title: Matthew Bellamy

paragraphs: Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer. He is the lead singer of the band Muse. He also plays the electric guitar and the piano. He writes most of the songs. Bellamy is known for his falsetto and the way he plays the guitar, which is very creative. Bellamy sings with a tenor voice when he is not singing in falsetto.

paragraphs: Matthew Bellamy was born on 9 June 1978 in Cambridge. He is the son of George Bellamy and Marilyn Bellamy and he has an older brother named Paul. His parents moved with him to Teignmouth in Devon in the mid 1980s.

paragraphs: George Bellamy was also a guitarist and was in a band called "The Tornados", who had a number-one hit in the United States with the song "Telstar". The talent of his father was part of what inspired Matthew to play guitar, sing and form a band. The Muse song "Knights of Cydonia" is sometimes called a tribute to "Telstar", since it has a similar space rock sound and futuristic video featuring cowboys like a spaghetti western. Marylin Bellamy was born in Belfast and went to live in England in the 1970s, meeting George for the first time on the day she did so.

paragraphs: When he was 6 years old, Matthew Bellamy began playing piano, and showed signs of having natural skill with the instrument. Bellamy's parents divorced before he reached fourteen years of age. He moved in with his grandmother, and around this time he considered playing guitar. His talent for quickly learning how to play instruments had made some people call him a virtuoso, which is someone musically talented in a unique way.

paragraphs: Matthew was heavily featured in the TV series "History of the Guitar" where his creativity with the instrument was demonstrated to the full. His father George was introduced on the programme as Matthew's father and was featured performing the hit instrumental "Telstar" with "The Tornados."

paragraphs: Bellamy is fascinated with conspiracy theories. A lot of songs of Muse are about conspiracies. He is also interested in the space and conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial life or "aliens". This interest is probably caused by the death of his uncle, who was murdered of the Irish Republican Army. Matthew's uncle, murdered by the IRA, played lead guitar in the rock band "The Jokers." They played clubs mainly in the south of England during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the time they where based in the Aldershot area of Hampshire UK. Other members of the band include Pete Crabbe, playing rhythm and base guitar, Denis Williams playing drums, Brian Foster and Joey Graham singing vocals. Pete Seddon played rhythm guitar occasionally. Matthew's father George Bellamy, was often mentioned and was a source of inspiration to all but particularly to Matt's uncle who modeled his style of play on him.

paragraphs: Matthew shows agnostic views, stating in a 2006 interview with the Rock Music channel that "I believe in the God of the universe, definitely" but does not believe in heaven or hell. It is also possible that Bellamy explores otherworldly theories, such as the origin of mankind from another universe, as reflected in the band's rock symphony, "Exogenesis".


title: Chris Wolstenholme

paragraphs: Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born December 2, 1978 in Rotherham, Yorkshire, England) is an English musician. He sings and plays a bass guitar in the band Muse. He also sometimes plays guitar or keyboard instead of bass.

paragraphs: Chris grew up in Rotherham before moving to Teignmouth where he had lived up until April 2010. While attending school there, he played for various different bands until he joined Muse when Matthew Bellamy and Dominic Howard invited him to their band. Today he is an acclaimed bass-player, receiving praise from many musicians.

paragraphs: Wolstenhome has six children with his wife Kelly: Alfie (born 1999), Ava-Jo (born 2001), Frankie (born 2003), Ernie (born 2008), Buster (born 2010) and Teddi, born 2012.

paragraphs: He got married in 2018 to his Wife caris ball. On the 3rd of March, caris gave birth to their Daughter named Mabel aurora Wolstenholme

paragraphs: In April 2010, he moved with his family to Dublin, Ireland.


title: Dominic Howard

paragraphs: Dominic James Howard (born December 7, 1977) is an English musician. He plays the drums for the band Muse. Howard was born in Stockport, England. He is left-handed. Howard is a huge fan of British cheesecake, and has his own secret recipe. He often wears brightly coloured trousers.


title: Penlight

paragraphs: A penlight is a small flashlight in the shape of a pen. A penlight usually uses a small light known as an "LED" (Light Emitting Diode) but it can also use a small lightbulb made just for small flashlights.

paragraphs: The LED lights up when power is run through it. Making the penlight light up is as simple as pressing a button, or screwing the end on tighter so it makes contact with the batteries.

paragraphs: Most of the time, penlights use two or three AAA or AAAA batteries. AAAA are a newer, thinner type of battery, most commonly found in small electronics.

paragraphs: Penlights can be made out of plastic or metal, and can be any color. They most often have a little clip, to hold it on your shirt or something.


title: Raam

paragraphs: Raam is the Seventh Avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism. He was a king of ancient India. His wife is Sita, who is the Avatar of Lakshmi.

paragraphs: He is the hero of the ancient Hindu epic poem, "The Ramayana" (from Sanskrit: "The Journey of Rama"). In this legend, Rama is born in Ayodhya. His father is King Dasharatha. His stepmother has exiled him from the kingdom, and Rama goes to live as an ascetic in the forests. He is also known as "Maryada Puroshottam", which means he teaches humanity how to live life without sacrificing the happiness and interest of others. He is the perfect human form of "prabhu" or God. Ram is a popular God and revered across India and Nepal.

paragraphs: He is said to have come to earth again to give Darshan to Sant Shiromani Shree Goswami Tulasidas.

paragraphs: "Ram naam" or the calling out Ram's name is said to purify one's very soul.

paragraphs: According to legend, Rama and Sita had two sons,luv and kush.


title: Bournemouth

paragraphs: Bournemouth is a town in Dorset, in the country of England. It is the biggest town in Dorset. It is next to Poole and Christchurch.


title: Christchurch, Dorset

paragraphs: Christchurch is a town in Dorset, England. It is next to Bournemouth.


title: Symphony

paragraphs: A symphony is a piece of music written for an orchestra to play. It may be quite a long piece. Usually it is divided into parts, usually 3 or 4 parts, which are called movements.

paragraphs: The first movement of a symphony can be a fast movement, often in sonata form. The second movement can be a slow movement. The third movement can be a minuet or scherzo and a trio. The fourth movement may be called “Finale”; it can be in Rondo form or sonata form or a combination of these. There are lots of different ways of writing a symphony, but this is the pattern that was used by Joseph Haydn who is known as the “Father of the Symphony”, and many composers since have used his pattern of movements for their symphonies.

paragraphs: The word “symphony” comes from the Greek words “sym” (together) and “phone” (sound).

paragraphs: “Symphonic” means “like a symphony”. It is often used to describe music which is quite long and develops tunes over a long period.

paragraphs: A large orchestra is often called a “symphony orchestra”. This is to distinguish it from a small orchestra called a “chamber orchestra”.

paragraphs: Some of the most famous composers of symphonies are Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius and Dmitri Shostakovich.


title: Upper Franconia Government Region

paragraphs: Upper Franconia ("Oberfranken") is a "regierungsbezirk" (administrative region) of the German state Bavaria. It has an area of 7,230 km² and about 1,200,000 people. It borders the German states of Sachsen and Thuringia, and also the Czech Republic. Bayreuth is its capital.


title: Weimar Republic

paragraphs: The Weimar Republic ( ), officially the German Reich (), also referred to as the German People's State () or simply the German Republic (), is the name now used for the republic that governed Germany from 1919 to 1933.

paragraphs: After the German Empire was defeated in World War I, Germany became a republic, but it was still called "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire). Today it is called the "Weimar Republic" and this period is called the "Weimar period", because the constitution was made in the city of Weimar.

paragraphs: On November 9, 1918, the Republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the "Reichstag" building in Berlin and two hours later a socialist republic was proclaimed around the corner at the Berlin Castle by Karl Liebknecht.

paragraphs: The Emperor, or "Kaiser," Wilhelm II, went into exile in the Netherlands. The new Republic was declared even before the end of World War I.

paragraphs: The Weimar Republic had a lot of problems. The Treaty of Versailles made things very difficult for the economy. Inflation got completely out of hand. There were political problems because governments ruled only for a very short time, not long enough to be able to make important decisions. There were a lot of radical right and left extremists, for example monarchists (people who wanted back the monarchy) and communists, who believed that all things, especially property, land and money, should be shared. Political parties had their own militias to fight each other.

paragraphs: One of the paramilitary organizations that arose after World War I was the meaning "Steel Helmet, League of Front Soldiers". They operated as the armed branch of the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP). they were placed at party gatherings in the position of armed security guards ("Saalschutz"). In 1935 they became part of the Nazi Party.

paragraphs: The Weimar period is also known for its culture. Artists tried out modern ideas and used new things like film. The Bauhaus began in the 1920s too.

paragraphs: What we now call The Weimar Republic came to an end on 23 March 1933, when Chancellor Adolf Hitler installed the Enabling Act, which established the Third Reich.


title: Lemma (mathematics)

paragraphs: In mathematics, a lemma is a "mini-proof"; a small hypothesis which is proved and then provides a part of a more important theorem.

paragraphs: A good small thing can lead to many big things. Some powerful results in mathematics are known as lemmas, such as Bézout's lemma, Dehn's lemma, Euclid's lemma, Farkas' lemma, Fatou's lemma, Gauss's lemma, Greendlinger's lemma, Itō's lemma, Jordan's lemma, Nakayama's lemma, Poincaré's lemma, Riesz's lemma, Schur's lemma, Schwarz's lemma, Urysohn's lemma, Yoneda's lemma and Zorn's lemma. While these results originally seemed too simple to get independent interest, they have turned out to be important to the theories in which they occur.


title: Avatar

paragraphs: Avatar, a word in Hinduism, is a deity which comes down to earth in a human form, an animal form or a partly human and partly animal form. Rama was an avatar of Vishnu, one of the three main gods of the Hindus. Similarly, Buddha was also an avatar. Both of these avatars had human form, but avatars of the Hindu mythology have also appeared in animal form. For example, Matsya had the form of a fish and Varaha had the form of a boar.

paragraphs: The word is usually translated into English as "incarnation", but better as "appearance" or "manifestation". This is the sense in which the word 'avatar' is used in various media today.

paragraphs: According to Hindu mythology, the important avatars of god Vishnu are named below:

paragraphs: Several Hindu scriptures have details and stories about Vishnu's avatars. These texts also tell that Vishnu will appear again the Kalki avatar. The following stories are of the avatars that appeared in animal forms or partly animal and partly human forms.

paragraphs: Matsya is the first avatar of Vishnu, in the form of a big fish. Sometimes, it is said that he took the form of a half-man and half-fish. There is a story about this in Hindu mythology. The story tells about a very wicked demon (an "asura") who snatched the Vedas, the holy books of the Hindus, and went deep inside the sea. At this point, Vishnu came as the Matsya (fish) avatar, who went deep into the sea and brought back the Vedas. He gave the Vedas to Manu. The Hindu scriptures say that Manu was the first man in the world. He may also be compared with Noah.

paragraphs: Kurma is the second avatar of Vishnu, in the form of a tortoise. Kurma is a word in the Sanskrit language that means a tortoise. This avatar of Vishnu is a symbol of strength and stability.

paragraphs: Varaha was the third avatar of Vishnu, in the form of a black boar. Varaha is a word in the Sanskrit language that means a boar. The Hindu scriptures tell a story about this avatar. There was a demon (a "daitya") named Hiranyaksha. He threw the earth (called prithivi by the Hindus) into the waters of the ocean. The earth was about to sink in the ocean. At this point, Vishnu took the form of a black boar, entered the water and carried the earth on its body. Thus Vishnu, as Varaha, saved the earth from destruction.

paragraphs: Narashimha was the fourth avatar of Vishnu, in the form of a man with the head of a lion. This avatar of Vishnu is also a symbol of great strength.

paragraphs: All other avatars of Vishnu after Narashimha avatar were in the form of human beings.

paragraphs: Although the avatars of Vishnu are the most important in the Hindu mythology, there are stories about avatars of other deities, like of Shiva, Ganesha and Devi.

paragraphs: Avatar is next birth of God in Hinduism.


title: Constantine the Great

paragraphs: Constantine I (27 February 272 – 22 May 337 AD) was a powerful general who reigned over the Roman Empire as emperor until his death. He made the previously named city Byzantium (now Istanbul, Turkey) capital of the whole Roman Empire. As emperor, he named the city "Constantinople", which means "City of Constantine" in Greek.

paragraphs: Before Constantine became Emperor, he was fighting for the throne at the Battle of Milvian Bridge over the Tiber River. When he saw a cross in the sky with the words "in hoc signo vinces" (Latin for "in this sign you shall conquer"), he changed his deity from Apollo to Jesus and won the battle.

paragraphs: In pagan Rome before this, it had been against the law to believe in Christianity, and Christians had often been tortured or killed. Constantine protected them. He went on to organize the whole Catholic Church at the First Council of Nicea, even though he himself did not get baptized until near the end of his life.

paragraphs: Constantine was also a big part of the beginning of the Eastern Orthodox religion, after changing the point from which he ruled from Rome to Byzantium.

paragraphs: Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor. His rule changed the Church greatly. In February 313, Constantine met with Licinius in Milan where they made the Edict of Milan. The edict said that Christians could believe what they wanted. This stopped people from punishing Christians, who had often been martyred, or killed for their faith. It also returned the property which had been taken away from them. The edict not only protected Christians, but gave freedom of religion to all, allowing anyone to worship whatever they wanted. In 311, Galerius had made a similar edict, though it did not return any property to them.

paragraphs: Constantine did not support Christianity alone. After winning the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he built the Arch of Constantine) to celebrate, but the arch was decorated with pictures of sacrifices to gods like Apollo, Diana, or Hercules. It had no Christian symbolism. In 321, Constantine said that Christians and non-Christians should all join the "day of the sun" (the eastern sun-worship which Aurelian had helped him introduce). His coins also had symbols of the sun-cult until 324. Even after pagan gods disappeared from the coins, Christians symbols never appeared on the coin, either. Even when Constantine dedicated the new capital of Constantinople, he was wearing the Apollonian sun-rayed Diadem.


title: Cleopatra VII

paragraphs: Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, was one of the most famous women in history. Her full name was "Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator" (69 BC – 12 August 30 BC). She was the last of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Pharaohs set up in Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. By descent, she was a Macedonian Princess. After her death, Egypt became the Roman province of "Aegyptus".

paragraphs: The main historical source for her life is Plutarch's "Life of Antony", available in translations.

paragraphs: "Antony and Cleopatra" is the famous tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in 1623.

paragraphs: Cleopatra was born in Alexandria, then the capital of Egypt. When she was 18 years old, her father, who was king, died. She and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, became the leaders of Egypt. She was queen and her brother was king. Her brother was only 10 years old, so she was the real leader.

paragraphs: Cleopatra made some enemies amongst the courtiers. The reign of Cleopatra was ended by a cabal of courtiers, led by the eunuch Pothinus. They removed Cleopatra from power, as her being a woman, and made Ptolemy sole ruler, in about 51 to 48 BC. She had to leave the country. Ptolemy was king, but because he was still a boy, Pothinus and his friends were the real leaders of Egypt.

paragraphs: At that time, two Roman generals were fighting to be the leaders of the Roman Republic. They were Pompey and Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar defeated Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus in Greece, 48 BC. Pompey fled to Egypt from Pharsalus, and was murdered by the orders of Ptolemy.

paragraphs: Ptolemy and his supporters thought Caesar would be pleased, but that was a big mistake. Caesar had pardoned many of the senators who fought against him. His reason was to lay the ground for peace in Rome. The murder of Pompey cut right across Caesar's plans. Worse, Pompey was a Roman consul, and the widower of Caesar's only daughter, Julia. Worse still, Pompey was beheaded in front of his fifth wife and children, who were on the ship from which he had just disembarked. This made sure that Pompey's powerful family and supporters would never forget, and would always be enemies of Caesar. She ended up marrying both of their brothers.

paragraphs: Then Caesar came to Alexandria, the capital of Egypt. Economically, Egypt was a bread-basket which could feed the people of Rome. Cleopatra received Caesar in her own unique way. She lay down on a carpet. Then her servants rolled up the carpet with Cleopatra inside. Then the carpet was taken to the palace where Caesar was staying. The guards saw some people carrying a carpet and they did not stop them. They carried the carpet to Caesar. Then Cleopatra came out of the carpet. Caesar fell in love with her and they became lovers. At the time, Cleopatra was 21 years old and Caesar was 52 years old.

paragraphs: Caesar decided to make Cleopatra queen again. Ptolemy did not like that. There was a lot of fighting, but Caesar won. Ptolemy tried to leave, but he fell in the river Nile and drowned. Another younger brother became king, but Cleopatra was again the real leader of Egypt. Cleopatra did not marry Julius Caesar, but they did have a son. He was called Caesarion.

paragraphs: Soon after Caesarion was born, Caesar was murdered as he walked to the Senate in Rome. Cleopatra and her entourage were in Rome when Caesar was assassinated on 15 March 44 BC. Cleopatra fled back to Egypt.

paragraphs: Mark Antony, who was Caesar's military commander, and Octavian, Caesar's legal heir, defeated the group who had conspired against Caesar. This group was led by Brutus and Cassius, who took their army to the Eastern Mediterranean, and controlled much of that area. The issue was finally settled by the Battle of Philippi, fought in Macedonia.

paragraphs: Caesar's place was taken by three joint Consuls, the Second Triumvirate. Their names were Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus. Lepidus was a minor character, and the long-term fate of the Empire was decided by a conflict between Antony and Octavian. Mark Antony came to see Cleopatra, and they fell in love, though Antony already had a wife. Cleopatra had three more children. Two were twins, and the father of all three was Mark Antony.

paragraphs: The conflict between Octavian and Antony became serious, and soon there was war. Cleopatra was wealthy, and she used her money to help Antony. But Octavian won the war. He became the ruler of the Roman Empire and was known as Augustus or Caesar Augustus. He took control of Egypt from Cleopatra. After her kingdom was conquered, she committed suicide by letting an asp (a poisonous snake and small cobra) bite her. Antony also committed suicide.

paragraphs: Ceasarion was murdered by Octavian, and her other children were taken as prisoners to Rome. Two of them died of illness, but her daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, married an African King Juba II of Numidia. The couple were sent to Mauritania to rule by Octavian. They lived a full life there, and had children.

paragraphs: There are many stories told of how rich Cleopatra was, but we cannot be sure if these are true. For example, one story says that she took baths in milk, to make her skin softer. Another story says that she made a bet with Antony that she could make the most expensive meal ever. To win the bet, she took a pearl earring, dissolved it in vinegar, and drank it.


title: CSS

paragraphs: CSS is an abbreviation. It can stand for the following:


title: Kelly Clarkson

paragraphs: Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer and actress. Clarkson won the first season of the television series "American Idol".

paragraphs: Clarkson has recorded four albums. Clarkson has sold over 10.6 million albums in the United States, becoming the highest-selling American Idol winner. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Clarkson is also ranked on the top 200 album sellers of the Nielsen SoundScan era at number 187.

paragraphs: Clarkson was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the third and youngest child of Jeanne Rose, a first grade teacher, and Stephen Michael Clarkson.

paragraphs: Clarkson's parents divorced when she was six years old, after having been married for seventeen years. The family then moved to Burleson, where her mother remarried. She is of Greek (from a maternal great-grandfather), English, Irish, German, and Scottish ancestry. Her mother is a descendant of Republican state senator Isaiah Rose, whose life story was discussed on Clarkson's episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?", in 2013.

paragraphs: Clarkson went to Pauline G Hughes Middle School and Burleson High School. She originally wanted to be a marine biologist, but changed her mind after she saw the movie "Jaws". In seventh grade, one of her teachers overheard her singing in a hallway and asked her to audition for the school choir.

paragraphs: In high school, Clarkson performed in musicals such as "Annie Get Your Gun", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and "Brigadoon". She sang at her high school talent show, after which an audience member shared some inspiring words with her: "God has given you this gift. You've got to sing. You're destined to sing." Clarkson continued singing and soon started classical training, hoping that music would be her ticket to a college scholarship.

paragraphs: After finishing high school, Clarkson was offered full scholarships to The University of Texas at Austin, the University of North Texas, and the Berklee College of Music. However, she decided against college to pursue a career in music saying, "you're never too old to go to college."

paragraphs: On September 4, 2002, Clarkson won the first season of "American Idol", beating Justin Guarini by a margin of 58% to 42%. After the results were announced, Clarkson performed the song "A Moment Like This", which was written for the winner of "American Idol" and would be released on her first CD "Thankful". When it was released as a single in October 2002, it set a record on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 chart when it rose from number 52 to number one. "Thankful" sold 236,000 copies in its first week in the U.S.

paragraphs: Clarkson married Brandon Blackstock in 2013. They have a daughter, River Rose, and a son, Remington. Blackstock also has two children from a previous relationship. In June 2020, it was announced that Clarkson had filed for divorce.


title: Maurice Ravel

paragraphs: Maurice Ravel (born Ciboure, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 7 March 1875; died Paris, 28 December 1937) was a French composer. His name is often thought of together with that of Claude Debussy, but their music is really very different. Ravel liked children and animals and his music is often about them. He liked to write about fairy tales and stories from far away lands. He wrote some lovely piano music, most of which is difficult to play. "Boléro" is a 17-minute piece for orchestra. A short version was used by ice-skaters Torvill and Dean for the dance that made them Olympic champions in 1984.

paragraphs: Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure in France. His father was an engineer. Both parents were interested in culture. Soon after he was born the family moved to Paris and stayed there.

paragraphs: It soon became clear that Maurice was musically gifted, so his father arranged for him to have piano lessons with a well-known teacher. In 1889 he entered the Paris Conservatoire.

paragraphs: In 1889 there was a big international exhibition: the Paris World Exhibition. Ravel and Debussy both heard gamelan music from Java at this exhibition. They were both influenced by it, especially Debussy. Ravel also heard Russian music at concerts given by Rimsky-Korsakov. He also made friends with a very talented Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes who was in the same class at the Conservatoire. He heard the music of Richard Wagner and got to know the composers Chabrier and Satie.

paragraphs: He left the Conservatoire in 1895, but went back in 1897 to study composition with Gabriel Fauré and counterpoint and orchestration with Andreé Gédalge. At this stage Ravel was not sure of himself as a composer. His first work that was to become very well-known was the short piece for orchestra called "Pavane pour une infante défunte". Fauré had been a very good teacher for Ravel, who dedicated his virtuoso piano piece "Jeux d’eau" (meaning “Play of water” or “Fountains”) and his "String Quartet" to Fauré. However, Ravel never got a prize for composition, so he left Fauré’s class in 1903.

paragraphs: Ravel was starting to live the life of a dandy. He always dressed very smartly, and got to know people with similar tastes. He tried to win the Prix de Rome in 1904 and again in 1905. However, the judges liked traditional music and did not understand Ravel’s style. There was a big argument at the Conservatoire which led to the director, Dubois, resigning and Fauré taking his place. Meanwhile, Ravel left Paris for a time with some friends and started writing some of his best compositions. These included "Introduction and Allegro" for seven instruments including harp, the "Rapsodie espagnole" for orchestra, his first opera "L’heure espagnole" and "Gaspard de la Nuit", a virtuoso piece for the piano. In Paris the music critics continued to argue about Ravel’s music.

paragraphs: In 1909 the Ballets Russes visited Paris. They were the world’s most famous ballet group. Their director Diaghilev asked Ravel to write a ballet for them Ravel took about three years to compose the music for "Daphnis et Chloé". Other works he completed before the war broke out include "Shéhérazade" for soprano and orchestra (not to be confused with the work by Rimsky-Korsakov with the same title), and the "Piano Trio".

paragraphs: When World War I broke out Ravel felt very strongly that he wanted to do something for his country. However, he was not allowed to join the French army because he was 2 kg underweight. So he became a driver for the motor transport corps. In 1916 he became ill with dysentery. After a time in hospital he was taken back to Paris to get better, but then his mother died and this had a terrible effect on him. The war years had slowed him down as a composer. He had composed "Le Tombeau de Couperin" (well-known both as a piano solo piece and for orchestra) which looks back to the style of music in the Baroque period. It took him a long time to finish "La Valse" ("The Waltz"), one of his most popular pieces.

paragraphs: After the war had ended Debussy was dead and Ravel was seen to be the greatest living French composer. He was offered the award of Légion d’honneur but he would not accept it. He bought himself a house outside Paris. Here he could compose in peace and quiet. He wrote his opera "L’enfant et les sortileges" ("The child and magic") and the famous virtuoso piece for solo violin called "Tzigane". He toured in Europe and the United States and was welcomed everywhere as a great composer. He was given an honorary doctorate at Oxford University.

paragraphs: Ravel worked on several things: some ballet music which resulted in the orchestral piece "Boléro", a Piano Concerto in G, and the Piano Concerto for the Left Hand that could be played just with the left hand (written for the pianist Paul Wittgenstein who had lost his right arm in the war), and several other projects which were not finished.

paragraphs: In 1932 he started to become ill. For several years he had already been finding it difficult to sleep, and this may have been the beginning of the brain disease which would finally kill him. A road accident in 1932 made it worse. Soon he could no longer sign his own name, he could hardly move and hardly speak. He had a brain operation in 1937, but he died.

paragraphs: Ravel was a very private man. We know nothing about his sexual life. His music came to him during walks on his own, in the country or in Paris, often at night, and in any weather. Then he would come home and write them down. He worked at each composition until it was perfect and never showed it to anybody until it was ready. He liked to collect little things such as toys, and these objects often became part of the music. Baroque music forms, gamelan music, Spanish music, ancient modes and unusual harmonies were all important in his musical style. He only had a few pupils, including Vaughan Williams, but no one could imitate his music because it is always so personal, full of perfection and humour.


title: Jean-Philippe Rameau

paragraphs: Jean-Philippe Rameau (born Dijon, September ? 1683; died Paris, 12 September 1764) was a French composer. He is famous for his music for harpsichord and for his operas. His most well-known operas are: "Hippolyte et Aricie", "Castor et Pollux", and "Dardanus". He is also known for his one act opera "Pigmalion" which he is said to have composed in 8 days. He is also known as an important music theorist by writing many books on the matter.


title: Bedřich Smetana

paragraphs: Bedřich Smetana (b. Litomyšl, Bohemia, March 2, 1824; d. Prague May 12, 1884) was a Czech composer. He was a Romantic composer. Smetana, Dvořák and Leoš Janáček are the three most famous composers who wrote Czech nationalist music. His music is typical of the Czech people. His eight operas are about Nationalist stories. He wrote six tone poems for orchestra called "Ma Vlast" which means “My Home Country”.

paragraphs: Bedřich was the 11th child in a German-speaking family, although he was only the first of the children not to die before they grew up. His father was a brewer and a keen amateur violinist. He learned the violin from his father and the piano from local teachers, but he soon played better than his teachers. Between the age of 12 and 20 he had no musical education. Then he went to Prague and heard Liszt playing. He wanted to leave school and study music but his father would not let him. He was sent to Plzeň where he finished his schooling. During this time he earned some money by playing the piano at the homes of rich people. He played for dancing, and he liked to dance himself. He often danced with a girl called Kateřina Kolářová and he also played piano duets with her. Later she married him.

paragraphs: He returned to Prague and arranged to have lessons in harmony, counterpoint and composition. He gave a piano recital, but nobody came to listen, so he decided to start a school of music, although he hardly had any money.

paragraphs: In 1848, revolutions were taking place in central Europe, including in Prague. A strong feeling of nationalism was growing. The Czechs (people who lived in Bohemia and Moravia) wanted to be able to express themselves in their own language instead of in German, which was still the official language in Bohemia. Smetana, who only spoke German, agreed with the nationalists’ ideas, but he still did not realize how important it would be for him in the future to be able to speak Czech.

paragraphs: Smetana married Kateřina and they had four daughters, but three of them died. He still had very little money, so he went to Sweden where he was very successful as a piano teacher and conductor. He composed the first of his symphonic poems: "Richard III". After three years in Sweden he decided to return to his homeland because of his Kateřina’s health, but she died on the way. Smetana spent two more years in Sweden. He married again. After the Austrian defeat by Napoleon III in 1859, it became clear that there were going to be big changes in his native country. The Czechs were going to be allowed to have a national opera and put on plays in the Czech language instead of having to perform everything in German. Smetana realized that this was an exciting chance for him. After a big farewell concert in Stockholm to which the Swedish royal family came, Smetana returned to Prague.

paragraphs: Smetana now started to learn Czech, a language he did not speak. It was not easy for him in Prague because he was only known there as a pianist and teacher. He put on a concert of music by German composers but nobody came. He wanted to be director of the Provisional Theatre but the job was given to a man called Mayr who was not very good.

paragraphs: Gradually Smetana’s reputation grew and he started to write operas in Czech which became very popular. The first one was called "The Brandenburgers in Bohemia". Mayr made things very difficult for Smetana but the audience loved the opera and it was performed ten more times. His next opera is the one which has become his best-known opera internationally: "The Bartered Bride". Smetana got the job of director of the Provisional Theatre instead of Mayr. Smetana made lots of improvements, introducing well-known German, French and Italian operas to the audiences as well as new operas by young Czech composers. The operas "Dalibor" was first performed on the day that the first stone was laid for the building of the National Theatre. It was a great occasion, although the music critics were unkind and said that his music sounded too much like Wagner. His opera "Libuše" was written for the coronation of Franz Joseph in Prague, but that coronation never happened, so the opera was not performed for another ten years when the National Theatre was opened (1881). He spent several years composing a cycle of six symphonic poems called "Ma Vlast" ("My Country"). These are very popular today, especially the second one, "Vltava", which describes the river Vltava flowing from its source all the way to the sea.

paragraphs: In his last years Smetana became totally deaf. He was suffering from syphilis. He heard horrible high squeaks in his ears a lot of the time. He showed this when composing his "String Quartet no 2": the first violin plays a very long high note for a long time in the last movement, showing the audience what he had to suffer. He became very depressed and his wife did not help by quarrelling a lot with him. It became painfully difficult for him to compose. In the end he was writing four bars a day. His mental state got worse. He was guarded all day in case he harmed himself. He did not recognize his own family. He was put in an asylum where he died shortly afterwards.

paragraphs: As soon as the Czech people were allowed to produce plays and operas in their own language Smetana thought it was his duty to write a series of nationalist operas. His operas were based on the nation’s history and legends. His symphonic cycle "Ma Vlast" was programme music, full of heroism, often describing nature and the countryside. Smetana also wrote a lot for piano. He was the most important Czech composer there had been at that time. Smetana and Dvořák were the founders of modern Czech music.


title: Light-emitting diode

paragraphs: A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that produces light from electricity. LEDs last a long time and do not break easily (compared to incandescent lightbulbs). They can produce many different colors. They are efficient - most of the energy turns into light, not heat.

paragraphs: An LED is a type of diode that makes one color of light when electricity is sent through it in the expected direction (electrically biased in the forward direction). This effect is a kind of electroluminescence.

paragraphs: The color of the light depends on the chemical composition of the semiconducting material used, and can be near-ultraviolet, visible or infrared. The color affects how much electricity is used by the LED. A white LED has either two or three LEDs inside, of different colors. Some white LEDs have one single-color LED inside (usually blue), combined with a phosphor that converts that single color to white.

paragraphs: LEDs are used in many places. They are the colored indicator lights on many electronic devices, they can be used to make bright advertising signs, brake lights on some newer cars, in TVs, and more recently, light bulbs for the home. White LEDs bright enough to illuminate rooms are usually more expensive than regular lightbulbs but they last longer and burn less electricity.

paragraphs: LEDs, which make their own light, should not be confused with LCDs, which block light. Some displays, however, mix the two technologies, using LEDs to backlight the LCD.

paragraphs: Today, some LEDs are surface-mount devices (SMD), so they can be very small.


title: Antonín Dvořák

paragraphs: Antonín Dvořák (b.Nelahozeves, nr Kralupy, September 8 1841; d. Prague May 1 1904) was a Czech composer. Along with Smetana and Janáček, Dvorak is one of three famous composers who wrote nationalist Czech music. He wrote chamber music including several string quartets, piano music, songs, operas, oratorios and nine symphonies. The last of his symphonies is known as the "New World" Symphony because he wrote it in the United States (the “New World”). The slow movement with its solo played on the cor anglais is especially famous.

paragraphs: Dvořák was born in a village near Prague, Czechoslovakia. Today Prague is the capital city of the Czech Republic, but in those days it was part of the Austrian Empire. His father was a butcher and innkeeper. He also played the zither and composed a few simple dances.

paragraphs: The young Antonín started to have violin lessons from the village schoolmaster. Soon he was playing the violin in his father’s inn, in local churches and in the village band. Just before his 12th birthday he left school and started to learn how to be a butcher. A year later he left home to go to school in Zlonice. He learned a lot about music there, and he also learned German. His teacher persuaded Dvořák's parents that he should have a musical career, so they sent him to study music in Prague at the Organ School. He continued to learn German, and he became a good viola player and played in concerts and in the Estates Theatre when they needed a big orchestra for Wagner’s operas "Lohengrin" and "Tannhäuser".

paragraphs: When Dvořák had finished his studies he got his first job playing in a band in restaurants and for balls. This was a time when there was suddenly a great interest in national culture in Bohemia. Plays and operas were allowed to be performed in the Czech language. The band he played with became part of the Bohemian Provisional Theater Orchestra, which from 1866 was conducted by Bedřich Smetana. Dvořák was principal viola player in the orchestra. He earned extra money by teaching, and he started to compose.

paragraphs: In 1871 he left the orchestra so that he could spend more time composing. For several years he still had to teach in order to earn enough money to live. He wrote a cantata "The heirs of the White Mountain" which was a great success. In 1874 he wrote an opera "King and Charcoal Burner", but the opera house did not want it. This made Dvořák realize that he had to be more self-critical. He destroyed a lot of his compositions which he thought were not his best works. He decided he must not compose like Wagner, but that he needed to find his own style of composing.

paragraphs: In 1873 he married. He got a job as church organist. His Third Symphony was performed at a concert conducted by Smetana. Dvořák rewrote his opera "King and Charcoal Burner", using completely different music. It was performed in 1874. He composed a lot more music.

paragraphs: In 1877 he had a letter from Hanslick to say that he had won a prize of 600 gulden and that the great composer Johannes Brahms was interested in his music. His music started to be published by Simrock, a well-known German music publisher, and his music was performed in many countries, even as far away as New York. His fame spread. Even his operas were performed abroad. "Dimitrij" was particularly successful. Brahms was a great friend and helped him a lot. Brahms and Hanslick tried to persuade him to move to Vienna because it was a great musical city, but Dvořák wanted to stay in his own country.

paragraphs: Dvořák's "Slavonic Dances" were published in 1878 and have always been very popular. The conductor Hans Richter conducted the Slavonic Rhapsody no 3 in Vienna. His "Stabat Mater" (1880) was performed abroad, and Dvořák was invited to visit England in 1884. He became very popular in England and went there many times. The English choirs liked to sing his choral works. His "Requiem Mass" was given its first performance in Birmingham at the Triennial Music Festival. He was given an honorary degree from Cambridge University. Tchaikovsky invited him to Russia in 1890.

paragraphs: From 1892 to 1895, Dvořák was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. He earned a lot of money: $15,000 a year. Dvořák was interested in the music of black Americans. He met the student Harry T. Burleigh, one of the earliest African-American composers, who introduced him to traditional American Spirituals.

paragraphs: In the winter and spring of 1893, while in New York, Dvořák wrote his most popular work, the "Symphony No.9, "From the New World"". He spent the summer of 1893 with his family in the Czech-speaking community of Spillville, Iowa, where some of his cousins lived. He also composed chamber music there, including a String Quartet in F which is known as the “American”, and a Sonatina for Violin and Piano.

paragraphs: In 1895, Dvořák wrote his "Cello Concerto in B minor", which was to become one of his most popular works. However, he wanted to go back to his own country. He was also not being paid all his salary. He heard that he had been made an honorary member of the "Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde" in Vienna. He decided to return to Bohemia and continue his job as professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory.

paragraphs: During his last years, Dvořák spent most of his time writing operas. "Rusalka" is particularly popular, especially the famous aria for soprano "To the Moon". The opera is about a fairy-tale and the story is based on Hans Anderson’s story of the "Little Mermaid". In 1896 he visited London for the last time to hear the first performance of his Cello Concerto. In 1897 his daughter married his pupil, the composer Josef Suk.

paragraphs: Dvořák wrote lots of kinds of music. Although he based his style on the classical forms such as those of Beethoven, they also show the influence of Czech folksong. He lived at a time when Nationalistic feelings were felt very strongly by the Czech people. Smetana wrote music which was very Czech in character. Dvořák learned from Smetana’s music, but never imitated his style. Only five of his nine symphonies were known in his lifetime. When the other four were discovered and published in the 1960s the symphonies were all renumbered. The last three symphonies, numbers 7, 8 and 9 (which used to be called numbers 2, 4 and 5) are the most often performed. The Ninth Symphony: "From the New World" is one of the most popular symphonies ever written. The two sets of Slavonic Dances are extremely well-known. They are often played as a piano duet. He wrote concertos for the violin, cello and piano. Dvořák wrote many operas (the best known of which is "Rusalka"); chamber music (including a number of string quartets, and quintets); songs; choral music; and piano music.

paragraphs: Slavonic rhapsody: The life of Antonín Dvořák, by Barthold Fles


title: Leoš Janáček

paragraphs: Most of his greatest works were written towards the end of his life. At this time he was in love with a young woman called Kamila. She was the inspiration for many of his last compositions.

paragraphs: Janáček’s family were poor people who lived in the countryside in Moravia. His grandfather and his father were both musicians and school teachers. Leoš was the fifth of nine children. As the tiny house was so crowded he was sent to Brno when he was eleven. There he went to a choir school, but soon the choir had to stop. He continued his music education there. After his final exams he had an unpaid job as teacher for two years. He became conductor of a monastery choir as well as a male-voice choir called Svatopluk. He made them a better choir and wrote music for them. He studied at the Prague Organ School for a year, but he was very poor and could not afford to go to concerts. He continued to conduct choirs and became friends with Dvořák. He spent a short time in Leipzig and Vienna.

paragraphs: When he returned to Brno he became engaged to his piano pupil Zdenka Schulzová who was only 14. She was still under 16 when they married. Janáček founded (started) an organ school in Brno. He was the director of this school. He also taught music at the Old Brno Gymnasium. His marriage was unhappy and, although they remained married all his life, they spent a lot of time separated. He went on a journey to northern Moravia to collect folk songs which he used in some of his dances for orchestra.

paragraphs: Janáček’s spent several years writing his opera "Jenůfa". By the time he was finishing it his daughter had died. Some of his sadness can be felt in the opera. He also worked on a system of speech-melody (making his melodies sound like the rhythm of his language) which was to influence his operas for the rest of his life. "Jenůfa" was very successful when it was first performed in 1904. By this time Janáček was already 50.

paragraphs: Janáček was now doing less teaching and concentrating on organizing the Brno Organ School which had moved into a new building because it now had 70 students. His next opera was called "Osud" ("Fate"), but it was not performed during his lifetime. The music is very good but the libretto (words) were poor. This is also true of his next opera: "Mr Brouček’s excursion to the moon". He wrote chamber music during this period, as well as some very good choral music.

paragraphs: When World War I broke out Janáček was 60. He was well known in Moravia, but hardly known in other countries. His compositions from the war years include "Taras Bulba" which is a work for orchestra which describes a story by the Russian writer Gogol. He wrote a short, patriotic opera to follow Mr Brouček’s adventures. It was about a landlord from Prague who finds himself in the middle of the 15th century Hussite wars.

paragraphs: In his final years Janáček wrote most of the great works for which he is world-famous. His opera "Jenůfa" was performed in Prague. This made him internationally famous. He was very proud when his country became independent after the war. He was also very happy because he was in love with Kamila Stösslová, who was 38 years younger than himself. He wrote three of his finest operas: "Katya Kabanová", "The Cunning Little Vixen" and "The Makropulos Affair". These operas were performed in Brno and then in Prague, and they were also published. He wrote two string quartets and a wind sextet: "Mládi" ("Youth"). By the time he was 70 he had retired from the Brno Organ School. In 1926 he wrote an orchestral work: "Sinfonietta", followed by a piano concerto for the left hand (pianist just playing with the left hand) and chamber ensemble, and the "Glagolitic Mass". All these works had enormous success in Czechoslovakia as well as abroad, even as far away as New York.

paragraphs: In 1921 he had bought a cottage in his birthplace, Hukvaldy. He spent a lot of time composing there, away from the busy life in Brno. In the summer of 1928 he went there and was joined, for the first time in Hukvaldy, by Kamila, her 11-year-old boy and her husband. He was working on the third act of his last opera "From the House of the Dead". One day Kamila’s son got lost in the forest. They spent some time looking for him. Janáček got cold, he caught pneumonia and died. His funeral in Brno was a large public event, at which some music from his opera "The Cunning Little Vixen" was performed.

paragraphs: Janáček grew up in the middle of the Romantic period, but most of his best music was written in 1920s, by which time musical styles had changed. Although he never wrote music which sounded as modern as that of Stravinsky or Schoenberg his music is Romantic, combined with Moravian folksong and sometimes with ideas from French impressionist composers such as Debussy. The music he wrote for choirs often continued in his operas. His music for instruments often started as programmatic, although a lot of it can be enjoyed without knowing the story it tells. He learned to write operas by learning from the operas of Smetana, but he made many changes such as shortening the duets and ensembles and using folksong in his melodies.

paragraphs: Janáček was not just important as a composer, but is remembered for his studies of folk music, and as a music theorist and teacher.


title: Arthur Sullivan

paragraphs: Sir Arthur Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. In his lifetime people thought he was the best British composer, but nowadays his serious works are rarely heard. He worked with an author and poet called W. S. Gilbert, and together they wrote fourteen comic operas. Their names are always mentioned together: "Gilbert and Sullivan". Their operas were very popular a hundred years ago, and most still are. The most popular are "The Mikado", "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "The Pirates of Penzance". The two men were very different. They argued sometimes, but they worked together for 25 years, from 1871 to 1896.

paragraphs: Sullivan's serious works include one grand opera, two dozen orchestral and choral pieces, and many hymns and songs, including "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "The Lost Chord".


title: Psychosis

paragraphs: Psychosis is the name used in psychiatry for a number of conditions. People who suffer from psychosis are said to be "psychotic". Usually, psychotic people "lose touch with reality", they have trouble telling what is real and what is not. It is an extreme kind of altered state of consciousness.

paragraphs: The word psychosis has two parts. The first part comes from psyche, which means soul in Ancient Greek. The second part is the ending '-osis', which means "illness or unnatural condition". So literally, psychosis means "unnatural condition of the soul".

paragraphs: People with psychosis may have hallucinations, which means they can experience things that are not really there. They may also have delusions, which are fixed beliefs and ideas that are usually false. Sometimes their personality changes, and they cannot think straight. Some of these thoughts may be paranoid. Not every psychotic person has all of these problems.

paragraphs: Because of these, psychotics often act in strange ways, which also makes it difficult for them to live a normal life as part of society. They often have trouble with making friends, as most people do not understand them.

paragraphs: Psychosis can affect people to different levels. Some people can continue with mostly normal lives, while other people will need medical help.

paragraphs: About 1 percent of people suffer from psychosis during their lives.

paragraphs: There are many things that can make someone seem psychotic. These include poisons, drugs, diseases of the nervous system, and other illnesses. For this reason, some people use the image of a "fever" of the central nervous system to talk about psychosis - a serious illness that may not have a very detailed explanation.

paragraphs: Many people have gone through unusual experiences that they believe are real. Hallucinations connected to religion or paranormal experiences seem to be quite common. Very often, these experiences cannot be called "psychosis" in a medical sense of the word. For this reason, some people have said that psychosis may simply be an extreme case of something that is experienced by most. People who have suffered from what could be called "psychosis" may simply have had experiences that were very strong or distressing.

paragraphs: In movies and the media in general, certain people who are shown as violent and antisocial are sometimes labelled "psychotic". This image of psychosis is wrong, the people shown are usually psychopaths or sociopaths, they usually do not have hallucinations or delusions.

paragraphs: Psychosis is most associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, drug addiction and brain damage but it can be caused by a wide range of conditions.

paragraphs: Psychosis is not a disease but rather a name for a number of symptoms, that can be caused by different diseases and conditions. Very broadly speaking there are two types of causes for psychosis:

paragraphs: Most psychoses can be treated, so that those suffering from them can lead a normal life. The treatment depends on the cause of the psychosis. In general, there are two different forms of treatment available:


title: Ramen

paragraphs: Ramen is a Japanese kind of noodle soup. The noodles are made of wheat. Ramen are typically Japanese, though they originally came from China. Ramen has become very popular in Japan and there are many shops that sell it. The Japanese also make "instant ramen" to eat ramen quickly and easily at home. Outside of Japan, people have also started to eat ramen.

paragraphs: On the model of Spaghetti Western, there are even movies based on Ramen.

paragraphs: There are various types of thickness, shapes and lengths. The noodle may be thin or thick, straight or wrinkled.

paragraphs: In Japan, there are unique local Ramen in various areas where local tastes are enjoyed. It is called "gotouchi ramen" in Japan. For example, Hakata ramen is known for its pork ramen soup. The noodles are very thin and do not need to be boiled for very long to become soft. Sapporo ramen is known for its miso ramen soup.

paragraphs: And Kitakata ramen is known for its Shoyu ramen soup. Shio (salty) ramen is also a popular flavor. These days, Gyokai-tonkotsu ramen is also popular.


title: Peter Paul Rubens

paragraphs: Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 – May 30, 1640) was a painter. Many people think he is one of the most popular Flemish and European painters of the 17th century. He painted in Baroque style. His style was to emphasise movement and colour. Many of his paintings have a sensual touch. Some of them can be seen as erotic.


title: Adolf Frederick of Sweden

paragraphs: Adolf Frederick, (14 May 1710 - 12 February 1771), was the King of Sweden between 1751 and 1771.


title: Gothenburg

paragraphs: Gothenburg () is the second largest Swedish city, after Stockholm. Around 550 000 people live there. The city was founded in 1621 by king Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.


title: BBC One

paragraphs: BBC One is a television channel in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936, and was the first television channel in the United Kingdom. The channel was Published by BBC. The channel shows lots of different programmes including famous ones such as "Only Fools and Horses" and "EastEnders". The Channel features a Wide Range Of Covers.

paragraphs: BBC Television Service was the world's first regular public television service with a high level of image resolution.

paragraphs: The channel was later renamed BBC TV until the launch of sister channel BBC Two in 1964. After that it was known as BBC1, but changed to the current spelling in 1997. The channel has an annual budget of £840 million, and makes an annual profit of £900 million. Along with the BBC's other UK television stations, it is funded completely by the television licence fee - this means it shows no adverts.


title: Bad Aibling

paragraphs: Bad Aibling is a town in Bavaria (Germany). It is a former district seat. It is on the river Mangfall about 35 miles southeast of Munich. Bad Aibling is a health resort (peat pulp bath and mineral water).

paragraphs: In 804, Bad Aibling was mentioned for the first time. After the second World War Bad Aibling has evolved to a major centre for intelligence organizations and secret services. In 2004 the US American Bad Aibling Echelon station closed after decades of operation. In 2016, ten people were killed in a train crash.

paragraphs: In the town live about 18,000 people. It is 498 meters above sea level and covers an area of 41.55 km².


title: Gaya

paragraphs: Gaya is a town in the Indian state of Bihar. Gaya is a very old city. It is one of the seven holy cities of the Hindus.


title: Patna

paragraphs: Patna is the capital city of the Indian state of Bihar. About 1.7 million people live in Patna (census 2001). It is a very old city and has a history of at least 2,500 years. It was famous for its educational institutes, which during those days, attracted scholars from all over the world. Gautama Buddha who started Buddhism had also visited this city. Despite being a Hindu majority city Patna also has many Muslims and many Masjids. People in Patna speak Hindi, Bhojpuri, Maithli and Urdu. When founded Patna's old name was "Pataligrama", and later into "Pataliputra" which was the capital of Magadha Empire, before changing in to the current "Patna".


title: Samuel Johnson

paragraphs: Samuel Johnson (born Lichfield, Staffordshire, England 18 September 1709; died London 13 December 1784) was a famous writer. After publishing a famous dictionary, he was given a doctorate, which is why he is often called "Dr Johnson". He wrote some of his own stories, but more often he wrote criticisms about what other people had written. He said a lot of witty, amusing things, which are still remembered today. We know about some of the funny things he said because his friend James Boswell wrote a book about him.

paragraphs: Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. His father had a bookshop, but he was very poor. Samuel went to school in Lichfield. When he was nineteen he went to the University of Oxford, but he was so poor that he had to leave without taking a degree. A few years later he married a woman 21 years older than he was. They went to live in London, where he tried to make a living by writing but for many years he was very poor.

paragraphs: It was not until 1762 that he became famous and the government gave him a pension of three hundred pounds a year. He started a club (called "The Club") which included a lot of famous people like the painter Joshua Reynolds and the writer Oliver Goldsmith (see picture). Johnson was now so famous that he was given an honorary doctorate (the title of "Doctor") from Trinity College, Dublin in 1765, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1775.

paragraphs: Boswell and Johnson spent some time in Edinburgh and they travelled a lot to the Scottish islands. Johnson died in 1784 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

paragraphs: Johnson spent several years writing his Dictionary of the English language. It was a big job. While he was writing it he could not be earning money, so he needed a patron (someone who would sponsor him by giving him money, and in return the dictionary would be dedicated to him). An important man called Lord Chesterfield said to Johnson that he would be his patron. But he never gave him any money, and Johnson never heard anything more from him, until the dictionary was ready. Then Lord Chesterfield wrote to Johnson saying that he hoped he would dedicate the dictionary to him. The letter that Johnson wrote back to Lord Chesterfield is very famous. It is very sarcastic (funny in an unkind way). Johnson said to him that it would have been nice to have had help when he was needing it. He said, sarcastically, that a patron was someone who stands on the river bank watching a man drowning and then, when then the drowning man is saved, asks him whether he can help. The letter made Lord Chesterfield look very silly.

paragraphs: There were very few dictionaries in Johnson's day, so it was a lot of work for him. Nowadays, a dictionary is made by a team of people. Dictionaries, like encyclopedias, should just give facts. But Johnson sometimes explained words in his dictionary in a way that showed his opinions (what he thought about things).

paragraphs: Although it shows his personal likes and dislikes, the dictionary still deserves to be famous. Johnson defined 43,000 words. It was the first time a dictionary had been published that gave examples of how the words had been used by well-known writers.


title: Nozomi (Shinkansen)

paragraphs: Nozomi trains are the fastest Shinkansen "bullet" trains in Japan. They can reach Osaka from Tokyo in two and a half hours. The trains are called "bullet" trains because they travel so fast, like a bullet from a gun. These trains have speeds of up to .

paragraphs: The second fastest Shinkansen trains is the Hikari train. The third fastest Shinkansen train is the Kodama train. In the Japanese language, "Nozomi" means hope, "Hikari" means light and "Kodama" means "echo."

paragraphs: "Shinkansen" means "New Trunk Line" in Japanese because it was built with all new bridges, tunnels through mountains and under water, and special tracks for high speed trains so it could go directly (straight) from city to city. Before the Shinkansen, trains in Japan were slower because they were old and had to go around many mountains, or share the track with cars on road crossings.


title: Moravia

paragraphs: Moravia (Czech and Slovak: "Morava;" German":" "Mähren") is a historical region in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. It takes its name from the Morava River which flows from the north to the south of the land.

paragraphs: Together with Bohemia in the West and Silesia in the North, Moravia made historical-political region called Czech Lands. Today, Moravia, Bohemia and small part of Silesia make up the current Czech Republic.

paragraphs: Important cities today are Brno, Olomouc, Ostrava and Zlín.


title: Advanced Photo System

paragraphs: The Advanced Photo System was a technology for photographic film and cameras. People started using it in the year 1996.

paragraphs: The system never became popular, and was stopped in 2004. Since then, most cameras have switched to digital (electronic) systems anyway.

paragraphs: One famous type of camera that used this system was the Canon IXUS, which then later changed and became a digital one.


title: Coral reef

paragraphs: A coral reef is a large underwater structure made of dead and living corals (press to see more). In most healthy reefs, stony corals are predominant. They are built from colonial polyps from the phylum Cnidaria which secrete an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate. The reefs are formed in tropical marine areas (30 degrees north and south of the equator) and between the tropics. The reef acts as the home of many tropical fish and other animals. Coral reefs systems are a major tourism attraction because of their beauty and color of the corals and their many associated animals.

paragraphs: People look at them while snorkeling and diving. One example of a coral reef is in Malaysia at Pulau Tioman, off the State of Pahang and also one of the most famous - the Great Barrier Reef

paragraphs: Most present-day coral reefs were formed after the last ice age when melting ice caused the sea level to rise and flood the continental shelves. This means they are less than 10,000 years old. As coral reef communities were established on the shelves, they built reefs that grew upwards, keeping pace with the rise in sea level. Reefs that did not keep pace became "drowned reefs", covered by so much water that there was insufficient light for further survival.

paragraphs: Coral reefs are also found in the deep sea away from the continental shelves, around oceanic islands and as atolls. The vast majority of these ocean coral islands are volcanic in origin. The few exceptions have tectonic origins where plate movements have lifted the deep ocean floor on the surface.

paragraphs: Coral reefs are fragile ecosystems. Because corals need warm, sunlit water to live, they often grow close to the top of the water. Being so close to land makes them often be damaged by poisons and dirt that can come from boats and the land nearby. Dirt makes the water more cloudy, which makes the sunlight less. Poisons can bleach and kill corals. Also, they are hard for ships to see, but easy to hit, which makes ships often run into the coral, damaging both the boats and coral. Because of this, many countries are trying to lessen the kinds of building that usually happen near beaches that have coral reefs nearby, and be more careful about the boats that go around reefs.


title: Laurel wreath

paragraphs: A laurel wreath is a circular wreath made of interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel ("Laurus nobilis"). This is an evergreen whose leaves give off a pleasant scent.

paragraphs: The wreath is traditionally worn on the head. In Greek mythology, the god Apollo is shown wearing a laurel wreath because of the story of Apollo and Daphne. In Ancient Greece, it was given to special people, such as winners in competitions in poetry or sports, such as the Ancient Olympic Games.

paragraphs: It was also used in Ancient Rome, and Roman Emperors are often shown wearing laurel wreaths. In the Summer Olympics 2004 in Athens, Greece gave laurel wreaths to the winners. The saying "resting on one's laurels" comes from this and means that someone relaxes now because he or she did something good in the past.

paragraphs: In some countries the laurel wreath is used as a symbol of the master's degree. The wreath is given to young masters in the graduation ceremony of the university. The word "Laureate" in 'poet laureate' refers to the laurel wreath.

paragraphs: In modern times, wreaths are used for their decorative quality rather than ceremonial use. Wreaths may be made with flowers such as roses to make them more appealing.


title: Ranchi

paragraphs: Ranchi is the capital city of Jharkhand state of India. About 11,26,720 people lived in Ranchi (census:2011). One of the oldest psychiatric hospitals of India was located there.


title: Ujjain

paragraphs: Ujjain is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ujjain is a very old city, and one of the seven holy cities of the Hindus. It was an important city of Ancient India. An important Muslim pilgrimage destination, it’s known for the centuries-old Mahakaleshwar Temple, a towering structure with a distinctively ornate roof. Nearby, Bade Ganesh Temple houses a colorful statue of Ganesh, the elephant-headed Hindu deity. Harsiddhi Temple features a pair of tall dark pillars studded with lamps.


title: Ayodhya

paragraphs: Ayodhya is a town in Uttar Pradesh state of India. The Ramayana tells that Raam, a god of Hindus, was born in Ayodhya. Ayodhya is on the bank of the Sarayu River. The city is about five kilometers east of Faizabad, another important city of Uttar Pradesh.

paragraphs: The Ramayana tells that Ayodhya was the capital city of Raam’s kingdom. Raam was a form (an avatar) of Vishnu. Ayodhya is one of the seven most holy cities of Hindus.


title: Tulsidas

paragraphs: Tulsidas (1511-1623) was an Indian writer. He wrote many books. His most famous book is the "Ramacharitamanasa". This book was written in a language called Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi. The book tells the story of Lord Rama and his war and victory over Ravana, king of Lanka. Rama fought for his wife Sita and brought her back from Lanka to Ayodhya.

paragraphs: Another book written by Tulsidas is "Kavitavali".

paragraphs: Tulsidas was born in Rajapur, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, in Samvat 1589 or 1532 A.D. He was a Sarayuparina Brahmin by birth and is regarded as an incarnation of Valmiki, the author of the "Ramayana". His father's name was Atmaram dubey and his mother's name Hulsi .Tulsidas conceived of god in the form of Rama . Tulsidas's composition 'Ramcharithmanasa.' written in Awadhi is important both as an expression of his devotion and as a literary work .His devotion in the literary world is very important. We should remember him and his teachings and always follow his teachings in our life.He founded the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman in Varanasi.


title: Mathura

paragraphs: Mathura is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Mathura is a very old city, and one of the seven holy cities of the Hindus. It was an important city of Ancient India.


title: Pulitzer Prize

paragraphs: The Pulitzer Prize is an American prize given to journalism and literature. The prize is considered a very high prize. It is also given for musical composition of very high standard. Joseph Pulitzer started it. Columbia University in New York City awards the prize.

paragraphs: Prizes are given in twenty-one categories. The winner gets $10,000 cash award and a certificate. One of the twenty-one prizes is the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.


title: Titan (mythology)

paragraphs: The Titans (, "Titânes" - "Straining ones") were members of the second generation of immortal beings in Greek mythology. Though many beings were referred to as Titans in the myths, the term is usually used in reference to the twelve children of Gaia and Ouranos.

paragraphs: They ruled the cosmos prior to the Olympians, with whom they fought for control of the universe in a series of battles known as the Titanomachy. The Olympians emerged victorious, as many of the Titans were cast into Tartarus.

paragraphs: The first generation of Titans were the children of Gaia and Ouranos; known as the Ouranides or the Elder Titans, they were twelve in total. They were:

paragraphs: The second generation of Titans were mostly children of the original Twelve. These include the children of Okeanos and Tethys: the Potamoi, gods of rivers, and the Okeanides, who were three thousand in number, as well as the Nephelai, cloud nymphs.

paragraphs: Then there was the offspring of Koios and Phoebe: sisters Asteria and Leto.

paragraphs: Next came the children sired by Hyperion and Theia: Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon), Eos (the Dawn).

paragraphs: Afterwards came the sons of Iapetos and the Okeanid Asia/Klymene. Known as the Iapetionides, there were four of them: Atlas (the eldest), Prometheus and Epimetheus (who were twins), and Menoitios.

paragraphs: Last but not least were the children of Krios and Eurybia (daughter of Gaia and Pontus): Pallas, Astraeus, and Perses, the latter of whom would go on to marry Asteria, with whom he sired Hecate, goddess of magic and witchcraft.


title: RCTV

paragraphs: Radio Caracas Television (or RCTV) is one of the largest and most important television stations in Venezuela. It can be seen in all of Venezuela on channel 2. It was the third television station to start up in Venezuela (Televisiora Nacional was the first and Televisa was the second). Both Televisora Nacional and Televisa are no longer on, so RCTV is now the oldest television station in Venezuela. Venevision is RCTV's main rival. RCTV's offices can be found in the center of Caracas.

paragraphs: Radio Caracas Television began on November 15, 1953 (during the dictatorship of General Marcos Perez Jimenez). In 1953, plays, news, and sports were pretty much the only thing seen on RCTV, but by 1954, they began making soap operas (also known as telenovelas). Telenovelas are now RCTV's most liked and seen programs.

paragraphs: In the 1960s, RCTV began videotaping their programs, as they used to be made live. In 1961, there was small fire at RCTV. On July 21, 1969, RCTV was on of the only television station in Venezuela that showed the first visit to the moon by man.

paragraphs: In 1972, RCTV began selling some of its shows to other countries and television stations. The three hundred chaptered telenovela, "La Usurpadora" was the first telenovela to be sold to other countries. Today, RCTV's shows are said to be seen in more than 60 countries and heard in more than 20 languages. In 1974, RCTV began recording some of their programs in color. "Doña Barbara", which was made from a book written by Romulo Gallegos, was RCTV's first show made in color. Radio Caracas Television started the "Fundacion Academia Nacional de Ciencias y Artes de Cine" on November 15, 1978.

paragraphs: In the year 1981, RCTV began recording all of their programs in color.

paragraphs: On November 15, 1999, RCTV had been on 16,000 days.

paragraphs: On July 18, 2005, Empresas 1BC president Marcel Granier and RCTV president Eladio Larez opened up the new building where RCTV's news show, "El Observador", will be made.

paragraphs: President Hugo Chávez closed RCTV because of reports that they tried to take down his government.


title: AIDS

paragraphs: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease caused by a virus called HIV.

paragraphs: As of 2018, it is estimated that there are 39.7 million people worldwide infected with HIV. The HIV pandemic is most severe in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 60% of all people with HIV live in the region.

paragraphs: Many people with HIV do not know they have it. Because of this, the exact number of people with HIV is unknown.

paragraphs: Scientists believe the first human who got HIV was a person in Africa in the early 1900’s. It infected only a small amount of people (disease not recognised), until it then turned into an epidemic reported to have started in New York (USA) in 1981. It then very quickly started spreading to other countries. This happened when Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) went from apes or chimpanzees to humans. This virus probably crossed to humans when a hunter came into contact with monkey blood while cutting up monkeys to eat. Research in October 2014 shows that the virus started in Kinshasa during the 1920s. It was quickly spread by unprotected sex, dirty needles used by intravenous drug users, and it then made its way into the medical blood supply . Some people described the spread of the disease as a "sexidemic" (widespread).

paragraphs: Not everyone who has HIV has AIDS. When people first get HIV, they can be healthy for years. A person is diagnosed as having AIDS when he or she gets specific types of illnesses or gets sick in certain ways due to their HIV. Once a person's HIV progresses to (or turns into) AIDS, the person will continue to have AIDS for the rest of their life. While there are many treatments for HIV/AIDS, at this point there is no cure.

paragraphs: If someone has HIV they are called "HIV-positive".

paragraphs: Someone has AIDS if they have HIV and either:

paragraphs: If a person gets an "AIDS-defining illness," this is usually a sign that the person has AIDS. Healthy people do not get these illnesses, because a healthy immune system is strong enough to fight off these diseases. Because of this, getting an AIDS-defining illness is a sign that a person's immune system is seriously damaged. In a person with HIV, getting an AIDS-defining illness signals that the HIV has damaged the immune system badly enough that the person now has AIDS.

paragraphs: HIV can be spread by some body fluids that have HIV in them:

paragraphs: There are medicines that help people with AIDS. These are called "antiretroviral" medicines (or "antiretrovirals".) Anti- means against. HIV is a retrovirus. So "antiretroviral" means it fights retroviruses.

paragraphs: Antiretrovirals cannot cure AIDS. This means they cannot make all of the virus leave a person's body. But they can make people with AIDS more healthy. Antiretrovirals help people fight the HIV virus. This makes their immune systems work better. So antiretrovirals are a "treatment" but not a "cure" for HIV.

paragraphs: People with HIV/AIDS who take antiretroviral medicines live longer. They live longer without getting "AIDS defining illnesses". But after a long time, the HIV virus learns how to fight the antiretrovirals. The HIV virus is not killed by this medicine. HIV becomes "resistant" to the medicine. Then the "resistant" HIV hurts the immune system and the person may get AIDS.

paragraphs: Sometimes when HIV is resistant to one medicine, another medicine can be used. To make less resistance happen, people with AIDS take more than one medicine at the same time. They may take 2–4 medicines at once. This is sometimes called a "cocktail" or "AIDS cocktail".

paragraphs: When HIV gets resistant to one medicine, this is changed to another medicine. So the "AIDS cocktail" that people with AIDS take changes over time. But after a long time, the HIV learns to be resistant to "many" drugs. This is called "multi-drug-resistant" (acronym MDR) HIV. After the HIV in a person has MDR-HIV there may be no more medicines to treat them. So scientists keep trying to find new medicines to fight HIV.

paragraphs: The five most important HIV medicines are:

paragraphs: Many people who die of AIDS, especially in Africa, leave behind children who are still alive, and may need help. These children are called AIDS orphans.

paragraphs: There are many ways people fight the "AIDS epidemic".

paragraphs: The most important way to stop HIV/AIDS is education. People can get HIV from the exchange of bodily fluids and from sharing needles. Children can also get HIV from their mothers (when they grow inside pregnant mothers and when they drink breast milk.)

paragraphs: Sex is one way to get HIV. If people use condoms when they have sex, there is a much smaller chance of catching HIV.

paragraphs: A person can also get HIV by "sharing needles". This means using a needle that has not been cleaned after someone else has used it. Some people who take illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine take these drugs by needle. Some of these people share needles. If one person has HIV and he shares his needles, he can give HIV to other people. But if people have clean needles or if they know how to clean needles, they do not get HIV as much.

paragraphs: Many people do not know that condoms and clean needles help stop HIV. They may not even "know" that sharing needles and sex with someone who has HIV can make them get HIV. Even if people know about condoms and clean needles, they may not "have" condoms and clean needles.

paragraphs: There are some people who do not want people to "know" about condoms or clean needles. They believe that if people know about condoms and have condoms they will have more sex. They believe that if people have clean needles they will use illegal drugs more. Many of these people think this because of their religion. For example, the Catholic church does not want people to have or use condoms. They do not want people to have condoms because they do not think people should have sex unless they are married. They also think that married people should not use condoms, because they believe that if people have sex, they should be prepared to accept a possible pregnancy.

paragraphs: Scientists who study (look at and learn about) people who use condoms, see that if teenagers (children 13–19) learn about condoms (and other birth control) they have "less" unsafe sex. Scientists see that learning about these things does not make teenagers start having sex earlier. The teenagers also have "safer" sex. Safer sex means doing things (like wearing condoms) to try not to get pregnant or get sexually transmitted diseases (STDs or STIs) like HIV, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Using a condom works very well for keeping people from getting pregnant or getting STDs if people know how to use a condom the right way.

paragraphs: Scientists have also learned that if a city has a needle exchange program it will have fewer people who use illegal drugs. "Needle exchange programs" are where people can come in and trade dirty needles for clean needles. This means that "if" they use drugs they will be more safe. But needle exchange programs do more than give people clean needles. They teach people about drugs. If people want to stop using drugs, they help them.

paragraphs: The best way to stop HIV is thought to be a vaccine. There is no vaccine for HIV yet. Many scientists are looking for an HIV vaccine. Even one that protected some people from HIV would save millions of people's lives.

paragraphs: Some people think that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. They dispute the connection between HIV and AIDS, the existence of HIV itself, or the validity of HIV testing and treatment methods. These claims, known as "AIDS denialism", are rejected by the scientific community. However, they have had a significant impact, particularly in South Africa. There the government's official embrace of AIDS denialism (1999–2005) was responsible for its weak response to that country's AIDS epidemic. It has been blamed for hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths and HIV infections.

paragraphs: Some conspiracy theories have been put about. Operation INFEKTION was a worldwide Soviet active measures operation to spread the claim that the United States had created HIV/AIDS. Surveys show that a significant number of people believed – and continue to believe – in such claims.


title: Gibibyte

paragraphs: A gibibyte (GiB) is a unit of measurement in computers and similar electronic devices. One gibibyte holds 1024 mebibytes (MiB). Some people call this number of bytes a gigabyte. This would be considered the binary equivalent to the base-10 gigabyte, which consists of exactly one billion bytes.


title: Return to Castle Wolfenstein

paragraphs: Return to Castle Wolfenstein is a first person shooter computer game made by id Software and published by Activision for computers as well as PlayStation 2 and Xbox game consoles.


title: Ssirum

paragraphs: Ssirûm, or Korean wrestling, is a very old sport. It is shown in pictures that are painted on walls in the ancient graves in Korea.

paragraphs: This kind of wrestling was formed in Korea. It took place on days of "public enjoyment" that were created by custom. Similar to Sumo. the man who stays on his feet until the end was the winner. He was given the title "changsa" ("the athlete" or "the strong man"). He was also given an ox.

paragraphs: As Korea grew industrially, this type of wrestling has become a real sport. It has support in the form of the teams of professional athletes coming from colleges and universities. There are also organizations for the national Championship Ssirum Changsa. There are competitions in the country.

paragraphs: Two fighters fight on the sand inside a circle. They each put on "satpa" - a piece of cloth that ties around the waist and thighs. Using their hands, legs backs, they try to make the other person fall.

paragraphs: Most wrestlers are in height and in weight. The fights can seem slow at first they are actually very dynamic.

paragraphs: Li Man-ki is one of the most well known sportsmen in this sport. In the 1980s, he won the title "changsa" ("jangsa") many times. He has caused much of the interest of this sport.


title: Queensland

paragraphs: Queensland is a state in eastern Australia. It is the second largest state by area and the third largest state by population. In 2006 there were 3,904,532 people living in Queensland.

paragraphs: It occupies the north-east corner of Australia. The state has the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. The capital city is Brisbane.

paragraphs: The area was first settled by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, who arrived between 40,000 and 65,000 years ago. Later, Queensland was made a British Crown Colony that was separated from New South Wales in 1859. The area that currently forms Brisbane was originally the Moreton Bay punishment colony, intended as a place for criminals with a repeated offence history who had offended while serving out their sentences in New South Wales. The state later encouraged free settlement, and today Queensland's economy is dominated by the agricultural, tourist and natural resource sectors.

paragraphs: The population is concentrated in the south-east corner, which includes the capital Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, and the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Other major regional centres include Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, and Mount Isa. Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it enjoys warm weather and a sizable portion of the state is in the tropics.


title: Babes in Toyland (1961 movie)

paragraphs: Babes in Toyland is an 1961 Disney musical movie. It starred Tommy Sands as Tom Piper and Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary. The characters in the movie are taken from Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

paragraphs: Tom the Piper's Son is about to marry Mary Quite Contrary. On the night before of their wedding, evil Barnaby hires two men, Gonzorgo and Roderigo, to drown Tom and take Mary's sheep. The sheep are being taken care of by Little Bo Peep. This will make life very hard for Mary and the children she lives with. It will make her have to marry Barnaby.

paragraphs: Tom and the sheep are taken by Gonzorgo and Roderigo, but they sell Tom to gypsies instead of killing him. Tom escapes from the gypsies and goes with Mary, Bo-Peep, and other Mother Goose characters to Toyland.


title: Airship

paragraphs: Airships are kind of aircraft. Airships float in the sky and do not have to move to stay up. This is different from aeroplanes that stay up in the sky by moving. An airship floats like a balloon. But an airship is different from a balloon. An airship has an engine for power and a way to control its direction of movement. A balloon does not have an engine or a way to control its direction of movement.

paragraphs: There are three kinds of airships. The difference is the amount of structure in the airship.

paragraphs: Blimps were used by the United States in WWII to fight against submarines. Blimps are now used mostly for advertising and sometimes for looking down, for example at sport stadiums and tourist attractions.

paragraphs: The most famous airship was the "Hindenburg". The "Hindenburg" was a rigid airship made by the Zeppelin airship company. It burned when it was landing on May 6, 1937. There were 97 people on the airship when the fire started. The fire killed 35 of these people and one person on the ground.


title: New Amsterdam

paragraphs: New Amsterdam is the name the Dutch gave to the island of Manhattan after buying it from local Natives. It was the capital of New Netherland. In 1664 an English fleet arrived and took control. The English renamed it New York.


title: Universal suffrage

paragraphs: Universal suffrage means that every citizen above the age of 18 is allowed to vote. Most countries have universal suffrage, but some do not. In some countries people had to fight to get it. In other countries, it was granted after demonstrations in the main cities. They thought it was important to have it because they wanted to choose who ruled over them.


title: Bruce Dickinson

paragraphs: Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English heavy metal singer. He is the singer in the band Iron Maiden.

paragraphs: Dickinson was born on 7 August 1958 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. He was born as Paul Dickinson, but changed his first name to Bruce. As a teenager, he lived in Sheffield. This was where he started to listen to heavy metal music. He sang in local bands during this time, after trying to play the drums.

paragraphs: In the early 1980s, Dickinson was part of the band Samson. He left Samson in 1981. Later that year, after Paul Di'Anno left Iron Maiden, Dickinson was chosen to be the band's new singer. During the 1980s, Iron Maiden was very popular, and Dickinson's singing was a big part of this.

paragraphs: In 1990, Dickinson made his first solo album, called "Tattooed Millionaire". In 1993, he left Iron Maiden to become only a solo artist. He released five solo albums during the 1990s, but they were not as popular as his work with Iron Maiden had been.

paragraphs: In 1999, Dickinson joined Iron Maiden again, and soon after the band made a new album, Brave New World. Since then, he has stayed as a part of Iron Maiden as well as recording music both by himself and with other people.

paragraphs: Outside of music, Dickinson is interested in fencing, has written both books and a script based on one of his albums for a screenplay, and has worked in the radio industry.

paragraphs: He is also a pilot for Astraeus Airlines, and became marketing director for the airline in September 2010.


title: Streaming Soundtracks

paragraphs: Streaming Soundtracks is a radio station that is found on the internet. It plays mostly theme music from movies and television shows, but also plays music from video games. It has a website to talk with other listeners.


title: Étude

paragraphs: An étude (said "ay-TOOD"; French for study) is a short piece of music written to help the player to become a better player. They are usually quite difficult. Sometimes they are just called "studies". Composers such as the pianist Carl Czerny and the violinist Otakar Ševčik wrote lots of études. Each one concentrates on a technical problem: fast scale passages, arpeggios, wide leaps, chords or, for string players, different ways of bowing.

paragraphs: The tradition of writing études started in the early 19th century, when the piano started to become popular. Many of the études from that time are still very popular today, including those by Muzio Clementi.

paragraphs: Frédéric Chopin wrote two sets of études for piano. Franz Liszt also wrote some very difficult études, including the piece known as "La Campanella". These two composers' études are known for being not only good for developing piano technique but are also beautiful to hear. Because of this, they are often performed in concerts and recorded onto CDs.


title: Nocturne

paragraphs: A nocturne is a piece of music, usually for piano, which suggests the night (“nocturnal” means “of the night”). The Irish composer John Field was the first person to make nocturnes popular. He was inspired by the slow, gentle tunes of Italian operas of his time (early 19th century). His nocturnes are mostly tunes with many long notes in the right hand over.


title: Delta Air Lines

paragraphs: Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a large airline from the United States. They are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Their largest hub is also in Atlanta. Delta's first flight was in 1929. In 1972, Delta merged with Northeast Airlines. In 1987, Delta merged with Western Airlines. In 2009, they merged with Northwest Airlines. Until 2013, Delta was the worlds largest airline. As of 2016, the airline goes to 334 cities and has 819 planes.


title: Vytorin

paragraphs: Vytorin is a clinical drug made up of chemicals called ezetimibe (right image) and simvastatin (Left image) to help people with diseases that change the amount of fats in the blood.


title: Blade Runner

paragraphs: Blade Runner is a 1982 American-Hong Kong dark science fiction movie directed by Ridley Scott and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. It was based on the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. "Blade Runner's" main actors are Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos and Daryl Hannah.

paragraphs: The movie takes place in humid rainy climate changed Los Angeles in November 2019 when artificial human adults called "replicants" come to Earth. As replicants are not allowed on Earth anymore after some of them had attacked humans, police officers called "Blade Runners" hunt down and kill them on Earth. Rick Deckard is forced to hunt down some replicants in Los Angeles.

paragraphs: Some movie critics did not like "Blade Runner" because they thought it was slow, but others liked its many ideas. The movie did not sell many tickets in North American movie theaters but was more popular in other countries. Even though it did not make much money, it was liked very much by teachers and science fiction fans. "Blade Runner" looked good and made the future look very dark and old. The movie showed important ideas of the 21st century such as globalization and genetic engineering. "Blade Runner" is an important example of cyberpunk and people believe it has changed the world and affected many cultures. "Blade Runner" made Hollywood interested in stories written by Philip K. Dick.

paragraphs: Seven versions of "Blade Runner" exist because of changes made by different people. The producers took Scott's cut and changed some things about it, which Scott did not like. In 1992, Scott released a Director's Cut version, which was made very fast. It cut the ending of the movie and removed the voice-over. Warner Bros. released the Final Cut, a new 25th anniversary version of the movie, in October 2007. It features some new scenes and removes some of the visible special effect.


title: Ridley Scott

paragraphs: Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English movie director and producer. The movies he has directed and produced include:

paragraphs: He also directed an important and expensive television commercial for Apple Computer called "1984".


title: Motörhead

paragraphs: Motörhead were an English rock band. The band were started in 1975 by bassist, singer and songwriter Ian Fraser Kilmister. He is known better as ""Lemmy."" Although they started in 1975 they did not start to become famous until they became part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal in 1979.

paragraphs: Motörhead played heavy metal music. But they played very fast in their first years. Many listeners call them the first speed metal or thrash metal band. Motörhead are a main influence on other bands that play those styles. Lemmy did not like his band being called anything other than just a rock and roll band.

paragraphs: Motörhead's music has sounded the same through the years. The words to their songs are about things like: war, sex, and partying.

paragraphs: Motörhead are famous to fans of professional wrestling for playing the theme music used by wrestler Triple H when he walks down to the wrestling ring. He started using Motörhead's music in 2000. The song is called ""The Game."" The band have performed the song live at two WrestleMania events.

paragraphs: Motörhead was listed at number 26 on VH1's ""The 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock"" TV show.

paragraphs: The band broke up in 2015 when Lemmy died of cancer on December 28th of that year, only four days after his 70th birthday.