ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Cathar castles ("Châteaux cathares" in French) is a term used by the French tourist industry. It is used for castles in the Languedoc-Roussillon, usually built by the enemies of the Cathars during the Albigensian Crusade.  The true Cathar castles. The Cathars built fortified homesteads, but not castles. The legend of Cathar architects and builders is no more than a myth. The cathar church did not build anything. For this reason, the only ones which can claim the description "Cathar" are the small castles, often totally unknown to the public. Their unspectacular ruins are often far-away from tourist routes. The royal citadels. Because Raimond II was unable to recapture Carcassone in 1240, the city walls were strengthened by the French King. He also destroyed small "castra" in the Corbières region and built citadels to protect the border with the kingdom of Aragon. These five castles are often called the "cinq fils de Carcassonne" (five sons of Carcassonne): These five fortresses resisted various assaults led by the Aragonese army. The abandonment of the citadels. In 1659, Louis XIV and the Philip IV of Spain signed the Treaty of the Pyrenees. The French king also married the Infanta Marie Therese. The treaty changed the borders. It gave Rousillon to France and moved the frontier south to the crest of the Pyrenees, where it is now. The fortresses therefore lost their importance. Some maintained a garrison for a while, a few until the French Revolution, but they slowly fell into decay, often becoming sherpherds' shelters or bandits hideouts.
Sertab Erener (born December 4, 1964) is a Turkish pop music singer. She is one of the most successful female Turkish pop singers in Turkey. Erener is said to be one of the divas of Turkish pop music.  She released her first album which produced by Sezen Aksu, "Sakin Ol" (Calm Down) in August 1992. Her debut song "Sakin Ol" became greatly popular. Next album "Lal" (Ruby) released in October 1994. Lal was important for her career, because songs in the album such as "Rüya" (Dream), "Sevdam Ağlıyor" (My Love is Crying), "Mecbursun" (You Have to), "Gel Barışalım Artık" (Let's Make Peace) and "Lal" became hit quickly.  In May 1997, Sertab released her third album, "Sertab Gibi" (Like Sertab). She stopped working with Sezen Aksu and she worked with Demir Demirkan in this album. Although album's sales were very low, album is the favorite album of fans. "Aşkolan Aşktır" (Love Matters), "Seyrüsefer" (Navigation) and "İncelikler Yüzünden" (Because of the Niceties) were the important songs from the album. Sertab Erener released self-titled fourth album in March 1999. Albums hit were "Yanarım" (I Burn), "Zor Kadın" (Hard Woman) and Vur Yüreğim (Hit, My Heart). Vur Yüreğim's video clip was including real scenes from shocking and afflictive events such as martyr funerals, atomic bomb and natural disasters. In Europe, she is best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with her hit song "Every Way That I Can". Sertab's victory at Eurovision became a real breakthrough in the musical world of Europe. On the wave of success, when the song "Everyway That I Can" occupied the leading lines of the European charts, Sertab Erener recorded the English-language album "No Boundaries", released in 2004.
Scouting (sometimes called the Scout Movement) is a youth movement. It was started in 1907 by Robert Baden-Powell as a movement for boys. Baden-Powell took many ideas from the experiences he made with the Mafeking Cadet Corps. This corps was a paramilitary group made of boys. It was formed during a siege in the Second Boer War. The boys mainly carried messages. This was so the soldiers could focus on defending the city. Originally, the Scout movement was for boys only. A similar movement for girls, called "Girl Guides" was started in 1910. In most countries there are associations for Scouts and for Girl Guides. Today the Scouts often accept girls, too. In the Scout movement, people learn to work together to achieve a goal. They also train their character to become better adults. Usually Scouts give a promise to live by certain rules, and to help others when they can. Scouts spend their time outdoors, whenever possible. How many Scouts there are. In 2005, there were more than 28 million Boy Scouts and over 10 million Girl Guides. They came from 216 different countries. There were only six countries with no Scout movement in 2006. They were Andorra, People's Republic of China, Cuba, Laos, Myanmar and North Korea. In Cuba, there was a Scout organisation, but the Communist government replaced it by the José Martí Pioneer Organization, which is similar to Scouts, but without the international brotherhood and the peace mission. Scouting organisations have been banned in People's Republic of China. They have been replaced by Young Pioneers of China and Communist Youth League of China. These organisations are a bit similar to Scouts, but without the international brotherhood and the peace mission. There is a Scout Association in Hong Kong and one in Macau. Hong Kong and Macau are Special Autonomous Regions of the People's Republic of China, so the Scout associations there are still allowed to exist. In the Republic of China (Taiwan) Scouting was never banned. There are no Scouting organisations in Myanmar, but there are a few Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts (headed by the US Scout movement) in Yangon.
The History of Indonesia or more precisely of the Indonesian archipelago in South East Asia with 17,508 islands goes back to "Homo erectus" (popularly known as the "Java Man"). There have been found fossilised remains of about one million years ago. Austronesian people, who form the majority of the modern population, came to South East Asia from Taiwan. They arrived in Indonesia around 2000 BC. The native Melanesian peoples went to the far eastern regions. The agricultural conditions were very good. When wet-field rice cultivation was developed as early as the eighth century BC, villages and towns developed, and small kingdoms began to flourish by the first century BCE. Indonesia's sea-lane position helped with management of international trade, where trade with both Indian kingdoms and China already occured for several centuries BCE. Therefore, trade has since fundamentally shaped Indonesian history. From the seventh century BCE, the powerful Srivijaya naval kingdom flourished as a result of trade. Hinduism and Buddhism were imported with it. In the late 13th century, the Hindu kingdom was founded in eastern Java and under Gajah Mada, its influence stretched over much of Indonesia; this period is often referred to as a "Golden Age" in Indonesian history. During the 13th century Islam spread to the in northern Sumatra. More and more Indonesian areas gradually adopted Islam. By the end of the 16th century it was the dominant religion in Java and Sumatra. But it mixed with existing cultural and religious influences. The first Europeans arrived in Indonesia in 1512, when Portuguese traders, led by Francisco Serrão, sought to monopolise the sources of nutmeg, cloves, and cubeb pepper in Maluku. Dutch and British traders followed. In 1602 the Dutch established the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and became the dominant European power. But Dutch control stretched not very far. Only in the early 20th century it extended to borders of today. During the Second World War the Dutch lost control and in August 1945, Sukarno, an influential nationalist leader, declared independence and was appointed president. After some fights the Netherlands formally recognised Indonesian independence
Leviticus (lih-vih-tih-kus) is the third book of both the Bible, and the Torah. In Hebrew it is known as Vayikra' (וַיִּקְרָא), meaning 'And He called.' It was written by the Old Testament Patriarch Moses. Leviticus was written to the Hebrew people of Israel. The book has several main topics, some of which are the Jewish laws of sacrificing to God, and the work of the priests. These priests are sometimes known as Levites (what this book is named after).  When was it written. It was likely developed over a long period of time, reaching its present form during the Persian empire (Yehud Madinata) between 538-332 BCE. Tradition says this book was written around 1300 B.C. by Moses. Summary. God gives more instructions to Moses. God asks Moses to repeat what He said to Moses' people, the Israelites.  Continuing from Exodus the Israelites are escaping Egypt. They reach the Biblical Mount Sinai. In Exodus, Moses learned from God how to build the holy tabernacle (a tent for praying and worshiping). In Leviticus God teaches Moses and the Levites how to make sacrifices and how to behave in a good way. The first few chapters show God's laws for offering sacrifices for various reasons, such as for the forgiveness of sins. Then Moses makes Aaron a priest of God. Details about how the priests are to make sacrifices to God are given. This is sometimes called the "ceremonial law". Two sons of Aaron were destroyed for doing the work of the priest in the wrong way.  Then God teaches the people how to eat right and be clean. Examples of food that are forbidden are pork and shrimp. Meat is also not to be eaten with milk at the same time. Beyond that, eaten meat is to be taken from animals that were slaughtered in a specific way. The meat must not contain blood either, as this is seen as representing life in the face of the animal having died. Regarding staying clean, laws are given about menstruation (the monthly period), sexual relations, skin disease, and how dead bodies are to be disposed of.  The rest of the book describes how priests, the Levites, should be ordained, should dress, carry out rituals, and act (for example on the Day of Atonement, and other important Holy Days).
Professor John Cromwell Mather (born 7 August 1946 in Roanoke, Virginia) is an American astrophysicist and cosmologist. He was given the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 for his work on cosmic microwave background radiation and COBE satellite with George Smoot. The COBE satellite measures black holes and cosmic radiation.  This work supported the big-bang theory of the universe beginning. It made cosmology much more accurate. The Nobel Prize committee said: "the COBE-project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science." Mather is a Senior Astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. He is a professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2007, Mather was listed in "Time" magazine's 100 Most Influential People in The World. Education and early work. Work with COBE. After being awarded his Ph.D. Professor Mather went to work at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University. He started the work on COBE there (1974-1976). More than 1,000 researchers, engineers and other workers made the COBE satellite. John Mather was in control of them all and created the technology for measuring the cosmic radiation. George Smoot had the job of measuring small changes in the temperature of the radiation. Professor Mather and John Boslough wrote all about the COBE teams work in a book called "The Very First Light".
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book of the Christian Bible, and also the sixth book of the Hebrew Tanakh. It is not clear who wrote the book, although most of the Jewish tradition believe it was Joshua, son of Nun. It is the first of the books of the Tanakh (Old Testament) covering the history of Israel from the arrival in Canaan or the Promised Land to the Babylonian captivity. It is not known when the Book was written, but it cannot have been written before roughly 1200 BC, as the events described in the book occur then. Some scholars believe it was written much later, perhaps in 550 BC, at the time of the Babylonian exile, when there was a desire to remember and retell their own history. Summary. After the death of Moses, God put Joshua in charge of the people. Joshua sent two spies to spy on the city of Jericho. A woman prostitute called Rahab hid these two men and told the enemies they had already left. She hid them on top of her roof, underneath stalks of flax. The spies later promised that they would keep the oath that Joshua made with them. Jericho fell when the people of Israel, instructed by God, circled around the wall of Jericho seven times and blew their ram's horns, and on the seventh time, they all shouted with a great shout, causing the wall to fall. Joshua told the spies to go to Rahab's house and bring out her family and belongings. The spies did as they were told, as they kept the oath. Joshua saved Rahab's life, and she went to live in Israel. Later, God told Joshua to invade the city of Ai. After they did this, the people of Gibeon tricked Joshua into a treaty. However, three days later, the people of Israel realized that they really made a treaty with Gibeon's neighbors, the Hivites. The Hivities became cursed, but the people of Gibeon promised that they would do whatever the Israelites say. After making peace with the Hivites, they went to lay siege to Gibeon. The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua saying
Home education or homeschooling is a form of education where the parent or guardian is the instructor. The reason for this form of education is usually the guardian is not happy with the nearby schools, or sometimes for religious or moral purposes. Many people also want to protect children from bullying and violence. In recent years, it became popular in many countries. Before starting homeschooling, it can be a good idea to deschool first. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, any homeschool arrangement must by law satisfy inspectors that the children's education is sound. This is because, under the Education Act of 1944, parents or guardians are legally obliged to send children to school. The possibility of other methods has been added as a possibility, subject to certain checks. A common situation is for several families to come together to provide the skills needed. This serves two purposes. First, the range of knowledge and skills is wider, and the schooling has a more social angle, which itself is good for the development of children. In most countries, homeschooling is a legal alternative to going to a school. Unschooling has (much) freedom in its homeschooling. Unschooling is a very free type of homeschooling. History and publications. The idea of home schools came to life in the 1960s, when the effectiveness of classroom education was challenged. There were a number of critical publications: Alternatives and dangers. Some private schools try to achieve similar objectives by other means. Some private schools attempt to make a school more flexible and responsive to the needs of individual children. Dangers of home education include the possibility of it being used for religious and political propaganda, and the vulnerability of children to unsupervised adults. Education may be uneven, leaving children with a patchy grasp of many subjects. The children would also get to know fewer other children than they would ordinarily. Also, it is obvious that some parents are better placed to organise home education than others. In theory, visits by the inspectors of schools might be able to identify problems. However, at least in the United Kingdom, schools are not inspected every year. If we cannot inspect all schools annually, how can we expect to monitor individual families?
is a railway station in Shinjuku and Shibuya wards in Tokyo, Japan. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the busiest train station in the world.
The Dominican city of San Pedro de Macorís is the head municipality of the San Pedro de Macorís province, on the southeast of the country. It has the nickname of "Macorís del mar" ("Macorís by the sea") to differentiate it from San Francisco de Macorís, in the Duarte Province. History. There were two very small towns on the left side of the mouth of the river Macorís (or Higuamo): "Mosquito" (because there were too many mosquitos) and "Sol" (English: "Sun", because there were not trees). Even today, San Pedro de Macorís is called sometimes "Mosquitisol" after those two old and small towns. Since 1852, there was a military post in this place: the Military Post of Macorís, part of the Hato Mayor del Rey municipality in the El Seibo Province. In 1856, the priest Pedro Carrasco built a Catholic church with the name "San Pedro Apóstol"; the church was between the two towns of Mosquito and Sol. Both towns grew in direction of the church, forming one town called San Pedro de Macorís. When the country was again a Spanish colony, San Pedro de Macorís was made a "Comandancia de Armas" (an Spanish military category). When the country was free again, in 1865, every town with the category of "Comandancia de Armas" became a municipality. But San Pedro de Macorís was still a very small town of the El Seibo Province. After 1868, with the sugarcane plantations and the sugar factories, San Pedro de Macorís began to grow and it became one of the most important city in the Dominican Republic. Many people from Cuba and Puerto Rico came to live here during the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. Later came people from Spain and the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria) to work in businesses. To work in the sugarcane fields and factories, people from Haiti and the British West Indies came to San Pedro de Macorís
The Epistle to the Galatians (or Galatians) is the forty-eighth book in the Bible (and ninth in the New Testament), written by the Apostle Paul. The book was written to the people of Galatia, a part of modern day Turkey, with whom Paul had earlier preached and founded the congregation in their area. It is not known for sure, but most believe that the book was written around 57 A.D. One of the curious verses in the letter is where Paul says "See with what large letters I am writing this in my own hand". (Chapter 6, verse 11). This is understood to mean that normally Paul used a secretary to write down as he spoke his letters. However he wanted the Galatians to be sure it was he himself that was the author of the letter they would receive so he wrote a few lines himself. Some believe he had poor eyesight and so had to write with "large letters". Content. Paul's letter is to settle an important question of that day. It is if the gentile Christians must first join the Jewish religion and keep the Law of Moses. Paul says that the gentile Galatians do not need to keep the old Laws such as the need for circumcision, which is the removal of some skin around the male sex organ, done by Jews and Muslims as an act of religious obedience to God. Paul says that this is no longer important since Jesus has come. Paul says it is not good that the community has turned from the gospel (Chapter 1, verses 6–10) He says there is only one gospel and one way of being saved through faith in Christ and that adding to that makes it another gospel. He talks about his early life as a Jew, (Chapter 1, verses 13–14), how he met Christ, often called the conversion of Paul, (Chapter 1, verses 15–16), and his early work (Chapter 1 verses 17–24). He tells about meeting with the other Christian leaders in Jerusalem as reported in Acts chapter 15, verses 2:1–10. He says that they agreed with him that the gentiles did not need to be
The Neanderthal, a species of the genus "Homo", was a near relative of our own species. Its scientific name is "Homo neanderthalensis" or "Homo sapiens neanderthalensis". Neanderthal fossils were only found in Europe, Asia Minor and up to central Asia. The first fossil was found in a limestone quarry near Düsseldorf: One of the workers found part of a skeleton, in a valley now called Neandertal. Experts Johann Carl Fuhlrott and Hermann Schaaffhausen said the bones belonged to an older form of modern humans. These bones are known as Neanderthal 1 today. Recent research suggests Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago. Earlier research had suggested a later date; the problem is the dating of the archaeological sites where their remains have been found. Neanderthals perhaps evolved from "Homo heidelbergensis" and split off (last common ancestor) from modern humans between 700,000 and 300,000 years ago. Neanderthals used to be classified as a subspecies of modern humans ("Homo sapiens neanderthalensis"). Now, they are usually classified as a separate human species ("Homo neanderthalensis"). Neanderthal remains have been found in most of Europe south of land covered by ice including the south coast of Great Britain. Finds have also been made outside of Europe in the Zagros Mountains and in the Levant. Mental capacity. The size of the Neanderthal brain shows that Neanderthals were probably intelligent. On average, they had larger brains than modern humans. Large brains have their disadvantages. That is because they use lots of energy, make the skull more likely to be damaged, and cause difficulties during birth. These disadvantages may be less than the advantages, for example, better problem-solving, better social co-operation, language and tool-making. Neanderthal flint tools (for example, hand axes) were more finely made than those of early man. They were much less varied and finely made than the neolithic tools of modern man. Known Neanderthal art is much less complex than contemporary art from "H. sapiens". The
Oldenzaal is a municipality and city in the province of Overijssel, the Netherlands. About 32,000 people were living there in 2021. It lies in Twente region. Oldenzaal got city rights in 1249.
Homo erectus (Latin: "upright man") is an extinct species of the genus "Homo". Fossil remains were found in Java (1890s) and in China (1921). Nearly all of them were lost during World War II, but there are casts that are considered to be reliable evidence. Early in the 20th century it was believed that the first modern humans lived in Asia. But during the 1950s and 1970s, many fossil finds from East Africa (Kenya) showed that the oldest hominins came from there. Some characteristics. Skull and brain. "H. erectus" had a cranial capacity (brain size) greater than that the earlier "Homo habilis". The earliest "H. erectus" remains have a cranial capacity of 850 cm³, while the latest Javan specimens measure up to 1100 cm³. This overlaps that of "H. sapiens": the frontal bone is less sloped and the dental arcade smaller than in australopithecines. The face is more vertical (less protrusive) than either the australopithecines or "H. habilis", with large brow-ridges and less prominent cheekbones. Hair. This obvious difference between apes and men often goes without comment. It is hard to explain. Body hair protects the skin from wounds, bites, heat, cold, and UV radiation. Also, it is used as a communication tool and as a camouflage. The first member of the genus Homo to be hairless was "Homo erectus", originating about 1.6 million years ago. The dissipation of body heat remains the most widely accepted evolutionary explanation for the loss of body hair in early members of the genus "Homo". The reduction in hair, and the increase in sweat glands, made it easier for their bodies to cool. Man's ancestors moved from living in shady forest to open savanna. This change in environment resulted in a change in diet, from largely vegetarian to hunting. Hunting game on the savanna also increased the need for the regulation of body heat.  Anthropologist and paleo-biologist Nina Jabl