ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Currency is a unit of money used for buying and selling goods and services, commonly backed by a country or a union of countries. Some currencies are "pegged" or "fixed" to something, like another currency. These currencies have a constant value compared to what it is pegged to. For example, the Cape Verdian escudo is pegged to the Euro. This means that any changes in the value of the Euro equally affect the escudo. Some currencies are pegged to a commodity, like gold or silver rather than to another currency. This was called the "gold standard" or "silver standard". Most countries stopped using silver and gold standards in the 20th century. Some well-known currencies are: Names of different currencies around the world. This list appears in alphabetical order:
A radio telescope is a type of antenna used for radio astronomy. The majority look like a huge satellite television dish. Stars shine, and the light can be seen with an ordinary telescope, but they also give off radio waves. Scientists with radio telescopes receive these radio waves and use computers to learn about the stars. Other things like black holes also give off radio waves, and radio telescopes are useful for learning about them too. The dish is sometimes constructed of a conductive wire mesh whose openings are smaller than a wavelength. The information received by several radio telescopes in different places can be combined. This gives similar results to having a single dish as big as the distance between the telescopes. It can receive very faint signals, and see more details. The biggest telescope is a virtual radio telescope almost as big as the Earth, called the Event Horizon Telescope. The radio telescope at the Parkes Observatory, Parkes, New South Wales was used by NASA to receive messages from the Apollo 11 moon landings.
A light year (symbol: ly) is the distance that light travels in empty space in one year. Since the speed of light is about 300,000 km per second (about 186,000 miles per second), then a light year is 9.46 trillion kilometers (about 5.87 trillion miles), for AU, one light year is 63,241 AU. A light year is not a length of time. The light year is used in astronomy because the universe is huge. Space objects such as stars and galaxies may be hundreds, thousands or millions of light years away. Example. Think of a star at a distance of 100 light years from us on Earth. Light leaves the star and takes 100 years to get to us. When we see the star's light, we are seeing that star as it was 100 years ago. For example, our Sun is about 8 light minutes from Earth For example, our Moon is about 1¼ light seconds from Earth
Korea (or the Korean Peninsula) is a peninsula in northeast Asia. Korea became a country (or state) in 918.  In 1948, it split into two countries: North Korea and South Korea. North and South Korea and their allies fought against each other in the Korean War. People have lived in Korea for about 15,000 years. Korea is known for its fine silk. In the 7th century, the people of China sought after gold-workers from Korea. Europeans had little knowledge about Korea until the modern era.  South Korea has over 50 million people, and North Korea has more than 23 million. South Korea's biggest city is Seoul, the capital of South Korea. The city has more than 10 million people and the region of Seoul has more than 15 million people. North Korea's biggest city is Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It has fewer than 4 million people. Korean people speak the Korean language. Many people in South Korea study English and other languages such as Chinese and Japanese at school. South Korea is an advanced country with large cities, high-speed rail trains, high-speed internet, and many television and radio networks. Many Korean television dramas are popular around the world. But there are still poor areas, even in South Korea. The Korean farmers are not rich and struggle to compete with cheap food from other countries. History. Gojoseon is the first state in Korean history. It was established in 2333 BCE. Its real name is Joseon, but it is called Gojoseon to make it different from other Joseon in Korean history. Go is a Korean prefix meaning 'old'. The founder of Gojoseon is said to be Dangun. The Korean people believe that Dangun established the country on October 3rd, and still celebrate that day. In Korea, October 3rd is a national holiday, which is named Gaecheonjeol (The day heaven opened). It is said to be the day that Dangun's father whose name is Hwan-ung came from the sky on October 3rd 2457 BCE. Gochosun was destroyed by the Chinese Han Dynasty
English as a second language is a common phrase which has related acronyms, including Each of these acronyms means roughly the same thing. In each, the learners already have another native or "mother" language, and they want to learn English as well. History. The teaching of English as a second language has a long history. For example, the official introduction of English into India's education system began in 1835. Use. English as a second language is the single most popular subject in the world, after mathematics. English is a very important language in business. Many people study English as a foreign language, because they want a better job. English is also very important in education. Many pages on the internet are in English. Many people who can not go to English language classes study on the internet, using websites like BBC Learning English. Many people study English in a country where the people speak English. This way, many students learn to listen and speak English better. Testing. There are many English exams. These English exams are important for learners. They may show how well a person can use English. It is very difficult to compare different English exams. Every exam is a little different. Read Testing English as a foreign language for more information. Global Scale of English. Global Scale of English (GSE) is a test for learners of English as a second or foreign language. The GSE is a list of can-do statements based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for English. Learners' abilities are rated on a 10-to-90 point scale for each of the four basic skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). A learner reaches a level on the scale when she or he can correctly perform 50% of the can-do tasks at that level. The education company Pearson PLC developed the scale. Teaching. Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) is referred to the practice of teaching the English language to the students with different first languages. It is taught in the state school system or privately with a language school or with a tutor. TEFL can also take place in an English-speaking country for people who have immigrated there. TEFL teachers may be native or
Switzerland (; ; ; ; Swiss German: "Schwiz") is a country in Western Europe. Switzerland is a federation of 26 cantons. The official name of Switzerland is "Confoederatio Helvetica" (Swiss Confederation). This is Latin and is not often used except for official state documents. When it was founded in 1291, Switzerland was a confederation, but later became a federation, even though it has kept the word "Confoederatio" in its official name. Switzerland does not have an official capital city, but Bern is used as though it is the capital. The largest city of Switzerland is Zürich. To the north of Switzerland is Germany. East of Switzerland are Austria and Liechtenstein. To the south of Switzerland is Italy. To the west of Switzerland is France. Switzerland is known for its neutrality. A country is neutral when it does not take sides among the countries who are at war. Switzerland has been neutral since 1815. However, on February 28, 2022 Switzerland joined the imposition of economic sanctions against Russia.  Many international organizations are in Switzerland. The United Nations has a main office (but not its headquarters) in Geneva. Its predecessor organization, the League of Nations, was headquartered in Geneva. Languages. There are four official languages in Switzerland: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Some cantons and even towns have two languages spoken in them, and the largest canton by area, Graubünden, has three. About 2/3 of the population speak German; French is spoken in the west of the country, and Italian in the canton of Ticino. The Romansh language is spoken in parts of Graubünden, by less than 1% of the Swiss population. Geography. The area of Switzerland is 41,285 km². The confederation is divided into 23 full states called "cantons". All 26 cantons are: Aargau, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Land, Berne, Fribourg, Geneva, Glarus, Graubünden, Jura
LOL, or lol, is an internet slang term that means "laugh(ing) out loud". It is commonly mistaken for "lots of love." LOL is often used in messages meaning "That is really funny."  It also means mute in Persian and is a native Dutch word (not an acronym) which means "fun" ("lollig" means "funny"). In Welsh, lol means nonsense - e.g., if a person wanted to say "utter nonsense" in Welsh, they would say "rwtsh lol". LOL is usually used on the internet or when text messaging.
Toronto is the capital city of the province of Ontario. It is also the largest city in Ontario.  It is found on the north-west side of Lake Ontario behind New York City and Chicago. The City of Toronto itself has a population of almost 3 million people. Even more people live in the regions around it. All together, the Greater Toronto Area is home to over 6.2 million people. This makes it the biggest metropolitan area in Canada. History. Toronto was created in 1793 by John Graves Simcoe as the capital of what was then called "Upper Canada". At the time it was called the "Town of York" after the Duke of York. The name was changed to Toronto in 1834. With the Canadian Confederation in 1867, it became the capital of the newly created province of Ontario. Toronto was one of two cities (along with Montreal in Quebec) that wanted to be the capital of Canada. Queen Victoria decided that Ottawa should be the national capital because it was located between the two. As the 19th century moved on, the city began to grow. This was mainly because of immigration, where people from all over the world left their home and moved to Canada. Many of the immigrants were Irish people. They brought their Catholic faith with them when they left Ireland because of the Irish Potato Famine. During World War I and World War II, Toronto was used to train members of the Canadian Army. After the wars, even more immigrants came to the city. The population was becoming so big that the Government of Ontario decided to create Metropolitan Toronto in 1954, combining a number of local municipalities. These were Old Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough. By 1981, Toronto had more people than Montreal even though it was created after Montreal. Because of that, the Ontario government decided to make Toronto a "megacity" in 1998. The first mayor of Toronto was Mel Lastman. As Toronto moved into the 21st century, it became host to a number of worldwide events. These included World Youth Day in 2002, WorldPride in 2014, and the 2015 Pan
Here are some words for small numbers. Words in bold are irregular. When writing other numbers between 21 and 99, you must use a hyphen, like a minus sign (-). The number 100 is written as "one hundred", but in general, sometimes people can say "a hundred". The way numbers are written and spoken differs between American English and other forms of English, such as British English and Australian English, as follows. American English. To write a whole number from 100 to 999 in American English: In standard, written, American English, the word "and" is "not" in the word-name of any whole number even though many speakers insert it. Examples: British and Commonwealth English. To write a whole number from 100 to 999 in British and Commonwealth English: In standard, written, British English (and the English spoken in many other places), the word "and" "is" in the word-name of many whole numbers. Examples:
The United States dollar (or American dollar) is the official currency (money) of the United States of America. It is also used in some . It is the standard currency for international markets selling goods such as gold and oil (petrol). When writing, the symbol for the American dollar is the dollar sign ($). Dollars can also be known as USD (standing for 'U.S. dollar'). Denominations and value. All U.S. dollar currency has been the same size, shape and general design since 1928. This is unlike some countries where bank notes with different values have different sizes. The U.S. also has dollar coins. Some are silver colored and some are gold colored. Vending machines often give dollar coins as change, since it is easier for the machines to give out coins than paper money. Some of the more advanced vending machines give out paper money as change. Paper dollars are much more common than dollar coins. The US dollar in subdivided into cents. 100 cents equals 1 US dollar. One cent can be written as either $0.01 or 1¢. The cent or "penny" (not to be confused with the English penny sterling) is the least worth coin used in the U.S.. There are several different coins with different cent values of different materials and sizes. There is the penny (1¢ or $0.01), nickel (5¢ or $0.05), dime (10¢ or $0.10), quarter (25¢ or $0.25), and the much rarer half-dollar (50¢ or $0.50). All coins and paper bills have the faces of famous Americans on the front side. Federal Reserve. The paper "dollar bill" is legally called a "Federal Reserve Note". Federal Reserve notes are legal tender currency notes. The twelve Federal Reserve Banks issue them into circulation under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. A commercial bank belonging to the Federal Reserve System can obtain Federal Reserve notes from the Federal Reserve Bank in its district whenever it wishes by paying for them in full, dollar for dollar, from its account with Federal Reserve Bank. Federal Reserve Banks get the notes from the U.S. Bureau
The shape of the Universe cannot be discussed with everyday terms, because all the terms need to be those of Einsteinian relativity. The geometry of the universe is therefore not the ordinary Euclidean geometry of our everyday lives. According to the special theory of relativity, it is impossible to say whether two distinct events occur at the same time if those events are separated in space. To speak of "the shape of the universe (at a point in time)" is naive from the point of view of special relativity. Due to the relativity of simultaneity we cannot speak of different points in space as being "at the same point in time" nor, therefore, of "the shape of the universe at a point in time". What astrophysicists do is ask whether a particular model of the universe is consistent with what is known through observations and measurements of the universe. If the observable universe is smaller than the entire universe (in some models it is many orders of magnitude smaller or even infinitesimal), observation is limited to a part of the whole.  Consideration of the shape of the universe can be split into two:&lt;br&gt; The observable universe is the basis for testing any model of the universe. It is a spherical volume (a ball) centered on the observer, regardless of the shape of the universe as a whole. Every location in the universe has its own observable universe, which may or may not overlap with the one centered on Earth. Recent measurements have led NASA to state, "We now know that the universe is flat with only a 0.4% margin of error". Within one model, the FLRW model, the present most popular shape of the Universe found to fit observational data is the infinite flat model. There are other models that also fit the data.
A meteor shower is an event when many meteors seem to come from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel paths. Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand, so almost all of them burn up and never hit the Earth's surface. A meteor shower is the result of an interaction between a planet, such as Earth, and streams of debris from a comet. Comets are dirty snowballs, made up of rock embedded in ice, orbiting the Sun. Each time a comet swings by the Sun in its orbit, some of its ice vaporizes and meteoroids will be shed. The meteoroids spread out along the entire orbit of the comet to form a meteoroid stream, also known as a "dust trail". Most of our short-period meteor showers are the product of rare disintegrations, when large chunks break off a mostly dormant comet. Examples are the Quadrantids and Geminids. They originated from a breakup of asteroid-like objects, 2003 EH1 and 3200 Phaethon, respectively, about 500 and 1000 years ago. The fragments tend to fall apart quickly into dust, sand, and pebbles, and spread out along the orbit of the comet to form a dense meteoroid stream, which later moves into Earth's path. The most visible meteor shower in most years are the Perseids, which peak on 12 August each year at over one meteor per minute. NASA has a useful tool to calculate how many meteors per hour are visible from your observing location. The Leonid meteor shower peaks around 17 November of each year. About every 33 years, the Leonid shower produces a big meteor storm, peaking at thousands of meteors per hour. Leonid storms gave birth to the term "meteor shower" when it was first realised, during the November 1833 storm, that the meteors radiated from near the star Gamma Leonis. The last Leonid storms were in 1999, 2001 (two), and 2002 (two). Before that, there were storms in 1767, 1799, 1833, 1866, 1867, and 1966. When the Leonid shower is not "storming" it is less active than the Perseids.
Cats, also called domestic cats ("Felis catus"), are small, carnivorous (meat eating) mammals, of the family Felidae. Cats have been domesticated (tamed) for nearly 10,000 years. Domestic cats may be called 'house cats' when kept as indoor pets. They are one of the most popular pets in the world. Humans keep them for hunting mice and rats, and as friends. There are also farm cats, which keep mice and rats ; and feral cats, which are domestic cats that live away from humans. In 2021, there were about 220 million pet cats and 480 million feral cats in the world. There are about 92 breeds of cat. Domestic cats are found in shorthair, longhair, and hairless breeds. Cats which are not specific breeds can be referred to as 'domestic shorthair' (DSH) or 'domestic longhair' (DLH). The word 'cat' is also used for other felines, like lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, and cheetahs. History of cats. In the past, mostly in Egypt, people kept cats because the cats hunted and ate mice and rats. The oldest evidence of cats kept as pets is from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, around 7500 BC. Ancient Egyptians worshipped cats as gods, and often mummified them so they could be with their owners "for all of eternity". Today, people often keep cats as pets. There are also domestic cats which live without being cared for by people. These cats are called "feral cats" or "stray cats". The cats started becoming pets when the ancient Egyptians were around. Cat anatomy. Cats have anatomy similar to the other members of the genus "Felis". The genus has extra lumbar (lower back) and thoracic (chest) vertebrae. This helps explain why cats are very flexible. Unlike human arms, cat's front paws are attached to the shoulder by free-floating clavicle bones. These allow cats to pass their body through any space into which they can fit their heads. The cat skull
Engineering is the use of science and math to design or make things. People who do engineering are called engineers. They learn engineering at a college or university. Engineers usually design or build things. Some engineers also use science, mathematics, and other skills to solve problems in technology. There are different types of engineers that design everything from computers and buildings to watches and websites. People have been creating and engineering things for thousands of years. Some become engineering managers. Specialties. Engineering is a big subject. Here are a few of the many types of engineers: Engineers do not only work with machines. They also work a lot with other people. Many engineering projects are large and very complicated. Often different kinds of engineers work together and help each other. As an example, computer engineers need help from electrical engineers to build a computer. The computer needs programs written by software engineers. The computer could be used by aerospace engineers to control an airplane. An airplane is a big mechanical system with many parts, so a mechanical engineer and a systems engineer are also needed. Study. Most (but not all) engineers have had years of training. Much of their training involves learning to work within limited budgetary and material constraints (limits). American courses. In the United States, most engineers go to a college or university to get an engineering degree. Most people go to school for four years to get a bachelor's degree in engineering. A Master's Degree is an advanced degree, usually requiring two more years of study after the Bachelors. A person with a master's degree is eligible to enter a Doctoral program in engineering. A graduate of a Doctoral program is awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree, which is commonly called a PhD. A PhD in engineering requires three or four years of study after a master's degree, and includes the completion of a long research report called a dissertation. After having gained enough work experience, one can sit for their Professional Engineer's (PE) License, reinforcing their demonstrated proficiency in their specialty. British courses. In the United Kingdom, engineering degrees at universities are either three year BEng (Bachelor of Engineering) or four year MEng (Master of Engineering). In many universities it is common to take only one engineering discipline (e
Communication is when information is passed from a sender to a recipient using a medium. There are different media that can be used: Communication can be spoken (a word) or non-spoken (a smile). Communication has many ways, and happens all the time. Not only humans communicate, most other animals do too. Some communication is done without thinking, such as by changing in posture. Communication that tries to change somebody's mind may be called persuasion or propaganda. How communication works. Communication works by exchanging information or messages. In very basic terms Besides the content of the message, there are other things that are important. These are not part of the message itself, but rather of its context For a message exchange to be successful, the sender and the recipient must have agreed on a vocabulary that avoids ambiguity. For example, the word "hedge" can mean completely different things based on the context. In botany a hedge is a row of shrubs or trees that make a barrier or form a border. In finance, a hedge is an investment made to reduce the risk of another investment. In linguistics a hedge is a word or set of words that make other words less important. Without information it is therefore very difficult to know which "hedge" is really meant by the speaker. Key elements of effective communication include clarity, correctness, conciseness, active listening, empathy, feedback, and the appropriate choice of medium or channel.