title: Indus River

paragraphs: The Indus River is the greatest river on the western side of the south Asian subcontinent. It is one of the seven sacred rivers for Hindus. It was the birthplace of the early Indus Valley civilization.

paragraphs: The river is 3180 km long. It is Pakistan's longest river. The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km2 (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow stands at around 207 km3 (50 cu mi), making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow.

paragraphs: The word "Indus" and the cognate word "Sind"/"Sindhu" for the river is ancient. The Ancient Greeks used the word "Indós"; "Hinduš" was Old Persian; "Sindhu" in Sanskrit. Modern languages on the sub-continent use either "Sindh" (Urdu) or "Sindhu" (Hindi) or very similar words. There is no doubt that the river gave its name to the country India.

paragraphs: Over 47% of the total area of the Indus drainage basin is in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India has about 39%, Tibet has 8% and Afghanistan has 6 % of the Indus basin catchment area.

paragraphs: The Indus water system of rivers comprises the main Indus and its major tributaries: the Kabul River and Kurram River on the right bank, and the Jhelum River, Chenab River, Ravi River, Beas River and the Sutlej on the left. The first two join the Indus soon after it leaves the mountains, and the others lower down in the plains. The whole of the Beas and the head reaches of the Ravi and Sutlej are in the Republic of India, while those of the Chenab and Jhelum lie mostly in the disputed Kashmir state.

paragraphs: The entire basin covers an area of about 384,000 square miles of open land, of which 204,000 lie in Pakistan. In addition, there are about 29,000 square miles which lie outside the Indus basin but are dependent on the Indus river system for their water requirements and irrigation supplies.

paragraphs: Without the Indus waters, agriculture in Pakistan would be very uncertain, because there is not much rain. Even now when Pakistan is being rapidly industrialised, it needs its water resources, because much of its industry uses agriculture produce for its raw materials. Almost all of the basin in Pakistan receives an overall rainfull of less than 15 inches, 60% of its area receiving less than 10 inches, while, 16% receives less than 5 inches. The rainfull is not evenly distributed throughout the year but is concentrated during the monsoons.

paragraphs: Rising in western Tibet, the Indus runs at first across a high plateau, then the ground falls away and the river, dropping rapidly, gathering momentum and rushing north-west, collects the waters from innumerable glacier-fed streams, and runs north-west between the world's greatest mountain ranges, the Karakoram and the Himalayas. In Kashmir it crosses the United Nations cease-fire line and, in Baltistan District, enters Azad Kashmir. From here on it is Pakistan's river; Pakistan's first town on the upper Indus, Skardu, at 7,500 feet above sea-level, stands on a bluff near the junction of the Indus and one of its great right-bank tributaries, the Shigar. The majority of the people live in Skardu town; others inhabit small and scattered villages along the Indus and Shigar valleys, or tiny hamlets high on the surrounding mountains.


title: Jagannath

paragraphs: Jagannath is a form of the god Krishna. The biggest temple of Jagannath is in Puri, Orissa state, India. He is worshipped in Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, and some parts of eastern India.


title: Patanjali

paragraphs: Patañjali (fl. 150 BC or 2nd century BC) lived in the 2nd century. He was an Indian. He wrote the first grammar of Sanskrit language. He also wrote books about yoga.

paragraphs: He is also the author of the Mahabhyasa, a commentary on Katyayana's varttikas on Panini's Astadhyayi as well as an unspecified work of medicine (Ayurveda).


title: Calypso

paragraphs: Kalypso or Calypso is a nymph in Greek mythology, who lives on the island Ogygia. This island was so hidden that no man would find it twice. Calypso was the daughter of Atlas so she was placed on the island and not allowed to leave.

paragraphs: In the "Odyssey", the hero Odysseus comes to her island after escaping from the sea, and the death of his men. Odysseus stayed with her for seven years. But then the god Hermes came and told her that the gods said that she had to let Odysseus go. Calypso promised Odysseus immortality (that he would live forever) if he stayed, but he wanted to go back to his wife Penelope, and so he left her. She can be seductive at times.


title: Dialects of English

paragraphs: There are several dialects of English used in different parts of the world.

paragraphs: American English or U.S. English is the dialect (or rather, a variety of dialects) of English language spoken in the United States. It is different in some respects from other variations of English, such as British English. Historically, many types of American English can be traced back to old local dialects of England.

paragraphs: Awareness of American English is greater now in many parts of the world where another form of English is more common. This is partly because of people's exposure to American English via the media, for example CNN television, and the Internet, where the most common form of English is American English.

paragraphs: The increasing global awareness of American English as well as other versions of English may lead to localised versions of English continuing the English language tradition of absorbing new words. For example, the English language spoken in India, which has more than one billion people, will assume more American English words to go along with its British English base and many other words adopted into English usage in India from Indian languages such as Hindi.

paragraphs: Sometimes people will learn American English as it is spoken in America - for example, in telephone call centers in India and other places, people often learn American English in order to sound more like their customers who call India from America. These people frequently continue to use American English in everyday life.

paragraphs: Many word definitions are different in American English. Most languages change starting with minor issues like this - for instance Italian, Spanish, French all came from Latin due to many small usage shifts over centuries.

paragraphs: Compared to British English, in American English:

paragraphs: There are also some words in American English that are a bit different from British English, e.g.:

paragraphs: African American Vernacular English is a lect that has features of 16th century English. It originated in Black Culture but may be spoken by members of any group. Its pronunciations and grammar are different from Standard English. It is a "distinct cultural variety" of English, something any non-native English speaker would be familiar with.

paragraphs: It first emerged when blacks were taken from their ancestral homes to North America. Sold into slavery, the captives developed a way to communicate among all their various tribes. In 1996, Linguists proposed using AAVE to educate black children in Oakland, California. They asserted that AAVE is not an Indo-European language. There has been a new awareness of cultural linguistics since.

paragraphs: British English is the version of the English language which is used in the United Kingdom and some other countries. "British English" is a redundant expression because the English language comes from England, which is a part of Britain.

paragraphs: American English is similar to English with alterations in spellings and usage of some words.

paragraphs: In British English, "dock" refers to the water in the space between two "piers" or "wharfs". In American English, the "pier" or "wharf" could be called a "dock", and the water between would be a "slip".


title: Music theory

paragraphs: Theory of Music is all about trying to understand how existing music works and how new music could or should be organized. Someone who makes a special study of music theory is a music theorist.

paragraphs: People who make their own music are composers. People who play or sing music are “performers”. It is important for both composers and performers to understand what makes the music sound the way it does. In the times of the Ancient Greeks the famous philosopher Pythagoras tried to explain how instruments are tuned. He understood the science of the good vibrations that the instruments make and explained how and why the octave is divided into twelve parts(in some cultures).

paragraphs: In the Middle Ages there were several famous music theorists who wrote books about music theory. Their ideas are interesting for us because they tell us what people thought about music at that time.

paragraphs: In the 18th century some composers wrote books on music theory. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (son of the famous Johann Sebastian Bach) wrote a book called: “An Essay on the true art of playing the Keyboard”. Leopold Mozart (the father of the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) wrote a book called "The Art of Playing the Violin". Both these books were extremely well known in their day. In spite of their titles the first halves of these two books are both about a branch of music theory called "performance practice": They tell us a lot about how music was played in those days, how some rhythms were played quite freely and how ornaments in the music were played.

paragraphs: Today people who want to compose will study music theory, perhaps at college or university school of music. In a conservatory program, they study harmony and counterpoint as well as form; in other programs, they spend less time on the theories of the past. They will be taught “rules”. These rules are not laws, they simply mean: the way that most great composers wrote music in the past. These rules describe what composers of the past did, rather than telling composers of today what to do -- in fact, music composed today can have completely different rules than the music of the past.

paragraphs: Music theory is important for people who perform music because all these things help people to understand the music they are playing.


title: Ravana

paragraphs: According to truth Sri Lankan history Ravana (IAST : Rāvaṇa; / ˈrɑːvənə) was first recorded King in the Sri Lanka.

paragraphs: Most of people know him as a lady Thiefer. But it's not the true story. read carefully we will say you the correct one. you can understand that clearly. Some people said that he had ten heads. meaning of that not had actual 10 heads and 20 hands like following statue photo. He was control 10 areas. so that name was added to him. He was a man which got kundalini power. In the Ramayana book tried to show king of Ravana is Wicked. But not only Sri Lanka there are some areas in the India has creed ravana as a god. Indonesia is an another place to example.However, King Ravana is a courageous, capable ruler while also a pioneer in the field of medicine and creativity in the lingual

paragraphs: He had an air vehicle call "Pushpaka yaanaya (Dhandu Monaraya)"

paragraphs: Ramayana is an Indian book. It is written by Valmiki. King ravana is main character in this book. but writer had tried to give and idea to readers king ravana is a creed king.

paragraphs: but while he writing book when give an air vehicle (Pushpaka yaanaya (Dhandu Monaraya)) to king ravana, he never give even foot cycle to Price Rama.

paragraphs: Reason for short this section ramayanaya is untrustworthy book. because how to fight a normal man with a man which has kundalini power. and ravana had more technology for everything. so prince Rama is inconceivable man. Still Indian people burn king ravana's dummy every year as a festival. then they wish that "Don't come king Ravana again".


title: Devaki

paragraphs: Devaki was a woman mentioned in the Mahabharata. Her father’s name was Devaka, and she was the younger sister of Kansha, a cruel king of Mathura of Ancient India. Devaki was married to Vasudeva, a son of Sureshana. Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu (a god of Hindus) was son of Devaki and Vasudeva.She was Krishna's real mother.

paragraphs: She had 8 sons in total including Krishna. The first six of her children were killed by her brother Kamsa. The seventh time there was a miscarriage and Balaram got carried to Mother Rohini's womb. All the time she was in prison by Kamsa till he released them out of pity. You can find more at the book Krsna by His divine Grace A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada.


title: Ayurveda

paragraphs: Ayurveda is a traditional system of medicine and medication, based on experience and observation. This system of medicine and medication is more than 3000 years old. According to mythological story, Dhanvanteri was the first physician to use Ayurveda. In modern India also, Ayurveda is being used. Indian Government give equal importance ayurveda as other pathies. Ayurveda physicians working and contributing in field of medicine all over India. Due to no side effect tharapy ayurveda has also reached outside India in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia and several persons from other countries also take advantage of ayurveda.


title: Ganges

paragraphs: The Ganges (English pronunciation: /ˈɡændʒiːz/ GAN-jeez), also called the Ganga (Sanskrit: गङ्गा Hindi: गंगा Urdu: گنگا Ganga IPA: [ˈɡəŋɡaː] ( listen); Bengali: গঙ্গা Gonga), is the second largest river on the Indian subcontinent by discharge. Ganges river is named after a Hindu goddess called Ganga. Geographers, Historians and Mythologists alike regard Ganges as the heart of Indian culture, tradition and living.

paragraphs: The government declared that the Ganges river between Allahabad and Haldia is National-Waterway No.1. The river has many industrial towns like Patliputra, Kannauj, Kanpur, Kara, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur,Munger, Murshidabad,Baharampur and Kolkata on its banks. The Ganges Basin drains 1,000,000-square-kilometre (390,000 sq mi) and supports one of the world's highest densities of humans. The average depth of the river is 52 feet (17 m), and the maximum depth, 100 feet (33 m).

paragraphs: The river starts from a glacier called Gangotri Glacier, which is in the Garhwal region in Himalayas. The Ganges flows through north India, and ends at the Bay of Bengal in eastern India. Overall it flows 3,877 km making it one of the longest rivers in the world. Its watershed is 907,000 km² broad. The major rivers which flow into the Ganges are Brahmaputra River, Gomti, Kosi river, Gandak, Ghaghra river, Yamuna river and Son river.

paragraphs: The Ganges flows only 200 km through the Himalayas. The river touches plain land in the Rishikesh region near Haridwar in Uttarakhand. Then it passes through the towns of Kanpur, Soron, Kannauj, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patna, Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Mirzapur, Ballia, Buxar, Saidpur, and Chunar. At Allahabad, the river joins with Yamuna river.

paragraphs: At Pakur, the river divides itself into two distributaries, viz.- the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly and the main stream. Bhāgirathi-Hooghly in the later course forms the Hooghly River. The main stream Ganges enters Bangladesh.

paragraphs: Near the border with Bangladesh the Farakka Barrage controls the flow of the Ganges by diverting some of the water into a feeder canal which has link with the Hooghly river to keep it relatively silt-free.

paragraphs: There is a lot of pollution in the Ganges because everyone releases their waste into it. This causes a lot of sicknesses like cholera, hepatitis, typhoid, and amoebic dysentery. The presence of coliform bacteria in the waters has increased well above normal. This is a major cause of water pollution. These diseases cause about a third of the deaths in India every year. That is why the government has started a multi-crore project called the Ganga Action Plan (GAP).

paragraphs: During the early Vedic Age, the Indus and the Sarasvati River were the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, not the Ganges. But the later three Vedas seem to give much more importance to the Ganges, as shown by its numerous references. Possibly the first European Traveler to mention the Ganges was Megasthenes (ca. 350 – 290 BCE). In Rome's Piazza Navona, "Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi" (fountain of the four rivers) was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and built in 1651. The art-work symbolizes four of the world's great rivers (the Ganges, the Nile, the Danube, and the Río de la Plata), which is to represent the four continents (Australia and Antarctica were unknown then).

paragraphs: Hindus regard the Ganges as not only a river but also a mother, a goddess, a tradition, a culture, and much more. In Hinduism it is considered holy to take a pilgrimage to the Ganges and take a dip. This leads to more illness: adding to the death toll. Many Hindus believe that bathing in the Ganga can purify a person's soul of all past sins, and some believe that it can also cure illnesses. So, many Hindu families keep Ganga water in their homes as they consider it to be very pure. The holy towns like Haridwar, Allahabad, Kanpur, and Varanasi attract thousands of pilgrims. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims arrive at these towns to bathe in the Ganges.

paragraphs: According to Hindu Puranas a king named Bhagiratha did Tapasya for many years to bring the River Ganges. Ganges was then residing in the Heavens. By the help of pure Ganga waters, Bhagirath wanted to release his ancestors of a curse. Therefore, the Ganges descended to the Earth to make the earth pious, fertile and wash out the sins of humans.

paragraphs: The water of the Ganges is used extensively in agriculture in the fertile Gangetic plains. Chief crops cultivated in the area include rice, sugarcane, lentils, oil seeds, potatoes, and wheat.

paragraphs: Along the banks of the river, the swamps and lakes provide a good growing area for crops such as legumes, chillies, mustard, sesame, sugarcane, and jute. Fishing is also done in the Ganga waters.

paragraphs: Industries which require a large amount of water are set up on the banks of the river. The Ganges is popular for river rafting, which attract many adventurers in the summer months. Tourism is also a related activity in modern times.


Arges


title: Sita

paragraphs: In the religion Hinduism, Sita was the daughter of Janaka and wife of Rama, an avatar of god Vishnu. The word Sita means “furrow”, that is, the line created on the farm when it is ploughed. There is a story about her birth. Her father Janaka was ploughing the land and a furrow was formed. From that furrow a baby girl came out. Janaka took the girl as his daughter and named her Sita. In Hinduism, Sita is considered a form of goddess Lakshmi. She is an incarnation of goddess Lakshmi. Sita is worshiped for her greatness and for her loyalty.she was the goddess of loyalty and her responsibility.


title: Halimah bint Abi Dhuayb

paragraphs: Halima Sadia () was an Arabic Beduin woman. She was a wet-nurse and took care of the prophet Muhammad for the first two years of his life. She was his foster-mother. Halimah and her husband were from the tribe of Sa'd b. Bakr (a large North Arabian tribe).

paragraphs: Wet nurses came to Mecca to feed children. It was the custom at that time in Makkah that families send their children to live for a while with a Beduin nurse who lived in the desert. This was healthier for their bodies to be around a natural environment instead of living in the city. They preferred that the fathers of the children they fed were still alive. Although Muhammad's father was dead, Halimah took him just eight days after he was born. He grew up in Hudaybiyah, then in Medina before he was returned to his mother, Aminah bint Wahb.

paragraphs: Years after Muhammad's mother died and he became married to Khadijah, Halimah came to him complaining of her poverty. He asked Khadijah to give her 40 sheep. After Muhammad got his first revelation, Halimah and her husband came to Muhammad and embraced Islam. When she came to Muhammad on the day of Hunayn, he took off his robe and put it on the ground for her to sit.

paragraphs: So when the group of nurses arrived at the Makkah city and they picked up most of the children, the last nurse arrived with her husband (Al-Harith) riding a donkey and old camel. She found only one orphan boy who had no father to pay her. She was ready to go back but she did not want to return without a baby. She decided to go back and pick up the orphan.

paragraphs: As soon as she lifted that boy, her life changed and became filled with immense good fortune and blessings. Both, Muhammad and the nurse`s child were fully fed, even though the previous night and before reaching Makkah, there was no milk for her child. The old camel, which had not given a drop of milk, was soon over flowing with milk. Although she was the last women leaving makkah on her donkey, she passed her friends. This was indeed a great blessing for her and for this poor Bedouin family.

paragraphs: After two years, Muhammad was returned to his mother Amina. She told Amina about the great blessings that she had received when Muhammad was in her care, but soon, Amina was persuaded by Halima and her husband (Al-Harith) to return the child back with them for another two years to protect him from a spreading disease in Makkah.


title: Khadijah bint Khuwaylid

paragraphs: Khadijah bint Khuwaylid () (555 - 619) was the first wife of the Muhammad, an Islamic prophet. Her nickname was Khadijah al-Kubra. She was the daughter of Khuwaylid ibn Asad and Fatimah bint Za'idah. Khadijah is widely known as the first person to convert to Islam. Khadijah is known as "Umm-al-mu'minin" which means "the Mother of the Believers"

paragraphs: Khadijah had six children with Muhammad.


title: Sarasvati River

paragraphs: Sarasvati River was one of the major rivers of Ancient India. The river flowed through parts of western and northern India. Then in Allahabad, the river merged with the Jamuna River.

paragraphs: At one time, Sarasvati was a deep river. The river dried up and became lost over a few hundred years, possibly between 2000 and 1500 BC.


title: Ming dynasty

paragraphs: The Ming dynasty was the family of emperors who led China from 1368 to 1644. The name is also used to talk about the that they led and the 276 years in Chinese history that it lasted.

paragraphs: The Ming dynasty is known in Chinese as the "Míng". This is written as in Chinese characters. The character is a sun () and a moon () together and means "bright". Chinese uses different words to talk about the different meanings of a Chinese "dynasty" in English: their government is called the "Míng cháo" , their country is called the "Dà Míng dìguó" ( or , and their time in Chinese history is called the "Míng dài" .

paragraphs: Unlike in English, the name of the dynasty is not the same as the family name of the leaders. The family that led China during the Ming were the Zhūs. This is written as in Chinese characters. Today, it is just a common Chinese family name, but at that time it meant a kind of red coloring made from cinnabar (HgS).

paragraphs: The Yuan dynasty before them had been part of the Mongol Empire started by Genghis Khan. Its emperors had been Mongolian people, but most of China was Han Chinese. To keep their power, the Yuan used a Chinese kind of government of Three Departments and Six Ministries, with imperial examinations. Their laws gave special powers to Mongolian people, though, with other people from other countries ("Semu") placed second, northern Chinese third, and southern Chinese last. They were especially nice to Tibetan Buddhists and gave many important jobs to Muslims, although they also made Muslims break some rules and eat like Mongolians. Some Muslims were angry and started to fight the Yuan. Many people began to fight after the 1340s. The Black Death killed many people and the government did not keep up the work needed to stop the Yellow River from killing people when it flooded. The Red Turbans began fighting in 1351 and its best leader Zhu Yuanzhang made the Yuan emperor Toghun Temür run away from the capital city Khanbaliq (now inside Beijing) in 1368.

paragraphs: When Zhu Yuanzhang took Khanbaliq, he said that the Yuan was over and that his family would be a new dynasty called the Ming. He said that 1368 was the 1st year of the Hongwu Era and became known as the Hongwu Emperor. Toghun Temür and other Mongolians still fought him, but now they were known as the Northern Yuan and the Ming became the real government of most of China.

paragraphs: The Hongwu Emperor had many sons and made them the leaders of the 13 different parts of China. He did not stay in Khanbaliq. He made his old base Yingtian (today's Nanjing) into the new capital city. He wanted China to be more traditional and more Chinese, so he ended most government support for other religions and made Christianity against the law. He wanted China to take care of itself, so he ended most buying and selling of things from other countries. He made a list of rules for his family, and they mostly followed them during the rest of the Ming.

paragraphs: The oldest son of the Hongwu Emperor died before him, so the next emperor was his grandson the Jianwen Emperor. The Jianwen Emperor was about 20 years old and didn't like the power of his many uncles. He started taking away their power, sending them away, or even making them kill themselves. The uncle leading Beiping (old Khanbaliq and now Beijing) was named Zhu Di. He pretended to be crazy so that the Jianwen Emperor would be less afraid. The emperor even let his three sons—kept in the capital city to be sure of their father's good behavior—go north see him. Zhu Di then began a war against his nephew.

paragraphs: At first, Zhu Di said his war was only against the "bad helpers" who told his nephew to hurt their family. When his war was successful and he took Yingtian (now Nanjing), he made himself the Yongle Emperor. He said that his nephew had never been the real emperor and killed many people in the old government. He did not trust the people in Yingtian, so he made Beiping the main capital city. The southern capital then became known as Nanjing and the northern capital Beijing, the names they continue to use today. In Beijing, he built a new home which became the Forbidden City.

paragraphs: The Yongle Emperor did not like many of the people in government who got there by doing well on their tests. He gave more power to eunuchs, men who were hurt as children to stop them from being able to have children of their own. One of these was Zheng He, a Muslim who led great treasure ships south from Suzhou and Nanjing in 7 big trips between 1405 and 1433. The first trips may have been looking for the Jianwen Emperor, but they also became trips that taught China about the South China Sea and Indian Ocean and opened up more buying and selling between their countries and China.

paragraphs: The Mings' main capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng, who established the Shun dynasty. This was soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. The people who still liked the Ming continued to fight as the Southern Ming up to 1683.

paragraphs: The Ming Empire has been described as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history". It was the last Chinese dynasty led by the Han Chinese, not counting the short-lived governments of Li Zicheng and Yuan Shikai. It is also famous for its pottery from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi and Dehua in Fujian.


title: Saraswati

paragraphs: Saraswati is one of the Hindu goddesses. The Vedas also mention her name. She is the goddess of speech, learning and knowledge. The legend states that she created the Sanskrit language and invented the vina, a musical instrument similar to a lute. The legend also says that she is the wife of Brahma, one of the gods of the Hindus.

paragraphs: Mata Saraswati was born from the Samudra Manthan that arranged between the Devatas and the Asuras. She was born from the sea and was married to Lord Brahma thereafter. In another legend, Brahma created her by his imagination. However, she turned out to be so beautiful that he could not takes his eyes off her. Since he had five heads - four in the four cardinal directions - and one on top, his head kept turning in whichever direction Saraswati went.

paragraphs: Saraswati is mentioned in the Vedas, the Brahmans, the Aranyaks, the Upanishads and the Mahabharat. She is dressed in white, carries a book and a lotus. Her favorite instrument is a lute and she rides a swan. Generally, an image or a statue of Saraswati shows her with four arms. Two arms hold the vina. In other arms she holds a book and a lotus flower.


title: Holi

paragraphs: Holi is one of the major festivals of Hindus. It is celebrated in South Asian countries, especially in India and Nepal. Holi is the festival of colors. The festival is celebrated for two to three days.Holi is celebrated in the spring season. Hindus believe that spring is full of colors so they throw colored water on each other.

paragraphs: Holi is based on a legend about King Hiranyakaship. `Hiranyakashyap had a son, Prahlad. Prahlad was the greatest devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap wanted to kill his son, so he called his sister, Holika. She had a magic robe. This robe had the power to save the wearer from burning in fire. Hiranyakashyap ordered his sister to sit on a burning fire along with Prahlad. He thought that his sister would not be harmed by the fire because of the magic robe and Prahlad would be burnt to death. But the result was the opposite to what the evil demon king planned.

paragraphs: . Thus Prahlad came out of the burning fire safely and Holika was burnt to death. It is celebrated with colors to mark the victory of virtue and goodness over evil.

paragraphs: The festival is celebrated for five days. The 5th day, Rang Panchami, marks the closing day of the Holi festival.

paragraphs: People are seen with different varieties of colors on Holi. They put colors on each other, sing, dance. They worship Lord Krishna and put colors on his idol.

paragraphs: Families gather together and party the whole day. They distribute sweets and enjoy to the fullest.


title: Beaminster

paragraphs: Beaminster is a town in Dorset, England. The town has a population of 3,000. Beaminster is known for a nine-day music and art festival called the Beaminster Festival. The festival is held every year.


title: Electronic music

paragraphs: Electronic music is music which is made with electronic equipment such as synthesizers or computers. Sometimes electronic music artists create special sounds using tape recorders too.

paragraphs: After World War II, when tape recorders had been invented and were becoming popular, composers started to use them to make music. The tape recorder was needed for the performance. Composers used them to combine lots of different sounds. Sometimes it was music played on ordinary (acoustic) instruments which was then changed in some way by the tape recorder. Sometimes they took sounds from everyday life such as the sound of water, traffic noise or bird song. All these noises were put together in the way the composer wanted by using the tape recorder. Tapes of sounds were often cut into pieces, then the pieces were 'spliced' – put back together in a different order. The results were often very interesting, but there were problems. Some people asked: “Is it music?” Others thought it was boring to just look at a tape recorder during a concert instead of being able to watch live musicians play.

paragraphs: Composers in Paris were experimenting with electronic music in the 1940s. They called it “Musique concrète” because they used natural, concrete sounds. (“Concrete” in this sense meant the opposite of “abstract” music which was written down for performance). The sounds were played back at different speeds, combined in lots of ways, played backwards or played continuously (repeated in a 'loop'), or played into a mixer and re-recorded onto another tape recorder. The sounds could be filtered. Effects such as vibrato or echo could be added. Sometimes composers used synthesizers which were machines that could make electronic music in real time. They sounded more like normal instruments than the sound effects on a tape recorder.

paragraphs: Computers have often been used for composing electronic music.

paragraphs: Composers who have used these ways of making music include John Cage (1912-1992), Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) and Karlheinz Stockhausen (b.1928). Very often composers combined electronic music with ordinary instruments being played.

paragraphs: In popular music, the use of electronics to create new sounds began in the 1960s. Producer Joe Meek and inventor Bob Moog both expanded the range of sounds that could be used in pop music, and by the end of that decade electronics had become accepted in the industry. In the next few years the work of people like Giorgio Moroder, Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno and Kraftwerk made electronic music famous.

paragraphs: In the early 1980s electronic music became fashionable, and bands like New Order, The Human League, Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode became famous. Sometimes these bands would mix electronic music with rock music.

paragraphs: In the 21st Century electronics are so much a part of popular music that using it is no longer strange - in fact, many artists use nothing else.

paragraphs: A subgenre of electronic music is electronic dance music, or EDM. Electronic dance music is a form of electronica which is generally made with the intention of being danced to, thus making it generally club-friendly and often (but not always) up-tempo in nature. Whilst a lot of electronic genres are also classified as EDM, not all forms of electronic music fall within the specific category. Examples of EDM genres include post-disco, house, techno, Eurodance, trance, trip hop, drum and bass and dubstep, as well as several others.

paragraphs: In 2018, Billboard released a market statistic that proved the value and worth of the electronic dance music market. In this statistical statement, the company shows a 12-percent growth within one year where many changes took place with this musical revolution. One of the biggest helpers in this EDM market growth was YouTube.

paragraphs: New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians 1980; ISBN 1-56159-174-2


title: Reggae

paragraphs: Reggae is a music genre that began in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Most music from Jamaica comes from the reggae style.

paragraphs: The music has regular chops on the back beat (off-beat). These are called “skank”, and are played by a rhythm guitarist. The bass drum hits on the second and fourth beat of each measure (each bar). These are called the “drop”. Reggae bands also use a bass, a keyboard or organ, and horns.

paragraphs: Reggae music is often used by Rastafarian groups. They are usually songs about religion, love and social problems. Bob Marley (1945-1981) was a famous reggae artist.

paragraphs: Famous instruments in reggae music are drums, guitar, saxophone, trumpet and trombone.

paragraphs: Reggae was started in 1960 but became famous in the 1970s.

paragraphs: Reggae songs often have lots of backing singers.

paragraphs: Rapper Snoop Dogg released an album of reggae music in 2013.

paragraphs: Some recent songs, like Cheerleader and Rude are reggae.


title: Bebop

paragraphs: Bebop or bop is a kind of jazz that became popular near the beginning of the Second World War, in the mid-1940s. Bebop is often fast. The musicians improvise using a small group of chords which are repeated again and again. Charlie Parker (1920-1955), who was famous for his saxophone playing, was a bebop artist. The famous trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993) was also a renowned artist of this genre.

paragraphs: The term "bebop" originates from a group of syllables used in scat singing, where random strings of sound were used in place of words.


title: Magnetic resonance imaging

paragraphs: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI), are techniques that doctors use to give a visual representation of soft tissue (flesh) inside the body. Magnetic resonance uses nuclear magnetic resonance to generate these images.

paragraphs: To take an MRI image, the patient lies on a movable bed. The bed enters a strong magnetic field and then radio waves are applied for a short time in a different direction. This sudden shift causes certain atoms in the patient's body to make special signals. The MRI scanner detects those special signals.

paragraphs: The MRI scanner then sends the signal information to a computer, and the computer creates an image of the inner body by using the signal information.

paragraphs: The MRI is used to diagnose disorders of the body that cannot be seen by X-rays. The MRI is painless and has the advantage of avoiding the dangerous X-ray radiation.

paragraphs: It is an expensive medical procedure, due to the high cost of the equipment. Some metallic objects may distort the image, like hip, shoulder and knee replacements but the exam can still be done. Cochlear (ear) implants, some (older) aneurysm clips in the brain, and most pacemakers are not MRI compatible. Obese and severely claustrophobic patients often need sedation and/or imaging with an "open" magnet, which is much less confining. Contrast agents may or may not be indicated for some patients, and those with compromised kidney function may not be able to receive the contrast, due to a serious but rare skin reaction.

paragraphs: MRI scans can be used to study the brain, spinal cord, bones, joints, breasts, the heart and blood vessels. It can also be used to look at other internal organs. MRI scans can be used to find blood clots as well.

paragraphs: An MRI scan can be used as an extremely accurate method of disease detection throughout the body.

paragraphs: Neurosurgeons use an MRI scan not only in defining brain anatomy but in evaluating the integrity of the spinal cord after an injury. An MRI scan can evaluate the structure of the heart and aorta, where it can detect aneurysms or tears.

paragraphs: It provides valuable information on glands and organs within the abdomen, and accurate information about the structure of the joints, soft tissues, and bones of the body. Often, surgery can be deferred or more accurately directed after knowing the results of an MRI scan.


title: Refugee camp

paragraphs: When there is a war or some other armed conflict in a country, many people will try to flee (run away) from that country. They will go to other countries, around the country where there is no war. Because they fled, they are called refugees.

paragraphs: If there are just a few refugees coming into a country it is generally no problem to get housing for them somewhere. However, if there are many (or if the government of a country expects many) refugees, it may build what is called a refugee camp. This is usually done by putting many tents, and a few toilets and showers on an unused plot (stretch) of land. This is usually land where no one wants to live.

paragraphs: Usually the governments hope that conflicts get resolved soon, and that those camps are only temporary.

paragraphs: This has not been the case for the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, for example. Those camps have existed since the mid 1970s.


title: Rubber

paragraphs: Rubber is a material which can stretch and shrink. It is a polymer. It can be produced from natural sources (e.g. natural rubber) or can be synthesised on an industrial scale. Many things are made from rubber, like gloves, tires, plugs, and masks. A few things can be made only from rubber.

paragraphs: Sometimes the word means only natural rubber ("latex rubber"). Natural rubber is made from the white sap of some trees such as the "Hevea brasiliensis" (Euphorbiaceae). Other elastomers, called synthetic rubbers, are made by chemical processes.

paragraphs: "Hevea brasiliensis" is the tree that most rubber comes from. Other plants that have the special sap (called latex) are figs ("Ficus elastica"), "Castilla" (Panama rubber tree), euphorbias, lettuce, the common dandelion, Taraxacum kok-saghyz (Russian dandelion), Scorzonera tau-saghyz, and Guayule.

paragraphs: In the 1800s, most sap to make rubber came from South America. In 1876 Henry Wickham got seeds from rubber trees in Brazil, and took them to Kew Gardens, England, and sent them to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Singapore and British Malaya. Later, Malaya (now Malaysia) made the most rubber. People tried to grow rubber in India, in 1873 at the Botanical Gardens, Kolkata. The first "Hevea" farms in India were made at Thattekadu in Kerala in 1902. The Congo Free State in Africa also grew a lot trees for rubber at the start of the 20th century, and most of the people who worked on those farms were forced labor. Liberia and Nigeria also started growing trees to make rubber.

paragraphs: Charles Marie de La Condamine presented samples of rubber to the Académie Royale des Sciences of France in 1736. In 1751 François Fresneau read a paper to the Académie (eventually published in 1755) which described many of the properties of rubber. This has been referred to as the first scientific paper on rubber.

paragraphs: In 1770, British chemist Joseph Priestley noticed that rubber was very good for removing pencil marks on paper.

paragraphs: Natural rubber melts in heat and freeze in the cold. In 1844 Charles Goodyear found a way to improve natural rubber, in a chemical process known as vulcanization, which made it useful in many more products including, decades later, tires.

paragraphs: In the 20th century synthetic (artificial) rubbers such as Neoprene began to be used. They were much used when World War II cut off supplies of natural rubber. They have continued to grow because natural rubber is becoming scarce and also because for some uses they are better than natural rubber.


title: Argument

paragraphs: An argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something. Reasons are given to accept the conclusion. The general structure of an argument in a natural language is that premises (propositions or statements) support the claim or conclusion.

paragraphs: An argument is a reason to support an opinion.

paragraphs: There can be a "strong argument" or a "convincing argument" (for example, a good reason for why something should be done). Argumentation is the process of conducting an argument.

paragraphs: The opposite is a "weak argument" or an "unconvincing argument". An argument can be valid or invalid or a combination of both. Some arguments may appear reasonable, but they turn out to be misleading or wrong.


title: 2003 invasion of Iraq

paragraphs: The 2003 invasion of Iraq (March 20, 2003 - May 1, 2003) was the war fought by the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Poland and some other countries against Iraq, to end the rule of Saddam Hussein. The main reason that the war started was said to be because the British and American Governments believed that Iraq had dangerous weapons of mass destruction (such as chemical or nuclear weapons) that could be used against other countries. This turned out after the invasion to not be true.

paragraphs: Another reason for the start of the war was that many people thought that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of the leaders of al-Qaeda, was hiding in Iraq after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Though Saddam Hussein was not involved in the planning of the September 11 attacks, many people accused him of giving al-Qaeda a safe place to hide from the United States. The war was extremely controversial. Many British and American people blamed British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the American President, George W. Bush.

paragraphs: Paratroopers landed in the far north of Iraq and a few soldiers attacked from the sea, but most invaded from Kuwait in the south. 4,734 NATO soldiers were killed in Iraq war including 4,600 U.S. servicemen, 179 UK servicemen and 139 Other NATO soldiers with a total of 4900 casualties. 31,882 U.S. servicemen and over 3,600 UK servicemen were wounded in Iraq. More than 100,000 Iraqi civilians who were not soldiers were also killed.

paragraphs: On December 30 2008, US soldier Christopher Lotter was killed in Tikrit as retaliation for Saddam's execution on December 30 2006 .

paragraphs: On April 18 2010, ISIS leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Abdullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi were killed in a raid of Tikrit in a safe house.

paragraphs: The United Nations Secretary-General said that, "[F]rom our point of view and from the Charter point of view [the war] was illegal."


title: Helmet

paragraphs: A helmet is a hard or cushioned hat which is worn to protect a person's head. There are many different types of helmets. Some helmets are made from metal. Other helmets are made from plastic. Helmets often have fabric cushions inside and fabric straps to hold the helmet on a person's head.

paragraphs: Soldiers wear steel helmets to protect their heads from explosions and flying bits of metal. Construction workers wear plastic helmets to protect their heads from falling objects. Welders wear special helmets with a dark window that lets less light through. This protects their eyes from the bright light of welding. People who ride bicycles or horses wear plastic helmets with foam, to protect their heads in case they have an accident. Motorcycle riders wear similar but stronger helmets. People who rock climb wear helmets in case they fall. Cavers wear helmets to protect their heads from bumping into rocks in a cave. Helmets are also worn for protection by participants of numerous sports including horse racing, baseball, ice hockey, and cricket.


title: Coonskin cap

paragraphs: A coonskin cap is a hat made from the fur of a raccoon. Usually, the tail of the racoon is attached to the back of the hat. The coonskin cap is a symbol of the early United States frontier. Coonskin caps were first worn by the Native Americans who lived around Tennessee and Kentucky. The American settlers who moved to this area liked the caps and wore them themselves. Some famous American pioneers who wore coonskin caps are Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.


title: Crazy Horse Memorial

paragraphs: The Crazy Horse Memorial is the world's largest mountain sculpture in progress. It is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA. The statue depicts Crazy Horse, a famous Lakota warrior. Korczak Ziolkowski started the project in 1948 at the request of Chief Henry Standing Bear and other Native American elders. The statue is meant to be a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse as well as the Native American people.

paragraphs: Ziolkowski believed in individual initiative and private enterprise, and as such, never accepted government funding. He continued to work on the memorial until his death in 1982.

paragraphs: Ziolkowski's wife and family have continued to work the Crazy Horse Memorial. Completion of the project is currently unknown because of several factors including weather, the availability of financing and the challenges of the mountain engineering.

paragraphs: The face of Crazy Horse was completed and dedicated in 1998. Work on the memorial continues today and current plans include blocking out the face of the horse itself.


title: Dwarka

paragraphs: Dwarka (with other spelling as Dvarka) was a city of Ancient India. The city was one of seven holy cities of the Hindus. It is also one of the four most important places of pilgrimage for the Hindus. Hindus call such four places as Dhams. Dwarka is located in the western part of India in Gujarat state. During the birth day of Krishna, and the Hindu festivals of Holi and Divali, thousands of Hindus visit the place.

paragraphs: In Ancient India, the place was the capital of the kingdom ruled by Krishna and his clan of the yadavas. Soon after the death of Krishna, the city went below the sea.


title: Ramayana

paragraphs: The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic about Rama and Sita. It is one of the two most important ancient epics of India, the first one being the ancient Mahabharata. The epic was originally written by sage (rishi) Valmiki of Ancient India. The book has about 96,000 verses and is divided into seven parts.

paragraphs: The story of the Ramayana is about Prince Rama who has been exiled from his kingdom of Ayodhya. He goes on to kill king Ravana of Lanka in a long battle to get back his wife Sita.

paragraphs: 7 Different versions of the book are available. It has been translated into all the major languages of the world.

paragraphs: The different parts of the Ramayana are also called books. These seven parts or books are noted below:

paragraphs: There are different views about the time the Ramayana was written. Some people believe that it was written 2,500 years ago. Others think that it was written around 1,800 years ago. All agree that the book is very old and was written before the Mahabharata.

paragraphs: The Ramayana is still very popular today. Every autumn the "Ramlila" ("Rama play") is performed at the festival of Dassehra. A huge model of Ravana is set alight. This symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness. It is also believed that he turned in to Krishna and also many more things are believed.

paragraphs: A Tamil version of the book was written between the 9th and 10th centuries. The writer of this book was Kamban. This version is known as Iramavataram, which means coming of Rama. In the 16th century, Tulasidas wrote a Hindi version of Ramayana. This was named Ramacharitmanasa. Over many centuries, the story of Rama reached places in other countries like Indonesia and Malaysia. The Ramayana has been translated into most of the major languages of the world.

paragraphs: The Ramayana was used in Ancient India for the teaching of young children. It was mainly used for acting out their religious beliefs so that their children knew that they were to worship the main Hindu beliefs that were: Brahman, Multiples Gods, Dharma, Samsara, and Karma.


title: Mahabharata

paragraphs: The "Mahabharata", that is, the great Bharata, is one of the two most important ancient epics of India, the other being the "Ramayana". The "Mahabharata" was compiled in Ancient India. One of the "rishis" (Indian sages) named Vyasa is believed to have composed the work. The legend states that God Ganesha wrote the "Mahabharata" while Vyasa dictated the same in the city of Rourkela in Odisha State. It is possibly one of the longest work of its kind in the world. The epic contains about 110,000 "shloka" (couplets) in eighteen sections. These sections deal with a number of topics such as a number of aspects of Hinduism, Hindu mythology, ethics, and the Hindu way of life. There is also a nineteenth section named "Harivamsha". The Bhagavadgita, a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, is a part of the "Mahabharata".

paragraphs: Sage Vyasa taught this epic to his son Suka and his students Vaisampayana and others. King Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit and grandson of the heroes of the epic, performed a great sacrifice ("yajna"). The epic was retold by Vaisampayana to Janamejaya at the advice of Vyasa. Later on, the other sage Suta retold the "Mahabharata" similar to Vaisampayana to Janamejaya, to Saunaka and others, during a sacrifice performed by Saunaka in Naimisaranya, which is near Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh.

paragraphs: Noted below are few words about the eighteen sections of the "Mahabharata". In "Mahabharata", these sections are called "parvan". A "parvan" means a book. The names of all "parvas" or books of the "Mahabharata" are noted below.

paragraphs: Kunti wants to fulfil her maternal expectations, but she has no man. She recollects the moment when her first son Karna was conceived from an arcane "mantra" which had given her once. Surya, the Sun God, appeared to her then. Thus, Kunti remembers her secret "mantra" and gives birth to the three sons – Yudhistra, Bhima and Arjuna. Yudhisthira’s father was god Yama, Bhima’s father was god Vayu, and Arjuna's father was Indra.

paragraphs: Madri, the second wife of Pandu, gave birth to two other sons - the twins, whose fathers were Ashwins (divine twins). Madri's sons are Nakula and Sahadeva.


title: Hajj

paragraphs: The Hajj (; "" "pilgrimage") is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the most holy city of the Muslims, and a Fard or mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and can support their family during their absence. It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world. The state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called "istita'ah", and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a "mustati". The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah). The word Hajj means "to intend a journey", which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions.

paragraphs: The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th (or in some cases 13th) of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic calendar. Because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the name given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions.

paragraphs: The Hajj is associated with the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years to the time of Abraham. During Hajj, pilgrims join processions of hundreds of thousands of people, who simultaneously converge on Mecca for the week of the Hajj, and perform a series of rituals: each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Ka'aba (the cube-shaped building and the direction of prayer for the Muslims), runs back and forth between the hills of Al-Safa and Al-Marwah, drinks from the Zamzam Well, goes to the plains of Mount Arafat to stand in vigil, spends a night in the plain of Muzdalifa, and performs symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing stones at three pillars. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, and celebrate the three-day global festival of Eid al-Adha.

paragraphs: Pilgrims can also go to Mecca to perform the rituals at other times of the year. This is sometimes called the "lesser pilgrimage", or Umrah. However, even if they choose to perform the Umrah, they are still obligated to perform the Hajj at some other point in their lifetime if they have the means to do so, because Umrah is not a substitute for Hajj.


title: English Civil War

paragraphs: The English Civil War happened in the middle 17th century. The term civil war is a war where the sides involved in the fighting are from the same country.

paragraphs: At the centre, there was a struggle between King Charles I and the Parliament of England over how England should be ruled. The King wanted to rule without Parliament telling him what to do. At first Parliament wanted to reduce the King's power, but later it decided that the country did not need a king. King Charles's supporters were known as the Royalists, and were nicknamed "Cavaliers". Parliament's supporters were known as the Parliamentarians, and were nicknamed "Roundheads".

paragraphs: From 1639 to 1653, there was fighting in England, Scotland and Ireland, three separate countries that were ruled by the same king. The fighting that took place in each of these countries broke out at different times and for different reasons. In England, it lasted from 1642 to 1651. Some people think of this as one big war, while others think of it as three separate wars: the First English Civil War (1642-46), the Second English Civil War (1648) and the Third English Civil War (1649-51). The wars are also sometimes known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, including the Bishops' Wars in Scotland in 1639 to 1640 and the Irish Rebellion from 1641 to 1653.

paragraphs: The Parliamentarians won the war. Charles I was captured, put on trial and in 1649 he was executed. His son Charles II then tried to take over the country, but lost and escaped abroad. As a result, the three kingdoms spent 11 years without a king. For most of this time, they were run by Oliver Cromwell, a former Parliamentarian general. After Cromwell's death, the monarchy was restored under Charles II. However, kings were never as powerful as they had been before the war.

paragraphs: The reasons for the fighting were mostly to do with power, money and religion.

paragraphs: In the 17th century, the king had a lot of power over England with one exception: he could only raise taxes if the English Parliament agreed to it. This was because Parliament represented the gentry (middle class), and no king could raise taxes without the help of the gentry. Scotland and Ireland also had parliaments, but with not nearly as much power. When King James VI of Scotland inherited the throne (becoming James I of England), he disliked having to work with parliament. He was more used to ruling in Scotland, where the king was far more powerful. James I also spent more money than previous kings and queens.

paragraphs: Both James I and his son Charles I believed in the "divine right of kings", meaning that they believed that God gave kings the right to do anything they wanted over their lands. But there was a difference between the two: James I accepted that he could not get what he wanted all the time, whereas Charles I always wanted to get his own way.

paragraphs: After becoming king in 1625, Charles I quickly got into arguments with members of Parliament. From 1629 to 1640, he shut Parliament down and ruled without it. This was legal, as long as he did not raise taxes. He used some legal tricks to raise money without bringing back Parliament. For example, he used "ship money", a tax that had been paid by coastal towns in times of war. Charles I started charging it to all towns when there was no war. This was unpopular, but judges decided that it was legal. The period from 1629 to 1640 was known as the "Eleven Years' Tyranny" by the king's enemies.

paragraphs: In the previous century, the Protestant Reformation and England's break with the Catholic Church had encouraged new ideas and struggles. In England, there was movement called the Puritans, because they wanted a "pure" religion. They believed that the Church of England was too much like the Roman Catholic Church it had broken away from. In particular, they did not want the church to have bishops. There was a similar movement in Scotland. The Church of Scotland also had bishops, but it had many differences with the Church of England.

paragraphs: On the other hand, Charles I and Archbishop William Laud tried to change the Church of England. They brought back incense, bells and decorations to churches. These were things that were found in Catholic churches. This worried the people who hated Catholicism, especially the Puritans. Charles I also married a French princess, Henrietta Maria, who was a Catholic.

paragraphs: In 1637, Charles I tried to introduce a new prayer book in Scotland that was very similar to the English Book of Common Prayer, without asking Scotland's Parliament or church. Many Scots hated the prayer book, seeing it as an attempt to change the religion of their country. Riots broke out in Edinburgh, and unrest spread throughout Scotland. A rebellion movement began in Scotland, which became known as the Covenanters.

paragraphs: In 1639, the rebellion led to the Bishops' Wars in Scotland. The war cost so much money that the King called a new Parliament in England to raise taxes. But the members of Parliament did not want to work with Charles, and instead they complained about the king's actions (such as ship money) during the "Eleven Years' Tyranny". He shut Parliament down again, but the King struggled to stop the Covenanters without new taxes. Another problem was that many English people agreed with the Covenanters and did not want to help fight them. The Covenanter army invaded England and marched into Northumberland and County Durham. They refused to leave unless they were paid money.

paragraphs: To raise that money, the King had no choice but to call another Parliament. This became known as the "Long Parliament". Over two-thirds of the elected members of the Long Parliament were opposed to the king. John Pym was their leader. The Long Parliament passed laws to stop the king from shutting it down and removed many of the king's allies. They even had his friend Earl of Strafford executed.

paragraphs: In 1641, a rebellion broke out in Ireland. The rebellion was caused by Irish Catholics who were fearful of the Protestants in the Long Parliament and the Scottish Covenanters. The King now needed money to fight this rebellion, which strengthened Parliament. Parliament would also took control of the army in 1642.

paragraphs: In January 1642, Charles I marched into Parliament with guards, to arrest five members of Parliament (including Pym) who disagreed with him. The five men found out he was coming and escaped. No king had ever entered the main chamber of Parliament before, and many members were shocked he would do this. It was disaster for Charles. He failed to catch his enemies, and many members of Parliament who had not been enemies of the king became afraid of him. They decided that the only way to protect themselves was a raise an army against the King.

paragraphs: In mid-1642, both sides started travelling around the country to gather supporters and weapons. On 22 August, King Charles raised the royal flag in Nottingham. By doing this, he was announcing that he was at war with Parliament.

paragraphs: The King found more support in the countryside, poorer parts of the country and northern and western England. Parliament found more support in most cities, ports, richer parts of the country and southern and eastern England. People who were secretly Catholic mostly supported the King. The Royal Navy and most Puritans supported Parliament. Some areas supported Parliament because of local problems, such as the land drainage works in The Fens.

paragraphs: The Royalist armies were led by Prince Rupert, the King's nephew. The Parliamentarian armies were at first led by the Earl of Essex. The Royalists decided they would try to fight the Parliamentarians quickly, and so went to meet them in Warwickshire. The first major battle was the Battle of Edgehill in October 1642. The battle ended in a draw. The King tried to return to London but was blocked by the Parliamentarian army. He moved with his armies to Oxford, where he had more loyal followers.

paragraphs: The first year of the war went fairly well for the Royalists. They strengthened their control over the north and west. Their progress was slower in the Midlands, though they did capture Lichfield. After mid-1643, the Parliamentarians started to do better. They won battles in Lincolnshire, in the east and at Newbury to the west of London.

paragraphs: King Charles made a deal with the Irish rebels to stop the fighting in Ireland, freeing up soldiers that could fight for him. Parliament made a deal with the Scottish Covenantors, who would help them. Parliament were also helped by a talented army leader called Oliver Cromwell. He led a cavalry (horse riders) unit called the "Ironsides". The Ironsides were better organised than most cavalry units, which made them far better at fighting.

paragraphs: Helped by the Scots and the Ironsides, Parliament won a major victory the Battle of Marston Moor in July 1644. They took control of northern England. The Royalists were weakened but not yet defeated. They won the Battle of Lostwithiel in Cornwall, defeating Essex's soldiers. They also managed to fight to a draw at a second Battle of Newbury in October.

paragraphs: In 1645, Parliament organised its soldiers into the New Model Army. The Earl of Essex was replaced by Sir Thomas Fairfax. Oliver Cromwell became Fairfax's deputy. The New Model Army was better organised than any army that had come before it. They defeated the King's largest army at the Battle of Naseby in June 1645. Most of the Royalist soldiers at Naseby were taken prisoner.</small> King Charles escaped Naseby but left behind his baggage, which had letters inside them. The Parliamentarians opened them and found out that the King was trying to get help from the Irish Catholics and from Catholic countries. The King lost support because of this.

paragraphs: The other main Royalist army was defeated at the Battle of Langport in Somerset, one month later. The Parliamentarians took control of South West England, where they been weak. King Charles tried gather his remaining supporters in the Midlands. Many fortress towns in the area from Oxford to Newark-on-Trent were still loyal to him. In May 1646, Charles met a Scottish army in Nottinghamshire. The Scots took him prisoner.

paragraphs: Although the Parliamentarians had won, they were divided on how to run the country. One big argument was over religion. Most members of Parliament wanted a Presbyterian national church. The New Model Army favoured allowing local churches to run themselves without there being a national church. The defeated Royalists supported the existing Church of England, though some were secretly Catholic. Parliament and the Army both tried to win support of the King and the Scottish Presbyterians. King Charles was in prison and was passed between the groups. He refused to make a deal any of them, because he believed that only he had the right to rule over England. He pretended he was interested in making a deal while he planned to take back control of the country. The divisions became worse when Parliament tried to disband the New Model Army.

paragraphs: A second war broke out when some Scottish Presbyterians (called the Engagers) and some English Presbyterians allied with the King. They agreed to support him in return for making the English and Scottish churches into Presbyterian churches. The Scots invaded England, while Royalist rebellions broke out in various parts of England. Some of the rebellions were defeated very easily. The rebellions in Wales, Kent, Essex and Cumberland were stronger but were put down by the New Model Army. The Royalists and Scots were defeated at the Battle of Preston in August 1648.

paragraphs: The New Model Army was in control. In an event called "Pride's Purge", army Colonel Thomas Pride removed all members of Parliament who had not supported the Army. Only 75 members were left. The Army put them in charge of the country, and this Parliament was called the Rump Parliament.

paragraphs: The Rump Parliament decided they would not work with King Charles any more. They put him on trial. On 27 January 1649, the trial found him guilty of treason and called him a "tyrant, traitor, murderer and public enemy". He was beheaded three days later.

paragraphs: Many historians say that the execution of King Charles was an important moment in English history, and even in the history of the Western World. No European monarch had ever been put on trial by their own people before. Other countries in Europe said the execution was wrong, but they did not do much else. Not all Parliamentarians supported the execution. Fairfax thought it was wrong. He resigned as leader of the New Model Army, and was replaced by Oliver Cromwell.

paragraphs: The next king would have been Charles' son Prince Charles, the future King Charles II. Parliament announced instead that England would become a republic, called the Commonwealth of England. However, Prince Charles could still become King of Scotland.

paragraphs: The third English Civil War was actually more of a fight between Scottish and English armies, and much of it was fought in Scotland.

paragraphs: In 1649, the Marquess of Montrose started a rebellion in Scotland in support of King Charles II. Rather than support Montrose, Charles decided to ally with the Scottish Covenantors. They feared the Commonwealth of England would stop Scotland from having a Presbyterian church. Montrose was defeated by Scottish armies in April 1650. In June, Charles landed in Scotland and signed an agreement with the Scottish Covenantors.

paragraphs: Cromwell travelled to Scotland and arrived the following month. Over the next year, it took control of the main parts of Scotland. When Charles fled to England, Cromwell followed him, leaving George Monck to finish winning the war in Scotland. When this was done, Scotland became part of the Commonwealth of England.

paragraphs: Charles' army marched across England to the western regions where the Royalists had the most support. However, they could not find as many supporters as they wanted. Cromwell found them and defeated them at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. Charles fled to The Netherlands. He would not return until 1660.

paragraphs: The Irish rebellion that started in 1641 would continue until 1652. It was mainly fought by Irish Catholics against armies of the English Parliamentarians, Scottish Covenantors and Protestant settlers in Ireland. At first the rebels fought English Royalist armies as well, but this mostly stopped after September 1843. Seven months after the rebellion began, the rebels created their own government in Kilkenny. This was known as the Irish Catholic Confederation.

paragraphs: In 1649, Oliver Cromwell went to Ireland and put down their rebellion. Cromwell was remembered in Ireland as a brutal invader, particularly because of the large numbers of people killed at the Siege of Drogheda. Some fighting continued in Ireland until 1653.

paragraphs: The wars left England, Scotland and Ireland all as part of the Commonwealth of England, one of the few countries in Europe without a monarch. After the wars ended, Cromwell disbanded the Rump Parliament and took over the country. He chose to be "Lord Protector" rather than King, because he did not think the country needed another king. His government was called "the Protectorate" or "the Commonwealth". The period from 1649 to 1660 is also called the English Interregnum (meaning gap between kings).

paragraphs: Oliver Cromwell ruled the country until he died in 1658. Cromwell's son, Richard, took over as Lord Protector. However, the Army did not think he was a good ruler. After seven months, the Army removed Richard, and in May 1659 it re-installed the Rump Parliament. However, the Army did not get on with the Rump Parliament either and disbanded them a second time. There were fears that England would not have a proper government.

paragraphs: George Monck, a key leader in the Army, arranged for a new Parliament to be elected. On 8 May 1660, the new Parliament decided to restore the monarchy with Charles II as the king. He returned to England later that month. This event is known as the English Restoration. Scotland and Ireland went back to being separate countries and the pre-war churches returned.

paragraphs: Although the monarchy returned, the Civil War had long-lasting effects. The war made it clear that an English monarch could not rule without the support of Parliament. The law was not changed to limit the monarch's power (this was done after the 1688 Glorious Revolution). But historians consider the Civil War to be stage on England and Scotland's long journeys from rule by one king to becoming a democracy.

paragraphs: In Ireland, the defeat of the rebellion strengthened the power of the Protestants. This was one of the reasons why Ireland would be ruled by Protestants from the late 17th century until the 20th century, even though most Irish people were Catholic.

paragraphs: The English Civil War was fought with "pike and shot" tactics. These were used in most wars from the late 15th century to the late 17th century. Armies were divided into three main groups:

paragraphs: At first, the Royalists had a better cavalry. Their riders were faster and more skilled. Prince Rupert had fought in the Eighty Years War in The Netherlands and used the lessons learned there to improve his cavalry. However, sometimes the Royalist cavalry failed to work as a team. At the Battle of Edgehill, many of them decided to chase fleeing soldiers or steal from the Parliamentarian baggage wagons. The Royalists might have won this battle if their cavalry had stayed together.

paragraphs: Cromwell's "Ironside" cavalry were slower, but worked better as a team. They helped the Parliamentarians win some key battles. The Parliamentarians sometimes had a problem that pikemen would run away when cavalry charged at them. Cromwell and Fairfax trained them to stay in place.


title: Urdu

paragraphs: Urdu or Lashkari, is an Indo-Aryan language. It is the national language of Pakistan. It is spoken in Pakistan and India in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. When spoken, it sounds the same as Hindi.

paragraphs: Urdu was believed to have developed in 11th century in the Delhi Sultanate, Urdu is evolved from Apabramsa of Shauraseni Prakrit, Urdu is a major form of Hindustani, The origin of the name Urdu is the Chagatai language's word for army, "urdu". Basic Urdu is spoken the same as present-day Hindi, but Hindi uses the traditional Devanagari script (from Sanskrit), whereas Urdu uses the Persio-Arabic alphabet and relies heavily on Persian vocabulary. The poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi coined the term Urdu for this language in 1780. However, this began to alienate the two major cultures in India/Pakistan, the Muslims and Hindus. Hindus began to speak and write Hindi, whereas Muslims would begin to speak Urdu. This also lead to a need to "cleanse" Urdu of all its Sanskrit words and lead Hindi speakers to want to be rid of Persian words that remained in their language. in 1882 Arya Samaj argued that, Urdu should written in the Devanagari script, which started the controversy named, Hindi-Urdu controversy, and makes a divide of Urdu language, Urdu for Muslims, and Hindi for Hindus.

paragraphs: The letters in Urdu are derived from the Persian/Farsi alphabet, which is derived from the Arabic alphabet. The additional letters that are found in Urdu include ٹ ,ڈ ,ڑ (ṫ, ḋ, ṙ). To make the alphabet more enriched two letters were created for sounds ه (h) and ی (y). By adding these letters to the existing Persian letters the Urdu alphabet became more suitable for the people of North India and Pakistan.

paragraphs: Urdu is written right to left like Farsi script. Urdu is also written in the Nasta’ liq style of Persian Calligraphy. Nastaliq style is a cursive script invented by Mīr ʿAlī of Tabrīz, a very famous calligrapher during the Timurid period (1402–1502).

paragraphs: Urdu in its less formalized register has been called a "rekhta" (ریختہ, ), meaning "rough mixture". The more formal register of Urdu is sometimes called "zabān-e-Urdu-e-mo'alla" (زبان اردو معلہ ), the "Language of Camp and Court."

paragraphs: In local translation, it is called "Lashkari Zabān" ( []) meaning "military language" or "military tongue" or "Hordish language". This can be shortened to "Lashkari".

paragraphs: The etymology of the word used in the Urdu language for the most part decides how nice or well done your speech is. For example, Urdu speakers would distinguish between پانی "pānī" and آب "āb", both meaning "water" for example, or between آدمی "ādmi" and مرد "mard", meaning "man." The first word is ad derivative from Adam (آدم) Arabic mean from Adam and it can be used for both man and woman in place of human being. Second word مرد "mard" refers to a gender or can be used for manly hood as well.

paragraphs: If a word is of Persian or Arabic origin, the level of speech is thought to be more formal. If Persian or Arabic grammar constructs, such as the izafat, are used in Urdu, the level of speech is also thought more formal and correct. If a word is inherited from Sanskrit, the level of speech is thought more colloquial and personal. The reason perhaps is the Moghuls (Turks ) influence over India deeming Sanskrit to be a lesser language than Persian or Urdu itself. For the longest time Persian was also official language of Moghul occupied territories.

paragraphs: Urdu is supposed to be a well formed language; many of words are used in it to show respect and politeness. This emphasis on politeness, which comes from the vocabulary, is known as Aadab ( Courteous ) and to sometimes as takalluf (Formal) in Urdu. These words are mostly used when addressing elders, or people with whom one is not met yet. Just like "French Vous and Tu. Upon studying French and other forms of Language similar formal language construct are present. The whole grammatical layout appears to be almost identical to French language structure. The rules to form sentences and structuring them are identical"

paragraphs: Two very respected poets who are not only celebrated in the Indian subcontinent but are famous in many other communities worldwide are Mirza Ghalib and Sir Mohammad Iqbal.

paragraphs: Ghalib (1797-1869) is famous for his classic satire and sarcasm as seen in the following verse;

paragraphs: "Umer bhar hum yun hee ghalati kartey rahen Ghalib"

paragraphs: "Dhool ch-herey pei thee aur hum aaina saaf karte rahe"

paragraphs: "O Ghalib (himself) all my life I kept making the same mistakes over and over,"

paragraphs: "I was busy cleaning the mirror while the dirt was on my face."

paragraphs: Iqbal (1877-1938) was a poet, and an active politician. He focused his poetry on bringing out the plight of the suffering Muslim community. In his poetry he very boldly highlighted the missing virtues and values in the morally corrupt society. Despite much opposition in the beginning, he ended up leaving a huge impact. He is also called the “Poet of the East” and the “Poet of Islam”. His work is displayed in the following verse;

paragraphs: "Aapne bhe khafa mujh sei beganey bhe na khush"

paragraphs: "Mein zeher -e-halahal ku kabhi keh na saka qand"

paragraphs: "I could not keep happy either my loved ones nor the strangers,"

paragraphs: "as I could never call a piece of poison a piece of candy."

paragraphs: Iqbal is considered by many an inspirational poet. He played a large role in the Pakistan Movement, with many claiming that he was the one to spark it.


title: Zakat

paragraphs: Zakat () is one of the five most important aspects of Islam. Zakat means giving charity to the poor. Generally, a Muslim is expected to give "zakat" as long as they are able. Through Zakat wealth reaches to the poor class of the society. It is considered to be a personal responsibility for Muslims to help those in need and eliminate inequality. It is often 2.5% of what the Muslim has.


title: Salat

paragraphs: Ṣalāt (, "") is the practice of prayer in Islam. It is one of the five most important duties for Muslims. To perform Salat, a person's mind must be in a state of ritual purity, which comes from ritual ablution, "wuḍūʾ".

paragraphs: For Sunni Muslims, salat must be performed at five periods each day. These periods are measured according to the movement of the Sun. The call to prayer is essential before every obligatory prayers. Muhammad said: "The one who responds to Azan out of faith and seeking Allah's pleasure will be admitted to paradise."

paragraphs: In the ritual prayers each individual Muslim is in direct contact with Allah. There is no need of a priest as an intermediary. (While there is a prayer leader in the mosque - the imam - they are not a priest, simply a person who knows a great deal about Islam.) Muslims can pray anywhere, but it is especially good to pray with others in a mosque. Praying together in a congregation helps Muslims to realise that all humanity is one, and all are equal in the sight of Allah. The prayer ritual, which is over 1400 years old, is repeated five times a day by hundreds of millions of people all round the world.

paragraphs: Quranist prayer is set three times a day. This is similar to the combined prayer into 3 by Shias. In Islamic countries, the public call to prayer from the mosques sets the rhythm of the day for the entire population, including non-Muslims. Carrying it out is not only highly spiritual, but connects each Muslim to all others around the world, and to all those who have uttered the same words and made the same movements at different times in Islamic history.

paragraphs: Prayer for a Quranists involves uniting mind, soul, and body in worship; so a Muslim carrying out these prayers will perform a whole series of set movements that go with the words of the prayer. Quranists make sure that they are in the right frame of mind before they pray; they put aside all everyday cares and thoughts so that they can concentrate exclusively on God. If a Quranist prays without the right attitude of mind, it as if they had not bothered to pray at all.

paragraphs: There are different subsets of Shia Islam. Some of them pray 3 times combined, others 5 times. Allah does not need human prayers because he has no needs at all. Muslims pray because God has told them that they are to do this, and because they believe that they obtain great benefit in doing so.

paragraphs: "Muslims must be clean before they pray." They make sure of this by performing ritual washing, called wudhu. Mosques have washing facilities.


title: Fasting in Islam

paragraphs: Fasting in Islam or Sawm () is the practice of abstaining, usually from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity. Fourth of the Five Pillars of Islam, "Sawm" is observed between dawn and nightfall during the holy month of Ramadan.

paragraphs: Some exceptions or accommodations for "Sawm" are made in the case of pregnancy, illness, travel, and for young children.


title: Franz Schubert

paragraphs: Franz Peter Schubert (31 January 1797, Vienna 19 November 1828, Vienna) was an Austrian composer. Although he died at the age of 31, he composed over one thousand pieces of music. There were other great composers who lived and worked in Vienna: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, but Schubert is the only one who was born in Vienna. He was the last great composer of the Classical music period, and one of the first of the Romantic period.

paragraphs: Schubert’s father was a schoolteacher. Twelve children were born into the family, but only four of them lived to become adults. Schubert's father tried to persuade his sons to help at the school when they grew up. As a boy, the young Franz learned the violin, piano, organ, singing and harmony. He soon became very good at them all. His teachers were all amazed at how quickly he learned. He was also very good at other subjects in school.

paragraphs: In the holidays he played string quartets with his two brothers and his father. He wrote his first string quartets for them to play. By the age of 16 he had composed a lot of music, including his first symphony. His mother died. His father soon remarried. His stepmother was very kind to him and often lent him money. He had one strange thumb on his right hand.

paragraphs: By the age of 17, Schubert was teaching at his father’s school. He had been rejected by the army because he was too short (shorter than five feet) and his sight was very poor. He still had composition lessons from Antonio Salieri. He often went to the opera where he heard some of the finest music of the time. He liked reading. One of his favourite books was Goethe’s "Faust". He wrote a song called "Gretchen am Spinnrade" which is about the young girl in the book sitting at a spinning wheel dreaming of her lover. The piano has a gentle accompaniment which sounds like the throbbing of the spinning wheel. The music stops for a moment when the girl imagines her lover is kissing her, then the piano gradually starts again. It is a very famous song. Another song which soon made him famous in all Europe was "Erlkönig". When it was first published another composer whose name was also Franz Schubert, thought that somebody had published a song in his name because the music publishers sent it to him for correction. He sent a very angry letter back saying he had not composed that rubbish.

paragraphs: It was difficult to find enough time to compose because he was a teacher. A man called Schober persuaded Schubert to give up teaching so that he could spend all his time composing. Soon he had become well known in all the drawing-rooms in Vienna where he met famous people, many of them musicians. These meetings were called “Schubertiads” because they played and sang his music. He wrote so many wonderful pieces that it seems strange that the music publishers did not want to publish them. They were only interested in publishing works written by performers, but were not very interested in people like Schubert who just composed. For a time he became music teacher for the two princesses of Count Johann Esterházy, but then he returned to Vienna to live with the Schober family. During the last few years of his life Schubert was ill. He had to leave the Schober’s house and find his own rooms. He was often desperately poor and composed in bed to keep warm.

paragraphs: Although Beethoven and Schubert lived in the same town they only met once, although they knew one another’s music. Schubert visited Beethoven on 19 March 1827. Beethoven was dying. Schubert was one of the torch-bearers at his funeral. A year and a half later Schubert, too, had died. He asked to be buried near Beethoven. Their graves were just three places apart.

paragraphs: Schubert’s songs are among the greatest ever written. They are all settings of German poems. German art songs are called Lieder (pronounced “leader”), and Schubert made his Lieder very special by making the piano accompaniments describe the action of the songs in many different ways. If you try to sing them in a translation it is difficult to make it sound good. It is best to hear them in German and to have a translation so that you understand what is being sung. Some of the last songs he wrote make up a cycle called “Die Winterreise” (“The Winter Journey”). The poems are about a man who is unhappy because his lover does not want him. He goes out into the cold winter woods and all nature seems to reflect the way he feels inside. The songs are usually sung by a male singer (tenor, baritone or bass).

paragraphs: Schubert wrote a great deal of chamber music. Among his most famous pieces are several string quartets, a string quintet (for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos) and the “Trout” quintet (for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass). There are sonatas and sonatinas for violin and piano, and a sonata for an instrument called the “arpeggione” which was used for about ten years after it was invented and then it was forgotten. The sonata is normally played on a cello or a viola nowadays. There is lots of piano music including sonatas, impromptus and also piano duet music. Schubert wrote eight famous impromptus.

paragraphs: Schubert wrote nine symphonies. The last one is known as the “Great” symphony in C major. The eighth is called the “Unfinished”. There are only two movements instead of the usual four. A lot of people still argue about why he left it unfinished. Some people even think that he completed it and that the last two movements are either lost, or are now known as movements from a piano duet. We shall probably never know for certain.

paragraphs: Most of his life he was supported by his friends who gave him manuscript paper when he could not afford it. Many of his greatest works only became widely known in the 1860s, long after his death. The house in Vienna where Schubert was born is now a museum which people can visit.


title: Cowpox

paragraphs: Cowpox is a disease. This disease affects the skin. It is caused by a virus (Cowpox virus) that is related to the "Vaccinia virus". People (or animals) who have the disease have red blisters. The disease can be spread by touch from cows to humans. The virus that causes cowpox was used to perform the first successful vaccination against another disease. The disease vaccinated against was the deadly smallpox. Smallpox is caused by the related "variola virus". Therefore, the word "vaccination" has the Latin root "vaca" meaning cow.

paragraphs: In 1798, the English physician Edward Jenner made a curious observation. Jenner lived in the countryside, not in the city.

paragraphs: Some of his patients had gotten cowpox, and recovered from it. He observed that those patients did not get the disease again, they seemed to be immune against it. What was more, they also seemed to be immune against smallpox. Smallpox was a deadly disease then, that killed most of the people it infected. So he used the fluid he got from cowpox lesions, and scratched it into healthy people. That way, he could make those people immune against smallpox.

paragraphs: The Cowpox (Catpox) virus is found in Europe and mainly in the UK. Human cases are very rare and most often contracted from domestic cats. The virus is not commonly found in cows; the reservoir hosts for the virus are woodland rodents particularly voles. It is from these rodents that domestic cats get the virus. Symptoms in cats include lesions on the face, neck, forelimbs, and paws, and less commonly upper respiratory tract infection. Symptoms of infection with cowpox virus in humans are localized, pustular lesions generally found on the hands and limited to the site of introduction. The incubation period (the time between an infection and the first signs of the disease) is 9–10 days. The virus can be found mostly in late summer and autumn.

paragraphs: Cowpox was the original vaccine of sorts for smallpox. After infection with the disease, the body (usually) gains the ability recognise the similar smallpox virus from its antigens and so is able to fight the smallpox disease much more efficiently.

paragraphs: Later, and still today, another vaccine was used: "vaccinia". Vaccinia is similar to cowpox, but not the same.


title: Margaret Atwood

paragraphs: Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian writer. She is best known for writing novels. She has also published 15 books of poetry. "The Edible Woman" was her first novel, published in 1969.

paragraphs: Her novel "The Handmaid's Tale" was the first winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, in 1987. The sequel, "The Testaments", is due for release in September 2019.

paragraphs: "The Blind Assassin" won the 2000 Booker Prize.


title: Rainbow Brite

paragraphs: Rainbow Brite was a 1980s animated television show in the United States based on a series of Hallmark cards. It involves a girl called "Rainbow Brite" and the "Color Kids" who are in charge of bringing color to the world. It was produced by DiC Entertainment, Cookie Jar Entertainment, Optix Digital Pictures, Super Sonics Productions, The Canadian Film or Production Tax Credit, Shaw Rocket Fund, Canadian Television Fund, and Nick Jr. Productions in its "Kideo TV" package.

paragraphs: A tie-in movie, "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer", came out in 1985.


title: Chickenpox

paragraphs: Chickenpox, also known as chicken pox, is a disease. Usually, it is children who get the disease, but adults can also get it. People who have it get blisters or spots, mostly on the body and in the face. Those blisters are filled with a liquid. At some point, the blisters will drain, and the person will want to scratch them. Burst blisters usually become healthy without leaving scars, unless they become infected. The symptoms come in two or three waves, and they usually include fever. If there are no complications, the disease will last between three and five days in children. Chickenpox is very common and by the age 14, more than 90% of children will have had the disease.

paragraphs: Getting chickenpox during a pregnancy is dangerous, as it can hurt both the mother and the child.

paragraphs: Chickenpox is caused by a virus of the herpes family. People who had chickenpox in the past can also get a related disease called shingles later. Shingles are caused by the same virus but usually is only one part of the body.

paragraphs: There is a vaccine against chickenpox. Usually, the vaccine is given to children if they did not have the disease before the start of puberty, that is aged 9–13 years old. Sometimes to help your child not to scratch when they have chicken pox, you can get a special cream for it such as e45.


title: Tonality

paragraphs: Music has tonality if it uses the notes of a major or minor scale. Such music is tonal. It is in a particular "key". Nearly all Western music is tonal.

paragraphs: All tonal music is based on a major or minor scale. If the tune “Twinkle, twinkle little star” is played starting on the note C, the notes of a C major scale will be used. The note C will sound like the home note (the “tonic”) and, indeed, the tune finishes on a C. The tune could have started on any other note (C sharp, D, E flat, E etc.) but a knowledge of scales would be needed as some sharps or flats (black notes) will be required. When singing the tune there is no need to think about the sharps and flats: the singer does them quite naturally.

paragraphs: A piece of tonal music will usually modulate after a while. This means that it changes key. But the music will not sound finished until it goes back to the original key. If one sings The Star-Spangled Banner and stops after the words “our flag was still there” the song sounds as if it has stopped in mid-air. It will not sound finished until it goes back to the first key in the last two lines.

paragraphs: Most Western music from about 1600 onwards is based in a major or minor key. This system of tonality was used by all the great composers up to the 20th century and in popular music and most folk music. Listening to a symphony by Beethoven is like going on a journey through various key areas, always returning to the original tonic at the end. In some cases, such as Beethoven’s "Fifth Symphony", it may start in the minor and finish in the major. This is because minor keys can sound disturbed, full of tension, but major keys sound happier and more relaxed.

paragraphs: The opposite of “tonality” is atonality. An atonal piece is one where there is no feeling of a home key. Playing lots of random notes will sound atonal. Schoenberg was one of the most famous composers of atonal music. Of course, his music is not just random notes (although it may sound like it to the listener at first), so he had to find another way of giving his music shape. That is why he invented the twelve-tone system.


title: Toucan

paragraphs: The toucan is a South American bird in the family Ramphastidae. This social bird lives in small flocks in lowland rainforests in countries such as Costa Rica. It flies short distances between trees. Toucans rest in holes in trees. They mostly eat fruit, but sometimes they also eat insects and small lizards.

paragraphs: They are brightly marked and have large, often-colorful bills. The family includes five genera and over forty different species.

paragraphs: Toucans are resident breeders and do not migrate. Toucans are usually found in pairs or small flocks. They sometimes fence with their bills and wrestle, which scientists think is to find out who is the top bird amongst them.

paragraphs: Toucans are known for their huge beaks, which can grow larger than their bodies. They use their beaks for reaching over and plucking fruit from branches of trees. The bright colors (usually orange) on the beak may help the toucans to recognize each other, and to scare off other birds.


title: Elbow

paragraphs: The elbow is a hinge-joint between the bones of the upper and lower arm. It joins the humerus of the upper arm and the radius and ulna of the forearm together. Everyone has 2 elbows. It allows the lower arm to be extended or retracted (moved in). The elbow also allows the arm to turn. It moves by using three ligaments: the "anterior, posterior, ulnar collateral" and "radial collateral" ligaments.


title: Wrist

paragraphs: The wrist is the joint that links together the lower arm and the hand.


title: Knee

paragraphs: The knee is the joint that links 4 of the upper and lower bones of the leg, which are called the femur, tibia, fibula and the patella. The knee joint is the largest joint in the body and is an extensive network of ligaments and muscles. Basically, it is a hinge which allows movement of the lower leg in only one direction. The lower leg (tibia+fibula+foot) can swing back from the knee, and that is all.

paragraphs: The knee is held together by ligaments which connect the bones and produces fluid which lubricates the movement at the joint. The meniscus is a cartilage

paragraphs: that lies on the inner and outer edges of the upper surface of the tibia. These are the shock

paragraphs: absorbers of the knee and supply proper weight distribution.