open-index/open-wikipedia-markdown huggingface dataset:
Conscientious objector

... They never called me nigger."&nbsp;– Muhammad Ali, 1966]]
A **conscientious objector** (**CO**) is a person who decides not to be a combatant in military forces under conscription.

There are many reasons for this decision such as nonviolent or religious beliefs, ethical and moral beliefs to not kill human beings or pacifism.

Countries treat COs in various ways. They have also been treated differently throughout history. COs have been arrested or had to pay a fine. Some countries punished them by killing them. After World War II, many Western countries created alternative non-military services (civil service) as alternative form for pacifists. Often there were commissions to decide if someone really did not want to do armed service because of his beliefs or because of fear of war.

European Court of Human Rights has judged the denial of COs is violation of freedom of religion and thought in 2013, as well European Union recognized the right of conscientious objector as one of fundamental rights.

## Related pages 
*Anti-war movement
*Tax resistance

## Other websites 
*Alternative Service in the Second World War: Conscientious Objectors in Canada 1939-1945.  http://www.alternativeservice.ca/
*Conscientious objectors in a volunteer army (Chicago Tribune article by Anthony DeBartolo) http://www.hydeparkmedia.com/CO.html 
*The National Registry for Conscientious Objection 
*Conscience - the peace tax campaign 
*"Thoughts for Young Men ..." a one-page leaflet 
*Manifesto against conscription and the military system , with online signature, official website
*International Conscientious Objectors' Day (War Resisters' International)
*"Making a Choice: Conscientious Objection or Refusing to Register" (Resisters.info)
*The European Bureau for Conscientious Objection
*GI Rights Hotline
*The Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (US) 
*Mennonite Central Committee's listing of resources for CO's (US) 
*Christadelphian Position And Experience Of Conscientious Objection
Rule of law

**Rule of law** is a legal maxim that suggests that no one is above the law and governmental decisions must be made only by applying known legal and moral principles. The Rule of Law limits the powers of Government by judicial defense of laws and the Constitution which is based on recognized basic legal values, established in international law. The Rule of Law is meant to prevent dictatorship and to protect the rights of the people.

The rule of law is especially important as an influence on the economic development in developing and transitional countries. Constitutional economics is the study of  government spending, which, in many transitional and developing countries, is completely controlled by the executive. The standards of constitutional economics can be used during annual budget process. The availability of an effective court system, to be used by the civil society in courts in situations of unfair governmental distribution of national money is a key element for the success of the rule-of-law in developing countries.

To date, the term “rule of law” has been used primarily in the English-speaking countries.  The originally German doctrine of Rechtsstaat is similar, and has been translated into other languages of continental Europe as *État de droit* (Fr.), *Estado de derecho* (Sp.), *Stato di diritto* (It.), and *Правовое государство* (Ru.).  Rechsstaat can be translated into English as “legal state” or "constitutional state".  

Rule of law is also a main purpose of Council of Europe for solidarity and international peace.

## Related pages 
* Constitution
* Constitutionalism
* Constitutional economics
* International human rights law
* Political economy
* Right to a fair trial
* Vienna Declaration 
* Council of Europe

## References
## Other websites 
* What is the Rule of Law?  University of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development
* Centre for Public Law  has an audio and written analysis of the Rule of Law by Lord Bingham of Cornhill (the senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary of the United Kingdom supreme court)
Chord

A **chord** in music is when two or more notes are played together (some textbooks say that it is when *three* or more notes are played).

A chord which is built up of the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of a scale is called a "tonic triad". If it is made from a major scale, it is a major chord. If it is made from a minor scale it is a minor chord. However, any combination of notes played simultaneously is considered a chord.

When only two notes are played together, it’s more often called “double stops” (referring to the different banks of pipes on a pipe organ, controlled by valves called “stops”).

Chords can be played on instruments such as piano, keyboard, organ, harp, guitar, harmonica, ukulele and xylophone. Chords with two notes can be played on string instruments by bowing on two strings together. By bowing on two strings and then quickly on the other two strings, a violinist can make it sound as if a four-part chord is being played. Some players of wind instruments are able to make chords by playing two or more harmonics together.

## Related pages
* Arpeggio
* Consonance and dissonance
* Harmony
* Interval (music)
Irish dance

**Irish dancing** is an  art of dancing from Ireland. There are two main forms of dancing, the social dances where everyone can join in, and the dances performed for an audience. There are five main types of steps in Irish dancing. These are reels, jigs, slip jigs, hornpipes, and treble jigs. Irish dancing is a fun art and sport. There are two versions of dances; hardshoe and softshoe.

Irish dancing, popularized in 1994 by the world famous show Riverdance, is notable for its rapid leg and foot movements, arms  at the dancers' sides.

The hardshoe makes a noise when you step and softshoe is like Ballet.
Paramount Pictures

**Paramount Pictures** is an American film production and distribution company. It is the oldest movie studio in the United States. It has been in existence since 1912. Paramount is owned by media conglomerate Paramount Skydance. Paramount is one of the Big Five movie studios.

## History 
Paramount Pictures Inc. can trace its beginnings to the creation in May, 1912 of the Famous Players Film Company. Organized in 1914 by a Utah theater owner, W. W. Hodkinson, Paramount Pictures was the first successful nationwide distributor. Until this time, movies were sold on a statewide or regional basis. This was inefficient and costly to producers.

In 1916, Adolph Zukor created a three-way merger of his Famous Players Film Company, Jesse L. Lasky's Lasky Feature Play Company, and Paramount. The new company was called Famous Players-Lasky and grew quickly. Lasky ran the production side. Hiram Abrams was in charge of distribution and Zukor handled the business side of the company.

In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took on the name Paramount-Famous Lasky Corporation. Three years later, because of the importance of the Publix theater chain, it was later known as Paramount-Publix Corporation. The company went into bankruptcy in 1933. When the company emerged from bankruptcy, it was known as Paramount Pictures, Inc.

Paramount Pictures had been an early supporter of television. It created stations in 1939 in Los Angeles (later to become KTLA) and Chicago's WBKB.

Paramount's successful run of lightweight pictures in the 1980s and 1990s created hits like *Flashdance*, the *Friday the 13th* series; *Raiders of the Lost Ark*, *Beverly Hills Cop* and the *Star Trek* features.

In 1993, entertainment conglomerate Viacom bought Paramount.

Paramount is the last major movie studio located in Hollywood. Other studios such as Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures moved to other neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

On December 11, 2005, Paramount said it had purchased DreamWorks SKG in a deal worth $1.6 billion. On February 1, 2006, the studio announced that the DreamWorks acquisition was completed.

In March 2010, Paramount started Insurge Pictures, a low-budget label. In 2019, Paramount bought 49 percent of Miramax Films.

## List of movies 
## Movie studios
*DreamWorks Pictures (1996-present; live-action and animated movies)
*Nickelodeon Movies (1998-present)
*Miramax Films (2019-present)

## Notes
## Other websites 
* Official website
* Paramount Pictures on IMDB.com
* Insurge Pictures
Grill (cooking)

A **grill** is an object used for cooking food. With a grill, food is usually roasted. Some grills use charcoal or wood, and other grills use propane gas to cook the food.  

Using wood or charcoal makes smoke and changes the flavor of the food. Using gas does not. Some people only like one type, and some people like both kinds of grilling.

The heat may be added underneath the food, or above, or both. A barbecue is a typical machine for outdoor cooking using coke or other fuel for providing heat from underneath. Overhead grilling is more usual indoors, especially in professional kitchens.

In Canada, there are cook-off grills, which are competitions. The most common meats used are steak, burgers and hot dogs.  Grilling food is very common for holidays or celebrations like the 4th of July (United States Independence Day).  Most people use a grill more outdoors in the summer time.

Grills can have fire touching the food. This might cause a burnt taste and could possibly be a carcinogen.

## Related pages 
* Asado
* Barbecue

## References
Indirect democracy

**Indirect democracy**, or representative democracy, is when citizens elect representatives to make laws for them. This is what most modern countries have today.

In a democracy the ultimate power to decide significant electoral system reforms lies with the people. The key question that democrats will tend to ask of any proposed change in electoral law or the voting mechanism is: “Will it actually increase the capacity of the electorate to get rid of unsatisfactory rulers and replace them with others?” Democrats regard that basic capacity as the best protection against bad government and the abuse of power.

Systems of government which do not permit electors to change the government are not democratic, and usually are dictatorships or one-party states.

The people have the ultimate power in a democracy to decide on substantial voting system improvements. The primary question that democrats will ask of every proposed change in election legislation or voting mechanism is, "Will it genuinely strengthen the electorate's power to replace unhappy rulers with others?" Democrats believe that fundamental capability is the strongest safeguard against bad governance and abuse of power.  

Government systems that do not allow electors to alter the government are not democratic and are generally dictatorships or one-party nations.

## References 
## Related pages 
*Direct democracy

## Other websites 
* Electoral Reform Society
Crystal

crystal]]

A **crystal** is a solid whose atoms (or molecules) are arranged in a repeating pattern. 

Crystals are made from fluids by Crystallization, which is a kind of phase change. Usually the fluid is a liquid, but crystals can form from a gas too. For example, snow is water crystals (ice) formed from air that contains water vapor (evaporated water). Crystallization can be by freezing from a simple fluid or from a solution. Sometimes heat and pressure needs to be applied to a substance for crystals to form. Diamond is a carbon crystal formed under heat and pressure. Crystals are found naturally or can be made artificially.

The surface of crystals often have regions that are flat, called facets. Facets occur naturally as crystals form, because flat layers of atoms are usually the most stable. The atoms in a facet are arranged in a regular pattern, such as the pattern of a chess board or a honeycomb. There facets reflect light to give crystals their shiny or sparky appearance. Artificial facets can be made in any shape by cutting or grinding a crystal, which is how some gemstones for jewelry are made. 

Different substances form different types of crystals, and some can form more than one type. The study of the arrangement of atoms in crystals is crystallography. Well-known substances that form crystals are table salt (whose crystals are cubes), diamond, and quartz. 
s (as ions) in a crystal of sodium chloride (table salt).  The blue ions are sodium and the green ions are chloride]]

## Related pages
*Crystallization
*Crystallography
*Liquid crystal
*Crystal structure

## More reading
* 

## Other websites 
* Crystal  – Citizendium
Direct democracy

of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, example for direct democracy in Switzerland]]
**Direct democracy**, which is also called **pure democracy**, is a democracy in which the decisions are not taken by representatives. All decisions are voted on by the people.
When a budget or law needs to be passed, then the idea goes to the people. Governments of modern countries rarely make laws this way.

## Costs and benefits of direct democracy 
Interest groups would have to change the minds of all people, not just a few representatives. Taxes could not be raised without the permission of the people. The few would not rule the many and the government would not pay representatives salaries. In indirect, or representative democracy, citizens elect representatives to make laws on their behalf. This is what most modern countries have today. 
Direct democracy makes decisions by majority rule. Representative democracy was made with the idea that representatives would be responsible for the majority's interests while protecting minority rights. People like James Madison believed that direct democracy was bad for minority groups.

## History 
Classical Athens was a direct democracy. All citizens voted on major decisions of government. But, to be a citizen, you had to be a free, land-owning, native-born man.

Switzerland has aspects of direct democracy. "Evidence suggests that attendance at assemblies... has always been limited to roughly twenty per cent of the citizenry". The practice is only used in two cantons,  Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus. 

The Federal government of the United States does not use direct democracy but the individual states sometimes make laws by referendum. Some New England towns govern themselves by a town meeting.

## Related pages
*Democracy
*Participatory democracy
*Representative democracy

## References
Revolution

revolution of Pier Gerlofs Donia and Wijerd Jelckama]]

A **revolution** is a very sharp change made to something. The word comes from Latin and is related to the word *revolutio* (which means turnaround). 

Revolutions are usually political in their nature. Some people feel unhappy with their lives, and others are not happy with whole systems. They might join together, share their ideas, and make something change. Often, revolutions include fighting and civil unrest, but there are also revolutions that happen without fighting.

The Soviet Union was started by the Russian Revolution, which killed millions, and the country later fell apart in another revolution without much fighting. However, in the French Revolution (1789), there was much bloodshed, which included the Reign of Terror.

Other events often called "revolutions" include:
* Neolithic revolution
* Industrial Revolution, a shift from an agrarian society to an industrial one(1750).
* Second Industrial Revolution, a shift from horse and wood to electricity and steel
* Green Revolution of scientific agriculture
* Green Industrial Revolution, a shift from consuming fossil fuels to clean energy (Boris Johnson, June 2021, at a G7 meeting)
* The shift from an industrial society to a post-industrial one:
** Cybernetic Revolution (1960- present)
* American Revolution
* Shift from a Communist society to a capitalist one: perestroika in the former Soviet Union (1991-2000).

The opposing idea in politics is called gradualism.

## Related pages 
*Coup d'état
*Reformism
Western Digital

**Western Digital** is an American technology company. It is based in the U.S. state of California.  The company make hard drives. Hard drives are used by computers to  data.

## References
Stage

**Stage** or **Stages** can mean one of the following:

## Arts and media
### Acting
* Stage (theatre), a platform on which actors in a theatre perform
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* *The Stage*, a weekly British theatre newspaper

### Songs
* "Stages" (song), by ZZ Top, 1986

## Science
*Stage (geology), a period of time, shorter than an epoch

## Other uses
*Stagecoach, a vehicle pulled by horses
*A step of development, or one particular event in a chain of events, or one particular step in a number of steps
Speech

:''For 'speech', meaning a *talk*, see Public speaking*

**Speech** is when  language is used to communicate. Only humans have language. Animals do not have speech, but some (birds are a good example) can communicate with each other by using sounds and gestures.

Speech is made by sounds vibrating the vocal folds. Sounds through the voice box is shaped by the jaw, tongue, teeth, palate, lips, and nose.

To make speech a person has to be able to:
#choose speech sounds
#put them into a sequence 
#produce sound in the voice box 
#use the lips, tongue, teeth, nose and palate to shape the sounds

Difficulties can happen at any stage of this four-stage process. A speech and language therapist can help work out the stage of the sequence that has difficulties and give therapy.

Effective speech includes the following elements – fluency, flexibility, accuracy, and comprehensibility.

* **Fluency** is the ability to communicate an intended message, or affect the listener in the way that is intended by the speaker.  

***Flexibility** is the ability to adjust the message according to the responses of the listener. It also involves choosing words and expressions which will be understood by the listener(s). Compare with Cross-cultural communication.

* **Accuracy** is the use of proper grammar in spoken language.

* **Comprehensibility** is the ability to be understood by others. There are three components of sound which influence one’s comprehensibility: 
::*Pronunciation*: saying the sounds of words correctly; 
::*Intonation*: applying proper stress and rhythm while speaking; and 
::*Enunciation'': speaking clearly at an appropriate pace and volume.

## References
Stage (theatre)

The **stage** in a theatre is the area where the actors perform. In classical theatres, this used to be separated from where the  audience is sitting.

## Related pages
* Upstaging
Gesture

]]

A **gesture** is a form of nonverbal communication. Unlike verbal communication, which uses words, gestures use movements of the body. 

Gestures are *deliberate acts with a *, not just any movements. They are handled in the human brain by the same centres which handle language. In the neocortex, Broca's and Wernicke's areas, are used by speech and sign language.

Other movements of the body have , but are not gestures. They may be done by actors deliberately, but normally they are automatic, unconscious signals which express various feelings or states of mind. Many animals communicate extensively using such behaviours. The dog, a companion to humans for a long time, is good at reading both gestures and behaviours. Multi-touch computers have been made to read gestures. 

Gestures have a cultural significance (meaning). The same gesture can mean different things in different cultures and different parts of the world.

## Examples 
* High five – a greeting or sign of happiness
* Facepalm – showing frustration
* Sign of the cross – religious gesture
* V sign – victory or peace sign

## Anti-examples 
These are not gestures, because they are not voluntary, deliberate actions. They are inherited automatic reactions or reflexes.
*Screaming out in great pain or terror.
*Baring our teeth in anger
*Cowering, turning the face away and running in terror.
*Many behaviours of babies, such as suckling on nipples.
Humans can modify these reactions to some extent with training and practice, but they are fundamentally caused by hormones and brain centres which are very ancient.

## Related pages 
*Non-verbal communication
*Unconscious mind
*Acting
*Paul Watzlawick

## References
Order of operations

The **order of operations** is a mathematical and algebraic set of rules. It is used to evaluate (solve) and simplify expressions and equations. The order of operations is the order that different mathematical operations are done. The standard mathematical operations are addition (**+**), subtraction (**−**), multiplication (*****, **×**, **·** or **n**), division (**/**, **÷**, **:** or '***), grouping/parenthesizing/bracketing (**()**, **[]** or **{}**) and exponentiation (**^** or **ⁿ**), which includes root extraction (**√**).

Mathematicians have agreed on a correct order to use operations, and it is very important that they know these rules. When people are solving a problem with more than one operation, they will need to know the correct order to solve the problem correctly. Otherwise, the answer will be wrong.

## Rules 
Follow all the rules in this order **from left to right** in the equation.

### Brackets and parentheses 
Use operations inside brackets and solve any indices. You should always solve brackets first when solving an equation.

**Example**:
:2 * 4 + (9 - 8) + 3
:2 * 4 + **(9 - 8)** + 3
:2 * 4 + 1 + 3
:**2 * 4** + 1 + 3
:8 + 1 + 3
:**8 + 1** + 3
:9 + 3
:**9 + 3**
:12

### Exponents 
When seeing an exponent, solve it first after solving the brackets. (53 = 5 * 5 * 5 = 125)

**Example**:
:53 * 7 + 4
:**53** * 7 + 4
:125 * 7 + 4
:**125 * 7** + 4
:875 + 4
:**875 + 4**
:879

### Multiplication and division 
Solve any multiplication and division in the problem. Note that multiplication does not precede division; this is a common mistake. Both are solved from left to right as they occur.

**Example**:
:5 * 4 - 9 / 3
:**5 * 4** - 9 / 3
:20 - 9 / 3
:20 - **9 / 3**
:20 - 3
:**20 - 3**
:17

### Addition and subtraction 
Lastly, solve any addition or subtraction. It always goes from left to right.

**Example**:
:10 - 9 + 4
:**10 - 9** + 4
:1 + 4
:**1 + 4**
:5

### Examples of all rules 
#### Example one 
:(1 + 8) * (4 - 1) + 16 / 23
:**(1 + 8)** * (4 - 1) + 16 / 23
:9 * **(4 - 1)** + 16 / 23
:9 * 3 + 16 / **23**
:9 * 3 + 16 / 8
:**9 * 3** + 16 / 8
:27 + **16 / 8**
:27 + 2
:**27 + 2**
:**29**

#### Example one 
:34 * 3 + 4^2 =
:34 * 3 + **4^2** =
:34 * 3 + 16 =
:**34 * 3** + 16 =
:102 + 16 =
:**102 + 16 =*'
:118

## Acronyms 
The acronym for the order of standard operations is GEMDAS/PEMDAS/BOMDAS/BIMDAS, which stands for Grouping/Parenthesization/Bracketing, Exponentation, Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction.

When solving 8 - 7 + 5, some people say that 7 + 5 must take precedence, but this is incorrect. Instead, one should look from left to right to find the correct answer. This rule also applies to multiplication and division.

## Related pages 
* Associativity
* Commutativity

## References
840s

The **840s** started on 1 January 840 and ended on 31 December 849. It is distinct from the decade known as the '*85th *decade''''' which began on January 1, 841 and ended on December 31, 850.
## Events 
* After the death of Louis the Pious, his sons Charles the Bald, Louis the German and Lothair II of Lotharingia fight about the division of the empire until the treaty of Verdun (843).
* Viking raid of Western Francia (France) (845).
* Vikings conquer Frisia, the present Netherlands and the German North Sea coastline.
* Beginning of Arab domination on Taranto, which will last until 880.

## Important people 
* Charles the Bald
* Louis the German
* Lothair I
* Kenneth I of Scotland
* Ragnar Lodbrok
880s

The **880s** Decade began on 1 January 880 and ended on 31 December 889. It is distinct from the decade known as the '*89*th decade''''' which began on January 1, 881 and ended on December 31, 890.

## Events 
* 885: Vikings lay siege to Paris
* 886: Alfred the Great of Wessex captures London

## Important people 
* Charles the Fat
* Alfred the Great
* Basil I
1415

## Births 
* Han Myeong-hoe (died 1487), Korean politician

## Deaths
* Jan Hus (born c. 1369), Bohemian religious thinker and reformer
Palpatine

**Sheev Palpatine**, also known as **Darth Sidious** or simply **the Emperor**, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the *Star Wars* franchise. The character is played by actor Ian McDiarmid.  

## Character history 
Palpatine is the main villain in each film trilogy of the Skywalker Saga. His story begins in the prequel trilogy. He is shown to be a politician and powerful Dark Lord of the Sith. Palpatine secretly tells the Trade Federation to take over his home planet Naboo. He uses the crisis to get elected as Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. He then leads the Republic into the Clone Wars. Palpatine uses the war to kill the Jedi and turns the Republic into the Empire. He makes himself emperor and turns Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into his apprentice, Darth Vader. 

The prequel trilogy also shows Palpatine as the master of Darth Maul and Count Dooku. Palpatine's master was Darth Plagueis, who could create life and save people from death. In the final film of the original trilogy, Palpatine is killed by Darth Vader with the help of Luke Skywalker. His Empire is also defeated. Later, Palpatine returns from death and plots revenge. He creates Snoke to lead the First Order against the New Republic. He also turns Luke's nephew, Ben Solo, into Kylo Ren.

In the final film of the sequel trilogy, Palpatine is weak and in hiding on the Sith planet Exegol. He begins the Final Order to take back control of the galaxy. His plan is stopped by his granddaughter, the young Jedi Rey. Fearing her power, Palpatine tried to find Rey when she was a child, but she was hidden by her parents on the planet Jakku. He tries to get Rey to kill him, in anger, so that his spirit can possess her body. Rey refuses and destroys Palpatine with the help of the spirits of past Jedi.

## Pop culture 
Since the initial theatrical run of *Return of the Jedi*, Sidious has become a widely recognized symbol of evil in popular culture, and since the prequel movies, also one of sinister deception and the subversion of democracy. The *Star Wars* Databank describes him as "the supreme ruler of the most powerful tyrannical regime the galaxy had ever witnessed". Aside from the movies, Palpatine appears in various canon and non-canon *Star Wars* media, including *Clone Wars* (2003–5), *The Clone Wars* (2008–14, 2020), *Rebels* (2014–18), *The Bad Batch* (2021–), *Obi-Wan Kenobi* (2022) and *Tales of the Jedi* (2022–), all set before the original trilogy.

## References
1382

## Events 
* Khan Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde, overruns Moscow as punishment for Grand Prince Dmitri Donskoi's resistance to Khan Mamai of the Blue Horde in the 1370s. Dmitri Donskoi pledges his loyalty to Tokhtamysh and is allowed to remain as ruler of Moscow & Vladimir.
* John Wyclif's teachings are condemned by the Synod of London.
* The Ottomans take Sofia from the Bulgarians.
* August: The iconic painting The Black Madonna of Czestochowa is brought from Jerusalem to the Jasna Góra monastery in Poland.
* September, 30: The inhabitants of Trieste (now in northern Italy) donate their city to Duke Leopold III of Austria
* After a five-year revolt, Berkuk deposes Hajji II as Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, marking the end of the Bahri dynasty and the start of the Burji dynasty.
* Death of Louis I of Hungary and Poland.
** Louis' daughter Mary becomes Queen of Hungary.
** The Poles, who did not wish to be ruled by Mary's fiancée, the future Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, choose Mary's younger sister, Jadwiga, to become ruler of Poland. After two years of negotiations, Jadwiga is eventually crowned "King" in 1384.
* Charles of Durazzo executes the imprisoned Joan I of Naples and succeeds her as Charles III of Naples.
* Ibrahim I is selected to succeed Husheng as Shah of Shirvan (now Azerbaijan).
* Kęstutis, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, is taken prisoner by former Grand Duke Jogaila whilst meeting him to hold negotiations. Kęstutis is subsequently murdered and Jogaila regains rule of Lithuania.
* Ahmad deposes his brother, Husain, as ruler of the Jalayirid dynasty in western Persia.
* James I succeeds his nephew, Peter II, as King of Cyprus.
* Rana Lakha succeeds Rana Kshetra Singh as ruler of Mewar (now part of western India).
* Konrad III Zöllner von Rotenstein succeeds Winrich von Kniprode as Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
* Balša II of Zeta (now Montenegro) conquers Albania.
* Dawit I succeeds his brother, Newaya Maryam, as Emperor of Ethiopia.
* Winchester College is founded in England.

## Births 
* Duke Frederick IV of Austria (died 1439)
* Eric of Pomerania, King of Norway, Sweden and Denmark (died 1459)
* Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (died 1439)
* Lope de Barrientos, a powerful bishop in Castile

## Deaths 
* April 5 – Janusz Suchywilk, Polish nobleman
* May 12 – Queen Joan I of Naples (born 1327)
* August 3 – Kestutis, Grand Duke of Lithuania (born 1297)
* August 13 – Eleanor of Aragon, queen of John I of Castile (born 1358)
* October 13 – King Peter II of Cyprus
* Philip van Artevelde, Flemish patriot (born 1340)
* King Louis I of Hungary (born 1326)
* Nicole Oresme, French philosopher (born 1325)
Mulberry

**Mulberry** (*Morus*) is a genus of 10–16 species of trees. They are native to warm regions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, with most of the species native to Asia.

Mulberries are fast-growing when young but soon become slow-growing and rarely grow over 10-15 meters tall. The leaves are simple, often lobed, and ridged. The fruit grows in bunches, 2-3 centimeters long, is red to dark purple in color, edible, and sweet with a good flavor in several species.

The fruit is used in pies, tarts, and wines. The fruit of the black mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the red mulberry, native to eastern North America, have the strongest flavor. The fruit of the white mulberry, an east Asian species, has a very weak flavor.

Mulberries can be grown from seeds, which is the best idea as seedling-grown trees are generally healthier. However, they are often planted from large pieces cut from other mulberry trees, which easily take root.

## White mulberry 
Mulberry leaves, particularly those of the white mulberry, *Morus alba*, are important as the food of the silkworm, the cocoon of which is used to make silk. *Morus alba* is also notable for the rapid release of its pollen, which is launched at over half the speed of sound. "This is the fastest motion yet observed in biology, and approaches the theoretical physical limits for movements in plants".

## References
Procaine

**Procaine** is a analgesic drug. It is used primarily to reduce the pain of getting certain shots, and is also used by dentists. The drug is usually sold under the name **Novocaine**, or **Novacaine**.

Procaine was first made in 1905, and was the first man-made pain-killer that could be taken as a shot. It was created by the German scientist Alfred Einhorn (1857-1917) who gave the chemical the name Novacaine, from the Latin word *novus* (which means new) and caine, as in "cocaine."

Procaine is not often used today because other safer and better working pain-killing drugs now exist. Prior to the discovery of procaine, cocaine was the most commonly used pain-killer. Procaine (like cocaine) has the advantage of reducing bleeding, unlike other pain-killers and without the dangerous qualities of cocaine.
Death Valley

**Death Valley** is a National Park in the U.S. state of California. It is the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America. It is a desert southeast of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Death Valley is a part of the Mojave Desert. It is the most important part of Death Valley National Park. It is an endorheic basin, which means that the rivers in it do not flow to the sea.

## Geography
Death Valley has many famous and unusual geographical features. Some of these features include: sand dunes, salt flats, colorful rocks, and tall mountains.  

Large parts of Death Valley are below sea level. One feature, named Badwater Basin, is the lowest place in North America. It is  below sea level. 

The salt flats are another famous feature in Death Valley. Salt flats are very unusual. They are large, flattened areas where the surface of the ground is covered by salt instead of dirt. The salt that makes up a salt flat can be many inches or centimeters deep. The salt flats were created because thousands of years ago, Death Valley was underwater. Death Valley was covered by a lake called Lake Manly by geologists (scientists who study the Earth). Lake Manly used to be very large, but changes in the weather caused the rivers that brought water into the lake to dry up. After a long time, the water in Lake Manly began to dry up too. As the water dried, it left behind all the minerals that the rivers had brought to it along with their water. As these minerals dried, they created a  (a brittle outer layer) of salt and other minerals on top of the dirt. Many lakes and seas in other parts of the world dried up in the same way.

## Traveling rocks
All across Death Valley, rocks and stones leave small paths behind them in curved, zigzagged (with twists and turns), or straight patterns. The rocks are not alive, of course, but they still travel across the lake bed.

Dr. Robert Sharp, a geology professor, decided to find out about these rocks. He put tags on 30 stones of different sizes and shapes, hammered spikes into the ground where the rocks were sitting, and then he studied what happened for the next seven years. Twenty-eight of the stones did indeed move, sometimes more than . Dr. Sharp matched the movements with the weather and found that the rocks moved because of wind and rain. Even though Death Valley gets less than two inches of rain a year, the raindrops make the smooth clay in the dry lake bed very smooth and slippery. It is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in Badwater Basin, which is  below sea level. The park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include creosote bush, bighorn sheep, coyote, and the Death Valley pupfish, a survivor of much wetter times.

## References
Reforesting

]]
**Reforesting** is the  of replacing plants in an area where they have been cut down or destroyed. It usually refers to trees, but could include other types of plant life. 

Reforestation is often needed after deforestation, when trees are cut down to make lumber.

Reforestation also regains back the homes of animals.

## Related pages 
*Conservation biology
*Environmentalism
Cocoon

cocoon and pupa.]]
A **cocoon** is a shell made of silk by most kinds of moth caterpillars and other insect larvae. Some butterfly larvae (in the family Hesperiidae and subfamilies Parnassiinae and Satyrinae) do spin cocoons. However, most butterfly pupae are called chrysalids. Some caterpillars attach small twigs or pieces of vegetation to the outside of their cocoon to hide it from predators. Others spin their cocoon in a hidden place. Examples would be on the underside of a leaf, in a crevice, or down near the base of a tree trunk.

Silkworm cocoons are processed and used to produce natural silk for clothing.

## References
Leizu

**Leizu** was a legendary Chinese queen. According to tradition, she discovered silk and invented the silk loom in the 28th century BC.

Leizu discovered silkworms while on a walk near the king's mulberry trees. However, there are different stories of exactly how she discovered that silkworms make silk.

One story says that she used her finger to touch a worm, causing a strand of silk to come out. As the silk continued to come out, she wrapped it around her finger. When the silk ran out, she saw a small cocoon, and realized that this cocoon was the source of the silk. 

Another story says that she found silkworms eating the mulberry leaves and spinning cocoons. She collected some cocoons, and then sat down to have some tea. While she was sipping a cup of tea, she dropped a cocoon into the steaming water. A fine thread started to separate itself from the cocoon. Leizu found that she could unwind this soft and lovely thread around her finger.

She asked her husband to give her a grove of mulberry trees, where she could keep the worms that made these cocoons. She is credited with inventing the silk reel, which joins thin silk threads into a thicker thread strong enough for weaving. She is also credited with inventing the first silk loom. It is not known how much, if any, of this story is true, but historians do know that silk was first made in China. Leizu shared what she found out with others and the knowledge became common.
Proctor Silex

**Proctor Silex Co.** was created in 1960 with the merger of Proctor Electric and Silex Corporation.  The company made household appliances such as toasters, irons, and coffee makers. In 1990 Proctor Silex merged with Hamilton Beach.

## Other websites 
* History of Proctor-Silex, 1788 to 1972
Developmental psychology

**Developmental psychology**, also called human development, is the emotional study of how a person changes psychologically (mind and behavior) as they get older. Developmental psychologists first studied infants and children, and later they also studied teenagers (or adolescents) and adults. Developmental psychology studies human change in a lot of areas, including motor skills (and other processes that are both physical and psychological), problem solving abilities, understanding of concepts, learning language, moral understanding, and identity.

## Related pages 
*Jean Piaget
Columbine High School massacre

The **Columbine High School massacre** was a school shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, near Denver, that happened on April 20, 1999. 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold carried out the massacre and were both students at the school. They murdered 12 students and one teacher using guns. Ten of the murders happened in the school's library, where they then killed themselves with their guns. Before the shootings, they had planted two large propane bombs in the school's cafeteria. They could have killed many people in there, but they did not explode. They also planted two car bombs in the school's parking lot, which were supposed to kill first responders and news reporters. They also did not explode. They also carried pipe bombs and molotov cocktails, which they lit and threw. Most of them exploded but nobody was injured or killed by any of the bombs used during the massacre. They shot outside killing 2 student and then went inside where they shot killing 1 teacher then went inside the library where they killed 10 students then walked about the school into the cafeteria through the school again then back into the cafeteria again before going into the library and committing suicide.

It was one of the first well-known massacres at a school in the United States, and the one with the most deaths until the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007.

Newspapers and news channels said that the school is in Littleton, but this is not true. The post office address of the school says "Littleton, CO".

## Aftermath
After the shooting, many people wanted to know why it had happened. Many people thought that Klebold and Harris had done it because they were bullied, and schools in the United States began talking about how to stop bullying. However, it is now thought that Klebold and Harris were bullies themselves. Other people blamed parts of the media, saying that the lyrics of bands and singers like Marilyn Manson and violent video games that the shooters played might have caused it.

In 2002, filmmaker Michael Moore released a documentary movie called *Bowling for Columbine* that was about why the shooting happened and about the role guns have in American culture. In the movie, Moore interviewed Marilyn Manson.

### Memorials
Many  memorials were created after the shooting. Memorials included victims Rachel Scott's car and John Tomlin's truck.

In 2000, youth advocate Melissa Helmbrecht organized a remembrance event in Denver. It featured two surviving students. It was called "A Call to Hope." The library (where most of the shooting happened) was removed and replaced with an atrium. In 2001, a new library, the HOPE memorial library, was built next to the west entrance.

On February 26, 2004, thousands of pieces of evidence from the shooting were shown at the Jeffco fairgrounds in Golden.

## Related pages 
* Mass shootings in the United States

## References
Alfred Dreyfus

**Alfred Dreyfus** (9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French officer of Jewish descent.

He was wrongly accused of treason against the French military. This scandal was known as the Dreyfus affair.

He was imprisoned on Devil's Island in French Guiana.

His highest rank was lieutenant colonel.

Dreyfus was born in Mulhouse and died in Paris.

## References
Allergy

) about allergies ]]
An **allergy** is something which triggers an **allergic reaction**. This is the immune system defending the body against attack by bacteria and viruses. 

Having an allergy is when a thing (called an allergen) cannot enter the body without them getting sick. Sometimes the system goes wrong, and is triggered by some normal food, or flares up when the family pet comes into the room. This is what the ordinary person calls an 'allergy'.

## Allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) 
When people come in contact with something they are allergic to, there can be many different reactions. These reactions include the face and skin: itchy eyes, drippy or stuffy noses, swollen face, and develop a  called hives. It can affect the respiratory tract, causing sneezing, and coughing. If it is a food allergy, the person may get an upset stomach.

Sometimes a person's oesophagus (throat), may swell up so much that the person can no longer breathe. This is called anaphylaxis. When this happens, a doctor or paramedic (EMT) must give the person a medicine called epinephrine to make the swelling go down. Some people with allergies to very common things, like bee stings or fish or nuts, carry this medicine with them so it can be used quickly in an emergency. 

The device used to treat allergies and inject the medicine is called an epinephrine autoinjector. 

## Common allergies 
Some common food allergies are:
* Nuts, especially peanuts
* Fish or shellfish
* Dairy products
* Eggs
* Products of soy
* Wheat
* Fruits (kiwis and bananas, avocado)

Some common environmental allergies are:

* Latex - these allergies can overlap with fruit allergies, or develop through exposure to latex
* Pollen
* Ragweed
* Mold
* Furry pets, fluffy housing decorations, or bedsheets and pillows etc.
* Bee or wasp stings
* Dust mites
* Tobacco smoke
* Pollution

## Related pages
* Histamine
* corticosteroids
## References 
*
Idiot

**Idiot** is a word used to describe someone who is not very smart.

## Modern usage 
Today "idiot" is often used to show that someone has done something which was not very clever:
* "You *idiot*, look at what you just did!" (using the word as a noun)
* "I think that idea is perfectly *idiotic*." (using the word as an adjective)

## In literature and folklore 
The word "fool" is similar to "idiot", but it is not as strong. In the history of drama a "fool" was a jester: someone who made people laugh. Kings often had jesters in real life. A court jester had the job of making the king feel happy when he was sad. Jesters often pretended to be stupid, but were actually very clever. There are jesters and fools in a lot of Shakespeare’s plays.

The word simple can also be similar to "idiot". Someone who is simple is a person who is not very clever or "streetwise". They are naïve and can easily be made to believe things because they are kind and expect everyone else to be kind as well. Such people are often called simpletons. 

Idiots or simpletons are commonly used in literature. In German literature (and in Wagner’s opera), Parsifal is described as "perfect fool" because he does not understand the evil ways of the world and is therefore completely good. That is why he can break the magic spell cast by Klingsor. The idiot often appears in Russian literature. Because the idiot is so simple he (it is always a male) is often able to express the truth which other people cannot see. Dostoevsky wrote a novel called *The Idiot*. It is about a man who is simple and trusting. At the end of the opera *Boris Godunov* by Mussorgsky the crowd of poor people gather round the simpleton who is the last person to sing in the whole opera. His moans express the fact that Russia will continue to be ruled by cruel dictators and the people will remain poor. 

## In humorous parlance 
The word "idiot" refers to a genetically incompetent human who is mentally inert on exposure to others - may have dampened senses and mental acuity when applied to any relatively simple task from long periods spent in a dark cave: the idiot's "natural habitat". Idiots tend to be ignorant of any metal and physical deficiency within themselves, simply because they do not want to believe it exists (even though it does, and they are aware of it). Mental deficiencies of others however, are overtly proclaimed by the idiots in order for them to separate themselves from habitual human tendencies, though they succumb to them more than they intend. They make no effort to rectify these though, as they view themselves in the best possible light.
Nucleic acid

**Nucleic acids** are large molecules where genetic information is stored. There are two types of nucleic acids: deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as **DNA** and ribonucleic acid, better known as **RNA**.

The nucleic acids are made of nucleotides. A nucleotide is made of a nitrogenous base, sugar with five carbon atoms and a phosphate group.

Nucleic acids allow organisms to transfer genetic information from one generation to the next. When a cell divides, its DNA is copied and passed from one cell generation to the next generation. 

DNA is organized into chromosomes and found within the nucleus of our cells. Its function in any cell is to carry the sequence of bases which will be transcribed into RNA. The function of RNA is much more difficult to explain. One well-known function is for messenger RNA to be translated into proteins, mainly enzymes. But there are other types of RNA, and these are called non-coding RNAs.
Adam Elliot

**Adam Elliot** (born January 2, 1972) is an Australian animator. He is from Melbourne, Australia. His short movie called *Harvey Krumpet* won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He uses claymation and has won five Australian Film Institute Awards because of his work.

## Early life
Elliot was brought up on a prawn farm run by his father who had once been a circus clown, and his mother who had been a hairdresser. The family later moved to Melbourne, where Elliot made money selling hand painted T-shirts at local markets. After finishing school he went to the Victorian College of the Arts to study animation.

## References
## Other websites
* Adam Elliot's website