Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
In the 1830s, slavery emerged as an increasingly polarizing issue in the United States. A longtime opponent of slavery, Adams used his new role in Congress to fight it, and he became the most prominent national leader opposing slavery.  After one of his reelection victories, he said that he must "bring about a day prophesied when slavery and war shall be banished from the face of the earth."  He wrote in his private journal in 1820:The discussion of this Missouri question has betrayed the secret of their souls. In the abstract they admit that slavery is an evil, they disclaim it, and cast it all upon the shoulder of…Great Britain. But when probed to the quick upon it, they show at the bottom of their souls pride and vainglory in their condition of masterdom. They look down upon the simplicity of a Yankee's manners, because he has no habits of overbearing like theirs and cannot treat negroes like dogs. It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle
. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?In 1836, partially in response to Adams's consistent presentation of citizen petitions requesting the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, the House of Representatives imposed a "gag rule" that immediately tabled any petitions about slavery. The rule was favored by Democrats and Southern Whigs but was largely opposed by Northern Whigs like Adams.
In late 1836, Adams began a campaign to ridicule slave owners and the gag rule. He frequently attempted to present anti-slavery petitions, often in ways that provoked strong reactions from Southern representatives. Though the gag rule remained in place, the discussion ignited by his actions and the attempts of others to quiet him raised questions of the right to petition, the right to legislative debate, and the morality of slavery. Adams fought actively against the gag rule for another seven years, eventually moving the resolution that led to its repeal in 1844.

In 1841, at the request of Lewis Tappan and Ellis Gray Loring, Adams joined the case of United States v. The Amistad. Adams went before the Supreme Court on behalf of African slaves who had revolted and seized the Spanish ship Amistad. Adams appeared on February 24, 1841, and spoke for four hours. His argument succeeded; the Court ruled in favor of the Africans, who were declared free and returned to their homes.
Later life 
Adams returned to Massachusetts for a short time after he was lost.  He returned to Washington D.C. in 1831 after being elected to the United States House of Representatives. He was a leading opponent of slavery. He remained in Congress until the day of his death on February 23, 1848.

Death 
On February 21, 1848, Adams suffered a stroke in the House chamber. He collapsed and died in the House two days later on February 23, 1848. He was eighty years old. It was the 7th death of a US president. Due to the importance of Adams, especially in his later years, it was arguably one of the most significant presidential deaths up to that point.

Legacy 
Adams is known today as someone who was a good diplomat, Secretary of State and Congressman. It is argued that he was one of the best, if not the best Secretaries of State in history. However, his presidency was at best average. However, this was likely due to Andrew Jackson's opponents in Congress limiting what he could do.

References
References 

1767 births
1848 deaths
Deaths from stroke
 
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Peter Henry Fonda (February 23, 1940 – August 16, 2019) was an American actor. He and Dennis Hopper starred in the motorcycle movies, The Wild Angels and Easy Rider. He appeared in many other movies, including Ulee's Gold, in which he was nominated for an Academy Award, Thomas and the Magic Railroad and The Passion of Ayn Rand.

Personal life
Fonda wrote an autobiography, Don't Tell Dad: A Memoir, which was published in 1998. He had a home in Paradise Valley, Montana in 1975. Fonda died of respiratory failure and lung cancer on August 16, 2019.

Filmography

References

Other websites

 
 
 Official Website: www.peterfonda.com
1940 births
2019 deaths
Actors from New York City
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Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, movie director, and photographer. He has appeared in many movies and television shows, since the 1950s.

Early life
Hopper was born on May 17, 1936 in Dodge City, Kansas. He spent his life in Kansas City, Missouri and in San Diego, California. Hopper studied to be an actor at Helix High School and at the Actors' Studio. Hopper has two brothers.

Career 
Hopper is probably best known for directing, co-writing, and starring in the Oscar-nominated movie Easy Rider (1969). In 1994, Hopper had a role in the thriller movie Speed. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Personal life
Hopper was married to Brooke Hayward from 1961 until they divorced in 1969. Hopper was then married to Michelle Phillips from 1970 until they divorced weeks later. He was married to Daria Halprin from 1972 until they divorced. He was later married to Katherine LaNasa from 1989 until they divorced in 1992. Hopper was married to Victoria Duffy from 1998 until they divorced in 2010, months before his death. Hopper had 3 daughters and a son.

Lawsuit
Hopper once insulted actor Rip Torn after he said "Texans are hippie-hatting rednecks" and was sued for a total of $475,000 dollars.

Illness and death
On October 29, 2009, his manager announced that Hopper had prostate cancer. He was terminally ill. He died of the disease on May 29, 2010 in Venice, California. He was 74. He was buried at Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. Alpha and Omega was his last movie and was dedicated to his memory.

References

Other websites
Other websites 

 

Actors from Kansas
Actors from Kansas City, Missouri
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1936 births
2010 deaths
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Two of his best-known songs are "I Saw The Light" and "Hello It's Me". Both were on his 1971 album Something/Anything?. Most of the songs on that album were performed by Rundgren alone, using multitrack recorders and playing many musical instruments.

Apple Records hired Rundgren to produce an album, Straight Up, for the band Badfinger during 1971. Badfinger had not heard of Rundgren and did not know his music, until they bought copies of some of his records. They liked what they heard, and when Rundgren met the band, they got along well, and worked well together.

In the early 2000s, Rundgren replaced Ric Ocasek as bandleader of The Cars, when they reunited to tour.

Actress Liv Tyler used to believe that Rundgren was her father.

References

1948 births
Living people
American record producers
American rock guitarists
American rock singers
American singer-songwriters
Singers from Pennsylvania
1066 was a year which brought great changes in England. The land had four kings during the year. The year started under Anglo-Saxon rule, and ended under Norman rule. This was the only occasion since Roman Britain when the entire country was successfully invaded.

There were four kings during the year: Edward the Confessor (to 5 January 1066), Harold Godwinson (to 14 October 1066), Edgar the Ætheling (to 10 December 1066), and finally William I, Duke of Normandy.

Events 
 6 January – Harold II crowned King of England
 25 September – Harold II defeats Tostig and Harald Hardraada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Tostig and Harald Hardraada are killed
 14 October – At the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy) defeats Harold. Harold is killed. In England, this heralds the start of the Middle Ages.

 The Viking port of Hedeby, a town on the Baltic Sea, is destroyed by Slavs.
Deaths 
 4 or 5 January – King Edward the Confessor of England dies
 25 September – killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge:
 King Harald III of Norway (b. 1015)
 Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria
 14 October – killed at the Battle of Hastings:
 King Harold II of England
 Leofwine Godwinson, brother of King Harold II
 Gyrth Godwinson, brother of King Harold II

 John Scotus (bishop of Mecklenburg (Johannes Skotus) (born around 990)
 10 November – Sacrificed to Radegast:
1497 was a common year.

Events 
 July 8 – Vasco da Gama leaves Lisbon, Portugal for is first trip through the Cape of Good Hope to India.
 Spanish Empire: Melilla is captured by Castile.
 Girolamo Savonarola, priest and leader of Florence, Italy burns what he believes is immoral art in Piazza della Signoria. Savonarola is excommunicated and burned alive in that same location later in the same year.

Deaths 
 February 6 – Johannes Ockeghem, Belgian composer (b. 1410)
1559 was a common year.

Events 
January 15 – Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey.
March 23 – Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia, defending his lands against the invasion of Nur ibn Mujahid, Sultan of Harar, is killed in battle. His brother Menas succeeds him as king.
April 3 – Peace of Cateau Cambrésis – France makes peace with England and Spain.  France gives up most of its gains in Italy (including Savoy), keeping only Saluzzo, but keeps the three Lorraine bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and the formerly English town of Calais.
July 10 – Francis II becomes King of France following the death of his father, Henry II in a jousting accident.
End of the Italian Wars.
 The Decameron expurgated.
 A royal edict in France makes heresy punishable by death.
 Elizabeth I establishes the Church of England, with the Act of Uniformity 1559 and the Act of Supremacy 1559.
Events 
 January 16 – English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
 April 4 – After going around the world Sir Francis Drake is knighted by Elizabeth I.
 July 26 – The Northern Netherlands becomes free from Spain in the Oath of Abjuration.

Births 
 January 4 – James Ussher, Anglo-Irish priest and scholar
 February 17 – Fausto Poli, Italian Catholic priest
 March 16 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian
 October 9 – Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, French mathematician
 October 21 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter
Deaths 
 April 25 – Okabe Motonobu, Japanese warrior
 May 31 – Jan Kostka, Polish noble
 June 2 – James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, regent of Scotland
 July 11 – Peder Skram, Danish senator and naval officer
 July 22 – Richard Cox, English bishop
 August 21 – Sakuma Nobumori, Japanese retainer and samurai
 September 1 – Guru Ram Das, fourth Sikh Guru
 September 30 – Hubert Languet, French diplomat and reformer
 October 9 – Saint Louis Bertrand, Spanish missionary to Latin-America, patron saint of Colombia
 October 23 – Michael Neander, German mathematician and astronomer
 November 7 – Richard Davies, Welsh bishop and scholar
1509 was a common year.

Events 
February 2 – Battle of Diu took place near Diu, India.
April 22 – Henry VIII becomes King of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
April 27 – Pope Julius II places Venice under interdict and excommunication for refusing to cede part of Romagna under Papal control
May 14 – Battle of Agnadello – French forces defeat the Venetians.
 June 11 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon
June 24 – King Henry VIII of England's and Queen consort's Catherine of Aragon coronation ceremony.

 August 8, 1509, Krishna devaraya became the ruler of the Vijayanagara Empire, the greatest emperor, scholar and writer.
Events 
 April 17 – Martin Luther speaks to the assembly at the Diet of Worms, refusing to recant his teachings.
 May 17 – Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, is executed for treason.
 August 13 – The ruler of the Aztec Empire surrenders to Spanish conquistadors.  This ends the Aztec Empire.
 August 29 – The Ottoman Turks capture Nándorfehérvár, now known as Belgrade

Births 
July – Juan Ponce Enrile (b. 1460)
August 4 – Pope Urban VII (d. 1590)

Deaths 
 April 21 – Ferdinand Magellan (b. 1480)

References
al-Qaeda (, al-qāʿidah, "the base") is an Islamist jihadist multinational organization that was founded around August 1988 and late 1989.p75 It works as a network, as a stateless army, and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad. Most of the world thinks it is a terrorist organization.

Members of al-Qaeda have performed many acts of terrorism. Most of these have been done against the United States and Shias. Some of its most well-known attacks have been the September 11 attacks, the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and the attack on the U.S. Navy ship USS Cole in 2000. al-Qaeda has done suicide attacks and simultaneous (at the same time) bombings of different targets.
Among al-Qaeda's goals is for other countries to stop influencing Muslim countries and for a new Islamic caliphate to be made. There have been reports that al-Qaeda believes that Christian and Jewish Islamophobia is trying to destroy Islam and that the killing of bystanders and civilians is religiously justified in jihad.

There have been guesses that there are 500–1,000 operatives in Afghanistan and around 5,000 worldwide. However, there is no confirmation of this.

History
In June 2001, al-Qaeda and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which had been associated with each other for many years, merged into 'Qaeda al-Jihad'.

"...the members of Islamic Jihad and its guiding figure Ayman al-Zawahiri have provided the backbone of [al-Quaeda's] leadership. According to officials in the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., Zawahiri has been responsible for much of the planning of the terrorist operations against the United States".
Death of Osama Bin Laden Laden and current leadership
Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahiri was the highest-ranking surviving member of al-Qaeda's leadership after Osama bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011.

Death of Abu Yahya al-Libi
Senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed in a drone strike on June 4, 2012. He ranked second to Ayman al-Zawahiri at the time. The strike was carried out in the northwest tribal area of Waziristan. The Pakistan Government has protested to the U.S. about the strike.

References

Other websites
 Council on Foreign Relations al-Qaeda 
 

1980s establishments
 
Rebel militia groups
Shiaphobia
Sunni organizations
Events 
 Battle of Gettysburg
 Founded Red Cross.

Births 
 January 17 – David Lloyd George, British politician; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1945)
 April 5 – Victoria of the United Kingdom, British royal (died 1950)
 June 19 – John Goodall, English footballer (died 1942)
 July 30 – Henry Ford, American businessman; founder of Ford Motor Company (died 1947)
1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Art, music, theatre, literature 
 October 15 – Little Nemo in Slumberland debuts in American newspapers.
 A Little Princess is published

Events 
 January 22 – "Bloody Sunday" in St. Petersburg (Russia). First Russian Revolution has started.
 April 1 – SOS, the Morse code signal for distress, is created by Germany.
 June 7 – Norway becomes an independent country.
 October 28 – Cardiff, Wales becomes a city in the United Kingdom.
 Albert Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity.
 A workers' revolt, supported by the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin, takes place in Odessa, Russia.

Births

January 

 January 2 – Michael Tippett, English composer (d. 1998)
 January 14 – Takeo Fukuda, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1995)
 January 21 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer (d. 1957)

February 

 February 1 - Emilio G. Segre, Italian-American physicist (d. 1989)
 February 2 – Ayn Rand, American writer (d. 1982)

March
March 

 March 9 – Rex Warner, English writer (d. 1986)
 March 12 – Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (d. 1982)
 March 19 – Albert Speer, German architect (d. 1981)
 March 25 – Pote Sarasin, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 2000)

April 
 April 21 – Pat Brown, 32nd Governor of California (d. 1996)

May 

 May 15 – Joseph Cotten, American actor (d. 1994)
 May 16 – Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
 May 26 – Seni Pramoj, Prime Minister of Thailand (d. 1997)

June 

 June 21 – Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher (d. 1980)

July 

 July 15 – Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 1980)
 July 29 – Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
 July 29 – Dag Hammarskjöld, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1961)

August 
 August 24 – Arthur Crudup, American blues musician (d. 1976)
 August 25 – Faustyna Kowalska, Polish nun and mystic (d. 1938)

September 

 September 18 – Greta Garbo, Swedish actress (d. 1990)

October

November

December
December 

 December 4 – Emílio Garrastazu Médici, President of Brazil (d. 1985)
 December 5 – John Whedon, American screenwriter (d. 1991)
 December 11 – Erskine Hamilton Childers, 4th President of Ireland (d. 1974)
 December 21 – Anthony Powell, English writer (d. 2000)
 December 22 – Kenneth Rexroth, American poet (d. 1982)

Deaths 
 March 24 – Jules Verne, French writer (b. 1828)

 

nv:1901 – 1950
Events 
 Last year of Tsar Nicolas II of Russia's reign.
 Russian Revolutions (Russia goes communist)
 The United States declares war on Germany (for World War I)
 Influenza pandemic

Births

January 

 January 5 – Jane Wyman, American actress (d. 2007)
 January 24 – Ernest Borgnine, American actor (d. 2012)
 January 25 – Ilya Prigogine, Belgian chemist (d. 2003)
 January 25 – Jânio Quadros, 22nd President of Brazil (d. 1992)

February 

 February 4 – Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Last President of United Pakistan (d. 1980)
 February 6 – Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hungarian American actress (d. 2016)
 February 14 – Herbert Hauptman, American mathematician and Nobel laureate in Chemistry (d. 2011)

March 

 March 2 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, musician and television producer (d. 1986)
 March 20 – Vera Lynn, British singer (d. 2020)
 March 27 – Cyrus Vance, United States Secretary of State (d. 2002)

April
April 

 April 6 – Leonora Carrington, British-Mexican painter (d. 2011)
 April 17 – Bill Clements, Governor of Texas (d. 2011)
 April 22 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
 April 25 – Ella Fitzgerald, American singer (d. 1996)
 April 26 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect (d. 2019)
 April 26 – Virgil Trucks, American baseball player
 April 29 – Celeste Holm, American actress (d. 2012)

May 

 May 29 – John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (d. 1963)

June 

 June 3 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (d. 1969)
 June 6 - Kirk Kerkorian, American businessman (d. 2013)
 June 7 – Dean Martin, American singer, actor, comedian and film producer (d. 1995)
 June 9 - Eric Hobsbawm, British historian (d. 2012)
 June 30 - Lena Horne, American singer (d. 2010)
 June 30 – Susan Hayward, American actress (d. 1975)

July 
 July 14 - Arthur Laurents, American playwright (d. 2011)
 July 17 - Phyllis Diller, American actress and comedienne (d. 2012)

August
August 

 August 6 - Robert Mitchum, American actor (d. 1997)
 August 30 - Denis Healey, British politician (d. 2015)

September 

 September 11 - Herbert Lom, Czech-born British actor (d. 2012)
 September 11 - Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines (d. 1989)
 September 14 - Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer (d. 2007)

October 

 October 2 - Christian de Duve, Belgian biochemist (d. 2013)
 October 20 - Stephane Hessel, French politician (d. 2013)
 October 21 - Dizzy Gillespie, American musician (d. 1993)
 October 22 - Joan Fontaine, American actress (d. 2013)

November 

 November 2 - Ann Rutherford, American actress (d. 2012)
 November 7 - Helen Suzman, South African political activist (d. 2009)
 November 14 – Park Chung-hee, 3rd President of South Korea (d. 1979)
 November 19 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
 November 20 - Robert Byrd, American politician (d. 2010)
 November 22 - Andrew Huxley, British scientist (d. 2012)

December
December 

 December 16 - Arthur C. Clarke, British writer (d. 2008)
 December 21 – Heinrich Böll, German author, novelist, and short story writer (d. 1985)
 December 28 - Ellis Clarke, 1st President of Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2010)
Deaths 
 January 2 – Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (b. 1832)
 January 10 – William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), American frontiersman (b. 1846)
 January 16 – George Dewey, U.S. admiral (b. 1837)
 February 5 – Jaber II Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1860)
 February 10 – John William Waterhouse, Italian-born artist (b. 1849)
 March 8 – Ferdinand von Zeppelin, German inventor (b. 1838)
 March 17 – Franz Brentano, German philosopher and psychologist (b. 1838)
 March 31 – Emil von Behring, German winner of the 1901 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1854)
 April 1 – Scott Joplin, American musician and composer (b. 1868)
 April 14 – L. L. Zamenhof, Polish creator of Esperanto (b. 1859)
 May 17 – Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, ruler of Sarawak (b. 1829)
 May 20 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
 June 30 – Antonio de La Gandara, French painter (b. 1861)
 July 27 – Emil Kocher, Swiss medical researcher, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1841)
August 13 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1860)
 August 20 – Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1835)
 August 30 – Alan Leo, British astrologer (b. 1860)
 September 27 – Edgar Degas, French painter (b. 1834)
 October 13 – Florence La Badie, Canadian actress (b. 1888)
 October 15 – Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (executed) (b. 1876)
 October 23 – Eugène Grasset, Swiss artist (b. 1845)
 October 28 – Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 1831)
 November 8 – Colin Blythe, English cricketer (b. 1879)
 November 11 – Queen Liliuokalani of Hawai'i (b. 1838)
 November 17 – Auguste Rodin, French sculptor (b. 1840)
 December 8 – Mendele Moykher Sforim, Russian Yiddish and Hebrew writer (b. 1836)
 December 10 – Mackenzie Bowell, Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1824)
1915 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events 
 January 26 - President Woodrow Wilson says yes to making Rocky Mountain National Park.
 February 8 - The Birth of a Nation is released.
 April 24 – The Armenian genocide begins.
 May 23 - The Italian Campaign of World War I begins.
 November 17 - Morocco starts using its current flag.

Births

January 

 February 1 – Stanley Matthews, English footballer (d. 2000)

February

March

April 

 April 21 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-American actor (d. 2001)
 April 27 – Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet (d. 1984)

May 

 May 6 – Orson Welles, American movie director, screenwriter and actor (d. 1985)

June 

 June 4 – Modibo Keïta, 1st President of Mali (d. 1977)
 June 28 – David Honeyboy Edwards, American blues guitarist and singer

July 
 July 28 - Frankie Yankovic, American polka musician (d. 1998)

August 

 August 29 – Ingrid Bergman, Swedish actress (d. 1982)

September
September 

 September 6 – Franz Josef Strauß, German politician (d. 1988)

October 
 October 24 – Bob Kane, American cartoonist (d. 1998)

November 

 November 25 – Augusto Pinochet, Chilean ruler (d. 2006)

December 

 December 12 – Frank Sinatra, American singer and actor (d. 1998)
 December 19 – Édith Piaf, French singer (d. 1963)

Deaths 
 April 27 – Alexander Scriabin, Russian composer (b. 1872)
 November 14 – Booker T. Washington, American inventor, educator, and writer (b. 1856)
Tallinn is the capital of Estonia. It is on the north-eastern coast of Estonia and borders the Gulf of Finland. The city is next to many lakes. The largest of these lakes is called Lake Ülemiste, and most Tallinnites get their drinking water from this lake.

Tallinn's Old Town, which is the historic town center, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History 

Tallinn first appeared on a map in 1154, when the cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, calling the city Qlwn, added it to his map of the world.  After being conquered by the Danes, the city was known as Reval until Estonia became an independent nation in the 1920s.
In 1285, the city became a part of the Hanseatic League. As a result, in the Middle Ages Tallinn was an important stop on the trade routes between Europe and Russia. During its history Estonia has been ruled at times by Sweden and by Russia. It became independent in 1918 after World War I, but after World War II it was ruled by the USSR. In March 1944 Tallinn was bombed by Soviet Air Force, killing 436 civilians and totally destroying 5073 buildings. Since 1991, Tallinn has been the capital of an independent Estonia.

Today more than 400,000 people live in Tallinn, which is one third of the population of Estonia. It is a big sea port. Its food and textile industries are important. The town has many pretty, old buildings.

Climate
The chart below shows the climate of Tallinn.

Gallery

References

World Heritage Sites in Europe
Lombardy (/ˈlɒmbərdi, ˈlʌm-/ LOM-bər-dee, LUM-; Italian: Lombardia [lombarˈdiːa]; Lombard: Lombardia, Western Lombard: [lũbɐ̞rˈdiːɑ], Eastern Lombard: [lombɐ̞rˈdiːɑ, -ˈdeːɑ]) is a region in the northern part of Italy. It is the most populated region of the country, and has almost 9.4 million people. The capital is Milan. Lombardy has provinces within it. 

To the north of Lombardy is the country of Switzerland (Canton Ticino and Grigioni). To the west is the region of Piedmont. To the east are the regions of Veneto and Trentino - Alto Adige. To the south is the region of Emilia-Romagna.

Name 
In the Italian language, Lombardy is called Lombardia. This name comes from an old German word: Langbardland and means "country of the Lombards".

Geography 
In the north of Lombardy there are very high mountains, (40% of the territory is mountains) the highest mountains are almost 4.000 meters in the Bernina Range.
In the south of the region flows the Po river, which is the longest river in Italy. The most important rivers are the Adda river, the Mincio and the Ticino river, all of them end in the Po river.

There are also a lot of lakes, the largest are the lake Maggiore, the Lake of Varese, the lake Como, and the lake Garda.

Provinces 
Lombardy is divided into 12 provinces:
 Bergamo
 Brescia
 Como
 Cremona
 Lecco
 Lodi
 Mantova
 Milano
 Monza e Brianza
 Pavia
 Sondrio
 Varese

References

Other websites 
 Official Site (IT)
Italy is a country in the south of Europe. It is divided into 20 regions. A region is a part of the country with a government and a president.

In Italy, regions can decide some things. They can give money to local business. They can decide some things about hospitals, schools, and transport.

In some regions, people speak other languages. In Alto Adige/Südtirol a lot of people speak mainly German. So this region is "special" and can decide more things. 

Sardinia and Sicily are islands. They have different problems than other regions. They have also some different laws.
These regions are called "regions with special laws" ().

List of the regions 
Every region has a capital. Here is the list of the regions, the capital and other information.
Events 
 February 6 – A large demonstration about unemployment at Trafalgar Square led to riots at Pall Mall
 March 1 - Anglo-Chinese School was founded in Singapore by Bishop William Oldham.
 April 6 – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada becomes a city.
 October 4 – Johannesburg, South Africa was founded.
 October 28 – France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States

Births 
 January 1 – Garegin Njdeh, Armenian politician (d. 1955)
 January 30 – Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao, Spanish writer (d. 1950)
 March 18 - Edward Everett Horton, American actor (d. 1970)
 April 26 – Gabdulla Tukay, Tatar poet (d. 1913)
 May 3 – Marcel Dupré, French composer (d. 1971)
September 13 - Alain LeRoy Locke, American writer (d. 1954)
 October 16 – David Ben-Gurion, first Prime Minister of Israel(d. 1973)
   October 16   – Armin T. Wegner, German writer and polictical activist (d. 1978)
 December 8 – Diego Rivera, Mexican painter (d. 1957)
Deaths 
 July 31 – Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)
 May 15 – Emily Dickinson, American poet (b. 1830)
 November 18 – Chester A. Arthur, 21st President of the United States (b. 1829)

Books 
 Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
 Little Lord Fauntleroy - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Vladimir Nabokov (April 22, 1899 – July 2, 1977) was a Russian-American writer. He wrote his first books in Russian, and after he moved to the United States, he wrote in English. His most famous book is Lolita, but others have also become famous, such as Pnin, Pale Fire, and Ada or Ardor.

Nabokov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the first of five children. In 1919, he and his family went to Europe. In 1945, he became an American citizen. He died in Montreux, Switzerland.
Life
Nabokov's father was a lawyer and politician. As a child, Vladimir learned Russian, English, and French. After the October Revolution, the family moved a few times, but settled in Berlin in 1920. Two years later, his father was shot and killed by mistake, because he had blocked the person the gunman was trying to murder. His mother and sister moved to Prague, but Vladimir stayed in Berlin. He wrote for other Russians who had left Russia to live there. He met Véra Slonin, a woman from a Jewish-Russian family, in 1923. They married in 1925. In 1934, they had their only child, Dmitri.

In 1937, Nabokov started to look for another job. He left for France that year, and his family followed. They all fled to America in 1940, except his brother Sergei, who died in a Nazi concentration camp.

Butterflies 
Nabokov was an expert on butterflies. As a child he had read books by entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian which he found in the attic of his family's country home in Vyra.
During the 1940s, he was a research fellow in zoology. He organized the butterfly collection of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. His specialty was the tribe Polyommatini of the family Lycaenidae.

The genus Nabokovia was named after him in honor of this work, as were a number of butterfly and moth species (e.g. many species in the genera Madeleinea and Pseudolucia have names alluding to Nabokov or names from his novels). In 1967, Nabokov commented: "The pleasures and rewards of literary inspiration are nothing beside the rapture of discovering a new organ under the microscope or an undescribed species on a mountainside in Iran or Peru. It is not improbable that had there been no revolution in Russia, I would have devoted myself entirely to lepidopterology and never written any novels at all".

Related pages
List of Russian language poets
List of Russian-language novelists
List of Russian novelists

References

Other websites 
 Nabokov Library (in Russian and English)
1899 births
1977 deaths
American novelists
Disease-related deaths in Switzerland
Writers from Saint Petersburg
Russian novelists
American entomologists
Abingdon is a town in England. It is in the Thames Valley in southern England, 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of Oxford. It is the seat (place of the government) of the Vale of White Horse district in Oxfordshire. Abingdon was once the county town of Berkshire. It is one of several places which claim to be Britain's oldest occupied town.

History
Abingdon is at a place where people were able to easily cross the Thames. The area has been lived in since the Bronze Age. The bridge over the Thames at Abingdon is more than 550 years old. Work started on the bridge in 1416, and it replaced an old wooden bridge.

The Abingdon Abbey was built in 675 AD by the Benedictines who called it Abbandun. By 1538 it was the sixth richest abbey in Britain. Most of it was destroyed after 1538 when King Henry VIII closed the monasteries. The gatehouse and several smaller buildings are still standing.
There is a market in Abingdon every Monday, which first started in 1556. A canal was built in 1810 to join Abingdon to other towns including London, Bristol and Birmingham. The canal was in use until 1906.

The MG motor cars were made in Abingdon for 50 years until the factory closed in 1980. However the headquarters of the MG Car Club are still in the town.

References

Towns in Oxfordshire
County towns in England
Yeadon is a town near Leeds in England. It is in West Yorkshire and part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is home to Leeds Bradford International Airport.

Towns in West Yorkshire
George Washington Carver (c. January 1860 – January 5, 1943) was an American educator, botanist (someone who works with plants), and inventor. He is best known for his work with peanuts, sweet potatoes, and other crops.

Carver's reputation is based on his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton, such as peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes, which also aided nutrition for farm families. He wanted poor farmers to grow alternative crops both as a source of their own food and as a source of other products to improve their quality of life. 

The most popular of his 44 practical bulletins for farmers contained 105 food recipes using peanuts. He also developed and promoted about 100 products made from peanuts that were useful for the house and farm, including cosmetics, dyes, paints, plastics, gasoline, and nitroglycerin. He received numerous honors for his work, including the Spingarn Medal of the NAACP.
He was born into slavery in January 1864 in Diamond, Missouri. The exact date of his birth is unknown. He studied in Simpson College when he was 22. Much of Carver's fame is based on his research. He died on January 5, 1943 after a fall he had in his home in Tuskegee, Alabama on January 5, 1943.

References

1860s births
1943 deaths
Accidental deaths from falls in the United States
American activists
American adoptees
American botanists
American Christians
American inventors
Scientists from Missouri
1744 was a common year.

Deaths 
January 25 - Domenico Sarro
 April 25 – Anders Celsius
The Julian calendar, proposed by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE (708 AUC), was a reform of the Roman calendar. It was first used in 1 January 45 BCE. It was the main calendar in most of the world, until Pope Gregory  replaced that with the Gregorian calendar in 4 October 1582.

During the 20th and 21st centuries, the date according to the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian date.

Year length; leap years
The Julian calendar has two types of year: common years of 365 days and leap years of 366 days. There is a simple cycle of three common years followed by a leap year and this pattern repeats forever. However, the rule was not followed in the first years after the reform in 45 BCE. Due to a counting error, every 3rd year was a leap year instead of the 4th. The leap years were:
 45 BCE (709 AUC)
 42 BCE (712 AUC)
 39 BCE (715 AUC)
 36 BCE (718 AUC)
 33 BCE (721 AUC)
 30 BCE (724 AUC)
 27 BCE (727 AUC)
24 BCE (730 AUC)
 21 BCE (733 AUC)
 18 BCE (736 AUC)
 15 BCE (739 AUC)
 12 BCE (742 AUC)
 9 BCE (745 AUC)
However, in 8 BCE (746 AUC), emperor Augustus Caesar corrected the problem. The next leap year was 7 CE (160 AUC).

Criticism 
With the simple cycle, the length of the Julian year is exactly 365.25 days (365 days and 6 hours), but the actual time it takes for the Earth to go around the Sun once is closer to 365.2422 days (about 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds). This difference is about 365.25 - 365.2422 = 0.0078 days (11 minutes and 14 seconds) each year, although Greek astronomers knew that. This made the seasons get out of track, since the real first day of spring in western Europe (the equinox - day and night the same length) was happening earlier and earlier before the traditional 21 March as the centuries went by. By the 1500s, it was starting around 11 March, ten days 'too early' according to the calendar.

Reform
Reform

From Roman calendar 
The first step of the reform was to realign the 25 December with the Winter solstice by making 46 BCE (708 AUC) 445 days long. In ordinary Roman calendar, the common year had 355 days and the leap year (one year after the common year) had 378 days. The 46 BCE was a leap year, according to the calendar. Julius Caesar added 67 more days by adding two extra months (those are called Prior and Posterior in letters of Cicero) between November and December.

References 

Calendars
This made the seasons get out of track with the calendar.  For example, as the centuries went by, the equinox (when day and night are the same length) was happening earlier and earlier than its traditional date, March 21. It was the calendar that was wrong, not the earth's orbit. By the 1500s, it was starting around March 11, ten days 'too early' according to the calendar. To farmers, this did not matter because they worked to the seasons rather than to the calendar. But it mattered a lot to the Christian church because the date of Easter is calculated from the equinox being on 21 March. So Pope Gregory XIII declared that the calendar must skip ten days in 1582.
To make sure that the mistake did not happen again, they revised the 'leap year rule'. Until then, every fourth year had February 29, without exception. The change was that there would be no February 29 for every year that ends in 00 - unless it could be divided by 400. So the year 2000 was a leap year, because it could be divided by 400, but 1700, 1800, and 1900 would be common years, with no February 29.

The official change took place the following October, when Thursday, 4th was followed by Friday, 15th.
Months 
The months of the Gregorian calendar year are, in order:
 January (31 days)
 February (28 or 29 days)
 March (31 days)
 April (30 days)
 May (31 days)
 June (30 days)
 July (31 days)
 August (31 days)
 September (30 days)
 October (31 days)
 November (30 days)
 December (31 days)
If February has 28 days, then the year is 365 days long.
If February has 29 days, then the year is called a leap year and it is 366 days long. A leap year usually happens once every four years. The most recent leap year was 2020, and the next leap year is 2024.
Adoption 
The Pope's instruction only applied to the Catholic Church, countries made their own laws. But Europe's Catholic countries decided to follow his lead. Spain, Portugal, and Italy started to use the new calendar on Friday, October 15, 1582, following Julian Thursday, October 4, 1582. In Europe's Protestant countries, people feared that the new calendar was an attempt by the Catholic Church to silence their movement.  Since the Great Schism, Europe's Eastern Orthodox churches also ignored the Pope's decision and many continue to use the Julian calendar even today.

British Empire
England and the rest of the British Empire (including what is now the US and Canada) adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752. Because 1600 was a leap year in both calendars but the Julian calendar had a leap year in 1700 but the Gregorian calendar did not, this meant that eleven days needed to be skipped. Wednesday, September 2, 1752 was followed by Thursday, September 14, 1752.
Russia 
In the USSR, the October Revolution of 1917 was celebrated in November. In 1917 the Russian Empire still used the old Julian calendar. Changing the calendar meant 365 days after the revolution started was now in November 1918.

Churches 
In 1923 some Eastern Orthodox Churches changed to the Gregorian calendar. Christmas Day is the same as the Catholic and Protestant churches, but the date of Easter continues to be worked out differently.

The Russian Orthodox Church, as well as some other Eastern Orthodox Churches such as Georgian and Serbian, did not want this change, so Russian Christmas Day is about two weeks after the rest of Europe.
Japan 
Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar's way of working out leap years on January 1, 1873, but the months have numbers instead of names. Japan also starts year one with each new reign, but uses reign names not the name an emperor might be best known by in the west. For example, the reign names Meiji year 1=1868, Taisho 1=1912, Showa (Emperor Hirohito) 1=1926, Heisei (Emperor Akihito) 1=1989, and so on. The "Western calendar" (西暦, seireki) using western year numbers, is also widely accepted by civilians and to a lesser extent by government agencies.

Old Calendar in Britain

Old Style and New Style dates 
Some old dates in Britain were written and documented with two different years. This is because Britain did not start a new year until March 25, so for a few months it was one year in Britain and the next year in other countries.
The letters OS (for Old Style) and NS (for New Style) were used to help determine the year being used. For example, King Charles I died on January 30, 1649. In "Old Style" it is correct to say that Charles I died January 30, 1648 (OS). Using "New Style", as we determine dates now, the correct date and year would be February 9, 1649.

British Tax 
In the old calendar, the year started on March 25, this was the Quarter Day when rents and taxes fell due. This became April 5 which is why the tax year in the United Kingdom begins on April 6.

Timeline 

People sometimes use the term N.S. or New Style to mean the Gregorian calendar, with Old Style (or O.S.) meaning the Julian calendar.

Related pages 
 Julian calendar
 Solar calendar

Notes

References 

Calendars
The Southern hemisphere is the half of Earth that is south of the equator. 

It has about 10 percent of world's population and only a small part of the world's land. A very small part of Asia, one-third of Africa, 90 percent of South America, and all of Australia and Antarctica are in this hemisphere.

Related pages
Northern hemisphere
Eastern Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
Seasons
Solstice and equinox
Equator
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle

Hemispheres
Sufism (also known as Tassawuf) is a group or branch in Islam with a mystic path or system. Someone who practices Sufism is called a Sufi, and may be a Dervish or a Fakir.

Origins
At first, Sufism only meant making Islam more personal and internal. Some say it first came from constantly reciting the Qur'an, meditating, and through experience. Others believe that Sufism is trying to live as the Islamic prophet Muhammad did, to be closer to God. This is how the Prophet taught his disciples. Additionally, the Muslim conquests had brought large numbers of Christian monks and hermits, especially in Syria and Egypt, under Muslim rule. They believed in a deeply spiritual and mystical (even 'Platonic')  way of life and many of their ways became part of early Sufism.
Some of these teachings were summarized in texts (in Arabic initially). Important contributions in writing are attributed to Uwais al-Qarni, Harrm bin Hian, Hasan Basri and Sayid ibn al-Mussib, who are regarded as among the first Sufis in the earliest generations of Islam. Harith al-Muhasibi was the first one to write about moral psychology. Rabia Basri was a Sufi known for her love and passion for God, expressed through her poetry. Bayazid Bastami was among the first theorists of Sufism.

Sufism already had a long history when some teachers began to set up formal schools or orders (Tarika or Tariqah)  in the early Middle Ages. Almost all existing Sufi orders today trace their roots and chain of transmission (silsila) back to Muhammad, via one of these orders.
Sufi ideas and principles
The main idea in Sufism is that people can have 'personal knowledge' or oneness with God in their lives. In order to be one with God, you have to destroy your idea of yourself, or your ego. This is known as fanaa (annihilation). Apart from saying Sufi prayers, that vary according to different orders, you should be humble, considerate, and only act in order to control your desires.

After fanaa is achieved, the you are reborn to live with, in, through and for God, (baqaa, permanency). This is the state where you have achieved the divine love of God, and come ever closer to a unity with God. You should now strive to be one with God. A person who has crossed the various Sufi 'stages' and achieved this sort of mystic union with Allah, is called a Wali (a saint or friend of God) and the state is termed Wilayat (friendship/union).
Sufic Orders
In Sufism there exist many different orders (tarikas), that were founded from the 12th and 13th centuries until today/contemporary times. Some of the major Sufi orders are:

 Qadiri or Qadiriyya;
 Chishti or Chishtiyya;
 Suhrawardi or Suhrawardiyya; 
 Naqshbandi or Naqshbandiyya;
 Mevlevi or Mevleviyya;
 Rifai or Rifaiyya;
 Saifia or Saifiya;
 Bektashi or Bektashiya;

Notable Sufis
Some of the major, notable Sufis in history, from the 'classical age' of Sufism,  include:<ref>The classical reference volume which gives the biographies of most of the great early Sufi saints is Sheikh Farid-ud-din Attar's, Tazkirat al-Aulia'''' (A Mention/Remembrance of the Saints), English translation by Prof AJ Arberry, n.d.; the online version is available at http://www.maktabah.org/biography/sufi-saints/392-tazkirat-al-aulia-by-fariduddin-attar.html, Maktabah Islamic E-Librray site, Retrieved 2.10.2012</ref>
Uwais al-Qarni
 Dhul Nun Misri
 Junaid of Baghdad
 Rabia Basri
 Hasan Basri
 Bayazid Bastami
 Ibn ul-Arabi
 Al-Ghazali
 Abd al-Qadir al-Gillani
 Ahmed Ar-Rifai
 Shahab-ud-din Suhrawardi
 Farid-ud-din Attar
 Baha-ud-din Naqshband
 Ali al-Hajvery
 Jalal-ud-din Rumi
 Moin-ud-din Chishti
 Farid-ud-din Ganj Shakar
 Nizam-ud-din Auliya
 Lal Shahbaz Qalandar
 Hakim Omar Khayyam

Modern practitioners, who have achieved the degree of sheikh (Master/Preceptor) and are accounted to have a high spiritual status, are still found in various places.
Sufism and Islamic orthodoxy
Sufi practices are usually defined within the basic tenets of Islam, the Sharia (or Shariah)  although some orders include singing and dancing in the love of God, something some Muslims frown on. Hence some Muslims of a more orthodox mind-set believe that any actions outside the scope of Sharia, or Sufi activities practised by non-Muslims are 'wrong'. However the underlying message and aim of the quest for the love of God is true for all humanity. For a non-Muslim the most important ideas in Sufism are love for fellow human beings (which reflects one's love of God) and living ones life in such a way where all actions are against the self. This automatically starts him on the path of fanaa. In terms of discipleship and training, almost all the major Sufi orders are themselves quite willing to take students who are not Muslims.
There are some Muslim schools of thought, such as the Wahhabi for example,  who oppose Sufism because they feel it obliterates the difference between God and man and bypasses the common method of salvation as prescribed by their interpretations of Sharia. Although there are non-Islamic versions of Sufism too (generally defined as 'Universal Sufism') puritanical and rigid people in Islam tend to view them with considerable hatred and anger. As a result, we often see a great deal of misunderstanding and conflict regarding Sufism and Sufic practices.