title: Wiesbaden

paragraphs: Wiesbaden is a German city near Frankfurt am Main. It is the capital of the federal state of Hesse. Wiesbaden is situated on the right (north) bank of the Rhine (German: "Rhein"), near the city of Mainz (about away from Wiesbaden centre) the opposite side of the river, and a short distance, about , from Frankfurt am Main, to the east. Wiesbaden has about 274,000 inhabitants (2005).

paragraphs: Wiesbaden has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).

paragraphs: Wiesbaden is the capital of the state Hesse, which is located in middle of Germany.


title: Hanover

paragraphs: Hanover (German: Hannover) is a German city. It is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony. Hanover has 522,944 inhabitants (1 February 2007).

paragraphs: In Hanover there are some big industry companies like Volkswagen (Cars and Vans), Continental (tyres), Varta (batteries) and TUI (tourism).

paragraphs: Hanover has a very modern zoo and an international airport.

paragraphs: There are some very big fairs in Hanover like the CeBIT - "Ce"ntre of "O"ffice, "I"nformation and "T"elecommunication (B is for Büro that means office) and the traditional Hanover fair that shows classical industrial products.

paragraphs: In the year 2000 the Expo-2000 was in Hanover.

paragraphs: Hanover has a large forest near the inner city, it is called the "Eilenriede". There is also a lake (the "Maschsee") of about three km length and 500 m width near the city centre. The famous gardens of Herrenhausen (Herrenhäuser Gärten) are also in Hanover. The gardens were heavily destroyed in WWII, but they are currently under reconstruction.

paragraphs: People in Hannover get around town by using the Hannover Hauptbahnhof, which has been around since 1843.

paragraphs: The mayor of the city is Stefan Weil who followed Herbert Schmalstieg in 2006. Both are from the social democratic party SPD. The city has been administered by social democratic city councils since the 1950s.

paragraphs: The (new) town hall is one of the famous buildings in the city, others are the Marktkirche (market church), the old (medieval) town hall, some castles like the "Leineschloss" and the "Welfenschloss".

paragraphs: Some internationally famous inhabitants of the town are:

paragraphs: The classic rock band "Scorpions", the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the association football player Per Mertesacker.

paragraphs: Key employers in the region are Volkswagen, Continental, Talanx, Hannover Re, Nord LB and VHV.

paragraphs: Hannover has an Oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification).

paragraphs: Hanover has a famous football club, Hannover 96, since 2002 (again) a member of the first German football league, the Bundesliga. Its home stadium is the AWD-Arena (capacity: 49000). Hanover is also a center for ice hockey.


title: Düsseldorf

paragraphs: Düsseldorf is a German city. It is on the east bank of the river Rhine. It is the capital of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Düsseldorf has about 600,000 inhabitants. About 1.3 million people live in the city and surrounding areas. The city has one international airport, a university, and the headquarters of many international companies.

paragraphs: In the 7th or 8th century there was a fishing or farming settlement at the place where the little river Dussel (which gave the name to the city) flows into the Rhine. Kaiserswerth is the first part of the city to be mentioned in writing. This was in 1135. Kaiserswerth became part of Düsseldorf in 1927.

paragraphs: In 1186 the Counts of Berg got to rule Düsseldorf and they made it their residence in 1280.

paragraphs: On 14th of August 1288 there was a great battle between the Archbishop of Cologne and the Duke of Limburg against the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Berg. The Duke of Brabant won and the Archbishop of Cologne became a prisoner of the Count of Berg. So he could not do anything against Düsseldorf getting the status of a city. So Düsseldorf became a city with full City Rights in 1288.

paragraphs: The Counts of Berg became more and more powerful and Düsseldorf became the capital of the Duchy of Berg-Mark-Kleve-Jülich in 1380.

paragraphs: in 1680 the Dukes of Berg-Kleve-Mark-Jülich died out and after some struggles the Earls of Palatine (they were Prince-Electors) became the new rulers of Düsseldorf. The most important duke of this line was Johann Wilhelm II. (1690-1716), called Jan Wellem. After Johann Wilhelm the Dukes moved to their new seat in Heidelberg, because they also got to rule the Duchy of Bavaria.

paragraphs: In the Napoleonic Wars the French won the Duchy and Düsseldorf. Napoleon gave the Duchy of Berg-Jülich to one of his generals, who married one of his nieces. This general became later King of Naples.

paragraphs: In the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century Düsseldorf grew a lot and had more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1882. This number had doubled by 1892.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf was almost completely destroyed in World War II. In 1946 Düsseldorf became capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf is one of the most important commercial centres in Germany. It has an International Airport, which is the 3rd largest in Germany (after Frankfurt and Munich) with more than 16,000,000 passengers per year. The airport offers 180 destinations on 4 continents, and is served by 70 airlines.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf has two stations in the German high speed train network (Intercity, ICE) - its Central Station and the Airport Station. The Main Station offers international trains to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Switzerland, too.

paragraphs: North Rhine-Westphalia has the closest network of motorways in Europe. Düsseldorf is one of the crosspoints. Düsseldorf is joined to the interstate motorways A3, A44, A46, A52, A57, A59 and A524.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf is one of the most important economical centres in Germany. It has a regional stock exchange.

paragraphs: More than 170 national financial institutions and 130 insurances work in Düsseldorf.

paragraphs: Two of the four leading mobile phone companies of Germany have their seat in Düsseldorf like 18 internet providers and more than 400 advertising agencies. Düsseldorf is one of the European centres of fashion industry and has one of the most important trading shows.

paragraphs: The TV channels CNN and NBC Giga have their German centres in Düsseldorf.

paragraphs: There is a lot of manufacturing industry too - like the chemical company Henkel.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf is the most important seat for Japanese companies in Europe.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf is one of the cultural centres in Germany. The poet Heinrich Heine was born in Düsseldorf in 1797. The classical musicians and composers Clara and Robert Schumann lived most of their lifetime in Düsseldorf and the romantic composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy spent two years in the town in the mid-1830s.

paragraphs: The Arts Academy of Düsseldorf is very famous. The modern artist Paul Klee and the modern sculptor Joseph Beuys worked there.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf has a lot of museums, especially for Arts of the 20th and the 21st century. Most important is the Arts Collection of North Rhine-Westphalia. "Kraftwerk", the first techno band worldwide and the punk rock band Die Toten Hosen come from Düsseldorf, too.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf has a university, the Heinrich-Heine-University with nearly all subjects in mathematics, sciences, philosophy, history, languages, economy, law, and medicine. Düsseldorf has also a university of applied sciences, the Fachhochschule Düsseldorf. These two institutes have almost 30.000 students.

paragraphs: The Clara und Robert Schumann Musikschule is a well-known college for classical music education. There is one technical college and a lot of other colleges, too.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf has an opera, more than 30 cinemas, a well-known theatre, and a rich cultural scene.

paragraphs: The traditional sport in Germany is football (soccer). For a long time Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895, the most traditional football team in Düsseldorf (est. 1895), was very successful and won, for example, the European Cup, after one year back in the Bundesliga Fortuna went down to the German 2nd division in 2013.

paragraphs: Most successful sports team in Düsseldorf is the icehockey team of the DEG Metro Stars, former DEG - Düsseldorfer Eislauf Gemeinschaft, the most successful icehockey team in Germany for a long time with famous players like John-Peter Lee, Chris Valentine or Helmut de Raaf.

paragraphs: Another very successful sports team from Düsseldorf was Rhine Fire, the American footballers of the city, who won the World Ball four times until the European Football League, called NFL Europa was closed down in 2007.

paragraphs: Düsseldorf has one university, the Heinrich-Heine-University with subjects in sciences, arts, medicine, languages, history, laws, social sciences and economics, an colllege with subjects in engineering and social siences, the Fachhochschule Düsseldorf, an well-known academy of fine arts, the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, a musics college, the Robert-Schumann-Musikhochschule and a lot of other colleges in applied fields.


title: Mainz

paragraphs: Mainz is a German city. It is the capital of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

paragraphs: Mainz is on the left side of the river Rhine, on the right side is the city Wiesbaden. Mainz has about 203,000 people. Its main economic product is wine. It has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).


title: Kiel

paragraphs: Kiel () is a city in the north of Germany. It is the capital of the state of Schleswig-Holstein. It has a population of 239,526 people. It is a port on the sea and has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).


title: Fred Rogers

paragraphs: Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003) was an American television personality, musician, puppeteer, writer, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was known as the creator, composer, producer, head writer, and host of the preschool television series "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" from 1968 until his retirement in 2001.

paragraphs: Rogers was not happy with the television shows that children were seeing. He began to write and perform local Pittsburgh-area shows for children. In 1968, Eastern Educational Television Network began nationwide distribution of Rogers's new show on WQED. For thirty years, Rogers became a television icon of children's entertainment and education.

paragraphs: Rogers supported many public causes. In the Betamax case, the U.S. Supreme Court used Rogers's testimony before a lower court in favor of fair-use television show recording. Rogers also testified before a U.S. Senate committee to support government funding of children's television.

paragraphs: In August 2001, Rogers retired from recording "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". In October 2002, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died from the disease a few months later in February 2003.

paragraphs: Rogers was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush, forty honorary degrees, and a Peabody Award. He was added into the Television Hall of Fame. He was listed number 35 of the "TV Guide"'s "Fifty Greatest TV Stars of All Time". The Smithsonian Institution has one of his sweaters as a "Treasure of American History".

paragraphs: Rogers was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania to James Rogers and Nancy McFeely. His father was a businessman. His mother came from a rich Pittsburgh family and also was a hospital volunteer during and after World War II. His grandfather from his mother's side, Fred McFeely, was the president of McFeely Brick, one of Latrobe's largest businesses. Rogers grew up in a large brick mansion at 737 Weldon Street in Latrobe.

paragraphs: He had an adopted sister, Elaine. Rogers spent much of his free time with his grandfather McFeely, who loved music. Rogers began to play the piano when he was five and sang with his mother.

paragraphs: When growing up, Rogers was shy and overweight. He was home schooled many times because of his asthma. Rogers had a hard time making friends and would be bullied many times as a little boy for his weight, often called "Fat Freddy".

paragraphs: During his high school years in Latrobe, Rogers became more confident and popular. Rogers was president of the student council, a member of the National Honor Society and was editor-in-chief of the yearbook. He graduated in 1946. He studied at Dartmouth College from 1946 until 1948 and then went on at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida to earn a BA in music composition in 1951.

paragraphs: While studying at Rollins, Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd who was from Oakland, Florida. They were married on June 9, 1952. They had two sons: James, in 1959, and John, in 1961.

paragraphs: Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a minister of the United Presbyterian Church in 1963. Rogers returned to Pittsburgh in the 1960s.

paragraphs: Rogers entered seminary after college but wanted to work with television. In an interview with CNN, Rogers said, "I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there's some way of using this fabulous instrument to nurture those who would watch and listen". He applied for a job at NBC in New York City in 1951. He first worked as an assistant producer, and later as a network floor director on musical programs such as "Your Hit Parade", "The Kate Smith Hour", and "The Voice of Firestone". He also worked on Gabby Hayes's children's show.

paragraphs: Rogers left NBC because he did not approve of the agency using children for advertisement. He began working as a puppeteer on the local children's show "The Children's Corner" for Pittsburgh public television station WQED in 1954. The show won a Sylvania Award for best children's show and was broadcast nationally on NBC.

paragraphs: Rogers studied theology at the nearby Pittsburgh Theological Seminary during his lunch breaks. However, he did not want to go into preaching and was told to continue making children's television after his ordination. He worked with the University of Pittsburgh's child development and care program.

paragraphs: In 1963, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) hired Rogers to create the 15-minute children's program "Misterogers." Rogers moved to Toronto and the series ran for three seasons. Three years later, Rogers moved back to the United States.

paragraphs: In 1966, Rogers got the rights to his program from the CBC and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on "The Children's Corner".

paragraphs: "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" began in 1968 and ran for 895 episodes. It aired on National Educational Television, which later became The Public Broadcasting Service. The last set of new episodes was taped in December 2000 and began airing in August 2001. By 1985, eight percent of people living in the United States watched the show.

paragraphs: The program always started with Rogers coming home, singing his theme song "Won't You Be My Neighbor?". He would then change into sneakers and a zippered cardigan sweater. The sweaters were all knitted by his mother. In his show, Rogers would always go on trips, teach new things and show short movies on "Picture, Picture". Each episode included a trip to Rogers's "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" with a trolley, a castle, and the kingdom's citizens, including King Friday XIII.

paragraphs: Rogers always fed his aquarium fish during episodes. He would always say this to his audience he was feeding them because he received a letter from a young blind girl who wanted to know each time he did this. The program would end with Rogers winging "It's Such a Good Feeling".

paragraphs: Rogers believed not to act differently when he was being filmed to how he acted normally. He said that "One of the greatest gifts you can give anybody is the gift of your honest self. I also believe that kids can spot a phony a mile away". Rogers wrote almost all of the music on the program. He wanted to teach children to love themselves and others, and he talked about common childhood fears with comforting songs. He once took a trip to a children's hospital to show children that a hospital is not a place to fear.

paragraphs: Rogers would talk about social issues on his program including the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, racism and divorce. One famous episode, Rogers soaked his feet with Officer Clemmons (François Clemmons), who was African-American, in a kiddie pool on a hot day. The scene was a message of inclusion during a time when racial segregation in the United States was common.

paragraphs: Rogers was also known for having children with disabilities on his show. In a 1981 episode, Rogers met a young quadriplegic boy, Jeff Erlanger, who showed how his electric wheelchair worked and explained why he needed it. Erlanger and Rogers both sang a duet of the song "It's You I Like". Before the taping, Erlanger had long been a fan of the program, and his parents wrote a letter to Rogers asking if they could meet.

paragraphs: Rogers would end each program by telling his viewers,

paragraphs: Rogers never talked about his religious beliefs on the show because he did not want any viewer to feel ignored from the show. During the Gulf War, he comforted his audience that all children in the neighborhood would be well cared for. Rogers asked parents to promise to take care of their children.

paragraphs: After the September 11 terrorist attacks, Rogers taped public service announcements for parents about how to discuss tragic world news events with their children. He told viewers to "look for the helpers". The quote continues to go viral following tragic news events. Rogers said in the public service announcement,

paragraphs: In 1969, Rogers appeared before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Communications. His goal was to ask the Senate to support funding for PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, because proposed budget cuts. In about six minutes of testimony, Rogers spoke of the need for social and emotional education that public television gave. He argued that other television programming like his "Neighborhood" helped encourage children to become happy citizens.

paragraphs: The chairman of the subcommittee, John O. Pastore, did not know Rogers or his work and was sometimes said to be impatient. However, after Rogers, Pastore said that the testimony had given him goosebumps, and said, "I think it's wonderful. Looks like you just earned the $20 million". The Senate would soon increase PBS funding from $9 million to $22 million.

paragraphs: During the issues of households being able to record television programs with a VCR grew, Rogers was active in supporting VCR companies in court. His 1979 testimony, in the case "Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc.", Rogers said he was not against home recordings of his television programs because families could watch them together at a later time.

paragraphs: When the case reached the Supreme Court in 1983, the majority decision thought about the testimony Rogers gave. The court found that the Betamax video recorder did not commit copyright violations. The court said that his views were an important piece of evidence "that many [television] producers are willing to allow private time-shifting to continue".

paragraphs: In 1978, while taking a break from taping new "Neighborhood" episodes, Rogers hosted an interview program for adults on PBS called "Old Friends...New Friends". On the show, Rogers interviewed "actors, sports stars, politicians, and poets". The show was lasted only 20 episodes. In 1988, he appeared on the Soviet children's television show "Good Night, Little Ones!" where he brought his puppet Daniel Striped Tiger with him.

paragraphs: The only time Rogers appeared on television as someone other than himself was in 1996 when he played a preacher on one episode of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." Rogers voiced himself on the "Arthur Meets Mister Rogers" episode of the PBS Kids series "Arthur".

paragraphs: Rogers had an apartment in New York City and a summer home on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Rogers was red–green color blind. He had a healthy lifestyle as he swam every morning and neither smoked nor drank. He was a vegetarian because he believed eating meat was wrong, saying "I don't want to eat anything that has a mother". Despite popular rumors, he never served in the military as a Navy SEAL during the Vietnam War and never had tattoos.

paragraphs: In 1991, the Pittsburgh Penguins named Rogers as their celebrity captain, as part of a celebration of the National Hockey League's 75th anniversary. Card No. 297 from the 1992 NHL Platinum collection celebrated the event, making Rogers one of only twelve celebrity captains to be chosen for a sports card.

paragraphs: During his morning routine, Rogers would respond to every single fan mail and return them to the respective sender.

paragraphs: In 1992, he was awarded the Peabody Award. He was added into the Television Hall of Fame in 1999.

paragraphs: In an interview with Rogers' friend William Hirsch, Rogers said that if sexuality was measured on a scale, then: "Well, you know, I must be right smack in the middle. Because I have found women attractive, and I have found men attractive," leading some readers to describe Rogers as bisexual.

paragraphs: After Rogers' retirement in 2001, he remained busy working from studying religion and spirituality, making public appearances, traveling, and working on a children's media center named after him at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe with Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, chancellor of the college.

paragraphs: By the summer of 2002 his constant stomach pain had become painful enough for him to see a doctor about it, and in October 2002 he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He had surgery on January 6, 2003, which was unsuccessful. A week earlier, he was grand marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade, with Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby.

paragraphs: Rogers died on the morning of February 27, 2003 after slipping into a coma, at his home in Pittsburgh. His wife was by his side when he died. He died less than a month before he would have turned 75.

paragraphs: More than 2,700 people went to his memorial service at Heinz Hall. Honorary guests included former "Good Morning America" host David Hartman, Teresa Heinz Kerry, philanthropist Elsie Hillman, PBS President Pat Mitchell, "Arthur" creator Marc Brown, and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" author-illustrator Eric Carle. Speakers remembered Rogers for his love of children, devotion to his religion, love for music, and humor. Teresa Heinz Kerry said of Rogers, "He never condescended, just invited us into his conversation. He spoke to us as the people we were, not as the people others wished we were". Rogers is buried at Unity Cemetery in Latrobe.

paragraphs: President George W. Bush awarded Rogers the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002 for his works to children's education. He said that "Fred Rogers has proven that television can soothe the soul and nurture the spirit and teach the very young".

paragraphs: In 2003, the United States Senate passed Resolution 16 to celebrate the life of Rogers. Following Rogers' death, the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003 passed Resolution 111 honoring Rogers for "his legendary service to the improvement of the lives of children, his steadfast commitment to demonstrating the power of compassion, and his dedication to spreading kindness through example".

paragraphs: On New Year's Day 2004, Michael Keaton, who worked on stage on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" before becoming an actor, hosted the PBS TV special "Fred Rogers: America's Favorite Neighbor". His hometown of Latrobe and Pittsburgh host "Won't You Wear a Sweater Day" to honor Rogers. The event takes place annually on his birth date, March 20. In 2003, the asteroid 26858 Misterrogers was named after Rogers by the International Astronomical Union.

paragraphs: One of Rogers' famous sweaters was bought by the Smithsonian Institution, which has it shown on their "Treasure of American History" exhibit. The Fred Rogers Memorial Statue in Pittsburgh was dedicated in 2009.

paragraphs: On June 25, 2016, the Fred Rogers Historical Marker was placed near Latrobe, Pennsylvania in his memory.

paragraphs: In June 2018, the documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" based on the life and legacy of Rogers, was released to positive reviews and became the highest money making biography-documentary (biodioc) of all time. Tom Hanks played Rogers in a movie based on his later life titled "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (2019) directed by Marielle Heller. Hanks would soon be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Rogers.

paragraphs: Rogers was honored on a special United States postage stamp in March 2018. On September 21, 2018, Google Doodle honored him with a stop-motion video of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." On October 23, 2018, during the first game of the 2018 World Series, Rogers's first television commercial aired for Google's Pixel 3 smartphone. In the ad, Rogers sings "Did You Know" which is the first time his voice or images has been used in a commercial for a product on television.

paragraphs: In December 2019, it was announced that a statue of Rogers would be placed in at Nantucket Park in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

paragraphs: At the 2020 Academy Awards, Janelle Monáe performed Rogers' "Its a Beautiful Day in This Neighborhood" during the opening ceremony while wearing a red cardigan sweater. During her acceptance speech for the Academy Award for Best Actress, Renée Zellweger listed Rogers as one of the heroes people should look for.


title: Sri Yukteswar Giri

paragraphs: Sri Yukteswar Giri (May 10, 1855 - March 9, 1936) was an Indian guru and swami. His real name was Priya Nath Karar and was born in Serampore, West-Bengal, India.

paragraphs: He is one of the famous people who appears on the cover of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

paragraphs: He became known through "Autobiography of a Yogi" as the guru of the author Paramahansa Yogananda.

paragraphs: George Harrison, the beatle, was initiated in kriya yoga in USA in Self-Realization Fellowship, an organization created by the known writer and great spiritual master in the west Paramahansa Yogananda.


title: Aleister Crowley

paragraphs: Aleister Crowley (12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was a British mystic, occultist, writer, poet, mountain climber and nicknamed "The Wickedest Man In the World.".

paragraphs: He was an influential member in some occult organisations, such as the Golden Dawn, the A∴A∴, and Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), and is better known today for his occult books and papers. He was bisexual.

paragraphs: Crowley also started a mystical philosophy known as Thelema, the "Abbey of Thelema", and revived the term magick.

paragraphs: Edward Alexander Crowley was born at 36 Clarendon Square in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, between 11:00pm and 11:59 p.m. on 12 October 1875.

paragraphs: In 1895, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge after going to Malvern College and Tonbridge School. In his three years at Cambridge, his father died and left him a large sum of money.

paragraphs: In December 1896, Crowley took interest in occultism and by the next year, he began reading books on alchemy and mysticism. A year later, he published his first book of poetry ("Aceldama"), and left Cambridge, only to meet Julian L. Baker who introduced him to Samuel Mathers and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

paragraphs: In November 1899, Crowley bought Boleskine House in Foyers on the shore of Loch Ness in Scotland.

paragraphs: Samuel Mathers, acting leader of the Golden Dawn organisation, acted as his early mentor in western magic. Crowley lost faith in his mentor's abilities in 1900 but did not officially break with Mathers until 1904.

paragraphs: Crowley died of a respiratory infection in a Hastings boarding house on 1 December 1947 at the age of 72. He had been addicted to heroin after being prescribed morphine for his asthma and bronchitis many years earlier.

paragraphs: Readings at the cremation service in Brighton included "Hymn to Pan", and newspapers referred to the service as a black mass.


title: Karlheinz Stockhausen

paragraphs: Karlheinz Stockhausen (22 August 1928-5 December 2007) was a German composer. He was an important German composer in the years after World War II. During this time composers were exploring many new ideas. Stockhausen used serialism in new ways, and he invented many ways of composing electronic music. His works include an opera cycle "Licht" which includes seven operas.

paragraphs: Stockhausen was born near Cologne. His father was a village school teacher. His mother was put in a sanatarium in 1933 where she died in 1942. She was probably killed there because the Nazis thought people who were mentally ill should not be allowed to live.

paragraphs: Stockhausen was a young man during the war. He trained to be a teacher and was sent to work in a military hospital near where the army was. His father died fighting in the war. After the war, with no parents, he went to work on a farm. Then, in 1947, he went to study at the Cologne Musikhochschule. He played the piano in bars and clubs and he improvised at the piano when playing for a magician’s magic shows. He was thinking of becoming a writer.

paragraphs: At this time many of Germany’s important composers met every summer in Darmstadt. The course was called Darmstadt Holiday Course for New Music. Stockhausen went there in 1951. There he performed some modern music and met important people such as the music critic and philosopher Theodor Adorno. He heard the music of Messiaen and, soon after marrying, he went to Paris to study with Messiaen. In Paris he met Pierre Boulez and Pierre Schaeffer who was working on musique concrète. He experimented with different sounds that percussion instruments can make, and he started composing electronic music. When he went back to Cologne he worked in a studio for electronic music where he studied communications theory. By this time Stockhausen, Boulez and Nono were the leading composers of avant garde or experimental music.

paragraphs: Stockhausen made Cologne an important centre for electronic music. He also helped to make the Darmstadt Summer Courses a famous centre for modern music. He did not invite John Cage to lecture there in 1958. This led to disagreements with Boulez and Nono. In California in 1967, Stockhausen married his second wife who was a painter. During the 1960s he bought land in the country near Cologne and had a house built there. Stockhausen did not design the house himself, because he was not an architect.

paragraphs: Stockhausen was by now world famous. He toured the United States and many other countries with a small group of musicians performing modern music. His music was not only listened to by fans of classical music but was also becoming part of popular youth culture. His picture was included on the front cover of the Beatles’s record Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The record company Deutsche Grammophon sold more copies of his music than of any other modern composer except Stravinsky.

paragraphs: During the 1970s Stockhausen became even more popular. This was partly because other music, like the other arts, had become political and very left-wing in the 1960s, which made people angry. It was also partly because audiences wanted a change from music that was very complicated, and Stockhausen's music had become much simpler. His most popular compositions are "Tierkreis" (1974–75) and "In Freundschaft" (1977). Stockhausen broke with his publisher and started to publish his music himself. From 1977 to 2003 Stockhausen composed "Licht" ("Light"), a set of seven operas named for the days of the week.

paragraphs: Stockhausen died of heart failure on 5 December 2007 in Kuerten.

paragraphs: In some student works Stockhausen used twelve tone composition. He became interested in Messiaen and his composition "Kreuzspiel" shows Messiaen’s influence. In "Kontra-Punkte" (1953) the music starts with very small bits played by ten instruments. Gradually these little bits come together and at the end the music concentrates on the piano.

paragraphs: From 1953 he worked seriously at electronic music. He thought that electronic music was going to be the music of the future. His "Gesang der Jünglinge" is a multi-track work, using 5 tracks (later reduced to 4). "Gruppen" ("Groups") is a work for three orchestras and three conductors. They sit in different parts of the concert hall and play at different speeds at the same time. His piano piece "Klavierstück XI" ("Piano Piece eleven") shows no influence of John Cage at all. The music is written on a huge sheet of paper and the pianist decides as he plays which part of the music to go to next and how to play it. This means that each performance of the work is different. This is not “chance” music, but "mobile" music.

paragraphs: He continued to experiment with new ideas. "Kontakte" is a work for piano, percussion and electronic music (the tape has been prepared beforehand). He composed “live electronic” music beginning in the 1960s. This means using electronics to change the sound of normal instruments that are amplified. His operatic cycle "Licht" was started in 1977 and took him 26 years to complete. There are seven operas: one for each day of the week. Some of the music for this includes microtonal scales, in which the notes are tuned so that they are less than a semitone apart.


title: W. C. Fields

paragraphs: W. C. Fields (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946) was an American comic actor. He had a recognizable and unique style on stage, movies, and radio. His real name was William Claude Dukenfield and he started his career when he ran away from home at the age of 11.


title: Carl Jung

paragraphs: Carl Gustav Jung (26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and writer. He created many theories and ideas that are still used in psychology today. Psychology is the science of how people think and feel. His kind of psychology was called analytical psychology or "Jungian Analysis".

paragraphs: Jung worked for years with Sigmund Freud, but they stopped working together. This was because they had some arguments about what was more important in psychology.

paragraphs: Jung is famous for many things that he did for psychology. The work he did was important for measuring what kind of personality people have. The test called the Myers Briggs Type Indicator is based on his ideas. He is also famous because of his ideas about the ancients - people from many years ago.

paragraphs: Jung liked to study strange books and sciences. He thought he could learn important things about psychology from them. For example, he liked to study alchemy. Alchemy was an old kind of magic that tried to create gold.

paragraphs: He wrote in academic German, for doctors and psychologists, meaning he could be hard to understand. Most people who study Jung start with his book "Man and His Symbols". Jung wrote this book so that people would be able understand him.

paragraphs: Jung died of an illness in Kuesnacht, Canton of Zurich.


title: Edgar Allan Poe

paragraphs: Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer. He wrote horror stories and poems. (Romantism)

paragraphs: Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. His parents were two touring vaudeville actors, David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins. David left the family under unknown circumstances whilst Poe was an infant. When Poe was two his mother died of tuberculosis, leaving Edgar an orphan. The wealthy John Allan took Edgar into his home in Richmond, Virginia. In 1815, the Allan family moved to England. Young Poe went to an English private school. After five years, the family moved back to Richmond, Virginia.

paragraphs: After moving back to Virginia, Poe entered the University of Virginia in 1826. While there, he gambled, lost money, and went into debt. John Allan became angry, and cut off all contact with Poe. In 1827, Poe published his first work, a collection of poetry titled, "Tamerlane and Other Poems". Poe did not have his name published in the book; it was attributed to "a Bostonian."

paragraphs: Poe enlisted in the army. He used the name Edgar A. Perry and lied about his age. He was successful as a soldier and quickly became a sergeant major. While in the army his foster-mother Frances Allan died. Poe attempted to mend his relationship with John Allan. Poe soon left the army and enrolled at West Point in New York state.

paragraphs: Poe did not enjoy his time at West Point and got very bored. He was expelled in March 1831. At this point, John Allan disowned him. Poe was well-liked by other cadets. They contributed money to pay for Poe to publish a book of his poems called "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems". He soon moved to Baltimore, Maryland.

paragraphs: In Baltimore, Poe lived with his aunt, Maria Poe Clemm. She was the sister of Edgar's real father. Clemm also had a daughter named Virginia Clemm. Virginia admired Poe very much. In 1836, when Virginia was thirteen, she and Poe married.

paragraphs: Poe was writing a lot by this time. He sold his first short story in 1832. His writing did not earn very much money. He also worked as an editor for various magazines over the years, becoming very well known for his literary criticism. Poe also was drinking off and on during these years.

paragraphs: In 1842, while Poe was living with Clemm and Virginia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Virginia became sick with tuberculosis. The family moved to the New York City area in 1843 before settling in The Bronx. On January 29, 1845, Poe published his most famous poem, "The Raven", making him very popular. Virginia died a few years later, on January 30, 1847.

paragraphs: On September 27, 1849, Poe left Richmond after a short visit. It is unknown what happened to him until October 3, when he was discovered outside of Gunner's Hall by a man named Joseph W. Walker in Baltimore. He was taken to Washington College Hospital. While in the hospital he became delirious and started seeing hallucinations. He died on October 7, 1849, in the hospital. Though it is not known what was his cause of death, there are several possible theories, including congestion of the brain, alcoholism withdrawal, tuberculosis, and rabies.

paragraphs: Poe was buried in the grounds of the Westminster Church and Burying Ground after a small funeral with only a few people. On May 17, 1875, Poe was reburied at the front of the churchyard after a city-wide campaign to raise money to build a large monument. He is buried there alongside his wife Virginia, and Virginia's mother Maria Clemm.


title: Fred Astaire

paragraphs: Fred Astaire, born Frederick Austerlitz (10 May 1899 – 22 June 1987), was an American dancer, singer and actor. He was the most famous stage, movie and television dancer of his day.

paragraphs: Astaire started dancing on the stage with his sister Adèle, and when she married he started a movie partnership with Ginger Rogers. After that, he danced with a succession of talented American dancers on movie and on television. He appeared in 32 movies. His movie partners included Eleanor Powell, Ann Miller, Vera-Ellen, Cyd Charisse: all high-class dancers, and on TV with Barrie Chase. Their "An evening with Fred Astaire" won nine Emmy Awards in 1958.

paragraphs: Many male dancers of the 20th century were influenced by him, and said so. He owed something to the choreography of Hermes Pan, but more to his own perfectionism and relentless practice.

paragraphs: Astaire was also an excellent actor, and a successful, though personally modest, singer. He introduced some of the most celebrated songs from the Great American Songbook. He married Phyllis Potter in 1933; they had two children. After her death, he remarried in 1980 to Robyn Smith, a female jockey 45 years his junior.


title: Game Boy Advance

paragraphs: The Game Boy Advance, commonly abbreviated as GBA, is a 32-bit handheld video game console. It was manufactured by Nintendo. The predecessors to the Game Boy Advance were the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. The Game Boy Advance was eventually succeeded by the Nintendo DS.

paragraphs: The Game Boy Advance was released in Japan on 21 March 2001. Nintendo later released it in North America on 11 June 2001 and in Europe on 22 June 2001.

paragraphs: The Game Boy Advance SP (announced in 2002) is one of the two Game Boy Advance variations, first released in Japan on February 14, 2003, in Europe on March 23, 2003, in North America on March 28, 2003, and in Australia on April 10, 2003. It is similar to the original model, but it has a "clamshell" design, meaning that it can be folded to open and close. The Game Boy Advance SP has a rechargeable battery, and it does not run on two AA batteries. The Game Boy Advance SP has a backlit screen, meaning it has a bright screen (older versions of the GBA SP have a frontlit screen). Like its predecessor, it is backwards compatible with "GB" and "GBC" games.

paragraphs: The Game Boy Micro is one of the two variations of the Game Boy Advance and is the last model in the Game Boy Line (alongside the AGS-101 model of the SP) announced at E3 2005. Development of the Micro began in 2004. It is smaller than most handhelds and is designed to fit inside coin pockets. It retains a rechargeable battery and backlit screen from the Game Boy Advance SP. The Game Boy Micro removed backwards compatibility with original Game Boy and Game Boy Color games as it is not compatible with accessories made for the "GBA" and SP. It also is incompatible with the Nintendo e-Reader. The Game Boy Micro also has a removable face plate for alternative designs. The Micro did not sell well as it was overshadowed by its successor, the Nintendo DS, which also plays "GBA" games.

paragraphs: The Game Boy Micro has a switch on its right side to make the volume lower or higher. If the player presses the L shoulder button, it can be used to adjust the backlit screen between five different brightness levels.


title: Amerie

paragraphs: Amerie or Ameriie (born Amerie Mi Marie Rogers, January 12, 1980), is an American R&B singer.

paragraphs: Amerie was born to a South Korean mother and African American father. Her first language is Korean.

paragraphs: In 2004, Amerie began dating her manager, Lenny Nicholson. On March 1, 2010, they were engaged. The couple married on June 25, 2011, in an oceanfront ceremony in Anguilla.


title: Ben Stein

paragraphs: Ben Stein (November 25, 1944) is an American attorney, writer, actor, comedian, and television personality.

paragraphs: He was a lawyer, then speech writer for Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He went into show business helping some liberal writers write accurate portrayals of conservatives for a television show. He soon turned to acting, landing his most famous role as a boring teacher in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". He was also the main person in the 2008 movie "". His nerdy appearance and dead-pan manner have made him a popular fixture on movies and TV till this day. From 1997 to 2003 he had his own game show, "Win Ben Stein's Money". He also wrote many books and had articles that appeared in popular magazines and newspapers. He is also spokesperson for a product named "Clear Eyes".


title: Soft rock

paragraphs: Soft rock is subgenre of rock music. Some people find it lighter and more relaxing than rock and roll while some cannot stand it. Some singers and musicians who sing soft rock are: Bread, The Carpenters and Chicago.


title: Angela Merkel

paragraphs: Angela Dorothea Merkel (born "Angela Dorothea Kasner" on 17 July 1954 in Hamburg) is a German politician, and has been Chancellor of Germany since 22 November 2005.

paragraphs: She was born in Hamburg, at the time part of West Germany, and grew up in the former German Democratic Republic, where she lived until the reuniting of Germany in 1990. Merkel is now married to Joachim Sauer, a professor of chemistry. From 2000 to 2018, she was the chairperson (was in charge of) the German conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).

paragraphs: Merkel became Germany's first female chancellor on 22 November 2005 in a coalition of the two biggest German political parties, the CDU/CSU and SPD. After the next election in 2009, she formed a coalition with the German liberal party FDP. After the 2013 and 2017 Federal Elections, she again emerged as chancellor of a coalition government.

paragraphs: Her father was a Lutheran pastor and her mother was a school teacher. Before becoming a politician, she worked as a researcher in Physical Chemistry. In December 2015, she was named as "Time" magazine's Person of the Year.

paragraphs: In October 2018, Merkel announced her permanent retirement from politics, as she said she would not seek reelection as leader of the CDU at the party convention in December 2018 and as Chancellor in 2021. After this, another female politician, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, replaced her as CDU leader.


title: Chinese dragon

paragraphs: A Chinese dragon was the symbol of the Emperor of China. The dragon in the Qing Dynasty came out on national flags.

paragraphs: Dragons are often found in Chinese art and stories. Since people discovered dragons in Chinese art and stories, dragons are sometimes thought of as a symbol for China.

paragraphs: There are people inside Chinese dragons. Dragons are very popular in China. The phoenix is a dragon that has five claws and was a powerful symbol for the emperors in China.


title: Robert Duvall

paragraphs: Robert Selden Duvall (born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and director. Duvall won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "Tender Mercies" (1983). He has also won the Screen Actors Guild Award, several Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award.

paragraphs: Duvall was born in San Diego, California. His parents were Mildred Virginia Hart and William Howard Duvall. He studied at Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland and The Principia in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated, in 1953, from Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.

paragraphs: Duvall's career began in 1952. His first role was as Arthur "Boo" Radley in the 1962 movie "To Kill A Mockingbird". He then appeared on "Captain Newman, M.D." (1963).

paragraphs: He landed many of his most famous roles during the early 1970s, such as Major Frank Burns in the blockbuster comedy "MASH" (1970) and the lead role in "THX 1138" (1971), as well as Horton Foote's adaptation of William Faulkner's "Tomorrow" (1972). This was followed by a series of critically lauded performances in commercially successful films.

paragraphs: Duvall's political views are variously described as libertarian or conservative.

paragraphs: Duvall was married to Barbara Benjamin from 1964 until they divorced in 1975. Then, he was married to Gail Youngs from 1982 through 1985. Then he was married to Sharon Brophy from 1991 through 1996. He has been married to Argentine actress Luciana Pedraza since 2005.

paragraphs: Duvall has no children. He lives in The Plains, Virginia.

paragraphs: He has appeared in many other films including:

paragraphs: In 2015, at age 84, Duvall became the oldest person ever nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, with a nomination for the movie "The Judge."


title: Stevie Wonder

paragraphs: Stevland Hardaway Judkins (born May 13, 1950) known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist.

paragraphs: A child prodigy,Wonder became one of the most successful and well-known artists on the Motown label. He has recorded 23 albums and more than 30 U.S. top ten hits,such as "Superstition", "Sir Duke" and "I Just Called To Say Love You" (which topped all the charts the board it faced). He has written and produced songs for many of his labelmates and other artists as well. His music, which concerns love, peace, care and knowledge about the outside world has won him 25 Grammy Awards(the most awarded to a male solo artist). Wonder plays the drums, guitar, synthesizers, congas, and most famously the piano, harmonica, and the keyboard. In 2009, United Nations dubbed him "Messenger of Peace".

paragraphs: He was born on May 13, 1950 at St. Mary's of Michigan Medical Center in Saginaw, Michigan. His real name is Stevland Hardaway Judkins but he later dropped the name Morris and it has been his name for his life.

paragraphs: He has been blind since shortly after his birth. While in the hospital his incubator was left too warm, which caused his retina to detach and resulted in severe optical nerve damage.

paragraphs: In 1961, Wonder sang his own composition , "Lonely Boy" for Smokey Robinson of The Miracles. This earned wonder his contract with Motown and he was mentored by Clarence Paul.Wonder's first album, "The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie", was released by Motown Records in 1962 when Wonder was 12 years old. This album was to showcase Stevie's instrumental talents and contained to compositions that Wonder and Paul co-wrote - "Session Number 112" and "Wondering". He released his second album "Tribute to Uncle Ray" later that year, mostly covers of Ray Charles's songs including a fresh song, "Sunset". These two albums were released in reverse order of recording and failed to gain recognition.Clarence, feeling a song was coming on set "Mother Thank You" for release as a single, which was pulled and replaced with "I Call It Pretty Music But The Old People Call It The Blues". The song almost broke into the Billboard Hot 100, appearing at 101 before dropping out of sight. The followups "Little Water Boy" and "Contract on Love" had no success, despite the latter appearing on the Uptight album. His first live album "Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius" reached number one in the "Billboard" 200 and contained the live two part single "Fingertips", This made him the youngest musician ever to have a number one album in the United States and the youngest artist ever to top the chart.

paragraphs: His next few singles were not successful; his voice was changing as he got older and Motown was considering cancelling his contract. To save him, a fresh single "Up-Tight", co-written with Wonder was recorded in 1965 with reports saying it was based on a rhythm he had been humming and during recording the lyrics were sung back to Wonder as they were unavailable in Braille and that he "never missed a beat". The single charted at No.1 and an album was rushed into production the following year to back it success. This established Wonder as a genuine Motown hitmaker. Since then, he has used a Hohner clavinet.

paragraphs: In 1971, Wonder released the album "Where I'm Coming From", an album he expected to see what was going wrong with the world (featured the single "If You Really Love Me". Around the same time his label mate, Marvin Gaye released a similar album, "What's Going On", which spawned three singles. The albums have been compared with Marvin's seen as successful, whereas Wonder's seen as "self-indulged, undistinguished, pretentious" and overall lacking in unity and flow. Wanting to become a more independent artist, Wonder allowed his old Motown contract to expire.

paragraphs: Wonder moved to a new studio and was taught synthesiser engineering. He then met Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff who introduced him to an electric orchestra known as TONTO (The Original New Timbral Orchestra) Around the time of its release the previous year, it garnered a lot of attention. On March 3, 1972 Wonder released a new album by the name of "Music of My Mind", with all songs flowing together thematically. The album spawned the singles "Superwoman" and "Keep On Running". The album was a success with critics finding it representative of his artistic growth. Although he was separate from Motown, he would still submit his albums to his old record label, Tamla. Cecil and Margouleff helped him engineer the TONTO synthesiser and so were listed as associate producers. This began Wonder's classical period and marked a long collaboration with TONTO's Expanding Head Band.

paragraphs: The albums that followed were Talking Book and Innervisions, the latter winning album of the year in 1973. Wonder won his first four Grammy Awards in 1973. Two of the awards were for his single "Superstition" from "Talking Book". In 1974, Wonder's seventeenth album "Fulfillingess' First Finale" was released, also winning album of the year. It featured two number one singles, "Boogie on Reggae Woman", and "You Haven't Done Nothin", a hit which launched criticism against The Nixon Federation - funny enough, 2 days later, Richard Nixon resigned. Wonder won another four Grammys for the album that year. It was Wonder's second number one album. Wonder's next album "Songs in the Key of Life" also reached number one. This was Wonder's most critically acclaimed album and the Library of Congress called it "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". It spawned five singles , "Sir Duke", a song explaining the pleasures of music, "I Wish" wishing for childhood days to come back "As" a ballad of love which will last till The Impossible happens, "Another Star" a fast-paced Cuban style heartbreak ballad which featured on BBC's promotional video for the 2014 World Cup and "Isn't She Lovely" a song inspired by the birth Wonder's daughter, Aisha Morris.(Wonder would not release it as a single although instructed by a Motown executive to do so.) The former two songs reached No.1 on the Billboard charts.

paragraphs: In 1979, he released a soundtrack album, Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants for a documentary The Secret Life Of Plants. The album used a computer melodian virtually throughout. The album contain the No.1 ballad "Send One Your Love". The album had been called "odd" "goofy" "nerdy" and "foolish". Wonder blamed Motown for not promoting the album properly. In 1980, Wonder released Hotter Than July which included "I Ain't Gonna stand For It", a country-style song about a man whose property has been repeatedly trespassed, "Master Blaster (Jammin')", a reggae tune dedicated to Bob Marley, "Lately", a ballad and "Happy Birthday", a song in memory of Martin Luther King Jr used for Wonder's campaign to make Luther's birthday a national holiday. His next was a greatest hits album titled "Original Musiquarium I" featuring 4 new singles "That Girl", "Do I Do", "Front Line" and "Ribbon in The Sky". In 1983, Wonder contributed "Stay Gold" to the drama "The Outsiders". He then scheduled an album to be titled People Work, Human Play. The album never surfaced and instead 1984 saw the release of his next soundtrack album The Woman in Red.It spawned the hit single "I Just Called to Say I Love You" which reached number one in all the countries with charts at the time, therefore becoming his bestselling record. It was Wonder's only number one in the UK. It was number one there for six weeks. In 1985 Wonder released the digital album In Square Circle and featured on Dionne Warwick's single "That's What Friends Are For" with Elton John and Gladys Knight. It reached number one in the US. Wonder shared the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo Or Group With Vocal. In 1987 Wonder released the album Characters which featured hit singles "Skeletons" and "You Will Know", but was subject to mixed reception. Michael Jackson's album "Bad" was released. Wonder featured on the album's fifth song "Just Good Friends". In December 1987 Wonder released a single called "Get It", a duet with MJ in turn for Just Good Friends.

paragraphs: In 1991, Wonder's 3rd soundtrack album, Jungle Fever was released a month before the drama film of the same name. The album helped Wonder climb back into the Top Ten in album charting.

paragraphs: In 1995 Wonder released "Conversation Peace". It was his first album that was not a soundtrack since 1987. One single, "For Your Love", was released from the album. It won 2 Grammy awards for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

paragraphs: In 2005 Wonder released his first album in ten years, "A Time to Love". Reviewers were upset with the fact it took ten years for him to release a new album with fresh material. On June 25, 2011, Wonder performed at the opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

paragraphs: Wonder said in 2013 that he will release 2 new albums in 2014, and is making a third. The current working titles are Ten Billion Hearts, When The World Began and Gospel Inspired By Lula.


title: Littleton, Colorado

paragraphs: Littleton is a community in Colorado, near Denver. It is most famous in 1999 because of the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine High School, which is not actually in the city of Littleton, but is in a ZIP code assigned to Littleton.


title: Motown

paragraphs: Motown is a famous record label founded in Detroit, Michigan in the late 1950s by Berry Gordy. It is known for signing many well-known rhythm and blues singers and groups. Some of the artists who sang on the label include:

paragraphs: "Motown" can also refer to the city of Detroit itself, or to the genre of music made by artists like those listed above.


title: Mustelid

paragraphs: Mustelids are a family of carnivorous mammals. They are the family Mustelidae, in the order Carnivora.

paragraphs: They are the largest family of mammals. They are diverse, from weasels who eat mice to wolverines that can kill prey much larger than themselves. Mustelids live in many habitats: otters for example, live mostly in the water, while one species of weasel lives in the Arctic.

paragraphs: One kind of mustelid, the ferret, has been tamed and used for hunting for a long time. These days it is mostly kept as a pet. Because the ferret looks a bit like a rat that has been stretched out in the middle, it is sometimes called a tube rat.

paragraphs: These are other well-known animals from the mustelid family.

paragraphs: They can be thought of as two subfamilies, the Lutrinae (the otters), and the Mustelinae (the rest)


title: Vanilla Ninja

paragraphs: Vanilla Ninja is a music group made up of four girls named Lenna Kuurmaa, Katrin Siska, Piret Järvis. Previous members are Triinu Kivilaan & Maarja Kivi.

paragraphs: The band has had some popular songs in Europe and they were in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005.


title: Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia

paragraphs: Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia (July 23, 1892 - August 26, 1975) was the Emperor of Ethiopia. He is also known as the religious symbol for God incarnate (in the flesh) among members of the Rastafari movement, who call themselves by his name before becoming Emperor - Ras Tafari.

paragraphs: Tafari was made into local governor of Sidamo in 1907, and Harar province in 1911. As governor of Harar, he had a huge following, but he agreed not to remove Lij Iyasu from power as regent, in exchange for Lij Iyasu not removing him as governor of Harer. However, Iyasu became a Muslim, and also he did try to remove Tafari as governor, breaking the agreement. Tafari said that now the agreement was broken, he did not have to keep it either, and so he did remove Iyasu as regent. Because Iyasu had gone over to Islam, the nobles replaced him with Empress Zauditu on September 27, 1916 and made Tafari regent. From this time onward, he controlled Ethiopia. He was made "negus" (king) in 1928, and was crowned "Haile Selassie I, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God" on November 2, 1930. His coronation was given widespread publicity throughout the world, especially through two TIME Magazine articles in a row. This publicity created interest on the far-away island of Jamaica, where a belief in his divinity (Godliness) soon arose because of his titles, and because they saw him as a symbol of black liberation.

paragraphs: In 1936 he left Ethiopia after the invasion by Mussolini's Italy. He gave a speech at the League of Nations, asking the world to stop the Italians, but they failed to act. With the help of the British in World War Two, he was able to return to Ethiopia in 1941. In 1963, the Emperor did everything he could to help start the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) with its headquarters in Addis Ababa. In 1966, he visited Jamaica, where he met the Rastafarian community of Jamaica. On September 12, 1974, he was overthrown by a Marxist coup, and, they said, died of natural causes the following August. However, there is some disagreement around why he died, and many Rastafarians claim he is still alive.


title: Ethiopia

paragraphs: Ethiopia is a country in the Horn of Africa. It has one of the longest and most well known histories as a country in Africa and the world. Ethiopia was one of the few countries in Africa that escaped the Scramble for Africa. It avoided being colonized until 1935, when it was invaded by the Italians, who took over the country. Ethiopia used to be called Abyssinia. The word "Ethiopia" is from the Greek word Αἰθιοπία meaning sun light burned face. It is the most populous landlocked country in the world, having lost its Red Sea ports when Eritrea gained independence in 1993.

paragraphs: The Kingdom of Aksum, the first known kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia, rose during the first century AD. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his time. It was in the early 4th century that a Syro-Greek castaway, Frumentius, was taken to the court and over time changed King Ezana to Christianity, making Christianity Ethiopia's religion. For this, he received the title "Abba Selama". At different times, including a time in the 6th century, Axum ruled most of modern-day Yemen just across the Red Sea.

paragraphs: The line of rulers of the actual Axumite kings ended around 950 AD when they were overthrown by the Jewish Queen Gudit; then it was followed by the Zagwe dynasty for around 300 years. Around 1270 AD, the Solomonid dynasty came to control Ethiopia, claiming that they were related to the kings of Axum (though their claim was unscientific, they were even southern Ethiopia people, like from Shewa and such). They called themselves "Neguse Negest" ("King of Kings," or Emperor), basing their claims on their direct relation to king Solomon and the queen of Sheba.

paragraphs: During the rule of Emperor Lebna Dengel, Ethiopia made its first good contact with a European country, Portugal in 1520. When the Empire was attacked by Somali General and Imam, Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, Portugal responded to Lebna Dengel's request for help with 400 musketeers, helping his son Gelawdewos beat al-Ghazi and remake his rule. However, Jesuit missionaries over time offended the Orthodox faith of the local Ethiopians, and in the mid-17th century Emperor Fasilidos got rid of these missionaries. At the same time, the Oromo people began to question the Ethiopian Christian authorities in the Abyssinian territories, and wanted to keep their own religion.

paragraphs: All of this led to Ethiopia's isolation during the 1700s. The Emperors became figureheads, controlled by warlords like Ras Mikael Sehul of Tigray. But Amharic is the national language of Ethiopia. Ethiopian isolationism ended following a British mission that made friendship between the two nations; however, it was not until the reign of Tewodros II that Ethiopia began to take part in world matters once again.

paragraphs: In 1896 Italy was decisively defeated in the battle of Adwa by Emperor Menelik; an Amhara Emperor from the province of Shewa. This battle dispelled the notion that Europeans were superior and could not be defeated by a black army. It gave rise to the Pan African movement, and hope to other African countries who were conquered. This victory made Ethiopia the only African country to successfully repel a European power during the Scramble of Africa. In 1936 Italy again attacked, and succeeded in occupying Ethiopia until 1941. With British help the 5 year occupation ended and Emperor Haile Selassie regained the throne.

paragraphs: Revolutionaries overthrew and killed the emperor in 1974. The resulting civil war lasted until 1991. Eritrea became independent and later fought the Eritrean–Ethiopian War.

paragraphs: Before 1996, Ethiopia was divided into 13 provinces. Ethiopia now has ethnically based regional countries, zones, districts, and neighborhoods.

paragraphs: There are nine regions, sixty-eight zones and two chartered cities. Ethiopia is further divided into 550 "woredas" and several "special woredas".

paragraphs: The nine regions and two chartered cities (in italics) are:

paragraphs: Coffee production is a longstanding tradition in Ethiopia.


title: Utah

paragraphs: Utah is a state in the west United States. The capital and largest city is Salt Lake City. Utah became a state in the U.S. on January 4, 1896.

paragraphs: Utah is bordered by Idaho and Wyoming in the north and Colorado in the east. It touches a single point of New Mexico to the southeast at Four Corners. Utah is bordered by Arizona in the south, and by Nevada in the west. It covers an area of 84,899 square miles (219,887 km²).

paragraphs: Utah is mostly rocky with three distinct geological regions: the Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau. Utah is a great geographical tourism place. Utah is known for its natural diversity and is home to features ranging from arid deserts with sand dunes to thriving pine forests in mountain valleys.

paragraphs: Utah has a dry, semi-arid to climate, although its many mountains have large, wide, differences of climates, with the highest points in the Uinta Mountains being above the . The dry weather from the state lying mostly in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada in California. The eastern half of the state is in the rain shadow of the Wasatch Mountains. The primary source of rain for the state is the Pacific Ocean, with the state normally lying in the path of large Pacific storms from mid-October through April, although northern Utah often sees these large storms earlier and later. In summer, the state, normally southern and eastern Utah, is in the path of monsoon from the Gulf of California. Most of the lowland areas get less than 12 inches (300 mm) of rain a year. The Great Salt Lake Desert is the driest area of the state, with less than 5 inches (125 mm). Snowfall is common in all but the far southern valleys. Although St. George only gets about 3 inches (7.5 cm) per year, Salt Lake City sees about 60 inches (150 cm), enhanced by the lake-effect snow from the Great Salt Lake, which increases snowfall totals to the south, southeast, and east of the lake. Some areas of the Wasatch Range in the path of the lake-effect get up to 700 inches (1,770 cm) per year. The dry, fluffy, snow led Utah's ski industry to get the slogan "the Greatest Snow on Earth" in the 1980s. In the winter, temperature are a phenomenon across Utah's low basins and valleys, leading to thick humidity and fog that can sometimes last for weeks at a time, normally in the Uintah Basin.

paragraphs: The center of population of Utah is in Salt Lake County in the city of "Salt Lake City". As of July 1, 2008 the Census Bureau believes Utah has a population of 2,736,424. In 2008, the US Census Bureau determined Utah to be the fastest growing state in the country in terms of population growth.

paragraphs: Much of the population lives in cities and towns along the Wasatch Front, a region that runs north-south with the Wasatch Mountains rising on the eastern side. Growth outside the Wasatch Front is also increasing. The St. George metropolitan area is right now the second-fastest growing in the country after the Las Vegas metropolitan area, while the Heber metropolitan area is also the second-fastest growing in the country (right in front of Palm Coast, Florida).

paragraphs: The University of Utah says that the gross state product of Utah in 2005 was $92 billion, or 0.74% of the total United States GDP of $12.4 trillion for the same year. The per capital personal income was $24,977 in 2005. Major companies of Utah are: mining, cattle ranching, salt production, and government services.

paragraphs: In eastern Utah petroleum making is a big industry. Near Salt Lake City, petroleum refining is done by a number of oil companies. In central Utah, coal mining accounts for much of the mining activity.

paragraphs: Utah has a high total birth rate, and the youngest population of any U.S. state. It is also one of the few non-Southern states that has more males than females.

paragraphs: In 2000, the gender percents of Utah were estimated as:

paragraphs: Most of the state's people are members of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints", commonly referred to as the Mormons or the LDS Church. As of 2007, 60.7 percent of everyone in the state are members of "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". Mormons are not as common as they used to be in Salt Lake City. Usually, rural areas are almost all Mormon. Though the LDS Church does not support or oppose any political parties, the church's doctrine has a strong connection with politics. In the past, many of Utah's lawmakers have been church members; the effect has contributed to the state's towards alcohol (sales and content) and gambling. Another effect can be seen in Utah's high birth rate (25 percent higher than the national normal; the highest for a state in the U.S.). The Mormons in Utah normally have conservative views when it comes to most political . Most voter-age Utahns do not belong to a political party (60%), but vote mostly for Republicans. John McCain got 62.5% of the vote in the 2008 Presidential Election while 70.9% of people of Utah chose George W. Bush in 2004.

paragraphs: Utah's population is concentrated in two areas, the Wasatch Front in the North-Central part of the state, with a population of over 2 million; and southwestern Utah, locally known as "Dixie", with nearly 150,000 people who live there.

paragraphs: According to the 2000 Census, Utah was the fourth fastest growing state (at 29.6 percent) in the United States between 1990 and 2000. St. George, in the southwest, is the second-fastest growing area in the United States, right behind Greeley, Colorado.

paragraphs: The state's two fastest growing counties are: "Summit" (at 91.6 percent; ranking it 8th in the country) and "Washington" (at 86.1 percent; ranking it 12th). The cities (defined as having at least 9,000 people living there in 2000) that saw the greatest increases between 1990 and 2000 were: "Draper" (248 percent), "South Jordan" (141 percent), "Lehi" (125 percent), "Riverton" (122 percent), and "Syracuse" (102 percent). Between 1990 and 2000 the five fastest-growing cities of any size were "Cedar Hills" (302 percent), "Draper" (248 percent), "Woodland Hills" (213 percent), "Ivins" (173 percent), and "South Jordan" (141 percent). The U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the five fastest-growing cities of any size between 2000 and 2008 were "Saratoga Springs" (1,501%), "Herriman" (1,061%), "Eagle Mountain" (934%), "Cedar Hills" (209%), and "Lehi" (146%).


title: The Bahamas

paragraphs: The Bahamas (officially called Commonwealth of The Bahamas) is a group of islands in the West Indies. The country's capital, Nassau, is on New Providence Island.

paragraphs: The Taino were the first people living there. In 1492, Christopher Columbus found the Americas by landing on another of the islands, San Salvador. The Eleutheran Adventurers soon came along, making a home in Eleuthera.

paragraphs: The islands' mostly black population speaks English, the country's main language.

paragraphs: The Bahamas are a popular place for people to visit for holidays, the 700 islands and cays attract many visitors from nearby America, as well as Europe and other countries.

paragraphs: Lucayanss were the first people to arrive in the Bahamas. They moved into the southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 11th century AD, having come there from South America. They came to be known as the Lucayan. About 30,000 Lucayan lived the Bahamas when Christopher Columbus arrived in 1492. Columbus' first landfall in the New World was on an island named San Salvador, which some scholars believe to be present-day San Salvador Island.

paragraphs: The Spanish forced much of the Lucayan population to move to Hispaniola. They were used for forced labour. This and the exposure to foreign diseases led to most of the population of the Bahamas dying. Smallpox alone wiped out half of the population in what is now the Bahamas.

paragraphs: In 1670, King Charles II rented out the islands to the Carolinas, along with rights of trading, tax, and governing the country. During this time, the Bahamas became a haven for pirates, including the infamous Blackbeard. To restore proper government, Britain made the Bahamas a crown colony in 1718. The first governor was Woodes Rogers.

paragraphs: After the American War of Independence, the British resettled some 7,300 Loyalists and their slaves in the Bahamas from New York, Florida, and the Carolinas. The first group of loyalists left St. Augustine in East Florida in September 1783. These Loyalists established plantations on several islands. British Americans were outnumbered by the African-American slaves they brought with them, and ethnic Europeans remained a minority in the territory.

paragraphs: On 10 July 1973 The Bahamas gains full independence within British Commonwealth.

paragraphs: Nearly 500,000 people live in the Bahamas. The ethnic groups of the population is: 82% African descent 15% European & Mixed descent 3% Asian and other.

paragraphs: The official language of the Bahamas is English, but they also speak a local dialect called Bahamianese. The Bahamian dialect is based based on the West Country England accents along with South Hiberno English dialects with strong influences from West African languages.

paragraphs: In 1864 the Governor of the Bahamas reported that there were 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 rocks in the colony.

paragraphs: The closest island to the United States is Bimini. The southeasternmost island is Inagua. The largest island is Andros Island. Nassau, capital city of The Bahamas, is on the island of New Providence.

paragraphs: All the islands are low and flat. The highest point in the country is Mount Alvernia on Cat Island. It is high.

paragraphs: The climate of The Bahamas is subtropical to tropical. The Gulf Stream can be very dangerous in the summer and autumn. This is when hurricanes pass near or through the islands. Hurricane Andrew hit the northern islands during the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season. Hurricane Floyd hit most of the islands during the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season.

paragraphs: There has never been a freeze reported in The Bahamas. The temperature can fall as low as .

paragraphs: The Bahamas are divided into 32 districts and the town of New Providence.

paragraphs: The Bahamas does not have an army or an air force. The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is the navy. The Defence Force has a fleet of 26 coastal and inshore patrol craft along with 2 aircraft and over 850 personnel including 65 officers and 74 women.


title: Vanuatu

paragraphs: Vanuatu is a country in the Pacific Ocean. The official languages of Vanuatu are Bislama, English and French. Vanuatu has a population of about 202,609 people (2004). The capital of Vanuatu is Port Vila. The country was ruled as a colony by England and France until it got its freedom in 1980. During the colonial time, it was named the "New Hebrides" or "Nouvelles Hebrides".

paragraphs: Vanuatu is an island archipelago. It has about 82 small islands. The islands were made from Volcanos. 65 of the islands are inhabited. There is about north to south distance between the outermost islands. Two of the islands (Matthew and Hunter) are also claimed by France. Fourteen of Vanuatu's islands have surface areas of more than .

paragraphs: The highest point in Vanuatu is Mount Tabwemasana, at , on the island of Espiritu Santo.

paragraphs: Even though it has tropical forests, Vanuatu has a small number of plant and animal species. There are no large mammals. The 19 species of native reptiles include the flowerpot snake, found only on Efate. The Fiji Banded Iguana ("Brachylophus fasciatus") was introduced as a feral animal in the 1960s. There are 11 species of bats and 61 species of land and water birds.

paragraphs: The region is rich in sea life. There are more than 4,000 species of marine molluscs. Coneshell and stonefish carry poison that will kill humans. The giant East African land snail arrived only in the 1970s but already has spread from the Port-Vila region to Luganville.

paragraphs: There are three or possibly four adult saltwater crocodiles living in Vanuatu's mangroves and no current breeding population. It is said the crocodiles reach the northern part of the islands after cyclones. This is because of the island chain's closeness to the Solomon Islands and New Guinea, where crocodiles are very common.

paragraphs: The national dish of Vanuatu is the lap lap.

paragraphs: There are six provinces in Vanuatu. They are Malampa, Penama, Sanma, Shefa, Tafea and Torba.


title: Jack

paragraphs: Jack is a male given name. It might also mean:


title: Stuff

paragraphs: Stuff is a mass of many things listed below, matter, or events.


title: Crayola

paragraphs: Crayola is brand of crayons and other writing and drawing utensils, such as markers, chalk and colored pencils made by the Binney & Smith Inc. company, which is part of the card company Hallmark.

paragraphs: Binney and Smith made industrial products before 1900, but in 1903 started to make Crayola crayons. The name came from a word used by the wife of Mr. Binney. The first box had eight colors: blue, green, red, yellow, black, brown, orange and violet. They became well-known because they were the best crayons at that time. Later, the company made more products, including boxes of 48, 64, 96,120 and 200 Crayons, colored pencils and markers.

paragraphs: In 2003, the company built a huge blue crayon that was 15 feet tall and weighed almost a ton.

paragraphs: Here are the 133 standard Crayola crayon colors. According to its chronology page, Crayola considers each "core color" to have been introduced in a specific year. These dates are reflected in the table below. The hex triplets below are representative of the colors produced by the named crayons.

paragraphs: The following is a list of colors included in the 12, 24, 36, 50 and 64 packs of Crayola's standard colored pencils. Color values are approximate. Colored Pencils from "Guppie Green" to "UFO Green" are 14 of the ultra-cool and super-hot colored pencils that will be issued on July 2010.

paragraphs: In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 64-box of Crayola crayons in 2010, a 64-box of Crayola colored pencils was issued. It had the same colors as the current 64 box.

paragraphs: Only 44 colors are on this list, there are at least 20 missing.


title: Ringo Starr

paragraphs: Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor. He is most well known as a former member of the Beatles. He joined the group in 1962 as a replacement for their first drummer Pete Best. He quickly became well-liked and very popular. He sang lead on some of the band's songs including "Yellow Submarine", "Act Naturally", "Don't Pass Me By", and "Octopus's Garden".

paragraphs: After the group broke up he became a solo artist; his songs included "It Don't Come Easy", "Photograph" (written with George Harrison), "You're Sixteen" (featuring Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson), and "Only You (And You Alone)" (with John Lennon and again with Nilsson).

paragraphs: Starr acted in several movies aside from the ones he did with the Beatles, including "The Magic Christian" (1969), "That'll Be The Day" (1973), "Caveman" (1980), and the role of Mr. Conductor on the children's show "Shining Time Station", during its first season (1989). (Comedian George Carlin later took over the role). He also narrated the children's show "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends" for the first two seasons (1984-1986). He also made a movie with the Beatles called "A Hard Day's Night" in 1964. He guest starred in the first episode of "Courage the Cowardly Dog" as an Alien Duck.


title: Oslo

paragraphs: Oslo is the capital city of Norway. It is Norway's largest city, with a population of 647,676 people in 2015. The area near the city has a total population of 1,546,706. The city government of Oslo and the county are the same thing.

paragraphs: The city is an economic and cultural epicenter. Many important institutions are in Oslo. Among these are the Norwegian government and parliament, the University of Oslo and Ullevål Stadium, the stadium of Norway's soccer team. The city also has many museums, theaters and concert venues. Some good cultural places are Frognerparken, the Oslo Opera, the National Museum and the National Theatre. Travelling inside the city is easy with public transportation. Using tram, subway and bus is easy.

paragraphs: Oslo feels divided into to two parts. West end and East end, with the West traditionally being the upper/middle class area and the East end being a working class and poor area. This has faded in the last 50 years. Fewer people are manual workers and more people are employed in better paid middle-class jobs. Oslo is a very expensive city, with high prices in bars and restaurants, as well as high prices for houses and apartments.

paragraphs: Currently, the mayor of Oslo is Marianne Borgen from The Socialist Left Party.

paragraphs: Oslo has a humid continental climate ("Dfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).

paragraphs: The Saga of Norwegian Kings (written by Snorre Sturlason) says that king Harald III Sigurdsson founded Oslo around 1048. Recent archaeological research has found Christian graves from before 1000. Because of these two facts, Oslo celebrated its 900-year anniversary in 1950 and its 1000-year anniversary in 2000.

paragraphs: One of the more famous landmarks in Oslo is Akershus Fortress. It was first built around 1290. Oslo was destroyed in fire in 1624, and the fortress was rebuilt closer to Akershus Fortress by the order of King Christian IV of Norway. The king gave the new city the name Christiania, which later also written as Kristiania. In 1925 the name of the city was changed back to Oslo.


title: Lincoln Thompson

paragraphs: Lincoln Thompson (June 18, 1949 - January 23, 1999) was a Jamaican reggae musician, songwriter and Rastafarian. He spent 2 years in the Tartans as a teenager before working under Coxsone Dodd in the early 1970s. In 1974 he released his first record, "Humanity". The album had popular singles but it did not sell many copies until Thompson made a deal with Ballistics Records, a part of the record label United Artists, in 1979. This album was released commercially and there were 2 other albums recorded with Ballistics. These albums were recorded in 1979 and 1980. "Experience" was recorded in Jamaica. The next album, "Natural Wild", was recorded in England with Joe Jackson. Ballistics went bankrupt, and Thompson returned to Jamaica. There, he recorded the album, "Ride with the Rasses" in 1982. The next year, he took his family to live in London where he recorded a 5th album, "Rootsman Blues". He then set up an Ital grocery shop named "The Rasses Fish and Grocery Store" in London. Thanks to an American sponsor, a 6th album came out in 1996, called "21st century". He died in 1999 of cancer.


title: Tom Hanks

paragraphs: Tom Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor, movie producer, writer, director, screenwriter and speaker.

paragraphs: Many of Hanks' early movies were comedies. He was made famous by his roles in "Splash" and "Big". He made his way into drama with "A League of Their Own" and "Philadelphia". He combined the two genres with "Forrest Gump". Hanks has starred in many more famous movies since, including "Apollo 13", "Saving Private Ryan", "Toy Story" (only his voice was used), "Cast Away", "The Terminal", "The Da Vinci Code", "The Green Mile", "Captain Phillips", "Sully", "Bridge of Spies" and "The Post".

paragraphs: Hanks played Fred Rogers in Marielle Heller's biographical movie "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (2019), a role which earned him a Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations.

paragraphs: Hanks has won several awards for acting. He won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in "Philadelphia". He also won a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a People's Choice Award for Best Actor for his role in "Forrest Gump".

paragraphs: In 2014, he received a Kennedy Center Honor and, in 2016, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama, as well as the French Legion of Honor.

paragraphs: For his role in "Saving Private Ryan", Hanks was honored as an honorary member of the United States Army Rangers Hall of Fame.

paragraphs: In December 2019, he was naturalized as an honorary Greek citizen by the President of Greece.

paragraphs: On March 12, 2020, Hanks announced that he and his wife Rita had tested positive for COVID-19 while shooting "Elvis" in Australia.


title: Sir Mix-A-Lot

paragraphs: Sir Mix-a-Lot (born Anthony Ray on August 12, 1963) is an American rapper and producer.

paragraphs: His style of music is called "hip-hop." He was born in Seattle, Washington. He is best known for his hit song "Baby Got Back". That song has catchy phrases and cheap humor, and it talks about liking women with big buttocks. This made it popular in the United States during the 1990s.

paragraphs: Sir Mix-a-Lot is not actually a peer of the realm but has assumed the title 'Sir' for humorous or ironic effect.


title: Dick York

paragraphs: Dick York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American actor. He is best known for his role as Darren Stephens on the television series "Bewitched". York left the series in 1969 and was replaced by Dick Sargent.


title: James Earl Jones

paragraphs: James Earl Jones (born Todd Jones on January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He is famous for doing the voice of Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" movies, for doing the voice of Mufasa in "The Lion King" and in the 2019 remake, and for the CNN tagline ("This...is CNN"). He starred in "Lincoln Portrait" which has music by Aaron Copland.

paragraphs: Jones has won two Tony Awards for his live theatre work on Broadway. He won an Emmy Award for his role on the television series "Gabriel's Fire".


title: Calvin and Hobbes

paragraphs: "Calvin and Hobbes" is a comic strip by Bill Watterson about a boy called Calvin and a tiger called Hobbes. When Calvin looks at Hobbes, he sees a real tiger. However, everyone else sees Hobbes as a toy. This comic began in 1985 and has been in over 2,400 newspapers. Readers bought almost 23 million Calvin and Hobbes books.

paragraphs: In the comic, Calvin spends a lot of time with Hobbes. In pictures with only Calvin and Hobbes in them, Hobbes looks like a cartoon tiger. He stands on two legs. In pictures with any other person, Hobbes looks like a stuffed animal. Calvin meets Hobbes in the first story. Calvin catches him with a string and a tuna fish sandwich as bait. Calvin and Hobbes have all sorts of trouble and adventures. The comic strip continued from November 18, 1985 until December 31, 1995.

paragraphs: Calvin is a 6-year-old boy. He is named after a religious thinker, or theologian, John Calvin. His last name is never in the comic.

paragraphs: Calvin often pretends, and he has a powerful imagination. He also does things without thinking. He is often very excited and is curious about everything. Sometimes he is selfish and rude. Calvin does not get good grades in school, but he knows very many complex words that usually only adults know. "You know how Einstein got bad grades as a kid?" he says. "Well, mine are even worse!"

paragraphs: Calvin usually wears a shirt with red stripes on it. He has blond hair that stands up on his head. Watterson has described Calvin this way:

paragraphs: In classic comic tradition of sidekicks, Hobbes is like Calvin's 'good side' because he is more mature and makes smarter decisions than Calvin does. When Calvin does something like throw a snowball at a girl, Hobbes will say "You think she's cute, right?"

paragraphs: From most characters' point of view, Hobbes is Calvin's stuffed tiger. However, from Calvin's point of view, Hobbes is as alive and real just like other characters in the comic strip. He is named after 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who had what Watterson called "a dim view of human nature." Hobbes is much more alert and aware of the bad things that can happen than Calvin is. But, he does not stop Calvin's trouble making. All that he really does is warn him. Calvin will be the one to get in trouble for doing something wrong, not Hobbes. Hobbes also likes to surprise Calvin. He approaches him quietly and then jumping on Calvin. Calvin hates this.

paragraphs: From Calvin's point of view, Hobbes is a real, intelligent, loyal, and cunning tiger, much larger than Calvin and full of his own attitudes and ideas. But when the view changes to any other character, readers see merely a little stuffed tiger. Watterson explains it like this:

paragraphs: Although the first strips clearly show Calvin capturing Hobbes by means of a trap (with tuna fish as the bait), a later comic (August 1, 1989) seems to imply that Hobbes is, in fact, older than Calvin, and has been around with him his whole life. Watterson decided that it was not important to explain how Calvin and Hobbes had first met.

paragraphs: Calvin's mom and dad are mostly American middle-class parents; like many other characters in the strip, their relatively realistic and sensible manners act as a contrast to Calvin's childish and selfish behavior. Both parents go through the entire strip without names. They are only called "Mom" and "Dad", or nicknames such as "hon" and "dear." Watterson has never given Calvin's parents names "because as far as the strip is concerned, they are important only as Calvin's mom and dad." This ended up being somewhat problematic when Calvin's Uncle Max was in the strip for a week and could not refer to the parents by name, and was one of the main reasons that Max never reappeared.

paragraphs: Susie Derkins, the only character in the strip with both first and last names, is a classmate of Calvin who lives in his neighborhood. She first appeared early in the strip as a new student in Calvin's class. Unlike Calvin, she is polite and very smart and eager to improve in her studies and grades at school, and her imagination usually seems mild-mannered and calm, consisting of a standard young girls' games such as playing house or having tea parties with her stuffed animals. Her approach to these games is arguably more modern, however, some might say even skeptical. (In a game of "house" she usually casts herself as the traditional working wife while Calvin is the lousy and useless husband or some version similar to that.) "Derkins" was the nickname of Watterson's wife's family beagle, and he liked the name so much he named this character after it. As much as either of them hate to admit, Calvin and Susie have quite a bit in common. (Susie is shown on occasion with a stuffed rabbit known as "Mr. Bun," and Calvin always has Hobbes.)

paragraphs: Watterson admits that Calvin and Susie have a bit of a wild crush on each other (Said by Calvin, "It's shameless the way we flirt."), and that Susie is inspired by the type of women Watterson himself finds attractive (which has led to speculation that Susie is based on Watterson's wife). Her relationship with Calvin, though, is frequently conflicted, and never really becomes sorted out, and the closest things are times when Calvin sends dead flowers and hate-mail as Valentine's Day gifts for his own enjoyment. (She feels he likes her enough to send her that gift, and he rejoices in her noticing.)

paragraphs: Sometimes Hobbes does something to attract Susie's romantic attention. He is often successful and this makes Calvin angry and jealous. Although on the surface these events take the form of Hobbes teasing Calvin and showing off his charms, they may be Calvin's way to disguise his own crush on Susie, by pretending that it is Hobbes' crush instead.

paragraphs: Moe is a bully, "a six-year-old who shaves" who is always pushing Calvin against walls, forcing to give him to give away his lunch money, and calling him "Twinky." Moe is the only regular character who speaks in an unusual font: his (frequently monosyllabic) dialogue is shown in rough, lower-case letters. Watterson describes Moe as "every jerk I've ever known." And while Moe is not smart, he is, as Calvin puts it, streetwise. That means, as Calvin says, "he knows what street he lives on".

paragraphs: Miss Wormwood is Calvin's bored and depressed teacher, named after the apprentice devil in C.S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters". She continuously wears polka-dotted dresses, and serves like others as a foil to Calvin's rude behavior. Calvin's response to the boring studies of schoolwork is endless dreams of his imagination. She is eagerly waiting to retire, taking a large amount of medication, and is apparently a heavy smoker and alcohol drinker.

paragraphs: Although time does change in the Calvin and Hobbes universe, which is mostly seen in the changing of the season, Calvin (and Susie) returns to Ms. Wormwood's first-grade class every fall.

paragraphs: As usual, for an adult entering Calvin's world, Miss Wormwood sees things differently from Calvin. For example, when she talks to Calvin about his missing homework, Calvin's Spaceman Spiff persona sees her as a large slimy threatening snarling alien. "Slowly, carefully, Spiff draws his death-ray blaster".

paragraphs: Rosalyn is a teenage high school senior student and the person who watches Calvin whenever Calvin's parents go on a night out together. She is the only babysitter able to put up with Calvin's bad behavior, which she uses to demand raises and advance payment from Calvin's desperate parents. She is also, according to Watterson, the only person Calvin truly fears— certainly she is his equal in sneakiness, and is willing to play as dirty as he does. Rosalyn has a habit of sending him to bed at 6:30, which he refuses to do, and only makes more trouble. Rosalyn's boyfriend, Charlie, never appears in the strip, but calls her on the telephone sometimes. Calvin often cuts short these calls. Originally, she was created as a nameless, one-time only character with no plans to appear again; however, Watterson decided he wanted to keep her unique ability to scare Calvin, which led to many more appearances.

paragraphs: At one time during the strip shown in the book collection "The Revenge of the Babysat", Calvin's parents prepare to go out on a night with a dinner and a movie while leaving Calvin with Rosalyn. When he finds out she is coming, Calvin runs up to Hobbes and explains the situation. Later when Rosalyn appears, Calvin and Hobbes hear that Rosalyn needs to study for a big science test. They decide to ruin her studying. After Calvin's parents leave, Calvin approaches Rosalyn, curious about what she's doing. After slyly talking her away from her science notes, he quickly grabs them, runs to the bathroom door with Hobbes, and locks the door while Rosalyn yells from he outside demanding her notes back. Once they "flushed" her notes (in which they only pretended to and flushed an empty toilet). Moments later when the wonder if Rosalyn has gone, Calvin opens the door only to find Rosalyn pounce upon him and throw him to bed at 7 o'clock which Hobbes notes that they went to bed 30 minutes later than usual. The ending shows Calvin's parents coming back home to find Rosalyn charge extra money for the job while Calvin's parents argue if there's another babysitter in town.

paragraphs: During the winter, Calvin likes to make ugly or frightening snowmen when once Calvin created the "Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons". Also, his snowmen creations have had snowmen with missing or multiple heads, snowmen taking another's head for a bowling ball, and snowmen being "knocked over" by his family's car.

paragraphs: Also, Calvin frequently throws snowballs at Susie, most likely having himself being chased by Susie. Once Calvin (while in his "Stupendous Man" alter-ego) also made a gigantic snowball and dropped it at Susie while on top of a tree, as where Susie's mom described it as a "the size of a bowling ball".

paragraphs: The monsters under the bed are described as scary, octopus-tentacled shaped creatures that lived under Calvin's bed every time he went to sleep. Often, they would try to bribe Calvin to come under the bed by giving him a new toy or by urging Hobbes to push Calvin over in return for a fresh piece of salmon. According to Calvin he'd usually describe them as "all fangs and no brains". They often lie to Calvin when he asks "how many monsters are under my bed?, when they'd usually reply there's "only one" or "none and go to sleep". Although various monsters were known to exist under Calvin's bed, two named monsters "Maurice" and "Winslow" appeared and re-appeared during the strip's middle times.

paragraphs: Get Rid Of Slimy Girls is Calvin's anti-girl club. The club's goal is to annoy and bother girls, and Calvin's main target is Susie Derkins. The club has only two members, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin is "supreme dictator-for-life" and Hobbes is the "first tiger". They two usually make plans like throwing water balloons or snowballs at Susie. Often these plans have a bad ending. However, every time G.R.O.S.S finishes a mission or meeting, they always get awards such as medals, honors, and promotions. Of course, the word "gross" also means disgusting.

paragraphs: Calvin hates school and homework so much. He usually tries to avoid them. His Mom always makes him ride the school bus even though he does not want to, and sometimes tries to run home and not go to class. In one Sunday comic strip, Calvin's imagination became so wild and creative that he imagined getting in a F-15 Eagle airplane and blasting his elementary school to pieces with many missiles.


title: Tony Randall

paragraphs: Tony Randall (February 26, 1920 - May 17 2004) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Felix Unger on the television series "The Odd Couple".