open-index/open-wikipedia-markdown huggingface dataset:
John Carmack

]]
**John D. Carmack II** (born August 20, 1970) is a well known video game creator. He was one of the creators of id Software, a video game company, in 1991. Carmack was the main programmer of the first-person shooter games *Wolfenstein 3D*, *Doom*, *Quake*, and their sequels.
In 1999, Carmack appeared as number 10 in TIME's list of the *50 most influential people in technology*.

Carmack married Katherine Anna Kang in January 2000. Their son, Christopher Ryan, was born on August 13, 2004. In March 2006, Carmack was added to the *Walk of Game*, an event that names the most important people in video games.

## References 
## Sources 
* Kushner, David (2003). *Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture*, New York: Random House. .
List of English monarchs

The **King** of **England** was the supreme head of state and head of government of the country. This is a list of the **Kings and Queens of the Kingdom of England** from 927 until England and Scotland joined together in 1707.

## House of Wessex 
## House of Jelling 
## House of Godwin 
## House of Normandy 
## House of Blois 
## House of Plantagenet 
* Empress Matilda (1141)
* Henry II (1154–1189)
* Richard I, the Lionheart (1189–1199)
* John (1199–1216)
* Henry III (1216–1272)
* Edward I (1272–1307)
* Edward II (1307–1327) (deposed)
* Edward III (1327–1377)
* Richard II (1377–1399) (deposed, died 1400)

### Lancastrians 
* Henry IV (1399–1413)
* Henry V (1413–1422)
* Henry VI (1422–1461 and 1470–1471)

### Yorkists 
* Edward IV (1461–1470 and 1471–1483)
* Edward V (uncrowned) (1483) (deposed 1483 possibly assassinated)
* Richard III (1483–1485)

## Tudors 
The Tudors were from Wales. In 1536, Wales became part of England. England had controlled Wales since 1284.

* Henry VII (1485–1509)
* Henry VIII (1509–1547)
* Edward VI (1547–1553)
* Jane (uncrowned) (1553) (deposed, beheaded 1554)
* Mary I (1553–1558)
* Elizabeth I (1558–1603)

## Stuarts 
The Stuarts were also kings of Scotland, with which kingdom England was in personal, but not legal union until 1707.

* James I (1603–1625), also from 1567 King James VI of Scotland
* Charles I (1625–1649), also King of Scotland

## Interregnum 
The Civil War in England from 1642 until 1652 stemming from a growing enmity between King and Parliament, led to the execution of King Charles I in 1649. After the execution, England became a Commonwealth eventually led by Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector after successive interim governments failed and handed Cromwell power, and so England became a protectorate. Furthermore, both Ireland and Scotland became subjugated states under England and Cromwell at the end of the war. Cromwell died in 1658 and his son, Richard, became Lord Protector. This was short lived though as he failed to gain the support of the army and so the nation, in 1660 power was given back to the Monarchy and the King In Exile, Charles II, was invited back to England

## Stuarts (restored) 
* Charles II (1660–1685), also King of Scotland (backdated the start of his reign to 1649)
* James II (1685–1688) (deposed, died 1701), also King James VII of Scotland
* William III (1689–1702) and Mary II (1689–1694), as co-monarchs, also King and Queen of Scotland
* Anne (1702–1714), though the English throne was replaced with that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707

## Longest To Shortest Reigning 
* James VI (57 Years)
* Henry III of England (56 Years)
* Edward III of England (50 Years)
* Elizabeth I (44 Years)
* Henry VI of England (1st Reign 40 Years)
* Henry VIII (38 Years) 

## Related pages
*In 1707, England and Scotland joined together. For Kings and Queens after 1707, see British monarchs.

## References
John

**John** is a name, originating from Hebrew.

*a common male given name
*a family name

People, things and meanings named *John*:

## Biblical meanings
* John the Apostle (also called John the Evangelist)
* John the Baptist
* John of Patmos, the author of the book of Revelation.
* the Biblical texts: Gospel of John and Epistles of John (*1 John*, *2 John*, *3 John*)

## Popes
There are over 20 popes with the name *John*:
*Pope John XXIII
*Pope John Paul I
*Pope John Paul II

## Other People
People with the first and the last name *John*:
*Elton John
*Newton John
*John Denver
*John Stamos
*John Wayne
Motet

The word **Motet** is a piece of music for a church service sung by a choir without using any instruments. The words are usually in Latin.  If the words are written in English for the Anglican church, it is called an anthem.

Motets have been written since the Middle Ages.  Medieval motets often had very complex rhythms.  The tenor often had the tune, which might be a folk tune, and two voices would put quite complicated accompaniments on top. The most famous medieval composer who wrote motets was Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377)

In the Renaissance, motets were usually polyphonic. That means that the different voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) would be singing different parts of the melody at the same time, making it very beautiful, but quite complicated to listen to. Many composers of this time wrote motets. The most famous was Giovanni da Palestrina (1525-1594).

In the Baroque period, one of the most famous composers was Heinrich Schütz(1585-1672), who wrote motets which he called “Cantiones Sacrae” (meaning: “sacred songs”).  Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote six wonderful motets with German texts.  Some people think that Bach may have used a few instruments to accompany these motets. In three of them the choir divide into eight parts.

The most famous motet from the Classical period is Mozart’s *Ave Verum Corpus*.

In the Romantic period (19th century), Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) wrote several motets which are still very popular with choirs, both in services and at concerts.
Anthem

"Hymn to liberty"]]
An **anthem** was originally a piece of music written for a choir to sing at an Anglican church service.  Unlike motets, anthems were sung in English and often accompanied by an organ. Over time, the word “anthem” has come to mean “a song of celebration”. 

Most countries today have national anthems. 

## History 
As early as 1502, the composer Fayrfax was paid 20 shillings for composing an anthem.  After King Henry VIII founded (started) the Anglican church in the 1530s, church composers were told to write music in English.  Most anthems used words from the Bible.   

Many anthems were composed after the Reformation.  At first they were like motets, but in English.  Soon the English anthem developed differently from the continental motet.  Two kinds of anthems developed. One was the “Full Anthem,” in which the whole anthem was sung by the full choir. The other was the “Verse Anthem,” which was usually longer and had several verses which would be sung by soloists, with choruses for the full choir in between. 

### National anthems 
*Main article: National anthem*

Most countries today have national anthems. Well-known examples include O Canada; the Star-Spangled Banner (United States); God Save the King/Queen (United Kingdom); La Marseillaise (France); Jana Gana Mana (India); March of the Volunteers (China); and Lupang Hinirang (Philippines).

The Greek national anthem, Hymn to Liberty, is the longest anthem in the world. Written in 1823 by the poet Dionysios Solomos, it has 158 stanzas. The cut-down version is shorter than Uruguay's national anthem, which is over five minutes long.

## Famous composers 
Almost every music director of cathedrals or large churches has written anthems.  Famous composers include:

* Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)
* William Byrd (1543-1623)
* Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625)
* Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
* George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
* William Boyce (1710-1779)
* Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876)
* Edward Bairstow (1874-1946)
* William H.Harris (1883-1973)
* Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
* William Mathias (1934-1992)
* John Tavener (1944-2013)
* John Rutter (b.1945)

## References
Siren

:*This article is about mythological creatures. For the noise-making siren see siren (noisemaker)*

]]

A **siren**, also referred to as a **werevulture**, is a creature in Greek mythology. The sirens were living on an island surrounded by rocks. Sirens also have a mermaid form where they still sing, but they hit the boat to sink it that way and sirens have a human form.  Sailors would try to go to them because of their singing, and their ships would get destroyed on the rocks, and they would drown.

Originally they looked like bird-women, but in modern time they are often shown to look like fish-women or mermaids. Many people said they were Naiads (spirits of the sea).

They also appear in Homer's *Odyssey*. There Odysseus and his ship have to pass the siren's island. Odysseus tells his men to put wax in their ears, so they will not hear the song of the sirens. He also tells his men to bind him to the ship's mast, so he cannot go to the sirens when he hears their song. When Odysseus and his men pass the Sirens, Odysseus wants to go towards them, but his men pull the rope tighter to hold him down. His men can then look at Odysseus and see when he cannot hear the sirens anymore, because he is calm again. Then they can take the wax out of their ears, and free Odysseus.
Reichstag building

The **Reichstag building** was designed as a home to the parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894. The original building's design was made by Paul Wallot. It was built on the site of an old palace in Berlin, Germany.

The building was used by the parliament of the German Empire until 1918. The parliament of the Weimar Republic, also called the Reichstag, sat there until the 1933 Reichstag fire. The Third Reich seldom used its parliament, so the building remained empty and derelict until after German reunification.

Then it became the seat of the German parliament again in 1999 after a reconstruction led by British architect Lord Norman Foster.

Today's parliament of Germany is called the *Bundestag.* The *Reichstag* as a parliament dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of Nazi Germany (1933-1945). In today's usage, the German term *Reichstag* refers to the building, while the term *Bundestag* refers to the institution.

## The Reichstag dome 
The original Reichstag dome was damaged in the 1933 fire and again during the war. It was replaced by a large glass dome. The new dome has a 360-degree view of the surrounding Berlin cityscape. The main hall of the parliament below can also be seen from inside the dome, and natural light from above emits down to the parliament floor. A large sun shield tracks the movement of the sun electronically and blocks direct sunlight which would make the space too hot and dazzle those below. Construction work was finished in 1999 and the seat of parliament was transferred to the Bundestag in April of that year. The dome is no longer open to anyone without prior registration.

## Other websites 
* panoramas and other images of the Reichstags building in Berlin
Lavender

**Lavender** is a type of plant found on almost all continents. It has a purplish color.  It has a color, lavender, named after it. Its Latin and scientific name is *Lavandula*.

## Use in gardens 
Lavenders are very popular among gardeners. Sometimes their petals are dried and sealed in pouches for good scent, and sometimes put inside clothes to prevent moths, who can damage the clothes.

## Use in food 
Lavenders are also used in cake decorating, because the flowers can become candied. Sometimes they are used in flavoring baked goods and chocolate desserts, and sometimes they use it to make a very delicious "lavender sugar". Lavender flowers are also used to make tea. The French make lavender syrup, which is used to make lavender scones and lavender marshmallows.

## Medicine 
Lavender is sometimes put in medicine, and sometimes to prevent infection. Lavender oil was used in World War I to disinfect walls and floors of a hospital. As the folk wisdom says, lavender oil is also helpful to headaches when rubbed on your temple, and lavender tea helps you relax before bed time. Lavender is also helpful when applied to insect bites. There is a general lack of real knowledge about its effects.

## Other uses 
Sometimes, dried petals of lavender are used to throw confetti at a wedding. It is also used for lavender theme wedding decoration where the flowers are put in the vases and kept on the venue table.

## References
Improvisation

**Improvisation** is the art of performing without a script or rehearsal.

## Music
In music, improvisation is the art of playing an instrument (or singing) in which the musician or musicians make up the music as they play. Improvising is inventing at the same time as one does something. Some musicians only play music when they have written music in front of them, but it can be great fun to improvise music. It is a way of composing. Improvisation is common during a jam session.

In Baroque times, all musicians were taught to improvise because composers often did not bother to write all the notes down.  Musicians would have improvised lots of ornaments, and even whole sections.

Many great composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Liszt were famous for their keyboard improvisations.

Organists are often expected to improvise during a service. In this way they can fill in gaps in the service when there would otherwise be silence, they can make a smooth link between one piece of music and the next, and they can create the right atmosphere.  In Baroque times, in the Lutheran church, organists would improvise a chorale prelude. This was a piece of music which uses the melody of the chorale (hymn) that the congregation sang.  Bach was one of many composers who wrote many of his chorale preludes down.  In more recent times, some famous concert organists often finish an organ recital by playing an improvisation.  This might be quite a long piece with several linked fantasia or movements, finishing with a fugue.  Somebody may give them the theme written on a piece of paper, so that it is quite unprepared. Charles Tournemire, Marcel Dupré, Pierre Cochereau, Pierre Pincemaille are known to be great organ improviser.

A lot of people who play folk music improvise. Traditional folk music would not have been written down.

In traditional jazz the musicians usually improvise. It is quite tricky when a group of people are improvising together. They have to listen to one another and get ideas from one another. It can be a very exciting way of making music.

## Comedy
Improvisation also refers to a type of performance. Improvisation (or improv for short) is often used in comedy. Actors or *Improvisers* will create an entire show that they make up as they go along. They will often ask the audience for an idea or suggestion. They will then do a short performance based on the suggestion. This lets them do many different short performances during each night's show. This is called "Short-form improv".
Aqua

**Aqua** is the Latin word for water. It is sometimes as a prefix (such as aquaculture). It can also mean:

*Aqua is also used by web site designers as a different name for the web colour cyan; aqua is also used for aquamarine by graphic designers and interior designers. 
*Aqua (Chicago), a skyscraper in Chicago.  It is one of the tallest buildings in the world.
*Aqua (band), a band from Denmark
*Aqua, a character in the light novel/anime series, *Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo*
Sirens (movie)

***Sirens*** is a 1994 movie that had many famous models in it.  The famous models were Elle Macpherson, Portia de Rossi and Kate Fischer.  The three models are in the movie without clothing. Some of them do sex scenes.  The models had to gain weight do the movie.

## The Story
*Sirens* is based on the true story of the life of Norman Lindsay. He was an artist who made many beautiful pictures that were very  and sexy. Many people thought that his pictures were wrong.

The movie stars Sam Neill as Norman Lindsay.  Hugh Grant is the main character who comes with his wife Tara Fitzgerald to see what Norman Lindsay is like.
Jones

**Jones** may refer to:

## People 
*Jones* is a common family name:
*Christopher Jones (Mayflower Captain)
*Davy Jones (actor), a British singer and actor
*James Earl Jones, an American actor and voice artist
*Jim Jones, leader of a sect
*John Paul Jones (musician) bassist for the rock band, Led Zeppelin
*Shirley Jones, an American actress and singer
*Terry Jones, member of Monty Python
*Tom Jones (singer), a famous Welsh singer

## Fictional characters 
*Jones, a cat in 1979 movie *Alien* by Ridley Scott and its sequel *Aliens*
*Jones, a character in George Orwell's novel *Nineteen Eighty-Four*
*Indiana Jones, an archaeologist and adventurer
Hollyoaks

***Hollyoaks*** is a British television teen soap opera. It was first broadcast on 23 October 1995, on Channel 4. There is a new episode every weekday. It is set in Chester and is mostly filmed in Liverpool on Abbey Road.

Since 1995, the cast has expanded from just seven major characters to approximately 50 cast members. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including *Brookside* and *Grange Hill*. It is the only British soap that uses incidental music.

Hollyoaks was the first British television programme to tackle the issue of gay domestic violence. Its first character with gender identity disorder, a trans man called Jason Costello, was in the show August 2010 to December 2011. In 2014 Hollyoaks introduced a new transgender character called Blessing Chambers.

## Other websites 
*
Astrology

**Astrology** is the belief the positions of the stars and movements of the planets of the Solar System, and also asteroids and other stars, but not as much, have an influence on the events, lives, and behavior of people.

An astrologer looks at the planets' positions and tries to understand a person's character or tries to predict the future. Modern astrologers see astrology as a symbolic language. It is also seen as an art, or a kind of divination.

Astrology and astronomy started out as the same thing, but today they are very different.

Newspapers and websites often print or post horoscopes. These horoscopes claim to predict a persons future based on their birth sign. Curtain zodiac signs have different character trait, for example the Aries sign is assumed to be more aggressive, a Leo would be more extroverted and confident yet can be a showboat, and a Virgo would be more down to earth and organized.

## Astrological signs (in Western Astrology)
A person's astrological sign (usually referring to Sun sign) is based on their birthday. A list of astrological signs is below.

## Arabian astrology 
## References 
## Further reading 
*Talk to an astrologer and explore if astrology is a science or faith.

* Talk with astrologer: know Is astrology science or not?

* Astrology & Science: The Scientific Exploration of Astrology.
*  – which also discusses ascension and declination errors in different systems of astrology
Chili pepper

**Chili pepper** is the fruit of a series of plants called Capsicum (nightshade family). Chilis are now grown all over the world, but originally, they came from Mexico. They are used as spices or as vegetables, and also have some use in medicine.

Chili peppers are completely unrelated to the *Piperaceae* genus, which Black pepper is from.

## History
Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BCE. Chili peppers were domesticated over 6000 years ago in Mexico. Since then, chili peppers could be farmed throughout all of Mexico, Central America, and parts of South America.

## Spelling
The word "chili" is spelled differently in different countries. They can be spelled as **chili**, **chilli**, and **chile**. The spelling *chile* is not to be confused with the country called Chile.

The spelling *chili* is widely used in the United States and Canada. The spelling *chilli* is widely used in other English-speaking countries. The spelling *chile* is the most common Spanish spelling in Mexico and several other Latin American countries.

## References
Euripides

**Euripides** (c. 480 BC–406 BC) was an Ancient Greek writer from Athens who wrote about 90 plays. Only 18 of his tragedies have survived complete, more than all other surviving ancient Greek tragedies put together.  A nineteenth play, *Rhesus* is sometimes thought to be by Euripides, but not all classicists agree on this.

Euripides was the last of the three greatest Ancient Greek writers of tragedies, the others being Aeschylus and Sophocles.

## Surviving plays 
**Alcestis* (439 BC, second prize)
**Medea* (431 BC, third prize)
**Heracleidae* (c. 430 BC)
**Hippolytus* (428 BC, first prize)
**Andromache* (c. 425 BC)
**Hecuba* (c. 424 BC)
**The Suppliants* (c. 423 BC)
**Electra* (c. 420 BC)
**Heracles* (c. 416 BC)
**Trojan Women* (415 BC, second prize)
**Iphigeneia in Tauris* (c. 414 BC)
**Ion* (c. 414 BC)
**Helen* (412 BC)
**Phoenician Women* (c. 410 BC)
**Orestes* (408 BC)
**Bacchae* and *Iphigeneia at Aulis* (405 BC, posthumous)
**Cyclops* (408 BC)

## Related pages 
*Theatre of Ancient Greece
Chard

**Chard** (also known as **Swiss chard**, **silverbeet**, **perpetual spinach**, or **mangold**) is a vegetable. It is in the same family as spinach, *Amaranthaceae*.

## References
Half-life (physics)

: With more atoms, the overall decay is more regular and more predictable.]]

The **half-life** of a substance is the time it takes for half of the substance to decay. The word "half-life" was first used when talking about radioactive elements where the number of atoms get smaller over time by changing into different atoms. It is now used in other situations, such as the time it takes for a drug in the body to be half gone. A Geiger-Muller detector can be used to measure the radioactive half-life; it is the time when the activity is half the original.

Half-life depends on probability because the atoms decay at a random time. Half-life is the expected time when half the number of atoms have decayed, on average. 

Radioactive isotopes are atoms that have unstable nuclei, meaning that the nucleus of each atom will decay after enough time has passed. Their nuclei are unstable because the arrangement of protons and neutrons in them  change.  This is known as radioactive decay. When they decay, they release particles such as alpha particles, beta particles, gamma rays. Sometimes they decay by fission, which means to break into pieces, to make smaller nuclei. For example, a radioactive carbon-14 atom releases a beta particle to become nitrogen-14. As an example of fission decay, a fermium-256 atom can split into xenon-140 and palladium-112 atoms, releasing four neutrons in the process.

Uranium-232 has a half-life of about 69 years. Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 88 years. Carbon-14, which is used to find the age of recent fossils, has a half-life of 5,730 years.

After ten half-lives, about 99.9% of the atoms have decayed into different atoms, so only 0.1% of the original atoms are left, and 99.9% of the radioactivity from the original kind of atom is gone. Some atoms decay into other atoms that are also radioactive, so the remaining radioactivity depends on the type of atom.

An example of a short half-life: the isotope, 260Sg, has a half-life of approximately 4 ms (or 4 thousandths of a second). 

## Related pages 
*Biological half-life
*Period 8 element
*List of radioactive nuclides by half-life

## References
## Other websites 
*Online chart of isotopes by half-life from the National Nuclear Data Center
Cyclops

and the cyclops Polyphemos (right)]]

A **Cyclops** (Ancient Greek: Κύκλωψ, *Kyklōps*; plural Κύκλωπες, *Kyklōpes*) is a member of a race of giants in Greek mythology, each with a single eye in the center of their forehead. 

The most famous of these beings is the cyclops Polyphemus, featured in Homer's *Odyssey*. 

## Hesiod
### Elder Cyclopes
In Hesiod's *Theogony*, the Elder Cyclopes – Brontes (Greek: Βρόντης - "thunderer"), Steropes (Greek: Στερόπης - "lightning") and Arges (Greek: Ἄργης - "bright") – were one of three races of beings born to Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky).  

## Homer
The Elder Cyclopes are not featured in either of Homer's works. In the Odyssey, Homer describes another race of cyclopes as being the sons of Poseidon, god of the sea. They feature as herdsmen and shepherds with a taste for human flesh. The account is in Book 9 of Homer's Odyssey.
Forehead

n woman with a *bindi* dot on her forehead.]]

The **forehead** of humans is the flat space of skin above the eyes, between the eyebrows and where your hair starts to grow. It exists to make room for the brain inside the skull.

A doctor or nurse will often touch someone's forehead to check whether or not they have a fever. This is because of the many blood vessels in the head and face.

In ancient Greece individuals with large foreheads were classified as intellectual because of their incredibly large "brain". Nowadays this is not the case.

According to the OED Forehead can be pronounced either 'forhed' or 'forrid'.
'Forrid' used mostly around the Isle of Sheppey area.
James Prescott Joule

**James Prescott Joule** (24 December 1818 – 11 October 1889) was an English physicist, born in Salford, near Manchester. In his time he had great contribution to the world of electricity and thermodynamics. He was best known for discovering Joule's law, which described electric heating by saying the amount of heat produced each second in a conductor by a current of Electricity is proportional to the resistance of a conductor and to the square of the current. The unit for this is joule, equal to one watt-second. Later Joule worked with William Thomson to find out that the temperature of gas falls as gas expands. This principle was then known as the Joule-Thomson effect.

## Early life 
The son of Benjamin Joule (1784–1858), a wealthy brewer, James Prescott Joule was born in the house next to the Joule Brewery in New Bailey Street, Salford on 24 December 1818. James was tutored at the family home  'Broomhill', Pendlebury, near Salford, until 1834 when he was sent, with his elder brother Benjamin, to study with John Dalton at the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. They only received two years of education in arithmetic and geometry before Dalton was forced to retire because of a stroke.

## Kinetic theory 
Kinetics is the science of motion. Joule was a pupil of Dalton and it is no surprise that he had learned a firm belief in the atomic theory, even though there were many scientists of his time who were still skeptical. He had also been one of the few people receptive to the work of John Herapath on the kinetic theory of gases. He was further greatly influenced by Peter Ewart's 1813 paper *On the measure of moving force.*

## References
Black pepper

**Black pepper** is a plant that grows in the tropics, especially in India. The plant is a perennial vine that bears flowers. People cultivate the plant for its fruit, the peppercorn. The peppercorn can be used as a spice or condiment. Usually, it makes things hot.

There are several different plants called *Pepper*, all are in the *Piper* genus of *Piperaceae*.

From the 16th century onwards, people used the word *pepper* to also refer to the Chili peppers, which come from a completely unrelated plant. It was also called black gold in older times.

## Culinary uses
Pepper is one of the most common spices used around the world. It is very common in European cuisine, and has been known and traded for a very long time. Very often, the peppercorns are ground, and the powder is used to make things taste hot. They get their heat from a chemical called piperine unlike other peppers that get it from capsaicin.

## Medical uses
'' (1865). Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper. Note the cook's pepper mill.]]
Like all eastern spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and a medicine. Long pepper, being stronger, was often the preferred medication, but both were used.

Black peppercorns are mentioned in Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani medicine in India. The 5th century *Syriac Book of Medicines* prescribes pepper (or perhaps long pepper) for illnesses such as constipation, diarrhea, earache, gangrene, heart disease, hernia, hoarseness, indigestion, insect bites, insomnia, joint pain, liver problems, lung disease, oral abscesses, sunburn, tooth decay, and toothaches. Various sources from the 5th century onward also say pepper is good to treat eye problems. Often special ointments made with pepper have to be applied directly to the eye. There is no current medical evidence that any of these treatments has any benefit; pepper applied directly to the eye would be quite uncomfortable and possibly damaging.

For a long time, people believed pepper is the cause for sneezing; this is still believed true today. Some sources say that piperine irritates the nostrils, which will cause the sneezing; some say that it is just the effect of the fine dust in ground pepper, and some say that pepper is not in fact a very effective sneeze-producer at all. Few if any controlled studies  have been carried out to answer the question. 

Pepper can irritate the intestines. It is therefore eliminated from the diet of patients having abdominal surgery and ulcers. The replacement is usually called a *bland diet*.

Pepper contains small amounts of safrole, a carcinogenic compound.

## References
*

## Other websites
*Nutritional benefits of Black Pepper 
*Gernot Katzer's Spice Pages
*Plant Cultures: History and botany of black pepper in South Asia
Astyanax

**Astyanax** is a person in Greek mythology. He is the son of Hector of Troy and Andromache. He is killed at the end of the Trojan War by Neoptolemus, so he could not be a new king of Troy, or want .
Neoptolemus

at the Louvre, found in Vulci.]]

**Neoptolemos** (or Latin **Neoptolemus**) is a person in Greek mythology. He is an important person in the Trojan War.

Neoptolemus was the son of Achilles and Deidamea. He was needed to win the Trojan War. He killed King Priam and Astyanax, sacrificed Polyxena to his dead father Achilles, and took Helenus and Andromache with him as slaves.

He was later killed by Orestes because he was going to marry Hermione, who Orestes wanted for himself.
Penelope

)]]

**Penelope** is a woman from the Greek mythology. She is the wife of Odysseus of Ithaca and mother of Telemachus. She became a symbol for the faithful wife.

When her husband Odysseus was on his long journey home, many people thought he was dead. Because of this, many suitors came who wanted to marry Penelope, because then they would own her land and wealth, and become king of Ithaca.
Penelope thinks of several tricks so that she does not have to marry one of the suitors. One trick is that she tells the suitors that she will first weave a cloth for the funeral of Odysseus' father, and when she was finished she would marry one of the suitors. But every night she undoes her weaving again, so that she never finishes it.

When Odysseus finally comes back after twenty years, he and his son Telemachos kill the suitors.

## Sources
*Richard Heitman 2005. ''Taking her seriously: Penelope and the plot of Homer's Odyssey''. Michigan University Press, Ann Arbor. .
Earth's orbit

All planets in our solar system follow an elliptical path. This path is known as an orbit. '''Earth's orbit''' is not a perfect circle. It is an ellipse.

The Earth's orbit takes about 365 days, this is also called a year. This means that in 365 days (a year) the Earth has gone around the Sun. From this we can find that the orbital speed of the Earth is about  through space.

The closest distance Earth is to the Sun, or perihelion, is  and the farthest or aphelion is . It takes light (or any other electromagnetic radiation) just over eight minutes to travel from Sun to Earth. This averages out to a typical distance of 150 million kilometers.

The seasonal changes on Earth are because of the 23.44° axial tilt of its rotation and slightly elliptical path around the Sun.

The orbit varies over long periods of time according to the Milankovitch cycles. These cycles are one of the main causes of climate change.

This diagram shows a very exaggerated shape of Earth's orbit; the actual orbit is almost circular.

## Related links 
* Earth phase
* Spaceship Earth

## Notes 
## Other websites 
* Earth&nbsp;– Speed through space&nbsp;– about 1 million miles an hour&nbsp;– NASA & (WP discussion)
St. Gallen

**St. Gallen** is a city in the eastern part of Switzerland. It is near Lake Constance. St. Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen. The city was founded as a monastery by the Irish monk Gallus in the 7th century. In the Middle Ages a city grew around the monastery. The role of the monastery (and the city) was very important in the Middle Ages. One of the three remaining manuscripts of the *Nibelungenlied* are from the monastery of St. Gallen. Today, the monastery, with its library, and parts of the old town are classed as an UNESCO World Heritage site.

The city is about 675 meters above sea level and is in a part of Switzerland with many hills. As of 2023, 82'501 people lived in the city. The urban area has about 100,000 to 120,000 people.

In the 18th and 19th century the city became known for its embroideries, which are still very well-known. Every three years, there is the *St.Galler Kinderfest* (Children's festival). This is a large representation of the primary (and some secondary) schools in the city. It's usually in early summer.

The city also has an university, which is known for its courses in economics, and (to a lesser extent), law.

In Switzerland, the city is also known for *St.Galler Bratwurst*, and a fair centered around agriculture, held once a year, in autumn. That fair is called OLMA (*Ostschweizerische Land- und Milchwirtschaftsausstellung*, roughly translates to *Exhibition of agriculture and milk economics of eastern Switzerland*).

In early summer there is also an open-air rock festival. Its called Open-Air St.Gallen, and held in a valley, near the river. Since the weather is not always as good, in many years it's a battle with the mud.

## Other websites 
* Official website of the city of St.Gallen
Anemia

**Anemia** (American spelling), or **anaemia** (British spelling), is the most common blood disorder. It is caused by not having enough hemoglobin or red blood cells in the blood.

 forms.]] of backbonding in metal-CO complexes, including hemoglobin (which would lead to carbon monoxide poisoning).]]

## Types
 of hemoglobin in human blood with respect to age groups.]]

### Microcytic anemia
Microcytic anemia develops when red blood cells are smaller than usual because they do not have enough hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen to different parts of the body.

* Hemoglobinopathy
* Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia overall
** Thalassemia
** Sickle-cell disease (once called *sickle-cell anemia*)

### Normocytic anemia
Normocytic anemia occurs when the number of red blood cells is lower than normal, and those cells have less hemoglobin than they should. This type of anemia is often caused by an underlying chronic condition. Treatment for normocytic anemia typically involves addressing the underlying illness.

* Acute blood loss
* Anemia of chronic disease]
* Aplastic anemia (bone marrow failure)

### Macrocytic anemia
Macrocytic anemia is a blood condition where the bone marrow produces unusually large red blood cells. These oversized cells lack the necessary nutrients to function properly. While macrocytic anemia itself is not a severe condition, it can lead to serious health complications if left untreated.

* Alcoholism
* Pernicious anemia is an autoimmune problem with the parietal cells of the stomach
* Megaloblastic anemia due to not having enough of either vitamin B12 or folic acid (or both)
* Methotrexate, zidovudine, and other drugs that stop DNA replication. This is the most common cause in nonalcoholic patients.

### Dimorphic anemia
Dimorphic anemia includes two types of anemia at the same time. For example, macrocytic hypochromic, due to hookworm infestation leading to not enough of both iron and vitamin B12 or folic acid or following a blood transfusion.
Memphis, Tennessee

**Memphis** is the second-most populous city in the state of Tennessee, after Nashville. The city has a large port on the Mississippi River. It is also well known for blues music and barbecue. The city is also home to FedEx, a leading company that ships packages around the world. Memphis is also known for being the home of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. 

Memphis is named for Memphis, Egypt, an ancient capital city of Egypt.

## History
The future area of Memphis was first settled by the Mississippian culture before it was discovered by French and Spanish explorers. 

The United States took the land from Spain in 1797, and Andrew Jackson  implemented the Indian Removal Act that facilitated the expulsion of the Cherokee from the area, making it available to white settlers. The city was established in 1819. Until the American Civil War, Memphis was a hub of cotton and slave trade. Brutal riots of angry whites against black people took place in 1866, in which 46 African Americans were killed. Yellow fever struck the city in the 1870s, killing a lot of people. The city recovered, and its population more than doubled. 

The Memphis sanitation strikes was one of the key movements in the Civil Rights Movement. Musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and B.B. King influenced the city's identity as the birthplace of rock and roll.

## Geography 
Memphis is located east of the Mississippi River. The Wolf River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, crosses the city.

Its metropolitan area extends into Arkansas and Mississippi.

## Government 
, Paul Young is the mayor of Memphis.

## Sports
A few professional sports teams are located in Memphis. The Memphis Grizzlies are a basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA). They play their home games at the FedExForum. The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League that plays at AutoZone Park.

## References
Dari

**Dari** (Persian: دَرِیْ; *Fārsī-ye Darī*) is a dialect of the Persian language. It is the Persian language as spoken in Afghanistan. It is the second official language of Afghanistan, and is widely used by the government and most media agencies. It is mainly spoken by the Tajiks and other minority groups. A small minority also exists in parts of Pakistan closest to these named regions. It is sometimes called Farsi. People in Afghanistan and Iran who speak Persian can understand each other. The name Dari was given to the Persian language at a very early date.

Historically, Dari was the court language of the Sassanids.

## Related pages
* Pashto language
* Languages of Afghanistan

## References
Halo (series)

***Halo*** is a science fiction shooter video game series. The games are published by Microsoft were made by Bungie Studios from 2001 to 2010 and are now made by 343 Industries.
**Halo: Combat Evolved*, for Xbox (2001), as well as *Halo: Custom Edition* made by Gearbox Software.
**Halo 2*, for Xbox (2004) and PC (2007)
**Halo 3*, for Xbox 360 (2007)
**Halo Wars*, for Xbox 360 (2008)
**Halo 3: ODST*, for Xbox 360 (2009)
**Halo: Reach*, for Xbox 360 (2010)
**Halo 4*, for Xbox 360 (2012)
**Halo 5: Guardians*, for Xbox One (2015)
**Halo Wars 2*, for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows (2017)
**Halo Infinite*, for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Microsoft Windows (2021)
Counterpoint

**Counterpoint** is the art of composing music by combining different parts (voices) in a way that sounds nice.  Music composed like this is called **contrapuntal**.

If the tune of *Twinkle, twinkle little star* is played on the piano and then some chords are added, this is harmony, not counterpoint. Instead, if the tune of *Twinkle, twinkle little star* was played while another melody was played, this would be considered counterpoint.

A different way of playing it would be to start the tune with the right hand.  Then, in the second bar (measure), as the fifth note is played, the left hand starts to play the tune an octave lower.  This works well for a time, but in the fifth bar (on the word “Up” in the right hand part) it starts to get dissonant (sounding unpleasant), so changes need to made to the left hand to make it sound nicer.  This way of writing with a particular number of parts (in this case: two) is called "contrapuntal music".

In that example the left hand imitated the right hand at first.  This is called **imitation**.

If the second part had continued to imitate all the way through the piece it would have been a **canon**.  But “Twinkle, twinkle” does not work well as a canon.  One famous canon is by Thomas Tallis.  A canon that can be repeated is called a round.  This is all contrapuntal music.

Counterpoint does not have to have imitation, although it often does.  The important thing is that each part (i.e. each voice) is equally important.  It is not one part singing the tune and the rest just accompanying.

Counterpoint does not have to be one note against one note.  There can be two or more notes in one part against one in the other e.g. crotchets (quarter notes) in one part and quavers (eighth notes) in another.  There is a whole system for this called “species”.

Counterpoint can be varied by inverting it, i.e. putting the top part at the bottom.  When music is written so that the parts can be swapped round it is called "invertible counterpoint".

The word “counterpoint” comes from the Latin “punctus contra punctum” meaning “point against point”.  The word “point” meant “note”.  Several hundred years ago composers found how to write contrapuntal music.  They often took a main tune (called a “Cantus Firmus”) and then added one or two or more parts to it.  The more parts there were the harder it was to compose because it all had to fit so that it sounded good.  Music for several voices written in this way is called **polyphonic** music.  **Polyphony** was used in all church music in the Renaissance.  The greatest composer of polyphony was Giovanni da Palestrina (1525-1594).  Students learning the art of composition today still learn counterpoint by taking Palestrina’s music as their model.

## References 
## Related pages
*Fugue
*canon (music)
*Music theory
Smallpox

**Smallpox** was a dangerous disease with a high mortality rate. It no longer exists as an epidemic disease. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977. The World Health Organization (WHO) certified the global eradication of the disease in 1980 (said there was no more).

It was caused by a virus. There are two different species of viruses that can cause the disease. They are *Variola major* and *Variola minor*. Some people also call smallpox **Variola**, from the Latin work for "spotted" which is also the viruses' scientific name.

Only humans can get this disease, but it probably came from a virus which infected animals. *Variola major* killed between 20% and 40% of those who got it. *Variola minor* killed only about 1%. Many people who survived become blind because of the damage the virus did to the eyes.

During the first half of the 20th century, between 300 million and 500 million people died of this disease. Even in 1967, about 15 million people caught the disease, and about two million people died of it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The first vaccine for smallpox used the results of cowpox infections. It was invented by Edward Jenner. It was used to stop people from getting smallpox.  The word "vaccine" came from "vaccina", the Latin word for cow, because cowpox was used. The WHO (World Health Organisation) vaccinated people all over the world. In 1980, the WHO said the disease no longer existed, and no one would ever get sick from it again. Live copies of smallpox are kept in maximum-security laboratories around the world to make sure the disease can never infect people again.

Some people believe that smallpox could be used as an agent for purposely infecting enemies in a war. Today, most people no longer receive a smallpox shot.

## Related pages 
* Cowpox
* Poxviridae
* List of diseases

## References
Shaka

**Shaka kaSenzangakhona** (sometimes spelled **Tshaka**, **Tchaka** or **Chaka**; ca. 1787 – ca. 22 September 1828) was the most important leader of the Zulu Empire. He joined the Zulu tribal groups together into the beginnings of a nation. This Zulu nation ruled a large area of southern Africa, between the Phongolo and Mzimkhulu rivers. His leadership and his energy make him one of the greatest Zulu chieftains. He has been called a military genius for his changes and new ideas. However, there were also brutal and cruel things that happened when he was in charge. 

## Zulu leader 
Shaka maintained a good relationship with the Europeans in Africa, including the Colonial leaders. He was disliked by other Africans, including his own people, who hated his constant wars. 

Ten years of  warfare placed incredible strains on the Zulu nation. Shaka, unstable and worried about being replaced by an heir, finally snapped into madness after the death of his mother in 1828. He imposed a year of celibacy on his people. He killed anyone who did not show enough sadness at the death of his mother. He was killed within the year by his half-brother, Dingane, who succeeded him as ruler. 

Even though he created brutal conditions for his subjects, he created the powerful Zulu Kingdom.

## References
Halo

A **halo** is a ring of light that surrounds an object. Also, in much religious art, it may be seen surrounding the heads of saintly people such as Jesus.

It is believed by some Hindus that the halo shown around the heads of holy people is a depiction of their  "activated" crown chakra.

Halos are visual phenomena that appear near or around the Sun or Moon, and sometimes near other strong light sources such as street lights. There are many types of optical halos, but they are mostly caused by ice crystals in certain types of clouds. The shape of the crystals changes the type of halo seen. Light is reflected by the ice and may split into colors, similar to the rainbow.

## Other websites 
* Halo explanations and image galleries  at Atmospheric Optics