The Velvet Revolution started at an official event for 50th anniversary of the closing of Czechoslovakian universities on November 17, 1939 by the Nazis in Prague. This event continued after its official end and was violently ended by state police on the street "Národní třída". In following days people organized meetings for protest against the actions of state police. 750-800 thousand people were at one of the biggest protests on November 25.
On November 19, the Civic Forum, the political movement which led the dialogue with the communist government, was created in The Drama Club in Prague. The same day, the movement "Public Against Violence" was created in Bratislava.
On November 27 a general strike took place. On this day there was a protest at Wenceslas Square with 300,000 people. Its main slogan was "Konec vlády jedné strany" - "End of one-part government".
Václav Havel was named as president of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989. He was the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948.
Infocom
Infocom was a software company, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced one notable business application, a relational database called "Cornerstone". It is also credited for creating the DOS game series Zork. The company bought by Activision in 1986.
Gemology
Gemology or gemmology is the science of dealing with natural and artificial gems and gemstones. It is considered a geoscience and a branch of mineralogy. Some jewelers are trained gemologists and are qualified to identify and evaluate gems.
Didcot power stations
Didcot Power Station refers to a combined coal and oil power plant (Didcot A Power Station) and a natural-gas power plant (Didcot B Power Station) that supply the National Grid. They are right next to one another in the civil parish of Sutton Courtenay, next to the town of Didcot in Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire), in the UK. The combined power stations feature a chimney which is one of the taller structures in the United Kingdom, and six hyperbolic cooling towers, which can be seen from much of the surrounding area. Didcot A was closed in 2013 and three cooling towers have been demolished.
This was the first power station here. It is the biggest one with the big cooling towers (that make the cooling water cooler and make lots of steam) that are in two groups. One group is northwest, the other group is southeast. The power station can make up to 2000 megawatts (2000 million watts - an 'average' lightbulb uses only 50 or 60 watts) at any one time. Didcot 'A' mainly burns coal, but can also burn oil, or in some cases gas. This power station can use some biomass such as wood. The fuel (coal, oil and so on) is first ground up in big mills if it is solid (similar to old flour windmills, but powered by electric motors) to give it a large surface area, and is then blown into a large boiler with lots of air. Here it is burnt to make very high pressure steam, which is used to turn a large steam turbine. This turbine is connected to a generator, which makes the electricity that is then sent out on the National Grid. Didcot A was closed in 2013 and has been demolished. There are now (2018) only three of the large cooling towers left.
This is the second power station in Didcot and is run only on gas. It can put out almost 1500 megawatts and uses gas turbines (like in an airplane) and steam turbines (like in the old power station) together to be more efficient. This is called combined cycle gas turbines (CCGT). It has smaller cooling towers that can't be seen as easily, but that make a more obvious cloud that appears to come from the ground. Didcot B is still operating in 2018.
Eiroku
Samgyetang
Samgyetang is Korean ginseng chicken soup. It’s a very healthy food during the summer, especially on the three days called ‘bok day’s.
Samgyetang is made of a whole young chicken stuffed with sticky rice, ginseng, jujube, garlic, and ginger. The chicken is “closed” shut and cooked in a soup. The richness of the broth depends on the style of the cook, as is the added ingredients that may be added. Some Samgyetang broths are cooked for hours. This broth is added to the chicken cooking separately to create a very rich soup. Other broths are lighter and clear.
Samgyetang is usually served with salt and pepper, which is put in a small separate dish to dip the meat. Some people like to add the seasoning directly into the soup. It is usually served with kkakdugi (radish kimchi) and some restaurants will offer regular kimchi as well.
Sesame oil
Sesame oil is a vegetable oil made from the sesame plant. It is used a lot in Asian cooking.
The English term sesame traces back to the Arabic "simsim", Coptic "semsem", and early Egyptian "semsent". "Semsent" was listed in the Ebers Papyrus, a 65-feet-long scroll listing ancient herbs and spices discovered by the famous German Egyptologist, Ebers. The earliest recorded use of a spice - sesame seed - comes from an Assyrian myth which claims that the gods drank sesame wine the night before they created the earth. Sesamum indicum, (indicum meaning "from India") is native to the East Indies. Usage dates back to 3000 B.C. Over 5,000 years ago, the Chinese burned sesame oil not only as a light source but also to make soot for their ink-blocks. African slaves brought sesame seeds, which they called benné seeds, to America, where they became a popular ingredient in southern dishes. Through the ages, the seeds have been a source of food and oil. Sesame seed oil is still the main source of fat used in cooking in the Near East and Far East.
Good sesame oil has a strong smell when it is opened. The color should be bright brown or gold. It should be kept at . If it is too cold, the oil would be solid and lose its smell. Sesame oil can go bad if it is exposed to air and sunlight. Therefore it is better kept on a shelf or a sideboard. A dark brown bottle is better than a plain one, because the brown one can protect the oil from the sunlight better. The bottle should be closed tightly to keep air out.
Many things affect the price. Oil content is the most important. Usually a bottle of sesame oil has 40~55%. The more oil content it has, the higher price it has. Another element is country of origin. Also if you buy it made from a factory it would cost less than oil made in a country house by a farmer.
Gristmill
A gristmill (usually flour mill in British English) grinds grain into flour. Grist can refer to both the grain that has been separated from its chaff and to the ground grain.
Most old ones are watermills.
They typically have a waterwheel and from 1 to 3 stones for grinding, although some have more. Water pours on to the wheel causing it to spin. This movement causes an axle inside to turn. The axle is connected to a gear which causes the grinding stones to spin. At the top, there is a chute filled with grain. The grain slowly falls through into the grinding stones.
There are different ways to transmit power from the waterwheel to the stones. The simplest method is known as a single-geared drive. Only one set of gears is used to drive a single stone. This arrangement was used since vertical waterwheels were used in gristmills and was still used until the 19th century.
Another method was known as spur-wheel drive. This method used a set of bevelled gears that would drive a horizontal 'spur-wheel', a large gearwheel that would then drive up to 3 or 4 millstones.
Another arrangement was known as a layshaft drive. The waterwheel would drive a horizontal 'layshaft' with gears mounted on it. Each gear would drive one set of stones.
The Kiss (Klimt painting)
The Kiss or The Lovers is a painting by Gustav Klimt. It was the last painting in Klimt's Gold Period. He painted it in 1907 or 1908. It is one of the most famous paintings in the world.
The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum, in the Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria is exhibiting the painting.