title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin loved books and reading. Franklin, at the age of 21, established the colonies' first circulation library for all interested citizens. He became rich and famous as a printer, publisher and writer. Later, he sold his businesses and became busy with science and politics.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Benjamin Franklin was very important in Pennsylvanian and early American politics. He was a leader in the city of Philadelphia, where he did many important things. He was the President of the Academy and College of Philadelphia. Later he became a councilman, a Justice of the Peace, later a representative of the city. He also started one of the first public libraries in Philadelphia. He was for many years the postmaster of Philadelphia, and in 1753 became Postmaster General of the Thirteen Colonies. In 1757 he went to live in London as agent for Pennsylvania and later for other colonies.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: He was in the Continental Congress, which led the country during the Revolutionary War, and he helped write the United States Declaration of Independence. He controlled the postal service as Postmaster General. As ambassador to France he helped persuade the French to join the war against Great Britain. He helped negotiate the peace, too. Later, he was part of the group that made the Constitution of the United States.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin called himself a printer, but is also known for his writings. Among some of the more well known are Poor Richard's Almanack, and the Pennsylvanian.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Franklin was a scientist who studied experiments in an effort to improve or correct them. One of his greatest contributions was in the theory of electricity.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Most people see Franklin as one of history's greatest inventors. For example, he invented the lightning rod and bifocals, the Franklin stove, and the glass harmonica.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: Benjamin Franklin owned slaves and printed ads to help slavers find runaway slaves in his newspaper. Eventually, he changed his mind and became an abolitionist. But he still made a lot of money from slavery.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (where he lived) marked his three hundredth birthday in 2006. Many streets and a few towns are named for him.


title: Benjamin Franklin

text: A picture of Franklin has been on the United States' hundred-dollar bill since 1928. He was also on the fifty-cent coin for 15 years.


title: Automobile

text: An automobile (or car) is a land vehicle used to carry passengers. Automobiles usually have four wheels, and an engine or motor to make them move.


title: Automobile

text: The word "automobile" comes from the Greek prefix "αυτό" (self) and the Latin word "mobilis" (moving). This name means "self-moving", as cars run on their own power and do not need horses or other power from outside to move.


title: Automobile

text: Automobiles are made in different shapes and sizes, for people with different needs. Here are some common types.


title: Automobile

text: To make an automobile move, it must have energy to turn the wheels. This energy might be chemical energy in gasoline or electrical energy in a battery. How quickly the engine or motor can send the energy to the wheels, and how much energy is sent, is called the power of the motor. The power of an automobile is usually measured in kilowatts or horsepower.


title: Automobile

text: As of 2019, most automobile burn a fuel to make an internal combustion engine (sometimes called a "motor") run. The power from the engine then goes to the wheels through a transmission, which has a set of gears that can make the automobile go faster or slower. The most common fuel is petrol, which is called ""gasoline"" or ""gas"" in American English.


title: Automobile

text: Gasoline is called a fossil fuel because it comes from tiny fossils that were made millions of years ago. Over millions of years, they turned into oil, which was then drilled up from deep inside the Earth, and then turned into fuel by chemical changes. Old gasoline-powered automobiles are noisy and their exhaust makes city air dirty, which can make people ill. But automobiles made after the mid-2010s are cleaner.


title: Automobile

text: Burning gasoline, like any kind of fossil fuel, makes carbon dioxide, which makes global warming. Since 2017, less gasoline powered automobiles are being made, and some places will not allow gasoline-powered automobiles in future, like Amsterdam in 2030.


title: Automobile

text: The cleanest automobiles are electric vehicles. They are usually plugged into a power outlet or a charging station and store electricity in a battery at the bottom of the automobile. The electricity then drives an electric motor, which turns the wheels. Some electric automobiles have 2 motors: one at the front, and one at the back. A few have 4 motors (one for each wheel).


title: Automobile

text: Some automobiles burn diesel fuel, which is used in big trucks and buses, and a few use wood gas. In some countries, such as Brazil and Sweden, a mixture of ethanol and gasoline, called ""gasohol"" in Brazil and ""E85"" in Sweden, is used as automobile fuel. Other fuels include propane, natural gas, compressed air, and ethanol (which comes from plants). There are automobiles designed to run on more than one type of fuel — these are called ""flex-fuel"" and are rare.


title: Automobile

text: A few automobiles generate electricity from hydrogen fuel cells (like the Honda Clarity). As of 2019, most of the hydrogen that people use comes from burning fossil fuels, but scientists and engineers are trying to make hydrogen from renewable energy a lot cheaper and easier to use.Some automobiles even use solar cells for their electricity, but they are not very practical. There is a competition every year where people try to design a automobile that can last the longest and go the farthest on solar energy alone.


title: Automobile

text: There is also a type of automobile that uses both an engine and an electric motor. This is called a hybrid electric vehicle; an example is the Toyota Prius.


title: Automobile

text: All automobiles have brakes which work by friction to stop the automobile quickly in an emergency or stop it rolling when parked. Electric automobiles also have "regenerative" brakes, which slow the automobile by turning the energy in its movement back into electricity, like an electric motor working the opposite way. So "regenerative" means the electricity is generated again.


title: Automobile

text: The earliest recorded automobiles were actually steam engines attached to wagons in the late 18th century. The steam engines were heavy, making these wagons slow and hard to control. Better and faster steam automobiles became common late in the 19th century.


title: Automobile

text: Some automobiles in the early 20th century were powered by electricity. They were slow and heavy and went out of use until the idea came back later in the century.


title: Automobile

text: The internal combustion engine changed the way many automobiles were powered. The engine used either gasoline, diesel, or kerosene to work. When the fuel is exploded in a cylinder it pushes the piston down and turns the wheels.


title: Automobile

text: Although many people tried to make a good automobile that would work and sell well, people say that Karl Benz invented the modern automobile. He used a four-stroke type of internal combustion engine to power his "Benz Patent-Motorwagen" in 1886. He began to make many automobiles in a factory and sell them in Germany in 1888.


title: Automobile

text: In North America, the first modern automobile was made by brothers Charles and J. Frank Duryea in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Duryea brothers' automobile also won the first-ever car race in 1895, competing against automobiles made by Benz. The race was in Chicago, Illinois, and 53 miles long. The Duryeas then began making the first automobiles for everyday use in 1896. That year, they made 13 automobiles by hand in Springfield, Massachusetts.


title: Automobile

text: Benz may have invented the first modern automobile, and the Duryeas the first automobile to be sold, but Henry Ford sold the most automobiles to the most people. In 1910 he began making and selling his Model T, which was a huge success. Many people could afford this automobile, not just the rich, because Ford used mass production. This meant he made many Model Ts in a short time in a factory. People say that the Model T is the automobile that "put America on wheels". The Model T was the most popular automobile of the time because it was cheap but it was still a good quality automobile that ordinary people could own.


title: Automobile

text: Since then, many different kinds of automobiles have been designed and built, from minivans to sports cars. In the 1950s, the United States made and used more automobiles than all the rest of the world. Fifty years later, China became the largest maker and user of automobiles.


title: Automobile

text: Automobiles are faster than walking or riding a bike if you are going a long way. They can carry more than one person and a large amount of luggage. Depending on local public transport quality, they can also be faster and far more convenient than using buses, bicycles or trains, and can often go where public transport cannot. 4-wheel drive "off road" vehicles are particularly good at reaching places difficult for other wheeled transport due to bad roads or harsh terrain. However, they cost more and burn more fuel, and there are many places even they cannot go.


title: Automobile

text: Most automobiles enclose people and cargo in a closed compartment with a roof, doors and windows, thus giving protection from weather. Modern automobiles give further protection in case of collisions, as they have added safety features such as seat belts, airbags, crumple zones and side-impact protection that would be expensive or impossible on two-wheeled or light 3-wheeled vehicles, or most buses.


title: Automobile

text: With regular check ups and service, automobiles can last a very long time. In some countries like Australia, people have to get their automobile checked by authorised mechanics regularly by law to confirm that their automobile is safe to drive. They can go to an automobile mechanic to get their automobile checked or have a mobile mechanic come to them to repair their automobile.


title: Automobile

text: Buying and running a automobile needs a lot of money, especially for newer good-quality automobiles. There are things to pay for — the automobile itself, fuel, parts (for example, tyres), maintenance, repairs, insurance to cover the cost of crashes or theft, parking charges, and toll roads and any taxes or licensing fees charged by the government.


title: Automobile

text: When automobiles crash, they can become damaged and hurt people, and the life of a person is more important than keeping a automobile from damage. When too many automobiles try to go the same way, traffic congestion slows them all. Automobiles can cause air pollution if too many are used in a small area like a city, and the combined pollution of the world's automobiles is partly to blame for climate change. Many places where people live close together have public transportation such as buses, trains, trams and subways. These can help people go more quickly and cheaply than by automobile when traffic jams are a problem. Some of these problems can be made smaller, for example by carpooling, which is putting many people together in one automobile.


title: Automobile

text: Traffic congestion and accidents can be dangerous to other road users, for example people riding bicycles or walking, especially in an old town built when automobiles were few. Some 20th century towns are designed for automobiles as the main transport. This can cause other problems, such as even more pollution and traffic, as few, if any, people walk. Communities are divided and separated by big roads. Pedestrians are in danger where there are too few foot bridges, small road bridges or other special crossings.


title: Baobab

text: Baobab is the common name of a genus of trees (Adansonia). There are a total of eight types of its kind: six species live in the drier parts of Madagascar, two in mainland Africa, one in Australia and three in India. It is the national tree of Madagascar.


title: Baobab

text: Other common names include 'boab', 'boaboa', 'bottle tree', 'the tree of life', 'upside-down tree', and 'monkey bread tree'. The trees reach heights of 5 to 30 meters (16 to 98 ft) and trunk diameters of 7 to 11 meters (23 to 36 ft.). Its trunk can hold up to 120,000 liters of water. For most of the year, the tree is leafless, and looks very much like it has its roots sticking up in the air.


title: Baobab

text: Baobabs are one of the largest and most important trees in all of where they grow, as they are able to provide shelter and wood. The leaves of the tree are used for making soup and the tree has some medicinal purposes in some regions of Africa for treating ailments such as wounds, diarrhea, asthma, fever, and malaria.


title: Baobab

text: The trees are long-lived, but just how long is disputed. The owners of Sunland Farm in Limpopo, South Africa have built a pub called "The Big Baobab Pub" inside the hollow trunk of the high tree. The tree is 47 m (155 ft) in circumference, and is said to have been carbon dated at over 6,000 years old.


title: Baobab

text: The baobab tree is known as the tree of life, with good reason. It can provide shelter, clothing, food, and water for the animal and human inhabitants of the African savannah regions. The cork-like bark and huge stem are fire resistant and are used for making cloth and rope. The leaves are used as condiments and medicines. The fruit, called "monkey bread", is edible, and full of vitamin C. As of 2010 experts estimate the potential international market at a billion dollars($US) a year.


title: Baobab

text: The fruit has a velvety shell and is about the size of a coconut, weighing about . It has a somewhat acidic flavour, described as 'somewhere between grapefruit, pear, and vanilla'.


title: Baobab

text: The tree can store hundreds of liters of water, which is an adaptation to the harsh drought conditions of its environment. The tree may be tapped in dry periods.


title: Baobab

text: Mature trees are usually hollow, providing living space for many animals and humans. Trees are even used as bars, barns, wine and beer shops and more.


title: Happiness

text: Happiness is a feeling of pleasure and positivity. When someone feels good, proud, excited, relieved or satisfied about something, that person is said to be "happy". Feeling happy may help people to relax and to smile.


title: Happiness

text: Happiness is usually thought of as the opposite of sadness. However, it is very possible to feel both at once, often about different things, or sometimes even about the same thing You will feel some excited too when you are happy. Happiness can also be inspired too.


title: Happiness

text: Many philosophers have said that people in the world go back and forth between times of happiness and sadness, but there is nobody who is always happy or always sad. Happiness sometimes causes people to cry when they laugh because the emotion takes control of them, people should learn how to be happy in life. Happiness was thought of as the key to love in ancient civilizations such as the Incas and the Mayans.


title: Absolute truth

text: Absolute truth is something that is true at all times and in all places. It is something that is always true no matter what the circumstances. It is a fact that cannot be changed. For example, there are no round squares. There are also no square circles. The angles of a triangle add up to 180 degrees. These are all true by definition. Very similar are the propositions of Euclid, because they are proved once the axioms are accepted. One way or another, these are all truths because they are logically true. Absolute truths are discovered, not invented. They exist in all cultures.


title: Absolute truth

text: According to Martin Luther (the reformer), "I shall never be a heretic; I may err in dispute, but I do not wish to decide anything finally; on the other hand, I am not bound by the opinions of men." This means that if truth is not absolute it is not truth at all. Interestingly enough, Aristotle states that, “The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think.” So if we consider ourselves to be wise individuals, our concern should be to find the truth not to submit to opinions.


title: Absolute truth

text: "In two national surveys conducted by Barna Research, one among adults and one among teenagers, people were asked if they believe that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging or that moral truth is relative to the circumstances. By a 3-to-1 margin (64% vs. 22%) adults said truth is always relative to the person and their situation. The perspective was even more lopsided among teenagers, 83% of whom said moral truth depends on the circumstances, and only 6% of whom said moral truth is absolute."


title: Absolute truth

text: Quite different are empirical truths. All the findings of science are empirical: they are based on evidence, and might be wrong or incomplete. Also, we can be wrong about what we think we see or experience. Of course, we rely on science and our senses in practical life. That does not alter the fact that absolute truth is only to be found inside a well-defined logical system. That kind of truth may, or may not, correspond to the real world.


title: Rust Belt

text: "Rust Belt" is a term that refers to an area of the northern United States. The area is mostly the states near the Great Lakes, and some of them are considered to be Midwest states. This area was once known for steel production and heavy industry. That industry has greatly decreased since the middle of the 20th century. As the name might imply, the area has sort of turned to "rust", like what happens to old steel. Much of this decrease in industry is because of the United States using manufacturers from other countries. It became an Industrial hub because of its proximity to The Great Lakes, canals, and rivers which companies used to access raw materials and ship out products.


title: Rust Belt

text: Most Rust Belt cities, for example, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Youngstown, Ohio, have had a very large decrease in their population since the 1950s and 1960s.


title: Machu Picchu

text: The Incas built the city on a mountain ridge, 2430m above sea level. They lived there between 1200 and 1450 AD. Other people lived there before about 650 AD.


title: Machu Picchu

text: The Incas built houses, fields and temples by cutting the rock on the mountain so it was flat. They built an observatory to look at the stars.


title: Machu Picchu

text: When the Spanish invaded Peru, the Incas left Machu Picchu. Nobody knows for sure why they did that, but some think it was because of diseases from Europe. The city was left unfinished, most likely due to the Spanish invasion and/or a civil war between the ruling rival Inca brothers named Huascar and Atahualpa. The Spanish never found Machu Picchu or the lost city during their occupation.


title: Machu Picchu

text: Machu Picchu is very difficult to get to because it is so high in the mountains. It has only one way in and a stone wall to protect it. Most people on Earth did not know it was there until a Yale graduate named Hiram Bingham rediscovered it in 1911. He heard rumours of a hidden city which was already known to the native Peruvians, who guided him there. He led a restoration project that was partly funded by the National Geographic Society. Bingham made a deal with the government to take artifacts to the Peabody Museum for study. Peru is still trying to have those artifacts returned to them.


title: Machu Picchu

text: Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. In 2007, Machu Picchu was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a worldwide Internet poll.


title: Machu Picchu

text: Today, there is a new road so that tourists can visit. People can also walk along the Inca Trail, or take a train from Cusco.


title: Megalomania

text: Megalomania is a mental illness. People with megalomania have delusional fantasies that they are more relevant (important) or powerful than they truly are. They have inflated self esteem and overestimate their powers and beliefs. People with megalomania more than often showcase disposition towards humbleness.


title: Megalomania

text: The word "megalomania" is no longer used in the mental health field, and is not mentioned in either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) or the International Statistical Classification of Diseases (ICD). Instead, this condition is now called narcissistic personality disorder. The condition affects both men and women.


title: Megalomania

text: The word "megalomania" comes from two Greek words: "μεγαλο" (megalo-), meaning large or great, and "μανία" (mania), meaning madness or frenzy.


title: Oman

text: Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country in the southwestern part of Asia, on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea to the south and east, and the Gulf of Oman to the northeast. The capital is Muscat.


title: Oman

text: The country is a monarchy, ruled by a Sultan, and the people are called Omanis. Right now, the sultan is Haitham bin Tariq Al Said. For a long time, the British have supported the sultans of Oman. In the 1960s and 1970s, some Omanis started a revolution to overthrow the sultan and end oppression, but the sultan defeated them with the help of Great Britain.


title: Oman

text: Oman has a hot climate and very little rainfall. Annual rainfall in Muscat averages , falling mostly in January. Dhofar is subject to the southwest monsoon, and rainfall up to has been recorded in the rainy season from late June to October. While the mountain areas receive more rainfall, some parts of the coast, particularly near the island of Masirah, sometimes receive no rain at all within the course of a year. The climate generally is very hot, with temperatures reaching around (peak) in the hot season, from May to September.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan (; officially called the Republic of Azerbaijan) is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. It is next to Russia in the north, Georgia, Armenia in the west, Iran in the south, and Caspian Sea on the east. Its capital city is Baku.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan also includes the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, an enclave, which is next to Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan's land is both in Asia and Europe. This means it is a Eurasian country. Because Azerbaijan is close to Europe and its history is related to Europe, Azerbaijan is a member of a number of European groups, including the Council of Europe since 2001. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries. They have membership in 38 international organizations. On May 9, 2006 Azerbaijan was elected to membership in the newly made Human Rights Council by the United Nations General Assembly.


title: Azerbaijan

text: More than 90% of the people are ethnic Azerbaijanis. Minorities include Russians, Georgians and other minorities. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not say there is an official religion. But, Shia Islam, is by far the largest religion in the country, followed by Sunni Islam. There are also a small number of Christians (mainly Eastern Orthodox), Jews (mainly Ashkenazi), agnostics and atheists.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan was historically part of Iran and the name of Azerbaijan comes from "Atropates". He was a Persian satrap under the Achaemenid Empire.


title: Azerbaijan

text: After the Arab conquest in the 7th century the country has been always under Muslim influence, when its people became Muslim, until the Russian Empire entered the Caucasus region.


title: Azerbaijan

text: From 1920 to 1991, Azerbaijan was a Communist country, and as the Azerbaijan SSR, a member of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan became independent from the Soviet Union when it collapsed in 1991.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Since the early 19th century many Russians settled in Azerbaijan, but after the end of the Soviet Union with the independence of Azerbaijan, most Russians and other minorities have left the country and are continuing to leave the country.


title: Azerbaijan

text: There are 106 species of mammals, 97 species of fish, 363 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians and 52 species of reptiles which have been recorded and classified in Azerbaijan. The national animal of Azerbaijan is the Karabakh horse. It is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse native to Azerbaijan. It is one of the oldest breeds, with ancestry dating to the ancient world. However today the horse is an endangered species.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan's flora is more than 4,500 species of higher plants. Due the unique climate in Azerbaijan, the flora is much richer in the number of species than the flora of the other countries of the South Caucasus. About 67 percent of the species growing in the whole Caucasus can be in Azerbaijan.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Many Azerbaijanis have some form of higher education, most notably in scientific and technical subjects. According to Soviet data, 100 percent of males and females (ages nine to forty-nine) were literate (able to read) in 1970. In 2009, the literacy rate in Azerbaijan was 99.5 percent.


title: Azerbaijan

text: The culture of Azerbaijan has come about as a result of many influences. Today, Western influences, including globalized consumer culture, are strong. National traditions are well kept in the country. Some of the main parts of the Azerbaijani culture are: music, literature, folk dances and art, cuisine, architecture, and movies.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Music of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that goes back nearly a thousand years. Among national musical instruments there are 14 string instruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind instruments.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Mugham, meykhana and Ashiq are some of the many musical traditions of Azerbaijan. Mugham is music with poetry and instrumental interludes. When performing Mugham, the singers have to bring their emotions into singing and music. Mugham singer Alim Qasimov is one of the five best singers of all time. Meykhana is a song with no music. It is usually done by several people. They make up the words about a particular subject. Ashiq joins poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal and instrumental music. It is as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan was at the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time in 2008. They hosted the contest in 2012, in Baku.


title: Azerbaijan

text: There are dozens of Azerbaijani folk dances. They are performed at formal festivals. The dancers wear national clothes like the Chokha. Most dances have a very fast rhythm.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijani architecture typically joins East and West. Many ancient treasures such as the Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvanshahs in the Walled City of Baku survive in modern Azerbaijan. Plans have been shown for the building of the Azerbaijan Tower. It will reportedly replace the Burj Khalifa as the tallest building in the world. The planned height is .


title: Azerbaijan

text: The movie industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. In fact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involved in making movies. In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its freedom from the Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festival East-West was held in Baku.


title: Azerbaijan

text: The traditional food is famous for many vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Fresh herbs, including mint, cilantro (coriander), dill, basil, parsley, tarragon, leeks, chives, thyme, marjoram, green onion, and watercress, are very popular. They are often served with main dishes on the table. National dishes show the variety of the landscape. They are based on fish from the Caspian Sea, local meat (mainly mutton and beef), and the many seasonal vegetables and greens. Saffron-rice plov is the flagship food in Azerbaijan and black tea is the national beverage.


title: Azerbaijan

text: The earliest known person in Azerbaijani literature was Hasanoghlu or Pur Hasan Asfaraini. He made a divan of Persian and Turkic ghazals. Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in 14th century. Among the poets of this period were Gazi Burhanaddin and Haqiqi. The famed Book of Dede Korkut has two manuscripts copied in the 16th century. It is a collection of 12 stories showing the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads.


title: Azerbaijan

text: In the span of the 17th century and 18th century, Fizuli's unique types as well Ashik poetry were taken up by poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz and Shah Abbas Sani.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Sport in Azerbaijan is very old. Even now, both traditional and modern sports are still practiced. Freestyle wrestling has been traditionally said to be Azerbaijan's national sport. The most popular sports in Azerbaijan are football and chess. The national football team does not do well in international competitions. On March 19, 2010, Azerbaijan won the bid to host the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Futsal is another popular sport in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan national futsal team got fourth place in 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Backgammon plays a major role in Azerbaijani culture. This game is very popular in Azerbaijan and is widely played by the local public.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Out of 9,165,000 people (July 2011), nearly 52% were urban. The remaining 48% were rural. 51% of the people were female.


title: Azerbaijan

text: Azerbaijan is divided into 10 economic regions; 66 rayons and 77 cities. 11 cities are under the direct authority of the republic. Azerbaijan includes the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The President of Azerbaijan picks the governors of these units. The government of Nakhchivan is elected and approved by the parliament of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.


title: Azerbaijan

text: The economy of Azerbaijan is based on industry, agriculture, and on services including tourism. The energy sector based on the large reserves of crude oil and natural gas, is the main source of economic growth in Azerbaijan today, though half of the Azerbaijani people earn their income directly or indirectly through services and a third earn their income through agriculture. The energy boom has led to massive foreign direct investment and the growth rate of the Azerbaijani economy is one of the world's highest.


title: Azerbaijan

text: After gaining independence in 1991 with the end of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan made the long and difficult change from a command economy to a market economy. The government has largely completed privatization of agricultural lands and small, medium and large state-owned companies. Azerbaijan is continuing making economic reforms, and old economic ties and structures have been slowly replaced. With independence, Azerbaijan became a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Azerbaijan's currency is the Azerbaijani manat (AZN) which is divided into 100 qəpik. It became the national currency in 1992 and replaced the old Soviet ruble. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan was created in 1992. The Central Bank serves as Azerbaijan's central bank, and is responsible for printing and distributing the national currency, the Azerbaijani manat, and to control all commercial banks.


title: Nauru

text: Nauru, ( ) officially the Republic of Nauru, is a sovereign island nation in the Micronesian South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in the Republic of Kiribati, east. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just , the smallest independent republic, and the only republican state in the world without an official capital. With 10,670 residents, it is the third least-populated country after Vatican City and Tuvalu.


title: Nauru

text: Nauru is a phosphate rock island, and its main economic activity since 1907 has been the export of phosphate mined from the island. English and Nauruan are the official languages of Nauru. The current president of Nauru is Lionel Aingimea.


title: Nauru

text: Nauru is a oval-shaped island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, south of the equator. The island is surrounded by a coral reef, which can be seen during low tide. Because of this coral reef, a harbor can not be built here. Canals in the reef let small boats get to the island. A fertile coastal strip wide lies inland from the beach.


title: Nauru

text: Coral cliffs surround Nauru's central plateau. The highest point of the plateau, called the Command Ridge, is above sea level. The only fertile areas on Nauru are on the narrow coastal belt, where coconut palms flourish. The land surrounding Buada Lagoon supports bananas, pineapples, vegetables, pandanus trees, and indigenous hardwoods such as the tomano tree.


title: Nauru

text: Nauru was one of three great phosphate rock islands in the Pacific Ocean (the others were Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati and Makatea in French Polynesia). The phosphate reserves on Nauru are now almost entirely used up. Phosphate mining in the central plateau has left a barren terrain of jagged limestone pinnacles up to high. Mining has stripped and devastated about 80 per cent of Nauru's land area, and has also affected the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone. About 40 per cent of marine life has been killed by silt and phosphate runoff.


title: Nauru

text: There are only about 60 native vascular plant species on the island. Coconut farming, mining, and introduced species have damaged the island's native vegetation. There are no native land mammals, but there are native insects, land crabs, and birds, including the Nauru Reed Warbler. The Polynesian rat, cats, dogs, pigs, and chickens have been introduced to Nauru from ships.


title: Nauru

text: There are only a few fresh water sources on Nauru. Storage tanks collect rainwater, but the islanders usually have to rely on desalination plants at Nauru's Utilities Agency.


title: Nauru

text: The island's biggest problems are climate change and rising sea levels. Nauru is the seventh most global warming threatened nation due to flooding. At least 80 per cent of the land of Nauru is well elevated, but this area will be uninhabitable until the phosphate mining rehabilitation programme is implemented


title: Nauru

text: Nauru's climate is hot and very humid year-round because of how close it is to the equator and the ocean. Nauru is hit by monsoon rains between November and February, but does not usually have cyclones. How much rain there is every year is highly variable, and is influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. There have been many droughts in Nauru because of this. The temperature on Nauru ranges between and during the day, and between and at night.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks

text: Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group. It was created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group is made up of three animated chipmunks who sing and talk. They are Alvin, Simon and Theodore. The trio is managed by a fictional man named Dave Seville, who adopted the chipmunks. In reality, "David Seville" was Bagdasarian's stage name, and the chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their original record label. The characters became a success, and were recreated in animated cartoons and eventually movies.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks

text: The voices of the group were all done by Bagdasarian. He recorded his voice and then sped up the playback to create high-pitched voices. It was so unusual and well-done that it earned the record two Grammy Awards for musical engineering. Bagdasarian, performing as the Chipmunks, released a long series of albums and singles. Bagdasarian died in 1972. The characters were revived in the 1980s and 1990s, with the voices being performed by Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and his wife Janice Karman.


title: Alvin and the Chipmunks

text: A computer-animated movie based on the characters was released in 2007, called "Alvin and the Chipmunks". It had three sequels: , and . The actors Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney performed the talking voices of the Chipmunks. Bagdasarian, Jr. and Karman performed the singing voices for Alvin, Theodore and the Chipettes, but Steve Vining does Simon's singing voice. The project has earned five Grammy Awards, an American Music Award, a Golden Reel Award, and three Kids' Choice Awards, and has been nominated for three Emmy awards.


title: Nintendo 64

text: The Nintendo 64 (commonly abbreviated N64) was the third home video game console released by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in June 1996 and was meant to compete against the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. The Nintendo 64 was Nintendo's first console made for 3D graphics. It uses plastic cartridges instead of CDs or disks, making load times faster. Because of this, the games cost more to make. The controller for the Nintendo 64 was shaped like an "M" and had 10 buttons and a joystick. Sony used the N64 joystick design to make their DualShock PlayStation controller. Out of the box, the Nintendo 64 had 4 MB of RAM, and it could be upgraded to 8 MB with the expansion pak.


title: Nintendo 64

text: Because making games for the Nintendo 64 was more expensive than making games for the PlayStation, many video game companies chose develop for the PlayStation instead. Nintendo also did not like games that had a lot of blood or violence in them. Companies who made these kinds of games made them for the PlayStation instead. However, some game makers did make some violent games for the Nintendo 64, such as Rare's first-person shooter "Perfect Dark". Nintendo lost its lead over Sega and Sony because of these two things. Production for the system ceased in Japan in 2002 and in 2003 worldwide.


title: Nintendo 64

text: 5.54 million Nintendo 64 units were sold in Japan, 20.63 million in the Americas, and 6.75 million in other regions, a total of 32.93 million units.


title: Sociology

text: Sociology is the study of societies and how humans act in groups. Sociology is a social science. People who study sociology are called sociologists. A society is the community of people living in a particular country or region and having shared customs, laws, and organizations.


title: Sociology

text: Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès in 1780 was first to use the term. The problems caused by the change to an industrial society, where many people moved to cities and worked in factories, were an early focus of sociology. Auguste Comte, Max Weber and Émile Durkheim were leading figures in the study of social phenomena. Themes included: community, authority, status, alienation and lack of power.


title: Sociology

text: In the 2000s, some sociologists look at such things as: race, ethnicity, class, gender, the family and social interaction. They also study the breakdown of social structures; crime and divorce.


title: Sociology

text: Sociologists research the structures that organize society, such as race, gender (whether a person is male or female), and social classes (rich or poor). They study the family and examine problems such as crime and drug abuse.


title: Sociology

text: Most sociologists work in one or more specialty areas or "sub-fields". Sociology includes many sub-fields that examine different aspects of society. For example, social stratification studies inequality and class structure in society. The field of demography studies changes in population size or type. Criminology examines criminal behavior and crime. Political sociology studies government and laws. Sociology of race and sociology of gender examine how people think about race and gender.


title: Sociology

text: Many sociologists also do research outside of the university. Their research is supposedly intended to help teachers, lawmakers, and government administrators to make better institutions, government programs, and rules.


title: Sociology

text: Sociologists often use statistics to count and measure patterns in how people act or behave. Sociologists also interview people or hold group discussions to find out why people behave in certain ways. Some sociologists combine different research methods.


title: Sociology

text: Social analysis has been done since the time of Plato. Sociology became accepted as a type of science in the early 1800s. European cities were changing as many people moved into cities and began working in factories. Sociologists tried to understand how people interacted and how groups interacted.


title: Sociology

text: The word "sociology" was invented by French thinker Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès in 1780. Early thinkers who wrote about sociology included Auguste Comte and Max Weber.


title: Sociology

text: Sociology was taught in a university for the first time at the University of Kansas in 1890. The first European department of sociology was founded in 1895 at the University of Bordeaux by Émile Durkheim. The first sociology department to be established in Britain was at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1904. In 1919 a sociology department was established in Germany at the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich by Max Weber.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949–December 2, 1993) was a Colombian drug lord. He is known as one of the "World's Greatest Outlaws". Escobar was the hardest cocaine dealer to catch. He is probably the richest and most successful criminal in world history. Some sources say that he was the second richest criminal ever, after Amado Carrillo Fuentes. In 1989, "Forbes" magazine said that Escobar was the seventh richest man in the world. The magazine said that he had about US $25 billion. He owned many luxury residences and automobiles. In 1986, he entered Colombian politics with success. He had to stop his political career because he was charged as criminal


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Escobar was born in Rionegro in Antioquia, Colombia. He was the third of seven children to Abel de Jesus Escobar and Hemilda Gaviria. His father was a farmer and his mother an elementary school teacher. Escobar and his family lived in an adobe hut. They had no electricity and no running water. Pablo Escobar and his brother's school once sent them home because they had no shoes and no money to buy them. Pablo Escobar studied political science at a university nearby. He had to stop studying because he could not pay the fees. This was when he began his criminal career. He started to steal gravestones and removed the words from them to resell them. His brother, Roberto Escobar, said that this was not the truth. He said that the gravestones came from cemetery owners whose clients had stopped paying for site care. Escobar then studied for a short time at the University of Antioquia.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: After this, Pablo started doing whatever else he could do to make money. He sold illegal cigarettes and fake lottery tickets. He even stole money from people when they left the bank. At the age of 20, he was already a famous car thief. In the early 1970s, he was a thief and bodyguard. He made $100,000 for kidnapping an executive from Medellín. Then he entered the drug trade. His next aim was to become a millionaire. Therefore, Escobar worked for the multi-millionaire and smuggler, Alvaro Prieto. Escobar became a millionaire at the age of 22.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: The book "The Accountant's Story" which Pablo Escobar's brother published, Roberto Escobar, discusses how his brother became rich. It explains how he rose from poverty. The book also says how Escobar became one of the richest men of the world. He led the largest and most successful criminal enterprise in world history. At times, the Medellín drug cartel was smuggling 15 tons of cocaine a day. This was worth more than half a billion dollars. They sent it to the United States and sold it there. According to Roberto Escobar, Pablo Escobar's accountant, they spent $2,500 a month for buying rubber bands to wrap the stacks of cash. They had more illegal money than they could store in banks. Therefore, they stored the bricks of cash in their warehouses. About 10% were destroyed each year because of rats.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: In 1975, Escobar started to develop his cocaine trade. He even flew a plane himself several times, mainly between Colombia and Panama. He smuggled a plane load into the United States. Escobar later bought 15 newer and bigger airplanes (including a Learjet) and 6 helicopters. .


title: Pablo Escobar

text: There were no drug cartels then and only a few drug barons. There was a lot of business for everyone. They bought the cocaine paste in Peru. They refined it in a laboratory in a two-story house in Medellín. At first, they smuggled the cocaine in old planes. The pilot could earn as much as £500,000 for each flight depending on how much he could smuggle.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Soon the demand for cocaine in the United States increased. Escobar started to organize more smuggling ships and routes. He also improved the sale networks in South Florida, California and other parts of the USA. Escobar and Carlos Lehder worked together to develop a new drug center in the Bahamas, called Norman's Cay. Lehder and Robert Vesco bought most of the land on the island. This included an airstrip, a harbor, hotels, houses and boats. They also built a warehouse to store the cocaine. From 1978 to 1982, this was used as a central smuggling route for the Medellín Cartel. Escobar bought of land, which included Hacienda Napoles, for several million dollars. He created a zoo, a lake and other things for his family and organization. At one point, about 70 to 80 tons of cocaine were brought from Colombia to the United States every month. At the peak of Escobar's power in the mid-1980s, he sent about 11 tonnes per flight in planes to the United States. In addition to using the planes, Roberto Escobar said he also used two small submarines to transport the massive loads.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: In 1982, Escobar was elected as a deputy (alternative) representative to the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia's Congress. He was part of the Colombian Liberal Party. During the 1980s, Escobar became known internationally because his drug network became famous. The Medellín Cartel controlled a large part of the drugs that entered the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The cocaine was mostly from Peru and Bolivia. The Colombian coca was not of best quality. Escobar's product reached many other nations, mostly around the Americas. His network reportedly reached as far as Asia.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Corruption characterized Escobar's dealings with the Colombian system. He had an effective way of dealing with law enforcements and the government. This is often referred to as ""plata o plomo"" (literally "silver or lead"or "accept money or face bullets"). This resulted in the deaths of hundreds of individuals. This included civilians, policemen and state officials. At the same time, Escobar bribed many government officials, judges and other politicians. Escobar was responsible for the murder of Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán. The "Cartel de Medellín" was also involved in a deadly drug war, their enemy was the Cartel de Cali.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria once said that the cocaine business was "simple - you bribe someone here, you bribe someone there, and you pay a friendly banker to help you bring the money back." In 1989, his Medellín cartel controlled 80% of the cocaine that was sent to the United States.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: The United States and Colombian governments saw Escobar as an enemy. At the same time, Escobar was a hero to many people in Medellín, especially to the poor people as he built houses for them. He was a sports fan, and built football fields and multi-sports courts. He also sponsored children's football teams.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Escobar was responsible for the construction of many hospitals, schools and churches in western Colombia. This made him popular with the local Roman Catholic Church. He worked hard for his "Robin Hood" image. Escobar often gave money to the poor through housing projects and other civic activities. The population of Medellín often helped Escobar by watching the police. They also hid information from the authorities, and did whatever else they could do to protect him.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Despite his popular image among Medellín's community, Escobar was well-known among his business associates to be a calm and sensible partner to deal with. He preferred to use his money before his gun. His brother said that Pablo Escobar knew that money generated more loyalty than fear. Violence was often unnecessary.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: The Colombian cartels quickly managed to make Colombia the world’s capital for murder with 25,100 violent deaths in 1991 and 27,100 in 1992. Escobar gave money to his hitmen as a reward for killing police officers. 600 officers died this way. Today, other countries, such as Guatemala, South Africa and Venezuela have more murders than Colombia.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: In March 1976 when he was 26, Escobar married Maria Victoria. She was 11 years younger than him. Together they had two children: Juan Pablo and Manuela. Escobar built and lived in a luxurious house with his family. He wanted to construct a Greek-style citadel near it. They began the construction of the citadel but never finished. The ranch, the zoo and the citadel were expropriated by the government. They were given to poor families in the 1990s under a law called "extinción de dominio" (domain extinction).


title: Pablo Escobar

text: After the murder of Luis Carlos Galán, a presidential candidate, the administration of César Gaviria moved against Escobar and the drug cartels. Eventually, the government talked with Escobar. They wanted him to capitulate and to stop all criminal activity.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Escobar declared an end to a series of previous violence and terrorism, and turned himself in. He was held in what became his own luxurious private prison, "La Catedral". Before Escobar gave himself up, the government approved the extradition of Colombian citizens. This was controversial. People suspected that Escobar or other drug lords influenced members of the government.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Escobar continued his criminal activities. He began to influence the media. The government discovered that Escobar was continuing his criminal activities within La Catedral. They wanted to move Escobar to another prison on July 22, 1992. Escobar's influence allowed him to discover the plan in advance and escape. He was still worried that he could be sent to the United States.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: In 1992, United States Special Forces joined the manhunt for Escobar. They trained and advised a special Colombian police task force, called the Search Bloc. It was created to locate Escobar. Later, as the conflict between Escobar and the governments grew, a group known as "Los Pepes" (Los Perseguidos por Pablo Escobar) formed. His rivals and former associates financed it. They wanted to find Escobar. Los Pepes carried out a bloody campaign and more than 300 of Escobar's associates were killed. Also, a lot of his cartel's property was destroyed.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: Rumors said that members of the Search Bloc and of the Colombian and the United States intelligence agencies cooperated with "Los Pepes". One of the leaders of "Los Pepes" was Diego Murillo Bejarano, also known as "Don Berna". Before, he was a Medellín Cartel associate.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: The fight against Escobar ended on December 2, 1993. The police used radio triangulation technology to find Escobar. The United States provided this technology to a Colombian electronic surveillance team. The group was led by Brigadier Hugo Martinez. The team found him hiding in a middle-class barrio in Medellín. With the permission from authorities, a firefight with Escobar and his bodyguard, Alvaro de Jesús Agudelo AKA "El Limón", happened. They tried to escape by running across the roofs of nearby houses to reach a back street, but both were shot and killed by Colombian National Police. Escobar suffered gunshots to the leg, torso, and the fatal one in his ear. It is not known who actually fired the final shot into Escobar's head. It is also unknown whether this shot was made during the gunfight or as part of possible execution. There is wide speculation about this. Some of the family members believe that Escobar could have committed suicide. His two brothers, Roberto Escobar and Fernando Sánchez Arellano, believe that he shot himself through the ears. "He committed suicide, he did not get killed. During all the years they went after him, he would say to me every day that if he was really cornered without a way out, he would shoot himself through the ears." The autopsy showed that there was no stippling pattern found around the ear, which suggested that the shot which killed Escobar was fired from further than an arm's length away.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: After Escobar's death and the fragmentation of the Medellín Cartel, the rival Cali Cartel rose to power.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: On October 28, 2006, Escobar's body was exhumed by request of his nephew Nicolás Escobar. This was two days after the death of mother Hermilda Gaviria, who opposed the exhumation. Nicolás Escobar wanted to verify that the body in the tomb was in fact that of Escobar. Escobar's nephew also collect DNA for a paternity test claim. According to the report by the "El Tiempo" newspaper, Escobar's widow Maria Victoria was present recording the exhumation with a video camera.


title: Pablo Escobar

text: On July 4, 2006, Virginia Vallejo, the television news speaker offered information in the trial against former Senator Alberto Santofimio to the Colombian Attorney General Mario Iguaran. Vallejo was romantically involved with Escobar between 1983 and 1987. The Senator was accused of conspiracy in the 1989 murder of Presidential Candidate Luis Carlos Galán. Iguaran said that, although Vallejo contacted his office on the 4th, the judge had decided to close the trial on the 9th. This was several weeks before the prospective closing date and, in (Iguaran's) opinion, "too soon".


title: Pope John Paul II

text: Pope John Paul II (; ; ), sometimes called Saint John Paul or John Paul the Great, born Karol Józef Wojtyła (; 18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005), was the 264th Pope of the Catholic Church from 16 October 1978 to his death in 2 April 2005. He was the second longest-serving pope in history. As a Pole, he was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. The last non-Italian pope was Pope Adrian VI, who died in 1523.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: He is the first pope to have visited the White House, and a mosque. He traveled more than any other pope before him, visiting many of the countries of the world. He is also famous for starting the annual World Youth Day. After he was beatified, his title was changed to Blessed John Paul II. John Paul II was canonized by Pope Francis on 27 April 2014 which means that the Polish Pope is now known as Saint John Paul II.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: Karol Józef Wojtyła was born on 18 May 1920 in Wadowice, Poland. His parents were Karol Wojtyła, who was a military officer, and Emilia Kaczorowska, who was a seamstress. He was the youngest of three children. He was nine years old when his mother died in 1929. His father supported him so that he could study. His brother was a doctor. He died when Wojtyła was twelve. He lost everyone in his family - a sister, brother, mother, and father - before he became a priest. He played sports. He liked football (soccer) as a goalkeeper.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: Wojtyła went to Marcin Wadowita high school in Wadowice. In 1938, he studied drama at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He worked as a volunteer librarian. He was an athlete, actor, and playwright. He did two months military training in the Academic Legion. This training was compulsory. He would not hold or fire a weapon.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: When he was young, he met many Jewish people. They lived in that area. In 1939, Nazi forces closed the Jagiellonian University. All men, except for the disabled, had to have a job. From 1940 to 1944, Wojtyła worked in a restaurant. He also worked in a limestone quarry, and then as a salesman for a chemical factory. He did not want to be sent to Germany. If he was sent, he would be made to join the German army. His father died of a heart attack in February 1941.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: On 29 February 1944, Wojtyła was knocked down by a German truck (lorry). He thought he would be badly treated. The German officers sent him to a hospital. He spent two weeks there with head and shoulder injuries. It was at this time that he decided that he must become a priest. When he left hospital, the young Polish men were being sent to Germany for training. He escaped to the house of the Archbishop. He hid there till after the war. On the night of 17 January 1945, the Germans left the city. The priests and teacher and students went back to the seminary. There was a big clean-up to be done. Wojtyła offered to clean out the lavatories.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: That month, Wojtyła found a fourteen-year-old Jewish refugee named Edith Zierer. She was trying to reach her parents. She had collapsed from hunger. He gave her food and helped her go to the railway station. She did not hear of him again until the day came when he was elected Pope.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: In 1958, Wojtyła then became the youngest bishop in Poland at the age of 38. In 1962 he took part in the Second Vatican Council and helped write two very important documents. One was about Religious freedom and the other one was about the work of the church in the Modern World.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: John Paul II became Pope on 16 October 1978. John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. He was pope for 26 years, making him the second longest serving pope after Pope Pius IX who held the office for 31 years and seven months. He was also the first and only Slavic pope. John Paul II was the most traveled pope in history with 104 international trips.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: During his lifetime he learned many foreign languages. He spoke Polish as his native language, and learned Latin and Ancient Greek in school. On the day that he officially became Pope, he spoke to people in Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Czech and Portuguese. He also spoke a little Lithuanian, Hungarian, Russian and Ukrainian.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: John Paul II beatified many people. This means that the Pope gave these people the title of "Blessed". One example is the painter Fra Angelico, who lived in the 1400s. After studying his life and teaching, it was decided that he should officially be called "the Blessed Fra Angelico". John Paul II gave more people the title of "Blessed" than any other pope in history. He also made many saints.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: In 1984 John Paul II started World Youth Day which was first held in Rome and attended by about 300,000 people. Since then it has been held in a different country every year. It encourages young people to be faithful to God, and to live together in peace. Many millions of people have attended.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: The first pope who traveled a lot was Pope Paul VI. Like him, John Paul II liked to travel. While he was pope, he made 105 trips, visiting 117 countries. In total he travelled more than 1.1 million km (725,000 miles). Wherever he went, he attracted large crowds. All these travels were paid by the money of the countries he visited and not by the Vatican.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: One of John Paul II's earliest official visits was to his home country of Poland, in June 1979. There, he was always surrounded by happy, cheering crowds. The Pope wanted to bring freedom and human rights to his country. His visit encouraged Poles to oppose the communism, and in 1980 the Solidarity movement was born. On later trips to Poland, he made his message of support stronger. The Soviet Union had controlled Eastern Europe for many years. In 1989, Poland was the first country to begin to break free from the Soviet Union.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: John Paul II went to places where other popes before him had already been, such as the United States, or The Holy Land. He also went to many countries that no pope had ever visited before. He was the first reigning pope to travel to the United Kingdom, where he met Queen Elizabeth II, the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: In 1982, the Pope made a visit to Japan, and in 1984 to South Korea and Puerto Rico. He was the first pope to visit Cuba. During his visit in January 1998, he sharply criticized Cuba for not allowing people to freely express their religion. He also criticised the United States embargo against Cuba. In 2000, he became the first modern Catholic pope to visit Egypt, and met with the Coptic Pope, and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. He was the first Catholic Pope to visit and pray in an Islamic mosque, in Damascus, Syria in 2001. He visited Umayyad Mosque, where John the Baptist is believed to be buried.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: In 1988 he made a trip to Lesotho to beatify Joseph Gérard. On 15 January 1995, during the 10th World Youth Day, he offered Mass to an estimated crowd of between four and eight million in Luneta Park, Manila, Philippines. This is considered to be the largest single event in Christian history.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: After the attacks on 11 September 2001, even though people were worried about his safety, the Pope traveled to Kazakhstan and spoke to large audiences including many Muslims. He also went to Armenia, to participate in the celebration of the 1700 years of Christianity. He said Mass in local languages during some visits, including Kiswahili in Nairobi, Kenya in 1995 and in an Indonesian language in East Timor.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: During his trips, the Pope always showed his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He visited many shrines consecrated to her, notably Knock in Ireland, Licheń Stary in Poland, Fátima in Portugal, Guadalupe in Mexico and Lourdes in France.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: On 13 May 1981, the Pope was shot twice in the abdomen by a Turkish national, Mehmet Ali Ağca. The pope was gravely injured. He barely survived the assassination attempt, and had to be treated in hospital for 20 days. The pope later visited Ağca in prison. He had forgiven him already. Exactly one year later he traveled to Fatima to thank Mary, Mother of God for saving his life.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: On this trip there was a second attempt to his life. A follower of the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre tried to hurt the Pope with a bayonet. He was overpowered by the bodyguards of the Pope. Lefevbre and his followers were against the decisions of the Second Vatican Council. After this the Pope often travelled in a bullet-proof trailer known as the "popemobile."


title: Pope John Paul II

text: John Paul died on Saturday, on the eve of the Divine Mercy Holiday, 2 April 2005. The official time of death on his death certificate was 9:37 pm, but a few sources reported 9:33 pm. The death certificate stated that when the Pope died, he had Parkinson's disease, with serious breathing difficulties. The Pope had tracheotomy surgery in mid February but it did not help and he lost weight. He also had an enlarged prostate, urinary infection and other problems. The cause of death were that his kidneys failed, causing blood poisoning and infection brought by septic shock. John Paul II spoke his final words, “pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca”, (“Let me depart to the house of the Father”), to his aides, and fell into a coma about four hours later.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: The Pope's medical team used heart-monitoring machinery for more than 20 minutes, so his real and true time of death was at 9:15 PM Vatican time. As tradition demands, his name was called three times. When there was no reply, his papal ring was broken, which meant the end of John Paul II's papacy (reign as pope).


title: Pope John Paul II

text: Many people claimed to have been specially blessed by the reign of Pope John Paul II. Many people thought he should be given the title "Blessed". This usually takes at least five years (and may take hundreds of years). On 13 May 2005, Pope Benedict XVI cut short the usual 5-year wait for the beatification process to begin. The only other time (in recent history) that this has happened was for Mother Theresa, who was made Blessed Mother Theresa by John Paul II. It was announced on 14 January 2011, that John Paul II would be beatified on 1 May 2011 (Divine Mercy Sunday).


title: Pope John Paul II

text: According to the Vatican, Pope John Paul II's remains (which will not be exhumed and exposed) will be moved from the grotto beneath St. Peter's Basilica, where he is presently buried, to a marble stone monument in Pier Paolo Cristofari's Chapel of St. Sebastian, which is where Blessed Pope Innocent XI is currently buried; Blessed Pope Innocent's remains will likely be moved. This more prominent location, next to the Chapel of the Pieta, the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and statues of Popes Pius XI and Pius XII, will increase the number of pilgrims capable of viewing his memorial.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: “ It will be a great joy for us when he is officially beatified, but as far as we are concerned he is already a Saint. ” —Stanisław Dziwisz [189]


title: Pope John Paul II

text: On 30 September 2013, Pope Francis said that John Paul, together with Pope John XXIII, would be made saints on 27 April 2014. This was the first time two popes have been made saints on the same day.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: John Paul II was generally against communism. He was also a critic of capitalism that was not controlled and he did not want people's basic rights to be oppressed by world governments. He officially condemned aspects of Liberation theology. He was against abortion and contraception in general. As head of the largest Christian group, John Paul II taught a conservative theological view of human sexuality. On the subject he wrote 130 topics called the Theology of the Body. He was against homosexuality, and in favour of people starting families as one husband and one wife. But he said that homosexuals have the same inherent dignity and rights as everybody else. On 30 April 2000, John Paul instituted a Divine Mercy Holiday, according to the teachings of Saint Faustyna Kowalska and on that day she was also proclaimed a Saint of the Catholic Church. The Feast of the Mercy of God is continuously growing worldwide. John Paul is also remembered for his devotion to the Consecrated Holy Communion, the Holy Body and Blood of Christ.


title: Pope John Paul II

text: During John Paul's time as pope, the church was involved in a large number of claims about child sexual abuse by priests. There are many people who believe that the Church, and therefore the Pope, knew about these claims and tried to cover them up. For example, in 1996 the Irish bishops decided that priests suspected of child abuse must be reported to the police. The Vatican sent a letter to the bishops that they were not to report such cases. The letter was from future Pope Benedict XVI - whom John Paul II had asked to handle such cases. John Paul II is also claimed to have got a cardinal to send a thank you letter to a French bishop who had refused to report a priest to the police. In 2001 John Paul II sent out a special letter saying that the abuse of children by priests was a very serious crime, and should be strictly punished. Some Catholics wanted the process for making John Paul II a saint stopped, until there was an investigation into his role in keeping secret information about bad priests.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The Qatar 2022, FIFA World Cup is the 22nd FIFA World Cup. It has been hosted in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022. It is the first World Cup hosted in the Arab world, and the second to be hosted fully in Asia. This is the last World Cup with 32 teams, the next World Cups are going to have 48 teams. The tournament is played in November and December because Qatar is a very hot country. This is the first World Cup that isn't played in May, June or July. The previous champions are France.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: There have been suspicions on whether Qatar earned hosting rights fairly. An investigation that was done by FIFA reported that Qatar earned hosting rights fairly. This investigation was criticized by Michael J. Garcia. Qatar was also criticized because of the treatment of the foreign workers preparing the World Cup stadiums.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: FIFA's six continental confederations have their own qualifying tournaments. All 211 associations are able to enter qualification. Qatar, qualified automatically because they are the hosts. Qatar still plays in the first two rounds of AFC qualification because it is also qualification for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. The previous World Cup champions France will participate in qualification as normal. Saint Lucia, North Korea, American Samoa, Samoa all withdrew because of safety reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with North Korea withdrawing after already playing matches. Tonga withdrew because of the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. Russia was suspended by FIFA because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Vanuatu and Cook Islands both withdrew because of COVID-19 cases in their squads, with Cook Islands withdrawing after already playing matches.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The amount of available World Cup slots for each confederation was discussed by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2015 in Zürich. The committee decided that the slots would be the same as 2018.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: On 19 May 2022, FIFA announced the list of 36 referees, and 69 assistant referees and 24 video assistant referees for the tournament. Of the 36 referees, FIFA included two each from Argentina, Brazil, England and France. For the first time women referees will referee games at a major men's tournament.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: Stéphanie Frappart from France, Rwandan Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan became the first female referees to be appointed to a men's World Cup. They will be joined by three female assistant referees, also a first. Frappart oversaw the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Final.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The final draw was in the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, Qatar, on 1 April 2022, 19:00 AST, before the qualifiers finished. The two winners of the inter-confederation play-offs and the winner of the Path A of the UEFA play-offs were not known at the time of the draw.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: For the draw, the 32 teams were put into four pots based on their FIFA World Rankings of 31 March 2022. The teams in Pot 1 were the hosts, Qatar (who were automatically seeded as A1) and the best seven teams. The teams in Pot 2 were the next best eight teams, with the next best eight teams into Pot 3. The teams in Pot 4 were the five lowest-ranked teams, the two inter-confederation play-off winners and the UEFA Path A play-off winner. Teams from the same confederation could not be in the same group except UEFA, which allowed maximum two teams in the same group. The Pot 1 teams were automatically seeded as 1. The pots for the draw are shown below.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: In the knockout stage, if a match is tied at the end of 90 minutes of normal playing time, extra time will be played (two halves that are 15 minutes each). If it is still tied after extra time, the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The official emblem was shown on 3 September 2019 at the Doha Tower, Katara Cultural Village Amphitheatre, Msheireb Downtown Doha, and Zubarah. It is designed to show the tournament trophy, the infinity symbol, and the number "8", which represents the eight host stadiums. It also represents shawls to highlight the tournament's winter scheduling, and has waves showing the desert dunes. The make-up of the emblem's wordmark describes kashida—extending certain parts of characters in Arabic script to give emphasis.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The tournament's official mascot was shown on 1 April 2022, during the group stage draw. Its name is La’eeb, which means "super-skilled player" in Arabic. The official website of FIFA says: "La’eeb will be known for his youthful spirit; spreading joy and confidence everywhere he goes", and the official backstory of the character, published there, says that it comes from a different world where tournament mascots live, "a world where ideas and creativity form the basis of characters that live in the minds of everyone".


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The official match ball, the "Al Rihla", was shown on 30 March 2022. It was inspired by the culture, architecture, iconic boats and flag of Qatar. In Arabic, the word "Al Rihla" means “the journey”. The ball was designed with stability as the main focus. It is the first ever official match ball created with water-based glues and inks.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: As "the game is getting faster" and "speeds up", Adidas used some new traits, like more speed and improved accuracy of the ball.


title: 2022 FIFA World Cup

text: The official song of the tournament is "Hayya Hayya (Better Together)", by Trinidad Cardona, Davido and AISHA, released on 1 April 2022 with the music video.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide is when a person chooses to kill themselves. When someone kills themselves, people say that they have "committed suicide," "completed suicide," or "died by suicide". When a person seriously considers killing themselves, they are described as suicidal. Suicide is one of the top three causes of death for young people aged 14–35. It is the second most common cause of death for college students. Every 3 seconds, a person somewhere in the world tries to kill themselves. Every 40 seconds, someone dies by suicide. For every suicide, at least six other people are seriously affected.(WHO 2000) When people start having thoughts about killing themselves, it may be a medical emergency. They should get a suicide risk assessment as soon as possible. They should not be left alone.


title: Suicide

text: There are many reasons why a person might think about suicide. Most people who are suicidal have some type of mental disorder. They may have a chronic condition, which has been going on for a long time. But it may be an acute condition, which means the first symptoms of mental illness happened rather quickly. Depression is a mental illness that may affect a person to have suicidal thoughts. Depression may also be a symptom of other mental or medical disorders. Another mental condition which may lead to self-harm or suicide is schizophrenia. The stress of life, and its events, like losing a job or getting sick, are less likely to cause suicide. Other causes of suicidal thoughts are extreme cases of bullying and inceldom. Although depression is the main factor in suicide, it is also treatable, and suicide is often preventable.


title: Suicide

text: There are many risk factors for suicide. However, it is important to remember that risk factors are not the same as causes. Risk factors do not "cause" suicide or suicidal thoughts. They only make it more likely that some people with those risk factors "may" become suicidal. If a person has a risk factor, that does not mean they will become suicidal.


title: Suicide

text: Mental illness is present at the time of suicide 27% to more than 90% of the time. Of those who have been hospitalized for suicidal behavior, the lifetime risk of completed suicide is 8.6%. Comparatively, non-suicidal people hospitalized for affective disorders have a 4% lifetime risk of suicide. Half of all people who die by suicide may have major depressive disorder; having this or one of the other mood disorders such as bipolar disorder increases the risk of suicide 20-fold. Other conditions implicated include schizophrenia (14%), personality disorders (8%), obsessive compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Those with autism spectrum disorders also attempt and consider suicide more frequently.


title: Suicide

text: Among people with a mental disorder, 25% also have alcohol abuse issues. People who abuse alcohol have a 50% greater risk of suicide than those who do not.


title: Suicide

text: While acts of self-harm are not considered suicide attempts, a person who self-harms may be more likely to die by suicide.


title: Suicide

text: Substance abuse is the second most common reason for suicide and feeling suicidal. Only two serious mental illnesses - depression and bipolar disorder - cause more harm. A person is at greater risk for suicide whether they have been using drugs for a long time or just a short time. When a drug abuser is also sufffering from great sadness or grief, suicide is even more common.


title: Suicide

text: Problem gamblers have more suicidal ideation and make more suicide attempts compared to the general population. (Problem gambling is gambling that causes major problems in a person's life.)


title: Suicide

text: If a person becomes a problem gambler earlier in life, they have a higher risk of suicide for the rest of their life. Gambling-related suicide attempts are usually made by older people with gambling problems. Substance use and mental disorders increase the risk of suicide even more in people with problem gambling.


title: Suicide

text: There is a link between suicidality and medical conditions, including chronic pain, mild brain injury, (MBI) or traumatic brain injury (TBI). People with these conditions had a higher rate of suicide that was not caused by depression or alcohol abuse. People with more than one medical condition had an even higher risk of suicide.


title: Suicide

text: Problems with sleeping, such as insomnia and sleep apnea, may be risk factors for depression and suicide. In some people, the sleep problem itself, not depression, may be what increases their risk for depression.


title: Suicide

text: People being treated for mood disorders should be checked by a doctor. This should include a physical examination and blood tests. This can ensure the person's mood disorder is not caused by a medical problem. Many medical conditions can cause problems with mood and thinking. Seeing a doctor will also help make sure that it is safe to prescribe medications for the person's mood disorder.


title: Suicide

text: Some mental disorders that are risk factors for suicide may be partly caused by problems in the brain and body.


title: Suicide

text: Even if they have the same risk factors, some people are at a higher risk for suicide than others. This is partly because of genetic inheritance. Genetics causes about 30–50% of the difference in suicide risk among different people. For example, a person whose parent died by suicide is much more likely to try to kill themselves. Epigenetics may also affect suicide risk.


title: Suicide

text: How the media shows news stories of suicide may have a negative effect and trigger the possibility of copycat suicides (this is called the Werther effect). This risk is greater in teenagers and young adults. The opposite of the Werther effect is the Papageno effect. This means that the media can help make suicide less likely if they cover good ways of dealing with stress and difficult things in life.


title: Suicide

text: Protective factors make it less likely that a person will die by suicide. They help "protect" a person from the risk of suicide. They can also help protect a suicidal person from the effects of suicidal thinking.


title: Suicide

text: Protective factors can be "internal", such as a person's personal strengths and beliefs. For example:


title: Suicide

text: Protective factors can also be "external," such as a person's relationships and life situation. These factors can include:


title: Suicide

text: Protective factors are as important to identify as risk factors. Just as risk factors can be reduced, protective factors can be increased.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide prevention tries to decrease the number of suicides by using protective measures. Some prevention strategies make it harder for people to get the most common things used to commit suicide. This includes taking away guns, poisons, and drugs.


title: Suicide

text: Studies have shown that good treatment of depression, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse can decrease the number of suicides. So does follow-up contact with those who have made a suicide attempt.


title: Suicide

text: In many countries, people at high risk of hurting themselves can check themselves into a hospital emergency department. In some countries or states, a doctor, judge, or police officer can force a person to go to the hospital if they seem suicidal, even if the person does not want to go. The person will be watched closely at the hospital to make sure they do not hurt themselves. A doctor or mental health professional will decide whether the person needs to go to a psychiatric hospital.


title: Suicide

text: "SOS Signs of Suicide" is a suicide prevention program used in secondary schools for students between 13 and 17 years old. The program educates students about suicide and tests them for suicide risk. Students who have done this program make fewer suicide attempts than students who have not done the program.


title: Suicide

text: Suicide hotlines, and crisis intervention centers help students at high risk. They help people who have suicidal thoughts.


title: Suicide

text: A suicide risk assessment looks at how likely a person is to attempt suicide. A good assessment can help prevent suicide. It is also the first step in coming up with a treatment plan. Even though suicide risk assessments are very important, they are usually not done. Many mental health care workers have little or no training in how to do a suicide risk assessment.


title: Suicide

text: Worldwide, suicide rates have increased by 60% in the past 45 years, mainly in the developing countries. As of 2006:


title: Suicide

text: According to 2007 information, suicides happen twice as often as homicides in the United States. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the country, ahead of liver disease and Parkinson's disease.


title: Suicide

text: In the United States, suicide has been increasing for African American teens. Native Americans and whites have the highest rate of suicide in the United States.More blacks than whites have committed suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. White men are most likely to commit suicide. White males account for nearly 70% of suicide deaths. Middle-aged white men have the highest suicide rate.


title: Suicide

text: The most common ways of death by suicide are not the same in every country. In different areas, they include hanging, pesticide poisoning, and firearms.


title: Suicide

text: A 2008 report compared 56 countries using information from the World Health Organization. It found that:


title: Suicide

text: Sometimes, suicidal people do something that will make another person kill them. For example, a suicidal person might point a gun at a police officer so the police officer will shoot the person in self-defense. This is commonly called "suicide by cop."


title: Suicide

text: Modern medicine treats suicide as a mental health issue. It is considered a medical emergency when a person starts having many thoughts about killing themselves.


title: Suicide

text: The Abrahamic religions (like Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) think that life is sacred. They believe that when a person kills themselves, they are murdering what God has made. For this reason, many followers of Abrahamic religions think that when a person dies by suicide, they will go to Hell.


title: Suicide

text: The Dharmic and Taoist religions (like Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Shinto) believe that someone who does by suicide will be reincarnated in the next life with a less enlightened soul. However, many people of these religions are more likely to commit suicide because they believe there will be the next life. They think that by dying by suicide, they may have a better chance in the next life.


title: Suicide

text: There are several famous examples of suicide attacks in history. The Kamikazes were one example. They were Japanese fighter pilots during World War II, who would try to kill American soldiers by crashing their planes into American ships. By crashing their planes, they would kill themselves as well.


title: Suicide

text: The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States were also done by suicide attackers. They flew planes into the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: Cryptocurrency is a type of currency which uses digital files as money. Often, people create these files using the same ways as cryptography (the science of hiding information). Cryptocurrency users can use Digital signatures to keep the transactions safe, and to let other people check that the transactions are real. The creators of the first cryptocurrencies made them to be free of government-given currencies.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: No single person controls cryptocurrencies. Instead they are and controlled by many people. This is different from 'centralized' electronic money and central banks, which a small group of people control. The control of each cryptocurrency works through a distributed ledger (a list of transactions shared by everyone), usually a blockchain. This lets everyone know all of the financial transactions that happen.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: Bitcoin, first released as open-source software in 2009, is famous because it was the first decentralized cryptocurrency. Since then, people have created more than 4,000 cryptocurrencies (sometimes called altcoins, or "alternative coins").


title: Cryptocurrency

text: In many cases, it is not possible to exchange cryptocurrencies for real currencies such as the US dollar. It is only possible to convert them to other cryptocurrencies. People can also use them to buy things. But you can convert some cryptocurrencies to real currencies. Those cryptocurrencies usually have high volatility, (their price changes very often). Using them is very risky. They are also a target for Pump-and-Dump-Attacks. They act like a big distributed economic system: because they are not issued or controlled by central banks, their value is difficult to influence. For this reason, they cannot really take the place of a stable currency.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: People often use cryptocurrencies to do speculation. That makes building a system of more or less stable exchange rates very difficult. Another problem is the inequality of distribution: a small number of people have most of the cryptocurrency. For example: about 1.000 people hold half of the total amount of bitcoins in the world. So if any of these people start using the Bitcoin that they own, they will change the exchange rate. It also means that these people have a great influence on the value of the currency. They can change its value easily. The currency itself only tells you who owns it. Exchange rates of cryptocurrencies are established outside the system. Traders and brokers set the exchange rate. This is not a guarantee that they trade cryptocurrency at the value that they suggest. The unit of cryptocurrency doesn't have value by itself.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: Cryptocurrencies differ from traditional, "fiat" currencies in that they are not backed by a central authority, such as a government or bank. Instead, they rely on cryptography and decentralized systems, like blockchain technology, to verify transactions and secure the transfer of assets.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: One key difference between cryptocurrencies and traditional currencies is that the value of cryptocurrencies is largely determined by market forces, rather than being controlled by a central authority. This means that the value of a cryptocurrency can fluctuate significantly depending on supply and demand. In contrast, the value of traditional currencies is often influenced by economic factors, such as inflation or deflation, which are typically managed by central banks.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: While cryptocurrencies offer the potential for fast, secure, and low-cost transactions, their use is not without risk. Their value can be volatile, and they are not regulated in the same way as traditional currencies. Additionally, cryptocurrencies have been linked to illegal activities, such as money laundering and drug trafficking. As a result, it is important for individuals to carefully consider the risks and potential rewards before investing in or using cryptocurrencies.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: Basically, cryptocurrency mixing is a service where tainted bitcoins can become unmarked bitcoins. Bitcoin mixing, also called Bitcoin tumbling or Bitcoin blending, is the process of using a service to make your Bitcoin purchases and transactions untraceable. Instantly mixing Bitcoin is the only way to hide your bitcoin exchanges and make them impossible to track. This protects against criminals, hackers, and activities prohibited by the law where people use bitcoin. It also protects you against law enforcement. The huge amount of bitcoins on mixing services come from mining pools around the world.


title: Cryptocurrency

text: The term crypto mining means gaining cryptocurrencies by solving cryptographic equations using computers. This process involves validating data blocks and adding transaction records to a public record (ledger) known as a blockchain. This verifies transactions that were recently added. On top of maintaining the blockchain’s integrity, verification also prevents double-spending.


title: Checkers

text: Checkers or draughts is the name of several different board games. All of these games are similar. In every kind of checkers, the other player's pieces can be taken by being "jumped" over.


title: Checkers

text: "Checkers" is the American name. In British English, and in various other English-speaking nations, these games are called "draughts."


title: Checkers

text: Checkers dates back certainly to the 12th century, in France. These authorities do not admit that discoveries of earlier checkerboards prove the game was played earlier, though it may have been. Some other writers have thought differently, but they were not professional historians.


title: Checkers

text: There are two main types of checkers played: the Anglo-American version (which originally came from France) and the Polish or continental version. The Anglo-American version is played on an 8x8 checkerboard (chessboard) with 12 pieces. The continental version (so-called because it is played on the continent of Europe) is played on a 10x10 board with 20 pieces each. There are also a number of variations in various countries.


title: Checkers

text: In most games of checkers, there are two players. The players are at opposite ends of the board. One player has dark pieces, and one player has light pieces. They take turns moving their pieces. Players move their pieces diagonally from one square to another square. When a player jumps over their opponent's (the other player's) piece, you take that piece from the board. If you can take a piece, then you must take a piece.


title: Checkers

text: British people call the game "draughts". English draughts is played on an 8x8 chess board. Only the dark squares are used: the light squares are never used.


title: Checkers

text: A player can move in two ways. A piece can be moved forward, diagonally, to the very next dark square. If one player's piece, the other player's piece, and an empty square are lined up, then the first player "must" "jump" the other player's piece. The first player jumps over the other player's piece onto the empty square and takes the other player's piece off the board.


title: Checkers

text: A player can also use one piece to make multiple jumps in any one single turn, provided each jump continues to lead immediately into the next jump and in a straight line. Sometimes a player may have the option or a choice of which opponent piece he must jump. In such cases, he may then choose which to jump. If you keep your hand on any piece when you're moving, you have the choice to put it back and move another piece.


title: Instagram

text: Instagram (sometimes shortened to Insta or IG) is an online photo and video sharing social networking service. It allows users to take pictures and videos, add digital filters to them and share them to their followers. They can then share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr.


title: Instagram

text: Until 2015, Instagram confined photos to a square shape, similar to Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid images. This was different than the 4:3 typically used by digital cameras. Users were able to share very short videos. In 2017, the length limit was raised to ten minutes.


title: Instagram

text: Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. When Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger talked to famous NY Photographer Peter Parker, a photographer for the Daily Bugle, Systrom and Krieger were inspired to make an app just for photography. It was released on October 6, 2010.


title: Potato

text: A potato is a vegetable, the "Solanum tuberosum". It is a small plant with large leaves. The part of the potato that people eat is a tuber that grows under the ground.


title: Potato

text: A potato contains a lot of starch and other carbohydrates. Potato usually has a light-brown or yellowish skin and is white or yellow inside. If the potato gets light on it, the tuber turns green and will be poisonous.


title: Potato

text: The potato is originally from the high and cool areas of the Andes mountains. It was grown as a food crop thousands of years ago. When Spanish conquistadores came to South America in the 1500s they took potatoes back to Europe.


title: Potato

text: It took nearly 200 years for the potato to become a widely grown crop. In the 1780s the farmers in Ireland began growing potatoes because they grew well in the poor soils. They also have most of the vitamins that people need to live. When a potato plague destroyed the crop in 1845 the Irish Potato Famine killed many people.


title: Potato

text: The potato plant is now grown in many different parts of the world. Captain William Bligh planted potatoes on Bruny Island, Tasmania in 1792. In Australia they are now the largest vegetable crop.


title: Potato

text: The English word "potato" comes from the Spanish word "patata". The Royal Spanish Academy says the Spanish word is a hybrid of the Taíno ('sweet potato') and the Quechua ('potato').


title: Potato

text: Scientists in Germany have used genetic engineering to make a potato called the Amflora, which could be grown to make starch for making other things in factories.


title: Potato

text: Potatoes are almost always eaten cooked. People cook potatoes by boiling, baking, roasting, or frying them. French fries or "chips" are potatoes cut into long pieces and fried until they are soft. Potato chips, often called crisps, are potatoes cut into very thin round pieces and fried until they are hard.


title: English Renaissance drama

text: English Renaissance drama is sometimes called Elizabethan drama, since its most important developments started when Elizabeth I was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603. But this name is not very accurate; the drama continued after Elizabeth's death, into the reigns of King James I (1603–1625) and his son King Charles I (1625–1649). Shakespeare, for example, started writing plays in the later years of Elizabeth's reign, but continued into the reign of James. When writing about plays from James's reign, scholars and critics sometimes use the term Jacobean drama; plays from Charles I's reign are called Caroline drama. (These names come from the Latin forms of the two kings' names, "Jacobus" for James and "Carolus" for Charles.) But for the subject as a whole, terms like English Renaissance drama or theatre are more accurate.


title: English Renaissance drama

text: The year 1576 was a key date in this subject, since that is when the first permanent theatre building was built in London. It was called simply The Theatre, because it was the only place of its kind in England at the time. Before 1576, plays were acted in public halls and large houses, and in inns and public squares and courtyards and other open spaces, by troops of actors that mostly travelled around the countryside between cities and towns. Once the actors had a permanent place to act plays, they could develop their art without the constant need to travel. The Theatre was followed by other theatres in the London area; there were the Curtain, The Rose, the Swan, the Globe, and others too. More plays were written by more playwrights to fill these theatres.


title: English Renaissance drama

text: Playwrights worked in both the classic types of drama, tragedy and comedy. They also began their own type of history play, mainly about earlier English kings and the events of their reigns. Shakespeare's "Richard III" and Marlowe's "Edward II" are two examples of this type of English history play. Plays were often written in poetry; early plays were mainly in rhymed verse, though as time passed playwrights came to prefer unrhymed blank verse. Prose was also used in some plays, mostly for comedy.