AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Mamluks are members of a military caste that controlled Egypt from 1254 to 1811. Other mamluks held power in some other Muslim countries. The word means "slave" in the Arabic language and they began as slaves. In 1517 the Ottoman Empire conquered them, but Mamluks continued to be powerful. Muhammad Ali Pasha defeated them and took control of Egypt in 1811.
Laurent Clerc
Laurent Clerc (born Louis Laurent Marie Clerc December 26, 1785 in France - July 18, 1869) co-founded the first school for the deaf (people who cannot hear) in the United States.
Deaf people in America respected Clerc and call him the "Father of the Deaf" because he founded the first school for the deaf in America in Hartford, Connecticut. Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet founded that school on April 15, 1817 in an old hotel. The school moved to its present location in 1821 and is now named The American School for the Deaf. The American School for the Deaf is the oldest school for the deaf in the United States.
Ivory is a hard yellowsh-white material made from the tusks and teeth of animals such as elephants, hippopotamuses and walruses. Ivory is now very rare and expensive since there are restrictions on hunting elephants for ivory. There are also laws against the trade of ivory. Some countries (including Zimbabwe and South Africa) argue that these laws should be removed or changed, to allow them to sell some ivory.
Ivory has been used to make piano keys, billiard balls, handles and small ornaments. Ivory has been used in artworks, such as carvings, since ancient times.
Ivory color represents quiet and pleasantness.
Political subdivisions of Brazil
Vice president
Triple jump
Texas hold'em is a popular version of the card game poker.
Before any cards are dealt, two players to the left of the dealer make bets which are called the "Small Blind" and "Big Blind". These forced bets must be at least matched by the other players in order to keep their hands. The big blind is twice as much as the small blind. If the big blind was $1000, then it is said that the blinds are 500 and 1000. This money is put into a place in the center of the table that is called the "pot"
Each player is given two cards face down. These are called the player's "Hole Cards" or what the player has "in the hole". Once all the players have their hole cards, the betting starts. The player to the left of the Big Blind player starts the betting. The lowest amount that can be bet is the amount of the big blind. Players can bet more than the minimum. This is called "Raising". The amount a player can raise is determined by the type of the game being played (see below) If a player raises, the amount he raised the bet to is the new minimum. Each player in turn may either "Call" (pay the current bet amount), Raise, or "Fold" (quit the hand). This action keeps going around the table until each player has called or folded his hand.
After the first turn of betting is over, the dealer lays three cards face up on the table. This is called the "Flop". These three cards are "community cards". This means they are used by every player in the game along with the two hole cards each player has. After the flop, another turn of betting takes place. There is no starting bet in this turn (no blinds) unless a player makes a bet. Players may "Check" or bet nothing if no player before them in the turn has bet. If everyone checks, or if a player bets and all the others call or fold, then the round of betting is over.
Next the dealer lays another community card face up. This card is called "the turn" (or 4th Street). Another series of betting comes after this. This betting is the same as after the Flop.
Finally the dealer lays the last community card known as "the river" (or 5th Street). This card is again followed by a turn of betting, calling and folding by the players.
With the five community cards and their two hole cards, each player makes the best 5 card poker hand he can. The player with the best poker hand wins the round and the pot. If two or more players have the same hand, those players split the pot evenly. If one person bets and all other players have folded, the hand ends then and that player wins.
Texas Hold'em can be played several ways, including Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit games. The version of the game usually is the maximum a player can raise at any one time.
Limit games have a set amount that a player can raise at any time. If a game has a $10 limit, then a raise must be exactly $10. If more than one person raises, each one can only raise $10 more than the last raise. Typically, there is a "cap" of 3 raises per round. Also, when playing limit, the bet and raise amount will usually double for the turn and river betting rounds.
In a 4 player game, Player A bets $10. Player B raises $10 (puts in $20 total), Player C calls Player B (puts in $20). Player D at this point can either fold, pay $20 (call player B) or raise $10 to a total of $30. Player A would go next and either call (paying the difference between his $10 bet and the current bet). This would continue until all players either call or fold.
In Pot Limit games, the most a player can bet or raise is the total amount in the pot. With each bet or raise, the amount in the pot gets larger. This allows for larger raises.
In Spread Limit games, there is both a minimum and a maximum raise specified. For example, one could play $5–50 spread limit. The big blind would be $5 and the minimum raise would be $5 and the maximum raise would be $50.
In No Limit, there is not a limit of how much can be bet at any time. That is, it is just like Spread Limit, but with no maximum. A player can bet up to all money as he has. If a player bets all of his money, he is said to be "All In". If a player bets more money than another player has, the second player can call by going All In. If only those two players stay in the hand (all other players fold), the first player takes back any money that is over the amount the player going All In has. At this point, all betting stops and the dealer deals out the rest of the cards.
If a player goes All In and two or more players are still betting, the other betters can raise each other until they both call (or one of them also goes All In). A "side pot" is made in this case. It is the difference between the final bet and the first person's All In. Only the two players were not All In can win this pot. If the All In player wins the hand, he wins the main pot (his money plus an equal amount from each other player) and which ever of the other two players had the better hand wins the side pot. In an eight player game, it is possible to have several side pots with several people being All In at the same time. If there are not two player left who can bet, betting stops and all players turn their hands over.
Player A bets $5000. Player B only has $3000. He goes All In. Player C Raises $2000 (puts in a total of $7000). Player A calls (puts in $2000). At this point, the main pot is worth $9000 ($3000 from each player). The side pot is worth $8000 ($7000–3000 from Players A and C)
If player A or C wins, he wins both the main pot and the side pot ($17,000) and Player B is out of the game since he is out of money. If player B wins, he wins the main pot and the side pot goes to which ever player has the best hand between players A and C.
Tournaments are what people often see when poker is shown on television. When a player enters a tournament, he pays an entry fee called the "buy-in." Most of his buy-in is placed with other player's money in the prize pool. Usually, a small portion of the buy-in is kept by the tournament officials for their expenses (and profit). The player is given a table and seat assignment, and a certain number of chips - the same amount as every other player. Unlike normal chips, these tournament chips have no cash value (though they often are referred to with dollar amounts). Players must continue to play until they run out of chips. The tournament continues until one player has accumulated all of the chips. The order in which people lose all their chips (or "bust out"), is their finishing order. That is, the last player to bust out is the second-place finisher. The prize pool is divided amongst a fraction of the top finishers (usually about 10%). The first-place winner usually gets a much larger share, with the prizes diminishing until the prize pool is empty. The player who was the last player to finish without winning any prize is said to have finished "on the bubble."
As players bust out of the tournament, the average player's chip stack gets larger. In order to insure that the blinds do not become insignificant in the face of the growth in chip stacks, tournaments are played in timed "rounds." At the beginning of each round typically the blinds increase. Every few rounds there will be a short break between rounds. For tournaments that last longer than a day, there will be a last level for the day, and the tournament will resume the next day.
Most tournaments only allow a player to buy-in and receive chips once, at the beginning. These are called "freeze out" tournaments. Some tournaments allow players to buy-in more than once for the first few levels of the tournament. These players are said to "re-buy" and the money they use to re-buy goes into the prize pool with the rest of the buy-ins.
Creationism
Creationism is the religious belief that the universe was created in the way described in religious books. According to Genesis, God directly created life from the nothingness that was before, by fixing the chaos that was. Other religions have different creation myths. The first approach is known as creatio ex nihilo, which is the Latin name for "creation from nothing".
The idea that God created the world has been taught for thousands of years by writers such as Augustine of Hippo.
Creationism as it is known today started in the 19th century by fundamentalist Protestants who were opposed to the theories that scientists began to put forward about geology and evolution.
In the 20th century, creationist movements also started in Islam and Judaism.
Creationists do not believe that all of today's living things came about from simple organisms changing or evolving slowly over time. They believe that life was created much as it is today, and that one form of life cannot change into another. While biologists and paleontologists say that fossils are different from the life we see today, and can be put into order to show changes over time. Young Earth Creationism says life was created in a short time, in its current form. They point to the Flood of Noah to account for most rock formations and most fossils. There is also an Old Earth creationism.
Young Earth Creationism goes completely against conventional geochronology. This kind of creationism says God created the earth roughly 6,000 or 10,000 years ago as told in Genesis. Young Earth Creationists believe that God created the world in six days (with God resting on the seventh) as the Book of Genesis says. Young Earth Creationism says that Noah's flood is important to creationism. They argue that "the first buried fossils of each group are complete and complex (complicated), strong support for the biblical concept (idea) that each kind of life was created well designed to multiply after its own kind." They believe that the Bible is literally true (see Biblical inerrancy). Some people say a problem with this is that fossils appear in layers called strata.
If fossils were of animals drowned in the flood scientists think they would be mixed together. Christian creationists say this happened because of the Noahic Flood, and point to fossils of animals that died quickly. They offer many defenses. Some of these are:1. Fossils that were buried quickly, as in Lagerstätten. One fossil Creationists talk about is where one fish is eating another fish when it was buried.2. Polystrate fossils are fossils that go through multiple rock layers. Christian scientists say this can't happen if the rock layers were formed quickly3. Bent rock layers are rock layers that are bent in a way that Christian scientists say can not happen over millions of years. Christians say there are a lot of these.Other creationists believe God created everything between 13,000 and 14,000 million years ago. This is called Old Earth Creationism.
Creationists point to the perfection of Earth's size, shape, and distance as designed by God, and Earth's "im"perfections as proofs that the Earth is dirtied by humans' sin.
The term creationism can be used with more than one meaning.
Liberal Christians do not believe in Biblical inerrancy and say God used evolution to create mankind and other life. This idea is called theistic evolution.
Islamic creationism is the belief that the universe (including humanity) was directly created by Allah as in the Qur'an. Currently, Islam takes religious texts literally. Many scholars say that Genesis is a corrupted version of God's message.
There is also a creation myth in the Qu'ran, but it is more vague than Genesis. This allows for more interpretation. Several liberal movements within Islam generally accept the scientific positions on the age of the earth, the age of the universe and evolution.
Islam also has its own form of Theistic evolution, which says that mainstream scientific analysis of the origin of the universe is supported by the Qur'an. Many liberal Muslims believe in evolutionary creationism.
Khalid Anees, president of the Islamic Society of Britain attended a conference called 'Creationism: Science and Faith in Schools'. During that conference, he made points including the following: There is no contradiction between what is revealed in the Koran and natural selection and survival of the fittest. However, some Muslims, such as Adnan Oktar, do not agree that one species can develop from another. Other Muslims do believe that one species can develop from another.
But there is also a growing movement of Islamic creationism. Like the movement in Christianity, Islamic creationists are concerned that the findings of evolutionary theory might contradict what is written in the Qu'ran.
There are several verses in the Qur'an which some modern writers have interpreted as being compatible with the expansion of the universe, Big Bang and Big Crunch theories:
"Do not the Unbelievers see that the skies (space) and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder and We created every living thing out of the water. Will they not then believe?"
"Then turned He to the sky (space) when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come, obedient."
"And it is We Who have constructed the sky (space) with might, and it is We Who are steadily expanding it."
"On the day when We will roll up the sky (space) like the rolling up of the scroll for writings, as We originated the first creation, (so) We shall reproduce it; a promise (binding on Us); surely We will bring it about."
The Bahá'í Faith considers the creation narratives in previous Abrahamic religions to be symbolic and not literal. Bahá'í Faith also accepts that the Earth is ancient. Baha'ullah existed at the same time as Charles Darwin, so was aware of Darwin's works.
Religious communities in the United States encourage the inclusion of supernatural explanations of the origins
of both life and the universe as a whole.
Evolution was not included in school textbooks until the 1960s.
In 1987, the United States Supreme Court acknowledged creationism is not scientific, and
should not be taught in public schools.
The Flute is a musical instrument. A person who plays the flute is called a "flutist".
There are many kinds of flutes. The most common concert flute is on C tuning. In addition, there are other flutes like piccolos, alto flutes, and bass flutes.
Flutes have changed over time. Pan flutes were made for many centuries. Later, the "Renaissance flute" came into use. In Baroque music "flute" means recorder, so flutes were called "traverso" in order not to confuse them. A Bavarian flute maker named Boehm reformed flutes largely to enlarge the volume and improve the way of using the chromatic scale. Later improvements created the modern flute.
There is a large repertoire of music for the flute. Baroque composers used them in their orchestras, usually in pairs, and composed concertos, chamber music and solo music for them. This has continued to the present day. Orchestras have at least 2 flutes each, sometimes three or four. Sometimes there is 1 piccolo which plays an octave higher, or an alto flute which plays a fifth lower than the flute.
The flute sounds very bright and cheerful playing high notes. Please listen, for example, to the "Badinerie" from Bach's "Orchestral Suite no 2". It can also sound very thoughtful or sad when playing in its lowest register. A good example is the opening of Debussy's "Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune also flutes Andre a brass instrument and can make a really low pitch.
The flute is a woodwind instrument, but modern flutes are made of metal. It was made of wood a long time ago. It doesn't need lip vibration like brass instruments. Flute players hold it horizontally and make a sound by blowing their breath over the edge of the hole of flute's head. This makes the air vibrate. Flutes need the second most amount of air for an instrument, next to the tuba. Flautists can change the pitch by pushing buttons or changing the direction of the breath. These buttons are called keys. The breath also can change the tone or the volume. Flute has many variations of the sound. The sound of flute is high, so composers often express it as a bird. A flute matches with many instruments such as violin and piano, and is often part of an ensemble.
There are many kinds of flute, so the material also varies. Most flutes are made out of silver. Gold, platinum, wood, and aluminum are also used. The price of flute depends on the material, but there are many different playing situations, so not only expensive flutes are useful.
The oldest kind of side-blown flute was made in India.
In India, a flute called bansuri is used. It has no keys and is often made of bamboo or cane.
In China, a simple flute is used, which has no keys. The Chinese flute sometimes has a thin piece of paper over one hole, which adds a bright raspiness to the sound.
There are other kinds of flute, that are played by blowing into the end, like a recorder. Some of these are tin whistle, flageolet, tabor pipe, and ocarina.
In Japan there is a kind of flute called a "shakuhachi", which is made from the bottom of a bamboo plant. It is blown at the end, but is not like the recorder because it does not have an opening that guides the air across a hole that makes the sound.
In South America, there is a flute called a "quena" that makes its sound the same way as the "shakuhachi".
The Pan pipes are a form of flute with no holes. It has more than one pipe connected together, with the bottom closed. The player blows across the top of one of the pipes to make a note. The pipes are in different sizes, so that each one makes a different note. They are named after Pan, who played this instrument in Greek myth.
There are flutes in many cultures. The flute has been described as "a musical weed which springs up everywhere".
The band Jethro Tull was founded by a flute player (Ian Anderson). It can be heard in many songs. One of them is the hit "Locomotive Breath".
Staind is an American rock band from Massachusetts, United States. The band was started in 1994. Its first album, "Tormented" was released in 1996. Staind's newest album, "The Illusion of Progress" was released on August 19, 2008. Some of its biggest hits have been "Outside", "It's Been Awhile", and "So Far Away".
In 2013, They announced that they were going on hiatus but were not breaking up.
An ocarina is a kind of flute that is not made out of a tube. Because the ocarina is in a round or box-like shape, its sound is a little different from other flutes.
The ten-hole ocarina was first made by Giuseppe Donati, in Italy, in 1853. Instruments like the ocarina had been made for hundreds of years before that in South America, China, and Africa. In Europe, a form called the gemshorn was made in the 16th century. The gemshorn was made from an animal horn.
In the 19th century, groups of ocarina players, with different sized ocarinas, played classical and folk music. Italian ocarinas became known throughout the world, because of this.
In the United States the ocarina was called the sweet potato, because its shape is like a sweet potato.
In 1928, the Japanese began making ocarinas. They added two small holes to the old kind of ocarinas. Japanese 12-hole ocarinas can play a larger scale than 10-hole ocarinas.
In the 1960s, the English ocarina was invented. It has four finger holes, and may have one or two thumb holes. English ocarinas are made in many shapes.
The clarinet is a woodwind instrument.
The clarinet body is made up of the mouthpiece, barrel, upper joint, pads, keys, ring key, rod, lower joint, and bell. The clarinet has one reed. The reed is made of cane, bamboo or plastic, which varies in thickness. The reed is attached to the mouthpiece with a clamp called a "ligature", which is usually made out of metal. Blowing through the mouthpiece makes the reed vibrate, and therefore makes the noise. The body of the clarinet is a cylindrical tube with holes. The holes are covered by the fingers to make musical notes. There are also buttons pressed by the fingers which allow pads over holes to open or close so all notes of the chromatic scale can be played. The buttons are usually played with the "pinkie" finger.
One kind of keyed clarinet is called the Albert . Another kind is called the system. The Boehm clarinet is much used by classical orchestras and by jazz musicians. In North America and other Western countries, the most popular clarinet is the clarinet pitched in B flat. This means that if a clarinet player plays a note that is written as a C, it sounds like a B flat on a piano. The B flat clarinet is used in concert, marching, and school bands. Musicians in orchestras also play the A-clarinet (a semitone lower), the sopranino E flat clarinet (a fourth higher) and the Bass_clarinet in B flat (sounding an octave lower).
A beginner clarinet player usually can play a note within the first minutes of a lesson. Making a sound with the clarinet is easier than making a sound with many other wind instruments. Most instrumental music teachers consider it to be a good instrument for young players as soon as the lower adult teeth have grown. The fingering system is very similar to the flute and the saxophone, so changing from playing the clarinet to one of these instruments is not too difficult after the student is comfortable playing the clarinet and has reached a certain level.
A famous piece that features a clarinet is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, which has the clarinet playing the melody with the rest of the orchestra playing along. Written in 1791, it is often considered the first great composition for the instrument.
16th century
The 16th century was the century from 1501 to 1600. In this century, many Europeans visited or moved to the newly-found Americas and some also searched for new routes to Asia. There was much change in Europe, such as the Protestant Reformation.
Note: years before or after the 16th century are in "italics".
Lute
The lute is a kind of musical instrument with strings.
The first lutes were brought to Spain by the Moors. Others may have been brought to Europe from Arabic lands. The lute is one of the ancestors of the classical guitar.
A lute has an oval-shaped back, made of strips of wood. It has a flat front, with a neck attached to it. Early lutes had four strings or eight sets of two strings. Beneath these strings, there were strings tied to the neck, where the player pressed down to make the notes. These strings were called frets.
The front part of the body is made of a flat piece of wood, and known as the sound board. It has a beautifully carved hole in the center which is called the rose.
The lute was at first played by strumming or plucking with a pick. Later they were played with the fingers alone.
During the Renaissance, bigger lutes were designed. Most lutes at this time had seven or eight sets of strings. New kinds of lutes were invented. One new kind of lute made in the Renaissance was the theorbo. Another kind was the archlute.
In European classical music the lute was changed into the harpsichord and the mandolin.
Today there are kinds of lute still being played in Greece, Turkey, and in Arabic-speaking countries. The Renaissance lute is also played today, in western countries, as well as a German lute that is played the same way as a guitar.
Independence Day (United States)
In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July or the Fourth, is a holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring the independence of the Thirteen Colonies from the United Kingdom of Great Britain. On Independence Day there are many events such as fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, picnics, concerts, baseball games, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events. These events celebrate the history, government, and traditions of the United States.
Independence Day, the only holiday that celebrates the United States, is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Similar to other summer-themed events, Independence Day celebrations often take place outdoors. Independence Day is a federal holiday, so all non-essential federal institutions (like the postal service and federal courts) are closed on that day. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation's heritage, laws, history, society, and people.
Families often celebrate Independence Day by having or going to a picnic or barbecue, and take advantage of the day off and in some years, long weekend to gather with relatives and friends. People may also do fun and relaxing hobbies like any other day off such as swimming, fishing, boating, sunbathing, playing sports, or just kicking back and relaxing. Many stores are open on the fourth so people may go shopping. In the evening, people may launch their own fireworks. Decorations (e.g., streamers, balloons, and clothing) are generally colored red, white, and blue, the colors of the American flag. Parades often are in the morning, while fireworks displays occur in the evening at such places as parks, fairgrounds, or town squares.
On the 4th of July Americans do these things:
Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office System is a collection of computer programs made by Microsoft. Microsoft Office is a collection of office-related applications. Each application serves a unique purpose and offers a specific service to its users. The programs are created for all users. There are different versions of the software for home users and for business users. Some versions may offer more programs, and some versions cost less than others, but none are for free. The current version is Microsoft Office 2016 (Windows) and Microsoft Office for Mac 2016 (Mac).
The versions available are made up of some or all or more of the following programs:
There are a lot of other programs which are competitors to Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Office 365 is a new way of sharing Microsoft Office documents with people from your organization or between your computers, syncing to the cloud. In order to sync to the cloud, you need a Microsoft account.
Actual versions include:
You can get a free trial of Office for 30 days.
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. It was originally the dialect that developed among the Afrikaner Protestant settlers, the unfree workers, and slaves brought to the Cape area in southwestern South Africa by the Dutch East India Company ( - VOC) between 1652 and 1705. Most of these first settlers were from the United Provinces (now Netherlands), though there were also many from Germany, some from France, a few from Scotland, and various other countries. The unfree workers and slaves were Malays, and Malagasy in addition to the native Khoi and Bushmen.
Research by J. A. Heese says that until 1807, 36.8% of the ancestors of the White Afrikaans speaking population were Dutch, 35% were German, 14.6% were French and 7.2% non-white (of African and/or Asian origins).
Heese's figures are questioned by other researchers, however, and especially the non-white component quoted by Heese is very much in doubt.
A sizeable minority of those who spoke Afrikaans as a first language were not white. The dialect became known as "Cape Dutch". Later, Afrikaans was sometimes called "African Dutch" or "Kitchen Dutch". Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect until the early 20th century, when it began to be widely known as a different language. The name "Afrikaans" is simply the Dutch word for "African", and the language is the African form of Dutch.
Leonard Bernstein (August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American composer and conductor. He was born Louis Bernstein in Lawrence, Massachusetts to Ukrainian Jewish parents. He is best known for conducting the New York Philharmonic and composing "West Side Story" and "Candide".
Bernstein was gay.
He was a heavy smoker who had emphysema. He died of a heart attack in New York City.
Afrikaans Language Monument
The Afrikaans Language Monument () is the only monument in the world dedicated to a language. It is on a hill overlooking the Teachers' Training College in Paarl, Western Cape Province, South Africa. Completed in 1975, it was built to celebrate the 100 years birthday of Afrikaans being declared as a different language from Dutch.
The monument is made of tapering structures of a convex and concave nature. They show the influences of different languages and cultures on Afrikaans itself. They are also a symbol of political developments in South Africa, as follows:
On a large inscription at the entrance, two quotes from important Afrikaans poets are written.
The phrase ""DIT IS ONS ERNS"" ("we are earnest [about this]", or "this is our earnestness") is inscribed on the pathway leading up to the monument.
DC Comics, Inc. is an American comic book company. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., which itself is owned by Time Warner. Its top rival is Marvel Comics. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, which is best well known for making "superhero" comic books. DC Comics is very famous in the modern art subject Graphics.
The company's most iconic heroic characters are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, the Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Speedy, Supergirl, Batwoman, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, the Atom, Firestorm, Rip Hunter, Vibe, Vixen, Black Lightning, Red Tornado, the Black Canary, White Canary, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Plastic Man, Blue Beetle, John Constantine, Stargirl, the Huntress, Static, Zatanna, and Shazam!.
Most of their characters take place in the fictional DC Universe and its most famous and recognizable teams are the Justice League, the Justice Society of America, the Green Lantern Corps., the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Injustice League, the Justice League Dark, the Legion of Super-Villains, the Young Justice, the Suicide Squad, the Birds of Prey, the Legends of Tomorrow, and the Teen Titans.
Its most well-known fictional supervillains are Lex Luthor, the Joker, Darkseid, Harley Quinn, General Zod, Catwoman, Brainiac, the Scarecrow, Doomsday, Bane, Parasite, Mr. Freeze, Metallo, the Penguin, Mongul, the Riddler, Anti-Monitor, the Enchantress, Two-Face, Steppenwolf, Mister Mxyzptlk, Clayface, Atlas, Killer Croc, Bizarro, Ra's al Ghul, Cyborg Superman, Poison Ivy, Ares, Mad Hatter, Maxwell Lord, Deathstroke, Doctor Poison, Deadshot, Circe, Black Mask, Star Sapphire, Professor Pyg, the Cheetah, Carmine Falcone, Sinestro, Red Hood, Black Manta, Killer Moth, the Reverse-Flash, Firefly, Captain Cold, Man-Bat, Heat Wave, Hugo Strange, Killer Frost, and Black Adam.
What is known today as DC Comics was founded in 1934 by publishing entrepreneur Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson under the name of "National Allied Publications". DC was formed by the merging of "National Allied Publications" and "Detective Comics Inc", as well as the affiliated "All-American Publications". Despite being officially known as "National Comics", the comic covers carried a "DC" logo and were referred to as a result of its nickname: "DC Comics". People had nicknamed it "DC" because of one its most popular comic series; "Detective Comics" and thus was born one of the world's most recognizable comic book brandings along with rivals Marvel publishing.
The company did not officially change its name to DC Comics however, until 1977 during the presidency of Jenette Kahn.
DC Comics has its current official headquarters at 1700 Broadway, 7th, New York, New York. Random House distributes DC Comics' books to the bookstore market, while Diamond Comics Distributors supplies the comics shop specialty market.
National Allied Publications' first comic was "New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1" which was released in the February of 1935. It hit off, and was surprisingly popular. Later that year, a second title was released: "New Comics #1." The size and length "New Comics #1" became the archetype for many comics afterwards, and it became the longest running comic series of all time.
In 1938, National launched "Action Comics", which featured the brand new character from regular contributors Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman. Originally dismissed as "silly" by editorial, reports soon came back noting the popularity and sales increase resulting from the Superman feature. Superman quickly became a sensation and before long, dozens of imitations from both National and other publishing houses appeared almost overnight. Writer Bill Finger and his artist employer Bob Kane soon submitted Batman to appear in "Detective Comics" and before long, an entire Justice Society of America had been formed including properties such as The Flash, Green Lantern, The Sandman, Wonder Woman, Hawkman and The Spectre, to name a few, many of whom were either created or written by the prolific Gardner Fox.
With the establishment of DC as one of the major comic book companies and with many of the most marketable names in the early years of comics, it is sometimes considered the main company that other companies had to compete with. Companies tried different approaches, One that succeeded and often outsold DC for instance was Fawcett Publications who had a character who some consider similar to Superman who was an all-powerful hero with a supporting "family" known as Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family, whereas other companies such as Charlton Comics created entire new worlds preventing DC from attacking them with lawsuits. Further along in the Silver Age many of these companies failed or like Fawcett were sued out of existence. Thus although they had once been competitors, many of the soon public domain properties of Fawcett and Charlton were eventually revived and trademarked and seemingly taken under DC's control.
During the post-War years, the popularity of superheroes had declined almost completely, though DC and other publishers were still going strong moving into other genres such as funny animals, romance, Sci-Fi, Westerns and horror. Major characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman has managed to remain in publication and by the mid-1950s the superhero was again due for a comeback. "Showcase #4" in 1956 introduced readers to Barry Allen, the all-new Flash re-imagined with a sleeker design and steeped much heavier in science fiction (and the older Golden Age heroes being relegated to existing on Earth Two). Characters such as The Atom, Green Lantern and the JSA, now reinvented as the Justice League of America soon followed and a new superhero boom was kicked off.
During this time, The Comics Code Authority has also come into play, which drastically subdued the content available in the comic book medium. Many of the stories during the period moved away from more controversial horror or violent themes.
With the reinvigoration of Marvel in the 1960s under the leadership of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, DC found itself a new and more potent competitor. Marvel succeeded by breaking what had become by then generic archetypes of superheroes by introducing characters which were younger and more flawed (and thus appeared more human and appealed to a younger crowd in a more direct manner.) After falling behind Marvel in sales, DC was finally forced to adopt much of the same system which Marvel had, by introducing such young teams as the Teen Titans to compete with the X-Men.
In 1985, DC Comics decided its 50 years of continuity and numerous alternative Earths had become too messy and was in need of new blank slate. DC penned one of the first major comic book crossovers that incorporated almost every DC title and character ever published by the company. The series ended with multiple Earths being erased and merging into to one unified Earth. Following this, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were given new leases of life thanks to big name creators such as John Byrne, Frank Miller and George Perez that redefined the elderly heroes for a new generation.
During this same period, the comic audience has begun to grow up and the direct market for comic stores had opened allowing a wider variety of publications to be experimented with. One such experiment involved bringing in British writer Alan Moore to pen the low selling "Saga of the Swamp Thing" series. What resulted was style of comic book not experienced before by mainstream readers in its literary and story driven complexity and execution. Before long, other writers from across the pond such as Neil Gaiman, Peter Milligan and Grant Morrison were recruited to revamp obscure properties and tell new and interesting stories with an older audience in mind. 1986 saw the release of two seminal works from DC Comics, Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" and Alan Moore's "Watchmen" that reached unprecedented levels of critical acclaim and outside media attention. By the 90's DC and the entire comic book industry experienced a boom in mature comics aimed at older audiences and simultaneously witnessed a collector's boom that increased sales but almost caused the industry to collapse soon after.
In 1993, senior editor Karen Berger convinced DC to make her own imprint for mature readers named Vertigo, similar to DC imprints Piranha Press and Paradox Press as well as Marvel's Epic Comics. Using popular titles such as "Animal Man", "Swamp Thing", "Hellblazer", "The Sandman" and "Shade, The Changing Man" as its blueprint along side new creator owned material, DC/Vertigo became a hub for intelligent and acclaimed comic books. While rival Marvel Comics continued to dominate the publishing arena with their exceedingly popular properties, DC/Vertigo became the destination for literary and inventive titles during the period.
In 1999, DC purchased Jim Lee's WildStorm Productions, formerly one of the founding studios of Image. The line of WildStorm comics and properties came under DC's control though the line continued to be published on the West Coast away from DC editorial until 2010.
In 2000 Marvel Comics started an imprint called ultimate marvel in which the characters' origin is changed and modernized. This eventually led DC to starting an imprint of their own in 2005, thus All Star was born.
Both All-Star series are in their own continuity, except "All-Star Batman and Robin" which was part of Earth-31.
"All-Star Batman" started in 2005 and was written by Frank Miller and Penciled by Jim Lee. This was the first series in the All Star imprint and opened to mainly negative reviews but had high sales. The series was released in a sporadic schedule. The series only reached 10 issues (2008) 2 issues before the intended end of the series.
"All-Star Superman" started in 2006 and was written by Grant Morrison and Penciled by Frank Quitley. This was the second series under the All Star imprint, the first being "All-Star Batman and Robin". The series opened to mainly good reviews and went on to win the Eisner Award for best new series in 2006 and best ongoing series in 2007 and 2009. Like "All-Star Batman" the series was also released in a sporadic schedule. The series ended with issue 12. The series overall has widely considered to be one of the best Superman stories of all time.
In 2011, after a period of declining comic sales, DC announced they were cancelling all the main titles and starting over with all New 52's as part of a relaunch. In charge of the relaunch is Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The relaunch started with the release of "Justice League" #1 on August 31st. this was done partially to revitalize the company and to de-age the characters and thus make them more dynamic. On January 12, 2012, it was announced that there would be a second wave of the new 52 where six titles would be getting canceled with another six to replace them, though the plan to stay at 52 ongoing monthlies seems to be consistent. DC also released a Third wave in September 2012, one year after the relaunch in September 2011. One book in the Third Wave, "Talon", starring Calvin Rose was the first solo book for a character who was introduced in the New 52. The Fourth wave started in January 2013 and ended in March 2013, meaning that it was the first wave not to come out in a single month. The Fifth Wave consisted of titles such as "the Movement", "the Green Team" and "Superman Unchained".
The New 52 had proved to be so successful with critics, fans and commercially that Marvel the main competitor of DC decided to do a relaunch of their own called "Marvel NOW!" in late 2012.
In 2015, DC Entertainment moved their entire operations from their Manhattan headquarters in New York City to their new home in Burbank, California. DC's digital and administrative departments had already been relocated to Burbank beginning in 2010. The new office is only a few blocks from their corporate parent company, Warner Bros. Studios.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>the imprint was founded in 1992 but as part of the Image conglomerate and only moved to DC in 1999.
Over the years, DC Comics' parent company Warner Brothers (with a few exceptions) has produced a variety of feature films based on DC Comics properties for cinematic release, including TV shows, action figures, and video games which have made them even more popular.
Wonder Woman is a superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. She is one of the first female superheroes in American comic books and the most famous, most recognizable female superhero in the world. William Moulton Marston, a psychologist who believed that women could be as strong and powerful as men, created Wonder Woman, partly inspired by his wife, Elizabeth Holloway-Marston. Wonder Woman first appeared in the pages of All-Star Comics # 8, published in December 1941. Her first solo comic book debuted in the summer of 1942, when Wonder Woman # 1 was published.
In the comic book, Wonder Woman's real name is Diana, and she is the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, ruler of the Amazons, a race of peace-loving women who lived in an island named Themyscira (also referred to as Paradise Island). Soon after Steve Trevor, a US Air Force pilot, crash-lands on Paradise Island during World War II, Diana and the amazons tend to his wounds and help him recover. Diana decides that she will bring him back to the United States; once there she becomes the superhero that the world calls "Wonder Woman". Her best-known powers are superhuman strength, speed, and reflexes, as well as flight. She has a magic lasso that compels those bound by it to tell the truth, and unbreakable gauntlets that can deflect bullets.
Among her villains, the best known are:
Wonder Woman had also appeared in animated cartoons and in a live-action television program in the 1970s with actress Lynda Carter. The series made the character very famous.
In January 2001, producer Joel Silver asked Todd Alcott to write a "Wonder Woman" screenplay. Early rumours listed actresses such as Mariah Carey, Sandra Bullock, and Catherine Zeta-Jones to play the role of Wonder Woman. Leonard Goldberg, speaking in a May 2001 interview, named Sandra Bullock as a strong candidate for the project. Bullock said that she was asked to play the role. Lucy Lawless and Chyna both were interested in it. The screenplay then went through many versions written by many different writers. By August 2003, Levens was replaced by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis.
In March 2005, Warner Bros. said that Joss Whedon would write and direct the movie version of "Wonder Woman." Because Whedon was directing "Serenity" at the time and needed time to learn Wonder Woman's background, he did not start writing until late 2005. Silver wanted to movie "Wonder Woman" in Australia once the script was finished. In May 2005, Whedon said that he would not cast Wonder Woman until he finished the script. Charisma Carpenter and Morena Baccarin said they were interested in the role.
In February 2007, Whedon left the project. He said there were problems with differences about the script between the studio and himself. Whedon said that since he was not doing the "Wonder Woman" project, he would focus on making his movie "Goners".
Gal Gadot played Wonder Woman in the upcoming 2016 action movie "". She was also the lead role of the 2017 superhero film "Wonder Woman". She will play the role again in "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020) and "Zack Snyder's Justice League" (2021).
On October 21, 2016, the United Nations controversially named Wonder Woman a UN Honorary Ambassador for the Empowerment of Women and Girls. The character was dropped from the role two months later after a petition against the appointment stated Wonder Woman was an overly sexualized image".
Bob Saget
Bob Saget (born May 17, 1956) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his appearances on television as Danny Tanner on "Full House" and the original host of "America's Funniest Home Videos".
Wilmington is the name of many places:
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins (born 30 January 1951) is a British drummer, songwriter, actor and singer. He was born in Chiswick, Hounslow, Middlesex. He was the drummer and singer of the band Genesis. He is very well known for his career away from the band, as a solo artist. His most well known album is "No Jacket Required", which has sold over ten million copies in the United States. One of his most well known songs is "In the Air Tonight", which had a long running false rumour that it was about a drowning that Collins had witnessed. Collins starred in the movie "Buster" (1988). His daughter Lily Collins is a famous actress.
Collins won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "You'll Be in My Heart" for the 1999 movie "Tarzan".
Badfinger was a British rock group. They were first called The Iveys, but renamed themselves after a song title, "Badfinger Boogie", the original title of "With a Little Help From My Friends". The band's members were Peter Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins and Joey Molland. Badfinger recorded for Apple Records, which was a record label started by The Beatles, Warner Brothers, Elektra Records, and Radio Records.
Their first hit record was "Come And Get It", which was written by Paul McCartney. It appeared in a movie, "The Magic Christian". The band followed McCartney's demo closely to make the record. The finished record sounded like a Beatles song. Later they made records that sounded different, and showed the band's own style. Todd Rundgren was the producer of some of their recordings.
Badfinger's other hit records included "No Matter What", "Day After Day", and "Baby Blue". Later they left Apple Records and recorded for Warner Bros. Ham and Evans were the band's main songwriters. One of their songs, "Without You", was recorded by the band, but was not a hit. A later cover version by singer Harry Nilsson became an international hit, and was the first of many such versions. Many recording artists have sung "Without You", including Mariah Carey.