ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Owen Spencer-Thomas was born on 3 March 1940 in Braughing, Hertfordshire, England. He is perhaps best known as a television and radio news journalist over three decades. Spencer-Thomas combined this career with that of ordained Anglican clergyman and charity fundraiser. He is married to Maggie; they have three adult children, two sons and a daughter. Biography. Early life. He graduated in sociology at The Polytechnic, Regent Street, (now the University of Westminster) where he helped to establish its Students' Union and became its first elected president in 1966. He continued his studies at Westcott House and Fitzwilliam College in the University of Cambridge. His father, Ivor Spencer-Thomas, held the feudal barony of Buquhollie and Freswick in Caithness, Scotland. Media. He has wide experience in the field of communications - mainly in television and radio broadcasting as a news journalist. Joining Anglia Television in 1978 as senior reporter on the regional magazine programme "About Anglia", he became news bulletin editor of "Anglia News" in 1992. He also presented Anglia Television’s late night religious programme "Reflections". He has been a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4's "You and Yours" and "Sunday" programmes and has presented religious and ethics programmes on Thames Television and Southern Television. He has reported for Independent Television News. He devised and presented the popular "Sounding Brass" radio phone-in programme which was later fronted by Gloria Hunniford on BBC Radio 2. His radio biographies appealed to a wide audience and his portrayal in 1978 of the outspoken television personality, panellist and quizmaster, Gilbert Harding, was widely acclaimed. An innovative programme producer, Spencer-Thomas recorded two half-hour interview programmes with Kenneth Williams in which the comic actor, who rarely revealed his private life, spoke frankly about his early days and his feelings of loneliness, despondency and underachievement. Carry On Kenneth also featured skilfully chosen clips from the famous Carry On films, in which Williams starred, adding a gentle humour to the probing interview questions. His award-winning documentary "Under
Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American nature writer. He is known for books including Desert Solitaire, Black Sun, The Journey Home, The Fool's Progress, and Hayduke Lives. Early life and education. He was born in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States in 1927. He grew up in Pennsylvania, in a small town in the mountains near the city of Pittsburgh. He later moved to the American Southwest and wrote several books. He spent most of his adult life in the states of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Most of his books are about the Southwest. During World War II, he was in high school. He took a trip hitchhiking to see the American West. During his trip through Arizona and New Mexico, he fell in love with the Southwest. He enlisted near the end of World War II and was stationed in Italy as a military policeman. When he came back to the United States, he moved to New Mexico and got a college degree. Then he started writing books. Writing works. Abbey's first book was titled "Jonathan Troy". It did not sell well and Abbey did not like it very much, and it was taken out of print. His second book was "The Brave Cowboy". This book sold better and made him known as a writer of western fiction. It was also made into a movie called "Lonely are the Brave". "Fire on the Mountain" was his third book. "The Brave Cowboy" and "Fire on the Mountain" are about cowboys who loved the old American West and did not like it becoming modernized. He moved to New Jersey for a short time but did not like it, and moved back to the Southwest. He took a job as a park ranger in Utah. He wrote about his job as a park ranger in his fourth book, "Desert Solitaire". "Desert Solitaire" became a bestseller and made him a popular nature writer. He also took other jobs in the Southwest. He worked as a fire lookout at the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and as a park ranger in other National Parks. After "Desert Solitaire" became
This is a list of Members of Parliament (MPs) elected to the House of Commons for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 2005 general election, held on 5 May 2005. The list is arranged by constituency. List of MPs elected in the general election. The following table is a list of MPs elected on 5 May, 2005, ordered by constituency. The previous MP and previous party column shows the MP and party holding the seat at dissolution on April 11, 2005. Note that most Scottish constituency boundaries were considerably changed from the previous general election, due to a decrease in the number of Scottish seats from 72 to 59. In this case, the previous MPs cannot be shown, and the previous party column shows the "notional" winner of the new seat, based on analysis of the 2001 general election result.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Its capital is the city of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro is in the Southeast Region of Brazil. It shares borders with Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo and São Paulo as well as the Atlantic Ocean. Rio de Janeiro has an area of . The state's largest cities are Rio de Janeiro, Nova Iguaçu, Niterói, Duque de Caxias, São Gonçalo, São João de Meriti, Campos dos Goytacazes, Petrópolis and Volta Redonda. Its main rivers are the Guandu River, the Piraí, the Paraíba do Sul, the Macaé and the Muriaé. Its climate is tropical. Geography. The state is made up of both mountains and plains. It is between the Mantiqueira Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. The bays of Guanabara, Sepetiba, and Ilha Grande are on the coastline of Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro is the smallest state in the Southeast Region and one of the smallest in Brazil. Its coastline is , the third longest coastline in the country.
The Bretons are the residents of the region of Brittany in France. Most trace much of their heritage to white people who settled the area from south western Great Britain in the 4th–6th centuries. The region of Brittany is named after them and many speak "Brezhoneg", a Brythonic language closely related to Cornish and a bit more distantly to Welsh. The Breton language as such is part of the Insular Celtic language group. In eastern Brittany, a regional "langue d'oïl" named Gallo developed; it shares certain points of vocabulary, idiom, and pronunciation with Breton.
The West Midlands is an official Region of England, covering the western half of the Midlands.  Geography. The official region contains the large conurbation that includes Birmingham and Wolverhampton and includes also the mainly rural shire counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. (Unofficially the West Midlands region also spreads as far as Cheshire, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, but these are not part of the official region.)  There is some confusion in the use of the term "West Midlands", as the name is also used for the much smaller West Midlands county, and is still used by various organisations within that area such as West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service. The highest point in the region is Black Mountain, at 703 metres. Towns and cities. Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include: Regional Assembly. The official representative body of the region is the West Midlands Regional Assembly which has limited administrative functions such as regional planning and economic development. The assembly is not an elected body, but is made up of members appointed from local councils across the region, and members from regional interest groups such as business and environmental groups and trade unions. Local government. The official region consists of the following subdivisions: Key: shire county = † | metropolitan county = * Economy. Coal mining used to be the main industry of the Black Country. Nationally famous companies in the West Midlands are Cadbury's in Bournville, Birmingham; the brewing companies such as Coors Brewers in Burton on Trent, as well as Marmite; JCB is based in Staffordshire.
Midlands could be in general the central region of any territory. In Britain and Ireland, the term is reseved for the "middle" in the north–south ("vertical") direction (countries that are oriented more east–west use "Mid" with a "horizontal" meaning.) In the United Kingdom, Scotland and England both have midland areas that are famous enough to be called the "Midlands" (as a name, not just as a description). In Wales the term for the central region is "Mid Wales" (not "The Welsh Midlands"). The rest of this article deals with the English Region known simply as The Midlands, which is more or less the territory of the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia. The area lies between Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales, and includes the counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, the West Midlands and Worcestershire. The 2001 census also included Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire in the Midlands but these are not generally considered to be part of the Midlands but East Anglia. There are two administrative regions of England in the Midlands: West Midlands and East Midlands. Taken together, these regions do not fully cover the traditional Midlands: The "midland" status of Cheshire is often debated. South Cheshire has strong links with North Staffordshire (definitely in the Midlands), and North Cheshire with Merseyside and Manchester (both definitely in Northern England). Officially Cheshire is now part of the North West region. The largest Midlands conurbation, which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton, is approximately covered by a metropolitan county (which also includes Coventry) also called the West Midlands. Thus, there are two West Midlands, a Region and a (smaller) County. Parts of the East Midlands are also densely populated, particularly the triangle formed by the cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby. The South Midlands have an own government for development. They include Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire with northern Buckinghamshire. In other context Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire are not considered part of the Midlands. They are in the administrative regions of the South East and the East of England.
"For the electric plug-in hybrid concept car, see Chevrolet Volt." "For the record label, see Volt Records" The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference or electromotive force (also known as voltage). It is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), who invented the voltaic pile, the first chemical battery. Definition. The volt is defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power. Hence, it is the base SI representation m2 · kg · s−3 · A−1, which can be equally represented as one joule of energy per coulomb of charge, J/C. formula_1 Hydraulic analogy. In the "hydraulic analogy" sometimes used to explain electric circuits by comparing them to water-filled pipes, voltage is like water pressure - it determines how fast the electrons will travel through the circuit. Current (in amperes), in the same analogy, is a measure of the volume of water that flows past a given point, the rate of which is determined by the voltage, and the total output measured in watts. The equation that brings all three components together is: volts × amperes = watts Common voltages. Nominal voltages of familiar sources: Note: Where 'RMS' (root mean square) is stated above, the peak voltage is formula_2 times greater than the RMS voltage for a sinusoidal signal. History of the volt. In 1800, as the result of a professional disagreement over the galvanic response advocated by Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta developed the so-called Voltaic pile, a forerunner of the battery, which produced a steady electric current. Volta had determined that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity was zinc and silver. In the 1880s, the International Electrical Congress, now the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), approved the volt for electromotive force. The volt was defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power.
A music competition is an event in which people compete for prizes by performing music. Music competitions can be for solo performers or for small or large groups such as orchestras, bands or choirs. Some competitions are for young people who are starting to make a professional career in music. Other music competitions may be for amateurs, which means that professional musicians are not allowed to compete.  The person who decides who is the winner is called the adjudicator. Some big festivals have a team of several adjudicators who decide together on the winner. The British and International Federation of Music Festivals organizes music competitions for amateurs in many parts of the British Isles. Children and adults can take part, competing in classes for music, speech and drama and dance. Competitions like these are often called "festivals" because the main reason for taking part is to enjoy performing rather than just to win. There are many big international competitions for some of the most talented musicians from all over the world. Winning a big competition can help a young musician to start a successful career. Some people think it can also be a bad thing to win a big competition, especially for musicians who are still very young. It may make them a star for a short time but they still have to get better and mature as a musician and a person. Some of the most famous international music competitions are: In popular music one of the great European events is the Eurovision Song Contest.
An adjudicator is someone who decides on a winner at a competition for music or theatre. The adjudicator will always be somebody who has a lot of experience in what he is adjudicating. In big international festivals, a team of several adjudicators may decide together on the winners. In amateur competitions, the adjudicator may also talk to the competitors after they have performed and give them advice. Competitors are often given first, second and third prizes. In Law, an adjudicator is someone who decides who is right when a group of people cannot agree on something.
Criticism is a word used in two senses. Originally, it meant "a scholarly analysis and balanced judgement". Later (mid-20th century) it came to mean "a hostile attack" pointing out the bad features of the topic.  History of the word. In ancient Greek "kritos" meant judge, and "kritikos" meant the critic. Related Greek terms are krinein (separating out, deciding), krei- (to sieve, discriminate, or distinguish). The word moved from Greek to Latin ("Criticus", a judge) to French ("critique") to English. The words "critic" and "critical" existed in the English language from the mid-16th century, and the word "criticism" first made its appearance in English in the early 17th century.
Eduard Hanslick (born Prague September 11, 1825; died Baden, Austria, August 6, 1904) was a famous music critic. He wrote about music that was being composed in his time. He liked the music of composers like Brahms and Schumann but hated the music of Wagner and Liszt. Their music sounded too modern for his taste. He was born into a German-speaking family. His father was a music teacher. When he was 18 Hanslick went to study music with Tomášek, one of Prague's most important musicians. He also studied law at Prague University. He did not study music at university but he knew a lot about music and played the piano very well. He started writing music reviews (writing about concerts that had taken place). For many years he wrote reviews in a paper called "Neue freie Presse". He became professor of history and music at the University of Vienna and was an adjudicator at lots of music festivals. His most famous book was called "Vom Musikalisch-Schönen" ("About Beauty in Music"). Hanslick's tastes were conservative (he did not like new ideas). We remember him today for writing good things about Brahms and bad things about Wagner. A lot of musicians took sides on this matter. It is sometimes called: "The War of the Romantics". Musicians had long arguments in the music journals about which kind of music was better. Although in some ways he was narrow-minded he had a lot of influence on music. His books on music are very interesting showing great knowledge. He knew most of the great musicians of his day. Wagner made a caricature of Hanslick in his opera "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" in which the town clerk Beckmesser criticizes the young singer Walther who sings songs which break the traditional rules of composition.
The Fairly OddParents is an American children's animated television series. It was created by Butch Hartman in 2001 for the Nickelodeon cable television network. The show is about a 10-year-old boy named Timmy Turner who has 2 fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. He also has a fairy godbrother named Poof. The fairies have the power to grant wishes to Timmy. When granting his wishes, they must still following "Da Rules", the fairy rule book. "The Fairly OddParents" was the fourth longest-running Nicktoons series. In 2017, it ended with the half-hour episode "Hare Raiser / The Kale Patch Caper". The series was originally set to continue, but ended with the tenth season. The series was cancelled by Nickelodeon in 2018. A live-action-animation hybrid reboot by Paramount+ and Nickelodeon Productions was announced to be in development in February 2021. The series "" premiered on March 31, 2022. and an upcoming untitled computer-animated series by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, this version features an African-American character named Hazel. Cast. Recurring voice actors include Jim Ward, Rob Paulsen, Dee Bradley Baker, Tom Kenny, Eric Bauza, Jason Marsden, Jeff Bennett, Dionne Quan, Gary LeRoi Gray, Kevin Michael Richardson, Frankie Muniz, and Ibrahim Haneef Muhammad. TV Movies. The Fairly OddParents had some Made for TV Movies including Abracatastrophe, Channel Chasers, , Fairy Idol, A Fairly OddBaby and Wishology. It also had three live action movies with Drake Bell as Timmy Turner.
The Invasion of Poland in 1939 was a military offensive in which Nazi Germany and, two weeks later, the Soviet Union invaded Poland. That was the start of World War II in Europe. The invasion started on 1 September 1939. The invasion of Poland caused the United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany on 3 September, but they did little to affect the September Campaign. Fighting ended on 6 October. Germany and the Soviet Union conquered Poland and divided it according to their Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. It is often called the first time that blitzkrieg was tried on the battlefield, but similar methods had been used earlier. The German surprise attack was successful and was very effective against the ineffective and demobilized Polish Army, whose tanks and airplanes were few and mostly old. The Poles were outflanked, outmaneuvered, and outnumbered in September 1939 and easily destroyed by the Germans. The Poles, if they had been well prepared, could have had two million soldiers in the fight. In the first few days of the German invasion, Poland proved to be more difficult to invade than the Germans had expected. In the Battle of Mokra on September 2nd, the Poles repulsed an attack by a German Panzer division and forced its retreat. The German air force, unlike in their invasions of other countries, did not easily overcome the outnumbered Polish Air Force. However, their great superiority in numbers made them gain air superiority after five to six days. Surrounded by German territories north, west, and south of Poland, the Poles had little space for tactical retreat. The Germans reached Warsaw and attacked on September 7 but were repulsed. They had suffered heavy tank losses and so were forced to retreat. The Battle of Bzura, on September 9, was the largest attack by the Poles during the war. The Poles had great initial success by decimating two German divisions and taking 3500 German prisoners. Polish infantry fought well, but by September 19, the overwhelming German reinforcements had defeated the Poles. The Poles realized the British and French were in a phoney war and
The Winter War (30 November 1939 – 13 March 1940) was a conflict fought between the Soviet Union and Finland.  It began when the Soviet Union invaded Finland soon after the invasion of Poland. The Soviet military forces expected a victory over Finland in a few weeks because the Soviet Army had many more troops, tanks and planes than the Finnish Army. However, the Finnish forces resisted better and much longer than expected. They had good winter clothes and wore white coats, which camouflaged them in the snow. As well, the Finnish soldiers moved around on skis, which made it easy for them to sneak up on the Soviet soldiers. The Soviets did not have good winter clothes, and they wore dark green coats, which were easy to see in the snow. The peace treaty that ended the war in March 1940 left the Finns as a free people. They had to give up 11% of their country and tried to get it back during the Continuation War.
" For "joinery" in North American sense see: Woodworking joints" A joiner is a person who makes woodwork that is used for buildings. That includes things that are called "Finish carpentry" and "millwork" in the United States. Joiners make and install parts of building, for example doors, windows, stairs, wooden panelling, mouldings, shop cabinets, kitchen cabinets, and other wooden items. The skills of a joiner are somewhat between a carpenter and a cabinetmaker. The terms joinery and joiner are not used often in the United States any more, but the main carpenters' trade union still calls itself the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
Stairs, staircase, stairway, stairwell, and flight of stairs are connected steps leading up or down. Stairways may be straight, round, or may consist of two or more straight pieces connected at angles. Special stairways include escalators and ladders. Alternatives to stairways are elevators and inclined moving sidewalks. Components and terminology. Step. The step is composed of the tread and riser. The railing system. The balustrade is the complete system of railings and pickets that prevents people from falling over the edge. Handrails may be continuous (sometimes called over-the-post) or post-to-post (or more accurately "newel-to-newel"). For continuous handrails on long balconies, there may be multiple newels and tandem caps to cover the newels. At corners, there are quarter-turn caps. For post-to-post systems, the newels project above the handrails. Another, more classical, form of handrailing which is still in use is the Tangent method. A variant of the Cylindric method of layout, it allows for continuous climbing and twisting rails and easings. It was originally defined from principles set down by architect Peter Nicholson in the 18th century. Measurements. Stair measurements:
Minas Gerais () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It has the second highest number of people. It has the fourth largest area. The capital is the city of Belo Horizonte, near the center of the state. The name means "General mines". Minas Gerais was formed mainly by colonists searching for gold, gemstones and diamonds. Location. Minas Gerais is in the west of the southeastern part of Brazil. That area also has the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo. Minas Gerais shares borders with Bahia and Goiás (north), Mato Grosso do Sul (far west), the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (south) and the state of Espírito Santo (east). It also shares a short border with the Brazilian Federal District. Cities. Even though it is not the largest state in Brazil, Minas Gerais is the state with the most cities. Of the more than 5,500 municipalities in Brazil, Minas has more than 850 of them. The most important ones are the capital Belo Horizonte, Contagem, Betim, Ribeirão das Neves, Juiz de Fora, Montes Claros, Uberlândia and Ouro Preto.