alibayram/wikipedia-40-langs huggingface dataset:
St Andrews

St Andrews is a town, that has its name from Saint Andrew the Apostle and is a former royal burgh on the east coast of Fife, Scotland, and an important home of golf. It has a population of about 18 000, and stands on the North Sea coast between Edinburgh and Dundee. It is home to Scotland's oldest university, the University of St Andrews.

The town is called "home of golf" for two reasons. First, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, founded in 1754,has authority over the game worldwide except in the USA and Mexico. Second, the beautiful links (acquired by the town in 1894) is the most frequent venue for The Open Championship, the oldest of the Men's major golf championships.

Visitors travel to St Andrews in great numbers for several courses ranked amongst the finest in the world, as well as for the sandy beaches.

Buildings

Cathedral 

The Cathedral of St Andrew was at one time Scotland's largest building. It was founded by Bishop Robert (1122 - 1159). It was not completed and consecrated until 1318 in the reign of Robert the Bruce (1306-29).

St Rule's Tower 

St Rule's tower stands in the Cathedral grounds but is older than the cathedral. Probably it was part of the Cathedral up to the early 12th century.

Castle 

The ruins of St Andrews Castle stand on a rock at the sea. It is said that Bishop Roger erected the first stone castle on the site about the beginning of the 13th century as an episcopal residence.

The University of St Andrews 
The University of St Andrews owed its origin to a society formed in 1410 by Lawrence of Lindores, abbot of Scone and a few others.

The university library, which now includes the older college libraries, was founded about the middle of the 17th century, rebuilt in 1764, and improved in 1829 and 1889 - 1890.

The modern buildings, in the Jacobean style, were erected between 1827 and 1847. University College, Dundee, became in 1890 affiliated to the University of St Andrews.

Other websites 

 Royal Burgh of St Andrews Community Council 
 The Official Tourist Portal for St Andrews 
 
 St Andrews Links

References 
 

Towns in Fife
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is one of the most famous editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica.  Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time. The articles are still of value and interest to modern scholars as examples for the knowledge of the 19th and early 20th centuries. They contain, however, a number of problematic areas for the modern scholar using them as a source. The eleventh edition is no longer restricted by copyright and is available online, both in its original text and in part in other online encyclopaedias and works.

Background
The 1911 eleventh edition was assembled under the leadership of American publisher Horace Everett Hooper, and edited by Hugh Chisholm. American marketing methods assisted sales. Some 11% of the contributors were American, and a New York office was established to run that side of the enterprise.

Some articles were written by the best-known scholars of the day, such as Edmund Gosse, J. B. Bury, Algernon Charles Swinburne, John Muir, Prince Peter Kropotkin, T. H. Huxley, G. K. Chesterton, Edmund Husserl and William Michael Rossetti, and others well known to that era.

The eleventh edition introduced a number of changes to the format of the Britannica. It was the first to be published complete, instead of the previous method of volumes being released as they were ready. The content of the encyclopaedia was made up as follows:

The eleventh edition has become a commonly quoted source because of the reputation of the Britannica at that time and because it is now in the public domain and has been made available on the Internet. The Encyclopædia Britannica of 1911 has been used as a source for many modern projects, such as Wikipedia and the Gutenberg Encyclopedia.

Gutenberg Encyclopedia
The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia is actually the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, renamed to address Britannica's trademark concerns.

Other websites

Free, public-domain resources
 Full-page scans in tiff format, at Tim Starling's Wikisource page.  Probably requires the AlternaTiff plugin.  In particular, see:
 In Volume 1, the "Prefatory Note" and "Editorial Introduction," which discuss the history and objectives of the edition. (These, and the different Prefatory Note from the Handy Volume edition of 1915, are also included in the Wikisource 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.)
The article on Encyclopaedia
Project Gutenberg Volume I
The Project Gutenberg Volume II

Articles about the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
 'Information ... Slightly Coloured by Prejudice', by Lawrence Biemiller, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Notes From Academe, Volume 52, Issue 47, Page A40. (No longer available on-line).
"Music and art in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica" by Charles T. Downey (Ionarts, 25 August 2006)

Encyclopædia Britannica
Free encyclopedias
Pontiac

Pontiac was an automobile manufacturer, owned by General Motors. Pontiac was known for making affordable performance cars. It was established in 1926. In 2009, General Motors announced that it would shut down Pontiac.

Pontiac is named for Pontiac (Ottawa leader), an 18th-century war chief, and for the town of Pontiac, Illinois.

Models

Final models 
 Pontiac G3
 Pontiac G6
 G8 (coming in 2008)
 Solstice
 Pontiac Torrent
 Vibe a rebadged version of Toyota Voltz.

Older models 
 Pontiac Aztek
 Pontiac G2/Matiz
 Pontiac Bonneville
 Pontiac Grand Am
 Pontiac Grand Prix
 Pontiac Le Mans
 Pontiac Firefly
 Pontiac Sunbird
 Pontiac Sunburst
 Pontiac Sunfire
 Pontiac Sunrunner
 Pontiac GTO
 Pontiac Montana

Other websites 
 Pontiac web site
 Canadian Pontiac web site 
 Forever Pontiac web site

General Motors
Buick

Buick is an automobile maker, owned by General Motors. It is known for making near-luxury cars with excellent performance and value. After the discontinuation of the Saturn brand GM announced Buick's styling would be based off the German Opel's.

Production models

Current

China
 Enclave (2020–present)
 Encore (2013–present)
 Encore GX (2020–present)
 Envision (2015–present)
 Excelle (2003–present)
 Excelle GT (2010–present)
 Excelle GX (2018–present)
 GL6 (2018–present)
 GL8 (2000–present)
 LaCrosse (2006–present)
 Regal (1999–present)
 Velite 6 (2019–present)
 Verano (2012–present)

North America
 Enclave (2008–present)
 Encore (2013–present)
 Encore GX (2020–present)
 Envision (2016–present)
 Regal (1973–2004, 2011–present)

Past

 Model B (1904)
 Model C (1905)
 Model F & G (1906–1910)
 Model 10 (1908–1910)
 Model 14 & 14B (1910–1911)
 Model 28, 29, 34, 36 & 43 (1912)
 Model 24, 25, 30, 31 & 40 (1913)
 Series B (1914)
 Series C (1915)
 Series D (1916–1917)
 Series E (1918)
 Series H (1919)
 Series K (1920)
 Series 21 (1921)
 Series 22 (1922)
 Series 23 (1923)
 Series 24 (1924)
 Master Series (1925–1928)
 Standard Series (1925–1928)
 Series 116, 121 & 129 (1929)
 Series 40 (1930–1935)
 Series 50 (1930–1935)
 Series 60 (1930–1935)
 Special (1936–1958, 1961–1969)
 Roadmaster (1936–1958, 1991–1996)
 Century (1936–1942, 1954–1958, 1973–2005)
 Super (1939–1958)
 Skylark (1953–1954, 1961–1972, 1975–1998)
 Invicta (1959–1963)
 Electra (1959–1990)
 LeSabre (1959–2005)
 Wildcat (1963–1970)
 Riviera (1963–1993, 1995–1999)
 Estate (1970–1979, 1990)
 Centurion (1971–1973)
 Apollo (1973–1975)
 Skyhawk (1975–1980, 1982–1989)
 Opel (1976–1979)
 Somerset (1985–1987)
 Reatta (1988–1991)
 Park Avenue (1991–2005, 2007–2012)
 Sail (2001–2004)
 Rendezvous (2001–2007)
 Rainier (2004–2007)
 Royaum (2005–2006)
 Terraza (2005–2007)
 Lucerne (2006–2011)
 Excelle XT (2010–2015)
 Cascada (2016–2019)
 Velite 5 (2017–2019)

References

Other websites 
 Buick Homepage
 Buick in Canada 
 Buick in China (English and Chinese)
 Buick in Israel  (Hebrew)
 Buick in Taiwan (Chinese)
 History and Picture Buick in Russian 

General Motors
Cadillac

Cadillac, officially the Cadillac Division of the General Motors Company, is a luxury car maker, owned by General Motors. During the 20th century, Cadillacs were so highly thought of that the phrase "the Cadillac of x" was coined, meaning that something of excellent quality and better than everything else in its category.

The company is one of the oldest car companies and was founded in 1902. By the 1950s and 1960s, it had become famous for making high-quality and luxurious cars, often setting the standard for automotive styling. Cadillac had largely declined by the 1980s and lost much of its market to other companies. Since the early 2000s, Cadillac has regained some of its lost reputation. However, it is not the same company it once was. Cadillac is based in Detroit, Michigan. Many of its cars are available as a V-model, which is a sports package.

Current
 CT4
 CT5
 CT6
 XT4
 XT5
 XT6
 Escalade

Discontinued
 Eldorado
 Seville
 DeVille
 Fleetwood
 Brougham
 Cimarron
 Catera
 ATS
 BLS
 CTS
 DTS
 SRX
 STS
 XTS

Gallery

Other websites
 Cadillac.com – Official site
 Cadillac.GM.ca  – Official site of Cadillac in Canada
 CadillacEurope.com – Official site of Cadillac in Europe
 CadillacOwners.com – Community of Cadillac owners and enthusiasts with pictures, classifieds, auctions, discussions, tech tips and more.
 History and Picture Cadillac in Russian 

General Motors
Automobile brands
Chevrolet

Chevrolet, also known as Chevy, and formally the Chevrolet Division of the General Motors Company, is a car company owned by General Motors. Chevrolet is known for producing popular, affordable cars. Chevrolet produces the Corvette, one of the most famous sports cars in the world.

Chevrolet was created in 1911 by Louis Chevrolet. Louis was a racing car driver. Chevrolet started using its "bow-tie" logo in 1913. It could have come from a wallpaper Chevrolet saw in a hotel. It could also be a version of the cross on the Swiss flag, due to Chevrolet having been born in Switzerland.

In 1917, Chevrolet combined with General Motors. In 2002, GM acquired the recently bankrupt Daewoo Motors company of South Korea, and in 2011, the brand was folded into Chevrolet making the marque global except for Australasia.

Models

Current
Some of these vehicles also come, or used to come in, hybrid-electric versions.
 Avalanche
 Aveo/Sonic
 Camaro
 Caprice PPV
 Chevrolet City Express (a rebadged Nissan transit van)
 Corvette
 Cruze
 Colorado
 Equinox
 Express Commercial Van
 Malibu and Malibu Hybrid
 Silverado
 Spark
 Suburban
 Tahoe
 TrailBlazer (not sold in North America)
 Trax/Tracker
 Traverse
 Volt, a plug-in hybrid
 Bolt EV, a battery-electric vehicle

Discontinued
 Caprice
 Prizm
 Metro
 Tracker
 Uplander
 Impala
 Lumina
 Chevrolet Astro
 Chevrolet Cobalt
 Chevrolet Optra
 Chevrolet S10 Blazer
 K5 Blazer
 Chevrolet Evanda/Epica
 Chevrolet Rezzo
 Chevrolet Orlando

Other websites
 Official Chevrolet Site
 Chevrolet in Canada 

General Motors
Sports car

A sports car is a small, fast, quick-turning automobile. Most of them only have two seats or very small seats in the back.

Name
A sports car is different from an automobile for racing. The sports car is allowed to drive on a normal road, whereas race cars cannot.

History
Since the invention of automobiles, people have tried to make them faster. The first sports cars were made to be raced by rich people.

Layout
There are different versions of sports cars. There are automobiles with the motor in the front and those with rear-wheel drive. Examples are the Chevrolet Corvette or the Honda S2000. There are also cars with the motor behind the passengers, in the middle of the car. One of the first cars like this was the Lamborghini Miura. Porsche uses a different layout. The motor in a Porsche 911 is in the back, behind the rear wheels. Since the 1980s, a lot of sports cars have four-wheel drive. The motor in the front and front-wheel drive is only used in a few sports cars.

Seats
Most sports cars only have two seats. There are some sports cars that also have small seats in the back. For example, the Porsche 911. The McLaren F1 has three seats, with driver sitting in the middle.

Records
Sports cars are often fast and expensive cars.

 The fastest sportscar is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. The maximum speed is .

Examples
These are some sports cars:
 Audi R8
 Bugatti Veyron
 Chevrolet Corvette
 Honda S2000
 Lamborghini Aventador
 Porsche 911

References

Sports cars
GMC

GMC is an automobile maker, owned by General Motors. GMC is known for building trucks. Some of them are small, while others, like those promoted as "Professional Grade", are big. In the past, GMC was part of the General Motors Diesel Division which also made buses, motorhomes, and vehicles for the military.

The company was founded by Max Grabowsky in 1901. It was bought by General Motors in 1909. In 1989 GMC started to market the Suzuki Sidekick as the GMC Tracker in Canada. In 2006 GMC announced it would start selling unibody crossovers, its first was the GMC Acadia, replacing the Safari minivan, GMC Envoy XL SUV and the Pontiac Montana SV6 minivan.

1901 establishments in the United States
General Motors
Saturn Corporation

Saturn was an automobile maker. It was owned by General Motors. It was established on January 7, 1985.  Saturns are sold in the United States and Canada, some even being sold in Japan.  They are currently known for European styling, and no-haggle pricing. IN the past, their most notable feature was plastic body panels.

General Motors tried to sell the company. Penske Automtive was going to buy it, but decided not to. Saturn Corporation went defunct on October 31, 2010 as part of General Motors downsizing due to its bankruptcy. The company was succeeded by Buick as GM's captive import brand. GM also decided to reuse some components of the brand's crossover for Chevrolet and GMC models.

Models

Current
Aura
Astra
Outlook
Vue
Sky

Discontinued
Ion
L-Series
Relay
S-Series

References

Other websites 
Saturn official website
Saturn Owner's Fanclub 

General Motors
Defunct companies of the United States
1985 establishments in the United States
2010 disestablishments in the United States
Holden

Holden was an Australian car maker, owned by General Motors. Holden was known for making rear-wheel drive cars with large, naturally-aspirated engines. The company closed down in 2020.

Vehicles

Former

Original models
Holden Monaro
Holden Camira
Holden Torana
Holden Kingswood
Holden Brougham
Holden Special
Holden Commodore (1978-2018)
Holden Caprice
Holden Sandman

Toyota-based models
Holden Apollo (1989–1996)
Holden Nova (1989–1996)

Opel-based models
Holden Vectra (1997–2006)
Holden Zafira (2001–2005)
Holden Combo (1996–2012)
Holden Calibra (1991–1998)
Holden Insignia (2015–2017)
Holden Cascada (2015–2017)
Holden Tigra (2005–2007)
Holden Barina (1994–2005)
Holden Astra (1996–2009, 2015–2020)
Opel Astra (2012-2013)
Holden Commodore (2018–2020)

Chevrolet-based models
Holden Cruze (2009–2016)
Holden Malibu (2013–2016)
Holden Suburban (1998–2001)
Holden Volt (2012–2015)
Holden Barina (2011–2018)
Holden Trax (2013-2020)
Holden Trailblazer (2015-2020)
Holden Equinox (2018-2020)
Holden Colorado (2008-2020)
Holden Spark (2009-2020)

GMC-based models
Holden Acadia (2018-2020)

Daewoo-based models
Holden Epica (2007–2011)
Holden Viva (2005–2009)
Holden Captiva (2006–2018)

Isuzu-based models 
Holden Jackaroo (1981–2004)
Holden Rodeo (1981–2008)
Holden Monterey 
Holden Frontera (1995–2004)
Holden Gemini
Holden Piazza
Holden Shuttle

Suzuki-based models
Holden Drover
Holden Scurry
Holden Cruze (2002–2006)
Holden Barina (1985–1994)

Other websites 
Holden Australia 
Holden New Zealand
Holden Special Vehicles

Companies of Australia
 
Defunct companies
Hummer

Hummer is a type of Sport utility vehicle.  Hummer was first made by AM General who also made vehicles used by the United States Army. The design of the Hummer H1 is based on the military High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV – Humvee).

Hummer used to be made by General Motors.  General Motors wanted to sell the brand, but they could not find a buyer, so the brand will stop being made.

Models 
 H1, the first Hummer, based on the Humvee
 H2
 H3

Other websites 

 AM General official site
 GM's HUMMER homepage

General Motors vehicles
Sport utility vehicles
Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall is a car manufacturer. The company was founded in London in 1903 and was named after the area of the city where it was created. The company is based in Luton, Bedfordshire. They have 2 factories, 1 in Luton for production of the Vivaro van and 1 in Ellsmere Port for production of the Astra family car. In March 2017, Vauxhall and parent brand Opel were brought by PSA, the company who owns Peugeot and Citroen.

Other websites 
 Vauxhall Heritage 
 Vauxhall UK Website 

Opel automobiles
General Motors
British automobile companies
Battle of Dunkirk

The Battle of Dunkirk (French: Bataille de Dunkerque) (Also known as Operation Dynamo) was a major battle during World War II. It lasted from the 26 May until 4 June 1940. The Allied forces were split in two by a German armoured advance to the Channel coast at Calais. The British and French commanders had been taken by surprise at the speed of the advance. The northern part of the army was surrounded In Dunkirk, France, a port on the English Channel. There they made a perimeter and waited for an evacuation.  

The majority of British troops were able to escape. Approximately half as many French troops also escaped. About 40,000 troops, mostly French, had to stay behind to keep the Germans away during the evacuation. Many of the evacuated French troops landed elsewhere and continued the Battle of France.

References

Other websites 
 WW2DB: Invasion of ''France and the Low Countries

1940 in France
Dunkirk
Dunkirk
Dunkirk
Dunkirk
Dunkirk
Dunkirk
May 1940 events
June 1940 events
Iwao Takamoto

Iwao Takamoto (29 April 1925 - 8 January 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He was a production designer for Hanna-Barbera Productions and the artist/character designer of Scooby-Doo.

Biography 
Iwao Takamoto's father moved from Hiroshima to the United States for his health. He only went back to Japan once, and that was to marry his wife. Iwao Takamoto was born on April 19 1925 in Los Angeles, California. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Iwao Takamoto's family, like many Japanese-Americans, had to move to an internment camp. They spent the rest of World War II in the Manzanar internment camp. While he was there, Iwao Takamoto received basic illustration training from other people in the camp.

Iwao Takamoto first started doing cartoons professionally after the end of the war. He was hired as an assistant animator by Walt Disney Studios in 1947. Iwao Takamoto eventually became an assistant animator for the legendary Milt Kahl. He worked as an animator on such titles as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp.

Takamoto left Disney in 1961 and joined Hanna-Barbera shortly afterwards. He did many jobs there, but is probably best known as a character designer. He was responsible for the original character designs of such characters as Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons' dog Astro, and Penelope Pitstop. He worked as a producer at Hanna-Barbera, supervising shows such as The Addams Family, Hong Kong Phooey, and Jabberjaw. He directed several feature-length animated films, including Charlotte's Web (1973) and Jetsons: The Movie (1990). The inspiration for Scooby-Doo's creation as a Great Dane came from an employee of the Hanna-Barbera company who bred this dog.

Takamoto was Vice-President of Creative Design at Hanna-Barbera, and was responsible for overseeing Hanna-Barbera's product-related merchandising. In 2005, he received the Golden Award from the Animation Guild, to honor his more than 50 years of service in the animation field.

He died on January 8, 2007 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from heart failure at age 81.

References

Other websites 
 

1925 births
2007 deaths
American animators
Deaths from heart failure
People from Los Angeles
Mussel

Mussels are several families of bivalve molluscs. Mussels live in lakes, rivers, and creeks. They sometimes also live in intertidal areas along coastlines worldwide.  The freshwater mussels (several allied families, the largest being the Unionidae) and saltwater mussels (family Mytilidae) are not closely related, despite the fact that they may look similar. They are grouped in different subclasses.  The freshwater Zebra mussels and their relatives (family Dreissenidae) live attached to rocks in a manner similar to marine mussels, but are classified with the Heterodonta, the taxonomic group including most bivalves referred to as "clams".

From archeology, it is known that humans have been eating mussels for thousands of years. They can be cooked or eaten raw. Care must be taken however as mussels quickly become poisonous after they die.

Other websites 
 Freshwater Mussel Genera 
 Methods of mussel farming 
 Photo of bouchot pilings for growing mussels 
 Gilbertson, Lance. (1999). Zoology Laboratory Manual (4th ed.), pp. 11.1-11.4. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
 Mississippi River Mussels 
 Marine Ecology Station 

Bivalves
Seafood
Shellfish

Shellfish is a culinary term for some aquatic invertebrates used as food: molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. It is not a scientific term, and its use may vary from place to place.

Both saltwater and freshwater invertebrates are considered shellfish. Molluscs commonly used as food include the clam, mussel, oyster, winkle, and scallop.

Some crustaceans commonly eaten are the shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish, and crab.

Echinoderms are not eaten as commonly as molluscs and crustaceans. In Asia, sea cucumber and sea urchins are eaten.

Edible cephalopods such as squid, octopus, and cuttlefish and terrestrial snails, though all molluscs, are sometimes considered to be shellfish and sometimes not.

The term finfish is sometimes used to distinguish ordinary (vertebrate) fish from shellfish.

Jewish and Islamic dietary laws forbid the eating of shellfish (those that live on the land, and in the water).

In Japanese cuisine, chefs often use shellfish and their roe. Sushi and sashimi feature both raw and cooked shellfish.

Related pages
Seafood

References

Other websites 

Shellfish News 
Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory  at Rutgers University
Shellfish Gallery  from the Shellfish Association of Great Britain
Shellfish Facts 
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections -- Freshwater and Marine Image Bank -- Shellfish An ongoing digital collection of images related to shellfish.

Seafood
Herefordshire

Herefordshire (known as County of Herefordshire) is a county  in the West Midlands region of England. It borders the English counties of Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south east and the Welsh counties of Gwent to the south west and Powys to the west. It is not to be confused with Hertfordshire, a county north of London.

It is pronounced  (i.e. first syllable as in "herring", and -e- a separate syllable).

The county town of Herefordshire is the cathedral city of Hereford.

Waterways
Historically, the Rivers Wye and Lugg were navigable but the wide seasonal variations in water levels mean that few craft larger than canoes and coracles are now used.  There are canoe centres at The Boat House, Glasbury-on-Wye, the Hereford Youth Service  and Kerne Bridge  Ross-on-Wye, as well as a rowing club in Hereford.

The early nineteenth century saw the construction of two canals, The Hereford & Gloucester Canal and The Leominster &  Stourport Canal but these were never successful and there are now few remains to be seen.

Other websites 
The Hereford Times Local news, sport & information
Herefordshire Portal Local events, jobs, photos and news
Herefordshire Libraries 10 Libraries across Herefordshire

References

Unitary authorities

 
Ceremonial counties of England
Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. The county includes part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean.

The county town is Gloucester, and other principal towns include Cheltenham, Stroud, Cirencester, and Tewkesbury.

Gloucestershire borders the county of Gwent in Wales, and in England the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Bristol.

Economy 
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Gloucestershire at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Antiquities and Other Places of interest 
 Berkeley Castle, an example of a feudal stronghold.
 Beverston Castle
 Calcot Manor
 Forest of Dean
 Hailes Abbey
 Owlpen Manor
 Sudeley Castle
 Tewkesbury Abbey
 Tyndale Monument
 Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, Slimbridge

Other websites 
 Gloucester County Official Site 
 Gloucester City Council website
 Visit Gloucester Site
 Gloucester jobs
 Gloucestershire County Council 
 Gloucestershire Tourism Partnership 
 Official site for Cotswolds tourism
 Yate and Chipping Sodbury Guide  - A Guide to Yate and Chipping Sodbury in South Gloucestershire
 Archaeological Handbook of Gloucestershire by George Witts
 Tales of the River Severn  by Chris Witts

Ceremonial counties of England
Cowry

Cowry shells (or cowrie), are marine snails of the family Cypraeidae.

They are found chiefly in tropical regions. There are about 200 different species of cowry.

Shell 
The shell itself is almost always very smooth and shiny. They have with a long, narrow, slit-like opening. All varieties have a porcelain-like shine  and many have colorful patterns. In life the shell is covered by the slippery mantle.

Shell sizes range from 5 mm (1/5") for some tropical species to 15 cm (6") for the tiger cowry, Cypraea tigris.

Predators
The slippery shell is very difficult for most animals to grip. The very narrow toothed aperture of the cowry shell makes it difficult for predators to reach into. However cowries are still vulnerable to predation:

 Some tropical crustaceans can break the dorsum of a cowry shell.
 Some mollusc-eating cones like Conus textile can inject venom into the cowry's flesh. The cone then extends its stomach into the shell, through the slit, to completely ingest the flesh.
 Some octopuses can gouge a small hole (using a special barb/tooth and an acidic secretion) through the shell to inject a venom that kills the animal within.

Taxonomy
For nearly 200 years, every species in the family Cypraeidae was placed in one genus, Cypraea, but in 2002  the cowries were divided into many different genera.

Uses 
Cowries (esp. Cypraea moneta) were used as a currency in Africa (Ghanaian cedi in Ghana named after cowry shells) and elsewhere, such as in China where the shell or copies of the shell were in theory used as a means of exchange. They are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms, as they are viewed as symbols of womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth.  Many find the shiny, porcelain-like shells pleasing to look at.

Cowry shells are sometimes used in a way similar to dice, e.g., in board games like Pachisi, or in divination (cf. Ifá and the annual customs of Dahomey).
A number of shells (6 or 7 in Pachisi) are thrown, with those landing aperture upwards indicating the actual number rolled.

Cowries have also been used in the recent past as a frame over which sock heels were stretched for darning. The cowry ridges allowed the needle to get under the cloth more easily.

The Ojibway aboriginal people in North America used the cowry shells in ceremonies, and the Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada is named after this type of shell.  There is some debate about how they traded for or found these shells so far inland, away from the natural sources.  Oral stories and birch bark scrolls seem to indicate that they were found in the ground, and/or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers.  The cowry shells so far inland may indicate the use of them by an earlier tribe or group in the area, and an extensive trade network in the ancient past.

The typewritten postage stamps of 1895 Uganda also are called "Cowries".

References

Other websites 

 cowrys.org 
 Cowrie Genomic Database Project 
 Genus Cypraea on Animal Diversity Web 
 Cowries.info

Gastropods
Former currencies
Currency of Africa
Wiltshire

Wiltshire (short: Wilts) is an English county. It borders the counties of Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, and contains the unitary authority of Swindon. The county town is Trowbridge, in the west of the county at . The county covers 858,931 acres (3476 km²)

Settlements
Notable towns and cities in Wiltshire are:
 Bradford on Avon
 Calne
 Chippenham
 Devizes
 Malmesbury
 Marlborough
 Salisbury (city)
 Swindon
 Trowbridge
 Warminster
 Westbury

A full list of settlements is at List of places in Wiltshire.

Places of interest

Notable places of interest in Wiltshire are:

Notable areas of countryside in Wiltshire are:
 Cranborne Chase 
 Marlborough Downs 
 Salisbury Plain 
 Vale of Pewsey 

Notable routes through Wiltshire are:
 A4 road
 M4 motorway
 A303 trunk road
 Fosse Way old Roman road
 Great Western Main Line railway
 Wessex Main Line railway
 Kennet and Avon Canal
 Swindon and Cricklade Railway 
 Thames Path, a long-distance footpath
 Wiltshire Cycleway
 National Cycle Route 4

Wiltshire is "Mid-Wessex" in the novels of Thomas Hardy

Other websites 

 Wiltshire County Council
 List of Councillors 
 Wiltshire Constabulary Online 
 BBC Wiltshire
 Wiltshire Tourist Office
 John Aubrey's The Natural History of Wiltshire
 White horses of Wiltshire 
 Wiltshire Gazette & Herald
 Wiltshire Times & Chippenham News
 Geology map of Wiltshire (PDF)
 Wiltshire & Swindon Intelligence Network

 
Ceremonial counties of England
West Midlands (county)

The County of West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a population of around 2,600,000 people. The county contains three major cities, these being Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton. Other large settlements in the county include Sutton Coldfield, Solihull, and the Black Country towns of Dudley, Walsall and West Bromwich.

The name "West Midlands" is also used for the much larger West Midlands region, which sometimes causes confusion.

Geography 
The West Midlands borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north.

The West Midlands is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in the UK. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form the largest conurbation in the UK outside London, with a combined population of around 2.27 million.

The West Midlands is not entirely urban; Coventry is separated from the Birmingham urban area, by stretch of green belt land roughly 15 miles across known as the "Meriden Gap", which retains a strongly rural character.

A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes Barr Beacon and the Sandwell Valley.

Towns and villages 
 Aldridge
 Balsall Common, Bloxwich, Bilston, Birmingham. Blackheath, Brierley Hill
 Coventry
 Dorridge, Dudley
 Halesowen, Hampton-in-Arden
 Little Aston
 Marston Green, Meriden
 Oldbury
 Rowley Regis
 Sedgley, Smethwick, Solihull, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, Streetly
 Tipton
 Walsall, Wednesfield, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton

Places of interest 
 Aston Hall, Birmingham
 Bescot Stadium (Walsall FC)
 Birmingham Bullring
 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
 Birmingham Hippodrome
 Birmingham Railway Museum
 Birmingham Wheel
 Black Country Living Museum
 Blakesley Hall
 Cadbury World, Bournville, Birmingham
 Coventry Cathedral
 Coventry SkyDome Arena
 Coventry Transport Museum
 Dudley Castle
 Dudley Zoo
 Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham
 Internation Convention Centre (including Symphony Hall), Birmingham
 Molineux stadium (Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.)
 National Exhibition Centre
 National Indoor Arena (NIA), Birmingham
 Netherton tunnel
 Perrott's Folly
 Ricoh Arena (Coventry City Football Club)
 Sarehole Mill
 Sea Life Centre, Birmingham
 St Andrews (Birmingham City Football Club)
 The Hawthorns, (West Bromwich Albion Football Club)
 Thinktank, Millennium Point, Birmingham
 Villa Park (Aston Villa Football Club)
 Walsall Art Gallery
 Wightwick Manor

Education 
The West Midlands contains 6 universities;
 University of Birmingham
 Aston University
 University of Central England
 University of Warwick
 Coventry University
 Wolverhampton University

Though Warwick and Birmingham are considered the most prestigious of the universities in the area, all have a large intake of students from around the country.

Other websites 
 Photographs of Birmingham and the West Midlands
 Identity in the West Midlands 
 West Midlands Joint Committee 
 West Midlands NO! Campaign 
 West Midlands Groups Communities 

 
Ceremonial counties of England
Conurbation

A conurbation is an urban area that includes a number of cities, towns and villages which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. It is a sort of agglomeration.

A metropolitan area usually combines one or several conurbations.

Settlements
Urban geography
Dunkirk

Dunkirk (, pronounced  or ; ) is a harbour city in the northernmost part of France, 10 km (6 mi) from the Belgian border.
 
The population of the whole metropolitan area was of 265,974 at the 1999 census. 

Until the middle of the 20th century the city was in the Dutch language area; today the local Dutch dialect still can be heard but has largely given way to French.

History 
Dunkirk was first mentioned in 1067 as Dunkerk (). 

In World War II, heavy fighting took place around Dunkirk during the German invasion in 1940 (Battle of Dunkirk), but a lull in the action unexpectedly allowed a large number of French and British soldiers to escape to England. The British evacuation of Dunkirk through the English Channel was codenamed Operation Dynamo. 
During the war, Dunkirk was largely destroyed by bombing.

Postwar Dunkirk 

On 14 December 2002, the Norwegian auto carrier Tricolor collided with the Bahamian-registered Kariba and sank off Dunkirk harbour, causing a hazard to navigation in the English Channel.

Communes 
Since 9 December 2010, the former communes of Fort-Mardyck and Saint-Pol-sur-Mer were merged into the commune of Dunkirk.

Economy 
Dunkirk has the third largest harbour in France, after those of Le Havre and Marseille. It is also an industrial city, heavily dependent on the steel, food processing, oil refining, ship building and chemical industries.

Tourist attractions 

 The Musée Portuaire hosts exhibits images about the history and presence of the port.
 The Musée des Beaux-Arts has a large collection of Flemish, Italian and French paintings and sculptures.
 The Carnival of Dunkirk

Miscellaneous

Transport 

Dunkirk has a ferry connection with Dover in England.

Twin towns 

Dunkirk is twinned with:
  Krefeld, Germany since June 15, 1974
  Middlesbrough, United Kingdom since April 12, 1976

Dunkirk has cooperation agreements with:
 Dartford district, United Kingdom since March 1988
 Thanet district, United Kingdom since June 18, 1993

References

Other websites 

 City council website 
 Tourist office website

 
Port cities and towns of the North Sea
Limburg-Weilburg

Limburg-Weilburg is a Landkreis (rural district) in the west of Hesse, Germany.

History 
1867 the Oberlahnkreis with the capital Weilburg was created. In 1886 Limburg an der Lahn district was set up, with the capital Limburg. In 1974 both districts were joined together.

Geography 
The district is located between the two mountain areas Westerwald and Taunus. The main river is the Lahn.

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

References

Other websites

 Official website  (German)
Elz, Hesse

Elz is a municipality and a village in Hessen, Germany. It is part of the Landkreis Limburg-Weilburg. It is along the river Lahn. It has 8,088 inhabitants (2004).

Geography 
The elevation is between 110m and 291m above sea level. Elz is in a valley called "Limburger Becken", which surrounds the town of Limburg. Elz is also in the valley of the "Elbbach", which flows into the river Lahn after passing Elz.
The municipality of Elz borders the municipalities of Hundsangen, Hambach, Görgeshausen, Niedererbach, Obererbach and the towns of Hadamar and Limburg.
The municipality of Elz consists of two villages: The village of Elz (7,743 inhabitants) and the village of Malmeneich (345 inhabitants).
Average temperatures are 10.5 °C in Elz and 9.9 °C in Malmeneich. Though this sounds quite moderate, temperatures can vary between -20 °C in winter and 40 °C in summer. In an average year there are 600mm of rain in Elz and 720mm in Malmeneich.

History 
Elz was first mentioned in a document from 933 AD, which does not exist any more. Political importance resulted from its position at the Hohe Straße, the former most important road between Frankfurt am Main and Cologne, which still exists and is now part of the "Bundesstraße 8", which can be translated with Interstate 8.
Elz got the town privileges in 1442. Soon a wall around the town was constructed but knocked down later.

Politics 
The council consists of 31 members. 19 members are from the Christian Democrats, seven are from the Social Democratic Party, four from the Free Voters' Community and one is from the Green Party. The mayor Horst Kaiser is a Christian Democrat and was elected in 2005 with 84.8% of all votes.

Economy and infrastructure 
In Elz thaere are more than 600 businesses with much more than 2,000 jobs. The industrial area is at the B8 between Elz and Malmeneich.

Traffic 
Elz is not only at the B8,which goes from the Dutch border to Passau, but also at the Autobahn 3, which connects Würzburg,Frankfurt am Main and Cologne.

Public institutions 
In Elz there is a big outdoor swimming pool, two gyms, several sport and tennis fields and two old people's homes.

Education 
There are three kindergartens, two primary schools and one "Haupt- und Realschule" (part of the German secondary education).

Famous people 
 Theodor Blank (1905-1972), Bundesverteidigungsminister (Federal minister for defense) 1955-1956, Bundesminister für Arbeit und Sozialordnung (Federal minister for employment and social matters) 1957-1965
 Joseph Blank (1913-1994), Landesminister für Landesplanung, Wohnungsbau und öffentliche Arbeiten von Nordrhein-Westfalen (Minister for spatial planning, building and public works of North Rhine-Westphalia) 1962-1963

References
Small white

The small white (Pieris rapae) is a small to mid-sized butterfly of the 'yellows' & 'whites' Pieridae family. It is also commonly known as the small cabbage white or just the cabbage white.

Distribution
It is common across Europe, North Africa and Asia and has also been accidentally introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand where they have become pests on cultivated cabbages and other mustard family crops.

Description

It looks like a smaller version of the Large White. The upperside is creamy white with black tips to the forewings. Females also have two black spots in the center of the forewings. Its underwings are yellowish with black .

Habits
Like its close relative the large white this is a strong flyer and the British population is increased by continental immigrants in most years. Like other 'white' butterflies it hibernates as a pupa. Like the large white, it is sometimes known as the cabbage white' or cabbage butterfly.

Lifecycle
It has two flight periods, April–May and July–August.

Eggs
Its caterpillars can be a pest on cultivated cabbages. . It also lays eggs on wild members of the cabbage family such as the charlock Sinapis arvensis and hedge mustard Sisybrium officinale. The eggs are laid singly on foodplant leaves.

Caterpillars
Known in the United States as "imported cabbage worms", the caterpillars are green and well camouflaged. Unlike the large white they do not store the mustard oils from their foodplants and so are not distastful to predators like birds.

References
 Asher J. et al. The millennium atlas of Britain and Ireland Oxford University Press
 Evans W.H. 1932. The identification of Indian butterflies. 2nd ed, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.

Pieridae
Minor

Minor can mean:

 Minor (law), a young person who has not yet reached the age of majority or some other legal age
 Minor scale, a minor key in music
Extant

In biology, an extant group is one which has survived to the present day, and so it is a living group. This distinguishes it from an extinct group.

The term 'extant' can also be used to describe species or higher groups (such as genera or families) which are still in existence (living).

Example: in the group of molluscs known as the cephalopods, there are about 600 extant species and 7500 extinct species.

References 

Biology
Väki

In Finnish mythology, Väki means races of Haltijas (Finnish elves) and their magical powers. Different things in nature had their own väki guarding them. For example, Väki of water lived in and protected water. Väki is the name of both the magical power and Haltijas. Väki could sometimes be seen. They looked like little man-like creatures. Sometimes Väki went inside people and made people ill. Väki makes people ill if they behave badly in their kingdom. For example, if someone shouted in a forest without reason then the Väki of forest may make then ill. Shaman could heal these illnesses by telling the väki to leave the person and go back to its original place.

The other version of väki refers to the realm of the dead. Väki was the anonymous pack of dead people. Once they (väki) had been our beloved ones, relatives etc. but after spending some time in the afterlife they had been become unknown masses of dead creatures without any personal markings.

Finnish mythology

sv:Rådare
Sudetenland

The Sudetenland was a mountainous area of Czechoslovakia. The name comes from the Sudetes, a mountain range, but it was also used for other places in Bohemia in which mostly-German people lived. They wanted their homes to be part of Germany, not Czechoslovakia. Nazi Germany took small parts of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia in September 1938.  After the Munich Agreement, they took the rest of Sudetenland, which contributed to the start of World War II.

Other websites
 WW2DB: Annexation of Sudetenland

History of Germany
Geography of the Czech Republic
1375

1375 was a year in the 14th century.

Events 
 The English, weakened by the plague, lose so much ground to the French that they agree to sign the Treaty of Bruges, leaving them with only the coastal towns of Calais, Bordeaux and Bayonne.
 The Russian town of Kostroma is destroyed by the ushkuinik pirates from Novgorod.
 October 24 – Death of Valdemar IV of Denmark.
 Petru I succeeds his father, Costea, as ruler of Moldavia (now Moldova & eastern Romania).
 The Mamluks from Egypt conquer the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Leo VI of Armenia is imprisoned for several years in Cairo until a ransom is paid by King John I of Castile.
 Mujahid Shah succeeds his father, Mohammad Shah I, as Sultan of the Bahmanid Empire in Deccan, southern India.
 Moscow & Tver sign a truce. Tver agrees to help Moscow fight the Blue Horde.

Births 
 Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (approximate date; d.1415)
 Nicolas Grenon, French composer (approximate date; d. 1456)
 Lan Kham Deng, King of Lan Xang 1416-1428 (d. 1428)

Deaths 
 July 5 – Charles III of Alençon, French archbishop (b. 1337)
 October 24 – King Valdemar IV of Denmark
 December 21 – Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian writer (born 1313)
Coral (color)

Coral is a reddish or orangeish shade of pink.  The color is named after the sea animal also called corals.

The first written use of coral as a color name in English was in 1513.

Meaning of coral 

 Coral and coral blue color for painting a room to give a calm feeling of warmth.

 In some sects of Hinduism, coral red instead of red is shown as being the color which represents the first (muladhara) chakra in Hindu philosophy.

Tones of coral color comparison chart

Related pages
 List of colors

References
Crimson

Crimson is  reddish magenta color between red and rose on the color wheel.  You can make it by combining a strong, bright deep red with a little blue.  It is originally the color of the dye produced from the dried bodies of a scale insect, Kermes vermilio.

The word crimson has been in written use in the English since 1400.

Meaning of crimson

In English, crimson is traditionally associated with the color of blood, and hence is associated with violence, courage and martyrdom.
Crimson was the most distinctive color of British officers' uniforms until the introduction of khaki camouflage, and remains in use for the colors (flag). The King's Royal Hussars still wear crimson trousers.
 In Poland, karmazyn ('crimson') is a synonym for a Magnate (someone who is a member of the nobility).

Tones of crimson color comparison chart

Related pages
List of colors

References
Maroon (color)

Maroon is a dark red color. 

The word maroon comes from the French word marron which means "chestnut".

The first recorded use of maroon as a color name in English was in 1789.

Meaning of maroon
 Vajrayana Buddhist monks wear robes that are colored various shades of maroon.

Tones of maroon color comparison chart

Related pages
List of colors

References
Ochre

Ochre or Ocher is a golden-yellow or light yellowish brown colour.  The word is from the Greek ochros, meaning "yellow".  Ochre is natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide.

Meaning of ochre 

The use of ochre is particularly intensive: it is not unusual to find a layer of the cave floor impregnated with a purplish red to a depth of eight inches. The size of these ochre deposits raises a problem not yet solved. The colouring is so intense that practically all the loose ground seems to consist of ochre. One can imagine that the Aurignacians regularly painted their bodies red, dyed their animal skins, coated their weapons, and sprinkled the ground of their dwellings, and that a paste of ochre was used for decorative purposes in every phase of their domestic life. We must assume no less, if we are to account for the veritable mines of ochre on which some of them lived.

Tones of ochre colour comparison chart 

 Banana Yellow (Yellow Ochre) (Human Feces) (Hex: #CCCC33) (RGB: 204, 204, 51)
<li style = "background-color: #cc7722;"> Ochre (Hex: #CC7722) (RGB: 204, 119, 34)<li>

Pigments
Teal (color)

Teal is a blue-green color; a dark cyan.

Teal gets its name from the colored area around the eyes of the common teal, a member of the duck family.  

The first written use of Teal as a color name in English was in 1917.

Comparison of green, teal, blue and ultramarine

Tones of teal color comparison chart

Tones of the Teal color comparison chart

Related pages
List of colors

References

Other websites 
Plochere Color System website
 What Color is Teal and How You Can Use It in Your Home Decor, Architect Anton Giuroiu , Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, Romania
Navy blue

Navy blue is a dark shade of the color blue. Some people mistake navy blue for black because some navies (such as the United States Navy) use a shade of navy blue that is so dark it is practically black.

Meaning of navy blue

 Navy blue represents sailors and also represents the navy of a nation.  Navy blue also represents the sport of yachting.
 Since 1748, British Royal Navy uniforms have been white and navy blue.  Other navies also adopted these uniform colors.  This is where the color got its name.
 Navy blue is the most popular color for a jacket known as a blazer (which also has brass buttons) which is often worn on special or formal occasions.  Navy blue colored blazers are also often worn by people who are employed in customer service positions that serve the public from behind a desk, such as hotel concierges.
 Navy uniforms colored a color called Regimental (now called Persian Indigo), made by dyeing cloth with indigo dye, were popular among many nations during the 19th Century.

Comparison of green, teal, blue and ultramarine

Tones of navy blue

Related pages
 List of colors

References