alibayram/wikipedia-40-langs huggingface dataset:
George Boole

George Boole [], (November 2, 1815 – December 8, 1864) was an English mathematician and philosopher.

Works
He created Boolean algebra. This is one of the bases of modern-day computer science. Other people, like Augustus De Morgan and Charles Peirce, refined and completed his work. In their times, very few people knew of the work those mathematicians had done. Boolean algebra was rediscovered by Claude Shannon about 75 years after Boole's death. In his doctoral thesis, Shannon showed that boolean algebra was useful. It could simplify the design of electric switches and relays (like those that were used in the telephone switchboards of the time). Shannon also showed that such switches could solve boolean algebra problems. All modern-day digital circuits (mainly computers) use such algebra to solve problems.

Other websites 

Roger Parsons' article on Boole 

George Boole's work as first Professor of Mathematics in University College, Cork, Ireland

1815 births
1864 deaths
19th-century English philosophers
English mathematicians
Boolean algebra
Managua

Managua has been the capital city of Nicaragua since 1855. There had been an Indian settlement there before the Spanish, but the modern city was founded as Leal Villa de Santiago de Managua in 1811. Before 1855, León and Granada were the capital cities. The word managua comes from the Nahuatl language mana-ahuac. It means near water. About 1.8 million people lived there in 2004. This makes it one of the biggest cities of Central America (after Guatemala City). The city is at the shore of Lake Managua. Many people who live in Managua are White or Mestizo. They all speak Spanish. There are also big communities of Catalonians, Germans, Italians and French. Many of the people belonging to those communities have lived in the city for many generations. Many people see Managua as one of the safest cities in America to live in.

The city has had two destructive earthquakes in the 20th century. Hurricane Mitch caused further destructions in 1998. Many old buildings were damaged or destroyed in these earthquakes, and new streets and monuments were built in their place. In general, addresses are rarely used to give directions. Instead, people usually use monuments to tell where a certain place is. The problem with that approach is that sometimes, the monuments themselves were destroyed. Therefore, foreigners often have problems finding their way around the city.

Cities in Nicaragua
1811 establishments in North America
National capitals in North America
Flat

Flat might mean:
Something that does not curve in any direction
An apartment

In music "flat" can have two (related) meanings:
A flat is a note that has been lowered a semitone (see note (music))
Flat can mean a note that is not in tune:  The pitch is too low (see intonation).

Basic English 850 words
Curve

A curve is a line that turns or bends. A curved line is never straight, and a curved surface is a surface that is never flat. Some curves can be drawn on paper, but some curves, like a helix, can only be seen in 3-D. A circle is a curve that can be described with the formula x2 + y2 = r2. x and y are used as in a Cartesian coordinate system, and r is the radius of the circle (distance from the center to the outside). Many other curves can also be described with a formula like that.

Related pages
ellipse
parabola
hyperbola

Geometry
Klein bottle

The Klein bottle is a geometrical object, named after the German mathematician Felix Klein.  He described it in 1882, and named it Klein'sche Fläche (Klein surface). Like the Möbius strip, it only has one surface. Mathematicians call this a non-orientable surface. Klein bottles only exist in four-dimensional space, but a model of a Klein bottle can be made in 3D. This model is different from the original because at some point the shape touches itself. In 3D, part of the shape is "inside" the rest. This is not the case in 4D. Some 3D models use different colors to show the 4th component. The part that lies "inside"  then has a different color.

Because the surface is non-orientable, there is no "inside" or "outside". This means that if a liquid were filled "in the bottle", it would run down its surface. This may not be true for the 3D models of the bottle.

The 2-dimensional version of a Klein bottle is a Möbius strip.

Making a Klein bottle from a rectangle
Join the arrows so that they face the same way, like so:

References

Other websites 

Acme Klein Bottles - Clifford Stoll sells blown-glass immersed Klein bottles.
 Klein bottle construction
Klein Bottle Images by John Sullivan
The Klein bottle 
A modular origami model of the Klein bottle 
A knitted version
Paper klein bottle - make your own
Geodesic klein bottles and some mystic musings
Imaging Maths - The Klein Bottle 

Shapes
Entropy

The entropy of an object is a measure of the amount of energy which is unavailable to do work. Entropy is also a measure of the number of possible arrangements the atoms in a system can have. In this sense, entropy is a measure of uncertainty or randomness. The higher the entropy of an object, the more uncertain we are about the states of the atoms making up that object because there are more states to decide from. A law of physics says that it takes work to make the entropy of an object or system  smaller; without work, entropy can never become smaller – you could say that everything slowly goes to disorder (higher entropy).

The word entropy came from the study of heat and energy in the period 1850 to 1900. Some very useful mathematical ideas about probability calculations emerged from the study of entropy. These ideas are now used in information theory, statistical mechanics, chemistry and other areas of study. 

Entropy is simply a quantitative measure of what the second law of thermodynamics describes: the spreading of energy until it is evenly spread. The meaning of entropy is different in different fields. It can mean:

Information entropy, which is a measure of information communicated by systems that are affected by data noise.
Thermodynamic entropy is part of the science of heat energy. It is a measure of how organized or disorganized energy is in a system of atoms or molecules.

Thermodynamics
Basic physics ideas
Side

In geometry, a side is a straight line that is part of a shape. A shape made of straight lines is called a polygon. The number of sides on a polygon can be written as .

A side can also mean the face of a 3D shape. A 3D shape made of flat faces is called a polyhedron. The number of faces on a polyhedron can be written as .

As an example, the square on the right has four sides. The sides in this picture are made with black straight lines. The four sides are:
 the black straight line from A to B
 the black straight line from B to C
 the black straight line from C to D
 the black straight line from D to A

Other uses
A side may also mean a part of something. For example, on a human body, the right side means the parts of the body that make up the right half of the body.  
Inside and outside are terms use to show where something is. If something is inside, it is in something. For example, the sentence "The cookies are inside of the container." means that the cookies are in the container. The area within the canister is the inside of the canister. The outside is the area not in the canister. Outside is the opposite of inside.

Related pages 

 Area

References 
Geometry
Te Puke

Te Puke is a small town in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. 6670 people live there. It is famous for kiwifruit, which is grown there. Lots of other fruit is grown there too.

Te Puke means the hill in Māori.

Towns in Bay of Plenty Region
Western Bay of Plenty District
Manifold

A manifold is a concept from mathematics.  Making a manifold is like making a flat map of a sphere (the Earth).

The Earth is a sphere, a three dimensional object of geometry. Yet, maps (two-dimensional representations) can be made of the Earth. At the edges of a certain map, the map needs to be changed. That way it is possible to make a two dimensional image of the whole surface of the Earth. There need to be rules, on how to change the maps, and some areas (near the edges of the map) will be on more than one map. It is not possible to make one map only, which would have no edges. This map would either have edges (and overlapping areas), or there would be some places where the paper was torn. Tearing and overlapping isn't allowed.

Other shapes can be manifolds too. For example, a hyperbolic plane is a shape that looks like a saddle or leaf of lettuce. If you try to press it down onto a piece of paper, it will have wrinkles, and it will go on forever past the edges of the paper. But you can make a map of part of it by squishing the edges, just like with the Earth you can make a map by taking part of it and stretching the edges.

Each manifold has a dimension. This is the number of dimensions of the maps, in the example above. It is the same for all maps. 

Differential geometry
Topology
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate

NADP (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate) (formula C21H29N7O17P3) is a coenzyme that carries electrical energy used in cellular processes. When a hydrogen atom is added, NADP becomes charged and is renamed NADPH. NADP is used extensively during the Krebs (citric acid) cycle and during glycolysis and in the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis.

Cellular respiration
Organonitrogen compounds
Phosphates
The CW

The CW Television Network (commonly referred to as simply The CW) is an American television network that is operated by The CW Network, LLC. It launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season and is a joint venture between Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group, the former owner of United Paramount Network (UPN), Warner Bros. Discovery's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB Television Network and Nexstar Media Group, the largest affiliation of the network. The "CW" name comes from the first letter of the names of these corporations (CBS and Warner Bros.).

Television

References

Further reading

Other websites

  (Site only accessible from within the United States)

American television networks
Borzoi

Borzoi is a type of Russian dog. It used to be called a Russian Wolf Hound.

This breed of dog was brought to the United States in 1889. It was approved by the American Kennel Club one year later.  The breed is beautiful and has a gentle personality. It makes it a good pet.

The breed was approved and the descriptive standard was written in 1650. It has not changed much since then.  It is about  tall at the withers (its back near the shoulders). It weighs from .  Borzois have a long coat. They can be any color from solid white to brown and white, gray and white or brindle. They can also be all black. People who take care of Borzois have done a good job of stopping health problems. Borzois do not have many of the problems other breeds have with health.

In Russia, they were well liked by the royalty. It was illegal to sell them. They were given to those who did something special for the Tzars.  They feature in Russian novels e.g. in Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina".  During the Russian revolution, most of the breed were killed because they were a symbol of royalty.  A few were taken from the country.

They have been used in advertising for luxury cars and jewelry. This is because of their elegant looks.

Dog breeds originating in Russia
Rare dog breeds
FCI breeds
Giuseppe Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian soldier who is best known for the unification of Italy.

Garibaldi led the navy of the breakaway Riograndense Republic in southern Brazil until it was defeated in 1839. He escaped and led the navy of Uruguay to victory. Later, inspired by Giuseppe Mazzini, he fought for Italian unification. He led a group called the Red Shirts through the Kingdom of Two Sicilies to bring different kingdoms in Italy together in 1860.

1807 births
1882 deaths

Italian people
19th century in Italy
Edward the Confessor

Edward III (4 April 1003 — 5 January 1066) nicknamed the Confessor, the Saint, the Pious, and the Faithful was the King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. During his reign, England experienced peace, stability, and prosperity. The kingdom was also very unstoppable and also, the kingdom's life quality and the standard of living and health care improved as well.

Edward spent many years in Normandy. The Anglo-Saxon nobles invited Edward back to England in 1041. He became part of the household of his half-brother Harthacnut. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle both were sworn in as king together.

Following Cnut II's death on 8 June 1042, Edward ascended the throne. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle indicates the popularity he enjoyed at his accession — "before  he (Cnut II) was buried, all the people chose Edward as king in London". Edward was crowned at the cathedral of Winchester, the royal seat of the West Saxons on 3 April 1043.

The succession 
Edward's death left England without a clear-cut successor.  Harold Godwinson had led successful raiding parties into Wales in 1063. He negotiated with his inherited rivals in Northumbria in 1065, and in January 1066, upon Edward's death, he was made King Harold II.

The Norman position was that William the Conqueror had been designated the heir, and that Harold had been publicly sent to him as emissary from Edward, to apprise him of Edward's decision. However, William's biographer, William of Poitiers, admitted that the old king had made a deathbed gift of the crown to Harold. On Edward's death, Harold was approved by the Witenagemot which, under Anglo-Saxon law, held the ultimate authority to convey kingship.

Edward also made his great nephew Edgar Ætheling his heir. However, Edgar had no following among the earls: he had lived in Hungary, and was a boy of fifteen. This opened the way for Harold's coronation, and the invasions of two claimants to the throne, the unsuccessful invasion of Harald Hardrada in the north and the successful one of William of Normandy.

Edward was canonized (made a saint) in 1161 by Pope Alexander III, and is commemorated on 13 October.

Related pages
 Harold Godwinson
 William the Conqueror
 Battle of Hastings

References

Other websites 
 England, Anglo-Saxon & Danish Kings (-1066) on Medieval Lands

1003 births
1066 deaths
Christian saints
House of Wessex
People buried in Westminster Abbey
11th century in England
27 BC

Year 27 BC was either a common year starting on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday or a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

Events
 January 16 – The Roman Senate votes Octavian the title of Augustus. He accepts this honor, having declined the alternative title of Romulus. He is known as Augustus afterwards.
 Augustus becomes consul for the seventh time. His partner Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa becomes consul for the third time.
 Augustus, as consul, returns power to the Senate of Rome.
 Augustus starts a new military reform.
 Northern statue of the Colossi of Memnon is shattered by an earthquake in Egypt (according to Strabo).

Births 

 Emperor Ai of Han (d. 1 BC)

Deaths 

 Marcus Terentius Varro, Roman scholar (b. 116 BC)
899

Year 899 (DCCCXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.

Events 
 Edward the Elder becomes King of England.
 Gorm the Old becomes King of Denmark.
 Regino of Prüm is expelled from Prüm and becomes abbot of St. Martin's in Trier.
Gilbertville, Ontario

Gilbertville is a hamlet in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada that is in between Delhi and the historical hamlet of Pine Grove. There is a small grocery store, a tractor shop, a car repair shop, and farmland to the south. In addition to all this, Gilbertville is also the site of a former army base and was founded by the Gilbert family in the 19th century as a place to rest horses when travelling to and from the towns of Simcoe and Delhi.

Settlements in Ontario

en:Norfolk County, Ontario
World War III

World War III is the name given to a possible third world war. It refers to a world war that may happen. It would be the successor to World War II (19391945).

A world war might be fought by multiple countries of the world against one other, sometimes across different continents. An all-out war fought between two or three major superpowers would be a world war.

Because technology and weapons have become so advanced, most people agree that if World War III ever happens, nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons may be used. Biological weapons are living things, usually bacteria or viruses. Chemical weapons might not kill quickly but poison people or their land. Together, nuclear, biological and chemical weapons are called weapons of mass destruction. Conventional weapons, on the other hand are "normal" weapons like guns or non-nuclear bombs.

Mass destruction could damage much of the Earth, kill many humans, animals and other living things, and cause the collapse of modern civilization. Albert Einstein is often quoted as having said: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones". Einstein might not have actually said this, but other things that he said show that he believed the weapons used in World War III might be so devastating that they would end civilization as we know it.

Actual events called World War III 
Some events, for example the Cold War, have been called "World War III." US President George W. Bush compared the War on Terrorism to World War III.

Neither was even remotely like what a world war would be. The Cold War was not fought on a large scale, and the Iraq War was largely conventional and was mostly contained in one general area. Terrorism is indeed a form of conflict, but it is not a world war.

Related pages 
Eschatology
Nuclear war

References

Wars
Eschatology
Randy Quaid

Randy Randall Rudy Quaid (born October 1, 1950) is an American actor. He was born in Houston, Texas and has been in many movies. He is the brother of actor Dennis Quaid.

References

Other websites 
 

1950 births
Living people
Actors from Houston
American movie actors
American television actors
Oakland, California

Oakland is a city in California. It is across the bay from San Francisco.  It is the county seat of Alameda County and the third-largest city in the Bay Area, after San Jose and San Francisco.  At one time, Oakland had many factories that built cars, ships and airplanes.  It is a major seaport and rail junction. It is the home of the Athletics baseball team.

California governor Jerry Brown was once mayor of Oakland. The current mayor is Sheng Thao.

Important people
 Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States, former United States Senator and California Attorney General

References

Other websites

 
County seats in California
Molasses

Molasses (Known as treacle in the United Kingdom if it was made to be eaten by humans) is a by-product of sugar canes or sugar beets being turned into sugar. It is like a thick syrup. Some people also call molasses sorghum syrup. The quality of the molasses depends on how the sugar is refined. Molasses is like a black golden syrup type liquid. 

Molasses is the base for making rum. Sometimes vodka is also made from molasses.

History 
Molasses was first imported to United States by the British, (The Sugar Act, 1764), during the early times of the United States. The United States got sugar from southern islands. While the United States was getting sugar, they decided to ask for the leftover material, or molasses. The United States then used the molasses for their personal use, as well as making it into rum to trade with other nations.

Sweeteners
Syrup

Syrup is a thick, sweet, flavored liquid with a high sugar content. There are different flavored syrups, such as chocolate syrup, vanilla syrup, and maple syrup. Syrups are used to sweeten and flavor hot and cold drinks, and they are poured on desserts and breakfast foods.

Used in drinks
Syrups are used in many different types of drinks. Coffee shops add chocolate syrup and other flavored syrups (for example: vanilla) to coffee drinks. Ice cream parlors add chocolate syrup to milk shakes. In Italy, cafés often offer a choice of different syrups that can be added to carbonated soda water, to add sweetness and flavor.

Used for desserts
Syrups are also used in many desserts. Ice cream parlors pour chocolate and butterscotch syrup on bowls of ice cream. Cafés and restaurants pour syrup on cakes, pies, crepes, and pancakes. 

In North America, maple syrup is often poured over pancakes as a breakfast food. It is made from the sap of maple trees, which is boiled until it thickens. During the summer months, flavored syrups are also used over crushed ice to make "slush puppies" or "slush puppies".

In China, pear syrup is used to make ligaotang, a staple of Shanghainese food. It comes in many flavors, including pinenut, rose, and meat floss. It is also used as a traditional Chinese medicine to help with coughs or poor appetite.

References
Sugarcane

Sugarcane (or sugar cane) is a Genus of  plants. There are between 6 and 37 types of sugarcane.Sugarcane grows in warm and tropical climates. It first grew in Asia, but after the year 700 people started planting it in Africa and southern Europe. Later it spread to the Americas and Australia. Today the biggest producer is Brazil in South America. India in Asia is second biggest producer after Brazil.

Sugarcane stalks grow to between 2 and 6 meters tall. These stalks contain sugar, which is used to sweeten food and drinks. After the sugar has been taken out the remains of the stalks can be burned to generate heat and electricity. It can also be made into paper, cardboard and cutlery. This crop requires high temperature and high rainfall. In areas of low rainfall this crop is cultivated with the help of irrigation. Black soil or alluvial soil is the best for this crop. Sugarcane requires a large amount of water. That is why holding deep soil is required. As this crop absorbs nutrient matter from the soil, compost manure and chemical fertilizers are used. It wants 75-100cm rainfall.

Sugarcane juice can be made by pressing the stalks in a machine.  It is often sold in the streets in some countries.  It can contain disease.

References 

Poaceae
Sugar beet

Sugar beet is a plant. Its roots contain a high amount of sucrose. This can be made into sugar. Sugar beets are grown for sugar. The sugar beet is related to chard.

The biggest producers of sugar beet are the European Union, the United States and Russia. 30% of the world sugar production is from sugar beets.

Amaranthaceae
Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurological disorder. Tourette syndrome can also be called Tourette's syndrome, Tourette's disorder, GTS, Tourette's, or TS. People that have Tourette's have tics (movements or sounds that the person cannot easily control). Tourette's is normally inherited, and starts in childhood. 

People who have Tourette's have a normal life expectancy and normal intelligence. Tics are normally not as bad as people get older. Adults with severe Tourette's are rare. Fewer than 15% of people with Tourette's have coprolalia. Coprolalia is using words or phrases that some people might find offensive without being able to stop saying them. These may include curse words. The typical Tourette's sufferer has coprolalia.

Most people with Tourette's do not need treatment. There are drugs that can help people manage tics. There are also therapies that can help people live easier with Tourette's.

The disease is named after Georges Gilles de la Tourette. He was one of the first doctors to describe the symptoms.

Also, people who have this syndrome might feel very depressed and have high chance to get depression.

Other websites 
 Tourette Syndrome Association
 Tourette Syndrome (UK) Association

Genetic disorders
Syndromes
1134

Year 1134 (MCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

Events 
 The Church of St. James is dedicated in Glasgow.
 The Zeeland archipelago is created by a massive storm in the North Sea.
 The House of Brandenburg is founded when Albrecht the Bear is made head of the Nordmark.

1134
Soybean

The soybean (or soya bean) is a plant with fruit called beans, from Eastern Asia. The height of a grown soybean is between less than 20 centimetres and up to 2 metres. One soybean lives for only one year.

Uses 
Soybeans can be eaten or used to make oil, sauce, milk, flour, tofu and other foods. These soy foods have much protein, and many vegetarians like that. 

Soybean oil has a component of oleic acid that can be used to make an insect repellent.
Also fuel can be made from soybeans.

Soybeans can also be fermented to make nattō.

History 
In 1997, 81% of all soybeans were of genetically modified stock. This means that genes were changed directly.

In China, going back the ancient Chou dynasty soy beans were considered to be one of the five sacred foods.

Related pages
 Soy milk
 Soy sauce
Soybean oil
 Vegetarian
 Vegan

Beans
Henagon

A henagon (or monogon) is a shape in geometry. It is like a polygon, except that it only has one side and one corner (vertex). Henagons are considered to be impossible to draw, using Euclidean geometry. This is because the single side would go to infinity.

Since it only has one side, there is only one angle. Therefore, all henagons are considered regular shapes. 

1
Moors

The Moors were the Muslims who lived in the Maghreb and on the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and parts of Southern France in the Middle Ages. In Europe, the word was often used for indigenous European people whose ancestors were converted to Islam, although Islam was not actually invented until 700 A.D., so the religion of the Moors who are indigenous to Europe was something else. 

In 750 A.D. the Umayyad Dynasty was defeated in Syria. Many refugees came to what is now Spain and Portugal. They had a very big influence on the culture of these countries.

Umayyad Muslims were the ones who captured and named Al-Andalus, which means land of the Vandals. The majority of Moors in Iberia were native European populations who converted to Islam due to the Arab conquests of the peninsula. These Moors were forcefully converted to Catholicism after the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula in completion of the period popularly known as the Reconquista.

Other page 
Othello

Ethnic groups in Morocco
Arab people
History of Spain
 
History of Portugal
Berber people
History of Islam
Berber
Habitat

A habitat is the area in which an organism lives. It is a summary term for all the resources, physical and living which are present in an area. It is the natural environment in which an organism lives, and the physical environment which surrounds a population.

Animal habitats 
Most animals live in one type of environment because they are best suited to it. We say they are 'adapted to this environment'. For example, animals such as frogs, newts, and ducks have webbed feet to help them swim in the water. There are many different types of habitats and many kinds of adaptations to each habitat.

If the habitat changes, it may no longer be suitable for the animals and plants that live there. Climate change is making some habitats warmer, and so many animal species are moving to cooler areas. However some species are not able to move and the populations are getting smaller. Scientists think that 10% of species may become extinct because of these changes. Other habitats have been cleared to make them into farm land. In Australia for example, 80% of the eucalypt forests have been cleared for farming over the last 210 years. This is threatening the survival of forest animals such as the koala.

Plant habitats 
Just as animals adapt to the places they live, so do plants. Plants are adapted to a wide variety of habitats. As a result, each plant has certain characteristics. Some are adapted to living on land while others live in water. Plants that grow on land usually have stiff stems to hold them upright, while water plants tend to have less rigid stems because the water supports them.

Plants that live in dry climates like the desert have few or no leaves.  Many, such as cacti, store water when rain occurs.  Their adaptations save water.  Plants that grow in shaded areas have large leaves to capture as much sunlight as possible, or they climb towards the light.

Related pages 
 Biome
 Ecological niche
 Range (biology)

References 

Ecosystems
Long Island

Long Island, NY is the biggest island in the continental United States. Over 7 million people live there. The majority live in the western part, in Brooklyn and Queens which are parts of New York City. The other people live in two counties. Nassau County is in the central area, and Suffolk County fills approximately the eastern half. To the north is Long Island Sound and to the south is the Atlantic Ocean. There are almost 200 Long Island Towns on Long Island, NY. While the areas closest to New York City are urban with a high population density, the central and eastern parts of Long Island are more rural with a lower population density.

The East River separates Long Island from Manhattan island and the Bronx mainland. The Narrows separates it from Staten Island. Long Island is a terminal moraine left by glaciers during the ice ages. 

The 2000 census counted 7,448,618,  people living on Long Island, making it by far the most populated island in all of the United States, and more populated than Ireland, Sicily or Puerto Rico. Long Island is in the Eastern Time Zone.   

The term "Long Island" often refers only to the mostly suburban counties of Nassau and Suffolk because Brooklyn and Queens are part of New York City.

References

Islands of New York (state)
Geography of New York City
K.M. Peyton

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton (born 2 August 1929 in Birmingham, England) is an English writer. She has written over 50 books, including Blind Beauty (1999) and Stealaway (2001).

Other websites 
  About KM Peyton
  Reviews of some of KM Peyton's books and series

1929 births
Living people
English children's writers
English novelists
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Writers from Birmingham
Fédération Internationale de Volleyball

The Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (), often called just FIVB, is the organization that controls international Volleyball.

Other websites 
FIVB web site

Volleyball organizations
Old World

The Old World is the three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, whose people knew about each other from ancient times. 

Humans originated in Africa, but modern history is mostly about European history. This is because the Europeans wrote more history. For a long time "history" meant the history of Europe and the Middle East. That is still the kind of history which is taught in many schools. Having history depends on having writing. The first writing we know of comes from the Middle East, and the Chinese claim they also had early writing.

People had no idea there were other continents, and no idea that those continents (the Americas and Australasia) had humans living there.  They also knew little about Africa beyond the coasts until the 19th century.

In 1492 Spain sent Columbus to the New World.  They found Native Americans there. Then there was  trade, warfare and spreading disease.  They had foods and animals the Native Americans had not seen before, like sugarcane, pigs, and horses.  But they did not know that they were also causing sickness.  The people of the Old World called the Americas the New World.

Europeans discovered Australia, New Zealand and Papua/New Guinea in the 17th century.  The British Royal Navy did more exploration in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Both the Americas and Australasia had humans living there already, who were not known to Europeans before the voyages of discovery, as it is called.

References 

History by continent
International Astronomical Union

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is an international group that brings together the national astronomical groups from around the world. It was created in 1919. It was created to promote and protect the science of astronomy by getting different nations to work together. Its members are professional astronomers from all over the world, and they all work on research and education in astronomy. The IAU has good relationships with groups that include amateur astronomers. "National Members" are usually people with a high level of professional astronomy. There are more than 10,000 active "Individual Members" in 107 countries. It has 62 "National Members". 

This organization has many working groups like the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN), which maintains the astronomical naming conventions and planetary nomenclature for planetary bodies, and the Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) for naming stars. 

The IAU is also the group in charge of naming objects in space and anything on them such as mountains and craters.

References

Other websites 
 Website of the International Astronomical Union
 XXVIth General Assembly 2006 

Astronomical organizations
International scientific organizations
Organizations based in France
Obfuscation

Obfuscation means making something harder to understand, usually by complicating sentences. Weasel words are a form of obfuscation. Obfuscation is usually used when people either do not know what they are talking about or wish to hide what they really mean.

Some people say that when doctors use difficult medical words to hide unpleasant things from patients, they are using obfuscation.

Technical term: Obfuscation is sometimes used to make source code much harder to read and reverse engineer. This can be a significant problem for technology like Python and JavaScript that require source code to be exposed in order to function.

Vocabulary
Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team in the National Football League based in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears were founded in Decatur, Illinois, by George Halas, in 1919. They were first called the Decatur Staleys, after the A.E. Staley Starch Company which owned the team for its first two seasons. The team has won nine NFL Championships, with the last being in 1985 (Super Bowl XX). They also played in Super Bowl XLI in 2006 against the Indianapolis Colts, but they lost 29-17 to Peyton Manning and the Colts. The team is owned by Virginia Halas McCaskey, and the general manager is Ryan Pace. The team's current head coach is Matt Nagy since 2018.

The Bears play their home games at Soldier Field. They played there from 1974 to 2001 and then 2003-present (Soldier Field was being made new in 2002). The Bears had played at Wrigley Field from 1921 to 1970. Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, and the Bears were named after the Cubs.

The Bears have retired 14 uniform numbers, the most than any NFL Franchise.

Players

References

Other websites
Official Website

 
1919 establishments in the United States
1910s establishments in Illinois
1919 establishments
Cool Runnings

Cool Runnings is a 1993 Disney sports comedy movie. It stars John Candy and Doug E. Doug. It is about the first Jamaican bobsled team who wanted to compete in the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Story 
Cool Runnings is set in Jamaica. When a Jamaican sprinter gets disqualified during the tryouts for the Olympics because he fell over, he still wanted to compete. After seeing a picture of a bobsled, he wanted to become a bobsledder. He managed to get 3 other people to form a team. The first ever Jamaican bobsled team was trained by Irv, a retired athlete. When they went to the Olympics, they successfully passed the track under 1 minute, so they qualified. After being disqualified, Irv went to talk to the judges, and the Jamaican team were back. After a rough first round, they came back surprisingly. however, during the finals the bobsled broke, crashing. They walked to the finish line, with everyone cheering. When they returned, they were heroes and the competed in the next Olympics.

Other websites 

 
 
 

1988 Winter Olympics
1993 comedy movies
1990s family movies
1990s sports movies
American sports comedy movies
Disney movies
English-language movies
Movies set in the 1980s
Movies directed by Jon Turteltaub
Movies set in Jamaica
Movies set in Calgary‏‎
Movies about the Olympics‏‎
French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was fought between 1754 and 1763 in British North America and French North America. They fought over land which is now in the United States and Canada. The French had some Native American allies and the British had other allies. 

The conflict was a part of the Seven Years' War among the European great powers which took place in various parts of the world. France was already fighting Prussia and so did not send many troops to Canada.

Causes 
 Both the British and the French thought that they owned the Ohio Country. That is land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River, from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River. France wanted to keep  New France, and Britain wanted to prevent that. Both wanted to control the fur trade and expected to send settlers someday.
 Both European countries used Native American claims to the land. The British said that it belonged to the Iroquois, and the French said it belonged to their Hurons. Neither side asked what the people of the Ohio Country might want. The land supported the beaver pelt.
 The British Thirteen Colonies feared control of the Pope in North America.  France was controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. The British settlers were Protestant  and saw that as a threat to their religious freedoms, which they had under English law.

Battles 
The French built a new fort in the disputed territory, and the British decided to expel them. After failing in a small battle in 1754 they tried again with the Battle of Monongahela in 1755. The British commander, General Edward Braddock, died with many of his men in a failed attack against the French in what later became Pittsburgh. A militia officer, George Washington, led the defeated survivors home.

At the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the British conquered Canada.

Outcome 
The fighting in North America stopped on September 8, 1760, with the French surrender of Montreal and the rest of Canada to the British.

The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on February 10, 1763. France lost all of its North American lands east of the Mississippi River to Britain except the small islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, near Newfoundland. Britain offered France the choice to give up its Canadian land or the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, which British troops had taken during the war. France chose to keep the islands, which were valuable for their sugar plantations.   

With the Royal Proclamation of 1763, colonists in British North America became unhappy over their share of the winnings. That became a cause for the American Revolution.

References

Other websites 

The French and Indian War Website
U-S-History.com: Background of the French and Indian War
The War That Made America
French and Indian War Timeline 

18th century in the Thirteen Colonies
Wars involving France
Wars involving the United Kingdom
History of Canada
Seven Years' War
Sif

Sif is a goddess in Norse mythology. She is the wife of Thor and mother of Thrud and Ull.

Sif has hair made of gold. It grows just like normal hair. Her original hair's color looked like wheat. Loki cut off Sif's hair as a prank. When Thor found out he made Loki have golden hair made for her by the Dwarves.

It is believed that Sif was a goddess of the home, of field and of the crop. It is also said that she had some control of destiny. 

Thrud is the only daughter of Thor and Sif. Ull is her son with another man. Thor also has two sons with a giantess. In two different poems in Poetic Edda, Sif is said to have a mysterious lover, but no one knows who he is.

A volcano on the planet Venus is named after Sif. Sif is also a character in the comic book The Mighty Thor from Marvel Comics.

Other websites 

Sif - A research and devotional site dedicated to Sif

Norse gods and goddesses
Mjolnir

In Norse mythology, Mjölnir (Old Norse: Mjǫllnir - “Lightning” or “That which smashes”) is the hammer of Thor, the god of thunder and lightning. Forged by the dwarven brothers Brokk and Sindre, Mjölnir is the most feared weapon in the Nine Realms, capable of leveling entire mountains with only one hit. Mjölnir was also a symbol of both fertility and destruction, and was thought to possess regenerative healing powers. 

When thrown, Mjölnir would return to Thor's after hitting its target. 

"... He [Thor] would be able to strike as firmly as he wanted, whatever his aim, and the hammer would never fail, and if he threw it at something, it would never miss and never fly so far from his hand that it would not find its way back, and when he wanted, it would be so small that it could be carried inside his tunic."

Other spellings
 Common

References

Other websites 
Images of Mjolnir amulets
The Anti-Defamation League , examining the symbol as used by both racists and non-racists

Norse mythology
Mythological weapons
Religious symbols
Orphan

An orphan is a child who has lost both parents. Their parents are either dead or didn't want the child. Some orphans end up in a house called an orphanage. This is where children with no parents live. Many children that live in an orphanage get fostered or adopted by a person or a couple. Some people are called other names as in todays day and age it may be offensive.

Causes 
Sometimes parents get sick and die while their child or children are still young, and if no close relatives take care of them, if they cannot or will not do so, they are normally raised in an orphanage. When several children, brothers or sisters are left orphaned they are sometimes split up; one child going to one family or one child going to a foster family while another may stay in the orphanage or foster home.

Sometimes parents may not have jobs or money and abandon their children because they cannot afford to bring them up. The parents may feel that if someone else brings them up they may have a better future in the long run.

Orphan care 
In many developing countries orphans are often seen wandering about begging for money and food; many may not be going to school. Not much organised help exists for them in poor countries.

But in richer countries many orphanage, organisations and institutions help the orphans and work to help parents when they are sick or very poor so they do not abandon their children. Organisations such as churches and community services sometimes will assist them.

Orphans in history 
Many characters of books and movies have been orphans, such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Annie, Heidi, Batman, and Harry Potter.

Notes and references 

Family
Border dispute

A border dispute is when two governments or more do not agree on the location of the border between their lands. An example is Pakistan and India over the territory of Kashmir. Another example is Kosovo which Serbia believe is theirs. An historical example is the Honey War between Iowa and Missouri.

Wars are sometimes fought over border disputes. Irredentism is often a border dispute.

Other websites 
 CIA World factbook  The World Factbook by the United States Central Intelligence Agency lists countries that are currently having border disputes.

Countries

es:Anexo:Territorios disputados
Ambiguity

Ambiguity means that what a thing is, is not clear. Literally, the word refers to a choice between two different things. In the proper sense it should mean “two different meanings” because “ambi” comes from the Greek word for “two”.

We see things happen, and then we decide what they mean. If we cannot decide what is going on, the event is ambiguous. This is an extension of the original use of the word.

Words or sentences that are ambiguous can lead to misunderstandings (people get the wrong meaning).  This can sometimes be serious, but it can also be funny.  Jokes often rely on ambiguity.

The sentence “The peasants are revolting” is ambiguous because it could mean:
1) The peasants are standing in the streets with placards shouting “We want more pay”  (“revolting” is a verb here).
2) The peasants are horrible, disgusting (“revolting” as an adjective).

The British comedian Ronnie Barker said that he loved the English language because there are so many jokes you can make using ambiguity.  He gave this example:

A mother says to her little boy: “Johnny, go over the road and see how old Mrs Jones is”.  The boy comes back and says to his mother: “Mrs Jones says it is none of my business”.

The mother meant “old” in a friendly way (“dear old Mrs Jones”), but the sentence could also mean: find out Mrs Jones’s age.  This is obviously how Johnny understood his mother's instruction.

The opposite of ambiguous is unambiguous (meaning that something is perfectly clear and can only have one meaning).

Ambiguity is not the same as vagueness, which means that there is so little detail given that a statement can mean almost anything.

Vocabulary
Human communication
Qantas

Qantas is the flag carrier airline of Australia. Its headquarters is near Kingsford Smith Airport in Sydney. It is the second oldest continuously operating airline in the world. Qantas is commonly known as the "Flying Kangaroo". This is because of its logo, which is a white kangaroo on a red triangle.

History 

Qantas began in Winton, Queensland on 16 November 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territorial Aerial Service Limited. It flew air mail services for the Australian government. In 1934, QANTAS Limited and Britain's Imperial Airways formed a new company, Qantas Empire Airways Limited. Qantas Empire Airways started services between Brisbane and Singapore using de Havilland DH-86 Commonwealth airplanes. In June 1959, Qantas' first jet airliner was delivered. It was a Boeing 707-138.

Destinations
Qantas flies to 18 places in Australia and 23 place in 15 other countries.

In Australia
Australian Capital Territory
Canberra
New South Wales
Sydney 
Northern Territory
Alice Springs
Darwin
Uluru
Queensland
Brisbane
Cairns
Mackay
Mount Isa
Townsville
South Australia
Adelaide
Tasmania
Hobart
Victoria
Melbourne
Western Australia
Broome
Kalgoorlie
Karratha
Perth
Port Hedland

Worldwide
Chile – Santiago de Chile
China – Hong Kong and Shanghai
Indonesia – Denpasar and Jakarta
Japan – Tokyo and Osaka
New Caledonia
New Zealand – Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Wellington
Papua New Guinea – Port Moresby
Philippines – Manila
Singapore
South Africa – Johannesburg
Thailand – Bangkok
United Arab Emirates – Dubai
United Kingdom – London
United States of America – Dallas, Honolulu, Los Angeles and New York City

Fleet
The table below shows how many different types of aircraft Qantas have operating and on order as of December 2019.

References

Other websites 
 Official website

1920 establishments
1920s establishments in Australia
Airlines of Australia
Gesualdo

Gesualdo is an Italian commune  of the region of the Campania, province of Avellino, with about 3.800 inhabitants.  

It shares border with  Sturno, Villamaina, Frigento, Fontanarosa, Grottaminarda.

Carlo Gesualdo, the Renaissance composer and murderer lived in a castle in Gesualdo.

Other websites 
Gesualdo e Carlo Gesualdo  
www.carlogesualdo.eu  
www.gesualdo.eu 
Don Carlo Gesualdo 

Settlements in Avellino
AFL

AFL is a three-letter acronym that may mean one of the following:

 Australian Football League, an Australian rules football competition in Australia
 Arena Football League, an American indoor football league
American Football League
 Aflac, an American insurance company with New York Stock Exchange code AFL
Aphra Behn

Aphra Behn (10 July 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright. She is buried in Westminster Abbey.

1640 births
1689 deaths
English playwrights
People buried in Westminster Abbey