AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
During summers, Eleanor visited Europe along with her headmistress, Souvestre. She also studied history, language and literature. She became interested in social justice, and her studies gave her knowledge and confidence to present her views on many issues. One of her great moments at her school at Allenswood was when she made the field hockey team. She was one of the favorite students of the school, and when she returned to the USA, the school missed her.
In 1902 Eleanor and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) met when he was a student at Harvard. They dated and got engaged in November 1903. However, FDR’s mother was against their marriage. She even sent FDR on a long tour to delay the marriage, and change FDR’s mind. However, on St. Patrick’s Day (March 17, 1905) FDR and Eleanor married. President Theodore Roosevelt took the ceremonial role of giving the bride away. After the marriage, Eleanor’s mother-in-law, continued to advise (and perhaps interfere) in the young couple’s life.
After her husband’s death in 1945, Eleanor Roosevelt continued to live on the Hyde Park Estate in a stone cottage near the main house. The structure originated as a small furniture factory Val-Kill Industries, and was converted to a cottage used by Eleanor and her close friends. The cottage afforded Eleanor a level of privacy that she had wanted for many years, and she considered it her first true home. The cottage is now called the Eleanor Roosevelt Center and hosts many programs that continue her legacy.
She started her role as the First Lady from 1933 with the beginning of her husband’s first term as the President of the United States. Eleanor was an active First Lady with her own ideology on many issues.
She supported the Civil Rights Movement and rights of the African-American. However, her husband needed the support of Democrats of southern states of the USA. Therefore, he was not vocal about the American Civil Rights Movement. Eleanor became his connection to the African-American population instead, helping Franklin Roosevelt to win a lot of votes.
In 1939, the African-American opera singer Marian Anderson was denied permission by the Daughters of the American Revolution to perform at Constitution Hall in Washington because of her race. Eleanor arranged for Anderson to perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, on Easter Sunday, to a live audience of 70,000. Millions of people also listened to the performance on the radio.
During the Second World War, Eleanor Roosevelt remained very active. Once she also co-chaired a committee on civil defense. She visited many places, both civilian and military, to boost war morale. She especially supported African Americans and women.
During the Second War, her husband, as the President of the United States, signed an order named Executive Order 9066. This order confined in special camps about 110,000 American citizens of Japanese descent. Eleanor opposed her husband's decision to sign this order.
For some period, she was earning $1,000 a week for advertising for the Pan-American Coffee Bureau. Eight foreign governments used to support and fund the Bureau. The US State Department tried to cancel the deal, but could not do so.
After the Second World War, she along with René Cassin, John Peters Humphrey and others, drafted a declaration for the United Nations: UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She also served as the first chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. On 10th December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the declaration. This made her very famous, and was a great achievement for her.
For about four decades, beginning from 1920s until her death in 1962, Eleanor continued her association with political matters. She opposed the Equal Rights Amendment. She thought that this amendment would prevent the US Congress from passing other rules for protection of women workers.
Roosevelt was an accomplished archer, and one of the first modern women to participate in the sport of bow hunting. She even wrote using a male name “Chuck Painton” about her hunting experiences in a popular hunting magazine of that time, "Ye Sylvan Archer". One of Roosevelt's prized hunting trophies had adorned her husband library. It is now a part of the Community Forum Collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
In July 1949, her unsure attitude toward American Catholics caused a public debate with Francis Cardinal Spellman, the Catholic Archbishop of New York. Eleanor had written against certain proposals like funding of certain (nonreligious) activities, such as bus transportation for students, of Catholic schools. Spellman pointed out that the Supreme Court had recently upheld such provisions. He also accused her of anti-Catholicism. Most Democrats rallied behind Eleanor Roosevelt and supported her. Spellman came to Eleanor's Hyde Park home to bridge their differences.
In any case, Eleanor was never as popular among Catholics as her husband. They were also not happy at Eleanor’s support birth control movement. They had also resented her prewar (before the Second World War) sponsorship of the American Youth Congress, in which the Communists had been heavily represented, but Catholic youth groups were not represented.
In 1954, Carmine DeSapio campaigned against Eleanor's son, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., during the New York Attorney General elections. Franklin (Jr.) lost. Eleanor held DeSapio responsible for her son's defeat. She became disgusted with the political conduct of DeSapio through the rest of 1950s. She, joined with her old friends like Herbert Lehman and Thomas Finletter, succeeded in removing DeSapio from power in 1961.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a close friend of Adlai Stevenson. She supported his candidacies in the 1952 and 1956 presidential elections. She backed Stevenson once again in 1960 but John F. Kennedy received the presidential nomination.
In 1964, Eleanor Roosevelt helped in founding of the 2,800 acre Roosevelt Campobello International Park on Campobello Island, New Brunswick. This followed a gift of the Roosevelt summer estate to the Canadian and American governments.
Sara Delano Roosevelt was her mother-in-law. Even before Eleanor married FDR, She did not have a good relationship with Sara Delano. Biographers and historians still continue to discuss the issue and the reasons for their difficult relationship. However, in early years of her marriage, Eleanor valued suggestions from her mother-in-law until she herself could develop confidence in domestic matters.
Perhaps Sara wanted great success for her son, FDR, in all matters of life, including marriage. She had always given her affection to FDR to the extent of spoiling him. She even gave costly gifts to FDR and Eleanor’s children. Sometimes, Eleanor had problems, which came with such costly gifts of her mother-in-law.
Eleanor always enjoyed the good graces of her uncle Theodore Roosevelt, the main figure of the Oyster Bay Roosevelts. However, she found herself at odds with her cousin Alice Roosevelt. Alice was a daughter of Theodore Roosevelt. Uncle Theodore felt Eleanor's conduct more responsible, socially acceptable and cooperative than his own daughter Alice. Alice was beautiful and highly photogenic, but a rebellious person. Sometimes Theodore Roosevelt would tell her, "Why cannot you be more like 'cousin Eleanor'?" These experiences laid a lifelong unhappy relationship between two high profile cousins.
With the rise in the political career of FDR, relationships between Eleanor and Oyster Bay Roosevelts became worse. There were comments by "cousin Alice," such as her description of FDR as "two-thirds mush and one-third Eleanor". However, at FDR’s presidential inauguration in 1933, invitations went to Alice to attend along with her brothers Kermit Roosevelt and Archibald Roosevelt, with whom Eleanor was close.
In 1961, all volumes of her autobiography were compiled into "The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt". However, it will be printed some 45 years later.
Eleanor Roosevelt survived her husband by nearly 20 years. From 1919, she had suffered from bone marrow tuberculosis. It had recurred from time to time.
She died on the evening of November 7, 1962 at her apartment in Manhattan, New York City from tuberculosis. At the time of her death, she was 78 years old. She lies buried next to her husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York. People liked her so much that a commemorative cartoon published at the time simply showed two angels looking down towards an opening in the clouds with the caption "She's here", since no introduction was needed and people could understand that “she” meant Eleanor Roosevelt.
Eleanor Roosevelt kept a lifelong strong loyalty with Theodore Roosevelt ("Uncle Ted"). Her belongings included her membership card for the Theodore Roosevelt Association.
In 1968 she received the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights. After her death, there was an unsuccessful move to award her Nobel Peace Prize.
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower (November 14, 1896 – November 1, 1979) was the wife of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and First Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
She was born in Boone, Iowa. Her father was John Sheldon Doud. He became very rich after earning much money in meatpacking industry. For sometime, Doud family lived in Pueblo, Colorado. Then the family settled Denver, Colorado. There Mamie and her three sisters grew in a big house. The family had many servants. Her mother was a daughter of Swedish immigrants.
In 1915, Mamie met Dwight D. Eisenhower. At that time, he was a young second lieutenant. On Valentine's Day in 1916 he gave her a ring as token of their engagement. On July 1, 1916, they married.
Their first son, Doud Dwight, was born in 1917. He died in 1921 of scarlet fever. A second son, John Eisenhower was born in 1922. He became an author, and also served as a U.S. ambassador to Belgium.
Their life was like any other family of army officers – moving from one place to another. Mamie once estimated that in 37 years, they shifted to at least 27 places. They lived in many places in the United States. They also lived near Panama Canal; in France; and in Philippines.
During the Second World War, “Ike” continued to rise in the army. She lived in Washington DC. After the Second World War, her husband became president of the Colombia University. They bought a farm at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It was the first home they had ever bought. Before becoming President of the United States, her husband also served as the commander of the of North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Mamie Eisenhower was the First Lady for eight years, from 1953 to 1961. She was a popular First Lady. She was a charming lady. She wore pretty dresses and jewelry. Many leaders from different countries came to the White House. They received a very good welcome.
Her recipe for "Mamie's million dollar fudge" was cooked by homemakers all over the country after it was printed in the news.
After retirement of her husband as the President of the United States, Mamie and her husband returned to Gettysburg. They lived there eight years retirement together. In 1969, her husband died. Mamie continued to live on the farm. She died on 1st November 1979. At the time of her death she was 82 years old. Her grave lies by the side of her husband’s grave in a small chapel. The chapel is a part of the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas.
A park in southeast Denver, Colorado bears her name.
Lady Bird Johnson
Lady Bird Johnson, (December 22, 1912 – July 11, 2007) was First Lady of the United States (1963–69) during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Before becoming First Lady, she was Second Lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963.
Johnson was born Claudia Alta Taylor in Karnack, Texas. Her parents were Minnie Patillo-Taylor (1868-1918) and T.J. Taylor. There is a story about her nickname, Lady Bird. Once a nursemaid said about her, "She's as purty as a ladybird.” This nickname continued, and people called her "Lady Bird." Some speculate that the nursemaid was referring to a "ladybug," which is also known as a "ladybird," when she gave Johnson this nickname. Johnson was of Danish, English, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry.
She completed her schooling from Marshall Senior High School in Marshall, Texas. After schooling, she studied journalism and art at the University of Texas at Austin.
On November 17, 1934, she married Lyndon Baines Johnson in San Antonio, Texas. They had two daughters. The names of her daughters are Lynda Bird Johnson and Luci Baines Johnson.
When she was a child, she developed love for the nature. Because of her efforts, the government of Texas agreed to plant wildflowers on the sides of the roads in Texas.
In 1963, a person shot John F. Kennedy, the President of the United States. Kennedy died after he was shot. At that time, Lady Bird Johnson’s husband, Lyndon B. Johnson, was the Vice President of the United States. Johnson became the President of the United States. Along with this, Lady Bird Johnson became the First Lady. She continued as the First Lady until 1969 till her husband retired as the President.
She was an active First Lady. She was the first First Lady to have a press secretary. Liz Carpenter, her fellow from the University of Texas, served as Lady Bird’s press secretary from 1963 until 1969. Carpenter also served as Lady Bird’s staff director.
As the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson used her influence to achieve some new things for the society. Two important things were:
Even after retiring as the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson continued to live an active life. She gave her time to programs that were for nature. She founded a non-profit organization. The name of the organization is Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Center develops native plants of Americas and uses the same for cleaning up areas.
During 1970s, 1980s, and the early 1990s, Lady Bird Johnson was the most active presidential widow. During these years, Jacqueline Kennedy did not attend many functions, as she wanted to protect her privacy. However, with growing age, Lady Bird Johnson’s health became weak. She suffered two strokes: first one in August 1993, and the second one in May 2002. Her eyesight failed, and she could not speak. In February 2006, her daughter Lynda Johnson Robb informed people that her mother is now totally blind and that she "is not in very good health". Mrs. Robb said that she and her sister Luci Johnson Nugent still read to their mother and talk to her.
She was the only living Presidential widow from May 19, 1994 to June 5, 2004. This was the period between the death of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the day when Nancy Reagan was widowed. Lady Bird Johnson died on July 11, 2007. Lady Bird Johnson was 94 years old. She was the oldest First Lady alive until her death. She had even outlived Pat Nixon, who was First Lady after Johnson. Only one First Lady had lived longer: Bess Truman. Bess Truman had lived up to 97 years of age. Lady Bird Johnson, Bess Truman, Nancy Reagan and Betty Ford are the only four First Ladies to have lived over 90 years or more. The United States Secret Service continued to protect her until she died.
Many places and characters are named after Lady Bird Johnson:
Pat Nixon
Patricia Ryan Nixon (March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was the wife of Richard Nixon and served as the First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 and Second Lady of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Her birthplace was Ely, Nevada. Her birth name was Thelma Catherine Ryan. Her father’s name was William M. Ryan. Her mother’s name was Katherine "Kate" Halberstadt Ryan. Her ancestors from her father’s side were from Ireland. Her ancestors from her mother’s side were from Germany. Her mother was born in 1879 near Frankfurt, Germany.
Their family was not Catholic. But her father had got baptized as a Catholic, and perhaps returned to it shortly before her death. After her birth, her family moved near Los Angeles, California. They settled on a small truck farm in the city of Dairy Valley. Presently, the name of this place is Cerritos, California.
When Thelma grew and entered college, she legally changed her name to Patricia.
Pat's mother died in 1925. At that time, Pat was only 13 years old. She took over all the household duties for her father and two older brothers. In 1930, after months of illness, her father also died. At that time, Pat was only 18 years old.
During all these years, she worked on the family farm. She also worked in a local bank as a cleaner and bookkeeper.
In 1929, she graduated from Excelsior High School. For some time, she attended Fullerton Junior College. She worked in many jobs. Some of the jobs were the job of a driver, a X-ray technician, a pharmacy manager and a typist.
She had a will to continue her education. She studied at the University of Southern California. During her studies in the University, she did part-time jobs on campus. She also worked as a sales clerk in a fashionable department store and as an extra in the film industry. She can be seen in a brief walk-on in the 1935 movie Becky Sharp. Pat's efforts became successful. She graduated from the University of Southern California cum laude in 1937.
Patricia worked as a high school teacher in Whittier, California. Later, during World War II, she worked as a government economist.
Many persons have said about her: "Few, if any First Ladies worked as consistently before their marriage as did Pat Nixon." Once she had herself said: "I do or I die, but I never cancel out".
In Whittier, Pat Ryan met a young lawyer named Richard Nixon. He had just graduated from Duke University. The two became known to each other at an acting group. They also acted together in a play. They became closer and married on 21st June 1940 at in Riverside, California.
Richard Nixon served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, in 1946 Richard Nixon entered politics. He successfully ran for the Congress of the United States.
In 1946, she gave birth to a daughter Tricia Nixon Cox, called Tricia. In 1948, she gave birth to her second baby, Julie Nixon Eisenhower. The Nixon couple gave a lot of time and all the affection to their daughters despite official and other engagements.
Her husband, Richard Nixon rose very fast during next six years. He became a member of the United States House of Representatives, then a member of the United States Senate. Thereafter, he became the Vice President of the United States while Dwight D. Eisenhower became the President of the United States.
Pat went abroad along with her husband when he was the Vice President. On a trip to Venezuela, some people threw stones at their car and spat on the car.
The Nixon couple came to the White House in 1969. They started a tradition of inviting families to Sunday church services in the East Room of the White House. The President later discontinued these services due to concerns over the separation of Church and State. In short, separation of Church and the State says that religion and the government should remain separate from each other.
As the First Lady, she herself answered all her letters. Like Jacqueline Kennedy, she had an interest in adding artifacts to the White House. Her efforts brought about 600 paintings and furnishings into the White House Collection. Mrs. Nixon also arranged for a series of performances by artists at the White House. Among the guests were The Carpenters in 1972.
Pat Nixon went along with her husband to several other countries. Most important of such visits were to the People's Republic of China in 1972 and the summit meetings in the Soviet Union.
She went to Peru with materials to help the victims of an earthquake. She also went to Africa and South America as the Personal Representative of the president of the United States.
Pat Nixon had several other personal interests. She was an avid fan of soap operas, and 'Search for Tomorrow' was her favorite.
In August 1974, her husband resigned as the President of the United States. People say that while her husband was making his resignation speech, Mrs. Nixon was packing their things for moving out of the White House. They left the White House on 9th August 1974. They shifted to San Clemente, California to live.
Her husband resigned as the President of the United States. With this, her public and social life ended. She did not appear in public often. She was a lifelong heavy smoker in private. Her heath became very weak. In 1976, and again in 1982, she suffered a stroke. Richard Nixon said that she read a book about Watergate and became so upset that she had a stroke the next day. She also got mouth cancer and problems in her spinal cord. In December 1992, when she was in a hospital with emphysema, physicians found that she also had lung cancer.
She died of lung cancer at 5:45 am on June 22, 1993 at age 81. Her husband and daughters were by her side. Her husband died about ten months later. She and President Nixon lie buried at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, California. Her epitaph reads: "Even when people cannot speak your language, they can tell if you have love in your heart".
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan (born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was the widow of Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989.
Reagan was born in Manhattan, New York City. Her parents divorced soon after her birth. She grew up in Maryland. In Maryland, she lived with an aunt and uncle while her mother looked for acting jobs. She was an actress in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in movies such as, "Donovan's Brain", "Night Into Morning" and "Hellcats of the Navy".
In 1952, she married Ronald Reagan who was then president of the Screen Actors Guild. They had two children, Ron and Patti. Reagan was the First Lady of California when her husband was Governor from 1967 to 1975. She became part of the Foster Grandparents Program.
Nancy Reagan became First Lady of the United States in January 1981 after her husband's election. She was criticized in his first term due to her decision to replace the White House china. Her interest in high-end fashion had much attention and criticism. She created the anti-drug campaign, "Just Say No" during her husband's presidency.
She always protected her husband and controversy occurred when it was revealed in 1988 that she had hired an astrologer to assist in planning the president's schedule after the 1981 assassination attempt on her husband. She had a strong influence on her husband. She played a role in a few of his personnel and diplomatic decisions.
The Reagans left the White House in 1989. Nancy devoted most of her time to caring for her ill husband who was diagnosed in 1994 with Alzheimer's disease until his death in 2004. Nancy Reagan remained active within the Reagan Library and in politics. Until her death, Reagan supported and advocated stem cell research.
She was born at Sloane Hospital for Women in Manhattan, New York City. Her birthname was Anne Frances Robbins. The names of her parents were Kenneth Seymour Robbins and Edith Luckett. Edith Luckett was an actress. When Nancy was six years old, her mother married Dr. Loyal Davis. Dr. Loyal Davis was a neurosurgeon. Dr. Davis adopted Nancy as his daughter when she was 16 years old. She changed her name to Nancy Davis because of this. She spent her childhood in Chicago, Illinois. She was also goddaughter of Russian-born silent movie star Alla Nazimova. Nancy studied at Girls' Latin School and at Smith College in Massachusetts. From Smith College, she was good in theater.
After her graduation, she became an actress. She acted in many plays and movies. One of them was the hit musical "Lute Song". She became famous as Nancy Davis. She had roles in eleven movies from 1949 to 1956. In a movie named Hellcats of the Navy (1957), she played a role. In the movie she co-starred along with her husband Ronald Reagan. Her last movie was 1958's "Crash Landing". After this, she appeared in television dramas until 1962. After 1962, she retired as an actress.
She met Ronald Reagan in 1951. At that time Reagan was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Another actress with the same name (of Nancy) had appeared in a Hollywood blacklist. This name confusion had created problems for Nancy. Anyone with his or her name in the Hollywood blacklist was unable to get any work in any movie. As she would not get any roles due to the name in the Hollywood blacklist, she met Reagan to clear this issue. Over a period of time, they came closer to each other. They married on March 4, 1952 in Los Angeles, California. Nancy once remembered: "My life really began when I married my husband."
The Reagans had two children. She gave birth to a daughter Patti Davis on October 21, 1952, seven months after the couple's wedding. She gave birth to a son named Ron Reagan on May 20, 1958. Nancy Reagan is also stepmother to Michael Reagan and the late Maureen Reagan. Michael and Maureen were the children of Ronald Reagan's first marriage to actress Jane Wyman.
Ronald Reagan was governor of California for two terms, from 1967 to 1975. During this period, Nancy Reagan was the First Lady of California.
The officials of the fire department had described official residence of the Governor in Sacramento, California as a “firetrap”. She then made Reagan and the whole family move to a wealthy suburb. Some people thought moving the governor's mansion was a bad idea.
She was very active as the First lady of California. She visited war veterans, the elderly people, and the handicapped people. She also worked with many groups working for charity. One such program was the Foster Grandparent Program. She continued her part with the Foster grandparent program when she came to Washington, D.C. as the First Lady of the United States.
When Ronald Reagan became President of the United States in 1981, Nancy Reagan began her role actively as the First Lady.
In her early years as the First Lady, a private foundation purchased new dishware for the White House. The cost was $200,000. This attracted bad publicity, as the US economy was facing recession at that time. She also used expensive fashion. This also attracted bad publicity sometimes. However, once in 1982 at Gridiron Club, she dressed in ragged clothes and sang "Second-Hand Rose". This made Nancy more popular.
Nancy Reagan took close interest in the affairs of the White House. Some people believe that she helped her husband make major decisions at the White House. People also remember her for conservative fashions. Her fashion was copied by many women of her time. She was also against use of drugs by young persons.
She also became interested in astrology as the First Lady. She used the services of Joan Quigley who was an astrologer. In 1981, her husband faced an assassination attempt. This made Nancy rely on astrology. She tried to influence appointments and movements of her husband based on astrology. At that time the White House Chief of Staff was Donald Regan. He did not find this very useful. There was a struggle between Donald Regan and the First Lady. Donald Regan resigned in 1987 because of this.
In October 1987, physicians found that Nancy Reagan had breast cancer. She underwent an operation, mastectomy.
In 1983 Reagan, Henry Kissinger (former Secretary of State) and philanthropists Barbara and Marvin Davis, appeared in an episode of the very popular soap opera Dynasty (TV series). In addition, Reagan appeared as herself in an episode of the popular sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes". She appeared on Diff'rent Strokes for her support for her "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign which she created.
Nancy Reagan lived in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California.
In 1991, Kitty Kelley wrote a book about her. The book’s name is "Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography". The book became very famous and sold many copies. The book gives certain details like the former First Lady's association with astrology. It also talked about her White House meetings with Frank Sinatra.
She spent much of her time caring for her husband who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Ronald Reagan died in their Bel Air home on June 5, 2004. She asked President George W. Bush to support research in the hopes that such research would lead to a cure for Alzheimer's disease.
In 2004, Bob Colacello wrote a book "Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House, 1911-1980", published by Warner Books.
In 2005 she had gone to London to visit Margaret Thatcher and Charles, Prince of Wales. There she slipped in her hotel room and had to undergo treatment in a hospital.
Following her husband's diagnosis and death, Nancy became a stem-cell research advocate. She urged Congress and President George W. Bush to support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. President Bush opposed the idea. In 2009, she praised President Barack Obama for lifting restrictions on such research. Mrs. Reagan has said that she believes that it could lead to a cure for Alzheimer's.
Reagan died on March 6, 2016 in her home in Bel Air, Los Angeles. She died of congestive heart failure. Reagan was aged 94. She was buried next to her husband at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on March 11.
Furniture is the word that means all the things like chairs, tables, cupboards, beds and bookcases.
In other words, furniture are all the things that are in the house and that people can use to sit, to lie on or that are supposed to contain smaller things like cloths or cups. Furniture is made of wood, particle boards, leather, screws etc.
Different rooms have different furniture for different purposes. Offices have office furniture such as desks and office chairs. Dining rooms have a table and dining chairs. Theaters and classrooms have rows of seats facing forward.
Bedroom furniture includes a bed covered by sheets, a bedspread and maybe a blanket and pillow . Next to the bed is the nightstand or night table. A lamp may be on the nightstand. The dresser has drawers for clothes. On top of a dresser may be a mirror.
Rhythm refers to the length of time between each major "beat", or accent, such as in a piece of music. It is the sequence of sounds and silences which make up the rhythm. The first beat of a group of regular, evenly spaced beats usually feels stronger than the others. When we write music down, we put each group in bars (or “measures”).
Rhythms can have different patterns which can be clapped or tapped. In Western music, these patterns are common:
A conductor will beat time. The rhythm will fit in to this regular beat.
All musicians have to have a good sense of rhythm. To play or sing rhythmically they must keep a steady beat in their head (if playing alone), listen to the others players (if playing in groups) or watch the conductor (if there is one).
People who are playing on their own can practise with a metronome to help them to play to a steady beat. However, musicians also use rubato (rhythmic freedom), especially when playing music of a romantic nature. One has to learn to let the music “breathe” in the right way. This is not the same as playing unrhythmically (badly). It is something one learns with experience.
Feeling the rhythm in music is basically human. A person who has a stroke may lose language, but not the sense of rhythm. Neurologist Oliver Sacks says that chimpanzees and other animals do not have a sense of rhythm.
The word "rhythm" is used in other topics than music. The heart usually beats rhythmically, and when it does not, that is a sign of a health problem. Rhythms may be about much longer time periods than a bar of music. Everything living is rhythmic relating to the 24-hour light-dark cycle on earth. The moon has its rhythms and the tides have theirs.
Sometimes the word rhythm is used in a more general sense to mean the general flow of music or of life in general ("the rhythm of life").
If something is necessary, it is very important, otherwise something will be impossible, or it will not work as it should do. The opposite is unnecessary.
Something that is necessary is a necessity.
The "bare necessities of life" are things like food, clothes and shelter (things you need to keep alive).
Inheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, and duties when someone dies. Those things usually go to family members. People have had laws about inheritance for thousands of years. Often the question is settled in a will.
If only sons and other male family members get the inheritance, it is called patrilineal succession. If only daughters and other female family members get the inheritance, it is called matrilineal succession.
Cultural inheritance is called legacy. Genetic inheritance is called heredity.
The person who gets the property and other things when someone dies is called the heir (male) or heiress (female).
All the letters in the alphabet are either consonants or vowels. A consonant is a speech sound in which the air is at least partly blocked, and any letter which represents this. Consonants may come singily (by themselves) or in clusters (two or more together), but must be connected to a vowel to form a syllable.
Words with single consonants include:
Words with consonant clusters include:
Consonants have friction when they are spoken, mostly using the position of the tongue against the lips, teeth and roof of the mouth. "b" and "p" are "plosives", using the lips to produce a tiny sharp sound. Phonetics texts give more details, with diagrams. Consonants may be voiced or unvoiced. The th in "the" is voiced, but in "breath" is not.
Vowel
A vowel is a particular kind of speech sound made by changing the shape of the upper vocal tract, or the area in the mouth above the tongue. In English it is important to know that there is a difference between a vowel sound and a [letter] in the [alphabet]. In English there are five vowel letters in the alphabet.
The sounds of English are written with letters in the English alphabet, as either vowels or consonants. All English words are written with vowel letters in them.
These letters are vowels in English:
It is said that Y is "sometimes" a vowel, because the letter Y represents both vowel and consonant sounds. In the words "cry", "sky", "fly", "my" and "why", letter Y represents the vowel sound /aɪ/. In words like "myth" and "synchronize", Y represents the vowel sound /ɪ/. In words like "only", "quickly", and "folly", Y represents the vowel sound /i/.
It can also be a consonant sound called a "glide" as in the beginning of these words: "yellow", "yacht", "yam", "yesterday". Y is a consonant about 2.5% of the time, and a vowel about 97.5% of the time.
The letter W can sometimes be the second part of a vowel sound as in words like such as "cow", "bow", or "how". In these words the vowel has the sound of /aʊ/. The letter W can be used as a consonant sound at the beginning of in the words "when", "where", "wet". In some languages, like Welsh, the letter W represents the vowel sound /ʊ/, like "cwm" (a kind of valley).
In written English the six vowel letters are used to represent the 13-15 vowel sounds (depending on the variety) in English. This means there are many more vowel sounds than letters in the English alphabet, and the English spelling systems doesn't always help us figure out what the English sounds are. This can be confusing.
Simple vowels are called monophthongs. The letters, like /ɪ/, are the IPA letters for each vowel sound in English. (The IPA is the International Phonetic Alphabet). In the IPA, each symbol represents a different sound, so using the IPA is helpful in pronouncing words.
Common monophthongs in English (these are for General American English) include:
Diphthongs are a combination of two different vowel sounds, one vowel sounds turns into another sound as you say them. If you pronounce the words below slowly, you can hear the two vowel sounds of the diphthongs.
Common diphthongs in English include:
Like other languages, there are many dialects of English, and different dialects often use different vowel sounds. But the IPA symbols can tell us which vowel sound a dialects uses. For example, some American English speakers differentiate between the vowels in the words "cot" and "caught", while in other dialects these words are homophones. People who study the differences between the dialects of English often study the different way vowel sounds are pronounced.
The difference between the way English is spelled and the way the words are pronounced came about because all languages change, so spoken English changes, but the spelling system does not.
The study of speech sounds is called phonetics.
F.C. United of Manchester
FC United are an English football team. They are from Manchester and were formed in 2005 by fans when Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United.
FC United of Manchester play their home matches at Broadhurst Park, Moston, Manchester. They play in the National League North. They have a First team, Reserve team, Under-18s team, and Women's team.
A metronome is a small device that can be used by people who are practising instruments to help them to play in time. It is also something a composer can use to show the performer what speed to play.
A traditional metronome works by clockwork. It has a pendulum which makes a loud tick as it goes to and fro, like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. It has to be wound up after a few minutes of ticking. There is a weight on the pendulum which can be slid up or down and set to a particular speed. There are numbers on the metronome to which you can set it. These numbers mean the number of ticks per minutes. A speed of 60 will make it tick 60 times a minute (i.e. every second). The numbers usually go from 40 (slow) to 208 (very fast). Nowadays many people use electronic metronomes. These are very accurate, do not need to be wound and often have other helpful things like an A to tune to (see musical tuning). Some of them are hardly bigger than a credit card.
The metronome was invented by Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel in Amsterdam in 1812. A man called Johann Maelzel copied Winkel’s ideas and improved them. He made a small, portable metronome which was patented in 1816.
The metronome made it possible for a composer to show the performer what speed he wanted. If the composer writes at the top of his music: Crotchet (quarter note) = 76, for example, then the metronome can be set at 76 and it will tick at the right speed for that piece of music. Sometimes they write "MM76". The "MM" stands for "Maelzel's Metronome". Beethoven was the first composer to use metronome markings, but he often gave very fast speed indications, and some people wonder whether he made mistakes or whether his metronome worked properly.
Lübeck
Lübeck (Low German: "Lübęk", "Lübeek"; adjective: "lübsch", "lübisch", at the latest since the 19th century also "Lübeck", Latin: "Lubeca") is a city in the North of Germany, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
It has about 210,000 inhabitants and a university.
The city's full name is "Hansestadt Lübeck" (Hanseatic city of Lubeck) in memory of its history. It was an important part in the Hanseatic League. The architecture of the city and the region as well is influenced by this historic period. As the "Free City of Lübeck", the city was a state of the Weimar Republic. Other Hanseatic cities today are: Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, Bremen, Greifswald and Demmin.
The most famous citizen is the author Günter Grass. He won the Nobel Prize for literature.
Luebeck has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Koeppen climate classification).
Weimar
Weimar is a city in the middle of Germany, in the state of Thuringia.
It has about 60,000 inhabitants and a university.
Most famous citizens in the past were the German poets Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
The city is well known for the Weimar Republic, too. It was founded in Weimar in 1919.
Augsburg ( ]; Swabian German: "Augschburg" ]; Bavarian: "Augschbuag", Latin: "Augusta Vindelicorum" or "Augusta Vindelicum") is a city in the South of Germany, in the state of Bavaria.
It has about 272,000 inhabitants and a university.
It was founded in the Roman age. In the time of Renaissance (after the Middle Ages) a family of bankers, the Fuggers, became very rich and powerful in Augsburg.
The Protestant Augsburg Confession was made in 1530.
In 1555, a peace agreement called The Peace of Augsburg between Catholics and Protestants was signed in Augsburg.
Augsburg has a humid continental climate ("Dfb" in the Köppen climate classification).
Münster (Münster dialect: "Mönster", Dutch: "Munster", Frisian: "Múnster", Old Saxon: "Mimigernaford", Latin: "Monasterium") is the historical capital of Westphalia and belongs now to the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
It has about 270,000 inhabitants, an airport and a university.
Münster was very powerful in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
The Westphalian Peace was signed in Münster.
Nuremberg ( ""; ]; East Franconian: "Närmberch" ]) is a city in the German "state" of Bavaria, in Middle Franconia. It is on the river Pegnitz and the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and is Franconia's largest city. It is about north of Munich, at 49.27° N 11.5° E. As of June 2017, there were 530,771 people.
From 1050 to 1571, the city became very important because it was on key trade routes. Many of the parliaments of the Holy Roman Empire (called the "Reichstage") met at Nuremberg Castle. The Diets of Nuremberg were an important part of the administrative structure of the empire. In 1219, Nuremberg became an Imperial Free City under Emperor Frederick II. This meant it was ruled by the Emperor, not one of the local lords or princes. It also meant that Nuremberg had a seat in the Imperial Parliament.
In 1298 there was a big "". Nearly 700 Jews were killed. The Jews lived near the river, and by getting rid of the Jews the northern and southern parts of the city could be linked together. This area is now the place of the City Market, Frauenkirche and Rathaus (City Hall).
In 1532, the Peace of Nuremberg, gave Lutherans important concessions. In 1632 during the Thirty Years' War, the Imperial general Albrecht von Wallenstein besieged King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in the Siege of Nuremberg. The city became less important after this war, and only recovered in the nineteenth century, when it grew as an industrial centre.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century Nuremberg was practically bankrupt. In 1806 the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, and Nuremberg became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, and Bavaria took over the city's debts. The first German railway, from Nuremberg to nearby Fürth, was opened in 1835.
Nuremberg was very important during the Nazi Germany period. The Nazi Party held huge Nazi Party conventions – the Nuremberg rallies in the city.
The rallies were held every year from 1927 to 1938 in Nuremberg. After Hitler's rise to power in 1933 the Nuremberg rallies became huge state propaganda events, and a centre of anti-Semitism and other Nazi ideas. At one rally, Hitler passed the anti-Semitic (anti Jewish) Nuremberg Laws which took German citizenship away from all Jews. A number of buildings were built for the rallies, some of which were not finished.
Today many examples of Nazi architecture can still be seen in the city. The city was also the home of the Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher, the publisher of "Der Stürmer".
During World War II, Nuremberg was the headquarters of "Wehrkreis" (military district) XIII, and an important site for military production, including airplanes, submarines, and tank engines. A subcamp of Flossenbürg concentration camp was here. A lot of the factories used slave labour.
The city was badly damaged in bombing World War II, especially between 1943 and 1945. On January 2, 1945, the medieval city centre was bombed by the Royal Air Force and the U.S. Air Force and about ninety percent of it was destroyed in only one hour, with 1800 residents killed and roughly 100,000 left homeless. In February 1945, more attacks followed. In total, about 6000 Nuremberg residents are estimated to have been killed in air raids. Despite this, the city was rebuilt after the war and was to some extent, restored to its pre-war appearance including the reconstruction of some of its medieval buildings.
Between 1945 and 1946, German officials involved in the Holocaust and other war crimes were taken in front of the International Military Tribunal in the Nuremberg Trials. The Soviet Union had wanted the trials to take place in Berlin, but Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials for specific reasons:
The same courtroom in Nuremberg was the venue of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, organised by the United States as occupying power in the area.
Nuremberg city has 501,000 people. As of 2005, the urban area had 763,000 people (about 822,000 people as of 2008). Nuremberg metropolitan area has 1,205,000 people. Nuremberg is still associated with gingerbread ("Lebkuchen") products, sausages, and handmade toys. The first pocket watches, called "Nuremberg eggs", were made there in the sixteenth century. In the nineteenth century Nuremberg became the "industrial heart" of Bavaria with companies such as Siemens and MAN.
Things made in the area include electrical equipment, mechanical and optical products, motor vehicles, and printed materials.
Siemens is still the largest industrial employer in the Nuremberg region but a third of German market research agencies is also in the city.
The Nuremberg International Toy Fair is the largest of its kind in the world. The city also hosts several specialist hi-tech fairs every year, attracting experts from every corner of the glob
Nuremberg was an early center of humanism, science, printing, and mechanical invention.
The city contributed much to the science of astronomy. In 1471 Johannes Mueller of Königsberg (Bavaria), later called Regiomontanus, built an astronomical observatory in Nuremberg and published many important astronomical charts. In 1515, Albrecht Dürer, a native of Nuremberg, mapped the stars of the northern and southern hemispheres, producing the first printed star charts, which had been ordered by Johann Stabius. Around 1515 Dürer also published the "Stabiussche Weltkarte", the first perspective drawing of the terrestrial globe. Perhaps most famously, the main part of Nicolaus Copernicus' work was published in Nuremberg in 1543.
Printers and publishers have a long history in Nuremberg. Many of these publishers worked with well-known artists of the day to produce books that could also be considered works of art. In 1470 Anton Koberger opened Europe's first print shop in Nuremberg. In 1493, he published the "Nuremberg Chronicles", also known as the "World Chronicles" ("Schedelsche Weltchronik"), an illustrated history of the world from the creation to the present day. It was written in the local Franconian dialect by Hartmann Schedel and had illustrations by Michael Wohlgemuth, Wilhelm Pleydenwurff, and Albrecht Dürer. Others furthered geographical knowledge and travel by map making. Notable among these was navigator and geographer Martin Behaim, who made the first world globe.
Sculptors such as Veit Stoss and Peter Vischer are also associated with Nuremberg.
Composed of prosperous artisans, the guilds of the Meistersingers flourished here. Richard Wagner made their most famous member, Hans Sachs, the hero of his opera "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg". Baroque composer Johann Pachelbel was born here and was organist of Saint Sebald church.
Nuremberg is also famous for its Christmas market, which draws well over a million shoppers each year.
The southern part of the old town, known as Lorenzer Seite, is separated from the north by the river Pegnitz and surrounded by the city walls on the south.
Nuremberg was the first city in Germany to have a railway, and today Nuremberg Central Station is a stop for IC and ICE trains on the German long-distance railway network. Trains on the Nuremberg – Ingolstadt – Munich High-Speed line travel at up to 300-km/h. The line opened on May 28, 2006. It meant travel times to Munich were reduced to as little as one hour.
In Nuremberg there are subways, suburban trains, trams and buses.
Worldwide, Nuremberg is twinned with the following cities:
Military–industrial complex
The military–industrial complex refers to the relationship between the government, the military, and the businesses that make things for the military. For example, the businesses can give money to politicians in elections. Then, politicians give more money to the military. Then, the military buys things from the businesses. Each group gains something, so they try to keep doing the same thing.