title: Savills

paragraphs: Savills plc is a global real estate services provider listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

paragraphs: The business was established by Alfred Savill (1829 - 1905) in 1855 in London. By the time of Alfred Savill's death in 1905 his sons Alfred, Edwin and Norman were established in partnership. In the 1920s the firm moved to Lincoln's Inn Fields. During the Second World War Norman Savill went to Wimborne in Dorset, taking vital records with him. The remaining partners stayed at Lincoln’s Inn Field. By the 1970s, the firm was re-branded as Savills. The firm was incorporated as a limited company in 1987 and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1988.

paragraphs: In 1997 Savills merged with "First Pacific Davies" () in Asia. In 1998 it bought majority stakes in the German, French and Spanish arms of "Weatherall, Green & Smith". In June 2015 it completed the acquisition of Smiths Gore, provider of rural and residential property services in the UK. In June 2016, Savills plc announced its proprietary investment subsidiary, Grosvenor Hill Ventures, had acquired a minority stake in YOPA Property Ltd, a UK-based online hybrid estate agent.

paragraphs: Savills announced in August 2016 that it had acquired GBR Phoenix Beard, a Midlands-based commercial property consultancy, strengthening its UK real estate services. Expansion continued in July 2017, with the acquisition of Larry Smith Italia, a leading commercial management and leasing business in Italy. The company's European operations grew further in December 2017 when Savills acquired Aguirre Newman S.A., the leading independent Spanish and Portuguese real estate advisory; the newly combined business was rebranded as Savills Aguirre Newman in January 2018.

paragraphs: The company provides consulting services and advice (such as valuation, building consultancy, project management, environmental consultancy, landlord and tenant, planning, strategic projects and research) in connection with commercial, residential and agricultural properties, property-related financial services and investment management, which includes investment management for institutional or professional investors. Savills operates from over 600 owned and associate offices, employing more than 35,000 people in over 60 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

paragraphs: In 2016 Australia rose to second place after Japan for cross border capital inflow in the Asia Pacific region, largely due to an increase in China's investment in Sydney's CBD, up 44 per cent from $4.5 billion the year before to $6.46 billion. In May 2013 Savills set the record for the highest price for a development site in Brisbane with the sale of the Supreme Court site at 300 George Street for $63M to the Taiwanese developer Shayher Group, to become a mixed-use precinct including a five-star hotel. Shayher Group was required to build a 65,000sqm residential, serviced apartment tower and a 45,000sqm commercial office tower.

paragraphs: In May 2014, Savills announced it has established a presence in Jakarta, Indonesia, working in partnership with local experts, Property Connection Indonesia. In 2015 Savills established an Office Services and Occupier Representation capability, expanding its Jakarta based business, when staff joined Savills Indonesia from property consultancy JLL.

paragraphs: In June 2014, Savills announced it had acquired 100% of Studley, Inc. a leading US independent commercial real estate services firm specialising in tenant representation with twenty five offices across the United States. Within the US, the new business was branded as Savills Studley. Studley was acquired in a $260 million deal including cash, Savills stock and promissory notes. Studley was founded in 1954 by Julien Studley, and in 2002 was bought by its 139 partners. The Savills deal brought more than 400 brokers and 175 support workers from Studley to the new firm.

paragraphs: In February 2015, Savills announced it had acquired a substantial shareholding in a Malaysian real estate business, previously trading as CBRE in Malaysia. The business has close to 300 staff, and offices in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor. Savills Malaysia managing director is Allan Soo.

paragraphs: In June 2018, Savills announced it had acquired Cluttons Middle East business. Providing Agency, Management and Consultancy advice in both the Commercial and Residential sectors, the business employs 190 staff in offices across the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman and Saudi Arabia. The acquisition, which was completed on 31 May 2018, saw Savills take full ownership of Cluttons Middle East, which had been established in the region for more than 40 years. Cluttons Middle East is due to be re-branded as Savills during 2018.

paragraphs: Savills Vietnam is the largest and most experienced real estate practice in Vietnam, with offices in Hanoi, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. In addition to residential real estate and investment brokerage, Savills Vietnam is also active in the hotel and leisure sector. In addition to providing advisory and industrial services, Savills Vietnam is also active in property management.

paragraphs: Surpassing other leading property professionals including CBRE and JLL, Savills Vietnam was recognized as Vietnam’s Best Property Consultancy and Best Real Estate Agency at the prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards. The official announcement was made at the iPAX Asia Pacific Awards Ceremony on the third and fourth of May, 2018 in Thailand. These awards mark Savills Vietnam success for the 8th consecutive and last year with the programme.


title: Hurricane Barry (2019)

paragraphs: Hurricane Barry was the fourth recorded storm to make landfall at hurricane strength on the state of Louisiana in the month of July, the others being Bob in 1979, Danny in 1997, and Cindy in 2005. The second named storm and first hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Barry originated from a mesoscale convective vortex over the Midwestern United States on July 4. The system emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on July 10 and was classified as a potential tropical cyclone later that day. The system developed into a tropical storm on the next day, becoming the second named storm of the season. On July 13, Barry attained maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), with a minimum central pressure of 991 millibars (29.3 inHg), becoming the first hurricane of the season. Later that day, Barry made landfall on Marsh Island and Intracoastal City, Louisiana both times as a Category 1 hurricane, subsequently weakening to tropical storm status. Late on July 15, Barry degenerated into a remnant low over northern Arkansas, before dissipating on July 19.

paragraphs: The storm originated from a low pressure area inside the Midwestern USA. It tracked south, and became a broad area of low pressure which the National Hurricane Center assessed a high chance that the low could become a tropical cyclone.

paragraphs: A day later, on July 10, the broad low-pressure system emerged from the Florida Panhandle into Apalachee Bay in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, attended by widespread showers and thunderstorms; concurrently, the NHC forecasted a high likelihood of tropical cyclone development within two days, noting a favorable environment and widespread convection, or thunderstorms, associated with the low.

paragraphs: By the morning of July 13, the thunderstorms moved closer to the center of circulation, as upper-level outflow expanded in all directions. The NHC estimated that Barry attained Category 1 hurricane status by 12:00 UTC that day, concluding that Barry was producing a small area of hurricane-force winds based on observations from the Hurricane Hunters, Doppler radar wind estimates of 75 mph (121 km/h), and recorded sustained winds of 72 mph (116 km/h) at Eugene Island oil field. Simultaneously, the storm reached its peak intensity, with a minimum central pressure of 991 millibars (29.3 inHg). At 18:00 UTC that day, Barry made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on Intracoastal City, Louisiana, before weakening to tropical storm status. This made Barry the fourth tropical cyclone recorded making landfall as a hurricane on Louisiana in the month of July.

paragraphs: On July 15, the system became a low-pressure area, eventually becoming an extratropical system that brought heavy rain the Southern Ontario.

paragraphs: On Florida, multiple beaches were closed prior to the formation of Barry. However, some swimmers ignored the warnings and a 67 year-old man was reported to be dead.

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Barry dropped locally heavy rainfall along its path, peaking at 23.43 in (595 mm) near Ragley, Louisiana. Waterspouts were reported on Lake Pontchartrain. One tornado struck the Gentilly neighborhood in New Orleans, damaging two homes. A tide station in Amereda Pass recorded a storm surge of nearly 7 ft (2.1 m). On the southern shore of Lake Pontchartrain, storm surge exceeded 3 ft (0.91 m), while its northern shores expected tides 3 to 5 ft (0.91 to 1.52 m) above normal. Flooding also occurred on the banks of the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City, Louisiana. The Lower Dularge East Levee in Terrebonne Parish was overtopped, prompting a mandatory evacuation for nearby areas. On the afternoon of July 12, Louisiana Highway 1 south of Golden Meadow—the only thoroughfare leading out of Grand Isle and Port Fourchon—was closed after seawater began to inundate portions of the road.

paragraphs: As Barry moved ashore the Louisiana coast on July 13, Entergy and Cleco, the two major electricity companies in southern Louisiana, reported the loss of power to over 114,000 customers. Power lines knocked down by fallen trees in the Metairie area cut power to 5,140 electricity customers in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The most widespread power outages occurred where wind speeds were highest in Lafourche Parish and Terrebonne Parish, as well as eastern Baton Rouge; over 39,000 lost power in these areas. All electricity customers in Grand Isle lost power, and a total of 4,300 customers were affected by power outages as Barry's initial rainbands swept across coastal Louisiana.

paragraphs: In Southern Ontario, many highways were blocked and several cars were submerged. Unusually, the storm produced a funnel cloud in Oro-Medonte, Southern Ontario.

paragraphs: Barry caused a lot of damage in total, however the exact number is currently unknown.

paragraphs: This page was brought partially from the English Wikipedia.


title: Holland's schema theorem

paragraphs: Holland's schema theorem, also called the fundamental theorem of genetic algorithms, is an inequality that results from coarse-graining an equation for evolutionary dynamics. The Schema Theorem says that short, low-order schemata with above-average fitness increase exponentially in frequency in successive generations. The theorem was proposed by John Holland in the 1970s. It was initially widely taken to be the foundation for explanations of the power of genetic algorithms. However, this interpretation of its implications has been criticized in several publications reviewed in , where the Schema Theorem is shown to be a special case of the Price equation with the schema indicator function as the macroscopic measurement.

paragraphs: A schema is a template that identifies a subset of strings with similarities at certain string positions. Schemata are a special case of cylinder sets, and hence form a topological space.

paragraphs: Consider binary strings of length 6. The schema codice_1 describes the set of all strings of length 6 with 1's at positions 1, 3 and 6 and a 0 at position 4. The * is a wildcard symbol, which means that positions 2 and 5 can have a value of either 1 or 0. The "order of a schema" formula_1 is defined as the number of fixed positions in the template, while the "defining length" formula_2 is the distance between the first and last specific positions. The order of codice_1 is 4 and its defining length is 5. The "fitness of a schema" is the average fitness of all strings matching the schema. The fitness of a string is a measure of the value of the encoded problem solution, as computed by a problem-specific evaluation function. Using the established methods and genetic operators of genetic algorithms, the schema theorem states that short, low-order schemata with above-average fitness increase exponentially in successive generations. Expressed as an equation:

paragraphs: Here formula_4 is the number of strings belonging to schema formula_5 at generation formula_6, formula_7 is the "observed" average fitness of schema formula_5 and formula_9 is the "observed" average fitness at generation formula_6. The probability of disruption formula_11 is the probability that crossover or mutation will destroy the schema formula_5. It can be expressed as:

paragraphs: where formula_1 is the order of the schema, formula_15 is the length of the code, formula_16 is the probability of mutation and formula_17 is the probability of crossover. So a schema with a shorter defining length formula_2 is less likely to be disrupted.An often misunderstood point is why the Schema Theorem is an "inequality" rather than an equality. The answer is in fact simple: the Theorem neglects the small, yet non-zero, probability that a string belonging to the schema formula_5 will be created "from scratch" by mutation of a single string (or recombination of two strings) that did "not" belong to formula_5 in the previous generation.

paragraphs: The schema theorem holds under the assumption of a genetic algorithm that maintains an infinitely large population, but does not always carry over to (finite) practice: due to sampling error in the initial population, genetic algorithms may converge on schemata that have no selective advantage. This happens in particular in multimodal optimization, where a function can have multiple peaks: the population may drift to prefer one of the peaks, ignoring the others.

paragraphs: The reason that the Schema Theorem cannot explain the power of genetic algorithms is that it holds for all problem instances, and cannot distinguish between problems in which genetic algorithms perform poorly, and problems for which genetic algorithms perform well.


Ashurst


title: Chinese economic reform

paragraphs: The Chinese economic reform () refers to the economic reforms in the People's Republic of China between the 1970s and 1990s. They were led by the Communist Party of China and Deng Xiaoping and started in December 1978. They were also called "Socialism with Chinese characteristics".

paragraphs: Before the eighteenth century, China had one of the world's largest and most advanced economies. Adam Smith agreed. However, Chinese economy began to slow down and even got worse by the 20th century. This was due to things like the First Sino-Japanese War and Second Sino-Japanese War.

paragraphs: The Communist Party began to fix the economy. It introduced market principles in 1978.

paragraphs: Part 1: In the 70s and 80s, they stopped requiring everybody to farm and stopped sending young people to the countryside. They also opened China to foreign investment, allowing people to start businesses. However, most businesses remained owned by the government.

paragraphs: Part 2: In the 80s and 90s, the PRC allowed much more private control of business (less government control, privatization). They removed price controls, protectionist policies, and regulations. Still state monopolies in banking and petroleum remained.

paragraphs: The private sector grew remarkably, becoming 70% of China's gross domestic product by 2005. From 1978 until 2013, unprecedented growth happened, with the economy increasing by 9.5% each year.

paragraphs: After 2005, Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao controlled the economy more heavily, reversing some reforms. Xi Jinping undid some more reforms by allowing the government greater control in some areas of the economy.

paragraphs: Chinese society changed a lot because of these reforms. They greatly reduced poverty and increased average income. They have also led to China's rise as a world power.


title: Round-bottom flask

paragraphs: Round-bottom flasks (round-bottomed flasks or RB flasks) are types of flasks having spherical bottoms used as laboratory glassware.

paragraphs: They are used mostly for chemical or biochemical work. Today, they are usually made of heat-resistant borosilicate glass. There is at least one tubular section known as the "neck" with an opening at the tip. Two or three-necked flasks are made. Round bottom flasks come in many sizes.


title: Roelof Nelissen

paragraphs: Roelof Johannes Nelissen (4 April 1931 – 18 July 2019) was a Dutch politician and businessman. He was a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP) (now the Christian Democratic Appeal). He was born in Hoofdplaat, Netherlands. Nelissen was the Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 to 1973 and Minister of Finance at the same time during the Barend Biesheuvel ministry. He was the CEO of the AMRO Bank from 1983 to 1991.

paragraphs: Nelissen died on 18 July 2019 in Hilversum, Netherlands at the age of 88.


title: Jan Terlouw

paragraphs: Jan Cornelis Terlouw (born 15 November 1931) is a Dutch politician, physicist and writer. He is a member of the Democrats 66 (D66) party. Terlouw was born in Kamperveen, Netherlands. He was the Deputy Prime Minister and at the same time the Minister of Economic Affairs from 1981 to 1982 during the Dries van Agt ministry. A children's writer, his best known work is "Winter in Wartime" ("Oorlogswinter", 1972).


title: Ágnes Heller

paragraphs: Ágnes Heller (12 May 1929 – 19 July 2019) was a Hungarian philosopher and educator. She was a member of the Budapest School philosophical forum in the 1960s. She later taught political theory for 25 years at the New School for Social Research in New York City. She was born in Budapest.

paragraphs: Heller drowned while swimming at Lake Balaton in Balatonalmádi, Hungary on 19 July 2019, aged 90.


title: Masha Gessen

paragraphs: Masha Gessen (born Maria Alexandrovna Gessen () 13 January 1967) is a Russian-American journalist, author, translator and activist. She is known for being a very vocal critic of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and American President Donald Trump. She was born in Moscow.

paragraphs: Gessen is openly a lesbian. She lives in New York City.

paragraphs: Gessen has written columns for the "The New York Times", "The New York Review of Books", "The Washington Post", the "Los Angeles Times", "The New Republic", "New Statesman", "Granta", "Slate", "Vanity Fair", "Harper's Magazine", "The New Yorker", and "U.S. News & World Report". Since 2017, she has been a staff writer for "The New Yorker".


title: Sheila Dikshit

paragraphs: Sheila Dikshit (née Kapoor; (31 March 1938 – 20 July 2019) was an Indian politician. She was born in Kapurthala, Punjab. Dikshit was a member of the Indian National Congress. She was a member of Lok Sabha (1984–1989), Chief Minister of Delhi (1998–2013) and Governor of Kerala (2014).

paragraphs: Dikshit died at a hospital in New Delhi on 20 July 2019 of cardiac arrest, aged 81.


title: R. L. Bhatia

paragraphs: Raghunandan Lal Bhatia (born 3 July 1921) is an Indian politician. He was the Governor of Kerala from 23 June 2004 to 10 July 2008 and was the Governor of Bihar from 10 July 2008 to 28 June 2009. He was born in Amritsar, Punjab. Bhatia was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1972. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. Bhatia retired in 2009.


title: Rama Jois

paragraphs: Justice Mandagadde Rama Jois (born 27 July 1931) is an Indian politician, activist and writer. He is a member of Rajya Sabha for the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the governor of the Jharkhand and Bihar states. He was Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He was born in Araga, Shivamogga District.


title: S. M. Krishna

paragraphs: Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna (born 1 May 1932) is an Indian politician. He was Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012. He was a member of the Indian Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. Krishna was the 16th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008.


title: S. C. Jamir

paragraphs: Senayangba Chubatoshi Jamir (born 17 October 1931) is an Indian politician. He was the Governor of Odisha from 2013 to 2018. He was the Chief Minister of Nagaland, Governor of Maharashtra, Governor of Gujarat, Governor of Goa and Governor of Odisha. Jamir is a member of the Indian National Congress. He was born in Ungma, Nagaland.


title: K. Sankaranarayanan

paragraphs: Kateekal Sankaranarayanan (born 15 October 1932) is an Indian politician. He was the Governor of Maharashtra from 2010 to 2014. He also was the Governor of Nagaland and Jharkhand. He is a member of the Indian National Congress. He was born in Kerala.


title: R. D. Pradhan

paragraphs: Ram D. Pradhan (27 June 1928 – 31 July 2020) was an Indian politician. He was an Indian Administrative Service officer. He was Union Home Secretary and Governor of Arunachal Pradesh during the Rajiv Gandhi government. He was in service of the government of India for 36 years.


title: Jagannath Pahadia

paragraphs: Jagannath Pahadia (born 15 January 1932) is an Indian politician. He is known for being the former leader of the Indian National Congress party. He was the Governor of Haryana from 2009 to 2014, Governor of Bihar from 1989 to 1990 and the Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1980 to 1981. He was born in Rajasthan.


title: Axial Age

paragraphs: Axial Age (also Axis Age, from ) is a term invented by German philosopher Karl Jaspers. It refers to ancient history from between 8th to the 3rd century BCE. He says that this represents a turning point in human history.

paragraphs: New ways of thinking appeared in Iran, India, China and the Greco-Roman world. There were new religions and philosophies. Moreover they happened in parallel across Eurasia, without obvious contact.


title: Attala County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Attala County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 19,564 people lived there. Its county seat is Kosciusko.


title: Franklin County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Franklin County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 8,118 people lived there. Its county seat is Meadville. The county was founded on December 21, 1809 and named for Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.


title: Jefferson County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Jefferson County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi; its western border is formed by the Mississippi River. As of the 2010 census, 7,726 people lived there. Its county seat is Fayette. The county was founded in 1799. It is named for U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.


title: Luminous intensity

paragraphs: In photometry, luminous intensity is a measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by a light source in a particular direction per solid angle unit, based on the luminosity function, a standardized model of the sensitivity of the human eye. The SI unit of luminous intensity is the candela (cd), an SI base unit.


title: Benton County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Benton County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 8,729 people lived there. Its county seat is Ashland.


title: Bolivar County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Bolivar County is a county located on the western border of the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 34,145 people lived there. Its county seats are Rosedale and Cleveland. The county was founded in 1836. It is named in honor of Simón Bolívar, early 19th-century leader of the liberation of many South American colonies from Spain.


title: Pontotoc County

paragraphs: Pontotoc County is the name of two counties in the United States:


title: Barton County

paragraphs: Barton County is the name of two counties in the United States:


title: Robie Creek, Idaho

paragraphs: Robie Creek is a census-designated place (CDP) of Idaho in the United States.


title: Smiths Ferry, Idaho

paragraphs: Smiths Ferry is a census-designated place (CDP) in Valley County, Idaho, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 75.


title: Yellow Pine, Idaho

paragraphs: Yellow Pine is an unincorporated census-designated place of Valley County in the state of Idaho in the United States.


title: Garfield, Washington

paragraphs: Garfield is a city in Whitman County, Washington, United States. The population was 597 at the 2010 census, down from 641 in 2000.


title: Leakey, Texas

paragraphs: Leakey is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Real County.


title: Chickasaw County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Chickasaw County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 17,392 people lived there. Its county seats are Houston and Okolona.


title: Japonic languages

paragraphs: The Japonic languages are a language family made up of languages native to the Japanese islands. Known members of the language family are Japanese and the Ryukyuan languages (Okinawan, Kunigami, Amami, Miyako, Yaeyama and Yonaguni).

paragraphs: All Japonic languages are agglutinative languages with a simple syllable structure and SOV word order. They have many similar features, but they are not mutually intelligible, which means native speakers of one language will not understand the other language without already knowing it.

paragraphs: While Japanese is the ninth most spoken language in the world, the Ryukyuan languages are critically endangered, which means there are very few speakers left. This was largely because of the Japanese government's assimilation of Ryukyu into the mainland Japanese culture. During the Meiji Era, the Japanese government called the Ryukyuan languages “dialects of Japanese”. This was used to forbid Ryukyuans from speaking the Ryukyuan languages and to force them to speak Japanese. In fact, Okinawan soldiers and civilians were executed for speaking Okinawan during World War II. The Japanese military would accuse them of being spies so they could have an excuse to execute them.

paragraphs: All of the languages write using a combination of Chinese characters, called kanji in Japanese, and kana, a Japanese-made syllabic writing system made for writing phonetically. This was true even before the Japanese takeover of the Ryukyu Kingdom.


title: Hakuna matata

paragraphs: Hakuna matata means "no worries" in Swahili, a language of East Africa. The phrase was used in the Disney movie "The Lion King" in a song of the same name.

paragraphs: In 2003 Disney trademarked the phrase in the US. In 2018, some people accused Disney or "colonialism" and "robbery" for stealing the phrase from East Africa. The phrase is popular in Kenya, one of the countries where it came from. But because of the trademark, Kenyans are not allowed to sell stuff to the US that use that phrase.


title: Baltimore oriole

paragraphs: The Baltimore oriole ("Icterus galbula") is a small icterid blackbird. It is common in eastern North America as a migratory breeding bird.

paragraphs: The Baltimore oriole is the state bird of Maryland. It is also the inspiration for the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.


title: Cosmogony

paragraphs: Cosmogony is any theory of the origin of the universe.

paragraphs: In astronomy, cosmogony is the study of the origin of things like the universe, the Solar System, or the Earth–Moon system. The popular cosmological model for the birth of the universe is the Big Bang theory.

paragraphs: It is generally accepted that the universe began as a singularity, and when the singularity of the universe started to expand, the Big Bang occurred, which began the universe.

paragraphs: People disagree on the origins of the singularity.

paragraphs: It may be like a black hole, which is a singularity sincegravity in a black hole becomes boundless.

paragraphs: Others like Stephen Hawking say "time" did not exist and was only born with the universe. Hence the universe does not have an origin story. Time did not exist before the creation of the universe.

paragraphs: There is currently no theoretical model that explains the earliest moments of the universe's existence (during the Planck time). This is because we lack a testable theory of quantum gravity. Still, some researchers in string theory, M theory, and loop quantum cosmology have some ideas.

paragraphs: There are certain myths that also propose how the universe was created: for example creation myths in the Bible, the Dào Dé Jīng, and other genesis stories. These usually involve

paragraphs: The Eridu Genesis, written on Sumerian tablets, is one of the oldest creation myths. The universe was created from a sea (Abzu). In Greek mythology, Zeus created the universe.

paragraphs: Cosmology studies the universe in general. You can still study the universe without thinking about its origin, which is what cosmonogy studies specifically.


title: History of Russia

paragraphs: The history of Russia begins with the East Slavs, Turkic, and the Finno-Ugric peoples. Parts of Southern Russia around the Black sea were settled by Greeks and Romans until about the 3rd century. Huns and Turkic tribes invaded the regions around the Black sea until the 10th century. Eastern Slavs then immigrated to the region. Vikings created the Kievan Rus. In the 13th century, Mongols conquered the region and created the Golden Horde. The Mongols ruled until the 15th century. The tsardom of Russia and Russian empire were then created. Poland-Lithuania invaded Moscow, but Russia eventually drove them out. Russia expanded more west and east into Siberia. Napoleon tried to invade Russia during the winter but failed. Russia fought against Germany in WW1. In 1917, the October Revolution happened, and the communists led by Lenin created the Soviet Union. In WW2, Hitler also failed to invade Russia. Russia occupied East Germany, Poland, and most of East Europe during the Cold War. It became a big rival of the United States. In the 1990s, the Union ended, with things like the Yugoslavia revolution, and became modern Russia. In 2014 Russia annexed Crimea from the Ukraine and faced sanctions from US and others because of it.

paragraphs: In the 8th century BCE, Greek merchants migrated to Tanais and Phanagoria. The Bosporan Kingdom (a Greek kingdom) became part of the Roman Empire. In the 2nd century AD Germanic Goths migrated to the Black Sea. In the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, the Gothic Oium existed in Southern Russia until it was conquered by Huns.

paragraphs: Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Bosporan Kingdom was also invaded by Eastern nomads like the Huns and Turkish Avars.

paragraphs: A Turkic people, the Khazars, conquered the lower Volga basin steppes between the Caspian and Black Seas up to the 8th century. They were known for their laws, tolerance, and cosmopolitanism. The Khazars traded with the Baltic and the Muslim Abbasid empire centered in Baghdad. They were important allies of the Byzantine Empire, and helped win wars against Arab Caliphates. In the 8th century, the Khazars became Jewish.

paragraphs: Some of the ancestors of the modern Russians were the Slavic tribes. They came from the forests of the Pripet Marshes. The Early East Slavs gradually settled Western Russia by moving from Kiev towards present-day Suzdal and Murom and then from Polotsk towards Novgorod and Rostov.

paragraphs: From the 7th century onwards, East Slavs were the majority of Western Russia. They mixed slowly and peacefully with the native Finno-Ugric tribes, such as the Merya, the Muromians, and the Meshchera.

paragraphs: The Cyrillic alphabet, invented in modern Bulgaria in the 9th century, also spread during this period.

paragraphs: Vikings or Varangians did piracy and trade throughout Northern Europe. In the mid-9th century, they conquered the eastern Baltic to the Black and Caspian Seas. A Varangian named Rurik became ruler of Novgorod in about 860, before they moved south and conquered Kiev, which had been previously belonged to the Turkic Khazars. Rurik's son Igor and Igor's son Sviatoslav then conquered the East Slavic tribes, destroyed the Khazar khaganate, and fought wars against Byzantium and Persia.

paragraphs: Thus, Rus' was born in the 9th century along the Dnieper River valley. The Kievan Rus' controlled the trade for furs, wax, and slaves between Scandinavia and the Byzantine Empire along the Volkhov and Dnieper Rivers.

paragraphs: Near the 11th century, the Norse ruling class mixed with the Eastern Slavs. The Slavs absorbed Greek Christian influences when trying to loot Constantinople. Svyatoslav I claimed victory in one such campaign; he also defeated the Khazars on the Volga. The Byzantine Empire was declining but would influence Russia culturally.

paragraphs: For example through the Byzantine, the Kievan Rus' introduced the Slavic variant of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity. They became Christian in 988.

paragraphs: By the 11th century, Yaroslav the Wise helped improve the economy and literature. The Russian language was not that influenced by Greek and Latin. Church Slavonic was used directly in liturgy instead.

paragraphs: A nomadic Turkic people, the Kipchaks (or Cumans), replaced earlier Pechenegs in the south steppe at the end of the 11th century. They founded a nomadic state along the Black Sea (Desht-e-Kipchak). The Kipchaks and Kievs fought.

paragraphs: The Rus were conquered by the Mongol Golden Horde in the 13th century. Kiev was destroyed. Halych-Volhynia would eventually be absorbed into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, while the Mongol-dominated Vladimir-Suzdal and independent Novgorod Republic became the basis for modern Russia.

paragraphs: In 1223, the disunited southern princes faced a Mongol raiding party at the Kalka River and were soundly defeated. In 1237–1238 the Mongols burnt down the city of Vladimir (4 February 1238) and other major cities of northeast Russia, defeated the Russians at the Sit' River, and then moved west to conquer Poland and Hungary. By then they had conquered most of Russia.

paragraphs: The Mongols destroyed the cities. Some like Kiev and Vladimir never recovered. The new cities of Moscow, Tver and Nizhny Novgorod began to compete for hegemony in the Mongol-dominated Russia. The Golden Horde was established in the 14th century. Mongol domination of the Russia, along with demands of tribute from Russian princes, continued until about 1480.

paragraphs: After the fall of the Turkic Khazars in the 10th century, the Volga were conquered by the Volga Bulgaria, part of Greater Bulgaria. In the 10th century the Turks converted to Islam and traded with the Middle East and Central Asia. After the Mongol invasions of the 1230s, Volga Bulgaria was annexed by the Golden Horde. Its population evolved into the modern Chuvashes and Kazan Tatars.

paragraphs: The Mongols controlled Russia and Volga Bulgaria from their western capital at Sarai, one of the largest cities of the medieval world. Russian princes had to pay tribute to the Mongols of the Golden Horde, commonly called Tatars. The Russian Orthodox Church even experienced a revival under the Metropolitan Alexis and Sergius of Radonezh.

paragraphs: The Mongols influenced Russian military tactics and transportation. Under Mongol occupation, Russia developed its postal road network, census, fiscal system, and military organization.

paragraphs: Daniil Aleksandrovich founded Moscow (Muscovy). They were first a vassal to the Mongols and Tatars.

paragraphs: The Mongol rulers gave them the title of Grand Prince of Moscow and made them collect tribute from the Russian principalities. Moscow became the center of the Russian Orthodox Church.

paragraphs: In the 15th century, the princes of Moscow continued to consolidate Russian land to increase their population and wealth. The most successful one was Ivan III, who laid the foundations for the Russian nation. Ivan competed with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for control over the upper Dnieper and Oka River basins.

paragraphs: Ivan III was able to annex Novgorod and Tver. As a result, the Grand Duchy of Moscow tripled in size.

paragraphs: Ivan then overthrew the ruling Tatars and Golden Horde, now divided into several Khanates and hordes. Ivan wanted to protect the southern borders from the Crimean Tatars and other Turko-Mongol armies. He built Great Abatis Belt, gave land to nobles in exchange for military service. This expanded the army.

paragraphs: Eventually Ivan IV became the first Russian ruler to call theirself tsar.

paragraphs: Ivan III tripled the territory of his state, ended the dominance of the Golden Horde over the Rus', revived the Moscow Kremlin. But he was also anti-Catholic and isolated Russia from western civilization.

paragraphs: In the 14th century, Timur conquered parts of Southern Russia and occupied Moscow for some time.

paragraphs: "Ivan the Terrible" increased the powers of the tsar. He got rid of many people he did not like for the smallest things. But he helped develop Russia and adapt new laws and decreased the influence of the church.

paragraphs: Ivan annexed the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia. Russia now had Muslim Tatar populations and became a multiethnic and multiconfessional state. The Stroganov family also controlled the Urals and hired Russian Cossacks to colonize Siberia.

paragraphs: Ivan divided Russia and created the "oprichnina." There Ivan killed nobles in the Massacre of Novgorod in 1570. Military losses, disease, and lack of food weakened Russia. The Crimean Tatars were able to loot central Russian and burn down Moscow in 1571. In 1572 Ivan stopped.

paragraphs: At the end of Ivan IV's rule the Polish–Lithuanian and Swedish armies invaded northwestern Russia.

paragraphs: There then were many civil wars and foreign invasions known as the "Time of Troubles" (1606–13). Extremely cold summers (1601–1603) destroyed crops, which led to the Russian famine of 1601–1603 and increased the chaos.

paragraphs: During the Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618), Polish–Lithuanian forces invaded Moscow and appointed puppet rulers.

paragraphs: But Russia finally took back Moscow on .

paragraphs: In February 1613, Michael Romanov was elected as ruler. The Romanov dynasty ruled Russia until 1917.

paragraphs: Russia expanded a lot during the 17th century, including the first Russian colonization of the Pacific in the mid-17th century, the Russo-Polish War (1654–67), and the Russian conquest of Siberia. Russia gained most of its territory from Siberia.

paragraphs: The Tsarist system was completely overthrown in February 1917 in the October Revolution.


title: Glauber dynamics

paragraphs: In statistical physics, Glauber dynamics is a way to simulate the Ising model (a model of magnetism) on a computer. It is a type of Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm.

paragraphs: In the Ising model, we have say N particles that can spin up (+1) or down (-1). Say the particles are on a 2D grid. We label each with an x and y coordinate. Glauber's algorithm becomes:

paragraphs: This tries to approximate how the spins change over time. The fancy term is that it is part of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, which roughly studies the time-dependent behavior of statistical mechanics.

paragraphs: The algorithm is named after Roy J. Glauber, Nobel Prize winner and a Harvard physicist who worked at Los Alamos.


title: Tropical Storm Danas (2019)

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Danas (International Code: 1905, Joint Typhoon Warning Center: WP062019, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration: Falcon) is the 5th named tropical cyclone in the 2019 Pacific typhoon season.

paragraphs: On July 11, a low-pressure zone was formed near the Mariana Islands, and the US Naval Research Laboratory gave it a tropical disturbance number of 98W. At 8 o'clock on the morning of July 14, the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded it to a tropical depression. At this point the system moves to the approximate west. At 8 pm, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center gave its development rating "low". At 8 o'clock on the morning of July 15, the Japan Meteorological Agency issued a gale warning, and the Central Meteorological Bureau of Taiwan upgraded it to a tropical depression, given the number TD10 . At 3 pm, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded the rating to "Medium". At 10 pm, the Hong Kong Observatory upgraded it to a tropical depression.

paragraphs: At 6:30 am on July 16, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded the rating to "High" and issued a tropical cyclone warning. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center raised the system to a tropical depression at 2:40 pm, giving the number 06W. At 3 pm on the same day, the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded it to a tropical storm, giving the international number 1905 and named it "Danas", followed by the China National Meteorological Center, the Central Meteorological Bureau of Taiwan, and PAGASA also upgraded it to a tropical storm. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center was upgraded to a tropical storm late that night.

paragraphs: On July 19, the JMA reported that Danas has reached its peak wind speeds with continuous winds of 85 km/h (50 mph). Later that day, Danas began to weaken. On July 20, around 13:00 UTC, Danas made landfall on South Korea as a minimal tropical storm, before weakening into a tropical depression soon afterward. The weakening trend also accelerated on July 20 due to the drop in sea temperature to 23 degrees Celsius near landfall. The Republic of Korea Meteorological Administration downgraded Danas to a tropical depression at 11 am and stopped issuing announcements. At 12:45 UTC on July 21, Danas transitioned into an extratropical low in the Sea of Japan, and the JMA issued their final advisory on the storm.

paragraphs: On July 15, the system was enhanced to a tropical depression. At 11 pm, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration issued the No. 1 storm signal to the northern part of Isabela Province, Cagayan Province and the Bataan Islands. As Denas continued to approach Luzon, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration issued a second storm signal to the northern part of Cagayan Province at 5 pm on the 16th.

paragraphs: PAGASA cancelled all storm signals for the Philippines on July 18th.

paragraphs: Danas brought heavy rainfall to many western parts of Japan including nearly all of Kyushu.

paragraphs: In addition, the amount of rain that fell in the last 24 hours exceeded 350 mm in various places in Goto, and reaches the rainfall for July 1 month in normal years, and it has become the largest since July.

paragraphs: On July 20, around 13:00 UTC, Danas made landfall on South Jeolla Province, South Korea as a minimal tropical storm. It caused heavy rain across the country but damages were unknown. Locally heavy rainfall will continue across much of South Korea and southwest Japan through Sunday night, with additional rainfall of 50-100 mm (2-4 inches) in many locations.


title: Fort William (India)

paragraphs: Fort William was the fort that was granted(britishers were allowed to construct it on the grounds of Bengal) to the britishers by the Nawab of Bengal for their short termed loyalty and sincerity they showed towards the Nawab.


title: Tuvan People's Republic

paragraphs: Tuvan People's Republic was a partially recognized state that existed from 1921 to 1944. After 1944 it became part of the Soviet Union. Until 1926, it was also known as People's Republic Tannu-Tuva. Only two states recognized the Tuvan People's republic: the USSR and Mongolia. Even when it existed, it was seen as a puppet state of the USSR. The economy was largely based on nomads raising and selling cattle. The republic was between the Siberian part of Russia, and Mongolia. The capital was the city of Kyzyl. Since 1992, the territory is known as the Tuvan Republic. It is a self-governing part inside the Russian state.


title: Grizzy and the Lemmings

paragraphs: Grizzy and the Lemmings is an French animation series, produced by Studio Hari for France Télévisions and Boomerang. The Heart TV series has 156 episodes in 3 seasons. Season 1 was realised for Netflix on July 20, 2019.

paragraphs: In a forest there is a Forest Ranger's house. When the ranger goes on weekends into vacations or leaves his cabin, a grizzly bear, named Grizzy comes in house. But he isn't alone - a group of blue Lemmings also want a comfortable and luxury live.


title: Mark Sanford

paragraphs: Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. (born May 28, 1960) is an American politician. He is a member of the Republican. He was a U.S. Representative for South Carolina's 1st congressional district from 1995 to 2001. Sanford was then elected Governor of South Carolina from 2003 until 2011. He ran again for the U.S. House and was a congressman from 2013 to 2019. He lost in the 2018 Republican primary for his re-election bid.

paragraphs: Sanford is a teaching fellow at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

paragraphs: In July 2019, Sanford said that he was thinking of a 2020 presidential bid against President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. He formally announced his candidacy on September 8, 2019. He dropped out from the race two months later on November 12.


title: Word (computer architecture)

paragraphs: A word is the number of bits a particular computer's CPU can deal with in one go.

paragraphs: Modern processors, including those in embedded systems, usually have a word size of 8, 16, 24, 32, or 64 bits.


title: Raffaele La Capria

paragraphs: Raffaele La Capria (born 3 October 1922) is an Italian novelist and screenwriter. He is known for his series of three novels (the most important is "Ferito a morte") which were known as "Tre romanzi di una giornata". La Capria was born in Naples. He was married to actress Ilaria Occhini until her death in July 2019.

paragraphs: He worked as co-scriptwriter on many of Francesco Rosi's movies, including "Le mani sulla città" (1963), "Uomini contro" (1970) and "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli" (1979). In September 2001 he won a Premio Campiello lifetime achievement award and in 2005 "L'estro quotidiano" was selected as the winner of the Viareggio Prize for fiction.


title: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow

paragraphs: Gurbanguly Mälikgulyýewiç Berdimuhamedow (born 29 June 1957) is a Turkmen politician. He is the 2nd and current President of Turkmenistan since February 2007.

paragraphs: Berdimuhamedow, a dentist, worked in the government under President Saparmurat Niyazov as Minister of Health. He is the first dentist in the world to head a state or a government.


title: President of Turkmenistan

paragraphs: President of Turkmenistan (Turkmen:Türkmenistanyň prezidenti) is the head of state and of the executive power, is the highest official of Turkmenistan.

paragraphs: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow is the current President of Turkmenistan, only the second in the history of the country since it gained independence with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

paragraphs: The President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of Turkmenistan and the Chairman of the country's Cabinet of Ministers.

paragraphs: The country passed reforms in 2016 eliminating term limits for the presidency and removing the age requirement of below 70, as well as extending the term from five to seven years.

paragraphs: Requirements for candidates for President of Turkmenistan include the following:


title: Raşit Meredow

paragraphs: Raşit Öwezgeldiýewiç Meredow (Cyrillic: Рашит Өвезгелдиевич Мередов; born 1959) is a Turkmen politician. He is the Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2001, as well as a Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan. He is also the First Vice President of Turkmenistan since 2007 working for the Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow administration.


title: Eberhard Kummer

paragraphs: Eberhard Kummer (2 August 1940 – 12 July 2019) was an Austrian folk singer and lawyer. He was an expert of medieval music. Kummer was born in Krems an der Donau, Austria. He played the hurdy-gurdy, the harp and the guitar, and made important works to medieval music and the Austrian folksong.

paragraphs: Kummer died on 12 July 2019 in Vienna at the age of 78.


title: Rosa María Britton

paragraphs: Rosa María Britton (July 28, 1936 – July 16, 2019) was a Panamanian doctor and novelist. She was born in Panama City. Her best known novels were: "El ataúd de uso" (1983), "El señor de las lluvias y el viento" (1984), "No pertenezco a este siglo" (1991), "Laberintos de orgullo" (2002) and "Suspiros de fantasmas" (2005).

paragraphs: Britton died on July 16, 2019 in Panama City at the age of 82.


title: Daniel Callahan

paragraphs: Daniel Callahan (July 19, 1930 – July 16, 2019) was an American philosopher. He was an important person towards the field of biomedical ethics. He was the co-founder of The Hastings Center, the world's first bioethics research institute. He was the Director of The Hastings Center from 1969 to 1983, president from 1984 to 1996, and president emeritus from 1996 to 2019. He was the author or editor of 47 books. He was born in Washington, D.C..

paragraphs: Callahan died on July 16, 2019 in Dobbs Ferry, New York at the age of 88.


title: John Elya

paragraphs: John Adel Elya (16 September 1928 – 19 July 2019) was a bishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. From 1993 to 2004, he was Eparch of Newton, with jurisdiction over Melkite churches in the United States. He was born in Maghdouché, Lebanon.

paragraphs: Elya died on 19 July 2019 at the age of 90.


title: Bert Rechichar

paragraphs: Albert Daniel "Bert" Rechichar (July 16, 1930 – July 19, 2019) was an American football defensive back and kicker. He played with the National Football League's Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts, and Pittsburgh Steelers from 1952 to 1960. He also played for the American Football League's New York Titans in 1961. He was born in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania.

paragraphs: Rechichar died on July 19, 2019 in Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania from an illness, aged 89.


title: Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania

paragraphs: Belle Vernon is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is near the Monongahela River. As of the 2010 census Belle Vernon had a population of 1,093.


title: Ilaria Occhini

paragraphs: Ilaria Occhini (28 March 1934 – 20 July 2019) was an Italian actress. She starred in more than 30 movies. Her best known roles were "Doctor and the Healer", "Welcome to Home Gori" and "Loose Cannons". Her husband was screenwriter Raffaele La Capria.

paragraphs: Occhini died in Rome on 20 July 2019 at the age of 85.


title: José Manuel Estepa Llaurens

paragraphs: José Manuel Estepa Llaurens (1 January 1926 – 21 July 2019) was a cardinal of the Catholic Church and Military Archbishop Emeritus of Spain from 1986 to 2003. He was born in Andújar, Spain.

paragraphs: He was created Cardinal-Priest of "S. Gabriele Arcangelo all’Acqua Traversa" by Pope Benedict XVI in a consistory at St. Peter's Basilica on 20 November 2010. Because he had already reached age 80, he was not eligible to participate in a conclave.

paragraphs: Estepa Llaurens died on 21 July 2019 in Madrid at the age of 93.


title: Louis Lansana Beavogui

paragraphs: Louis Lansana Beavogui (28 December 1923 – 19 August 1984) was a Guinean politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Guinea from 26 April 1972 to 3 April 1984 and was interim President from 26 March 1984 to 3 April 1984.

paragraphs: Beavogui was born on 28 December 1923 in Macenta, French Guinea (now Guinea) and died of diabetes while hospitalized in Conakry, Guinea on 19 August 1984, aged 60.


title: Choctaw County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Choctaw County is a county in the central U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 8,547 people lived there. The county seat is Ackerman.


title: Claiborne County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Claiborne County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 9,604 people lived there. Its county seat is Port Gibson.


title: Clarke County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Clarke County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 16,732 people lived there. Its county seat is Quitman.


title: Neshoba County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Neshoba County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 29,676 people lived there. Its county seat is Philadelphia.


title: Copiah County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Copiah County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 29,449 people lived there. Its county seat is Hazlehurst.


title: Covington County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Covington County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 19,568 people lived there. Its county seat is Collins.


title: Forrest County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Forrest County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 74,934 people lived there. Its county seat and largest city is Hattiesburg.


title: DeSoto County, Mississippi

paragraphs: DeSoto County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 161,252 people lived there which makes it the third-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Hernando.


title: George County, Mississippi

paragraphs: George County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 22,578 people lived there. Its county seat is Lucedale.


title: Ryukyu Kingdom

paragraphs: The Ryukyu Kingdom is a country that no longer exists in present-day Okinawa. Before Japan took control of it during the Meiji Era, it was an independent country with its own culture, government, and language. Okinawa was a major trading center in Asia, so there are aspects of Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian cultures that were blended into the native Okinawan culture.

paragraphs: The name Ryukyu is a transcription of the Chinese name for the region, "Liuqiu" (written as 琉球 in Chinese characters).

paragraphs: Before the Ryukyu Kingdom was created, Okinawa was made up of three countries: Nanzan, Chuzan, and Hokuzan. Chuzan took over the other two kingdoms, united the three kingdoms, and created the Ryukyu Kingdom. The kingdom had its own dynasty of kings and they ruled from Shuri Castle in the city of Shuri. Although they used to be different cities, Shuri is now in the northern part of present-day Naha.


title: Shurijo

paragraphs: Shurijo or Shuri Castle was the palace where the Ryukyu kings lived before Okinawa became part of Japan. Since it was built when Okinawa was independent, the castle structure is very different from other castles in Japan. Shuri Castle is located in Shuri. Shuri was once the Ryukyu capital, but it is now part of the present-day city of Naha.

paragraphs: Throughout its history, it had been destroyed and rebuilt four times, including during the Battle of Okinawa. This is why the courtyard is a little asymmetrical, or lop-sided. It was a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

paragraphs: On the morning of 31 October 2019, a large fire broke out at the main hall of the castle. "Seiden", "Hokuden", "Nanden" and "Bandokoro" were completely destroyed. According to news sources, "Six castle buildings occupying some 4,200 square meters in total were [destroyed]." The fire was put out around 1:30 p.m.


title: Grenada County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Grenada County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 21,906 people lived there. Its county seat is Grenada.


title: Sweetwater, Texas

paragraphs: Sweetwater is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Nolan County.


title: Shuri

paragraphs: Shuri was the capital of the former countries of Chuzan and later of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which were in present-day Okinawa. The Ryukyu kings would rule the kingdom from Shuri Castle. Today, it is a district of the present-day city of Naha. Shuri and Naha used to be different cities, but since Okinawa became part of Japan, Shuri would no longer be the capital. The Japanese government made Naha, which was a nearby port city, to be Okinawa's capital instead. Today, Shuri Station it is the last stop on the Okinawa Urban Monorail.


title: Mamady Youla

paragraphs: Mamady Youla (born 1961) is a Guinean businessman and politician. He was the Prime Minister of Guinea from 29 December 2015 to 24 May 2018.


title: Okinawa Urban Monorail

paragraphs: The Okinawa Urban Monorail, or the Yui Rail, is a monorail train line in Naha, the capital of Okinawa, Japan. It is the only public train line in the entire prefecture, and right now the entire line is only in Naha. It has 15 stops, beginning from Naha Airport and ending in Shuri Station. There are plans to extend the line to Urasoe City. There are also plans to allow passengers to pay using Suica by the spring of 2020.


title: Social commentary

paragraphs: Social commentary is indirectly expressing an opinion on how society should change. Martin Luther, Jonathan Swift and Charles Dickens are among many people who wrote social commentaries.


title: Low comedy

paragraphs: Low comedy is a form of comedy that is meant only to make people laugh without any satire or social commentary. Low comedy can have people getting drunk, getting hit in the face with pies, tripping over banana peels and getting wedgies. The name "Low Comedy" was created by John Dryden. It is often seen as the opposite of High Comedy.


title: High Comedy

paragraphs: High Comedy is a form of Comedy based on wit, satire or clever dialogue. The phrase High Comedy was created by George Meredith in his 1877 essay on comedy in which he says that it is the opposite of Low Comedy.


title: Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings

paragraphs: The Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings occurred on 20 July 1982. Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army used a bomb in each park to attack British military ceremonies in central London.

paragraphs: In Hyde Park, a nail bomb in a car exploded. It killed four soldiers and seven horses.

paragraphs: In Regent's Park, a bomb underneath a bandstand killed seven military bandsmen.


title: Mainland Japan

paragraphs: Mainland Japan is the name used to describe all the regions of Japan except for Hokkaido and Okinawa. Until the end of World War II, the name included Hokkaido and Okinawa, but it excluded all the colonies of the Japanese Empire, including Korea and Taiwan. However, since the colonies are no longer under control of Japan, those places have no reason to call Japan "the mainland."

paragraphs: However, they are still used by residents of Okinawa and Hokkaido because their cultures and native people are different from the other parts of Japan.

paragraphs: In Hokkiado, the word "Dogai" is also used. It means every part of Japan outside of Hokkaido.


title: Japanese knotweed

paragraphs: Japanese knotweed is a perennial herbaceous plant. It grows in Asian countries from South China including Taiwan and Japan to east Asia. It is considered an invasive plant in the United States


title: Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1911

paragraphs: The Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1911 happened when Outer Mongolia did not want to be part of the Qing dynasty anymore. They wanted to govern themselves. It happened at the same time as the Xinhai Revolution.

paragraphs: Outer Mongolia is now the modern country of Mongolia. It is different from Inner Mongolia, which is in China.

paragraphs: Mongolia used to be part of the Qing dynasty. But by the 20th century Mongolia was poor. Because of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) many other people were poor. The Qing was running out of money.

paragraphs: The Qing also moved many of the Mongols' animals to the rest of China to feed others. This made Mongols upset.

paragraphs: Manchus people created the Qing dynasty. They were not Han Chinese. But they eventually became Chinese themselves. They failed to keep the Manchus "pure". Still they tried to separate Han from Manchus and Mongols. For example, Han could not enter Mongolia, and Mongols could not leave Mongolia. Mongols were not allowed to speak Chinese.

paragraphs: In 1895, the Qing lost the First Sino-Japanese War. The Qing was declining.

paragraphs: The Boxer Rebellion and Japan's victory over Russia in 1905 made the Chinese hopeful that they could make things better. So they created new reforms called the Xinzheng or "New Policies" (新政).

paragraphs: One of the goals of Xinzheng was to move more Han Chinese into Outer Mongolia (cultural assimilation). This was to tell Russians to stay away from Mongolia as it still belonged to China. The Qing thought of this as a "shield".

paragraphs: Between 1901 and 1910, the Qing passed laws allowing: Han Chinese to settle Chinese Mongolia, intermarriage between Han and Mongol Chinese, Mongols to speak Chinese.

paragraphs: In 1910 the Qing government made Sando the ruler of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar. Plans were made to send Han farmers to Mongolia. In January 1911 the army was organized. Half of the army was Mongol. The Mongolians did not like this. They did not like the tax. They were "penniless". They did not want farmers and still wanted to be nomads and horseback riders.

paragraphs: Prince Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren convinced the Jebstundamba Khutukhtu to support independence. He and another leader Qin Wang (Mijiddorjiin Khanddorj) then asked Russia to help.

paragraphs: St. Petersburg heard the message. Russia wanted some distance from Japan and wanted Outer Mongolia to be a buffer state. So Russia sent some troops.

paragraphs: In 1911, the Qing government was overthrown in the Xinhai Revolution. While the rest of China was busy with this problem, the Mongols saw this as the perfect opportunity to secede from the union. In 30 Novmber 1911 Mongol and Russian soldiers surrounded Kulun (Ulanbatar).

paragraphs: On December 5, Khanddorj declared independence. In January 1912 the Governor of Uliastai in western Mongolia escaped protected by Russian Cossack troops. But the governor of Khovd decided to resist, hoping for support from Xinjiang. However they were defeated. In August 1912, Khovd left the country protected by the Coassacks.

paragraphs: Outer Mongolia then wanted Inner Mongolia (Pan-Mongolism). Some riots did happen in Inner Mongolia. And for some time, Outer Mongolia had parts of western Inner Mongolia. But then the new Beijing government also began to fight in Inner Mongolia. Outer Mongolia began to lose supplies. And Russia did not want to support the Outer Mongols or fight another war. So China kept Inner Mongolia. The year-long war was not good for Inner Mongolia. It is known as Year of the Ox rebellion ("牛年之乱" Үхэр жилийн үймээн).

paragraphs: On 1912 November 3, Russia signed a deal 《俄蒙协约》with Mongolia to mine in Mongolia in exchange for saying Mongolia is autonomous. China was not happy. So in 1913 September 18, Sun Baoqi () signed a new agreement between China and Russia《中俄声明文件》. China agrees not to put troops in Mongolia and recognize the Russian-Mongol deal 《俄蒙协约》. In return, Russia recognizes that China has suzerainty over Mongolia. So China's power over Mongolia changed from sovereignty to suzerainty.


title: Korean Empire

paragraphs: The Korean Empire (Daehan Jeguk"," ) lasted between 1897 and 1910. It was the last time Korea was unified and independent. After the First Sino-Japanese War, Korea was no longer a Chinese tributary state. But then in 1910, Japan annexed Korea. Korea became a Japanese colony until 1945. Then after the Korean War it split.


title: Japanese annexation of Korea

paragraphs: The Japanese annexation of Korea happened in 1910. The Empire of Japan annexed (made part of its territory) the Korean Empire. In Japanese it is also called 日韓併合、朝鮮併合、日韓合邦 which translate as annexation of Korea, annexation of Joseon (an old name of Korea), and unification of Japan and Korea.

paragraphs: Then Japanese ruled Korea until 1945, after the Potsdam Conference at the end of World War II.


title: Ellsworth County, Kansas

paragraphs: Ellsworth County (county code EW) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2010, 6,497 people lived there. Its county seat is Ellsworth. Ellsworth is also the biggest city in the county.

paragraphs: The U.S. Census Bureau says that the county has a total area of . Of that, is land and (1.0%) is water. It is intersected by the Smoky Hill River.


title: Hot pot

paragraphs: Hot pot is a popular food throughout China, and its popularity is increasing even in other countries. Hot pot restaurants can be found in almost every city in China, if not all of them. Hot pot is a pot of boiling water, often with chili oil inside, where people put in whatever food they like to boil. Food that is cooked often includes thin slices of meat, starches, vegetables, mushrooms, and noodles. Chengdu and Chongqing hot pot are especially well-known throughout China and worldwide. In Japanese, the dish is called shabu-shabu.


title: Death Parade

paragraphs: When someone dies, they are sent to one of many bars run by bartenders. There, they must play a Death Games with their souls on the line. The game reveals their secrets and what led them to their situation. Based on what is revealed, the bartender sends them for reincarnation or banishment into the void. The story is about Decim, a bartender of the bar where people who died at the same time are sent to. The place is also known as the Quindecim bar. His role in judging these souls changes when he meets a curious black-haired woman.


title: Birmingham pub bombings

paragraphs: The Birmingham pub bombings were carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 21 November 1974. Two bombs exploded in pubs in Birmingham, West Midlands, England, killing 21 people.

paragraphs: The first bomb exploded in the Mulberry Bush, killing ten people.

paragraphs: The second bomb exploded in the Tavern in the Town, killing eleven people.

paragraphs: A third bomb was planted in the doorway of a branch of Barclays bank. It was found by a policeman and did not explode.

paragraphs: The Birmingham bombings were 20th century England's most deadly terrorist attack.


title: Gravitino

paragraphs: A gravitino is a theoretical particle that physicists think will carry the force of gravity. There is no confirmation of the particle's existence.


title: Bepanah Pyaar

paragraphs: Bepanah Pyaar (transl. Endless Love) is an Indian romantic drama television series produced by Ekta Kapoor under her banner Balaji Telefilms. It premiered on 3 June 2019 on Colors TV. It stars Pearl V Puri, Ishita Dutta and Aparna Dixit as Raghbir, Pragati and Bani.

paragraphs: The series revolves around two star-crossed lovers Raghbir and Bani who love each other endlessly but destiny brings them apart as Bani dies in an accident. Soon destiny brings Pragati in Raghbir's life.


title: Louisiana Territory

paragraphs: The Territory of Louisiana or Louisiana Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. It was made from the former Louisiana (New France) on July 4, 1805. It lasted until June 4, 1812, when it was renamed the Missouri Territory.

paragraphs: On March 3, 1805, Congress passed legislation organizing the District of Louisiana into the Louisiana Territory, starting July 4, 1805.

paragraphs: The Territory was governed like how the Indiana Territory was governed.

paragraphs: The capitol of government was in St. Louis.

paragraphs: The first territorial governor was James Wilkinson. He was chosen by President Thomas Jefferson. He also was a Senior Officer of the United States Army while he was governor.


title: Guo Shoujing

paragraphs: Guo Shoujing (, 1231–1316), or Ruosi (若思), was a Chinese astronomer, engineer, and mathematician. He lived during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368). He is considered one of the greatest scientists in Chinese history. Guo was a major influence in the development of science.

paragraphs: He improved the Grand Canal, built a human-made lake (Kunming lake), created one of the most accurate calendars in history, invented some of the most accurate clocks during his time, and made many other contributions to math, astronomy, and hydraulics (water engineering).

paragraphs: He was born in 1231 in Xingtai, Hebei province. His family was poor. He grandfather, Guo Yong, was famous for his study of the Five Classics to astronomy, mathematics, and hydraulics. Guo Shoujing was a child prodigy. As a teenager, he learned how to build a water clock. He then improved it. His new invention was called the lotus clepsydra (a bowl shaped like a lotus flower that water dripped into). At 16 he began to study math and from there hydraulics and astronomy.

paragraphs: At 20, Guo became a hydraulic engineer and government official. He helped fix a bridge over the Dahuoquan River.

paragraphs: In the late 1250s, Kublai Khan (of the Mongol Empire, Yuan dynasty) thought hydraulic engineering, irrigation, and water transport would help the country and people. He sent Liu Bingzhong and his student Guo to improve irrigation systems between Dadu (now Beijing) and the Yellow River.

paragraphs: Guo helped build a 30 km canal from Baifu spring in the Shenshan Mountain to Dadu,

paragraphs: The Grand Canal linked the Yangzi river, the Huai, and Yellow river since the early 7th century. Guo helped extend it to Dadu 1292–93.

paragraphs: It worked. Kublai Khan was happy, and Guo did similar things for the rest of the empire. He was promoted to chief advisor of hydraulics, mathematics, and astronomy.

paragraphs: He created a human-made Kunming Lake in Beijing. This was one of his most memorable engineering feats.

paragraphs: The lake provided water for all areas surrounding Beijing and led to the best grain transport system in the world.

paragraphs: He built other reservoirs, thereby allowing people in inner China to access to fresh water for planting, drinking, and trading.

paragraphs: For irrigation, he provided hydraulics systems which distributed water equally and quickly, which allowed communities to trade more effectively, and therefore prosper.

paragraphs: In 1292, he became the head of the Water Works Bureau.

paragraphs: Guo invented many astronomy devices: the gnomon, the square table, the armilla, and a water powered armillary sphere called the Ling Long Yi.

paragraphs: Even when young Guo was revolutionizing old inventions. His clocks, watches, irrigation, reservoirs, and equilibrium stations were the most accurate of his time, allowing for an extremely accurate recording of time.

paragraphs: Kublai Khan noticed Guo was a genius in astronomy. So he asked Guo, Zhang, and Wang Xun to build a very accurate calendar. It would be the most accurate of its time. They built 27 observatories in the empire to collect data for calculations.

paragraphs: In 1280, Guo finished the calendar, calculating a year to be 365.2425 days, just 26 seconds off modern measurements. He invented many tools in the process.

paragraphs: The calendar revolutionized China and the world. It allowed more accurate recording of history, gave a sense of unification, and helped later emperors rule over China. His calendar would be used for the next 363 years, the longest a Chinese calendar has been used in history.

paragraphs: Guo was also able to more accurately establish the location of celestial bodies and the angles of the Sun relative to Earth. He invented a new type of compass, helping people find north using the stars instead of magnets.

paragraphs: In 1283, Guo was promoted to director of the Observatory in Beijing.

paragraphs: Guo’s work in mathematics was regarded as the most knowledgeable for 400 years. Throughout his life he worked a lot on spherical trigonometry, using a system of approximation to find arc lengths and angles. He approximated pi was equal to 3. But this allowed him to solve some equations much faster and more accurately than if he said pi was 3.14...

paragraphs: He also used mathematical functions for spherical trigonometry, building upon the knowledge of Shen Kuo's (1031–1095).

paragraphs: The next important work in trigonometry would only be printed 300 years later by Xu Guangqi in 1607, during the Ming Dynasty.

paragraphs: Tang Shunzhi 唐順之 (1507-1560) said Guo's work was an example of "practical scholarship" (applying advanced knowledge to solve practical problems).

paragraphs: Guo influenced the Changzhou School of Thought and spread of "evidential learning" (learning through experience).

paragraphs: A number of things are named after Guo, including the Asteroid 2012 Guo Shou-Jing and the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope near Beijing.


title: Grand Canal (China)

paragraphs: The Grand Canal or Dayunhe or Jing–Hang Grand Canal () is the longest and oldest canal and artificial river in the world.

paragraphs: It starts in Beijing; passes through Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang; and ends in Hangzhou.

paragraphs: It connects China's two longest rivers: the Yellow River and the Yangzi.

paragraphs: The oldest parts of the canal were built during the 5th century BC.

paragraphs: The Sui dynasty (581–618 AD) added some other parts. Between 1271–1633, the Yuan dynasty (through Guo Shoujing and others) and the Ming dynasty improved it and built parts to direct water to Beijing.

paragraphs: The total length is . Its greatest height is 42 m (138 ft) near the Shandong mountains.

paragraphs: Song Dynasty (960–1279) engineer Qiao Weiyue invented the pound lock in the 10th century. This allowed ships to travel higher and lower through the canal.

paragraphs: The canal amazed many people throughout history including Japanese monk Ennin (794–864), Persian historian Rashid al-Din (1247–1318), Korean official Choe Bu (1454–1504), and Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (1552–1610).

paragraphs: Historically, flooding of the Yellow River threatened to break the canal. During wartime the canal was even used as a weapon: the dikes of the Yellow River were sometimes broken to flood the enemy troops. But this caused disasters and hurt the economy.

paragraphs: The Canal has greatly improved China's economy and increased trade between the north and south. It is still used heavily to this day.


title: Slavery in the United States

paragraphs: Slavery in the United States was the legal institution of human slavery in the United States. Slaves were mostly Africans and African Americans. Slavery existed in the United States of America in the 18th and 19th centuries. Slavery existed in British America from early colonial days. Slavery was legal in all Thirteen Colonies at the time of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It lasted in about half the states until 1865. This was when it was banned in the entire country by the Thirteenth Amendment.

paragraphs: By the time of the American Revolution (1775–1783), slaves had been institutionalized as a racial caste. The caste associated with African ancestry. When the United States Constitution was ratified in 1789, a small number of free people of color were able to vote. This was because they were men who owned property. During and shortly after the Revolutionary War, abolitionist laws were passed in most Northern states, and there was a movement created to end slavery. Slave states tried to extend slavery into new Western territories. They wanted to do this to keep their share of political power in the country. Southern leaders also wanted to annex Cuba as a slave territory. The United States became split over the issue of slavery. It was split into slave and free states. The Mason–Dixon line divided the country. The line divided (free) Pennsylvania from (slave) Maryland.

paragraphs: While Jefferson was president, Congress prohibited the importation of slaves, effective 1808. Although (illegal importing) through Spanish Florida was common. Slave trading within the United States, however, continued at a fast pace. This was because there was a need for labor due to the creation of cotton plantations in the Deep South. New communities of African-American culture were created in the Deep South. There were 4 million slaves in the Deep South before they were set free.

paragraphs: The first Africans came to the New World with Christopher Columbus in 1492. An African crew member named Juan Las Canaries was on Columbus's ship. Shortly after, the first enslavement happened in what would later be the United States. In 1508, Ponce de Leon created the first settlement near present-day San Juan. He started enslaving the indigenous Tainos. In 1513, to supplement the decreasing number of Tainos people, the first African slaves were imported to Puerto Rico.

paragraphs: The first African slaves in the continental United States came via Santo Domingo to the San Miguel de Gualdape colony (most likely located in the Winyah Bay area of present-day South Carolina). It was created by Spanish explorer Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1526.

paragraphs: The colony was almost immediately disrupted by a fight over leadership. During the fight, the slaves revolted, and they ran away from the colony to hide among local Native Americans. De Ayllón and many of the colonists died shortly after from a sickness. The colony was abandoned. The settlers and the slaves who didn't run away went back to Haiti, from where they came.

paragraphs: On August 28, 1565, St. Augustine, Florida was created by the Spanish conquistador Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles. He brought three African slaves with him. During the 16th and 17th centuries, St. Augustine was the where a lot of the slave trade in Spanish colonial Florida happened. It was the first permanent settlement in the continental United States to have African slaves.

paragraphs: 60 years later, in the early years of the Chesapeake Bay settlements, colonial officials found it difficult to convince people to come and work for them. This was because the weather and environment of the settlements was very harsh. There was a very high chance that people would die. Most people came from Great Britain as indentured laborers. They signed contracts that said they would pay with work for their transportation, their upkeep, and their training, usually on a farm. The colonies had agricultural economies. These people were often young people who wanted to become permanent residents. In some cases, convicted criminals were sent to the colonies as indentured laborers, rather than being sent to prison. These people were not slaves, but they were required to work for four to seven years in Virginia to pay for the cost of their transportation and maintenance. Many Germans, Scots-Irish, and Irish came to the colonies in the 18th century, settling in the backcountry of Pennsylvania and further south.

paragraphs: The first 19 or so Africans to reach the English colonies arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. They were brought by English privateers who had seized them from a captured Portuguese slave ship. Slaves were usually baptized in Africa before sending them. As English custom then considered baptized Christians from slavery, colonists treated these Africans as indentured servants. The African indentured servants joined about 1,000 English indentured servants already in the colony. The Africans were freed after a period of time. They were also given the use of land and supplies by their former masters.

paragraphs: There were no laws about slavery in Virginia's early history. However, in 1640, a Virginia court sentenced John Punch, an African, to slavery. This was because he tried to run away from his service. He ran away with two white people. The two white people were sentenced only to one more year of their indenture, and three years' service to the colony. This is the first legal sanctioning of slavery in the English colonies. It was one of the first legal distinctions made between Europeans and Africans.

paragraphs: In 1641, Massachusetts became the first colony to allow slavery through law. Massachusetts passed the Body of Liberties. It banned slavery in many cases, but it allowed slaves to be held if they were prisoners of war, if they sold themselves into slavery or were bought somewhere else, or if they were sentenced to slavery as punishment by the government. The Body of Liberties used the word "strangers" to refer to people bought and sold as slaves; they were generally not English subjects. Colonists believed this term referred to Native Americans and Africans.

paragraphs: During most of the British colonial period, slavery existed in all the colonies. Slaves in the North usually worked as house servants, artisans, laborers, and craftsmen. Most were in cities. Many men worked on the docks and in shipping. In 1703, more than 42 percent of New York City households had slaves. New York City had the second-highest proportion of slaves of any city in the colonies after Charleston, South Carolina. Slaves were also used as agricultural workers in farming communities. This included areas of upstate New York and Long Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey. By 1770 there were 397,924 Blacks in a population of 2,170 million. They were not spread out evenly. There were 14,867 in New England where they were 2.7% of the population; 34,679 in the mid-Atlantic colonies where they were 6% of the population (19,000 were in New York or 11%); and 347,378 in the five southern colonies where they were 31% of the population.

paragraphs: The South developed an agricultural economy. It relied on commodity crops. Its planters quickly got more slaves. This was because its commodity crops were labor-intensive.

paragraphs: While there were some African slaves that were kept and sold in England, slavery in Great Britain had not been allowed by statute there. In 1772, it was made unenforceable at common law in England and Wales by a legal decision. The big British role in the international slave trade continued until 1807. Slavery continued in most of Britain's colonies. Many rich slave owners lived in England and had a lot of power.

paragraphs: In early 1775 Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, wrote to Lord Dartmouth. He wrote he was going to free slaves owned by Patriots in case they rebelled. On November 7, 1775, Lord Dunmore issued Lord Dunmore's Proclamation which declared martial law. He promised freedom for any slaves of American patriots who would leave their masters and join the royal forces. Slaves owned by Loyalist masters, however, were not going to be freed by Dunmore's Proclamation. About 1500 slaves owned by Patriots ran away and joined Dunmore's forces. Most died of disease before they could do any fighting. Three hundred of these freed slaves made it to freedom in Britain.

paragraphs: Many slaves used the war to run away from their plantations. They would run into cities or woods. In South Carolina, nearly 25,000 slaves (30% of the total enslaved population) ran away, migrated, or died during the war. In the South, many slaves died, with many due to escapes. Slaves also escaped throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic, joining the British who had occupied New York.

paragraphs: Slaves and free blacks also fought with the rebels during the Revolutionary War. Washington allowed slaves to be freed who fought with the American Continental Army. Rhode Island started enlisting slaves in 1778. Rhode Island promised money to owners whose slaves enlisted and lived to gain freedom. During the course of the war, about one fifth of the northern army was black. In 1781, Baron Closen, a German officer in the French Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment at the Battle of Yorktown, estimated the American army to be about one-quarter black. These men included both former slaves and free blacks.

paragraphs: In the 18th century, Britain became the world's biggest slave trader. Starting in 1777, the Patriots made importing slaves illegal state by state. They all acted to end the international trade. However, it was later reopened in South Carolina and Georgia. In 1807 Congress acted on President Jefferson's advice and made importing slaves from other countries a federal crime, as the Constitution permitted, starting January 1, 1808.

paragraphs: In the United States in the early nineteenth century, owners of female slaves could freely and legally use them as sexual objects. This is similar to the free use of female slaves on slave ships by the crews.

paragraphs: "Fancy" was a code word that meant the girl or young woman was able to be used for or trained for sexual use. Sometimes, children were also abused like this. The sale of a 13-year-old "nearly a fancy" is documented.

paragraphs: Furthermore, females who were able to become pregnant were supposed to be kept pregnant, so they could make more slaves to sell. The differences in skin color found in the United States make it obvious how often black women were impregnated by whites. For example, in the 1850 Census, 75.4% of "free negros" in Florida were described as mulattos, of mixed race. Nevertheless, it is only very recently, with DNA studies, that any sort of reliable number can be provided, and the research has only begun. Light-skinned girls, who contrasted with the darker field workers, were preferred.

paragraphs: Barbary pirates from North Africa started taking North American colonists as early as 1625. Around 700 Americans were held as slaves between 1785 and 1815. Some captives used their experiences as a North African slave to criticize slavery in the United States, such as William Ray in his book "Horrors of Slavery".

paragraphs: The Barbary problem directly led to the creation of the United States Navy in March 1794. While the United States was able to create peace treaties, these required the United States to pay tribute for protection from attack. Payments in ransom and tribute to the Barbary states amounted to 20% of United States government annual spending in 1800. The First Barbary War in 1801 and the Second Barbary War in 1815 led to better peace terms ending tribute payments.

paragraphs: Some slave owners were black. An African former indentured servant who settled in Virginia in 1621, Anthony Johnson, became one of the earliest documented slave owners in the American colonies. This was documented when he won a civil lawsuit to own a man named John Casor. In 1830, there were 3,775 black slave owners in the South. They owned a total of 12,760 slaves. 80% of the black slave owners lived in Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.


title: Primatologist

paragraphs: Primatology is the study of nonhuman primates. It is a diverse discipline, and primatologists can be found in biology, anthropology, psychology and other departments.


title: Nebraska Territory

paragraphs: The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. It existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the part of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. The territorial capitol was Omaha. The territory included areas of what is today Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, and Montana.


title: Hancock County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Hancock County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 43,929 people lived there. Its county seat is Bay St. Louis. The county was created in 1812. It is named for Founding Father John Hancock.

paragraphs: The county is along the Gulf of Mexico and the state line with Louisiana.


title: Holmes County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Holmes County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 19,198 people lived there. Its county seat is Lexington.


title: Humphreys County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Humphreys County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 9,375 people lived there. Its county seat is Belzoni.


title: Issaquena County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Issaquena County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 1,406 people lived there. Its county seat is Mayersville.


title: Itawamba County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Itawamba County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 23,401 people lived there. Its county seat is Fulton.


title: Jackson County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Jackson County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 139,668 people lived there which makes it the fifth-most populous county in Mississippi. Its county seat is Pascagoula.

paragraphs: The county was founded in 1812 and named for Andrew Jackson, general in the United States Army and afterward President of the United States.

paragraphs: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (31%) is water. It is the largest county in Mississippi by total area.


title: Jasper County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Jasper County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 17,062 people lived there. Its county seats are Bay Springs and Paulding.


title: Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Jefferson Davis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 12,487 people lived there. Its county seat is Prentiss. The county was founded on March 31, 1906. It is named in honor of Mississippi Senator and Confederate President Jefferson Davis.


title: Kemper County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Kemper County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 10,456 people lived there. Its county seat is De Kalb.


title: Lafayette County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Lafayette County is a county in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 47,351 people lived there. Its county seat is Oxford.


title: Union County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Union County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 27,134 people lived there. Its county seat is New Albany.


title: Lamar County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Lamar County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 55,658 people lived there. Its county seat is Purvis.


title: Smith County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Smith County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 16,491 people lived there. Its county seat is Raleigh.


title: Raleigh, Mississippi

paragraphs: Raleigh is a town in, and the county seat of, Smith County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,462 at the 2010 census, making it the largest town in Smith County.


title: Gainesville, Texas

paragraphs: Gainesville is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Cooke County.


title: Lauderdale County, Mississippi

paragraphs: Lauderdale County is a county found in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, 80,261 people lived there. Its county seat is Meridian. The county was founded in 1833. It is named for Colonel James Lauderdale, who was killed at the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.


title: Songtsen Gampo

paragraphs: Songtsen Gampo (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ, "srong btsan sgam po;" 569–649) or Songzan Ganbu (), was the 33rd Tibetan king and founder of the Tibetan Empire.

paragraphs: He helped introduce Buddhism to Tibet. He had a Nepali wife named Bhrikuti and a Tang wife named Princess Wencheng. Both of them were Buddhists. He also helped invent the Tibetan alphabet and made Classical Tibetan the official language of Tibet at the time.

paragraphs: He may have been born in 569 or 605. Tibet used their own calendar so we are still trying to figure it out.

paragraphs: Songtsen Gampo was born at Gyama in Meldro, northeast of modern Lhasa. His dad was the Yarlung king Namri Songtsen. The book "The Holder of the White Lotus" says Gampo was the human form (incarnation) of the Avalokiteśvara. Dalai Lamas are also thought to be human forms of the Avalokitesvara. In the 11th century, Buddhists started calling him a cakravartin and incarnation of Avalokiteśvara.

paragraphs: Some Dunhuang documents say Gampo had a sister Sad-mar-kar and a younger brother. His younger brother was betrayed and died in a fire after 641. There may have been fighting between his sister and brother.

paragraphs: Songtsen Gampo's mother was part of the Tsépong clan ("Tibetan Annals"). She helped unify Tibet. Her name is Driza Tökarma ("the Bri Wife [named] White Skull Woman", "Tibetan Annals").

paragraphs: According to Tibetan tradition, Songtsen Gampo became king when 13 after his father was poisoned around 618. He was the 33rd king of the Yarlung Dynasty. He was born in the Ox year. Yarlung kings usually took throne at 13. This accords with the tradition that the Yarlung kings took the throne when they were 13, when they were old enough to ride a horse. If this is true, then Gampo may have been born in the Ox year 605 CE. The "Old Book of Tang" confirms that he "was still a minor when he succeeded to the throne."

paragraphs: In Tibetan tradition, these last two wives helped bring Buddhism to Tibet. The two great influences on Tibetan Buddhism are Indo-Nepali and Han Buddhism.

paragraphs: Gampo's son, Gungsong Gungtsen, died before his father. So Gampo's son, Mangsong Mangtsen, took the throne. His mother may have been Wencheng or Mangmoje Trikar. Trikar is mentioned in "Genealogy," in a hidden library in the caves in Dunhuang, and the "Tibetan Annals", which list the names of the Tibetan emperors, their mothers, and their clans.

paragraphs: Some sources tell a different story. When Gungsong Gungtsen turned 13 (nowadays 12 as Tibet used a different calendar), his dad Gampo retired, so Gungsong ruled for five years. They say Gungsong married 'A-zha Mang-mo-rje when he was thirteen, and they had a son, Mangsong Mangtsen (r. 650-676 CE). Gungsong then died when he was 18. His dad Gampo then took the throne again. Gungsong Gungtsen may be buried at Donkhorda, the site of the royal tombs, to the left of his grandfather Namri Songtsen (gNam-ri Srong-btsan). The dates for these events are very unclear.

paragraphs: Songtsen Gampo sent Thonmi Sambhota to India to create a new alphabet for Classical Tibetan. This led to the first written works, literature, and constitution.

paragraphs: He brought new culture and tech to Tibet.

paragraphs: The "Old Book of Tang" ("Jiu Tangshu" 旧唐书) says in 648 a northern Indian army attacked some some Tang Chinese (including Wang Xuanze). So with the Nepali and Tang, Gampo helped defeat the army and protect the Chinese. In 649, the Tang Emperor Gaozong, a fellow Buddhist, gave him the title "Binwang", "Guest King" or "Zongwang", "Cloth-tribute King" and 3,000 rolls of colorful silk. Gaozong also gave Gampo "silkworms' eggs, mortars and presses for making wine, and workmen to manufacture paper and ink."

paragraphs: Tools and astrology was imported from Tang and the Western Xia; the dharma and the art of writing came from India; treasures from the Nepalis and the Mongols; laws from the Uyghurs of the Turkic Khaganate to the North.

paragraphs: Gampo brought Buddhism to the Tibetan people. He built many Buddhist temples During his reign, people began translating Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Tibetan.

paragraphs: He defeated the Sumpa in northeastern Tibet around 627 ("Tibetan Annals" ["OTA"] l. 2).

paragraphs: He may have conquered the Zhangzhung (around northern India, western Tibet), or that may have happened after he died. The "Old Book of Tang" say that in 634, the Yangtong (the Zhangzhung) and various Qiang peoples "altogether submitted to him."

paragraphs: He then unified Yangtong, defeated the 'Azha (Tuyuhun), and then conquered two more Qiang tribes before threatening Songzhou with an army of more than 200,000 men.

paragraphs: He conquered the Tangut people (who later formed the Western Xia in 942), the Bailang, and Qiang tribes. The Bailang people were west of the Tanguts and east of the Domi. The Tang previously ruled them since 624.

paragraphs: The "Old Book of Tang" says: Naling Deva's father was king of 泥婆羅 Nepal (Licchavi kingdom) died. The king died, and then Naling Deva's uncle took over. "The Tibetans gave [Naling Deva] refuge and reestablished him on his throne [in 641]; that is how he became subject to Tibet."

paragraphs: The Tibetans traveled to Nepal, and the Naling Deva was happy. Then the Tibetans were attacked by the northern Indian king Harsha. So Naling Deva helped Tibet defeat Harsha's army. Gampo then married Princess Bhrikuti, daughter of Naling Deva.

paragraphs: The "Jiu Tangshu" records that Gampo sent the first embassy from Tibet to the Tang in 634 CE. It was a "tribute mission" with Tibet giving gifts to the Tang. He gave gifts of gold and silk to the Tang emperor and asked for a Tang princess in marriage in return (heqin). Tang said no. So he attacked Songzhou (part of Tang) in 637 and 638. But he then gave up and said sorry. He asked for a wife again, and this time the Tang said yes. And so he married Wencheng, niece of Emperor Taizong of Tang. So there was peace between the Tang and Tibetan empires of China.

paragraphs: Both wives Wencheng and Bhrikuti are considered to be Tara, the Goddess of Compassion and female Chenrezig:

paragraphs: Gampo built a city for Wencheng and a palace just for her.

paragraphs: Chinese monk Xuanzang visited Harsha. Harsha then sent some people to China. China then sent Wang Xuanze and some others back. They traveled through Tibet. Their journey is written in stuff at northern India (Rajgir and Bodhgaya).

paragraphs: Harsha was then overthrown by Arjuna. In 648 Wang Xuanze made a second journey, but Arjuna treated him badly. So the Tibetans and Nepalese defeated Arjuna.

paragraphs: So in 649, Chinese emperor Tang Gaozong rewarded Gampo with the title of King of Xinhai Jun (Himalayan plateau, China).

paragraphs: Gampo died in 649. In 650, the Tang emperor sent an envoy with a "letter of mourning and condolences". Gampo's tomb is in the Chongyas Valley near Yalung, 13 m high and 130 m long.