juno-labs/simple_wikipedia huggingface dataset:
1526

## Events

- First battle of Panipat – Babur becomes Mughal emperor of India, captures Delhi, and invades Northern India. Beginning of the Mughal Empire which would last until 1858.

## Births

- 26 September 1511
Isaiah Berlin

Sir **Isaiah Berlin** OM, FBA (6 June 1909 – 5 November 1997) was a British philosopher. He was born in Riga, Latvia, which at the time was a part of the Russian Empire. He was Jewish, and was the first Jew to win the prize of a fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford University.

## Reputation

Isaiah Berlin was an important person of the 20th century. People see him as an important thinker of Liberalist ideas. He was made a member of the Order of Merit and was a professor at the University of Oxford. He made a distinction between positive liberty and negative liberty. His most famous work is probably _Two Concepts of Liberty_ (where he introduced this distinction.) He died 5 November 1997.
Guru Granth Sahib

The **Guru Granth Sahib** , also called **Adi Granth**, is the holy book of the religion Sikhism. It contains prayers, and hymns of Sikh religion. Sikhs believe the Guru Granth Sahib to be a living Guru, hence the Guru Granth Sahib has its own place also commonly known as 'Sach Khand' (the Heaven).

The name of the book is made up of three words. The first word is Guru, and a Guru in Sanskrit language means a teacher. Granth is a word of Hindi, and this means a book. The third word Sahib is a word of Urdu language and it means master. Thus, the Guru Granth Sahib means _a Master Book by the Teacher_. The Guru Granth Sahib, is a collection of hymns of the first five "Sikh Gurus", the "Ninth Guru", and various saints, or _bhagats_ Sikhs and others such as Baba Farid.

The Granth teaches Sikhs how they should live, and promotes a modern ideology. This is why it makes it so important to Sikhs.

The book is usually placed in the centre of the gurdwara, high up under a roof.They treat it as a living guru, waving a chaura(fan) over it and decorate its "seat"

It is written in the script called Gurmukhi. The first composition in the Guru Granth Sahib is Mool mantar by Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Zeno of Elea

**Zeno of Elea** was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy. He was born about 495 BC and died about 430 BC: the exact dates are not known meaning he was around the age of 65 years old.

Zeno a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes, which Bertrand Russell has described as "immeasurably subtle and profound".

Zeno also founded the Stoic School of Philosophy.

He was labeled as the "inventor of dialect" by Aristotle

## Works

Although many ancient writers refer to the writings of Zeno, not one of his writings have survived intact.

Plato says that Zeno's writings were "brought to Athens for the first time on the occasion of" the visit of Zeno and Parmenides

According to Proclus in his _Commentary on Plato's Parmenides_, Zeno produced "not less than forty arguments revealing contradictions", but only nine are now known.

Zeno's arguments are perhaps the first examples of a method of proof called _reductio ad absurdum_, meaning _to reduce to the absurd_. This destructive method of argument was used by him to such an extent that he became famous for it.

## Related pages

- Zeno's paradoxes
Zeno of Citium

**Zeno of Citium** (sometimes called **Zeno Apathea**) (333 BC264 BC) was a Syrian philosopher. He was the student of Carates of Thebes, who was the most famous cynic at that time. He started the Stoic school of philosophy.
Iron Curtain

The **Iron Curtain** is a term related to the Cold War. It means the border between the states that were members of the Warsaw Pact (in Eastern Europe), and those that were not (then called _The West_).

This border was between East Germany and West Germany, between Czechoslovakia and Austria, and between Hungary and Austria.

At the end of World War II Austria, Germany and Berlin were divided into four zones. In 1955, a treaty was signed. The treaty said that the Allied forces must leave Austria. In return, the Austrian government promised to do certain things, like not form a territorial union with Germany and recognise certain minorities, amongst others. The whole of Europe was separated into a Soviet Union zone in the East and a neutral or US-dominated zone in the West. The splitting of Europe, Germany and especially Berlin into two political blocks was part of the Cold War between the United States of America and other western countries on one side and the Soviet Union and its allies on the other. The wartime Allied Forces split after their common enemy, Nazi Germany, was defeated in May 1945.

The idea of the Iron Curtain was referring to the separation of the communist Europe compared to the democratic west, it was the idea that what was happening in the _satellite states_ and in Russia was secret to the rest of the world. Satellite state refers to a country being controlled by another, in this case Russia was controlling countries such as Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and others which were previously controlled by Germany in WW2.

The idea of the Iron Curtain was made public by Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in 1946 when he was invited to speak at American University by Harry S. Truman (the American president at the time). Churchill's speech was seen by Nikita Khrushchev; leader of the USSR from 1958 until 1964 as a declaration of war, as Churchill urged a struggle against the Soviet Union.

## Other websites

- Homepage for Susanna Lapossy's book _Life Behind the Iron Curtain_ (about Iron Curtain times in Hungary)
Indus Valley civilization

The **Indus Valley civilization** or the **Harrapan civilization** (3300–1300 BC; mature period 2700–1700 BC), was a Bronze Age civilization that is among the four oldest civilizations in the world and also the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent. Discovered by archaeologists in the 1880s, it developed along the Indus and the Ghaggar-Hakra Rivers. It is one of the world’s three earliest civilizations, along with Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt.

The Indus Valley civilization covered a large area from most of modern Pakistan to small parts of western India. The first city to be discovered by excavation (digging up) was Harappa in Punjab, Pakistan, and so the civilization is also called the 'Harappan Civilization'.

The civilization started during the Bronze Age and the height of its development was between 2500 BC and 1500 BC. Including the civilizations directly before and after it, the civilization may have lasted from the 14th to the 3rd centuries BC. Its two large cities are Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, in Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh Provinces. The ruins of Mohenjo-daro were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980. It had good builders. The ruins of the site shows skillful design. Buildings had two or sometimes more stories. Bathrooms were attached to the rooms. One of the unique features of the city was its elaborate drainage system. A brick-lined drainage channel flowed alongside every street. Removable bricks were placed at regular intervals for easy cleaning and inspection.

Harappan traders used seals on the knots of the sacks to be transported to make sure that they were not opened during the journey. Nobody knows how to read their writing system. In 1842, Charles Masson (real name: James Lewis) wrote a book that mentioned the sites of the Indus Valley civilisation. Few people paid attention. Later, in 1921 and 1922, John Marshall organised the first archaeological dig at Harappa.
Sumer

**Sumer** is the earliest known civilization in southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq. It may have been one of the first civilizations in the world, as were Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley.

Sumer started around 3500 BC. Its Sumerian grew along the Tigris and the Euphrates. The land was good for growing food. Sumerian culture is famous for its written cuneiform script. Its letters were formed by pressing a triangle shaped reed into wet-clay tiles. It is also credited with creating the wheel and with dividing a day into 24 hours and an hour into 60 minutes.

The earliest texts come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr and date back to 3300 BC. Early cuneiform script writing emerged in 3000 BC.

Sumerian communities were organized into city-states, each ruled by a priest or king, until Akkad conquered them in the third millennium BC. One of the most famous Sumerian cities was Ur (not the same city as Uruk but near it).

## Relations with the Akkadians

During the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians, who spoke a language isolate, and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism.

The Sumerian city of Eridu, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, may have been the world's first city.

The Sumerians lost their identity with their language around 2000 BC because a large group of different people, the Amorites, moved into their region. The Sumerian language continued as a religious language taught in schools in Babylonia and Assyria for as long as cuneiform was used.

## Clothing

The Sumerians made their clothing by using the natural resources that were available to them. Clothing was made from wool or flax. which Sumerians could raise and harvest. How thick or how coarse the clothing was related to the season in which it was worn. Heavier clothing was worn in the winter, lighter clothing in the summer.

Men were bare-chested and wore skirt-like clothes that tied at the waist. Women usually wore dresses, which covered them from their shoulders to their ankles. The right arm and shoulder were left uncovered. Men were either clean shaven or had long hair and beards. Women wore their hair long but usually braided it and wrapped it around their heads. When entertaining guests, women placed headdresses in their hair.

Although both rich and poor Sumerians wore the same style of clothing, rich Sumerians wore clothing that was made out of expensive and luxurious materials. Rich women and princesses also wore clothing that was colorful and bright.

Both men and women wore earrings and necklaces. During celebrations, even more jewelry was worn. The wealthier Sumerians often wore beautiful gold and silver bracelets and earrings. Sumerians also wore necklaces with bright, precious stones. Some of these stones were lapis lazuli and carnelian.

## Related pages

- Nippur
- Ur
- Uruk
Cingular Wireless

**Cingular Wireless** was an American mobile telecommunications company. It was formed in 2000 as a joint venture between SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corporation.

In 2006, Cingular was acquired by AT&T Inc. and later rebranded as AT&T Mobility.
Zeno

**Zeno** may mean:

**People**:
- Zeno (emperor) (c.425–491), Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire 474–491
- Zeno of Citium (333–264 BC), Hellenistic philosopher of the Painted Porch, founder of Stoicism
- Zeno of Elea (c.490–c.430 BC), Hellenic Eleatic philosopher, follower of Parmenides and famous for his paradoxes
- Zeno of Sidon (first century BC), Epicurean philosopher
- Zeno of Tarsus (third century BC), Middle Stoa philosopher
- St. Zeno of Verona (c.300–c.380), Roman Catholic Saint and an early Christian Bishop or martyr
- The Zeno brothers (fourteenth century), Antonio, Carlo, and Nicolò Zeno, Venetian navigators
- Nicolò Zeno (younger), publisher of the Zeno map

**Other uses:**
- Zeno's paradoxes, paradoxes by Zeno of Elea
- Zeno (crater), a lunar impact crater
- Zeno programming language, an imperative procedural programming language designed to be easy to learn and user friendly
- Quantum Zeno effect, an effect in quantum mechanics which disallows certain conditions in the decaying of a quantum state

## Related pages

- Xeno
Diogenes

**Diogenes** (Διογένης) is a Greek name. It can refer to different people:
- Diogenes of Sinope (412-323 BC), better known as _Diogenes the Cynic_ or simply _Diogenes_
- Diogenes Apolloniates (about 460 BC), philosopher
- Diogenes the Stoic (Diogenes of Seleucia on the Tigris) (c. 150 BC)
- Diogenes Laertius (between 200 and 500 AD), historian
- Diogenes of Oenoanda (2nd Century AD), Epicurean
- Diogenes of Judea (about 100-76 BC), general and advisor for Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus
- Diogenes of Babylon, Greek philosopher
- Diogenes (duke of Syrmia), duke of Syrmia (11th century)
Mystery Science Theater 3000

***Mystery Science Theater 3000*** (**MST3K**) is an American comedy television series. It was made in the U.S. state of Minnesota from 1988 to 1999. The series was at first made for a local station in Minnesota. It was later moved to Comedy Central, and then The Sci-Fi Channel. The series was about a man (originally Joel Robinson, played by Joel Hodgson, the show's creator, and later Mike Nelson, played by Michael J. Nelson, the show's head writer), who is put in a spaceship by an evil scientist. He was forced to watch some of the worst movies ever made. Joel makes some robots to keep him company. Two of the robots, named Crow T. Robot (played by Trace Beaulieu and, later Bill Corbett) and Tom Servo (played by Josh Weinstein and later Kevin Murphy), watch the movies with him. While the movie is shown, the three make jokes and comments about the movie they watch.

## Other websites

- Satellite News - The Official _Mystery Science Theater 3000_ Web Site
- Complete episodes on Google video
- _MST3K_ Wiki
Blaze Starr

**Blaze Starr** (born **Fannie Belle Fleming**; 10 April 1932 – 15 June 2015) was an American stripper and burlesque star. In the 1950s, she became well known in the United States. Besides her burlesque dancing, her affair with Governor Earl Long of the state of Louisiana got her more popularity.

## Early life

Starr was born in rural Wayne County, West Virginia. She lived in Washington, D.C. and in Baltimore, Maryland during her youth.

## Affair with the Governor

When Blaze Starr first met Governor Long in 1958, her first feeling was fear. She was afraid she was going to jail when the Governor of Louisiana walked in with the police during a dance. When the Governor and the police gave Blaze a standing ovation, she was dumbfounded. Blaze had never known a politician who went to a show bar for any reason other than to cause the dancers trouble. After her show, the Governor asked for her to come to his table. They became friends.

Their relationship quickly grew into a love affair. Soon coworkers, reporters, and voters all knew of the affair. Mrs. Blanche Long, the Governor's wife, told hospital people that Earl was crazy and had him put away. She thought this would make Earl end the affair with Blaze. The affair continued until the day Earl died in 1960.

Her life was exciting and full of adventures. In the 1950s, stripping was more of an art form. It was not just women taking off their clothes to get men into bed. Blaze was close to her family. Blaze met her perfect match when she met Earl. He accepted her life style and she accepted his. They fulfilled each other's needs for companionship, compassion, and love.

## Death

Starr died on June 15, 2015 at her home in Wilsondale, West Virginia.  She was 83 years old. She had been worried about the health of her dog, whom she adopted as a stray. Her sister, Cathy Fleming, believed this stress, along with a "severe heart condition", killed her. Her dog died hours later.

## Other websites

- Blaze Star Gems  (official site)

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Blaze Starr
- **image**: Blaze Starr.jpg
- **caption**: at Hutzler's Department Store, 1974
- **birth name**: Fannie Belle Fleming
- **birth place**: Wayne County, West Virginia, U.S.
- **death place**: Wilsondale, West Virginia, U.S.
- **occupation**: Stripper, American burlesque star, model (art), nude model, actress, comedian, gemologist
- **yearsactive**: 1950-1983, as stripper
1956-1989 (in several mostly cameo appearances) as actress
 1989-2015 (as gemologist)
- **spouse**: Carroll Glorioso
Zip drive

The **Zip drive** is a data storage device. The company Iomega introduced it in late 1994.

Originally it only supported 100 MB disks, but later versions began to support 250 MB and 750 MB disks.

Higher capacity Zip disks must be used in a drive with at least the same capacity ability. Generally, higher capacity drives also handle all lower capacity media. However, it is slower to write data on a 100 MB disk with a 250 MB Zip drive than with a 100 MB Zip drive.

Zip drives can transmit data to the computer in various ways. Internal drives have been made with IDE and SCSI interfaces. External drives can use SCSI, parallel port or USB interface.

Zip disks are thicker than 3.5" (9 cm) floppy disks. Nevertheless, zip disks are quite similar in appearance to regular floppy disks. This means the Zip drive slot is large enough to accept such a floppy disk.  However, they are not interchangeable.
Cantata

A **cantata** is a type of singing which is done accompanied by an instrument(s). By contrast, a cappella specifically refers to unaccompanied singing. The word(cantata) etymologically comes from the Italian word  which means "to sing".  The word "cantata" was used mainly in the 17th and 18th century to describe music with religious words that were sung by a choir or by soloists or both, accompanied by instruments. The most famous cantatas are those by Johann Sebastian Bach. Nearly all his cantatas are sacred (written for church services). Very often he used Lutheran hymn tunes (chorales) for the first and last movements. In between there are movements for solo singers: recitatives and arias. An example is Bach's cantata no 80 which is based on the chorale "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott" (“A safe stronghold our God is still”). The whole work is about being safe in the hands of God. This is what the sermon would have been about. The congregation would join in singing the chorale towards the end of the cantata.

Other composers, such as Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) wrote cantatas which were secular (not religious). The word "cantata" has also been used in the 20th century by composers such as Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) and Benjamin Britten (1913-1976).

Thus the term came to apply to any and all forms of accompanied songs.
Clavichord

A **clavichord** is a musical instrument like a small keyboard. It was very popular for many years, especially in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

## Sound

The clavichord is a very quiet instrument. It is not suitable for playing with other instruments because it is so quiet. But it sounds very beautiful in slow, expressive music. It is used as a practice instrument by harpsichord players, or by organists who wanted to practice at home instead of in a (often very cold) church. They were so small that they could be lifted up and put on a table. They could be put one on top of another so that an organist could practise music written for a two-manual organ. Sometimes, they even had pedals for organists to practice this skill.

## Uses

Many German composers like Johann Sebastian Bach wrote music for the “Clavier”. This meant any keyboard instrument: harpsichord, clavichord or organ. The player could choose which they wanted to use.

When the piano suddenly became popular – in the 1760s and 1770s – people started to forget about harpsichords and clavichords. Today a few people make harpsichords and clavichords again so that people can play Renaissance and Baroque music - the music from when the clavichord was popular.

## Infobox (instrument)

- **name**: Clavichord
- **image**: Clavichord-JA Haas 007.jpg
- **image capt**: A clavichord
- **classification**: String instrument, String
Harmony

**Harmony** means playing several notes together to make “chords”.  The word comes from the Greek _harmonia_ meaning "to join things up" .  A tune by itself can sound nice, but it can be “harmonized” by adding an accompaniment of chords.  Studying how to do this is called **harmonization**.  Music students learn which chords sound nice after one another.  These are called “chord progressions”.  Many music theorists have written books about harmony.

Music which is made of a tune with harmony underneath is called “homophonic”.  In a way it is the opposite of polyphonic which means that each part (each voice) is a tune in itself. However, even polyphony needs to make pleasant harmony. Harmony as we know it in European music had become fully developed by the Baroque period (17th century).

One can play a chord with three notes using the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the scale of whatever key the music is in.  This gives a chord which sounds like the “home chord”.  This means that at least three notes are needed for harmony.  In most homophonic music there are four: for example a choir will normally divide into soprano, alto, tenor and bass, or a string quartet will divide into violin 1, violin 2, viola and cello.

Harmony which uses just the notes of the key (e.g. just using white notes for C major) is called “tonal harmony”.

Harmony which adds lots of extra sharps and flats is called “chromatic harmony”.

If music is not in any key at all, like in some music by Arnold Schoenberg, it is “atonal”.  Harmony can be atonal.

## Related pages

- Harmonia
Bow (weapon)

- _This article is about the weapon. For other meanings, see **Bow (disambiguation)**._

A **bow** is a weapon used to shoot arrows. It is used in hunting, sport, and a long time ago, war.

Using a bow is called archery. A person who uses a bow is an **archer** and a person who makes bows is a **bowyer**.

A bow is  a long curved stick and a string which is tied to both ends. Ancient bows were made of natural materials like wood or bone and sinew, but today they are often made of plastic and similar materials.

To shoot a bow, the arrow is put on the bow, with one end to the string, which is pulled back. When the string is let loose, it throws the arrow forwards.

There are many different types of bows, for example the longbow or the automatic crossbow and the compound bow.

There are many different ways that people protect themselves from arrow attacks. The Roman Army, for instance, had the testudo formate, or tortoise formation. They first made the shields lock into a somewhat tortoise like formation, which provide a shell that was make out of shields. The arrows would eventually run out, and the Romans would charge.
Nuclear physics

**Nuclear physics** is the part of physics that studies the nucleus of the atom. Everything on the earth is made up of atoms; they are the smallest part of a chemical element that still has the properties of that specific element. When two or more atoms combine they create what we know as the molecule, which is the smallest part of a chemical compound which still has the properties of that specific compound. Understanding the structure of atoms is key in studies such as physics, chemistry, biology, etc.

### Structure

Atoms are made up of electrons, neutrons, and protons. The protons and neutrons are in the center of the atom, which is called the nucleus. The protons and neutrons are the heaviest part of the atom and make up most of its mass. The electrons move around the nucleus very quickly, making what is called an electron cloud. The electron cloud has a very small mass, but it makes up most of the space of the atom. The electrons have a negative charge, and the protons have a positive charge. Due to the charges in the atom, that is how the atom stays together, by attraction of the electric charges present in the atom.

### Properties

Atoms have different features that single out one atom from another, and show how each atom can change in different conditions. These properties include atomic number, mass number, atomic mass and weight, and isotopes.

### Forces acting

In an atom there are three fundamental forces that keep atoms together. electromagnetic force, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force. The electromagnetic force keeps the electrons attached to the atom. The strong nuclear  force keeps the protons and neutrons together in the nucleus. The weak nuclear force controls how the atom decays.

### Quantum

In the early 20th century, scientists had trouble explaining the behavior of atoms using their current knowledge of matter. So to deal with this they made a brand new way to view matter and energy, and they called it quantum theory. Quantum theory explains how matter acts both as a particle and a wave.

### Radiation

Atoms emit radiation when their electrons lose energy and drop down to lower orbitals. The difference in energy between the orbitals determines the wavelength of the given radiation. This radiation can be shown by visible light or shorter wavelengths.

## Related pages

- Radiocarbon dating
- Radiology
Seljuk Empire

The **Seljuk Empire** was an empire of the Seljuk Turks and a Sunni Muslim dynasty. It ruled parts of Central Asia and the Middle East from the 11th to the 14th centuries. It was founded by Tughril Beg in 1037. The Seljuk Empire stretched from Anatolia and the Levant to Afghanistan. It was replaced by the Khwarezmian Empire in 1194.

The Seljuk Empire united the eastern Islamic world, and fought against the Crusaders in the First Crusade and Second Crusade. The Seljuk Empire made several long lasting changes. These affected the region even after the empire was gone. Among them was making Farsi as the official language for history and events. They also shifted the center for the Arabic language culture from Baghdad to Cairo.

## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Seljuk Empire
- **common name**: Seljuk Empire
- **native name**: آلِ سلجوق
 Āl-e Saljuq
- **government type**: De facto: Independent Sultanate
De jure: Under Caliphate
- **empire**: Abbasid Caliphate
- **year start**: 1037
- **year end**: 1194
- **event start**: Tughril formed the state system
- **event1**: Battle of Dandanaqan
- **date event1**: 1040
- **event2**: Battle of Manzikert
- **date event2**: 1071
- **event3**: First Crusade
- **date event3**: 1095–1099
- **event4**: Battle of Qatwan
- **date event4**: 1141
- **event end**: Replaced by the Khwarezmian Empire
- **image coat**: File:SelcukluKartali2.png
- **symbol type**: Double-headed eagle#Adoption in the Muslim world, Seljuk double-headed eagle
- **flag type**: Imperial Flag

- **flag border**: no
- **image map**: Seljuk Empire locator map.svg.png
- **image map caption**: Seljuq Empire at its greatest extent in 1092,
 upon the death of Malik Shah I
- **title leader**: Caliphate#Abbasid Caliphs at Baghdad, Caliph
- **leader1**: Al-Qa'im (Abbasid caliph at Baghdad), Al-Qa'im
- **year leader1**: 1031–1075
- **leader2**: Al-Nasir
- **year leader2**: 1180-1225
- **title deputy**: Seljuq dynasty#Seljuq leaders, Sultan
- **deputy1**: Tughril, Toghrul I (first)
- **year deputy1**: 1037–1063
- **deputy2**: Toghrul III of Seljuq, Toghrul III (last)
- **year deputy2**: 1174–1194
- **stat year1**: 1080 est.
- **stat area1**: 3900000
- **religion**: Sunni Islam (Hanafi)
- **p1**: Oghuz Yabgu State
- **flag p1**: AD 750OguzYabgu.png
- **p2**: Ghaznavids
- **flag p2**: Ghaznavid Empire 975 - 1187 (AD).PNG
- **p3**: Buyid dynasty
- **flag p3**: Buyids 970.png
- **p4**: Byzantine Empire
- **flag p4**: JustinianusI.jpg
- **border p4**: no
- **p5**: Kakuyids
- **flag p5**: KakuyidMapHistoryofIran.png
- **p6**: Fatimid Caliphate
- **p7**: Kara-Khanid Khanate
- **s1**: Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm
- **flag s1**: SelcukluKartali2.png
- **border s1**: no
- **s2**: Anatolian beyliks
- **flag s2**: Anadolu Beylikleri.png
- **s3**: Ghurid Dynasty
- **flag s3**: Ghurids1200.png
- **s4**: Khwarezmian Empire
- **flag s4**: Khwarezmian Empire 1190 - 1220 (AD).PNG
- **s5**: Atabegs of Azerbaijan
- **s6**: Salghurids
- **s7**: Bavandids
- **s8**: Ayyubid dynasty
- **s9**: Burid dynasty
- **s10**: Zengid dynasty
- **s11**: Danishmends
- **s12**: Artuqid dynasty
- **s13**: Shah-Armens
- **s14**: Shaddadids
Central Asia

**Central Asia** is a region in Asia. The countries in Cental Asia according to the United Nations  are Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.

## History

People have lived in the region of Central Asia since prehistoric times. Most of the region was part of the Silk Road. It was a part of the Persian Empire until Alexander The Great captured it. When he died, the land was given to his general Seleucus. Seleucus slowly lost it to the Parthians.  When the Parthians (the Parthians were Persians) lost power, the Sassanids added it to their own Persian empire. However, a couple years later, during about the 600's A.D, Arab armies spreading the faith of Islam quickly captured it. A while later, an Iranian dynasty got semi- autonomy under the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad. They were known as the Samanids. The Samanids controlled most of Central Asia and Northwestern Iran. They had power over this area during the 10th century. With them, Central Asian cities, such as Bukhara and Samarkand, grew in culture.

In the early 13th century the Mongols captured it. They burned it to the ground. A while later, some rulers decided to make their own empires under that of the Mongols. These empires were known as Khanates. During the 19th century the Russian Empire conquered these lands. Many years later in 1991, all of the countries of Central Asia declared independence.

In the 14th century, Turkic armies conquered this area. They were known as the Seljuk Turks. At the same time, Timur captured it. After his death, the Timurids (the name of the people of the dynasty Timur founded) could not hold unto their empire.

## Economy

Uzbekistan produces lots of cotton. Kazakhstan is rich because it has sold oil, gas and metals to Europe and China. Turkmenistan has adjusted better to independence from the Soviet Union than the other Central Asian countries, but it has been run by a autocratic form of government. Other than Kazakhstan, most of Central Asia are  underdeveloped.

## Related pages

- Afghanistan
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Tajikistan
- Tatarstan
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- East Turkestan (Technically part of China)

- General Map of Central Asia: I from 1874
Turkestan

**Turkestan** (Turkish: Türkistan, Kazakh: Түркістан, Uzbek: Turkiston, Turkmen: Türküstan, , Chinese: 突厥斯坦, literally "**Land of Turks**") is a region of Central Asia around the Caspian Sea and Aral Sea. Much of it is currentlylocated in China. During the 20th century, much of it was in the Soviet Union. The main ethnic groups in the area are Turks, Chinese, Mongols and Persians.

## Related pages

- Scythia
- Kipchaks
- Sogdiana
- Tocharians
- Hephthalites
- Turkic peoples
- Turkic languages
- Indo-Iranian peoples
- Indo-Iranian languages

## Other websites

- Welcome to Turkistan
Mesoamerica

**Mesoamerica** (literally, "central  America and some of north america") is a geographical region. It begins from around the Tropic of Cancer in central Mexico and ends near Costa Rica. The term is especially used to mean the native peoples and cultures that were there before the Spanish took over that region. The cacao tree is native to this area.
Cathode ray tube

The **cathode ray tube** or **CRT** was invented by Karl Ferdinand Braun. It was the most common type of display for many years. It was used in almost all computer monitors and televisions until LCD and plasma screens started being used.

A cathode ray tube has an electron gun. The cathode is an electrode (a metal that can send out electrons when heated). The cathode is inside a glass tube. Also inside the glass tube is an anode that attracts electrons. This is used to pull the electrons toward the front of the glass tube, so the electrons shoot out in one direction, making a cathode ray. To prevent gas discharge, which would prevent the tube from working, the air is taken out of the tube, making a vacuum.

The electrons hit the front of the tube, where a phosphor screen is.  The electrons make the phosphor light up.  The electrons can be aimed by creating a magnetic field.  By carefully controlling which bits of phosphor light up, a bright picture can be made on the front of the vacuum tube.  Changing this picture 30 times every second will make it look like the picture is moving. Because there is a vacuum inside the tube (which has to be strong enough to hold out the air), and the tube must be glass for the phosphor to be visible, the tube must be made of thick glass.  For a large television, this vacuum tube can be quite heavy.

The cathode ray tube was invented in 1897, and used as an oscilloscope (a machine to show waves).  Later, along with other inventions and improvements, it was used for the first modern electronic television by Philo T. Farnsworth in the 1920s. The CRT was the main type of television screen until the liquid crystal display became popular in the early 2000s.

## Related pages

- Liquid crystal display
- Vacuum tube
Recitative

**Recitative** (Italian: “recitativo”) is music which is telling a story quite quickly, as if it were being spoken, "talky".  The word means: “to recite” i.e. to tell a story.

Recitative is used in opera, oratorio and cantatas.  When opera was invented around 1600 the composers needed to tell the story in music.  In recitative the story is sung quickly, with maybe just a harpsichord playing a few chords.  After a while, the situation in the story has changed, and the singer can sing an aria which is more interesting musically.

When recitative is just accompanied by a keyboard instrument it is called “recitativo secco” (dry recitative).  Sometimes the orchestra joins this.  This is called “recitativo accompagnato” (accompanied recitative).  There are no bar lines in recitative because there is no regular beat.

Recitative is simple musically, it can sometimes describe the words being sung in quite interesting or amusing ways.  Sometimes this might be improvised by the harpsichordist.

In the 19th century the difference between aria and recitative gradually disappeared.  Wagner wrote operas where everything had musical interest and the various sections flowed into one another.
Partition of India

The **Partition of British India** divided the British India into the countries of India and Pakistan (East and West Pakistan) in 1947. That was part of the end of British Raj, British rule in the Indian subcontinent. The prominent reason for partition was the two-nation theory, which was presented by Syed Ahmed Khan and stated that Muslims and Hindus were too different to be in one country. Pakistan first became became a secular Muslim-majority country and later an Islamic country. India became a majority Hindu country and later became a nominally secular country in 1974 when the word "secular" was added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.

Millions of people moved across the new Radcliffe Line between the two newly formed states. Once the lines had been established, about 14.5 million people crossed the borders to what they hoped was the safety of their religious majority. The 1951 Pakistani Census showed the number of displaced there were approximately 7,226,600. They were presumably Muslims who had entered Pakistan from India. Similarly, the 1951 Indian Census showed 7,295,870 displaced people, apparently Hindus and Sikhs who had moved to India from Pakistan. Both numbers add up to 14.5 million.

The newly formed governments were unable to deal with the forced migration of such huge numbers. Massive violence occurred on both sides of the new border. Hundreds of thousands died; some estimates are in the millions.

The partition caused a lot of uncertainty in many parts of the new nations, especially in the region of Jammu and Kashmir, parts of which went to both countries, which went to war several times to try to take the whole region.
Tail

A **tail** is the section at the rear end of an animal's body. Most animals have tails, like cats, dogs, whales, fish, cheetahs, and monkeys. The official name, almost never used, is "caudal appendage".

Many animals on land have a tail, even though they evolved in different lines of descent like reptiles and mammals did.

Signalling to each other is one function (see dogs for example). Balance, especially in trees, is another. Another thing to think about is the change from dinosaur tails to bird tails. Bird tails directly steer flying. They also have a signalling function. Don't forget insect tails. In flying insects they do help steering, much as bird tails do. In fish it's all about propulsion.

Humans don't have a tail. That puts us in a minority of simians which are tailless. It's not obvious why, though it perhaps has something to do with our upright stance. Unlike monkeys, apes have no tail. It's certainly seems easier to sit down with no tail, but monkeys manage with tails pretty well.

Some species of lizard can detach (drop off) their tails from their bodies. This can help them to escape predators. The predator is either distracted by the wriggling, detached tail or left with only the tail while the lizard escapes.
Ganesha

**Ganesha** or (**Ganesh**) is the elephant-headed god in Hindu Religion. He is the son of God Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Ganesha is a very popular god in Hindu Religion, and is one of the most worshipped. Hindu tradition states that Ganesha is a god of wisdom, success and good luck. He is also the giver of different types of favors. The Hindu tradition calls Ganesha as the Vighneshvara. "Vighneshvara" in Sanskrit language means one who is the **lord of removing obstacles or difficulties**. Thus, the Hindu tradition states that by worshiping Ganesha, one can remove all obstacles and difficulties.

## References

- Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend () by Anna Dallapiccola
- Ganpati Bappa Morya
- Shri Ganesha Pancharatnam Lyrics
Indie (music)

**Indie** is a word that is short for independent. When people talk about indie in music, they mean music that is made by people independently from major record labels (mainly rock and roll groups and artists). Indie music could also be very experimental, meaning that people try out things like new or different sounds.  The styles can range from rock music to house music to pop music.

Examples of what could be described as indie music include indie rock and indie pop.

The group of stereotypical teens who tend to listen to indie music are called indie kids.

## Independent artists

- Arcade Fire
- Archers of Loaf
- Blood Red Shoes
- Death Cab for Cutie
- Franz Ferdinand
- Pavement
- The Postal Service
- The Get Up Kids
- Modest Mouse
- Sonic Youth
- DaForce Dawg
- Foals
- The Maccabees
- Chad Valley
- Raquels
- The Pierces
- Wiz Khalifa
- Cults
- Radiohead
- Frank Ocean
- Billie Eilish
- AJR
Half-life

**Half-life** can mean different things:

- Half-life (physics), a property of radioactive elements
- _Half-Life_ (video game), a 1998 video game made by Valve Software
- Half-Life (series), the video game series made by Valve Software
- Biological half-life, amount of time it takes for half of a drug or chemical to be used up in a living thing
Chivas USA

**Club Deportivo Chivas USA** is an American football (soccer) team that played in Major League Soccer (MLS) in Carson, California. They began play in 2005, and played at the home of the Los Angeles Galaxy.

When the team was formed, it was planned to be a "_little brother_" to the very popular Mexican team C.D. Guadalajara. "_Chivas"_, the Spanish word for "_goats_", is the nickname of C.D. Guadalajara. The team was originally owned by two Mexican businessmen, one of whom also owned C.D. Guadalajara. Due to falling attendance and ownership failures, MLS bought the team back in February 2014, with plans to sell it to new owners who would give the team a new name. In September 2014, the team was sold to a new group. As part of the sale, Chivas USA was dissolved at the end of the 2014 season. A new team, Los Angeles FC, started play in 2017 replacing the old Chivas USA. The assets of the team were purchased by Wrexham A.F.C. in 2023 as co-owner Ryan Reynolds announced plans to re-start the team as an American "feeder club" for Wrexham. Due to the relatively recent time in which this news was announced, there are not many more details known about the takeover.

## Infobox (football club)

- **clubname**: C.D. Chivas USA
- **fullname**: Club Deportivo Chivas USA
- **founded**: 2004 (re-started in 2023)
- **dissolved**: 2014
- **capacity**: 20,000
- **chrtitle**: Owner
- **mgrtitle**: Head Coach
- **league**: USL League Two
- **pattern b1**: _whitestripes
- **leftarm1**: DD0000
- **body1**: DD0000
- **rightarm1**: DD0000
- **shorts1**: 000040
- **socks1**: DD0000
- **leftarm2**: 000040
- **body2**: 000040
- **rightarm2**: 000040
- **shorts2**: DD0000
- **socks2**: 000040
- **nickname**: The goats, Los rojiblancos
(the red and whites)
- **stadium**: StubHub Center
Cycle

**Cycle** might mean:

- A unicycle
- A sequence of events that repeat over and over again, for example: the cycle of the seasons
- A group of poems or songs that belong in a group together
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

**Abu Musab al-Zarqawi** (, **', _Father of Musab, from Zarqa_; ; October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), born **Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh** (, **'), was a Jordanian Islamist jihadist who ran a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan. He first travelled to Afghanistan in the 1980s to join the Afghan mujahideen and take part in the Soviet–Afghan War against the Soviet troops and later became known after going to Iraq following the US invasion and being responsible for a series of bombings, beheadings, and attacks during the Iraq War, reportedly "turning an insurgency against US troops" in Iraq "into a Shia–Sunni civil war". He was sometimes known by his supporters as the "Sheikh of the slaughterers".

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
- **nationality**: Jordanian
- **image**: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi portrait.jpg
- **caption**: al-Zarqawi in May 2004
- **imagesize**: 225px
- **birth name**: Ahmad Fadeel al-Nazal al-Khalayleh

- **birth place**: Zarqa, Jordan
- **death place**: Hibhib, Iraq
- **death cause**: Airstrike
- **children**: 5
- **order**: 1st Emir of Al-Qaeda in Iraq
- **term start**: October 17, 2004
- **term end**: June 7, 2006
- **predecessor1**: Position created
- **successor1**: Abu Ayyub al-Masri
- **order2**: 1st  Emir of Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad
- **term start2**: 1999
- **term end2**: October 17, 2004
- **predecessor2**: Position created
- **successor2**: Merger with al-Qaeda
- **order3**: 1st  Emir of the Mujahideen Shura Council (Iraq)
- **term start3**: January 15, 2006
- **term end3**: June 7, 2006
- **predecessor3**: Position created
- **successor3**: Abu Ayyub al-Masri
- **rank**: Commander
- **serviceyears**: 1989–2006
- **battles**: Soviet–Afghan War
United States invasion of Afghanistan
Iraq War
Salta Province

**Salta** is a province in the north of Argentina. It has a population of 1,000,000.

It is famous for its wonderful natural views and the old architecture in the provincial capital, Salta City.

## Other websites

- Official Page
- Tourist Secretary
- Salta
- Universidad Nacional de Salta
- Welcome Salta

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Salta
- **settlement type**: Provinces of Argentina, Province
- **imagesize**: 265px
- **image flag**: Bandera de la Provincia de Salta.svg
- **image seal**: Escudo de la Provincia de Salta.svg
- **image map**: Salta in Argentina.svg
- **mapsize**: 265px
- **map caption**: **Salta** within Argentina
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Gustavo Sáenz
- **area total km2**: 155,488
- **population total**: 1,406,584
- **population as of**: July 1, 2019
- **population density km2**: 9.046
- **timezone**: Time in Argentina, ART
- **utc offset**: −03:00
- **postal code type**: Postal code
- **area code type**: Area code
- **blank name sec2**: ISO 3166-2:AR, ISO 3166 code
- **blank info sec2**: AR-A
- **blank1 name sec2**: Address
Fermat's primality test

**Fermat's primality test** is an algorithm. It can test if a given number _p_ is probably prime. There is a flaw however: There are numbers that pass the test, and that are not prime. These numbers are called Carmichael numbers.

## Concept

Fermat's little theorem states that if _p_ is prime and , then

- .

If we want to test if _n_ is prime, then we can pick random _a**s in the interval and see if the equation above holds.  If the equality does not hold for a value of _a_, then _n_ is composite (not prime).  If the equality does hold for many values of _a_, then we can say that _n_ is probably prime, or a pseudoprime.

It may be in our tests that we do not pick any value for _a_ such that the equality fails.  Any _a_ such that

when _n_ is composite is known as a _Fermat liar_.  If we do pick an _a_ such that

then _a_ is known as a _Fermat witness_ for the compositeness of _n''.

**' is the modulo operation. Its result is what remains, if p is divided by n. As an example,

- .

## What this test is used for

The RSA algorithm for public-key encryption can be done in such a way that it uses this test. This is useful in cryptography.
Hash function

A **Hash function** is a set of things to do to make an output that is always the same length from some other input data. Hash functions can be used to tell a computer that two things are the same without sending the things twice. Hash functions use all the data they can to change the output. The input can be only a little bit different, and have a totally different output. When a hash function is made, care is taken to make sure two different inputs do not get the same hash value (this is called a _hash collision_).

A cryptographic hash function is a kind of hash function that is used in cryptography. It is made to make it hard to make two files with the same hash even if you try. It may also be called a 'message digest', 'digital fingerprint', 'digest' or 'checksum'.

## Related pages

- Hash table
Soprano

A **soprano** is a female singer with a high voice. Young boys who sing, and also girls, are usually called **trebles**. The word “soprano” can also refer to the top line of choir music. This would be sung by sopranos or trebles. Soprano is also used as a name for high pitched instruments, such as a soprano saxophone.

In opera there are different kinds of soprano voices:
- A dramatic soprano will sing big, dramatic roles such as Aida in Verdi's opera _Aida_.
- A coloratura soprano will have a light voice which can bounce up to very high notes (the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s _Magic Flute_ goes up to top F (2  octaves above middle C).
- A soubrette is usually the maid or a young girl who flirts.
- A lyric soprano role needs a beautiful smooth voice, e.g. Mimi in Puccini's _La Boheme_.
- A heavy dramatic soprano is needed in many of Wagner's operas, e.g. Isolde in _Tristan und Isolde_ or Brunnhilde in _Der Ring des Nibelungen_.
- In the 17th and 18th centuries many of the soprano roles were written for male sopranos. Called a castrato, they were men who had their testicles removed before puberty so that their voices would remain high pitched.
Alto

The word **alto** can mean: someone who sings lower than a soprano.  Usually females with lower voices are called **contralto**s.  A **male alto** is a man who sings in a special way called falsetto.  In England male altos sing in church and cathedral choirs.  In some countries like Germany it is tradition to have boy altos in cathedral choirs.  These will probably be boys whose voices will soon be breaking and are starting to get lower.

One of the most famous contraltos was Kathleen Ferrier.  There are not so many female singers who call themselves contraltos these days.  It has become more fashionable to be a mezzo-soprano.  It is partly because it has become fashionable to use men for the alto parts in music by Bach and other Baroque composers, like it would have been performed in those days.

Operatic roles which need a contralto include Lucretia in Britten's _Rape of Lucretia_ and Erda in Wagner's _Der Ring des Nibelungen.

The word _alto'' can also mean: the second line down in 4 part choir music.  In old music the alto line was written in a special clef called the “alto clef”, which is the same as the “viola clef” (a C clef in which the middle line is middle C).

## Altos in modern music

- Adele
- Sade Adu
- Fiona Apple
- Sara Bareilles
- Anita Baker
- Toni Braxton
- Cher
- Fairuz
- Fergie
- Judy Garland
- Lana Del Rey
- Lisa Gerrard
- Lucy Lawless
- Annie Lennox
- Joni Mitchell
- Ily Matthew Maniano
- Tina Turner
- Lady Gaga
- Norah Jones
- Teresa Davis
- Judith Holofernes