AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
By the first half of the fifth century, a group of people known as Huns had settled in Afghanistan. They became powerful. They made Bamiyan as their capital city. They started attacking northwestern parts of India. Skandagupta, an emperor of the Gupta dynasty fought back and kept them away for some years. At last the Huns won and could enter most parts of northern India. With this the Gupta dynasty came to an end. Most of north India became badly affected by this invasion. However, Huns could not go up to the Deccan Plateau and the southern parts of India. These parts remained peaceful. No one knows definitely about the fate of Huns after the end of the sixth century. Some historians believe that they mixed up fully with the Indian people of that time.
In the history of India, Middle kingdoms of India covers a period beginning from around the 6th-7th century. In South India, Chola kings ruled Tamil Nadu, and Chera kings ruled Kerala. They also had trading relationships with the Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. In north India, Rajputs ruled in many kingdoms. Some of those kingdoms continued for hundreds of years.
After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, it was Harsha of Kanauj (a place now in Uttar Pradesh state of India) who united the northern parts of India in one kingdom. After his death several dynasties tried to control north India and ruled from time to time from 7th century till the 9th century as described in some of the sections below. Some of these dynasties were the Pratiharas of Malwa and later Kannauj; the Palas of Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas of the Deccan.
The Pratihara kings ruled kingdoms in Rajasthan and some other parts of northern India from the 6th century to the 11th century. The Palas ruled the eastern part of India. They ruled over areas which are now parts of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and the west Bengal, and of Bangladesh. The Palas ruled from 8th century to the 12th century. In the southern parts of India, Rashtrakutas of Malakheda (Karnataka) ruled the Deccan during the 8th-10th centuries after the end of Chalukya rule. All these three dynasties always tried to control the entire north India. During all this time lasting for three to four hundred years, the Chola kings were growing in power and influence.
In the 6th century several Rajput kingdoms came into being in Rajasthan. Many other Rajput kings ruled in different parts of north India. Some of these kingdoms continue to survive for hundreds of years during different periods of the history of India.
In 1336, two brothers named Harihara and Bukka founded the Vijayanagara Empire in an area which is now in Karnataka state of India. The most famous king of this empire was Krishnadevaraya. In 1565, rulers of this empire were defeated in a battle. But, the empire continued for about next one hundred years.
A number of kingdoms of south India had trading relations with the Arabs in the west, and with Indonesia and other countries of the east.
Islam spread across the Indian subcontinent over a period of 500 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established sultanates in Delhi. In the early 16th century, descendants of Genghis Khan swept across the Khyber Pass and established the Mughal Empire, which lasted for 200 years. From the 11th to the 15th centuries, southern India was dominated by Hindu Chola and Vijayanagar Dynasties. During this time, the two systems—the prevailing Hindu and Muslim—mingled, left lasting cultural influences on each other.
The Delhi sultanate was a Muslim kingdom based mostly in Delhi. It ruled large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526) Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate. They are the mamaluk, khilji, tughlaq, sayyid and the lodi dynasties. The mamluk dynasty was started by Qutbuddin Aibak. He was a slave and thus this dynasty is also called Slave Dynasty. Qutubuddin Aibak also made Qutub minar. His son in law, Iltutmish became the ruler after Qutubuddin aibak. He completed the qutub minar.
The Kingdom of Mysore was a kingdom of southern India. People known as Wodeyars founded this kingdom in the year 1400. Later on, Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan, fought with the Wodeyar rulers. They also fought with the forces of the British Raj, but were defeated. Under the British Raj, Wodeyar kings continued to rule a large part of Karnataka. When India became independent on 15th August 1947, Wodeyars’ kingdom chose to become a part of India.
Guru Nanak founded Sikhism and his followers were called Sikhs. The power of Sikhs continued to increase in the northwestern part of India. The Sikhs became rulers of large part of the northwestern India. This is called the Sikh Kingdom or Empire. Ranjit Singh was the most famous ruler of the Sikh Empire. He expanded the borders of the Sikh Empire and at the time of his death, this empire covered areas of Punjab, and present day Kashmir and parts of Pakistan. The Sikhs and forces of the British Raj fought many wars. Till Maharaja Ranjit Singh was alive, Britishers were not able to cross the Sutlej river. After his death, the they took over the entire Punjab after battles with disorganised Sikh troops.
For a short period, a person named Ahmed Shah Durrani the founder of Afghanistan ruled some parts of northwestern India. Historians have named his rule as the Durrani Empire. In 1748, he crossed the Indus River and attacked Lahore, now a part of Pakistan. He also attacked many parts of Punjab. Then, he attacked Delhi. At that time, Delhi was the capital of the Mughal Empire. He took many valuable things from India. This included the Peacock Throne of Shah Jahan and the famous diamond named Kohinoor.
Colonial period means the time when Western countries ruled India. Western countries also ruled many other countries of Asia, Africa, and South America.
Starting in the 1600s the British East India Company began a very profitable trading empire in India, centered in Bengal. In the mid-1700s Robert Clive (1725-1774) led the Company to an expanded influence in India with victories over the French, the Bengalis, and the Mughals. With a victory at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 Clive became the first British Governor of Bengal.
In the hundred years after the battle, the East India Company conquered the entire subcontinent of India. They did this by trade, political intrigue, and direct military action. The British were very efficient administrators of their domains. But in 1857 the Indian Mutiny almost destroyed the Company's rule of India. Afterward the British government took control away from the Company. In 1858, India became a part of the British Empire and Queen Victoria became the empress of India.
For ninety years the British ruled India and Burma as a unified territory under the British king or queen. It was divided into eight provinces each with a governor. These provinces were Burma, Bengal, Madras, Bombay, UP, Central Provinces, Punjab, and Assam. A Governor-General (Viceroy) in Calcutta was head of the government.
The way the British conquered India was often divide and rule. In the end, many kingdoms were defeated by the British and the riches taken. For example, many of the Royal Crown Jewels were taken from previous kingdoms in India- including the Koh-I-Noor diamond (one of the worlds largest diamonds) and also stole many other large diamonds and gold.
During famines and floods many people died because the government did not help enough. Any Indian not able to pay the British taxes could be forced into prison and/or publicly beaten. Political opponents were jailed and sometimes killed for speaking out against colonial rule. After taking much of India's natural resources for hundreds of years, England was criticized for not protecting Indians during the partition of India and Pakistan. During the partition of India and Pakistan, millions of Indians and Pakistanis died.
The British also did good things. They built railroads, telegraphs and telephones, improved trade, standardized laws, and water supplies. Many of these things were done to help improve commerce in India and taxes provided to England. They created the Indian Civil Service for administering rules and regulations. They also tried to eliminate practices like burning widows.
The British ruled India primarily for the economic benefit of Britain. India produced cheap raw materials for British industry. Indians had to buy British manufactured goods and profits went back to Britain.
Many people in India wanted to be free from British rule. The struggle for independence was long and difficult. Many people protested against the British, and the British tortured many. They had long promoted divisions among the various Indian rulers and religions. The most important leader of the Hindu majority was Mohandas K. Gandhi. Gandhi believed in a non-violent opposition towards the British.
Because Hindus and Muslims fought each other, India was divided into two countries: Pakistan and India. Pakistan was also divided, decades later. India won its independence, along with Muslim Pakistan, and became a free country on August 15, 1947. Pakistan won independence on 14 August, some hours before India.
On 15 August 1947, British Indian Empire was partitioned into two countries, India (Hindustan) and Pakistan. With this the British Raj in the Indian subcontinent ended. On 26 January 1950, Hindustan adopted a constitution. From that day, Hindustanis became the Republic of India or Indians.
During last 60 years, Republic of India has seen different stages in its national life. Some of them are as follows:
Presently (), India is currently the fifth largest economy in terms of gross GDP. It is the 4th largest economy of the world when accounting for purchasing power parity. Some economists think that in coming decades, India’s economy will become still larger.
1250s
Life and Times of Michael K is a novel written by J. M. Coetzee in 1983. It won a Booker Prize.
The story is about a simple gardener called Michael K, trying to run away from South Africa in the Apartheid Era.
Some people think there is a link between Michael K and Josef K. in "The Trial" by Franz Kafka.
Tort law is the part of law for most harms that are not either criminal or based on a contract. Tort law helps people to make claims for compensation (repayment) when someone hurts them or hurts their property. For example, a car accident where one driver hurts another driver because he or she was not paying attention might be a tort. If a person is hurt by someone else, he or she can sue in court.
Many torts are accidents, like car accidents or slippery floors that make people fall down and get hurt. These are called "negligent" torts. But some torts are done on purpose. These are called "intentional" torts. For example, if one person punches another person in the nose, it might be an intentional tort called "battery".
Many torts cause physical harm to people. Some torts cause damage to property, like a broken window. Some torts can harm other things, like someone's reputation or a business.
The kinds of torts this article talks about are a part of the common law. The common law is found in England and former British colonies, such as the United States of America. Different laws are found in civil law countries such as France or Germany. In those countries people usually use the word delict instead of tort, but they mean very similar things.
Torts are what happens when one person (or organization) injures another. The person or organization that causes the injury is known as a "tortfeasor". The person who is injured is often called the "victim".
The victim may sue the tortfeasor. The people or organizations on each side of a lawsuit are called the "parties". In a lawsuit, the victim is called the plaintiff. The tortfeasor is called the defendant.
Usually, the plaintiff in a lawsuit is asking the court to make the defendant pay money to make up for the harm that the defendant caused. For example, the money that the plaintiff asks for might pay for the plaintiff's medical bills if he or she was hurt in an accident. Money that the court orders the defendant to pay is called damages. For some torts, especially ones done on purpose (intentional torts), the plaintiff might also ask the court to punish the defendant by making him or her pay extra money. That extra money is sometimes called "punitive damages".
Sometimes a plaintiff also asks the court to order the defendant to stop doing something, like polluting the air or water. An order to stop doing something is called an injunction (in the United States it is sometimes called a "restraining order").
Tort law or 'The Law of Torts' is a body of laws that is applied by civil court proceedings to compensate people who have suffered harm due to the wrongful act of another.
Sometimes the same act can be both a tort and a crime. For instance, stealing someone else's property might be a criminal offense, but it is also a tort against the person who owns the property. Similarly, punching somebody in the nose can constitute both the crime and tort of "battery".
When a defendant causes an injury on purpose, that injury is an intentional tort. Sometimes, an injury can be an intentional tort if the defendant knows it will happen, even if the defendant does not want it to happen. Intentional torts include hitting people and saying things about them that are not true.
Unintentional torts are accidents. They usually happen because someone was not being careful. When someone is not careful, it is called negligence or recklessness.
An example of negligence is driving a car while not paying attention to the road. In a case of negligence, the court figures out what happened and decides whether the defendant was careful enough. It orders the defendant to pay money only if the defendant was not careful enough.
Recklessness occurs when somebody knows that a substantial risk may result to the lives and safety of others as a result of his or her actions, but acts with indifference to the safety of others. An example of a reckless act is shooting a gun randomly toward an occupied building. Although there is no intent to hurt anybody inside of the building, the action creates a significant risk that somebody could be injured or killed.
In some kinds of cases, it does not matter whether the defendant was careful or not. This is called strict liability or absolute liability. For example, in the United States, if someone buys a soda can and it explodes because it was manufactured badly, the manufacturer will probably have to pay the victim money even if the court finds that the defendant was as careful as it could be.
Physical torts are injuries to a person's body, such as hitting them or making them sick.
Abstract torts are injuries to a person's mind, reputation, or property. A person's mind or reputation can be injured by saying things about them that are not true. A person's property can be injured by taking it from them without permission or saying that it belongs to someone else.
Torts that involve people include hitting them, saying things about them that are not true, and making them stay in one place when they want to leave. Hitting someone is called battery. Saying things about someone that are not true is called slander, and writing things about someone that are not true is called libel, both of which are forms of defamation. When a police officer takes a person to prison when he or she is not supposed to, that is called false imprisonment or false arrest.
Torts involving property include walking on someone else's property without permission, taking someone else's property without permission, or damaging someone else's property. Walking on someone else's property without permission is called trespassing. Taking someone else's property without permission is called stealing or .
A lawsuit occurs when two people or organizations ask a court or judge to solve a disagreement or argument. The two (or more) participants in a lawsuit are called the parties. Each party is usually represented by a lawyer. That means that the lawyer will talk to the judge for the party.
The party that starts the lawsuit is called the plaintiff because they are complaining about something the other side has done. This is also called "suing", or to "sue". The other party is called the defendant because it must defend what it has done. Both sides or parties will show evidence or proof that they are right and the other side or party is wrong. The parties may also ask witnesses questions about what the argument or disagreement is about.
After both parties have shown evidence and asked witnesses questions, the judge or jury will decide which party is right. Then the court will do something to make the winning party happy again. The court might make the losing party pay the winner money, or it might make the losing party stop doing something that made the winner unhappy.
The conduct of a lawsuit is called litigation. The plaintiffs and defendants are called "litigants" and the attorneys representing them are called "litigators". The term "litigation" may also refer to criminal trial.
Chamber music means music written for small groups of instruments. A “chamber” is a “room” (from the French word “chambre”). Usually the word “chamber” in English means a room in a large house or castle. In the days when people with big houses or castles kept their own musicians, they might have their own private orchestra which played in the large hall. Sometimes there would be a concert in a small chamber. This was called “chamber music”.
Chamber music can be any group of instruments from two up to about eight or nine. Each player will be playing something different from the others (“one to a part”). Compare that to an orchestra where there may be, for example, several violins all playing the same notes.
The word “chamber” is also used for a “chamber orchestra” meaning: a small orchestra. By contrast: a large orchestra is often called a “symphony orchestra”. A small choir may be called a “chamber choir”. But these examples are not usually thought of as “chamber music”.
These words are used to show how many people are playing. They can also be used for groups of singers (vocal solo, duet etc.):
Chamber music for instruments became popular as something different from big orchestras. The orchestra developed in the 17th century and so did chamber music. Composers wrote trio sonatas which were for two high instruments (e.g. two violins) and a continuo accompaniment (usually harpsichord and cello). Arcangelo Corelli and Johann Sebastian Bach wrote many trio sonatas.
Joseph Haydn wrote lots of string quartets. He made this combination popular. Mozart and Beethoven also wrote some very great string quartets. The last ones that Beethoven wrote were very difficult to play and to understand, but composers of the 19th century like Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms were inspired by them. In the twentieth century some of the best string quartets were written by Bartók and Shostakovich.
It is great fun to play chamber music because each player is an individual. It is like having a conversation in music. There is no conductor, so each musician has to listen carefully to the others and learn to play together as a small team. The musicians can also hear their own playing better than they can in an orchestra. Some living composers have written a lot of music for young players who are not very advanced. Some of Mozart’s earlier string quartets are not too difficult and make an excellent introduction to chamber music playing.
Stefano Mei
Stefano Mei (born 3 February 1963 in La Spezia) was an Italian long distance runner in several international athletics (also called "track and field") events.
Mei won the silver medal in the 5,000 metre race, and the gold medal in the 10,000 metre race during the 1986 European Championships in Athletics in Stuttgart, Germany. Mei also won a bronze medal in the 10,000 metre race during the 1990 European Championships in Athletics, in Split, Yugoslavia (now Croatia). He competed in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics.
Museum in Bielsko-Biała
The Bielsko-Biała Museum has its main location in the historical Bielsko Castle, Poland. Since the 1970s there are three local branches: the Julian Fałat Museum, the Museum of Technology and Textile Industry and the Weaver's House Museum.
The castle was built in the 14th century by the Piast family, the rulers of the Cieszyn Duchy in Poland, the castle was used as one of their residences for over two centuries. In 1752 the Bielsko state became a duchy owned by the Sulkowski family. The castle was their property until 1945. After World War II the castle was taken over by the Polish State. Since 1983 its only owner has been the Bielsko-Biała Museum.
In the west wing of the building the hunting room and armoury are located. The next two rooms display three centuries of art history from the 15th to the 17th century. Neighbouring with these rooms are a rococo concert hall and a Biedermeier room. The castle's east wing contains a gallery of the 19th and 20th century painting and graphic art. Next rooms located in the north wing display an exhibition of the history of the city and castle, as well as craftsman traditions of old Bielsko and Biała. The east wing of the castle is occupied by art gallery (the 19th century paintings displayed here include works of art representing realism and academism, Młoda Polska (Young Poland) paintings, works of artists connected with Bielsko-Biała during the twenty years of independence after World War I and during the modern times)
The museum shows traditions of wool industry in Bielsko-Biała, by means of collecting machines, equipment and documents. The exhibits are stored in four rooms and show the look of old textile factory A separate room displays machines for making hats and the history of Bielsko-Biała fire brigade. There is also a little printing office and a room where all the historical household equipments, radio sets, typewriters etc., are being stored.
Reconstruction of the weaver’s house and workshop owned by a guild master. It shows live and work in 19th and 20th centuries. There are two main rooms – workshop on the left and living room on the right, with a kitchen and a bedroom.
The weaver’s house is an original example of the old wooden house. It tries to show craftsman’s work.
The museum of Julian Fałat in Bystra Śląska is housed in a historical villa of the artist, called “Fałatówka” and its visitors can see the art and some biographical documents of the artist. This is the house where the artists lived after he stoped being a headmaster of the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition presents oil paintings and watercolours: self-portraits, portraits of his family and friends, landscapes from his travels and hunting scenes.
Circumcision is an operation in which the foreskin is removed. In common speech, someone who has been circumcised is described as "cut" while someone who is not is described as "uncut". For example, one teenaged boy might ask another teenaged boy, "Are you cut?" While this is slang English, it is not considered profanity.
Circumcision may be done by a doctor using a surgical tool, such as scissors, a plastic tool called a plastibell device, or it may be done with a laser. If the doctor uses a laser there is almost no bleeding.
Circumcision may be a religious ritual, a custom in certain tribes or countries, or a medical practice.
Reasons for performing a circumcision:
People disagree about whether circumcision is a good for health and sexual pleasure. People who think circumcision is a good idea may point to health reasons. Circumcision reduces sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and HPV, prevents certain kinds of cancer, and gets rid of infections and unpleasant smells under the foreskin. If circumcision is done soon after birth, it makes it less common for baby boys to get urinary tract infections (UTIs). UTIs can cause permanent damage to the kidneys. Many people think a penis looks better if it is circumcised. A study done in the United States found that the women prefer a circumcised penis, to look at and in sexual activity, especially if they are going to put their mouth on the penis. In countries where most boys are circumcised as babies, parents sometimes think that uncircumcised boys will be teased. Some boys are mean to a boy if his penis looks different. Bullying was a bigger problem in the past when boys had to take showers together at school after gym class or before swimming. People opposed to routine circumcision are called "intactivists".
The University of the Western Cape in South Africa lists these benefits of medical male circumcision (MMC):
Some myths about medical male circumcision:
One study, conducted in 2015, determined that the foreskin does not provide a sexual response or serve a sexual function in men. Instead, it is the and frenular (the area "under" the frenulum) areas which provide sexual response due to the high concentration of genital corpuscles. Out of a large sample of Kenyan men in a controlled trial, 74.8% of men reported higher penile sensitivity two years after circumcision, while only 7.1% reported lower penile sensitivity two years after circumcision. It was deduced that even a retracted foreskin would tend to reduce the stimulus to the corona and frenular areas, particularly on the outward stroke of intercourse. The study determined that “any sexual effect of circumcision must depend solely on the exposure of the glans and not on the absence of the prepuce.” The study concluded that male circumcision has no adverse effect on parameters relevant to sexual function, sensation, sensitivity, satisfaction, or pleasure.
The area of the outer and inner foreskin combined spans a wide range: 7–100 cm2 and 18–68 cm2 respectively. In discussing vestigial structures, Charles Darwin stated, “An organ, when rendered useless, may well be variable, for its variations cannot be checked by natural selection.” The variability in foreskin size is consistent with the foreskin being a vestigial structure.
Those who believe that the foreskin is important for sexual pleasure are against circumcision. Others do not like circumcision because they believe it has no medical advantage, or that it is easy to clean under the foreskin, or that circumcision harms the penis or the mind. People who do not like circumcision of baby boys say doctors and parents should not make this decision. They say that the owner should choose when he is old enough to decide for himself. (However, it will hurt more if done at a later age.)
There are 5 large groups of circumcised men:
According to the CDC, the latest data (from ) on male circumcision in the United States show a 2.5% overall increase in prevalence in males aged 14 to 59 years between 2000 and 2010. In contrast, there has been a decline of 6.1% in newborn circumcisions. The newborn circumcision rate in the US dropped slightly from 83.3% in the 1960s to 77.2% in 2010. The main reason for this 6 point drop is most likely the much faster increase in the Hispanic population, the ethnic group having the lowest circumcision prevalence. The growing Hispanic population in the West accounts for most of the decrease in national prevalence. Because Hispanic and black individuals are over-represented in poorer demographics, the withdrawal of Medicaid funding for elective circumcision in 18 states is of concern to public health, as was also expressed by the authors of the CDC’s recent report. After controlling for other factors, states with Medicaid coverage had hospital circumcision rates 24 percentage points higher than states without such coverage. Many, but not all, private health insurance plans pay for circumcision. A study of 96,457 male babies in the state of Maryland found that 75% of new baby boys were circumcised before they left the hospital. More were circumcised in a religious ceremony or in a doctor's office later. With those boys included, 82% of baby boys in Maryland got circumcised. It was less common for Asian and Hispanic babies than for non-Asian and non-Hispanic babies.
In Islam and Judaism, male circumcision is commonly done for religious reasons.
In Judaism, religious law orders that baby boys be circumcised on the 8th day after their birth. This is required even if the 8th day after birth is Shabbat (Saturday). In the Jewish faith, circumcision is an important tradition because it represents the newly born baby being included in the covenant (or agreement) which God made with the prophet Abraham.
A "mohel" is someone who circumcises Jewish baby boys eight days after they are born in accordance with Jewish law. A knife is traditionally used for this, but a clamp is now sometimes used instead. Mohels are traditionally male, but most types of non-orthodox (not fully traditional) types of Judaism allow women to be mohels without restriction.
For Jews who observe religious law, the circumcision is performed at a ceremony called a Brit milah. Family, relatives and guests attend. Others, such as Reform Jews may choose to have the circumcision done in a hospital before the baby goes home. They may have a celebration afterwards, or after the birth of a baby girl for whom there is no ritual act.
In the Quran, no sura or ayat mention male or female circumcision. However, there are some injunctions of the prophet Muhammad that explain and command "only" male circumcision, as a "continuation" of Abrahamic/Hebraic tradition. For example, the prophet Muhammad said in a hadith that "Five are the acts which are part of "fitrah": Circumcision, clipping or shaving the pubic hair, cutting the nails, plucking or shaving the hair under the armpits and clipping (or shaving) the moustache".
Also, according to the Qur'an, Allah ordered Muhammad to follow the religion of Ibrahim (the Hebrew Abraham): "Then We inspired you: 'Follow the religion of Ibrahim, the upright in Faith'." —(Qur'an 16:123)
Many Islamic scholars say that is an important ritual and a symbolic step of purification along the lines of Abrahamic tradition. Most Shafi Islamic Jurists (judges) say that circumcision is required for men. It is an accepted tradition in almost all Islamic sects and among most Islamic scholars and theologians. Circumcision is also important within Islam because Islam claims to be the 'truth' and the 'continuation' of the old and true message of Ibrahim/Abraham. According to Islam, God's covenant with Abraham was passed on to Muhammad, whose mission was to continue the covenant. The covenant is continued, according to Islam, through several steps, including male circumcision. The Quran discusses this covenant in detail in several places, including sura 14 (Ibrahim – "Abraham").
There are two hadiths which are linked to the acceptance of male circumcision in Islam. They also show how circumcision may have been used to keep track of dates in tribal Arabia:
Ibn Jubayr Sa'id reported: "Ibn `Abbas was asked the following question: 'How was it with you, [when] the Prophet, peace be upon him, died?,' he said, 'I was circumcised at that particular time because the men were usually only circumcised when they became sexually mature.'"
[Sahih al-Bukhari No. 6299]
And further, Ibn `Abbas reported: "When the Prophet, peace be upon him died, I was circumcised at that particular time."
[Sahih al-Bukhari No. 6300]
Along with being an important rite of passage, circumcision may have helped people keep track of dates and place events into the correct time and place.
Moirai
The Moirai (The Fates) were the three goddesses of destiny in Greek mythology. They were Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos ().
They controlled the life and destiny of everyone. Clotho spins the thread of life (begins a person's or creature's life), Lachesis measures it (looks at the how long it currently is), and Atropos cuts the thread. When the thread is cut the person dies. The Moirai are capable of destroying an immortal.
The decisions of the Moriae about a person's life cannot be changed. Even Zeus is powerless to change their will.
The parents of the Moirai are not surely known. Some said they were the daughters of Zeus and the Titaness Themis, or more likely of primordial beings like Nyx, Chaos or .
Their Roman equivalent were the Parcae.
Sources: D'Aulaire's book of Greek Myths
Wikisource – "The Free Library" – is a project by Wikimedia. Its goal is to make a free wiki library of source texts. It has translations into many languages.
It began on November 24, 2003. Its name was "Project Sourceberg" (a play on words for Project Gutenberg), and its URL was http://sources.wikipedia.org. On December 6, 2003, members wanted to change the name to "Wikisource", but the URL was not moved to http://wikisource.org until July 23, 2004.
Whaling is the practice of hunting whales. This is done to get meat and oil, called blubber. Hunters of whales are called whalers. Whaling has been done at least since 3000 BC.
Many communities on the coast have done whaling for food for a long time. They have also killed stranded whales.
Industrialisation started in the 17th century and also affected whaling. Special ships were built for whaling, and whales were hunted until they were almost extinct.
As technology improved and demand for the seemingly vast resources remained high, far more whales were killed than were born. In the late 1930s more than 50,000 whales were killed each year. By the middle of the 20th century, there were not enough whales and they were at risk of becoming extinct. In 1986, the International Whaling Commission introduced a moratorium on commercial whaling so that whales might recover.
This moratorium was successful, and whale stocks recovered. There is a debate about whaling in general. Countries which are in favor of whaling want to do away with the moratorium, so they can again hunt whales as they did before. Countries and environmental groups say that whaling is immoral and should be banned, and that stocks have not yet recovered sufficiently.
Whales have a thick layer of fat under their skin called blubber. For many years, the Eskimos of Alaska depended on these whales to live. Every part of a whale was used: the bones, the blubber, and the skin - every bit of it. In this way, one whale could feed an Eskimo community for a long time. They were important to the Eskimos. However, sometimes a good thing can get out of control and become a bad thing. This was what happened in whale hunting.
Whale blubber was not used only by Eskimos. Soon it became a product everybody wanted. This was because before electricity was invented, blubber was used as oil for lamps. They also used whale blubber to oil machines and make expensive makeup. Because of this, people hunted and killed whales to make money.
The whalers found out the paths whales liked to take in the ocean, and killed them mercilessly. It was a dangerous and frightening job. Whalers would jump into a small boat and follow the whale. Once they were close to it, they would throw a that was attached to a very long rope into the whale. The end of this harpoon was not at all like a spear. It had a switch blade on the end that would stay in the whale's skin. Once the harpoon was in the whale, the whale would start swimming as fast as it could. The whale might swim day and night with no stop for several days. Eventually, the tired and hurt whale would stop. The whalers would then kill the whale with one last harpoon. When the animal died, the whalers would haul the whale onto the ship (big or small), skin it, then boil the blubber for the oil.
Soon, boats began getting bigger. Whalers began using a harpoon like before, but the harpoon has a grenade inside. This was very cruel way of killing whales as it hurt them a lot. The whale would then have blood coming out of its blowhole. This meant the whale would die soon.
Sometimes entire whale families were found, and as many were killed as possible. Because of whaling, several kinds of whales became almost extinct.
More happily, whales are protected by conservation laws that stop people from killing too many of them. Also, chemists invented many products that take the place of whale blubber, and kerosene replaced whale oil in lamps. Now, many countries have agreed not to hunt whales, because otherwise all the whales might die. They signed a treaty agreeing on this though Norway and Japan still hunt whales. Russia and the United States also practising whaling, on a much smaller scale. (Japan still does hunt often, however).
Whaling -Citizendium
An opinion is something a person or a group of people think. "What is your opinion?" is like saying: "What do you think about it?"
The person's answer might start with: "In my opinion..." or "I think..."
Sometimes companies try to find out what people think about something by asking many people their opinion. This is called an "opinion poll" and the people who do it are "pollsters". They might be trying to find out whether people think something is good or bad, such as electricity or exercise or Wikipedia, or whether one politician or beer or sport team is better than another.
An audience is a group of people that see, hear or otherwise experience the same thing. It may be many different kinds of thing, such as a play, a movie, a book, or a broadcast. Audience members participate in different ways in different kinds of art; some live performance events invite the audience to be part of the performance, while others allow only applause and criticism. Mass media seldom provide for audience participation.
An audience at a sporting event are called "spectators" or a "live audience"
A group is a set of things or a number of individuals who have regular contact and frequent interaction.
Side-scrolling video game
Eating is taking in food to get energy, nutrients or for enjoyment. People and animals need to eat because they cannot make their own food inside their bodies like plants. All plants' energy comes from the sun. Plants take the sun's energy, and they are eaten by other animals as food. The animals then eat each other for the energy.
However, many people can not stop themselves from eating, and they become fat or obese. You can become fat by eating the wrong, unhealthy types of food and by eating too much. When a plant collects energy from the sun through its leaves, it is called photosynthesis. If a plant gets too much food, it can just store it until later. They use this stored food during the winter. When you are proven to be fat or obese through your body mass index (BMI), it means you are heavier than the average for your height. The taller you are, the heavier you should be, in theory. If someone is too heavy to be called fat, then they are called obese. When someone eats too much of one thing, they become fat. Someone can eat junk food, but they can also balance themselves by also eating fruits and vegetables.
A bathroom (also known as a restroom, washroom, toilet or lavatory) is where people go for personal hygiene activities. This includes use of the toilet, wash their hands, brush their teeth, take a bath, or take a shower. The room may also contain a sink, often called a "wash basin", “hair basin” or "hand basin" (in parts of the United States) and often a "lavatory." In the United States, "bathroom" mostly means "a room containing a lavatory." In other countries this is mostly called the "toilet". The word "bathroom" is also used in the United States for a public toilet or "restroom." Bathrooms also have bathroom cabinets.
Baths go back to 3,000 B.C. Usually, a town would have a special building for people to take baths, which sometimes were part of a religious ceremony. Starting in the 16th century, public baths started declining. People at this time started building baths inside their homes.
Usually, a full bath will have a toilet, a sink, a bathtub, and/or a shower. If a bathroom has only a toilet and a sink, then it is called a half bath or a powder room. A master bath is connected to a master bedroom for the use of whoever lives in that bedroom and no one else.
A shower is where a person cleans themself by using water. They stand up when they use a shower and usually do not wear clothes in a shower. Showers have a shower head that squirts out water usually from above.
There are different kinds of showers. One is a "power shower" where there are many jets of water from all around. Another is the one in the picture. Some are in baths, and others are on their own.
Gangtok is the capital of the Indian state of Sikkim, It has a population of 50,000. It is located at a height of 1,780 metres in the Himalayan Mountains . It is small town, filled with different cultures and religions living together.
The city has wide roads, flyovers, markets, a modern hospital, schools, colleges and universities, fast food shops, discothèques, and all other modern amenities. One imposing man-made landmark of the town is the 200 ft-high TV tower which overlooks the town and is near the Enchey Monastery below Ganesh Tok.
Transposing instrument
A transposing instrument is a musical instrument that does not play the notes you might think it will play. But all the notes differ from the real notes by the same musical interval. So a song played on the transposing instrument will sound familiar, but played in a different key. That is because the transposing instrument is tuned above or below what the usual notes would be, and always above or below by the same number of notes on a scale. The usual notes are called "concert pitch". Most non-transposing instruments, like pianos, are tuned to play in the key of C.
When writing music for a transposing instrument, or teaching how to play the notes, the entire series of notes is written and described as notes moved up or down a number of semitones. For example: playing the note that is called "C" on a B flat clarinet, produces the note that is called "B♭" when played on a piano. All transposing instruments such as "horn in F" or "alto saxophone in E♭" mean F and E♭ in normal notes ("concert pitch"). The note "C" as written and played on the horn in F will sound like an "F" , and the same "C" written for the alto saxophone in E♭ will sound like "E♭".
Woodwinds, especially the recorder and clarinets, are transposing instruments. Saxophones and most brass instruments are transposing instruments.
The use of transposed notation (writing notes higher or lower than they really are) probably started with the slow changes in how to make instruments. There was a "clarinet in C" when Mozart was alive, but was later replaced by the larger, richer sounding "clarinet in B♭". There was no change to how clarinet players had to move their fingers. That helped players change from the older instrument to the newer instrument. Maybe learners of the modern day instrument in B♭ could re-learn how to use their fingers, so they could play with normal notes. But all written music would have to be transposed back to "concert pitch".
Instruments such as horns and woodwinds have a natural harmonic series, so it is easier and louder to play in certain keys. So that needs to be remembered when writing music for these instruments. Also, these instruments can only be played in tune in certain keys, because of a problem with something called "". Which keys will work depends on which key the instrument was tuned for.
Having transposing instruments makes it possible for pipes to play in several different keys. The fingering can remain the same. Only the key the music is written in, the notes that harmonize with that key, and timbre (what the note sounds like, not just which key it is) change as the different sizes of instrument are used. A cor anglais is like an oboe but a fifth lower (Five notes of a scale. A written C sounds like an F). Any oboe player can play the cor anglais, reading the music and playing with normal oboe fingering. It will automatically sound a fifth lower. Compare this to recorders which are not transposing instruments. On a descant recorder, the note played with three fingers of the left hand (1-2-3-0-0-0) is a G. To play a G on a treble (alto) recorder the fingering is 1-2-3-1-2-3. This can be confusing at first, but with practice players can get used to changing between the different sizes of recorder.
Professional clarinet players will need two clarinets: a B flat and an A clarinet. Some clarinet cases are made to hold both instruments. Some clarinet players also play the bass clarinet. This is also in B flat, but sounds an octave lower than the ordinary B flat clarinet. There is also an E flat clarinet which sounds a minor third higher than written.
Saxophones transpose into different keys according to their sizes. Brass instruments come in several different keys. It is always important for a player to come to a rehearsal or concert with the correct instrument. Often brass players become skilled at transposing. That means, if their music is written in the wrong key for the instrument on which they are playing, they can still play it in the right key.
Transposition (music)
Transposition or transposing in music means playing or writing music in a way that makes it sound higher or lower. This can be done by playing or writing the music in a different key, or by playing or writing it up or down an octave, without changing the key.
Transposing is a useful skill for people who play an instrument, especially the piano, organ, or some other keyboard instrument. If a pianist is accompanying a singer and the song is a little too high for the singer’s voice, it is very useful if he is able to transpose it down so that the music sounds in a lower key. For example, if the music is written in the key of C major, it could be transposed down a whole tone so that it sounds in B-flat major.
Most electronic keyboards and organs these days have buttons which can set notes to transpose automatically. This can be very useful, although it may be confusing for people with absolute pitch.
It is a good idea for people who play keyboard instruments or other kinds of transposing instruments to practise transposing. There are two ways to do this:
Transposing by intervals is the a better way of transposing, but when people transpose they sometimes also transpose the notes the first way, one by one.
There is another possibility which sometimes works: by thinking in a different clef. For example, someone who is used to reading music in the alto clef, such as a violist, can transpose up a tone from music written in the treble clef by imagining it was written in the alto clef and playing an octave lower (a note on the middle line in the treble clef is a B, but in the alto clef it is a C). They could also imagine the new key signature of 2 sharps – it becomes a C sharp.
It is very important to understand key signatures in order to be able to transpose. This is why it is so useful to practise scales.
The Erinyes (or Eumenides) were the goddesses of revenge in Greek mythology. They are also known as the Furies. These three female divinities were named Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaera.
The Erinyes were born from Mother Earth and the blood of Uranos. They avenged family crimes such as matricide and patricide. They also tormented evil men in the "Hell" of the underworld, Tartarus.
The Erinyes forever followed a person who did a crime. They even could make the person go mad. They are often shown with snakes on their heads, blood coming out of their eyes, and looking horrific.
A well known story about the Erinyes is that of Orestes. Orestes' mother Klytaimnestra, and her lover Aegisthos, killed Orestes' father Agamemnon. The god Apollo told Orestes to kill the murderers of his father, which he did. Orestes was then pursued by the Erinyes for his crime. With the help of Athena and Apollo Orestes went to a court in Athens. It was decided that Orestes acted correctly and nobody should hurt him. Even the Erinyes accepted the decision, and from then on they were also called Eumenides, which means "the kind ones", because they could also let people go in peace if their crime was done for a good reason.
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a term mainly used for the geographic region surrounded by the Indian Ocean: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.