ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps (17 February 1820 - 6 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. Biography. Vieuxtemps was born in Verviers, Belgium. He received his first violin instruction from his father and a local teacher. He gave his first public performance at the age of six, playing a concerto by Pierre Rode. Soon he was giving concerts in surrounding cities, including Liège and Brussels. He met the violinist Charles Auguste de Bériot in Brussels. He then began to study with Bériot. In 1829, Bériot took him to Paris. He had to return to Belgium the next year because of the July Revolution and Bériot's marriage to his mistress Maria Malibran. Back in Brussels, Vieuxtemps developed his violin technique on his own. He began playing with Pauline Viardot. A tour of Germany in 1833 brought friendship with Louis Spohr and with Robert Schumann. During the following decade he visited various European cities. He impressed audiences and famous musicians such as Hector Berlioz and Paganini. Vieuxtemps wanted to become a composer as well. He took lessons with the respected Simon Sechter in Vienna and spent the winter of 1835–1836 studying composition with Anton Reicha in Paris. His first violin concerto, later published as Concerto No. 2, dates from this time. Vieuxtemps continued to compose with great success and perform throughout Europe. He played with the pianist Sigismond Thalberg in the United States. He was particularly admired in Russia. He lived there between 1846 and 1851 as a court musician of Tsar Nicholas I and soloist in the Imperial Theatre. He founded the violin school of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1871, he returned to Belgium to be a Professor at the Brussels Conservatory. A paralytic stroke disabled his right arm two years later. He moved to Paris again. Although he seemed to be slowly recovering from his stroke, another one in 1879 ended his career as a violinist for good. He spent his last years in a sanatorium in Mustapha Supérieur, Algeria. He continued to compose.
Eugène Ysaÿe (16 July 1858 – 12 May 1931) was a Belgian violinist, composer and conductor. He was born in Liège. He was called "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar". His brother was pianist and composer Théo Ysaÿe. Biography. Ysaÿe began violin lessons at age five with his father. At seven he entered the Conservatoire at Liège studying with Désiré Heynberg. When he was twelve, Henri Vieuxtemps took an interest in his talent. He arranged for Ysaÿe to study with Henryk Wieniawski. After his graduation from the Royal Conservatory of Liège, Ysaÿe was the principal violin of the Benjamin Bilse beer-hall orchestra. This orchestra later became the Berlin Philharmonic. Many musicians of note and influence came regularly to hear this orchestra and Ysaÿe in particular. Some of these musicians were Joseph Joachim, Franz Liszt, Clara Schumann, and Anton Rubinstein. Rubinstein asked for Ysaÿe to be released from his contract to go with him on tour. When Ysaÿe was twenty-seven years old, he was recommended as a soloist for one of the Concerts Colonne in Paris. This was the start of his great success as a concert artist. The next year, Ysaÿe received a professorship at the Brussels Conservatoire. During his time as professor at the Conservatoire, Ysaÿe continued to tour the world. This included all of Europe, Russia, and the United States. He had physical problems that affected his hands. As these grew worse, Ysaÿe turned more to teaching, conducting and an early love, composition. In 1918, he accepted the music director's position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He stayed until 1922. In 1931, suffering from diabetes, Eugène Ysaÿe died in his house in Brussels. Personal life. Ysaÿe was married twice. His first m
Arthur Grumiaux (21 March 1921–16 October 1986) was a Belgian violinist and pianist. Biography. Grumiaux was born in Villers-Perwin, Belgium. His grandfather urged him to begin music studies at the age of only 4. He trained on violin and piano with the Fernand Quintet at the Charleroi Conservatory. He took first prize at the age of 11. He received his first few major awards before reaching the age of 20. He took the Henry Vieuxtemps and François Prume prizes in 1939, and the Prix de Virtuosité from the Belgian government in 1940. During this time he also studied composition privately in Paris with the famous Romanian violinist George Enescu. His debut was made in Belgium with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra. Then in Britain with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 1945. Following his British debut, he was made professor of violin at the Royal Conservatory, where he had once studied. His playing often brought comparisons to another great Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe and also to Pablo de Sarasate of Spain. One of his greatest joys in life was his partnership with the pianist Clara Haskil, the Romanian-born Swiss classical pianist. Sometimes the two would switch instruments for a different perspective and relationship. Grumiaux was left with a professional and personal loss when she died from a fall at a train station, on the way to a concert with him. In 1973 he was knighted baron by King Baudouin for his services to music. Despite a having diabetes, Grumiaux continued a schedule of recording and concert performances, mostly in Western Europe. He died of a sudden stroke in Brussels in 1986 at the age of 65.
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known as Toots Thielemans, was a Belgian jazz musician. He is well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century. He worked as a bandleader, as a sideman, and has been on dozens of movie soundtracks. In 2009 he became NEA Jazz Master, the highest honour for a jazz musician in the United States. He is perhaps best-known to the American public for whistling the melody in commercials for Old Spice cologne. Career. Thielemans started his career as a guitar player. In 1949 he joined a jam session in Paris with Sidney Bechet, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Max Roach and others. In 1949 and 1950 he was in European tours with Benny Goodman. He made his first record in Paris with fellow band member, tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims. In 1951 he became a band member of the Bobbejaan Schoepen. He moved to the US in 1952. He was a member of Charlie Parker's All-Stars and worked with Miles Davis and Dinah Washington. He played and recorded with Ella Fitzgerald, Jaco Pastorius, Peggy Lee, The George Shearing Quintet, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, The Happenings, Astrud Gilberto, Shirley Horn, Elis Regina and others. A jazz standard by Toots Thielemans is "Bluesette" where he used whistling and guitar in unison. First recorded by Toots in 1962, with words added by Norman Gimbel the song became a major worldwide hit. His harmonica playing can also be heard in movies such as "Midnight Cowboy", "Jean de Florette", "Sugarland Express", "The Yakuza", "Turkish Delight", "The Getaway", "French Kiss", "Dunderklumpen
The bank vole ("Myodes glareolus") is a small, type of vole with red-brown fur with some grey patches, its body is around 100 millimeters (3.9 in) long in length and the tail is around 50 millimeters long. They weigh around 20 to 35 grams, they have blunt noses and have small eyes and ears. Where it lives. The Bank vole lives in woodlands, oak woods, farmlands, hedgerows, and grasslands in Europe (except for the north and south) and east, north, and central Asia. Behavior. The Bank Vole is active during both, day and night, but they rest a lot to stop themselves from getting tired. They make their nests under logs, in tree holes, or sometimes underground. In the autumn they store food for the winter.  Feeding. Bank voles are omnivorous, meaning that they eat other animals and plants. They eat insects, snails, grass, seeds, fungi, leaves and fruit, like raspberry and hazelnut. They have also been known to eat the bodies of dead animals. Lives. Baby Bank voles are born in nests made of grass, moss and feathers. The nests are built above ground, usually in trees. When the babies are born they have no fur and are blind. They live on their mothers milk for the first few weeks of their life. A mother Bank vole has an average of six babies at a time, and can have five litters in a season. A baby Bank vole born in spring will be old enough to breed by the time fall comes. A Bank vole lives for an average of 18 to 20 months. Predators. Some predators of the Bank vole are the Barn owls, the Tawny owls, the fox, the weasel, and the stoat.
The Belgian synthpop group Telex was formed in 1978 by Marc Moulin, Dan Lacksman, and Michel Moers. They mixed disco, punk and experimental electronic music. Like Kraftwerk, Telex built its music entirely from electronic instruments. In 1980 Telex's manager asked the group to enter the Eurovision Song Contest. The group entered and were sent to the finals. The group's song "Euro-Vision" was a cheerful bleepy song with deliberately banal lyrics about the contest itself. The Eurovision audience seemed unsure how to react to the performance. After the band stopped playing, there was mostly stunned silence. Michel Moers took a photograph of the bewildered audience. The band walked off to sounds of muttering. When vote-counting began, and Greece awarded Belgium three points. The announcer thought she misheard and tried to award the points to the Netherlands. For its third album, Telex got the help of US group Sparks to help write the lyrics. However, the band still would not play live. This is common practice for techno music artists, but unusual in 1981. The fourth Telex album, "Wonderful World", was barely distributed. In 1986, Atlantic Records signed Telex. At this time the band was using sampling and a more up-tempo humorous style.  In 1989, Telex revisited all of its old tracks and remixed them to be like house music. After almost two decades of silence, Telex made a comeback in March 2006 with "How Do You Dance" on EMI Records. It had five original songs as well as five covers.
Huyi District (, pinyin:HùYì Qū) is a District of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Qinling Mountain is to the south. Wei River is to the north. Chang'an District is to the east. Zhouzhi County is to the west. It covers . As of November 2010, 556,377 people lived there. History. In Xia Dynasty (2100 BC - 1600 BC), here named Hushi Country (扈氏国), meaning "Hu family's country", it's the origin of Hu County. After changed some names, it named Hu Country (扈国). And in Qin Dynasty (221 BC -206 BC), "扈" changed to "鄠" in Chinese language, and then country changed to county. In 1964, "鄠" changed to "户".Chinese government changed its name from "Hu County(户县)" to "Huyi District(鄠邑区)"On Nov. 24,2016. Area. There are 14 towns in Huyi: Ganting,Yuxia,Zuan,Qinduz,Dawang,Caotang,Jiangcun,Pangguang,Laodian,Ganhe,Shijing,Yuchan,Wuzhu and Weifeng. Transportation. Railway:Xi'an–Chengdu high-speed railway,Xi'an-Yuxia Railway. Railway Station:Huyi Railway Station,Yuxia Railway Station.
Pope Gregory XVI (, ; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846), born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari, was an Italian cleric of the Roman Catholic Church and the 255th Pope from 1831 to 1846. Early life. Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari was born in 1765 in Belluno, which was part of then in the Republic of Venice. Priest. He became a monk in 1783; and he took the name Mauro. Dom Mauro became a priest in 1787. Abbot. Pope Pius VII confirmed his election as Abbot Vicar of the San Gregorio Monastery in 1805. Cardinal. In 1825, Leo XII made Dom Mauro a cardinal. Pope. In 1831, Cardinal Capillaria was elected Pope; and he chose to be called Gregory Gregory. He use Austrian troops to stop a revolution in the Papal States.
The Texas coral snake (Micrurus tener) is a species of venomous snake. All coral snakes are shy, secretive animals, and are nocturnal. They spend most of their time hiding in leaf litter, under logs, or in burrows in the ground. Description. The Texas coral snake has a pattern of black,yellow, and red stripes on its skin. It is able to grow to the length of 40 inches(100cm) but most grow to around 24 inches(61cm). Males are smaller than females. They have smooth scales, a round head, and eyes with round pupils.  Where they live. It ranges from the southern United States, south to northeastern and central Mexico. It lives in the states of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Querétaro and Morelos. Diet. They mainly eat other snakes, they will also sometimes eat small lizards.
is general Japanese term for all rural and traditional buildings except for palaces, temples and structures which have been influenced by Western architecture. Minka are traditional houses and private residences of farmers, artisans, and merchants Types. There are several types or styles of "minka", including
Iceboats are a type of boat that run on ice. They have sails. Most boats are made to fit only one person. They can be much faster than boats in water. Ice yachting is the sport of sailing and racing iceboats.
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian multinational public sector bank and financial services statutory body headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. SBI is the 43rd largest bank in the world and ranked 221st in the "Fortune Global 500" list of the world's biggest corporations of 2020, being the only Indian bank on the list. It is a public sector bank and the largest bank in India with a 23% market share by assets and a 25% share of the total loan and deposits market. It is also the fifth largest employer in India with nearly 250,000 employees. The bank descends from the Bank of Calcutta, founded in 1806 via the Imperial Bank of India, making it the oldest commercial bank in the Indian Subcontinent. The Bank of Madras merged into the other two presidency banks in British India, the Bank of Calcutta and the Bank of Bombay, to form the Imperial Bank of India, which in turn became the State Bank of India in 1955. The Government of India took control of the Imperial Bank of India in 1955, with Reserve Bank of India (India's central bank) taking a 60% stake, renaming it State Bank of India. History. The State Bank of India was established on July 1, 1955. Symbol and slogan. The symbol of the State Bank of India is a circle with a small man at the center of the circle. The circle is a symbol of perfection and the common man is at the centre of the bank's business. The bank is known by several slogans, including Associate banks. SBI has five associate banks.
The Northern white rhinoceros, or the Northern square-lipped rhinoceros ("Ceratotherium simum cottoni"), is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros. These animals are extinct in the wild, but there were currently seven left in captivity. These seven lived in the Dvůr Králové Zoo in the Czech Republic. Four of the seven rhinoceroses were transported to Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, Africa, where scientists hope they will successfully breed and save this subspecies from extinction. One of three remaining in the Czech Republic died in late May 2011. The two other rhinoceroses now live at the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park in California.  In March 2018, Sudan, the last male white rhinoceros, died after being euthanized. Diet. The northern white rhinoceros eats mainly grass, and other low lying vegetation. They can live for around 40 to 65 years.
A pagoda is any kind of tower with multiple eaves. They are common in eastern and southeastern Asia. Most pagodas are built for religious purposes. Most are usually Buddhist temples, while some are also used as Taoist temples and Muslim mosques and Gongbeis.  These were first built during the 3rd century BC. This kind of architecture has spread across Asia, taking on many differences as details specific to different regions are made a part of the overall design. Stupas were used to house Buddhist relics. Later, the architecture of Chinese towers and Chinese pavilions blended into pagoda architecture. This eventually spread to Southeast Asia. The pagoda's original purpose was to house relics and sacred writings.
The Church of the Nativity is a church in Bethlehem. It is one of the oldest churches in the world. It is built over the cave that tradition marks as the birthplace of Jesus. It is considered very sacred to Christians and Muslims. The main basilica is maintained by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. Underneath the building is a cave or grotto. It is where Jesus is said to have been born. On Christmas Eve, crowds gather to sing Christmas carols outside the church in an area called Manger Square. The crowds also go to celebrate midnight mass at the Church of Saint Catherine, a Roman Catholic church next door to the basilica. It is performed by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The basilica has been reported to be not very well preserved. The Palestinian government started restoring the buildings in 2010. It was made a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in June 2012. It is the first World Heritage Site listed under Palestine. It was listed as being in danger.
John Dryden (9 August 1631 – 1 May 1700) was an English poet laureate and playwright. He was the oldest of fourteen children born to Erasmus Dryden and wife Mary Pickering. As a boy Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire. In 1644 he was sent to Westminster School. In the late twentieth century a house at Westminster was founded in his name. In 1650 Dryden went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. After graduating, he went to London. Dryden got work with the Secretary of State, John Thurloe. On 1 December 1663 Dryden married the royalist sister of Sir Robert Howard—Lady Elizabeth. They had three sons. His first play, "The Wild Gallant" was in 1663. It was not successful. But from 1668 on he was contracted to make three plays a year for the King's Company. In 1693 Dryden famously said about English language that "We have yet no prosody, not so much tolerable dictionary, or a grammar, so that our language is in a manner barbarous." Following the century's ill formed ideas like latinising English, Dryden considered English as inferior and before expressing anything English in his works he transcribed them first into Latin. He promoted the need of a regulatory body in English like the French Academy, this idea has been carried on by others after his death like by Daniel Fefoe, John Adams and other organized bodies into the 21st century. This arresting in change was deplored in each ages.
Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was the queen of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu from 1279 until her death in 1290. Edward and Eleanor married at the monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos on 1 November 1254. Several of her relatives came to England soon after her marriage. Edward's father Henry III of England spent much money on her relatives. This made the people not like her, even though she could not stop it. In the 1260s, the Second Barons' War started between Henry III and his barons. This divided the kingdom. Eleanor supported her husband Edward. Edward was captured at Lewes and imprisoned. Eleanor was honourably kept at Westminster Palace. In 1270 Edward and Eleanor left to join his uncle Louis IX of France on the Eighth Crusade. Louis died at Carthage. They spent the winter in Sicily. Then the couple went on to Acre in the Near East. They left in September 1272. In Sicily that December they learned of Henry III's death. Edward and Eleanor returned to England and were crowned together on 19 August 1274. The many children of Queen Eleanor and King Edward I. Eleanor of Castile was born to the Castilian King, Ferdinand III and his wife, Queen Joan of Ponthieu in the early 1240s. When her father died, her step brother, Alfonso X, ascended to the throne where he and King Henry III arranged her marriage. In Spain, at age 10-12 she was married to King Henry’s son, Edward, who was only 15 at the time in 1254. She went with her husband, Lord Edward of England, who was leading an important crusade in 1270. As a gift to celebrate their wedding, her step brother gave Edward the region of Gascony. Edward also gained the lands of Montreuil and Ponthieu through Eleanor. When Eleanor first moved to England, King Henry III “Ordered that her apartments be furnished "in Castilian fashion" to make her feel more comfortable.”  In
Philippa of Hainault (24 June 1315 15 August 1369) was the queen of Edward III of England. Philippa was the daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut, nicknamed "the Good", and Joan of Valois, the granddaughter of Philip III of France.  King Edward II wanted an alliance with Flanders to benefit England. He sent Bishop Stapledon to choose a good wife for Prince Edward. He chose Philippa who was about nine years old at that time. Four years later Philippa was betrothed to Prince Edward.  Philippa married Edward at York Minster, on 24 January 1328. This was eleven months after he was made King. The real rulers of the kingdom were his mother, Queen Dowager Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. They jointly acted as his regents. The couple lived at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire. Philippa was crowned queen on 4 March 1330 at Westminster Abbey. She was almost six months pregnant. She gave birth to her first son, Edward, the following June just nine days before her seventeenth birthday. In October 1330, King Edward began to rule. He ordered the arrest of his mother and Mortimer. Mortimer was killed for treason. Queen Dowager Isabella was sent to Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she spent the rest of her life. Philippa went with Edward on his trips to Scotland, and the European continent in his early campaigns of the Hundred Years' War. She acted as regent in England on several times when her husband was away from his kingdom.  On 15 August 1369, Philippa died of an illness similar to dropsy in Windsor Castle at the age of fifty-six. By all accounts, her forty-year marriage to Edward had been happy. Even though he had an affair with her lady-in-waiting, Alice Perrers, during the later years. The Queen's College, Oxford is named after Philippa. It was founded in 1341 by one of her chaplains, Robert de Eglesfield, in her honour.
Anne of Bohemia (11 May 1365 – 7 June 1394) was the queen of Richard II of England. She was the oldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Elizabeth of Pomerania. Many people did not like the marriage. It did not bring money and very little other benefits. Richard gave 20,000 florins (around £4,000,000 in today's value) in payment to her brother Wenceslas. The only benefit, which was said to be small, was that England could trade freely in both Bohemian lands, and lands of the Holy Roman Empire. Anne and King Richard II were married in Westminster Abbey on 22 January 1382. The wedding was the fifth royal wedding in Westminster Abbey. It was not followed by any other royal wedding in Westminster Abbey for another 537 years. They were married for 12 years, but had no children. Anne's death from plague in 1394 at Sheen Manor was hard for Richard. His later unwise conduct lost him the throne. Richard married his second wife, Isabella of Valois, on 31 October 1396. Anne of Bohemia is known to have made the sidesaddle more popular to ladies of the Middle Ages.