AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
Jaguar was a private company until it became part of the British Motor Corporation in 1966. The new company was called British Motor Holdings. In 1968 that company joined with Leyland Motors to became British Leyland. In 1975 British Leyland was nationalised. In 1984 Jaguar was made private again by Margaret Thatcher. Ford bought Jaguar in 1989. In 1999 it was made part of Ford's "Premier Automotive Group" along with Aston Martin, Land Rover, Volvo and Lincoln. In 2008, Ford sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors. Jaguar is now a brand of the merged company called Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
The company was originally in Blackpool, but moved to Coventry. Today Jaguar automobiles are made at the JLR factory in Castle Bromwich in Birmingham. In late 2018 was open new plant in Slovakia.
Jaguar owns the Daimler brand (not Daimler-Benz). Jaguar bought the British Daimler Company in 1960. Daimler became a brand for some of Jaguar's saloon automobiles, but is not used now.
As of 2017, JLR sells the following different Jaguar automobile ranges: XJ, XF, XE, XK, F-Pace, E-Pace, iPace, and the F-Type.
Jaguar has won many sports car races, like the Le Mans 24 Hours and other races.
Scientific method refers to ways to investigate phenomena, get new knowledge, correct errors and mistakes, and test theories.
The Oxford English Dictionary says that scientific method is: "a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses".
A scientist gathers empirical and measurable evidence, and uses sound reasoning. New knowledge often needs adjusting, or fitting into, previous knowledge.
What distinguishes a scientific method of inquiry is a question known as 'the criterion'. It is an answer to the question: is there a way to tell whether a concept or theory is science, as opposed to some other kind of knowledge or belief? There have been many ideas as to how it should be expressed. Logical positivists thought a theory was scientific if it could be verified; but Karl Popper thought this was a mistake. He thought a theory was not scientific unless there was some way it might be refuted. On the other hand, Paul Feyerabend thought there was no criterion. For him, "anything goes", or whatever works, works.
Scientists try to let reality speak for itself. They support a theory when its predictions are confirmed, and challenge it when its predictions prove false. Scientific researchers offer hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experiments to test these hypotheses. Since big theories cannot be tested directly, it is done by testing predictions derived from the theory. These steps must be repeatable, to guard against mistake or confusion by any particular experimenter.
Scientific inquiry is generally intended to be as objective as possible. To reduce biased interpretations of results, scientists publish their work, and so share data and methods with other scientists.
Science and things that are not science (such as pseudoscience) are often distinguished by whether they use the scientific method. One of the first people to create an outline of the steps in the scientific method was John Stuart Mill.
There is no one scientific method. Some fields of science are based on mathematical models, such as physics and climate science. Other fields, such as many fields of social science, have rough theories and rely more on patterns that emerge from their data. Sometimes scientists focus on testing and confirming hypotheses, but open-ended exploration is also important. Some scientific fields use laboratory experiments. Others collect observations from real-world situations. Many areas of science are quantitative, emphasizing numerical data and mathematical analysis. But some areas, especially in social science, use qualitative methods, such as interviews or detailed observations of human or animal behavior. Focusing too much one kind of method can lead us to ignore knowledge produced using other methods.
Some textbooks focus on a single, standard "scientific method." This idea of a single scientific method is largely based on experimental, hypothesis-testing, quantitative areas of science. It doesn't apply very well to other areas of science. It is often written as a number of steps:
Although written as a list, scientists may go back and forth between different steps a number of times before being satisfied with the answer.
Not all scientists use the above "scientific method" in their day-to-day work. Sometimes the actual work of science looks nothing like the above.
Let's say we are going to find out the effect of temperature on the way sugar dissolves in a glass of water. Below is one way to do this, following the scientific method step by step.
Does sugar dissolve faster in hot water or cold water? Does the temperature affect how fast the sugar dissolves? This is a question we might want to ask.
One simple experiment would be to dissolve sugar in water of different temperatures and to keep track of how much time it takes for the sugar to dissolve. This would be a test of the idea that the rate of dissolving varies according to the kinetic energy of the solvent.
We want to make sure to use exactly the same amount of water in each trial, and exactly the same amount of sugar. We do this to make sure that the temperature alone causes the effect. It might be, for example, that the ratio of sugar to water is also a factor in the rate of dissolving. To be extra careful, we might also run the experiment so that the water temperature does not change during the experiment.
This is called "isolating a variable". This means that, of the factors which might have an effect, only one is being changed in the experiment.
We will do the experiment in three trials, which are exactly the same, except for the temperature of the water.
One way that makes it easy to see results is to make a table of them, listing all of the things that changed each time we ran the experiment. Ours might look like this:
If every other part of the experiment was the same (we did not use more sugar one time than the other, we did not stir one time or the other, etc.), then this would be very good evidence that heat affects how fast sugar is dissolved.
We cannot know for sure, though, that there is not something else affecting it. An example of a "hidden cause" might be that sugar dissolves faster each time more sugar is dissolved into the same pot. This is probably not true, but if it were, it could make the results exactly the same: three trials, and the last one would be fastest. We have no reason to think that this is true at this time, but we might want to note it as another possible answer.
The replication crisis (or replicability crisis) refers to a crisis in science. Very often the result of a scientific experiment is difficult or impossible to replicate later, either by independent researchers or by the original researchers themselves. While the crisis has long-standing roots, the phrase was coined in the early 2010s as part of a growing awareness of the problem.
Since the reproducibility of experiments is an essential part of the scientific method, the inability to replicate studies has potentially grave consequences.
The replication crisis has been particularly widely discussed in the field of psychology (and in particular, social psychology) and in medicine, where a number of efforts have been made to re-investigate classic results, and to attempt to determine both the validity of the results, and, if invalid, the reasons for the failure of replication.
Recent discussions have made this problem better known.
Elements of scientific method were worked out by some early students of nature.
A gas is one of the four most common states of matter. In a gas the molecules move freely and are independent of each other. This makes it different from a liquid where the molecules are loosely attached. It is also different from a solid where the bonds are strong and hold the molecules together.
In a pure gas, each molecule may be made of an individual atom. It may be elemental, where each molecule is made of more than one of the same atom bound together. It may be compounds where molecules are made of many types of atoms together. An example of a monoatomic gas is neon, an example of an elemental gas is hydrogen and an example of a compound gas is carbon dioxide.
A gas mixture contains a mix of any of the above types, for example air which is 87% nitrogen, 0.2% oxygen and 13.7% argon and carbon dioxide.<0.0009></33.3456333>
Poison gases were used as chemical weapons in War I but were later banned. gas is a natural mixture of methane and other gases.
All gases can flow, like liquids. This means the molecules move about independently of each other. Most gases are colourless, like hydrogen. Gas particles will spread about, or diffuse, in order to fill all the space in any container such as a bottle or a room. Compared to liquids and solids, gases have a very low density and viscosity. We cannot directly see most gases since they aren't coloured. However it is possible to measure their density, volume, temperature and pressure.
Pressure is the measure of how much pushing force something is putting on another object. In a gas, this is usually the gas pushing on the container of the object or, if the gas is heavy, something inside the gas. Pressure is measured in pascals. Because of Newton's third law, we can change the pressure of a gas by putting force on the object containing it. For example, squeezing a bottle with air inside pressurises (gives more pressure) to the air inside.
When talking about gas, pressure is often related to the container. A lot of gas in a small container would have very high pressure. A small amount of a gas in a big container would have low pressure.
Gas can create pressure itself when there is a lot of it. The weight of the gas creates pressure on anything underneath it, including other gas. On a planet, this is called atmospheric pressure.
The temperature of a gas is how hot or cold it is. In physics it is usually measured in kelvins although degrees Celsius are used more elsewhere. In a gas, the average velocity (how fast they move) of the molecules is related to the temperature. The faster the gas molecules are moving, the more they collide, or smash into each other. These collisions release energy, which in a gas comes in the form of heat. Conversely if the temperature around the gas becomes hotter then the gas particles will convert the thermal energy to kinetic energy, making them move faster and making the gas hotter.
A gas can go through two different state changes. If the temperature is low enough the gas can condense and turn into a liquid. Sometimes, if the temperature is low enough it can go through deposition, where it changes straight to a solid. Normally a gas must first condense to a liquid, and then freeze to become a solid, but if the temperature is very low it can skip the liquid stage and instantly become solid. Frost on the ground in winter is caused by this. Water vapour (a gas) goes into the air which is very cold, and instantly becomes ice due to deposition.
A family is a group of people who, in most cases, live together. They share their money and food and are supposed to take care of one another. Its members are either genetically related (like brother and sister) or legally bound to each other, for example by marriage. In many cultures, the members of a family have the same or a similar surname.
The family in accordance to the Catholic doctrine is treated in many articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church starting from the article 2201.
A family is said to be society's smallest unit, its nucleus. Family life is more private and intimate than public life. But in most countries there are laws for it. For example, there are restrictions for marrying within the family and bans for having a sexual relationship with relatives, especially with children.
Three types of family 0n the basic of size
are: "nuclear family", "single-parent family" and "extended family".
Both the "nuclear family" and the "single-parent family" are also called the "immediate family".
Foster families are families where a child lives with and is cared for by people who are not his or her parents.
Some family members are related closer to each other. Consanguinity is a way of measuring this closeness.
Wave (physics)
A wave is a kind of oscillation (disturbance) that travels through space and matter. Wave motions transfer energy from one place to another.
Waves are found everywhere in the natural world. Examples of waves are:
Waves have properties that can be measured. All waves can be pictured by adding sine waves.
Sine waves can be measured too. The shape of a sine wave is given by its amplitude, phase, wavelength and frequency. The speed that the sine wave moves can be measured. The amplitude and wavelength of the sine wave are shown in the picture.
The highest point on a wave is called the crest. The lowest point is called the trough. The crest of a wave and the trough of a wave are always twice the wave's amplitude apart from each other. The part of the wave halfway in between the crest and the trough is called the baseline.
Complicated waveforms (like the sound waves of music) can be made by adding up sine waves of different frequencies. This is how mp3 audio files are converted from their compressed form into the music we can hear. Complex waves can be separated into sine waves by Fourier analysis.
Some waves can move through matter while others cannot. For instance, some waves can move through empty space, light waves for example. Sound waves, on the other hand, cannot move through empty space. Inherently, all waves carry energy from one place to another when they move. In some applications of technology, waves may carry meaningful information from one place to another, such as news on the radio.
Usually, after a wave moves through matter, the matter is the same as it was before the wave was introduced, though in some cases, matter can be affected by waves traveling through it. In 1922, Louis de Broglie found out that all waves are also particles, and all particles are also waves.
In matter:
A weapon is an object that can be used to attack or injure a person or animal. People have used weapons since very ancient times. While other animals use weapons, in most cases they are attached to the animal (teeth, claws, tusks, etc.). In man's case they are detached and constantly selected for the purpose at hand. Man has been constantly developing newer and better weapons ever since he picked up the first rock.
Some of the oldest remains that we have of ancient people are weapons made of stone. Ancient people also used spears. Bows and arrows were in use by about 20,000 BC. During the Bronze age people learned to make things of metal, many people used swords. People also built huge machines which could throw rocks to destroy the defensive walls of enemy cities. Some of these machines were called catapults or siege engines. Later, gunpowder was invented in China and the Europeans began using it to make guns and cannons. These weapons were much better than the older weapons, and helped the Europeans to conquer people in many parts of the world. People in many parts of the world used guns such as rifles and shotguns for hunting animals, and handguns for shooting other people.
People continued to invent new weapons. In 1884 the machine gun was invented, which could shoot many bullets very fast. Soldiers began to use land mines, a bomb hidden in the ground, which explodes when someone walks on it. Small submarines were able to use torpedos to attack bigger ships and hide under the ocean. When airplanes were invented, people began to use them to shoot enemies and to drop bombs on them. They built tanks which had big guns and strong armor. Poison gas was used in World War I but was outlawed and rarely used afterwards.
In World War II, cities were heavily bombed from the air and Nazi Germany used V-2 missiles to carry bombs to England. Both sides used many firebombs. At the end of World War II, the United States used atomic bombs (nuclear bombs) to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
After World War II, people continued to develop new weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles. People became concerned about weapons of mass destruction, weapons that can kill many people very fast, and are usually cheap and easy to make and use. One kind of weapon of mass destruction is poison gas. New kinds of poison gas, such as nerve gas, are much more powerful than the old kinds. Another kind of weapon of mass destruction is disease germs, which could be used to make many people sick and maybe kill them.
Old-fashioned weapons still kill many people in wars and fighting. In wars in Africa in the 1990s and early 21st century, many people were killed with machetes (big knives). People sometimes try to make laws, treaties, and international agreements to try to control weapons because they are worried about all the killing done with them. Laws vary from country to country, for example, in the United States, the "right to keep and bear arms" is guaranteed to all citizens by the Constitution. A country may say that people in that country cannot keep or use guns, or only when the government allows it. The laws of war forbid certain weapons, and countries may agree with each other that they should not use certain weapons against each other, or should not have more than a certain number of particular kinds of weapons.
Things specifically made as weapons that most ordinary people can carry, include non lethal:
Weapons that soldiers or police personnel carry, include:
Weapons that the defense people of a national government have, include:
Other types of weapons include:
Christmas cake
A Christmas cake is a heavy cake containing much dried fruit and usually having a covering of icing. It is made to be eaten at Christmas. It can also be called a fruitcake.
A common favorite of many is the traditional Scottish Christmas cake, the "Whisky Dundee." It was named this because the cake came from Dundee and is made with Scotch whisky. It is a light and crumbly cake, and light on fruit and candied peel—only currants, raisins, sultanas and cherries. This Christmas cake is mostly good for people who do not like very sweet and moist cakes. As with all fruitcakes, almonds (or other nuts) can be removed by people who do not like them or those with bad nut allergies.
At the other end of the Christmas cake tradition, the apple cream Christmas cake is a sweet mix of sliced apples, raisins and other fruit, with eggs, cream cheese, and heavy whipping cream.
In the middle of the other two listed above is the mincemeat Christmas cake. It is simply any traditional or vegetarian mincemeat mixed with flour, eggs, and other pastry ingredients, to transform it into a cake batter; or it can also be steamed as a Christmas pudding.
A premade fruitcake mix can be bought at a grocery store.
Christmas cracker
A Christmas cracker is a tube of brightly coloured paper. When pulled apart, it makes a pop sound. It usually contains a small gift, a paper hat and a joke. It is generally used at Christmas parties or Christmas dinner. It is a British tradition which started back in the 1840s.
Fingerplate
A fingerplate is a plate that is fixed to a door near the handle or keyhole. It is for stopping dirt getting on the door. It is made of metal or glass.
Headrest
A headrest is something which supports the head. It is usually a suitably shaped part of the back of a chair or of a front seat in a car.
It is designed to support passenger's shoulder part and neck to prevent whiplash in cases of crash at the rear.
Inkpad
An inkpad is a small box that contains a pad of cloth or other material. It is impregnated with ink (the pad is inky). A marker is pressed onto the pad, then onto paper. Any raised marks on the pad leave an impression in ink on the paper.
Ink pads are used with rubber stamps. On the stamp is the symbol of an organisation, for example. After a form has been passed by an official, it is stamped to show it is authentic. Another variation is a date stamp, placed on all letters which arrive in the building. Another version is a stamp with a facsimile (copy) of an official's signature. Using this, staff can send out letters when the official is not present. Rubber stamps and ink pads have been used for at least a hundred years by civil servants and businesses. They are still in use in many countries, but are gradually being replaced with other systems.
Jack-in-the-box
A jack-in-the-box is a children's toy which is a box from which a figure on a spring jumps when the top is opened. You twist the knob until the spring shoots out the toy, which you put back in the box and do it all over again. Many kids have fun when they see the jack jumping out from the box.
London boroughs
The City of London is a district of Greater London. The City's boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages. Although it is now only a small part of the metropolis, it is a notable part of central London. The City holds city status in its own right, and is also a separate ceremonial county. Often referred to as the City, or the Square Mile, it is just over one square mile, in area.
It is here in the City of London where most of the United Kingdom's financial trade is done. It is a very small area, covering only a square mile, and has a very small resident population (8,000). However, many people come to work here and during the day it can be very busy, with some 300,000 people in it.
"London" now refers to Greater London, which is made up of 32 boroughs (including the City of Westminster and the City of London. The City is in central London and is the oldest part of the city, dating back to Roman times. The City of London has its own mayor, the Lord Mayor of London, an office separate from (and much older than) the Mayor of London. There are other ancient features, dating back to medieval times. The City has its own police force, the City of London Police.
The City vies with New York City as the financial capital of the world: many banking and insurance institutions have their headquarters there. The London Stock Exchange (shares and bonds), Lloyd's of London (insurance) and the Bank of England are all based in the City.
Over 500 banks have offices in the City, and the City is an established leader in trading in Eurobonds, foreign exchange, energy futures and global insurance. The Alternative Investment Market, a market for trades in equities of smaller firms, is a recent development. In 2008, the City of London accounted for 4% of UK GDP.
London is the world's greatest foreign exchange market, with much of the trade conducted in the City of London. Of the $3.98 trillion daily global turnover, as measured in 2007, trading in London accounted for around $1.36 trillion, or 34.1% of the total. The Pound Sterling, the currency of the United Kingdom, is globally the fourth most traded currency and the third most held reserve currency.
Since 1991 Canary Wharf, a few miles east of the City in Tower Hamlets, has become a second centre for London's financial services industry and houses many banks and other institutions formerly located in the Square Mile. This development does not appear to have damaged the City: growth has continued in both locations.
The City is the site of Roman "Londinium", and the archaeological remains are on display in the Museum of London, City Wall.
The City has many churches designed by Sir Christopher Wren, including St Paul's Cathedral. The City was the site of the Great Fire of London in 1666.
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and London borough. It is to the west of the City of London. Its most important area, Westminster, contains the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall, Downing Street and Westminster Abbey.
London Borough of Lambeth
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London Borough. It is in south east London.
London Borough of Camden
The London Borough of Camden is a London Borough. It is in north and central London.
London Borough of Merton
Brixton
Bankside
River Thames
The River Thames is a large river in England. It goes through London the capital city of the United Kingdom.
The Thames is 346 kilometres (235 statute miles) long. Its source is near the village of Kemble in the Cotswolds; it flows through Oxford (where it is called "The Isis", a shortening of its Latin name), Reading, Maidenhead, Eton and then Windsor.
From the outskirts of Greater London, it passes Syon House, Hampton Court Palace, Richmond (with the famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), and Kew. It then passes through London, then Greenwich and Dartford before it enters the sea in an estuary, The Nore. Part of the area west of London is sometimes called the Thames Valley. The area east of Tower Bridge is called Thames Gateway by development agencies and officials.
About 90 kilometres from the sea, above London, the river begins to show the tide caused by the North Sea. It is said that London was made capital of Roman Britain at the spot where the tides reached in 43 AD, but different things have pushed this spot farther up the river in the over 2000 years since then. At London, the water is slightly salty with sea salt.
Like the Celts who lived in the area, the Romans called the river "Thamesis".
The Thames was an important way to go between London and Westminster in the 16th and 17th centuries. The guild of watermen took Londoners back and forth by ferry. One of them, John Taylor, the Water Poet (15801653), described the river in a poem.
In the 17th and 18th century, at a time some call the "Little Ice Age", the Thames often froze over in the winter. This led to the first "Frost Fair" in 1607, with a tent city set up on the river with lots of odd amusements, like ice bowling. The last time the river froze over was in 1814. The building of a new London Bridge in 1825 may have helped stop it from freezing: the new bridge had fewer pillars than the old, allowing the river to flow more easily, and stopping it from flowing slowly enough to freeze in cold winters.
By the 18th century, the Thames was one of the world's busiest waterways, as London became the centre of the very big British Empire. During this time one of the worst river disasters in England took place on 3 September 1878 on the Thames, when the crowded pleasure boat "Princess Alice" crashed into the "Bywell Castle" killing over 640 people.
In the 'Great Stink' of 1858, pollution in the river became so bad that the House of Commons at Westminster had to quit sitting.
The authorities accepted a proposal from the civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette. He moved the effluent eastwards along a series of interconnecting sewers. These sloped towards outfalls beyond the metropolitan area.
The coming of rail transport and road transport, and the decline of the Empire in the years after 1945, made the river less important than it was. London itself is no longer used much as a port, and the "Port of London" has moved down the river to Tilbury. The Thames has been greatly cleaned up, and life has returned to its dead waters.
In the early 1980s, the Thames Barrier was opened to control flooding. It is used many times a year to stop water damage to London's low-lying areas up the river.
There are many bridges and tunnels crossing the Thames, including Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, and the Dartford Crossing.
In September 2011 a British comedian, David Walliams, swam the entire 140 mile length of the river raising over £1million for a charity called Sport Relief. On Red Nose Day, people swim the Thames for charity.
Many books have been written about the Thames. "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome describes a boat trip up the Thames. Somewhere near Oxford is where the Lidells were rowing in the poem at the start of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". Somewhere near here was where Alice fell asleep in the book. The river is named in both "The Wind in the Willows" and the play "Toad of Toad Hall". In "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad, Marlow tells his tale while waiting for the tide near the mouth of the Thames.
Other fictional events include Sherlock Holmes looking for a boat in "A Study in Scarlet" and Bill Sykes killing Nancy just near the river, in Charles Dickens's classic novel " Oliver Twist".
See Crossings of the River Thames for a full article. Famous crossings include
Listed in upstream order.
A queen is a woman who rules a country, because of inheritance. A queen usually comes to power after the death of the previous king or queen, who is her parent. A country that is ruled by a queen is called a kingdom – the same as a country ruled by a king.
The wife of a king is also called a queen. However, the husband of a queen is not always called a king. For example, the last King of Britain (George VI) had a wife (Elizabeth), who was called Queen Elizabeth. He had no sons, so he was followed by his elder daughter, who is also called Elizabeth. She became Queen Elizabeth II. She was married to The Duke of Edinburgh until his death on April 9, 2021; but when she became Queen he did not become King.
Many people who study government think a country should not have a Monarchy. They argue that rulers ought to be elected, or that monarchs are often corrupt. Aristotle’s “Politics” compares the different forms of government which a state may have. He claims monarchy to be one of the worst regimes because one leader may be easily corrupted, even if they were selected as the most wise and deserving ruler of an entire group.
Many people in countries such as the UK want to keep their royal family as they have remained a traditional icon and source of income for the country. However, in the UK their influence in the rule of the country is very small, leaving government to the governing party elected by the people. This is because in a constitutional monarchy the monarch has only the power of head of state.
A "queen regnant" is head of state, and has all the powers of a sovereign.
A queen regnant does not keep the title of queen if she "abdicates" (resigns). No queen has ever abdicated in the history of the United Kingdom, but three abdications have occurred in the Kingdom of the Netherlands:
A "queen consort" is the wife of a king. She is not the head of state, and does not have any powers unless they are given by the King or another law.
The last King of Britain (George VI) had a wife (Elizabeth) who was called Queen Elizabeth. He had no sons, so he was followed by his elder daughter. She is also called Elizabeth and became Queen Elizabeth II. She was married to the late Duke of Edinburgh; but when she became Queen he did not become King.
A "queen dowager" is the widow of a king.
A queen consort usually keeps the title of Queen after her husband's death, for example
Male is one of two genders. Most species have two sexes male and female. Human males are men or boys; human females are women or girls.
The two sexes have different sexual organs, and different secondary sex characteristics. They also often have different biological functions. The female gives birth to children with the semen provided by the male. In many human societies, females often were involved in gathering, while men used to hunt.
The Colour blue is usually a boy's colour.
Female is a gender. It is the sex that produces ova ("egg" cells) for sexual reproduction. Females of some species also bear offspring.
When looking at seed plants, the plants that only produce seed are called female, those that only produce pollen are called male. The majority of seed plants produce both, and are called hermaphrodite.
Organisms can either be grouped as male or female. Female humans are called women and their bodies are different from male humans (who are called men). A woman has a vagina between her legs (a male has a penis) which is the main sexual organ. They also have breasts with milk glands, which allow them to nurse (feed) infants. A woman's shoulders are usually not as wide as a man's, but women usually have wider hips than men, because they need wide hips to be able to give birth.
Women who become pregnant are encouraged by doctors to seek professional care from an obstetrician or a gynecologist in order to prevent problems. Likewise, women should see a gynecologist often for routine screening exams for cancer.
Royal Borough of Greenwich
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is a London Borough. It is in south east London.
London Borough of Wandsworth
The London Borough of Wandsworth is a London Borough. It is in south west London.
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington is a London Borough. It is north of Central London.
Bambuco
Bambuco is a type of music from Colombia. The beat of this music is like the European waltz or polska. Bambuco is often folk music. There is a dance that goes with Bambuco music. It is a group dance and has a 6/8 or 3/4 meter.
Sometimes Bambuco is called "el bambuco". People think Bambuco started in Africa. It is popular in the Andean region of Colombia and throughout Latin America.
Christmas (which means "The Mass of Christ") is a Christian holiday that refers to the birth of Jesus (whom Christians believe is the Son of God), and a cultural holiday for non-Christians.
The day known as Christmas Day is celebrated on the 25th day of December. It is one of the most important days of the year for Christians, along with Easter when the death and resurrection of Jesus are celebrated. The season of preparing for Christmas is called Advent and begins on a Sunday about four weeks before Christmas. The Christmas Season (called Christmastide) ends 6 January or the Twelfth Day of Christmas, in which "Epiphany" is remembered.
Christmas is celebrated all over the world, as a religious holiday or as a time of celebration by Christians and non-Christians alike. The traditions are different from country to country, but they nearly always include a feast, giving gifts or cards, and enjoying church or public festivities such as singing Christmas carols and songs. Santa Claus is a tradition in many countries of the world.
Christmastide, as it is often called, is in the winter of the Northern Hemisphere, at a time when there were already ancient festivals. Some of the traditions that are used for Christmas are older than Christmas, or come from other non-Christian traditions such as Yule. Modern traditions of Christmas often focus on the giving of gifts. The season for retail stores to sell gifts, food, greeting cards, Christmas trees, and decorations begins the day about a month before Christmas Day.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. The story of how this happened is told in part of the Bible known as the Gospels. There are four Gospels telling the life of Jesus. The Gospel of Luke tells the most about his birth, and the Gospel of Matthew tells another part of the story. The Gospel of John says that Jesus came from God to bring his "Word" or message to all people.
The Gospels say that many years before Jesus' birth, prophets had told a promise to the Jewish people that God would send them a Messiah, or holy teacher. Christians believe that the promised Messiah was Jesus. His mother was a young woman called Mary, who was engaged, but not yet married to a carpenter called Joseph. Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and was upset. He was wondering what he should do, when an angel came from God to tell him that the baby was the Holy One. The angel said that he must "name the baby". This was a sign that he would take care of it like his own child.
At this time, the Middle East was ruled by the Romans. An order came that all the people had to travel back to their home town, to put their names on the taxation lists. Joseph took his new wife to Bethlehem. There was nowhere for them to stay, except a stable where the animals slept. This is where the baby was born. Joseph called him Jesus, as the angel had said.
The baby Jesus had two lots of visitors. On the night he was born, angels told some shepherds in the fields that they would find a newborn king lying in an animals' feed bin (or "manger"). Jesus' other visitors were some wise men who saw a new star in the sky and followed it, until they found the house where the family was now living and gave the young child expensive gifts of gold, incense and a precious herb called myrrh. (The wise men are often traditionally called the Three Kings, because there were three very expensive presents but the Bible does not say how many wise men there were.)
All these parts of the Christmas story are remembered and celebrated in different ways at Christmas: in pictures, songs, plays, stories and in models that are called "cribs", "creches" or "presepe".
Most Christian countries of the world use a calendar called the Gregorian Calendar, but some churches use a calendar called the Julian Calendar. Most Christians, such as those of the Catholic and Protestant Churches, celebrate the birth of Jesus on 25 December, although holidays begin on 24 December also known as Christmas Eve.
The Eastern Orthodox Church still uses the Julian Calendar in some regions such as Russia. In such regions, Christmas is celebrated on 25 December in the Julian Calendar, but because of the difference between the calendars it is 7 January in the modern Gregorian Calendar.
Some Christians, like Jehovah's Witnesses, do not celebrate Christmas because there is no instruction from Jesus in the Bible which tells Christians to celebrate his birth. Mormons celebrate Christmas on 25 December but they believe that Christ's actual birth took place on 6 April.
Some believe that Jesus was probably not born on 25 December. Some historians believe this date was used by the Catholic Church to replace the pagan rites that took place at that time of the year.
The Season of Advent, which begins on Sunday about four weeks before Christmas Day, is celebrated by the Catholic and Anglican Churches, as well as others. It is a time for people to prepare themselves for two different things: for the coming of the baby Jesus and Christmas, and for the second coming of Jesus, when he shall rule over all the Earth in peace. Not all Christian people remember Advent. Some people use it as a time of fasting, study, meditation and prayer. Special Advent Calendars are made for children, with pictures or treats for each day of Advent.
Generally, Advent is a time when many people are very busy in preparation for Christmas Day, cleaning and decorating, buying food and presents, writing cards and letters, and cooking the Christmas feast.
Before the 4th century AD, Christians could only worship and celebrate in secret. The feast of Christmas probably began while Constantine was the Emperor of Rome, because it was he who made Christianity a legal religion and built some of Rome's oldest churches. Some old stone coffins or "sarcophagi" from this time are carved with pictures of Mary and baby Jesus and the Wise Men.
Through the Middle Ages Christmas was celebrated with feasting, singing and plays. The plays were held in churches, and also in castles and in market places, where a big hay wagon was sometimes used as a stage.
Because Advent was a time of prayer and preparation, most parties were held after Christmas, rather than before it. The main pre-Christmas celebration was the Feast of St. Nicholas on 6 December. In some countries, particularly the Netherlands, the tradition grew for children to receive presents on this day, rather than Christmas Day. The name of Saint Nicholas is now remembered in many countries as Santa Claus.
Another festivity that takes place is the Feast of Saint Lucy (St. Lucia Day) on 13 December which is particularly celebrated in Scandinavia, where girls take part in candlelit processions, and the daughters of the house must rise early to bring coffee or chocolate to the family.
For many centuries, the celebration of Christmas often began with a church service or mass, which lasted from late at night to after midnight on Christmas morning. Christmas Day was a time of feasting. On the following day, the Feast of Saint Stephen people from rich households would carry boxes of food out to the street for the poor and hungry. Many people would go back to work but employers would give gifts of money to their workers. The Holy Days continued with the feast of Saint John and Holy Innocents' Day. The feasting and parties ended on the Feast of the Epiphany, the day of the Three Wise Men, often called the "Three Kings". The season is nowadays remembered by the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas". William Shakespeare wrote a play to be performed as part of the celebration, called "Twelfth Night".
For many, Christmas has become a time when having parties, sending messages to family and friends and giving presents has become more important than the celebration of Jesus' birth. Manufacturers and stores have responded to the feasting and present-giving with lots of advertising, decorations and displays. In the US, the Christmas displays are put up right after Thanksgiving, late in November. In some countries such as Australia, stores put up decorations at the beginning of November. Given that Jesus himself called people making money in the Jewish Temple 'robbers' (Matthew 21:13) many Christians are uneasy about profit instead of prophets at Christmas.
Town councils celebrate by decorating streets and squares, and providing Christmas entertainment for shoppers. In countries of the Southern Hemisphere, where Christmas falls in Summer, there is a tradition of open-air Carol Services, often organised by the town council, which are attended by thousands of people.
Many Christians celebrate Christmas by attending church, and with prayers and singing. And each year there are Bible readings from the Gospels that tell the story of the birth of Jesus.
Christmas traditions are of several types. There are traditions of the church, traditions which are public celebrations and traditions that are kept by families. These traditions are different in different times, places, cultures and even families.
The celebration of Christmas is a very important time for churches. Almost every church has special services or celebrations. Here are some of the ways that churches celebrate Christmas.
It is the custom in many churches to set up a Crib (or "Creche") scene of the "Nativity" or birth of Jesus. The first scene of this type was set up by St. Francis of Assisi in the 13th century. They have been very popular in Italy ever since then, and the custom has spread to other countries.
Nativity scenes can be large with life-sized statues, or they can be tiny enough to fit in a matchbox. They are made of many different things including carved and painted wood, brightly coloured ceramics (pottery), painted paper glued to boards, and mixtures of material with clay, wood, cloth, straw and metal used for different parts.
The Advent wreath is a circle of leaves, usually pine boughs, ivy and holly, with 4 (or sometimes 5) candles in it which is hung up in a church. The candles are lit on each Sunday in Advent, and the central candle is lit on Christmas morning. Churches are often decked with green branches and leaves, and many churches also have a Christmas tree.
A popular tradition in many churches is the Carol Service which is often lit only by candles. The carol service generally has lots of singing and Bible readings. There is a tradition in England which began in the Temple Church in London and has now spread to many other places for a service of Nine Lessons and Carols. The lessons are Bible readings. Some carols are sung by a choir and others by the choir and people (the congregation). Every year one of these services is recorded in a large English Church, often King's College Chapel, Cambridge, and is broadcast on radio and television to be enjoyed by people who love good music and carol singing, but particularly for people who cannot go to a Christmas service.
Many cities and towns celebrate Christmas by putting up decorations. These may be banners and bunting which are strung from buildings or lampposts. They may be Christmas lights which can also decorate buildings and street trees. Many large cities put up a huge Christmas tree in a public place, such as those in Trafalgar Square in London, Times Square in New York and Martin Place in Sydney. This is often combined with an appeal to the people of the city to give money or gifts to help the poor and needy.
In many cities, the usual shopping hours are made longer before Christmas so that workers have more time to buy Christmas food and presents. Shop windows are often decorated with Christmas scenes, with large department stores often having animated scenes to entertain children. Shopping malls and big stores often have a Santa Claus, who sits on a throne, while children tell him what they want for Christmas, and have their photos taken.
Many towns hold Christmas parades, street entertainment and concerts. Some towns have a tradition of carols with a choir and entertainers in the town hall, while in Australia and New Zealand, these concerts of Christmas entertainment and carols are usually held outdoors, in parks or even on beaches, with families bringing picnics. The arrival of Santa Claus at the end of the evening is accompanied by a firework display.
A traditional part of Christmas is the theatre entertainment. This includes the performance of classical music such as Handel's Messiah as well as orchestral concerts and band recitals. Pantomimes are often played at Christmas and favourites include "Peter Pan and Wendy" and "Cinderella". Many children's movies are released during the Christmas season.
Because many people feel very lonely, hungry and sad at Christmas, many cities, churches, charities and service organisations try to help the poor and lonely by providing Christmas food and gifts for poor families, and Christmas parties for people who are hungry or who are lonely and without any friends or family.
Family celebrations are often very different from each other, depending on where a family comes from, and the customs that have grown in particular families.
Most families think of Christmas as a time to get together with other members of the family. People often travel from far away to be with other family members at Christmas. Those people who cannot travel often make long-distance phone calls on Christmas Day. Many people also see Christmas as a time to reach out to others that they know might be lonely, and invite them to dinner on Christmas Day. Christmas is seen as a time for people of all ages to have fun together, for cousins to get to know each other, for grandparents to see their grandchildren and for the family to admire the babies that have been born during the year. Big family parties are usually a time of joy, but some families often talk about their disagreements and have big fights at Christmas time.
Family traditions are very different. Some families might all go off to church together, to a Carol Service, a Midnight Mass, or a Christmas Morning service. Some families are pulled out of bed very early by children who want to open their presents. In other families, presents are given on St. Nicholas Day, on Christmas Eve or not until after church on Christmas morning. The Christmas feast might start on Christmas Eve, with a special breakfast on Christmas morning, or at midday on Christmas Day.
Some families have a tradition of carol singing, and might go around the streets, to hospitals and other such places singing with members of their church. Other families like to watch certain television programs together, which might include carol services and the Queen's Message. Some families use Christmas as a time to play music and sing together, or to read a favourite book such as "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. In countries in the Southern Hemisphere, a visit to the beach or a swim in a pool is often part of the Christmas Day tradition.
Christmas Dinner, usually eaten in the middle of the day, is an important part of the family celebration. The food differs from country to country and also from family to family. In the Northern Hemisphere, roasted meat and vegetables is generally the main course of the meal. Usually one of several types of meat are served, which may include turkey, chicken, ham, roast beef or lamb. There are often several courses, with special treats that are usually only eaten at Christmas.