title: 2006 Pacific hurricane season

paragraphs: The 2006 Pacific hurricane season was an above normal hurricane season with 19 named storms of 11 which were hurricanes and 6 were major hurricanes it was the most active season since 2000 Pacific hurricane season It officially began May 15, 2006 in the eastern Pacific, designated as the area east of 140°W, and began on June 1 2006 in the central Pacific, which is between the International Date Line and 140°W. Both seasons officially ended on November 30, 2006. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific basin.

paragraphs: On May 27 Tropical Depression One-E formed. It became Tropical Storm Aletta later on. Aletta stalled offshore Mexico causing minor damage. Tropical Storm Aletta weakened to a tropical depression and died on May 30.

paragraphs: Two-E formed off shore Mexico on June 3. It died 2 days later. Two-E produced 15 inches of rain in Mexico before it died.

paragraphs: Bud was a Category 3 storm. It rapidly strengthened and then weakened just as fast.

paragraphs: Carlota caused light rain in Mexico but no damage was reported. It was a Category 1 storm.

paragraphs: Daniel was a long lived Major hurricane that Affected Hawaii with some rain. It peaked as a Category 4. It was the second strongest storm this year.

paragraphs: It caused some rain in Mexico, causing minor damage.

paragraphs: Gilma produced light rain in Mexico. It was also the weakest storm so far.

paragraphs: Hector was a Category 2 hurricane. It made it to the Central Pacific.

paragraphs: Ioke was the strongest hurricane ever in the Central Pacific that threated the Johnson Atoll and Wake Island. It formed on august 20. Ioke rapidly became a major hurricane 36 hours later. Ioke went extratropical on September 6. Damage was nearly $100 million. Ioke was retired at the end of the year. It also caused heavy rain in Alaska. Ioke is the most intense storm ever in the central Pacific and the only Category 5 storm that formed in the basin.

paragraphs: Illena killed one person in Mexico. It peaked as a Cateogory 3 storm.

paragraphs: John started as Tropical Depression Eleven-E and later on became a tropical storm and then a hurricane. The hurricane peaked as a Category 4. John killed 5 when it hit Baja California as a Category 2 storm on September 1. Hurricane John died on September 4.

paragraphs: Kristy was a Category 1 hurricane that was outflowed by Hurricane John.

paragraphs: Lane caused severe damage in Mexico, when it hit there as a Category 3 major hurricane. Lane killed 4 people and left $203 million in damage.

paragraphs: Three-C was a short lived tropical depression that started several hundred miles southwest of Hawaii. It died the next day while no where near any land.

paragraphs: Norman struck Mexico as a tropical depression, causing minor damage.

paragraphs: Four-C was a short lived tropical depression. It formed on October 13 and died the next day. The remaims of Four-C caused heavy rain in Hawaii.

paragraphs: Paul was a Cateogory 2 hurricane that killed 4 in Mexico.

paragraphs: Rosa produced light rain to Mexico in November.

paragraphs: Tropical Depression Twenty-E formed and died on the same day, November 11. Twenty-E did not affect any land.

paragraphs: Sergio was also a Cateogory 2 storm. It was also the strongest November storm.

paragraphs: The following names were used for named storms that formed in the northeast Pacific in 2006. This is the same list that was used in the 2000 season. There were no names retired from the northeast Pacific list. Therefore, the same list was reused in the 2012 season.

paragraphs: For storms that form in the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's area of responsibility, encompassing the area between 140 degrees west and the International Date Line, all names are used in a series of four rotating lists. The next four names that were slated for use in 2006 are shown below, however only the name Ioke was used.

paragraphs: The name "Ioke" was retired from the north-central Pacific list by the World Meteorological Organization in the spring of 2007 and replaced with "Iopa". During the 61st Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference, the Hawaii State Civil Defense requested the retirement of the name "Daniel", citing that the storm had become memorable due to threat of damage. However, the request was denied, as the name remains on the tropical cyclone naming list.

paragraphs: This is a table of all the storms that formed in the 2006 Pacific hurricane season. It includes their duration, names, landfall(s), denoted in parentheses, damages, and death totals. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but were still related to that storm. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical, a wave, or a low, and all the damage figures are in 2006 USD.


title: 1997 Pacific hurricane season

paragraphs: The 1997 Pacific hurricane season was a yearly event in tropical cyclone meteorology. Storms in this season caused hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damage.

paragraphs: Tropical Depression One-E formed June 1. The next day, it became Tropical Storm Andres. After a brief period of a normal track, Andres was picked up, becoming the first named storm to threaten Central America sine Simone in 1968. It then turned to the southeast and paralleled the coast. This was the first time any East Pacific storm had taken such a path. Andres weakened to a depression and made landfall near San Salvador on June 7 and dissipated shortly thereafter. The only casualties were two fishermen who were reported missing.

paragraphs: Blanca was a short-lived tropical storm that briefly threatened land. Tropical Depression Two-E formed June 9 and strengthened into Tropical Storm Blanca six hours later. It moved northwest and briefly threatened land on June 10 as warnings and watches were established. Then, a ridge of high pressure turned Blanca away from the coast. Despite moving over warm waters, a weakening trend unexpectedly began, and Blanca was downgraded to a depression. and Blanca lost its circulation shortly after being downgraded to tropical depression status on June 12. There was no deaths, because Blanca's impact was generally minimal.

paragraphs: A tropical wave that drifted across the shear-ridden Atlantic emerged into the Pacific Ocean on July 27. It organized into a depression July 30 and was named Tropical Storm Guillermo the next day. It quickly intensified, reaching hurricane status on August 1. Guillermo became a major hurricane August 2. It reached Category 4 intensity on August 3 before weakening slightly and restrengthening. The hurricane attained Category 5 strength August 4. Guillermo's peak intensity was 919 mbar (919 hPa) and .

paragraphs: Guillermo then weakened slowly, becoming a tropical storm August 8. It crossed 140°W and entered the Central Pacific. It weakened to a depression late August 10 but restrengthened back into a storm 24 hours later when it encountered a small area of warm water. It weakened to a depression for the second and final time August 15 and lost tropical characteristics early the next day.

paragraphs: Guillermo's remnants recurved over the far northern Pacific. They were tracked to a point west of Vancouver Island. The remnants hung on for a few more days and drifted south before being absorbed by a mid-latitude cyclone August 24 off the coast of California.

paragraphs: A depression formed from an area of disturbed weather on August 17. The depression organized into a tropical storm 12 hours later. Ignacio's location of tropical cyclogenesis was farther north and west of where most East Pacific tropical cyclones form. Steering currents pulled Ignacio north, where it encountered wind shear and cooler waters. Ignacio lost tropical characteristics August 19. The extratropical cyclone was absorbed by Gulermeno and another extratropical cyclone.

paragraphs: It brought gusty winds to California coastal waters before dissipating. Damage is at $50 million. The rainfall caused a power outages as well as the worst rain since Hurricane Kathleen in 1976. Ignacio passed directly over the San Francisco Bay Area which is where the worst effects were felt.

paragraphs: A tropical disturbance that had meandered south of Johnston Atoll organized into Tropical Depression Two-C on September 2. Later that day, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Oliwa (Hawaiian for Oliver) as it slowly moved towards the west. It crossed the dateline late on September 3 and entered the Joint Typhoon Warning Center's Area of Responsibility.

paragraphs: Oliwa passed south of Wake on September 6, where it caused heavy rains but no damage. On September 7, Oliwa started a period of rapid strengthening, becoming a typhoon September 8 and a Super Typhoon 8 hours later. Oliwa stayed at that intensity for over two days. While still a strong super typhoon, Oliwa passed near the Northern Marianas Islands. It then started weakening as it curved towards Japan. It made landfall as a minimal typhoon September 16. It quickly dissipated later that same day. Oliwa caused "damage and several fatalities" in Japan.

paragraphs: A tropical depression formed south of Manzanillo September 9. It rapidly intensified, becoming a hurricane early September 11. It became a major hurricane later that day. The deepening continued, and Linda reached Category 5 intensity the next day. It broke Hurricane Ava's long-standing intensity record. That record had stood for over 24 years. Linda reached peak intensity on September 12. Linda's intensity record still stands as of 2005. Linda then started weakening. On September 15, it was downgraded to a tropical storm. On September 17, it fell to a depression, and dissipated early September 18.

paragraphs: In California, Linda was responsible for 8 deaths and $68 million in damage. Five people were drowened in a jetty. Flash floods caused 3 deaths and mudslides destroyed millions many homes and $68 million in damage. The Southwest would get devastated again by Hurricane Nora weeks later.

paragraphs: Hurricane Nora was the first hurricane to a significant danger to the Continental United States since Kathleen in 1976. Part of a tropical wave that contributed to the formation of Hurricane Erika in the Atlantic moved into the Pacific and organized into Tropical Depression 16-E on September 16 and Tropical Storm Nora that same day. Nora became a hurricane in a favourable environment September 18 while moving northwest. Its motion then stalled over an upwelling of cooler water that weakened it. On September 20, Nora again started moving. It reached its peak intensity of 115 knots and 950 mb On September 21 and 22 it moved over the wake of Hurricane Linda. This weakened the storm pack down to a Category 1. During this time, a trough developed that turned Nora to the northeast. This carried Nora over a favourable environment and towards Baja California. After restrengthening slightly, Nora made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Punta Eugenia and again south of San Fernando, both times as a hurricane.

paragraphs: Nora stayed a tropical storm as it moved into the United States. Yuma reported sustained gale-force winds. Rains were heavy, sometimes exceeding the "annual" rainfall for the area. Nora weakened to a depression while over California, and it dissipated September 26. Nora killed two people in Mexico. One was killed by a downed power line in Mexicali, and the other was a scuba diving in underwater currents. No one in the United States was directly killed by Nora. However, the California Highway Patrol attributed several traffic accident deaths to the weather. There was extensive damage to areas hit by Nora. Waves ruined dozens of homes. Roughly 350 to 400 people were left homeless in San Felipe, and winds uprooted trees and peeled roofs from homes in Puerto Peñasco.

paragraphs: Olaf was a weak but persistent tropical storm that made two landfalls and took an erratic path. A tropical depression formed September 26, was upgraded a tropical storm at the next advisory, and immediately moved north. On September 29, Olaf made landfall near Salina Cruz. Olaf dissipated, and the remnants moved far out to sea. During later reanalysis, Olaf was found to be a tropical depression during most of this time, but at the time was considered dissipated.

paragraphs: Olaf's remnants reformed, and started moving southeast on October 5. Olaf then turned to the north, and on October 12 made a second landfall near Manzanillo. Olaf dissipated, and the remnants moved out to sea where they did not reform again.

paragraphs: There were a few reports of damage. Three fishing boats were missing near Acapulco, and there was flooding in Mexico and Guatemala. Most of Olaf's damage was from its first landfall.

paragraphs: Hurricane Pauline was the deadliest storm of the season. Landslides and flooding caused by it killed hundreds of people.

paragraphs: Tropical depression Eighteen-E formed October 5 and briefly moved to the east before turning to the northwest. In a favourable environment, the cyclone intensified rapidly, reaching a peak of 115 knots and a central pressure of 948 mb. It weakened slightly before peaking again.

paragraphs: Interaction with land weakened Pauline a bit, and the hurricane made landfall on October 9 in a thinly populated area. Accelerating, Pauline paralleled the coast for a day before dissipating on October 10 while over Jalisco.

paragraphs: There are no known damages from wind or storm surge. Heavy rains affected Oaxaca and Guerrero, causing catastrophic loss of life around Acapulco. Mudslides and flooding was widespread, leaving thousands homeless and at least 230 dead. The Red Cross reported that 400 were dead, but this was disputed by Mexican officials. Pauline was Mexico's deadliest Pacific hurricane since Hurricane Liza in the 1976 season.

paragraphs: Hurricane Rick was the first November formation since the 1991 season. A tropical wave acquired enough organization to be called a tropical depression on November 7. It moved north before a trough of low pressure turned it to the northeast. It was named on November 8, and was upgraded to a hurricane the next day. It reached its peak intensity of 80 knots and 973 mb November 9. Rick made landfall in Oaxaca— the same place devastated by Hurricane Pauline one month earlier— and quickly weakened, dissipating early November 11.

paragraphs: There were no deaths from Rick. Trees were downed and recently repaired roads were washed out.

paragraphs: Tropical Depression Five-C formed December 2, two days after the season ended. It strengthed into Tropical Storm Paka (Hawaiian for Pat) while west of Palmyra Atoll. After drifting east, it reversed direction. As it moved west, dry air and wind shear disrupted its development until it crossed the dateline on December 6.

paragraphs: After entering the Western Pacific, the environment rapidly became more favourable and Paka's strengthening quickened. It became a typhoon on December 10 and passed near Kwajalein with winds of 100 knots. It strengthened further, twice reaching Category 5 intensity. While close to maximum intensity, Paka passed close to Guam on December 17 and 18, causing "major damage". Afterwards, Paka encountered a hostile environment and had completely dissipated by the evening of December 21.


title: 1987 Pacific hurricane season

paragraphs: The 1987 Pacific hurricane season officially started May 15, 1987 in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, 1987 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 1987. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeastern Pacific Ocean.

paragraphs: Despite there being twenty cyclones, there were very few notable storms this year. Only three storms came anywhere near to threatening land. Hurricane Eugene was the first Pacific hurricane to make landfall in Mexico in July since at least the 1949 season. Tropical Storm Pilar and Hurricane Norma also came close to land. The remnants of Hurricanes Ramon and Norma caused rain in the Continental United States. Elsewhere, Peke was a central north Pacific hurricane that crossed the dateline and became a typhoon.


title: 1976 Pacific hurricane season

paragraphs: The 1976 Pacific hurricane season was an event in tropical cyclone formation. Hurricanes Kathleen, Liza, and Madeline are the most notable storms this year. Hurricane Kathleen caused death and destruction in California and Arizona because of flooding. Hurricane Liza was the deadliest storm of the season when it killed over 600 people in Mexico. Hurricane Madeline is notable for being the second-most intense Pacific hurricane at landfall.

paragraphs: Kathleen was a costly and damaging storm mainly in Nevada, California and Arizona. It also killed 7 people.

paragraphs: Liza was very deadly and the third deadliest ever behind Hurricane Paul and the Mexico hurricane.

paragraphs: Madeline became the third storm in the row to make landfall in Mexico. It was also the most intense.


title: Kronosaurus

paragraphs: Kronosaurus was a large pliosaur, one of the largest. It was one of the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It lived in the Lower Cretaceous.

paragraphs: Body-length estimates, based on the 1959 Harvard reconstruction, had put the total length of "Kronosaurus" at 12.8 meters (42 feet). However, a recent study compared fossil specimens of "Kronosaurus" to other pliosaurs. The Harvard reconstruction may have included too many vertebrae, exaggerating its length. Its true length was probably only 9–10.9 meters (30–36 feet).


Riding


title: Fermat number

paragraphs: A Fermat number is a special positive number. Fermat numbers are named after Pierre de Fermat. The formula that generates them is

paragraphs: where "n" is a nonnegative integer. The first nine Fermat numbers are :

paragraphs: As of 2007, only the first 12 Fermat numbers have been completely factored. (written as a product of prime numbers) These factorizations can be found at Prime Factors of Fermat Numbers.

paragraphs: If 2 + 1 is prime, and "n" > 0, it can be shown that "n" must be a power of two. Every prime of the form 2 + 1 is a Fermat number, and such primes are called Fermat primes. The only known Fermat primes are "F"...,"F".

paragraphs: Today, Fermat numbers can be used to generate random numbers, between 0 and some value N, which is a power of 2.

paragraphs: Fermat, when he was studying these numbers, conjectured that all Fermat numbers were prime. This was proven to be wrong by Leonhard Euler, who factorised formula_2 in 1732.


title: Blowup

paragraphs: Blowup is a 1966 British drama movie set in London. It was nominated for two Academy Award and won a Grand Prix award. It is directed by Italian movie director Michelangelo Antonioni and written by Antonioni, Toni Guerra and Edward Bond. It starred David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave. Carlo Ponti produced the movie. This was Antonioni's first English language movie.


title: Improper rotation

paragraphs: An improper rotation can be understood as an inversion followed by a proper rotation.

paragraphs: Equivalently it is the combination of a rotation and an inversion in a point on the axis. Therefore it is also called a rotoinversion or rotary inversion.

paragraphs: A simple example of an improper rotation in 3D (but not in 2D) is a coordinate inversion: x goes to −x, y to −y and z to −z. Under this transformation, a and b go to −a and −b (by the definition of a vector), but p clearly does not change. (It follows that any improper rotation multiplies p by −1 compared to the rotation's effect on a true vector.)


Inverse


title: Endorphins

paragraphs: Endorphins are natural chemicals in the body that fight pain. Endorphins are released when a person gets hurt, but also during exercise, laughter or sex. In addition to blocking pain, endorphins can make people happy.

paragraphs: Endorphins resemble drugs like morphine, so when scientists first discovered these chemicals in the 1970s, they called them "endogenous morphine". Since then, scientists have identified and named five different types of endorphins, all of which occur naturally in the body. Endorphins can also be found in most animals.

paragraphs: They are produced by the central nervous system and the pituitary gland. Their name has two parts: "endo-" and "-orphin"; these are short forms of the words "endogenous" and "morphine". They mean "a morphine-like substance from within the body". Endorphins are three compounds which bind to receptors. The main function of endorphins is to inhibit the communication of pain signals. They may also produce a feeling of euphoria very similar to that produced by other opioids.

paragraphs: Four types of endorphins are created in the human body. They are named "alpha" (α), "beta" (β), "gamma" (γ) and "sigma" (σ) endorphins. The four types have different numbers and types of amino acids in their molecules; they have between 16 and 31 amino acids in each molecule.

paragraphs: Beta-endorphins (β-endorphins) are the most powerful endorphins in the body. They are usually in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. More endorphins are released in the pituitary gland during times of pain or stress. Exercise increases the endorphin release too. For the same reason, exercise results in a better mood.

paragraphs: Met-enkephalin and leu-enkephalin are in the brain stem and spinal cord; they are the pain killers of the spinal cord. Both of them have 16- 31 amino acids in their structure; the first four are similar, but the last one is different.

paragraphs: All of the endorphins bind to the opioid receptors in the brain. Many of the analgesic (pain killer) drugs have a similar action in the brain. The main difference between the natural endorphins and the analgesic drugs is that natural endorphins are cleared from the blood very quickly. Endorphins are also involved in the release of sex hormones in the pituitary gland. Also, scientists think that acupuncture results in the release of more endorphins. Endorphins may have a role in obesity, diabetes and psychiatric diseases too.

paragraphs: The term 'endorphin rush' is sometimes used in normal speech to refer to a feeling of wellness caused by exercise, danger or stress. However, it is not a medical term, and it is not proven that higher endorphin production after exercise really has a role in the wellness feeling.

paragraphs: Another term which is commonly used is 'runner's high'. It refers to the feeling being "high" (full of energy and wellness) after exercise. It is commonly said that the "high" is a result of the release of bigger amounts of endorphins in the body during the exercise. However, some scientists think this feeling is caused by the challenge, and is not related to endorphin release.

paragraphs: For example, in some studies a drug was given to people which blocked the effect of endorphins. These people still felt the runner's high; it means this feeling is not caused by the release of endorphins in the blood. Another study was performed in 2004, which showed this feeling is related to a different body chemical named "anandamide". is not an endorphine but is an endocannabinoid, similar to one of the chemicals in marijuana and chocolate.


title: Team Fortress 2

paragraphs: Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter video game made by a company called Valve Corporation.

paragraphs: The game has nine characters, called classes, and two teams that battle each other in many different ways, like Payload, which has one team pushing a cart along a track while the other team tries to stop them, and a twist on capture the flag where instead of a flag players must capture a briefcase with important papers. The game is set in 1968, in an alternate history. The game is also inspired from many famous Spy Movies and TV shows, taking elements from James Bond, The Man from U.N.C.L.E, and Get Smart.

paragraphs: The game was first released in October of 2007 in "The Orange Box", a package with "Half Life 2", "Portal" and "Team Fortress 2". It was later released separately for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac computers. It became free to play on June 23, 2011.

paragraphs: "Team Fortress 2" has nine classes. The classes are split into groups of three, which are offense, and support. Each class has its own strengths and weaknesses, causing the classes to rely on each other to win, promoting teamwork. Also, each class can change their weapons to different ones that they find over time or make from scrap metal. For example, the Soldier could change his normal rocket launcher into 'The Direct Hit.' It shoots faster, stronger rockets at the cost of having a smaller explosion size. In general, the different weapons are not upgrades, but rather 'side-grades.' They are better at certain times, while worse at other times.

paragraphs: The offensive classes are the "Scout", the "Soldier", and the "Pyro". These classes have abilities that make them best suited for attacking the other team, but also easy to kill.

paragraphs: "The Scout" is a young man from Boston with an interest in baseball. He is the fastest runner in the game, making him a good class to use in capture the flag, as he can run in, grab the enemy team's briefcase, and run out. Also, he captures control points at twice the speed of any other class. However, he also is tied for the lowest health of any class. His default weapons include a scattergun, a pistol, and a baseball bat. He is excellent at killing Medics and Demomen.

paragraphs: "The Soldier" is a middle-aged man from the American midwest. His main weapon is a rocket launcher which he can use to blow up enemies, or, if fired at his own feet, can be used to make him jump very high. This is called 'rocket jumping.' Rocket jumping will hurt the Soldier, though, and if he is low on health, it could kill him. Rocket jumping can also make the Soldier move forward very fast, sometimes even faster than the Scout. Soldier also uses shotguns and shovels to attack. The Soldier is a good offensive class but he cannot move very fast and is easy to hit. The Soldier has a large amount of health, the second highest of all the classes.

paragraphs: "The Pyro" is a character wearing a full-body rubber suit and gas mask, so nobody knows their race, age, or gender. They also speak in a muffled voice so nobody knows what they're really saying. Pyro's main weapon is a flamethrower, used to set enemies on fire. Once an enemy is set on fire, they will burn for several seconds, meaning they can die even if they have killed the Pyro that set them on fire. This is called "Afterburn". For backup, they have a shotgun and a fire axe. The Pyro is good for checking for Spies using their flamethrower. This is called "Spy-checking". Pyros can help against Übercharged players by pushing them back with an "Air blast" or "Compression blast". The air blast can also reflect projectiles, such as grenades or rockets, back at the enemy team, which will inflict bonus damage. They are weak at long range. The Pyro has a good amount of both health and speed.

paragraphs: The defensive classes are the "Demoman", the "Heavy Weapons Guy", and the "Engineer". The abilities of these classes make them best for defending things their team needs, such as control points, briefcases, and carts.

paragraphs: "The Demoman", short for Demolition Man, is a black Scotsman with an eyepatch. His main weapons are a grenade launcher and sticky bombs. Grenades will explode immediately if you hit a player before the grenade hits the ground, or a few seconds after being shot if they do not hit anything. Sticky bombs can stick to walls and then be set off by the Demoman when an enemy gets close. The Demoman can also replace his sticky launcher for a shield. The shield lets the Demoman charge forward at high speeds, and do more damage with his close-ranged weapon. His close-range weapon is a bottle of whiskey. The Demoman is a very strong class. His sticky bombs do great damage, and can be used to 'sticky jump' much like how a Soldier can rocket jump. Also like the Soldier, the Demoman is good in most situations. He is an easy target for Scouts, however.

paragraphs: "The Heavy Weapons Guy", also known as the Heavy, is a middle-aged man from the Soviet Union who is built like a tank. Because of his large size, he has the highest health of all the classes. Also because of his size, he is the slowest runner. His main weapon is a minigun which he named Sasha and treats like a person. The minigun does by far the most damage at close range of any gun in the game, due to its high fire rate and damage. It uses a lot of ammunition very quickly, so if he runs out, he can use his shotgun or his fists to punch enemies to death. The Heavy is great at close range or in small, cramped places. Spies and Snipers are useful for killing Heavies because they are capable of doing high damage instantly with backstabs (Spy) and headshots (Sniper). At close range, the Heavy will usually win one-on-one fights unless he is surprised.

paragraphs: "The Engineer" is a middle-aged man from Bee Cave, Texas with 11 Ph.D.s. His main use is to make buildings. His first building, the Sentry Gun, is a non-moving gun that targets enemies and shoots automatically. It can be improved to have more health and firepower. His next building is the Dispenser, which gives his nearby friends health and ammo. Finally, he can also build teleporters, which can move his friends closer to the fight. The Engineer also has a shotgun, pistol, and a wrench to defend himself. His Sentries are great for stopping anything short of an Übercharged player. The Engineer himself is weak, and poorly placed Sentries can be blown up by smart Soldiers and Demomen. Spies also ruin the Engineer's day.

paragraphs: Finally, the supporting classes are the "Medic", the "Sniper", and the "Spy". Their abilities are there to help the team, so they do not typically engage in direct combat, but can if they must.

paragraphs: "The Medic" is an older man from Stuttgart, Germany. His main duty is healing the other classes. He has a machine called the Medigun which, when pointed at a teammate, slowly restores their health. He can also 'overheal' players, which gives them more health than they can normally have. This overheal slowly fades over time. After healing for a few minutes, the Medic is able to use an Übercharge, which makes him and his heal target invincible for a few seconds. For defense, the Medic has a bone saw and a gun that shoots syringes. The Medic is a very powerful teammate, but is easy to kill at the same time. Since he loses almost every direct fight, he usually stays with a teammate who he heals, called a 'Medic Buddy' or 'Pocket.' This Pocket player's job is to keep the Medic safe. The Pocket is usually a Heavy, Soldier, or Demoman due to their large health and firepower.

paragraphs: "The Sniper" is Australian. His main weapon is a sniper rifle. He often stays in one area away from the main battlefield and shoots enemies from a distance using careful aim. He also has a sword and a sub-machine gun he can use in close combat. The Sniper is very good at killing the enemy Medics, Heavies, and Engineers. An uncharged shot to the head does 150 damage. Only Pyros, Demomen, Soldiers, and Heavies can survive this without an overheal. A fully charged shot to the head deals 450 damage, enough to kill even an overhealed Heavy.

paragraphs: "The Spy" is a French man. His main asset is stealth. He has a watch which makes him invisible for short periods of time, and a cigarette case with disguises in it. He can disguise as any member of the other team to trick them into not hurting him. This disguise also tricks Sentry Guns built by Engineers. The Spy can also place 'sappers' on enemy buildings, hurting them and turning them off until an Engineer can remove the sapper. For fighting, he has a revolver and a knife. The knife allows the Spy to kill an enemy instantly if he stabs them in the back. He is useful for killing Medics, Heavies, Engineers, and Snipers. The Pyro is able to easily stop him, as even when he turns invisible or is disguised, players can still see the fire on him. The Spy is considered a "pick class", meaning he is very dispensable but also very useful to get certain kills.

paragraphs: There are several different ways the game can be played, each with different goals for the two opposing teams. For all games, players are split into the RED and BLU teams. RED stands for Reliable Excavation and Demolition. Players on this team have red uniforms. Buildings owned by the RED team are also usually red and made of wood. BLU stands for Builders League United. Players on this team wear blue uniforms. Buildings owned by the BLU team are usually blue and made of concrete.

paragraphs: The Payload game mode has the offensive team pushing a cart with a bomb on it along a track while the defending team tries to stop them. If the offensive team cannot get the cart to the end of the track before the time limit runs out, they lose. If they are successful, the defending team's base is blown up. Along the track are Checkpoints. Each Checkpoint the offensive team pushes the cart over will give them extra time to get the cart to the end of the track.

paragraphs: Valve later added a race mode to Payload maps, where both teams push a cart along a track to the other team's base. The team that gets the cart to the other team's base first wins.

paragraphs: Control Point maps involve both teams attacking and defending the opposing team's Control Points. A Control Point is a circle on the ground that glows the color of the team that has captured it. Control Points are captured by standing on them for a certain length of time. There are three kinds of Control Point maps.

paragraphs: Standard Control Point, or Linear Control Point, maps play symmetrically. Both teams start with two controlled points, and a central point starts out neutral. The team that captures all control points wins. Traditional Control Point maps will go into Sudden Death (or Stalemate) if no team captures all the control points before times runs out. Control points closer to a team's spawn point are captured more quickly by the enemy team.

paragraphs: Attack/Defend maps play asymmetrically. RED begins with all the points in their control. BLU wins if it captures all of RED's points, but RED wins if the timer runs out before BLU can capture them all. Points may only be captured in a set order (though some maps, such as Gravel Pit and Steel, may make exceptions). RED wins if it prevents BLU from capturing all points before the timer expires. Points captured by BLU are typically locked and cannot be captured again by RED.

paragraphs: In Territorial Control, the goal is to take over the entire map by capturing "territories". Each game is randomly selected from the six available layouts in a 'point against point' game where both teams must capture the opposite point while defending their own. After a team successfully captures the opposite point, the next round takes place in a different area of the map which is also randomly selected. After a team captures all four territories, that team must capture the enemy team's base. If the base point is captured (in Hydro, the Radar Dish for RED, the Power Plant for BLU), the attacking team wins the game. When the next round begins, territories are reset and a new random layout is selected. The Territorial Control game mode is not very popular amongst players.

paragraphs: In Domination Control Point, maps play symmetrically. Both teams start with no controlled points, and all points start out neutral. The team that captures all control points wins. Traditional Control Point maps will go into Sudden Death (or Stalemate) if no team captures all the control points before times runs out. Unlike Standard Control Point, once a team has all three points they win regardless of how much capture progress the other team has. There is currently only one

paragraphs: In Capture the Flag mode, the map is split into two nearly identical bases; one for each team. Both bases have a briefcase in them. The goal is for one team to grab the other team's briefcase and bring it back to their own base, while defending their own briefcase. You must capture the enemy intelligence 3 times in order to win the game, but server modifications can alter the number. When a player carrying the briefcase is killed, the intelligence is on the ground and returns to its base after a 60 second time period. The player who dropped the intelligence or his team can pick up the briefcase before it returns and still capture it. If a player drops the intelligence by falling into a bottomless pit, it automatically returns to its base. The briefcase can also be manually dropped.

paragraphs: In King of the Hill mode, two teams fight to gain control over one point which is in the center of the map. When one team captures the point, they must defend it for three minutes to win. During this time, the enemy team can attack and capture the point too. This happens over and over again until one team successfully holds the point for three minutes in total. It is not needed to hold the point for three minutes at one time.

paragraphs: In Arena mode, two teams fight to the death. Once a team is completely wiped out, the other team wins. There is no respawning in Arena mode. Another way to win is to capture the control point that activates until one minute in the match. Once this point is captured by a team, that team wins.

paragraphs: Medieval Mode is just like Attack/Defend except that there are no guns allowed in Medieval mode. Players can use melee weapons and weapons that don't have firepower but cannot use guns, rocket launchers, flame throwers, stickybomb launchers, or grenade launchers. So far, there is only one official Medieval Mode map, which is DeGroot Keep.

paragraphs: Special Delivery is a Game Mode released as part of the Pyromania Update. In this game mode, an initially neutral briefcase of Australium must be transported to Poopy Joe's rocket before the opposing team can do the same. If a player picks up the Australium and is killed while holding it, only players from the same team as the dead briefcase carrier can pick it up again. If the team fails to do so within a few seconds, the briefcase is sent back to its original position. The player who has hold of the Australium must be on the platform that is raised to the compartment at the head of the rocket and must stay on the platform as the Australium is placed into the compartment, launching the rocket and winning the round. There is currently only one official Special Delivery map, and that is Doomsday.

paragraphs: In Mann vs. Machine (commonly abbreviated as MvM), a team of six players (all wearing RED uniforms) must stop hordes of robots divided into waves from deploying a portable bomb into their base. When a robot is destroyed, it drops an in-game currency known as "credits." Players can pick up these credits before they disappear and use them to buy upgrades for their weapons and themselves. Some weapon upgrades include more damage, faster firing speed, more ammo, etc. Some player upgrades include faster speed, higher jump height, health regeneration, etc. There are different kinds of robots with different weapons and abilities. Some robots are known as "Giants." A giant normally has far better weapons and abilities than their normal counterparts.

paragraphs: There is a special type of MvM known as "Mann Up" mode. In Mann Up mode, players complete "Tours" using "Tour of Duty Tickets" or "Squad Surplus Vouchers" they have bought from the online store, known as the Mann Co. Store. Each "Operation" has a specific number of Tours in them. Finish all the waves in a Tour and all the Tours to complete the Operation. Different Tours are for different skill levels and have different robots. Completing Tours and Operations will give the players "loot" or special in-game cosmetic items players use to customize their character. In Mann Up mode, the gameplay (upgrades, maps, robots) are the same in standard MvM.

paragraphs: Valve Corporation posted several animations using their Source Film Maker (commonly abbreviated as SFM) program from 2009 to 2012. Each one of these videos are short skits using humorous depictions of the 9 Team Fortress 2 classes in their real lives, and out in battle. Some of these videos have been viewed many times with, "Meet The Medic", at 57 Million views. And, "Meet The Spy", at 30 Million views, and more.


title: Big Black

paragraphs: Big Black was an American punk rock band. The band formed in 1981 with Steve Albini playing all of the instruments and a drum machine for percussion.

paragraphs: Big Black's music was very loud and distorted. Many Big Black songs have stories about violence in them.


title: Company of Heroes

paragraphs: Company of Heroes is a strategy video game where you control soldiers in order to win. It is based on World War II.


title: Game & Watch

paragraphs: The Game & Watch was a series of small, hand-held video games made by Gunpei Yokoi of Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. The games were usually simplistic (For example, "Chef" required keeping food in the air). It was the forerunner of the Game Boy (meaning it came before the Game Boy).

paragraphs: "Super Smash Bros. Melee" and "Super Smash Bros. Brawl."


title: Fecundity

paragraphs: Fecundity, coming from the word "fecund", generally means the ability to reproduce.

paragraphs: In biology and demography, fecundity is the ability to reproduce of an organism or population, measured by the number of gametes (eggs), seed set or asexual propagules. Fecundity is under both genetic and environmental control, and is the major measure of biological fitness. "Fecundation" is another term for fertilisation.

paragraphs: Fecundity can increase or decrease in a population according to current conditions and certain regulating factors. For instance, in times of hardship for a population such as a lack of food, juvenile and eventually adult fecundity may decrease.

paragraphs: In the philosophy of science, 'fecundity' refers to the ability of a scientific theory to open new lines of theoretical inquiry. Here, the original meaning is extended by analogy.


title: Séan T. O'Kelly

paragraphs: Seán Thomas O'Kelly (; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966) was the second President of Ireland. He served two terms from 1945 to 1959. He was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1918 until his election as President. During this time he had been Minister for Local Government (1932–1939) and Minister for Finance (1939–1945). Ó Ceallaigh served as Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1932 until 1937 and was the first Tánaiste of Éire from 1937 until 1945.

paragraphs: Ó Ceallaigh was born in Dublin on Capel Street in the north inner-city Dublin. He joined the National Library of Ireland in 1898 as a junior assistant. The same year, he joined the Gaelic League, becoming a member of the governing body in 1910 and General Secretary in 1915.

paragraphs: In 1905 Ó Ceallaigh joined Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin then wanted a dual-monarchy. He was an honorary secretary of the party from 1908 until 1925. In 1906 he was elected to Dublin Corporation, which was Dublin's city council. He retained the seat until 1924.

paragraphs: Pádraig Pearse made Ó Ceallaigh his helper when Pearse was getting ready for the Easter Rising.

paragraphs: After the Easter Rising in 1916, Ó Ceallaigh was put in jail, released, and put in jail again. He escaped from jail in Fairfield in the UK, and came back to Ireland.

paragraphs: O'Kelly was elected Sinn Féin MP for College Green in the 1918 British general election. Along with other Sinn Féin MPs he refused to take his seat in the British House of Commons. Instead they set up an Irish parliament, called Dáil Éireann, in Dublin. Ó Ceallaigh wasCeann Comhairle(Chairman) of the First Dáil. He was the Irish Republic's envoy to the post-World War One peace treaty negotiations at Versailles, but the other countries refused to allow him to speak, because they did not recognise the Irish Republic

paragraphs: Ó Ceallaigh was a close friend of Éamon de Valera, and both he and de Valera opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921.

paragraphs: When de Valera resigned as President of the Irish Republic on 6 January 1922, Ó Ceallaigh returned from Paristo try to persuade de Valera to return to the presidency. A de Valera was furious and ordered Ó Ceallaigh to return to Paris.

paragraphs: During the Irish Civil War, O'Kelly was in jail until December 1923. Afterwards he spent the next two years as a Sinn Féin envoy to the United States.

paragraphs: In 1926 when de Valera left Sinn Féin to found his own republican party, Fianna Fáil, Ó Ceallaigh followed him, becoming one of the party's founding members. In 1932, when de Valera, was appointed President of the Executive Council (prime minister) of the Irish Free State he made Ó Ceallaigh Minister for Local Government. Ó Ceallaigh often tried to publicly humiliate the Governor-General of the Irish Free State, James McNeill. Stunts such as withdrawing the Irish Army's band from playing at diplomatic functions which the Governor-General attended, or in one notorious case the sight of O'Kelly and Defence Minister Frank Aiken storming out of a diplomatic function at the French Legation when McNeill, the guest of honour, arrived, damaged Ó Ceallaigh's reputation and image, particularly when the campaign backfired.

paragraphs: Before resigning, McNeill published his letters to de Valera about this. It made de Valera appear foolish, and made de Valera choose a new Governor-General. To the surprise of many, Ó Ceallaigh's was not considered for the office. Instead former Fianna Fáil TD, Domhnall Ua Buachalla from County Kildare, would be the last Governor-General.

paragraphs: In 1938, many thought that de Valera wanted to make Ó Ceallaigh the Fianna Fáil choice to become President of Ireland, under the new Irish constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann. When Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alfie Byrne, said he wanted to be president there was an all party agreement to nominate Dubhghlas de hÍde, a Protestant Irish Senator, Irish language enthusiast and founder of the Conradh na Gaeilge. They thought de hÍde was the only person who might win an election against Alfie Byrne. Ó Ceallaigh was appointed Minister of Finance instead, and helped create Central Bank in 1942.

paragraphs: Ó Ceallaigh left the cabinet in 1945 when he was elected President of Ireland in a popular vote of the people, defeating two other candidates.

paragraphs: Ó Ceallaigh was re-elected unopposed in 1952. During his second term he visited many nations in Europe and spoke to the United States Congress in 1959. He retired at the end of his second term in 1959, to be replaced by his old friend, Éamon de Valera.

paragraphs: Ó Ceallaigh did not refer any Bills to the Supreme Court to see if they were legal, but he did ask his official advisors, called the Council of State, if he should refer the Health Bill, 1947 but he decided not to.

paragraphs: Ó Ceallaigh's strong Roman Catholic beliefs sometimes caused problems. de Valera often thought that Ó Ceallaigh either deliberately or accidentally leaked information to the Knights of Columbanus, and the Church leaders. Ó Ceallaigh ensured that his first state visit, following the creation of the Republic of Ireland in 1949, was to the Vatican to meet Pope Pius XII. Ó Ceallaigh accidentally revealed the Pope's private views on communism. This angered the Pope and Stalin. This is why he was not given the papal Order of Christ which was given to many Catholic heads of state.

paragraphs: When he retired as president in 1959, he was described as a model President by the normally hostile Irish Times newspaper. Though controversial, Ó Ceallaigh was widely seen as a genuine and honest, but tactless.

paragraphs: He died on November 23, 1966 (aged 84), fifty years after the Easter Rising that first brought him to prominence. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.

paragraphs: Mary Kate Ryan and Ó Ceallaigh were married from 1918 until Mary Kate's death in 1934.

paragraphs: In 1936 he married his second wife Phyllis, who was Mary Kate's sister. Another sister was married to Fine Gael leader General Richard Mulcahy, and a brother was Fianna Fáil minister, James Ryan. O'Kelly died in Dublin.


title: Teachta Dála

paragraphs: A Teachta Dála, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament. Usually only the initials TD are used, after the person's name.

paragraphs: The letters are used in the same way that MP is used to show that someone is a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom.


title: Léo Delibes

paragraphs: Léo Delibes (born St. Germain-du-Val, France, 21 February 1836; died St. Germain-du-Val 16 January 1891) was a French composer of Romantic music. He is particularly famous for his ballets, especially "Coppélia", and operettas and operas, of which "Lakmé" is the most famous.

paragraphs: Delibes’s father worked for the post office. His mother was musical and played the piano. Her father, the composer’s grandfather, had been a baritone in the Opéra-Comique and she had a brother who was an organist and professor at the Paris Conservatoire.

paragraphs: When Delibes’s father died in 1847 his family moved to Paris so that the young Léo, who was 11, could continue having a good musical education. At first he found it difficult living in a large city as he was used to the countryside. He was a student of the well-known composer and teacher Adolphe Adam. At first he did well in his music lessons and won prizes, but after a few years he no longer won any prizes. He never tried to win the Prix de Rome which is what all French students of composition normally want to do. As a young boy he sang in choirs. Later he became a church organist and an accompanist at the Théâtre-Lyrique.

paragraphs: Soon Delibes started to composer operettas. He wrote 14 operettas in 14 years. He was commissioned to write some music to celebrate the emperor’s return from Algiers. The piece he wrote was called "Alger". It was a huge success. The emperor gave him a gold medal, personally fastening a pin with diamonds to his lapel. In 1864 he became chorus master at the Opéra where he coached the chorus to sing many famous operas. Two years later he started to write ballets. These became very successful and three years later he stopped writing operettas.

paragraphs: In 1870 his ballet "Coppélia" was produced. By 1884 it had been performed 100 times. Together with "La Sylphide" and "Giselle" it was one of the most popular of all ballets. The story is about a man who makes a mechanical doll. Another popular ballet he wrote was "Sylvia". His most successful opera was "Lakmé" which was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in 1883. It gives great opportunity for the main soprano, especially in the song called the "Bell Song". Musicians usually think "Lakmé" is his greatest work.

paragraphs: Delibes died in 1891, and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.

paragraphs: Delibes started to compose at a time when ballet had become less popular in France than it had been earlier. Around the time of the Revolution there had been lots of performances of ballet, but during the 19th century there was less interest with the exception of "La Sylphide" and "Giselle". Delibes was to change that. He had a great gift for writing easy melodies. At one time he thought he ought to compose like Wagner, using richer harmonies and leitmotifs, but fortunately he chose not to, following instead the style to which he was so well suited. "Coppélia" is in the repertoire of all major ballet companies, and several of its tunes are familiar to people even if they do not know where they come from.

paragraphs: The Flower duet from "Lakmé" became particularly well known in recent years through an advert for British Airways.


title: Rugrats

paragraphs: Rugrats was an American animated children's adventure sitcom. It was created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series originally aired from August 11, 1991 to 22 May, 1994 as Nickelodeon only ordered 61 episodes for the show (With an extra episode "Passover" which aired on 13, April 1995) but the show was so successful in ratings for its reruns that it began a new run that lasted from 6 December, 1996 through August 1, 2004. The show centers around four babies and their adventures. It was the first Nicktoon, and it also aired on Nick Jr. in 1996.

paragraphs: The series' main character is Tommy Pickles. He was a filmmaker since he was a baby. His group of friends are the other characters. Chuckie Finster (2-3 years old) is Tommy's best friend. He has red hair and wears glasses. Phil and Lil DeVille are twins. They love digging for insects and earthworms. Tommy, Phil and Lil appeared in the pilot episode. Spike Pickles is the Pickles family's dog.

paragraphs: Tommy's baby brother is Dil. He was born in "The Rugrats Movie". Angelica Pickles is Tommy's older cousin. She is the main antagonist of the program. Kimi is Chuckie's playful stepsister. She first appeared in "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie". Susie Carmichael is Angelica's schoolmate and best friend.

paragraphs: The other characters include the babies' parents. The parents are easily distracted. This lets the children get away and explore.

paragraphs: In the pilot, Phil was Tommy's best friend.

paragraphs: Angelica (voiced by Cheryl Chase) and Prudence (voiced by Stacy Ann "Fergie" Ferguson Duhamel) are bullies.

paragraphs: Kimi first appeared in "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie" and is of Asian and European descent like Tommy.


title: Guyver

paragraphs: The word Guyver is a word made by manga artist Yoshiki Takaya. It can refer to:


title: Displacement vector

paragraphs: A displacement vector is a concept from mathematics. It is a vector. It shows the direction and distance traveled with a straight line. It is often used in physics to display the speed, acceleration and distance of an object traveled (relative to a reference point or an object's starting position).


title: Enkephalin

paragraphs: Enkephalins were the first endorphins that were discovered in the brain. They are found in many parts of the brain, specially in the basal ganglia. They act as "natural pain killers".

paragraphs: Enkephalins are small proteins. They consist of five amino acids in each of their molecules. The last amino acid is either leucine (leu) or methionine (met).

paragraphs: Enkephalin is a brain neurotransmitter that is formed when tyrocine, glycine, glycine, phenylalanine, and methionine through a condensation reaction or dehydration synthesis.


title: Receptor (cell biology)

paragraphs: In cell biology, receptors are special structures that can be found in cell membranes. These are made of protein molecules such as glycoproteins. Receptors bind (attach) to specialised molecules. If the receptor has this molecule, it is activated, but if it does not it is deactivated. Depending on its state, a change inside the cell happens.

paragraphs: Cell surface receptors (membrane receptors, transmembrane receptors) take part in communication between the cell and the outside world. Extracellular signalling molecules (usually hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines, growth factors or cell recognition molecules) attach to the receptor. This triggers changes in the function of the cell. The process is called signal transduction: The binding starts a chemical change on the inside of the membrane.

paragraphs: In short, receptors work like locks and keys. With the key, the lock can be locked or unlocked. If it is unlocked, the door belonging to it can be opened.

paragraphs: Part of the receptor sticks out of the cell membrane. The same applies to the membranes of cell organelles. A receptor's main function is to recognize and respond to a specific ligand, for example, a neurotransmitter or hormone. Some receptors respond to changes in 'transmembrane potential' (the difference in electric potential between the inside and the outside of a cell).

paragraphs: The middle part, inside the membrane itself, is a protein-lined pore through the membrane, or 'ion channel'. When the ligand binds to the surface, the pore becomes accessible to ions, which then pass through. In other cases, where differences in electric potential occur, the receptor changes in shape, which causes change inside the cell.

paragraphs: The inside (or cytoplasmic) part of the receptor interacts with the inside of the cell or organelle. There are several different kinds of receptor, each of which acts in a different way.


title: Coppélia

paragraphs: Coppélia ou La fille aux yeux d'email () is probably the best-known and most performed comedy ballet in the world. Arthur Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter based the ballet on E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale "Der Sandmann" (). Léo Delibes wrote the music. Saint-Léon choreographed the ballet.

paragraphs: The ballet is set in a Polish village long ago. Swanhilda and Frantz are sweethearts. Swanhilda thinks Frantz is in love with Coppélia, a strange girl in the house of a dollmaker named Dr. Coppélius. Swanhilda discovers Coppélia is a doll. Dr. Coppélius tries to bring the doll to life using Frantz's life force. Swanhilda saves her sweetheart's life, and the two live happily ever after.

paragraphs: "Coppélia" was in rehearsal for three years. It had many troubles. One was finding just the right dancer to portray Swanhilda. Sixteen-year-old Giuseppina Bozzacchi was finally chosen. Frantz was played by Eugenie Fiocre. The ballet was first performed on 25 May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra in Paris. "Coppélia" was a great success. It has been performed around the world.

paragraphs: Act I. Coppélia is set in a small village in Poland at the end of the 18th century. Swanhilda and Frantz are young peasants. They are sweethearts. Frantz however is flirting with Coppélia, a strange girl in the dark house of a dollmaker named Dr. Coppélius. Swanhilda is upset with her sweetheart's behavior.

paragraphs: One evening, Dr. Coppélius leaves home. He drops his key in the street. Swanhilda finds the key. She opens his door and goes into the house with her girlfriends. Frantz enters the street quietly. He puts a ladder against a window of the house. Coppelius returns and chases Frantz away.

paragraphs: Act II. Swanhilda and her girlfriends explore Dr. Coppélius's workroom. It is filled with life-size dolls. Swanhilda discovers Coppélia is also a doll. Coppélius enters and chases the girls away. Swanhilda hides. Frantz climbs through the window. Coppélius welcomes him. He needs a human sacrifice to bring Coppélia to life.

paragraphs: Coppélius give Frantz a glass of wine. The boy falls asleep. The dollmaker performs a magic spell. He tries to bring Coppélia to life using Frantz's life force. Swanhilda pretends to be Coppélia. She destroys the workroom, and saves Frantz's life. Coppélius faints as the sweethearts run away.

paragraphs: Act III. A new church bell is blessed. Swanhilda and Frantz (and other couples) are going to be married. They have all been given dowries by the Lord of the Manor. Dr. Coppélius enters. He is angry. He wants to be paid for the damage done to his workroom. Swanhilda offers her dowry.

paragraphs: The Lord of the Manor allows Swanhilda to keep her dowry. He agrees to pay for the damages. The couples enter the chapel. The celebrations start with the "Dance of the Hours". Dawn, Day, the Hour of Prayer, and other dances are performed. The married couples return. All rejoice.

paragraphs: Several changes were made to Hoffmann's dark fairy tale when it was adapted to the bright and gay "Coppélia". In Hoffmann's fairy tale, for example, the doll comes to life through the hero's life force. In the ballet though, the doll remains a doll. Coppélius's attempt to bring it to life is thwarted by Swanhilda.

paragraphs: In another example, Hoffmann's hero sees the doll in a vision. He then falls from a tower to his death. The hero of "Coppélia" however is saved by his sweetheart. A happy ending replaces a tragic ending.

paragraphs: The designers of the ballet chose only Dr. Coppélius, the life-sized doll, and the young man torn between his attraction to the doll and his love for a human sweetheart for their adaptation. They set the story in a simple country village. Hoffmann set his story in "the philosophically oriented bourgeois society" of the early 19th century.

paragraphs: The spirit of "Coppélia" is lighthearted and gay. The story of the ballet is simple. Its fantastic touches such as the dollmaker and his workshop make "Coppélia", according to Lincoln Kirstein, "a trifle presumed especially appealing to children."

paragraphs: "Coppélia" is one of many (if not the first) ballet about bringing a doll to life. Charles Nuitter started work on the libretto in late 1866 or early 1867. He had a young dancer named Léontine Beaugrand in mind for the part of Swanhilda. Delibes set to work writing the music.

paragraphs: Rehearsals started. The director of the Opéra wanted a star with a well known name to portray the ballet's heroine, Swanhilda. Beaugrand was a lovely young dancer, but her career was just starting. She had yet to have the sort of name that would draw ballet-goers to the theatre.

paragraphs: Adèle Grantzow, a German ballerina dancing at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, was hired to play Swanhilda. Saint-Léon was working between France and Russia at this time. He could not completely devote himself to "Coppélia". Consequently, the ballet was rehearsed over a three-year period.

paragraphs: "Coppélia" lost its star when Grantzow was injured. She went back to Russia. Beaugrand was again passed over for the part of Swanhilda. Giuseppina Bozzacchi was a sixteen-year-old dancer in the company. It was she who was chosen to play Swanhilda.

paragraphs: "Coppélia" was first performed on 25 May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra. Giuseppina Bozzacchi played Swanhilda. Eugénie Fiocre played Frantz. Francois-Édouard Dauty portrayed Dr. Coppélius. A real mechanical doll was used as Coppélia. Because a woman played Frantz, a "pas de deux" for Swanhilda and Frantz was not possible. Nonetheless, the ballet was a great success.

paragraphs: Bozzacchi danced eighteen performances of the ballet before the theatre closed because of the Franco-Prussian War. She died of a fever during the Siege of Paris on her seventeenth birthday, 23 November 1870.

paragraphs: When the theatres reopened in 1871, Beaugrand played Swanhilda with great success. The part of Frantz was again played by a woman in men's clothing. Frantz would be a travesty role at the Paris Opéra until the 1950s.

paragraphs: "Coppélia" was the first ballet score written completely by Delibes. He studied with Adolphe Adam. Adam was the composer of the enduring romantic ballet, "Giselle", and the first to use leitmotifs in ballet. Delibes, like his teacher, used leitmotifs to identify persons and places in "Coppelia". Swanhilda has a waltz, and Frantz has two leitmotifs. Coppélius has a dry-sounding motif and the doll has an odd-sounding little motif. Bustling, lively music identifies the village square. Sinister music identifies Coppélius's workshop.

paragraphs: Delibes appreciated the folk music of eastern Europe. He wrote both a Polish dance called the mazurka, and an Hungarian dance called the czardas for the ballet. Delibes's czardas was the first written for a ballet. Other ethnic music in the ballet include a Spanish bolero and a Scottish jig. Frantz has no solo dance in the original ballet because a woman played the part. A pas de deux for Frantz and Swanhilda was not possible for the same reason. The pas de deux now in the ballet was the addition of Marius Petipa. He put a pas de deux in the ballet when he rearranged the music for his 1884 St Petersburg production.

paragraphs: Lincoln Kirstein describes the music as "sprightly" and the "most durable since Adam's "Giselle"". Dance music had become the "miserable servant" of the dance, Kirstein points out, until Delibes's colorful, rhythmically varied, and richly orchestrated "Coppélia". While the music did little to change dance design itself, he writes, it did provide a criterion for future ballet music.

paragraphs: The critic of "Le Figaro" wrote on 28 May 1870, "M. Léo Delibes has composed for the three scenes of "Coppélia" a distinguished, piquant, and colorful score, excellently orchestrated ... It is very difficult to write for legs with a little artistry, taste, and style. For instance, ballets such as "Giselle" are not improvised by the dozen. M. Delibes has avoided the commonplace in a piece where it has every right to succeed."

paragraphs: The critic of "Le Ménestrel" wrote about Bozzacchi on 29 May 1870, "The title of child prodigy should be devised for her had it had not been abused in so many other cases; although scarcely fifteen years old she is already a very skillful dancer, what is better still in our opinion, she is a graceful and a witty actress; add to that a well-proportioned, dainty little body, and that she bids fair to have the prettiest features in the world. If she fulfills all her first promises, she will be a power in her profession."

paragraphs: "Coppelia" was, and still is, very popular. The Paris Opéra Ballet has performed "Coppelia" 711 times over 90 years. In 1996, Patrice Bart created a new version of the ballet. He went back to Hoffmann's fairy tale. In the process, he brought some psychological depth to the ballet's characters. He even put one of Hoffmann's original characters, Professor Spalanzani, into his new version. Bart also used music from Delibes's operas "Le Roi l'a dit" and "Lakmé".

paragraphs: "Coppélia" was first performed in England at the Empire Theatre in London on 14 May 1906. Adeline Genée danced Swanhilda. The Royal Ballet first staged "Coppélia" in 1933. This staging was Nicholas Sergeyev's version based on the 19th century revision by Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti. Dame Ninette de Valois danced Swanilda in Sergeyev's 1933 version. In 1954, de Valois created her own version based on the Russian versions of "Coppélia".

paragraphs: "Coppélia" was first performed in Russia in 1884. Marius Petipa adapted the original choreography for this production. In 2009, Sergei Vikharev reconstructed "Coppélia" for the Bolshoi Ballet from the Mariinsky Theatre records of 1894. This version featured new designs and 24 dancers in the "Dance of the Hours". Vikharev's version was staged in London in 2010 as part of the Bolshoi's summer tour.

paragraphs: "Coppélia" was first performed in the United States by the American Opera Company at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 11 March 1887. Marie Giuri danced Swanhilda and Felicita Carossa danced Frantz. Anna Pavlova made her American debut in the role of Swanhilda at the Metropolitan Opera on 28 February 1910. George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova choreographed a version of "Coppélia" in 1974. Their production used the traditional story in the first two scenes, but dropped the third scene's "Dance of the Hours" for a general celebration of ballet.

paragraphs: "Coppelia" was first performed in Australia in Melbourne in 1913. Adeline Gennée and members of the Imperial Russian Ballet performed the ballet on the opening night of their Australian tour. This version was produced by Alexandre Volonine, and was supplemented with music by C. J. M. Glaser.

paragraphs: The first Australian production premiered in 1931 in Sydney, Australia. This production was designed and staged by Louise Lightfoot and performed by the First Australian Ballet. Australian ballet lovers then saw selections from the ballet as well as complete, full length productions by both Australian and foreign companies in the following decades.

paragraphs: A version of "Coppélia" was staged by the National Ballet of China in Beijing in 2002. The dances for this production were designed by Par Isberg. The production opened at the Tianqiao Theatre on 1 May 2002. Wang Qiming played Coppélia. The production stayed close to the original, but the story was simplified and made modern. Costumes included jeans for men and short, tight skirts for women. Some of the women danced on roller skates.


title: Pan-German movement

paragraphs: Pan-German Movement (from , all, and "Germania") is an ideological and political movement promoting the unification of all German-speaking peoples of Europe.


title: IMVU

paragraphs: IMVU is an instant messaging client that uses three dimensional avatars to represent people. It was made in 2004 and has over 20 million users. Users can change how their avatar looks by buying things with "IMVU credits" earned in the game. It is free to join, but some features cost money. Most features can be bought with the game currency ("IMVU credits").


title: Constance Georgine, Countess Markiewicz

paragraphs: Constance, Countess Markiewicz, born as Constance Georgine Gore-Booth on February 4, 1868, died July 15, 1927), was an Irish Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.

paragraphs: She was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, but she did not take her seat. Instead she and the other Sinn Féin TDs formed the first Dáil Éireann. She is well known for founding Cumann na mBan.

paragraphs: She was also the first woman in Europe to be a cabinet minister, She was Minister of Labour of the Irish Republic between 1919 and 1922.


title: Nas

paragraphs: Nas (born Nasir Jones on September 14, 1973) is an American hip hop musician and actor. He is most known for his first album, "Illmatic", which was released in 1994. It has been widely critically praised. Nas has been nominated for twelve Grammy Awards.

paragraphs: Nas was born on September 14, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York.

paragraphs: On June 15, 1994, Nas's ex-fiancée Carmen Bryan gave birth to their daughter, Destiny. Nas was married to Kelis from 2005 until they divorced in 2010. She is the mother of his son.

paragraphs: In 2010, Nas released an album with Damian Marley called "Distant Relatives". It entered the "Billboard" 200 at number five. Three singles were released from the album. In 2012 Nas released his eleventh album "Life Is Good". He wrote it after he divorced Kelis. The album got good reviews. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Amy Winehouse sung on the track "Cherry Wine". Nas released his eleventh studio album, "Nasir", in 2018.


paragraphs: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927. It was formed by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland) and the Kingdom of Ireland. Its name was changed in 1927 after the majority of Ireland left the UK in 1922 and became the sovereign Irish Free State, thus leaving only six counties in the north within the UK and negating the reason for the 1801 Act of Union.

paragraphs: Though the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland came to an end in 1922, the monarch continued to use the title of "King" or "Queen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" until 1927.


title: Xerox

paragraphs: Xerox is a company that makes and sells photocopiers and paper. It was the first brand of modern photocopiers. People in the United States often use 'xerox' to mean any copy machine, and "xeroxing" to mean photocopying. Ursula Burns became the CEO and Chairwoman in 2009.


title: Agneta Sjödin

paragraphs: Agneta Sjödin (born 20 July 1967 in Norrbo, Hälsingland) is a Swedish television presenter.


title: Éamon de Valera

paragraphs: Éamon de Valera (born with the name Edward George de Valera, ) (14 October 1882–) was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century Ireland. Co-owner of one of the Irish Press Newspapers, he served in public office from 1917 to 1973. Several times he was either head of state or head of government in Ireland.

paragraphs: De Valera was a leader of Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He also led opposition to the anti-Treaty in the Irish Civil War. De Valera was the author of the Constitution of Ireland.

paragraphs: De Valera was born in the New York Nursery and Child's Hospital in New York City in 1882 to an Irish mother; he said that his parents were Catherine Coll Wheelwright, an immigrant from Bruree, County Limerick, and Juan Vivion de Valera, a Spanish-Cuban settler and sculptor, and that they were married in 1881 in New York.

paragraphs: In 1885, after his father's death, de Valera was taken to Ireland by his Uncle Ned. He was brought up by his grandmother Elizabeth Coll, her son Patrick and her daughter Hannie, in County Limerick. At the age of sixteen, he won a scholarship to Blackrock College, County Dublin. In his first year in Blackrock College he was Student of the Year. In 1903 was became mathematics teacher at Rockwell College, County Tipperary. When he graduated in mathematics from the Royal University of Ireland he went back to Blackrock College He taught in many other colleges, including Belvedere college where he taught Kevin Barry, the young Irish republican hanged by the British during the Irish War of Independence.

paragraphs: De Valera was an active "gaeilgeoir" (Irish language enthusiast). In 1908 he joined the Conradh na Gaeilge (the Gaelic League), where he met Dubhghlas de hÍde, later first President of Ireland, and also Sinéad Flanagan, another teacher who he married on 8 January 1910 at St Paul's Church, Arran Quay, Dublin.

paragraphs: On 25 November 1913 he joined the Irish Volunteers. He was soon elected captain of the Donnybrook company, then commandant of the Third Battalion and adjutant of the Dublin Brigade. He also joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood, which secretly controlled the central executive of the Volunteers.

paragraphs: On 24 April 1916 the Easter Rising began. De Valera occupied Boland's Mills, Grand Canal Street in Dublin. After the fighting de Valera was court-martialled, convicted, and sentenced to death, but the sentence was changed to for life imprisonment. This was because he was not kept in Kilmainham Jail with the first prisoners executed. The delay meant British authorities started to check if he really was an American citizen, and wonder how the United States would react to the execution of one of its citizens.

paragraphs: De Valera's supporters say he showed leadership skills and a great ability for planning. His enemies claim he suffered a nervous breakdown during the Rising.

paragraphs: After imprisonment in Dartmoor, Maidstone and Lewes prisons in England, de Valera and other prisoners were released under an amnesty in June 1917. On 10 July 1917 he was elected member of the British House of Commons for East Clare (the constituency which he represented in Dail Eireann until 1959) in a by-election after MP Willie Redmond died fighting in World War I.

paragraphs: British newspapers and picture postcards often called the Easter Rising the Sinn Féin rebellion. From 1917 de Valera was president of Sinn Féin. He and the other survivors of the Rising took over Sinn Féin and then turned into a republican party. Arthur Griffith, had wanted an Anglo-Irish "dual monarchy", with an independent Ireland governed separately from Britain, their only link being a shared monarch, like Canada and Britain today.

paragraphs: That had been the way Ireland was governed with the so-called Constitution of 1782 under Henry Grattan, until Ireland joined with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.

paragraphs: Sinn Féin won 73 out of 104 Irish seats in the 1918 general election. A lot more people wanted an independent Ireland after the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed of the 1916 leaders and the threat of conscription. In January 1919, these Sinn Féin MPs, or "TD"s, met in the Mansion House (City Hall), Dublin and formed the First Dáil Éireann ().

paragraphs: De Valera was not at this meeting because he had been arrested. He escaped from Lincoln Prison in February 1919, and when he got back to Dublin he replaced Cathal Brugha as Prime Minister . The Dáil Constitution passed by the Dáil said that the Príomh Aire was prime minister not head of state.

paragraphs: In September 1919 the British authorities said that The Dáil was illegal. The fighting against Britain escalated into the Irish War of Independence (also called the 'Anglo-Irish War').

paragraphs: In January 1921, he got back from the United States with a loan of $5,500,000 This made him very popular.

paragraphs: In August 1921 de Valera had Dáil Éireann change the 1919 Dáil Constitution to upgrade his title from prime minister to President of the Republic. He said that as Irish head of state he would not go to the Treaty Negotiations of October–December 1921 because the British head of state, King George V would not be there either.

paragraphs: The Treaty replaced the Republic by a dominion of the British Commonwealth with the King represented by a Governor-General of the Irish Free State. This was just how Canada was governed. Treaty was finally signed on 6 December 1921.

paragraphs: De Valera's opponents said that he did not join the negotiations because he knew that the British would only allow an Irish dominion, not a republic, and did not want to be blamed for giving up the idea of a republic. De Valera said he was angry because the delegates working out the treaty had not asked him before signing the treaty. But at a secret session of the Dáil during the Treaty Debates and publicised in January 1922, his ideas for a treaty included dominion status, the 'Treaty Ports', a veto by the parliament in Belfast, and the king as head of the Commonwealth. Ireland's would pay a share of the imperial debt.

paragraphs: When the Treaty was accepted by 64 votes to 57, de Valera and a large minority of Sinn Féin TDs left Dáil Éireann. He resigned and Arthur Griffith was elected President of Dáil Éireann in his place.

paragraphs: In March 1922, de Valera made an angry speech saying that, if the Treaty was accepted, it might be necessary to "wade through Irish blood" to achieve Irish freedom. Later he said that de Valera's enemies said that this was encouraging civil war.

paragraphs: Fighting in the Irish Civil War started on 28 June 1922 and ended in May 1923 when the pro-treaty Free State forces beat the anti-Treaty IRA.

paragraphs: De Valera was supposed to be the head of the anti-Treatyites, but he had little power. Usually he had little influence with the IRA Chief of Staff, Liam Lynch. De Valera formed a republican government on 25 October 1922 but it had no real authority and was never like the Dáil governments of 1919–21, which was an alternative government to the British, even running their own courts.

paragraphs: When the IRA's new Chief of Staff called a ceasefire Frank Aiken on 30 May 1923 the government had won. Many republicans were arrested when they came out of hiding and returned home. De Valera was arrested in County Clare and interned until 1924.

paragraphs: De Valera resigned from the presidency of Sinn Féin after losing a vote to accept the Free State Constitution (if the Oath of Allegiance was dropped). In March 1926 he formed a new party, Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny). Fianna Fáil was successful in elections, but for over a year a it did not take its seats in the Dáil. When a new law made candidates promise to take the oath if elected, de Valera and his TDs took the Oath of Allegiance in 1927. They said the oath was "an empty formula" that is, just words they had to say, they did not have to believe them.

paragraphs: Six years after it was founded Fianna Fáil won 72 seats in the 1932 general election, and had a "plurality" in the Dáil. That is, it was the largest party but had less than half of all of the seats, which would be a "majority". On 9 March Governor-General James McNeill appointed de Valera President of the Executive Council . He abolished the oath and stopped paying money owed to Britain.

paragraphs: De Valera called a general election in January 1933 and won 77 seats, giving him an overall majority. Under his leadership, Fianna Fáil won further general elections in 1937, 1938, 1943 and 1944.

paragraphs: De Valera was his own Minister for External Affairs. He attended meetings of the League of Nations, and was president of the Council of the League on his first appearance at Geneva in 1932. In 1934, he supported the admission of the Soviet Union into the League. In September 1938 he was elected nineteenth president of the Assembly of the League, a tribute to the international recognition he had won by his independent stance on world questions.

paragraphs: During the 1930s, de Valera changed a lot of the Irish Free State constitution.

paragraphs: The Governor-General of the Irish Free State could "reserve" or "deny" the Royal Assent to any changes after being advised (ordered) by "His Majesty's Government in London". After a legal argument with the British Government the power this was changed to "His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State"

paragraphs: That meant that de Valera was the only person who could stop a bill becoming law.

paragraphs: When King Edward VIII abdicted (resigned) as "King of Ireland" de Valera passed two Bills;

paragraphs: In July 1936, de Valera wrote to King Edward in London saying that he planned to introduce a new constitution. This was only a little different from the "Bunreacht na hÉireann" (meaning literally the Constitution of Ireland).

paragraphs: The new constitution was not an act of the Dáil but was voted for in a referendum, because de Valera wanted a new start for the new country he was setting up.

paragraphs: Ireland stayed neutral in World War II, which was called The Emergency in Ireland. Both the possibility of a German invasion and a British invasion were discussed in the Dáil.

paragraphs: But even though de Valera hated Britain, Irish neutrality often favoured the allies:

paragraphs: In May 1945, de Valera visited the German minister in Dublin, to express sympathy over the death of the Führer. Along with President Douglas Hyde, de Valera was the only head of government to do this. De Valera did not visit the American embassy following the death of Roosevelt, as David Gray, the American Ambassador said he would not receive de Valera. All flags were flown at half-mast on Roosevelt's death on de Valera's instructions

paragraphs: After sixteen years in power, Fianna Fáil lost the 1948 election. John A. Costello was Taoiseach of a coalition Government. It was Costello who declared Ireland a republic, making de Valera's friend President Ó Ceallaigh Ireland's head of state. In 1951 de Valera was returned to power but without an overall majority. Many people thought this was his worst government. He spent several months in the Netherlands where he had six operations on his eyes.

paragraphs: Fianna Fáil was defeated again in the 1954 general election, but in 1957 de Valera, won a majority of nine seats. This was the beginning of another sixteen year period in office for Fianna Fáil. But de Valera was only Taoiseach for two years.

paragraphs: In 1959 he was elected President of Ireland, as which he served until 1973. At his retirement at the age of 90, he was the oldest Head of State in the world.

paragraphs: Éamon de Valera died in Linden Convalescent Home, Blackrock, County Dublin on 29 August 1975 aged 92. His wife, Sinéad de Valera, four years his senior, had died the previous January, on the eve of their 65th wedding anniversary. He is buried in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery.

paragraphs: In his recent controversial biography by Tim Pat Coogan says that his failures are more than his achievements, and that de Valera's popularity fell as Michael Collins's rose.

paragraphs: Garret Fitzgerald summarised his last term as Taoiseach;

paragraphs: "Total economic stagnation marked de Valera's last seven years as leader of his party - because all of the chickens of his disastrous commitment to an inward-looking policy of self sufficiency were coming home to roost."


title: Operetta

paragraphs: Operetta is a term which started to be used in the 19th century to describe an opera that was not too serious and often full of fun. It is often described as “light opera” (“light” meaning “not serious“). In an opera everything is usually sung. In an operetta there is a lot of spoken dialogue, and songs and dances are added to this. Similar traditions already existed in other countries, e.g. in Germany where the Singspiel tradition was popular (e.g. Mozart’s "The Magic Flute)".

paragraphs: The operetta tradition started in France and soon spread to Austria and other countries. It remained popular until the mid-20th century, when it gradually turned into musical comedy.

paragraphs: The composer Jacques Offenbach can be thought of as the creator of the operetta tradition. It grew out of the opéra comique which had become quite long and serious. There was a need for shorter, more humorous musical entertainments. Offenbach was composing operettas in the 1850s in Paris. In England such works were often called “comic operas” or “opera comedies”. Then Johann Strauss became very popular in Vienna. He was already very well known in the ballroom, but when he started to write for the theatre he soon became a rival to Offenbach, whose operettas had become very popular in Vienna. Strauss’s operetta "Die Fledermaus" (“The Bat”) has been performed more than any other operetta. In Spain the Zarzuela was a kind of operetta.

paragraphs: Many people were involved in the creating and performing of operettas. The performers often had to both sing and act very well. Bizet, Chabrier and Delibes all wrote operettas as well as operas and other types of music. In England the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan were a kind of English form of operetta.

paragraphs: One of the most popular of all operettas was "Die Lustige Witwe" ("The Merry Widow") by Franz Léhar. It was produced in 1905 in Vienna. Léhar wrote many other operettas as well. Franz von Suppé is another composer who wrote operettas in the Austrian tradition. The most known Romanian operetta is "Crai nou" ("New moon") by Ciprian Porumbescu.

paragraphs: In the early 20th century the French operetta became less popular as there was more interest in the Viennese operetta. After World War I Berlin was the centre of German operetta. By the middle of the 20th century many composers were writing light operas which were based on American dance band music. These were no longer called “operettas”. The word “operetta” continued to be used for light operas which were more in the style of traditional central European music.


title: Investiture

paragraphs: Investiture means the formal installation of somebody (heir, elect of nominee) in public office by formally giving him the "insignia". The term is normally reserved for formal offices of state, aristocracy and church.

paragraphs: In the Middle Ages investiture was the ceremonial transfer of a fief by an overlord to a vassal. The lord "invested" the vassal with a fiefdom, by giving a symbol of the land or office. From feudal times up to the present, the term has been used in canon law to refer to a cleric receiving the symbols of spiritual office, such as the pastoral ring, mitre and staff, signifying transfer of the office.

paragraphs: In the United Kingdom, around 2,600 people are invested personally by The Queen or a member of the Royal Family. A list of those to be honoured is published twice a year, in either the New Year's Honours List or The Queen's Birthday Honours List.

paragraphs: Approximately 22 Investitures are held annually in Buckingham Palace, one or two at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh and one in Cardiff.

paragraphs: The question who should invest (appoint) whom was the subject of a conflict between the Catholic church (mainly the papacy) and state (mainly the Holy Roman Empire) in the Middle Ages during the so-called lay investiture controversy.


title: Insignia

paragraphs: Insignia (the plural of Latin "insigne": emblem, symbol) is a symbol or token of personal power, status or office, or of an official body of government or jurisdiction. Insignia are especially used as an emblem of a specific or general authority.

paragraphs: Official insignia are often protected by law as to allow their use only by people holding a specific office or staff members action on behalf of such a person. Misuse, defacement and destruction of such symbols is considered an offense in many countries.


title: Irish War of Independence

paragraphs: The Irish War of Independence was fought by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against the British soldiers (known as the Black and Tans because of the colour of their uniform) who were trying to keep Ireland under British control.

paragraphs: The war was fought between 1919 and July 1921. The fighting stopped while a peace treaty was worked out.

paragraphs: It began because of the 1916 Easter Rising. The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) men who fought the British soldiers that day wanted Ireland to be its own country and wanted Britain to move its army out of Ireland.

paragraphs: 82 IRB members were killed including 16 who were executed. These executions angered the Irish people and caused many people to become "Republicans". Republicans lived mostly in the south of Ireland. Ulster was considered to be the most unionist part of Ireland. This was caused by the Ulster Plantations. The Unionists wanted to stay under control of the British Government.

paragraphs: In 1917 the IRB was renamed the IRA and in 1919, the fighting started. By 1921, the IRA had beaten the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and Ireland had no police forces. In London, the British government began to debate about Ireland's rule. The war went on until 1922 when Irish Sinn Féin leaders and British MPs made a peace treaty (called the Anglo-Irish Treaty). This treaty created the Irish Free State this meant that Ireland was made its own independent country. The treaty gave all the same rights to the Irish government as that of the Canadian government

paragraphs: It handed power of 26 of the 32 counties to the Irish Government. The 6 counties that were kept by the British Government were all in Ulster (mostly Unionist) and now form Northern Ireland.


title: Bishop (chess)

paragraphs: A bishop () is a piece in the board game of chess. Each player starts the game with two bishops. One starts between the king's knight and the king, the other between the queen's knight and the queen. The pieces are called either the "king's bishop" or the "queen's bishop". In chess notation the starting squares are c1 and f1 for White's bishops, and c8 and f8 for Black's bishops.

paragraphs: The bishop first appeared in that form in medieval European chess. In Chaturanga he was represented as an armed attendant who sat on the back of an elephant. The Arabs called this figure "al-fil", which means "elephant". The problem was that in Central Europe elephants were not known, so they could not recognize the figure. The bishops were interpreted differently by the different nations. That is why the bishop is a "Läufer" (runner) in Germany, a "fou" (fool) in France and a "alfiere" (standard-bearer) in Italy.

paragraphs: The bishop moves diagonally, and can move as far as a player wants it to unless another piece blocks it. A bishop can never leave the color of square that it starts on, and so can only move to 32 squares of the board.


title: Bathurst 1000

paragraphs: The Bathurst 1000 is a car race held at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is held every year.


title: South Atlantic tropical cyclone

paragraphs: A South Atlantic tropical cyclone is an unusual form of weather event. Usually, strong wind shear is the biggest problem why tropical cyclones do not normally form in the southern Atlantic Ocean. If there was ever a "hurricane season" in the south Atlantic, it would most likely happen during the opposite of the north Atlantic season, from December to May with mid-March being the peak when the oceans are warmest in the Southern Hemisphere.

paragraphs: Cyclone (or Hurricane) Catarina was an extraordinarily rare tropical cyclone, forming in the southern Atlantic Ocean in March 2004. Just after becoming a hurricane, it hit the southern coast of Brazil in the state of Santa Catarina on the evening of March 28, with winds estimated near 180 km/h (112 mph), making it a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The cyclone killed 3-10 people and caused millions of dollars in damage in Brazil.

paragraphs: This event is thought to be a nearly once-in-a-lifetime event by meteorologists.

paragraphs: On April 10, 1991, what was either a strong tropical depression or a weak tropical storm formed in the eastern South Atlantic, recorded by weather satellites off the coast of Angola. It reached a peak on the 13th, and dissipated two days later, drifting west-southwestward from where it formed. Of the few South Atlantic tropical cyclones that have existed, this was the only one in the eastern Atlantic. This was also the first South Atlantic tropical cyclone ever observed.

paragraphs: A small area of convection developed on a trough of low pressure in mid-January off Brazil. It organized and appeared to become a tropical depression on January 18. The next morning, it had a small amounts of convection near the center and well-defined bands, and the system, either a weak tropical storm or a strong tropical depression, likely reached its peak. Located 150 n miles southeast of Salvador, Brazil, it weakened as upper level shear, normal for the basin, prevailed. The depression moved inland on the 20th as a circulation with no convection, and dissipated the next day over Brazil, where it caused heavy rains and flooding. This would mark the first time in recorded history that two tropical cyclones (Catarina and the January storm) have been seen during the same year in the South Atlantic, and may be considered to make up the 2003-04 South Atlantic hurricane season.

paragraphs: A small area of convection 600 miles southeast of Rio de Janeiro moved into an area of low wind shear and barely 26°C warm waters on February 23, 2006. The wave had deep convection, was able to form a closed LLC and had 35 mi/h (56 km/h) winds as measured by Quikscat on February 24, 2006. These characteristics were operationally recognized for three hours before high shear began to tear the system apart, just short of the six hours required to be officially declared a tropical depression. It is possible that the system maintained these features longer and may have briefly been a tropical depression. While under study, the system was referred to as 90L Invest. The shear would eventually cause the system to dissipate later that night. Picture


title: Opera buffa

paragraphs: Opera buffa is an Italian term meaning “comic opera”. It is mainly used for 18th century Italian comic operas. Opera buffa contrasts with opera seria (“serious opera”) in which the story was a tragedy. Opera seria was supposed to be “serious”, while opera buffa was an entertaining musical comedy. Like the opera seria, everything was sung, there was no spoken dialogue. This was different from comic opera in other countries. The story in opera buffa is told in recitative and then there were arias for the characters to show their feelings and show off their voices.

paragraphs: Although we use the term “opera buffa” today, in the 18th century they called such operas by other names, e.g. “commedia in musica”, “dramma giocosa”, “operetta”, “burlesca” etc. An opera buffa was usually a full length work: one which would fill a whole evening’s entertainment. It was different from an “intermezzo” or “farsa” which was a short musical comedy that was performed during the intervals of a musical tragedy, although the difference between the two is not always obvious. The intermezzo became longer and longer during the 18th century and gradually developed into opera buffa. Pergolesi’s "La Serva Padrone" was an intermezzo which became very famous after Pergolesi’s death. It influenced opera buffa.

paragraphs: Opera buffa always included a lot of caricature. The characters showed human weaknesses such as , , and (people who were pretending to be wise and important). They often poked fun at the ruling classes.

paragraphs: In opera buffa the acting was always very important. It was a very lively show, with a lot happening very quickly. At the end of each act all the main characters sang together: this is called an “ensemble” (the French word for “together”).

paragraphs: Opera buffa started in Naples and gradually spread to other parts of Italy. It was particularly popular at carnival time. Important composers of opera buffa include Carlo Goldoni and Baldassare Galuppi.

paragraphs: By the end of the 18th century it was not always possible to tell the difference between an opera buffa and an opera seria. Mozart’s opera "Don Giovanni", for example, has a lot of comedy, but there is also a serious side.