title: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

paragraphs: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea. It is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM.

paragraphs: The country speaks English as its official language. The capital, and its main port, is Kingstown.

paragraphs: Its national bird is the Saint Vincent Amazon, an endemic bird of the Saint Vincent island.

paragraphs: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. The Queen does not live in the islands but she is represented in the country by the Governor-General, currently Sir Frederick Ballantyne.

paragraphs: Control of the government rests with the elected prime minister and his or her cabinet. The current Prime Minister is Ralph Gonsalves.

paragraphs: The country has no formal armed forces, although the police has a Special Service Unit that has a supporting role on the island.

paragraphs: The Parliament is unicameral is formed only by the House of Assembly with 21 seats: 15 representatives elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms and 6 appointed senators. The last elections were held on 13 December 2010 and the next will be held in 2015.

paragraphs: The island now known as Saint Vincent was originally named "Youloumain" by the native Caribs. The Caribs inhabited Saint Vincent before the Europeans arrived, and it is possible still to find Carib artifacts in the island.

paragraphs: Christopher Columbus explored in 1498 the main island on Saint Vincent's Day. The Caribs did not allowed Europeans to settle in Saint Vincent until 1719 when some French people came from Martinique and began to grow coffee, tobacco, indigo, cotton and sugar cane with the help of African slaves.

paragraphs: In 1763 by the Treaty of Paris, France gave control of Saint Vincent to Britain; France took the island again in 1779, but the British then regained Saint Vincent under the Treaty of Versailles (1783).

paragraphs: In 1834 slavery was abolished and people from the Portuguese island of Madeira and from India came to work as agricultural workers.

paragraphs: In 1871 the group of islands became part of the Windward Islands Colony and in 1956 a member of the Federation of the Windward Islands. In 1958 Saint Vincent joined the Federation of the West Indies and in 1969 it got full internal self-government. Finally in 1979 it became an Independent Sovereign State within the Commonwealt.

paragraphs: The estimated population in 2003 was 103,220. The population density is 265 persons per square kilometre.

paragraphs: The ethnic composition was 66% Black, 19% Mixed, 6.0% East Indian, 4.0% European (mainly Portuguese), 2.0% Carib Amerindian, 3.0% others.

paragraphs: The official language of the islands is English but most people use the Vicentian Creole English.

paragraphs: The people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines was 75% Protestant (47% Anglicans, 28% Methodists), 13% Catholics, 12% other (Hindu, Seventh-Day Adventists, other Protestant).

paragraphs: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is a group of islands of the Caribbean Sea. It lies to the west of Barbados, south of Saint Lucia and north of Grenada in the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.

paragraphs: There are 32 islands and cays, including the main island of Saint Vincent () and the northern two-thirds of the Grenadines (), which are a chain of small islands stretching south from Saint Vincent to Grenada. The largest and most populated Grenadines islands are Bequia, Mustique, Canouan and Union Island.

paragraphs: The main island of Saint Vincent, at , is long and wide, and has an area of , or about 88% of the total country area, 19 times that of the country's second largest island Bequia. It is dominated by the highest mountain in the country and an active volcano, La Soufrière (), which erupted violently in 1812 and 1902. The most recent eruption was on April 13, 1979. The island has many mountains and forests. The island is tropical humid, with an average of between 18 and 31 °C depending on the altitude.

paragraphs: The Saint Vincent Passage is between the Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent islands, and the Bequia Channel is between the Grenadines and Saint Vincent islands.

paragraphs: The Grenadines islands lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither Saint Vincent nor Grenada are Grenadine islands. The islands north of the Martinique Channel belong to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the islands south of the channel belong to Grenada.

paragraphs: These islands make up the Grenadines Parish

paragraphs: Administratively, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is divided into six parishes. Five parishes are on Saint Vincent, while the sixth is made up of the Grenadine islands. Kingstown is located in the Parish of Saint George and is the capital city and central administrative centre of the country.

paragraphs: Tropical rainforest climate is a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season - all months have mean precipitation values of at least . Tropical rainforest climates have no pronounced summer or winter; it is typically hot and wet throughout the year and rainfall is both heavy and frequent.

paragraphs: The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate is Af (Tropical Rainforest Climate).

paragraphs: The average yearly temperature is . The coolest months are between November and February. During the rainy season, May through October, rain is frequent in the mountains of St. Vincent with the annual average rainfall being away from the coast and on the coast.


title: Adolph Rupp

paragraphs: Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901-December 10, 1977) was one of the most successful college basketball coaches in history. He coached the University of Kentucky's basketball team from 1930 to 1972, 42 years. He helped the team win 4 national NCAA championships. Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky is named after him.


title: Miami Dolphins

paragraphs: The Miami Dolphins is an American football club in the National Football League team based in Miami, Florida, USA. The Dolphins began playing in 1966 and in 1972 they had the only perfect season in NFL history and won a Super Bowl, with Bob Griese leading the team as quarterback. Another quarterback, Dan Marino, is a more recent famous player from this club. The Miami Dolphins stadium is Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fl.


title: Oksana Grishuk

paragraphs: Oksana Vladimirovna Grishuk (born March 17, 1972 in Odessa, Ukraine) is a Russian retired ice dancer. She and her partner, Evgeny Platov, won two Olympic gold medals and four world championships.

paragraphs: Grishuk began training in skating at the age of four. She moved to Moscow in 1986, and studied at the Sport University from 1988 to 1992.

paragraphs: After they won the gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Platov decided to skate as a professional with a different partner, Maya Usova, so Grishuk began skating professionally alone.


title: Evgeny Platov

paragraphs: Evgeny Platov (born August 7, 1967, Odessa, Ukraine).

paragraphs: He was a Russian dancer, and began skating when he was nine years old. He studied at the Physical Institute of Culture in Moscow.

paragraphs: Platov won two Olympic gold medals and four world championships with his partner, Oksana Grishuk

paragraphs: After the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Platov started skating as a professional with a different partner, Maya Usova, until he retired from performing in 2002. He is now a coach at Princeton Sports Center in Princeton, New Jersey.


title: Tetris

paragraphs: Tetris is a video game developed in the Soviet Union in 1984. The game has a simple goal of destroying lines of block before it reaches the top. The line is made up of a square block. Tetrominoes is the shape of the 4 connected blocks that falls vertically down. The player will have to use the tetrominos to create lines that fill the box horizontally, this will clear the lines of blocks. The game continues, the lines of blocks that is not completely filled will drop down as many lines that were cleared. The game has levels of difficulties which rises as the game is being played.

paragraphs: "Tetris" has appeared in many video game systems. It has become very common from back when Alexey Pajitnov first made it in 1984. With over 170 million copies sold, it is the 2nd best-selling video game of all time.

paragraphs: The goal is to drop blocks, called tetrominoes, down into a playing field to make lines. Tetriminoes are made of four connected squares each There are seven different types of tetrominoes. Levels have a set goal, or number of lines to clear. When the goal number reaches zero, the player moves to the next level. As the levels go up, the tetrominoes fall faster. A player receives bonus points if he can clear more than one line with a single tetromino. Clearing four lines is called a "tetris", three lines a "triple" and two lines a "double". Clearing two tetrises in a row is called a back-to-back tetris. The player can also turn a T-shaped tetromino into a hole, called a T-slot, to get more points. This move is called a "T-spin". A player loses when the tetrominoes make it to the top of the playing field. See "Issues" for information on the Level 29 Problem.

paragraphs: On the "Game Boy", there are several musical themes played. The theme for level 1 and used in the Game Boy version is often called the "Tetris Theme". It is actually a Russian dance called "Korobeiniki", or "The Peddlers." Other themes include music by Johann Sebastian Bach and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

paragraphs: When you reach Level 29 on the GBA(Game Boy Advance) or NES(Nintendo Entertainment System), the pieces will start falling so fast that the player can hardly move the tetrominoes at all. This means that those pieces will all pile up on the playfield and cause the player to lose.


title: Moldova

paragraphs: Moldova is a country in Eastern Europe. Its full name is the Republic of Moldova (, .) It used to be called Moldavia.

paragraphs: The official language in Moldova is the Romanian language. The capital of Moldova is Chișinău.

paragraphs: The Russian Empire took almost half of the Principality of Moldova in 1812 and called it Bessarabia. Between 1918 - 1940 and 1941-1944 it was part of the Kingdom of Romania. It became independent from the Soviet Union after its dissolution.

paragraphs: The average monthly salary/wages are still low, standing at only $243 USD. Moldova is an associated country for future membership in the European Union.


title: Polish

paragraphs:
When written with upper-case "P":
When written with lower-case "p":


title: Polish language

paragraphs: Polish () is the official language of Poland. It is the most common Western Slavic language and the second Slavic language, after Russian.

paragraphs: Polish has been an important language in Central and Eastern Europe. Polish is now spoken by over 38.5 million people as their first language in Poland. It is also spoken as a second language in western parts of Belarus, Lithuania and Ukraine. Because of emigration from Poland during different times, millions of Polish-speakers can be found in Australia, Brazil, Canada, United Kingdom, United States and elsewhere. There are over 50 million speakers around the world.

paragraphs: There are 9 letters in Polish that English does not have. They look like English letters with marks above or below them.

paragraphs: In lower case, the 9 letters are: ą ć ę ł ń ś ó ź ż

paragraphs: In upper case, the 9 letters are: Ą Ć Ę Ł Ń Ś Ó Ź Ż

paragraphs: There are 3 English letters not used in Polish: q, v, x.

paragraphs: There are 7 combinations of 2 letters that are like a single letter sound (similar to "th" or "qu" in English). These include "ch", "cz", "dz", "dź", "dż", "rz", "sz".

paragraphs: Many letters have the same sound in Polish and English, such as "f" "m", and others, but other letters sound different: Polish "w" sounds like an English "v", and Polish "ł" sounds like an English "w". There are also some Polish sounds that do not exist in English and some English sounds that do not exist in Polish.

paragraphs: The vowels "ą" and "ę" are nasal and so they are pronounced by blowing air partly out of both the nose and the mouth.

paragraphs: Most words are pronounced with an accent on the second-last syllable: "student" (which means the same as the English word) is pronounced with the accent on "stu" ("STU-dent"), and "studenci" (the plural form of "student") is pronounced with the accent on "den" (stu-DEN-ci).

paragraphs: The Polish language has several dialects but they are more similar to one another than most other European languages. There are small differences, but all speakers can understand one another, and non-native speakers often cannot notice the differences.

paragraphs: Grammar is complex, and has features that are unlike English.

paragraphs: Like many other languages, Polish has grammatical gender. A table ("stół") is masculine, a book ("książka") is feminine, and a window ("okno") is neuter.

paragraphs: Nouns and adjectives and verbs have many endings, depending on their role in a sentence. There are 7 cases that show the role of a noun in a Polish sentence. Each has its own ending, which also depends on the gender of the noun.

paragraphs: Word order is freer than in English, partly because endings help to understand the role of the noun. In English, "The boy bites the dog" is quite different from "The dog bites the boy", but in Polish, both orders can be used without confusion.

paragraphs: Dzień dobry (Dz'yehn DOH-brih) - "Good morning" or "Good afternoon"

paragraphs: Dobry wieczór (DOH-brih v-YETCH-oor) - "Good evening'

paragraphs: Do widzenia (doh vee-DZEN-yah) - "Good bye"

paragraphs: Cześć! (tsheshch) - "Hi", "Hello!" or "Bye"

paragraphs: Tak (tahk) - "Yes" (in Polish, long-short answers like "Yes, I did" are not needed, and Tak is enough)

paragraphs: Nie (nyeh) - "No" or "Not" (in Polish, long-short answers like "No, I won't" are not needed, and Nie is enough)

paragraphs: Jak się masz? (yahk shyeh mahsh) - "How do you do?"

paragraphs: Co robisz? (tsoh robish) - "What you doing?"

paragraphs: Jak się nazywasz? (YAHK shyeh nahZYvash) or Jak masz na imię? (YAHK mahsh nah EE-myeng/EE-myeh) - "What's your name?"

paragraphs: Nazywam się... (nah-ZIH-vahm shyeh) - "My (name and) surname is..."

paragraphs: Mam na imię... (mahm nah EE-myeng/EE-myeh) - "My (given) name is..."

paragraphs: Nie mówię po polsku (nyeh MOW-vyeng/MOW-vyeh poh POL-skoo) - "I do not speak Polish"

paragraphs: Lubię Cię (loo-bee-EH chyeh) - "I like you"

paragraphs: Kocham Cię (koh-hahm chyeh) - "I love you"

paragraphs: Nie mówię po angielsku (nyeh MOW-vyeng/MOW-vyeh poh ahng-YEL-skoo) - "I do not speak English"

paragraphs: Jak dojechać na lotnisko/dworzec (yak do-YEH-khatch nah lot-NEE-sco/dvo-ZHETS) - "How to get the airport/rail station?"(where dworzec - "station" means "rail station" by default)


title: Georgia

paragraphs: Georgia could mean either of two things:


title: Kryptos

paragraphs: Kryptos is the name of a sculpture (art that is like a statue) on the grounds of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, Virginia, USA. Kryptos is very famous. It has codes (secret hidden messages) on it. There are four messages. People know what three of the messages say. No one knows what the fourth message says yet.

paragraphs: A man named Jim Sanborn made "Kryptos" in 1990. Kryptos is in a garden in the middle of a building called CIA Headquarters.

paragraphs: Not very many people have seen "Kryptos", because only a few people are allowed to go into the CIA building. They do very important work at the CIA, and have to be very careful.

paragraphs: The word Kryptos comes from the Greek language. It means "hidden".

paragraphs: The sculpture is about 12 feet high and 20 feet long. It is made of metal and different kinds of rocks. It has thousands of letters and other things written in the metal.

paragraphs: The first person to find out what the first three messages say, was Jim Gillogly. He learned the answers in 1999. After he said what the answer was, the CIA said that a man who works at the CIA, David Stein, knew the answer too. A few years later the NSA (another agency in Washington D.C.) said that they had people who had solved it too.

paragraphs: Before he made "Kryptos", Jim Sanborn had not made any other sculptures with letters on them. After "Kryptos" he made many other sculptures with letters on them. Some of them have secret messages. One is called Antipodes. There are two copies of Antipodes. One belongs to a man in California. The other is in a museum in Washington DC called the Hirshhorn Museum.

paragraphs: Another sculpture that Sanborn made which has secret messages is called the "Cyrillic Projector". It has secret messages in Russian. The Cyrillic Projector was independently cracked by Michael Bales and Frank Corr in 2003.

paragraphs: There are two famous books that talk about "Kryptos", which were written by Dan Brown. He wrote a book in 2003 called "The Da Vinci Code". On the cover of the book is art. In the art there are secret messages. Two of the messages talk about "Kryptos". Dan Brown wrote another book in 2009 called "The Lost Symbol", which also talks about "Kryptos".


title: Lech Wałęsa

paragraphs: Lech Walesa (Polish: Lech Wałęsa (pronounced [lɛx vaˈwɛ̃sa])) (born September 29, 1943) was a Polish shipyard worker, trade unionist and a politician who used to be the leader of Solidarity and the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. Walesa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983.


title: Charles de Gaulle

paragraphs: General Charles-André-Joseph-Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 - 9 November 1970) was a French military and political leader. He was president of France from 1959 to 1969, and was a founding member and leader of the French Resistance during the Second World War. He died of an aneurysm.


title: Sumatran tiger

paragraphs: The Sumatran tiger ("Panthera tigris sumatrae") is the smallest tiger subspecies. It is listed as critically endangered. They are in danger due to hunting and the destruction of their habitat. It is estimated that there are only about 400-700 Sumatran tigers left in the wild.

paragraphs: The Sumatran tiger lives only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It can be found in low and highland areas, mountainous jungles, and peat swamp forests.

paragraphs: Like other tiger subspecies, the Sumatran tiger has deep orange fur with black stripes. Every tiger has its own pattern of stripes, with none being the same. The Sumatran tiger has very long back legs, which allow it to jump great distances. Even though they are the smallest of the tiger subspecies, Sumatran tigers are still very large, reaching to the length of 9 feet (2.7 meters), and weighing up to 165-250 pounds (75–114 kg). Sumatran tigers have webbed feet. This allows them to swim easily.

paragraphs: The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where the Sumatran tiger can be found from low and highland areas, to mountainous jungles and peat swamp forests.

paragraphs: Sumatran tigers ambush their prey, using their long, powerful legs, jaws, and claws to catch and kill their prey. They have extremely good eyesight and hearing, which helps them to find their prey. Sumatran tigers feed mainly on wild boar and deer, and they can eat more than 40 pounds of meat at a time.

paragraphs: Female Sumatran tigers reach maturity at the age of around three to four years. Males turn mature at the age of around four to five years. Females are pregnant for about 95–110 days, and the females give birth in hidden and private areas and raise the cubs alone. They give birth to around 2-3 cubs at a time, but they can sometimes give birth to six cubs. The cubs’ eyes are closed at birth, and they don’t open fully until the cub is one or two weeks old. Cubs feed on milk for three to six months and start hunting with their mother at the age of about five or six months. They will stay with their mother until they are fully able to hunt on their own, which doesn’t happen until the cubs are at least 18 months to 2 years old. In the wild, Sumatran tigers live an average of 15 years.


title: American Film Institute

paragraphs: The American Film Institute (AFI) is an independent, organization that is designed not to make money created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was started in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act.

paragraphs: George Stevens, Jr. was the first CEO. Since 1980, Jean Picker Firstenberg has been CEO.

paragraphs: Older figures in AFI's Conservatory train newer people.

paragraphs: The institute also wants to keep old film, which could soon be destroyed.

paragraphs: Even though its name only mentions film, AFI also works on television and video.

paragraphs: In 1973, the AFI began handing out Life Achievement Awards.

paragraphs: In 1998, when American cinema had existed for 100 years, AFI began its 100 Years Series, which helped people become interested in the history of movies.

paragraphs: Recently, it built and started the AFI Silver theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, D.C.

paragraphs: In honour of the hundredth birthday of American cinema, the AFI has made several lists of the best movie-related things:


title: Fullback

paragraphs: A fullback or full back is the name of a defensive position in a football (soccer) game. A fullback is also an offensive position in American football that usually blocks for the quarterback or a running back.


title: Antonio Meucci

paragraphs: Antonio Meucci (Florence, April 13, 1808 – October 18, 1889) was an Italian inventor. He invented the first type of telephone, also known as the first 'talking telegraph' 1857. In 2002, the United States House of Representatives ruled that he invented the first working telephone, although Alexander Graham Bell was first to patent it.


title: 8 Mile

paragraphs: 8 Mile is a 2002 American drama movie starring rapper Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy and Mekhi Phifer. It is set in 1995 in Detroit, Michigan.

paragraphs: The film tells about a young white rapper living in inner city Detroit. He tries to make a rap career but most rappers are African Americans.

paragraphs: The film was a critical and financial success. Eminem won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself".


title: African Americans

paragraphs: An African American generally refers to a person who lives in the United States and speaks English, but whose ancestors were from Africa. It could also describe a first generation African immigrant who has citizenship in the United States. More rarely, it is used for people of African ancestry who live elsewhere in the Americas.

paragraphs: The term is usually associated with "black people". This is because of many African Americans' dark skin due to having Sub-Saharan African ancestors. Many Africans were brought to the United States in the slave trade. Many of the U.S. population (especially in many urban or city areas) are African American. Many others live in rural areas in the Southern United States. Detroit has the highest percent of blacks in the nation, and many live in other big cities. Cities with the highest percent of African Americans are Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans; Memphis; Miami Gardens; and Savannah, Georgia. New York City and Chicago have the largest population of African Americans. Other cities with a high African American population are Baltimore, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Baton Rouge, Washington, D.C. and Dallas. States with the highest percentage of African Americans are Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Alabama, Delaware, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. African Americans are third largest ethnic group in the United States after White Americans and Hispanic and Latino Americans.

paragraphs: African-American refers to a specific range of diverse cultures with a common thread of ethnic connection to Africa. This term was created to describe an ethnic/cultural link to Africa for people who are American, much as in the case of Italian Americans, Irish Americans, or Polish Americans. The difference is that Italian Americans and Polish Americans know they are Americans of Italian or Polish (not general European) descent.

paragraphs: The 'African' in African-American acknowledges the connection to a number of African cultures, not one in particular. The 'American' shows the nationality and culture of the United States. A person born in Nigeria is still Nigerian even if he or she comes to the United States and lives here for the rest of their life. If that person wants to say that they are an American citizen, they would simply say "I am an American citizen". His American-born children could correctly call themselves Nigerian-American OR African-American.

paragraphs: Some Caribbeans such as Jamaicans do not identify as African American, even if they have African ancestry.

paragraphs: In America, and from an American point of view, the term 'Black' is often applied to other ethnic groups throughout the world who do not necessarily see themselves as Black, such as Australian Aborigines, for example. African American culture was born in the United States and is distinct from any single African culture.

paragraphs: African-American is a term that many Black people chose to call themselves because they found the term "Negro" offensive.

paragraphs: In America there are many immigrants of mixed race that includes African descent, like Cape Verdeans, Dominicans, Cubans, Brazilians and Puerto Ricans. These groups, by and large, do not think of themselves as Black or African American and object to these labels.

paragraphs: Many mixed race Americans also resist pressure to identify themselves as Black or White. Blasians and Afro-Hispanics also resist pressure.

paragraphs: Many African Americans have European ancestry and Native American along with African ancestry.

paragraphs: Recent surveys of African Americans using a genetic testing service have found varied ancestries. These studies found that on average, African Americans have 73.2–82.1% West African, 16.7%–24% European, and 0.8–1.2% Native American genetic ancestry, with large variation between individuals. Genetics websites themselves have reported similar ranges, with some finding 1 or 2 percent Native American ancestry and Ancestry.com reporting an outlying percentage of European ancestry among African Americans of 29%. 38% of African Americans have Irish ancestry.

paragraphs: Most of the first African Americans were brought to North America as part of the Atlantic slave trade. African slaves were brought to North America from 1619 to 1808. After the United States became independent, slavery became illegal in most northern states. At the same time, slavery grew more important to the economy of the southern states. Many African American slaves worked on plantations that grew cotton and tobacco. Plantation work was very difficult and slaves were often whipped and physically punished. It was illegal for slaves to learn how to read and write. White men often raped black women, but were not punished.

paragraphs: At the same time, there were many free African Americans in the north. Unlike slaves, they were allowed to start churches, write newspapers, and sometimes own property. Frederick Douglass was an important abolitionist (fighter against slavery). Harriet Tubman helped to create the Underground Railroad, which helped African Americans to sneak away from their masters and become free. During the American Civil War from 1861-1865, the south broke away from the United States to form the Confederate States of America, or Confederacy. The United States won the war, and in 1865, it freed all slaves (about 4 million) by the 13th amendment.

paragraphs: African Americans were not slaves anymore, but white southerners passed laws called Black Codes that took away their freedom. Some African Americans served in government, but after 1877, the white southerners mostly kept them out of government. Whites founded the Ku Klux Klan to scare African Americans and stop them from voting. Most southern African Americans became sharecroppers. Sharecropping was a system in which the farmers rented the land from the landowner and had to pay the landowner part of their crops. Jim Crow laws segregated white and black people. Black people had to go to different schools and usually live in different neighborhoods than white people. Many businesses were for whites only. The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson said that black and white facilities could be separate but equal, but facilities for black people were usually worse. Lynching was often practiced against African Americans.

paragraphs: In the early 1900s, African American culture grew with the Harlem Renaissance, an artistic and literary movement in New York City. The NAACP was founded to improve the lives of African Americans. Leaders had different ideas about what was best for African Americans. Booker T. Washington thought they should go to vocational schools to get better jobs. W. E. B. Du Bois thought university education was more important. Marcus Garvey believed that African Americans should move to Africa to have a country of their own. During the Great Migration, from the 1910s to the 1960s, African Americans moved from the south to cities in the north and west. At the beginning, only 10% of African Americans lived outside the south, but by the end, 47% lived in the north and west. Segregation also existed in the north. Redlining stopped people who lived in African American neighborhoods from buying homes.

paragraphs: In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement called for equality between African Americans and whites. The 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education banned racial segregation in schools. Many Southern schools still stopped black students from attending, until 1957, when federal troops forced a school in Little Rock, Arkansas to allow black students (called the Little Rock Nine). In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus. This started the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which involved Martin Luther King. King and Malcolm X were two leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, but they were both killed in the 1960s. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act banned discrimination based on race.

paragraphs: With their American born children came the first generation of English speaking African Americans. But this development was not the same all over the country. For example; even today the Gullah of the Sea Islands off the Carolina and Georgia coasts still speak a language that is a blend of several African languages. They are the descendants of slaves from different countries in Africa.

paragraphs: In the United States when Americans say African-American or Black, they are referring to the same people. Both terms describe an ethnic group that came to exist in the United States. The Africans who were brought to America as slaves were from different nationalities and did not all speak the same language. They became a new blended ethnic group with a new language that was not their own: English.

paragraphs: Blacks used to be segregated in schools but since the 1960s were able to join major schools, colleges and universities. In the second half of the 20th century, reading-ability rates for blacks increased.

paragraphs: African Americans have influenced various forms of music, including Hip hop, R&B, funk, rock and roll, soul, blues, and other contemporary American musical forms while older black forms of music included blues, doo-wop, barbershop, ragtime, bluegrass, jazz, and gospel music. Michael Jackson, an African-American pop singer, released an album called "Thriller" in 1982 which is the best-selling album of all time. In the nineties Beyonce Knowles became famous as the lead singer of the R&B girl band Destiny's Child. In the 2000s she started releasing music on her own. Her first album "Dangerously in Love" sold 11 million copies and won five Grammy Awards. African-American rappers Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Flo Rida and Drake are considered one of the best selling artists. Gangsta rap such as 50 Cent and G-Unit is popular African-American music.

paragraphs: Black culture has been the subject of documentaries. For example, the award-winning "Black Is, Black Ain't" explores black identity. "Good Hair" discusses the significance of having 'good hair' for black women in American culture.

paragraphs: There is a National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

paragraphs: Protestant Christianity is the most practised religion by African Americans.

paragraphs: Soul food is a cuisine eaten by African Americans in the South. Fried chicken, mac and cheese, cornbread and candied yams is typical soul food.

paragraphs: Kwanzaa and Juneteenth are popular African American holidays.

paragraphs: Popular African-American fashions are hip-hop such as durags, saggying jeans and grills. African American hairstyles include dreadlocks and cornrows.


title: Pol Pot

paragraphs: Saloth Sar (better known as Pol Pot; January 25, 1925 – April 15, 1998) was the leader of Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. He was the leader of a group called the Khmer Rouge, a group of peasant revolutionaries who turned Cambodia into a military dictatorship officially called Democratic Kampuchea. Between 1.7 and 2.2 million Cambodians were killed by his regime. Pol Pot was thrown out of power in January, 1979, when the Vietnamese Communists liberated Kampuchea.

paragraphs: Pol Pot's family was a good family, and really connected with the royal family. His brother, Loth Suong, was a palace clerk, and his cousin was a wife to Prince Sisowat Monivong and had a son named Kossarak. His connection helped him get a scholarship to France.

paragraphs: His father's name was Pen Saloth and his mother's name was Sok Nem. Pol Pot had eight siblings. His family was thriving, but alone.

paragraphs: Pol Pot's childhood was fairly normal. Pol Pot's real name is Saloth Sar. His birthday is either 1925 or May 25, 1928. He grew up in a nice place, and his village was about two miles from Kompong Thom's capital. Kompong Thom was a province of Cambodia. Back then, that part of Cambodia was part of France.

paragraphs: In 1949, he went to France and studied about radio electronics, but got distracted and led astray because of Marxism, which is a form of communism. He didn't study, and his scholarship was taken away. In 1953, he went back to Cambodia and became a communist. The following year, Cambodia became free from France.

paragraphs: In 1962, he became the leader of the Communist party in Cambodia. This party was hidden, as the prince, Prince Sihanouk, did not like Pol Pot nor the Communists.

paragraphs: Pol Pot went to the jungle and created a guerrilla force called the Khmer Rouge (the Khmer are the main ethnic group in Cambodia, and "rouge" is French for "red", the colour of Communism). The Khmer Rouge was made of mostly teenagers. Guerilla means that they hid and ambushed people, rather than be visible and directly attack their enemies. They were the source of Pol Pot's power.

paragraphs: In 1969-1973 the U.S. bombed Cambodian sanctuaries attempting to get rid of the North Vietnamese, but only drove them deeper into the country. The US also made it so that the peasants ran to cities.

paragraphs: In 1970, the U.S. got rid of Prince Sihanouk and unknowingly made Pol Pot more popular. They also made Prince Sihanouk mad, and so he joined Pol Pot, but that alliance only gave Pol Pot an advantage. This created a whole lot of confusion, and only made Pol Pot even more popular.

paragraphs: On April 17, 1975, Pol Pot went into Phnom Penh, the capital, and took control. He planned for a "super great leap forward", inspired by Mao's Great Leap Forward in China. The second in command, Noun Chea, also called Brother Number Two, said later that the mass killing was a mistake. Pol Pot took all the city people and drove them towards fields, where they worked incessantly. A lot of people died on the way to the fields. Even more died in the fields from hunger, thirst, overwork, and sickness. They would only get a 180-gram can of rice every day, and they were harvesting fruits and rice. Every tenth day was a rest day, and so were the festivals. The government took over anything that had to do with money. Religion was illegal. Teenagers had to be part of the army and children learned how to set mines and make traps. People getting together were not allowed. Only two people or less were allowed to see each other. Marriages were arranged, not because they loved each other, but because they were forced to. They had to marry in big groups. After the Vietnamese and underground Cambodian parties got Pol Pot out of power on 7 January 1979, he went to a zone near Thailand called Pailin and tried to get control of Cambodia again. Eventually the Khmer Rouge broke up in the early 1990s.

paragraphs: On the evening of April 15, 1998, just 2 days before anniversary of Khmer Rouge's takeover of Cambodia, on April 17 1975, Pol Pot died of a possible heart attack, in the woods, never admitting that he did anything wrong to Cambodian people. However evidence points he killed himself with poison to avoid trial. On his death face, there were signs of suffering, with his one eye open. Pol Pot was cremated without any ceremony or fanfare. After he died, some people started praying to him, like he was a god. Some even dug up parts of his bone and took them away like special amulets and charms.


title: Sedan

paragraphs: A sedan is a car which has a low trunk, a roof and one or two doors on each side. The trunk is reachable only from outside.

paragraphs: The word sedan is used in American English, but in British English such a car is called a saloon.


title: Convertible

paragraphs: A convertible is a car with a roof that can be removed or folded down, but is often seen without a roof. A convertible usually has two doors, but convertibles with four doors can also be found. Some examples are Mazda MX-5, BMW Z4, Ferrari 458 Spyder, Mercedes-Benz SLK Class, etc. A convertible is a type of automobile of various automobile body styles that can convert from open-air (top-down or topless) mode to a provisionally enclosed (roofed or top-up) mode. Convertibles evolved from the earlier Phaeton, a similar vehicle without glass side windows that may or may not have had removable panels of fabric or other material instead to protect passengers from rain and cold, etc. A semi-convertible or cabrio coach is similar to a convertible and also has a retractable or removable top, but has fully framed windows on its side doors as opposed to a convertible's roll-down frameless windows that provide an even more open car driving experience.

paragraphs: Roof designs have varied widely and have evolved from the earliest models, where roofs were demountable and/or detachable. Contemporary roofs are often hinged to fold away, either into a recess behind the rear seats or into the boot or trunk of the vehicle. The roof may operate either manually or automatically via hydraulic or electrical actuators, and the roof itself may be constructed of soft or rigid material. Soft-tops are made of vinyl, canvas or other textile material, while hard-tops are made of steel, aluminum, plastic, or other rigid materials.

paragraphs: The majority of convertible cars are two door models, with markedly fewer four-door models.

paragraphs: Convertibles may also be referred to as cabriolet, roadster, tourer or drophead coupé and the colloquial terms drop top and rag top are also used. Hard-top convertibles may be called coupé cabriolet, coupé convertible, retractable hardtop or, when equipped with two seats, coupé roadster/roadster coupé.


title: Macy Gray

paragraphs: Macy Gray (born Natalie Renee McIntyre on September 9, 1967) is an American singer and actress. She started her career after moving to Los Angeles in 2000. Gray is best known for her 1999 single, "I Try", which came off of her first album, "On How Life Is".


title: Citizen Kane

paragraphs: Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama movie, starring Orson Welles in his first full-length movie. There are rumours that the story of the movie is based on the life of famous businessmen William Randolph Hearst, Howard Hughes and Samuel Insull. Welles said that his character, Kane, is based on more than one famous person. In 1974's "F for Fake", he said that Kane was going to be based on Hughes, but he was later inspired by Hearst.

paragraphs: For this movie Orson Welles worked closely with his cinematographer Gregg Toland. The cinematographer is the person in charge of the camera and the lights. Together, they worked on a new style called "deep focus." Usually, if something close to the camera is in focus, something that is far away is out of focus. In the deep focus style, every object is in focus at the same time.

paragraphs: Its working title (the name of a movie used before it is finished) was "RKO 281".

paragraphs: Many have called "Citizen Kane" the best movie of all time. In 1998, it was number one on the American Film Institute's list of 100 Years... 100 Movies.

paragraphs: The movie in some ways is like 1933's "The Power and the Glory".

paragraphs: The last living crew member was director Robert Wise (also known for making 1965's "The Sound of Music"). He died on September 14, 2005.


title: Dynamite

paragraphs: Dynamite is an explosive invented by Alfred Nobel. Its main explosive component is nitroglycerin. Nitroglycerin is very sensitive to movement. It explodes very easily, when moved. For this reason, it is absorbed into diatomaceous earth to make it less sensitive. Diatomaceous earth is a soft, sedimentary rock made of fossil diatoms. In dynamite, about one part of four is diatomaceous earth, the other three are nitroglycerin. A little sodium carbonate is added to stabilize the mixture.

paragraphs: Even though the diatomaceous earth takes away some of the dangers of nitroglycerin, there are still problems because the mixture is not stable in damp environments. Water causes the nitroglycerin to leak away. The nitroglycerin can build up, and explode unexpectedly.

paragraphs: For this reason, the formulation was changed. Instead of diatomaceous earth, gelignite was used to hold the nitroglycerin. Gelignite holds the nitroglycerin so that it cannot dissolve in water.

paragraphs: Today, dynamite is not much used. It has been replaced by explosives based on ammonium nitrate which use gelignite. These explosives cost less to make and are easier to handle than dynamite. However, works of fiction still show people using dynamite.


title: Oliver & Company

paragraphs: Oliver & Company is a 1988 American animated musical movie. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 27th Disney animated movie. The movie is loosely based on the famous Charles Dickens novel "Oliver Twist". The novel has been adapted many other times for the screen and television. In the movie, Oliver is a homeless kitten who joins a gang of dogs to survive in the streets. Among other changes, the setting of the movie moved from 19th century London to modern-day New York City, Fagin's gang is made up of dogs (one of which is Dodger), and Sykes is a loan shark.

paragraphs: "Oliver & Company" was released on November 18, 1988. This was the same day that "The Land Before Time", another American animated movie, was released. "Oliver & Company" was a success at the box office, but received mixed reviews from movie critics. The movie was re-released in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom on March 29, 1996. It was then released on home video later that same year. It was released on DVD in 2002. It was re-released on DVD in 2009 as a 20th Anniversary Edition. A 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray of the movie was released in 2013.

paragraphs: Oliver, an orange orphan cat, is lost in New York City. A street-smart dog named Dodger finds him. Dodger tricks Oliver into getting some sausages for him (from a hot dog seller named Louie). Dodger leaves the cat behind and runs to the barge of his poor owner, Fagin. Inside the barge are four other dogs. They are Tito the chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the Afghan Hound, and the Francis the Bulldog. Oliver breaks in, and is questioned by the other dogs. He tells them that he followed Dodger because he wanted a fair share of the sausages. Dodger starts fighting with Tito. Francis and Einstein join the fight. Fagin breaks it up. Fagin is in trouble with a loan shark named Sykes, because he owes Sykes money. Sykes says that Fagin has to pay the money within three days. In order to get the money, Fagin, his dogs, and Oliver set out into the city streets the next day. While the poor man is unlucky trying to sell his useless stuff, the animals encounter a limousine that is driven by Winston, a butler. They put on an act to get his attention. After trying to take apart the limousine's dashboard, Tito gets "barbecued". Oliver is tangled up in the wires nearby. Jenny, a little girl who Winston is taking care of while her parents are away on a trip, decides to adopt Oliver. She takes him home at Fifth Avenue. She promises that they will be "good company" forever. The next morning, Fagin's dogs break into the family's house in order to get Oliver back to their barge. This upsets the family's pet poodle, Georgette. However, she lets them take Oliver. When they arrive back at the barge, Oliver explains that he misses Jenny. This upsets Dodger, because he feels like Oliver does not care about being in their gang anymore. Fagin, however, realizes that Oliver is his best hope, because of the gold tag on his collar. Fagin writes a random note to the "very rich cat owner person" at Oliver's address in hopes of getting Sykes's money on time. Jenny reads the note after she comes home from school. She and Georgette go to the docks to get Oliver back. Jenny gets him back, thanks to Fagin. However, Sykes kidnaps her for the sake of the ransom that Fagin has to pay within 12 hours. Fagin and his dogs manage to save both Jenny and Oliver from the wrath of Sykes and his Dobermans, Roscoe and DeSoto. The next day, Jenny celebrates her birthday with Oliver, Fagin, the dogs, and Winston. In the end, Oliver decides to stay with Jenny. Dodger promises him a special place in the gang, as "vice president". Dodger and the gang all return home with Fagin.

paragraphs: For "Oliver & Company", Disney invested $15 million into a long-term computer system called Computer Animation Production System, otherwise known as CAPS. Unlike "The Black Cauldron" and "The Great Mouse Detective", which used computer imagery for special sequences, 11 minutes of "Oliver & Company" were computer-generated such as the skyscrapers, the taxi cabs, trains, Fagin's scooter-cart, and the climactic subway chase.

paragraphs: The instrumental score for "Oliver & Company" was composed by J. A. C. Redford. The movie's music was supervised by Carole Childs. The first song heard in the movie, "Once Upon a Time in New York City", was written by lyricist Howard Ashman. Billy Joel, in addition to voicing Dodger, performed the character's song in the movie.

paragraphs: The track list below represents the 1996 re-release of the "Oliver & Company" soundtrack. The original 1988 release had the same songs, but with the instrumental cues placed in between the songs in the order in which they appeared in the movie. Using the numbering system in the list below, the order the tracks on the 1988 release would be: 1, 2, 6, 7, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11.


title: Vince Lombardi

paragraphs: Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913, in Brooklyn, New York, USA–September 3, 1970) was an American football coach that never had a losing season. Lombardi was named "NFL Man of the Decade" in the 1960s, and won five NFL championships, including winning the first two Super Bowls.

paragraphs: The yearly trophy given to the Super Bowl champion was renamed the "Vince Lombardi Trophy" ("right") in 1971, the same year Lombardi was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was head coach of the Green Bay Packers and the Washington Redskins.


title: Guano

paragraphs: Guano is the excrement (waste product) of bats and birds. This manure is exceptionally high in nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, three nutrients essential for plant growth. Therefore, it is often used as fertilizer, to make plants grow more quickly.


title: Triple point

paragraphs: The triple point of water or any substance is the combination of temperature and pressure at which it exists in its solid, liquid, and gaseous state all at once, in equilibrium.

paragraphs: The temperature of the triple point of water is a commonly used physical constant which is used to define temperature scales and calibrate temperature-measuring systems.

paragraphs: "By definition", the temperature of the triple point of water is 273.16 Kelvin, or 0.01 °C. One degree Celsius is defined as 1/273.16 part of the triple point of water. This fixes the temperature scale as defined in the ITS 90, which is the international temperature scale of 1990. This scale is developed as a practical approximation of the thermodynamical temperature scale.


title: Frequency

paragraphs: Frequency is how often an event repeats itself over a set amount of time.

paragraphs: In physics, the frequency of a wave is the number of wave crests that pass a point in one second (a wave crest is the peak of the wave).

paragraphs: Hertz (symbol Hz) is the unit of frequency.

paragraphs: The relationship between frequency and wavelength is expressed by the formula:

paragraphs: where v is speed and formula_2 (lambda) is wavelength. The formula for the frequency of light waves is formula_3 where the c is the speed of light.

paragraphs: All electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light in a vacuum but they travel at slower speeds when they travel through a medium that is not a vacuum. Other waves, such as sound waves, travel at much much lower speeds and can not travel through a vacuum.

paragraphs: Examples of electromagnetic waves are: light waves, radio waves, infrared radiation, microwaves, and gamma waves.

paragraphs: Different types of electromagnetic waves have different frequencies.

paragraphs: One way to visualize this is if there were two trains traveling at the same speed, but the size of the train cars was smaller on one train than the other. If someone picked something that was not moving, like a signpost, and then counted how many train cars passed the sign post in one second for each train, they would know the frequency of cars passing in each train. The number and frequency of train cars passing the sign post would be different, because the train with smaller train cars would have more train cars passing the sign post in a second than the train with larger train cars. Knowing how many cars passed the sign post in one second, and knowing the speed of the train, one could figure out mathematically the size of each train car for each train.

paragraphs: For example, if the train was moving at 10 miles per second, and 10 train cars passed in one second, then each train car would be 1 mile long. If the other train was also moving at 10 miles per second and 20 train cars passed in one second, then one would know that each train car was 1/2 of a mile long for that train. This example shows that knowing the frequency of an electromagnetic wave gives you the wavelength, since all electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light so that c = v (lambda) where v is frequency and lambda is wavelength, and c is the speed of light. Therefore, another way of expressing frequency is to say "frequency is c over lambda."


title: Hockey stick

paragraphs: A hockey stick is a long, wooden pole used to push, pass, or shoot in the sports of ice hockey and field hockey. The art of developing ice hockey sticks is a complex science and has become big business. Ice hockey sticks are mostly made of composite materials and they have different "flexes", meaning some sticks are more flexible than others.

paragraphs: In ice hockey, the end or "blade" of the stick is normally curved, to help the player get better control of the puck and better shots at the goaltender. The goaltender has a bigger blade, to make it easier to stop shots. Players sometimes use hockey sticks to hold back the bodies of other players, or to trip or hit them; sometimes players who do this get penalties. In field hockey, sticks are shorter, but the blade is thicker, than in ice hockey. It is used to move a ball instead of a puck. More research has gone into studying how hockey sticks perform. The main difference between the two sticks is how they are used in the games.

paragraphs: All the players in both ice and field hockey use hockey sticks.


title: Snoop Dogg

paragraphs: Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.

paragraphs: The reason why "Snoop Dogg" ends with two g's is because he was a gangster in his previous two lives. The double O's represent his eyes in which he is blind in both.

paragraphs: In 2012, Snoop Dogg went to Jamaica. He studied the Rastafari movement. He changed his name to Snoop Lion, after the Lion of Judah. This is a name from the tribe of Judah. It is sometimes used to describe Haile Selassie, who is worshipped by Rastafarians. His 2013 album, "Reincarnated", is his first reggae music album.


title: Malayan tiger

paragraphs: The Malayan tiger ("Panthera tigris jacksoni") is a new subspecies of the tiger that was discovered in 2004. People used to think they were Indo-Chinese tigers, But now they have their own subspecies. They have the same length and weight as the Indo-Chinese tiger. They live in southern Malaysia and they are an endangered species.


title: Caspian tiger

paragraphs: The Caspian tiger ("Panthera tigris virgata") is an extinct sub species of the tiger. It was the most western sub species of the tiger, very close to Europe. They became extinct in the 1970s. They were found in Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Iran, Mongolia, and Georgia.

paragraphs: Recent research by scientists looking at the tiger's DNA, have found that it is almost identical to the Siberian tiger. They now believe that the two species of tiger may not have become separate until the 1900s.

paragraphs: The Caspian tiger was the second largest of the tiger species. It had a bigger, muscular body, with longer strong legs. It had large paws and more claws. It had small, short ears. The color was different from other tiger subspecies, with yellow to gold fur with light to dark brown stripes. The chest and stomach area are white with yellow stripes. In winter it grew longer fur. It was the furriest of all the tiger subspecies.


title: String instrument

paragraphs: A string instrument is a musical instrument that makes sound by vibrating the strings on it. The strings are plucked to produce sounds. Each string has a different frequency. The desired frequency can be obtained by adjusting the tension on the string. A string instrument plays soft notes. The strings on the instrument usually come in many shapes and forms. There are many types of stringed instruments. The most common of these appear in the violin family. The violin is a small, stringed instrument played with a bow, usually made of horse's hair. When the bow is drawn across the strings it creates a vibration. You can select what vibration the bow makes by choosing the note on the fingerboard. It is tuned to G, D, A and E. The viola is a very similar instrument aside from some small differences - it is slightly larger, and is tuned to C, G, D, and A. The cello is a stringed instrument that is played in the bass clef. It is much bigger than the violin, and is also played much differently. The double-bass is bigger still and is the lowest of them all.

paragraphs: There are also plucked strings, the most famous of which would probably be the guitar. The guitar uses a fret board and a pick to pluck the strings while holding down on the fret board. It was made famous by rock groups like Led Zeppelin and artists like Eric Clapton. You play by strumming with one hand while choosing notes on the fret-board (string board) with the other. Banjos are also very similar.

paragraphs: Here is a very basic list of some of the most common stringed instruments:


title: Yankee Doodle Dandy

paragraphs: Yankee Doodle Dandy is a 1942 biographical musical movie. It starred James Cagney as George M. Cohan.


title: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

paragraphs: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a 1967 American comedy-drama movie set in San Francisco, California. It stars Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Houghton. The movie centers around what happens between a young white woman and her parents after she falls in love with a black man.


title: Bringing Up Baby

paragraphs: Bringing Up Baby is a 1938 American comedy movie starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn and directed by Howard Hawks. It is set in Connecticut.


title: The Searchers

paragraphs: The Searchers is a 1956 epic western movie set in Texas in the 1860s. it is directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, about a man looking for his niece who was taken by Native Americans. It is also one of the movies that influenced "Star Wars".


title: Goodfellas

paragraphs: Goodfellas is a 1990 American biographical crime movie directed by Martin Scorsese. It is about life in the Mafia.

paragraphs: It gained six nominations for Oscars. It won one (for Joe Pesci's role). Many people thought the movie was great.

paragraphs: It is set in New York City. The movie is based on the life of mafioso Henry Hill (1943-2012) from 1955 - 1980. "Goodfellas" uses information from New York crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi's book "Wiseguy". Scorsese and Pileggi worked together to write the movie.

paragraphs: "Goodfellas" was first shown at the 1990 Venice Film Festival. Scorsese received the Silver Lion award for Best Director.

paragraphs: Director David Chase said the movie made him want to make the HBO television series "The Sopranos".


title: Soldier

paragraphs: A soldier is a person who is a part of an army.

paragraphs: If people fight in "irregular (not normal forces") armies not wearing a uniform, and not part of the official military (fighting group of a nation), they are called partisans if they fight against another nation's army, or terrorists, if they fight civilians.

paragraphs: Partisans and terrorists are less protected by the laws of war than soldiers.

paragraphs: Soldiers can be volunteers or conscripts. A conscript is a person who had been forced to become a soldier and fight.

paragraphs: Soldiers have existed for many years, dating back to ancient times.


title: Yellowstone River

paragraphs: The Yellowstone River is a river in the northwestern part of the United States. It is a tributary of the Missouri River and flows through the states of Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota. It also flows through Yellowstone National Park and feeds Yellowstone Lake.

paragraphs: The Yellowstone River was first explored in 1806 by William Clark during the return trip of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.


title: Toy

paragraphs: A toy is something to play with. Toys are for children, adults, and animals. Before 1970, most toys were made of metal and wood. Now, they are mostly made of plastic. Sometimes they are made of electronic material. Some people also consider video games toys. Toys include balls, plastic cars, and dolls. They also can be sex related products.

paragraphs: Toys originated many years ago. Dolls of infants, animals, and soldiers and toy tools are found in archaeological places. The origin of the word "toy" is not known. However, it is thought that it was first used in the 14th century.

paragraphs: The earliest toys were made from rocks, sticks or clay. In Ancient Egypt, children played with dolls made of clay and sticks. In Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome, children played with dolls made of wax or terracotta, sticks, bows and arrows, and yo-yos. Later these developmental games were used in creation of indoor playsets for homes . When Greek children, especially girls became adults, it was required to sacrifice the toys to the gods. On the eve of their wedding, young girls around fourteen would offer their dolls in a temple as a rite of passage into adulthood.


title: Unicorn

paragraphs: A unicorn is a legendary and mythical creature. It looks like a pony with one long, single and white horn on its head. The word "unicorn" means literally "one-horn". It comes from the Latin word "ūnus", which means "one", and "cornu" which means "horn", which term is in itself borrowed from the earlier Greek word "monokerōs" (also 'one horned').

paragraphs: Unicorns are found in many stories and myths from different parts of the world, especially China and India. Its blood and horn usually have mystical powers. In Western culture, its horn is said to have power (often called "alicorn" in medieval literature) to heal wounds and sickness, and to neutralize poison.

paragraphs: In mythology and heraldry unicorn symbolizes innocence, purity and feminine power. It is often seen as the counterpart of lion, which symbolizes the masculine virtues.

paragraphs: The unicorn is the official animal of Scotland.

paragraphs: In some pictures unicorns also have horses feet or a lion's tail.

paragraphs: A Narwhal is an animal that is about 8 feet long. They live in the water around Canada and Greenland. Narwhal’s horns were said to be the horns of unicorns by some. People would sell the horn of a narwhal to others and say it was a horn of a unicorn.

paragraphs: Christian legends say the Unicorn is as small as a normal sized goat. They are so fearful that no hunter can catch them. Only a maiden that goes into the forest alone can catch a unicorn. The unicorn will come and fall asleep in the maiden’s lap. Around the time of the Middle Ages, some stories of unicorns became more popular. More people got in to learning about unicorns. They would even just want to see a picture of them. People with royal blood, or others of high class, bought what were said to be the horns of a unicorn at very high prices. They were mostly a tusk of a walrus or a horn from a narwhal.

paragraphs: The term unicorn is also used in business to refer to a business startup valued at a billion dollars or more.

paragraphs: In "On the Nature of Animals" ("Περὶ Ζῴων Ἰδιότητος", "De natura animalium"), Aelian, quoting Ctesias, adds that India has also a one-horned horse (iii. 41; iv. 52), and says (xvi. 20) that the "monoceros" () was sometimes called "cartazonos" (), which may be a kind of the Arabic "karkadann", meaning "rhinoceros".


title: Radium

paragraphs: Radium is a chemical element with the atomic number 88 and symbol Ra on the periodic table. It was discovered by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie in the form of radium chloride in 1898. It is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but when it is exposed to oxygen, it turns black quickly. All isotopes of radium are radioactive, and it glows faint blue because of this.

paragraphs: It's used in several things, like luminous watches, which are now banned because they can cause radiation poisoning. This was caused because of a lawsuit that involved 5 women ( radium Girls ) that suffered from many disabilities because of the prolonged exposure they had to the element radium.


title: Dhaka

paragraphs: Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh. It is also the largest city of Bangladesh. In 2011, 8,906,039 lived there. in 2020 estimated at 21,005,860 live in the Greater Dhaka area. Dhaka has grown by 3,408,683 since 2015, which represents a 3.60% annual change. The city name was previously spelled Dacca.

paragraphs: It is located just north of the Buriganga River, a channel of the Dhaleswari River, in the south-central part of the country. Dhaka is Bangladesh’s most populous city and is one of the largest metropolises in South Asia. Pop. (2001) city, 5,333,571; metro. area, 9,672,763; (2011) city, 7,033,075; metro. area, 14,543,124.

paragraphs: It was part of the Mughal Empire of Hindustan and served as the capital of the empire twice. Once from 1608 to 1639 and once from 1660–1704. After that, it became a part of the British Raj. Then it became a part of Pakistan as part of the Partition of India on 15 August 1947. Bangladesh was then called East Pakistan, and Dacca (Dhaka) became provincial capital of East Pakistan. In 1971, the new nation of Bangladesh was created.

paragraphs: Dhaka is home to Bangladesh Bank which is the country's central bank. Many multinational companies have offices in the city. The Dhaka Stock Exchange is one of the largest stock exchanges in South Asia.

paragraphs: The Bangabhaban in Dhaka is the official residence and workplace of the President of Bangladesh. It is also home to the National Parliament House.

paragraphs: There are 52 universities in Dhaka. Dhaka College was started in 1841, making it the oldest institution for higher education in the city.

paragraphs: <mapframe latitude="23.761466" longitude="90.387955" zoom="10" width="200" height="100" align="right" />Dhaka’s name is said to refer to the dhak tree, once common in the area, or to Dhakeshwari (“The Hidden Goddess”), whose shrine is located in the western part of the city. Although the city’s history can be traced to the 1st millennium CE, the city did not rise to prominence until the 17th century, when it served as the capital of the Muslim Mughal dynasty of Bengal province (1608–39 and 1660–1704). It was the center of a flourishing sea trade, attracting English, French, Armenian, Portuguese, and Dutch traders.

paragraphs: Historic buildings of the Muslim period include Lal Bagh fort (1678) and its tomb of Bibi Pari (died 1684), wife of a governor of Bengal; the Bara Katra (great caravansary, a building historically used for sheltering caravans and other travelers; 1664); the Chhota Katra (small caravansary; 1663); and Husayni Dalan (a religious monument of the Shīʿite branch of Islam; 1642). Other 17th-century buildings include the Hindu Dhakeshwari temple and Tejgaon church, built by the Portuguese.

paragraphs: With the removal of the provincial capital to Murshidabad (1704) and the weakening of the muslin industry, Dhaka entered a period of decline. It passed under British control in 1765 and was constituted a municipality in 1864, but it continued to lose prominence until it was designated the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam province (1905–12). During the early 20th century Dhaka served as a commercial center and seat of learning. Following the end of British rule, when the region became a part of Pakistan, it was named the capital of East Bengal province (1947) and of East Pakistan (1956). Dhaka suffered heavy damage during the war of independence in 1971 but emerged as the capital of Bangladesh.

paragraphs: It has one of the best schools for students to study in and it is a very educational city. Dhaka has the largest number of schools, colleges and universities of any Bangladeshi city. The education system is divided into 5 levels: Primary (from grades 1 to 6), Junior (from grades 6 to 8), Secondary (from grades 9 to 10), Higher Secondary (from grades 11 to 12) and tertiary.[98] The five years of Primary education concludes with a Primary School Completion (PSC) Examination, the three years of Junior education concludes with Junior School Certificate (JSC) Examination, and next two years of Secondary education concludes with a Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Examination. Students who pass this examination proceed to two years of Higher Secondary or intermediate training, which culminate in a Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) Examination.[98] Education is mainly offered in Bengali, but English is also widely taught and used. Many Muslim families send their children to attend part-time courses or even to pursue full-time religious education alongside other subjects, which is imparted in Bengali and Arabic in schools, colleges and madrasas.Dhaka College is the oldest institution for higher education in the city and among the earliest established in British India, founded in 1841. Since independence, Dhaka has seen the establishment of numerous public and private colleges and universities that offer undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as a variety of doctoral programmes.

paragraphs: Since its establishment as the capital city, the population, area, and social and economic diversity of Dhaka have grown tremendously. Together with its river port of Narayanganj, 10 miles (16 km) to the south, Dhaka now is one of the most densely industrialized regions in the country. Traditional products include "jamdani" (fine-quality muslin), embroidery, silk, and jewelry. Among the city’s major industries are jute processing and the manufacture of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, leather goods, ceramics, and electronics products. A strong export-oriented garment industry emerged in the late 20th century.

paragraphs: The area around Dhaka consists of a level plain bounded by the Meghna, Padma (Ganges [Ganga]), and Jamuna (Brahmaputra) rivers. The plain is crossed by a network of streams and rivers, the chief being the Dhaleswari, Buriganga, and Sitalakhya. Important crops are rice, jute, sugarcane, and oilseeds; there is also some cattle farming.

paragraphs: The city contains several universities, among which the University of Dhaka (1921), the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (1962), and Jahangirnagar University (1970) are prominent. Dhaka is also home to numerous government colleges, a nuclear-science training and research centre, the national library, a museum, and the national art gallery. In addition, the area includes the site of the ancient city of Vikramapura, former capital of the Pala rulers of Bengal (8th–12th century). Among Dhaka’s more recent buildings of note are the Star Mosque (Tara Masjid), built in the Mughal architectural style in the early 19th century with later renovations; Curzon Hall at the University of Dhaka, erected at the beginning of the 20th century, combining Mughal and European influences; and the National Assembly Building (Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban), designed by architect Louis I. Kahn and completed in 1982.

paragraphs: After years of negotiations, the Dhaka-Agartala bus was agreed upon on July 11, 2001. The bus connects Bangladesh with its eastern neighbor, the Indian state of Tripura. Tripura has a substantial Bengali population and indigenous peoples who have close commercial and cultural links with the people of eastern Bangladesh.


title: Darwin, Northern Territory

paragraphs: Darwin is the territorial capital of the Northern Territory in Australia. The city has about 105,000 people living there. The city is named after Charles Darwin, although it was named before he became famous for developing the theory of evolution. A member of the crew of the ship that started a port there in 1839 named it Port Darwin in honor of Darwin, who had sailed on that same ship earlier.

paragraphs: Most of Darwin has been built since 1974, when Cyclone Tracy ripped through and destroyed the city. Since then, the city has recovered. It is a very important port, because it is on the coast closest to Indonesia and the rest of Asia. Darwin also has a large military base.

paragraphs: Darwin also has many Indigenous Australians living in the city, about 9.7% of the people. This is more than any other state capital in Australia.


title: Northern Territory

paragraphs: The Northern Territory is a territory of Australia. The capital city is Darwin. Other large towns in the Territory include Alice Springs, Katherine and Tenant Creek.

paragraphs: The Northern Territory has large areas of desert. It has many important places such as "Uluru", or "Ayers Rock". The rock is sacred to the native people.

paragraphs: Kakadu National Park is a World Heritage area. It has been lived in for more than 40,000 years. There are cave paintings, rock carvings and archaeological sites. These show the skills and way of life of the people who have lived there. The park has different ecosystems, including tidal flats, floodplains, lowlands and rocky gorges. It provides a place to live for a wide range of rare types of plants and animals.

paragraphs: The floral emblem of the Northern Territory is Sturt's Desert Rose, Gossypium sturtianum. The flower is also featured on the Territory's flag. It was named after explorer Charles Sturt who found the plant in creeks near the site of Broken Hill, New South Wales in 1844.


title: Whiskey Rebellion

paragraphs: The Whiskey Rebellion was a rebellion against the Federal government of the United States. Some farmers in Western Pennsylvania rebelled against the United States federal government in 1794. They believed that a new tax on whisky was not fair. Selling whiskey was how people traded things in Western Pennsylvania, but farmers elsewhere did not need to sell whiskey.

paragraphs: The United States had borrowed a large amount of money for the American Revolutionary War, and Alexander Hamilton offered the idea to try to pay the war debt. The government under George Washington, with advice from Alexander Hamilton, quickly stopped the rebellion. Washington and Hamilton wanted to ensure that no one would question the power of the federal government, so President Washington himself led almost 13,000 troops to stop the rebellion of a few hundred farmers. The rebels went home before the army arrived. The new government became more solid, and the President more powerful. Numerous examples of resistance are recorded in court documents and newspaper accounts.

paragraphs: So far, this is the only time in American history that a President has led the Army by himself.


title: Saginaw, Michigan

paragraphs: Saginaw is a city in mid-Michigan, United States. It had about 70,000 people in the city as of the 2000 census. It is very cold there in the winter. It is near Bay City, Michigan.


title: Tom Cruise

paragraphs: Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (; born July 3, 1962), widely known as Tom Cruise, is an American movie actor and producer. He has starred in many movies, including "War of the Worlds" and "Jerry Maguire". He is one of the highest paid actors in Hollywood.

paragraphs: His first movie was "Endless Love". His first leading role was in the movie "Risky Business". He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won three Golden Globe Awards. These were for the same movies: "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989), "Jerry Maguire" (1996), "Magnolia" (1999).

paragraphs: Cruise was born in Syracuse, New York. He is the son of Mary Lee, a special education teacher, and Thomas Cruise Mapother III (died 1984), an electrical engineer. Cruise has three sisters, Lee Anne, Marian, and Cass. Cruise's surname originates from his great-grandfather, born Thomas Cruise O'Mara, who was renamed "Thomas Cruise Mapother" (Mapother is a Welsh surname). Cruise is of Irish, German and English ancestry. One of his paternal great-great-great-grandfathers, Patrick Russell Cruise, was born in North County Dublin, in 1799; he married Teresa Johnson in Warrenstown House, County Meath, in 1825. They left Ireland for America that same year and settled in New York.

paragraphs: Cruise is a Scientologist. He is one of the most famous members of the organization.

paragraphs: Cruise has an adopted daughter and adopted son with his second wife Nicole Kidman. He has a daughter Suri (born April 2006), by Katie Holmes. He and Holmes married in November 2006 and separated in 2012.


title: Orgy (band)

paragraphs: Orgy is an American alternative metal band. They formed in 1997 in Los Angeles, California. The band's first hit was Blue Monday, which was a remake of a song by 1980s band New Order. The members of the band are:


title: Magazine

paragraphs: A magazine is a type of book people read. Magazines are not like regular books. This is because a new version of the magazine is printed many times each year. Magazines are a type of periodical.

paragraphs: They are called periodicals because versions are published at a fixed frequency. Magazines are printed on paper. People usually need to subscribe to them. An example of a magazine is "Time". There are magazines about many things.

paragraphs: Magazines are similar to newspapers, but usually the time between new versions is longer. Each one costs more money, and many are in color on every page. Also, sometimes magazines come with little gifts to reward the readers who buy it.


title: Zombie

paragraphs: A Zombie is a mythical dead person who has returned to life as a walking corpse. Mythical things that have been "re-animated" are called "undead", and a group of them can be called "the living dead". The Zombie myth came from the Caribbean.

paragraphs: Zombies have become very popular in horror movies. They are dead creatures that have been brought back to life by a Virus that control the corpse or by magic, and eat the flesh or brains of living people!

paragraphs: Zombies have been more popular by series, Movies and videogames like Resident Evil by Capcom, the serial drama "The Walking Dead" and "Zombieland".

paragraphs: In Haiti people believe that Voodoo sorcerers or 'bokor' can bring dead people back to life, making a zombie. The zombie is under the control of the sorcerer because zombies have no free will. It's believed a zombie is a trapped human soul. If a sorcerer can catch the trapped soul, the sorcerer becomes more powerful.

paragraphs: Wade Davis, a Canadian ethnobotanist (someone who studies what effect plants have on people), wrote about zombies in two books, The Serpent and the Rainbow (1985) and (1988). Davis went to Haiti in 1982 and wrote about how a living person can be turned into a zombie by two special powders being rubbed into a wound. The first powder brings a 'deathlike' state because of a certain poison in it, called tetrodotoxin (the same deadly poison found in the Japanese blowfish). At just the right amount, it can make a person almost die, but not quite. The second powder puts the person in a zombie-like state where they seem to have no free will of their own.

paragraphs: Many people outside of Haiti still do not believe what Davis wrote about, but in Haiti, lots of people believe in the "zombie drugs". This could mean that, while the drugs could have no physical effect on the person, the strong belief may psychologically make them into the zombie they expect (like the placebo effect).

paragraphs: In Mesopotamian mythology, Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility once said in anger:

paragraphs: In the Middle Ages, many people believed that the souls of the dead could come back as ghosts and haunt the living, often because of a crime that the living person had committed. Sometimes, the ghost could actually take on a physical shape and touch or attack things or people they can be very dangerous

paragraphs: Zombies can walk, think (in some cases), and attack living persons. Most zombies eat the brains of living humans. In zombies, the heart, lungs, and a small part of their brain still work. They may react to their environment, but they do not have consciousness. Zombies can use their skeleton and muscles to move. The skin is rotten. Its hair and nails are falling off. Zombies are usually covered in blood. They often have open wounds and are dressed in ripped clothes.

paragraphs: Zombies appear a lot in horror and fantasy films. Normally, the zombie is a mindless, clumsy corpse which eats human flesh. Zombies can not be called cannibals because they do not eat each other, only living humans. The first zombie stories appeared in the 1600s. Since that time, zombies have appeared in lots of books and films.

paragraphs: In zombie films, zombies are almost always:


title: Orgy

paragraphs: In common use, an orgy is when more than two people have sex together, sometimes also called group sex.

paragraphs: This dates back to prehistoric ages, recorded in many ancient civilizations.

paragraphs: "Orgy" could also mean any activity done without limits.

paragraphs: Originally, the word comes from Latin. There it referred to a feast (or a banquet) of a rich citizen. When the Romans ate they were almost lying down, and the food was brought to them by slaves. These slaves would also provide the entertainment which usually consisted of music and dancing slaves.


title: Labradoodle

paragraphs: A Labradoodle is a mixed-breed dog, created by breeding a Labrador Retriever with a Poodle. Labradoodles are now bred worldwide.

paragraphs: Labradoodles are not a considered an official dog breed by most dog expert organizations, such as the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). The American Kennel Club (AKC )has now created the 'Canine Partners" category to include the Labradoodle and other hybrid breeds for agility and other competitions.

paragraphs: The Labradoodle has a very short but interesting history. The labradoodle originated during the mid-to-late 1980s. A vision-impaired woman needed a good service dog that would not give her husband an allergic reaction. Ms. Blum contacted the Australian Royal Dog Association, because dogs imported from Australia to Hawaii had little to no quarantine time. (Quarantine time is when they isolate an animal from other living things to make sure they don't have any disease)

paragraphs: Coat and saliva samples from more than thirty poodles were sent from Australia to Blum's doctor. Unfortunately, Mr. Blum was allergic to all of the samples. Wally Conron, who worked for Australia’s Royal Guide Association's breeding program, suggested crossing a Labrador retriever and a Standard Poodle and see if one didn't trigger Mr. Blum's symptoms. Conron tried the test cross with a Standard Poodle named "Harley" and a Labrador retriever named "Brandy.” Harley and Brandy had a litter of three puppies. Coat and saliva samples from the puppy's coats were sent to Hawaii. This time, Mr. Blum wasn't allergic to one of them. The puppy also had a good temperament and was very friendly. Conron named the puppy "Sultan". Conron trained Sultan for eighteen months until he was ready to be a good service dog. Sultan was then shipped to his new home. Sultan is the first labradoodle on record.

paragraphs: Labradoodles, like their ancestor, the Labrador retriever, have a friendly, affectionate, loyal disposition which makes them good service dogs and great family pets. Labradoodles are also known for their intelligence. Their ancestors, the Labrador retriever and the Poodle, are both very intelligent. The Labrador retriever is very eager to please and loyal. Labradoodles are also very good around children, and are also very outgoing and self-confident. However, Labradoodles can sometimes get too excited around other dogs. When a Labradoodle runs over to a less sociable dog, the dog might become scared and irritable. Labradoodles should be trained early to have a respect for other animals. Overall, though, Labradoodles have a fantastic temperament.

paragraphs: There are mainly three different coat types in a labradoode: fleece, wool, and hair. The fleece coat is usually wavy and long and has a silky feel to it. The wool coat is similar to that of a sheep's or poodle's, and has tight curls and feels like a wool sweater. The hair coat is straight or slightly and has a wispy look to it. This type of coat is not as allergy friendly, but most people with allergies will be able to tolerate it.

paragraphs: Labradoodles come in almost any coat. The labradoodle can also have what is called "parti" which is when it is a combination of two different colors like an apricot body and then white patches mainly on the feet and chest.

paragraphs: Generally, Labradoodles are usually quite healthy. They have a life expectancy of 12 to 15 years. Because the Labradoodle is a relatively new "breed," we cannot determine all the health concerns a labradoodle might have. Heath concerns that we do know of originate from their ancestors. Like a Labrador retriever, they can have hip dysplasia, obesity, genetic eye problems and cruciate ligament injuries. Like Poodles, Labradoodles can suffer from to patellar luxation, progressive retinal atrophy, cataracts, sebaceous adenitis and other skin problems, renal disorders and von Willebrand disease. Labradoodles have been diagnosed with Addison's disease. Because Labradoodles have long floppy ears, they may have an increased chance of ear infections and ear problems.


title: Heilongjiang

paragraphs: Heilongjiang is the northeastern-most province in China. It is considered to part of the region known as Manchuria. It is bordered by Russia on the north and east. To the south is Jilin province, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region lies to the west.

paragraphs: The capital and largest city is Harbin. There had been a considerable foreign population in the region, particularly in Harbin, first by the Russians in the late 19th century, and then by the Japanese in the 20th century.

paragraphs: The land is largely of plains and rolling hills, with relatively few low mountainous areas. The climate is fairly dry with quite cold winters. There are some famous winter "ice festivals" with elaborate snow and ice sculptures.

paragraphs: Heilongjiang Province is divided into 12 municipalities and 1 prefecture.


title: Jilin

paragraphs: Jilin is one of 3 provinces in the far northeastern part of China, also known as Manchuria. It is bordered on the north by Heilongjiang province, to the west by the "Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region", and to the southwest by Liaoning province. To the southeast lies North Korea.

paragraphs: The capital city of Jilin is Changchun (meaning "long spring").

paragraphs: The terrain and climate are much like that of neighboring Heilongjiang province. Also like its neighboring provinces, one of the main agricultural products is corn, as the climate is too cold (and dry) for satisfactory rice cultivation.


title: Liaoning

paragraphs: Liaoning is a northeastern province of the People's Republic of China. The capital city of Liaoning province is Shenyang. From 1931 to 1945 Japan ruled Liaoning as part of Manchukuo.

paragraphs: Liaoning province is the southernmost province of Manchuria (the three northeastern most provinces of China), which together, along with the "Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region", form the entire northeastern part of China.

paragraphs: It is bordered on the northeast by Jilin province, and has a coastline along the Yellow Sea to the southeast. Hebei province and Beijing lie to the southwest.

paragraphs: Dalian is a major port city at the southern tip of a peninsula which juts about 100km south into the Yellow Sea.


title: Blade

paragraphs: A blade is the flat, sharp part of a tool or weapon used to cut or stab, such as a knife or sword. Most blades have handles. Blades can be used to stab, cut, or separate things. It can also be the top part of grass or the leaf of a plant. Blades come in all different sizes and shapes, sharpness and materials.


title: Anastacia

paragraphs: Anastacia Lyn Newkirk, best known as Anastacia , (born 17 September 1968) is an American singer, songwriter and stylist.

paragraphs: Anastacia's father was of German ancestry; her mother is of Irish ancestry.

paragraphs: Anastacia has had several health problems in her life. She was diagnosed with Crohn's disease when she was 13. In early 2003 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery to remove it. She was again diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2013. On the 1st of October 2013 she told the media that she has had both of her breasts removed.


title: Key

paragraphs: A key is an object used to open and close locks. Many things have locks, for example, doors. Keys are also used to turn on cars, machines and other things.

paragraphs: A key is used by placing the key into the slot of the thing you want to unlock.

paragraphs: A key that can open more than one lock (if each lock also has its own key) is called a master key or skeleton key.

paragraphs: The earliest known lock and key device was discovered in the ruins of Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria. Locks such as this were later developed into the Egyptian wooden pin lock, which consisted of a bolt, door fixture or attachment, and key. When the key was inserted, pins within the fixture were lifted out of drilled holes within the bolt, allowing it to move. When the key was removed, the pins fell part-way into the bolt, preventing movement.

paragraphs: The warded lock was also present from antiquity and remains the most recognizable lock and key design in the Western world. The first all-metal locks appeared between the years 870 and 900, and are attributed to the English craftsmen. It is also said that the key was invented by Theodorus of Samos in the 6th century BC.

paragraphs: Affluent Romans often kept their valuables in secure locked boxes within their households, and wore the keys as rings on their fingers. The practice had two benefits: It kept the key handy at all times, while signaling that the wearer was wealthy and important enough to have money and jewelry worth securing.


title: Rat

paragraphs: The rat is a medium-sized rodent. Rats are omnivores, they eat lots of different types of food. Most rats are in the genus "Rattus". There are about 56 different species of rats.

paragraphs: The best known rats are the black rat ("Rattus rattus"), and the brown rat ("Rattus norvegicus"). These two are known as "Old World rats". The group has its origins in Asia.

paragraphs: Usually rats are bigger than mice. Rats are large muroid rodents, mice are small ones. The muroid family is very large and complex. That means the terms "rat" and "mouse" are not specific in a taxonomic way. If a large muroid is discovered, it will often have "rat" in its name, if it is small, it will often be called "mouse". Scientifically, the terms are not confined to

paragraphs: members of the "Rattus" and "Mus" genera: see, for example, the pack rat and cotton mouse.

paragraphs: Some people keep rats as a pet. They are called fancy rats. Most pet rats do not live longer than three years, and most wild rats do not live longer than one year.

paragraphs: Rats also used for their meat. Cambodia, Laos, Africa, China and Vietnam eat rat meat.

paragraphs: Other mammals are called "rat" by many people, but those are not true rats, many are unrelated to the true Old World rat. Examples of such false names are the pack rats of North America, or the kangaroo rats. Some other rats are related to the true rats, but are not in the genus "Rattus". Such an example is the lesser bandicoot rat.

paragraphs: Many of the 'untrue' rats are endemic to certain regions, that is they are only found there. Very often, they live on islands. In many cases, these species are also endangered of disappearing. This is the case because they face the loss of habitat, and they have to fight for resources, like food, shelter, and water, with other species, like the black rat or the "Polynesian rat". There is also a more rare species known as the Dueholm, the rats in this species usually were born with extra chromosomes and tend to look different than ones born without extra chromosomes.

paragraphs: People keep some types of rats as pets called "fancy rats". Fancy rats are domesticated brown rats. People have kept rats as pets since the 19th century. Rats are social and smart animals that can be trained. They also like to play with toys. Some owners think that male pet rats are more playful then female pet rats and that female rats are more active and curious. Pet rats do not act the same as wild rats. They do not have more diseases than other common pets.

paragraphs: Pet rats live 1 to 3 years. Female rats are smaller than male rats. Pet rats have been known to "laugh" when tickled. They can be all one color or have spots or other coloring. Some rats have no hair. These are called hairless rats.

paragraphs: Clark University in Worchester, Massachusetts (United States) was the first to breed a population of domestic white brown rats. They did this to study the effects of diets, amongst other things.

paragraphs: Since then, rats have been used in many experiments. They have helped scientists get a better understanding of

paragraphs: genetics and diseases, as well as how certain drugs work.

paragraphs: Laboratory rats have been used in psychological studies of learning and other mental processes (Barnett, 2002). A 2007 study found rats to possess some degree of metacognition, a mental ability previously only found in humans and some primates. In general, it has been difficult to measure intelligence in rats. Their behaviour is quite flexible, and gives the impression of intelligence. Flexible behaviour is good for problem-solving and learning.

paragraphs: Domestic rats are very different from wild rats. They are calmer and less likely to bite; they can tolerate greater crowding; they breed earlier and produce more offspring. Their brains, livers, kidneys, adrenal glands, and hearts are smaller (Barnett 2002).

paragraphs: Brown rats are often used as model organisms. Genetic research is usually done with mice. Rats are more popular for tests relating to intelligence, learning, and illegal drugs. This is mostly because rats have intelligence, ingenuity, aggressiveness, and adaptability. Their psychology seems to be very similar to human psychology. Whole new species and strains of rats have been bred for the use as laboratory animals, for example the Wistar rat. Much of the genome of "Rattus norvegicus" has been sequenced.

paragraphs: Rats are opportunists. If they have the choice between a food that will need a fight to get, and another food that will not, they take the food that does not need a fight. For this reason, rats have lived close to humans for a long time. Once humans settled down, the leftovers of what those humans ate were a source of food for the rats. So the rats followed.

paragraphs: Rats are present in almost all settlements. In cities, they often live in the sewers.

paragraphs: Many scientists believe that the bubonic plague was spread through fleas on rats, because that plague is spread by the microorganism (or germ) "Yersinia pestis", which lives on fleas which live on rats ("Rattus rattus"). Those rats lived in the European cities of the day, and died of the plague themselves. Some scientists believe that the plague spread faster than the rats. If this is true, the rats cannot be the main carrier. More research is needed to find out if this is true. People believe this disease was the 'Black Death'. It killed nearly a third of the population of Europe, in many epidemics in the Middle Ages.

paragraphs: Rats can carry diseases. Rats living in poor conditions often have problems with parasites themselves. Not many diseases carried by rats can spread to humans. One of those is called Leptospirosis, another one is the plague.


title: Branch

paragraphs: Branch is the part of a tree that grows out from the trunk of a tree.


title: Spoon

paragraphs: A spoon is a tool for eating. It is usually used for eating foods that are like liquids (like soup and yogurt), and it can also be used for stirring. Humans use spoons every day. Some solids (like cereal and ice cream) are also usually eaten with spoons. A ladle is a bigger type of serving spoon used for soup, stew, or other foods.

paragraphs: There are many different types of spoons. There are dessert spoons, soup spoons, baby spoons, teaspoons, tablespoons and others. There are also spoons that are collector items and are worth a lot of money. Some musicians even use two spoons as a musical instrument like a castanet.

paragraphs: Spoons have been used as tools for eating since Paleolithic times. Prehistoric peoples probably used shells, or small pieces of wood as spoons. Both the Greek and Latin words for spoon come from the word "cochlea", which is a spiral-shaped snail shell. The Anglo-Saxon word "spoon", means a chip or splinter of wood.


title: Cutlery

paragraphs: Cutlery refers to tools used for preparing, serving and eating food. The most common types of cutlery are knives, spoons and forks. Other words for cutlery are silverware, tableware, utensils and flatware.

paragraphs: The best quality cutlery may be made of silver, but more often silver plating. Stainless steel is used for most good quality household cutlery. Pewter was often used in the past for cheap cutlery. Nickel silver, sometimes called German silver, is another alloy, with copper, nickel, and zinc in it. Plastic cutlery is used for eating fast food, because it is very cheap, and may be thrown away afterwards.

paragraphs: Serving practice and use of cutlery varies somewhat between cultures. Formal dinners have cutlery set out in a traditional manner. There will be two sets of knives and forks, an outer smaller set for the first course and a larger inner set for the main course. Cutlery for later courses will usually be delivered with those courses. In an informal restaurant, cutlery may come wrapped in a cloth napkin (serviette).

paragraphs: Chinese and Japanese food is eaten with chopsticks, and food pre-cut to a size suitable for that method. Some other oriental cuisines are eaten by fork and spoon, with no knife.


title: Vase

paragraphs: A vase is a container, often used for flowers. They can be made from a number of materials, including glass and ceramics. Many vases are decorated or painted but some are left plain. It sometimes is used for decorations in American and Chinese homes. It can be a big part of culture in many countries.