ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
Hecate (Ἑκάτη, Hekátē) is the goddess of magic, crossroads, witchcraft, sorcery, ghosts, and necromancy in ancient Greek religion and mythology. She is the daughter of Perses and Asteria, who is the twin sister of Leto. Although Hecate is a member of the third generation of Titans, she sided with Zeus and his siblings during the Titanomachy. As a result, she was highly honored by Zeus, who granted her influence over the Earth, the sky, and the Underworld. A nocturnal figure, Hecate often resided in underground caves or in the Underworld itself. She was commonly invoked as a household deity to help ward off evil spirits. Hecate assisted Demeter in her search for her daughter Persephone after Hades abducted her, guiding Demeter’s path at night with her flaming torches. Following this, she frequently accompanied Persephone on her annual journey to and from the realm of the dead. In later depictions, Hecate is portrayed as a woman with three heads, which are thought to represent the past, present, and future. Her attendants included the Empousa, a species of man-eating monsters that appeared vampiric, featuring one leg made of solid bronze and the other leg resembling that of a donkey. Often identified with the goddesses Artemis and Selene, Hecate is also seen as a symbol of the harvest moon. Her sacred symbols include a pair of torches, keys, and daggers, while animals such as the serpent, polecat, and dog were considered sacred to her. She was typically worshipped alongside Demeter and Persephone. Hecate's Roman counterpart is Trivia.
Hugues-Adhémar Cuénod (born 26 June 1902; died 6 December 2010) was a Swiss opera singer. He was a tenor. He was particularly famous for singing comic roles in opera. He had an extremely long career, lasting over 65 years. He was still singing in opera at the age of 92. He died at the age of 108. Career. Hugues Cuénod was born in Corseaux-sur-Vevey. He studied at the Ribaupierre Institute in Lausanne, at the conservatories in Geneva and Basel, and in Vienna. At first he sang in concerts. Then, in 1928, he got a part in the jazz opera "Jonny spielt auf" by Ernst Krenek when it was performed in Paris. The next year he sang for the first time in the United States in Noël Coward's "Bitter Swee t". He worked in Geneva until 1933, then he went to Paris where he met the music teacher Nadia Boulanger. She had a big influence on his musical development. He made a concert tour of North America. From 1940 to 1946 he taught at the Geneva Conservatory. In 1943 he started singing in opera again, singing in Johann Strauss II's "Die Fledermaus" in Geneva. Then he sang at Milan's La Scala (1951), the Glyndebourne Festival (from 1954 on) and London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1954, 1956 and 1958). Cuénod sang music by many different composers. He was famous for singing the part of Basilio in Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", the Astrologer in Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Golden Cockerel", and Sellem in Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress". He sang with a light tenor voice, not a heavy heroic voice. One of the most famous opera houses in the world is the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He did sing there, but not until he was 84. By that age almost all
Roberto Alagna (born near Paris, 7 June 1963) is a French operatic tenor. Alagna's family came from Sicily. He was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, Seine-Saint-Denis, near Paris, France in 1963. When he was a teenager he started singing pop music in Paris cabarets. Later he started to sing in operas. He won the Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition. He started to sing professionally in 1988 singing the part of Alfredo Germont in Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" with the Glyndebourne touring opera Soon he was being asked to sing all over the world in opera houses such as La Scala, Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera. His performances of Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet" by Charles Gounod at Covent Garden in 1994 made him a great international star. When he sang that role on 15 December 2007 at the Metropolitan Opera with Anna Netrebko as Juliet the performance was broadcast by the Met into 447 theaters worldwide in high definition and seen by about 97,000 people. Personal life. Alagna's first wife, Florence Lancien, died of a brain tumor in 1994; they had one daughter, Ornella, who was born in 1992. In 1996 he married the Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu. They often performed together in operas. However, they separated in 2009.
Lila Downs (September 9, 1968 in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, Mexico) is a Mexican/American singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions as well as Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporates indigenous Mexican influences and have recorded songs in indigenous languages such as Mixtec, Zapotec, Maya, Nahuatl and P'urhépecha. Her albums are "One Blood", "Shake Away", and "Sins and Miracles" has won various Grammys and World Music Awards. Early life. Downs is the daughter of Mixtec cabaret singer Anita Sánchez and Allen Downs, a Scottish/English-American professor of art and cinematographer from Minnesota. She learned to sing at the age of four. She began to perform rancheras songs when she was 10 years old. Lila grew up partly in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, partly in the U.S. state of California as a teenager. She was 15 when she went to Performing Arts Institute of Oaxaca, where she studied music. She lived in Minnesota as an adult. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in voice and anthropology. Career. She later returned to Mexico where she learned to weave. Later, she began singing in the club scenes of Oaxaca and Philadelphia along with Paul Cohen, an American-born saxophonist. They began collaborating on songs that would slowly evolve into Downs' subsequent recordings. Cohen became both Downs' husband and her artistic director. In recent years, Downs and her band have toured widely in Mexico, South America, the US and Europe. She was also heard in the soundtrack to the movie "Frida" in a song, "Burn it Blue", that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song and that she performed at the 75th Academy Awards. Other songs that she performed on the soundtrack are "Benediction and Dream", "Estrella Oscura", and "La Llorona". Other movies in which her songs are featured include Maria Ripoll's 2001 "Tortilla Soup", Patricia Cardoso's 2002 "Real Women Have Curves" and Carlos Saura's 2007 "F
Rock Band 2 is an interactive music game by Harmonix. It is a sequel to the game "Rock Band". To play the game, players use a microphone to sing or a controller to hit notes on the screen. Players get points by hitting the right notes at the right time. Earning points can help a player earn stars, which show how well a player performed the song. If a player misses too many notes or hits too many of the wrong notes, they fail out of the song. It has a quickplay mode and a world tour mode. In quickplay mode, players choose songs from a list to play. In world tour mode, players can play songs in venues (public places) in cities around the world. Rock Band 2 also has a practice mode, where players can play a song without failing out of it. Players can choose one of four skill levels to play. The skill levels are Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert.The songs in Rock Band 2 are sorted by how hard they are to play. Zero dots means the song is one of the easiest to play, and five red dots means that the song is one of the hardest. Players can play solo (by themselves) or with other people.
A citadel is a large fortress or castle that is usually built to protect cities or towns from attacks or disaster, though citadels have been built for other reasons as well. Citadels are often built to be the final protection for a city or town, in case enemies break through other protections such as walls or soldiers.  The citadel of a city is most often built around the center of administration and government, which is where the king or city council makes their rulings. Other common places for a citadel to be placed are the downtown (central core) of the city, the holy center or religious square of the city (many shrines), and the business or financial area, where money is traded for goods, and invested. History. –1300 BCE. The oldest known citadels were built in the Indus Valley Civilization, where the citadel may have been used as a symbol of authority (power), though no one is entirely sure why they were built.  800–600 BCE. In Ancient Greece, the Acropolis was important in the life of the people, serving as a place of safety in times of trouble. It contained military supplies, food, a shrine, and often a palace or citadel. The most well-known is the Acropolis of Athens, but nearly every Greek city-state had one.  167–141 BCE. Citadels were sometimes built so strongly that enemies could take over the rest of the city, but fail to take over the city's citadel. During the Maccabean Revolt, the Maccabean rebels managed to take over all of Jerusalem except its citadel. It wasn't until 20 years later that they finally managed to take over the citadel too. 1600 CE–present. Citadels were not always built to keep away a city's enemies. During the Anglo-Dutch Wars, King Charles II of England built a citadel at Plymouth that could not only keep out enemies, but also the city's people in case they tried to rebel against the King. Modern Usage. The "Citadelle" of Quebec still survives as the largest citadel still in official military operation in North America after more than
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (born 28 May 1925 in Berlin, died 18 May 2012 in Berg, Upper Bavaria) was a German baritone singer. For more than 30 years he was thought of by many as the greatest male singer in classical music. He was particularly famous for his singing of Lieder (German art songs), but he was also a superbly great singer of opera as well as a concert singer with orchestras. Later in his career he also conducted. Fischer-Dieskau had a lyrical baritone voice, not a powerful, heroic voice like a Heldenbarton. In spite of that he recorded many operatic roles which are traditionally thought of as being for Heldenbariton: Wotan in Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Amfortas in Parsifal, Macbeth in Verdi's opera etc.  He is the most recorded singer of all time. He sang in many languages as well as German: French, Russian, Hebrew and Hungarian. Early years. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born in Berlin. His parents were teachers. He started singing as a child and began voice lessons at the age of 16. He had to join the German army (the Wehrmacht) during World War II, in 1943. He had only just finished school. He was captured in Italy in 1945 and spent two years as an American prisoner of war. During that time, he sang Lieder in POW camps to homesick German soldiers. Career. In 1947 he returned to Germany where he started his professional career singing the baritone solo in Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem" without any rehearsal. (He was a last-minute substitute for a singer who was ill.) He gave his first Lieder recital in Leipzig later that year. From early in his career he worked with famous lyric sopranos Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Irmgard Seefried, and the recording producer Walter Legge, producing very popular albums of lieder by Franz Schubert and Hugo Wolf. In the autumn of
Covent Garden is a huge piazza or open area in London, between the West End and the City of London. It is north of The Strand and east of Trafalgar Square. Once it was a huge fruit, vegetable and flower market with many taverns, theatres, coffee-houses, prostitutes and brothels. Now it is a huge commercial area and "tourist trap". The former market has been redeveloped, keeping its glass roof and cast iron spans. The area is hugely popular with visitors to London, and has a number of remarkable buildings nearby. The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is the main theatre for ballet and opera in London. It has several rehearsal rooms with full-size stages, a large costume department and restaurants. The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is nearby. It has been purchased and restored by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Bow Street is also nearby; it is a boundary road to Covent Garden. This was the road where the original police force of London, the Bow Sreet Runners, was formed in the 1740s. The Bow Street Magistrate's Court was one of the most famous criminal courts in London until it was closed in 2006. It is going to be a boutique hotel.
The Salzburg Festival () is an internationally famous festival of music and drama. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg. Salzburg is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In modern time there is also an annual "Salzburg Easter Festival" held by the same organization.
Ahmed Mohamed Mahamoud Silanyo (1938 – 15 November 2024) was a Somaliland politician. He was the Chairman of the Peace, Unity and Development Party (Kulmiye) and President of Somaliland. Standing as an opposition candidate, Silanyo was elected as president during the June 2010 presidential election. Mohamoud died on 15 November 2024 in Hargeysa, Somaliland at the age of 86.
Zipeg is an open source free software. Zipeg unpacks files from ZIP, RAR and other archives. Zipeg works on Mac OS X and Windows. Zipeg can preview files and photographs. It is not capable of compressing files. Zipeg is able to extract compressed files. Zipeg supports RAR, ZIP and other formats. Zipeg is built on top of the 7-Zip backend. Zipeg user interface is implemented in Java and is open source. Zipeg automatically detects filenames in national alphabets (code pages). Zipeg correctly translates filenames from national alphabet to Unicode. Zipeg reads EXIF thumbnails from JPEG digital photographs. Zipeg uses thumbnails for "tool tip" style preview and item icons.
Philip Joseph Kessel, Jr. (born October 2, 1987 in Madison, Wisconsin) is an American professional ice hockey right winger for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the Boston Bruins for 3 seasons and the Toronto Maple Leafs for 6 seasons. Kessel played hockey in college for the University of Minnesota's Golden Gophers. On July 1, 2015, Kessel was traded along with Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon, and a conditional second round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Kasperi Kapanen, Scott Harrington, Nick Spaling, and conditional first- and third-round draft picks.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is a 2000 comedy-drama Christmas movie that was produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and was directed by Ron Howard. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss book, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" and the 1966 TV Christmas special. Ratings. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" gained average reviews:
Greg Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American comedian television personality, and retired lawyer. Giraldo is probably best known for his many appearances on Comedy Central's roast specials and is also known for being a regular on Lewis Black's Root of All Evil. He was married twice, once when he was 24. According to Giraldo, his first marriage hadn't lasted very long. At the time of his death he had 3 children and had been divorced. He accidentally overdosed on prescription medication and he was scheduled to appear at a comedy performance at the Stress Factory in New Brunswick, New Jersey. When Giraldo failed to appear the police were called to his hotel room where they found him and they rushed him to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. It was reported that he had been in a coma for four days before his family had life support removed and he died on September 29, 2010. On March 18, 2011, Comedy Central aired a special called "Give it up for Greg Giraldo", that featured celebrities Jon Stewart, Colin Quinn, Lewis Black, Daniel Tosh, Denis Leary, Sarah Silverman, Jeffrey Ross, Nick Swardson, Dave Attell, Jim Gaffigan and Conan O'Brien as well as others as they talked about his life and career.
Keith Ballard (born November 26, 1982 in Baudette, Minnesota) is a former American NHL ice hockey defenceman for the Minnesota Wild. He was picked by the Buffalo Sabres with the eleventh overall pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He played hockey in college for the University of Minnesota's Golden Gophers. Ballard has also played for the Phoenix Coyotes for 3 seasons and the Florida Panthers for 2 seasons before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks in 2010 during the 2010 NHL Entry draft for Michael Grabner, Steve Bernier, and Vancouver's first round pick and 25th overall selection in that draft. On July 3, 2013, he was placed on waivers and his contract was bought out by the Canucks. On July 4th, 2013, Ballard signed a two-year $3 million contract with the Minnesota Wild. Ballard is married and had a daughter with his wife in May 2010.
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (16 October 1925 – 11 October 2022) was a British-Irish-American actress of stage, movie, and television. She was best known for her roles as Jessica Fletcher in the long-running whodunit television series "Murder, She Wrote" (1984–1996), and as the voice of Mrs. Potts in Disney's 30th animated feature movie "Beauty and the Beast" (1991). Death. Lansbury died on 11 October 2022, five days before her 97th birthday at her home in Los Angeles, California.
A banyan (or 'banian') is a kind of fig. It usually starts life by growing on another plant as an epiphyte. Its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree, or on other structures like buildings and bridges. "Banyan" usually means the Indian banyan or "Ficus benghalensis". It is the National tree of the Republic of India. and of Bangladesh. However, the term actually includes all figs which share their epiphytic life cycle. They are put in the subgenus Urostigma. The seeds of banyans are dispersed by fruit-eating birds. The seeds germinate and send down roots towards the ground. These roots may envelop (cover) part of the host tree or building structure, from which they get the casual name of strangler fig. A number of tropical forest species grow by strangling. There are other examples in the genus "Ficus" that competes for light. Any "Ficus" species showing this habit may be termed a strangler fig. The leaves of the banyan tree are large, leathery, glossy green and elliptical in shape. Like most of the fig-trees, the leaf bud is covered by two large scales. As the leaf develops the scales fall. Young leaves have an attractive reddish tinge. Older banyan trees have aerial prop roots that grow into thick woody trunks which, with age, can become indistinguishable from the main trunk. Old trees can spread out laterally using these prop roots to cover a wide area. Like other Fig species (including the common edible fig "Ficus carica"), banyans have unique fruit structures and are dependent on fig wasps for reproduction. The fatal embrace. Once the roots get to the ground, they suck up nutrients and grow faster and thicker. They cover the trunk of the host tree, and their leaves and branches in the canopy block the light from the host. Lacking enough nutrition and light, the host tree eventually dies. Its wood is destroyed by beetles, termites and fungi. Only the hollow space inside the banyan remains. The bany
Mary Christine Brockert (5 March 1956 – 26 December 2010), known by her stage name Teena Marie, was an American singer, songwriter, and producer. She is famous for songs such as "Lovergirl" and "Square Biz". Teena died on December 26, 2010 at age 54, from natural causes.
The Hohenzollern family ruled various territories in and near modern Germany, and later of all Germany. The Royal House of Hohenzollern began ruling the area around Berlin and Brandenburg, now in Germany, in 1415. The family became one of the electors of the Holy Roman Emperor and then were kings of Prussia in 1702 and German emperors in 1871.  It stopped ruling after World War I, when Germany became a republic. Prussia was abolished by the four Alliea that controlled Germany in 1947. The family took it name from its ancestral home, Hohenzollern Castle, in what is now Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The area around the castle was once ruled as a separate principality.
Hohenzollern-Hechingen was a county and principality in southwestern Germany, part of what is now Baden-Württemberg. Its rulers were members of a branch of the senior Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern family. History. The County of Hohenzollern-Hechingen was created in 1576, when the County of Hohenzollern was divided. The county was ruled as a part of the Holy Roman Empire. When the last count of Hohenzollern, Charles I of Hohenzollern (1512–1579) died, the territory was to be divided up between his three sons: Unlike the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg and Prussia, the Hohenzollerns of southwest Germany remained Roman Catholic. The County was raised to a principality in 1623. The principality joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 and was a member state of the German Confederation between 1815 and 1850. The democratic Revolution of 1848 was relatively successful in Hohenzollern, and on 16 May 1848, the Prince was forced to accept the constitution limiting his power. However, the conflict between monarch and democrats continued, and on 6 August, Hohenzollern was occupied by Prussian forces. On 7 December, 1849, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Konstantin sold the country to his relative, King Frederick William IV of Prussia. On 12 March 1850, Hohenzollern-Hechingen officially became part of Prussia. Hohenzollern-Hechingen and Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, which also became part of Prussia in 1850, were called the Hohenzollernsche Lande .
Something About Airplanes is the debut album by Death Cab for Cutie. It was released in 1998 on Barsuk Records, and it was re-released for its tenth anniversary in 2008. Its re-release features the band performing live at the Crocodile Cafe in Seattle, Washington. Track listing. All songs written by Ben Gibbard except where noted.
Christoph Ahlhaus (born 28 August 1969) is a German politician. He is a member of the German Christian Democratic Union. From 25 August 2010 to 7 March 2011 he was the First Mayor of Hamburg. Ahlhaus was born on 28 August 1969. He is married and studied law at the universities of Heidelberg, Munich and Berlin. From 7 May 2008 to 24 August 2010 Ahlhaus was state minister of the Interior in Hamburg. "This article was initially partly translated from German wikipedia."