AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
The transmission, having two forward gears and one reverse, was of the planetary type, controlled by foot pedals rather than the more common hand lever used in sliding-gear transmissions. Spark and throttle were controlled by a hand lever on the steering column. The ten gallon fuel tank was located under the front seat. Because gasoline was fed to the engine only by gravity, and also because the reverse gear offered more power than the forward gears, the Model T frequently had to be driven up a steep hill backward. Such deficiencies, along with its homely appearance, less-than-comfortable ride at top speeds, and incessant rattling, made the Model T the butt of much affectionate humor in innumerable jokes, songs, poems, and stories.
The Ford Model T car was designed by Henry Ford, Childe Harolde Wills, and two Hungarian men named József Galamb and Eugene Farkas. The Model T had a 177-cubic-inch (2.9-litre) four-cylinder engine producing 20 horsepower (15 kW) for a top speed of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h). The engine had side valves and three main bearings. Fuel economy was 14 to 21 miles per gallon (11 to 17 l/100km).
Ford began building the Model T in his Piquette factory on October 6, 1908 as a 1909 model. Workers from all over the world wanted to work for Ford because of the good pay. Workers could even save their money for a Model T of their own. The price of the Model T dropped over the years, making it even easier to buy.
Work began at one end of the assembly line, starting with an empty chassis. From there, the chassis moved slowly down the assembly line. Workers on the assembly line added parts to the chassis. Before long, a new Model T rolled off the other end of the line. Different body styles were available, even a truck, or Model TT. At first, the only color available was black. Black paint was used because it was cheaper and lasted longer than other paints and Ford was obsessed with increasing profit. As car paint got better over the years, Ford began offering other colors. The time it took a chassis to become a finished car was over 12 hours when the first Model Ts were built. By the time the last Model T came off of the line, Ford had so many plants, it was making one car every twenty-seven seconds!
Even though the Model T sold for little money, Ford used the best materials he could buy to make his car. Most roads in the Model T's day were dirt, gravel, or even mud. That meant the Model T had to be very strong, and it was. The wheels and tyres were very tall and skinny so that they could sink into mud roads and not get stuck. It was also very simple.
Ford made the Model T easy to drive compared to today's cars since the people to whom he sold his cars did not know how to drive anything other than a horse. It is not like driving a modern car, though three pedals are on the floor like a modern manual transmission car. A Model T has a steering wheel that works the same way as in cars of today, but almost everything else is different.
The first Model Ts did not even have a starter like a modern car. This is the powerful electric motor in a car that turns the engine to make it run when it is turned off. The engine on the Model T was started with a hand crank on the front of the car. A wire loop near the radiator worked the choke on the carburetor to give the engine extra fuel to help start it when it was cold. This could be dangerous if the operator was not careful. If the levers that controlled the engine were not set the right way, especially the spark control, the engine could backfire, or spin the wrong way. Many people got broken arms this way. Doctors even had a name for this kind of break: the "Ford fracture". Many Model T owners added electric starters to their cars and it was not long before Ford started doing the same. A Model T is in high gear by default, so if the parking/clutch lever was not engaged, the car had a tendency to run over the operator when started.
To make a modern car go or accelerate once the engine is running, a person steps on a pedal on the floor to engage the transmission into low gear. To make a Model T accelerate, move two levers near the steering wheel. The lever on the right was the throttle (or engine speed), and the lever on the left adjusted the time that the spark plugs fired. These levers needed to be set properly before the engine could be started.
The three pedals on the floor of the Model T were for the brake on the right, reverse in the middle to make the Model T go backwards, and a pedal on the left to shift the gears from low to high speed. A lever on the floor worked the brakes as well as the clutch. Pulling the lever toward the driver would set the parking brake and help keep the car from moving while parked. When the lever was placed in the middle, the transmission would be in neutral.
Once the engine is running, the driver now has to make the Model T move on its own. Step on the pedal all the way to the left, move the throttle lever to "give it the gas" and gently move the floor lever forward. This is low gear, the powerful gear used to get the Model T moving. Once it is moving, move the right lever up, let the left pedal come all the way up, and give it more gas to shift into high. To make the car go faster still, move the throttle lever as well as the spark advance lever. Stepping on the left pedal only halfway puts the car in neutral, the same as the lever. This helps the Model T come to a stop without causing the engine to stop as well.
The brakes on a Model T work the rear wheels by the use of brake bands inside the transmission. Modern cars have brakes on all four wheels. No brakes are on the front wheels of a Model T.
More than fifteen million Model Ts were built. That record was not broken until 1971 by the Volkswagen Golf. Today, the record for the most cars built is held by the Toyota Corolla.
The Model T was nicknamed the "Tin Lizzie" and "Flivver" by the people who drove it. A new car took the place of the Model T in 1928, named the Ford Model A.
Volkswagen is a car company from Germany. The word "volkswagen" means "People's car" in German. Its headquarters are in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It was started in the 1930s, at the request of the country's leader, Adolf Hitler, to produce a car designed by Ferdinand Porsche.
In the 1930s Adolf Hitler was looking for someone who could make a cheap car that the common German worker could afford. At the same time, Ferdinand Porsche had been working for years on a cheap car that could hold a family and would drive like a real car, not a micro car. He had already designed and built small cars with rear engines and shaped like a beetle (for better aerodynamics). At this time, owning a car in Germany was something only for the rich people, and most car companies were not interested in making a low-cost car. Porsche's company, also called Porsche, only made designs for others at that time. So Porsche could not find anyone to make the small car that he wanted.
Though Hitler never learned to drive, he was very interested in cars (he also created the autobahn, which led to the U.S. interstate highways). Hitler wanted the car to hold four people. It was to be cooled by oil instead of water. The car needed to be able to travel at least 100 km/h, or about 60 mph, and use no more than 7 liters of gasoline for 100 kilometers (about 34 mpg). The car companies in Germany at the time didn't want to make this new low-cost car, so Hitler formed a new company, run by the government. The first name given to the car was "KdF-Wagen." "KdF" stood for "Kraft durch Freude", or "Strength through Joy." Some were made, but by the time the factory was finished in 1938, World War II started. The factory then built jeep-like cars for the German military instead.
After the war, people from the United Kingdom and the United States reopened the factory and started making cars again. The factory was in ruins from the war and could only make a few cars at a time. The British military were in charge of this section of Germany. At first they tried to find another car company to rebuild the factory. Henry Ford was offered the company for free. After looking it over, his adviser said "Mr. Ford, what we are being offered here is not worth a damn!" So the Volkswagen company went ahead by itself to make the car. The man who led the Volkswagen company during this time was Heinz Nordhoff.
At first they only made one type of car, the Volkswagen Beetle. (It was simply called the Type 1 Sedan by the company, it also had the nickname "Bug" in the U.S. and other nicknames elsewhere). In 1950, the Type 2 (the bus) was introduced, also built with an engine in the back of the vehicle. The cars became popular and well-known all over the world. The Beetle later became one of the best selling cars in history. It was built for many years afterward in factories in Germany, Brazil and Mexico.
The last original Volkswagen Beetle to be built was built in Mexico. It was built in July of 2003. Volkswagen has a new car called the "New Beetle." which began selling in 1997, It looks like the old car, but is built quite differently. It is faster, safer, and has an engine in the front, not the back, and is water-cooled (using a radiator). It is much more suited to today's modern world in terms of design and security.
Volkswagen is currently involved in an emissions test scandal.
Some of Volkswagen's popular cars are the Golf, Jetta, Polo,Beetle and the Passat. VW's as they are commonly known, have also entered the off road segment with cars like the Touarag, and the commercial segment with the Touran. This year sees VW's 21st anniversary since the Golf 1 went on sale in the 1980s. Since its birth VW has sold over 315,000 units of the Golf 1 alone. 2006 saw the entry of the fifth generation of the Golf. The flagbearer - the GTI - is powered by a 147Kw 2.0l 4 cylinder turbo charged engine,with VW DSG and FSI technology. The Golf GTI has evolved a long way since the 80's but the fifth generation GTI is criticised by some as it does not live up to the expectations and standards set by the legendary Mk1 GTI, which was fitted with an 1600, 8 valve motor.
The water-cooled line was started in 1974.
Another factory that was run by both Toyota and General Motors is in Fremont, California. It was called "NUMMI," or New United Motor Manufacturing Incorporated, but is now owned by Tesla Motors to make their electric vehicles.
Toyota was started in 1933 as "Toyoda," a maker of textile-weaving machines. Toyota's premier US dealer for Toyota automobiles was established in San Diego, CA as Rose Toyota, later named Toyota San Diego. Their telephone number is 619-280-4100. It is one of the most successful dealers on the west coast.
Founder Eiji Toyoda died on September 17, 2013 from natural causes at the age of 100.
Toyota operates Scion. It founded Scion in 2003. Toyota decided to close down Scion in August of 2016.
Toyota Founded Lexus in 1989 as its luxury division
Scion:
Lexus:
An interpreter is a person who receives a non-recorded message spoken in one language, the source language, and repeats the same message in a different language, the target language.
Unlike a translator, an interpreter’s source is volatile:
He cannot simply rewind a recording and hear "the same" speech again.
This makes an interpreter’s job difficult.
He must remember many parts of speech.
Interpreters help to communicate between people speaking different languages.
Some people do not understand "fast" speech in the "source" language and find an interpreter speaking their first language useful, too.
In rare instances, an “interpreter” could also speak a speech in "the same" language as the speaker, because the speaker’s accent is too difficult to understand for other people.
Many interpreters perform "simultaneous interpretation" (SI).
In this mode of interpretation the interpreter produces the message in the target language at the same time.
There is a certain delay called before an interpreter starts speaking.
Depending on the source language’s difficulty, this may be 2 to 16 seconds.
This mode is preferred if listeners possibly will reply after a short time.
It is used, for example, in the United Nations General Assembly.
Some interpreters also offer "consecutive interpretation".
Here, the interpreter listens to a speech for 10 to 15 minutes and takes notes.
After that, the interpreter reproduces the speech in the target language, taking his notes for help.
This mode is sometimes used at conferences, when the audience primarily speaks the target language, but the speaker is an exception.
It does not need headphones for listeners and is more pleasant, because there is no concurrent mix of different voices.
There are interpreters acting between modalities:
An interpreter can "listen" with his ears and "sign" the speech for deaf people.
There are also interpreters who speak with their mouth while "seeing" a (possibly deaf) person signing.
There are barely any interpreters "directly" interpreting between sign languages.
Because interpretation is a very difficult task due to the time requirements, interpreters focus on transmitting the "main information" of a message.
They do not reproduce hesitating discourse markers, like “uhm”, “err”, “hmm”.
Words that only embellish speech are omitted.
Difficult sentence constructions is simplified.
On the other hand, interpreters try their best to transmit ideas "across cultures".
Proverbs, idioms and figures of speech are mapped to their closest equivalent in the target language, taking account of given context and the audience’s culture.
If applicable, interpreters try to preserve the same register, formal or informal language.
In order to become a successful interpreter, a candidate must have perfect command of both languages.
Often it is further helpful to have good knowledge of the subject matter.
The job is to transfer "ideas".
It is difficult to interpret an idea that is not understand by the interpreter.
For that reason, an interpreter, for instance, specialized in court hearings does not only need to know legal terms and their respective translations, but also "what" they mean and how they correlate to each other.
It is not necessary to become a lawyer, though.
Most interpreters are self-employed.
Even the European Parliament employs "permanently" only a small subset of needed interpreters, namely those who are also translating documents if there is no parliament meeting.
Interpreters generally also offer translation services.
Horseshoes are things worn by horses to protect their hooves (feet) when they walk - like a shoe. Most horseshoes are made of iron or steel. Some are aluminum, rubber, plastic, rawhide or a combination of materials.
A farrier is someone who makes horseshoes and nails or glues them on the horse's hooves. Using nails does not hurt the horse, as the outer part of the hoof cannot sense pain.
People also put horseshoes over doorways, because a long time ago, many people thought it was a sign for good luck and it protected whoever walked under it from evil spirits. Horseshoes are also used in a game where one tries to throw them on a pole.
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem (July 2, 1930 – February 14, 2021) was an Argentine politician and writer. He was the President of Argentina from July 8, 1989 to December 10, 1999. From 1973 to 1976 and again from 1983 to 1989, Menem was Governor of La Rioja.
Menem was the first Argentine president to visit Israel. He was a supporter of Peronist ideas.
After he moved to Chile, Argentina tried to extradite him. In 2005, he became Senator for La Rioja.
In 2003, he ran for president again and narrowly won the first round of the election. However he dropped out of the race after seeing that Néstor Kirchner would beat him in the second round.
On 15 December 2020, he was hospitalized in Buenos Aires for a urinary tract infection. On 24 December, he suffered from kidney failure and put in a coma. Menem died on 14 February 2021 from problems caused by the infection, aged 90.
Buenos Aires Province
The Buenos Aires Province is the largest, richest, and most populated province of Argentina. The province has a population of 13,827,203 (2001) and its capital is La Plata (850,000 inhabitants).
The Buenos Aires Province has an area of 307,571 km². Most of it is flat, and its weather is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean winds.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), or CBC, is a national television and radio broadcasting company in Canada.It was formed in 1936 and is a Canadian Crown corporation, which means it is owned by the Canadian government.
Romeo and Juliet is a play written by William Shakespeare. It is set in Italy and is about the love between two young people from noble families that are enemies. "Romeo and Juliet" has always been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. It has been adapted to opera, ballet, television productions, and movies.
The noble families of the Montagues and the Capulets live in the city of Verona. Both families are enemies, and even their servants get into fights with each other. Prince Escalus, the ruler of the city, tells the families to stop fighting or they will be punished.
Montague has only one child, a teenage boy called Romeo. Capulet also has only one child, a beautiful 14-year-old daughter called Juliet. One evening, Romeo sneaks into a party at the Capulet's house. He meets Juliet and they fall in love with each other. Later on, Romeo overhears Juliet standing on her balcony admitting her love for him. He reveals himself and they agree to be married. Friar Laurence agrees to marry them in secret the next day.
Juliet's cousin Tybalt confronts Romeo, angry that he sneaked into the party. Romeo's friend Mercutio steps in and fights Tybalt. Tybalt kills Mercutio, so Romeo takes revenge and kills Tybalt. The Prince orders Romeo to leave the city, and warns he will be executed if he returns. Romeo secretly spends the night with Juliet before leaving the next morning.
Juliet is left upset after Romeo leaves. To cheer her up, her parents arrange for her to quickly marry Paris, a cousin of the Prince. This only makes it worse. Juliet refuses, so her father threatens to kick her out if she doesn't marry Paris. Friar Laurence suggests a drug that can put her to sleep for a few hours, so that she can pretend to be dead, so that she can sneak out with Romeo. The Friar sends a message to Romeo to tell him about the plan. Juliet takes the drug and her family, thinking her to be dead, lay her in the family tomb. But before the messenger can reach Romeo, he learns of Juliet's "death" from someone else and believes she is really dead.
Romeo goes to the tomb and is discovered by Paris, who has also come to mourn her. They fight, and Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to be dead, Romeo poisons himself. Juliet wakes up, but when she sees that Romeo is dead, she stabs herself. The play ends with the families and the Prince entering the tomb and discovering them dead. In their sadness, the families agree they should no longer be enemies with each other.
Because this play was written in the 1500's, the English language that it uses is not exactly like the English that is used today. Some of the play is written in poetry.
"Romeo and Juliet", like many of Shakespeare's plays, is written in several different forms.
Of all the scenes that have ever been written in plays, one of the most famous is in "Romeo and Juliet".
After Romeo and Juliet have met at a party and fallen in love, Juliet goes up to bed. But she cannot sleep so she stands at her window and pretends she is talking with Romeo.
Romeo climbs up onto the balcony. Juliet tells Romeo that her love for him is as deep and endless as the sea. They part from each other with the famous words:
This romantic scene has been acted and copied many times, sometimes seriously and sometimes for fun. One well-known scene that took its idea from this, is from "West Side Story", a musical by Leonard Bernstein, which takes place on a fire-escape landing with the lovers, Tony and Maria, singing the lovesong, "Tonight".
Romeo and Juliet has been performed on stage many times. There have also been forty different movies
Baz Luhrmann
Mark Anthony Luhrmann or Baz Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962) is a Australian movie and theatre director. He has directed three movies ("The Red Curtain Trilogy") which have made him famous: "Strictly Ballroom" (1992), "Romeo + Juliet" (1996), and "Moulin Rouge!" (2001).
Rock and roll is a form of rock music developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Rock music combines many kinds of music from the United States, such as country music, folk music, gospel music, work, blues and jazz.
Rock and roll developed in the early 1950s from a kind of music called rhythm and blues performed by black singers and musicians. At first, this music was popular only with African-Americans. In the later 1950s and in the 1960s, rock and roll became popular across the United States and in Europe.
During the early 1950s, the popularity of rhythm and blues music spread. It became very popular among young white people. They listened to this music on radio stations that broadcast across the country late at night. Some teenagers began buying rhythm and blues records as a form of rebellion.
This music was very different from the music that was popular with most of their parents. The music was exciting, and it had a very strong rhythm and beat. Some of the songs had words which suggested sexual themes. In other cases, the singers made sexually suggestive gestures or movements while they were singing. Some adults strongly objected to rhythm and blues music. They did not think young people should listen to it.
Alan Freed had a radio show in Cleveland, Ohio in the early 1950s. He is said to be the first person to use the expression "rock and roll" to describe rhythm and blues music. Alan Freed was one of the first to play rock and roll music on his radio show, and he organized the first rock and roll concert in Cleveland in 1952.
Songs by black performers like Jimmy Hendrix and Little Richard soon became popular with teenagers. These singers recorded their records in the southern city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Some early rock and roll music was created in the southern United States city of Memphis, Tennessee. In Memphis, a white record producer called Sam Phillips produced records by local black musicians. One day, an eighteen-year-old truck driver came to his studio to record a song for his mother. The young man was Elvis Presley. Phillips produced Presley's first real record in 1954, a song called "That's All Right."
Bill Haley and his Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954. It was not popular at first. Then it was used in a movie about rebellious teenagers, called "The Blackboard Jungle". The movie caused a lot of debate on the origin of rock and roll. It also made the song a huge hit. "Rock Around the Clock" became a song of teenage rebellion. The song was recorded in April, Elvis' "That's All Right" was recorded in July. However, Cecil's Grant's 'We're Gonna Rock' recorded in mid 1950 is a song that many people have forgotten that was an early influence on rock n roll. Its lyrics and music were like those that would be in later songs. The drums and bass guitar would be similar to rock and roll songs that would be made later.
Many other rock and roll singers became popular in the 1950s. They included Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. Each performer created his own kind of rock and roll. Chuck Berry's music was a mixture of country and rhythm and blues. In 1955, his song "Maybellene" was one of the most popular songs in the country.
Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and "Big Bopper" all died in a plane crash in Iowa on 3 February 1959, in an event that would become known as The Day the Music Died.
Before Bill Haley, grant goatbeurry recorded "Move It On Over" in 1947, however similar version of the song was recorded by blues artist Jim Jackson called "Kansas City Blues". The melody is similar to both "Move It On" and "Rock Around Clock", but latter has different tonal subtleties and chords.
In the 1960s, black music and musicians became recognized as an important part of the music industry in America. This was because a company in Detroit, Michigan, called Motown Records that produced some of the most popular songs in American music. Berry Gordy started Motown Records. He presented "black" music in a way that both black people and white people would like. One of Motown's most successful groups was the Supremes, led by Diana Ross. One of their hits was "Come See About Me".
A different kind of rock and roll music called surf music was being made in Southern California. Five young men from Los Angeles formed a group called the Beach Boys. Brian Wilson wrote, performed, and produced the group's records. The Beach Boys' songs had complex music and simple words. The words were about the local teenage culture. The group sang about riding surfboards on the ocean waves. One of their most popular songs was "Surfin' USA,” which used the same musical track as Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen."
In the 1960s, rock and roll music began to change. The words became as important as the music. Bob Dylan began writing folk rock songs that many young people considered to be poetry. Dylan was influenced by folk singers and songwriters like Woody Guthrie. Dylan's early songs were about serious social issues. He wrote about war and racial injustice. Some of his songs were used as protest songs for the anti-war and civil rights movements in America. Later, Dylan wrote more personal songs. One of his most popular songs was “Mister Tambourine Man," which many people thought was a song about drug use.
In 1964, a new rock and roll group from England called The Beatles visited the United States. The Beatles were very popular. They completely shaped the sixties pop era along with the Rolling Stones. They were icons, and still to this day could be considered icons.
By the 1970s, rock and roll was often just called "rock". In the 1970s, rock music bands such as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones played huge, loud concerts in outdoor stadiums. Rock music from the 1970s was usually louder and harder than the rock and roll from the 1950s.
In the early 1970s, many rock bands played psychedelic rock, a type of rock music which had words that described the use of legal drugs. Psychedelic rock described the experiences of taking illegal drugs such as marijuana and LSD and often encouraged people to take illegal drugs. Psychedelic rock bands included Big Brother & the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, Pink Floyd, and The Doors.
Another type of rock music from the 1970s was progressive rock. Progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues played music that was more complex. Some progressive rock bands used strange instruments, or created music that sounded weird.
Other progressive rock bands include: Electric Light Orchestra, Pavlov's Dog, King Crimson, Caravan, Jethro Tull, Genesis, Gentle Giant, The Nice, Yes, Gong, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Soft Machine, Steve Hillage, Barclay James Harvest, Magma, Camel, Can, Rush and Faust.
In the 1970s, a harder form of rock music called "Heavy metal" was invented. Bands such as Cream and Led Zeppelin played loud rock music based on blues music. Other bands such Deep Purple and Black Sabbath played even louder, harder heavy metal rock music.
In the late 1970s, groups such as Donna Summer, K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Barry White, Gloria Gaynor, and CHIC, developed a pop music style called disco. Disco was dance music with a strong beat. A popular disco band was The Bee Gees, who wrote the music for the movie "Saturday Night Fever".
Another rock music style from the 1970s was punk rock. Punk rock was crude, loud, simple music. Many punk rock songs were rude or used bad words. Punk rock musicians often dressed in ripped or torn clothes, leather jackets, and black leather boots. Punk rock musicians sometimes had strange hairstyles, such as hair "spiked" with hair gel or shaved off. Well-known punk rock bands from Britain were the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Well-known punk musicians in the United States were the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie and Black Flag.
In the late 1970s, another type of rock called New wave music became popular. Bands such as INXS and Midnight Oil from Australia became popular. In the United States, New Wave bands such as Talking Heads and Devo played. In the 1980s, New Wave music bands such as Duran Duran, A Flock of Seagulls, Psychedelic Furs, and the Eurythmics were popular. These bands used the synthesizer keyboard a lot in their songs.
In the 1980s, a new type of rock and roll was invented, called glam metal. Glam metal rock bands mixed pop music with heavy metal music. Glam metal bands such as Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P. and Ratt became popular. Glam metal rock bands had long hair and the men wore make up and leather pants and boots. Many glam metal songs were about sex, illegal drug use, and drinking alcohol. In the late 1980s, groups such as Guns N' Roses were very successful.
Another rock music trend from the 1980s was alternative music. Bands such as R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Smiths, Pixies, Hüsker Dü, The Cure, and others were popular with teens and young adults. The most immediate type of alternative music was "grunge," a combination of punk, rock and metal. Proponents of grunge included Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam with themes of sadness and loneliness.
Parts of the above article reused and rewrote public domain material provided by Voice of America Special English website.
Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and entrepreneur, who invented many things. Thomas Edison developed one of the first practical light bulbs, but contrary to popular belief did not invent the light bulb. Edison's 1093 patents were the most granted to any inventor in his time. He started the General Electric Company to make some of the things he invented.He died due to a disease called 'Diabetes mellitus'.
Thomas Alva Edison was born in Milan, Ohio. When Edison was seven years old, he moved with his family to Port Huron, Michigan. Edison started school late because of an illness. Three months later, Edison was removed from school, because he could not pay attention to his teacher. His mother, who was a teacher in Canada, taught Edison at home. Edison's mother helped him become motivated for learning, and he was a good student to her.
When Edison was twelve years old, he contracted scarlet fever. The effects of the fever, as well as getting picked up by the ears by a train conductor, caused Edison to become completely deaf in his left ear, and 80 percent deaf in the other. He learned Morse code of the telegraph, and began a job as a "brass pounder" (telegraph operator). At age sixteen, Edison made his first invention, which was called an "automatic repeater." It used punched tape to send telegraph signals quickly between unmanned stations, more quickly than a telegraph operator could do.
In 1868, Edison moved East and began to work for the Western Union Company in Boston, Massachusetts as a telegraph operator. He worked twelve hours a day, six days a week, and continued to "moonlight" on his own projects. Within six months, he had applied for and received his first patent for an electric vote recorder. It made the voting process faster but he could not find buyers. Then, Edison moved to New York and began to work for a company fixing their machines. At night, he continued to work on his projects.
In 1876 Edison used the money from his inventions to start his own laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. In 1877~78, he invented there the carbon microphone, which made the sound for Alexander Graham Bell's new telephone invention louder. In 1877, Edison invented the phonograph, the first machine that could record and play sound. The phonograph made him internationally famous. How ever a new discovery proved that the French inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville invented sound recording before Edison. In 1879, Edison made a light bulb that lasted longer. Another invention, the electric power distribution network, lasted even longer.
He married Mary Stilwell in 1871. He had three children in that marriage: Marion Estelle Edison (also called Dot), Thomas Alva Edison, Jr. (also called Dash) and William Leslie Edison. Mary Stilwell died in 1884. Thomas Edison bought some land in Florida and built a house. When he was thirty-nine, Edison married his second wife, Mina Miller, who was 19. He had 3 children in that marriage: Madeleine Edison, Charles Edison (who took over the company when his father died and was later elected Governor of New Jersey), and Theodore Miller Edison.
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes is a condition that results from lack of the hormone insulin in a person's blood, or when the body has a problem using the insulin it produces ("insulin resistance"). There is another disease with a similar name, diabetes insipidus, however, they are not related. When people say "diabetes", they usually mean diabetes mellitus. People with diabetes "Mellitus" are called "diabetics".
Glucose is not regular sugar that is available in stores and supermarkets. Glucose is a natural carbohydrate that our bodies use as a source of energy. The kind of sugar sold in supermarkets is called sucrose, and is much different from glucose. High concentrations of glucose can be found in soft drinks and fruits.
The glucose level in the blood is controlled by several hormones. Hormones are chemicals in the body that send messages from cells to other cells. Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. When you eat, the pancreas makes insulin to send a message to other cells in the body. This insulin tells the cells to take up glucose from the blood. The glucose is used by cells for energy. Extra glucose that is not needed right away is stored in some cells as glycogen. When you are not eating, cells break down the stored glycogen into glucose to use as energy.
Type 1 diabetes Mellitus happens when the part of the pancreas that makes insulin is destroyed by that person’s own immune system. When the pancreas does not make insulin, glucose – sugar – in the blood cannot get into the parts of the body that need sugar to live. In order to live, a person with type 1 diabetes must take insulin for the rest of their life. They need to check their blood sugar level on a regular basis, often, many times each day.
Type 1 diabetes happens most of the time in younger people, however, it can occur in adults, although this is much less common. About 1 out of every 10 people with diabetes have type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes Mellitus is an illness very different from type 1 diabetes. In type 2 diabetes, the person makes insulin, but either the insulin does not work in that person’s body as it should, or they do not make enough insulin to process the glucose. When insulin does not work as it should, glucose (sugar) in the blood cannot get into the parts of the body that need sugar.
Gestational diabetes mellitus is like type 2 diabetes. It happens to some women when they are pregnant.
Other types of diabetes include but are not limited to:
Type 2 diabetes happens most of the time in an older person who is overweight.
The onset of symptoms in type 1 diabetes usually happens suddenly. In type 2 diabetes, there may be mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. Making it much harder to detect.
Complications are problems that happen because of a disease. In the case of diabetes, there are two kinds of complications. The first kind happens quickly and can be dealt with quickly. This kind is called an "acute complication". The other kind is caused by the blood glucose being too high for many years, and is called a "chronic complication" or "long-term complication".
Excess blood glucose is called 'hyperglycemia'. If very high, it can cause acute complications. In type 1 diabetics, one of these complications is "diabetic ketoacidosis" which is a medical emergency and can often be detected by a fruity smell on the breath. Another acute complication, more common in type 2 diabetics, is "non-ketotic hyperosmolar coma" which is also very dangerous.
Too low blood glucose is called "hypoglycemia". It can also cause acute complications. If too low, diabetics can have many symptoms such as sweating, trembling, anger (or feeling passive), and possibly even passing out. Diabetics with hypoglycemia may be confused or even unconscious. They may appear to have drunk too much alcohol. Severe hypoglycemia is very dangerous and can cause death. The best treatment of hypoglycemia is avoiding it. If it happens, eating food containing glucose (for example, table sugar) usually improves the condition quickly. Sometimes it is treated by giving an injection of a medicine called 'glucagon'. Glucagon is a hormone made by the pancreas. It has the opposite effect of insulin. Administering glucagon will cause the blood glucose level to rise by forcing stored glucose into the blood. Hypoglycemia is usually caused by too much diabetic medication, insufficient food, too much exercise, or a combination of these.
Chronic complications are mostly caused by hyperglycemia (but not high enough to always cause acute complications). It causes damage to blood vessels and nerves. Damage to blood vessels can eventually cause strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, blindness, slow healing of skin breaks - with the added possibility of infection - and even amputations from poor circulation (decreased blood flow, usually to the feet and toes). Damage to nerves can make diabetics not feel pain (this usually happens in their feet). This causes them to have more injuries and not realize they have hurt themselves. Damage to nerves can also cause pain even when there's no real injury. It's a type of "phantom pain" or "ghost pain". The pain can be so intense that strong pain medication may be required.
Because of the damage caused by high blood glucose, it is important to treat diabetes mellitus. The goal is to maintain a normal blood glucose level. The normal range for blood glucose is 80-120 mg/dL (milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood) or 3.5-7 mmol/l (millimole per liter of blood). These are different ways of saying the same thing, much like yards and meters are different units of distance measurement.
Diabetics should check their blood glucose often. This is to make sure they do not get hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. A glucometer is a battery-powered measuring device that checks the blood glucose level. Diabetics often carry a glucometer with them and check their blood sugar level several times a day. They may also suffer severe constipation and frequent urination.
Doctors may also use a blood test called a "hemoglobin A1C". This is sometimes written Hgb-A1C or other ways; there's no standard name. This tells the doctor what the average blood glucose has been for about the past 90 days. If the level has been too high, it may indicate new medication, different medication dosages, or a better diet may be needed.
Diabetics must be monitored for signs of complications due to diabetes. They should see an eye doctor regularly to be checked for damage to the blood vessels in the eyes. If this is not found and treated early, it can cause blindness. They should have their urine or blood checked regularly for signs of kidney damage. They must check their feet for cuts, bruises, blisters, and so on at least every day. And they should have their feet checked regularly for nerve damage, circulation problems, and infections.
The most important goal in diabetes is to keep the blood glucose level as close to normal as possible. Taking care of your Diabetes levels requires awareness. You should be aware of the status of your blood sugar like when there is a rise or a fall. Since it usually goes up after eating, and down after exercise, coping with it sensibly is often complex, and usually takes care and thought. Treatment differs between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes are treated with insulin. People with type 2 usually begin with diet, exercise, and weight loss, perhaps moving to medication (and, though not as common, insulin).
Education is important for both types of diabetes. Diabetics must learn about diet. They learn how to estimate and keep track of how much carbohydrate, protein, and fat are in different foods. They plan their meals to have the right amount of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Patients with type 1 may decide how much insulin to take before a meal based on how much they will eat.
Diabetics must also be careful about exercise. Exercise is important to stay healthy, but intense or extended periods of exercise can cause hypoglycemia. As a result, diabetics must plan exercise carefully.
In addition to controlling blood glucose levels, other treatments may be needed. Diabetics often have blood vessel diseases, so it is important to pay attention to other diseases that may affect blood vessels. In people with diabetes, treating high blood pressure (hypertension) and high cholesterol is more important than usual. Both of these diseases damage blood vessels. The treatment goals can change for diabetics. For instance, in people without diabetes, blood pressure should be 140/90 or less. In diabetics, it should be 130/80 or less.
18th century
The 18th century was the century from 1701 to 1800.
Lots of things happened in the 18th century. In warfare, pikes were not used anymore and the most popular type of gun was a Flintlock Musket. The most important war was the seven years war. England united with Scotland and conquered India, the USA got independence from Britain and the first fleet arrived in Australia. At the end of the century France had a revolution which would lead to Napoleon becoming the ruler of France in the next century.
Note: years before or after the 18th century are in italics.
17th century
The 17th century was the century from 1601 to 1700.
Note: years before or after the 17th century are in italics.
Victor Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, statesman and human rights activist. He played an important part in the Romantic movement in France.
Hugo first became famous in France because of his poetry, as well as his novels and his plays. "Les Contemplations" and "La Légende des siècles" are his most famous poetry collections. Outside of France, his novels "Les Misérables" and "Notre-Dame de Paris" (known in English also as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame") are his most famous works.
When he was young, he was a conservative royalist. As he got older he became more liberal and supported republicanism. His work was about many of the political and social problems as well as the artistic trends of his time. He is buried in the Panthéon, in Paris.
Victor Hugo was the son of Joseph Léopold Sigisbert Hugo (1773–1828) and Sophie Trébuchet (1772-1821). He had two older brothers called Abel Joseph Hugo (1798–1855) and Eugène Hugo (1800–1837). He was born in 1802, in Besançon (in the Doubs department). Hugo lived in France for most of his life. During the reign of Napoleon III he went into exile. In 1851, he lived in Belgium, in Brussels.He moved to Jersey in 1852. He stayed there until 1855 when he went to live in Guernsey until 1870. He lived there again in 1872-1873. From 1859, his exile was by choice.
Some great events marked Hugo's early childhood. A few years before his birth, the Bourbon Dynasty was overthrown during the French Revolution. The First Republic rose and fell and the First French Empire rose under the rule of Napoléon Bonaparte. Napoléon became Emperor two years after Hugo's birth. The Bourbon Monarchy was restored when Hugo was 17. His parents had different political and religious views. Hugo's father was an officer. He ranked very high in Napoléon's army. He was an atheist republican and considered Napoléon a hero. His mother was an extreme Catholic Royalist. As Hugo's father was an officer, the family moved frequently. Victor Hugo learned a lot from these travels. He stayed in Naples and Rome for six months, before going back to Paris. He was only five at the time, but he remembered the trip well.
His mother, Sophie, went to Italy with her husband who was a governor of a province near Naples. They also went to Spain where Joseph governed three Spanish provinces. Sophie separated temporarily from her husband in 1803, as it was a difficult life. She settled in Paris. This meant she dominated Hugo's education. Therefore, Hugo's early work, mainly in poetry, show him praising monarchism and faith. The 1848 Revolution made Hugo rebel against his Catholic Royalist education. After that revolution, he preferred republicanism and freethought.
When he was young, Victor Hugo fell in love. He became secretly engaged to his childhood friend Adèle Foucher (1803-1868), against his mother's wishes.
He married Adèle in 1822, after his mother's death in 1821. Their first child, Léopold (born in 1823), died in infancy. Hugo had four other children called Léopoldine (28 August 1824), Charles (4 November 1826), François-Victor (28 October 1828) and Adèle (24 August 1830). Hugo published his first novel in 1823 ("Han d'Islande"). His second came three years later ("Bug-Jargal", 1826). He published five more volumes of poetry ("Les Orientales", 1829; "Les Feuilles d'automne", 1831; "Les Chants du crépuscule", 1835; "Les Voix intérieures", 1837; and "Les Rayons et les ombres", 1840) between 1829 and 1840. This helped his reputation as one of the greatest elegiac and lyric poets of his time.
The death of his oldest and favourite daughter, Léopoldine, made Hugo very sad. She died at the age of 19, in 1843. This was only shortly after her marriage. She drowned in the Seine at Villequier. Her heavy skirts pulled her down, when a boat overturned. Her husband died as he tried to save her. At the time; Victor Hugo was travelling with his mistress in the south of France. He learned about Léopoldine's death from a newspaper when he was sitting in a café. He describes his shock and grief in his poem "À Villequier":
"Hélas ! vers le passé tournant un oeil d'envie,"
"Sans que rien ici-bas puisse m'en consoler,"
"Je regarde toujours ce moment de ma vie"
"Où je l'ai vue ouvrir son aile et s'envoler !"
"Je verrai cet instant jusqu'à ce que je meure,"
"L'instant, pleurs superflus !"
"Où je criai : L'enfant que j'avais tout à l'heure,"
"Quoi donc ! je ne l'ai plus !"
Alas! turning an envious eye towards the past,
unconsolable by anything on earth,
I keep looking at that moment of my life
when I saw her open her wings and fly away!
I will see that instant until I die,
that instant—too much for tears!
when I cried out: "The child that I had just now--
what! I don't have her any more!"
After this, he wrote many poems about his daughter's life and death. One of his most famous poem is probably "Demain, dès l'aube". In this poem, he describes visiting her grave.
François-René de Chateaubriand, the famous Romantic writer, influenced Hugo during the early 1800s. When Hugo was young, he said he would be "Chateaubriand ou rien" (“Chateaubriand or nothing”). Many things Chateaubriand did, Hugo copied. First, he defended the cause of Romanticism. Then, he became involved in politics and supported Republicanism. Finally, he was forced into exile because of his political views. Hugo's passion and eloquence in his early work made him successful and famous at an early age. His first collection of poetry ("Odes et poésies diverses") was published in 1822. At the time, Hugo was only twenty years old. It earned him a "royal pension" (money from the king) from Louis XVIII. His poems were admired but it was his next collection, four years later in 1826 ("Odes et Ballades") which revealed Hugo to be a great poet.