title: National Theatre (Prague)

paragraphs: The Národní Divadlo or the National Theatre in Prague is a very famous building which has been very important for more than 150 years for the culture of Czech history.

paragraphs: In the middle of the 19th century there were a lot of political changes in Europe. Prague had been part of the Austrian Empire. The official language was German. Bohemia (which included Prague) and Moravia now form the area of the Czech Republic. In the 19th century the Czechs in these areas wanted to be able to put on plays and operas in the Czech language. The National Theatre was built at a time when this was starting to become possible.

paragraphs: The National Theatre was built because the Czech people wanted their own national identity. The first stone was laid on May 16, 1868. It was opened on June 11 1881 to honour the visit of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria. Another 11 performances were given after that. Then the theatre was closed down to finish the building. While people were working to finish it a fire broke out on August 12 1881 which destroyed most of it. However, a lot of money was found and it was built again and opened on November 18 1883 with a performance of Smetana’s opera "Libuše" which he had composed for this occasion. The story of the opera is based on a mythological story about how Prague began.

paragraphs: It was an excellent theatre, and it was not until 1977 that any more re-building was necessary. Then it was closed for six years, and opened again in time for the 100th anniversary of its opening: on November 18 1983. On that day again there was a performance of Smetana’s "Libuše".

paragraphs: Today the National Theatre has three ensembles (groups of people): opera, ballet and drama. These ensembles all perform in the National Theatre, the Estates Theatre and the Theatre Kolowrat. They put on a lot of Czech plays and operas, but also productions from other parts of the world.


title: Drone (music)

paragraphs: In music, a drone is a note which sounds all the time while a piece of music is played. Some folk instruments always make a drone when they are played: bagpipes and hurdy gurdies in European culture, sitars in Indian music, and many other instruments in Asian and African music. Sometimes more than one drone is heard (often two notes which are a fifth apart).

paragraphs: Music with drones has to have simple harmonies because it is not possible to modulate to different keys. Other things can make up for this, for example, Scottish bagpipe music has lots of little ornamental notes to make it interesting.

paragraphs: Some Western Composers liked to use a drone (especially one in fifths) to make it sound like bagpipes or other folk instruments. Bach, François Couperin and other Baroque composers often called such pieces "Musette" (the French for "bagpipes"). Sometimes they did this in orchestral music: Haydn used a drone in the last part of his Symphony No. 104 to accompany a folk tune.


title: Pedal point

paragraphs: A pedal point (or pedal note) is a note which keeps sounding for several bars, usually in the bass (the lowest notes). They are often used towards the end of a piece of music to help to drive the music to a climax. They are called "pedal" notes because they are often heard in organ music where the player puts one of his feet on a pedal note and holds it there.

paragraphs: Pedal points are usually on either the tonic (main key note) (tonic pedal) or the dominant (5th note of the scale) (dominant pedal) tones.

paragraphs: A good example of a dominant pedal can be seen in the "Prelude in C major" from Book I of the "Well-Tempered Clavier" by Bach.

paragraphs: An example of a tonic pedal can be seen in the third movement of Brahms's "German Requiem", where the double basses play continuous D's in the last section. Because this lasts for the whole section some people might prefer to call this a drone.

paragraphs: A double pedal is two pedal tones played at the same time.

paragraphs: An inverted pedal is a pedal that is not in the bass. It is often in the highest part.


title: Euclidean geometry

paragraphs: Euclidean geometry is a system in mathematics. People think Euclid was the first person who described it; therefore, it bears his name. He first described it in his textbook "Elements". The book was the first systematic discussion of geometry as it was known at the time. In the book, Euclid first assumes a few axioms. These form the base for later work. They are intuitively clear. Starting from those axioms, other theorems can be proven.

paragraphs: In the 19th century other forms of geometry were found. These are non-Euclidean geometry. Carl Friedrich Gauss, János Bolyai, and Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky were some people that developed such geometries. Very often, these do not use the parallel postulate, but the other four axioms.

paragraphs: Euclid makes the following assumptions. These are axioms, and need not be proved.

paragraphs: Euclidean geometry is a first-order theory. With it, statements like "For all triangles..." can be made, and be proven. Statements like "For all sets of triangles..." are outside the scope of the theory.


title: János Bolyai

paragraphs: János Bolyai (December 15, 1802 – January 27, 1860) was a Hungarian mathematician, known for his work in non-Euclidean geometry.


title: Diana (mythology)

paragraphs: In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of hunting, and in later times, the moon and chastity. Cypress trees were sacred to her. She was the daughter of Jupiter and the Titan Latona (or Leto). In Greek mythology, Diana was called Artemis. She is also associated with fertility and nature. Artemis is her Greek equivalent.

paragraphs: According to mythology Diana was born with her twin brother Apollo on the island of Delos. Apollo was her only real brother but she had many half brothers and sisters from her father. Her half-siblings were Vulcan, Minerva, Mercury, Bacchus, Mars, and Proserpine. Diana made a group of three with two other Roman deities: Egeria the water nymph, her servant and midwife helper; and Virbius, the god of the woods. Diana is a maiden goddess which means she can't marry.


title: Thoth

paragraphs: In Egyptian mythology, Thoth was the deity of scribes. He is thought to be one of the most important said to be born from the skull of Seth also said to be born from the heart of Ra.

paragraphs: Thoth was considered the heart and tongue of Ra. He was also the one who translated Ra's will into speech.

paragraphs: The main shrine of Thoth was at Khemennu. It was there that he was the head of the local company of deities. He also had shrines in Abydos, Hesert, Urit, Per-Ab, Rekhui, Ta-ur, Sep, Hat, Pselket, Talmsis, Antcha-Mutet, Bah, Amen-heri-ab, and Ta-kens.

paragraphs: Thoth was mostly prayed in the early dynasty. He was also prayed through the five days of celebration. They would sing hymns and chant spells for Thoth. There were many celebrations like "The feast of Thoth" in the year. He was a major god for the early dynasty.

paragraphs: Thoth played very important roles in Egyptian myths. He was said to have resurrected Osiris after he was slain by Seth and also later resurrected his son, Horus. He was also credited for creating 365 days instead of 360. One myth explains how Ra bans Nut from having children on any day of the year. Thoth then goes to the moon god, Khonsu, and gambles five days out of him, therefore giving five days (the demon days) when Nut can have children. He also was sometimes said to take the place of the Primeval Goose and be the creator of the world and all other gods.

paragraphs: Thoth had one direct relation to Ma'at that people know of, although some myths say he was the son of Ra. His feminine counterpart was a goddess named Seshat. She was also sometimes credited to be the inventor of hieroglyphs, while Thoth taught them. She was also said to be Thoth’s wife or daughter.

paragraphs: Ma'at also played a big role next to Thoth. He was there at the weighing of the heart, noting, while Ma’at weighed the heart. They both stood on either side of Ra’s boat and also he was sometimes said to be Ma’at’s husband. Ma'at was the goddess of law, order, truth, and justice.

paragraphs: Thoth was a unique god. He is said to have two forms: an ibis-headed human and a squatting dog-headed baboon. He held a stylus and a pallet, and sometimes the symbol of life, called the Ankh.

paragraphs: Thoth had many titles and a lot of roles. He was often called “Three times Great”. He was mediator, messenger, scribe and teacher. Some of his titles included;

paragraphs: ‘Scribe of Ma’at in the company of the gods’

paragraphs: These numerous titles show that Thoth had a very significant importance to ancient Egyptian mythology. He had his high point of worship in the Old Kingdom.

paragraphs: When the Greeks conquered Egypt, they equated Thoth with Hermes, their messenger god. Thoth’s central city was Khemenu, (where he has his chief temple) which the Greeks renamed to Hermopolis, city of Hermes. Today, ancient temples and ruins worshiping Thoth are there and what used to be Khemenu is now el-Eshmunein.


title: Nut (goddess)

paragraphs: In Egyptian mythology, Nut was the goddess of the sky. Her body made a protective layer over the Earth. Nut was the sister and wife of Geb, and the mother of (with Ra) Osiris, Nephthys,Isis and Seth and grandmother of Horus. Horus was also a grandchild of Ra.

paragraphs: The ancient Egyptians believed that Nut swallowed the sun-god, Ra, every night and gave birth to him every morning.

paragraphs: Although Nut was pictured in many temples and tombs, as well as on ceilings. She was not well observed in popular places.

paragraphs: Nut was the goddess of the sky but had many other purposes as well. She had three other names: Nuit, Newet, and Nueth. Nut was known as the mother of all gods, including Ra (her grandfather) because she swallowed him up every night and gave birth to him again in the morning. She was also the mother of heavenly bodies, whose laughter was thunder and tears were rain. She often carried the sun across the sky. She played a part in funeral beliefs and was sometimes drawn on the tops of sarcophagi. Nut was one of the nine major gods. She was the personification of the sky and the heavens. Egyptians called her "the mother of the sky". Nut was one of the oldest deities among history.

paragraphs: As the sky goddess, Nut was shown arching over Geb (earth god), her fingertips near his head and her toes by his feet. She was commonly pictured dark blue and wore no robes, although some Egyptians believed that Nut wore a rainbow-colored robe, with stars all over her body. Big paintings of her were often found on ceilings of tomb chambers. She can be seen with small vulture wings or a vase on her head. She was often shown as a cow, when carrying the sun across the sky. The cow was a very motherly figure.

paragraphs: Nut was a very beautiful and kind goddess. She was loving, and caring. She fell in love with Thoth, the god of knowledge, and Geb, the god of the Earth. She was a motherly figure and a very strong and independent goddess, for she would not marry just any person. She did what she wanted and when angered she never let anyone stand in her way.

paragraphs: Nut had a strong relationship with Geb, her twin brother, as well as Thoth the god of scribes and wisdom. She was the goddess of the Sky and Geb was the god of the Earth. In the morning they were separated but at night they came together, which created the darkness. This is a story the ancient Egyptians used to explain their 365-day calendar. Nut loved Geb and Thoth, but she was married to Ra. When Ra found out about her secret loves, he was furious. He told Nut that she could not have any children on any of the 360 days of the year. This saddened her, so she went to Thoth for help. She gambled with Khonsu (the moon god) to create 5 more days, so she and Geb could have five children. The children were: Osiris was first, Horus was second, Set was third, Isis was fourth, and Nephthys was the fifth. These days (December 27-31) were called the Demon Days. She and Ra also had one daughter named Sekhmet, the lion goddess, who had a flip personality called Hathor the goddess of love and peace.

paragraphs: Nut is gorgeous and worshipped, and she was a protective goddess, like Bast (the cat goddess). The Egyptian Gods are commonly thought to have been incestuous however it is now known by students of ancient Kmet (previous name of ancient Egypt) that brother-sister father-daughter language referred to the "principle relationship" these entities embodied and shared. The incest concept is a common error in Egyptology literature and needs be corrected. Revealed texts (scripture) consistently call people "sons of" and "daughters of" those unrelated, and people understand this is a social rather than sexual term. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers were generic terms which still can be seen among Africans and African Americans, in addition to most religious groups (a "sister" is a nun Catholicism and Buddhism). When the pantheon is understood as reflecting "first principle" conceptions and worldview, and when attributing male and female to myths is appreciated as sheer anthropomorphism, it is easier to comprehend these relationships. Follow the defining principles, and the mating and birth of consequent principles (relationships) become clearer.

paragraphs: The ancient Egyptians had three calendars, but the Agricultural one was the one that was used in everyday life. It was made up of three seasons, each containing four months. The seasons were Akhet, (the inundation) Peret (when the water retreated) and Shemu (harvest season). Nut loved Geb, but Ra was not happy that she loved Geb so he told Shu, their father (the air god) to separate them. Then, Ra put a curse on Nut so she could not have babies on any of the three-hundred sixty days of the year. Thoth wanted to let Nut be able to have babies so he challenged Khonsu, the moon god, to a game of Senet. If he won, he would be able to add five days to the year. If he lost, he would be killed. Thoth won and added five more days to the year. On the first day, Nut had Osiris to replace Ra, but Set later deceived him and Osiris became god of the underworld. On the second day she had Horus, the war god. On the third day, she had Set, the god of storms, evil, and Chaos, on the forth day she had Isis the goddess of magic, and on the fifth day she had Nephthys the river goddess. After a long time, the Egyptians realized the calendar was off because they did not have the quarter day at the end, like we do by having leap years. The calendar said it was flood season, but the flood did not come until later. The ancient Egyptians noticed the star Sirius would rise right before the flood. They used this as the beginning of the year and as the beginning of flooding.


title: Dennis Kearney

paragraphs: Dennis Kearney (1847–1907) was an American politician who was himself an immigrant from Ireland. He is known for being racist towards Chinese people. His fame comes from his strong support of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.


title: Cross of Gold speech

paragraphs: The Cross of Gold speech was a famous speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois by William Jennings Bryan. He wanted silver and not gold to be America's bullion standard. It was his goal to create inflation to help those in debt. The end of the speech gives it its name when he says;


title: Paolo Uccello

paragraphs: Paolo Uccello, (c. 1396 – 1475), was a painter from Florence in Italy, during the time known as the Early Renaissance. He is famous as one of the first painters of the Italian Renaissance to use perspective in his pictures.

paragraphs: Most of what we know about Uccello comes from Giorgio Vasari, who wrote Paolo's biography about 75 years after Uccello died. Uccello was born about the year 1396, in the city of Florence. Vasari says that he was called "Uccello", which means "Bird", because he loved all animals and would often paint them, but he loved birds best of all. When he was about 11 years old, he was sent to be trained in the workshop of one of the most famous artists in Florence, a young man called Lorenzo Ghiberti.

paragraphs: Ghiberti was famous because he had won an important competition to make a huge set of beautiful doors for the oldest church in the city. The doors took 27 years to make, so in that time, lots of different artists helped in the making of them, and lots of talented young people like Uccello were trained in the workshop. Uccello worked there for 8 years.

paragraphs: While Uccello was still quite young he got an important job to do, all by himself. He was asked to paint some frescoes showing stories of different saints for the monks of a Church of San Miniato, on a mountain above Florence. It was a large beautiful church, but the monks at the monastery did not eat expensive food. They only ate bread and cheese. So, Uccello also ate nothing but bread and cheese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, sometimes made into soup. After a few weeks he thought he was turning into a cheese! So he ran away from the monastery and went back to Florence, leaving his work unfinished.

paragraphs: One day when two of the monks were walking in the street, they chased Uccello and caught him. They asked him why he had never finished the job. Uccello told them that it was because of the cheese. The monks laughed and promised that he would get better food, if only he would promise to come back and finish what he had started. He came back to finish the frescoes, called "The Lives of the Church Fathers". They are painted in dull colours as a protest against the simple food. Vasari, who tells this story, says that Uccello never ate cheese again in his life.

paragraphs: Today, these frescoes at San Miniato have been badly damaged by water. Most of them have fallen off the wall or have faded. However, one beautiful angel remains quite clear.

paragraphs: In 1425 Uccello went to the city of Venice where he lived and worked for several years.

paragraphs: In 1436 he was back in Florence to do some important jobs for Florence Cathedral. The first was to paint a large fresco in honour of an English Knight, Sir John Hawkwood.

paragraphs: The painting of Sir John is quite unusual. It is of Sir John on his war horse. Uccello has painted it to look like a statue of the soldier on his horse. He has used white and greenish-grey against a dark red-brown background. To add colour, Uccello has painted the horse's saddle and bridle bright red. The horse is standing on a painted "plinth" like the base of a statue and Sir John's name is written on the plinth, as if the statue was standing in the town square. And in large letters are words which translate as "The Work of Paolo Uccello".

paragraphs: The painting was very popular, and some years later, another soldier was remembered in the same way with a painting by the artist Andrea Castagno.

paragraphs: The second job that Uccello had at the Cathedral was to paint the clock. The clock has two faces, one that can be seen outside in the square and another which is on an inside wall of the cathedral. Uccello had to paint a clock face around the hand on the inside wall. (It's a 24-hour clock and it's only got one hand.) Uccello painted the round clockface into a square shape and put the head of a prophet in each corner. The prophets' faces are all very different but the thing that is the most clever about them is that Uccello painted bright light and dark shadows on their faces as if the light was coming from a real window which is high on the wall to the left side of the clock.

paragraphs: The other important job for the cathedral was to design two big round stained glass windows, each one 4.5 metres across. The cathedral had been built in the last century, but it had been left with a huge hole at the centre which needed a roof of some sort. An artist called Brunelleschi had come up with a brilliant plan for a dome, and the whole city was excited about getting it built. Workmen from every part of the town formed 8 gangs to build the 8 parts. As the dome grew, it had 8 large windows that needed glass. The best artists in Florence were asked to design them. Three of Uccello's designs were used but unfortunately one was smashed in 1828. The two that remain are "The Nativity" (The Birth of Jesus) and "The Resurrection" (Jesus rising from the dead).

paragraphs: By 1453, Uccello was married to Tomassa Malifici. In that year she gave birth to Donato who was named after the sculptor Donatello. In 1456 the couple had a daughter, Antonia, who later became a nun and a painter.

paragraphs: The paintings that are regarded as Uccello's masterpieces are frescoes of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood in the Church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. Unfortunately, they are quite badly damaged and partly lost, but even so, it is possible to see what a clever artist Uccello was. There are two things remarkable about the pictures. Firstly, they are very realistic. The second is that they use perspective to give the impression that the viewer is looking into the scene.

paragraphs: As in the fresco of Sir John Hawkwood, Uccello does not use many colours. The pictures are painted in white, pale grey, blue grey and just a little black. The landscape is grey, the water is blue-grey, the people are white with grey shadows. But the paintings are made lively by all the bits of red. All the man-made things, like the Ark, the old doors, barrels, up-side-down tables and broken things that are floating on the flood water, are all painted in the same red colour. Some of the people are wearing big black and white hats that were popular in Florence. In the disaster of the flood, one man is floating in a barrel. Another man, seeing an old man standing on a little hill, has grabbed him round the ankles to pull himself up. Another man, with part of his great big fashionable hat slipped down around his neck, is thumping on the wall of the ark with a club. The wind is blowing, the rain is pouring down and twigs and branches are flying in the wind. It is a scene of terror.

paragraphs: One of the richest men in Florence was Cosimo Medici who liked to spend money on works of art. He asked Uccello to paint three large paintings on panels, each about 3 metres long, to decorate his palace. The subject was to be Three scenes from "the Battle of San Romano" in which the Florentine troops defeated the neighbouring town of Siena. In fact, it was not a very fierce battle. Modern soccer matches between Florence and Siena are probably more bloody. But it made three very good pictures which were later divided up between three important art galleries. The National Gallery, London has the left-hand scene of Niccolo Tolentino leading his troops on his magnificent rearing white charger and wearing, of course, a great big Florentine hat of red and gold "brocade". The Uffizi Gallery in Florence has the middle scene in which the leader of the enemy forces, Bernadino della Ciarda, has been struck by a lance and is falling off his horse backwards. The right-hand scene, which is in the Louvre in Paris, shows the brave Michelotto di Cotignola swinging his horse around to attack an opponent with his sword.

paragraphs: Even though, at first glance each battle scene looks quite chaotic, the paintings are very carefully organised. This is particularly noticeable in the way Uccello has arranged the lances that are held upright by the troops and the many weapons that are lying on the ground. They all serve the purpose of leading the viewers eye into the painting. They create perspective. And while the battle is raging in the "foreground", in the "background" are mountains, fields, hedges and woods. In them are farmers, hunters and animals. The difference in size between the figures in the "foreground" and the figures in the "background" create distance in the picture.

paragraphs: Uccello studied perspective all his life in a way that was quite obsessive. Sometimes he would not come out of his house for weeks. His friend Donatello, another respected artist, begged him to do more painting and less study. Uccello became very good at mathematical calculation of the perspective of buildings, but it was not until his old age that he could fully understand how to calculate the sizes of things like people in the distance. His last painting shows a hunting party, with a great forest of trees, people and dogs, all going away into the distance, from near to far.

paragraphs: In 1469 Paolo wrote on his tax assessment that he was too old to work any more and that his wife was ill. Giorgio Vasari, who, 100 years later, researched and wrote the lives of many painters, wrote that, unfortunately Paolo was badly offended by Donatello, who looked at his latest painting and told him, for a joke, to cover it up. Vasari said that Paolo was so hurt that refused to come out of his room but sat working at his drawings, and whenever his wife called him to come to bed he would answer "What a wonderful thing perspective is!"

paragraphs: He died on 10 November, 1475, leaving behind him his old wife and a daughter Antonia who was also very good at painting. Unfortunately, none of her pictures are known today.


title: Fallen Leaves

paragraphs: "Fallen Leaves" is a song by the Canadian music group Billy Talent. It is the sixth track on the album "Billy Talent II" and is their third single to be released.


title: Sumer Is Icumen In

paragraphs: "Sumer Is Icumen In" is a very old English song which can be sung as a round. It is the oldest example of a round that we know of. The composer is unknown. It was written down around the middle of the 13th century by a monk but we do not know whether that monk composed it, or whether it had been composed earlier.

paragraphs: The title means "Summer has come in". The round can be sung in six parts. There are also two parts which can be repeated again and again (an ostinato) throughout the piece. The language is Middle English and is based on the dialect spoken in Wessex, England at the time.

paragraphs: This is the manuscript that the monk wrote:

paragraphs: To sing as a round, one singer (or group of singers) would begin at the beginning, a second singer would start at the beginning as the first got to the point marked with the red cross, then the third would join in when the second singer got to the red cross, and so on until all six were singing. The repeated pattern is marked "Pes". The instructions are written in Latin.

paragraphs: Here are the words with a modern English translation:


title: Carmen

paragraphs: Carmen is a French opera written and first performed on 3 March 1875 by Georges Bizet. The story is set in Spain. It is based on the story of the same title by Prosper Mérimée.

paragraphs: Carmen is about a gypsy girl who works in a factory. She falls in love with a soldier called Don José, who loves her. However, he is already engaged to somebody else. Later, he leaves the girl he was engaged to and the army for Carmen. Running away together, they are happy for a while until Carmen decides she loves a bullfighter called Escamillo. She leaves Don José. One day when Carmen is watching a bullfight, Don José waits for her and then tries to make her come back. She refuses, so he stabs her to death. Horrified at what he has done, he goes to jail.


title: Kumquat

paragraphs: The kumquats or cumquats are a group of small fruit-bearing trees. The edible fruit (which is also called kumquat) is similar to other "Citrus" but is smaller.

paragraphs: Kumquats are slow-growing, evergreen shrubs or small trees, from 2.5–4.5 m tall, with dense branches. Sometimes they have small thorns. The leaves are dark glossy green, and the flowers pure white, similar to citrus flowers.

paragraphs: Kumquats came from China (they are known in literature of the 12th century), and have long been cultivated there and in Japan. They were introduced to Europe in 1846 by Robert Fortune, who was collector for the "London Horticultural Society", and a short time later into North America.

paragraphs: They are much hardier than citrus plants as oranges. The 'Nagami' kumquat needs a hot summer, ranging from 25 °C(77°F) to 38°C(100.4°F), but can withstand frost down to about -10 °C(14°F). It grows in the tea regions of China where the climate is too cold for other citrus fruits, even the Mikan (also known as the Satsuma) orange.

paragraphs: The English name "kumquat" derives from the Cantonese pronunciation "gam1 gwat1" (given in Jyutping romanization). The alternate name 柑橘, also pronounced "gam gwat" in Cantonese ("gān jú" in Mandarin, literally "large tangerine orange") is now more commonly written by Cantonese speakers.


title: Teton Mountains

paragraphs: The Teton Mountains are mountains on the border between Wyoming and Idaho in the United States of America. They are in a park called Grand Teton National Park. It is south of Yellowstone National Park, a park known for its hot springs.


title: Baunach

paragraphs: Baunach is a town in the German state (bundesland) of Bavaria. It is in the district of Bamberg in Upper Franconia. About 3,950 people live there (in year 2005).


title: Burgebrach

paragraphs: Burgebrach is a municipality in the district of Bamberg in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. About 6,500 people live in Burgebrach. There are 27 villages in the municipality.


title: Ostinato

paragraphs: In music, an ostinato is a short pattern of notes which is repeated several times throughout a song or piece of music. The word "ostinato" is related to the word "obstinate". It is like a musical idea which is being obstinate and will not go away. The plural can be either "ostinati" or "ostinatos".

paragraphs: An ostinato can last for a section of a piece or it might last for the whole piece of music.

paragraphs: An ostinato can be a repeated group of notes or just a rhythm. It is similar to a riff in jazz. Many kinds of music use ostinati, e.g. classical music, jazz, boogie-woogie and African music.

paragraphs: A ground bass, or "basso ostinato", is an ostinato pattern in the lowest notes, which keeps playing while the melodies in the higher notes change. This was often used in baroque musical works. An example is the famous "Canon in D" by Pachelbel.

paragraphs: An example of a rhythmic ostinato is the first movement from the "Planets Suite" by Gustav Holst. This is the movement in 5/4 time which describes Mars. "Boléro" by Maurice Ravel also uses a repeated rhythm all the way through the piece.

paragraphs: An example from popular music is Pink Floyd's "Money".


title: Coffee system

paragraphs: A Coffee System or Hot beverage system is a special machine for making coffee. Instead of using coffee beans or ground coffee, it uses special capsules. Each capsule has one serving of Coffee, Tea, Milk, etc. in it. This makes it easy to make coffee, espresso, etc. The process is very clean. The capsules with the coffee cost more money compared to normal coffee. There is also the problem that there is more waste because of the capsule.


title: 1492 Pictures

paragraphs: 1492 Pictures is an American movie production company founded by director Chris Columbus in 1995. The name is a play on Columbus's more famous namesake, Christopher Columbus.

paragraphs: In addition to various Columbus movies, 1492 Pictures has produced movies by other directors including Brian Levant ("Jingle All the Way"), Henry Selick ("Monkeybone"), Alfonso Cuarón ("Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"), Joe Roth ("Christmas with the Kranks"), Tim Story (the "Fantastic Four" films), and Shawn Levy (the "Night at the Museum" films). The logo music was composed by Academy award winner Hans Zimmer.


title: Life in Hell

paragraphs: Life In Hell is a comic strip made by Matt Groening. Its characters are human-like rabbits and a pair of gay lovers named Akbar and Jeff. The comic was released in April 1980. The last comic ended in 2012.


title: Iraq War

paragraphs: The Iraq War was an armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein.

paragraphs: The conflict continued for much of the next ten years as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict. The United States officially withdrew from the country in 2011 but left private security contractors in its place to continue the war. In 2014 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant conquered much of northern Iraq. An American-led new coalition sent troops to help the government of Iraq.

paragraphs: Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Poland were also involved in the war with support from the Kurdish Peshmerga.


title: Feijoa

paragraphs: The feijoa is the fruit of Acca sellowiana, an evergreen shrub or small tree, 1–7 m in height. It comes from the highlands of southern Brazil, parts of Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina. They are also grown throughout Azerbaijan , Iran (Ramsar), Georgia, Russia (Sochi), New Zealand and Tasmania Australia .

paragraphs: The fruit is also called the 'pineapple guava' or 'guavasteen'.

paragraphs: The fruit matures in autumn and is green, and about the size and shape of an egg. It has a sweet, aromatic flavour. The flesh is juicy. The fruit drops when ripe, but can be picked from the tree before to prevent bruising. Feijoa fruit have a distinctive smell. The chemical methyl benzoate smells strongly of feijoas and the aroma of the fruit is caused mostly by this and other closely related chemicals.

paragraphs: It is a warm-temperate to subtropical plant that will also grow in the tropics but requires some winter chilling to fruit. In the northern hemisphere it has been cultivated as far north as western Scotland but does not fruit every year, as winter temperatures below about -11 °C will kill the flower buds. A lot of feijoa are grown in New Zealand, where the fruit is a popular garden tree and the fruit is commonly available in season.

paragraphs: The fruit is usually eaten by cutting it in half, then scooping out the pulp with a spoon. It is popular in New Zealand to stew them in a pot with sugar and serve hot with vanilla ice cream in the wintertime . The fruits have a juicy sweet seed pulp, and slightly gritty flesh nearer the skin. The flavor is aromatic and sweet. The skin itself is tart and sour but also edible. If the utensils needed to eat it this way are not available, the feijoa can be torn or bitten in half, and the contents squeezed out and consumed.

paragraphs: Fruit maturity is not always apparent from the outside as the fruits remain green until they are over mature or rotting. When the fruits are immature the seed pulp is white and opaque, becoming clear and jelly-like when ripe. Fruits are at their optimum maturity when the seed pulp has turned into a clear jelly with no hint of browning. Once the seed pulp and surrounding flesh start to brown, the fruit is over mature and should not be eaten.


title: Wessex

paragraphs: Wessex was an old Anglo-Saxon kingdom before England became one country. It was one of seven kingdoms in England. It was named after the West Saxons. It was in the south and southwest of England. Wessex was a kingdom from the 6th century until the English state was made in the 9th century. It was an earldom between 1016 and 1066. Then "Wessex" was not an official place name. The 19th century novelist Thomas Hardy wrote about Wessex in his books which tell stories set in that area.

paragraphs: His Royal Highness The Prince Edward was given the title "Earl of Wessex" when he married Sophie who became the Countess of Wessex. The title Earl of Wessex had not been used since the last earl, King Harold Godwinson, was killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.


title: Barrel racing

paragraphs: Barrel racing is an event often seen in rodeos. It involves a rider and horse going around 3 barrels in a cloverleaf pattern, started on either the right or the left side, but more often than not, the right side. Riders go from one barrel to the next making a square pattern around each and then running back past the timer in want of the fastest time.


title: Clover

paragraphs: Clover (Trifolium) is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family. It grows worldwide, mainly in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics.

paragraphs: They are small herbaceous plants. It has three sections to each leave, which looks like three leaves. This is called trifoliate.

paragraphs: Clover is often associated with Ireland.


title: Discus throw

paragraphs: The discus throw is an event in athletics, where a heavy disc is thrown for distance. It was invented in 708 BC in Ancient Greece. The goal is to throw the discus farther than your opponents.

paragraphs: The discus throw is the subject of a number of well-known ancient Greek statues and Roman copies of them.US thrower Al Oerter is one of only two athletes to win the same individual event at four consecutive Olympic Games.


title: Eragon

paragraphs: Eragon is a book written by Christopher Paolini. It was published in August 2003. Eragon is the first book in the "Inheritance Cycle". The second book in the Inheritance Cycle, called "Eldest", was published in mid-2005. The third of the four books, "Brisingr", was released in 2008. "Eragon" was made into a movie and released in cinemas on December 2006. It was released on DVD in March 2007.

paragraphs: A long time ago, the Dragon Riders kept peace in the world between the humans, dragons, elves, and dwarves. They were humans or elves bonded to dragons. However, the dragon of a human Rider named Galbatorix was killed by the Urgals (a species that fights a lot). Galbatorix became insane because of this. The Riders would not give him another dragon, so he decided to destroy them. He stole a black baby dragon and forced it to bond with him with evil magic. Then he and other traitors fought with the Riders. Finally, they killed them all and Galbatorix became king of the humans. The book "Eragon" begins 100 years after this. When it begins, Galbatorix is trying to find and destroy the elves (who are hiding in a forest called Du Weldenvarden), dwarves (who are hiding in the Beor Mountains - a gigantic mountain range reaching far above the clouds), and the Varden (a group of rebels hidden with the dwarves). He has not destroyed the elves yet, because he is still cautious of their power. He has not destroyed the Varden or dwarves because he cannot yet find them in the large mountain range.

paragraphs: The story itself begins with a young farm boy named Eragon finding a polished blue stone in the Spine (a smaller mountain range and woods). The stone turns out to be a dragon egg, and the dragon that hatches from it is named Saphira. Eragon's uncle, Garrow is killed by the Ra'zac (insect-like creatures that work for Galbatorix), who want to find and capture Eragon and Saphira. Eragon decides to find them and kill them in revenge because of his uncle's death. He and Saphira leave, along with Brom, an old storyteller who tells Eragon and Saphira many things about dragons and Riders and promises to help them. In Yu'Zuac, Eragon and Brom were ambushed by two Urgals. After Brom was knocked from his horse, the Urgals chased Eragon, when he used magic to defeat them. Brom also teaches Eragon how to control magic after this. While they are travelling, they find a flask (a container, which usually holds liquids like water) full of corrupted Seithr oil dropped by the Ra'zac. This oil is very rare, so Eragon gets the idea to go to a coastal city for shipping records to find the Ra'zac. The three travel to the city of Teirm to see Brom's old friend, Joed. Joed is a merchant who is secretly giving supplies to the Varden. However all of his ships are being destroyed somehow by someone who knows he is working for the Varden. He helps them find a record of where the Ra'zac are - a city named Dras-Leona. Brom, Eragon, and Saphira travel to Dras-Leona, but Eragon is seen by Galbatorix's soldiers. The three run away, but the Ra'zac find them and capture them. Then they are driven away by a stranger named Murtagh, but they wound Brom first. Brom dies soon, but not before telling Eragon and Murtagh that he was secretly a Rider whose dragon was killed by Galbatorix.

paragraphs: Eragon and Saphira bury Brom. They decide to go to the Varden to fight Galbatorix, with Murtagh who does not want to go, but will help them until they reach the Varden, but they do not know where the Varden are. They go to Gilead, another city, to find someone who knows where the Varden are. While Murtagh is in the city, he comes back and the next morning, Eragon is captured when the three are ambushed by more Urgals. His food and water is drugged to make him forget magic so he can not escape. He realizes he is being given drugs in his food and stops eating the food. Finally, the drugs wear off and Eragon can use magic to escape. He breaks out, only to find Murtagh breaking in. The two rescue an elf that is also in the prison. Her name is Arya. They are attacked by a Shade (a sorcerer controlled by evil spirits), but escape. Arya is unconscious, but Eragon can talk to her in her mind and she tells him where the Varden are. They must go across a desert to get there, and Arya is dying from a poison, so they must hurry. They finally make it to the Varden (who are hiding in the Beor Mountains with the dwarves), but on the way Murtagh tells Eragon that Murtagh is the son of Morzan, a Rider who helped Galbatorix kill the other Riders. When they get to the Varden, Murtagh is captured because he is Morzan's son, but Arya is healed. Then the Varden and their leader (named Ajihad) find out Galbatorix is attacking them with Urgals. Murtagh is released to help the Varden, which he does. There is a big battle. In it, the Shade appears. Eragon fights the Shade and, with the help of Arya and Saphira, he kills the Shade, but his back is hit with a sword by the Shade. While Eragon is unconscious, he is rescued from death by a mysterious elf, who touched his mind and blocked the pain. Eragon promises to go to the elves with Arya for more training. Eragon wakes up and finds he is scarred by Durza's strike. The book ends with Eragon promising again to himself that he will go to the elves.

paragraphs: Christopher Paolini was only 15 when he started writing "Eragon", which many people have found impressive. He has also been praised for his writing style and the world he created. His strong female characters were also praised. However, some people think he is not a good writer, because his book is too much like other books (like The Lord of the Rings) and movies (like Star Wars). They also think he uses many complicated words when he does not need to. Unlike the book, the movie of "Eragon" is not liked by many people. They dislike it because it did not follow the book very well and changed many parts of the story which would make making more movies of the series harder.


title: William Baillie

paragraphs: Captain William Baillie (June 5, 1723 – December 22, 1810) was an Irish military man and artist.

paragraphs: Baillie went to London at age of 18 to study law, but liked art more. Shortly after getting to London, he joined the army. He served at the Battle of Culloden the Battle of Minden and retired with the rank of Captain. Baillie was later made the Commissioner of Stamps, which he was until 1795.

paragraphs: While he continued as an artist, what he is most famous for was his skill repairing and printing etching plates. He worked on plates by many artists, including Gerard Dou, Nicolas Poussin, and most notably Rembrandt. Apparently he got a number of Rembrandt's worn-out plates. The three best known:

paragraphs: A book of prints, after the above artists, was published in 1792, in two volumes, with subsequent editions.


title: Rusty Anderson

paragraphs: Rusty Anderson (born January 20, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter from La Habra, California. He has played lead guitar for Paul McCartney since 2001. He has played for many famous musicians, for example, Elton John, The Bangles, Courtney Love and Belinda Carlisle. He also has a band called Rusty Anderson Afternoon whose first single "Effortless" hit Number One on American radio and whose first full-length record "RAA" debuted in the Top Ten Alt Chart on iTunes.


HLS


title: Handshake

paragraphs: A handshake is when two people hold hands for a few seconds and move them up and down before letting go. It is often used like a greeting (like saying "Hello, Hi" or "goodbye" when people meet) or to say that two people have agreed on something. Handshakes are also used between romantic partners.

paragraphs: The action is ancient, and occurs (or occurred) in many cultures. There are, however, many slight differences. In some cultures, the handshake is firm, in others it is gentle. In some cultures the senior person leads the handshake. The length of time also varies between cultures. One thing is almost universal: hand shaking is done with bare hands.

paragraphs: Another aspect is: do men shake hands with women? In the past, in many societies, they did not. Today, in western society, handshakes are allowed if the female offers her hand. It is not done between family members, when hugs and kisses are more usual.

paragraphs: Some secret societies have secret handshakes to show they are part of the group.


title: Wave (gesture)

paragraphs: A wave is a movement of the hand that people use to greet each other or say goodbye. People wave by raising their hand and moving it from side to side. They can also wave by moving their hand up and down. The way that people wave generally depends on their culture.


title: Baseball bat

paragraphs: A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal rod used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is not more than 2⅔ inches (70 mm) in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches (1067 mm) in length. It usually weighs no greater than four pounds (1.8 kg). The batter uses the bat to try to hit a pitched ball so that he may run around the bases and score points.

paragraphs: Bats are sometimes used as a weapon in fights or attacks. When a bat is used this way, it can be called a "club".

paragraphs: Major League Baseball is using bats of pink color by players who agree during games played on Mother's Day as an event to support the pink ribbon campaign (breast cancer extermination movement).


title: Softball

paragraphs: Softball is a sport similar to baseball. Men, women, boys, or girls can play softball.

paragraphs: There are two types of softball: fastpitch and slow pitch. In both types of softball, pitchers throw underhand (with hand below shoulder level).

paragraphs: There are nine to twelve players per team. The basic goal is to get as many players to home plate as possible. In order to get to home plate, a player usually has to hit the ball. There are many techniques for hitting (which is called batting). There are also different types of bunts.

paragraphs: Once the ball is in play, the batter runs to first base, then waits until the next player hits the ball in order to advance to second base. This keeps on going on until there are three outs. Then the team on the field goes in to bat, and the team that was up to bat goes to the field.

paragraphs: Ball: Softballs are not actually soft. They are larger than baseballs, and weigh about 6.25-7.0oz for fastpitch and 5.87-6.12oz for slowpitch. The ball has a raised seam and is usually yellow or white. The softball was invented in Chicago.

paragraphs: Gloves: All defensive players wear gloves. The glove is used to catch the ball when it is hit or thrown to the player. The gloves are usually made out of leather or similar material. The catcher has a special glove that is extra padded to protect the hand from catching the ball thrown by the pitcher. The first baseman may have a special glove also. It has a bigger pocket to catch the ball more easily, because first basemen get the ball thrown to them multiple times during each inning.

paragraphs: Bat: The bat used by the offense can be made out of wood or aluminum or other composite materials, such as carbon fiber. It cannot be longer than 34 inches long, 6.0 inches indiameter (length of one side of a circle to the other side), and 38oz in mass.

paragraphs: Fastpitch softball is only for female athletes. The ages range from five years old to the college or professional level.

paragraphs: Fastpitch pitching distance can be between 35 and 45 feet; it all depends on the age of the players. The pitches can travel around 60mph, also depending on the age of the players. The pitcher's arm rotates 360 degrees around her shoulder until the ball is released from the hand.

paragraphs: Slowpitch softball is for both men and women, usually a sport for adults.

paragraphs: Slowpitch pitching distance is 50 feet for both male and female players. The pitchers arm motion is a half a windmill, meaning that it is an underhand throw.

paragraphs: Home plate: A five-sided white flat base. The batter stands next to home plate, and the catcher plays behind the plate.

paragraphs: Shortstop: A defensive position in between 2nd base and third base

paragraphs: Right field: A defensive outfield position, on the right side of the field (behind the first baseman and second baseman).

paragraphs: Center field: A defensive outfield position, right behind second base.

paragraphs: Left field: A defensive outfield position, on the left side of the field (behind the shortstop and third baseman).

paragraphs: Innings: There are usually anywhere in between 3-7 innings in a softball game. The number of innings played usually depends on the league, rules, and whether the game is fastpitch or slowpitch. An inning is over after three outs.

paragraphs: Strikes: The player gets three strikes before they are out. This is called a strikeout.

paragraphs: it is commonly played in Antarctica, it is their national sport.


title: Dietrich Buxtehude

paragraphs: Dietrich Buxtehude (or "Dieterich" according to Danish spelling) (born about 1637; died May 9, 1707) was a German (or Danish) composer and organist. He is one of the most important composers of the mid-Baroque period. He is best known for his organ works which are very often heard at recitals and church services. He also wrote a lot of excellent choral music and music for instruments, including the viola da gamba, an instrument which he played. He had a very important influence on Johann Sebastian Bach. When Bach was a very young man he walked over 200 miles to hear Buxtehude play the organ.

paragraphs: Very little is known of Buxtehude’s earliest years. We cannot be sure where he was born. His family came from the town of Buxtehude in North Germany but had moved to Oldesloe which is now in Germany but at that time it was part of Denmark. His father was organist in Oldesloe, but around the time of Dietrich’s birth the family moved to Helsingborg which is now called Hälsingborg and is in Sweden, but at that time Helsingborg, too, was part of Denmark.

paragraphs: In 1641 the family moved to Helsingør which was just across the water, in Denmark. Dietrich Buxtehude probably went to school in Helsingør and learned music from his father. When he was 20 he got his first job at Helsingborg in the Marienkirche (St Mary’s Church) where his father had been organist some years before. Sweden and Denmark were at war at the time, fighting about which country Helsingborg should be in. This must have made things rather difficult for the young Buxtehude. The people who went to the Marienkirche were German-speaking.

paragraphs: In 1668 Buxtehude got the job of organist at the Marienkirche in Lübeck in Germany. This was a very important job at one of the biggest churches in Germany. The organist before him had been a man called Franz Tunder. He had a daughter, Anna Margarethe, and Buxtehude married her. His job was not only to play the organ, but also to tune it and do a lot of administration in the church. He composed many cantatas for the services and organized five evening musical performances every year. These concerts were called “Abendmusik” (“Evening Music”) and were held at 4.00pm after the Evening Service. Unfortunately we do not know what music was performed at these concerts.

paragraphs: Buxtehude stayed in this job for the rest of his life. He never travelled very far. Nicolaus Bruhns was one of his pupils, and Pachelbel wrote a piece of music called "Hexachordum Apollonis" for him. In 1706, when Johann Sebastian Bach was 21, he got permission for four weeks holiday so that he could go to Lübeck to hear Buxtehude play. He stayed in Lübeck for four months and so he got into trouble when he went back to his job at Arnstadt.

paragraphs: In 1707 Buxtehude wanted to retire. Whoever took his job would have to marry Buxtehude’s daughter, Anna. Bach and Mattheson were interested in the job but decided not to take it. Probably they did not want to marry Anna Buxtehude. Buxtehude died, and the man who had been his assistant got the job and married Anna shortly afterwards.

paragraphs: The organs that Buxtehude played were very large instruments with bright sounds (bright mixtures, reeds and a “Zimbalstern” which was a star which went round and round, making a tinkling sound). His music is very grand and impressive. Many of his organ pieces have several sections, each one at a different speed. They often sound like a free improvisation. Some of the sections are fugues. At least 128 vocal works survive, they are nearly all church music. He wrote instrumental works, chamber music and pieces for harpsichord.


title: Buxtehude

paragraphs: Buxtehude () is a town in Northern Germany. It has 39,000 inhabitants. It is by the Este river which joins the city to the important river Elbe just 6 miles away.

paragraphs: Buxtehude is known as "The Fairytale Capital" of the world. The tale of "The Bunny and the Hedgehog" by the Brothers Grimm is set in this town.

paragraphs: The "Pistennacht" is an event where bars, restaurants and clubs in the old part of town are open all night long. The "Pfingstmarkt" is a big fair which is held at Whitsun (Pfingsten). There is a lot to do including rides on a Ferris Wheel. On the first weekend of June there is a big feast in the old part of the town, which also has a wine festival every year.


title: Harlem Renaissance

paragraphs: The Harlem Renaissance is the name for a movement in African-American culture in the 1920s and 1930s which has had a big influence on African-American literature, philosophy and music. The "Harlem Renaissance" is also called the "Black Literary Renaissance", '"The New Negro Movement" and "The flowering of Negro literature".

paragraphs: The movement began in Harlem, New York after World War I. In 1925 a book was published called "The New Negro", edited by Alain Locke. This book was a collection of writing by African-Americans which looked at their people's lives experiences since the Civil War. From 1925 onwards, there was a movement called the "New Negro Movement", named after the book.

paragraphs: The movement began to affect the thinking of many African-American writers and artists of all sorts. They challenged the thinking of many white Americans towards black Americans. They refused to be treated as if they were not equal. They refused to just copy the sorts of writing, art and music that white Americans did. They wanted to celebrate the fact that their African culture had survived through the terrible years of slavery, and was being "reborn". (The word "Renaissance" means "rebirth" and is generally used for a time from 1400 to 1600 in Europe.)


title: Hollywood Pictures

paragraphs: Hollywood Pictures is one of Walt Disney Studios movie companies. It makes movies for a more adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures. It is similar to Disney's Touchstone Pictures brand.


title: Third World

paragraphs: The "third world" describes the developing countries.

paragraphs: The term "third world" was introduced during the Cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union. At that time, there were three "worlds". Colors do not represent current economic development.


title: Thirty Years' War

paragraphs: The Thirty Years' War was fought from 1618 until 1648. Though it was primarily centered in Germany, several other countries became involved in the conflict, including France, Spain, and Sweden. In fact, almost all of the powerful countries in Europe were involved in the war. It began as a fight about religion — the Protestants and Catholics were the two groups that disagreed. As the war continued, the Habsburg dynasty (a Catholic family) and other organizations used the war to try and get more power. One of the examples of this is that Catholic France fought for the Protestants. This made the France-Habsburg even worse.

paragraphs: The Thirty Years' War caused things like famine and disease in almost every country involved. The war lasted for 30 years, but the problems that caused the war were not fixed for a long time after the war was over. The war ended with the Treaty of Westphalia.

paragraphs: There were several reasons that the Thirty Years' War started.

paragraphs: First, the Peace of Augsburg (1555), which was signed quickly by Charles V, agreed with the 1526 Diet of Speyer and stopped the fighting between the Lutherans and the Catholics in Germany.

paragraphs: The Peace made the violence end for a bit. But it did not fix the real reason that the Lutherans and Catholics were fighting. Both of them said it meant different things. The Lutherans said it was only an agreement that would last for a short time. Calvinism came quickly into Germany. Calvinism was a third Christian group in Germany, but it was not part of the Peace of Augsburg.

paragraphs: Second: the powerful countries in Europe in the 17th century often disagreed about matters of Politics or Economics. Spain wanted land in some of the German states, because the Germans owned some of the Spanish Netherlands. The Dutch fought the Spanish to get independence. They got it in some wars that ended in 1609.

paragraphs: Third: the Holy Roman Empire was a broken group of nations. The empire had nations like the Austrian House of Habsburg, Bavaria, the Electorate of Saxony, the Margravate of Brandenburg, the Electorate of the Palatinate, Hesse, the Archbishopric of Trier and Württemberg, and other small nations and towns. Only Austria was capable of operating on its own. Countries often made alliances with other places ruled by relatives.

paragraphs: Fourth, Religious groups were not agreeing during the second half of the 16th century. The Peace of Augsburg was not working because some bishops had not given up their bishoprics, and Catholic rulers in Spain and Eastern Europe wanted to make Catholicism strong in the region. This caused fighting between the groups. The Catholics made many Protestants leave their home lands.

paragraphs: Some places gave Protestants permission to worship. These disagreements caused violence.

paragraphs: Fifth, the Holy Roman Emperor Matthias died without any children to take his place in 1619. He was Catholic. His lands were given to his cousin Ferdinand of Styria. Ferdinand was Matthias's closest male relative. He became Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. Ferdinand had been educated by the Jesuits, and was a Catholic. He wanted to make Catholicism the only religion again. This made him unpopular in Hussite Bohemia. They rejected Ferdinand and launched the Thirty Years' War. The War can be divided into four major phases: the Bohemian Revolt, the Danish intervention, the Swedish intervention, and the French intervention.

paragraphs: Emperor Matthias, who had no children, had died leaving the throne to Ferdinand II. Some of the Protestant leaders of Bohemia thought they would lose the religious rights granted to them by Emperor Rudolf II. They liked the Protestant Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate (successor to Frederick IV) better. Frederick V was the creator of the League of Evangelical Union). Other Protestants supported the opinion of the Catholics.

paragraphs: So, in 1617, Ferdinand was elected by the Bohemian Estates to become the Crown Prince, and automatically upon the death of Matthias, the next King of Bohemia. The king-elect then sent two Catholic councillors (Wilhelm Grav Slavata and Jaroslav Borzita Graf Von Martinicz) as his representatives to Hradčany castle in Prague in May 1618. Ferdinand wanted them to run the government while he was gone. Suddenly, the Bohemian Hussites took them, put them on a mock trial, and threw them out of the palace window which was 20 feet off the ground (this is called defenestration, or, more specifically: the defenestration of Prague). Remarkably, they survived and did not get hurt. The Catholics said that angels appeared and carried them to safety, while the Protestants said that they landed in a pile of manure which saved their lives.


title: Database normalisation

paragraphs: Database normalisation is an approach to designing databases which was introduced by Edgar F. Codd in the 1970s. Certain databases, known as "relational databases", allow data to be stored in separate groups. Each group is commonly called a "table". To provide useful information, these groups are connected to each other. For example, students could be stored in one group, and classes in another group. To show that a student is enrolled in a class, a "relationship" is established from one group to the other. A student could have a relationship to many classes, each of which he or she would be enrolled in, while a class would have a relationship to many students.

paragraphs: A traditional alternative is the "flat file database", where all of the data is grouped together like in a spreadsheet. The problem with flat file databases is that they can have a lot of blank spaces and there is a lot of information that has to be repeated for each entry. This means that the database is bigger than it has to be, and it makes it more likely that the database will contain mistakes. Relational databases, by breaking the data into groups, reduce the chance of mistakes happening and does not take up any more space than necessary. But for it to work it needs to be well designed.

paragraphs: Database normalization is a method of designing good relational databases. There are several "normal forms", each of which have rules which the database should be designed to meet. Codd originally specified three sets of criteria that different databases must meet: first, second and third normal form.

paragraphs: If a relation (or "database table") meets a certain normal form, it is not vulnerable to certain modifications, that will affect data integrity. The drawback of meeting such a set of criteria is usually that querying certain data from the database will become more difficult.


title: Clipboard

paragraphs: A clipboard is a thin board with a large (usually metal) clip at the top. Clipboards are a little larger than a piece of paper. They are used to support paper with one hand, while writing on the paper with the other hand. Clipboards are often used in situations where a person may not be able to find a good writing surface.

paragraphs: Clipboards can be made of many things. Most clipboards are made of masonite or particleboard, two types of wood. They can also be made from aluminum, steel, or acrylic, which is a type of plastic.

paragraphs: Many police officers and EMTs carry clipboards. These clipboards are used very often and are usually made of metal. They often have one or two sections inside for carrying papers and reports.


title: Ugliness

paragraphs: Ugliness is a property of physical things that are not nice to look at. Something or someone who has ugliness is called ugly. This word is commonly used in when talking about human appearance. The opposite of ugliness is beauty. Someone who discriminates against ugly people is called a lookist or cacophobe.

paragraphs: Ugliness can be a matter of opinion. Two people can look at the same object and one may think it is beautiful and the other may think it is ugly. This is shown in the popular phrase "".

paragraphs: Although "ugly" usually means "a lack of physical beauty", the property of ugliness may also be used to describe other things such as music, literature, or human behavior.


title: Texture

paragraphs: The word texture means: what things are made of and how they feel. Textures can be described as “rough”, “smooth”, “hard”, “soft”, “liquid”, “solid”, “lumpy”, “gritty” etc. The word “texture” is used for many different things. It can even be used in abstract senses, e.g. for music and poetry.

paragraphs: We often talk about the texture of surfaces. The earth’s surface may have sand, stones, soil, silt etc. These all feel different to touch. The texture of plants varies: some grasses are rough to touch, others are smooth. Cacti are very prickly, the wood of treetrunks is often rough. People who study rocks talk about the different textures of rock (“hard”, “smooth”, “crumbly” etc.).

paragraphs: People like or dislike food because of its taste, but the texture of the food also plays a part in whether we like it or not. We enjoy the feel of it in our mouth. Food can be hard, soft, lumpy, gritty (e.g. a cake made with ground rice). Adding some lettuce to a cheese sandwich will change the texture of the sandwich: it makes it more crunchy.

paragraphs: In architecture we often talk about “texture”. This can mean: the things that the buildings are made of. It can also mean: the general way it looks, e.g. whether everything is built close together or whether there is plenty of space. This is an abstract use of the word, because it compares the way we see things to the way things feel.

paragraphs: Painters talk about the texture of paintings. This can be seen clearly in pointillism which is a way of painting by using lots of little dots. This gives the painting a very interesting texture.

paragraphs: In music we can talk about the texture of a piece of music. If there are a lot of notes being played at once, we could call this a “thick” texture. If there are just two or three notes being played so that every note can be heard clearly we could call this a “thin” or “clear” texture. Music may have a “polyphonic” texture or a “chordal” texture. The word “texture”, this time, is being used to describe something we hear instead of something we feel.


title: Outlook Express

paragraphs: Microsoft Outlook Express, also known as Microsoft Internet Mail and News, is an email program and newsreader program made by Microsoft. It is a free version of Outlook, also made by Microsoft. Microsoft's Outlook Express was discontinued in 2006 with the release of its new operating system, Windows Vista, which has Windows Mail instead.

paragraphs: Outlook Express needs a database to work, sometimes this database gets damaged when there are too many emails or when the database gets compacted. Compaction is needed when its size gets too large to handle well. Also, sometimes emails or attachments are infected with viruses.


title: Michael Spinks

paragraphs: Michael Spinks (born on July 13, 1956) is a retired American boxer. He was the light heavyweight and heavyweight champion of the world.

paragraphs: Spinks was a member of the 1976 United States Olympics team and won a gold medal in the boxing competition. He became a professional boxer in 1977 and won the light heavyweight championship in 1981. In 1985 he fought heavyweight champion Larry Holmes and beat him for the title. It was the first time a light heavyweight champion had become heavyweight champion. He beat Holmes again in a rematch and defended his title another two times before losing to Mike Tyson in 1988. He never fought again.

paragraphs: Michael Spinks is the brother of heavyweight champion Leon Spinks.


title: Goodbye

paragraphs: Goodbye is a word used to express good wishes when parting. It may originate from the phrase "God be with you".


title: Candy cane

paragraphs: A candy cane is a hard cane-shaped candy stick. It is usually white with red stripes and tastes like peppermint. It is also made in many other flavors and colors. The candy cane is a traditional candy of the Christmas holiday in the United States, but you can find them during the rest of the year. It is a symbolic figure in the Christmas season.

paragraphs: In the 17th century, white sticks of candy were popular, but they were not colorful. According to legend, a choir leader in Germany asked the people that made the candy to bend the sticks so that they looked like shepherd's staffs. He then gave the candy canes to the children to keep them quiet during church services. The colors are also said to be symbolic. The white part represents purity, and the red represents the blood of Jesus.


title: Leon Spinks

paragraphs: Leon Spinks (born July 11, 1953) is an American boxer. He won the world heavyweight championship. He won a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics in the boxing category. He became a professional boxer. In his eighth bout he won the heavyweight championship from Muhammad Ali. In his first defense, he lost the title back to Ali. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri.

paragraphs: Spinks continued boxing with little success after that. He fought Larry Holmes for the heavyweight title in 1981, but lost. He also fought for the cruiserweight championship, but he lost that fight, too. He stopped fighting in 1995.

paragraphs: He is the brother of boxer Michael Spinks and the father of boxer Cory Spinks.

paragraphs: In December 2019, Spinks was hospitalized in Las Vegas after his prostate cancer spread to his bladder.


title: Cruiserweight

paragraphs: Cruiserweight is a division in boxing for fighters who weigh over 175 pounds and up to 200 pounds (91 kg). The weight limit was once 190 pounds. The World Boxing Council created this weight division in the late 1970s because it felt that some fighters were too small to fight in the heavyweight division but too big to fight in the light heavyweight division. So they made a weight class in-between. Many cruiserweight champions and contenders may eventually fight in the heavyweight division.

paragraphs: Below is a list of longest reigning cruiserweight champions in boxing measured by the player's longest reign. Career total time as champion (for multiple time champions) does not apply.


title: Botanic

paragraphs: Botanic is a district of South Belfast, in the country of Ireland. It is named after Botanic Gardens, a local park dedicated to the science of botany.


title: Steve Jay

paragraphs: Stephen "Steve" Jay (born January 26, 1951) is a bassist best known for working with the singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic.


title: Minimum wage

paragraphs: The minimum wage is the least amount of salary that employees of a business can be paid. Around the world, the minimum wage is enforced as a law that every company must follow. If companies do not give their employees at least the minimum wage, the companies will be forced to pay an expensive fine for breaking the law.

paragraphs: Minimum wage is a relative term. Different countries have different minimum wages. Nunavut in Canada has a minimum wage of $11.00 per hour. Ontario, another place in Canada has a minimum wage of $10.25 per hour.

paragraphs: Some people think the minimum wage should be raised, so poor working people will have more money and enjoy human rights. Others think it is worse because the government will not have enough money to pay all the employees, so they will raise the taxes or raise the inflation. Some people think that the minimum will hurt employees because companies only hire employees whose labor is worth the price they are required to pay. They think that if the minimum wage is raised employees will lose their job because companies cannot afford to pay them the raised minimum wage.


title: Joe Manchin

paragraphs: Joseph (Joe) Manchin III (born August 24, 1947) is an American politician. He was elected Governor of the state of West Virginia in the 2004 election. He took office as Governor on January 17, 2005 and remained in that position until 2010. In 2010, he became a Senator for West Virginia, after the death of Robert Byrd. He is one of the least liberal Democrats in the Senate, having conservative views on social issues, energy, the environment, and the military. He co-sponsored an amendment, a change to a bill, with Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) that would require gun sellers to check whether gun buyers are mentally ill or have a criminal record. This amendment did not become law.


title: Renaissance art

paragraphs: Many of the most famous and best-loved works of art in the world were created during the time known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance began about 1400 and lasted until about 1600. Italy, and in particular the city of Florence is thought of as the home of Renaissance art.

paragraphs: Many Flemish painters from the area of modern Belgium were also very busy at this time. The style of their pictures, and their use of oil painting influenced the Italian painters.

paragraphs: The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a woman whose expression is often described as enigmatic. The ambiguity of the sitter's expression, the monumentality of the half-figure composition, and the subtle modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the painting's continuing fascination. Few other works of art have been subject to as much scrutiny, study, mythologizing and parody.


title: Renaissance architecture

paragraphs: This country house was built by Palladio in 1550. It is a square building which looks the same from every side. At the centre, there is a dome. On every side is a large porch, (portico), like a Greek temple. It is such an elegant design that other architects used the same style which can be seen on churches, houses and palaces, including the White House.


title: Fiji One

paragraphs: Fiji One is a free-to-air television channel run by Fiji Television. It is shown all across Fiji. It is paid for by advertisements. For this reason, programs on Fiji One have commercial breaks, to allow advertisers that fund the programs to showcase their products or services.


title: Comet Group

paragraphs: Comet was a chain of shops in the UK. They were the second largest retailer of TVs, and biggest retailer of fridges, washing machines and dishwashers in England.


title: Sainsbury's

paragraphs: Sainsbury's is the oldest supermarket chain based in the United Kingdom. Sainsbury's originally sold only food, but it now sells other things like mobile phones, DVDs, videos, clothing and books. Sainsbury's is the second largest supermarket in the UK (after Tesco). The clothing range at Sainsbury's has changed a lot over the years. It started off with, Jeff & Co, then another range was brought in, after that Adams Kids. Now it's called TU.

paragraphs: In 2017, average number of 118,700 people worked in Sainsbury's.


title: Venus of Willendorf

paragraphs: Venus of Willendorf, also known as the Woman of Willendorf, is an 11.1 cm (4 3/8 inches) high statuette of a female figure. It was discovered in 1908 by archaeologist Josef Szombathy at a paleolithic site near Willendorf. Willendorf is a village in Lower Austria near the city of Krems. The statuette is made of a kind of limestone that can not be found in the area. It is colored with red ochre.

paragraphs: A study made in 1990 suggests that the figure was made between 24.000 and 22.000 BCE. Very little is known about its origin, how it was made, or what it meant to the people who made it.

paragraphs: The Venus is not a realistic portrait but rather an idealization of the female figure. Her vulva, breasts, and swollen belly are very pronounced. This suggests a strong connection to fertility. Her tiny arms are folded over her breasts, and she has no visible face. Her head is covered with what might be coils of braids, eyes, or a kind of headdress. The lack of a face has prompted some archaeologists and philosophers to view the Venus as a "universal mother."

paragraphs: To add to this, many scientists believe that the coils of the venus’ hair were meant to represent the cycles of a women’s period or ovulation.

paragraphs: The nickname, urging a comparison of this rather obese figurine to the classical image of "Venus", causes resistance in some modern analysis. "The ironic identification of these figurines as 'Venus' pleasantly satisfied certain assumptions at the time about the primitive, about women, and about taste," Christopher Witcombe has noticed . At the same time there is professional reluctance to identify her as an Earth Mother goddess of paleolithic Old Europe. Some suggest that her corpulence would represent high status in a hunter-gatherer society, and that beside her obvious fertility she could be an emblem of security and success.

paragraphs: The statue's feet do not allow it to stand on its own. Due to this it has been speculated that it was meant to be held, rather than simply looked at.

paragraphs: Catherine McCoid and LeRoy McDermott think that the figurines were done as self-portraits by the women themselves. Most scientists agree that the head, seen from a profile view, while having no distinct facial features, appears to be looking down. The common physical characteristics of all of the Venus figures are: a thin upper torso, largely exaggerated breasts, large buttocks and thighs, a large stomach (possibly due to pregnancy), and oddly bent, short legs, that end with disproportionately small feet. Yet when looked upon as if you were a woman looking down at your body, the physical features, in perspective, seem correct. There are striking similarities between the Venus of Willendorf and a pregnant woman when perceived from above.

paragraphs: "Venus of Willendorf" is part of the collection of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna.

paragraphs: Since this figure's discovery and naming, several similar statuettes and other forms of art have been discovered. They are collectively referred to as Venus figurines.


title: Acts of Supremacy

paragraphs: The Acts of Supremacy was passed by Elizabeth I in 1558. This act stated that the king, not the pope was the head of the Church of England.

paragraphs: When this act was originally passed by Henry VIII, in 1534, he had been the ‘Head of the Church in England’ but under Elizabeth’s reign, she was “Supreme Governor of the Church in England”.

paragraphs: The change may have been made to appease Catholics who could not accept the monarch as "Head of the Church", seeing the church as the Pope's domain, or it may have been made because Elizabeth was a woman. In the sixteenth century, women were regarded as inferior to men in spiritual matters, and many were uncomfortable with the idea of a woman being in charge. This act also included an oath of loyalty to the Queen that the clergy were expected to take. If they did not take it, then they would lose their office. A High Commission was established to ensure that the oath was taken.


title: Compact fluorescent lamp

paragraphs: A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), is a type of lamp (or light bulb) designed to fit into the same space and usually also the same socket as an incandescent bulb, but with the advantages of a fluorescent lamp. Many CFLs can directly replace an existing incandescent lamp. They were invented late in the 20th century and much used after the turn of the century (after 2000).

paragraphs: The purchase price of a CFL is often much higher than an incandescent lamp of the same output, and the light from CFLs looks different to light from incandescent lamps. CFLs have a longer rated life and use less energy than an incandescent lamp of the same brightness. A CFL can save over US$30 in electricity costs over the lamp’s lifetime compared to an incandescent lamp.

paragraphs: As in other fluorescent lamps, electrified mercury vapor emits ultraviolet (UV) light. A phosphor converts it to visible light. The ballast prevents too much electricity from flowing through the tube. It is usually in the plastic base of the bulb. If the ballast is in the bulb, the bulb is called a self-ballasted lamp. Most are electronic ballasts.

paragraphs: The average rated life of a CFL is 8 to 15 times longer that of incandescents. CFLs typically have a rated lifespan of 6,000 to 15,000 hours, whereas incandescent lamps are usually manufactured to have a lifespan of 750 hours or 1,000 hours.

paragraphs: The lifetime of any lamp depends on many factors, including operating voltage, manufacturing defects, exposure to voltage spikes, mechanical shock, frequency of cycling on and off, lamp orientation, and ambient operating temperature. The life of a CFL is significantly shorter if it is turned on and off frequently. In the case of a 5-minute on/off cycle the lifespan of a CFL can be reduced to "close to that of incandescent light bulbs". The U.S. Energy Star program suggests that fluorescent lamps be left on when leaving a room for less than 15 minutes to avoid this problem. If the light must be switched on and off frequently, Cold cathode CFLs can be used. Cold cathode CFLs are designed for many more on/off cycles than standard CFLs.

paragraphs: The mercury inside the tube is toxic and makes these bulbs hazardous waste. The bulbs must be taken to a recycling center after they stop working. Most CFLs contain an amount of mercury smaller than the tip of a ballpoint pen. During normal use, the mercury cannot escape, although it will escape if the bulb is broken. If a single bulb breaks, it is not usually a cause for concern. It is recommended to open windows to air out the room, and to clean up broken glass with duct tape instead of a vacuum cleaner.

paragraphs: High-intensity discharge bulbs such as sodium-vapor, mercury-vapor, and metal-halide lamps are used for lighting large areas, although like fluorescent lamps they contain mercury. Their main advantage is much higher light output.

paragraphs: Halogen bulbs with a halogen capsule inside a standard incandescent bulb housing contain no mercury. They use more energy than CFLs, but less than traditional incandescents.

paragraphs: LED bulbs are also becoming a popular alternative. They are also mercury-free, and use about the same amount of energy as CFLs.


title: PL Kyodan

paragraphs: PL Kyodan or the Church of Perfect Liberty is an international religion that developed from the Zen Buddhist culture of Japan early in the 20th century. PL teaches that "Life is art." Humans have been born to express their own unique individuality in everything they do - "creating true art".

paragraphs: To assist them in improving their lives and overcoming hardships believers are taught why they have these problems and are guided in solving them by the Patriarch (Oshieoya-sama) and ministers.

paragraphs: PL does not have a holy book (like a Bible), however, they have PL 21 Precepts and the PL 21 Principles which were revealed by the Founders of the Church.

paragraphs: Nowadays the group claims having more than 3 million followers worldwide. Most of the parishes are in Japan, however, due to the active missionary work in the 1960s PL was established in South-America and USA as well. Today they are present also in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Peru. Oceaninan headquarters was founded in the 1990s in Brisbane, Australia. Small communities exist in Europe as well, especially in France, Portugal and Hungary.

paragraphs: PL presents each year in the Japanese headquarters the world' biggest firework. The baseball group of PL High School is very famous in Japan, often they win the national championship.

paragraphs: The movement was founded by the Rev. Tokuharu Miki (1871-1938), who was a Zen Buddhist priest of the Obaku Sect. He is referred to as "the First Founder" by adherents.

paragraphs: In 1912 he met the Rev. Tokumitsu Kanada, who instantly cured his chronic asthma by a sacred ritual. He asked Kanada to teach him this ritual so he could cure disease, and became his disciple.

paragraphs: Before his death, Kanada told Tokuharu that his Tokumitsu Church had 18 Precepts, but there were three more which were to be revealed to complete the teachings. Five years later, the three precepts were revealed, and he established the new Tokumitsu Church in 1924 and became the First Kyoso (Oshieoya, Founder). In 1931, the name was changed to the Hitonomichi Church, meaning "the way of humans."

paragraphs: The Church spread rapidly throughout Japan, Korea, China and to other Southeast Asia countries and its members numbered one million in a short period of time. In 1936 however, the Church was suppressed by the military government and ordered to disband. On July 6, 1938, the Rev. Tokuharu Miki died.

paragraphs: The "Second Founder", the Rev. Tokuchika Miki (1900-1983), succeeded his father. He was also imprisoned, but was released in 1945. At Tosu City in Saga Prefecture, on September 29, 1946, Tokuchika Miki reestablished the Hitonomichi Church, but under the new name of the Church of Perfect Liberty, declaring the truth, "Life is Art."

paragraphs: On September 29, 1947, he revealed the PL 21 Precepts, the basic teachings of PL. The Church expanded rapidly all over Japan and in 1953, construction began on the present Headquarters in Tondabayashi, on the edge of Osaka. Tokuchika Miki organized the "Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan" and chaired it for many years. He visited Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II to discuss world peace. He died in 1983.

paragraphs: The "Third Founder", the Rev. Takahito Miki (b. 1957), the adopted son of the Second Founder, succeeded to the divine position of Oshieoya in 1983. He has since visited over 700 PL churches throughout the world. Miki is also the vice president of Shinshuren, Federation of New Religious Organizations of Japan.


title: Winston Smith

paragraphs: Winston Smith is a fictional character and the protagonist of George Orwell's 1949 novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four". In the book, Winston is a clerk for the Ministry of Truth, where his job is to rewrite historical documents so that they match the current party line, which changes on a daily basis.


title: Yantai

paragraphs: Yantai is a city in Shandong, China. It is on the coast facing the Huang Hai. The average annual temperature is 12°C. The annual rainfall is 20 mm.

paragraphs: The city used to be called "Chefoo" because an island close to the city was named "Chefoo". The name of the city means "Smokey Tower" (yan - smoke, tai - tower). The city is named "Yantai" because in 1398 the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty, built watch towers nearby to tell everyone if Japanese pirates were coming.


title: Qiemo

paragraphs: Qiemo, also called Cherchen, is an inland city in Xinjiang, China. About 60,000 people live in the city. It is a river town on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The area has been settled for a long time. A cemetery at least 3,500 years old is near the town, as well as Bronze Age rock carvings. The town was along the trade route to Tibet. Marco Polo is supposed to have passed through the town in 1273.


title: Fictional universe

paragraphs: A fictional universe is a made up world that is used as the setting for one or (more commonly) many works of fiction. It is often used in books but can be used in any form used to tell a story, for example role-playing games, television or movies. It can be said that every work of fiction makes a world of its own. A fictional universe is used when things in a story become a part either of other stories, or of games or other things.

paragraphs: Fictional universes are most often used in science fiction and fantasy stories but they can be used in any type of fiction. A fictional universe usually has certain things in them that make them different from the real world. These things could affect anything from cities the author created to entire galaxies. In most fictional universes, the laws of physics are different to let things exist which commonly do not, for example, magic or space travel to other planets. Fictional universes may also take place in any time period during the past, present, or future.

paragraphs: There are many examples of fictional universes. They are often used to provide a common theme to many different types of things.

paragraphs: The "Star Wars" expanded universe is a fictional universe that was started from the first Star Wars movie "" in 1977. The movie created a universe full of people and planets with space travel to other worlds, Alien creatures, and a type of magic. Two later movies were made that took place in the same fictional universe the movie created. After that, many books, comic books, and video games were made that created new characters, places and stories all taking place in that same universe. Most of this took place either during the time of the first three movies or created more of the story of the universe as time passed after the story told in the movies ended. Three additional movies were also made that took place in the same universe, but at an earlier period of time. This led to writers creating more stories about the history of the characters and their worlds.

paragraphs: In 1997, writer and director Joss Whedon created a television series called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" from a movie he had written several years before. The stories of the television series mainly took place in the fictional town of Sunnydale, California. The series had creature such as vampires and werewolves. It also dealt with magic. Over time, as the series went on and more and more stories were written, it developed into what is called the "Buffyverse". While the focus of the main story and its characters was just one town, the events of the story and the rules the universe followed had effects on other towns, parallel worlds, other dimensions, and even other periods of time. Characters from the show were used to make another show, "Angel" which took place in Los Angeles but still had demons and vampires. The universe has been used in many books as well as several video games. While the series was still being made, several other writers were also making comic books which told stories that took place during the same time of the series. Whedon himself wrote a series of comic books dealing with a vampire slayer named Fray from several hundred years in the future. Whedon is currently writing a new comic which is often nicknamed "Season Eight". It tells the stories of what happens to the characters from the series after its seven seasons as a television series.

paragraphs: Nearly every type of fiction has its own created universe. Many of these examples started in one category and now exist in many of them. For example, Harry Potter started out as a series of books then moved to movies and then video games.

paragraphs: Grand Theft Auto - Fictional cities that are analogous to each other such as Liberty City to New York City or Los Santos to Los Angeles


title: Ronnie James Dio

paragraphs: Ronnie James Dio (born "Ronaldo Giovanni Padovan" July 10, 1942 - May 16, 2010) was an American heavy metal singer. His parents were Italian Americans. He performed with Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and his own band Dio. He was also part of the band Heaven and Hell (named after Black Sabbath's most famous song), with some of the original Black Sabbath members. Dio was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and raised in Cortland, New York. He starred in the Tenacious D movie, "The Pick Of Destiny".

paragraphs: In November 2009, Dio was diagnosed with stomach cancer, which caused his death in Houston, Texas, on May 16, 2010. He was 68.


title: Chow Yun-Fat

paragraphs: Chow Yun-Fat (born May 18, 1955), formerly called Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and singer. He often worked with John Woo in the action movies "A Better Tomorrow", "The Killer", and "Hard Boiled". He also acted in "", and has acted in many drama movies.

paragraphs: His parents were farmers and poor. He grew up on an island without electricity. While in college, Chow began training to become an actor with TVB. He first appeared on the 1980 TV series "The Bund". Chow appeared in many TV series, but he wanted to act in movies. He acted in a few movies, but they were very bad. He finally became sucessful when he teamed with John Woo in "A Better Tomorrow".


title: Anglican Communion

paragraphs: The Anglican Communion is an association of all Anglican churches in full communion with the Church of England. There is no single "Anglican Church" with universal authority, because each national or regional church has full autonomy. With over one hundred and ten million members, the Anglican Communion is the third largest communion in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

paragraphs: The status of full communion means that all rites conducted in one church are recognised by the other. Some of these churches are known as Anglican, explicitly recognising the link to England ("Ecclesia Anglicana" means "Church of England").

paragraphs: The Archbishop of Canterbury, religious head of the Church of England, has no formal authority outside that jurisdiction, but is recognised as symbolic head of the worldwide communion.

paragraphs: All thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion are independent, each with its own primate and governing structure. These provinces may take the form of national churches (such as in Canada, Uganda, or Japan) or a collection of nations (such as the West Indies, Central Africa, or Southeast Asia). They are, in alphabetical order:

paragraphs: In addition, there are six extraprovincial churches, five of which are under the metropolitical authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury:


title: Joan of Acre

paragraphs: Joan of Acre (April 1272 – 7 April, 1307) was a daughter of King Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile (1241-1290).


title: Jules Verne

paragraphs: Jules Verne (February 8, 1828– March 24, 1905) was a French writer. He was one of the first authors to write science fiction. Some of his books include "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" (1864), "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865), "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (1870), and "Around the World in Eighty Days" (1873).

paragraphs: He was born in the city of Nantes, France. His father was a lawyer, and at the beginning, Verne wanted to study law as well. When he was nineteen, he started writing long pieces of literature, but his father wanted him to earn money as a lawyer, not as a writer. In 1847, his father sent him to Paris to start studying law.

paragraphs: In 1848, Jules Verne, on a visit home, fell in love, but the girl's parents did not want her to marry him. Verne was depressed when he heard that the girl had been married to someone else - a rich, older man. In his stories, Jules Verne often writes about women married to people they do not love.

paragraphs: He returned to Paris to find it on the verge of revolution: the French Revolution of 1848 deposed the king, and Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was elected as the first president of the Republic of France. (A republic is a country which does not have a king or queen, but has a president instead.)

paragraphs: Verne continued to study law until 1851, but all the time he was writing and meeting with other authors and artists.

paragraphs: Finally, in 1852, he decided to give up being a lawyer, and become a full-time professional writer instead. His father was very unhappy with this decision, but Verne was stubborn and strong-minded, so he went ahead with his plans.

paragraphs: Verne went to Paris to try to find success. At first, he did not find any fame. Over time, he became a fan of science, while becoming well known for his writing. His love of science and writing led him to write stories and novels that are now called "science fiction". Many people say Jules Verne was the creator of the science fiction genre.

paragraphs: Verne lived to write. He wrote many stories. These included fiction novels, theater works, and other novels. In 1886, his young nephew, Gaston, who had paranoia, shot Verne in the leg. After that, Verne had a permanent limp in his leg. This may have resulted in his darker writing styles in that time period.

paragraphs: Verne married Aimée du Fraysse de Viane in January 1857 with his father's blessing. In August 1861, their son was born.

paragraphs: He continued to write until his death. On 24th of March 1905, Verne, who was sick with diabetes, died at his home in Amiens, France.

paragraphs: Jules Verne wrote about many things which did not exist when he was alive. Some of these things later became real. Verne was far from being a scientist, but his passion for technology and the progress being made at the time served to introduce many of the inventions that were to come and that, over time, have ended up becoming ordinary elements of our every-day life.

paragraphs: In "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", Captain Nemo and his electric submarine were a modern marvel. Electricity was very new at the time, and had never been used to power an underwater ship.

paragraphs: In an 1889 article, "In the Year 2889," Jules Verne described an alternative to newspapers: "Instead of being printed, the "Earth Chronicle" is every morning spoken to subscribers, who, from interesting conversations with reporters, statesmen and scientists, learn the news of the day."The first newscast didn't happen until 1920, according to the Associated Press—nearly 30 years after Verne imagined it.

paragraphs: Jules Verne wrote about "projectiles" in "From the Earth to the Moon". These projectiles would carry people to the moon. Verne imagined a big gun which would force the module up to the moon. Today, space modules are sent into space at the top of rockets, which force the module beyond the reach of gravity.

paragraphs: In "The Carpathian Castle", some villagers are terrified of a certain castle, from which they can hear voices and see shapes. An intrigued visitor decides to see what is happening, and he finds out that they were hearing just recorded sounds and holographic images.