title: Sunderland

paragraphs: Sunderland is in North East England. It was a county borough, and is now part of the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. It sits at the mouth of the River Wear.

paragraphs: Sunderland started as three small villages:

paragraphs: Sunderland grew as a port, mostly selling coal and salt. In the 1300s people began to build ships along the river bank. By 1835, the port of Sunderland was so important that its name was used when the three old villages became the a borough. Sunderland became a city in 1992.

paragraphs: A person born in Sunderland is sometimes called a "Mackem".

paragraphs: In 674, Benedict Biscop built the Wearmouth ("St. Peter's") monastery. He was given the land by King Ecgfrith of Northumbria. Biscop's monastery was the first monastery built of stone in Northumbria. Biscop brought glass makers from France. This was the start of glass making in Britain.

paragraphs: In 686, the community was taken over by Ceolfrid, and Wearmouth monastery and its other site in Jarrow became very important places of learning in Anglo-Saxon England. The library had about 300 books; all of them were hand written and painted.

paragraphs: The Codex Amiatinus, was written and painted at the monastery and was probably worked on by Bede who was born at Wearmouth in 673.

paragraphs: Bede wrote the "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People)" in 731. This is why he is often called "The father of English history".

paragraphs: In the late eighth century, the Vikings began to raid the coast, and by the middle of the ninth century, the monastery had been abandoned.

paragraphs: In 930, King Athelstan of England gave the land on the south bank of the river to the Bishop of Durham. This is why the area is still called Bishopwearmouth.

paragraphs: By 1100, the Bishopwearmouth parish included a small fishing village at the mouth of the river (modern day East End) known as 'Soender-land', or Asunder-land which became Sunderland. This settlement was granted a charter in 1179 by Hugh Pudsey, then the Bishop of Durham.

paragraphs: By 1346, ships were being built at Wearmouth. The merchant Thomas Menville started building ships so he could transport the things he wanted to sell.

paragraphs: In 1589, salt making started in Sunderland. Large vats, called ‘’panns’’, of seawater were put on coal fires. When the water boiled, the salt was left behind. This is known as salt panning. Today, the road leading to where the pans were is still called Pann's Bank. It is on the river bank near the city centre. As more coal was needed to heat the salt pans, coal mining started in the area. Only poor quality coal was used in salt panning; the best coal was sold and shipped out of the town. This is why the port began to grow. This put Sunderland in competition for the first time with its coal-trading neighbour Newcastle.

paragraphs: Before the English Civil War in 1642, King Charles I said Newcastle could be the only town in the east of England which could send coal by ship. This had a big impact on Sunderland, which was selling more and more coal. This created resentment towards Newcastle and towards the idea of having a king. When the civil war began, the mainly Protestant Sunderland sided with Parliament against the mostly Catholic Newcastle. This was good for Sunderland's business, because Parliament blockaded (blocked) the Tyne. This stopped the Newcastle coal trade and allowed the Sunderland coal trade to grow. When an army from Scotland came to fight the King, its base was set up in Sunderland.

paragraphs: The River Wear was not very deep, so the coal had to be loaded onto big boats called "keels" and taken downriver to the coal ships which were called "colliers".

paragraphs: In 1719, Sunderland and Bishopwearmouth were too big for the only parish church, which was in Bishopwearmouth. A new parish of Sunderland was created and Holy Trinity, Sunderland parish church was built. The three original settlements of Wearmouth (Bishopwearmouth, Monkwearmouth and Sunderland) had started to join up. This was because of the success of the port of Sunderland as well as the salt panning and the shipbuilding along the banks of the Wear. Around this time, Sunderland was also known as 'Sunderland-near-the-Sea'.

paragraphs: Local government was divided between the three churches (Holy Trinity, Sunderland, St. Michael's, Bishopwearmouth, and St. Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth). When cholera broke out in 1831, the "select vestrymen", as the church councillors were called, did not know what to do about the epidemic. Many were frightened to say that a disease has started because it might stop their businesses from making money. They printed notices which said there was no disease in the town, and saying that the doctors who said that there was disease did not know what they were talking about.

paragraphs: Sunderland was a big trading port at the time. It was the first British town to be affected by 'Indian cholera' epidemic. The first victim, William Sproat, died on 23 October 1831. Sunderland was put under , so that people could not leave the town. The port was blockaded, so that ships could not spread the disease to other ports. But in December of that year, cholera was in Gateshead and it spread across the country, killing about 32,000 people.

paragraphs: Jack Crawford was one of the first to die in the epidemic. There are two statues honouring Jack, one in Mowbray Park near the Civic Centre, and the other next to Holy Trinity Church.

paragraphs: Sunderland got its first Member of Parliament after the Reform Act of 1832, and the Borough of Sunderland was created in 1836, although impatient citizens elected Andrew White to be Mayor in December 1835.

paragraphs: The river at Sunderland is in a narrow valley, and the town grew up on plateaus high above the river. This meant it never had the problem of allowing people to cross the river without stopping high masted vessels. Rowland Burdon MP pushed for the Wearmouth Bridge, which was built in 1796. It was the second iron bridge ever built. Only the famous Iron Bridge itself is older, but Wearmouth bridge was over twice as long and only three-quarters the weight of the Iron Bridge. Wearmouth Bridge was the biggest single span bridge in the world. Farther up the river, another bridge, the Queen Alexandra Bridge, was built in 1910, linking the areas of Pallion and Southwick. It was designed for trains to run across, too, but the railway section was never completed.

paragraphs: The Victoria Hall was a large concert hall on Toward Road facing Mowbray Park. On 16 June 1883, 183 children died. During a variety show, children rushed down the stairs for treats. At the bottom of the staircase, the door only opened inward and was bolted so that only one child at a time could get through. The children pushed down the stairs to the door. Those at the front were trapped, and were crushed by the weight of the crowd behind them.

paragraphs: The Victoria Hall disaster is still the worst of its kind in Britain. A memorial statue, which is a crying mother holding a dead child, is now back in Mowbray Park with a protective canopy. The newspaper reports of the tragedy were so shocking that an inquiry was set up. This committee said that public buildings should have outward opening emergency exits. This led to the invention of 'push bar' emergency doors. This law still remains in full force to this day. The Victoria Hall was used until 1941 when it was destroyed by a German bomb.

paragraphs: As the traditional industries have declined, electronics, chemicals, and paper making have replaced them. Some of these new industries, are in Washington, which has more space to allow purpose built factories. The Nissan car plant and the nearby North East Aircraft Museum are on the site of the old Sunderland Airport.

paragraphs: Since 1990, industries along the banks of the Wear have changed a lot. Housing, shopping parks and business centres have been built where the shipbuilding yards were. The National Glass Centre is also there, next to the University of Sunderland’s new “St Peter’s Campus”. On the south side of the river, the old Vaux Brewery site has been cleared so that new houses, shops and offices can be built close to the city centre.

paragraphs: Sunderland was the one of the most heavily bombed areas in England during World War II. As a result, much of the town centre was rebuilt in a boring concrete style. But some fine old buildings remain. These include Holy Trinity, built in 1719 for an independent Sunderland, St. Michaels's Church, built as Bishopwearmouth Parish Church and now known as Sunderland Minster and St. Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, part of which dates from 674 AD, and was the original monastery.

paragraphs: St. Andrew's Roker, so-called "Cathedral of the Arts and Crafts Movement", contains work by William Morris, Ernest Gimson and Eric Gill.

paragraphs: Sunderland was made a municipal borough of County Durham in 1835. Under the Local Government Act 1888, it was given further status as a county borough with independence from county council control. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, the county borough was abolished and its area combined with that of other districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear. See City of Sunderland.

paragraphs: Sunderland has the motto of Nil Desperandum Auspice Deo. This means Never Despair, Trust In God

paragraphs: Much of the city is on a low range of hills running parallel to the coast. On average, it is around 80 metres above sea level. Sunderland is divided by the River Wear which passes through the middle of the city in a deep valley, part of which is known as the Hylton gorge. The only two road bridges connecting the north and south halves of the City are the Queen Alexandra Bridge at Pallion and the Wearmouth Bridge just to the north of the City centre. A third bridge carries the A19 trunk road over the Wear to the West of the City.

paragraphs: Most of the suburbs of Sunderland are west of the city centre with 70% of its population living on the south side of the river and 30% on the north side. The city extends to the seafront at Hendon and Ryhope (on the south) and Seaburn (on the north).

paragraphs: The area is part of the Anglican Diocese of Durham. It has been in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle since the Catholic bishops returned in 1850.

paragraphs: Some Sunderland suburbs have most streets beginning with the same letter:

paragraphs: Sunderland has cool winters and warm summers. Being on the coast, Sunderland is a little warmer in the winter than the national average, but a little cooler in summer.

paragraphs: Average rainfall is below the UK national average due to an east coast location.

paragraphs: As with most UK east-coast towns, Sunderland sometimes gets sea fog known locally as "Fret". This is most common in the summer months (April - September). These frets can be very dense, are often very localised, and can appear and disappear in a matter of minutes.

paragraphs: Sunderland is the largest city, by population and area, between Leeds and Edinburgh.

paragraphs: The City of Sunderland is the 22nd largest borough in England and the largest in the North East. However, as well as including the Sunderland it also includes a number of surrounding towns and villages, such as Washington, Houghton-le-Spring and Hetton-le-Hole.

paragraphs: 98.1% of the population are white, with 1% Asian and 0.4% mixed-race.

paragraphs: In 2001, the most ethnically mixed ward of the city was the (now abolished) Thornholme area - just to the south of the city centre Thornholme included the suburbs of Ashbrooke and Eden Vale. Here, 89.4% are white, 7.8% are Asian and 1.3% are mixed-race.

paragraphs: The least ethnically diverse wards are in the north of the city. The area of Castletown is made up of 99.3% white, 0.4% Asian and 0.2% mixed-race.

paragraphs: According to census statistics, 81.5% of Sunderland residents class themselves as Christian, 9.6% have no religion, 0.7% are Muslim and 7.6% did not wish to give their religion.

paragraphs: Only 114 people of Jewish faith live in Sunderland. There was no Jewish community before 1750, but then a number of Jewish businessmen from across the UK and Europe settled in Sunderland. A Rabbi from Holland was working in the city in 1790. The Jewish community has been shrinking since the mid 20th century. Many Sunderland Jews left for bigger Jewish communities in Britain or to Israel. The Jewish primary school, the Menorah School, closed in July 1983. The synagogue on Ryhope Road (opened in 1928) closed at the end of March 2006.

paragraphs: Lewis Carroll often visited to the area. He wrote most of "Jabberwocky" at Whitburn as well as "The Walrus and the Carpenter". Some parts of the area are believed to be the inspiration for his Alice in Wonderland stories, such as Hylton Castle and Backhouse Park. There is a statue to Carroll in Whitburn library. Lewis Carroll was also a visitor to the Rectory of Holy Trinity Church, Southwick, beforeSouthwick became a part of Sunderland. Carroll's connection with Sunderland, and the area's history, is documented in Bryan Talbot's 2007 graphic novel "Alice in Sunderland".

paragraphs: More recently, Sunderland-born Terry Deary, writer of the series of Horrible Histories books, has become famous, and many others such as thriller writer Sheila Quigley, are following his lead.

paragraphs: The Manchester painter, L S Lowry, was another frequent visitor, staying in the Seaburn Hotel in Sunderland. Many of his paintings of seascapes and shipbuilding are based on Wearside scenes.

paragraphs: The Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art on Fawcett Street and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens have exhibitions and installations from new and established artists alike. Sunderland Museum has a big collection of LS Lowry. The National Glass Centre on Liberty Way also exhibits a number of glass sculptures.

paragraphs: Sunderland has produced a number of musicians that have gone on to reach international fame, most notably Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics. Kenickie, which featured Lauren Laverne on vocals, also achieved a top ten album and wide critical acclaim in the mid-to-late-1990s.

paragraphs: In recent years, the underground music scene and the Sunderland Music Project have helped the likes of The Futureheads and Field Music gain national recognition. In 2004, music magazine NME put Sunderland came 8th in a list of the "coolest" music places in the UK.

paragraphs: Other famous Mackem musicians include punk rockers The Toy Dolls, who broke the top five of the charts with "Nellie the Elephant" in December 1984; the lead singer of dance outfit Olive, Ruth Ann Boyle, who now works with Enigma; A Tribe of Toffs made number 21 with their cult hit "John Kettley is a weatherman" in December 1988; Alex Kapranos of the band Franz Ferdinand also grew up in Sunderland and South Shields.

paragraphs: On the 7 and 8 May 2005, Sunderland hosted the BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend concert - the UK's largest free music festival. The event was held at Herrington Country Park, in the shadow of Penshaw Monument and was attended by 30,000 visitors.

paragraphs: Sunderland does not have a big music venue such as the MetroRadio Arena or the Carling Academy in Newcastle. The Empire Theatre sometimes plays host to music acts, and has attracted Deacon Blue and Journey South to the city in recent years. McFly played there in April 2007. In the past it has also welcomed major bands such as The Beatles and The Kinks.

paragraphs: "Independent", a city centre nightclub/music venue, satisfies underground music lovers, having previously played host to Keane, Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs, Maxïmo Park and Snow Patrol when they were largely unknown. More recently, Doves and Tim Burgess have performed DJ sets on club nights, and in summer 2007 the club hosted gigs from established bands such as The Zutons and The Maccabees. The Manor Quay, the students' union on the campus of the University of Sunderland has also hosted the Arctic Monkeys, Maxïmo Park, 911, the Levellers and Girls Aloud in the past three years.

paragraphs: Clint Boon sometimes deejays in indie venue "Ku Club", and the Bluetones did a set there in 2006.

paragraphs: “CoSMOS”, the City of Sunderland Millennium Orchestral Society’’ was set up in 2000 to mark the millennium.

paragraphs: The Sunderland Empire Theatre, opened in 1907, is the largest theatre in the North East. It reopened in December 2004, following a big redevelopment, making the stage bigger. Now it can stage West End shows such as "Miss Saigon", "Starlight Express" and "My Fair Lady". The Empire is the only theatre between Leeds and Glasgow big enough to put on such shows.

paragraphs: The Birmingham Royal Ballet have a season at the Sunderland Empire every year, and it is thought of as the company's north-east home.

paragraphs: The Royalty Theatre is the home to the (amateur) Royalty Theatre group who also put on a number of low-budget productions throughout the year. Well-known movie producer David Parfitt belonged to this company before achieving worldwide fame.

paragraphs: Each year on the last weekend in July, the city hosts the Sunderland International Airshow. It takes place along the sea front at Roker and Seaburn, and is attended by over 1.2 million people annually. It is the largest free airshow in Europe.

paragraphs: Sunderland also hosts the free International Festival of Kites, Music and Dance, which attracts kite-makers from around the world to Northumbria Playing Fields, Washington.

paragraphs: Every year, the city hosts a large Remembrance Day memorial, believed to be the largest in the UK outside of London.

paragraphs: HMS Ocean, a Helicopter Landing Ship is Sunderland's adopted Royal Navy ship. The crew of HMS Ocean regularly visit the city.

paragraphs: At Christmas, Sunderland has a German market in the city centre selling German-made wooden goods, and German food. It also hosts a large ice rink in Mowbray Park, which is part of the wider, regional North East Winter Festival.

paragraphs: Traditional attractions for visitors to Sunderland include Penshaw Monument, the Souter Lighthouse (the first electrically powered lighthouse in the world), the 15th century Hylton Castle, the Wildfowl park in Washington, and the beaches of Roker and Seaburn.

paragraphs: The National Glass Centre opened in 1998, reflecting Sunderland's distinguished history of glass-making. The centre has never been as successful as hoped.

paragraphs: Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, on Borough Road, was the first publically funded museum in the country outside London. It was opened by Ulysses S. Grant shortly after he stopped being US President. The museum has a big collection of the locally produced Sunderland Lustreware pottery. The new City Library Arts Centre, on Fawcett Street, also houses the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art.

paragraphs: The City of Sunderland has been commended several times on its commitment to preserving its natural environment. Sunderland has won awards from the Britain in Bloom group in 1993, 1997 and 2000.

paragraphs: Sunderland is one of the most deprived cities in the North of England. 11 of the 25 wards featuring in the list of the 2000 most deprived wards in England. The most deprived areas are Southwick to the north of the river and Thorney Close to the south - both with chronic levels of unemployment, although the city is performing better than the North East as a whole.

paragraphs: Once called the "Greatest Shipbuilding Town in the World", ships were built on the Wear from at least 1346 onwards. The Port of Sunderland was expanded in the 1850s when the Hudsons Dock were built for the River Wear Commissioners. Robert Stephenson helped the engineers.

paragraphs: Competition from overseas caused a downturn in demand for Sunderland built ships toward the end of the twentieth century. The last shipyard in Sunderland closed in 1988.

paragraphs: Sunderland, part of the Durham coalfield, has a coal-mining heritage that dates back centuries. At the peak in 1923, 170,000 miners were employed in County Durham alone, as labourers from all over Britain, including many from Scotland and Ireland, entered the region. As demand for coal fell after World War II, mines began to close across the region, causing mass unemployment. The last coal mine closed in 1994. The site of the last coal mine, Wearmouth Colliery, is now the Stadium of Light, and a miner's Stephenson lamp monument stands outside of the ground to honour the heritage of the site.

paragraphs: Glass has been made in Sunderland for around 1,500 years. But overseas competition has forced the closure of all of Sunderland's glass-making factories. Corning Glass Works was one of the last. It was in Sunderland for 120 years, until 31 March 2007

paragraphs: Vaux Breweries was established in the town centre in the 1880s and for 110 years was a major employer. The brewery was finally closed in July 1999. Vaux in Sunderland and Wards Brewing Company in Sheffield had been part of the Vaux Group, when both breweries closed the group started to concentrate on its hotels which were in The Swallow Group. In the autumn of 2000 even this was taken over by Whitbread PLC.

paragraphs: Sunderland's economy began to get better after the 1980s.

paragraphs: The giant Nissan factory moved in, and new service industries arrived. Doxford International Business Park, in the south west of the city, has attracted a host of national and international companies.

paragraphs: The former shipyard areas along the River Wear have also been transformed. Instead of the old industry new developments have been built, including:

paragraphs: Sunderland Corporation's massive post-war housing estate developments, such as Farringdon, Pennywell, Grindon, Hylton Red House, Hylton Castle, Thorney Close and Town End Farm, together with earlier developments, have all passed into the ownership of Gentoo (once caleed Sunderland Housing Group), a private company and a "Registered Social Landlord". Since the transfer in 2000 there have been a lot of improvements to the quality of social housing in the city.

paragraphs: The central business district of Sunderland has also been redeveloped and improveed. In 2000, The Bridges shopping centre was extended to attract national chain stores. In November 2004, after several years with no cinema, a Cineworld multiplex opened in the new River Quarter, an entertainment complex towards the east of the City Centre. The Cinema was taken over by the Empire Multiplex Cinema Company in mid 2006. The previous ABC Cinema, situated on the corner of Park Lane and Holmeside, had been derelict for a number of years until it reopened late in 2005 as The Point, with three bars and the Union nightclub.

paragraphs: The arrival of Roy Keane as Sunderland AFC's new manager in August 2006 has had a massive impact in Sunderland's once limited tourism industry. Keane has proved a big pull for the city in terms of attracting tourists to Sunderland, with the Tourism Office reporting a dramatic rise in the number of football fans coming to the city "mentioning his name" as early as October 2006, just six weeks after Keane's appointment as manager. Airline Ryanair, moreover, recorded a 10% increase in passenger numbers travelling to Newcastle Airport on Fridays before a Sunderland home game, some 600 more than on other Fridays. The Tourism Office believes Keane's attachment to the city is causing a knock-on effect on local restaurants, bars and attractions in that more tourists are "making a weekend of it" after watching the football.

paragraphs: Sunderland station was rebuilt in November 1965 for football teams and officials from countries who were playing at Roker Park when England hosted the 1966 World Cup. It is served by Northern Rail services between Newcastle and Middlesbrough, and Grand Central services to York and London

paragraphs: In 2002, the Tyne and Wear Metro system was extended to Sunderland. The local Metro ends at South Hylton after calling at Sunderland Rail Station and Park Lane Bus Station. Metro trains are quite frequent and travel between Newcastle International Airport and Newcastle upon Tyne in the north and South Hylton at the southern end of the line. However, the Metro extension has not been viewed as a huge success with frequency of services cut due to a lack of demand.

paragraphs: A multimillion-pound transport interchange at Park Lane was opened on 2 May 1999 by the then "Brookside" actor Michael Starke. With 750,000 passengers per year it is the busiest bus and coach station in Britain after Victoria Station in Central London, and has won several design awards. A new Metro station was built underneath the bus concourse to provide a direct interchange as part of the extension to South Hylton in 2002.

paragraphs: There are a number of cycle routes that run through and around Sunderland. The National Cycle Network National Route 1 runs from Ryhope in the south, through the centre of the city, and then along the coast towards South Shields.

paragraphs: Britain's most popular long distance cycle route - The 'C2C' Sea to Sea Cycle Route - traditionally starts (or ends) when the cyclist dips their wheel in the sea on Roker beach. The 'W2W' 'Wear-to-Walney' route, and the 'Two-Rivers' (Tyne and Wear) route also end in Sunderland.

paragraphs: Developer of the electric lightbulb Joseph Swan, agony aunt Denise Robertson, rockers 'The Futureheads' and Alex Kapranos of 'Franz Ferdinand', Civil liberty campaigner Chris Mullin MP, radio DJ and singer Lauren Laverne, football manager Bob Paisley, actor James Bolam, movie producer David Parfitt, lead singer of 'Olive' Ruth-Ann Boyle, author Lewis Carroll, artist LS Lowry, journalist Kate Adie, and the Venerable Bede are a few of the many famous people born in or associated with Sunderland. For a more detailed list, see List of famous residents of Sunderland.


title: Wilhelm Busch

paragraphs: Wilhelm Busch (April 15, 1832 (Wiedensahl near Hannover) - January 9, 1908 (Mechtshausen)) was a German painter and poet who is known for his satirical picture stories.

paragraphs: After studying first mechanical engineering and then art in Düsseldorf, Antwerp, and Munich he started drawing caricatures.

paragraphs: One of his first picture stories, "emi and jonas" K

paragraphs: Wilhelm Busch also wrote a number of poems in a style similar to his picture stories. Besides that he produced more than 1,000 oil paintings that were not sold until after his death in 1908.


title: Electronic sports

paragraphs: Electronic sports is the term for video games that are played competitively. Popular electronic sports games are Counter-Strike, League of Legends, Warcraft, Starcraft, Dota 2, and Quake. Electronic Sports is played over the Internet or via LAN. There are professional leagues and tournaments like the "Cyberathlete Professional League", "ClanBase", "Electronic Sports League" and the "World Cyber Games" where electronic sports players can earn thousands of US Dollars. One example is Starcraft in Korea where they have many players who are very competitive.

paragraphs: E-sports has been around since the dawn of arcades when players would battle it out for number one.

paragraphs: According to TechCrunch the game maker Epic Games is providing $100 million in prize money in 2019 for participants in esports.


title: Marklohe

paragraphs: Marklohe is a municipality in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is an amt in the district of Nienburg (Weser) in Lower Saxony. Marklohe has about 4000 habitants.


title: Skunk

paragraphs: A skunk is a mammal, usually black with a white stripe on its back and a fluffy tail, but some skunks can be brown or gray. Its most special part is that it can shoot out a bad-smelling spray from under its tail; it does this to scare away things that could hurt it. Some people keep skunks as pets.

paragraphs: It can eat both plants and small animals like earthworms, frogs, snakes, birds and eggs. It usually eats berries, leaves, grasses and nuts. In places where humans live, skunks often steal food from garbage or pet bowls.

paragraphs: The striped skunk is the most well-known kind of skunk. It weighs 2.5 to 14 pounds (1.2–6.3 kg) with a body length (without the tail) of 13 to 18 inches (33–46 cm). The tail is 7 to 10 inches long (18–25 cm), and sometimes has a white tip.

paragraphs: Most types of skunk live in the Americas, but there are also types that live in Indonesia and the Philippines.


title: Cerebellum

paragraphs: In all vertebrates, including human beings, the cerebellum is one of the main divisions of the brain.

paragraphs: The cerebellum works mainly to control balance and coordinate movement. It combines signals from eyes, muscle spindles, and ears with motor commands from the forebrain and helps to coordinate control of the body. More advanced regions of the human cerebellum may be crucial to language and mental dexterity. Bands of axons extend from the cerebellum into the pons.


title: Sustainable development

paragraphs: Sustainable development is a way for people to use resources without the resources running out. It means doing development without damaging or affecting the environment.

paragraphs: The term used by the Brundtland Commission defined it as development with sustainability that "meets the needs of the present and also compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

paragraphs: Everyone wants a better place to live. Some people want better homes and housing, while other people want better schools, more jobs, better shops, or cleaner and safer streets. Others may want all these things. Whatever the problems in any neighbourhood, they can usually be grouped into three issues. People need:

paragraphs: But many people now realise that if we are to tackle one issue, then we'll probably have to tackle the others as well. For instance, new shops are unlikely to open in an area where crime and poverty levels are very high. Similarly crime is unlikely to fall in an area where the housing has been improved unless there are jobs available. People may move into an area where housing and jobs are available, but if the surroundings are run-down and public transport is poor, they may well not want to stay

paragraphs: This is not just a local issue. The same problems are faced at a national level. If the governments of the world are to deal with poverty, they do not just need to provide money and food aid, they need to help local people get educated and get jobs. People also need a safe environment with adequate homes and drinking water. To make these things work, governments also need to make sure that people have an effective voice in deciding what happens where they live.

paragraphs: This approach is called ‘sustainable development’. While this phrase can be confusing, it's now used in many government documents and in funding programmes. Sustainable development has three parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and sociopolitical sustainability.

paragraphs: At the core of this idea is the matter of meeting people's needs – for a home, for a decent job, for education for their children, for good health care, and for a safe and healthy neighbourhood to live in.

paragraphs: Most people in the rich nations have most of these needs, but there are still many people living in poverty and in poor quality homes. Even if these basic needs are met there are still plenty of ways in which their ‘quality of life’ is under threat: from crime, from pollution, or from living in neighbourhoods where no-one in authority seems to care.

paragraphs: Many areas have programmes to promote ‘local sustainability’: many are called ‘Local Agenda 21’ plans, named after the international Agenda 21 action plan for sustainable development agreed at the United Nations Earth Summit held in 1992.


title: Ribose

paragraphs: Ribose is a five-carbon sugar. It is found in RNA (ribonucleic acid).

paragraphs: D-Ribose is taken as a herbal supplement. Victims of fibromyalgia often report reduced pain and increased energy with little or no side effects.


title: Deoxyribose

paragraphs: Deoxyribose is the sugar component of deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, having one less hydroxyl group than ribose, the sugar component of ribonucleic acid or RNA.


title: Henry Royce

paragraphs: Sir Henry Royce was born 27 March 1863 and died 22 April 1933. He made cars, and with Charles Stewart Rolls started the Rolls-Royce company.

paragraphs: He was born in Alwalton, Huntingdonshire which is near Peterborough as the youngest child of five.


title: Seizure

paragraphs: A seizure happens when the nerves in a person's brain act strangely. Nerves send information, partly through electrical signals. Usually, nerves in the brain (called neurons) do not fire at the same time. During a seizure, groups of nerves start firing together, too fast. This causes there to be too much disorganized electrical activity in the brain.

paragraphs: Most people think a person with a seizure will shake and twitch. Some will, but there are also other kinds of seizures.

paragraphs: There are many different types of seizures. They are named by how much of the brain they affect and what happens to the person when they are having that type of seizure.

paragraphs: In partial seizures, only a small part of the brain is involved in the seizure. These seizures can be more specifically called:

paragraphs: In generalized seizures, a larger part of the brain is involved in the seizure. Often, parts of both hemispheres (halves of the brain) are affected. These seizures can be more specifically called:

paragraphs: "Status epilepticus" is a medical emergency. A person is "in status" when:

paragraphs: Status epilepticus is a medical emergency because the brain will not get enough oxygen during a long seizure. This can cause brain damage or death.

paragraphs: Certain types of seizures point to a disorder called epilepsy, where the nerves do not work as they should. They carry the wrong messages to the brain so that the person moves uncontrollably or sees, hears, smells, feels, or tastes things that are not there. Medicine can be taken to prevent this from happening.

paragraphs: Other than epilepsy, many other things can cause seizures.

paragraphs: Diseases that can cause seizures include:

paragraphs: Other things that can cause seizures include:


title: Profession

paragraphs: A profession is a job at which someone works and for which they have had training. It is what they do to get money or a living. People often study for years to do their job. Examples of a profession would be a teacher or a lawyer. These are called "learned professions". Sometimes "profession" only means learned professions, but sometimes the word may also be used for other jobs. Someone who works in a profession is called a professional. Sometimes this is in contrast to amateur which means someone who does similar things but is not paid.


title: International Nuclear Event Scale

paragraphs: The International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) is a system introduced by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It was introduced to allow people to communicate how serious a nuclear accident is. Other people are then able to react faster to take protection measures. For each level, there is a list of criteria (things) that must be there, for the accident to be of that level.

paragraphs: Level 7 is the highest level. Accidents of this type have a large impact (pollution, radiation) outside the site where they occur. The health of many people is put in danger. There are big effects on the environment. Examples: Fukushima nuclear disaster - 2011, Chernobyl disaster (former Soviet Union) - 1986.

paragraphs: Level 6 Accidents of this type have a large impact (pollution, radiation) outside the site where they occur. Several governments may need to take the full set of countermeasures to protect their population. Example: Mayak (former Soviet Union)- 1957.

paragraphs: Level 5 Accidents of this type do release some radiation. Some groups of people which are at risk may need special countermeasures. Examples: Windscale fire (United Kingdom) - 1957, Three Mile Island accident (United States) - 1979.

paragraphs: "The Levels 5-7 are related to severe damage of the reactor core and the radiological barriers."

paragraphs: Level 4 is related to significant damage of the reactor core / radiological barriers and/or a fatal exposure of a worker (or more), but the off-site impact is minor, resulting in public exposure of the order of the prescribed limits. Examples: Windscale (United Kingdom) - 1973, Saint-Laurent (France) - 1980, Buenos Aires (Argentina) - 1983.

paragraphs: Level 3 is characterized by very small off-site impact, although related to severe spread of contamination on-site / acute health effects to a worker (or more). It is a "near accident" event, when no safety layers are remaining. Example: Vandellos (Spain) - 1989, THORP plant Sellafield (United Kingdom) - 2005.

paragraphs: Level 2 is an incident with no off-site impact, related to significant spread of contamination on-site / overexposure of a worker.

paragraphs: Level 1 is an anomaly beyond the authorized operating regime.

paragraphs: Level 0 is a "below-scale event" of no safety significance.

paragraphs: There are also events of no safety relevance, characterized as "out of scale".


title: Hafnarfjörður

paragraphs: Hafnarfjörður is a city found on the western coast of Iceland. It is about 10 kilometres south of Reykjavík. It is the third biggest city in Iceland.. Around 25,400 people were living in Hafnarfjörður as of 2008.


Level


title: Bloomington, Illinois

paragraphs: Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is considered a "Twin City" of Normal, Illinois. It is probably best known as the headquarters of State Farm Insurance.


title: Giverny

paragraphs: Giverny is a village in Normandy, France. It was the temporary home of Claude Monet. At Giverny Monet paintings became much more popular. Here he painted the famous "Poppy Field Near Giverny","Grainstacks" and "The Japanese Bridge":


title: Fort Collins, Colorado

paragraphs: Fort Collins is a city in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is near the Cache la Poudre River and home of Colorado State University.


title: Silver Spring, Maryland

paragraphs: Silver Spring is a community in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a suburb of Washington, DC. It is the fourth biggest place in Maryland by population. Its estimated population in 2013 was 76,716. Francis Preston Blair founded Silver Spring in 1840.


title: Iraq

paragraphs: Iraq is a country in southwestern Asia. Iraq borders with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the south, Turkey to the north, Syria to the north-west, Jordan to the west, and Iran to the east. The capital of Iraq is Baghdad.

paragraphs: Iraq has been known by the Greek name Mesopotamia which means "(Land between the rivers)" and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing. Iraq was part of several empires, some were Safavid, and Afsharid. During the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I, British Empire troops conquered the Ottoman Empire provinces of Basra and Baghdad and later added the province of Mosul to make Iraq.

paragraphs: From 1968 to 2003, Iraq was run by the Ba'ath Party. Saddam Hussein was the President from 1979 until the disbandment of the Ba'ath Party.

paragraphs: After the 1990 invasion of Kuwait many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy, Pakistan, and others fought to free Kuwait. Later, some agents believed to be sent by Saddam Hussein tried to kill former President George H. W. Bush with a truck bomb in Kuwait.

paragraphs: The March 2003 invasion of Iraq was led by American, British, Australian, Danish and Polish forces. They forced the Ba'ath Party to surrender. The publicly stated reason for the invasion was that Saddam Hussein refused to let United Nations inspectors look for suspected nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In the past, Iraq used chemical weapons to kill people. Iraq had done research in making biological and nuclear weapons.

paragraphs: The country was initially split into 3 zones, the American zone, the British zone, and the Polish zone similar to the way Germany was divided in 1945. Forces from Denmark controlled areas in the British zone. A new temporary government was formed on June 28, 2004. The coalition forces were in the country.

paragraphs: There were many U.S., British and multi-national troops in the country until December 15, 2011 when the Iraq War had ended. Tensions between religious groups (Shia and Sunni Muslims, as well as Christians) lead to a great deal of instability in the country.

paragraphs: The country area lies between two rivers; for this reason the area was called Mesopotamia in ancient ages. The rivers Euphrates and Tigris bound what is called the Fertile Crescent. Iraq also has a small coastline along the Persian Gulf, and this coastline was considered the heart of the petroleum trade in Iraq before the First Gulf War. The weather is extremely hot and dry because Iraq is far from seas and oceans and even the close ones are blocked by mountains so that the rainy wind can not reach the inlands. This region has fertile land because of the two rivers.

paragraphs: Iraq is divided into 18 provinces ("muhafazah").

paragraphs: Iraq has a large amount of oil. Iraq is the world's number four in petroleum production and the world's number two in petroleum reserves. In the past, Iraq sold much of this oil to other countries. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, the United Nations stopped Iraq from selling the oil. The United Nations later allowed Iraq to sell some oil to buy food, clothes, and medicine so the people would not suffer as much. This was called the "Oil-for-Food" program.


title: Neutron star

paragraphs: A neutron star is a very small and dense star made almost completely of neutrons. They are small stars with a radius of about 1111.5 kilometres. They have a mass of about twice that of the Sun. They are the smallest and densest stars known to exist in the Universe. They are what is left of a huge star which exploded as a supernova.

paragraphs: The density of the star is like that of the nucleus of an atom. They have strong magnetic fields, between 10 and 10 times as strong as that of Earth. The gravitational field at the neutron star's surface is about 2×10 times stronger than on Earth.

paragraphs: To imagine how dense a neutron star is, take all of the mass of our sun (which has a diameter of ) and push it down into a size that would fit into a ball with a diameter. Another way to understand the density is this: one teaspoon of matter from the neutron star would weigh 6 billion tons.

paragraphs: Neutron stars spin very fast, from 0.001 second up to 30 seconds to turn. They come in different types. They may emit beams of electromagnetic radiation as pulsars. Other types are magnetars and binary pulsars.

paragraphs: They are more than 600,000 degrees Kelvin in temperature. Neutron stars that can be observed are very hot and typically have a surface temperature of around .

paragraphs: In 1934, Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky proposed the existence of neutron stars, only a year after the discovery of the neutron by James Chadwick.

paragraphs: Looking for the origin of a supernova, they suggested that in supernova explosions ordinary stars are turned into stars that consist of extremely closely packed neutrons, which they called neutron stars. Baade and Zwicky suggested that the release of the gravitational binding energy of the neutron stars powers the supernova: "In the supernova process, mass in bulk is annihilated".

paragraphs: Neutron stars were thought to be too faint to be detectable. Little work was done on them until November 1967, when Franco Pacini (1939–2012) pointed out that if the neutron stars were spinning and had large magnetic fields, then electromagnetic waves would be emitted. Radio astronomer Antony Hewish and his research assistant Jocelyn Bell at Cambridge soon detected radio pulses from stars that are now known as pulsars.


title: Parent

paragraphs: Parents are the mother and father or caretaker of their offspring.

paragraphs: In humans, a parent is the mother or the father figure of a child. They are either biologically or legally related to the person. When parents separate and choose who takes care of a child it is called "custody". Parents who fail in their duty may be guilty of child abuse.


title: Lee Hsien Loong

paragraphs: Lee Hsien Loong (b. 10 February 1952) is the current Prime Minister of Singapore. His father is Lee Kuan Yew, first Prime Minister of Singapore.

paragraphs: Lee Hsien Loong was born in Kandang Kerbau Hospital (presently known as KK Women's and Children's Hospital). He is the first child of Lee Kuan Yew and Kwa Geok Choo.

paragraphs: In August 2004, Goh Chok Tong stepped down as Prime Minister, while Lee Hsien Loong took over the position. He then became the General Secretary of People's Action Party (PAP).

paragraphs: In 1971, Lee joined the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Lee was promoted to very high rank quickly in the Singapore Army. In July 1983, he became the youngest Brigadier General in Singapore. He left SAF in 1984.

paragraphs: In the 1980s, Lee Kuan Yew said he will step down as Prime Minister in 1984. Lee Hsien Loong was considered in the list of new leaders in PAP.

paragraphs: In 1984, at 32, He was elected an MP. His father immediately assigned him as a Minister of State for some ministries.

paragraphs: In 1987, he joined in the Cabinet as the Minister for Trade and Industry and Second Minister for Defence.

paragraphs: From 2008 to 2012, Lee's salary is S$3.87 million every year. He had a salary increase of 25%, it was originally S$3,091,200.

paragraphs: In January 2012, his salary was reduced to S$2.2 million due to the public then complaining about his unfair salary. But, he is still the prime minister with the highest salary in the world.


title: Adam and Eve

paragraphs: Adam and Eve are the parents of all humans in the Abrahamic religions. In the Book of Genesis in the Bible, as well as the Qu'ran and the Aqdas, they are the first two people made by God. The Bible says that the Devil entered into the Garden of Eden as a serpent and tempted Eve. The Tempter convinced Eve to go against God's command. Satan told her that God knew that Eve would become self-aware and have the same knowledge as God had if she ate from the fruit of the tree. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and cursed with pain, death, and sickness. When Adam and Eve were cast out, so was the one who tempted them, Satan. He was cast to the ground and sentenced to always having to wriggle on the ground like a snake.

paragraphs: The second chapter of Genesis says that God made Adam from the dust of the ground. Then, God breathed life into him. God made a garden, called the Garden of Eden, for him to live in and take care of. Adam named the animals that God made. God did not provide clothing for Adam or Eve until they disobeyed him. He gave them tunics made out of animal fur when he banished them from Eden. Adam is "The Chosen One".

paragraphs: God knew that the animals were not good enough friends for Adam, who needed a partner like him. So God took a rib from Adam and used it to make Eve (meaning "mother of all living"). Adam did not give her this name until God banished from Eden when he provided clothing for them out of animal fur after they disobeyed him.

paragraphs: Chapter three of Genesis says that Adam and Eve had everything they needed in the garden. There was only one thing that God told them that they should "not" do: eat from the Tree of Knowledge; only from the Tree of Life. A serpent said them that God does not want you both to be as intelligent as he is so this forced Eve to disobey God's orders . And they ate the Forbidden fruit. So they were forced to leave Eden. Not only that but God said that women will have pain in childbirth, and that men need to work hard to grow food, and would return at death to the soil from where he once came.


title: Ramadan

paragraphs: Ramadan (sometimes spelled Ramadhan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims fast or do not eat or drink during the daytime.

paragraphs: The date for the start of Ramadan is slightly different each year, depending on the position of the moon. Once Ramadan starts, Muslims should not eat or drink between dawn and sunset. This usually continues for thirty days, but sometimes twenty-nine days.

paragraphs: Fasting is supposed to teach Muslims about patience and ibadah (faith). It is a time for Muslims to think about how the poor and homeless suffer without lots of food, it helps Muslims to be more obedient, and less greedy. During Ramadan, Muslims ask to be forgiven for their sins, and they pray for help in stopping them from doing bad things.

paragraphs: Muslims believe Ramadan is the month in which the first verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad.

paragraphs: Not everyone has to fast in Ramadan. Children do not have to fast. They should start when they reach the age of puberty, so long as they are healthy. People who are travelling long distances do not have to fast. Pregnant women do not have to if they think it might harm their unborn baby. Sometimes sportsmen do not observe the fast, although there are disagreements about this. For example, the Olympic Games in 2012 fell in the middle of the holy month. This made it very difficult for the sportsmen who could not eat or drink during daytime.

paragraphs: When the sun goes down and it gets dark the Muslim people will start eating again (this is called "breaking the fast"). This meal is known as Iftar. There are often big meals enjoyed together by lots of Muslims.

paragraphs: . Sometimes markets open after Iftar and stay open during the night. Ramadan is also the month when the "Quran" was sent down into Earth by an Angel called "Jibrill" ("Gabriel").


title: Caykur Rizespor

paragraphs: Caykur Rizespor is a sports club in Rize, Turkey. It was started in 1968. Caykur Rizespor 's home stadium is the Caykur Didi Stadyumu in Rize. Caykur Rizespor is in Turkish Super League.


title: Tenzing Norgay

paragraphs: Tenzing Norgay (May 29, 1914 – May 9, 1986) was a Sherpa climber. During his life he had several wives, as it is part of Sherpa lifestyle. Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary were the first people to reach the top of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. Norgay was born in Kharta Valley, Nepal. He died aged 71 in Darjeeling, India.

paragraphs: There are different views about his early life. The account that he gave in his first autobiography, accepted for several years, is that he was a Sherpa born and brought up in Khumbu in Nepal. However more recent research has led to the claim that he was born a Tibetan in Kharta valley, Tibet, but his family were left destitute when their yaks were killed by disease, and he was sold as a bonded servant to a Sherpa family in Thamey in Nepal. Khumbu lies near Mount Everest, which the Tibetans and Sherpas call Chomolungma which in Tibetan means Mother Goddess of the Earth.

paragraphs: His exact date of birth is not known, but he knew it was in late May by the weather and the crops. After his ascent of Everest on 29 May, he decided to celebrate his birthday on that day thereafter.

paragraphs: He was originally called "Namgyal Wangdi", but as a child his name was changed on the advice of the head lama and founder of the famous Rongbuk Monastery, Ngawang Tenzin Norbu. Tenzing Norgay translates as "wealthy-fortunate-follower-of-religion." His father, a yak herder, was Ghang La Mingma (d. 1949) and his mother was Dokmo Kinzom (who lived to see him climb Everest); he was the 11th of 13 children, most of whom died young.

paragraphs: He ran away from home twice in his teens, first to Kathmandu and later Darjeeling, and, at age 19, eventually settled in the Sherpa community in Too Song Bhusti in Darjeeling, West Bengal, India.

paragraphs: One of his autobiographies is "Tiger of the snows: The Autobiography of Tenzing of Everest", written in 1955.

paragraphs: Tenzing Norgay has been on several attempts to reach the top of Mount Everest. Two of the attempts were stopped by bad weather which caused them to turn around. One of failed attempts was in 1935 with Eric Shipton. Eventually, after 6 failure attempts, Norgay finally reached the top of Mount Everest in 1953 along with Sir Edmund Hillary. They came back down from the top of the mountain on May 29, 1953 .

paragraphs: Tenzing later became director of field training for the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling. In 1978 he started Tenzing Norgay Adventures, a company providing trekking adventures in the Himalaya.

paragraphs: As of 2003 the company was run by his son Jamling Tenzing Norgay, who himself reached the summit of Everest in 1996.

paragraphs: He was honored with the prestigious Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, in 1959.

paragraphs: The Government of India instituted the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards in his honour, awarded annually.

paragraphs: Tenzing Norgay died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 9 May 1986.


title: Sherpa

paragraphs: The Sherpa are an ethnic group in Nepal, who live in the higher parts of the Himalayas. They often help guide people through the mountains. They also sometimes live on the trail of Mt. Everest. A well known Sherpa is Tenzing Norgay, who helped Edmund Hillary climb to the top of Mt. Everest.


title: Charlotte Eagles

paragraphs: The Charlotte Eagles are a soccer club that plays in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team's first season was 1993. They play in the 2nd Division of the United Soccer Leagues.


title: Charlotte, North Carolina

paragraphs: Charlotte is the biggest city in the state of North Carolina and it is the 16th largest city in the United States. In 2014, the estimated population of Charlotte according to the U.S. Census Bureau was 809,958. In addition, the population of Charlotte's metro area is listed as 2,380,314.

paragraphs: The first people settled at the place where Charlotte is in 1755 when a man named Thomas Polk built a house near two Native American trading paths. More people started living in the area and in 1768 it became a town named Charlotte Town. It was named after the wife of King George III because the people wanted him to like them. But he did not, and soon he started passing laws that the people in Charlotte did not like. So, on May 20, 1775, the people in Charlotte signed a proclamation that later was called the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. They did not want to be ruled by the king anymore so eleven days later they had a meeting and made new laws for their town.

paragraphs: In the early 1800s, many churches started to form in Charlotte. That is why Charlotte is sometimes called “The City of Churches.”

paragraphs: In 1799, a boy found a big rock. When a jeweler told his family that it was gold, the first gold rush in the United States started. A lot of gold was found. More gold was found in North Carolina then any other state until the California Gold Rush of 1848. Some people in Charlotte still enjoy looking for gold.

paragraphs: After the Civil War Charlotte became a busy town. Cotton farmers brought their cotton to Charlotte to ship it on trains. Even more people started living in Charlotte during World War I. When the war ended a lot of people stayed in the city.

paragraphs: Today the city is known for its many banks. Charlotte is the second biggest banking city in the United States. Only New York City has more banks.

paragraphs: Charlotte has many different kinds of weather throughout the year. In the winter the temperature sometimes goes below 32 °F (0 °C) and in the summer it has gone up to 104 °F (40 °C). The city usually gets about 43.52 inches (1105.3 mm) of precipitation a year. Most of it is rain. It does not snow much in Charlotte.

paragraphs: This table shows the average temperature and rainfall each month:

paragraphs: Banking is very important in Charlotte. Many banks, such as Bank of America and Wachovia have headquarters in the city. There are also many other big companies in Charlotte. There are many skyscrapers (tall buildings) in Charlotte.

paragraphs: NASCAR also has many offices in Charlotte and in the towns around Charlotte.

paragraphs: Charlotte has a council-manager kind of government. This means that there two main leaders in Charlotte: the city council who makes the laws, and the city manager who makes sure everybody follows the laws.

paragraphs: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is in charge of keeping everyone in the city safe. The are about 1600 police officers in the Police Department.

paragraphs: The city’s public school system, called Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, is the second biggest school system in North Carolina. The school system has about 132,000 students.

paragraphs: There is a university, called the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, in Charlotte. Right now there are about 22,000 students who go to this university. There is also a community college, called Central Piedmont Community College, in the city. It is the biggest community college in both North or South Carolina. Charlotte has many private universities as well.

paragraphs: There are many professional sports teams in Charlotte. Some of them are:

paragraphs: Charlotte also has several parks and other public places for people to enjoy.

paragraphs: There are many public busses to help people get around the city. In 2007 Charlotte began a mass transit light rail system. Charlotte also has a system of small trains called LYNX.

paragraphs: Charlotte's International Airport name Charlotte/Douglas, which is the 11th busiest airport in the world.

paragraphs: Because Charlotte is in the middle of the east coast of the U.S., a lot of people drive through the city every day. Charlotte has many big interstates to handle all the traffic. But many people think Charlotte does not have good roads. They are big, but they were not planned well.

paragraphs: Amtrak runs three different trains every day in Charlotte. People can ride these trains to the following cities:


title: Carolina Panthers

paragraphs: The Carolina Panthers are an American Football team in the National Football League or the NFL. The Panthers play at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. They played their first game in 1995. Their current quarterback is Teddy Bridgewater. The team has gone to the playoffs 7 times and to the Super Bowl twice. The most recent appearance was in the .


title: Selgovae

paragraphs: The Selgovae were a Brythonic tribe in Scotland, who lived in what is now the Borders. Their capital was on the North Eildon hill, near the current town of Melrose. This was a large hillfort covering an area of about 40 acres. It is believed that there were about 2500 people living in the fort. The Selgovae left the fort in 79 AD when the Roman army invaded the area. There are other Selgovae hillforts at Caidemuir Hill (near Peebles), Dreva Craig (near Broughton), Rubers Law (near Hawick), Whiteside Hill (near Romannobridge), Abory Hill (near Abington), Cow Castle (near Coulter), Quothquan Law (near Thankerton), Bodsberry Hill (near Crawford) and at Crawford. At Tamshiell Rigg there is evidence of a walled settlement. The Roman forts at Birrens, Netherby and Bewcastle were all built in Selgovae lands, north of Hadrian's Wall.

paragraphs: In the second century, the Selgovae are said to be one of the four kingdoms of ancient Scotland. By the end of the fourth century, the area had been taken over by Coel Hen and his kingdom of North Britain.


title: Harrison Ford

paragraphs: Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American movie actor and producer. He is famous for his roles as Han Solo in the original "Star Wars" trilogy and the title character of the "Indiana Jones movie series". He won an Saturn Award in 1981 and an Bambie Award in 1997. He has recently stared in "Cowboys and Aliens" and in "42".

paragraphs: Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.. His family has Irish, German, Russian and Jewish ancestry. He studied at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois and at Ripon College in Wisconsin.

paragraphs: Before he became successful as an actor, he worked as a carpenter during the 1970s. He is one of the most successful actors in the world. During his early years, he used the name '"Harrison J. Ford"' to stop the confusion between him and silent movie actor Harrison Ford. His movies have made a worldwide profit of US$5.65 billion. He is most known for his roles as Han Solo from "Star Wars" and as Indiana Jones in all four "Indiana Jones movies". Since then he formed a career relationship with both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

paragraphs: Ford was married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until they divorced in 1979. Then he was married to Melissa Mathison from 1983 until they divorced in 2004. Then he was married to Calista Flockhart since 2010. He has two sons, Benjamin and Willard with Marquardt and a son, Malcolm and a daughter, Georgia with Mathison. Ford now lives in Los Angeles, California.


title: Prehistory

paragraphs: Prehistory (or pre-history) is the time before people began to write. The word comes from the Ancient Greek words προ ("pre" = "before") and ιστορία ("historia" = "history"). Paul Tournal first used the French word "Préhistorique". He found things made by humans more than ten thousand years ago in some caves in France. The word was first used in France around 1830 to talk about the time before writing. Daniel Wilson used it in English in 1851.

paragraphs: The term is mostly used for the period from 12,000 BC 3000 BC, roughly speaking, the Neolithic. Sometimes the term "prehistoric" is used for much older periods, but scientists have more accurate terms for those more ancient times.

paragraphs: Less is known about prehistoric people because there are no written records (history) for us to study. Finding out about pre-history is done by archaeology. This means studying things like tools, bones, buildings and cave drawings. Pre-history ends at different times in different places when people began to write.

paragraphs: In the more ancient stone age pre-history, people lived in "tribes" and lived in caves or tents made from animal skin. They had simple tools made from wood and bones, and cutting tools from stone such as flint, which they used to hunt and to make simple things. They made fire and used it for cooking and to stay warm. They made clothing out of animal skins, and later by weaving. Society started when people began doing specialized jobs. This is called the division of labour. The division of labor made people depend on one another and led to more complex civilizations.

paragraphs: Some important sciences that are used to find out more about pre-history are palaeontology, astronomy, biology, geology, anthropology, and archaeology. Archaeologists study things left over from prehistory to try to understand what was happening. Anthropologists study the traces of human behavior to learn what people were doing and why.

paragraphs: After people started to record events, first by drawing symbols (called "pictographs") and then by writing, it became much easier to tell what happened, and history started. These records can tell us the names of leaders (such as Kings and Queens), important events like floods and wars, and the things people did in their daily lives. The time when "prehistory" ended and "history" started is different in different places, depending on when people began to write and if their records were kept safe or lost so they could be found later on. In places like Mesopotamia, China, and Ancient Egypt, things were recorded from very early times (around 3200 BC in Ancient Egypt) and these records can be looked at and studied. In New Guinea, the end of prehistory came much later, around 1900.


title: Early Middle Ages

paragraphs: The Roman Empire ruled much of Europe in ancient history. It became weaker and finally collapsed in 476. When it collapsed, its army stopped working and its communication systems (ways of people in different places talking to each other) also stopped working. This made the people in Europe unable to talk to each other and share news and facts. Because the Roman army had kept peace between different parts of Europe and defended it from other people, and the Roman army had now collapsed, there was much fighting. This time was known as the Dark Ages.

paragraphs: After the Dark Ages, there was the Middle Ages. It is called the "middle" ages because it was between ancient history and modern history. It can also be called medieval times. It was a time when Europe was Christian, and the Catholic Church was very powerful. The Middle Ages ended when the Renaissance started. During the Renaissance people began going to school and university more and learning more things. There was less fighting. The printing press was also made. This was a machine that made books easily and quickly. It made it easier for people to read and learn things.

paragraphs: Rome was sacked by Alaric, the leader of the Germanic tribe known as the Visigoths, in 410. This event weakened Rome and when in 476 Rome was invaded sacked again by Odoacer, he was able to take the city for himself and made himself the king of Italy. This event ended the Western Roman Empire.


title: KGB

paragraphs: KGB is the Russian-language abbreviation for State Security Committee. It was the main internal security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 until its break-up in 1991. It was formed in 1954 as a successor of earlier agencies, the Cheka, NKGB, and MGB.

paragraphs: During the Cold War, the KGB suppressed "ideological subversion". This meant suppressing unorthodox political and religious ideas, and the people who held those ideas. It was Soviet policy for the KGB (and the secret services of the satellite states) to monitor public and private opinion, internal subversion and possible counter-revolutionary plots in the Soviet Bloc.

paragraphs: The KGB was instrumental in crushing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and the Prague Spring of "Socialism with a Human Face", in 1968 Czechoslovakia. A record of some of its doings is contained in the Mitrokin Archive.

paragraphs: From 13 March 1954 to 6 November 1991, KGB was the main name for the main Soviet security agency, intelligence agency or spy agency, and the secret police agency.

paragraphs: In March 1953, Lavrenty Beria merged the MVD and the MGB into one agencythe MVD. In December of that year, Beria and six associates were executed and the MVD split. The re-formed MVD retained its police and law enforcement powers, while the second, new agency, the KGB, did the internal and external security functions, and reported to the Council of Ministers.

paragraphs: On 5 July 1978 the KGB was renamed as the "KGB of the Soviet Union", with its chairman holding a ministerial council seat. The KGB ended when its chief, Colonel-General Vladimir Kryuchkov, used the KGB's resources to help the August 1991 coup attempt to overthrow Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. On 23 August 1991 Colonel-General Kryuchkov was arrested, and General Vadim Bakatin was appointed KGB Chairmanand mandated to dissolve the KGB of the Soviet Union. On 6 November 1991, the KGB officially ceased to exist, although Russia's new national security organisation, the Russian "Federalnaya sluzhba bezopasnosti" (FSB), works in the same things that the Soviet KGB did.

paragraphs: Belarus is the only post-Soviet Union era country where the national security organization is still called "KGB". Belarus is where Felix Dzerzhinsky started a group called the Cheka, which was an organization in the Soviet Union before the MVD or the KGB was started.


title: Federal Security Service

paragraphs: The FSB (ФСБ) is an organisation in Russia that takes care of security of the country. It is the organisation that came after the KGB, relating to internal affairs inside the country. It is usually simply called the FSB in English-language sources.

paragraphs: Its main responsibilities are within the country. It does counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance. It also investigates some other types of serious crimes. Its headquarters are in Lubyanka Square, Moscow's centre, in the main building of the former KGB. The Director of the FSB since 2008 is army general Aleksandr Bortnikov.


title: Nicolaus Copernicus

paragraphs: Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Polish astronomer. People know Copernicus for his ideas about the sun and the earth. His main idea was that our world is "heliocentric" ("helios" = sun). His theory was that the sun is in the middle of the solar system, and the planets go around it. This was published in his book, "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) in the year that he died.

paragraphs: Copernicus was born in 1473 in the city of Thorn (Toruń) in Royal Prussia, a mainly German-speaking state that was ruled by the Polish king since 1466. He was the son of the merchant Niklas Koppernigk and his wife Barbara Koppernigk (born Barbara Watzenrode). His native language was German. He was taught first in Cracow and then in Italy, where he graduated as a lawyer of the church. He also studied medicine to serve his fellow clerics. Copernicus spent most of his life working and researching in Frauenburg (Frombork), Warmia, where he died in 1543.

paragraphs: Copernicus was one of the great polymaths of his age. He was a priest, mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, jurist, physician, classical scholar, governor, administrator, diplomat, economist, and soldier. During all these jobs, he treated astronomy as a hobby. However, his doctrine of heliocentrism that the sun, rather than the earth, is at the center of the solar system, is one of the most important scientific hypotheses in history. It was the beginning of modern astronomy.


title: Projection (mathematics)

paragraphs: A projection in geometry is something like a shadow, that an object casts onto another object. When a three-dimensional sphere is projected onto a plane, its projection will either be a circle or an ellipse.

paragraphs: In higher mathematics, projections are changes of one thing into something else. They may also be applications of functions.


title: Drizzle

paragraphs: Drizzle is the name given to light rain. The drop size of drizzle is smaller than that of rain, about 0.5 mm (millimeters) in diameter.


title: Lightning

paragraphs: Lightning is a powerful electrical discharge made during a thunderstorm. The electric current makes the air very hot. The suddenly heated air expands very quickly, which causes thunder. Sometimes lightning happens between clouds. Sometimes (in the rain) lighting goes from cloud to ground. If it goes from cloud to ground, it can strike a person. Around 2000 people are struck by lightning each year. About 50 to 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth every second. Lightning has hit the Empire State Building as many as 500 times a year.

paragraphs: When lightning strikes, the surface rubs electrons from the lightning, and a spark of electricity shoots from the lightning to the surface. In a thunderstorm, the lower cloud has as many as 100 million volts of electricity. This electricity is given out either within the cloud, to the ground, to another cloud, or into the air. Lightning has been known to travel from the ground upwards to the cloud. In 1993, scientists discovered lightning bolts that shot upward from the top of a cumulonimbus cloud.

paragraphs: People can make and study lightning with a Tesla coil or a Van de Graaff Generator.

paragraphs: Benjamin Franklin experimented with electricity and was interested in lightning. He discovered many things about lightning. In 1772, he was the first to show that a thunderstorm lets out electricity. In his book he suggested an experiment to test it. Joseph Priestley said that Franklin flew a kite to prove the presence of electricity in the storm, using a dry silk string to protect himself from the electricity in the wet hemp kitestring.


title: Roseau

paragraphs: Roseau is the capital city of the Caribbean island of Dominica. It is home to more than fourteen thousand people.

paragraphs: Roseau (Dominican Creole: Wozo) is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011.[1] It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George parish and surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, the Roseau River and Morne Bruce. Built on the site of the ancient Island Carib village of Sairi, it is the oldest and most important urban settlement on the island of Dominica.

paragraphs: It is on the west (leeward) coast of Dominica and has a combination of modern and colonial French architecture.

paragraphs: Roseau is Dominica's most important port for foreign trade. Some exports include bananas, bay oil, vegetables, grapefruit, oranges, and cocoa. The service sector is also a large part of the local economy. There are several private institutions registered in Dominica, like Ross University, Ballsbridge University, international university for graduate studies, All Saints University, New World University, Western Orthodox University.

paragraphs: There is a prominent diocese called Roman Catholic Diocese of Roseau.


title: Event

paragraphs: An event is something which happens or takes place. An event is brief, possibly extremely brief. Contrast with a process, which takes time.


title: Paint

paragraphs: Paint is the general term for liquid that is used to add colour to the surface of an object by covering it with a pigmented (coloured) coating. As a verb, painting means "applying paint" (putting paint onto something). Someone who paints is called a painter.

paragraphs: Paint is made from a coloured pigment which is usually a powder. The powder is made from different chemicals. Some of the pigments come straight from natural things like clay. The pigment must be made wet by mixing it with something that will make it stick onto the surface and not come off easily. The wet stuff is called the "medium" or "vehicle". Some paints are just mixed with water. Other paints are mixed with oils or chemicals of different sorts. Most painters buy paint that is already mixed. House-painters use paint already mixed in large cans. Artists buy paint in tubes. Some artists buy dry pigment and mix it for themselves.

paragraphs: The paint is usually put onto the surface with a paint brush. Paint brushes are used by painters of all sorts. House painters also use rollers and spray-guns to put on paint. A modern invention is paint in a pressurized can which can be sprayed on. Some modern artists also use spray paint. In factories there are machines which spray paint onto objects. Cars are usually painted in this way.

paragraphs: Paint must be allowed to dry. Some paints such as watercolour, dries in a few minutes. Other paints, such as artist's oil paint, can take days or even weeks to dry. Most other types of paints fit between these two. Many types of paint are best if they are put on in several layers. The painter must first prepare the surface so it is smooth, clean and dry. The first layer of paint is often an "undercoat" or "ground" which is smooth and sticks very well. The coloured paints are put on over the top. A house-painter who is using oil paint on a wooden window frame might used three layers of paint to give very good protection from the weather. Other types of modern house paint only need one layer, particularly on the inside. Artists using oil paint and tempera often use many layers to get just the right effect.

paragraphs: Paint is used to protect all sorts of buildings and structures from the effects of water and sun. Wooden buildings such as houses are usually painted because a coat of paint prevents water seeping into the wood and making it rot. The paint also helps to prevent the wood from drying out in the hot sun.

paragraphs: Metal structures and objects of all sorts are painted to stop them from rusting. A very large steel structure such as a bridge must have a team of painters who keep the paint in good condition all the time.

paragraphs: Paint is used to decorate all sorts of objects. Since pre-historic times, people have painted the inside walls of their houses to make them look attractive. Painting and decorating the exterior (outside) and interior (inside) of houses is an important industry in many countries. There are many types and colours of paint to chose from.

paragraphs: All sorts of other objects are painted to make them attractive. This includes furniture, toys, tools and utensils, and street fittings. Sometimes things made of wood such as furniture are painted in decorative patterns. In some countries, many people enjoy decorating furniture and other small things like trays and boxes. This is one form of what is often called Folk Art. In other countries such as Japan, painting furniture is a very skilled profession and an antique piece of decorated furniture is very valuable.

paragraphs: Other people enjoy the hobby of painting small objects such as model planes or soldiers.

paragraphs: Paintings are pictures that are done in paint. Many different types of paint are used for paintings. They include tempera, oil paint, gouache, watercolours and acrylic paints. The paintings are usually done on board, canvas or paper. Many other famous paintings are done on the walls and ceilings of buildings, such as the Sistine Chapel ceiling which was painted by Michelangelo.

paragraphs: Many artists are famous for their painted pictures. Old, beautiful and famous paintings are very valuable and are sometimes sold for millions of dollars. Famous painters include Giotto, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and Rembrandt.

paragraphs: Paint is a very good way to give important information to people, using painted signs. Painted signs include lane markings on the road, street signs of all sorts, advertising signs and warning signs.


title: Mark Antony

paragraphs: Mark Antony (Latin: Marcus Antonius, 14 January "circa" 82 BC – 1 August 30 BC), was a Roman patrician from an upper-class family. He became a general and politician. He was an important supporter of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator.

paragraphs: After Caesar's assassination, Antony, left as sole Consul, surrounded himself with a bodyguard of Caesar's veterans. He forced the senate to transfer to him the province of Cisalpine Gaul, at the time administered by Brutus, one of the conspirators. Brutus refused to surrender the province and Antony set out to attack him in the beginning of 43 BC, besieging him at Mutina.

paragraphs: Encouraged by Cicero, the Senate denounced Antony. In January 43 they granted Octavian "imperium" (commanding power), and sent him to relieve the siege. In April 43, Antony's forces were defeated at the battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina, forcing Antony to retreat to Transalpine Gaul.

paragraphs: News came that Brutus and Cassius were assembling an army in order to march on Rome. Antony, Octavian and Lepidus joined as allies, in November 43 BC, to stop Caesar's assassins. The trio were the Second Triumvirate. Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Antony and Octavian at the Battle of Philippi in October 42 BC. After the battle, a new arrangement was made: while Octavian returned to Rome, Antony went on to govern the east of the Republic. Lepidus went to govern Hispania (Spain) and the province of Africa. The triumvirate's enemies were subjected to proscription, including Mark Antony's archenemy Cicero, who was killed on 7 December 43 BC.

paragraphs: Antony followed in Caesar's footsteps by going to Egypt and becoming Cleopatra's lover. They had three children together. His absence from Rome allowed the intelligent Octavian to build up support.

paragraphs: The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC, and disagreement turned to civil war in 31 BC. Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium and then at Alexandria. He committed suicide, as did his lover, Cleopatra VII of Egypt, in 30 BC.

paragraphs: William Shakespeare wrote a play ""Antony and Cleopatra"" based on this historical event.


title: Digg

paragraphs: Digg.com is a social news, sharing, discovering, bookmarking and rating information website. Digg started out as a popular technology news sharing destination.

paragraphs: Digg allows users to submit 3 types of topic:

paragraphs: The Digg website works by allowing users to vote topic up (Digging);then displays popular stories on the front page of Digg.


title: Crossword

paragraphs: A crossword, or crossword puzzle, is a popular type of puzzle that uses words. They are usually found in newspapers, magazines, and in books which contain a collection of them. They can also be played over the Internet and using mobile apps.

paragraphs: The first crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool. It first appeared in the December 21, 1913 issue of the New York World. Today, there are many newspapers and magazines that are known for their crossword puzzles, such as the New York Times. A different crossword is typically printed every day or in every issue, and the answer (or solution) is either found somewhere else or often is not seen until the next day or issue.

paragraphs: A traditional crossword is made up of black and white squares, called a grid. All the white squares appear in horizontal rows or vertical columns, but are not always separated with black squares. Another way to say this is that every white square must have at least one other white square touching it on any side. The kind of crossword that appears in newspapers and magazines, such as the one in the image, often has lots of white squares beside each other.

paragraphs: The goal of solving the puzzle is to write different words, letter-by-letter, in the white squares. Next to the grid is a list of clues. The answer to each clue is a word or sometimes a phrase. The place in the grid where the answer to each clue should go is shown by a number and the direction in which the answer appears, for example, "1 Across" or "15 Down". Many computer programs have been created to find the answers to these clues.

paragraphs: There are many types of crosswords. Straight (or Quick) crosswords are usually made up of simple definitions - which means that other words are used to describe the answer. Some crosswords, called cryptic crosswords, use riddles and word play and are usually more difficult than straight crosswords.

paragraphs: Here is a small example of a (British-style) straight crossword:

paragraphs: The solution (answer) to this crossword is:


title: Bob Geldof

paragraphs: Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof, (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and political activist. He was born in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin. Geldof is a member of the band the Boomtown Rats. He also helped to organise the Live Aid and Live 8 events, and to form the Band Aid charity group. He also served as an actor for the Pink Floyd film The Wall, a musical about the album titled the same.

paragraphs: Geldof was married to Paula Yates from 1986 until they divorced in 1996. They had three daughters together, Fifi Trixibelle (born 1983), Peaches (1989-2014) and Little Pixie (born 1990). In 1996, Yates had a daughter called Tiger by her partner Michael Hutchence, who died in 1997. Yates died in 2000. Geldof adopted their daughter. He lives in Battersea, London with Tiger and his partner Jeanne Marine.

paragraphs: He has an honorary knighthood. Because he is not a British citizen, he should never be called "Sir". He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 and 2008.


title: Bullseye (1981 British game show)

paragraphs: Bullseye is a British television game show. It is hosted by Jim Bowen. In "Bullseye", people play darts and answer questions to win money. The person who wins the most money has a chance to win Bully's special prize. It ran from 1981-1995 on ITV and there was another series in 2006 on Challenge, hosted by Dave Spikey. The series ran on ATN in Great Transmanitain from 1987-1996, hosted by Robert Shukoff.


title: Coronation Street

paragraphs: Coronation Street (commonly known as Corrie) is the longest-running television soap opera in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two most popular soap operas in the UK, the other is "EastEnders". It has won many awards. It is set in Weatherfield, a pretend part of Manchester. It is currently filmed in Salford Quays, It used to be filmed in Granada Studios in Manchester from 1960 to 2014. William Roache has played Ken Barlow in it since it was first started in 1960 by Tony Warren. He has acted in the show for longer than anyone else. Eileen Derbyshire, who plays Emily Bishop, started in 1961. Gail Platt played by Helen Worth, who was at first meant to be a very small character. There are six half-hour episodes a week: two on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There have been more than 5000 characters in the show's history.

paragraphs: The soap opera is shown in many countries around the world. In the UK it is on ITV, the third television channel.

paragraphs: Compare The Market is the show's sponsor.

paragraphs: The video of the 1984 Queen single "I Want to Break Free" parodies the show's characters.


title: European plaice

paragraphs: European plaice ("Pleuronectes platessa") is the name for a kind of fish. They are a commercially important flatfish. They live on the sandy bottoms of the European shelf. Its geographical range is from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean. Plaice are characterised by their smooth, brown skin, red spots and bony ridge behind the eyes.

paragraphs: The fish feeds on polychaetes, crustaceans and bivalves. They can be found down to about 200 m.

paragraphs: In England they are often used as the fish in fish and chips.

paragraphs: In Danish cuisine they are one of the most commonly eaten fishes. Filleted, battered and pan-fried plaice is popular hot or cold as an open sandwich topping together with remoulade sauce and lemon slices. Battered plaice can also be served hot with french fries and remoulade sauce as a main dish; this fish and chips variant is commonly available as a children's special in Danish restaurants. Breaded frozen plaice, ready to be baked or fried at home, are readily available in supermarkets. Fresh plaice is also oven-baked.


title: Plaice

paragraphs: Plaice is the common name of three species of flatfishes:


title: Taboo

paragraphs: In a group, a taboo is something that the group thinks is bad and should not be done. Sometimes even talking about taboos is taboo. Some actions that are thought of as taboo may also be against the law. Breaking the taboo may be punished hard by those states. Breaking other taboos can result in feeling embarrassed, or ashamed. Breaking a taboo is sometimes seen as .

paragraphs: The English word is traced back to Tongan "tapu" or the Fijian "tabu". These words usually mean "not allowed", or "forbidden". In its current use in Tonga, the word "tapu" also means "sacred" or "holy", in the sense of being restricted or protected by custom or by law. For example, the main island in the Kingdom of Tonga, where the capital Nuku'alofa is located and most of the population resides, is called "Tongatapu".

paragraphs: The use of the word "taboo" drawn from "tapu". "Tapu" means "not allowed". It dates back to 1777 and an English explorer, Captain James Cook, went to a place he named "the Friendly Islands" (now Tonga). Writing about the Tongans, he wrote:

paragraphs: Some Solomon Islanders say that their languages have a word "tabu" (said like "ta-boo") that means holy. It refers to places in the bush where holy spirits live. Those areas should not be disturbed unless a ceremony or ritual is taking place. As taboo, they are places that should not be touched.

paragraphs: Some taboos are because a religious, legal or social authority did something, over and over. Taboos can be talked about or joked about, outside "polite society". Comedy and satire such as "South Park", "The Simpsons" or "Beavis and Butthead" frequently do this.

paragraphs: There have been two main groups of explanations why taboos exist:

paragraphs: One suggestion is that taboos are the result of history and certain cultural experiences (which is called "Anthropolcial approach"). Steven Pinker suggests that taboos have developed culturally from more basic instincts. For taboos regarding the dead, he proposes that the human brain may have developed a hard-wired repulsion to many carriers of disease – an "intuitive microbiology". Only with the modern development of scientific microbiology have humans been able to rationalize these taboos. Pinker suggests similar explanations for the incest taboo and other things that cause the reflex emotion of disgust.

paragraphs: The other proposal is that taboos are the result of unconscious phenomena that are passed on (and this is called "Psychoanalytical approach"). Sigmund Freud provided an analysis of taboo behaviours. He highlighted strong subconscious motivations behind such prohibitions. In this system, described in his collection of essays "Totem and Taboo", Freud says there is a link between forbidden behaviours and the sanctification of objects to certain kinship groups. Freud also states that the only two "universal" taboos are that of incest and patricide, which formed the eventual basis of modern society.

paragraphs: German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt explains that taboos were originally nothing other than an objectified fear of a "demonic" power which was believed to lie hidden in a tabooed object. Sigmund Freud believes this to be a superficial explanation having nothing to do with the true origins of taboos. He claims that many similarities between taboo-holders and obsessive neurotics point to "a psychological condition that prevails in the unconscious". Freud believes this "unconsciousness" is central to understanding the history of taboos. He then reconstructs the history of taboo based on the model of obsessional prohibitions as follows:

paragraphs: And so, "Anyone who has violated a taboo becomes taboo himself because he possesses the dangerous quality of tempting others to follow his example."


title: Flatfish

paragraphs: Flatfish are a type of fish. There are several different kinds of flatfish. Some of them are fished commercially, like flounder, sole, turbot, plaice, and halibut.

paragraphs: All flatfish are rather flat, and have rays. They swim sideways. Some can hide on the ocean floor, waiting for prey. They have a capacity for dynamic camouflage, which is under nervous control, and can change in 'real time'.

paragraphs: The Order Pleuronectiformes is in the infraclass Teleostei. But it is best to look upon it as a group of fish which are adapted to the same habitat. They share those features which suit their life-style. They have both eyes on one side of the head: the upper side. This is their main adaptation to living on the seabed (benthos). Other distinguishing features are the protrusible eyes: they can stick the eyes up a bit to see round.

paragraphs: The flatfish life-style or 'habit' evolved several times independently, and so the group is polyphyletic. Their young are perfectly symmetrical, but the head is remodelled during a metamorphosis. One eye moves to the other side, close to the other eye. Some species have both eyes on the left (turbot), some on the right (halibut, sole); all living and most fossil flatfish to date show an 'eyed' side and a 'blind' side.

paragraphs: Darwin predicted a gradual migration of the eye in evolution, mirroring the metamorphosis of the living forms. A recent examination of two fossil species from the Eocene shows "the assembly of the flatfish bodyplan occurred in a gradual, stepwise fashion". The intermediate stages survived for quite a long time: over two geological stages. They are found in sites together with flatfish with the full cranial asymmetry. That shows the intermediate stages were at no particular disadvantage. Eventually, the more complete forms did survive. The evolution of flatfish falls squarely within the evolutionary synthesis.

paragraphs: "Amphistium" is a 50-million-year-old fossil fish which has been identified as an early relative of the flatfish, and as a transitional fossil. In "Amphistium", the transition from the typical symmetrical head of a vertebrate is incomplete, with one eye placed near the top-center of the head. Paleontologists concluded that "the change happened gradually, in a way consistent with evolution by natural selection.


title: Monopoly

paragraphs: A monopoly (from the Greek "monos", one + "polein", to sell) is when a product or service can only be bought from one supplier for a specific market. If other firms serve the market, they may be too small compared to the largest, thus allowing the large firm to have a lot of market power. A monopoly usually happens when there is no economic competition to produce the product or service and there is no available substitutes to the product or service.

paragraphs: In economics, a monopoly is a single producer of a product or service. In law, a monopoly is a firm that has a lot of market power and is able to charge very high prices for a product or service. As long as the firm has a lot of market power, it does not matter if the firm is large or small, as size is not used to decide if a firm is a monopoly.

paragraphs: A monopoly can be formed by the government, by merging a few firms to form a large one, or form naturally to become a natural monopoly. In many places, utilities such as telephone service or cable television are monopolies, as it is very costly to build the infrastructure for another firm to compete in the market. Such natural monopolies is hence allowed by the government, but is usually strictly controlled to prevent the monopoly from charging a very high price for a product or service.

paragraphs: Many countries, including the United States, have laws to stop companies from having a monopoly or to limit the actions that they can do as a monopoly.

paragraphs: In classical economics, a monopoly does this:

paragraphs: A monopoly is a type of firm that wants to make its profits as big as possible, and as the market does not have any other large firms, the monopoly is able to set prices on their products or services. Hence, the monopoly would set a price that would maximize the profits that they gain, but cause the consumers to have to pay more for the same good.

paragraphs: For all types of firms (including monopoly), firms make their profits biggest at the output level in which the marginal revenue and marginal cost curves meet, known as the profit maximizing output. But when a firm is a monopoly, the price that the firm sets is the price level of the demand curve for that amount of output. However, it is better for society if the output level is when the marginal cost and the demand curve meet, which is of a higher output and a lower price than what the monopoly produces. Hence, since society could be better if more of the good is produced, a deadweight loss is created. A monopoly is hence not allocatively efficient.

paragraphs: Depending on the total cost that the monopoly has, a monopoly may be able to earn supernormal profits in the long run. This thus allows the monopoly to have money to do costly innovation or become more cost efficient in producing the products or services. However, there are people who believe that a monopoly may become complacent and not do innovation at all as there is no competition in the market.

paragraphs: A natural monopoly can happen when there is very high barriers to entry that it is not profitable for more firms to enter the market for the level of demand that is present in the market. A natural monopoly keeps getting increasing economies of scale for the level of demand in the market, and relatively high fixed costs. The average cost of production would then keep decreasing for the whole demand of the product or service. It is thus cheaper for a single firm to produce the product or service, as it would not be profitable for two or more firms to be in the market.

paragraphs: A natural monopoly is similar to a normal monopoly and can be inefficient. Hence, governments tend to make laws that controls what the natural monopoly does, mainly to set prices at an affordable level.


title: Pluto (Disney)

paragraphs: Pluto is a fictional dog that belongs to Mickey Mouse. He is a golden-yellow mutt with a green collar. He was introduced in the 1930s and got his name from the planet Pluto which had recently been discovered.

paragraphs: Pluto taught many kids lessons such as sharing, not to have jealousy, and many others. Pluto was very energetic. Pluto was created by Walt Disney.


title: Even number

paragraphs: An even number is an integer that can be divided by two and remain an integer or has no remainder. Examples of even numbers are 2, 4, 6, 8.

paragraphs: An integer that is not an even number is an odd number. If an even number is divided by two, the result is another integer. On the other hand, an odd number, when divided by two, will result in a non-integer.

paragraphs: Since even numbers are integers, negative numbers can be even.


title: Mardi Gras

paragraphs: Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is a festival held the day before Ash Wednesday (shrove Tuesday), signifying the end of the Carnival season and the start of Lent. Many cities (especially those with large Catholic populations) like New Orleans are famous for their Mardi Gras.

paragraphs: During Mardi Gras, almost everyone takes part in celebrating with lavish parades and parties. Many different people celebrate Mardi Gras in their own way, some people have small parties and eat many of the tasty pastries and some people have huge parties and celebrate in a big way. Some of the pastries they eat are called king's cake, hot cross buns, punchskis, tricolor scrolls and thick sugar cookies. There are many more things that other people eat but these are the usual American celebration food for mardi gras. There are so many different parades and kinds of celebrations.

paragraphs: In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, the day is called Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day.

paragraphs: Mardi Gras is also celebrated in French speaking countries.

paragraphs: And whenever you go there you have to scream "YEET".


title: Røldalsvatnet

paragraphs: Røldalsvatnet is a lake in Odda, Hordaland, Norway. The length around it is 20.64 km, its area is 6.99 km² and it is 380 meters above sea level.