title: Briefs

paragraphs: Briefs are a type of short underwear for males or females. They provide a close fit, and come in either white, or in other colors like blue, pink, or red.

paragraphs: For male briefs, before 2000s, briefs often came with hard elastic waistband. This would cause stretch marks, and this was eventually replaced by the soft elastic waistband. However, hard elastic waistbands are still found on generic store brand underwear (that save consumer and manufacturing costs by not being fashion forward).

paragraphs: Female briefs are also called knickers or panties.


title: Kayastha

paragraphs: Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth or Kayeth) is a non-uniform functional social group of Hindus of India. It is formed of three communities- Chitraguptavanshi of North India, Chandraseniya(CKP) of Maharashtra and Bengali Kayastha of Bengal. As per the 1779 AD letter of council of Pandits of Benaras to the Brahmin Peshwa Darbar regarding varna status of various Kayastha subgroups, the Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha are Brahmins (Kayastha Brahmin/ Brahma Kayastha) while the CKP are Kshatriya.

paragraphs: Kayasthas are considered to be members of the writer caste, and have traditionally acted as keepers of public records and accounts, writers, and administrators of the state. In modern times, Kayasthas have attained success in politics, as well as in the arts and various professional fields.

paragraphs: Modern historians and researches do not consider Kayasthas as a uniform caste but a functional group. Kayasthas are not a cohesive, uniform group.

paragraphs: "There are two groups of Kayasthas. Chitraguptavanshi of North India and Bengali Kayastha of Bengal."

paragraphs: According to the ancient Indian texts known as the "Puranas", "Chitraguptavanshi" Kayasthas are descended from the Hindu god Chitragupta, who is responsible for recording the deeds of humanity, upholding the rule of law, and judging whether human beings go to heaven or hell upon death.

paragraphs: From Chitragupta; 12 subcastes of the north Indian chitragupta kayasthas were formed: Srivastava, Gaur, Saxena, Mathur, Karan, Nigam, Bhatnagar, Ambashtha, Asthana, Kulshreshtha, Valmiki Kayastha and Surajdhwaj Kayastha.

paragraphs: There are several theories of their origin. Hindu religious texts refer to these "chitraguptavanshi" Kayasthas as a caste of scribes, recruited in the beginning from the Brahmin community but eventually forming distinct subcastes in India.

paragraphs: "Historians P. C. Choudhuri, K. R. Medhi and K. L. Barua state that "the Brahmins noted in the Nidhanpur and Dubi inscriptions of king Bhaskaravarman" bore surnames "which are at present used by Kayasthas of Bengal and Nagara Brahmins of Gujarat," and "were either of the Alpine origin or pre-Vedic Aryans." Similarly, the Kayasthas and Kalitas of Assam "are also supposed to be descendants of extra-Vedic Aryans"."

paragraphs: "According to André Wink, another historian, the caste is first referred to around the 5th–6th century CE, and may well have become so identified during the period of the Sena dynasty. Between that time and the 11th–12th century, this category of officials or scribes was composed of "putative" Kshatriyas and, "for the larger majority", Brahmins, who retained their caste identity or became Buddhists. As in South India, Bengal had lacked a clearly defined Kshatriya caste."

paragraphs: "The Pala, Sena, Chandra, and Varman dynasties and their descendants, who claimed the status of Kshatriya, "almost imperceptibly merged" with the Kayastha caste, which in this way became "the region's surrogate Kshatriya or warrior class".

paragraphs: In eastern India, Bengali Kayasthas are believed to have evolved from a class of officials into a caste between the 5th/6th centuries and 11th/12th centuries, its component elements being putative Kshatriyas and mostly Brahmins, and likely obtained the aspect of a caste under the Sena dynasty.

paragraphs: According to Tej Ram Sharma, an Indian historian, the Kayasthas of Bengal had not yet developed into a distinct caste during the reign of the Gupta Empire, although the office of the Kayastha (scribe) had been instituted before the beginning of the period, as evidenced from the contemporary "Smritis". Sharma further states:

paragraphs: "Noticing brahmanic names with a large number of modern Bengali Kayastha cognomens in several early epigraphs discovered in Bengal, some scholars have suggested that there is a considerable brahmana element in the present day Kayastha community of Bengal.

paragraphs: Originally the professions of Kayastha (scribe) and Vaidya (physician) were not restricted and could be followed by people of different varnas including the brahmanas. So there is every probability that a number of brahmana families were mixed up with members of other varnas in forming the present Kayastha and Vaidya communities of Bengal."

paragraphs: In Maharashtra, Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhus (CKP) claim descent from the warrior Chandrasen. Historically they produced prominent warriors and also held positions such as Deshpandes and Gadkaris (fort holder, an office similar to that of a castellan). They also studied the Vedas and performed Vedic rituals. According to André Béteille, a sociologist, they could be considered "socially proximate" to the Konkanastha Brahmin community and, like that community, they wear the sacred thread.

paragraphs: The exact "varna" status of "Chitraguptavanshi" Kayasthas has been a subject of debate. According to some accounts, they are a literate and educated class of Kshatriyas, and they have been referred to as a twice-born caste.

paragraphs: In Bengal, Bengali Kayastha, alongside Brahmins, have been described as the "highest Hindu castes". After the Muslim conquest of India, Bengali Kayasthas absorbed remnants of Bengal's old Hindu ruling dynasties - including the Sena, Pala, Chandra, and Varman - and, in this way, became the region's surrogate Kshatriya or "warrior" class. During the British rule, the Bengali Kayasthas, along with the Bengali Brahmins and Baidyas, were considered as "Bhadralok", a term coined in Bengal for the 'Gentry' or 'respectable people'- based on refined culture, prestige, education etc.

paragraphs: The last census of the British Raj in India (1931) classified them as an 'upper caste' i.e. Dwija and the final British Raj law case involving their varna in 1926 placed them into the Kashtriya varna.

paragraphs: According to W.Rowe's account (that later scholars disagreed with), during the British Raj era, certain law cases in Calcutta, led to courts classifying Kayasthas as shudras to diminish their influence with Indian royalty, based largely upon the pseudo-theories of Herbert Hope Risley who had conducted studies on castes and tribes of the Bengal Presidency. According to Rowe, the Kayasthas of Bengal, Bombay and the United Provinces repeatedly challenged this classification by producing a flood of books, pamphlets, family histories and journals to pressurize the government for recognizing them as Kshatriya and to reform the caste practices in the directions of sanskritisation and westernisation. However, scholars from the University of Berkeley as well as the University of Cambridge have disagreed with Rowe's research by pinpointing 'factual and interpretative errors' in his study as well as criticizing his study for making 'unquestioned assumptions' about the kayastha movement of sanskritisation and westernisation.

paragraphs: H.Bellenoit gives the details of the individual British Raj era law cases and concludes that since the kayasthas are a non-cohesive group and not a single caste, their varna was resolved in the cases that came up by taking into account regional differences and customs followed by that particular caste. Bellenoit also disagrees with W.Rowe by showing that Herbert Hope Risley's theories were in fact used to ultimately classify them as Kshatriyas by the British courts. The first case began in 1860 in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh with a property dispute where the plaintiff was considered an 'illegitimate child' by the defendants, a north-Indian Kayastha family. The British court denied inheritance to the child, citing that Kayasthas are Dvija, "twice-born" or "upper-caste" and that the illegitimate children of Dwijas have no rights to inheritance. In the next case in 1875 in the Allahabad High Court, a north Indian Kayastha widow was denied adoption rights as she was an upper-caste i.e. Dwija woman. However, in a 1884 adoption case as well as a 1916 property dispute, Calcutta High Court argued that Bengali kayasthas have started using names like 'Das' and classified the Bengali Kayasthas as shudras - although the court did acknowledge their Kshatriya origin. The Allahabad High Court ruled in 1890 that Kayasthas were Kshatriyas. Finally, in a property dispute case in Patna in 1926, the Patna court characterized both the 1884 and 1916 Calcutta courts rulings as inconclusive and ultimately ruled that the kayasthas were of Kshatriya origin and hence twice born or dwija. The Patna court cited smritis and Puranas, several colonial ethnologists, such as William Crooke and Herbert Hope Risley, and used their qualified endorsements on the dwija origins of Kayasthas. The British census of 1931 also lists Kayasthas as one of the upper (twice-born) castes.


title: Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

paragraphs: Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer is an animated movie from 1985. It was produced by DiC Entertainment and Hallmark Cards, and released by Warner Bros.

paragraphs: This is the only movie in which the title character, Rainbow Brite, appears.


title: Arctic Monkeys

paragraphs: Arctic Monkeys are an Indie rock band from Sheffield, England. Arctic Monkeys' first album was "Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm Not". It reached #1 in the United Kingdom album charts. Over 300 thousand copies of the album were sold in the first week. This makes it the fasting selling first album by a band in British music history. It was nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Their second album, "Favourite Worst Nightmare" was first released in Japan on April 18, 2007. Their third album, "Humbug" was released in England on 24 August 2009. In 2011 their fourth album "Suck It and See" was released. "AM", the Monkeys' fifth album, was released 6 September 2013. The sixth Arctic Monkeys album, "Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino" was released in 2018.


title: Swarm

paragraphs: A swarm is a big group of animals. The term is usually used for insects, but other animals such fish and birds can make a swarm also. A good example of animals that swarm are locusts. Mammals do not build swarms, but herds.


title: Queen's University

paragraphs: Queen's University is a public university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's University was started on October 16, 1841.


title: String quartet

paragraphs: A string quartet is a piece of music for four string instruments.

paragraphs: A string quartet can also mean the four people who play a piece for four string instruments.

paragraphs: The four instruments in a string quartet are almost always 2 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello. The reason that a double bass is not used is that it would sound too loud and heavy. The balance between 2 violins, viola and cello is considered ideal.

paragraphs: String quartets are the most popular form of chamber music. Many composers have written string quartets.

paragraphs: String quartet writing started in the 18th century. Italian composers like Sammartini (1698-1775) wrote music for two violins, viola and continuo. The continuo was either just a harpsichord or harpsichord with cello. Gradually composers started to leave the harpsichord out. The cello often played the same as the viola but one octave lower.

paragraphs: Composers of the Classical music period started writing cello parts which had an identity of their own. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) wrote many string quartets, making it a very popular form. His quartets from op.33 were, he said, “written in a new and special way”. All four parts were very clear and individual. There were always four movements: a fast movement, a slow one, a Minuet and Trio and a fast Finale. Haydn often played in a quartet with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and two other players. Mozart also wrote many string quartets and dedicated some of them to Haydn. Three of Mozart’s later ones were written for the King of Prussia who played the cello well, so Mozart gave the cello lots of difficult music to play.

paragraphs: By the time Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was growing up, string quartets treated each of the four instruments as important. Beethoven wrote 16 string quartets. The middle ones became particularly famous and later composers took ideas from them, for example the slow introductions, and the idea of having a fast scherzo instead of a minuet and trio for one of the middle movements. Beethoven’s last quartets are very beautiful, but also very complicated and sometimes quite aggressive. Beethoven was becoming very frustrated because he was deaf and could not hear his own music, but he could imagine it all in his head. Franz Schubert (1797-1827) admired them and wrote several string quartets himself.

paragraphs: In the Romantic period many composers wrote string quartets: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), Robert Schumann (1810-1856), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) and many others. Some of them, like Dvořák, included folk song from their own country in their quartets.

paragraphs: In the 20th century, composers have continued to write string quartets. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) and Maurice Ravel (1875-1934) each wrote one. Arnold Schoenberg even added a voice to his first String Quartet. Béla Bartók (1881-1945) wrote six string quartets which are very hard to play. They have very exciting rhythms which often come from his native Hungarian folk music, as well as complex harmonies. Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) wrote fifteen and Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) wrote three.

paragraphs: Playing in a string quartet is highly enjoyable. There are many great works by famous composers, as well as some music which has been written for young players who are learning.

paragraphs: There are professional players who form string quartets and who play together for many years. In the early part of the 20th century the Rosé Quartet was thought by many to be the best in Europe. Later the Amadeus Quartet became very famous.


title: Opus number

paragraphs: Opus or the shortened form op. after the title of a piece of music means “work”. It is followed by a number. When a composer writes their first piece of music it is followed by the term “opus 1”. The next composition would then be called “opus 2”, etc.

paragraphs: Giving pieces of music opus numbers helps us to identify which piece of music (from a certain composer) that composition is. For example: Beethoven wrote lots of piano sonatas. His first Piano sonata in A flat major has the opus number of op.26. This shows that he wrote this sonata when he was young in his composing career. Many years later, he wrote another piano sonata which is also in A flat major, and this piece one has the opus number of 110 (op. 110).

paragraphs: You cannot always tell from a composer’s opus numbers the order in which the works were composed. Until around the end of the 18th century, opus numbers were only given to pieces of music which were published.

paragraphs: Some musicologists (people who study and write about music) have studied all the works by a famous composer and have given them a catalogue number. For example Mozart’s music does not have opus numbers. Some of them are long operas, others are tiny little pieces for the piano he might have written in a hurry one day. A man called Köchel made a list of every single work by Mozart and gave them K numbers (K for Köchel). His numbering goes up to 622. This is useful, for example, to tell the difference between his Symphony in G minor K183 and his Symphony in G minor K550.

paragraphs: The plural of “opus” is “opuses” in English. This is because the Latin plural is opera which is rather confusing to English speakers as the word is already used in musical terminology.

paragraphs: The word "opus" can also refer to the "work" of an artist. (For example: "This opus was composed by Chopin," or "This opus is the last Piano sonata that Beethoven composed")

paragraphs: An artist's "magnum opus" means his or her "greatest" work.


title: Amino acid

paragraphs: Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. In eukaryotes, there are 20 standard amino acids out of which almost all proteins are made.

paragraphs: In biochemistry, an amino acid is any molecule that has both amine (NH+R) and carboxyl (C=O) functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha-amino acids with the general formula HNCHRCOOH, where R is one of many side groups (see diagram).

paragraphs: About 500 amino acids are known. For animals, the most important thing that amino acids do is to make proteins, which are very long chains of amino acids. Every protein has its own sequence of amino acids, and that sequence makes the protein take different shapes, and have different functions. Amino acids are like the alphabet for proteins; even though you only have a few letters, if you connect them, you can make many different sentences.

paragraphs: Nine of the 20 standard amino acids are "essential" amino acids for humans. They cannot be built (synthesised) from other compounds by the human body, and so must be taken in as food. Others may be essential for some ages or medical conditions. Essential amino acids may also differ between species. Herbivores have to get their essential amino acids from their diet, which for some is almost entirely grass. Ruminants such as cows get some amino acids via microbes in the first two stomach chambers.

paragraphs: An amino acid is an organic chemical. It consists of an α-carbon atom that is covalently bonded to four groups.

paragraphs: Every amino acid has at least one amino group (-NH) and one carboxyl group (-COOH), except proline.

paragraphs: These are the proteinogenic amino acids, which are the building blocks for proteins. They are produced by cellular machinery coded for in the genetic code of any organism.

paragraphs: † The stop codon is not an amino acid, but is included for completeness.

paragraphs: †† UAG and UGA do not always act as stop codons (see above).

paragraphs: ‡ An essential amino acid cannot be synthesized in humans. It must be supplied in the diet. Conditionally essential amino acids are not normally required in the diet, but must be supplied to populations which do not make enough of it.

paragraphs: To these α-amino acids further in biosynthesis processes appearing non-essential ones are structurally (here by using SMILES notation) related:


title: Enlightenment

paragraphs: Enlightenment has several meanings. Some of them are given below:


title: Miscarriage

paragraphs: A miscarriage is the natural death of an embryo or fetus in the womb, before it is old enough to live on its own, outside the mother. The medical words for a miscarriage are spontaneous abortion. ("Spontaneous" means something that a person did not expect to happen. An "abortion" is when a pregnancy ends early, before birth.)

paragraphs: Among women who know they are pregnant, about 15-20% have miscarriages. (This means that up to 1 in every 5 women who know they are pregnant miscarries.) It is the most common complication (serious problem) that happens in early pregnancy in humans.

paragraphs: In the United States, if a fetus dies after it is 20 weeks old, its death is no longer called a miscarriage. Its death is called a "stillbirth", a "fetal demise", or a "fetal death". ("Demise" means "death.")

paragraphs: But different countries have different ways of defining the difference between a miscarriage and a fetal death. For example:

paragraphs: Nobody knows all of the reasons why a woman may miscarry. However, some common causes include:

paragraphs: The most common causes of miscarriage change depending on what trimester the mother is in. (Each trimester lasts about three months.)

paragraphs: Most miscarriages happen during the first trimester. Some studies say that two-thirds (two out of three) to three-quarters (three out of four) of all miscarriages happen during this trimester. About 30% to 40% (3 to 4 in every 10) of all fertilized eggs miscarry, often before a woman knows she is pregnant.

paragraphs: In more than half of embryos miscarried in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy, the embryo has chromosomes that are not normal. These chromosomal problems may happen because of problems as the embryo grows and its cells make copies of themselves. It is also possible for chromosomal problems to happen because of a problem with a parent's genes. However, this is more likely to happen in women who has had other miscarriages, or if one of the parents has a child or other relatives with birth defects. Genetic problems are more likely to happen with older parents; this may be why miscarriages are more common in older women.

paragraphs: Another cause may be the mother not having enough progesterone. If a woman is diagnosed with low progesterone levels in the second half of her menstrual cycle (the luteal phase), she may be prescribed progesterone, to take during the first trimester of her pregnancy. However, when a woman might already be miscarrying, there is no evidence that first-trimester progesterone pills decrease the risk of having a miscarriage. Scientists have even questioned whether problems with the luteal phase really can cause miscarriages.

paragraphs: Common causes of miscarriage during the second trimester are:

paragraphs: These problems can also cause premature birth (when a baby is born earlier than expected).

paragraphs: One study found that 19% of second trimester miscarriages were caused by problems with the umbilical cord. The fetus gets blood and oxygen through the umbilical cord. Every part of the body needs blood and oxygen to survive. If the baby cannot get enough oxygen because of a problem with the cord, it can die.

paragraphs: Problems with the placenta may also cause second-trimester miscarriages. Nutrients and blood pass through the placenta in order to get from the mother to the umbilical cord. The placenta also helps filter out some things that could hurt the fetus. If there is a problem with the placenta, the fetus could die because it did not get enough nutrients and oxygen, or because the placenta did not filter out harmful things.

paragraphs: Miscarriage is usually diagnosed when a pregnant woman notices that she is having certain symptoms and goes to see a doctor. The most common symptom of a coming miscarriage is bleeding during early pregnancy. The woman may not have any pain.

paragraphs: Usually, if a pregnant woman is bleeding or having pain, an ultrasound should be done. The ultrasound can show that the fetus's heart is not beating, which means that the fetus has miscarried. If this happens, special tests should be done to make sure the woman does not have an ectopic pregnancy, which can kill a woman.

paragraphs: Not all light bleeding during early pregnancy means a woman is having a miscarriage. But any woman having light bleeding during pregnancy should see her doctor. If the bleeding is heavy, the woman is having a lot of pain, or she has a fever, she should go to an Emergency Room or call an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

paragraphs: If a woman has bleeding during her pregnancy, she may be diagnosed with a "threatened miscarriage." In the past, if a doctor thought a pregnancy might miscarry in the future, they would suggest bed rest for the mother (lying in bed for most of the time). Today, most doctors and scientists think that bed rest does not help.

paragraphs: There are a few different types of miscarriage:

paragraphs: The treatment is different for each kind of miscarriage.

paragraphs: If a woman has a complete miscarriage, she usually does not need any medical treatment.

paragraphs: If a woman has an incomplete miscarriage or a missed miscarriage, there are three different choices for treatment:

paragraphs: With no treatment (watchful waiting), most of these cases (65–80%) will pass naturally within two to six weeks. This path avoids the side effects and complications possible from medications and surgery, but increases the risk of mild bleeding, need for unplanned surgical treatment, and incomplete miscarriage.

paragraphs: The choice of which treatment to use depends on many things, including what the mother wants. However, there are guidelines that doctors use to suggest what treatment to use.

paragraphs: The most important things that help doctors decide what to do are the age and size of the embryo, and the size of the gestational sac (the fluid around the embryo]].

paragraphs: A risk factor for miscarriage is something that makes a woman more likely to miscarry. There are many risk factors for miscarriage. For example:


title: Yuan dynasty

paragraphs: The Yuan dynasty was a Mongol dynasty that ruled Mongolia and China from 1271 to 1368. Before this dynasty, China was ruled by the Song dynasty. After the Yuan dynasty, the Ming dynasty ruled China. Genghis Khan and his army of Mongols conquered many parts of China. His grandson Kublai Khan added more parts of China to his kingdom. He founded the Yuan dynasty in 1271.

paragraphs: In the year of 1206, Genghis Khan ruled the Mobi tribes(a part of a country) to establish the Mongol country at the Onon River. Jin was the main race in Mongolia, but Jin and Xia were in decline, Mongolia had attacked the Western Xia and Jin in August 1227, and Jin lost, so Mongolia occupied the whole north of China in March 1234.

paragraphs: In 1259, Möngke Khan died after the Song Yuan dynasty war. His brothers all wanted to be king. His fourth brother, Kublai, and his seventh brother, Ali Khan, fought to rule the Mobi tribes. And finally in 1264, Kublai won. Kublai made the name "DaYuan" in 1271 and proclaimed the Yuan Dynasty and said its founder was his grandfather Genghis. In 1276, Yuan ruled southern of Song, so yuan ruled the whole China in this year. In 1279, the Kublai subdued southern Song dynasty. The Yuan dynasty ruled China and brought different parts of China together that had been split since the late Tang dynasty. They were the first foreign dynasty to rule just about all of China.

paragraphs: For centuries, most of what the West knew about China came from the book by Marco Polo about his visit to Kublai's empire. The Yuan dynasty ended in 1368 when the Ming dynasty took control.


title: History of India

paragraphs: The History of India covers thousands of years and discusses many diverse languages, cultures, periods, and dynasties. Indian civilization began in the Indus Valley and some literature survives from that time. More is known of the time after the Persian Empire conquered India.

paragraphs: Remains (stone tools and a skull) in central India show presence of an early species of man, "Homo erectus". Archeologists think they lived in India between 200,000 and 500,000 years ago. This period is known as the paleolithic era.

paragraphs: The earliest archaeological site in the subcontinent is the paleolithic hominid site in the Soan River valley. Soanian sites are found in the Sivalik region across India, Pakistan and Nepal.

paragraphs: Modern humans ("Homo sapiens") settled in the Indian subcontinent at least 12,000 years ago. At that time the last ice age had just ended and climate became warm and dry. First settlements of human beings in India are found in Bhimbetka, a place near Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh, India). Mesolithic people lived on hunting, fishing and food gathering.

paragraphs: Neolithic agriculture sprang up in the Indus Valley region around 7000 years ago, in the lower Gangetic valley around 5000 years ago. Later, in South India, agriculture spread southwards and also into Malwa around 3800 years ago.

paragraphs: The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent began around 5300 years ago with the early Indus Valley Civilisation, which included cities such as Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Lothal, and Kalibanga. The civilization was based on the Indus River and its tributaries, extending into the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, Gujarat, and southeastern Afghanistan. Today, the civilization's old territory is split between India and Pakistan. In Pakistan, the provinces of Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan overlap with ex-Indus Valley territory. In India, the provinces Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan also share territory with the Indus Valley Civilization.

paragraphs: The first cities on the Indian subcontinent were part of the Indus Valley Civilisation. They made the Indus Valley Civilization similar to early Mesopotamian civilisations and Ancient Egypt. Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley, the Harappans, developed new techniques in metallurgy and handicraft (carneol products, seal carving), and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin.

paragraphs: The mature Indus civilization flourished from about 4600 to 3900 years ago. The civilization included urban centers such as Dholavira, Kalibanga, Ropar, Rakhigarhi, and Lothal in modern-day India, and Harappa, Ganeriwala, and Mohenjo-daro in modern-day Pakistan. The cities were built of brick, with roadside drainage system and multistoried houses.

paragraphs: During the later period of this civilisation, signs of a gradual decline began to emerge. By about 3700 years ago, most of the cities were abandoned. However, the Indus Valley Civilisation did not disappear suddenly. Some parts of the Indus Civilization may have survived in the smaller villages and isolated farms.

paragraphs: The Vedas are the oldest teachings of India, though the transmission of these teachings was mainly oral until around the 5th century. There are four Vedas, and the first one is the Rigveda. As per Rigveda the whole regions in which the Aryans were first settled in India was called as the Land of 7 Rivers or SaptaSindhawa .The other three are Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. The Vedas have verses in praise of gods and others. They also have other information. At that time, the society was pastoral.

paragraphs: After the Rigveda, society became more agricultural. People became divided into four classes depending on the type of the work. Brahmins were priests and teachers. Kshatriyas were the warriors. Vaishyas did agriculture, trading and commerce. The shudras were the general working class. A common misconception is that the Vaishyas and Shudras were generally looked down upon, and treated badly by Brahmins and Kshatriyas, which was true for the later part of the Vedic age. But was untrue for the earlier part. This type of social division is called the Varna system in Hinduism.

paragraphs: During the period of the Vedic civilization, there were many Aryan clans and tribes. Some of them combined and became bigger like the kingdom of the Kurus.

paragraphs: Around the 5th century BC, north-western parts of India faced invasion by the Achaemenid Empire and by the Greeks of Alexander the Great. A Persian way of thinking, administration and lifestyle came to India. This influence became bigger during the Mauryan dynasty.

paragraphs: From around 520 BC, the Achaemenid Empire’s Darius I ruled large part of northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent.

paragraphs: Alexander later conquered these areas. Achaemenid rule lasted about 186 years. In modern times, there are still traces of this Greek heritage to be found in parts of northwestern India.

paragraphs: Greco-Buddhism (also spelled as Græco-Buddhism) is a combination of the cultures of Greece and Buddhism. This mixture of cultures continued to develop for 800 years, from the 4th century BC until the 5th century AD. The area where it happened is modern day’s Afghanistan and Pakistan. This mixture of cultures influenced Mahayana Buddhism and spread of Buddhism to China, Korea, Japan and Tibet.

paragraphs: The Magadha formed one of the sixteen kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges. Its first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) then Pataliputra (modern Patna).

paragraphs: Magadha expanded to include most of Bihar and Bengal, followed by much of eastern Uttar Pradesh and Odhishaa. The ancient kingdom of Magadha is mentioned in Jain and Buddhist texts. It was also mentioned in the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, . The state of Magadha, possibly a tribal kingdom, is recorded in Vedic texts much earlier than 600 BC.

paragraphs: Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism, and two of India's greatest empires, the Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire, originated from Magadha. These empires saw advances in ancient India's science, mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy. This was the Indian "Golden Age".

paragraphs: The Satavahanas came to power from around 230 BC. They are also called Andhras. For about 450 years, many Satavahanas kings ruled most parts of the southern and central India.

paragraphs: For about 350 years, from the years 35-405, Saka kings ruled India. They ruled the western and central parts of India. These areas are in today's states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. There were 27 independent rulers, collectively known as the Kshatrapas.

paragraphs: Saka kings ruled India along aside the Kushan kings and the Satvahana kings. Kushan kings ruled the northern parts of India. Satvahana kings ruled the central and some of the southern parts of India.

paragraphs: Indo-Scythians came to India from Siberia passing through several places like Bactria, Sogdiana, Kashmir and Arachosia. Their coming to India continued from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century BC. They defeated the Indo-Greek rulers of India, and ruled India from Gandhara to Mathura.

paragraphs: The Gupta dynasty reigned from around 320 to 550 AD. The Gupta Empire covered most of North-central India, and what is now western India and Bangladesh. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs. The time of the Gupta Empire is seen as the Golden Age of India. Historians place the Gupta dynasty alongside the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilization.

paragraphs: By the first half of the fifth century, a group of people known as Huns had settled in Afghanistan. They became powerful. They made Bamiyan as their capital city. They started attacking northwestern parts of India. Skandagupta, an emperor of the Gupta dynasty fought back and kept them away for some years. At last the Huns won and could enter most parts of northern India. With this the Gupta dynasty came to an end. Most of north India became badly affected by this invasion. However, Huns could not go up to the Deccan Plateau and the southern parts of India. These parts remained peaceful. No one knows definitely about the fate of Huns after the end of the sixth century. Some historians believe that they mixed up fully with the Indian people of that time.

paragraphs: In the history of India, Middle kingdoms of India covers a period beginning from around the 6th-7th century. In South India, Chola kings ruled Tamil Nadu, and Chera kings ruled Kerala. They also had trading relationships with the Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. In north India, Rajputs ruled in many kingdoms. Some of those kingdoms continued for hundreds of years.

paragraphs: After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, it was Harsha of Kanauj (a place now in Uttar Pradesh state of India) who united the northern parts of India in one kingdom. After his death several dynasties tried to control north India and ruled from time to time from 7th century till the 9th century as described in some of the sections below. Some of these dynasties were the Pratiharas of Malwa and later Kannauj; the Palas of Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan.

paragraphs: The Pratihara kings ruled kingdoms in Rajasthan and some other parts of northern India from the 6th century to the 11th century. The Palas ruled the eastern part of India. They ruled over areas which are now parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and the west Bengal, and of Bangladesh. The Palas ruled from 8th century to the 12th century. In the southern parts of India, Rashtrakutas of Malakheda (Karnataka) ruled the Deccan during the 8th-10th centuries after the end of Chalukya rule. All these three dynasties always tried to control the entire north India. During all this time lasting for three to four hundred years, the Chola kings were growing in power and influence.

paragraphs: In the 6th century several Rajput kingdoms came into being in Rajasthan. Many other Rajput kings ruled in different parts of north India. Some of these kingdoms continue to survive for hundreds of years during different periods of the history of India.

paragraphs: In 1336, two brothers named Harihara and Bukka founded the Vijayanagara Empire in an area which is now in Karnataka state of India. The most famous king of this empire was Krishnadevaraya. In 1565, rulers of this empire were defeated in a battle. But, the empire continued for about next one hundred years.

paragraphs: A number of kingdoms of south India had trading relations with the Arabs in the west, and with Indonesia and other countries of the east.

paragraphs: Islam spread across the Indian subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems—the prevailing Hindu and Muslim—mingled, left lasting cultural influences on each other.

paragraphs: The Delhi sultanate was a Muslim kingdom based mostly in Delhi. It ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526) Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate. They are the mamaluk, khilji, tughlaq, sayyid and the lodi dynasties. The mamluk dynasty was started by Qutbuddin Aibak. He was a slave and thus this dynasty is also called Slave Dynasty. Qutubuddin Aibak also made Qutub minar. His son in law, Iltutmish became the ruler after Qutubuddin aibak. He completed the qutub minar.

paragraphs: The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India. People known as Wodeyars founded this kingdom in the year 1400. Later on, Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan, fought with the Wodeyar rulers. They also fought with the forces of the British Raj, but were defeated. Under the British Raj, Wodeyar kings continued to rule a large part of Karnataka. When India became independent on 15th August 1947, Wodeyars’ kingdom chose to become a part of India.

paragraphs: Guru Nanak founded Sikhism and his followers were called Sikhs. The power of Sikhs continued to increase in the northwestern part of India. The Sikhs became rulers of large part of the northwestern India. This is called the Sikh Kingdom or Empire. Ranjit Singh was the most famous ruler of the Sikh Empire. He expanded the borders of the Sikh Empire and at the time of his death, this empire covered areas of Punjab, and present day Kashmir and parts of Pakistan. The Sikhs and forces of the British Raj fought many wars. Till Maharaja Ranjit Singh was alive, Britishers were not able to cross the Sutlej river. After his death, the they took over the entire Punjab after battles with disorganised Sikh troops.

paragraphs: For a short period, a person named Ahmed Shah Durrani the founder of Afghanistan ruled some parts of northwestern India. Historians have named his rule as the Durrani Empire. In 1748, he crossed the Indus River and attacked Lahore, now a part of Pakistan. He also attacked many parts of Punjab. Then, he attacked Delhi. At that time, Delhi was the capital of the Mughal Empire. He took many valuable things from India. This included the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan and the famous diamond named Kohinoor.

paragraphs: Colonial period means the time when Western countries ruled India. Western countries also ruled many other countries of Asia, Africa, and South America.

paragraphs: Starting in the 1600s the British East India Company began a very profitable trading empire in India, centered in Bengal. In the mid-1700s Robert Clive (1725-1774) led the Company to an expanded influence in India with victories over the French, the Bengalis, and the Mughals. With a victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 Clive became the first British Governor of Bengal.

paragraphs: In the hundred years after the battle, the East India Company conquered the entire subcontinent of India. They did this by trade, political intrigue, and direct military action. The British were very efficient administrators of their domains. But in 1857 the Indian Mutiny almost destroyed the Company's rule of India. Afterward the British government took control away from the Company. In 1858, India became a part of the British Empire and Queen Victoria became the empress of India.

paragraphs: For ninety years the British ruled India and Burma as a unified territory under the British king or queen. It was divided into eight provinces each with a governor. These provinces were Burma, Bengal, Madras, Bombay, UP, Central Provinces, Punjab, and Assam. A Governor-General (Viceroy) in Calcutta was head of the government.

paragraphs: The way the British conquered India was often divide and rule. In the end, many kingdoms were defeated by the British and the riches taken. For example, many of the Royal Crown Jewels were taken from previous kingdoms in India- including the Koh-I-Noor diamond (one of the worlds largest diamonds) and also stole many other large diamonds and gold.

paragraphs: During famines and floods many people died because the government did not help enough. Any Indian not able to pay the British taxes could be forced into prison and/or publicly beaten. Political opponents were jailed and sometimes killed for speaking out against colonial rule. After taking much of India's natural resources for hundreds of years, England was criticized for not protecting Indians during the partition of India and Pakistan. During the partition of India and Pakistan, millions of Indians and Pakistanis died.

paragraphs: The British also did good things. They built railroads, telegraphs and telephones, improved trade, standardized laws, and water supplies. Many of these things were done to help improve commerce in India and taxes provided to England. They created the Indian Civil Service for administering rules and regulations. They also tried to eliminate practices like burning widows.

paragraphs: The British ruled India primarily for the economic benefit of Britain. India produced cheap raw materials for British industry. Indians had to buy British manufactured goods and profits went back to Britain.

paragraphs: Many people in India wanted to be free from British rule. The struggle for independence was long and difficult. Many people protested against the British, and the British tortured many. They had long promoted divisions among the various Indian rulers and religions. The most important leader of the Hindu majority was Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi believed in a non-violent opposition towards the British.

paragraphs: Because Hindus and Muslims fought each other, India was divided into two countries: Pakistan and India. Pakistan was also divided, decades later. India won its independence, along with Muslim Pakistan, and became a free country on August 15, 1947. Pakistan won independence on 14 August, some hours before India.

paragraphs: On 15 August 1947, British Indian Empire was partitioned into two countries, India (Hindustan) and Pakistan. With this the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent ended. On 26 January 1950, Hindustan adopted a constitution. From that day, Hindustanis became the Republic of India or Indians.

paragraphs: During last 60 years, Republic of India has seen different stages in its national life. Some of them are as follows:

paragraphs: Presently (), India is currently the fifth largest economy in terms of gross GDP. It is the 4th largest economy of the world when accounting for purchasing power parity. Some economists think that in coming decades, India’s economy will become still larger.


title: The Life and Times of Michael K

paragraphs: Life and Times of Michael K is a novel written by J. M. Coetzee in 1983. It won a Booker Prize.

paragraphs: The story is about a simple gardener called Michael K, trying to run away from South Africa in the Apartheid Era.

paragraphs: Some people think there is a link between Michael K and Josef K. in "The Trial" by Franz Kafka.


title: Tort

paragraphs: Tort law is the part of law for most harms that are not either criminal or based on a contract. Tort law helps people to make claims for compensation (repayment) when someone hurts them or hurts their property. For example, a car accident where one driver hurts another driver because he or she was not paying attention might be a tort. If a person is hurt by someone else, he or she can sue in court.

paragraphs: Many torts are accidents, like car accidents or slippery floors that make people fall down and get hurt. These are called "negligent" torts. But some torts are done on purpose. These are called "intentional" torts. For example, if one person punches another person in the nose, it might be an intentional tort called "battery".

paragraphs: Many torts cause physical harm to people. Some torts cause damage to property, like a broken window. Some torts can harm other things, like someone's reputation or a business.

paragraphs: The kinds of torts this article talks about are a part of the common law. The common law is found in England and former British colonies, such as the United States of America. Different laws are found in civil law countries such as France or Germany. In those countries people usually use the word delict instead of tort, but they mean very similar things.

paragraphs: Torts are what happens when one person (or organization) injures another. The person or organization that causes the injury is known as a "tortfeasor". The person who is injured is often called the "victim".

paragraphs: The victim may sue the tortfeasor. The people or organizations on each side of a lawsuit are called the "parties". In a lawsuit, the victim is called the plaintiff. The tortfeasor is called the defendant.

paragraphs: Usually, the plaintiff in a lawsuit is asking the court to make the defendant pay money to make up for the harm that the defendant caused. For example, the money that the plaintiff asks for might pay for the plaintiff's medical bills if he or she was hurt in an accident. Money that the court orders the defendant to pay is called damages. For some torts, especially ones done on purpose (intentional torts), the plaintiff might also ask the court to punish the defendant by making him or her pay extra money. That extra money is sometimes called "punitive damages".

paragraphs: Sometimes a plaintiff also asks the court to order the defendant to stop doing something, like polluting the air or water. An order to stop doing something is called an injunction (in the United States it is sometimes called a "restraining order").

paragraphs: Tort law or 'The Law of Torts' is a body of laws that is applied by civil court proceedings to compensate people who have suffered harm due to the wrongful act of another.

paragraphs: Sometimes the same act can be both a tort and a crime. For instance, stealing someone else's property might be a criminal offense, but it is also a tort against the person who owns the property. Similarly, punching somebody in the nose can constitute both the crime and tort of "battery".

paragraphs: When a defendant causes an injury on purpose, that injury is an intentional tort. Sometimes, an injury can be an intentional tort if the defendant knows it will happen, even if the defendant does not want it to happen. Intentional torts include hitting people and saying things about them that are not true.

paragraphs: Unintentional torts are accidents. They usually happen because someone was not being careful. When someone is not careful, it is called negligence or recklessness.

paragraphs: An example of negligence is driving a car while not paying attention to the road. In a case of negligence, the court figures out what happened and decides whether the defendant was careful enough. It orders the defendant to pay money only if the defendant was not careful enough.

paragraphs: Recklessness occurs when somebody knows that a substantial risk may result to the lives and safety of others as a result of his or her actions, but acts with indifference to the safety of others. An example of a reckless act is shooting a gun randomly toward an occupied building. Although there is no intent to hurt anybody inside of the building, the action creates a significant risk that somebody could be injured or killed.

paragraphs: In some kinds of cases, it does not matter whether the defendant was careful or not. This is called strict liability or absolute liability. For example, in the United States, if someone buys a soda can and it explodes because it was manufactured badly, the manufacturer will probably have to pay the victim money even if the court finds that the defendant was as careful as it could be.

paragraphs: Physical torts are injuries to a person's body, such as hitting them or making them sick.

paragraphs: Abstract torts are injuries to a person's mind, reputation, or property. A person's mind or reputation can be injured by saying things about them that are not true. A person's property can be injured by taking it from them without permission or saying that it belongs to someone else.

paragraphs: Torts that involve people include hitting them, saying things about them that are not true, and making them stay in one place when they want to leave. Hitting someone is called battery. Saying things about someone that are not true is called slander, and writing things about someone that are not true is called libel, both of which are forms of defamation. When a police officer takes a person to prison when he or she is not supposed to, that is called false imprisonment or false arrest.

paragraphs: Torts involving property include walking on someone else's property without permission, taking someone else's property without permission, or damaging someone else's property. Walking on someone else's property without permission is called trespassing. Taking someone else's property without permission is called stealing or .


title: Lawsuit

paragraphs: A lawsuit occurs when two people or organizations ask a court or judge to solve a disagreement or argument. The two (or more) participants in a lawsuit are called the parties. Each party is usually represented by a lawyer. That means that the lawyer will talk to the judge for the party.

paragraphs: The party that starts the lawsuit is called the plaintiff because they are complaining about something the other side has done. This is also called "suing", or to "sue". The other party is called the defendant because it must defend what it has done. Both sides or parties will show evidence or proof that they are right and the other side or party is wrong. The parties may also ask witnesses questions about what the argument or disagreement is about.

paragraphs: After both parties have shown evidence and asked witnesses questions, the judge or jury will decide which party is right. Then the court will do something to make the winning party happy again. The court might make the losing party pay the winner money, or it might make the losing party stop doing something that made the winner unhappy.

paragraphs: The conduct of a lawsuit is called litigation. The plaintiffs and defendants are called "litigants" and the attorneys representing them are called "litigators". The term "litigation" may also refer to criminal trial.


title: Chamber music

paragraphs: Chamber music means music written for small groups of instruments. A “chamber” is a “room” (from the French word “chambre”). Usually the word “chamber” in English means a room in a large house or castle. In the days when people with big houses or castles kept their own musicians, they might have their own private orchestra which played in the large hall. Sometimes there would be a concert in a small chamber. This was called “chamber music”.

paragraphs: Chamber music can be any group of instruments from two up to about eight or nine. Each player will be playing something different from the others (“one to a part”). Compare that to an orchestra where there may be, for example, several violins all playing the same notes.

paragraphs: The word “chamber” is also used for a “chamber orchestra” meaning: a small orchestra. By contrast: a large orchestra is often called a “symphony orchestra”. A small choir may be called a “chamber choir”. But these examples are not usually thought of as “chamber music”.

paragraphs: These words are used to show how many people are playing. They can also be used for groups of singers (vocal solo, duet etc.):

paragraphs: Chamber music for instruments became popular as something different from big orchestras. The orchestra developed in the 17th century and so did chamber music. Composers wrote trio sonatas which were for two high instruments (e.g. two violins) and a continuo accompaniment (usually harpsichord and cello). Arcangelo Corelli and Johann Sebastian Bach wrote many trio sonatas.

paragraphs: Joseph Haydn wrote lots of string quartets. He made this combination popular. Mozart and Beethoven also wrote some very great string quartets. The last ones that Beethoven wrote were very difficult to play and to understand, but composers of the 19th century like Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms were inspired by them. In the twentieth century some of the best string quartets were written by Bartók and Shostakovich.

paragraphs: It is great fun to play chamber music because each player is an individual. It is like having a conversation in music. There is no conductor, so each musician has to listen carefully to the others and learn to play together as a small team. The musicians can also hear their own playing better than they can in an orchestra. Some living composers have written a lot of music for young players who are not very advanced. Some of Mozart’s earlier string quartets are not too difficult and make an excellent introduction to chamber music playing.


title: Stefano Mei

paragraphs: Stefano Mei (born 3 February 1963 in La Spezia) was an Italian long distance runner in several international athletics (also called "track and field") events.

paragraphs: Mei won the silver medal in the 5,000 metre race, and the gold medal in the 10,000 metre race during the 1986 European Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany. Mei also won a bronze medal in the 10,000 metre race during the 1990 European Championships in Athletics, in Split, Yugoslavia (now Croatia). He competed in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics.


title: Museum in Bielsko-Biała

paragraphs: The Bielsko-Biała Museum has its main location in the historical Bielsko Castle, Poland. Since the 1970s there are three local branches: the Julian Fałat Museum, the Museum of Technology and Textile Industry and the Weaver's House Museum.

paragraphs: The castle was built in the 14th century by the Piast family, the rulers of the Cieszyn Duchy in Poland, the castle was used as one of their residences for over two centuries. In 1752 the Bielsko state became a duchy owned by the Sulkowski family. The castle was their property until 1945. After World War II the castle was taken over by the Polish State. Since 1983 its only owner has been the Bielsko-Biała Museum.

paragraphs: In the west wing of the building the hunting room and armoury are located. The next two rooms display three centuries of art history from the 15th to the 17th century. Neighbouring with these rooms are a rococo concert hall and a Biedermeier room. The castle's east wing contains a gallery of the 19th and 20th century painting and graphic art. Next rooms located in the north wing display an exhibition of the history of the city and castle, as well as craftsman traditions of old Bielsko and Biała. The east wing of the castle is occupied by art gallery (the 19th century paintings displayed here include works of art representing realism and academism, Młoda Polska (Young Poland) paintings, works of artists connected with Bielsko-Biała during the twenty years of independence after World War I and during the modern times)

paragraphs: The museum shows traditions of wool industry in Bielsko-Biała, by means of collecting machines, equipment and documents. The exhibits are stored in four rooms and show the look of old textile factory A separate room displays machines for making hats and the history of Bielsko-Biała fire brigade. There is also a little printing office and a room where all the historical household equipments, radio sets, typewriters etc., are being stored.

paragraphs: Reconstruction of the weaver’s house and workshop owned by a guild master. It shows live and work in 19th and 20th centuries. There are two main rooms – workshop on the left and living room on the right, with a kitchen and a bedroom.

paragraphs: The weaver’s house is an original example of the old wooden house. It tries to show craftsman’s work.

paragraphs: The museum of Julian Fałat in Bystra Śląska is housed in a historical villa of the artist, called “Fałatówka” and its visitors can see the art and some biographical documents of the artist. This is the house where the artists lived after he stoped being a headmaster of the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition presents oil paintings and watercolours: self-portraits, portraits of his family and friends, landscapes from his travels and hunting scenes.


title: Circumcision

paragraphs: Circumcision is an operation in which the foreskin is removed. In common speech, someone who has been circumcised is described as "cut" while someone who is not is described as "uncut". For example, one teenaged boy might ask another teenaged boy, "Are you cut?" While this is slang English, it is not considered profanity.

paragraphs: Circumcision may be done by a doctor using a surgical tool, such as scissors, a plastic tool called a plastibell device, or it may be done with a laser. If the doctor uses a laser there is almost no bleeding.

paragraphs: Circumcision may be a religious ritual, a custom in certain tribes or countries, or a medical practice.

paragraphs: People disagree about whether circumcision is a good for health and sexual pleasure. People who think circumcision is a good idea may point to health reasons. Circumcision reduces sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and HPV, prevents certain kinds of cancer, and gets rid of infections and unpleasant smells under the foreskin. If circumcision is done soon after birth, it makes it less common for baby boys to get urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs can cause permanent damage to the kidneys. Many people think a penis looks better if it is circumcised. A study done in the United States found that the women prefer a circumcised penis, to look at and in sexual activity, especially if they are going to put their mouth on the penis. In countries where most boys are circumcised as babies, parents sometimes think that uncircumcised boys will be teased. Some boys are mean to a boy if his penis looks different. Bullying was a bigger problem in the past when boys had to take showers together at school after gym class or before swimming.

paragraphs: The University of the Western Cape in South Africa lists these benefits of medical male circumcision (MMC):

paragraphs: Some myths about medical male circumcision:

paragraphs: One study, conducted in 2015, determined that the foreskin does not provide a sexual response or serve a sexual function in men. Instead, it is the and frenular (the area "under" the frenulum) areas which provide sexual response due to the high concentration of genital corpuscles. Out of a large sample of Kenyan men in a controlled trial, 74.8% of men reported higher penile sensitivity two years after circumcision, while only 7.1% reported lower penile sensitivity two years after circumcision. It was deduced that even a retracted foreskin would tend to reduce the stimulus to the corona and frenular areas, particularly on the outward stroke of intercourse. The study determined that “any sexual effect of circumcision must depend solely on the exposure of the glans and not on the absence of the prepuce.” The study concluded that male circumcision has no adverse effect on parameters relevant to sexual function, sensation, sensitivity, satisfaction, or pleasure.

paragraphs: The area of the outer and inner foreskin combined spans a wide range: 7–100 cm2 and 18–68 cm2 respectively. In discussing vestigial structures, Charles Darwin stated, “An organ, when rendered useless, may well be variable, for its variations cannot be checked by natural selection.” The variability in foreskin size is consistent with the foreskin being a vestigial structure.

paragraphs: Those who believe that the foreskin is important for sexual pleasure are against circumcision. Others do not like circumcision because they believe it has no medical advantage, or that it is easy to clean under the foreskin, or that circumcision harms the penis or the mind. People who do not like circumcision of baby boys say doctors and parents should not make this decision. They say that the owner should choose when he is old enough to decide for himself. (However, it will hurt more if done at a later age.)

paragraphs: There are 5 large groups of circumcised men:

paragraphs: According to the CDC, the latest data (from ) on male circumcision in the United States show a 2.5% overall increase in prevalence in males aged 14 to 59 years between 2000 and 2010. In contrast, there has been a decline of 6.1% in newborn circumcisions. The newborn circumcision rate in the US dropped slightly from 83.3% in the 1960s to 77.2% in 2010. The main reason for this 6 point drop is most likely the much faster increase in the Hispanic population, the ethnic group having the lowest circumcision prevalence. The growing Hispanic population in the West accounts for most of the decrease in national prevalence. Because Hispanic and black individuals are over-represented in poorer demographics, the withdrawal of Medicaid funding for elective circumcision in 18 states is of concern to public health, as was also expressed by the authors of the CDC’s recent report. After controlling for other factors, states with Medicaid coverage had hospital circumcision rates 24 percentage points higher than states without such coverage. Many, but not all, private health insurance plans pay for circumcision. A study of 96,457 male babies in the state of Maryland found that 75% of new baby boys were circumcised before they left the hospital. More were circumcised in a religious ceremony or in a doctor's office later. With those boys included, 82% of baby boys in Maryland got circumcised. It was less common for Asian and Hispanic babies than for non-Asian and non-Hispanic babies.

paragraphs: In Islam and Judaism, male circumcision is commonly done for religious reasons.

paragraphs: In Judaism, religious law orders that baby boys be circumcised on the 8th day after their birth. This is required even if the 8th day after birth is Shabbat (Saturday). In the Jewish faith, circumcision is an important tradition because it represents the newly born baby being included in the covenant (or agreement) which God made with the prophet Abraham.

paragraphs: A "mohel" is someone who circumcises Jewish baby boys eight days after they are born in accordance with Jewish law. A knife is traditionally used for this, but a clamp is now sometimes used instead. Mohels are traditionally male, but most types of non-orthodox (not fully traditional) types of Judaism allow women to be mohels without restriction.

paragraphs: For Jews who observe religious law, the circumcision is performed at a ceremony called a Brit milah. Family, relatives and guests attend. Others, such as Reform Jews may choose to have the circumcision done in a hospital before the baby goes home. They may have a celebration afterwards, or after the birth of a baby girl for whom there is no ritual act.

paragraphs: In the Quran, no sura or ayat mention male or female circumcision. However, there are some injunctions of the prophet Muhammad that explain and command "only" male circumcision, as a "continuation" of Abrahamic/Hebraic tradition. For example, the prophet Muhammad said in a hadith that "Five are the acts which are part of "fitrah": Circumcision, clipping or shaving the pubic hair, cutting the nails, plucking or shaving the hair under the armpits and clipping (or shaving) the moustache".

paragraphs: Also, according to the Qur'an, Allah ordered Muhammad to follow the religion of Ibrahim (the Hebrew Abraham): "Then We inspired you: 'Follow the religion of Ibrahim, the upright in Faith'." —(Qur'an 16:123)

paragraphs: Many Islamic scholars say that is an important ritual and a symbolic step of purification along the lines of Abrahamic tradition. Most Shafi Islamic Jurists (judges) say that circumcision is required for men. It is an accepted tradition in almost all Islamic sects and among most Islamic scholars and theologians. Circumcision is also important within Islam because Islam claims to be the 'truth' and the 'continuation' of the old and true message of Ibrahim/Abraham. According to Islam, God's covenant with Abraham was passed on to Muhammad, whose mission was to continue the covenant. The covenant is continued, according to Islam, through several steps, including male circumcision. The Quran discusses this covenant in detail in several places, including sura 14 (Ibrahim – "Abraham").

paragraphs: There are two hadiths which are linked to the acceptance of male circumcision in Islam. They also show how circumcision may have been used to keep track of dates in tribal Arabia:

paragraphs: Ibn Jubayr Sa'id reported: "Ibn `Abbas was asked the following question: 'How was it with you, [when] the Prophet, peace be upon him, died?,' he said, 'I was circumcised at that particular time because the men were usually only circumcised when they became sexually mature.'"

paragraphs: And further, Ibn `Abbas reported: "When the Prophet, peace be upon him died, I was circumcised at that particular time."

paragraphs: Along with being an important rite of passage, circumcision may have helped people keep track of dates and place events into the correct time and place.


title: Moirai

paragraphs: The Moirai (The Fates) were the three goddesses of destiny in Greek mythology. They were Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos ().

paragraphs: They controlled the life and destiny of everyone. Clotho spins the thread of life (begins a person's or creature's life), Lachesis measures it (looks at the how long it currently is), and Atropos cuts the thread. When the thread is cut the person dies. The Moirai are capable of destroying an immortal.

paragraphs: The decisions of the Moriae about a person's life cannot be changed. Even Zeus is powerless to change their will.

paragraphs: The parents of the Moirai are not surely known. Some said they were the daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis, or more likely of primordial beings like Nyx, Chaos or Ananke.

paragraphs: Sources: D'Aulaire's book of Greek Myths


title: Wikisource

paragraphs: Wikisource – "The Free Library" – is a project by Wikimedia. Its goal is to make a free wiki library of source texts. It has translations into many languages.

paragraphs: It began on November 24, 2003. Its name was "Project Sourceberg" (a play on words for Project Gutenberg), and its URL was http://sources.wikipedia.org. On December 6, 2003, members wanted to change the name to "Wikisource", but the URL was not moved to http://wikisource.org until July 23, 2004.


title: Whaling

paragraphs: Whaling is the practice of hunting whales. This is done to get meat and oil, called blubber. Hunters of whales are called whalers. Whaling has been done at least since 3000 BC.

paragraphs: Many communities on the coast have done whaling for food for a long time. They have also killed stranded whales.

paragraphs: Industrialisation started in the 17th century and also affected whaling. Special ships were built for whaling, and whales were hunted until they were almost extinct.

paragraphs: As technology improved and demand for the seemingly vast resources remained high, far more whales were killed than were born. In the late 1930s more than 50,000 whales were killed each year. By the middle of the 20th century, there were not enough whales and they were at risk of becoming extinct. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling so that whales might recover.

paragraphs: This moratorium was successful, and whale stocks recovered. There is a debate about whaling in general. Countries which are in favor of whaling want to do away with the moratorium, so they can again hunt whales as they did before. Countries and environmental groups say that whaling is immoral and should be banned, and that stocks have not yet recovered sufficiently.

paragraphs: Whales have a thick layer of fat under their skin called blubber. For many years, the Eskimos of Alaska depended on these whales to live. Every part of a whale was used: the bones, the blubber, and the skin - every bit of it. In this way, one whale could feed an Eskimo community for a long time. They were important to the Eskimos. However, sometimes a good thing can get out of control and become a bad thing. This was what happened in whale hunting.

paragraphs: Whale blubber was not used only by Eskimos. Soon it became a product everybody wanted. This was because before electricity was invented, blubber was used as oil for lamps. They also used whale blubber to oil machines and make expensive makeup. Because of this, people hunted and killed whales to make money.

paragraphs: The whalers found out the paths whales liked to take in the ocean, and killed them mercilessly. It was a dangerous and frightening job. Whalers would jump into a small boat and follow the whale. Once they were close to it, they would throw a that was attached to a very long rope into the whale. The end of this harpoon was not at all like a spear. It had a switch blade on the end that would stay in the whale's skin. Once the harpoon was in the whale, the whale would start swimming as fast as it could. The whale might swim day and night with no stop for several days. Eventually, the tired and hurt whale would stop. The whalers would then kill the whale with one last harpoon. When the animal died, the whalers would haul the whale onto the ship (big or small), skin it, then boil the blubber for the oil.

paragraphs: Soon, boats began getting bigger. Whalers began using a harpoon like before, but the harpoon has a grenade inside. This was very cruel way of killing whales as it hurt them a lot. The whale would then have blood coming out of its blowhole. This meant the whale would die soon.

paragraphs: Sometimes entire whale families were found, and as many were killed as possible. Because of whaling, several kinds of whales became almost extinct.

paragraphs: More happily, whales are protected by conservation laws that stop people from killing too many of them. Also, chemists invented many products that take the place of whale blubber, and kerosene replaced whale oil in lamps. Now, many countries have agreed not to hunt whales, because otherwise all the whales might die. They signed a treaty agreeing on this though Norway and Japan still hunt whales. Russia and the United States also practising whaling, on a much smaller scale. (Japan still does hunt often, however).


title: Opinion

paragraphs: An opinion is something a person or a group of people think. "What is your opinion?" is like saying: "What do you think about it?"

paragraphs: The person's answer might start with: "In my opinion..." or "I think..."

paragraphs: Sometimes companies try to find out what people think about something by asking many people their opinion. This is called an "opinion poll" and the people who do it are "pollsters". They might be trying to find out whether people think something is good or bad, such as electricity or exercise or Wikipedia, or whether one politician or beer or sport team is better than another.


title: School year

paragraphs: A school year is the time of year when students go to school. In some countries, it starts after summer, and goes to the next summer. The typical school year in the United States ranges from 170 days to 190 days. In the south, a school year is 180 days for students and 190 days for teachers.


title: Audience

paragraphs: An audience is a group of people that see, hear or otherwise experience the same thing. It may be many different kinds of thing, such as a play, a movie, a book, or a broadcast. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some live performance events invite the audience to be part of the performance, while others allow only applause and criticism. Mass media seldom provide for audience participation.

paragraphs: An audience at a sporting event are called "spectators" or a "live audience"


title: Group

paragraphs: A group is a set of things or a number of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction.


title: Side-scrolling video game

paragraphs: A side-scrolling video game or 2D game is a video game where the player goes toward one side of the screen, either to the left or the right, although this is different for each video game. A famous side-scroller is "Super Mario Bros." The character usually moves from left to right but sometimes it is the other way around. In the golden age of video games, Side scrollers were a big thing and they still are to this do.


title: Eating

paragraphs: Eating is taking in food to get energy, nutrients or for enjoyment. People and animals need to eat because they cannot make their own food inside their bodies like plants. All plants' energy comes from the sun. Plants take the sun's energy, and they are eaten by other animals as food. The animals then eat each other for the energy.

paragraphs: However, many people can not stop themselves from eating, and they become fat or obese. You can become fat by eating the wrong, unhealthy types of food and by eating too much. When a plant collects energy from the sun through its leaves, it is called photosynthesis. If a plant gets too much food, it can just store it until later. They use this stored food during the winter. When you are proven to be fat or obese through your body mass index (BMI), it means you are heavier than the average for your height. The taller you are, the heavier you should be, in theory. If someone is too heavy to be called fat, then they are called obese. When someone eats too much of one thing, they become fat. Someone can eat junk food, but they can also balance themselves by also eating fruits and vegetables.


title: Bathroom

paragraphs: A bathroom (also known as a restroom, washroom, toilet or lavatory) is where people go for personal hygiene activities. This includes use of the toilet, wash their hands, brush their teeth, take a bath, or take a shower. The room may also contain a sink, often called a "wash basin", “hair basin” or "hand basin" (in parts of the United States) and often a "lavatory." In the United States, "bathroom" mostly means "a room containing a lavatory." In other countries this is mostly called the "toilet". The word "bathroom" is also used in the United States for a public toilet or "restroom." Bathrooms also have bathroom cabinets.

paragraphs: Baths go back to 3,000 B.C. Usually, a town would have a special building for people to take baths, which sometimes were part of a religious ceremony. Starting in the 16th century, public baths started declining. People at this time started building baths inside their homes.

paragraphs: Usually, a full bath will have a toilet, a sink, a bathtub, and/or a shower. If a bathroom has only a toilet and a sink, then it is called a half bath or a powder room. A master bath is connected to a master bedroom for the use of whoever lives in that bedroom and no one else.


title: Shower

paragraphs: A shower is where a person cleans themself by using water. They stand up when they use a shower and usually do not wear clothes in a shower. Showers have a shower head that squirts out water usually from above.

paragraphs: There are different kinds of showers. One is a "power shower" where there are many jets of water from all around. Another is the one in the picture. Some are in baths, and others are on their own.


title: Gangtok

paragraphs: Gangtok is the capital of the Indian state of Sikkim, It has a population of 50,000. It is located at a height of 1,780 metres in the Himalayan Mountains . It is small town, filled with different cultures and religions living together.

paragraphs: The city has wide roads, flyovers, markets, a modern hospital, schools, colleges and universities, fast food shops, discothèques, and all other modern amenities. One imposing man-made landmark of the town is the 200 ft-high TV tower which overlooks the town and is near the Enchey Monastery below Ganesh Tok.


title: Transposing instrument

paragraphs: A transposing instrument is a musical instrument that does not play the notes you might think it will play. But all the notes differ from the real notes by the same musical interval. So a song played on the transposing instrument will sound familiar, but played in a different key. That is because the transposing instrument is tuned above or below what the usual notes would be, and always above or below by the same number of notes on a scale. The usual notes are called "concert pitch". Most non-transposing instruments, like pianos, are tuned to play in the key of C.

paragraphs: When writing music for a transposing instrument, or teaching how to play the notes, the entire series of notes is written and described as notes moved up or down a number of semitones. For example: playing the note that is called "C" on a B flat clarinet, produces the note that is called "B♭" when played on a piano. All transposing instruments such as "horn in F" or "alto saxophone in E♭" mean F and E♭ in normal notes ("concert pitch"). The note "C" as written and played on the horn in F will sound like an "F" , and the same "C" written for the alto saxophone in E♭ will sound like "E♭".

paragraphs: Woodwinds, especially the recorder and clarinets, are transposing instruments. Saxophones and most brass instruments are transposing instruments.

paragraphs: The use of transposed notation (writing notes higher or lower than they really are) probably started with the slow changes in how to make instruments. There was a "clarinet in C" when Mozart was alive, but was later replaced by the larger, richer sounding "clarinet in B♭". There was no change to how clarinet players had to move their fingers. That helped players change from the older instrument to the newer instrument. Maybe learners of the modern day instrument in B♭ could re-learn how to use their fingers, so they could play with normal notes. But all written music would have to be transposed back to "concert pitch".

paragraphs: Instruments such as horns and woodwinds have a natural harmonic series, so it is easier and louder to play in certain keys. So that needs to be remembered when writing music for these instruments. Also, these instruments can only be played in tune in certain keys, because of a problem with something called "". Which keys will work depends on which key the instrument was tuned for.

paragraphs: Having transposing instruments makes it possible for pipes to play in several different keys. The fingering can remain the same. Only the key the music is written in, the notes that harmonize with that key, and timbre (what the note sounds like, not just which key it is) change as the different sizes of instrument are used. A cor anglais is like an oboe but a fifth lower (Five notes of a scale. A written C sounds like an F). Any oboe player can play the cor anglais, reading the music and playing with normal oboe fingering. It will automatically sound a fifth lower. Compare this to recorders which are not transposing instruments. On a descant recorder, the note played with three fingers of the left hand (1-2-3-0-0-0) is a G. To play a G on a treble (alto) recorder the fingering is 1-2-3-1-2-3. This can be confusing at first, but with practice players can get used to changing between the different sizes of recorder.

paragraphs: Professional clarinet players will need two clarinets: a B flat and an A clarinet. Some clarinet cases are made to hold both instruments. Some clarinet players also play the bass clarinet. This is also in B flat, but sounds an octave lower than the ordinary B flat clarinet. There is also an E flat clarinet which sounds a minor third higher than written.

paragraphs: Saxophones transpose into different keys according to their sizes. Brass instruments come in several different keys. It is always important for a player to come to a rehearsal or concert with the correct instrument. Often brass players become skilled at transposing. That means, if their music is written in the wrong key for the instrument on which they are playing, they can still play it in the right key.


title: Transposition (music)

paragraphs: Transposition or transposing in music means playing or writing music in a way that makes it sound higher or lower. This can be done by playing or writing the music in a different key, or by playing or writing it up or down an octave, without changing the key.

paragraphs: Transposing is a useful skill for people who play an instrument, especially the piano, organ, or some other keyboard instrument. If a pianist is accompanying a singer and the song is a little too high for the singer’s voice, it is very useful if he is able to transpose it down so that the music sounds in a lower key. For example, if the music is written in the key of C major, it could be transposed down a whole tone so that it sounds in B-flat major.

paragraphs: Most electronic keyboards and organs these days have buttons which can set notes to transpose automatically. This can be very useful, although it may be confusing for people with absolute pitch.

paragraphs: It is a good idea for people who play keyboard instruments or other kinds of transposing instruments to practise transposing. There are two ways to do this:

paragraphs: Transposing by intervals is the a better way of transposing, but when people transpose they sometimes also transpose the notes the first way, one by one.

paragraphs: There is another possibility which sometimes works: by thinking in a different clef. For example, someone who is used to reading music in the alto clef, such as a violist, can transpose up a tone from music written in the treble clef by imagining it was written in the alto clef and playing an octave lower (a note on the middle line in the treble clef is a B, but in the alto clef it is a C). They could also imagine the new key signature of 2 sharps – it becomes a C sharp.

paragraphs: It is very important to understand key signatures in order to be able to transpose. This is why it is so useful to practise scales.


title: Erinyes

paragraphs: The Erinyes (or Eumenides) were the goddesses of revenge in Greek mythology. They are also known as the Furies. These three female divinities were named Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera.

paragraphs: The Erinyes were born from Mother Earth and the blood of Uranos. They avenged family crimes such as matricide and patricide. They also tormented evil men in the "Hell" of the underworld, Tartarus.

paragraphs: The Erinyes forever followed a person who did a crime. They even could make the person go mad. They are often shown with snakes on their heads, blood coming out of their eyes, and looking horrific.

paragraphs: A well known story about the Erinyes is that of Orestes. Orestes' mother Klytaimnestra, and her lover Aegisthos, killed Orestes' father Agamemnon. The god Apollo told Orestes to kill the murderers of his father, which he did. Orestes was then pursued by the Erinyes for his crime. With the help of Athena and Apollo Orestes went to a court in Athens. It was decided that Orestes acted correctly and nobody should hurt him. Even the Erinyes accepted the decision, and from then on they were also called Eumenides, which means "the kind ones", because they could also let people go in peace if their crime was done for a good reason.


title: Indian subcontinent

paragraphs: The south asia continent is a term mainly used for the geographic region surrounded by the Indian Ocean: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

paragraphs: The subcontinent was once part of Gondwana, the ancient southern supercontinent. Geologically, the origin of the Himalayas is the impact of the Indian tectonic plate travelling northward at 15 cm per year to slowly hit the Eurasian continent, about 40-50 million years ago. The formation of the Himalayan arc resulted as the lighter rock of the seabeds of that time were easily uplifted into mountains. An often-cited fact used to illustrate this process is that the summit of Mount Everest is made of marine limestone.

paragraphs: About 50 million years ago, this fast moving plate had completely closed the Tethys Ocean. The existence of the Tethys has been proved by sedimentary rocks settled on the ocean floor, and the volcanoes that fringed its edges. Since these sediments were light, they crumpled into mountain ranges rather than sank to the floor. The Indian plate is still driving horizontally below the Tibetan Plateau, which forces the plateau to move upwards.

paragraphs: The Indo-Australian plate is still moving at 67 mm per year, and over the next 10 million years it will travel about 1,500 km into Asia. About 20 mm per year of the India-Asia convergence is absorbed by thrusting along the Himalaya southern front. This leads to the Himalayas rising by about 5 mm per year, making them geologically active. The movement of the Indian plate into the Asian plate also leads to earthquakes from time to time.


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title: Horae

paragraphs: The Horae were three goddesses in Greek mythology.

paragraphs: There are in fact two different groups of goddesses which were known at different times: today they are called the first and second generation to distinguish between them.

paragraphs: They were the children of Zeus and Themis.

paragraphs: The first Horae were goddesses of the seasons.

paragraphs: The second Horae were goddesses of order, justice and law.


title: Alkmene

paragraphs: Alcmene "" is a person mentioned in Greek mythology. She is not a goddess, for Alcmene was mortal. She was the daughter of King Elektryon of Mycenae and his wife Anaxo. She was the wife of Amphitryon. She is the mother of Heracles "" and Iphicles.

paragraphs: Once when Amphitryon was not at home, the god Zeus, seduced Alcmene in the form of Amphitryon. Alcmene gave birth to Heracles, who was the son of Zeus, and Iphicles, who was the son of Amphitryon. Zeus wanted to kill her for yet another unknown reason of godlore, but Heracles, one day old, saved her.


title: Danaë

paragraphs: Danaë is a person in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Akrisios of Argos. She is the mother of Perseus by Zeus.

paragraphs: Akrisios was told by an oracle that he would be killed by his grandchild. Because of that he put his daughter Danaë in a tower where noone was allowed to enter, so she could not have a child. But the god Zeus could enter in the form of a golden rain, and with him her child was Perseus.

paragraphs: Akrisios then put Danaë and her baby Perseus in a box and threw it into the sea. But Zeus tells the sea-god Poseidon to help them, and so Danaë and her son come to the island Seriphos. There they are found by Diktys, who lets them live with him.

paragraphs: A long time after that, the grown up Perseus takes part in some funeral games. During the games Perseus throws a discus, which accidentally hits Akrisios. Akrisios is killed by it: he was killed by his grandchild, like the oracle's prophecy said.


title: Akrisios

paragraphs: Akrisios (or Acrisius) is a person in Greek mythology. He was the King of Argos. He is the father of Danaë, and grandfather of Perseus.

paragraphs: Akrisios then put Danaë and her baby Perseus in a box and threw it into the sea. But Zeus tells the sea-god Poseidon to help them, and so Danaë and her son come to the island Seriphos. There they are found by , who lets them live with him.


title: Andromeda (mythology)

paragraphs: In Greek mythology, Andromeda (, "Androméda" or Ἀνδρομέδη, "Andromédē") is an Aethiopian princess, the daughter of King Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia boasted that her daughter was more beautiful than the Nereids, this angered the sea god Poseidon, who sent the sea monster Ceto to ravage the land as punishment. Desperate, King Cepheus consulted the Oracle of Delphi, who stated that Andromeda must be offered as a sacrifice to the sea monster; Andromeda was then chained to a rock by the shore. When the hero Perseus saw Andromeda (having flown over after beheading Medusa), he killed the sea monster and saved Andromeda. They were soon married, with Perseus going on to found the city of Mycenae. By Perseus, she is the mother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus and Electryon as well as two daughters Autochthe and Gorgophone. Andromeda is also the great-grandmother of Herakles.

paragraphs: In Greek, her name means "ruler of men," from ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός ("anēr", "andrós" - "[of] man"), and "medon" ("ruler").


title: Centaur

paragraphs: A centaur is a creature in Greek mythology. It has the upper body of a human, but below the waist it has the body of a horse. There are also female centaurs.


title: Bruntál

paragraphs: Bruntál is a small city in the Czech Republic. Bruntál is in the Hrubý Jeseník mountains (part of Nízký Jeseník). Approximately 20,000 people live there.

paragraphs: Bruntál was probably built in 1223. Its name is in the Unicov Charter published by Přemysl Otakar I. It is the oldest Czech city with Magdeburg Rights, meaning a city that can have its own wall and judges. Otakar I gave it these rights because of the gold, silver and other minerals from there.

paragraphs: In Bruntál there are many places that tourists visit – for example, the Castle of Bruntál, the Decanal church of the Virgin Mary, Gabriel's house, Mildner's villa, Klippel's column.

paragraphs: Some of the most notable authors who wrote about the place include: Erwin Weiser, Bruno Hanns Wittek, Josef Lowag, and Kurt Langer.

paragraphs: There are 5 primary schools and 6 intermediate schools. Since 2003, there are 2 universities.

paragraphs: There is one cinema, one theater, and one cultural building.


title: Concerto

paragraphs: A concerto is a piece of music made for a solo instrument and an orchestra. When an orchestra plays at a concert they might play a symphony (a piece for orchestra) and they might play a concerto (with a soloist). If the solo instrument is a violin the piece is called a “violin concerto”, if it is a piano it is called a “piano concerto”, etc. The orchestra accompanies the soloist. This means that it is the soloist who decides how fast or slow to play. The conductor should listen to the way the soloist wants to play and make the orchestra accompany sensitively.

paragraphs: The word “concerto” is an Italian word (the second “c” is pronounced like an English “ch”). It means “agreeing” or “playing together”. The English plural is “concertos”.

paragraphs: The concerto became popular during the 17th century in Italy. Some concertos had several soloists instead of just one. This kind of concerto was called a concerto grosso.

paragraphs: The solo concerto became popular with composers like Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) who wrote over 400 concertos for various instruments. His most famous concertos are a group of four known as "The Four Seasons". These are violin concertos, and each concerto deals in turn with one of the seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Many other Baroque composers wrote concertos: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote several concertos for violin although only two have survived, the others have been lost. He also wrote solo concertos for the harpsichord. George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) wrote concertos for the organ. Organs in England were very small in those days and balanced well with an orchestra. Handel sometimes put pauses in his concertos where the soloist could improvise (make up) some music. These improvised bits became known as “cadenzas”. Concertos ever since have cadenzas where the soloist can show how brilliant they are at playing and at improvising. Some composers wrote their own cadenzas.

paragraphs: In the Classical period Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) wrote a few concertos including two for the cello, but he is better known for his symphonies. It was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) who wrote many wonderful piano concertos. This was at a time when the piano was a new instrument. Mozart was a brilliant pianist and he wrote most of them for himself to perform. He also wrote five violin concertos, four horn concertos, two flute concertos and a clarinet concerto. He also wrote concertos for more than one soloist e.g. a flute and harp concerto and a violin and viola concerto which he called "Sinfonia Concertante". By this time concertos always had three movements: a fast one (usually in sonata form), a slow one, and a fast movement (often a rondo) to finish with.

paragraphs: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) became famous as a pianist before he was known as a composer. He wrote five piano concertos. The last one, known in English-speaking countries as the "Emperor Concerto", is a very big, powerful work which looks forward to the music of the Romantic period. Beethoven wrote a beautiful violin concerto. At the time everyone thought it was too hard for the soloist to play, but as composers wrote harder and harder music the players had to become better and better. Nowadays every professional violinist should be able to play it. Beethoven also wrote a "Triple Concerto" for piano, violin, cello and orchestra.

paragraphs: The 19th century is known as the age of Romanticism. People adored creative men like artists, musicians and writers (the time for women to be equal had not yet come). They were seen as heroes. The concerto fitted in very well with this way of thinking. The soloist was a great hero, and the concerto enabled him to show off his great technique. The violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) was one of these great heroes. He played the violin like no one else had ever done, and because he was a thin, skinny man with a pale face and long hair people thought he looked like the devil. He wrote violin concertos which at the time only he could play.

paragraphs: Some of the most famous violin concertos of the 19th and 20th centuries include those by Felix Mendelssohn, Max Bruch (no 1), Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Edward Elgar, Dmitri Shostakovich (no 1), Béla Bartók, Alban Berg, Igor Stravinsky and Sir William Walton.

paragraphs: Famous piano concertos after Beethoven’s time include those by Frederic Chopin (2), Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms (2), Pjotr I. Tchaikovsky (3), Edvard Grieg, Sergei Rachmaninoff (4), Béla Bartók (3), Sergei Prokofiev (5) and Igor Stravinsky.

paragraphs: Famous cello concertos include those by Antonín Dvořák, Edouard Lalo, Edward Elgar and Dmitri Shostakovich. Tchaikovsky wrote a piece for cello and orchestra called "Rococo Variations" and Benjamin Britten wrote a piece for cello and orchestra which he called a “Cello Symphony” because the cello and orchestra are equal in importance. Brahms wrote a "Double Concerto" for violin and cello with orchestra.

paragraphs: There are viola concertos by Paul Hindemith and William Walton, and Hector Berlioz wrote "Harold in Italy" which is like a viola concerto.

paragraphs: Famous concertos for woodwind instruments include two for clarinet by Carl Maria von Weber, clarinet and flute concertos by Carl Nielsen, a clarinet concerto by Aaron Copland, an oboe concerto by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

paragraphs: Richard Strauss wrote two concertos for the French horn. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a trombone concerto and Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote a tuba concerto.

paragraphs: Modern composers have written percussion concertos. These are usually pieces for one percussion player playing lots of different percussion instruments, and an orchestra accompanying. James MacMillan wrote a piece for percussion and orchestra called "Veni, Veni Emmanuel".

paragraphs: Joaquin Rodrigo wrote several works for guitar and orchestra including "Concierto de Aranjuez".

paragraphs: Béla Bartók wrote a piece called "Concerto for Orchestra". He gave it this title because, although it is a piece for orchestra (like a symphony), there are lots of solos for the different instruments. Other composer, such as Alan Hovhaness, have also written concertos for orchestra.

paragraphs: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies has written ten concertos, each for a different solo instrument. They are known as the "Strathclyde Concertos".