cyanic-selkie/wikianc huggingface dataset:
MTR
Safety on the MTR
Police officers patrol on trains and stations, and police posts are available at some stations. The Hong Kong Police Force has a Railway District responsible for the MTR and the KCR. Closed-circuit television cameras are installed in stations.
Tung Chung Line, the Airport Express and Tseung Kwan O Line, except Quarry Bay station, had platform screen doors (PSDs) installed upon construction. These doors prevent people from falling onto the rails, and MTRC allowed the assumption that this implementation was primarily a safety campaign, without heavily promoting it directly. In fact, the primary motivation was to separate the stations from the tunnels, hence allowing substantial energy savings on station air-conditioning and tunnel ventilation. Automatic platform gates (APGs) have also been installed at the Sunny Bay and Disneyland Resort stations. Their heights are half of the PSDs and only prevent people from falling onto the rails.
In June 2000, The MTR Corporation proceeded with its plans to retrofit 2,960 pairs of platform screen doors at all 30 underground stations on the Kwun Tong Line, Tsuen Wan Line, and Island Line in a six-year programme. The programme made MTR the world's first railway to undertake the retrofitting of PSDs on a passenger-carrying system already in operation. A prototype design was first introduced at Choi Hung station in the 3rd quarter of 2001. HK$0.10 per passenger trip was levied on Octopus card users to help fund the HK$2 billion retrofit programme. The whole installation scheme was completed in October 2005. The original completion year was 2006. The MTR Corporation said that part of the cost had to be assumed by passengers.
Station facilities, amenities and services
With the high level of daily passenger traffic, facilities of MTR stations are built with durability and accessibility in mind. The elevators and escalators in stations are heavy duty, with the elevators installed by Otis Elevator Company/Fujitec and the escalators installed by Constructions Industrielles de la Mediterranée and Otis Elevator Company.
After extensive retrofits, the MTR system has become, in general, disabled-friendly—the trains have dedicated wheelchair space, the stations have special floor tiles to guide the blind safely on the platforms, and there are extra wide entry and exit gates for wheelchairs as well.
Unlike many other metro systems around the world, "main line" MTR stations do not have toilet facilities, although their installation has been contemplated. Only stations on the Airport Express and Disneyland Resort Line have access to toilet facilities.
Interchange stations
The MTR network is unique in its arrangement of interchange stations. Interchange stations between the Island, Tsuen Wan, Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O lines are arranged in pairs; such an arrangement allows cross-platform interchange wherein a passenger leaves a train on one side of the platform and boards trains on the other side of the platform for another line.
Most of those stations make use of a cross-platform interchange system, where the commuter can change to another line on the opposite platform. For example, when a person is travelling on the Kwun Tong Line towards Tiu Keng Leng, getting off at Yau Tong would allow him to change trains across the platform for the Tseung Kwan O Line towards North Point. Whereas, staying on the train and reaching Tiu Keng Leng would allow you to change trains for the Tseung Kwan O Line towards Po Lam.
This not only makes it more convenient for passengers, it also reduces the amount of traffic per station. Riders are made aware of the closest connection point by way of in-train visual and auditory messages. Although riders can disregard these tips, the design of the stations are for the convenience of passengers.
Hair straightening
Hair straightening is when a person makes their hair straighter. Their hair may be curly, wavy, or almost straight. There are methods to make even very curly hair straighter.
MTR
Telecommunications network coverage
A full GSM (GSM-900 and GSM-1800), CDMA and TDMA mobile phone network is in place throughout the MTR system of stations and tunnels. Passengers can stay connected underground.
Hair straightening
There are two different types of straightening: temporary and permanent. Temporary hair straightening keeps the hair straight until it gets wet or damp again, so only lasts for up to a few days. Permanent hair straightening keeps the hair straight for up to a few months, even when the hair gets wet.
A person can temporarily straighten their hair using:
MTR
Telecommunications network coverage
Currently, full 3G network coverage in all stations and tunnels (except West Rail Line) for the MTR system has been provided by 3 Hong Kong, SmarTone-Vodafone and PCCW Mobile. Passengers with subscription services will be able to make video calls and access high speed video content on their mobile phones regardless whether the train is above ground or under ground.
Shops and other services
Until recently, MTR stations only had branches of the Hang Seng Bank and Maxim's Cakes stores, owned by Jardine Matheson, and a handful of other shops. Since the privatisation of the MTR, however, numerous shops have been added to certain stations, turning them into miniature shopping centres. Services available at most stations include:
Apart from retailers, there are also dentists and medical clinics, drycleaners, and florists along the Tseung Kwan O Line. Standard services include payphones, vending machines (Coca-Cola only), and self-service photo-booths.
Free magazines and newspapers
Recruit was the first free magazine which was solely distributed in MTR stations since July 1992. However, in July 2002, the contract between the magazine and MTR was terminated. Another recruitment magazine Jiu Jik (招職), published by South China Morning Post, replaced Recruit as the only free recruitment magazine distributed in MTR stations on every Tuesdays and Fridays.
At the same time, there was another entertainment magazine Hui Kai Guide (去街 Guide). However, it is no longer distributed in MTR stations since 2006.
The Metropolis Daily (都市日報), published by Metro International, is the first free newspaper distributed free in MTR stations from Monday to Friday (except public holidays); and in 2005, there is another weekend newspaper Express Post (快線周報), distributed every Saturday except public holidays.
The Metropop (都市流行), also published by Metro International, started its distribution in MTR stations every Thursdays since April 27 2006, few months after the termination of Hui Kai Guide. It is a weekly magazine featuring cultural affairs and city trends.
Extra services for Airport Express
The Airport Express also offer value-added services to travellers on the line. Toilets and check-in facilities are available at every station on the line. A free Airport Express shuttle bus service transports travellers from stations to their respective hotels as well. Flight passengers can even have in-town check-in at the station, which offers a more convenient and time-saving routine.
Fares and tickets
As of January 2005, there are two different fare classes on the MTR: Adult and concessionary. Only children below the age of 12, senior citizens 65 years or older, or full-time Hong Kong students between the ages of 12 and 25 qualify for the concessionary rate. Children below the age of 3 travel free.
Similar to some other metro systems in the world, the fare payable by a passenger depends on the approximate distance travelled. However, taking any particular station as the origin, the other stations fall into fare "zones" depending on the distance from the origin. The fare to all stations in a "zone" is the same and increases with distance, especially if the journey involves a harbour crossing. Adult fares range from HK$3.80 to $26.00. Concessionary fares are usually half the adult fare, and range from HK$2.40 to $13.00. Fares for the Airport Express Line are significantly higher.
The price of using MTR is very low. For example, the price of going from Tsing Yi to Causeway Bay by taxi is around HK$200. Travelling the same distance by MTR costs HK$11.80 for grown up people and HK$5.40 for young and very old people. People can buy a one way ticket or a Octopus card to enter MTR. Octopus card is a contact-less smart card.
Octopus cards
The Octopus card is a rechargeable contactless smart card used in an electronic payment system in Hong Kong. It was launched in September 1997 for use on both the MTR and the KCR and now is the most widely used electronic cash system for transactions in Hong Kong as many retailers are fitted with readers.
The Octopus card uses radio frequency identification (RFID) technology so that users need only hold the card in front of the reader. Physical contact is not required, and the card need not even be taken out because the reader can penetrate through material. This fare collection system has been so popular that many cities such as Singapore, London, Chicago, and Taipei have adopted the idea, launching their own version of smart cards, respectively named EZ-link, Oyster card, and EasyCard.
Except for the Airport Express, MTR fares are slightly lower when using an Octopus card compared to using single journey tickets. For example, the cost of the 3-minute journey from Admiralty to Tsim Sha Tsui across the Victoria Harbour is (as of 2005) HK$7.9 using the Octopus card, compared with HK$9.0 for a single-journey ticket.
Tourist pass
Two types of tourist passes are available: one allows unlimited rides for a single day (at HK$50), while the other allows three days of unlimited rides on the MTR, with a stored value of HK$20, refundable deposit of HK$50 and choice of either a single (HK$220) or return (HK$300) trip on the Airport Express.
Tourists are required to produce proof of tourist status, (e.g. passports or, in the case of Mainland travellers, entry permits) when purchasing the pass, and whenever requested by a ticket inspector during spot-checks.
Other fares
The magnetic fare card system is used for single journey tickets. These tickets are pre-paid for between pre-determined stations, and are good for only one trip. There are no return tickets, except on the Airport Express.
Fares for the Airport Express are substantially different from main line fares. Apart from single tickets, same-day return tickets (same price as a single), and one-month return tickets are also available.
A one-day pass can be used to unlimited travel to/from Hong Kong Disneyland within the same day, and costs HK$50. This pass can be purchased from any MTR Customer Service Centres or Airport Express Customer Service Centres.
MTR rolling stock
Four variations of rolling stock operate on the MTR on 1.5kV DC overhead electrification. All trains are electric multiple units (EMUs), with ATC and ATP, operating on 1432 mm rail gauge. Except for the rolling stock of the Airport Express, all trains are designed with features to cope with high density passenger traffic on stopping services. Examples are the latitudinal seating arrangement, additional ventilation fans and 5 doors on each side per car.
The Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express use dedicated rolling stock designs specified to their respective lines. Initially run in 7-car formations, they have now been lengthened to eight cars. These two variations are built jointly by Adtranz (now Bombardier Transportations) and Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles between 1994 and 1997.
The other lines are operated using a mixture of the other two variations, known as the "M-Train" and the "K-Stock". The "M-Stock" (or CM-Stock") of "M-Train" are the oldest trains on the MTR, built originally by Metro Cammell (now Alstom) and refurbished by United Goninan. The "M-Train" is the only variation that uses sliding doors, as opposed to others which use plug-doors. The "K-Stock" are built jointly by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and ROTEM, and a further order of 32 cars is due to be in service on the Tung Chung Line by 2007.
The Disneyland Resort Line uses driverless "M-Trains" with their appearance overhauled to suit the atmosphere and theme of the line. Windows on each carriage and the handrails inside are made into the shape of Mickey Mouse's head, and there are bronze-made Disney characters decorating the interior of the carriages.
Varies
Art promotion
With the objective "not only bring MTR passengers more time for life, but also more time for art", the "Art in MTR" Initiative has been a success since its reception in 1998, where the Airport Express Artwork Programme was the pioneer project. Thereafter, live performances, art exhibitions, display of artwork by established and emerging artists, students and young children have been brought into the MTR stations. MTR Corporation Limited have even made art part of the station architecture when building new stations or renovating existing ones. Artworks are exhibited in different forms on the network, including "arttube", open art gallery, community art galleries, roving art, living art, and art in station architecture.
By incorporating elements of art into the railway network, the travelling environment for the passengers is not only enhanced, but also makes their journeys even more pleasant and enjoyable. Moreover, with MTR stations being an integral part of the neighbourhood, the programme also provides opportunities to promote Hong Kong's community art, encourage art appreciation among the public and give residents a feeling of home at the stations.
Caupolicán
Caupolicán was a leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, who decided to choose a supreme war leader in response to the Spanish threat. Caupolican supposedly won the position by demonstrating his superior strength by holding up a tree trunk three days and three nights, though this may be an exaggeration. In addition to proving his physical power, he also had to improvise a poetical speech to inspire the people to valor and unity. Much of the legend of Caupolican is found in the epic poem La Araucana by Alonso de Ercilla, a major piece of literature about the Spanish conquest of America.
World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site refers to the 16 acre area of land in Lower Manhattan in New York City, that hosted both the original and new World Trade Centers. The land was originally underwater. The first World Trade Center complex of buildings stood on the site until it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks. The new World Trade Center complex is mostly complete and is built on the site. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns most of the land. The site is overseen by Studio Daniel Libeskind, Silverstein Properties, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.
Megalomania
Megalomania is a mental illness. People with megalomania have delusional fantasies that they are more relevant (important) or powerful than they truly are. They have inflated self esteem and overestimate their powers and beliefs. People with megalomania tend to exhibit a disposition that is less inclined towards humbleness..
List of Egyptian scientists
The list of Egyptian scientists includes
Megalomania
The word "megalomania" is no longer used in the mental health field, and is not mentioned in either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD). Instead, this condition is now called narcissistic personality disorder. The condition affects both men and women.
MTR
The future
MTR Corporation Limited has suggested several future projects to the Hong Kong Government, with some already being built. The network is also set to grow quite much when MTR Corporation Limited joins with the government-owned Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC), with the non-binding "Memorandum of Understanding" agreement signed on 11 April 2006 to give MTR Corporation control of the KCR network for 50 years. The new Sha Tin to Central Link that was first given to KCRC would now also be run by MTR Corporation Limited, which will run from Tai Wai Station in Tai Wai to Central.
Callulina shengena
The Shengana warty frog (Callulina shengena) is a frog. It lives in Tanzania. It lives in the South Pare mountains. People have seen it between 1920 and 2100 meters above sea level.
The adult male frog is about 22.1–32.0 mm long from nose to rear end and the adult female frog is about 39.9–43.2 mm long. This frog is different from other frogs in Callulina because the eardrum is not easy to see and because the tips of its toes are shorter. This frog is usually dark pink to light pink in color, but some frogs are brown in color.
Tossiat
Tossiat is a commune. It is in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Ain department in east  France.
A15 autoroute
The A15 is a short autoroute (motorway) in France. It goes through the suburbs of the northwest of Paris. It is about 21 km long.
World Trade Center site
September 11 attacks
On the morning of September 11, 2001, two airplanes were captured by terrorists close to al-Qaeda and crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The towers fell within two hours after the crashes. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks. After the attacks, hospital workers and police offers began calling the site "Ground Zero".
Callulina shengena
Scientists named this frog after a part of the Pare mountains.
Megalomania
The word "megalomania" comes from two Greek words: "μεγαλο" (megalo-), meaning large or great, and "μανία" (mania), meaning madness or frenzy.
World Trade Center site
Debris and clean-up
When the towers fell, they caused dust to spread in New York City, and left hundreds of thousands of tons of debris at the site. The New York City Fire Department separated the site into four areas to make cleanup of the site and the search for people who survived the attack easier. Early on, it was said that the debris at the site would take a year to get rid of, but cleanup ended in May 2002. Building materials and debris from Ground Zero were sent to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island.
Grist
Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff and is ready for grinding. It can also mean grain that has already been ground at a grist mill. The word grist is related to the verb "to grind".
Torcieu
Torcieu is a commune. It is found in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Ain department in the east of France.
MTR
The future
It has also been suggested to improve parts of MTR that are running now. Airport Station on the Airport Express will have a new platform to serve passengers flying out of Hong Kong International Airport's Skyplaza. New subway links to the stations are also being made, and it has been proposed to lengthen the Tseung Kwan O Line with a branch line to Tseung Kwan O South, and the Kwun Tong Line as far as Whampoa Garden, also linking with the Sha Tin to Central Link expansion.
The West Island Line and South Island Line, first suggested to the government by MTR on 21 January 2003, was finally accepted on 30 June 2005. It was made up of the West Island Line that took the Island Line to Kennedy Town, and the South Island Line (East section) from Admiralty to Ap Lei Chau and South Island Line (West section) that connects the other two lines. This is being talked about now and the whole longer line should be finished and running by 2012.
Viktor Korshunov
Viktor Ivanovich Korshunov (Ви́ктор Ива́нович Ко́ршунов; 24 November 1929 – 17 April 2015) was a Russian movie and stage actor. His career started in the 1950s. He was awarded the People's Artist of the USSR.
Korshunov was born in Moscow. He married actress Yekaterina Yelanskaya in 1953. She died in July 2013. They had one son, actor Aleksandr Korshunov (born 1954).
Korshunov died after a long illness on 17 April 2015 in Moscow, aged 85.
Sturt National Park
Sturt National Park is a national park in north west New South Wales (Australia), 1059 km northwest of Sydney. The park is named after the explorer, Charles Sturt, who travelled through the area in 1845. The park was created in the 1970's from six large sheep and cattle stations (farms). These stations included Mount Wood, Olive Downs, Whitta Brinna, Mount King, Binerah Downs and Fort Grey.
World Trade Center site
Debris and clean-up
In December 2001, a viewing area at Fulton Street, between Church Street and Broadway, was opened to the public.
Sturt National Park
The park is large, covering more than 340000 ha of arid area. The east of the Sturt National Park has flood plains, some trees and small rocky gorges and creek beds. Lake Pinnaroo, near Fort Grey, is a Ramsar listed wetland.
The central area of the park, near the old Olive Downs sheep station, has "jump-ups", flat topped mesas rising up to 150 m above the plains. In the far west of the National Park, the gibber (stone) plains are replaced by the red sand dunes of the Strezlecki Desert.
The Mount Wood Station used to cover 500,000 acre and had 86,000 sheep. It employed 100 people. The homestead buildings have been renovated and an outdoor farm museum has been started. The historic homestead, built in 1884, has been turned into a place for up to 15 tourists to stay, and the old shearer's house can hold 38 people. There is also camping areas at Dead Horse Gully at Tibooburra, Olive Downs, Fort Grey and Mount Wood.
Cameron's Corner is a very remote but popular place for tourists to visit. It is where the borders of the states of New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland meet.
Sturt National Park was shown on a British TV documentary called "Planet Earth".
Wildlife
Red Kangaroos, Western Grey Kangaroos, Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Euros are common throughout the park.
World Trade Center site
Debris and clean-up
On March 11, 2002, six months after the attacks, the Tribute in Light, a memorial with two beams of light shooting straight up into the sky, began. It was lit up every day at dusk until April 14, 2002. After that, it was lit up for the second anniversary of the attacks, on September 11, 2003. It has been lit up every September 11 since then.
New buildings
In an address to Congress, the president said, "As a symbol of America's resolve, my administration will work with Congress, and these two leaders, to show the world that we will rebuild New York City." However, 20 years after the attacks, only four buildings, One World Trade Center, 3 World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center and 7 World Trade Center, have been rebuilt. One building, One World Trade Center, is currently under construction.
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
A memorial, "Reflecting Absence", honors the people killed in the September 11 attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. It was designed by Peter Walker and Israeli-American architect Michael Arad. It has a field of trees with the footprints of the original towers. The footprints are filled with pools of water. It opened on the tenth anniversary of the attacks, on September 11, 2011.
On October 12, 2004, the LMDC announced that Gehry Partners LLP and Snøhetta, an architectural company from Norway, would design a performing arts center and museum at the site. It is a museum and a visitors' center for the site. The museum opened in 2014.
Pumpkinhead II
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings is a 1994 movie about a young boy named Tommy, a misfit and deformed teenager who had no friends.
Plot
One day, Tommy is killed by a gang of bad boys from his home town for no reason at all. Miss Ossie was an old lady who used to take care of Tommy from the very beginning. When the young boy is killed, she decides to bury him in her backyard as a way to keep him around anyway. Several years later in the 1990s, a bunch of teenagers go to Miss Ossie's house and they do something that brings Tommy back to life. Some kind of spelling that resurrect the deformed kid. For some reason, Tommy comes back as an angry and even more grotesque creature who wants to take revenge on the people who killed him in the past and innocent people as well.
Meaghan Jette Martin
Meaghan Jette Martin is an American actress and singer. She played the role of "Tess Tyler" in the Disney Channel movie Camp Rock. She has also been on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Close to Home, and Just Jordan. She had two songs in Camp Rock, "Too Cool" and "2 Stars". She also sang "When You Wish Upon a Star" on the 2009 DVD/Blu-ray release of Disney's Pinocchio. She is the new voice of "Naminé" in Kingdom Hearts: Re:Chain of Memories. She has been given a role in the new ABC Family series 10 Things I Hate About You. Martin will also star in Camp Rock 2, which is being made in 2009.
Toussieux
Toussieux is a commune. It is found in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Ain department in the east of France.
Kjetil-Vidar Haraldstad
Kjetil-Vidar Haraldstad (born June 28, 1973) is a Norwegian extreme drummer. He is better known by his stage name, Frost. He chose this stage name, because he wanted to purify himself and become one with the darkness and the Frost of Black Metal. He currently plays for the black metal bands Satyricon and 1349. He is considered reputable for being one of the fastest and most proficient drummer alive, and a legend to Black Metal and to Norway art scene.
He used blast beats during his performances with 1349 and Satyricon. He has since done more simplistic and mid-tempo with Satyricon.
During a tour, he was denied entry to North America by the US Department of Homeland Security. This was because he did not note that he was sentenced to 5 months for assault, for a bar fight in the early 1990s, when he was applying for his work visa. On the 1349 tours before 2008, Tony Laureano replaced him on drums. Joey Jordison and Trym Torson also performed with Satyricon during the bands North American tour dates. Frost was later able to join the band and perform again in the United States.
Yuji Funayama
Yuji Funayama (船山祐二) is a Japanese professional athlete. He is best known as an Association football player.
Club career statistics
34||8||2||0||2||0||0||0||38||8 34||8||2||0||2||0||0||0||38||8
2017 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2017 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League.
Republic of the Congo at the Olympics
Congo at the Olympics is a history which includes 11 games in 10 countries and 60+ athletes. Since 1964, athletes of the Congo have taken part in the "Olympic Movement".
The International Olympic Committee's official abbreviation for the Congo is CCGO.
History
The National Olympic Committee for the Congo (Comité National Olympique et Sportif Congolais) was formed in 1964 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee the same year.
The Republic of the Congo, competing as Congo, was first at the Olympic Games in 1964. Competitors from the Congo missed the 1968 Summer Olympics and boycotted the 1976 Summer Olympics along with most other African nations. Congo has been in the Winter Olympic Games since 1988.
As of 2012, no athlete from Congo has ever won an Olympic medal.
Scranton, Arkansas
Scranton is a city in the US state of Arkansas.
Tigranakert
Tigranakert (Armenian: Տիգրանակերտ, transliterated "Tigranakert" and also spelled "Dikranagerd" in Western Armenian; Latin Tigranocerta) was a city near present-day Silvan, Turkey, east of Diyarbakır. It was founded by the Armenian Emperor Tigranes the Great in the 1st century BC. Tigranakert was founded as the new capital of the Armenian Empire in order to be in a more central position within the boundaries of the expanding empire.
Anykščiai
Anykščiai is a city in the northeast of Lithuania and Utena County. It is 33 kilometres away from Utena.
History
Anykščiai was first mentioned in 1442. In 1442-1452, a wooden church was built here.
Christian Dior
Christian Dior (Granville, Manche, Basse-Normandie, 21 January 1905 – Montecatini, Italy, 24 October 1957), was the leading French fashion designer of the post-war world. He was the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, the House of Dior (now Christian Dior).
Career
During the German occupation of France in World War II, Christian Dior dressed the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. On 8 October 1946 he founded his own fashion house, backed by Marcel Boussac, the cotton-fabric magnate.
The New Look
For his first collection, in early 1947, the phrase The New Look was coined by Harper's Bazaar, the fashion monthly. Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the economy shapes of World War II, when fabric was rationed.
Dior was a master at creating shapes and silhouettes; he said "I have designed flower women". His look employed fabrics lined with percale (a closely woven plain-weave fabric), boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats. This made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form.
Some women protested, because his designs covered up their legs, which they did not during wartime. There was also criticism of Dior's designs, which used a lot of fabric. Opposition ceased as soon as wartime shortages ended. The New Look revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the center of the fashion world.
THX 1138
THX 1138 is a 1971 movie and was the first feature movie directed by George Lucas and executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and Coppola's production company American Zoetrope.
Christian Dior
A-line
The term was first used by Dior as the label for his collection of spring 1955. The A-Line collection's feature item, then the "most wanted silhouette in Paris", was a "fingertip-length flared jacket worn over a dress with a very full, pleated skirt". Evening dresses at this time were always worn with petticoats.
THX 1138
It was based on a short film Lucas made in college in 1967 called Electric Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB.
Christian Dior
A-line
Although an A-shape, this silhouette was not identical to what is now understood to embody the A-line idea. That idea was given its definitive expression and popularized by Dior’s successor, Yves Saint Laurent, with his "Trapeze Line" of spring 1958, which featured dresses flaring out dramatically from a fitted shoulder line.
A-line clothes remained popular in the 1960s and 70s, disappeared from fashion almost completely by the early 1980s and were revived by the retro trend of the late 1990s. By that time, 'A-line' was used more loosely to describe any dress wider at the hips than at the bust or waist, as well as a number of flared skirt styles. 'True' A-line shapes on the pattern of Dior and Saint Laurent saw a revival in the early 2000s.
Democratic Republic of the Congo at the Olympics
As of 2011, no athlete from DR Congo has ever won an Olympic medal.
The National Olympic Committee for DR Congo was formed in 1963 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1968.
Combat sport
A combat sport (also known as a combative sport) is a competitive contact sport where two combatants fight against each other using certain rules of contact, with the aim of simulating parts of real hand to hand combat. Boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, mixed martial arts and fencing are examples of combat sports.
Puppet
Puppets are objects used in theatrical performances. They are similar to dolls. They often use strings or other means to make the puppet move and look alive. Some puppets are very simple, but others are more complicated and need skill to use. The person who works the puppet and makes it move is called a puppeteer. The audience cannot usually see this person but some, like a ventriloquist and dummy, are in full view of the audience. There are many different types of puppets to be found around the world. Puppetry is a special art form that is very important in some cultures.
Types of puppets
Finger Puppet: A very simple type of puppet where the puppet is placed on a finger and worked by moving the finger.
Hand Puppet: Similar to a finger puppet, but larger. The puppeteer uses his or her fingers and hand to work the puppet. Punch and Judy are famous glove puppets.
Pop-up puppets: A cone with a rod through and a puppet inside. When the rod is pushed up, the puppet appears.
Paddle Puppet: The puppet is on the end of a paddle. When the puppeteer steps on the paddles back end the other end lifts up, making it seem that the puppet moves by itself.
Jumping Jack: A puppet where the arms and legs of the puppet are joined to a string. When the string is pulled down, the arms and legs go up.
Rod Puppet and Bunraku: The puppet is worked with rods joined to the puppets arms and legs, while another puppeteer moves the head and sometimes the mouth. Bunraku is a special type of Japanese rod puppetry.
Shadow Puppet: Another very simple puppet. A cut out figure on a rod is held in front of a light. Its shadow is projected onto a screen. The puppeteer moves the puppet around, giving it some life. Sometimes coloured paper is used to give a certain amount of colour to the puppet.
Marionette or String Puppet: This puppet is moved around with strings that hang from above the theatre. This is one of the more complex types of puppetry and is hard to master as some marionettes can have up to thirty strings.
Ventriloquist Figure or Dummy: This puppet is one of the few where the audience sees the puppeteer. The puppeteer moves the puppets head arms and mouth with his hands as well as with levers. The performance usually takes the shape of a conversation between the dummy and the puppeteer. The puppeteer speaks normally, then puts on a different voice when the puppet is supposed to be talking. His voice seems to be coming from his stomach (Latin: "venter"). His lips are not moving, but the puppet's lips may move, so it seems as if the puppet is talking.
Ticklebug: A type of Hand Puppet; a person uses their fingers as body parts to look like their hand is an animal. The center finger becomes the animal's head, the first and third fingers become the front legs, and the thumb and last finger are used as back legs.
Vano Merabishvili
Ivane "Vano" Merabishvili (ივანე [ვანო] მერაბიშვილი; born 15 April 1968) is a Georgian politician. He became Prime Minister of Georgia on 4 July 2012. His term ended after his resignation on 25 October 2012.
Abaucourt-Hautecourt
Abaucourt-Hautecourt is a commune. It is in Grand Est in the Meuse department in northeast France.
Treffort-Cuisiat
Treffort-Cuisiat is a former commune. It is found in the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in the Ain department in the east of France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Val-Revermont.
Semele
Semele is a person in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. She has a child called Dionysus. Her child grows up and becomes a god.
Story
Semele was a priestess of Zeus. On one day, Zeus saw her as she killed a bull at his altar. She swam in the river Asopus to wash the blood off her body. Zues turned himself into an eagle and flew over the place where she was bathing. Zeus saw Semele and fell in love with her. He visited her many times, in secret. Zeus' wife, Hera got jealous of the girls Zeus loved. She found out of his love with Semele. Semele became pregnant. Hera turned herself into an old woman. Hera became friends with Semele. Semele told her that her lover was Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her. She made Semele wonder if her lover was lying about being Zeus. Semele asked Zeus to grant her a wish. Zeus promised on the River Styx to give her anything she wanted. She then told Zeus to come to her in his truest form. Zeus asked her not to ask this. But she did not change her choice. Zeus tried to spare her by showing her the smallest of his thunderbolts. Humans cannot look upon the gods without being burned, so Semele died, getting burned in a lightning fire.
Writing
Writing is the act of recording language on a visual medium using a set of symbols. The symbols must be known to others, so that the text may be read.
Semele
Story
When he grew up, Dionysus rescued his mother from underworld. Later, she became a goddess on Mount Olympus. She got a new name Thyone. She lived being inspired by her son Dionysus. At a later point in Dionysiaca, Semele, now reborn, feel proud to her sister Ino.
Writing
A text may also use other visual systems, such as illustrations and decorations. These are not called writing, but may help the message work. Usually, all educated people in a country use the same writing system to record the same language. To be able to read and write is to be literate.
Writing differs from speech because the readers need not be present at the time. We can read writing from long ago, and from different parts of the world. Text stores and communicates knowledge. Writing is one of the greatest inventions of the human species. It was invented after people settled in towns, and after agriculture started. Writing dates from about 3,300 BC, which is over 5000 years ago, in the Middle East.
Writing today is usually on paper, though there are ways to print on almost any surface. Television and movie screens can also display writing, and so can computer screens. Many writing materials were invented, long before paper. Clay, papyrus, wood, slate and parchment (prepared animal skins) have all been used. The Romans wrote on waxed tablets with a pointed stylus; this was popular for temporary notes and messages. The later invention of paper by the Chinese was a big step forward.
Writing is traditionally done using a hand tool such as a pencil, a pen, or a brush. More and more, however, text is created by input on a computer keyboard.
Definition of writing
There are two schools of thought:
Therefore, depending on an author's definition of writing, the term may be used in different ways. With many early systems we do not know what they do convey. The central idea is that a full writing system must be able to represent anything that might be said in spoken language. p7, 217 From this point of view the invention of the rebus is an essential step.
We can only be sure a sign system is full writing if we can translate the symbols into a modern language. In the case of some ancient scripts we cannot do this.
History of writing
Writing was invented independently a number of times. The Sumerian, the ancient Egyptian, the Chinese and the Mayan writings are separate in their invention. p85 All these writing systems started with pictographs, symbols that stood for things. Then they developed a mixture of methods. Our own alphabetic system is different. It is based on the sounds of spoken language. All alphabets are modified versions of the first one, which originated with the Phoenicians and the Ancient Greeks.
1900 Galveston Hurricane
This hurricane killed between 6,000 and 12,000 people. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 hit the city of Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900. This hurricane was very large, and it is the deadliest hurricane in the history of the United States. It killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people. It was a "Category 4 hurricane" on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
Writing
Sumer
The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 5000 years ago this was a fertile region and is now mostly in Iraq. The Sumerians developed a form of writing called cuneiform. Triangular marks were pressed into soft clay tablets. After the clay had dried in the sun the tablets were baked. Then they were carried somewhere else for others to read. We know that its first uses were for trade, accounting and administration.
1900 Galveston Hurricane
Prelude to the great storm
The U.S. National Weather Service was very simple in 1900. They did not have good information on what the storm was doing. As a result, they could not give people advance warnings. Galveston was located on a sandbar island off the coast of Texas. It was only about nine feet above sea level. The population was about 38,000. On the morning of September 8, 1900, nobody knew that 8,000 of that number would be gone by the next day.
Writing
Sumer
The earliest signs were mostly pictorial, but soon they stood as symbols for objects, ideas and sounds. This writing system was extremely successful, and outlasted the Sumerian empire. It was then used by other civilisations in the Middle East, such as the Old Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Elamite, Hittite, Old Persian and Ugaritic empires. The last cuneiform inscription was dated as AD 75. Thus the system had lasted for more than 3000 years. p71 Each version of cuneiform had to be deciphered separately, because all the languages were different. Documents (including stone objects) written in more than one language provided the clues.
1900 Galveston Hurricane
The hurricane
The Galveston hurricane began developing about August 30, 1900 in the middle Atlantic Ocean. It was still a tropical storm when it moved to Cuba on September 4. It hit Key West on September 6. At that point it became a full hurricane. It was a Category 4 hurricane when it got near the Texas coast. In the early afternoon of September 8 it hit with little warning. By the next morning it was gone and so was much of Galveston. After that, it moved back east as a tropical storm over the U.S. The damage was over $30,000,000. Galveston began rebuilding almost right away. A new seawall was built and many buildings were raised several feet. But it could not recover completely. The storm convinced most in the shipping industry to move to Houston with its safer harbor. Galveston would never again be the busiest shipping port in Texas.
Newington, London
Newington is an area in the London Borough of Southwark in London, England.
Writing
Ancient Egypt
This is the most famous of the old forms of writing, or scripts. It was invented at roughly the same time as cuneiform, yet was quite different in style, and used different materials. Egyptians ended up with three writing systems for the same language. They were:
The writing tools used varied according to the material which was written on. The two cursive scripts were written with reed pens and carbon inks onto papyrus. If the material was cloth, then the writing was done by a brush. Many examples survive. The hieroglyphs were inscribed (carved) into stone (hammer & chisel) or painted onto stone surfaces. Many survive, some with the original colours intact. The key event in the decipherment of hieroglyphic writing was the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. This is a granite slab with the same message written in hieroglyphic, demotic and in Greek. Ancient Greek is well understood, and made possible the interpretation of the other two scripts.
Chinese
Chinese is the language with the largest number of native speakers. Its history dates back to about 1400 BC. p183 The Chinese writing system is idio-syllabic, a mixed method using characters which may have one or more of these elements:
Chinese has a huge number of characters: in the region of 50,000. p186 Because of this, printing methods were never really successful in China, despite their early invention. In the 14th century Wang Tzhen had sixty thousand wood block characters cut, a huge investment in time and money. He printed 100 copies of a local gazette, and was author of a treatise on agriculture and other technical works. Even with printing machines from Europe in the 19th century, the process was hampered by the huge number of characters, which slowed the composition to a snail's pace.
China has eight regional languages that are mutually unintelligible, and many true dialects. The system appears to work mainly because as many as 70% speak Mandarin. Fluency in Chinese reading and writing is undoubtedly difficult to achieve, and this must act as a brake on the drive for literacy. There have been a number of attempts to reform or simplify the system. The most radical in Pinyin, which is a program to replace Chinese characters with an alphabetic system. This was supported by Mao, but faltered after his death.
Alphabets
It seems that the idea of an alphabet–a script based entirely upon sound–arose only once, and has been copied and adapted to suit many different languages. Although no alphabet fits its language perfectly, it is flexible enough to fit any language approximately. It was a unique invention. p12 Our alphabet is called the Roman alphabet, as compared with the Cyrillic and other alphabets. All of these come from the ancient Greek alphabet, which dates back to about 1100 to 800 BC. p167 The Greek alphabet was probably developed from the Phoenician script, which appeared somewhat earlier, and had some similar letter-shapes.
The Phoenician language was a Semitic language, often called Canaanite. The Semitic group of languages includes Arabic, Maltese, Hebrew and also Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus. We do not know much about how the alphabetic idea arose, but the Phoenicians, a trading people, came up with letters which were adapted by the early Greeks to produce their alphabet. The one big difference is that the Phoenician script had no pure vowels. Arabic script has vowels which may be shown by diacritics (small marks above or below the line). The oldest Qu'ran manuscripts had no diacritics. Israeli children today use texts with vowel 'dots' added, to about the third grade. p89
Semitic scripts apparently derive from Proto-Sinaitic, a script of which only 31 inscriptions (plus 17 doubtful) are known. It is thought by some researchers that the original source of this script was the Egyptian hieratic script. By the late Middle Kingdom (about 1900 BC ) hieratic had added some alphabetic signs for representing the consonants of foreign names. Egyptian activity in Sinai was at its height at that time. A similar idea had been suggested many years before.
Undeciphered scripts
There are a number of scripts which have never been deciphered, despite much effort. p145 Perhaps the most famous are the script of the Indus Valley civilization, and Etruscan. The Indus River civilisation predates other literate civilisations on the Indian subcontinent, going back to about 2500 BC. Their cities of Mohenjo-Daru and Harappa were well-planned, with good drainage. The script is found on seal stones, terracotta, bronze, bone and ivory. All are brief, and the language is unknown.