Wales says that he follows the ideas of Objectivism. He also says that he is a libertarian to some extent, meaning that he thinks people should be allowed to do whatever they want so long as they do not hurt others.
On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, Wales started Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a free, open content encyclopedia. It grew and became popular very quickly. As Wikipedia became known to the public, he became the project’s promoter and spokesperson. He is often called a co-founder of Wikipedia, though he has argued against the "co-" part. He said he was the only founder. Wales is on the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation. In 2004, he co-founded Wikia, a wiki-hosting service which tries to make money. In 2015, Wales started the Jimmy Wales Foundation for freedom of expression, to try to help bloggers or internet activists who are in prison.
Exeter
Exeter is a city in South West England on the River Exe, from which it takes its name. It is the county town of Devon. Just over 100,000 live there. In the city are a ruined castle, much of the old Roman city wall, and Exeter Cathedral.
Exeter was built by the Romans, who called it "Isca Dumnoniorum" (Isca of the Dumnonii, the local British tribe). After the Romans left and the Anglo-Saxons moved into the area in the seventh century, the name changed to Exeter. In the 1060s, Exeter was a centre of resistance to the Norman conquest.
In 1050, the Bishop of Crediton moved to Exeter; from then until 1876 the bishops were the heads of the church in the whole of Devon and Cornwall. Now, only Devon is within the Exeter diocese.
Today it is home to the Meteorological Office, which forecasts the country's weather.
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislative, or law making, branch of the United States government. It meets in the United States Capitol.
It has two houses (parts): The United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. This two house system is known as a bicameral ("bi" is the Latin word for "two", and "camera" is Latin for "chamber" or "room") legislature. There are 435 Representatives in Congress, split between the states based on how many people live in the state. There are 100 Senators in Congress, with two coming from each state.
The primary duty of Congress is to write, debate, and pass bills (laws they want). For Congress to pass a bill, both houses must pass exactly the same bill. For each house to pass a bill, more than half of its members must vote in favor of passing the bill. After both houses pass the same bill, this bill is then sent to the President. If the President agrees the bill should be a law he or she signs the bill within 10 days. If the president does not agree, then he or she can veto the bill and send it back to Congress. If the bill is neither signed nor vetoed by the president within 10 days, the bill becomes law anyway if Congress does not adjourn (end its session) within that time. If Congress adjourns within that time, the bill does not become a law. Congress may override a president's veto of a bill by having more than two thirds of its members passing the bill. In that case, the bill becomes law even though the president vetoed it.
Article 1 of the United States Constitution lists what subjects Congress can pass laws on.
Members of Congress cannot be arrested, except for certain crimes, during a session of Congress or going to or returning from a session.
Each house of Congress can decide to expel (throw out) one of its members if more than two thirds of them vote to expel him or her.
The political party with the most members in a house of Congress usually decides which bills are voted on in their house.
Charles Cornwallis
Lord Charles Cornwallis (31 December 1738 5 October 1805) was a British general and colonial governor. He is best known for leading the British forces in the American Revolution.
His parents were Elizabeth, and Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis.
Cornwallis moved to the 13 colonies in North America in 1776 to try to control the rebelling colonies. He fought at the Battle of Princeton. George Washington led the Americans in that battle. Later, Cornwallis led British forces through North Carolina and South Carolina, where he fought against American forces under Nathanael Greene. In October 1781, Cornwallis's forces surrendered to George Washington at the Battle of Yorktown, ending the American Revolution.
In 1786 Cornwallis was appointed Governor-General of the British colony of India.
From 1798 to 1801 Cornwallis was Lord Lieutenant and Commander in Chief of Ireland.
He died in 1805 because of a fever.
1738
Battle of Princeton
The Battle of Princeton was a battle during the American Revolution. It was fought in January of 1777 near Princeton, New Jersey. The battle came a week after the Battle of Trenton, where General George Washington had led the Continental Army to a surprise victory over the British.
The Continental Army, led by Washington, advanced to Princeton after their victory at Trenton. The army defeated a small British force. A larger British force, led by Charles Cornwallis, was alerted and gave chase. However, the Continental Army burned the bridges behind them and sniped at the British army before escaping to Morristown, New Jersey.
The battle resulted in about 200 casualties (deaths) for the British along with another 300 injured or captured, while the Americans suffered minimal losses. The battle boosted American morale.
Fork
A fork is a tool for eating. It has points called "tines". Most forks have three or four tines. Some cooking-forks have two tines. The tines help you pick up your food. Forks are useful only for eating solid food. For example, a fork would be useless for eating soup because all the soup would fall through the tines and into your lap. Most forks are made of metal. Some are made of plastic or wood.
The word "fork" is also used to describe a two choices of course. A fork in the road would be a split in the road leading in two (or more) directions. A forked tongue would have two parts or tips.
Forks are very common in Western culture. Many countries do not use forks, but instead have their own ways to eat food, such as chopsticks.
Backgammon
Backgammon is a game played by two players. Each player moves pieces around a board. Players roll two dice to find out how far their pieces can move in one turn. The winner of one game is the first to get all pieces all the way around, and off, the board.
The game is laid-out asymmetrically. White's direction of travel is counter-clockwise, whereas black's direction of travel is clockwise. (There is no advantage to either side due to this asymmetry.)
White moves from white's far right to white's home area on white's close right, in the shape of a right-hand "C" from white's point of view. Black moves along the same "C", beginning from black's far left and ending at black's home area on black's close left. (The "C" is the same for both sides - the "C" points to the right for white and points to the left for black.)
As shown in the image, some pieces (for each side) begin already in the home quadrant, and some pieces must make their way all the way around. Pieces can be sent backwards to their starting position during play.
The roll of two dice introduces a random component in the game, but Backgammon is basically a game of strategy.
Usual playing time is around 15– 30 minutes, for a single game (which could be thought of as something like one particular long "hand" of a card game). An overall championship or round of backgammon involves a number of ongoing single games, with the involvement of points, a "doubling cube," and other complications.