AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Mr Weasley works for the Department of Magic. He is fascinated by "Muggles" (ordinary people) and the way that they manage to live without magic. It is his job to prevent wizards from illegally enchanting Muggle objects. But he does not always do his job in the way the Department would like. In fact, he drives his family to catch the school train in a magical Ford Anglia. The magical train leaves Paddington station in London from Platform 9¾. But because of strange happenings, Harry and Ron miss the train to school.
Harry and Ron go to school, very late, and in disgrace. Harry has not been back at school very long before it becomes clear that everybody inside the school is in danger. One by one students, and even the caretaker's cat, are affected by a strange and frightening spell. As everyone becomes more and more frightened, they start to be suspicious of other people.
A personal computer (PC) is the common name for a type of computer that is most popular in offices and homes. The first PC called the "IBM PC" was made by the company called IBM in 1981, although many computers were made before like the Commodore PET. Smartphones and tablets are also computers for personal use, but they are not often called "personal computers".
Today, most PCs usually have a basic set of software called an operating system. The operating system is responsible for several tasks including providing a user interface (UI). The most popular operating system on PCs is Windows, sold by Microsoft Corporation. PCs made by a company called Apple Inc. use a different system of software called Mac OS that is also made by Apple Inc.
Many free operating systems are available. Some are called Linux operating systems. There are over 300 different Linux "distributions". Each one has a different purpose/feel. Ubuntu Linux is the most-used Linux distribution.
A modern PC has a minimum set of parts to be useful. The "base unit" or "tower" (case) houses the computer parts. Usually, a mouse and keyboard are used for input, however some operating systems need only a keyboard. A monitor is usually needed to view output. In a laptop computer these parts are all together.
Inside the base unit or tower there are many electronic parts. The main parts are the motherboard, CPU, memory, and a data storage device, such as a hard disk or solid-state drive.
The CPU (Central Processing Unit) follows the instructions in the operating system and application programs. The memory, or RAM (random access memory), is for moving information (or data) quickly to and from the processor. The hard disk or solid-state drive hold programs and data while the computer is powered off. Floppy drives, CD-ROM drives, and USB flash drives are used for portable data storage.
Computers sometimes have a modem to send and receive data over a phone line, or more recently, over cable television lines. Computers can also be connected to a computer network using a network card.
Modern PCs have various sockets called ports. The most common ports are known as USB ports.
Computers may be used for work, including doing research using the internet, keeping records; or writing documents. Other uses include communicating, with people across the world using Instant messaging, e-mail or Skype or recreation activity such as playing computer games.
MS-DOS is a computer operating system by Microsoft Corporation. It stands for "Microsoft Disk Operating System", and came from an operating system Microsoft bought called 86-DOS, originally called QDOS, or "Quick and Dirty Operating System." The operating system used a command-line interface for the user to input commands. It was popularly used in PCs before a GUI operating system called Microsoft Windows came out, and still is used in some places today.
OS/2 was made to replace MS-DOS, but that replacement did not succeed. MS-DOS was the framework behind Windows operating systems until an operating system known as Windows XP.
MS-DOS is a text-based operating system, meaning that a user works with a keyboard to input data and receives output in plain text. Later, MS-DOS often had programs using a mouse and graphics to make work more simple and quick. (Some people still believe that working without graphics is really more efficient.) It is called a disk operating system because it was originally made to be loaded into a computer's memory with a floppy disk each time the computer is started (booted) up.
MS-DOS was released as proprietary software, but decades later after most users had gone to other systems, it was released as free software.
Many books were written on how to use MS-DOS. A popular introductory book was "MS-DOS for Dummies", by Dan Gookin, the book in the "For Dummies" series of easy to follow instruction books.
A disk operating system (DOS) will load from a floppy disk each time a computer starts, and will access that disk for software to complete operations. MS-DOS is probably the most well-known DOS, and was purchased by Microsoft Corporation from a system known as QDOS. As operating systems became more complicated and took up more space, they began to be permanently installed on hard drives, which are faster and more reliable than floppy disks, and can store more data. This was encouraged by a steady drop in hard drive prices.
"DOS"es are usually text-based and without graphics to save space on a floppy disk. Although DOSes have mostly been replaced by Windows, Macintosh, and Linux systems, among others (sporting a GUI, or Graphical User Interface), they are still in use in some places, mostly on older computers. This may be because of a lack of money, the need to use software which still runs on a DOS system, nostalgia for an older operating system, or the belief that text-based systems are more efficient.
Although GUIs are more popular, in times of emergency or when one needs to install special software, a boot disk allows a user to start his or her computer into a DOS.
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider, or ISP, maintains, installs and provides internet connection to residential or commercial areas. Some examples of ISP clients include - homes, coffee shops, hotels, libraries, offices. They usually charge a fee for installing the connection and a monthly fee for maintaining it.
The internet is basically a web of interconnected networks - which are maintained by a huge number of different ISPs. They keep connected around the world by giving their clients access to other ISP networks. This is called peering.
Many ISPs have other services such as e-mail and web hosting service.
ISPs offer different types of connections such as dial-up, DSL, through optical fiber wires, through a cable television connection, or wireless. Communications satellite connections are used mainly in remote areas. Dial-up is the slowest connection, while a direct fiber-optic connection is usually the fastest.
National Women's Hockey League
]Western Women's Hockey League
The Yukon is a territory of Canada, north of British Columbia, west of the Northwest Territories, and east of the American state of Alaska. Its population is 31,000. Most of the territory's people live in the capital of Whitehorse. Many of the people are native Canadians (First Nations).
The Yukon became a territory in 1898. It was part of the Northwest Territories from 1870 to 1898. Many people came to live in the Yukon during the Yukon Gold Rush of the 1890s.
Mount Logan, at 5959 metres above sea level, is Canada's highest mountain.
The most important industry in the Yukon is mining.
Saanich
The District of Saanich is a region of Greater Victoria, British Columbia. It is north of the City of Victoria. Over 100,000 people live in Saanich. It is named after the Saanich First Nation.
Some communities within Saanich include Gordon Head, Royal Oak, Cordova Bay, Tillicum-Gorge, Cadboro Bay, Broadmead, Cedar Hill, and Ten-Mile Point.
Saanich Commonwealth Place, a recreation centre first used for swimming and diving at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, is located in Saanich.
Saanich celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2006.
The mayor of Saanich is Richard Atwell.
Emily Carr (December 13, 1871 - March 2, 1945) was a Canadian artist and writer.
Emily Carr was born in Victoria, British Columbia in 1871. Her parents died while she was a young teenager. She began art lessons when she was sixteen. When she was nineteen, she went to study art in San Francisco. She also studied art in England but she got sick and came back to Victoria. After she got better, she went to France to continue her art studies. She saw paintings by many French artists who were experimenting with new ways of painting. She was most influenced by French impressionism and post-impressionism, though.
When Carr came back to Canada, she had trouble selling her paintings because they looked unusual to many people. Her paintings were even laughed at. She had to make money to support herself so she ran a small apartment house. She was so busy that she did not have much time to paint.
In 1927, she met a famous group of Canadian painters called the Group of Seven. They were impressed by her paintings and she became respected for her art.
In the later years of her life, Carr started writing books. "Klee Wyck" was the title of one of these books. It won the Governor General's Award which is an important award for literature in Canada. She also wrote "The Book of Small." She died in 1945 in Victoria.
Carr painted scenes from nature and from First Nations culture. For example, she painted many Haida and Tlingit totem poles. The Tlingit people called her Klee Wyck, which means "the laughing one." She went on long trips by canoe to visit First Nations villages.
She also liked to paint Canadian nature. She believed it was important that Canadian paintings have a different style than paintings from Europe. She liked the paintings of the Group of Seven because of their originality.
One of Carr's most famous paintings is "The Raven." The Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design was named after her and two schools are also named after her. She is considered one of Canada's most famous artists.
Hatikvah
Hatikvah (also transliterated as Hatikva, ; meaning: "The Hope") is the national anthem of Israel. The song tells about the 2000-year-old hope of the Jewish people to return to their homeland, Israel. The song lyrics (words) were originally a 9-stanza poem called "תקותנו" (Tikvatenu), or "Our Hope," written by Naphtali Imber. "Hatikvah" uses only the first stanza and the refrain of Imber's poem. The last line of the refrain was changed, and the words were put to music. The music is from a very old—and very popular—folk song that Samuel Cohen, a Jew born in Spain, found himself humming one day. It is in a minor key, which is usually not used for national anthems, because it sounds sad, but the words to the song are about the Jews' hope that one day their sadness will be turned into joy.
Virology is the study of viruses such as the cold virus.
Virologists are responsible for many immunisations against common viruses like the common influenza (Flu) and things like chickenpox and smallpox.
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is a trophy given to the champion of the National Hockey League (NHL) every year.
It was bought by Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada, in 1892, for $50. The first team to win it was the Montreal A.A.A. in 1893. Other teams could challenge for it. By 1915, it was awarded on a yearly basis.
The names of players and others such as coaches are put on the cup every year. As a result, the NHL had to make the cup bigger, by adding layers to the bottom. When the first cup was full of names, they made a copy of it, which is now what is awarded.
Today, there are 31 teams in the NHL. They play 82 games per year, and then 16 teams make the playoffs. These teams play best-of-seven series until there is only one champion.
Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens appears the most on the Stanley Cup, 11 times.
The Stanley Cup was not awarded in 2005: there was no NHL season because of a labour disagreement. It was not awarded in 1919, either, because of the influenza epidemic.
Militarization
Militarization is the general movement of a country to focus its production on war. This includes production of war machines such as tanks and aircraft as well as arms for infantry. There is a focus of the population to produce these goods. An example of this is seen when females during the Second World War would work in factories to produce planes and tanks. Militarism is simply a country that is focusing on increasing their military might through production and concentration of capital resources.
This movement can be started in either a country at war already or in a country that is newly entering a conflict. Example of this include the one stated earlier, since the United States entered the Second World War they shifted from supplying Britain to producing their own weapons. When Germany was about to begin their invasion of Europe they started militarization. They broke the Treaty and began to produce weapons. Their focus changed from economic progress to fascism and militarism.
The Tour de France () is a well known bicycle race. It began in 1903. It is held in France, every summer. In recent years it has ended with a race through the centre of Paris, past the Eiffel Tower. It is among the most famous, and has some of the highest prizes, of bike races in Europe. Recently, it was in the media, because some athletes were doping. The race goes around France, but can have some parts in other countries, including England, Belgium, or Spain as they race in the Pyrenees mountains.
The tour lasts about three weeks. At the end of each day's race the leader is given a yellow shirt, the best sprinter is given a green shirt, and the best rider in the mountain races is given a polka dot jersey. He is sometimes called the King of the Mountains. The best young rider, who must be under 26, gets a white jersey. The winner is the one who finishes the race to Paris in the fastest time. There is a lot of prize money for the teams of the winners of the Tour, but the winner of each day's race also gets prize money.
Joseph Smith, Jr.
Joseph Smith, Jr. (December 23, 1805 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader. He started the Latter Day Saint movement (also called Mormonism). Latter Day Saints believe that Smith was a prophet.
According to Joseph Smith's own story, when he was 17 years old, he was visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni told him about a really old book written upon Golden Plates. It was buried in a hill. A few years later, Joseph said that he received those plates and translated them into the book that today is call The Book of Mormon. He instructed a man named Martin Harris to write down the words that he said was a translation of the plates. He said Moroni gave him seer stones which would help him translate the golden plates. Harris took home the pages and told his wife all about what had happened, but she did not believe him. Those pages were lost, and Joseph told Martin that God was very angry with them. Eventually, Joseph was allowed to translate the rest of the book, with help from Oliver Cowdery instead of Martin Harris.
On April 6, 1830, he started The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is often called the Mormon Church. Joseph Smith said that God wanted him to be a prophet and teach other people the things that he learned from God. This church still exists today, with millions of members around the world.
Joseph Smith taught some things that some people did not like. He said that other churches were only partly true. He also said that men could have more than one wife if God commanded them, just like was taught in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Mormons also did not always get along with their neighbors.
On June 7, 1844, some people who were upset with Smith created a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois called the "Nauvoo Expositor" This newspaper was filled with bad things about Smith, such as how Smith secretly had many wives. Some men even said that Smith tried to take their wives. Smith did nothing about it. Smith was arrested after being accused of trying to start a riot, and was put in jail in Carthage, Illinois as he waited for his trial to start. On June 27, a group of angry men entered the jail and killed Smith and his brother, Hyrum.
Anastasia or Anastacia is a woman's name that comes from the Koine Greek. In English, it means "She who shall rise up again", but it is also used to mean "resurrection". The name, and its similar male name, Anastasius, were given to children born during Easter in the early years of Christianity.
The names "Stacey" (also spelled "Stacie", "Stacy" or "Stacee"), "Tasia", and "Stasia" are short for Anastasia. The names "Ana" or “Nastya” are also common nicknames for those named Anastasia.
It is also the name of several important women in history.
Anastasia is also the name of:
Demographics of Nicaragua
About 86 per cent of Nicaraguans are European (but not limited to Spanish) or mixed European and of native ancestry. Most Nicaraguans have Spanish ancestors, but the 19th century saw several waves of immigration from other European countries (mainly from Germany). Most of the Mestizo and European population live in the western and central regions of the country and especially in the cities of Managua, Leon and Granada.
About 9 per cent of Nicaragua's population is black or afro-nicaragüense and they are concentrated in the country's eastern coast, and were brought mostly from Jamaica and Haiti when the region was a British protectorate. There is also a smaller number of Garifuna, a people of mixed African, Caribbean, Angolan, Congoan and Arawak descent.
Just 5 per cent of the population are of pure native descent. Nicaragua's pre-Columbian population consisted of the Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao people of the west, and six ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Ramas and Sumos in the Caribbean region. While very few pure-blooded Nicarao people still exist, the Caribbean peoples have remained distinct. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the eastern half of the country - the former department of Zelaya - into two autonomous regions and granted the African and indigenous people of the region limited self-rule.
There is also a small Middle Eastern-Nicaraguan community of Syrian, Armenian, Palestinian and Lebanese people in Nicaragua with a total population of about 30,000, and an East Asian community of Japanese, Taiwanese and Chinese people of almost 8,000. The minorities speak Spanish and maintain their ancestral languages as well.
Spanish is spoken by about 90% of Nicaraguans; the Nicaraguan dialect has many similarities to Galician, and also has similarities to Argentinian Spanish which uses "vos" instead of "tu", along with the "vos" conjugation. The black population of the east coast region has English as its first language. Several indigenous peoples of the east still use their original languages.
Roman Catholicism is the major religion, but evangelical Protestant groups have grown recently, and there are strong Anglican and Moravian communities on the Caribbean coast. 0.1% of Nicaragua is Buddhist and the religion has been growing in recent years.
Ninety per cent of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific and central lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban.
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi
Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (9 December 1920 in Livorno, Italy – 16 September 2016 in Rome, Italy) was the 10th President of the Italian Republic. His work started in 1999 and ended in 2006. He was followed by Giorgio Napolitano
He is appreciated very much by the Italian people because of his equality and rightness.
Since 1979 he had been President of the Bank of Italy, but his task ended in 1993.
He was also Prime Minister of the Italian government, but his task lasted just a few months, because it was just a technical government,which purpose was to lead the country in a moment of difficulties.
Ciampi died at a hospital in Rome from multiple organ failure caused by pneumonia, aged 95.
Barry Sadler
Barry Sadler (November 1, 1940 – November 5, 1989) was an American soldier, songwriter and author. In 1966, He recorded a song called "The Ballad of The Green Berets". It was the biggest selling song that year. He later helped write the "Casca" series of books. He died after being shot in the head by a robber.
Nancy Sinatra (born 8 June 1940) is an American singer and actress. She was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra. She is best known for the song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".
She had a younger brother, Frank Sinatra, Jr. and has a younger sister, Tina Sinatra.
The Rascals
The Rascals (formerly known as The Young Rascals) were an American pop-soul group popular in the 1960s.
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B singer. He was born in Leighton, Alabama. He was best known for his song "When a Man Loves a Woman".
Sledge died of liver cancer in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, aged 74.
The Box Tops
Lulu can mean:
James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th President of the United States. He only served one term as president. Before he was president, he was Speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and the governor of Tennessee (1839–1841).
James Knox Polk was born on November 2, 1795 in Pineville, North Carolina. His parents were Samuel Polk and Jane Gracey Polk. James’ father was an American surveyor, slave owner, planter, and businessman. It is unknown what his mother did. It is thought she was a housewife. He was very sickly as a child, so he did not do much farm work. He had surgery at 17 years old to remove bladder stones. Anesthesia was not invented yet, so he was awake the entire surgery. He was in a debate club in college. Polk studied law under a leading Nashville lawyer. He then worked as a lawyer and a statesman. He married Sarah Childress on January 1, 1824. They had no children together.
James Knox Polk was nominated by the Democratic party and was elected as the 11th President of the United States. He was inaugurated on Tuesday, March 4, 1845 and George M. Dallas was sworn in as the vice president. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney swore in the president. During James’ 4 years in office, he accomplished many things. One event was reestablishment of the Independent Treasury System. Another important act was the reduction of tariffs. Polk also gained Oregon territory to the 49th parallel. The most important accomplishment of James K. Polk was westward expansion. He acquired more than 800,000 square miles of western territory. James K. Polk acquired this throughout the Mexican American War. He was influenced by Andrew Jackson. James supported Jackson’s plan to dismantle the Bank of United States and replace it with a decentralized government banking system. James accomplished his 4 major goals throughout his presidency.
James K Polk became a private citizen at the end of his 4 years in office. He and his wife decided to move to their Nashville home in Nashville, Tennessee because they wanted to retire and live a quiet life. Instead of directly returning to Tennessee, the Polks decided to tour the Southern states. Along the way he gave many speeches to the public. Within two weeks, James’ health suffered from the strains of travel. As the trip continued, the Polks were often forced to stop along the way to allow James to rest. The rest did not help. After arriving at their Nashville home, James Polk again fell ill and complained of horrible stomach pains.  This time James had a serious disease called cholera. At the age of 53, James Knox Polk died on June 15, 1849. On his deathbed James asked his wife to free their slaves when she died. Sarah lived 42 more years and the Civil War freed their slaves long before she died. He was first buried at the Nashville City Cemetery then moved to his Nashville home but was later moved to the Tennessee state capitol after his Nashville home was later sold. He had the shortest retirement of any president, dying only three months after leaving office.
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is a former American politician. He was the Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. Before that, he was a Senator for Tennessee and a congressman. He is a Democrat.
He was chosen as the Democratic nominee of the 2000 United States Presidential election, but lost the electoral vote to Republican candidate George W. Bush because of Florida and the US Supreme Court ruling a 5-4 favor of Bush. Gore got more votes, though.
After the election, Gore became an activist focusing on climate change. Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
Albert Gore, Jr. was born at Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C. He is the second of two chidren. His father, Albert A. Gore Sr. was a Senator for Tennessee and congressman. His mother, Pauline LaFon Gore was one of the first women to have graduated from Vanderbilt University Law School. Gore is descended from Scots-Irish immigrants who first settled in Virginia in the mid-17th-century, and moved to Tennessee after the Revolutionary War. At least two of these ancestors, Jacob Waggoner and Lewis Stunston, owned slaves. Gore was brought up in both Washington and Tennessee. His older sister was Nancy LaFon Gore, who was born in 1938, died of lung cancer in 1984.
Gore was a Representative from 1977 to 1985 and a Senator from 1985 to 1993. In 1988 he ran for President for first time, but lost to Michael Dukakis in the Democratic primary. In 1993, he became Vice President to Bill Clinton. He ran for President in 2000, but lost to George W. Bush (many people still argue this). Even though he lost the race, Gore won in the popular vote by over 500,000 votes.
Gore is now a businessman, and runs and works for several companies, including Generation Investment Management, Google, Apple Computers, and TV channel Current.
He is also a fighter for issues involving the environment. He released a movie in 2006 about global warming and climate change called "An Inconvenient Truth", which was based on a slide show he had given to millions of people. In 2007, Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize which he shared with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Interest in having Gore run for the 2016 Presidential election arose in 2014 and again in 2015. Gore did not run in 2016 and has expressed no interest to run in future elections.
He currently lives in Nashville and was married to Tipper for 40 years. In June 2010, they filed for divorce. The Gores have 4 children and 2 grandchildren.
Pumpkinhead II
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is a 1994 movie about a young boy named Tommy, a misfit and deformed teenager who had no friends.
One day, Tommy is killed by a gang of bad boys from his home town for no reason at all. Miss Ossie was an old lady who used to take care of Tommy from the very beginning. When the young boy is killed, she decides to bury him in her backyard as a way to keep him around anyway. Several years later in the 1990s, a bunch of teenagers go to Miss Ossie's house and they do something that brings Tommy back to life. Some kind of spelling that resurrect the deformed kid. For some reason, Tommy comes back as an angry and even more grotesque creature who wants to take revenge on the people who killed him in the past and innocent people as well.
THX 1138 is a 1971 movie and was the first feature movie directed by George Lucas and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and Coppola's production company American Zoetrope.
It was based on a short film Lucas made in college in 1967 called "Electric Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB".
Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera. Bats are nocturnal – they are active during the night, dusk, or dawn and they sleep during the day.
Most use echolocation to catch prey and to find their way about. As nighttime animals, bats avoid direct competition with birds, few of which are nocturnal.
Bats usually live in caves or trees. In North America and in Europe they sometimes live in people's houses or barns. They are protected animals in the U.K.
Bats are a successful group. They are the second largest order of mammals: there are more than 1,200 species of bats. This means that 20% of all living mammal species – one in five – are bats.
About 70% of bats are insectivores, which is the basal form of life for this group. The common pipistrelle is a successful example. Most of the rest are fruit-eaters (fruit bats). A few species suck blood, and a few large ones are carnivorous.
Bats live everywhere except the Arctic, Antarctic and a few oceanic islands. They usually roost in caves, old buildings, or trees.
Traditionally, bats are divided into two groups. Microbats mostly use echo-location and catch insects, but just a few eat fish or drink blood. Megabats do not echolocate, but instead eat fruit or nectar.
Most of the bats are well-known for their uncanny capability to avoid flying into dark places, and most of the bats use sound to navigate during the night (Tuttle, 3). Bachen "et.al" maintains that bats can fly and locate their food by listening to the outcoming echoes and sending out high-frequency squeaks even in total darkness"."
The phylogenetic relationships of the different groups of bats have been the subject of much debate. The traditional subdivision between Megachiroptera and Microchiroptera reflects the view that these groups of bats have evolved independently of each other for a long time, from a common ancestor which was already capable of flight.
The hypothesis was that flight only evolved once in mammals. Most molecular biological evidence supports the view that bats form a single or monophyletic group.
There are few fossilized remains of bats, as bats are terrestrial and light-boned. An Eocene bat, "Onychonycteris", was found in the 52-million-year-old Green River Formation in Wyoming, United States, in 2003. It could fly, but the well-preserved skeleton showed the cochlea of the inner ear could not achieve the great hearing ability of modern bats. This was evidence that flight in bats developed before echolocation. The team said it lacked ear and throat features not only of echolocating bats today, but also in other known fossil species. Fossil remains of other Eocene bats, "Icaronycteris", "Archaeonycteris", "Palaeochiropteryx", "Hassianycteris" and "Australonycteris" all show a similar mixture of basal and derived traits, as expected by mosaic evolution.
All Eocene bats had long tails. This feature is also found in early flying insects in the Carboniferous, in early pterosaurs and in "Archaeopteryx" and other dinobirds. The tail helped to keep their flight stable, which means it kept on course, and did not dart about much. To dart about quickly requires special advanced brains and reflexes, which later bats, birds and pterosaurs had, but early ones did not. It requires more brains to control unstable flight than it does for stable flight. That early bats had long tails was predicted by John Maynard Smith before any fossil early bats were found.
"Onychonycteris" had longer hind legs and shorter forearms, similar to climbing mammals that hang under branches such as sloths and gibbons. This palm-sized bat had broad, short wings, suggesting it could not fly as fast or as far as later bat species. Instead of flapping its wings continuously while flying, "Onychonycteris" likely alternated between flaps and glides while in the air. Such physical characteristics suggest this bat did not fly as much as modern bats do, rather flying from tree to tree and spending most of its waking day climbing or hanging on the branches of trees.
An interesting thing about bats is that even though they can see with their eyes, they also use their ears to help them 'see' in the dark. Because of this, they can fly into very dark places where no eye could see. This way of sensing is called echolocation. Echolocation means they use echoes to find where things are.
Echolocation is like sonar, which submarines and ships use to find things underwater. This is how it works: when a bat flies, it makes lots of sounds. "We" cannot hear these sounds (they are too high-pitched), but bats can hear them. Biologists have instruments to record them, and then play them back at a lower frequency so humans can hear them.
When a bat makes its noises, the sound waves move away from the bat. If they hit something, they bounce back to the bat (this bounce is called an "echo".) If nothing bounces back, the bat knows there is nothing in front. They use this echolocation to catch their food, like butterflies or dragonflies. When a bat begins its nightly exploration, it usually sends out about 10 calls per second. From the echo they know what is in front. When they get an echo from something good to eat, the calls increase up to 200 calls per second. This increase of sounds is called a "feeding buzz". The bat makes a feeding buzz to sense all the quick moves of the insect it is trying to catch.
Hearing and understanding the echoes that go back to the bat takes special structures in the bat's brain. Because of this, many scientists, doctors, and even the U.S. army study bats carefully. The U.S. army spends hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to study echolocation in bats.
Bats also have reasonably good eyesight, and can see their prey and where they are flying if it's not too dark. There are lots of stories about bats flying right into people, but this is not true. They can see in the light very well, and in the dark, they can see much better than us. So the expression "blind as a bat" is not very scientific.
Some bats use echolocation to communicate with each other to find food in groups. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior studied the bat "Molossus molossus", which hunts insects in groups. They found the bats could understand echolocation noises made by other bats and even tell which other bat in their group had made the sound, like people recognizing each other's voices.
Bats fly with their hands. In fact, the name of the order of bats, "Chiropetera", means 'hand-wings' in Greek.
Bat and bird wings are different. Birds do not have long finger-like bones in their wings like bats. Birds can not move each of their fingers, but bats can. Because of this, bats can change their direction while flying or fly in any pattern they want: this makes it easier to catch their food. A bat flies as if they are "swimming" through the air – pushing both wings down and backward.
A bird's wing has lots of feathers, while a bat's wing is mostly a stretchy, thin skin called a patagium. This thin membrane of skin stretches between each finger bone, connects to the bat's ankle, and connects to the bat's tail (if it has one). A bat folds its wings next to its body when not flying.
Bats have one claw (sometimes called a "bat thumb") that sticks out of the top of the wing. They use their "thumb" to climb and crawl. Interestingly, bats also use their thumbs to clean their ears.
Bats' wings have a lot of maneuverability (they can change direction well) – more than a bird, in fact – but they do not have a lot of lift. Because of this, bats usually have to climb up onto a tree or jump up into the air for the boost before they start flapping their wings.
Even though bats are very small, they live a long time. Some bats can live forty years. Scientists think this is because their immune systems are very good at fighting viruses. Bats fight viruses without having inflammation in their bodies. Doctors think inflammation causes harm to the body, so they think this could be why bats live a long time.
Because bats rest in large groups with many other bats, they can pass diseases to each other easily. This means that over thousands of generations, viruses and other germs have placed selective pressure on bats, killing bats with weak immune systems and leaving bats with good immune systems to survive and have young.
Many viruses that start in bats later change and become dangerous diseases in humans, for example Ebola and SARS-CoV-2.
Megabats eat fruit, nectar or pollen. They pollinate flowers and sometimes spread their seeds. Many tropical plants completely depend on bats.
Most microbats (7 out of 10 bat species) are insectivorous, that is, they eat insects. Some microbats eat small vertebrate animals (small mammals or fish), blood, or even other bats. There are only a few species of vampire bats, which eat blood from cattle.
Most bats rest, sleep and hibernate in an upside-down position. They hang on to branches or rocks with their feet. To do this they have a locking mechanism on the tendons in their feet which stops them from slipping. The energy they spend hanging on is greatly reduced. The most obvious gain is that they can sleep without falling off. Once the tendons are locked, the muscles in their legs and feet can relax. Even dead bats stay hanging.
In the United Kingdom all bats are protected by law, and even disturbing a bat or its roost can be punished with a heavy fine.
Austin, Texas is the summer home to North America's largest urban bat colony (under the Congress Avenue bridge), an estimated 1,500,000 Mexican free-tailed bats, who eat an estimated 10 to 30 tons of insects each night, and attract 100,000 tourists each year.
In Sarawak, Malaysia bats are protected species, but the large naked bat and greater nectar bat are eaten by the local communities.
In the West, bats are associated with vampires, who are said to be able to change into bats. Bats are also a symbol of ghosts, death and disease. However bats are said to be lucky in some European countries, such as Poland.
The bat is used in fiction by both villains like Dracula and heroes like Batman. Kenneth Oppel wrote a series of novels, beginning with "Silverwing", which feature bats as good characters.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 – 23 April 1616) was a Spanish writer. His most famous book was "Don Quijote de la Mancha". It is considered the first modern novel, and therefore Cervantes was the first novelist. The book has been published in 65 countries. The work is considered among the most important in all of literature. He is sometimes called "The Prince of Satire".
Nobody knows for sure the reasons that forced Cervantes to leave Castile. Whether he was a "student" of the same name, a "sword-wielding fugitive from justice", or fleeing from a royal warrant of arrest, for having wounded a certain Antonio de Sigura in a duel, is another mystery.
In any event, in going to Italy, Cervantes was doing what many young Spaniards of the time did to further their careers. Rome would reveal to the young artist its ecclesiastic pomp, ritual, and majesty. In a city teeming with ruins Cervantes could focus his attention on Renaissance art, architecture, and poetry (knowledge of Italian literature is readily discernible in his own productions) and on rediscovering antiquity. He could find in the ancients "a powerful impetus to revive the contemporary world in light of its accomplishments". Thus, Cervantes' continuing desire for Italy, as revealed in his later works, was in part a desire for a return to an earlier period of the Renaissance.
By 1570, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a regiment of the Spanish naval elite corps, Infantería de Marina, stationed in Naples, then a possession of the Spanish crown. He was there for about a year before he saw active service. In September 1571 Cervantes sailed on board the "Marquesa", part of the galley fleet of the Holy League, Spain, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller based in Malta, and others, under the command of King Philip II's illegitimate half brother, John of Austria, that defeated the Ottoman fleet on October 7 in the Gulf of Lepanto near Corinth, at great cost to both sides. Though taken down with fever, Cervantes refused to stay below, and begged to be allowed to take part in the battle, saying that he would rather die for his God and his king than keep under cover. He fought bravely on board a vessel, and received three gunshot wounds – two in the chest, and one which rendered his left arm useless. In "Journey to Parnassus" he was to say that he "had lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right" (he was thinking of the success of the first part of "Don Quixote"). Cervantes always looked back on his conduct in the battle with pride; he believed that he had taken part in an event that would shape the course of European history.
Game Boy line
The Game Boys are a group of handheld video game consoles made by Nintendo that ran from 1989-2009.
The first Game Boy was released in 1989. It had a small screen, a D-pad, Start and Select keys, and an A and B button. To play games, there were small objects called cartridges that you put into the Game Boy to play the game in the cartridge. The game that made it popular, and the system's launch title, was Tetris. The Game Boy had a link cable and a link port which let it connect with other Game Boys to play games in multiplayer mode.
After the Game Boy, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, which was a smaller Game Boy more convenient to carry around. It had a better, sharper screen and it only needed two AAA batteries instead of four AA. The link port was smaller than the Game Boy's, so the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket could not connect with the original connector cable; a newer model cable with double-sided ends was needed to do this.
The Game Boy Light was only released in Japan and had a front-light (the blue light used on old watches) so people could see better. It is very rare - only about 12,000 of them were manufactured. Because it is rare, it sells for more money than other Game Boys.
The Game Boy Color was the first Game Boy in color. It was also able to play Game Boy cartridges, which helped it sell better. This also helped other Game Boy models after the Game Boy Color. It is sometimes called the GBC.
The Game Boy Advance is a handheld that had better color and smaller cartridges. It could play more advanced games than the previous Game Boys. It is sometimes called the "GBA". It came out in March 2001.
The Game Boy Advance SP was an improved version of the original "GBA". It has a clamshell design, which means you can fold it to make it smaller when you're not using it. It has a front-lit screen (better than the one on the Game Boy Light), which the Game Boy Advance did not have. It can play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, along with the new cartridges introduced with the "GBA". A newer model, labeled the AGS-101, was released which had an even better backlight and very good contrast; some people say it is the best way to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games.
The Game Boy Micro is a smaller variation of the "GBA". It has a smaller link port than the Game Boy Advance. Its backlight and contrast are as good as the 101 model of the Game Boy Advance SP. Unlike its predecessors, it cannot play "GB" or "GBC" games.
The Nintendo DS line is the successor to the Game Boy line. It consists of the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS.
When Nintendo released the Nintendo DS handheld in 2004, they said it was a "third pillar" (the other two pillars were the Game Boy and the home console). It has two screens, one of which is a touch screen. "DS" games use cards in Slot 1. Slot 2 can accept Game Boy Advance games. A newer model, called the DS Lite, released in 2006, also plays "GBA" games. But neither of them play older Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. The DSi and DSi XL, released in 2008 and 2009, replaced the "GBA" slot with an SD Card. This makes it impossible to play "GBA" games. Some DS games also included extra features contained in "option paks", which were just like GBA games. So these features could not be used on those DS games if they were played on the DSi or DSi XL.
Like the DSi and DSi XL, the "3DS" line is not backwards compatible with "GBA" games. However, "GBC" games can be downloaded through the Virtual Console.
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI (; ), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 263rd Pope from 1963 until his death in 1978. Paul was a spiritual leader and the head of the church bureaucracy.
Montini was born in Concesio. That is near Brescia in northern Italy. His father was editor of a Roman Catholic newspaper. He received degrees in civil and canon law, theology and philosophy.
Montini was ordained and celebrated his first mass in 1920. He worked in the Vatican diplomatic corps. During World War II, he was in charge of the Vatican's work for refugees and prisoners of war. He was made Archbishop of Milan in 1954. Pope John XXIII made Montini a cardinal in 1958.
Cardinal Montini was elected Pope in 1963. Pope Paul continued the Second Vatican Council which was begun by Pope John XXIII. His first encyclical is the only one in the Vatican archives which is in the handwriting of the pope who delivered it. Paul VI was known as the "pilgrim" pope for his numerous travels. He was the first pope to fly in an airplane.
In 1964, Paul was the first pope to travel from Rome to the Holy Land. He flew first to Amman in Jordan. Then he traveled by car to Jerusalem. In 1970, the pope visited Australia, the Phillipines, and Indonesia. In 1975, Paul declared 1975 to be a "jubilee" year with themes of renewal and reconciliation.
In 1978, Prime Minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped in Rome. Pope Paul VI made an offer to exchange his life for Moro's. The offer was not accepted. Moro was killed 55 days later.
At the age of 80, Pope Paul VI died at Castel Gandolfo, Italy, from a heart attack.
The Pope Paul VI Hall is the modern building in which mass papal audiences are held.
Serafian, Michael. (1964). "The Pilgrim." New York: Farrar, Straus. OCLC 386084?
The Macao Special Administrative Region (Macau or Macao, ) is one of China's two Special Administrative Regions. (The other one is Hong Kong). Macau is a small city in the southern coast in China. Like Hong Kong, Macau has a large amount of autonomy, with its own passport, currency, economic rules, and constitution.
It consists of Macau Peninsula (Aomen Bandao), Taipa Island (Dangzai Dao), Coloane Island (Luhuan Dao) and Cotai (Ludangcheng), the new reclaimed land between Taipa and Coloane. It is very densely populated, with over half a million people living in just over 12 square miles.
Macao used to be a colony of Portugal. Although Portuguese is an official language alongside Chinese (as a result of it being a Portuguese colony in the past), very few Macanese actually speak Portuguese; only about 0.7% speak it at home. As a matter of fact, English is more commonly spoken, despite it not being an official language (about 2.3% speak it at home). Cantonese is the main dialect of Chinese spoken in Macau. However, Mandarin has also become more common since Portugal returned it to China in 1999.
Today, Macao mostly lives off of offshore gambling. In fact, Macau generated 7 times greater gambling revenue than Las Vegas in 2013. People in Macau also make some money from exporting clothing.
As Macau was previously a Portuguese colony, you can easily find traces of how the Portuguese culture is presented in the city. One of them is itinerary for couples, who are intending to spend a day exploring Macau.
Macau’s economy relies on gambling. Eighty percent of the government’s revenue is derived from gambling. The revenue generated by gambling in 2019 was $36.5 billion, which is about 6 times larger than Las Vegas. Macau has 41 casinos including several that belong to Wynn resorts and Sands.
Macau is the only part of China where gambling is legal. Many of the customers of casinos are wealthy Chinese.
Around 2020 Chinese new year authorities closed down travel from China to Macau. Visits fell eighty percent. It is estimated by some observers that the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak will cost Macau between 5-15 percent of its gambling revenue.
Taipei City () is the capital city of the Republic of China, known by most people simply as Taiwan. It is the largest city in Taiwan. It has a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa" in the Köppen climate classification). Its population in 2014 was about 2.7 million people. Its mayor is Ko Wen-je.