ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Goat Rock Beach is a beach in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is part of the Sonoma Coast State Beach, which is owned by the State of California. The mouth of the Russian River is in the northern part of the beach. Goat Rock is in the southern part of the beach. The beach itself was named after the rock. The naming of Goat Rock is unknown, but many sources say some goat herders around the early 20th century used the grassy, flat rock for goats, because few other animals could live there. Goat Rock Beach has many visitors. It usually has the most people in the middle of summer. The beach is a popular spot for swimming and surfing. It is home to seagulls, harbor seals, and sea lions, as well as other animals from the Pacific Ocean. History. The oldest natural history of the area is related to marks made by mammals in an area of rock about one third of a mile south of Goat Rock Beach. In uplifted sea stack formations, there are rubbing marks about two to four meters above the ground surface, too high of a rubbing mark for modern bovids. Mammoths are thought to have traveled here as recently as 40,000 years ago, and are thought to have made these rubbing marks. Mammoth fossils have been found at Bodega Head, which is a few miles south of Goat Rock Beach. The earliest known humans to settle at Goat Rock Beach were the Native American Coast Miwok and Pomo tribes. During the mid-1800s, Mexican ranchers lived in California, and Goat Rock Beach was part of a Mexican land grant called the "Bodega Rancho". The Russians are thought to have begun cutting down the forests just north of the beach in the early 19th century. Geography. The Russian River, which has its mouth at the north end of Goat Rock Beach, is Sonoma County's biggest watercourse and river. Just north of the Russian River mouth is the small town of Jenner, and the beach, Jenner Beach. Goat Rock is at the south end of the beach. Visitors can walk onto Goat Rock, going on a small "isthmus", which is also known
Sea lions are several pinnipeds from the family Otariidae (eared seals). They live all around the world, except in the Atlantic Ocean. Male sea lions have thick fur around the face and neck, which sometimes looks like a lion's mane. That's how they got the name "sea lion". Some, like the Steller sea lion, can actually roar! Of course, these pinnipeds are not really lions at all, but they are mammals. Like lions, they have fur, breathe air, give birth to live young, and feed milk to their young. They also eat meat, though sea lions eat the meat of fishes, squids, and sea birds instead of land animals. Sea lions are also fierce fighters, just like lions. Species. The pinniped species called "sea lion" are:
Greywacke is a type of sandstone. It is hard, and dark in color. It has different sized grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments set in a compact, fine clay matrix. It is mostly found in Palaeozoic strata. The larger grains can be sand-to-gravel-sized, and matrix materials make up more than 15% of the rock by volume.  The origin of greywacke was a problem. Gravel, sand and mud should not be laid down together, because river outflow drops heavier grains first. Now geologists think greywacke is formed by submarine avalanches or strong turbidity currents. These actions churn sediment and cause mixed-sediment slurries to occur. When this happens, the resulting rocks show various sedimentary features. Support for the turbidity current origin is the fact that deposits of greywacke are found on the edges of the continental shelves, at the bottoms of oceanic trenches, and at the bases of mountain formational areas. It also occurs in association with black shales of deep sea origin.
Carmina Burana is the name given to a collection of texts from the 11th and 12th century. There are over 240 texts in the collection, most of them written in Latin, some in Middle High German. Most of the texts are moral or satirical in nature. There are also texts about spring, or about love. Some of them are drinking songs, some of them were used as Minnesang. Some of the songs contain hints for the melodies. For some, the melodies can be reconstructed. The texts were written down around 1230. This happened either in an abbey in Styria, or near Brixen. They were discovered by Johann Christoph von Aretin in Benediktbeuern Abbey in 1803. Today, they are in the Bavarian State Library in Munich. There they can be found there as Codex Buranus, with the signature clm 4660/4660a. Johann Andreas Schmeller edited them and published them as "Carmina Burana – Lieder aus Benediktbeuern".  Carl Orff took 24 of them as "Carmina Burana". He wrote the music for them. The work was first performed in 1937 in the Opera house in Frankfurt am Main. Together with his works "Catulli Carmina" and "Trionfo di Afrodite" he made a work containing all three, called "Trionfi". Trionfi is performed much less than the Carmina Burana alone, though.
Mohammed Zahir Shah (16 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last King ("Shah") of Afghanistan. He ruled for four decades, from 1933 to 1973. Mohammed Zahir Shah became king of Afghanistan at the age of nineteen after the assassination of his father in November 1933. Since he was so young, his uncle, "Shah Mahmood Khan" ran the government. Mohammed Zahir Shah took control and was able to keep Afghanistan’s neutral position in international politics. In July 17, 1973, Mohammed Zahir Shah was no longer king after a bloodless coup. He died on .
Thurgau is a northeast canton of Switzerland. The population is 228,200 (2003). The capital is Frauenfeld. Geography. To the north of Thurgau is Lake Constance, across which are Germany and Austria. The river Rhine makes the border in the northwest. To the south is the Canton of St. Gallen; to the west are the cantons of Zürich and Schaffhausen. The area of the canton is 991 km2 and is usually divided into three hilly areas. One of these is along Lake Constance to the north. Another is inland between the rivers Thur and Murg. The third one makes the southern border of the canton and comes together with the Hörnli mountain in the pre-Alps. History. In prehistoric times the lands of the canton were inhabited by people of the Pfyn culture along the lake. During Roman times the canton was part of the province "Raetia" until in 450 the lands were settled by the Alamanni. It was only in the 8th century that the canton became a political unit similar to what it is known today, as a Gau of the Frankish Empire. At the time, however, the area was not so clearly defined and changed frequently. Overall, the size of the Thurgau was larger, but during the Middle Ages the canton became smaller in size. The dukes of Zähringen and the counts of Kyburg took over much of the land. The town of Zürich was part of the Thurgau until it became "reichsunmittelbar" in 1218. When the Kyburg dynasty became extinct in 1264 the Habsburgs took over that land. The Swiss confederation allied with ten freed bailiwicks of the former Toggenburg seized the lands of the Thurgau from the Habsburgs in 1460, and it became subject territory of Zürich. In 1798 the land became a canton for the first time as part of the Helvetic Republic. In 1803 the canton of Thurgau became a member of the Swiss confederation
The Grisons or Graubünden, more formally the canton of the Grisons or the canton of Graubünden, is the biggest and is farthest to the east of the cantons of Switzerland. The name means "Gray Union" in German and the canton lies entirely in the Alps. In Switzerland it hosts the biggest number of tourists each year. Geography. The area of the canton is 7,105 km². Only one third of this land is used for farming. Forests cover 20% of the total area. The canton has many mountains that make up the highlands of the Rhine and Inn river valleys. Many of its scenic areas are part of the Swiss National Park or the Ela Nature Park. There are many important peaks in the Grison Alps, including the Tödi at 3,614 meters and the highest peak Piz Bernina at 4,049 meters. Many of the mountain ranges feature huge glaciers, such as at the Adula, the Albula, the Silvretta, the Bernina, the Bregaglia and the Rätikon ranges. The mountain ranges in the central area contain many of the deepest vallies in Switzerland. The canton borders Liechtenstein to the north, Austria to the north and the east, Italy to the south, and the cantons of St. Gallen to the northwest; Glarus and the canton of Uri to the west, and Ticino to the southwest. The capital city is Chur. Davos and St. Moritz are world-famous resorts and can be found in this area. History. Most of the lands of the canton were once part of a Roman province called "Raetia" that was established in 15 BC. The area later was part of the lands of the diocese at Chur. In 1367 the League of God's House was founded against the power of the Bishop of Chur. This was followed by the making of the Grey League, sometimes called "Oberbund", in 1395 in the Upper Rhine valley. The name "Grey League" is derived from the homes
Nidwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is in the center of Switzerland. The population is 38,600 (in 2001). The capital is Stans. Geography. Nidwalden is in the center of Switzerland. To the north is Lake Lucerne. Mountain ranges block in the rest of the canton on the other sides. History. In 1291 the people of Nidwalden joined Uri and Schwyz to form an alliance. At the time there was no state, but towards the end of the 14th century early forms of government were established. This included institutionalized assemblies and courts. In the 14th and 15th century the people of Nidwalden joined the people of Obwalden to discuss important matters, but the two cantons were never really one. For example, Obwalden did not participate in the annexation of Bellinzona, Riviera and Blenio areas (today in the canton of Ticino). Around 1500 many people in Nidwalden worked as mercenary soldiers. Many of these soldiers later emigrated. This helped to lessen the pressure of a growing population. A popular destination was the Alsace. After rejecting a new constitution by Napoleon — the ideas of the French Revolution were not popular in this agricultural area — Nidwalden was attacked by French troops on 9 September 1798. Random destruction was caused and at least 400 people were killed. After the end of Napoleon's rule in 1814 most of the changes were reverted. Only in 1877 did Nidwalden introduce a new constitution. The open assembly ("Landsgemeinde") was abolished in 1997. Politics. The government is composed of seven members. The local parliament has 60 seats. Nidwalden sends only one deputy to the Swiss Council of States. Economy. Up to the 1900s, Nidwalden was mostly agriculture. Cattle and cheese were exported mainly to northern Italy.  From the middle of the 19th century onwards, trade, industry and tourism grew. Today, many small and middle-sized businesses fill the economy. The largest employer is the airplane
Schaffhausen is a town in northern Switzerland and the capital of the canton of the same name. It has a population of about 36,000 as 2016. The old portion of the town has many fine Renaissance era buildings decorated with exterior frescos and sculpture, as well as the impressive old canton fortress, the "Munot". A train runs out of town to the nearby Rhine Falls in Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Europe's largest waterfall, a tourist attraction. History. Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins starting in 1045. For a time it was under Habsburg domination, but regained its independence in 1415. It allied itself with Zürich in 1457, and became a full member of the Swiss Confederation in 1501. The first railroad came to Schaffhausen in 1857. Schaffhausen is in a finger of Swiss land surrounded on three sides by Germany. On April 1, 1944, Schaffhausen suffered a bombing raid by United States Army Air Forces aircraft which strayed from German airspace into neutral Switzerland. While the United States immediately offered four million dollars in reparations, the raid occurred only a month after the Swiss Air Force had shot down an American bomber. In 1947 it merged with the former municipality of Buchthalen. In 1964 it merged with the former municipality of Herblingen. Since 2009, Hemmental has been part of the town. Industry. Schaffhausen has some well-known industrial companies (Georg Fischer) in piping systems, machine tools and automotives, one internationally-reputed watches manufacturer (IWC), and drug industry (Cilag, founded by Bernhard Joos).
Obwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is in the centre of Switzerland. As of 2004, 33,300 people lived there. Its capital is Sarnen. Geography. Lakes in the canton include: parts of Lake Lucerne, Lake Sarnen, Lungerersee, Wichelsee, Tannensee and Melchsee. Municipalities. There are seven municipalities: Sarnen, Kerns, Sachseln, Alpnach, Giswil, Lungern and Engelberg.
The canton of Jura is one of the Cantons of Switzerland. It is the newest of the 26 Swiss cantons and is in the northwestern part of Switzerland. It was created in 1979 from some of the French-speaking parts of the Canton of Bern. The capital is Delémont. It borders the cantons of Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn, Bern and Neuchâtel and the French department of Jura. Geography. It includes parts of the Jura mountains in the south and the Jura plateau in the north. The Jura plateau is hilly and almost entirely limestone. To the north and the west of Jura is France. The canton of Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft are east of Jura, while the canton of Bern is south of Jura. The River Doubs and the river Birs drain the lands. History. The king of Burgundy donated much of the land that today makes up Canton Jura to the Bishop of Basel in 999. The area was a sovereign state within the Holy Roman Empire for more than 800 years. After the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 the Jura had close ties with the Swiss Confederation. In the Congress of Vienna the Jura was given to the Canton Bern. This act caused dissension. The Jura was French-speaking and Roman Catholic, whereas the canton of Bern was mostly German-speaking and Protestant. The people of the Jura region called for independence. After a long struggle, a constitution was accepted in 1977. In 1978 the split was made official when the Swiss people voted in favour of it, and in 1979 the Jura joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member. However, the southern part of the Jura region, which is also predominantly French-speaking but has a Protestant majority, opted not to join the newly formed canton, and instead remained part of Bern. This area is now known as Bernese Jura. The word Jura, therefore, may refer either to Canton Jura, or to the combined territory of Canton Jura and Bernese Jura. On creation, the canton adopted the title Republic and
The French Community () was the body which replaced the French Union in 1958. Under the 1958 Constitution, member territories, former French colonies, had a lot of independence, but France controlled the currency, defence, foreign affairs and national security. When the Community was established, French President de Gaulle said that any country in the French Community could move to complete independence. Apart from Guinea, which chose by referendum in 1958 not to join the Community, all French-ruled territories in sub-Saharan Africa joined the French Community. They obtained independence in 1960.
Usury is lending money for interest. Nowadays it usually means lending at a high, often extortionate rate of interest on a loan. Usury is illegal in many parts of the world. In muslim countries charging any interest at all is strictly illegal. Some people argue that this is against the Old Testament, especially Exodus and Deuteronomy which states that those who lend to someone in need will be blessed, but the point about usury is the high levels of interest, not the act of lending in itself. Aristotle also condemned usury as "contrary to nature" in his book on Politics, because it increases by itself and makes money without labour.
John Lewis Bates (September 18, 1859 – June 8, 1946) was born in Massachusetts. He was a Republican, and was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1894 to 1899; from 1897 to 1899 he was Speaker of the House. From 1900 to 1903 he was Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. In 1902, Bates was elected Governor, holding office from 1903 to 1905. Bates then retired to his private law practice in Boston. From 1917 to 1919 Bates was a delegate to the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. Bates was a member of the American Bar Association, the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, and Beta Theta Pi.
Acoustic music is music which is played by using acoustic musical instruments, i.e. instruments in which the sound is not made louder by electronic amplification. Before electronic musical instruments were created in the 20th century all instruments were acoustic. Classical music is usually played using only acoustic musical instruments, although some 20th-century composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen used electronic instruments, sometimes together with acoustic instruments.
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. It has its own roots in Irish, Scottish and English traditional music. It is usually played using acoustic musical instruments, and electronic musical instruments are rarely used in bluegrass music. Traditional instruments used include the banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and bass. Other instruments such as the dobro are also used. There are many accomplished bluegrass artists including Bela Fleck, Tony Rice, Alison Krauss, Laurie Lewis, Sam Bush, Bill Monroe, and Earl Scruggs. There are many organizations devoted to this music such as the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Many festivals are held around the country where professionals perform, amateurs gather to play, and workshops are given.
"Billboard" charts are charts published by "Billboard" magazine. They have information about the popularity of music songs, bands and singers. The "Billboard" Hot 100 and "Billboard" 200 are the most important charts. They show the popularity of songs and albums for each week respectively.
Leuk (French Loèche) is a municipality of Switzerland and is the capital city of the district of Leuk in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Since it controls access to the Gemmipass, it had some importance from the time of Roman Raetia. The Leukerbad hot baths are just North of Leuk, towards the pass. Loèche houses the installations of Onyx, the Swiss interception system for electronic intelligence gathering. On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of Erschmatt merged into the municipality of Leuk.
Goms is a district of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It includes the following municipalities:
Shavo Odadjian () (born April 22, 1974, Yerevan, Armenia as Shavarsh Odadjian) is the bassist for the Armenian American-based alternative metal band, System of a Down. He also scored summer blockbuster hit, "Babylon, A.D." alongside with The Rza and Hans Zimmer. He is a multi-instrumentalist, painter, DJ, and director. Biography. In his youth, Shavo used to spend his time skateboarding and listening to punk rock and heavy metal music. He started managing the band "Soil" with Malakian and Tankian in 1993 after meeting them in a recording studio. In 1995, Shavo became the permanent bassist of the band. They then named themselves "System of a Down" after a poem titled "Victims of a Down" authored by bandmate Daron Malakian. Odadjian is a popular DJ in the LA area met by "Dj Tatic", taking part in such events as the "Rock/DJ Explosion" on March 2, 2001 at The Roxy in Hollywood and collaborating with bandmate Tankian on SerArt, the singer's side project with Armenian musician Arto Tunçboyacıyan.
Saccharin is the oldest artificial sweetener that exists. It can be used to replace certain kinds of sugar. It was discovered in 1878 by Constantin Fahlberg. It is also known as E954. Saccharin has no calories and no nutritional value. It is safe to take for people with diabetes.
Sloths are Xenarthran mammals from Central and South America. They are part of the order Pilosa. There are two families of sloths: two-toed sloth and three-toed sloth. Most scientists call these two families the Folivora, while some call them the Phyllophaga. They live in trees, but in the past there were giant ground sloths. The biogeographic origins of the Pilosa is still unclear, but they can be traced back in South America as far as the early Tertiary, about 60 million years ago. The presence of these animals in Central America is explained by the Great American Interchange. Physical description. Sloths are active at night and sleep curled up with their head placed between the arms and the feet drawn close together, or hanging upside down with the help of their hook- like claws. This disguises them as part of a tree so that its enemies like the jaguar do not see them. Sloths rarely climb down from the trees, and when they are on the ground they can only crawl awkwardly. However, when there is a forest flood, they are very good swimmers. Sloths can live for up to 30 years. They mostly just eat leaves and flowers, which take a very long time to digest. Sloths move slowly; their name comes from the word "slow".
Oberon is the farthest big moon of the planet Uranus. It is made of about half ice and half rock. With a mean radius of about 760 km, Oberon is the second biggest moon of Uranus's 27 moons. It orbits Uranus about every 13.4 days. It was found on January 11, 1787 by William Herschel, in the same year he found Titania. It was named after a Oberon, King of the Fairies, a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Oberon has several large impact craters where it has been hit by meteorites. These were photographed by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986 as it flew passed. Scientists also believe there is a mountain that could be high on the moon. Surface features. Craters on Oberon are named after characters in the plays of William Shakespeare.
The district of Delémont is one of three districts in Jura, Switzerland. Its capital is the city of Delémont. The district is nearly all French-speaking and is home to a population of 35,175 (end of 2005). Delémont is divided into 28 municipalities:
Xavier Rudd (born 1978) is an Australian musician. He grew up in the small town of Torquay, Victoria, Australia. When Rudd was young, he learned to play the didgeridoo on a vacuum cleaner hose.  Rudd is known for playing at music festivals and concerts in Australia and in North America. He has many fans in Australia, his home, as well as Canada, where he has recorded a few live albums.  Some of his songs have political themes that deal with the father of 2 sons environment and the rights of Aboriginal Australians. Personal life. Rudd also describes himself as a full-time "barefooter", which means that he does not own any shoes or other footwear. Rudd is also a vegetarian.
The banjo is a string instrument, that was first played by African slaves in the United States a few hundred years ago. The idea came from other African instruments.  The name "banjo" may have come from a Kimbundu word: "mbanza", but it could have also come from a Senegambian word for the bamboo stick used for the banjo's neck. The modern banjo comes in a variety of forms, including four- and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similarly to a guitar, has gained popularity. In almost all of its forms, banjo playing is characterized by a fast arpeggiated plucking, though many different playing styles exist.