adityasasidhar/Wikipedia_Cleaned huggingface dataset:
In 2006, Gates announced he was going to quit his job at Microsoft. This was so he could do more charity work with his wife, Melinda. Their charity is called the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates' philanthropy projects have included vaccination of children in sub-Saharan Africa, scholarship programs in the United States, and a mission to help organize other billionaires to redistribute their wealth. He likes to give money and support to human rights, education, and technological innovation.
Gates stepped down from his CEO position in Microsoft in 1998 and Steve Ballmer did the job instead. On June 16, 2007, Microsoft said that Gates, the chairman of Microsoft, will come in on a day-to-day schedule to continue working with his charity organization full-time for the years to come. On 2014, Satya Nadella became the new CEO of Microsoft and Bill Gates came back as the Chief Technology Adviser. On March 13, 2020, Bill Gates completely left Microsoft so that he can focus on charity work. He is now focusing on charity work for climate change, global health and development, and education.
He was the richest man in the world. In October 2017, his net worth was surpassed by Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Bezos had an estimated net worth of US$90.6 billion compared to Gates's net worth of US$89.9 billion at the time. As of January 2021, Gates had an estimated net worth of US$163 billion, making him the third-richest person in the world. And now, he is the third-richest person in the world behind Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk in net worth as of January 2021.
Bill Gates enjoys reading. He owns a large home library, and its ceiling is decorated with a quote from "The Great Gatsby". He also enjoys playing bridge, tennis and golf. Every day, he writes down a daily schedule for every minute of the day, similarly to the U.S. president's schedule. Even though Gates is rich and frequently travels to work, he formerly flew in an economy class aircraft until 1997. Since 1997, the year when he bought a private jet, he travels in his private jet instead.
In 2016, he revealed that he was color-blind.
On May 10, 2022, Gates said that he tested positive for COVID-19. He was experiencing mild symptoms of COVID-19. Gates has received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
A Fibula is an ancient brooch. (Plural: fibulae). Technically, the latin term fibulae meant Roman brooches, but the term is widely used for brooches from the entire ancient and early medieval world. Unlike modern brooches, fibulae were not only decorative, they originally served a practical function: to fasten clothes, including cloaks. Fibulae replaced straight pins that were used to fasten clothing in the Neolithic period and Bronze Age. In turn, fibulae were replaced as clothing fasteners in the Middle Ages by buttons. Their descendent, the modern safety pin, remains in use today.
The Supreme Court building is home of the Supreme Court of the United States. It is in Washington, D.C. It was designed in the neoclassical style by an architect named Cass Gilbert.
The Bethlehem Baptist Church (BBC) is a megachurch in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The church was started in 1871 as the First Swedish Baptist Church of Minneapolis. Since 1980, their pastor has been John Piper.
A megachurch is a large church. It usually has around 2,000 or more people come every week. About 1,300 Protestant churches are megachurches.
T.N.T. (song)
"T.N.T." is a 1976 song by Australian hard rock band AC/DC and was taken from their second studio album of the same name. It went to number 19 in Australia. It was covered by American heavy metal band Anthrax in 2013.
The Niagara IceDogs are a Canadian ice hockey team. They began playing in 1998. The team currently plays in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). They play their home games in St. Catharines, Ontario at the Meridian Centre.
The gas chamber is usually a small chamber, which is made air-tight with a door (typically with rubber strips around) into which the prisoner is escorted and either placed or fastened to a chair with straps, and left inside. After this, the gas is inserted either through a hose or a pellet is dropped into a solution which combined produces deadly gas, and the person(s) is asphyxiated within minutes. In the United States, one or two people maximum were executed at a time, although recently it has become extremely uncommon. After California stopped using it in favour of lethal injection, it became nearly redundant. But it is still possible in several states, typically as a second method, in case there would not be drugs for an injection to be performed, or if the prisoner prefers to be executed by gas for any reason.
Recently, there have been proposals and a law has been enacted in Oklahoma for a variation, so-called nitrogen gas, either by chamber or a mask. It is believed to be less painful and anxious than the method previously used. In the beginning, actually, the idea of a gas chamber was to let the prisoner condemned to death sleep in a cell which would then be exposed to lethal gas during the night, without the prisoner's knowledge. However, because of poor isolation techniques it was too difficult and so the gas chamber was introduced instead. It was introduced in several states, including Mississippi, North Carolina, Missouri, Colorado, California, Arizona and New Mexico, but it never was as popular as the electric chair and later execution by injection. The method is in fact expensive and thought to be painful because the prisoner must breathe deeply to hasten the death, which is difficult when the body wants to reject the fumes. (With nitrogen, it is different because the body doesn't reject it as strange or fatal.) It is also extremely dangerous to the audience and personnel in case there is a leak, and impossible to halt in case there is an attempt to stop the execution, such as in the cases of Caryl Chessman and Burton Abbott. In the case of an electric current or injection the switch can be turned off and the needle ripped out, and while it might not be enough there is no risk for the people trying to save the prisoner. In one case, when the mechanism jammed, the executioner had to drop the pellet into the acid (producing the deadly fumes beneath the chair where the prisoner was sitting) and jump out of the chamber as the warden stood ready to slam the door and tighten it.
By the 1990s, the gas chamber had become unpopular in the United States. It never became as popular as execution by electric chair or (more recently) lethal injection. When Donald Eugene Harding was executed in Arizona in 1992, witnesses described his death as "violent" and an "ugly event". The last prisoner to be executed in the gas chamber in the United States was Walter LaGrand, in Arizona in 1999. All states that still have the death penalty use lethal injection.
However, in April 2015, Oklahoma made a law using nitrogen gas to execute people. It's not certain whether the gas would be used by a mask or similar contraption or in a gas chamber. They approved this after it took over an hour to execute Clayton Lockett by lethal injection.
Nazi Germany first used gas chambers to kill people with disabilities. The Nazis thought that people with disabilities were "life unworthy of life," and did not deserve to live. Between 1939 and 1941, the Nazis killed 70,273 people with disabilities at hospitals like Hartheim Euthanasia Centre.
The camps used either carbon monoxide or cyanide gas, with the first gassing occurring late 1941 and the last in August 1944. Cyanide was introduced in Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp by the use of Zyklon B, an insecticide, which was thought to be more effective. Carbon monoxide took many minutes to kill, even with the chamber crowded with hundreds of people. Also, in Auschwitz-Birkenau the method of introducing the people to the chambers were more efficient, with large underground rooms disguised as shower rooms, into which the victims walked mostly without resistance and calmly left their clothes and belongings. Because of these reasons, Auschwitz-Birkenau was thought of as the most efficient part of the Nazi killing machine during the Holocaust, and could kill up to 2,000 people a day if a proper schedule was made and followed.
Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling is a professional wrestling company founded in 2002 shortly after World Championship Wrestling closed down. They are the main rivals for World Wrestling Entertainment. They made a video game called TNA iMPACT! and a sequel to it called TNA Impact! 2011 after it's weekly program which was of the same name before it was renamed Impact Wrestling. The Impact name lasted until 2024 when they went back to using the TNA name.
On October 21, 2023 during Bound for Glory, it was announced that the company would be rebranding and would be going back to their previous name Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), starting at the Hard To Kill event on January 13, 2024.
The press made up "Battle of the Bulge" to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and itbecame the best known name for the battle.
The German attack was supported by several other operations. Germany's goal was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capture Antwerp, and then encircle and destroy four Allied armies. They hoped this would force the Allies to make a peace treaty with Germany. If they did this, Hitler could focus on the eastern front of the war.
The attack was planned in secret. Germany moved troops and equipment in the dark. United States intelligence staff predicted a major German attack, but this still surprised them. The Allied forces were too confident and too focused on their own attack plans, and they also did not have good aerial reconnaissance.
The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line. They attacked while there was bad weather. This was because the Allies could not use planes if the weather was bad. Violent resistance blocked German access to important roads. The thick forests helped the defenders. This slowed down the German advance and allowed the Allies to add new troops. Better weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces, which led to the failure of the attack.
After moving from Normandy at the end of July 1944 and landing in southern France on 15 August 1944, the Allies advanced toward Germany more quickly than expected. Allied troops were tired from weeks of continuous fighting and supplies were very low. While the supply situation improved in October, the lack of troops was still a major problem.
The speed of the Allied advance and a lack of deep-water ports made it hard for the Allies to supply their troops. Beach supply operations using the Normandy landing areas could not supply enough provisions. The only port the Allies had captured was Cherbourg, near the original invasion beaches, but the Germans had wrecked and mined it. It took the Allies many months to build up their ability to move cargo. The Allies captured the port of Antwerp, Belgium, fully intact, in the first days of September, but it was not working until 28 November. The Scheldt River had to be cleared of both German troops and naval mines.
German forces remained in control of several major ports on the English Channel coast until May 1945. The destruction of the French railway system before D-Day made it hard for the Germans to respond to the invasion. It was also a problem for the Allies, as it took time to repair the tracks and bridges.
A trucking system brought supplies to front-line troops, but transportation took huge amounts of fuel to reach the front line near the Belgian border. By early October the Allies stopped major attacks to improve their supply lines. Montgomery and Bradley both asked for delivery of supplies to their armies so they could continue to attack the Germans. Gen. Eisenhower wanted Montgomery's northern forces to open the port of Antwerp and capture the Ruhr area, the industrial part of Germany.
Adolf Hitler promised his generals 18 infantry and 12 armored or mechanized divisions. The plan was to use 13 infantry divisions, two parachute divisions and six panzer divisions from reserves. On the Eastern Front the Soviets' Operation Bagration during the summer had destroyed much of Germany's Army Group Center. The operation ended only when the advancing Red Army forces ran out of supplies. By November, Soviet forces were preparing for a winter attack.
German leader Adolf Hitler felt that his mobile reserves allowed him to do one major attack. Although he realised nothing could be accomplished in the Eastern Front, he still believed an offensive against the Western Allies could succeed. Hitler believed he could split the Allied forces and make the Americans and British to settle for a separate peace, independent of the Soviet Union. Success in the west would give the Germans time to design and produce more advanced weapons (such as jet aircraft, new U-boat designs and super-heavy tanks) and permit the build-up of forces in the east. Given the reduced manpower of their land forces, the Germans believed that it was better to attack in the West against the smaller Allied forces rather than against the vast Soviet armies. Even the destruction of entire Soviet armies would still have left the Soviets with more soldiers. Several senior German military officers, such as Field Marshal Walter Model did not think the attack would work. They offered different plans, but Hitler would not listen. The plan needed bad weather, including heavy fog and low-lying clouds, which would make it hard for Allied planes to fly. Hitler originally set the attack for late November, before the start of the Russian winter offensive.
Hitler chose the second plan. He liked the idea of splitting the Anglo-American armies. There were many disputes between Montgomery and Patton. Hitler hoped he could make use of these disagreements. If the attack captured Antwerp, four complete armies would be trapped without supplies behind German lines. Both plans aimed at attacks against the American forces. Hitler believed the Americans were not able to fight well. He thought that the American people would lose hope upon hearing of an American loss.
"Generalfeldmarschall" (Field Marshal) Walther Model and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt were ordered to lead the attacks. Model and von Rundstedt both believed aiming for Antwerp was too difficult, given Germany's lack of resources in late 1944. At the same time they felt that being just defensive would only delay defeat. They developed plans that did not aim to cross the Meuse River; Model's being "Unternehmen Herbstnebel" (Operation Autumn Mist) and von Rundstedt's "Fall Martin" ("Plan Martin"). The two field marshals showed their plans to Hitler, who rejected them in favor of his "big solution".
The phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was made up by contemporary press to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps. After the war ended, the U.S. Army issued the Ardennes-Alsace medal to units that took part in operations in northwest Europe. The medal covered the Ardennes sector where the battle took place and units further south in the Alsace sector.
OKW decided by mid-September, on Hitler's orders, that the attack would be started in the Ardennes, as was done in 1940. Many German generals objected, but the attack was planned and carried out. In 1940 German forces had passed through the Ardennes in three days before attacking the enemy, but the 1944 plan called for battle in the forest. The main forces were to advance westward to the Meuse River, then turn northwest for Antwerp and Brussels. The thick forests of the Ardennes would make movement difficult. There was open ground beyond the Meuse where the Germans could move quickly to the coast.
The plan originally called for just under 45 divisions, including a dozen panzer and panzergrenadier divisions forming the armored spearhead and various infantry units to form a defensive line. By this time, however, the German Army suffered from a manpower shortage and the force had been reduced to around 30 divisions. Although it retained most of its armor, there were not enough infantry units because of the defensive needs in the East. These 30 newly rebuilt divisions used some of the last reserves of the German Army. Among them were "Volksgrenadier" units formed from a mix of veterans and recruits formerly regarded as too young or too old to fight. Training time, equipment and supplies were inadequate during the preparations. German fuel supplies were inadequate. Materials and supplies that could not be transported by rail had to be horse-drawn to conserve fuel. The mechanized and panzer divisions would depend heavily on captured fuel. As a result, the start of the attack was delayed from 27 November to 16 December.
Before the offensive the Allies were not aware of German troop movement. During the liberation of France, the French resistance had provided information about German movements. Once they reached the German border, this information was not available. In Germany such orders were typically transmitted using telephone and teleprinter, and a special radio silence order was made on all communications about the attack. The major crackdown in the "Wehrmacht" after the 20 July plot to kill Hitler resulted in much tighter security and fewer information leaks. The foggy autumn weather also prevented Allied reconnaissance aircraft from seeing the Germans on the ground. German units in the area were given charcoal instead of wood for cooking fires to cut down on smoke and reduce chances of Allied observers realizing a troop build up was underway.
The attack, when it came, completely surprised the Allied forces. The U.S. Third Army intelligence chief, Colonel Oscar Koch, the U.S. First Army intelligence chief and the SHAEF intelligence officer had warned that the Germans might attack the U.S. VIII Corps area. These warnings were ignored by the U.S. 12th Army Group. Because the Ardennes was considered a quiet sector, the Allies used it as a training ground for new units and a rest area. The U.S. units deployed in the Ardennes thus were a mixture of inexperienced troops (such as the U.S. 99th and 106th "Golden Lions" Divisions), and veteran troops sent to that sector to rest (the 28th Infantry Division).
To the north, the 277th Volksgrenadier Division attempted to break through the U.S. 99th Infantry Division and positions of 2nd Infantry Division. The 12th SS Panzer Division, reinforced by additional infantry (Panzergrenadier and Volksgenadier) divisions, took Losheimergraben and attacked the villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt.
Following the Malmedy massacre, on New Year's Day 1945, after having previously received orders to take no prisoners, American soldiers shot sixty German prisoners of war near the Belgian village of Chenogne (8 km from Bastogne).
By the evening the Germans had pushed north to fight the U.S. 99th Infantry Division. Peiper's forces were late because of the American resistance and because when the Americans fell back, they blew up bridges and emptied fuel storage. Peiper's unit was delayed and his vehicles needed fuel. They took 36 hours to advance from Eifel to Stavelot.
Kampfgruppe Peiper attacked Stavelot on 18 December but was unable to capture the town before the Americans emptied a large fuel depot. Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead tank was disabled by a mine. 60 grenadiers advanced forward but were stopped by American fire. After a tank battle the next day, the Germans entered the village when Peiper rushed toward the bridge at Trois-Ponts, leaving the most of his force in Stavelot. When they reached it at 1130 on 18 December, retreating U.S. engineers blew it up. Peiper went north. At Cheneux, he was attacked by American fighter-bombers, destroying two tanks and five halftracks. The group got moving at dusk at 1600. Of the two bridges now remaining between Kampfgruppe Peiper and the Meuse, the bridge over the Lienne was blown by the Americans as the Germans approached.
Small units of the U.S. 2nd Battalion of the 119th Regiment attacked the Kampfgruppe Peiper during the morning of 21 December. They were pushed back and a number captured, including their battalion commander, Maj. Hal McCown. Attempting to withdraw from Cheneux, American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division engaged the Germans in violent fighting. The Americans shelled Kampfgruppe Peiper on 22 December. Although the Germans had run out of food and had no fuel, they continued to fight. A Luftwaffe resupply mission went badly, parachuting supplies to American troops in Stoumont. In La Gleize, Peiper set up defences. He decided to break through back to the German lines on 23 December. The men of the "Kampfgruppe" abandoned their vehicles and heavy equipment.
In St. Vith, it was hard for von Manteuffel's and Dietrich's forces. The defenders resisted the German attacks. This slowed down the German advance. Montgomery ordered St. Vith to be evacuated on 21 December. U.S. troops got into trenches, which made the German advance hard. By 23 December, U.S. troops were ordered to retreat west of the Salm River. Since the German plan called for the capture of St. Vith by 18:00 on 17 December, they were behind schedule.
Checkpoints were set up all over the Allied rear, greatly slowing the movement of soldiers and equipment. American MPs at these checkpoints asked troops about things that every American was expected to know. The tightened security made things very hard for the German soldiers to move about, and a number of them were captured. Even during interrogation, they spread lies. when asked about their mission, some of them claimed they had been told to go to Paris to either kill or capture General Dwight Eisenhower. Security around the general was greatly increased, and Eisenhower was kept in his headquarters.
Because Skorzeny's men were captured in American uniforms, they were executed as spies. This was the standard practice of every army at the time. Skorzeny said that he was told by German legal experts that as long he doesn't order his men to fight in combat while wearing American uniforms, such a tactic was a legitimate trick. Skorzeny and his men wore their German uniforms underneath their American ones in case of capture. Skorzeny was tried by an American military tribunal in 1947 at the Dachau Trials for violating the laws of war from his leadership of Operation Greif, but was acquitted.
The 109th and 110th Regiments of the 28th Division did badly. They had so few troops that the Germans got around their positions. Both resisted and slowed down the German schedule by several days. Panzer groups captured villages and advanced near Bastogne within four days. The battles for the villages and American strongpoints, and transport confusion on the German side, slowed the attack down. This allowed the 101st Airborne Division to reach Bastogne on 19 December. The defense of Bastogne made it impossible for the Germans to take the town. The "panzers" went past on either side, cutting off Bastogne on 20 December. In the south, Brandenberger's three infantry divisions were stopped by divisions of the U.S. VIII Corps. Only the 5th Parachute Division of Brandenberger's command was able to move forward.
Eisenhower and his commanders realized by 17 December that the fighting in the Ardennes was a major offensive and not a small attack, and they ordered many new troops to the area. Within a week 250,000 troops had been sent. Gen. Gavin of the 82nd Airborne Division ordered the 101st to hold Bastogne. The 82nd had to battle the SS Panzer Divisions.
By the time the senior Allied commanders met on 19 December, the town of Bastogne and its 11 roads had been held by the Germans for several days. Two separate westbound German columns got stopped by defensive positions up to ten miles from the town.
Gen. Eisenhower realized that the Allies could destroy German forces much more easily when they were out in the open. Patton had ordered his staff to prepare three plans for a northward turn. On 20 December, Eisenhower removed the First and Ninth U.S. Armies from Gen. Bradley's 12th Army Group and placed them under Montgomery's 21st Army Group.
Both 2nd Panzer and Panzer Lehr moved forward from Bastogne after 21 December. The 26th VG received one panzergrenadier regiment on Christmas Eve for its attack the next day. Because it lacked troops and those of the 26th VG Division were tired, the XLVII Panzer Corps concentrated its attack on several locations on the west side. The attack was defeated and all the tanks destroyed. The next day, 26 December, Gen. Patton's 4th Armored Division broke through and opened a passage to Bastogne.
On 23 December, the weather conditions started improving, allowing the Allied air forces to attack. They bombed the German supply points in their rear. P-47 Thunderbolts started attacking the German troops on the roads. Allied air forces also helped the defenders of Bastogne, dropping medicine, food, blankets, and ammunition. A team of volunteer surgeons flew in by military glider and began operating.
By 24 December, the German advance was stopped near the Meuse. Units of the British XXX Corps were holding the bridges at Dinant, Givet, and Namur and U.S. units were about to take over. The Germans had no supplies, and shortages of fuel and ammunition were becoming serious. Up to this point the German losses had been light, especially in armor, which was almost unharmed with the exception of Peiper's losses. On the evening of 24 December, General Hasso von Manteuffel recommended to Hitler a stop to all operations and a withdrawal. Hitler said no.
However, confusion at the Allied command prevented a strong response. In the center, on Christmas Eve, the 2nd Armored Division attempted to attack the 2nd Panzer Division at the Meuse. The 4th Cavalry Group attacked the 9th Panzer Division at Marche. As result, parts of the 2nd Panzer Division were cut off. On 26 and 27 December the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts. Further Allied attacks near Marche led the Germans to know that no further action towards the Meuse was possible. In the south, Patton's Third Army was battling to help the US troops in Bastogne. At 16:50 on 26 December, the Company D, 37th Tank Battalion of the 4th Armored Division, reached Bastogne, ending the siege.
As the Ardennes battles began, Montgomery commanded the American First and Ninth armies. This was approved by Eisenhower, as the northern armies had lost all communications with Bradley, who was based in Luxembourg. The northern side had lost all communications with the US command and with nearby units. Without radio or telephone communication Montgomery managed to improvise a way of communicating orders.
Montgomery asked Churchill if he could explain the situation. On the same day as Hitler's withdrawal order, 7 January, Montgomery held his press conference. Montgomery praised the "courage and good fighting quality" of the Americans. He also praised Eisenhower. Then Montgomery described the battle for a half-hour. Coming to the end of his speech he said he had used the whole power of the British Group of Armies. He called the battle "the most interesting, I think possibly one of the most interesting and tricky battles I have ever handled." Despite his positive remarks about American soldiers, the Americans thought he took credit for the success of the campaign. They thought he made it sound like he had rescued the Americans.
Patton and Eisenhower both felt he did not describe the share of the fighting played by the British and Americans in the Ardennes. They thought that he did not tell about the part played by Bradley, Patton and other American commanders. Montgomery did not mention of any American general beside Eisenhower. This was seen as insulting. Montgomery saw his error and later wrote: "I think now that I should never have held that press conference." Bradley and Patton both threatened to resign unless Montgomery's command was changed. Eisenhower had decided to fire Montgomery. Eisenhower allowed Montgomery to apologize.
Casualty estimates from the battle vary widely. The official U.S. account lists 80,987 American casualties, while other estimates range from 70,000 to 108,000. According to the U.S. Department of Defense the American forces suffered 89,500 casualties including 19,000 killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 missing. An official report by the United States Department of the Army lists some 108,347 casualties, including 19,246 killed, 62,489 wounded and 26,612 captured and missing. The Battle of the Bulge was the most violent battle that U.S. forces experienced in World War II; the 19,000 American dead were unsurpassed by those of any other engagement. British losses totaled 1,400.
During World War II, most U.S. black soldiers still served only as truck drivers and as stevedores. In the midst of the Battle of the Bulge, General Eisenhower was short of replacement troops so he allowed African American soldiers to join the white military units to fight in combat for the first time. More than 2,000 black soldiers had volunteered to go to the front. This was an important step toward a racially integrated United States military. A total of 708 African Americans were killed in combat during World War II.
Nothing is a concept of being without any form of matter, space, or being.
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. We usually see it in the night sky and also during the day. Some other planets also have moons or natural satellites.
Our moon is about one-fourth of the width of the Earth. Because it is far away it looks small, about half a degree wide. The gravity on the moon is one-sixth of the Earth's gravity. It means that something will be one-sixth as heavy on the Moon than on Earth. The Moon is a rocky and dusty place. It moves slowly away from the Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm per year, due to the effect of tidal dissipation.
For the origin of the Moon, see the giant impact hypothesis.
Because the Moon is round, half of it is lit up by the Sun. As it goes around (or orbits) the Earth, sometimes the side that people on Earth can see is all lit brightly. Other times only a small part of the side we see is lit. This is because the Moon does not send out its own light. People only see the parts that are being lit by sunlight. These different stages are called Phases of the Moon.
It takes the Moon about 29.53 days (29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes) to complete the cycle, from big and bright to small and dim and back to big and bright. The phase when the Moon passes between the Earth and Sun is called the "new Moon". The next phase of the Moon is called the "waxing crescent", followed by the "first quarter", "waxing gibbous", then a full Moon. A full Moon occurs when the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. As the Moon continues its orbit it becomes a "waning gibbous", "third quarter", "waning crescent", and finally back to a new Moon. People used the Moon to measure time. A month is approximately equal in time to a lunar cycle.
Humans finally landed on the Moon on July 21, 1969. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar ship (the "Eagle") on the surface of the Moon. Then, as half the world watched him on television, Armstrong climbed down the ladder of the "Eagle" and was the first human to touch the Moon as he said, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Because it is smaller, the Moon has less gravity than Earth (only 1/6 of the amount on Earth). So if a person weighs 60 kilograms on Earth, the person would only weigh 10 kilograms on the Moon. But even though the Moon's gravity is weaker than the Earth's gravity, it is still there. If a person dropped a ball while standing on the Moon, it would still fall down. However, it would fall "much" more slowly. A person who jumped as high as possible on the Moon would jump higher than on Earth, but still fall back to the ground. Because the Moon has no atmosphere, there is no air resistance, so a feather will fall as fast as a hammer.
Without an atmosphere, the environment is not protected from heat or cold. Astronauts wore spacesuits, and carried oxygen to breathe. The gloves of the spacesuit, were never taken off on the Moon. The suit weighed about as much as the astronaut. The Moon's gravity is weak, so it was not as heavy as on Earth.
On the Earth, the sky is blue because the blue rays of the Sun bounce off the gases in the atmosphere, making it look like blue light is coming from the sky. But on the Moon, because there is no atmosphere, the sky looks black, even in the daytime. There is no atmosphere to protect the Moon from rocks that come from space, and these meteorites crash right into the Moon and make wide, shallow holes called craters. The Moon has thousands of them. Newer craters overlie older ones. On Earth, meteorites burn in the atmosphere, and most burn up completely.
In 2009 Chandrayaan-1 found a lot of water on the Moon. The water is not liquid but is in the form of hydrates and hydroxides. Liquid water cannot exist on the Moon because photodissociation quickly breaks down the molecules. However, from the data received from Chandrayaan-1, liquid surface water may have once existed on the Moon.
During the Cold War, the United States Army thought about making a military post on the Moon, able to attack targets on Earth. They also considered testing a nuclear weapon on the Moon. The United States Air Force had similar plans. However, both plans were brushed-off as NASA moved from a military to a civilian-based agency.
His music career first began when he was in high school. He then signed the first of two recording contracts with CBS Records.
Ryan died from cancer in Santa Monica, California on November 19, 2021, at the age of 82.
Animals who live under human control or care are in captivity. Captivity can be used as a term meaning the keeping of either domesticated animals (livestock, pets) or wild animals. This may include for example farms, private homes and zoos. Sometimes humans take care of critically endangered animals and therefore these animals are in captivity.
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the southeastern United States, also called the Southeastern Woodlands. This is today in Mississippi and Alabama. Their language is the Choctaw language. It is part of the Muskogean family. It is also similar to Chickasaw. Three tribes are recognized today. They are the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana.
The people were originally mound builders. Early Choctaw lived in thatched-roof cabins of logs in communities. Agriculture was the main supply of food, such as the Three Sisters. There was also fishing and hunting. Sports were also important and often replaced war.
The tribe supported the Americans during the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Creek War. Europeans thought the tribe was civilized. It was part of the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes" of the Southeast.
Most of the tribe was forced out of their land from 1831 to 1833. This was part of the Indian Removal. The remaining Choctaw became citizens. The tribe supported the Confederates in the U.S. Civil War. Several chiefs of the Choctaw were at the US Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Choctaw worked as codetalkers during World War I. They used their own Choctaw language. The Choctaw reorganized after the Indian Reorganization Act.
Native Americans in the United States (also known as American Indians) are the indigenous people from the areas of North America now part of the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. The US government recognizes 574 tribes. There are about 310 Indian reservations in the US. Most Native Americans do not live on a reservation anymore.
There were and still are many diverse groups of Natives in what is now the US. The diversity includes various and rich languages and cultures. The arrival of Europeans in the Americas drastically changed Native Americans in the US. The history of these Native Americans is a story of suppression and the forced removal from their lands. During American history, there were various Native responses to European colonization and American expansion. In the 20th century, Natives got more rights and were recognized as citizens.
There are still problems today that impact Native Americans in the United States. Natives Americans face discrimination from other groups. There is also racism and cultural appropriation. There are also public health issues connected to historical trauma and generations of misstreatment.
Historians often break up the cultures of Indigenous peoples of North America in the United States into two ten regions:
Native Americans most likely originally came from Asia to the Americas. They most likely crossed over Beringia. This was a geographical bridge that connected what is now Russia and Alaska. This migration may be over 30,000 years old. The Clovis culture was one of the earliest cultures.
The Pre-Columbian Era was before Columbus and Europeans conquered the Natives. Scholars break this era into different stages. The lithic stage was important for the usage of new rock technologies. In the archaic period, there was mainly subsistence farming. After the archaic period, societies were more developed. There were more crafts, urban centers, military structures, and usages of metals. Examples of tribes include Eastern Woodlands culture, the Pacific Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, the Mississippian culture (including Cahokia), Pueblo peoples and Iroquois League of Nations.
Europeans started to arrive in the 16th century. This caused diseases to spread, and many Natives died. The population of Natives became much smaller. There were many conflicts between American Indians and colonists even into the 19th century. Natives fought to protect their lands. Europeans also brought animals. Natives began to hunt more and move around more with these new animals. European trade led to the Columbian Exchange.
There were several wars. Native Americans often fought against each other and Europeans. They also made many alliances. The Beaver Wars were in the 17th century. Iroquis became powerful and destroyed other tribes like Huron, Neutral, Erie, Susquehannock, and Shawnee. Natives fought with the French and British during the Seven Year's War. King Philip's War was between Metacom and Colonists in New England. It was the last major war between Natives and Colonists.
During the American Revolution, many Natives fought with the British. At the Treaty of Paris (1783), Britain gave most Native lands to America. George Washington and Americans wanted to civilize and educate Natives. The Civilization Fund Act of 1819 supported this process. Americans thought that some Natives were civilized. These were the Five Civilized Tribes. They included the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole tribes.
In the 19th century, most of the lands in the Eastern United States were conquered. The lands in the west were still Native American Territory. Soon diseases also came to the Western territories. The Americans wanted to move west. There was Native American resistance. Conflicts included Tecumseh's War, the Creek War and Seminole Wars. However, Native Americans were in the Union and Confederate Armies during the Civil War.
President Andrew Jackson forced Natives to leave their lands. He passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This led to the Trail of Tears. Americans justified this removal. This was called Manifest Destiny. In 1851, the Indian Appropriations Act set up preservations for Natives. Natives resisted in the Indian Wars. There was also the Dakota War, Great Sioux War, Snake War, Colorado War, and Texas-Indian Wars. In the Wounded Knee Massacre, the US army killed many Natives.
The Cherokee were the first Natives to become US citizens.
In 1871, Ulysses S. Grant recognized more Native tribes in the Indian Appropriations Act. The US government also created many boarding schools for Native Americans. The schools only taught Christianity and not Native American religions. Navajo were against teaching. Eventually, the schools included Indian history and self-esteem.
In the 20th century, there were more rights for Natives. Politicians were more open to Natives. Woodrow Wilson allowed Natives who fought in World War I to become citizens. Calvin Coolidge signed the Indian Citizenship Act. This made all Natives American citizens. Republican Charles Curtis was a Native and Congressman. He became the Senate Minority Whip and Senate Majority Leader for several years. Today Americans have all the rights of the US constitution. The Indian Relocation Act of 1956 supported vocational training.
Many Natives fought and died in World War II. Soldiers respected the Natives. The legacy of the Native American warrior was still there.
Native Americans are affected by some problems more than White Americans. For example Native Americans are six times more likely to suffer from alcoholism than average. About 24% live in extreme poverty. Native American and Native Alaskan women are more likely to be targets of sexual violence than other women. Natives says that they often face prejudice and mistreatment. Many Native Americans live in cities. They face poverty and bad working conditions.
Another problem is cultural appropriation. This is when a culture wrongly adopts and takes elements from another culture. This is a problem in sports with mascots. There are often Native American stereotypes. The Golden State Warriors stopped using Native American logos in the 1970s. In 2020, the Washington Redskins changed their name to Washington Commanders.
There has been controversy with names of Native Americans in the US. Native Americans were historically called "Indians". This word has racist stereotypes. The term Native Americans is viewed to be more historically accurate. There is no agreement among Native Americans on what is the best term. Some criticize the term "Native Americans", because the government chose it. Several Native tribes prefer the term "American Indian". Native Americans prefer to be called by their tribal names.
Ob (river)
The Ob is a river in Siberia. Together with the Lena and the Yenisei, it is one of the most important rivers of Siberia. Depending upon how its length is measured, it can be between 3.650 km and 6.210 km long. Some important cities on the banks of the river include Novosibirsk (Russia's third largest city), Barnaul, Kolpashevo, Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Khanty-Mansiysk, Beryozovo, Labytnangi, and Salekhard. The Irtysh is the Ob river's main tributary. Other tributaries include the Omsk, Parabel, Chaya, Tobol and Ishim.
Oklahoma Territory was an organized territory of the United States from May 2, 1890 until November 16, 1907, when Oklahoma became the 46th state. It was made up of the western area of what is now the state of Oklahoma. The eastern area consisted of the last remaining part of Indian Territory.
Magdalenenberg is the name of a tumulus grave which dates from the Iron Age. It lies at the southwestern tip of the Black Forest, in Germany. The nobleman who is buried there was part of the Hallstatt culture. With a volume of 33.000 cubic metres it is the biggest grave from that time in Central Europe.
Sacred Cenote (Well of Sacrifice) is a well known cenote at the Maya site of Chichen Itza. One can access it by a 900 foot paved corridor that leads from the Great Plaza. The Sacred Cenote was used for human sacrifices to the rain god Chaac in periods of drought.
So far, the latest person executed in an electric chair has been Nicholas Todd Sutton, an American serial killer, who was responsible for murdering two acquaintances and his own grandmother in North Carolina and Tennessee from August to December 1979. Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for these crimes, Sutton, among three other inmates, later participated in a 1985 prison killing over drugs. For this final crime, he was sentenced to death and executed by electric chair on Feb. 20, 2020 in Tennessee at the Riverbend Maximum Security Prison.
The ruins are on lowland rainforest, but Tikal had no water other than what was collected from rainwater and stored underground. Archaeologists working in Tikal during the last century used the underground facilities to store water for their own use. The absence of springs, rivers, and lakes nearby is unusual for a major city. However, Tikal did well with intensive agricultural techniques. These were more advanced than the slash & burn methods originally theorized by archeologists. The reliance on seasonal rainfall made Tikal open to drought. This is now thought to play a major part in the "Classic Maya Collapse".
Venus figurine
The Venus of Tan-Tan is a venus figurine. It was found in Morocco. It has been dated to be between 300.000 and 500.000 years old. Unlike the other venus figurines, it appears neither male nor female.
The Venus of Berekhat Ram is a stone that was found on the Golan Heights in 1981. Scientists have proposed to classify it as a Venus figurine, because there are traces it was worked on with a stone tool. The things that have been worked can clearly be told apart from the natural stone. It is therefore agreed that the pebble has been modified by human action, even though it bears little resemblance to the much later "Venus figurines" of about 30.000 years ago.
Chattanooga is the fourth-largest city in Tennessee, a state in the United States of America. Cities larger than it are Nashville - the capital and largest city of the state; Memphis; and Knoxville. Chattanooga is in the southeast of Tennessee.
The first people to live in the Chattanooga area were Native American Indians with sites dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period. The city became a transport hub, which made it a target in the American Civil War.
Greenville is a city in South Carolina, United States. Bob Jones University is in Greenville. Greenville is in the Blue Ridge region of the state and is the county seat of Greenville County. As of 2020, there were 70,720 people living in the city, and 387,271 people living in the urban area.
Johnny Edwards was born at Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital in Seneca, South Carolina, He was the son of Wallace Edwards and Catharine Edwards, He studied Clemson University and North Carolina State University, He graduated with a Bachelor's degree of textile technology in 1974, After that he graduated as a Doctor of Law at University of North Carolina School of Law .
The Fuller Theological Seminary is in Pasadena, California. It is one of North America's largest seminaries. The Seminary has over 4,300 students from over 67 countries and 108 denominations.
In Western Christian theology, a Bachelor of Divinity (BD or BDiv) is usually an undergraduate academic degree given for courses taken in the study of divinity. At some institutions, the BD is a higher degree than the Bachelor of Arts.
Freespire is a Linux distribution made with parts from Ubuntu. It was made to make using free software easy, while giving the choice to use non-free (not open source) parts. These parts might be programs, drivers, or codecs. Linspire, a commercial Linux distribution, is made from Freespire.
In Christianity, the spiritual gifts are gifts given to Christians. Each Christian has his or her own gift (or gifts). They are talked about in the New Testament, mainly in First Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. Some believe that they only worked in early Christianity.
Sanctification can also refer to how a person becomes a good moral person, or someone with a close relationship to God. This may not include any ceremony. Persons who achieve this holiness are sometimes called Saints. Some churches have a list of saints who have been recognized as having been especially holy persons.
Christian hedonism is a controversial Christian doctrine in some evangelical churches, partly those of the Reformed tradition. This term was made by Baptist pastor John Piper in his 1986 book "Desiring God". Piper talks about this philosophy of the Christian life as "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."
Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a former Dutch footballer. He was most recently the manager of the Netherlands national football team. He had to quit playing football early because of an injury that kept him from playing for more than a year.
Cinnabar is a mineral. It is the main ore of mercury and is made up of the chemical mercuric sulphide (HgS).