cahya/wikipedia-simple-en huggingface dataset:
Ghassanids

Ghassanids, are an Arab clan who came to the Levant from Yemen before Islam. Ghassanids were Christians. Some of them remain  Christians until modern days especially in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. The Ghassanids were a puppet of the Byzantine Empire during the Byzantine-Sassanid wars during the war they fought against the Lakhmids. The Ghassanids were annexed by the Muslim Caliphate in the mid 600s AD.

Yemeni people
Boeing B-29 Superfortress

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a heavy bomber aircraft with four engines used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II, and by other countries' military after that. The name "Superfortress" came from its famous previous model, the B-17 Flying Fortress.

The B-29 Boeing Model 345 was one of the biggest aircraft to serve during World War II. It was one of the most advanced bombers of its time. It was the most used aircraft in the U.S. bombing against Japan in the final months of World War II, and B-29s carried the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The B-29 stayed in service for a long time after the war ended. By the time it was retired in the 1960s, some 3,900 planes had been built.

References 

Boeing aircraft
United States Air Force aircraft
World War II American aircraft
Sewing

Sewing is stitching cloth, leather, furs, or other materials, using a needle and thread. Sewing can be done on a sewing machine, or by hand.

"Plain" sewing is mostly done to make or mend clothing and household furnishings such as curtains, sheets, upholstery, and table linens. It is also used for sails, bellows, skin boats, banners and other items shaped out of flexible materials.

"Fancy" sewing is done to decorate materials, such as embroidery or quilting.

Sewing is an important part of shoemaking and bookbinding. Wounds are often sewn shut.

If a thread becomes loose in a sewn item, the stitches may unravel and require restitching to repair them. In repair sewing, pulling the threaded needle in and out of the fabric at the same lengths and places as the other remaining stitches can make a repair nearly invisible. Replacing a missing button on a garment follows the same procedure, although there are different possible ways to place the thread to sew on a button. While repairs are usually sewn by hand, most garments are created using a machine, which can range from simple to complex.

References 

Manufacturing
Needlework
Saipan

Saipan (IPA:  in English) is the largest island and capital of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a chain of 15 tropical islands which are part of the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean (15°10’51”N, 145°45’21”E) with a total area of 115.39 km² (44.55 sq mi). At the 2000 census, there were more than 62,392 people.

Saipan is at latitude of 15.25° north and longitudeof 145.75° east, about 200 km (120 mi) north of Guam. Saipan is about 20 km (12.5 mi) long and 9 km (5.5 mi) wide. It is a popular tourist destination in the Pacific.

Other websites
Saipan Municipality, United States Census Bureau 
Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs  Links to cultural and informational sites about the CNMI as well as to government sites
Saipan Tribune
KSPN Channel 2
Marianas Variety

References

Capital cities in Oceania
Northern Mariana Islands
Knitting

Knitting creates flexible fabric by looping thread or yarn together using two or more knitting needles or a knitting machine.

Types of knitting

Flat knitting 
Flat knitting, which is usually done on two straight needles, makes a length of cloth and is used to create things like blankets, scarves, and the backs, fronts, and sides of sweaters.

Circular knitting 

Circular knitting, which is done on circular needles, or needles that have points on both ends, produces a seamless tube and is used to create things like hats, socks, mittens, rings, and sleeves.

Cable knitting 

Patterns called cables are typically used on sweaters, particularly on fancy Aran sweaters from Ireland.
Different kinds of stitches create different patterns in knitting. For example, the stretchy ends of knitted sleeves are called ribbing.

Materials

Yarn 

Yarn for knitting can be made from any number of natural or synthetic (man made) fibers such as wool, cotton, silk, or acrylic. Some yarns are made from a blend of several kinds of fibers.

Yarns come in many thicknesses or weights from fine to thick: lace, fingering, sock, sport, double-knit (or DK), worsted, Aran, bulky, and super-bulky. Thinner yarns are generally used with smaller knitting needles, and thicker yarns are used with larger knitting needles.

Needles 
Knitting needles come in various shapes: straight, double-pointed, cable, and circular. They can be made from bamboo, aluminum, steel, or plastic.

Needlework

oc:Tricot
Yarn

Yarn is a long, continuous length of fibers that have been spun or felted together. Yarn is used to make cloth or different wearable accessories including shoes, hats, scarfs, etc. by knitting, crocheting or weaving. Yarn is sold in a shape called a skein to prevent the yarn from becoming tangled or knotted.

Yarn can be made from any number of natural or synthetic fibers such as wool, cotton, silk, or acrylic. Some yarns are made from a blend of several kinds of fibers.

Yarns come in many thicknesses or weights from fine to thick: lace, fingering, sock, sport, double-knit (or DK), worsted, aran, bulky, and super-bulky. Very fine yarn is called thread and is used in sewing and embroidery.

Yarn can also be used to crochet.

Fibers
Weaving
Takijirō Ōnishi

was a Vice-Admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, who came to known as the father of the kamikaze.

Other websites
 One of the commanders who be orderd the Kamikaze operation (in Japanese)

1891 births
1945 deaths
Admirals
Aviators
Japanese military people
Military personnel of World War II
People from Hyōgo Prefecture
Torpedo

The torpedo, is an explosive projectile weapon that moves by itself (using a propeller), launched above or below the water surface, that goes underwater toward a target, and made to explode when it hits a target or is near to it. Torpedoes may be launched from submarines, surface ships, helicopters, aircraft, land etc. Robert Whitehead invented the torpedo in 1866.

Other websites
 Swedish Bofors 'Torpedo 2000' promo video
 Modern Torpedoes And Countermeasures  
 US Navy torpedo data cut and pasted from a Navy Fact File 
 Early History of the Torpedo Torpedo History
 US Naval Undersea Museum Torpedo Display 
 US Naval Undersea Museum Torpedo Collection 

Weapons
Undercarriage

In aviation, the undercarriage or landing gear is the structure (usually wheels) that supports an aircraft and allows it to move across the surface of the Earth when it is not flying.

Other websites 

 Alphonse Pénaud website
 FAA Website

Aircraft
Battlefield 2

Battlefield 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by EA Games.

By playing online the players can gather points for the global ranking. If a player has enough points, he is promoted to the next higher rank and can unlock new weapons and awards.

The storyline takes place in Middle- and Eastern-Asia in the near future. In this fictional war, the US Marine Corps fights against China and the fictional "Middle Eastern Coalition". So the players can use the most modern weapons like the F-35 Lightning II fighter or the T90 tank. It´s also possible to choose between different classes like medic, assault, sniper and others.

Because Battlefield 2 is a tactic shooter, teamplay is very important. One player by team can be the commander who issues instructions on his team. The other players can group themselves into squads.

In every round two teams are playing. At the beginning of the round, both teams have a certain number of tickets. By eliminating an enemy the teams can reduce the number of tickets of the other team. The team that has more tickets at the end of the round wins.

Battlefield 2 is the sequel of Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam. The most recent game of the Battlefield series is Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

There is also an addon named Special Forces in which several special forces (e. g. SAS) can be played. Also two so called "booster packs" are available: Euro Forces which brings the army of the European Union into the game and Armored Fury which relocates the storyline to North America.

Battlefield 2 is one of the most popular games in it´s genre. Although being released in 2005 it´s still played by many persons around the world and has a big community.

Other websites 

Battlefield 2 website
Battlefield 2: Special Forces Website 

2005 video games
Battlefield video games
Video games developed in Sweden
Battlefield (series)

The Battlefield series consists of the following first-person shooter games that were developed by Digital Illusions CE, and published by Electronic Arts:

 Battlefield 1942 - (PC, Mac), released 10 September 2002.
The Road to Rome (Expansion Pack)
Secret Weapons of World War II (Expansion Pack)
 Battlefield Vietnam - (PC), released 14 March 2004 (US only), and 19 March 2004.
 Battlefield 2 - (PC), released 21 June 2005 (US only) and 24 June 2005.
Special Forces (Expansion Pack), released 22 November 2005 (US only), and 24 November 2005
Euro Force (Booster Pack), released 14 March 2006.
Armored Fury (Booster Pack), released 6 June 2006.
 Battlefield 2: Modern Combat - (PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360), released 24 October 2005 (PS2/Xbox), 11 May 2006 (Xbox 360).
 Battlefield 2142 - (PC, Mac), was released 17 October 2006.
 Northern Strike (Booster Pack), released 8 March 2007.
 Battlefield: Bad Company - (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), released 23 June 2008.
 Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), released 2 March 2010.
Battlefield 3 - (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3), released 25 October 2011.
Battlefield 4 - (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStaion 3, Xbox One, PlayStation 4), released 29 October 2013.
Battlefield Hardline - (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, released 17 March 2015.
Battlefield 1 - (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4), released 23 October 2016.
Battlefield V - (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4), release date 20 November 2018.

Other websites 
 Battlefield Gaming Information 

 
Video games developed in Sweden
Subset

In set theory, a subset is a set which has some (or all) of the elements of another set, called superset, but does not have any elements that the superset does not have. A subset which does not have all the elements of its superset is called a proper subset. We use the symbol ⊆ to say a set is a subset of another set. We can also use ⊂ if it is a proper subset. The symbols ⊃ ⊇ are opposite - they tell us the second element is a (proper) subset of the first.

For example:
{1, 2, 3} is a proper subset of {-563, 1, 2, 3, 68}.

The interval [0, 1] is a proper subset of the set of real numbers (also the set of positive numbers).

{46,189,1264} is its own subset, and is a proper subset of the set of natural numbers.

Related pages 

 Subset sum problem
 Vector subspace

References 

Set theory

ro:Mulțime#Submulțimi
Middle Temple

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English bar as barristers. (The others are the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn.) It is near the Royal Courts of Justice, within the City of London.

Inns of Court
Albanian Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania is one of the Eastern Orthodox churches. It is very new. It was created in 1922 by the fathers of the Albanian Orthodoxy Fan Noli, Visarion Xhuvani, and others. The Albanian Orthodox Church is autocephalous, meaning its bishop does not have to answer before any superior clerical authority.

Since its beginning it has had a difficult time. The church suffered during the Second World War, and in the communist period that came after. This became worse after 1967 when Albania was declared an atheist state, and no public or private expression of religion was allowed. After religious freedom returned in 1991, the church has become very active again. More than 250 churches have been created or repaired, and more than 100 clergy being ordained. 

The Church currently has four dioceses, Tirana, Durrës and Elbasan; Berat and Kanina; Gjirokastër; and Korçë.

Other websites 
 Official Site of the Albanian Orthodox Church (Warning: requires Flash)
 Albanian Orthodox Library
 Eastern Christian Churches: Orthodox Church of Albania
 History of the Establishment of the Church 

Eastern Orthodox Church
Albanian culture
University of Padua

The University of Padua (Italian Università degli Studi di Padova, UNIPD) is in Padua, Italy. It was created in 1222. It is one of the oldest European universities and the second oldest in Italy. As of 2003, the university had about 65,000 students.

History 
The university is usually said to have been founded in 1222 when a big group of students and professors left the University of Bologna. They did this to look for more academic freedom ('Libertas scholastica'). 
The first subjects to be taught were law and theology. The curriculum got bigger quickly, and by 1399 the institution had divided in two: a Universitas Iuristarum for civil law and Canon law, and a Universitas Artistarum which taught astronomy, dialectic, philosophy, grammar, medicine, and rhetoric.

Related pages 

Padua

References

Other websites
University of Padua Website 
Museums of the University

Colleges and universities in Italy
1222 establishments
Padua
1220s establishments in Europe
13th-century establishments in Italy
Anti-aircraft warfare

Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defence, is any way of fighting military aircraft in combat from the ground. Different guns and cannons have been used for this since the first military aircraft were used in World War I. They have become more powerful over the years.  After World War II, Surface to Air Missiles began to be used too.   Today, both are used to fight against aircraft. 

Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include AAA or triple-A, an abbreviation for anti-aircraft artillery, and flak or flack (from the German Flugabwehrkanone, aircraft defence cannon). An anti-aircraft missile is another name for a surface-to-air missile, also said SAM for short.

References

Other websites

Archie to SAM: A Short Operational History of Ground-Based Air Defense by Kenneth P. Werrell (book available for download)
Japanese Antiaircraft land/vessel doctrines in 1943-44

Missiles
Military aviation
National Museum of the United States Air Force

The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official national museum of the United States Air Force and is located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. Over 400 aircraft and missiles are on display, most of them indoors.  Admission is free.

Exhibits
The museum has many rare and important aircraft and other exhibits, including one of four surviving Convair B-36s,  the only surviving XB-70 Valkyrie, and Bockscar–the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the second atomic bomb in World War II. In contrast to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, nearly all of the museum's exhibits are extremely accessible. Most are easily touched, even investigated, by visitors.

Other websites

 Official website
 The Air Force Museum Foundation - a private non-profit organization supporting the mission and goals of the National Museum of the USAF

United States Air Force
Military aviation
Dayton, Ohio
Museums in the United States
Buildings and structures in Ohio
List of Tour de France winners

The first Tour de France was in 1903, but it was not run during World War I and World War II

Winners

 The "Year" column refers to the year the competition was held, and wikilinks to the article about that season.
 The "Distance" column refers to the distance over which the race was held.
 The "Margin" column refers to the margin of time or points by which the winner defeated the runner-up.
 The "Stage wins" column refers to the number of stage wins the winner had during the race.

Multiple winners

The following riders have won the Tour de France on 2 or more occasions. Since the retirement of two-time winner Alberto Contador in 2017, the only active rider on the list as of that year is Chris Froome, currently with 4 wins. Contador had originally won three Tours, but was stripped of one following an anti-doping violation.

Lance Armstrong was removed from the head of the list after having all seven of his Tour victories stripped when he was found guilty of repeated doping offences. Had his tainted Tour victories been reallocated (as were the victories of Floyd Landis and Contador) to the second placed rider in each race, Jan Ullrich would have joined the list with 4 Tour wins. However, the race organisers ASO decided not to reallocate the titles won in those years, in recognition of the historic doping problem in the sport at that time - Ullrich himself having been banned for a doping violation. Ullrich, therefore, has a single Tour victory to his name.

By nationality

Footnotes

A.  Bjarne Riis has admitted to doping during the 1996 Tour de France. The organizers of the Tour de France said that they no longer consider him to be the winner. However, Union Cycliste Internationale has so far refused to change the official status because a lot of time has passed since his win. Jan Ullrich was placed second on the podium in Paris.

B.  Lance Armstrong was declared winner of seven Tours in a row from 1999 to 2005. However, in October 2012 he had all his titles removed by the UCI because of his use of performance-enhancing drugs. The Tour director Christian Prudhomme had said before that if this happened, there would be no alternative winners for those years, but this has not yet been made official.

C.  Floyd Landis was the winner at the podium ceremony in Paris on the last day of the 2006 Tour, but later was found to have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during stage 17 of the race. The United States Anti-Doping Agency found him guilty of using synthetic testosterone during the race and removed his title on 20 September 2007.

D.  Alberto Contador was the winner at the podium ceremony in Paris on the last day of the 2010 Tour, but later was found to have tested positive for a drug that was not allowed, Clenbuterol, on a rest day. The Court of Arbitration for Sport found him guilty of using clenbuterol during the race and removed his title on 6 February 2012.

E.  Henri Cornet was declared the winner of 1904 race after the disqualification of Maurice Garin for cheating.

Notes 

Tour de France
Inner Temple

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London. They may call members to the Bar and allow them to practice as barristers. (The other Inns are Middle Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn.)

The Inner Temple was first recorded as being used for legal purposes when lawyers' houses were burned down in Wat Tyler's revolt in 1381. Before that date, the Temple was occupied by the Knights Templar. The Inner Temple was damaged during the wartime bombings in the areas surrounding the River Thames.

Famous members

Geoffrey Chaucer (reputed)
Thomas de Littleton
William Catesby
Sir Edward Coke
Sir Francis Drake
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Christopher Hatton
Thomas Morton, a member of the associated Inn of Chancery Clifford's Inn
William Wycherly
Judge Jeffreys
James Boswell
Samuel Johnson (resided at the Inner Temple for a period, though not a member)
William Paca
Karl Pearson, and his father William Pearson, QC
George Phillippo
Thomas Hughes
William Schwenk Gilbert
Bram Stoker
Mohandas Gandhi (called 1891, disbarred 1922, reinstated 1988)
John Maynard Keynes
Clement Attlee
Jawaharlal Nehru
Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Cecil Rhodes
Ivy Williams, the first female barrister
A.J.P. Taylor
Seretse Khama, president of Botswana (admitted 1946)
Derry Irvine
Lord Woolf
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Jack Straw
Michael Howard
John Mortimer (whose best-known creation, Horace Rumpole, was also an Inner Templar)
Richard Searby
Malcolm Bishop
Thomas Willing
Musa Alami
Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad
Tunku Abdul Rahman

Other websites
Inner Temple website
Inner Temple Banqueting website 

Inns of Court
Inns of Court

The Inns of Court are a group of four legal societies in Britain that have the exclusive right to train barristers and to regulate their admission to the British bar.  The buildings, which house these societies, are called Inns of Court.  The Inns of Court have directing and disciplinary functions over their members. The Inns also provide libraries, dining facilities and professional accommodations to members. Each Inn also has a church or chapel. 

Over the centuries the number of active Inns of Court was reduced to four, which are Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple.
Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London. They may call members to the Bar and allow them to practice as barristers. (The other Inns are Middle Temple, Gray's Inn and Inner Temple.) 

Lincoln's Inn is thought to be the oldest of the four Inns of Court. The history of the Inn can be traced back to 1422, although its actual origins are even older.

It is in Holborn, in the London Borough of Camden, on the border with the City of London and the City of Westminster.

Famous Members

Lord Denning
Sir Thomas More
Richard Cromwell
Thomas Langlois Lefroy, Chief Justice of Ireland from 1855 to 1866
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan
Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Muslim poet, famous for the idea of Pakistan, philosopher, politician, National Poet of Pakistan
John Henry Cardinal Newman
Mirza Hameedullah Beg, Chief Justice of India
Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Cherie Blair QC (Known professionally as Cherie Booth QC)
John Donne
Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
William Osgoode, first Chief Justice of Ontario after whom Osgoode Hall (and therefore Osgoode Hall Law School) was named
Syed Sajjad Ali Shah, Chief Justice of Pakistan
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister and President of Pakistan
John Kofi Agyekum Kufour, President of the Republic of Ghana

Preachers of Lincoln's Inn
The office of Preacher of Lincoln's Inn or Preacher to Lincoln's Inn is a clerical office in the Church of England.  Past Preachers of Lincoln's Inn include:
John Donne
William Warburton
Henry Wace
Derek Watson

Other websites

Lincoln's Inn website
www.shaw-hardwick.co.uk 

Inns of Court
Gray's Inn

The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court around the Royal Courts of Justice in London. They may call members to the Bar and allow them to practice as barristers. The other Inns are Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn and Inner Temple.

Gray's Inn is in Holborn, in the London Borough of Camden, on the border with the City of London and the City of Westminster.

Other websites 
 Gray's Inn website
 Online Law History of Gray's Inn 

Inns of Court
Naomi Nari Nam

Naomi Nari Nam (born July 6, 1985 in Anaheim, California) is a figure skater from the United States.

Nam was a very good skater as a child. She won the silver medal (second place) at the 1999 United States national championships behind Michelle Kwan at age 13. She would have normally gone to the World Championships after doing this, but she was too young according to the rules. She could have gone if she had won a medal at the World Junior Championships, but that was the last year the World Junior Championships were held before Nationals and Nam did not go to those championships.

Nam had a bad career after this. She had an injury in her hip and had to stop skating as a single skater.

In 2005, she started skating as a pairs skater with Themistocles Leftheris. They placed 5th at the 2006 Nationals, a very good result for a new team. They won the bronze medal (third place) at the 2006 Skate America competition, which was even more good. They won the bronze at the 2007 Nationals and then placed 6th at the 2007 Four Continents.

Naomi Nari Nam is a very graceful and flexible skater. She and Leftheris are a good pairs team. They do very hard jumps for a pairs team, which is helped by Nam's good singles career.

Other websites
 Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris Online  - Official website
 International Skating Union biography 
 U.S. Figure Skating biography 

1985 births
Living people

Figure skaters from California
People from Anaheim, California
Themistocles Leftheris

Themistocles "Themi" Leftheris (born December 20, 1982) is a figure skater from the United States. 

Leftheris has skated pairs for most of his life. He has had many partners and has done very well with them. 

In 2005, he started skating as a team with Naomi Nari Nam. They placed 5th at the 2006 Nationals, a very good result for a new team. They won the bronze medal (third place) at the 2006 Skate America competition, which was even more good. They won the bronze at the 2007 Nationals and then placed 6th at the 2007 Four Continents.

Themistocles Leftheris is a very powerful skater. He and Nam are a good pairs team. They do very hard jumps for a pairs team, which is helped by Nam's good singles career.

Other websites
Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris Online  - Official website
 International Skating Union biography 
 U.S. Figure Skating biography 

1982 births
Living people
American figure skaters
Sportspeople from Florida
Ohka

The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka (櫻花 "cherry blossom") was a type of airplane rocket, used for suicide attacks by the Empire of Japan in the last months of World War II. The United States gave the aircraft the name Baka (Japanese for "stupid").

It was carried by a bomber that dropped it when close enough to an enemy ship. The pilot guided it to crash with the target. When dropping down, it could go so fast that it was almost impossible to stop it. The operational record of Ohkas used in action includes three ships sunk and three other ships with great damage.

Related pages
 Kamikaze
 Kaiten

Other websites 

Thunder Gods  1989 book about Ohka squadron
The Cherry Blossom Squadrons  1973 book about Ohka squadron
 The History of Kamikaze Ohka 桜花

Aviation
Ballistics
Stéphane Lambiel

Stéphane Lambiel  (born 2 April 1985 in Martigny, Valais) is a figure skater from Switzerland. He is famous for his very good spins.

Lambiel was a good skater as a child. When he was 12 years old, he was picked to perform an exhibition at the 1997 World Championships.

He has won the Swiss national championships every year he has entered them, and at every level.

In 2002, when he was 16, the Swiss Olympic Committee told him he could go to the 2002 Winter Olympics if he placed in the top 15 at the European Championships. Lambiel placed 4th at the European Championships and he went to the Olympics.

In 2006, Lambiel won the silver medal (second place) at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He was World Champion in 2005 and 2006.

Lambiel is famous for having everything a skater needs to do well, called the "full package". He is very artistic, and has all the technical elements needed, including a quadruple jump. He is very consistent, except for the triple axel, which is a bad jump for him.

Lambiel has had a lot of injuries, which has kept him out of the Grand Prix a lot. After the Olympics, he did not feel very motivated. He missed the 2007 European Championships because he said he was burnt out. But he came back for the 2007 World Championships, where he won the bronze medal.

In 2010 he said he was no longer going to compete in skating.

Other websites 
 Official Website
 

1985 births
Living people
2002 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters
Medalists at the 2006 Winter Olympics
Olympic silver medalists
Swiss Olympic medalists
Daisuke Takahashi

is a Japanese athlete.  He is best known as a figure skater.

Takahashi was born in Kurashiki, Okayama.

Career
Takahashi won the Japanese national championships in 2006 and 2007.

Takahashi is the first male skater from Japan to win the World Junior Championships and the first male skater from Japan to win a silver medal at the World Championship.

He was a member of the Japanese team at the 2006 Winter Olympics at Turin in Italy.  In 2010, he won a bronze medal in the Winter Olympic Games at Vancouver in Canada.

Related pages
 Sports in Japan
 Japan at the Olympics

References

Other websites 

  Daisuke Takahashi at International Skating Union (ISU)

1986 births
Living people
Japanese figure skaters
Japanese Olympic bronze medalists
People from Okayama Prefecture
Evgeni Plushenko

Evgeni Plushenko (born 3 November 1982) is a figure skater from Russia. He was born and raised in the Soviet Union. He is the last of the "Soviet System" figure skaters, which took children from their parents at a young age and raised them in a training system away from home while giving them everything they needed, including housing and food and equipment, so they could become the best.

Plushenko was a very good skater as a child. At age 14, he won the World Junior Championships. At age 15, he won the bronze medal at the World Championships. He has always been coached by Alexei Mishin, a very famous Soviet and Russian skater coach. At the time of Plushenko's rise, Mishin was also coaching Alexei Yagudin. When Yagudin saw all the attention Mishin was giving Plushenko, it made Yagudin leave and find another coach. Plushenko and Yagudin had a very big rivalry that ended in 2002, when Yagudin won the Olympic Gold and Plushenko won the silver.

Between the 2002 Olympics and the 2006 Olympics, Plushenko only lost a competition twice. The first time was to Emanuel Sandhu at the 2003-2004 Grand Prix Final. The second was to Brian Joubert at the 2004 European Championships. Plushenko came close to losing the 2003 World Championships to American Timothy Goebel, but won.

Plushenko withdrew from the 2005 World Championships with injury. But he won the 2006 Olympics with a very big lead over everyone else there.

Plushenko took the 2006-2007 season away from skating. He was married and had a child, but he is now getting a divorce. He is trying to come back to competitive skating, but still has a lot of injuries.

Plushenko is known for his consistency and his strong jumping ability. He has done a lot of quadruple jumps in competition and in combination with other jumps. He was the first to do a lot of quadruple-jump combinations. He has also done the Biellmann spin in competition, although he has not done that recently.

Other websites 

 Official website 
  Official website
 International Skating Union biography 

Russian figure skaters
1982 births
Living people
Stacy London

Stacy London (born May 25, 1969 in New York City, New York) is an American fashion consultant and media personality. She known best for her role as a co-host on the makeover reality program What Not to Wear.

American television presenters
Television personalities from New York City
1969 births
Living people
Kaiten

The Kaiten (Japanese: 回天, translated "Change the World" or "Reverse Destiny") was a torpedo that was changed to become a suicide weapon, and used by the Navy of the Empire of Japan in the last months of the Second World War. It was basically a torpedo with a pilot, and it could be thrown from a submarine or a ship.

The Kaiten was not very effective. Out of more or less 100 attacks made with them, only two enemy ships were sunk.

Related pages
 Submarine
 Kamikaze
 Ohka

Other websites
Kaiten Memorial Museum 
Kamikaze Submarine 
USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park 
US Navy Historical Center 
Pictorial account of types 1 and 2 kaitens
The Kaiten Mark II at the New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, NJ
 Humantorpedo 回天 Kaiten (Japanese)
 

Weapons
Blanket

A blanket is a large, usually rectangular piece of cloth, generally used on a bed over a sheet to keep the sleeping person warm. Some blankets are knitted or crocheted while others are made of two layers of cloth sewn together with stuffing in the middle. Blankets can be made with hollow fibre or feathers.

Other names for blankets are quilts, duvets, and comforters, depending on their thickness, construction and/or stuffing.

The word blanket probably came from the 14th century. A special kind of fabric called Blanket fabric was created by a Flemish weaver who lived in Bristol, England.

Uses

Blankets may also be used on the ground for a picnic or other places where people want to sit without their clothing getting dirty or wet.

Firefighters use a special fire blanket to protect household items such as chairs from water damage.

Types of blankets
Electric blankets are heated by electricity. Blankets were traditionally made of wool because it is warm, naturally fire-retardant, and allows air to circulate well, while today synthetic fibers are frequently used. Throw blankets are smaller blankets, often in decorative colors and patterns, that can be used for extra warmth outside of bed.

Other kinds are horse blankets, used to keep horses warm, and saddle blankets, used to prevent the horse's saddle from rubbing on its skin.

Blanket terminology is also used in the printing industry. A blanket is a rubber coating over different layer of compressible material. It wraps around a cylinder and insures transfer of ink form the printed material (where the image is ink defined) to the paper. Blankets are used for offset, gravure, flexo, etc.

Home
Crochet

Crochet is a way of creating fabric from yarn or thread using a crochet hook to pull loops of yarn through other loops.  It is similar to knitting, except that usually only one loop is active at one time, and that a crochet hook is used instead of knitting needles.  Also, crochet can not be made by machine.  Crochet uses more yarn than knitting but is faster to make by hand.

Crochet is used to make clothing, household items like tablecloths, blankets and potholders, and toys. Lace is often made by crocheting, though it can be made by knitting and weaving as well.

Crocheting is also a great craft for younger children.  The stitches are easy and their small hands are able to hold the crochet hook.  They are also able to see progress very quickly and that motivates them to continue.  It is very easy to start again after setting the project down, which will help to keep young people involved in the craft.

Stitch Abbreviations

Basic
ch: chain stitch
yoh: yarn over hook
bl: back loops
fl: front loops
rs: right side
ws: wrong side
sc: single crochet
dc: double crochet
tc: triple crochet
sk or sk st: skip stitch
sl st: slip stitch
rnd: round(s)
*: repeat instructions following the "*"

Advanced
bp: back post
fp: front post
bpdc: back post double crochet
fpdc: front post double crochet
tog: together
dc2tog: double crochet 2 stitches together
hdc: half double crochet
dec: decrease

US and UK Terminologies 
The US and the UK use different names for the same crochet stitches. If you are using a pattern, make sure you know if it uses US or UK terminology so you read it correctly.

Here are the main differences.

Other websites
Learn to crochet: 5 basic crochet stitches
Learn to crochet: Stitch Variations
UK to US crochet conversion chart

Needlework
Weaving

Weaving is the interlacing of two sets of threads at right angles to each other to form cloth. Weaving is usually done on a loom.

One set of threads is called the warp. These threads are held taut and in parallel order on the loom by harnesses creating a space called the shed. The weft thread is wound onto bobbins. In old-fashioned hand weaving the bobbins are held in a shuttle, which carries the weft thread through the shed. The warp threads are moved over and under the weft threads. Modern high speed weaving does not use a shuttle.

Hobbies
Loom

A loom is a machine for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices.

The invention of the power loom by Edmund Cartwright was very important in the Industrial Revolution.
 

Hobbies
Weaving
Sweater

A sweater is a piece of clothing worn on the upper body to keep the person warm. Sweaters are usually knitted or crocheted. Other names for sweaters are pullover, jersey, or jumper. Sweaters that open in the front are often called cardigans. They are named after James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, a British general during the Crimean War, who led the famous charge of the Light Brigade. Sweaters without sleeves are often called vests.  Sweaters can be worn all year long for comfort and warmth.

Tops (clothing)

de:Sweatshirt
Scarf

A scarf is a piece of fabric worn on or near the head or around the neck for warmth, cleanliness, fashion or for religious reasons. Neck scarves are usually knitted or crocheted, while headscarves are usually woven.

Many Muslim women wear a headscarf known as a hijab. In the Persian Gulf Region it is called a sheila.

Accessories
Hugo Weaving

Hugo Wallace Weaving (born 4 April 1960) is a British-Australian actor. He is also well known as a voice actor. Weaving is most famous for his roles as Agent Smith in The Matrix and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, the main character of V for Vendetta and the voices of Noah the Elder in Happy Feet, Megatron in Transformers and Rex in Babe and Babe: Pig in the City. He was born in Nigeria to English parents. He spent his childhood in South Africa and then moved to the United Kingdom when he was a teenager. He moved to Australia in 1976.

Filmography

Other websites 

 
 Hugo Weaving at the National Film and Sound Archive

1960 births
Living people
Australian movie actors
Australian stage actors
Australian voice actors
Battle of the Philippine Sea

The Battle of the Philippine Sea was an important naval battle of the Second World War between the navies of the United States and Japan. This battle took place on June 19 and 20, 1944 near the Mariana Islands, and involved two big naval forces and many Japanese aircraft from bases on land. The battle was a great defeat for the Japanese Navy, which lost three aircraft carriers and some 600 aircraft in two days of combat. This happened because the Japanese airplanes were getting old and their pilots had little training, compared to the more modern and better trained American forces. After the battle, the Japanese Navy was almost completely destroyed. This victory for Allied forces opened the door for the invasion of Iwo Jima.

Other websites
 Order of  Battle - The Battle of the Phillipine Sea: 19-20 June 1944
 WW2DB: The Marianas and the Great Turkey Shoot
 Animated History of The Battle of the Philippine Sea 
 Air Group 31's participation in the Battle of the Philippine Sea

1944
Battles involving Japan
Battles involving the United States
Philippine Sea
1940s in Oceania
Micronesia
June 1944 events
Tengiz

Tengiz is a lake in Kazakhstan, Kostanay oblast near Russia. This lake has an area of about 1950 km2.

Lakes of Kazakhstan
Aike

Aike is a lake on the border between Kazakhstan and Russia. The lake has an area of about . The village of Terensay is on the coast of the lake. The lake is at

References 

Lakes of Kazakhstan
Lakes of Russia
Tamgaly

Tamgaly is a lake in Kazakhstan, in South Kazakhstan oblast. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site where petroglyphs (rock pictures) have been found.

Lakes of Kazakhstan
Union Cycliste Internationale

The Union Cycliste Internationale or International Cycling Union usually called the UCI is the governing body of bicycle racing in the world.

It sets out rules for bicycle design, and types of races. The UCI also issues licences to racing teams which gives them permission to compete in one of the ranks or tours.

The Tour grades

The ProTour 
This is the highest grade, the 20 best teams are in the UCI ProTour, and all of the races are in Europe.

Contintental Circuits
There five Continental Circuits (one each for Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas). They are the next highest grade after the UCI ProTour. The circuits were designed by UCI to encourage cycle racing outside the European continent, where it is most popular and where the three Grand Tour stage races Vuelta Ciclista a España, Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia are run. The Grand Tours are part of the ProTour

References 

Cycling
Ashchikol

Ashchikol is a lake in Kazakhstan, in Kyzylorda oblast. It is near the north border of the country.

Other websites 
 Ashchikol - Google Explorer Expert

Lakes of Kazakhstan
Kajbagar

Kajbagar is a lake in Kustanay Oblast, Kazakhstan. Kushmurun Lake is about  to the west.

Lakes of Kazakhstan
Milk Marketing Board

The Milk Marketing Board was an agency of the British government.  

The Board bought all of the milk in England and Wales from  dairy farmers and passed it on to be processed and sold.  This way small farmers always got a fair price, because no big producer could sell their milk more cheaply.

The Board was first set up in 1933.  In 1933 and 1934 three other boards were set up for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland in 1955.

From 1958 until it was abolished the Milk Marketing Board sponsored (paid money for) the Tour of Britain bicycle race, which was called "The Milk Race".

Other websites 

uk/foodrin/milk/pdf/historyofmmbs.pdf History of the Milk Marketing Boards 

Government of the United Kingdom
Agriculture
Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, was the biggest naval battle in modern history. The battle was part of World War II, and happened in the seas near the Philippines island of Leyte. It took place from 23 October to 26 October 1944, between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. The Allies started the battle to cut the way between Japan and its colonies in South East Asia. Japan took its oil for fuel from that area. The Japanese gathered all the ships they had left to fight the Allied troops. However, they failed and lost many ships and aircraft.

The battle was the last big naval fight of World War II. Without fuel, the Imperial Japanese Navy never again sailed to battle. Most of their ships returned to Japan, and were inactive for the rest of the war.

The first use of kamikaze aircraft was during this battle. A kamikaze hit the Australian flagship HMAS Australia on 21 October. Many other suicide attacks by the "Special Attack Force" began on 25 October, and did great damage to the Allied ships.

References

Other websites 

 WW2DB: Leyte Campaign
 Animated History of The Battle of Leyte Gulf 
 Battle Experience: Battle for Leyte Gulf
 Task Force 77 Action Report: Battle of Leyte Gulf
 "Turkey Trots to Water"  — detailed description of the battle from battleship.org
 Orders of battle: Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, Cape Engaño, Samar.
 "Glorious Death: The Battle of Leyte Gulf" by Tim Lanzendörfer
 battle-of-leyte-gulf.com
 The Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf by Robert Jon Cox
 Leyte Gulf Naval Chess Game, a free, educational boardgame of the battle, to print off, assemble, and play
 Return to the Philippines: public domain documents from ibiblio.org
 The Battle for Leyte Gulf Revisited by Irwin J. Kappes
 Timeline for USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413)
 Japan's TA-Operation: A Blueprint for Disaster by Irwin J. Kappes

Leyte Gulf
1944 in Asia
1940s in the Philippines
October 1944 events
Ottoman dynasty

The Ottoman dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922. The dynasty began with Osman I, but it was not recognized until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan. The dynasty might have been known as Söğüt before 1383, but it was later renamed Osmanlı (Ottoman in English) in honor of Osman I.

The sultan was the sole ruler of the empire. The power often shifted to other officials, such as the Grand Vizier.

Heads of the House of Osman

Pre-Imperial Heads of the House of Osman

Imperial heads of the House of Osman (1281-1922)

Post-Imperial Heads of the House of Osman (1922-Present)

Expelled from the Imperial House 
(Şehzade) Mahmud Şevket (Efendi Hazretleri) (1903, Istanbul - 1973, France) was expelled and deprived of the title of Prince and the style of His Highness from the Imperial House of Osman by His Imperial Majesty, the last Caliph Abdülmecid II. in 1931. He d. in France 1973, having had issue:

(a) HIH Princess Hamide Nermin Nezahat Sultana [1923 - 1998] by Adile Hanimsultan, a granddaughter of Abdülhamid II.

Excluded from the line of sucssession  
Mehmed Selim Orhan, (born in Paris, 3. October 1943 - 17. May 1998, descendant of Abdul Hamid II through Mehmed VII Orhan), deprived since birth of title HIH Şehzade, because he was born before his parents married in 1944.

Other websites 

 Turkey, includes all the full ruler styles with various biographical data in the Royal Ark
 Sultans, Contemporary Paintings  by İsmail Acar
 Everything about Ottoman Empire  Everything about the history, culture and civilization of Ottoman Empire
 MSN encarta - the Ottoman Empire  (see Sultanate)
 WorldStatesmen- Turkey
  Ottoman Dynasty meet at Dolmabahçe Palace
 Ottoman Empire - The Family

History of Turkey
Royal dynasties
Lists
Grand Vizier

Grand Vizier, Sadr-ı Azam (Sadrazam) or Serdar-ı Ekrem (in Ottoman Turkish "صدر اعظم" or "وزیر اعظم"), was the greatest minister of the Sultan. The Grand Vizier had absolute power of attorney and could only be removed by the Sultan. He held the imperial seal and he could gather all other viziers to attend meetings regarding state affairs. The title is derived originally from the Persian word "Vizier" (وزير).

Related pages
List of Ottoman Grand Viziers

History of Turkey
Politics of Turkey
1446

Year 1446 was a common year. It started on a Saturday.

Events of 1446 
 Portuguese navigator, Álvaro Fernandes, reaches the mouth of the Geba River in Guinea-Bissau.
 The Precious Belt Bridge in China is fully rebuilt.
 The troops of Francesco Piccinino and Luigi dal Vermebesiege Cremona, Italy.
 The Hunmin Jeongeumis published in Korea, starting the Hangul alphabet.
 Mehmed II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, abdicates. His father, Murad II becomes Sultan.
 December 10 – Murad II destroys the Hexamillion wall, opening the Morea to Ottoman invasion.

Births 
 May 3 – Margaret of Burgundy, wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (died 1503)
 Edmund de Ros, 11th Baron de Ros, English politician (died 1508)
 Alexander Agricola, Flemish composer (probable) (died 1506)
 William Grocyn, English scholar (probable) (died 1519)
 Pietro Perugino, Italian painter (probable) (died 1524)

Deaths 
April 15 – Filippo Brunelleschi, Italian architect (born 1377)
May 9 – Mary of Enghien, Queen of Naples (born 1367)
May 24 – Ambroise de Loré, Baron of Ivry (born 1396)
December 28 – Antipope Clement VIII
Vittorino da Feltre, Italian humanist (born 1378)
List of Ottoman Grand Viziers

This is the list of Grand Viziers of the Ottoman Empire.

Other websites 
 Turkish State Archives (1281-1406) (in Turkish)
 Turkish State Archives (1413-1616) (in Turkish)
 Turkish State Archives (1616-1689) (in Turkish)
 Turkish State Archives (1691-1807) (in Turkish)
 Turkish State Archives (1807-1876) (in Turkish)
 Turkish State Archives (1876-1922) (in Turkish)
 Regnal Chronologies: Full list of Ottoman Grand Viziers 
 Türk Tarihi: Fuller list of Ottoman Grand Viziers  (in Turkish)

History of Turkey
Politics of Turkey

Ottoman Grand Viziers
Köprülü family

The Köprülü family was an Ottoman noble family with origins from Albania. The family provided six Ottoman Grand Viziers. Several other family members became high-ranking Ottoman officers.

Köprülü Grand Viziers 

Albanian people
Noble families
1281



Births 
 Richard De Bury, English statesman (died 1345)
 Castruccio Castracani, duke of Lucca (died 1328)
 Yuri III Danilovich, Grand Prince of Russia (died 1325)
 Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (died 1345)
 Hamdollah Mostowfi, Ilkhanid Iranian historian (died 1349)
 Rudolph I of Bohemia (died 1307)

Deaths 
 Ertuğrul, father of Osman I (born 1198)
 Traidenis, Grand Prince of Lithuania
1283



Births 
 Date uncertain – Margaret, the Maid of Norway (died 1290)

Deaths 
 January 9 – Wen Tianxiang, Chinese prime minister (executed, born 1236)
 October 3 – Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Welsh Prince of Gwynedd (executed)
 Philip, Crown Prince of Constantinople, Persian poet (born 1243)
 Piotr z Bogorii i Skotnik, Polish nobleman