ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Mercenaries are soldiers who fight for money, rather than for their country, political/religious beliefs, or other benefits. Mercenaries are a very old phenomenon. They are mentioned in the Old Testament, and King David had a bodyguard of Cretan and Philistine mercenaries. They are also mentioned in the Iliad, specifically the Myrmidons who fought in the Trojan War (12th century BC). The Carthaginians often used mercenaries. The so-called Free Companies in the Middle Ages were mercenary companies of rogue knights and vikings. The Japanese "ronin" were mercenary samurai.  For many years in the Middle Ages, soldiers from Switzerland fought battles for whoever paid them. The popes would hire soldiers from Switzerland to fight for them. The Swiss Guard is all that is left of Switzerland's mercenary tradition, but it is no longer a mercenary force because all its members are Catholic, and they are prepared to fight not for their country but for their beliefs.  Soldiers of professional volunteer armies, like the US Army, are not considered as mercenaries since they fight for their country and fatherland. Likewise, foreign volunteers in standing armies, such as French Foreign Legion, are not considered as mercenaries since they are loyal to the country that they serve. However, various private military contractors are considered as mercenaries.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet (born 3 September 1953 in Roanne, Loire, France) is a French movie director. Career. Jean-Pierre Jeunet bought his first camera at the age of 17 and made short movies while studying animation at Cinémation Studios. He made friends with Marc Caro. Caro was a designer and comic book artist. Caro worked on many of Jeunet's movies with him. Together, Jeunet and Caro directed award-winning animations. Their first live-action movie was "The Bunker of the Last Gunshots" (1981). It was a short movie about soldiers in a futuristic world. Jeunet also directed numerous television advertisements and music videos. Jeunet and Caro's first full-length movie was "Delicatessen" (1991). It was a black comedy set in a famine-plagued future. Next came "The City of Lost Children" (1995). It was a dark fantasy movie with a story about a doctor who kidnaps children in order to steal their dreams. Because "The City of Lost Children" was well liked, Jeunet was asked to direct the fourth movie in the Alien series - "" (1997). Though not well received by critics, "Alien: Resurrection" turned a profit at the box office. Jeunet returned to France after making "Alien: Resurrection". The fact that he had made a Hollywood movie gave him freedom on his next movie, "Amélie". "Amélie" is lighter and more romantic than his earlier movies. This story was a huge success worldwide. It was nominated for several Academy Awards. For this movie he also got an European Film Award for Best Director. In 2004, Jeunet released "A Very Long Engagement". It is based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot. The movie is set after World War I. It is about a woman (played by Audrey Tautou) looking for her missing lover.
Graham John Yost (born September 5, 1959) is a Canadian movie and television screenwriter. His most famous works are the 1994 movie "Speed", "Broken Arrow", and "Hard Rain". Yost did not write the dialog for "Speed". The dialog was written by Joss Whedon. He has also written for the television series "Herman's Head", "Band of Brothers", and "Boomtown". More recently, he is the creator of the NBC drama "Raines" starring Jeff Goldblum that premiered on March 15, 2007. Yost won an Emmy award for his part in the mini-series "From the Earth to the Moon" and for his involvement in "The Pacific". Graham also won a Golden Globe for his work on HBO miniseries, "Band of Brothers". Graham was one of the writers for the show.
A longboat was an open boat used on-board ships during the age of the sailing ships. The original name was 'Shallop' but was changed to longboat in the 18th century. A ship or vessel would carry several ship's boats for various uses. The most important would be a longboat, an open boat to be rowed by up to eight or ten . The longboat had rowing benches designed for up to two men to an oar. A longboat was designed for use in rough water and could be rigged for sails.  One of its main uses was as a pulling boat. Another was to . When a ship was at anchor, longboats carried people and supplies between ship and shore.
Jarrow is a town in England. It has 27,000 people. History. Romans had set up a fort near Jarrow in the 1st century. Later in the 5th century, Anglo-Saxons occupied the location. It is not well known when Jarrow was first built. The name of "Jarrow" has been used from 750. The monastery of St Paul is the sister monastery of Monkwearmouth in Sunderland. Today. Jarrow is part of the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside.
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1952 in Oslo, Norway. Participating nations. A total of 30 nations sent athletes to compete at these Games, which was the highest number to that date. This was the first time New Zealand and Portugal participated in the Winter Olympic Games. Australia, Germany, and Japan returned, after having missed the 1948 Winter Olympics. Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey did not participate in 1952, after having competed in 1948.
The 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as Games of the XII Olympiad, were not held. The games were planned for Tokyo in Japan, but the Japanese organizers withdrew in 1938 because of the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1938, the International Olympic Committee decided to hold the games at Helsinki in Finland. The games were cancelled because of World War II.
The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1936 in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin. Participating nations. 28 nations sent athletes to compete in Germany, to date the largest number at a Winter Games. Australia, Bulgaria, Greece, Liechtenstein, Spain, and Turkey all made their Winter Olympic debut in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia all returned to the Games after having missed the 1932 Winter Olympics.
In anatomy, the atlas is the top "cervical vertebra" (neck bones) of the spine. In anatomy, the "atlas" is written (C1) for short. It is named for the Atlas of mythology, because it supports the head in the same way as Atlas held the world on his shoulders.  The "atlas" connects to a vertebra called the . Together they form the joint connecting the skull to the rest of the spine. The "atlas" and "axis" are different in shape from all the other vertebrae. They have more movement. They allow the head to nod and to rotate (turn).
Vertebrae (singular: vertebra) are the individual irregular bones that make up the spinal column ("aka" ischis) – a flexuous and flexible column. There are normally thirty-three (33) vertebrae in humans, including the five that are fused to form the sacrum (the others are separated by intervertebral discs) and the four coccygeal bones which form the "tailbone". The upper three regions comprise the remaining 24, and are grouped under the names "cervical" (7 vertebrae), "thoracic" (12 vertebrae) and "lumbar" (5 vertebrae), according to the regions they occupy. Each vertebra has a hole through which the spinal cord passes.
The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true "Winter Olympics" held on its own and not as a part of a "Summer Olympics". The preceding 1924 Winter Olympics were later renamed as Winter Olympics. They were actually part of the 1924 Summer Olympics. All preceding Winter Events of the Olympic Games were the winter sports part of the schedule of the Summer Games, and not as a separate Winter Games. Participating nations. Athletes from 25 nations competed at these Games, up from 16 in 1924. This was the first time many countries attended the Winter Olympic Games, including Argentina, Estonia, Germany, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Romania.
For the purposes of local government, England has been divided into different levels. In some places there are four levels of administrative divisions. Different laws have created alternative types of administrative division. The pattern is different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Regional level. At the top level, England is divided into nine regions. Each one containing one or more county-level areas. The regions were created in 1994 and since the 1999 Euro-elections have been used as England's European Parliament constituencies. London was the first region with any devolved power in the form of an elected mayor and the Greater London Authority. Other regions now have elected mayors, but their powers are not all the same. The regions also vary greatly in their areas and their populations. County level. England is divided by the Lieutenancies Act 1997 into areas for the appointment of Lord Lieutenants, who are historically the Crown's representative in a county. Although not actually defined as such, these areas have become known as ceremonial counties. These counties are often used by people when describing where they live in England. However, many are not used as local government areas themselves, as many are too large or include large urban areas. They are taken into consideration though when drawing up Parliamentary constituency boundaries for example. For administrative purposes, England is divided into four types of county-level subnational entities used for local governance. Metropolitan county. There are six metropolitan counties, divided into metropolitan boroughs, which cover large urban areas outside London. They were created in 1974. In 1986 their county councils were abolished. Shire county. The "shire counties" were also created in 1974 and are legally known as non-metropolitan counties. They are divided into non-metropolitan districts and cover much of the country, though mainly the rural areas. Unitary authority. Unitary authorities were created in the 1990s and are single-tier authorities which combine the functions of county and district councils. They are defined either as counties consisting of a single district or districts of a county such as Berkshire that has no county council. The Isle of Wight is the exception, being a county council with no districts. Greater London. Greater London was
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, were held at Amsterdam in the Netherlands.  The games were thought to be a success. Half of the expense of the games was covered by the Dutch government. Participating nations. A total of 46 nations were represented at the Amsterdam Games. Malta, Panama, and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) competed at the Olympic Games for the first time. Germany returned after having been banned in 1920 and 1924.
The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were held in 1924 in Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, Europe (FRANCE) between 30 January and 2 February 1922. At first, the games were called "Semaine Internationale des Sports d'Hiver" ("International Winter Sports Week") and were held as part of the 1924 Summer Olympics. It was later decided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the Games would be called the I Olympic Winter Games. Russia won the four man bobsled. Participating nations. Athletes from 16 nations competed in the first Winter Olympic Games.
Realism is a way of portraying or thinking about reality. The word "realism" is used in many liberal arts in many different ways (such as in music, painting, and philosophy). It usually means trying to be true to reality. This is where the word "realistic" comes from. Realism is usually seen as an opposite of romanticism and idealism. It is also sometimes seen as an opposite of liberalism and classicism. It is used mainly to describe the way that some artists treat making art. These artists try to focus on the world as it really is, without unrealistic or supernatural ideas. Realism began as an art movement and in the 19th century. These realists wanted to give an accurate description of nature and of the way people lived. Realism can also apply to artists and artworks from before the 19th century though. Origins. The word "realism" first appeared in 1794, as the opposite of idealism in art and philosophy. The French magazine () used the word in 1826. It said that realism was the art-style of being accurate to real life, rather than following art of the past. Around this same time, realism was thought to have been one of the styles of philosophy within scholasticism. Then in the 1840s, realism began as an art movement in France. It focused on realistic modern life without avoiding what was unpleasant. It also focused on the lower or middle classes. Realism in liberal arts. In music. In music there was a movement called Verismo which was the Italian word for "reality". Verismo was popular in Italian opera around the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. Mascagni and Puccini were an opera composer whose style is typical of Verismo. In politics and history. In politics, realism focuses on conflict and the harsher parts of history. In writing. Realism as a literary movement began in Germany. The poet and writer Heinrich Heine tried in his books to accept the world as it is instead of trying to escape from it. Realistic writers tried to find good things about society. The interest in realism led to a movement called
Phencyclidine (a shortened version of the chemical name "phenylcyclohexylpiperidine"), usually called PCP, is an illegal drug. PCP is called a hallucinogenic drug: it causes people to hallucinate, and see, hear, and sense things that are not real. PCP is neurotoxic. It causes changes to the brain that can leave permanent damage. Before people started using PCP as an illegal drug, it was used as an anesthetic. PCP is a white powder, made of tiny crystals. It dissolves easily in water or alcohol. PCP has many slang or 'street names'; the most common is "angel dust". Other slang names for PCP are angel hair, angel mist, aurora borealis, black whack, crystal, cyclones, devil dust, dummy dust, embalming fluid, hallucinogen, horse tranquilizer, jet fuel, magic dust, rocket fuel, or star dust. PCP is sometimes mixed with marijuana and called love boat or killer weed. PCP can also be mixed with crack; this is called "space basing". Cigarettes can also be dipped in PCP; this is called a sherm. History. PCP was created after World War II as a surgical anesthetic. It worked well, but there were serious side effects: hallucinations, jumbled speech, and delirium. Around the mid-to-late 1960s, the drug sprang up on the streets of San Francisco as a "Peace Pill." People soon realized that it was a very dangerous drug. In the San Francisco area, the use of PCP died out before the 1970s. At the same time, the drug was becoming more common in New York, and it spread quickly there. However, its use in this area died out, like in San Francisco. The United States made it illegal to use PCP for any reason, or to make the drug, because of its serious effects. Effects. People can have many different effects from using PCP. The drug can affect the central nervous system (the brain and major nerves). This can cause many changes in the brain and body
Philodendron ("tree lover") is a large genus of the Arum family, Araceae. Currently, about 900 different species are known. The plants are evergreen flowering plants. Some of them are vines, some can grow as epiphytes. Most of them grow like bushes. They can reach a height of about 6 meters. Very often, "Philodendron" are grown as houseplants. They grow quickly, and are easy to care for. Sometimes "Monstera" are still called "Philodendron". That plant is very similar. "Philodendron" are sometime grown because they can neutralise some poisons commonly found indoors, most notably formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and benzene.
Sagittarius is the astrological Zodiac sign that represents the constellation Sagittarius. Sagittarius is from November 22 to December 21. The opposite sign to Sagittarius is Gemini, which is from May 21 to June 20. It stays within the meteorology of Niocio.  Mythology. In mythology Sagittarius is related to Greek myth of a centaur. myths also says that the constellation Sagittarius represents chiron because of his responsible actions unlike all the other sagittarians. Astrology. In astrology Sagittarius is ruled by the planet Jupiter.
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Its parent is a multinational oil company ("oil major") of Anglo Dutch origins. Royal Dutch Shell is one of the largest oil companies in the world. About 22,000 Shell employees are based in the United States The head office in the United States is in Houston, Texas. Shell Oil Company, including its related companies, is one of the US’s largest oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. Shell has approximately 25,000 Shell-branded gas stations in the US. They are Shell's most visible public presence. Shell also owns the Jiffy Lube chain of auto oil change stores. Since 1998, Shell Oil Company is a 50/50 partner with the Saudi Arabian government-owned oil company Saudi Aramco in Motiva Enterprises. Motiva is refining and marketing joint venture which owns and operates three oil refineries on the Gulf Coast of the United States. Motiva also operates 8,000 Shell-branded gas stations in the eastern and southern United States. Shell also used to hold 80% of an exploration firm called Pecten that explores and drills in various offshore locations including the oil basin near Douala, Cameroon. It sold the 80% to Addax Petroleum on 31 October 2011.
Noble Energy, Inc. () of Houston, Texas is the modern name of Noble Affiliates Inc., by which it was known through the 1990s, and it is now an oil and natural gas exploration and production company with almost US$3 billion in income at #660 on the 2007 Fortune 1000 list of the largest American companies. In 1985, Noble Affiliates started its subsidiary Noble Drilling Corporation () to shareholders, and that company in turn went public by the early 1990s, and then became Noble Corporation, an S&amp;P 500 company. In South America, the company operates in Argentina and Ecuador. In Africa, Noble Energy operates in Equatorial Guinea. And in Eurasia, it operates in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and China.
The Pakenham Railway Line is a Railway in Melbourne, Victoria. It has 25 stations. It was run by M-Train until April 17, 2004, where Connex took over all Melbourne rail services. List of stations. Bold stations are places where trains end their journeys, "italic" stations have staff there to help people. Branches from Frankston line at Caulfield station. The Traralgon regional line follows on from this line.
The Austrian Empire was an empire that lasted in Europe from 1804 to 1867. The empire was centered on present-day Austria and was a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire which collapsed on 1806. The last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, became Francis I of Austria and was succeeded by Ferdinand I of Austria and finally Franz Joseph I of Austria.  In 1867 the Austrian Empire was succeeded by Austria-Hungary, which ended in 1918, defeated in World War I. Parts of it are now in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic,Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy.
The pilot fish ("Naucrates ductor") is a fish that lives in many places of the world. They live in warm water. They eat parasites on larger fish.  Pilot fish usually gather around sharks (also rays and sea turtles). They eat parasites on their host, and small pieces of food that their host does not eat (leftovers). When pilot fish are young, they gather around jellyfish and drifting seaweeds. Pilot fish follow sharks because other animals which might eat them will not come near a shark. In return, sharks do not eat pilot fish because pilot fish eat their parasites. This is called a "mutualist" relationship. Small pilot fish are often seen swimming into the mouth of a shark to eat small pieces of food from the shark's teeth. Sailors even said that sharks and pilot fish act like close friends. When a ship captured "their" shark, the pilot fish followed the ship. Some people reported that the pilot fish would follow the ship for up to six weeks. And they do show signs of distress in the absence of their shark. They are also known to follow ships, sometimes for long distances: many pilot fish have been sighted on the shores of England. The pilot fish has a dark blue to blackish-silver colour, and are slightly lighter in colour underneath. They have between five and seven dark stripes going from top to bottom. When the fish is excited, these stripes disappear, and three large blue patches appear on its back. The pilot fish is usually about 30 cm long, but sometimes they can be as big as 70cm. The pilot fish will not hurt people, and they are said to be good to eat. They are difficult to catch, though.
Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American road racing cyclist, now best remembered because of the Tour de France 2006 doping scandal. He is a time-trial specialist and a strong climber. Landis turned professional in 1999 with the Mercury Cycling Team. He joined the US Postal Service team in 2002, and moved to the Phonak Hearing Systems team in 2005. Doping. Landis was fired from the Phonak team on 5 August 2006. The doping test after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France showed he had a very high testosterone/epitestosterone "ratio". The rules say that for every one unit of one chemical he should have four unites of the other (a 4 to one (4:1) ratio). Landis's test showed a ratio of 11:1. Landis appealed to the USA Cycling and saying the tests were not done properly. USA Cycling asked three people from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to study Landis's claims. On 20 September 2007, that group voted 2 to 1 against him. Landis was stripped of his title as winner of the 2006 Tour de France by the UCI, and banned from professional racing for two years.  Under UCI rules, the cyclist's national federation, in this case USA Cycling decides if the rules have been broken, but because of the science involved they asked the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to help. Biography. Floyd Landis was born in Farmersville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Landis was brought up a Mennonite, and rode his first races wearing sweatpants because his religion forbade wearing shorts; he won anyway. Landis' father, is a devout Mennonite, and tried to stop him from racing his bike by giving him extra chores. He had no time to train during the day, so he would sneak out of the house at night to train, sometimes at 1 or 2 a.m. and often in the freezing cold. His father, found that Floyd had been going out at night and often
The hawksbill sea turtle or hawksbill turtle ("Eretmochelys imbricata") is an endangered species of turtle.  It is mostly seen in shallow lagoons and coral reefs where its food is. It is smaller than the Australian flatback turtle: it is usually a little more than two feet long. It usually weighs about 150 pounds. It has the most pointed beak among sea turtles, which is how it gets its name. The hawksbill gets food from inside coral reefs, eating sponges, shrimp, squid, and other invertebrates. The hawksbill pointy beak helps the turtle get food out of the tiny cracks and holes in which it searches. Though they are sometimes seen in American waters, hawksbill turtles almost always nest in the warmer climates that run along the equator. Because people use the shell to make jewelry and other things, the hawksbill turtle is endangered.
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were held at Paris in France. The games were thought to be successful, but costly. The events were well attended. Participating nations. A total of 44 nations sent athletes to compete at the Paris games. Germany was not invited to participate.