AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
A dispute with the US Embassy in London over payment of the London Congestion Charge escalated on 27 March 2006 when Livingstone criticised the Embassy's decision not to pay. The Embassy argued that the charge is a form of taxation, not a charge for a service, and diplomats and their staff are therefore exempt under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Embassy officials have never paid the charge, which was instituted in 2003. Livingstone, however, alleged that the decision was made by Robert Tuttle, who took up the post of Ambassador in July 2005. Livingstone described Tuttle as "one of George Bush's closest cronies and a big funder of his election campaign" and said he was trying to "skive out of [paying] like some chiselling little crook". The group Liberty and Law reported this remark to the Standards Board for England as a breach of its code, but the board chose not to investigate it.
Germany stopped paying the charge in 2005, Japan followed in 2006, and in 2007 France, Russia, Belgium, and 50 other missions followed suit when the zone extended to their missions' locations (Iran, Sweden and Syria continue to pay the charge). Asked about Japan's refusal to pay in a March 2007 interview on LBC Radio, Livingstone responded, "I think there are several problems with Japan that we could go on about here. Admitting their guilt for all the war crimes would be one thing. So if they've not got round to doing that, I doubt they're too worried about the congestion charge." London's Japanese embassy responded that their government had already apologised for previous war crimes.
Livingstone acted as a stand-in presenter on London talk radio station LBC 97.3's Jeni Barnett for a week beginning on 30 June 2008. In July 2008 he announced his intention to run again for the office of Mayor of London at the next mayoral elections and signalled his intent to organise a "progressive alliance" of political parties (such as the Labour Party and the Green Party), trade unions and interest groups to defend the progress which was made during his terms as Mayor and to prepare for the next mayoral elections.
On 28 August 2008, it was announced that Livingstone will be an adviser on urban planning to Caracas, Venezuela. He will act as a consultant on the capital's policing, transport and other municipal issues. As a friend of Hugo Chávez, Livingstone was appointed personally by him to advise officials and mayoral candidates in Caracas, in order to help transform the city, which journalist Rory Carroll described as suffering from, "Gridlocked traffic, a crumbling centre, hillside slums, horrific murder rates, corrupt police and inept local government". Livingstone reckoned that in twenty years a "first-world city" can be made out of Caracas, stating, "I have a very extensive network of contacts both domestically and internationally which I will be calling on to assist in this." No decision on a salary for the ex-mayor has been made, although he mentioned that, "The whole cost of this trip has been paid for by the government of Venezuela and as an unemployed citizen I would not be able to pay for my own fare otherwise." The appointment follows on from the controversy surrounding the deal brokered by Livingstone in February 2007 for the Greater London Authority and Transport for London to provide advice to Venezuela in exchange for cheap fuel to help with bus subsidies. The deal was later overturned by new mayor Boris Johnson, and Livingstone offered his services to Chávez so that Venezuela gets the "advice that we promised". Livingstone played down any accusations that his close relationship with the Venezuelan President was controversial, "unless you believe American propaganda", while a spokesperson for Johnson said, "Ken Livingstone is free, as a private individual, to offer his advice and services to whomever he wants." Livingstone is now being touted as a key asset for Chávez in the upcoming November elections in the country.
Vatnajökull
Vatnajökull (English: Glacier of Lakes) () is the largest glacier in Iceland. It lies in the south-east of the island, covering more than 8% of the country.
The average thickness of the ice is 400 m, with a maximum thickness of 1,000 m. Iceland's highest peak, Hvannadalshnúkur (2,110 m), is located at the southern tip of Vatnajökull, near Skaftafell National Park. It is classified as an ice cap glacier.
Vatnajökull has been shrinking for some years now, possibly because of climatic changes and recent volcanic activity. Until 1930 it was growing.
According to Guinness World Records Vatnajökull is the object of the world's longest sight line, 550 km from Slættaratindur, the highest mountain in the Faroe Islands. GWR state that ""owing to the light bending effects of atmospheric refraction, Vatnajökull (2119m), Iceland, can sometimes be seen from the Faroe Islands, 340 miles (550 km) away"". This may be based on a claimed sighting by a British sailor in 1939. The validity of this record is analysed/undermined in mathematical and atmospheric detail by J.C. de Ferranti
InterCity 225
British Rail
British Rail (BR) was the national railway company of Great Britain, from 1948 to 1997. It was created by nationalization under the Transport Act 1947. Britain's railways were returned to private ownership by privatization in 1997.
After the smaller firms were merged in 1923 under the Railways Act 1921, there were four large regional railway companies. The Big Four were the Great Western Railway (GWR), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the Southern Railway (SR). The Transport Act 1947 made provision for the nationalisation of the network.
The Second World War had caused damage to all the railways. They had lost a large part of their trains, buildings and equipment.
The Transport Act 1947 set out the nationalisation of the rail network, as part of a plan by Clement Attlee's Labour Government to nationalise public transport. The London Underground, some industrial lines and some remaining light railways like Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway were again excluded. For a short time, during World War II, the Shropshire and Montgomeryshire Railway line was taken over by the military. After the war the line re-opened to public use in 1946. The Bicester Military Railway had been built by the government in 1941.
The Transport Act 1947 took effect on 1 January 1923. By that date most of the mergers had taken place, some from the previous year. The "Railway Magazine" in its issue of February 1923 dubbed the new companies as "The Big Four of the New Railway Era".
These "Big Four" were:
See also a list of railway companies involved in the 1923 grouping.
The nationalised Ulster Transport Authority (UTA) ran the railways in Northern Ireland from 1948 until 1966. They were then taken over by Translink and called "NI Railways," also known as "Northern Ireland Railways" ().
The government of Northern Ireland and Ireland ran the former Great Northern Railway jointly under a Great Northern Railway Board until 1958. Most of the lines in the west of Northern Ireland were closed in the 1960s.
In 1955, a major modernisation programme costing £1.2 billion was authorised by the government. The period of nationalisation saw sweeping changes occur as steam trains were scrapped 1968, in favour of diesel trains and electric trains. One third of the network was closed by the highly critical Beeching report of the 1960s.
A major railway survey in April 1961 was used in the writing of a government report on the future of the network. This report was called "The Reshaping of British Railways". It was published by the British Railways Board (BRB) in March 1963. A third of all passenger trains would be scrapped and more than 4,000 of the 7,000 stations would be closed.
InterCity (or, in the earliest days, the hyphenated Inter-City) was introduced by British Rail in 1966 as a brand-name for its long-haul express passenger services (see British Rail brand names for a full history).
Passenger levels fell steadily from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, but experienced a sharp increase after the introduction of the high-speed Intercity 125 trains in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Between 1934 and 1975 the Northern line ran the Northern City Line as its Highbury Branch. London Underground gave it to British Rail in 1975,
Before the sectorization of BR in 1982 the system was split into regions. Working around London, they were London Midland Region (Marylebone, Euston, St Pancras and Broad Street), Southern Region (Waterloo, Victoria, Chairing Cross, Holborn Viaduct, Cannon Street and London Bridge), Western Region (Paddington) and Eastern Region (King's Cross, Moorgate, Broad Street, Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street). This was perceived to be a source of inefficiency, so sectorization made the regions into a single organisation covering all commuter services. At the same time InterCity took over express services and Regional Railways took over regional services. The group was originally called "Provincial".
BR built 2537 steam locomotives from 1948 to 1960, some to pre-nationalisation designs and some to its own, new, standard designs. Eventually BR chose to end the use of steam trains in 1968.
The official report known as the "Modernisation Plan" of December 1954 was intended to bring the railway system into the 20th century. The aim was to increase speed, reliability, safety and line capacity, by making the railways more attractive to passengers and freight operators. The important areas were:
Long-distance trains from Marylebone began to be cut back from 1958 after the line was given from BR Midland Western to the BR Midland Region. Then BR Midland Region thought it was an unnecessary rival of their Midland Main Line. By 1960 there were no daytime trains running to destinations north of Nottingham and only a few still ran at night. Many Express services were cut. By 1963, local stopping services beyond Aylesbury were cut. In 1965 freight services were ended. Between 1963 and 1966 only a few remaining long distance services stayed in use. A large part of the former Great Central Railway was closed as part of the 'Beeching axe'. This meant that Marylebone was now used only by local trains to Aylesbury and High Wycombe. After the 1960s, lack of investment meant the station itself became run down.
Some of the early models were of poor quality and design, but many later kinds proved their worth in time.
British Rail Class 127 diesel trains were chosen to operate on the services from Marylebone usually to places such as High Wycombe, Aylesbury and Banbury which are on the Chiltern Main Line and Great Central Main Line (now the London to Aylesbury Line). Strangely, the 115 were under Table 115 in the British Rail timetable. They were similar to British Rail Class 127, but were superior as the class had larger windows, better seats, lights and wall surfaces. Both classes were made in the early 1960s.
The British Rail Class 47 (originally "Brush Type 4") is a class of British railway diesel-electric locomotive that was developed in the 1960s by Brush Traction. Their reliable and trusted service lasted well in to the 2000s. Some are still working in 2018.
British Rail gave Class 52 to the class of 74 large diesel-hydraulic locomotives built for the Western Region of British Railways between 1961 and 1964. All were given two-word names, with the first word being "Western", and so the type was nicknamed "Westerns".
The British Rail Class 207 (or 3D) versatile diesel-electric multiple units were built by BR at Eastleigh in 1962.
The British Rail Class 423 (or 4Vep) electric multiple units were built by BR at York Works from 1967 to 1974. They feature manually opening doors next to every seating row and mostly found working outer suburban services in South London, and rural services in Kent and Sussex, up to replacement in 2005.
The British Rail Class 303 is a type of electric multiple unit. They are also known as "Blue Train" units, since they were originally painted blue all over. They were first used in 1960 for the electrification of the North Clyde and the Cathcart Circle lines in Strathclyde.
The British Rail Class 73 electro-diesel locomotives are very unusual in that they can operate from a 750 V DC third-rail supply, but also have a diesel engine to allow them to work on non-electrified routes.
The British Rail Class 86 was the standard electric locomotive built during the 1960s. It was made after the repeated testing of the earlier classes like the 81 and 85. The tests led to a much improved loco design.
The British Rail Class 312 is a type of alternating current (AC) electric multiple unit (EMU) built in 1966–1974 intended for use on outer-suburban passenger services. It was the last class of multiple unit to be constructed to the British Rail Mark 2 body shell, and also the last with slam doors. Their passenger seats were an improvement on former types.
British Rail Class 313 electric multiple units were built by BREL at York Works from 1976 to 1977, thus the first second-generation EMUs to be constructed for British Rail. They were capable of both drawing power via 25 kV AC overhead, or 750 V DC third-rail. They were the first units in Britain to have fully automatic couplers which allowed both physical coupling and also the connection of control electric and air supplies to be carried out without the driver's need to leave the cab. Their passenger seats were also an improvement on former types.
During the late 1950s, railways continued to worsen, and in 1959 the government acted, limiting the amount the British Transport Commission (BTC) could spend on British Rail.
The government proposed that many services could be provided more cheaply by buses, and said that most abandoned rail services would have their places taken by bus services. Only main lines would be untouched. Many other minor lines would be cut back or scrapped.
The business man Lord Beeching saw South Wales as a failing industrial region. So it lost the majority of its network. Since 1983 it has experienced a major rail revival, with new stations such as Llanharan reopening. Four lines reopened within 20 miles (32 km) of each other: Abercynon–Aberdare, Barry–Bridgend via , Bridgend–Maesteg and the Ebbw Valley Line via Newbridge.
The station at Laurencekirk on the mainline between Arbroath and Aberdeen was shut in 1967, but 42 years later in May 2009 it reopened. Other reopened stations include , and – all closed in the mid-1960s.
Haddenham in Buckinghamshire lost its little-used station in 1963, but a more popular station opened in 1987 as the town grew.
A major part of the report proposed that British Rail electrify some major main lines and the use of containerised freight traffic instead of outdated and uneconomic wagon-load traffic. Some of these plans were eventually adopted, however, such as the creation of the Freightliner concept and further electrification of the West Coast Main Line from Crewe to Glasgow in 1974. Also the staffs' terms and conditions were improved over time.
Since the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, road traffic levels grew heavily in some areas. This has come close to gridlock. Furthermore, in recent years there have been record high levels of passengers on the railways. A modest number of the railway closures have therefore been reversed.
In addition a small but significant number of closed stations have reopened, and passenger services been restored on lines where they had been closed or removed. Many of these were in the urban metropolitan counties and towns where Passenger Transport Executives have a role in promoting local passenger rail use.
A notable reopening was the Robin Hood Line in Nottinghamshire, between Nottingham and Worksop via Mansfield, which reopened in the early 1990s. Before the line reopened, Mansfield had been the largest town in Britain without a railway station.
Profits from the railways began to fall in the early 1980s. In 1983, the civil servant Sir David Serpell wrote what became known as the Serpell Report. He wanted even more cutbacks.
In the early 1980s there was a proposal to close Marylebone and divert British Rail services via High Wycombe into nearby Paddington. There was also a plan to extend the Metropolitan Line to Aylesbury, so London trains via Amersham would be sent to Baker Street. Marylebone station was to be converted into a bus and coach station. London Underground said the Metropolitan Line could not cope with any more trains and was full up. However these plans were deemed stupid and clumsy, and were quietly dropped.
The funding of BR was reduced so they created the cheaper Pacer trains. The British Rail Class 143 is a diesel multiple unit, part of the Pacer family of trains introduced between 1985 and 1986. They originally worked around North East England but were later transferred to Wales. It was made out of bus parts put on to lorry chassis and train wheels. Earlier units proved to be unreliable, but later units were of a better design.
The British Rail Class 156 "Super-Sprinter" diesel multiple units were built from 1987 to 1989 to replace elderly First Generation "Heritage" DMUs (like the Class 127 units) and locomotive-hauled passenger trains.
As funding increased before privatisation the successful British Rail Class 158 "Express Sprinter" was made. It is a type of diesel multiple unit (DMU) train. They were built for British Rail between 1989 and 1992 by BREL at their Derby Works.
On 12 December 1988, three commuter trains crashed, just south-west of Clapham junction station, in London. 35 people died and more than 100 were injured. British Rail's 30-year-old vintage Mark 1 carriages were found out to be dangerous and the broken signalling equipment was fixed and improved.
The British government under John Major said that privatisation would help passenger services, but this did not happen until much later.
The Scottish Assembly Government have re-opened the lines between Hamilton and Larkhall, Alloa and Stirling and is working on a link from Airdrie to Bathgate. The biggest line-reopening project is the former Waverley railway Edinburgh to Borders line.
The Welsh Assembly Government has re-opened the Vale of Glamorgan Line between Barry Bock and Bridgend in 2005. The Ebbw Valley Line reopened between Ebbw Vale and Cardiff in the year 2008. It will later go on to services to Newport in Gwent in 2011. The Barry–Bridgend route was closed after the Beeching report of March 1963. The line's passenger service was officially shut down in June 1964, but freight continued until the late 1990s.
Some English stations like Corby and Mansfield were reopened after privatisation.
Yet more stations were reopened by British Rail in Scotland, England and Wales before privatisation when the railway was run properly.
Train fares cost more than under British Rail.
Regional Railways was one of the three passenger sectors of British Rail. It was created in the year 1982. It finished operation in 1996, two years after privatisation. In the privatisation of British Rail, InterCity trains were divided up into several franchises. The Caledonian Sleeper are transferred to ScotRail, now First ScotRail.
Since privatisation, the number of companies has changed a number of times as rules have changed and the areas covered altered. The companies that took over passenger rail services include:
"Six sub-brands also occurred in the early 2000s:"
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Wales and Borders, now part of Arriva Trains Wales.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Wessex Trains, now part of First Great Western.
<nowiki>**</nowiki> Silverlink Metro, now London Overground.
<nowiki>**</nowiki> Silverlink County, now part of London Midland.
<nowiki>***</nowiki> West Anglia, now part of National Express East Anglia.
<nowiki>***</nowiki> Great Northern Electrics, now part of National Express East Anglia.
The British Rail "double arrow" logo was said to show direction of travel on a double track railway on a railway map and was nicknamed "the arrow of indecision". It is now employed as a general symbol on street signs in Great Britain, but not in Northern Ireland, denoting railway stations, and as part of the Association of Train Operating Companies (A.T.O.C.)'s joint-managed National Rail brand, still being printed on railway tickets.
Sometimes strikes happened among British Rail staff, over staff pay, safety, working hours and alike. There were several strikes in the late 1970s, but decreased after privatisation. There were also several other strikes in the late 1970s. Other firms like the UK's coal mines also struck at this time.
Cobra is a name of a snake and a girl cobra is called 'cobra Kai.' In English it is the common name for various venomous snakes. Most of those species are in the family Elapidae, and most of them can spread their neck ribs to form a flattened, widened hood.
The name "cobra" is short for "cobra de capelo" or "cobra-de-capelo", which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake".
Cobras usually live in tropical and desert regions of Asia and Africa. When feeling threatened, cobras can tilt back and flatten their heads into their warning posture. The rest of the time their heads are symmetrical and they look much like any other snakes.
Cobra may refer to:
Most so-called, and all "true", species of cobras belong to the family Elapidae
Cape Cobra
The Cape Cobra ("Naja nivea") is a cobra inhabiting the regions of South Africa. It averages 4 feet (120 cm) long but may grow to be 6 feet (180 cm) long. The color varies from location to location, and those from the Kalahari are normally yellow with brown speck uniformly all over the body.
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large arid to semi-arid sandy area in southern Kgalagadi Africa extending 900,000 km² (362,500 sq. mi.), covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It has huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains.
The Kalahari Desert is the southern part of Africa, and the geography is a portion of desert and a plateau. The Kalahari supports some animals and plants because most of it is not a true desert. There are small amounts of rainfall and the summer temperature is very high. The driest areas usually receive of rain per year, and the wettest just a little over .
The surrounding Kalahari Basin covers over 2.5 million km² extending farther into Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and encroaching into parts of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The only permanent river, the Okavango, flows into a delta in the northwest, forming marshes that are rich in wildlife. Ancient dry riverbeds—called omuramba—traverse the Central Northern reaches of the Kalahari and provide standing pools of water during the rainy season. Previously havens for wild animals from elephant to giraffe, and for predators such as lion and cheetah, the riverbeds are now mostly grazing spots, though leopard or cheetah can still be found.
The Kalahari has a number of game reserves—the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR, the world's second largest protected area), Khutse Game Reserve and the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. Animals that live in the region include brown hyenas, lions, meerkats, giraffe, warthogs, jackals and several species of antelope (including the eland, gemsbok, springbok, hartebeest, steenbok, kudu, and duiker), and many species of bird and reptiles. Vegetation in the Kalahari consists mainly of grasses and acacias but there are over 400 identified plant species present (including the wild watermelon or Tsamma melon).
The Bushmen of the Kalahari were hunter/gatherers. They hunted for meat and gathered the food of the desert to eat. They did not keep animals. They moved from place to place to find food and water. They owned very few things because they had to carry everything themselves. Very few people still live this way anywhere in the world.
Silverstein
Silverstein is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in Ontario, Canada, in 2000. Their name come from a children-book writer, Shel Silverstein.
After the several changes in the band's line up, Billy Hamilton joined the band. He found out about they needed a bass player while online. In the autumn of 2002, the band signed to their record label - Victory Records. They left Victory Records in 2010 and joined Hopeless Records.
In January 2003, their first (debut) album was released. The title was When Broken Is Easily Fixed.
In 2005, Silverstein performed on the "Never Sleep Again" tour along with fellow emo band Hawthorne Heights. The next year, 2006, they toured on the "Vans Warped" tour. This is an event in the United States taking place in the summertime. The second album, Discovering the Waterfront contains the singles "Discovering the Waterfront" and "Smile in Your Sleep".
Summertime last year, 2007, Silverstein released their third album, Arrivals and Departures. It includes the new single "Still Dreaming". On MySpace, a social networking site, they posted a new song called "Broken Stars". Singer Shane Told has been trained by a vocal coach named Melissa Cross.
In Spring 2009, Silverstein released their fourth full length album, Shipwreck in the Sand.
In Spring 2011, Silverstein released their fifth album, "Rescue".
Discovering the Waterfront
Discovering the Waterfront is the second full-length album by the band Silverstein. The album has three singles; "Smile In Your Sleep", "Discovering The Waterfront", and "My Heroine". All of the singles had music videos.
All songs written by Shane Told and Neil Boshart, except for where noted.
Pakistan State Oil (PSO)
Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is the oil market leader in Pakistan. The well established infrastructure, built at par with international standards, representing 82% of country’s storage, provides PSO an edge over its competitors.
Mahmud I
Mahmud I () (August 2, 1696 – December 13, 1754) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1730 to 1754. He was the son of Mustafa II (1695–1703). His mother Emetullah Sultan, (born as Evemia) was of Greek ethnic descent. Mahmud I was the older brother of Osman III (1754–57).
Mahmud II
Mahmud II (Ottoman Turkish: محمود ثاني Mahmud-ı sānī) (July 20, 1785 – July 1, 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He ruled from 1808 until his death. Mahmud was the son of Sultan Abdül Hamid I. His time as sultan is notable mostly for the major legal and military changes he caused.
Mahmud II was born in Istanbul. He was 23 years old wheb he came to the throne. He was a calligraphy artist, composer and poet. He wrote poems under the pseudonym "Adli". He was a brave, strong will, patient and prudent temperament. He replaced the old military organization maintained by the governors of irregular auxiliaries (sekban - I Cedid). When the soldiers shortly after arose, he defeated them with this. The 1808 revolting insurgents killed Alemdar Mustafa Pasha.
In 1812 the peace treaty was signed in Bucharest with the Russians. In 1813, with the help of Muhammed Ali Pasha, he defeated the Wahhabis, who desecrated the holy places and shrines in Mecca and Medina.
In July of 1839 the Sultan Mahmud II died as the ill effects of life experienced by him calamitous events he was afflicted with tuberculosis and died.
His body was buried in the Türbe in Divanyolu.
Mahmud II was devoted to many works of the highest degree in any field.
He opened many new schools, and ordered to build large buildings.
All the great mosques of Istanbul were repaired in his time.
The bridge was built in Unkapani his time.
In Mecca, he had built a madrasa and mend the Great Mosque (Mescid-i Aksa) in the holy city of Jerusalem.
The poet and Sümbülzâde Vehbi Kececizâde Izzet Molla died at this time.
His sons: Abdülmecid I *, * Abdulaziz, 4 Sehzades names Ahmet, Bayezid, veliaht Abdulhamid, Suleyman, 2 Sehzades called Mehmed Murad Nizameddin, Abdullah Osman.
His daughters: Emine Sultan, Sultan Hamide, Hayriye Sultan, Sultan Saw, * Saliha Sultan, Ayse Sultan, Sultan Atike *, 2 Fatma Sultan, Sultan Münire, Mihrimah Sultan *, * Adile Sultan.
Mahmud II of Great Seljuk
Mahmud II ("Kabızlık"; died 1131) proclaimed himself the Seljuk sultan of Baghdad in 1118 after the death of Mehmed I (probably Mahmud's father). Mahmud fought against the Seljuk Sultan of Khorasan, Ahmed Sanjar, whom Mehmed I had revolted against in 1105. Mahmud was succeeded by Dawud.
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni (, ; (2 November 971 – 30 April 1030) was the ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire from 997 until his death. He turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the rich capital of an extensive empire which included modern-day Afghanistan, most of Iran, and parts of north-west India including modern-day Pakistan. He was also the first ruler to carry the title Sultan, signifying his break from the power of the Islamic Caliph.
Mahmud of Ghazni was known as Yāmīn al-Dawlah Maḥmūd (in full: Yāmīn al-Dawlah Abd al-Qāṣim Maḥmūd Ibn Sebük Tegīn). He was the eldest son of Emir Subuktigin. When he was young, Mahmud helped his father gain land through military campaigns against Turk nobles. In 997, he overthrew his younger brother, Ismail, who had been nominated for the throne after his father’s death. As soon as he had the throne, he went out to conquer territory.
Between 1000 and 1026, he invaded India at least 17 times. He was the first major Muslim army to invade India. His raid of Punjab was the last invasion where he increased his territory in India. From then on, most of Mahmud’s raids were to gain wealth. Mahmud's last and most famous raid was on Somnath. This is a temple city on the Gujarati coast that was also a pilgrimage site. The temple had many riches: heavy golden chains and thousands of jewels. The battle was violent, and more than 50,000 people died. Mahmud's army won.
With all his riches, Mahmud founded a university, a library, and a museum, a grand mosque and richened his capital. When Mahmud was about to die, he ordered all of his riches to be placed before him. Mahmud died on 30 April 1030.
Ghaznavid Empire
The Ghaznavid Empire was a Khorāṣānian Turkic Sunni Muslim state, which existed from 975 to 1187. It was centered in Ghazni, a city in present Afghanistan, and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
Mahmud Shah (Sultan of Malacca)
Mahmud Shah Durrani
Durrani Empire
The Durrani Empire (actually Afghan Empire) was established in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani at Kandahar, Afghanistan. It included the land that is now called Afghanistan, Pakistan, eastern Iran and western India. The Durrani Empire is considered the foundation of the modern state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad Shah Durrani (Ahmad Shah Baba) being the "Father of the nation".
The Durrani dynasty diminished in the early 19th century when Afghanistan was fighting defensive wars with Persia on one side and British India on the other side. The Barakzai dynasty took over control of the kingdom but lost many of Afghanistan's territories by the end of the 19th century. It became to what is now Afghanistan after the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 when the state became officially recognized by all the major countries in the world.
Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology that looks at basic actions of the mind. These are aspects of the higher brain, such as thought, feeling, problem solving, memory, and language. Cognitive psychologists often look at mental changes that happen after a stimulus (things that can be felt by the five senses) and before a behavioral response (what a person does after sensing something).
The general idea of cognitive psychology was surveyed in several 19th century works:
Cognitive psychology had its beginnings in the Gestalt psychology of Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, and Kurt Koffka, and in the work of Jean Piaget, who came up with a theory of "stages" or "phases" that describe children's cognitive development.
Celâl Bayar
Mahmut Celâl Bayar (16 May 1883 – 22 August 1986) was a Turkish politician, statesman and the third President of Turkey. At the time of his death, he was the longest lived former head of state, living over 103 years (he was surpassed in 2008 by Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum).
Perceptual psychology
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas () (born November 15, 1935), also known by the Kunya Abu Mazen (), was elected President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on January 9, 2005. He took office on January 15, 2005.
Abbas is a leading politician in Fatah. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority from March to October 2003. He resigned because of a lack of support from Israel and the United States as well as "internal incitement" against his government. Before becoming Prime Minister, Abbas led the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). He has served as Chairman of the PLO Executive Committee since November 11, 2004, after Yasser Arafat's death. Abbas is said to the an example of moderation in Palestine by Israel and the west.
Abid Hamid Mahmud
Abid Al-Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti (born c. 1957; died June 7, 2012) was an Iraqi lieutenant general under Saddam Hussein's deposed regime, and he was Saddam's bodyguard. He was executed on June 7, 2012.
Social psychology is the study in psychology of how people and groups interact. Researchers in this field are often either psychologists or sociologists. All social psychologists use both the individual and the group as their unit of analysis.
Despite their similarity, psychological and sociological researchers tend to differ in their goals, approaches, methods, and terminology. They also favor separate academic journals and professional groups. The greatest period of collaboration between sociologists and psychologists was during the years immediately following World War II. Although there has been increasing isolation and specialization in recent years, some degree of overlap and influence remains between the two disciplines.
Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha
Mahmoud Fahmi an-Nukrashi Pasha (1888 - 1948) (Arabic: محمود فهمي النقراشي باشا) was an Egyptian political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 1945 to 1946 and again from 1946 to 1948. He was assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood while he was Prime Minister.
Neuropsychology is the scientific study that studies the function and structure of the brain related to more common psychological processes and overt behaviors. The term has been applied to lesion studies in humans and animals. It has also been applied to efforts to record electrical activity from individual cells (or groups of cells) in higher primates (including some studies of human patients).
Abnormal psychology
Abnormal psychology is a part of psychology. People who study abnormal psychology are psychologists. They are scientists that investigate the mind using the scientific method. Different cultures tend to have different ideas of how strange (abnormal) any behaviour is considered. This tends to change over time within cultures, so people that live in a country at one time in history might consider abnormal what people who live in the same country consider normal years before or years later.
Abnormal psychology is often used to understand or to treat people with mental disorders to make life better for them. This is because abnormal behaviour is often defined as when someone is not able to change how they behave to fit different settings. This is often also used to define some mental disorders. When someone cannot change their behaviour to fit the people and situations around them when they need to, it can cause suffering, and the person may be uncomfortable when around people. Their behaviour can be unreasonable and hard to understand. Their behaviour can even be dangerous.
Not everyone with a mental disorder is unable to adjust to their surroundings. People who can change to fit their the environment around them more easily than most people can also have behaviour that is considered abnormal and might also have an easier life with the help of a psychologist.
A supernatural belief is a belief in a force that is beyond scientific understanding. There are a lot of cultures that believe in supernatural events. These cultures include religious cultures, as well as the Ancient Chinese, Ancient Egyptians, Hebrews, and Ancient Greeks. These cultures have writings that say abnormal behaviour in the form of supernatural events created demons or Gods that would take over a person and act through those people. This was called possession. In the Roman Catholic Church, exorcisms were done to make these demons leave the body of the individuals they possessed. Exorcism involved prayer, noises and potions. People who had abnormal behaviour were often told they were possessed.
In some cultures, trepanation was often used. This was when a hole was made in someone's head to release the "bad spirit".
"Lunatic asylums" were buildings that kept patients that had abnormal behaviour. They became popular in Europe with the Madhouse Act of 1774, although they did exist before the Act. Asylums were meant to look after people who could not take care of themselves. But they were known for being cruel and abusive to their patients. The buildings were often dirty and not looked after very well.
During the late 1700s, William Tuke made a religious retreat for patients. This was a turn away from the horrors of mental asylums. Also, in the late 1700s, Philippe Pinel started to encourage better treatment of the mentally insane.
Today the 18th-century lunatic asylum does not exist. Most of the asylums were closed in the late 1900s because of the invention of antipsychotic medicines. Today, there are psychiatric hospitals for people with mental illness. This includes Broadmoor Hospital, which houses some of Britain's the most dangerous criminals with mental illnesses.
In the 1800s, Dorothea Dix fought against the bad treatment of patients in mental asylums. She started a "mental hygiene" group to encourage politicians to change the treatment of mental patients in the United States. When people became aware of the wrongdoing in mental asylums, money was raised to improve the treatment of patients and the asylums. Dix is thought to have helped to create 32 mental hospitals. By 1940 there were more than 400,000 patients living in mental asylums.
Most treatments were still cruel to patients and were not effective. The asylums were quickly becoming overcrowded. Mary Jane Ward wrote a book in 1946 called "The Snake Pit" that raised awareness of the inhumane treatment of mental patients.
The National Institute of Mental Health was created the same year. The organisation provided training and support for mental patients and workers that cared for them. The Hill-Burton Act was passed to give money to the mental health hospitals.
Later, the Community Health Services Act of 1963 was passed. This law which created outpatient buildings for patients to live at home rather than in hospitals. Rehabilitation and community care centers were also built under this act.
During the late 1900s, mental asylums were less accepted. The cruel treatment of patients and the overcrowding and ways of living were seen as not needed. Less money was being given to asylums. So many closed all around the world. The closing down of mental hospitals became known as deinstitutionalization. The movement from asylum to community was meant to help patients' development and recovery. The lack of good support programs meant that patients felt abandoned and found it hard to fit into normal life. This led to many becoming homeless.
In the past there were three ways to explain abnormal behaviour. These were supernatural, biological, and psychological explanations. Western medicine no longer uses supernatural explanations. Instead we use biological and psychological explanations. Biological explanations use genetics and neuroscience to explain abnormal behaviours. The biological explanation is based on how the brain works and how genes change the way it works. Psychological explanations use how the mind works to explain abnormal behaviours.
Early cultures believed that abnormal behaviour was from demons, spirits and astrology. Trepanation was when a hole was drilled in a person's head. This was done to let the spirits or demons out of the person's head.
Exorcism was practiced mainly by the Catholic Church. Exorcism was believed to ward the spirits out of the person that they possessed.
These practices were normal during the Middle Ages. This was when abnormal behaviour was thought to be a religious issue rather than a psychological one. Some abnormal behaviour was thought to be witchcraft. People accused of witchcraft were almost always punished for the acts. In many cases, the punishment was to be murdered.
The Biological approach to explaining abnormal behaviour assumes that the behaviour can be explained by physical factors. Hippocrates was a man who lived during the 5th century and is thought by many to be the father of modern medicine. He did not accept that evil spirits or astronomy were the causes of psychological disorders. Hippocrates believed that there were natural causes for the disorders and appropriate treatments could be found. He focused on the "four humors" of the brain. He believed that the four humours must be balanced for healthy mental states and when one humour was stronger, various disorders would appear. To balance the humors, Hippocrates would tell patients to change their lifestyles. There are now new ideas when talking about the biological explanations of psychological disorders. But, Hippocrates' focus on mental processes and clinical practice was a revolutionary concept.
Another Greek physician called Galen also took a scientific approach to the causes of psychological disorders. He divided them into physical and mental categories. Among Galen's causes were head injuries, alcohol abuse, and life experiences. During the 18th century, Galen's concepts influenced the medical industry. Galen's focus was on the biological causes for mental disorders.
Psychological explanations for abnormal behavior sometimes take a behavioral approach in which the positive behaviors are reinforced and negative ones are not. This approach is more focused on changing the actual behavior of a person than the true cause of it.
Sigmund Freud was one of the most popular psychological theorists of the 20th century. The method he used to study and treat patients was known as psychoanalysis. Methods of hypnosis by were used by Freud, but also by Franz Mesmer and physicians in the Nancy School. However, Freud attempted to have his patients confess their deepest, truest emotions, which was referred to as a catharsis. He would have his patients speak freely about themselves, in free association. Also he would conduct dream analysis where patients would record and discuss their dreams. Freud's work led to other great psychoanalytic theorists such as Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Harry Stack Sullivan. Wilhelm Wundt and William James were credited for opening up the first experimental psychology laboratories. This led to many studies and psychological methods, such as classical conditioning led by Ivan Pavlov and John B. Skinner, while Edward Thorndike and B. F. Skinner were the leaders of the study of operant conditioning.
The North American reference book used by psychiatrists and psychologists to diagnose and treat psychological disorders is known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). It is produced by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). The most recent version was released in May of 2013 and is known as the DSM-5. The DSM is relied upon by clinicians, health insurance companies, medicine companies, and the legal system as a reference for understanding and identifying mental disorders. The DSM divides mental disorders into groups and provides descriptive signs and symptoms that define each disorder. In addition, it lists statistics for each disorder ranging from its frequency in the general population to the most effective form of treatment.
Before diagnosing an individual with a "specific" mental disorder, a professional must first determine whether that individual does in fact suffer from a mental disorder. The DSM defines a mental disorder as a condition that:
When using the DSM, a complete psychiatric diagnosis is split up into five dimensions, called "axes", that relate to different characteristics of disability or disorder:
The separate axes of the DSM are often linked together in the development of mental disorders.
The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) was created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is the universal diagnostic system for mental disorders. The ICD is approved by health officials from 193 WHO member countries, and is available for free on the internet. Its purpose is to help countries reduce the problems associated with mental disorders. The coding system used in the DSM is designed to be compatible with the system used in the ICD; however, some codes may not match because the two publications get revised at different times. The ICD-10 was made public in 1994; its most recent update occurred in 2010. Chapter 5 of the ICD-10 covers over 300 mental and behavioral disorders which are divided into the following categories:
"The Online ICD-10 can be found in its entirety here"
Psychoanalysis is a form of therapy based on psychoanalytic theory. This theory states that human behavior is controlled by unconscious forces such as instinct and that there is no such thing as free will. Many ideas found in the Psychoanalytic theory can be traced back to the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud. Freud believed mental disorders are a result of repressed memories and emotions from childhood; psychoanalysis is designed to search for these hidden memories and emotions and bring them to the patient's attention. Techniques such as hypnosis are used to tap into the unconscious mind with the hopes that the source of the disturbance is found. Freud also believed dreams had hidden meanings, and often asked patients to record their dreams for analysis. Because of the lack of scientific evidence supporting most Freudian ideas, psychoanalysis is rarely used by clinical psychologists and has been replaced by more effective forms of therapy.
Behavior therapy is based on the theory of behaviorism, which states that all human behavior is a result of a stimulus and reinforcement. Famous behaviorists include James Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Joseph Wolpe. The goal of this therapy is to increase one's positive or socially reinforcing behavior. Behavior therapy can be broken down into three areas:
Humanistic therapy is a method taken from Carl Rogers, which aims to focus on a client as a human rather than the problem that they have. A therapist can adjust the environment and mood of a session in a way that mimics normal conversation. This often helps the patient realize the issues they have, and share them with the therapist more successfully than in a traditional counseling session. Humanistic therapy creates an effective means of getting to the source of a problem and treating it properly.
Roger's own term was "client-centered therapy", which has the idea that the therapist is helping the client to become a genuine psychological adult.
John B. Watson
John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878–September 25, 1958) was an American psychologist. He established the psychological school of behaviorism, after doing research on animal behavior. This school was extremely influential in the middle of the 20th century, when B.F. Skinner developed it further.
Watson was forced to resign his chair at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, because his affair with a graduate student became a public scandal. After this, Watson worked for many years for J. Walter Thompson, a leading American advertising agency. He is credited with popularizing the "coffee break" during an ad campaign for Maxwell House coffee.
Watson founded behaviorism in the spring of 1913 with his paper "Psychology as the behaviorist views it". In this article, Watson outlined the major features of his new philosophy of psychology, called "behaviorism". The first paragraph of the article concisely described his position: