cahya/wikipedia-simple-en huggingface dataset:
Brig, Switzerland

Brig is the capital of the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

History 
The historic town of 5,000 people is part of the Brig-Glis municipality. The name 'Brig' comes from Briva, or "bridge."  Its medieval name was Briga dives. It is a small town in the Swiss canton of the Valais, at the foot of the northern slope of the Simplon Pass, on the right bank of the Saltine stream, and a little above its junction with the Rhone. Its older houses look very Italian. Its buildings were built during the 17th century, because of a single member of the local Stockalper family.

Location 
Brig is close to the Swiss-Italian borders. The language used when talking between one another is a unique German dialect, used only in this canton. Brig is popular among winter sport athletes, since it is surrounded by many Alp summits. The town itself is close to Rhone river. Due to the height, the temperatures in winter often remain below zero, resulting in frost. During the summer season, heat can be intense.

The place of meeting in the town is the train station, which links it to other Swiss cities.

Economy 
The wealth of Brig is because of the Simplon Pass.   The opening of the carriage road across the Simplon (1807) and of the tunnel beneath the pass (1906), as well as the fact that above Brig is the steeper and less fertile portion of the Upper Valais (then much frequented by tourists), greatly increased the importance and size of the town.

References

Other websites

 Brig-Glis municipal website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Pennine Alps

The Pennine Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are in Switzerland (Valais) and Italy (Piedmont and the Aosta Valley).

They include the following peaks:

References

Europe-related lists
Mountain ranges of the Alps
Mountains of Italy
Mountains of Switzerland
Geography of Valais
Piedmont
Valle d'Aosta
Bernese Alps

The Bernese Alps are a group of mountain ranges in the western part of the Alps, in Switzerland. Although the name notes that they are in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern, some of the Bernese Alps are found in the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, Valais, Lucerne, Uri, and Nidwalden.

List of peaks
The main peaks of the Bernese Alps are:

References

Other websites 

 Bernese Alps  at NASA Earth Observatory

Europe-related lists
Mountain ranges of the Alps
Mountains of Switzerland
Armenian National Committee of America

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian American advocacy organization in the United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the country and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

Beyond the Central offices of ANCA are in Washington DC, Boston and Los Angeles, ANCA has more than fifty local chapters and thousands of activists, it is cooperating with a large web of regional Armenian National Committees (or Armenian Cause/Hay Tad Offices) in Armenia, Russia, France, the Middle East, Canada and Australia.

The executive director of ANCA is Aram Hamparian.

Other websites
 Armenian National Committee of America website.
 ANC of Central California Official site 
 An interview with ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian 

Armenian diaspora
Political organizations based in the United States
Conthey (district)

Conthey is a district in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It contains the following municipalities:

Districts of Valais
Mattertal

Mattertal is a valley in the Alps of Switzerland which begins on the side of the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is one of the most famous mountains in the world because of its beauty, and because it is hard to climb. 

The Mattertal is a valley that was made by a glacier (a slowly-moving river of ice) moving down from the mountain. This can be seen from the deep U shape of the valley. (Valleys made by a fast-running stream are V-shaped). Because the sides of the valley are very steep, there are often landslides. One can be seen in the photo taken near Randa village. Many houses in the villages are called chalets. These can be seen in the picture of Täsch village.

In the Mattertal are villages which include Zermatt, Täsch, Randa, Grächen, and St. Niklaus. Many tourists like to stay in the villages to see the view, to go walking, skiing or mountain climbing. The traditional work of the people is dairy farming, but many people work in the tourist industry. 

 

Geography of Valais
Valleys of Switzerland
Zermatt

Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It is found to the north of the Matterhorn in the German-speaking and mostly Roman Catholic section of the canton. It is pretty far southeast of Gstaad, and is pretty close to the border with Italy.

Zermatt has a local population of 5,500 people, but the actual population changes through the seasons as tourists come and go.

Tourism

Zermatt is a famed ski resort and is a tourist destination. Until the mid-1800s, it was mostly a farming community; its name, as well as that of the Matterhorn itself, derives from the alpine meadows, or matten, in the valley. In the German language, the town is "Zur Matte", or "in the meadow."

The town was "discovered" mid-century by British mountaineers, most notably Edward Whymper, whose conquest of the Matterhorn made the village famous worldwide.

Zermatt is a closed village, which means that non-Swiss nationals are not permitted to buy property within the area.  May is the worst time to visit this city, as most of the streets are muddy.

Hiking
Zermatt is a good place to start many hikes into the surrounding mountains, such as the Haute Route that ultimately leads to Chamonix in France.  A complex of cable cars and chair lifts carry skiers in the winter and hikers in the summer; the highest of them leads to the Klein Matterhorn, a small outcropping on the ridge between Breithorn and Matterhorn that offers cool views in all directions. It is possible to cross into Italy via the Cervinia cable car station.

Transportation
Any automobile that uses an engine is not allowed in Zermatt because of concerns for air pollution.  Electric vehicles are allowed for local commerces. The Cantonal police allow some people to park in the northern section of this city.  Some emergency vehicles (firetrucks, ambulance,..) are also allowed to use combustion engines.

Most people reach Zermatt by train or cable car.  Trains also leave for Zermatt from Visp and Brig.

Skiing
Zermatt is well known throughout the world for its great skiing, especially Triftji for its moguls. The high altitude results in consistent skiing continuously up until the summer.
Skiing in Zermatt is split up into four distinct areas; Sunnegga, Gornegrat, Klein Matterhorn and Schwarzsee. There is also a connection to Cervinia and Valtournenche in Italy. 
Trail Map.

Other websites

Zermatt.ch official website
Air Zermatt website 
Municipality of Zermatt 
Burgergemeinde Zermatt  
Photo gallery dedicated to Zermatt and surrounding nature 
Webcams in Zermatt 
 Images from Zermatt 
Scenic Zermatt Photos

Municipalities of Valais
Ski areas and resorts in Switzerland
Ajax the Lesser

Ajax the Lesser (Ancient Greek: Αἴας) was a Greek hero from the Trojan War, who was the son of Oïleus.

Related pages
 Ajax the Great

References 

People in Greek mythology
Post-nominal letters

Post-nominal letters are letters after a person's name. They are used most in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms to show that the person has a certain:
 job (e.g. JP for a magistrate (Justice of the Peace), or 
 title (Kt for a Knight Bachelor or Bt for a Baronet, QC for a Queen's Counselor
 is a member of an order of chivalry e.g. OBE.

Academic degrees (qualifications from a university) can also be shown as postnominal letters, as can military awards (medals and decorations)

Titles
Corvidae

The Corvidae are the crow family.  They are all passerines, but unusually they do not have musical voices. 

There are over 120 species in the family. The word 'crow' is also used to describe birds in the genus Corvus. This genus includes the crows, jackdaws and ravens.

Crows are found on every continent except for the southern area of South America and Antarctica. Most crows are found in South America, Central America, Europe and Asia. There are only 10 species each in Africa, Australia and North America.

A group of crows is called a murder and, indeed, they are distinctly carnivorous..

Description 
Most members of the crow family are black, such as crows, rooks, choughs, ravens and jackdaws. However, not all crows are black. Magpies and treepies can be black and white, or blue and green, or brown. Jays are often blue and white.

Crows are some of the most intelligent birds in the world. Crows and rooks are good at using tools, for example sticks or twigs. Magpies can see themselves in a mirror and they understand that it is a reflection. Many crows live near to humans in towns and cities. Some crows (such as treepies) live in forests. They are more shy than the crows that live in cities.

Some crows in North America, Europe and northern Asia migrate. This means they travel to different places in summer or winter. Most crows are resident birds. This means they live in the same place all year round.

Many crows live in large groups. For example, many rooks nest together in large groups at the top of trees. This is called a rookery. Crows in big groups are often noisy. However, when it is the breeding season (this means when birds nest and have babies), crows can become angry and will scare off other crows.

Crows eat a variety of food. They will eat fledglings (baby birds) and eggs from nests, small animals (mice and rats), carrion (dead animals), vegetables and garbage. for much of the year, crows and rooks dig into grassland with their strong beaks, and eat various kinds of insect grubs and worms. Because they may attack the nest of other birds, crows may get mobbed by other species. This is when the defending birds group together to chase off the crow. Also, on farms, crows will eat vegetables and seeds. Farmers do not want this to happen so they make a scarecrow. This is an object made of straw and old clothes. It looks like a man and it may scare the crows away.

Crows make their nests in tall trees. They make the nest from large sticks. They usually lay 3–8 eggs. Both parents look after the fledglings.

Main species 
The family includes:
 crows
 rooks
 jackdaws
 ravens
 jays
 magpies
 treepies
 choughs
 nutcrackers.
Visp

Visp is the capital city of the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It has a population of around 7,000 people.  The two valleys are Mattertal and Saastal. It borders Brig-Glis

The majority of the population are German-speaking.

Economy
It has a chemical business named LONZA AG.  There are also several smaller businesses.

Transportation
In 2007, Visp will become a junction of the Neue Eisenbahn-Alpentransversale or NEAT, connecting with many other rail-lines.

The bus and the train station of Visp and Brig is the starting point for many outdoor activities, trips, and tours in the surrounding mountain resorts of Zermatt and Saas-Fee.

References

Other websites

 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Saint-Maurice, Switzerland

Saint-Maurice is the capital of the district of Saint-Maurice in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Mex (VS) merged into the municipality of Saint-Maurice.

It is the site of the Roman outpost of Agaunum and the old Abby of Saint-Maurice, which has become a famous high school in Switzerland (Collège de Saint-Maurice).

It is not St. Moritz, a ski resort in the east part of Switzerland.

References

Other websites 

 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Conthey

Conthey is the capital of the district of Conthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

References

Other websites

 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Entremont (district)

Entremont is a district in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It has the following cities:

 Bagnes 
 Bourg-Saint-Pierre 
 Liddes 
 Orsières 
 Sembrancher 
 Vollèges

Districts of Valais
Santeri Palin

Santeri Palin (also known as Incánus) (born September 15, 1983, Nokia, Finland.) is a Finnish poet who writes poems in Finnish and English. His first book Elämän kolmio kuoleman syklissä – ajatuksia reunalta (The Triangle of Life in the Cycle of Death – Thoughts from the Edge) came out in 2006.

Palin is a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien and currently he is the president of Kontu Internet Community (or Verkkoyhteisö Kontu ry in Finnish) and the vice president of the Finnish Tolkien Society, which are Finnish Tolkien related communities.

Bibliography
Elämän kolmio kuoleman syklissä (Pilot, 2006)

References

1983 births
Living people
Finnish people
Sembrancher

Sembrancher is the capital of the district of Entremont in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

A small scenic village of around 500 residents in the Bagnes Valley, it is close to the Verbier ski resort. There is a way to get from Sembrancher to the Verbier ski resort and back for people interested in skiing.

Other websites
 Official webpage 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Münster-Geschinen

Münster-Geschinen is the capital city of the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. On 1 January 2004 the former municipalities of Münster and Geschinen merged into the new municipality of Münster-Geschinen and On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Münster-Geschinen, Blitzingen, Grafschaft, Niederwald and Reckingen-Gluringen merged into the new municipality of Goms.

Other websites
 Official website 

Former municipalities of Valais
Microbiotheria

Microbiotheria are a small order of marsupial mammals with only one living species, the Monito del Monte (Spanish for 'little mountain monkey').

It is the only New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia; all other New World marsupials are part of the Ameridelphia.

The species is nocturnal and arboreal, and lives in thickets of Chilean bamboo in the temperate rain forests of the southern Andes. It eats mainly insects and other small invertebrates, supplemented with fruit.

At one time, they were placed in the order Didelphimorphia, the opossums, but due to many morphological differences, they were placed in another order. The skull's shape is strange, with many technical differences from the opossums.

Phylogeny and biogeography 

It has long been suspected that South American marsupials were ancestral to those of Australia. The two continents were connected via Antarctica in the early Cainozoic era.

Australia’s earliest known marsupial is Djarthia, a primitive mouse-like animal that lived about 55 million years ago. Djarthia had been identified as the earliest known australidelphian, and this research suggested that the Monito del Monte was the last of a clade which included Djarthia.

In 2010, analysis of retrotransposon insertion sites in the nuclear DNA of marsupials confirmed the placement of the Monito del Monte in Australidelphia. It also showed its position as the most basal of that superorder.

The study also confirmed that the most basal of all marsupial orders are the other two South American lineages (Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata, with the former probably branching first). This indicates that Australidelphia arose in South America (with the ancestors of all other living marsupials), and probably reached Australia in a single dispersal event after Microbiotheria split off (originated).

References 

Marsupials of Australia
Chile
Dasyuromorphia

Dasyuromorphia are fair-sized order of some of the more unusual carnivorous or insectivorous marsupials. They vary in appearance, from rodent-like to shrew-like to cat-like to dog-like. This order includes the ever-famous Tasmanian devil. In this order, most of the marsupials have a pouch on the belly. However, some of the broad-footed marsupial mice have only folds of skin instead of true pouches, and the numbat lacks a pouch entirely. There are 63 species in 3 families, although one of the families is probably extinct:

 Dasyuridae (quolls, native cats, marsupial mice, Tasmanian devils) 61 species
 Myrmecobiidae (numbats) 1 species
 Thylacinidae (Tasmanian wolf or thylacine - probably extinct) 1 species 

 
Marsupials of Australia
Sea lion

Sea lions are several pinnipeds from the family Otariidae (eared seals). They live all around the world, except in the Atlantic Ocean.

Male sea lions have thick fur around the face and neck, which sometimes looks like a lion's mane. That's how they got the name "sea lion". Some, like the Steller sea lion, can actually roar! Of course, these pinnipeds are not really lions at all, but they are mammals. Like lions, they have fur, breathe air, give birth to live young, and feed milk to their young. They also eat meat, though sea lions eat the meat of fishes, squids, and sea birds instead of land animals. Sea lions are also fierce fighters, just like lions.

Species
The pinniped species called "sea lion" are: 
Steller sea lion or northern sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus)
Australian sea lion (Neophoca cinerea)
South American sea lion or southern sea ion (Otaria flavescens)
New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri)
California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)

References 

Pinnipeds
Greywacke

Greywacke  is a type of sandstone. It is hard, and dark in color. It has different sized grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments set in a compact, fine clay matrix. It is mostly found in Palaeozoic strata. The larger grains can be sand-to-gravel-sized, and matrix materials make up more than 15% of the rock by volume. 

The origin of greywacke was a problem. Gravel, sand and mud should not be laid down together, because river outflow drops heavier grains first. Now geologists think greywacke is formed by submarine avalanches or strong turbidity currents. These actions churn sediment and cause mixed-sediment slurries to occur. When this happens, the resulting rocks show various sedimentary features. Support for the turbidity current origin is the fact that deposits of greywacke are found on the edges of the continental shelves, at the bottoms of oceanic trenches, and at the bases of mountain formational areas. It also occurs in association with black shales of deep sea origin.

References 

Sandstones
Carmina Burana

Carmina Burana is the name given to a collection of texts from the 11th and 12th century. There are over 240 texts in the collection, most of them written in Latin, some in Middle High German. Most of the texts are moral or satirical in nature. There are also texts about spring, or about love. Some of them are drinking songs, some of them were used as Minnesang.  Some of the songs contain hints for the melodies. For some, the melodies can be reconstructed.

The texts were written down around 1230. This happened either in an abbey in Styria, or near Brixen. They were discovered by Johann Christoph von Aretin in Benediktbeuern Abbey in 1803. Today, they are in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. There they can be found there as Codex Buranus, with the signature clm 4660/4660a.

Johann Andreas Schmeller edited them and published them as Carmina Burana – Lieder aus Benediktbeuern. 

Carl Orff took 24 of them as Carmina Burana. He wrote the music for them. The work was first performed in 1937 in the Opera house in Frankfurt am Main. Together with his works Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite he made a work containing all three, called Trionfi. Trionfi is performed much less than the Carmina Burana alone, though.

Other websites
 Complete original text (without translation) from Biblioteca Augustana
 Text with translations from Teach Yourself Latin 
 Athena Review 
 Carmina Burana: An Analysis of Perfection , 1996.

 Carmina Vulgata  in linguam Ruthenicam versa 

Medieval literature
Latin language
Vex, Switzerland

Vex is the capital city of the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

References

Other websites 
 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Dasyuridae

Dasyuridae is a family of marsupial carnivores. It has nearly all non-extinct members of the order Dasyuromorphia. This means the quolls, phascogales, antechinuses, dunnarts, planigales, and Tasmanian devil (about 55 species in all).

Classification 
 Famliy Dasyuridae
Subfamily Dasyurinae: quolls and allies
 Subfamily Phascogalinae: phascogales and antechinuses
 Subfamily Sminthopsinae: dunnarts and allies
 Subfamily Planigalinae: planigales and ningauis 

Dasyuromorphia
Mohammed Zahir Shah

Mohammed Zahir Shah (16 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last King (Shah) of Afghanistan. He ruled for four decades, from 1933 to 1973.

Mohammed Zahir Shah became king of Afghanistan at the age of nineteen after the assassination of his father in November 1933. Since he was so young, his uncle, Shah Mahmood Khan ran the government. Mohammed Zahir Shah took control and was able to keep Afghanistan’s neutral position in international politics.

In July 17, 1973, Mohammed Zahir Shah was no longer king after a bloodless coup. He died on 

Monarchs of Afghanistan
Pashtun people
1914 births
2007 deaths
People from Kabul
Thurgau

Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population is 228,200 (2003). The capital is Frauenfeld.

Geography 
To the north of Thurgau is Lake Constance, across which are Germany and Austria. The river Rhine makes the border in the northwest. To the south is the Canton of St. Gallen; to the west are the cantons of Zürich and Schaffhausen.

The area of the canton is 991 km2 and is usually divided into three hilly areas. One of these is along Lake Constance to the north. Another is inland between the rivers Thur and Murg. The third one makes the southern border of the canton and comes together with the Hörnli mountain in the pre-Alps.

History 
In prehistoric times the lands of the canton were inhabited by people of the Pfyn culture along the lake. During Roman times the canton was part of the province Raetia until in 450 the lands were settled by the Alamanni. It was only in the 8th century that the canton became a political unit similar to what it is known today, as a Gau of the Frankish Empire. At the time, however, the area was not so clearly defined and changed frequently. Overall, the size of the Thurgau was larger, but during the Middle Ages the canton became smaller in size. The dukes of Zähringen and the counts of Kyburg took over much of the land.
The town of Zürich was part of the Thurgau until it became reichsunmittelbar in 1218. When the Kyburg dynasty became extinct in 1264 the Habsburgs took over that land. The Swiss confederation allied with ten freed bailiwicks of the former Toggenburg seized the lands of the Thurgau from the Habsburgs in 1460, and it became subject territory of Zürich.

In 1798 the land became a canton for the first time as part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803 the canton of Thurgau became a member of the Swiss confederation. The current cantonal constitution dates from 1987.

Economy 
The canton of Thurgau is known for farm produce such as apples, pears, and other fruits and vegetables. The many orchards in the canton are used for the making of cider. Wine is produced in the Thur valley.

There is also industry in the canton of Thurgau. The main industries are printing, clothing and arts and crafts. Small and middle-sized businesses are important for the economy. Many of these are concentrated around the capital.

Demographics 
The population is mostly German speaking. Most of the population are Protestants with the rest being Roman Catholics.

Districts 

The Canton of Thurgau is divided into eight districts, and each is named after its capital:

 Steckborn with capital Steckborn.
 Frauenfeld with capital Frauenfeld.
 Kreuzlingen with capital Kreuzlingen. 
 Weinfelden with capital Weinfelden. 
 Bischofszell with capital Bischofszell. 
 Diessenhofen with capital Diessenhofen.
 Münchwilen with capital Münchwilen.
 Arbon with capital Arbon.

Municipalities 
There are 80 municipalities in the canton (as of April 2004):

References

Other websites 

 Official site 
 Official statistics
Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen is a town in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name. It has a population of about 36,000 as 2016.

The old portion of the town has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the Munot. A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction.

History 
Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins starting in 1045. For a time it was under Habsburg domination, but regained its independence in 1415. It allied itself with Zürich in 1457, and became a full member of the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The first railroad came to Schaffhausen in 1857.

Schaffhausen is in a finger of Swiss land surrounded on three sides by Germany. On April 1, 1944, Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland. While the United States immediately offered four million dollars in reparations, the raid occurred only a month after the Swiss Air Force had shot down an American bomber.

In 1947 it merged with the former municipality of Buchthalen. In 1964 it merged with the former municipality of Herblingen. Since 2009, Hemmental has been part of the town.

Industry 
Schaffhausen has some well-known industrial companies (Georg Fischer) in piping systems, machine tools and automotives, one internationally-reputed watches manufacturer (IWC), and drug industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos).

References

Other websites 

 City of Schaffhausen 
 Schaffhausen Tourism 
 City archives 
 U.S. Bombings of Switzerland during World War II 

 
Imperial free cities
Obwalden

Obwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is in the centre of Switzerland. As of 2004, 33,300 people lived there. Its capital is Sarnen.

Geography 
Lakes in the canton include: parts of Lake Lucerne, Lake Sarnen, Lungerersee, Wichelsee, Tannensee and Melchsee.

Municipalities 

There are seven municipalities: Sarnen, Kerns, Sachseln, Alpnach, Giswil, Lungern and Engelberg.

Other websites 
 Official site 
 Obwalden.net  Official statistics
 Pilatus
 Titlis
 Obwalden map
French Community

The French Community () was the body which replaced  the French Union in 1958.   Under the 1958 Constitution, member territories, former French colonies, had a lot of independence, but France controlled the currency, defence, foreign affairs and national security.

When the Community was established, French President de Gaulle said that any country in the French Community could move to complete independence. Apart from Guinea, which chose by referendum in 1958 not to join the Community, all French-ruled territories in sub-Saharan Africa joined the French Community. They obtained independence in 1960.

Related pages
Colonialism
Decolonization

Other websites
 Communauté française 

International organizations
France
Usury

Usury is lending money for interest. Nowadays it usually means lending at a high, often extortionate rate of interest on a loan.

Usury is illegal in many parts of the world.  In muslim countries charging any interest at all is strictly illegal.

Some people argue that this is against the Old Testament, especially Exodus and Deuteronomy which states that those who lend to someone in need will be blessed, but the point about usury is the high levels of interest, not the act of lending in itself.

Aristotle also condemned usury as "contrary to nature" in his book on Politics, because it increases by itself and makes money without labour.

Notes 

Types of crime
Property crimes
John Bates

John Lewis Bates (September 18, 1859–June 8, 1946) was born in  Massachusetts.

He was a Republican, and was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1894 to 1899; from 1897 to 1899 he was Speaker of the House. From 1900 to 1903 he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

In 1902, Bates was elected Governor, holding office from 1903 to 1905. Bates then retired to his private law practice in Boston. From 1917 to 1919 Bates was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention.

Bates was a member of the American Bar Association, the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, and Beta Theta Pi.

Other websites
Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography 

US Republican Party politicians
Governors of Massachusetts
1859 births
1946 deaths
Lieutenant Governors of Massachusetts
Acoustic music

Acoustic music is music which is played by using acoustic musical instruments, i.e. instruments in which the sound is not made louder by electronic amplification.   Before electronic musical instruments were created in the 20th century all instruments were acoustic.

Classical music is usually played using only acoustic musical instruments, although some 20th century composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen used electronic instruments, sometimes together with acoustic instruments.

References 

Music
Mandolin

The mandolin is a musical instrument, which literally means, a small soprano member of the lute family. It is played by hitting its strings and sounds similar in tone of a violin or a hammered dulcimer. The most common type of mandolin, which was first designed in Naples, has eight strings. It has a body made of wood and a fingerboard which has frets.
 

Plucked string instruments
Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. It has its own roots in Irish, Scottish and English traditional music. It is usually played using acoustic musical instruments, and electronic musical instruments are rarely used in bluegrass music.  Traditional instruments used include the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass.  Other instruments such as the dobro are also used.

There are many accomplished bluegrass artists including Bela Fleck, Tony Rice, Alison Krauss, Laurie Lewis, Sam Bush, Bill Monroe, and Earl Scruggs. There are many organizations devoted to this music such as the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

Many festivals are held around the country where professionals perform, amateurs gather to play, and workshops are given.
Billboard charts

Billboard charts are charts published by Billboard magazine. They have information about the popularity of music songs, bands and singers. The Billboard Hot 100 is the most popular chart. It appears every week in the United States. It uses information from radio play and sales to say the most popular song each week.

Songs

All-genre

R&B/Hip-Hop

Adult/Pop

Country

Rock

Dance

Latin

Christian

Jazz

Ringtones

Canadian charts

International charts

Discontinued charts

Albums

References
Leuk

Leuk (French Loèche) is a municipality of Switzerland and is the capital city of the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

Since it controls access to the Gemmipass, it had some importance from the time of Roman Raetia. The Leukerbad hot baths are just North of Leuk, towards the pass.

Loèche houses the installations of Onyx, the Swiss interception system for electronic intelligence gathering.

On 1 January 2013 the former municipality of Erschmatt merged into the municipality of Leuk.

References

Other websites 
http://www.leuk.ch 

Municipalities of Valais
Cities in Switzerland
Raron

Raron is the capital city of the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

References

Other websites
 Official website 

Municipalities of Valais
Goms (district)

Goms is a district of the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

It includes the following municipalities:

 Bellwald 
 Binn 
 Blitzingen 
 Ernen 
 Fiesch 
 Fieschertal 
 Grafschaft 
 Lax 
 Münster-Geschinen 
 Niederwald 
 Obergesteln 
 Oberwald 
 Reckingen-Gluringen 
 Ulrichen

Districts of Valais
Shavo Odadjian

Shavo Odadjian () (born April 22 1974, Yerevan, Armenia as Shavarsh Odadjian) is the bassist for the Armenian American-based alternative metal band, System of a Down. He also scored summer blockbuster hit, "Babylon, A.D." alongside with The Rza and Hans Zimmer. He is a multi-instrumentalist, painter, DJ, and director.

Biography 
In his youth, Shavo used to spend his time skateboarding and listening to punk rock and heavy metal music. He started managing the band Soil with Malakian and Tankian in 1993 after meeting them in a recording studio. In 1995, Shavo became the permanent bassist of the band. They then named themselves "System of a Down" after a poem titled "Victims of a Down" authored by bandmate Daron Malakian.

Odadjian is a popular DJ in the LA area met by "Dj Tatic", taking part in such events as the "Rock/DJ Explosion" on March 2 2001 at The Roxy in Hollywood and collaborating with bandmate Tankian on SerArt, the singer's side project with Armenian musician Arto Tunçboyacıyan.

Discography

System of a Down
 1998: System of a Down
 2001: Toxicity
 2005: Mezmerize
 2005: Hypnotize

Achozen
 2008: Untitled

Awards
 In 2006, System of a Down won their first Grammy for Best hard rock performance for B.Y.O.B.
 In 2006, they won the "MTV Good Woodie Award" for their song "Question!"
 In 2006, they were #14 on the VH1 Top 40 Metal Songs with "Toxicity"
 In 2007, they were nominated for a Grammy Award in Best Hard rock performance for their song Lonely Day

Other websites
 Shavo's MySpace page
 The Official System of a Down Site
 Shavo's page at SOADFans 
 Shavo's page at SOADTalk 
 Achozen's Myspace page

1974 births
Living people
Bassists
Armenian diaspora
DJs
Aspartame

Aspartame (also known as E951 or NutraSweet) is an artificial sweetener. It was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter.  It can be used to replace some kinds of sugar. It is not based on sugars. It is not like saccharin.

Problems
People with Phenylketonuria cannot take Aspartame
Aspartame may cause problems with the skin, such as rashes, or dermatitis
It may cause  headache or migraine.

References

Sweeteners
Saccharin

Saccharin is the oldest artificial sweetener that exists. It can be used to replace certain kinds of sugar. It was discovered in 1878 by Constantin Fahlberg. It is also known as E954.

Saccharin has no calories and no nutritional value.  It is safe to take for people with diabetes.

References 

Sweeteners
Isomalt

Isomalt is a natural substitute for sugar. It is a kind of sugar alcohol. It is used mainly to replace sugar in some products, like bubble gum, candies,chocolate or ice cream. This makes it different from other artificial sweeteners. It is also known as E563.

Sweeteners
Sloth

Sloths are Xenarthran mammals from Central and South America. They are part of the order Pilosa. There are two families of sloths: two-toed sloth and three-toed sloth. Most scientists call these two families the Folivora, while some call them the Phyllophaga. They live in trees, but in the past there were giant ground sloths.

The biogeographic origins of the Pilosa is still unclear, but they can be traced back in South America as far as the early Tertiary, about 60 million years ago. The presence of these animals in Central America is explained by the Great American Interchange.

Physical description 
Many sloths are about the size of a small dog and they have short, flat heads. Their hair is grayish brown but, at times they look grey-green in color because they move so slowly that tiny camouflaging algae grow all over their coats. They have hook-like claws on their arms and legs to keep them attached to trees.

Life 
Sloths are active at night and sleep curled up with their head placed between the arms and the feet drawn close together, or hanging upside down with the help of their hook- like claws. This disguises them as part of a tree so that its enemies like the jaguar do not see them. Sloths rarely climb down from the trees, and when they are on the ground they can only crawl awkwardly. However, when there is a forest flood, they are very good swimmers. Sloths can live for up to 30 years. They mostly just eat leaves and flowers, which take a very long time to digest. Sloths move slowly; their name comes from the word "slow".

Related pages
 Megatherium
 Ground sloth

References 

Xenarthrans
Oberon (moon)

Oberon is the farthest big moon of the planet Uranus. It is made of about half ice and half rock.
With a mean radius of about 760 km, Oberon is the second biggest moon of Uranus's 27 moons. It orbits Uranus about every 13.4 days.

It was found on January 11, 1787 by William Herschel, in the same year he found Titania. It was named after a Oberon, King of the Fairies, a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Oberon has several large impact craters where it has been hit by meteorites. These were photographed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 as it flew passed. Scientists also believe there is a mountain that could be   high on the moon.

Surface features
Craters on Oberon are named after characters in the plays of William Shakespeare.

Other websites
Information and photos of Oberon
 USGS: Oberon nomenclature

References

Uranus' moons
Delémont (district)

The district of Delémont is one of three districts in Jura, Switzerland. Its capital is the city of Delémont. The district is nearly all French-speaking and is home to a population of 35,175 (end of 2005).

Delémont is divided into 28 municipalities:

Districts of Jura
Xavier Rudd

Xavier Rudd (born 1978) is an Australian musician. He grew up in the small town of Torquay, Victoria, Australia. When Rudd was young, he learned to play the didgeridoo on a vacuum cleaner hose. 

Rudd is known for playing at music festivals and concerts in Australia and in North America. He has many fans in Australia, his home, as well as Canada, where he has recorded a few live albums. 

Some of his songs have political themes that deal with the father of 3 sons environment and the rights of Aboriginal Australians.

Personal life
Rudd is a father of three sons, Joaquin, Finojet, and Jundi. A husband to his wife, Ashley Freeman.. 

Rudd also describes himself as a full-time "barefooter", which means that he does not own any shoes or other footwear. Rudd is also a vegetarian.

Discography

Studio albums
 To Let (2002)
 Solace (2004)
 Food in the Belly (2005)
 White Moth (2007)
 Dark Shades of Blue (2008)
 Koonyum Sun *with Izintaba (2010)
 Spirit bird (2012)

Live albums
 Live in Canada (2001)
 Live at the Grid (2003)
 Good Spirit (2005)

References

Other websites
 Xavier Rudd web site
 Xavier Rudd Tour Dates and Gossip 
 Live Shows on archive.org
 Live concert from Amsterdam on Fabchannel
 Undercover news story 
 Xavier Rudd Article
 Xavier Rudd interview at Bonnaroo 2007 

1978 births
Living people
Australian singers
Musicians from Victoria (Australia)
Australian guitarists
Didgeridoo players
Banjo players
Blues guitarists
Australian folk musicians
Nicolás de Ovando

Nicolás de Ovando (Brozas, 1460 – Seville, 1511) was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a knight of the Order of Alcántara. He was governor of Hispaniola from 1502 until 1509.

Early life
Nicolas de Ovando was born in 1460 in the town of Brozas, in Extremadura, Spain. His family was very religious and, when young, he joined the military religious Order of Alcantara where, in 1478, he was named Comendador de Lares (Commander of Lares), a very important position in the Order.

Governor of Hispaniola
As Commander of Lares, he was very appreciated by the Spanish Catholic Kings and, in particular, by Queen Isabella. On 3 September 1501 (Oviedo said in 1502), he was named as Governor of Hispaniola and of all lands discovered in America.

On 13 February, 1502 he went out of the port of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain to go to the Hispaniola island with a fleet of 32 ships. On the fleet, there were 2,500 people, including priests, soldiers and colonists (some of them with their families), who were going to live in the Hispaniola. Among those colonists was Bartolomé de las Casas, later known as the Protector of the Indians, and also Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Inca Empire.

The plan of Ovando was to develop the West Indies economically and expand the Spanish influence in the region.

Ovando got in Santo Domingo on 15 April 1502.

Administration
The administration of Ovando in Hispaniola was one of great cruelty toward the Taíno Indians. When the Spaniards came to the island in 1492, the native population was 400,000 (estimated) but in 1508 there were only 60,000 Indians.

Because the new colonists needed more workers for the gold mines and farms, they brought, as slaves, Indians from the Lucayas (now, the Bahamas) islands. Then they brought slaves from Spain (Ladinos, that is, of Africa origin but born in Spain); those were the first African slaves brought to America.

Ovando founded several cities (or ordered their foundations) on Hispaniola, among them: Compostela de Azua (or Azua de Compostela), Santa María de la Vera Paz, Bayajá (today, Fort Liberté, in Haiti), Salvatierra de la Sabana (today, Les Cayes, in Haiti), Salvaleón de Higüey, Cotuí, Puerto Plata, Santa Cruz de Hicayagua (today, Santa Cruz del Seibo, Dominican Republic).

Ovando sent Andrés Morales to explore completely the Hispaniola island. Morales made the most complete map of the island. Sebastián de Ocampo was sent to find out if Cuba was an island or part of the continent; after 8 or 10 months, Ocampo came back with the information that Cuba was an island. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León was sent with 50 men to conquer the island of San Juan (now the island of Puerto Rico).

In 1509, Ovando went back to Spain where he was made Comendador Mayor ("Head Commander") of the Order of Alcantara. During a meeting of the Order in Seville, Spain, he died on 29 May 1511 (Oviedo said in 1518). He was buried in the Church of San Benito, in the city of Alcántara, Extremadura, Spain.

References

1460 births
1511 deaths
History of the Dominican Republic
16th century in Spain
People from Extremadura
Spanish military people
History of Haiti
Abelsonite

Abelsonite (nickel porphyrin) is a mineral that can be pinkish-brown, purple, or reddish-brown in colour and is formed from porphyrin crystals. It is platy (made in plates like mica) and fragile. 

Porphyrins are organic ring compounds like haeme, the pigment in red blood cells.

It is found in the Green River Formation of Utah, in the United States.

References 

Minerals
Abenakiite-(Ce)

Abenakiite-(Ce) is a pale brown mineral and made from crystals. It was named for the Abenaki Indian Tribe, the people that lived in the area where this mineral was found. It is somewhat radioactive and it is easily scratched with fluorite. It was found in a quarry in Canada.

References 

Minerals
Abernathyite

Abernathyite is a pale, yellow-colored mineral that forms crystals.  It was named for Jess Abernathy, the person who found the first samples of this mineral.  It is found in a mine in Emery County, in the United States.  It is highly radioactive.

References 

Minerals
Abhurite

Abhurite is a colorless crystalline mineral that forms on ship-wrecked tin ingots (nuggets).  It is named for where it is found.  It is found in a cove in the Red Sea.  It is not radioactive.

References 

Minerals
Animal Liberation Orchestra

Animal Liberation Orchestra (also known as ALO) is an American rock and jam band from Southern California. They first formed several years ago as a group calling themselves Django. Over the years, they changed their name to Animal Liberation Orchestra and were signed to Jack Johnson's record label Brushfire Records.

Discography

Albums

Other websites
Animal Liberation Orchestra's official website
ALO at YahooGroups - discussion
ALO on archive.org's Live Music Archive
ALO at MySpace
Brushfire Records
ALO at Tribe - discussion 

Musical groups from California
American rock bands
Leftover Salmon

Leftover Salmon is an American Rock and jam band from Boulder, Colorado.

Discography

Albums

Leftover Salmon

Other
O' Cracker Where Art Thou? (Pitch A Tent), 2003 (with Cracker)

Videos
Years In Your Ears ...a Story of Leftover Salmon (2006, DVD)

Musical groups from Colorado
American rock bands
Bluegrass bands
Boulder, Colorado
Musical groups established in 1989
1989 establishments in the United States
1980s establishments in Colorado
Musical groups disestablished in 2005
2005 disestablishments in the United States
Internet meme

You might be looking for the general usage of Meme.

An internet meme is something famous on the internet such as an image, a video, or even a person. Internet memes are usually created when someone published something and that thing was shared widely over the Internet. They sometimes consist of an image with top and bottom text. While spreading over the internet, most internet memes 'evolve' over time, with the original image/video being changed in one way or another by people other than the creator. Every internet meme evolves and has many variants. See: Memes

Two other versions of Internet memes are "dank memes" and "dead memes". Dank memes are thought of as relevant and funny. Dead memes are thought of as not relevant or not funny, most of which haven't been uses in months or years. Dead memes, however, can become dank memes if used properly. 

Some websites where internet memes can be shared include Reddit, 4chan, 9gag, and IFunny. A popular chatting service where internet memes can be shared is Discord, an instant messaging and communication platform. Memes on Discord are shared through images, videos, and GIFs, although these methods aren't only limited to Discord.

Types of Memes 
There are many different types of internet memes. They include the following types.

Normie Meme 
A normie meme is a meme that uses intentionally bad, unfunny, or low-quality content to joke about said content. Some parodies could also be called normie memes, but those are another thing entirely.

Dank meme 

A dank meme is a meme that makes no sense, similar to an normie meme. Dank memes, however, are usually very strange, involving seemingly random concepts that have been established in internet culture.

some dank memes can be offensive like the troll meme and forever alone memes while other dank memes are not.

Shock Meme 
A shock meme is a meme that is either racist, sexist or offensive to a race of people, These memes often include societal status, videos where random jump scares and/or loud noises suddenly happen, hobbies, or anything at all.

An example of a shock memes are memes involving suicide. When searching for "suicide memes" on Google, the first results will be suicide hotlines. The search engine is assuming the person searching was contemplating suicide, when in fact they were just searching for memes.

Video Meme 
A video meme is a meme spread through video sharing sites such as YouTube, Vimeo, and Twitch. Short videos can also be shared on social media services that supports video, such as TikTok, Reddit, and Facebook.

Related pages
 Meme
 Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash
 We Are Number One
 Figure of speech
Lolcats
Morris Gleitzman

Morris Gleitzman (born 9 January 1953 in England) is one of Australia's most successful children's writers. Morris Gleitzman began writing as a screenwriter and enjoyed success writing for the Norman Gunston Show on Australian television. He has also written for the Governor-General of Australia and Rolf Harris.

Career 
Morris Gleitzman has had much success with his children's stories. They have been published in 14 countries around the world including the United States, United Kingdom, France and Australia. Some of his most successful books include Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Blabber Mouth, Belly Flop and Puppy Fat. He was born in England, on  9 January 1953. 

He had dropped out of school by the age of 16 to live "the hippie dream" and by the time he had moved to Australia was writing many short stories that would later become a reality and turn his small life into a big meaningful life.

His most successful book is Two Weeks With the Queen.

Published books

References

Other websites 
 Official website

1953 births
Living people
Australian children's writers
Australian screenwriters
British children's writers
English screenwriters
Writers from Lincolnshire