title: Quiet Revolution

text: The Quiet Revolution () was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of government, the creation of a state-run welfare state ("état-providence"), as well as realignment of politics into federalist and sovereigntist (or separatist) factions and the eventual election of a pro-sovereignty provincial government in the 1976 election. The Quiet Revolution typically refers to the efforts made by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage (elected in 1960) and sometimes Robert Bourassa (elected in 1970 after the Union Nationale's Daniel Johnson in 1966), though given the profound effect of the changes, most provincial governments since the early 1960s have maintained an orientation based on core concepts developed and implemented in that era.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: A primary change was an effort by the provincial government to take more direct control over the fields of healthcare and education, which had previously been in the hands of the Roman Catholic Church. It created ministries of Health and Education, expanded the public service, and made massive investments in the public education system and provincial infrastructure. The government further allowed unionization of the civil service. It took measures to increase Québécois control over the province's economy and nationalized electricity production and distribution and worked to establish the Canada/Québec Pension Plan. Hydro-Québec was also created in an attempt to nationalize Québec's electric companies. French-Canadians in Québec also adopted the new name 'Québécois', trying to create a separate identity from both the rest of Canada and France and establish themselves as a reformed province.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The Quiet Revolution was a period of unbridled economic and social development in Québec, French Canada and Canada; it parallelled similar developments in the West in general. It was a byproduct of Canada's 20-year post-war expansion and Québec's position as the leading province for more than a century before and after Confederation. It witnessed particular changes to the built environment and social structures of Montreal, Québec's leading city. The Quiet Revolution also extended beyond Québec's borders by virtue of its influence on contemporary Canadian politics. During the same era of renewed Quebecois nationalism, French Canadians made great inroads into both the structure and direction of the federal government and national policy.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The 1950s tenure of Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis epitomized the conservative ideal of a religiously and culturally pure Québec, and became known among liberals as the Grande Noirceur (Great Darkness), although the Richard Riot of 1955 may have signalled growing submerged forces. Soon after Duplessis' death, the June 1960 provincial election installed the Liberal provincial government of Jean Lesage, and the Quiet Revolution began.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Prior to the 1960s, the government of Québec was controlled by the conservative Duplessis, leader of the Union Nationale party. Not all the Catholic Church supported Duplessis - some Catholic unions and members of the clergy criticized him, including Montreal Archbishop Joseph Charbonneau - but the bulk of the small-town and rural clergy supported him. Some quoted the Union Nationale slogan "Le ciel est bleu, l'enfer est rouge" (The sky (Heaven) is blue, Hell is red) as a reference to the colours of the Union Nationale (blue) and the Liberals (red), the latter accused often of being pro-communist. Radio-Canada, the newspaper "Le Devoir" and political journal "Cité Libre" were intellectual forums for critics of the Duplessis Government.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Prior to the Quiet Revolution, the province's natural resources were developed mainly by foreign investors, such as the US-based Iron Ore Company of Canada. In the spring of 1949, a group of 5,000 asbestos miners went on strike for three months against a foreign corporation. They were supported by Monsignor Charbonneau (Bishop of Montreal), the Québécois nationalist newspaper "Le Devoir", and a small group of intellectuals. Until the second half of the 20th century, the majority of Francophone Québec workers lived below the poverty line, and Francophones did not join the executive ranks of the businesses of their own province. Political activist and singer Félix Leclerc wrote: "Our people are the waterboys of their own country."


title: Quiet Revolution

text: In many ways, Duplessis's death in 1959, quickly followed by the sudden death of his successor Paul Sauvé, triggered the Quiet Revolution. The Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage and campaigning under the slogans "Il faut que ça change" ("Things have to change") and "Maîtres chez nous" ("Masters of our own house", a phrase coined by "Le Devoir" editor André Laurendeau), was voted into power within a year of Duplessis's death.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: It is generally accepted that the revolution ended before the October Crisis of 1970, but Québec society has continued to change dramatically since then, notably with the rise of the sovereignty movement, evidenced by the election of the sovereignist Parti Québécois (first in 1976 by René Lévesque), the formation of a sovereignist political party representing Québec on the federal level, the Bloc Québécois (founded in 1991 by Lucien Bouchard), as well as the 1980 and 1995 sovereignty referendums. Some scholars argue that the rise of the Québec sovereignty movement during the 1970s is also part of this period.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The Canadian Constitution of 1867 made education of an area a provincial responsibility. Québec set up a Ministry of Public Instruction in 1868 but abolished it in 1875 under pressure from the Catholic Church. The clergy believed it would be able to provide appropriate teaching to young people and that the province should not interfere. By the early 1960s, there were more than 1,500 school boards, each responsible for its own programs, textbooks and the recognition of diplomas according to its own criteria.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: In addition, until the Quiet Revolution, higher education was accessible to only a minority of French Canadians because of the generally low level of formal education and the expense involved. Moreover, secondary schools had placed a lot more emphasis on the liberal arts and soft sciences than the hard sciences.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Following World War II, while most of the United States and Canada was enjoying a long period of prosperity and modernization, economic growth was slower in Québec. The level of formal schooling among French-Canadians was quite low: only 13% finished grade 11, as opposed to 36% of English Canadians. One of the most scathing attacks on the educational system was levelled by Brother Jean-Paul Desbiens, writing under the pseudonym of Frère Untel. The publication of his book "Les insolences du Frère Untel" (1960) quickly sold over 100,000 copies and has come to be recognized as having important impact on the beginning of the Quiet Revolution.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Alphonse-Marie Parent presided over a commission established in 1961 to study the education system and bring forth recommendations, which eventually led to the adoption of several reforms, the most important of which was secularization of the education system. In 1964 a Ministry of Education was established with Paul Gérin-Lajoie appointed the first Minister of Education since 1875. Although schools maintained their Catholic or Protestant character, in practice they became secular institutions. Reforms included: the age for compulsory schooling was raised from 14 to 16, free schooling until the 11th grade, school boards were reorganized, school curricula were standardized, and classical colleges were replaced with CEGEPs (publicly funded pre‑university colleges) in 1965, then the Université du Québec network in 1969—both as an effort to improve access to higher education, geographically and financially. Additionally, more emphasis was placed on the hard sciences, and there was now work for the Québécois who had previously needed to leave the province in order to find jobs in their preferred fields. For example, the opening of Hydro-Québec meant that skilled engineers needed to be hired.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Also during this period the Ministry of Social Affairs was created, which in June 1985 became the Ministry of Health and Social Services, responsible for the administration of health and social services in the province.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The Quiet Revolution combined declericalization with the radicalized (and often incorrect) implementation of Vatican II. There was a dramatic change in the role of nuns, which previously had attracted 2–3% of Québec's young women. Many left the convent while very few young women entered. The Provincial government took over the nuns' traditional role as provider of many of Québéc's educational and social services. Often ex-nuns continued the same roles in civilian dress; and for the first time men started entering the teaching profession.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Also during the time of the Quiet Revolution, Quebec experienced a large drop in the total fertility rate (known as TFR: the lifetime average number of live births per woman of child-bearing age) falling from 3.8 in 1960 to 1.9 in 1970. According to a study commissioned in 2007 by The Québec Ministry of Families, Seniors and Status of Women on possible ways to address problems related to a by then even lower TFR (1.6) "Starting in 1960, Québec experienced a drop in fertility that was so sharp and rapid, it was almost unparallelled in the developed countries."


title: Quiet Revolution

text: In the 2003 article "Where Have All the Children Gone?", published in the academic journal "Canadian Studies in Population" by Professor Catherine Krull of Queen's University and Professor Frank Trovato of The University of Alberta, point to the decline in influence of the Roman Catholic Church over the lives of French-Canadians as one of the causes of the great reduction in the TFR during the Quiet Revolution. Per Professor Claude Belanger of Montreal's Marianopolis College the loss of influence of the RC Church and subsequent abandonment of long adhered to Church teachings concerning procreation was a key factor in Quebec going from having the highest provincial birth rate in 1960 to the lowest in 1970.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Seeking a mandate for its most daring reform, the nationalization of the province's electric companies under Hydro-Québec, the Liberal Party called for a new election in 1962. The Liberal party was returned to power with an increased majority in the Legislative Assembly of Québec and within six months, René Lévesque, Minister of Natural Resources, enacted his plans for Hydro-Québec. The Hydro-Québec project grew to become an important symbol in Québec. It demonstrated the strength and initiative of the Québec government and was a symbol of the ingenuity of Québécois in their capability to complete such an ambitious project. The original Hydro-Québec project ushered in an era of "megaprojects" that would continue until 1984, seeing Québéc's hydroelectric network grow and become a strong pillar of the province. Today, Hydro-Québec remains a crucial element to the Québec economy, with annual revenues of $12.7 billion Canadian dollars, $1.1 billion going directly into the province's coffers.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: More public institutions were created to follow through with the desire to increase the province's economic autonomy. The public companies SIDBEC (iron and steel), SOQUEM (mining), REXFOR (forestry) and SOQUIP (petroleum) were created to exploit the province's natural resources. This was a massive shift away from the Duplessis era in which Québec's abundant natural resources were hardly utilized. Duplessis' policy was to sell off untransformed natural resources at bargain prices in order to create more employment in Québec's regions. This strategy, however, proved weak as Québec's natural resources were exploited for little profit. The shift in mentality of the Quiet Revolution allowed Québec to gain further financial autonomy by accessing this area of the economy which, as is evidenced by Hydro-Québec, is extremely profitable. The Société générale de financement (General financing corporation) was created in 1962 to encourage Québécois to invest in their economic future and to increase the profitability of small companies. In 1963, in conjunction with the Canada Pension Plan the government of Canada authorized the province to create its own "Régie des Rentes du Québec" (RRQ, Québec Pension Plan); universal contributions came into effect in 1966. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ, Québec Deposit and Investment Fund) was created in 1965 to manage the considerable revenues generated by the RRQ and to provide the capital necessary for various projects in the public and private sectors.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: A new labour code ("Code du Travail") was adopted in 1964. It made unionizing much easier and gave public employees the right to strike. It was during the same year that the "Code Civil" (Civil Code) was modified to recognize the legal equality of spouses. In case of divorce, the rules for administering the Divorce Act were retained using Québéc's old community property matrimonial regime until 1980, when new legislation brought an automatic equal division of certain basic family assets between spouses.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The societal and economic innovations of the Quiet Revolution, which empowered Québec society, emboldened certain nationalists to push for political independence.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: While visiting Montreal for Expo 67, General Charles de Gaulle proclaimed "Vive le Québec libre!" in a speech at Montreal City Hall, which gave the Québec independence movement further public credibility. In 1968, the sovereigntist Parti Québécois was created, with René Lévesque as its leader. A small faction of Marxist sovereignists began terrorist actions as the Front de libération du Québec, the zenith of their activities being the 1970 October Crisis, during which British diplomat James Cross as well as Labour Minister Pierre Laporte were both kidnapped by FLQ cells, with Laporte eventually being killed.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The Parti Québécois twice led the Québécois people through unsuccessful referendums, the first in 1980 on the question of political sovereignty with economic association to Canada (also known as sovereignty association), and the second in 1995 on full sovereignty.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: In 1977, during their first term in office, the Parti Québécois enacted the Charter of the French Language, known more commonly as Bill 101, whose goal is to protect the French language by making it the language of business in Québec, as well as restricting the use of English on signs. The bill also restricted the eligibility for elementary and high school students to attend school in English, allowing this only for children of parents who had studied in English in Québec. Children may also be eligible for English education if their parents or grandparents received a certain amount of English education outside of the province (ex. another Canadian province). Once a child has been permitted to attend an English primary or high school, the remaining children in that family are also granted access. This bill still stands today, although many reforms have been made in an attempt to make it less harsh.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Several historians have studied the Quiet Revolution, presenting somewhat different interpretations of the same basic facts. For example, Cuccioletta and Lubin raised the question of whether it was an unexpected revolution or an inevitable evolution of society. Behiels asked, how important are economic factors such as outside control of Québec's finance and industry? Was the motivating force one of liberalism or one of nationalism? Gauvrea raised the issues of religious factors, and of the changes going on inside the Catholic Church. Seljak felt that the Catholic Church could have responded with a more vocal opposition.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Modern Québec historians have brought some nuance to the importance of the Quiet Revolution. Though the improvements made to Québec society during this era make it seem like an extremely innovative period, it has been posited that these changes follow a logical revolutionary movement occurring throughout the Western world in the 1960s. Noted Québec historian took this revisionist stance in arguing that the Quiet Revolution may have accelerated the natural evolution of Quebec’s francophone society rather than having turned it on its head.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Several arguments support this view. From an economic perspective, Quebec’s manufacturing sector had seen important growth since the Industrial Revolution. Buoyed by significant manufacturing demand during World War I and World War II, the Québec economy was already expanding before the events of the Quiet Revolution.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Rouillard also argues that traditional portrayals of the Quiet Revolution falsely depict it as the rise of Liberalism in Québec. He notes the popularity enjoyed by federal Liberal Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier as well as the Premiership of Adélard Godbout as examples of Québec Liberalism prior to the events of the Quiet Revolution. The Godbout administration was extremely innovative. Its notable achievements include nationalizing the electricity distribution network of the city of Montreal, granting universal suffrage, instituting mandatory schooling until the age of 14 and establishing various social programs in Québec.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: The perception of the Quiet Revolution as a great upheaval in Québec society persists, but the revisionist argument that describes this period as a natural continuation of innovations already occurring in Québec cannot be omitted from any discussion on the merits of the Quiet Revolution. The historiography of the period has been notably explored by Ronald Rudin, who describes the legacy of the Lesage years in the depiction of what preceded them. Though criticized as apologists for Duplessis, Robert Rumilly and Conrad Black did add complexity to the narrative of neo-nationalists by contesting the concept of a "Grande Noirceur," the idea that Duplessis's tenure in office was one of reactionary policies and politics. Dale Thomson, for his part, noted that Jean Lesage, far from seeking to dismantle the traditional order, negotiated a transition with (and sought to accommodate) Québéc's Catholic Church. Several scholars have lately sought to mediate the neo-nationalist and revisionist schools by looking at grassroots Catholic activism and the Church's involvement in policy-making.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Politics at the federal level were also in flux. In 1957, the federal government passed the Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act. This was, effectively, the beginning of a pan-Canadian system of public health insurance. In 1961, Prime Minister Diefenbaker instituted the National Hospital Insurance Plan, the first public health insurance plan adhered to by all the provinces. In 1966, the National Medicare program was created.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Federal politics were further influenced by the election of Pierre Elliot Trudeau in 1968. The rise to power of arguably Canada's most influential Prime Minister was unique in Canadian politics. The charisma and charm he displayed throughout his whirlwind campaign swept up much of the country in what would be referred to as Trudeaumania. Before the end of the 1960s, Trudeau would pass the Official Languages Act (1969), which aimed to ensure that all federal government services were available in both of Canada's official languages. By the end of the 1960s, Trudeau had also passed legislation decriminalizing homosexuality and certain types of abortion.


title: Quiet Revolution

text: Montreal municipal politics were also going through an important upheaval. Jean Drapeau became Montreal mayor on October 24, 1960. Within the first few years of his tenure, Drapeau oversaw a series of infrastructure projects, including the expansion of Dorval airport (now Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport), the opening of the Champlain bridge and the renaissance of Old Montreal. He also oversaw the construction and inauguration of Place des Arts. Drapeau was also instrumental in the construction of the Montreal metro system, which was inaugurated on October 14, 1966. Under Drapeau, Montreal was awarded the 1967 International and Universal Exposition (Expo 67), whose construction he oversaw. He was also one of the key politicians responsible for National League of baseball granting Montreal a franchise, the now-defunct Montreal Expos. Another of Drapeau's major projects was obtaining and holding the 1976 Summer Olympics.


title: Automotive battery

text: An automotive battery or car battery is a rechargeable battery that is used to start a motor vehicle. Its main purpose is to provide an electric current to the electric-powered starting motor, which in turn starts the chemically-powered internal combustion engine that actually propels the vehicle. Once the engine is running, power for the car's electrical systems is still supplied by the battery, with the alternator charging the battery as demands increase or decrease.


title: Automotive battery

text: Typically, starting uses less than three percent of the battery capacity. For this reason, automotive batteries are designed to deliver maximum current for a short period of time. They are sometimes referred to as "SLI batteries" for this reason, for starting, lighting and ignition. SLI batteries are not designed for deep discharging, and a full discharge can reduce the battery's lifespan.


title: Automotive battery

text: As well as starting the engine, an SLI battery supplies the extra power necessary when the vehicle's electrical requirements exceed the supply from the charging system. It is also a stabilizer, evening out potentially damaging voltage spikes. While the engine is running most of the power is provided by the alternator, which includes a voltage regulator to keep the output between 13.5 and 14.5 V. Modern SLI batteries are lead-acid type, using six series-connected cells to provide a nominal 12-volt system (in most passenger vehicles and light trucks), or twelve cells for a 24-volt system in heavy trucks or earth-moving equipment, for example.


title: Automotive battery

text: Gas explosions can occur at the negative electrode where hydrogen gas can build up due to blocked battery vents or a poorly ventilated setting, combined with an ignition source. Explosions during engine start-up are typically associated with corroded or dirty battery posts. A 1993 study by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that 31% of vehicle battery explosion injuries occurred while charging the battery. The next-most common scenarios were while working on cable connections, while jump-starting, typically by failing to connect to the dead battery before the charging source and failing to connect to the vehicle chassis rather than directly to the grounded battery post, and while checking fluid levels. Close to two-thirds of those injured suffered chemical burns, and nearly three-fourths suffered eye injuries, among other possible injuries.


title: Automotive battery

text: Electric vehicles (EVs) are powered by a high-voltage electric vehicle battery, but they usually have an automotive battery as well, so that they can use standard automotive accessories which are designed to run on 12 V. They are often referred to as "auxiliary batteries."


title: Automotive battery

text: Unlike conventional, internal combustion engined vehicles, EVs don't charge the auxiliary battery with an alternator—instead, they use a DC-to-DC converter to step down the high voltage to the required float-charge voltage (typically around 14 V).


title: Automotive battery

text: Early cars did not have batteries, as their electrical systems were limited. A bell was used instead of an electric horn, headlights were gas-powered, and the engine was started with a crank. Car batteries became widely used around 1920 as cars became equipped with electric starter motors. The sealed battery, which did not require refilling, was invented in 1971.


title: Automotive battery

text: The first starting and charging systems were designed to be 6-volt and positive-ground systems, with the vehicle's chassis directly connected to the positive battery terminal. Today, almost all road vehicles have a negative ground system. The negative battery terminal is connected to the car's chassis.


title: Automotive battery

text: The Hudson Motor Car Company was the first to use a standardized battery in 1918 when they started using Battery Council International batteries. BCI is the organization that sets the dimensional standards for batteries.


title: Automotive battery

text: Cars used 6 V electrical systems and batteries until the mid-1950s. The changeover from 6 to 12 V happened when bigger engines with higher compression ratios required more electrical power to start. Smaller cars, which required less power to start stayed with 6 V longer, for example the Volkswagen Beetle in the mid-1960s and the Citroën 2CV in 1970.


title: Automotive battery

text: In the 1990s a 42V electrical system standard was proposed. It was intended to allow more powerful electrically driven accessories, and lighter automobile wiring harnesses. The availability of higher-efficiency motors, new wiring techniques, and digital controls, and a focus on hybrid vehicle systems that use high-voltage starter/generators have largely eliminated the push for switching the main automotive voltages.


title: Automotive battery

text: An automobile battery is an example of a wet cell battery, with six cells. Each cell of a lead storage battery consists of alternate plates made of a lead alloy grid filled with sponge lead (cathode plates) or coated with lead dioxide (anode). Each cell is filled with a sulfuric acid solution, which is the electrolyte. Initially, cells each had a filler cap, through which the electrolyte level could be viewed and which allowed water to be added to the cell. The filler cap had a small vent hole which allowed hydrogen gas generated during charging to escape from the cell.


title: Automotive battery

text: The cells are connected by short heavy straps from the positive plates of one cell to the negative plates of the adjacent cell. A pair of heavy terminals, plated with lead to resist corrosion, are mounted at the top, sometimes the side, of the battery. Early auto batteries used hard rubber cases and wooden plate separators. Modern units use plastic cases and woven sheets to prevent the plates of a cell from touching and short-circuiting.


title: Automotive battery

text: In the past, auto batteries required regular inspection and maintenance to replace water that was decomposed during the operation of the battery. "Low-maintenance" (sometimes called "zero-maintenance") batteries use a different alloy for the plate elements, reducing the amount of water decomposed on charging. A modern battery may not require additional water over its useful life; some types eliminate the individual filler caps for each cell. A weakness of these batteries is that they are very intolerant of deep discharge, such as when the car battery is completely drained by leaving the lights on. This coats the lead plate electrodes with lead sulfate deposits and can reduce the battery's lifespan by a third or more.


title: Automotive battery

text: VRLA batteries, also known as absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries are more tolerant of deep discharge but are more expensive. VRLA batteries do not permit addition of water to the cell. The cells each have an automatic pressure release valve, to protect the case from rupture on severe overcharge or internal failure. A VRLA battery cannot spill its electrolyte which makes it particularly useful in vehicles such as motorcycles.


title: Automotive battery

text: Batteries are typically made of six galvanic cells in a series circuits. Each cell provides 2.1 volts for a total of 12.6 volts at full charge. During discharge, at the negative (lead) terminal a chemical reaction releases electrons to the external circuit, and at the positive (lead oxide) terminal another chemical reaction absorbs electrons from the external circuit. This drives the electrons through the external circuit wire (an electrical conductor) to produce an electric current (electricity). As the battery discharges, the acid of the electrolyte reacts with the materials of the plates, changing their surface to lead sulfate. When the battery is recharged, the chemical reaction is reversed: the lead sulfate reforms into lead dioxide. With the plates restored to their original condition, the process may be repeated.


title: Automotive battery

text: Some vehicles use other starter batteries. For weight savings, the 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS has a lithium-ion battery as an option; from 2018 onward, all Kia Niro conventional hybrids feature one as well. Heavy vehicles may have two batteries in series for a 24V system or may have series-parallel groups of batteries supplying 24V.


title: Automotive battery

text: Ampere hours (Ah or A·h) is a unit related to the energy storage capacity of the battery. This rating is required by law in Europe.


title: Automotive battery

text: The ampere hour rating is generally defined as the product of (the current a battery can provide for 20 hours at a constant rate, at 80 degrees F (26.6 °C), while the voltage drops to a cut-off of 10.5 volts) times 20 hours. In theory, at 80 degrees F, a 100 Ah battery should be able to continuously provide 5 amps for 20 hours while maintaining a voltage of at least 10.5 volts. It is important to realize that the relationship between the Ah capacity and the discharge rate is not linear; as the discharge rate is increased, the capacity decreases. A battery with a 100Ah rating generally will not be able to maintain a voltage above 10.5 volts for 10 hours while being discharged at constant rate of 10 amps. Capacity also decreases with temperature.


title: Automotive battery

text: A battery's ability to sustain a minimum stated electrical load; it is defined as the time (in minutes) that a lead-acid battery at will continuously deliver 25 amperes before its voltage drops below 10.5 volts.


title: Automotive battery

text: Battery Council International (BCI) group size specifies a battery's physical dimensions, such as length, width, and height. These groups are determined by the organization.


title: Automotive battery

text: Excess heat is a main cause of battery failures, as when the electrolyte evaporates due to high temperatures, decreasing the effective surface area of the plates exposed to the electrolyte, and leading to sulfation. Grid corrosion rates increase with temperature. Also low temperatures can lead to battery failure.


title: Automotive battery

text: If the battery is discharged to the point where it can't start the engine, the engine can be jump started via an external source of power. Once running, the engine can recharge the battery, if the alternator and charging system are undamaged.


title: Automotive battery

text: Corrosion at the battery terminals can prevent a car from starting due to electrical resistance, which can be prevented by the proper application of dielectric grease.


title: Automotive battery

text: Sulfation is when the electrodes become coated with a hard layer of lead sulfate, which weakens the battery. Sulfation can happen when battery is not fully charged and remains discharged. Sulfated batteries should be charged slowly to prevent damage.


title: Automotive battery

text: SLI batteries (starting, lighting, and ignition) are not designed for deep discharge, and their life is reduced when subjected to this.


title: Automotive battery

text: Starting batteries have plates designed for increased surface area and thus high instant current capability, whereas marine (hybrid) and deep cycle types will have thicker plates and more room at the bottom of the plates for spent plate material to gather before shorting the cell.


title: Automotive battery

text: Car batteries using lead-antimony plates require regular topping-up with pure water to replace water lost due to electrolysis and evaporation. By changing the alloying element to calcium, more recent designs have reduced the rate of water loss. Modern car batteries have reduced maintenance requirements, and may not provide caps for addition of water to the cells. Such batteries include extra electrolyte above the plates to allow for losses during the battery life.


title: Automotive battery

text: The primary wear-out mechanism is the shedding of active material from the battery plates, which accumulates at the bottom of the cells and which may eventually short-circuit the plates. This can be substantially reduced by enclosing one set of plates in plastic separator bags, made from a permeable material. This allows the electrolyte and ions to pass through but keeps the sludge build up from bridging the plates. The sludge largely consists of lead sulfate, which is produced at both electrodes.


title: Automotive battery

text: Battery recycling of automotive batteries reduces the need for resources required for the manufacture of new batteries, diverts toxic lead from landfills, and prevents the risk of improper disposal. Once a lead–acid battery ceases to hold a charge, it is deemed a used lead-acid battery (ULAB), which is classified as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention. The 12-volt car battery is the most recycled product in the world, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In the U.S. alone, about 100 million auto batteries a year are replaced, and 99 percent of them are turned in for recycling. However, the recycling may be done incorrectly in unregulated environments. As part of global waste trade, ULABs are shipped from industrialized countries to developing countries for disassembly and recuperation of the contents. About 97 percent of the lead can be recovered. Pure Earth estimates that over 12 million Third-World people are affected by lead contamination from ULAB processing.


title: Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien

text: The English philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien created a number of constructed languages, including languages devised for fictional settings. Inventing languages, something that he called "glossopoeia" (paralleling his idea of "mythopoeia" or myth-making), was a lifelong occupation for Tolkien, starting in his teens. An early project was the reconstruction of an unrecorded early Germanic language which might have been spoken by the people of "Beowulf" in the Germanic Heroic Age.


text: The most developed of his glossopoeic projects was his family of Elvish languages. He first started constructing an "Elvin tongue" in while he was at King Edward's School, Birmingham. He later called it Quenya (), and he continued actively developing the history and grammar of his Elvish languages until his death in 1973.


text: In 1931, he held a lecture about his passion for constructed languages, titled "A Secret Vice". Here he contrasts his project of artistic languages constructed for aesthetic pleasure with the pragmatism of international auxiliary languages. The lecture also discusses Tolkien's views on phonaesthetics, citing Greek, Finnish, and Welsh as examples of "languages which have a very characteristic and in their different ways beautiful word-form".


text: Tolkien's glossopoeia has two temporal dimensions: the internal (fictional) timeline of events in Middle-earth described in "The Silmarillion" and other writings, and the external timeline of Tolkien's own life during which he often revised and refined his languages and their fictional history.


text: Tolkien was a professional philologist of ancient Germanic languages, specialising in Old English. He was also interested in many languages outside his field, and developed a particular love for the Finnish language. He described the finding of a Finnish grammar book as "like discovering a complete wine-cellar filled with bottles of an amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before".


text: Glossopoeia was Tolkien's hobby for most of his life. At a little over 13, he helped construct a sound substitution cypher known as "Nevbosh", 'new nonsense', which grew to include some elements of actual invented language. Notably, Tolkien claimed that this was not his first effort in invented languages. Shortly thereafter, he developed a true invented language called Naffarin which contained elements that would survive into his later languages, which he continued to work on until his death more than 65 years later. Language invention had always been tightly connected to the mythology that Tolkien developed, as he found that a language could not be complete without the history of the people who spoke it, just as these people could never be fully realistic if imagined only through English and as speaking English. Tolkien therefore took the stance of a translator and adaptor rather than that of the original author of his works.


text: Tolkien was of the opinion that the invention of an artistic language in order to be convincing and pleasing must include not only the language's historical development, but also the history of its speakers, and especially the mythology associated with both the language and the speakers. It was this idea that an "Elvish language" must be associated with a complex history and mythology of the Elves that was at the core of the development of Tolkien's legendarium.


text: While the Elvish languages remained at the center of Tolkien's attention, the requirements of the narratives associated with Middle-earth also necessitated the development at least superficially of the languages of other races, especially of Dwarves and Men, but also the Black Speech designed by Sauron, the main antagonist in "The Lord of the Rings". This latter language was designed to be the ostensible antithesis of the ideal of an artistic language pursued with the development of Quenya, the Black Speech representing a dystopian parody of an international auxiliary language just as Sauron's rule over the Orcs is a dystopian parody of a totalitarian state.


text: Tolkien had worked out much of the etymological background of his Elvish languages during the 1930s (collected in the form of "The Etymologies").


text: In 1937, he wrote the "Lhammas", a linguistic treatise addressing the relationship of not just the Elvish languages, but of all languages spoken in Middle-earth during the First Age.


text: The text purports to be a translation of an Elvish work, written by one Pengolodh, whose historical works are presented as being the main source of the narratives in "The Silmarillion" concerning the First Age.


text: The "Lhammas" exists in two versions, the shorter one being called the "Lammasathen". The main linguistic thesis in this text is that the languages of Middle-earth are all descended from the language of the Valar (the "gods"), Valarin, and divided into three branches:


text: Tolkien later revised this internal history to the effect that the Elves had been capable of inventing language on their own, before coming into contact with Valarin.


text: The Elvish language family is a group of languages related by descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language. Tolkien constructed the family from around 1910, working on it up to his death in 1973. He constructed the grammar and vocabulary of at least fifteen languages and dialects in roughly three periods:


text: Although the Elvish languages Sindarin and Quenya are the most famous and the most developed of the languages that Tolkien invented for his Secondary World, they are by no means the only ones. They belong to a family of Elvish languages, that originate in Common Eldarin, the language common to all Eldar, which in turn originates in Primitive Quendian, the common root of Eldarin and Avarin languages.


text: Finnish morphology (particularly its rich system of inflection) in part gave rise to Quenya. Another of Tolkien's favourites was Welsh, and features of Welsh phonology found their way into Sindarin. Very few words were borrowed from existing languages so that attempts to match a source to a particular Elvish word or name in works published during his lifetime are often very dubious.


text: When working on "The Lord of the Rings" during the 1940s, Tolkien invested great effort into detailing the linguistics of Middle-earth.


text: Tolkien devised Adûnaic (or Númenórean), the language spoken in Númenor, shortly after World War II, and thus at about the time he completed "The Lord of the Rings", but before he wrote the linguistic background of the Appendices. Adûnaic is intended as the language from which Westron (also called "Adûni") is derived. This added a depth of historical development to the Mannish languages. Adûnaic was intended to have a "faintly Semitic flavour". Its development began with "The Notion Club Papers" (written in 1945). It is there that the most extensive sample of the language is found, revealed to one of the (modern-day) protagonists, Lowdham, of that story in a visionary dream of Atlantis. Its grammar is sketched in the unfinished "Lowdham's Report on the Adunaic Language".


text: Tolkien remained undecided whether the language of the Men of Númenor should be derived from the original Mannish language (as in Adûnaic), or if it should be derived from "the Elvish Noldorin" (i.e. Quenya) instead. In "The Lost Road and Other Writings", it is implied that the Númenóreans spoke Quenya, and that Sauron, hating all things Elvish, taught the Númenóreans the old Mannish tongue they themselves had forgotten.


text: When writing "The Lord of the Rings", a sequel to "The Hobbit", Tolkien came up with the literary device of using real languages to "translate" fictional languages. He pretended to have translated the original Sôval Phârë speech (Westron or the Common Speech) into English. This device of rendering an "imaginary" language with a "real" one was carried further by rendering:


text: Furthermore, to parallel the Celtic substratum in England, he used Old Welsh names to render the Dunlendish names of Buckland Hobbits (e.g., "Meriadoc" for "Kalimac").


text: Because of the device of having Modern English representing Westron, there was no necessity to actually work out the details of Westron grammar or vocabulary in any detail, but Tolkien does give some examples of Westron words in Appendix F to "The Lord of the Rings", where he also summarizes its origin and role as "lingua franca" in Middle-earth:


text: Even orcs had to rely on using Common Speech (albeit in a much-debased form) for communication between themselves, because different orc sub-dialects were not mutually intelligible from one clan to the next.


text: Rohirric is always represented by the Mercian dialect of Old English because Tolkien chose to make the relationship between Rohirric and the Common Speech similar to that of Old English and Modern English. The terms Rohirric, Rohirian, and Rohanese have all been used to refer to the language. Tolkien himself used "Rohanese". He only gave a few actual Rohirric words:


text: Only one proper name is given, "Tûrac", an old word for King, the Rohirric for Théoden, which is the Old English word "þéoden", meaning "leader of a people", "King" or "prince". As with other descriptive names in his legendarium, Tolkien uses this name to create the impression that the text is "'historical', 'real' or 'archaic'".


text: Other Mannish languages envisaged for the setting of "The Lord of the Rings", but barely developed in terms of grammar or vocabulary, include Haladin, Dunlendish, Drûg, Haradrim, and Easterling.


text: Some samples of Khuzdul, the language of the Dwarves, are given in "The Lord of the Rings". The explanation here is a little different from the "Mannish" languages: as "Khuzdul" was supposedly kept secret by the Dwarves and never used in the presence of outsiders (not even Dwarvish given names), it was not "translated" by any real-life historical language, and such limited examples as there are in the text are given in the "original".


text: Khuzdul was designed to have a "Semitic" affinity, with a system of triconsonantal roots and other parallels especially to Hebrew, just as some resemblances between the Dwarves and the Jews are intentional.


text: The language of the Ents is also described in the novel. As the Ents were first taught to speak by Elves, Entish appears related to the Elvish languages. However, the Ents continued to develop their language. It is described as long and sonorous, a tonal language somewhat like a woodwind instrument. Only the Ents spoke Entish as no others could master it. Even the Elves, master linguists, could not learn Entish, nor did they attempt to record it because of its complex sound structure:


text: To illustrate these properties, Tolkien provides "a-lalla-lalla-rumba-kamanda-lindor-burúme", the word for "hill", as a purportedly inaccurate sampling of the language.


text: The grammatical structure of Old Entish was bizarre, often described as a lengthy, long-winded discussion of a topic. There may not even have been words for "yes" and "no": such questions would be answered by a long monologue on why the Ent in question did or did not agree with the Ent who asked the question. The Ent Quickbeam was regarded as a very "hasty" Ent for answering a question before another Ent had finished: the end may only have been another hour away. Ents as a rule would say nothing in Entish unless it was worth taking a long time to say.


text: Tolkien devised little of the Black Speech beyond the Rhyme of the Rings. He intentionally made it sound harsh but with a proper grammar. He stated that it was an agglutinative language; it has been likened to the extinct Hurrian language of northern Mesopotamia.


text: In the fiction, it was created by the Dark Lord Sauron to be the official language of all the lands and peoples under his control. In practice it was never accepted willingly, and mutated into many mutually unintelligible Orkish dialects, so that Orcs communicated with each other mainly in a debased Westron.


text: Being a skilled calligrapher, Tolkien not only invented many languages but also scripts. Some of his scripts were designed for use with his constructed languages, others for more practical ends: to be used in his personal diary, and one especially for English, the "New English Alphabet".


text: Tolkien's scripts were the Tengwar of Rúmil or Sarati; the Gondolinic Runes; the Valmaric script; Andyoqenya; Qenyatic; the New English Alphabet; the "Goblin alphabet" (in "The Father Christmas Letters"); the Tengwar of Fëanor; and the Cirth of Daeron.


text: The first published monograph dedicated to the Elvish languages was "An Introduction to Elvish" (1978) edited by Jim Allan (published by Bran's Head Books). It is composed of articles written before the publication of "The Silmarillion". Ruth Noel wrote a book on Middle-earth's languages in 1980.


text: With the publication of much linguistic material during the 1990s, especially in the "History of Middle-earth" series,


text: and the "Vinyar Tengwar" and "Parma Eldalamberon" material published at an increasing rate during the early 2000s from the stock of linguistic material in the possession of the appointed team of editors (some 3000 pages according to them),


text: David Salo's 2007 "A Gateway to Sindarin" presents Sindarin's grammar concisely. Elizabeth Solopova's 2009 "Languages, Myth and History" gives an overview of the linguistic traits of the various languages invented by Tolkien and the history of their creation.


text: A few fanzines were dedicated to the subject, like "Tyalië Tyelelliéva" published by Lisa Star, and "Quettar", the Bulletin of the Linguistic Fellowship of The Tolkien Society, published by Julian C. Bradfield. "Tengwestië" is an online publication of the Elvish Linguistic Fellowship.


text: Internet mailing lists and forums dedicated to Tolkien's constructed languages include Tolklang, Elfling and Lambengolmor.


text: Since 2005, there has been an International Conference on J.R.R. Tolkien's Invented Languages, part of a series of biennial conferences at changing locations. They are open to everyone with a serious interest in Tolkien's invented languages. Attendees are encouraged to prepare, bring, and deliver a paper on any aspect of Tolkien's languages.


text: A recent line of study includes hidden religious symbolism in Tolkien's languages. For instance, "lembas" translates to "way bread" in Sindarin and "life bread" in Quenya; the Christian communion bread is referred to as "viaticum" in Latin (meaning "way bread") and "bread of life" in English.


title: Ingush people

text: The Ingush (, , pronounced ) per Oxford dictionary "a member of a people living mainly in Ingushetia in the central Caucasus." Ingushetia is a federal republic of Russian Federation. The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language. According to 19th-century scientist Semen Bronevski the Ingush are known as Kisti, Ghalgha, Ingushi and they use the names interchangeably. According to the German scientist Peter Pallas who visited the Caucasus the Ingush are known as Loamaro, Kisti, Ghalghai, Ingush.


title: Ingush people

text: The name "Ingush" is derived from the ancient village "Angusht", which was renamed into "Tarskoye" and transferred to North Ossetia in 1944 after the deportation of 23 February 1944, a.k.a. operation "Lentil".


title: Ingush people

text: The Ingush, a nationality group indigenous to the Caucasus, mostly inhabit Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai (from Ingush: "Ghala" ("fortress" or "town") and "ghai" ("inhabitants" or "citizens"). Ingush speak Ingush language. According to Professor Johanna Nichols of Berkeley in her book Ingush-English Dictionary on page 5: "The Ingush language and Chechen are distinct languages and not mutually intelligible". The Ingush are traditionally a classless society based on a clan system and unwritten law. Every clan, and each clan member, are viewed as equal. Unlike the neighboring nations in the Caucasus In 1776 J.G.Georgi in “Veschreinbung aller Nationen” indicates that Ossetian had social hierarchy, Ingush people lack of hierarchy, had elected officials. Same was told by F.V.Totoyev in his book "Obschestvennij Stroi Chechni XVIII-40e godi XIX veka" Nalchik, 2009), the Ingush never had social superiors or inferiors. The Ingush/Ingushetia were also known by the following names: Gelia (American cartographer J. H. Colton,Strabo), Ghalghai/Gelgai (Self), Nakh (self, meaning "people"), Vainakh (self, meaning "our people"), Kist (Georgian), Gergar (Self), Dzurdzuk (Georgian), Ghlighvi (Georgian), Angushtini (Russian), Machaloni (Ossetian), Chechen highlanders called Ingush Makhaloni or Makhloi (according to Chechen historian Khalid Oshayev), Orstkhoi (self), Nart-Orstkhoi (self), Galash (self), Tsori (self), Dzheirakhoi (self), Khamhoi (self), Metshal (self), Fyappi (self), and Nyasareth (self). The self-namings represent different Vainakh tribes which make up the Ingush population today. Byzantine and Georgian missionaries partially Christianised the Ingush, although Christianity was weakened by the Mongol invasions. The remains of several churches, notably the Tkhabya-Yerd and the Albe-Yerd can be found in Ingushetia. The Ingush gradually converted to Islam troughout the 18th–19th century. Vakhushti of Kartli wrote in 1745, that the inhabitants of the village "Angushti" were Sunni Muslims.


title: Ingush people

text: In 1901 Scottish Geographical Magazine on pp. 570–572 mentions: "The Ingoush are considered very ancient inhabitants of the Caucasus; but their origin is lost in obscure and even contradictory traditions. They have long been supposed to be identical with the Tchetchen – an error which has recently been disproved by anthropological inquiries, which have shown that they are a distinct ethnical group of men ... The complexion of the Ingoush is swarthy; he is tall and slight in form; restless, always on the alert, inquisitive, dexterous, and usually highly intelligent ... In every respect the Ingoush prove to be, anthropologically, a group of men inhabiting the Caucasus, distinct from their neighbors, the Ossetians, Tchetchen, Lesghin, Kymykh, Circassian and Kabardin, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew and others." According to anthropologist Ivan Pantyukhov, anthropologically the Ingush differ not only from other populations of the Caucasus but even Chechens with whom they form a single speech community due to passive bilingualism practiced by the Ingush people. The Soviet-Russian anthropologists and scientists N.Ya. Marr, V.V. Bounak, R.M. Munchaev, I.M Dyakonov, E.I. Krupnov and G.A. Melikashvilli wrote: "Among Ingush the Caucasian type is preserved better than among any other North Caucasian nation", Professor of anthropology V.V.Bounak "Groznenski Rabochi" 5, VII, 1935. Professor G.F.Debets recognized that Ingush Caucasian anthropologic type is the most Caucasian among Caucasians. Prussian scientist Peter Pallas visited Ingushetia and made observation of Ingush people, he also confirmed that Ingush people are completely different from their neighbors in his book “Thravels through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire in the years 1793 and 1794” pp. 435–436: “There is a tribe of people differing entirely from all other inhabitants of the Caucasus, in language as well as in stature, and the features of the countenance: their national name is LAMUR, signifying inhabitants of mountains; by others they are called Galgai, or Ingushians … Their manner of pronouncing appeared to us, as if their mouths were full of stones. We were informed that they are an honest and brave set of people, maintaining their independence, and are subject only to their elders, or priests, by whom their religious sacrifices are performed. They are almost the only nation inhabiting the Caucasus, among whom the shields has been preserved, as a part of their accoutrements. These bucklers are made of wood, covered with leather, and bound with iron hoops of an oval form. The short knotty pike which forms part of their armor, serves not only as a weapon of defense, but is likewise used for supporting the gun between its forked branched, by fixing the pointed end in the ground, which enabled the sharp-shooter to take a more accurate aim. The Ingushians are excellent marksmen…”


title: Ingush people

text: According to the linguist Johanna Nichols, who studied languages including Chechen and Ingush in her book "Ingush Grammar" says: "To my surprise, Ingush turned out to be the most complex language of my sample, besting even polysynthetic languages like Seneca, Lakhota, and Halkomelem. Ingush is not polysynthetic; its complexity is due to large inventories of elements (phonemes, cases, tenses, etc.), a high degree of inflectional synthesis in the verb, and classification of various types – declension and conjugation classes, agreement genders, overt inherent genders, split verbal lexicon, split alignment, etc. Perhaps this complexity explains why it has taken thirty years to produce this grammar, during most of which time the project has in fact been on or near the front burner ... Ingush and Chechen are distinct languages and not mutually intelligible, but because of widespread passive partial knowledge of standard lowlands Chechen by Ingush they function to some extent as a single speech community." "Ingush is the native language of the great majority of the approximately 300,000 Ingush people, most of whom live in or near the Republic of Ingushetia on the north slope of the Great Caucasus mountain range in the South Russia ... Ingush and Chechen are distinct languages and not mutually intelligible, but because of widespread passive bilingualism they form a single speech community."


title: Ingush people

text: According to Leonti Mroveli, the 11th-century Georgian chronicler, the word Caucasian is derived from the Vainakh ancestor Kavkas.


title: Ingush people

text: According to Professor George Anchabadze of Ilia State University "The Vainakhs are the ancient natives of the Caucasus. It is noteworthy, that according to the genealogical table drawn up by Leonti Mroveli, the legendary forefather of the Vainakhs was "Kavkas", hence the name Kavkasians, one of the ethnicons met in the ancient Georgian written sources, signifying the ancestors of the Chechens and Ingush. As appears from the above, the Vainakhs, at least by name, are presented as the most "Caucasian" people of all the Caucasians (Caucasus – Kavkas – Kavkasians) in the Georgian historical tradition."


title: Ingush people

text: In an article in Science Magazine Bernice Wuethrich states that American linguist Dr. Johanna Nichols "has used language to connect modern people of the Caucasus region to the ancient farmers of the Fertile Crescent" and that her research suggests that "farmers of the region were proto-Nakh-Daghestanians". Nichols is quoted as stating that "The Nakh–Dagestanian languages are the closest thing we have to a direct continuation of the cultural and linguistic community that gave rise to Western civilization"


title: Ingush people

text: The Ingush have 89% of J2 Y-DNA which is the highest known frequency in the world and J2 is closely associated with the Fertile Crescent.


title: Ingush people

text: The mitochondrial DNA of the Ingush differs from other Caucasian populations and the rest of the world. "The Caucasus populations exhibit, on average, less variability than other [World] populations for the eight Alu insertion polymorphisms analyzed here. The average heterozygosity is less than that of any other region of the world, with the exception of Sahul. Within the Caucasus, the Ingush have much lower levels of variability than any of the other populations. The Ingush also showed unusual patterns of mtDNA variation when compared with other Caucasus populations (Nasidze and Stoneking, submitted), which indicates that some feature of the Ingush population history, or of this particular sample of the Ingush, must be responsible for their different patterns of genetic variation at both mtDNA and the Alu insertion loci."


title: Ingush people

text: "Notes on the Caucasus" By Elim H. D'Avigdor, 1883 states: "The Ingouch have great personal pride and determination of character. Forty or fifty years ago, when slavery was an institution in the Caucasus, and people purchased servants, male and female, from the mountaineers (as now in Central Africa), Ingouch slaves were excessively rarely met with, they wither refusing to be taken alive or committing suicide.


title: Ingush people

text: An Ingouch whose ideas of meum and tuum were confused being detected by some Russian soldiers at Wladikavkas in the act of driving off a cow, was severely beaten that, though he contrived with great difficulty to reach his village in the mountains, he shortly afterwards died. His remaining brother, taking his rifle, ammunition, and some millet in a bag, set out alone to avenge his death. Arriving by bypaths in the vicinity of Wladikavkas, he took us a position before daylight among the rocks on the hillside, and watched till he saw a Russian soldier at a convenient distance from the lines. After stalking and “dropping” his man, which, being a good shot, her rarely failed in doing, he cut off the ears of the Russian, and made for the mountain, where he offered them up on the tomb of his brother, and again returned to prowl round the outposts. In this manned he, in the course of a few months, manager to “pot” three officers and fifteen privates, a tolerable “bag” for one man, armed with a flint rifle and inferior home-made powder."


title: Ingush people

text: "Ingush is brave, supremely proud, and fanatical. All these qualities of the Ingush do not allow the acceptance of external pressure."


title: Ingush people

text: The Ingush stone architecture is closely related to their way of life in the mountains. The stone architecture is known to mountain Ingushetia as early as 8,000 BC - 4,000 BC cyclopean masonry settlements Egikal, Targim, Doshkhakle, Leimi. Caucasologist Ruslan Buzurtanov mentions that every Ingush family had an architectural triad: a tower, a church, and a necropolis. All three were present in every settlement. All three evolved continuously over time. For example the Tkhaba-Yerdy Church was originally a pagan temple according to the evidence the earliest structures that dates back before the 8th-9th centuries when it was remodeled into a Christian church adding Christian crosses and reliefs but keeping the pagan petroglyphs. The Ingush stone town consisting of towers and churches were located lower than the necropolis town of the dead. Ingush necropolis had stepped roof either pyramidal or conical shape. Combat towers had stepped pyramidal roof. Necropolis evolved over time: 3,000 BC they were underground stone Kists, later grouped into pyramids, then became half underground and finally early middle ages above the ground structures. Majority of the Ingush stone necropolis and churches East of the Terek river were either partially or fully destroyed during the Soviet times especially after Ingush people were exiled en masse in 1944. The necropolis were looted by Ossetian and Russian colonists who were brought to Ingushetia after 1944. The combat towers had an entrance on the second floor which had a conical roof with a cross made of stones and a keystone which formed the floor of the next level. These conical stone crosses are unique only in the Ingush towers. The combat towers usually had five to six levels. None of the arches of windows in the combat towers had a keystone and were made of a solid blocks of stone. The famous Soviet archaeologist and historian, professor E.I. Krupnov in his book "Medieval Ingushetia" described the Ingush towers as «"in the true sense the pinnacle of the architectural and constructional mastery of the ancient population of the region"».


title: Ingush people

text: The Ingush possess a varied culture of traditions, legends, epics, tales, songs, proverbs, and sayings. Music, songs and dance are particularly highly regarded. Popular musical instruments include the "dachick-panderr" (a kind of balalaika), "kekhat ponder" (accordion, generally played by girls), mirz ponder (a three-stringed violin), zurna (a type of oboe), tambourine, and drums.


title: Ingush people

text: The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims of the Shāfi‘ī Madh'hab, with a Sufi background belonging to the Qadiriyya tariqa of the Chechen preacher Kunta Haji. Before converting to Islam, the Ingush used to be Christian and Pagan. Huge monuments from the Ingush Pagan past are still stored in museums such as the Phallic statue of Kok in Ingushetia, which was described by the Russian historian Krupnov. Likewise another statue was mentioned in the village of Lemi in Ingushetia. Plaetschke mentions that infertile women secretly visit the statue and pray to it, before breaking off a splinter of it and using it as a talisman. Both statues were built in honor of the goddess of fertility Tusholi and are connected to other Phallic ancient statues in the Middle East.


title: Jim Peterik

text: James Michael Peterik ( ; born November 11, 1950) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the founder of the rock band Survivor, as vocalist and songwriter of "Vehicle" by the Ides of March, and as co-writer of the anthem "Eye of the Tiger", the theme from the 1982 film "Rocky III".


title: Jim Peterik

text: Peterik has co-written songs for 38 Special ("Rockin' into the Night", "Hold On Loosely and "Caught Up in You"), Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackhawk, Cheap Trick, Sammy Hagar ("Heavy Metal"), Cathy Richardson, Dennis DeYoung, Van Zant, Brian Wilson, REO Speedwagon, and The Beach Boys. He is currently fronting the band Pride of Lions, and an entire album of women of Rock and Roll called Tigress and smooth jazz project Jim Peterik's Lifeforce, and has a regular series of yearly concert performances with an all-star cast as World Stage. He is also active as a producer and mentor to young, developing talent.


title: Jim Peterik

text: Peterik started performing in 1964 with some of his schoolmates in Berwyn, Illinois, as The Ides of March. Their hits included "You Wouldn't Listen", "Vehicle", and "L.A. Goodbye" in the late 1960s and early 1970s. "Vehicle", which was number 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart the week of May 23, 1970, is purported to be the fastest selling single in Warner Bros. Records history.


title: Jim Peterik

text: Peterik graduated from Morton West High School in 1968 and Morton Junior College in 1970, and attended college classes while "Vehicle" became a national hit.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In the early 1970s Peterik wrote several songs recorded by the jazz-rock band Chase and performed on their 1974 album "Pure Music". In 1976 he released a solo album, "Don't Fight the Feeling", and toured as the Jim Peterik Band with Bruce Gaitsch (guitar), Terry Fryer (keyboards), and Chase's rhythm section of Dennis Keith Johnson (bass) and Gary Smith (drums). They toured with several of the era's most popular bands, including Heart and Boston.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 1978, the Jim Peterik Band had broken up and Peterik was considering going back to singing and producing jingles. After several days of pleading with Peterik, road manager/sound man Rick Weigand persuaded him to meet with guitarist Frankie Sullivan. Within an hour of that first meeting, the band Survivor was born.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In the early years of Survivor, Peterik continued to co-write hits for other artists, including 38 Special and Sammy Hagar. In 1982, Sylvester Stallone commissioned Survivor to write and perform the theme song for "Rocky III". This song, "Eye of the Tiger", became their defining single, spending six weeks at No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and going double platinum. "Eye of the Tiger" also won a Grammy Award and resulted in an Oscar nomination for Peterik and Frankie Sullivan for Best Song.


title: Jim Peterik

text: Their 1984 album, "Vital Signs", featured the Top 10 hits "High on You" (No. 8) and "The Search Is Over" (No. 4), and another sizable hit, "I Can't Hold Back" (No. 13). In 1985, Peterik co-wrote the theme song to "Rocky IV", "Burning Heart", which would be another big hit (No. 2 in early 1986) for Survivor. "Burning Heart" was followed by Number 7 hit, "Is This Love".


title: Jim Peterik

text: Songs from each of Peterik's bands appear in Stallone films to motivate the scene's action: Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" in "Rocky III", the Ides of March's "Vehicle" in "Lock Up", and Jimi Jamison's solo take on Survivor's "Ever Since the World Began" playing during the closing credits of "Lock Up".


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 1993, Peterik once again began touring and recording with a reunited Survivor, but left them for good in July 1996.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 1990, the original members of the Ides of March (Peterik, Millas, Bob Bergland, Mike Borch, Chuck Soumar, and John Larson) reunited, adding new members Scott May and Dave Stahlberg. This lineup continues to perform. Peterik continues to write for other artists such as the Doobie Brothers and Cheap Trick.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 2001 Peterik produced and co-wrote the first album by AOR group Mecca with his longtime friend Joe Vana.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 2003, he founded Pride of Lions with Toby Hitchcock. The group, according to Peterik is "my vision of the best elements of the great melodic rock era of the 80s, updated of course with more modern production sounds." Peterik continues to play with the Ides of March. As well, a solo CD, "Above the Storm", was released in 2006.


title: Jim Peterik

text: Peterik performed at the West Australian Music Industry Awards with shred virtuoso Michael Angelo Batio in 2005.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 2010, Peterik backed up the Louisiana State University Tiger Marching Band in their final halftime show of the season, at the LSU vs. Ole Miss game.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In April 2011, Peterik played a sold-out run of eight nights at the Pioneer Place Theater as a special guest of the Fabulous Armadillos in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In October 2011, he returned with the Fabulous Armadillos for a sold-out night at the Paramount Theatre, St. Cloud, Minnesota.


title: Jim Peterik

text: Peterik also develops and produces new talent on his own label, World Stage International. Current artists, aside from Lifeforce, include Marc Scherer, Hunter Cook, and the trio Ariel, Zoey & Eli. Past artists include Lisa McClowry and Mallory Lennon. World Stage has two recording studios, engineered by the Ides of March co-founder and Peterik's childhood friend, Larry Millas.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 2012, Peterik co-wrote and made an appearance on the Beach Boys' reunion album, "That's Why God Made the Radio". He previously worked with Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson on Wilson's 1998 solo album, "Imagination".


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 2014, Peterik released his autobiography, "Through The Eye Of The Tiger", co-written with Lisa Torem, on BenBella Books, and traveled internationally to sign books on tour.


title: Jim Peterik

text: In 2016, Peterik released "The Songs", an album of some of his biggest songs, re-arranged as acoustic/roots versions. The album was produced by Fred Mollin and was recorded both in Nashville, TN and at his home studio in Illinois.


title: Jim Peterik

text: On May 5, 2019, he appeared on MeTV's "Collector's Call" with Lisa Whelchel, showing off part of his collection of 193 guitars.


title: Jim Peterik

text: Peterik co-authored "Songwriting for Dummies", published 2002, with Dave Austin and Mary Ellen Bickford. His autobiography, "Through the Eye of the Tiger", co-written with Lisa Torem, was released by BenBella Books in September 2014.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft types produced in Europe. Although designed in the 1960s, over 750 are still in service with commercial operators around the world. The aircraft is a light transport with over 30 military aviation operators around the world.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Initial aircraft were manufactured at Britten-Norman's factory in Bembridge, Isle of Wight, UK. After Fairey Aviation acquired the Britten-Norman company, its Islanders and Trislander aircraft were built in Romania, then shipped to Avions Fairey in Belgium for finishing before being flown to the UK for flight certification. The Islander has been in production for more than 50 years.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1953, Britten-Norman was formed for the purpose of converting and operating agricultural aircraft, amongst other vehicles such as the Cushioncraft hovercraft. In 1963, the firm initiated development work upon what would become the Islander, having sensed a demand for a simple and inexpensive twin-piston engine aircraft. The founders, John Britten and Desmond Norman, had observed the rapid growth of the commuter airline sector, and concluded that capacity was of a higher value to these operators than either range or cruising speed, thus the Islander emphasized payload over either of these attributes.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Through the use of low wing- and span-loading to generate greater effectiveness than conventional counterparts, the Islander could lift considerably heavier payloads than the typical aircraft in its power, weight or cost classes. To reduce manufacturing costs, both the wings and tail surfaces maintain a constant chord and thickness, while the ribs within the aircraft's wing are all identical; both rivets and external fishplate joints are used for the same purpose. The type was originally intended to use a fabric-and-steel design. A light alloy monocoque approach was adopted instead. The structure is designed to give rise to and experience low levels of stress, and has an infinite fatigue life without testing.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: On 13 June 1965, the first prototype BN-2 Islander conducted its maiden flight, powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce/Continental IO-360B piston engines; only four days later, the prototype appeared at the Paris Air Show. The IO-360B engines were later replaced by more powerful Lycoming O-540-E engines, which were located further outboard on the wings, for superior single-engine climb performance. On 20 August 1966, a second BN-2 prototype performed its first flight. These prototype aircraft, while resembling subsequent production models for the most part, were outfitted with different, less powerful engines. On 24 April 1967, the first production Islander performed its first flight; UK type certification was received in August 1967, US authorities also certified the type in December 1967.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Initial production of the Islander started at the Britten-Norman factory at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight; however, within a few years the company found that it could not produce the aircraft at a sufficient rate to keep up with the customer demand. To expand production, a contract was placed with Intreprinderea de Reparatii Material Aeronautic (IRMA) of Romania, initially to assemble kit-form aircraft, which were then sent to the UK for completion. In August 1969, the first Romanian-assembled Islander performed its first flight. IRMA proved successful at economically producing the aircraft, producing roughly 30-40 aircraft per year at times, and eventually became the primary manufacturing site for the Islander. In 1977, IRMA received a contract for the production of a further 100 Islanders; from that point on, the firm produced all subsequent Islander aircraft. More than 500 of the type were manufactured in Romania.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1970, a military version of the Islander, marketed as the Defender, conducted its first flight. Modifications included the addition of underwing hardpoints for armaments/equipment, and the main cabin area being fitted out for light troop transport and support aircraft duties. The Defender capitalised on the aircraft's rugged structure, making it suitable for long-term operations in developing countries. Purchases from police and military customers have typically been for use in surveillance and counter-terrorism operations. The "Maritime Defender" is another military version of the Islander, intended for search and rescue, coastal patrol and fishery protection.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Despite the relative success of the Islander, Britten-Norman experienced wider financial difficulties during the late 1960s, ultimately resulting in the company entering receivership in October 1971. In August 1972, Britten-Norman was purchased by the Fairey Aviation Group, forming the Fairey Britten-Norman company; shortly thereafter, the majority of manufacturing activity for both the Islander and Trislander was transferred to its Avions Fairey factory in Gosselies, Belgium. Completed aircraft were flown to Bembridge for final customer preparation prior to delivery.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Fairey Aviation set about the development of a more powerful model, the Turbo Islander, equipped with a pair of Lycoming LTP101 turboprop engines. However, testing revealed that the LTP101 engines were too powerful for the aircraft; thus, following a period of re-designing, the project evolved into the Turbine Islander (BN-2T), equipped with a pair of Allison 250 turboprop engines instead. However, Fairey encountered financial difficulty, resulting in the Fairey Britten-Norman company entering receivership and the firm's acquisition by Oerlikon Buerle of Switzerland, leading to the formation of Pilatus Britten-Norman, whereupon some production activity was transferred back to Bembridge.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Another development was a turbo-normalizing system with RaJay turbocharger for the -2, -3, -6, -8, and -9 models allowing full power up to with attendant increase in true airspeed and takeoff and climb performance. Presently Talco in Texas holds the STC.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1969, an improved version, the "BN-2A Islander", conducted its maiden flight. It incorporated aerodynamic and flight equipment improvements, such as lower-drag engine cowlings and undercarriage, an improved interior, and an expanded rear baggage area with external access. In 1970, to improve hot-and-high performance, more powerful Lycoming O-540-K1-B5 engines were made available, alongside optional tiptanks and an elongated nose to house baggage.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1977, a single standard BN-2 was refitted with Dowty Rotol ducted fans. The ducted fan produced less noise than conventional propeller propulsion. Some structural strengthening of the main wing spar at the root was required due to the extra weight. This aircraft was subject to 18 months of flying trials to test the suitability of the ducted fan as a means of reducing aircraft noise; these tests reportedly demonstrated a 20 decibel noise reduction as well as increased thrust and reduced pollution.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1978, a further improved version, the "BN-2B Islander II", was produced as a result of a product improvement program. The BN-2B model involved several changes, including a redesigned cockpit and a reduction in cabin noise levels. In 1980, it was decided to make available turboprop engines for the type, adopting twin Allison 250-B17C engines; when the latter are installed, the aircraft is designated the "BN-2T Turbine Islander". The first such BN-2T entered service in 1981.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In February 1999, the acquisition of Romaero, the Romanian manufacturer of the Islander, by Britten-Norman Group was announced. By May 2006, a greater sales emphasis was being placed upon the Defender over the Islander. In December 2006, aerospace publication "Flight International" observed that: "The only civil aircraft that remains in production in the UK is the tiny Britten-Norman Islander".


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In early 2008, B-N was studying a version powered by aircraft diesel engines with SMA Engines, already offering the SMA SR305-230.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In May 2010, Britten-Norman announced that manufacturing of the Islander would be relocated from Romania to a new site in the UK, due to the rising costs of production in Romania.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Supported by Britten-Norman, Cranfield Aerospace wants to develop an electric propulsion system for the over 700 Islanders currently operated.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1968, the original second Islander prototype was re-used for a further development programme, being modified into a stretched aircraft with greater capacity, referred to as the "Super Islander". However, the Super Islander programme was aborted without proceeding to certification. The prototype later received further design changes to produce the three-engined version, the "BN-2A Mk III Trislander". This aircraft has a stretched fuselage, modified landing gear and a third engine, which is mounted on the tail. On 11 September 1970, the Trislander prototype conducted its maiden flight, appearing at the 1970 Farnborough Air Show the same day.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a high-wing cantilever monoplane with a rectangular fuselage and two wing-mounted engines; early aircraft were equipped with a pair of piston engines while later production models may be alternatively fitted with turboprop engines in their place. The rectangular cross section fuselage, which is furnished with a conventional tail unit and fixed tricycle landing gear, typically accommodates a single pilot and up to nine passengers in a commuter configuration, each row being accessed by its own door; the cabin can be rapidly reconfigured, allowing for a single aircraft to undertake a diverse range of tasks within a minimal period of time. Often referring to the type as "The world's most versatile aircraft", Britten-Norman promotes the Islander's low direct operating costs, minimal maintenance, and its stability in flight as major attributes of the aircraft.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: The original Islander was designed with an emphasis upon providing ease of access within the short haul sector to remote locations as a safe, efficient, and profitable transport aircraft. It has been regularly used by such operators, including the frequent use of unprepared rough airstrips and from challenging terrain; the Islander being capable of short takeoff and landing (STOL) operations. The low load height and wide side doors provide for easy access for passenger and cargo operations, while the aircraft's ability to maintain a high takeoff frequency has led to the type's use for parachuting. For operating within noise-sensitive environments, silencers can be equipped on both the aircraft's engine and propellers.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Designed as a small and inexpensive commuter/utility aircraft, various cabin configurations and equipment loadouts are available to suit a wide variety of different purposes, including charter flights, scheduled flights, agricultural uses, aerial firefighting, air freight VIP/executive transport, aerial surveillance, air ambulance, paradropping, and law enforcement. The design programme can be entirely personalized, allowing each customer to be involved in every area of the aircraft's manufacture to mold it to their preferences. Later versions of the Islander offer various options, including enlarged bay doors, 3-bladed scimitar propellers, low drag fairings, modern interior, ergonomic leather seating, in-flight entertainment systems, and alternative seat arrangements; underwing hardpoints can also be installed for carrying pod, spray booms and other external stores.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Immediately following commercial availability, US distributor Jonas Aircraft ordered 30 Islanders, and placed orders for another 112 aircraft within a year. When equipped with four 54-gallon fuel tanks, the Islander was able to ferry itself across the transatlantic route, via Gander International Airport, Newfoundland, for US deliveries. The Islander's long-range capabilities were highlighted when the type won the 1969 London-Sydney air race.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: In 1974, sales of the Islander surpassed the 548-order record for British multi-engine commercial aircraft. In 1982, another production milestone was reached with the delivery of the 1,000th Islander. From the 1980s onwards, sales noticeably declined; according to Britten-Norman Chief Executive William Hynett, this was due to the global market having become saturated by the type and there being only a low civil demand for additional aircraft, in part due to the longevity of in-service Islanders. As of 2016, Britten-Norman claim that the Islander is in daily service with roughly 500 operators in more than 120 countries.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Between 1976 and 2006, Scottish airline Loganair operated a number of Islanders as air ambulances, covering areas such as the island communities in the Hebrides. The Islander services Loganair's Westray to Papa Westray flight, the shortest scheduled flight in the world at ; the scheduled flight time including taxiing is two minutes.


title: Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander

text: Several commuter airlines and general aviation charter operators in the U.S. also flew the Islander including Stol Air Commuter in scheduled passenger service in northern California from their San Francisco International Airport (SFO) hub and Channel Islands Aviation in southern California which used the aircraft for the flights to Channel Islands National Park. Another U.S. commuter airline operator was Wings Airways which operated high frequency shuttle service into the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL).


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: Youssou N'Dour (, ; also known as Youssou Madjiguène Ndour; born 1 October 1959) is a Senegalese singer, songwriter, musician, composer, occasional actor, businessman, and politician. In 2004, "Rolling Stone" magazine described him as, "perhaps the most famous singer alive" in Senegal and much of Africa. From April 2012 to September 2013, he was Senegal's Minister of Tourism.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: N'Dour helped develop a style of popular Senegalese music known by all Senegambians (including the Wolof) as "mbalax," a genre that has sacred origins in the Serer music njuup tradition and ndut initiation ceremonies. He is the subject of the award-winning films "Return to Gorée" (2007) directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and "" (2008) directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, which were released around the world.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: Ethnically, N'Dour is Serer, born to a Serer father and a Toucouleur mother. However, culturally, N'Dour is Wolof. He was born in Dakar. He started performing at age 12 and would later perform regularly with the Star Band, Dakar's most popular group during the 1970s.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: Despite N'Dour's maternal connection to the traditional griot caste, he was not raised in that tradition, which he learned instead from his sibling. Although patrilineally from the noble N'Dour family, his parents' world-view encouraged a modern outlook, leaving him open to two cultures and thereby inspiring N'Dour's identity as a modern griot. As a Mouride disciple", taalibé" in Wolof, a Muslim of the Mouride brotherhood, one of the large four Sufi orders in Senegambia, he often incorporated aspects of Islamic music and chants into his work.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: At the age of 15, Youssou N'Dour joined Super Diamono and, in 1975, toured with the band in West Africa.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 1976 when N'Dour was 16 years old, he signed a contract to sing with Ibra Kasse's Star Band at Kasse's Miami club in Dakar where he would become a sensation.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 1978, N'Dour would follow as several members of the Star Band left to form Étoile de Dakar, a band that made important contributions to Senegal's newly evolving musical style called Mbalax which incorporated traditional Senegalese music into the Latin styles that had dominated Senegalese popular music. Although they quickly became one of the city's most popular bands, the group was short-lived due to internal problems. Étoile de Dakar split into two groups: Étoile 2000 and Super Étoile de Dakar. The latter group included N'Dour, guitarist Jimi Mbaye, bassist Habib Faye, and tama (talking drum) player Assane Thiam. Super Étoile de Dakar produced four albums on cassette in just a few months and eventually evolved into N'Dour's backing band.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: N'Dour is one of the most celebrated African musicians in history. His mix of traditional Senegalese mbalax with eclectic influences ranging from Cuban rumba to hip hop, jazz, and soul has won him an international fan base of millions. In the West, N'Dour has collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Axelle Red, Sting, Alan Stivell, Bran Van 3000, Neneh Cherry, Wyclef Jean, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman, James Newton Howard, Branford Marsalis, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Dido, Lou Reed, Bruce Cockburn, and others.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: "The New York Times" described his voice as an "arresting tenor, a supple weapon deployed with prophetic authority". N'Dour's work absorbed the entire Senegalese musical spectrum, often filtered through the lens of genre-defying rock or pop music from outside Senegalese culture.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In July 1993, "Africa Opera" composed by N'Dour premiered at the Opéra Garnier for the French Festival Paris quartier d'été.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 1994, N'Dour released his biggest international hit single, the trilingual "7 Seconds", a duet sung with Neneh Cherry.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: He wrote and performed the official anthem of the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Axelle Red "La Cour des Grands (Do You Mind If I Play)".


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: "Folk Roots" magazine described him as the African Artist of the Century. He toured internationally for thirty years. He won his first American Grammy Award (best contemporary world music album) for his CD "Egypt" in 2005.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: He is the proprietor of "L'Observateur", one of the widest-circulation newspapers in Senegal, the radio station RFM (Radio Future Medias) and the TV channel TFM.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 2002, N'Dour was honoured with a Prince Claus Award, under that year's theme "Languages and transcultural forms of expression".


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 2006, N'Dour played the role of the African-British abolitionist Olaudah Equiano in the movie "Amazing Grace", which chronicled the efforts of William Wilberforce to end slavery in the British Empire.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 2013, N'Dour won a share of Sweden's $150,000 Polar music prize for promoting understanding between faiths as well as for his music.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: N'Dour was nominated as Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on 16 October 2000.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In Senegal, N'Dour became a powerful cultural icon, actively involved in social issues. In 1985, he organized a concert for the release of Nelson Mandela. He was a featured performer in the 1988 worldwide Amnesty International Human Rights Now! Tour collaborating with Lou Reed on a version of the Peter Gabriel song "Biko" which was produced by Richard James Burgess and featured on the Amnesty International benefit album "The Secret Policeman's Third Ball". He worked with the United Nations and UNICEF, and he started Project Joko to open internet cafés in Africa and to connect Senegalese communities around the world.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 2003, N'Dour cancelled an upcoming American tour in order to publicly deny support for the upcoming American invasion of Iraq. In a public statement explaining his decision, N'Dour said:It is my strong conviction that the responsibility for disarming Iraq should rest with the United Nations. As a matter of conscience I question the United States government's apparent intention to commence war in Iraq. I believe that coming to America at this time would be perceived in many parts of the world--rightly or wrongly--as support for this policy, and that, as a consequence, it is inappropriate to perform in the US at this juncture.He performed in three of the Live 8 concerts (in Live 8 concert, London, Live 8 concert, Paris and at the Live 8 concert, Eden Project in Cornwall) on 2 July 2005, with Dido. He covered John Lennon's "Jealous Guy" for the 2007 CD "". N'Dour appeared in a joint Spain-Senegal ad campaign to inform the African public about the dramatic consequences of illegal immigration. He participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project in 2007.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 2008, he joined the Fondation Chirac's honour committee. The same year, Youssou N'Dour's microfinance organization named Birima ("Birima" is also a song's title) was launched with the collaboration of United Colors of Benetton.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: In 2009, he released his song "Wake Up (It's Africa Calling)" under a Creative Commons license to help IntraHealth International in their IntraHealth Open campaign to bring open source health applications to Africa. The song was remixed by a variety of artists including Nas, Peter Buck of R.E.M., and Duncan Sheik to help raise money for the campaign.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: N'Dour is a supporter of the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organisation which advocates for democratic reformation of the United Nations.


title: Youssou N'Dour

text: At the beginning of 2012, he announced plans to stand as a candidate in the 2012 Senegalese presidential election, competing against President Abdoulaye Wade. However, he was disqualified from running in the election over the legitimacy of the signatures he had collected to endorse his campaign. N'Dour backed the opposition candidate Macky Sall, who defeated Wade in a second round of voting in March 2012. N'Dour was appointed as Minister of Culture and Tourism in April 2012 as part of the cabinet of new Prime Minister Abdoul Mbaye. The story of N'Dour's presidential campaign was filmed for the PBS TV program "". Later his portfolio was modified and he was appointed as Minister of Tourism and Leisure. He was dismissed from that post on 2 September 2013, when a new government under Prime Minister Aminata Touré was appointed. N'Dour was instead appointed as Special Adviser to the President, with the rank of minister, and tasked with promoting the country abroad.


title: Soldering iron

text: A soldering iron is a hand tool used in soldering. It supplies heat to melt solder so that it can flow into the joint between two workpieces.


title: Soldering iron

text: A soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip (the "bit") and an insulated handle. Heating is often achieved electrically, by passing an electric current (supplied through an electrical cord or battery cables) through a resistive heating element. Cordless irons can be heated by combustion of gas stored in a small tank, often using a catalytic heater rather than a flame. Simple irons, less commonly used today than in the past, were simply a large copper "bit" on a handle, heated in a flame.


title: Soldering iron

text: Soldering irons are most often used for installation, repairs, and limited production work in electronics assembly. High-volume production lines use other soldering methods. Large irons may be used for soldering joints in sheet metal objects. Less common uses include pyrography (burning designs into wood) and plastic welding (as an alternative to ultrasonic welding).


title: Soldering iron

text: Before the development of electric soldering irons, the typical soldering iron consisted of a copper block, with an appropriately shaped point, supported on an iron rod and held in a wood handle. Immediately before use, the iron was heated over a fire or in a charcoal brazier, and it had to be reheated whenever it became too cool for use. Soldering irons were primarily used by tinsmiths and coppersmiths to work with thin sheet metal.


title: Soldering iron

text: soldering irons that had a small copper tip attached to an inexpensive cast-iron block. Some irons even had removable and replaceable copper tips.


title: Soldering iron

text: The first electric soldering iron had a very lightweight platinum tip heated by electric current flowing through the tip itself. By 1889, electric soldering irons were being developed with a resistance wire wrapped around the back end of the copper head and enclosed in a protective shell. Alternatively, the heating element could be enclosed in a relatively light-weight hollow copper head.


title: Soldering iron

text: In 1894, the American Electrical Heater Company began manufacturing electrical soldering irons on a large scale in Detroit. They started producing them shortly after American Beauty released their line of soldering irons.


title: Soldering iron

text: In 1921, a German company founded by Ernst Sachs developed an electrical soldering iron similar to American Electrical Heater Company iron.


title: Soldering iron

text: For electrical and electronics work, a low-power iron, a power rating between 15 and 35 watts, is used. Higher ratings are available, but do not run at higher temperature; instead there is more heat available for making soldered connections to things with large thermal capacity, for example, a metal chassis. Some irons are temperature-controlled, running at a fixed temperature in the same way as a soldering station, with higher power available for joints with large heat capacity. Simple irons run at an uncontrolled temperature determined by thermal equilibrium; when heating something large their temperature drops.


title: Soldering iron

text: A variation is the Scope soldering iron, common in Australia, which operates from a low-voltage source such as transformer or battery, and heats in seconds when the user pushes the thumb-guard, which then acts as a heat controller.


title: Soldering iron

text: Small irons heated by a battery, or by combustion of a gas such as butane in a small self-contained tank, can be used when electricity is unavailable or cordless operation is required. The operating temperature of these irons is not regulated directly; gas irons may change power by adjusting gas flow. Gas-powered irons may have interchangeable tips including different size soldering tips, hot knife for cutting plastics, miniature blow-torch with a hot flame, and small hot air blower for such applications as shrinking heat shrink tubing.


title: Soldering iron

text: Simple soldering irons reach a temperature determined by thermal equilibrium, dependent upon power input and cooling by the environment and the materials it comes into contact with. The iron temperature will drop when in contact with a large mass of metal such as a chassis; a small iron will lose too much temperature to solder a large connection. More advanced irons for use in electronics have a mechanism with a temperature sensor and method of temperature control to keep the tip temperature steady; more power is available if a connection is large. Temperature-controlled irons may be free-standing, or may comprise a head with heating element and tip, controlled by a base called a soldering station, with control circuitry and temperature adjustment and sometimes display.