cahya/wikipedia-simple-en huggingface dataset:
Luis Miguel

Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (April 19, 1970) is a Mexican singer. He is widely known only by the name Luis Miguel. He is often called "El Sol de México" (The Sun of Mexico) or simply "El Sol" (The Sun). 

Luis Miguel has won five Grammys and four Latin Grammys among other numerous awards. He is considered as one of the top male pop vocalists in the world. At the age of fifteen, Luis Miguel received his first Grammy for his duet "Me Gustas Tal Como Eres" (I Like You Just The Way You Are) with Sheena Easton. Luis Miguel is the only Latin artist to have two Spanish-language albums (Romance and Segundo Romance) go platinum in the USA. His album Luis Miguel got gold and platinum certifications in four countries, including the United States, within just three days of its release.

Discography

1982:  Un Sol
1982:  Directo Al Corazón
1983:  Decídete
1984:  Ya Nunca Más
1984:  Palabra De Honor
1984:  Meu Sonho Perdido
1985:  Fiebre de amor
1986:  Canta in italiano
1986:  Tambien es Rock
1987:  Soy Como Quiero Ser
1988:  Busca Una Mujer
1990:  20 Años
1991:  Romance
1992:  América & En Vivo
1993:  Aries
1994:  Segundo Romance
1995:  El Concierto
1996:  Nada Es Igual
1997:  Romances
1998:  Todos Los Romances
1999:  Amarte Es Un Placer
2000:  Vivo
2001:  Mis Romances
2002:  Mis Boleros Favoritos
2003:  33
2004:  México En La Piel
2005:  Mexico En La Piel: Edición Diamante
2005:  Grandes Éxitos
2006:  Navidades
2008:  Cómplices*2009:  Cómplices: Edición Especial
2009:  No Culpes a La Noche
2010:  Luis Miguel
2017:  ¡México Por Siempre!

Videography

1989:  Un Año De Conciertos
1991:  Luis Miguel: 20 Años
1992:  Romance: En Vivo
1995:  El Concierto
1996:  Los Videos
2000:  Vivo
2001:  Romances (DVD Audio)
2002:  Mis Boleros Favoritos
2005:  Mexico En La Piel: Edición Diamante
2005:  Grandes Exitos Videos

Billboard No. 1 Hot Latin Tracks
 1987: "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" (Soy Como Quiero Ser)
 1988: "Fría Como el Viento" (Busca Una Mujer)
 1989: "La Incondiconal" (Busca Una Mujer)
 1990: "Tengo Todo Excepto a Tí" (20 Años)
 1990: "Entrégate" (20 Años)
 1991: "Inolvidable" (Romance)
 1992: "No Sé Tú" (Romance)
 1993: "Ayer" (Aries)
 1993: "Hasta Que Me Olvides" (Aries)
 1994: "El Día Que Me Quieras" (Segundo Romance)
 1994: "La Media Vuelta" (Segundo Romance)
 1995: "Si Nos Dejan" (El Concierto)
 1997: "Por Debajo De La Mesa" (Romances)
 1997: "El Reloj" (Romances)
 1999: "O Tú, O Ninguna" (Amarte Es Un Placer)
 2002: "Cómo Duele" (Mis Romances)
 2003: "Te Necesito" (33)

References

1970 births
Grammy Award winners
Latin singers
Living people
Mexican movie actors
Mexican singers
People from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Latin Grammy Award winners
Maná

Maná is a Mexican rock band from Guadalajara, Jalisco.  Their career has been more than three decades. The group has earned four Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America, five Premios Juventud awards, nine Billboard Latin Music Awards and 13 Premios Lo Nuestro awards.

The band formed in 1986 and released its first album, Falta Amor, in 1990.  In 1992, the group released ¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños?, which sold more than 3 million copies worldwide. It was the best selling Spanish-language rock album of all time.  

The band's sound comes from the pop rock, Latin pop, calypso, and reggae music genres. They first received international commercial success in Australia and Spain. They have since gained popularity in the US, Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Their worldwide sales stand at more than 25 million albums as of 2011.

Members
Official members:
 Fher Olvera—lead vocals, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar
 Alex González—drums, backup vocals
 Juan Calleros — bass guitar
 Sergio Vallín — electric guitar

Live band members:
 Juan Carlos Toribio — keyboards, piano, flute. From 1994–present.
 Fernando "Psycho" Vallin — rhythm guitar, 2nd bass guitar, backup vocals. From 1997–present.
 Luis Conte - percussion MTV Unplugged 1999.
 Hector Quintana — percussion, backup vocals. From 2006–present
Aaron Alberto Barrios - Guitarra/Coros invitado al grupo (2012)

Former members:
 Abraham Calleros — drums. From 1978–1985.
 Gustavo Orozco — electric guitar. From 1978–1985.
 Ulises Calleros — electric guitar. From 1978–1991.
 César "Vampiro" López — electric guitar. From 1991–1994.
 Ivan Gonzalez — keyboards. From 1991–1994.
 Sheila Rios — backup vocals. From 1992–2003.

Discography

Sombrero Verde
(before Maná)
 1981: Sombrero Verde
 1983: A Tiempo de Rock

Maná
 1987: Maná
 1990: Falta Amor
 1992: ¿Dónde Jugarán los Niños?
 1994: Maná en Vivo
 1995: Cuando los Ángeles Lloran
 1997: Sueños Líquidos
 1999: “Maná MTV Unplugged”
 2002: Revolución de Amor
 2006: Amar es Combatir
 2008: Arde el Cielo
 2011: Drama y Luz

Tours
 1993-1995: ¿Dónde Jugarán Los Niños? Tour
 1998: Liquido Tour
 1999: Unplugged U.S. Tour
 2002–2003: Revolución de Amor Tour
 2007–2008: Amar es Combatir Tour
 2011 - 2012: Drama y Luz World Tour

References

Grammy Award winners
Rock bands
Mexican musical groups
People from Guadalajara
Latin Grammy Award winners
Musical groups established in 1978
1978 establishments in North America
1970s establishments in Mexico
RBD

RBD was a two-time Latin-Grammy nominated Mexican pop group.  They gained popularity from Televisa's teen drama series Rebelde. RBD sold over 17 million digital downloads and over 57 million albums worldwide in four years. The band was officially formed on October 4, 2004.  They announced their separation on August 15, 2008.

Members

Discography

Spanish albums
2004: Rebelde
2005: Nuestro Amor
2006: Celestial
2007: Empezar Desde Cero
2009: Para Olvidarte De Mí

Bilingual albums
2005: Rebelde
2006: Nosso Amor Rebelde2006: Celestial
2006: Rebels

Live albums
2005: Tour Generación RBD En Vivo
2006: Live in Hollywood
2007: Hecho En España

Compilation albums
2008: RBD: Greatest Hits (Only Mexico)
2008: Hits Em Português (Only Brazil)
2008: Greatest Hits RBD (Only E.U.A)

References

2000s Mexican music groups
Musical groups established in 2004
2000s establishments in Mexico
Musical groups disestablished in 2009
2000s disestablishments in Mexico
Thalía

Ariadna Thalía Sodi Miranda (born August 26, 1971), known as Thalía, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. She has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. She has sung in Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Tagalog.

Thalia has been nominated for various Latin Grammy, Latin Billboard and many other awards.

She was also in very successful soap operas like Marimar and María la del Barrio. She is also an occasional author, businesswoman and fashion designer.

Discography

Studio albums
Thalía (1990)
Mundo de Cristal (1991)
Love (1992)
En éxtasis (1995)
Amor a la Mexicana (1997)
Arrasando (2000)
Thalía (2002)
Thalía (English) (2003)
El Sexto Sentido (2005)
Lunada (2008)
Habítame Siempre (2012)
Viva Kids Vol. 1 (2014)
Amore mio (2014)
Latina (2016)
Valiente (2018)
Viva Kids Vol. 2 (2020)
desAMORfosis (2021)

Compilation albums
Nandito Ako (1997)
Thalía con banda: Grandes éxitos (2001)
Hits Remixed (2003)
Greatest Hits (2004)

Live albums
Primera Fila (2009)

Music groups
Din Din (1981–83) – (4 albums)
Timbiriche (1986–89) – (3 albums)

Tours
High Voltage Tour (2004)

Filmography

Soap operas 
Pobre Señorita Limantour (1987) – Diana
Quinceañera (1987–88) – Beatriz Villanueva
Luz y Sombra (1989) – Alma Suárez
María Mercedes (1992–93) – María Mercedes Muñoz Del Olmo
Marimar (1994) – Marimar Perez / Bella Aldama
María la del barrio (1995–96) – María Hernández De la Vega
Rosalinda (1999) – Rosalinda Perez Romero / Paloma Dorantes

Theater 
Vaselina (1984) – Sandy

Films 
La Guerra de los Pasteles (1979)
Anastasia (1997) – (soundtrack performer, Spanish version)
Mambo Café (1999) – Nydia

TV Shows 
VIP de Noche (1991–92)
Las Aventuras de Eebee y Thalia (2009–10)

Radio Show 
Conexión Thalía Radio Show (2007–11)

Written works 
Thalía: ¡Belleza! Lessons in Lipgloss and Happiness (2007)
Thalía: ¡Radiante! Your Guide to a Fit and Fabulous Pregnancy (2009)
Thalía: Growing stronger (2011)

References

1971 births
Living people
Mexican singer-songwriters
Mexican television actors
Actors from New York City
Singers from New York City
Actors from Mexico City
Los Temerarios

Los Temerarios are a Mexican musicgroup.  They were started in 1978 by brothers Adolfo Angel and Gustavo Angel and their cousin Fernando Angel. During their early years, they were known as Conjunto La Brisa.

Los Temerarios have recorded more than 20 albums. They have gotten many awards and award nominations. In 1991, they earned 5 Billboard awards nominations in the Latin categories.

Discography
 1983 - Los 14 Grandes exitos De Los Temerarios.
 1984 - Los Temerarios En La Altura
 1985 - Cumbias Y Nortenas
 1986 - Pero No
 1988 - Los Temerarios
 1989 - Incontenible
 1990 - Internacionales y Romanticos, Revelacion Romantica de los noventas.
 1992 - Seduccion Romantica De Los Noventas,  Mi Vida Eres Tu
 1994 - Tu Ultima Cancion, Los Temerarios En Concierto Volumen Uno
 1995 - Camino del Amor, Nuestras Canciones,Te Quiero
 1997 - Nuestras Canciones Volumen 2, Los Temerarios En Concierto Volumen Dos
 1998 - Como Te Recuerdo
 2000 - En La Madrugada se Fue
 2002 - Una Lágrima No Basta
 2004 - Veintisiete
 2005 - Sueño de Amor
 2007 - Recuerdos del Alma
 2008 - Si Tú Te Vas
 2009 - Evolucion de Amor

Mexican musical groups
People from Zacatecas
Latin Grammy Award winners
Musical groups established in 1978
1978 establishments in North America
1970s establishments in Mexico
Great Lake Swimmers

Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian folk rock and Indie band originally from Wainfleet, Ontario and now based in Toronto, Ontario. They released their self-titled debut album on January 28, 2003 and it was re-released on April 5, 2005. Great Lake Swimmers has five members in the band; the current band members are Tony Dekker, Erik Arnesen, Greg Millson, Miranda Mulholland and Bret Higgins. The band was named Favourite Folk/Roots Artist/Group in 2010 by the Canadian Indie Awards.

Discography

Albums
Great Lake Swimmers (2003)
Bodies and Minds (2005)
Ongiara (2007)
Lost Channels (2009)
New Wild Everywhere (2012)

EPs
Hands in Dirty Ground (2006)
Live at the Church of the Redeemer (2007)
The Legion Sessions (2009)

References

Other websites 
Official website

2000s music groups
Musical groups established in 2003
2010s music groups
Canadian musical groups
Indie bands
Folk music groups
Bottle tree

The bottle tree is a plant that has adapted to hot climates, such as the desert. They are called bottle trees because the shape of their trunk is a bottle shape. There are several different species including:

 Adansonia species, the baobabs;
 Adansonia gregorii (the boab)
 Pachypodium lealii, (Apocynaceae), the bottle tree of Namibia and Angola;
 The genus Moringa, (Moringaceae), of Madagascar;
 Brachychiton species, (Malvaceae), of Australia;
 Ceiba species, the floss silk tree or palo borracho of South America.

The name bottle tree is also used to describe an artificial tree made of glass bottles, usually of colored glass.  Associated with Hoodoo and primarily found in the Southern United States.

Trees
Principality of Polotsk

The Principality of Polotsk, also known as the Kingdom of Polotsk or the Duchy of Polotsk was a medieval principality of the Early East Slavs.  It was considered one of the principalities in the Kievan Rus'.  It had a wide degree of power to make its own rules. It was started around the ancient town of Polotsk. It is not clear the date it started.  Polotsk is mentioned in the mid 9th century as part of Novgorod. In the second half of 10th century Polotsk was ruled by its own dynasty. The first ruler that is mentioned in the history was a semi-legendary Rogvolod (? - 978). Rogvolod is better known as the father of Rogneda. The Principality was in several succession crises of the 11-12th centuries and a war with the Land of Novgorod. By the 13th century it was added into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At the time it was largest the principality stretched over large parts of today's northern and central Belarus and a smaller part of today's southeastern Latvia.

History of Belarus
9th-century establishments in Europe
1397 disestablishments
14th-century disestablishments in Europe
Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th
–13th century until 1569. In 1569 it became a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791. It was started by the Lithuanians. The duchy grew to include large parts of the former Kievan Rus' and other Slavic lands. It  covered the land of present-day Belarus,  Latvia, Lithuania  and parts of Estonia, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. At its biggest in the 15th century, it was the largest state in Europe. There was great diversity in languages, religion, and cultural heritage.

Bringing together of the Lithuanian lands began in the late 12th century. Mindaugas, the first ruler of the Grand Duchy, was crowned as Catholic King of Lithuania in 1253. The pagan state was targeted in the religious crusade by the Teutonic Knights and the Livonian Order. When Gediminas began to rule, he allowed people to have different religions. This grew under his son Algirdas. In 1386 Jogaila changed the religion to Catholicism.  He also made a dynastic union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.

Vytautas the Great grew the land of the Grand Duchy.  He also led the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. After Vytautas's death, Lithuania's relationship with the Kingdom of Poland was not good. The Union of Lublin of 1569 created a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this federation, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had a separate government, laws, army, and treasury.  They were invaded by Russia in 1792.  The land was divided out among the Russian Empire, Prussia and Austria in 1795.

References

Lithuania, Grand Duchy
Lithuania, Grand Duchy
History of Belarus
History of Lithuania
History of Poland
History of Ukraine
Kievan Rus'

Kievan Rus' (also known as Kyivan Rus) was a medieval state in Europe.  It was from the late 9th to the mid 13th century. It broke apart under the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240.

The state was called "land of the Rus' " . The name "Kievan Rus' " was used in the 19th century to mean the time when the center was in Kyiv.

The early part of the state is sometimes known as the "Rus Khaganate".  The history of Rus' proper begins in 882.  This is when the capital was moved from Novgorod to Kyiv. This was after Varangians (Vikings), who were called Rus, freed this slavic city from the Khazars' tribute.
The state reached its most powerful in the mid 11th century.  Its lands went south to the Black Sea, east to the Volga, and west to the Kingdom of Poland and to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Vladimir the Great (980–1015) and his son Yaroslav I the Wise (1019–1054) ruled in the "Golden Age" of Kyiv. With the end of the Viking age, the state lost power in the late 11th and during the 12th century.  The broke apart into various rival regional powers.

The various East Slavic principalities were brought together in the Russian Empire in the 18th century.  The modern East Slavic states of  Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia all get their identity from the early medieval state.

References

Former countries in Europe
History of Belarus
History of Russia
History of Ukraine
882 establishments
The Australian Ballet

The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was started in 1962 by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd. and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. The first artistic director was Dame Peggy van Praagh, the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and director. Today, it is recognised as one of the world's major international ballet companies.

Ballet companies
Companies of Australia
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union (USSR). In 1922, it was one of the four founding members of the Soviet Union.  The other three were the Ukrainian SSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). Byelorussia was one of several Soviet republics occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II. The BSSR, along with the Ukrainian SSR and the Soviet Union, were founding members of the United Nations Organization (UN) in 1945. The end of the Soviet Republic occurred in 1991.  The nation became an independent republic. 

The country renamed itself as the Republic of Belarus. In earlier time periods, Western Europeans called Byelorussian territory as White Russia.  During its early years in the USSR, the republic was sometimes known as the White Russian Soviet Socialist Republic.

References

1920 establishments in the Soviet Union
1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
History of Belarus
Republics of the Soviet Union
States and territories disestablished in the 1990s
Republics of the Soviet Union

The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were administrative units that report directly to the Government of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was a highly centralized state.

References
Artillery (band)

Artillery is a thrash metal band from Denmark. They started in 1982 and have split up and reformed twice.

Discography
So far, as of 2012, Artillery has released six studio albums, which include:
Fear of Tomorrow (1985)
Terror Squad (1987)
By Inheritance (1990)
B.A.C.K. (1999)
When Death Comes (2009)
My Blood (2011)

1980s music groups
1990s music groups
2000s music groups
2010s music groups
Danish heavy metal bands
Thrash metal bands
Voivod

Voivod is a heavy metal band from Canada. Their musical style has been changing since their beginnings. They started out as a speed metal band, but eventually began adding a mix of progressive metal and thrash metal to create their own unique metal style.

Today, Voivod have released eleven studio albums as well as one EP, one live album, two compilations, seven demos and one DVD featuring a live concert. They rose to popularity with their fifth studio album Nothingface (1989), which was the first Voivod album to enter the Billboard 200 charts, peaking at number 114, and is their most successful one yet. The last studio album Voivod released is "Target Earth", from 2013. They are working on a new album.

Voivod is also the band bassist Jason Newsted joined after he left Metallica in 2001.

Discography
War and Pain (1984)
Rrröööaaarrr (1986)
Killing Technology (1987)
Dimension Hatröss (1988)
Nothingface (1989)
Angel Rat (1991)
The Outer Limits (1993)
Negatron (1995)
Phobos (1997)
Voivod (2003)
Katorz (2006)
Infini (2009)
Target Earth (2013)
 The Wake (2018)
 Synchro Anarchy (2022)

References

1980s music groups
1990s music groups
2000s music groups
2010s music groups
Canadian heavy metal bands
Canadian thrash metal bands
Musical groups established in 1982
1982 establishments in Canada
Soviet invasion of Poland

The 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland was a Soviet military operation that started without a formal declaration of war on 17 September, 1939. It was during the early stages of World War II. After Nazi Germany had invaded Poland from the west on September 1. The Soviet Union invaded from the east and ended on 6 October 1939. Germany and the Soviet Union divided the whole of the Second Polish Republic.

In early 1939, the Soviet Union asked the United Kingdom, France, Poland, and Romania to make an alliance against Nazi Germany. The Soviet Union wanted Poland and Romania to let Soviet troops go through their territory, but Poland and Romania refused. The Soviet Union made a secret deal with Nazi Germany on 23 August. They planned to divide Northern and Eastern Europe into German and Soviet lands.

One week later, German forces invaded Poland from the north, south, and west. Polish forces then withdrew to the southeast to wait for French and British support. The Soviet Red Army invaded the eastern Polish region of Kresy on 17 September. The Soviet government used the excuse that it was acting to protect the Ukrainians and Belarusians, who lived in the eastern part of Poland.

The Soviet government took pver the area. In November 1939, it made the 13.5 million formerly-Polish citizens become Soviet citizens. The Soviets sent hundreds of thousands of people from the region to Siberia and other remote parts of the Soviet Union.

Soviet forces stayed in eastern Poland until the summer of 1941, when the German Army invaded Operation Barbarossa. The area was under Nazi occupation until the Red Army reconquered it in the summer of 1944. An agreement at the Yalta Conference let the Soviet Union keep almost all of what it had occupied in the Second Polish Republic.  The People's Republic of Poland got the southern half of East Prussia and lands east of the Oder-Neisse Line. The Soviet Union put those areas into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

References

1939 in Europe
20th century in Poland
History of Belarus
Invasions of World War II
1930s in the Soviet Union
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR or Soviet Ukraine was in the southwestern part of the Soviet Union. It had the second largest population of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union. This lasted from 1922 to 1991.

The Ukrainian SSR was a founding member of the United Nations. It did not really have much power because it was tightly controlled by central all-Soviet Union authorities. When the Soviet Union broke apart, the Ukrainian SSR became Ukraine.

During its 72-year history, the republic's borders changed many times. The eastern city of Kharkiv was the republic's first capital. However, in 1934, it was moved to the city of Kyiv. Kyiv is still the capital of Ukraine. Among other largest cities there were Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk (named Stalino before 1961), Lviv, Zaporizhia.

History

Ukrainian SSR was one of 4 first republics of USSR.
During the WWII all of its territory was occupied. There was large partisan movements. 
Kyiv and Odessa became hero cities.

References

20th century in Ukraine
1919 establishments
1991 disestablishments in the Soviet Union
Republics of the Soviet Union
Former republics
1910s establishments in the Soviet Union
Cimmerians

The Cimmerians or Kimmerians were ancient horse-riding nomads of Indo-European origin.

According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Cimmerians lived in the north of the Caucasus and the Black Sea during the 8th and 7th centuries BC.  They lived in what is now Ukraine and Russia. Others have said there is no evidence of Cimmerians in the southern parts of Russia.

Where the Cimmerians come from is unclear. Most think they belong to either Iranian or Thracian speaking groups. A recent DNA analysis (Oct. 2018) of three Cimmerians indicate "the appearance of East Asian haplogroups in the steppe populations might be associated with the Iron Age nomads, starting with the Cimmerians." The authors found it "noteworthy that the oldest of the Cimmerians studied here (cim357) carried almost equal proportions of Asian and West Eurasian components, resembling the Pazyryks, Aldy-Bel, and Iron Age individuals from Russia and Kazakhstan. The second oldest Cimmerian (cim358) was also the only one with both uniparental markers pointing toward East Asia. The Q1* Y chromosome sublineage of Q-M242 is widespread among Asians and Native Americans and is thought to have originated in the Altai Mountains. It has previously been identified in numerous ancient samples from Siberia, the Americas, and in representatives of the Siberian Bronze Age and nomadic populations. This is the first indication that Cimmerians did not originate in the PCS region but were nomads tracing their origin to the Far East." A new study in July 2019 revealed that 2 other Cimmerians were of haplogroup R1a-Z645 and R1a2c-B111.

References

Nomadic people
Indo-European
History of Europe
Varangians

The Varangians or Varyags was the name given by Greeks and East Slavs to Vikings. Between the 9th and the 11th centuries they ruled the medieval state of Rus'. They were the personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors, and formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard.

A group of Varangians known as the Rus' settled in Novgorod in 864, under the leadership of Rurik. Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882.  He made the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled by Ruriks descendants. The name of the Rus' is the origin of the name Russia.

Varangians did trade, piracy and mercenary activities. They move around using the river systems and portages of Gardariki.  The Gardariki was the areas north of the Black Sea. They had trade routes that connected Dark Age Europe with rich Arab Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire. Wanting the riches of Constantinople, Rus' Varangians started a number of Rus'-Byzantine Wars. Most of them, both in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted from paganism into Orthodox Christianity. The Varangians were slowly taken over by East Slavs by the late 11th century.

References

Middle Ages
Germanic tribes
Nordic people
Yaroslav the Wise

Yaroslav I, Grand Prince of Rus', known as Yaroslav the Wise (c. 978 – February 20, 1054) was Grand Prince of Novgorod and Kiev.  He brought together the two principalities for a time under his rule.

A son of the Varangian (Viking) Grand Prince Vladimir the Great, he was vice-regent of Novgorod at the time of his father’s death in 1015. His oldest surviving brother, Svyatopolk the Accursed, killed three of his other brothers and took power in Kiev. Yaroslav, with the support of the Novgorodians and the help of Varangian mercenaries, defeated Svyatopolk.  He became the Grand Prince of Kiev in 1019. Yaroslav started to write down the legal customs. This served as the basis for a law code called the Russkaya Pravda ("Russian Justice"). During his long reign, Rus' reached the height of its cultural flowering and military power.

References

History of Ukraine
978 births
1054 deaths
Princes and princesses
Russian royalty
Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic or Litbel was a Soviet socialist republic.  It was in the territories of modern Belarus and eastern Lithuania.  It existed for about seven months during 1919. It was formed after the merger of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia. The republic was went away after the Polish Army took over its claimed territory of eastern Lithuania during the Polish–Soviet War.

References

Former countries in Europe
History of Belarus
History of Lithuania
1919 establishments in Europe
1919 disestablishments
Belarusian People's Republic

The Belarusian People's Republic, historically called the White Ruthenian Democratic Republic, was a self-declared independent Belarusian state.  They said they were independent in 1918. It is also called the Belarusian Democratic Republic or the Belarusian National Republic.  This is to be separate from the Communist People's Republics. The BNR was recognized by several Central Powers and former Russian countries.  It was not recognized by most of the international community.  They country ended when Belarus went under Soviet control.  The Belorussian SSR was founded in 1919.

The leaders of the government went into exile.  They still say the Belarusian People's Republic is a country.

Presidents 
Chairmans of the Council of BNR:
 Jan Sierada (1918–1919)
 Piotra Krečeŭski (1919–1928)
 Vasil Zacharka (1928–1943)
 Mikoła Abramčyk (1944–1970)
 Vincent Žuk-Hryškievič (1970–1982)
 Jazep Sažyč (1982–1997)
 Ivonka Survilla (1997–present)

History of Belarus
Governments in exile
Former countries in Europe
1918 establishments
1919 disestablishments
William Haines (Australian politician)

William Clark Haines (1810–3 February 1866) was the first Premier of Victoria. He served two terms as premier, the first from 30 November 1855 to 25 August 1856, and a second term from 29 April 1857 to 10 March 1858.

Born in London, Haines attended Charterhouse school, and then Cambridge University where he studied surgery. He moved to Victoria in 1842, and started farming around Geelong. After selling the farms in the 1850's he became a magistrate and was appointed to Victoria's Legislative Council. He helped to write the Victorian Constitution. In December 1854 he became the Colonial Secretary, and assisted the Governor of Victoria, Sir Charles Hotham. 

The British government passed the Victorian Constitution Act in 1855. Hotham was convinced to hand his power over as soon as possible. Haines and three other council members were made government ministers with the job of organizing the change to self-government. Haines was appointed by Hotham to be the Chief Secretary of Victoria and act as Premier until the elections could be orgaized. He resigned when several of the ministers wanted the elections by secret ballot. He thought this would increase corruption and bribery.  He was reappointed when the Council decided that it, not the ministers should make the decision. He was the Chief Secretary until the first election in November 1856. After the election, as a member of the new Legislative Assembly, Haines became Premier until his government was defeated in 1857 by a group led by Sir John O'Shanassy.  The O'Shanassy government was soon defeated and Haines again became Premier. In 1858 he was defeated during arguments about how the electorates should be divided. 

Haines traveled to the USA and Europe. On his return to Victoria in October 1860, he was again elected to the parliament, and became Treasurer in O'Shanassey's government.  After losing his seat in 1863, he was appointed to the Legislative Council.

References

1810 births
1866 deaths
Premiers of Victoria
Politicians from London
People from Geelong
Polish–Soviet War

The Polish–Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921) was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine against the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic.  It was for control of what is present day Ukraine and parts of present-day Belarus.

A formal peace treaty, the Peace of Riga, was signed on 18 March 1921.  It divided the land between Poland and Soviet Russia. Much of the land given to Poland became part of the Soviet Union after World War II.

References

1919 in Europe
1920 in Europe
1921 in Europe
20th century in Poland
1920s in Ukraine
Russian Revolution
Wars involving Russia
West Belarus

West Belarus is the name used to mean to the land of modern Belarus which belonged to the Second Polish Republic between 1919 and 1939.

The land is Hrodna and Brest voblasts.  It is also parts of today's Minsk and Vitsebsk oblasts. The historical population of West Belarus included Belarusians, Poles, Lithuanians, Jews, and Russians.

Geography of Belarus
History of Belarus
Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas is a major Eastern European river.  It starts in Belarus and flows through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches.  It also very briefly forms part of the border between Lithuania and Belarus.  It is the largest river in Lithuania and the 3rd largest in Belarus. People are able to travel on it for most of its 900-kilometer length. Its depth varies from one meter to five meters.

The Neman tributaries 
The Neman  tributaries are:
the rivers Neris (Viliya), the Shchara, and the Šešupė,  Svisloch, Nevėžis River, Dubysa, Jūra, Minija, Western Berezina, Zelvyanka, Molchad, Roś, Servech, Losha, Gorodnichanka and others.

Biological communities

The following fish have been found in the Neman: perch, pike, zander, roach, tench, bream, rudd, ruffe, and bleak. Its tributaries also contain  stone loach, the three-spined stickleback, minnows, trout, sculpins,  gudgeon, dace and chub.

Atlantic salmon used to migrate upstream to spawn.  The dams on the river made there be less. The dam at Kaunas does not provide fish ladders.

Lithuania
Rivers of Belarus
Pripyat River

The Pripyat River or Prypiat River is a river in Eastern Europe.  It is about  long. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine again.  It drains into the Dnieper.

The Pripyat passes through the zone of alienation around the Chernobyl reactor, site of the nuclear disaster. It is polluted with radionuclides. The amount of caesium-137 in river sediments continues to go up.  The city of Prypiat, Ukraine (population 45,000) was completely evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster.

Tributaries
 Horyn River (659 km; 22,700 km2)
 Sluch (451 km; 13,800 km2)

Rivers of Ukraine
Rivers of Belarus
Dzyarzhynskaya Hara

Dzyarzhynskaya Hara is the highest point in Belarus. The hill is 345 meters (1,130 ft) above sea level.  It is west of Minsk, near Dzyarzhynsk, in the village Skirmuntava. The original name of the hill was Svyataya Hara. In 1958 the hill was renamed Hara Dzyarzhynskaya, after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the NKVD/KGB.

Geography of Belarus
Hills
SMK Jalan Damai

Jalan Damai Secondary School or simply SMK Jalan Damai, is a national secondary school located in Kampung Baru, Penang, Malaysia. It has about 2370 students and 120 teachers.

SMK Jalan Damai, Bukit Mertajam was founded on 5th January 1970. At that time, it was known as Sekolah Menengah Rendah, Bukit Mertajam (the Lower Secondary School, Bukit Mertajam) with a total of 717 students and 29 teachers (including a religious teacher and a principal Mr. A. Gopala Krishnan).During that time, the official buildings were still under construction, so the students had to share facilities and spaces with Sekolah Tinggi Bukit Mertajam (Bukit Mertajam High School) in the afternoon session. At the end of 1973, the new buildings (14 classrooms, 3 science labs, 2 domestic science rooms, industrial arts workshop and canteen) were completed on Jalan Damai, Bukit Mertajam. On the 7th of January 1974, 602 students moved to the new buildings.

In December 2020, SMK Jalan Damai has changed principle again. The new principle's name is Dr. Ooi Yek Hwa. He succeeded the job from Mr Lee Cheah Kuen. Mr Lee Cheak Kuen retired on December 2020. ..

Jalan Damai
Schools
1970 establishments in Asia
20th-century establishments in Malaysia
Governor of Victoria

The Governor of Victoria represents the head of state, Elizabeth II in the Australian state of Victoria. The Governor performs the same tasks at the state level as the Governor-General of Australia at the national level. The Governor's office and official residence is Government House in central Melbourne.

The current Governor of Victoria is a former judge, Linda Dessau.

Powers
In a Westminster system of parliamentary government, the Governor nearly always acts on the advice of the head of the elected government, the Premier of Victoria. However, the Governor retains the reserve powers of the Crown, and has the right to dismiss the Premier.

Related offices
There is also a Lieutenant-Governor and an Administrator. The Chief Justice of Victoria is the Administrator, unless he or she is the Lieutenant-Governor, in which case, the next most senior judge is the Administrator. The Lieutenant-Governor takes on the job of the Governor when that post is vacant, when the Governor is out of the State, or is unable to act. The Administrator takes on those duties if both the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor are unable to act.

Australian-born governors
The first Australian (and Victorian) born Governor of Victoria was Sir Henry Winneke (appointed 1974). Apart from Dr Davis McCaughey (b. Ireland), Professor David de Kretser (b.  Ceylon) and Alex Chernov (b. Lithuania), all governors since 1974 have been born in Australia.

List of governors of Victoria

Lieutenant-governors
Before 1855, the Governor-General of New South Wales appointed Lieutenant-Governors to Victoria.

Governors

References

Other  websites
 The Official Website of the Governor of Victoria 
 Governors of Victoria, Parliament of Victoria
Alex Chernov

Alex Chernov AC QC (born 12 May 1938) was the Governor of Victoria from 2011 through 2015.

Early life 
Chernov was born in Lithuania to Russian parents, and moved with his family to Salzburg, Austria where he started school. In 1949 his family moved to Australia and he completed his schooling at Melbourne High School. He studied commerce (business) and law at the University of Melbourne during the 1960s.

Career 
Chernov became a barrister in 1968, practising mostly in commercial law and equity. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1980. He was Chairman of the Victorian Bar 1985–86, Vice-President of the Australian Bar Association 1986–87 and President of the Law Council of Australia 1990–91. He was Vice President of LawAsia 1995–1997.

He wrote a book with Robert Brooking AO, Tenancy Law and Practice: Victoria (1972) and edited the second edition (1980).

In May 1997 he was appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and in October 1998 to the Court of Appeal. He retired in February 2008.

He was elected the 20th Chancellor of the University of Melbourne in January 2009, serving in that office until he resigned to become Governor of Victoria.

Vice-regal office 
On 21 February 2011, it was announced that he would become the 28th Governor of Victoria. He took officee on 8 April 2011.

Personal life 
Chernov is married with three children.

Honours 
Chernov was appointed Queen's Counsel in and for the State of Victoria in 1980.

Chernov was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours list for service to the law and education.

On 26 January 2011, Chernov was named a Companion of the Order of Australia.

References

Other websites 
University of Melbourne biography 

1938 births
Living people
Governors of Victoria (Australia)
Australian lawyers
Australian judges
People from Melbourne
Yellow-billed magpie

The yellow-billed magpie (Pica nuttalli) is a species of magpie, a type of songbird. It is a medium-sized member of the crow family with glossy black and white plumage and a yellow beak. The yellow-billed magpie lives only in California where it can be found in dry and warm oak savannah and shady valleys along the Central Valley. It is an omnivorous species: Insects and seeds are its main food, but it also takes carrion, small vertebrates and eggs. The breeding season of the yellow-billed magpie starts in April and it takes until the end of June for all chicks to fledge. The birds breed in loose colonies of 3−30 nests and they feed in flocks of several dozens.

John James Audubon was the first person to formally describe the yellow-billed magpie. He named it "Corvus nuttalli" to honor the naturalist Thomas Nuttall. Within the genus Pica, the species is closest to the North American black-billed magpie (P. hudsonia). Both species share a common ancestor that migrated from Kamtchatka to Alaska some time in the Pleistocene. Black-billed and yellow-billed magpie diverged as a result of the glaciation of the Rocky Mountains. The yellow-billed yagpie became isolated in the warm climate of California and adapted to it. The species' population was hit hard by the outbreak of the West Nile Virus after 1999. It is currently not considered as endangered, but the virus and the degradation of its habitat pose a serious threat to some populations.

References 

Birds of the United States
Corvids
Ealing Broadway station

Ealing Broadway railway station is a station of the London Underground and National Rail.

References

Ealing
Railway stations in London
1838 establishments in the United Kingdom
1830s establishments in England
1879 establishments in England
1920 establishments in the United Kingdom
1920s establishments in England
Hayes & Harlington railway station

Hayes & Harlington railway station is a railway station in London. 

Railway stations in London
Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 tube station

Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 is a station of the London Underground. It is at Heathrow Airport and serves terminals 2 and 3 of the airport. The station used to be called Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 until January 2016 when Heathrow Terminal 1 closed. Although the station has been renamed, the signage and announcements on the train and platform do not use the new name. It is on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly Line.

References 

Railway stations in London
Andrew Huxley

Sir Andrew Huxley OM FRS (Andrew Fielding Huxley, 22 November 1917 – 30 May 2012) was an English physiologist and biophysicist.

Huxley was born in Hampstead, London. He was the youngest son of writer and editor Leonard Huxley by his second wife Rosalind Bruce. He was the half-brother of writer Aldous Huxley and fellow biologist Julian Huxley, and grandson of biologist T H. Huxley. He studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Huxley won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Alan Hodgkin and John Eccles for his experimental and mathematical work with Alan Hodgkin on the basis of nerve action potentials. These are the electrical impulses that make nerve fibres work, and so the whole central nervous system.

Hodgkin and Huxley shared the prize that year with Sir John Eccles, who was cited for research on nerve synapses. Hodgkin and Huxley's findings led the pair to suggest the existence of ion channels, which were found only decades later.

Huxley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 17 March 1955. He was President of the Royal Society from 1980 to 1985, and Master of Trinity from  1984–1990. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 November 1974, and appointed to the Order of Merit on 11 November 1983.

Related pages 
Huxley family

References 

 Huxley A.F. 1980. Reflections on muscle. The Sherrington Lectures XIV. Liverpool.

1917 births
2012 deaths
British biophysicists
British Nobel Prize winners
Fellows of the Royal Society
Huxley family
Knights Bachelor
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine winners
Order of Merit
British physiologists
Scientists from London
Shōkyō

, also known as Shōkei, was a  of the Northern Court during the Nanboku-chō period  after Gentoku and before Kemmu.  This period started in April 1332 and ended in April 1334. The pretender in Kyoto was .  Kōgon's Southern Court rival in Yoshino during this time was .

Events of the Shōkyō Era
 1332 (Shōkyō 1):  The era name was changed to  in Genkō 2, the 10th month.
 1332 (Shōkyō 1, 3rd month): Go-Daigo was sent into exile on the Oki Province (the Oki Islands) in the Sea of Japan off the coast of the provinces of Izumo and Hōki.
 1333 (Shōkyō 2, 3rd month): Go-Daigo escaped from island exile.

Southern Court nengō 
 Genkō, 1331-1334

Related pages
 Muromachi period

References

Other websites
 National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Japanese eras
1330s establishments in Japan
1330s disestablishments in Japan
1332 establishments
1334 disestablishments
Satyendra Nath Bose

Professor Satyendra Nath Bose  laid down the basics for the Bose–Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose–Einstein condensate. The boson, a kind of particle of matter, is named in his honor. He was a member of the Royal Society and was awarded India's second highest civilian award (called the Padma Vibhushan) in 1954.

Bose’s works helped statistical mechanics, the electromagnetic properties of the ionosphere, the theories of X-ray crystallography, and unified field theory. This work also led Einstein to work with him.

Bose was interested in many subjects including physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, mineralogy, philosophy, arts, literature and music. He worked on many research and development projects for India and England. He mostly spent his life in London.

References 

1894 births
1974 deaths
Indian mathematicians
People from Kolkata
Theoretical physicists
Richard Dawson

Richard Dawson (20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was an English-American actor and television presenter. 

Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm in Gosport, Hampshire to an American father and English mother. Dawson married Diana Dors in 1959; they lived in California. The couple had two sons, entertainment manager Mark (born 1960) and Gary (born 1962). She left him and in 1967 the couple divorced. His second marriage lasted from 1991 until his death from esopheageal cancer in Los Angeles, California.

Dawson played a prisoner of war in Hogan's Heroes and hosted Family Feud.

References

Other websites 

American game show hosts
American movie actors
American television actors
American television presenters
British game show hosts
Cancer deaths in the United States
Deaths from esophageal cancer
English movie actors
English television actors
English television presenters
Television personalities from Hampshire
1932 births
2012 deaths
Chelsea Bridge

Chelsea Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames in west London. It connects Chelsea on the north bank to Battersea on the south bank.

History
There have been two Chelsea Bridges, on the site of what was an ancient crossing.

The first Chelsea Bridge was called Victoria Bridge. It opened in 1857.

The old bridge was replaced by the current one in 1937.

In June 2012, the bridge was highlighted on the route of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames.

Related pages 
 List of crossings of the River Thames

References

Other websites

1937 establishments in England
Battersea
Bridges and tunnels in London
Chelsea, London
Swindon

Swindon is a large town in the Borough of Swindon in the county of Wiltshire, South West England. It is the largest settlement in Wiltshire. About 160,000 people live there. It is 81 miles west of London, 40 miles west of Reading, Berkshire, and 40 miles east of Bristol.

References

Other websites 
Borough Council site
Strusta Lake

Strusta Lake is a lake of Vitebsk Province, Belarus. It is part of the Braslau Lakes national park.

Geography of Belarus
Lakes of Europe
Vitebsk Region

Vitebsk Region, Vitsebsk Voblast, or Vitebsk Oblast  is a region (voblast) of Belarus.  The administrative center is Vitebsk (Viciebsk). As of a 2009, the region had a population of 1,230,800.

Important cities within the region include Vitebsk, Orsha, and Navapolatsk.

The Vitsebsk Voblast is divided into 21 raions, 5 cities of oblast subordinance, 19 additional cities, 249 selsovets, and 26 urban-type settlements.

References

Regions of Belarus
Vitebsk

Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. It is the capital of the Vitebsk Oblast. In 2004 it had 342,381 people. This makes it the country's fourth largest city. It is served by Vitebsk Vostochny Airport and Vitebsk air base.

The main universities of Vitebsk are Vitebsk State Technological University, Vitebsk State Medical University and Vitebsk State University named in honor of Pyotr Masherov.

In 1919, Vitebsk was made a part of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia. Then it was transferred to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later to the short-lived Litbel. In 1924, it was returned to Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

History 
According to a legend, the city was founded by the Kyiv princess Olga in 974. The first mention of Vitebsk is dated 1021 AD, where it is said that Yaroslav the Wise handed over two cities ("Vosvyach and Vidbesk") to Prince Bryachislav Izyaslavych. 

In 1165-1167, due to feudal strife, the Vitebsk principality gradually began to lose importance and fell under the rule of the Smolensk princes.

References 

Cities in Belarus
Armed Forces of Belarus

The Armed Forces of Belarus are the Ground Forces and the Belarusian Air Force. All are under the command of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus. Lieutenant general Yurij Viktorovich Zhadobin is the Minister of Defense since December 4, 2009. Being a landlocked country, Belarus has no navy.

The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Belarus is the government group that has the duties of raising and maintaining the Armed Forces of Belarus. The formation of the ministry began in 1992.  This was a year after the end of the Soviet Union and Belarus becoming an independent state.

References

Belarusian Army: Capacity And Its Role In The Region 

Belarus
Belarus