adityasasidhar/Wikipedia_Cleaned huggingface dataset:
Presidents' Day, originally was two separate observances, Abraham Lincoln's birthday, which was February 12, and George Washington's birthday, which was February 22. The two observances were combined in 1971 into a single observance which is held on the third Monday in February.
Memorial Day was first held in 1865 after the American Civil War. It was called Decoration Day at that time. The holiday was first called Memorial Day in 1882, and became a federal holiday in 1967. On June 28, 1968, the United States Congress made a law that said that the official Memorial Day holiday is May 30, but that Memorial Day was to be observed by federal employees as a paid holiday on the last Monday in May.
Columbus Day is a holiday celebrating the day Columbus landed on San Salvador. It is celebrated in many countries. This holiday is very controversial because of the way Columbus treated the Native Americans at the time.
Recycling is when you recover scrap or waste and reprocessing the material into useful products. Glass, paper, plastic, and metals such as aluminum and steel are often recycled. Dead plants, fruit and vegetable scraps can be recycled through composting.
Recycling reduces trash in landfills and incinerators. Another reason people recycle is to reduce the amount of raw materials and energy used in making things. Most of the time, it takes less energy to recycle trash than to throw it away, "The Economist" says. Recycling can reduce your carbon footprint and it can help to minimize the whole size of landfills around the world
First, plastic is collected and taken to a recycling center, where it is "sorted out". When plastic is sorted out by hand, symbols have to be printed on every recyclable plastic product used. Nowadays, machines can sort out the plastic automatically. There are different types of plastic, for example "polyethylene", "polypropylene", "polystyrene", and "polyethylene terephthalate". There are two kinds of polyethylene plastic: "high density polyethylene" (HDPE), and "low density polyethylene" (LDPE). HDPE plastic is usually used to make milk bottles and bottles for shampoo or detergents. LDPE plastic are usually things like toothpaste tubes, plastic bags, and films for packaging. Polypropylene plastic is used to make buckets, plastic boxes, and flower pots. Polyethylene terephthalate is the material from which water and soft drink bottles are made.
HDPE plastic is ground into a small powder. LDPE plastic, which are usually thin films, need to be ground by a special machine. After that, both plastics are washed with hot water and detergent. Dirt and other things, like labels, are taken off. After the wash, the powder is dried with hot air.
Sometimes, the powder is sold. But other times, the powder is heated, colored, and then put into a "pelletizer". The pelletizer makes the powder into little pellets, which are bought by a company that shapes the pellets into pieces of plastic "wood". This plastic wood is used to make flowerpots, trash cans, pipes, picnic tables, benches, toys, mats, and many other things.
Transnistria (also called Transdniestria, or Pridnestrovie, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, PMR; ), is a separatist country in Eastern Europe. This means that it claims to be a separate country from Moldova but this is not legally true. Most countries have no diplomatic relations with it.
Transnistria is the only state to still use the hammer and sickle symbol on its flag.
Russia has a big influence on the territory. Between 1.500 and 2.000 Russian soldiers are stationed on the territory. In addition, there may be up to 10.000 paramilitary troops.
Moldovans, Russians, and Ukrainians make up about a third of the population each. The capital and largest city is Tiraspol.
The area was part of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. It was occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II.
Transnistria was officially formed between 1990, when the Soviet government established the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in that area in hopes that it would remain if Moldova became independent.
Moldova did become independent of the Soviet Union and claimed Transnistria as part of its territory. Transnistria declared independence from Moldova on 2 September 1990.
With the help of the Russian army, it defeated the Moldovan army in the War of Transnistria. There has been peace since 1992, but the Council of Europe calls Transnistria a "frozen conflict" area. Currently, no state recognises Transnistria and most countries agree that it is officially part of Moldova.
There is argument about whether Transnistria is really a country or not. It is recognized by three other unrecognized or partly recognized breakaway countries: Abkhazia, Artsakh, and South Ossetia. The area continues to claim independence, and acts independently over its territory with the help of peacekeeping forces from foreign countries. Many countries also think that Transnistria is a puppet state of Russia.
In a vote on 17 September 2006, 97% voted to be free from Moldova. This vote has not been accepted by Moldova, which calls the area the "Territory of the Left Bank of the Dniester".
Transnisttria is landlocked and is located between Moldova and Ukraine.
The climate is humid continental with subtropical characteristics. Transnistria has warm summers and cool to cold winters. Precipitation is unvarying all year round, although with a slight increase in the summer months.
Transnistria is a presidential republic, with the President of Transnistria being both the head of state and also shares the position of head of government with the Chairman of the Government.
The legislature is the Supreme Council, which has 43 members. There is disagreement over if elections in Transnistria are free.
The two municipalities are Tiraspol and Bender, although Bender is not actually part of Transnistria's define territory.
Dili is the capital of the country East Timor. People from Portugal moved there around 1520. Now, Dili is home to about 150,000 people.
Holly bushes produce berries that birds often eat during the winter season. The plant often signifies holidays such as Christmas, or the start of a new season.
Fargo is the largest city in the American state of North Dakota. It is in the eastern part of the state, near the Minnesota border. The city was founded in 1871, and it has a population of 125,990 as of the 2020 census. Fargo lies at the intersection of two major highways, Interstate 29 and Interstate 94.
Daft Punk were an electronic music duo from France. There are two people in the band, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (born February 8, 1974) and Thomas Bangalter (born January 3, 1975). Daft Punk used analog synthesizers and other real instruments to make their music. On 22 February 2021 they released the video "Epilogue" that announced the end of Daft Punk as a group.
Both of the Daft Punk members went to the same school in Paris. They became friends and recorded a demo track with other students from the school. Thomas Bangalter played bass guitar, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo played guitar. They formed a band called Darlin'. Darlin' had another member named Laurent Brancowitz. Darlin' did not last very long. Brancowitz left the group and joined Phoenix. This was a band his younger brother, Christian Mazzalai was in. After a concert in the United Kingdom, a newspaper said the band's music was "daft punk" (silly punk music). Thomas and Guy-Manuel liked the words "daft punk". They made a new music group named Daft Punk.
While attending a rave at EuroDisney, they met Stuart MacMillan of Slam. He let them join the record label Soma Quality Recordings based in Glasgow.
Daft Punk recorded their first demo. It was called "The New Wave". They made other demos, such as "Alive" and "Da Funk". Both of these were on the group's first album.
In 1995, Daft Punk recorded a song named "Da Funk". It was their first commercial success. After making the song, Daft Punk looked for a manager. They hired Pedro Winter, who is also known by the name Busy P. The group joined Virgin Records.
Daft Punk released "Homework" in 1997. This was their first studio album. The album was popular. It helped make French house music more popular. It went on the "Billboard" 200. The album had many singles. The most popular single from it was "Around the World". Daft Punk made many music videos for "Homework". After making the album, Bangalter and Homem-Christo made their own record labels. They made more music.
In 1999, Daft Punk returned to recording studio to work on "Discovery" which would be their second album and their second success. "Discovery" reached the second place on the UK Albums Chart. "One More Time", the first single from "Discovery", was very popular around the world. Daft Punk became one of the most famous electronic music groups.
Daft Punk used many samples (sounds from other music) to make songs such as "Face to Face", "Too Long" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". Kanye West's 2007 song "Stronger" from the album "Graduation" samples "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".
In 2003, Daft Punk released the animated movie Interstella 5555. The band worked with the Japanese animation company Toei Animation and the famous Japanese producer Leiji Matsumoto to make the movie. It is a story that is set to the "Discovery" album with no additional words and only a few added sound effects.
In 2004, Daft Punk spent six weeks on their third album. "Human After All" was a subject of controversy, concerning some aggressive aspects in songs such as "Technologic", saying that most of the songs were too repetitive. De Homem-Christo and Bangalter said "We believe that Human After All speaks for itself".
In 2006, Daft Punk released "Electroma", a short film about two robots (Daft Punk themselves) who are on a journey to become human. The film however, did not feature any music by Daft Punk but instead a selection of songs by other artists of different types of music genres. Daft Punk went on their second world tour, "Alive 2006/2007". The duo played worldwide to thousands of people. Daft Punk played in a pyramid on stage which was admired for its futuristic design.
In 2008, Daft Punk made their first televised performance at the 2008 Grammy Awards. They performed with Kanye West as he rapped, "Stronger". In 2010, Daft Punk were chosen to compose the soundtrack to . The duo had a cameo in the film.
In 2013, Daft Punk released their final album, "Random Access Memories". Columbia Records became their new label after many years with Virgin Records. The group worked with Giorgio Moroder, Todd Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Panda Bear, Chilly Gonzales, DJ Falcon, Julian Casablancas, Paul Williams and Pharrell Williams on the album. "Random Access Memories" had very little electronic music in it. Instead, Daft Punk used live instruments and minimized the use of synthesizers. The album is a tribute to the disco, rock and funk music of the 1970s and 1980s.
The lead single from the album, "Get Lucky", was met with critical acclaim and topped many charts around the world. It featured Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers. At the 2014 Grammy Awards, "Get Lucky" won Record of the Year and "Random Access Memories" won Album of the Year.
In 2016, Daft Punk worked with The Weeknd in the singles "Starboy" and "I Feel It Coming". They performed both songs at the 2017 Grammy Awards. It was their final performance together. In 2021, they announced their breakup via YouTube.
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, are a major international sports event. People with physical disabilities compete in these games. They are called Paralympians. They include people with disabilities that affect movement, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy.
There are and . They are held just after the Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The Paralympics started as a small gathering of British World War II veterans in organised by Sir Ludwig Guttmann in 1948. They became one of the largest international sport events by the early 21st century.
Paralympians have many different kinds of disabilities, so there are several categories in which they compete. The disabilities are in seven broad categories: amputee, cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, wheelchair, visually impaired, and "Les Autres" (This means "the others" in French.) These categories are further broken down which vary from sport to sport.
In 1946, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was formed. Its founders were owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers. This was the first game played in NBA history. There were earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues. Examples are the American Basketball League and the NBL. The BAA was the first league to play in major cities. They played in large arenas. The level of play in the BAA was not very good. Competing leagues and other teams had similar talent. The Harlem Globetrotters are an example.
At the end of every NBA regular season, the NBA Playoffs begin. 8 teams from each, the western, and the eastern conference are assigned a seed 1-8. Home court advantage is always determined by seed; higher seed=home court advantage. In the first round of the playoffs, the 1 seed plays the 8 seed;2 plays 7; 3 plays 6; 4 plays 5. All playoff rounds are best-of-7 series, meaning the first team to win 4 games moves on to the next round. Since 2014 every round follows a 2-2-1-1-1 format. The higher seeded team will have home games 1, 2, 5, and 7. The lower seed is home in games 3, 4, and 6.
The FIFA Women's World Cup is a football tournament for women's national teams from countries that are part of FIFA. It happens every four years, one year after the men's World Cup. The first one was in China in 1991. Teams compete for 31 spots through qualifications, and the host country gets the 32nd spot. The tournament, called the World Cup Finals, takes place in the host country over about a month. Five different countries have won the nine Women's World Cup tournaments. The United States won four times, Germany twice, and Japan, Norway, and Spain once each.
Eight countries have hosted the Women's World Cup, including China and the United States twice. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, and Sweden have each hosted it once.
In 2023, Australia and New Zealand co-hosted the tournament, marking the first time it was in the Southern Hemisphere, the first Women's World Cup hosted by two countries, and the first FIFA competition to span two confederations.
Nathula is a mountain pass in the Himalayas. It connects Sikkim in India and Tibet in China. It is at a height of 4,500 metres above sea level.
The Klondike Gold Rush happened in the 1890s when many people went to the Klondike region of the Yukon, in Canada. They hoped to find gold there and become rich. Many of these prospectors came from the United States. Gold was first found in Klondike in a creek called Rabbit Creek. Prospectors named the creek "Bonanza Creek" because of the gold ("bonanza "means a lucky source of wealth). Four million dollars worth of gold was found.
Going to the gold fields was difficult. Most people who started the journey did not arrive. Very few who arrived found any gold. The city that likely profited most from the Klondike Gold Rush was Dawson City, Yukon in Canada.
Clone High is an animated comedy television series about a high school full of clones of famous dead people. It aired on MTV in the US and Teletoon in Canada. It was produced by Nelvana, Touchstone Pictures, Teletoon Canada, and MTV.
The Chinese Civil War was the third-largest war of all time, after World War 1 and World War 2. It was part of the Interwar period in the aftermath of the Great War from 1918 to 1939 and was also part of the Cold War in the aftermath of World War 2 from 1945 to 1949. The war is usually divided into two parts: 1927-1937 and 1946-1949. It started and stopped several times before the Second Sino-Japanese War and there was less fighting after the Empire of Japan had invaded. The war between the CPC and the KMT started again in 1946 after Japan's defeat in World War II. The CPC took control of most of China, and the KMT had only islands left. About two million Chinese fled to Taiwan in late 1949. In 1950, no large battles were started. The loss of the KMT in Mainland China is said to be for several reasons:
No agreement was made between the two governments and so some say that the war has not ended. Both governments have many military weapons to be used against only against each other, both still say they are the legitimate government of China, and both seek diplomatic relations with other countries as the only legitimate government.
In 1894 Japan invaded the Qing Dynasty in Manchuria and Taiwan and as well as Korea . In 1899-1901 the Boxer Rebellion happened and Japan invaded China again but allied with Russia, Germany, Austria, France, Britain and America to support Yuan Shikai to stop Empress Dowager Cixi. This led to the fall of the Qing dynasty in the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, the country was thrown into turmoil. In the ensuing power vacuum, a large number of warlords seized control of different parts of the country. To defeat them and unify the country, Sun Yat-sen and his KMT sought help from foreign governments.
He made pleas to several Western democratic nations, but none offered help. It was only after he turned to the Soviets in 1921 that Sun found aid. The communist Soviet Union agreed to help the KMT if the smaller Chinese Communist Party be allowed to join. In 1923 the Soviet Union, the KMT, and the CPC made an agreement, the Sun-Joffe Manifesto, which said the Soviets would help China have only one government. Mikhail Borodin traveled to China in 1923 to help change the KMT to make it similar to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CPC and KMT were joined in the First United Front.
In 1923, Chiang Kai-shek travelled to the Soviet Union to study military and politics with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1924, he became the leader of the Whampoa Military Academy in China. Most of the help from the Soviet Union was for that school, which taught Soviet political and military ideas to the KMT and the CPC. The Soviets gave books and guns to use for teaching about war and military things. With Soviet help Sun made an "army of the party". Members of the CPC were also in the school and some were teachers. Zhou Enlai was a teacher in the school.
The KMT then agreed to let some communists join the KMT, when the CPC was small compared to the KMT. The CPC had 300 members in 1922 and only 1,500 by 1925. The KMT in 1923, however, had 50,000 members.
In 1927 the civil war in the Republic of China began when the Kuomintang (KMT) led by Chiang Kai-shek became rivals with the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Zhang Guotao and Mao Zedong were fighting against each other. The Chinese Nationalists got support from the Weimar German Republic and Nazi Germany by buying German Weapons until the Nazis started to support the Japanese Empire. In 1937 the Second Sino-Japanese War began which started World War 2 in Asia and Germany took the side of Japan.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in the South Caucasus. It is recognized by other countries as part of Azerbaijan, but from 1994 until the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, most of it was militarily controlled by Armenians as the Republic of Artsakh, which was not officially recognized by any other country, including Armenia which supported it.
In September of 2023, Azerbaijan invaded the Artsakh Republic after a long siege. Within a few days, Artsakh surrendered and came under the control of Azerbaijan. Nearly all of Artsakh's population fled to Armenia as refugees.
The names for the region in the different local languages all translate to "mountainous Karabakh", or "mountainous black garden". The word "nagorno" is Russian for "mountainous/on the mountain", "kara" is Turkish for "black", and "bakh" means "garden" in Azerbaijani.
Around 180 BC, Artsakh became one of the 15 provinces of the Armenian Kingdom and remained so until the 4th century. Then it became part of the Sasanian Empire. In the 7th century, the region was conquered by the invading Muslim Arabs. The House of Khachen, then ruled Artsakh until the early 19th century. Persia formally ceded the whole of Karabakh to the Russian Empire by the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813. In April 1920 Azerbaijan was taken over by the Bolsheviks. It was in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1980s there was a movement to have the autonomous oblast transferred to the Armenian SSR. When Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in Moscow and started campaigns of publicity and democratic reforms at the end of the 20th century, Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh sent letters to Gorbachev demanding him to move the autonomous oblast to the control of Armenia. When it was declined, the Armenians started an independence movement.
In November 1991, seeking to stop this movement, the Parliament of Azerbaijan abolished the autonomous status of the region. In response, the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians held a referendum on December 10, 1991, which was boycotted by Azerbaijanis living in Nagorno-Karabakh and none of them participated in it, therefore the overwhelming majority of the population voted for independence.
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city in north-east England. In 2021, 286,445 people lived in the city.
Newcastle upon Tyne is called Newcastle for short. It is famous for its big bridge called the Tyne Bridge.
The local dialect and accent is called the "Geordie" dialect. People from Newcastle are also called Geordies.
The Premier League, commonly known as the English Premier League, or the EPL (formerly called the Barclays Premier League due to sponsorship reasons and before 2007 the Premiership) is the top tier of English football. 20 teams compete in the Premier League each season, which is usually played between August and May. Each season, 38 games are played (playing all 19 other teams home and away). For historic reasons, a few clubs from Wales also compete in the English football system.
Mike Dean
Graham Poll<br>Peter Walton<br>Mike Riley<br>Phil Dowd<br>Mike Jones<br>Mark Halsey<br>Uriah Rennie<br>Mark Clattenburg<br>Howard Webb<br>Keith Hackett<br>David Elleray<br>Paul Dirkin<br>Jeff Winter<br>Dermot Gallagher<br>Chris Foy<br>Lee Probert<br>Neil Swarbrick<br>Mike Dean<br>Jon Moss<br>Lee Mason
Lee Mason
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born on August 18, 1927, in Plains, Georgia. She was the eldest of four children of Wilburn Edgar Smith and Frances A. Murray Smith. Her brothers were William Jerrold Smith, Murray Lee Smith, and a sister named, Lillian Allethea Smith Wall. Smith was named after Rosa Wise Murray, her maternal grandmother.
Smith played with the boys during her early childhood since no girls on her street were her age. She drew buildings and was interested in airplanes, which led her to believe that she would someday become an architect.
Smith's father died of leukemia in 1940 when she was thirteen. She called the loss of her father the conclusion of her childhood. Thereafter, she helped her mother raise her younger siblings, as well as assisting in the dressmaking business to meet the family's standard of living.
Smith graduated as valedictorian of Plains High School. She attended Georgia Southwestern College and graduated in 1946. During her time in college, Rosalynn served as vice president of her class and was a founding member of her school's Young Democrats, Campus Marshal and Tumbling Clubs. She would graduate with a junior college diploma.
Smith first dated Jimmy Carter in 1945 while he was attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Smith agreed to marry Jimmy in February 1946 when she went to Annapolis with his parents. On July 7, 1946, they married in Plains. The couple had four children named Jack, James Earl III, Jeff, and Amy Carter.
Carter became the first lady of Georgia when her husband became the 76th governor on January 12, 1971. As the state's first lady, she decided to focus her attention of mental health . She was appointed to the Governor's Commission to Improve Services for the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped. In August 1971, Carter engaged in a statewide tour of mental health facilities across Georgia.
Carter also served as a volunteer at the Georgia Regional Hospital at Atlanta, and for four years was honorary chairperson for the Georgia Special Olympics. Her activities included entertaining as many as 750 people a week for dinner at the Governor's Mansion.
Carter became the first lady of the United States when her husband was sworn in as the 39th president on January 20, 1977. In March 1977, Carter gave her first interview since becoming first lady. She outlined her goals in focusing on mental health.
Carter served as an active honorary chair of the President's Commission on Mental Health. On behalf of the Mental Health System Bill enacted in 1980, she testified before a Senate committee, making her the second first lady to appear before Congress, after Eleanor Roosevelt. Of her priorities, mental health was the highest. Working to change the nature of government assistance to the mentally ill, Carter wanted to allow people to be comfortable admitting their disabilities without fear of being called crazy.
After the Carters left the White House in 1981, they continued to be very active in public life. In 1982, she co-founded The Carter Center, a private, not-for-profit institution based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Carters returned to the home they had built in 1961 in Plains, Georgia. She was a member of the center's board of trustees and participated in many of the center's programs, but gave special attention to the mental health program.
Carter created and served as the chair of The Carter Center Mental Health Task Force, an advisory board of experts, consumers, and advocates promoting positive change in the mental health field. She hosted the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, bringing together nationwide leaders in the mental health field.
In April 1984, she became an Honorary Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and served as a board member emeritus of the National Mental Health Association. In 1985, she started the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy. The launch and its proceeds allowed representatives of mental health organizations to come together and collaborate on prominent issues.
She became chair of the International Women Leaders for Mental Health in 1992, and three years later she was honored with the naming of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Georgia Health Forum after her.
The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism provide stipends to journalists to report on topics related to mental health or mental illnesses. The one-year fellowship seeks to promote public awareness of mental health issues.
Carter was president of the board of directors for the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at Georgia Southwestern State University. The institute focuses its work on both family and professional caregivers for individuals living with chronic illness and disabilities, limitations related to aging, and other health concerns people encounter in their lifespan.
In 1999, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2001, Carter was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. She became the third first lady inducted into the Hall of Fame, after Abigail Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Among Carter's many other awards for service are:
Carter received honorary degrees from the following institutions:
Carter served as distinguished centennial lecturer at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, from 1988 to 1992. She was a Distinguished Fellow at the Emory University Department of Women's Studies in Atlanta from 1989 to 2018.
In May 2023, the Carter Center announced that Carter had been diagnosed with dementia. On November 17, 2023, Carter entered hospice care. She died on November 19, 2023, at her home in Plains, Georgia, she was 96 years old. After a final procession through Plains, Carter was buried during a private service at her residence.
After being recalled from Germania, Germanicus celebrated a triumph in Rome in AD 17, the first full triumph that the city had seen since Augustus's own in 29 BC. As a result, in AD 18 Germanicus was granted control over the eastern part of the empire, just as both Agrippa and Tiberius had received before, and was clearly the successor to Tiberius. But tragedy struck once again, as Germanicus died after a year, apparently poisoned.
Sejanus had served the imperial family for almost twenty years when he became Praetorian Prefect in AD 15. The death of Drusus elevated Sejanus. Tiberius had statues of Sejanus erected throughout the city, and Sejanus became more and more visible as Tiberius began to withdraw from Rome altogether. Finally, with Tiberius's withdrawal to Capri in AD 26, Sejanus was left in charge of the entire state mechanism and the city of Rome.
Sejanus's position was not that of successor. The presence of Livia (the third wife and advisor of Augustus) seems to have checked his power for a time. Her death in AD 29 changed all that. Sejanus began a series of purge trials of Senators in Rome. Germanicus's widow Agrippina the Elder and two of her sons were arrested and exiled in AD 30 and later all died in suspicious circumstances.
In response, Tiberius manoeuvered cleverly. He knew an immediate condemnation of Sejanus might not succeed. Since he and Sejanus were then joint Consuls, Tiberius resigned his post of Consul, which forced Sejanus to do likewise. This removed much of Sejanus' legal powers and protection. Then, in AD 31, Sejanus was summoned to a meeting of the Senate, where a letter from Tiberius was read condemning Sejanus and ordering his immediate execution. Macro was appointed Praetorian Prefect, with the specific job of removing Sejanus. Sejanus was tried, and he and several of his colleagues were executed within the week.
The last years of Tiberius were notable for his complete absence from Rome, and his inactivity as Emperor. He was now an old man in his 70s, and left decisions to the officials in Rome. He did nothing to prevent the rise of his grandnephew Caligula, who was now popular with the people (as the only surviving son of Germanicus) and who had the support of the Prefect Macro.
Bradbury's most well-known works include the novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) and his collections of short stories: The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), and The October Country (1955). Other important works are the novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and advised on screenplays and television scripts, such as Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. Many of his stories were made into TV shows, movies, and comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry, which was published in collections like They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
The New York Times described Bradbury as "An author with a creative imagination, beautiful writing, and a deep understanding of human character, which made him famous internationally" and "the writer who played the biggest role in making modern science fiction popular in literature".
During his early years in Waukegan, Bradbury was surrounded by his extended family. His aunt read him stories, which played a significant role in shaping both Bradbury himself and his future stories. In Bradbury's writings, Waukegan became Green Town, Illinois, reflecting the influence of his childhood experiences.
The Bradbury family moved to Tucson, Arizona, for brief periods before finally settling in Los Angeles in 1934. Despite their financial challenges, Bradbury attended Los Angeles High School and was actively involved in the drama club. At the age of 14, he earned his first payment as a writer by selling a joke to the radio star George Burns. Bradbury's fascination with carnivals from a young age inspired his later works, such as The Illustrated Man and Something Wicked This Way Comes.
A significant event in Bradbury's youth was his encounter with Mr. Electrico at a carnival in 1932. The experience deeply impacted him, leading to a profound realization and a newfound passion for writing. This encounter marked the beginning of Bradbury's lifelong dedication to writing.
Literary Influence and Early Connections
During his youth, Ray Bradbury developed a strong passion for reading and writing, recognizing at a young age that he wanted to pursue a career in the arts. At 12 years old, he began writing his own stories, often on butcher paper.
Spending much of his time at the Carnegie Library in Waukegan, Bradbury delved into the works of authors like H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allan Poe. He admired writers such as Katherine Anne Porter, Edith Wharton, and Jessamyn West, while also being captivated by the writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs, particularly the John Carter of Mars series. His passion for literature extended to his love for illustration and cartooning, often drawing his own Sunday panels and writing out radio show scripts from memory.
In his teenage years in Beverly Hills, Bradbury found a mentor in science-fiction writer Bob Olsen and joined the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society at the age of 16, connecting with others who shared his interests.
Bradbury's literary influences expanded to include a wide range of literature, from poets like Alexander Pope and John Donne to humanistic science fiction writers like Robert A. Heinlein. He avidly read stories published in Astounding Science Fiction and admired the works of Arthur C. Clarke, Theodore Sturgeon, and A. E. van Vogt.
Living near the Fox Uptown Theatre in Los Angeles, Bradbury immersed himself in the world of Hollywood, often seeking out autographs from glamorous stars and encountering celebrities like Norma Shearer, Laurel and Hardy, and Ronald Colman. His experiences in Hollywood and encounters with famous personalities greatly influenced his later writings.
Career of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury's career as a writer took off after being deemed ineligible for military service due to his poor eyesight during World War II. Inspired by science-fiction heroes like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, he began publishing science-fiction stories in fanzines in 1938 and became part of the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society. His first published story, "Hollerbochen's Dilemma," appeared in the January 1938 issue of the fanzine Imagination!.
In 1939, Bradbury was supported by Forrest J. Ackerman and Morojo to attend the First World Science Fiction Convention in New York City and publish his own fanzine, Futuria Fantasia. Throughout the 1940s, he contributed to Rob Wagner's film magazine, Script, and joined the Wilshire Players Guild, where he wrote and acted in several plays.
By the age of 24, Bradbury had become a full-time writer, with his first collection of short stories, Dark Carnival, being published in 1947. This publication received positive reviews, leading to further success. His short story "Homecoming" won a place in the O. Henry Award Stories of 1947 after being discovered by a young editorial assistant named Truman Capote.
A chance encounter with British writer Christopher Isherwood in a Los Angeles bookstore led to the influential critic's review of The Martian Chronicles, further solidifying Bradbury's growing reputation in the literary world.
Influences and Writing Habits of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury attributed his lifelong dedication to writing to two significant incidents in his early life. The first was witnessing Lon Chaney in the 1923 film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" at the age of three, and the second was an encounter with a carnival performer, Mr. Electrico, who imparted the words "Live forever!" to Bradbury. These events ignited his passion for writing, leading him to write every day without fail.
Bradbury drew inspiration from a diverse range of writers, including Robert Frost, William Shakespeare, John Steinbeck, Aldous Huxley, and Thomas Wolfe. He learned different aspects of writing from these authors, such as writing objectively from Steinbeck and creating atmosphere and character from Eudora Welty.
While often labeled as a science-fiction writer, Bradbury resisted this categorization, emphasizing that his works were based on reality and fantasy rather than science fiction. He distinguished between science fiction, which depicts the real, and fantasy, which illustrates the unreal.
Despite his initial interest in becoming an actor, Bradbury became increasingly serious about writing during his high school years, with his teachers recognizing and nurturing his talent. He did not attend college due to financial constraints but spent a significant amount of time in libraries, where he believed aspiring writers could gain valuable knowledge and inspiration.
Bradbury emphasized the importance of poetry in his writing, attributing the lyrical power of his prose to his daily immersion in poetry. He believed that the ability to express emotions through writing was essential for living a fulfilling life.
Although he considered science to be incidental to his writing, Bradbury aimed to use it as a tool for social commentary and as an allegorical technique. His approach to writing transcended traditional genre boundaries, allowing him to create timeless works with enduring appeal.
Ray Bradbury described his inspiration as a spontaneous event where his stories "run up and bite" him, compelling him to capture everything that unfolds during this creative burst. He likened the process to being bitten by an idea, which he then translates into written form before it dissipates.
Cultural Contributions of Ray Bradbury
Bradbury made many contributions to culture. He wrote short essays on culture and the arts, catching the attention of critics. In his fiction, he explored and criticized his society. For example, in Fahrenheit 451, he talked about how media alienates people.
He believed his novel worked as a critique of political correctness. In 1994, he mentioned that political correctness was the real enemy, limiting freedom of speech. He expressed his desire to prevent the future rather than predict it.
Bradbury appeared on the quiz show You Bet Your Life in 1956, discussing his books and works. He was also a consultant for the 1964 New York World's Fair and worked on projects at Walt Disney World. In the 1980s, he focused on detective fiction and hosted The Ray Bradbury Theater in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
He strongly supported public libraries, raising money to prevent their closure. Bradbury had mixed opinions on technology, seeing good in computers but resisting the conversion of his work into e-books. However, he allowed Fahrenheit 451 to be published in electronic form under certain conditions.
Comic-book writers adapted Bradbury's stories, initially plagiarizing them until Bradbury intervened. He was also a passionate playwright, heading the Pandemonium Theatre Company and having a lasting relationship with the Fremont Centre Theatre.
Bradbury is featured in documentaries related to his era and celebrated by Fahrenheit 451 Books in Laguna Beach, California. In the 1980s and 1990s, he served on the advisory board of the Los Angeles Student Film Institute.
Bradbury's Personal Life
Ray Bradbury lived with his parents until he got married at the age of 27. He married Marguerite McClure in 1947, and they remained together until her death in 2003. Marguerite, affectionately called Maggie, was the only woman he ever dated. The couple had four daughters: Susan, Ramona, Bettina, and Alexandra. Interestingly, Bradbury never got a driver's license; instead, he used public transportation or his bicycle.
Raised in a Baptist family, Bradbury considered himself a "delicatessen religionist" as an adult, drawing inspiration from both Eastern and Western faiths. He saw his career as a writer as a gift from God.
Bradbury had close friendships with notable individuals. Charles Addams, known for the Addams Family, illustrated one of Bradbury's stories. They planned a larger collaborative work that never materialized. Another close friend was special effects expert Ray Harryhausen, who was the best man at Bradbury's wedding. Their shared love for science fiction and mutual influences led to a lifelong friendship.
Bradbury had an interesting encounter with Sergei Bondarchuk, the director of the Soviet film War and Peace, at a Hollywood award ceremony. Despite his late-life health challenges, including a stroke in 1999, Bradbury remained dedicated and passionate. He continued to make appearances at science-fiction conventions until his retirement in 2009. Despite these challenges, he continued writing, contributing an essay to The New Yorker about his inspiration for writing just a week before his death.
Ray Bradbury chose to be buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. His headstone simply reads "Author of Fahrenheit 451." In 2015, it was reported that the house where Bradbury lived and wrote for 50 years had been demolished by the buyer, architect Thom Mayne.
Politics of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury identified as a political independent. Initially raised as a Democrat, he voted for the Democratic Party until 1968. In 1952, he took a stand against attempts to label the Democratic Party as communist or subversive. However, Lyndon B. Johnson's handling of the Vietnam War left Bradbury disenchanted, leading him to vote for the Republican Party in every presidential election from 1968 onwards, except for 1976 when he voted for Jimmy Carter. Bradbury's biographer, Sam Weller, noted that Carter's economic management pushed Bradbury permanently away from the Democrats.
Bradbury had varying opinions on different presidents. He praised Ronald Reagan as "the greatest president" but criticized Bill Clinton, referring to him as a "shithead." Before the September 11 attacks, he expressed admiration for George W. Bush, calling him "wonderful" and criticizing the American education system.
In 2010, Bradbury criticized big government, expressing a dislike for politics and a hope for reducing government size. He was against affirmative action, condemned political correctness on campuses, and advocated for a ban on quotas in higher education. Bradbury believed that education should focus solely on learning without being influenced by politics.
Ray Bradbury passed away on June 5, 2012, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 91, following an extended illness. His personal library was bequeathed to the Waukegan Public Library, where he had formative reading experiences.
The Los Angeles Times praised Bradbury for his ability to write lyrically and vividly about distant lands and worlds while grounding them in the familiar. His grandson, Danny Karapetian, acknowledged the profound influence Bradbury had on various artists, writers, teachers, and scientists.
The Washington Post highlighted Bradbury's foresight in envisioning technologies such as banking ATMs, earbuds, Bluetooth headsets in Fahrenheit 451, and the concept of artificial intelligence in I Sing the Body Electric.
On June 6, 2012, President Barack Obama expressed condolences and acknowledged Bradbury's impact on American culture, noting his ability to reshape culture through storytelling. Many authors and filmmakers paid tribute to Bradbury, with Steven Spielberg considering him his muse in the sci-fi genre. Neil Gaiman emphasized the significant impact Bradbury had on shaping the world's imaginative landscape, while Stephen King praised his extensive body of work.
Margaret Atwood, in her tribute, revealed that Bradbury played a crucial role in her early reading experiences, describing how his stories were not just read but inhaled, leaving a lasting impression. Atwood highlighted Bradbury's self-taught approach and authentic voice in an age of writing classes and groomed images. Bradbury's legacy endures through the continued inspiration he provides to generations of readers, writers, and artists.
Primatology is a type of science that is part of zoology. It studies primates (monkeys, apes, lemurs, and humans). Primatology is a part of physical anthropology. A person who studies primatology is a primatologists. They can work in many different fields of study. These include biology, zoology, anthropology and psychology.
A large amount of information about primatology has been learned since the end of World War II in the United States, Canada, Western Europe and Japan. In the United States, primatologists work mostly in the fields of psychology and anthropology.
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Sunlight is the light and energy that comes from the Sun. When this energy reaches the earth's surface, it is called insolation. What we experience as sunlight is really solar radiation. It is the radiation and heat from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic waves.
The plesiosaurs were an order of large, carnivorous marine reptiles. They flourished from 203 million years ago (mya) to 66 mya.
The earliest plesiosaur remains are from the Middle Triassic period. The group was important through the Jurassic and Cretaceous. They had two large pairs of paddles, short tails, short or long necks, and broad bodies. They died out at the K/T extinction event, 65 million years ago.
Plesiosaurs had many bones in their flippers, making them flexible. No modern animal has this four-paddle anatomy: modern turtles use their forelimbs for swimming. Plesiosaurs were mainly piscivorous (fish-eaters).
Most nuclear reactors are power reactors, used to make electricity. In nuclear power plants heat from the fission reactions in the reactor changes water into steam. The steam is then used to power electric turbines which make electricity. Some small power reactors run nuclear submarines. As with other steam engines, the turbines take energy from the movement of the steam.
Some reactors are used for other purposes. Some reactors make neutrons for scientific research and others make radioactive isotopes. Some universities have small nuclear reactors to teach students how reactors work.
Nuclear reactors are expensive to build because of the many safety features they need to have. There is also a problem with the huge amount of radioactive waste from the reactors. However, they produce electricity cheaply, and do not pollute the air. There have been serious accidents at several nuclear reactors: Windscale (UK) 1957, Mayak (USSR) 1957, Three Mile Island (USA) 1979, Chornobyl (USSR) 1986 and Fukushima (Japan) 2011. Safety concerns have limited the growth of nuclear power. There are about 437 reactors around the world which provide about 5% of the world's electricity.
In January 1999, the town added a prefix "Kleiststadt" to refer to Heinrich von Kleist, who was born there in 1777. Today, about 65,000 people are living in Frankfurt an der Oder.
Punishment can be seen as good in society to prevent people from doing bad things. It can also be seen as cruel and unnecessary. It can also be seen to do more harm than good.
The blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus") is a marine mammal of the suborder of baleen whales (called Mysticeti). They grow to be about long. The biggest blue whale found was and measured long. Larger specimens have been measured at , but never been weighed. This makes blue whales the largest animals to ever live on Earth, even bigger than the largest dinosaurs.
The blue whale eats mostly very tiny creatures, like krill. These inch-long, shrimp-like crustacean swim in large swarms. In the Antarctic summer, there are so many of these krill that they turn the waters orange. A blue whale can eat of krill every day.
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