Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
Honours and achievements

League 
Football League Division Three North: 2
 Champions: 1929-1930, 1953-54
 Runners-up: 1952–53

Football League Division Four: 1
 Champions: 1958-1959

Other promotions 
 1969-70: Football League Division Four - 4th (promotion to Football League Division Three)
 1982-83: Football League Division Four - 3rd (promotion to Football League Division Three)
 1985-86: Football League Division Four - 4th (promotion to Football League Division Three)
 1988-89: Football League Division Three - Play-off winners (promotion to Football League Division Two)
 1993-94: Football League Division Two - Runners Up (promotion to Football League Division One)
 2012-13  Npower League 2 - 3rd (promotion to Npower League 1)

Cups 
Staffordshire Senior Cup: 1
 Winners: 2000-01

Anglo-Italian Cup
 Runners-up: 1995-96

Debenhams Cup
 Runners-up: 1976-77

Trophies 
Football League Trophy: 2
 Winners 1992-93, 2000-01

League position

Former position

Statistics

Club Records
Club Records

Highest Football League finishes 
Before the War: 
 1930-31: Football League Division Two 5th

After the War:
 1996-97: Football League Division One 8th

Best Cup runs 
FA Cup
 Semi Finalists: 1953-54

League Cup
 Round 4: 2006–07

Managers in the past

Other websites 
 Official site 
 News Coverage at BBC Sport
 News Coverage  at The Sentinel

References 

English football clubs
Organisations based in Stoke-on-Trent
1873 establishments in England
NG, Ng, or ng may mean:

 Ng is a family name 
 National Geographic
 Nazi Germany
 Noble Gas
 Nitroglycerin
 Nanogram 
 Natural gas

Abbreviations
 Niger (FIPS country code NG)
 NG postcode area, that covers most of Nottinghamshire, England
 Lauda Air (airline code NG)
 Nigeria (ISO country code NG)
Mound is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota,  United States. There were about 9,435 people living in Mound as of the 2000 census.

References

Cities in Minnesota
John Curtis Holmes (August 8, 1944 – March 13, 1988) better known as John C. Holmes or Johnny Wadd was an American pornographic actor known mainly for his large penis. Holmes made about 2,500 pornographic films, most with him having sexual intercourse with women but at least one with him having sex with a man.

Holmes' penis was said to be between 12.5 and 16 inches (32–41 cm) when at its largest. Fellow pornographic actor Ron Jeremy has said Holmes' penis was 11½ inches, but Holmes claimed it was 14 inches.

John Holmes died of an AIDS-related illness in 1988.

References

1944 births
1988 deaths
Actors from Ohio
American LGBT sex industry people
American pornographic actors
Bisexual people
Deaths from AIDS
LGBT pornographic actors
The birds of paradise are songbirds of the family Paradisaeidae. They live in eastern Indonesia, Maluku, Papua New Guinea, Torres Strait Islands, and eastern Australia. Best known are the members of the genus Paradisaea, including the type species, the greater bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea apoda.

They live in tropical forests like rainforests, swamps and moss forest. They build their nests from soft materials, such as leaves, ferns, and vine monsters, typically placed in a tree fork.

These birds are best known for the remarkable plumage and behaviour of the males. They are an extreme example of how sexual selection works.
Females choose males who they instinctively see are fine specimens of their species. The colours of the plumage, the construction of the nest, the song and the mating dance all play a part. In some species the pairing is monogamous, and in others the males are polygamous. If they are monogamous, the males look much like the females. If they are polygamous, the males are very much flashier than the females. In both cases, it is the female who makes the choice of partner.

Hunting for plumes and habitat destruction have reduced some species to endangered status. Habitat destruction due to deforestation is now the main threat.

Birds of paradise range in size from the king bird of paradise at 3 grams (1.8 oz) and 15 cm (6 in) to the black sicklebill at 110 cm (43 in) and the curl-crested manucode at 430 grams (15.2 oz).

Birds of paradise have bodies which look rather like a crow. They have stout or long bills and strong feet, About two-thirds of the species are strongly sexually dimorphic.
In most species, the diet is mostly fruit, but riflebirds and sicklebills also prefer insects and other arthropods.

Species of birds-of-paradise 
Genus Lycocorax
 Paradise-crow, Lycocorax pyrrhopterus

Genus Manucodia
 Glossy-mantled manucode, Manucodia atra
 Jobi manucode, Manucodia jobiensis
 Crinkle-collared manucode, Manucodia chalybata
 Curl-crested manucode, Manucodia comrii
 Trumpet manucode, Manucodia keraudrenii

Genus Paradigalla
 Long-tailed paradigalla, Paradigalla carunculata
 Short-tailed paradigalla, Paradigalla brevicauda

Genus Astrapia
 Arfak astrapia, Astrapia nigra
 Splendid astrapia, Astrapia splendidissima
 Ribbon-tailed astrapia, Astrapia mayeri
 Stephanie's astrapia, Astrapia stephaniae
 Huon astrapia, Astrapia rothschildi

Genus Parotia
 Western parotia, Parotia sefilata
 Carola's parotia, Parotia carolae
 Berlepsch's parotia, Parotia berlepschi
 Lawes's parotia, Parotia lawesii
 Eastern parotia, Parotia helenae
 Wahnes's parotia, Parotia wahnesi
Genus Pteridophora
 King of Saxony bird of paradise, Pteridophora alberti

Genus Lophorina
 Superb bird-of-paradise, Lophorina superbaGenus Ptiloris
 Magnificent riflebird, Ptiloris magnificus
 Eastern riflebird, Ptiloris intercedens
 Paradise riflebird, Ptiloris paradiseus
 Victoria's riflebird, Ptiloris victoriae

Genus Epimachus
 Black sicklebill, Epimachus fastuosus
 Brown sicklebill, Epimachus meyeri
 Black-billed sicklebill, Epimachus albertisi
 Pale-billed sicklebill, Epimachus bruijnii

Genus Cicinnurus
 Magnificent bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus magnificus
 Wilson's bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus respublica
 King bird-of-paradise, Cicinnurus regius

Genus Semioptera
 Wallace's Standardwing, Semioptera wallacii

Genus Seleucidis
 Twelve-wired bird-of-paradise, Seleucidis melanoleuca
Genus Paradisaea
 Lesser bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea minor
 Greater bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea apoda
 Raggiana bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea raggiana
 Goldie's bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea decora
 Red bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rubra
 Emperor bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea guilielmi
 Blue bird-of-paradise, Paradisaea rudolphi

Greater "melampitta"
 Greater melampitta, "Melampitta" gigantea - tentatively included in this group
Formerly placed here
 Loria's bird-of-paradise, Cnemophilus loriae - probably closer to Melanocharitidae (berrypeckers) (Cracraft & Feinstein 2000).
 Crested bird-of-paradise, Cnemophilus macgregorii - probably closer to Melanocharitidae (Cracraft & Feinstein 2000).
 Yellow-breasted bird-of-paradise, Loboparadisea sericea - probably closer to Melanocharitidae (Cracraft & Feinstein 2000).
 Macgregor's giant honeyeater (formerly "Macgregor's bird-of-paradise"), Macgregoria pulchra - recently found to be a honeyeater (Cracraft & Feinstein 2000).
 Lesser melampitta, Melampitta lugubris - for some time tentatively placed here; probably Orthonychidae (logrunners)

References

Other websites 

 BBC Arts: Painting paradise: Art meets nature in Papua New Guinea. 
 Birds of Paradise 
 Streaming video of a few birds of paradise's courtship display 

Birds of Indonesia
Birds of Australia
Birds of Oceania
Songbirds are the main group of birds in the order Passeriformes. They are the suborder Passeri, sometimes called 'oscines' (Latin for songbird). They are a genuine clade.

There are about 4000 species of songbird. Their syrinx (vocal organ) is able to produce varied and beautiful singing. They are a very successful group of birds, in fact they are the dominant birds on Earth today.

It seems songbirds evolved 50 million years ago in the part of Gondwana which later became Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and Antarctica. They then spread around the world.

Song 
Their song is mainly territorial: it communicates the identity and whereabouts of an individual to other birds of the same species. It also signals sexual intentions. Female preference in some populations is based on the extent of a male's song repertoire. The larger a male's repertoire, the more females a male individual attracts.
Bird calls are also used for alarms and contact. They are especially important in birds that feed or migrate in flocks. Although almost all birds give calls of some sort, well-developed songs are only given by a few lines outside the songbirds.

Families

Corvida 
This is now known to be a paraphyletic group and so it is not used in modern systematics.
Menuridae
 Menuridae: lyrebirds
Atrichornithidae:  scrub birds
Bowerbirds and Australian treecreepers
 Ptilonorhynchidae:  bowerbirds
 Climacteridae:  Australian treecreepers
 Meliphagoidea: honeyeaters and allies
 Maluridae:  fairy-wrens, emu-wrens and grasswrens
 Meliphagidae:  honeyeaters and chats
 Acanthizidae:  pardalotes, scrubwrens, thornbills, and gerygones
 Australopapuan babblers
 Pomatostomidae:  Australasian babblers
 Logrunners
 Orthonychidae: logrunners
Other basal lines
 Cinclosomatidae:  whipbirds and allies
 Neosittidae:  sittellas
 Pachycephalidae:  whistlers, shrike-thrushes, pitohuis and allies
 Dicruridae:  monarch flycatchers and allies
 Campephagidae:  cuckoo shrikes and trillers
 Oriolidae:  orioles including figbird
 Artamidae:  woodswallows, butcherbirds, currawongs and Australian magpie
 Paradisaeidae:  birds of paradise
 Corvidae:  crows, rooks, ravens, magpies, and jays
 Corcoracidae:  white-winged chough and apostlebird
 Irenidae:  fairy-bluebirds
 Laniidae:  shrikes
 Vireonidae:  vireos
Passerida 
This is accepted as a clade.
 Petroicidae:  Australian robins
 Alaudidae: larks
 Chloropseidae:  leafbirds
 Aegithinidae:  ioras
 Picathartidae:  rockfowl
 Eupetidae: rail-babbler
 Bombycillidae:  waxwings and allies
 Ptilogonatidae:  silky flycatchers
 Cinclidae:  dippers
 Motacillidae:  wagtails and pipits
 Prunellidae:  accentor
 Melanocharitidae:  berrypeckers and longbills
 Paramythiidae:  tit berrypecker and crested berrypeckers
 Passeridae:  true sparrows
 Estrildidae:  estrildid finches (waxbills, munias, etc.)
 Parulidae:  New World warblers
 Thraupidae:  tanagers and allies
 Peucedramidae:  olive warbler
 Fringillidae:  true finches
 Cardinalidae: cardinals
 Drepanididae:  Hawaiian honeycreepers
 Emberizidae:  buntings and American sparrows
 Nectariniidae:  sunbirds
 Dicaeidae:  flowerpeckers
 Mimidae:  mockingbirds and thrashers
 Sittidae:  nuthatches
 Certhiidae:  treecreepers
 Troglodytidae:  wrens
 Polioptilidae:  gnatcatchers
 Paridae:  tits, chickadees and titmice
Aegithalidae:  long-tailed tits
 Hirundinidae:  swallows and martins
 Regulidae:  kinglets
 Pycnonotidae:  bulbuls
 Phylloscopidae: leaf-warblers and allies. Recently split from Sylviidae.
 Sylviidae:  Old World warblers
 Hypocoliidae:  Hypocolius
 Cisticolidae:  cisticolas and allies
 Icteridae:  American blackbirds, New World orioles, grackles and cowbirds.
 Zosteropidae:  white-eyes
 Timaliidae:  babblers
 Muscicapidae:  Old World flycatchers and chats
 Turdidae:  thrushes and allies
 Sturnidae:  starlings
References

Other websites 

 Oscines  Tree of Life web project article July 31, 2006
 Pictures of Songbirds
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. They are perching birds. Most of them are small in size, and most can sing very well. Their main suborder is the Passeri, the songbirds.

Adaptations 
The passerines have a number of adaptations which, taken together, have made them highly successful, with many species around the world.
Perching. All passerines have four toes on each foot. Three of the toes point forwards. The other toe points backwards. This means that passerines can easily hold onto trees or rocks. Because of this, they are also known as perching birds.  A tendon in the rear of the leg makes the foot curl and grip when the bird lands on a branch. This is more than just a convenience for the birds: it is a tendon locking mechanism so they can sleep without falling off.
All passerine chicks are born in an undeveloped state (altricial): they need parental help. Their eyes are closed, and they are bald, with little or no down. They cannot leave the nest, and must be fed by the parents. The advantage of this is that their brains grow larger during the fledgling stage. In birds which leave the nest early, their brains depend mainly on material in the egg. Passerines have significantly large brains compared to body size, and many passerines are comparatively intelligent.
The use of song for communication. This is the most obvious adaptation.
Almost all passerines have 12 tail feathers. This is a basal trait, a feature inherited from their past. It leads biologists to think this large group originally had one common ancestor.
Evolution 
Evidence on their evolution comes from comparative anatomy, the fossil record and molecular biology. 

It is thought that the first passerines evolved in the southern continent of Gondwana in the Palaeogene. This might have taken place around the Upper Palaeocene some 60–55 mya. The latest opinion on passerine evolution is that that passerines originated on the Australian landmass ∼47 mya.

The early fossil record is poor because the first Passeriformes were on the small side, and their delicate bones did not preserve well. Two specimens from Queensland, Australia are fossil bone fragments clearly recognizable as passeriform. They are two species of about 10 and 20 cm in overall length. This proves that some 55 mya, barely into the early Eocene, early perching birds were recognizably distinct. It also suggests that the origin of this great order of birds was in the southern continent.

Taxonomy
Taxonomy 

There are three sub-orders: Acanthisitti, Tyranni and Passeri. There are only two bird species in the sub-order Acanthisitti. They are known as New Zealand wrens. The sub-order Tyranni are also known as the suboscines. Many of these birds are found in tropical areas. The sub-order Passeri has the most bird species. They are also known as the oscines.

Suborder Acanthisitti
 Acanthisittidae: New Zealand "wrens"

Suborder Tyranni
Suboscines
 Infraorder Eurylaimides broadbills and allies
 Infraorder Tyrannides - New World suboscines
Suborder Passeri
Songbirds or oscines
 Basal Passeri – the oldest 'true' song birds. They live in Australia.
 Menuridae: lyrebirds
 Atrichornithidae:  scrub-birds
 Superfamily Meliphagoidea – mainly insectivores and nectarivores, distribution centered on Australo-Melanesian region extending into surroundings, notably the Pacific.
 Superfamily Corvida – a highly diverse group of global distribution, but most plentiful in the Australasian region and surroundings. The oldest truly globally successful group of passerines, they include among them what may well be the most intelligent and the most spectacular of the order.
 Melanocharitidae:  berrypeckers and longbills.
 Callaeidae: New Zealand wattlebirds
 Stitchbirds
 Cnemophilidae: satinbirds
 Neosittidae: sittellas
 Vireonidae: vireos
 Campephagidae: cuckoo-shrikes and trillers
 Pachycephalidae: whistlers and allies
 Oriolidae: orioles and figbirds
 Paramythiidae: tit berrypecker and crested berrypecker.
Artamidae: woodswallows, butcherbirds, currawongs and Australian Magpie
 Malaconotidae: puffback shrikes, bush shrikes, tchagras and boubous
 Platysteiridae: wattle-eyes
 Aegithinidae: ioras
 Pityriaseidae: Bornean bristlehead.
 Prionopidae: helmetshrikes and woodshrikes
 Vangidae: vangas
 Dicruridae: drongos
 Monarchidae: monarch flycatchers
 Rhipiduridae: fantails
 Paradisaeidae: birds of paradise
 Corcoracidae: white-winged chough and apostlebird
 Laniidae: shrikes
 Corvidae: crows, ravens and jays
 Corvoidea (?)
 Passeri
 Ptilonorhynchoidea: bowerbirds and Australian treecreepers
 Logrunners and pseudo-babblers
 Petroicidae: Australian robins
 Rockfowl, rock-jumpers and rail-babblers
 Regulidae: kinglets
 Hyliotas
 Irenidae: fairy-bluebirds
 Chloropseidae: leafbirds
Infraorder Passerida
 Superfamily Sylvioidea – mostly insectivores, distribution centered on the Indo-Pacific region. Few occur in the Australian region and fewer still in the Americas. Usually sleek and drab birds, few have pronounced sexual dimorphism.
 Alaudidae: larks
 Hirundinidae:  swallows and martins
 Phylloscopidae: leaf-warblers and allies.
 Aegithalidae: long-tailed tits or bushtits
 Cettiidae: ground-warblers and allies
 Megaluridae: grass-warblers and allies
 "Bernieridae": Malagasy warblers. A new family.
 Acrocephalidae: marsh- and tree-warblers
 Pycnonotidae: bulbuls
 Cisticolidae: cisticolas and allies
 Sylviidae: "true warblers" and parrotbills.
 Zosteropidae: white-eyes
 Timaliidae: (Old World) babblers.
 Sylvioidea (?)
Sylvioidea (?)
Superfamily Muscicapoidea – mostly insectivores, near-global distribution centered on Old World tropics. One family endemic to Americas. Nearly absent (except introductions) from the Australian region. Usually rather stocky for their size, most are quite dark and dull though Sturnidae are commonly iridescent and/or colorful. Sexual dimorphism often absent, sometimes pronounced.
Cinclidae: dippers
Muscicapidae: Old World flycatchers and chats.
Turdidae: thrushes and allies.
Buphagidae: oxpeckers. Formerly usually included in Sturnidae.
Sturnidae: starlings and possibly Philippine creepers.
Mimidae: mockingbirds and thrashers
Superfamily Certhioidea - wrens and allies 
 Sittidae:  nuthatches
 Tichodromadidae: wallcreepers
 Certhiidae:  treecreepers
 Salpornithidae: spotted creeper
 Troglodytidae: wrens
 Polioptilidae: gnatcatchers
 Superfamily Passeroidea – mostly herbivores including many seed-eaters, near-global distribution centered on Palearctic and Americas. Includes the Nine-primaried oscines (probably a subclade). A very high proportion of colorful and highly sexually dimorphic forms.
 Passeridae: true sparrows
 Prunellidae: accentors
 Motacillidae: wagtails and pipits
 Urocynchramidae Przewalski's finch
 Estrildidae:  estrildid finches (waxbills, munias, etc.)
 Ploceidae: weavers
 Viduidae: indigobirds and whydahs
 Nine-primaried oscines:
 Peucedramidae: olive warbler
 Fringillidae: true finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers
 Icteridae: grackles, New World blackbirds, and New World orioles
 Parulidae: New World warblers
 Thraupidae: tanagers and allies
 Cardinalidae: cardinals
 Emberizidae: buntings and American sparrows
Coerebidae: bananaquit
 Passerida: (?)
 Panurus: bearded reedling ("bearded "tit")
 Paroidea: titmice and allies
 Paridae: tits, chickadees and titmice
 Remizidae: penduline tits
 Stenostiridae: stenostirids ("flycatcher-tits")
 "Bombycilloidea" waxwings and allies
 Bombycillidae: waxwings
 Dulidae: palmchat
 Ptilogonatidae: silky flycatchers
 Hypocoliidae: Hypocolius
 Mohoidae
 "Dicaeoidea" sunbirds and flowerpeckers
 Nectariniidae: sunbirds
 Dicaeidae: flowerpeckers
 Promeropidae: sugarbirds
The superb lyrebird (Menura novaehollandiae) is a pheasant-sized songbird.

It is an Australian endemic species, about 100cm long. It has brown upper body plumage, grayish-brown below, rounded wings and strong legs. It is the longest and third heaviest of all songbirds. 

They are capable of mimicking a wide variety of sounds, including other bird's songs and man-made sounds like car alarms and chainsaws. 

Passeri
Birds of Australia
A lyrebird is a ground-dwelling Australian bird.  There are two species in the genus Menura. They live in forests, especially rainforests, of eastern Australia, and they were introduced to Tasmania in the 19th century. They are found in two National Forest areas of Victoria, New South Wales and southeast Queensland.

Mating system 
They are most notable for their superb ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environment. Since they live on the ground in fairly dense undergrowth, sound is used by the males to attract attention. When a female arrives, the visual display comes into action. It is a typical "female choice" mating system, where males defend a mating territory, and sing and display to get a mate.
Sound mimicry 
The lyrebird's mimicked calls are learned from the local environment, including other birds. It takes young birds about a year to perfect their mimicked repertoire. The female lyrebirds of both species are also mimics, and will sing on occasion but the females do so with less skill than the males. A lyrebird classic is their imitation of human sounds in the forest such as car alarms, camera shutters and forest logging with chain-saws.

Breeding  

The breeding cycle of the lyrebirds is long, and lyrebirds are long-lived birds. They can live up to thirty years. They also start breeding later in life than other passerine birds. Female Superb Lyrebirds start breeding at the age of five or six, and males at the age of six to eight. Males defend territories from other males.These territories may contain the breeding places of up to eight females. In a male's territory, he makes or uses display platforms.
The females each build an untidy nest, usually low to the ground in a moist gully, where each lays a single egg. She is the sole parent who incubates the egg over 50 days until it hatches, and she is also the sole carer of the lyrebird chick.

References 

Passeri
Birds of Australia
The Albert's lyrebird (Menura alberti) is a pheasant-sized songbird, about 90 cm long, with brown upper body feathers and rich chestnut below. It is very similar with the superb lyrebird in its habits. This bird also mimics other species sounds. It is sometimes called the "Prince Albert Lyrebird" or the "Northern Lyrebird". Named after Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, they are smaller than the Superb Lyrebirds.

Albert's lyrebirds are only found in a small area of rainforest in the Lamington National Park near the border of Queensland and New South Wales. There are about 3,500 birds known to exist. There are reports of the birds in the Blackall Range, but this has not been proved. Known groups of birds live on Tamborine Mountain, Scenic Rim and the Nightcap Range.
They eat small insects which they scratch up from the ground. They are a shy bird which will run or fly away if disturbed. During the breeding season in winter, from May to August, the male bird performs displays of song and dance to attract the females. The songs are copied from other birds and forest sounds. The songs can last up to four hours, with some individual songs lasting up to one hour. During his dance, the male bird raises his tail feathers up and over his body. The feathers form a lyre shape which is why they were given the name "lyrebird".

It is listed as a Vulnerable species because it lives in such a limited area, it can only eat a small range of food from that area, and it is not breeding quickly.

References

Other websites
  Internet Bird Collection  with videos of Albert's lyrebirds
 

Passeri
Birds of Australia
The "Corvida" were one of two "parvorders" that were inside the suborder Passeri. The term is now not used in taxonomy because it is paraphyletic.

Passeri
Passerida is one of two "parvorders" in the suborder Passeri. 

Passeri
Piciformes are an order of birds containing about 67 living genera with a little over 400 species, of which the Picidae (woodpeckers and relatives) make up about half. Amost all live in woods (arboreal).

In general, the Piciformes are insectivorous, though the barbets and toucans mostly eat fruit and the honeyguides are unique among birds in digesting beeswax (though insects make up most of their diet).
Nearly all Piciformes have parrot-like zygodactyl feet—two toes forward and two back, an arrangement that has obvious advantages for birds that spend much of their time on tree trunks.  An exception are a few species of three-toed woodpeckers.  The jacamars aside, Piciformes do not have down feathers at any age, only true feathers. They range in size from the rufous piculet at 8 centimetres in length, and weighing 7 grams, to the toco toucan, at 63 centimetres long, and weighing 680 grams. All nest in cavities (holes) and have altricial young, meaning they have to look after their chicks for quite a long time.
Classification 
Order: PICIFORMES
 Suborder Galbuli
 Family Galbulidae – jacamars (18 species)
 Family Bucconidae – puffbirds, nunbirds and nunlets (some 30 species)
 Suborder Pici
 Infraorder Ramphastides
 Family Megalaimidae – Asian barbets (about 25 species, recently split from Capitonidae)
 Family Lybiidae – African barbets (about 40 species, recently split from Capitonidae)
 Family Capitonidae – American barbets (about 15 species)
 Family Semnornithidae – toucan-barbets (2 species, recently split from Capitonidae)
 Family Ramphastidae – toucans (about 40 species)
 Infraorder Picides
 Family Indicatoridae – honeyguides (17 species)
 Family Picidae – woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks (over 200 species)

References
La Silla Observatory is an observatory in Chile with eighteen telescopes that study the stars.  The observatory is one of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere.  La Silla is a 2,400 meter high mountain that is found in the far southern part of the Atacama Desert.  It can be found about 160 kilometers north of La Serena, 27 kilometers south of the Las Campanas Observatory, and about 100 kilometers north of the Cerro Tololo Observatory.

Related pages 
 Very Large Telescope

Other websites 
 Official ESO - La Silla webpage

Astronomical observatories in Chile
Asteroid discoverers
Atacama Region
The Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO) is found in Ukraine and is an observatory.  It studies the stars and has found a total of 12 minor planets to date:

References

Other websites 
 CrAO's website 

Observatories
Asteroid discoverers
Crimea
Freema Agyeman (born Frema Agyeman on 20 March 1979) is an English actress. She is of Ghanaian and Iranian descent.  She is known by a lot of people for playing Martha Jones on the television series Doctor Who and also in its spin-off series Torchwood.

References 

1979 births
Black British actors
Living people
English television actors
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971) is a five-time Grammy Award-winning American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. With record sales of over seven million in the United States, she is the only female rapper to have six albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one double platinum (Under Construction).  Elliot has released six studio albums. Her seventh album is called Block Party. She has Graves' disease.

Discography 
 Supa Dupa Fly (1997)
 Da Real World (1999)
 Miss E... So Addictive (2001)
 Under Construction (2002)
 This Is Not a Test! (2003)
 The Cookbook (2005)
 Respect M.E. (2006) (greatest hits)

References 

African American musicians
Rappers from Virginia
American rappers
American record producers
American hip hop musicians
American R&B musicians
American dance musicians
Grammy Award winners
People from Portsmouth, Virginia
Singers from Virginia
1971 births
Living people
Piombino is a town and commune in the province of Livorno (Tuscany), Italy, on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.

It has an ancient historical centre, derived from the time in which it was the Etruscans' port, near the area of Populonia. In the Middle Ages, it was an important port of Pisa's Republic. Still today Piombino is one of biggest port in Italy, and is one of the most used port for to go in the Elba Island, (with the port of Livorno). Piombino outside the down town has a very big industrial area.
Important places and monuments 
 Cathedral of Sant'Antimo (c. 1377), built by the Augustinians and originally dedicated to St. Michael.
 The Rivellino (Walls Tower-Gate), the most ancient monument in the city (1212).
 The Chiesa della Misericordia (early 13th century). Inside this church there is a rare 15th century crucifix.
 The Cassero Pisano a castel, built under Cosimo I de' Medici the castel was used as military jail until 1959.
 The Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), mostly a modern reconstruction of the ancient Palazzo degli Anziani (1435). In the Musters Hall, with portraits of the Princes of Piombino.
 Chapel of St. Anne, a noteworthy Renaissance work by Guardi. 
 The Cisterna di Cittadella (Citadel's Cistern), also by Guardi. On the sides are the portraits of Jacopo III Appiani and his son and wife, later damaged by order of Cesare Borgia.
 Casa delle Bifore (1280).
 The Natural Province Reserve Padule Orti Bottagone, created in 1998.
Other 
Piombino has schools, churches, banks, parks and squares. In the locality of Punta Falcone there is an astronomical observatory, built in 1976.

Medals 
On July 28 2000, the city of Piombino got the Gold Medal of Military Valor for the fight against nazism and fascism, before and during the World War II.

Comuni near Piombino 
 Campiglia Marittima
 Follonica
 San Vincenzo
 Suvereto

Twin cities 
  Flémalle, Belgium

Population history

References

Other websites 

 Official website of the Commune of Piombino 

Towns in Livorno
Caraş-Severin (; Serbian: Караш Северин, Karaš Severin, ; , Bulgarian: Караш-Северин, Karash-Severin) is a county (judeţ) of Romania, in historical region Banat. The capital of Caraş-Severin County is Reşiţa.

Demographics 
In 2002, about 332,000 people lived in Caraş-Severin County.

Geography 
Caraş-Severin County has an area of 8,514 km². It is the third biggest county in Romania, after Timiş and Suceava counties. The Danube enters Romania in Caraş-Severin County.

Divisions 
Caraş-Severin County has 2 municipalities, 6 towns, and 69 communes.

Municipalities 
 Reşiţa
 Caransebeş

Towns 
 Anina
 Băile Herculane
 Bocşa
 Moldova Nouă
 Oraviţa
 Oţelu Roşu

Communes

Villages 
 Agadici
 Mal

References 

Counties of Romania
The Gold Medal of Military Valor (Italian language: Medaglia d'oro al Valore Militare) is an Italian medal established on 21 May 1793 by King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia.

During World War I, the medal was awarded to military personnel for exceptional valor in the face of the enemy. After the World War II, the medal was gave to the cities that fought fascism and nazism during the war.

Related pages
Silver Medal of Military Valor
Bronze Medal of Military Valor

Military honors
Military of Italy
1793 establishments
18th-century establishments in Italy
1790s establishments in Europe
The Silver Medal of Military Valor (Italian language: Medaglia d'Argento al Valore Militare) is an Italian medal established in 1833 by King Charles Albert of Sardinia.

During World War I, the medal was awarded to military personnel for exceptional valor in combat. Like the Gold Medal and the Bronze Medal, the Silver Medal was given also to citizens who fought against nazism and fascism during  World War II.

Related pages
 Gold Medal of Military Valor
 Bronze Medal of Military Valor

Military honors
Military of Italy
1833 establishments
1830s establishments in England
19th-century establishments in Italy
The Bronze Medal of Military Valor () is an Italian medal awarded by the King of Italy. 

During World War I, the medal was awarded to military personnel for exceptional valor in combat. For each subsequent act of valor, the recipient was awarded a bar in the corresponding class. As the Gold medal and the Silver Medal, after the World War II, the Bronze Medal was gave to the cities that fought against the nazism and the fascism during the war.

Related pages
 Gold Medal of Military Valor
 Silver Medal of Military Valor

Military honors
Military of Italy
Reşiţa (German: Reschitz, Hungarian: Resicabánya, Krashovani: Решица or Rešica, Czech: Rešice) is a city in the western part of Romania. It is the capital of Caraş-Severin County, in the Banat region.  About 84,000 people live in Reşiţa as of the year 2004.

County capitals of Romania
Municipalities of Romania
Cities in Romania
Orbetello is a town and commune in the province of Grosseto (Tuscany), Italy. It is about  south of Grosseto, on a lagoon, which is an important Natural Reserve.

History 
Orbetello  was an ancient Etruscan village, which in 280 BC went under the control of the Romans, who had founded their colony of Cosa.

In the Middle Ages it was controlled by the Aldobrandeschi family, who held it until the 14th century, when it was bought by the city of Orvieto. After some years, Orbetello was captured by the Sienese Republic. In the mid-16th century it was part of the Spanish puppet State of Presides, becoming its capital. Later it was under the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and, from the late 19th century, the new Kingdom of Italy.

In 1927-1933, Italo Balbo's "air cruises" started from Orbetello's lagoon.
Important monuments and places 
 The city walls (5th century BC).
 Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, built over an Etruscan-Roman temple and half re-built in 1375.
 The Spanish Forte delle Saline, in the frazione of Albinia.
 Remains of the Roman city of Cosa in the frazione of Ansedonia.
 Ruins of the Monastery of Sant'Angelo.

References 

Towns in Grosseto
Pontedera is a small Italian industrial town in Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Pisa. Pontedera is the headquarters of the Piaggio company,from the 1930s one of most important Italian manufacturers motor vehicles such as the Vespa and the Ape. Piaggio was a subsidiary of FIAT. Today the owner of Piaggio is Roberto Colaninno.

Pontedera is in the Arno valley at the confluence of the Era River and the Arno River.
The Town has a small lake in Pietroconti called Braccini lake.

Important places and monuments in Pontedera
Churches:
 Il Duomo (The Dome of the city)
 The Church of Santa Lucia
 The Church of Santissimo Crocifisso
 The Cimitero of Misericordia
 The Church of Santa Maria Madre della Chiesa
 The Church of Misericordia
 The Church of San Giuseppe al Ponte
 The Church of San Giuseppe
 The Church of Madonna dei Braccini
 The Church of Cappuccini
 The Church of Sacro Cuore ai Villaggi
 The Church of Madonna di Ripaia
 The Church of San Lorenzo e San Bartolomeo
 The Church of San Martino (destroyed)
 The Church of San Michele di Travalda (destroyed)
 The Church of San Tommaso (destroyed)
 The Church of San Lorenzo di Rapida (destroyed)
 The Church of Santa Margherita di Tavella (destroyed)
 The Church of San Sebastiano (destroyed)
 The Church of Stimmate di San Francesco (destroyed)

Palaces:
 Palazzo Stefanelli
 Palazzo Pretorio
 Palazzo Paoletti Zeppini
 Palazzo Bellincioni
 Palazzo Pitschen
 Palazzo Ciompi
Festivals 
 "Fiera Naturamica", Festival about agriculture (April)
 "ExproModel&Show"  (October)
 "Fiera di San Luca", Since 1471 (October) ;
 "Festa del commercio", Since 2004 (September); since 2007 the festivals joined the "Notte Bianca";
 "Shopping sotto le stelle", in evening shops are still open (July) 
 "Palio della balestra", about the Pace di Pescia since 2001 (September);
 "Fiera dei fischi e delle campanelle", in the  frazione of La Rotta, (August), since 1907. 
 "Qui rido io", Festival about humorism, (June), since 2003;
 "Sete sois sete lunas", Internation Festival of Pop Music, (July) since 1992; 
 "Aperitivi in musica", on Cavour's Square, (all year), since 2001.
 "Mangia...longa",Festival about loca food, (June), since 2005;
 "BavieraFest", Italian version of Oktoberfest, (June), since 2006.

Twin Cities 
 Khombole - Senegal
 Fourchambault - France
 Montemor-o-Novo - Portugal
 Serrara Fontana (Province of Naples) - Italy

References 

Towns in Pisa
The Casentino is the valley in which the first tract of the Arno River flows till Subbiano, in the Italian region Tuscany. It is one of the four valleys in which the Province of Arezzo is divided. The valley's biggest comuni are all in the Arno valley: among these the biggest are Bibbiena and Poppi, while Capolona, Castel Focognano, Castel San Niccolò, Pratovecchio, Stia, Subbiano are more or less smaller. The villages on the neighbouring hills and mountains are much smaller. These are Chitignano, Chiusi della Verna, Montemignaio, Ortignano-Raggiolo and Talla. The Casentino is mentioned in the song "Ich hab in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen", from the Italieniches Liederbuch by Hugo Wolf.

Other websites
official web site Valle del Casentino 

Tuscany
Colle di Val d'Elsa or Colle Val d'Elsa is a town and comune in Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Siena. It has a population of c. 20,000 inhabitants (2005). Its name in Italian means "Hill of Elsa Valley", where "Elsa" is the name of the river which crosses it. Today, Colle di Val d'Elsa is internationally renowned for the production of crystal glassware and art, largely produced in the industrial lower town.
History
The area was settled by man from at least the 4th millennium BC,. In 1269 it was the seat of a famous battle during the wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines and in 1479 it was attacked by Neapolitan soldiers. From the 14th century it was under the control of the city of  Florence and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the unification of Italy in 1860. In the 20th century it became an important industrial town. During World War II it was bombed by Allied aircraft. The oldest part of the town is the "colle alta", the higher part, with a well preserved medieval center. The city is also famous as the birthplace of sculptor and architect Arnolfo di Cambio.

References

Other websites

Official website
 Official tourist information website 

Towns in Siena
The British Rail Class 140 was the prototype of the Pacer diesel multiple unit. Much of the bodywork was constructed using Leyland National bus components, with the exception of the cabs, in 1980.

140
140
The British Rail Class 141 was the first production model of the Pacer diesel multiple units.
They were created because then British Rail had a large shortage of trains so rather than spending lots of money on expensive proper trains, they invented the Pacer. British Leyland at the time had a surplus in the production of bus bodies so the idea was to weld the bus body from an old bus on to a freight waggon chassis. The result of this was that pacers have notoriously poor suspension and are noisier around corners due to flanging (the squeaky noise that you'll sometimes hear when travelling by train). This makes them non-ideal passenger trains so they are now being replaced (or have been replaced in the case of the class 141) by new trains.

References

141
Rosignano Marittimo is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany. It is about 80 km southwest of Florence and about 20 km southeast of Livorno. As of 31 December 2004, it had 31,516 people. It has an area of 120.3 km².

The comune of Rosignano Marittimo contains the frazioni of:  Castiglioncello, Rosignano Solvay, Vada, Castelnuovo della Misericordia, Gabbro, and Nibbiaia.

Rosignano Marittimo borders the following comuni: Castellina Marittima, Cecina, Collesalvetti, Livorno, Orciano Pisano, Santa Luce.

Inhabitants

References

Other websites

 www.comune.rosignano.livorno.it

Towns in Livorno
James Henry Hammond (November 15, 1807 – November 13, 1864) was from South Carolina. He served as a United States Representative from 1835 to 1836, Governor of South Carolina from 1842 to 1844, and United States Senator from 1857 to 1860. He had a son. He was also a slave owner; his plantation is in Redcliffe Park in South Carolina. The stables at Redcliffe Park were either built by him or his son.

1807 births
1864 deaths
Governors of South Carolina
United States senators from South Carolina
Santa Croce sull'Arno is an Italian town in the province of Pisa, Tuscany. About 13,400 people lived there as of 2005.

Industry 
The city is famous for the tanning industries. In 16.92 square kilometres there are about 400 factories and laboratories.

References

Other websites

Towns in Pisa
The British Rail Class 142 was a type of Pacer diesel multiple units used in the United Kingdom. 96 units were built by BREL in Derby between 1985 and 1987. They were a development of the earlier Class 141 which were introduced in 1984.

References 

142
142
Functional illiteracy means that a person is not able to read, write, and do math well in regular life. Someone who is fully illiterate can not read, write, or do math at all. Such people have perhaps never learnt how to read or write; perhaps they did not need to. A person who is functionally illiterate is different - at some point in their lives, these people were taught reading and writing skills. For different reasons, adults who are functionally illiterate try to avoid writing and reading as much as possible. That way, a person who is functionally illiterate may be able to write their name, but it is very difficult for them to write more than a few sentences.

These people have trouble functioning in modern society: when they are confronted with printed materials they  cannot perform simple tasks such as filling out a form, understanding a contract, following written instructions, reading a newspaper article, traffic signs, consulting a dictionary, or understanding a bus schedule.
Because of functional illiteracy, these people also have a lot of trouble using modern communication technologies, such as a personal computer or a mobile phone.

Links with poverty and crime

The people who are functionally illiterate often have other problems as well: Other people may bully them, they may have higher health risks, and stress. Because they cannot get good jobs, they often earn little money.

Crime-researchers and sociologists have talked about the link between functional illiteracy and crime.

How common it is
Business magazine estimates that 15 million functionally illiterate adults had a job in the United States at the start of the 21st century. The American Council of Life Insurers reported that 75% of the Fortune 500 companies provide some level of training to help their workers overcome this situation. All over the U.S 30 million - 14% of adults - are unable to perform simple and everyday literacy activities. 
The National Center for Education Statistics has more detail.
This report sees three parameters: prose, document, and quantitative literacy. There are four levels for each parameter: below basic, basic, intermediate, and proficient. For prose literacy, for example, a below basic level of literacy means that a person can look at a short piece of text to get a small piece of uncomplicated information. Similarly, a person who is "below basic" in quantitative literacy might be able to add two numbers.

In the US, 14% of adults are  at the "below basic" level for prose literacy; 12% are at the "below  basic" level for document literacy; and 22% are at that level for quantitative literacy. Only 13% of the population is proficient in these three areas. In the terms of the study, "proficient" means these people are able to compare viewpoints in two editorials. They can interpret a table about blood pressure, age, and physical activity. They can also compute and compare the cost per ounce of food items.
In the UK, according to the Daily Telegraph (14 June 2006) "one in six British adults lacks the literacy skills of an 11-year-old". The UK government's Department for Education reported in 2006 that 47 percent of school children left school at age 16 without having achieved a basic level in functional maths, and 42 percent fail to achieve a basic level of functional English. Every year 100,000 pupils leave school functionally illiterate in the  UK.

Research findings

A Literacy at Work study, published by the Northeast Institute in 2001, found that business losses attributed to basic skill deficiencies run into billions of dollars a year due to low productivity, errors, and accidents attributed to functional illiteracy.
Sociological research has demonstrated that countries with lower levels of functional illiteracy among their adult populations tend to be those with the highest levels of scientific literacy among the lower stratum of young people nearing the end of their formal academic studies. This correspondence suggests that a contributing factor to a society's level of civic literacy is the capacity of schools to ensure students attain the functional literacy required to comprehend the basic texts and documents associated with competent citizenship.

Notes

Knowledge
Education
The British Rail Class 143 is a diesel multiple unit, part of the Pacer family of trains introduced between 1985 & 1986. They originally worked around North East England but were later transferred to Wales.  The coaches are based on an Alexander bus body mounted on a chassis from a freight or Goods truck. Twenty-five units were built, numbered 143001-025 but later re-numbered 143601 - 143625.

References

143
The British Rail Class 144 "Pacer  diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by BREL Derby from 1986-1987. A total of 23 units were built, replacing many of the earlier First-generation "Heritage" DMUs.

144
144
The British Rail Class 150 "Sprinter" diesel multiple units (DMUs) were built by BREL from 1984-87. A total of 137 units were built in three main subclasses, replacing many of the earlier first-generation "Heritage" DMUs. Which were in need of replacement 

150
150
1984 in the United Kingdom
The British Rail Class 151 was a prototype class of DMU built by Metro cammel in the mid-1980s.

151
The British Rail Class 153 "Sprinter" is a single-car diesel multiple unit train.

In the early 1990s, British Rail took the decision that running 2-car trains on rural routes was inefficient, and identified the need for single-carriage trains.  Initially consideration was given to splitting the Met-Cam Class 156 units to form class 152 units, however due to various problems with the Class 155 units, the decision was taken to split these units instead.

References

153
The British Rail Class 155 "Super-Sprinter" is a diesel multiple unit. These DMUs were built by British Leyland at Workington (using Leyland National bus components) between 1987 and 1988 as part of British Rail's replacement of its ageing diesel fleet which were First-Generation. 

155
The British Rail Class 156 "Super-Sprinter" is a diesel multiple unit (DMU). A hundred and fourteen of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell (now owned by Alstom) at their Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham. They were built to replace elderly First Generation "Heritage" DMUs and locomotive-hauled passenger trains.

156
Class 157 was the designation applied to a range of Diesel multiple unit trains of the Sprinter family planned for regional use, in particular for the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive. As well as the class number, British Rail reserved carriage numbers in the 526xx and 576xx series for these units.

As the Privatisation of British Rail began, this project became unviable as resources were concentrated on the privatisation process, leading to the famous 1064-day 'drought' of new train orders. By the time this period was over, plans had moved on and Stratchclyde ended up receiving a batch of Class 170 units.

157
British Rail Class 158 Express Sprinter is a type of diesel multiple unit (DMU) train. They were built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at their Derby Works. They were built to replace old DMUs and locomotive-hauled passenger trains. Class 159 trains are almost the same as Class 158s. They work many non-electrified services such as Exeter St David's To London Waterloo. They were among the last new trains in the UK to be built with the old toilet system which emptied directly onto the track. BREL also built 20 carriages to 1m gauge for export to Thailand in 1990 - 1991 

158
158
The British Rail Class 159, known as "South Western Turbo" by Network SouthEast (but in reality a member of the Sprinter family), is a diesel multiple unit, built from 1989-93 by BREL at Derby Works. 

159
159
The British Rail Class 165 "Network Turbo" diesel multiple units (DMUs) are diesel multiple unit that were built by BREL at York Works from 1990–1992 . These units are suburban trains, with an express version appearing later in the form of the Class 166 "Network Express Turbo" units. The Class 165 belongs to the Networker families of trains.

References 

165
165
The British Rail Class 166 "Network Express Turbo" diesel multiple units (also known as just "Thames Turbos"  ) were built by ABB at York Works from 1992-93. These units are the express version of the Class 165 "Network Turbo" units. They have a top speed of 90mph (suitable for mainline use), are carpeted throughout and have air-conditioning (the 165s lack the latter two features and it should be noted the 166 is similar to the Class 158 in terms of what it offers).

References

166