AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
"Visual Basic" is a widely understood high-level programming language, written using simple English-like words and syntax. It is an interpreted language, code can be run immediately after being written.
Having an interpreter makes it simpler to use, as there is no need for the computer to compile the code, possibly finding errors to fix, before the compiled version can be run. Once the code is working, it can be compiled into an .exe file so that it will run on all modern Windows computers, whether VB is installed or not. The language allows a beginning programmer to produce professional-looking Windows applications, as it includes drawing tools to create normal Windows forms. VB also includes advanced features - concepts and structures which allow programs to be adapted for use with the Internet. "Visual Basic" will not run on operating systems other than Windows and on machines with non-Intel compatible processors.
Though the program has received criticism for its faults, Visual Basic was a runaway commercial success since its release for version 3 in the summer of 1993. Many companies offered third party controls greatly extending its functionality.
Dim MyInput
MyInput = InputBox("How old are you?")
If Not IsNumeric(MyInput) Then
ElseIf MyInput < 0 Then
ElseIf MyInput > 100 Then
VB 1.0 was introduced in 1991. The drag and drop design for creating the user interface is derived from a prototype form generator developed by Alan Cooper and his company called "Tripod". Microsoft contracted with Cooper and his associates to develop Tripod into a programmable form system for Windows 3.0, under the code name "Ruby" (no relation to the Ruby programming language). Tripod did not include a programming language at all. Microsoft decided to combine Ruby with the Basic language to create Visual Basic. The Ruby interface generator provided the "visual" part of Visual Basic and this was combined with the "EB" Embedded BASIC engine designed for Microsoft's abandoned "Omega" database system. Ruby also provided the ability to load dynamic link libraries containing additional controls (then called "gizmos"), which later became the Visual Basic Extension (VBX) interface. Versions of Visual Basic are listed below:
Visual Basic .NET is the next series of products in Microsoft's successful "Visual Basic" range of products. It makes creating programs easier because it is possible to drag-and-drop controls into the program. It runs on the .NET Framework and features another long line of programs (see Visual Basic .NET#Editions).
This is a scripting language used in Microsoft Office and a few other programs. It is based on Visual Basic 6.0, and can change data in an office application, write it to a file, and do other actions.
All versions of the Visual Basic development environment from 1.0 to 6.0 have been retired and are now unsupported by Microsoft. The associated runtime environments are unsupported too. This is except for the Visual Basic 6 core runtime environment, which will be officially supported by Microsoft until support of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012 ends. Third party components that shipped with Visual Studio 6.0 are not included in this support statement. Some legacy Visual Basic components may still work on newer platforms. This is despite being unsupported by Microsoft and other vendors.
Development and maintenance development for Visual Basic 6 is possible on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 2003 using Visual Studio 6.0 platforms, but is unsupported. Documentation for Visual Basic 6.0, its application programming interface and tools is best covered in the last MSDN release before Visual Studio.NET 2002. Later releases of MSDN focused on .NET development and had significant parts of the Visual Basic 6.0 programming documentation removed. The Visual Basic IDE can be installed and used on Windows Vista, where it exhibits some minor incompatibilities which do not hinder normal software development and maintenance. As of August 2008, both Visual Studio 6.0 and the MSDN documentation are available for download by MSDN subscribers.
Booting is what happens when a computer starts. This happens when the power is turned on. It is called "reboot" if it happens at other times. When you boot a computer, your processor looks for instructions in system ROM (the BIOS) and executes them. They normally 'wake up' peripheral equipment and search for the boot device. The boot device either loads the operating system or gets it from someplace else.
People use the word "boot" to mean "to start a computer" or other device with electronics built in. For example, if a person wants to ask a friend to turn on a satellite phone, they would say "could you boot up the satellite phone?".
Most operating systems call the first data storage device it uses a boot device. It may also be called a bootstrap loader. This is because the computer is making itself go, as in the idiom. When we start a computer, we can often see the simple instructions the computer uses to start, then more complicated pictures or software.
The phrase "to boot" in this meaning is short for "to bootstrap". This use is part of net jargon along with similar multi-use words like Internet or web. Often the computer is just called a box, so a phrase like "to boot the box" means "to start the computer".
The term "reboot" can also be used in a different context to mean a restarting of a storyline established in previous iterations of a series of fiction.
DBS may stand for:
Tea is a drink that is popular all over the world. It is made by soaking the dried leaves or flowers of the plant "Camellia sinensis" in hot water. Tea can have other herbs, spices, or fruit flavours in it, like lemon. All teas are made from the Camellia sinensis plant.
Sometimes the word "tea" is used for other drinks that have been made by soaking fruit or herbs in hot water, like "rosehip tea" or "camomile tea". These are called "herbal teas".
There are two main types of tea: black tea and green tea.
To make black tea, workers take the leaves and spread them out on shelves where they can dry. Next they are rolled and broken into pieces and put into a room where they absorb oxygen. Chemical reactions change the taste and style of the tea. Finally the leaves are dried with hot air until they turn brown or black. Most black tea comes from Sri Lanka, Indonesia and eastern Africa. When black tea leaves are brewed in boiling water, the tea made from them looks deep dark red, so another name used for black tea, especially in China, is red tea.
Green tea is made by putting freshly picked leaves into a steamer. This keeps them green. Then they are crushed and dried in ovens. India is the biggest maker and user of green tea.
Tea is mainly grown in China, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Japan, Nepal, Australia, Argentina and Kenya.
The word "tea" can also be used as another word for an afternoon meal (mostly in the Commonwealth countries), as in "I am having tea in a short while." The word also applies to "afternoon tea", a small snack meal served sometimes, usually featuring sandwiches, cakes and tea. This small snack meal is also called "tea time".
Green tea must steep for 2–3 minutes in water at . Black tea must steep for 3–5 minutes in boiling water.
Shizuoka is Japan's top producer of tea. Japan has many kinds of tea.
The Chinese originally called it “Kia”. As far as is known it was during the course of the 6th century AD that the name evolved into "Cha". On its arrival in the West it became Té which is still the name for tea in many countries.
Interlingua is a constructed language using words that are found in most West-European languages. It was made by IALA - a group of people (the most known was Alexander Gode) who worked on it for more than 20 years, and they finished and published the first dictionary in 1951. Interlingua was created on the base of languages: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.
"Inter" is the same root word as in the words "interaction", "interface" and so on, and it means "between" or "to each other"; "lingua" means "language". They chose the name Interlingua because they wanted it to be used for people of different countries to talk to each other easily. Because Interlingua was made by people to be easy, it is easier than natural languages to learn.
, 1,500 people knew Interlingua, and Interlingua speakers say that millions can understand it (read texts in it and listen to someone talk in it) without having to learn it first.
There are two other constructed languages in the world that have more than 1000 speakers, Esperanto and Ido. Those two were made before Interlingua. Some people think Esperanto and Ido are easy to learn because they have no "exceptions" (words that break the rules) but other people think Interlingua is easier because the makers chose all the words to be easy to understand for people who know English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or Italian, plus languages like Occitan and Romanian, languages that used to be Latin, the language used in Rome a long time ago.
Actually, people who use Interlingua say that their language is actually new Latin, just simpler and "modernized" (made new).
When people say "the world" they usually mean Earth. Humans and all other known living things live in this world. Sometimes "world" means another planet.
Before people discovered that Earth is a planet, they often used "World" to mean "Universe". They still sometimes use it to mean all humans or all civilization. For example, they may say "end of the world" to mean the end of history or humanity.
Sometimes they mean a small part of Earth such as Western world, Islamic world, third world, new world, or ancient world.
Azerbaijan (; officially called the Republic of Azerbaijan) is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It is next to Russia in the north, Georgia, Armenia and the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh in the west, Iran in the south, and Caspian Sea on the east. Its capital city is Baku. Azerbaijan became independent from the Soviet Union when it ended in 1991.
Azerbaijan also includes Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an enclave, which is next to Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest.
Azerbaijan's land is in Eurasia. It is called an Eurasian country by the United Nations. Because Azerbaijan is close to Europe and its history is related to Europe, Azerbaijan is a member of a number of European groups, including the Council of Europe since 2001. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries. They have membership in 38 international organizations. On May 9, 2006 Azerbaijan was elected to membership in the newly made Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly.
More than 90% of the people are ethnic Azerbaijanis. Minorities include Russians, Georgians and other minorities. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not say there is an official religion. But, Shia Islam, is by far the largest religion in the country, followed by Sunni Islam. There are also a small number of Christians (mainly Eastern Orthodox), Jews (mainly Ashkenazi), agnostics and atheists.
The name of Azerbaijan comes from "Atropates". He was a Persian satrap under the Achaemenid Empire.
Ancient Azerbaijan was named "Caucasian Albania" and was relatively independent under Roman/Byzantine (Roman Azerbaijan) and Persian control.
After the Arab conquest in the 7th century the country has been always under Muslim influence, when its people became Muslim, until the Russian Empire entered the Caucasus region.
From 1920 to 1991, Azerbaijan was a Communist country as a member of the Soviet Union.
Since the early 19th century many Russians settled in Azerbaijan, but after the end of the Soviet Union with the independence of Azerbaijan which is back in control, most Russians and other minorities have left the country and are continuing to leave the country.
There are 106 species of mammals, 97 species of fish, 363 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians and 52 species of reptiles which have been recorded and classified in Azerbaijan. The national animal of Azerbaijan is the Karabakh horse. It is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse native to Azerbaijan. It is one of the oldest breeds, with ancestry dating to the ancient world. However today the horse is an endangered species.
Azerbaijan's flora is more than 4,500 species of higher plants. Due the unique climate in Azerbaijan, the flora is much richer in the number of species than the flora of the other countries of the South Caucasus. About 67 percent of the species growing in the whole Caucasus can be in Azerbaijan.
Many Azerbaijanis have some form of higher education, most notably in scientific and technical subjects. According to Soviet data, 100 percent of males and females (ages nine to forty-nine) were literate (able to read) in 1970. In 2009, the literacy rate in Azerbaijan was 99.5 percent.
The culture of Azerbaijan has come about as a result of many influences. Today, Western influences, including globalized consumer culture, are strong. National traditions are well kept in the country. Some of the main parts of the Azerbaijani culture are: music, literature, folk dances and art, cuisine, architecture, and movies.
Music of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that goes back nearly a thousand years. Among national musical instruments there are 14 string instruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind instruments.
Mugham, meykhana and Ashiq are some of the many musical traditions of Azerbaijan. Mugham is music with poetry and instrumental interludes. When performing Mugham, the singers have to bring their emotions into singing and music. Mugham singer Alim Qasimov is one of the five best singers of all time. Meykhana is a song with no music. It is usually done by several people. They make up the words about a particular subject. Ashiq joins poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal and instrumental music. It is as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture.
Azerbaijan was at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2008. They hosted the contest in 2012, in Baku.
There are dozens of Azerbaijani folk dances. They are performed at formal festivals. The dancers wear national clothes like the Chokha. Most dances have a very fast rhythm.
Azerbaijani architecture typically joins East and West. Many ancient treasures such as the Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the Walled City of Baku survive in modern Azerbaijan. Plans have been shown for the building of the Azerbaijan Tower. It will reportedly replace the Burj Khalifa as the tallest building in the world. The planned height is .
The movie industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in making movies. In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its freedom from the Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festival East-West was held in Baku.
The traditional food is famous for many vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Fresh herbs, including mint, cilantro (coriander), dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leeks, chives, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress, are very popular. They are often served with main dishes on the table. National dishes show the variety of the landscape. They are based on fish from the Caspian Sea, local meat (mainly mutton and beef), and the many seasonal vegetables and greens. Saffron-rice plov is the flagship food in Azerbaijan and black tea is the national beverage.
The earliest known person in Azerbaijani literature was Hasanoghlu or Pur Hasan Asfaraini. He made a divan of Persian and Turkic ghazals. Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in 14th century. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin and Haqiqi. The famed Book of Dede Korkut has two manuscripts copied in the 16th century. It is a collection of 12 stories showing the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads.
In the span of the 17th century and 18th century, Fizuli's unique types as well Ashik poetry were taken up by poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz and Shah Abbas Sani.
The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, "Akinchi" was published in 1875.
Sport in Azerbaijan is very old. Even now, both traditional and modern sports are still practiced. Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally said to be Azerbaijan's national sport. The most popular sports in Azerbaijan are football and chess. The national football team does not do well in international competitions. On March 19, 2010, Azerbaijan won the bid to host the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.
Futsal is another popular sport in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan national futsal team got fourth place in 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship.
Backgammon plays a major role in Azerbaijani culture. This game is very popular in Azerbaijan and is widely played by the local public.
Out of 9,165,000 people (July 2011), nearly 52% were urban. The remaining 48% were rural. 51% of the people were female.
About 3 million Azerbaijanis, many of them guest workers, live in Russia.
The biggest reason for death in 2005 was from respiratory diseases.
Azerbaijan is divided into 10 economic regions; 66 rayons and 77 cities. 11 cities are under the direct authority of the republic. Azerbaijan includes the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The President of Azerbaijan picks the governors of these units. The government of Nakhchivan is elected and approved by the parliament of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
"Note: The cities under the direct authority of the republic in italics".
The economy of Azerbaijan is based on industry, agriculture, and on services including tourism. The energy sector based on the large reserves of crude oil and natural gas, is the main source of economic growth in Azerbaijan today, though half of the Azerbaijani people earn their income directly or indirectly through services and a third earn their income through agriculture. The energy boom has led to massive foreign direct investment and the growth rate of the Azerbaijani economy is one of the world's highest.
After gaining independence in 1991 with the end of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan made the long and difficult change from a command economy to a market economy. The government has largely completed privatization of agricultural lands and small, medium and large state-owned companies. Azerbaijan is continuing making economic reforms, and old economic ties and structures have been slowly replaced. With independence, Azerbaijan became a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Azerbaijan's currency is the Azerbaijani manat (AZN) which is divided into 100 qəpik. It became the national currency in 1992 and replaced the old Soviet ruble. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan was created in 1992. The Central Bank serves as Azerbaijan's central bank, and is responsible for printing and distributing the national currency, the Azerbaijani manat, and to control all commercial banks.
An actor is a person who acts, or has a role (a part) in a movie, television show, play, or radio show. Actors may be professional or not. Sometimes actors only sing or dance, or sometimes they only work on radio. A woman actor is actress, but the word "actor" is used for both men and women when referring to a group. Actors are also known as ‘thespians’ because of the first known Greek actor ‘Thespis’.
The first time we know an actor worked was in 534 B.C. The changes in calendar between then and now make the year uncertain. This actor was called Thespis and he was Greek. The place where the play happened was called the "Theatre Dionysus" in Athens, and he won a competition. He was the first person to speak words as a character. This was a big change in storytelling. Before then, people sang and danced stories, but no one had been a person in the story. Today we call actors "thespians" because of Thespis.
In the past, the name "actor" was only for men. Women only began performing often in the 17th century. People called them "actresses". In the ancient world and in the Middle Ages, people thought it was bad (shameful) for a woman to act.
Today, the word "actor" is for both men and women, because some people think the name "actress" is sexism/sexist. But people also use the word "actress" very often.
Women actors sometimes act the roles of young boys, because in some ways a woman is more similar to a boy than a man is. For example, a woman usually plays the role of Peter Pan. In pantomime, a sort of play for children (not the same as mime), the most important young man is also a woman. Opera has some "pants roles" which women traditionally sing. These women are usually mezzo-sopranos, which means they sing with a voice that is high but not very high. Examples are Hansel in "", and Cherubino in "The Marriage of Figaro".
Mary Pickford played the part of "Little Lord Fauntleroy" in the first film version of the book. Linda Hunt won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in "The Year of Living Dangerously", in which she played the part of a man.
In comic theatre and film, people often use a man for a woman's part, or a woman for a man's part - this has a long history. Most of Shakespeare's comedies have examples of this. Both Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams were in popular comedy films where they played most scenes as men in women's clothes, pretending to be women.
In the time of Shakespeare, and earlier, all roles in an English play were played by men, meaning even characters such as Juliet, Lady Macbeth, and Cleopatra were first played by men or boys. After the English Restoration women were allowed to perform on-stage.
More recently, men have played female roles as a type of humor. Movies with this role reversal include "Mrs. Doubtfire", "Tootsie", "Big Momma's House", "Hairspray", and "The Nutty Professor" starring Eddie Murphy.
Voice acting is a special type of acting. It is most commonly used in animation for both television and movies. Voice actors are the people who make the voices for the characters. They may be the narrator in non-animated works.
Actors working in theatre, film, and television have to learn different skills. Skills that work well in one type of acting may not work well in another type of acting.
To act on stage, actors need to learn the stage directions that appear in the script, such as "Stage Left" and "Stage Right". These directions are based on the actor's point of view as he or she stands on the stage facing the audience. Actors also have to learn the meaning of the stage directions "Upstage" (away from the audience) and "Downstage" (towards the audience)
Theatre actors need to learn blocking, which is "...where and how an actor moves on the stage during a play."
Most scripts specify some blocking. The Director will also give instructions on blocking, such as crossing the stage or picking up and using a prop.
Theatre actors need to learn stage combat, which is simulated fighting on stage. Actors may have to simulate "hand-to-hand [fighting] or with sword[-fighting]." Actors are coached by fight directors, who help them to learn the choreographed sequence of fight actions.
D. W. Griffith first developed of acting that would "suit the cinema rather than the theater." He realized that theatrical acting did not look good on film. Griffith required his actors and actresses to go through weeks of film acting training.
Film actors have to learn to get used to and be comfortable with a camera being in front of them.
Film actors need to learn to find and stay on their "mark." This is a position on the floor marked with tape. This position is where the lights and camera focus are optimized. Film actors also need to learn how to prepare well and perform well on screen tests. Screen tests are a filmed audition of part of the script.
"Unlike the theater actor, who gets to develop a character during...a two- or three-hour performance, the film actor lacks continuity, forcing him or her to come to all the scenes (often shot in reverse order in which they'll ultimately appear) with a character already fully developed."
"Since film captures even the smallest gesture and magnifies it..., cinema demands a less flamboyant and stylized bodily performance from the actor than does the theater." "The performance of emotion is the most difficult aspect of film acting to master: ...the film actor must rely on subtle facial ticks, quivers, and tiny lifts of the eyebrow to create a believable character." Some theatre stars "...have made the theater-to-cinema transition quite successfully (Olivier, Glenn Close, and Julie Andrews, for instance), others have not..."
"On a television set, there are typically several cameras angled at the set. Actors who are new to on-screen acting can get confused about which camera to look into." TV actors need to learn to use lav mics (Lavaliere microphones). TV actors need to understand the concept of "frame." "The term frame refers to the area that the camera's lens is capturing."
Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (, ) was a Persian Muslim mathematician and astronomer. He was believed to have been born around 800 AD and died in 850 AD during the Abbasid Empire.
Al-Khwarizmi was known for the book he wrote about algebra, "Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing". He also wrote a book which taught the Western world about Hindu numerals and how to use them. This book was later titled the "Hindu Art of Reckoning". With his books, al-Khwarizmi authored astronomical tables- tables designed to calculate the position of planets or eclipses.
His work changed the understanding and knowledge of mathematics in the Middle Ages and mathematicians in Europe read his book. They began to use these Hindu–Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ...) instead of the Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, ...). The Arabic numeral system is easier to do mathematics with, as Roman numbers have no place values. This means that they can only deal with whole numbers and do simple equations. Roman numerals also have no number zero.
He wrote a book on algebra named "Al-Jabr Wal' Muqibla". In this book, he introduced his own number system and also introduced Arabic numerals. His books were translated into Greek and Latin. They named his books "So said Algorizmi". The word "algorithm" is derived from the word Algorizmi. The word algebra comes from the word al-jabr that is at the beginning of the title of the book.
Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi worked at the House of Wisdom, where people worked on translating scientific works.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy ( ; ; – ) was a Greek who probably lived and worked in Alexandria, Egypt. He is famous for his work on astronomy and geography. Very little is known about his personal life.
He was an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer. He described in his writing the Greek geocentric view of the universe. Earlier Greek philosophers changed the old assumption of a flat Earth below a "vault of the heavens". They substituted a spherical Earth surrounded by a Celestial sphere. Ptolemy built these two spheres into a system of nested spheres. He also thought out and described the apparent motions of the planets as they were known in his time.
Ptolemy explained and extended Hipparchus's system of epicycles and eccentric circles to explain the Earth-centered theory of the world. Ptolemy's system involved at least 80 epicycles to explain the motions of the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets known in his time. He believed the planets and sun moved around the Earth in this order: Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
This system became known as the "Ptolemaic system". It predicts the positions of the planets well enough for naked-eye observations, so it seemed accurate at the time. This is described in his book "Mathematical Syntaxis" (widely called the "Almagest"), a thirteen-book mathematical treatment of the phenomena of astronomy. It contains a wide variety of information ranging from earth conceptions to sun, moon, and star movement as well as eclipses and an explanation of the length of months. The "Almagest" also included a star catalog containing 48 constellations, using the names we still use today.
In addition to his well-known works in astronomy, Claudius Ptolemy was important in the history of geography and cartography (making maps). He was influential up to the 16th century. Then his ideas were disproved by Nicolaus Copernicus. Ptolemy knew that the Earth is a sphere. Ptolemy's is the first known projection of the sphere onto a plane. His "Geography" remained the main work on the subject until the time of Christopher Columbus. But he had Asia extending much too far east, which may have been a factor in Columbus's decision to try to reach India by sailing west from Europe.
The Ptolemaic explanation of the motions of the planets was the accepted wisdom until the Polish scholar Copernicus proposed a sun-centered (heliocentric) view in 1543. Though the heliocentric idea is correct, its predictions were not better than Ptolemy's until Kepler's Laws were added.
Ptolemy may not actually have believed in the reality of his system. He may have thought of it only as a method of calculating positions.
Moctezuma II
Moctezuma II, also known as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (1466-1520) and often called Montezuma in English, was the Aztec emperor ("tlahtoani") from 1502 to 1520. His name comes from the Nahuatl "Motecuhzoma", it means "he who is leader because of his fury". In Spanish, he is called Moctezuma.
When Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexico in 1519, Moctezuma thought he was the god Quetzalcoatl, and did not want to fight against him. Cortés took Moctezuma prisoner. When the Aztecs wanted Cortés to get out of their capital Tenochtitlan in 1520, Cortes told Moctezuma to calm down his people. When doing that he died. The Spaniards said he was killed by the Aztecs, while the Aztecs said Cortés killed him. The Spanish said that the Aztec people threw rocks at him, killing him. The Aztecs said that they found his body in the streets with a lot of cuts made with a sword after the Spanish left.
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna Pérez de Lebrón (February 21, 1794 - June 21, 1876) was a Mexican general and dictator. Under his rule of Mexico, it lost half its territory. Santa Anna was president 11 times. He fought two wars against the United States. In the war against Texas (1835-1836), he won the famous Battle of the Alamo, but later he lost the Battle of San Jacinto and was taken prisoner by the Americans. He also lost the Mexican- American War with the United States (1846-1848),
Granzyme
A Granzyme is an enzyme contained within cytotoxic T cells and natural killer cells. These substances are used to destroy virus-infected cells.
Granzyme secretion can be detected and measured using the ELISPOT and ELISA techniques.
Apartheid was a political and social system in South Africa during the era of White minority rule. It enforced racial discrimination against non-Whites, mainly focused on skin colour and facial features. This existed in the twentieth century, from 1948 until the early-1990s. The word "apartheid" means "distantiation” in the Afrikaans language. Racial segregation had existed in Southern Africa for centuries. In the elections of 1948 the National Party took power and in the next few years made new apartheid laws. The new laws more strictly enforced segregation. In theory, it was to bring independence to the African majority in their own little countries to be created from South African territory.
Under this system, the people of South Africa were divided by their race and the different races were forced to live separately from each other. There were laws in place to ensure that segregation was abided by. The apartheid system in South Africa was abolished in 1994, when a new constitution was ratified which abolished the previous system of segregation. The last President who held office during the apartheid era was Frederik Willem de Klerk; who was responsible for holding negotiations with political prisoner Nelson Mandela to bring an end to apartheid. Following these successful negotiations, Nelson Mandela was elected to the Presidency of South Africa after multi-racial elections were held in April 1994, and became the first black person to hold the position. He was 75 years old The pair were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. Today, the term apartheid is sometimes used for similar segregational systems in other countries.
During apartheid, people were divided into four racial groups and separated by law. The system was used to deny many basic rights to non-White people, mainly Black people who lived in South Africa. The law allowed white people to be in certain areas. Black people had to carry special passes or have permission to travel outside their designated area, or work in particular areas reserved for Whites. The government separated mixed communities and forcibly moved many black people off their land (From 1960 to 1983 the Bantustan Policy was enforced to forcibly move South African blacks out of the areas designated for 'whites'). Many other laws were made, for example: interracial marriage was outlawed; Black people could not own land in White areas or vote.
The United Nations did not agree with the South African government's apartheid policies. There were protests in South Africa, like in Sharpeville in 1960 and in Soweto in 1976. After the Sharpeville Massacre, the UN tried to remove South Africa in 1974. France, the United States, and the UK prevented that from happening. The Soweto Uprisings started because Africans were forced to study some subjects at school in Afrikaans. Many Black people did not like Afrikaans because it was the language of the apartheid government and the language of their oppressors.
In 1989, F. W. de Klerk became President of South Africa. He wanted to reform the system. In a speech in 1990, de Klerk said the ban on the African National Congress was lifted. He also ruled that Nelson Mandela would be released from prison.
In 1991, the UN created the "National Peace Accord". The purpose of the Peace Accord was "to bring an end to political violence" in South Africa. It was agreed on by 27 organisations and governments. After this the "Convention for a Democratic South Africa" (CODESA) was formed. CODESA worked to find a solution to the violence.
The first multiracial election in which all races could vote, was held on 27 April 1994. Nelson Mandela was elected President, with De Klerk and Thabo Mbeki as deputies. This date considered the end of apartheid. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created to help victims speak out and seek justice. It was chaired by Desmond Tutu in the 1990s.
Although Black South Africans were granted equal rights by law after a long fought campaign, there is still huge economic inequality between Blacks and Whites. In 2012, South Africa held its first census in over ten years. It found that the average Black family earned one-sixth (about 17%) of what the average White family earned. "These figures tell us that at the bottom of the rung is the black majority who continue to be confronted by deep poverty unemployment and inequality,” President Jacob Zuma said when the findings were released. Nelson Mandela spent the majority of his life fighting against apartheid laws, and without his activism; many of the changes would never have happened.
The goal of apartheid was to separate the people of South Africa into small independent nations. The black ones were called Bantustans. South Africa said they were independent countries and exchanged ambassadors but other countries did not. The National Party government did not want to spend a lot of money on this project. They also wanted to keep the majority of South Africa's land for white people, especially the richest places, like the gold mines of Johannesburg. They wanted black men to work in these mines for little money but their families had to live far away or face imprisonment.
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus Affair was one of the biggest scandals in the history of France. It happened at the end of the 19th century. It was about Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army.
In 1894, Dreyfus was accused of being a spy, and accused of crimes against France. People thought he wrote letters to the Germans telling them about secrets of the French army.
His punishment was to be sent to a prison island in South America for the rest of his life.
When he was in prison, people (mostly his brother Mathieu and a high-ranking officer called Picquart) thought he was innocent. They proved that another soldier, Major Esterhazy, was guilty. But the army did not want to admit that it had been wrong. They refused to free him. Finally, the evidence that Dreyfus was innocent became so strong that the government had to demand a new trial. At the new trial, the army again found him guilty. The President of France, who did not want an innocent man to suffer any more, pardoned Dreyfus in 1899.
Dreyfus was released. Seven years later, he was officially declared innocent, and allowed back into the army.
The affair divided France into people who thought Dreyfus really was a spy and people who thought he was innocent. Many of those who thought Dreyfus was a spy hated Jews and believed that he was a criminal because he was a Jew, and that a Jew could not be a good Frenchman; this belief is called anti-Semitism. Others thought that the army could not be questioned. The other side believed that an innocent man should not be imprisoned, and feared that Dreyfus's enemies were also enemies of France.
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played on a field by two teams versus each other. In baseball, a player on one team throws a small round ball at a player on the other team, who tries to hit it with a bat. Then the player who hits the ball has to run around the field. Players get points by running around in a full circle around three points on the ground called bases, to back where they started, which is called home plate. They have to do this without getting caught by the players on the other team.
Baseball started in the United States in the 1700s and 1800s, The game was made by Abner Doubleday. Many people in North America, South America, and East Asia play baseball, but the sport is most known in the United States and Japan. In the U.S., baseball is called the "national pastime", because so many people in the United States used to spend a lot of time playing or watching baseball games. Today, though, most Americans follow football more than baseball, especially when it comes time for the Super Bowl.
A game of baseball is played by two teams on a baseball field. Each team has 9 players. There are also 4 umpires. There is one for where young players play. Umpires watch everything carefully to decide what happened, make calls about a play, and make sure everyone follows the rules.
On a baseball field, there are four bases. The bases form a diamond that goes around the field to the right from the starting base. The starting base is called "home plate". Home plate is a pentagon, which is a shape that has five sides. First base is on the right side of the field, second base is at the top of the infield, third base is on the left side of the field, and home plate is at the back of the field, where the catcher plays.
The game is played in "innings". Professional baseball games have 9 innings. In an inning, each team has one turn to bat and try to score "runs", adding one point. When one team hits the ball, the other team defends and tries to get three players on the other team "out". The team that is playing defense always has the ball. This is different from other team sports. When the team on defense gets three players out, it is their turn to try and score runs. Then the team that was batting starts playing defense, and the team that was playing defense starts batting. After nine innings, the team that has the most runs is the winner. If the teams have the same number of runs, they play more innings until one team wins. At the start of the game, the home team pitches, while players on the visiting team bat. Only one player can bat at a time.
The baseball field, or "diamond", has two main parts, the infield and the outfield. The "infield" is where the four bases are. The "outfield" is beyond the bases, from the view of home plate. The lines from home plate to first base and home plate to third base are the "foul lines", and the ground outside of these lines is called "foul territory". A ball that is hit with a bat and flies between the foul lines is a "fair ball", and the batter and runners can try and run around the bases and score. A ball that is outside the foul lines is a "foul ball". If the ball hits the ground in the foul area rather than being caught in the air, the batter continues to bat, and any runners must return to the base that they were on before the ball was hit. If the batter has fewer than two strikes, a foul ball counts as a strike. If the batter already has two strikes, and the foul ball is not caught in the air, then the batter continues to hit. If a ball is caught by a fielder in fair or foul ground, the batter is out.
The most important part of the game is between the "pitcher" and the "batter". The pitcher throws, or "pitches", the ball towards home plate. The pitcher normally throws the ball close enough for the batter to hit it. If the pitcher throws the ball in the strike zone, which is the area over home plate and between the hitter's knee and chest, the pitch is a "strike", unless the batter hits the ball. The pitch is always a strike, regardless of where it is, if the batter swings the bat and misses, so the batter must have good aim with the bat. Three strikes are a "strikeout", and this is one way to make an "out". A pitch that the batter does not swing at, and which is not called a strike, is a "ball." On the fourth "ball" thrown by a pitcher, the batter "walks" to first base, so it is important to pitch well.
The "catcher" for the pitcher's team waits behind the batter, and catches any ball that the batter does not hit. The catcher uses signals to tell the pitcher where to throw the ball. If the pitcher does not like what the catcher says, he will shake his head, which signals "no". If he agrees with what the catcher has signaled, he will nod his head, which signals "yes".
There are many ways to get batters out, and runners can also be gotten out. Some common ways to get batters out are catching a batted ball in the air, whether in fair or foul territory, throwing the ball to the defensive player at first base (an out if it gets there before the batter), and a strikeout. A runner can be put out by tagging the runner while the runner is not on a base, and by "forcing him out" (when a base is touched before a player can get there, with no base for the runner to go back to). When the fielding team has put out three of the batting team's players, the "half-inning" is over and the team in the field and the team at bat switch places.
The batting team wants to get runs. In order to get a run, a player must bat, then become a base runner, touch all the bases in order, and then touch home plate without being called out. So first, the batter wants to make other players get to home plate, or to run the bases himself. Runners can not pass each other while running the bases.
A base runner who touches home plate after touching all previous bases in order, and without getting out, scores a "run". If the batter hits the ball over the fence (between the foul lines) without touching the ground, it is a home run. The batter, and any base-runners, are allowed to advance to the home plate and score a run. The fielding team can do nothing to stop them.
The team on the field tries not to let the team who's batting get any runs. The fielding team has a pitcher and a catcher. The remaining seven fielders can stand anywhere in the field. However, there are usually four people that stand around the infield close to the bases and three "outfielders" who stand around the outfield.
The four infielders are the "first baseman", "second baseman", "shortstop", and "third baseman". The first baseman and third baseman stand close to first base and third base. The second baseman and the shortstop stand on either side of second base.
The first baseman's job is to make "force plays" at first base. In a force play, another infielder catches a ball that has touched the ground, and throws it to the first baseman. The first baseman must then touch the batter or the base with the ball before the batter can touch first base. Then the batter is out. First basemen need to have quick feet, stretch well, be quick and know how to catch wild throws. First base is one of the most important positions as a significant number of plays happen there.
The second baseman's job is to cover the area to the right of second base and to back the first baseman up. The shortstop's job is to cover the area between second and third bases. This is where right-handed batters usually hit ground balls. The shortstop also covers second or third base and the near part of left field. The shortstop is usually the best fielder on the team. The third baseman needs to have a strong throwing arm. This is because many times the batter will hit a ball toward third base. The third baseman must throw the ball very quickly to the first baseman, to get the runner out. Because the balls that go to third base are usually hit very hard, the third baseman must also be very quick.
The three outfielders are called the "left fielder", the "center fielder", and the "right fielder", because they stand in left field, center field and right field. Left field and right field are on the left and right sides, if you look out from home plate. Center field is straight ahead from home plate. Center field is very big, so the center fielder is usually the fastest.
The team can decide where to put the infielders and outfielders. Players often stand at slightly different places on the field between some plays. These changes are called "shifts". The fielders may shift at any time. Players can shift for many reasons. One of the more popular ones is the "defensive shift", where players move in the infield. They do this because they know that some batters can only hit a ball a certain direction. It can also be easier to make a double play when fielders are moved a certain way.
Teams can change pitchers during a game. Teams change their pitchers often because it is hard for a pitcher to throw a full game of nine innings. A pitcher can sometimes throw a no-hitter where no one on the opposite team gets an earned hit. A team can use as many pitchers as it wants to, but it is rare to use more than eight in a game. The ways that a pitcher throws the ball are called "pitches". Many professional pitchers use two or more different pitches. Pitchers change which pitch they throw so that the batter will be tricked and not know what pitch to expect. This makes it more difficult for the batter to hit the ball. Pitchers can make the ball move differently: faster or slower, closer or farther from the batter, higher or lower. There are also many types of pitches, such as the slurve, curve, slider, splitter, sinker, screw, 2-seam cut, 2-seam screw, knuckle, knuckle curve, change-up, circle change-up, palm ball, and others.
When throwing the ball, the pitcher must touch the pitchers mound with his foot. The pitcher's rubber is on top of the mound. The pitcher cannot take more than one step forward when he throws the ball. That makes the pitcher throw the ball slower. Many major-league pitchers can throw the ball up to 100 miles per hour (145 km/h). Throwing a baseball that fast can be bad for the body. Pitchers can end up with a lot of injuries. Doctors often will perform Tommy John surgery on a pitcher with an elbow injury. The operation is named after Tommy John, the first pitcher to have the surgery. Today, pitchers are able to recover from their injuries much more often than before Tommy John surgery.