OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Oldenburg (town)

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​OLDENBURG, a town of Germany, and capital of the grand duchy of Oldenburg. It is a quiet and pleasant-looking town, situated 27 m. by rail W. of Bremen, on the navigable Hunte and the Hunte-Ems canal. Pop. (1905), including the suburbs, 28,565. The inner or old town, with its somewhat narrow streets, is surrounded by avenues laid out on the site of the former ramparts, beyond which are the villas, promenades and gardens of the modern quarters. Oldenburg has almost nothing to show in the shape of interesting old buildings. The ​Evangelical Lambertikirche, though dating from the 13th century, has been so transformed in the last century (1874–1886) as to show no trace of its antiquity. The palaces of the grand-duke and the old town-hall are Renaissance buildings of the 17th and 18th centuries. Among the other prominent buildings—all modern—are the palace of the heir apparent, the new town-hall, the theatre, the law-courts, the gymnasium, the commercial school, the three hospitals and the new Roman Catholic church. The grand-ducal picture gallery in the Augusteum includes works by Veronese, Velasquez, Murillo and Rubens, and there are collections of modern paintings and sculptures in the two palaces. The public library contains 110,000 volumes and the duke’s private library 55,000. There is also a large natural history museum and a museum with a collection of antiquities. The industries of Oldenburg, which are of no great importance, include iron-founding, spinning and the making of glass, tobacco, gloves, soap and leather. A considerable trade is carried on in grain, and the horse fairs are largely frequented. According to popular tradition Oldenburg was founded by Walbert, grandson of the Saxon hero, Widukind, and was named after his wife Altburga, but the first historical mention of it occurs in a document of 1108. It was fortified in 1155, and received a municipal charter in 1345. The subsequent history of the town is merged in that of the grand-duchy.
See Sello, Historische Wanderung durch die Stadt Oldenburg (Oldenburg, 1896); and Alt-Oldenburg (Oldenburg, 1903); and Kohl, Die Allmende der Stadt Oldenburg (Oldenburg, 1903).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Oldbury

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​OLDBURY, an urban district in the Oldbury parliamentary division of Worcestershire, England, 5 m. W. of Birmingham, on the Great Western and London & North-Western railways and the Birmingham canal. Pop. (1901) 25,191. Coal, iron and limestone abound in the neighbourhood, and the town possesses alkali and chemical works, railway-carriage works, iron, edge-tool, nail and steel works, maltings, corn-mills, and brick and tile kilns. The urban district includes the townships of Langley and Warley.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Oldfield, Anne

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​OLDFIELD, ANNE (1683–1730), English actress, was born in London, the daughter of a soldier. She worked for a time as apprentice to a sempstress, until she attracted George Farquhar’s attention by reciting some lines from a play in his hearing. She thereupon obtained an engagement at Drury Lane, where her beauty rather than her ability slowly brought her into favour, and it was not until ten years later that she was generally acknowledged as the best actress of her time. In polite comedy, especially, she was unrivalled, and even the usually grudging Gibber acknowledged that she had as much as he to do with the success of the Careless Husband (1704), in which she created the part of Lady Modish, reluctantly given her because Mrs Verbruggen was ill. In tragedy, too, she won laurels, and the list of her parts, many of them original, is a long and varied one. She was the theatrical idol of her day. Her exquisite acting and lady-like carriage were the delight of her contemporaries, and her beauty and generosity found innumerable eulogists, as well as sneering detractors. Alexander Pope, in his Sober Advice from Horace, wrote of her—
“Engaging Oldfield, who, with grace and ease, Could join the arts to ruin and to please.”
It was to her that the satirist alluded as the lady who detested being buried in woollen, who said to her maid—
“No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace Wrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face; One would not, sure, be frightful when one’s dead, And—Betty—give this cheek a little red.”
She was but forty-seven when she died on the 23rd of October 1730, leaving all the court and half the town in tears.
She divided her property, for that time a large one, between her natural sons, the first by Arthur Mainwaring (1668–1712)—who had left her and his son half his fortune on his death—and the second by Lieut.-General Charles Churchill (d. 1745). Mrs Oldfield was buried in Westminster Abbey, beneath the monument to Congreve, William, but when Churchill applied for permission to erect a monument there to her memory the dean of Westminster refused it.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Old Forge

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​OLD FORGE, a borough of Lackawanna county, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the Lackawanna river, about 6 m. S.W. of Scranton. Pop. (1900) 5630, of whom 2494 were foreign-born (principally Italians). It is served by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western and the Lehigh Valley railways. The principal public buildings are the town-hall and the high school. The borough is situated in the anthracite coal region, and the mining of coal is the principal industry, though there are also various manufactures. Old Forge was settled in 1830 and incorporated as a borough in 1899.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Old Maid

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​OLD MAID, a game of cards. Any number may play, and the full pack is used, the Queen of Hearts being removed. The cards are dealt out one by one until exhausted, and each player then sorts his hand and discards the pairs. The dealer then offers his hand, spread out face downwards to the next player, who draws a card, which, if it completes a pair, is discarded, but otherwise remains in the hand. The process continues from player to player, until all the cards have been paired and discarded excepting the odd queen, the holder of which is the “Old Maid.”
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Old Town

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​OLD TOWN, a city of Penobscot county, Maine, U.S.A., on the Penobscot river, about 12 m. N.E. of Bangor. Pop. (1890) 5312; (1900) 5763, of whom 1247 were foreign born. It is served by the Maine Central and the Bangor & Aroostook railways, and by an electric line connecting with Bangor. The city proper is on an island (Marsh, or Old Town Island), but considerable territory on the W. bank of the river is included ​within the municipal limits. The manufacture of lumber is the principal industry of the city. On Indian Island (opposite the city) is the principal settlement of the Penobscot Indians, an Abnaki tribe, now wards of the state. The abbe Louis Pierre Thury was sent here from Quebec about 1687 and built a church in 1688–1689; in 1705 the mission passed under the control of the Jesuits. The first white settler in the vicinity seems to have been John Marsh, who came about 1774, and who bought the island now known as Marsh Island. From 1806 to 1840, when it was incorporated as a separate township, Old Town was a part of Orono. In 1891 it was chartered as a city. One of the oldest railways in the United States, and the first in Maine, was completed to Old Town from Bangor in 1836.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rashtrakuta

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RASHTRAKUTA, an Indian dynasty which ruled in the Deccan (q.v.) from about A.D. 750 to 973. The Rashtrakuta or Ratta clan are supposed to have held power during the historical blank before the 6th century; but they came to the front in A.D. 750, when Dantidurga overthrew the Chalukya dynasty and made himself ruler of the Deccan. He was succeeded by his uncle Krishna I. (c. 760), who completed his conquests, and whose reign is memorable for the execution of the Kailasa, the rock-cut temple at Ellora. His grandson Govinda III. (780-815) extended the power of the family from the Vindhya Mountains and Malwa on the north to Kanchi on the south. The next king, Amogavarsha, reigned for sixty-two years. The reign of Krishna III. was remarkable for a war with the Cholas, in which the Chola king was killed on the field of battle in 949. The last of the Rashtrakuta kings was Karka II., who was overthrown by the Chalukyas in 973.
See R. G. Bhandarkar, Early History of the Deccan (Bombay, 1884).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Raspe, Rudolf Erich

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RASPE, RUDOLF ERICH (1737-1794), the original author of the Adventures of Baron Munchausen (see Munchausen), was born in Hanover in 1737, and studied at Göttingen and Leipzig. In 1762 he became a clerk in the university library at Hanover, and in 1764 secretary to the university library at Göttingen. He had become known as a versatile scholar and a student of natural history and antiquities, and he published some original poems and also translations, among the latter of Leibnitz's philosophical works and of Ossian's poems; he also wrote a treatise on Percy's Reliques. In 1767 he was appointed professor in Cassel, and subsequently librarian. He contributed in 1769 a zoological paper to the 59th volume of the Philosophical Transactions, which led to his being selected an honorary member of the Royal Society in London, and he wrote voluminously on all sorts of subjects. In 1774 he started a periodical called the Cassel Spectator. But having gone to Italy in 1775 to buy curios for the landgrave of Hesse, to whom he was keeper of the gems, he was found to have sold the landgrave's valuables for his own profit; and, on orders being issued for his arrest, he decamped to England. In London he employed his knowledge of English and his learning to secure a living by publishing books on various subjects, and English translations of German works, and there are allusions to him as “a Dutch savant” in 1780 in the writings of Horace Walpole, who gave him money and helped him to publish an Essay on the Origin of Oil-painting (1781). But he remained poor, and the Royal Society expunged his name off its list. He went to Cornwall in 1782, and till about 1788 was assay-master and storekeeper at the Dolcoath mine, where memories of his ingenuity remained to the middle of the 19th century. While there, he seems to have written the original version of Munchausen, which was subsequently elaborated by others. Between 1785 and 1790 he compiled a descriptive catalogue of James Tassie's collection of pastes and casts of gems, in two quarto volumes (1791) of laborious industry and bibliographical rarity. Raspe then went to Scotland, and in Caithness found a patron in Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, whose mineralogical proclivities he proceeded to impose upon by pretending to discover valuable and workable veins on his estates; but Raspe had “salted” the ground himself, and on the verge of exposure, he absconded. He next betook himself to Ireland, but died at Muckross in 1794, when he was only beginning some mining operations in Donegal. His career is interesting because of his connexion with the famous book of stories of Baron Munchausen (q.v.). His authorship was not known in his lifetime, except to his friend Gottfried August Bürger and possibly a few of his other intimates (such as Kästner and Lichtenburg) in his student days at Göttingen; and it was not till 1824 that the biographer of Bürger (who had been credited with writing Munchausen instead of only translating it, as he did in 1786) revealed the truth about the book.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rassam, Hormuzd

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RASSAM, HORMUZD (1826-1910), Assyriologist and traveller, was born at Mosul of native Christian parents. His first work was done as assistant to Sir A. H. Layard in his first expedition (1845-47). He subsequently came to England, studied at Oxford, and was again sent by the British Museum trustees to accompany Layard in his second expedition (1849-51). Layard having entered upon a political career, Rassam continued the work (1852-54) in Assyria under the direction of the British Museum and Sir Henry Rawlinson at Nimrud and Kuyunjik. In 1866 he was sent by the British government to Abyssinia, where, however, he was imprisoned for two years until freed by the victory of Sir Robert Napier. From 1876 to 1882 he was again in Assyria conducting important investigations, especially at Nineveh, and during the Russo-Turkish War he was sent on a mission of inquiry to report on the condition of the Christian communities of Asia Minor and Armenia. His archaeological work resulted in many important discoveries and the collection of valuable epigraphical evidence.
See The Times, Sept. 17, 1910.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rashbam

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​RASHBAM (1085–1174), Jewish scholar, so called from the initials of his full name, Rabbi Samuel ben Meir, was a leading member of the French school of Biblical exegesis. He was a grandson of Rashi (q.v.), but differed in his method of interpretation. He wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch and some other parts of the Scriptures. Rashbam adopts a natural (as distinct from a homiletical and traditional) method; thus (in agreement with the modern school) Rashbam (on Gen. i. 5) maintained that the day began at dawn and not from the previous sunset (as later Jewish custom assumed). Another famous interpretation was Rashbam's view that the much disputed phrase in Gen. xlix. 10 must be rendered “ Until he cometh to Shiloh,” and refers to the division of the kingdom of Judah after Solomon's death. Rashbam's notes on the Bible are remarkable for brevity, but when he comments on the Talmud—he wrote explanations on several tracts—he is equally noted for prolixity. (I. A.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rastatt

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RASTATT, a town of Germany, in the grand duchy of Baden, on the Murg, 4 m. above its junction with the Rhine and 15 m.
by rail S.W. of Karlsruhe. Pop. (1905) 14,404. The old palace of the margraves of Baden, a large Renaissance edifice in red sandstone, is now partly used for military purposes and contains a collection of pictures, antiquities and trophies from the Turkish wars. The chief manufactures are stoves, beer and tobacco. Until the end of the 17th century Rastatt was unimportant, but after its destruction by the French in 1689 it was rebuilt on a larger scale by Louis William, margrave of Baden, the imperial general in the Turkish wars. It was then the residence of the margraves until 1771. The Baden revolution of 1849 began with a mutiny of soldiers at Rastatt in May 1849, and ended here a few weeks later with the capture of the town by the Prussians. For some years Rastatt was one of the strongest fortresses of the German empire, but its fortifications were dismantled in 1890.
See Schuster, Rastatt, die ehemalige badische Residenz und Bundesfestung (Lahr, 1902); and Lederle, Rastatt und seine Umgebung (Rastatt, 1905).
Rastatt has been the scene of two congresses. At the first congress, which was opened in November 1713, negotiations were carried on between France and Austria for the purpose of ending the war of the Spanish succession. These culminated in the treaty of Rastatt signed on the 7th of March 1714. The second congress, which was opened in December 1797, was intended to rearrange the map of Germany by providing compensation for those princes whose lands on the left bank of the Rhine had been seized by France. It had no result, however, as it was ended by the outbreak of the European war, but it had a sequel of some interest. As the three French representatives were leaving the town in April 1799 they were waylaid, and two of them were assassinated by some Hungarian soldiers. The origin of this outrage remains shrouded in mystery, but the balance of evidence seems to show that the Austrian authorities had commanded their men to seize the papers of the French plenipotentiaries in order to avoid damaging disclosures about Austria's designs on Bavaria, and that the soldiers had exceeded their instructions. On the other hand, some authorities think that the deed was the work of French emigrants, or of the party in France in favour of war.
For fuller particulars of the two sides of this controversy see K. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Der Rastadter Gesandtenmord (Heidelberg, 1869); J. A. Freiherr von Helfert, Der Rastadter Gesandtenmord (Vienna, 1874); Böhtlingk, Napoleon und der Rastadter Gesandtenmord (Leipzig, 1883); and Zum Rastadter Gesandtenmord (Heidelberg, 1895); H. Hüffer, Der Rastadter Gesandtenmord (Bonn, 1896); and H. von Sybel, in Band 39 of the Historische Zeitschrift.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rascal

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​RASCAL, a term originally used in the sense of a rabble, especially descriptive of camp-followers or the dregs of an army, or of the lowest of the people; now only of a single person, in the sense of a rogue or knave. The origin of O.Fr. rascaille, modern racaille, from which the word came into English, is uncertain. The word was early used, in hunting, for the weaker or poorer male deer of a herd; the word has been connected with O.Fr. rascler, mod. racler, to scrape, rake, in the sense of the off-scourings of the herd.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mandeville, Geoffrey de

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​MANDEVILLE, GEOFFREY DE (d. 1144), earl of Essex, succeeded his father, William, as constable of the Tower of London in or shortly before 1130. Though a great Essex landowner, he played no conspicuous part in history till 1140, when Stephen created him earl of Essex in reward for his services against the empress Matilda. After the defeat and capture of Stephen at Lincoln (1141) the earl deserted to Matilda, but before the end of the year, learning that Stephen’s release was imminent, returned to his original allegiance. In 1142 he was again intriguing with the empress; but before he could openly join her cause he was detected and deprived of his castles by the king. In 1143–1144 Geoffrey maintained himself as a rebel and a bandit in the fen-country, using the Isle of Ely and Ramsey Abbey as his headquarters. He was besieged by Stephen in the fens, and met his death in September 1144 in consequence of a wound received in a skirmish. His career is interesting for two reasons. The charters which he extorted from Stephen and Matilda illustrate the peculiar form taken by the ambitions of English feudatories. The most important concessions are grants of offices and jurisdictions which had the effect of making Mandeville a viceroy with full powers in Essex, Middlesex and London, and Hertfordshire. His career as an outlaw exemplifies the worst excesses of the anarchy which prevailed in some parts of England during the civil wars of 1140–1147, and it is probable that the deeds of Mandeville inspired the rhetorical description, in the Peterborough Chronicle of this period, when “men said openly that Christ and his saints were asleep.”
See J. H. Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, a Study of the Anarchy (London, 1892).  (H. W. C. D.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mandi

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​MANDI, a native state of India, within the Punjab. It ranks as the most important of the hill states to which British influence extended in 1846 after the first Sikh War. The territory lies among the lower ranges of the Himalaya, between Kangra and Kulu. The country is mountainous, being intersected by two great parallel ranges, reaching to an average height of 5000 to 7000 ft. above sea-level. The valleys between the hill ranges are fertile, and produce all the ordinary grains, besides more valuable crops of rice, maize, sugar-cane, poppy and tobacco. Iron is found in places, and also gold in small quantities. Area, 1200 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 174,045; estimated revenue, £28,000; tribute, £6666. The chief, whose title is raja, is a Rajput of old family. Considerable sums have been expended on roads and bridges. An important product of the state is salt, which is mined in two places.
The town of Mandi is on the Beas, which is here a mountain torrent, crossed by a fine iron bridge; 2991 ft. above sea-level; 88 m. from Simla. Pop. (1901), 8144. It was founded in 1527, and contains a palace of the 17th century and other buildings of interest. It is a mart for transfrontier trade with Tibet and Yarkand.
See Mandi State Gazetteer (Lahore, 1908).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mandla

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​MANDLA, a town and district of British India, in the Jubbulpore division of the Central Provinces. The town is on the river Nerbudda, 1787 ft. above the sea. It has a manufacture of bell-metal vessels. Pop. (1901), 5054. The district of Mandla, among the Satpura hills, has an area of 5054 sq. m. It consists of a wild highland region, broken up by the valleys of numerous rivers and streams. The Nerbudda flows through the centre of the district, receiving several tributaries which take their rise in the Maikal hills, a range densely clothed with sāl forest, and forming part of the great watershed between eastern and western India. The loftiest mountain is Chauradadar, about 3400 ft. high. Tigers abound, and the proportion of deaths caused by wild animals is greater than in any other district of the Central Provinces. The magnificent sāl forests which formerly clothed the highlands have suffered greatly from the nomadic system of cultivation practised by the hill tribes, who burned the wood and sowed their crops in the ashes; but measures have been taken to prevent further damage. The population in 1901 was 318,400, showing a decrease of 6.5% in the decade, due to famine. The aboriginal or hill tribes are more numerous in Mandla than in any other district of the Central Provinces, particularly the Gonds. The principal crops are rice, wheat, other food grains, pulse and oil-seeds. There is a little manufacture of country cloth. A branch of the Bengal-Nagpur railway touches the south-western border of the district. Mandla suffered most severely from the famine of 1896–1897, partly owing to its inaccessibility, and partly from the shy habits of the aboriginal tribes. The registered death-rate in 1907 was as high as 96 per thousand.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Mandhata

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​MANDHATA, a village with temples in India, in Nimar district of the Central Provinces, on the south bank of the Narbada. Pop. (1901), 832. It is a famous place of Hindu pilgrimage, as containing one of the twelve great lingas of Siva; and as late as the beginning of the 19th century it was the scene of the self-immolation of devotees who threw themselves from the cliffs into the river.