alibayram/wikipedia-40-langs huggingface dataset:
Paragraph

A paragraph is a collection of words strung together to make a longer unit than a sentence. Several sentences often make a paragraph. There are normally three to eight sentences in a paragraph. Paragraphs can start with a five-space indentation or by skipping a line and then starting over. This makes it simpler to tell when one paragraph ends and the next starts simply it has 3-9 lines.

A topic phrase appears in most ordered types of writing, such as essays. This paragraph's topic sentence informs the reader about the topic of the paragraph. In most essays, numerous paragraphs make statements to support a thesis statement, which is the essay's fundamental point.

Paragraphs may signal when the writer changes topics. Each paragraph may have a number of sentences, depending on the topic.

A pilcrow mark (¶) is sometimes used to show where a paragraph begins.

Grammar
Typography
Writing
Lansing, Michigan

Lansing is the capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is about 1 to 2 hours west of Detroit. It is in the center of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

The landscape is flat. There is a lot of agriculture.

Notes

References

Other websites

 
State capitals in the United States
1835 establishments in Michigan Territory
Parody

A parody is a special piece of art.

Parodies make fun of another piece of art by mocking it.

The parody is an imitation of the original, but exaggerating it, showing clichés which have been used, to make the original look ridiculous or to make a comment about an issue affecting society.

For example, in a serious Western movie, the good guys always seem to shoot better and faster than the bad guys. In a Western parody, this might be exaggerated by showing a good guy firing a single shot, and a dozen of the bad guys falling from their horses as a result.

Mel Brooks is a director who has made many movies which are parodies:

 Blazing Saddles is a parody of Western movies in general,
 Spaceballs is a parody of the Star Wars movies, and science fiction in general,
 Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood movies,

The website Uncyclopedia is also a parody of Wikipedia.

Parodies can be anything from songs to poems to books to movies.

A movie that makes a parody of another movie or several movies at once is a parody movie. 

Newspaper columnists are well known for their strip cartoons which can very often parody public opinion on major issues affecting society, such as the recent credit crunch.

Related pages 
 Irony
 Satire
 Parody mass
Fact

A fact is a statement that is real or true, or a thing that can be shown to be real or true. That is its core meaning, though the word has a long history, and has been used in many ways. 

A fact is something that has really happened or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is whether it can be shown to be true. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by careful observation or measurement (by experiments or other means).

Facts as statements 
A fact is a statement (a claim) about something that is true. A fact can answer questions like, "what color is it?" or "who made that?"

An opinion is different from a fact. But you can say facts about a person's opinion. For example, someone can ask a question like "What is Alice's opinion about the book?" You can answer this question with a fact, for example "Alice said she likes the book." Then it is a fact that Alice says she likes the book. But maybe Alice does not like the book. So it is not a fact that Alice likes the book, but it is a fact that Alice says she likes the book.

One way to learn a fact is if a person can help you see it. For example, if you ask, "do you have my book?" To answer this question, a person can let you see your book. Then you can know it is a fact that this person has your book.

Examples of fact statements 
These examples show that there are facts of different kinds.
 Your heart pumps blood through your body.
 The leaves of growing plants are usually green.
 Some people keep dogs as pets.
 1 liter of water weighs 1 kilogram on Earth.
 There are 50 states in the United States.

False statements 
 Water always comes from the sky.
 Dogs are made of cheese.
 All people read books.
 Cows live under water.

Scientific theories 

A scientific theory is knowledge of important facts about a natural thing. The facts in a scientific theory have evidence that shows that the fact is not false. 

A person who understands the scientific method can test to see if the facts of a scientific theory are correct. When statements have been tested and shown to be not false, they may be "true". The facts of each scientific theory have usually been questioned and tested by many people. Because of this, we know that the knowledge of a scientific theory is fact and not opinion. Examples of scientific theories include the theory of relativity and the theory of evolution. More simply, it is a fact that the Earth goes around the Sun (and not vice versa). This took so long to establish because a leading religious body had the reverse opinion (see articles on Galileo and Copernicus for the story). Now we can say that there is a difference between statements of fact, and opinions or claimed truths of religion. The difference is in the way disputes about the truth are decided.

References 

Basic English 850 words
Philosophy
Victim

Victim is a term used for a person who suffers adverse circumstances, often in relation to having a crime committed against them. If someone is robbed, he or she is the victim. If someone is killed, that person is the victim. The person who committed the crime is the culprit.
Victim blaming is saying that it is the fault of the victim that a crime was committed against them.

Criminal justice
Culprit

A culprit is a person who commits a crime. If someone robs a person, the robber is the culprit, while the person who was robbed is the victim.

Crime
Shot put

Shot put is an athletics sport where people try to "put" a heavy weighted ball as far as they can. They are not allowed to throw it, but instead they push the ball out into the air. They "put" the ball by holding it at their neck and pushing it through the air.  The shot put has been part of the Olympics since 1896. The weight of the ball can vary from 6 to 16 pounds (2.76 to 7.26 kg), depending on level age and gender of the participants. The main objective of the sport is to throw the ball as far as possible.

The shot put is similar to the javelin. It is an official Olympic event and can be seen at the Olympic games. The athlete cannot wear gloves when they are participating. If wearing gloves, the athlete would be disqualified.

It is an outdoor event and cannot be played inside. It is a track and field event.

History 
The first evidence for stone- or weight-throwing events were in the Scottish Highlands, and date back to the first century. In the 16th century King Henry VIII was noted for his prowess in court competitions of weight and hammer throwing.

Throwing technique 
There are two types of putting styles: glide and spin (rotation). The glide was invented in the US in the year 1876. The spin was also developed in the US. It was invented by Parry O'Brian and made famous by Brian Oldfield.

Rules 
The athlete must only use one hand and it must not drop below the shoulder or it could cause damage.
The athlete can be disqualified for leaving the circle before the shot hits the ground, or leaving the sector lines.
The athlete must not put a foot past the toe board, or it is a disqualification.
The athlete must not take longer than 60.00 seconds to take a shot.it is compulsory to put the shot in the given time.

History 
Shot put was originally used in the Olympics to see who was the strongest athlete. Each athlete threw from a wooden square, and could only stand to throw. The shot put was a large stone ball. That is now a metal ball not softer than brass.

Warm up

Under hand toss
Stand facing landing area. 
Hold shot in front of body with both hands. 
Bend knees and throw shot up and out, away from body, using an underhand toss.

Chest pass
Stand facing landing area. 
Hold shot with both hands with fingers behind shot. 
Push shot out like a basketball chest pass.

Record holders 

Cameron George, 23.12m United Kingdom 2013
Natalya Lisovskaya, 22.63m RUS 1987
Mark Robinson, 24.60m USA 2009

References 

Events in athletics
Hitchhiking

Hitchhiking is a way to end travel from place to place in someone else's car or lorry. Usually, a hitchhiker (a person who hitchhikes) will stand at the side of a road and hold his or her thumb in the air waiting for a passerby to come and pick her or him up. This is a sign that he or she wants to go somewhere else.

It was a very common way of traveling in Europe in the 1970s until people started to go missing. It is common for people to encounter rapists or lunatics while hitchiking, it is not always clear when being picked up if a person is dangerous, and this make it very dangerous and has made it less popular.

Because of this, hitchhiking is illegal or restricted in many country’s and states of America.

Other websites 

 The Hitchhiker's Guide to Hitchhiking - a wiki project to collect information about hitchhiking
 Anhalterfreunde - Information all about hitchhiking (English and German language)
 Liftershalte.info  - a worldmap with hitching places.
 hitchbase.com - Database with hitchhing places
 Abgefahren e.V. - the first German Autostop Society; ideas, tips, projects,..

Transport
International Women's Day

International Women's Day is celebrated every year on March 8.  International Women's Day has been observed since 1909 in the United States.  After a while the people of United States stopped celebrating this holiday. In the 1920s Soviet Union, and then some other Communist countries like China and Cuba, started celebrating this day as a holiday for women and world peace. Since then the holiday has become more and more popular around the world.

In many places, the day does not have a political aspect, and is simply a time for men to express their love for women. It is similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. Men present their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc. with flowers and small gifts. In some countries International Women's Day is observed like Mother's Day, where children give small gifts to their mothers and grandmothers. In some countries, women get a half day off work. Often, schools will have a celebration where students will honor their teachers.

In 1975, the United Nations also started to recognize this holiday for women's rights and gender equality. The UN chooses a political or social theme for the holiday each year.  For example, the 2011 theme was ""Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women." and the 2012 theme is "Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world". In this way, the holiday is a time to look at the social and economic problems women have around the world.

International Women's Day is now an official holiday in Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Georgia, Italy, Israel, Laos, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

Other websites

Other page 
Women's History Month

Observances
Human rights
May Day

May 1 is known in many countries as May Day or International Labor Day for human rights of workers and labour movement. This day is a holiday in most countries, including UK,China, Cuba, Czech republic, France, Russia, Brazil, Austria, Germany, Serbia, Hungary, North Macedonia, Romania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kenya, Slovenia, Slovakia, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Portugal, Bulgaria, Vietnam and Argentina.

May Day commemorates worker demonstrations for eight-hour workweeks in Chicago, May, 1886. More specifically, it commemorates the Haymarket Affair and the execution of multiple anarchist and marxist leaders.

Holidays
May events
Labor
Beirut

Beirut is the capital of Lebanon. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the world. It is on a hilly promontory on the eastern Mediterranean surrounded to the east by the snow-capped mountains of Lebanon. Before the civil war it was a cultural center of the Arab World, a major international financial, banking and media center and was called the Switzerland of the Middle East. It was called the Paris of the Middle East.

Gallery

References

 Linda Jones Hall, Roman Berytus: Beirut in Late Antiquity, 2004.
 Samir Kassir, Histoire de Beyrouth, Fayard 2003.
 Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (), p. 69.

Other websites 

 Official website of Beirut 
 Downtown Beirut 
 Discover Lebanon - Beirut photos and images, virtual tour, Allenby street, parliament, museum

Phoenicia
Nancy Ajram

Nancy Ajram or Nancy Agram (, born May 16, 1983) is a popular Arab singer from Lebanon. Her musical videos, directed by Nadine Labaki, also Lebanese, revolutionized the Arab music industry.

She had quite a normal childhood with her small family that consisted of her parents, her sister and brother and herself. But when Nancy Ajram was 12, she participated in a television program called "Nojoum Al Mostakbal" (which means "Stars of the Future") and actually won first prize. Soon after, Ajram began studying music under the supervision of some of the finest teachers in her country. When she turned 18, she joined the Syndicate of Professional Artists in Lebanon - after they made an exception because of her age. 

Her first album; Mehtagalak, was released in 1998 and marked her first official step in the world of show business. But, it took the young singer another 3 years to launch her second album Shil Eyounak Aney in 2001. Then her true hit came with her third album Ya Salam in 2003. The singer stressed the success of the album by shooting four of its songs; Akhasmak Ah, Ya Salam, Yay - Sehr Eyounoh and Nasseto Gar7o in the form of video clips. The clips were a tremendous hit and gained popularity in such a short time and gave the singer incredible fame in the Arab world. 

Her most popular album is Ah we Nos which was released in 2004. Nancy shot again four video clips for this Album. Ah w Noss, Lawn Oyounak, Oul Tani Eih and Enta Eih.

As for other activities besides singing, the Lebanese diva has agreed to be the spokesperson for the international soft drink company Coca-Cola. After signing the contract with Nancy Ajram, Coca-Cola sold much more drinks in the Arab world.

Other websites 
 Official website
 Second Official website 
 Nancy Ajram Zone
 Nancy Ajram VideoClips 
 Popular FanPage 
 Listen to all Nancy ajram songs 

1983 births
Living people
Lebanese Christians
Lebanese singers
Fairuz

Fairuz (born Nouhad Haddad (, November 21, 1935) is a Lebanese singer. She is considered among the best singers in Arab world. She has been performing for over 50 years all over the world. Her vocal range is contralto. Her first album was released in 1952. She has released 98 more albums since then.

Early Life

Nuhad Haddad was born in 1935 in Beirut, Lebanon to a Lebanese Christian Maronite family. She was the eldest child in the family. Her father worked as a typesetter at a print shop. In 1940's, Mohammed Flayfel, a musician and a teacher at the Lebanese Conservatory, discovered her when he was searching different schools for singers to perform in a newly opened radio station. He attended a show at the school where Nuhad was to sing. He was very impressed with her voice and adviced her family to enroll her in his conservatory. Her father allowed her to be enrolled but only on a condition that her brother would also go with her. Flayfel along with other staff at Lebanese Conservatory trained her for 5 years. She began singing for the Palestinian Cause and also sang for various Arab Capitals including Beirut. Soon, she was hired at the National Radio Station as a Chorus singer. During that time, many singers used stage names. Halim Al-Rumi, who wrote songs for her, recommended that Nahud Haddad perform under the name Fairuz, means "turquoise" in Arabic, which she accepted. in 1954, she married Assi Rahbani, who was a policeman and a part time composer.

References

Other Websites
 About Fairuz at American University of Beirut.

1935 births
Living people
Lebanese Christians
Lebanese singers
Canaan

Canaan was an ancient region in the Levant. In the Bible, it was the land promised to Abraham and his children by God. The Canaanite people lived in the area from about 2000 BC until the time of the Bible. The area covers part of the area that is now Israel, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

Ancient Israel and Judah
Former countries in the Middle East
History of Jordan
History of Lebanon
History of Syria
Prophet

Prophets are people who said that God or gods talked to them. They freely teach other people what they learned. Most of them warn people that something very good will happen if they live good lives. Or if they sin, God will punish them. Sometimes people who are not religious are also called prophets if they correctly predict the future. Persons who think bad things  will happen are sometimes made fun of as being "prophets of doom". A person who says things will happen, but they don't happen are called "false prophets". 

There are prophets in Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Sanamahism, Zoroastrianism, and in other religions. 

For the main Abrahamic religions, there are two kinds of prophets, major and minor. Major prophets gave a lot of teachings while minor prophets do not have many teachings. The most important prophet in Judaism is Moses.  Isaiah and Elijah are also important. Elijah didn't write any books in the Bible but did many miracles and told kings that God would punish them. 

In Christianity Jesus was the main prophet. Other Christian prophets are mentioned in the New Testament, both men and women. John, a disciple of Jesus wrote the Book of Revelation which has many prophecies.  

In Islam, Muhammed is considered the greatest and last prophet.  Muslims also consider Moses and Jesus to be prophets and many others who lived before the time of Muhammed.  But some modern religions say that their founder is a prophet, such as Joseph Smith. The famous preacher Billy Graham is sometimes called a prophet.

Related pages
 Nevi'im
Isaiah
John the Baptist
 Oracle
 Prophecy
 Prophets of Islam

References

Theology
Cotopaxi

Mount Cotopaxi is a volcano in Ecuador. The mountain's altitude (height) is . That is high enough for snow to fall on it, even though it is near the equator (a very warm part of the world). If the volcano erupted, it would be very bad for the people living around it because of the destruction and damage it could cause.

Cotopaxi began showing new activity. As of 25 June 2015, it was under active watch by the National Polytechnic School Geophysics Institute.

The Geophysics Institute at the National Polytechnic School in Quito houses an international team of seismologists and volcanologists whose responsibility is to monitor Ecuadors numerous active volcanoes
and the constant seismic activity in the Andean Volcanic Belt and the Galapagos Islands.

References 

Andes
Volcanoes of Ecuador
Mountains of Ecuador
Cotopaxi Province
Israelites

Israelites were a Semitic people of the ancient Middle East. They lived in part of what was Canaan during the time of the Bible. This area came to be called the Land of Israel. It usually refers to a member of one of the Tribes of Israel. The term Children of Israel is also used, especially when talking about the period of the Five Books of Moses.

Israelites lived in the kingdom of Israel, in areas where the modern State of Israel is now. Israel split off from a kingdom called Judah, whose people were later called Jews. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 721 BCE. Judah was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Many Jews were taken away from Judah. When the Achaemenid Empire defeated the Babylonians they let the Jews return to rebuild the Second Temple in Jerusalem about 70 years later.

Related pages
 History of ancient Israel and Judah

Ancient Israel and Judah
Bali

Bali () is an island and a province in Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few other islands. About 4,300,00 people live in Bali. Bali's most important city is Denpasar. Hinduism is Bali's largest religion. More than 90% of its people are Hindus. Textiles and garments are 45% of their exports. The currency in Bali is the Indonesian rupiah (IDR). The literacy rate for Bali is 45.55%.

Tourism 

Bali is a popular place for tourists. They have many historic temples and rice fields. Bali has great views and beautiful beaches  and volcanoes. Hindu ceremonies, shadow puppet shows, and traditional dance are also very popular. 

 Sekumpul Waterfall: This Balinese waterfall is in north of Bali.
 Tegallang Rice Terrace: These rice paddies are near Ubud. 
 Pura Luhur Uluwatu Temple: This temple is on the deep cliff on the Indian Ocean coast. 
 Kuta Beach: Kuta is one of the most popular beaches in Bali.

Geography 
Bali is a volcanic island. The two main volcanos are Mount Agung and Mount Batur. Mount Agung is sacred to the Balinese people.

Mount Agung is an active volcano, with a deep, large crater. Sometimes smoke and ash comes out of the crater. The last major eruptions occurred in November 2017.

References
Flag of the People's Republic of China

The Flag of China has one big star and four small yellow stars on a red background.
The big star stands for the communist government, and the four small stars stand for the workers, peasants, middle-class citizens and soldiers.
The red background stands for the blood lost while the history of China was made.

Sources

External links 
 Chinese-flag.org

People's Republic of China
National symbols of the People's Republic of China
The Prince

The Prince is a book written by Niccolò Machiavelli, who lived in the city of Florence in the country of Italy. The book was published in 1513. 

The book talks about politics and government. During his life, Machiavelli saw many changes in the government of Florence. He thought a lot about what a king or prince should do to make a strong government. In the book, he said the ruler had to get a lot of power. 

One of the things he said that made people worried, was that ethics and politics are different. A person might have to do things that are wrong to get power. This thought made his works scandalous.

Some people think that Machiavelli was being honest with his advice and saying what he really thought. Other people think that Machiavelli was playing a joke on princes who wanted too much power and did not care about what was right.

Other websites 
 Il Principe (HTML e-book)
 The Prince Book  Read the book online or download for free. Suitable for e-readers

Works of philosophy
16th-century books
1510s works
Italian literature
Round

Round or rounds may refer to:

Mathematics and science
 The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, or sphere
 Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the number of significant figures it contains
 Round number, a number that ends with one or more zeroes
 Roundness (geology), the smoothness of clastic particles

Music
 Round (music), a type of musical composition
 Rounds (album), a 2003 album by Four Tet

Places
 Round Point, a point on the north coast of King George Island, South Shetland Islands
 Grand Rounds Scenic Byway, a parkway system in Minneapolis 
 Rounds Mountain, a peak in the Taconic Mountains, United States
 Round Mountain (disambiguation), several places

Repeated activities
 Round (boxing), a time period within a boxing match
 Grand rounds, a ritual in  medical education and inpatient care
 Round of drinks, a traditional method of paying in a drinking establishment
 Funding round, a discrete round of investment in a business
 Doing the rounds or patrol, moving through an area at regular intervals
 Round (Theosophy), a planetary cycle of reincarnation in Theosophy

Other 
 Round (surname)
 Rounds (surname)
 Roundedness, rounding of lips when pronouncing vowels
 Labialization, rounding of lips when pronouncing consonants
 Round shot
 Cartridge (firearms), a single unit of ammunition
 Round steak, a cut of meat

Related pages
 
 

Basic English 850 words
512

512 was a leap year.

Events 
 Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Anastasius I ends a period of moderate ecclestical policy, and starts strongly favoring his own monophysitist beliefs.
 Flavian II, Patriarch of Antioch, is deposed and replaced with Severus.
 The island nation of Usan-guk is conquered by the Korean Silla Dynasty general Lee Sabu.
 Earliest known dated text in the Arabic alphabet, at Zebed in Syria

Births 
 Saint David
United Russia

United Russia () is a Russian political party, which usually labels itself centrist and conservationist. Dmitry Medvedev is leader of this party.

The party has most of the seats in the State Duma and in the Regional Parliaments. Because of this, United Russia is the most powerful political party in Russia. Two large parties merged in 2001 to form United Russia.

Political parties in Russia
1735

1735 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar.

Events
 January 8 – George Frideric Handel's opera Ariodante plays at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.
 February 14 – The Order of St. Anna is started in Russia. It is in honour of the daughter of Peter the Great.
 April 13 – Emperor Sakuramachi takes the throne of Japan.
 Linnaeus publishes his Systema Naturae.
 Cobalt is discovered and isolated by Georg Brandt.
 First successful Appendectomy by French surgeon Claudius Aymand in London

 October 30 – John Adams
Jaguar

The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a big cat (feline) of the genus Panthera. It lives in South and Central America.

The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion. It is also the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere.

Because of its spots, jaguars look like leopards, though it is usually larger and stronger, and its behavior is more like that of a tiger. It likes to stay near water, and like the tiger, it is famous for being a big cat that enjoys swimming. It usually hunts alone.

The jaguar has a very powerful strong bite, even compared to other big cats. Because of its strong bite, jaguars can bite through armoured reptiles like caimans, crocodiles, turtles and tortoises. Jaguars kill their prey in an unusual way: they bite directly through the skull between the ears and into the brain.

Appearance 
Jaguars have yellow or sometimes yellow-orange fur with brown and black rosettes and spots. They are big and heavy and also have very strong muscles which makes them really powerful. They cannot climb well, but they can swim.

Sometimes there are jaguars who are completely black, but if you look closely you can still see the spots. They are called "black panther" or just "panther".
This is a 'colour morph' of the same species, a kind of polymorphism.

Habitat 
Jaguars live in South America and Central America. They mostly live in rainforests, but also in savannas, swamps, grasslands, forest, deserts and open areas.

Life 
Jaguars are not specialized with their food, but eat almost anything they get: big and small mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and livestock. It is an ambush predator. When hunting, they usually try to secretly get very close to the prey, and then the jaguar suddenly jumps at it and throws it down. The jaguar bites the skull of its prey to kill it. It then takes the prey to a safe place and eats it.

After a pregnancy of about 100 days the female gives birth to usually 1 - 4 babies. The young leave their family after 1–2 years, and they become mature at about 3 years. Jaguars can live up to 10–12 years old in freedom, but in captivity (such as in zoos) they can live to 20–22 years old.

References

Other websites 

 BBC videos on Jaguars 

Panthera
Mammals of South America
National symbols of Mexico
Big cats
1794

1794 was a common year.

Events 
 Whiskey Rebellion

Births 
 February 21 – Antonio López de Santa Anna
Quartz

Quartz is a tectosilicate mineral that is the second most common mineral in Earth's continental crust. Its crystal structure is a framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra. Each shares an oxygen atom with another tetrahedron, so the overall chemical formula is SiO2 or silica.

It's name is derived from the German quarz, which sounds the same but is spelled without a t.

There are many different varieties of quartz, some of which are semi-precious gemstones.  They have been used for a long time to make jewelry and hardstone carvings.  Agate, amethyst, rose quartz are all forms of quartz.

Quartz crystals are used in oscillators, for example in quartz clocks. People also extract the silicon to make semiconductors.
The majority of sand is small quartz bits. Quartz has a mineral hardness of 7. (mohs scale).

The word "quartz" comes from the German word "quarz".

'Fused quartz' is glass made of silica in non-crystalline form. It does not contain other ingredients that are added to other glass to lower the melting point. Fused silica has high working and melting temperatures. For some purposes, fused quartz is better than other types of glass due to its purity. The glass is used in a number of high-tech products.

Quartz comes in many different types such as clear quartz, smoky quartz, tiger's eye, lemon quartz and many more. There are many microcrystalline types of quartz, like Jasper, Onyx, Agate and Carnelian.

Shocked quartz 

Shocked quartz is a form of quartz that has a microscopic structure different from normal quartz. Under intense pressure (but limited temperature), the crystalline structure of quartz is deformed along planes inside the crystal. These planes show up as lines under a microscope.

Shocked quartz is found worldwide, especially in impact craters and in the thin Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary layer. This is at the contact between Cretaceous and Paleogene rocks. It is further evidence (in addition to iridium enrichment) that the transition between the two geologic periods was caused by a large impact. Eugene Shoemaker discovered it in building stones in the Bavarian town of Nördlingen. The stones were from shocked metamorphic rocks, such as breccia, of a meteor crater.

Related pages 

Time crystal

References 

Minerals
Pope John Paul I

Pope John Paul I (; , 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978), born Albino Luciani, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 264th Pope for 33 days in 1978.  His name was a combination of the names of the two popes who came before him.  The name "John Paul" honors Pope John XXIII who made him a bishop and Pope Paul VI who raised him to the rank of cardinal. Pope John Paul I was beatified by Pope Francis on 04 September 2022.

Early life
Luciani was born in Canale d'Agordo, a small town between Venice and the Austrian border with Italy.  His father was a migrant worker in Switzerland.

Priest
Luciani began his priesthood in the parishes of his home region.  In 1937, he became a professor of theology and vice-rector of Belluno seminary.

Bishop
He was made Bishop of Vittorio Veneto in 1969.  He understood his role as bishop in a modest way:

Cardinal
In 1972, Pope Paul VI made Luciani a cardinal. and the Patriarch of Venice.

Pope
Cardinal Luciani was elected Pope in 1978, John Paul I was the first pope to combine the names of John and Paul as a Pope as his way of paying tribute to Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI.  He was the first Pope to call himself by a new name since Pope Lando in 913.

He was known as "the Smiling Pope".

Death 
John Paul I died of a heart attack on 28 September 1978, 33 days after his election.

Selected works
 In a list made of writings by and about John Paul I, OCLC/WorldCat has over 250 works in 370 publications in 17 languages and 11,300 library holdings.
 Illustrissimi (1978)

Related pages
 List of popes
 List of popes by length of reign

References

More reading
 Cornwell, John. (1989). A Thief in the Night: the Death of Pope John Paul I. New York: Simon & Schuster. ;  OCLC 20013469
 Seabeck, Raymond, ed. (2004). The Smiling Pope: the Life and Teaching of John Paul I. 	Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division. ;  OCLC 438570516

Other websites

  Catholic Hierarchy,  Pope John Paul I
 Vatican webpage, John Paul I biography
  Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church,  Cardinal Luciani 

1912 births
1978 deaths
Deaths from myocardial infarction
Italian popes
People from Veneto
Beatified people
Ted Cassidy

Ted Cassidy (July 31, 1932 - January 16, 1979) was an American actor. He was best known for his roles as Lurch and Thing on The Addams Family.

Cassidy died of surgery-related problems to remove a tumor from his heart on January 16, 1979.

References

Other websites 
 

American television actors
American movie actors
American stage actors
American voice actors
Actors from Pittsburgh
1932 births
1979 deaths
Deaths from surgical complications
Deaths from heart cancer
Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Carol Wuornos Pralle (born Aileen Carol Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer. She was born in Rochester, Michigan. She confessed to killing six men in Florida and was executed in Florida State Prison by lethal injection for the murders. Wuornos said that the men she killed had raped her or tried to rape her while she was working as a prostitute.

Wuornos was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder.

The movie, Monster is about her life. Two documentaries were made about her.

Early life
Wuornos was born Aileen Carol Pittman in Rochester, Michigan. She never met her father. Wuornos was adopted by her grandparents. When she was 13 she became pregnant. She started working as a prostitute when she was 14.

References 

1956 births
2002 deaths
American LGBT sex industry people
American prostitutes
Bisexual people
Criminals from Michigan
Executed American serial killers
LGBT criminals
People executed by lethal injection
People with antisocial personality disorder
People with borderline personality disorder
People from Troy, Michigan
Crater

A crater is a round dent on a planet. They are usually shaped like a circle or an oval. They are usually made by something like a meteor hitting the surface of a planet. Underground activity such as volcanoes or explosions can also cause them but it's not as likely.

Related pages
Volcanic crater
Caldera
Impact crater

References
Store

Store has several meanings:

 A department store
 A shop
 Storage, a place for saving things

Basic English 850 words
1857



Events 
Indian Mutiny; Mangal Pandey, Rani of Jhansi
 "Jingle Bells" is written and published in America

Births 
 5 April – Alexander of Battenberg
   14 April  -  Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom; Prince Henry of Battenberg
 June 11 – Antoni Grabowski
 3 December – Joseph Conrad

Deaths

December 31 - Edward Williams Clay, American artist (b. 1799)
1887



Events 
 July 26 – L. L. Zamenhof published Esperanto

Births 
 March 22 – Chico Marx
 December 25 – Conrad Hilton, American hotelier (d. 1979)

References
1485

1485 was a common year.

Events 
 August 22 – Battle of Bosworth Field ends the War of the Roses, Henry VII becomes King of England.
 The first appearance of the sweating sickness in England.

Births 
 16 December – Catherine of Aragon, later first Queen-consort of King Henry VIII of England.
 Thomas Cromwell, English statesman (approximately).
 Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico
 Clément Janequin, French chanson composer (approximate date)
 Hugh Aston, English composer (approximate date)
 Pierre Moulu, French composer (approximate date)

Deaths 
 March 16 – Anne Neville, Queen consort of Richard III of England.
 22 August – King Richard III of England.
 October 28 – Rodolphus Agricola, Dutch scholar
Noon

Noon is the time exactly halfway through the day (12.00-12:00 in the 24-hour clock and 12:00 PM-12:00 PM in the 12-hour clock). Midday also means noon, although this also means around noon, or very early afternoon.

Solar noon is when the sun appears the highest in the sky, compared to its positions during the rest of the day. It occurs when the Sun is exactly halfway between sunrise (dawn) and sunset. This is also the origin of the terms a.m. and p.m., ante meridiem and post meridiem.  At solar noon, the sun is due south seen from the Northern Hemisphere, and due north seen from the Southern Hemisphere. The sun is directly overhead at solar noon at the Equator on the equinoxes; at Tropic of Cancer  (latitude 23½°N) on the summer solstice in June; and at Tropic of Capricorn (23½°S) on the winter solstice in December.

Because of the use of time zones and daylight saving time, the highest point of the sun and a clock time of noon are usually different. 

The opposite of noon is midnight.

Cultural meanings 
In traditional magical thinking, noon represents with heaven, order and life. 

Parts of a day
24-hour clock

The 24-hour clock is a way of telling the time in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours, numbered from 0 to 23. It does not use a.m. or p.m. This system is also referred to (only in the United States and the English speaking parts of Canada) as military time or  (only in the United Kingdom and now very rarely) as continental time. In some parts of the world, it is called railway time. Also, the international standard notation of time (ISO 8601) is based on this format.

A time in the 24-hour clock is written in the form hours:minutes (for example, 01:23), or hours:minutes:seconds (01:23:45). Numbers under 10 have a zero in front (called a leading zero); e.g. 09:07. Under the 24-hour clock system, the day begins at midnight, 00:00, and the last minute of the day begins at 23:59 and ends at 24:00, which is identical to 00:00 of the following day. 12:00 can only be noon (midday). Midnight is called 24:00 and is used to mean the end of the day and 00:00 is used to mean the beginning of the day. For example, you would say "Tuesday at 24:00" and "Wednesday at 00:00" to mean exactly the same time.
However, the U.S. military prefers not to say 24:00 - they do not like to have two names for the same thing, so they always say "23:59", which is one minute before midnight.

24-hour clock time is used in computers, by the militaries, for public safety, and in transport. In many African, Asian, European and Latin American countries people use it to write the time. Many people use it in speaking.

Many digital wristwatches and clocks can display the time of day using the 24-hour clock.

In railway timetables 24:00 means the end of the day. For example, a train due to arrive at a station during the last minute of a day arrives at 24:00; but trains which depart during the first minute of the day go at 00:00.

To write shop opening hours until midnight use, for example,  "00:00–24:00", "07:00–24:00".

Advantages over the 12-hour clock system:
 Fewer confusions between morning and evening; e.g. 7 o'clock in the evening is called 19:00.
 People do not have to figure out if noon is 00h00, 24h or 12h to calculate duration.

References 

Time
Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue is a large avenue in New York City (U.S.). Running from Greenwich Village in southern Manhattan to Harlem in the north, the avenue marks the line dividing Manhattan into two parts, called the East Side and the West Side. The nearest avenues, on either side, are Madison Avenue (east) and Sixth Avenue (west), also known as the Avenue of the Americas.

There are many famous sights, such as the New York Public Library, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and Central Park (which runs along the west side, between 59th and 110th Street). On Fifth Avenue there are many expensive shops like Gucci.

Related pages
 Madison Avenue

Roads in New York City
Yarm

Yarm is a small town in North East England, in Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire.  It is next to the River Tees and the River Leven.  It has a railway station. From 1974 to 1996 it was part of Cleveland, England.

Towns in North Yorkshire
Ulster Volunteer Force

The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary (civilians trained as soldiers) group based in Northern Ireland. It was formed in 1966. Its name comes from the UVF of World War I. The Ulster Volunteer Force was started as a Protestant/Unionist militia (citizen military force) in 1912 to oppose the Home Rule campaign for a separate Irish parliament. Many UVF members formed the 36th (Ulster) Division that fought with the British Army in World War I. The Progressive Unionist Party is the political wing of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force and Red Hand Commando. Although the PUP is called a loyalist fringe party, it has more moderate unionist views than any of the traditional unionist parties.

Crimes
During the Troubles in Northern Ireland (1969-1998), the UVF carried out many attacks:
In 1971, they bombed McGurk's Bar in Belfast which was in a mostly Catholic area of the city. The blast killed 15 Catholics and destroyed the building.
In 1974, they placed three car bombs in the centre of Dublin and another in Monaghan, which were deliberately exploded at rush hour to kill as many people as possible. The bombs killed 33 people and injured over 300, making it the worst atrocity of the conflict.
In 1975, they shot dead three members of the Miami Showband, a popular showband from Dublin, as they were travelling home from doing a show in County Down, Northern Ireland.
In 1994, they attacked a bar in Loughinisland County Down and fired on the customers. The attack killed six Catholics and injured five others.
Following the murder of a Catholic taxi driver in Portadown in July 1996, the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the UVF was expelled. They immediately set up the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF).

Ceasefire and decommissioning
After a continuous campaign of 28 years, the UVF called a ceasefire in October 1994. They stated in October 2007 that they had ended their campaign and in June 2009 they announced they had decommissioned (destroyed their weapons), however the UVF have been involved in a number of incidents since then, which has put the announcement in doubt.

Deaths as a result of campaign
From the organization's creation in 1966 and ending of campaign in 2007, the UVF were responsible for at least 400 murders, however it is believed the actual figure is closer to 1,000. The UVF stated that their mission was to destroy Irish republican paramilitary groups, however over 80% of their victims were Catholic civilians.

References 
 Steve Bruce, The Red Hand, 1992, 
 Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald, UVF, 2000, 
 Martin Dillon, The Dirty War
 Brendan O'Brien, The Long War - the IRA and Sinn Féin
 Peter Taylor, Loyalists
 Tony Geraghty, The Irish War

Other websites
 History of the 1912 UVF 
 History of the YCV 
 CAIN - University of Ulster Conflict Archive
 Photographs of UVF murals
 Ulster Volunteer Force 

1966 establishments in the United Kingdom
20th-century establishments in Northern Ireland
Nationalist organisations in the United Kingdom
1254



1254 (MCCLIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Births 
 September 15 – Marco Polo, Italian explorer (d. 1324)

Deaths 
 December 7 – Pope Innocent IV
1473

1473 (MCDLXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. It was the 473rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 73rd year of the 15th century and the 4th year of the 1470s decade.

Events 
 February 12 - The first complete edition of Avicenna's The Canon of Medicine (in Latin translation) is published in Milan.
 August 11 - Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens led by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli.

Unknown dates 
 Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan, in present-day Mexico, invades the territory of the neighbouring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. The ruler of Tlatelolco is killed and replaced by a military governor, and it loses its independence in the process.
 The city walls of Celje, Slovenia, are built.
 Marsilio Ficino becomes a priest.
 Nicolo Marcello becomes Doge of Venice.

Births 

 February 19 – Nicolaus Copernicus, astronomer and mathematician (d. 1543)
 March 16 – Henry IV, Duke of Saxony (d. 1541)
 March 17 – King James IV of Scotland (d. 1513)
 August 14 – Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (d. 1541)
 August 17 – Richard, Duke of York, one of the Princes in the Tower (d. 1483)
 September 24 – Georg von Frundsberg, German Knight and landowner (d. 1528)
 October 26 – Friedrich of Saxony (d. 1510)
 date unknown – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Tudor politician (d. 1555)
 probable
 Jean Lemaire de Belges, Walloon poet and historian (d. 1525)
 Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales, only son of Richard III of England (d. 1484)

Deaths 
 January 24 – Conrad Paumann, German composer (b. c. 1410)
 February 23 – Arnold, Duke of Gelderland (b. 1410)
 April – Alessandro Sforza, condottiero
 May 8 – John Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, English politician (b. 1420)
 July 10 – James II of Cyprus (b. c. 1440)
 December 24 – John Cantius, Polish scholar and theologian (b. 1390)
 date unknown
 Jean Jouffroy, French prelate and diplomat (b. c. 1412)
 Hosokawa Katsumoto, Japanese nobleman (b. 1430)
 Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1448)
 Yamana Sōzen, Japanese daimyo and monk (b. 1404)
 probable – Patriarch Gennadios II of Constantinople (b. c. 1400)
1898

The year of 1898 was a common year (a year that had 365 days), and began on a Saturday.

Events

January 
 January 1 – New York City creates the City of Greater New York.

February 
 February 12 – Henry Lindfield dies in England, and is the first person to die from a car accident.

March 
 March 24 – Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania becomes the first person to buy a car built in America.
 March 26 – The Sabi Game Reserve is created in South America, and becomes the first official game reserve.

April 
 April 25 – The United States declares war on Spain.

June 
 June 12 – The Republic of the Philippines declares official independence from Spain during the Spanish-American War.

Deaths 
 March 16 – Aubrey Beardsley
 March 27 – Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Bahadur
Minesweeper (video game)

Minesweeper is a strategy game that comes with most Microsoft computer operating systems. It is available for many other operating systems and desktop environments as well. The object of the game is to clear a minefield of mines. By clicking on blocks, the player learns if the block contains a mine. If they do not see a mine, the game continues. If they clicked on a mine, the game is over. When the player clicks on a block, a number may appear. The number shows how many mines are next to this square. This helps the player find out where the mines are.

The most common variation of the game is won when every block that does not contain a mine has been clicked, although some variations are won by having every block that contains a mine flagged.

Variations 
There are many versions out there:

Microsoft software
Windows games