Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
Geography 

The area of Switzerland is 41,285 km². The confederation is divided into 23 full states called cantons. All 26 cantons are: Aargau, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Land, Berne, Fribourg, Geneva, Glarus, Graubünden,  Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, and Zürich.

The mountains are very tall in the center and south of Switzerland. About 60% of Switzerland is in the Alps area. Only few people live here. The highest mountain is the Dufour Peak at 4,634 m.

Many of the mountains have ice all year. This ice is called glaciers. The rivers Rhine, Rhône, and many other rivers start in the mountains of Switzerland.

There are many lakes in Switzerland. The biggest lakes are all in the north and west: Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), Lake Zürich, Lake Neuchâtel and Lake Constance (Bodensee).
Mountains in the north of Switzerland are fewer and smaller. Most Swiss people live in cities and towns in the north. The Jura mountains are in the northwest of Switzerland.

Cities 

Switzerland has 2,485 villages, towns and cities.

The largest cities are:

Culture 

There are about 8.4 million people in Switzerland. About 64% of the people speak Swiss German (German Alemannic) as their first language, in northern and central Switzerland. 19% of the people speak French as their first language, mainly in the west of Switzerland. 8% of the people speak Italian, in the south of Switzerland. Only 1% of the people speak Romansh, in the southeastern part of Switzerland. Romansh is an old language that is similar to Latin.
The German-speaking people of Switzerland do not actually speak "German" as their native language. Swiss people speak something called Alemannic which has its own writing language and grammar but still is normally considered a German dialect. Alemannic may be difficult for Germans to understand. Swiss people do write like the people from Germany and also speak standard German very well, especially in the larger cities.

About 23% of the people in Switzerland do not come from Switzerland. They come from other places to usually work in Switzerland.

The religion of most people in Switzerland is Christianity. 43% of the population follow Catholicism. 35% of the population follow Protestantism. 2% follow Eastern Orthodoxy. The religion of 4% of the population is Islam. The rest follow other religions, or they have no religion.

Switzerland is famous for its chocolate, cheese, banking system, watches and mountains.
History 
In 1291, people from Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden wanted to be free. They signed a contract to work together called the Eternal Alliance. Together, they could be free from the people of Habsburg, who were very strong. In 1315 the people from the Eternal Alliance fought the Habsburgs in battles at Morgarten, Sempach and Näfels. The people of the Eternal Alliance won all the battles.

People from other areas signed the contract and joined the Eternal Alliance. More and more people worked together to be free. In 1648, other countries from Europe made an agreement that Switzerland was free. The name of this agreement was the Peace of Westphalia. More areas came to be part of Switzerland.
Switzerland was important to the slave trade that forced black Africans to be sold as slaves. Swiss companies made indiennes, which are a kind of cloth. These cloths were sent to Africa and exchanged for captured slaves. Some Swiss also joined French companies already making indiennes or owned plantations with slaves in French colonies.

In 1798, France invaded Switzerland.  The ruler of France was Napoleon.  He changed many laws.  In 1815 Switzerland again became independent from France.  Other countries agreed at the Congress of Vienna that Switzerland was free and neutral. 

The constitution of Switzerland that was made after a short civil war in 1848 was replaced in 1999. Switzerland did not fight in World War I or World War II. Since 2002, Switzerland is part of the United Nations.  It did not join the United Nations for 57 years because of its neutrality.

Politics
Politics 

Switzerland is a republic. Switzerland does not have the same kind of president as the United States or France. Seven people (called ministers) do the job of president. They are called the Federal Council in English, Bundesrat in German, Conseil Fédéral in French, Consiglio Federale in Italian and Cussegl Federal in Romansh. Every year one of these people is made president. The president is not more important than the other six people. At present 3 of the 7 people are women.

The seven people are:
 Alain Berset (President in 2023)
 Guy Parmelin
 Ignazio Cassis
 Viola Amherd (Vice president in 2023)
 Karin Keller-Sutter
 Albert Rösti 
 Élisabeth Baume-Schneider
There are two parts of parliament in Switzerland. The Council of States and the National Council. Only both together can make laws. There are 46 people in the Council of States. Every full canton of Switzerland can send 2 people. There are 200 people in the National Council. The biggest canton sends most people to the National Council. The smallest 6 cantons can only send one person to the National Council.

The people of Switzerland can collect signatures if they do not like a new law or a law change. This is called a referendum. If enough people sign a referendum, the people vote. The people can also collect signatures to change the constitution. This is called an initiative. The constitution is the basic law of a country.
Economy 
Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, but it is member of the European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA). The EFTA makes trade with other countries in Europe easier. In 1999 Switzerland and the European Union made a contract. This contract makes trade even easier. They recently made two other contracts.

The banks of Switzerland and the insurance companies in Switzerland together produce eleven per cent of the gross domestic product. Tourism is important in Switzerland. There are many places for tourists. Davos, St. Moritz, Pontresina and Flims are in Switzerland. These towns are important both in winter (for skiing) and in summer. Tourists also like the cities of Lucerne, Geneva, and Zürich.
In 2011 the pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland directly and indirectly employed about 135,000 people. The companies Novartis and Roche are the second and third largest pharma companies in the world. They both have invented many life saving drugs because of well developed research and development facilities.

Climate

Switzerland has a continental climate.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Switzerland was , on 11 August 2003 in Grono.

The lowest temperature ever recorded in Switzerland was , on 12 January 1987 in La Brévine.

Literature 

The literature of Switzerland is divided according to the language used. Most Swiss literature was written in German from 1291 until 1798. French became popular in Bern and elsewhere in the 18th century and many words also in the German speaking parts of Switzerland come from the French and are not known to Germans. Italian language and Romansch-Latin literature are less common in Switzerland.
Heidi, a book for children by Johanna Spyri, is the most famous book of Switzerland. It is in the mountains in Graubünden.

Sports 

Skiing, snowboarding and mountaineering are among the most popular sports in Switzerland. Because of the large mountain range the nature of the country is well suited for such activities. Bobsleigh was invented in St. Moritz. The first world ski championships were held in Mürren (1931) and St. Moritz (1934). St. Moritz hosted the second Winter Olympic Games in 1928 and in 1948. Among the most successful skiers and world champions are Pirmin Zurbriggen and Didier Cuche.

Many Swiss are fans of football. The national team or 'Nati' is widely supported. Switzerland was the joint host, with Austria, of the Euro 2008 tournament. Many Swiss also follow ice hockey. In April 2009, Switzerland hosted the 2009 IIHF World Championship for the 10th time. The National League A is the most attended league in Europe.
The many lakes in the country make Switzerland a good place for sailing. The largest, Lake Geneva, is the home of the sailing team Alinghi.  They were the first European team to win the America's Cup in 2003.  They also won in 2007. Tennis has become more popular. Swiss players such as Martina Hingis and Roger Federer have won multiple Grand Slams.

Motorsport racecourses and events were banned in Switzerland after the 1955 Le Mans disaster. There were exceptions for events such as Hillclimbing. This ban was overturned in June 2007. During this period, the country still had successful racing drivers such as Clay Regazzoni, Sebastian Buemi, Jo Siffert and successful World Touring Car Championship driver Alain Menu. Switzerland also won the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in 2007–08 with driver Neel Jani. Swiss motorcycle racer Thomas Lüthi won the 2005 MotoGP World Championship in the 125cc category.
Traditional sports include Swiss wrestling or "Schwingen". It is an old tradition from the rural central cantons and considered the national sport by some. Hornussen is another native Swiss sport. It is like a cross between baseball and golf. Steinstossen is the Swiss version of stone put, a competition in throwing a heavy stone. It is recorded to have taken place in Basel in the 13th century. It is also central to the Unspunnenfest, first held in 1805.

Related pages
List of rivers of Switzerland
Switzerland at the Olympics
Switzerland national football team

Notes

References

Other websites 

 English homepage of the Federal Authorities of the Swiss Confederation 
 The Swiss Confederation: A Brief Guide 
 Pictures from Switzerland 
 Switzerland -Citizendium

 
German-speaking countries
French-speaking countries
Italian-speaking countries
Federations
LOL, or lol, is an internet slang term that means "laugh(ing) out loud". It is commonly mistaken for "lots of love." LOL is often used in messages meaning "That is really funny."  

It also means mute in Persian and is a native Dutch word (not an acronym) which means "fun" ("lollig" means "funny"). In Welsh, lol means nonsense - e.g., if a person wanted to say "utter nonsense" in Welsh, they would say "rwtsh lol". LOL is usually used on the internet or when text messaging.
Words similar to "LOL"
 lolz, lulz, lul, lawls: Sometimes used instead of LOL, but can have other meanings.
 LOOOOOL: For more emphasis. Any amount of "OL"s can be added to the end of LOL.  
 LMAO: Stands for "Laugh my ass off". Another way to say it is LMFAO ("Laugh my fucking ass off").
 ROFL: For "rolling on the floor laughing". It is often combined with LMAO to make ROFLMAO ("Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off"). Another way to write this is ROTFL.
ROTFLOL: Rolling on the floor laughing out loud; used by Weird Al in the song "White and Nerdy".
LEL: Basically lol; except used by those wanting to be different from the millions of internet users.
kek: The Japanese version of saying Lol.

Related page
 Lolcat

References

Internet slang
Toronto is the capital city of the province of Ontario. It is also the largest city in Ontario. 
It is found on the north-west side of Lake Ontario behind New York City and Chicago.

The City of Toronto itself has a population of almost 3 million people. Even more people live in the regions around it. All together, the Greater Toronto Area is home to over 6 million people. This makes it the biggest metropolitan area in Canada.

History
Toronto was created in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe as the capital of what was then called "Upper Canada". At the time it was called the "Town of York" after the Duke of York. The name was changed to Toronto in 1834. With the Canadian Confederation in 1867, it became the capital of the newly created province of Ontario. Toronto was one of two cities (along with Montreal in Quebec) that wanted to be the capital of Canada. Queen Victoria decided that Ottawa should be the national capital because it was located between the two.
As the 19th century moved on, the city began to grow. This was mainly because of immigration, where people from all over the world left their home and moved to Canada. Many of the immigrants were Irish people. They brought their Catholic faith with them when they left Ireland because of the Irish Potato Famine.

During World War I and World War II, Toronto was used to train members of the Canadian Army. After the wars, even more immigrants came to the city. The population was becoming so big that the Government of Ontario decided to create Metropolitan Toronto in 1954, combining a number of local municipalities. These were Old Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough.
By 1981, Toronto had more people than Montreal even though it was created after Montreal. Because of that, the Ontario government decided to make Toronto a "megacity" in 1998. The first mayor of Toronto was Mel Lastman. As Toronto moved into the 21st century, it became host to a number of worldwide events. These included World Youth Day in 2002, WorldPride in 2014, and the 2015 Pan American Games.

On April 23, 2018 a white van collided with numerous pedestrians killing nine and injuring sixteen others at Yonge Street.

Climate 
Toronto has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfa).

Things to see and do
Toronto has a humid continental climate (Dfa in the Köppen climate classification). This is because although the city is next to Lake Ontario, the lake is not big enough to keep its temperature mild.
Because Toronto is the capital of Ontario, it is where the provincial government meets. Visitors can see how the province is run by visiting the legislature in Queen's Park. There are museums, including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Ontario Science Centre, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and the headquarters of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In the suburbs of the city is the Toronto Zoo and Canada's Wonderland. Many visitors also like to go to Niagara Falls, just an hour's drive away from Toronto.

Toronto is full of places to visit, eat, shop, and enjoy. In the downtown area are shopping centres, including the Eaton Centre, St. Lawrence Market, and the Distillery District. There are several theatres, many which are run by the Mirvish family. The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, opened in June 2006, is home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada. Across the harbor are the Toronto Islands, the best known of which is Centre Island.
Toronto has many sports teams. Some of them belong to the most commonly-followed leagues in North America. They include the Toronto Maple Leafs in ice hockey (NHL) and the Toronto Raptors in basketball (NBA), both of which play in the Air Canada Centre. The nearby Rogers Centre is where the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team plays. BMO Field in Exhibition Place is home to the Toronto Argonauts in Canadian football and Toronto F.C., a soccer club.

Toronto is a very multicultural city. Different people from around the world have moved to Toronto to live since the 20th century. There is a Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Tokyo, Greektown, Little Portugal, and other places where different cultures are kept alive. These people hold festivals where they share their culture with others. Among the most popular is the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), which happens every year in August.
Transport
Like many cities around the world, Toronto has an airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport. There are flights to many places in Canada and the rest of the world. The airport is just northwest of the city centre. Since 2015, there has been a train service, the Union Pearson Express. It goes from the airport to Downtown in less than half an hour.

Toronto's main public transportation system is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The main part of its public transport network is the Toronto subway system. That system includes three heavy-rail rapid transit lines spanning the city, including the U-shaped Line 1 and east–west Line 2. A light metro line also exists, exclusively serving the eastern district of Scarborough. A discussion is underway to replace it with a heavy-rail line. The TTC also operates an extensive network of buses and streetcars. The streetcars serve the downtown core. The buses provide service to many parts of the city not served by the sparse subway network.
The Government of Ontario also operates a commuter rail and bus transit system called GO Transit in the Greater Toronto Area. GO Transit carries over 250,000 passengers every weekday (2013) and 57 million annually. Most of them travel to or from Union Station. GO Transit is implementing RER (Regional Express Rail) into its system.

Housing
Housing in Toronto was ranked as 10th-least affordable in the world. The study compared Toronto with ninety other metropolitan areas in different countries. Hong Kong came in as the least affordable place to live in.

Gallery

Media 
CBLT CBC
CHCH CH
CKVR A Channel
CICA TVO
CITY Citytv
CIII Global Television Network
CFMT Omni
CITS CTS

References

Other websites 

 City of Toronto - Official city website.
 Tourism Toronto  - Visitor's bureau website.
Here are some words for small numbers. Words in bold are irregular.

When writing other numbers between 21 and 99, you must use a hyphen, like a minus sign (-).
 21: twenty-one
 22: twenty-two
 23: twenty-three
 24: twenty-four 
 25: twenty-five
 26: twenty-six
 27: twenty-seven
 28: twenty-eight
 29: twenty-nine
 30: thirty
 31: thirty-one
 64: sixty-four
 65: sixty-five
 66: sixty-six
 67: sixty-seven
 98: ninety-eight
 99: ninety-nine

The number 100 is written as "one hundred", but in general, sometimes people can say "a hundred".

The way numbers are written and spoken differs between American English and other forms of English, such as British English and Australian English, as follows.

American English 

To write a whole number from 100 to 999 in American English:
  First write how many hundreds.
  Then write the word "hundred".
  Then write the name of the two-digit number after the digit in the hundreds place.
In standard, written, American English, the word "and" is not in the word-name of any whole number even though many speakers insert it.

Examples:

 101: one hundred one
 102: one hundred two
 175: one hundred seventy-five
 200: two hundred
 300: three hundred
 400: four hundred
 512: five hundred twelve
 513: five hundred thirteen
 600: six hundred 
 987: nine hundred eighty-seven

British and Commonwealth English 

To write a whole number from 100 to 999 in British and Commonwealth English:
  First write how many hundreds.
  Then write the words "hundred and".
  Then write the name of the two-digit number after the digit in the hundreds place.

In standard, written, British English (and the English spoken in many other places), the word "and" is in the word-name of many whole numbers.

Examples:
Examples:

 101: one hundred and one (NOT: one hundred one)
 102: one hundred and two (NOT: one hundred two)
 175: one hundred and seventy-five (NOT: one hundred seventy-five)
 200: two hundred
 300: three hundred
 400: four hundred 
 500: five hundred
 512: five hundred and twelve (NOT: five hundred twelve)
 900: nine hundred 
 987: nine hundred and eighty-seven (NOT: nine hundred eighty-seven)

Related pages
 Names of ordinal numbers in English
 Names for large numbers
 Names for small numbers

Numbers
The United States dollar (or American dollar) is the official currency (money) of the United States of America. It is also used in some other countries outside the US. It is the standard currency for international markets selling goods such as gold and oil (petrol). When writing, the symbol for the American dollar is the dollar sign ($). Dollars can also be known as USD (standing for 'U.S. dollar').

Denominations and value 

The American one dollar bill has a picture of George Washington. There are currently paper bills (currency) of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollars. 

All U.S. dollar currency has been the same size, shape and general design since 1928. This is unlike some countries where bank notes with different values have different sizes.
The U.S. also has dollar coins. Some are silver colored and some are gold colored. Vending machines often give dollar coins as change, since it is easier for the machines to give out coins than paper money. Some of the more advanced vending machines give out paper money as change. Paper dollars are much more common than dollar coins.

The US dollar in subdivided into cents, and 100 cents equals 1 US dollar. One cent can be written as either $0.01 or 1¢. The cent or "penny" (not to be confused with the English penny sterling) is the least worth coin used in the U.S.. There are several different coins with different cent values of different materials and sizes. There is the penny (1¢ or $0.01), nickel (5¢ or $0.05), dime (10¢ or $0.10), quarter (25¢ or $0.25), and the much rarer half-dollar (50¢ or $0.50). All coins and paper bills have the faces of famous Americans on the front side.
Federal Reserve 
The paper "dollar bill" is actually called a "Federal Reserve Note".  Federal Reserve notes are legal tender currency notes. The twelve Federal Reserve Banks issue them into circulation pursuant to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. A commercial bank belonging to the Federal Reserve System can obtain Federal Reserve notes from the Federal Reserve Bank in its district whenever it wishes by paying for them in full, dollar for dollar, from its account with Federal Reserve Bank.

Federal Reserve Banks get the notes from the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). It pays the BEP for the cost of producing the notes.

Congress has specified that a Federal Reserve Bank must hold collateral equal in value to the Federal Reserve notes that the Bank receives. This collateral is chiefly gold certificates and United States securities. This provides backing for the note issue.
Federal Reserve notes are not redeemable in gold, silver or any other commodity, and receive no backing by anything. This has been the case since 1933. The notes have no value for themselves, but for what they will buy. 

The Coinage Act of 1965 titled "Legal tender" states: "United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues".
This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is no Federal statute saying a person or organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash. But there might be a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

Meeting the variable demand for cash
When the public's demand for cash declines—after the holiday season, for example—banks find they have more cash than they need and they deposit the excess at the Fed. Because banks pay the Fed for cash by having their reserve accounts debited, the level of reserves in the nation's banking system drops when the public's demand for cash rises; similarly, the level rises again when the public's demand for cash subsides and banks ship cash back to the Fed. The Fed offsets variations in the public's demand for cash that could introduce volatility into credit markets by implementing open market operations.

The popularization of the ATM in recent years has increased the public's demand for currency and, in turn, the amount of currency that banks order from the Fed. Interestingly, the advent of the ATM has led some banks to request used, fit bills, rather than new bills, because the used bills often work better in the ATMs.
Maintaining a cash inventory
Each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks keeps an inventory of cash on hand to meet the needs of the depository institutions in its District. Extended custodial inventory sites in several continents promote the use of U.S. currency internationally, improve the collection of information on currency flows, and help local banks meet the public's demand for U.S. currency. Additions to that supply come directly from the two divisions of the Treasury Department that produce the cash: the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which prints currency, and the United States Mint, which makes coins. Most of the inventory consists of deposits by banks that had more cash than they needed to serve their customers and deposited the excess at the Fed to help meet their reserve requirements.
When a Federal Reserve Bank receives a cash deposit from a bank, it checks the individual notes to determine whether they are fit for future circulation. About one-third of the notes that the Fed receives are not fit, and the Fed destroys them. As shown in the table below, the life of a note varies according to its denomination. For example, a $1 bill, which gets the greatest use, remains in circulation an average of 5.9 years; a $100 bill lasts about 15 years.

Gallery

Other websites

References

Currency of the United States
A fluid ounce is a unit of volume in both the imperial system of units and the U.S. customary units system. However, the two measures are not quite the same:
 The Imperial fluid ounce is (1/160) of an imperial gallon or 8 fluid drams, about 1.734 cubic inches or exactly 28.413 07425 ml (as specified legally in The Units of Measurement Regulations 1995). This volume of water weighs very nearly 1 avoirdupois ounce.
 The U.S. fluid ounce is (1/128) of a U.S. fluid gallon, about 1.805 cubic inches or exactly 29.573 529 562 5 ml. This volume of water weighs about 1.04 avoirdupois ounces.
 U.S. law 21CFR101.9(b)(5)(viii) also defines a fluid ounce of exactly 30 ml, for use in nutrition labeling.

Other websites 
Volume Conversion Calculator

Imperial units
Units of volume
The shape of the Universe cannot be discussed with everyday terms, because all the terms need to be those of Einsteinian relativity. The geometry of the universe is therefore not the ordinary Euclidean geometry of our everyday lives.

According to the special theory of relativity, it is impossible to say whether two distinct events occur at the same time if those events are separated in space.  To speak of "the shape of the universe (at a point in time)" is naive from the point of view of special relativity. Due to the relativity of simultaneity we cannot speak of different points in space as being "at the same point in time" nor, therefore, of "the shape of the universe at a point in time".
What astrophysicists do is ask whether a particular model of the universe is consistent with what is known through observations and measurements of the universe. If the observable universe is smaller than the entire universe (in some models it is many orders of magnitude smaller or even infinitesimal), observation is limited to a part of the whole. 

Consideration of the shape of the universe can be split into two:
 local geometry, which relates especially to the curvature of the universe, especially in the observable universe, and
 global geometry, which relates to the topology of the universe as a whole, measurement of which may not be possible.

The observable universe is the basis for testing any model of the universe. It is a spherical volume (a ball) centered on the observer, regardless of the shape of the universe as a whole. Every location in the universe has its own observable universe, which may or may not overlap with the one centered on Earth.
Recent measurements have led NASA to state, "We now know that the universe is flat with only a 0.4% margin of error".  Within one model, the FLRW model, the present most popular shape of the Universe found to fit observational data is the infinite flat model. There are other models that also fit the data.

References 

Geometry
Cosmology
A meteor shower is an event when many meteors seem to come from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel paths. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them burn up and never hit the Earth's surface.

A meteor shower is the result of an interaction between a planet, such as Earth, and streams of debris from a comet. Comets are dirty snowballs, made up of rock embedded in ice, orbiting the Sun. Each time a comet swings by the Sun in its orbit, some of its ice vaporizes and meteoroids will be shed. The meteoroids spread out along the entire orbit of the comet to form a meteoroid stream, also known as a "dust trail".
Most of our short-period meteor showers are the product of rare disintegrations, when large chunks break off a mostly dormant comet. Examples are the Quadrantids and Geminids. They originated from a breakup of asteroid-like objects, 2003 EH1 and 3200 Phaethon, respectively, about 500 and 1000 years ago. The fragments tend to fall apart quickly into dust, sand, and pebbles, and spread out along the orbit of the comet to form a dense meteoroid stream, which later moves into Earth's path.

The most visible meteor shower in most years are the Perseids, which peak on 12 August each year at over one meteor per minute. NASA has a useful tool to calculate how many meteors per hour are visible from your observing location.
The Leonid meteor shower peaks around 17 November of each year. About every 33 years, the Leonid shower produces a big meteor storm, peaking at thousands of meteors per hour. Leonid storms gave birth to the term "meteor shower" when it was first realised, during the November 1833 storm, that the meteors radiated from near the star Gamma Leonis. The last Leonid storms were in 1999, 2001 (two), and 2002 (two). Before that, there were storms in 1767, 1799, 1833, 1866, 1867, and 1966. When the Leonid shower is not storming it is less active than the Perseids.

References
Cats, also called domestic cats (Felis catus), are small, carnivorous mammals, of the family Felidae.

Cats have been domesticated (tamed) for nearly 10,000 years.

Domestic cats may be called 'house cats' when kept as indoor pets.

They are one of the most popular pets in the world. Humans keep them for hunting rodents and as friends.

There are also farm cats, which keep rodents away; and feral cats, which are domestic cats that live away from humans.

A cat is sometimes called a kitty. A young cat is called a kitten. 
There are about 92 breeds of cat. Domestic cats are found in shorthair, longhair, and hairless breeds. Cats which are not specific breeds can be referred to as 'domestic shorthair' (DSH) or 'domestic longhair' (DLH).
The word 'cat' is also used for other felines. Felines are usually called either big cats or small cats.  The big, wild cats are well known: lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, and cheetahs. There are small wild cats in most parts of the world, such as the lynx in northern Europe.  Big and wild cats are not tame, and can be very dangerous.

History 

In the past, mostly in Egypt, people kept domestic cats because they hunted and ate mice and rats. Today, people often keep cats as pets. There are also domestic cats which live without being cared for by people. These cats are called "feral cats" or "stray cats".

The oldest evidence of cats kept as pets is from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, around 7500 BC. Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as gods, and often mummified them so they could be with their owners "for all of eternity".
Today, special food for cats is widely available in developed countries. Proper feeding will help a cat live longer compared to hunting or being fed table scraps. Not correctly feeding a cat can lead to problems (see below for health concerns).

Cats cannot taste sweet foods (with sugar) because of a mutation (change) in their ancestors which removed the ability to taste sweet things.

Cat anatomy 
Cats have anatomy similar to the other members of the genus Felis. The genus has extra lumbar (lower back) and thoracic (chest) vertebrae. This helps to explain the cat's spinal mobility and flexibility. Unlike human arms, cat forelimbs are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones. These allow cats to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their heads.
Cats walk very precisely. Unlike most mammals, when cats walk, they use a "pacing" gait (walking style); that is, they move the two legs on one side of the body before the legs on the other side. This trait is shared with camels and giraffes. As a walk speeds up into a trot, a cat's gait will change to be a "diagonal" gait, similar to that of most other mammals: the diagonally opposite hind and forelegs will move at the same time. Most cats have five claws on their front paws, and four on their rear paws. On the inside of the front paws there is something which looks like a sixth "finger". This special feature on the inside of the wrists is the carpal pad. The carpal pad is also found on other cats and on dogs.

Behaviour
Behaviour 

Cats are active carnivores, meaning that in the wild they hunt live prey. Their main prey is small mammals (like mice). They will also stalk, and sometimes kill and eat, birds. Cats eat a wide variety of prey, including insects such as flies and grasshoppers. Their main method of hunting is stalk and pounce. While dogs have great stamina and will chase prey over long distances, cats are extremely fast, but only over short distances. Note also that dogs may hunt in packs, which cats never do.
The basic cat coat colouring, tabby (see top photo), gives it good camouflage in grass and woodland. The cat creeps towards a chosen victim, keeping its body flat and near the ground so that it cannot be seen easily, until it is close enough for a rapid dash or pounce. Cats, especially kittens, practice these instinctive behaviours in play with each other or on small toys. Cats can catch fish. They use a flip-up movement of a front paw which, when successful, flips the fish out of the water and over the cat's shoulders onto the grass. Dutch research showed this to be an innate (inherited) behaviour pattern which developed early and without maternal teaching.

Cats are quiet and well-behaved animals, making them popular pets. Young kittens are playful. They can easily entertain themselves with a variety of store-bought or homemade toys. House cats have also been known to teach themselves to use lever-type doorknobs and toilet handles.
Cats are independent animals. They can look after themselves and do not need as much attention as dogs do.

Cats use many different sounds for communication, including meowing, purring, trilling, hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking and grunting.

Body posture is also important. The whole shape of the body changes when a cat is relaxed, or when it is alert. Also, the position of their ears and tail are used for communication, as well as their usual functions.

These ways of communication are significant. They are used between a mother cat and her kittens. They are also used between male and female cats; and between cats and other species, such as dogs. A mother cat protecting her kittens can fight off a large dog. She gives good warning with a frightening display, hissing furiously, showing her claws, arching her back, and making her hair stand on end. If that fails, she attacks the dog's face with her claws. It has been said that no dog ever tries such an attack a second time.
Mating 
Cats only mate when the queen is "in heat". Heat periods occur about every two weeks and last 4 to 6 days. Mating in cats is a spectacular event. Several toms may be attracted to a queen in heat. The males will fight over her, and the victor wins the right to mate. At first, the female will reject the male, but eventually the female will allow the male to mate. The female will utter a loud yowl as the male pulls out of her. This is because a male cat's penis has a band of about 120-150 backwards-pointing spines, which are about one millimeter long. When the penis is withdrawn, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which is a trigger for ovulation. After mating, the female will wash her vulva thoroughly. If a male attempts to breed with her at this point, the female will attack him. After about 20 to 30 minutes. once the female is finished grooming, the cycle will repeat.
Because ovulation is not always triggered, females may not get pregnant by the first tom which mates with them. A queen may mate with more than one tom when she is in heat, and different kittens in a litter may have different fathers. The cycle ceases when the queen is pregnant.

The gestation period for cats is about two months, with an average length of 66 days. The size of a litter is usually three to five kittens. Kittens are weaned at between six and seven weeks, and cats normally reach sexual maturity at 5–10 months (females) and to 5–7 months (males). Females can have two to three litters per year, so might produce up to 150 kittens in their breeding life of about ten years.
Birth and after 
Pregnant queens deliver their litters by themselves, guided by instinct. The queen finds the safest place she can. Then she will clean it thoroughly, with her tongue, if necessary. Here she will quietly give birth. She licks the newborn kits clean. In the wild, leaving a scent is risking a dangerous encounter with other animals. The kits are born blind and with closed eyes. They suckle on her teats, and sleep a good deal. After two weeks or so, their eyes open. At that stage they have blue eyes, but not the best sight. A bit later, the best developed kit will totter out of the nest. The others follow. They will soon recognise you as a living thing: that is a great moment. At first, they go back to the nest to feed and sleep. After some more days they leave the nest for good, but still they may sleep together in a 'kitten heap'.
The queen, meanwhile, has left the nest from time to time, to hunt, feed, and also to urinate and defecate. Unlike the tom, she covers up her business to hide her scent. Very soon, the kits will urinate anywhere they please unless one trains them. This is done after they are weaned, when they are ready for some kitten food. Here is how to do it:
1. Prepare clean cat tray filled with absorbent grit. 
2. Give kittens their special kitten food. 
3. Take the lead kitten right after it has eaten, place it in your cat tray.
4. Gently stroke its tummy with one finger. 
5. Watch as kitten sits down promptly and urinates. Do same for other kits.
6. Repeat next time if they need it. They will not need a third time.
What you have done is exactly what the queen would do in the wild. You have triggered a reflex which all kittens have. The thing is, the tray is artificial, and your queen may do her business outside. But at least when young, kittens need a tray. Your next job is to call the vet, who will tell you when to bring the kits for their vaccination.

Kittens play endlessly. It is how they do their learning. They will play their favourite games, such as 'hide and pounce', with almost anyone or anything. Soft balls on strings are a standard toy; so is a scratching post.
With cats there is a limit to how far you can train them. They are at least as intelligent as dogs, but they are not pack animals. They like to do their own thing, and owners do best by fitting in. Never hit a cat: if you do, the relationship will never be the same again. If you really want to dissuade them, try hissing. It has been said that no one really owns a cat; many cats collect extra owners, and may change house if they do not like the treatment...

If your kitten was born in your home do not let it out of the house until it is two to three months old. If you have the mother, she will look after the kit. But if you have got the kit from a vet or dealer, keep it in for several weeks. When it does go out, you need to watch over it. The main problem is that it may easily get lost. In time, the kit will learn every inch of the house and garden. Then, you can happily let it roam.
Grooming 
Cats are very clean animals. They groom themselves by licking their fur. The cat's tongue can act as a hairbrush and can clean and untangle a cat's fur. Still, owners may buy grooming products to help the cat care for itself. After licking their fur, cats sometimes get hairballs. A hairball is a small amount of fur that is vomited up by animals when it becomes too big. This is quite normal. Owners brush their cats to try to prevent a lot of hairballs. Cats have four toes on their back feet, while their front feet have five. There are 12-12 hairs on the right and left side of the cat's muzzle.

Food 

Many house cats eat food which their owners give them. This food is manufactured, and designed to contain the proper nutrients for cats. There are many different types of cat food. These come in many different flavors and costs are often very small.
There is moist canned food and also dry cat food which comes in different sized cans or bags and formulas. There are all kinds of formulae. It seems obvious that the food should be mostly meat, as that is most of a cat's natural diet. But remember, when they catch mice, they also eat the bones. So there is need for formulas to have more than just meat.

Cats should not be fed a daily diet of dog food. It could make the cat blind, as it has no taurine, which is a nutrient for the eyes that cats cannot make for themselves..

Health concerns 

Cats do get diseases, and prevention is better than cure. Getting a young cat vaccinated against some of the most deadly diseases is most important. If a cat gets a disease, a veterinarian (animal doctor) can offer help. Some cats, depending on breed, gender, age, and general health, may be more susceptible to disease than others.  Regular visits to a vet can keep a cat alive many extra years by catching sickness and disease early.
Cats that roam outside will get fleas at some time. Cat fleas will not live on people, but fleas will not hesitate to bite anyone nearby. Owners may buy anti-flea collars, but any areas where the cat normally sleeps need to be cleaned up. A vet or local pet-shop may offer advice about fleas. Owners should take action quickly when a cat gets fleas because fleas will make it very uncomfortable.
House cats can become overweight through lack of exercise and over-feeding because people do not watch them. When they get spayed or neutered ("fixed"), they tend to exercise less. Spaying is done for queens, and neutering is done for toms. It is important to fix cats, and here are some reasons. First of all, if a female cat has kittens, they will need homes. Finding homes for kittens is often quite difficult. If a tom is not fixed, it develops a disgusting smell. Breeders who have entire toms keep them in a special hut outside the house, for that reason. Fixing also helps to avoid over-population. Over-population means that there are too many cats, and some will be put to sleep (put down) in animal pounds (animal shelters).

It is a good idea to adopt a cat from a vet or an animal shelter. The vet, shelter or RSPCA will make sure they are healthy and spayed.
Kittens are sometimes born with defects. People who receive cats as gifts are recommended to get them examined for their health. Some birth defects need attention. Others are harmless, like polydactyly. Polydactyly means many digits, or many "fingers" from poly (many) and dactyl (digit). Sometimes, there is a mutation (change) in cat families. Most cats have only four to five toes per paw, depending on whether it is the front or back paw. These mutated cats have six, seven, and in rare cases even more. All of these cats are called polydactyl cats. They can also be called Hemingway cats because author Ernest Hemingway owned some of them.

References

Other websites
The early history of civilization of the domestic cat with special regard to its diseases Open Access Theses and Dissertations
Engineering is the use of science and math to design or make things.  People who do engineering are called engineers.  They learn engineering at a college or university.  Engineers usually design or build things.  Some engineers also use science, mathematics, and other skills to solve Technology problems.  There are different types of engineers that design everything from computers and buildings to watches and websites.  People have been creating and engineering things for thousands of years.  Some engineers become engineering managers.

Specialties 
Engineering is a big subject. Here are a few of the many types of engineers:
Aerospace engineers design space vehicles or airplanes.
 Biomedical engineers design and work with medical equipment.
 Ceramic engineers create objects from inorganic, non-metallic materials.
 Chemical engineers use chemicals to make products like drugs and medicines or fertilizers for crops.
 Civil engineers work on roads, bridges, buildings and other public structures.
 Computer engineers design or improve computers (including embedded systems and their parts).
 Electrical engineers work with electricity and design electrical equipment, from small things like radios and computers to large things like electric power transmission systems.
 Electronic engineers work with electronics, which are used to build computer parts and electrical equipment.
 Environmental engineers design and implement ways to remediate and restore the environment.
Manufacturing engineers design and improve the machines and assembly lines that make things.  They work with robots and automation and ways to help companies work faster and better with fewer mistakes.
 Mechanical engineers design machines or things that move, like cars and trains. A mechanical engineer also might help design electricity generating stations, oil refineries, and factories.
 Mechatronics engineers work in multiple fields of engineering that include mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, control engineering and computer engineering.
 Marine engineers design, build, test and repair boats, ships, underwater craft, focusing primarily on their internal systems.
 Nanotechnology engineers study very small things, like strings of atoms and how they are put together.
 Nuclear engineers design and build nuclear plants. They also study the characteristic behaviors of certain radioactive or unstable elements.
Structural engineers work on design and analysis of buildings and other large structures to withstand both the gravity and wind loads as well as natural disasters.
 Software engineers design and write programs for computers.
 Systems engineers look at how complicated things work and try to make them faster and smarter.
Engineers do not only work with machines.  They also work a lot with other people. Many engineering projects are large and very complicated. Often different kinds of engineers work together and help each other. As an example, computer engineers need help from electrical engineers to build a computer. The computer needs programs written by software engineers. The computer could be used by aerospace engineers to control an airplane. An airplane is a big mechanical system with many parts, so a mechanical engineer and a systems engineer are also needed.
Study 
Most (but not all) engineers have had years of training. Much of their training involves working within a limited budget and materials.

American courses 
In the United States, most engineers go to a college or university to get an engineering degree. Most people go to school for four years to get a bachelor's degree in engineering. A Master's Degree is an advanced degree, usually requiring two more years of study after the Bachelors. A person with a master's degree is eligible to enter a Doctoral program in engineering. A graduate of a Doctoral program is awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree, which is commonly called a PhD. A PhD in engineering requires three or four years of study after a master's degree, and includes the completion of a long research report called a dissertation. After having gained enough work experience, one can sit for their Professional Engineer's (PE) License, reinforcing their demonstrated proficiency in their specialty.