Aarushhh/wikipedia-simple-splitted huggingface dataset:
In 1973 Merckx rode in the Vuelta a España where he beat Luis Ocana and Bernard Thévenet and then went on to win the Giro d'Italia. Merckx's final victory in the Giro d'Italia in the 1974 edition was a tight battle between Merckx and two Italians. In the end, Merckx won by the very narrow margin of twelve seconds over Gianbattista Baronchelli and 33 seconds over Felice Gimondi.

Classics victories
In addition to Grand Tour successes, Merckx has a long list of victories in one-day races. Among the highlights are
 a record seven victories in Milan-Sanremo
 two victories in the Ronde van Vlaanderen
 three wins in Paris-Roubaix
 a record five wins in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and
 two in the Giro di Lombardia

That is a total of 19 victories in the Classics. He also won the World Road Racing Championship a record three times in 1967, 1971 and 1974, and every Classic except Paris-Tours. Finally, he won 17 six-day track races, often with Patrick Sercu.

Merckx retired from racing in 1978, at the age of 33.
Setbacks and lesser days
The blackest day in Merckx's career was in 1969, when he crashed in a derny race towards the end of the season. A pacer and a cyclist fell in front of Merckx's pacer, Fernand Wambst.  Wambst and Merckx crashed. Wambst was killed instantly, and Merckx suffered concussion and fell unconscious. This accident cracked a vertebra and twisted his pelvis. Afterwards he said his riding was never the same, because he always be in pain, especially while climbing.
That same year, during the Giro d'Italia, was found to have used drugs and disqualified. He cried in front of reporters and still protests his innocence. He argued that there were no counter-experts nor counter-analysis and that foreign supporters hated him. Further, he stated that the stage during which he was allegedly using drugs was an easy one, so there was no need to use drugs. The Belgian prince sent a plane to bring him to Belgium. This incident was one of the reasons why Merckx thought his first Tour de France victory, later that year, his best ever win
The end of his Tour-career came in 1975 (although he did compete in 1977 he finished 6th that year). That year, he attempted to win his sixth but became a victim of violence. Many Frenchmen were upset that a Belgian might beat the record five wins set by Jacques Anquetil. Merckx held the yellow jersey for eight days, which raised his record to 96 days, but during stage 14 a French spectator punched him in the liver. A later collision with the Danish rider Ole Ritter broke his jaw. Although he could not eat solid food and was barely able to talk, Merckx did not retire. During the last stage, he attacked leader Bernard Thevenet (but was caught by the peloton).

Records
Records

Merckx set these records during his career.
 Most career victories by a professional cyclist: 525.
 Most victories in one season: 54.
 Most stage victories in the Tour de France: 34.
 Most stage victories in one Tour de France: 8, in 1970 and 1974 (shared with Charles Pelissier in 1930 and Freddy Maertens in 1976).
 Most days with the yellow jersey in the Tour de France: 96.
 The only cyclist to have won the yellow, green and red polka-dotted jersey in the same Tour de France (1969).
 Most victories in the Classic cycle races: 28.
 Most victories in one single Classic cycle race: 7 (in Milan-Sanremo).
Hour record
Merckx set the hour record in October 25, 1972. He covered 49.431 km at high altitude in Mexico City. The record was unbeaten until 1984, when Francesco Moser broke it using a specially designed bicycle. During the next 15 years, various racers improved the record to more than 56 km. However, because of the more and more strange designs of the bikes and position of the rider, in 2000 the UCI said a "traditional" bike must be used. When Chris Boardman had another go at Merckx's reinstated record in 2000, he beat it by slightly more than 10 metres at sea level. But, Merckx had raced a full road season winning the Tour, Giro and four Classics, while Boardman was a time trial specialist who had retired from road racing and had prepared specially for the 2000 Hour Record.
After retirement
Having retired, Merckx has a bicycle factory   and is a race commentator. He was coach of the Belgian national cycling team during the mid-90s, and part of the Belgian Olympic Committee. Merckx is still asked to comment as an authority on cycling. As such, he has also figured as special advisor for the recent UCI addition "Tour of Qatar" since 2002.

In May 2004, he underwent an oesophagus operation to cure the constant stomach ache which he suffered since he was a young man. He lost almost 30 kg in the process, and started cycling again, but only for leisure.

Personal life
In 1967 Merckx married Claudine Acou. Merckx's mother asked the priest to celebrate the ceremony in French, a choice that ended up being a contentious issue in Belgium. They had two children: a daughter (Sabrina), and a son (Axel) who was a professional cyclist for Team T-Mobile.
Despite this early incident, Merckx is a perfect ambassador to Belgium (because he does not support Flanders more than Wallonia, but supports the unity of the country). Because of this, he came 4th in the Walloon version of the "Greatest Belgian" contest in 2005, and third in the Flemish (3rd) version..

In 1996 the Belgian king gave him the title of baron. In 2000 he was chosen Belgian "Sports Figure of the Century".

Merckx is known as a quiet and modest person. Many of his former helpers have worked in his bicycle factory and join him during recreational bike tours.
Trivia and cultural references
 Merckx was nicknamed "the cannibal" because he wanted to win every race he participated in, never "arranging" a race with another competitor. Other nicknames were "the Einstein of the two-wheelers", and, courtesy of Jacques Goddet, "Le Géant" (The Giant).
 Eddy Merckx has a  namesake who is a multiple Belgian Champion and world champion 2006 in three cushion billiards.
 While climbing Mont Ventoux in 1970 to a stage win, he pushed himself so hard that oxygen had to be administered.
 In the mid-seventies Merckx figured in some television commercials for cigarettes; an act for which he was criticized and which he now regrets.
 When the United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Belgium in 2005, she met Merckx as a cultural representative of Belgium.
 The Eddy Merckx metro station on the Brussels metro is named in his honour. His hour world record bike is at this station.
 A cycling contest, The Eddy Merckx Grand Prix, is named in his honour.
In the French comedy Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob (The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob) (1973) with Louis de Funès, de Funès' character hears a conversation between a kidnapper and his victim, a revolutionary. When the revolutionary says: "The revolution is like a bike ( http://likeabikes.com  ): When it doesn't move forward, it falls.", de Funès attributes the line to Eddy Merckx. One of the kidnappers corrects him and says Che Guevara once said this.
 In the comic strip Asterix Merckx makes a cameo as a "fast runner" in the album Asterix in Belgium.
 In 2000, the Belgian magazine Knack declared him to be "Belgian of the Century" and another four years later, the magazine Humo called him "the Greatest Belgian".
 Paul Van Himst, another Belgian sport legend, is one of his closest friends.
 Merckx cameoed as himself in several movies, of which the 1985 movie American Flyers, starring Kevin Costner, is the best known.
Significant victories by race

Grand Tours (11)

 5× Tours de France, 34 stage wins
 5× Giro d'Italia, 24 stage wins
 1× Vuelta a España, 6 stage wins

Other stage races
 1× Tour de Suisse
 2× Tour of Belgium
 3× Paris-Nice
 1× Tour de Romandie
 1× Dauphiné Libéré
 1× Midi Libre
 4× Tour of Sardinia

Classic cycle races (28)
 7× Milan-Sanremo
 2× Ronde van Vlaanderen
 3× Paris-Roubaix
 5× Liège-Bastogne-Liège
 2× Giro di Lombardia
 2× Amstel Gold Race
 3× La Flèche Wallonne
 1× Paris-Brussels
 3× Ghent-Wevelgem

World titles
 3×  World Championships
 1×  Amateur World Championships

Track races
 17 six-day races
 3× European Championships
 7× Belgian Madison Championships (with Patrick Sercu)

Significant victories by year
1964
World Amateur Road Race Champion
1965
 Six Days of Gent (with Patrick Sercu)
1966 (Team Peugeot-BP)
Milan-Sanremo
Trofeo Angelo Baracchi, with Ferdi Bracke
Championship of Flanders
Tour de Morbihan
1967 (Team Peugeot-BP)
  World Pro Road Race
Milan-Sanremo
La Flèche Wallonne
Gent-Wevelgem
Trofeo Angelo Baracchi, with Ferdi Bracke
2 stages, Giro d'Italia
Critérium des As
Six Days of Gent (with Patrick Sercu)
1968 (Team Faema)
 Giro d'Italia, including
Mountains Classification
Points Classification
4 stages
Volta a Catalunya
Tour de Romandie
Paris-Roubaix
Tre Valli Varesine
Tour of Sardinia
G.P. Lugano
A travers Lausanne
1969 (Team Faema)
Tour de France
Overall classification
 Mountains Classification
 Points Classification
6 stages
Paris-Luxembourg
Milan-Sanremo
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Paris-Nice, including
4 stages
Super Prestige Pernod International
1970 (Team Faema-Faemino)
Tour de France
Overall classification
 Mountains Classification
8 stages
Giro d'Italia, including
3 stages
3 stages
Paris-Nice
Tour of Belgium
Paris-Roubaix
La Flèche Wallonne
Gent-Wevelgem
Critérium des As
  National Cycling Championship Road Race
Super Prestige Pernod International
1971 (Team Molteni)
Tour de France
Overall classification
 Points Classification
4 stages
 World Pro Road Race
Milan-Sanremo
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Giro di Lombardia
Rund um den Henninger Turm
Omloop "Het Volk"
Paris-Nice
Dauphiné Libéré
GP du Midi Libre
Tour of Belgium
Super Prestige Pernod International
1972 (Team Molteni)
Tour de France
Overall classification
 Points Classification
6 stages
Giro d'Italia, including
4 stages
Milan-Sanremo
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Giro di Lombardia
La Flèche Wallonne
Giro dell'Emilia
Giro del Piemonte
Grote Scheldeprijs
Trofeo Angelo Baracchi, with Roger Swerts
Hour Record - 49.431 km
Super Prestige Pernod International
1973 (Team Molteni)
Giro d'Italia, including
Points Classification
6 stages
Vuelta a España, including
Points Classification
Sprints Classification
Combined Classification
6 stages
6 stages
Paris-Roubaix
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Grand Prix des Nations
Amstel Gold Race
Gent-Wevelgem
Omloop "Het Volk"
Paris-Brussels
GP Fourmies
Super Prestige Pernod Trophy
1974 (Team Molteni)
Tour de France
Overall classification
8 stages
Giro d'Italia, including
2 stages
 World Pro Road Race
Tour de Suisse, including
Points Classification
KoM
3 stages
Critérium des As
Super Prestige Pernod Trophy
1975 (Team Molteni)
Milan-Sanremo
Ronde van Vlaanderen
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Amstel Gold Race
Catalan Week
2 stages, Tour de France
1 stage, Tour de Suisse
Super Prestige Pernod Trophy
 Six Days of Gent (with Patrick Sercu)
1976 (Team Molteni)
Milan-Sanremo
Catalan Week
1977 (Team Fiat)
 1 stage, Tour de Suisse
 Tour Méditerranéen
 Six Days of Munich (with Patrick Sercu)
 Six Days of Zürich (with Patrick Sercu)
 Six Days of Gent (with Patrick Sercu)
Doping 
Merckx twice tested positive for doping in his career.  Because he has admitted doing this publicly the city of Stuttgart, Germany did not want to invite him to the world cycling championships being held in the city in 2007

Related pages
 Cycling records

Notes

References
 
 
 
 

1945 births
Belgian cyclists
Belgian nobility
Doping cases in cycling
Giro d'Italia winners
Living people
People from Flemish Brabant
Tour de France winners
Vuelta a España winners
World cycling champions
Monstera is a genus of flowering plants. There are about 60 species in the genus. The genus belongs to the family Araceae. Originally, the plants occur in the tropical regions of Central and South America. 

The plants are herbs or evergreen vines. They climb other trees. They can grow to a height of about 20m. The plants also have aerial roots. These can act as hooks on branches of the tree that the plant is climbing. They grow down into the ground to support the plant. The leaves are leather, dark green, and often have holes in them. The flowers grow on a special inflorescence called a spadix.   Some species have edible fruit.

Many people grow some of these species (esp. Monstera deliciosa) indoors as a houseplant. Monstera deliciosa is sometimes also grown for its fruit, which tastes somewhere between a banana and a pineapple.
In some parts of the world (other than Tropical America), some plants started to grow in the wild. This is the case for example in Portugal, on Madeira, Morocco, some parts of India and Malaysia as well as in Florida.

Other websites

 Entry at GRIN Taxonomy for Plants 
Classification from the International Association for Plant Taxonomy 

Vines
Araceae
Epiphytes
A vine is a climbing plant which use stems or runners. These runners trail on the ground, and will climb up when it is possible. It is a growth habit or life habit which makes use of trees to reach light in natural habitats. 

In the United Kingdom, the term "vine" applies almost exclusively to the grapevine, whereas the term "climber" is used for all climbing plants.  The grapevine, genus Vitis, carries berries which can be made into wine. 

In the United States, all climbing plants are called vines or ivies or sometimes creepers (like the Virigina Creeper). 

Most vines are flowering plants. These may be divided into woody vines or lianas, such as wisteria, kiwifruit, and common ivy, and herbaceous (nonwoody) vines, such as morning glory.

References 

 
Epiphytes
An Aerial root is a root which is above the ground. Different plants have grown them. They can have different functions:
For support: Sometimes such roots are grown for support. Ivy plants have them to cling to structures, such as stone walls, or other trees. The Banyan tree (also known as strangler fig) grows them downward from branches into the forest floor. Eventually, the host tree dies. 
Roots for breathing: Some plants grow in environments where there is much water in the soil. They may then grow such roots (upwards) to breathe air. Black mangroves have such roots, for example.
As a parasite. Parasites sometimes grow these, into the host to get nutrients. One example of this is the mistletoe.
Roots to propagate: Some plants have above-ground roots. In some places, little plants (with leaves and roots) develop. They will drop off at some point, and develop into new plants (that are clones of the parent). Examples for this are strawberries or the spider plant.

Images

References 

Plant anatomy
Tropical waves, or easterly waves, also known as African easterly waves in the Atlantic Ocean, are a type of atmospheric trough, an extended area of moderately low air pressure, leaning north to south, which move from east to west across the tropics creating areas of cloudiness and thunderstorms. West-moving waves can also form from the tail end of frontal zones in the subtropics and tropics and may be called to as easterly waves, but these waves are not properly called tropical waves; they are a form of inverted trough sharing many characteristics with fully tropical waves. All tropical waves form in the easterly flow along the southern side of the subtropical ridge or belt of high pressure which is north and south of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).  Tropical waves are normally carried westward by the prevailing easterly winds along the tropics and subtropics near the equator. They can lead to the formation of tropical cyclones in the north Atlantic and northeast Pacific Oceans
. They can also lead to tropical storms which can also lead to hurricanes.
Characteristics
A tropical wave is usually preceded by an area of sinking, intensely dry air, sloping as a northeast wind. With the passage of the trough line, the wind turns to the southeast, the humidity suddenly rises, and the atmosphere destabilizes, producing widespread showers and thunderstorms, sometimes severe. As the wave moves off westward, the showers slowly stop.

A notable exception to the general characteristic of widespread precipitation behind a tropical wave occurs in the Atlantic.  Periodically, a surge of intensely dry air known as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL) is entrained behind a tropical wave, resulting in cloudless or nearly cloudless skies as convection is limited by the dry layer inversion. Also, any dust which may be present within the SAL reflects solar radiation, slightly cooling the atmosphere below it.
Atlantic
Tropical waves in the Atlantic Ocean form from disturbances which drift off the continent of Africa onto the Atlantic Ocean. These are generated or enhanced by the African Easterly Jet. The clockwise circulation of the large transoceanic high-pressure cell or anticyclone centered near the Azores islands impels easterly waves away from the coastal areas of Africa to North America. About 60% of Atlantic tropical cyclones originally form from tropical waves, while about 85% of intense Atlantic hurricanes (Category 3 and greater) form from tropical waves.

Tropical cyclones can sometimes degenerate back into a tropical wave. This normally happens if upper-level wind shear is too strong. The storm can redevelop if the upper level shear decreases or stops. If a tropical wave is moving quickly, it can have strong winds of over tropical storm force, but is not considered a tropical storm unless it has a closed circulation.
East Pacific
It has been suggested that eastern Pacific Ocean tropical cyclones are formed out of tropical waves that come from North Africa as well.  During the summer months, tropical waves can go northward as far as the desert southwest of the United States, producing spells of intensified shower activity surrounded within the current monsoon area.

Related pages
 Tropical cyclones

References

Other websites
Tropical Waves Presentation 
African Easterly Wave Variability and Its Relationship to Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Activity

Weather
Brownsville is a city in the southern tip of Texas. As of 2005, 167,493 people lived there.

References

Cities in Texas
County seats in Texas
Agar is a substance jelly-like jelly made from from red algae. It consists of agarose and a mixture of molecules known as agaropectin.

You can grow bacteria on agar plates: that is how bacteria are laid out for testing in hospital pathology departments. It is used as a place to grow bacteria in an microbiology laboratory. 

Domestically, it is used to make desserts, as a laxative, and in the process of brewing. 

The word "agar" comes from the Malay word agar-agar, a word which is used for "red algae", where the jelly comes from.

References 

Polymers
Microbiology
Laboratory equipment

min:Agar
new:आगर
The Australian Air Force Cadets (AAFC) is a youth organisation in Australia. The goal of the organisation it to help prepare young people for adult life. It was first created on July 11, 1941 with the name Air Training Corps. It was created to give training to young men (ages 14 to 20) who were interested in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The name was changed in 2001.

Other websites 
 Official AAFC website

Air force
Australian military organisations
1941 establishments in Australia
A communication cable is made of many wires or optical fibers twisted together to make a larger wire. Each of these wires may be covered. Some cables contain both electrical wires and optical fibers. There are many kinds of cables, including coaxial cables which block out radio or magnetic interference from other wires or cables, by having one wire inside an insulated tube surrounded by a second wire, acting as a metal tube along the same axis.  

Electrical cables are usually made of copper, because electricity moves well through copper, but it is not as expensive as silver or other better conductors. Cables are sometimes made of aluminium because it is cheaper than copper.

The word "cable" is also used as ellipsis, or a short form, for "cable TV". 

Wire ropes are a common type of cable. A cable car is a trolley pulled by a cable.

Related pages
 Cable television

Hardware (mechanical)
The Yellow jersey (French: Maillot jaune [majo ʒoːn]) is the jersey worn by the leader of many multi-day (or stage) bicycle races, originally and most notably the Tour de France. It allows the rider who was in the overall lead at the end of the previous day to be easily identified.

Because the Tour de France was the first to use a coloured jersey to identify the leader many newer races have chosen the same colour, for example the Tour of Germany. Other tours and races use other colours, sometimes because of the sponsor.

The Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy, have a pink jersey (maglia rosa). The race's original sponsor was the sports newspaper (La Gazzetta dello Sport) which printed on pink paper, like many European sports newspapers.

The leader in the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) wears a red jersey (called "La Roja"). From 1998 to 2010 the Vuelta leader's jersey was gold in color.
Sometimes a rider will get three yellow jerseys. 
 In front of the press and spectators They are presented a special one that zips up at the back to make the presentation easier.
 An ordinary jersey to wear during the race the next day.
 An unused jersey to keep as a memento.
They will sometimes also autograph many copies of the jersey that are given out to VIPs with the race and their team.
Cycle races
In road bicycle racing, and especially the three Grand Tour stage races Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, the Green jersey is the name given to a cycling jersey worn by the leader in a subsidiary competition.

For example, while the overall race leader in the Tour de France will wear the yellow jersey, or "maillot jaune", the green jersey ("maillot vert") will be worn by the leader in the points competition for sprinters.

In the Vuelta a Espana, the green jersey is worn by the "King of the Mountains", the leader in the competition for the best climber. The Giro d'Italia also used a green jersey for its "King of the Mountains" from 1974 to 2011, but that jersey was changed to a blue jersey,  starting in 2012.

Classification Guide

Overall Leader 
The following events use the "green jersey" to signify the current leader and/or final winner of the overall classification by time
(incomplete listing)
 To Be Determined
Points Competition Leader 
The following events use the "green jersey" to signify the current leader and/or final winner of the overall classification by points (often known as the sprinters competition):

(incomplete listing)
 Tour de France (known as the maillot vert)
 Dauphiné Libéré
 Tour de l'Avenir
 Tour de Georgia

King of the Mountains 
The following events use the "green jersey" to signify the current leader and/or final winner of the overall classification of the best climber :

(incomplete listing)
 Tour of Poland (Polish: known as the najlepszy góral or Klasyfikacja Górska)

Former use
 Giro d'Italia (Italian: known as the maglia verde) – Used from 1974 to 2011; a blue jersey (maglia azzurra) is now used instead.
Cycle races
The Rainbow jersey is a special jersey worn by world champion cyclists during races.

It is mainly white with five horizontal bands in the UCI colours around the chest. From the bottom up the colours are: green, yellow, black, red and blue, the same colours that appear in the rings on the olympic flag. There are different jerseys for each discipline (road racing, track racing, cyclo-cross, BMX, and the types of mountain biking).

A cyclist must wear the jersey when competing in the same discipline, category and speciality that he is world champion for. For example, the world road race champion would wear the jersey while competing in stage races and one-day races, but would not during time trials. Similarly, on the track, the world individual pursuit champion would only wear the jersey when competing in other individual pursuit events.

A champion who does not wear the rainbow jersey can be fined 2500 to 5000 Swiss francs.
The team's sponsor pays a lot of money to have their name on each rider's jersey.  They can still put their names on the world champion's jersey, but probably smaller because there is less space.  Sponsors do not mind because the world champion gets a lot more publicity than ordinary riders.

A world champion who is leading a stage race wears the race-leader's jersey, not the world champion's, but only while he is the leader.

References 

Cycle races
A derny race is a race in which the cyclists are paced by someone riding a derny.

A Derny is a motorised bicycle designed and built for motor-paced cycling events (e.g.: motor-paced races in six-day and Keirin racing) or motor-paced road races. 

The first Dernys were built by "Roger Derny et Fils" of Paris, France in 1938. That firm is no longer in business and any motorised bicycle for pacing is called a "Derny".

The rider of the derny usually sits upright, this makes it easier for the cyclist by reducing wind resistance. 

The photographers' motorbikes used to help riders in ordinary races. That is why they were banned from riding in front of the cyclists.
Cycle races
An escopetarra is a guitar made from a rifle; it is used as a symbol of peace. The name is a  combination of the Spanish words escopeta (meaning shotgun/rifle) and guitarra (meaning guitar). 

Escopetarras were invented in 2003 by a Colombian peace activist named César López. At a gathering after the El Nogal Club bombing in Bogotá, he noticed a soldier holding a gun like a guitar and got the idea for it. The first escopetarra in 2003 was made from a Winchester rifle and a Stratocaster electric guitar.

López made five escopetarras, four of which were given to Colombian musician Juanes, Argentine musician Fito Páez, the United Nations Development Program, and the city  government of Bogotá, while one was kept for himself. Juanes later sold his escopetarra for US$17,000 at a Beverly Hills fundraiser held to help victims of anti-personnel mines, while the escopetarra given to the UN was exhibited at the June 2006 of the UN Conference on Disarmament.
In 2006, López got 12 more decommissioned AK-47s from Colombia's peace commissioner's office. After they are turned into guitars, he plans to give them to popular musicians such as Shakira, Carlos Santana, and Paul McCartney, as well as political figures such as the Dalai Lama. However, a member of the Dalai Lama's staff rejected López' offer, saying it is not appropriate to give a weapon as a gift; López has said he will try to explain his purpose more clearly.

References

Guitars
Weapons
Sylvère Maes (born August 27, 1909 in Zevekote – died December 5, 1966 in Ostend) was a Belgian cyclist, who is most famous for winning the Tour de France in 1936 and 1939.

References
 Profile

1909 births
1966 deaths
Belgian cyclists
People from West Flanders
Tour de France winners
Maurice Garin (March 3 1871 - February 19 1957) was a road bicycle racer. He is best known for winning the 1903 Tour de France - the very first running of the race.  

Garin was born in Arvier in the Aosta Valley in north-west Italy. He became a naturalized French citizen only in December 1901, when he was already a champion cyclist, winner of the second Paris-Roubaix.

He was declared the winner of the 1904 Tour de France, but was later disqualified. The Tour de France organisation and the French cycling authorities have not said why.  They were said to have taken a train through part of the route. In the early days stages were much longer than today, sometimes starting in the dark.

When he retired from professional cycling he ran a small garage in Lens until his death.

He is buried in the Cimetière Est in the neighbouring suburb of Sallaumines.

Major Wins 

1897
Paris-Roubaix
1898
Paris-Roubaix
1902
Bordeaux-Paris
1903
Tour de France
Winner overall classification
Winner 3 stages
Other websites
http://www.lepays.net/jdj/01/02/20/MA/article_1.html 

1871 births
1957 deaths
French cyclists
Italian cyclists
Tour de France winners
People from Aosta Valley
Insects have small holes in their bodies that allow them to breathe. These holes are called spiracles. Air comes in the spiracles and goes to invertebrate trachea, or tubes. 

These tubes take the oxygen to other parts of the insect body. Because insects have no lungs, air comes in and goes out of the spiracles passively (by itself). Some insects can open and close the spiracles to keep water out.

Some spiders also have spiracles.

Sharks and rays have a spiracle behind each eye. When the shark is not moving, the spiracle helps the shark to breathe.

Insects
Animal anatomy
Henri Cornet (born Henri Jardry 4 August 1884 - 18 March 1941) was a French cyclist who won the second Tour de France in 1904. 

Born in Desvres, Pas-de-Calais, France, he was 18 years old when he raced in the Tour de France. The race was spoiled by many problems including irate spectators throwing nails on the road in the final stage that forced Henri Cornet to ride the last 40 kilometres with two flat tyres. There were a lot of complaints about cheating, the top four finishers were disqualified by a special committee of the French cycling union.  Although his overall time was three hours behind the first place rider, race officials declared Henri Cornet the winner in November 1903, when he was 19 years and 3 months old. He is the youngest ever winner.
Such was the commotion over the 1904 race that Tour founder Henri Desgrange said it was probably the last time the race would ever be run.   The race winner Maurice Garin was suspended from competition for two years (he retired), and the second place finisher was banned for life. In all
nine cyclists were excluded because of illegal use of cars or trains and all of the stage winners were disqualified because of illegal agreements about allowing people to win.
After 1904 Cornet never again had any great success in any race.  He abandoned the 1905 Tour de France in the 4th stage. He won the 1906 Paris-Roubaix race, but could not start the 1906 Tour de France, and had to abandon it again in 1907, but did manage 8th place finish in 1908. Extremely fast in what today are called time trials, he won the final leg of the 1908 race. A special timed lap run at a velodrome racetrack in Paris, the event was not counted as an official stage or towards the overall classification. Cornet competed in his last Tour de France in 1912, finishing 28th.  

He died in 1941 at the age of 56 in Prunay-le-Gillon, Eure-et-Loir. 

1884 births
1941 deaths
French cyclists

People from Pas-de-Calais
Tour de France winners
Sportspeople from Hauts-de-France‎
Paris-Roubaix is a famous single-day professional bicycle road race held in northern France starting in Compiègne and finishing in Roubaix, near the Belgian frontier.  It was one of the ten UCI Road World Cup races and became part of the UCI ProTour. It is one of the 'Classic cycle races' has the nickname The Hell of the North .

History 
Paris-Roubaix is one of the oldest professional bicycle races. Théo Vienne and Maurice Perez got the idea to run the race and in 1896, the sports newspaper Le Vélo worked out original route between Paris and Roubaix. The race has been contested every year since 1896, stopped only by the two World wars.

The first edition of the race was held at Easter, April 19 1896, so it got the nickname of La Pascale(English: The Easter).

188 competitors left the Bois de Boulogne park in Paris and raced almost 300 kilometres to Roubaix. Josef Fischer, the winner of this first edition, received 1000 francs.
The race is now organised by the media group Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) who also run the Tour de France.

Riders are often covered from head to toe in mud and grit, and race over the cobblestoned roads and hard rutted tracks of northern France.  However, the race got the nickname l'enfer du Nord, or the Hell of the North from journalists who watched the race after world war I, and saw it  pass through many of the ruins, craters, and destruction along the way.
Originally, the race was from Paris to Roubaix, but in 1966 the starting location was moved to Chantilly, 50 kilometres to the north of Paris, to be moved in 1977 to Compiègne, approximately 80 kilometres to the north of Paris. Famous for rough terrain, the route of Paris-Roubaix is adjusted slightly from year to year as the older roads are resurfaced and the race organisers seek to replace them with other challenging cobbles, to maintain the character of the race - in 2005, for example, the race included 54.7 kilometres of cobbled sections. The race finishes  with 750 meters on the smooth concrete expanses of the large outdoor velodrome in Roubaix.

The bicycles of Paris-Roubaix 

Due to its challenging course, and poor weather conditions, Paris-Roubaix presents a challenge to riders, team support personnel, and equipment alike.  Special frames and wheels are often used specifically for Paris-Roubaix, in various configurations depending on the weather conditions.

References
References

Further reading 
 Philippe Bouvet (with Pierre Callewaert, Jean-Luc Gatellier, Laget Serge): Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell  VeloPress, . The inside story of the race, its great riders, its traditions, and its secrets

Winners

References

Cycle racing in France
History of Paris
Roubaix
Asexuality is a sexual orientation. Asexual people usually do not have sexual attraction towards anyone, no matter what gender they are. Asexuality has nothing to do with a person's romantic/aesthetic/sensual attraction. The opposite of an asexual is an allosexual. Allosexuality means that a person feels sexual desires.
Meaning
Asexuality is described as a spectrum. Demisexual people are on the asexual spectrum. They feel sexual attraction, but only to people who they feel a connection to. About 1% of people identify as asexual. Alfred Kinsey used the label "X" to describe asexual people. Grey-asexual people are people who feel like they are not asexual, but they're not sexual either. For example, a grey-asexual person doesn't feel sexual attraction often. Some asexuals also identify with a romantic identity as well, meaning they may feel the need to form relationships, while others may not. Some asexual people identify as queer. However, some people think that 'queer' is not an appropriate word for asexual people. Not having sex (celibacy), is not always asexuality. Some homosexuals, for example, don't want to have sex because they feel guilty about their sexual attraction.
Studies
In 2001, David Jay started the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. A 2012 study found that asexuals are just as discriminated against as gay men, lesbians, or bisexuals. Asexuality has only recently been studied. One writer, S.E. Smith speculates that it has not increased, its just people have only just started noticing it.  Acceptance of asexuality as a subject of scientific has only begun recently.

Libido 
Libido, or sex drive, is the sexual arousal that humans feel. Some asexual people have a libido, this does not mean they are allosexual. They feel it as the body just doing it's thing, and often masturbate to relieve it.

Romantic orientation 

Some asexual people are aromantic. This means that they do not feel romantic attraction such as getting a crush on someone. Others can be homoromantic, heteroromantic, biromantic, etc.

References 

Human sexuality
LGBT variations
A mongoose (plural mongooses, alternatively mongeese) is a member of the family Herpestidae, a family of small cat-like carnivores. Mongooses are widely distributed in Asia, Africa the Caribbean, and southern Europe.

In popular culture 
A well-known mongoose written in fiction is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, who has a short story of the same title in The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling. In this story set in India, the young mongoose saves his family from a krait and from two cobras, named Nag and Nagaina. This story was later made into several movies, and also a song by Donovan.

There is a Mongoose fictional character in Bram Stoker's novel, The Lair of the White Worm. The main character, Adam Salton, buys one to hunt snakes. 

Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise has a Pokémon named Zangoose, named after the mongoose.

Feliformia
Fictional animals
Macedonian language () is a Eastern South Slavic language spoken mainly in Macedonia and other parts of the Balkan, including South-West Bulgaria, Northern Greece and Eastern Albania. Some estimate that there are around 3 million speakers in the world.

Distrubution
Distrubution 

the Macedonian language was formed from the speeches of the Macedonian tribes that inhabited the territory of Macedonia, so they are deep in the territories of today's Greece and Albania, but with the very development of the states of that region narrowed down and the Macedonian dialects in those parts slowly began to be replaced by other languages. Today in Albania, the Macedonian language is spoken mostly in Mala Prespa, Golo Brdo and almost all border areas with the Republic of Macedonia. In Aegean Macedonia, the Macedonian language is spoken mostly in Voden and Lerin prefectures, but also in other towns and villages in Aegean Macedonia. In Bulgaria, the Macedonian language is spoken in Pirin Macedonia and in Serbia it is spoken in the border region with Macedonia and in the Gora area of Kosovo.
The Macedonian speech around Thessaloniki was the basis for the formation of the Old Slavic language and literacy. What characterizes the history of the Macedonian language is its radical change that occurred from the 10th century onwards. Similar changes affected the Bulgarian language and the eastern dialects of the Serbian language. Those fundamental changes led to a small sharing of grammatical features between the Old Slavic and Macedonian languages, so as a result the Macedonian recension of the Old Slavic language was created. Well-known centers of Macedonian review are the Ohrid Literary School and the Lesnov Literary School.

History 
In terms of Macedonian historians the history of the language is divided as the following periods:

 First appearance and documentation: IX — XI c.

 Macedonian dialects influence on Old Slavonic: XII and XIII c.

 Church Slavonic written language from the Macedonian dialcets and from a mixed type: XIV and XVIII c.
beginning of the Macedonian literary language (the appearance of the National Revival during Ottoman rule): XVI century.

 discussion about the appearance and basis of the modern written language for Macedonians: second half of the XIX century.

 first attempt of standardization of the modern Macedonian language from the book "On Macedonian Matters" by Krste Misirkov from 1903.

 Final standardization of the language from 1944 and 1945.

Early Period 

The Macedonian languages early began to develop certain features that set them apart as a whole in relation to the languages of the neighboring South Slavic languages.
One such feature is the replacement of the hard sign, such as: Ъ > о, Ь > е (сон, темно). This change occurred in the 10th century and is quite represented in Old Slavic texts of Macedonian origin. Unlike Macedonian, in Serbian and Croatian these vowels merged into one sound - a (сан, дан), while in Bulgarian they merged into Ъ with the difference that before Ь the soft pronunciation of the consonant (сън, дън) was kept.
The Macedonian language also showed a special development in relation to nasal consonants. Here the vocalization of the hard sign appeared and the change of nasal consonants are chronologically and as a result separate phenomena. At the same time, it was only in the Macedonian language that Ѧ was equated with Ѣ, after the loss of the nasal consonant, so that in the texts from the 12th century and the 13th century there were examples such as: пѦтель for пѢтель, сѢмѢ for сѢмѦ, etc. In other words, this development went like this: Ѧ > Ѣ (ä)> is. In some West Macedonian dialects, especially in Pogradec and Gorica in Albania, the pronunciation with ä is still preserved, so we have: рʲäka for river.
Attempts of codifying a Macedonian language 
The idea of standardization of the Macedonian language has its roots in the 19th century, but the first serious attempt at a scientific approach was the publication of the book "On Macedonian Matters" by Krste Petkov Misirkov in 1903, on the basis of which in 1945 and the standardization of the modern Macedonian language was carried out. This book was criticized by the Bulgarian public, because around the time the Bulgarian propaganda was trying to push the theory that the Macedonian language and people were Bulgarians, so it was immediately seized and destroyed. Only a few copies remained, one of which was found by K. Nedelkovski in the Sofia library.

Based on the ideas about the uniqueness of the Macedonian language and the need for its codification published by Gjorgija Pulevski, and the ones published by Krste Petkov Misirkov, when codifying the language they did the following:
Make the main grammar and spelling be based of the dialect the central region (Veles‒Prilep‒Bitola‒Ohrid);
 Make the language a phonetic language (spelt exactly as it's pronounced with no silent letters or different sounding letters)
 lexical fund of all Macedonian languages.

Codification 

The codification of the Macedonian language is related to the following historical events:

 with the decision of the first session of ASNOM (August 2, 1944) for the introduction of Macedonian as an official language in the Macedonian state
 with the official adoption of the Macedonian alphabet
 with the official adoption of Macedonian spelling

Macedonian statehood is strengthened with the historic decisions of the First Session of ASNOM. Among those decisions of particular importance is the Decision to introduce the Macedonian literary language as an official language in the Macedonian state.
Also, the Presidium of ASNOM, as the highest body of the Macedonian state, in November 1944 appointed a commission composed of Macedonian philologists and social actors who were to submit a proposal for the alphabet and spelling of the Macedonian language. The issue of the alphabet and spelling was resolved in May 1945. Along with this issue, the members of the commission considered several issues of particular importance for the formation of the Macedonian literary language.

The codification of the Macedonian literary language reflects the Macedonian language practice. Blaže Koneski has made a significant contribution to the codification of the Macedonian literary language and to the standardization of the literary-linguistic norm.
The Macedonian language has similarities with other Slavic languages, and mostly with the Serbian language. The Macedonian and Bulgarian languages are the only ones from the group of Slavic languages that lost their case forms in the course of development, and only the vocative (Македонијо; Мајко; професоре, etc.) remains, as well as in some words (немо, нему, скришум, etc.).

Phonology

Alphabet 

The Macedonian language uses a Cyrillic alphabet. The following table provides the upper and lower case forms of the Macedonian alphabet, along with the IPA value for each letter:

References

Other websites
Other websites 

 Ethnologue report for Macedonian
 Digital Dictionary of the Macedonian Language
 The Macedonian Language
 Macedonian e-learning Courses 
 Websters Online, Macedonian — English Dictionary 
 BBC Education, Languages: Macedonian, Makedonski
 University of North Carolina, Reading and Pronouncing Macedonian: An Interactive Tutorial 
 Victor Friedman, A grammar of Macedonian
 Mladen Srbinovski, Nature of Standard Macedonian language 

Slavic languages
Languages of Europe
Natural patina 
A patina layer takes many years to develop under natural weathering. Buildings in damp climates will develop patina layers faster than ones in dry areas. The facades of many buildings are made of copper, brass or bronze, for example. These will produce different colors after natural weathering.
Copper takes on a natural green or blue-green patina. Bronze takes on a brown color. Early civilizations used bronze extensively. The Bronze Age is named for it. In the United States, bronze was rarely used in buildings before the American Civil War. Marble, especially white marble, was used in classical Greek and Roman statues. It takes on a light golden patina over time.
Faux patinas 
Copper items, lamps, fixtures and outdoor projects can be made to look weathered by use of paints or chemicals. For example, a 50/50 mix of ammonia and white vinegar will give copper an aged patina. Architects and craftspeople use copper sulfate on copper items to make them look old. Patina Green is another product used to give copper an instant aged look. Woodworkers and wood finishers mix their own wood stains. This is to match finishes on wood furniture to the same color, tone and patina of the original finish.

References

Other websites 
 Metallic Finishes & Effects - DIY
 Shabby Chic - Patina 1937 Ford Three-Window 

Furniture
Art
Crux (IPA: /ˈkrʊks/), commonly known as the Southern Cross, is a constellation that can be seen by people in the Southern Hemisphere. Its four brightest stars are in the shape of a cross. The name Crux is the Latin word for a cross. It is a small constellation, but the four main stars are bright, so the cross shape is easily seen in the sky. Each of the four stars has an apparent visual magnitude brighter than +2.8. The four stars point approximately in the directions of north, south, east and west.

Crux was first described by the Italian navigator Andrea Corsali in 1515. In the past, sailors used Crux to help with navigating across oceans.

The Southern Cross is used as a symbol in many Southern Hemisphere countries and states. It appears on the flags of Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Samoa.

It was used on the flag flown by miners in Ballarat, Victoria, during the 1854 rebellion known as the Eureka Stockade. The flag has been used as a symbol of protest in Australia since then.
Related pages
 Northern Cross

References

Constellations
National symbols
Richmond is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is only 3 km (2 miles) south-east of Melbourne's business district. Richmond's population was 26,121 in the 2011 census.

The older suburb has been rebuilt with more expensive houses and stores. This removal of run-down areas started in the early 1990s. Richmond now has many homes for the wealthy that were once warehouses. There are also public housing high-rise flats for the poor and row houses from the Victorian-era. There are also many shops, restaurants and bars. 

Richmond has a popular active Vietnamese living area along Victoria Street. The area is also well known for the illegal drug trade (especially heroin) that happens both in the streets and inside homes.

Transport
Richmond has a train station, called the Richmond Train Station, which has 10 tracks and 10 platforms. The Richmond Railway Station is on the following train lines: Alamein, Bairnsdale, Belgrave, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale, Pakenham and Sandringham.
In popular culture 
The 1980s cult punk movie Dogs in Space made by Richard Lowenstein and starring Michael Hutchence was made in Richmond.

Songwriter Paul Kelly's song "Leaps and Bounds" mentions Richmond's 'clock on the silo'. Its real name is the Nylex Clock.

References 
 

Suburbs of Melbourne
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Australia between 15 and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, since the 1956 Summer Olympics.

The site for the opening and closing ceremonies was the Melbourne Cricket Ground which was also used during Melbourne's 1956 Olympic Games.

The mascot for the games was Karak, a Red-tailed Black Cockatoo.

Sports 
The 2006 Commonwealth Games included 16 sports, with 12 individual sports and 4 team sports. In total there are 247 events at the Games.
Four of these sports are further broken down into separate disciplines, making a total of 24 disciplines:
 Aquatics: diving, swimming, synchronised swimming.
 Cycling: track, road, mountain bike.
 Gymnastics: artistic, rhythmic.
 Shooting: clay target, pistol, small bore and air rifle, full bore rifle.

Medals table

Calendar
Calendar 

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