AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Within a year, Germany had conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, and France. Britain supported the countries attacked by Germany but found herself on her own by June 1940 when Germany had conquered most of western Europe.
As the war went on, things began to go badly wrong for the "Luftwaffe". A key event was the Battle of Britain, which was the effort by the Luftwaffe to destroy British industry, and to terrorise the civilian population. Despite destroying major parts of British industry and housing, the Luftwaffe eventually withdrew. The cost to the Luftwaffe of lost planes and skilled men was great.
Not only that, but Germany was suffering a shortage of materials needed to build the aeroplanes. Things got worse for the Germans when the USA joined the war in December 1941, because the Americans brought bombers to the United Kingdom, and they attacked Germany from there. Soon, hundreds of American and British bombers were attacking Germany every day and night. The Luftwaffe was unable to stop British and American planes from attacking German aircraft factories and other industrial targets in large numbers at night.
Germany could not hope to win the war on the ground. Since Russia was so huge, the government set up factories hundreds of miles away from the fighting in order to build aeroplanes, tanks, guns and other weapons for the Russian Army. This meant that the Russians would eventually start to push the Germans back west, especially after they defeated the Germans in great battles near the city of Kursk and in the city of Stalingrad itself (Volgograd). The Germans also failed to conquer the city of Leningrad, which was also a key battle.
On January 1 1945 the Luftwaffe launched a desperate plan called operation 'Bodenplatte' (Baseplate), a dawn air attack aimed at multiple Allied air bases in Belgium & Holland. Over 800 German aircraft were rounded up with many veteran pilots retired from combat duty pressesd back into service.
The plan cost more than it was worth, with over 280 German planes lost and 213 irreplaceble pilots killed or captured. As with the fog of war, over 100 German planes were shot down by their own ground fire who were not in on the plan.
Germany became famous as the country which flew the first jet aeroplanes. In 1944, the Luftwaffe started to use the world’s first operational jet fighter plane, the Messerschmitt Me-262, even though the engines sometimes did not work properly. Once again, the shortage of materials needed to build the plane as well as the continuing bombing of Germany meant that not as many Me-262s were built as Germany would have liked. Even so, Germany also built and flew the world's first jet bomber, the Arado Ar 234, the world’s first fighter plane powered by a rocket, the Messerschmitt Me-163, the V-1 flying bomb, and V-2 rocket.
After the war the allies were quite impressed with Germany's technical know-how & got all they could from the vast array of Luftwaffe aircraft strewn across Germany.
Once again, the Allies prohibited Germany from having an air force. The Russians were in the eastern half of Germany, and this half became East Germany. The British, French and Americans were in the western half, and this half became West Germany. These became countries in their own right, and East Germany became a Russian puppet state. In case a new war started with Russia and East Germany as enemies, the Western Allies finally allowed West Germany to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), an organization of western countries which wanted there to be peace throughout the world. NATO allowed West Germany to have an air force because the country was right next to East Germany.
Germany used military aircraft in war for the first time since 1945 when they supported British aircraft in the war in Kosovo in 1999, but many people still believed that Germany should never again go to war because of what had happened in the two world wars.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band, (not bebop). It was founded in 1964.
The original line-up was Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker. They were discovered by the famous artist, Andy Warhol, who produced and designed the cover for their first album "The Velvet Underground and Nico", which paired them with another discovery of his, German model/singer, Nico. The album was never really a hit, but it is now considered a classic.
Later, the group broke up with Warhol and Nico after being a part of Andy Warhol's Factory for a while. The group released several more albums, "White Light/White Heat" (1967), "The Velvet Underground" (1969), "Loaded" (1970), and "Squeeze" (which features none of the original members, 1973), before finally breaking up. Lou Reed later had a successful solo career and is considered one of the founders of the "punk" movement.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often called JFK and Jack, was the 35th President of the United States. He was in office from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the youngest President elected to the office, at the age of 43. Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War. He was the youngest President of the United States to die in office.
Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917. He was the second of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy (1888–1969). His father was a businessman and later US ambassador in the United Kingdom from 1938 until 1940. His mother was Rose Fitzgerald (1890–1995). The family was Roman Catholic.
Kennedy graduated from Harvard University with a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations. Before World War II began, he tried joining the U.S. Army, but was rejected because he had back problems; he instead joined the Navy. When his PT boat was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in 1943, he seriously injured his back. He still saved his surviving crew, for which he was later rewarded with a medal for his bravery.
He was elected to the US Congress in 1946, and the US Senate in 1952. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. The couple had four children; a stillborn daughter (b. 1956), Caroline (b. 1957), John (1960–1999) and Patrick, who was born prematurely in August 1963 and lived only for two days.
Kennedy was a member of the United States Democratic Party. He beat his Republican Party opponent, Richard Nixon, in the 1960 presidential election. Kennedy was the youngest president ever elected. He was also the first Roman Catholic President and the first president to win a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy was a very good speaker and inspired a new generation of young Americans.
In the beginning of his term, he approved the CIA's plan to invade Cuba. After the invasion turned out to be a failure, the Cuban Missile Crisis began. During the crisis, Cuba ordered a lot of nuclear missiles from the Soviet Union. It was the closest the world was to having a nuclear war. Kennedy ordered US Navy ships to surround Cuba. He ended the crisis peacefully by making an agreement with the Soviet Union. They agreed that the Soviet Union would stop selling nuclear weapons to Cuba. In return, the U.S. would take its missiles out of Turkey and promise to never invade Cuba again.
He also created a plan called the New Frontier. This was a series of government programs, such as urban renewal, to help poor and working class people. He created the Peace Corps to help poor countries all over the world. He agreed to a large tax cut to help the economy. He also called for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would make discrimination and segregation illegal. Kennedy intended to reach a détente with Cuban Premier, Fidel Castro, and to withdraw all US military advisers from Vietnam.
Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. He was being driven through the city in an open-top car, along with John Connally, the Governor of Texas. As the car drove into Dealey Plaza, shots were fired. Kennedy was shot once in the throat and once in the head. He was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital away. At 1:00 p.m., Kennedy was pronounced dead.
Lee Harvey Oswald, a former U.S. Marine, was the prime suspect in the murder, and he was arrested on the same day for the murder of a policeman called J. D. Tippit. Oswald denied shooting anyone and was killed two days later on November 24 by Jack Ruby.
Kennedy had a state funeral on November 25, three days after his murder, near to the White House. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
After Kennedy died, Lyndon Johnson (his Vice President) took over and put many of Kennedy's ideas into law (see Great Society).
Kennedy was a very popular president and still is today. He is considered one of the greatest presidents, ranking highly in public surveys and opinion polls.
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä is the capital of the Finnish province Central Finland by the northern end of lake Päijänne. There are almos about 135.000 inhabitants in Jyväskylä in April 2014. Neighbouring municipalities are Joutsa, Toivakka, Jämsä, Luhanka, Muurame, Petäjävesi, Laukaa and Uurainen.
The University of Jyväskylä is popular and respected.
In 2009, Jyväskylän maalaiskunta and Korpilahti merged to Jyväskylä.
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was a British movie director who later became an American citizen but still kept his British citizenship. He mostly made mystery and suspense movies. Despite having a successful career, Hitchcock never won an Academy Award.
Hitchcock started his career in England, starting with silent movies in the 1920s. In the 1930s, he made some successful movies like "The Man Who Knew Too Much" (1934), "The 39 Steps" (1935) and "The Lady Vanishes" (1938). He then moved to the United States, to work in Hollywood. His first American movie was "Rebecca" (1940), which won an Academy Award.
Some of his best known movies from the 1940s are "Spellbound" (1945) and "Notorious" (1946), which were inspired by psychoanalysis. His first movie in color was the experimental "Rope" (1948). "Strangers on a Train" (1951) was based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith. In the 1950s, he made three popular movies with Grace Kelly: "Dial M for Murder" (1954), "Rear Window" (1954) and "To Catch a Thief" (1955). In 1956 he made a new version of "The Man Who Knew Too Much", starring James Stewart and Doris Day. He returned to black-and-white, briefly, with "The Wrong Man" (1957). Then came "Vertigo" (1958), which some consider his best suspense movie. It was followed by three more successful movies: "North by Northwest" (1959), "Psycho" (1960) and "The Birds" (1963). After that he only made 5 more movies: "Marnie" (1964), "Torn Curtain" (1966), "Topaz" (1969), "Frenzy" (1972) and "Family Plot" (1976). In 1971 he became the very first winner of the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award. This is an award for lifetime achievement.
In 1945 Hitchcock made a documentary about the Holocaust. It will be shown on British television in 2015.
Hitchcock appeared very quickly in small roles in most of his movies.
He also hosted a TV show, "Alfred Hitchcock Presents".
Hithcock was born in Leytonstone, Essex. He was a Roman Catholic. He was married to Alma Reville, who helped write some of his movies. They had a daughter, Patricia. He died in Bel Air, Los Angeles.
1659 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.
Black comedy
Black comedy (also known as dark comedy or dark humor) is getting humor (something funny or comical) from something serious. It is known for its use of very sensitive subjects, such as war, tragedy, disease, death and suffering of the innocent. Black comedy is also a form of satire that uses irony and mocking. It may cause a wide variety of emotional reactions.
The term "black humor" (from the French "humour noir") was coined by the surrealist André Breton in 1935.
Some famous examples of black comedy include:
Elliott Gould
Elliot Gould (born as Elliott Goldstein August 29, 1938) is an American actor. He was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He is mostly known for his roles in many films including "M*A*S*H" (1970), "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1970), and "Ocean's Eleven" (2001). He has also made guest appearances on many television such as Jack Geller in "Friends".
Gould's parents were Jewish; Gould says he has a very deep Jewish identity. He married singer and actress Barbra Streisand in 1963. The couple separated in 1969 and divorced in 1971. Their son is actor Jason Gould (born 1966).
A mathematical equation is an expression containing two mathematical objects connected by an equals sign (=) . The equals sign says that both sides are exactly equal, or of the same value. An equation can be as simple as x=0, or as complex as formula_1 or harder.
There are two kinds of mathematical equations:
The second kind is often used to solve problems in which finding the value of some variables is involved. For example, if
The second kind of equation is used in algebra. For example, to solve the equation 2x = 8 for x, one would follow an algebraic rule to find that x = 4.
Equations can be classified by the types of operations and quantities involved. For example:
1961 (MCMLXI) was . Its rendering using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system creates a numeral which looks the same when put upside down. The next such year will be 6009.
1968 (MCMLXVIII) was .
A canteen can be:
Beadle
A beadle is someone who works at a church or a Jewish synagogue and helps the clergy. A beadle's main job is to show people to their seats and to keep order during church services.
Like many words that describe a person's job, the word beadle can also be used as a last name.
Vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are eaten by humans as food as part of a meal. This meaning is often used: it is applied to plants to mean all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, leaves, roots, and seeds.
Carrots and potatoes are parts of the root of the plants, but since they are eaten by humans, they are vegetables. They are not in the same category as a fruit, nut, herb, spice, or grain. Though tomatoes are often thought of as vegetables, but because they have seeds, they are, botanically, fruits. Vegetables are an important part of people's diet. Vegetables and fruits are sometimes called produce. Vegetables have vitamins A, B, C, D, minerals and carbohydrates.
The USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends eating five to nine servings of fruit and vegetables everyday. The total amount eaten varies depending on age and gender.
The word vegetable was first recorded in English in the early 15th century. It comes from Old French. It is gotten from Medieval Latin vegetabilis "growing, flourishing" (i.e. of a plant).
The meaning of "vegetable" as a "plant grown for food" was not accepted until the 18th century. The year 1955 saw the first use of the slang term "veggie".
The word "vegetable" can also be used to mean plants in general, such as when people say "Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral."
However, in an Asian context, 'vegetable' may mean any plant produce, apart from grain and nuts, that is eaten cooked, while only the fruits eaten raw are considered as 'fruits'. For example, an artichoke is thought to be a vegetable, while a melon has the features of a fruit.
"Fruit" has a botanical meaning. Peaches, plums, and oranges are known as "fruits". Many plants commonly called "vegetables", such as eggplants, bell peppers, and tomatoes, are fruits in botany. The question of is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable was asked in the United States Supreme Court in 1893. The court ruled that a tomato is, and thus taxed as, a vegetable. This was for the Tariff of 1883 on imported produce. But the court knew that a tomato is a fruit in botany.
Before agriculture, humans were hunter-gatherers. They looked for fruit, nuts, stems, leaves, corms, and tubers, scavenged for dead animals and hunted living ones for food. Growing crops in a forest clearing is thought to be the first example of agriculture. Useful types of plant were grown while unwanted plants were removed. Plant breeding through the selection of plant with wanted characteristics such as large fruit and fast growth soon started.
It is likely that many people around the world started growing crops in the period 10,000 BC to 7,000 BC. Subsistence agriculture was the earliest form of agriculture. It involves the growing of crops by people to produce enough food for their families. Anything left is used for exchange for other goods.
Throughout history, the rich have been able to afford different kinds of food including meat, vegetables and fruit. But for poor people, the food they ate was very dull. It is usually made up of mainly some staple product made from rice, rye, barley, wheat, millet or maize. The addition of vegetable gave some variety to the diet.
Vegetables are very important in human nutrition. Most vegetables are low in calories but are large and filling. They are a source of dietary fiber, essential vitamins, minerals, and trace elements.
When people eat more vegetables, it reduces the incidence of cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic ailments. The amount of nutrients of each vegetable is different. Some have useful amounts of protein though and varying proportions of vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin B, provitamins, minerals; and carbohydrates.
Vegetables are commonly eaten raw. It may become contaminated when they are made by an infected food handler. Hygiene is important when handling foods to be eaten raw. These vegetables need to be properly cleaned, handled, and stored to stop contamination.
Vegetables have been big part of what humans eat. Some vegetables are perennial crops but most are annual and biennial crops. Cultivation of vegetables follows a particular pattern. The pattern is usually followed like this:
On a small garden, tools like the spade, fork, and hoe are used. On commercial farms, mechanical equipments are used. These include tractors, ploughs, harrows, transplanters, cultivators, irrigation equipment, and harvesters.
When a vegetable has matured it is ready to be harvested for storage or sale. There should be little damage and bruising to the crop when harvesting. Before storage or sale, damaged goods should be removed and produce should be picked according to its quality, size, ripeness, and color.
All vegetables have to be stored to make them available all year round. A large proportion of vegetables are lost after harvest during the storage period. The main causes of loss include spoilage caused by moisture, moulds, micro-organisms, and pests.
Storage can be short-term or long-term. During storage, leafy vegetables lose moisture, and the vitamin C in them is lost quickly.
Cold storage is useful for vegetables like cauliflower, eggplant, lettuce, radish, spinach, potatoes, and tomatoes. Storage of fruit and vegetables in controlled atmospheres with high levels of carbon dioxide or high oxygen levels can stop microorganisms from growing.
The reason why vegetables are preserved is to make them available all year round. The goal is to harvest the food when it is mature with a high nutritional value, and preserve these qualities for a longer period of time. The main causes of spoilage during storage are the actions of naturally-occurring enzymes and micro-organisms. There are many ways to preserve vegetables and they are:
In 2010, China was the largest vegetable producing nation, with over half the world's production. India, the United States, Turkey, Iran, and Egypt were the next largest producers. Here is a table with the needed information.
Olivine
Olivine (or chrysolite) is a silicate mineral made of magnesium iron silicate with the formula (Mg,Fe)2SiO4.
It ranges in colour from chartreuse green to pale olive. In its gem form, it is called peridot.
Dunite is a rock of 90%+ olivine. Dunite and other peridotite rocks are major constituents of the Earth's mantle above a depth of about 400 kilometers. Dunite is rarely found on land, except where slabs of mantle rock from a subduction zone have been thrust onto continental crust.
Olivine has also been found at several extraterrestrial locations, such as the moon and many passing space rocks - as well as the outer layers of dust orbiting young stars.
30 BC
January 29
An economy is a system of making and trading things of value. It is usually divided into goods (physical things) and services (things done by people). It assumes there is medium of exchange, which in the modern world is a system of finance. This makes trade possible. The alternative systems of barter – exists only on a very small scale.
To better understand how the economy works, it can be discussed in three sections. These are:
The term 'real economy' is sometimes used to mean the part of the economy concerned with goods and services. This is contrasted with the 'paper economy', the financial side of the economy, which buys and sells on the financial markets.
The word 'economy' comes from the Greek word "οἰκονόμος". This means "person who manages the house".
March 7
September 19
An engine, or motor, is a machine used to change energy into movement that can be used. The energy can be in any form. Common forms of energy used in engines are electricity, chemical (such as petrol or diesel) or heat. When a chemical is used to produce energy it is known as "fuel".
In past centuries "motor" and "engine" meant very different things. A motor was made to move something such as a vehicle. This meaning is still often used. Sometimes a thing is called an engine if it creates mechanical energy from heat, and a motor if it creates mechanical energy from other kinds of energy, like electricity. Typical "engines" in this meaning are steam engine and internal combustion engine, while typical "motors" are electric motor and hydraulic motor. And sometimes the two words mean the same thing.
"Engine" was originally a term for any mechanical device that converts force into motion. Hence, pre-industrial weapons such as catapults, trebuchets and battering rams were called "siege engines". The word "gin," as in "cotton gin", is short for "engine." The word derives from Old French "engin", from the Latin "ingenium", which is also the root of the word "ingenious". Most mechanical devices invented during the industrial revolution were described as engines—the steam engine being a notable example.
Early kinds of engine used heat that was outside of the engine itself to heat up a gas to a high pressure. This was usually steam and the engines are called steam engines. The steam was piped to the engine where it pushed on pistons to bring about motion. These engines were commonly used in old factories, boats and trains.
Most cars use a chemical engine that burns fuel inside it. This is called an internal combustion engine. There are many different types of internal combustion engine. They can be grouped by fuel, cycle and configuration. Common fuel types for internal combustion engines are petrol, diesel, autogas and alcohol. There are many other types of fuels.
There are 3 different types of cycle. 2-stroke engines produce power once every turn of the engine. 4-stroke engines cylinders make power once every two turns of the engine. 6-stroke engines cylinders make power twice in every six turns of the engine.
There are lots of different configurations of piston engines. Their cylinders have pistons in them and a crankshaft. Any number of cylinders can be used but 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 are common. The cylinders can be arranged in many ways, in a straight line, at an angle to each other or in a circle.
A Wankel engine has no cylinders and uses a triangle shaped rotor spinning in an oval housing which mimics the movement of a piston.
Hot gas can also be made to push a turbine around rather like the way the wind turns a windmill. Most electric power stations use big steam turbines. Others use water or wind turbines. Smaller turbines called gas turbines are used for internal combustion engines, such as the jet engines used in aircraft.
A rocket causes movement by shooting jets of gas very fast out of a nozzle. The gas may have been stored under pressure or be a chemical fuel that burns to make a very hot gas. Although they are very simple, rockets are the most powerful engines we know how to make. They will work in space where there is nothing to push against.
Electric motors do not use a fuel. The energy is supplied to them by electricity carried along wires. The energy may come from a fuel being burnt somewhere else a long way off. The electricity is used to make powerful magnets inside the motor switch on and off at the right time to turn the shaft of the motor.
"Electric engine" is not a motor, but a railway locomotive which runs on electricity.
Belarus (officially called Republic of Belarus) is a country in Eastern Europe. About nine million people live there. Its capital is Minsk. It was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. The president of Belarus has been Alexander Lukashenko since 1994. It is bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Over forty percent of its is forested.
The State is a member of the UN, the CIS, Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Union State of Russia and Belarus (from 2 April 1997), as well as a member of other international organizations.
Until the 20th century, the lands of modern-day Belarus belonged to several countries. These included the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. After the Russian Revolution, Belarus became part of the Soviet Union. It was renamed the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR). The borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939. Some lands of the Second Polish Republic were added into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland. The nation and its territory were devastated in World War II. Belarus lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. In 1945 the Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.
The parliament of the republic declared the sovereignty of Belarus on 1990. During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Belarus became independent on 1991.
Over 70% of Belarus's population of 9.49 million live in the urban areas. More than 80% of the population are ethnic Belarusians. Most of the rest are Russians, Poles and Ukrainians. The country has two official languages: Belarusian and Russian. The main religion in the country is Russian Orthodox Christianity. The second most popular, Roman Catholicism, has a much smaller following.
Both Homo erectus and Neanderthal remains have been found in the region. From 5,000 to 2,000 BCE, Bandkeramik cultures lived here. Cimmerians were in the area by 1,000 BCE. By 500 BCE, Slavs moved in. The Huns and Avars came through around 400–600 CE. They were unable to move the Slavs.
The region that is now Belarus was first settled by Slavic tribes in the 6th century. They came into contact with the Varangians, who were bands of Scandinavian warriors and traders. They formed Kievan Rus' in 862.
When Kievan Rus' ruler Yaroslav I the Wise died, the state split. Later some were added into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lithuania made a union with Poland. The union ended in 1795. The land of Belarus went to the Russian Empire. The land stayed with Russia until going to the German Empire during World War I.
Belarus said they were free from Germany on 1918. They formed the Belarusian People's Republic. Then the Polish–Soviet War started. A part of Belarus under Russian rule became the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1919. Then it added to the Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Other lands were divided between Poland and the Soviet Union after the war ended in 1921. The Belorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. The western part of modern Belarus stayed part of Poland.
In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland. This was the beginning of World War II. Parts of Poland were added to the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. They are now West Belarus.
Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. BSSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II. During that time, Germany destroyed 209 out of 290 cities in the republic, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. Casualties were between two and three million. The population of Belarus did not come back to its pre-war level until 1971.
Joseph Stalin wanted Belorussian SSR to be more Russian. Russians were sent from other parts of the Soviet Union to be in the government. The use of the Belarusian language was limited. After Stalin's death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued the plan.
In 1986, the Belorussian SSR had nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in neighboring Ukrainian SSR.
Belarus said it was free on 1990. With the support of the Communist Party, the country's name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on 1991.
Belarus is landlocked and mostly flat. It has a lot of marshy land. Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus. Three major rivers run through the country: the Neman, the Pripyat, and the Dnieper.
The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara at . Belarus has a hemiboreal humid continental climate ("Dfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).
Natural resources include peat deposits, small amounts of oil and natural gas, granite, dolomite (limestone), marl, chalk, sand, gravel, and clay. About 70% of the radiation from neighboring Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster entered Belarusian territory. The farmland continues to be affected by radiation fallout.
Belarus is a presidential republic. It is governed by a president and the National Assembly.
Lukashenko has described himself as having an "authoritarian ruling style". Western countries have described Belarus under Lukashenko as a dictatorship. The Council of Europe has stopped Belarus from membership since 1997 for undemocratic voting.
The Armed Forces of Belarus have three branches: the Army, the Air Force, and the Ministry of Defense joint staff. Lieutenant General Yuri Zhadobin heads the Ministry of Defense. Alexander Lukashenko (as president) is Commander-in-Chief.
Belarus is divided into six regions. They are named after the cities that are their administrative centers.
Regions (with administrative centers):
Special administrative district:
Most of the Belarusian economy is state-controlled. It has been described as "Soviet-style." The country relies on Russia for some imports, including petroleum. As of 1994, Belarus's main exports included heavy machinery (especially tractors), agricultural products, and energy products.
According to 2009 census, the population is 9,503,807. Ethnic Belarusians are 83.7% of Belarus' total population. The next largest ethnic groups are: Russians (8.3%), Poles (3.1%), and Ukrainians (1.7%). Minsk, the nation's capital and largest city, is home to 1,836,808 residents as of 2009. Gomel, with 481,000 people, is the second-largest city and is the capital of the Homiel Voblast. Other large cities are Mogilev (365,100), Vitebsk (342,400), Hrodna (314,800) and Brest (298,300). For other places in Belarus see List of settlements in Belarus.
Belarusian literature began with 11th- to 13th-century religious scripture. By the 16th century, Polotsk resident Francysk Skaryna translated the Bible into Belarusian. The modern era of Belarusian literature began in the late 19th century. One important writer was Yanka Kupala. Several poets and authors went into exile after the Nazi occupation of Belarus. They would not return until the 1960s. The last major revival of Belarusian literature was in the 1960s with novels published by Vasil Bykaŭ and Uladzimir Karatkievich.
In the 19th century, Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko made operas and chamber music pieces while living in Minsk. At the end of the 19th century, major Belarusian cities formed their own opera and ballet companies.
The National Academic Theatre of Ballet, in Minsk, was awarded the Benois de la Dance Prize in 1996 as the top ballet company in the world. Rock music has become more popular in recent years, though the Belarusian government has tried to limit the amount of foreign music aired on the radio. Since 2004, Belarus has been sending artists to the Eurovision Song Contest.
The traditional Belarusian dress is from the Kievan Rus' period. Due to the cool climate, clothes were made to keep body heat and were usually made from flax or wool.
Belarusian cuisine is mainly vegetables, meat (especially pork), and breads. Foods are usually either slowly cooked or stewed. A typical Belarusian eats a light breakfast and two hearty meals, with dinner being the largest meal of the day. Wheat and rye breads are eaten in Belarus. Rye is more plentiful because conditions are too harsh for growing wheat. To show hospitality, a host will give an offering of bread and salt when greeting a guest or visitor. Popular drinks in Belarus include Russian wheat vodka and "kvass", Kvass is a drink made from fermented malted brown bread or rye flour. "Kvass" may also be added with sliced vegetables to create a cold soup called "okroshka".
Belarus has four World Heritage Sites: the Mir Castle Complex, the Nesvizh Castle, the Belovezhskaya Pushcha (shared with Poland), and the Struve Geodetic Arc (shared with nine other countries).
Steam is the name given to water when it is in a gas form. Steam is sometimes thought of as a cloud of translucent mist, however that is only the result of the steam condensing in the air, forming water vapor. Actual hot steam is invisible.
When the pressure of the atmosphere is 1013 mbar (this is about the average pressure for a place which is at sea level), water will boil (turn into steam) at 100 degrees Celsius. This is the boiling point. Boiling happens in a boiler. 100 degrees Celsius is the same temperature as 212 degrees Fahrenheit, 80 degrees Réaumur and 373.15 Kelvin.
A major use of steam is to power steam engines. A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.
A steering wheel is a circular object used by the driver of a car or boat to change the direction it is moving.
The German Democratic Republic (GDR) ( ("DDR")), commonly called East Germany (), was founded on 7 October 1949, after World War II. It was formed from part of the Soviet occupation zone of Germany, including part of the city of Berlin. It is no longer a nation by itself since the two parts of Germany, East Germany and West Germany, reunified in 1990.
The GDR was ruled by the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).
After World War II, the four Allied Occupation Zones in Germany were each controlled by a different country. The countries that controlled these parts of Germany were France, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The French, American, and British parts of Germany formed West Germany (the "Bundesrepublik"). Part of the Soviet section became East Germany, and other parts became western Poland and small parts of other countries.
Walter Ulbricht, the head of the SED, also had a lot of power. Pieck died in 1960, and Ulbricht became "Chairman of the State Council". Now he was really the head of state.
On 13 August 1961, the Berlin Wall was built. Many people were shot dead by East German soldiers when they tried to escape the GDR. According to the SED this was to make it hard for American spies to use West Berlin as a place to work from, but it also made it hard for normal people to move between east and west.
After Mikhail Gorbachev had started "glasnost" and "perestroika" in the Soviet Union, many people in the GDR wanted reforms, too. In 1989, there were lots of demonstrations against the SED and for McDonalds and Nike. In the city of Leipzig, people met every Monday and demonstrated, and so these demonstrations are called "Montagsdemonstrationen" ("Monday Demonstrations"). Erich Honecker wished that the Soviets would use its army to suppress these demonstrations. The Soviet Union, with its own political and economical problems, refused and did not want to help Eastern Europe anymore. Honecker was eventually forced to resign on October 18, 1989.
Egon Krenz was elected by the politburo to be Honecker's successor. Krenz tried to show that he was looking for change within the GDR but the citizens did not trust him. On November 9, 1989, the SED announced that East Germans would be able to travel to West Berlin the next day. The spokesman who announced the new travel law incorrectly said that it would take effect immediately, implying the Berlin Wall would open that night. People began to gather at border checkpoints at the wall hoping to be let through, but the guards told them that they had no orders to let citizens through. As the number of people grew, the guards became alarmed and tried to contact their superiors but had no responses. Unwilling to use force, the chief guard at the checkpoint relented at 10:54pm and ordered the gate to be opened. Thousands of East-Germans swarmed into West Berlin and the purpose of the wall was deemed now obsolete. The fall of the wall destroyed the SED politically as well as the career of its leader, Egon Krenz. On December 1, 1989, the GDR government revoked the law that guaranteed the SED the right to rule the East German political system, effectively ending communist rule in the GDR.
On 18 March 1990, there were free elections in the GDR. The "Alliance for Germany", a group of political parties who wanted to unify the GDR with West Germany, won that election. This process, when East Germany was taken over by the West, is known also the "Wende" in Germany.
In the German reunification, the GDR joined West Germany by approving its constitution in 1990. The East German districts were reorganised into the "Länder" (Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen) and joined West Germany, after which the GDR ceased to exist. Fidel Castro had long ago renamed the small Cuban island of Cayo Blanco del Sur and one of its beaches in honor of the GDR, though it remained part of Cuba.
Even though the western and the eastern part joined back together in 1990, people from former West Germany still call people from East Germany "Ossi". This comes from the German word "Osten" which means "East". Ossi is not always meant kindly.
After the reunification, many people became angry because the new government was from the west and didn't like East Germany. They closed down lots of the places people worked and tried to make it look like East Germany never existed. This made lots of people lose their jobs and become poor. Today lots of people who used to live in East Germany want it to come back. This is called "Ostalgie", which means "East nostalgia".
The leading role of the SED was written down in the constitution of the GDR. There were other parties in the GDR, which were called the "Blockparteien" ("block parties"), their job was mostly to cooperate with the SED:
The Ministry for State Security (in German: "Ministerium für Staatssicherheit"; often called "MfS" or "Stasi") was the East German secret police. It searched for people who were against the state, the SED and their politics. The MfS had many informants who told them when people said or did something against the state. There was a big MfS prison in the town of Bautzen.
East Germany was a member of the Warsaw Pact. The GDR was no longer protected by the USSR after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during his reforms in the late 1980s in what was known as the "Sinatra Doctrine".
In the GDR, there was a planned economy. All big factories and companies were in property of the state (officially "Volkseigentum", "people's property"). Only some small companies and shops were private property.
A famous relic of the GDR is the low-powered automobile "Trabant" or "Trabi".
Until 1964, East and West Germany took part in the Olympic Games with only one team for both states. Since 1968, East and West Germany had their own team each.
East German sportspeople were very successful, for example in athletics, cycling, boxing or some winter sports. Famous sportspeople from East Germany were Täve Schur (cycling), Waldemar Cierpinski (athletics), Heike Drechsler (athletics), Olaf Ludwig (cycling), Katarina Witt (ice skating) or Jens Weißflog (ski jumping).
A famous cycling race was the Peace Race (in German: "Friedensfahrt").
The East German national football team was not so successful. They were only in one FIFA World Cup. This was the 1974 FIFA World Cup, which took place in West Germany. On 22 June 1974, East Germany played against West Germany. Jürgen Sparwasser shot a goal and East Germany won 1-0.
Netball is a sport played in two teams of seven. It is like basketball except that bouncing the ball is not allowed. The player cannot step with the ball either, nor hold it for more than three seconds. The game proceeds by players throwing (passing) the ball to each other until one attempts to throw it through the hoop, known as a "shot".
There are 7 fixed positions on the court, which restrict the places where each player is allowed to go:
There are many rules in netball some of which are:
A netball court is 30.5m long and 15.25m wide. The longer sides are called the side lines and the shorter sides the goal lines. The court is divided into three equal parts, a centre third and two goal thirds. These sections are marked by two transverse lines parallel to the goal lines. Each third measures 10.167m wide.
The goal circle is a semi‑circle 4.9m in radius and its centre is the midpoint of the goal line. The centre circle is 0.9m in diameter and is marked in the centre of the court.
All lines are part of the court and 50mm wide, preferably white. It is recommended that they are a textured, water‑based acrylic, straight and have clean, crisp edges.
Atomic number
The atomic number (symbol: Z) of an atom is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. The atomic number of an atom identifies which element it is. In a neutral atom, the atomic number is equal to the number of electrons orbiting the nucleus. The elements of the periodic table are listed in order of increasing atomic number.
Atomic number is not the same as:
The atomic number of the periodic table directly corresponds to the number of protons which is in the atom. Once another proton is added, it is no longer the same element. The same cannot be applied to when another neutron or another electron is added. Adding more electrons will give the atom a negative charge and removing electrons will give the atom a positive charge. Metals tend to lose electrons, which creates a positive charge. Non-metals tend to gain electrons, forming a negative charge. Electrons are the foundation for determining how compounds are formed amongst atoms. Adding or removing neutrons within an atom changes its isotope. As an example, carbon-12 is the most stable isotope for a carbon atom. However, we can add two more neutrons and carbon-12 is now carbon-14, a less stable isotope of carbon. The number of an isotope directly correlates to the atomic mass of an element. The amount of neutrons in any given atom by subtracting the atomic number from the atomic mass.
Cardinal number
Cardinal numbers (or cardinals) are numbers that say "how many" of something there are, for example: one, two, three, four, five, six. They are sometimes called counting numbers.
The cardinality of a set is the cardinal number that tells us, roughly speaking, the size of the set.
In mathematics, people also study infinite cardinal numbers. The first infinite cardinal number was named formula_1 (pronounced "Aleph null", "Aleph-zero" or "Aleph-naught") by Georg Cantor. formula_1 is the number of numbers that are in the group 0, 1, 2, 3, ... (which goes on forever). Both the set of natural numbers and the set of rational numbers are of size formula_1 (that is, they are both countable).
Another infinite cardinal number is the number of numbers in the set of real numbers, and is represented by the symbol formula_4 (or formula_5, the cardinality of the continuum). Cantor proved that there are many different infinite cardinal numbers that are bigger than formula_1. A famous theorem of Cantor is that the cardinality of the real numbers is larger than the cardinality of the natural numbers. The continuum hypothesis is the statement that there is no middle cardinal number strictly between that of natural numbers and real numbers.
1960 (MCMLX) was .
1956 (MCMLVI) was .
From 1793 – 1933, March 4 was Inauguration Day for the President of the United States. Since 1937, Inauguration Day has been January 20.
Merchant marine is a term used in many places to talk about commercial ships and crews. A country's merchant marine is made up of all the ships owned by companies or individuals in that country which are used to make money. Most of a country's merchant marine is usually made of ships that carry things from place to place, like oil tankers and freighters. Other ships, like cruise ships and ferries, are also included because they are used to make money. When a country is at peace, its merchant marine works independently. Some countries, though, require merchant ships to work for their armed forces in times of war.
In the United States, "Merchant Marine" has a different meaning. The United States Merchant Marine (USMM) is a part of the military which is controlled by the government in both peace and war. When the United States is at war, the USMM is used to carry military supplies. In World War II, nearly one out of every twenty-six American merchant mariners was killed, a higher portion of men than in the Army, Navy, or even the Marines.
FreeBSD is an operating system for many different kinds of computers. This means that if the user has a computer around the house and want to run FreeBSD on it, the user probably can. Computers that run Microsoft Windows will also run FreeBSD. It is based on BSD, the version of UNIX developed at the University of California, Berkeley.
FreeBSD is open source. This means that anyone can download the source code and change, or learn from it. The people who work on FreeBSD do not usually get paid. They keep working on it because they enjoy it or want to become more experienced programmers.
Most open source software that runs on Linux will run natively on FreeBSD without the need for any compatibility layer.
There are a lot of operating systems, which are based on FreeBSD.
Several projects created an operating system, based on FreeBSD, which has a GUI by default.
Examples for that kind of operating systems are:
Garry Marshall
Garry Marshall (November 13, 1934 – July 19, 2016) was an American writer, producer, director and actor.
Marshall wrote for comedians Joey Bishop and Phil Foster. Soon he moved on to writing for television series, including "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Tonight Show". In 1970, he adapted the Neil Simon play and 1968 movie "The Odd Couple" into a popular television series starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.
It was very successful. Marshall worked on "Happy Days", "Laverne and Shirley" (which co-starred his sister Penny), and "Mork and Mindy". Both of there were spin-offs from "Happy Days" and just as successful and well-known. He directed and acted in several movies including "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride".
Marshall also ran and works out of a local community theatre house in Los Angeles, The Falcon Theatre.
On the morning of July 19, 2016, Marshall, aged 81, died at a hospital in Burbank, California, due to complications of pneumonia after suffering a stroke.
November 1
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller (June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was a German-American swimmer and actor. He was born in Timisoara, Austria-Hungary to German parents.
He was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s. He won five gold medals and set five then-Olympic records in swimming competitions at the Olympics in 1924 and 1928, and a bronze medal in water polo at the 1924 Olympics.
He later played Tarzan in a series of movies in the 1930s and became a movie star. This made him a character actor. He then had trouble getting parts in other movies because of this.
On January 20, 1984, Weissmuller died of pulmonary edema. He was 79. He was buried in Acapulco, Mexico, where he was living when he died. At his funeral, a sound recording of the "Tarzan yell" he had made famous in the movies was played three times, at his request.