ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
A railway track or railway line is a set of two parallel rows of long pieces of steel. They are used by trains to transport people and things from one place to another. (In America, people say railroad as well as railway). Often, there is more than one set of tracks on the railway line. For example, trains go east on one track and west on the other one. The rails are supported by cross pieces set at regular intervals (called sleepers or ties), which spread the high pressure load imposed by the train wheels into the ground. They also maintain the rails at a fixed distance apart (called the gauge). Ties are usually made from either wood or concrete. These often rest on ballast, which is a name for very small pieces of broken up rock that are packed together and keep the railway tracks in place. Tracks are often made better by ballast tampers. The upper surfaces of the rails are inclined slightly towards each other, typically on a slope of 1/20, and the rims of the train wheels are angled in the same way ("coning"). This helps guide the vehicles of the train along the track. Each wheel also has a flange, which sticks out from one edge all the way around. This makes sure the train does not "derail" (come off the track) and helps guide the train on sharp curves.
Rail transport is the movement of passengers and goods using wheeled vehicles called trains, made to run on railway tracks. In most countries, this transportation method helps trade and economic growth. Railways (British English) or railroads (American English) provide an energy-efficient way to transport material over land. The railway tracks are a large part of the system and provide smooth and hard surfaces on which the wheels of the train roll with a little friction. Also, the track spreads the weight of the train which means larger amounts can be carried than with trucks on roads. Rail transport started to be important in the Industrial Revolution. In France the areas that adopted steam-power quicker in the mid-1800s got more jobs (122% more) and higher wages than other areas which were slower.  The first railroads were built in England. Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. Power is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives. While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in Great Britain around 1800. The first passenger railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, between Liverpool and Manchester, was a key part of the Industrial Revolution. Rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city.  In the 1880s, the spread of buses led to a railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives. The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe, East Asia, and the eastern United States. Following some decline due to competition from cars and fixed-wing aircrafts, rail transport has had a revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO2 emissions. Attempts to reduce airplane travel by improving long distance railway in Europe have found problems, especially when crossing borders.
A waterway is any body of water that can be used for transportation by people in boats. These include rivers, lakes, oceans, and canals. They must be wide and deep enough for the boats, and either have no waterfalls and rapids, or have ways for boats to get around them, such as locks.
A junction is any place where linear things, especially roads and railway tracks, meet.  A Road junction is a place where roads meet. These are known as 'T' junctions and 'X' junctions. Railway junction. A railway junction is a place where two railway tracks join. The shape of a junction looks like  Sometimes the trains just cross and keep going straight ahead to their destination. Sometimes they turn onto the other track to reach the planned destination. Moveable portions of track make this possible.
Station has many meanings, so it is often used with other words to tell people which one is meant: In transport: In communications: Other buildings: Other uses:
1816 (MDCCCXVI) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Saturday in the Julian calendar.
James Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American R&amp;B and funk singer. He was known as the "Godfather of Soul".  He was born in Barnwell, South Carolina and grew up in Augusta, Georgia. Brown was arrested by police on many occasions. When he was 16, he was convicted of armed robbery, for which he spent three years in a youth detention center. His other convictions include assaults.  Four of Brown's albums were in "Rolling Stone" magazine's 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Brown's most well known song is "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine". In 2006, Brown died of pneumonia and heart disease in Atlanta. There was a public memorial service at Apollo Theater. Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Prince were there. In 1993 Brown was in "The Simpsons" episode "Bart's Inner Child".
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 22 November 1963) was an English writer, and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family.  He wrote a number of novels, on various themes. Most of his books are about modern society, the effects of modern science and, later, on mysticism and psychedelic drugs like LSD.  Huxley is probably best known for his book "Brave New World". In the book, which was written in 1932, he writes about a world in the far future, where the whole social hierarchy is based on genetic traits, and not on the personal effort of individual people to improve themselves.
Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet. He was born in the town of Swansea. He published his first book of poetry in 1932. In addition to writing poetry, he was an excellent speaker. He toured the United Kingdom and the United States reciting his poems. He wrote works for radio including ""A Child's Christmas in Wales" and "Under Milk Wood"" Thomas is one of the famous people who appears on the cover of The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Leo Bernard Gorcey (June 3, 1917 – June 2, 1969) was an American actor. He is most famous for appearing the "Dead End Kids" series. Gorcey was one of the famous people who appeared on The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album, but he asked to have his picture removed.
Indiana is a U.S. state in the midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Other cities and towns include Bloomington, Gary, Fort Wayne, South Bend, Evansville, Muncie, Lafayette, and Marion. People who live in Indiana are sometimes called "Hoosiers". Indiana's state bird is the cardinal. Indiana's state flower is the peony. Indiana's state tree is a tulip tree. Indiana has borders with four other states: Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. It also touches Lake Michigan, which is the only one of the Great Lakes that is completely inside the United States. History. Before it was called Indiana, most people who lived there were indigenous. France colonized the area, renaming it New France. They enslaved the indigenous peoples, and introduced black slaves. In the 18th century, the United States took the area from France. Many slave owners from Kentucky and Virginia moved into the area. By 1820, it had become a state called Indiana. The government ordered all slaves to be freed, but black people were still enslaved there into at least the 1830s. Attractions. One attraction of Indiana is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the Indianapolis 500 is held every year. The Indianapolis 500 is one of the biggest car races in the United States. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not actually in Indianapolis. It is in a town called Speedway, which is completely surrounded by Indianapolis. Sports. The Indianapolis 500 car race is based in Indianapolis. Professional sports teams include the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) and the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Colleges and universities in Indiana with well-known sports teams include Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, and Indiana University. State Capitol. The Indiana Statehouse is the official State Capitol Complex of the State of Indiana
The wolf ("Canis lupus") is a mammal of the order Carnivora. It is sometimes called timber wolf or grey wolf. It is the ancestor of the domestic dog. A recent study found that the domestic dog is descended from wolves tamed less than 16,300 years ago south of the Yangtze River in China. There are many different wolf subspecies, such as the Arctic wolf. Some subspecies are listed on the endangered species list, but overall, "Canis lupus" is IUCN graded as 'least concern'. Appearance. Adult wolves are usually in length from nose to tail depending on the subspecies. Wolves living in the far north tend to be larger than those living further south. As adults they may weigh typically between . The heaviest wolf recorded weighed . The wolf has a long muzzle, short upright ears, long legs, and a long bushy tail. Wolves usually measure at the shoulder. Wolves have fur made up of two layers. The top layer is resistant to dirt, and the under-layer is water resistant. The colour of their fur can be grey, white, taupe, or black. The underparts and legs are usually creamy-gray. The eyes are yellow. They are also very intelligent. Life. Wolves live in groups called "packs". They are pack hunters. The members of the pack are usually family members, often just the parents and offspring. Wolves that are not family may join if they do not have a pack of their own. Packs are usually up to 12 wolves, but they can be as small as two or as large as 25. The leaders are called the parent (breeding) male and the parent (breeding) female. Their territory is marked by scent and howling; they will fight any intruders. Young wolves are called 'pups' or 'cubs'. Adult females usually give birth to five or six pups in a litter. Wolves make a noise called a howl. They howl to communicate with each other from long distances and to mark the edges of their territory. Wolves have a complicated body language. Wolves can run very fast and far. A wolf can run in a day. Grey wolves
Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently caretaker manager of Premier League club Chelsea. And is now the new coventry city head coach. He was known at his playing time at Chelsea. He is the son of Frank Lampard Senior, a former West Ham and England player. Lampard went to Brentwood School in Essex, where amongst other subjects, he studied Latin and gained an A* grade. He played for England national team and Chelsea. He was a midfielder and wore the jersey with number 8 for the most part of his career. Lampard is Chelsea's all-time highest goalscorer with more than 200 goals, is also the all-time leading goalscoring midfielder in premier league with 177 goals. He has now retired as a player. And is now the current new coventry city manager as of 11th November 2024 due to former coventry boss Mark Robins dismissal Playing Career. Frank Lampard started his footballing career at West Ham United. Lampard joined West Ham, where his father was the assistant coach, as an apprentice in July 1994 as part of their youth system, and signed his professional forms a year later. He was loaned to Division Two team Swansea City in October 1995, and debuted in a 2-0 win over Bradford City. Lampard made nine league appearances for Swansea before returning to West Ham in January 1996, with whom he played his first match at the end of the month against Coventry City F.C., and spent the remainder of the season as a reserve. The next year, a broken leg suffered in a March game against Aston Villa prematurely put an end to Lampard's 1996-97 season after thirteen appearances. He had to wait until the '97-98 campaign to score his first goal for West Ham, which came in a road victory over Barnsley F.C. He became a regular starter in 1998-99 season and appeared in every match as West Ham finished fifth in the Premiership standings. Following the sale of teammate and friend Rio Ferdinand to Leeds United after the 2000-
Eswatini (or Swaziland) is a country in Africa. It is officially the Kingdom of eSwatini ("Umbuso weSwatini"). It was called Swaziland until April 2018. Overview. The capital of Eswatini is Mbabane. The country is named after the 19th-century king Mswati II. ESwatini was colonized by the British and the Boers at the end of the 19th century.  Eswatini is a small country. It is no more than north to south and east to west. It is completely surrounded by land. ESwatini does not touch the sea. The two countries that touch it are Mozambique and South Africa. The country's two largest cities are the administrative capital Mbabane and the economic center Manzini. The seat of government is Lobamba.  On 19 April 2018, the King of eSwatini Mswati III announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had renamed itself the Kingdom of eSwatini. Part of the reason was that the old name sounded too similar to Switzerland. Health. ESwatini is strongly affected by HIV and AIDS. The 2012 CIA World Factbook showed Swaziland with the highest HIV infection rate in the world. Life expectancy is 50 years. Education. Education in eSwatini is free at primary level, mainly 1st and 2nd grades. It is also free for orphaned and vulnerable children. Children are not required to attend. In 1996, the primary school enrollment rate was 90.8%. Girls and boys both attended at the primary level. In 1998, 80.5% of children reached grade five.  The University of eSwatini provides higher education. Demographics. Most of eSwatini’s people are ethnically Swazi. There is also a small number of Zulu and white Africans, mostly people of British and Afrikaner descent. eSwatini also has some Portuguese settlers and African refugees from Mozambique.  82.70% of the people are Christian. Christianity in e
The Republic of Liberia is a small country on the coast of West Africa. It has common borders with Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. The country has a size of about by . As of 2021, there are about 5,000,000 people in Liberia. The capital city of Liberia is Monrovia. For ships, Liberia is a flag of convenience. Geography. Liberia is a country in Southwest Africa, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Except for the coast, most of Liberia is low mountains, with an altitude of to above sea level. The coastal region is full of swamps, and reaches to inland. After that, there's a plateau at an altitude of about . About 60% of the country is covered with rainforest. To the north, there are higher mountains. There are nine big plantations of rubber trees, which are important for the economy. There are mangrove swamps near the coast. In 2019, estimates are that close to 5 million people live in Liberia. About half of them live in the capital, Monrovia. There are 15 administrative divisions, called counties. The main environmental issues in Liberia are that endangered species are hunted and eaten. This kind of meat is called bushmeat. Some of the poached animals are also sold to neighbouring countries. A big part of Liberia is rainforest. Like in other rainforest countries, Slash-and-burn agriculture is a problem. Illegal logging also is. In Monrovia, there is a lot of pollution.  History. In 1822, White Americans created the American Colonization Society and bought the land in Africa that would become Liberia. They did not want black people who were not slaves to be in the United States. Because of this, they took some of them to Liberia. At the start of the American Civil War (in the 1860s) about 12,000 freed slaves lived in Liberia.  The name of the country means "Land of the Free" in Latin. Liberia gained its independence on July 26, 1847. Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the first president of Liberia. European countries were quick to recognize Liberia as a country. The United
The Central African Republic (CAR) (, , or "Centrafrique" ; Sango "Ködörösêse" "tî Bêafrîka"), formerly Ubangi-Shari, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is mostly a plateau or high, flat piece of land about 941 metres above the sea. The CAR covers a land area of about , and has an estimated population of about 4.4 million as of 2008. Bangui is the capital city. Background. There are thick forests in the south, and these are home to rare gorillas. This part of Africa also has Pygmies. Other important towns are Bouar, Zinga, and Ouadda. Its southern border is the Ubangi River. There are 3.8 million people in the C.A.R. Most of them belong to the Banda and Baya tribes. The main language is French but some people speak the national language of Sango. The people mostly grow their own food, but sometimes droughts (long spells without any rain) make this difficult. The C.A.R. also has diamond and uranium mines. It sells these, as well as cotton, coffee, and timber to other countries to make money. The currency used is the CFA Franc - 1 US Dollar is worth 590.3 CFA Francs. The country was ruled by France until 1960 when it became independent. The country has not been very stable since then, with multiple wars with itself, and corruption. In April 2022, the country made bitcoin a legal tender, becoming the second country in the world to adopt the cryptocurrency. Geography. The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation. It is bordered by the countries of Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. Much of the Central African Republic is flat, or rolling plateau savanna. It is typically about above sea level. Most of the northern half is in the World Wildlife Fund's East Sudanian savanna ecoregion. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills. There are scattered hills in the southwest
Kim Jong-nam (May 10, 1971 - February 13, 2017) was the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, the former leader of North Korea.  He tried to enter Japan using a fake passport in May 2001. This was to visit Disneyland. This caused his father to not approve of him. Kim Jong-nam's younger half-brother Kim Jong-un was made the heir in September 2010. In June 2010, Kim Jong-nam gave a brief interview to the "Associated Press" in Macau. He told the reporter that he had "no plans" to defect to Europe. The press had recently said this. Kim Jong-nam lived in an apartment on the southern tip of Macau's Coloane Island until 2007. An anonymous South Korean official reported in October 2010 that Jong-nam had not lived in Macau for "months", and now goes between China and "another country." When his father died, Kim Jong-nam did not attend the funeral. This was to avoid rumours on the succession. He was assassinated in Malaysia on February 13, 2017, which is believed to be ordered by his half-brother Kim Jong-un. Personal life. The South Korean newspaper "The Chosun Ilbo" said that Kim Jong-nam has two wives, at least one mistress, and several children. His first wife Shin Jong-hui (born c. 1980) and their son Kum-sol (born c. 1996) live at a home called Dragon Villa on the northern outskirts of Beijing. His second wife Lee Hye-kyong (born c. 1970), their son Han-sol (born c. 1995) and their daughter Sol-hui (born c. 1998) live in an apartment building in Macau. Jong-nam's mistress, former Air Koryo flight attendant So Yong-la (born c. 1980), also lives in Macau.  Jong-nam is often given attention by the media for his gambling and extravagant spending.
Western Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الغربية; Amazigh: Tanẓṛuft Tutrimt; ) is a territory in north Africa. To the north is Morocco, to the east is Algeria, to the south is Mauritania, and to the west is the Atlantic Ocean. Its surface is . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world. Most of the territory is made of desert flatlands. The largest city is Laâyoune. More than half the population live there. The territory has a population estimated at just more than 500,000. Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since the 1960s when it was a Spanish colony. The Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, with its Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) government, both claim control over the territory. Since 1975, most of the territory has been part of Morocco. In 1973, some Sahrawis claimed the Moroccans and Mauritanians were occupying their land and started a movement. The movement turned violent, and the United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991. Many Polisario members and their families became refugees in camps in Algeria. The rest of Western Sahara is controlled by the Polisario/SADR, backed by Algeria. Many important countries have pressed both parties to agree to a peaceful solution. Both Morocco and Polisario have tried to get recognition from other countries. Polisario has won formal recognition for SADR from 81 states, and was extended membership in the African Union, while Morocco has won recognition for its position from the Arab League. In both instances, recognitions have over the past two decades been extended and withdrawn according to changing international trends. Some countries (such as the United States) recognizes Morocco's sovereignty on Western Sahara, others claim that the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic are the legitimate government in Western Sahara. Most nations remain neutral on the subject. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic was made by the Polisario Front an armed militia fighting under Sahrawi nationalism.