AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
In mid-2000, Valve announced that "Team Fortress 2" had been delayed for a second time. They stated that they delayed "Team Fortress 2" because they were going to make Team Fortress 2 run on an engine they own, the Source engine. After their official announcement of the delay of "Team Fortress 2", Valve stopped releasing information about the game. Later, the game entered six years of silent development. Walker and Cook worked on various other Valve projects; Walker was project lead on "" and Cook became a Steam developer.
"Team Fortress 2" became a prominent example of vaporware. It was a long-anticipated game that had seen years of development, and was often mentioned alongside another much-delayed game, "Duke Nukem Forever." Walker later stated that Valve built "three to four" different versions of "Team Fortress 2" before settling on their final design. Shortly before the release of "Half-Life 2" in 2004, Valve's marketing director Doug Lombardi confirmed that "Team Fortress 2" was still in development. Valve reintroduced "Team Fortress 2" at the July 2006 EA Summer Showcase event with a much different visual design"."
Valve reintroduced "Team Fortress 2" at the July 2006 EA Summer Showcase event with a much different visual design. Instead of having realistic visual design like other Valve games, "Team Fortress 2" features a cartoon-like visual style influenced by 20th-century commercial illustrations and the artwork of J. C. Leyendecker, Dean Cornwell, and Norman Rockwell, achieved through a visual technique called Gooch shading. "Team Fortress 2" was first launched with the Source engine's new dynamic lighting, shadowing and soft particle technologies, and gave the same visual enhancements to "", another one of their games. "Team Fortress 2" was the first game to use the Source engine's new Facial Animation 3 features.
Valve abandoned the realistic style when it became impossible to balance it with the unrealistic gameplay. For example, it is not realistic to have opposing armies to construct heavily detailed bases directly next to each other. The Commander class was abandoned because players would simply refuse to follow the player's orders.
Valve designed each character, team, and equipped weapon to be easy to identify, even at long range. For example, the coloring draws attention to the chest area, bringing focus on the equipped weapon. The voices for each of the classes were based on imagining what people from the 1960s would expect the classes to have sounded like, according to writer Chet Faliszek.
The map design has an "evil genius" theme. In typical maps, there are colored enemy buildings on opposite sides of the two enemies. Enemy buildings have a complex set of pathways that the player must go through to reach the objectives. These buildings are often concealed within various other constructed objects in between. Between each enemy side, maps are usually separated by a neutrally themed space. The bases hide exaggerated super weapons such as laser cannons, nuclear warheads, and missile launch facilities, taking the role of objectives. The maps are designed to have little visual clutter and have a theme, as well as have enough careful attention to effective visual design while still allowing enemies to be spotted more easily. This is achieved by using "impressionist modeling". The textures used in-game are based on photos that are filtered and improved by hand, making them look visually appealing and giving "Team Fortress 2" its distinct look. The bases are designed to let players immediately know where they are. RED bases use warm colors (e.g. red), natural materials, and angular shapes (e.g. circles). On the other hand, BLU bases use cool colors (e.g. blue), industrial materials, and orthogonal shapes (e.g. squares).
During the July 2006 Electronic Arts press conference, Valve revealed that "Team Fortress 2" would arrive as the multiplayer component of "The Orange Box". In a conference trailer, the whimsical new visual style of "Team Fortress 2" of all nine mercenary classes were shown. Managing director of Valve Gabe Newell said that the company's goal was to create "the best looking and best-playing class-based multiplayer game". On September 17, 2007, a beta release of the entire game was released to Steam. On the same date, a the same beta release of the entire "Team Fortress 2" game was made available for customers who had pre-purchased "The Orange Box", as well as for customers who had activated their "Black Box" coupon. The "Black Box" coupon was included with the ATI HD 2900XT Graphics cards. The beta of "Team Fortress 2" was also given to members of Valve's Cyber Café Program. The beta continued until the game's final release.
The game was released on October 10, 2007, both as a standalone product via Steam and at retail stores as part of "The Orange Box" compilation pack. Both the Steam version and the retail "The Orange Box" compilation packs were priced at each gaming platform's recommended retail price. "The Orange Box" also contains "Half-Life 2", "Half-Life 2: Episode One", "Half-Life 2: Episode Two", and "Portal". Valve offered "The Orange Box" at a ten percent discount for those who pre-purchased it on Steam before the October 10 release, as well as the opportunity to participate in the beta test.
Big Black was an American punk rock band. The band formed in 1981 with Steve Albini playing all of the instruments and a drum machine for percussion.
Big Black's music was very loud and distorted. Many Big Black songs have stories about violence in them.
Company of Heroes is a strategy video game where you control soldiers in order to win. It is based on World War II.
Game &amp; Watch
The Game & Watch was a series of small, hand-held video games made by Gunpei Yokoi of Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. The games were usually simplistic (For example, "Chef" required keeping food in the air). It was the forerunner of the Game Boy (meaning it came before the Game Boy).
is the main character in Game & Watch that also appeared in "Super Smash Bros. Melee" and "Super Smash Bros. Brawl."
Fecundity
Fecundity, coming from the word "fecund", generally means the ability to reproduce.
In biology and demography, fecundity is the ability to reproduce of an organism or population, measured by the number of gametes (eggs), seed set or asexual propagules. Fecundity is under both genetic and environmental control, and is the major measure of biological fitness. "Fecundation" is another term for fertilisation.
Fecundity can increase or decrease in a population according to current conditions and certain regulating factors. For instance, in times of hardship for a population such as a lack of food, juvenile and eventually adult fecundity may decrease.
In the philosophy of science, 'fecundity' refers to the ability of a scientific theory to open new lines of theoretical inquiry. Here, the original meaning is extended by analogy.
Séan T. O'Kelly
Seán Thomas O'Kelly (; 25 August 1882 – 23 November 1966) was the second President of Ireland. He served two terms from 1945 to 1959. He was a member of Dáil Éireann from 1918 until his election as President. During this time he had been Minister for Local Government (1932–1939) and Minister for Finance (1939–1945). Ó Ceallaigh served as Vice-President of the Executive Council from 1932 until 1937 and was the first Tánaiste of Éire from 1937 until 1945.
Ó Ceallaigh was born in Dublin on Capel Street in the north inner-city Dublin. He joined the National Library of Ireland in 1898 as a junior assistant. The same year, he joined the Gaelic League, becoming a member of the governing body in 1910 and General Secretary in 1915.
In 1905 Ó Ceallaigh joined Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin then wanted a dual-monarchy. He was an honorary secretary of the party from 1908 until 1925. In 1906 he was elected to Dublin Corporation, which was Dublin's city council. He retained the seat until 1924.
Pádraig Pearse made Ó Ceallaigh his helper when Pearse was getting ready for the Easter Rising.
After the Easter Rising in 1916, Ó Ceallaigh was put in jail, released, and put in jail again. He escaped from jail in Fairfield in the UK, and came back to Ireland.
O'Kelly was elected Sinn Féin MP for College Green in the 1918 British general election. Along with other Sinn Féin MPs he refused to take his seat in the British House of Commons. Instead they set up an Irish parliament, called Dáil Éireann, in Dublin. Ó Ceallaigh wasCeann Comhairle(Chairman) of the First Dáil. He was the Irish Republic's envoy to the post-World War One peace treaty negotiations at Versailles, but the other countries refused to allow him to speak, because they did not recognise the Irish Republic
Ó Ceallaigh was a close friend of Éamon de Valera, and both he and de Valera opposed the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921.
When de Valera resigned as President of the Irish Republic on 6 January 1922, Ó Ceallaigh returned from Paristo try to persuade de Valera to return to the presidency. A de Valera was furious and ordered Ó Ceallaigh to return to Paris.
During the Irish Civil War, O'Kelly was in jail until December 1923. Afterwards he spent the next two years as a Sinn Féin envoy to the United States.
In 1926 when de Valera left Sinn Féin to found his own republican party, Fianna Fáil, Ó Ceallaigh followed him, becoming one of the party's founding members. In 1932, when de Valera, was appointed President of the Executive Council (prime minister) of the Irish Free State he made Ó Ceallaigh Minister for Local Government. Ó Ceallaigh often tried to publicly humiliate the Governor-General of the Irish Free State, James McNeill. Stunts such as withdrawing the Irish Army's band from playing at diplomatic functions which the Governor-General attended, or in one notorious case the sight of O'Kelly and Defence Minister Frank Aiken storming out of a diplomatic function at the French Legation when McNeill, the guest of honour, arrived, damaged Ó Ceallaigh's reputation and image, particularly when the campaign backfired.
Before resigning, McNeill published his letters to de Valera about this. It made de Valera appear foolish, and made de Valera choose a new Governor-General. To the surprise of many, Ó Ceallaigh's was not considered for the office. Instead former Fianna Fáil TD, Domhnall Ua Buachalla from County Kildare, would be the last Governor-General.
In 1938, many thought that de Valera wanted to make Ó Ceallaigh the Fianna Fáil choice to become President of Ireland, under the new Irish constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann. When Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alfie Byrne, said he wanted to be president there was an all party agreement to nominate Dubhghlas de hÍde, a Protestant Irish Senator, Irish language enthusiast and founder of the Conradh na Gaeilge. They thought de hÍde was the only person who might win an election against Alfie Byrne. Ó Ceallaigh was appointed Minister of Finance instead, and helped create Central Bank in 1942.
Ó Ceallaigh left the cabinet in 1945 when he was elected President of Ireland in a popular vote of the people, defeating two other candidates.
Ó Ceallaigh was re-elected unopposed in 1952. During his second term he visited many nations in Europe and spoke to the United States Congress in 1959. He retired at the end of his second term in 1959, to be replaced by his old friend, Éamon de Valera.
Ó Ceallaigh did not refer any Bills to the Supreme Court to see if they were legal, but he did ask his official advisors, called the Council of State, if he should refer the Health Bill, 1947 but he decided not to.
Ó Ceallaigh's strong Roman Catholic beliefs sometimes caused problems. de Valera often thought that Ó Ceallaigh either deliberately or accidentally leaked information to the Knights of Columbanus, and the Church leaders. Ó Ceallaigh ensured that his first state visit, following the creation of the Republic of Ireland in 1949, was to the Vatican to meet Pope Pius XII. Ó Ceallaigh accidentally revealed the Pope's private views on communism. This angered the Pope and Stalin. This is why he was not given the papal Order of Christ which was given to many Catholic heads of state.
When he retired as president in 1959, he was described as a model President by the normally hostile Irish Times newspaper. Though controversial, Ó Ceallaigh was widely seen as a genuine and honest, but tactless.
He died on November 23, 1966 (aged 84), fifty years after the Easter Rising that first brought him to prominence. He is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin.
Mary Kate Ryan and Ó Ceallaigh were married from 1918 until Mary Kate's death in 1934.
In 1936 he married his second wife Phyllis, who was Mary Kate's sister. Another sister was married to Fine Gael leader General Richard Mulcahy, and a brother was Fianna Fáil minister, James Ryan. O'Kelly died in Dublin.
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament. Usually only the initials TD are used, after the person's name.
The letters are used in the same way that MP is used to show that someone is a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom.
Léo Delibes
Léo Delibes (born St. Germain-du-Val, France, 21 February 1836; died St. Germain-du-Val 16 January 1891) was a French composer of Romantic music. He is particularly famous for his ballets, especially "Coppélia", and operettas and operas, of which "Lakmé" is the most famous.
Delibes’s father worked for the post office. His mother was musical and played the piano. Her father, the composer’s grandfather, had been a baritone in the Opéra-Comique and she had a brother who was an organist and professor at the Paris Conservatoire.
When Delibes’s father died in 1847 his family moved to Paris so that the young Léo, who was 11, could continue having a good musical education. At first he found it difficult living in a large city as he was used to the countryside. He was a student of the well-known composer and teacher Adolphe Adam. At first he did well in his music lessons and won prizes, but after a few years he no longer won any prizes. He never tried to win the Prix de Rome which is what all French students of composition normally want to do. As a young boy he sang in choirs. Later he became a church organist and an accompanist at the Théâtre-Lyrique.
Soon Delibes started to composer operettas. He wrote 14 operettas in 14 years. He was commissioned to write some music to celebrate the emperor’s return from Algiers. The piece he wrote was called "Alger". It was a huge success. The emperor gave him a gold medal, personally fastening a pin with diamonds to his lapel. In 1864 he became chorus master at the Opéra where he coached the chorus to sing many famous operas. Two years later he started to write ballets. These became very successful and three years later he stopped writing operettas.
In 1870 his ballet "Coppélia" was produced. By 1884 it had been performed 100 times. Together with "La Sylphide" and "Giselle" it was one of the most popular of all ballets. The story is about a man who makes a mechanical doll. Another popular ballet he wrote was "Sylvia". His most successful opera was "Lakmé" which was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in 1883. It gives great opportunity for the main soprano, especially in the song called the "Bell Song". Musicians usually think "Lakmé" is his greatest work.
Delibes died in 1891, and was buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.
Delibes started to compose at a time when ballet had become less popular in France than it had been earlier. Around the time of the Revolution there had been lots of performances of ballet, but during the 19th century there was less interest with the exception of "La Sylphide" and "Giselle". Delibes was to change that. He had a great gift for writing easy melodies. At one time he thought he ought to compose like Wagner, using richer harmonies and leitmotifs, but fortunately he chose not to, following instead the style to which he was so well suited. "Coppélia" is in the repertoire of all major ballet companies, and several of its tunes are familiar to people even if they do not know where they come from.
The Flower duet from "Lakmé" became particularly well known in recent years through an advert for British Airways.
Rugrats
Rugrats was an American animated children's adventure sitcom. It was created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series originally aired from August 11, 1991 to 22 May, 1994 as Nickelodeon only ordered 61 episodes for the show (With an extra episode "Passover" which aired on 13, April 1995) but the show was so successful in ratings for its reruns that it began a new run that lasted from 6 December, 1996 through August 1, 2004. The show centers around four babies and their adventures. It was the first Nicktoon, and it also aired on Nick Jr. in 1996.
The series' main character is Tommy Pickles. He was a filmmaker since he was a baby. His group of friends are the other characters. Chuckie Finster (2-3 years old) is Tommy's best friend. He has red hair and wears glasses. Phil and Lil DeVille are twins. They love digging for insects and earthworms. Tommy, Phil and Lil appeared in the pilot episode. Spike Pickles is the Pickles family's dog.
Tommy's baby brother is Dil. He was born in "The Rugrats Movie". Angelica Pickles is Tommy's older cousin. She is the main antagonist of the program. Kimi is Chuckie's playful stepsister. She first appeared in "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie". Susie Carmichael is Angelica's schoolmate and best friend.
The other characters include the babies' parents. The parents are easily distracted. This lets the children get away and explore.
In the pilot, Phil was Tommy's best friend.
Angelica (voiced by Cheryl Chase) and Prudence (voiced by Stacy Ann "Fergie" Ferguson Duhamel) are bullies.
Kimi first appeared in "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie" and is of Asian and European descent like Tommy.
Guyver
Enkephalin
An enkephalin is one of the first endorphins that were discovered in the brain. They are found in many parts of the brain, specially in the basal ganglia. They act as "natural pain killers".
Enkephalins are small proteins. They consist of five amino acids in each of their molecules. The last amino acid is either leucine (leu) or methionine (met).
Enkephalin is a brain neurotransmitter that is formed when tyrocine, glycine, glycine, phenylalanine, and methionine through a condensation reaction or dehydration synthesis.
Receptor (cell biology)
In cell biology, a receptor is a special structure that can be found in cell membranes. These are made of protein molecules such as glycoproteins. Receptors bind (attach) to specialised molecules. If the receptor has this molecule, it is activated, but if it does not it is deactivated. Depending on its state, a change inside the cell happens.
Cell surface receptors (membrane receptors, transmembrane receptors) take part in communication between the cell and the outside world. Extracellular signalling molecules (usually hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines, growth factors or cell recognition molecules) attach to the receptor. This triggers changes in the function of the cell. The process is called signal transduction: The binding starts a chemical change on the inside of the membrane.
Receptors work like locks and keys. With the key, the lock can be locked or unlocked. If it is unlocked, the door belonging to it can be opened.
Part of the receptor sticks out of the cell membrane. The same applies to the membranes of cell organelles. A receptor's main function is to recognize and respond to a specific ligand, for example, a neurotransmitter or hormone. Some receptors respond to changes in 'transmembrane potential' (the difference in electric potential between the inside and the outside of a cell).
The middle part, inside the membrane itself, is a protein-lined pore through the membrane, or 'ion channel'. When the ligand binds to the surface, the pore becomes accessible to ions, which then pass through. In other cases, where differences in electric potential occur, the receptor changes in shape, which causes change inside the cell.
The inside (or cytoplasmic) part of the receptor interacts with the inside of the cell or organelle. There are several different kinds of receptor, each of which acts in a different way.
Coppélia
Coppélia ou La fille aux yeux d'email () is probably the best-known and most performed comedy ballet in the world. Arthur Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter based the ballet on E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy tale "Der Sandmann" (). Léo Delibes wrote the music. Saint-Léon choreographed the ballet.
The ballet is set in a Polish village long ago. Swanhilda and Frantz are sweethearts. Swanhilda thinks Frantz is in love with Coppélia, a strange girl in the house of a dollmaker named Dr. Coppélius. Swanhilda discovers Coppélia is a doll. Dr. Coppélius tries to bring the doll to life using Frantz's life force. Swanhilda saves her sweetheart's life, and the two live happily ever after.
"Coppélia" was in rehearsal for three years. It had many troubles. One was finding just the right dancer to portray Swanhilda. Sixteen-year-old Giuseppina Bozzacchi was finally chosen. Frantz was played by Eugenie Fiocre. The ballet was first performed on 25 May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l´Opéra in Paris. "Coppélia" was a great success. It has been performed around the world.
Act I. Coppélia is set in a small village in Poland at the end of the 18th century. Swanhilda and Frantz are young peasants. They are sweethearts. Frantz however is flirting with Coppélia, a strange girl in the dark house of a dollmaker named Dr. Coppélius. Swanhilda is upset with her sweetheart's behavior.
One evening, Dr. Coppélius leaves home. He drops his key in the street. Swanhilda finds the key. She opens his door and goes into the house with her girlfriends. Frantz enters the street quietly. He puts a ladder against a window of the house. Coppelius returns and chases Frantz away.
Act II. Swanhilda and her girlfriends explore Dr. Coppélius's workroom. It is filled with life-size dolls. Swanhilda discovers Coppélia is also a doll. Coppélius enters and chases the girls away. Swanhilda hides. Frantz climbs through the window. Coppélius welcomes him. He needs a human sacrifice to bring Coppélia to life.
Coppélius give Frantz a glass of wine. The boy falls asleep. The dollmaker performs a magic spell. He tries to bring Coppélia to life using Frantz's life force. Swanhilda pretends to be Coppélia. She destroys the workroom, and saves Frantz's life. Coppélius faints as the sweethearts run away.
Act III. A new church bell is blessed. Swanhilda and Frantz (and other couples) are going to be married. They have all been given dowries by the Lord of the Manor. Dr. Coppélius enters. He is angry. He wants to be paid for the damage done to his workroom. Swanhilda offers her dowry.
The Lord of the Manor allows Swanhilda to keep her dowry. He agrees to pay for the damages. The couples enter the chapel. The celebrations start with the "Dance of the Hours". Dawn, Day, the Hour of Prayer, and other dances are performed. The married couples return. All rejoice.
Several changes were made to Hoffmann's dark fairy tale when it was adapted to the bright and gay "Coppélia". In Hoffmann's fairy tale, for example, the doll comes to life through the hero's life force. In the ballet though, the doll remains a doll. Coppélius's attempt to bring it to life is thwarted by Swanhilda.
In another example, Hoffmann's hero sees the doll in a vision. He then falls from a tower to his death. The hero of "Coppélia" however is saved by his sweetheart. A happy ending replaces a tragic ending.
The designers of the ballet chose only Dr. Coppélius, the life-sized doll, and the young man torn between his attraction to the doll and his love for a human sweetheart for their adaptation. They set the story in a simple country village. Hoffmann set his story in "the philosophically oriented bourgeois society" of the early 19th century.
The spirit of "Coppélia" is lighthearted and gay. The story of the ballet is simple. Its fantastic touches such as the dollmaker and his workshop make "Coppélia", according to Lincoln Kirstein, "a trifle presumed especially appealing to children."
"Coppélia" is one of many (if not the first) ballet about bringing a doll to life. Charles Nuitter started work on the libretto in late 1866 or early 1867. He had a young dancer named Léontine Beaugrand in mind for the part of Swanhilda. Delibes set to work writing the music.
Rehearsals started. The director of the Opéra wanted a star with a well known name to portray the ballet's heroine, Swanhilda. Beaugrand was a lovely young dancer, but her career was just starting. She had yet to have the sort of name that would draw ballet-goers to the theatre.
Adèle Grantzow, a German ballerina dancing at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, was hired to play Swanhilda. Saint-Léon was working between France and Russia at this time. He could not completely devote himself to "Coppélia". Consequently, the ballet was rehearsed over a three-year period.
"Coppélia" lost its star when Grantzow was injured. She went back to Russia. Beaugrand was again passed over for the part of Swanhilda. Giuseppina Bozzacchi was a sixteen-year-old dancer in the company. It was she who was chosen to play Swanhilda.
"Coppélia" was first performed on 25 May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra. Giuseppina Bozzacchi played Swanhilda. Eugénie Fiocre played Frantz. Francois-Édouard Dauty portrayed Dr. Coppélius. A real mechanical doll was used as Coppélia. Because a woman played Frantz, a "pas de deux" for Swanhilda and Frantz was not possible. Nonetheless, the ballet was a great success.
Bozzacchi danced eighteen performances of the ballet before the theatre closed because of the Franco-Prussian War. She died of a fever during the Siege of Paris on her seventeenth birthday, 23 November 1870.
When the theatres reopened in 1871, Beaugrand played Swanhilda with great success. The part of Frantz was again played by a woman in men's clothing. Frantz would be a travesty role at the Paris Opéra until the 1950s.
"Coppélia" was the first ballet score written completely by Delibes. He studied with Adolphe Adam. Adam was the composer of the enduring romantic ballet, "Giselle", and the first to use leitmotifs in ballet. Delibes, like his teacher, used leitmotifs to identify persons and places in "Coppelia". Swanhilda has a waltz, and Frantz has two leitmotifs. Coppélius has a dry-sounding motif and the doll has an odd-sounding little motif. Bustling, lively music identifies the village square. Sinister music identifies Coppélius's workshop.
Delibes appreciated the folk music of eastern Europe. He wrote both a Polish dance called the mazurka, and an Hungarian dance called the czardas for the ballet. Delibes's czardas was the first written for a ballet. Other ethnic music in the ballet include a Spanish bolero and a Scottish jig. Frantz has no solo dance in the original ballet because a woman played the part. A pas de deux for Frantz and Swanhilda was not possible for the same reason. The pas de deux now in the ballet was the addition of Marius Petipa. He put a pas de deux in the ballet when he rearranged the music for his 1884 St Petersburg production.
Lincoln Kirstein describes the music as "sprightly" and the "most durable since Adam's "Giselle"". Dance music had become the "miserable servant" of the dance, Kirstein points out, until Delibes's colorful, rhythmically varied, and richly orchestrated "Coppélia". While the music did little to change dance design itself, he writes, it did provide a criterion for future ballet music.
The critic of "Le Figaro" wrote on 28 May 1870, "M. Léo Delibes has composed for the three scenes of "Coppélia" a distinguished, piquant, and colorful score, excellently orchestrated ... It is very difficult to write for legs with a little artistry, taste, and style. For instance, ballets such as "Giselle" are not improvised by the dozen. M. Delibes has avoided the commonplace in a piece where it has every right to succeed."
The critic of "Le Ménestrel" wrote about Bozzacchi on 29 May 1870, "The title of child prodigy should be devised for her had it had not been abused in so many other cases; although scarcely fifteen years old she is already a very skillful dancer, what is better still in our opinion, she is a graceful and a witty actress; add to that a well-proportioned, dainty little body, and that she bids fair to have the prettiest features in the world. If she fulfills all her first promises, she will be a power in her profession."
"Coppelia" was, and still is, very popular. The Paris Opéra Ballet has performed "Coppelia" 711 times over 90 years. In 1996, Patrice Bart created a new version of the ballet. He went back to Hoffmann's fairy tale. In the process, he brought some psychological depth to the ballet's characters. He even put one of Hoffmann's original characters, Professor Spalanzani, into his new version. Bart also used music from Delibes's operas "Le Roi l'a dit" and "Lakmé".
"Coppélia" was first performed in England at the Empire Theatre in London on 14 May 1906. Adeline Genée danced Swanhilda. The Royal Ballet first staged "Coppélia" in 1933. This staging was Nicholas Sergeyev's version based on the 19th century revision by Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti. Dame Ninette de Valois danced Swanilda in Sergeyev's 1933 version. In 1954, de Valois created her own version based on the Russian versions of "Coppélia".
"Coppélia" was first performed in Russia in 1884. Marius Petipa adapted the original choreography for this production. In 2009, Sergei Vikharev reconstructed "Coppélia" for the Bolshoi Ballet from the Mariinsky Theatre records of 1894. This version featured new designs and 24 dancers in the "Dance of the Hours". Vikharev's version was staged in London in 2010 as part of the Bolshoi's summer tour.
"Coppélia" was first performed in the United States by the American Opera Company at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on 11 March 1887. Marie Giuri danced Swanhilda and Felicita Carossa danced Frantz. Anna Pavlova made her American debut in the role of Swanhilda at the Metropolitan Opera on 28 February 1910. George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova choreographed a version of "Coppélia" in 1974. Their production used the traditional story in the first two scenes, but dropped the third scene's "Dance of the Hours" for a general celebration of ballet.
"Coppelia" was first performed in Australia in Melbourne in 1913. Adeline Gennée and members of the Imperial Russian Ballet performed the ballet on the opening night of their Australian tour. This version was produced by Alexandre Volonine, and was supplemented with music by C. J. M. Glaser.
The first Australian production premiered in 1931 in Sydney, Australia. This production was designed and staged by Louise Lightfoot and performed by the First Australian Ballet. Australian ballet lovers then saw selections from the ballet as well as complete, full length productions by both Australian and foreign companies in the following decades.
A version of "Coppélia" was staged by the National Ballet of China in Beijing in 2002. The dances for this production were designed by Par Isberg. The production opened at the Tianqiao Theatre on 1 May 2002. Wang Qiming played Coppélia. The production stayed close to the original, but the story was simplified and made modern. Costumes included jeans for men and short, tight skirts for women. Some of the women danced on roller skates.
Pan-German movement
Pan-German Movement (from , all, and "Germania") is an ideological and political movement promoting the unification of all German-speaking peoples of Europe.
IMVU
Constance Georgine, Countess Markiewicz
Constance, Countess Markiewicz, born as Constance Georgine Gore-Booth on February 4, 1868, died July 15, 1927), was an Irish Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.
She was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, but she did not take her seat. Instead she and the other Sinn Féin TDs formed the first Dáil Éireann. She is well known for founding Cumann na mBan.
She was also the first woman in Europe to be a cabinet minister, She was Minister of Labour of the Irish Republic between 1919 and 1922.
Nas (born Nasir Jones on September 14, 1973) is an American hip hop musician and actor. He is most known for his first album, "Illmatic", which was released in 1994. It has been widely critically praised. Nas has been nominated for twelve Grammy Awards.
Nas was born on September 14, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York.
On June 15, 1994, Nas's ex-fiancée Carmen Bryan gave birth to their daughter, Destiny. Nas was married to Kelis from 2005 until they divorced in 2010. She is the mother of his son.
In 2010, Nas released an album with Damian Marley called "Distant Relatives". It entered the "Billboard" 200 at number five. Three singles were released from the album. In 2012 Nas released his eleventh album "Life Is Good". He wrote it after he divorced Kelis. The album got good reviews. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards. Amy Winehouse sung on the track "Cherry Wine". Nas released his eleventh studio album, "Nasir", in 2018.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927. The United Kingdom was formed by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself a merger of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland) and the Kingdom of Ireland. Its name was changed in 1927 after the majority of Ireland left the UK in 1922 and became the sovereign Irish Free State, thus leaving only six counties in the north within the UK.
The monarch continued to use the title of "King" or "Queen of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland" until 1927.
Xerox is a company that makes and sells photocopiers and paper. It was the first brand of modern photocopiers. People in the United States often use 'xerox' to mean any copy machine, and "xeroxing" to mean photocopying. Ursula Burns became the CEO and Chairwoman in 2009.
Agneta Sjödin
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (born with the name Edward George de Valera, ) (14 October 1882–) was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century Ireland. Co-owner of one of the Irish Press Newspapers, he served in public office from 1917 to 1973. Several times he was either head of state or head of government in Ireland.
De Valera was a leader of Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He also led opposition to the anti-Treaty in the Irish Civil War. De Valera was the author of the Constitution of Ireland.
De Valera was born in the New York Nursery and Child's Hospital in New York City in 1882 to an Irish mother; he said that his parents were Catherine Coll Wheelwright, an immigrant from Bruree, County Limerick, and Juan Vivion de Valera, a Spanish-Cuban settler and sculptor, and that they were married in 1881 in New York.
In 1885, after his father's death, de Valera was taken to Ireland by his Uncle Ned. He was brought up by his grandmother Elizabeth Coll, her son Patrick and her daughter Hannie, in County Limerick. At the age of sixteen, he won a scholarship to Blackrock College, County Dublin. In his first year in Blackrock College he was Student of the Year. In 1903 was became mathematics teacher at Rockwell College, County Tipperary. When he graduated in mathematics from the Royal University of Ireland he went back to Blackrock College He taught in many other colleges, including Belvedere college where he taught Kevin Barry, the young Irish republican hanged by the British during the Irish War of Independence.
De Valera was an active "gaeilgeoir" (Irish language enthusiast). In 1908 he joined the Conradh na Gaeilge (the Gaelic League), where he met Dubhghlas de hÍde, later first President of Ireland, and also Sinéad Flanagan, another teacher who he married on 8 January 1910 at St Paul's Church, Arran Quay, Dublin.
On 25 November 1913 he joined the Irish Volunteers. He was soon elected captain of the Donnybrook company, then commandant of the Third Battalion and adjutant of the Dublin Brigade. He also joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood, which secretly controlled the central executive of the Volunteers.
On 24 April 1916 the Easter Rising began. De Valera occupied Boland's Mills, Grand Canal Street in Dublin. After the fighting de Valera was court-martialled, convicted, and sentenced to death, but the sentence was changed to for life imprisonment. This was because he was not kept in Kilmainham Jail with the first prisoners executed. The delay meant British authorities started to check if he really was an American citizen, and wonder how the United States would react to the execution of one of its citizens.
De Valera's supporters say he showed leadership skills and a great ability for planning. His enemies claim he suffered a nervous breakdown during the Rising.
After imprisonment in Dartmoor, Maidstone and Lewes prisons in England, de Valera and other prisoners were released under an amnesty in June 1917. On 10 July 1917 he was elected member of the British House of Commons for East Clare (the constituency which he represented in Dail Eireann until 1959) in a by-election after MP Willie Redmond died fighting in World War I.
British newspapers and picture postcards often called the Easter Rising the Sinn Féin rebellion. From 1917 de Valera was president of Sinn Féin. He and the other survivors of the Rising took over Sinn Féin and then turned into a republican party. Arthur Griffith, had wanted an Anglo-Irish "dual monarchy", with an independent Ireland governed separately from Britain, their only link being a shared monarch, like Canada and Britain today.
That had been the way Ireland was governed with the so-called Constitution of 1782 under Henry Grattan, until Ireland joined with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.
Sinn Féin won 73 out of 104 Irish seats in the 1918 general election. A lot more people wanted an independent Ireland after the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed of the 1916 leaders and the threat of conscription. In January 1919, these Sinn Féin MPs, or "TD"s, met in the Mansion House (City Hall), Dublin and formed the First Dáil Éireann ().
De Valera was not at this meeting because he had been arrested. He escaped from Lincoln Prison in February 1919, and when he got back to Dublin he replaced Cathal Brugha as Prime Minister . The Dáil Constitution passed by the Dáil said that the Príomh Aire was prime minister not head of state.
In September 1919 the British authorities said that The Dáil was illegal. The fighting against Britain escalated into the Irish War of Independence (also called the 'Anglo-Irish War').
In January 1921, he got back from the United States with a loan of $5,500,000 This made him very popular.
In August 1921 de Valera had Dáil Éireann change the 1919 Dáil Constitution to upgrade his title from prime minister to President of the Republic. He said that as Irish head of state he would not go to the Treaty Negotiations of October–December 1921 because the British head of state, King George V would not be there either.
The Treaty replaced the Republic by a dominion of the British Commonwealth with the King represented by a Governor-General of the Irish Free State. This was just how Canada was governed. Treaty was finally signed on 6 December 1921.
De Valera's opponents said that he did not join the negotiations because he knew that the British would only allow an Irish dominion, not a republic, and did not want to be blamed for giving up the idea of a republic. De Valera said he was angry because the delegates working out the treaty had not asked him before signing the treaty. But at a secret session of the Dáil during the Treaty Debates and publicised in January 1922, his ideas for a treaty included dominion status, the 'Treaty Ports', a veto by the parliament in Belfast, and the king as head of the Commonwealth. Ireland's would pay a share of the imperial debt.
When the Treaty was accepted by 64 votes to 57, de Valera and a large minority of Sinn Féin TDs left Dáil Éireann. He resigned and Arthur Griffith was elected President of Dáil Éireann in his place.
In March 1922, de Valera made an angry speech saying that, if the Treaty was accepted, it might be necessary to "wade through Irish blood" to achieve Irish freedom. Later he said that De Valera's enemies said that this was encouraging civil war.
Civil War broke out in late June 1922.
Fighting in the Irish Civil War started on 28 June 1922 and ended in May 1923 when the pro-treaty Free State forces beat the anti-Treaty IRA.
De Valera was supposed to be the head of the anti-Treatyites, but he had little power. Usually he had little influence with the IRA Chief of Staff, Liam Lynch. De Valera formed a republican government on 25 October 1922 but it had no real authority and was never like the Dáil governments of 1919–21, which was an alternative government to the British, even running their own courts.
When the IRA's new Chief of Staff called a ceasefire Frank Aiken on 30 May 1923 the government had won. Many republicans were arrested when they came out of hiding and returned home. De Valera was arrested in County Clare and interned until 1924.
De Valera resigned from the presidency of Sinn Féin after losing a vote to accept the Free State Constitution (if the Oath of Allegiance was dropped). In March 1926 he formed a new party, Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny). Fianna Fáil was successful in elections, but for over a year a it did not take its seats in the Dáil. When a new law made candidates promise to take the oath if elected, de Valera and his TDs took the Oath of Allegiance in 1927. They said the oath was "an empty formula" that is, just words they had to say, they did not have to believe them.
Six years after it was founded Fianna Fáil won 72 seats in the 1932 general election, and had a "plurality" in the Dáil. That is, it was the largest party but had less than half of all of the seats, which would be a "majority". On 9 March Governor-General James McNeill appointed de Valera President of the Executive Council . He abolished the oath and stopped paying money owed to Britain.
De Valera called a general election in January 1933 and won 77 seats, giving him an overall majority. Under his leadership, Fianna Fáil won further general elections in 1937, 1938, 1943 and 1944.
De Valera was his own Minister for External Affairs. He attended meetings of the League of Nations, and was president of the Council of the League on his first appearance at Geneva in 1932. In 1934, he supported the admission of the Soviet Union into the League. In September 1938 he was elected nineteenth president of the Assembly of the League, a tribute to the international recognition he had won by his independent stance on world questions.
During the 1930s, de Valera changed a lot of the Irish Free State constitution.
The Governor-General of the Irish Free State could "reserve" or "deny" the Royal Assent to any changes after being advised (ordered) by "His Majesty's Government in London". After a legal argument with the British Government the power this was changed to "His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State"
That meant that de Valera was the only person who could stop a bill becoming law.
De Valera abolished:
When King Edward VIII abdicted (resigned) as "King of Ireland" de Valera passed two Bills;
In July 1936, de Valera wrote to King Edward in London saying that he planned to introduce a new constitution. This was only a little different from the "Bunreacht na hÉireann" (meaning literally the Constitution of Ireland).
The new constitution was not an act of the Dáil but was voted for in a referendum, because de Valera wanted a new start for the new country he was setting up.
Ireland stayed neutral in World War II, which was called The Emergency in Ireland. Both the possibility of a German invasion and a British invasion were discussed in the Dáil.
But even though de Valera hated Britain, Irish neutrality often favoured the allies:
In May 1945, de Valera visited the German minister in Dublin, to express sympathy over the death of the Führer. Along with President Douglas Hyde, de Valera was the only head of government to do this. De Valera did not visit the American embassy following the death of Roosevelt, as David Gray, the American Ambassador said he would not receive de Valera. All flags were flown at half-mast on Roosevelt's death on de Valera's instructions
After sixteen years in power, Fianna Fáil lost the 1948 election. John A. Costello was Taoiseach of a coalition Government. It was Costello who declared Ireland a republic, making de Valera's friend President Ó Ceallaigh Ireland's head of state. In 1951 de Valera was returned to power but without an overall majority. Many people thought this was his worst government. He spent several months in the Netherlands where he had six operations on his eyes.
Fianna Fáil was defeated again in the 1954 general election, but in 1957 de Valera, won a majority of nine seats. This was the beginning of another sixteen year period in office for Fianna Fáil. But de Valera was only Taoiseach for two years.
In 1959 he was elected President of Ireland, as which he served until 1973. At his retirement at the age of 90, he was the oldest Head of State in the world.
Éamon de Valera died in Linden Convalescent Home, Blackrock, County Dublin on 29 August 1975 aged 92. His wife, Sinéad de Valera, four years his senior, had died the previous January, on the eve of their 65th wedding anniversary. He is buried in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery.
In his recent controversial biography by Tim Pat Coogan says that his failures are more than his achievements, and that de Valera's popularity fell as Michael Collins's rose.
Garret Fitzgerald summarised his last term as Taoiseach;
"Total economic stagnation marked de Valera's last seven years as leader of his party - because all of the chickens of his disastrous commitment to an inward-looking policy of self sufficiency were coming home to roost."
Operetta is a term which started to be used in the 19th century to describe an opera that was not too serious and often full of fun. It is often described as “light opera” (“light” meaning “not serious“). In an opera everything is usually sung. In an operetta there is a lot of spoken dialogue, and songs and dances are added to this. Similar traditions already existed in other countries, e.g. in Germany where the Singspiel tradition was popular (e.g. Mozart’s "The Magic Flute)".
The operetta tradition started in France and soon spread to Austria and other countries. It remained popular until the mid-20th century, when it gradually turned into musical comedy.
The composer Jacques Offenbach can be thought of as the creator of the operetta tradition. It grew out of the opéra comique which had become quite long and serious. There was a need for shorter, more humorous musical entertainments. Offenbach was composing operettas in the 1850s in Paris. In England such works were often called “comic operas” or “opera comedies”. Then Johann Strauss became very popular in Vienna. He was already very well known in the ballroom, but when he started to write for the theatre he soon became a rival to Offenbach, whose operettas had become very popular in Vienna. Strauss’s operetta "Die Fledermaus" (“The Bat”) has been performed more than any other operetta. In Spain the Zarzuela was a kind of operetta.
Many people were involved in the creating and performing of operettas. The performers often had to both sing and act very well. Bizet, Chabrier and Delibes all wrote operettas as well as operas and other types of music. In England the operas of Gilbert and Sullivan were a kind of English form of operetta.
One of the most popular of all operettas was "Die Lustige Witwe" ("The Merry Widow") by Franz Léhar. It was produced in 1905 in Vienna. Léhar wrote many other operettas as well. Franz von Suppé is another composer who wrote operettas in the Austrian tradition. The most known Romanian operetta is "Crai nou" ("New moon") by Ciprian Porumbescu.
In the early 20th century the French operetta became less popular as there was more interest in the Viennese operetta. After World War I Berlin was the centre of German operetta. By the middle of the 20th century many composers were writing light operas which were based on American dance band music. These were no longer called “operettas”. The word “operetta” continued to be used for light operas which were more in the style of traditional central European music.
Investiture