ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
College is an educational school where people go to learn and earn an academic degree upon graduation. The requirement to enter college is different in different countries, but in most countries, the student must have a high school diploma or equivalent (in the United States and Canada, a GED). Most college students begin their academic careers at 18 years old, the same age when most people graduate from high school. Though, colleges and universities have no maximum age so anyone can study or finish their studies at any time they decide they want. In some countries, for example the United Kingdom, "college" also means a house belonging to a university, where students and teachers live together. In the United States and Canada, college students begin as undergraduate students in which they will declare a major in which students specialize in an academic discipline (for example, Psychology, Biology, English, Mathematics, and Economics) and they will take classes that will expose them to the skills they need to do their careers. They also take general education classes which includes courses in reading, research, literature, a math course (for example, College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, or Statistics), a science course, and others (though this will vary by the college). Upon successful completion of all required courses, students will earn a Bachelor's degree which they may either go to work with the degree or continue studying for a higher-level degree. Students who have a bachelor's degree and choose to continue college are considered graduate students, where they take more classes that are more in-depth to the student's academic discipline and qualify them for higher paying careers, earn a promotion, or become college professors. Students may also attend medical school to become physicians or law school to become lawyers.
A battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy by a chemical reaction. Usually the chemicals are kept inside the battery. It is used in a circuit to power other components. A battery produces direct current (DC) electricity (electricity that flows in one direction, and does not switch back and forth). Using the electricity from an outlet in a building is cheaper and more efficient, but a battery can provide electricity in areas that do not have electric power distribution. It is also useful for things that move, such as electric vehicles and mobile phones. Batteries may be primary or secondary. The primary is thrown away when it can no longer provide electricity. The secondary can be recharged and reused. The chemistry inside a battery. A Battery can be one "cell" or many "cells". Each cell has an anode, cathode and electrolyte. The electrolyte is the main material inside the battery. It is often a type of acid, and can be dangerous to touch. The anode reacts with the electrolyte to produce electrons (this is the "negative" or "-" end). The cathode reacts with the electrolyte and takes electrons (this is the "positive" or "+" end). An electric current happens when a wire connects the anode to the cathode, and the electrons move from one end to the other. (But a battery can be damaged by just a wire connecting the two ends, so a "load" is also needed between the two ends. The load is something that slows the electrons down, and usually does something useful, like a lightbulb in a flashlight, or the electronics in a calculator).  The electrolyte can be liquid or solid. A battery is called a wet cell or dry cell battery, depending on the type of electrolyte. The chemical reactions that occur in a battery are exothermic reactions. This type of reaction makes heat. For example, if you leave your laptop on for a long time, and then touch the battery, it will be warm or hot.  A rechargeable battery is recharged by reversing the chemical reaction that occurs within the battery. But a rechargeable battery can only be recharged a given number of times (recharge life). Even built-in batteries
A knife is a metal tool with a sharpened metal blade that is used to cut all sorts of things. The plural form of "knife" is "knives." Knives can serve various purposes. Hunters use a hunting knife, soldiers use the combat knife, scouts, campers, and hikers carry a pocketknife; there are kitchen knives for preparing foods, table knives, weapons, knives for throwing or juggling, and knives for religious ceremony or display.  Archaeologists have discovered sharp-edged tools as ancient as 2.6 million years old. Sharp stone tools became more advanced in design during the late Lithic periods, and a variety of techniques was used to produce such ‘knives’ in the Neolithic era. The copper and bronze ages followed, and of course brought tremendous changes to the ‘sharp-edge’ technology. These new metal tools were much more durable than stone ones, and hence mining and metal-processing became an important activity. Picking the right type of knife. There are many kinds of knives, depending on what is to be cut. With the right knife, the cuts you want to make will happen faster and more easily. With the wrong kind of knife, it will take more effort to perform the same amount of work. When a knife is too small to cut something, a saw, axe, or power tool may be needed. Illegal knives. Carrying knives is illegal in many countries, especially if the blade is longer than several inches. Another type of knife which is illegal in many places is the "switchblade," a knife that has a button which when pressed activates a spring to open the knife.
Nyngan is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is built on the banks of the Bogan River. It is north west of Dubbo, and south east of Bourke in the Central West Plains of New South Wales. It is a town of 2500 people. It exists because of the people who work on the farms and in a copper mine, 50 kilometres to the west. It remains also well known as one of the last depots of Cobb and Co, the famous inland transporter of the 19th century (1801 to 1900). One of the overnight depots was at Nyngan because it is about halfway between Dubbo and Bourke. In the days of Cobb and Co, the trip from Dubbo and Bourke would have taken at least 4 days. However, the route they took is not the route that is used today. The new route runs beside the railway. The railway is a direct line from Dubbo to Nyngan. There is not a single bend for almost 160 kilometres. In the other direction, the track goes 190 kilometres dead straight the whole way to Bourke.
Photographic film is a sheet of plastic for recording visual scenes. The plastic has been coated with an emulsion that is sensitive to light. The image is recorded on the emulsion when it is exposed to light. Film is kept in small canisters (boxes) which protect it from the light. A normal photographic film may hold up to 40 pictures.  Once all pictures have been recorded, the film has to undergo a special chemical treatment. This is called "developing a film" or film processing. That treatment makes the pictures visible (you can see them), and the exposed film is no longer sensitive to light.  Different kinds of films exist. Some require more light to be exposed than others. Some are black and white only; they record no colors. There are also special films which can record infrared light. Photographic film was invented in the 1880s and replaced the earlier dry plate system.  Films also come in different sizes. 35 millimeter film, the most used size, comes in metal cans or canisters, but there are other camera films that come in paper wrappings or in single sheets.  Uses. Film can only be used once. After that, it cannot be used again (if it is accidentally used again, this results in an artifact called a multiple exposure). When not in use, film needs to be covered from light, otherwise it will record any lights that shine on it. This will make it useless to record a picture. Film comes in a can called a canister to cover it from light rays.  Film needs the right amount of light to make a picture. If the picture is too bright or too dark, it will not record correctly. The longer that the film keeps recording, the more light it will get. If what is being photographed is bright, it will be recorded faster. If it is darker, the film will need more time to record.  Films that need less time to record the picture are known as "faster" films. Different speeds of films are marked with an ISO number. The higher the number, the faster the films. Films can only make a picture from focused lights. If there is no lens to focus light, the film
A compass is a navigational tool that uses magnetism. It has an arrow which points in the direction of the North Magnetic Pole. or other places where there are few landmarks. The first compass was invented by ancient Chinese in the Han Dynasty. It was a large spoon-like magnetic object made of magnetite ore set upon a square bronze plate.
Ferdinand Magellan (1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He became the first European to sail the Pacific Ocean, and the first to sail around the world. Magellan's voyage proved that the Earth was round.2 Born in 1480, his birthplace is recorded as either Sabrosa or Porto in Portugal. He worked in the royal court. Since his parents were members of the Portuguese nobility and after their deaths, Magellan became a page for the queen at the age of 10. In the royal court where he learned many important skills, including map making, navigation and astronomy. In 1505 he joined the navy. When he worked for Portugal, he went to many parts of the world, such as India, the Spice Islands, East Africa, and Morocco. When in Morocco in 1513 Magellan was wounded, and walked the remainder of his life with a limp. After he lost his job for the King of Portugal, he went to work for the King of Spain. He was also the first to sail through the Strait of Magellan, so it was named after him. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines, on 27 April 1521 in Mactan during a battle with the natives after he was accused of stealing. Charles V of Spain provided him with five ships for the voyage round the world. Only one ship, the "Victoria", completed the voyage. Magellan died on April 27, 1521 (aged 40-41) in Mactan, Philippines, killed by Lapulapu and his warriors.
Henry the Navigator was born in 1394 and died in 1460. He was a prince from Portugal, the third son of King John I of Portugal. He was called Infant Dom Henrique in Portuguese. He was never a navigator himself. He got his name because he organized many ocean voyages on which lands were found. He is seen as the man who started the Age of Discovery.  He opened a navigation school in Portugal, so the technology of tools and ships could be made better. One of these developments was the caravel. His explorers discovered the first shipping routes directly from Europe to Asia for the Portuguese monarchy.
Concrete is an important material for making different buildings and structures. It is a composite made of Portland cement, sand, gravel or rock aggregate, and water. The amount of each can change depending upon what the concrete will be used for.  Concrete is used more than any other man-made material in the world. As of 2006, about 7.5 billion cubic meters of concrete are made each year—more than one cubic meter for every person on Earth. The ingredients are mixed together into a paste, a bit like making dough for bread. The concrete is then poured into a frame. After a few hours it sets hard. Concrete solidifies due to a chemical reaction known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a strong stone-like material.  Concrete is used to make pavements, pipe, architectural structures, dams, foundations, motorways, bridges, multi-story parking, walls, footings for gates, fences and poles and even boats. Its biggest advantage is that it bonds together bricks and stones better than any other method known to mankind.  Concrete is strong in compression but weak in tension. For some purposes it needs to be reinforced with steel rods. Reinforced concrete buildings can be made to link all the parts together, the foundations, walls, floors and roofs, but concrete construction does not make buildings earthquake-proof. Significance. Concrete is as old as 5600 BC. It was not invented by Romans, but much used by them. Some kinds of concrete are waterproof, and some kinds even set underwater. Its importance was great for civilizations which were not in near-desert conditions. They needed something to stand up to the rain. Fired bricks and concrete were two things they invented. These inventions let you build almost anywhere on land. Otherwise you rely on nearby sources of rock, as the Egyptians did, or on wood. Additives. There are many additives to make concrete set faster, set slower, set stronger, reduce corrosion and so on. The Romans discovered that adding volcanic ash produced a concrete which would set under water. The Romans also knew that adding horse hair made concrete less liable to crack as it set, and that adding blood made it more
A marathon is a long-distance running sport event where an athlete must run 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards). There are many marathons held all over the world each year. It is a very difficult event and runners are advised to run many miles before they compete. This event was named after a battle of the Greco-Persian wars.  The famous battle of Marathon was fought in 490 B.C. An army from Persia came to fight the army of Athens. The army from Athens was not expected to win, but they did. After the victory, they sent their best runner, a man named Pheidippides back to Athens to tell everyone the good news. He ran about 25 miles and died of exhaustion when he arrived. In 1896 the first modern Olympics was held. There was a race called the Marathon there. It was only about 25 miles (40 km) then.
The Holy Roman Empire (; ), occasionally but unofficially referred to as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, was a polity in Western and Central Europe under the rule of an emperor, who was elected by the princes and the magistrates of its regions and cities. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned Frankish King Charlemagne as Roman emperor and revived the title in Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the ancient Western Roman Empire in 476. When Charlemagne died in 814, the Frankish Empire was given to his sons and divided into three different countries: West Francia, Lotharingia and East Francia. In 962, Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII. The empire would last for over eight centuries, until it ended in 1806. At the start of the empire, the emperor was quite powerful. As time went on, however, the empire's duchies and counties became more powerful than the emperor.  Politics. Since Charlemagne, the polity was simply called the "Roman Empire". The name "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century. Before then, people had called the empire by different names like "universum regnum" ("the whole kingdom", meaning that it included all regions, not just local kingdoms) and "imperium christianum" ("Christian empire"). The emperor's right to rule came from the idea of "translatio imperii" ("transfer of rule"), which meant that he had the highest power, which had been passed down from the Ancient Roman emperors. The Holy Roman Empire was not very centralised, unlike most countries today. Instead, it was divided into dozens and eventually hundreds of individual entities, which were governed by kings, dukes, counts, bishops, abbots and other rulers, who were collectively known as princes. The emperor directly ruled some areas, but he could not simply issue decrees and govern autonomously over the empire. His power was severely restricted by the various local leaders. In the 16th century, the empire had to deal with the rebellion of the Frisians, which was led by Pier Gerlo
Friesland (Fryslân in West Frisian, Friesland in Dutch) is a province in the north of the Netherlands. The capital (city) of Friesland is Leeuwarden ("Ljouwert" in Frisian). People in Friesland speak West Frisian and Dutch. People also speak Frisian in a small part of Groningen (province), and in East Friesland and North Friesland in Germany. In North Holland there is a region called West Friesland, but people who live there are not called Frisians. About 660,000 people are living in Friesland (2023). Agriculture and tourism, on the lakes and the isles in the Wadden Sea, are important sources of income. The province is also famous for its ice skaters and its Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour), an ice skating race of 200 kilometers. It is also known for being home to some breeds of animals, such as the Stabyhoun and Wetterhoun dog breeds, the Friesian horse breed and the Holstein Friesian cattle breed. Notable Frisians. In Friesland the Frisians live. They are an old ethnic group. Members of this ethnic group are:  Population. In 2021, Friesland had a population of 651,459 and a population density of . The years 1880–1900 showed slower population growth due to a farm crisis during which some 20,000 Frisians emigrated to the United States. Anthropometry. Since the late Middle Ages, Friesland is known for the exceptional height of its inhabitants. Even early Renaissance poet Dante Alighieri refers to the height of Frisians in his "Divine Comedy" when, in the canticle about Hell, he talks about the magnitude of an infernal demon by stating that "not even three tall Frieslanders, were they set one upon the other, would have matched his height".
Groningen is a province in the Northeast of the Netherlands. At the east is the German region Lower Saxony, in the south is Drenthe, in the west is Friesland (or Fryslân in Frisian) and in the north is the Wadden Sea. About 596,000 people are living in Groningen (2023). The capital of Groningen is also called Groningen. People from Groningen often call Groningen City "stad" ("city") and the rest of the province "Ommelanden" (which means something like "surrounding lands").  Important sources of income are agriculture and natural gas extraction Slochteren.  Noticeable things in Groningen are the Gronings dialect, which is related to Low Saxon, and the strong support for the communist party in the Northeastern part of the province.
Burgundy () is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It was also a historic region in eastern France. The French adjective and name of the inhabitants of the region is "Bourguignon". With over , it is one of the largest region of France. It covers about 6% of the territory of the country. The four departments in the region were Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire and Yonne. Its capital was Dijon. History. Burgundy was named for the Germanic Burgundian tribe who moved there from an island in the Baltic Sea. They moved when the Roman Empire fell apart to set up a kingdom with its own laws. This included part of what is now Switzerland. During the Middle Ages, Burgundy was ruled by dukes. In the 15th century it was very powerful. The dukes ruled lands as far north as the Netherlands. After Duke Charles the Bold died when he wanted to conquer the city of Nancy in 1477, France took southern Burgundy. It was a province until 1790. The House of Habsburg got the northern part, which later became the Southern Netherlands. Geography. The Burgundy region is one of the largest regions of Metropolitan France. It has an area of . It bordered with five other regions: Champagne-Ardenne to the north, Franche-Comté to the east, Rhône-Alpes to the southeast, Auvergne to the southwest, Centre-Val de Loire to the west and Île-de-France to the north. Most of the territory of Burgundy is occupied by a plateau of low hills (the Burgundy Hills) surrounded by valleys of the main rivers. The valley of the Yonne river and its tributaries is to the north of the region. To the southeast is the valley of the Saône river. In the centre of the plateau (and of the region), there is a group of low mountains: the Morvan. The highest point in Burgundy, the Haut-Folin (), is in these mountains,
A Duke is someone part of nobility. In monarchies, like the UK, the title has legal status, and is inherited in the male line.  The first English dukes were created by Edward III in 1337, when he gave his eldest son, Edward, the Black Prince, the title of Duke of Cornwall. Dukes are formally referred to as 'The Duke of (place name)', and addressed as "Your Grace". On State occasions, dukes rank below Royal Dukes, and above Earls. This is called the order of precedence, because in procession to the opening Parliament, or on other state occasions, they walk in order of their rank. The office or position of a duke is called a dukedom.  The wife of a duke is a Duchess. This is an honorary title, given for life to the lawfully wedded wife of a Duke. If she divorces and remarries a commoner, (person with no title) their children have no title. The children of a duke, on the other hand, do have honorary titles (so long as they are born in lawful wedlock). The eldest son may bear what is called a junior title which an ancestor was given before the dukedom was created. Other children would be called 'Lady' Jane (or other Christian name) and 'Lord' James (or other Christian name). Children use the family surname, not the Dukedom. Historically, the land that is ruled by a duke is a duchy. The eldest son of a duke inherits the duchy when the duke dies. The word comes from the Latin word "dux", which means leader.
Latin is an Italic language that was developed in Ancient Rome. Short Latin texts have been found from about the 5th century BC and longer texts from about the 3rd century BC. History. Classical Latin was used in the 1st century BC and was the official language of the Roman Empire. It was widely used in the western part of the Mediterranean. The Romance languages developed from its spoken informal version, called Vulgar Latin. Latin was important to Christianity for many centuries. It is still spoken today during some religious activities. It is an official language in the Vatican, where the Pope leads the Roman Catholic Church. People in the Vatican sometimes speak to one another in Latin if they have different first languages. The Mass of the Catholic Church is often done entirely in Latin. It is called is the Mass of the Roman Rite (Extraordinary Form). Latin was once the most important language in most of Europe during the Middle Ages. It was taught in many European schools, and all universities used it as their teaching language. Latin began to lose its importance in the Reformation, but it was still often used by writers of scientific books and encyclopedias. Until around 1900, many universities accepted dissertations written in Latin. Today. Latin is called a dead language because not many speak the language anymore. But, Latin is still spoken in one country, Vatican City. Sure nobody speaks Latin as a first language anymore but it is still a huge part of many languages today. Classics. People still read Latin classics such as the poems of Virgil, the memoirs of Caesar and the speeches of Cicero.  Science. Also, Latin is widely used as an international auxiliary language, notably in the Catholic Church and by biologists when they describe and name new species.  Medicine. Some terms used in medicine to name parts of the body (such as bones), and names of some diseases, are also written in Latin. Varieties. There are three types of Latin: Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin and Ecclesiastical Latin. Classical Latin was used by the educated Romans and is still studied around the world. Vulgar Latin was the more common spoken variety used by the common Romans and was learned by