title: Hallucination

paragraphs: A hallucination is seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or feeling things that do not really exist. Usually people have to be awake and conscious to have hallucinations. That way, a person who sees or hears something that is not really there has a hallucination. Hallucinations are different from dreams. When people dream they are not awake. Hallucinations are also different from illusions. Illusions are based on real perceptions, which are distorted or interpreted in a wrong way.

paragraphs: Certain drugs can cause hallucinations. Some illegal drugs are taken because they cause hallucinations. Certain mental illnesses can also cause hallucinations. In some cases, withdrawal of a drug can also cause hallucinations. This has especially been reported by people trying to stop taking sleeping pills, or by alcoholics.

paragraphs: People who have hallucinations are not necessarily ill, lack of sleep can also cause hallucinations. Hallucinations just before going to sleep or just after waking up are considered normal.

paragraphs: Hallucinations can affect all of a person's senses. People with the mental illness of schizophrenia may hear sounds or voices that are not really there. People with certain mental illnesses may also have hallucinations in which they see a person or thing which is not really there. People are less likely to have hallucinations in which they smell or touch something that is not really there. Certain forms of epilepsy can cause hallucinations. Finally, hallucinations can be the result of certain substances taken or of certain physical constellations. Most of the time, these substances are taken to get the hallucinations. Sometimes, (severe) lack of sleep, or high fever can lead to hallucinations brought on by such viruses as the common cold.

paragraphs: Many studies have shown hallucinatory experiences take place across the world. Several studies, one of them done as early as 1894, have reported that approximately 10% of the population experience hallucinations. A recent survey of over 13,000 people reported a much higher figure. According to the study, almost 39% of the people reported hallucinatory experiences. 27% of the people reported daytime hallucinations, mostly outside the context of illness or drug use. From this survey, hallucinations affecting smell or taste seem the most common in the general population.

paragraphs: Some diseases such as brain disorders or infections may cause a person to have hallucinations. As well, an alcoholic (person who is addicted to alcohol) who stops drinking alcohol suddenly may experience a type of hallucinations called delirium tremens (or "DT's"). Some people have hallucinations if they do not sleep for a number of days, or if they do not eat for a number of days.

paragraphs: Some people have hallucinations because they purposefully or accidentally put chemicals or drugs into their bodies.

paragraphs: Some people use illegal drugs that cause vivid hallucinations, such as LSD ("acid") and PCP ("angel dust"). Many kinds of drugs - even legal ones - will cause hallucinations, if very large doses are taken, and it is seen as a side effect.

paragraphs: Some legal drugs that dentists, doctors, or surgeons use cause hallucinations. The dentists, doctors, and surgeons use drugs called anaesthetics to make people not feel pain, or to make people become unconscious. But the drugs also have some other additional effects, which are called side effects, such as nausea (feeling sick) and hallucinations.

paragraphs: Many dentists use an anaesthetic called nitrous oxide ("laughing gas"). Inhaling large quantities of nitrous oxide can cause people to have hallucinations. Doctors and surgeons use many types of anaesthetic gases so that patients who are being operated become unconscious. When a person inhales anaesthetic gases, they may have hallucinations for several minutes, until they become unconscious.

paragraphs: Some adults accidentally swallow a poisonous chemical because it is in a bottle that has the wrong label. In some cases, children swallow a poisonous chemical because they think that it is a food product or a drink. Some dangerous, poisonous chemicals which can make people very sick or even kill them also cause hallucinations.

paragraphs: Some people have hallucinations when they have not slept for a long time; other people have something resembling a hallucination before falling asleep. This is usually called hypnagogia. Most of the time, the people experiencing this kind of hallucinations are aware of the fact that they are not real.


title: Shadow

paragraphs: A shadow is a dark area on a bright surface. It is caused by something blocking a source of light. A shadow's outline, called a silhouette, will have the same shape as the object blocking the light.

paragraphs: Depending on the light source, or sources, a wide range of effects can be produced. A point source of light casts only a simple shadow, called an "umbra". A "penumbra" is the region in which only a portion of the light source may be blocked. If there is more than one light source, there will be several shadows, with the overlapping parts darker, and various combinations of brightness or even colors. The more diffuse the lighting is, the softer and more indistinct the shadow outlines become, until they disappear. The lighting of an overcast sky produces few visible shadows,

paragraphs: Astronomical shadows are usually sharp. This is because in space the light usually does not go through an atmosphere.


title: The Sims

paragraphs: The Sims is a video game released in 2000 . It is a life simulator that imitates real life. Sims can get jobs, have needs, and can get married. It was the third best selling computer and video game of all time (it mostly sold well on the computer).

paragraphs: The Sims was so successful it has created three sequels, (The Sims 2 in 2004, The Sims 3 in 2009, and The Sims 4 in 2014) along with many other spin-offs of the series.

paragraphs: The Sims was created by Will Wright, who worked at Maxis, which was owned by EA Games. It was first released in February 2000. His intention was to make an open-ended game without a set objective. This feature was the reason why it attracted so many gamers.

paragraphs: The first part of the game is to make a family, or play one of the preexisting families. Every family can have children and adults. A player can choose what they look like from many different clothes and hair styles. Each family must include at least one adult.

paragraphs: Each family starts with $20,000, regardless of how many sims are in the family. After the family is made, the player can move them into a lot. Some lots are empty while other lots have houses on them.

paragraphs: There are many different floor coverings, wall coverings and doors to choose from when building a house. After building, the player can purchase objects, such as a refrigerator, bed, or other things.

paragraphs: Players control the Sims in Live Mode. The main goal is to keep the Sim's eight needs up and in the green. These needs eventually go down as time goes by. If Sims have no energy, they will fall to the ground. If they are swimming and run out of energy they will drown. If they are too hungry, they will die of starvation.

paragraphs: Other goals include making money (called Simoleons in this game). Sims must get jobs to get more money so they can pay bills, buy new objects, and expand the house. If they do not go to work two days in a row, they will be fired. Each Sim has eight skill levels to work towards. Each skill level has 10 points. For instance, in the military job, the ultimate requirement is 10 body points. Jobs also require a certain number of friends to receive a promotion. The higher they go, the more money they make per day.

paragraphs: Children must go to school. If they do not keep their grades up, they will be sent to military school and will never return. They can read books to study.

paragraphs: "The Sims" is well known for having many expansion packs, or smaller games that add onto the main game. The player must own the original game to buy and install these packs. The Sims has 7 official expansion packs.

paragraphs: After it sold well on the computer, it was put on other platforms such as the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, GameCube and Xbox. The console releases are:

paragraphs: These all follow a different concept. They are more objective-based rather than free-willed and have not been as popular as the original PC editions.


title: Webcam

paragraphs: A webcam is a video camera that connects to a computer, and can let people see each other over the Internet. Most people that have webcams use them with an instant messenger to see each other at the same time. Webcams can also be used for recording videos and video blogs. The webcam can be part of a computer, mobile phone or it can be an independent device.

paragraphs: The first webcam was developed in 1991 at Cambridge University and the first commercial camera started in 1994 and was made by Logitech.


title: Y-intercept

paragraphs: The y-intercept of a line on a graph is where the line touches (or intercepts) the y-axis (the numbered line going straight up).

paragraphs: The equation for straight lines is formula_1. "formula_2" is the formula_3-intercept.


title: The Last Waltz

paragraphs: The Last Waltz was final concert of the Canadian/American rock group The Band. It took place on Thanksgiving (November 26) in 1976 at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California. It was also made into a movie by Martin Scorsese, that came out in 1978.

paragraphs: Other musicians who were in "The Last Waltz" concert were:


title: Vedas

paragraphs: The Vedas are the four holiest books of the by mankind to the next, perhaps over thousands of years.

paragraphs: Each book has four major kinds of text – the Samhitas (mantras and benedictions), the Aranyakas (text on rituals, ceremonies, sacrifices and symbolic-sacrifices), the Brahmanas (commentaries on rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices), and the Upanishads (texts discussing meditation, philosophy and spiritual knowledge). The Vedas are written in"Vedic Sanskrit".

paragraphs: Later types of Hinduism that are very different from the types of Hinduism that follow the Vedas respect them.

paragraphs: Rigveda is the first of the four Vedas. Rigveda means a "Veda of praise". This Veda has several verses (hymns). This Veda is also the oldest Hindu holy book.

paragraphs: Yajurveda is the second of the four Vedas. Yajurveda means the Veda of the Yajus. Yajus were mantras sung during religious activities. Yajurveda is divided into two parts. The name of the first part is Black Yajurveda, called Taittiriya.The Taittirīya Upanishad is a Vedic era Sanskrit text, embedded as three chapters of the Yajurveda. It is a mukhya Upanishad, and likely composed about 6th century BC. The Taittirīya Upanishad is associated with the Taittirīya school of the Yajurveda, attributed to the pupils of sage Tittiri. The name of the second part is White Yajurveda,is called Vajasaneyi.

paragraphs: Samaveda is the third Veda of the four Vedas. Samaveda means the Veda of sacred songs. This Veda also has many hymns. They were sung by the Hindu priests and other Hindus during religious activities.

paragraphs: Atharvaveda is the fourth of the four Vedas. Atharvaveda means the "Veda of knowledge".

paragraphs: The Atharvaveda holds key for the massive vedic knowledge on the sciences like medicine, sorcery and has many facts that the present generation is still trying to crack.


title: Prime Minister of Greenland

paragraphs: The Prime Minister of Greenland (, lit "Leader of the Government"; ), officially referred to as the Premier, is the head of the Government of Greenland. The incumbent prime minister is Kim Kielsen of the Siumut party.

paragraphs: The prime minister is usually leader of the majority party in the Parliament of Greenland. Jonathan Motzfeldt became Prime Minister after home rule was granted to Greenland in 1979.


title: Serbia and Montenegro

paragraphs: Serbia and Montenegro (Serbian: Србија и Црна Гора, Srbija i Crna Gora, abbreviated as "SCG") was the name of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. They used to be two separate Yugoslav republics. In 2006, they became their own countries.

paragraphs: It was on the west-central Balkan Peninsula, next Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia on the western sides, Hungary to the north, Romania and Bulgaria to the east, North Macedonia to the south and Albania to the southwest, with just over 200 km of coast on the Adriatic.

paragraphs: Serbia and Montenegro worked together in only some political areas. The states had separate economic policies and currencies (money). Although both the states now had more freedom to do as they pleased than they did as Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro was still a Sovereign State united under one government.

paragraphs: The people of Montenegro still wanted independence though, on 21 May 2006 they held a vote to ask the Montenegrin's whether they still wanted to stay in the union. The vote for independence won by 55.5%. On 3 June 2006 Montenegro declared independence; followed by Serbia's deceleration of independence two days later on the 5 June.


title: Minister (government)

paragraphs: A Minister can be a Member of Parliament, or a Clergyman (person who works as a Minister in the Church). This article talks about a Minister as a Member of Parliament.

paragraphs: A Minister is a Member of Parliament who has a special role dealing with a certain area of Government. In the British Government, there are Ministers for lots of different things, like Children, Work & Pensions and Culture, Media & Sport. There are descriptions (things that describe) of what these people do at the bottom of this page.

paragraphs: Ministers in the government report to the Prime Minister, who also tells them what they need to do in relation to their jobs. The Deputy Prime Minister also reports to the Prime Minister.

paragraphs: Other Ministers, even though they are not called Ministers, include the Foreign Secretary, and the Home Secretary.

paragraphs: The Minister for Children looks after children's rights - these are laws which take care of how children are treated by their parents or guardians (a guardian is someone who looks after a child when their parents are not able to), and their care in society. The job means that this Minister has a special role in the lives of all children in the UK.

paragraphs: This Minister looks after jobs (Employment) and money given to people who are in need (Welfare Benefits). They set the rules saying what people who have no job must do to try and get one, and how much money people who have no job or are in need, get to live on. The Minister also sets rules about what happens to people who do not do enough to find a job, or who break the law by working while they are getting Welfare Benefits.

paragraphs: This Minister has a special role which means they promote (make popular) British Culture and Traditions. They also take care of Broadcasting laws and laws about what newspapers and television stations can and cannot do. Also, they have a duty to promote sporting activities which take place in Britain and help the government attract major sports events to Britain (the recent decision to let Britain host the Olympic Games in 2012 is an example of this).

paragraphs: There are a lot of other Ministers in the Government, and you can find out about them by writing to the "Houses of Parliament"' in London. Their address is:

paragraphs: Other countries also have Ministers who, like those in Britain, deal with special things related to how people live. You can find out about them by looking at the Wikipedia in your own country.


title: Jealousy

paragraphs: Jealousy or envy is a feeling (or emotion) people get when they want what others have. This is a negative feeling. When someone is jealous of someone else, they usually dislike the other person. These particular emotions are usually caused by a person having a certain object or quality which you desire but can not obtain. Jealousy is caused by lacking of self confidence and judging your abilities. Jealousy is not reasonable rationally.


title: Anger

paragraphs: Anger is one of the basic emotions. It is an inherited response, and is common to all mammals and a number of other animals. It happens when we are threatened, offended, wronged, or denied something we really want or need. Rage is the strongest form of anger.

paragraphs: Anger is a normal emotion. It involves a strong, uncomfortable and emotional response to a provocation. There is a sharp distinction between anger and aggression (verbal or physical, direct or indirect). Both influence each other. Anger can start aggression or increase its probability or intensity. However, it is not necessary nor sufficient for aggression.

paragraphs: Anger is a bit like a pressure cooker: we can only apply pressure against our anger for a certain amount of time until it explodes.

paragraphs: People show anger to others by their face, what they do with their body, not trying to understand or help other people's problems, and sometimes acts of aggression or force in public (e.g. punching a wall). Animals and humans might try to scare- by making loud sounds, trying to make their bodies look bigger, by showing their teeth, or by staring.

paragraphs: When we face a challenge, our response may be anger or fear. It may be difficult to decide whether to face the challenge, or walk away. In animal behaviour terms, we face the choice of a fight or flight response.

paragraphs: Being angry changes the human body by making the heart beat faster, increasing blood pressure (the pressure made by the blood at right angles of the walls of blood vessels) and increasing amounts of the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline (chemicals which send messages to parts of the body to make changes).

paragraphs: Being angry makes the levels of the hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline in the body go up, although this does not last for very long. Adrenaline quickly makes the body ready to act when there is important trouble by increasing the supply of oxygen and glucose (needed to make energy) to the brain and muscles, while slowing less important things the body is doing, like digesting food.

paragraphs: Noradrenaline is released during stress. It goes to areas of the brain which control attention (how much you think or concentrate) and reactions. It is very important when the body chooses "fight-or-flight" (attacking or running away). Then it increases heart rate, takes glucose out of storage so it can be used, and increases blood flow to muscles.

paragraphs: Anger may be passive anger or aggressive anger.

paragraphs: These two types of anger have some characteristic symptoms:

paragraphs: Passive anger can be expressed in various ways. Basically it means being angry, but not facing the issue at hand.


title: Light microscope

paragraphs: A light microscope works like a refracting telescope except that the object is very close to the objective lens. An object to be studied, for example a tiny organism so small it looks like just a dot, is put on a slide, which is usually a flat piece of glass. The clips on the microscope's flat stage hold the slide in place. The stage can be adjusted to add more light. It also moves to allow different layers of the object to be in focus. The user looks through the microscope eyepiece. A mirror at the bottom of the microscope reflects light rays up to the object through a hole in the stage. Objective lenses magnify the image which is made even larger when it is seen through the eyepiece lenses. Some light microscopes are actually digital cameras, made to photograph small things but having no eyepiece.

paragraphs: Many microscopes, often used in colleges and high schools, normally have a top magnification of 40x with the option of having 4x and 8x. This lets the microscope show basic cells and other items. Others can magnify hundreds of times, or thousands.

paragraphs: All modern optical microscopes designed for viewing samples by transmitted light share the same basic components of the light path, listed here in the order the light travels through them. Also almost all microscopes have the same 'structural' components:

paragraphs: These entries are numbered according to the image on the right.

paragraphs: Optical microscopes cannot show things that are smaller than light waves, because of the diffraction limit. Microscopes which can see smaller things include:


title: Rembrandt

paragraphs: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (Leiden, 15 July 1606 – Amsterdam, 4 October 1669) was a famous Dutch painter and artist.

paragraphs: He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history, and the most important in Dutch history. His contributions to art came in a period that historians call the "Dutch Golden Age".

paragraphs: After his success as a young portrait painter, he had personal tragedy and financial hardships in his later years. Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, and his reputation as an artist remained high. For twenty years he taught nearly every important Dutch painter.

paragraphs: Rembrandt's greatest creative work is seen in his portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits and illustrations of scenes from the Bible. His self-portraits are a unique biography, in which the artist surveyed himself without vanity and with the utmost sincerity.

paragraphs: He went to the University Leiden but he liked painting better so he became a painter. In 1631 he went to live in Amsterdam, because people there had heard of him and wanted him to paint their portraits. He married a woman called Saskia van Uylenberg in 1634. They had four children, but three of them died very young. Only their fourth child, Titus, who was born in 1641, survived into adulthood. Saskia died in 1642 soon after Titus's birth, probably from tuberculosis.

paragraphs: During Saskia's illness, a nurse was hired, who probably also became Rembrandt's lover. She later charged Rembrandt with breach of promise and was awarded 200 guilders a year. When Rembrandt learned she had pawned Saskia's jewellery, which Rembrandt had given her, he had her committed for twelve years to a poorhouse (a 'bridewell') at Gouda.

paragraphs: Rembrandt then lived with a young woman called Hendrickje Stoffels from Bredevoort who had been his maid. They had a daughter called Cornelia. Rembrandt died in Amsterdam on 4 October 1669.

paragraphs: Rembrandt painted many famous pictures. The portraits use light and dark colors; people sitting in the pictures are often shown in a calm or thoughtful appearance. He was such a good painter, that many of his pictures make people feel as if they are taking part in what is happening. Paintings by Rembrandt can be seen in art galleries all over the world.

paragraphs: Throughout his work Rembrandt used colour which darkens as it approaches the edge of the painting, and lighter towards the center. There is always a certain person, or event, or group of people that is near the center, and they are shown to be brighter than the rest of the picture. The dark backgrounds are painted to be very interesting and important. In most of his paintings, there are deep whites and blacks which shows contrast between different parts of the work.


title: Major movie studios

paragraphs: The Big Five are the United States's major movie production studios which also distribute their product. All of them have historic flagship production facilities near Hollywood.

paragraphs: With the possible exception of Disney, all five major studios are parts of much larger business enterprises, with their corporate headquarters offices far from Hollywood.

paragraphs: The group of major studios long numbered seven, but was reduced to six with the fading from importance of MGM in the 1980s. They became five when, on December 14, 2017, Disney announced its deal to buy Fox for $52.4 billion.


title: Culinary mustard

paragraphs: Culinary mustard is a condiment people use when making food. It comes from the seeds of the mustard plant.

paragraphs: Mustard is prepared by grinding the seeds of the Mustard plant, and mixing them with water or vinegar. Depending on which seeds are taken, and/or how much vinegar is added, the mustard may turn out hotter or less hot.

paragraphs: Most mustard is made available as a bottled condiment and can be spread on a slice of sandwich bread or squirted onto a hotdog along with ketchup, horseradish and other spices. It is also commonly found in most fast-food restaurants in the form of a small packet which the diner may open and squeeze into the dish of choice, but it is usually already included in the average hamburger bun.


title: Condiment

paragraphs: A condiment is a prepared food that is put to other food, to make the food better or taste different. It usually is in the form of a sauce or a powder. Salt and pepper are examples of well-known condiments. Ketchup, mustard, relish, mayonnaise, horseradish, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce are also well-known condiments.


title: Vinegar

paragraphs: Vinegar is a liquid containing mainly water and acetic acid and used mostly in cooking. It can be made from wine or other liquids containing alcohol, like cider or fermented fruit juices. Ethanol is oxidized from the liquid, resulting in vinegar.

paragraphs: Vinegar made from dates is a traditional product of the Middle East. It can also be made through the use of certain bacteria. Vinegar contains about 5% of Acetic acid. The acid makes it sour.

paragraphs: In cooking, it is often used as a condiment to add to salad, fish, french fries and vegetables like pickles and cabbage. It is much used in salad dressings.

paragraphs: The pH of vinegar depends on how much acid is in it. Apple cider vinegar is typically between pH 4.25 and 5.00 if undiluted. Distilled vinegar has a pH of around 2.4.


title: Insecticide

paragraphs: An insecticide is a poison made to kill insects and spiders.

paragraphs: Insects are very tough animals that have adapted to a great variety of settings. Therefore, the poison used to kill them is also deadly to humans. There can be great danger of eating pesticide when you have vegetables. This is why often people will rub an apple on their jumper before eating it. This adds a nice shine to the apple and rubs away some of the pesticides. If you do not clean the jumper there is a risk pesticide might build up.


title: Paranoia

paragraphs: Paranoia is a mental health condition that affects a person's thoughts. A person with paranoia is called paranoid. Paranoia is a thought process heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion.

paragraphs: A paranoid person's thinking is shaped by fear and anxiety. For example, the person may fear that other people are "out to get them" or are planning to hurt them. They may believe that video cameras are watching them, or that a certain group (like the police or CIA) is following them. They may also believe that other people can control their thoughts or use magic to hurt them. Even if these fears seem strange or absurd to others, they feel very real to the person with paranoia. They truly believe that they are in danger.

paragraphs: Paranoia is different from phobias. In a phobia, someone has an irrational fear, but does not blame anyone for this fear. A paranoid person will often make false accusations and say that something was intentional, when it was just coincidence or an accident.

paragraphs: If a person is truly paranoid, their fears must not be explained by common beliefs, like their religion. For example, some religions say that people can use magic to hurt others. So a person from one of those religions should not be diagnosed as paranoid just because he/she has this belief. They would also have to have other paranoid beliefs - which could not be explained by religious beliefs - to be diagnosed with paranoia.

paragraphs: Very often, people with paranoia also have other thought disorders, or mood disorders. Paranoia can be a symptom of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses.

paragraphs: In everyday talk, people may use "paranoid" to mean more normal worries. For example, someone may call a friend paranoid for thinking that his teacher hates him.


title: Delusion

paragraphs: A delusion is a false belief held by a person. If doctors talk about delusions they mean that the false belief is the result of some disease, usually a disease of the mind, such as "paranoia", "schizophrenia" or "bipolar disorder, but not always neccesarily, delusions can come in many different forms such as political differences, economic differences such as a god complex upheld by someone who believes they are all powerful and many other types."

paragraphs: Delusions also have other properties, according to Karl Jaspers:

paragraphs: Studies on psychiatric patients show that delusions vary in intensity and conviction over time, which suggests that certainty and incorrigibility are not necessary components of a delusional belief.

paragraphs: Delusions do not necessarily have to be false or 'incorrect inferences about external reality'. Some religious or spiritual beliefs by their nature may not be falsifiable, and hence cannot be described as false or incorrect, no matter whether the person holding these beliefs was diagnosed as delusional or not.

paragraphs: A doctor or psychiatrist may say that a delusion is false, because it "seems" to be unlikely or bizarre.Psychiatrists rarely have the time or resources to check the validity of a person’s claims; this means that some true beliefs are erroneously classified as delusional. This is known as the Martha Mitchell effect, after the wife of the attorney general who alleged that illegal activity was taking place in the White House. At the time her claims were thought to be signs of mental illness. Only after the Watergate scandal was she proved right, and sane.

paragraphs: Treating delusions is difficult, but in some cases antypsychotics can be used. If the delusions pose a risk to the health of the patient (if consented) or the health of others, people may also be treated against their will.


title: Paganism

paragraphs: Paganism is a term that covers a great number of spiritual and religious beliefs, and someone who follows one of these beliefs is known as a Pagan. Some of those in ancient times, who are called "Pagans" today, believed there was not just one god but a number of gods and goddesses. The stories from Greek mythology are famous examples from a pagan religion. Pagans usually focus on spirituality and nature, rather than on doctrines and dogma. Not all pagans are polytheists (belief in more than one god). Some of them are monotheists (belief in only one god).

paragraphs: The word "pagan" (without a capital P) is often used to describe anyone who holds religious beliefs that differ from the main world religions. A similar term is "heathen". Today Pagan, with a capital P, often refers to people who follow Neo-Pagan religions that honour the Earth. The best known Neo-Pagan religion is Wicca. Another well-known neo-pagan faith is Druidism, but there are many other Neo-Pagan religions with different beliefs.

paragraphs: Enough has survived of the ancient religions of cultures from pre-modern Africa, South America, New Guinea and Japan to give us quite a clear picture. Since African slaves were taken to both South America and the United States, it is no surprise that their beliefs and practices still survive. Not, of course, as the dominant religion, but they do survive.

paragraphs: In a similar way, but much less well documented, are the ancient religions of other groups such as the Ainu in Japan, the tribes in New Guinea, the many tribes in Amazonia, and the fractured remnants of traditional religions in African countries.

paragraphs: All these groups have one thing in common: they are not part of farming revolution which happened in the Middle East, and which spread quickly to Eurasia. The religions which started there are called the "religions of the book" because their original beliefs were written down. Of course, writing was one of the original inventions of a settled people, one able to invest time and energy into activities which would be far more difficult for more traditional peoples.


title: Courage

paragraphs: A person has courage if he does something even though he is afraid. Courage can be doing things that other people think should be scary. A person has courage if he puts himself in danger to save another person. If someone has courage, it is said that they are courageous, standing up for what you believe in.

paragraphs: For example, someone may be said to have courage if they fight a lion, or save a baby from a burning building.


title: Fanatic

paragraphs: Fanatic is a word which means someone who loves a thing, or a person, or an idea more than anything else. It is used to talk about people who care a lot about politics, religion or their own group of people. Some fanatics can hurt other people whom they dislike, or who disagree with them.

paragraphs: A short form of the word, Fan, means a person who loves a hobby, a sport (often a team), music, a kind of movie or book, or almost anything. These people mostly do not try to hurt people. This word is used in American English. There are lots of kinds of fans, including science fiction fans and fans of popular music stars, like The Beatles. Fans will meet with each other to talk about and share their interest, often in large groups called conventions.

paragraphs: In British English, supporter is their word for a person who likes and supports a sportsperson or a team. Many teams of some sports have thousands of supporters, for example, the football team Real Madrid.

paragraphs: In American English, supporter is more often used to talk about people in politics. Supporters of a politician, a political party, or an idea such as a particular law may like their subject very much, but usually are not violent.


title: Formula 1

paragraphs: Formula 1 is a type of motorsport. Teams compete in a series of Grand Prix races, held in different countries around the world. Some of the most popular races are held in Monaco, Japan, Italy and Britain. The cars are very fast, reaching speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour. The championship has been won many times by different teams like McLaren, Ferrari and Williams. Teams can consist of as many as 600 people, who all come together every race weekend, and using each of their individual expertise try to obtain the best result - a victory. The winning driver and team each get twenty-five points towards the Drivers' and Constructors' Championship. Teams consist of drivers, test drivers, a team principal, mechanics, engineers, and designers. Winning a race takes a good qualifying position, flawless strategy, perfect pitstops and a fast car. If you get the most poles (first place) then you get a trophy. This was added in 2014.

paragraphs: Drivers are paid huge salaries and money to risk their lives every time they step into the cockpit of the F1 car. Like all types of motor racing, the dangers associated with Formula One are great. Therefore, there are many safety measures. Drivers wear 4 layers of flameproof overalls, made of a fire resistant material called Nomex. A drivers helmet must be able to resist an 800 degree Celsius flame for at least 45 seconds, as well as big G forces. The helmets are so strong that they can be driven over by trucks with no damage being done to them. Carbon fibre is the ideal material for the bodywork of Formula One cars, as it is light and strong. Because of this, the cars are very expensive to build and repair. The design of cars differs from team to team. Each team has two entries into the championship, which means two cars to build. The current tyre suppliers are Pirelli - making sure every car has the right tyre for the differing weather conditions. Wet weather driving is considered a skill in Formula One, as the cars are harder to drive.

paragraphs: The body that runs Formula One, the FIA, is based in France. Although Formula One is a 'billion dollar business', a drop in viewership and attendance figures at races has prompted the FIA to make a number of rule changes in recent years. These changes are meant to make the races more interesting, so more people watch F1 on television.


title: Abdullah Öcalan

paragraphs: Abdullah Öcalan is the leader of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an insurgent terror organization in Turkey. Turkey branded Abdullah Öcalan as a terrorist and has been imprisoned for the rest of his life for terrorist activities in 1999. "Öcalan" means, in Turkish, "he who takes revenge".

paragraphs: He was born on April 4, 1949 into a poor peasant family in the village of Ömerli, in the district of Halfeti in Şanlıurfa Province. He studied at vocational school and then pursued a course at the School of Political Science, Ankara University. He became involved in militant Maoist politics and was first arrested in 1973. In 1975 he went to Syria where he was one of the founder members of the PKK in 1978. At the First Congress in November 1978 he was elected leader.

paragraphs: Although the organization was named the Kurdistan Workers Party, it never became a real political party and it was not registered as one, because it would have been rejected by Turkey which did not agree with its ideology.

paragraphs: He left Turkey in 1979, before the military coup of September 1980, which led to the imprisonment of thousands of members and sympathisers of the organization. In 1982 the PKK decided to resume guerrilla warfare inside Turkey and in August 1984 the military wing, the Liberation Units of Kurdistan (HRK), began operations. In 1985 the political wing was renamed the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) and in 1986 the HRK became the Peoples Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK). Öcalan's pronouncements had become increasingly moderate through the 1990s, publicly he stated his desire to move the PKK away from violence and towards a political approach.

paragraphs: He was forced out of his group's base in Syria, following pressure from Turkey, in November 1998. He fled to Russia and then Europe, he was arrested after arriving from Moscow at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. He was soon released while he appealed for political asylum, Italian law forbids the extradition of someone to a country where they would face a death sentence. An extradition request from Germany also collapsed amid political maneuvering. He left Italy on January 16, 1999 and returned to Russia but soon left for Greece, apparently intending to fly from there to The Hague. He was refused entry to a number of European states and instead, on February 3 the Greek authorities flew him to Nairobi, Kenya.

paragraphs: On February 15, 1999 Turkey succeeded in kidnapping or arresting him in Nairobi and quickly transported him to Turkey. The details of his capture remain unclear. On February 16, across Europe, Kurdish supporters responded with protests, acts of violence and terrorism. Öcalan was charged with treason in Ankara, Turkey on February 23.

paragraphs: Öcalan was held as the only inmate on the prison island of Imrali. He was tried before a military court on the island from May 31, 1999. The trial had six days of proceedings and he was sentenced to death on June 29. His appeal was rejected in November but the sentence was suspended while there was a review by the European Court of Human Rights. In September 2002 a Turkish court finally reduced his sentence to life imprisonment. The country had abandoned the death penalty in August 2002 as part of the process towards joining the European Union.

paragraphs: Since he was put in prison, Öcalan has had much more time to read and write. He has changed many of his views, and wants more peaceful solutions instead of violence. One of the authors who influenced Öcalan's changed thinking was Murray Bookchin, an American writer whose idea of "Libertarian municipalism" would lead Öcalan to develop


title: Caribbean Community

paragraphs: The Caribbean Community , or CARICOM, is a group of nations in the Caribbean Sea that have come together founded on 4 July 1973. They share their products, and they have a government to help organize the area. They are mainly together to help trade and their economies.


title: Qaqortoq

paragraphs: Qaqortoq, also known by its Danish name "Julianehåb", is a town in southwestern Greenland. With a population of 3,100, it is South Greenland's biggest town. It is the fourth biggest town in Greenland. The name Qaqortoq is Western Greenlandic, and it means "white". Qaqortoq also is the seat of the municipality of Qaqortoq which apart from the town itself includes three small settlements. Qaqortoq was founded by Norwegian Anders Olsen in 1775. Near Qaqortoq are the Hvalsey ruins, the most famous Norse ruins in Greenland.

paragraphs: ""Greenland and the Arctic"". By Etain O'Carroll and Mark Elliott. Lonely Planet 2005. .


title: Sisimiut

paragraphs: Sisimiut (also known by its Danish name 'Holsteinsborg') is a town in southwestern Greenland. With 5,247 people (as of 2005), it is the second biggest town in Greenland. It is 75 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, and is Greenland's most northern year-round port which has no ice.


title: Arctic Circle

paragraphs: The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude (imaginary lines around the Earth) that are often marked on maps of the Earth. This is the parallel of latitude that (in 2000) runs 66° 33' 39" north of the Equator.

paragraphs: The Arctic Circle is one way to say what part of the Earth is in the Arctic. The North Pole is in the center of the Arctic Circle.

paragraphs: Countries which are partly within the Arctic Circle are:

paragraphs: The position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed. It directly depends on the Earth's axial tilt. The axial tilt fluctuates within a margin of 2° over a 40,000-year period, mostly due to tidal forces from the orbit of the Moon. The tilt is currently diminishing, so the Arctic Circle is drifting northwards at a speed of about per year.


title: Kabul

paragraphs: Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan.

paragraphs: According to a 2012 estimate, the population of the city was around 3,289,000. Ths includes Tajiks, Pashtuns, Hazaras and some other smaller ethnic groups. It is the 64th largest and the 5th fastest growing city in the world.

paragraphs: It is 1,800 meters, or 5,900 feet above-sea-level. Kabul is over 3,500 years old.


title: Parfait

paragraphs: Parfait is a type of food that is eaten as a dessert. It is a French word that means "perfect".

paragraphs: Parfaits are made differently in different countries.

paragraphs: A common parfait is the French kind. A French parfait mixes sugar, whip cream, an egg yolk, sauce, cold fruit and frozen ice cream. French parfaits are usually served on a plate not in a glass.

paragraphs: Japanese parfait made mainly of ice cream and fruit with a sweet ingredient. It is served in a tall glass. It is a classic on a coffee shop menu. It is one of the more popular desserts.


title: Parrot

paragraphs: Parrots are birds of the order Psittaciformes. There are about 372 species in 86 genera. They are found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia.

paragraphs: Parrots are intelligent birds. They have relatively large brains, they can learn, and they can use simple tools. Because some species have the ability to make sounds like human voices and have plumages with bright colors, many species are kept as pets. This includes some endangered and protected species.

paragraphs: Parrots have a heavy, in relation to their size, and compact body with a large head and a short neck. Their beaks are short, strong and curved. The two parts of the beak are very strong and used to break fruits and seeds. The tongue is large and strong. Most parrots can fly, though many lost their powers of flight after they came to live on oceanic islands. The kakapo is an example.

paragraphs: They have strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet (with two toes facing forward and two toes facing back) that are very useful to climb up trees. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. The plumage of cockatoos ranges from mostly white to mostly black, with a mobile crest of feathers on the tops of their heads. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism.

paragraphs: They form the most variably sized bird order in terms of length. The smallest of the parrots is the pigmy parrot ("Micropsitta pusio") with an adult weight of and a length of . With a length (from the top of its head to the tip of its long pointed tail) of about , the hyacinth macaw ("Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus") is longer than any other species of parrot, although half that length is tail.

paragraphs: The most important components of most parrots' diets are seeds, fruits like nuts, buds and other plant material. A few species sometimes eat animals and carrion (dead animal carcasses), while the lories and lorikeets are specialised for feeding on floral nectar and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree hollows, and lay white eggs from which hatch altricial (helpless) young.

paragraphs: Parrots are among the most intelligent birds, as are the crow family: ravens, crows, jays and magpies, and the ability of some species to make sounds like human voices enhances their popularity as pets.

paragraphs: The capture of wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, has diminished wild populations, with parrots being subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds. Measures taken to conserve the habitats of some high-profile species have also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the same ecosystems.

paragraphs: Some parrots can live up to 80 years. Many parrots can imitate human speech; they can speak simple words if repeated a few times.

paragraphs: Transposons in the genomes of passerines and parrots are similar, but those in the genomes of other birds are not. This is strong evidence that parrots are the sister group of passerines.

paragraphs: Europe is the origin of the first presumed parrot fossils, which date from about 50 million years ago (mya). The climate there and then was tropical. Several fairly complete skeletons of parrot-like birds have been found in England and Germany. On the whole it seems likely that these are not direct ancestors of the modern parrots, but related lineages which evolved in the northern hemisphere, and which have since died out.

paragraphs: The earliest records of modern parrots date to about 23–20 mya and are also from Europe. Subsequently, the fossil record—again mainly from Europe—consists of bones clearly recognisable as belonging to parrots of modern type. The southern hemisphere does not have nearly as rich a fossil record for this period as the northern, and contains no known parrot-like remains earlier than the early to middle Miocene, around 20 mya. The first unambiguous parrot fossil (as opposed to a parrot-like one) is found in the Miocene. It is an upper jaw, identical that of modern cockatoos.


title: Angel food cake

paragraphs: Angel food cake is an example of cake that became popular in the United States in the 19th century. It is also called angel cake. It is very light and fluffy. Because of this, it is named Angel cake because it is said to be "food for the angels."

paragraphs: Angel food cake needs the egg whites to be whipped until they are stiff, and carefully folded into the other ingredients. For this method of "leavening" to work well, it is helpful to have flour that has been made of softer wheat. This causes angel food cake to have a very light texture and taste. Angel food cake should be cut with a serrated knife, as a solid blade tends to compress the cake rather than cut it.

paragraphs: Some cooks like Alton Brown add aromatic spices to angel food cake.


title: Wrench

paragraphs: A wrench (or spanner) is a tool used to provide grip and turn nuts and bolts, and similarly shaped objects.

paragraphs: In British English, "spanner" is the standard term. The most common shapes are called "open-ended spanner" and "ring spanner". The term "wrench" is generally used for tools that turn non-fastening devices (e.g. tap wrench and pipe wrench), or may be used for a monkey wrench – an adjustable spanner.

paragraphs: What a wrench or spanner does is to grip. Pulling or pushing the handle to rotate gives mechanical advantage. It applies torque to turn objects – usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts – or keep them from turning.

paragraphs: An adjustable spanner, or adjustable wrench, or crescent wrench in American English, is a tool. It may move its jaw to rotate nuts or bolts of different sizes. It was invented by Edwin Beard Budding (1795–1846), who also invented the lawnmower.


title: Salman Rushdie

paragraphs: Salman Rushdie, ( Nastaliq: ; born 19 June 1947) known as "Mallun Rushdie" in the Islamic world, is a novelist and essayist. He is the author of "Midnight's Children" (1981), which won the Booker Prize. It later won the "Booker of Bookers". Rushdie was born in India, but was sent to England to go to private school. He has lived in the United States since 2000.

paragraphs: Salman Rushdie is well known for writing stories which use "magic realism", which is similar to surrealism. This means that things in his stories happen which may be magic or impossible, such as falling from an aeroplane and floating down as gently as paper. He often writes about India, and his stories often are set in different parts of the world.

paragraphs: In 1988, Rushdie wrote a book called "The Satanic Verses". The book included a fictional story about some characters with a made-up religion. Some people have said that it insults Muhammad, but others disagree. Rushdie said about the story: "his Prophet was not called Muhammad, lived in a city not called Mecca, and created a religion not (or not quite) called Islam. And he appeared only in the dream sequences of a man being driven insane by his loss of faith.". Because of this book, a fatwa was issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran. It called for Rushdie's execution.

paragraphs: The leader of the country of Iran talked on the radio about Rushdie. He said that Rushdie did not believe in Islam and that Rushdie should be executed because he thought the book was bad. This is called a fatwa. In the year 1989, the British government began protecting Rushdie. He says he has always been an atheist, but is still interested in religion.

paragraphs: Rushdie was knighted for services to literature in the Queen's Birthday Honours on 16 June 2007. Many nations with Muslim majorities were not happy with this. Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Ijaz-ul-Haq said the knighthood was wrong. Then the Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto said this was not the way Pakistan thought. Their fathers Zia-ul-Haq and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were in Rushdie's novel "Shame".

paragraphs: The BBC said that "In 1998, the Iranian Government gave a public commitment it would not carry out the death sentence against Mr Rushdie", but some people such as "Iranian hardliners" don't agree.

paragraphs: He has been married four times. His last marriage was to actress and model Padma Lakshmi; they divorced in 2007.


title: Lilo & Stitch

paragraphs: Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 animated movie, released by Walt Disney Pictures and produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. on June 21, 2002. The 41st animated movie in the Disney animated features canon, it was written by and directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois. It was the second of three Disney animated movies produced mainly at the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida studio in Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. The movie was rated PG for "mild sci-fi action". "Lilo & Stitch" was nominated for the 2002 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which went to Hayao Miyazaki's movie, "Spirited Away" which also was released by Walt Disney Pictures and starred Daveigh Chase (in the English version).

paragraphs: The movie was so popular that it started a franchise. A direct-to-video sequel, "Stitch! The Movie", was made. It launched a television series, "", and a second direct-to-video sequel, "", was released in August 2005. A third and final television sequel, "Leroy & Stitch", was released in June 2006 and ended the TV series. Another television series, an anime called "Stitch!", aired in Japan from 2008 to 2011, later gaining two post-series specials in 2012 and 2015. A third TV series, a Chinese animated series called "Stitch & Ai", began airing in 2017. Both the later two series took out Lilo as a main character, separating Stitch from her and putting him into different countries on Earth where he makes new friends with other human girls and becomes part of their families.

paragraphs: The movie was released on VHS and DVD on December 3, 2002. In 2003, a 2-disc DVD version was announced to come out along with "Alice in Wonderland" and "Pocahontas", which were released in 2004 and 2005. A 2-Disc Special Edition DVD of "Lilo & Stitch" was released in the UK on August 22, 2005, along with the UK release of "", but a release in the US was affected by many delays. On March 24, 2009, Disney finally released the special edition DVD, which is called a 2-Disc "Big Wave Edition". This new DVD has everything that the original DVD had and adds an audio commentary, a 2-hour documentary, more deleted scenes, a number of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and some games. The original DVD is no longer available, with the new one having the same list price.

paragraphs: An evil alien scientist named Dr. Jumba Jookiba creates "Experiment 626", a creature built to cause chaos and destruction. This is against the law of his planet, and he is arrested. 626 escapes the planet, flying a spaceship to Earth.

paragraphs: On Earth, a little human girl named Lilo adopts 626 (thinking he is a dog) and names him "Stitch". Lilo lives in Hawaii, a series of islands in the United States of America. Lilo's mother and father have died in a car crash, so her older sister Nani takes care of her.

paragraphs: Stitch at first uses Lilo to avoid being captured by the alien officials, but the they become friends when Lilo teaches Stitch how to be good. She uses music by Elvis Presley in her lessons. Stitch also learns a new phrase: "'Ohana" means family. Family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten." Because of this, Stitch decides to go against his original purpose in order to keep his family together. The alien officials manages to find Stitch on Earth and prepare take him away, but they decide to let Stitch stay with Lilo in Hawaii after she explains that she legally purchased Stitch. Jumba and Pleakley become members of Nani, Lilo, and Stitch's family, and the movie ends with various footage and pictures of Stitch and his new family's life together.

paragraphs: The movie opened at #2 with $35,260,212 in its first weekend, less than $500,000 behind the movie "Minority Report". In its second week, fell to #3, again behind the Steven Spielberg movie at #2. The movie made $145,794,338 in the United States and Canada, and $127,349,813 internationally, finishing with $273,144,151 in the world.

paragraphs: "Lilo & Stitch" received very positive reviews from critics and movie-goers alike, and it was the most successful Walt Disney Pictures movie after the Disney Renaissance of 1989 to 1999 until "Bolt" a few years later. The movie's success at the box office and on DVD led to a franchise, with three direct-to-video and televisions sequels and three television series. The movie has received 139 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, 119 positive and 20 negative, giving it a positive total rating of 86%.

paragraphs: The soundtrack of the movie was released by Walt Disney Records on June 21, 2002.

paragraphs: It, along with the movie, has more Elvis Presley songs than any of Elvis' own movies.

paragraphs: On August 26, 2003, Disney released a direct-to-video sequel, "Stitch! The Movie", which was made as the pilot to a TV series titled "". This series ran for 65 episodes between on September 20, 2003 and July 29, 2006. The series carried on where the movie left off and showed Lilo's efforts to capture and re-home Jumba's remaining experiments. This series ended with TV movie "Leroy & Stitch", which was released on June 27, 2006.

paragraphs: On August 2005, "", another direct-to-video sequel to the movie, was released. In this movie, Stitch has a glitch because his molecules were never fully charged (this is different than a deleted opening, "Stitch's trial", which was seen on the DVD release of Lilo & Stitch). Lilo wants to win the May Day hula contest like her mother did in the 1970s, but Stitch continues to have problems. Lilo thinks Stitch is not behaving right, until she finds out that Stitch is dying.

paragraphs: In March 2008, Disney announced that it is to produce a remade version of "Lilo & Stitch", called "Stitch!", for the Japanese market. The show, which began in October 2008, features a Japanese girl named Yuna (formerly referred to as Hanako) in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island in Okinawa prefecture instead of Hawaii. The series is produced by the Japanese animation house Madhouse LTD.

paragraphs: On October 4, 2018, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that Disney would be making a live action remake.


title: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs

paragraphs: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs is a list of the top one hundred comedy movies in American cinema. The American Film Institute presented it on June 14, 2000.


title: Irish Sea

paragraphs: The Irish Sea (sometimes called the Manx Sea) is a body of water that separates Ireland and Great Britain. It is known to be one of the most polluted seas in the world including the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The sea is important to regional trade, shipping and fishing. It is a source of power generation in the form of wind power and nuclear plants. Annual traffic between Great Britain and Ireland amounts to over 12 million passengers and of traded goods.

paragraphs: It covers and at its deepest point is deep. In 2008, about of fish were caught. Shell fish made up three quarters of this amount.

paragraphs: The Irish Sea has 17 active oil and gas drilling platforms. It is estimated there are about 1.6 billion barrels of oil in the Barryroe oil field alone.

paragraphs: At least thirty species of shark can be found in the Irish Sea at different times. These include the basking, thresher, blue, mako and porbeagle sharks. There are about 12 species of Dolphin, porpoise and whales in the Irish Sea. These include the common dolphin, bottlenose dolphin and the harbor porpoise.


title: Hatred

paragraphs: Hate or hatred is an emotion of very strong dislike for someone or something. It is a desire to avoid, restrict, remove, or destroy that person or thing. It is often thought the opposite of love.

paragraphs: Sigmund Freud said that hatred was a selfish feeling that wishes to get rid of whatever is making that person unhappy. The "Penguin Dictionary of Psychology" says that hate is a "deep, enduring (long-lasting), intense emotion expressing animosity, anger, and hostility towards a person, group, or object."

paragraphs: Hatred can often cause the hate crime and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibits inciting hatred by the Article 20.


title: Dallas

paragraphs: Dallas is a large city in the northern part of the U.S. state of Texas. It is a part of a much larger group of cities called the Metroplex, along with important cities like Arlington, Denton, Fort Worth, and Plano. The city is one of the largest in the United States.

paragraphs: For many years, the city was known as the city in which President John F. Kennedy was killed, but that is not associated with the city as much anymore.

paragraphs: The city is home to the Dallas Cowboys, a professional American football team.

paragraphs: The city is also home to the Dallas Stars, a hockey team in the NHL, the Texas Rangers, a baseball team in the MLB, and the Dallas Mavericks, a basketball team in the NBA.

paragraphs: The city of Dallas was founded in 1841 by John Neely Bryan. Over time, it grew into a large city with many companies. In 1907 Neiman Marcus set up shop , and later in 1915 Southern Methodist University opened.

paragraphs: On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot dead. In 2014, ebola virus infected several people in Dallas, killing some. A nurse who got it sued the hospital. On July 7, 2016, five police officers were shot dead.

paragraphs: Dallas has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" in the Koeppen climate classification).


title: Ilulissat

paragraphs: Ilulissat (population 4,000) is the third largest city in Greenland. The town is about halfway up the country's west coast, at 69 degrees north latitude, about 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Illulisat is also known by its Danish name of Jakobshavn (or Jacob's Harbour). In direct translation, Ilulissat is the Greenlandic word for 'The Icebergs'. Ilulissat is Greenland's most popular tourist place, because it is near to the beautiful Ilulissat Ice Fjord - tourism is now the town's main industry. Ilulissat was the birthplace of the great polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, and his childhood home in the center of the town is now a museum dedicated to him.

paragraphs: Inuit villages have been in the area of the ice fjord for at least three thousand years. The abandoned settlement of Sermermiut two kilometers south of the modern town of Ilulissat was once amongst the largest settlements in Greenland, with around 250 residents. The modern town was founded in 1741 by a missionary and a trader of fur, who had built a trading lodge in the area.

paragraphs: The Ilulissat fjord goes west 40 kilometers from the Greenland icecap to Disko Bay, close to Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the Jakobshavn Isbrae Glacier, the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. The glacier flows at a rate of 20-35 metres per day, resulting in around 20 billion tons of icebergs breaking off and leaving the fjord every year. On breaking up the icebergs come out into the open sea and at first, they travel north with ocean currents. Soon, they start turning south and they go into the Atlantic Ocean.

paragraphs: The Ilulissat Icefjord was made a United Nations World Heritage Site in 2004.

paragraphs: Air Greenland has air services to Ilulissat.


title: Chimpanzee

paragraphs: Chimpanzees are great apes. They live in Africa.

paragraphs: The common chimpanzee lives in West and Central Africa. The bonobo lives in the rain forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The two species are on opposite sides of the Congo River.

paragraphs: Chimpanzees mainly eat fruit, leaves, flowers, seeds, bark, honey, insects, bird eggs, and meat. They spend a lot of time with other chimpanzees from their group, acting up, playing, and chatting. Sometimes they will groom each other; combing and looking through each other's thick fur; picking out the dirt and insects. Grooming helps chimps feel comfortable and friendly.

paragraphs: Like gorillas and orangutans, chimpanzees can walk on two feet, but they prefer to move about on all four legs. On the ground, they walk on their hind feet and knuckles. They have hands that look like human hands, but their thumbs are shorter than those of humans. At night, chimpanzees sleep in nests that they make on tree branches. They bend twigs and tuck in leaves to make a soft platform to rest in a place that is safe from enemies on the ground. The gestation period of chimpanzees lasts between six and eight months. Usually only one offspring is produced; they rarely have twins. Chimpanzees live up to 60 years in the wild.

paragraphs: Jane Goodall has studied chimpanzees since 1960. She observed how chimpanzees use tools in several ways. They will pick up rocks to crack nuts for a meal. They also strip down twigs and stick them into a termite mound to collect a tasty snack. Some have been known to make a sponge from leaves in order to hold more drinking water. The chimp chews leaves to soften them up, dips them in rainwater, and then squeezes the water into its mouth. Chimpanzees are also known to think ahead and solve problems.

paragraphs: The behavior described in this section refers to the common chimpanzee. At present there is no evidence that the bonobo has a similar level of aggressive behavior.

paragraphs: Chimpanzees attack "Colobus" monkeys by working as a team to corner them in the high branches of the trees. Then they tear the monkey apart and eat it. It is thought the main benefit is that meat is a more rich source of nutrition than their usual vegetarian diet.

paragraphs: If they can, male chimpanzees try to kill the male members of neighboring groups. Males work together when they spot a chance to make a lightning raid on an isolated male from the other group. They kill him. In Gombe, Tanzania, a group in the 1970s was seen to kill seven of their neighbors one by one, until all were gone. It can take years for this to happen but, when it does, the remaining females and the neighboring territory are added to the now larger group. Attacks like this are carefully planned, done only when success is likely, and carried out in silence.

paragraphs: The advantage for the males that triumph is to breed more children. Their tribe also holds a larger territory, and so has access to more food. Several authors have drawn a connection between this behaviour and the origins of human warfare.

paragraphs: Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology studied chimpanzees in Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire. The project followed four groups of chimpanzees for twenty years. They found that female chimpanzees patrolled territory and fought with chimpanzees from other groups too, not just males. The scientists wondered if human beings have been imagining that male chimpanzees do all the fighting because we think of human warfare being done mostly by men.

paragraphs: Chimpanzees show their emotions with their faces and sounds. They make hooting sounds to express the discovery of food, and the face of a chimpanzee with a scowling face and lips pressed is to express annoyance. This means the chimpanzee may attack. Or, the chimpanzee may bare its teeth to express that it is afraid or that a more dominant chimp is approaching.

paragraphs: According to a genome study done by the Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium, humans share either 96% or 95% of their DNA with chimpanzees. However, this applies only to single nucleotide polymorphisms, that is, changes in "single" base pairs only. The full picture is rather different.

paragraphs: 24% of the chimpanzee genome does not align with the human genome, and so cannot be directly compared. There are 3% further alignment gaps, 1.23% SNP differences, and 2.7% copy number variations totaling at least 30% differences between chimpanzee and "Homo sapiens" genomes. On the other hand, 30% of all human proteins are identical in sequence to the corresponding chimpanzee proteins.


title: Meridian

paragraphs: A meridian is an imaginary line of longitude drawn along the surface of the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole.

paragraphs: Geographers today measure these lines from what they call the Prime Meridian. It is the line of longitude that goes through the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Greenwich, England. They decided this at the 1884 "International Meridian Conference".

paragraphs: Meridians, as lines of longitude, are measured in degrees. The Prime Meridian, as the starting point, is 0 (zero) degrees. Lines west of the Prime Meridian are either called "west", as in "the longitude of Los Angeles, California is 118 degrees west", or as a negative number: "the longitude of Los Angeles, California is -118 degrees". Going the other direction, east of the Prime Meridian is always said as a positive number: "The longitude of Mecca is about 40 degrees east," or just "The longitude of Mecca is about 40 degrees."


title: District

paragraphs: A district is an area or locality. In some places, it is a kind of local government.

paragraphs: Some of the countries districts are used in are Austria, Belgium, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Serbia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Portugal, Switzerland, the United States, and many more.

paragraphs: In the South Asian subcontinent, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, the common term for an official or government administration district is Zillah.


title: Literacy

paragraphs: Literacy means the ability to read and write. Being able to read and write is an important skill in modern societies. Usually, people learn how to read and write at school. People who can read and write are called "literate"; those who cannot are called "illiterate".

paragraphs: According to UNESCO, illiteracy is not being able to write or read a simple sentence in any language. They estimated that, in 1998, about 16% of the world's population were illiterate.

paragraphs: Illiteracy is highest amongst the states of the Arabian Peninsula, and in Africa, around the Sahara. In those countries about 30% of men, and 40-50% of women are illiterate, by the UN definition. One of the causes of illiteracy is that someone who can manage to live without being able to read and write often does not have any reason to want to learn to read and write. Cultural factors also play a part, such as having a culture in which the oral tradition (communicating by speaking) is more important than writing. A tribe that mostly herds livestock, for example, may have no need to read or write.

paragraphs: There are two different kinds of illiteracy:

paragraphs: In English the word literacy has traditionally meant to be well educated. It also meant to be familiar with literature (to know about books). In the late 19th century the word came to include the ability to read and write. It still kept its larger meaning. In modern usage, literacy also means being able to read print, visual, and sound texts. To continue learning students must be literate in more than just reading and writing text.


title: Isle of Man

paragraphs: The Isle of Man () is an island in the Irish Sea, off the coast of Great Britain (of which it is a crown dependency). Douglas is the capital city. It also has a flag with a red background and 3 armoured legs joined together - "whichever way you throw us, we always land on our feet".

paragraphs: It has a Parliament called Tynwald. It is the longest running parliament in the world.

paragraphs: The Isle of Man is a Crown dependency. Foreign affairs, defence, and "good government" are handled by the British government, but in all other matters the island is independent. The Isle of Man Government is the executive and proposes laws to the legislature, Tynwald. Laws passed by Tynwald are given royal approval by the Lieutenant Governor unless the British Minister of Justice says they do not help the good government of the island.

paragraphs: The Isle of Man is an island in the Irish Sea, it is northwest of the European continent. It is between the United Kingdom and Ireland. The island is 22 km wide and 52 km long, it has a total area of 572 km². The Isle of Man has a total of 160 km of coastline, it has no important bodies of water. Apart from the island itself, the Isle of Man also includes some nearby islands. The most important of these islands are called Calf of Man, St Patrick's Isle and St Michael's Isle.

paragraphs: The island's terrain is varied, it has mountains in the north and south. A valley is more or less in the center of the island, between the cities of Douglas and Peel. The northern part of the island is very flat. Snaefell is the Isle of Man's highest mountain, it measures 621 meters above sea level. It is said that you can see Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales from the top of mount Snaefell.

paragraphs: The Isle of Man has a usually mild weather. Summers are cool and winters are mild and rainy. Rainfall is similar to that of the other British Isles. Elevated parts of the Isle of Man get more rainfall, especially mount Snaefell. The northern and southern parts of the island are not as rainy as the rest.

paragraphs: The island's weather is normally cool. The highest temperature ever registered is 28.9 °C, in Ronaldsway. The Isle of Man is not very sunny, but it is less cloudy than other parts of the British Isles; strong winds around the island help keep clouds in constant movement.

paragraphs: The geology of Man is notable for the Iapetus Suture, which runs almost unseen right through the rocks of the island. The suture is the remnant of a once huge ocean, the Iapetus Ocean, which was lost about 420 million years ago as three continents came together.

paragraphs: The Isle of Man became separated from Ireland and the British Isles about 8500 years ago. The short period of time between the melting of glaciers and the rise of sea level allowed a small number of species to colonize the island by land. The island was heavily deforested in the Middle Ages, which weakened its environment. Some land is now protected by the government to help preserve its wildlife. Curraghs Wildlife Park, in the wetlands, is home to many species of animals and plants. Many bird species live on the island.

paragraphs: A lot of the Isle of Man's plant life, or flora, is composed of shrubs (bushes) and other short plants. Several species of grass and moss also live there. Mosses on the island contribute to the formation of peat. There is peat in the island's wet areas. The island has heavily deforested in the Middle Ages. Common trees on the island include ashes, elms, pines, willows, and hawthorns. There are also other trees on the island, as well as many species of flowering plants. Bogs are home to ferns and orchids.

paragraphs: The Isle of Man is home to many bird and insect species. Many species live in "curraghs" (wetlands in the northeast of the island). Curraghs are protected by the Government of the Isle of Man. Curraghs Wildlife Park is in these wetlands, it is both a zoo and a protected area. During the winter, curraghs are the second largest nesting ground of the Hen Herrier in Europe. The Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, European Robin, Willow Warbler, Song Thrush, Dunnock, Swan and a subspecies of Winter Wren possibly native to the island also nest in the curraghs. The Chough is also in the Isle of Man, it is more common than in other parts of Europe. Some farming methods have decreased the bird population of the island. The Northern Lapwing is now rarely found, and the Yellowhammer is now extinct on the island.

paragraphs: 18 species of butterfly and 250 species of moth also live on the Isle of Man. Most of them live in the wetlands during different seasons.


title: French Revolution

paragraphs: The French Revolution was a revolution in France from 1789 to 1799. The result of the French Revolution was the end of the monarchy. King Louis XVI was executed in 1793. The revolution ended when Napoleon Bonaparte took power in November 1799. In 1804, he became Emperor.

paragraphs: Before 1789, France was ruled by the nobles and the Catholic Church. The ideas of the Enlightenment were beginning to make the ordinary people want more power. They could see that the American Revolution had created a country in which the people had power, instead of a king. The government before the revolution was called the "Ancient (old) Regime".

paragraphs: Many problems in France led up to the Revolution:

paragraphs: Before the Revolution, France was divided into three Estates. The First Estate was the Clergy (the church). It made up 1% of the population. The Second Estate was the Nobles, which also made up 1% of the population. The other nearly 98% of the population was in the Third Estate. Representatives of the people from all three estates together made up the Estates-General.

paragraphs: In May 1789, the Estates-General was called by King Louis in order to deal with the money problems of the country. They met at the royal Palace of Versailles. However, the members of the Third Estate were angry. They had made lists of problems they wanted to fix called the Cahiers de Doléance

paragraphs: The members of the Third Estate (The commoners) were angry that they were being taxed the most when they were the poorest group of people. They, and the Director-General of Finances, Jacques Necker, thought the Church and the Nobility ought to be taxed more.

paragraphs: They also wanted votes in the Estates-General to be more fair. Even though the Third Estate had many more members than the other two Estates, each Estate only had one vote in the Estates-General. The Third Estate thought this could be improved by giving members of the Estates-General a vote each. However, when they talked to the other Estates, they could not agree.

paragraphs: Since the First and Second Estates would not listen, The Third Estate decided to break away and start their own assembly where every member would get a vote. On 10 June 1789, they started the National Assembly. The king tried to stop them by closing the Salle des États meeting room, but they met in an indoor tennis court instead. On June 20, they took the Tennis Court Oath, where they promised to work until they had created a new constitution for France.

paragraphs: In July 1789, after the National Assembly was formed, the nobility and the king was angry with Jacques Necker, the Director-General of Finances, and they fired him. Many Parisians thought that the King was going to shut down the National Assembly. Soon, Paris was filled with riots and looting.

paragraphs: On 14 July 1789, the people decided to attack the Bastille prison. The Bastille contained weapons, as well as being a symbol of the power of the nobility and the rule of the king. By the afternoon, the people had broken into the Bastille and released the seven prisoners being held there.

paragraphs: The Members of the Third Estate took over Paris. The president of the National Assembly at the time of the Tennis Court Oath, Jean-Sylvain Bailly, became mayor of the city. Jacques Necker was given back his job as Director-General of Finances. Soon, the King visited Paris and wore the red, white and blue (tricolor) ribbons (cockade) that the revolutionaries were wearing. By the end of July, the revolution had spread all over France.

paragraphs: The National Assembly began to make lots of changes. On 4 August, the National Assembly ended the special taxes the Church was collecting, and put a stop to the rights of the Nobility over their people, ending feudalism. On 26 August, the National Assembly published the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was written by the nobleman Marquis de Lafayette.

paragraphs: The National Assembly began to decide how it would be under the new constitution. Many members, especially the nobles, wanted a senate or a second upper house. However, more people voted to keep having just one assembly. The King was given a "suspensive veto" over laws, which meant he would only have the power to delay laws being made, not stop them. In October 1789, after being attacked at the Palace of Versailles by a mob of 7,000 women, the King was convinced by Lafayette to move from Paris to the palace in Tuileries.

paragraphs: The Assembly began to divide into different political parties. One was made up of those against the revolution, led by the nobleman Jacques Antoine Marie de Cazales and the churchman Jean-Sifrien Maury. This party sat on the right side. A second party was the Royalist democrats (monarchists) which wanted to create a system like the constitutional monarchy of Britain, where the king would still be a part of the government. Jacques Necker was in this party. The third party was the National Party which was centre or centre-left. This included Honoré Mirabeau and Lafayette.

paragraphs: Under the new government, the Roman Catholic Church would have much less power than they had before. In 1790, all special taxes and powers of the Church were cancelled. All the Church’s property was taken over by the state. On 12 July 1790, the Civil Constitution of the Clergy made all clergy employees of the state and made them take an oath to the new constitution. Many clergy, as well as the Pope, Pius VI, did not like these changes. Revolutionaries killed hundreds for refusing the oath.

paragraphs: On 14 July 1790, a year since the storming of the Bastille, thousands of people gathered in the Champs de Mars to celebrate. Charles Maurice de Talleyrand led the crowd in a religious mass. The crowd, including the King and the royal family, took an oath of loyalty to “the nation, the law, and the king.” However, many nobles were unhappy with the revolution and were leaving the country. They were called émigrés (emigrants).

paragraphs: Although the members of the Estates-General had only been elected for a year, the members of the Assembly had all taken the Tennis Court Oath. They had promised to keep working until they had a constitution and no constitution had been made. It was decided that the members would keep working until they had a constitution.

paragraphs: The Assembly continued to work on a constitution and make changes. Nobles could no longer pass their titles to their children. Only the king was allowed to do this. For the first time, trials with juries were held. All trade barriers inside France were ended along with unions, guilds, and workers' groups. Strikes were banned.

paragraphs: Many people with radical ideas began to form political clubs. The most famous of these was the Jacobin Club, which had left-wing ideas. A right-wing club was the Club Monarchique. In 1791, a law was suggested to prevent noble "émigrés" from leaving the country. Mirabeau had been against this law, but he died on 2 April, and by the end of the year, the law was passed.

paragraphs: Louis XVI did not like the revolution, but did not want to get help from other countries or run away from France like the émigrés. General Bouille held the same views and wanted to help the king leave Paris. He said that he would give the King and his family help and support in his camp at Montmédy. The escape was planned for June 20, 1791.

paragraphs: Dressed as servants, the royal family left Paris. However, their escape was not well planned, and they were arrested at Varennes on the evening of June 21. The royal family was brought back to Paris. The Assembly imprisoned Louis and his wife Marie Antoinette, and suspended the king from his duty.

paragraphs: Although the king had tried to escape, most members of the Assembly still wanted to include the king in their government rather than to have a Republic with no king at all. They agreed to make the king a figurehead, with very little power. The king would have to take an oath to the state. If he did not, or if he created an army to attack France, he would no longer be king.

paragraphs: Some people, including Jacques Pierre Brissot, did not like this. They thought the king should be completely removed from the throne and the constitution. Brissot made a petition and a huge crowd came to the Champs de Mars to sign it. Republican leaders Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins came and gave speeches.

paragraphs: The National Guard, led by Lafayette, was called in to control the crowd. The mob threw stones at the soldiers who first fired their guns over the heads of the crowd. When the crowd kept throwing stones, Lafayette ordered them to fire at the people. Up to 50 people were killed. After this, the government closed many of the political clubs and newspapers. Many radical left-wing leaders, including Danton and Desmoulins, ran away to England or hid in France.

paragraphs: Finally the constitution was completed. Louis XVI was put back on the throne and came to take his oath to it. He wrote, “I engage to maintain it at home, to defend it from all attacks from abroad, and to cause its execution by all the means it places at my disposal.” The National Assembly decided that it would stop governing France on 29 September 1791. After that date, the Legislative Assembly would take over.

paragraphs: The new Legislative Assembly met for the first time in October 1791. Under the Constitution of 1791, France was a Constitutional Monarchy. The King shared his rule with the Legislative Assembly, but had the power to stop (veto) laws he did not like. He also had the power to choose ministers.

paragraphs: The Legislative Assembly had about 745 members. 260 of them were “Feuillants”, or Constitutional Monarchists. 136 were Girondins and Jacobins, left-wing liberal republicans who did not want a king. The other 345 members were independent, but they voted most often with the left wing.

paragraphs: The Legislative Assembly did not agree very well. The King used his veto to stop laws that would sentence émigrés to death. Because so many of the members of the Assembly were left-wing, they did not like this.

paragraphs: The people were turning against King Louis XVI. On 10 August 1792, the members of a revolutionary group called the Paris Commune attacked the Tuileries, where the King and Queen were living. The King and Queen were taken prisoner. The Legislative Assembly held an emergency meeting. Even though only a third of the members were there and most of them were Jacobins, they suspended the King from duty.

paragraphs: The kings and emperors of many foreign countries were worried by the French Revolution. They did not want revolutions in their own countries. On 27 August 1791, Leopold II of the Holy Roman Empire/Austria, Frederick William II of Prussia, and Louis XVI’s brother-in-law, Charles-Philippe wrote the Declaration of Pillnitz. The Declaration asked for Louis XVI to be set free and the National Assembly to be ended. They promised that they would invade France if their requests were ignored. The Declaration was taken very seriously among the revolutionaries.

paragraphs: With the Legislative Assembly in place, the problems did not go away. The Girondins wanted war because they wanted to take the revolution to other countries. The King and many of his supporters, the Feuillants, wanted war because they thought it would make the King more popular. Many French were worried that the émigrés would cause trouble in foreign countries against France.

paragraphs: On 20 April 1792, the Assembly voted to declare war on Austria (Holy Roman Empire). They planned to invade the Austrian Netherlands, but the revolution had made the army weak. Many soldiers deserted. Soon, Prussia joined on the Austrian side. They both planned to invade. Together, on 25 July, they wrote the Brunswick Manifesto, promising that if the royal family was not hurt, no civilians would be hurt in the invasion. The French believed that this meant the king, Louis XVI, was working with the foreign kings. Prussia invaded France on 1 August, 1792. This first stage of the French Revolutionary Wars continued until 1797.

paragraphs: In September, things got worse. The Legislative Assembly had almost no power. No single group was controlling Paris or France. The country was being invaded by the Prussian Army. The revolutionaries were very angry and violent. They began to go into prisons and kill people they thought were traitors to France. They hated the priests of the Roman Catholic Church the most, but they also killed many nobles and ordinary people. By 7 September, 1,400 people were dead.

paragraphs: The Legislative Assembly had lost all its power. France needed a new government. On 20 September 1792, the National Convention was formed. The Convention had both Girondins and radical Jacobins.

paragraphs: The Brunswick Manifesto had made many people suspicious of the king. They thought he was plotting with the Prussian and Austrian rulers to invade France. In January 1793, the National Convention voted and found Louis XVI guilty of “conspiracy against the public liberty and the general safety.” On the twenty-first of January, the King was executed using the guillotine. Marie Antoinette, the Queen, was also executed on the sixteenth of October.

paragraphs: People in the area of Vendée did not like the revolutionary government. They did not like the rules about the church in the Civil Constitution of the Church (1790) and new taxes put in place in 1793. They also disliked being forced to join the French army. In March, they rose up against the government in a revolt. The war lasted until 1796. Hundreds of thousands of people from Vendée (Vendeans) were killed by the Revolutionary French army.

paragraphs: Now that the king was dead, the National Convention made a new republican constitution that began on 24 June. It was the first one that did not include the king and gave every man in France a vote. However, it never came into power because of the trouble between the Jacobins and Girondins. The war with Austria and Prussia was causing the state to have money problems. Bread was very expensive and many people wanted things to change. In June 1793, the Jacobins began to take power. They wanted to arrest many Girondin members of the National Convention. In July, they became angrier when Charlotte Corday, a Girondin, killed Jean-Paul Marat, a Jacobin.

paragraphs: By July, the coup was complete. The Jacobins had taken power. They put in new, radical laws including a new Republican Calendar with new months and new ten-day weeks. They made the army bigger and changed the officers to people who were better soldiers. Over the next few years, this helped the Republican army push back the attacking Austrians, Prussians, British, and Spanish.

paragraphs: In July 1793, a Jacobin called Maximilien de Robespierre and eight other leading Jacobins set up the Committee of Public Safety. It was the most powerful group in France. This group and Robespierre were responsible for the Reign of Terror. Robespierre believed that if people were afraid, the revolution would go better. The Reign of Terror lasted from the spring of 1793 to the spring of 1794.

paragraphs: It was not only the nobility who died in the Reign of Terror. Anyone who broke the Jacobins' laws, or was even suspected of breaking their laws or working against them, could be arrested and sent to the guillotine, most without a trial. Even powerful people who had been involved in the Jacobin coup were executed. Prisoners were taken from the prisons to “Madame Guillotine” (a nickname for the guillotine) in an open wooden cart called the tumbrel.

paragraphs: According to records, 16,594 people were executed with the guillotine. It is possible that up to 40,000 people died in prison or were killed during the Reign of Terror.

paragraphs: By July 1794, people began to turn against Maximilien de Robespierre. He and his Revolutionary Tribunal had killed 1,300 people in six weeks. On 27 July, the National Convention and the Committee of Public Safety turned against him. Robespierre tried to get help from the Convention’s right-wing members, but he failed.

paragraphs: A day later, Robespierre and many of his supporters in the Paris Commune were sentenced to death by guillotine without any kind of trial. This reaction against Robespierre is called the Thermidorian Reaction.

paragraphs: Now that the terror was over, the National Convention started to make a new Constitution, called the Constitution of the Year III. On 27 September 1794, the constitution came into effect.

paragraphs: The new constitution had created the Directoire (Directory), which was the first government of France to be bicameral (split into two houses). The lower house, the parliament, had 500 members. It was called the "Conseil de Cinq-Cent" (Council of Five Hundred). The upper house, the senate, had 250 members and was called the "Conseil des Anciens" (Council of Elders). There were five directors chosen every year by the "Conseil des Anciens" from a list made up by the "Conseil de Cinq-Cent". This group was in charge and was called the Directory.

paragraphs: Although the constitution of 1793 had given all men in France a vote, in this constitution only people with a certain amount of property could vote.

paragraphs: The Directory was much more conservative than the governments in France since 1789. The people were tired of radical changes and the unstable governments. Things were much more stable under the Directory than they had been before.

paragraphs: However, the Directors were disliked by the people - especially the Jacobins, who wanted a republic, and the royalists, who wanted a new King. France’s money problems did not go away. The Directors ignored elections that did not go the way they wanted. They ignored the constitution in order to do things to control the people. They used the ongoing war and the army to keep their power.

paragraphs: The 18 Brumaire marks the end of the Republican part of the French Revolution when Napeleon Bonaparte took the reign.


title: Daffy Duck

paragraphs: Daffy Duck is a cartoon duck from the Warner Bros. cartoons. He stands on two legs, has a black body, a white ring about his neck, and an orange beak. He first appeared in "Porky´s Duck Hunt" in 1937. In 1946, Daffy had started to change, and Daffy became less looney. Over the years, Daffy Duck had changed from screwball and heckling character to greedy and a jealous character.


title: Guillotine

paragraphs: The guillotine is a machine used to execute people by decapitation (chopping off their heads).

paragraphs: A guillotine is made of a heavy blade attached to a rack, which moves up and down on a vertical frame. When the rack is let go, it will fall down and the blade will cut the convict's head off.

paragraphs: Machines like the guillotine were first invented in the Middle Ages, and were used throughout Europe. For example, Scotland used a machine called the "Scottish Maiden".

paragraphs: The first time the guillotine was commonly used was in France, in the French Revolution of 1789. The guillotine became the only legal way to execute someone in France. The guillotine was used because it caused a quick death. Everyone died the same way, no matter what social class you were in, whether you were wealthy or poor.

paragraphs: The guillotine was commonly used in France (including France's colonies), Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and Austria. It was also used in Sweden. Today, all of these countries have abolished (legally stopped) the death penalty. The guillotine is no longer used.

paragraphs: The guillotine is named after a French medical doctor, Joseph-Ignace Guillotin. Guillotin was against the death penalty. Realising he could not stop the death penalty, Guillotin instead tried to think of a quicker, less painful way of executing people. On October 10, 1789, he suggested using a machine to do all the executions.

paragraphs: The actual guillotine was designed by another doctor, Antoine Louis. Guillotin did not help much with the design, but his name went down in history. Against Guillotin's wishes, the new machine quickly became known as the "Guillotine". Guillotin regretted this until death in 1814.

paragraphs: The design for a quick, painless, decapitation machine was given to Tobias Schmidt, a German engineer. Schmidt built the first guillotine and tested it, on animals at first, but later on dead humans. It was made of two fourteen-foot uprights joined by a crossbar, whose inside edges were grooved and greased with tallow; the weighted blade was either straight, or curved like an axe. The system was started by a rope and pulley, while the whole construction was set up on a platform. The first execution was in 1792.

paragraphs: The guillotine was still the only legal way to execute a person in France until 1979, when France stopped using the death penalty. In Nazi Germany, the guillotine was used to kill prisoners sentenced for serious crimes like murder, treason, or conspiracy against the government.

paragraphs: A guillotine was last used in West Germany in 1949 and East Germany in 1961. The last person guillotined was the Tunisian murderer Hamida Djandoubi in 1977.


title: School uniform

paragraphs: A school uniform is a standard set of clothing students wear when they go to some schools. It might have a particular color of trousers or skirt, plus a matching shirt and perhaps a jacket or necktie, with matching shoes.

paragraphs: In some countries, like Germany, students can wear anything they like when they go to school. In other countries, like England, there is usually a standard dress code in school, usually a set of dressing for girls and one for boys. Boys and girls need to wear "school uniforms" when they go to school. In many countries, such as the United States, some schools require wearing a uniform, and some do not.

paragraphs: Originally, school uniforms were introduced to hide the social differences between students, but uniforms can also help with safety. Using standard uniforms can also save the money needed to buy extra clothes as fashion to impress other people at school. Uniforms are also thought to improve discipline and school spirit.

paragraphs: However, school uniforms can also help with health and safety by having clothes which have been tested to be safer when worn. Some fabrics can cause skin rashes in some people, while a uniform can be made of comfortable fabrics. Also, loose-fitting clothes can get caught in machinery or playground equipment, which limits what activities children can do safely.

paragraphs: There are several types of economic bullying which can be lessened by use of school uniforms. When many students are from families with less money, sometimes students with more money have stood out because they wore newer shoes, where neither shoe was in poor shape. In schools where more students are rich, poorer students have been insulted for the old-style or tattered clothes they wore.


title: Primate

paragraphs: Primates are a group of mammals that contains all lemurs, monkeys and apes including humans.

paragraphs: There are about 400 species of primates. All primates are similar to humans in some ways, but language is an important difference. Primates have hands with five fingers and flat fingernails (most other animals have claws). Primates are split into two groups: Strepsirrhini and Haplorhini. Haplorrhini includes monkeys, tarsiers and apes including humans. Strepsirrhini includes lemurs, lorises, galagos (also called bush babies) and the Aye-Aye.

paragraphs: Primates are one of the few eutherian groups which re-evolved full colour vision.