alibayram/wikipedia-40-langs huggingface dataset:
Toontown Online

Disney's Toontown Online, also called as Toontown Online or Toontown, was an online video game created by The Walt Disney Company. The game was an MMORPG, where a lot of people play at one time. It was released in 2003, and closed in 2013.

Players live life as a toon in Toontown. Players can make a duck, bear, mouse, rabbit, dog, cat, horse, pig, or monkey.

Game's purpose
Players try to live life as a toon, play games on the Trolley and make new friends. But it's not all paradise. Evil robots called "Cogs" have taken over, and "gags" (cartoon fun) are used to defeat them. There is not a purpose that players have to go by. A player can choose to be the top racer or to have the most "laff points". Many people like it because of this. Some users even dare to become "ubers", toons with better gags but poor laff.

References

Other websites 
Disney
Work vs. Play: The Story Behind Disney's Toontown Online, community member Comrade's journalism blog

Disney video games
Online games
Timbre

Timbre is a quality of sound. It is what makes two different musical instruments sound different from each other, even when each instrument plays the same musical note.

"Playing the same note" means they have the same pitch and loudness. For instance, timbre is the difference between a guitar and a piano playing the same note at the same volume. In music, tone quality and color are synonyms for timbre.

There are many attempts by music theorists to explain timbre more fully. Unfortunately, their ideas depend on the reader having an advanced knowledge of musical theory. The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) Acoustical Terminology definition 12.09 of timbre is "that attribute of auditory sensation which enables a listener to judge that two nonidentical sounds, similarly presented and having the same loudness and pitch, are dissimilar". It adds "Timbre depends primarily upon the frequency spectrum, although it also depends upon the sound pressure and the temporal characteristics of the sound".

References 

Musical terminology
Exaggeration

Exaggeration  is a term for a figure of speech.  It means the describing of something and making it more than it really is.  The verb is to not exaggerate.

An example of exaggeration would be: “I was walking along when suddenly this enormous dog walked along.  It was as big as an elephant”.  The dog may have been big, but it was certainly not as big as that. Another example of exaggeration would be: “I caught a fish as big as my house.”

Overstatement is another word that means almost the same thing.  The opposite of overstatement is understatement. 

A  hyperbole (IPA:[haı'pɝ.bə.li]) is a type of exaggeration that is used in literature.  It is a figure of speech.  The opposite of hyperbole is hyperbole, which is an understatement.

People exaggerate things because they have strong feelings about something.  People may exaggerate to make people listen to what they say.  They may do it to emphasize something.  They may also exaggerate just to sound funny:
”I’ve heard that a million times”
”You’ve got a head the size of a pin”.
 "I just ran a million miles"
People may understate because they are being modest:
“Thank you, yes, I suppose I may have helped a little” (in a situation where the person actually helped a lot).

In modern slang, the word “hype” is sometimes used about something that is getting more publicity than it really deserves.  The word hype comes from the word “hyperbole”.

Related pages

 Irony
 Metaphor
 Simile
 Grammar
 Trope

References

Figures of speech
Porsche

Dr.-Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG () or simply Porsche, is a German sports car manufacturer based in Zuffenhausen. Porsche was created in 1931 as a design engineering department by Ferdinand Porsche.

Former models
 Porsche 356
 Porsche 914
 Porsche 924
 Porsche 928
 Porsche 959
 Porsche 944
 Porsche Carrera GT

 Porsche 918

Current models 
 Porsche 911
 Porsche Boxster
 Porsche Cayman
 Porsche Cayenne
 Porsche Panamera
 Porsche Macan

Other websites 

 Spec for all road going Porsche models 

Automobile companies of Germany
Stuttgart
T.A.T.u

t.A.T.u., or known in Russian as Тату, was a Russian pop music duo, made up of Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova. The group was formed in 1999 in Moscow. Their albums include "200 Russian "200 Po Vstrechnoy", "200 km/h in the wrong lane", "Lyudi Invalidy", "Dangerous and moving" and "Waste management". They split in 2011.

Career
t.A.T.u. released their first single "All the Things She Said" in 2002. It reached number one in the United Kingdom. The song is about a relationship between two girls. In the music video Lena and Yulia kiss each other. ITV banned it from their show CD:UK. In 2003 t.A.T.U performed "Ne Ver', Ne Boysia" at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest for their country Russia. They came third.

t.A.T.u performed at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

References

2000s music groups
2010s music groups
Electronic music bands
Girl groups
LGBT-themed musical groups
Moscow
Musical duos
Musical groups disestablished in 2011
Musical groups established in 1999
Pop music groups
Rock bands
Russian musical groups
1990s establishments in Russia
Disestablishments in Russia
Oracle bone

Oracle Bones were bones that the Chinese would carve or scratch their questions on. Then the priests would burn the oracle bone until it would crack. Then the priest read these cracks to the Chinese people for their answer. The Chinese people believed their answer to be from the gods. This was also known as the first stages of Chinese writing. These were very important to the Chinese. The oracle bones bear the earliest known significant corpus of ancient Chinese writing, using an early form of Chinese characters.

History of China
2nd millennium BC works
Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is a book that Latter Day Saints believe is the word of God along with the Bible.

The original English version of the Book of Mormon was published in March 1830 by a man named Joseph Smith, Jr. who said he was a prophet like the ones in the Old Testament.

Joseph Smith claimed that the record originated from gold plates that he was guided to find by an angel, and then used a spiritual gift from God to translate the book into English. The book says that the language it was first written in was made from "the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians."

The story that is in the Book of Mormon is a shortened version written by a man named Mormon of the story of two groups of people called the Nephites and the Lamanites. Their ancestors left Jerusalem with their father Lehi about 600 years before the birth of Christ, sailed across a very big ocean, and came to live in the New World. It gives a story of their families, cities, wars, systems of government, spiritual experiences and religious beliefs among other things. The main purpose of the Book of Mormon is to teach about Jesus Christ.

It also contains the Book of Ether (a very old book discovered by the Nephites) which told the story of another people (called the Jaredites) who had lived in some of the same areas shortly after the time of the Tower of Babel, but died out because of wars.

Usually, Book of Mormon stories show the Nephites as the more righteous, industrious and peaceful people and the Lamanites as wicked, lazy and warlike. Wars happen all the time between the two groups. But, near the end of the book, the Nephites become more wicked than the Lamanites, and all the Nephites die in their last war, except for one named Moroni who was directed by God to bury the Book of Mormon in a hill so that Joseph Smith Jr. could find it.

The central theme of the book revolves around Jesus Christ visiting the people described, performing miracles and showing them the right way to live.

Other websites 
Book of Mormon at Scriptures.lds.org
 Book of Mormon Online

Mormonism
Religious texts
1830s books
Demilitarized zone

A demilitarized zone is an area of land that has no military forces in it. This is usually to stop armies from fighting.

The most famous demilitarized zone is the Korean Demilitarized Zone on the land between North Korea and South Korea, Åland Islands, and Antarctica. No one can go into the Demilitarized Zone, so the wildlife is well preserved. There are thousands of soldiers and weapons on each side of the Demilitarized Zone, including to this day a massive American presence.

The Rhineland was also demilitarized from the end of World War I until 1936, when Adolf Hitler remilitarized it.

Related pages 
Neutrality (international relations)

Military
Journey

Journey or journeying may mean:
 Travel, going from one place to another

Arts and entertainment

Movies 
 Journey (1972 movie), a 1972 Canadian movie directed by Paul Almond
 Journey (1995 movie), a 1995 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie
 Journey (2004 movie), a 2004 short movie written and directed by Christine Shin

Music 
 Journey (band), an American rock band

Video games 
 Journey (1983 video game), a 1983 arcade game featuring the band
 Journey (1989 video game), a 1989 computer game by Infocom
 Journey (2012 video game), a 2012 PlayStation 3 game by thatgamecompany
Baryton

A baryton is a string instrument with many strings.
It was popular during Joseph Haydn's time.

String instruments
Frankston North

Frankston North is a suburb of Melbourne. It is near Frankston and Carrum Downs in Victoria, Australia. It is sometimes nicknamed "The Pines".

References 

Towns in Victoria (Australia)
Recursion

Recursion is a word from mathematics and computer science. It is used to define a thing, such as a function or a set. A recursive definition uses the thing it is defining as part of the definition.

Description 
Usually, a recursive function refers to itself in some cases (or inputs), but not in every case. A function that referred to itself in every case would never terminate.

When a function refers to itself, it often uses a smaller input than the input it was given. In this way, it can solve a problem by first solving a simpler version of the problem.

Example 
An example of a recursive function  is:

If  then return .
If  then return .
This function computes the factorial of a natural number. It works because  and .

The definition has two cases: a recursive case for , and a case for  that is not recursive. The case that is not recursive is called a "base case".

Uses 

Recursion can be used to write computer programs. A program that uses recursion may be easier to write and understand than a program that does the same thing without recursion.

Recursion is used in mathematics to prove theorems. This method is called induction.

The idea of recursion can be seen in art and language. For example:
 A fractal image contains smaller versions of itself.
 In the rules of grammar, a sentence can be part of another sentence.

Easter Eggs 
In the Google search engine, if you type up "recursion", it will say "Did you mean: Recursion", a reference to the meaning of recursion.

References

Computer science
Monte Carlo algorithm

A Monte Carlo algorithm is an algorithm for computers which is used to simulate the behaviour of other systems. It is not an exact method, but a heuristical one, typically using randomness and statistics to get a result. The algorithm terminates with an answer that is correct with probability . 

It is a computation process that uses random numbers to produce an outcome(s). Instead of having fixed inputs, probability distributions are assigned to some or all of the inputs. This will generate a probability distribution for the output after the simulation is run.

For example, a Monte Carlo algorithm can be used to estimate the value of π. The amount of area within a quarter-circle of radius 1 depends on the value of π. The probability that a randomly-chosen point will lie in that quarter-circle depends on the area of the circle. If points are placed randomly in a square with sides of length 1, the percentage of points that fall within a quarter-circle of radius 1 will depend on the value of π. A Monte Carlo algorithm would randomly place points in the square and use the percentage of points falling inside of the circle to estimate the value of π.This is an effective way for making approximations.

In modern communication systems, the quality of information exchange is determined by the presence of noise in the channel. The major source of noise - Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) being random in nature can be characterized using the Monte Carlo algorithm in simulating a Communications System

The modern version of the Markov chain Monte Carlo method was invented in the late 1940s by Stanislaw Ulam, while he was working on nuclear weapons projects at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Randomised algorithms
BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is a radio station run by the BBC which is heard across the United Kingdom It started in 1967, replacing the BBC Light Programme.  It is the most popular of the BBC stations with more than 15 million listeners a week in 2017. The audience is mostly adults over the age of 35.

Radio 2 mostly plays music from a period lasting over 40 year. For example, it plays classic pop songs, rock, jazz and folk.

References

Other websites
 
 , from BBC iPlayer.

1967 establishments in the United Kingdom
2
Mailing list

Some people or organizations have many addresses of different people. They use these addresses to send the mail. In the postal system, using regular mail, such mailing lists are used to distribute these mails, which may be wanted (like newspapers) or unwanted (advertising).

Electronic mailing lists 
In the electronic form, these differences also exist. Bulk mail (SPAM) is distributed using mailing lists.

On the other hand, there are echo mailing lists people subscribe to. When a subscriber sends a mail to the mailing list, this mail is distributed (echoed) to all people who are on the list. The Software which manages such a mailing list sometimes offers options to the people who subscribe. Instead of getting each mail directly, they might want only one mail (per day). This mail then contains all the mails of that day. This is called a digest. Mails that come from people on the list might be handled differently from mails from people who are not subscribed to the mailing list.

Postal mailing list 
Mailing lists are a way to reach selected groups of people - by specific parameters (or markets) - through the Post office. The population may be broken into sections organized buy their unique qualities such as "catalog purchasers" or "business owners," or by geographic area such as businesses or residents in a particular city or zip code, or buy select statistical parameters such as businesses with over 20 employees, or heads of household with income of over $80,000. Direct Mail Lists are then sold to direct marketing companies wishing to make an offer to this specific segment of the population. By tightly specifying the parameters of the mailing list, direct mail is a very effective way to market to a precisely selected group with little wasted advertising expense.

Written communication
Electrochemistry

Electrochemistry is a kind of chemistry that studies chemical reactions that use or make electricity. Reactions like this happen at electrodes which are made from something that conducts electricity, and put in an electrolyte. An electrolyte is a solution that has ions in it.

Electrochemistry was "invented" at the same time as the voltaic pile; the first kind of electric battery.

Related pages
Isotope electrochemistry

Physical chemistry
Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid, also known as sulphuric acid, is a strong acid. It is also a chemical compound. Its chemical formula is H2SO4. It was known as "Oil of Vitriol" in ancient times.

Properties
It is a dense (thick), clear, corrosive liquid that can dissolve in water. It can also melt through some weak substances.

History
It was once known as "oil of vitriol". This name was created by Jabir ibn Hayyan, the person who discovered it. It used to be prepared by the reaction of potassium nitrate with sulfur. This reaction would produce sulfur trioxide which would dissolve in steam to produce sulfuric acid. Then this reaction was done in lead containers. The contact process, the most common process, was invented in 1831 and is still used today.

Production
It is made by reacting sulfur trioxide with sulfuric acid to produce oleum. Then oleum is dissolved in water to produce more sulfuric acid. The sulfur trioxide is produced by burning sulfur to produce sulfur dioxide, which was then oxidized to sulfur trioxide with a catalyst. This process is called the contact process.

Uses
Sulfuric acid has many uses. World production in 2001 was 165 million tons, worth about $8 billion US dollars. Uses include ore processing, fertilizer manufacturing, oil refining, wastewater processing, lead acid batteries, and combining chemicals for scientific reasons. For example, phosphate rocks are reacted with sulfuric acid to produce soluble phosphates, useful in fertilizers. This reaction is also used to make phosphoric acid, useful in soda. Potassium compounds are dissolved in sulfuric acid to produce potassium sulfate, useful in fertilizers. Ammonia is also reacted with sulfuric acid to produce ammonium sulfate. These three chemicals are solids and provide the three main minerals needed in plants. Lead acid batteries use sulfuric acid as their electrolyte.

Reactions and safety
Sulfuric acid is very poisonous because of its acidity and corrosiveness. When it is mixed with sugar, it turns it into carbon. When it is dissolved in water, it becomes less harmful (does not make things black) but is still corrosive like normal acids. It reacts with metals to produce hydrogen and the metal sulfate. Some metals, such as tin, make sulfur dioxide and tin(II) sulfate. It reacts with sodium chloride to make hydrogen chloride.

Related pages
Sulfurous acid
Hydrogen sulfide

References

Acids
Sulfur compounds
John Kerr

Sir John Robert Kerr (24 September 1914 – 24 March 1991) was the 18th Governor-General of Australia from 1974 to 1977. He is famous for dismissing Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975. This is one of the most famous events in Australian history. Even though the Whitlam government was not voted back in after being dismissed, Kerr's actions divided opinion and he continued to be disliked by many people.

Prime Minister Gough Whitlam chose John Kerr to be Governor General in 1974. In 1974–75 the Whitlam government thought about borrowing US$4 billion in foreign loans. A Minister, Rex Connor, had secret discussions with a loan broker from Pakistan. The Treasurer, Jim Cairns, misled parliament about this. This made the new leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Fraser use the Senate to stop passing money for the government until there was an election. Whitlam refused. In 1975 the opposition, led by Malcolm Fraser, blocked government supply in the Senate. This meant that the government had no money. This was a big crisis in Australia. In order to end the crisis, John Kerr dismissed Whitlam and made Fraser the Prime Minister. Whitlam lost the election that was held a month later.

References

1914 births
1991 deaths
Governors-General of Australia
Politicians from Sydney
Australian lawyers
Malcolm Fraser

John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC (21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician. He served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia from 11 November 1975 through 11 November 1983. He was also leader of the Liberal Party from 1975 to 1983.

Before being prime minister, Fraser was a member of the Australian Parliament from 1955 through 1983. He served as Minister of Defence from 1966 to 1968 and again from 1969 to 1971 and Minister for Education and Science from 1968 to 1969 and again from 1971 to 1972.

Early life
Fraser was born in Toorak, Victoria. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford. He married Tamie Beggs in 1956.

Prime Minister (1975-1983)
As leader of the Liberal Party, he became Prime Minister in November, 1975 when Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed Gough Whitlam. At this point he was only temporary Prime Minister. He won the election held in December, 1975. He won two more elections in 1977 and 1980 before losing to Bob Hawke in 1983. Fraser married Tamara (Tamie) Beggs in 1956 and the couple have remained married ever since.

His government stopped some of the changes made by the Whitlam government. They also reduced government spending to stop money becoming less valuable. He also supported efforts to abolish racism in South Africa, the boycott of the Moscow Olympics and more immigration from Asian countries.

He has criticised the prime ministership of John Howard who had been his Treasurer from 1977 to 1983.

Death
On 20 March 2015, his office announced that Fraser had died in the early hours of the morning, noting that he had suffered a brief illness in Melbourne, Victoria, aged 84.

More reading
 Ayres, Philip (1987), Malcolm Fraser, a Biography, Heinemann, Richmond, Victoria. 
 Kelly, Paul (2000), Malcolm Fraser, in Michelle Grattan (ed.), Australian Prime Ministers, New Holland, Sydney, New South Wales. 
 Kerr, John (1978), Matters for Judgment. An Autobiography, Macmillan, South Melbourne, Victoria.  
 Lopez, Mark (2000),The Origins of Multiculturalism in Australian Politics 1945–1975, Melbourne University Press, Carlton South, Victoria.

References

Other websites

Malcolm Fraser – Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia
Australian Biography– Malcolm Fraser  An extensive 1994 interview with Fraser

The Malcolm Fraser Collection at the University of Melbourne Archives
  Malcolm Fraser at the National Film and Sound Archive 

Calvinists
Companions of Honour
Disease-related deaths in Victoria (Australia)
Government ministers of Australia
Leaders of the Opposition (Australia)
Liberal Party of Australia politicians
Politicians from Melbourne
Prime Ministers of Australia
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Republicans
1930 births
2015 deaths
Companions of the Order of Australia
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

The Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts is an opera house in Toronto, Canada.  It was opened on June 14, 2006.  It is home to the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet of Canada.  It is one of the world's most important opera houses.  It was designed by Jack Diamond.  Its construction uses a lot of new technological ideas.  It is in the center of Toronto.  People say that the acoustics are excellent (the music can be heard beautifully everywhere in the hall). The subway (underground train) runs just below the building, but inside the trains cannot be heard.

Opera houses
Buildings and structures in Toronto
2006 establishments in Canada
Casino Royale

Casino Royale is the twenty first James Bond movie. It is the first to star Daniel Craig as the secret agent James Bond. It was released on November 17, 2006.

Cast 
 Daniel Craig as James Bond
 Eva Green as Vesper Lynd
 Judi Dench as M

Release Dates

Other websites 

2000s American adventure movies
2006 crime thriller movies
2000s spy movies
American crime thriller movies
British crime thriller movies
German crime movies
German thriller movies
Czech movies
Bahamian movies
Columbia Pictures movies
James Bond movies
MGM movies
Movies set in London
Movies set in Venice
Movies set in Miami
Movies set in the Bahamas
Movies set in Pakistan
Movies set in Montenegro
Movies set in Uganda
Movies set in Madagascar
Movies set in the Czech Republic
2000s English-language movies
Movies directed by Martin Campbell
Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is one of the two major political parties in Australia. The party was formed in 1891, and is the oldest political party in Australia. It is a social democratic party with strong links to the Trade Union movement. Since 1944, their main opponents have been the Liberal Party. Since the 2022 federal election, the Labor Party became the majority government of Australia with Anthony Albanese as prime minister.

In the state and territory parliaments, Labor currently governs in every state and territory except Tasmania.

History
In the 1860s the trade unions in Australia began to try to get better wages and working conditions for their members. They were defeated by employers, the legal system, and the governments of the Australian colonies. Workers soon decided that they needed to become active in politics, and make changes through parliament. The first meeting of the ALP is said to have taken place in Barcaldine, Queensland in 1891. A group of shearers, who were involved in a big strike action, held a meeting in the shade of a large ghost gum (eucalyptus) tree, Corymbia aparrerinja. This tree became known as the "Tree of Knowledge".

ALP Prime Ministers of Australia

 Chris Watson, 1904.
 Andrew Fisher, 1908–1909 and 1910–1913 and 1914–1915.
 Billy Hughes, 1915
 James Scullin, 1929–1932.
 John Curtin, 1941–1945.
 Frank Forde, 1945.
 Ben Chifley, 1945–1949
 Gough Whitlam, 1972–1975.
 Bob Hawke, 1983–1991.
 Paul Keating, 1991–1996.
 Kevin Rudd, 2007–2010.
 Julia Gillard, 2010–2013.
 Kevin Rudd, 2013.
 Anthony Albanese, since 2022.

Current leaders of states and territories of Australia

Leader of the Opposition (New South Wales) – Luke Foley, since 2015.
Premier of Victoria – Daniel Andrews, since 2014.
Premier of Queensland – Annastacia Palaszczuk, since 2015.
Premier of South Australia – Peter Malinauskas, since 2022.
Leader of the Opposition (Tasmania) – Rebecca White, since 2021.
Premier of Western Australia – Mark McGowan, since 2012.
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory – Michael Gunner, since 2016.
Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory – Andrew Barr, since 2014.

References

1891 establishments
1890s establishments in Australia
Social democratic parties
Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee Hawke  (December 9, 1929 – May 16, 2019) was an Australian politician. From March 11, 1983 to December 20, 1991, he served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia as leader of the Australian Labor Party. He was the third longest serving Prime Minister of Australia.

Political career
He was a union leader before he entered parliament in 1980. He became leader only a little while before the 1983 election but he defeated Malcolm Fraser. His government made many changes, like the Whitlam government, but did it more slowly and with more planning. His government moved Labor to the right economically. His leadership was challenged twice by Paul Keating. He lost the second time and retired. 

By July 1990, Hawke had overtaken Malcolm Fraser as the second longest-serving Australian Prime Minister but on 21 December 2004 the record was overtaken by John Howard, making Hawke the third longest serving Prime Minister.

Personal life and death
Hawke has been married twice. During office, he was married to Hazel Hawke (née Masterson), a respected "first lady". Just before Hawke became prime minister, author Blanche d'Alpuget wrote a biography about him. Hawke married d'Alpuget in 1995.

In late December 2018, Hawke revealed that he was in "terrible health". He supported Labor in the upcoming 2019 election and said he "may not witness the party's success". He died on 16 May 2019 in Sydney, at the age of 89. His death happened two days before the election.

References

Other websites

Hawke Swoops into Power  – Time 14 March 1983
Robert Hawke  – Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archives of Australia
Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre
 

1929 births
2019 deaths
Agnostics
Australian Labor Party politicians
Leaders of the Opposition (Australia)
Politicians from South Australia
Prime Ministers of Australia
Republicans
Treasurers of Australia
Rhodes scholars
Companions of the Order of Australia
1653

1653 was a common year which started on Wednesday.

Events
 February 2 – New Amsterdam (later renamed New York City) is incorporated.
1549

1549 was a common year.

Events
Kett's Rebellion

Births 
 Maria Holl (d. 1634), German woman accused of witchcraft
 30 July – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 17 February 1609)

Deaths
 10 November – Pope Paul III (b. 29 February 1468), 221st Pope of the Roman Catholic Church
1544

1544 was a leap year.

Births 
 January 19 – King Francis II of France (d. December 5, 1560)
1209

1209 is a common year in the 13th century.

Events 
 Albigensian Crusade against Cathars (1209-1218)
 the Franciscans are founded
 Cambridge University founded.
 London Bridge completed
 In August, Simon De Monfort, leader of Albigensian Crusade, takes over Carcassonne
 Genghis Khan conquers Turkestan

Births 
 January 5 – Richard, Earl of Cornwall, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1272)
 Hajji Bektash Wali, Turkish mystic (died 1271)

Deaths 
 November 12 – Phillipe de Plessis, Grand Master of the Knights Templar (born 1165)
 Walter Map, Welsh writer (born 1137)
 Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Persian theologian and philosopher (born 1149)
Tony Award

The Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York.  

To get the Tony Award, a show must play in a "Broadway" theater, which is said by its size, not its geographical location. The rules for the Tony Awards are explained in the official document "Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards", which applies for each season only.

Related pages
 Tony Award for Best Musical
 Tony Award for Best Play

Other websites  
Official site
United Nations Secretary-General

The United Nations Secretary-General is one of the most important people in the United Nations. The Secretary-General is important in international talks. The current Secretary-General is António Guterres.

Secretaries-General

References 

 
1945 establishments
Petunia

Petunia is a genus of 20 species of plants of South American origin. All of them bear flowers. They are in the Nightshade family, and are related to tobacco. Many people grow them in the garden. Petunias are usually used as annual plants, because they die when the weather becomes cold. They grow best when they are planted in the sun.

References

Solanaceae
Flowers
Guantánamo

Guantanamo is a city in the southeast of Cuba. It is the capital of the province with the same name. About 208.000 people live in the city. Most of them are employed in the production of sugarcane and coffee. The city is 910 km away from Havana, the capital city of Cuba. About 15 km away is Guantanamo Naval Base, on a territory occupied by the United States since 1902.

Cities in Cuba
Pete Townshend

Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend (born 19 May 1945) is an English rock musician, songwriter and author best known as the founder of the band The Who.

Beginning in 1961, he studied graphic design at Ealing Art College. At Ealing, Townshend studied with future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood and future Queen singer Freddie Mercury.

Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who and has written over one hundred songs for the band's eleven studio albums including the rock operas "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" and the popular rock radio staple "Who's Next." Although known mainly as a guitarist he is also an accomplished singer and keyboard player and has played many other instruments including: banjo, accordion, bass guitar and drums.

Townshend has also written many newspaper and magazine articles, books, book reviews, essays and scripts. Townshend was ranked #3 in Dave Marsh's list of best guitarists in "The New Book of Rock Lists" and #50 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

References

English rock composers
English rock guitarists
English singer-songwriters
Musicians from Middlesex
1945 births
Living people
Warner Bros. Records artists
Aphelion

The  aphelion is the point in the orbit of an object where it is farthest from the Sun. The point in the orbit where an object is nearest to the sun is called the perihelion. The word aphelion derives from the Greek words, apo meaning away, off, apart and Helios. It's an apoapsis of an body in the Solar System.

The Earth's orbit has its aphelion around July the third, at which it is approximately 152.1 million kilometers or 94.5 million miles from the Sun. Due to the workings of the Gregorian calendar, it may be a day or two earlier or later.

Orbits
Anthony Wagner

Sir Anthony Richard Wagner (6 September, 1908–5 May 1995) was an officer of arms from England. Wagner wrote many books about heraldry. He became Portcullis Pursuivant in 1931 and then served in the Army during World War II. He became Garter King of Arms in 1961 and served until 1978. Wagner was made a knight in 1961. Even though he was blind when he was older, he still served at the College of Arms until he died in 1995.

1908 births
1995 deaths
English writers
Heraldry
John Brooke-Little

John Philip Brooke Brooke-Little (6 April 1927–13 February 2006) was an officer of arms from England.

In 1950 he founded "The Coat of Arms" which is the journal of the Heraldry Society of England.  50 years later, for its Golden Jubilee the society published a collection of essays called Tribute to an Armorist in his honour.

Heraldic Posts

Private
Chairman, Heraldry Society 1947-97,
President 1997-2006

Official
Gold Staff Officer, Coronation 1953
Bluemantle Pursuivant 1956-67,
Richmond Herald, 1967-80,
Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, 1980-95,
Clarenceux King of Arms, 1995-97
Registrar, College of Arms 1974-82
Treasurer, 1978-95

References 

1927 births
2006 deaths

Heraldry
People from London
Knights of Justice of the Order of St John
Sodium hydroxide

Sodium hydroxide is an alkali which is also known as caustic soda. Caustic means "burning" and caustic soda takes its name from the way it can burn the skin.  It has the chemical formula of NaOH.

It is a base, meaning it has a high pH. It is the most common thing used to raise the pH of solutions; for example, to neutralize an acid.

As a solid, the alkali is deliquescent and readily absorbs moisture and carbon dioxide from the air. It dissolves easily in water, and makes the water warm when this happens. Sodium hydroxide is used as a solution called lye to make soap.  Lye is also used to unclog drains.  Its dissolving properties and its ability to easily break surface tension are fundamental for its uses. It works in two ways. First, it combines with grease to make soap. Second, it dissolves hair (which is soluble in any basic solution).

Making sodium hydroxide 
Sodium hydroxide can be made (with chlorine and hydrogen) using the chloralkali process. A solution of sodium chloride is electrolyzed and sodium hydroxide is made around the cathode, where water is reduced to hydrogen gas and hydroxide ion. The hydrogen is released and the hydroxide bonds with the sodium to make sodium hydroxide. Special care is required to prepare a solution of sodium hydroxide or NaOH in water because considerable heat is liberated by the exothermic reaction. The solution may splatter or boil.

2Na+ (from salt) + 2H2O → 2NaOH + H2 at cathode
2 Cl- (from salt) → Cl2 at anode

References 

Sodium compounds
Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American Republican politician, She was the 66th United States Secretary of State. She was the second Secretary of State under former President George W. Bush. She took over from Colin Powell on January 26, 2005, after he stepped down. Rice was the first African American woman, second African American (after Powell), and second woman (after Madeleine Albright) to serve as Secretary of State. Her educator was Josef Korbel, he inspired her.

Condoleeza was born at Holy Family Community Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama, She is only child of John W. Rice. Jr is a High School Guidance Counselor and Angelena Ray is High School Teacher, She has study at St. Mary's Academy,  Bachelor of Arts at University of Denver,  Doctor of Philosophy at University of Denver and Aspen Music Festival and School  

Before she became Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice was Bush's National Security Advisor during his first term (2001–2005). Before she did this, she was a Professor of political science at Stanford University from 1993 to 1999, where she also was the Provost.

Rice was in the 2011 documentary Miss Representation.

Rice was a Democrat until 1982. She then changed to Republican because she did not agree with the foreign policy of Democratic President Jimmy Carter and because her father was Republican.

Rice was the United States National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush during the September 11 attacks.

References

Other websites 
 Biography from the U.S. Department of State
 Biography from the White House
 Biography  from the Hoover Institution
 Profile from BBC News

 

1954 births
Living people
African American politicians
Stanford University faculty
American political scientists
American Presbyterians
Politicians from Birmingham, Alabama
United States National Security Advisors
United States Secretaries of State
Educators from Birmingham, Alabama
Decidability theory

Decidability theory is a branch of mathematics. Suppose there is a set, and there is an element. There is also an algorithm. The algorithm will simply check if the element belongs to the set or not. If the algorithm stops (after a limited time) and has reached a decision, if the element is in the set or not, this is called decidable.

In simple terms, if there is a shopping bag, decidability is that one is able to check whether or not there is some salad in the bag.

Some logical problems cannot be decided that way (This statement is false). They are called undecidable

There is a weaker property too, called semidecidable. A set is called semidecidable (or recursively enumerable), if there is an algorithm that lists its elements out.

Theoretical computer science
Decision theory
Ground

Ground is a common word for the surface of the Earth. It is dirt and rocks that we walk on. Ground in electrical language is the Earth's electrical charge. Compare the voltage to ground to measure the voltage.

Geography
John Grisham

John Ray Grisham Jr. (born February 8, 1955) is an American politician, lawyer, and writer.

Biography and career
He was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas. His father worked as a construction worker and a cotton farmer. After moving often, the family settled in 1967 in the town of Southaven in De Soto County, Mississippi, and he graduated from Southaven High School. Young Grisham loved to read. In 1977, Grisham received a degree from Mississippi State University. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. After leaving law school, he entered a small-town general law practice for nearly 10 years in Southaven, MS where he paid a lot of attention on criminal law and civil law.

In 1983, he was elected as a Democrat to the Mississippi House of Representatives, where he served until 1990.  During this time, he continued his private law practice in Southaven.

In 1984 at the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando, Grisham witnessed the testimony of a 12-year-old girl who was raped. In his spare time, Grisham began work on his first novel, which explored what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her attackers. He spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. The book was bought by Wynwood Press, which published it in June 1988.

The day after Grisham finished A Time to Kill, he began work on another novel, the story of a young attorney lured to what seemed to be a perfect law firm. That second book, The Firm, became the bestselling novel of 1991. Grisham then went on to write at least one work a year, most of them popular bestsellers. 

Grisham has been declared  "the bestselling novelist of the 90s," selling a total of 60,742,288 copies. Grisham's 1992 novel The Pelican Brief sold 11,232,480 books in the United States alone, making it the bestselling novel of the decade and the only novel to sell ten million books or more during a period of 10 years.

Books by John Grisham

Fiction
 A Time to Kill (1989)
 The Firm (1991)
 The Pelican Brief (1992)
 The Client (1993)
 The Chamber (1994)
 The Rainmaker (1995)
 The Runaway Jury (1996)
 The Partner (1997)
 The Street Lawyer (1998)
 The Testament (1999)
 The Brethren (2000)
 The Summons (2002)
 The King of Torts (2003)
 The Last Juror (2004)
 The Broker (2005)
 The Appeal (2008)
 The Associate (2009)

Non-fiction
The Innocent Man (2006)

Other websites  	 	 
 Official website
 

1955 births
Living people
lawyers from Arkansas
lawyers from Mississippi
Politicians from Arkansas
Writers from Arkansas
Politicians from Mississippi
Writers from Mississippi
Democratic Party (United States) politicians
State legislators of the United States
People from Jonesboro, Arkansas
Construction worker

A construction worker is someone whose job is to work on a construction site where structures such as bridges or houses are being built. Construction workers use many types of tools (such as shovels and wrenches) and operate machines and vehicles such as trucks and bulldozers. Working as a construction worker can be dangerous, because a person could fall, or have a heavy object fall on them. Construction workers have to wear safety clothing to protect themselves, such as leather work boots with a metal toe, plastic construction hats or helmets, and goggles to protect their eyes. Many construction workers also wear brightly coloured orange safety vests, so that drivers and other construction workers will be able to see them.

Examples of structures are:
	Bridges
 Buildings
 Dams
 Towers

Also built on construction sites are:
	Airports
	Railway lines
	Roads
	Tunnels

Construction occupations
Never Mind the Buzzcocks

Never Mind the Buzzcocks is a British television game show on channel BBC Two. It was first presented by Mark Lamarr, then a different person each episode, then Simon Amstell, then different people again and finally Rhod Gilbert. The left team is captained by Phill Jupitus. The right team was captained by Sean Hughes, then Bill Bailey, then different people for each episode and finally by Noel Fielding.

Other websites 

1993 British television series debuts
2000s British comedy television series
2010s British comedy television series
BBC Television programmes
1990s British comedy television series
British television game shows
Panel games
2012 British television series endings
English-language television programs
Bayreuth

Bayreuth (German: [ˈbaɪ̯rɔʏ̯t] or [baɪ̯ˈrɔʏ̯t]; Upper Franconian: [ba(ː)ˈɾaɪ̯t]; Bavarian: Bareid; East Franconian: Baraid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of Upper Franconia. About 74,000 people live there. Bayreuth is internationally famous for the Bayreuth Festival (), a festival for the music of Richard Wagner. Nearby bigger cities are Coburg, Bamberg, Hof and Nuremberg. Bayreuth has a university, the University of Bayreuth.

Sights
Bayreuth has a lot of sights and historical buildings which are usually visited by many tourists, especially at the time of the Bayreuth Festival. You can find sights such as the New Palace (Neues Schloss), Bayreuth Festspielhaus, Eremitage, Spitalkirche, The Old Castle, Margravial Opera House, and Wahnfried. Most of the sights have been built in the 18th century and the 19th century. The most popular sight in Bayreuth is the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which is a major opera building located north of Bayreuth.

References
Ragnarök

In Norse mythology, Ragnarök which in Old Norse translates to "Doom of the Gods" is the battle at the end of the world. It is to be fought between the gods or Æsir, led by Odin; and the fire giants, the Jötnar and other monsters, led by Loki and Surtr. Not only will most of the gods, giants, and monsters die in this battle, but almost everything in the universe will be destroyed.

The following battles will be fought:
 Odin vs Fenrir,or Fenris: Odin will be swallowed by Fenrir.
 Vidar vs Fenrir,or Fenris: Vidar will kill Fenrir by stepping on the jaw of Fenrir (also known as Fenris) and split it all the way down through his tail. That's when Ragnarok ends. 
 Thor vs Jormungandr: Thor kills Jormungandr, but then dies from his wounds and the poison after taking nine steps.
 Tyr vs Garm: Garm bites off Tyr's other hand and he bleeds out, but not before he gives Garm a mortal wound, which does kill him.
 Heimdall vs Loki: Both will inflict fatal wounds on each other, but Loki shall refuse to die until he sees the destruction of the worlds which will happen soon after. They'll both die next to each other.

After these gods die, Surtr will alight the world in flames, until a flood finally covers the world.

Surviving gods 
Hoenir, Magni, Modi, Njord, Vidar, Vali, and the daughter of Sol are all stated to survive Ragnarok. All of the remaining Æsir then reunite at Ithavllir. Baldr and Hod return from the underworld - Baldr having been killed by Hod, and Hod by Vali, before Ragnarok. Hoenir either makes slots for divination or receives a wand for divination, depending on the translation. Vidar - who avenges Odin - and Vali are unharmed by Surtr's fire or the flood. Magni and Modi who will wield their father's (Thor) hammer, Mjolnir, will also live. Njord is stated to return to Vanaheim at "the doom of man", which has been interpreted as Ragnarok. Sol (who dies) gives birth to a daughter who will follow her path in the new world.

Theories 
There are some beings whose fate after Ragnarok is uncertain. Nidhhoggr is stated to fly with darkness under him and corpses on his back at the end of the Voluspa. This has been noted to not fit well with the theme of the last stanza, in which all of the old and bad has been burnt, and a new world with only good will rise of the waters. The last stanza has seen this interpreted differently, with some having Nidhoggr as the last remaining evil in the new world, and others stating that Nidhhoggr will rise one more time but then fall back to the ground, meaning evil has been defeated and all is good in the new world.

Additionally, the dwarfs are stated to be in their "stone doors". This has been interpreted as meaning that the dwarfs are stuck in their mountain homes or structures, which are going to fall - but that they are unable to leave, as they will turn to stone if they do.

References 
 2. The Voluspa in the Poetic Edda

Norse mythology
Jörmungandr

Jörmungandr (Old Norse: Jǫrmungandr - "huge monster"), also known as the Midgard Serpent (Old Norse: Miðgarðsormr), is a sea serpent, the middle child of Loki and the giantess Angrboða. According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki's three children by Angrboða (the wolf Fenrir, Hel, and Jörmungandr) and tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Midgard. The serpent grew so large that it was able to surround the Earth and grasp its own tail, receiving the name of the Midgard Serpent as a result. Upon the onset of Ragnarök, Jörmungandr will release its tail, as he is met in battle by his arch-enemy, Thor, god of thunder.

References

Norse mythology
Hof, Bavaria

Hof is a German city in the north of Franconia. The next bigger cities are Coburg, Bayreuth and Chemnitz. The population of Hof is 44,000.

It is surrounded by, but not part of, the district of Hof, so it  has its own local council.

References

Other websites

 

Cities in Bavaria
Upper Franconia
1657

1657 was a common year which started on Monday.

Events
 September 24 – The first autopsy and coroner's jury verdict are recorded in the Colony of Maryland.

Date unknown
 Christiaan Huygens writes the first book to be published on probability theory, De ratiociniis in ludo aleae ("On Reasoning in Games of Chance").
1587

1587 was a common year which started on Thursday.

Events
 February 8 – Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle.

Births
 August 18 – Virginia Dare, Virginia colony settler, the first person of English parentage born in America (date of death unknown)
1538

1538 was a common year which started on Tuesday.

Events
 October 28 – The first university of the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomás de Aquino, is founded.
1486

The year 1486 was a common year which started on Sunday.

Events
 January 18 – King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York are married, uniting the House of Lancaster and the House of York after the Wars of the Roses.

1486
1481

1481 was a common year.

Events 
 May 21 – Christian I, King of Denmark and Norway dies and is succeeded by his son John (1481–1513).
 December 26 – Battle of Westbroek: Holland defeats the troops of Utrecht.