first name “Rafe” - (“Vaughan” rhymes with “born”). His father was a rector. Ralph was very young when his father died. The family moved to Dorking near London. He went to Charterhouse School and played the viola in the school orchestra. He studied at the University of Cambridge and at the Royal College of Music where Hubert Parry was his teacher.

paragraphs: Vaughan Williams wanted to be a good composer, so he went abroad to study with famous composers like Max Bruch in Berlin and Maurice Ravel in Paris. Yet he knew that he must not simply imitate these composers, so he also studied English folk song. He became good friends with the composer Gustav Holst. The two men always showed one another the music they were writing so that they could help one another by offering criticism.

paragraphs: In 1910 he wrote a work which became one of his best-known pieces of music: the "Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis". The piece is for a string orchestra divided into two sections. It uses a theme by the famous 16th century composer Tallis. He also wrote hymn tunes for the English Hymnal. One of his most popular hymn tunes is the one called "Sine Nomine" sung to the words “For all the saints”. Another lovely work is "The Lark Ascending". This is a short work for solo violin and orchestra. The violin sounds like a skylark singing in the sky. In 1934 he wrote a short piece for flute, harp and string orchestra called "Fantasia on Greensleeves" which is based on the famous English Renaissance tune "Greensleeves".

paragraphs: During his long life Vaughan Williams wrote nine symphonies, works for the stage, songs, choral music and chamber music. In 1938 he wrote a famous piece called "Serenade to Music" for 16 solo singers and orchestra. It was one of several works he wrote inspired by Shakespeare. The words were from the play "The Merchant of Venice". It was written for the 50th anniversary of Sir Henry Wood’s career as a conductor. In 1953 he wrote music for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, including a very short and simple motet "O taste and see" which has remained very popular with church choirs.

paragraphs: In his old age he became quite deaf. This was because of the noise of gunfire he had been exposed to when he was serving as a stretcher bearer in World War I.

paragraphs: Some of Vaughan Williams’s best works are those where he makes his music sound like folk song. He loved the poetry of Housman and used some of the poems in a song cycle called "On Wenlock Edge" for tenor, piano and string quartet. His music always sounds English. He was born in the 19th century which was a time when people thought English musicians were not very good. Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar (who was a little older) made people realise that it was possible for an Englishman to write beautiful, moving music.

paragraphs: The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie; 1980


title: Recycling

paragraphs: Recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste and reprocessing the material into useful products. Glass, paper, plastic, and metals such as aluminum and steel are all commonly recycled. Dead plants, fruit and vegetable scraps can be recycled through composting. It is important, however, not to confuse recycling with reusing, which is where old things, such as clothes, are donated or given a new use instead of being thrown out.

paragraphs: One reason that people give for recycling is that it reduces trash in landfills and incinerators. Another reason people recycle is to reduce the amount of raw materials and energy used in making things. Most of the time, it takes less energy to recycle trash than to throw it away, "The Economist" says. Recycling can reduce your carbon footprints and it would help to minimize the whole size of landfills around the world.

paragraphs: The 3 R's are Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle..

paragraphs: Most people make about two kilograms of waste (trash) every day, and about 7% of this waste is made up of plastic products that can be recycled. Today, plastic can be recycled into products like picnic tables, park benches, and even high-chairs.

paragraphs: First, plastic is collected and taken to a recycling center, where it is "sorted out". When plastic is sorted out, symbols have to be printed on every recyclable plastic product used. There are two types of plastic: "polyethylene" and "polymer". There are two kinds of polyethylene plastic, too: "high density polyethylene" (HDPE), and "low density polyethylene" (LDPE). HDPE plastic is usually used to make furniture, and LDPE plastic are usually things like milk jugs, plastic and grocery bags.

paragraphs: HDPE plastic is ground into a small powder. LDPE plastic, which are usually thin films, need to be ground by a special machine. After that, both plastics are washed with hot water and . Dirt and other things, like labels, are taken off. After the wash, the powder is dried with hot air.

paragraphs: Sometimes, the powder is sold. But other times, the powder is heated, colored, and then put into a "pelletizer". The pelletizer makes the powder into little , which are bought by a company that shapes the pellets into pieces of plastic "wood". This plastic wood is used to make flowerpots, trash cans, pipes, picnic tables, benches, toys, mats, and many other things.


title: Transnistria

paragraphs: Transnistria, officially Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, PMR (short form: Pridnestrovie) is a partially-recognized state in Eastern Europe.

paragraphs: The country is recognized by three other partially or unrecognized states, Abkhazia, Nargorno-Karabakh Republic, and South Ossetia. The country declared independence from Moldova on 2 September 1990. With the help of the Russian army, it defeated the Moldovan army in the War of Transnistria.

paragraphs: There has been peace since 1992, but the Council of Europe calls Transnistria a "frozen conflict" region.

paragraphs: There is argument about whether it is really a country or not. The region continues to boast independence, and acts independently over its territory with the help of peacekeeping forces from foreign countries.

paragraphs: In a vote in 17 September 2006, 97% voted to be free from Moldova. This vote has not been accepted by Moldova, which calls the territory the "Territory of the Left Bank of the Dniester".

paragraphs: Transnistria is the only independent soviet state in the world. It still uses the hammer and sickle on its flag.


title: Mercalli intensity scale

paragraphs: The Mercalli intensity scale (or more precisely the Modified Mercalli intensity scale) is a scale to measure the intensity of earthquakes. Unlike with the Richter scale, the Mercalli scale does not take into account energy of an earthquake directly. Rather, they classify earthquakes by the effects they have (and the destruction they cause). When there is little damage, the scale describes how people felt the earthquake, or how many people felt it.

paragraphs: Very often, non-geologists use this scale, because it is easier for people to describe what damage an earthquake caused, than to do calculations to get a value on the Richter scale.

paragraphs: Values range from I - Instrumental to XII - Catastrophic.

paragraphs: Giuseppe Mercalli (1850-1914) originally developed the scale, with ten levels. In 1902, Adolfo Cancani extended the scale to include twelve levels. August Heinrich Sieberg completely rewrote the scale. For this reason, the scale is sometimes named Mercalli-Cancani-Sieberg scale, or MCS scale.

paragraphs: Harry O. Wood and Frank Neumann translated it into English, and published it as Mercalli–Wood–Neumann (MWN) scale. Charles Francis Richter also edited it. He also developed the Richter scale, later on.

paragraphs: The lower degrees of the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale generally deal with the manner in which the earthquake is felt by people. The higher numbers of the scale are based on observed damage to structures

paragraphs: The large table gives Modified Mercalli scale intensities that are typically observed at locations near the epicenter of the earthquake.

paragraphs: The Scale under here is also a really good source for the Mercalli Scale.

paragraphs: There is a correlation between the magitude and the intensity of the earthquake. Even though this correlation is there, it may be difficult to link one to the other: This correlation depends on several factors, such as the depth of the earthquake, terrain, population density, and damage. For example, on May 19, 2011, an earthquake of magnitude 0.7 in Central California, United States 4 km deep was classified as of intensity III by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) over away from the epicenter (and II intensity almost from the epicenter), while a 4.5 magnitude quake in Salta, Argentina 164 km deep was of intensity I.

paragraphs: The small table is a rough guide to the degrees of the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale. The colors and descriptive names shown here differ from those used on certain shake maps in other articles. However, it will not be 100% accurate.


title: Dili

paragraphs: Dili is the capital of the country East Timor. People from Portugal moved there around 1520. Now, Dili is home to about one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) people.


title: Holly

paragraphs: Holly is a type of bush with recognisable leaves. The leaves have sharp edges, and are often used to decorate a house on Christmas Day. Some types of holly are used to make tea. The leaves of the Holly don't fall of in the winter because they're very thick and have a waxy layer on them.

paragraphs: Holly bushes produce berries that birds often eat during the winter season.


title: Dysentery

paragraphs: Dysentery is a disease that involves severe diarrhea. It is caused by a bacterium, which causes the intestines to swell up a lot. The main symptom of dysentery is having blood in the excrement. Some more symptoms are high fever and abdominal pain. It is usually treated with antibiotics. The diarrhea is severe and can be a problem for the people who catch the disease.


title: NHK

paragraphs: NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, is Japan's public broadcaster, like PBS in the United States. Its name is written as or Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai in Japanese.

paragraphs: NHK was founded in 1926, based on the BBC radio company in the United Kingdom. They began operating TV broadcasting in 1953. The first color broadcast was in 1960.

paragraphs: Everyone in Japan who owns a TV is asked to pay anywhere 15,720 or 27,360 (included satellite broadcasting) 円 per year to support NHK; there is a discount for lump sum payment.

paragraphs: NHK has 500 staff members in the announcer division alone; but announcers that convey nationally important events and news are operated quite fixedly like Korean Central Television.


title: Fargo, North Dakota

paragraphs: Fargo is the largest city in the American state of North Dakota. It is in the eastern part of the state, near the Minnesota border. The city was founded in 1871, and it has a population of 105,549 as of the 2010 census. Fargo lies at the intersection of two major highways, Interstate 29 and Interstate 94.


title: Blur (band)

paragraphs: Blur are an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1988 originally under the name Seymour, the group's members are singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's first album "Leisure" (1991) contained the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing. After a change in sound started by English guitar pop groups such as the Kinks, the Beatles and XTC, Blur released "Modern Life Is Rubbish" (1993), "Parklife" (1994) and "The Great Escape" (1995). As a result, the band helped the Britpop genre become popular and became popular in the UK, which was helped by a rivalry with Oasis in 1995 called "The Battle of Britpop".


title: Daft Punk

paragraphs: Daft Punk is a band from France. There are two people in the band, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (born February 8, 1974) and Thomas Bangalter (born January 3, 1975). Daft Punk uses analog synthesizers and other real instruments to make their music.

paragraphs: Both of the two Daft Punk members went to the same school in Paris.

paragraphs: They became friends and recorded a demo track with other students from the school. Thomas Bangalter played bass while Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo played guitar.

paragraphs: They formed a band called Darlin' which featured an additional member named Laurent Brancowitz.

paragraphs: The Darlin' experience did not last very long and after a show they performed in the United Kingdom, a newspaper qualified the music of Thomas and Guy-Manuel as "daft punk" (silly punk music).

paragraphs: Thomas and Guy-Manuel were amused by this nickname and officially adopted it, and that's how they became the well known Daft Punk.

paragraphs: Laurent left the group and joined his younger brother Christian Mazzalai of Phoenix.

paragraphs: While attending a rave at Eurodisney, they met Scottish house/techno artists Stuart MacMillan and Orde Meikle of Slam who signed them up to the label Soma Quality Recordings based in Glasgow.

paragraphs: Daft Punk recorded their first demo called, "The New Wave" as well as a handful of others including, "Alive" and "Da Funk" both of which would appear in their debut album a few years later.

paragraphs: In 1995, Daft Punk began to record in the studio a song called Da Funk which became their first commercial success.

paragraphs: After that success, Daft Punk looked for a manager, and they chose Pedro Winter who is also known by the name Busy P.

paragraphs: The idea of Homework debuted when Daft Punk signed with Virgin Records.

paragraphs: That album became one of the most essential house albums of the nineties after that it had been released in 1997.

paragraphs: In 1999, Daft Punk returned to recording studio to work on Discovery which would be their second album and their second success.

paragraphs: Discovery reached the second place on the UK Charts.

paragraphs: One More Time, their first single from Discovery, became a giant hit around the globe and Daft Punk became one of the most famous electronic music groups.

paragraphs: Daft Punk used many samples (little sounds from other songs) to compose songs like Face to Face, Too Long and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. (Kanye West's 2007 song Stronger from the album Graduation uses a large sample from Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.)

paragraphs: In 2003, Daft Punk released the full-length animated movie Interstella 5555. The band worked with the Japanese animation company Toei Animation and the famous Japanese producer named Leiji Matsumoto to create this film. It is a fully animated story that is set to the Discovery album from start to finish and with no additional words and only a few added sound effects.

paragraphs: In 2004, Daft Punk spent six weeks on their third album.

paragraphs: Human After All was a subject of controversy, concerning some aggressive aspects in songs like Technologic, saying that most of the songs were too repetitive.

paragraphs: De Homem-Christo and Bangalter only said:"We believe that Human After All speaks for itself".

paragraphs: In 2006, Daft Punk released "Electroma", a short film about two robots (Daft Punk themselves) who are on a journey to become human. The film however, did not feature any music by Daft Punk but instead a selection of songs by other artists of different types of music genres.

paragraphs: Daft Punk went on their second world tour, "Alive 2006/2007". The duo played worldwide to thousands of people. Daft Punk played in a pyramid on stage which was admired for its futuristic design.

paragraphs: In 2008, Daft Punk made their first televised performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards. They performed with Kanye West as he rapped, "Stronger".

paragraphs: In 2010, Daft Punk were chosen to compose the soundtrack to . The duo had a cameo in the film.

paragraphs: In 2013, Daft Punk released Random Access Memories. Columbia Records became their new label after many years with Virgin Records.

paragraphs: They collaborated with Giorgio Moroder, Todd Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Panda Bear, Chilly Gonzales, DJ Falcon, Julian Casablancas, Paul Williams and Pharrell Williams.

paragraphs: Random Access Memories had very little electronic music in it. Instead, Daft Punk used live instruments and minimized the use of synthesizers. It is a tribute to the disco, rock and funk music of the 1970s and 1980s.

paragraphs: The lead single "Get Lucky", featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, was met with critical acclaim and topped many charts around the world. At the 2014 Grammy Awards Get Lucky won Record of the Year and RAM won Album of the Year.

paragraphs: In 2015, a documentary called "Daft Punk: Unchained" was released. It told the history of the band from their beginnings in the early 1990s to the 2014 Grammy Awards.


title: Paralympic Games

paragraphs: The Paralympic Games are a major international sports event. People with physical disabilities compete in these games. They are called Paralympians. They include people with disabilities that affect movement, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy.

paragraphs: There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games. They are held just after the Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

paragraphs: The Paralympics started as a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948. They became one of the largest international sport events by the early 21st century.

paragraphs: Paralympians have many different kinds of disabilities, so there are several categories in which they compete. The disabilities are in six broad categories: amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, wheelchair, visually impaired, and "Les Autres" (This means "the others" in French.) These categories are further broken down which vary from sport to sport.

paragraphs: Paralympians work for equal treatment with able-bodied Olympians. Olympians receive much more money than Paralympians. Some Paralympians have also participated in the Olympic Games.


title: National Basketball Association

paragraphs: The National Basketball Association (NBA) is the world's top men's professional basketball league. It is one of the major professional sports leagues of North America. There are 30 teams in the league. 29 are in the United States and 1 is in Canada. It is a member of USA Basketball (USAB). The NBA is one of the 4 major North American professional sports leagues. NBA players are the world's best paid athletes. They have the highest average annual salary.

paragraphs: The league was formed in New York City on June 6, 1946. It was called the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The league merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1949. They then were known as the National Basketball Association. The league's head offices are in the Olympic Tower at 645 Fifth Avenue in New York City. Its international offices are in the same place. NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are in Atlanta, Georgia.

paragraphs: The NBA is widely considered the top level of competition in the world for basketball. With an average player height of about 6 foot 6 inches, it is also the world's tallest sports league.

paragraphs: In 1946, The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. Its founders were owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers. This was the first game played in NBA history. There were earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues. Examples are the American Basketball League and the NBL. The BAA was the first league to play in major cities. They played in large arenas. The level of play in the BAA was not very good. Competing leagues and other teams had similar talent. The Harlem Globetrotters are an example.

paragraphs: On August 3, 1949, the BAA combined with the NBL. The National Basketball Association was born. The new league had 17 teams. They came from cities of different sizes. The league got rid of several teams. It reached its smallest size of eight teams in the 1954–55 season. They were the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors (now Golden State Warriors), Minneapolis Lakers (now Los Angeles Lakers), Rochester Royals (now Sacramento Kings), Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now Detroit Pistons), Milwaukee Hawks (now Atlanta Hawks), and Syracuse Nationals (now Philadelphia 76ers). Teams in small cities moved to larger cities.

paragraphs: Japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in 1947–48. He played for the New York Knicks. But 1950 is recognized as when the NBA integrated. African Americans joined several teams. Those players included Chuck Cooper, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton, and Earl Lloyd. They joined three different teams. During the 1950s, the Minneapolis Lakers won five NBA Championships. George Mikan was their leader. He played the center position. The Lakers were the league's first dynasty. In 1954, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock. A team must try a shot in 24 seconds. If they cannot, the other team gets the ball.

paragraphs: The NBA contains 30 teams. 15 are in the Eastern Conference and 15 are in the Western Conference. Each conference has three divisions with 5 teams. Teams play other teams in their division often. All teams play all other teams in a season.

paragraphs: The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have won 17 championships each. No other teams have won more championships. Some teams have never won a championship.

paragraphs: 29 teams are in the United States. The Toronto Raptors are in Canada. David Stern wants the league to expand to Europe. Some teams have played games in the United Kingdom.

paragraphs: Teams begin training camps in September. This allows the coaching staff to observe their players. Teams play preseason games. These do not count for a team's final season record. The weaker players get cut. Other players stay on the team and get paid. The NBA regular season begins in the last week of October. All teams play 82 games during a normal season. There are 41 home games and 41 road (away) games. Home games offer benefits to teams. They generally play better due to fan support and lack of travel. Teams play every other team during the regular season. The best players play in the NBA All-Star game in February. Fans vote for the starters. The coaches vote for the reserve (substitute) players. There is a pause in the season during the All-Star Game. Teams do not play games for about a week. Other events occur during the All-Star break. These include the Three-Point contest, the Skills course, and the Slam Dunk contest. Players participate in part due to fan interest.

paragraphs: Before the trade deadline, teams can trade players. This can cause changes in the balance of power. Team bosses want to get the best players for their team. Other bosses want to lower their costs. Trades often happen on the last day.

paragraphs: The regular season ends in the middle of April. Individual awards are given to players. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is given to the player most important to his team. The Defensive Player of the Year award is given to the player who plays the best defense. There are a few other awards. After the 2015-2016 season, Stephen Curry became the first player to win all votes for the MVP award.

paragraphs: At the end of every NBA regular season, the NBA Playoffs begin. 8 teams from each, the western, and the eastern conference are assigned a seed 1-8. Teams are assigned a seed number as follows: the 3 division champions are assigned 1-3 in order of their regular season records. The remaining seeds are determined simply by regular season record. Home court advantage is always determined by seed; higher seed=home court advantage. In the first round of the playoffs, the 1 seed plays the 8 seed;2 plays 7; 3 plays 6; 4 plays 5. All playoff rounds are best-of-7 series, meaning the first team to win 4 games moves on to the next round. Since 2014 every round follows a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The higher seeded team will have home games 1, 2, 5, and 7. The lower seed is home in games 3, 4, and 6.

paragraphs: To win an NBA championship, a team needs to win four rounds. The fourth round is called the finals. A team from the Eastern Conference plays a team from the Western Conference. The team that wins this series is the NBA champion. The best player in the finals wins the Finals Most Valuable Player award. The finals are played in the same format as the other rounds, 2-2-1-1-1. If both teams are the number 1 seed from their respective divisions, the team with the best record will have home court advantage.


title: FIFA Women's World Cup

paragraphs: The FIFA Women's World Cup is the most important competition in the sport of Women's association football . The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) organizes the World Cup every four years.

paragraphs: The most successful team has been the United States, with 3 titles.


title: Nathula

paragraphs: Nathula is a mountain pass in the Himalayas. It connects Sikkim in India and Tibet in China. It is at a height of 4,500 metres above sea level.


title: Klondike Gold Rush

paragraphs: The Klondike gold rush reached its peak in 1898, attracting tens of thousands in the harshest conditions in North America.t was a very dangerous journey. in some places, such as the White Pass, one in thousands of horses rarely survived as it collapsed under the load. (edited by F.Louise S.)

paragraphs: The Klondike Gold Rush happened in the 1890s when many people went to the Klondike region of the Yukon, in Canada. They hoped to find gold there and become rich. Many of these prospectors came from the United States. Gold was first found in Klondike in a creek called Rabbit Creek. Prospectors named the creek "Bonanza Creek" because of the gold ("bonanza "means a lucky source of wealth).

paragraphs: The city that probably profited most from the Klondike Gold Rush was Dawson City, Yukon in Canada. Four million dollars worth of gold was found there.

paragraphs: However, not that much gold was found in Klondike overall.


title: Clone High

paragraphs: Clone High is an animated comedy television show about a high school full of clones of famous dead people. It aired on MTV in the USA and Teletoon in Canada. It was produced by Nelvana, Touchstone Pictures, Teletoon Canada, and MTV.


title: Chinese Civil War

paragraphs: The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought from 1927 to 1951, because of a difference in thinking betweenCommunist Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT), there was a fight for legitimacy as the government of China. The war began in April 1927, because of the 'Northern Expedition" (國民革命軍北伐) and mostly ended in 1950. Some people say the war has not ended, but no large battles have started since that year. The relations between the Republic of China (ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) are bad because both still say they are the legitimate sovereign government of all of China. The Chinese Civil War was the third largest war in all of time after World War II and World War I.

paragraphs: The war started and stopped several times before the Second Sino-Japanese War, and fighting did not stop during the fighting against the Empire of Japan. The war between the CCP and KMT started again in 1946 after Japan's defeat in World War II. CCP took control of most of China and KMT had only islands. About two million Chinese fled to Taiwan in late 1949. In 1950, no large battles were started.

paragraphs: The loss of the KMT in Mainland China is said to be because of a number of reasons: the Yan'an Rectification Movement helped Mao have more control of the CCP, the ceasefire a United States officer made in 1946 which stopped the KMT for a time, the bad problems between the people and the KMT in the places of KMT control, the Soviet Union giving the guns of the Japanese to the CCP, and uncertain help from the United States for the KMT.

paragraphs: No agreement was made between the two governments, so some say that the war has not ended. Both governments have many military weapons that is only to be used against the other, both still say they are the legitimate government of China, and each seeks diplomatic relations from other countries as the only legitimate government.

paragraphs: After the fall of the Qing dynasty in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, the country was thrown into turmoil. In the ensuing power vacuum, a large number of warlords seized control of different parts of the country. In order to defeat them and unify the country, Sun Yat-sen and the KMT sought help from foreign governments.

paragraphs: Though he made pleas to several Western democratic nations, none offered to help. It was only after turning to the Soviet Union in 1921 that Sun found aid. The communist Soviet Union agreed to help the KMT, under the condition that the smaller Chinese Communist Party be allowed to join. In 1923 the Soviet Union, KMT, and CCP made an agreement, the Sun-Joffe Manifesto, that said the Soviet Union would help China have one government and not many governments. Mikhail Borodin traveled to China in 1923 to help change the KMT to make it similar to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CCP and KMT were joined in the First United Front.

paragraphs: In 1923 Chiang Kai-shek traveled to the Soviet Union to study military and politics with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1924 he became the leader of the Whampoa Military Academy in China. Most help from the Soviet Union was for this school. The school taught the political and military ideas of the Soviet Union to the KMT and CCP. The Soviet Union gave books and guns to use for teaching about war and military things. With the help from the Soviet Union, Sun Yat-sen made an "army of the party". Members of the CCP were also in the school and some were teachers. Zhou Enlai was a teacher in the school.

paragraphs: In this time the KMT agreed to let some communists join the KMT sometimes. In this time the CCP was small in comparison to the KMT. The CCP had 300 members in 1922 and only 1,500 by 1925. The KMT in 1923 had 50,000 members.


title: Nagorno-Karabakh

paragraphs: Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is a region in the South Caucasus in Azerbaijan. The names for the region in the different local languages all translate to "mountainous Karabakh", or "mountainous black garden". The word "nagorno" is Russian for "mountainous/on the mountain", "kara" is Turkish for "black", and "bakh" means "garden" in Azerbaijani.

paragraphs: Nargorno-Karabakh is a disputed area. The United Nations say that it is part of Azerbaijan. The area is governed by the Republic of Artsakh which is unrecognised. The UN has called for withdrawal of Armenian troops in the occupied region.

paragraphs: Nagorno-Karabakh became a subject of the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1918 when both countries declared independence from Russia. Territorial dispute has not been resolved until 1920, when both young states became part of the Soviet Union, and actually lost their independence due to the actions of Russian communists (Bolsheviks). During this time many Azeris were killed by Armenian terrorists.

paragraphs: Supporters for the Armenian position frequently emphasize, that resolution of the Caucasian Bureau from July, 5, 1921, was obviously accepted under the Bolsheviks pressure, and, in any case, this resolution contradicts with the principle of self-determination and cannot be considered as valid: the problem should be solved by the countries, which it directly involves, and not by the Committee created specially for this case and inside the ruling party of the third country.

paragraphs: When Mikhail Gorbachev has come to power in Moscow and has started the campaigns of publicity and democratic reforms in the end of 80th, Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh decided to address the problems to the international and Soviet heads. Complaining about "forced Azerification" of the region, the majority Armenian population started a movement for independence.

paragraphs: In November 1991, seeking to stop this movement, the Parliament of Azerbaijan abolished the autonomous status of the region. In response the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians held a December 10, 1991 referendum in which the overwhelming majority of the population voted for outright independence. The Azeri community of Nagorno-Karabakh boycotted this referendum.

paragraphs: These events and especially violent deportation of approx. 200 000 Azeris from Armenia led to riots against Armenians living in Azerbaijan.

paragraphs: The war for Nagorno Karabakh became the longest and one of the bloodiest conflicts in states-successors of Soviet Union. According to last estimations, it has killed 15.000 people, and the number of refugees has exceeded one million.

paragraphs: Today Nagorno-Karabakh is a de facto state calling itself the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.


title: Newcastle upon Tyne

paragraphs: Newcastle upon Tyne is a city in north-east England. About 250,000 people live in the city, though more live in the area around it.

paragraphs: Newcastle is one of the biggest cities in England and is mostly famous for the River Tyne, Angel of the North, Newcastle Brown Ale, the Great North Run, and the iconic Millennium Bridge.

paragraphs: The local dialect and accent is called the "Geordie" dialect. Pronunciation of "alright", "town" and "house" is "areet", "toon" and "hoos".


title: James Read

paragraphs: James Christopher Read (born July 31, 1953) is an American actor. He acted in many movies and television series. He is best known for the "North and South" miniseries (1985, 1986, 1994). He was born in Buffalo, New York.

paragraphs: The following is some of the movies and television programms Read has been in.


title: Satyr play

paragraphs: Satyr plays were an ancient Greek form of theatre, similar in spirit to burlesque. They featured choruses of satyrs, were based on Greek mythology, and were rife with mock drunkenness, brazen sexuality (including phallic props), pranks, sight gags, and general merriment.


title: Premier League

paragraphs: The Premier League, commonly known as the English Premier League, or the EPL (formerly called the Barclays Premier League due to sponsorship reasons) is the top tier of English football. 20 teams compete in the Premier League each season, which is usually played between August and May. Each season, 38 games are played (playing all 19 other teams home and away). For historic reasons, a few clubs from Wales also compete in the English football system.

paragraphs: The competition started in 1992, after 22 clubs from the Football League First Division decided to break away from The Football League (now the EFL). The Premier League has since become the world's most watched sporting league. It is the world's most lucrative football league, with combined club revenues of £1.93 billion ($3.15bn) in 2007–08. It is also ranked second by UEFA's Asoociation Ranking, behind La Liga.

paragraphs: The following 20 clubs will compete in the Premier League during the 2020–21 season.


title: Giro d'Italia

paragraphs: The Giro d'Italia, or Tour of Italy, is a famous bicycle race held in Italy, every spring. It is one of the most famous, and best paid bicycle races. The first race was in 1909. It started because the editor of a newspaper called "La Gazzetta dello Sport" wanted more people to read his newspaper. He planned a race similar to the Tour de France, which had started in 1903.

paragraphs: The leader of the race wears a pink jersey called the "maglia rosa". This is because pink is the colour of "La Gazzetta dello Sport". For many years, the leader of the mountain climbing competition wore a green jersey (called the "maglia verde"), but a change in the sponsor for that competition led to a jersey change in 2012. The mountains leader now wears a blue jersey (called the "maglia azzurra"). Similarly, the leader of the sprinters' competition wore a mauve jersey (called the "maglia ciclamino") for many years. However, a sponsorship change in 2010 also led to a jersey change. The sprints leader now wears a red jersey (called "maglia rosso passione"). The leader of the young riders' competition, for riders under age 25, wears a white jersey (called the "maglia bianca"). This is the same as the young riders' competition in the Tour de France.


title: Rosalynn Carter

paragraphs: Eleanor Rosalynn Carter (née Smith; August 18, 1927) is the wife of former President Jimmy Carter and served as First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981.

paragraphs: When her husband was Governor of Georgia, she served as First Lady of Georgia from 1971 to 1975.

paragraphs: She was active in politics during her White House years, she sat in on Cabinet and policy meetings and also, serving as her husband's closest adviser.

paragraphs: She also served as an envoy abroad, most notably to Latin America.

paragraphs: She was the eldest of the four children of Allethea "Allie" Murray Smith (1905–2000) and Wilburn Edgar Smith (1896–1940). Rosalynn's father died of leukemia when she was 13.

paragraphs: She attended Plains High School and graduated salutatorian.

paragraphs: After completing her schooling, she studied at Georgia Southwestern College, Americus, Georgia.

paragraphs: On July 7, 1946, she and Jimmy Carter were married.


title: Hitopadesha

paragraphs: Hitopadesa is a collection of short stories. It was originally written in Sanskrit. It is very similar to another Sanskrit book named "Panchatantra". It contains fables with both animal and human characters.

paragraphs: The book was written many centuries before. Its stories are now well known in different parts of the world.

paragraphs: The work has been translated into most of the major languages of the world. An English translation, rendered by Sir Edwin Arnold , then principal of Puna College, Pune, India, was published in London in 1861.