AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Classical Latin was used in the 1st century BC and was the official language of the Roman Empire. It was widely used in the western part of the Mediterranean. The languages known as Romance languages developed from the spoken version, called Vulgar Latin.
Latin was very important to Christianity for many centuries. It is still spoken today during some religious activities. It is an official language in the Vatican, where the Pope leads the Roman Catholic Church. People in the Vatican sometimes speak to one another in Latin (if they have different first languages). The mass of the Catholic Church may be done entirely in Latin. This is the Mass of the Roman Rite (Extraordinary Form).
Latin is called a dead language because no one speaks Latin as a first language anymore. Even though it is a dead language, it is not an extinct language because it is still used in daily life by some people. In fact, many people still study it in school. Latin is still useful because it shows how society and the language used to work. Knowing Latin makes it easier to learn the Romance languages.
People still read Latin classics such as the poems of Virgil, the memoirs of Caesar and the speeches of Cicero. Also, Latin is widely used as an international auxiliary language, notably in the Catholic Church, and by biologists when describing and naming new species.
Latin is still used in taxonomy to give scientific names to species and groups of species of living things. Some terms used in medicine to name parts of the body (such as bones) and diseases are also written in Latin.
There are three types of Latin: Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin, and Ecclesiastical Latin. Classical Latin was used by the educated Romans and is still studied around the world. Vulgar Latin was the more common spoken variety used by the common Romans and was learned by the peoples conquered by the Romans. Ecclesiastical Latin is common in Italian schools and still used by the Roman Catholic Church.
Latin was the most important language in most of Europe in the Middle Ages. It was taught in many European schools, and all universities used Latin as the teaching language. Latin began to lose its importance in the Reformation, but it was still often used by authors of scientific books and encyclopedias. Until about 1900 many universities accepted dissertations written in Latin.
As people from other regions of Europe learned Vulgar Latin during Roman conquests, each region developed its own language, a simplified form of Latin. Those languages are called Romance languages, and they are still spoken today. The five Romance languages with the largest number of speakers are Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian. The Romance languages are very similar to one another, and speakers of one Romance language can understand many words and sentences (in both texts and spoken conversations) from another Romance language. For example, speakers of Portuguese can often understand Spanish. It can be said that the Romance languages are modern dialects of Latin.
Latin has a similar inflection structure to Ancient Greek but a different alphabet.
Latin has seven different noun cases: nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative and locative. The vocative case is almost always the same as the nominative case; however, if the nominative ends in -us, it changes to -e, and if the nominative ends in -ius, it changes to -i. The locative takes the form of the dative. Latin nouns are "declined", or changed, according to how they are used in the sentence. A noun can be declined five different ways. These ways are called declensions. The declensions are numbered 1 through 5 (first declension, second declension etc), each having different endings that identify the noun's declension. When a noun is declined, twelve forms are made, two for each of the noun cases (the locative is omitted).
A similar thing is done to verbs, called "conjugation". When a verb is conjugated, six forms are made. There are five factors that can change a verb: person, number, tense, voice, and mood. In all, there are 120 possible forms Latin verbs.
Latin used to be written on plates of wax. There was little space and so words were run together, with no space between words. Sometimes papyrus was used, but this was expensive. Punctuation was an ancient idea but came to Latin later. Lowercase letters (small letters) are relatively modern inventions. The Roman alphabet was derived from the Etruscan language.
The following is the introduction to the "Metamorphoses" by Ovid (Book 1, lines 89–100); it describes the Golden Age.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, many people still used Latin. Scholars such as Thomas Aquinas, Petrarch, Erasmus, Luther, Copernicus, Descartes and Newton wrote in Latin. As an example, Hugo Grotius published his "De jure belli ac pacis" (On the Law of War and Peace) in 1625, which is one of the bases of international law.
The Middle Ages were a period of about a thousand years in European history. They started around the year 476 when the Western Roman Empire ended, and continued until around the time Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492. The 'Middle Ages' are called this because it is the time between the fall of Imperial Rome and the beginning of the Early modern Europe. This period of time is also known as the Medieval Age, the Dark Ages (due to the lost technology of the Roman empire), or the Age of Faith (because of the rise of Christianity and Islam). When used narrowly, the term "Dark Ages" refer only to a very early period, from 476 to 800 (when Charlemagne became Holy Roman Emperor). Because few could write, less is known about the Dark Ages than about earlier times.
The fall of the Roman Empire, and the invasions of barbarian tribes, devastated European towns and cities and their inhabitants. The Dark Ages are given this name because Europe was in disarray in comparison to the orderliness of classical antiquity and life was short and poor. Much of the knowledge that the Romans used (science, technology, medicine, and literature) was lost. The Dark Ages period was marked by mass migrations, wars and plagues. This lasted some 300 years until the development of feudalism partly diminished the continuous violence. Emperor Charlemagne was crowned in 800 , and he promoted order, education and civilization. Europe began to slowly regain what was lost during those centuries. The Late Middle Age was a tough period due to the Bubonic Plague and more wars which killed millions of people in Europe and Asia.
During the Middle Ages, Europe changed as the remains of the great Western Roman Empire slowly became independent, unified nation states such as England, Scotland, France (Which evolved from the realm of the Franks), Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Lithuania, Denmark and Norway.
Meanwhile, the remains of Eastern Rome had become the Byzantine Empire, which was started by Roman emperor Constantine in 330 , and likewise had a capital city named Constantinople. The Byzantine empire controlled Asia Minor and Northern Africa, and sometimes Southern Spain and southern Italy, but its lands were slowly eaten away by enemies like the Turks and the Franks.
As a walled city on a peninsula the city of Constantinople was difficult to attack. The Ottoman Turks eventually seized Constantinople in 1453. They called the city by its present-day name, Istanbul. The Fall of Constantinople is sometimes called the end of the Middle Ages.
Islam was founded in the early 7th century by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is God's ultimate revelation to mankind. Islam quickly conquered much of the Middle East and North Africa and spread along the major trade routes of the old world, finding appeal with traders and travellers.
The Islamic religion soon split; between the Sunni Muslims and the Shi'a. The Sunni religion is the majority (roughly 85% of Muslims belong to this sect), Most Shi'a live in modern-day Iran and Iraq. The Sunni-Shi'a split has been compared to the Protestant Reformation within the Christian church much later in 1517.
Muslim conquests soon took formerly Christian territories in modern day Iraq, Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Spain. The Christians were able to keep France and other European countries. The Muslim Ottoman Empire eventually conquered parts of eastern Europe. Many Muslim states held of vast areas of land; making them superpowers of the Middle Ages.
During the much of the Middle Ages, Muslims achieved what is remembered as a golden age of knowledge. During these times of strife in Europe, many Muslim caliphs and Sultans gathered the ancient texts of great classical empires: such as the Caliphs of Andalusian Cordoba with Roman texts or the Anatolian Seljuk Sultans with Greek texts) and attempted to re-integrate this knowledge into their present time. During this time a Persian Muslim helped develop progress in algebra. The golden age of Islam ended with the Mongol invasions in the mid 13th century.
During the Middle Ages trade between countries became much more common. It was mostly through the Middle Eastern / Asian trade route known as the Silk Road. Arabs served as the middle men in international trade. Trade in this time was based on how valuable the item was. The items that had higher value, and low weight, travelled the farthest (gold, silk, etc...), and items that were heavier and worth less would travel mostly short distances. Food, for example, would mostly travel only within a few villages.
During the high Middle Ages, wealth began to return and consumers began to demand luxuries again. Silk, porcelain, spices, incense, gold and gems, all went thousands of miles across deserts, mountains and plains. Glass was in turn imported from Europe to Asia.
Trade was greatly interrupted several times during the Crusades (1095-1291) due to wars between Muslims and Christians, and because of Mongolian Invasions, and later because of the Black Plague. It is thought that the Mongols brought the Plague with them from Asia, and devastated the world population from 1347-1351. Almost a third of the world's population was killed by the plague at this time, although the Americas were not touched by the disease at all.
Buddhism is a non-theistic religion (in other words, Buddhists don't believe in a god) that is based on philosophy. It began in India but is almost entirely gone from that area now. Muslim invaders in India drove out this system of beliefs, more or less forcing Buddhism to flee East (where it eventually took strong roots in China).
During the Middle Ages the Mongols created the world's largest contiguous empire, controlling much of Asia, the Middle East, and far eastern Europe. The Mongol Empire was so large and powerful that its strength imposed what was later called the "Pax Mongolica", similar to the Roman Pax Romana ("pax" is Latin for "peace"). With no war inside the Mongol Empire; international trade and diplomacy along the Silk Road greatly expanded.
Mongol leader Genghis Khan built an empire that was so large, it collapsed under its own size (much like Alexander the Great's empire did) around the time of the Khan's death in 1227. The former Mongol empire was split four ways, leaving the Chinese to become the dominant power in the Far East once again. Later, the Chinese took control of northern China again under the Yuan Dynasty.
Around 1405, A Chinese admiral named Zheng He went to explore the world. His fleet of 300 'treasure ships' explored great areas of the Eastern world, and were many times larger than anything the Europeans had built. (A Zheng He Treasure ship was wider than Columbus' ship 'Santa Maria' was long).
The Late Middle Ages were the last two centuries of the Middle Ages, from around 1291 (when the crusades ended) to 1492 (Columbus voyage to the new world). During this period the gun changed war and aristocracy and feudalism became less important. States founded standing armies. Before, armies were only formed when there was a war. Technology, economy and science developed. Cities were founded and existing cities grew larger and richer. France and England fought the Hundred Years' War. The Grand Duchy of Moscow regained its independence from the Mongols just like the Chinese, and under the name "Russia" became the most important state in Eastern Europe. A Plague devasted in Eurasia and North Africa that killed 1/3 to 3/4 of the population (75-200 million people dead). This was one of the deadliest pandemic in the history.
In the 15th century, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire. That event cut off the Silk Road, and the Europeans had to find new trade routes. In turn, the Muslims were driven off Spain. This event triggered the Age of Discovery during the Renaissance.
In the late Middle Ages the Frisians rebelled against the Habsburgians from 1515 until 1523. They were lead into battle by the legendary warriors and warlords Donia and Jelckama. They were eventually defeated and beheaded in Leeuwarden.
Louis Bonaparte
Louis I of Holland ("Lodewijk Napoleon" in Dutch) (1779-1846), was the younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of the Kingdom of Holland in 1806. He served with his brother in the Italian campaign of 1796–97 and in Egypt in 1798–99. Napoleon named him king of Holland in 1806. When Louis disagreed with his policies, Napoleon dispatched troops against Holland. Louis abdicated in 1810 and lived most of the remainder of his life in Italy.
Louis was born Luigi Buonaparte in Ajaccio, Corsica. He was a younger brother of Joseph, Napoleon, Lucien and Elisa, and the older brother of Pauline, Caroline and Jerome.
His early career was spent in the army and he served with Napoleon in Egypt. Thanks to Napoleon, he was a general by the age of 25, although he himself felt that he had risen too far in too short a time. Upon his return to France, he was involved in Napoleon's plot to overthrow the Directory. After becoming first consul, Napoleon arranged a marriage for Louis to Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Empress Josephine and Napoleon's stepdaughter. Hortense, who was opposed to the marriage, was convinced by her mother to marry Louis for the sake of the family.
Napoleon made him king of Holland on June 5 1806. He took his duties as king seriously, calling himself Koning Lodewijk I (adopting the Dutch form of his name). He practiced to speak Dutch language and tried to be a responsible, independent ruler of Holland. His attempt at speaking the language earned him some respect from his subjects. He declared that he was Dutch and renounced his French citizenship. He also forced his court and ministers (mostly supplied by Napoleon) to speak only Dutch languages.This was too much for his wife Hortense who refused his request. Two major tragedies occurred during his reign: the explosion of a ship filled with gunpowder in the heart of the city of Leiden in 1807, and a major flood in 1809. In both instances, Louis personally and effectively oversaw local relief efforts, which helped earn him the nickname of Louis the Good.
His reign of the Netherlands was short lived, due to a quarrel with his brother. Napoleon I wanted Dutch troops for his invasion of Russia. Louis refused; Napoleon didn't help defend the kingdom, and the British invaded. Napoleon then suggested that Louis should abdicate but he refused. Napoleon removed Louis from the Dutch throne and took over the entire Kingdom of Holland on July 1, 1810.
After his kingdom was taken from him, Louis remained in Holland for nearly three years and turned to writing and poetry. Louis wrote to Napoleon after the disastrous Russian campaign to restore him to the Dutch throne. Predictably, Napoleon refused and Louis returned to France in 1813.
After the death of his elder brother Joseph in 1844, Louis was seen by Bonapartists as the rightful Emperor of the French, although he took little action himself to advance the claim. His son and heir, Charles Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, on the other hand, was at that time imprisoned in France for having tried to engineer a Bonapartist coup d'état. Louis died on July 25 1846, making his son the future Napoleon III.
Michiel de Ruyter
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (1607 – 1676) was a famous Dutch admiral.
De Ruyter was born in Vlissingen. He fought the English in the three Anglo-Dutch Wars and scored several huge victories. He won amongst others the Four Days Battle and the Raid on Medway, close to London, the English capital. He also fought battles against Sweden and France. He died because of injuries he got on a battle against France, he is buried in Amsterdam.
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (14 January 1798 - 4 June 1872) was an important Dutch politician. In 1848, he wrote a constitution almost on his own. This constitution gave the king less power and the people more, so it made the Netherlands a democracy. Thorbecke was a liberal. Several times he was prime minister, and internal affairs minister.
Thorbecke was a Lutheran and had German roots. He was born in Zwolle and died in The Hague, aged 74.
Karel Doorman
Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman (April 23, 1889 in Utrecht - February 28, 1942) was a Dutch admiral (Dutch: "schout-bij-nacht") during World War II.
In 1942 he was made commander of the combined American, British, Dutch and Australian fleet in the Dutch East Indies.
In February 1942, he led his fleet against a much stronger Japanese fleet in the Java Sea. This battle became a disaster for the Allies. Doorman became a hero in the Netherlands, partly of his last words to the fleet: "Ik val aan, volg mij!" (I am attacking, follow me).
Karel Doorman died when his ship "De Ruyter" (named after the famous Dutch Admiral Michiel de Ruyter) was hit by a torpedo and sank. There was enough time to escape, but Doorman rather went under with his ship, according to old tradition.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. Francis Scott Key wrote the words to it in 1814 after seeing British ships attacking Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland during the War of 1812.
The words are set to the music of a British drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven". The song has 4 stanzas but only the first one is usually sung.
Abdou Diouf (born September 7, 1935) was president of Senegal from 1981 to 2000. He was the second president since the country became independent.
Diouf has been the Secretary General of "La Francophonie" since 2003.
A needle is a small tool used to push or pull a thread through a small hole.
It is most often used to make clothing and footwear.
The needle consists of a short stick with a sharp point and hole for the thread. Needles are now mostly made of steel, but in ancient or Stone Age times they would have been made of small bones or twigs.
Once the thread is put through the hole in the needle and "doubled-back" so that it cannot fall out, then the whole needle and its thread can be put through the material.
The term needle may also be used to refer to other sharp objects used for different purposes, such as the needles doctors use to give a shot.
February 3
A province is a subdivision of a country. It is a kind of local government.
Some countries are divided into provinces. The word "province" comes from the Latin word "provincia".
South Africa, Canada, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Spain, and Denmark are examples of countries that are divided into provinces.
In some countries, provinces have different names:
Departements usually have less power than provinces. States, Bundesländer and autonomous communities have more power than provinces.
Small countries like Singapore or Monaco are not divided.
Jade is a kind of stone. We use the name "jade" for two different sorts of mineral. The first sort is nephrite. This is a form of actinolite (asbestos is a sort of actinolite, too). The second sort is the mineral jadeite, and it is a pyroxene. The first sort (nephrite) is harder than the second sort (jadeite). The first sort (jadeite) has more colors that the second sort (nephrite).
Nephrite is Ca(Mg, Fe)SiO(OH).
Jadeite is NaAlSiO.
The two sorts of jade look nearly the same. People only found that they were two different sorts in 1863. The nephrite form of jade is very hard. In the past, Chinese people and the Maori used it to make knives and weapons. Later, when people could use metals, they liked jade because it looked nice and they thought it had special powers. Today people also use jade for jewelry.
Jade was found about 7000 years ago. The Chinese later made jewelry out of it. Only the rich could have jade because it was so rare and expensive. It was said that jade had healing powers and it was regarded as very lucky.
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko () (born February 23, 1954) is a previous President of Ukraine. On November 26, 2004, he lost the Ukrainian presidential election. However, he and his followers argued that the election had been corrupted. They argued that the election results had been falsified by the Ukrainian government, in support of the opposing candidate Victor Yanukovych. They organized political demonstrations in the autumn and winter of 2004 that gathered millions of people all over the country. They called the demonstrations "The Orange Revolution". The Constitutional Court ordered a second round of elections, which Yuschenko won.
Yushchenko claimed to have been poisoned by political enemies. Certainly, he was hospitalized and his appearance shows signs of a grave illness.
Yulia Tymoshenko and Yushchenko were once strong allies (during the Orange Revolution). Today there is a lot of political misunderstanding between Tymoshenko and Yushchenko.
In February 2010 Yushchenko lost the presidential election to Viktor Yanukovych.
From December 1999 till May 2001 Yushchenko was the Ukrainian prime minister and from January 1993 till December 1999 head of the national bank of Ukraine.
Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (; born July 9, 1950, Yenakiieve, Stalin Region, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian politician who was the 4th President of Ukraine from 2010 to 2014; found guilty of treason. On January 12, 2015, he was declared wanted by Interpol
He was Prime Minister of Ukraine from November 2002 until December 2004 (he was forced to resign (leave office early) on 31 December 2004). He again was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 4 August 2006 until 18 December 2007. He is the former leader of the Party of Regions the biggest political party of Ukraine. The party was formerly part of the Ukrainian government.
In November 2004, he won the presidential election. Viktor Yushchenko, his opponent, said the result was false. Large daily demonstrations supporting Viktor Yushchenko followed. They were named "The Orange Revolution". Ukrainian Judges decided that there would be new elections in December 2004. Victor Yuschenko won those elections and became president of Ukraine.
Yanukovych was supported by Vladimir Putin of Russia and by the former Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma.
Yushchenko claimed to have been poisoned in a bid to silence his "orange power" base. Certainly, he was hospitalized and his appearance showed signs of a grave illness.
In February 2010, he won the presidential election; Yulia Tymoshenko, who lost the election with a 3.48% difference, said he won because of fraud.
Yanukovych was a victim of poverty in his childhood and was twice put in prison for violent crimes in his youth.
After mass protest in Ukraine during February 2014, Yanukovych was forced-out of office on 22 February 2014. Oleksandr Turchynov became acting president.
On December 15, 1967, at the age of 17, Viktor Yanukovych was first sentenced to 3 years in prison for participating in a robbery.
For the second time, Viktor Yanukovych was prosecuted for inflicting moderate bodily injuries under Art. 102 of the Criminal Code of the Ukrainian SSR and sentenced on June 8, 1970 to 2 years of imprisonment.
In connection with the events of Euromaidan, the phrase "Golden Toilet" became a symbol and synonym of the Yanukovych regime. In many informal speeches, the phrase is used as a euphemism for the rule of Viktor Fedorovich and his political entourage.
During the two months of Yanukovych's presidency and the existence of the pro-presidential majority and the government in Ukraine, the pressure on the media and the curtailment of freedom of speech intensified. In particular, independent experts noted the politicization of the First National TV Channel. The facts of censorship on commercial TV channels have become more frequent: journalists of "1 + 1" and "STB" have stated the facts of censorship by their management, and journalists of STB state the existence of facts of censorship since 2008.
Viktor Yanukovych, along with Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko, became the biggest enemies of the Ukrainian press in 2012-2013, according to an annual survey by the Institute of Mass Media and the Independent Media Trade Union.
As of May 15, 2014, 6 criminal cases of abuse of power were being investigated against Yanukovych. The cases are included in the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations.
In chemistry, a salt is any neutral chemical compound made of cations (positive ions) attached to anions (negative ions). The main kind of salt is sodium chloride with the chemical formula NaCl. It is formed when hydrochloric acid is added in sodium hydroxide. The reaction is as follows
HCl+NaOH2 gives NaCl+H20+heat
Mixtures of salts in water are called electrolytes. Electricity is able to pass through electrolytes, as well as molten salts.
Salts can melt ice, because salts lower the temperature needed for liquid to freeze. Because of that, streets are sometimes treated with salt in winter, if the temperature is only a little below freezing.
A salt can also be explained as an ionic compound which dissociates, forming a positive ion other than hydrogen ion, and a negative ion other than hydroxyl ion.
The word "Salt" in English often means 'table salt' or 'edible salt' (which is salt that can be eaten). This kind of salt is made up mostly of "sodium chloride" (NaCl). It is one of the few minerals that are eaten a lot by humans, but it can be used for other things besides giving food its flavor.
There are different kinds of edible salt: unrefined salt (for example sea salt), refined salt (table salt), and iodized salt. It is a crystalline solid that has the color white, pale pink, or light gray. It is usually taken from sea water or rock deposits. Natural sea salt has little parts and pieces of other minerals besides sodium chloride. Rock salts that can be eaten are sometimes a little grayish in color because of these other minerals.
Sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) are the two elements that make up sodium chloride. Both of these are needed for all living creatures, including humans, but they are not always eaten in the form of salt, where they are found together in large amounts. Some peoples, like the Yanomami tribe in South America, eat very little salt. Salt is used to control the amount of water in the body. Salty flavor is also one of the basic tastes. Salt cravings may be caused by not having enough minerals, such as sodium chloride, in the body.
Eating too much or too little salt can make health problems more likely to happen, for example hypertension. When food is made, salt is used as a preservative, to make the food last longer, and as a seasoning, for flavor.
There are different ways to get table salt:
Because many germs cannot live in salt, it has been used to preserve food since the earliest times. Its use as a food preservative helped large amounts of food to be stored, sent a long way, and eaten all through the year. This helped populations to grow, cities to develop, and soldiers in wars to be fed.
Salt was probably used in Egypt as long ago as 4000 BC. In ancient times, salt was more valuable than it is now, because it was hard to get in many places, and could be used not only to give foods flavor, but also to make them last longer. It allowed food to be kept past its season, and taken on long trips.
People often traded salt for other things. It was of high value in China, Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa. In the Mediterranean area, including Ancient Rome, salt was even used for money. The word "salary" comes from the Latin word for salt, because they paid people in salt. After people learned how to get salt from the ocean, salt became cheaper. The Phoenicians were some of the first to figure out how to do this, by pouring seawater on dry land. Then when it dried, they collected the salt and sold it.
Another use of salt was in war, as a way to punish a city by ruining its crops. This is called "salting the Earth". The Assyrians are said to have been one of the first to have done this to their neighbours.
Salts can be found in all different colours, such as: yellow (sodium chromate), orange (potassium dichromate), red (mercury sulphide), mauve (cobalt chloride hexahydrate), blue (copper sulfate pentahydrate, ferric hexacyanoferrate), green (nickel oxide), colorless (magnesium sulphate), white (titanium dioxide), and black (manganese dioxide). Most minerals and inorganic pigments, as well as many synthetic organic dyes, are salts.
A business is an organization where people work together. In a business, people work to make and sell products or services. Other people buy the products and services. The business owner is the person who hires people for work. A business can earn a profit for the products and services it offers. The word "business" comes from the word "busy", and means doing things. It works on regular basis.
Originally, individual trades people were qualified, and they hired assistants. The invention of the joint-stock company meant a new era in business. By this means, some people put up the money as capital, and others used it to run the business. There is a law which says this kind of company is a "legal entity": it has a legal life separate from its owners or shareholders. In this way, a company can outlive the people who started it. This idea was invented in medieval times, but really flowered in the 19th century. It has spread around the world since then.
Most businesses are created for commerce. There are big and small businesses. For example, one person can open a small barber-shop. A big business, like Microsoft, employs thousands of people all over the world.
Some businesses need fixed locations. Examples are an office, store, or farm. For some businesses the worker goes to different locations. Examples are carpenters or electricians. They usually bring everything they need for work in their truck.
"Business" can also mean the work or current state of a business. A business owner might say: "I am doing a lot of business" or "My business is good" or "Business is bad".
The term can also be used in a more general way. As a noun, it can be used, for example, to speak about a broad area of activity.
Winter is one of the four seasons and the coldest time of the year. The days are shorter and the nights are longer. Winter comes after autumn and before spring.
Winter begins at the winter solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere the winter solstice is usually December 21 or December 22. In the Southern Hemisphere the winter solstice is usually June 21 or June 22.
Some animals hibernate during this season. In temperate climates there are no leaves on deciduous trees. People wear warm clothing and eat food that was grown earlier. Many places have snow in winter, and some people use sleds or skis. Holidays in winter for many countries include Christmas and New Year's Day.
The name comes from an old Germanic word that means "time of water" and refers to the rain and snow of winter in middle and high latitudes.
A junta is a Spanish word that is used for military dictatorships.
Often juntas got their power because of a coup d'état.
Greece, Chile, Mauritania, Guatemala, Brazil, South Vietnam, and El Salvador are examples of countries that were once ruled by juntas.
The most famous junta nowadays is that of Myanmar, but Myanmar is not the only country that is ruled by a junta now, Thailand is another example.
Some autonomous regional governments in Spain are also called junta.
Nezahualcoyotl
Nezahualcoyotl (1402 - 1472) was king of Texcoco, a part of the Aztec empire. He was also a famous poet.
The name Nezahualcoyotl is Nahuatl, it means "hungry coyote".
Miguel Hidalgo
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (8 May, 1753 – 30 July, 1811) was a Mexican priest. He started Mexico's war of independence against Spain.
Hidalgo made a speech in 1810 now called the Grito de Dolores. He called on the people to support the King of Spain against the rebellious Viceroy of Mexico. After a few months he was taken prisoner and executed by firing squad. After he died, several other people, such as Vicente Guerrero, kept fighting against the Spanish until 1821, when Mexico became an independent country. Hidalgo is remembered today as a great liberator in Mexico.
The Mexican state of Hidalgo is named after him.
Death penalty, also called capital punishment, is when a government or state executes (kills) someone, usually but not always because they have committed a serious crime. A crime that can be punished with the death penalty is called a capital crime or a capital offense.
Executions in most countries have become rarer in recent centuries. The death penalty is a disputed and controversial topic.
About one third of the countries in the world have laws that allow the death penalty. The United States, the People's Republic of China, Japan, Indonesia and Iran are examples of countries that have a death penalty. Canada, Australia, Mexico and all members of Council of Europe are examples of countries that have abolished the death penalty. 109 countries have gotten rid of the capital punishment for all crimes. Another 28 can be considered abolitionist in practice. If they retain the death penalty in law but have not carried out any executions for the past 10 years or more.
Most of the countries that have a death penalty use it on murderers, and for other serious crimes such as rape or terrorism. Other countries especially ones with Authoritarian or Totalitarian governments, however, also use it for smaller crimes like theft, drugs, or for saying bad things about the government.
A study by Amnesty International found that the following countries did the most executions in 2012:
Here's the list for 1998:
A total of 557 people were executed in the United States between 1977, when the death penalty was reintroduced after a 10-year break, and 2000. During this period, 20 states did not carry out any executions. Here are the states with the most executions during this time:
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The Russian Soviet Socialist Republic, as part of the Soviet Union, reinstated capital punishment during the time of the Soviet Union.
It is common to have people executed for crimes including murder, manslaughter and attempted murder, but there are also other crimes that carry the death penalty. Some of these are:
During war time, the following crimes are punished by death:
According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that became valid in 1976, people that were not at least eighteen years old at the time they committed the crime may not be executed. According to the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically its 13th amendment (2002), no one must be executed.
There is a lot of different opinions on the topic of capital punishment. As it is an important topic, each country has very strong feelings. Many people say the death penalty is reasonable because it scares people away from doing things that are illegal, however many others say there is a potential of executing an innocent man; one says justice, retribution, and punishment; the other side says that execution is murder. Most people know the threat of crime to their lives, but the question lies in the methods and action that should be used to deal with it.
Throughout human history, governments and rulers have used many death penalty methods to execute people, such as crucifixion, flaying, and hanging. Some methods like crucifixion and flaying are no longer used by governments, because people think that these methods of killing are too cruel. The gas chamber was found unconstitutional in the United States (that is: against the United States constitution not allowing "cruel and unusual punishments") and is no longer used.
The Council of Europe has abolished all death penalty by 13th amendment of the European Convention on Human Rights. Amnesty International oppose all death penalty on ground of the right to life and prohibition of all tortures or any cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment insisted by Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The following forms of execution are in use today:
Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 1938 – 18 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat. He served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations. He did this from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006. Annan and the United Nations were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. They were awarded the prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world".
Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana, to an elite family. His parents, Henry Reginald and Madam Rose Eshun are from the two major ethnic groups that make up the Akan – one of the groups of indigenous people of Ghana.
His father was half Asante and half Fante; his mother was Fante. The Asante were gold merchants while the Fante tribe were the middlemen in the gold trade between the Asante and the British.
Annan, whose first name means "born on a Friday", also had a twin sister, who died in 1991 from a still yet unknown disease. In Ghanaian culture, twins are considered special and are adored.
Annan probably got his first lessons in politics and diplomacy early on from his family. Both of Annan's grandfathers and his uncle were tribal chiefs. Upon his retirement, Annan's father, who worked as an export manager for the cocoa exporter Lever Brothers, was elected governor of Ghana's Asante province.
In 1954, Annan attended Mfantsipim School, an Methodist boarding school in central Ghana. The Secretary-General says that the school taught him "that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere".
Annan went to Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduating in 1961. He was a Sloan Fellow at MIT in 1971–72, getting a master's degree in management.
Annan became Secretary-General of the United Nations in January 1997, succeeding Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt. Annan was a U.N. veteran who took his first job with the organization in 1962 and worked his way up through various posts including Deputy Director to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (1980–83) and head of the U.N.'s peacekeeping efforts (1995–96). Annan was the first Secretary-General chosen from the ranks of the U.N.'s staff. He is also the first black man to hold the post and the second African (after Boutros-Ghali). His second term began in 2002 and ran through the end of 2006.
In 2001 he and the United Nations were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world".
Annan was married to Nane Annan, a lawyer and artist from Sweden.
Annan died on 18 August 2018 in Bern, Switzerland after a short-illness, aged 80.
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly is made up of all United Nations member states. The Assembly meets once a year, which usually begins on the third Tuesday in September and ends in mid-December. The first meeting was held on 10 January 1946.
Voting in the General Assembly on important questions, for example suggestions on world peace, human rights and security, is by two-thirds of those present and voting. Other questions are decided by popular vote. Each member country has one vote.
At present, the Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine are the only two observer states at the United Nations. Switzerland also had that status until it became a member state.
The current President of the United Nations General Assembly is Volkan Bozkır since 15 September 2020.
United nations general assembly observers have the right to speak in the assembly. The observers have no rights to vote in the assembly.
Mining is the process of digging things out of the ground. Any material that cannot be grown must be mined. Mining things from the ground is called "extraction". Mining can include extraction of metals and minerals, like coal, diamond, gold, silver, platinum, copper, tin and iron. Mining can also include other things like oil and natural gas.
Some mining is done by scraping away the soil (dirt) from the top of the ground. This is called "surface mining". Some mining is done by going deep underground into a "mine shaft". This is called "underground mining". Some mining, such as gold mining, is done in other ways. Gold can be mined by searching in the bed of a river or other stream of water to remove the flakes of gold. This is called "panning" or "placer mining".
A worker in a mine is called a miner. Underground mining is a dangerous job. Many mines have accidents. Hundreds of miners die every year from accidents, mostly in poor countries. Safety rules and special safety equipment is used to try and protect miners from accidents. Underground coal mining is especially dangerous because coal can give off poisonous and explosive gases.
Some towns are mining towns. People live there because they can make money as miners or by doing things for miners. When mining stops the town may become a ghost town.
A bomber is a type of airplane that is used to attack ground targets, mainly by dropping bombs. The first bombers were made at the start of World War I.
Bombers often fly low to the ground to confuse enemy radar. Most cannot fly very fast. Because of this, bombers are not outfitted to fight other airplanes. To make up for this, bombers in the past had many machine guns for defense.
Dive bombers were numerous in World War II. They attacked surface targets including tanks and ships.
Strategic bombing became important. Bombers had large crews, sometimes as many as 12 people. Usually a bomber had a pilot, a bombadier, a co-pilot/navigator, and many machine gunners all around to shoot at enemy fighter aircraft defending the target. Friendly fighters often came along to help fight the defenders.
Bombers now have one or two people in them. The other positions have been replaced by computers. Bombers have very few guns on them partly because they are much faster. In bombing missions now, the pilot drops a bomb and leaves as quickly as possible. During the Cold War, a few bombers were made that could travel supersonic, so a nuclear bomb could be dropped without killing the people in the airplane. They were never used that way, however.
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species "Bos taurus". They are more muscular and aggressive than the female of the species, the cow. The bull has long been an important symbol in many cultures, and plays a large role in beef ranching, dairy farming. They are also important in other cultural activities, including bull fighting and bull riding. The management of livestock animals in hot climates is a challenge. The physiological and behavioral changes induced in these animals compromise their welfare, breeding, health, and zootechnical performance, resulting in final products (eggs, milk, and meat) with unsatisfactory characteristics.
As with other animals, some bulls have been regarded as pets.
The bull semen market is very lucrative. Animal agriculture forcefully breeds animals to have what it considers the best traits for food production. In 2011, the U.S. exported $124.7 million worth of bull semen to other nations, representing 32 percent of the global market. In February 2019, an Angus bull named SAV America 8018 sold for the record-breaking price of $1.5 million due to “superior genetics.”
A bull can live up to 18 - 22 years.
Huntingdon Life Sciences
Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) are the largest animal testing company in Europe. They were founded in 1951 and are based in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. They also have a laboratory in New Jersey, United States. Huntingdon Life Sciences is an international contract research organisation offering a comprehensive range of non-clinical development services. The UK lab carries out medical and product research for many organisations.
Many people feel strongly against HLS. The Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) campaign group are the main opposition group. SHAC were set up in 1999. The opposition to HLS has had many forms. While most animal rights people have used legal means of protest, some people have become extremists and done very bad things. Thus the opposition to HLS has become an example to many people of a good cause gone wrong.
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a town in Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. It stands on the River Ouse near the A1, a major road in England.
The town was chartered in 1205 and founded by Anglo-Saxons.
Huntingdon also has the largest meadow in England; Portholme Meadow. There are many small villages in Huntingdon, it has a high street and a main supermarket. The A14 runs through it.
Oliver Cromwell was born here in 1599.
Condom
A condom is a thin cover that is put on a man's penis and used during sexual intercourse. It is normally made of latex. Condoms are a form of birth control, they can prevent a pregnancy. They can also prevent the spread of certain sexually transmitted infections, such as gonorrhea, syphilis, or HIV. Another name for a condom is prophylactic sheath.
In 2009, most condoms were made of latex. For people with latex allergy, plastic condoms are available.
The first condoms were made of tissue paper. Later models were made of the intestines of animals, such as sheep. Such condoms can still be found sometimes. Certain people prefer sheepskin condoms over latex ones, because sheepskin condoms can transfer body warmth better. However they do not prevent diseases as effectively as latex condoms.
Condoms are popular for several reasons. They are inexpensive and can be bought without a prescription by either a man or a woman. They can be bought at many locations, and they are easy to use (once the couple learns how.) They have no health-related side effects for either the man or the woman, and they are one of the few types of birth control that also reduce the spread of infections. If the couple decides to have a baby, they can stop using condoms at any time and begin trying to get pregnant with no delay.
But condoms have some disadvantages. During sex, the couple must stop to put on the condom just before beginning intercourse, which interrupts and distracts them at an exciting time. Condoms reduce the physical feelings of intercourse, especially for the man, who cannot feel the heat and sensation of the woman's vagina as much. Condoms can also reduce the emotional closeness the man and woman feel during intercourse because there is something between them. Condoms are less effective than many other types of birth control, and if a couple is in a steady relationship and are having sex very often, condoms can become more expensive to use. For these reasons, once a man and woman are in a steady relationship and are sure they are free of infection, the woman often begins to use birth control pills or some other highly effective contraceptive, after which the couple stops using condoms.
Condoms are rolled up when they are packaged, and are meant to be rolled over an erect penis. They are most commonly made of latex, but are available in other materials. Condoms normally have an expiration date on them. Condoms weaken after this date, and may not work properly. Condoms are also not designed to be used more than once.
It is important to know how to use a condom before using one. If a mistake is made, the condom may not work. This happens a lot. When using a condom for the first time, it could help to try using it alone to get familiar with condoms without any danger.
Nowadays women also can use condoms. Like male condoms, they increase protection for partners from pregnancy and STD's. Female condoms look like a sheath with a flexible ring on both sides of this sheath. With these rings the condom is attached to the vagina. It covers the vagina and cervix to prevent sperm from getting inside the woman's uterus. It is necessary to know that female and male condoms should not be used at the same time. In this case, both condoms may rub against each other, and this will result in failure.
The oldest condoms ever found were from the 1640s. They were made from animal and fish intestines.