Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by Walt Disney. He is a white duck with an yellowish-orange bill and legs. He usually wears a sailor cap, a blue sailor shirt and a black or red bow tie. He first appeared on-screen in "The Wise Little Hen" on 9 June 1934. Donald is Scrooge McDuck's nephew. His girlfriend is Daisy Duck. His nephews are Huey, Dewey and Louie. Donald appeared in animated shorts, comic books, and newspaper comic strips. Donald Duck appears frequently in "The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse".
Donald Duck is the third most popular cartoon character of all time, after Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny. Donald Duck has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 2004.
1717
Montevideo
Montevideo is the capital and the largest city in Uruguay. It was founded by the Portuguese in 1717. Its best neighbourhood is called Carrasco. This neighbourhood is very exclusive due to its architectural styles.
Book of Esther
Esther is the name of a book in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) and the Old Testament, and also its title heroine. It is the basis for the Jewish celebration Purim.
Although it is never said who wrote the book of Esther, from inside evidence it is possible to make some guesses about the author and when it was written. The author was a Jew, because he emphasizes where the Jewish festival came from and from the Jewish nationalism inside the story. The author probably lived in a Persian city, because he knew Persian customs well, and does not say anything about the land of Judah or Jerusalem. The earliest date of the book would be a little while after the events were told, for instance, about 460 B.C. (before Ezra's return to Jerusalem). It is also thought that the festival of Purim had been celebrated some time before this book was written.
The author's main purpose was to write about how the yearly festival of Purim started and to make people remember the saving of the Jewish people during King Xerxes' reign. The book shows both the start of the festival and why it should continue to be celebrated.
In the book, the author repeatedly talks about the conflict between Israel and the Amalekites, a conflict that began during the exodus and continued through Israel's history. The author of Esther views them as the symbol of all the powers of the world against God's people. Now that Israel has been released from captivity, Haman's dangerous edict is the final try in the Old Testament time to get rid of them. When Haman is defeated, Israel enjoys a time of rest.
Feasting is another important theme in Esther, as seen in the picture on the left. Banquets are the setting for important parts of the story. There are ten banquets.
Repetition is one of the main stylistic features of the book of Esther. The three groups of banquets come in pairs; there are two lists of the king's servants; two reports that Esther hid her identity; two gatherings of women; two houses for the women; two fasts; two talks by Haman with his wife and friends; two sudden visits to the king by Esther; two coverings of Haman's face; two royal commands; two cool-downs of the king's anger; two days for the Jews to protect themselves and take vengeance; and two letters about how Purim started.
Another important feature of this book that has often been wondered about is that it never directly talks about God, worship, prayer, or sacrifice. This has made some people think the book is not as religious as other books. However, it is possible that the author purposefully did not say anything about God or anything religious to show more clearly that it is God who controls all the "unimportant" coincidences that are in the story and ends in saving the Jews.
The Book of Esther is about a Jewish girl adopted by her uncle, Mordecai, after her parents died.
The Persian King Xerxes kicked out his wife, Queen Vashti, after she refused his demand, and fell in love with Esther at a beauty contest. He took Esther as the new Persian queen, not knowing she was an Israelite.
Haman, Xerxes' prime minister, developed a grudge against Mordecai because he would not bow down to him, but only to the God of Israel. He despised Mordecai because he was a Jew, and tried to trick the king into making a law to kill all Jews. Haman was unaware that Queen Esther herself was a Jew.
Queen Esther discovered the plot by Haman and worked to stop it. She invited the king to dine with Haman present so she could tell him about the plot. But her courage failed her and she said nothing.
She again invited King Xerxes and Haman to dine and this time she told the king of Haman's plot. The king, furious, stormed out and Haman begged Esther for mercy. When the king returned, he mistakenly believed Haman had molested his queen, and had him hanged on the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai. In the end, thanks to Esther's courage and influence, the king changed the law and saved the Jewish people.
Clay
Clay is a fine-grained silicate mineral made when rocks break down. Wet clay is soft and can be shaped to make pottery, bricks and other things. When it is shaped and then fired in a kiln to make it hard, it becomes pottery.
Clay often contains some water because the water molecules stick to the tiny grains. There may also be some organic materials in the clay.
There are 35 recognized clay mineral species on Earth, they make muds stick together ('cohesive'), or able to flow ('plastic'). The thixotropy of clay sometimes causes landslides.
Quartz, feldspars, iron oxides, and carbonates can weather to sizes of a typical clay mineral. The formation of clay is well understood. It can come from soil, volcanic ash, and glaciation. Ancient mudrocks are another source, because they weather and disintegrate easily.
Clay is by far the smallest particles recognized in mudrocks. A clay particle is about 1/1000th the width of a sand grain. This means a clay particle will travel 1000 times further at constant water velocity, thus requiring quieter conditions for settlement. Where the grains are more than a few millimeters wide, the material is called silt, not clay.
Rifle
The rifle is a gun with a stock to brace against the shoulder and a barrel with twisting grooves. The grooves are called rifling and make bullets spin as they fly through the air. Rifles are made to shoot many different sizes of bullets using different amounts of gunpowder. Rifles are usually made to be able to hit targets at long ranges. Modern rifles are made for many different purposes. Some are made for hunting animals. Some are made for soldiers to use in war. Others are made for police to have in case they need them. Some rifles are made for target shooting.
Rifles can work in different ways. Some rifles have what is called a bolt action. A small handle is used to move a part of the rifle called a "bolt". By moving the bolt backward, then forward, allows the shooter put a bullet in the chamber ready for firing. It also ejects any spent shells still in the chamber from any previously fired rounds. The rifle in the picture above is a bolt action. Some rifles are semi-automatics, where a bullet is loaded (automatically) and fired each time the trigger is pulled. Some are fully automatic, which work like semi-automatics but allow the shooter to fire more than one bullet at a time by holding down the trigger. The automatic rifle stops firing when the trigger is released or it runs out of ammunition.
1748
Deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books means "second canon" in Greek. It usually means the parts of the Bible that are only used by some Christian churches (mostly Roman Catholic and Orthodox). The books were originally written in Greek language and they were written between 250 and 50 BC.
The books are not part of the Jewish Tanakh (also called the "Hebrew Bible") since their original language is Greek and not Hebrew. Some books considered deuterocanonical by Catholics are: