AcharyaChanakya/simple-wikipedia huggingface dataset:
After the arrival of Indo-Aryans, the kingdoms around Bengal were first described in the "Atharvaveda" about 1000 BC. From the 6th century BC, Magadha expanded to include most of the Bihar and Bengal regions. It was one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha. Magadha extended over nearly all of South Asia, including parts of Persia and Afghanistan, reaching its greatest extent under the Buddhist emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BC. One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land ruled by the king Xandrammes named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BC. The word is speculated to have come from "Gangahrd" (Land with the Ganges in its heart) in reference to an area in Bengal. Later from the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire.
Baloch people
The Baloch (بلوچ) (other spellings: Baluch, Balouch, Bloach, Balooch, Balush, Balosh, Baloosh, Baloush) live in the part of Balochistan in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Southwest Asia, including parts of eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The Baloch speak Balochi language, an Iranian language. They mainly live in mountainous places of the Iranian plateau in Iran, Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan.
Iranian plateau
Punjabis
The Punjabi people (, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ also Panjabi people) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group from South Asia (Pakistan and India). They come from the Punjab region, which has been home to some of the oldest civilizations in the world including one of the world's first and oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization. The Punjabi identity is usually cultural and linguistic, with Punjabis being those whose first language is Punjabi, an Indo-European dialect.
Treeshrew
A treeshrew is a small mammal in the order Scandentia.
They live in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. They make up the families Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae. There are 20 species in five genera.
Although called treeshrews, they are not true shrews, and are not all arboreal. Among other things, they eat "Rafflesia" fruit. They used to be classified in the Insectivora.
Al-Nassr
Al-Nassr Football Club (; "Naṣr" meaning "Victory") is a Saudi football club that was formed in 1955. The club is in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Al-Nassr is well-known through Asia and the Middle East. The club has a large base of supporters, possibly the most supported club in Saudi Arabia.
Many legendary footballers from Saudi Arabia have played for Al-Nassr. Among them are Majed Abdullah, Fahad Al-Herafy, Mohaisn Al-Jam'aan, Yousef Khamees and many other outstanding players.
Al-Nassr's kit colors are yellow and blue. The logo resembles the Arabian Peninsula with the same colors, symbolizing the sand of Saudi Arabia and the sea near it.
Grosvenor Bridge
Grosvenor Bridge, also called Victoria Railway Bridge, is a railway bridge over the River Thames in London, between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge.
It is made up of two bridges that were both built in the mid-19th century. The eastern side was built by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway in 1858-60 to carry trains into Victoria Station. This was the first railway bridge across the Thames in central London. The western side was built by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1865/66.
Both bridges were rebuilt in steel in 1963–67, the original piers now being wrapped in concrete. The designer for this work was Freeman Fox & Partners.
On the north bank is Pimlico to the north and east and Chelsea to the west. The Lister Hospital and the Royal Chelsea Hospital are immediately to the north west. On the south bank is Nine Elms to the east and Battersea to the west. Battersea Power Station is immediately to the south of the bridge, and Battersea Park to the south west.
Vauxhall Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge is a steel and granite bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a north-west south-east direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Westminster on the north bank.
Vauzhall Bridge in 1906. It replaced an earlier bridge as part of a program for redeveloping the south bank of the Thames. The original bridge was itself built on the site of a former ferry.
The building of both bridges was difficult, with both the first and second bridges needing multiple redesigns from multiple architects. The original bridge, the first iron bridge over the Thames, was built by a private company and was run as a toll bridge before being taken into public ownership in 1879. The second bridge, which took eight years to build, was the first in London to carry trams and later one of the first two roads in London to have a bus lane.
The present bridge is most significant for road traffic across the Thames.
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside (May 23, 1824 – September 13, 1881) was an American soldier, railroad executive and politician. He served as governor and a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island. As a Union Army general in the American Civil War, he fought successful campaigns in North Carolina and East Tennessee but was defeated in the disastrous Battle of Fredericksburg and Battle of the Crater. Burnside commanded the IX Corps, the Department of Ohio, and also the Army of the Potomac for a few months. His distinctive style of facial hair is now known as sideburns, derived from his last name.
List of crossings of the River Thames
This is a list of crossings of the River Thames including bridges, tunnels and ferries. There are 214 bridges, over 20 tunnels, six public ferries and one ford. The list starts at the downstream (Estuary) end and follows the river upstream towards the start of the river.
A few of the crossings listed are public pedestrian crossings making use of walkways across lock gates and bridges above or near-by weirs. Most of the other locks on the River Thames also have walkways across their lock gates and weirs, but these either do not fully cross the river, or are for the use of authorised people only, and are so are not listed.
Besides the ferry crossings listed, there are commuter boat services along the river in London, and tourist boat services running both in London and upstream. Although the main purpose of these services is not to carry people across the river, it may be possible to use them to do so.
Railway Gazette International
Railway Gazette International is a monthly business journal about the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by yearly subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by people involved in the railway industry. A mixture of technical, commercial and geographical articles, plus the regular monthly news pages, cover developments in all parts of the rail industry.
"Railway Gazette International" traces its history to May 1835 as "The Railway Magazine". The "Railway Gazette" title dates from July 1905 and it was renamed "Railway Gazette International" in October 1970.
"Railway Gazette International" is part of the Railway Gazette Group, itself part of DVV Media UK, part of the Hamburg-based Deutsche Verkehrs Verlag group. "Railway Gazette" was previously part of Reed Business Information until 1 April 2007.
The magazine is based in Sutton in Surrey in the UK.
Hainault tube station
Hainault is a station on the Central Line of the London Underground in Hainault in the London Borough of Redbridge. Since 2 January 2007 the station is in Travelcard Zone 4.
Usual off-peak service level is:
Highland Football League
The Highland Football League (HFL) is a league of football clubs operating not just in the Scottish highlands, as the name may suggest, but also in the north-east lowlands (Moray and Aberdeenshire). It is one of the three 'senior' non-leagues (that is a league that is not the Scottish Football League (SFL), Scottish Premier League or one of the Scottish Junior Football Association's leagues) in Scotland. The HFL is a full member of the Scottish Football Association.
The HFL was formed on 4 August 1893, at the Inverness Workman's Club. The original league consisted of seven teams: Inverness Thistle, Caledonian, Clachnacuddin, Forres Mechanics, Inverness Union, Inverness Citadel and Cameron Highlanders. Ross County were an eighth original member, but resigned membership in November 1893. Of the original teams, two are still playing in the league today (Clachnacuddin and Forres Mechanics), and two merged to become current Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Many of the member clubs have performed well when competing against SFL clubs in the Scottish Cup. However, from the 1990s onwards, the HFL has been a victim of its own success, with various teams defecting to other leagues. Furthermore it has also had to contend with overexposure of large teams in the area, such as Aberdeen and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, as well as the Old Firm to the South, and to an extent English football. However, the lack of Premier League, and to a lesser extent First Division, teams in the area, has worked in its favour, with some football fans being less willing to travel long distances to games in southern Scotland.
The league has been somewhat weakened in recent years by the departure of many former members who have subsequently joined the SFL. This happened in 1994 when Caledonian, Inverness Thistle and Ross County left. Until then the HFL had operated with 18 clubs; this was reduced by the departure of the three mentioned clubs, but Wick Academy from the North Caledonian Football League were elected, to create a league of 16 clubs. This was the state of affairs till 2000 when Elgin City and Peterhead were elected into the SFL. In 2002 Inverurie Loco Works were elected into the HFL to give it a membership of 15 clubs, with which it continues to operate.
In 2008, North Region Junior League sides Formartine United and Turriff United both submitted bids to join the Highland League, following in the footsteps of past Junior League side Inverurie Locos. If both teams were to join, the Highland League would have a total of 17 teams. An even team league is preferred, so only one club's application was likely to be successful. Whichever team is successful in their application was planned to join in the 2009–10 season. However Banks O' Dee and Strathspey Thistle also applied, giving the potential for an 18 team Highland league in 2009-10 if three of these four clubs were elected.
On February 25 2009, Formartine United, Turriff United and Strathspey Thistle were accepted into the league for the following season, with Banks O' Dee being the unsuccessful club.
Results from the HFL and the Highland League Cup have featured on the Press Association vidiprinter since the start of the 1997–98 season.
The Highland League is the subject of a song of the same name by the popular music ensemble I, Ludicrous.
The HFL also administer several other competitions contested by some or all of the clubs. These competitions are:
Meselson–Stahl experiment
The Meselson–Stahl experiment was an experiment done by Matthew Meselson and Franklin Stahl in 1958, using "E. coli" DNA.
With their experiment, they found that DNA replication was semiconservative. The DNA consists of two helices that are combined. When the two helices are copied, each will have one part coming from the original cell. The other part will be newly made. In chemistry, that is called "synthesis".
There are three different way this replication could happen:
Meselson and Stahl found that DNA employs semi-conservative replication. They put the bacteria in an environment with a Nitrogen isotope. They first used N. The bacteria then integrated this isotope into their DNA. Later they used an environment that contained N. They then looked at which of the isotopes the bacterial DNA contained. They found that it contained both isotopes of nitrogen, which implies that conservative replication is not the correct conclusion. By having a closer look they could then also rule out disperse replication. Some helix strands were all N. Other helix strands from the time in the N environment had N.
Woodford tube station
Woodford is a London Underground station in Woodford in the London Borough of Redbridge, United Kingdom.
The station is on the Central Line between South Woodford and Buckhurst Hill. The station is also a terminus (an ending point) for services from Hainault by way of Chigwell.
The station was opened on 22 August 1856 as part of the Eastern Counties Railway branch to Loughton. It was changed by the successor company, the Great Eastern Railway, to include services to Ilford by way of the Fairlop Loop that was opened in 1903. After 1923 the station came under the control of the London & North Eastern Railway until it was given to the London Passenger Transport Board (LT) on 14 December 1947 as part of the extension of the Central Line services of the London Underground. The station was a terminus for the Central Line, with passengers transferring to a steam shuttle towards Epping, until electric services began as far as Loughton (and around the 'loop' to Hainault) on 21 November 1948.
Abram Games
Abram Games, MBE (born: 1914 died: 1996) was a British graphic designer. He was born Abraham Gamse, he was the son of immigrants: a Latvian photographer and a Russo-Polish (part Russian, part Polish) seamstress. He anglicized (make something sound more English) his name to Games at age 12 and was basically an autodidactic designer, and went to London's St. Martins School of Art (today named the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) for only two terms. However, while working as a "studio boy" (a general assistant) in commercial design company Askew-Young in London 1932-36, he took night classes in life drawing. In 1934, his entry was second in the Health Council Competition and in 1935 he won a poster competition for the London City Council. From 1936 to 1940 he was on his own as a freelance poster artist.
Joan Waste
Joan Waste (1534 - 1 August 1556) was a blind woman who was burned in Derby because she would not stop being a Protestant. She had bought a Bible so that friends could read to her.
Waste was blind when she was born in 1534. Her parents were William and Joan Waste. William's job was to cut people's hair and make rope. By the age of twelve, Joan had learned to make ropes and clothes.
In 1553, Queen Mary came to the throne and it was made illegal to hold Protestant views. Mary condemned 277 people for not having the right sort of religion. This crime was called heresy.
Joan Waste was taken to court for breaking the law. The judge was a man employed by the bishop. She had to defend her views and was told she would die. She had not liked the fact that the church services were being read in the language of Latin. She was to die for being a Protestant and for refusing to agree with the Catholic Church. She bought a Bible in English, but the Catholic Church wanted them to only be in Latin. She asked friends to read to her for a penny.
On the day of her death she walked arm-in-arm with her twin brother to be burned.
Her death took place at the Windmill Pit on the Burton Road in Derby. She was hanged over the fire with a rope. She fell into the fire when the rope burned through. The judge was Antony Draycot. He went home to his meal.
The place where Joan Waste was killed is now the site of a church. When Elizabeth I of England became queen in 1559 she removed Ralph Baines from the job of Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Baines was sent to be a prisoner of the Bishop of London. The judge was also sent to be a prisoner. He died after being released in 1571.
Vauxhall Gardens
Vauxhall Gardens /vɒks'ɔ:l/ was a pleasure garden, one of the leading places for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century.
The site became Vauxhall Gardens in 1785 and money was charged to gain entry. In 1817, the Battle of Waterloo was re-played with 1,000 soldiers taking part. The park closed in 1859 and the land was sold to become buildings.
Vladimir Ashkenazy (born 6 July 1937) is a Russian pianist and conductor. He became world famous as a pianist. During the last two decades he has become equally famous as a conductor, as well as performing and recording as a pianist.
Ashkenazy was born in Gorky, Russia. His father was an Ashkenazi Jew, his mother was Russian. Although his father was a pianist he never had lessons from him. He began playing the piano when he was six. He soon showed enormous talent and two years later went to the Central Music School in Gorki. He graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. He won second prize in the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 1955 and the first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels in 1956. He shared the first prize in the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Competition with British pianist John Ogdon.
Vladimir Ashkenazy has had an extremely successful career as a pianist. He became famous for his playing of Romantic music and music by Russian composers. He recorded a very large amount of music including the 24 Preludes and Fugues of Dmitri Shostakovich, Alexander Scriabin's piano sonatas, Rachmaninoff's, Frédéric Chopin's and Robert Schumann's complete piano works, Beethoven's piano sonatas, and the piano concertos of Mozart (conducting from the keyboard with the Philharmonia Orchestra). He recorded concertos with many of the world's most famous orchestras. He still records and performs all over the world, often playing piano concertos and conducting from the piano keyboard.
In the late 1980s he started to become known as a conductor. He was principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1994, and of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003. He became conductor (musical director) of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in 2004. He toured with them in 2005, taking them to Vienna for their first concert in the famous concert hall called the Musikverein. In 2006 he took them to Seoul and then to the United States where they played in many cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles (Walt Disney Concert Hall), Boston and New York City (Carnegie Hall). He also played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Stresa (Italy) in 2010.
Ashkenazy is now also conductor laureate of the Philharmonia, conductor laureate of the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and music director of the European Union Youth Orchestra. He is often invited as a guest conductor to work with other famous orchestras.
Ashkenazy has been awarded many honours and prizes for his performances and recordings. He lives with his Icelandic wife in Switzerland.
The Tate is the United Kingdom's national museum of British and Modern Art. It is a group of four art galleries in England: Tate Britain (opened in 1897 and renamed in 2000), Tate Liverpool (1988), Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern (2000), with a website, Tate Online (1998). It is a administered as a quango (a non-departmental public body).
Tate is used as the name for the corporation which was started as The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery.
The gallery was started in 1897, as the National Gallery of British Art. When its role was changed to include Modern Art it was renamed the Tate Gallery after Henry Tate. The Tate Gallery was first started in a building at Millbank, London on the Embankment. In 2000, the Tate Gallery split its collection into four museums:
One of the Tate's most publicised art events is the awarding of the annual Turner Prize, which takes place at Tate Britain.
Tate Online is the Tate's web site. Since its launch in 1998, the site has had information on all four Tate galleries (Tate Britain, Tate St Ives, Tate Liverpool and Tate Modern) in the same website. Tate Online helps visitors with get ready to visit the galleries, but is also a gallery as well. Other resources include information on all works in Tate's Collection of British and Modern International art, e-learning for all visitors, over 400 hours of webcasts, all articles from the magazine "Tate Etc.," and a series of Internet art works. BT has sponsored Tate Online since 2001.
The Tate gets money every year from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. It is run by a board of trustees. Under the Charities Act 1993, the Tate is an exempt charity.
Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944), is an American conductor, pianist and composer. He is the conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Tilson Thomas was born in Los Angeles, California. His grandparents were well known actors of the Yiddish theatre. Tilson Thomas studied at the University of Southern California.
After being assistant conductor at the Bayreuth Festival his first important opportunity came in 1969 when the conductor William Steinberg became unwell during a concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Tilson Thomas took over conducting the rest of the concert. He stayed with the orchestra as assistant conductor until 1974, making several recordings with them. He was conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra from 1971 to 1979. During this time he conducted a series of Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic. From 1981 to 1985 he was the main guest conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Tilson Thomas started a new orchestra, the New World Symphony, in Miami, Florida in 1987, to give talented young people a chance to play with a good orchestra. From 1988 to 1995, he was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and since 1995 he has been their main guest conductor. In 1995, he became conductor (music director) of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.
Tilson Thomas has conducted many styles of music, especially American music such as that of Charles Ives and Aaron Copland. He also recorded all nine symphonies of Gustav Mahler.
In 2009 Tilson Thomas created the YouTube Symphony Orchestra to give a concert that could be watched on YouTube. The orchestra was made up of young players from 30 different countries.
Tilson Thomas is openly gay.
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. He and his family live in Los Angeles, California.
Salonen was born in Helsinki, Finland. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, learning the French horn, composition and conducting. Later he studied composition with several composers including Einojuhani Rautavaara.
He started conducting in 1979 with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, mainly in order to conduct his own compositions. In 1983 he was asked at short notice to conduct the Philharmonia Orchestra when Michael Tilson-Thomas was ill. This concert made him well known as a conductor.
Salonen was principal conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984-1995.
He first conducted in the United States in 1984 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 1989 he became Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra and soon became Music Director. He has had this title ever since.
In 1992 he took the orchestra to the Salzburg Festival where they gave concert performances and well as playing in the opera house for the opera "Saint-François d'Assise" by Olivier Messiaen. They toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia, and performed at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, the BBC Proms in London, in Cologne for a festival of Salonen's own compositions, and in 1996 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a Stravinsky festival conducted by Salonen and Pierre Boulez. The orchestra sounded very good in the Paris concert hall, and it made people realize that they needed a better concert hall in Los Angeles. Soon the Walt Disney Concert Hall was built there.
In 2008 Salonen became the main conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra. He will leave his job with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2009. He wants to have more time to compose.
Salonen married Jane Price who used to play with the Philharmonia Orchestra. They have three children.
Emergency telephone
An emergency telephone is a special telephone that can be used in an emergency situation. Such telephones can usually be found on highways, and other big roads. They can also be found in places where people feel unsafe, such as big parks or the campuses of universities. Emergency telephones are also placed at spots where many people commit suicide, like bridges or cliffs.
Emergency phones are usually connected directly, there is no need to dial a telephone number. Lifting the receiver, or pushing a button will make the call. Very often emergency telephones will also tell the other side where they are. This is because people may not know where they are or they may be in shock because of an accident that just happened.
There are many special rules that apply to emergency telephones. They need to be in special colors, because color-blind people may not be able to tell the difference between certain colors. They also need to be easy to use. In an emergency situation, many people do not have time to think about how to operate them.
F-Zero
F-Zero is a racing video game first made for the SNES, where Captain Falcon made his debut. It involves racing around a track at high speeds. Other games in the "F-Zero" series are "F-Zero X" for Nintendo 64, "F-Zero: Maximum Velocity" for Game Boy Advance. "F-Zero GX" for Nintendo GameCube and "F-Zero: GP Legend" for Game Boy Advance.
is the main character of the "F-Zero" series. He wears a blue suit and a red mask. His signature move is the "Falcon Punch".
Gujarati people
Gujarati people (Gujarati: ગુજરાતી લોકો Gujǎrātī loko?), or Gujaratis, is an umbrella term used to describe traditionally Gujarati-speaking people who can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat within the Republic of India.
Arena da Baixada
The Arena da Baixada is a football stadium and an indoor arena in Água Verde neighborhood, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. It has a maximum seating capacity of 28,327 people. It is formerly known as Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães. It was named Kyocera Arena for a short period of time (beginning 2005 until April 1, 2008). The stadium opened on June 6, 1914. The stadium is owned by Clube Atlético Paranaense. Its formal name honors Joaquim Américo Guimarães, a former chairman of Internacional-PR, which was a football club that merged with América-PR. This merger formed Atlético Paranaense. Joaquim Américo Guimarães started the stadium's construction in 1912. Despite being called an arena, it is technically an outdoor stadium. On May 31 2009, the stadium was made one of the match sites for the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
The stadium was built at the previous location of a Brazilian Army powder depot. In 1934, the stadium was renamed Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães. In the 1970s, the original stadium was closed down. After being reopened in 1984 and operating for some years, the old stadium building was demolished on March 26, 1997, right after a construction project of a new arena was announced. In June 1999, the new stadium was built. In 2005, the stadium was renamed "Kyocera Arena", after the Japanese company Kyocera purchased the naming rights.
The inaugural match of the old stadium was played on September 6, 1914, when Flamengo beat Internacional 7–1. The first goal of the stadium was scored by Flamengo's Arnaldo.
The inaugural match of the new building was played on June 24, 1999, when Atlético Paranaense beat Cerro Porteño of Paraguay 2–1. The first goal of the stadium after its reinauguration was scored by Atlético's Lucas.
The stadium's attendance record currently stands at 31,740. It was set on December 16, 2001 when Atlético Paranaense beat São Caetano 4–2, on the first game of that year's Brazilian Championship finals.
Though the present stadium is still new, there are some plans for newer stadiums for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The contract with Kyocera that gave the company naming rights expired in early 2008. It was not renewed, and no new partnership was announced. The stadium went back to its old name, "Arena da Baixada".
Steller's sea cow
Steller's sea cow ("Hydrodamalis gigas") is an extinct aquatic mammal.
It is a member of the order Sirenia, which today consists of dugongs and manatees. Discovered in 1741, Steller's sea cow weighed about 10 tonnes. It fed on kelp, and lived in shallow waters around the Bering Sea. Hunted relentlessly for their meat, they died out 27 years after their discovery. The reduction in the kelp supply may also have contributed to their extinction.
Schinus areira
Bilal ibn Ribah
Bilal ibn Ribah (578-638) was one of the companions of Muhammad. Bilal was an Ethiopian black slave.
Bilal ibn Rabah (, also called Bilal al-Habashi) was an Ethiopian born in Mecca in the late 6th century, sometime between 578 and 582.Bilal was an Ethiopian slave. Bilal's owner was Umayyah ibn Khalaf, an enemy of Islam. When Bilal learned about Muhammad and became Muslim, his master started punishing him. When Muhammad heard about this, he ordered Abu Bakr to buy Bilal's freedom and Bilal -who was now free- joined Muhammad's companions.
Muhammad choose Bilal as the first muezzin. A muezzin is someone who leads the call to daily prayer. Sometimes Bilal walked the streets to call Muslims to come to prayer but most of the times, he said the Adhan from the top of the mosque.
Some years later, when the Muslim army walked towards Mecca, everyone ran to their homes and closed all doors and windows. They were afraid that the Muslims were going to kill them, because of the bad things they did to the Muslims many years ago. But, the Muslims went towards the Kaaba, the worship house believed to be built by Abraham and his elder son, Ishmael. Bilal, shouted out loud to the people of Mecca that they were all safe: "All those who lay down arms are safe. All those in the house of Abu Sufyan are safe. All those behind closed doors are safe."
After Muhammad died, Bilal never said the Adhan again - except on two occasions. Once in Syria and the second time, in Medina, when Muhammad's grandson, Hasan ibn Ali asked him to do so.
Bilal died in Damascus between 638 and 642 (AD).
Hadith books are the collections of Muhammad's sayings.
Muhammad used to say about Bilal:
When Bilal was chosen as the Muezzin, some people complained to Muhammad. They believed only an Arab can be a Muezzin, because Bilal could not pronounce the Arabic words correctly and he used to pronounce "s" instead of "sh". When Muhammad heard their complaint, he said:
Aisha bint Abu Bakr (604-678; ) was the third wife of Muhammad. Aisha is given honour in Islam, especially in the Sunni branch. She is often called by Muslims "Umm-al-mu'minin" which means "the Mother of the Believers".
Aisha was the daughter of Abu Bakr of Mecca. Aisha was 18 years old when she was betrothed to Muhammad. (Marriage under the age of 21 was common worldwide at the time) She was not Muhammad's only wife.
Her ten-year marriage to Muhammad ended when he died. Aisha lived fifty more years in and around Medina. Much of her time was spent learning the Quran, and the Sunnah of Muhammad.
A deputy is a person who helps someone do their job when they are not there. "Deputy" is a rank or title. It usually refers to someone who is "second-in-command". For example: a "Deputy Master" is someone who will take over the responsibilities of the Master when the Master is not there. A "deputy conductor" will conduct an orchestra when the main (principal) conductor is not there. It is similar to an "assistant". Someone who is working as a deputy will deputize (stand in for someone else).
Sometimes other terms are used such as "vice". A vice-president will take over the responsibilities of the president when he (or she) is not there or is ill.
André Previn
André Previn (born Andreas Ludwig Prewin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, conductor, and composer.
André Previn was born as Andreas Ludwig Priwin to a Jewish family in Berlin, Germany. He may have been born in 1930, but cannot be sure as his birth certificate was lost when he emigrated to the United States with his family in 1939 to escape the Nazis. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1943.
When he arrived in America he lived in Los Angeles. He started to be well known by composing movie scores for Hollywood movies.
In 1967, Previn became conductor of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and in 1968 conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He stayed with the LSO for eleven years. His television series "André Previn's Music Night" helped to make classical music popular in Britain. From 1976 to 1984, Previn was conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO), with whom he made another television series called "Previn and the Pittsburgh". He was also principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 1985 he became conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, but because of disagreements he resigned in 1989.
Previn made many recordings and composed many movie scores and other musical works. He also toured and recorded as a jazz pianist. Later he concentrated on composing classical music.
Previn received many prizes and honours. In the United Kingdom he was knighted in 1996. He is particularly remembered in Britain for a guest appearance he made on the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show in 1971 where Eric Morecambe (who called him Andrew Preview) pretended to play the Piano Concerto by Edvard Grieg with Previn conducting. When Previn told him he was playing all the wrong notes, Morecambe grabbed him by his jacket and said that he was playing "all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order".
Andre Previn was married five times. His fifth marriage was to the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter for whom he wrote a violin concerto. They divorced in 2006.
Previn died on February 28, 2019 at home in Manhattan aged 89.
Gramophone
Gramophone can refer to several things:
Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Welser-Möst (born Linz, 16 August 1960) is an Austrian conductor. He is the conductor (music director) of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria. He learned to play the violin, but after being injured in a car accident he changed to conducting.
In 1985 he changed his stage-name to "Welser-Möst" after the town of Wels where he grew up. He soon started to be invited to conduct major orchestras. He appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1985, then conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986 and, from 1989 he appeared a lot in the United States. He conducted the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 1990, Welser-Möst became main (principal) conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He received a lot of criticism and left the LPO in 1996.
In 1995 he went to the Zurich Opera House where he conducted many operas including complete cycles of Wagner's Ring Cycle. He left the Zurich post in 2008.
Since 2002 Welser-Möst has been conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra.
In 2007, the Austrian government made him Musical Director (Generalmusikdirektor) of the Vienna State Opera beginning in September 2010.
He has made many recordings.
Commerzbank Tower
Commerzbank Tower is a skyscraper in Frankfurt am Main, Hessen, Germany. At 259 meters, or 850 feet (300 meters with antenna included), it is Germany's tallest skyscraper and the third tallest building in Europe. It was completed and opened in 1997.
Commerzbank Tower is located in Frankfurt's district "Innenstadt" in the centre of the city. It is home to the headquarters of the second largest German bank, Commerzbank.
MesseTurm
MesseTurm is a skyscraper in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. In English it is known as the "Trade Fair Tower". It is Germany's second tallest, and at the time of its building, it was the tallest building in Europe. It is the fourth tallest building in Europe. It is 257 metres (840 feet) tall.
MesseTurm is located in Frankfurt's district "Westend". This is near the same named Trade Fair-Area in the centre of the city. It is home to the German headquarters of Reuters, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse.
The construction began in 1988. It was finished in 1991. It was the tallest building in Europe, between 1991 and 1997. In 1997, Commerzbank Tower became the tallest building in Germany. It was only two metres higher than MesseTurm. The construction of the building's foundation set a world record. The world record was for the longest continuous concrete pour. Ninety trucks poured concrete for 78 hours. They poured it into the deep foundation.
There is a pyramid on the very top of MesseTurm. It is tall. This makes it very different from other skyscrapers. Because of this shape, people in Germany often call it "The Pencil."
Arrondissement of Belley
The arrondissement of Belley is an arrondissement of France, in the Ain department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Its capital is the city of Belley.
When the Ain department was created on 1800, the "arrondissement" of Belley was part of that original department.
It is the southernmost of the "arrondissements" of the department with an area of . It has 98,110 inhabitants and a density of inhabitants/km².
The "arrondissement" of Belley is in the southeastern part of department and is bordered to the north by the "arrondissement" of Nantua, to the northeast by the Haute-Savoie department, to the east by the Savoie department, to the south by the Isère department and to the west by the "arrondissement" of Bourg-en-Bresse.
In the "arrondissement" of Belley, there are 3 cantons whose "communes" are in the "arrondissement": Ambérieu-en-Bugey, Belley and Lagnieu. The canton of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine has 1 "commune" in Belley, 2 in the "arrondissement" of Gex and 11 in the "arrondissement" of Nantua, the canton of Hauteville-Lompnes has 29 "communes" in Belley and 12 in Nantua, and the canton of Lagnieu has 22 "communes" in Belley and 4 in the "arrondissement" of Bourg-en-Bresse.
The "arrondissement" of Belley has 115 "communes"; they are (with their INSEE codes)ː
Anton LaVey
Anton Szandor LaVey (April 11, 1930 – October 29, 1997), born Howard Stanton Levey, was the founder of the Church of Satan. He created a religion called LaVeyan Satanism. He wrote several books describing his beliefs. His first book was called "The Satanic Bible". He reported a dramatic life story, although some say he lied about his past.
LaVey was born with the name Howard Stanton Levey and was of Jewish descent. He was born in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area of California soon after he was born. He was talented with musical instruments, particularly the pipe organ and calliope. He read a lot. His biography says that he stopped going to high school to join the circus. When the carnival was not active, he played organ in burlesque houses. He then worked as a police photographer in San Francisco, though this has been questioned.
In the 1960s, LaVey began giving lectures at his house to a group of people he called his "Magic Circle." A member of this Circle told him that his ideas could become a religion. He agreed, and founded the Church of Satan in 1966. In 1969, he published "The Satanic Bible". "The Satanic Bible" was a collection of writings he had published in the past years that outlined his philosophies and the basics of the religion. It was influenced by Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, H. L. Mencken, and other authors and philosophers. In 1971, LaVey published "The Compleat Witch" (later released as "The Satanic Witch"). "The Satanic Witch" was a manual of magic. In 1972, LaVey published "The Satanic Rituals". This contained instructions for performing rituals. In the 1990s, LaVey published two books of essays, "The Devil's Notebook" and "Satan Speaks".
LaVey died on October 29, 1997. His death was caused by pulmonary edema (fluid in his lungs). This was brought on by his heart disease.
Hurricane Ike
Hurricane Ike was one of the most damaging tropical cyclones in United States history, having caused about $38 billion dollars in damage. It was the sixth-costliest Atlantic hurricane in U.S. history. Hurricane Ike was the ninth named storm, fifth hurricane, third major hurricane and the most-intense hurricane of 2008 in terms of pressure. Ike may have caused up to 195 deaths. Most deaths happened in Haiti and the U.S. together. Haiti was still recovering from Tropical Storm Fay, Hurricane Gustav, and Hurricane Hanna.
The storm that eventually became Hurricane Ike started near the west coast of Africa on August 28. The storm grew quickly as it moved to the west-northwest. On September 1, the storm formed into Tropical Depression Nine when the storm was over the central Atlantic Ocean. Later that day Tropical Depression Nine became Tropical Storm Ike.
In spring 2009, the name "Ike" was retired due to severe damage it caused, particularly in Texas. It was replaced by "Isaias" for the 2014 season.
Rafflesia
Rafflesia is a genus of flowering plants. They are found in southeastern Asia, on the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Thailand and the Philippines. They are the biggest single flowers in the world. In one species the flowers can be over a meter (three feet) across.
The flowers smell like a dead animal, which attracts flies. The flies, which normally lay their eggs on rotten flesh, pollinate the "Rafflesia" when they get inside.
"Rafflesia" is a parasite, and does not use chlorophyll. The plant has no stem, leaves or true roots. It lives inside vines of the genus "Tetrastigma" (Vitaceae). It spreads its absorptive organ, the haustorium, inside the tissue of the vine. The only part of the plant that can be seen outside the host vine is the flower.
Northern Fury FC
Northern Fury F.C. is a soccer club from Townsville, Queensland, Australia. The club was founded in 2008 and competed in the A-League as "North Queensland Fury FC". On 1 March 2011, the club was removed from the league due to financial instability. On 3 October 2012, the club was re-formed as Northern Fury FC after it was granted a license to play in the NPL Queensland. Northern Fury play their home fixtures at Townsville Sports Reserve.
Edward Said National Conservatory of Music
The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music is a Palestinian music conservatory. It has branches in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem. More than 500 students can study music there.
When it was started in Ramallah in 1993 it was called The National Conservatory of Music. In September 2004 it was given its present name in honour of the Palestinian scholar and musician Edward Said. The Edward Said National Conservatory of Music and the Al Kamandjati are the two main music schools for the two million Palestinians living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The students of the conservatory study in an are where there is a lot of war and conflict with Israel. Nevertheless there are a few projects where Israeli and Palestinian musicians have managed to work together.
The Palestine Youth Orchestra was started through the efforts of the Edward Said National Conservatory. It is one of the best youth orchestras in the Arab world.
SafetySuit
Life Left to Go
Someone like You (SafetySuit song)
Stay (SafetySuit song)
"Stay" is the 2nd hit single off the album by SafetySuit called "Life Left to Go". The song was originally released in fall of 2008, but according to the seemingly major release date in the United Kingdom, it is known to be regularly released in January of 2009.
The video for the song was released on May 5th, 2009.
Vrilissia
Vrilissia () is a small Greek city. It is near Athens in Attica. Almost 40,000 people live there. It is located at the northeastern edge of the metropolis of Athens. The city is accessed by Attiki Odos, the suburban railway and metro transit.
Vrilissia is an area with lots of squares and parks. It has a small forested area near the mountain of Pendeli.
Vrilissia is a twin city of Naples, Italy and Ottweiler in Germany. In Ottweiler, a main bridge is named after the Greek city.
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary (or OED) is a dictionary. It is published by the Oxford University Press in England, and is the largest English dictionary.
It traces (or follows in detail) the historical development of the English language, and is a resource to writers and scholars. It describes how the language has been used.
The second edition came to 21,728 pages in 20 volumes, published in 1989. Number of main entries is 231,100 and number of main entries for out-of -date words is 47,100.
Work began on the dictionary in 1857, but it was not until 1884 that it began to be published in parts, under the name of "A New English Dictionary on historical principles; founded mainly on the materials collected by the Philological Society". In 1895, the title "The Oxford English Dictionary" ("OED") was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in ten bound volumes. In 1933, "The Oxford English Dictionary" was reprinted as twelve volumes with a one-volume supplement. More supplements came over the years until 1989, when the second edition was published. Since 2000, a third edition of the dictionary has been underway, approximately a third of which is now complete.
The first electronic version of the dictionary was done in 1988. The online version has been available since 2000, and as of April 2014 was receiving over two million hits per month. The third edition of the dictionary will probably only appear in electronic form; Nigel Portwood, chief executive of Oxford University Press, feels it unlikely that it will ever be printed.
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham (born St Helens, Lancashire, 29 April 1879; died London, 8 March 1961) was an English conductor. He was one of the most famous conductors of his time. He came from a very rich family and was able to use his money to pay orchestras that he formed. He formed the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He was especially well known for conducting the music of Mozart as well as that of his friend Delius.
He often made funny jokes and many amusing stories are told about things that he said.
Beecham was born in 1879 in St. Helens, Lancashire in the north of England. Beecham was self-taught as a conductor. He had some private composition lessons from Charles Wood in London and Moszkowski in Paris. Beecham’s father, Sir Joseph Beecham, had made a lot of money making medicines (the famous Beecham pills) and he also liked music, so he was able to help his son in his career as a musician.
Thomas was only 20 years old when his father was reinstated as mayor of St. Helens. To celebrate this, his father paid for the Hallé Orchestra to give a concert. It was going to be conducted by the famous German conductor Hans Richter. However, a few days before the concert it was announced that Richter was ill. Thomas immediately said he would conduct the concert. The orchestra at first refused to play for a 20 year old who had only once ever conducted a concert, but in the end they changed their minds and the concert was a great success.
In 1909 Thomas got a group of musicians together to form the Beecham Symphony Orchestra. They gave concerts and played for ballets and operas. Beecham conducted operas in Covent Garden and other London opera houses. He conducted works by composers such as Strauss, Delius, Smythe and Holbrooke. He also played for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes when they first came to England.
During World War I he gave money to the Halle Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Society, all of which he conducted. He often conducted these orchestras outside London, giving people the chance to hear music they had never heard before.
For several years he had money problems and did not conduct much. Then, in 1932, he formed the London Philharmonic Orchestra and quickly made it into an excellent orchestra. They toured Germany in 1936 and the next year went to Paris. During the 1930s he conducted at Covent Garden where he had control of everything that went on. He conducted several cycles of Wagner’s Ring. When World War II started in 1939 the theatre was closed. He went to the United States where he conducted several orchestras including the New York Philharmonic. He also went to Australia.