AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Kreuzberg is known to many for numerous Turkish immigrants from eastern parts of Turkey, and the yearly May Day riots. This is because before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Kreuzberg was isolated. Its eastern parts were almost entirely surrounded by the Wall. This area consequently had cheap rents and lower-income families as well as squatters from the radical left. The western part of Kreuzberg also bordered onto the wall, and it was here where Checkpoint Charlie was.
Kreuzberg got its name is from its highest point, the Kreuzberg (literally, "cross hill"). It is of above sea level.. The hill was a traditional place for weekend trips, and had a lot of small restaurants for the visitors. The hill got its name from a monument built in 1821 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It was to remember the wars against Napoleon I of France.
After 1860 industry began moving into Kreuzburg. There was also an "Exportviertel" (export quarter) along Ritterstraße which had a lot of many profitable small businesses, and the "press quarter" along Kochstraße was the home of most of Germany's large newspapers as well as the Ullstein, Scherl, and Mosse book publishers.
Both of these industrial quarters were almost entirely destroyed during World War II, with the bombings of a single night from 3 February 1945. To remember old tradition, the Axel Springer press company built its new headquarters at Kochstraße again, right next to the Berlin Wall.
After World War II, Kreuzberg's housing rents were regulated by law, which made investments unattractive. As a result, housing was of low quality, but cheap, which made the borough a prime target for immigrants coming to Germany (and Berlin).
Civil War (comics)
Civil War was a large comic book story created by Marvel Comics. The story was the main focus of a seven issue series that started in May 2006 and ended in February 2007. It involved every major Marvel character and a large number of minor ones. Nearly every main Marvel title during this time dealt with this story.
The story was about the United States dealing with an accident during a superhero battle that caused 613 deaths. To prevent this from happening again, the government created the Superhero Registration Act (SRA). This was a law that forced all people with superhuman powers to identify them self to the government. Many superheroes believed this was a good thing and that it would save lives. Others believed it was bad. They felt that if the government knew who they were, they would be in danger of others finding out. They believed that the SRA took away many of their freedoms. This caused the superheros to split into two groups. Those supporting the SRA were led by Iron Man. Those against it were led by Captain America.
Many people have compared the story of "Civil War" to that of the United States after 9/11 and the Patriot Act.
Brunstad Conference Center
Brunstad Conference Center (BCC) is a conference centre in Stokke, Vestfold in Norway. The centre is owned and managed by the Christian fellowship called "Den Kristelige menighet". They are often called "Smith's Friends". The Smith's friends bought the farm at Brunstad near Stokke in Melsomvik in 1956.
The center was used for their own conferences. In 2000 Smith's Friends, decided to let others use the building. The old meeting hall which seated 4,700 was replaced by a new meeting hall, with space for 6,800 people, and a tent camp with over 600 caravan spots was fixed and replaced with just as many cabins, which were rented by the members of the church.
Maintenance and development of Brunstad is still done by volunteers. During the building project and during arrangements, members are used as voluntary workers, or paid expenses. Money for the expansion project came for the most from the effort from the "A-lag" (A-team), where the church's youth from all over the world participate and do voluntarily work.
BCC is now a modern location for events and conferences. Brunstad has several restaurants, a cafeteria style restaurant, a large coffee bar, and a grocery store.
BCC got a lot of stories in the media in 2004 when BCC bought Østre Bolærne island from the Norwegian Military. After a lot of media attention, BCC agreed to cancel the sale, and the town of Vestfold Fylkeskommune became the new owner. Instead, BCC was able to buy property on Syningen in Hallingdal.
Every year one of the biggest shows at Brunstad Conference Center is the Arctic Equestrian Games, Norway's biggest horse show. It was first held in February, 2006.
Stig Claesson
John Stig Claesson (June 2, 1928 – January 4, 2008) was a Swedish writer and illustrator. He also was known by his signature Slas.
Claesson was born on June 2, 1928 in Huddinge, south of Stockholm. He went to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts between 1947 and 1952, when he began to illustrate Swedish classical books such as those written by Per Anders Fogelström.
Claesson was the father of actor Leif Claesson. Stig died on January 4, 2008 in Stockholm.
Dagens Nyheter
Chihuahua (state)
Chihuahua is a state in Mexico.
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom are part of the National Health Service (NHS) systems. They are run by local ambulance services, known in England and Wales as "trusts". Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have one ambulance service each; the Scottish Ambulance Service (a Special Health Board), the Welsh Ambulance Service, and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service. England is divided into ten regional ambulance services.
NHS ambulance services must by law answer four types of requests for care, which are:
The ambulance services have getting more and more busy. There has been a big increase in the number calls in the last two decades, as shown in the table below:
The ambulance service's work has also been getting more complicated. In the past, the main job of an ambulance was to take people to hospital. This led to ambulance services being nicknamed the "Big White Taxi Service". Nowadays, ambulance staff do far more treatment with the patient. It is now common for patients to be left at home after being treated.
A similar service is 111. This is a phone number for non-emergency medical advice. Many ambulance services employ the staff who answer 111 calls. In some cases, an ambulance may be sent to a 111 call if it is found to be more serious than expected.
Ambulance trusts may also carry out non-urgent patient transport services. This is done through a business agreement with local healthcare organisations. This service is free for patients to use. In some place private companies do this job instead, but it can be a big source of money for the trusts.
Before 1974 local councils would run the ambulance service. In 1974, they were merged into larger agencies that covered one or more counties. On 1 July 2006 the number of ambulance trusts fell from 29 to 13 and they were replaced by regional services.
Each of the 9 government regions of England are covered by a single NHS ambulance trust, with the exception of the South East region. This region is split between the South Central and South East Coast ambulance trusts, while the Isle of Wight has a special arrangement in which local hospitals provide the ambulance service.
The Scottish Ambulance Service is a Special Health Board funded directly by the Health Department of the Scottish Government. In 2006 the service answered over 520,000 emergency calls.
Scotland also has Britain's only government-funded Air Ambulance service. It has two Eurocopter EC 135 helicopters (based in Glasgow & Inverness) and two Beechcraft B200C King Air planes (based at Glasgow & Aberdeen).
The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) is the ambulance service that serves the whole of Northern Ireland, and was set up in 1995.
As with other ambulance services in the United Kingdom, it does not charge its patients directly for its services, but is funded through tax.
NIAS has over 270 ambulances and over 1,000 staff, based across 32 stations & sub-stations, 4 Control Centres and a Regional Training Centre.
The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (Welsh:"Ymddiriedolaeth GIG Gwasanaethau Ambiwlans Cymru") was set up on April 1, 1998 and has 2,500 staff providing ambulance and related services to the 2.9 million residents of Wales.
Its headquarters are at the HM Stanley Hospital, St Asaph, Denbighshire and it is divided into three regions:
Private ambulance services are becoming more common in the UK. They often provide medical cover at large events, either with, or instead of the voluntary sector providers. Some organisers use a private firm instead of a voluntary ambulance service because of wider availability during the week (sometimes difficult for a voluntary service to cover) or for a wider range of skills, such as provision of qualified Paramedics.
The most common use for private ambulances is for non-urgent patient transport. Many trusts and hospitals have chosen to use a private company for these tasks. NHS ambulance services may also pay the private ambulances to answer some of their 999 calls.
All ambulance companies and the NHS Ambulance trusts must follow the same laws, so a private ambulance must have the same equipment and same type of staff working in it.
In most of the United Kingdom, the main voluntary ambulance services are the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance. In Scotland, the main voluntary ambulance is St Andrew's First Aid. The Order of Malta Ambulance Corps. can sometimes be found in Northern Ireland also. These groups have been providing both emergency and non-emergency medical cover in the UK for over 120 years, including active service in both World Wars. This is before any government organised service.
The main activity of the organisations apart from training and education, is providing ambulance cover at events, as an extension of their first aid contract.
They may also treat and transport certain categories of patient to hospital, although for more serious incidents, such as cardiac arrest it is likely that they would call on the ambulance service. This is arranged through agreements with the local ambulance service.
Both organisations also provide 'reserve' or 'support' cover to some, though not all, of the ambulance trusts (dependent on the local MOU), where ambulance crews from one of the organisations (who are usually volunteers, but in some instances may be paid staff) will attend 999, GP Urgent or PTS calls on behalf of the ambulance trust. In these cases the organisation is paid by the trust. This service is most often called on during major incidents, when there is a high level of staff absence or when there is an unusually high call volume, although in some areas, voluntary crews are regularly used to supplement full-time trust cover.
Both organisations have also provided cover for the public when NHS ambulance trust staff have held strikes or walk outs.
Public administration has two meanings. First it means putting into action government policy. Second, academics study this, and prepare civil servants for working in the public service (the non-political part of the government).
Public administration helps improve management and improve policies so that government can work better. Public administrators manage public programs, translate politics into the programs and services that citizens use every day. In universities, professors of public administration study government decision making, analyze policies, and think about how to improve policies and programs.
Hong Kong SAR, China
European Space Agency
European Space Agency or ESA (ESA; , ASE) is an international organisation with 22 member countries. Its job is to explore space.
Its headquarters are in Paris, France. ESA has a staff of more than 2,000 with an annual budget of about €4.43 billion / US$5.51 billion (2015).
The member countries of ESA are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
ESA's space flight programme includes
The main European launch vehicle Ariane 5 is operated through Arianespace with ESA sharing in the costs of launching and further developing this launch vehicle.
Management means directing and controlling a group of people or an organization to reach a goal. Management often means the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources. In other word Management can also mean the person or people who manage, the managers. European Management is specifically defined by academic Andreas M. Kaplan as a cross-cultural, societal management approach based on interdisciplinary principles.
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was a sovereign state in North America between the United States and Mexico that existed from 1836 to 1845. It was started on March 2 1836, when the people living in Texas declared themselves independent from Mexico. The Mexican army led by Santa Anna marched into Texas and attacked the new country. However the Mexican army was defeated and Santa Anna was captured at a battle near the site of Houston. The new republic did not have an easy time. It did not have a proper government, or any money. Its borders were often raided by Mexico, and there was fighting between the settlers and the Native Americans. The US government did not recognize the Republic of Texas.
In 1841, Santa Anna again became president of Mexico and the border attacks increased. By this time, thousands of new settlers had moved into Texas, and people in the US supported the people of Texas. The idea of annexation of Texas into the US became popular.
The Republic of Texas ended on December 29, 1845, when Texas became the 28th state of the United States of America.
Nuremberg Military Tribunals
The Nuremberg Military Tribunals are the follow up trials of war criminals held by the United States of America in Nuremberg.
The trial of the 24 Major War Criminals held by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg is at Nuremberg Trials
The IMT only held one trial before disagreements between the four wartime allies stopped the series of trials that were planned. The four countries occupying Germany carried on with trials of many people in their own zone of occupation. Twelve that were held by the United States are the most famous of these rials. They involved the some of the most important people to be prosecuted after the 24 Major War Criminals.
The twelve US trials in front of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal took place from December 9, 1946 to April 13, 1949. The trials were:
The Anschluss, or Anschluß, was the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.
After the First World War, both Austria-Hungary and the German Empire were abolished, and many hoped that the Republic of German Austria would be unified with the German Republic into a Greater Germany that would include all Germans.
That, however, was forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles without the permission of the League of Nations, and all of the major Allies needed to agree to make such a decision.
Adolf Hitler, who was born in Austria, met Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg on 12 February 1938 in Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, and ordered him to end the ban on political parties, reinstate full party freedom, release all imprisoned members of the Nazi Party and let them take part in the government.
Hitler threatened an invasion as he wanted a union of Austria and Germany.
Schuschnigg did what Hitler had demanded and appointed Arthur Seyss-Inquart, a pro-Nazi lawyer, as Interior Minister and another Nazi, Edmund Glaise-Horstenau, as a Minister without Portfolio.
In January 1938, Schuschnigg had been told to remove the chief of staff of the Austrian Army, Alfred Jansa, who had with his staff made plans to defend Austria from a Wehrmacht attack.
Schuschnigg realised that his new ministers were trying to take over from him. To get support, Schuschnigg allowed socialists and communists to appear in public again. The parties had been banned on 12 February 1934, during the Austrian Civil War. The communists said that they supported the Austrian government. The socialists wanted more promises from Schuschnigg before they were willing to side with him.
On 9 March, Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite on the independence of Austria for 13 March.
To help him win, Schuschnigg set the minimum voting age at 24. Those who supported Nazism and union with Germany tended to be young and so the move stopped them from voting.
Also, supporters of independence were given ballots at the polls, but opponent had to bring their own.
Hitler said that the plebiscite would be subject to major fraud and that Germany would not accept it. Also, the German Ministry of Propaganda issued press reports that riots had broken out in Austria and many Austrians were calling for German troops to restore order. Schuschnigg immediately said publicly that the reports of riots were false.
Hitler sent an ultimatum to Schuschnigg on 11 March to hand over all power to the Austrian Nazis or face an invasion.
Schuschnigg resigned as chancellor that evening since he could not persuade France or the United Kingdom to help.
In a radio broadcast, he announced his resignation, said that he accepted the changes and allowed the Nazis to take over the government to avoid bloodshed.
Meanwhile, Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas refused to appoint Seyss-Inquart as chancellor and asked other Austrian politicians instead. However, the Nazis were well organised, and within hours, managed to take control of many parts of Vienna, including the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which controlled the police. As Miklas continued to refuse to appoint a Nazi government, and Seyss-Inquart still could not send a telegram in the name of the Austrian government to demand German troops to restore order, Hitler became furious. At about 10 p.m., well after Hitler had signed and issued the order for the invasion, Göring and Hitler gave up on waiting and sent a forged telegram that pretended to be a request by the Austrian government for German troops to enter Austria. Around midnight, after nearly all critical offices and buildings had fallen into Nazi hands in Vienna, and the main party members of the old government had been arrested, Miklas finally appointed Seyss-Inquart as chancellor.
On the morning of 12 March, the 8th Army of the German Wehrmacht crossed the German-Austrian border. It was not stopped by the Austrian Army, but its troops were greeted by cheering Austrian Germans with Hitler salutes, Nazi flags and flowers.
The annexation of Austria without a shot being fired is therefore sometimes called the "Blumenkrieg" (war of flowers).
Hitler's car crossed the border in the afternoon at Braunau, his birthplace. In the evening, he arrived at Linz and was welcomed at the city hall. Goering, in a telephone call that evening, said, "There is unbelievable jubilation in Austria. We ourselves did not think that sympathies would be so intense."
On 2 April 1938, 200,000 Austrians gathered on the Heldenplatz (Square of Heroes) to hear Hitler proclaim the Anschluss. Hitler later commented, "Certain foreign newspapers have said that we fell on Austria with brutal methods. I can only say: even in death they cannot stop lying. I have in the course of my political struggle won much love from my people, but when I crossed the former frontier (into Austria) there met me such a stream of love as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come, but as liberators."
The Anschluss was given immediate effect by a law on 13 March that was subject to ratification by a plebiscite. Austria became the province of Ostmark, and Seyss-Inquart was appointed as its governor. The plebiscite was held on 10 April and officially recorded a support of 99.73% of the voters.
Most historians agree that the result was not fixed even though the voting process was neither free nor secret. Officials were present directly beside the voting booths and received the voting ballot by hand, unlike a free vote in which the voting ballot is inserted into a closed box. In some parts of Austria, the plebiscite on 13 March was held despite the Wehrmacht's presence in Austria since it took up to three days to occupy every part of Austria. For instance, in Innervillgraten, 95% of the village voted for Austria's independence.
Austria remained part of the Third Reich until the end of World War II, when a provisional government declared the Anschluss "null und nichtig" (null and void) on April 27 1945. After the war, the Allies occupied Austria, which was recognised and treated as a separate country, but sovereignty was restored only by the Austrian State Treaty and the Austrian Declaration of Neutrality, both in 1955, largely because of the rapid development of the Cold War and disputes between the Soviet Union and its former allies over foreign policy.
Nestorianism
Nestorianism is a movement within Christianity. The idea behind the doctrine was that there were two different persons of Jesus. One of them was the man Jesus, the other was the aspect of "son of God", or Logos. Perhaps the most prominent supporter of the idea was Nestorius, archbishop of Constantinople. Nestorius lived from about 380 to about 450 AD. The Council of Ephesus condemned this view in 431. This led to a split of the church, into the Assyrian Church of the East and the Byzantine Church.
For this reason, the Assyrian Church of the East is sometimes called "Nestorian". The church holds the view that Christ has two "essences" ("qnome") that are united in one person ("parsopa").
The only two churches that teach Nestorianism today are the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Church of the East & Abroad.
Daikokuten
In Japan, Daikokuten (大黒天), is one of the Seven Lucky Gods. Daikokuten came from the Indian god, Shiva. Daikoku wears Japanese robes and has a happy and smiling personality.
Daikoku's pictures are found in the temples of Tibet and China and the god enjoys a high position as a household god in Japan. Daikoku's connection with wealth and success started a strange ritual known as Fuku-nusubi. This ritual started with the belief that the person who stole figures of gods and goddesses was promised good luck, if they were not caught while stealing. Eventually, stealing divine figures became so common that the Toshi-no-ichi or the ‘year-end-market’ held in the Asakusa Kannon temple became the main place where the sale of these images was held.
Daikoku is considered to be the god of wealth or the household, mostly the kitchen. He is recognised from his wide face, smile, and a flat black hat. He is often shown holding a golden mallet and sitting on bales of rice.
A seesaw (also known as a teeter-totter) is a long, narrow board which is fixed in the middle, a little way above the ground. When one end of the seesaw goes up the other goes down.
Children often like to play on seesaws. Two children sit on the seesaw, one at each end. The child who is down pushes the ground with his feet so that he goes up and his friend goes down. Then the friend pushes up so the first child goes down. They continue to go back and forth until they are ready to stop playing on the seesaw.
It works best with two children who are about the same size, or else the heavy person will make his end stay down. On some seesaws there is room for two or three children on each end. There is a handle for each child to hold on to so that they do not fall off.
In mechanics (a kind of physics) anything that is balanced in the middle and goes up and down like a seesaw might be described as something that "seesaws".
Playground slides are slides for children to play on in playgrounds. The child climbs up a ladder or some stairs, then sits down at the top and slides all the way down. Some children like to slide down on their backs or on their stomachs. This can sometimes be dangerous on big slides.
Slides are made of metal, plastic or wood. They must have a smooth surface so that the child does not hurt himself. Sometimes, in amusement parks, there are giant slides called "helterskelters".
There are slides at swimming pools where people can slide down into the water with a splash. These are called "water slides" or "shutes".
Antipsychotic
Antipsychotic drugs or Neuroleptics are drugs that act on the central nervous system, and that usually have sedating properties. The name "neuroleptic" was introduced in 1955, from the 1990s, the term "antipsychotic" is used more frequently. Neuroleptics make the patient calm. Today, they are mostly used for the treatment of psychosis, as it occurs in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They can also be used to treat depression and mood swings. Very strong antipsychotics can be combined with an opioid to produce a special analgesic; the patient will be conscious, but heavily sedated, and feel very little pain.
The main inventor of this drug was Andrew J. Smith whom at the time was 16 when he made it. He created this drug that has saved hundreds of people with schizophrenia.
EVE Online is a 2003 Space science fiction MMORPG computer game. It was made by CCP Games. The game is very similar to the 1980s game ELITE. Players in EVE earn money called "InterStella Kredits" (ISK) to buy new spacecraft, skills or equipment. Several ways to earn ISK include mining, exploration, doing missions, trading, piracy, and bounty hunting (hunting criminals for money).
EVE is hosted on 1 server cluster. Unlike most MMORPG games, it is not split up based upon geographical location or how busy the servers are.
There are four races in the Eve universe that are playable by subscribers, there is a fifth race, but only Eve Online employees can get them.
Amarr
The Amarr is a race centered around religion. They were the first of the four races to develop ships capable of travelling space. Their main weapon type is a laser, which fire high-energy beams to the enemy to deal damage. They do not use ammunition like the other races, but instead use a type of ammunition called a crystal in order to focus the laser. There are two subgroups of lasers: Beam (long range), and Pulse (short range).
Caldari
The Caldari is a race centered around corporations. They are a very military driven race, and specialize in both missiles and hybrid turrets (which require both ammunition to fire, and energy to fire it), railguns in particular, and can shoot further than other races.
Gallente
The Gallente happened to be located in the same place the Caldari were, and were the first race to create a democracy. Like the Caldari, they specialize in hybrid turrets, but prefer the short-ranged "blasters", and do not specialize in missiles, instead using drones (small robot ships) to good effect.
Minmatar
The Minmatar was the last race to develop space flight. The Amarr quickly enslaved them, however they were able to gain their freedom with the help of the Gallente. Their main weapon is projectile turrets, pretty much regular guns, with the subgroup being artillery (long range), and auto-cannons (short range).
Gameplay in Eve is known to be complex, since there are so many things for a player to do. A player can do many things, with three of the main categories being:
Missions involves talking with an NPC (computer player), who will assign you with a task. This can include: killing other NPCs, hauling an item from one location to another, or a combination of both. The rewards from doing these missions include money, standings (better standings means you can do better missions), and Loyalty Points (which can be spent to get certain types of items that can not normally be bought.
Mining/Industry
Mining and Industry are the backbone of the Eve Universe. Almost everything that a player flies, or item he uses was made by another player. Except for certain items, everything is made through industry. There are certain ores (which give minerals when refined) that can only be found in certain areas. Players that find these ores and bring them back to the market will be sure to make quite a bit of money.
Although PVP (player-vs-player fights) is not a very good way to make money for new players, it is by far one of the most exciting things to do in the Eve Universe. The Eve industry is primarily focused around providing ships to PVP players. Many big corporations (groups of players that share a common goal), can form gigantic alliances to take control of certain areas, which are rich in a wide variety of ways.
Kintarō
Kintarō (金太郎, Kintarō? sometimes means "Golden Boy") is a folk (story) hero from Japanese folklore. A child born really strong. He was raised by a girl ogre in a mountain called Mount Ashigara. He became friendly with the animals and imaginary things of the mountain. Later, after catching the terror of the region around Mount Ooe, Shutendouji, he became a great follower of Minamoto no Yorimitsu under the new name Sakata no Kintoki (坂田公時, Sakata no Kintoki?).
490 Veritas
490 Veritas is a big asteroid, which may have been involved in one of the more huge asteroid-asteroid collisions of the past 100 million years.
At 115 and 125 km in diameter, Veritas and 92 Undina are the biggest of the 300-strong Veritas family of asteroids. David Nesvorný of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder traced the orbits of these bodies back in time, and calculated that they formed in a collision of a body at least 150 km in diameter with a smaller asteroid some 8 million years ago. Veritas and Undina would have been the biggest pieces of that collision.
The thought Veritas collision would have been too far from Jupiter for the pieces to have been slung into a collision course with Earth. However, solar radiation would have caused the resulting dust to drift inward to Earth orbit over a time span consistent with the record of dust in the ocean sediment.
Today continuing collisions among Veritas-family asteroids are estimated to send five thousand tons of cosmic dust to Earth each year, 15% of the total.
It was found by Max Wolf in 1902. Its provisional name was 1902 JP.
A cart is a vehicle with two wheels and usually pulled by one horse. Other animals such as ox, cattle or donkeys are sometimes used instead of a horse. A handcart is pulled or pushed by a person.
Carts have been used for over 4,000 years around the world. Today we use the shopping cart. Shopping carts first made their appearance in Oklahoma City in 1937.
Lanark Grammar School
Lanark Grammar School is a medium-sized secondary school in Lanark, South Lanarkshire which has over 1000 students.
The school library has lots of books on all the subjects studied at the school. It also has a wide range of fiction books for juniors and seniors. There are 15 computers in the library which can be used by any of the students who need to do work.
Johannes Vermeer or Jan Vermeer (baptised 31 October 1632, died 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque painter. He spent his life in the town of Delft. Vermeer came from a Protestant family but he married a Catholic, named Catherina Bolnes, in April 1653. They had eleven children.
Vermeer mainly painted people in daily life. He painted people in detail and used rich colors. He kept the backgrounds simple. This contrast makes the viewer focus on the main point.
He used perspective technique to draw lines from one dot on the canvas. He used this technique on his 17 paintings. Those paintings have a little dot which may be used for perspective.
Vermeer’s painted women often wear blue clothes. This color blue is made from a natural mineral called lapis lazuli.
There is no self portrait of Jan Vermeer. His face may be in some other paintings, especially "The Art of Painting" ("De Schilderkunst") and "The Procuress" ("De Koppelaarste"), but there is no proof that the man is Vermeer.
Arthur Seyß-Inquart
Arthur Seyß-Inquart (born "Arthur Seyß" on 22 July 1892–16 October 1946) was a prominent lawyer and later Nazi official in pre-Anschluß Austria, the Third Reich and in wartime Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands. Seyß-Inquart was executed at the Nuremberg Trials for crimes against humanity.
Seyß-Inquart was born in 1892 in Stonařov ("Stannern"), Moravia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to school principal Emil Zajtich and his wife Auguste Hyrenbach. The family moved to Vienna in 1907, where they changed the Czech Slavic name of "Zajtich" to the German "Seyß-Inquart". Seyß-Inquart later studied law at the University of Vienna. At the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Seyß-Inquart enlisted in the Austrian Army and served in Russia, Romania and Italy. He was decorated for bravery on a number of occasions, and while recovering from wounds in 1917 he completed his final examinations for his degree.
In 1911, Seyß-Inquart met Gertrud Maschka. The couple married in 1916 and had three children: Ingeborg Caroline Auguste Seyß-Inquart (born 18 September 1917), Richard Seyß-Inquart (born 1921) and Dorothea Seyß-Inquart (born 1928).
He went into law after the war, and in 1921 set up his own practice. During the early years of the first Austrian republic, he was close to the Vaterländische Front.
As a successful lawyer, he was asked to join the cabinet of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1933.
He became a State Councillor in 1937 under Kurt Schuschnigg. He was not a member of the Austrian National Socialist party at first. But by 1938, Seyß-Inquart was the highest-ranking politician in the Austrian National Socialist Party.
In February 1938, Seyß-Inquart was appointed Minister of the Interior by Schuschnigg, after Hitler had threatened Schuschnigg. On 11 March 1938, Schuschnigg resigned as Austrian Chancellor and Seyß-Inquart was appointed to the position by Austrian President Wilhelm Miklas. Hitler's plan was to have Seyß-Inquart send a telegram asking for German help to stop riots, but President Miklas did not make Seyß-Inquart chancellor until after Hitler's invasion of Austria. On 13 March 1938, Seyß-Inquart joined the National Socialist party.
Hitler was going to leave Austria independent, but after the welcome the invading German troops got during the Anschluß he decided to make Austria a new part of the Third Reich, called "Ostmark" (or "eastern boundary") . Seyß-Inquart wrote the statute which made Austria a province of Germany, and signed it into law on 13 March.
Seyß-Inquart became "Reichsstatthalter" or Governor of the so-called Ostmark. Ernst Kaltenbrunner was chief minister, and Burckel Commissioner for the Reunion of Austria (concerned with the "Jewish Question").
Seyß-Inquart was made an SS Gruppenführer, and in May 1939 Minister without portfolio in Hitler's government.
After the invasion of Poland Seyß-Inquart became governor of Southern Poland, but before he started work there the General Government was created, and Seyß-Inquart became a deputy to Governor General Hans Frank.
After Germany invaded the Low Countries, Seyß-Inquart became Reichskommissar for occupied Netherlands in May 1940. His job was to organize civil administration, create close economic ties with Germany and defend the interests of the Reich.
He supported the Dutch National Socialist Party (NSB) and allowed it to create a paramilitary "Landwacht", as an auxiliary police force. Other political parties were banned in late 1941, and many former government officials imprisoned at Sint-Michielsgestel. The administration of the country was largely controlled by Seyß-Inquart himself.
He introduced measures to combat 'terror', and when a widespread strike took place in Amsterdam, Arnhem and Hilversum in May 1943 special summary court-martials were held and a collective fine of 18 million guilders was imposed. Seyß-Inquart authorized the execution of around 800 people before liberation. Some people say it was not merely 800 but over 1,500, including executions under the so-called "Hostage Law" involving (among others) political prisoners who were close to being liberated, the Putten incident, and the reprisal execution of 117 Dutchmen for the attack on SS and Police Leader" Hanns Albin Rauter. From July 1944 on, most of Seyß-Inquart's powers were transferred to the military commander in the Netherlands and the Gestapo, but he was still an important and powerful political figure.
There were two small concentration camps in the Netherlands:
There was also a "Jewish assembly camp" at Westerbork, in addition to a number of other camps controlled by the military, the police, the SS or Seyß-Inquart's administration. These included a "voluntary labor recruitment" camp at Ommen. A total of around 530,000 Dutch civilians worked for the Germans, of whom 250,000 were sent to factories in Germany.
Seyss-Inquart was an anti-Semite: within a few months of his arrival in the Netherlands, he sacked Jews from government, the press and leading positions in industry. Anti-Jewish measures escalated after 1941: approximately 140,000 Jews were registered, a ghetto was created in Amsterdam and a transit camp set up at Westerbork. In February 1941, 600 Jews were sent to the Buchenwald and Mauthausen concentration camps. Later, Dutch Jews were sent to Auschwitz. As Allied forces approached in September 1944 the remaining Jews at Westerbork were sent to Theresienstadt. Of 140,000 registered Dutch Jews, only 44,500 survived the war.
When Hitler committed suicide on 30 April 1945, Seyß-Inquart became the Foreign Minister in Admiral Karl Dönitz's new German government.
The Nazi regime had tried a 'scorched earth' policy, and also destroyed some docks and harbors. Seyß-Inquart agreed with Armaments Minister Albert Speer that destroying everything to keep valuable materials from Allied forces or a new government after the war was wrong. Seyß-Inquart also helped in the so-called 'hunger winter' of 1945 to distribute food, and allowed Allied airplanes to drop Swedish white bread for the hungry people of occupied northern Netherlands. He remained Reichskommissar until 8 May 1945, when, after a meeting with Karl Dönitz to confirm his blocking of the scorched-earth orders, he was captured in Hamburg.
At the Nuremberg Trials, Seyß-Inquart faced charges of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, starting and fighting wars of aggression; war crimes; and crimes against humanity.
His defence lawyer was Gustav Steinbauer. Seyß-Inquart was nonetheless found guilty of all charges except conspiracy. On hearing of his death sentence, Seyss-Inquart made it clear he accepted responsibility for excesses during the war, "Death by hanging...well, in view of the whole situation, I never expected anything different. It's all right". He was hanged on 16 October 1946, at the age of 54, together with nine other Nuremberg defendants. His last words were "I hope that this execution is the last act of the tragedy of the Second World War and that the lesson taken from this world war will be that peace and understanding should exist between peoples. I believe in Germany".
Classical Athens
Classical Athens refers to the city of Athens from 508 to 322 BC. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes, after the tyranny of the Peistratids and the rule of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC. Athens was one of the most powerful cities in ancient times. It was important because there democracy developed.
In 477 B.C. Athens began the Delian League to join the city-states for protection. Their rival was the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. The Delian League's money was kept in the temple of Apollo.
In the classical period, Athens was a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's "Akademia" and Aristotle's "Lyceum". Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles, and other philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of western civilization, and the birthplace of democracy. Its culture and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC had widespread effects.
The classical period is usually dealt with by its most important political events, as follows:
When King Xerxes of Persia fought the Greeks of Asia Minor, Athens helped the Greeks in Asia Minor. In time, the Persians attacked Greece and the Greco-Persian wars began.
On the plain of Marathon, many Persians with bows and arrows fought the Greeks. Even though there were many more Persians than Greeks, the Greeks won because they had spears and swords of metal.
Themistocles, the general of Athens, warned the Athenians that the Persians would return, so they should make their navy bigger. The people did so, and Sparta offered to help. In 480 BC the Persians arrived and attacked the Greeks, both on land and on sea. The Persians won the battle of Thermopylae, but the battle gave the Greeks time to get ready.
Although the city of Athens was burnt down, most of the people had run away to the nearby islands for safety. Themistocles ordered the Greeks to prepare for another attack. This time he told them to leave their ships in the Bay of Salamis. When the Persians arrived, they were surprised and confused by the harbor that was so full of ships they could not travel in it. In this battle of Salamis a few hundred Greek ships destroyed many, many Persian ships. Xerxes went away.
The next year, 32,000 Greek hoplites and 50,000 other soldiers won the Battle of Plataea. The Persians did not attack Greece again.
Even though Sparta and Athens helped each other in battle, they were very different culturally. In 431 to 404 B.C., these two city-states fought in a conflict called the Peloponnesian War after the name of the lower part of the peninsula. Sparta had help from other states. Many people died in the siege of Athens because of a terrible sickness, including Pericles.
In 405, the Spartans destroyed the navy of Athens in battle. Athens surrendered to Sparta in the following year.
For 30 years Sparta ruled, but many people did not like Spartan government, and Thebes, another city-state, helped Athens defeat Sparta. For nine years Thebes was the most powerful state.
However, Greece was much weaker because of the wars inside her country. Philip of Macedonia began to move into Greek territory. Although Demosthenes warned Athens of the danger, Athenians did not care. At Chaeronea, Philip of Macedonia controlled Greece.
When Philip died, his son, Alexander the Great, even though he was only 20 years, went out to capture the world. He won Asia Minor, Persia, Egpyt, and a small part of India, but he died of sickness when he was 32.
The people in Athens ate simply, usually barley cakes, onions, fish, and fruit. For clothes the men wore short pieces of cloth (tunics), aprons, and sandals for work. A woman wore a "chiton", which was a long, loose cloth that was attached to the shoulder. The loose garment was like a blouse because of a rope worn around the waist. Sandals were made by putting the foot on a piece of skin while the shoemaker made a covering for the foot.
Children liked to have pet rabbits and to play ball games. For fun, they also raced little chariots pulled by dogs. They were taught by slaves, and learned poetry, music, and dancing. Exercise was also important.
When a young man became 18, he began two years of training for the army. After that he could join in the men's classes where javelin throwing was done. For protection in wrestling, he tied leather strips around his wrists. He also cut his hair. Teachers from many lands taught the young men.
The Greek hoplites fought close together in a phalanx formation. Their spears were very long.
Women in ancient and classical Athens were treated with little respect. They could not become citizens of Athens. This means they could not vote and did not have any direct say in what happened in Athens. They could not run for election.
Girls could not be citizens. They left their home at the age of 14 to get married, sometimes with a man who was much older than she was (about 30 years old). Her marriage would be arranged by her father. On most occasions, the father would pick a rich husband for his daughter. The girl and her mother had no say in who she married, it was entirely the father's choice.
Contrast that with Sparta. Spartan women enjoyed a status, power, and respect that was unknown in the rest of the classical world. Although Spartan women were excluded from military and political life they enjoyed considerable status as mothers of Spartan warriors. As men engaged in military activity, "women took responsibility for running estates".
in the 4th century BC Spartan women owned approximately between 35% and 40% of all Spartan land and property. By the Hellenistic Period, some of the wealthiest Spartans were women. They controlled their own properties, as well as the properties of male relatives who were away with the army. Spartan women rarely married before the age of 20, and unlike Athenian women who wore heavy, concealing clothes and were rarely seen outside the house, Spartan women wore short dresses and went where they pleased. Girls as well as boys received an education. Young women as well as young men may have taken part in the "Gymnopaedia" ("Festival of Nude Youths").
Watership Down is a novel written by Richard Adams. It tells the story of rabbits and their adventures concerning their warren at a hill in the north of Hampshire, England known as Watership Down.
In this fantasy book, rabbits with human intelligence are shown in their natural environment. They have their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry and mythology.
It was first published in the United Kingdom by Rex Collings Ltd in 1972 and has continued to be printed and is now available in 18 different languages.
Fiver, a rabbit with a gift for seeing the future, living at Sandleford Warren, sees his home being destroyed by a land developer in the future. He convinces his brother, Hazel to talk to the Chief Rabbit, Threarah about leaving the Warren, however, the Chief Rabbit has no intention of leaving. Hazel, Fiver, and nine other rabbits then set off in search of a new home (at the time, merely off of the basis of Fiver's dreams that a good home awaits them somewhere far away).
They travel through forests, fields, over rivers, and roads filled with hrududu's (cars) before tiredness forces them to stop at a warren headed by a rabbit named Cowslip. After much debate, the rabbits agree to stay at Cowslips warren. The warren however, feels wrong to them (especially Fiver) due to the other rabbit's strange customs.
They soon find out that the strange actions that Cowslip's rabbits are showing is due to the fact that they are merely being fed and taken care of by a farmer so that he kill them off, one by one, for food. They leave Cowslip's warren, although Bigwig nearly dies on the way.
They keep going until they arrive at the site of Watership Down, a high hill that is far from man and full of good food and safety. After a day or two at their good land that Fiver had promised them, Hazel is named the unofficial chief rabbit of Watership Down. However, Hazel realizes that there are no does (female rabbits) among them, and they cannot have a healthy warren of rabbits without does.
Hazel later rescues a big gull named Kehaar, who has been hurt by a cat. After nursing Kehaar back to health, Keharr agrees to help the rabbits for the time being in return for their kindness toward him. After being asked by Hazel to check out of the area, Kehaar finds a large warren called Efrafa to the South of their position. After hearing that Efrafa is large and too crowded, Hazel sends four rabbits to Efrafa to ask if they could bring back some does to their warren.
However, Efrafa, being a large warren with too many rabbits, is tightly controlled by a rabbit named General Woundwort and his large military. Each rabbit is told when are where they are allowed to eat, sleep and more. Nothing happens without the General's ok, including leaving the warren. The four rabbits barely run away after playing a trick on an Efrafan Captain.
At the same time that the four rabbits are at Efrafa, Hazel leads a small group to look into Kehaar's report that there is a farm with a few caged rabbits, including does. After a few raids, the Watership rabbits break a few caged rabbits out of the farm, but Hazel is shot on the way out. Fiver has a vision where Hazel is, though, and Hazel is found and returned to health.