title: Information technology

paragraphs: Information technology (or IT) is a term that encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, photos, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived).

paragraphs: Now, people have been using it to refer to other aspects of technology. It now covers many more fields of study than it has covered in the past.

paragraphs: Characterized by a principal technology used to solve the input, processing, output and communication problems of the time:

paragraphs: <br>One of the very first information processors.

paragraphs: Early 1600s, William Oughtred, an English clergyman, invented the slide rule.

paragraphs: The discovery of ways to harness electricity was the key advance made during this period. Knowledge and information could now be converted into electrical impulses.

paragraphs: 3. The Four Generations of Digital Computing.

paragraphs: Individual transistors were replaced by integrated circuits.

paragraphs: This is in contrast to a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology which is a bachelor's degree typically conferred after a period of three to four years of an undergraduate course of study in Information Technology (IT). The degree itself is a Bachelor of Science with institutions conferring degrees in the fields of information technology and related fields.

paragraphs: Many employers require software developers or programmers to have a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree; however, those seeking to hire for positions such as network administrators or database managers would require a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology or an equivalent degree. Graduates with an information technology background are able to perform technology tasks relating to the processing, storing, and communication of information between computers, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. Information technology as a field emphasizes the secure management of large amounts of diverse information and its accessibility via a wide variety of systems both local and world-wide.


title: History of Asia

paragraphs: The history of Asia can be seen as the history of several distinct regions, East Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East that have more or less context depending of the situation in the central Eurasian steppe.

paragraphs: The coastal periphery was the home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, with each of the three regions developing early civilizations around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and China had much in common. Therefore it is likely that they exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other aspects such as that of writing developed individually in each area. Cities, states and then empires developed in these lowlands.

paragraphs: The steppe region had long been inhabited by nomads, and from the central steppes they could reach all areas of the Asian continent. The earliest known expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans which spread their languages into the Middle East, India, and in the Tocharians to the borders of China. The northern part of the continent was not accessible to the steppe nomads due to the dense forests and the tundra. These areas had very few people.

paragraphs: The centre and periphery were kept separate by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus, Himalaya, Karakum Desert, and Gobi Desert formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could only cross with difficulty. The city dwellers were more advanced in civilisation but they could do little militarily to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. Because the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East were soon forced to adapt to the local societies.

paragraphs: Alexander the Great conquered an area from Turkey to India in the 4th century BC. The Roman Empire would later control parts of western Asia. The Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian empires were based in Ancient Persia. Many ancient civilizations were influenced by the Silk Road, which connected China, India, the Middle East and Europe. The religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, which began in India, were an important influence on South and East Asia.

paragraphs: The Islamic caliphate and other Islamic states took over the Middle East starting in the 7th century, and later expanded into India and Indonesia. The Crusades would be fought from the 12th century, in Christian Europe's attempt to retake the Holy Land from the Muslims. The Mongol Empire conquered a large part of Asia in the 13th century, an area extending from China to Europe. The Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire conquered most of the Indian subcontinent.

paragraphs: The Russian Empire began to expand into Asia from the 17th century, eventually taking control of all of Siberia and most of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire controlled Turkey and the Middle East from the 16th century onwards. In the 17th century, the Manchu conquered China and established the Qing Dynasty, although this was in decline by the nineteenth century and had been overthrown in 1912.

paragraphs: Several European powers had control of other parts of Asia by the 1900s, such as British India, French Indochina and Portuguese Macau and Goa. Russia and Britain struggled for power in the Central Asian region in the nineteenth century. The Trans-Siberian Railway that crossed Asia by train was complete by 1916. Parts of Asia remained free from European control, although not influence, such as Persia, Thailand and most of China. In the twentieth century, Imperial Japan expanded into China, Korea and Southeast Asia during the Second World War. After the war, many Asian countries became independent from European powers. During the Cold War, the northern parts of Asia were communist controlled with the Soviet Union and People's Republic of China, while western allies formed pacts such as CENTO and SEATO. Conflicts such as the Korean War, Vietnam War and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan were fought between communists and anti-communists. In the decades after the Second World War, a massive restructuring plan drove Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, a phenomenon known as the Japanese post-war economic miracle. The Arab-Israeli conflict has dominated much of the recent history of the Middle East. After the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, there were many new independent nations in Central Asia.


title: Periphery

paragraphs: Generally, a periphery is a boundary or outer part of any space or body. It is derived from the Greek word , meaning a circumference or outer surface.


title: International Mathematical Olympiad

paragraphs: The International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) is a six-question two-day math competition for students that have not yet went to college and are under 20 years old. Any country may take part in it by sending a team of six students to compete.

paragraphs: The IMO has been held every year since 1959. It takes place in a different country (which is called the "host country") from year to year.


title: Edmund Phelps

paragraphs: Edmund Strother "Ned" Phelps, Jr. is an American economist. He was born on July 26, 1933 in Evanston, Illinois. He was given the 2006 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He is best known for his work on economic growth at Yale University's Cowles Foundation in the 1960s. This includes the idea of the Golden Rule savings rate, which is about how much money should be spent and how much should be saved for the future. Some of his best work is on microeconomics of full employment and how prices affect wages. Part of this work is about the natural rate of unemployment.

paragraphs: Phelps has been the McVickar Professor of Political Economy at Columbia University since 1982. He is also the director of Columbia's Center on Capitalism and Society.

paragraphs: His Nobel Prize award was announced on October 9, 2006. He received the award on his own, breaking the recent pattern of awarding the prize to two or more winners at the same time.

paragraphs: Edmund Phelps was born in 1933 near Chicago, but he grew up and went to school in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where his family had moved when he was six years old. In 1951, he went to Amherst College as an undergraduate student. At his fathers advice, Phelps took his first economics course in his second year at Amherst. His economics teacher was James Nelson and his studies were based on a famous textbook by Paul Samuelson. Phelps was very interested in studying business. He knew of important unsolved problems and had new ideas, such as the gap between microeconomics and macroeconomics.

paragraphs: After receiving his B.A. at Amherst in 1955, Phelps went to Yale University for graduate studies. There, his professors were some of the greatest economists, such as Nobel prize winners James Tobin and Thomas Schelling, and he studied with Arthur Okun. William Fellner and Henry Wallich were very important in his study courses. Phelps received his Ph.D. from Yale in 1959. The work for his Ph.D. was based on an idea by Tobin, that peoples need in an emergency has more effect than sudden price changes.

paragraphs: After receiving his Ph.D., Phelps went to work as an economist for the RAND Corporation. His main interest was macroeconomics, but RAND focused on defense work so Phelps decided to return to the his studies the next year, 1960. He took a research job at the Cowles Foundation, and a teaching job at Yale. At the Cowles Foundation, his research was mainly on future prices and wages, following the work of Robert Solow. As part of this research, Phelps published in 1961 a famous paper on the golden rule savings rate, one of his most important works for economic science. He also wrote papers about other economic theories, such as monetary economics (Ricardian equivalence) and its importance when producing the best economic growth.

paragraphs: Work at the Cowles Foundation gave Phelps the chance to meet with other important economists who were working on growth theory, such as David Cass and Nobel Prize winner Tjalling Koopmans. Also, during the academic year of 1962-63 Phelps visited MIT, where he met with Nobel prize winners Paul Samuelson, Robert Solow and Franco Modigliani.

paragraphs: In 1966, Phelps left Yale and moved to University of Pennsylvania, where he was offered a permanent job as professor of economics. While at Pennsylvania, most of Phelps' research was on the links between employment, wages and inflation. He wrote about this in 1968: "Money-Wage Dynamics and Labor Market Equilibrium". This research had important new ideas about the Phillips curve. It was the first idea of the natural rate of unemployment and said that inflation rates did not affect labour market. In January 1969, Phelps held a meeting at Pennsylvania University to support the research on inflation and employment. The story of the meeting was published the next year in a book which was very important and is known as the "Phelps volume". During this time Phelps worked with other economists on research of economic growth, the effects of monetary and policy and best population growth.

paragraphs: In the year 1969-1970 Professor Phelps worked for the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Science at Stanford University. Meeting with Nobel prize winners Amartya Sen and Kenneth Arrow, and reading the work of John Rawls, whom he met during that year, gave Professor Phelps an interest to research outside of macroeconomics. In 1972 he published research he named "statistical discrimination". He also published research on economic justice, using ideas from Rawls book "A Theory of Justice".

paragraphs: In 1971, Phelps moved to the Economics Department at Columbia University, where Nobel prize winners William Vickrey and James J. Heckman were studying. Nobel Prize winner Robert Mundell joined three years later, as well as Phoebus Dhrymes, Guillermo Calvo and John B. Taylor. Professor Phelps published research on the inflation tax and the effects of fiscal policy on inflation. In 1972, Phelps published a book about his new theory. The book had many ideas about the effects of being unemployed for a long time and made him more popular.

paragraphs: In the next years, Keynesian economics were thought of as less important after the publication of John Muth's work called rational expectations. Phelps, with Calvo and John Taylor, started a programme to rebuild Keynesian economics with new ideas about prices and wages being kept the same for certain time. Professor Phelps and John Taylor published research in 1977, about how to calculate wages ("Staggered Wages). During the '70s, Phelps and Calvo worked on research for making contracts using asymmetric information.

paragraphs: In the late '70s, Professor Phelps researched with Roman Frydman, who was taught by Phelps. They worked on rational expectations and showed problems in it. A book was published in 1983 about what people said at a big meeting they had to talk about rational expectations in 1981. This book was not thought of as very important.

paragraphs: In 1982 Phelps was made the McVickar Professor of Political Economy at Columbia. During the early '80s he wrote a textbook about economics knowledge. The book, "Political Economy", was published in 1985, but was not used in a lot of schools.

paragraphs: In the 1980s Professor Phelps worked with European universities and institutions, such as Banca d'Italia (most of his 1985-86 holidays were spent in Italy) and Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques (OFCE). He became interested in the continuing high unemployment in Europe and published some work about it with Jean-Paul Fitoussi (the director of OFCE). During the next years, Professor Phelps worked to calculate the natural rate of unemployment. He published some of his research in a 1994 book. Phelps also worked with Luigi Paganetto at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and, between 1988-98, they held the Villa Mondragone International Seminar.

paragraphs: In 1990 Phelps took part in a mission from the EBRD to Moscow, where he and Kenneth Arrow worked on the reform of the USSR. He became a member of the EBRDs Economic Advisory Board, and stayed there until 1993. Professor Phelps became interested in the Eastern European transition economies while there.

paragraphs: In its announcement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Phelps' work had "deepened our understanding of the relation between short-run and long-run effects of economic policy."

paragraphs: George Mason University Professor Tyler Cowen wrote in the Marginal Revolution blog that "his main contribution is a better understanding of the Phillips curve and the dynamics of short-run unemployment and the concept of the natural rate of unemployment." Cowen also wrote that "his 1960s macro work was true, important, and extremely influential. The capital theory work endures and provides a foundation for subsequent theory. The overall scope is impressive, and Phelps's concerns never strayed far from the real world." Cowen by writing that the award to Phelps meant: "The big questions still matter. Unemployment, economic growth, labor markets, capital accumulation, fairness, discrimination, and justice across the generations are indeed worthy of economic attention."

paragraphs: Professor Cowen and Berkeley's Professor Brad DeLong both said the choice of Phelps was a good noe, and Harvard Professor Gregory Mankiw said it was "a wonderful choice".


title: Nanotechnology

paragraphs: Nanotechnology is a part of science and technology about the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale - this means things that are about 100 nanometres across

paragraphs: Nanotechnology includes making products that use parts this small, such as electronic devices, catalysts, sensors, etc. To give you an idea of how small that is, there are more nanometres in an inch than there are inches in 400 miles.

paragraphs: To give an international idea of how small that is, there are as many nanometres in a centimetre, as there are centimetres in 100 kilometres.

paragraphs: Nanotechnology brings together scientists and engineers from many different subjects, such as applied physics, materials science, interface and colloid science, device physics, chemistry, supramolecular chemistry (which refers to the area of chemistry that focuses on the non-covalent bonding interactions of molecules), self-replicating machines and robotics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, biology, biological engineering, and electrical engineering.

paragraphs: Generally, when people talk about nanotechnology, they mean structures of the size 100 nanometers or smaller. There are one million nanometers in a millimeter. Nanotechnology tries to make materials or machines of that size.

paragraphs: People are doing many different types of work in the field of nanotechnology. Most current work looks at making nanoparticles (particles with nanometer size) that have special properties, such as the way they scatter light, absorb X-rays, transport electrical currents or heat, etc. At the more "science fiction" end of the field are attempts to make small copies of bigger machines or really new ideas for structures that make themselves. New materials are possible with nano size structures. It is even possible to work with single atoms.

paragraphs: There has been a lot of discussion about the future of nanotechnology and its dangers. Nanotechnology may be able to invent new materials and instruments which would be very useful, such as in medicine, computers, and making clean electricity (nanoelectromechanical systems) is helping design the next generation of solar panels, and efficient low-energy lighting). On the other hand, nanotechnology is new and there could be unknown problems. For example, if the materials are bad for people's health or for nature. They may have a bad effect on the economy or even big natural systems like the Earth itself. Some groups argue that there should be rules about the use of nanotechnology.

paragraphs: Ideas of nanotechnology were first used in talk "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", a talk given by the scientist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at Caltech on December 29, 1959. Feynman described a way to move individual atoms to build smaller instruments and operate at that scale. Properties such as surface tension and Van der walls force would become very important.

paragraphs: Feynman's simple idea seemed possible. The word "nanotechnology" was explained by Tokyo Science University Professor Norio Taniguchi in a 1974 paper. He said that nanotechnology was the work of changing materials by one atom or by one molecule. In the 1980s this idea was studied by Dr. K. Eric Drexler, who spoke and wrote about the importance of nano-scale events . "Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology" (1986) is thought to be the willythirst book on nanotechnology. Nanotechnology and Nano science started with two key developments: the start of cluster science and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Soon afterwards, new molecules with carbon were discovered - first fullerenes in 1986 and carbon nanotubes a few years later. In another development, people studied how to make semiconductor nano crystals. Many metal oxide nanoparticles are now used as quantum dots (nanoparticles where the behaviour of single electrons becomes important). In 2000, the United States National Nanotechnology Initiative began to develop science in this field.

paragraphs: Nanotechnology has nanomaterials which can be classified into one, two and three dimensions nanoparticles. This classification is based upon different properties it holds such as scattering of light, absorbing x rays, transport electric current or heat. Nanotechnology has multidisciplinary character affecting multiple traditional technologies and different scientific disciplines. New materials which can be scaled even at atomic size can be manufactured.

paragraphs: At nano scale physical properties of system or particles substantially change. Physical properties such as quantum size effects where electrons move different for very small sizes of particle. Properties such as mechanical, electrical and optical changes when macroscopic system changes to microscopic one which is of utmost importance.

paragraphs: Nano materials and particles can act as catalyst to increase the reaction rate along with that produce better yield as compared to other catalyst.

paragraphs: Some of the most interesting properties when particle gets converted to nano scale are substances which usually stop light become transparent (copper); it becomes possible to burn some materials (aluminum); solids turn into liquids at room temperature (gold); insulators become conductors (silicon). A material such as gold, which does not react with other chemicals at normal scales, can be a powerful chemical catalyst at nanoscales. These special properties which we can only see at the nano scale are one of the most interesting things about nanotechnology.


title: Hattem

paragraphs: Hattem is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands.

paragraphs: Hattem became a city in 1299. That is one year before Amsterdam.


title: Alex McLeish

paragraphs: Alex McLeish is a Scottish association football manager. He was born in 1959 and is currently manager of Aston Villa F.C. after his reign in Birmingham City F.C.. He also managed Rangers F.C. and the Scotland national football team.


title: Óscar Arias

paragraphs: Oscar Arias was born on 13 September 1940 in the city of Heredia. He is a former President of Costa Rica. He was president two times. First in 1986 to 1990, later in 2006 to 2010. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his efforts to end civil wars in Central America. He is also a winner of the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism and a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security.

paragraphs: In 2003, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Criminal Court's TrustFund for Victims. He is also a member of the "Club de Madrid". It is a nonprofit organization. It is made up of 81 former leaders of democratic nations. They work to strengthen democracy.

paragraphs: Arias started his political career in the 1970s.

paragraphs: In January of 2005 Arias was selected as the candidate for the National Liberation party. He was reelected as president of Costa Rica. There was a lot of criticism for his support towards the Free Trade Agreement process in Costa Rica. Because of his political background and determination, many Costa Ricans still trust and respect Arias.


title: Universal history

paragraphs: Universal history, world history or global history examines history from a global perspective.

paragraphs: It looks for common patterns that one can find across all cultures. Universal historians use a thematic approach. That means they look at history from two viewpoints: On the one hand they look at processes of world history that have drawn people of the world together, on the other hand they want to find out how patterns of world history reveal the diversity of the human experience.

paragraphs: The study of universal or global history is in some ways a product of the current period of accelerated globalization. This period has two tendencies: it integrates various cultures and it shows their differences when people of different cultures and civilizations have to live with each other.

paragraphs: To discuss "the history of the world" in a unified framework is not that new. For example, it was a genre popular in the 19th century, and with Christian historians going back to at least the 4th century.


title: Brewery

paragraphs: A brewery is a building, where beer is made or a business (brewing company) whose trade is the production and sale of beer.

paragraphs: Breweries can take up several city blocks, or be a collection of equipment in a homebrewer's kitchen. The diversity of size in breweries is matched by the diversity of processes, degrees of automation, and kinds of beer produced in breweries. Typically a brewery is divided into distinct sections, with each section reserved for one part of the brewing process.

paragraphs: The oldest brewery in the world still in operation is believed to be the Bavarian State-owned brewery Weihenstephan, found in the German city of Freising, which can trace its history back to 1040. Although the Zatec brewery in the Czech Republic claims it can prove paying beer tax in 1004.


title: Butane

paragraphs: Butane is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an alkane with four carbon atoms. It is used as a fuel (sometimes with propane) and in aerosol cans.

paragraphs: Butane is sold in canisters, for cooking and camping. It is also used as fuel in cigarette lighters, and as propellant in aerosol sprays or deodorants. Some kinds of Butane are used in refrigerators.

paragraphs: Butane can be hazardous. Inhalation can lead to death by asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in the lungs. Contact with the skin can lead to frostbite. If the gas is mixed with air and ignighted it is prone to explode like many other fuels that are volatile


title: Liquefied petroleum gas

paragraphs: Liquefied petroleum gas (also known as LPG, LP Gas or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases. It is commonly used in the household, for example for cooking, or as fuel for heating. LPG is replacing Chlorofluorocarbons more and more, also because it is less harmful to the ozone layer.

paragraphs: Very often, mixes of propane and butane are sold.


title: Aerosol spray

paragraphs: Aerosol spray is a system used in certain containers, like spray cans. The contents of the can, like color or deodorant are pressurized. The can has a valve. When this valve is opened, the liquid is forced out. It will emerge as an aerosol or mist. Apart from the liquid, there is another substance in the container, usually called propellant. When the valve is opened, some propellant will be forced inside the container. That way the pressure in the container is kept constant.


title: Max Born

paragraphs: Max Born (11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British physicist and mathematician who was important in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of important physicists in the 1920s and 30s. Born became a British subject in 1939. He won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physics.

paragraphs: Born's descendants include his grandaughter Olivia Newton-John and his great-granddaughter Chloe Rose Lattanzi.


paragraphs: The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is a branch of the United Nations General Assembly. UNOOSA creates, maintains and carries out the General Assembly's rules about space.

paragraphs: The building for UNOOSA is located in the United Nations Office in Vienna in Austria.

paragraphs: UNOOSA operates the Programme on Space Applications and maintains a list of objects sent into space - the Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space. UNOOSA also helps developing nations develop space technology to help their economies.


title: Craig Mello

paragraphs: Craig Cameron Mello (born October 18, 1960) is an American biologist and Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

paragraphs: He was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Andrew Fire for the discovery of RNA interference. Mello has been a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 2000.

paragraphs: Mello was born in New Haven, Connecticut on October 18 1960. He was the third child of James and Sally Mello. His father, James Mello, was a paleontologist and his mother, Sally Mello, was an artist. His fathers parents moved to the US from the Portuguese islands of Azores. His parents met while at the Brown University and were the first children in their families to go to college. James Mello was awarded his PhD in paleontology from Yale University in 1962. The Mello family moved to Falls Church in northern Virginia so that James could take a job with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Washington, DC.

paragraphs: After a short time in Falls Church, the family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, when James Mello began work as Assistant Director at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Some of his happiest early memories were holidays with his whole family in Colorado, Wyoming and more often to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia.

paragraphs: The Mello family enjoyed long talks at the dinner table and this was very important to young Craig Mello. He learned to argue, to listen, and to accept if he was wrong about something. Mello's first few years of grade school were difficult. He was five years old when he started first grade in a local private school. He was too young to enter first grade in the public system. He does not know if he was a slow learner, or just not interested, but he did not do well in school until the seventh grade. In second grade, Mello only pretended that he could read and he was embarrassed of being talked to by the teacher. He enjoyed playing outdoors, in the woods and creeks, more than time spent in the classroom. At this time, his older siblings were great students, so his teacher's wanted him to do well. During these early years, Mello had no doubt that he would be a scientist when he grew up.

paragraphs: After he got his high school diploma, Mello went to Brown University, where he studied biochemistry and molecular biology. After finishing his studies at Brown, Mello went to Boulder, Colorado for more studies, and then to Harvard University. He was awarded his PhD at Harvard in 1990.

paragraphs: In 2006, Mello and Fire were awarded the Nobel Prize for work published in 1998. The paper reports that tiny snippets of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) effectively shut down specific genes, and so caused the destruction of messenger RNA (mRNA) with sequences matching the dsRNA. As a result, the mRNA cannot be translated into protein.

paragraphs: Fire and Mello found that dsRNA was much more effective in gene silencing than the previously described method of RNA interference with single-stranded RNA. Because only small numbers of dsRNA molecules were required for the observed effect, Fire and Mello proposed that a catalytic process was involved. This hypothesis was confirmed by later research.

paragraphs: The Nobel Prize citation, issued by Sweden's Karolinska Institute, said: "This year's Nobel Laureates have discovered a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information". The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) quoted Nick Hastie, director of the Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit, on the scope and implications of the research:


title: Vicar of Bray

paragraphs: "The Vicar of Bray" is a satirical song about the career of the Vicar of Bray and how he changes his principles so that he can keep his job in a changing world. Changes are taking place in the state religion through the course of several English monarchs.


title: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

paragraphs: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (12 January 1918 5 February 2008) was an Indian guru (a teacher of spirituality). He was most famous for his development of Transcendental Meditation. He also was well known for his association with the rock bands, The Beatles and The Beach Boys.

paragraphs: His birth name was either Mahesh Verma Shrivastava or Mahesh Prasad Varma. His parents were Hindus from the.

paragraphs: He was born in Raipur, India. He graduated from Allahabad University in Uttar Pradesh, and began his career as a physicist. His physics work made him interested in the sound vibrations made by spoken syllables, and how those vibrations could change a person's body or consciousness. In time, he became a disciple of Swami Brahmananda Saraswati, who was called "Guru Dev". He later became the swami's secretary. He could not become the swami's , because of India's caste system, but he could become a guru on his own. Guru Dev gave him the name "Bal Brahmachari Mahesh". Later he adopted the name Maharishi ("great teacher"), while "yogi" was a name given to teachers of yoga.

paragraphs: Transcendental Meditation (sometimes shortened to "TM") grew out of Guru Dev's teachings, and the Maharishi's own physics studies. A person practices Transcendental Meditation by sitting quietly, and mentally repeating a "", of syllables or names considered or holy in Hinduism. In Transcendental Meditation, the sounds are used purely as sounds independent of any associated meanings in any language. Meditating helps a person to relax, and to concentrate on important things. During this meditation a person transcends conscious thought to a quieter state of mind, and this gives the technique its name.

paragraphs: The Maharishi began what he called the "Spiritual Movement" in 1958. He traveled around the world, teaching Transcendental Meditation to ordinary people. Unlike many gurus, he did not require followers to give up their everyday lives, or move to an to live and study. He believed that helping people to relieve stress and learn how to focus would improve their lives, and in time make a better world. He taught for nearly ten years, with little public notice. He also published a book, "The Science of Being and the Art of Living", and recorded a spoken-word album, that explained his beliefs.

paragraphs: During 1967, during the last months of his ten-year "world tour", he visited England, and people there began to join his Spiritual Regeneration Movement. One person who joined was Pattie Boyd, the wife of George Harrison, who was a member of The Beatles. Harrison had learned to play the sitar, an Indian musical instrument, and was interested in Hinduism. He had not found a guru whose teachings interested him. When Pattie told him about the Maharishi, he became interested, and all four Beatles went to a lecture given by the Maharishi. They sent a message to him, asking to meet in person. All of the Beatles were interested in TM, because it was simple and they could continue on as musicians, instead of having to change their lifestyle. They each joined the movement, and began to promote the Maharishi and his teachings. They even announced that they gave up the use of drugs, which had earlier caused for the band, because of what they learned.

paragraphs: Brian Epstein, manager of the Beatles, was also interested in TM, but had many problems in his personal life. He decided not to join the Beatles when they traveled to Wales to attend a weekend class given by the Maharishi, and stayed home. Later that weekend, Epstein overdosed on sleeping pills, and died in his sleep. The Beatles were very hurt by the news, and worried about what would happen to their careers. Maharishi tried to comfort them, telling them to think happy thoughts about Epstein, and let his spirit find peace.

paragraphs: The Beatles wanted to study with the Maharishi in India. They had just started their own company, Apple Corps, and with Epstein gone they had to work out many details for themselves. They could have found another manager, but decided they did not want one, and looked after Apple personally, until their helpers could take over running the company. Finally in early 1968, they made the trip to India.

paragraphs: The Beatles enjoyed the atmosphere in India, and the free time they had between classes, and began to write songs for a new album, which was later called the "White Album". One by one the Beatles lost interest. Ringo Starr, who had a sensitive stomach, became sick from the spicy food served at the ashram, and headed home after just a few days. Paul McCartney in time became bored, and also headed home. George Harrison and John Lennon stayed longer, but were upset when "Magic Alex", a friend who came to India with them, began to tell them stories about the Maharishi trying to have sexual intercourse with some of the women who came to the ashram. This Harrison and Lennon, and they went home the next day.

paragraphs: The Beatles were earlier interested in making a movie about the Maharishi and his work. When they began to talk with him about it, he surprised them by knowing more about business matters than they ever expected, and by asking questions about his share of the movie's profits. They did not think a "holy man" would be interested in such things. Between this and Magic Alex's stories, the band decided the Maharishi was a . They publicly him, telling the media they thought he was something other than what he proved to be. Lennon wrote a song about him, whose words went "Maharishi, what have you done? You made a fool of everyone." He later changed the name "Maharishi" to "Sexy Sadie", to keep the Maharishi from seeking revenge of some kind, or a lawsuit, against him.

paragraphs: Years later, the Beatles realized Magic Alex's were false. McCartney and Harrison began again to say good things about the Maharishi, and to promote his work. Starr called him "one of the I met in my life." Lennon never forgave Maharishi for letting him down personally, but still used TM from time to time. Lennon realized that he had been looking for a , and that any father figure he found was going to let him down in the end, so he was better off to work out his own problems.

paragraphs: The Beatles were not the only celebrities to get involved with the Maharishi and his work. Actress Mia Farrow, folk-rocker Donovan and Mike Love of the Beach Boys also studied with the Maharishi in India, and the Beach Boys later promoted TM, much more than the Beatles ever had. They toured together with the Maharishi, and Mike Love insisted people who worked for them meditate daily. The association did not work well for the Beach Boys, and an album they recorded at a school started by the Maharishi sold poorly. In time most of the Beach Boys lost interest, but Love continued to promote the Maharishi and his works.

paragraphs: Magician Doug Henning also became a follower of Transcendental Meditation. He campaigned to open a theme park called "Vedaland", based on Hinduism and the Maharishi's teachings. after his death, Doug Henning's widow continued the campaign.

paragraphs: Scientists studied people who meditated, and learned that TM really did help them to relax, and to think more clearly. A few Christian ministers and writers denounced TM, calling it "a into Eastern religions", and said that mantras were really a way of invoking the Devil or demons. Other Christians saw no harm in it, or encouraged people who wanted to meditate to instead chant the name of Jesus Christ, or a name for God, or a line from a psalm or Christian prayer. In any case, TM went on to help many people around the world, and it is still taught as a form of meditation.

paragraphs: The Maharishi continued his teachings and work, later promoting the "Maharishi Technology of the " and other ideas. In time, he gave up his ashram in India, moving to The Netherlands in Europe. He announced his retirement in January 2008, only weeks before he died from natural causes.


title: Bristol City F.C.

paragraphs: Bristol City F.C. are an English football club. They are based in the city of Bristol. They play at Ashton Gate Stadium. They were formed in 1894.


title: Chesterfield F.C.

paragraphs: Chesterfield F.C. are an English football club. They started in 1867 and are based in Chesterfield in the county of Derbyshire. They play at a stadium called the Recreation Ground.


title: Doncaster Rovers F.C.

paragraphs: Doncaster Rovers F.C. are an English football club. They started in 1879 and play their home games at a stadium called Keepmoat Stadium.


title: Huddersfield Town F.C.

paragraphs: Huddersfield Town F.C. are an English football club. They started in 1908 and are based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The club plays their home games at a stadium called the Kirklees Stadium.


title: Sanskara

paragraphs: In Hinduism and Buddhism, Sanskaras are the faint memories left on your mind by experiences you had in your present life or in past lives. Sanskaras change how you look at things in the future and how you act.


title: Supernanny

paragraphs: Supernanny was a British and American television program about a nanny, or baby sitter, named Jo Frost who helps parents in taking care of their often disruptive or ill-behaved children. The UK version ran from 2004 to 2012. The US version ran from 2005 to 2011.

paragraphs: Jo no longer does Supernanny as she has moved on to similar shows helping families but still became cancerous


title: Keyboard (computer)

paragraphs: A computer keyboard is an input device that allows a person to enter letters, numbers, and other symbols (these are called characters in a keyboard) into a computer. It is one of the most used input devices for computers. Using a keyboard to enter lots of data is called typing.

paragraphs: A keyboard contains many mechanical switches or push-buttons called "keys". When one of these are pushed, an electrical circuit is closed, and the keyboard sends a signal to the computer that tells it what letter, number or symbol it would like to be shown on the screen. The computer's CPU then shows the character on the screen, usually at the place where the cursor is. Besides entering characters, computer keyboards also have keys that change the symbol (such as shift or caps lock) or give the computer special commands (such as the arrow keys, CTRL and ALT). Different computer operating systems use different special keys, or use them differently. Special commands can also be activated through a combination of keys (such as Ctrl + V on Windows to paste copied content). Keyboard contain special keys, numeric Keyes, alphabetic keys, arrow keys and function keys

paragraphs: A keyboard can be joined to a computer using a wire, but can also be wireless (like those that use Bluetooth). Most 21st century keyboards that use wires connect to a USB port on the computer, but older ones use a less versatile DIN connector port.

paragraphs: There are different types of keyboards. They can be based on the way the keys work; for example, laptops have keys that do not move a lot, because the keyboard has to be very thin in order to fit inside the laptop. On the other hand, video game like keyboards with keys that move a lot, so that they feel if the key works and the game is working. In between, an ergonomic keyboard is made to be easier for people to use, without hurting their hands or arms. Most computer keyboards have the keys in six rows, but some laptops use only five or even four rows to save space.

paragraphs: There are also different ways the keys on a keyboard are laid out, usually to deal with different regions and languages of the world. The most popular layout is called QWERTY, which is based on the first six letters on typewriter keyboards. The QWERTY design was made so the most common letters would not make a mechanical typewriter "jam", or stop working. Now, even though most people do not use typewriters anymore, the design stayed because people were used to it. Other layouts have been developed, for example the Dvorak keyboard, which puts the most common letters in the places that are easiest to reach. Gaming keyboards are used for their fast reaction timing.

paragraphs: Keystroke logging is capturing a record of each key that is pressed. Keystroke logging can be used to measure employee activity. Hackers can also use keystroke logging. Scientists discovered that most keyboards give off electromagnetic radiation that can be used to tell which keys have been pressed. Spies could determine what has been typed by remotely sensing such signals.

paragraphs: Researchers are studying if keyboards can spread diseases. Some keyboards were found to contain five times more germs than a toilet seat.


title: Rhythm guitar

paragraphs: The term rhythm guitar refers to the style of playing guitar chords, and sometimes playing repeated riffs instead of using the guitar to play melody lines or solos (this kind of playing is called lead guitar). Rhythm guitarists add to the sound of a band, whether they play rock and roll, or other kinds of music.

paragraphs: John Lennon of The Beatles usually played rhythm guitar for the band, with George Harrison playing lead guitar. However, Lennon sometimes played keyboards, and once in a while took the lead guitar role, as he did in the songs "You Can't Do That" and "Get Back".

paragraphs: Sheet music for rhythm guitar is usually written above the classical notes. It is written in Guitar chord format.


title: Book of Revelation

paragraphs: The Book of Revelation, which is sometimes called Revelation to John, Apocalypse of John, or Revelation of Jesus Christ is the last book of the New Testament in the Bible.

paragraphs: The last book of the New Testament is usually called the "Book of Revelation" or simply "Revelation". Some of the earliest manuscripts have the title of "The Revelation of John" (). Later manuscripts usually have the title of "The Revelation of the Theologian" (). This is why the Authorized King James Version calls Revelation the "Revelation of Saint John the Divine" ("divine" was a seventeenth century word for "theologian".)

paragraphs: In Greek, the word "apocalypse" means "revealing" or "unveiling".

paragraphs: Some people consider Revelation to be the most difficult book in the Bible. Over the course of the book the author has two visions. There are many different ways to interpret these visions, and there have been many arguments over which way is right.

paragraphs: There is some disagreement over whether the John who wrote the letters of John, the John who wrote The Gospel of John, and the John who wrote the Book of Revelation are the same person. The person writing Revelation called himself "John". He also wrote that he was on Patmos, an island in the Aegean Sea, when he saw his first vision.

paragraphs: The book begins by introducing John as the author and has letters to seven churches of that day. Some think that these churches also represent periods of history. Various visions follow which are highly symbolic which allows many different interpretations. They have been understood by various groups to represent past and future events. Some believe that many of these prophecies have already been fulfilled. Others think they will be fulfilled at the end of time. Others think they affirm the victory of Christ over all enemies, but do not refer to specific events. The book ends with a vision of the faithful souls in the next life rejoicing around the throne of God.


title: Theodor Fontane

paragraphs: Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many to be the most important 19th-century German-language realist writer.

paragraphs: Fontane was born in Neuruppin into a Huguenot family. At the age of sixteen he became apprentice in a pharmacy and then a pharmacist himself (like his father). In 1839, at the age of 20, wrote his first work ("Heinrichs IV. erste Liebe", now lost). His first published work, the novella "Geschwisterliebe" (or "Sibling Love"), appeared in the "Berlin Figaro" in December 1839.

paragraphs: His first job as apothecary was in Dresden after which he returned to his father's shop, now in the provincial town of Letschin in the Oderbruch region. In this time Fontane published articles in the Leipzig newspaper "Die Eisenbahn" (railway) and translated Shakespeare. In 1843, he joined a literary club called Tunnel über der Spree (i.e. Tunnel over the river Spree) in Berlin where he came into contact with many of the most important German writers such as Theodor Storm, Joseph von Eichendorff and Gottfried Keller.

paragraphs: In 1844 Fontane enrolled in the Prussian army and set out on the first of many journeys to England. There he learned about old English ballads. Soon afterwards he wrote ballads himself. At that time he became engaged to his future wife, Emilie Rouanet-Kummer, whom he had first met when still at school.

paragraphs: He was - very short - enganged in the revolutionary events of the revolution of 1848. In 1849 he quit his job as an apothecary and became a full-time journalist and writer. In order to support his family he took a job as a writer for the Prussian intelligence agency "Centralstelle für Preßangelegenheiten" which was meant to influence the press towards a German national cause. Again he specialised in British affairs, and the agency sent him as correspondent to London for a couple of years. His wife and two sons followed him there. While still in London he quit his government job and, on his return to Berlin, became editor of the conservative "Kreuzzeitung" (newspaper).

paragraphs: His books about Britain include "Ein Sommer in London" (1854); "Aus England, Studien und Briefe" (1860) and "Jenseits des Tweed, Bilder und Briefe aus Schottland" (1860). At the period, and following the fashion of Walter Scott, traditional British stories were still "en vogue" on the continent. His "Gedichte" (1851) and ballads "Männer und Helden" (1860) tell of Britain's glories in days gone by.

paragraphs: Back in Germany, Fontane became particularly interested in the Mark Brandenburg region. He was especially proud of its past achievements and delighted in the growth of its capital city, Berlin. His fascination with the countryside surrounding Berlin may be seen in his delightfully picturesque "Wanderungen durch die Mark Brandenburg" (1862-1882, 5 vols.).

paragraphs: In 1870, he quit his job at the "Kreuzzeitung" and became theater critic for the liberal "Vossische Zeitung" (newspaper). This job he kept until retirement. He had already written about Prussia's war against Denmark and the Austro-Prussian War. Then he went to write about the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and was taken prisoner. He remained in French captivity for three months. His experiences there are set down in "Kriegsgefangen Erlebtes 1870 (1871)"; subsequently he published his observations on the campaign in "Der Krieg gegen Frankreich 1870-71" (1874-1876).

paragraphs: At the ripe age of 57 Fontane finally took to what he would be remembered for, the novel. His fine historical novel "Vor dem Sturm" (1878) was followed by a series of novels of modern life, notably "L'Adultera" (1882), a book about adultery which was considered so risqué that it took Fontane two years to find a publisher. In his novels "Frau Jenny Treibel", "Irrungen, Wirrungen", and "Effi Briest" (1894), he found his very own tone, he wrote about insights into the lives of the nobility as well as the "common man"; his achievement there was later described as poetic realism. In "Der Stechlin" (1899), his last finished novel, Fontane adapted the realistic methods and social criticism of contemporary French fiction to the conditions of Prussian life.

paragraphs: See Thomas Mann's 1910 essay, "The Old Fontane," in "Essays of Three Decades" (Knopf, 1947). Very fine.


title: Pachelbel's Canon

paragraphs: Pachelbel's Canon (also known as Canon in D major or just Canon in D) is the most famous piece of music by Johann Pachelbel. It was written in or around the time period of 1680, as a piece of chamber music for three violins and basso continuo, but it has been arranged for many other instruments since then. It is well known for its chord progression.

paragraphs: Pachelbel's Canon is often played at weddings.

paragraphs: This is Pachelbel's Canon played on a piano:


title: Damme

paragraphs: Damme is a municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders, six kilometres northeast of Brugge (Bruges). It is made up of the city of Damme proper and the towns of Hoeke, Lapscheure, Moerkerke, Oostkerke, Sijsele, Vivenkapelle, and Sint-Rita.


title: Hit record

paragraphs: A hit record is a recording (either a single or an album) that becomes very popular, through large sales of copies, repeated airplay on the radio. or presence in the media. One aspect usually promotes one or more of the others.

paragraphs: The Beatles, Elvis Presley, The Eagles and Michael Jackson all had many hit records. They are among the biggest-selling musical acts of all time. Not every recording artist has a hit record. Many artists and groups lose their recording contracts, if their records do not become hits.

paragraphs: Not all hit records feature music. Some spoken word records also become hits, including comedy recordings. Bill Cosby, George Carlin, and Cheech & Chong are comedians who have all had hit records. A recording of speeches by the late American President John F. Kennedy became one of the biggest-selling albums of the 1960s.


title: Pauline epistles

paragraphs: The Pauline epistles are the fourteen New Testament books which most Christians think were written by the Apostle Paul. Some of them are the earliest Christian documents. They show many of the beliefs and controversies of Christianity. Many Christians think these letters are very important for theology and ethics.

paragraphs: The First Timothy, Second Timothy, and Titus are sometimes known as the pastoral epistles.

paragraphs: In the order they appear in the New Testament, the Pauline epistles are:


title: Viljandi

paragraphs: Viljandi (, ) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia. As of 2012, 19,150 people lived there. It is the capital of Viljandi County. The town was first mentioned in 1283, after being given its town charter by Villekinus de Endorpe.


title: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

paragraphs: Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is famous sermon that was preached by Jonathan Edwards in 1741. He was an important Calvinist minister. The sermon is often used in American high schools and college English classes as an example of the Puritan writings.

paragraphs: Edwards taught the sermon many times. The first time was in Northampton, Massachusetts, but it did not get much attention. But on the second time in Enfield, Connecticut, it made many people weep, swoon, cry out, and have convulsions.

paragraphs: Deuteronomy 32:35 says, "Their foot shall slide in due time." That verse was the main focus of the beginning of the sermon. As was normal in 18th century New England, the sermon was printed and many copies were made. It has proven to be the main reason of his theology and preaching that was taught by many people in the first Great Awakening.


title: Physical constant

paragraphs: In science, a physical constant is a number (physical quantity) that does not change. This is different from a mathematical constant, which is not based on a real measurement.

paragraphs: There are many physical constants in science. Some famous ones are the speed of light, Planck's constant, the gravitational constant, and Avogadro's number.

paragraphs: Some scientists think that physical constants may decrease as the universe gets older. There has been no evidence to support this yet.

paragraphs: Constants that do not have units (like length or speed) are called fundamental physical constants.

paragraphs: Some believe that if the physical constants were different, there would be no life in the universe. They say that the universe seems to be fine-tuned for intelligent life.


title: Cookstown

paragraphs: Cookstown is a small town in Northern Ireland which is in the United Kingdom. 10646 people live in the town. The main street in Cookstown is the longest and widest in Ireland.

paragraphs: On 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom government had a census and found out that there were 10,646 people living in Cookstown. They also found that:


title: Dungannon

paragraphs: Dungannon is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom.

paragraphs: On 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom government had a census and found that were 11,139 people living in Dungannon. Of these:


title: Coagh

paragraphs: Coagh is a village in Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom.

paragraphs: On 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom government had a census and found that there were 545 people living in Coagh. They also found that:


title: Stewartstown

paragraphs: Stewartstown is a village in Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom. It is 5 miles from Cookstown and 7 miles from Dungannon.

paragraphs: On 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom government had a census and found that there were 608 people living in Stewartstown. They also found that:


title: Ballymena

paragraphs: Ballymena is a town in Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom. The actor Liam Neeson and the politician and church minister Ian Paisley used to live in the town.

paragraphs: On 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom government had a census and found that there were 28,717 people living in Ballymena. They also found that:


title: Society of St. John the Evangelist

paragraphs: The Society of St. John the Evangelist is an Anglican order. The monks make a vow: They say they want to live in poverty and that they will not marry anyone. The order was founded by Father Richard Meux Benson, an Anglican priest in 1866. Because they were founded in Cowley, near Oxford in England they are also known as the Cowley fathers.

paragraphs: It has two branches, the original one in England, and one in the United States. The house in the United States was founded around the year 1874. The American branch of the society has 2 houses for their monks. Today, there are monasteries in Scotland, India, South Africa, Japan, and Canada.

paragraphs: The monks live under The Rule of the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. The monks spend a lot of time in prayer and they also go on missions. They are one of the first monasteries founded after the Protestant Reformation.

paragraphs: The fellowship of the Society of St.John the Evangelist is a group of people who want to live there lives in close a relation with the monks at the society. They give money to the society and pray for the monks there. They make a rule of life that is similar to The Rule of the Society of St.John the Evangelist. There are about 1,000 men and woman who are apart of the fellowship. One of the most famous members is Frank Griswold.


title: Magherafelt

paragraphs: Magherafelt is a small town in Northern Ireland, in the United Kingdom.

paragraphs: On 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom government had a census and found that there were 8,372 people living in Magherafelt. They also found that:


title: Constituent country

paragraphs: A constituent country is a country which makes up a part of a larger country, or federation.

paragraphs: The United Kingdom is a sovereign country made of four constituent countries. They are (in order of size) England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. While all four are often referred to as countries, they are technically "constituent" countries within a "sovereign" country; UK. They are also sometimes referred to as regions, provinces, nations, or statelets. However, these titles are problematic and in particular, sensitive in Northern Ireland.

paragraphs: The Kingdom of the Netherlands is made of 4 constituent countries. They are the Netherlands proper, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten.

paragraphs: Earlier (before 10 October 2010) it had 3 constituent countries: the Netherlands proper, Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. Before 1975 Suriname was part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

paragraphs: The Kingdom of Denmark is a sovereign state in Scandinavia, located in Europe. Denmark is made up of three constituent countries: Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands.

paragraphs: The Russian Federation is a sovereign state in Eastern Europe and northern Asia. Russia contains twenty-two : , , , Buryatia, Chechnya, , Crimea, Dagestan, , , Kalmykia, , , , , , , North Ossetia–Alania, Sakha, Tatarstan, Tuva, and .

paragraphs: Countries may be held (usually by force) as part of a larger country or federation of countries. An example of this was the Soviet Union, which held various countries in eastern Europe by force for up to 70 years.

paragraphs: Many dependent territories exist. They tend to be small countries or islands which larger countries have "collected" in the course of their history. For example, Guam became a dependent territory of the United States, whereas Hawaii was made a state of the Union (USA). The Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom, but are "Crown Dependencies".


title: Leyton Orient F.C.

paragraphs: Leyton Orient F.C. are an English football club. They started in 1881 and are based in Leyton, London. Their nickname is "The O's" and they play their home games at a stadium called Brisbane Road.


title: Northampton Town F.C.

paragraphs: Northampton Town F.C. is an English football club. They started in 1897 and are based in Northampton in the county of Northamptonshire. They play their home games at a stadium called Sixfields Stadium and are nicknamed "The Cobblers".


title: Counties of Northern Ireland

paragraphs: There are six counties which make up Northern Ireland. They are County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry and County Tyrone. The six counties in Northern Ireland and the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland make up the 32 counties of the island of Ireland.


title: Nottingham Forest F.C.

paragraphs: Nottingham Forest F.C. is an English football club. They are based in Nottingham in the county of Nottinghamshire and started in 1865. They play their home matches at a stadium called 'City Ground'. Brian Clough was one of their managers and when he was in charge, Nottingham Forest won two European Cups and four League Cups. Since then they have dropped down to the 3rd division and back up to the second, they have had managers like Gary Megson, Joe Kinnear, David Platt and Frank Clark. They have no manager now. Their last one was Colin Calderwood.


title: Brian Clough

paragraphs: Brian Clough was an English footballer turned manager. During his career he was in charge of Nottingham Forest F.C. and Derby County F.C. He won a lot of trophies, including the European Cup in 1979 and 1980.

paragraphs: Clough was an alcoholic. He had a liver transplant in 2003. He died of stomach cancer.


title: Irish national grid reference system

paragraphs: The Irish national grid reference system is the system of grid references used in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It overlaps the British national grid reference system. In the grid references, Ireland is divided into 20 squares, of 100 kilometres length and 100 kilometres width. Each grid square is given a letter as its name.


title: Districts of Northern Ireland

paragraphs: Since 1 October 1973, Northern Ireland is made of 26 districts. Each district has a council which looks after local services. The 26 districts are made of 582 wards. Each ward elects 1 councillor. There 582 councillors in Northern Ireland and there is an election every 4 years. The voting system used to elect each councillor is Single Transferable Vote. Some of the councils are known as "Borough" or "City" councils. Every year, each council elects a chairman. In "Borough" and "City" councils, the chairman is called the Mayor. In Belfast City Council, the chairman is called the Lord Mayor. In "Borough" and "City" councils, up to 25% of councillors are given the title Alderman.


title: Post town

paragraphs: In the United Kingdom, a post town is the town that you must write on a letter if you want it to go to that area. There are around 1500 post towns in the United Kingdom.


title: Hudson Motor Car Company

paragraphs: The Hudson Motor Car Company was an American automobile manufacturer, founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1909. They were well known for producing low-priced cars of good quality. They also pioneered safety features in their cars, like dashboard warning lights for oil pressure and generator power. Hudson's production peak was in 1929, with 300,000 cars built in their factories in America, Belgium and England.

paragraphs: In 1954, Hudson merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Company, to form American Motors Corporation. American Motors (also known as AMC) became famous for their line of Jeep vehicles (a civilian version of military Jeeps), and later Ramblers, Gremlins, and Pacer cars. AMC was finally bought out by the Chrysler Corporation, which still makes Jeep brand vehicles.

paragraphs: Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" describes road trips made by Kerouac and his friend Neal Cassady, driving a 1949 Hudson automobile. (Cassady ruined his car, driving cross-country at speeds over 100 miles per hour, without giving the car the maintenance it needed.)


title: BT postcode area

paragraphs: The BT postcode area (also called the Belfast postcode area) is how each area in Northern Ireland has postcodes. Northern Ireland was the last part of the United Kingdom to get post codes. The BT postcode area was made between 1970 and 1974.

paragraphs: The Belfast post town districts are BT1 to BT17, BT58 and part of BT29. "BT" is short way of saying "Belfast". The postcode for Belfast city centre starts "BT1". The Royal Mail office in Belfast has a postcode of BT1 1AA.

paragraphs: The rest of Northern Ireland has 43 other post towns. The post town districts for the 43 post towns are BT18 to BT57, BT60 to BT82, BT92 to BT94 and part of BT29.


paragraphs: The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) is the fire service for Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. 2000 people work for the NIFRS. There are 67 fire stations in Northern Ireland. Sometimes bad people throw stones at the firemen. Some firemen were killed in the Troubles.


title: BT

paragraphs: BT is an abbreviation and can stand for:


title: Northern Ireland Ambulance Service

paragraphs: The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) is the ambulance service for Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. It was created on 1 April 1995. Around 1000 people work for the NIAS.


title: Września

paragraphs: Września is a small town in Wielkopolska province in Poland. 30,000 people live in Września and the mayor is Tomasz Kałużny.


title: Police Service of Northern Ireland

paragraphs: The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) () is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. It was started on 4 November 2001. The old police service for Northern Ireland was the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The service is based in Cherryvalley, east Belfast. The current Chief Constable is Sir Hugh Orde OBE. The old Chief Constables were Sir Ronnie Flanagan OBE and Colin Cramphorn.

paragraphs: All the big political parties in Northern Ireland support the PSNI. Earlier, the political party Sinn Féin, who have many supporters, did not support the police. But after the St Andrews Agreement they decided to support them after a special Ard Fheis about the police on 28 January 2007.

paragraphs: In September 2005 the PSNI started the Historical Enquiries Team to help solve 3,269 murders that happened during the Troubles. The Northern Ireland Policing Board make sure that the PSNI are fair and do a good job. The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland investigates complaints about the police. The current Police Ombudsman is Al Hutchinson. The last Ombudsman was Nuala O'Loan. She was the Ombudsman until November 2007.

paragraphs: The PSNI gives 50% of its jobs to Roman Catholics and 50% of its jobs to people who are not Roman Catholic. This is because many people think there are not enough Roman Catholics in the PSNI. By 2006, 20% of PSNI policemen were Roman Catholic. Only 8.3% of policemen in the old Royal Ulster Constabulary were Roman Catholic. About 30% of the force will be Roman Catholics by 2011.

paragraphs: The colour of the PSNI uniform is green. The PSNI badge has Saint Patrick's saltire on it and six other symbols. They are the scales of justice, the harp, the torch, the olive branch, the shamrock and a crown.

paragraphs: The flag of the PSNI is the badge in the centre of a dark green field.


title: Grameen Bank

paragraphs: The Grameen Bank is a community development bank started in Bangladesh. They give small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit" ) to poor people without asking for money before the loan is given. The word "Grameen", is made of the word "gram" or "village", and means "of the village". The system of this bank is based on the idea that the poor have skills but have no chance to use their skills without some money. The bank also controls some businesses, such as fabric, telephone and energy companies. Most of the banks loans go to women.

paragraphs: The Grameen Bank was started 1976 when Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Fulbright scholar and Professor at University of Chittagong, researched how to provide banking for the rural poor. In October 1983, the Grameen Bank Project was made into an independent bank by the government. The group and its first member, Muhammad Yunus, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

paragraphs: Some people have said the banks prices are too expensive and put people in a debt-trap. Some have also said that the bank would not work if people did not give donations. At the same time, it is often seen as a success story in microfinance and as the guide for other groups around the world.

paragraphs: Muhammad Yunus, the banks first member, earned a Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University in the United States. During the Bangladesh famine of 1974 he gave a small loan of USD 27 to a group of 42 families so that they could make small items and sell them without owing too much money. Yunus believed that a lot less people would be poor around Bangladesh if they could find small loans.

paragraphs: The Grameen Bank ("Bank of the Villages", in the Bengali language) is the product of Yunus' ideas. The bank began as a research project by Yunus and the Rural Economics Project at Bangladesh's University of Chittagong. They gave out some small loans and waited to know what would happen. In 1976, the village of Jobra and other villages surrounding the University of Chittagong became the first places where Grameen Bank loaned money to people. The Bank was very successful and with support from the main Bangladesh Bank, gave loans for the Tangail District (to the north of the capital, Dhaka). The bank's success continued and it soon gave loans in many areas of Bangladesh. On 2 October 1983, the project was made into an independent bank, by the Bangladeshi government. Bankers from ShoreBank, a community development bank in Chicago, helped Yunus by making Grameen Bank a part of Shorebank with money from the Ford Foundation. After the 1998 flood of Bangladesh, many people could not pay their debts to Grameen for a few years. By the beginning of 2005, the bank had loaned over USD 4.7 billion to poor people.

paragraphs: Grameen Bank now loans money to poor people all over India. By 2006, India had over 2,100 Grameen Bank branches. Its success has inspired similar projects in more than 40 countries around the world and has made World Bank to take an initiative to finance Grameen-type schemes.

paragraphs: The bank gets help with money. In the mid-1990s, the bank started getting most of its funding from the central bank of Bangladesh. More recently, Grameen has been borrowing money. The Government of Bangladesh guarantees that money borrowed by the Grameen Bank will be repaid.

paragraphs: Grameen Bank is best known for solidarity lending. The Bank also incorporates a set of values embodied in Bangladesh by the "Sixteen Decisions". At every branch of Grameen Bank the borrowers recite these Decisions and vow to follow them.

paragraphs: There is solidarity lending in over 43 countries. Each borrower must belong to a five-member group, the group does not need to give a guarantee for a loan. The loan is made to only one person but the whole group is to make sure that the money is repaid. Each member has to pay for their own loan but if they have problems the group may help them pay because the group would not get any more loans from Grameen if all the groups loans were not paid.

paragraphs: Grameen Bank does not take people to court if they cannot pay, the system works on trust only. Solidarity groups agree with Grameen to save enough for extra payments in case they cannot pay every time.

paragraphs: Not many women in India can have loans from big banks so 97% of Grameens loans go to women. Women get treated very badly in some countries, and groups, such as the World Bank are researching to know if small loans are helping women around the world.

paragraphs: Over 98 percent of Grameens loans have been paid back but the Wall Street Journal says that 20% of the loans took more than a year longer than the time agreed to pay the loan back. Grameen says that more than half of its borrowers in Bangladesh (close to 50 million) now: have all children of school age in school, all household members eating three meals a day, a clean toilet, a rainproof house, clean drinking water and can pay 300 taka-a-week (around 4 USD) towards their loans.

paragraphs: One of the things Grameen Bank does for poor people is the Village Phone program. Women entrepreneurs can start a business providing a payphone service in rural areas of Bangladesh. The Village Phone Program was awarded the 2004 Petersburg Prize of EUR 100,000 for Technology to Development. The Development Gateway Foundation said:

paragraphs: ...Grameen has created a new class of women entrepreneurs who have raised themselves from poverty. Moreover, it has improved the livelihoods of farmers and others who are provided access to critical market information and lifeline communications previously unattainable in some 28,000 villages of Bangladesh. More than 55,000 phones are currently in operation, with more than 80 million people benefiting from access to market information, news from relatives, and more.

paragraphs: In 2003, Grameen Bank started a new loan program, different from the Solidarity Group, to help the beggars in Bangladesh. This program is made to give small loans to beggars. The loans cost only the amount of the loan and the repayment take a long time, for example, a beggar taking a small loan of around 100 taka (about US $1.50) can pay only 2.00 taka (about 3.4 US cents) per week and only repays 100 taka.

paragraphs: The bank does not force the beggars to give up begging but tries to get them selling low-priced items. The Global Microcredit Summit in 2006 by one of the banks managers says that by May 2006, around 73,000 beggars have taken loans of about 58.32 million taka (approx. USD 833,150) and repaid 34.78 million taka (about USD 496,900).

paragraphs: Grameen Bank is owned by the people who borrow the money, mostly women. The borrowers own 94% of the bank, and the other 6% is owned by the Government of Bangladesh.

paragraphs: In October 2007, the bank had 7.34 million borrowers, and 97% of those were women.

paragraphs: The number of borrowers had more than doubled since 2003, when the bank had only 3.12 million members. In October 2007, the Bank had a staff of over 24,703 employees and 2,468 branches covering 80,257 villages. There were 43,681 villages covered in the year 2003.

paragraphs: Since its start, the bank has loaned 347.75 billion taka (USD 6.55 billion). 313.11 billion taka (USD 5.87 billion) has been repaid. The bank says 98.35% of loans are repaid. In 1998, 95% of loans were repaid. However, many critics doubt this recovery rate and the definition that Grameen uses to come up with this rate.

paragraphs: Grameen Bank received awards such as, the Bangladesh Independence Day Award, in 1994. The bank got its best known award on 13 October 2006, when the Nobel Committee awarded Grameen Bank and its first member, Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below." The Nobel Foundation says:

paragraphs: From modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost through Grameen Bank, developed micro-credit into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Grameen Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions in the field of micro-credit that have sprung up around the world.

paragraphs: Mosammat Taslima Begum, used her first loan of 16-euro (20-dollar) from the bank in 1992 to buy a goat and subsequently became a successful entrepreneur and one of the elected board members of the bank. She collected the Nobel Prize for Grameen Bank on 10 December 2006, at the prize awarding ceremony in Oslo City Hall.

paragraphs: Grameen Bank is the only business to have won a Nobel Prize. In a speech given at the presentation ceremony, Professor Ole Danbolt Mjøs, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said that, by giving the prize to Grameen Bank and Muhammad Yunus, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wanted to make more contact with the Muslim world, to help women, and on to fight against poverty.

paragraphs: The people in Bangladesh were very happy with the Nobel Prize. Some critics asserted that the award affirms neoliberalism.

paragraphs: The Grameen Bank has grown into over two dozen groups called the Grameen Family of Enterprises. These groups include Grameen Trust, Grameen Fund, Grameen Communications, Grameen Shakti (Grameen Energy), Grameen Telecom, Grameen Shikkha (Grameen Education), Grameen Motsho (Grameen Fisheries), Grameen Baybosa Bikash (Grameen Business Development), Grameen Phone, Grameen Software Limited, Grameen CyberNet Limited, Grameen Knitwear Limited, and Grameen Uddog (owner of the brand Grameen Check).

paragraphs: On 11 July 2005 the Grameen Mutual Fund One (GMFO), was listed as an Initial Public Offering. One of the first mutual funds of its kind, GMFO will allow the over four million Grameen bank members, as well as non-members, to buy into Bangladesh's capital markets. The Grameen group is worth over USD 7.4 billion.

paragraphs: The Grameen Foundation was based on the work of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and they want to share the Grameen ideas and hurry microfinance to the worlds poorest people. Grameen Foundation USA, which has an A- rating from Charity Watch, supports microfinance institutions worldwide with loan guarantees, training, and technology transfer. As of 2006, Grameen Foundation supports microfinance institutions in the following regions:

paragraphs: Sudhirendar Sharma, a development analyst, says that the Grameen Bank has "landed poor communities in a perpetual debt-trap", and that its ultimate benefit goes to the corporations that sell capital goods and infrastructure to the borrowers. Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, who said, "There is no difference between usurers [Yunus] and corrupt people." Hasina also says the bank wants too much in return for the loans. Loans from Grameen Bank cost more than bigger banks, around 20% interest. The Mises Institute's Jeffrey Tucker says that Grameen Bank is not good enough for Indias economy and is a way of giving money to people who are not working.


title: United Kingdom Census 2001

paragraphs: On Sunday 29 April 2001 the United Kingdom Government held a census. This was the 19th UK Census. United Kingdom Census 2001 was started by the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales, the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. It was the first census to ask people in England, Scotland and Wales about their religion.


title: Hug

paragraphs: A hug is an embrace between two or more people. It is usually a sign of affection or love.

paragraphs: In several cases observed by psychologists around the globe, hugs are often used to solidify relationships in both sexual and platonic cases and often lead to further physical encounters.

paragraphs: A hug is very good for people. Hugging can release a chemical called Oxytocin, which helps make a person feel less stressed. It also helps a person's immune system, and makes them feel less pain. Hugs can even help a person stay calm in a stressful situation.


title: WWE Intercontinental Championship

paragraphs: WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). It is the first secondary title of WWE. It has been the exclusive secondary championship of WWE's weekly TV show "Raw" since April 2017 when the champion at the time Dean Ambrose was moved to the show from "SmackDown" in the 2017 Superstar Shake-Up.

paragraphs: The WWE Intercontinental Championship was first known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Intercontinental Championship, until the WWE/WWF 2002 Lawsuit. Following the title's introduction in 1979, Pat Patterson became the inaugural champion on September 15. The title's creation came as a result of Patterson defeating Ted DiBiase to win the WWF North American Championship and defending the title in a fictional tournament held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to be unified with a South American Championship.

paragraphs: In March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation bought World Championship Wrestling. Soon after, "The Invasion" took place in which the WCW/ECW Alliance was ultimately dismantled. At Survivor Series 2001, the title was unified with the WCW United States Championship. The United States Champion, Edge, won against the Intercontinental Champion, Test, and became the new Intercontinental Champion while the United States Championship became inactive.

paragraphs: After the WWF/WWE name change in 2002, the championship became known as the WWE Intercontinental Championship. It was then unified with the European Championship in a ladder match on July 22, and later the Hardcore Championship on August 26. The Intercontinental Champion, Rob Van Dam, won against the European Champion, Jeff Hardy, and the Hardcore Champion, Tommy Dreamer. As a result, Rob Van Dam was named the last European and Hardcore Champion. Then at No Mercy 2002, it was unified with the World Heavyweight Championship. The World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H, won against the Intercontinental Champion, Kane, and continued to be the World Heavyweight Champion while the Intercontinental Championship became inactive. In May 2003, after fan protests of the retirement of the Intercontinental Title, the title was reactivated by "Raw" Co-General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and was recommissioned to be the secondary championship for the "Raw" brand. Shortly after, the WCW United States Championship was reactivated as the WWE United States Championship by the "SmackDown"! brand, making the Intercontinental Championship its equal counterpart for the "Raw" brand. During the 2009 WWE Draft the two title swapped brands, making the Intercontinental Championship "SmackDown" property and the US Title "Raw" property. On August 29, 2011, all WWE programming became "Supershows" that feature wrestlers from both brands, ending the brand extension. All WWE titles can now be defended at any WWE event.

paragraphs: At WrestleMania 32, the title was won by Zack Ryder in a seven-man ladder match, losing it the next night to The Miz on "Raw". The brand split was brought back in July of 2016, with the Miz being drafted to "SmackDown Live", bringing the Intercontinental title to that show. After a long feud with Dolph Ziggler over the title, the Miz lost the belt to Dean Ambrose on an episode of "SmackDown Live" on January 3, 2017. Ambrose was drafted to "Raw" in the 2017 Superstar Shake-Up, bringing the Intercontinental title to that show.

paragraphs: Sami Zayn won the title from Braun Strowman in a 3-on-1 handicap match with Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, he could not defend his title. So a tournament was held for the Intercontinental Championship. In finals between Daniel Bryan and Aj Styles, Aj styles won the championship for first time.


title: Polygamy

paragraphs: Polygamy is a word that comes from late Greek. It can be translated as "many marriages". It refers to any form of marriage where a person has "more than one spouse". There is also a concept called group marriage. In group marriage, all the (adult) members of the group are responsible for all the children.

paragraphs: A man being married to more than one woman at the same time is called polygyny. A woman being married to more than one man at the same time is called polyandry.

paragraphs: Both forms have occurred in humans. Polygyny is much more common, and is practised by millions of people, mostly in Muslim countries, where a man can have up to four wives at the same time. In most non-Muslim countries, polygamy is illegal, and a person who has more than one spouse can be prosecuted for bigamy. Some countries, including India, only permit Muslims to be polygamous.

paragraphs: Polygamy is one of the beliefs of Mormon Fundamentalists. These are Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) who strictly follow the teachings of Joseph Smith. Smith felt it was his job to restore plural marriage to the earth. He was married to 33 women. In 1890 the Mormon church officially stopped "celestial marriages" (polygamy). Church members who continue to practice plural marriage are excommunicated from the church.

paragraphs: Isithembu (Sethepu) is the African practice of a man being able to have more than one wife at the same time. A man may marry again if his current wife or wives cannot have children. He keeps his current wife or wives as divorce is not allowed. A man may marry again if his current wife or wives have not produced male children. He can marry again if a wife does not want children. In some places, if a man dies, his wife or wives are married to his brother. This way his family is cared for. The Swazi culture says a man should have many wives. Polygamy (Isithembu) is normal for men. Woman should have children, which is normal for them.


title: Rickenbach, Solothurn

paragraphs: Rickenbach is a municipality in the district Olten in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.


title: Rickenbach

paragraphs: Rickenbach can be the name of any of the following places:


title: Neal Cassady

paragraphs: Neal Cassady (February 8, 1926 - February 4, 1968) was an American writer. He was a member of the Beat Generation circle of writers and poets, of the 1950s and 1960s. He was a close friend of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, and was the main inspiration behind Kerouac's breakthrough novel "On the Road". Later he was the bus driver of Ken Kesey's "Merry Pranksters", during the hippie era.

paragraphs: Cassady was born in Salt Lake City, literally "on the road", as his mother gave birth to him while his parents rode in a car. They later separated, with his father raising young Cassady in Denver, Colorado. He got into trouble often as a boy, and spent part of his teen years in a juvenile facility. While locked up, he began to write letters back and forth with Hal Chase, another member of the (then-future) Beat Generation. Chase told his friends Kerouac and Ginsberg about Cassady, who wanted to meet him.

paragraphs: After he was released, Cassady traveled to New York, marrying sixteen-year-old LuAnne Henderson on the way. He met Ginsberg, and began a homosexual relationship with him (despite Cassady's marriage), and a friendship with Kerouac, recently divorced, who began to teach Cassady about writing. Kerouac's mother, whom he lived with, did not like Cassady, sensing he was just a con artist.

paragraphs: Kerouac knew this was at least partly true, but he did not mind, since he enjoyed Cassady's company. They looked a little like each other, and strangers who met them often guessed the two were brothers. They became very close personally, and felt that they really were brothers, though they came from different parents.

paragraphs: Cassady was a restless person, and his wife got tired of him not giving their marriage the attention it needed. She left him, and returned to her family. Cassady soon forgot about her, and started relationships with other women, and also with men. (He and LuAnne got back together later, but their reconciliation did not last.) Before long, he decided he wanted to travel. Cassady was an expert driver, and had no trouble driving cars at over 100 miles per hour, over long stretches of highway. Kerouac left his mother behind, and joined Cassady on many road trips, across the United States and even into Mexico. When Kerouac got sick in Mexico City, Cassady could not wait for him to get better, and left Kerouac behind at a hospital. Kerouac had to find his own way home, and was angry at Cassady, while Kerouac's mother thought it just proved her suspicions about him. Cassady turned up later, asking Kerouac's forgiveness, which he gave him. Good or bad, Kerouac's experiences with Cassady were what he needed to finish a novel about cross-country travel, which he had wanted to write for years.

paragraphs: Kerouac was married again to Joan Haverty, and in trying to explain his friendship with Cassady to his new wife, he typed a long narrative, using a roll of teletype paper so he did not have to stop to change pages. He spent three weeks working on the narrative almost non-stop. It became the manuscript for his new novel, which he called "On the Road".

paragraphs: His wife was bothered by the fact that he spent more time working on the manuscript than with her, and separated from him not long after it was finished. Kerouac spent the next six years making changes and improvements to the manuscript, until a publisher agreed to print it as a book. Cassady's name was changed to "Dean Moriarty", to make the book appear more fictional than it really was. Kerouac delivered one of the first printed copies of "On the Road" in person to Cassady, who did not give Kerouac the reaction he expected. Instead of being happy and proud, Cassady seemed disturbed and scared, by knowing that part of his life was now in print, and his character documented for the public to see.

paragraphs: "On the Road" was published in 1957, and it made both Kerouac and Cassady famous. It did not do much to help their personal lives, however. Both men suffered from public overexposure, as the book became a best-seller. A mistake on the book's jacket made readers think that both men were much younger than they were. Their adventures in the book had happened years earlier, but many people thought they were recent. Some readers wanted to travel with them, or invite them to wild parties, or have sexual intercourse with them. Cassady enjoyed the attention for awhile, but it took its toll on him personally. Fame did not help his second marriage, to Carolyn Robinson, or the family they had together. Kerouac himself hated all the attention he got, and spent most of his time at home with his mother, working on new books, or drinking alcohol. In time, he became an alcoholic, and it ruined his health.

paragraphs: Cassady also partly inspired Allen Ginsberg's "Howl", and was mentioned in the poem as "N.C.", the "secret hero" of Ginsberg's latest writings. "Howl" became a landmark work of the 1950s, and added to Ginsberg's and Cassady's fame. Ginsberg handled fame more easily than either Cassady or Kerouac, and had a long public career.

paragraphs: Cassady himself wanted to become a writer, or a jazz musician, but he was not a success at either. He tried to take saxophone lessons, but did not stay with them very long. He mostly worked as a laborer or a brakeman on railroads, before and after "On the Road" was published. Some of what he did write was published as a memoir, titled "The First Third", but it was his only book. He was more successful at writing letters to friends. One was about his seductions of different women during a train trip. He recorded long talks with Kerouac and Carolyn, about their lives and thoughts, and parts of these went into a later book by Kerouac, titled "Visions of Cody". ("Cody Pomeray" became Cassady's new fictional name, as Kerouac changed publishers.)

paragraphs: Cassady also sold marijuana to help pay his bills. One customer turned out to be an undercover policeman, who arrested Cassady. He spent a long time in jail. Carolyn had to both work, and try to raise their children alone.

paragraphs: Freed from jail, Cassady began to travel again. During the 1960s, he joined Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, who traveled back and forth across the United States in a bus, holding "acid tests", a name for LSD parties. Cassady drove the bus. He acted as merrily as anyone, and as full of energy as a young man, when the Pranksters were around. In private, though, he was not enjoying his life, and old friends noticed he looked very tired.

paragraphs: Cassady had tried to commit suicide a few times when he was younger, and was unhappy. Once he tried to freeze himself to death, waiting outside in cold temperatures during a car trip, but it took too long, and he got back in the car. Early in 1968, while revisiting Mexico, he was found lying alongside a railroad track, where he had been for a long time. Exposure to harsh weather caused his death, just days short of his 42nd birthday. Nobody knew if he was trying to kill himself or not, this time. A few people who knew him felt that he wanted to die, and had for awhile as he got older, and that Cassady finally got his wish.

paragraphs: Cassady left an indelible mark on the world of the 1950s and 1960s, through his documented adventures in the works of Kerouac, Ginsberg, and their friends. He also turned up in Kesey's writings about the Merry Pranksters. He inspired later bohemian characters, like Jim Morrison of The Doors. People today still read about his life and times, and wish they were able to meet Cassady, or make friends with him. The people who knew Cassady remembered him fondly later, even if he let them down personally, because he was such a unique (special) person. People loved watching Cassady live his life to the fullest, while he encouraged them to do the same with theirs.

paragraphs: Neal Cassady: Behind the Myth (official site)


title: Riedholz

paragraphs: Riedholz is a municipality in the district Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. In 2011 Niederwil merged into Riedholz.


title: Northern Ireland (European Parliament constituency)

paragraphs: Northern Ireland is a constituency of the European Parliament. The Northern Ireland Members of the European Parliament are chosen using Single Transferable Vote. The constituency is all of Northern Ireland.


title: Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus

paragraphs: Feldbrunnen-St.Niklaus is a municipality in the district Lebern in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland.


title: Rodersdorf

paragraphs: Rodersdorf is a municipality in the district Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland, on the border of Alsace, France.


title: Beat Generation

paragraphs: The Beat Generation was a movement of writers, poets, and artists during the 1950s and 1960s, who liked the beat of jazz and bebop music, which became a kind of soundtrack to much of their lives and work. People associated with the movement were called "Beats", or sometimes "Beatniks", a reference to Communism. (A few Beats supported Communism, but most did not.) The term came from novelist Jack Kerouac, who was sometimes called "The King of the Beats". Other Beat writers were William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg.


title: Brill Building

paragraphs: The Brill Building in New York City was a headquarters for many songwriters in the 1950s and 1960s. The building had offices for the writers, and also a small recording studio to make demo recordings. Don Kirshner hired the writers who worked there, and helped promote their works.

paragraphs: The Brill Building writers included many pop stars and future pop stars, including Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Carole King, Carole Bayer Sager, and Neil Sedaka. The Monkees recorded a large number of Brill Building songs, but they also wrote songs of their own.


title: Chris Stewart

paragraphs: Christopher "Chris" Stewart (born 1950), is an English musician and writer. He was the first drummer for rock band Genesis. He is now a writer and a farmer.

paragraphs: Stewart went to school with Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips. The five of them formed a band called Anon. This band eventually became Genesis in January 1967. Stewart appears on the band's first two singles, "The Silent Sun"/"That's Me" and "A Winter's Tale"/"One-Eyed Hound".

paragraphs: Stewart was asked to leave the band in the summer of 1968, because he was not skilled enough. He was replaced by John Silver. After travelling and working throughout Europe, Stewart settled and bought a farm named "El Valero" in Andalusia, Spain.

paragraphs: He is now better known for his autobiograpical books: "Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia" (1999, ) and the sequels, "A Parrot In The Pepper Tree" () and "The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society" (2006, ). They are all about his work farming in Spain.


title: John Silver

paragraphs: Jonathan "John" Silver (born 1950) was the second drummer for the English rock band Genesis. He replaced Chris Stewart in the summer of 1968. Silver left the band in August 1969. He was replaced by John Mayhew. Silver appears on the band's first full length album, "From Genesis to Revelation" and on the "Genesis Archive 1967-75" box set.

paragraphs: Silver lives in London with his wife, Lucy, and children, Leo, Max, and Libby.


title: John Mayhew

paragraphs: John Mayhew (27 March 1947 - 26 March 2009) was an English - Australian musician. He was the third drummer for the progressive rock band Genesis. Mayhew was a part of the band from September 1969 until July 1970. He replaced John Silver as the drummer for the band in August 1969 . Mayhew appears on the album "Trespass" and the "Genesis Archive 1967-75" box set. He was replaced in 1970 by Phil Collins.

paragraphs: For many years Mayhew's life after playing for Genesis was a mystery to most fans. It was said that his "Trespass" royaltycheque had gone unclaimed. There were rumors that he was dead or missing. In 1979, he moved to Australia. He eventually found work as a carpenter. He is now an Australian citizen. In 2006, Mayhew attended the Genesis Convention in London along with Anthony Phillips and Steve Hackett. He even played drums for a tribute band's performance of "The Knife" (from "Trespass"). He died a day before his birthday from a heart attack.