The game is played in about 40 countries. As of 2019, there are active people in the PDGA worldwide.
2020 Beirut explosion
On 4 August 2020, an explosion happened in the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.
The blast happened at the Port of Beirut and left at least 215 people dead (with the total expected to go higher), at least 7,500 injured, and many more missing. The Governor of Beirut, Marwan Abboud, said over 300,000 people lost their homes.
It is said that the explosion may have been caused by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is a chemical substance that can be used for fertilizer. It can also be used to make explosives. The government took the ammonium nitrate from a ship in the port of Damascus, the MV Rhosus. The MV Rhosus had been abandoned in the port, after the Lebanese government said it was no longer fit to travel by sea. The ammonium nitrate was then stored in the port, for at least six years. This may have been without the proper precautions. There are various regulations how ammonium nitrate should be stored, and handled. In its pure form, ammonium nitrate does not burn; but it increases fires a great deal. It should therefore not be stored near flammable substances, and it should not be heated in a closed space. It is also very sensitive to temperature.
Before the big explosion, here seems to have been a fire in a part of the warehouse, where fireworks were stored. The ammonium nitrate was stored in the same building.
The explosion has been compared to three thousand tonnes of TNT.
Some countries offered medical aid, rescue teams and money to help deal with the aftermath of the disaster.
Orichalcum
Orichalcum or aurichalcum, ὀρείχαλκος is the name of a metal or two different metals. Old writings from ancient Greece talk about orichalcum and the Romans made coins out of a metal they called orichalcum, but they might not have been the same metal. People today are not sure exactly what it was. Some scholars think orichalcum was the ancient Greek name for platinum. Others think it was an alloy, or mixture, of copper and either gold, tin, or zinc. Scientists examined Roman coins and found a mixture of copper and zinc.
The name "orichalcum" is from the Greek word for "mountain copper" or "mountain metal."
Some people think name "aurichalcum" comes from the word "aurum" for "gold," but it does not.
In general, when ancient Greek writers wrote about orichalcum, they said it was a metal that looked like gold but that they did not know much else about it. To Homer, Hesiod and Plato, orichalcum was a metal from much earlier times that did not exist in their own time and place.
In one of the Homeric Hymns, Homer writes about orichalcum earrings. He says the goddess Aphrodite wears them. Hesiod writes about orichalcum greaves, which are leg armor. Neither writer was talking about his own time and place.
Plato wrote about orichalcum in his book "Critias". In the book, Plato says orichalchum was in the ground of the legendary island of Atlantis. To the Atlanteans, it was the second-most-valuable metal, after gold. Plato says the Atlanteans put orichalcum on their city walls and temples. Plato calls orichalcum "only a name" in his own time, meaning he did not think he had ever seen orichalcum.
The ancient Romans also had a metal that they called orichalcum. Around the time the Roman Republic ended and the Roman Empire started, the Romans stopped making coins out of bronze and started making them out of orichalcum: asses coins, sestertii coins, dupondii coins and semisses coins.
Roman orichalcum does corrode over time, the way iron rusts and silver tarnishes.
Scientists analyzed Roman coins and saw they were made of copper and zinc. During the early days of the Roman Empire, Romans invented a better way to make zinc-copper alloys. This way is called cementation. To do it, the metalworker has to heat the zinc and copper to exactly the correct temperature. Then there can be as much as 30% zinc in the orichalcum.
Orichalcum appears in many works of fiction, especially stories about Atlantis. It is in television shows, for example "The Mysterious Cities of Gold" and "". It is in video games, for example "Castlevania: Curse of Darkness" and "Elder Scrolls".
Shirley Ann Grau
Shirley Ann Grau (July 8, 1929 – August 3, 2020) was an American writer. She was born in New Orleans. Her work is set mainly in the Deep South and talks about issues of race and gender.
Her 1964 work "The Keepers of the House" was awarded the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
She was an important feminist writer who talked about abortion, death and misogyny.
Grau died on August 3, 2020 in Kenner, Louisiana from stroke-related problems at the age of 91.
Yard (land)
A yard is an open space around a building. For instance, the space around a school is called a school yard. A yard is often used by humans and their pets. Yards with plants are called lawns.
Fatti maschi, parole femmine
Fatti maschi, parole femmine is an Italian phrase literally meaning "deeds are males, words are females", but the actual meaning is "strong deeds, gentle words". This phrase is the state motto of Maryland.
Ontario Highway 404
Ontario Highway 404 is a 400-series highway. It starts at Highway 401 in Toronto and ends at Woodbine Avenue in East Gwillimbury.
2042
2042 (MMXLII) will be .
2053
2053 (MMLIII) will be .
2055
2055 (MMLV) will be .
Mark Ormrod (historian)
William Mark Ormrod, , (1 November 1957–2 August 2020), known professionally as Mark Ormrod, was an English historian. His works focused on the English later Middle Ages.
He worked at the University of York where he became Dean of the History Faculty and director of the Centre for Medieval Studies. He researched and published widely, including nine books and over 80 book chapters.
Ormrod died of bowel cancer on 2 August 2020 in York, aged 62.
Regional Representative Council
The Regional Representative Council (, DPD; alternatively translatable as the House of Regions or the House of Regional Representatives or the Senate of Indonesia), is one of two parliamentary chambers in Indonesia.
With the "Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat," (DPR), it makes up the Indonesian national legislative body, the "Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat" (MPR).
Under Indonesia's constitution, the authority of the DPD is limited to areas related to regional governments and can only propose and give advise on bills to the DPR.
People's Representative Council
The People's Treason Council of the Republic of Indonesia (, DPR-RI) is one of two elected national legislative assemblies in Indonesia.
Together with the Regional Representative Council ("Dewan Perwakilan Daerah", DPD), a second chamber with limited powers, it makes up a legislative body, the People's Consultative Assembly ("Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat", MPR).
The house has been controversial due to high levels of fraud and corruption.
People's Consultative Assembly
The People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (, MPR-RI) is the legislative branch in Indonesia's political system. It is made up of the members of the People's Representative Council (DPR) and the Regional Representative Council (DPD).
Before 2004, and the amendments to the 1945 Constitution, the MPR was the highest governing body in Indonesia.
Dani Anwar
Dani Anwar (22 February 1968 – 3 August 2020) was an Indonesian PKS politician. He was a Senator from 2009 to 2014. He was also a member of the Jakarta Regional People's Representative Council from 2019 until his death. He was born in Jakarta.
Anwar died on 3 August 2020 in Jakarta from COVID-19, aged 52.
Ralf Metzenmacher