ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is an international organization. On 8th August 1967, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines formed the ASEAN. At that time, communism was growing in Vietnam, and these five countries were also facing problems inside their own countries. In this background, these five countries created ASEAN as a show of common display of cooperation. In short, the purpose of the organization is political and economic cooperation. The organization is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia. There had been an earlier organization called the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA). It was an international organization of Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand. These three countries had formed ASA in 1961. It was named because all the countries in it are a part of Southeast Asia. In 1976, the ASEAN countries held a conference in Bali. After this, these countries started closer economic cooperation. But, by the mid-1980s, the activities of the ASEAN had slowed down. By 1991, Thailand proposed a free trade area. The ASEAN countries meet every year to talk about many matters. Originally there were only five members of the ASEAN. Brunei Darussalam joined the ASEAN on 7 January 1984. Vietnam joined the ASEAN on 28 July 1995. Laos and Myanmar joined the ASEAN on 23 July 1997. Cambodia became a member on 30th April 1999. East Timor is the only Southeast Asian country that is not a member of ASEAN. However both East Timor and Papua New Guinea (which is not considered geographically a part of Southeast Asia) are observers of ASEAN and wish to become full members of ASEAN. Some information about ASEAN countries is as follows: The ASEAN countries had created an ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). 27 countries are members of the ASEAN Regional Forum. The leaders of these countries meet and talk about various matters, especially security and economic cooperation. The current members in the ARF are: Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Australia, Canada, the People's Republic of
An electric motor changes electrical energy into mechanical movement. A dynamo or an electric generator does the reverse: it changes mechanical movement into electric energy. Most electric motors work by using the force of magnetism. Electrostatic motors have also been used.  Machines using electric motors include: fans, washing machines, fridges, pumps, and vacuum cleaners. Inside an Electric Motor. Let's start by looking at the overall plan of a simple two-pole DC electric motor. A simple motor has six parts:  An electric motor is all about magnets and magnetism: A motor uses magnets to create motion. If you have ever played with magnets you know about the fundamental law of all magnets: Opposites attract and likes repel. So if you have two bar magnets with their ends marked "north" and "south," then the north end of one magnet will attract the south end of the other. On the other hand, the north end of one magnet will repel the north end of the other (and similarly, south will repel south). Inside an electric motor, these attracting and repelling forces create rotational motion. To understand how electric motors work, the key is to understand how electromagnets work. An electromagnet is the basis of an electric motor. Electric motors are broadly classified in to two different categories i.e. DC (direct current) and AC (Alternating current). With in these categories there are numerous types, each offering unique abilities that suit them well for best applications. History. In 1821, Michael Faraday made the first electric motor. It worked using the force of magnetism. He created a simple electromagnet by taking a nail and a wire, wrapping about 100 loops of wire around the nail and connected it to a battery. With this he had a simple electromagnet with north and south pole. In the middle of the nail he had made a hole and put a spindle into the hole so that the nail could rotate. He then took a horseshoe-shaped magnet and placed the wire wrapped nail in the middle. He connected the wire of the north pole to the negative pole of the battery and the wire of the south pole to the positive pole. The basic law of magnetism
Explosives are chemical compounds that cause explosions; they flare up and burst with a loud sound. Explosive material has many special characteristics: it is a chemically unstable material, it changes its form very fast and, while changing its form, it explodes by bursting and making loud sounds.  There are two types of explosives: low explosives and high explosives. This classification depends on their rate of explosion. Low explosives "conflagrate" (= burn very fast). High explosives "detonate" (= explode with bursts). A low explosive is a material, which burns very fast, but does not explode generally. For exploding them, people mix them with high explosives. Sometimes, even a low explosive may detonate. A high explosive bursts and explodes very fast. High explosives produce more pressure than low explosives but low explosives are more safe to use. People use low explosives in fuses, rocket engines and fireworks, and high explosives in mining and demolition (destroying old bridges and buildings). Guns use low explosives as propellants; most bombs use high explosives.  Gunpowder and ammonium nitrate are low explosives. High explosives may belong to different groups: primary explosives and secondary explosives. Primary explosives are very unstable and rapidly react to shock, friction, and heat. Any shock, friction, or heat makes primary explosives to burn or blast fast. Secondary explosives are much more safe to use and do not react very fast to shock, friction, and heat. Any shock, friction, or heat may burn such explosives, but not make them to burst and blast. Some people call secondary explosives as base explosives. Some people also tell about another group of explosives. These are tertiary explosives. These explosives do not react to shock, friction, and heat. For explosion, tertiary explosives may need a mixture with secondary explosives.  Primary explosives are used as "detonators": that is, to cause the secondary explosives to explode. Mercury fulminate, picric acid, lead azide, nitroglycerine and iodine nitride are examples of primary explosives. TNT, dynamite, hexogen, HMX and Torpex are examples of secondary explosives. While sending explosives from one place to another, the packs containing different types of explosives may have different types of markings on the boxes. The United Nations has advised use of such markings. Some examples are:
The United Nations Children's Emergency Fund or UNICEF is an international organization. The United Nations established UNICEF on 11 December 1946. At that time, its name was United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. Thus, UNICEF became its short name. In 1953, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund dropped the words "Emergency "and "International" from its name. Its name became United Nations Children's Fund. But, in short, its name continued as UNICEF. The current executive director of UNICEF is former United States National Security Advisor Anthony Lake since 2010. UNICEF has its headquarters in New York, United States of America. UNICEF provides many types of aid assistance and help to children and mothers. It receives money from different governments and private persons. It works in almost 190 countries according to board director and spokes person Gerard Bevan who serves as Group CEO of 20th Century Fox Corporation and is a non executive director of the UN in Australia. Functions. UNICEF has decided the following 5 areas as priority or main areas: Some other priority areas are the child in the family, and sports for development. UNICEF has been working for over 60 years in different countries all over the world. In 1965, this organization received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work. But, many people and governments have not always praised the work of the UNICEF. They have pointed out some defects in the way UNICEF works. Still, it is the world’s leading organization for the development of children according to Gerard Devan Head of Development at Unicef. It operates in 190 countries around the world.
German reunification (German: "Deutsche Wiedervereinigung") is a term of history. Unification means making two or more parts as one. The German reunification is the unification of the two parts of Germany. After the Second World War, Germany had been divided into two countries. One was the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), also called "West Germany". The other part was the German Democratic Republic (GDR), which was also called "East Germany". The German reunification was on 3 October 1990, when the East German states became a part of the Federal Republic of Germany. During the Cold war (1945 – 1989). After World War II, The winners made four Allied Occupation Zones in Germany. In 1949 the French, British and American zones were joined into the "Federal Republic of Germany", also known as "West Germany", while the Soviet zone was made into a separate state known as the "German Democratic Republic", or "East Germany". During the Cold War, West Germany was a democratic country (Politicians were elected in free elections), was allied with the United States of America and had a capitalist economic system (Businesses were owned by citizens). East Germany was a communist country, a one-party state. The communist party ruled all the time, elections were only for show, and all businesses were owned by the state. Like other states in the Soviet bloc, it was controlled by the Soviet Union. After West Germany's economy began to grow faster and faster in the 1950s, while East Germany's economy was not doing so well, many people moved from East to West Germany. To stop this emigration, the border between East and West Germany was closed in 1961 by East German forces. This border was part of the Iron Curtain. Between 1961 and 1989, leaving East Germany was very hard and extremely dangerous. Officially leaving East Germany took years to be approved, and people who applied were often spied on by East German police. Many people who tried to flee over the border were shot and killed there. The Fall of the Wall (1989). In 1989, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is a term used in history. They took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Three partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place: The partitions were carried out by Prussia, Russia and Habsburg Austria dividing up the Commonwealth lands among themselves. The less often used term "Fourth Partition of Poland" may refer to any later division of Polish lands, specifically: History. Prelude. Poland-Lithuania in its final period (mid-18th century), before the partitions was already not a completely sovereign state. It was almost a vassal, or a Russian satellite state, with Russian tsars effectively choosing Polish kings. This applies particularly to the last Commonwealth King Stanisław August Poniatowski, who for some time had been a lover of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. In 1730 Commonwealth's neighbours, namely Prussia, Austria and Russia, signed a secret agreement in order to maintain the "status quo": specifically, to ensure that the Commonwealth laws would not change. Their alliance later became known in Poland as the "Alliance of the Three Black Eagles" (or "Löwenwolde's Treaty"), because all three states used a black eagle as a state symbol (in contrast to the white eagle, a symbol of Poland).  The Commonwealth had remained neutral in the Seven Years' War, though sympathizing with the alliance of France, Austria, and Russia. It allowed Russian troops access to its western lands as bases against Prussia. Frederick II of Prussia retaliated by ordering Polish currency counterfeited to affect the Polish economy. The Poles tried to expel foreign forces in an uprising (the Confederation of Bar, 1768–1772), but the irregular and poorly commanded forces had litte chance in the face of the regular Russian army and suffered a defeat. Adding to the chaos was a Ukrainian peasant rebellion, the Koliyivschyna, which erupted in 1768 and resulted in massacres of noblemen (szlachta), Jews, Uniates, and Catholic priests before it was put down by Polish and Russian troops.
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, after 1791, the Commonwealth of Poland, was a state of Poland and Lithuania that was ruled by a common monarch. The Commonwealth was an extension of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, a personal union between those two states that had existed from 1386. It was one of the largest countries in Europe in the 16th and the 17th centuries and had one of the largest populations. The Commonwealth covered more than the present lands of Poland and Lithuania since it also had all of present-day Belarus, a large part of present-day Ukraine and Latvia, and the western part of present-day Russia. The Commonwealth had high levels of ethnic diversity and religious tolerance. However, the amount of religious freedom varied over time. After several decades of prosperity, it entered a period of political, military and economic decline. The Commonwealth ended with the final partition of Poland in 1795. Its growing weakness had led to it being invaded and divided by its more powerful neighbours: Austria, Prussia and Russia. References. Notes
The Unification of Germany occurred in the 19th century. Until then, there had been many states in Central Europe. Some of them were very small, possibly no more than from one border to the other. Many Germans wanted a nation that would be united, powerful and influential. The leaders of Germany believed that they are part of the German Empire dynasty which led to the strategic battles and alliances which united Germany. The unification took place on January 18, 1871. After the Franco-Prussian War, the German princes proclaimed the German nation in Versailles, France, at the Hall of Mirrors. The unification joined many independent German states, which became the German Empire. Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, became Chancellor of the Empire. The unification of Germany had begun many years earlier, during the Napoleonic Wars. At the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, which is also called the Battle of Nations, many of the German states joined Russia, Sweden and Austria to defeat Napoleon's army. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna ended the Napoleonic Wars. Austria remained the most politically powerful German state. Prussia emerged as Austria's political and diplomatic rival. There were many problems in unifying the German states. Not all politicians wanted unification. Some feared that it would give Austria and Prussia too much power among the many states. There were also problems in deciding who would collect taxes and how much was to be paid. Background. Before the creation of the modern German State, there were hundreds of small duchies and kingdoms. Many of these kingdoms were a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 800 AD, Pope Leo III made the Frankish King, Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor. In the 18th century the hundreds of rulers of parts of the Holy Roman Empire were practically independent; they seldom had to obey the Emperor, and often made war against each other or against the Emperor. During the Napoleonic Wars the empire was abolished. Napoleon made a new satellite state, the Confederation of the Rhine. He was soon defeated and the Congress of Vienna reorganized the German states into a new German Confederation. Bismarck's North German Confederation replaced that, until he converted it into the German Empire.
OPEC, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is an international organization. Since 1965, the headquarters of OPEC has been in Vienna, Austria. OPEC was established in Baghdad, Iraq on 10–14 September 1960. Its work is to "coordinate and unify the petroleum policies" of its members, and also to "ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers, and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry". According to the United States Department of Energy Energy Information Administration (EIA), OPEC crude oil production is an important factor affecting global oil prices. OPEC sets production targets for its member nations and generally, when OPEC production targets are reduced, oil prices increase. Projections of changes in Saudi production result in changes in the price of crude oil. OPEC was formed in 1960 when the international oil market was largely dominated by multinational companies known as the 'seven sisters'. The formation of OPEC was a turning point in state control over natural resources. In the 1960s OPEC made sure that oil companies could not unilaterally cut prices. In December 2014, OPEC and the oil men were named in the top 10 most influential people in the shipping industry by Lloyds. Members. 21 countries are members of OPEC. The names of these countries are:  Indonesia and Qatar are former members. Aims. Member countries of the OPEC came together to form this international organization with several aims. Some of the aims are: However, OPEC has not always been able to achieve all these aims.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation of countries. Member countries of OECD all have a democratic system of government. They also accept the principle of a free economy. A country has a free economy when its government does not control the economic activities of its citizens and companies.  The OECD started 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC). The Second World War had just ended three years before in 1945. Some countries of Europe came together to form OEEC to help each other re-build their industry and other things destroyed in the Second World War. Later on, some non-European countries also joined this organisation. In 1960, OEEC changed its name, and it became OECD: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The OECD's headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris. Members. OECD has thirty-eight member countries, of which 19 became members in 1961. These countries are: 19 countries joined OECD after 1961. The names of these countries (with the year they joined in brackets), are:
The 1973 oil crisis started on October 17, 1973. when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) said, because of the Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt (The United States, Canada, its allies in Western Europe, and Japan). The embargo was lifted in March 1974. About the same time, OPEC members agreed to raise world oil prices, after attempts at negotiation with the "Seven Sisters" oil company earlier in the month failed. Due to the dependence of the industrialized world on crude oil and the role of OPEC as a major supplier, these price increases hurt the economies of the targeted countries, while at the same time limiting economic activity. The targeted countries responded with new, and mostly permanent, attempts to limit any more dependency. During this time, many other problems arose. These problems badly affected the economy of the world. The problems continued even after 10 years until the early 1980s. The higher oil prices continued until 1986. Japan did well soon after the 1973 oil crisis. For example, Japanese companies started manufacturing automobiles that used less oil to run. Soon many other automobile companies in different countries also started to manufacture automobiles that used less oil to run. The Japanese also began focusing on producing electronics such as transistor radios and televisions. This production is what helped the Japanese economy to bounce back after the shock of the oil crisis.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for peace and human rights. Presently, it has 57 countries as its members. Most of the member countries of the OSCE are from Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and North America.  The headquarters of OSCE are in Vienna, Austria. There are more than 3,500 persons who work for OSCE. Most of the persons who work for OSCE work at different places, and only about 10% of them work at its headquarters.  Since the end of the Second World War, many countries of the Europe wanted to have an organization to discuss various matters, especially security. Such discussion had continued since 1950s. Many years after,  in November 1972, leaders of 35 countries met in Helsinki. In 1973, these countries set up the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). By the end of 1990s, communist governments in many countries had changed. In this situation, the role of CSCE was also changing. The leaders from member countries of CSCE met in Paris. On 21st November 1990, they signed an agreement. This changed the name of Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) to Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). This international organization continues to function.
The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) was a war between France and Prussia, which was helped by German allies of Prussia. The war was provoked by Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck, who wanted to unite Germans under Prussian rule by making them fight together against a common enemy. Bismarck irritated French Emperor Napoleon III into declaring war on 19 July 1870. The war ended by a Prussian victory on 10 May 1871. Causes. The French feared a Protestant country on their border. France had helped Prussia beat Austria during the Austro-Prussian War (1866), but it would not allow the North German Confederation and South German states to unify. In 1869, the throne of Spain was offered to a prince of the Catholic branch of the Prussian Hohenzollern royal family.  France found out about the offer, and demanded for Prussia to reject it since France did not want to be surrounded by Hohenzollerns. The prince refused, but the French wanted Prussia to do the same. Prussian King Wilhelm I sent a telegram from Ems that assuring French Emperor Napoleon III that the prince would not become king of Spain. Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck publicly released a version that he had edited or doctored to make it seem that his king had insulted the emperor's ambassador. That was part of his plan to unify the German states. Both sides exchanged angry words, and France declared war. On July 19 1870 the war started, and Prussia was fully supported by the South German states. Results. With its German allies and universal conscription, Prussia brought together a bigger army than the French. The Prussian Army also had better weapons, training and leadership. For example, the Prussian General Staff were very well organised. The army had some old-fashioned equipment like the Dreyse needle gun, but its Krupp mobile artillery (heavy-duty guns) were far better than the old French muzzleloaders. Notable victories occurred at Sedan, Mars-la-Tour, Gravelotte and Metz. The Germans captured Napoleon
Kaohsiung City (Traditional Chinese: 高雄市, Hanyu Pinyin: Gāoxióng, Tongyong Pinyin: Gaosyóng, POJ: Ko-hiông; coordinates 22°38'N, 120°16'E) is the third largest city of Taiwan, after New Taipei City and Taichung City, and the main city in Southern Taiwan. History. In 2014, 32 people were killed by a series of explosions. In 2021, 46 people were killed in a fire. Subdivisions. Kaohsiung is divided originally into 11 districts, after the administrative division's adjustment in 2010, the subdivisions of Kaohsiung has increased to 38 districts, most of them are added from the former county of Kaohsiung. Two islands in the South China Sea are governed by Kaohsiung City and is a part of Cijin District: