AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Plushenko was a very good skater as a child. At age 14, he won the World Junior Championships. At age 15, he won the bronze medal at the World Championships. He has always been coached by Alexei Mishin, a very famous Soviet and Russian skater coach. At the time of Plushenko's rise, Mishin was also coaching Alexei Yagudin. When Yagudin saw all the attention Mishin was giving Plushenko, it made Yagudin leave and find another coach. Plushenko and Yagudin had a very big rivalry that ended in 2002, when Yagudin won the Olympic Gold and Plushenko won the silver.
Between the 2002 Olympics and the 2006 Olympics, Plushenko only lost a competition twice. The first time was to Emanuel Sandhu at the 2003-2004 Grand Prix Final. The second was to Brian Joubert at the 2004 European Championships. Plushenko came close to losing the 2003 World Championships to American Timothy Goebel, but won.
Plushenko withdrew from the 2005 World Championships with injury. But he won the 2006 Olympics with a very big lead over everyone else there.
Plushenko took the 2006-2007 season away from skating. He was married and had a child, but he is now getting a divorce. He is trying to come back to competitive skating, but still has a lot of injuries.
Plushenko is known for his consistency and his strong jumping ability. He has done a lot of quadruple jumps in competition and in combination with other jumps. He was the first to do a lot of quadruple-jump combinations. He has also done the Biellmann spin in competition, although he has not done that recently.
The bald eagle ("Latin name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus") is a bird of prey that lives in North America. It is the national bird of the United States of America. The bald eagle is a kind of sea eagle. It can be found in most of Canada, all of the United States, and the northern part of Mexico. It lives near big areas of water, where there are trees to nest in and there is a lot of food to eat. It is called "bald" because of its white head and neck. (There is more information on the bald eagle's name in the section below called "Name.")
The species almost died in the United States (while its numbers were growing in Alaska and Canada) late in the 20th century. Now it has a more stable population.
The bald eagle is a large bird. It is usually as tall as and its wingspan is . Female eagles are about 25 percent larger than males. Adult females weigh , while males weigh . The adult bald eagle has a brown body, and its head and tail are white. It also has yellow feet with large talons, and a hooked yellow beak. The males and the females' wings have the same colors.
Before bald eagles become adults, their wings are brown. Their wings are usually speckled with white dots until the fifth year.
The size of the bird depends on where it lives. The smallest birds are in Florida, where an adult male is only about . The largest Bald Eagles are in Alaska, where large females may be as much as .
The bald eagle is closely related to a species called the golden eagle. The bald eagle is physically and mentally different from the golden eagle. The bald eagle has a bigger head and a bigger beak, and its legs do not have feathers.
When bald eagles "call," (make sounds), they chirp weakly and whistle. The young birds whistle more shrilly than adults.
Bald eagles usually live for around 20 years if they live in nature. The oldest ones sometimes live for 30 years. When bald eagles live in captivity, such as in zoos, they can live much longer.
This sea eagle gets both its common and scientific names from its head. "Bald" in the English name is from the word "piebald", which means, "one with a white head". The scientific name is from "Haliaeetus", which is Latin for "sea eagle".
The bald eagle was one of the many species written in Carolus Linnaeus's 18th century book "Systema Naturae". Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist who made the binomial nomenclature system.
There are two main subspecies of the bald eagle:
The bald eagle's natural home is in most of North America, including most of Canada, all of the United States, and northern Mexico.
The most bald eagles live near seas, rivers, large lakes, oceans, and other large places with open water and a lot of fish.
Bald eagles need old trees with hard wood to live, sleep, and make nests. They like trees that have holes and are safe from predators. However, the height or kind of tree is not as important as its distance from a body of water. Bald eagles need to live near water.
The bald eagle does not like to be near humans. It is are found mostly in places where there are no humans, or very few of them. However, a few bald eagles live in places with trees inside of big cities. They may live in city parks. Bald eagles live in a city in Oregon. A family of bald eagles recently moved into Harlem, which is a place in the middle of New York city.
The bald eagle flies very fast. It can move at speeds of 56–70 kilometers per hour (35–43 mph) when gliding or flapping its wings. However, when it is carrying fish, it flies about . Its dive speed is , though it does not dive a lot. The bald eagle is usually migratory, which means that it travels (migrates) between homes which are very far away from each other. In some places, bald eagles are not migratory. If a bald eagle's territory has water near by, it will remain there all year. But if the water where it lives freezes in the winter, it must migrate to the south or to the coast to find something to eat.
The bald eagle eats mostly fish. In the Pacific Northwest, spawning trout and salmon are the main food of the Bald Eagle.
Sometimes, eagles may eat a lot of carrion, especially in winter. They will also scavenge dead bodies up to the size of whales. However, eagles eat more large dead fish than whales. They also sometimes eat the leftover food from campsites or garbage dumps. The mammals they eat include rabbits, hares, raccoons, muskrats, beavers, and deer fawns. Some of the birds they eat include grebes, ducks, gulls, and geese. Reptiles, amphibians and crustaceans (especially crabs) are also eaten.
To hunt fish the eagle swoops down over the water and snatches the fish out of the water with its talons. They eat by holding the fish in one claw and tearing the flesh with the other. Eagles have special things on their toes called "spiricules" that help them hold the fish more easily. Bald eagles have powerful talons. They have been seen flying with a 7 kg fawn. Sometimes, when the fish is too heavy, the eagle will be dragged into the water with it. Sometimes, eagles swim back to the shore and live, but sometimes they may drown or die because of hypothermia (a condition when one’s body gets so cold the body temperature drops below normal). Other times, bald eagles steal fish and other kinds of food away from other animals. Healthy adult bald eagles are not eaten anywhere in the wild. This makes them thought as one of the top animals of the food chain.
Bald eagles become adults when they are four or five years old. When they are old enough to mate, they usually come back to the place where they were born. It is thought that bald eagles mate for life. However, if one of the pair dies or disappears, the other will choose a new mate. A pair which can not get a chick after trying for a long time, may split up and look for new mates. When bald eagles court, they call and show their flying skills. When they do so, two mates may fly high, and then lock their talons together, and fall, parting again right before hitting the ground.
The nest of the bald eagle is larger than any other nest in North America. This is because it is used again and again, and every year more is added to the nest until it may soon become as large as deep, across and weigh 1 tonne. One nest in Florida was found to be deep, across, and to weigh . The nest is built out of branches, usually in large trees near water. If there are no trees, the bald eagle will make its nest on the ground. Eagles have between one and three eggs per year. Both the male and female take turns incubating the eggs. The other parent will hunt for food or look for more to add onto the nest. The eggs are about long.
Once easily seen on the continental United States, the bald eagle was close to becoming extinct because of the use of the pesticide DDT. The DDT destroyed an adult bird's calcium, and it would become unable to lay more healthy eggs. Female eagles laid eggs that were too weak to withstand the weight of its parents. In the early 1700s, the number of bald eagles were 300,000–500,000, but by the 1950s there were only 412 nesting pairs in the United States.
Other things that stopped bald eagles from producing well was the loss of habitat and illegal hunting of bald eagles. Also, oil and lead were other big reasons why bald eagles began to die out.
The species was first protected in the United States and Canada by the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty. The 1940 Bald Eagle Protection Act in the United States also tried to stop the killing of the bald eagle and the golden eagle. The bald eagle was an endangered species in 1967, and the penalties for people who killed the species grew more and more. Also, in 1972, DDT was banned in the United States. DDT was completely banned in Canada in 1989.
Because of all this hard work, the bald eagle's population began to rise again. It was officially taken out from the United States list of endangered species on July 12, 1995.
To keep bald eagles in captivity, the workers had to be experienced in caring for eagles. The bald eagle can live a long time in captivity if well cared for, but does not mate well, even under the best care.
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States. It appears on most of its seals, including the Seal of the President of the United States. The Continental Congress made the design for the Great Seal of the United States with a bald eagle holding thirteen arrows and an olive branch with thirteen leaves in its talons on June 20, 1782.
The bald eagle can be found on both national seals and on the back of several coins (including the quarter dollar coin until 1999). Between 1916 and 1945, the Flag of the President of the United States showed an eagle facing to its left.
There is a popular legend that Benjamin Franklin once supported the wild turkey as a symbol of the United States instead of the bald eagle. However, there is no evidence that this is true. The legend comes from the letter Franklin wrote to his daughter in 1784 from Paris. However, this letter was about the Society of the Cincinnati, and it did not say anything about the bald eagle or the wild turkey.
The Bald Eagle is a holy bird in some North American cultures. Its feathers are thought to be special. They are used very much in spiritual customs among the Native Americans. Eagles are thought as messengers between gods and humans. Eagle feathers are often used in traditional things, especially in fans. The Lakota people, for instance, give an eagle feather as a symbol of honor to a person who achieves a task. In modern times, it may be given on an event such as a graduation from college. The Pawnee people thought eagles as symbols of nature and fertility. This is because their nests are built high off the ground, and because they protect their young very bravely. The Choctaw explained that the bald eagle, who can see the sun more directly, is a symbol of peace.
During the Sun Dance, which is danced by a lot of Native American tribes, the eagle is included in many different ways. A whistle made from the wing bone of an eagle is used during the dance. Also during the dance, a medicine man may direct his fan, which is made of eagle feathers, to people who need healing. The fan is then held up toward the sky, so that the eagle may send all the sick prayers to the god.
However, Native American tribes cannot use bald or golden eagle feathers for their religious or spiritual use anymore. This is because of a law called the eagle feather law. The eagle feather law usually defends Native Americans by providing many exceptions to wildlife laws, but it presently does not yet allow Native American tribes to use them yet. This made the Native American groups angry because they insisted that it was stopping their ability to use their religion freely.
End of Days usually can mean:
"End of Days" has also been the title of a number of movies and television episodes:
Stacy London
The Kaiten (Japanese: 回天, translated ""Change the World"" or ""Reverse Destiny"") was a torpedo that was changed to become a suicide weapon, and used by the Navy of the Empire of Japan in the last months of the Second World War. It was basically a torpedo with a pilot, and it could be thrown from a submarine or a ship.
The "Kaiten" was not very effective. Out of more or less 100 attacks made with them, only two enemy ships were sunk.
A blanket is a large, usually rectangular piece of cloth, generally used on a bed over a sheet to keep the sleeping person warm. Some blankets are knitted or crocheted while others are made of two layers of cloth sewn together with stuffing in the middle. Blankets can be made with hollow fibre or feathers.
Other names for blankets are quilts, duvets, and comforters, depending on their thickness, construction and/or stuffing.
The word blanket probably came from the 14th century. A special kind of fabric called Blanket fabric was created by a Flemish weaver who lived in Bristol, England.
Blankets may also be used on the ground for a picnic or other places where people want to sit without their clothing getting dirty or wet.
Firefighters use a special fire blanket to protect household items such as chairs from water damage.
Electric blankets are heated by electricity. Blankets were traditionally made of wool because it is warm, naturally fire-retardant, and allows air to circulate well, while today synthetic fibers are frequently used. Throw blankets are smaller blankets, often in decorative colors and patterns, that can be used for extra warmth outside of bed.
Other kinds are horse blankets, used to keep horses warm, and saddle blankets, used to prevent the horse's saddle from rubbing on its skin.
Blanket terminology is also used in the printing industry. A blanket is a rubber coating over different layer of compressible material. It wraps around a cylinder and insures transfer of ink form the printed material (where the image is ink defined) to the paper. Blankets are used for offset, gravure, flexo, etc.
Crochet is a way of creating fabric from yarn or thread using a crochet hook to pull loops of yarn through other loops. It is similar to knitting, except that usually only one loop is active at one time, and that a crochet hook is used instead of knitting needles. Also, crochet can not be made by machine. Crochet uses more yarn than knitting but is faster to make by hand.
Crochet is used to make clothing, household items like tablecloths, blankets and potholders, and toys. Lace is often made by crocheting, though it can be made by knitting and weaving as well.
Crocheting is also a great craft for younger children. The stitches are easy and their small hands are able to hold the crochet hook. They are also able to see progress very quickly and that motivates them to continue. It is very easy to start again after setting the project down, which will help to keep young people involved in the craft.
The US and the UK use different names for the same crochet stitches. If you are using a pattern, make sure you know if it uses US or UK terminology so you read it correctly.
Here are the main differences.
Weaving is the interlacing of two sets of threads at right angles to each other to form cloth. Weaving is usually done on a loom.
One set of threads is called the "warp". These threads are held taut and in parallel order on the loom by "harnesses" creating a space called the "shed". The "weft" thread is wound onto "bobbins". In old-fashioned hand weaving the bobbins are held in a "shuttle", which carries the weft thread through the shed. The warp threads are moved over and under the weft threads. Modern high speed weaving does not use a shuttle.
A loom is a machine for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices.
The invention of the power loom by Edmund Cartwright was very important in the Industrial Revolution.
A scarf is a piece of fabric worn on or near the head or around the neck for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons. Neck scarves are usually knitted or crocheted, while headscarves are usually woven.
Many Muslim women wear a headscarf known as a hijab. In the Persian Gulf Region it is called a sheila.
Across the Universe (movie)
Across the Universe is a musical movie made in 2007. It is directed by Julie Taymor and written by Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement. The main characters are played by Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess. There are also other famous actors and singers who appear in the movie: Bono, who plays "Dr. Robert", Eddie Izzard as "Mr. Kite", Dana Fuchs as a musician called "Sexy Sadie", and Salma Hayek as a nurse.
The movie was released in North America on 12 October in 2007.
The story starts in the early 1960s. A young ship builder from Liverpool named Jude (played by Jim Sturgess) travels by ship to the United States in search of his American G.I. father called Wes (Played by Robert Clohessy). They have never met and his father does not know Jude exists. While looking for his father at Princeton, Jude makes friends with somebody called Max (Played by Joe Anderson), a rebellious young man from a rich background, and Max's sister Lucy (Played by Evan Rachel Wood). When Max drops out of college and moves to New York City, Jude goes with him. Max works as a taxi driver, while Jude tries to find work as an independent artist. They become roommates in a bohemian area of the city where they share an apartment with other people, including a woman called Sadie (Played by Dana Fuchs) who is their landlady and who is also trying to become singer. Other people who live in the same house include Jojo (Played by Martin Luther McCoy), a guitarist who arrives from Detroit after the death of his younger brother; and Prudence (Played by T.V. Carpio), a young lesbian who hitchhikes to New York City from Dayton, Ohio. Lucy joins them in the New York flat after her boyfriend is killed in the Vietnam War.
Lucy and Jude begin dating, as well as Sadie and Jojo, which leaves Prudence depressed. When Max is sent to Vietnam, Lucy becomes involved in an extreme anti-war group, which leads to tension with the non-political Jude. He is unhappy with the amount of time she spends with the political group, suspecting that its leader, Paco (Logan Marshall-Green), is a man who obsessively seduces and deceives women. Jude's art and his relationship with Lucy both start to break down. Meanwhile, Sadie has formed a band called Sadie and the Po Boys, with Jojo as her lead guitarist. She gains the attention of a manager (James Urbaniak) who signs her to a record label, but he wants her to drop her backing band. This leads to a break up between Sadie and Jojo, both musically and romantically.
The differences between Jude and Lucy grow. One day, Jude goes into the offices of the political group where Lucy works and is kicked out after punching Paco. This causes a fight between the couple, resulting in Lucy leaving Jude. Jude finds her at an anti-war demonstration at Columbia University during which many protesters, including Lucy, are arrested. When trying to help her, Jude is also arrested. Though Wes (Jude's Father) persuades the police not to take further action for activity at the protest, he cannot prove that Jude is his son, and Jude is sent back to England.
Max is wounded in Vietnam and is emotionally and mentally troubled by his war experience, while Lucy remains involved in her anti-war group that is becoming more and more violent. After Lucy goes to the old headquarters of her anti-war group, she discovers Paco and some of his followers making bombs. She then decides to leave the group. One of Paco's bombs explodes, destroying the building. Jude reads about the explosion in a Liverpool newspaper and is concerned that Lucy has died. He then hears from Max that she is alive, and he arranges to return to the United States properly and without breaking the law. He meets Max, who drives him to Sadie's music headquarters where a Beatles-style rooftop concert is being held by Jojo, Sadie, and their band singing an anti-war song (Don't let me down). Lucy is supposed to be there to meet Jude again, but no one can find her, and the group is forced to leave when the police arrive. But Jude manages to sneak back onto the roof and begins to sing "All you need is Love", his eyes searching the crowd for Lucy. The rest of the band sneaks back onto the roof, too and they join him with their voices and instruments. Jude smiles sadly and turns to leave the roof, but Max suddenly points as they sing, and Jude turns to see Lucy standing on the roof across the street, singing along. They smile at one another with tears in their eyes, and the screen fades out to white clouds and blue sky.
The movie's end credits show that a total of thirty-three separate Beatles songs featured in the movie, either in full or in part. All of these songs were written between 1963 and 1970 by the members of The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) and recorded by The Beatles. Thirty of them are songs that are officially credited to the songwriting partnership of Lennon-McCartney. Three are credited to George Harrison. One title ("Flying") is a 1967 song credited to all four members of the Beatles (Lennon-McCartney-Harrison-Starkey).
Thirty-one of the soundtrack's songs feature vocals. Two of them ("And I Love Her" and "A Day in the Life") are brief instrumental versions of songs that were originally written with lyrics. One song ("Flying") was originally written as an instrumental.
Twenty-five of the vocal tracks are performed by one or more of the six lead cast members. Four of the songs are sung by stars with cameo roles (Bono, Eddie Izzard, Salma Hayek and Joe Cocker). One song ("Let It Be") is sung by supporting members of the cast. One song ("Blue Jay Way") is sung by indie Texan trio The Secret Machines. In twenty-nine of the vocal tracks, the vocalists are singing on-screen. Two of the vocal tracks ("Blue Jay Way" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") are sung by off-screen vocalists.
The remaining three of the thirty-four songs are rendered instrumentally. "Flying" is performed by The Secret Machines, "And I Love Her" is heard briefly as part of the orchestral score, and "A Day in the Life" is performed on guitar by Jeff Beck in a version recorded for Sir George Martin's 1998 album "In My Life".
In addition to the thirty-four Beatles songs, the soundtrack features an original score written by Elliot Goldenthal. Goldenthal worked on Taymor's previous movies "Titus" and "Frida". (Goldenthal and director Taymor have also been partners since 1982.)
This is a listing of the thirty-four songs written by members of The Beatles that are heard on the soundtrack, in the order featured in the movie. This listing includes notation of three songs that are heard twice in the course of the movie, so there are a total of thirty-seven individual music cues.
In March 2007, the media reported a dispute over the final cut of the movie. Concerned with the length of director Julie Taymor's cut of the movie, Revolution Studios (production studio) chairman Joe Roth tested a sneak preview of a shortened version without first informing Taymor. The incident caused a quarrel between the two, later involving Sony Pictures (distributor) Amy Pascal urging Taymor to agree to the shorter version. After several months of dispute, Taymor's version was eventually reinstated as the theatrically released version.
The movie received mixed reviews from critics. As of January 6, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 52% of critics gave the movie positive reviews, based on 130 reviews. However, the movie is currently at 80% with the Rotten Tomatoes community. Metacritic reported the movie had an average score of 56 out of 100, based on 29 reviews.
The movie appeared on a few critics' top ten lists of the best movies of 2007.
Hugo Weaving
Battle of the Philippine Sea
Tour of Britain
The Tour of Britain is the name of a cycle race held in United Kingdom. The race is made up of several parts in which the racers go from place to place across parts of Great Britain. The history of the event dates back to 1951. The Tour of Britain is part of the UCI's European Tour.
The race includes teams from Scotland and Wales, as well as a Great Britain team. In recent years, no English team has been entered. Teams from outside the UK compete too, for example in 2007 Team T-Mobile will take part.
The latest version, a professional stage race, was first run in 2004.
The Tour of Britain has had different names. This is because many different companies or groups of people have provided the money needed to have the event happen ("sponsors").
The first edition of the latest version of the Tour of Britain took place over five days in early September 2004. It was organised by SweetSpot along with British Cycling. The race was sponsored by the organisers of London's 2012 Olympics bid. It was well-promoted and many well-known teams were a part of the race. Such teams included T-Mobile (Germany) and U.S. Postal Service (USA). This was partly due to it being a 2.3 category race on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar.
The 2004 route ended with a 45 mile (72 km) criterium in London, where tens of thousands of people watching saw a long break by Londoner Bradley Wiggins last until the final lap. Enrico Degano of Team Barloworld passed him on the final lap to win that stage of the race. The Colombian Mauricio Ardila, of Chocolade Jacques, won the Tour overall.
The 2005 race was run as a UCI 2.1 category in six stages starting in Glasgow on 30 August and finishing in London on 4 September:
The Tour of Britain 2006 took place from the 29 August to 3 September as a UCI category 2.1 event. Martin Pedersen and Andy Schleck of Team CSC won the overall and King of the Mountains classification, respectively. Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile Team) won the points classification and Johan Van Summeren (Davitamon-Lotto) captured the sprints classification.
The 2007 edition of the Tour of Britain stage race was run as a UCI 2.1 category in seven stages starting in London on 9 September and finishing in Glasgow on 15 September. The Tour was extended to seven days for 2007, with the extra day being used to run a stage in Somerset for the first time. Instead of finishing in London as in previous years, the 2007 race started in London and finished in Glasgow, which is using the event to boost its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Tengiz
Tengiz is a lake in Kazakhstan, Kostanay oblast near Russia. This lake has an area of about 1950 km.
Tamgaly
Union Cycliste Internationale
The Union Cycliste Internationale or "International Cycling Union" usually called the UCI is the governing body of bicycle racing in the world.
It sets out rules for bicycle design, and types of races. The UCI also issues licences to racing teams which gives them permission to compete in one of the ranks or "tours".
This is the highest grade, the 20 best teams are in the "UCI ProTour", and all of the races are in Europe.
There five Continental Circuits (one each for Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas). They are the next highest grade after the UCI ProTour. The circuits were designed by UCI to encourage cycle racing outside the European continent, where it is most popular and where the three Grand Tour stage races Vuelta Ciclista a España, Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia are run. The Grand Tours are part of the ProTour
Ashchikol
Kajbagar
Milk Marketing Board
The Milk Marketing Board was an agency of the British government.
The Board bought all of the milk in England and Wales from dairy farmers and passed it on to be processed and sold. This way small farmers always got a fair price, because no big producer could sell their milk more cheaply.
The Board was first set up in 1933. In 1933 and 1934 three other boards were set up for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland in 1955.
From 1958 until it was abolished the Milk Marketing Board sponsored (paid money for) the Tour of Britain bicycle race, which was called "The Milk Race".
History of the Milk Marketing Boards
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and museum complex. Most of the institution is in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums, zoo, and eight research centers include sites in New York City, Virginia, Panama, and elsewhere. It has over 137 million items in its collections.
A monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution is also named the "Smithsonian".
The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the "increase and diffusion" of knowledge by a bequest to the United States by the British scientist James Smithson (1765–1829), who had never visited the United States himself. In Smithson's will, he stated that should his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, die without heirs, the Smithson estate would go to the United States of America for creating an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men". After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 104,960 gold sovereigns, or USD 500,000 ($9,235,277 in 2005 U.S. dollars after inflation).
Eight years later, Congress passed an act establishing the Smithsonian Institution. It is administered and funded by the U.S. government, and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and magazine.
The Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall is known as "The Castle", because its design looks similar to a European castle.
Though the Smithsonian's first leader (called "Secretary"), Joseph Henry, wanted the Institution to be a center for scientific research, before long it became the depository for various Washington and U.S. government collections.
The voyage of the U.S. Navy went around the world between 1838 and 1842. The United States Exploring Expedition collected thousands of animal specimens, herbs, shells, minerals, tropical birds, jars of seawater and ethnographic specimens from the South Pacific. These specimens and artefacts became part of the Smithsonian collections. So did those collected by the military and civilian surveys in the American West.
In addition, there are many museums that are Smithsonian affiliates.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, was the biggest naval battle in modern history. The battle was part of World War II, and happened in the seas near the Philippines island of Leyte. It took place from 23 October to 26 October 1944, between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. The Allies started the battle to cut the way between Japan and its colonies in South East Asia. Japan took its oil for fuel from that area. The Japanese gathered all the ships they had left to fight the Allied troops. However, they failed and lost many ships and aircraft.
The battle was the last big naval fight of World War II. Without fuel, the Imperial Japanese Navy never again sailed to battle. Most of their ships returned to Japan, and were inactive for the rest of the war.
The first use of kamikaze aircraft was during this battle. A kamikaze hit the Australian flagship "HMAS Australia" on 21 October. Many other suicide attacks by the "Special Attack Force" began on 25 October, and did great damage to the Allied ships.
Ottoman dynasty
The Ottoman dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922. The dynasty began with Osman I, but it was not recognized until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan. The dynasty might have been known as Söğüt before 1383, but it was later renamed "Osmanlı" (Ottoman in English) in honor of Osman I.
The sultan was the sole ruler of the empire. The power often shifted to other officials, such as the Grand Vizier.
(a) HIH Princess Hamide Nermin Nezahat Sultana [1923 - 1998] by Adile Hanimsultan, a granddaughter of Abdülhamid II.
Grand Vizier
Grand Vizier, Sadr-ı Azam (Sadrazam) or Serdar-ı Ekrem (in Ottoman Turkish "صدر اعظم" or "وزیر اعظم"), was the greatest minister of the Sultan. The Grand Vizier had absolute power of attorney and could only be removed by the Sultan. He held the imperial seal and he could gather all other viziers to attend meetings regarding state affairs. The title is derived originally from the Persian word "Vizier" (وزير).
Year 1446 was a common year. It started on a Saturday.
List of Ottoman Grand Viziers
This is the list of Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire.
Köprülü family
The Köprülü family was an Ottoman noble family with origins from Albania. The family provided six Ottoman Grand Viziers. Several other family members became high-ranking Ottoman officers.
1281
Ashley Tisdale
Ashley Michelle Tisdale (Born: July 2,1985,West Deal, New Jersey,USA() is an American actress and singer. She is known for co-starring in the movies "High School Musical", "High School Musical 2" and "High School Musical 3". She also played candy counter girl, Maddie Fitzpatrick, on the Disney Channel television series of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody". She began singing and acting at an early age. Her first studio album was called "Headstrong". Some of her songs are "Be Good to Me", "Headstrong", "Not that Girl" and "Over It". Her newest second album is "Guilty Pleasure". The songs on it include "It's Alright It's Ok", "Hot Mess ".(song)"Hair" and "Crank it up". Her original hair color is blonde but she changed it for the series "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody". She also lends her voice to the animated series "Phineas and Ferb". She has earned up to 2.5 million dollars with the "High School Musical" movies. Ashley Tisdale worked on series "Suite Life of Zack and Cody" for three years. She also did one episode of "Suite Life On Deck".
Her sister Jennifer Tisdale is also an actress as model. Her parents are Mike Tisdale and Lisa Tisdale.
Angela Beesley Starling
Angela Beesley Starling (born on August 3, 1977) is a British web entrepreneur. She started as a volunteer editor at the English Wikipedia in February 2003. In June 2004, she was elected to the board of the Wikimedia Foundation and re-elected in July 2005.
She worked with Jimmy Wales and started Wikia with him. She was the vice-president of Wikia but left the company in 2012.
She is married to Tim Starling.
Derby (horse race)
A reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature below the water surface (less than 80 meters below low water).
The best-known reefs are the coral reefs in tropical waters. They are built by corals and calcareous algae. Artificial reefs such as shipwrecks are sometimes created to attract fish and other organisms.
Luba Goy
Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedienne, writer, and producer. She has received seven Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards. She was called the performer who had the greatest impact on culture and entertainment in 2008 by the Associated Press. They gave her their AP Entertainer of the Year award.
Fey graduated from the University of Virginia in 1992. She then moved to Chicago to take classes at the improvisational comedy group The Second City. She became a featured player there in 1994. Three years later, Fey became a writer for the sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"). She was promoted to the position of head writer in 1999. The following year, Fey was added to the cast of "SNL". During her time there, she was co-anchor of the show's "Weekend Update". After leaving "SNL" in 2006, she created her own television series called "30 Rock". The show is a situation comedy somewhat based on her experiences at "SNL". In the show, Fey plays the head writer of a fictional sketch comedy series.
In 2004, Fey made her movie debut as writer and co-star of the teen comedy "Mean Girls". In 2008, she starred in the comedy movie "Baby Mama", with Amy Poehler. In 2009, Fey won an Emmy Award for her satirical portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a guest appearance on "SNL".
Fey was born in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, a township just outside of Philadelphia. Her mother is Zenovia "Jeanne" (née Xenakes), a brokerage employee of Greek ancestry. Her father is Donald Fey, a university grant proposal-writer of German and Scottish ancestry. She has a brother, who is eight years older, named Peter.
Fey was exposed to comedy early. She recalls:
She also grew up watching "Second City Television" ("SCTV") and says Catherine O'Hara is one of her role models.
Fey attended Cardington Elementary School and Beverly Hills Middle School in Upper Darby. By middle school, she knew she was interested in comedy. She did an independent-study project on the subject in eighth grade. Fey attended Upper Darby High School. There she was an honor student, a member of the choir, drama club, and tennis team. She was also co-editor of the school's newspaper. After her graduation in 1988, Fey enrolled at the University of Virginia. She studied playwriting and acting there. She graduated in 1992 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama.
After graduating, Fey first had plans to do graduate work in drama at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. But "I just got this feeling like it wasn't going to work out ... [that] they were going to take my money and then cut me from the program." She moved to Chicago anyway, knowing about the improvisational comedy group, The Second City. She took night classes at Second City. She had a day job working at the front desk of a YMCA in Evanston to pay for her classes. Once her Second City training began, she became highly involved in the "cult of improvisation". She became, as she called it later, "like one of those athletes trying to get into the Olympics. It was all about blind focus. I was so sure that I was doing exactly what I'd been put on this earth to do, and I would have done anything to make it onto that stage. Not because of "SNL", but because I wanted to devote my life to improv. I would have been perfectly happy to stay at Second City forever."
In 1994, she joined the cast of The Second City. She performed eight shows a week, for two years. She was also in the revues "Citizen Gates" (1996) and "Paradigm Lost" (1997., She performed with Scott Adsit, Kevin Dorff, Rachel Dratch, Jenna Jolovitz, and Jim Zulevic. Improvisation became an important part of her understanding of what it means to be an actress, as she noted in an interview for "The Believer" in November 2003:
While in Chicago, Fey also made what she later called an "amateurish" try at stand-up comedy. She also performed at the ImprovOlympic theater.
While performing shows with the Second City in 1997, Fey sent several scripts to NBC's "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL"). She had been asked to send them by "SNL"'s head writer Adam McKay. McKay was a former performer at Second City. She was hired as a writer for "SNL" following a meeting with "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels. Fey moved to New York. She told "The New Yorker", "I’d had my eye on the show forever, the way other kids have their eye on Derek Jeter." At first, Fey "struggled" at "SNL". Her first sketch to air starred Chris Farley in a Sally Jessy Raphael satire. Fey went on to write a series of parodies. This included one of ABC's morning talk show "The View". She co-wrote the "Sully and Denise" sketches with Rachel Dratch, who plays one of the teens.
Fey played an extra in one of the episodes in 1998. After watching herself, she decided to diet. By dieting she lost 30 pounds. She told "The New York Times", "I was a completely normal weight. But I was here in New York City, I had money and I couldn't buy any clothes. After I lost weight, there was interest in putting me on camera." In 1999, McKay quit as head writer. Michaels asked Fey to replace McKay. She became "SNL"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s first female head writer. Fey does not make a big deal about this accomplishment because there have not been very many head writers.
In 2000, Fey began performing in sketches. She and Jimmy Fallon became co-anchors of "SNL's Weekend Update" segment. Fey admitted she did not ask to audition, but that Michaels asked her to do it. Michaels explained that there was "chemistry" (connection) between Fey and Fallon. Michaels, however, said that choosing Fey was "kind of risky" at the time. Her role in "Weekend Update" was well received by critics. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote: "...Fey delivers such blow darts – poison filled jokes written in long, precisely parsed sentences unprecedented in "Update" history – with such a bright, sunny countenance makes her all the more devilishly delightful." Dennis Miller, a former cast member of "SNL" and anchor of "Weekend Update", was pleased with Fey as one of the anchors for the segment: "...Fey might be the best "Weekend Update" anchor who ever did it. She writes the funniest jokes". Robert Bianco of "USA Today", however, commented that he was "not enamored" with the pairing.
In 2001, Fey and the writing staff won a Writers Guild of America Award for "SNL"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s 25th anniversary special. The following year at the 2002 Emmy Awards ceremony, she and the writing team won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program.
The pairing of Fey and Fallon ended in May 2004. Fallon left the show at the end of that season. He was replaced by Amy Poehler. It was the first time that two women co-anchored "Weekend Update". Fey revealed that she "hired" Poehler as her co-host for the segment. The reception to the teaming of Fey and Poehler was positive. Rachel Sklar of the "Chicago Tribune" noting that the pairing "has been a hilarious, pitch-perfect success as they play off each other with quick one-liners and deadpan delivery".
The 2005-2006 season was Fey's last. After it she left to make "30 Rock".
In 2002, Fey suggested a pilot episode for a situation comedy about a cable news network to NBC, who rejected it. The pilot was written again to focus on an "SNL" style series. It was accepted by NBC. She signed a contract with NBC in May 2003. It allowed her to remain in her "SNL" head writer position at least through the 2004–2005 television season. As part of the contract, Fey was to develop a primetime project to be produced by Broadway Video and NBC Universal. She began developing the pilot project under the working title "Untitled Tina Fey Project". The pilot, directed by Adam Bernstein, centered on the head writer of a variety show and how she managed her relationships with the show's star and its executive producer. In October 2006, the pilot aired on NBC as "30 Rock". Although the episode received generally good reviews, it finished third in its timeslot.
The network gave the series a second season, which began in October 2007. The show's third season premiered on October 30, 2008. The premiere episode set records for the highest ratings of the series. In January 2009, NBC renewed "30 Rock" for the 2009–2010 season.
In 2007, Fey received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series. The show itself won the 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. In 2008, she won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and Emmy awards all in the category for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. The following year, Fey again won the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award in the same categories. She was also nominated for an Emmy Award. In early 2010, Fey received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Lead Actress.
In September and October 2008 Fey was a guest on "SNL" to perform a series of parodies of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. On the 34th season premiere episode, aired September 13, 2008, Fey imitated Palin in a sketch, alongside Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton. Their act included Clinton making fun of Palin about her "Tina Fey glasses". The sketch quickly became NBC.com's most-watched viral video ever. It had 5.7 million views by the following Wednesday. Fey acted in the role again on the October 4 show. She also acted as Palin on the October 18 show where she was joined by the real Sarah Palin. The October 18 show had the best ratings of any "SNL" show since 1994. The following year Fey won an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her acting as Palin.
In December 2009, "Entertainment Weekly" put her impersonation on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, writing, "Fey's freakishly spot-on "SNL" impersonation of the wannabe VP (and her ability to strike a balance between comedy and cruelty) made for truly transcendent television."
In 2000, Fey worked with fellow "SNL" cast member Rachel Dratch in the Off Broadway two-woman show "Dratch & Fey" at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City. The show was well received by critics. Tim Townsend of "The Wall Street Journal" in review of "Dratch & Fey", wrote that the fun part of watching them perform was "seeing how comfortable they are with each other". He said that the show "isn't about two women being funny. [...] Dratch and Fey are just funny. Period." One of the "SNL" sketches, "Sully and Denise", originated at Second City in Chicago.
On August 13, 2007, Fey was a guest on the children's television series "Sesame Street", in the episode, "The Bookaneers". She appeared as a guest judge on the November 25, 2007 episode of the Food Network program "Iron Chef America". Fey has appeared in Disney's campaign "Year of a Million Dreams" as Tinker Bell, along with Mikhail Baryshnikov as Peter Pan and Gisele Bündchen as Wendy Darling. She has also done commercials for American Express credit card.
On February 23, 2008, Fey hosted the first episode of "SNL" after the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. For this appearance, she was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program.
In 2002, Fey appeared in the comedy "Martin & Orloff". She made her debut as writer and co-star of the 2004 teen comedy "Mean Girls". Characters and behaviors in the movie are based on Fey's high school life at Upper Darby High School. It is also based on the non-fiction book "Queen Bees and Wannabes" by Rosalind Wiseman. The cast includes other past cast members of "SNL" including Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, and Amy Poehler. The movie received favorable reviews. It was a box office success, grossing $129 million worldwide.
In a 2004 interview, Fey said that she would like to write and direct movies in which she has small parts. As of April 2006, Fey has been working on a movie script for Paramount Pictures, which will feature Sacha Baron Cohen, by the name of "Curly Oxide and Vic Thrill". It is based loosely on the true story of a Hasidic rock musician. In 2007, she was cast in the animated comedy movie "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters" as the teens' mother, a giant burrito.
Fey and former "SNL" castmate Amy Poehler starred in the 2008 comedy "Baby Mama". The movie was written and directed by Michael McCullers. The movie is about Kate (Fey), a business woman, who wants a child but, discovering she has only a million-to-one chance of getting pregnant, decides to find a surrogate: Angie (Poehler), a white-trash schemer. "Baby Mama" received mixed reviews, but many critics enjoyed Fey's performance. Todd McCarthy of "Variety" wrote: "Fey is a delight to watch throughout. Able to convey Kate's intentions and feelings through the simple looks and inflections, she never melodramatizes her situation; nor does her efficient, perfectionist side become overbearing." The movie grossed over $64 million at the box office.
Fey's projects after 2008 include her giving her voice to the character Lisa in the English language version of the Japanese animated movie "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" (titled "Ponyo" for its U.S. release). In 2009, she appeared in "The Invention of Lying", alongside Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Christopher Guest. Her next movie role was in Shawn Levy's comedy "Date Night". The movie focuses on a married couple, played by Fey and Steve Carell, who go on a date. However, the night goes wrong for the two. In addition, she has agreed to do voice work for the DreamWorks animated movie "MegaMind".