ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Castles are medieval buildings which were defensive homes for powerful people. They could be made from wood, stone, or brick, and some were used for hundreds of years. Thousands of castles were built across Europe, the Middle East, and Japan with different designs. Today, most castles are ruins and many are popular tourist attractions. In England and Wales castles were first used by the invading Normans led by Duke William in 1066. They provided a base for lord of the castle to control the surrounding area and govern their land. Castles were designed to be imposing: their massive defenses deterred attackers and showed the owner's strength. A few troops in a castle could defend themselves against a much larger army. The most common method for taking a castle would be to besiege or storm it. Each had problems. Storming a castle would kill many of the attackers, but a siege would take a long time. Both methods sometimes failed. Time of building. Castles were first built in the 9th century and the practice continued up to the 16th century. A castle was both a home for someone important like a king or noble, and a fort. Castles were designed to keep people out and show how powerful the people inside were. They were sometimes used in war, with many famous sieges like the siege of Kenilworth in 1266 which lasted for six months, or Stirling Castle which was besieged eight times. Castles could look very strong, but sometimes the defences were mostly for show. The moat around Bodiam Castle is not very deep and could be drained by an attacking army, so its defensive role could be defeated. But it made the castle look very impressive, and look bigger than it really is. If the owner of a castle rebelled against their ruler they might be punished by having their castle demolished, known as slighting. Locations. Castles were built in Europe and the Middle East, with similar buildings developing separately in Japan in the 15th century. Castles were usually built from either wood or stone, and sometimes brick. Some castles started off as wooden and were then rebuilt in stone, which was more expensive and a stronger so that the
Wikimedia Commons is a website owned by the Wikimedia Foundation, based on a wiki.  Overview. Anybody can upload images, sounds, videos, and other multimedia files to Wikimedia Commons. The files uploaded to Wikimedia Commons can be used by any other Wikimedia Foundation project, like Wikipedia or Wiktionary. For example, Wikipedia uses images on Wikimedia Commons to include pictures in their encyclopedia articles. The files can also be freely used by anyone else because they have free licenses. Categories. Wikimedia Commons has categories, which are groups of files that have something in common or similar. For example, there is a category for pictures of cats. Wikimedia Commons is a multilingual website, meaning that it can be used in every language. However, some parts of Wikimedia Commons are only in English, like names of categories. Sound files. Wikimedia Commons also has sound files. Not all of these are music. For example, there are recordings that read words out loud. These files are used in Wiktionary, a free dictionary, to teach people how to say words. For every file on Wikimedia Commons, the person who made it has to let everybody use it and change it as much as they want, including companies (see Creative Commons). Statistics. Wikimedia Commons reached 10 million files on April 15, 2011. Improvements. The Wikimedia Foundation was given money to make it easier for people to use their websites. They used some of this money to make the UploadWizard, a new system for uploading files on Wikimedia Commons. People started using the UploadWizard in December 2010. The UploadWizard also teaches new uploaders about copyright law. It has a tutorial for users to read so that they can check if the file they are uploading is violating copyright. Most uploads are by the UploadWizard. Before, Wikimedia Commons only let people upload one file at a time. The UploadWizard lets people upload multiple files at the same time and include all the required information about each one. Logo. The logo of Wikimedia Commons has a red circle inside a blue circle. There are many small blue arrows pointing from the blue circle to the red circle in the middle, and one big blue arrow pointing upwards. The small blue arrows represent the different projects of
Bulgaria (officially called the Republic of Bulgaria) is a country in south-eastern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bulgaria is the south of the River Danube and west of the Black Sea. To the south of Bulgaria is North Macedonia, Greece, European continental Turkey. To the north of the Danube is Romania, while to the west of Bulgaria is Serbia and its capital Beograd. The capital and the biggest city is Sofia. The name Sofia comes from the Greek language and means wisdom. Their money is called levs or in BNB naming, the lev or the Bulgarian lev. The Bulgarian government elected, and Bulgaria is a member of the European Union in Europe since 2007, and had political relations with Nato during the 90s during the postmodern movement, and in 2020s had become a member of NATO.  Bulgarians presidents up untill now are Jelio Jelev, Petar Stoyanov, Geroge Parvanov, Rosen Plevneliev.  During the 20th century the country was democratic communist country, of German type, similar to Eastern Germany, during the separation of Germany. General pilot Rumen Radev became President in 2017. The population of Bulgaria is about 6.5 million people as of 2024. Bulgaria has its own language, called Bulgarian. It is a type of Slavic language. It is related to languages like Serbian and Russian. Bulgaria borders Romania, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, and the Black Sea. One of the national heroes of Bulgaria is Vasil Levski who led the fight for independence in the late 1800s. Prehistory. In what is now Bulgaria, many different people and different cultures lived over time. This includes Neolithic, Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, eneolithic, Varna culture (5th millennium BC) and the Bronze Age Ezero culture. History. Classical Antiquity. The Thracians lived in the area of modern Bulgaria (in Thrace or ). King Tere united the people in Odrysian Kingdom around 500 BC. Alexander the Great had influence over the people in the
The Alps (, , , , , , ) is the greatest mountain range of Europe. It reaches from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west. The original meaning of the word was 'white'. The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc, at , on the Italian–French border. Geography. The Alps stretch from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west. Division. The mountains are divided into the Western Alps and the Eastern Alps. The division is along the line between Lake Constance and Lake Como, following the Rhine (on the north side, in Switzerland) and the river Mera in the South (in Italy). The Western Alps are higher, but their central chain is shorter and curved; they are located in Italy, France and Switzerland.  The Eastern Alps (main ridge system elongated and broad) belong to Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland. The highest peaks of the Western Alps are Mont Blanc, 4,808 metres (15,774 ft), Mont Blanc de Courmayeur 4,748 metres (15,577 ft), the Dufourspitze 4,634 metres (15,203 ft) and the other summits of the Monte Rosa group, and the Dom, 4,545 metres (14,911 ft). The highest peak in the Eastern Alps is Piz Bernina, 4,049 metres (13,284 ft). Perhaps the most famous location for tourist to the Alps are the Swiss Alps. Main chain. The main chain of the Alps follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald, Austria, defining partially the northern border of Italy. It then passes over many of the highest and most famous peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs to the west before turning to the northwest and then, to the north, near the Colle della Maddalena. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain goes about northeast, a heading it follows until its end
Rwanda is a country in Africa. It is near Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Uganda, and Tanzania. In the Rwandan genocide of 1994, over one million (1,000,000) people were killed. History. Colonialism. During the Scramble for Africa, Belgium conquered Rwanda. The Belgians then began to divide Rwandans into groups: Hutu, and Tutsi. The Belgians picked people that they thought looked more European to be Tutsi. The rest became Hutu. The Belgians told Rwandans that Tutsi were superior to Hutu. They helped Tutsi rule over Hutu using their army. After independence. On July 1, 1962, Rwanda became independent and Hutu were given power. Thus, anti-Tutsi purges occurred frequently. Many Tutsi fled to Uganda, where they formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front, or RPF, which tried to invade Rwanda in 1990. The genocide against Tutsi. On the night of April 6, 1994, dictator Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was shot down, but it is still not clear who did it. Within half an hour, roadblocks manned by the Interahamwe militia were seen all over the capital, Kigali. The genocide against Tutsi had begun. It lasted for about 100 days, and it left over one million (1,000,000), Tutsi and moderate Hutu dead. The main weapon used was the machete, or "umupanga". Other countries paid little attention to the killing. On July 2, 1994, the RPF captured Kigali. Geography. At , Rwanda is the world's 149th-largest country. The entire country is at a high altitude. The lowest point is the Rusizi River (also sometimes spelled Ruzizi) at above sea level. Rwanda is in Central/Eastern Africa. It is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, and Burundi to the south. It is a few degrees south
Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes in North America, but its maximum depth (802ft; 244m) is deeper than lake Erie's (210ft) and Lake Huron's (750ft).  It forms most of the border between Ontario in Canada and New York in the United States of America. Its inlet is the Niagara River (from Niagara Falls), and its outlet is the Saint Lawrence River. Nearly 9 million Canadians live near Lake Ontario. It is the only Great Lake that does not touch the U.S. state of Michigan, the "Great Lakes State".
Lake Superior is a lake in Canada and the United States.  The Ojibwe Native Americans call it Gitchigume. Lake Superior is in between Ontario and Minnesota to the north and Wisconsin and Michigan in the south, and is the largest of North America's Great Lakes. It is the world's third largest lake, and the world's largest freshwater lake (by area). Its outlet is the St. Marys River to Lake Huron. The Soo Locks allow carrying large amounts of iron ore and other cargo to the other Great Lakes. Over 80 species of fish live in Lake Superior.
SS "Edmund Fitzgerald" was an ore carrier on Lake Superior, carrying iron ore, which sank on November 10, 1975, at around 7:30 p.m. The ship was known for being the biggest of its time, weighing in at around 13,600 tons. The Edmund Fitzgerald was one of the largest "iron boats" working the Great Lakes. Nobody knows how the boat sank; however, it is very possible that the dangerously high weight of its cargo and the violent winds and waves caused the ship to sink. All 29 men aboard the boat died, and to this day, no bodies have been recovered. To remember the men on the S.S. Fitzgerald, a song was written by the Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot and titled "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The song describes the ship itself and touches on some theories on how it may have sunk; interestingly enough, the original song contained the following passage: This passage was proven to be false as a dive team sent in to recover the bodies found the main hatch to be in perfect condition. When informed of this, Gordon Lightfoot rewrote the verse to:
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is famous around the world for his folk, country, and pop music songs. He was first heard in the 1960s. He had hit radio songs in the 1970s including "If You Could Read My Mind", "Sundown", "Carefree Highway", "Rainy Day People" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Some of his songs have been recorded by other famous singers including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Barbra Streisand and Tony Rice. Robbie Robertson of the Canadian music group called the Band said Lightfoot was his "favourite Canadian songwriter". Lightfoot's music career lasted sixty years. He recorded more than 200 songs. His folk music of the 1960s and 1970s influenced many famous singers including Bob Dylan and Jim Croce. Like Robertson, Bob Dylan called Lightfoot one of his favourite songwriters. Awards. In his career, Lightfoot received sixteen Juno Awards. He won Junos as top folk singer in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. He won a Juno as top male vocalist in 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973 And he won in 1972 and 1976 for being composer of the year. Lightfoot received ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1977. Lightfoot was nominated for five Grammy Awards. In 1980, Lightfoot was named Canadian Male Recording Artist of the Decade for his music of the 1970s. Lightfoot was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1986. He was added to Canada's Walk of Fame in 1998. He was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001. In May 2003, Lightfoot was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, which is one of Canada's highest awards. Death. Lightfoot died at a hospital in Toronto on May 1, 2023. He was 84 years old.
Chameleons are a family of lizards. Most can change the colour of their skins for camouflage, or to signal mood to other chameleons.  They are a clade of lizards. They have parrot-like zygodactylous feet,  Their eyes are separately mobile and stereoscopic. Their very long tongues can flick out, and their movement sways like leaves in the wind. Their prehensile (grabbing) tail can hang onto branches and many can change colour. They eat insects. Chameleons have long sticky tongues that they can fire out in a fraction of a second. They stretch up to twice their body size. Their eyes can move independently. The largest species is about 1.5 feet when fully grown. They are mainly insectivores, but larger species may take occasional smaller lizards and young birds. There are about 160 species, living in Africa, Madagascar, Spain and Portugal, across south Asia, Sri Lanka. They have been introduced to Hawaii, California and Florida, and are found in warm habitats that vary from rain forest to desert conditions. Chameleons are often kept as household pets. Tiny chameleons. The world's tiniest reptile has been found on Madagascar. It is a chameleon 13.5mm long. It hunts for mites on the rainforest floor and hides from predators at night in blades of grass. Other species of tiny chameleons have been found. Vision. Chameleons have 360-degree eye-turning, the ability to zoom in and out, and binocular vision. Each of the chameleon's eyes can move separately, allowing them to see all around them at all times.  Chameleons have two eyes whose vision overlaps. This gives them 3D vision. They can switch to monocular vision, which is seeing with each eye independently. This gives them more flexible sight.
Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States. He was president from 1850 to 1853. He was the last Whig president, and the last president who was not a Democrat or Republican. Fillmore became president in 1850, when the previous president, Zachary Taylor died. The Whig party did not pick him to run for president in 1852. He ran for president in 1856, for the American Party but lost. Early life. Millard Fillmore grew up in a poor family. He worked hard to do well in school, and went to college. He got a job as a lawyer in 1823. In 1828, he was voted to be part of the New York congress, and made friends in the Whig Party. This helped him get chosen to run for vice president in 1848. Presidency. When he was vice president, Millard Fillmore was in charge of the United States Senate while it was fighting over a decision about slavery involving Texas and New Mexico. When he became president, the slavery issue was very intense (to the point where the southern states were close to choosing to not be a part of the United States anymore). Fillmore signed the Compromise of 1850 (five laws which would calm down the slavery issue by pleasing both the northern states and the southern states). Although the Compromise of 1850 made the northern states and the southern states get along, the peace did not last forever. In the late 1850s, the north and the south stopped getting along. He personally fought a fire at the Library of Congress and then signed a bill to fund the replacement of all the books that were destroyed in the fire. California was made a part of the U.S. on September 9, 1850. It became the 31st state. His decision to sign the Compromise of 1850, made many of the people in his Whig Party upset at him. They stopped him from running for president in 1852. He started the first library at the White House. After being president
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the 10th president of the United States of America, from 1841 to 1845. He was the first vice president to become president after the president before him died. He was also the first president born after the United States Constitution was ratified. Before presidency. Tyler grew up in Virginia and became a lawyer. His father was also a lawyer who later became governor of Virginia. Tyler became a state representative in the United States Congress, and then also became governor of Virginia like his father. Tyler started in government as a member of the Democratic Party, but later he changed to the Whig Party, which was very new. He was chosen to run as vice president next to William Henry Harrison. Whig Party people used to say "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" to get people to vote for them. (William Henry Harrison was famous for being a general in a battle in a place called Tippecanoe, and that was his nickname.) Harrison and Tyler won the election, but Harrison died one month later. Tyler then became president. Presidency. Because Tyler had not been elected to hold the office of President, some people thought that he lacked a claim to the position. But as the United States Constitution says that the Vice President is vested with the responsibilities of the Presidency in case of "Death, Resignation or Inability" of the former, Tyler said this meant the position was his to fill. A majority of the government agreed and he was sworn in as the new president, however, the Whig Party did not want Tyler, and a lot of Whigs ended up calling him "the accidental president" or "His Accidency". This was after Tyler had angered the Whigs when he decided to mainly pick people from the Democratic Party to work in his government. He wanted to bring the two parties to together, but instead this ended up making him unpopular. He also rejected many of the Whigs' ideas. This all lead to the Whig Party deciding not to back his run for the presidency in 1844. While he was president, Florida became a new state. After winning their independence in
A ballerina is a name given to a female ballet dancer. Only very good female ballet dancers are called ballerinas. A ballerina is a principal dancer in a classical ballet company. The highest ranking female dancer in a company was usually called the prima ballerina. Today the term 'ballerina' has gone rather out of fashion. Now they are simply called 'Principal dancers'. Dancers in a company are ranked by the company, and paid accordingly. They have to prove themselves in lesser parts before they can get promoted.  Example of the ranks in a modern dance company:
Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York. Buffalo is the second-biggest city in New York State.  There are about 278,000 people in the city of Buffalo. There are more than a million people in the surrounding area. Buffalo is on the east end of Lake Erie near the Niagara River. It is close to Niagara Falls, and to Canada. Buffalo was a small village when the Erie Canal connected it to the Hudson River and New York City. It became a city.  Sports. Buffalo has an NFL team called the Buffalo Bills (who play in the suburb of Orchard Park, NY) and an NHL team called the Buffalo Sabres. There is also a Minor League Baseball team called the Buffalo Bisons.
Hertford (pronounced "Hart-fud") is a town in Hertfordshire, England. In 2011, it had a population of 26,783 people. It is Hertfordshire's county town, but the largest town is Watford. The town centre is 19.2 miles (30.9 km) north of Central London and 16.7 miles (27.02 km) north east of Watford. Transport. Rail. Hertford is served by two train stations, these are Hertford East and Hertford North. Road. The A414 is just south of the town centre and runs to Harlow, Essex. The A10 is just east of the town. Twin towns. Hertford is twinned with:
Chan Kong-Sang (Chinese: 陳港生; born 7 April 1954), better known by his stage name Jackie Chan, is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman best known for his martial arts and action films. On-screen, he is known for his slapstick, acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, and innovative stunts, which he typically performs himself. Chan is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential martial artists in the history of cinema. Early life. Before entering the film industry, Chan was one of the Seven Little Fortunes from the China Drama Academy at the Peking Opera School, where he studied acrobatics, martial arts, and acting. Chan is skilled in Kung-fu, acrobatics, and Hapkido. He has trained in other martial art forms such as Karate, Judo, Taekwondo, and Jeet Kun Do.  Film career. After appearing in many Hong Kong films as a stuntman, Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 kung fu action comedy film "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow". He then starred in similar kung fu action comedy films such as 1978's "Drunken Master" and 1980's "The Young Master".  In 1979, he made his directorial debut with "The Fearless Hyena", which was a box office success. Throughout the 1980s, he was part of the "Three Dragons" along with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao; the three starred in six Hong Kong films together.  1983's "Project A" saw the official formation of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and established Chan's signature style of elaborate, dangerous stunts combined with martial arts and slapstick humor, a style he further developed in a more modern setting with 1984's "Wheels on Meals" and 1985's "Police Story". "Rumble in the Bronx" (1995), which had a successful worldwide theatrical run, brought Chan into the North American mainstream. He gained international fame for portraying Chief Inspector Lee in the American buddy cop action comedy film "Rush
Ronald Bilius "Ron" Weasley (1981-?) is a fictional character from the "Harry Potter" stories. Story. He is a red-haired child with lots of freckles. He comes from a poor background. He lives at The Burrow with his family of nine people. He is the youngest son in his family. He was a humorous and loyal boy. He wishes he had money, since he was born from the notoriously poor Weasley family. He is the sixth of seven children born to Molly Weasley (née Prewett) and Arthur Weasley, with five brothers and one sister, Ginny. He is Harry Potter's best friend.  It is revealed in later books, that Ron is romantically interested in Hermione Granger. The two are hinted to be romantically involved in the Deathly Hallows.  In movies, he is played by actor Rupert Grint. Ron marries Hermione and they have two children: Rose Weasley and Hugo Weasley. He is the manager of the joke shop Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.