AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
A katana is a Japanese long sword used by samurai warriors. It is the most important sword of the three swords worn by samurai: katana, wakizashi, and tanto. The katana was popular from 1400 A.D. until 1876, when the samurai were abolished as a social class.
In Japanese, "katana" means a "long sword" and it represents a blade, which is a little curved, with a single edge and a very sharp point.
There are several types of katanas:
A traditional katana is made of a type of high carbon steel called tamahagane, which is made by smelting a type of Japanese iron ore, called iron sand, in a large furnace called a tatara.
This steel is sent to a smith who breaks it down to small pieces and layers the steel according to carbon content, they smelt this in their forge and repeatedly fold the steel in order to homogenise it. The most important part of the forging is the tempering, when the sword is quench-hardened. In ancient times it was said that the soul of the sword was put into the katana at this point. The sword is sometimes given a rough polish by the smith and then sent to a professional polisher for polishing (usually to a mirror finish). After polishing, the sword to be fitted.
Today katanas are mainly made of carbon steel of different quality. But there are some swords made of zinc and aluminum alloys, which are able to resist some external forces and are only used for decoration or non-tameshigiri practice. To determine the quality of a katana it is enough to check its "resistance" (how much it bends when it is hit), "elasticity" (the ability of katana to return to its original shape), and the "endurance" of the blade after striking (how long it lasts).
Generally, katana is designed for cutting, but it was widely used for stabbing too. This depended mainly on the length of the tang (the handle). The katana could be easily used for cutting if it was made for using with both hands. It was used for stabbing when the katana was made for using with one hand.
As a rule, katana was worn under the belt on the left side of a right-handed man. The sword was in its sheath or scabbard (the cover), with its blade facing up. That way the sword could be drawn and cut the opponent in one movement. Alternatively, the scabbard might be held freely in the left hand: in action the sword would be drawn and the scabbard thrown down. This allows for free movement in battle.
To pull the katana a few inches out of its scabbard was an aggressive move signalling willingness to fight.
The Katana was very important in Japanese society. This sword was thought to be the "soul" of its master. Only a samurai was allowed to have a katana. A simple man with a katana sword could be killed at once.
There was a tradition of wearing, taking care and taking the katana out of its scabbard. Samurai kept their katana on a special stand for swords, called katana-kake. This stand was used for both katana and wakizashi. The blade had to have its point up, just as when wearing the sword; the handle (called the tang) had to be turned to the let. This made katana available for handling any time it was needed.
The art of handling a katana was developed in martial arts like "kenjutsu" and "iaijutsu". Today, this art is practiced in "iaido" and "kendo" martial arts. The last one is the art of dueling with bamboo or wooden sword. Old schools of handling katana swords still exist. The most famous are: "Kashima Shin-ryu, Kashima Shinto-ryu, Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto-ryu".
The most appreciated technique of handling a katana is a school called "Nitto Ryu". This school taught how to use both a katana and a wakizashi during a fight. The most famous samurai who improved this art was "Miyamoto Musashi".
Lindisfarne (often called Holy Island), is a tidal island off the north-east coast of England. It is connected to the mainland of Northumberland by a causeway and is cut off twice a day by tides – something well described by Sir Walter Scott:
According to the 2001 census it had a usual population of 162.
Large parts of the island, and all of the adjacent inter-tidal area, are protected as Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve to help safeguard the internationally important wintering bird populations.
Grey seals are frequent visitors to the rocky bays at high tide.
The monastery of Lindisfarne was founded by Irish-born Saint Aidan. He was brought from Iona off the west coast of Scotland to Northumbria around AD 635 by King Oswald of Northumbria. It became the base for Christian evangelising in the North of England and also sent a successful mission to Mercia. Monks from the community of Iona settled on the island.
Northumberland's patron saint, Saint Cuthbert, was a monk and later Abbot of the monastery, and his miracles and life are recorded by the Venerable Bede. Cuthbert later became Bishop of Lindisfarne.
In the early 700s the famous illuminated manuscript known as the Lindisfarne Gospels (an illustrated Latin copy of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) was made, probably at Lindisfarne.
Later, a monk named Aldred added an Anglo-Saxon translation to the Latin text. This made (late 10th century) the earliest surviving Old English copies of the Gospels.
In 793 a Viking raid on Lindisfarne scared many people throughout the Christian West. The year 793 is often called the beginning of the age of Viking raids. A very famous passage in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reads:
"In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th of the same year, the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God's church at Lindesfarne."
Eventually the monks fled the island. They took with them the body of St Cuthbert, which is now buried at Durham Cathedral. The priory was re-established in Norman times as a Benedictine house and continued until its dissolution in 1536 under Henry VIII. It is now a ruin in the care of English Heritage, who also run a museum/visitor centre nearby. The neighbouring parish church (see below) is still in use.
Lindisfarne also has the small castle, based on a Tudor fort and open to visitors.
J.M.W. Turner, Thomas Girtin and Charles Rennie Mackintosh all painted on Holy Island.
Peter Lorre
Peter Lorre (born was Ladislav (László) Löwenstein, June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian-American actor. He did many film noir movies from 1940s to 1950s.
Lorre's family was Jewish. Lorre was born in Rózsahegy (Rosenberg) in a country called Austria-Hungary. Now the place where he was born is in the country Slovakia. He began acting in theaters in Vienna, Breslau, and Zürich. In the 1920s, he moved to Berlin to work as an actor. In 1931, the movie director Fritz Lang chose Lorre to act in a movie about a serial killer who kills children called "M". Lorre got married three times: Celia Lovsky (1934 - 13 March 1945, divorced); Kaaren Verne (25 May 1945 - 1950, divorced) and Annemarie Brenning (21 July 1953 - 23 March 1964, his death). He had his only child with Brenning, a daughter named Catharine (1953-1985).
When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, Lorre had to leave Germany. Lorre went to England to be safe from the Nazis. Lorre got work as an actor in a movie by Alfred Hitchcock called "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Lorre only knew a little English. At first, it was hard for him to act in English movies.
In the 1940s, Lorre moved to Hollywood, California (USA). Hollywood is a town where many movies are made. Lorre acted in many movies, playing foreign characters. Lorre played the role of Joel Cairo in the movie "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) and played the role of "Ugarte" in the movie "Casablanca" (1942). Lorre played the character of Dr. Einstein in the movie" Arsenic and Old Lace" (1944).
The history of Tamil Nadu goes back to the early stone age. The region of Tamil Nadu (now one of the states in the south of the Republic of India) has been under continuous human habitation since prehistoric times.
The civilisation of the Tamil people is among the oldest in the world and has been influenced by, influenced, and coexisted with many external cultures.
The three Tamil dynasties of Chera, Chola and Pandya were all of ancient origins. Together they ruled over Tamil Nadu with a unique culture and language, contributing to the growth of "Sangam Literature", some of the oldest literature in the world.
They had extensive oversee trade contacts with the Roman and Greek empires later on. These three dynasties were in constant struggle with each other as they wanted hegemony over the land.
Invasion by the Kalabhras during the third century disturbed the tradition, and order of the land by displacing the three traditional ruling dynasties. These occupiers were overthrown by the Pandyas and the Pallavas, who restored the kingdoms. The Cholas, who came back from obscurity in the ninth century by defeating the Pallavas and the Pandyas, rose to become a great power and extended their empire over the entire southern peninsula. At its height the Chola empire had spread from Bengal in the northeast to Sri Lanka in the south. The Chola navy held sway over the Sri Vijaya kingdom in Southeast Asia.
Rapid changes in the political situation of the rest of India occurred due to the incursions of Muslim armies from the northwest marked a turning point in the history of Tamil Nadu. With the decline of the three ancient dynasties during the fourteenth century, the Tamil country became part of the Vijayanagara Empire. Under this empire the Telugu speaking Nayak governors ruled the Tamil land. The brief appearance of the Marathas gave way to the European trading companies, who began to appear during the seventeenth century and eventually assumed greater sway over the indigenous rulers of the land. The Madras Presidency comprising of most of southern India including what is now Tamil Nadu, was created in the eighteenth century and was ruled directly by the British East India Company. After the independence of India by Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, the Tamil Nadu state was created based on linguistic boundaries, due to a Telugu man who wished the Telugu speaking land bordering Tamil Nadu to become its own state, which it did, Andra Pradesh was born. This caused a chain reaction because the other languages also wanted their own states. This led to state boundaries because of linguistic reasons, and gave birth to many other linguisticly devised states, including Tamil Nadu.
Although there is very little concrete historical evidence that has been found so far for the period prior to 600 BCE, the history of the Tamil people probably predates this period. Various legends became prevalent after the 5th century BCE regarding the antiquity of the Tamil people. According to "Iraiyanar Agapporul", a 3rd/5th century CE annotation on the Sangam literature, the Tamil country extended southwards beyond the natural boundaries of the Indian peninsula comprising of 49 ancient "nadus" (divisions). The land was supposed to have been destroyed by a deluge. The Sangam legends also added to the antiquity of the Tamil people by claiming tens of thousands of years of continuous literary activity during three "Sangams". However, there have been no direct archaeological finds supporting these legends.
The prehistoric period during which the Palaeolithic civilisations existed in the Tamil Nadu region has been estimated to span the period from about 50,000 BCE until around 3000 BCE. For most part of the lower Palaeolithic stage, humans lived close to river valleys with sparse forest cover or in grassland environments. The population density was very low and so far only two localities of this lower Palaeolithic culture have been found in south India. One of these is in Attirampakkam valley in the northwest of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. Archaeological research has uncovered evidence of fossil remains of animals and primitive stone implements around the northern Tamil Nadu that could be dated to belong to around 300,000 BCE. Humans in South India, belonging to the species of "Homo erectus", lived in this primitive 'old stone age' (Palaeolithic) for quite a long time, using only crude implements such as hand axes and choppers and subsisting on food he hunted and gathered instead of actively growing it according to his needs.
The ancestor of modern humans ("Homo sapiens sapiens") who appeared around 50,000 years ago was more developed and could fabricate thinner flake tools and blade-like tools using a variety of stones. From about 10,000 years ago, humans made still smaller tools called Microlithic tools. The material used by the early humans to make these tools were jasper, agate, flint, quartz, etc. In 1949, researchers found such microliths in Tirunelveli district.
In Tamil Nadu, the Neolithic period had its advent around 2500 BCE. Humans of the Neolithic period made their stone tools in finer shapes by grinding and polishing. The Neolithic humans lived mostly on small flat hills or on the foothills in small, more or less permanent settlements but for periodical migration for grazing purposes. They gave the dead proper burials within urns or pits. They were also starting to use copper for making certain tools or weapons.
Humans started using iron for making tools and weapons. The Iron Age culture in peninsular India is marked by Megalithic burial sites, which are found in several hundreds of places.
Ancient Tamil Nadu contained three monarchical states, headed by kings called "Ventar" and several tribal chieftaincies, headed by the chiefs called by the general denomination "Vel" or "Velir". During the third century BCE, the Deccan was part of the Mauryan kingdom, and from the middle of the first century BCE to second century CE the same area was ruled by the Satavahana dynasty. The Tamil area had an independent existence outside the control of these northern empires.
The names of the three dynasties, Cholas, Pandyas, and Keralaputras or Cheras are mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka (inscribed 273–232 BCE) inscriptions, where they are mentioned among the kingdoms, which though not subject to Ashoka, were on friendly terms with him.
Karikala Chola was the most famous early Chola. He is mentioned in a number of poems in the Sangam poetry.
Pandyas ruled initially from Korkai, a sea port on the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai. Pandyas are also mentioned in Sangam Literature, as well as by Greek and Roman sources during this period. The early Pandyas went into obscurity at the end of the third century CE during the incursion of the Kalabhras.
The kingdom of the Cheras comprised of the modern state of Kerala, along the western or Malabar Coast of southern India. Their proximity to the sea favoured trade with Africa.
Internal and external trade was well organised and active.
After the close of the Sangam era, from about 300 to about 600 CE, there is an almost total lack of information regarding occurrences in the Tamil land. Some time about 300 CE, the whole region was upset by the appearance of the Kalabhras. These people are described in later literature as 'evil rulers' who overthrew the established Tamil kings and got a strangle hold of the country. They did not leave many artefacts or monuments. The only source of information on them is the scattered mentions in Buddhist and Jain literature.
Jainism and Buddhism, took deep roots in the society, giving birth to a large body of ethical poetry.
Writing became very widespread and "vatteluttu" evolved from the Tamil-Brahmi became a mature script for writing Tamil.
The medieval period of the history of the Tamil country saw the rise and fall of many kingdoms, some of whom went on to the extent of empires, exerting influences both in India and overseas.
The Hindu sects Saivism and Vaishnavism became more dominant, with temples being built and Dravidian architecture being supported by empires replacing the significance of Nastik Jainism and Buddhism of the previous era. Some of the output of villages throughout the kingdom was given to temples that reinvested some of the wealth accumulated as loans to the settlements.
Tamil script replaced the "vatteluttu" script throughout Tamil Nadu for writing Tamil. Both secular and religious literature flourished during the period.
The seventh century Tamil Nadu saw the rise of the Pallavas under Mahendravarman I and his son "Mamalla" Narasimhavarman I. The Pallavas were not a recognised political power before the second century. After the fall of the Satavahanas, they began to get control over parts of Andhra and the Tamil country. The Pallavas were at their finest during the reigns of Narasimhavarman I and "Pallavamalla" Nandivarman II.
During the sixth and the seventh centuries, the western Deccan saw the rise of the Chalukyas based in Vatapi. The Pallavas had the more difficult existence of the two as they had to fight on two fronts - against the Pandyas as wells as the Chalukyas.
Pandya Kadungon (560 - 590) is credited with the overthrow of the Kalabhras in the south. Pandya Cendan extended their rule to the Chera country. His son Arikesari Parantaka Maravarman (c. 650 - 700) had a long and prosperous rule. He fought many battles and extended the Pandya power.
After some decades of expansion, the Pandya kingdom was large enough to pose a serious threat to the Pallava power.
The Pandya power continued to grow under Srimara and encroached further into the Pallava territories.
Around 850 rose Vijayalaya, made use of an opportunity arising out of a conflict between Pandyas and Pallavas, captured Thanjavur and eventually established the imperial line of the medieval Cholas. Vijayalaya revived the Chola dynasty and his son Aditya I helped establish their independence. He invaded Pallava kingdom in 903 and killed the Pallava king Aparajita in battle, ending the Pallava reign. The Chola kingdom under Parantaka I expanded to cover the entire Pandya country. However towards the end of his reign he suffered several reverses by the Rashtrakutas who had extended their territories well into the Chola kingdom.
The Cholas went into a temporary decline during the next few years due to weak kings, palace intrigues and succession disputes.
European settlements began to appear in the Tamil country during the Vijayanagara Empire. In 1605, the Dutch established trading posts in the Coromandel Coast near Gingee and in Pulicat. The British East India Company built a 'factory' (warehouse) at Armagaon (Durgarazpatnam), a village around 35 miles North of Pulicat, as the site in 1626.
The conflict between the British and the French had as result in 1765 the Emperor of Delhi issued a "firman" (decree) recognizing the British possessions in southern India.
Although the Company was becoming increasingly bold and ambitious in putting down resisting states, it was getting clearer day by day that the Company was incapable of governing the vast expanse of the captured territories. In 1784 Pitt's India Act made the Company subordinate to the British Government.
The next few decades were of rapid growth and expansion in the territories controlled by the English. The Anglo-Mysore Wars of 1766 to 1799, the Anglo-Maratha Wars of 1772 andPolygar Wars of 1800-1805 Dheeran chinnamalai,the Tamil king won three polygar wars against Britishers and at last he was hanged along with his two brothers.Then Britishers took entire control of Tamil Nadu by settling east India company after the death of chinnamalai the brave Tamil king.
The discontent in the various districts of the company territories exploded in 1857 into the Sepoy war. Although the rebellion had a huge impact on the state of the colonial power in India, Tamil Nadu was mostly unaffected by it.
In 1858 the British Crown assumed direct rule in India.
Failure of the summer monsoons and administrative shortcomings of the Ryotwari system resulted in a severe famine in the Madras Presidency during 1876 - 1877.The government instituted a famine insurance grant, setting aside 1.5 million Rupees. Other civic works such as canal building and improvements in roads and railway were also undertaken to minimise effects of any future famines.
The growing desire for independence began to gradually gather pace in the country and its influence in Tamil Nadu generated a number of volunteers to the fight against the British colonial power in the struggle for Independence. Notable amongst these are Tiruppur Kumaran, who was born in 1904 in a small village near Erode. Kumaran lost his life during a protest march against the British.
In 1916 Dr. T.M. Nair and Rao Bahadur Thygaraya Chetty released the "Non-Brahmin Manifesto" sowing the seeds for the Dravidian movements.
The trauma of the partition did not impact Tamil Nadu when India was granted Independence in 1947. There was no sectarian violence against various religions. There had always been an atmosphere of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence between all religions in Tamil Nadu. Congress formed the first ministry in the Madras Presidency. Rajaji was the first Chief Minister. Madras Presidency was eventually reconstituted as Madras State.
The Madras state was named Tamil Nadu (the land of the Tamils) in 1968.
Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka during the 1970s and the 80s saw large numbers of Sri Lankan Tamils fleeing to Tamil Nadu.
The politics of Tamil Nadu have gone through three distinct phases since independence. The domination of the Congress Party after 1947 gave way to the Dravidian populist mobilisation in the 1960s. This phase lasted until towards the end of the 1990s. The most recent phase saw the fragmentation of the Dravidian political parties and led to the advent of political alliances and coalition governments.
Leo Fender
Clarence Leonidas Fender (August 10, 1909 - March 21, 1991), also known as Leo Fender, was an American instrument maker.
He founded a company called Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company. It makes electric guitars, electric bass guitars, and electric guitar amplifiers. Leo Fender designed electric guitars which he called the " Telecaster" and the "Stratocaster." Fender also designed the first bass guitar, which he called the "Precision Bass". In the 1960s, Fender designed another bass guitar, which he called the "Jazz Bass".
All of these instruments (the "Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision Bass," and the "Jazz Bass") became popular. Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company sold thousands and thousands of these instruments. Many rock and pop music bands from the 1960s to the 2000s use these electric guitars and electric bass guitars.
A fret is a thin strip of varying materials (most commonly metal, but occasionally gut or nylon) found on string instruments. Guitars, mandolins, and banjos have frets.
Frets are mounted on the long necks of the instrument. The frets help the musician playing the instrument to know where to place their fingers on the instrument.
On historical instruments and some non-European instruments, pieces of string tied around the neck are frets.
Frets divide the neck into sections related to a musical framework. On instruments such as guitars, each fret marks one semitone in the standard western system where one octave is divided into twelve semitones.
The word amplifier (sometimes called an amp) usually refers to an electronic amplifier. Electronic amplifiers make a signal from a radio or electric musical instrument (such as an electric guitar or an electric bass guitar) louder and stronger. Amplifiers are also hidden in any electronic thing that makes sound with loudspeakers. This includes televisions, radios, computers, and mp3 players, to name a few.
Amplifiers ability to use low impedance speakers may vary. Typical impedance is 8 ohms.
Classification can be done by current loss when amplifier is on but does not get signal. Example: A-class amplifier takes more current without signal than B-class amplifier but A-class amplifier have smaller distortion.
There is also several distortion types.
Electronic amplifiers make a signal from the radio or electric instrument louder and stronger by using transistors or vacuum tubes. Electronic amplifiers have to be connected to electrical current or a battery to work. Once the signal from the radio or electric instrument has been made louder and stronger, the signal needs to be connected to a loudspeaker so that people can hear it.
When an amplifier tries to make the sound louder than it can, it adds distortion to the sound. Some amplifiers are made to add controlled distortion. Distortion from transistors sounds different than distortion from tubes. Distortion from tubes is often said to be more musical. Because of all this, more expensive amplifiers often add controlled distortion with tubes. Many of these amplifiers use transistors for a "clean" sound (without distortion).
From the 1920s until the 1950s, electronic amplifiers used vacuum tubes. However, electronic amplifiers with vacuum tubes were heavy, and they produced a lot of heat. They also broke down a lot.
Since the 1960s, most electronic amplifiers have been built with transistors. Transistors are lighter, cheaper, and more reliable.
Ruda Śląska
Ruda Śląska is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 147 000 inhabitants and 77 km².
Rybnik
Rybnik is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. About 141,000 people live there. The city is about 148 km². The mayor of the city is Piotr Kuczera.
Tychy
Tychy is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 132 000 inhabitants and 81 km².
Dąbrowa Górnicza
Dąbrowa Górnicza is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. Around 131,000 people live here.
Płock
Płock is a city in Eastern Poland in the Masovia Voivodship. About 128,000 people live there and it is 88 km² big.
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker, which is also called a loud-speaker or speaker, is an item that is used to create the sound in radios, television sets, and electric musical instrument amplifier systems.
Loudspeakers use both electric and mechanical principles to convert an electrical signal from a radio, television set or electric musical instrument into sound. For a loudspeaker to produce sound, the signal from the radio, television set, or electric musical instrument needs to be connected to an electronic amplifier.
Loudspeakers are usually built by using a stiff paper cone, a coil of thin copper wire, and a circular magnet. The cone, copper wire, and magnet are usually mounted in a rectangle-shaped wood cabinet. The coil of copper wire moves back and forth when an electrical signal is passed through it. The coil of copper wire and the magnet cause the rigid paper cone to vibrate and reproduce sounds.
Inside the loudspeaker can be a audio crossover.
Some loudspeakers are designed for lower-pitched sounds, such as "woofer" loudspeakers or "subwoofer" loudspeakers. Other loudspeakers, which are called "tweeters", are designed to reproduce high-pitched sounds (such as the sound of a whistle or a bird singing).
Loudspeakers for electric musical instruments are usually much stronger and heavier than loudspeakers for radios or television sets. Their main function is to convert electrical signals given to it into sound signals.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the first audible loudspeaker in 1876. Bell invented the loudspeaker because he needed a device that would amplify sound for the telephone. In 1878, the inventor Werner von Siemens from Germany patented an improved type of electrodynamic loudspeaker which did not yet include an amplifier.
Chorzów
Chorzów is a city in Poland in Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 115,000 inhabitants and an area of 33 km².
Wałbrzych
Wałbrzych (pronounce: ['vawbʒix], German: "Waldenburg") is a town in southwestern Poland situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It has about 126 000 inhabitants and 84 km². The city belonged to Germany until 1945. The original German population being expelled after WW II.
Organ trio
An organ trio is a type of jazz band with three musicians. Usually a jazz organ trio consists of a Hammond organ player, a drummer, and either a jazz guitarist or a saxophone player.
Organ trios popular in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. Organ trios usually performed jazz music that had influences from blues music. Organ trios are usually led by the organ player, who is called the leader of the trio.
Important organ trio leaders from the 1950s were organists such as Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, and Jack McDuff. In the late 1960s, organist Larry Young had a jazz fusion style organ trio. In the 1970s, Tony Williams had a jazz fusion band called "Lifetime" which was an organ trio. In the 1990s and 2000s, organist Joey DeFrancesco is an organ trio leader.
The word "organ trio" is also used to refer to the type (or "genre") of music played by organ trios from the 1950s and 1960s. For example, a person might say "I want to listen to some organ trio music." This would usually mean that they want to listen to music by Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, or other well-known organ trio leaders.
Hegemony
Hegemony (pronounced with a soft or hard 'g') is the power of one group over other groups. Hegemony is mostly used to refer to relationships between different nations (or countries). This might be direct dominance, such as through military might, but may be indirect dominance, such as when a nation can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage.
Hegemony often describes the relationship of a great power to nearby less powerful countries. The term is Greek, and was first used about the influence of a great city over the cities which were allied to it. Examples are the Peloponnesian League of Sparta (6th to 4th centuries BC); the short-lived Delian League of Classical Athens. The later League of Corinth was headed not by a state, but by Philip II of Macedon. Such a hegemon is a king or ruler with personal power.
A hegemonic relationship is usually described as less than an empire, but more than a regional power. This means a hegemon may not actually take control of other nations, but has the power to greatly influence what they do. On the other hand, a global hegemon is more powerful than, say, Iran is in the Middle East.
James Callaghan
Leonard James "Jim" Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, (; 27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK) from 1976 to 1979.
Born in the 1910s, Callaghan was an old-style socialist, lacking any higher education, and served as Member of Parliament (MP) for a Cardiff constituency. He is the only person to have held all three leading UK Cabinet positions (Chancellor, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary), prior to their premiership. He was never expected to reach the premiership, having taken a back seat to the younger and more charismatic Harold Wilson for many years. However, when Wilson unexpectedly announced his retirement in 1976, Callaghan was the most experienced candidate to replace him. His time as prime minister was one of more open government but the electorate was dissatisfied with his relaxed response to high inflation and more industrial unrest, and replaced Labour with a Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher.
Callaghan resigned as Leader of the Labour Party shortly afterwards, but remained an MP for some years before being sent to the House of Lords as Baron Callaghan of Cardiff.
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was the military leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1940. He was President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. In 1940 he won the election. He then became the country's leader from 1952 to 1959. In 1952 he did a coup. His authoritarian government during this time caused opposition despite his attempt to placate critics with a 'show' election in 1954 were he ran without opposition. The opposition included the entire coalition that had overthrown President Gerardo Machado. Fidel Castro's guerrilla movement overthrew Batista. This is known as the Cuban Revolution. Batista fled Cuba on January 1, 1959 and went to the Dominican Republic before moving on to Portugal, and finally to Spain where he died of a heart attack in 1973.
A Sock puppet is a simple type of made with an adult sock. Most sock puppets have some fabric or plastic facial features added to the sock, such as eyes or a mouth. Some sock puppets may also have accessories such as a hat or clothing. Sock puppets are operated by putting a person's hand inside the sock.
Sock puppets are often used for entertaining people, especially children. People often present them on special stages that show sock puppets without showing the puppeteers (the people who use sock puppets) themselves.
In Canada, Ed the Sock is a sock puppet who has appeared on Canadian television shows since 1987. Ed the Sock appears in a weekly Toronto television series called "Ed's Night Party!". In the 1950s, comedian Soupy Sales made two sock puppets famous; 'White Fang' and 'Black Tooth'. Ventriloquist and puppeteer Shari Lewis delighted children with her lovable sock puppets 'Lamb Chop', 'Charlie Horse' and 'Hush Puppy'. They appeared on TV and in person for over four decades. 1950s TV sock puppets 'Kukla' and 'Ollie' appeared with a real person, Fran, who appeared in front of the stage in the long-running program Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
Smoke is a cloud of very small, solid particles that is made when something is burned with a flame, such as wood or paper.
Smoke can be bad because if it goes into the lungs of a person, it can hurt their lungs or even kill them (for example, in a house fire). Most people think that they are always able to see smoke, but people cannot see some types of smoke: they are invisible.
When people smoke tobacco in cigars or cigarettes, they are burning the tobacco and inhaling the smoke. Tobacco smoke can hurt the mouth, throat, and lungs. It can cause mouth, throat, or lung cancer. It can also cause emphysema and bronchitis (trouble breathing). They continue doing it because the smoke also has a nicotine.
Factories and power plants produce large amounts of smoke into the atmosphere which pollutes the air. Eventually the toxic chemicals in smoke fall to the ground, and then they pollute the soil and the water. When the air, soil and water are polluted with toxic chemicals, the chemicals also get absorbed by plants and animals (including humans).
When Dry ice is put into water, the dry ice boils and makes fog. This is not real smoke but movie makers and other show people do this to simulate smoke.
Friedrich Kellner
August Friedrich Kellner (born February 1, 1885 in Vaihingen an der Enz, Germany, died November 4, 1970 in Lich) was a German social democrat. He worked as a justice inspector. In the time of the Nazis in Germany, he wrote a secret diary. This became known as the Diary of Friedrich Kellner. After the war he said why he wrote it:
August Friedrich Kellner was born on February 1, 1885 in Vaihingen, a town next to the Enz River and not far from Heidelberg. He was the only child of Georg Friedrich Kellner, a baker from the village of Arnstadt in Thuringia, and Barbara Wilhelmine Vaigle from Bissingen. Friedrich’s parents belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran faith.
When Friedrich was four years old, his family moved to Mainz. There his father became the master baker at "Goebels Zuckerwerk".
In December 1902, when he was 17 years old, Kellner graduated from Goethe High School. He began work as a junior clerk in the courthouse in Mainz. He worked there from 1903 until 1933. He became a justice secretary, then an accountant, and finally a justice inspector.
In 1907 and 1908 Kellner had to fulfill his military reserve duty. He was assigned to the 6th Infantry Company of the Leibregiments Großherzogin (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117 in Mainz.
In 1913 Friedrich Kellner married Pauline Preuss. She was from Mainz. Their only child, Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Kellner, was born three years later.
When the First World War began in 1914, Kellner was called back to active duty. He was an officer substitute in the Prinz Carl Infantry Regiment (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches Regiment) Nr. 118, in Worms. He fought in France at the battle of the Marne. Later, he was wounded near Reims. He was sent to St. Rochus Hospital in Mainz to recover.
Kellner was loyal to the Kaiser’s regime, but still he welcomed the birth of the German democracy after the war. He became a political organizer for the leading political party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From those first days of the Weimar Republic, he spoke out against the danger of extremists, against Communists and the National Socialists (the Nazis). Kellner would show his opposition at rallies by holding Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, above his head. He then shouted to the crowd: “Gutenberg, your printing press has been violated by this evil book.” On more than one occasion Kellner was beaten by the Nazis for expressing his views.
Adolf Hitler wanted revenge against his political opponents. So two weeks before Hitler became Chancellor, Kellner took his wife and son into the country for safety. They moved to the village of Laubach, in Hesse. He worked in Laubach as the chief justice inspector in the district court. This means that he was in charge of the administration of the courthouse. In 1935 his son went to live in the United States because he did not want to go into Hitler’s army.
In November 1938 there was a pogrom (an attack) against the Jews. This became known as Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass. Friedrich and Pauline Kellner tried to help their Jewish neighbors. The Kellners were warned by the Nazi leaders that they would suffer the same fate as their neighbors if they continued their resistance. Kellner was told he and his wife would be sent to a concentration camp if he continued to be a "bad influence" on the people of Laubach. A report written by the district Nazi leader, Hermann Engst, shows that authorities were planning to punish Kellner at the end of the war. Because he could not continue to speak out openly, Kellner wrote down his thoughts in a secret diary. He wanted his son, and the coming generations, to know that democracy must not give in to dictatorships. In the diary, he warns everyone to resist tyrants and terrorism, and to not believe in their propaganda.
The diary has 10 volumes with a total of 861 pages. It contains 676 individually dated entries. The entries are from September 1939 through May 1945. More than 500 newspaper clippings are pasted on the pages of the diary.
Friedrich Kellner was an eyewitness to the events of his time. In his diary, he also offers a guide for future generations to prevent totalitarianism. He warns everyone to resist any ideology that would take away their personal freedoms, and he warns everyone to turn away from any belief that ignores the sanctity of human life.
One of the most important entries in the diary was written on October 28, 1941. Most Germans after the war said that they knew nothing about the Holocaust. However, very early in the war Kellner recorded this in his diary. He showed that even in the small towns, normal people knew what was happening:
At war’s end, Kellner helped to establish the SPD in Laubach, and he became the regional party chairman. He was the deputy mayor of Laubach in 1945 and 1946. From 1956 to 1960 he was First Town Councilor and deputy mayor.
Friedrich Kellner was the chief justice inspector and administrator of the courthouse in Laubach until 1947. For the next two years he was the district auditor in the regional court in Giessen. He retired in 1950, but he continued to be a legal advisor in Laubach.
Kellner’s son, who had emigrated to America, died in 1953. In 1960 Kellner’s grandson, Robert Scott Kellner, traveled to Germany to meet his grandfather. Kellner gave his ten-volume diary to his American grandchild. He wanted him to translate it into different languages and bring it to the attention of the public.
On November 4, 1970, Friedrich Kellner died. He was buried at the side of his wife in the Mainz cemetery.
In 2007, the Canadian film company, CCI Entertainment of Toronto, made a documentary film about both Friedrich Kellner and his grandson Robert Scott Kellner. The film is called, "".
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, were held in Atlanta, United States from July 19 to August 4.
Eric Rudolph, a Christian fundamentalist, bombed the Centennial Olympic Park on July 27. Alice Hawthorne was killed in the explosion when a nail from the bomb penetrated her skull. Melih Uzunyol, a Turkish cameraman, had a fatal heart attack while running to the scene. The bomb wounded 111 others.
These were the top 10 teams at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Host nation (United States)
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, were held in Los Angeles, United States from July 28 to August 12.
1932 Summer Olympics
The 1932 Summer Olympics, officially known as Games of the X Olympiad, were held in Los Angeles, United States.
U.S. President Herbert Hoover did not attend the games. Despite this snub, the games were thought to be a success because the LA Olympics did not end up in debt.
Los Angeles was the first to provide an athletes' "village".
A total of 37 nations sent athletes to compete at the Los Angeles games.
1992 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics
Charles Aznavour (22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was an Armenian-French singer, songwriter and actor. He was one of France's most popular and long lasting singers, and also one of the most well-known French singers in other countries.
He appeared in more than 60 movies and written more than 1000 songs (including 150 in English, 100 in Italian, 70 in Spanish, and 50 in German).
He has sold over 100 million albums. Aznavour started his final tour in late 2006. Aznavour was born as Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavouryan in Paris, the son of Armenian immigrants Michael Aznavouryan & Knar Baghdasaryan. His parents introduced him to the world of theatre at an early age. He dropped out of school at the age of nine, already aspiring to the life of an artist. He began to perform at this time, and soon took the stage name "Aznavour".
His big break came when the singer Edith Piaf heard him sing and arranged to take him with her on tour in France and to the USA. Aznavours voice is shaded towards the tenor range, but possesses the low range and coloration more typical of a baritone, contributing to his unique sound.
On 1 October 2018 it was announced that Aznavour had died at his home in the village of Mouriès in the south of France at the age of 94. An autopsy report said Aznavour died of cardiopulmonary arrest caused by pulmonary edema.
movie director Levon Mkrtchyan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHEd5L1i6gg
Pallava dynasty
Pandya dynasty
The Pandyan kingdom பாண்டியர் was an ancient Tamil state in South India of unknown antiquity. Pandyas were one of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms (Chola and Chera being the other two) who ruled the Tamil country from pre-historic times until end of the 15th century. They ruled initially from Korkai, a sea port on the southern most tip of the Indian peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai.
Rockabilly is an early type of rock and roll music which developed in the 1950s in the United States. Rockabilly was very popular amongst teenagers. Many parents of teenagers did not like rockabilly music, because rockabilly music had lyrics which talked about rebelling against rules, sex and drinking alcohol. Rockabilly musicians often wear slicked-back hair, jeans, and leather jackets.
Rockabilly music has musical styles from blues music and country music. It uses the acoustic guitar, the electric guitar, the double bass, drums, and singing. Some Rockabilly songs also use the piano or the harmonica. Rockabilly music usually has a strong rhythm from the double bass being played in a "slap" style. Rockabilly singers often use a wide range, with high notes and many shouts like “go man go” and "yeah!"
One of the earliest musicians who played rockabilly music was Elvis Presley. Another famous rockabilly musician was Carl Perkins, who wrote the popular song "Blue Suede Shoes". Jerry Lee Lewis was a piano player who sang. Jerry Lee Lewis was known for his crazy behavior on stage, which audiences liked. Lewis would play the piano with his feet, elbows and butt.
Gene Vincent was a rockabilly musician who wore black leather and sang songs about sex and getting into trouble. Vincent's most popular song is “Be-Bop-A-Lula”. Eddie Cochran wrote songs about teen life, and had hit songs like “Summertime Blues” and “C’mon Everybody.”
Rockabilly became popular again in the 1980s, when bands such as the Stray Cats became popular. In the 1990s and 2000s, there are still many bands playing rockabilly music or music influenced by rockabilly, such as Tiger Army.
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is a high-density optical disc format similar to DVD. Blu-ray is the type of disc used for PlayStation 3 games and for playing high-definition (HD) movies. In the past, there were other standards for such movies, such as the HD DVD format. Blu-ray won what is called the "format war".
A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can store up to 50GB (gigabytes) of data. This is over five times the capacity of a DVD, and over 70 times more than a CD or VCD.
The disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, and released in 2006. The format was developed for recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data.
Older optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM used a red laser to read and write data. The new format used a blue-violet laser instead. This is where the name is from.
The Stray Cats were a Rockabilly band from the United States. They had several hit songs in the 1980s. The Stray Cats played a style of pop music called Rockabilly, which mixes 1950s-style rock and roll, blues music, and country music together. The Stray Cats' music is like the 1950s Rockabilly songs by Elvis Presley and Carl Perkins. Three of the bands' hit songs were "Runaway Boys," "Rock This Town," and "Stray Cat Strut."
The Stray Cats band was formed in 1979 by Brian Setzer, with two of his school friends Leon Drucker (who used the stage name "Lee Rocker") and James McDonnell (who used the stage name "Slim Jim Phantom"). These young men lived in Massapequa, New York.
The Stray Cats wore blue jeans and leather jackets, and had their hair slicked back. The Stray Cats had a singer who played electric guitar, a double bass player, and a drummer.
National Security Advisor (United States)
The National Security Advisor, officially known as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, serves as the top advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues. This person serves on the National Security Council within the President's Executive Office.
The National Security Advisor is appointed by the President, and does not have to be approved by the United States Senate. The current National Security Advisor is Jake Sullivan.
Chera dynasty
The Chera dynasty (Tamil: சேரர் Malayalam: േചര ) was one of the ancient Tamil dynasties who ruled the southern India from ancient times until around the fifteenth century CE. The Early Cheras ruled over the Malabar Coast, Coimbatore, Karur and Salem Districts in South India, which now forms part of the modern day Kerala and Tamil Nadu states of India.
Chola dynasty
The Chola dynasty (சோழர் குலம்) was a Tamil dynasty that ruled in southern India until the 13th century. The dynasty came from the fertile valley of the Kaveri River.
"Karikala Chola" was the most famous among the early Chola kings, while "Rajaraja Chola", "Rajendra Chola" and "Kulothunga Chola" I were famous emperors of the medieval Cholas.
The Cholas were at the height of their power during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. Under Rajaraja Chola I (Rajaraja the Great) and his son Rajendra Chola, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in Asia. The Chola territories stretched from the islands of the Maldives in the South to as far North as the banks of the Ganges River in Bangladesh.
Ayn Rand (Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982) was a Russian-born American writer, screenwriter, playwright and philosopher.