title: Machine code

text: An instruction tells the process what operation to perform. Each instruction is made up of an opcode (operation code) and operand(s). The operands are usually memory addresses or data. An instruction set is a list of the opcodes available for a computer. Machine code is what assembly code and other programming languages are compiled to or interpreted as.


title: Machine code

text: Machine code is sometimes called native code. This is used when talking about things that work on only some computers.


title: Machine code

text: Many modern processors use microcode for some of the commands. More complex commands tend to use it. This is often done with CISC architectures.


title: Machine code

text: Every processor or processor family has its own instruction set. Instructions are patterns of bits that correspond to different commands that can be given to the machine. Thus, the instruction set is specific to a class of processors using (mostly) the same architecture.


title: Machine code

text: Newer processor designs often include all the instructions of a predecessor and may add additional instructions. Sometimes, a newer design will discontinue or alter the meaning of an instruction code (typically because it is needed for new purposes), affecting code compatibility; even nearly completely compatible processors may show slightly different behavior for some instructions, but this is rarely a problem.


title: Machine code

text: Systems may also differ in other details, such as memory arrangement, operating systems, or peripheral devices. Because a program normally relies on such factors, different systems will typically not run the same machine code, even when the same type of processor is used.


title: Machine code

text: Most instructions have one or more opcode fields. They specify the basic instruction type. Other fields may give the type of the operands, the addressing mode, and so on. There may also be special instructions that are contained in the opcode itself. These instructions are called "immediates".


title: Machine code

text: Processor designs can be different in other ways. Different instructions can have different lengths. Also, they can have the same length. Having all instructions have the same length can simplify the design.


title: Machine code

text: The MIPS architecture has instructions which are 32 bits long. This section has examples of code. The general type of instruction is in the "op" (operation) field. It is the highest 6 bits. J-type (jump) and I-type (immediate) instructions are fully given by "op". R-type (register) instructions include the field "funct". It determines the exact operation of the code. The fields used in these types are:


title: Machine code

text: "rs", "rt", and "rd" indicate register operands. "shamt" gives a shift amount. The "address" or "immediate" fields contain an operand directly.


title: Machine code

text: Load a value into register 8. Take it from the memory cell 68 cells after the location listed in register 3:


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized 17 December 1770 in Bonn – 26 March 1827 in Vienna; pronounced "LUD-vig vahn BAY-TOH-ven") was a German composer. He wrote classical music for the piano, orchestras and different groups of instruments. His best-known works are his third ("Eroica"), fifth, sixth ("Pastorale") and ninth ("Choral") symphonies, the eighth ("Pathetique") and fourteenth ("Moonlight") piano sonatas, two of his later piano concertos, his opera "Fidelio", and also the piano piece "Für Elise". Beethoven lived when the piano was still a new instrument, and when he was a young man, he was a talented pianist. Beethoven was popular with the rich and important people in Vienna, Austria, where he lived.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: However, in 1801, he began to lose his hearing. His deafness became worse. By 1817, he was completely deaf. Although he could no longer play in concerts, he continued to compose. During this time he composed some of his greatest works. He is said to be one of the greatest classical composers who has ever lived. When Beethoven died, he was surrounded by friends on his death bed. His funeral was held at the Church of the Holy Trinity. Between 10,000 and 30,000 people are estimated to have attended. Franz Schubert was a pall bearer at his funeral, even though the two were never close.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Very little is known about Beethoven’s childhood. He was baptized on December 17, 1770 and was probably born a few days before that. Beethoven's parents were Johann van Beethoven (1740 in Bonn – December 18, 1792) and Maria Magdalena Keverich (1744 in Ehrenbreitstein – July 17, 1787). Magdalena's father, Johann Heinrich Keverich, had been Chief at the court of the Archbishopric of Trier at Festung Ehrenbreitstein fortress opposite to Koblenz. His father was a fairly unimportant musician who worked at the court of the Elector of Cologne. This court was in Bonn and it was here that he lived until he was a young man. His father gave him his first lessons in piano and violin. Beethoven was a child prodigy like Mozart, but while Mozart as a little boy was taken all over Europe by his father, Beethoven never traveled until he was 17. By that time, his piano teacher was a man called Neefe who had learned the piano from Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the son of Johann Sebastian Bach. Neefe said to the Elector that the young Beethoven should be given the chance to travel, so he was allowed to go to Vienna. There, he might have had one or two lessons from Mozart, but then Beethoven got a letter saying that his mother was dying, so he hurried back to Bonn. Soon his mother died, and Beethoven had to help to look after the family because his father had become an alcoholic. Beethoven played the viola in the orchestra of the Elector, he started to compose, and made many friends. Some of these friends were musicians and others were very important people, many of them were aristocrats who would be able to help him in his career.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: In 1792, the Elector let Beethoven travel to Vienna again. They expected him to return after a while. However, Beethoven never left Vienna. He stayed there for the rest of his life. He would have loved to have had some more composition lessons from Mozart, but Mozart had just died, so he had lessons from Haydn instead. Haydn was a good teacher, but a year later, he went off to England. Therefore, Beethoven took lessons from a man called Albrechtsberger who was not famous like Haydn. He was a good teacher too, and he made him write lots of technical exercises. He showed him how to write advanced counterpoint and fugues. This helped him to be a great composer.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven wanted to become famous as a pianist and composer, so he started to get to know important, aristocratic people. Some of these people had already heard him in Bonn when they had traveled there, so his name was becoming known in Vienna. It also helped that he could say he was the pupil of the famous Joseph Haydn. There were a lot of aristocratic people in Vienna who liked music, and many had their own private orchestras. Some of them started to give Beethoven places to live when the Elector of Bonn stopped sending him money in 1794. Beethoven started to perform in private houses, and he became known for his improvisations. In 1795 he performed one of his piano concertos at a concert. He also had his first publication (his opus 1). This was a group of three Piano Trios. Haydn had heard them at a private concert a year before and had advised Beethoven not to publish the third one. However, he did publish it, and that was the one which became the most successful. His opus 2 was a group of three piano sonatas which he played at the court of his friend Prince Lichnowsky. When he published them, he dedicated them to Haydn.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven was starting to become famous, travelling to places like Prague and Pressburg. He wrote much chamber music. He was, perhaps, a little jealous of the success that Haydn had with his latest symphonies he had written for London. In 1800 he gave his first public concert with his own music. He conducted his First Symphony as well as the Septet. By now several publishers were trying to persuade him to let them publish his new works. Beethoven was becoming famous as a composer. And during this period Beethoven produced his most famous piano sonata: No. 14, in C sharp minor, nicknamed, "Moonlight". This was written for his girlfriend, 16-year-old Giulietta Guicciardi. However, he was far from happy because he realized that he was starting to become deaf. And when he asked for Giulietta's marriage, her parents refused and married her to another 20-year-old man instead.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven seems to have tried to forget these bad thoughts by working very hard. He composed a lot more music, including his Third Symphony, called the "Eroica". Originally he gave it the title "Bonaparte" in honour of Napoleon whom he admired. But when Napoleon crowned himself emperor in 1804, Beethoven began to think that he was just a tyrant who wanted a lot of power. He went to the table where the score of the symphony was lying and tore up the title page. Beethoven stayed in Vienna that year, working hard at an opera and giving piano lessons to Josephine von Brunsvik to whom he wrote passionate letters. She was a young widow with four children. It is impossible to know quite what her feelings were for Beethoven, but socially she belonged in higher society and probably thought that a wild musician was not a suitable husband. In the end she married a Baron, but this marriage, like her first one, was not happy either.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: In 1805 Beethoven wrote his only opera. The next spring it had two performances but was then not performed again for another eight years. Beethoven had made several changes to the opera which became known as "Fidelio". The overture that he had written for the 1806 performance is now known as "Leonore 3" and is usually performed separately at concerts. The opera is a “rescue” opera, a typical French kind of opera describing a man who is imprisoned and rescued by his lover who disguises herself as a man and manages to get into the prison.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven continued to write compositions: a Violin Concerto, symphonies, piano concertos, string quartets and chamber music. Two of his greatest symphonies were produced in 1806: "Symphony No. 5" and "Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale"". The first one was known for its dark and deep tone, especially in its first movement. The second was famous for its depiction of the countryside. He also wrote "Piano Concerto No. 4" and "Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"". He earned money by pleasing the aristocrats, dedicating works to them in return for fees, and by selling his music to publishers. Occasionally he earned money from concerts. It was not a regular income. He would have liked the job of Kapellmeister to the emperor. He was not able to get this, but in 1809 three rich aristocrats: the Archduke Rodolph, Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Kinsky gave him an income for the rest of his life on condition that he stayed in Vienna. This meant that Beethoven did not have to worry so much about money. He was asked to write music for "Egmont", a play by Goethe. The overture is very often performed as a concert piece. Beethoven very much wanted to meet Goethe. The two great men met in Teplitz. Goethe later described Beethoven as a rather wild-mannered man who made life difficult for himself by his cross attitude to the world. Beethoven admired several women, including one to whom he wrote a passionate letter. She is known as the “Immortal Beloved”, but no one knows who she was. Beethoven seems to have become deeply depressed because he never found true happiness in love.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: In a letter dated June 29, 1801, Beethoven told a friend in Bonn about a terrible secret he had for some time. He knew that he was becoming deaf. For some time, he had spells of fever and stomach pains. A young man does not expect to become deaf, but now he was starting to admit it to himself. He was finding it hard to hear what people were saying. Just at the moment when he was starting to become known as one of the greatest of all composers, it was a terrible blow to realize that he was losing his hearing. In 1802, he stayed for a time in Heiligenstadt which is now a suburb of Vienna but at that time it was outside the city. There he wrote a famous letter which is known as the "Heiligenstadt Testament". It is dated October 6 and told about his rising frustration at his deafness. He asks people to forgive him if he cannot hear what they are saying. He said that he had often thought of suicide, but that he had so much music in his head which had to be written down that he decided to continue his life. This very emotional letter was found amongst his papers after his death. He never sent it to anyone.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: By 1814, Beethoven had reached the height of his fame. The Viennese people thought of him as the greatest living composer, and he was often invited by royal people to their palaces. It was the year in which he played his famous Piano Trio Op. 97 "The Archduke". That was the last time he played the piano in public. His deafness was making it impossible to continue.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven had many problems when his brother Caspar Carl died, leaving a 9-year-old son. The boy’s mother may have been incapable of looking after him, but Beethoven had to prove this in a court of law. For several years he looked after his nephew, but it was a difficult relationship and it involved a lot of legal letters and quarrels with people. In 1826, Karl tried to shoot himself. He survived, but people persuaded Beethoven to stop being his guardian. Karl went into the army.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: The last years were unhappy years for Beethoven. During this time he composed very little. Then, in 1817, he recovered and wrote his last two symphonies, a mass called "Missa Solemnis", his last five piano sonatas, and a group of string quartets which were so modern and difficult that very few people at the time understood the music. Nowadays, people think they are the greatest works ever written for string quartet.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: His Ninth Symphony is called the "Choral" Symphony because there is a choir and soloists in the last movement. At the time people did not understand this either, because a symphony is normally a work for orchestra, not a work with singers. Beethoven chose the words of a poem by the German poet Friedrich Schiller: "An die Freude" ("Ode to Joy"). It is all about living together in peace and harmony, so that it sends an important message to people. This is why it has been chosen in recent years as the National Anthem for the European Union. The Ninth Symphony was performed at a concert on May 7, 1824. After the scherzo movement the audience applauded enthusiastically, but Beethoven could not hear the applause and one of the singers had to turn him round so that he could see that people were clapping.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven died on March 26, 1827. About 20,000 people came onto the streets for his funeral. The famous poet Franz Grillparzer wrote the funeral speech. One of the torchbearers was Franz Schubert. Schubert died the next year. In 1888 Beethoven’s and Schubert’s remains were moved to another cemetery in Vienna and were placed side by side.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Regarding the instruments, that the composer was using throughout his life, there was a variety of pianos (fortepianos). After moving to Vienna, Beethoven purchased a piano from Streicher. As recalled by his student, Carl Czerny, he also had a Walter piano. Beethoven's last instrument was a fortepiano from a Viennese piano builder Conrad Graf. After the composer's death, it was sold to Wimmer family and now is displayed at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven’s music is usually divided into three periods: Early, Middle and Late. Most composers who live a long time develop as they get older and change their way of composing. Of course, these changes in style are not sudden, but they are quite a good way of understanding the different periods of his composing life.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: His first period includes the works he wrote in his youth in Bonn, and his early days in Vienna up to about 1803. His middle period starts with the Eroica Symphony and includes most of his orchestral works. His last period includes the Ninth Symphony and the late string quartets.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: Beethoven is probably the most famous of all composers, and the most written about. He had a wild personality and this was something that the Romantics in the 19th century always expected from great artists. The Romantics thought that the artist was somehow a person with exaggerated qualities who was not like normal people. Beethoven had a very strong personality. He lived in the time of the French Revolution and had strong views on independence and ways of living free from tyranny. This made him a hero in many people’s eyes.


title: Ludwig van Beethoven

text: His music was so famous that many composers in the 19th century found it quite hard to compose because they thought they would be compared to him. For example, Johannes Brahms, took a long time to write his First Symphony. He thought that everyone was expecting him to be the next Beethoven. It was only towards the end of the 19th century that Gustav Mahler wrote several symphonies which include singing, although he does this very differently to Beethoven.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Ottoman Empire (in Turkish: "Osmanlı İmparatorluğu"), officially the Sublime State of Ottomania (in Ottoman Turkish: دولت عالیه عثمانیه, in Turkish: "Devlet-i Aliyye-i Osmâniyye") was a multinational state that lasted from 1299 to 1923. It was centered in Constantinople in northwestern Anatolia and controlled the eastern and southern lands around the Mediterranean Sea. The empire was founded by Osman I around 1299, and was most powerful from around 1400 to 1600, when it controlled trade and politics in southeastern Europe, southwest Asia, and northern Africa. Suleiman the Magnificent was one of the most powerful rulers.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The empire was a collection of conquered countries. The Sultan sent governors to rule these countries or provinces, with titles such as Pasha or Bey. The most famous in the early 19th century was Muhammad Ali Pasha. Besides provinces, the empire also had tributary states.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: In later years, the Ottoman Empire began to weaken. In the later part of the 19th century, it became known as "the sick man of Europe". The empire was defeated in World War I and broke apart.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I in 1299. His son, Orhan, captured its first capital, Bursa, from the Byzantine Empire. In the late 1300s, the Ottomans began consolidating power, especially in the Balkans, where Serbia was defeated in 1389 at the Battle of Kosovo Polje by Sultan Murad I. He died at the battle, and Bayezid I took control. At the 1396 Battle of Nicopolis, a large crusade of the Western European powers was defeated. Despite the victory, Bayezid was deposed by Tamerlane at the Battle of Ankara in 1402. His absence led to a civil war, referred to as the Ottoman Interregnum. Mehmed Çelebi won and became Mehmed I. His son, Murad II had to battle pretenders to the throne backed by the Byzantine Empire. He retaliated with an attack on Constantinople, and Venice helped the Byzantines. Murad defeated them at Thessaloniki. He also defeated the Karamanid "beylik" (principality), Hungary, Poland, and Wallachia at Varna in 1444. John Hunyadi, a Hungarian general, tried his hand at defeating the Turks but lost in 1448.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: Mehmed the Conqueror conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453. He also subjugated Albania and expanded tolerance for the Orthodox Church. Mehmed continued his expansion, followed by his son Bayezid II. Selim I conquered Egypt and the Levant, which were ruled by the Mamluks, in early 1517. He also obliterated the Safavid Persians at Chaldiran in 1514. The Ottomans were at odds with Portugal over their expansion as well. Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim's son, captured Belgrade and most of Hungary after the Battle of Mohács in 1526. His Siege of Vienna was repulsed by the deeply-divided Holy Roman Empire in 1529. Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia became tributary to the Ottoman Empire soon afterwards.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: In the east, the Ottomans captured Baghdad from the Safavids and partitioned the Caucasus with them. Meanwhile, Suleiman allied Francis I of France over mutual hatred of the Habsburgs. This led to Ottoman activity in the Mediterranean, where Rhodes, Tunis, Algiers, and Tripoli would eventually be captured. Barbarossa Hayreddin led the Ottoman advance. In 1566, Suleiman died, and many historians consider that the start of the Ottoman stagnation.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Ottomans lost the Battle of Lepanto in 1571 by Philip II of Spain and his Holy League. The Ottomans quickly recovered by capturing Cyprus from the Republic of Venice. However, the defeat shattered the myth of Ottoman invincibility. The Ottomans suffered many defeats in the next 30 years: the Long War with the Austrian Empire ended in stalemate, and the Safavids invaded the eastern Ottoman provinces. Murad IV recaptured Iraq and the Caucasus from Persia. The "Sultanate of Women" became an nickname for the Ottoman Empire after consorts Kösem Sultan and Turhan Sultan became important in the empire and sometimes made even economic decisions in the Sultan's place. The Grand Vizier also took a greater role under the leadership of the Köprülüs. Crete was captured from Venice and southern Ukraine was captured from Poland.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: However, Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa Pasha carelessly opened up the empire to attack when he attacked Vienna and laid siege to the city. The Austrians, Poles, Russians, and Venetians all attacked the Ottomans back in the Great Turkish War. Austria and Poland attacked the overstretched Turks in Hungary and Transylvania while Russia hammered Crimea and eventually captured it from the Turks. Venice settled to attack Greece which was entirely under Ottoman Turkish occupation. The warring sides signed the Treaty of Karlowitz, ceding Hungary and Transylvania to Austria, Podolia (southern Ukraine) to Poland, Morea (southern Greece) to Venice, and Azov (a Black Sea port) to Russia.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: Russia and Sweden went to war, and the Ottomans got involved by retaking Azov and then making peace. Austria, Russia, Venice, and the Ottomans would go to war several times. By 1739, the Ottomans had actually retaken the Morea and Serbia. In the 1740s and the 1750s, the Ottomans began to modernize their military, but in the 1760s, the Ottomans went to war with Russia again. Russia took over Crimea in 1783 and claimed that Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire were under Russian protection. Selim III continued modernising the military, but the elite Janissary corps troops revolted. Napoleon attacked Egypt but was repulsed by the British.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: Serbia revolted and gained nominal independence in 1815, but they were still vassals of the Ottoman Empire. Greece won their independence after a long war of independence from 1821 to 1829. The al-Saud family revolted in 1811 with the support of the Wahhabi sect. Then, Egypt under Muhammad Ali almost captured Constantinople, but the Russians repulsed them. The Egyptians settled with the Levant, and the Ottomans tried to retake it but were soundly defeated. The Ottomans was dubbed the "sick man of Europe" because of the empire's incompetence in international affairs.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Ottoman Tanzimat period brought reform: conscription was introduced, a central bank was formed, homosexuality was decriminalised, the law was secularised, and the guilds were replaced with factories. The Christian part of the empire became much more advanced than the Muslim part, and the divide created tension. In the 1850s, the British and the French helped the Ottomans in the Crimean War. The Ottoman debts led to a state of bankruptcy, and the European countries began providing loans and controlling the finances of the empire. Worse yet, the Ottomans began war with Russia over Bulgarian independence. At the 1878 Congress of Berlin, Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro gained complete independence. Bulgaria remained a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. The British took Cyprus and in 1882 Egypt.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: In 1908, the Ottomans underwent a revolution by the Young Turks. Abdul Hamid II abdicated, and Mehmed V was instated. Bulgaria gained independence, and Austria invaded Bosnia that same year. In 1912, the Ottomans lost Libya to the Italians. The ensuing Balkan Wars saw the Ottomans lose all of their European territories except Eastern Thrace to a combined force of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria. The Second Balkan War allowed the Ottomans to attack Bulgaria in conjunction with Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece. Their victory meant little since the unrest continued, with a 1909 countercoup to the Young Turk coup and then three countercoups.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: In 1914, although they were utterly disorganised, the Ottomans attacked Russia and declared war. Britain and France went to war with the Ottomans, and World War I had come to Turkey.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Ottomans early in the war performed better than expected. They won the Battle of Gallipoli, partly because of the incompetence of the British commanders. The Ottomans also won the Battle of Kut though Iraq was lost later. In 1915, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, and others were targeted, and many as 1.5 million people died. The Ottoman Empire fell soon after the Arabs revolted in 1916 with British help. The empire fell after the Sinai, Palestine, Iraq, Syria, and eventually Anatolia itself fell. The Ottomans surrendered in 1918.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Turkish War of Independence was military campaign by The Turkish National Movement, which lead to the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. In 1923, the Ottoman Empire formally ceased to exist.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The empire was a hereditary monarchy. The ruler's title was 'Sultan'. (It was used in front of the name, e.g. ""Sultan" Süleyman".) The title of 'Sultan' was also used for the wives and the daughters of the monarchs. (It was used at the end of the name, e.g. "Hürrem "Sultan"".) In the early years of the empire, shahzadahs, the sons of the Sultan, were sent to different parts of the empire (Sanjaks) to get experience of governing. Later they might be candidates for the Sultanate and Caliphate.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: After Ahmed this system changed. In the new system the Sultan would keep his male relatives locked in a small apartment called a "kafes" where they would never be able to see the outside world, and would therefore be unable to take power from him. Often, a new Sultan would have his male relatives killed, a simpler solution since it removed competition for the Sultanate and prevented rebel movements. However, the women in his harem often sought greater status and influence, and the Sultan's mother might become a powerful political force in the Empire. Each mother in the harem would try to make her own son the next Sultan, since they knew he would probably be killed if he was not.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: The Sultans gradually lost their ability to govern far-away territories well. Distant governors did whatever they wanted and made their own laws instead of obeying the Sultan. By its end, the Ottoman Empire grew so worn out and corrupt that it was ready to collapse.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: Bursa was the first capital of the Ottoman Empire. Edirne in Thrace became the capital city of the Ottoman Empire in 1365, until Istanbul was conquered by the Turks and became the empire's final capital.


title: Ottoman Empire

text: Many places were vassal states to the empire, rather than being directly ruled. They included Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia, (all of them later joined to form Romania), Caucasus (Georgia, Dagestan, and Chechnya). Their rulers received a degree of independence and autonomy from the Ottoman Empire, but they had to pay more money (tax or tribute) to the sultan.


title: Constitution

text: The constitution of a country (or a state) is a special type of law document that tells how its government is supposed to work. It tells how the country's leaders are to be chosen and how long they get to stay in office, how new laws are made and old laws are to be changed or removed based on law, what kind of people are allowed to vote and what other rights they are guaranteed, and how the constitution can be changed.


title: Constitution

text: Limits are put on the Government in how much power they have within the Constitution "(see Rule of Law )". On the other hand, countries with repressive or corrupt governments frequently do not stick to their constitutions, or have bad constitutions without giving freedom to citizens and others. This can be known as dictatorship or simply "bending the rules". A Constitution is often a way of uniting within a Federation.


title: Constitution

text: The UK's constitution is not written in one single document like many other countries' are. In fact, the UK's constitution is not completely written down at all. Some of it can be found in writing, starting with the Magna Carta of 1215 and the Bill of Rights Act 1689 and including more modern Acts of Parliament. Other parts of it are considered common law and are made up of the decisions of judges over many hundreds of years in a system called legal or judicial precedence. Because of this, some people say that the United Kingdom has a "de facto" or "unwritten" constitution.


title: Constitution

text: The United States in 1787 began a trend in the writing of constitutions. The United States Constitution is also the shortest that people are still using, and it has been changed (amended) many times over the years. It was made after the colonists won their independence from Britain. At first they had the Articles of Confederation but the Articles were replaced with today's Constitution.


title: Constitution

text: The Indian constitution of 1950 is the longest ever written constitution in the world. It has 448 Articles and 12 Schedules in it, with 5 appendices and 98 amendments.


title: Brunei

text: Brunei (officially called Brunei Darussalam, or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace) is a country in Southeast Asia. It is north of Malaysia on the island of Borneo. The country is rather landlocked by Malaysia. To the north is the South China Sea and the Philippines to the northeast. The capital of Brunei is Bandar Seri Begawan. The country is small and has a small population. The leader of the country is the Sultan of Brunei. Due to the sale of his oil, he is one of the richest people in the world. The official religion in Brunei is Islam. There are also minorities of people who follow Buddhism or Animism. Brunei's official language and national language is Malay. Brunei is one of the smallest Muslim countries in the world.


title: Brunei

text: From the 14th to the 16th centuries Brunei Darussalam was the seat of a powerful sultanate extending over Sabah, Sarawak and the southern Philippines. Thus, the current Sultan represents one of the oldest continuously ruling dynasties in the world. By the 19th century, the Brunei Darussalam Empire had been whittled away by wars, piracy and the colonial expansion of European powers.


title: Brunei

text: In 1847, the sultan ended a treaty with Great Britain and in 1888 Brunei Darussalam officially became a British protectorate. In 1906, the Residential System was established in Brunei Darussalam. A British Resident was nominated as a representative of the British government to advise the sultan in all matters except Malay customs, traditions and Islamic religion.


title: Brunei

text: The 1959 Agreement established a written constitution which gave Brunei Darussalam internal self-government. In 1971, the agreement was amended and revised to assert full internal independence except defence and external affairs.


title: Brunei

text: On June 5, 1966 His Highness Sultan Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien abdicated in favour of his son Pengiran Muda Mahkota Hassanal Bolkiah. On January 1, 1984 Brunei Darussalam resumed full independence and the Sultan took office as Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Home Affairs Minister, presiding over a cabinet of six. In October 1986, the cabinet was expanded to 11 members, with His Majesty relinquishing the portfolios of Finance and Home Affairs and taking over the Defence portfolio which his late father had held since 1984. In 1988 another reshuffle brought about the elevation of the deputy minister to a full minister and the creation of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources designed to boost the country's development.


title: Brunei

text: In spite of the sizable non-Muslim population (about 1/3 of the population) and criticism by the international community, the Sultan still announced Brunei's adoption of Sharia law in 2013 to fully enforce on the Muslim majority and partially enforce on non-Muslims. It was expected to take full effect in 2016 after 3 phases, and had begun partial enforcement in its first phase in 2014. It is the first country in East and Southeast Asia to practice Sharia law.


title: Brunei

text: The daerah of Temburong is physically separated from the rest of Brunei by the Malaysian state of Sarawak.


title: Brunei

text: Brunei gets most of its income by selling oil. In 2011 the IMF said that Brunei was one of two countries (the other being Libya) with no public debt.


title: Brunei

text: Brunei uses the Brunei Ringgit to trade. However, the Singapore dollar can be used here as both currencies are of the same value.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen is a chemical element. It has the symbol H and atomic number 1. It has a standard atomic weight of 1.008, meaning it is the lightest element in the periodic table.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen is the most common chemical element in the Universe, making up 75% of all normal (baryonic) matter (by mass). Most stars are mostly hydrogen. Hydrogen's most common isotope has one proton with one electron orbiting around it.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen is classed as a reactive nonmetal, unlike the other elements appearing in the first column of the periodic table, which are classed alkali metals. The solid form of hydrogen is expected to behave like a metal, however.


title: Hydrogen

text: When alone, hydrogen usually binds with itself to make dihydrogen (H) which is very stable, due to its high bond dissociation energy of 435.7 kJ/mol. At standard temperature and pressure, this hydrogen gas (H) has no colour, smell or taste. It is not toxic. It is a nonmetal and burns very easily.


title: Hydrogen

text: While hydrogen gas in its pure form is not reactive, it does form compounds with many elements, particularly halogens, which are very electronegative. Hydrogen also forms vast arrays with carbon atoms, forming hydrocarbons. The study of the properties of hydrocarbons are known as organic chemistry.


title: Hydrogen

text: The H anion (negatively charged atom) is called a hydride, although the term is not widely used. An example of a hydride is lithium hydride (LiH), which is used as a "spark plug" in nuclear weapons.


title: Hydrogen

text: Acids dissolved in water typically contain high levels of hydrogen ions, in other words, free protons. The level of them is usually used to determine its pH, which basically means the content of hydrogen ions in a particular volume. For example, hydrochloric acid, found in people's stomachs, can dissociate into a chloride anion and a free proton, and the property of the free proton is how it can digest food by corroding it.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen has 7 known isotopes, two of which are stable (H and H), which are commonly referred to protium and deuterium. The isotope H is known as tritium and has a half life of 12.33 years, and is produced in small amounts by cosmic rays. The remaining 4 isotopes have half lives on the scale of yoctoseconds.


title: Hydrogen

text: In its pure form on Earth, hydrogen is usually a gas. Hydrogen is also one of the parts that make up a water molecule. Hydrogen is important because it is the fuel that powers the Sun and other stars.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen makes up about 74% of the entire universe. Hydrogen's symbol on the Periodic Table of Elements is H.


title: Hydrogen

text: Pure hydrogen is normally made of two hydrogen atoms connected together. Scientists call these diatomic molecules. Hydrogen will have a chemical reaction when mixed with most other elements. It has no color or smell.


title: Hydrogen

text: Pure hydrogen is very uncommon in the Earth's atmosphere, because nearly all primordial hydrogen would have escaped into space due to its weight. In nature, it is usually in water. Hydrogen is also in all living things, as a part of the organic compounds that living things are made of. In addition, hydrogen atoms can combine with carbon atoms to form hydrocarbons. Petroleum and other fossil fuels are made of these hydrocarbons and commonly used to create energy for human use.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen was first separated in 1671 by Robert Boyle. In 1776, Henry Cavendish identified it as its own element and called it "inflammable air". He realized in 1781 that burning it made water.


title: Hydrogen

text: Antoine Lavoisier gave Hydrogen its name, from the Greek word for water, 'υδορ (pronounced /HEEW-dor/) and gennen meaning to "generate" as it forms water in a chemical reaction with oxygen.


title: Hydrogen

text: The main uses are in the petroleum industry and in making ammonia by the Haber process. Some is used elsewhere in the chemical industry. A little of it is used as fuel, for example in rockets for spacecraft. Most of the hydrogen that people use comes from a chemical reaction between natural gas and steam.


title: Hydrogen

text: Nuclear fusion is a very powerful source of energy. It relies on forcing atoms together to make helium and energy, exactly as happens in a star like the Sun, or in a hydrogen bomb. This needs a large amount of energy to get started, and is not easy to do yet. A big advantage over nuclear fission, which is used in today's nuclear power stations, is that it makes less nuclear waste and does not use a toxic and rare fuel like uranium. More than 600 million tons of hydrogen undergo fusion every second on the Sun.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen is mostly used in the petroleum industry, to change heavy petroleum fractions into lighter, more useful ones. It is also used to make ammonia. Smaller amounts are burned as fuel. Most hydrogen is made by a reaction between natural gas and steam.


title: Hydrogen

text: The electrolysis of water breaks water into hydrogen and oxygen, using electricity. Burning hydrogen combines with oxygen molecules to make steam (pure water vapor). A fuel cell combines hydrogen with an oxygen molecule, releasing an electron as electricity. For these reasons, many people believe hydrogen power will eventually replace other synthetic fuels.


title: Hydrogen

text: Hydrogen can also be burned to make heat for steam turbines or internal combustion engines. Like other synthetic fuels, hydrogen can be created from natural fuels such as coal or natural gas, or from electricity, and therefore represents a valuable addition to the power grid; in the same role as natural gas. Such a grid and infrastructure with is now planned by a number of countries including Japan, Korea and many European countries. This allows these countries to buy less petroleum, which is an economic advantage. The other advantage is that used in a fuel cell or burned in a combustion engine as in a hydrogen car, the motor does not make pollution. Only water, and a small amount of nitrogen oxides, forms.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as (22 April 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian lawyer, revolutionary, the leader of the Bolshevik party and of the October Revolution. He was the first leader of the USSR and the government that took over Russia in 1917. Lenin's ideas became known as Leninism.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: Vladimir Ulyanov was born on 22 April 1870 in the town of Simbirsk in the Russian Empire. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was an education official (technically, his father's job made him and his family noblemen).


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: Lenin began studying politics in high school. Lenin excelled in school and learned the Latin and Greek languages. In 1887, he was thrown out of Kazan State University because he protested against the Tsar who was the king of the Russian Empire. He continued to read books and study ideas by himself, and in 1891 he got a license to become a lawyer.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In the same year that Lenin was expelled from University, his brother Alexander was hanged for his part in a bomb plot to kill Tsar Alexander III, and their sister Anna was sent to Tatarstan. This made Lenin furious, and he promised to get revenge for his brother's death.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: While he studied law in St. Petersburg he learned about the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who were both philosophers from Germany. Karl Marx's thoughts were called Marxism. To talk or write about Marxism positively was illegal in Russia, and Lenin was arrested for that and sent to prison in Siberia. This punishment was harsh because Siberia is very cold and isolated, and almost impossible to escape.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In July 1898, still in Siberia, Lenin married Nadezhda Krupskaya. In 1899 he wrote a book he called "". In 1900, Lenin was set free from prison and allowed to go back home. He then traveled around Europe. He began to publish a Marxist newspaper called "Iskra", the Russian word for "spark" or "lightning". He also became an important member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, or RSDLP. In 1901 he began calling himself "Lenin".


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In 1903, Lenin had a major argument with another leader of the party, Julius Martov, which divided the party in two. Lenin wanted to establish socialism right away, rather than establishing capitalism first and then making the transition to socialism. Martov disagreed, he wanted to cling to the Classical Marxist idea that in order to achieve socialism, you must go through capitalism first. People who agreed with Martov were called Mensheviks (meaning "the minority"). The people who agreed with Lenin were called Bolsheviks ("the majority").


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In 1907 he traveled around Europe again, and visited many socialist meetings and events. During World War I he lived in big European cities like London, Paris and Geneva. At the beginning of the war, a big left-wing meeting called the Second International included the Bolsheviks. The meeting shut down when a lot of the groups argued whether or not to support the war. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were one of only a few groups who were against the war because of their Marxist ideas.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: After Tsar Nicholas II gave up his throne during the February Revolution, Lenin went back to Russia where he was still a very important Bolshevik leader. He wrote that he wanted a revolution by ordinary workers to overthrow the government that had replaced Nicholas II.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In 1917, The Kadets, a right-wing party, and elements of the Okhrana (secret police) started rumors that Lenin had got money from the Germans, because they had sent him through Germany in a special train to reach Russia. That may have made him look bad because a lot of Russians had died fighting Germany in the war. After the July Days, a popular uprising in Petrograd which was crushed by the Russian Provisional Government, he left Russia and went to Finland, where he could hide and carry on with his work on Communism.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: In November 1917, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin and Trotsky, headed the Petrograd Soviet and other Soviets all over Russia in a revolution against Kerensky's government, which was known as the October Revolution. They won, and announced that Russia was a socialist country. In November, Lenin was chosen as its leader.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: Because Lenin wanted an end to World War I in Russia, he signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in February 1918. While the treaty ended the attack by Germany, Russia lost a large amount of land that it used for farming.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: The treaty also made Germany's other enemies angry, and together with Russian people who supported the Tsar or Kerensky's government, they attacked Russia. Lenin made rules that as much food as possible was to be given to Bolshevik soldiers in Russia's new Red Army. This meant that they won the war, but ordinary people were starving, and many died of hunger or disease.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: After the war, Lenin brought in the New Economic Policy to try and make things better for the country and move from capitalism towards socialism. Some private enterprise was still allowed, but not much. Businessmen, known as nepmen, could only own small industries, not factories. Factories and large industry became public property to be owned by the workers.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: A woman named Fanny Kaplan shot Lenin whilst he was making an official visit. She missed his head and instead the bullet was lodged into his neck. Fearing that he would be killed by political dissenters, he refused to have the bullet removed until a guaranteed Communist doctor could be found. As a result of his direct refusal to be treated, the bullet was never removed, and is often cited as the reason he started having strokes in May and December 1922 (both of which he recovered from). In March 1923 a stroke paralyzed him and left him unable to speak, and he died on January 24, 1924 of a stroke. Just before he died, Lenin had wanted to get rid of Stalin because he thought he was dangerous to the country and the government.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: The city of St. Petersburg had been renamed Petrograd by the Tsar in 1914, but was renamed Leningrad in memory of Lenin in 1924. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Leningrad was again named St. Petersburg.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: Before Lenin died, he said he wished to be buried beside his mother. When he died, Stalin let the people in Russia look at his body. Because people kept coming they decided not to bury him, and preserved his body instead. A building was built in Red Square, Moscow over the body so that people could see it. It is called the Lenin Mausoleum. Many Russians and tourists still go there to see his body today.


title: Vladimir Lenin

text: After Lenin died, Stalin used him to justify his own rule, by making it look like he was Lenin's chosen successor.


title: Alkali

text: The word 'Alkali' comes from the Arabic 'qali' meaning 'from the ashes' since ashes mixed with water used as cleaning products (such as soaps) are made of alkali materials


title: Alkali

text: Like acids, alkalis can be weak or strong, depending on the nature and the concentration of the ionic salt composing it. The strength of an alkali can be found using universal indicator. Also like acids, the strength of an alkali is rated using the pH scale.


title: Alkali

text: For example, soap and toothpaste contain weak alkalis, while cleaning products often contain strong ones.


title: Alkali

text: Metal oxides and metal hydroxides are two types of base. When neutralised (an acid is added) they produce a salt and water. The type of salt produced depends on the acid and base.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom is the forced labour of serfs in a feudal society. In medieval Europe, serfs were peasant farmers who worked without pay for a lord. In exchange, they got to live and work on the lord’s manor. They also got the lord’s protection.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs had more rights than slaves (for example, serfs could own property). However, they were not completely free. They could not move, marry, or leave the manor without the lord’s permission. In most serfdoms, serfs were legally part of the land. If the land was sold, they were sold with it.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs worked in their lord’s fields. They sometimes did other things related to agriculture, like forestry and transportation (by both land and river). Some also worked in craft and manufacturing.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom developed from agricultural slavery in the Roman Empire. It spread through Europe around the 10th century. During the Middle Ages, most European people lived in serfdoms.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom lasted up to the 1600s in England and until 1789 in France. In most other European countries, serfdom continued until the early 19th century.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom was unusual in the Russian Empire until the 18th century when it became widespread. Alexander II of Russia abolished it in 1861,


title: Serfdom

text: During the Middle Ages in Europe, monarchs, the Catholic Church, and the nobility owned all land. Serfs did not own land. Instead, they did manual labor for landowners in exchange for a place to live and work.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs had a feudal contract, just like a baron or a knight. A serf's feudal contract said that he would live and work on a piece of land owned by his lord. A serf was allowed to have their own home, fields, crops, and animals on the lord’s land. Serfs had some rights in the feudal contract. In return for their work, the serf would get protection.


title: Serfdom

text: During feudal times, people said that a serf "worked for all", a knight or baron "fought for all," and clergy "prayed for all." Serfs were in a lower social class than knights and barons. However, they were better off than slaves.


title: Serfdom

text: A manorial lord could not sell his serfs like Romans sold slaves. However, serfs were legally tied to the land they worked on. If their lord sold his land, his serfs were sold along with the land. Serfs could not sell the land they lived on, and could not leave the manor without their lord’s permission. Often, they needed the lord’s permission before they could marry someone who was not also a serf for that lord.


title: Serfdom

text: A free man usually became a serf because he owed a large debt. He would make an agreement with the lord of the land. The lord would keep him safe, give money to pay his debt, and give him land to work on. In return, he would work for the lord. All his children would become serfs.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs had to pay taxes to their lord. The lord would decide how much each serf had to pay, based on the size of the land the serf lived on. Usually, serfs had to pay 1/3 of their land’s value in taxes, which is less than most middle class Americans pay in taxes in the present day. When the lord was fighting a war, serfs also had to pay wartime taxes.


title: Serfdom

text: Money was not very common during the Middle Ages. Serfs usually paid their lord by giving food and working without pay. Usually, serfs spent five or six days a week working for their lord. On these days, the lord would give his serfs very good food. However, serfs had to do the lord’s work before they could do their own work. When the lord’s crops needed to be harvested, the serf’s own crops needed to be harvested too. Still, the serf could not harvest his own food until he had done his required work for the lord.


title: Serfdom

text: At different times in the year, serfs would do different things. A serf might plough his lord's fields, harvest crops, dig ditches, or repair fences. The rest of his time he could take care of his own fields, crops and animals.


title: Serfdom

text: There were strange tests to decide if something was good enough to be given for taxes. A chicken, for example, had to be able to jump over a fence. That showed that the chicken was young and healthy.


title: Serfdom

text: Lords also required serfs to pay fines when they did certain things. For example, a serf would have to pay a fine:


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs had to pay to use the lord’s grain mill. Many serfs thought this was unfair. Millers charged a fee called multure, which was usually 1/24 of the total grain milled. The serfs often thought the millers were not honest.


title: Serfdom

text: Many serfs had to use their lord’s ovens to bake their daily bread. They had to pay to use these ovens. They also had to pay to use the lord’s carts to carry their produce.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs had some freedoms. They could get and keep property and money. Some serfs had more money and property than their free neighbours. Sometimes, serfs could buy their freedom.


title: Serfdom

text: The lord could not make serfs leave his land unless he had good reasons. The lord was supposed to protect them from criminals or other lords, and he was supposed to give them charity during famines.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs could grow what they wanted on their lands. Sometimes they had to pay their taxes in wheat, which is difficult to grow. They could take the wheat they did not give for taxes to the market.


title: Serfdom

text: Mostly, serfs were subsistence farmers, eating what they grew. Their heirs usually got an inheritance.


title: Serfdom

text: The rules for serfdom were different at different times and places. In some places, serfdom changed into different types of taxation.


title: Serfdom

text: In the 13th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, serfs had to work two to three days a week for their landlords. In the 14th century, they had to work one day per week. In the 17th century, they had to work four days per week. In the 18th century, they had to work six days per week.


title: Serfdom

text: Sometimes, serfs were soldiers during war. They could earn their freedom or even become nobles as a reward for bravery in war.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs could also gain their freedom in other ways. Sometimes they could buy their freedom. Enlightened or generous owners could free a serf (this is called manumission). Some serfs were able to flee to other towns or to newly settled land where people would not ask questions about the serf’s past. Laws varied from country to country. In England, a serf became free if he made his way to a chartered town and avoided being recaptured for a year and a day.


title: Serfdom

text: When people started to use money more, and barter became less important, serfdom began to change. Now lords could make money by renting their land. This was more profitable than getting unpaid work from serfs. Many lords "freed" their serfs when their work became less valuable than money.


title: Serfdom

text: Still, the serfs' lives were not seriously changed. They still had to farm their land, take care of their families, and pay their taxes. However, they could no longer be forced off their lands if they did not pay rent, or if their Lord decided he wanted to use their fields for a different purpose.


title: Serfdom

text: The helots in the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta worked like serfs. So did peasants working on government lands in ancient Rome. However, these workers were not called “serfs.” Instead, they were called coloni, meaning "tenant farmers.”


title: Serfdom

text: When Germanic tribes took over the Roman Empire, they took the lands from the wealthy Romans. They became the new lords in the same economic system of serfdom.


title: Serfdom

text: Medieval serfdom in Western Europe began with the breakup of the Carolingian Empire around the 10th century. This empire had ruled most of western Europe for more than 200 years. After the empire broke up, Western Europe had no strong central governments for a long time.


title: Serfdom

text: During this time, feudal lords worked to make serfdom the common way for people to live. Under serfdom, rich landlords could force other people to work for them and feed them.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfs did most of the agricultural work in medieval Western Europe. Slavery did exist during this time, but it was not common. Usually slaves were only used to take care of people’s houses.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom reached Eastern European countries later than Western Europe. It started in Russia around the 12th century, but was not common until several hundred years later. By the 17th century, serfdom was the most common relationship between Russian peasants and the nobility. It was most common in the central and southern areas of the Tsardom of Russia, and later the Russian Empire.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom in Ukraine, in other Cossack lands, in the Urals and in Siberia was rare until the reign of Catherine the Great (r. 1762–1796). At that time, it spread to Ukraine. Noblemen began to send their serfs into Cossack lands in an attempt to harvest their extensive untapped natural resources.


title: Serfdom

text: Russian serfdom was different than in other Eastern European countries, because it was not changed by German law or by people coming from Germany. In Russia, serfdom and manorialism systems were enforced by the crown (the Tsar), not by the nobility.


title: Serfdom

text: By the 13th and 14th centuries, serfdom was becoming less common in Western Europe. The manorial system weakened as powerful monarchs took control, towns developed, and the economy improved. At the same time, there were more protests by serfs and peasants, like Wat Tyler’s Rebellion in England in 1381. This put pressure on the nobility and the clergy to change the system and make improvements. New ways of renting the land gave people more freedom.


title: Serfdom

text: By the 15th and 16th centuries, serfdom was ending in Western Europe. As the economy continued to change, serfdom became less profitable than renting land for money. Other causes for the end of serfdom included changes in the population and laws about what lords could make their tenants do.


title: Serfdom

text: The Industrial Revolution also helped to end serfdom. Landowners began to put their money into industries, because they made more money this way than they did from having serfs. This caused urbanization. As towns got bigger, farmers wanted to move off of manors. They could make more money working in town than they could by working in a lord’s fields.


title: Serfdom

text: In England, serfdom ended around 1600. After the Renaissance, serfdom was not common in Western Europe. However, as serfdom was ending, chattel slavery was beginning in the English-speaking parts of the Western Hemisphere.


title: Serfdom

text: Serfdom existed in Russia until February 19, 1861. In Russian Baltic provinces, it ended in the beginning of the 19th century (see Russian Serfdom Reforms).


title: Serfdom

text: Some people say that planned economies, especially those based on Soviet-style Communist economics (like the Soviet collective farm system) are government-owned serfdom. Friedrich Hayek said this in his book "The Road to Serfdom".


title: Serfdom

text: Mikhail Gorbachev grew up in a kolkhoz. These were supposed to be collectives. There were also sovkhoz, which were state-owned. The government used a system of internal passports and household registration (like China's hukou system) to make people stay on their farms. They had to plant crops according to instructions from the central authorities, especially if they were on state-run farms. The state then bought their agricultural produce at low prices and invested heavily in industrialization. Gorbachev said this was much like being a serf.


title: Serfdom

text: This kind of serfdom lasted in Russia until 1974 (with a brief break during the Russian Civil War). USSR Government Decree #667 gave peasants identification documents, with an unrestricted right to move within the country, for the first time in Russian history. It is possible that a system like this still exists in rural China.


title: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin

text: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin () was a Hindi-language Indian television supernatural series produced by Triangle Film Corporation. It stars Nikita Sharma, Jatin Bharadwaj, and Abhimanyu Chaudhary. It aired from 2 September 2019 to 17 January 2020 on Dangal TV. The show went off the air after a successful run.


title: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin

text: Shivani is a naagin (shape shifting serpent) who has returned after 12 years to find her love to the city in Anand's house whose is a joint family. Her guru told that her Nagaraja (Ankit Arora), who was killed for naagamani, made his rebirth in Anand's house. So Shivani in the form of a 12 year old girl went there to find her nagraj. There she finds that the two boys Raj and Rohit was been born on the same day, which makes her be confused. So she appeals to her guru who says that she only can identify her nagraj. So she remembers that one-day nagraj had told her about the star symbol on his mole which will be on him even he take 100 births. So with the help of this, she tries to find him but fails several times. Meanwhile, Anand found that a serpent in the form of a small girl is around his house with the help of a sage. Anand is the one with the help of his friends, and his driver Lakshman, killed Nagraj for the nagmani. Then he realised that the naagin has come to kill him. When Shivani found that Raj is her Nagraj by seeing the star symbol on his arm, she was captured by the sage and is kept in the cremated box under a tree for nine years.


title: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin

text: After nine years, Anand with the power of naagmani became one of the wealthiest people in the world. He announces that his son Rohit would take his new project at the press meet. Returning from the land, Rohit and raj is returning to their house. Shivani sets out find who is Raj as she knows he is her nagraj. Shivani then disguises as Nandini, and comes with the help of a naagin, Priya and a naag as the daughter of a wealthy person and buys a mansion close to Raj's house. Rohit sees her and fell in love with her. Raj also likes her the moment he saw her but for Rohit's sake, he hides the love. Rohit sends Raj to see Nandini and tell him Rohit's love but fails several times. Then Anand knowing that Nandini is the daughter of a wealthy person, makes friends with her. Meanwhile, one of Rohit's friend falls for Nandini and tries to abuse her but Raj saves. In this incident, Raj gets shot by a gun. Nandini gets to know Raj. She tries to make him remember his past life but cannot. Meanwhile, another naagin, Ragini who loved nagraj comes there. She tries to kill Nandini so that she can marry Raj. Rohit tries to abuse Nandini many times. At last, he dies by falling from a cliff while fighting with Raj for Nandini. Anand decides to take revenge on Nandini and Raj because they were the reason for Rohit's death. Raj's and Ragini's marriage gets fixed but fails. Raj finds out that he is a shape shifting serpent but is unable to control himself. So he takes help from a sage and is able to control and change forms. But he does not remember anything. It is revealed that Ragini was the one who lead Anand and his friends to nagmani on the intention of killing Shivani but Anand kills the nagraj instead. Raj's and Nandini's marriage gets fixed but failed. Raj gets to know that Nandi ni is a naagin who was killing Anand's friends. Ragini tells Anand that Nandini is the Naagin so he tells Raj to kill Nandini so that Anand can kill Raj after that. Raj reaches the temple where Nandini was. He took the gun for killing her but could not because he remembers everything. Lakshman reveals to Raj that when Anand killed nagraj, a light came out from his chest and came into Lakshman's chest. When the child of Lakshman was born, it actually died, but then the light from his chest went into the baby's chest and so he would be the nagraj. So Raj and Nandini went to kill Anand but finds out that Anand had become a shape shifting snake with the power of nagmani. They kill Anand and the nagmani gets back to its real owner, the nagraj. Finally Raj and Shivani gets united.


title: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin

text: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin Is Dangal TV’s most viewed serial and recorded one of the highest TRP ratings of any program on Dangal TV. Also, the show is the most watched show on Dangal TV Youtube channel.


title: Phir Laut Aayi Naagin

text: Due to the success of the 1st season, makers and channel launched Season 2 named Ek Anokhi Rakshak - Naagkanya which had a different cast & storyline. However, Season 2 failed to grab viewers' attention and went off air within 1 month of launch owing to low TRP’s.


title: Quebec

text: Quebec ( or ; ) is a province in the eastern part Canada located between the Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is the largest of Canada's ten provinces by size. It also has the second largest number of people, after Ontario. Most of Quebec's inhabitants live along or close to the banks of the Saint Lawrence River. Not many people live in the north part of the province.


title: Quebec

text: Unlike the other provinces, most people in Quebec speak French (Canadian French) and French is the only official language. There is a strong French-language culture, which includes French-language newspapers, magazines, movies, television and radio shows. Their culture and language, though, is quite different from that of France, mainly because of Quebec's isolation from France since the 17th century, and the separate evolutions of the French language in Quebec and in France. Their culture was also influenced by English-speaking Canada and also the United States


title: Quebec

text: The government of Quebec has its offices in the capital, Quebec City, which is one of the oldest cities in North America. The city with the most people in the province is Montreal, which is also the second-largest city in Canada.


title: Quebec

text: Quebec has many natural resources that are used to create jobs. Quebec also has many companies that create products for information and communication technologies, aerospace, biotechnology, and health industries. It has also developed close relations with the Northeastern United States.


title: Quebec

text: Quebec was part of New France until 1760, then under British control. Quebec became a province in the Canadian Confederation in 1867. Since then, some people in Quebec have wanted to leave Canada. Since Quebec is a mainly French-speaking province, most of the people there feel that it is very different from the rest of Canada, and want to keep it that way. Some feel that for this to happen, Quebec must leave Canada and become its own country. However, the people of Quebec are still divided as to its place in Canada.


title: Quebec

text: Quebec held democratic votes in 1980 and 1995 to decide whether to leave Canada. In 1995, the people of Quebec chose to stay in Canada by a 1% margin.


title: Quebec

text: Aboriginal people and Inuit groups were the first peoples who lived in what is now Québec. These Aboriginal people lived by hunting, gathering, and fishing. Some of the Aboriginal people, called Iroquoians, planted squash and maize. The Inuit fished and hunted whales and seals for fur and food. Sometimes they warred with each other.


title: Quebec

text: Vikings came in longboats from Scandinavia in 1000 AD. Basque whalers and fishermen traded furs with Aboriginal people throughout the 1500s.


title: Quebec

text: The first French explorer to reach Quebec was Jacques Cartier. He sailed into the St. Lawrence River in 1534 and established a colony near present-day Quebec City.


title: Quebec

text: Samuel de Champlain came from France and traveled into the St. Lawrence River. In 1608, he founded Quebec City as a permanent fur trading outpost. Champlain signed trading and military agreements with the Aboriginal people. Voyageurs, coureurs des bois, and Catholic missionaries used river canoes to explore the interior of the North American continent.


title: Quebec

text: After 1627, King Louis XIII of France made a rule that only Roman Catholics could go to live in New France. Jesuit clerics tried to convert New France's Aboriginal people to Catholicism. New France became a Royal Province of France in 1663. The population grew from about 3,000 to 60,000 people between 1666 and 1760. Colonists built farms on the banks of St. Lawrence River.


title: Quebec

text: In 1753 France began building a series of forts in the British Ohio Country. Britain asked the French to remove the forts, and the French refused. By 1756, France and Britain were at war. In 1758, the British attacked New France by sea and captured the French fort at Louisbourg.


title: Quebec

text: In 1759, British General James Wolfe defeated General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm outside Quebec City. France gave its North American land to Great Britain in 1763. In 1764, New France was renamed the Province of Quebec.


title: Quebec

text: In 1774, the British Parliament passed the Quebec Act, giving recognition to French law, Catholic religion, and French language in the colony. The Quebec Act gave the Quebec people their first Charter of rights. The Quebec Act made American colonists angry, so they launched the American Revolution. A 1775 invasion by the American Continental Army was stopped at Quebec City. In 1783, Quebec gave the territory south of the Great Lakes to the new United States of America. In 1867 the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the British North America Act, which brought most of the provinces together.


title: Quebec

text: The conservative government of Maurice Duplessis dominated Quebec politics from 1944 to 1960 with the support of the Catholic Church. The Quiet Revolution was a period of social and political change. During the Quiet Revolution, English Canadians lost their control over the Quebec economy, the Roman Catholic Church became less important, and the Quebec government took over the hydro-electric companies.


title: Quebec

text: In 1963, a terrorist group that became known as the Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) began doing bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. In 1970 the FLQ kidnapped James Cross, the British trade commissioner to Canada. The FLQ also kidnapped and assassinated Pierre Laporte, Minister of Labour and Deputy Premier of Québec. Laporte's body was found in the trunk of Paul Rose's car, on the South Shore of Montreal on October 17 1970. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act, and 497 people were arrested.


title: Quebec

text: In 1977, the newly elected Parti Québécois government of René Lévesque introduced the Charter of the French Language. Often known as Bill 101, it defined French as the only official language of Quebec.


title: Quebec

text: The government is based in the provincial capital, Quebec City. The government is led by a lieutenant-governor (pronounced "lef-") who represents the Crown. As of 2019, he is Michel Doyon. The political leader of the province is the premier. He is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir de Quebec (CAQ), elected in 2018.


title: Mushroom

text: A mushroom (also called a toadstool) is the part of a fungus that is comparable to the fruit of a plant. Unlike plants, mushrooms do not use sunlight to generate energy for themselves. Some mushrooms are edible, and are used for cooking in many countries, such as China, Korea and Europe. Other mushrooms, however, are poisonous, and can cause severe illness or death if eaten. People who search for edible mushrooms are called "mycophagists", meaning "mushroom eater", while the act itself is called "mushrooming". Mushrooms have been known to support bone health and to regulate blood sugar in diabetics. It is available in Different colours and Shapes.


title: Mushroom

text: Most mushrooms have a stem and a cap. The bottom of the cap sometimes has gills to hold spores, and sometimes holds the spores themselves.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: Mirza Muhammad Siraj ud-Daulah, more commonly known as "Siraj ud-Daulah" (1733 – July 2, 1757), was the last independent Nawab of Bengal. The end of his reign marked the start of British East India Company's rule over Bengal and later almost all of South Asia.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: Before all these he was the one who helped Alivardi Khan resist all the 5 invasions of Maratha Confederacy, and 1 invasion of Durrani Empire, he also helped Alivardi in 3 tackle attack on Maratha Confederacy, and 1 tackle attack on Durrani Empire. His reign of just 1 year extended the Nawab of Bengal from Chhattisgarh to Parts of Thailand.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •Mirza Muhammad Siraj-ud-Daulah was born in Murshidabad,Bengal on 1733 to Zain-Ud-Din-Ahmed-Khan(Father), and Amina Begum(Mother) to a Sunni Muslim family.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •His mother was the youngest daughter of Nawab of Bengal Alivardi Khan(Father), and Sharf-Un-Nissa Begum(Mother).


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •He was very brave since His childhood, and educationally strong, and intelligent too. He was the scholar of 9 languages, and was really good at Maths, and Science. Because Alivardi Khan wanted him to do so. He studied with his two childhood friend Mir Madan, and Mohanlal.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •His first war in his whole life was at The age of 9 years with Alivardi Khan at the age of 71 years with just 2,500 soldiers against the army of Raghoji Bhonsle, and Bhaskar Pandit with 20,000 soldiers.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •During The Third Battle of Katwa, he defeated 32,000 soldiers of Sikh with just 5,000 specialised cavalry soldiers.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •During the First Battle of Siliguri He, and Alivardi Khan together with just 45,000 soldiers attacked, and defeated the 92,850 soldiers of Durrani Empire under Emperor Jahan-Bakht-Khan.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •During The Second Battle of Haldigram Commander Manikchand of Banga Jala Bahini (Bengal Navy) under Siraj with 45 vessels attacked, and defeated The East India Company Navy with 52 vessels, because of the technological advancement of the Bengal Navy.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: •During The Seige of Calcutta Siraj, and Mohanlal took just 50 soldiers, attacked, and defeated the 4,000 soldiers of East India Company in Fort William, Calcutta.


title: Siraj ud-Daulah

text: Siraj ud-Daulah received the title of "Mansur-ul-Mulk, Seraj-ud-Daulla, Ghaseti Begum"(Victory of the Country, Light of the State, Horror in War). He was to succeed as the Nawab of Bengal in April 1756 AD at the age of twenty seven. Siraj ud-Daulah's nomination to the nawabship caused jealousy and enmity of "Mehar-un-nisa Begum" or "Ghaseti Begum"(eldest sister of Siraj's Mother Amina Begum), Raja Rajballabh, Mir Jafar Ali Khan and "Shaukat Jang"(Siraj's Cousin). Ghaseti Begum possessed huge wealth, which was the source of her influence and strength. On Perceiving serious opposition from her, Siraj ud-Daulah seized her wealth from Moti Jheel Palace and placed her in confinement. The "nawab" also made certain changes in high government positions giving them to his own favorites.


title: Vertebrate brain

text: The vertebrate brain is the main part of the central nervous system. In vertebrates (and most other animals) the brain is at the front, in the head. It is protected by the skull and close to the main senses of vision, hearing, balance, taste, and smell. As an animal moves forward, its senses collect data about the surroundings, and that data goes directly to the brain.


title: Vertebrate brain

text: Brains are extremely complex. The brain controls the other organs of the body, either by activating muscles or by causing secretion of chemicals such as hormones and neurotransmitters. Muscular action allows rapid and coordinated responses to changes in the environment; hormones and the autonomic nervous system make slower changes in the body.


title: Vertebrate brain

text: In vertebrates, the spinal cord by itself can cause reflex responses as well as simple movement such as swimming or walking. However, sophisticated control of behaviour requires a centralized brain.


title: Vertebrate brain

text: The structure of all vertebrate brains is basically the same. At the same time, during the course of evolution, the vertebrate brain has undergone changes, and become more effective. In so-called 'lower' animals, most or all of the brain structure is inherited, and therefore their behaviour is mostly instinctive. In mammals, and especially in man, the brain is developed further during life by learning. This has the benefit of helping them fit better into their environment. The capacity to learn is seen best in the cerebral cortex.


title: Vertebrate brain

text: Several brain areas have kept their identities across the whole range of vertebrates, from hagfishes to humans. Here is a list of some of the most important areas, with a brief description of their functions as currently understood. These functions may still be disputed to some degree. Starting from the back (or, in humans, the underneath part) the regions are:


title: Vertebrate brain

text: The relationship between brain size, body size and other variables has been studied in a wide range of vertebrate species. Brain size increases with body size but not proportionally.


title: Vertebrate brain

text: Averaging across all mammals, it follows a power law, with an exponent of about 0.75. This formula applies to the average brain of mammals but each family departs from it, reflecting their sophistication of behavior. For example, primates have brains 5 to 10 times as large as the formula predicts. Predators tend to have larger brains. When the mammalian brain increases in size, not all parts increase at the same rate. The larger the brain of a species, the greater the fraction taken up by the neocortex.


title: Taro

text: Taro is a plant used as a vegetable. People eat its stem (corm) and its leaves. It is grown by people in Oceania. It is one of the earliest plants that people grew. It is poisonous when raw, but is safe to eat if it is cooked.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: Uttar Pradesh (, ) is a state in northern India. For short, people call it UP. Lucknow is the capital city of UP.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: The population of the state is 199,581,477 (census 2011). Uttar Pradesh has more people than any other state of India. It covers an area of 93,933 mi² (243,286 km²). It is bigger than the United Kingdom but smaller than Guinea. In traditional Indian geography it falls under the North Indian zone.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: Uttar Pradesh has a long border with Nepal to the north. Next to it are also the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. There are 3 geographical main regions:-


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: The climate of Uttar Pradesh is mostly subtropical. However weather conditions change a lot depending on where one lives and the season.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: "Temperature": The average temperatures vary from 12.5–17.5°C (54.5–63.5°F) in January to 27.5–32.5°C (81.5–90.5°F) in May and June. The highest temperature recorded in the State was 49.9°C (121.8°F). It was at Gonda on May 8, 1958.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: "Rainfall": Rainfall is between 1,000 and 2,000 mm (40–80 inches) in the east and between 600 and 1,000 mm (24–40 inches) in the west. Most of the rain is due to the southwest monsoon. It lasts from June to September. Consequently, floods are a problem during those seasons. They badly damage crops and property.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: "Snowfall": In the Himalayan region of the State it usually snows from 3 to 5 metres (10 to15 feet) between December and March.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: Airways: The state has four important airports and 23 air strips. They are in Agra, Kanpur,[Prayagraj],Lucknow and Varanasi. Lucknow is the biggest and most important airport of the state.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: Railways: Almost all the major cities and even some smaller cities are linked. The state has the largest railway network in the country. Its total length is 8,546 km (2006). It has the sixth largest railway density.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: Roadways: The state has the largest road network in the country. The biggest is Maharashtra. There are 31 National Highways (NH). In total they are of 4,942 km (8.5% of total NH length in India). It has the seventh highest road density in the India (1,027 km per 1000 km in 2002). It also has the largest surfaced urban road network in the country (50,721 km, as on 2002). Cities of Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Allahabad, Varanasi, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Mathura, Agra and Ghazipur are connected to many National Highways.


title: Uttar Pradesh

text: Waterways: The river Ganges - from Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) to Haldia (West Bengal) - has been declared as National Waterway (NW)-I and 600 km of the total NW-I lies in Uttar Pradesh.


title: Sportsperson

text: A sportsperson, also known as sportsmen or sportswomen, is a person who is involved in sports. It may mean someone who is known for the promotion of sport or athletic activities.


title: Sportsperson

text: A sportsperson can be a man or a woman who is person trained to compete or interested in a sport involving physical strength, speed or endurance. A sportsman is a player in a sport; but the term also means someone who plays sport in a way that shows respect and fairness towards the opposing player or team.


title: Sportsperson

text: The term sportsman can also be used to describe a former competitor who continues to promote the sport in later years. For example, Tsunekazu Takeda is a sportsman who competed in two Summer Olympic Games and who was the President of the Japanese Olympic Committee before he was elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2012.


title: Sportsperson

text: Sportspeople may be professionals or amateurs. Sportsmen and sportswomen often have particularly well-developed physiques obtained by extensive physical training and strict exercise accompanied by a strict dietary regimen, but term is also used more broadly. For example, Hou Yifan was honored in 2011 as the best sportsperson of the year in a non-Olympic event.


title: Sportsperson

text: The term athlete may be used as a synonym for sportspeople in general, but the word has strong connotations of people who compete in team sports, as contrasted with other sporting types such as horse riding and driving. For example, a fisherman may be called a sportsman, but not an athlete. In British English (as well as other variants in the Commonwealth) athlete can also have a more specific meaning of people who compete in traditional athletics (track and field) events.


title: Sportsperson

text: The term "World's Greatest Athlete" was first to describe the sportsman Jim Thorpe in the 1912 Summer Olympics at Stockholm in Sweden. Thorpe won the gold medal in the decathlon. When King Gustav V of Sweden awarded Thorpe, he said, "You, sir, are the greatest athlete in the world."


title: Sportsperson

text: The title of "World's Greatest Athlete" traditionally belongs to the world's top competitor in the decathlon (males) and heptathlon (females) in track and field. These competitions require an sportsman to possess the whole spectrum of athletic ability in order to be successful including speed, strength, coordination, jumping ability, and endurance.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Greek wrestling was a grappling combat sport practiced by the Ancient Greeks. A wrestler's objective (aim, goal) was to throw his opponent to the ground from a standing position. A point (or fall) was scored when a wrestler's back or shoulders touched the ground. Three points were needed to win a match. Holds were restricted to the upper body. Unlike modern wrestling, there were no weight divisions or time limits. As a result, the sport was dominated by large strong men and boys who could defeat smaller but more skillful opponents.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Each city had a place for wrestling, called a palaestra. Some large cities had several palaestrae. Wrestlers trained and competed in the nude. The sport was the first added to the Ancient Olympic Games that was not a footrace. Two ancient Greek wrestlers that are remembered today are Leontiskos of Messene and Milo of Croton. Leontiskos is infamous for winning the Olympics after breaking his opponent's fingers, and Milo is famous for winning five Olympic championships. Wrestling was a popular subject for Greek sculpture, painting, and literature.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Greek wrestling was known to the ancients as "orthe pale" ("upright (or erect) wrestling"). Legend says that Theseus of Athens invented wrestling. The wrestler's objective (aim) was to throw his opponent to the ground from a standing position. Holds were restricted to the upper body and pinning an opponent to the ground was unknown. Wrestling on the ground was permitted only in the sports known to the Greeks as "kato pale" ("ground wrestling") and "pankration".


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: A point was scored for a fall. A fall occurred when a wrestler's back or shoulders touched the ground. Three points were required to win a match. Wrestling was less rough than the pankration and required less space. As a result, it was the most popular sport among Greek athletes. It was an event in the pentathlon (and could be the deciding event) but it was a separate event as well, with the same techniques. Wrestling was mentioned numerous times in Greek literature, especially poetry.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The remains of a papyrus wrestling manual from the 2nd century AD reveal that the Greeks were familiar with headlocks, joint locks, shoulder holds, and other techniques used by modern wrestlers. Because there were no time limits to matches, some would end in draws. A wrestler could submit under a chokehold and "tap out". Wrestlers were sometimes killed in contest, but their opponents were never held responsible for homicide.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Wrestling was taught and practiced in a building called the "palaestra". There were many of these wrestling schools across Greece. The first palaestras were built about the 6th century BC. They were privately owned, but by the 5th century BC palaestras were being built at the public expense. Palaestras were built until the end of the Age of the Roman Empire. The ancient Greek scholar Plutarch writes that only wrestling and the pankration were taught and practiced in the palaestra. Boxing and other sports were taught and practiced in gymnasiums.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The palaestra consisted of a square or rectangular yard open to the sky. This yard was used for training and practice. The yard was surrounded by colonnades. During rainy weather, wrestling and the pankration were practiced under the colonnades. Rooms adjoining the colonnades were used for lectures, bathing, dressing and undressing, game playing, socializing, and the storage of equipment and olive oil. Gay sex was rampant in the palaestra, despite official efforts to curb it.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Greek athletes were the few athletes in the ancient world who practiced and competed naked. Homer's wrestlers in "Iliad" wore loincloths, but shortly after the Age of Homer, Greek athletes started to strip. It is not known why. Pausanias says athletes wanted to imitate Orsippos of Megara, a runner who won a footrace at Olympia in 720 BC after losing his loincloth. Dionysios of Halikarnassos and Thucydides credited a Spartan with the custom.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Other legends say that a runner tripped on his loincloth and officials banned it as unsafe. Some say that athletes stripped to prove that they were males, or because they could run better in the nude. Other reasons have been given: athletes stripped for erotic reasons, or for cult reasons, or for good luck, or as a democratic equalizer. Some say they stripped because they were proud of their muscular bodies and their tans.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The Greeks called the penis a "dog". Athletes sometimes used a cord called a "dog leash" to tie off the foreskin of the penis. It is unknown if this custom had sexual or aesthetic meanings. It appears to have been a matter of personal preference. Tying the foreskin is sometimes a subject in vase painting.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The Greek wrestler carried three items to the palaestra: an oil flask, a scraper, and a sponge. The oil flask ("aryballos") was a ceramic container with a wide lip and narrow mouth that held a wrestler's daily allotment of olive oil. These containers took a variety of shapes. Some were fashioned to resemble birds, animals, or human body parts such as the head, foot, or penis. Most were simply globes without a resting base.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The scraper ("strigil" or "stlengis") was a tool with a concave blade. It was made of bronze, silver, glass, or iron. It was used to scrape the accumulated olive oil and sweat ("gloios") from an athlete's body. The gloios was sold for its alleged medicinal value. It was used to treat inflammations of the joints, the vulva and anus, for genital warts and syphilitic lesions, muscle sprains, and pains. Once the sweat and oil was removed, the wrestler bathed using a sponge ("spongos").


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Heavy athleteswrestlers, pankratiasts, and boxersshared the same buildings, practiced the same exercises, used the same equipment (punching bags), and followed the same high-protein diets of meat. Wrestlers at Olympia once were given light boxing practice as a preparation for competition.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Wrestlers first rubbed their bodies with olive oil to keep sand out of their pores. The wrestler then dusted himself with a fine powder. He sometimes practiced with a partner to learn tactics, but, for the most part, wrestlers simply wrestled. Rhythm was important, so wrestlers practiced and competed to flute music. Unlike boxing and the pankration, wrestling practice was conducted at full bore. Wrestlers kept their hair cut short to avoid giving opponents something to grasp or wore a skullcap to keep their hair in place.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Wrestlers were paired by drawing lots ("kleroi"). These lots were about the size of a bean and marked with a letter. There were two lots for each letter. The lots were mixed in a pitcher. Each wrestler drew one lot and was paired with the wrestler who drew the same letter. If there was an odd number of wrestlers, the last letter would be marked on only one lot. The wrestler who drew it would not compete in the first round.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: A match began in a position known as the "standing together" ("systasis"). The wrestlers would lean into each other until their foreheads touched. From this position, each would try to throw his opponent to the ground. A wrestler might lunge forward gripping his opponent's shoulders or wrapping his arms around his opponent's torso in a "bear hug". The two might avoid close contact during the initial struggle, with each fighting for a grip on his opponent's legs or arms. Eventually, one would find the grip he needed to throw his opponent. A wrestler might try to grip the hands, wrists, or arms of his opponent and throw him with a sudden twist ("akrocheirismos"), or come to close quarters and gain a hold on the body.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: A match was divided into sections marked by "falls". The wrestlers re-engaged without an interval (break) after a fall. Sports scholars and historians are uncertain about what exactly constituted a fall. They agree however that it involved touching at least the shoulders or the back to the earth. Three falls were a victory and the match was ended.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: In "Combat Sports in the Ancient World", Michael Poliakoff points out that Greek wrestling was a brutal sport and tolerated some rough tactics. It was less brutal than the other two combat sportsthe pankration and boxingbut, while striking was forbidden and finger-breaking was eventually made illegal, some limb-threatening moves, neckholds, and strangleholds were permitted. Wrestling was considered a sport of craft because of its large number of leverages and holds. It was a sport that tested the "martial virtues: cunning, boldness, courage, self-reliance, and perseverance" Poliakoff writes, and the Greeks "expected that an accomplished and educated man would practice and enjoy wrestling as an adult."


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The wrestler's objective (aim) was to score a fall on his opponent. Touching the back or shoulders to the ground was a fall. There was no defined wrestling space such as a ring or circle and there was no time limit. Holds were limited to the upper body and foot tripping was permitted.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: There were no weight divisions in Greek wrestling; the sport was dominated by the large and strong. These men and boys could defeat a smaller but more skilled opponent simply by their size. Three falls were required for a win in formal competition. Five bouts were possible in a match. The ancients never awarded points for successful tactics, as in modern wrestling, and "pinning" or holding an opponent to the earth was unknown. Strangling or choking an opponent in order to force him to concede (admit) defeat was permitted.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Keeping an opponent in a hold from which he could not escape was also a fall, as was stretching a man full length on the ground. A wrestler could drop to one knee, but this was risky. Once two wrestlers fell to the earth together, it was sometimes difficult to determine exactly what was happening, and disputes arose. Throwing an opponent out of the "skamma" (wrestling pit) was not a fall, but counted as a victory nonetheless.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Three classic moves in Greek wrestling were the "flying mare", the "body hold", and fancy foot trips. In the flying mare, the wrestler would grip his opponent's arm, throw him over his shoulder, and send him to the ground flat on his back. In the body hold, a wrestler would grip his opponent about the waist, lift him in the air, flip him, and drop him head first to the ground. Elaborate foot trips would send a wrestler crashing to the ground, but old school wrestlers who relied on sheer strength scorned fancy foot trips. Punching, kicking, and gouging soft body areas were not allowed. A point was scored if a wrestler tapped out because of a submission hold. It was possible for a match to last for five rounds.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Wrestling was an event in the ancient Olympic Games. It was added to the Olympic program in 708 BC. It was the first competition added to the Olympics that was not a footrace. Boys' wrestling was added to the Olympic program in 632 BC. Wrestlers prayed to Herakles for strength and Hermes for speed. The wrestling competition was held in the stadium, not the Palaestra at Olympia.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Wrestling, boxing, and the "pankration" (the contact sports), were held on the fourth day of the Olympic festival. There were no weight divisions in Greek wrestling. The sixteen Olympic wrestlers were heavyweights with muscles "the size of boulders" according to one witness. Fans gave wrestlers nicknames that fit their physiques such as "the bear" or "the lion".


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: The ancient coach Philostratus thought an even temperament and fine physique were important for a wrestler. He liked a wrestler with a straight back, a solid thigh turned outwards, and wrote that "narrow buttocks are weak, fat ones slow, but well-formed buttocks are an asset for everything."


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Leontiskos was an Olympic wrestling champion in 456 and 452 BC. Although rules against breaking an opponent's fingers were made in the 6th century BC, Leontiskos won by using just this very tactic. Milo of Croton was another Olympic herothe only wrestler to win five Olympic championships. He was defeated in his sixth attempt when he was forty. The Olympic wrestler Polydamas was killed when he tried to hold up the roof of a cave during an earthquake.


title: Ancient Greek wrestling

text: Wrestlers were praised for their physical beauty. The inscription on the monument to Theognetos of Aegina reads:


title: Oil

text: Vegetable oils are made from plants. Many are used in foods and for cooking. Some kinds of plant oils that people use are palm oil, maize ("corn"), olive, peanut, soy, and sunflower.


title: Oil

text: Other kinds of oil are made from crude oil ("petroleum") which comes from under the ground. People use large oil wells to bring the oil up to the surface. The oil is sent in special ships called tankers or in pipelines to factories called refineries where it is distilled into LPG, gasoline ("petrol"), diesel fuel, and fuel oil. Plastics are among the Petrochemicals made from crude oil or natural gas. Oils from crude oil are also used as fuels for engines or as lubricants to make the parts of machines work together without sticking or stopping.


title: Oil

text: Different kinds of oils are also used for many other things, for example to make cosmetics, medicines, paints, and detergents, like washing up liquids. Soap(s) are similar to detergents, but they are generally made from animal fat(s) rather than oils.


title: Louis XVI

text: Louis XVI (23 August 1754 21 January 1793) was the King of France from 1774 until 1792, when the monarchy was abolished during the French Revolution. His overthrow and execution ended a monarchy that was over 1,000 years old, although he was not the last French king.