adityasasidhar/Wikipedia_Cleaned huggingface dataset:
The head is the part of the body where the brain is, which is protected and surrounded by the cranium, which is part of the skull. It is also where the face is, which has a lot of your senses like seeing and hearing. Not all animals have heads, like worms or a lot of other things that don't have symmetrical bodies from top to bottom.
Some people get pains in their head occasionally, known as headaches. Also, some people have worse pains in their head called migraines. Some people heal people's heads, sometimes these people are special kinds of doctors called neurologists or head and neck doctors.
The Monarchy of Norway has been independent since 1814. Its head of state is a king - Harald the 5th (as of 2022). The national day is May 17, which celebrates Norway's constitution of 1814. The parliament is called "Stortinget" and its members are elected by the people every 4 years.
When a Norwegian king died in 1387, there was no king in Norway until the 20th century.
Norway's annual GDP is 482.4 billion in 2022
The national minorities of Norway are Kvens/Norwegian Finns, Jews, Forest Finns, Roma and Taters.
Albania is next to Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Greece. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea in the west, and a coast on the Ionian Sea in the southwest. The official language is Albanian(Shqiptar). The national anthem is "Hymni i Flamurit".
Albania was the southern part of "Illyria" during the Roman Empire. In the Middle Ages the Albanians were ruled by many foreign countries, including the Byzantine and Venetian Empires and during the 16th century resistance to the Ottoman Empire's rule was led by the Albanian national hero "Skanderberg" but his real name was Gjergj Kastrioti. After four centuries of Turkish domination, finally in the 20th century an independent Albania was created. In 1939 Albania was conquered by fascist Italy and was part of the Kingdom of Italy until 1943. After World War II Albania became independent again, under communist rule. It was ruled by Enver Hoxha, who died in 1985. Ramiz Alia took over and also later became president when, in 1992, Albania returned to democracy, and it now has friendly relations with the European Union, which it has applied to join.
The Albanian Armed Forces were first formed after independence in 1912. Albania reduced the number of active troops from 65,000 in 1988 to 14,500 in 2009. In 2010 forced conscription was abolished.
Although a small country, Albania has a lot of variety in plants and animals. The total number of plants is over 3250 species. There are over 350 bird species, 330 freshwater and marine fish and 80 mammal species. The Double-headed eagle is the national symbol of Albania.
The Kingdom of Hungary became a Habsburg dependency, because an agreement made in Vienna in 1515 said that the Habsburg family would take over the territory of the Jagellion family in Bohemia and Hungary if the line of kings should die out. In 1686, the Ottomans were forced to leave, and the country was reunified. Many nationalities were living in the country at this time. Along with Hungarians, there were also the ancestors of modern Slovaks, Serbs, Romanians and Germans (known as Danube Swabians).
Netherlands (or Holland) is a country that is part (of a constituent country) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Most of it is in Western Europe, but there are also some parts in the Caribbean. Nearly 18 million people live there. To the north and west of the European part of the Netherlands is the North Sea, and to the east is Germany, and to the south is Belgium. The Netherlands is one of the countries that started the European Union. People who live in the Netherlands are called "Dutch". The language of the Netherlands is also called Dutch. The official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam. However, the government is in The Hague.
"The Netherlands" means "the low lands". The land only rises, on average, 1 meter above sea level. One third of the land is below sea level. The Netherlands is also - incorrectly - referred to as Holland. Holland is a very rich area (two provinces) in the western part of the Netherlands, thus causing people to be mistaken. Most people who do not live in the western part of the Netherlands do not like it when people call the country Holland. The name "Holland" originates from the old Dutch words "Holt land" which means "wood lands". Holt eventually changed into hout, the current Dutch word for wood.
At the end of the Middle Ages the dukes of Burgundy, a country that is now part of France, united seventeen areas. Those areas were called the Netherlands. When the daughter of a duke married Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1477, the Netherlands became part of Spain. In the 16th century many Dutch people became Protestant. The king of Spain did not like it, he wanted all Dutch to be Roman Catholic. Of course the Dutch people did not like this, and after violent excesses by the Spanish they started a war against Spain in 1568, also for reasons of taxation. The war lasted until 1648, therefore it is called the Eighty Years' War. An important leader of the Dutch in this war was Willem van Oranje (William of Orange) also called William the Silent.
The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. That means the country has a king, but the real power is in the hands of a parliament, chosen by the Dutch people. All Dutch people at least 18 years old or older are allowed to vote. The Dutch parliament consists of two chambers: the Second Chamber (Dutch: "Tweede Kamer", this is the House of Representatives, elected every four years), and the First Chamber (Dutch: "Eerste Kamer", this is the Senate, elected by provincial politicians every four years). After the Second Chamber elections, parties that have had a majority of the votes create a cabinet. The cabinet consists of a prime minister and several other ministers and deputy ministers. Current cabinet is the liberal-Christian democratic Fourth Rutte cabinet, consisting of VVD, D66, CDA, and CU politicians. Prime Minister is Mark Rutte (VVD). This cabinet fell on 7 July 2023 and is taking care for the time being until a new cabinet has been installed.
The latest general elections were held on 22 November 2023. Winners were populist party PVV, leftist alliance GL-PvdA, and centrist parties NSC and BBB. Losers were liberal parties VVD and D66, leftist parties SP and PvdD, Christian democratic parties CDA and CU, populist parties FVD and JA21, and European party Volt Netherlands.
The Netherlands has 342 municipalities (2023) and also three special municipalities in the so-called Caribbean Netherlands.
For all municipalities with more population numbers,
"see: List of municipalities of the Netherlands."
In fact a large part of the Netherlands (the province Flevoland) was created by the sand that came from the many rivers flowing through it. Notable Dutch rivers are the Rhine, the Maas, the IJssel and the Scelt. A large part of the Netherlands is below sea level. This is because the Dutch have made many lakes and parts of the sea dry, creating polders. Therefore, there is a saying "God created the earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands." This makes the Netherlands very flat. In the very south-east of the Netherlands, in Limburg, there are some hills. Therefore, this region is a tourist-attraction for many Dutch people. The highest point in the European portion of the Netherlands, the Vaalserberg, is 323 metres above sea level. The highest point in both the Netherlands proper and the Kingdom of the Netherlands is Mount Scenery, on the Caribbean island of Saba, at 887 metres.
The Netherlands has an oceanic climate, with a yearly average temperature of .
The highest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands was , on 25 July 2019 in Gilze-Rijen.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in the Netherlands was , on 27 January 1942 in Winterswijk.
According to a survey done in 2010, 23% of the Dutch people are Christian and 6% is islam and 71% believe in another organised religion, like Judaism, Islam or Hinduism. Twenty-six percent are 'unbounded spiritual' (have their own beliefs and are not tied to a religion). The other 44% are not religious.
Significant minorities in the country include Turkish people 700,000, Jews 41,000-45,000 and Roma and Sinti 40,000.
Ukraine (, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. Russia is to the north-east of Ukraine, Belarus is to the north-west, Poland and Slovakia are to the west, Hungary, Romania, Moldova and self-proclaimed Transnistria are to the south-west and the Black Sea is to the south.
The name "Ukraine" (u-krayina) has usually been interpreted as "edge" or "borderland", but this an alternative interpretation as "territory" has been proposed. Language specialists are still searching for evidence of the history of the meaning of the word.
It was first used in reference to a core part of the territory of Kyivan Rus in the 12th century. In English, the historical region was usually known as "the Ukraine". Since independence in 1991, adding "the" is no longer proper style for referring to the country.
Many different tribes lived on the territory of modern Ukraine since pre-historical times. Most historians believe that the Great Steppe at the North of the Black Sea was a homeland of all Indo-European and Indo-Iranian languages. Some believe it was also the birthplace of the whole European population. Wends, Goths, Huns, Sclaveni, Avars, and other tribes and tribal groups fought among themselves, joined unions, terminated, and assimilated each other.
By the middle of the 4th century AD, Antes joined other tribes and established a state under their rule. Their state fell under the pressure of Avars in 602 AD and their name was longer mentioned. Since the 7th century over 10 tribal groups joined under the name "Slavs" and made their own state named Rus. The chronicles mention three centers that formed this state: Kuyavia (Kyiv land with Kyiv itself), Slavia (Novgorod land), and Artania (exact location unknown).
Historians still argue about whether Kyiv was founded by Slavs themselves, or they just captured the Khazar fortress which was located on the bank of the Dnieper river, but since the 10th century, it became the capital of the largest and most powerful state in Eastern Europe.
Kyivan Rus, is the medieval state of Eastern Slavs. Established by the Slavic with the help of the Varangian squads whose force was used to integrate separate tribes and their lands into one powerful state. Varangian princes, who ruled Rus from its first years were gradually assimilated by natives, but the dynasty started by semy-legendary Rurik survived and continued to govern their separate principalities even after the collapse of Rus.
In the reign of Volodymyr the Great (980-1015) the Kyivan State almost finished its expansion. It occupied the territory from Peipus, Ladoga and Onega lakes in the north to the River Don, Ros, Sula, Southern Bug in the south, from the Dniester, the Carpathians, the Neman, Western Dvina River in the west to the Volga and the Oka River in the east, its area became about 800,000 km. Although some of his predecessors already accepted Christianity for themselves, Volodymyr decided to convert the entire population of the state to the new religion. Partially with the help of Byzantine missionaries preachers, partly by the brutal violence, he finally made all Kyiv population to be baptized. For this action, the Ukrainian, and later the Russian Orthodox Churches canonized him under the name of Vladimir the Baptist.
The Rus state also ruled non-Slavic people (Finno-Ugric population of the North, Turkic of the East and South, Balts of the West, etc.). Those people gradually assimilated with the Slavs, and with each other, establishing a framework for the future emergence of three new Eastern-Slavic peoples.
After the death of Mstyslav Volodymyrovych (1132), Rus lost its political unity and finally was divided into 15 principalities and lands. Among them, Kyiv, Chernygiv, Volodymyr-Suzdal, Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk, and Halycian lands and principalities were most large and powerful.
While Kyiv was the center of all social, economic, political, cultural, and ideological life in the country for a long time before, other centers have competed with it since the mid-12th century. There were old powers (Novgorod, Smolensk, Polotsk), as well as new ones...
Numerous princely feuds, large and small wars between different lords, were tearing Rus. However, the ancient Ukrainian state did not fall apart. It only changed the form of its government: The personal monarchy was replaced by the federal one, Rus came to be co-ruled by the group of the most influential and powerful princes. Historians call this way of governing "the collective suzerainty." The Principality of Kyiv remained a national center and the residence of bishops.
In 1206 the new powerful military-feudal Mongolian state headed by Genghis Khan started the war of conquest against his neighbors. In 1223 in the battle near the Kalka River, 25,000 Tatar-Mongols won a crushing victory over the squads of Southern Rus Princes, who were unable to come together even in the face of grave danger. Under the leadership of Batu, Genghis Khan's grandson, from 1237 to 1238, they conquered Riazan, Volodymir, Suzdal, and Yaroslavl lands.
After the fall of Kyivan State, the political, economic, and cultural center of Ukrainian lands was transferred to the Halycian-Volyn Land. In 1245 Prince Danylo of Halych had to admit his dependence on the Golden Horde. Hoping to get help from Catholic Europe in his struggle for independence, he also made a secret alliance with Poland, Hungary, Masovia, and the Teutonic Knights. In 1253 he received the crown from Pope Innocent IV and became a King of Rus. In 1259, due to the lack of military aid from the West, the king was forced to re-recognize the supremacy of the Horde. His successor, Lev I had to take part in the Tartar campaigns against Poland and Lithuania.
In 1308 the government moved to Danylo's grandchildren - Andrew and Lev II, who started the new struggle against the Golden Horde allied with the Teutonic knights and princes of Mazowia. However, after their death the last monarch Yuri II again had to claim himself as the Golden Horde vassal. He was murdered in 1340 and his death gave the rise to Poland and Lithuania (the neighbors who had a dynastic right for the throne of Rus) to start a war for the Halycian-Volyn heritage. In 1392 Galicia, with Belz and Chelm Lands were finally incorporated to the Kingdom of Poland and Volhynia to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
At the end of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were divided between different states. Lithuania seized Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Volyn Lands. Poland ruled in Halycian and Podolian. Southern Ukraine was under the rule of the Crimean Khanate (formed in 1447) and the Eastern under the power of Muscovy. In 1569 Lithuania and Poland merged to the united state called Commonwealth (Polish: Rzeczpospolita) to deal with neighbors, as a result, the central Ukrainian lands of Lithuania came under Polish control.
As for the origin and definition of the name "Rus", there is no consensus among researchers. Several versions exist:
Ukrainian historians generally adhere to anti-Norman opinion, while not denying the contribution Varangians in the process of formation of the Rus state system. Russ, or The Rus Land in their opinion means:
At the end of the 15th century, the groups of warriors who called themselves Cossacks appeared on the territory between the borders of Lithuania, Muscovy, and the Crimea, in the "wild steppes" of Zaporizhia. From the 16th century, the Sich became their military centre. Zaporizhian Cossacks participated in the wars on the side of the Commonwealth: the Livonian War (1558-1583), the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618), Khotyn war (1620-1621), and Smolensk war (1632-1634). Cossacks also organized their own campaigns in Moldavia, Muscovy, and Crimea, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria and in Asia Minor for looting. They willingly became mercenaries, particularly during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).
Due to the legal and social oppression of the nobility Cossacks repeatedly revolted. The largest rebellions were raised under the guidance of Kosynskiy (1591-1593), Nalyvaiko (1594-1596), Zhmaylo (1625), Fedorovych (1630), Sulima (1635), Pavlyuk (1637), and Ostryanin (1638). Cossacks, again and again, defended the rights of the Ukrainian population in the Commonwealth who experienced religious and national oppression regularly.
In 1917 an independent Ukrainian People's Republic was established. The Red Army captured it and made it into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Soviet Russia in the 1920s encouraged the Ukrainian language and Ukrainian culture. In the 1930s this policy changed to making the Ukrainians into Russians. There were mass repressions of Ukrainian poets, historians, and linguists. As in other parts of the Soviet Union millions of people starved to death in 1932 and 1933.
During the first years of World War II, Ukrainian nationalists collaborated with Nazis against Soviet Union hoping to reestablish Ukrainian independence or to get autonomy under the authority of Germany. Nationalists took part in mass murders of Jews, Roma people, and other victims of the Nazi regime. However, hopes of independence were ruined and Ukrainian nationalists created Ukrainian Insurgent Army which fought against Nazi Germany but against the Soviet Union (mainly Soviet partisans) for the most part. They failed to get independence. Most Ukrainians fought on the side of the Soviet Union and participated in the liberation of Ukraine from Nazi Germany.
The political demonstrations in autumn-winter 2004 after the Presidential elections gathered millions of people all over the country. On November 26, 2004, Victor Yuschenko lost the Ukrainian presidential election (Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner). However, Yuschenko and his followers argued that the election had been corrupted. They argued that the election results had been falsified by the Ukrainian government, in support of the opposing candidate Victor Yanukovych. They organized political demonstrations in autumn-winter 2004 that gathered millions of people all over the country. They called the demonstrations "The Orange Revolution" (). Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was an important ally of Victor Yuschenko during the demonstrations. The Constitutional Court of Ukraine ordered the second round of elections, which Yuschenko won.
In March 2014, Russia occupied Crimea, made a pseudo-referendum which proclaimed Crimea independence and annexed it. Most countries did not recognize the referendum. The EU, OSCE, USA and Ukraine demanded that Crimea be returned. Several countries sought to use economic sanctions to punish Russia's leaders for this.
After some conflicts, the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence from Ukraine; they are known as the Donetsk People's Republic, and Luhansk People's Republic. In both areas of Ukraine, there's a majority of Russian speakers.
On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the invasion and attack on Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine from the North, East, South, from the Black Sea and from the air (having launched hundred of missiles).
Many people suffered, and people were hiding out in subway systems underground. Poland was allowing refugees into the country, but men of fighting age had to stay and fight in the military.
Liechtenstein, officially the Principality of Liechtenstein, is a country in Western Europe. It is the sixth smallest country in the world and, with Uzbekistan, one of only two doubly landlocked countries. This means that it is landlocked by landlocked countries. Liechtenstein is between Austria and Switzerland.
Liechtenstein is known as a principality. Its head of state is the Prince of Liechtenstein. This makes the country unique as it is one of the only remaining monarchies in the world where the ruler is known as a prince.
The territory that is now Liechtenstein was once split into two different states, the County of Vaduz and the Lordship of Schellenberg, which were both part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The Liechtenstein family wanted more power within the Holy Roman Empire. In the 17th century, the Holy Roman Emperor made Karl Liechtenstein a Prince. Karl's descendant, Hans Adam I purchased the lands of the County of Vaduz and the Lordship of Schellenberg and united them into one principality.
In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was broken up by Napoleon. With the fall of the Empire, Liechtenstein became a free sovereign country.
Liechtenstein is located in the European Alps and is bordered to the east by the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, to the south by the canton of Grisons (Switzerland) and to the west by the canton of St. Gallen (Switzerland).
The Rhine forms the entire western border of Liechtenstein. Measured south to north the country is about 24 km (15 mi) long. Its highest point, the Grauspitz, is 2,599 m (8,527 ft).
Despite its Alpine location, prevailing southerly winds make the climate comparatively mild. In winter, the mountain slopes are well suited to winter sports.
Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy, meaning that the head of state is a monarch (with the title Prince Regnant) but has limited political powers. The Prince can veto legislations, call for a referendum, create new bills and dissolve parliament.
The legislature is the landtag (or diet). There are 25 elected members. The members of government are usually all members of the biggest political party.
Portugal is a country in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe and part of the Mediterranean area. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east. Its capital city is Lisbon. It has been a member of the European Union since 1986. Portugal was under a dictatorship between 1926 and 1974 called Estado Novo. The dictatorship of Estado Novo was ended by a peaceful revolution called Carnation Revolution. The Portuguese economy has been very good since then. However, was hit hard by the 2007-2008 recession.
Portugal is a popular holiday destination but is sometimes overlooked in favour of larger countries like France, Spain and Italy. The Algarve region in the south and capital Lisbon are the most popular.
Portugal became its own kingdom in 1139 but was not officially recognized until 1143. Portugal has had links with England since the 1100s by a treaty. The border with Spain has been almost the same since the 13th century. Fishing and trading with other countries were important here.
Portugal was important in the world exploration for two reasons. Henry the Navigator, a prince from Portugal, was very interested in exploration. Inventions in navigation led to a bigger knowledge of geography.
This world exploration began the Portuguese Empire. Portugal was a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries. It tried to colonize Canada in the 16th century. However, it lost a lot of money soon after this. Portugal and Spain were in the Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640. The city of Lisbon was destroyed in an earthquake in 1755. The country was occupied during the Peninsular War. It lost its largest colony, Brazil, in 1822.
Great Moravia was at first in constant quarrels with East Francia and at the beginning of the 10th century, with the Magyars who arrived from Asia. The Magyars conquered Great Moravia in 906, and established the Hungarian Principality, resulting later in the creation of the Kingdom of Hungary in year 1000. Slovaks continued to live in the north, while most Hungarians were in the south.
The territory of today's Slovakia was a part of Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1938 and again from 1945 until 1989. Czechoslovakia was one of the states which came into existence after the breakup of Austria-Hungary at end of World War I in 1918. Czechoslovakia split up in 1939, when Slovakia, under Hitler's influence and pressure, declared independence and became a client state. The state existed during World War II. It was a totalitarian one-party state and ally of Nazi Germany. Under the regime, the state fought in the war on the side of Nazi Germany and deported about 70,000 of its Jewish citizens to Nazi extermination camps as part of the Holocaust.
Czechoslovakia again became a democratic country. However, it split up into two independent countries (Slovakia and Czech Republic) on January 1, 1993 when we became an independent country. Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since May 1, 2004.
Slovenia is a country in the southern region of Central Europe. The capital and largest city of Slovenia is Ljubljana. Its major language is Slovenian. Its current population is about 2.0 million. Slovenia's leading exports are manufactured goods and aluminium. It is a parliamentary republic It is a member of the European Union and NATO. The economy of Slovenia is small, open, and export-oriented.
A very long time ago, Illyrian and Celtics tribes lived in Slovenia. In the 1st century BC, Slovenia was ruled by the Romans. In the sixth century AD, Slavs lived there. Slovenia was ruled by Austria from 1335 until 1918.
In 1918 it became a part of Yugoslavia. During World War II, Italy, Hungary and Germany took parts of the country but in 1945 it became part of Yugoslavia again.
In June 1991, Slovenia voted to become independent. Yugoslavia's army tried to stop this from happening but following a 10-day war, Slovenia became an independent country.
Currently, it is considered the most advanced country in what is called "Ex-Yugoslavia." It is also a member of the European Union.
A jackknife is a type of knife. It has a blade that folds into the handle. It is also a dive where the body is bent and then straightened before entering the water and when a person backs up in their vehicle with a trailer attached and it accidentally folds.
A luffa (also spelled loofah or loofa) is a long thin dried inner part of the fruit of a tropical plant related to the cucumber . It is often used as a sponge for washing the body. Before it gets ripe, it is also a good vegetable. It also comes from dried corn on the cob stems.
Kimono are traditional Japanese style clothes. About a hundred years ago, most people in Japan wore kimono every day. Now, people wear the kimono for special occasions, fun, and fashion. For example, a Japanese couple might wear kimono on their wedding day.
A kimono is a robe. When it lies flat, it is shaped like a letter T. Normal kimono reach to the ankles and have long sleeves. The sleeves of some kimono for women also reach to the ankles, but most kimono sleeves reach to the hips. Kimono come in many different designs and colours. Some colours have meanings.
The word "kimono" means "something you wear".
The kimono that people wear today began in the 16th century. But Japanese people have been wearing clothes that looked like the kimono for hundreds of years, since the Heian period (late 700s to late 1100s).
Chinese visitors brought the kimono to Japan. The Japanese decided to make and wear kimono too. These clothes had long, triangle-shaped sleeves and were wrapped over the body. The kimono had two parts: a jacket and either a skirt or trousers.
These clothes changed to look more like the kimono we see today. The kimono looked less like a triangle and more like a rectangle. The sleeves became square instead of triangle-shaped.
Common people wore a piece of clothing called a "kosode", which means "short sleeve". This looked like a modern kimono with a wider body and smaller sleeves. The overlap at the front of the robe was longer, the collar was wider, and the robe was shorter.
Over time, wearing many layers of clothes became unfashionable. The government created laws to stop people from wearing many robes at once. Starting in the Muromachi period, women and men began to wear the "kosode" by itself or with two or three layers, with a small, thin belt called an obi, and for women, red "hakama" trousers. However, ceremonial clothing in the Imperial Court still looked like clothing from earlier times. Even today, the new Emperor and Empress of wear in clothes from the Heian period when they are formally named king or queen.
During the Genroku period, the common people had more money, especially merchants. They wore expensive and beautiful "kosode", even if they were not nobles. People began to decorate their clothing in new ways, for example stitched patterns in thread, and new ways of coloring their clothing.
This made them look like noble people, so the government introduced laws against commoners wearing some kinds of clothes. However, people did not want to give up their beautiful clothes. Instead, they found different ways of wearing them; a man, for instance, might wear a "haori" jacket made out of wool in a plain, boring colour, but he could line it with beautiful silk fabric.
From the 1600s into the 1800s, Japan's leaders decided the country should not have contact with other countries. Only a few Dutch ships were allowed to land and trade. The Dutch traders saw the kimono and knew people in Europe would like them. They asked Japanese kimono-makers to make kimono with rounder sleeves and warmer cuts for the Europeans to buy and wear. Kimono became popular with rich Europeans. When the Japanese kimono-makers could not make enough kimono for the Dutch traders to sell, the Dutch traders told clothiers in India to copy the kimono.
Over time, the obi became wider and longer, especially for women. Because of this, the sleeves of women's "kosode" were no longer sewn to the body entirely. They were instead only attached at the shoulder.
Sleeves became got longer for young women, as did the length of the "kosode". In the Edo period, people began to say "kimono" instead of "kosode". The kimono would trail behind the wearer. This was not a problem indoors. Outside, the wearer had to pull up the kimono so it would not become dirty. Women started tucking the extra length of their kimono into a hip fold, which became known as the "ohashori". Kimono are still worn by women today with the "ohashori".
During the Meiji Period, Japan's government decided the country should be more modern. They built railroads and improved the army and universities. But they also changed customs. Fewer people wore the kimono every day. Instead, they wore modern, Western clothes.
Today, more women wear the kimono than men. Men wear kimono most often at weddings and at Japanese tea ceremonies.
Kimono come in different sizes for different people. They come in different lengths for men and women. Men and women also wear kimono with different sleeves.
Kimono for women are much longer than kimono for men, and women fold the kimono at the waist to make it the right length. The right length for a woman's kimono is usually the same as her height.
The sleeves on a woman's kimono are not sewn to the body all the way down, and they are open at the back. Part of the body of the kimono is open as well. The sleeves on a woman's kimono are longer than the sleeves on a man's kimono, and sometimes they reach the ankle on kimono for young women. The curve at the edge of the sleeves is very round, especially on kimono for young women and girls.
Kimono for men do not need to be folded at the hip, and so do not have any extra length. The sleeves are shorter, and they are attached almost all the way down to the body. The back of each sleeve is sewn shut, and the body is also sewn shut. The curve at the edge of the sleeve is not as round.
Kimono for men are usually one solid colour, but they might have a very small geometric design. Kimono for women can be one solid colour, have a small design, or be decorated in larger, colourful patterns. More colourful kimono are usually worn by young women. Sometimes, these designs are only worn in certain seasons of the year.
People who are very tall or very heavy can struggle to find a kimono that fits them, and sometimes have kimono made for them instead.
Kimono come in different types for different occasions, and both men and women have formal and casual kimono. Formal kimono have a number of crests on them, called "kamon" or "mon". These are placed on the front of the shoulders, the back of the sleeves, and the centre of the back. Kimono with crests have either one, three, or five crests on them - the crest on the centre back, the centre back and the sleeves, or the centre back, the sleeves and the shoulders.
The most informal type of kimono is the "yukata", worn in summer to festivals and in bath houses and inns by both men and women. They are not lined, are always made of cotton, and are worn with thin, brightly coloured obi.
Some kimono cost a large amount of money to buy. For example, Furisode kimono are very expensive. The obi belts can be very expensive too. Other kimono are less costly. Some people make their own kimono, or they buy kimono that other people have already worn.
People who play some sports, for example kendo, also wear the kimono. These kimono are strong, thick and short. They are different from long women's kimono. They are usually called "do-gi".
People wonder and argue about whether Westerners should wear kimono. Some say it is cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is when someone uses something from another culture because it looks fun or pretty but does not understand or respect it enough. Some Japanese people think Westerners wearing kimono is cultural appropriation and some do not. Japanese kimono-makers have been selling kimono to Western people for hundreds of years.
A sconce is a holder for candles or electric lights that is fixed on a wall. Most of the time, sconces are also meant to make the place look more beautiful.
The concept of culture is very complicated, and the word has some meanings. The word 'culture' is most commonly used in three ways.
Cultures are what make a country unique and interesting. Each country has different cultural activities and cultural rituals. Culture includes material goods, the things the people use and produce. Culture is also the beliefs and values of the people and the ways they think about and understand the world and their own lives.
Different countries have different cultures. For example, some older Japanese people wear kimonos, arrange flowers in vases, and have tea ceremonies. Some countries oppose some things in their culture, like discrimination or religion. Some countries also have multiple cultures within them.
A houseplant is any kind of decorative plant. People grow them indoors, sometimes in a house, but very often in an office or a shop.
Houses or public premises have conditions not as favorable for plants as in greenhouses. For example, the direction of light, low light, dry air, dust, drafts, uneven temperature. So, special techniques are used to get a healthy state and proper development of plants. Conditions in public and office premises are usually even less favorable than in homes, so the most hardy indoor plants are grown there.
One obvious advantage of keeping houseplants is the improvement in aesthetic quality that they provide. Some large palm varieties, can serve as a focus point for guests.
Houseplant may enhance indoor air quality. That is a key perk. NASA conducted a study to identify which plants are most effective at filtering out harmful chemicals.
Taking care of plants, like taking care of people or animals, can have a positive effect on one's mental and emotional health.
Plants and herbs with medical characteristics, such as Aloe Vera, are grown for human consumption.
Wax paper is commonly used in cooking and wrapping sticky foods, because the waxy surface is cling-resistant. It is also used in arts and crafts.
A sideboard is a piece of furniture. It is often placed in a dining room with a long table and cupboard below to hold dishes, glassware, and other things.
A movie or film is a type of visual art that uses images and sounds to tell stories or teach people something. Most people watch movies to entertain themselves or to have fun. Some movies can make people laugh, but other movies can make them cry, or make them feel afraid.12 th fail movie
Most movies are made so they can be watched at home or on a movie screen at movie theaters. Movies are shown in movie theaters a few weeks or months after or before the movie is released. Movies can be marketed using media. Movies are shown on pay television or cable television, or are sold or rented on DVD disks or videocassette tapes, so that people can watch the movies at home. Movies can also be downloaded or streamed. Some movies are shown on television broadcasting stations.
Movies are filmed with movie cameras or video cameras. Movie cameras take pictures very quickly, and they usually take 24 or 25 pictures, or frames every second. When a movie projector, a computer, or a television shows the pictures at 24 frames a second, it looks like the things shown in the set of pictures are moving. Sound is usually recorded at the same time as the pictures are, but sometimes they are added later. The sounds in a movie are usually people talking, the soundtrack, and sound effects. In the 20th century the camera used photographic film.
Most movies start to be made when a screenwriter writes a script, which is the story of the movie with dialogue and words and things that the actors will say and do. A producer hires people to work on the movie and gets the money that will be used to pay for the actors and the equipment. Producers usually get the money by borrowing it from a bank or by asking investors to give money to them. Some producers work for a movie studio, but other producers work by themselves.
Actors and directors read scripts to learn what to say and what to do. The actors learn the words from the script that they will say in the movie, and learn the things that the script tells them to do. Then, the director tells the actors what to do and a cameraman takes the film of them saying the words with a film camera.
When the filming is done, an editor makes the film play after each other, which makes a story. Audio engineers and sound engineers record music and singing and combine it with the film. When the movie is done, many copies of the movie are made by movie labs and put onto film reels. Then the reels are sent to movie theaters. A projector shines a very bright light through the film, and people sitting in a dark room see it on a big screen.
A genre means a type of movie. Movies can be fictional, or non-fictional. Even though hundreds of movies are made every year, there are not like another movie. Some movies can be two or more genres.
Most movies lose money but some make up to hundreds of millions. In India movies have become an enormous part of the economy. The industry has always been led by a few major movie studios like MGM/UA, Warner Bros., Columbia, Paramount, or Disney.
There are many large companies that provide all of the services needed to make movies, such as special effects, lighting, set building. Many of these employees belong to trade unions who say how much their members must be paid. A large number of smaller companies also offer services, such as music studios (which record the music for original movie sound tracks) and CGI computer animation.
Finally there are movie distribution companies (Which send movies around the world or around a country), and advertising companies (Showing people who may watch the movie so they do it.)
Movies with famous stars (actors who are well known) and large budgets (lots of money), are designed to have a large appeal (something a person would like about the, so that hopefully millions of people will pay to see them. These most expensive movies are called blockbusters.
Very successful movies can make many times that amount in profit, and that's why the studios keep producing them. This kind of movie will have a lot of promotion (getting the movie into the public.) through television advertising, billboards and internet sites.
In blockbuster movies, there is usually a happy ending, in which all of the problems in the plot (story) are figured out or fixed and almost everyone (except the bad guys) live happily ever after. Some movies have been so successful that the studios keep releasing more and more sequels, or movies with the same characters and basic plots.
At the opposite end of the scale to the blockbuster, there is the independent, art, or Indie movie. These are usually made by small movie companies, or even just a small group of people that do not have much money. An example is The Blair Witch Project, which cost only about $60,000, but which has so far taken perhaps $200 million in ticket and DVD sales. Movies like this are very unusual and usually become popular 'underground' (word of mouth advertising), so that they have a cult following, or popular but not mainstream.
Some movies received Oscar nominations, and wins. Also, some actors and actresses received Oscar nominations, and wins.
Movies have age appropriateness. Some examples include G, PG, PG 13, and R.
Many people use the name "Holland" to refer to all of the Netherlands, including the other ten provinces. That is not correct and is like calling the United Kingdom, "England" or "Great Britain". Some Dutch people who live outside "Holland" find it unacceptable to refer to the entire country Holland. But acceptable when you refer "Holland" to the Netherlands national team.
Some isotopes are not stable so they change to a different isotope or element by radioactive decay. These are called unstable isotopes, or radioactive isotopes. The average time it takes an isotope to decay is called the half-life. Other isotopes do not decay so they are not radioactive. They are called stable isotopes.
The elephant would step upon the head of the condemned, the one commanded to die. Usually, handlers trained the elephant to put its large foot gently on the person's head. At this point, witnesses looked under the elephant's foot to make sure the prisoner was the one who committed the crime. Often, the condemned would scream and beg the witnesses to say it was not him. If a witness stated this was not the criminal, they would probably commit perjury. In those days rulers could punish perjury with death. Few witnesses denied the condemned was the criminal, because then the elephant may crush them instead. Then the mahout, or elephant driver, gave the order, and the elephant would push down with its weight. The skull broke and the foot crushed the head flat.
Most rajahs, Indian rulers, kept elephants for death by crushing. The public could often see the deaths. This was the rulers' warning not to commit a crime. Many of the elephants were very large, weighing more than nine tons. Rulers wanted crushing by elephant to be bloody and gross. Some rulers in history condemned children.
One nonreligious Mogul Emperor, Akbar (1547-1605), used his favorite elephant as a judge. Akbar ruled in the city of Agra from 1570-1585. He believed that his favorite elephant could know who was guilty. He put thousands of people to death this way. Even when the crimes were minor, he sent them to the elephant. Elephant handlers staked them before the great elephant and tried to convince it to step on them. The huge elephant crushed most, but sometimes refused. Akbar believed this proved their innocence and then released them.
Elephants are large grey animals with big ears, long noses and ivory tusks. They are the biggest living land mammals. The largest elephant recorded was shot in Angola, 1974. It weighed and stood tall.
At birth, an elephant calf may be as big as 100 kg (225 pounds). The baby elephant develops for 20 to 22 months inside its mother. No other land animal takes this long to develop before being born.
An elephant's most obvious part is the trunk. The trunk is a very long nose, made from the upper lip. An elephant uses its trunk to grab objects such as food. Though the rest of an elephant's skin is strong and thick, its trunk is very soft and sensitive. Elephants avoid Acacia trees with ants because they can bite the inside of an elephant's trunk. The trunk is also used when it trumpets. The elephant usually stands still, raises its trunk, and blows. This is a signal to other elephants and animals.
A lot of ivory comes from elephant tusks. Ivory traders killed many elephants, and hunting elephants is illegal.
In total, elephants have 24 teeth: 12 front teeth, called premolars, and 12 back teeth, called molars. When the last molar falls out, the elephant dies because it cannot eat. They can live for about 70 years. But in a zoo or circus, people can keep elephants alive by feeding them soft food.
African elephants are larger and have bigger ears. They are grazers who still do a lot of browsing: they eat leaves, branches and grass. These big ears have many veins, which carry blood throughout the body. Biologists think that the blood going through their ears helps African elephants to cool off. The weather is hotter in Africa than in Asia, so cooling is more important for African elephants. Female African elephants have tusks, but female Asian elephants do not. African elephants have a low place in their back. African elephants have two "fingers" at the end of their trunks, but Asian elephants only have one. Indian elephants mostly eat grass.
Some African elephants live on the savanna while others live in the forest. Today, many people think these are different species. Scientists named the forest group "Loxodonta cyclotis" and the savanna group "Loxodonta africanus".
Many circuses have them. Siamese, Indians, and other South Asians used them for several things. They fought in armies, and they crushed criminals. They also did heavy work like lifting trees and moving logs.
One of the most famous fictional elephants is Dumbo. It is a flying elephant in a Disney movie. "The Elephant's Child" is one of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories"
Buddhism originated in South Asia based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Gautama Buddha. A Buddha is one who is said to be awake to the truth of life.
Over the centuries his teachings spread from Nepal to Central Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, Japan, and now Europe and North and South America. Theravada Buddhism is most common in South East Asia; Mahayana further north. Buddhism exists in many different strands today, but all schools and sects share basic ideas. About seven percent of the people of the world are Buddhist.
"Buddha" is a Pali word which means "The Awakened (or Enlightened) one". Someone who has woken up to the truth of the mind and suffering and teaches the truth to others is called a Buddha. The word "Buddha" often means the historical Buddha named Buddha Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama). Buddhists do not believe that a Buddha is a god, but that he is a human being who has woken up and can see the true way the mind works. They believe this knowledge totally changes the person. This person can help others become "enlightened" too. Enlightened people are beyond birth, death, and rebirth.
Governor-general
Governor General is a representative of a head of state. The term is mostly used in Commonwealth realm countries, where the governor general is a representative of the British monarch, who is the head of state of the Commonwealth realm countries.
A black hole is a region of space-time from which nothing, not even light, can escape. According to the general theory of relativity, it starts existing when spacetime gets curved by a huge mass. There is a sphere around the black hole. If something goes inside the sphere, it cannot leave. This sphere is called the event horizon. A black hole is black because it absorbs all the light that hits it. It reflects nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics. Under quantum mechanics, black holes have a temperature and emit Hawking radiation, which makes them slowly get smaller.
Because black holes are very hard to see, people find them by the way they affect other things near them. The place where there is a black hole can be found by tracking the movement of stars that orbit somewhere in space. Or people can find it when gas falls into a black hole, because the gas heats up and is very bright. This can be found by telescopes on Earth or by Earth-orbiting telescopes such as Chandra or XMM Newton. Inside a black hole the rules of physics are very different.
The gravitational collapse of huge (high-mass) stars cause "stellar mass" black holes. This happens when really big stars run out of fuel.