ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Sir Thaddeus, or the Last Lithuanian Foray: A Nobleman's Tale from the Years of 1811 and 1812 in Twelve Books of Verse (in Polish "Pan Tadeusz, czyli ostatni zajazd na Litwie. Historia szlachecka z roku 1811 i 1812 we dwunastu księgach wierszem") is a long poem by Polish romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz. It is regarded as a national epic. It was first published in Paris in 1834. The poet was then in exile in France. "Sir Thaddeus" is a story of a conflict between two noble families, the Soplicas and the Horeszkos. The time is 1811 and 1812, shortly before Napoleon invaded Russia. When attacked by Russian soldiers, both families fought against the enemy. The conflict between the families was ended with the marriage of Thaddeus Soplica and Sophia Horeszko. Adam Mickiewicz was born in the East of the former Polish-Lithuanian state. Because of that he called Lithuania his mother-country. &lt;poem&gt; "Litwo! Ojczyzno moja! ty jesteś jak zdrowie." "Ile cię trzeba cenić, ten tylko się dowie," "Kto cię stracił. Dziś piękność twą w całej ozdobie" "Widzę i opisuję, bo tęsknię po tobie." &lt;/poem&gt; Lithuania, my country, thou art like health; how much thou shouldst be prized only he can learn who has lost thee. To-day thy beauty in all its splendour I see and describe, for I yearn for thee. (Translation in prose by George Rapall Noyes). The poem is written in 13-syllable metre, very common in Polish literature.
Charles Joseph Colgan (September 25, 1926 – January 3, 2017) was an American politician and businessman. He served as a member of the Virginia Senate from the 29th district from January 1976 to January 2016. He also served two terms as President pro tempore from 2008 to 2012, and for less than four months in 2014. Colgan was born in Frostburg, Maryland. He served in the U.S. Air Force (USAF) in 1945. He was married twice and had eight children. Colgan died from a vascular illness on January 3, 2017 in Aldie, Virginia. He was 90.
Ivo Brešan (27 May 1936 – 3 January 2017) was a Croatian playwright, novelist and screenwriter. He was for known for political satire. He was on screen from the early 1970s to 2006. His work included "Acting Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja" (1973), "How the War Started on My Island" (1996) and "Marshal Tito's Spirit" (1999). He had written screenplays with his son Vinko Brešan. Brešan was born in Vodice. In 2001, he was awarded the Vladimir Nazor Award for Life Achievement in Literature Brešan died on 3 January 2017 in Zagreb at the age of 80.
Rolf Noskwith (19 June 1919 – 3 January 2017) was a British businessman. During the Second World War, he worked under Alan Turing as a cryptographer at the British military base Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Noskwith was born in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. His parents were Eastern European-born Jews. He moved with his family to England in 1932. He was educated at Cambridge. Noskwith died on 3 January 2017 in London at the age of 97.
Diego Luna Alexander (born 29 December 1979) is a Mexican actor, director and producer. He has appeared in many movies, including "Y tu mamá también" (2001), ' (2004), "The Terminal" (2004), "Milk" (2008), "Elysium" (2013) and "Rogue One" (2016). He currently stars as Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo in the Netflix crime series ' (2018–present). Luna was born in Toluca and grew up in Mexico City. His mother Fiona Alexander, a British set designer, died in a car accident when Luna was two. His father Alejandro Luna is a Mexican set designer. He was married to actress Camila Sodi from 2008 to 2013. They have two children.
Donnie Yen (born 27 July 1963), also known as Yen Ji-dan (甄子丹), is a Chinese-born Hong Kong actor, martial artist, movie director, producer and action choreographer. He is also a wushu world champion many times. He is best known for his role as Ip Man in the "Ip Man" (2008–2015) trilogy movies. He also appeared in "Shanghai Knights" (2003), "Flash Point" (2007) and "Rogue One" (2016).  Yen was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong. They later moved to Boston, Massachusetts, United States when he was 11. He has been married twice and has three children.
Hercules is an American 2014 action-adventure-fantasy film. Directed by Brett Ratner, it stars Dwayne Johnson, Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell and John Hurt and is based off the graphic novel "Hercules: The Thracian Wars". It was released on July 25, 2014 and was one of two movies released in 2014 which were about the mythical warrior, the other being The Legend of Hercules; unlike the former, this film gained mixed to positive critical reviews and was a box office success. Plot. Hercules (Dwayne Johnson), is the leader of a gang of mercenaries, comprised of the prophet Amphariaus (Ian McShane), the thief Autylocus (Rufus Sewell), the barbarian Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), the huntress Atalanta (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and his nephew Iolaus (Reece Ritchie). Hercules is supposedly the lovechild of Zeus and a mortal woman who engaged in 12 legendary labors, but was betrayed by Hera, who induced him with madness, which caused him to kill his wife and children while he was visiting King Eurystheus (Joseph Fiennes). Despite Hercules' origins not being clearly established in the movie, he displays powerful godlike strength and unmatched skill in combat. However, he is frequently plagued by the memory of murdering his family and visions of the three-headed hellhound Cerberus. After saving his nephew on the coast of Macedonia, Hercules celebrates with his team. As they drink in a tavern, the group are approached by Ergenia (Rebecca Ferguson), the daughter of Lord Cotys (John Hurt) who wants Hercules to train the Thracian armies to defend his kingdom from the warrior king Rhesus, to which the hero accepts. The band are welcomed to Thrace by Cotys and General Sitacles (Peter Mullan). However, Rhesus has reached the Bessi people Cotys insists that Hercules leads the army into battle to defend the tribe, despite their lack of training. However, they arrive too late as Rhesus has cursed the Bessi into turning against the Thracians.
Igor Petrovich Volk (, ; 12 April 1937 – 3 January 2017) was a Soviet cosmonaut and test pilot. He was best known for his involvement as a research cosmonaut in the Soyuz T-12 in 1980. It was seventh manned spaceflight to the Soviet space station Salyut 7. He bomber pilot in the Soviet Air Force. He later joined the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1962. He had over 7000 flight hours logged in over 80 different aircraft. He had the rank of colonel in the Russian Air Force. Volk was born in Zmiiv, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR. He was given many awards, most famously the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin titles. He was married and had two children. Volk died on 3 January 2017 while on holiday in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He was 79.
René Ballet (1928 – 2 January 2017) was a French journalist and author. He was a communist and a member of the French Communist Party. He started his career as a civil servant in Paris in 1961. He was first a civil servant in finance and later in national education. He was the writer of 14 novels and 35 essays. In 1978, he started working for the communist newspaper "L'Humanité". Ballet was born in Saint-Étienne. He grew up in Grenoble. He joined the French Resistance during World War II. He lived in Vanves. Ballet died on 2 January 2017 at the age of 88.
Wayne Brett Westner (28 September 1961 – 4 January 2017) was a South African golfer. He turned professional in 1982. He had a total of 13 wins in his career. He was best known for his 1993 Dubai Desert Classic win. He also won the World Cup of Golf in 1996 with Ernie Els. His career ended in 1998 because of injury. He was born in Johannesburg. Westner was involved in a hostage event on 4 January 2017 at his home in Pennington, KwaZulu-Natal. He later committed suicide (killed himself) with a gunshot wound to his head at his home. He was 55.
The rigging of a sailing ship is made up of the ropes and/or chains used to support the ship's masts, yards and sails. The standing rigging is used to support the masts. The running rigging supports the yards and sails. Some types of sailboats that have unsupported masts do not have any rigging. These include the junk rig and catboat rigs. Bermuda sloops with a single mast and one headsail use fairly simple rigging. Cutter-rigged ketches and schooners have the most complex rigging. Standing rigging. A sailing ship's standing rigging is made up of the ropes used to support the masts, yards and booms. Most modern sailing vessels use wire rope for the standing rigging. Modern standing rigging is regularly checked for tension using a special gauge. Adjusting the tension is done by use of a turnbuckle. Ropes, wires or rods that run fore-and-aft along the centerline which stabilize the masts or spars are called stays. Those that from the mast to the bow are called forestays. Those that run from the mast to the stern are called backstays. Running rigging. The running rigging of a sailing vessel controls the sails. The running rigging is usually made up of various kinds of rope (ropes are also called lines). It uses blocks and Sheaves to adjust the length of the ropes. A block is a kind of pulley. A sheave is the grooved wheel inside the block. Larger sailing boats and ships use winches. The adjustability of the running rigging allows the boat to perform various maneuvers such as tacking and jibing. Common to all sailboats are the outhaul and the downhaul. The outhaul pulls the sail to the free end of the boom. The downhaul keeps the boom from rising on the mast.
Djoser (other names include Netjerikhet, Tosorthos, and Sesorthos) was the first Pharaoh, or king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt, c. 2670 BCE. He is known for the building of the first pyramid built in Egypt, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. The Third Dynasty, based in Memphis, was the beginning of the Old Kingdom, a period of stability, achievement and unity. There have been claims that he was not the first king, as the Abydos King List and the Turin King List give a king by the name of Sanakht. There is no archaeological evidence to support this, and most experts agree that Djoser was the first. He ruled for at least 20 years, but he had so many temples, tombs and monuments built that some experts say he may have ruled for up to 30 years. There is a painted limestone statue of Djoser, which is the oldest discovered life sized Egyptian statue. It was found in Saqqara during archaeological digging in 1924-1925. The statue is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The Step Pyramid. The building of the Step Pyramid was quite an achievement. It is the first massive monument built in stone, about 62 meters in height. It is surrounded by a 10 meter high wall, which encloses an area of about 16 hectares. It shows that the kingdom must have been stable and wealthy to have spent so much time and money to build it. The man who designed it and supervised the building was Imhotep, the oldest named architect known to us. Thousands of years later, Djoser was known to Egyptians as the "opener of stone", recognising his legacy of using stone for buildings. The Famine. The Egyptians believed in a story of how Djoser was able to end a famine. There is no evidence from the time of his rule, but an engraved stone, a stele, was made 2000 years later giving the details. Even if the story is a legend, it does show that Djoser was remembered as a great pharaoh. Egypt had been suffering from a famine for seven years, when the god of the Nile, Khnum, spoke to Djoser in a dream. Djoser rebuilt Khnum's temple on Elephantine, an island near modern Aswan. This pleased the god, and the famine ended. The ruins of the temple are still visible today.
Abdul Halim Jaffer Khan (February 15, 1927 – January 4, 2017) was an Indian "sitar" player and composer. Khan was born in Madhya Pradesh, India. He won the national awards Padma Shri (1970) and Padma Bhushan (2006) and was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1987. He composed musical movie scores for "Goonj Uthi Shehnai" (1959), "Kohinoor" (1960) and "Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje" (1971). Khan died on January 4, 2017 at his home in Mumbai, India from cardiac arrest, aged 89.
George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American politician. He was the 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture from April 25, 2017 to January 20, 2021. He was the 81st Governor of Georgia from 2003 to 2011. In January 2003, he became the first Republican Governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. Perdue served on the Governors’ Council of the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.. On January 18, 2017, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Perdue to be United States Secretary of Agriculture. His nomination was sent to the Senate on March 9, 2017. He was approved by the United States senate with a vote of 87-11 on April 24, 2017. He left office on January 20, 2021 when Joe Biden became president. In April 2022, he became the 14th Chancellor of the University System of Georgia. Early life. Perdue was born in Perry, Georgia. He is the son of Ophie Viola (Holt), a teacher, and George Ervin Perdue Jr., a farmer. The Perdue family owned slaves in Georgia during the 19th century. Perdue played quarterback at Warner Robins High School. He studied at the University of Georgia. In 1971, Perdue earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and worked as a veterinarian before becoming a small business owner, eventually starting three businesses. Perdue served in the U.S. Air Force. He became a captain before leaving the military. Georgia State Senator (1991–2002). After working as a member of the Houston County Planning &amp; Zoning Commission in the 1980s, Perdue ran for a seat in the Georgia General Assembly. He defeated Republican candidate Ned Sanders in 1990 and succeeded Democratic incumbent Ed Barker as the Senator representing the 18th district. Perdue was elected in 1991, 1994, and 1996. He was his party's
Joseph Michael "Joe" Manganiello ( ; ; born December 28, 1976) is an American actor, director, producer, author and philanthropist. He played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy and had many recurring roles in television on "ER", "How I Met Your Mother", and "One Tree Hill", before landing his breakout role as werewolf Alcide Herveaux on the HBO television series "True Blood". He played the supervillain Deathstroke in Zack Snyder's 2017 movie "Justice League". He appeared as Burke in the 2018 movie "Rampage". Manganiello has appeared in movies such as "Magic Mike," "What to Expect When You're Expecting", and "Sabotage". In late 2013, he became a published author when his first book, "Evolution", was released by Simon &amp; Schuster's Gallery Books. He is active with several charities, including Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and he serves on the committee of The Art of Elysium. In 2015, he married Sofía Vergara after three months of dating. In July 2023, Manganiello and Vergara announced that they have separated and are planning to divorce after seven years of marriage. He lives in Los Angeles, California.
Deathstroke (Slade Joseph Wilson) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Fictional character biography. He is a mercenary and assassin who first appeared in "The New Teen Titans" (vol. 1) #2 (1980). "Wizard" magazine rated him the 24th greatest villain of all time. Also, in 2009, Deathstroke was ranked as IGN's 32nd greatest comic book villain of all time. Originally the archenemy of the Teen Titans, writers have developed him over the years as a villain of other heroes in the DC Universe; parallels have been established between him and Batman, and he has a deep-seated grudge against Green Arrow.  In other media. The character has been adapted from the comics into multiple forms of media, including several "Batman" related projects and the "Teen Titans" animated series. Deathstroke later appeared on The CW's live action TV series "Arrow", where he is portrayed by Manu Bennett. Joe Manganiello has been cast as Deathstroke for the DC Extended Universe movie series.
Stoning or lapidation is a form of capital punishment: a group of people throws stones at the convicted person, until this person dies. Today, it is mostly used in countries which follow sharia law. For example if someone does adultery according to the Qur'an, Bible (Old Testament) , and Torah they will have to be stoned until they die from the stones.
A hypnic jerk, hypnagogic jerk or sleep twitch sometimes happens when a person is falling asleep. It is an involuntary movement, that is, not done on purpose. It may cause them to jump and awaken suddenly for a moment.  Hypnic jerks are one form of involuntary muscle twitches called "myoclonus". Such movements do occur in healthy people. They have been associated with causes such as irregular sleep patterns or stress. Certain substances such as caffeine may also cause them.
Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen (born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. He is best known for his roles in the movies "King Arthur" (2004), "Casino Royale" (2006), "Coco Chanel &amp; Igor Stravinsky" (2009), "The Hunt" (2012) and "Doctor Strange" and "Rogue One" (both 2016). He also played Hannibal Lecter in the NBC television series "Hannibal" (2013–2015). Mikkelsen was born in Østerbro, Copenhagen. His older brother, Lars, is also an actor. He married Hanne Jacobsen in 2000. The couple have two children.
Jiang Wen (born 5 January 1963) is a Chinese movie actor, screenwriter and director. He directed and starred in the movies "In the Heat of the Sun" (1994), "Devils on the Doorstep" (2000), "Let the Bullets Fly" (2010) and "Gone with the Bullets" (2014). He also directed a segment of the movie "New York, I Love You" (2008). In 2016, he starred as Baze Malbus in the "Star Wars" anthology movie "Rogue One". Jiang was born in Tangshan, Hebei. He moved to Beijing when he was ten. He has been married twice and has three children.
Richard Robert "Dick" Latessa (September 15, 1929 – December 19, 2016) was an American stage, movie, and television actor. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was known for his stage role as Wilbur in the musical "Hairspray". In 2003, he won a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award in 2003. Latessa died of heart failure in Manhattan, New York City, New York on December 19, 2016, aged 87.
The Sharpeville massacre was when a crowd of between 5,000 and 7,000 black people protested at the police station in Sharpeville, South Africa on March 21, 1960. The police started shooting into the crowd. A total of 69 people were killed including 8 women and 10 children, and 180 people were hurt, including 31 women and 19 children. In South Africa today, this day is a public holiday in honor of human rights against racism. The demonstration was to protest against pass laws out of apartheid. The crowd went to the police station demanding to be arrested for not carrying their passes. At some point the South African Police started shooting. People have different explanations to what the crowd was doing. Some say that the crowd was peaceful. Others say that the crowd were throwing stones at the police. The shooting started when the crowd started going toward the fence around the police station. Some say this was what led Nelson Mandela to engaging in more violent protests. In 1998, Truth and Reconciliation Commission recognized this massacre violence against human rights.
Tullio De Mauro (31 March 1932 – 5 January 2017) was an Italian linguist and politician. He was the Italian Minister of Education from 2000 to 2001, under Prime Minister Giuliano Amato (2nd government). He was also a professor of general linguistics at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Rome. He was born in Torre Annunziata, Campania. He was elected a member of the Academia Europaea in 1989. De Mauro died on 5 January 2017 in Rome at the age of 84.
Kafr Bara or Kfar Bara (; ) is an Israeli-Arab local council in Israel's Central District. It is a small town located near the Green Line. The town is a part of the Little Triangle with Kafr Qasim and Jaljulia. In , people lived there. Population. According to the latest statistics, the population of Kafr bara is Arab Muslims. Institutions. The town has a community center and retirement center. It also has three mosques, a public library, a post office, two clinics and a football playground. There is 2 schools in Kafr Bara; Omar Bin Khattab primary school and , the Comprehensive Secondary School of Kafr Bara.
The snowy owl ("Bubo scandiacus") is an owl native to the Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. They hunt rodents. Lemmings are a favourite prey. They will also hunt fish and small mammals. The male's mating call sounds like "krek-krek", while the female's mating call sounds like "pyee-pyee" or "prek-prek". In the novel "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (USA edition: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"), Harry is assigned a female snowy owl as his animal companion. Her name is Hedwig.
Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China. It is in the Jiangxi Province. Poyang is fed by the Gan, Xin, and Xiu rivers. They connect to the Yangtze through a channel. Lake Poyang has always shrunk in the dry season and expanded in the wet season. It reached its greatest size during the Tang Dynasty, when its area reached . It is now around . Lake Pohang became much smaller because of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.
Nanuqsaurus ('meaning polar bear lizard') is a genus of theropod dinosaur. It is only known from one specimen, DMNH 21461, a partial skull roof found in Alaska. This dinosaur may grown to about 6 m (~20 ft) long, half the size of "Tyrannosaurus". The skull would have been about 50 cm (1.65 ft) when complete.
Madoc is a long poem by Robert Southey. The author is famous as the third of the Lake Poets. "Madoc" is an epic poem. It was first published in 1805. The poet worked on the poem for ten years. It tells about legendary Welsh prince Madog, ab Owain Gwynedd. He lived in 12th century. According to the legend, he explored America long before Christopher Columbus. The poem is divided into two parts. The first is named "Madoc in Wales" while the second "Madoc in Aztlan". The poem is written in Blank verse that is in unrhymed iambic pentameter. &lt;poem&gt; "Fair blows the wind, the vessel drives along," "Her streamers fluttering at their length, her sails" "All full, she drives along, and round her prow" "Scatters the ocean spray. What feelings then" "Filled every bosom, when the mariners," "After the peril of that weary way," "Beheld their own dear country ! Here stands one," "Stretching his sight toward the distant shore," "And, as to well known forms his busy joy" "Shapes the dim outline, eagerly he points" "The fancied headland and the cape and bay," "Till his eyes ache, o'erstraining." &lt;/poem&gt; The poem was reviewed in "The Poetical Register, and Repository of Fugitive Poetry". Irish poet Paul Muldoon named his book "Madoc: A Mystery" (1990) after Robert Southey's poem.