title: Omelette

paragraphs: An omelette or "omelet" is a type of food that is mainly eggs, with various fillings. In the United States "omelets" are usually eaten at breakfast. However omelettes can be eaten as a light lunch or late evening meal.

paragraphs: An omelette is prepared from beaten eggs cooked with butter or oil in a frying pan. A thin, flat 'heavy' omelette is usually folded around a filling such as cheese, vegetables, meat, or some combination of these ingredients. In some traditions, omelettes are fried to cook the bottom and then flipped over or in half for final stage of cooking. However, in other traditions, omelettes is baked to cook it evenly or the top is cooked under a broiler. When making an omelette, it is best to use several eggs. Put a little water in with the eggs when you mix them up because the water helps the eggs to produce steam as they cook. The steam makes them lighter and fluffier. Using oil in the bottom of a nonstick omelette pan helps prevent the omelette from sticking. Follow these tips, add your favourite filling, and you will make a tasty omelette quickly and easily.

paragraphs: For a full light and fluffy omolette separate the egg whites and whisk to stiff peaks then fold in the yolks. Cook by frying in a knob of butter on a medium heat until centre starts to dry then fold in half and cook until its hot in the middle.

paragraphs: There are many different types of omelette, often with different names, depending on what is used as a filling.

paragraphs: Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 - 27 March 1931) was a British writer. Often after having been to the theatre in London he visited the Savoy Hotel's Grillroom. The chef added haddock, cream and Parmesan cheese to the basic omelette and called the new dish "Omelette Arnold Bennett" in his customer's honour.

paragraphs: When Napoleon Bonaparte and his army were marching through southern France, they stopped for the night near the town of Bessieres. A local innkeeper made Napoleon an omelette. Napoleon was so impressed by the cooking he ordered the townspeople to collect all the eggs in the village and to prepare a huge omelette for his army the next day.


title: Visa

paragraphs: A visa (short for the Latin "carta visa", lit. "the document having been seen") is a permit given by a country that allows someone to go to that country. A visa is a document that is stamped on a person's passport by an embassy. It names the kind of visit and says how long the person can stay. Sometimes, people need to go through an interview held at the embassy before they get a visa.

paragraphs: Many countries require foreign visitors to have a valid passport and a visa before they can enter the country, but there are exceptions (see below for examples of such these).

paragraphs: Visas are associated with the request for permission to enter (or exit) a country, and are thus, for some countries, not the same as actual formal permission for an alien to enter and remain in the country.

paragraphs: Some countries, such as some states of the former Soviet Union, require that their citizens, and sometimes foreign travelers, obtain an exit visa in order to be allowed to leave the country. Until 2004, foreign students in Russia were issued only an entry visa on being accepted to University there, and had to obtain an exit visa to return home. This policy has since been changed, and foreign students are now issued multiple entry (and exit) visa.

paragraphs: Some visas can be granted on arrival or by prior application at the country's embassy or consulate, or sometimes through a specialized travel agency with permission from the issuing country in the country of departure. If there is no embassy or consulate in one's home country, then one would have to travel to a third country (or apply by post) and try to get a visa issued there. The need for a visa generally depends on the citizenship of the applicant, how long the applicant plans to stay, and the activities that the applicant may wish to do in the country he visits. These may result different formal categories of visas, with different issue conditions.

paragraphs: Some, but not all, countries have reciprocal visa regimes: if Country A requires citizens of Country B to have a visa to travel there, then Country B may apply reciprocity and require a visa from citizens of Country A. Likewise, if A allows B's citizens to enter without a visa, B may allow A's citizens to enter without a visa.

paragraphs: Examples of such reciprocal visa regimes are between:

paragraphs: A fee may be charged for issuing a visa; these are typically also reciprocal, so if country A charges country B's citizens 50 USD for a visa, country B will often also charge the same amount for country A's visitors. The fee charged may also be at the discretion of each embassy. A similar reciprocity often applies to the duration of the visa (the period in which one is permitted to request entry of the country) and the number of entries one can attempt with the visa. Expedited processing of the visa application for some countries will generally incur additional charges.

paragraphs: This reciprocal fee has become more common in recent years with the decision of the United States to charge nationals of various countries a $100 visa processing fee (non-refundable, even if a visa is not issued). A number of countries, including Brazil, Chile, and Turkey have reciprocated. Brazil requires an advance visa before entry into the country, and that a US citizen be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival—matching U.S. requirements for Brazilians and other foreigners.

paragraphs: The issuing authority, usually a branch of the country's foreign ministry or department (e.g. U.S. State Department), and typically consular affairs officers, may request appropriate documentation from the applicant. This may include proof that the applicant is able to support himself in the host country (lodging, food), proof that the person hosting the applicant in his or her home really exists and has sufficient room for hosting the applicant, proof that the applicant has obtained health and evacuation insurance, etc. Some countries ask for proof of health status, especially for long-term visas; some countries deny such visas to persons with certain illnesses, such as AIDS. The exact conditions depend on the country and category of visa. Notable examples of countries requiring HIV tests of long-term residents are Russia and Uzbekistan. However, in Uzbekistan, the HIV test requirement is sometimes not strictly enforced.

paragraphs: Developed countries frequently demand strong evidence of intent to return to the home country, if the visa is for a temporary stay, and especially if the applicant is from a developing country, due to immigration concerns.

paragraphs: The issuing authority may also require applicants to attest that they have had no criminal convictions, or that they do not partake in certain activities (like prostitution or drug trafficking). Some countries will deny visas if the travellers' passports show evidence of citizenship or travel to a country which is not recognized by that country. For example, Saudi Arabia will not issue visas to nationals of Israel or those with evidence of visiting Israel.

paragraphs: Visas can also be "single-entry", which means the visa is cancelled as soon as the holder leaves the country, "double-entry", or "multiple-entry", permitting multiple entries into the country with the same visa. Countries may also issue re-entry permits that allow temporarily leaving the country without invalidating the visa. Even a business visa will normally not allow the holder to work in the host country without an additional work permit.

paragraphs: Once issued, a visa will usually have to be used within a certain period of time.

paragraphs: The validity of a visa is not the same as the authorized period of stay in the issuing country. The visa validity usually indicates when the alien can apply for entry to the country. For example, if a visa has been issued January 1st and expires March 30th, and the typical authorized period of stay in a country is 90 days, then the 90-day authorized stay starts on the day the passenger reaches the country, which has to be between January 1st and March 30th. The traveller could therefore stay in the issuing country until June 1st.

paragraphs: Once in the country, the validity period of a visa or authorized stay can often be extended for a fee if the immigration authorities choose to do so. Staying longer than the period of authorized stay given by the immigration officers is considered illegal immigration even if the visa validity period is not over (i.e. for multiple entry visas) and a form of being "out of status" and the offender may be fined, prosecuted, deported, or even blacklisted (banned) from entering the country again.

paragraphs: Entering a country without a valid visa or visa exemption may result in being arrested and removed (deportation or exclusion) from the country. Doing things that are not authorized by the status of entry (for example, working while having a non-worker tourist status) can result in the individual being deemed removable, in common speech an illegal alien. Such violation is not a violation of a visa, despite the common misuse of the phrase, but a violation of status, hence the term "out of status."

paragraphs: Even having a visa does not guarantee that somebody can enter ah ost country. The border crossing authorities make the final determination to allow entry, and may even cancel a visa at the border if the alien cannot demonstrate to their satisfaction that they will abide by the status their visa grants them.

paragraphs: Visa and immigration laws may be very different among countries. As such, aliens are advised to check with immigration lawyers for visa and immigration laws governing the countries they wish to enter and eligibility to receive visas or other immigration benefits.

paragraphs: Many countries have a mechanism to allow the holder of a visa to apply to stay longer in that country. For example, in Denmark a visa holder can apply to the Danish Immigration Service for a Residence Permit after they have arrived in the Country. In the United Kingdom applications can be made to the Border and Immigration Agency. In certain circumstances, it is not possible for the holder of the visa to do this, either because the country does not have a mechanism to prolong visas or, most likely, because the holder of the visa is using a short stay visa to live in a country. In such cases, the holder often engages in what is known as a visa run; leaving the country for a short period in order to apply for a new visa prior to their return or so that they can be given a fresh permission to stay when they re-enter.

paragraphs: A visa may be denied for a number of reasons, including (but not limited to) if the applicant:

paragraphs: Possession of a valid visa is a condition for entry into many countries, however various exemption schemes do exist. In some cases visa-free entry may be granted to holders of diplomatic passports even as visas are required by normal passport holders ("see: Passport").

paragraphs: Some countries have reciprocal agreements such that a visa is not needed under certain conditions, e.g. when the visit is for tourism and for a relatively short period. One example of this is the Visa Waiver Program of the United States. Such reciprocal agreements may stem from common membership in international organizations or a shared heritage:

paragraphs: Other countries may also unilaterally grant visa-free entry to nationals of certain countries in order to facilitate tourism.

paragraphs: Visa-free travel between countries also occurs in all cases where passports are not needed for such travel.

paragraphs: Normally, visas are valid for entry only into the country which issued the visa. Countries that are members of regional organizations or party to regional agreements may however issue visas valid for entry into some or all of the member states of the organization or agreement:


title: Andranik Ozanian

paragraphs: Andranik Toros Ozanian, or Zoravar Andranik, (February 25, 1865 – August 31, 1927) was an Armenian military general and freedom fighter. He was seen by Armenian people as a national hero.

paragraphs: He was born in Şebinkarahisar, Ottoman Armenia (present-day Giresun Province, Turkey). After losing his wife and son at an early age, he joined the Armenian freedom movement in the Ottoman Empire, and participated in various political parties.

paragraphs: Andranik participated in the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, within the Bulgarian army, alongside general Garegin Njdeh as a commander of Armenian auxiliary troops of 1912-1913. After his arrest and jailed; he spent some time in Istanbul. During World War I, he participated in the Caucasus Campaign and was appointed as general of the Armenian volunteer units of the Russian army. He participated in 20 different offensives where he gained fame due to his courage and the tactics he came up with to defeat the opposing forces.

paragraphs: He was the commanding officer of the Armenian volunteer units, which helped the Van Resistance take control of the Van on May 6, 1915. He helped re-capture the city from Ottoman forces during the Battle of Van. He was also the commander of the battalion that took the city of Bitlis (see: Battle of Bitlis) from the Ottoman forces that was under control of Mustafa Kemal.

paragraphs: After declaration of Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA), he organized volunteer units against the Ottoman army, and fought alongside those units. Declaration of Treaty of Batum was in diffuse as Andranik, was fighting against the Ottoman Empire with his army. He refused to accept the borders stated by the treaty. His activities were concentrated at the link between Ottoman Empire to Azerbaijan Democratic Republic at Karabakh, Zanghezur and Nakhichevan. Ozanian struck back at the Ottoman Fronts, Army of Islam.

paragraphs: Andranik, tried several times to seize Shusha. Just before the Armistice of Mudros was signed, Andranik was on the way from Zangezur to Shusha, to control the main city of Nagorno-Karabakh. In January 1919 Armenian troops advancing, the British forces (Lionel Dunsterville) ordered Andranik back to Zangezur, and gave him the assurances that this conflict can be solved with the Paris Peace Conference, of 1919.

paragraphs: In 1919 he left Armenia in order not to take part in the political struggles for power in the recent Republic of still those its opinions contradicting policy to carry Armenia for the last time and went oneself into exile to Fresno, California, United States.

paragraphs: He immigrated to Fresno, California. Andranik Ozanian lived in Fresno for 18 years until his death on August 31, 1927. His remains were moved to Paris in 1928, and returned to Armenia in 1999, where he was buried at the Yerablur military cemetery.


title: Angles

paragraphs: The Angles were a Germanic people of unknown origin. Their name seems to be connected with Angeln, a modern district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The Angles, together with the Jutes, Saxons and Frisians, were among the Germanic tribes who sailed across the North Sea in the 5th century to invade Britain. The various tribes were later called "Anglo-Saxon".


title: Angeln

paragraphs: Modern Angeln, (Danish: Angel; Latin: Anglia, which also means in direct translation from Latin: England), is a peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

paragraphs: Ancient Angeln may have been somewhat larger than the Angeln of today, but following the ancient sources it included the territory of modern Angeln.

paragraphs: Angeln has an importance far beyond its small area, as it seems to have been the original home of the Angles who invaded the southern part of Great Britain, which was named after them, England. And so the name of the major world language, English, seems to have taken its name from this little region.

paragraphs: Following the departure of the Angles from Anglia about 350, the region was occupied by Danish settlers not later than the 8th century.


title: Commonwealth

paragraphs: A commonwealth is a group of people or of groups with a common aim to improve themselves, help each other and share knowledge and resources.

paragraphs: The word can refer to several organisations:

paragraphs: It is also part of the official name of some countries

paragraphs: or part of the official name of some US states and territories

paragraphs: In history the Commonwealth of England was the name of England between 1649 and 1660, when England had no king


title: Frisian people

paragraphs: The Frisians are a group of people of northwestern Europe, living in an area known as Frisia. They are mainly in the Dutch areas of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia. They are said to be a tall, big-boned and light-haired people with a rich history and folklore.

paragraphs: The Frisians were able to make an agreement with the Romans at the River Rhine in 28 CE. Sixteen years later they defeated the Romans under Tiberius at the Battle of Baduhennawood. The Frisii were known and respected by the Romans and were written about by several writers. Tacitus wrote about the Germanic peoples in 69 CE, describing the habits of the Germanic people, as well as listing a lot of Frisian groups by name. Of the many groups he listed, the Frisians are the only ones that have kept their old name.

paragraphs: The Frisians probably used boats. The North Sea from Britain to Eastern Denmark, was called "Mare Frisia" at that time. Small groups of Frisians settled the lands around them and their homes have been found in England, Scotland, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and The Netherlands.

paragraphs: Their land followed the edge of the North Sea from the mouth of the Rhine river up to that of the Ems. The Ems was the eastern edge of their land according to Ptolemy's "Geographica".

paragraphs: In the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons went through Frisian territory to invade Great Britain. A lot of Frisians moved with them. The Frisians who stayed in Europe moved into the lands where the Anglo-Saxons used to live.


title: Alba Iulia

paragraphs: Alba Iulia (Latin: "Apulum", German: "Karlsburg"/"Weißenburg", Hungarian: "Gyulafehérvár", former ) is a city in Alba County, Transylvania, Romania. It has a population of 66,369 people. It is found on the Mureş River.


title: Vampire bat

paragraphs: Vampire bats is a subfamily of bats. Unlike other bats, vampire bats feed on blood. Currently, there are three species of bats known to do this. All of them live in the Americas, in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Of the three known species, one feeds on the blood of mammals, the other two on the blood of birds.

paragraphs: The common vampire bat lives in large groups, of up to 100 animals. They have developed complex social behaviour.

paragraphs: Vampire bats commonly spread diseases, most notably rabies. The saliva of the vampire bats contain chemicals that prevent the clotting of the blood of the victim; this has been used to develop drugs to help the patients of strokes and heart attacks.

paragraphs: The false vampire bats are not vampire bats; they do not feed on blood, some eat fruits, others devour small animals.

paragraphs: Vampire bats were some of the first animals studied using the broadly applicable tracking system, or BATS. Scientists glued very small backpacks with sensors onto vampire bats and used GPS to tell when they looked for food, rested, or met each other. The study, which was printed for people to read on October 31, 2019 (Halloween), said that vampire bats formed social bonds when being held by humans that they remembered after being released back into the wild.


title: Prehistoric Britain

paragraphs: Prehistoric Britain was a period in the human occupation of Great Britain that ended with the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.

paragraphs: Britain has been inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years. None of the pre-Roman inhabitants of Britain had any written language, so their history, culture and way of life are known only through archaeological finds.

paragraphs: The first written record of Britain and its inhabitants was by the Greek navigator Pytheas, who explored the coastal region of Britain around 325 BC. Ancient Britons were however involved in extensive trade and cultural links with the rest of Europe from the Neolithic onwards, especially in exporting tin.

paragraphs: Palaeolithic Britain is the period from almost 750,000 years ago until around 10,000 years ago. This huge length of time saw many changes in the environment, several glacial and interglacial periods which greatly affected human settlement in the region.

paragraphs: There is evidence from bones and flint tools found in coastal deposits near Happisburgh in Norfolk and Pakefield in Suffolk that "Homo erectus" was present in what is now Britain around 700,000 years ago. At this time, southern and eastern Britain was linked to continental Europe by a wide land bridge allowing humans to move freely. The current position of the English Channel was a large river flowing westwards and fed by tributaries that would later become the Thames and Seine.

paragraphs: The extreme cold of the following Anglian glaciation is likely to have driven humans out of Britain altogether. A warmer time period lasted from around 300,000 until 200,000 years ago. The more advanced flint technology permitted more efficient hunting.

paragraphs: There is little evidence of human occupation during the subsequent Ipswichian interglacial between around 130,000 and 110,000 years ago.

paragraphs: Neanderthal occupation of Britain was limited and by 30,000 BC the first signs of modern human (Homo sapiens) activity. The most famous example from this period is the burial of the Red Lady of Paviland in modern-day Wales. A final ice age covered Britain between around 70,000 and 10,000 years ago with an extreme cold snap between 22,000 and 13,000 years ago which may have driven humans south out of Britain altogether. The environment during this ice age period would have been a largely treeless tundra, eventually replaced by a warmer climate, perhaps reaching 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 Fahrenheit) in summer which encouraged the expansion of birch trees as well as shrub and grasses.

paragraphs: The dominant food species were the Wild Horse ("Equus ferus") and Red Deer ("Cervus elaphus") although other mammals ranging from hares to mammoth were also hunted.

paragraphs: By 10,500 years ago the climate was becoming cooler and dryer. Food animal populations seem to have declined although woodland coverage expanded. Tool manufacture in the Final Upper Palaeolithic revolved around smaller flints and bone and antler work became less common. However, the number of known sites is much larger and more widely spread. Many more open air sites are known such as that at Hengistbury Head.

paragraphs: Around 10,000 years ago the ice age finally ended. Temperatures rose, probably to levels similar to those today, and forests expanded farther. By 8,500 years ago, the rising sea levels caused by the melting glaciers cut Britain off from continental Europe for the last time. The warmer climate changed the Arctic environment to one of pine, birch, and alder forest.

paragraphs: Farming of both crops and domestic animals was adopted in Britain around 4,500 BC at least partly because of the need for reliable food sources.

paragraphs: Traditionally the arrival of the Neolithic in Britain has been seen as a wave of immigration from the continent. Modern archaeology now considers that farming along with pottery and settled living was in fact adopted by the native population who were related to the similarly newly-farming Neolithic people across the water. Links with continental Europe are demonstrated by finds of axes made from exotic stone such as jadeite.

paragraphs: Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of modern European populations shows that over 80% are descended in the female line from European hunter-gatherers. Less than 20% are descended in the female line from Neolithic farmers from the Middle East. In 1997 DNA analysis was undertaken on a tooth from a Mesolithic man whose remains were found in Gough's Cave at Cheddar Gorge. His mitochondrial DNA was of a type found in 11% of modern European populations.

paragraphs: Such findings have cast doubt on the traditional view of successive waves of mass immigration annihilating earlier peoples.

paragraphs: In any case, the Neolithic Revolution, as it is called, introduced a more settled way of life and ultimately led to societies becoming divided into differing groups of farmers, artisans and leaders.

paragraphs: The construction of the earliest earthwork sites in Britain began during the early Neolithic (c. 4400 BC- 3300 BC) in the form of long barrows used for communal burial.

paragraphs: The Middle Neolithic (c. 3300 BC-c. 2900 BC) saw the development of cursus monuments close to earlier barrows. The earliest stone circles and individual burials also appear.

paragraphs: New enclosures, called henges were built, along with stone rows and the famous sites of Stonehenge and Silbury Hill reached their peak. Industrial flint mining such as that at Cissbury and Grimes Graves began.

paragraphs: In around 2,700 BC a new culture arrived in Britain, often referred to as the Beaker culture. Beaker pottery appears in the Mount Pleasant Phase (2,700 BC - 2,000 BC) along with flat axes and burial practices of inhumation. The megalithic phases of Stonehenge date to this period.

paragraphs: Britain had large reserves of tin in the areas of Cornwall and Devon in what is now southwest England, and thus tin mining began. By around 1,600 BC the southwest of Britain had a trade boom as British tin was exported across Europe.

paragraphs: The Beaker people were also skilled at making ornaments from gold, and examples of these have been found in graves of the wealthy Wessex culture of southern Britain.

paragraphs: In around 750 BC iron working techniques reached Britain from southern Europe. Iron was stronger and more plentiful than bronze, and its introduction marks the beginning of the Iron Age. Iron working revolutionised many aspects of life, most importantly agriculture. Iron tipped ploughs could churn up land far more quickly and deeply than older wooden or bronze ones, and iron axes could clear forest land far more efficiently for agriculture.

paragraphs: About 900 BC, British society changed again. The Celtic culture had by 500 BC covered most of the British Isles. The Celts were highly skilled craftsmen and produced nicely patterned gold jewellery and weapons in bronze and iron.

paragraphs: Iron Age Britons lived in organised tribal groups, ruled by a chieftain.

paragraphs: As people became more numerous, fights broke out between opposing tribes. This led to the building of hill forts. The first had been built about 1,500 BC. Britain exported hunting dogs, animal skins and slaves.

paragraphs: The last centuries before the Roman invasion saw refugees from Gaul (modern day France and Belgium) known as the Belgae, who were displaced as the Roman Empire expanded.

paragraphs: From around 175 BC they settled in the areas of Kent, Hertfordshire and Essex and brought with them pottery making skills far more advanced than anything produced previously. The Belgae were partially Romanised and were responsible for creating the first settlements large enough to be called towns.

paragraphs: About 100 BC, iron bars began to be used as currency, coinage was developed, based on continental types.

paragraphs: As the Roman Empire expanded northwards, Rome began to take interest in Britain. See Roman Britain for the history of this period.


title: Domesday Book

paragraphs: The Domesday Book is the record of the great survey of much of England, and parts of Wales, completed in 1086, done for William I of England, or William the Conqueror.

paragraphs: The Domesday Book (also known as "Domesday", or "Book of Winchester") was a record of all taxable land in England, together with such information as would indicate its worth.

paragraphs: As the scribes went round England, they were protected by William's armed men. Each group was led by a Royal Commissioner, who took a list of standard questions. A 'jury' of local nobility and citizens answered the questions. All answers were written down in Latin.

paragraphs: Information was collected from the start of 1086, and working up into the complete volume started later that year. William died in 1087 before the writing-up work was completed.

paragraphs: William the Conqueror wished to know the details of the land he had conquered, England. He let his knights and barons have big areas of land, and wanted rent money from them. The Domesday Book was a record of every farm, village and house so that he knew how much rent he should get. Only some small villages in the countryside are not in the book. Major cities like London and Winchester are also not in the Domesday Book, perhaps because of their size, or because (not owning land), the people could not be taxed.

paragraphs: The Domesday book gave the names of King William's friends and even listed the number of pigs on a piece of land. But it was not like a modern census. It did not give the names of all the people. It listed the heads of each household, but left out Londoners, monks, nuns, and anyone living in castles. In effect, it listed only people he could get rent from, and who might supply men to fight in his army.

paragraphs: The Domesday Book is two volumes. One of the books was called "Great Domesday", and the other was called "Little Domesday". The draft of the second volume, Little Domesday, was never worked up, but no doubt was used for tax collection just the same.

paragraphs: The Domesday book got its name because its lists were so complete that it reminded people of the Last Judgment (which people also call Doomsday, or Domesday) in Christianity, when lists of what people have done go before God for people to be judged.


title: LD50

paragraphs: The name LD is an abbreviation for "Lethal Dose, 50%" or median lethal dose. It is the amount of the substance required (usually per body weight) to kill 50% of the test population.

paragraphs: The test was created by J.W. Trevan in 1927 but has been phased out. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has begun to approve non-animal alternatives to LD50, in response to research cruelty concerns and the lack of validity/sensitivity of animal tests as they relate to humans.


title: Dahlerau train disaster

paragraphs: The Dahlerau train disaster was a railway disaster that happened on 27 May 1971. It happened in Dahlerau, which is a part of Radevormwald in Germany.

paragraphs: A passenger train carrying pupils was travelling on the railway line from Wuppertal to Radevormwald on the evening of 27 May 1971.

paragraphs: The pupils belonged to the final year of a school in Radevormwald and were returning from a trip to Bremen. Around 21:00, the train had just left the railway station in "Wuppertal-Beyenburg" and was a few minutes away from the railway station in "Dahlerau". Farther south, a freight train was traveling from Radevormwald to Wuppertal, and had just arrived outside the Dahlerau station. The freight train would have to wait in the station to allow the passenger train to pass. This was necessary because the passenger train was 30 minutes late and there was only one track on the railway line outside the station.

paragraphs: The dispatcher in the station would have to go outside and show a red lantern to the freight train, because there were no signals in the station. Nobody knows for sure what happened, but the freight train went right through the station and onto the track where the passenger train was running. The driver of the freight train later told that the dispatcher in the station had shown him a green light. This was the signal not to stop.

paragraphs: The dispatcher had seen what happened and tried to hold the train back with emergency signals, but he failed and the train disappeared behind a curve. He went into his office to call the station in Wuppertal-Beyenburg, but the passenger train had already left Beyenburg. The dispatcher knew what would happen, and called the police. Meanwhile, about 800 metres north of the station, the two trains crashed. The passenger train was crushed to 1/3 of its length, because it consisted of light railbuses and the freight train locomotive was five times as heavy.

paragraphs: Police, firefighters and ambulances arrived quickly, but had problems rescuing people. This was because the crash happened on a hillside. The parents of the pupils had also heard of the accident and had come to search for their children. In all, 25 people were injured, many of them badly. 46 people died in the accident. Of these 46, 41 were pupils, two teachers, one was a mother who travelled with the children, and two were working for the railway. Only one person walked away from the accident without injuries.

paragraphs: So many people had died that they had to be put in a gymnasium.

paragraphs: The dispatcher died a few weeks after the crash. He had a car accident, but police said it was not suicide. Because the dispatcher could not be asked, investigating the crash was difficult and took about a year. In the end, it was decided that human error was the cause for the accident. Nobody could find out the exact happenings on that evening, and so the case never went before a court. The passenger train was badly damaged and had to be destroyed. The locomotive of the freight train was repaired and stayed in service until 2001.

paragraphs: The victims were buried on 2 June 1971. More than 10,000 people attended the funeral, and all shops in Radevormwald were closed on that day. Many important people went to the funeral, like Chancellor Willy Brandt, and the Minister of Transport. The victims were buried together in a large grave on the Radevormwald cemetery. Later, a memorial was built near the graves as well.

paragraphs: The Deutsche Bundesbahn, the company who ran the trains, changed the lanterns used by the dispatchers. They would not show a red light any more, so that red and green could not be confused any more. They also built the successors of the type of railbus that crashed sturdier, because some people said they had been built too light.

paragraphs: The line from Wuppertal to Radevormwald was closed in 1976.


title: Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne

paragraphs: Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne DSO & Bar PC (29 March 1880-6 November 1944) was a British politician. Guinness was born in Dublin, Ireland.

paragraphs: From 1907 to 1931 he was Conservative MP for Bury St Edmunds, and saw service in World War I at Passchendaele, earning a medal and bar (second award).

paragraphs: He was killed in 1944 in Cairo, Egypt by the Jewish terrorist group Lehi. His assassination was said to be a message to the British government against British imperialism. Guinness was selected because he was believed to be anti Jewish and made statements supporting sending all Jews in Europe to the African island of Madagascar.


title: Modern Talking

paragraphs: Modern Talking was a German dance pop duo consisting of Thomas Anders and Dieter Bohlen. Their music was often classified as Europop. Modern Talking is, by sales, the most successful and popular group in Germany, and they a number of hit singles reaching the top-5 in many countries. Some of their most popular and widely known singles are "You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "You Can Win If You Want", "Cheri Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie", "Atlantis Is Calling (S.O.S. for Love)" and "Geronimo's Cadillac".

paragraphs: Modern Talking's first period of activity was from 1984 to 1987. The duo reunified in 1998 and made a successful comeback, releasing more music from 1998 to 2003. Modern Talking's sound, however, was rather different from its original 1980s sound after its reunion. The duo came back in 1998 recording their materials based on what the demand was in central European music markets at the time in the late 1990s, which required their original 1980s mellow Europop sound to switch into 1990s up-tempo Eurodance. The duo released singles which again entered the top-10 not only in their home country but also abroad. Some of those singles were "You're My Heart, You're My Soul '98", "Brother Louie '98", and "You Are Not Alone".


paragraphs: The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, also called the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake (known by the scientific community), was a great underwater earthquake. It happened at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004.

paragraphs: The epicenter of the earthquake was off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. At first, the earthquake was measured as a 9.0 on the Richter scale. It was the longest ever recorded ocean earthquake. It lasted between 500 (8.3 minutes) and 600 (10 minutes) seconds. It was so powerful that it caused the entire Earth to vibrate. It started other earthquakes as far away as Iceland.

paragraphs: The large movement of earth under the water caused a very large and powerful tsunami. The tsunami was called the "Asian tsunami", or the "Boxing Day tsunami" in Australia, Canada, England, and South Africa because it happened on the 26th of December 2004 (Boxing Day). It spread all over the Indian Ocean. The tsunami caused heavy damage to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. It also devastated the eastern coast of India, such as the states of Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

paragraphs: Waves as high as 30m (100ft) killed many people and damaged or destroyed a lot of buildings and other property. Over 225,000 people died or were not found after the tsunami. The wave did damage in East Africa as far away as South Africa (8000km/ 5000mi) where as many as 8 people died because of high water caused by the wave. Because of how much damage was caused and the number of people the earthquake affected, over $7 billion (USD) was donated to help rebuild the areas damaged.


title: History of Taiwan

paragraphs: Taiwan (minus the Pescadores) is an island of eastern Asia. Its first people were related to Oceanic people with small numbers of Chinese. After the arrival of the Dutch in the 1600s, many Chinese moved to Taiwan to work. Few European people moved to Taiwan, and the native people married with Chinese or moved away from the west side of the island. When the Qing dynasty began in China, a supporter of the old Ming dynasty hid in Taiwan. Eventually the Qing came to Taiwan, defeated him, and added Taiwan to China.

paragraphs: Taiwan remained Chinese territory through most of the Qing dynasty until it was taken by Japan in 1895. Taiwan became a colony of Japan for fifty years until the end of World War Two. For a brief time it was under the control of China through the Guomindang government, but that government lost a civil war and moved to Taiwan. The rule of the Guomindang is considered controversial today. Some criticize its treatment of the people of Taiwan, but others focus on positive political and economic change that it made.

paragraphs: In the 1980s, the government became more democratic. This has also been controversial because it allows different political parties to compete. The Democratic Progressive Party gained influence. During this time, Taiwan has officially been called the Republic of China but has acted independently of China. The People's Republic of China demands that Taiwan must become a part of China, while most Taiwanese debate the appropriate political status for today. These perspectives make complications in the politics of Taiwan.

paragraphs: The original people to move to Taiwan can be called the Aboriginal people. They have many similarities with others societies called Austronesian. Chinese historians have mentioned Taiwan several times since its Three Kingdoms period, although it was considered a land of barbarians.

paragraphs: About 50000 years ago was called the "Old Stone Age" in Taiwan. At that time, people hit rocks against each other to make tools. The most famous culture of Taiwanese old stone age is Changping Culture. The Changping culture's monument is the Eight Gods' Hole Monument in Taitung Conty.

paragraphs: About 5000 years ago was the "New Stone Age". People in New Stone Age sharpened stones to make tools. We can take New Stone Age into three parts. The most famous cultures are the Tapenken culture, the Beinan culture, and the Yuanshan culture. The Tapenken culture monument is the Tapenken Monument (also known as T.P.K.) in Taipei, the Beinan culture's monument is the Puyuma Relics in Taitung Conty, and the Yuanshan culture's monument is the Yuanshan Monument in Taipei City.

paragraphs: About 2000 years ago was the "Metal Age". In the Metal Age, people used metal to make tools, and started trading. The most famous culture in Metal Age is the Thirteen Hangs Cultures. Its monument is the Thirteen Hangs Monument in Taipei County.

paragraphs: In the 17th century, the Dutch took control of Taiwan. During this time, it was a Dutch colony and it encouraged Chinese people to move there. Few Chinese had lived on Taiwan until this time. As more Chinese moved to Taiwan there was conflict with the Aboriginal people. The Aboriginal people either married with Chinese or moved away from the west of Taiwan. During the time of Dutch control, Spain also briefly held northern Taiwan but the Dutch removed them in 1642.

paragraphs: In 1644, the Qing Dynasty began ruling China, and Ming Dynasty's courtier, Koxinga landed Taiwan, removed the Dutch, and ruled Taiwan. He turned it into a place to resist the Qing Dynasty. This period is called "the period of Ming Zheng", or the Kingdom of Tungning, the Kingdom of Yanping. One year later, the Qing Dynasty ended the Kindom of Tungning. The Qing Dynasty ruled Taiwan for 212 years until 1895.

paragraphs: Japan first showed interest in Taiwan in the 1870s. It tested the strength of the Qing Dynasty's control in 1871. Some ship-wrecked Okinawan fishermen were killed by Aboriginal people in southern Taiwan and Japan demanded compensation. Okinawa had secretly paid tribute to both China and Japan. In this situation Japan claimed Okinawa was part of Japan and it must protect its own people. There was no war but China stated it could not control barbarian people. Japan used this excuse to demand Taiwan after it defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War. Taiwanese people rebelled without the support of China and created the Republic of Formosa that lasted for about one year. Japan crushed Taiwanese resistance, but it was the beginning of Taiwanese nationalism.

paragraphs: In 1945, the Republic of China won the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Allied Powers agreed to divide the territory of the Japanese Empire, and Taiwan would be returned to Chinese control. The Chinese civil war occurred at this time, and in 1949 the Guomindang lost and escaped to Taiwan. Taiwan was ruled by this one party until democratic reforms began in the 1980s.


title: Katana

paragraphs: A katana is a Japanese long sword used by samurai warriors. It is the most important sword of the three swords worn by samurai: katana, wakizashi, and tanto. The katana was popular from 1400 A.D. until 1876, when the samurai were abolished as a social class.

paragraphs: In Japanese, "katana" means a "long sword" and it represents a blade, which is a little curved, with a single edge and a very sharp point.

paragraphs: A traditional katana is made of a type of high carbon steel called tamahagane, which is made by smelting a type of Japanese iron ore, called iron sand, in a large furnace called a tatara.

paragraphs: This steel is sent to a smith who breaks it down to small pieces and layers the steel according to carbon content, they smelt this in their forge and repeatedly fold the steel in order to homogenise it. The most important part of the forging is the tempering, when the sword is quench-hardened. In ancient times it was said that the soul of the sword was put into the katana at this point. The sword is sometimes given a rough polish by the smith and then sent to a professional polisher for polishing (usually to a mirror finish). After polishing, the sword to be fitted.

paragraphs: Today katanas are mainly made of carbon steel of different quality. But there are some swords made of zinc and aluminum alloys, which are able to resist some external forces and are only used for decoration or non-tameshigiri practice. To determine the quality of a katana it is enough to check its "resistance" (how much it bends when it is hit), "elasticity" (the ability of katana to return to its original shape), and the "endurance" of the blade after striking (how long it lasts).

paragraphs: Generally, katana is designed for cutting, but it was widely used for stabbing too. This depended mainly on the length of the tang (the handle). The katana could be easily used for cutting if it was made for using with both hands. It was used for stabbing when the katana was made for using with one hand.

paragraphs: As a rule, katana was worn under the belt on the left side of a right-handed man. The sword was in its sheath or scabbard (the cover), with its blade facing up. That way the sword could be drawn and cut the opponent in one movement. Alternatively, the scabbard might be held freely in the left hand: in action the sword would be drawn and the scabbard thrown down. This allows for free movement in battle.

paragraphs: To pull the katana a few inches out of its scabbard was an aggressive move signalling willingness to fight.

paragraphs: Katana was very important in Japanese society. This sword was thought to be the "soul" of its master. Only a samurai was allowed to have a katana. A simple man with a katana sword could be killed at once.

paragraphs: There was a tradition of wearing, taking care and taking the katana out of its scabbard. Samurai kept their katana on a special stand for swords, called katana-kake. This stand was used for both katana and wakizashi. The blade had to have its point up, just as when wearing the sword; the handle (called the tang) had to be turned to the let. This made katana available for handling any time it was needed.

paragraphs: The art of handling a katana was developed in martial arts like "kenjutsu" and "iaijutsu". Today, this art is practiced in "iaido" and "kendo" martial arts. The last one is the art of dueling with bamboo or wooden sword. Old schools of handling katana swords still exist. The most famous are: "Kashima Shin-ryu, Kashima Shinto-ryu, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu".

paragraphs: The most appreciated technique of handling a katana is a school called "Nitto Ryu". This school taught how to use both a katana and a wakizashi during a fight. The most famous samurai who improved this art was "Miyamoto Musashi".


title: Lindisfarne

paragraphs: Lindisfarne (often called Holy Island), is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is connected to the mainland of Northumberland by a causeway and is cut off twice a day by tides – something well described by Sir Walter Scott:

paragraphs: According to the 2001 census it had a usual population of 162.

paragraphs: Large parts of the island, and all of the adjacent inter-tidal area, are protected as Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve to help safeguard the internationally important wintering bird populations.

paragraphs: Grey seals are frequent visitors to the rocky bays at high tide.

paragraphs: The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish-born Saint Aidan. He was brought from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria around AD 635 by King Oswald of Northumbria. It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia. Monks from the community of Iona settled on the island.

paragraphs: Northumberland's patron saint, Saint Cuthbert, was a monk and later Abbot of the monastery, and his miracles and life are recorded by the Venerable Bede. Cuthbert later became Bishop of Lindisfarne.

paragraphs: In the early 700s the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels (an illustrated Latin copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) was made, probably at Lindisfarne.

paragraphs: Later, a monk named Aldred added an Anglo-Saxon translation to the Latin text. This made (late 10th century) the earliest surviving Old English copies of the Gospels.

paragraphs: In 793 a Viking raid on Lindisfarne scared many people throughout the Christian West. The year 793 is often called the beginning of the age of Viking raids. A very famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reads:

paragraphs: "In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th of the same year, the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God's church at Lindesfarne."

paragraphs: Eventually the monks fled the island. They took with them the body of St Cuthbert, which is now buried at Durham Cathedral. The priory was re-established in Norman times as a Benedictine house and continued until its dissolution in 1536 under Henry VIII. It is now a ruin in the care of English Heritage, who also run a museum/visitor centre nearby. The neighbouring parish church (see below) is still in use.

paragraphs: Lindisfarne also has the small castle, based on a Tudor fort and open to visitors.

paragraphs: J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Girtin and Charles Rennie Mackintosh all painted on Holy Island.


title: Peter Lorre

paragraphs: Peter Lorre (born was Ladislav (László) Löwenstein, June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian-American actor. He did many film noir movies from 1940s to 1950s.

paragraphs: Lorre's family was Jewish. Lorre was born in Rózsahegy (Rosenberg) in a country called Austria-Hungary. Now the place where he was born is in the country Slovakia. He began acting in theaters in Vienna, Breslau, and Zürich. In the 1920s, he moved to Berlin to work as an actor. In 1931, the movie director Fritz Lang chose Lorre to act in a movie about a serial killer who kills children called "M". Lorre got married three times: Celia Lovsky (1934 - 13 March 1945, divorced); Kaaren Verne (25 May 1945 - 1950, divorced) and Annemarie Brenning (21 July 1953 - 23 March 1964, his death). He had his only child with Brenning, a daughter named Catharine (1953-1985).

paragraphs: When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Lorre had to leave Germany. Lorre went to England to be safe from the Nazis. Lorre got work as an actor in a movie by Alfred Hitchcock called "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Lorre only knew a little English. At first, it was hard for him to act in English movies.

paragraphs: In the 1940s, Lorre moved to Hollywood, California (USA). Hollywood is a town where many movies are made. Lorre acted in many movies, playing foreign characters. Lorre played the role of Joel Cairo in the movie "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) and played the role of "Ugarte" in the movie "Casablanca" (1942). Lorre played the character of Dr. Einstein in the movie" Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944).


title: History of Tamil Nadu

paragraphs: The history of Tamil Nadu goes back to the early stone age. The region of Tamil Nadu (now one of the states in the south of the Republic of India) has been under continuous human habitation since prehistoric times.

paragraphs: The civilisation of the Tamil people is among the oldest in the world and has been influenced by, influenced, and coexisted with many external cultures.

paragraphs: The three Tamil dynasties of Chera, Chola and Pandya were all of ancient origins. Together they ruled over Tamil Nadu with a unique culture and language, contributing to the growth of "Sangam Literature", some of the oldest literature in the world.

paragraphs: They had extensive oversee trade contacts with the Roman and Greek empires later on. These three dynasties were in constant struggle with each other as they wanted hegemony over the land.

paragraphs: Invasion by the Kalabhras during the third century disturbed the tradition, and order of the land by displacing the three traditional ruling dynasties. These occupiers were overthrown by the Pandyas and the Pallavas, who restored the kingdoms. The Cholas, who came back from obscurity in the ninth century by defeating the Pallavas and the Pandyas, rose to become a great power and extended their empire over the entire southern peninsula. At its height the Chola empire had spread from Bengal in the northeast to Sri Lanka in the south. The Chola navy held sway over the Sri Vijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia.

paragraphs: Rapid changes in the political situation of the rest of India occurred due to the incursions of Muslim armies from the northwest marked a turning point in the history of Tamil Nadu. With the decline of the three ancient dynasties during the fourteenth century, the Tamil country became part of the Vijayanagara Empire. Under this empire the Telugu speaking Nayak governors ruled the Tamil land. The brief appearance of the Marathas gave way to the European trading companies, who began to appear during the seventeenth century and eventually assumed greater sway over the indigenous rulers of the land. The Madras Presidency comprising of most of southern India including what is now Tamil Nadu, was created in the eighteenth century and was ruled directly by the British East India Company. After the independence of India by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, the Tamil Nadu state was created based on linguistic boundaries, due to a Telugu man who wished the Telugu speaking land bordering Tamil Nadu to become its own state, which it did, Andra Pradesh was born. This caused a chain reaction because the other languages also wanted their own states. This led to state boundaries because of linguistic reasons, and gave birth to many other linguisticly devised states, including Tamil Nadu.

paragraphs: Although there is very little concrete historical evidence that has been found so far for the period prior to 600 BCE, the history of the Tamil people probably predates this period. Various legends became prevalent after the 5th century BCE regarding the antiquity of the Tamil people. According to "Iraiyanar Agapporul", a 3rd/5th century CE annotation on the Sangam literature, the Tamil country extended southwards beyond the natural boundaries of the Indian peninsula comprising of 49 ancient "nadus" (divisions). The land was supposed to have been destroyed by a deluge. The Sangam legends also added to the antiquity of the Tamil people by claiming tens of thousands of years of continuous literary activity during three "Sangams". However, there have been no direct archaeological finds supporting these legends.

paragraphs: The prehistoric period during which the Palaeolithic civilisations existed in the Tamil Nadu region has been estimated to span the period from about 50,000 BCE until around 3000 BCE. For most part of the lower Palaeolithic stage, humans lived close to river valleys with sparse forest cover or in grassland environments. The population density was very low and so far only two localities of this lower Palaeolithic culture have been found in south India. One of these is in Attirampakkam valley in the northwest of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Archaeological research has uncovered evidence of fossil remains of animals and primitive stone implements around the northern Tamil Nadu that could be dated to belong to around 300,000 BCE. Humans in South India, belonging to the species of "Homo erectus", lived in this primitive 'old stone age' (Palaeolithic) for quite a long time, using only crude implements such as hand axes and choppers and subsisting on food he hunted and gathered instead of actively growing it according to his needs.

paragraphs: The ancestor of modern humans ("Homo sapiens sapiens") who appeared around 50,000 years ago was more developed and could fabricate thinner flake tools and blade-like tools using a variety of stones. From about 10,000 years ago, humans made still smaller tools called Microlithic tools. The material used by the early humans to make these tools were jasper, agate, flint, quartz, etc. In 1949, researchers found such microliths in Tirunelveli district.

paragraphs: In Tamil Nadu, the Neolithic period had its advent around 2500 BCE. Humans of the Neolithic period made their stone tools in finer shapes by grinding and polishing. The Neolithic humans lived mostly on small flat hills or on the foothills in small, more or less permanent settlements but for periodical migration for grazing purposes. They gave the dead proper burials within urns or pits. They were also starting to use copper for making certain tools or weapons.

paragraphs: Humans started using iron for making tools and weapons. The Iron Age culture in peninsular India is marked by Megalithic burial sites, which are found in several hundreds of places.

paragraphs: Ancient Tamil Nadu contained three monarchical states, headed by kings called "Ventar" and several tribal chieftaincies, headed by the chiefs called by the general denomination "Vel" or "Velir". During the third century BCE, the Deccan was part of the Mauryan kingdom, and from the middle of the first century BCE to second century CE the same area was ruled by the Satavahana dynasty. The Tamil area had an independent existence outside the control of these northern empires.

paragraphs: The names of the three dynasties, Cholas, Pandyas, and Keralaputras or Cheras are mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka (inscribed 273–232 BCE) inscriptions, where they are mentioned among the kingdoms, which though not subject to Ashoka, were on friendly terms with him.

paragraphs: Karikala Chola was the most famous early Chola. He is mentioned in a number of poems in the Sangam poetry.

paragraphs: Pandyas ruled initially from Korkai, a sea port on the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai. Pandyas are also mentioned in Sangam Literature, as well as by Greek and Roman sources during this period. The early Pandyas went into obscurity at the end of the third century CE during the incursion of the Kalabhras.

paragraphs: The kingdom of the Cheras comprised of the modern state of Kerala, along the western or Malabar Coast of southern India. Their proximity to the sea favoured trade with Africa.

paragraphs: Internal and external trade was well organised and active.

paragraphs: After the close of the Sangam era, from about 300 to about 600 CE, there is an almost total lack of information regarding occurrences in the Tamil land. Some time about 300 CE, the whole region was upset by the appearance of the Kalabhras. These people are described in later literature as 'evil rulers' who overthrew the established Tamil kings and got a strangle hold of the country. They did not leave many artefacts or monuments. The only source of information on them is the scattered mentions in Buddhist and Jain literature.

paragraphs: Jainism and Buddhism, took deep roots in the society, giving birth to a large body of ethical poetry.

paragraphs: Writing became very widespread and "vatteluttu" evolved from the Tamil-Brahmi became a mature script for writing Tamil.

paragraphs: The medieval period of the history of the Tamil country saw the rise and fall of many kingdoms, some of whom went on to the extent of empires, exerting influences both in India and overseas.

paragraphs: The Hindu sects Saivism and Vaishnavism became more dominant, with temples being built and Dravidian architecture being supported by empires replacing the significance of Nastik Jainism and Buddhism of the previous era. Some of the output of villages throughout the kingdom was given to temples that reinvested some of the wealth accumulated as loans to the settlements.

paragraphs: Tamil script replaced the "vatteluttu" script throughout Tamil Nadu for writing Tamil. Both secular and religious literature flourished during the period.

paragraphs: The seventh century Tamil Nadu saw the rise of the Pallavas under Mahendravarman I and his son "Mamalla" Narasimhavarman I. The Pallavas were not a recognised political power before the second century. After the fall of the Satavahanas, they began to get control over parts of Andhra and the Tamil country. The Pallavas were at their finest during the reigns of Narasimhavarman I and "Pallavamalla" Nandivarman II.

paragraphs: During the sixth and the seventh centuries, the western Deccan saw the rise of the Chalukyas based in Vatapi. The Pallavas had the more difficult existence of the two as they had to fight on two fronts - against the Pandyas as wells as the Chalukyas.

paragraphs: Pandya Kadungon (560 - 590) is credited with the overthrow of the Kalabhras in the south. Pandya Cendan extended their rule to the Chera country. His son Arikesari Parantaka Maravarman (c. 650 - 700) had a long and prosperous rule. He fought many battles and extended the Pandya power.

paragraphs: After some decades of expansion, the Pandya kingdom was large enough to pose a serious threat to the Pallava power.

paragraphs: The Pandya power continued to grow under Srimara and encroached further into the Pallava territories.

paragraphs: Around 850 rose Vijayalaya, made use of an opportunity arising out of a conflict between Pandyas and Pallavas, captured Thanjavur and eventually established the imperial line of the medieval Cholas. Vijayalaya revived the Chola dynasty and his son Aditya I helped establish their independence. He invaded Pallava kingdom in 903 and killed the Pallava king Aparajita in battle, ending the Pallava reign. The Chola kingdom under Parantaka I expanded to cover the entire Pandya country. However towards the end of his reign he suffered several reverses by the Rashtrakutas who had extended their territories well into the Chola kingdom.

paragraphs: The Cholas went into a temporary decline during the next few years due to weak kings, palace intrigues and succession disputes.

paragraphs: European settlements began to appear in the Tamil country during the Vijayanagara Empire. In 1605, the Dutch established trading posts in the Coromandel Coast near Gingee and in Pulicat. The British East India Company built a 'factory' (warehouse) at Armagaon (Durgarazpatnam), a village around 35 miles North of Pulicat, as the site in 1626.

paragraphs: The conflict between the British and the French had as result in 1765 the Emperor of Delhi issued a "firman" (decree) recognizing the British possessions in southern India.

paragraphs: Although the Company was becoming increasingly bold and ambitious in putting down resisting states, it was getting clearer day by day that the Company was incapable of governing the vast expanse of the captured territories. In 1784 Pitt's India Act made the Company subordinate to the British Government.

paragraphs: The next few decades were of rapid growth and expansion in the territories controlled by the English. The Anglo-Mysore Wars of 1766 to 1799, the Anglo-Maratha Wars of 1772 andPolygar Wars of 1800-1805 Dheeran chinnamalai,the Tamil king won three polygar wars against Britishers and at last he was hanged along with his two brothers.Then Britishers took entire control of Tamil Nadu by settling east India company after the death of chinnamalai the brave Tamil king.

paragraphs: The discontent in the various districts of the company territories exploded in 1857 into the Sepoy war. Although the rebellion had a huge impact on the state of the colonial power in India, Tamil Nadu was mostly unaffected by it.

paragraphs: In 1858 the British Crown assumed direct rule in India.

paragraphs: Failure of the summer monsoons and administrative shortcomings of the Ryotwari system resulted in a severe famine in the Madras Presidency during 1876 - 1877.The government instituted a famine insurance grant, setting aside 1.5 million Rupees. Other civic works such as canal building and improvements in roads and railway were also undertaken to minimise effects of any future famines.

paragraphs: The growing desire for independence began to gradually gather pace in the country and its influence in Tamil Nadu generated a number of volunteers to the fight against the British colonial power in the struggle for Independence. Notable amongst these are Tiruppur Kumaran, who was born in 1904 in a small village near Erode. Kumaran lost his life during a protest march against the British.

paragraphs: In 1916 Dr. T.M. Nair and Rao Bahadur Thygaraya Chetty released the "Non-Brahmin Manifesto" sowing the seeds for the Dravidian movements.

paragraphs: The trauma of the partition did not impact Tamil Nadu when India was granted Independence in 1947. There was no sectarian violence against various religions. There had always been an atmosphere of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence between all religions in Tamil Nadu. Congress formed the first ministry in the Madras Presidency. Rajaji was the first Chief Minister. Madras Presidency was eventually reconstituted as Madras State.

paragraphs: The Madras state was named Tamil Nadu (the land of the Tamils) in 1968.

paragraphs: Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka during the 1970s and the 80s saw large numbers of Sri Lankan Tamils fleeing to Tamil Nadu.

paragraphs: The politics of Tamil Nadu have gone through three distinct phases since independence. The domination of the Congress Party after 1947 gave way to the Dravidian populist mobilisation in the 1960s. This phase lasted until towards the end of the 1990s. The most recent phase saw the fragmentation of the Dravidian political parties and led to the advent of political alliances and coalition governments.


title: Leo Fender

paragraphs: Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American instrument maker.

paragraphs: He founded a company called Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company. It makes electric guitars, electric bass guitars, and electric guitar amplifiers. Leo Fender designed electric guitars which he called the " Telecaster" and the "Stratocaster." Fender also designed the first bass guitar, which he called the "Precision Bass". In the 1960s, Fender designed another bass guitar, which he called the "Jazz Bass".

paragraphs: All of these instruments (the "Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision Bass," and the "Jazz Bass") became popular. Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company sold thousands and thousands of these instruments. Many rock and pop music bands from the 1960s to the 2000s use these electric guitars and electric bass guitars.


title: Fret

paragraphs: A fret is a thin metal strip found on string instruments. Guitars, mandolins, and banjos have frets.

paragraphs: Frets are mounted on the long necks of the instrument. The frets help the musician playing the instrument to know where to place their fingers on the instrument.

paragraphs: On historical instruments and some non-European instruments, pieces of string tied around the neck are frets.

paragraphs: Frets divide the neck into sections related to a musical framework. On instruments such as guitars, each fret marks one semitone in the standard western system where one octave is divided into twelve semitones.


title: Amplifier

paragraphs: The word amplifier (sometimes called an amp) usually refers to an electronic amplifier. Electronic amplifiers make a signal from a radio or electric musical instrument (such as an electric guitar or an electric bass guitar) louder and stronger. Amplifiers are also hidden in any electronic thing that makes sound with loudspeakers. This includes televisions, radios, computers, and mp3 players, to name a few.

paragraphs: Amplifiers ability to use low impedance speakers may vary. Typical impedance is 8 ohms.

paragraphs: Classification can be done by current loss when amplifier is on but does not get signal. Example: A-class amplifier takes more current without signal than B-class amplifier but A-class amplifier have smaller distortion.

paragraphs: Electronic amplifiers make a signal from the radio or electric instrument louder and stronger by using transistors or vacuum tubes. Electronic amplifiers have to be connected to electrical current or a battery to work. Once the signal from the radio or electric instrument has been made louder and stronger, the signal needs to be connected to a loudspeaker so that people can hear it.

paragraphs: When an amplifier tries to make the sound louder than it can, it adds distortion to the sound. Some amplifiers are made to add controlled distortion. Distortion from transistors sounds different than distortion from tubes. Distortion from tubes is often said to be more musical. Because of all this, more expensive amplifiers often add controlled distortion with tubes. Many of these amplifiers use transistors for a "clean" sound (without distortion).

paragraphs: From the 1920s until the 1950s, electronic amplifiers used vacuum tubes. However, electronic amplifiers with vacuum tubes were heavy, and they produced a lot of heat. They also broke down a lot.

paragraphs: Since the 1960s, most electronic amplifiers have been built with transistors. Transistors are lighter, cheaper, and more reliable.


title: Ruda Śląska

paragraphs: Ruda Śląska is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 147 000 inhabitants and 77 km².


title: Rybnik

paragraphs: Rybnik is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. About 141,000 people live there. The city is about 148 km². The mayor of the city is Piotr Kuczera.


title: Tychy

paragraphs: Tychy is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 132 000 inhabitants and 81 km².


title: Dąbrowa Górnicza

paragraphs: Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. Around 131,000 people live here.


title: Płock

paragraphs: Płock is a city in Eastern Poland in the Masovia Voivodship. About 128,000 people live there and it is 88 km² big.


title: Loudspeaker

paragraphs: A loudspeaker, which is also called a loud-speaker or speaker, is an item that is used to create the sound in radios, television sets, and electric musical instrument amplifier systems.

paragraphs: Loudspeakers use both electric and mechanical principles to convert an electrical signal from a radio, television set or electric musical instrument into sound. For a loudspeaker to produce sound, the signal from the radio, television set, or electric musical instrument needs to be connected to an electronic amplifier.

paragraphs: Loudspeakers are usually built by using a stiff paper cone, a coil of thin copper wire, and a circular magnet. The cone, copper wire, and magnet are usually mounted in a rectangle-shaped wood cabinet. The coil of copper wire moves back and forth when an electrical signal is passed through it. The coil of copper wire and the magnet cause the rigid paper cone to vibrate and reproduce sounds.

paragraphs: Inside the loudspeaker can be a audio crossover.

paragraphs: Some loudspeakers are designed for lower-pitched sounds, such as "woofer" loudspeakers or "subwoofer" loudspeakers. Other loudspeakers, which are called "tweeters", are designed to reproduce high-pitched sounds (such as the sound of a whistle or a bird singing).

paragraphs: Loudspeakers for electric musical instruments are usually much stronger and heavier than loudspeakers for radios or television sets. Their main function is to convert electrical signals given to it into sound signals.

paragraphs: Alexander Graham Bell invented the first audible loudspeaker in 1876. Bell invented the loudspeaker because he needed a device that would amplify sound for the telephone. In 1878, the inventor Werner von Siemens from Germany patented an improved type of electrodynamic loudspeaker which did not yet include an amplifier..


title: Chorzów

paragraphs: Chorzów is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 115,000 inhabitants and an area of 33 km².


title: Wałbrzych

paragraphs: Wałbrzych (pronounce: ['vawbʒix], German: "Waldenburg") is a town in southwestern Poland situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 126 000 inhabitants and 84 km². The city belonged to Germany until 1945. The original German population being expelled after WW II.


title: Organ trio

paragraphs: An organ trio is a type of jazz band with three musicians. Usually a jazz organ trio consists of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player.

paragraphs: Organ trios popular in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Organ trios usually performed jazz music that had influences from blues music. Organ trios are usually led by the organ player, who is called the leader of the trio.

paragraphs: Important organ trio leaders from the 1950s were organists such as Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, and Jack McDuff. In the late 1960s, organist Larry Young had a jazz fusion style organ trio. In the 1970s, Tony Williams had a jazz fusion band called "Lifetime" which was an organ trio. In the 1990s and 2000s, organist Joey DeFrancesco is an organ trio leader.

paragraphs: The word "organ trio" is also used to refer to the type (or "genre") of music played by organ trios from the 1950s and 1960s. For example, a person might say "I want to listen to some organ trio music." This would usually mean that they want to listen to music by Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, or other well-known organ trio leaders.


title: Hegemony

paragraphs: Hegemony (pronounced with a soft or hard 'g') is the power of one group over other groups. Hegemony is mostly used to refer to relationships between different nations (or countries). This might be direct dominance, such as through military might, but may be indirect dominance, such as when a nation can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage.

paragraphs: Hegemony often describes the relationship of a great power to nearby less powerful countries. The term is Greek, and was first used about the influence of a great city over the cities which were allied to it. Examples are the Peloponnesian League of Sparta (6th to 4th centuries BC); the short-lived Delian League of Classical Athens. The later League of Corinth was headed not by a state, but by Philip II of Macedon. Such a hegemon is a king or ruler with personal power.

paragraphs: A hegemonic relationship is usually described as less than an empire, but more than a regional power. This means a hegemon may not actually take control of other nations, but has the power to greatly influence what they do. On the other hand, a global hegemon is more powerful than, say, Iran is in the Middle East.


title: James Callaghan

paragraphs: Leonard James "Jim" Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, (; 27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) from 1976 to 1979.

paragraphs: Born in the 1910s, Callaghan was an old-style socialist, lacking any higher education, and served as Member of Parliament (MP) for a Cardiff constituency. He is the only person to have held all three leading UK Cabinet positions (Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary), prior to their premiership. He was never expected to reach the premiership, having taken a back seat to the younger and more charismatic Harold Wilson for many years. However, when Wilson unexpectedly announced his retirement in 1976, Callaghan was the most experienced candidate to replace him. His time as prime minister was one of more open government but the electorate was dissatisfied with his relaxed response to high inflation and more industrial unrest, and replaced Labour with a Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher.

paragraphs: Callaghan resigned as Leader of the Labour Party shortly afterwards, but remained an MP for some years before being sent to the House of Lords as Baron Callaghan of Cardiff.


title: Fulgencio Batista

paragraphs: Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the military leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940. He was President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. In 1940 he won the election. He then became the country's leader from 1952 to 1959. In 1952 he did a coup. His authoritarian government during this time caused opposition despite his attempt to placate critics with a 'show' election in 1954 were he ran without opposition. The opposition included the entire coalition that had overthrown President Gerardo Machado. Fidel Castro's guerrilla movement overthrew Batista. This is known as the Cuban Revolution. Batista died of a heart attack.


title: Sock puppet

paragraphs: A Sock puppet is a simple type of made with an adult sock. Most sock puppets have some fabric or plastic facial features added to the sock, such as eyes or a mouth. Some sock puppets may also have accessories such as a hat or clothing. Sock puppets are operated by putting a person's hand inside the sock.

paragraphs: Sock puppets are often used for entertaining people, especially children. People often present them on special stages that show sock puppets without showing the puppeteers (the people who use sock puppets) themselves.

paragraphs: In Canada, Ed the Sock is a sock puppet who has appeared on Canadian television shows since 1987. Ed the Sock appears in a weekly Toronto television series called "Ed's Night Party!". In the 1950s, comedian Soupy Sales made two sock puppets famous; 'White Fang' and 'Black Tooth'. Ventriloquist and puppeteer Shari Lewis delighted children with her lovable sock puppets 'Lamb Chop', 'Charlie Horse' and 'Hush Puppy'. They appeared on TV and in person for over four decades. 1950s TV sock puppets 'Kukla' and 'Ollie' appeared with a real person, Fran, who appeared in front of the stage in the long-running program Kukla, Fran and Ollie.


title: Smoke

paragraphs: Smoke is a cloud of very small, solid particles that is made when something is burned with a flame, such as wood or paper.

paragraphs: Smoke can be bad because if it goes into the lungs of a person, it can hurt their lungs or even kill them (for example, in a house fire). Most people think that they are always able to see smoke, but people cannot see some types of smoke: they are invisible.

paragraphs: When people smoke tobacco in cigars or cigarettes, they are burning the tobacco and inhaling the smoke. Tobacco smoke can hurt the mouth, throat, and lungs. It can cause mouth, throat, or lung cancer. It can also cause emphysema and bronchitis (trouble breathing). They continue doing it because the smoke also has a nicotine.

paragraphs: Factories and power plants produce large amounts of smoke into the atmosphere which pollutes the air. Eventually the toxic chemicals in smoke fall to the ground, and then they pollute the soil and the water. When the air, soil and water are polluted with toxic chemicals, the chemicals also get absorbed by plants and animals (including humans).

paragraphs: When Dry ice is put into water, the dry ice boils and makes fog. This is not real smoke but movie makers and other show people do this to simulate smoke.


title: Friedrich Kellner

paragraphs: August Friedrich Kellner (born February 1, 1885 in Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany, died November 4, 1970 in Lich) was a German social democrat. He worked as a justice inspector. In the time of the Nazis in Germany, he wrote a secret diary. This became known as the Diary of Friedrich Kellner. After the war he said why he wrote it:

paragraphs: August Friedrich Kellner was born on February 1, 1885 in Vaihingen, a town next to the Enz River and not far from Heidelberg. He was the only child of Georg Friedrich Kellner, a baker from the village of Arnstadt in Thuringia, and Barbara Wilhelmine Vaigle from Bissingen. Friedrich’s parents belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran faith.

paragraphs: When Friedrich was four years old, his family moved to Mainz. There his father became the master baker at "Goebels Zuckerwerk".

paragraphs: In December 1902, when he was 17 years old, Kellner graduated from Goethe High School. He began work as a junior clerk in the courthouse in Mainz. He worked there from 1903 until 1933. He became a justice secretary, then an accountant, and finally a justice inspector.

paragraphs: In 1907 and 1908 Kellner had to fulfill his military reserve duty. He was assigned to the 6th Infantry Company of the Leibregiments Großherzogin (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117 in Mainz.

paragraphs: In 1913 Friedrich Kellner married Pauline Preuss. She was from Mainz. Their only child, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Kellner, was born three years later.

paragraphs: When the First World War began in 1914, Kellner was called back to active duty. He was an officer substitute in the Prinz Carl Infantry Regiment (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches Regiment) Nr. 118, in Worms. He fought in France at the battle of the Marne. Later, he was wounded near Reims. He was sent to St. Rochus Hospital in Mainz to recover.

paragraphs: Kellner was loyal to the Kaiser’s regime, but still he welcomed the birth of the German democracy after the war. He became a political organizer for the leading political party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From those first days of the Weimar Republic, he spoke out against the danger of extremists, against Communists and the National Socialists (the Nazis). Kellner would show his opposition at rallies by holding Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, above his head. He then shouted to the crowd: “Gutenberg, your printing press has been violated by this evil book.” On more than one occasion Kellner was beaten by the Nazis for expressing his views.

paragraphs: Adolf Hitler wanted revenge against his political opponents. So two weeks before Hitler became Chancellor, Kellner took his wife and son into the country for safety. They moved to the village of Laubach, in Hesse. He worked in Laubach as the chief justice inspector in the district court. This means that he was in charge of the administration of the courthouse. In 1935 his son went to live in the United States because he did not want to go into Hitler’s army.

paragraphs: In November 1938 there was a pogrom (an attack) against the Jews. This became known as Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass. Friedrich and Pauline Kellner tried to help their Jewish neighbors. The Kellners were warned by the Nazi leaders that they would suffer the same fate as their neighbors if they continued their resistance. Kellner was told he and his wife would be sent to a concentration camp if he continued to be a "bad influence" on the people of Laubach. A report written by the district Nazi leader, Hermann Engst, shows that authorities were planning to punish Kellner at the end of the war. Because he could not continue to speak out openly, Kellner wrote down his thoughts in a secret diary. He wanted his son, and the coming generations, to know that democracy must not give in to dictatorships. In the diary, he warns everyone to resist tyrants and terrorism, and to not believe in their propaganda.

paragraphs: The diary has 10 volumes with a total of 861 pages. It contains 676 individually dated entries. The entries are from September 1939 through May 1945. More than 500 newspaper clippings are pasted on the pages of the diary.

paragraphs: Friedrich Kellner was an eyewitness to the events of his time. In his diary, he also offers a guide for future generations to prevent totalitarianism. He warns everyone to resist any ideology that would take away their personal freedoms, and he warns everyone to turn away from any belief that ignores the sanctity of human life.

paragraphs: One of the most important entries in the diary was written on October 28, 1941. Most Germans after the war said that they knew nothing about the Holocaust. However, very early in the war Kellner recorded this in his diary. He showed that even in the small towns, normal people knew what was happening:

paragraphs: At war’s end, Kellner helped to establish the SPD in Laubach, and he became the regional party chairman. He was the deputy mayor of Laubach in 1945 and 1946. From 1956 to 1960 he was First Town Councilor and deputy mayor.

paragraphs: Friedrich Kellner was the chief justice inspector and administrator of the courthouse in Laubach until 1947. For the next two years he was the district auditor in the regional court in Giessen. He retired in 1950, but he continued to be a legal advisor in Laubach.

paragraphs: Kellner’s son, who had emigrated to America, died in 1953. In 1960 Kellner’s grandson, Robert Scott Kellner, traveled to Germany to meet his grandfather. Kellner gave his ten-volume diary to his American grandchild. He wanted him to translate it into different languages and bring it to the attention of the public.

paragraphs: On November 4, 1970, Friedrich Kellner died. He was buried at the side of his wife in the Mainz cemetery.

paragraphs: In 2007, the Canadian film company, CCI Entertainment of Toronto, made a documentary film about both Friedrich Kellner and his grandson Robert Scott Kellner. The film is called, "".


title: 1996 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, were held in Atlanta, United States from July 19 to August 4.

paragraphs: Eric Rudolph, a Christian fundamentalist, bombed the Centennial Olympic Park on July 27. Alice Hawthorne was killed in the explosion when a nail from the bomb penetrated her skull. Melih Uzunyol, a Turkish cameraman, had a fatal heart attack while running to the scene. The bomb wounded 111 others.

paragraphs: These were the top 10 teams at the 1996 Summer Olympics.


title: 1984 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were held in Los Angeles, United States from July 28 to August 12.


title: 1932 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as Games of the X Olympiad, were held in Los Angeles, United States.

paragraphs: U.S. President Herbert Hoover did not attend the games. Despite this snub, the games were thought to be a success because the LA Olympics did not end up in debt.

paragraphs: Los Angeles was the first to provide an athletes' "village".

paragraphs: A total of 37 nations sent athletes to compete at the Los Angeles games.


title: 1992 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1992 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were celebrated in Barcelona, Spain from 25 July to 9 August.


title: 1988 Summer Olympics

paragraphs: The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were held in Seoul, South Korea from September 17 to October 2.


title: Charles Aznavour

paragraphs: Charles Aznavour (22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was an Armenian-French singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of France's most popular and long lasting singers, and also one of the most well-known French singers in other countries.

paragraphs: He appeared in more than 60 movies and written more than 1000 songs (including 150 in English, 100 in Italian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 in German).

paragraphs: He has sold over 100 million albums. Aznavour started his final tour in late 2006. Aznavour was born as Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavouryan in Paris, the son of Armenian immigrants Michael Aznavouryan & Knar Baghdasaryan. His parents introduced him to the world of theatre at an early age. He dropped out of school at the age of nine, already aspiring to the life of an artist. He began to perform at this time, and soon took the stage name "Aznavour".

paragraphs: His big break came when the singer Edith Piaf heard him sing and arranged to take him with her on tour in France and to the USA. Aznavours voice is shaded towards the tenor range, but possesses the low range and coloration more typical of a baritone, contributing to his unique sound.

paragraphs: On 1 October 2018 it was announced that Aznavour had died at his home in the village of Mouriès in the south of France at the age of 94. An autopsy report said Aznavour died of cardiopulmonary arrest caused by pulmonary edema.


title: Pallava dynasty

paragraphs: The Pallavas dynasty rose in Tamil Nadu (South India) during the seventh century under Mahendravarman I and his son Mamalla Narasimhavarman I. The Pallavas were not a recognised political power before the second century. After the fall of the "Satavahanas", they began to get control over parts of Andhra and the Tamil country. The Pallavas were at their finest during the reigns of Narasimhavarman I and Pallavamalla Nandivarman II.


title: Pandya dynasty

paragraphs: The Pandyan kingdom பாண்டியர் was an ancient Tamil state in South India of unknown antiquity. Pandyas were one of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms (Chola and Chera being the other two) who ruled the Tamil country from pre-historic times until end of the 15th century. They ruled initially from Korkai, a sea port on the southern most tip of the Indian peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai.


title: Rockabilly

paragraphs: Rockabilly is an early type of rock and roll music which developed in the 1950s in the United States. Rockabilly was very popular amongst teenagers. Many parents of teenagers did not like rockabilly music, because rockabilly music had lyrics which talked about rebelling against rules, sex and drinking alcohol. Rockabilly musicians often wear slicked-back hair, jeans, and leather jackets.

paragraphs: Rockabilly music has musical styles from blues music and country music. It uses the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the double bass, drums, and singing. Some Rockabilly songs also use the piano or the harmonica. Rockabilly music usually has a strong rhythm from the double bass being played in a "slap" style. Rockabilly singers often use a wide range, with high notes and many shouts like “go man go” and "yeah!"

paragraphs: One of the earliest musicians who played rockabilly music was Elvis Presley. Another famous rockabilly musician was Carl Perkins, who wrote the popular song "Blue Suede Shoes". Jerry Lee Lewis was a piano player who sang. Jerry Lee Lewis was known for his crazy behavior on stage, which audiences liked. Lewis would play the piano with his feet, elbows and butt.

paragraphs: Gene Vincent was a rockabilly musician who wore black leather and sang songs about sex and getting into trouble. Vincent's most popular song is “Be-Bop-A-Lula”. Eddie Cochran wrote songs about teen life, and had hit songs like “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody.”

paragraphs: Rockabilly became popular again in the 1980s, when bands such as the Stray Cats became popular. In the 1990s and 2000s, there are still many bands playing rockabilly music or music influenced by rockabilly, such as Tiger Army.


title: Blu-ray Disc

paragraphs: Blu-ray Disc is a high-density optical disc format similar to DVD. Blu-ray is the type of disc used for PlayStation 3 games and for playing high-definition (HD) movies. In the past, there were other standards for such movies, such as the HD DVD format. Blu-ray won what is called the "format war".

paragraphs: A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can store up to 50GB (gigabytes) of data. This is over five times the capacity of a DVD, and over 70 times more than a CD or VCD.

paragraphs: The disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, and released in 2006. The format was developed for recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data.

paragraphs: Older optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM used a red laser to read and write data. The new format used a blue-violet laser instead. This is where the name is from.


title: Stray Cats

paragraphs: The Stray Cats were a Rockabilly band from the United States. They had several hit songs in the 1980s. The Stray Cats played a style of pop music called Rockabilly, which mixes 1950s-style rock and roll, blues music, and country music together. The Stray Cats' music is like the 1950s Rockabilly songs by Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins. Three of the bands' hit songs were "Runaway Boys," "Rock This Town," and "Stray Cat Strut."

paragraphs: The Stray Cats band was formed in 1979 by Brian Setzer, with two of his school friends Leon Drucker (who used the stage name "Lee Rocker") and James McDonnell (who used the stage name "Slim Jim Phantom"). These young men lived in Massapequa, New York.

paragraphs: The Stray Cats wore blue jeans and leather jackets, and had their hair slicked back. The Stray Cats had a singer who played electric guitar, a double bass player, and a drummer.


title: United States National Security Advisor

paragraphs: The National Security Advisor, officially known as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, serves as the top advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues. This person serves on the National Security Council within the President's Executive Office.

paragraphs: The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President, and does not have to be approved by the United States Senate. The current National Security Advisor is Robert C. O'Brien.

paragraphs: List of National Security Advisors and the Presidents under whom they served:


title: Chera dynasty

paragraphs: The Chera dynasty (Tamil: சேரர் Malayalam: േചര ) was one of the ancient Tamil dynasties who ruled the southern India from ancient times until around the fifteenth century CE. The Early Cheras ruled over the Malabar Coast, Coimbatore, Karur and Salem Districts in South India, which now forms part of the modern day Kerala and Tamil Nadu states of India.


title: Chola dynasty

paragraphs: The Chola dynasty (சோழர் குலம்) was a Tamil dynasty that ruled in southern India until the 13th century. The dynasty came from the fertile valley of the Kaveri River.

paragraphs: "Karikala Chola" was the most famous among the early Chola kings, while "Rajaraja Chola", "Rajendra Chola" and "Kulothunga Chola" I were famous emperors of the medieval Cholas.

paragraphs: The Cholas were at the height of their power during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Under Rajaraja Chola I (Rajaraja the Great) and his son Rajendra Chola, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in Asia. The Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the South to as far North as the banks of the Ganges River in Bangladesh.