title: Antonov An-225

paragraphs: The Antonov An-225 "Mriya" is the largest airplane in the world. It has 6 engines. It was manufactured by a company called Antonov. Three of them were built to carry the Soviet Space Shuttle "Buran". Since the shuttle was never finished, the planes have been used to carry very large items that cannot be transported another way.


title: Edmund Burke

paragraphs: Edmund Burke (12 January 1729-9 July 1797) was an important Irish politician, and writer. He became a member of the British Parliament with the Whigs in 1765.

paragraphs: Burke supported the American Revolution. He opposed the French Revolution for killing Catholics and other dissenters. His most famous book was "Reflections on the Revolution in France", which created many of the ideas in conservatism.


title: Muslim occasions

paragraphs: Muslim occasions mainly celebrate events of the life of the Muslim prophet, Muhammad.

paragraphs: Eid ul-Fitr begins the day after Ramadan is over and lasts three days. As soon as the Sun sets from the last day of Ramadan, Eid ul-Fitr starts and the Muslims feast. Muslims also say a special prayer called the Eid prayer and food and drink are passed around in Mosques.

paragraphs: Eid Al-Adha means "The Feast of Sacrifice" and is to celebrate when a prophet called Abraham had to sacrifice his son to show that he was loyal to God. At the last moment, God said to Abraham that this was simply a test, and he did not have to sacrifice his son to Him. Muslims in this holiday sacrifice a goat or cow in His honour to show their gratitude for God saving Abraham's son's life.

paragraphs: The meat of the sacrificed animal is split up into three portions. One for the man who sacrificed the animal, one for the man's poor relatives and one for poor people in general, whatever their race or religion is.

paragraphs: Muslims believe that on any Friday, at the end of the week, a good deed is worth more than if you did that same good deed on a different day. Muslims go to the Mosque to pray on that day, for they believe that it was on this day that Adam was created. They reject the idea that God rested after creating the world ("And on the seventh day, God rested", Genesis 2:2) and so this day should not be related to a Sabbath.

paragraphs: Ashura in Arabic means ten and is celebrated on the ninth and tenth day of Muharram. Muslims can choose to fast on this day (see fasting above).

paragraphs: This is also the day when Muhammad's grandson, called Husayn ibn Ali, was killed.

paragraphs: Mawlid an-Nabi means "The Birth of the Prophet" in Arabic, and celebrated the Prophet Muhammad's birthday on the twelfth day of the month of Rabi Al-Awwal. Poetry and prayer to both God and Muhammed are chanted on this day.

paragraphs: Laylat ul Isra and Miraj means "The Night of Power and Ascension". It is when Muhammad was taken to "the farthest Mosque" (it was in Jerusalem) and was taken to see God. It was here that Muhammad and God talked about how many prayers should be said a day. God said there should be fifty prayers a day, but Moses and Muhammad asked for less, since fifty was hard to do every day. Eventually, fifty was lowered to five prayers a day. If the prayers were done well, they were worth fifty prayers.

paragraphs: Laylat al-Qadr means "The night of Power" in Arabic and is celebrated near the end of Ramadan. It is a sacred and important holiday since it is when the Qur'an was first shown to the population.

paragraphs: Laylat ul Bara'ah means "The Night of Freedom from Fire" and is celebrated on the 14th and 15th of the month of Sha'ban. Here, Muslims pray and read the Qur'an all night.

paragraphs: Jumu'ah-tul-Wida is just before Eid ul-Fitr at the end of Ramadan and Muslims say special prayers.

paragraphs: Eid al-Ghadeer is celebrated by Shi'a Muslims and is when Muhammad gave his last sermon at Ghadir Khumm during the month of Dhul-Hijjah.

paragraphs: It is also to celebrate Ali ibn Abi Talib taking over from Muhammad when Muhammad died.

paragraphs: The first day of Muharram is the new year for Islam. It is not an official Islamic event but most Muslims have a ritual or celebration of some kind for it this is one of their favourite holidays

paragraphs: Some mosques are organizing “Open mosque days” with special program, Muslim culture, video show, discussion and finger foods for the visitors. In many western cities this is becoming a cultural social event.

paragraphs: Ramadan is celebrated in the month of Ramadan (the 9th month in the Islam calendar). Prayers are chanted all day and Muslims are forbidden to eat or drink after the sun has risen. When the sun goes down in the evenings they are allowed to eat and drink again. This is called fasting and breakfast comes from this word (break-fast or breaking your fast). This holiday is to teach Muslims patience.

paragraphs: The month of Ramadan changes every year because the Muslims follow the lunar calendar rather than the Christians' solar calendar.

paragraphs: Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is currently the largest annual pilgrimage in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam. A religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to Allah.

paragraphs: Umrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performed by Muslims that can be undertaken at any time of the year. In Arabic Umrah means “to visit a populated place”. It is sometimes called the 'minor pilgrimage' or 'lesser pilgrimage', the Hajj being the 'major' pilgrimage and which is compulsory for every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it. The Umrah is not compulsory but highly recommended.

paragraphs: Here is an example calendar taken from the Islamic lunar calendar and put into a solar calendar. In this case it is from 2000 to 2001 in years of the Christian era.

paragraphs: Certain events (such as Ramadan) happen at different times each year.


title: Guys and Dolls

paragraphs: Guys and Dolls is a 1950 Broadway musical. The music and lyrics were written by Frank Loesser, and the speaking parts were written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. The story of "Guys and Dolls" is based on short stories written by Damon Runyon. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical.

paragraphs: Nathan Detroit, a gambler in 1920's New York City, needs a place to hold his illegal dice game where he will not be caught by the police. He finds a place, but the person who owns it wants one thousand dollars to rent it for the night. Nathan thinks he is out of luck, until he hears that the famous gambler Sky Masterson is in town. He bets Sky one thousand dollars that he cannot get Sarah Brown, a missionary, to go to Havana, Cuba with him. Because Sarah is very religious and moralistic, Nathan thinks she will never agree to go with him.

paragraphs: Nathan has another problem. He has been engaged to a woman named Adelaide for fourteen years, but they still are not married. Adelaide is so frustrated with him that she comes down with a cold. She tells him that if he does not marry her, she will leave him. Nathan promises to marry her, but then realizes that the night he said he would meet her is the same night as the dice game. He does not marry her, and Adelaide is extremely angry with him. She tells him she never wants to see him again.

paragraphs: Meanwhile, Sarah's mission is about to be closed down unless she can have it filled for a midnight prayer meeting later that week. Sky hears about this and makes a deal with her. If she goes to Havana with him, he will persuade the men he knows to go to the prayer meeting. Because Sarah is desperate, she accepts his offer. At first Sky is only taking her to Havana to win the bet, and Sarah is only going with him to save her mission, but while they are in Havana they fall in love. As Sky is saying goodbye to her, Nathan and the other gamblers run out of the mission, where they had been holding the dice game. Sarah thinks he only took her to Havana to get her away from the mission so Nathan could have the game there, and she is very angry with him.

paragraphs: Sky is still in love with Sarah, so he decides to keep his part of the deal. He makes a bet with all the gamblers. If he loses, he will give each of the gamblers a thousand dollars. If he wins, they will have to go to the prayer meeting. Sky wins the bet, and Sarah's mission is saved. Sarah realizes that he really does care about her.

paragraphs: Later, Sarah meets Adelaide. They talk about Nathan and Sky and realize that they are both in love. Sarah decides to marry Sky, and Adelaide decides to marry Nathan.


title: Ichiro Mizuki

paragraphs: , real name (born January 7, 1948 in Tokyo), is a Japanese singer, composer, voice actor and actor. He is best known for his anime and tokusatsu such as Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Kamen Rider and Metal Hero series.

paragraphs: Ichiro Mizuki began his solo career in 1968, although his first single "Kimi ni sasageru Boku no Uta" was released as this song was composed by Kanae Wada. Later, he starts to sing his theme song during the 1970s. His first anime song called Genshi Shounen Ryuu was released in 1971 as the opening theme from the animated television series Genshi Shounen Ryuu. Then he released many other anime and tokusatsu songs from Super Robot, Science Fiction, Sports, Kamen Rider, Metal Hero and Super Sentai series. Ichiro Mizuki has been sang more than 1000 songs since his anison debut.

paragraphs: From August 30 to August 31, 1999, he held a 1000-song concert in duration of 24 hours. Also the success of his 1000-song concert has become a legend in Japan.

paragraphs: On July 19, 2000, he joined as a part-time member of the supergroup JAM Project with other members - Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endoh, Eizo Sakamoto, and Rica Matsumoto.

paragraphs: Meanwhile, Ichiro Mizuki has also act the tokusatsu TV series such as Jikuu Senshi Spielvan, Voicelugger and also the voice actor for anime such as Koraru no Tanken and Dangaioh (OVA).


title: Saalburg

paragraphs: The Saalburg is a Roman fortification in the Taunus mountains in Germany and was a stronghold in the Upper Germanic Limes.

paragraphs: It was constructed about 90 CE and enlarged until about 210. Then the Romans left it after 260. It is estimated that it was home to a "cohors equitata", about 500 cavalry and infantry, to protect the access to the Rhine-Main valley from the Germanic tribes in the North. Eventually it decayed, and its stones were used as a quarry.

paragraphs: In 1897 Wilhelm II ordered that it was rebuilt. Today the Saalburg houses a museum and is a center for Roman archeology. It is located between Bad Homburg and Wehrheim, some 30 km north of Frankfurt am Main.

paragraphs: As part of the Upper Germanic Limes the Saalburg belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage sites since 15. July 2005.


title: Kesha Wizzart

paragraphs: Kesha Wizzart (22 October 1988 – 12 July 2007) was an English singer. She was a contestant on the television programme "Stars In Their Eyes". She was born in Manchester.

paragraphs: Wizzart was murdered on 12 July 2007, along with her mother Beverley and brother Fred. It happened in their home in Manchester. The investigators found injuries to their heads. The next day, a search for the suspect Pierre Williams was started. He was arrested on 14 July, convicted and received three life sentences.


title: Names for small numbers

paragraphs: Naming very small numbers is the same as naming very big numbers, but with one important difference. There is a minus sign over what the 10 in the formula is raised to. So if one wanted to write 0.007 in shorthand form, they would write it 7 x 10 since 7 is the third digit after the decimal point (the zero in front of the decimal point does not count). Naming a very small number with lots of different numbers inside it is the same as doing it with a very big number, but again with that one difference of the minus sign. So 0.0000452 would become 4.52 x 10 (0.0000452 --> 4.52 x 0.00001 --> 4.52 x 10).


title: Military of ancient Rome

paragraphs: The Military of ancient Rome (known to the Romans as the militia) means all military forces of Ancient Rome from the founding of the city of Rome to the end of the Western Roman Empire. Originally there was only the Roman army, but a small navy was added during the Second Samnite War, around 320 BC.

paragraphs: The Roman military was an important part of the Roman state. Josephus describes the Roman people as "as if born ready armed". It has a history of more than 1300 years. Roman armies fought in Parthia as well as in Africa, and in - what was in that time the far north - the British Isles.

paragraphs: After a series of reforms, the army became highly trained, and was well equipped in the middle of the Roman Imperial period. The Romans also had a powerful navy that ruled the Mediterranean and the European Atlantic coast. In the late Imperial period the military's numbers were significantly increased to cover the borders and keep internal peace. The circumstances of the Empire had changed; the Western Roman Empire now relied heavily on units of mostly Germanic tribes living within the borders, who fought in the name of Rome during the Migration Period.


title: Roman legion

paragraphs: A Roman legion was the basic military unit of the ancient Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was roughly equivalent to the modern word division. In the plural, "the legions", it may mean the entire Roman army.

paragraphs: A legion was about 5,000 men in several cohorts of heavy infantry (legionaries). It was usually accompanied by attached units of auxiliaries, who were not Roman citizens. They provided cavalry, ranged troops and skirmishers to complement the legion's heavy infantry.

paragraphs: The size of a typical legion varied during the history of ancient Rome. It had a complement of 4,200 legionaries in the republican period of Rome. In the imperial period, the full complement was 5,500 men split into 10 cohorts of 480 men each. The first cohort was at double strength with 800 men. The remaining 220 were 120 cavalry plus technical staff.

paragraphs: Rome did not have a standing army until the reforms of Gaius Marius about 107 BC. Legions instead were created, used, and disbanded again. In the time of the early Roman Empire, there were usually about 25–35 standing legions plus their auxiliaries, with more raised as needed.

paragraphs: The development of the early legion may be seen as a Roman version of the Greek phalanx formation. Until the 4th century BC the massive Greek phalanx was the mode of battle. Roman soldiers would have thus looked much like Greek "hoplites". Tactics were no different from those of the early Greeks and battles were joined on a plain. Spearmen would deploy themselves in tightly packed rows to form a shield wall with their spears pointing forwards.

paragraphs: There were now three lines of soldiers when in battle formation. Roman soldiers had to purchase their own equipment.

paragraphs: In the middle of the Republic, legions were composed of the following units:

paragraphs: Each of these three lines was subdivided into maniples, each consisting of two centuries of 60 men commanded by the senior of the two centurions. Centuries were normally 60 soldiers each at this time in the hastati and principes (no longer 100 men). The mid Republican legion had a nominal strength of about 4500 men.

paragraphs: Later on the legions were made up of 80 strong centuries. Each century had its standard and was made up of ten units of eight soldiers who shared a tent, millstone, a mule and cooking pot (depending on duration of tour).

paragraphs: Throughout Rome's Late Republic, the legions played an important political role. By the 1st century BC the threat of the legions under a demagogue was recognized. Roman Governors were not allowed to leave their provinces with their legions. When Julius Caesar broke this rule, leaving his province of Gaul and crossing the Rubicon into Italy, he precipitated a constitutional crisis. This crisis and the civil wars which followed brought an end to the Republic and led to the foundation of the Empire under Augustus in 27 BC.

paragraphs: With each legion having 5,120 legionaries plus an equal number of auxiliary troops, the total force available to a legion commander during the Pax Romana probably ranged from

paragraphs: 11,000 downwards. The more prestigious legions were stationed on hostile borders or in restive provinces tending to have more auxiliaries. Some legions may have been reinforced with units making the force near 15,000–16,000 or about the size of a modern division.

paragraphs: The legion was commanded by a "legate". Aged about thirty, he would usually be a senator on a three year appointment. Immediately subordinate to the legate would be six appointed "military tribunes". Five would be staff officers and the remaining one would be a noble heading for the Senate — originally this tribune commanded the legion. There would also be a group of officers for the medical staff, the engineers, record-keepers, the "praefectus castrorum" (commander of the camp) and other specialists such as priests and musicians.

paragraphs: Despite a number of reforms, the legionary system survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and was continued in the Eastern Roman Empire until around 7th century. The Eastern Roman/Byzantine armies continued to be influenced by the earlier Roman legions, and were maintained with similar level of discipline, strategic prowess, and organization.

paragraphs: Centurions were the glue which held a Roman legion together. They were the full-time professional officers of the Roman army. The basic centurion commanded (usually) 83 men rather than 100. They rose in rank by commanding ever more important centuries.

paragraphs: The very best centurions were promoted to become centurions in the First Cohort, called "Primi Ordines", commanding one of its ten centuries and also taking on a staff role. The most senior centurion of the legion was the "Primus Pilus" who commanded the first century. Only eight officers in a full legion outranked him. They were:


title: Alpha helix

paragraphs: An alpha helix (α-helix) is a twisted part of a protein. It is one of the two most common parts of the secondary structure, or shape, of a protein. The other is the beta sheet. An alpha helix is created by alternating groups of atoms. There is a carbonyl group, created by a carbon atom double bonded to an oxygen atom, and an amine group, created by a nitrogen atom bonded to a hydrogen atom. Each section containing one of each of these groups is called a residue, a general term for a small part of a molecule. Each amine group forms a hydrogen bond with the carbonyl group four residues earlier. A prion is a protein that causes disease by changing the shape of another protein. It does this by changing some of the alpha helices, which are more common in normal cells, to beta sheets, which are more common in prions. The alpha helix consists of 3.6 residues per turn. All hydrogen bonds face in the same direction. If two or more alpha helices come together, they become a tertiary structure. (Ex. Five alpha helices arranged into a barrel shape)


title: Allied-occupied Germany

paragraphs: After World War II Nazi Germany west of the Oder-Neisse line was divided into four occupation zones. This had been agreed in London in September 1944.

paragraphs: They were occupied by the allied powers who defeated Germany (the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States) and by France. This was done for administrative purposes during the period 1945-1949.

paragraphs: In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe the American forces had actually pushed beyond the previously agreed upon occupation zone boundaries, sometimes by as much as 200 miles. After about two months of holding certain areas meant to be in the Soviet zone, the American forces withdrew during July 1945.


title: Topaz

paragraphs: Topaz is a silicate mineral. Along with silicate, it includes the chemical elements aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula AlSiO(F,OH).

paragraphs: Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but they usually have colors made by small impurities. The typical topaz is wine, yellow, pale gray, reddish-orange, or blue brown. It can also be made white, pale green, blue, gold, or pink (rare).

paragraphs: "Orange topaz", also known as precious topaz, is the traditional November birthstone, the symbol of friendship, and the state gemstone for the US state of Utah.

paragraphs: "Imperial topaz" is yellow, pink (rare, if natural) or pink-orange. Some imperial topaz stones can fade if they are exposed too much in the sunlight.

paragraphs: "Blue topaz" is the US state Texas' gemstone.

paragraphs: "Mystic topaz" is colorless topaz which has been artificially coated, making it rainbow-colored.


title: Beautiful (song)

paragraphs: Beautiful is a song from Christina Aguilera's fourth album "Stripped". It was written by Linda Perry.

paragraphs: Aguilera sings about how people should not be ashamed to show pride in their differences.

paragraphs: It was released late in 2002. It was the second single from "Stripped".

paragraphs: "Beautiful" won a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

paragraphs: In 2004, the character Damian sang the song at the school's talent show in "Mean Girls".


title: Fundamental theorem of algebra

paragraphs: The fundamental theorem of algebra is a proven fact about polynomials, sums of multiples of integer powers of one variable. It is based on mathematical analysis, the study of real numbers and limits. It was first proven by German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. It says that for any polynomial formula_1 with the degree formula_2, where formula_3, the polynomial equation formula_4 must have at least one root formula_5, and not more than formula_2 roots altogether.


title: R.E.M. (band)

paragraphs: R.E.M. is an American rock band. It was formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980. R.E.M. was one of the first popular alternative rock bands. R.E.M. released its first single, "Radio Free Europe" in 1981. The lead singer of the band was Michael Stipe.

paragraphs: During the 1980s, R.E.M. were one of the most important rock bands in the campus radio movement. They became successful internationally in 1987, when they released the song, "The One I Love". They were very popular in the early 1990s and broke-up in 2011. They have been inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

paragraphs: R.E.M. has been associated with many different bands within the years. Most of them from different parts of the world.


title: Finite

paragraphs: If something is finite, it means it will end. The opposite is infinite. There are many uses of this word, for example:


title: Israel

paragraphs: The State of Israel is a country in southwestern Asia on the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea. Israel became an independent country in 1948. Israel is the only Jewish country, and Jews all over the world think of Israel as their spiritual home. Israel's population was 8.1 million people in 2013 and 6.04 million are Jewish. Almost all the other citizens of Israel are Arab (1.6 million) and include Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Samaritans. Israel's largest city is Jerusalem. Israel's capital city is Jerusalem (limited recognition). Most countries keep embassies in Tel Aviv.

paragraphs: Israel is a small country, but it has mountains, deserts, shores, valleys and plains. The climate is hot and rainless in the summers with high humidity in the coastal plain and lower elevations, and cool and rainy in the winters, rarely going below freezing temperatures.

paragraphs: Israel has few natural resources and imports more goods than it exports. It has a relatively high standard of living and life expectancy. Almost all of its people can read and write.

paragraphs: According to the Democratic Index, Israel is the only democratic republic in the Middle East. According to Freedom House, both Israel and Tunisia are the only full democracies in the Greater Middle East.

paragraphs: The country's history goes back thousands of years, to ancient times. Two world religions, Judaism and Christianity, began here. It is the place where the Jewish nation and religion first grew. Jews and Christians call it the Holy Land, because it is the place of many events described in the Bible, and because some commandments of Jewish law can be accomplished only on its soil.

paragraphs: From the time of the first Jewish patriarch Abraham four thousand years ago, the land now called Israel were populated by Canaanites and other Semitic peoples. Around 1400 BCE, another Semitic people, called the Hebrews, settled in Canaan under the leadership of Moses and Joshua. They were named the “Children of Israel” or “Israelites”: which were divided into 12 tribes. A few centuries later, the Hebrews made Saul, as their leader. The next king, David, began the Kingdom of Israel in about 1000 BCE and made the city of Jerusalem his capital. His son, Solomon, built the first Temple for the worship of their God. Solomon died in about 928 BCE. His kingdom broke into two countries. The northern country kept the name Israel. The southern country, called Judah, kept Jerusalem as its capital.

paragraphs: The Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 732 BCE and the Babylonians conquered the Kingdom of Judah in 586 BCE and destroyed Solomon's Temple. Many Jews returned from Babylonia and built a country again and rebuilt the Temple. First the Persians, then the Greeks and then the Romans ruled the Land of Israel.

paragraphs: The Jews fought against the Romans but the Romans defeated them. In 70 CE, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple there. Again, in 135 CE, the Romans defeated the Jews and killed or took many of them to other places. The number of Jews living in Israel became much smaller. Many were forced to live in other countries. This spreading of Jewish communities outside of Israel is called the Diaspora.

paragraphs: Many of the Jews who remained moved to the Galilee. Jewish teachers wrote important Jewish books, called the Mishnah and part of the Talmud there, in the 2nd to 4th centuries CE.

paragraphs: The Romans began to call this region by the word that became Palestine in English. The Roman and then the Byzantine empires ruled until 635 CE, when Arabs conquered the region. Different Arab rulers, and for a while Crusaders, ruled the land. In 1516, the Ottoman Empire conquered the land and ruled the region until the 20th century.

paragraphs: Since the Diaspora, there have been many attempts to make a new homeland for the Jewish people. In the 1880s, this wish for a Jewish nation in Israel became a movement called Zionism. Jews from all over the world began to come to the area and settled in desert zones, then governed by the Turkish and later by the British Governments.

paragraphs: On 14 May 1948, British control over Palestine ended. The Jewish inhabitants (under the leadership of David Ben-Gurion) declared independence for the new Jewish state. Immediately following Israel's declaration of independence, the armies of several nearby countries – including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq – attacked the new country. Since the 1980s, Israel's main military opponents have been Islamist groups, such as Hezbollah.

paragraphs: The countries of Lebanon and Syria are to the north of Israel; Jordan is on the east; and Egypt is to the southwest. Israel also controls the West Bank of the Jordan River.

paragraphs: Israel has a long coastline on the Mediterranean Sea. In the south, the town of Eilat is on the Gulf of Aqaba, which is part of the Red Sea.

paragraphs: The Galilee is a fertile and mountainous region in the north. There is a flat plain called the Coastal Plain to the west, near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Negev Desert is a barren area of flat plains, mountains, and craters in the south. There is a range of mountains in the center that runs from the north to south.

paragraphs: On the eastern side, there is a low area called a depression. The Hula Valley and the Sea of Galilee are in this low area in the north. The Jordan River runs from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The land next to the Dead Sea is the lowest in the world. It is -426 meters below sea level.

paragraphs: The weather is normally hot and dry in the summer and mild to cool in the winter. Rain falls mostly in the winter (between the months of November and April). There is more rain in the north than in the south, and hardly any rain in the desert. Snow falls in higher elevations. Israel built a very big irrigation system to bring water from the north to the dry areas in the south so that crops can grow there also.

paragraphs: Jerusalem is the biggest city in Israel. Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba and Rishon LeZion are also large cities. Israel says that its capital city is Jerusalem. Most countries do not recognize that. They treat Tel Aviv as the capital.

paragraphs: Israel is a parliamentary democracy. All Israeli citizens who are 18 years or older may vote. The Israeli parliament is called the Knesset. The Knesset has 120 members. Each member is elected for no more than four years at a time. The Knesset makes laws, helps decide national policy, and approves budgets and taxes.

paragraphs: Voters do not vote for individual candidates in Knesset elections. Instead, they vote for a party. This party makes a list with all its candidates. The list may have only one candidate or as many as 120 candidates. In an election, the percentage of the vote that each list wins decides how many representatives, or seats, the party gets in the Knesset. For example, if a party list gets 33 percent of the vote, it gets 40 Knesset seats.

paragraphs: Israel has no written constitution. Instead, the Knesset made "Basic Laws". The Basic Laws say how the government must work and give civil rights to the citizens.

paragraphs: The Prime Minister is the head of Israel's government. He or she is usually the leader of the party that has the most seats in the Knesset. The prime minister must keep the support of a majority of Knesset members to stay in office. He or she appoints ministers to the cabinet. The Knesset approves appointments to the Cabinet. The ministers are responsible for subjects such as education, defense, and social welfare. The prime minister is the head of the cabinet and decides the topics of cabinet meetings and makes the final decisions.

paragraphs: Benjamin Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister since March 2009.

paragraphs: The President is the head of state. The Knesset elects the president for seven years. Most of the president's duties are ceremonial: The president signs laws and treaties approved by the Knesset, appoints judges, and members of some public organizations. He or she also accepts the documents from ambassadors and foreign diplomats bring when they are appointed.

paragraphs: Reuven Rivlin has been the President since July 2014.

paragraphs: Israel has many political parties, with a large variety of opinions. In the elections of 2020, 20 parties won seats in the Knesset.

paragraphs: The parties belong to three main groups. The biggest groups are the Zionist parties. These include the conservative liberals, such as HaLikud; social democrats, such as HaAvoda (Labor Party); and the religious Zionists. There are also smaller religious Orthodox Jewish parties, special-interest parties, and Israeli Arab parties.

paragraphs: A single party usually does not win enough seats in the Knesset by itself to have a majority, so one of the bigger parties asks for support from the other parties, including the religious parties, to form a coalition government. This gives these parties a lot of power although they are small.

paragraphs: The Likud supports free market policies and limited government involvement in the economy. Likud believes strongly in protecting Israel's security. It wants to give less away in the peace process for a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians and the Arab states.

paragraphs: The Labor Party supports government control of the economy, but also believes in a limited amount of free enterprise. The party says it will give more away for an agreement with the Palestinians and the Arab states.

paragraphs: Current Knesset is the 23rd Knesset, sworn in on March 16, 2020. Current government is the Fifth Netanyahu Government, installed on May 17, 2020.

paragraphs: At independence, Israel was a poor country with little agricultural or industrial production. But Israel's economy has grown tremendously since 1948. The nation now enjoys a relatively high standard of living, despite having few natural resources and a limited water supply.

paragraphs: Many immigrants came to Israel in the years immediately after independence. Many of these immigrants were skilled laborers and professionals who greatly aided the nation's economic development.

paragraphs: Many of Israel's service industry workers are employed by the government or by businesses owned by the government. Government workers provide many of the services that are needed by Israel's large immigrant population, such as housing, education, and job training.

paragraphs: Tourism is one of the country's important sources of income. Tourists visit many archaeological, historical, and religious sites; museums; nature reserves; and beach resorts in Israel.

paragraphs: Tourists support many of Israel's service industries, especially trade, restaurants, and hotels. Over 2.7 million foreign tourists visited Israel in 2009.

paragraphs: Israeli factories produce such goods as chemical products, electronic equipment, fertilizer, paper, plastics, processed foods, scientific and optical instruments, textiles, and clothing. The cutting of imported diamonds is a major industry. Government-owned plants manufacture equipment used by Israel's large armed forces. Israel is the world's largest exporter of drones. Tel Aviv and Haifa are Israel's major manufacturing centers.

paragraphs: Agriculture formerly employed a much larger percentage of Israel's workforce. But much of the work once performed by people is now performed by machines. Important agricultural products include citrus and other fruits; eggs; grain; poultry; and vegetables.

paragraphs: The government develops, helps finance, and controls agricultural activity, including fishing and forestry. Israel produces most of the food it needs to feed its people, except for grain. Agricultural exports provide enough income to pay for any necessary food imports. Most Israeli farmers use modern agricultural methods. Water drawn from the Sea of Galilee irrigates large amounts of land in Israel.

paragraphs: Most Israeli farms are organized as moshavim or kibbutzim. Israel also has some private farms.

paragraphs: The Dead Sea, the world's saltiest body of water, is Israel's leading source of minerals. Bromine, magnesium, potash and table salt are extracted from the sea. Potash, used mainly in fertilizers, is the most important mineral.

paragraphs: In the Negev Desert, there are mines for phosphates, copper, clay, and gypsum.

paragraphs: Israel has few energy sources. It has no coal deposits or hydroelectric power resources, and only small amounts of crude oil and natural gas. As a result, Israel depends on imported crude oil for gasoline and diesel for transportation, and coal producing electricity for its energy needs.

paragraphs: Solar energy – energy from the sun – is used widely to heat water for houses. Israel is developing other ways to use solar energy to power houses and factories.

paragraphs: In 2008, Israel began investing in building electric cars and the stations to charge them. There may also be large natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea that Israel could develop.

paragraphs: For 2006, Israeli exports grew by 11% to just over $29 billion; the hi-tech sector accounted for $14 billion, a 20% increase from the previous year.

paragraphs: Because it has few natural resources, Israel imports more goods than it exports. The country's main imports include chemicals, computer equipment, grain, iron and steel, military equipment, petroleum products, rough diamonds, and textiles.

paragraphs: Israel's main exports are chemical products, citrus fruits, clothing, electronic equipment, fertilizers, polished diamonds, military equipment, and processed foods. The nation's main trading partners include the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg); Germany; Italy; Switzerland; the United Kingdom; and the United States.

paragraphs: Israel has a well-developed transportation system. Most middle-class Israeli families either own a car or have one provided by their employer. Paved roads reach almost all parts of the country. Public transportation both in and between cities is provided primarily by bus.

paragraphs: Ben-Gurion Airport is Israel's main international airport. It is near Tel Aviv. There are smaller airports are located at Atarot, near Jerusalem, and at Eilat. El Al, Israel's international airline, flies regularly to the United States, Canada, Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia. Israel has three major deepwater ports: Haifa, Ashdod, and Eilat.

paragraphs: Israel's communication system is one of the best in the Middle East. Israel has about 30 daily newspapers, about half of which are in Hebrew. The rest are in Arabic, Russian, Yiddish, or one of several foreign languages. The Israel Broadcasting Authority, a public corporation set up by the government, runs the television and nonmilitary radio stations.


title: Lake Champlain

paragraphs: Lake Champlain is a natural freshwater lake in North America along the borders of New York and Vermont and partially across the United States-Canada border in the province of Quebec. The lake was named for the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who came there in 1609.

paragraphs: Lake Champlain is one of a large number of large lakes spread in an arc from Labrador through the northern United States and into the Northwest Territories of Canada. Although it is much smaller than the Great Lakes of Ontario, Erie, Huron, Superior, or Michigan, Lake Champlain is a large body of fresh water. The lake is about in area. It is about long. At its widest point, it is about wide. The maximum depth is about . It contains about 80 islands, including an the entire country of Grand Isle County in Vermont.

paragraphs: In the colonial times, Lake Champlain gave an easily blocked water (or, in winter, ice) passage between the Saint Lawrence and the Hudson Valleys. Boats and sledges were usually preferable to the unpaved and frequently mud-bound roads of the time. The northern tip of the lake at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec (St. John in colonial times) is a short distance from Montreal. The southern tip at Whitehall (Skenesborough in colonial times) is a short distance from Saratoga, Glens Falls, and Albany, New York.

paragraphs: Forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point (Fort St. Frederic) controlled passage of the lake in colonial times. Important battles were fought at Ticonderoga in 1758 and 1777. A important naval battle was fought in 1776 at Valcour Island: in the Battle of Valcour Island, Benedict Arnold delayed British ships enough to prevent the fall of these forts until the following year, allowing the Continental Army to grow stronger and allowing the later victory at Saratoga.


title: Fumie Suguri

paragraphs: Suguri is expressive, her program is called "Suguri World". Her younger sister Chika Suguri is figure skater likewise, too.

paragraphs: She was first Japanese skater to win the ISU Grand Prix Final in 2003, and got more Four Continents Championships titles in 2005, and got more World Championships medals than other Japanese figure skater in 2006.


paragraphs: The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and was signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970. Its mission is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths by making and enforcing rules (called standards) for workplace safety and health. As of March 2006, the agency is headed by Assistant Secretary of Labor Edwin Foulke.


title: Arsenio Hall

paragraphs: Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American actor and comedian. He hosted his own television talk show, "The Arsenio Hall Show", from 1989 to 1994 on the Fox network. He also had his own sitcom on ABC titled, "Arsenio"

paragraphs: Hall co-starred with Eddie Murphy in the movies "Coming to America" and "Harlem Nights". After his own television series ended, Hall sometimes guest-starred on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.


title: Bezenye

paragraphs: Bezenye is a village in the north-west of Hungary. It is very close to the border with Slovakia and only 9 km from the Slovakian capital city Bratislava. The population is about 1600.

paragraphs: Archaeologists have found things under the ground which show that the first people to lived there were Old Germanic tribes. Later, Hungarian (Magyar) people lived there. Then troops from Turkey destroyed a lot of the village and the people fled. New people came to live in the area: Croatians and Germans. The Croatians called the village "Bizonja" and the Germans called it "Palersdorf". "Bezenye" is the Hungarian name. It comes from a Slav word "baza" meaning an elderberry tree.

paragraphs: After World War II many of the poorer Germans had to go and live in Germany. New Hungarian families from Slovakia came to live in Bezenye.

paragraphs: Today Bezenye is not a typical Hungarian village. The people speak a mixture of Hungarian, Croatian, Slovak and German. The Roman Catholic church of the Blessed Virgin Mary has services in Hungarian and Croatian.


title: Royal Proclamation of 1763

paragraphs: The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III after Great Britain gained French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War. The purpose of the Proclamation was to organize Britain's large North American empire, and to make relations with Native Americans better and more stable by controlling trade, settlement, and land purchases on the western frontier. Parliament also wished to gain trust from the natives so they could place forts there.

paragraphs: The Proclamation stated that Americans could not settle or buy land west of a line along the Appalachian Mountains. This angered colonists. Tempted by great farm land, settlers continued to flow into the Ohio River Valley and Great Britain was unable to provide adequate protection for those colonists. Also, the Proclamation gave Great Britain a monopoly in land bought from Native Americans. The later Quebec Act, 1774 extended the rights of French Catholics, thus further angering English Protestant settlers.


title: Inkscape

paragraphs: Inkscape is a vector graphics (pictures made from lines instead of dots) drawing program published under the GNU General Public License. Its stated goal is to become a really good drawing tool while being able to fit in with standards for SVG graphics.

paragraphs: Inkscape was first made for Linux, but now it is cross-platform and runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and other Unix-like operating systems. As of 2007, Inkscape is actively being made better, and new features are added all the time.

paragraphs: Inkscape began in 2003 as a fork (break-off) of the Sodipodi project. Sodipodi, developed since 1999, was itself based on Raph Levien's Gill (Gnome Illustration Application).


title: Land grant

paragraphs: A land grant is a gift of real estate - land or privileges - made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially as rewards for military service. Grants of land are also awarded to individuals and companies to help develop unused land in relatively unpopulated countries.

paragraphs: Roman soldiers were given rewards at the end of their service including cash or land ("praemia"). Augustus fixed the amount in AD 5 at 3000 denarii and by the time of Caracalla it had risen to 5000 denarii.

paragraphs: In old California, the King of Spain frequently gave land to people he liked, or who helped him.


title: Pope Leo XIII

paragraphs: Pope Leo XIII (; , March 2, 1810—July 20, 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 257th Pope from 1878 until his death.

paragraphs: Pope Gregory XVI granted Pecci the title Monsignore. In 1903, there were Golden Jubilee celebrations which recalled the 50 years since he was named a cardinal.

paragraphs: In 1846, he visited London where he had an audience with Queen Victoria.

paragraphs: Pecci was Bishop of Perugia for thirty-two years, from 1846 to 1878.

paragraphs: Pope Pius IX raised him to the rank of cardinal in 1853.

paragraphs: In 1878, Cardinal Pecci was elected Pope.

paragraphs: After his election, Pope Leo never went outside the gates of the Vatican.

paragraphs: Pope Leo was in office until the age of 93. He was the oldest pope and had the second longest papal reign before Pope John Paul II. He is known as the "Pope of the Working Man."

paragraphs: Age age 93, the pope died from pneumonia and old age.

paragraphs: The pope lay in State in St. Peter's Basilica. His final resting place is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the official seat of the Bishop of Rome.


title: Konzum

paragraphs: Konzum is Croatia's biggest supermarket chain. Konzum was opened in Zagreb in 1957, and today has 230 stores open in Croatia. Lately, Konzum's popularity has grown a lot in Croatia. In 1994, Konzum joined the Agrokor group. Konzum supermarkets can also be found in Croatia's neighbouring country, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Konzum has relations with the Bosnian company, Velpro.


title: Mother Teresa

paragraphs: Mother Teresa (born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), was a Roman Catholic nun who started the Missionaries of Charity and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her work with people.For over forty years, she took care of needs of those without money, those who were sick, those without parents, and those dying in Calcutta (Kolkata), guided in part by the ideals of Saint Francis of Assisi.

paragraphs: As the Missionaries of Charity grew under Mother's leadership, they expanded their ministry to other countries. By the 1970s she had become internationally well known as an advocate for the poor and helpless, due in part to a movie and book, "Something Beautiful for God" by Malcolm Muggeridge. She did not think women had the right to have abortions and said "The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me?".

paragraphs: Following her death she was beatified (the first stage of sainthood) by Pope John Paul II and given the title Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

paragraphs: Mother Teresa received criticism over the years, especially in recent years as debate about sex and abortion grew. Christopher Hitchens says that, instead of trying to help the poor, she encouraged them to endure pain and continue to suffer. Hitchens also thinks she was against ending poverty and raising the social status of women. Hitchens wrote a book on Teresa called "The Missionary Position". In an article for Slate, Hitchens writes "MT was not a friend of the poor. She was a friend of poverty. She said that suffering was a gift from God".


title: JoJo (singer)

paragraphs: Joanna Noëlle Levesque (born December 20, 1990 ), known by her stage name JoJo, is an American singer. She was born in Brattleboro, Vermont and raised in Keene, New Hampshire and Foxborough, Massachusetts. She is a pop and R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She released her first album, "JoJo", in June 2004. The album's first single "Leave (Get Out)" was No.1 of the US "Billboard" Pop Chart.


title: Angela Aames

paragraphs: Angela Aames (27 February 27, 1956 in Pierre, South Dakota – 27 November 1988 in West Hills, California) was an American actress. She was famous for her role in the movie ’’Bachelor Party’’. She died of heart problems at the age of 32.


title: Willie Aames

paragraphs: Willie Aames (born Albert William Upton July 15, 1960 in Los Angeles, California) is an actor famous for the roles of Buddy Lembeck on "Charles in Charge", Tommy Bradford on "Eight is Enough" and the voice of Hank on "Dungeons & Dragons", the cartoon. He also hosted a game show "The Krypton Factor" from 1990-91.


title: Peter Abbay

paragraphs: Peter Abbay (born May 3, 1966) is an American actor. He is rumored to play the mysterious unseen Banker on NBC's hit game show, "Deal or No Deal" . He also appeared on several television series, such as "House" as a cab driver, "Punk'd" as a Mob Boss, "Another World" as Logan and The Banker in "Deal or No Deal Canada". He recently acted in the independent movie "Manhattan Minute".


title: Bruce Abbott

paragraphs: Bruce Paul Abbott (born 28 July 1954 in Portland, Oregon) is an American actor. He was in movies such as "Re-Animator", "Bad Dreams", "The Prophecy II", "Out of Time", "Bride of Re-Animator" and the television series "Dark Justice".


title: Bud Abbott

paragraphs: William Alexander “Bud” Abbott (October 2, 1895 – April 24, 1974) was an American actor, producer and comedian born in Asbury Park, New Jersey. He is famous for his role as the "straight man" of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello.


title: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

paragraphs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. on April 16, 1947) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach. He was known as Lew Alcindor before changing his name in the fall of 1971, several years after converting to Islam. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time. He has also had numerous television and movie appearances.

paragraphs: Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., was born in Harlem, New York City, on April 16, 1947.His family was not poor: His father was a graduate of the famed Juilliard School of Music in virtuoso trombone. He attended Power Memorial High School in New York.

paragraphs: Alcindor went to college at UCLA. When he played on the freshman team, it beat the UCLA varsity team that had won two national championships. When he played on the varsity team, it won three national championships. The Bruins were 80-2 when Alcindor. When Alcindor was at UCLA, the NCAA did not allow the dunk, so he developed a hook shot called the skyhook. Alcindor also got a degree in history.

paragraphs: Alcindor was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1969 NBA Draft. He lead the league in scoring twice with the Bucks. He also won three MVP awards with them. In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He won three more MVP awards with them, as well as five championships. Abdul-Jabbar played in the NBA until 1989. When he left, he had scored 38,387 points, which is more than any other player has. He was also one of the ten most accurate players, and blocked the third-most shots. Abdul-Jabbar was placed in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

paragraphs: Abdul-Jabbar studied martial arts with Bruce Lee, and appears in the Lee movie "Game of Death". He is also in the movie "Airplane!". Abdul-Jabbar has written several books. Some of them are on basketball, but he has also written a book about the Harlem Renaissance. His book was later made into a documentary movie. Abdul-Jabbar has also been an assistant coach for several NBA teams. Usually, he has helped tall players play better. Abdul-Jabbar has had leukemia from 2009. In total he won the championship in 1971. He accepted Islam after the game. He became an assistant coach after he retired.


title: Betty Aberlin

paragraphs: Betty Aberlin (born Betty Kay Ageloff December 30, 1942, New York City) is an American actress, poet, and writer. She had a regular role on "The Smothers Brothers Show". Aberlin worked on many television programs. She played Lady Aberlin on "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood". Her movie roles include work in "Dogma" and "Jersey Girl".


title: Jake Abel

paragraphs: Jacob Allen "Jake" Abel (born November 18, 1987 in Canton, Ohio) is an American actor.

paragraphs: He is best known for his roles in movie "Go Figure" as Spencer, and in "Threshold". He also played Kirk in an episode of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody".


title: Baudrecourt, Moselle

paragraphs: Baudrecourt is a village in the Lorraine region of France. It is about half way between Metz and Nancy. The TGV high-speed line from Paris to Strasbourg currently ends there. In 1999, 172 people lived there.


title: Hayden Panettiere

paragraphs: Hayden Lesley Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress, singer, and a Grammy Award nominee.

paragraphs: She first appeared on TV as a baby in commercials, and had her first role at the age of four in the TV show "One Life To Live". She is also well known for her work in trying to stop whaling. In January 2008, Panettiere spoke at an anti-whaling meeting in Washington D.C., and later spoke to representatives from Norway, Iceland and Japan.

paragraphs: Her brother is actor Jansen Panettiere (born 1994).


title: Avatar: The Last Airbender

paragraphs: Avatar: The Last Airbender (in Europe known as Avatar: The Legend of Aang) is an American animated television series which lasted for three seasons on Nickelodeon. The series was created by Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko and Aaron Ehasz. Based on an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation, the show drew on elements from traditional Asian culture, blending the styles of anime and US domestic cartoons.

paragraphs: The series follows the adventures of the main character Aang and his friends, Katara, Sokka, and later Toph and Zuko who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation, which began a hundred years ago.

paragraphs: The pilot episode (The Boy in the Iceberg) first aired on 21 February 2005 and the series concluded with a widely praised on 19 July 2008.

paragraphs: The show is obtainable from various sources, including on DVD, the iTunes Store, the Zune Marketplace, the Xbox Live Marketplace, the PlayStation Store, Netflix Instant Play, and on the Nicktoons Network.

paragraphs: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was popular with both audiences and critics, garnering 5.6 million viewers on its best-rated showing and receiving high ratings in the Nicktoons lineup, even outside its 6–11-year-old demographic.

paragraphs: "Avatar" has been nominated for and won awards from the Annual Annie Awards, the Genesis Awards, the primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award among others. The first season's success prompted Nickelodeon to order second and third seasons. In other media, the series has spawned a live-action movie trilogy, the first titled "The Last Airbender", directed by M. Night Shyamalan, scaled action figures, a , three video games based on the , , and seasons, stuffed animals distributed by Paramount Parks, and two LEGO . An art book was also released in mid-2010. Nickelodeon announced on 21 July 2010 that "" premiered in 2012.

paragraphs: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" takes place in a world that is home to humans, fantastic animals, and spirits. Human civilization is divided into : the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. Each nation has its own natural element, on which it bases its society. Furthermore, people known as Benders have the ability to manipulate the eponymous element of their nation using the physical motions of martial arts. The show’s creators based each Bending style on a style of real-world martial art, leading to visual differences in the techniques used by Waterbenders (tai chi chuan), Earthbenders (Hung Ga kung fu, for the most part), Firebenders (Northern Shaolin kung fu) and Airbenders (baguazhang). Each country is also associated with a season: autumn for the Air Nomads, winter for the Water Tribe, spring for the Earth Kingdom and summer for the Fire Nation.

paragraphs: At any given time, there is only one person alive in the world of "Avatar" who is able of bending all four elements: the show's titular Avatar, the spirit of the planet manifested in human form. When an Avatar dies, he or she is reincarnated into the next nation in the Avatar Cycle, in the order of the seasons. Legend holds the Avatar must master each bending art in seasonal order as well, starting with their native element. For the Avatar, learning to bend their opposite element can be extremely difficult; the example shown in the series is Aang's inability to stand his ground head-on while Earthbending, his Airbender training having placed emphasis on circling, approaching from new angles and adapting on the fly.

paragraphs: The Avatar possesses a unique power called the Avatar State, which endows the Avatar with the knowledge and abilities of all past lives and acts as a self-triggering defense mechanism, although it can be made subject to the will of the user through various methods, such as extensive trial and training. If an Avatar is killed in the Avatar State, the cycle will be broken, and the Avatar will cease to exist. Through the ages, countless incarnations of Avatar have served to keep the four nations in harmony, and maintain world order. The Avatar serves as the bridge between the world of humans and the Spirit World, allowing him or her to solve problems that normal benders cannot.

paragraphs: One hundred years before the start of the series a twelve-year-old Airbender named Aang learns he is the new Avatar. Fearful of the heavy responsibilities and the separation from his beloved mentor Monk Gyatso, Aang flees from home on his animal guide, a flying bison named Appa. Caught in a fierce storm, they crash into the ocean, triggering Aang's protective Avatar State which freezes them in a state of suspended animation inside an iceberg. After his disappearance, Fire Lord Sozin, in past friend of Avatar Roku, knowing that the new Avatar is an Air Nomad, launches a genocidal campaign against the Air Nomads in order to ensure his plots for world domination will not be interrupted by the Avatar. Ironically, the Avatar is the only Air Nomad to survive the attack.

paragraphs: A hundred years later Katara, a fourteen-year-old Waterbender girl, and her older warrior brother, Sokka, free Aang and Appa from the iceberg. The three travel to the Northern Water Tribe so Aang and Katara can learn Waterbending. While on their journey, Aang and friends visit the Southern Air Temple where Aang discovers that the Fire Nation destroyed the Air Nomads. At the Southern Air Temple Aang meets his Avatar guide, Avatar Roku. The trio are constantly being pursued by banished Prince Zuko, the exiled son of Fire Lord Ozai, who can only return to the Fire Nation and reclaim his honor and throne if he captures the Avatar. Zuko travels with his uncle Iroh, nicknamed "Dragon of the West", a legendary Fire Nation general and the older brother of Ozai, known as "Western Dragon". Competing with Zuko for the Avatar is Admiral Zhao who leads a Fire Nation assault on the Northern Water Tribe that is successfully repelled thanks to Aang and his friends.

paragraphs: After leaving the North Pole, Aang continue master the water with Katara. Searching for a new Earthbending teacher, the group meets Toph Bei Fong, a blind Earthbending prodigy who teaches Aang how to "see" using earthbending and vibrations. Meanwhile, Zuko and Iroh, now fugitives from the Fire Nation, attempt to lead new lives in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko, with the help of his uncle, tries to come to terms with his troubled past and his obsession with capturing the Avatar. Aang and his friends discover that an upcoming solar eclipse will deprive Firebenders of their bending, leaving them open to invasion and giving Aang his chance to defeat the Fire Lord. Azula, Zuko's younger sister, and her two friends Mai and Ty Lee pursue Team Avatar, who struggle to reach Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital, and tell the Earth King of the eclipse. After capturing and impersonating the Kyoshi Warriors, friends of Team Avatar, Azula persuades an elite group of Earthbenders called the Dai Li to instigate a coup d'état, allowing the Fire Nation to capture Ba Sing Se. In a final confrontation, Zuko sides with Azula, who promises to restore his honor. Azula mortally wounds Aang, who is in the Avatar State, with a lightning blast. Katara revives Aang with spirit water from the North Pole, but his seventh chakra is blocked and he cannot enter the Avatar State.

paragraphs: Aang awakens to find the group disguised as Fire Nation soldiers heading West on a Fire Nation ship, while Zuko has been restored to his position as crown prince. Sokka has planned a small-scale invasion of the Fire Nation to capture the Fire Lord's palace and defeat Fire Lord Ozai, taking advantage of the solar eclipse. The invasion will be staged by a ragtag group of benders and warriors who Aang has helped along his journey. Initially the invasion proceeds as planned, but Aang fails to find the Fire Lord before the eclipse ends, because Azula knew about the invasion. The invasion ultimately fails, and only Aang and his closest friends are able to escape. Zuko, in a change of heart, decides to defy his father and join the Avatar. Zuko catches up with Aang at the Western Air Temple and offers to teach Aang Firebending. After some reluctance from Katara and Sokka, Team Avatar allows Zuko to join the group. In the series finale, Aang defeats Fire Lord Ozai by taking away his ability to firebend. With Ozai defeated, the war quickly ends. Zuko is crowned the new Fire Lord and, with the help of the Avatar and his friends, begins rebuilding the four nations. The series ends as Aang and Katara kiss in front of the sunset.

paragraphs: Aang (Zach Tyler Eisen) is a 12 year old. He is the most important character in the series. He was frozen in ice with his flying bison, Appa, for 100 years. He was found by a young Waterbender named Katara. Now he is the Avatar, the master of 4 different powers: water, earth, fire and air. Aang is a hero, but he doesn't want to be a hero. He is trying to make the world good again.

paragraphs: Katara (Mae Whitman) is 14 years old. She is a Waterbender. This means she can move water by moving her body. She is in the Southern Water Tribe. Katara has a brother. His name is Sokka. They find Aang in a big ball of ice. He had been frozen for 100 years. Katara and Sokka go with Aang on an adventure to kill the evil Lord. His is called Fire Lord Ozai. She is his first teacher for water.<refgroup="Notes">Katara can do bloodbending. This means she can move peoples' bodies by "bending" their blood. She doesn't like to do this.

paragraphs: Sokka (Jack DeSena) is 15 years old. He is a warrior. He is also Katara's brother. He lives in the Southern Water Tribe. He goes with Aang on his adventure to kill the evil Fire Lord. He is very funny, so he says he is "meat-loving" and "sarcastic". Sokka is different from his friends. He cannot "bend" anything, he is a fighter and a thinker. He has lots of good ideas and weapons. He has a boomerang and a sword he made from a meteorite. Michael Dante DiMartino, who made the TV show, said that Sokka could have been a Waterbender, but he never learned how to do it.

paragraphs: Toph (Jessie Flower) is 12 years old. She is blind. She is an Earthbender. Her family is rich, but she doesn't like money. She is very strong and she likes to fight. When she meets Aang and his friends she thinks they are strange. She wants to help them, so she goes with them on their adventure. She is Aang's teacher for Earthbending. She is blind, but she can still see things. Toph "sees" with her feet. She feels the earth move a little bit. Then she knows what is happening. Toph is the most powerful Earthbender ever.

paragraphs: Zuko (Dante Basco) is 16 years old. He is the son of the evil Fire Lord, so he is a prince. In Season 1 he is the most important bad guy. Zuko's life was hard. Something happened and now his father doesn't like him. Zuko wants to catch the Avatar because he thinks his father would like that. Zuko does not like himself, he is angry, and his family is crazy. In the show Zuko learns how to be nice. He wears a blue mask to hide himself and then he saves people. In season three, he leaves the Fire Lord. He goes to Aang and becomes his friend. He becomes a Firebending teacher for Aang. At the end, he is the new Fire Lord.

paragraphs: Azula (Grey DeLisle) is a bad princess. She is a Firebender. She is Zuko's younger sister. She is an important bad guy in the show. Azula is very good at Firebending. It is easy for her to do it. She can make lightning. She is very mean to her friends Mai and Ty Lee. She uses fire to scare them. The Fire Lord likes her more than Zuko.

paragraphs: Iroh (Mako in season one and two, Greg Baldwin in season three) used to be a general for the Fire Lord. He can make fire in his nose and mouth, so they call him the Dragon of the West. He is Prince Zuko's uncle and teacher. The Fire lord is Iroh's brother. Iroh is older than the Fire Lord. He should be the Lord, but the Fire Lord lied, so that he could be the Lord. People think Iroh is nice, kind, and happy. He does silly things so people think he is not strong or smart. But Iroh is very smart and strong. Iroh has a secret group of friends. They are strong and good at fighting. The friends are called The Order of the White Lotus. In the last episode they fight the Fire Nation. They win and the world becomes a good place. Iroh is special because he learned how to do Firebending from Dragons.

paragraphs: "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was co-created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko at Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California. Animation work was done by the Korean animation studio DR Movie. According to Bryan Konietzko, the program was conceived in the spring of 2001 when he took an old sketch of a balding, middle-aged man and re-imagined the character as a child. Konietzko drew the character herding bison in the sky, and showed the sketch to Mike DiMartino. At the time, DiMartino was studying a documentary about explorers trapped in the South Pole.

paragraphs: Konietzko described their early development of the concept: The co-creators successfully pitched the idea to Nickelodeon VP and executive producer Eric Coleman just two weeks later.

paragraphs: The show was first revealed to the public in a teaser reel at Comic-Con 2004, and started show the episodes from 21 February 2005. In the United States, first two episodes of the series were shown together in a one-hour premiere event. A second twenty-episode season ran from 17 March 2006 through 1 December. A third and final season, beginning September 21, 2007, featured twenty-one episodes rather than the usual twenty. The final four episodes were packaged as a two-hour movie.

paragraphs: "Avatar" is notable for borrowing extensively from Asian art and mythology to create its universe. The show's character designs are heavily influenced by anime as well as Chinese art and history, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Yoga. Traditional East Asian calligraphy styles are used for nearly all the writing in the show. For each instance of calligraphy, an appropriate style is used, ranging from seal script (more archaic) to clerical script. The show employed a cultural consultant, Edwin Zane, and calligrapher Siu-Leung Lee as consultants for the show's cultural influences.

paragraphs: The choreographed martial art bending moves were profoundly affected by Asian cinema. In an interview, Bryan revealed that, "Mike and I were really interested in other epic 'Legends & Lore' properties, like Harry Potter and "Lord of the Rings", but we knew that we wanted to take a different approach to that type of genre. Our love for Japanese anime, Hong Kong action and kung fu cinema, yoga, and Eastern philosophies led us to the initial inspiration for "Avatar"."

paragraphs: All music and sound used in the series was done by Jeremy Zuckerman and Benjamin Wynn, who form "The Track Team". They made use of a wide range of different instruments (such as the guzheng, pipa and duduk) to compose a background music that fits into the world.

paragraphs: The term "Avatar" comes from the language of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of India. The word "Avatāra", (Sanskrit: ), which means "descent"; its roots are "ava" means "down," and "tri" means "to pass." In the Hindu scriptures, "avatara" signifies the descent of Divinity into flesh. One who attains union with Spirit and then returns to earth to help humanity is called an avatar. The Chinese characters that appear at the top of the show's title card mean "the divine medium who has descended upon the mortal world."

paragraphs: When Aang was young, he unknowingly revealed that he was the Avatar when he chose four toys out of thousands, each of which were the childhood toys of the previous Avatars. In Tibetan Buddhism, there is a similar test for reincarnations of a Tulku Lama. In "Magic and Mystery in Tibet", Alexandra David-Neel writes that "a number of objects such as rosaries, ritualistic implements, books, tea-cups, etc., are placed together, and the child must pick out those which belonged to the late "tulku", thus showing that he recognizes the things which were "theirs" in their previous life." Each successor is expected to show signs of continuity with the previous Avatar, such as being born within a week of the death.

paragraphs: "Avatar" draws on the four classical elements common to many ancient philosophies for its bending arts: Water, Earth, Fire and Air. Although each has its own variation, most ancient philosophies incorporate these four elements in some way. Examples include the classical Hindu, Buddhist, and Greek elemental traditions. In the show’s opening, each element is accompanied by two Chinese characters: an ancient Chinese seal script character on the left representing the element being shown and a modern Chinese character on the right describing some feature of the element.

paragraphs: The character 水 (pinyin: "shui"), which stands for water, is shown with 善 (pinyin: "shan"), which means benevolence and adaptivity. The character 土 (pinyin: "tu"), which stands for earth, is shown with 強 (pinyin: "qiang"), which means for strength and stability. The character 火 (pinyin: "huo"), which stands for fire, is shown with 烈 (pinyin: "lie"), which means intensity and passion. Finally, the character 气 (pinyin: "qi"), which stands for air, is shown with 和 (pinyin: "he"), which means peace and harmony.

paragraphs: In addition to the use of four classical elements in the series, the fighting styles associated with each element are all taken from different styles of Chinese martial arts. The series employed Sifu Kisu of the Harmonious Fist Chinese Athletic Association as a martial arts consultant. Each fighting style was chosen to represent the element it projected. Tai Chi was used for "Waterbending" in the series, and it focuses on alignment, body structure, breath, and visualization. Hung Gar was used for "Earthbending" in the series, and was chosen for its firmly rooted stances and powerful strikes to present the solid nature of earth. Northern Shaolin, which uses strong arm and leg movements was used for "Firebending". And Ba Gua, which uses dynamic circular movements and quick directional changes, was used for "Airbending".<ref name="avatar2/index.jhtml"></ref> The only exception to these styles is Toph, who can be seen practicing a Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis style.

paragraphs: When the show first was shown it was rated the best animated television series in its demographic; new episodes averaged 3.1 million viewers each. A one-hour special showing of "The Secret of the Fire Nation" which was shown on 15 September 2006, consisting of "The Serpent's Pass" and "The Drill", gathered an audience of 5.1 million viewers. According to the Nielsen Media Research, the special was the best performing cable television show airing in that week. In 2007, "Avatar" was syndicated to more than 105 countries worldwide, and was one of Nickelodeon's top rated programs. The series was ranked first on Nickelodeon in Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Belgium, and Colombia.

paragraphs: The series finale, "", received the highest ratings of the series. Its 19 July 2008 premiere averaged 5.6 million viewers, 95% more viewers than Nickelodeon had received in mid-July 2007. During the week of 14 July, it ranked as the most-viewed program for the under-14 demographic. "Sozin's Comet" also appeared on iTunes' top ten list of best-selling television episodes during that same week. "Sozin's Comet"s popularity affected online media as well; "Rise of the Phoenix King", a Nick.com online game based on "Sozin's Comet", generated almost 815,000 game plays within three days.

paragraphs: Dark Horse Comics released an art book titled "Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Art of the Animated Series", on 2 June 2010 which contains 184 pages of the original art and creation behind the "Avatar" animated series.

paragraphs: "Avatar"'s success has led to some promotional advertising with third-party companies, such as Burger King and Upper Deck Entertainment. "Avatar"-themed roller coasters at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America and one formerly at "Kings Island" also appeared. During the show's runtime, Nickelodeon published two special issues of "Nick Mag Presents" dedicated entirely to the show. Various members of the "Avatar" staff and cast appeared at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con International convention, while Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko appeared with Martial Arts Consultant Sifu Kisu at the Pacific Media Expo on October 28, 2006. "Avatar" also has its own line of T-shirts, LEGO , toys, a trading card game, a cine-manga, and three video games, as well as an MMO.

paragraphs: The Mattel-produced action figure toy line generated some controversy with its exclusion of any female characters. Mattel came to release information stating that they have taken account of Katara's increased role within the program, and that she would be included in the figure assortment for a mid 2007 release. The figure ultimately went unreleased, however, as the entire line was canceled before she could be produced.

paragraphs: Nickelodeon executives have since released optimistic plans for upcoming marketing strategies in regards to "Avatar". Nickelodeon President Cyma Zarghami openly stated his belief that the franchise "could become their "Harry Potter"". They expect consumers to spend about $121 million in 2007, rising to $254 million by 2009. The marketing plans are to be coincided with the release of the first live-action movie based on the series in 2010, which will be the first movie in a trilogy.

paragraphs: In the series of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" based a video game trilogy:

paragraphs: "Avatar: Legends of the Arena", a video game for Microsoft Windows, was launched on 25 September 2008 by Nickelodeon. Each user is able to create their own character, choose a nation, and to interact with others across the globe.

paragraphs: In the series of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" based the trilogy "The Last Airbender":

paragraphs: A series based on "Avatar: The Last Airbender" is currently in development at Nickelodeon and due for release in 2011. It will be created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. the creators of "Avatar: The Last Airbender". The show, tentatively titled "", will be a twelve-episode mini series that takes place in the same universe, 70 years after the of Fire Lord Ozai. The development period and release dates were announced at the annual Comic-Con in San Diego on 22 July 2010.

paragraphs: The series will focus on Korra, a teenage female protagonist and current incarnation of the Avatar, who, according to the president of Nickelodeon, will be "hotheaded, independent, and ready to take on the world". She has already mastered the elements of Water, Earth, and Fire, but needs to master Air. The character was partly inspired by Avatar Kyoshi of the original series, whom the creators say was very popular among fans. In order to avoid repetition of Aang's adventures, the creators wanted to root the show in one place, called Republic City. A concept drawing of the city, released with the announcement of the series, shows the city's design as inspired by Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, Hong Kong, Manhattan, and Vancouver. In the show, Korra will have to learn Airbending from master Tenzin, son of Avatar Aang and Katara, and contend with an anti-bender revolution taking place in the city.

paragraphs: While not targeting a different demographic than "Avatar: The Last Airbender", Michael and Bryan have stated that the show won't cover more mature subject material necessarily, just different mature subjects, "It won't be another war, but a different sort of conflict." The creators also explained that there would be some "cheesy teen romance" for the main character, Korra. At the 2010 Comic-Con, it was revealed that the creators will continue to work with Joaquim Dos Santos and Ryuki Hung on the animation and design of the show. The creators also confirmed that they will directly write all twelve episodes, explaining that as a mini-series, episode fillers will be omitted, allowing for a "really tight" and "cool" story. In late July, Jeremy Zuckerman, composer of the original series, was confirmed to be returning to score "The Legend of Korra".


title: Toul

paragraphs: Toul is a city in the Northeastern part of France. There are about 17,000 people living there. Toul is a fortified town, with a long history. The people who started building the city were the Romans. It was the capital of the Leuci tribe. When the Carolingian Empire was split by the Treaty of Meerssen, in 870, Toul was given to East Francia. In the early 1800s, the importance of the city diminished, and Nancy took its place.


title: Blessthefall

paragraphs: Blessthefall is an American post-hardcore band from Phoenix, Arizona. The band was formed in 2004 and released the first album "His Last Walk" in April 2007. The lead vocalist, Craig Mabbitt leaves the band in November 2007, the bassist Jared Warth was lead vocalist/bassist, replacing the Mabbitt place touring. Mabbitt joined Escape the Fate in mid-2008. Beau Bokan joined to the band in September 2008. With Bokan, the band released the second studio album, "Witness" in October 6, 2009, with Fearless Records. The third studio album, "Awakening" will released in October 4, 2011.


title: Amber

paragraphs: Amber is the common name for fossil resin. It occurs in different colours, and is widely used for making jewellery and other ornaments. Although not mineralized, amber is sometimes considered as a gemstone.

paragraphs: Most of the world's amber is in the range of 30–90 million years old. Semi-fossilized resin or sub-fossil amber is called copal. Baltic amber was called 'Freya's tears' by the Norse and the 'tears of the Heliades' by the ancient Greeks.

paragraphs: Amber consists of several resinous bodies that can mostly dissolve in alcohol, ether and chloroform, associated with a bituminous substance that does not dissolve.

paragraphs: Amber is formed from resin coming out of certain trees. It is not tree sap or gum. The resin soon becomes sticky, and later fossilises as amber. The amber can look different depending on its origin, and its later geological history.

paragraphs: To end up as amber, the starting resin must resist decay. Many trees produce resin, but usually it is broken down by physical and biological process. Exposure to weather tends to disintegrate resin, assisted by microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi. For resin to survive long enough to become amber, it must resist such forces, or be produced under conditions that exclude them.

paragraphs: Baltic amber (historically called Prussian amber) is found as irregular nodules in a marine sand, known as "blue earth," in the Lower Oligocene strata of Sambia in Kaliningrad Oblast, where it is now systematically mined.

paragraphs: "Agathis" amber comes from the conifer "Agathis", a tree that used to grow over a much wider area.

paragraphs: Amber from America and Africa often comes from the "Hymenaea protera", a genus of legume tree.

paragraphs: The resin can contain, in addition to the beautifully preserved plant-structures, remains of insects, spiders, annelids, frogs, crustaceans and other small organisms that became trapped while it was fluid. In most cases the organic structure has disappeared, leaving only a cavity, with perhaps a trace of chitin.

paragraphs: Amber can be found on all continents of the earth, with exception of the pole regions, mainly at the east coast of the USA, Canada, Burma, Mexico, Lebanon, Borneo, Romania and Sicily and other places. According to scientists, the oldest amber originates from the carbon time and has an age of approximately 345 million years (Upper Carboniferous, Northumberland, USA). There is Amber in Mexico and in the Caribbean, mainly in the Dominican Republic. But most of these offer by far a smaller yield than amber found in the Baltic Region around the Baltic Sea. Baltic amber is also the best known amber due to European history. Homer mentions it in his Odyssee, Book 15, 459-465, B.C.E.: “… a necklace of gold, with amber beads was it strung between…”. Amber from the "New World" like Mexico and the Dominican Republic was commercially mined only since the last century.

paragraphs: Baltic Amber is found along the shores of a large part of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. The greatest amber-producing country is the promontory of Sambia, now part of Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast. About 90% of the world's extractable amber is in the Kaliningrad region of Russia on the Baltic Sea.

paragraphs: This amber was deposited in the late Eocene and early Oligocene in a delta of a prehistoric river, in a shallow part of a marine basin. In addition to the coast near Kaliningrad, amber is also found elsewhere in the Baltic Sea region. Small amounts of Baltic amber can even be found outside the Baltic region, for example on the coastline of the south east of England. On the evidence of Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy (FTIR) analysis of amber and resin from living trees, that conifers of the family Sciadopityaceae were responsible. The only living representative of this family is the Japanese umbrella pine, "Sciadopitys verticillata".

paragraphs: Resin from the extinct tree Hymenaea protera is the source of Dominican amber and probably of most amber found in the tropics. Dominican amber differentiates itself from Baltic amber mainly by being nearly always transparent, and it has a higher number of fossil inclusions. This has enabled the detailed reconstruction of the ecosystem of a long-vanished tropical forest.

paragraphs: Amber is extensively used for beads and other ornaments, and for cigar-holders and the mouth-pieces of pipes. The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace near Saint Petersburg is notable. It is a reproduction of the original Amber Room, destroyed in WWII.

paragraphs: In Baltic countries, amber is often treated in autoclave, mainly to produce and enhance the colors and visual effects thus creating beautiful jewelry. When gradually heated in an oil-bath, amber becomes soft and flexible. Two pieces of amber may be united by smearing the surfaces with linseed oil, heating them, and then pressing them together while hot. Cloudy amber may be made clearer in an oil-bath, as the oil fills the numerous pores to which the turbidity is due. Small fragments, formerly thrown away or used only for varnish, are now used on a large scale in the formation of "ambroid" or "pressed amber". The pieces are carefully heated with exclusion of air and then pressed into one mass by intense hydraulic pressure, the softened amber being forced through holes in a metal plate. As mentioned, the product is extensively used for making cheap jewelry and articles for smoking.

paragraphs: Amber was much valued as an ornamental material in early times, but also for religious purpose. Rosary beads are used by Catholics and Muslims alike up too our days. Around 58 A.D., the Roman Emperor Nero sent a Roman knight on a search for this “Gold of the North” and brought hundreds of pounds of amber to Rome. In later days, from 1283 on, the Teutonic Knights, after returning from the crusades, became absolute rulers of Prussia and the Baltic sources of amber, as well as the manufacture of objects made of amber, punishing transgressors with death by hanging. History has it that when they arrived in 1492 at the Caribbean island of “La Hispaniola” (Dominican Republic), Columbus received from a young Taino prince a pair of shoes decorated with Dominican amber, in exchange for a strand of Baltic amber beads that he had offered.


title: Resin

paragraphs: Resin is a hydrocarbon secreted by many plants, especially coniferous trees.

paragraphs: Plants evolved many complex chemicals as defences against herbivores. That may be the origin of these resins, which are certainly not good to eat. Plants secrete resins for their protective benefits in response to injury.

paragraphs: The resin protects the plant from insects and pathogens. Resins confound a wide range of herbivores, insects, and pathogens. The volatile phenolic compounds may attract benefactors, that is, parasitoids or predators of the herbivores which attack the plant.

paragraphs: Humans value resins for their chemical constituents and uses. They are used in varnishes, adhesives, as raw materials for organic synthesis, or for incense and perfume. Fossilized resins are the source of amber. The term is also used for synthetic substances with similar properties.

paragraphs: Resins are naturally occurring but also often made synthetically. They are composed of atoms such as carbon, hydrogen and a little oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur etc. combined together with certain chemical-bond. Synthetic resins are used in laminates, adhesives, flooring, linings, etc.

paragraphs: Rosin, (also called 'colophony' or 'Greek pitch') is a solid form of resin. It is got from pines and some other plants, mostly conifers. Heating fresh liquid resin vaporizes light volatiles like terpenes.

paragraphs: Rosin is semi-transparent and yellow to black in colour. The term "colophony" comes from "colophonia resina" or "resin from the pine trees of Colophon", an ancient Ionic city.

paragraphs: Rosin has hundreds of uses, of which only a few can be mentioned here. These uses fall into groups, such as:


title: Varnish

paragraphs: Varnish is a transparent, hard, protective finish or film primarily used in wood finishing but also for other materials. Varnish is traditionally a combination of a drying oil, a resin, and a solvent.

paragraphs: Most resin or "gum" varnishes are made of a natural substance dissolved in a solvent. The two main types of natural varnishes are "spirit varnish" (which uses alcohol as a solvent) and turpentine or petroleum-based varnish. Some resins are soluble in both alcohol and turpentine.

paragraphs: Shellac is a very widely used single component resin varnish that is dissolved in alcohol. It is not used outdoors or where it will touch water several times, such as around a sink or bathtub. insects in South Asia make it.


title: Secretion

paragraphs: Secretion is the process of releasing chemicals from a cell, or from a gland.

paragraphs: Eukaryotic cells have a highly evolved process of secretion.


title: Adhesive

paragraphs: An adhesive is a compound that sticks or bonds two items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or man-made material. Some modern adhesives are extremely strong, and are becoming increasingly important in modern construction and industry. Examples of adhesives include adhesive tape, glue, and sticky-tac. Some adhesives are for temporary use, like sticky-tac or the adhesive on sticky notes. Others are for more permanent bonding of small items like gluing paper or building large pieces of furniture using construction adhesive.

paragraphs: The first adhesives were natural gums and other plant resins. Archaeologists have found 6000-year-old ceramic vessels that had broken and been repaired using plant resin.


title: Gum

paragraphs: A number of different things are called "gum":


title: Natural gum

paragraphs: Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, that can change the viscosity of a material in solution, even at small concentrations.


Mineralization


title: Ali

paragraphs: Ali ibn Abi Talib (‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib) () (Approximately March 17, 599- January 28, 661) was an early Islamic leader. He was the fourth Sunni caliph and the first Shia imam.

paragraphs: The Prophet, Mohammad, took him as his brother in the pact of brotherhood in Medina, and he is said to be the first to accept Mohammed's teaching of Islam.


title: Zakarid Armenia

paragraphs: The Zakarid Armenia describes territories of Armenia given to the Zakarid-Mxargrzeli princes as a fief by Tamar, the queen of the Kingdom of Georgia.


title: Women and Islam

paragraphs: The complex relationship between women and Islam is shown by both Islamic texts and the history and culture of the Muslim world. Islamic scholars maintain that the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, affirms women's religious and moral equality.

paragraphs: However, sharia (Islamic law) shows the marked differences between women's and men's roles, rights, and obligations, and many Muslim-majority countries give women different rights than men with regard to marriage, divorce, civil rights, legal status, dress code, and education.

paragraphs: Islamic feminism is a type of feminism that focuses on women in Islam. Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist who has written many books about women in Islam.


title: Chador

paragraphs: A chador (Persian چادر) is a piece of clothing. It is for Muslim women. In Iran, women wear a chador in public. The Chador covers all the body except the face. However some religious women, cover their faces with their chador too.

paragraphs: A chador is a full-length semi-circle of fabric open down the front. It is thrown over the head and held shut in front. A chador has no hand openings or closures but is held shut by the hands or by wrapping the ends around the waist.


title: Vortex mixer

paragraphs: A vortex mixer is small machine used in laboratories to mix small beakers of liquids.

paragraphs: Inside, a vortex mixer has an electric motor which turns a pipe facing upwards. This pipe is attached to a small rubber bowl where one can put a beaker of liquid to be mixed up. The rubber bowl turns quickly and creates a vortex or a spiral flow inside any liquid which is placed on it and is therefore mixed up. Most vortex mixers have controls which let the user control how fast or slow they want the mixer to turn and can also set it to turn continuously for a certain length of time.

paragraphs: Vortex mixers are used in bioscience laboratories to mix two different chemicals for a desired effect or to dilute an acid or an alkali by mixing them with water.


title: Niqāb

paragraphs: A Niqab is a piece of clothing. It is for Muslim women. Women who wear niqab in public are called Niqabi. There are many Niqabis in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar,Yemen and Egypt. Niqab covers all the woman's body including the face.


title: Hira

paragraphs: Hira is a cave. It is on the Arabian Peninsula. Mohammad lived in this cave for forty days. Muslims believed that God spoke to Mohammad in Hira through angel Gabriel.


title: Ferdowsi

paragraphs: Hakīm Abul-Qāsim Firdawsī Tūsī (935-1020) () or Ferdowsi is a Persian poet. Ferdowsi was born in Tus. He wrote the "Shāhnāma". Shahnama is the national epic of Iran.


title: Abu-Mansur Daqiqi

paragraphs: Hakim Abu Mansur Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Daqiqi Balkhi (935/942-976/980) (Persian: حكیم ابومنصور محمد بن احمد دقیقی بلخی) or Daqiqi was a Persian poet. He was a Zoroastrian. His slave killed him. He wrote the Goshtaspnama.


title: Edward VII

paragraphs: Edward VII (9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was the king of the United Kingdom from 1901 to 1910, which is called the Edwardian period. He was the first British monarch whose royal house was called the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The name was changed to Windsor by his son, George V of the United Kingdom, in 1917 and is still used today.

paragraphs: Edward was born Albert Edward and was the oldest son of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. He was Prince of Wales and heir to the throne for longer than any other person (up until that time). His mother reigned for 63 years and Edward was 59 years old when he became King. In his younger years as Prince of Wales, he was known as a playboy and popularized many trends in fashion. He was married to Alexandra of Denmark, but had many mistresses.

paragraphs: Edward only ruled as King for nine years but made a lasting impression. He became increasingly popular with his people and was credited as a peacemaker for his work in maintaining world stability at a time when war seemed to be looming. He died at the age of 68 in 1910. Four years later the peace he worked so hard to keep was broken with the declaration of World War I (1914–1918).

paragraphs: Edward VII was the father of King George V and grandfather of King Edward VIII and King George VI. He is also the great-grandfather of the present queen, Elizabeth II. There are a number of statues of Edward VII around the British Isles and Commonwealth realms.

paragraphs: Edward was given a grand state funeral with the largest gathering of royalty taken place anywhere in the 20th century. It included the likes of German Kaiser Wilheim II (who would later be at war with Britain) and Russian Tsar Nicholas II as well as many others. For the first time in royal history, Edward lay in state for the people to pay their last respects, a reflection of his immense popularity.


title: Adhesive tape

paragraphs: Adhesive tape is a tape that is coated with adhesive and used to stick objects together.

paragraphs: Adhesive tape that will stick with application of pressure only (i.e. without activation by water, solvent or heat) is known as pressure sensitive tape. It can consist of a wide variety of tape backings and pressure sensitive adhesives.

paragraphs: Single-sided tapes allow joining of two overlapping or adjoining materials, while double-sided tape (adhesive on both sides) allows joining of two items back-to-back.


title: Tape

paragraphs: Tape refers to a strip of long, thin and narrow matter, usually rolled up. It can also refer to any of these.


title: Roman Polanski

paragraphs: Roman Polanski (born Rajmund Roman Thierry Polanski 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish movie director, producer, writer and actor. In 2003, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for his film, "The Pianist".

paragraphs: Polanski was born in Paris, France but his family moved back to Poland in 1937. His parents were agnostics. Because the family was Jewish, they were persecuted by the Nazis in Poland and forced to live in a ghetto. Polanski's mother died at Auschwitz. He later went to film school at Lodz and graduated in 1959. Polanski won many awards for his short movies and went on to make full-length movies in the United Kingdom and the United States.

paragraphs: Polanski's first marriage was to actress Barbara Lass in 1959; they divorced in 1961.

paragraphs: While filming the movie "Fearless Vampire Killers" he met an actress named Sharon Tate. Polanski married her in 1968. In August 1969, Polanski was in London, and Tate was pregnant. Tate and some of their friends were murdered in Los Angeles, California, by people who followed Charles Manson.

paragraphs: Polanski dated Nastassja Kinski who later starred in his film "Tess".

paragraphs: Polanski's third and current wife is actress Emmanuelle Seigner, who is the mother of his daughter and son.

paragraphs: In 1977, Polanski got in trouble with the law in California when he was caught having sex with a 13-year-old girl called Samantha Gailey (now Geimer). Polanski went to France. In the 1990s, Polanski paid an undisclosed sum of money to the woman, in exchange for her dropping the charges. He was arrested in Switzerland in September 2009. He was arrested at the request of the United States, so Switzerland could extradite him to the United States. On July 12, 2010, the Swiss freed Polanski, and decided not to extradite him to Los Angeles. The Swiss Justice Ministry did not believe the legal strength of the United States extradition request. According to the press release, the Swiss authorities asked for copies of the proceedings that would justify the extradition.

paragraphs: Polanski is still a fugitive (wanted by the police) in America. However, Geimer has said "I would love to see him resolve it, the sooner, the better...if we could just put this to rest, that would be great". Polanski apologized to Geimer in a film documentary. Bernard Kouchner, a French public official, has denounced the USA's extradition request as "sinister" because it came so long after the event.

paragraphs: In 2008, the documentary film by Marina Zenovich, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, was released in Europe and the United States where it won numerous awards.

paragraphs: In October 2017, Polanski returned to Poland to appear in a documentary about his childhood during the Holocaust and after the war, with his longtime friend, the photographer Ryszard Horowitz. They visited Krakow and the village, where Polanski was in hiding after fleeing the ghetto. The film is produced and directed by Mateusz Kudla and Anna Kokoszka-Romer.


title: Watford

paragraphs: Watford is a town in Hertfordshire, England, just north of London. Its population is 79,300 (mid-2005) and it is 21.43 square kilometres in size. It is home to Watford FC football club.