cahya/wikipedia-simple-en huggingface dataset:
Property tax

A property tax (or millage tax) is a levy on property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is imposed by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located. The tax may be paid to a national, state, provincial, county, regional, or municipality governmant. Multiple jurisdictions may tax the same property.  This is in contrast to a rent or mortgage tax, which is based on a percentage of the rent or mortgage value.

There are four broad types of property: land, immovable property, personal property  and intellectual property. Real property (also called real estate or realty) means the combination of land and improvements. Under a property tax system, the government requires and/or performs an appraisal of the monetary value of each property. A tax is assessed based on that value. Forms of property tax used vary among countries and jurisdictions. Real property is often taxed based on its classification. Classification is the grouping of properties based on similar use. 

Properties in different classes are taxed at different rates. Examples of different classes of property are residential, commercial, industrial and vacant real property.  In Israel, for example, property tax rates are double for vacant apartments versus occupied apartments. In the Canadian province of British Columbia a speculation tax  on residential properties has been introduced in 2019.

A special assessment tax is sometimes confused with property tax. These are two distinct forms of taxation: one (Ad valorem tax) relies upon the appraised fair market value of the property being taxed. The other (special assessment) relies upon a special enhancement called a "benefit" for its justification.

The property tax rate is often given as a percentage. It may also be expressed as a per mille (amount of tax per thousand currency units of property value), which is also known as a millage rate or mill (which is also one-thousandth of a currency unit). To calculate the property tax, the authority will multiply the assessed value of the property by the mill rate. Then they will divide by 1,000. For example, a property with an assessed value of $50,000 located in a municipality with a mill rate of 20 mills would have a property tax bill of $1,000 per year.

References 

Taxation
Law
Rusty Jones

Isham Russell "Rusty" Jones II (April 13, 1942 – December 9, 2015), better known as Rusty Jones, was an American jazz drummer. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but was raised in Chicago, Illinois. Jones was known for performing with Marian McPartland and Stéphane Grappelli.

Jones died in Chicago, Illinois from cancer, aged 73.

References

Other websites

1942 births
2015 deaths
Cancer deaths in Chicago
American jazz musicians
American drummers
Musicians from Iowa
People from Cedar Rapids, Iowa
John Trudell

John Trudell (February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015) was a Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969. He was partners with Marcheline Bertrand, Angelina Jolie's mother, until her death in 2007. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska.

Trudell died of cancer in Santa Clara County, California, aged 69.

References

Other websites

 Official John Trudell website
 
 

1946 births
2015 deaths
Cancer deaths in California
American poets
American activists
Musicians from Omaha, Nebraska
Actors from Omaha, Nebraska
Writers from Omaha, Nebraska
Ron Bouchard

Ron Bouchard (November 23, 1948December 10, 2015) was an American NASCAR driver. He was the 1981 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year. He was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Bouchard began his NASCAR career in 1981 in the #47 J.D. Stacy Buick for owner Jack Beebe (Race Hill Farm team). In 1982 Bouchard finished a career-high eighth in the final points standing with 15 Top 10 finishes in 30 races. He ran full-time in 1983, 1984, and 1985.

Bouchard died of cancer in Fitchburg, Massachusetts at the age of 67.

References

Other websites
Ron's Biography 

1948 births
2015 deaths
Cancer deaths in Massachusetts
American racecar drivers
Sportspeople from Massachusetts
Murder of Laquan McDonald

The shooting of Laquan McDonald occurred on October 20, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois, when McDonald—a 17-year-old black male armed with a knife—was shot 16 times by Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

As a result, mayor Rahm Emanuel fired Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy on December 1, 2015. Few days later, Emanuel apologized for the shooting, but since then, Emanuel has received criticisms and negative comments towards him and his administration.

Video of the shooting, captured on one police cruiser's dashboard camera, was released to the public on November 24, 2015, over 13 months after the shooting. Van Dyke was charged with first-degree murder within hours after the video's release. After turning himself in to authorities, he was initially ordered held without bail at Cook County Jail,  but released on November 30  after posting bail.

On November 25, Senator and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders released a statement sending condolences to McDonald's family and criticizing the Emanuel administration and the Chicago's police force.

There have been numerous protests denouncing Laquan McDonald's death. In November 27, a major day for shopping in the U.S., a group of protesters chanted "sixteen shots" and other slogans while marching on Michigan Avenue, the city's central shopping district. This caused some businesses to shut their doors and the police closed Michigan Avenue, a six-lane street.

The FBI opened an investigation into McDonald's death, and the city of Chicago approved a five-million dollar settlement in April 2015, although no lawsuit was filed. The police had originally claimed that McDonald had lunged at an officer. However, video footage contradicts that claim; McDonald made no lunges.

On October 5, 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder, as well as 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.

References

Other websites
External video dashcam footage
Coban, manufacturer of dashboard cameras  used by the Chicago Police

2014 in Illinois
2010s in Chicago
2010s murders in the United States
Murder in 2014
Murders by firearm in the United States
October 2014 events
People shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States
Black Lives Matter
Dolph Schayes

Adolph "Dolph" Schayes (May 19, 1928 – December 10, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a top scorer and rebounder, he was a 12-time NBA All-Star and a 12-time All-NBA selection. Schayes won an NBA championship with the Syracuse Nationals in 1955.

He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He played for the Philadelphia 76ers from 1948 through 1964. He coached the Philadelphia 76ers from 1963 through 1966 and the Buffalo Braves from 1970 through 1972. He was born in The Bronx, New York City.

Schayes died in Syracuse, New York from cancer, aged 87.

References

Other websites

 Dolph Schayes biography at NBA Encyclopedia

1928 births
2015 deaths
Cancer deaths in New York
National Basketball Association coaches
People from the Bronx
Philadelphia 76ers players
Sportspeople from New York City
National Basketball Association players with retired numbers
SS Daniel J. Morrell

SS Daniel J. Morrell was an American Great Lakes ore carrier. It was 603 feet long. The ship usually carried iron ore. The Morrell sank during a severe storm on November 29, 1966. The ship broke in two before sinking.

Twenty-eight of the Morrell's 29 crewmen died during the sinking. Only one crewman survived.

References

Ships
Jon Landau

Jon Landau (born July 23, 1960) is an American movie producer. He is best known for his work with James Cameron: Titanic (1997), Solaris (2002) and Avatar (2009). He also produced Campus Man (1987), Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989), Dick Tracy (1990) and Alita: Battle Angel (2018).

Landau was born in New York City, New York. He was the son of Edie, a producer, and Ely A. Landau, a studio executive and producer. He is Jewish.

References

Other websites
 

1960 births
Living people
American Jews
Movie producers from New York City
Mikael Agricola

Mikael Agricola ( ) (c. 1510 – 9 April 1557) was a priest who is often called the "father of written Finnish".  In addition, Agricola, Aleksis Kivi and Elias Lönnrot are regarded fathers of a national literature in Finnish.

In his time, Finland was part of Sweden, a Catholic country. He learned the ideas of the Reformation, and thought everyone should be able to read the Bible. To help people in Finland to learn to read, Agricola published a ABC book and a prayer book in Finnish around year 1544. He also translated large sections of the Bible into Finnish.

References

Other websites 
 Agricola, Mikael (1510 - 1557) Finnish Dictionary of National Biography online.
 The Finnish Reformer was a student of Luther – and Finland's educator 

1510 births
1557 deaths
Bible translators
Christian theologians
Christian writers
Finnish scientists
Finnish writers
Former Roman Catholics
Lutheran bishops
Protestant Reformers
Roman Catholic bishops
Roman Catholic priests
TOP 09

TOP 09 is a political party in the Czech Republic. It is a right-wing, conservative party. The chairman of the party is former finance minister Miroslav Kalousek and the honorary chairman is former foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg. TOP 09 have 26 members in the Chamber of Deputies and 4 members in the European parliament. The party's policies are based on conservatism and pro-Europeanism.

Other websites 
 Official website

Conservative parties
Czech Republic
Miroslav Kalousek

Miroslav Kalousek (born 16 December 1960) is a Czech politician, former Finance minister, leader of TOP 09 party, and member of Chamber of Deputies.

References

1960 births
Living people
Czech politicians
Avon, Indiana

Avon is a town in the state of Indiana, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 12,446.

References

Towns in Indiana
Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic

The Chamber of Deputies of Parliament of the Czech Republic () is the lower house of parliament of the Czech Republic. It has 200 members. They are elected by the people. They serve for 4 years. The current parliament was elected in 2013.

Czech Republic
Parliaments
Phillips curve

The Phillips Curve shows the relationship between unemployment and wage inflation in an economy. It shows that as unemployment goes down, wages go up. It was discovered by British economist William Phillips. He studied wage inflation and unemployment in the United Kingdom from 1861 to 1957. The theory states that economic growth causes inflation. This causes more jobs to become available which lowers unemployment. In the 1970s high levels of inflation and unemployment were occurring at the same time. This disproved the theory, at least in the long run. Many economists feel that the Phillips curve still has value in the short run where there is still a tradeoff between inflation and unemployment.

Related pages 
 Microeconomics
 Economy
 Monetary policy

References 

Economics
Momoko Kōchi

Momoko Kōchi (born Momoko Okouchi March 7, 1932 - November 5, 1998) was a Japanese actress. She is best known for her roles in the original  Godzilla, playing the character of Emiko Yamane. Kōchi later played the same role in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah in 1995. She starred in The Mysterians, playing Hiroko Iwamoto. 

Kōchi was discovered in 1953 in Toho's New Face Contest. By the late 1950s she found herself typecast into science fiction and horror movies. She decided to pursue formal acting. In the 1960s she was on stage doing Shakespeare. She also did occasional television commercials. She didn't act in movies again until 1995. Kōchi died at age 66 in Tokyo Japan on November 5, 1998 from intestinal cancer.

Selected filmography

References

Other websites

1932 births
1998 deaths
Actors from Tokyo
Japanese movie actors
European perch

The European perch (Perca fluviatilis), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the perch, is a type of fish. It belongs in genus Perch and lives in Europe and Siberia. It is typically less than 25 cm long. It has greenish basic colour with 5-9 black bands, and red fins.

European perch lives in water  which contains no salt or very little salt. It can be found in lakes, rivers, ponds and areas where sea water mixes with river water such as the Baltic Sea. 

European perch eats small animals in the water, such as insects, worms and small fish. It is most hungry early in the morning and late in the evening. 

European perch tastes good and fishermen like to catch it.

References 

Perciformes
Edible fish
Jiří Paďour

Jiří Paďour (4 April 1943 – 11 December 2015) was a Czech Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Prague from 1996 to 2001, and the Bishop of České Budějovice from 2002–2014. Pad'our was born in Vraclav, Czechoslovakia.

On 1 March 2014, Pope Francis accepted Paďour's resignation for health reasons. Pad'our died in Prachatice, Czech Republic at the age of 72.

References

Other websites

1943 births
2015 deaths
Czech people
Roman Catholic archbishops
Douglas Tompkins

Douglas Rainsford "Doug" Tompkins (March 20, 1943 – December 8, 2015) was an American conservationist, outdoorsman, philanthropist, filmmaker, agriculturalist, and businessman. He was born in Conneaut, Ohio. He co-founded and ran two companies: the outdoor equipment and clothing company The North Face and the Esprit clothing company.

On December 8, 2015, Tompkins was kayaking with five others on General Carrera Lake in southern Chile when strong waves caused their kayaks to capsize. Tompkins spent a "considerable amount of time" in waters under . He was flown via helicopter to a hospital in nearby Coyhaique, where he died from severe hypothermia. He was 72 years old and was survived by his wife, two daughters, mother and brother.

References

Other websites

Tompkins Conservation  
Spanish Language BBC interview
Rebel With A Cause – Doug Tompkins' quest to save the wilderness (film by DreamTeam medienproduktion, arte, WDR, NDR, 2010) 

1943 births
2015 deaths
American philanthropists
Businesspeople from Ohio
Shipwreck

A shipwreck is the remains of a ship that has been wrecked. Shipwrecks are found either beached on land or sunken to the seabed of a body of water. They may be deliberate or accidental. UNESCO estimates that worldwide over 3 million shipwrecks. Some are thousands of years old.

Attraction 

Historic wrecks are attractive to marine archaeologists because they preserve historical information. For example, studying the wreck of Mary Rose revealed information about seafaring, warfare, and life in the 16th century. Military wrecks, caused by a battle at sea, are studied to find details about the historic events. They can reveal much about the battle that occurred. Once in a while there is a discovery of a treasure ship, often from the period of European colonisation. Some contemporary wrecks, such as the oil tankers Prestige or Erika, are of interest because of their potential harm to the environment. Other contemporary wrecks are scuttled (sank deliberately) in order to create reef growth.

Famous shipwrecks 

Some very famous shipwrecks include the RMS Titanic, HMHS Britannic, RMS Lusitania, SS Andrea Doria, SS Edmund Fitzgerald or the Costa Concordia.  There are also thousands of wrecks that were not lost at sea but have been abandoned or sunk. These abandoned, or derelict ships are typically smaller craft, such as fishing vessels. They sometimes pose a hazard to navigation.

References

Other websites 

 10 Shipwrecks Frozen In Time
 International Registry of Sunken Ships

Ships
Eddy current

An eddy current can be made when you have a solenoid (coil of wire), in which there is a soft iron core. When you connect the solenoid to an AC power source, metal objects held above the cross sectional area of the solenoid are repelled due to Lenz's Law.

Electricity
Analytic philosophy

Analytical philospohy is a branch of philosophy that was important in the 20th century. Analytical philosophy focuses on the philosophy of language and on argumentation Important thinkers of this movement include Gottlob Frege,  Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Willard Van Orman Quine.

Related pages 
Ordinary language philosophy

Branches of philosophy
Johan Ludvig Runeberg

Johan Ludvig Runeberg (; 5 February 1804 – 6 May 1877) was a poet from Finland. He is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language.

Runeberg's most famous work is Fänrik Ståls sägner (The Tales of Ensign Stål, Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat in Finnish). He wrote it between 1848 and 1860. The book consists of 36 poems. The tales are about Finnish War of 1808–09. In the war  Russia got Finland from Sweden. In the tales Runeberg tries to tell us that deep down inside people are similar on both sides of the war. In that book, small people from Finland become heroes in their own life.  The first poem "Vårt land" (Our Land, Maamme in Finnish) became the Finnish National anthem.

References 

1804 births
1877 deaths
Finnish poets
Songwriters
George S. Irving

George S. Irving (George Irving Shelasky; November 1, 1922 – December 26, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his character roles on Broadway. He voiced the Heat Miser in The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) and in A Miser Brothers' Christmas (2008). Irving recorded the audio version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. He also appeared on stage in Oklahoma! and on television in All in the Family. He won a Tony Award in 1973.

References

Other websites
 
 
TonyAwards.com Interview with George S. Irving 

Tony Award winning actors
1922 births
2016 deaths
Deaths from heart failure
American movie actors
American television actors
American stage actors
American voice actors
Actors from Massachusetts
People from Springfield, Massachusetts
Edmund Lyndeck

Edmund Lyndeck (October 4, 1925 – December 14, 2015) was an American character actor and musical theatre actor. He began his career in 1970 when he appeared in The Ed Sullivan Show. He appeared on stage as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.  He also appeared in the stage production of Into the Woods. 

Lyndeck appeared in guest appearances on Ed, The Cosby Show, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

References

Other websites
 
 
 Brief interview with Lyndeck about Stephen Sondheim 

1925 births
2015 deaths
American movie actors
American television actors
American stage actors
Actors from New Jersey
People from Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne, New Jersey

Bayonne (pronounced bay-OWN) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Bayonne is east of Newark, the state's largest city, north of Elizabeth in Union County and west of Brooklyn. As of 2010, the population was 63,024.

References

Other websites
 

Cities in New Jersey
H. Arnold Steinberg

H. Arnold Steinberg (May 12, 1933 – December 11, 2015) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist of Jewish descent. He was the Chancellor of McGill University serving from 2009 through 2014.

He studied at McGill University and Harvard University.

In 1957, he started working at Dominion Securities Corp. Ltd. before joining Steinberg Inc. in 1958. He would remain at the company until 1989 and was Chief Financial Officer.

Steinberg died suddenly in Montreal, Quebec from a heart attack on December 11, 2015 at the age of 82.

References

1933 births
2015 deaths
Canadian businesspeople
Canadian Jews
Deaths from myocardial infarction
Harvard University alumni
Jewish businesspeople
Jewish philanthropists
People from Montreal
Metropolitan Community Church

The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) is an international Protestant Christian denomination. It is based in Los Angeles, California. It has 222 member congregations in 37 countries. It has a specific outreach to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families and communities. The MCC has property worth $50 million. It has 40,000 members. They want to double in size in the next ten years. They also want acceptance by other Christian organizations. The MCC currently has "Official Observer" status with the World Council of Churches. MCC supports same-sex marriage. The MCC has been denied membership in the US National Council of Churches. Many local MCC congregations are members of local ecumenical partnerships around the world. MCC also belongs to several statewide councils of churches in the United States.

References

Christian organizations based in the United States
Protestantism
Christianity in the United States
Los Angeles
Deschooling

Deschooling is a word that was first used by Ivan Illich (Austrian philosopher, 1926–2002). Many homeschoolers use the word to describe the process that children go through when they left the school system to start homeschooling. It is an important process for homeschooling, in which children should prepare for their first homeschool days. Some children need more time to go through it than others. Families do this normally because many things in homechooling are different from the public school system.

References

Other websites 
 Deschooling: How Long Does it Take?
 Deschooling on www.homeschool.com
 How to Transition from Public School to Homeschool on Wikihow

Education
Unschooling

Unschooling is a special form of homeschooling. In this form of education, learners choose activities as their medium for learning. It is not as known as traditional homeschooling, but is becoming more known.

Motivations 
Many persons decide to do unschooling because it makes it possible to learn through natural life experiences, or they do not like the concept of schooling and think that they can learn better by doing other activities.

Branches 
There are different branches of unschooling. Here are some examples:

Worldschooling: Learners travel around the world and learn through experiencing other places, people, cultures, and typical activities of these locations.
Project-based unschooling: Learners choose a project that interests them and do it in their own time and learn things about it and related topics.
Gameschooling: Learners play varios games like board and card games with and against others. Learners can develop social skills such as interpersonal communication, negotiation, persuasion, diplomacy, and moral character.

Criticism 
Critics of unschooling think that children will lack the social skills, structure, and motivation of their schooled peers, while other think that the opposite is true.

References

Related pages 
Deschooling

Education
John Bannon

John Charles Bannon  (7 May 1943 – 13 December 2015) was an Australian politician for the Labor Party. He was the 39th Premier of South Australia from 10 November 1982 until 4 September 1992. He was born in Bendigo, Victoria and grew up in Adelaide, South Australia.

Bannon died from cancer on 13 December 2015 in Adelaide, aged 72.

References

Other websites
 Parliament Profile 

1943 births
2015 deaths
Australian Labor Party politicians
Cancer deaths in Australia
People from Adelaide
Politicians from South Australia
Politicians from Melbourne
Premiers of South Australia
Abu Ali al-Anbari

Abu Ali al-Anbari (; born 1957/1959 - died 12 December 2015) was an Iraqi government official. He was the nom de guerre for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) governor for territories held by the organization in Syria. He was thought to be the second-in-command (along with his counterpart Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (KIA) who held a similar position in Iraq).

Career 
He plays a political role of overseeing the local councils and acts as a kind of political envoy. His military role includes directing operations against both other Syrian rebels who oppose President Bashar al-Assad's government and the Syrian government itself.

In November 2015, the New York Times reported that al-Anbari had recently arrived in Libya by boat, where the group has established a powerful branch centered in the city of Sirte. On December 12, 2015 al-Anbari was killed in an airstrike by the Iraqi army.

References

2015 deaths
Deaths by airstrike
Iraqi military people
Iraqi politicians
Benedict Anderson

Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson  (August 26, 1936 – December 13, 2015) was an American academic and writer. He was the Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor Emeritus of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University. He was best known for his book Imagined Communities, first published in 1983.

Personal life
Anderson was born in Kunming, China, to James O'Gorman Anderson and Veronica Beatrice Bigham. In 1941 the family moved to California. In 1957, Anderson received a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from Cambridge University, and he later earned a Ph.D. from Cornell's Department of Government, where he studied modern Indonesia under the guidance of George Kahin. He was the brother of historian Perry Anderson. 

Anderson died in Batu, Malang, in his sleep of heart failure on December 13, 2015 at the age of 79.

References

Other websites
A short biography
"The Nation as Imagined Community"  An excerpt from Imagined Communities

1936 births
2015 deaths
Deaths from heart failure
Naturalized citizens of the United States
Educators from California
Writers from California
Rowan University

Rowan University is a public university in Glassboro, New Jersey, United States.  The school also has a campus in Camden, New Jersey. The school opened in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a twenty-five acre site donated by the town. The school became New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro in the 1930s.  Then it became Glassboro State College in 1958. Starting in the 1970s, it added programs in business, communications, and engineering.

It was renamed Rowan College of New Jersey in 1992, after Henry Rowan and his wife Betty gave the school $100 million.  At the time, the gift was largest ever given to a public college. It became Rowan University on March 21, 1997, when it won approval for university status from the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education. In the fall of 2012, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University opened in Camden.  It was the first public medical school in New Jersey not associated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. It later took over the School of Osteopathic Medicine on July 1, 2013.  It became the second university in the United States to offer both an M.D. and a D.O. program.

References

Other websites
 Official website
 Official athletics website

Colleges and universities in New Jersey
1923 establishments in the United States
1920s establishments in New Jersey
Training corset

A training corset is a corset used for doing body modification (changing the body). It may be used for orthopedic reasons (such as to correct a crooked spine) or for cosmetic reasons (to achieve a smaller waistline which is commonly called waist training).

The term "training corset" is also sometimes used for BDSM corsets used for discipline.

Related pages
 Corset

Sources

Underwear
Coccinella septempunctata

The seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) is a colourful beetle. It has red back (wing cases) with seven black spots, black and white head, legs and stomach. As an adult it is 5-8 mm long.

Coccinella septempunctata is the most common lady beetle in Europe. Because it eats harmful insects, people have imported it to North America.

Ladybirds are members of the family Cucujiformia.

References 

Polyphaga
Whooper swan

The whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), is a large white bird which lives in Europe and Asia. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan. Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676 referred to the this swan as "the Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan".

Description 

An adult whooper swan  weighs 9-11 kg. It is 140-160 cm long (including neck and head) and it has a wingspan of 205-235 cm. Young swans are grey-brown. They have a pink and black beak. The young get pale grey in end of their first summer. They get the white adult colour before their second winter. Male and female swans look otherwise similar, but the males are larger.
  
The whooper swan, Bewick's swan and mute swan look quite similar, but the details are different.
Whooper swan is clearly larger than Bewick's swan. When it lands it water or takes off it slides longer distances.

Behaviour 
Whooper swans eat mainly plants growing in water: leaves, stems and roots. During the winter they also eat grain and vegetables from the fields. Young birds often eat insects. 

The nest is a large pile of plant matter built on dry ground or on small islands near lakeshore.  The same nest mound may be used over many years although it is often repaired and new material is added.

Distribution 
Whooper swans spends their summer in Northern Europe and Asia. For winter they migrate to coasts where sea does not freeze.

In year 2006 it was estimated, that there are more than 180,000 whooper swans in the world. Out of these, 10,000-100,000 pairs breed in Russia. Between one thousand and ten thousand birds also spend their winter there.

References

Anatidae
Birds of Europe
Roland D-50

The Roland D-50 is a linear/polyphonic 61-key synthesizer made by Roland. It was released in 1987.  Its features include Linear Arithmetic synthesis, on-board effects, a joystick for data manipulation, and an analog synthesis-styled keyboard layout.  The external Roland PG-1000 programmer could also be attached to the D-50 for more complex manipulation of sounds. It was also produced in a rack-mount version. This was called the D-550 and had almost 450 user-adjustable parameters.

References 

Musical instruments
Dexter Gordon

Dexter Gordon (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He was born in Los Angeles, California. He was also known as "Long Tall Dexter" and "Sophisticated Giant". Gordon's career lasted for over 40 years. He was among the earliest tenor players to adapt the bebop musical language.

Gordon died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from renal failure and laryngeal cancer at the age of 67.

References

Other websites

Sophisticated Giant: The Dexter Gordon Discography 

Dexter Gordon Multimedia Directory
Dexter Gordon: 12 Essential Tracks  by Eric Novod (www.jazz.com)

1923 births
1990 deaths
Deaths from renal failure
Deaths from laryngeal cancer
American jazz musicians
American saxophonists
Musicians from Los Angeles
Vadym Tyshchenko

Vadym Tyshchenko or Vadim Nikolayevich Tishchenko (24 March 1963 – 14 December 2015) was a Soviet and Ukrainian association football player and coach.

Tyshchenko made his debut for USSR on 29 August 1987 in a friendly game against Yugoslavia. He played in UEFA Euro 1988, but was not selected for the squad for that tournament or for the 1990 FIFA World Cup.

Tyshchenko died in Kiev, Ukraine from a heart attack at the age of 52.

References

Other websites
 Profile 
 Vadym Tyshchenko died. UA-Football. 14 December 2015

1963 births
2015 deaths
Deaths from myocardial infarction

Ukrainian football managers
Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Soviet Olympic gold medalists
Ukrainian footballers
George Tiller

George Richard Tiller, MD (August 8, 1941 – May 31, 2009) was an American physician. He was from Wichita, Kansas. He became well-known as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, one of only three clinics nationwide to provide late-term abortions at the time.

During his tenure with the center, which began in 1975 and continued the medical practice of his father, Tiller was targeted with protest and violence by anti-abortion groups and individuals. After his clinic was firebombed in 1986, Tiller was shot in both arms by anti-abortion extremist Shelley Shannon in 1993.

On May 31, 2009, Tiller was fatally shot in the side of the head by anti-abortion extremist Scott Roeder, as Tiller served as an usher during the Sunday morning service at his church in Wichita. Roeder was convicted of murder on January 29, 2010, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

References

Other websites

 George R. Tiller M.D. Memorial Fund
 Are Some Anti-Abortion Attacks Domestic Terrorism? NOW on PBS Piece aired following Dr. Tiller's death
 "George Tiller speaks about the history of violence against him and his medical practice,"  Kansas City The Pitch
 "Remembered for Lifelong Dedication to Women's Reproductive Health" Five women (two of them doctors) who worked with Dr. Tiller; Democracy Now!, June 1, 2009 (video, audio, and print transcript)
 Criminal Complaint (Kansas v. Roeder) FindLaw, June 2, 2009
 Letters of condolence sent to the editors of The New York Times

1941 births
2009 deaths
Murders by firearm in the United States
American murder victims
American physicians
American activists
Scientists from Wichita, Kansas
Krampus (movie)

Krampus is a 2015 American fantasy comedy horror movie based on Krampus from Alpine folklore. It was directed by Michael Dougherty and written by Dougherty, Todd Casey, and Zach Shields.

The movie stars Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman, Conchata Ferrell, Emjay Anthony, Stefania LaVie Owen, and Krista Stadler. It was released on December 4, 2015, by Universal Pictures to mixed reviews.

References

2015 horror movies

2015 comedy movies
2010s fantasy movies
American comedy movies
American fantasy movies
American horror movies
English-language movies
Adam Scott

Adam Paul Scott (born April 3, 1973) is an American actor, comedian, director, screenwriter, producer, podcaster, dancer, and poet. He is best known for his role as Ben Wyatt in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. He has also appeared as Derek in the movie Step Brothers, and Henry Pollard in the Starz sitcom Party Down.

References

Other websites

1973 births
Living people
American movie actors
American television actors
American voice actors
American television directors
American television producers
American television writers
American poets
American dancers
Actors from California
Movie directors from California
Movie producers from California
Writers from California
Comedians from California
Keith Ellison

Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician. He is the Attorney General of Minnesota. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), the Minnesota state Democratic Party affiliate.

He was the U.S. Representative for  from 2007 to 2019. Ellison is a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a Chief Deputy Whip, also notably serving in the House Committee on Financial Services.

Ellison is the first Muslim to be elected to Congress. He is also the first African American elected to the House from Minnesota.

In November 2016, progressive groups and United States senators, including Bernie Sanders of Vermont, supported Ellison for chair of the Democratic National Committee. On February 25, 2017, minutes after defeating him on a second ballot, Chairman Tom Perez motioned for Ellison to be elected his Deputy Chair which was approved by a unanimous voice vote of DNC members.

On June 5, 2018, Ellison announced that he was running for Attorney General of Minnesota and not seeking reelection to Congress. He won the election in November 2018.

References

1963 births
Living people
African American politicians
American Muslims
Politicians from Detroit, Michigan
United States representatives from Minnesota
Vitus Bering

Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681 - 1741), also called Ivan Ivanovich Bering (Russian name) was a Danish seafarer and explorer. He went into the service of the Russian navy in 1704. He was commissioned a second lieutenant. During the Great Northern War he distinguished himself and was promoted to the rank of commander.

First Kamchatka expedition 
In 1639 a group of Russian promyshlenniki (hunter-traders) sailed from Russia into the Pacific ocean, They were the first Europeans to sailed between Asia and North America. Peter the great, Czar of Russia, wanted to send an expedition to confirm the information. In 1724 he sent the first Kamchatka expedition (1725-30) led by Bering. One of their tasks was to see if Siberia was connected to North America. They sailed first to the Kamchatka Peninsula where a ship was built for the exploration. In 1728 Bering sailed north far enough to discover that Siberia and North America (Alaska) were not connected.

Second Kamchatka expedition 
The Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733-43) was a very large scientific expedition. It was also led by Bering. The scientific expedition sent out smaller explorations to chart the coasts of Siberia, the Pacific, and several research expeditions. Ships were sent to Japan and America to promote Russian interests. Bering reached Alaska in 1741. On the return journey they had to stop at Bering Island. While there nearly half the crew, including Bering, died. In 1991, Danish archaeologists found his grave.

References 

1681 births
1741 deaths
Danish people
Explorers
Ritornello

Ritornello is an Italian word meaning "little return". At first in music ritornello was used as an instruction to repeat a part. By the 1600's the word was used to describe a part of the music played by instruments in a vocal piece. These instrumental sections could be at the start (a prelude), in the middle (an interlude), or at the end (a postlude). In dramatic music, the ritornello provided an opportunity for dancing, or for a scene change. In the Baroque period, a common way to write a song, called an aria, was in da capo form. The aria would be written as two contrasting sections, A and B. By adding an instrumental ritornello (R), the aria could be developed further, forming the scheme R–A–R–B–R–A–R.

In the early 1700's composers began using the ritornello form in concertos, the solo instrument replacing the voice. This gave the composer the chance to develop music during the solos with new material and key changes, between repeated sections of full orchestra. Guiseppe Torelli began using this form, which was then developed and extended by Antonio Vivaldi. Vivaldi's way of using this form has the following features:
Ritornellos for the full orchestra alternate with sections for the soloist or soloists.
The opening ritornello is composed of several small sections. These are usually two to four bars in length, which may be repeated or varied. These sections can be separated from each other or combined in new ways but are still the ritornello. 
When the ritornello is used again, it may be only a part, using only one or some of the sections, sometimes varied.
The ritornellos guide the tonal structure of the music. They establish the new key if the music changes keys. The first and last use of the ritornello is in the tonic. One (usually the first to be in a new key) is in the dominant; and others are in closely related keys.

Later composers such as Bach and Telemann used Vivaldi's form in their works.

References

Musical forms
Dominant (music)

The dominant in music is the fifth note of a major or minor scale. In a C scale, the fifth and dominant note will be G. Chords built on this note are called dominant chords. In the key of C, the dominant chord will be G-B-D. Keys have the same relationship as notes, so the dominant key will be the key of the fifth note. So in C, the key of G is the dominant key. In musical theory, the dominant is written with the roman numeral "V".

References

Music theory
National Medal of Science

The National Medal of Science is an honor given by the President of the United States. It is awarded to people in science and engineering who did important work in  behavioral, social sciences, biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and physics.

History
The National Medal of Science was made on August 25, 1959, by an act of  the Congress of the United States. The medal was to be to honor scientists in the fields of the "physical, biological, mathematical or engineering sciences".

Orders, decorations, and medals of the United States
Science awards
1959 establishments in the United States
Camcorder

A camcorder is an electronic device which combines a video camera and a video recorder. Most devices capable of recording video are camera phones and digital cameras primarily intended for still pictures. The term "camcorder" is used to describe a portable, self-contained device, with video capture and recording as its primary function.

References 

Cameras
Marilyn Maxwell

Marilyn Maxwell (August 3, 1921 – March 20, 1972) was an American actress and entertainer. She was a sex symbol in the 1940s and 1950s. She appeared in several movies and radio programs. She played Hazel Moon in Lost in a Harem (1944). She also played Grace Diamond in Champion (1949).

Maxwell was born in Clarinda, Iowa. She died from a heart attack at age 50.

References

1921 births
1972 births
Actors from Iowa
American movie actors
American radio actors
American television actors
Cardiovascular disease deaths in Los Angeles County, California
Deaths from myocardial infarction
Silver birch

The silver birch (Betula pendula), also known as the warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a deciduous tree in the family Betulaceae. It grows in Europe, parts of Asia and North America.

The silver birch is a medium-sized  tree, which has triangle-shaped leaves. In autumn the leaves turn yellow and fall. Trunk is shining white.  The twigs are slender, and in an old tree the they often hang downwards.  The flowers are grouped in an inflorescence called a catkin. The wind spreads the birch seed. The trees are monoecious, with both male and female catkins on the same tree.

References

Other websites
 Ecology of birch species
 European White Birch 
 Betula pendula (silver birch)  Kew Gardens

Betulaceae
Trees
Eisaku Satō

Eisaku Satō (27 March 1901 – 3 June 1975) was a Japanese politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Japan. He was first elected in December 1964. He was the first Prime Minister to have been born in the 20th century. Satō shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Seán MacBride in 1974. He received the award for representing the Japanese people's will for peace, and for signing the nuclear weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1970.

Satō was born in Tabuse in Yamaguchi Prefecture. He suffered a stroke on May 23, 1975 and fell into a deep coma. He died on 3 June 1975 a Tokyo hospital.

References

Other websites 

1901 births
1975 deaths
Prime Ministers of Japan
Nobel Peace Prize winners
People from Yamaguchi Prefecture
Japanese Nobel Prize winners
University of Tokyo alumni
Emperor Toba

was the 74th emperor of Japan. Toba's reign spanned the years from 1107 through 1123. He became Emperor when he was 5 years old. He abdicated the throne when he was 20 years old. At this time the Emperors of Japan only filled a background role in politics. The elaborate court system of Insei was coming to an end as Japan had already turned to feudalism and Militarism.

References 

Toba
Eddie Shore

Edward William Shore (November 23, 1902 – March 16, 1985), also known as Eddie Shore, was a Canadian professional hockey player known for playing defense for the Boston Bruins. He was born in Fort Qu'Appelle, Canada.

Shore played for the Melville Millionaires, Regina Capitals, Edmonton Eskimos, New York Americans, Boston Bruins, Springfeild Indians and the Buffalo Bisons.

1902 births
1985 deaths
Boston Bruins players
Canadian ice hockey players
Hart Memorial Trophy winners
Ice hockey defencemen
Armando Cossutta

Armando Cossutta (2 September 1926 – 14 December 2015) was an Italian communist politician. After World War II, he became one of the leading members of the party, representing the most pro-Soviet Union tendency. Cossutta was president of the Party of Italian Communists, and Member of Parliament. He also served as Member of the European Parliament during the 5th European term (1999-2004). In 1999, Cossutta appeared on a list of alleged Italian KGB spies. Cossutta has not been convicted.

Cossutta died on 14 December 2015 in Rome, Italy from bronchopneumonia, aged 89.

References

1926 births
2015 deaths
Communist politicians
Deaths from bronchopneumonia
Disease-related deaths in Italy
Former MEPs
MEPs for Italy
People from Milan
Politicians from Lombardy
Evelyn S. Lieberman

Evelyn May Simonowitz Lieberman (July 9, 1944 – December 12, 2015) was an American public affairs professional. During the Bill Clinton administration, she became the first woman to serve as White House Deputy Chief of Staff serving for a few months in 1996. 

She was the first United States Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. From 2002 until her death, Lieberman worked for the Smithsonian Institution, most recently as Senior Advisor and Assistant to the Secretary for external relations.

Lieberman died of pancreatic cancer in Washington, D.C., aged 71.

References

Other websites
 Statement by the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden On the Passing of Evelyn Lieberman 

1944 births
2015 deaths
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Cancer deaths in Washington, D.C.
Civil servants
Politicians from Brooklyn
US Democratic Party politicians
Jansila Majeed

Jansila Majeed is an activist in the Puttalam District of Sri Lanka. In 2010, she received an International Women of Courage Award from the U.S. Department of State.

Life 

Majeed was an internally displaced person (IDP) for 20 years.  She works for the rights of Muslim and Tamil IDPs in Sri Lanka.

Work 

Majeed started her work in 1992 with a group of five people.  She is the Managing Trustee of the Community Trust Fund in Puttalam.  The group is an NGO that works for minority rights, women's rights, and peace.  It also works with young people, and teaches about the dangers of mines in the north and east.

Majeed spoke at the beginning of the UNDP 2010 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report on Gender.  In her report, she said that Sri Lanka must change its ideas about women's rights, women in politics, legal rights for women and working women.

References

Other websites 

 2010 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr 
Secretary's International Women of Courage Award (U.S. Department of State)

20th-century births
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Activists
Sri Lankan people
Women who received the International Women of Courage Award
Marie Claude Naddaf

Marie Claude Naddaf (Arabic: ماري كلود نداف ) is an activist and a nun from Syria.  In 2010, she received an International Women of Courage Award.

Work 

In 1994, Naddaf became Mother Superior at the Good Shepherd Convent in Damascus.  In 1996, she opened the "Oasis Shelter" with her convent. The Oasis Shelter was the first organization for victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in Syria.  She also started the first telephone hotline in Syria.  It was part of an emergency shelter for women.

Naddaf worked for the right of women in police custody in Syria to go to shelter, if they are victims of trafficking. She also started a nursery school and a vocational education program at the prison for women in Damascus.

Awards 

She received a 2010 International Women of Courage award.

References

Other websites 

 2010 International Women of Courage Awards, U.S. State Department photostream on Flickr 
Secretary's International Women of Courage Award (U.S. Department of State)

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Activists
Nuns
Syrian Christians
Women who received the International Women of Courage Award