ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
A battering ram is a siege engine used in the past. It was used to break open the stone walls of castles or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and banged against an obstacle. The ram damages the target if the big log hits the target again and again. Later rams were covered in the log with an arrow-proof, fire-resistant canopy mounted on wheels. Inside the canopy, the log was swung from chains or ropes. Rams were great weapons of war against old fashioned wall-building materials such as stone and brick. These walls were weak in tension: they cracked when struck with sufficient force. With many blows, the cracks would grow steadily until a hole was created. Eventually, a breach would appear in the fabric of the wall. It would cause armed attackers to force their way through the gap. The introduction in the later Middle Ages (around 1400s) of siege cannons causes the end of battering rams and other traditional siege weapons. Much smaller, hand-held versions of battering rams are still used today, however, by law enforcement officers and military personnel to bash open locked doors.
Barry Dickins (born 1949) is an Australian artist and writer of books and plays. He was born in Reservoir, which is part of Melbourne. He left school early and worked in a factory. Later he painted sets and backgrounds for television programs. His first play, "Ghosts", was performed in 1974 at La Mama Theatre. He has written many more plays. His play "Remember Ronald Ryan" won the 1995 Victorian Premier's Literary Award. He has also written short stories, biography, other non-fiction and children's books. Barry is known to use many 'half rhymes' in his work. Dickins' books and plays. Drama Stories Non fiction Children's books
Hashim Khan ( – 18 August 2014) was a Pakistani squash player. He won the British Open Squash Championships (BOSC) a total of seven times, from 1951 to 1956, and then again in 1958. During the 1950s, the BOSC was the "de facto" squash world championship. The movie based on Khan's life "" was released in 2009 and was directed by Josh Easdon. Khan was born in Nawakille, a small village near Peshawar, British Raj (now Pakistan). He family were Pashtuns. During the 1960s, he moved to the United States and lived in Denver, Colorado. He had twelve children. Khan died from congestive heart failure on 18 August 2014 in Aurora, Colorado. There are many disputes of his exact age but he is believed to have been at least 100.
Zugzwang is a chess term. It means a situation where any move by a player will weaken the player's position. The fact that the player is compelled to move means that their position will become significantly weaker. For example... 1. ... Kd7 and White cannot win: 2. c6+ Kc7 3. Kc5 Kc8 4. Kd6 Kd8 (opposing the king) 5. c7+ Kc8 6. Kc6 is stalemate But if it is White to play in the original position, he can win by zugzwang: 1. Kc6! and now Black must move his king, for example 1... Kd8 3. Kb7 and queens the pawn. Mutual zugzwang. There are positions where either player to move will lose. On the following diagram, Whichever king moves, he loses his pawn and the opponent will win the game. History. The concept of zugzwang was known in the old forms of chess, like shatranj. We know this because there are some Arabic chess problems which use the idea. The term itself comes from the 19th century in a German chess magazine. Its first use in English was in the early 20th century.
In chess, zwischenzug (German for "intermediate move") is a common tactic that occurs in almost every game: instead of countering a direct threat, which the opponent expects, a move is played which poses an even more devastating threat, often an attack against the queen or the king. The opponent has to counter that threat first, and this will ideally change the situation to his disadvantage. Borisenkov-Mezenev (diagram, Black to play), went 1... f2, threatening to queen, which White countered with 2. Rg8, intending 3. Rf8+. But White resigned after the zwischenzug 2... Bb1! which allows Black to queen (3. Kb1 f1Q+ or 3. Rf8+ Bf5).
Alfredo Martini (18 February 1921 – 25 August 2014) was an Italian cyclist and coach. He won a stage in the 1950 Giro d'Italia. He was a professional cyclist from 1941 until 1957. He was later the coach of the Italian national cycling team from 1975 until 1997. Martini was born in Florence. He retired from coaching in 1997. Martini died from natural causes on 25 August 2014 in Sesto Fiorentino, aged 93.
Inga Juuso (5 October 1945 – 23 August 2014) was a Sami singer and actress from Norway. She appeared and performed in the movie "The Kautokeino Rebellion" (2008). She was known from her own band performances in the genres of jazz and joik. She did recordings and collabs with many Norwegian musicians like Håkon Mjåset Johansen and Jørn Øien. Juuso was born in Mosjøen. She was a Sámi woman, an ethnic group indigenous to Scandinavia. She was awarded the title of Spellemannprisen in 2011. Juuso died after a long illness on 23 August 2014, aged 69.
Thomas "Tom" Pevsner (2 October 1926 – 19 August 2014) was a British assistant movie director and producer. His career lasted from 1953 until 1995. His best known movies were "The Ladykillers" (1955), "The Longest Day" (1962) and "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1970) and "Dracula" (1979). He also worked on a  number of "James Bond" movies between 1981 and 1995. Pevsner was born in Dresden, Saxony. His father was the scholar Nikolaus Pevsner. Because they were of Jewish descent the Pevsner family fled to the United Kingdom in 1933. Pevsner died on 19 August 2014 in London, aged 87.
Tumbleweed is an Australian rock group formed in 1990 in Tarrawanna. Three of their studio albums appeared on the ARIA Albums Chart: "Tumbleweed" (No. 48, 13 December 1992), "Galactaphonic" (No. 6, May 1995), and "Return to Earth" (No. 11, 1 September 1996). Three releases reached the top 50 on the related ARIA Singles Chart: "Sundial (Maryjane)" (1993), "Gyroscope" (1994), and "Hang Around" (1995).  They supported United States grunge group, Nirvana, on their January 1992 tour of Australia, and reached the mainstream with their crunchy-psychedelia style. They also supported tours by Rollins Band (June 1994) and Monster Magnet (February to March 1996).
Ramón Echarren Istúriz (November 13, 1929 – August 25, 2014) was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop. Istúriz ordained to the priesthood in 1958. Istúriz was appointed titular bishop of 'Diano' and auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid, Spain, in 1969.  In 1978, he was appointed bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias and retired in 2005.
Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt, 25 December 1908 – 21 November 1999) was an English writer and actor. Denis Charles Pratt was born in Sutton, Surrey. He was an openly gay man who was very camp. He changed his name to Quentin Crisp after leaving home to move to London when he was 21. He was a male prostitute for about six months. In 1942, he started doing life modelling for art students. He wrote about his life, including The Naked Civil Servant. In 1981 he moved to Manhattan. Crisp died of a heart attack in Manchester, where he was due to give a speech.
Tak () is one of the northern provinces ("changwat") of Thailand. As of 2013, 532,353 people live there, and it has an area of 16,406.6 km². The Governor is Charoenrit Sa-nguansat. Tak's neighbouring provinces are (clockwise from north) Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Lamphun, Lampang, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet, Nakhon Sawan, Uthai Thani and Kanchanaburi. The western edge of Tak borders Kayin State of Myanmar. The highest temperature in Thailand, happened in April 2023: 45.7 degrees Celsius. Administrative divisions. Tak has 9 districts ("amphoe"), 63 subdistricts ("tambon") and 493 villages ("muban").
Ukraine Today is a satellite television channel from Ukraine. It broadcasts in English. In the future it will broadcast in Russian. It is owned by 1+1 Media Group. The channel's headquarters is in Kyiv. Beginning. Ukraine Today began on the 14th August 2014, live on YouTube and the Eutelsat Hotbird satellite. It showed a testcard and words telling people how to receive the channel. On Independence Day in Ukraine, the 24th August, the channel launch officially, and began to show news. Format. Ukraine Today says that it focuses on Ukrainian current affairs, EU expansion, Russia's relations with Europe and America, and the difficulties of building a country in the 21st century. Ukraine Today started broadcasting with a "Euronews"-style, with no presenters or studio, just videos of the news. Once more staff are employed, Ukraine Today will become a more traditional channel with a studio and presenters.
Christian Bourquin (; 7 October 1954 – 26 August 2014) was a French politician. He was a member of the Socialist Party. He has been the president of the Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon from 2010 until his death in 2014. He served as Mayor of Millas from 1995 through 2001. He was born at Saint-Féliu-d'Amont, Pyrenees-Orientales. Bourquin died in Montpellier, Hérault, France, aged 59.
Jason Wingreen (October 9, 1920 – December 25, 2015) was an American actor. Wingreen is best known for his role as Harry Snowden on the television sitcom "All in the Family" and its continuation series, "Archie Bunker's Place". He was also known for making the voice of Boba Fett in the 1997 Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back". Wingreen died on December 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, aged 95.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec is a Catholic archdiocese in the province of Quebec, Canada. It was started in 1658 as an Apostolic vicariate. Pope Clement X made it a diocese in 1674. At the time, the diocese covered all of New France. Starting in 1817, parts of the diocese were split off into new dioceses. In 1819, it became an archdiocese. The Archdiocese of Quebec is the ecclesiastical provincial for three other dioceses in Quebec: Chicoutimi, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, and Trois-Rivières. The current archbishop of Quebec is Gérald Lacroix, who was appointed in 2011.
The SouthWest Cyclops is a professional indoor lacrosse team that plays in Hagersville, Ontario. It is part of the Canadian Lacrosse League. It plays its home games in the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. The team was started in 2011 in Bampton as the Inferno. In 2014, it moved to Hagersville and renamed itself the Southwest Cyclops.
The Dean of the United States House of Representatives is the representative that has been in office the longest. The current Dean is Hal Rogers, a Republican from Kentucky. He has served in the House since January 3, 1981. The Dean is a symbolic job whose only customary duty is to swear in a Speaker of the House when he or she is elected. The Dean comes forward on the House Floor to administer (give) the oath to the Speaker-elect. The new Speaker then administers the oath to the other members. The Dean does not preside over the election of the Speaker, unlike the Father of the House in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the Dean of the Canadian House of Commons. Because of other privileges associated with seniority, the Dean is usually given some of the most desirable office space. The Dean is generally either chair or ranking minority member of an influential committee. Unlike the office of President pro tem, the Dean of the House of Representatives is not an official position. List of Deans of the House. Years as Dean are followed by name, party, state, and start of service in Congress. All the members of the First Congress had equal seniority (as defined for the purpose of this article). But Muhlenberg as the Speaker was the first member to be sworn in. Muhlenberg, Hartley and Thatcher were among the 13 members who attended the initial meeting of the House on March 4, 1789. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries some state delegations to the House were often not elected until after the term had begun. To avoid confusion, this fact is ignored in the list below.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Calgary is a Catholic diocese in the province of Alberta, Canada. It covers the Calgary Region, southern Alberta, and part of the Alberta's Rockies region. It is a suffragan diocese of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton. There are 82 parishes and missions in the diocese. The diocese's cathedral is St. Mary's Cathedral, in Calgary. The current bishop is William McGrattan, who was appointed in 2017.
The Calgary Region is a region of Canada that includes the area around the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It includes the city of Calgary, Rocky View County, and Municipal District of Foothills No. 31. The region is a major transportation hub for southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, eastern British Columbia, and parts of the northern United States. The Calgary International Airport is in the Calgary region. In 1999, fifteen municipalities in the region formed the Calgary Regional Partnership to coordinate regional growth and planning issues.
John Daniel Ehrlichman (March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American civil servant and criminal. He worked as counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. He was an important person in events leading to the Watergate scandal. He was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. He served a year and a half in prison for his crimes. Ehrlichman died in Atlanta, Georgia from diabetes after refusing to receive any more dialysis treatments. He was 73 years old.
was a Japanese movie director. He was known for his stylish and popular Pink movie "Angel Guts" movie series.  Sone died on August 26, 2014 in Usuki, Ōita from pneumonia, aged 76.
James Morris Lawson Jr. (September 22, 1928 – June 9, 2024) was an American activist and university professor. He was a leading peaceful activist within the Civil Rights Movement. During the 1960s, he served as a mentor to the Nashville Student Movement and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Lawson died on June 9, 2024 at a hospital in Los Angeles, California from cardiac arrest at the age of 95.
James Elmo Williams (April 30, 1913 – November 25, 2015) was an American movie editor, producer, director, and television executive. He is best known for his work on the movie "High Noon" (1952). For "High Noon", he won the Academy Award for Film Editing. In 2006, he published the memoir "Elmo Williams: A Hollywood Memoir". He has got many achievements for his movie editing work. Williams was born in Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. In 1940, he married Lorraine Williams. She died in August 2004. They adopted two daughters and a son. He turned 100 in April 2013. He died on November 25, 2015 in Brookings, Oregon at the age of 102.
Valeri Nisim Mevorah (; 22 April 1920 – 27 August 2014), better known as Valeri Petrov (), was a Bulgarian poet, screenwriter, playwright and translator. He was active between 1945 and the 1990s. He wrote the screenplay for a movie called "Yo Ho Ho" in 1981. It was made into a movie again in 2006, called "The Fall" . Petrov was born in Sofia. His father was Jewish. During World War II, Bulgaria was (for a time) pro-Nazi so he used his non-Jewish mother's surname. He graduated in medicine from Sofia University in 1944. He was politically a leftist and socialist. Between 1947 and 1950, to continue his writing career he worked as a press and cultural attache and traveled to Rome, Italy. He also went to the United States, Switzerland and France. He was a member of the Bulgarian parliament. Death. Petrov died from a stroke on 27 August 2014 in Sofia, aged 94.
Francis Edgar Stanley (1849 – 1918), was an American inventor, photographer and manufacturer. He and his twin brother Freelan Oscar Stanley invented and manufactured the Stanley Steamer car. They were pioneers in the use of steam engines to power cars. Early life. Francis E. Stanley and his twin Freelan O. Stanley were born on 1 June 1849 in Kingsfield, Maine. Their parents were Solomon and Apphia (French) Stanley. Solomon Stanley was both a farmer and a teacher. He and his brother graduated from Farmington State Normal School in Farmington, Maine. The school is now the University of Maine at Farmington. Francis became a teacher, and taught at New Portland, Cape Elizabeth and Strong, Maine. In 1870 he met and married Augusta May Walker, another teacher. Together they had three children. In 1875 he left teaching and moved to Auburn, Maine. He became an artist and photographer opening a studio there. He began to do more portrait photography and opened two more studios in Lewiston and Bridgton, Maine. In the early 1880s he started experimenting with the new dry plate way of taking pictures. In 1885 both brothers left their jobs and started a company to make photographic plates for photographers. they sold their shop four years later when they moved to Watertown, Massachusetts. They started another photographic plate business, but sold it to Eastman Kodak in 1904. The photographic plate business had made both brothers very wealthy. The Stanley Steamer. In 1897 the two brothers began experimenting and making steam-powered cars. They were soon making about 200 cars a year. In 1899 they purchased a bicycle factory in Watertown and began building their cars. They then sold their car company to John B. Walker and Amzi L. Barber for $250,000 USD. With it they sold the rights to their car designs. The sale had a clause that the two Stanley brothers could not build and sell cars for two years. The Stanley brothers broke the clause and had to give their new design to the company Walker and Barber formed, the Locomobile Company of America. In 1901 Francis and
Yehezkel Braun (; January 18, 1922 – August 27, 2014) was a German-born Israeli composer. Braun was Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University. Braun was born in Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland). He moved to Mandate Palestine when he was two years old. Braun studied at the Israel Academy of Music. He received a Master's degree in Classical Studies from Tel Aviv University. In 2001, Braun was awarded the Israel Prize for music. Braun died in Tel Aviv on August 27, 2014. He was 92.
Pedro Pubill Calaf 24 March 1935 – 27 August 2014), better known as Peret, was a Spanish gypsy singer, guitarist and composer of Catalan rumba. He was born in Mataró, Catalonia. Peret was known for his 1971 single, "Borriquito" (Ariola Records). Peret represented Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 and performed during the closing ceremony at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. In 2001, Peret recorded and released "Rey De La Rumba" ("King of the Rumba"). Peret died in Barcelona, Spain from lung cancer, aged 79.
This is a list of things named for former President of the United States Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan Legacy Project. The "Ronald Reagan Legacy Project" is an organization founded by Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist. It seeks to name at least one notable public landmark in each U.S. state and all 3067 counties after the 40th president.
Alexander Galbraith "Sandy" Wilson (19 May 1924 – 27 August 2014) was an English composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musical "The Boy Friend" (1953). Wilson was born in Sale, Cheshire. He studied at the Harrow School and Oriel College, Oxford.  Most of his work for the stage was material for revues, such as Hermione Gingold's "Slings and Arrows", Laurier Lister's "Oranges and Lemons", and "See You Later".  Wilson died in London, England, aged 90.
Jan Leonard Groth (25 February 1946 – 27 August 2014) was a Norwegian musician. He was active from the early 1970s onwards. He was a member of the progressive rock band Aunt Mary, where he was lead singer and keyboardist. He later moved on to Christian rock, where he most notably sang rock versions of many preacher singer's songs. He was also a member of the band Just 4 Fun. At the 1991 Eurovision Song Contest, Just 4 Fun represented Norway and played the song "Mrs. Thompson". Groth was born in Greåker. He grew up in a Pentecostal family. Groth died of cancer on 27 August 2014. He was 68.
John Houseman (born Jacques Haussmann; September 22, 1902October 31, 1988) was a Romanian-born British–American actor and movie producer. He was known for working with Orson Welles. Houseman was known for his role as Professor Charles Kingsfield in the movie "The Paper Chase" (1973). Houseman died in Malibu, California from spinal cancer, aged 86.
Simon Mark Featherstone (24 July 1958 – 27 August 2014) was a British diplomat. He served as the High Commissioner to Malaysia from October 2010 until May 2014. He served the United Kingdom on diplomatic missions in China, Belgium, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Malaysia. Featherstone was born in London. He was one of four brothers. He studied law at the University of Oxford and got an MA in 1980. He was married and had three children. Featherstone died after a year long illness on 27 August 2014. He was 56.
Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and artistic photographer. He was known for taking pictures of many famous celebrities during the late 1930s and early 1940s. He was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Vechten was married to actress Fania Marinoff from 1914 until his death in 1964. Vechten died in New York City, New York, aged 84.
Fania Marinoff (; ) (March 20, 1890 – November 17, 1971) was an Russian-American actress. Early life. Marinoff was born in Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine). She married Carl Van Vechten in 1914. They had met two years earlier, and their marriage lasted over 50 years until Van Vechten's death. Career. She played supporting and lead roles in dozens of Broadway plays between 1903 and 1937, and eight U.S. silent movies between 1914 and 1917. Death. She died in 1971 in Englewood, New Jersey from pneumonia, aged 81.
Elias Victor Seixas, Jr. (August 30, 1923 – July 5, 2024) was an American tennis player. Seixas was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was raised Jewish. He studied at William Penn Charter School. After serving in World War II, he studied at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) In 1951, Seixas was ranked No. 4 in the world, two spots below Dick Savitt, while he was No. 1 in the U.S. ranking, one spot ahead of Savitt. In 1953, Seixas was ranked No. 3 in the world by Lance Tingay, and was also cited as being the World No. 1 in newspaper Reading Eagle the same year. Before his death, he was the oldest living male Grand Slam singles champion. Seixas died on July 5, 2024 in Mill Valley, California at the age of 100.
John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, DL, JP (13 April 1926 – 16 October 2014) was a British educator. He was the principal of a school in his birthplace of Blenheim Palace. He was the son of Lt.-Col. John Spencer-Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough and his wife, Hon. Alexandra Mary Hilda Cadogan. He was also a relation of The Duke of Devonshire and a generational cousin of the war-time Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.  He was also a distant relative of Diana, Princess of Wales as both belong to the Spencer family, and of the Vanderbilt family through his paternal grandmother, Consuelo Vanderbilt. Spencer-Brown died in the morning of 16 October 2014 in Blenheim Palace, aged 88.
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. He launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, Klein also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewelry. Early life. Klein was born to a Jewish family in The Bronx, New York. He studied fashion in New York City and apprenticed for a suit manufacturer. In 1968, he launched his first company with a childhood friend, Barry K. Schwartz. In 1974, a tight-fitting signature jeans designed by Klein went on to gross 200,000 US Dollars in their first week of sales. He also became the first designer to receive outstanding design in men's and women's wear award from the CFDA award show in the same year.