title: Electric chair

text: The electric chair was designed by Dr. Alfred Southwick, and first built by Harold Brown in 1888. Dr. Southwick had seen a drunk man falling in a generator and dying immediately from electric shock. There had been a very gruesome hanging in New York in 1886 that did not go right. The drop had been too long and the convict's head was torn off. Many people wanted a less cruel method of execution. The state of New York chose the electric chair.


title: Electric chair

text: This execution method has been used only in the United States and, for several decades, in the Philippines (its first use there in 1924, last in 1976). The electric chair has become a symbol of the death penalty, and a part of American folklore. However, it is becoming replaced as a method of executing criminals in the United States by lethal injection. Altogether, 25 US states and the US federal government have used the electric chair.


title: Electric chair

text: Death in the electric chair is usually quick as the convict dies from electric shock which stops the heart. However, if something goes wrong, the death is more like frying the convict alive. The electric chair has been declared as a cruel and unusual punishment in many states and is no longer used in most states. In fact, there are no longer any states that use the electric chair as its main way of executing criminals. All states that use the death penalty use lethal injection as its main way of executing criminals now.


title: Electric chair

text: So far, the latest person executed in an electric chair has been Lee Hall aka. Leroy Hall Jr. a man who killed his ex girlfriend, Traci Crosier, in 1991. He was executed in Tennessee at the Riverbend Maximum Security Prison on December 5, 2019. Lee chose the electric chair over lethal injection believing that electrocution would be a faster and less painful death.


title: Go Fish

text: Every player gets five cards. The rest of the cards (the deck) are put face down where all the players can get them. Cards that are the same number are called pairs. If a player has a pair, they put it face up in front of them so everybody can see it. The player to the left of the player who gave everybody their cards goes first. When it is a player's turn, they ask another player for a card that is the same color and number as one they already have. They can ask any player. If the other player has the card, they give it to the one that asked, and the one that asked puts the pair in front of them and gets to go again.


title: Go Fish

text: If the other player does not have the card, then they say "Go Fish", and the player that asked takes a card from the deck and the next player goes. If a player has no cards when it is time for him to go, then he just takes a card from the deck and the next player goes. If there are no cards in the deck and the player has no cards, then that player does not get to go. The game ends when all the cards are face up in pairs. The winner is the player with the most pairs.


title: Romantic music

text: Romantic music is music written in the 19th century. This was the period called the “Romantic period” by musicians. In literature and some other arts the “Romantic period” is often said to begin and finish earlier: around mid 18th to mid 19th century.


title: Romantic music

text: In the Classical period artists liked to see clear forms. 18th century architecture nearly always shows a lot of symmetry. The gardens of the palace at Versailles are a good example of this with their very tidy patterns of straight paths, circular ponds and neatly clipped hedges.


title: Romantic music

text: In music the Classical composers such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert liked to compose music which had a clear plan like sonata form.


title: Romantic music

text: In the Romantic period artists thought that feeling and passions were more important than formal plans. This can be seen in the gardens designed by Capability Brown, e.g. in at Blenheim Palace, Oxford. The gardens are made to blend into nature.


title: Romantic music

text: In music the Romantic composers may still use plans like sonata form, but feelings and passions are important. They often write what is called programme music which means: music that describes something or tells a story. Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony is called the “Pastoral” which means that it is about the countryside. Although Beethoven is usually called a composer of the Classical period he is also an early Romantic. Later composers such as Felix Mendelssohn wrote pieces like "Hebrides Overture" which describes the sea coming into Fingal’s Cave in the Inner Hebrides Islands in Scotland. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) wrote a lot of music which tells a story. His "Symphonie Fantastique" is about an artist madly in love. Berlioz’s whole way of life was wild and romantic. He fell in love with an actress he saw on stage playing the part of Juliet in Shakespeare’s "Romeo and Juliet" and he actually married her! Other composers who wrote a lot of programme music include Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949). Strauss always wrote in a late-Romantic style even although he lived well into the 20th century.


title: Romantic music

text: The Romantic period was also the period of Nationalism. "Nationalism" means being proud of one's country. In the 19th century a lot of European countries as we know them were being formed. In music a lot of composers were writing music which was typical of their country. They often did this by using folk music. Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) and Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) wrote music which sounds very Czech. Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) wrote music with Russian folk songs in them. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) used German folk songs in his symphonies, and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) collected English folk songs and put them in his music. One of those pieces was a Fantasy on the famous tune "Greensleeves".


title: Steering wheel (ship)

text: The wheel of a ship is the modern method of changing the angle of the rudder to change the direction of the boat or ship. It is also called the galver, together with the rest of the steering mechanism.


title: Steering wheel (ship)

text: The idea of tractors, automobiles, and similar land vehicles having a steering wheel probably evolved directly from the ship's wheel.


title: Aubergine

text: The aubergine (also called eggplant or brinjal) is a plant. It is actually a fruit, but it is used like a vegetable. The plant is in the nightshade family of plants. It is related to the potato and tomato. Originally, it comes from India and Sri Lanka. The Latin/French term aubergine comes from the historical city of Vergina (Βεργίνα) in Greece. The aubergine eggplant is estimated to have been brought to Greece around 325 BC after the death of Alexander the Great in Babylon. Discovering this new vegetable during his conquest, Alexander the Great wanted to bring it back to his country on his return. After his death, members of his army brought aubergine seeds with them to Greece and specifically to the city of Vergina (Βεργίνα). The Latin/French term aubergine (au·ber·gine) (\ˈō-bər-ˌzhēn\) is estimated around 1505 AD and is coined to Franco-Catalan gastronomist Sergius Rosario Silvestri, co-traveller and close friend to Amerigo Vespucci. Upon arrival to the historical site of Vergina (Βεργινα) and wanting to try the local delicacies, Silvestri came across the plant of aubergine. Not knowing its name, he referred to it as aubergine (au Bergine or au Vergine) which in French means "at Vergina" or "found at Vergina".


title: Rugby union

text: Rugby union is a ball sport. Two teams of 15 players play against each other. The ball used is oval in shape. The field is a rectangle shape. It is 100 metres long and 70 meters wide. At the ends of the field are two H-shaped goal-posts which you have to score next to or underneath.


title: Rugby union

text: The game is played for 80 minutes in two 40-minute halves but there is an overtime if it goes on long enough.


title: Rugby union

text: A try is scored when a player 'scores'. A try is worth 5 points. To score a try the player must put down the ball in the 'try area'. The try area is behind the goal-posts.


title: Rugby union

text: Once a try has been scored, the team has a chance to score extra points. The goal kicker kicks the ball towards the goal-posts. The ball must pass between the two upright goal-posts and above the cross-piece. If it does, the team is awarded 2 additional points. This act is known as a 'conversion'.


title: Rugby union

text: Another method of scoring points is through penalties. When a team breaks the rules, the referee may award a penalty. The goal-kicker kicks towards the goal-posts. The ball must pass between the two upright goal-posts and above the cross-piece. If it does, the team is awarded 3 points and at the end all the points add up and the team with the most points is the winner.


title: Rugby union

text: During play, the goal-kicker can also attempt a 'drop-goal'. The goal-kicker kicks towards the goal-posts. The ball must pass between the two upright goal-posts and above the cross-piece. If it does, the team is awarded 3 points.


title: Rugby union

text: A scrum is when the two teams push together. If you are in the scrum you are a prop, hooker, flanker, second row, or 8-man.


title: Rugby union

text: The players in the back positions are usually smaller, faster and more skilful at kicking and passing. If you are a prop or a hooker you need to be heavy and strong as you play in the front row if there is a scrum. Flankers and locks are often tall and powerful and are used to win the ball in a lineout.


title: Rugby union

text: The key rule to rugby union play is that the person who is carrying the ball at any time cannot pass the ball to a teammate who is closer to the opposition goal line. The ball must always be passed sideways or backwards.


title: Rugby union

text: Only the player with the ball may be tackled. Tackling is when the player with the ball is brought to the ground by an opposition player. The opposition player must use their hands to hold onto the ball carrier, and take them to the ground.


title: Rugby union

text: When the player with the ball is on the ground, players from the opposition team may stand over him and attempt to grab the ball off them. The opposition players must remain standing ('on their feet'). Meanwhile, the player with the ball will try to pass the ball backwards along the ground to a teammate. His teammates will then move over the player and protect the ball.


title: Rugby union

text: The most important of these four is the referee who runs alongside players as they play the game. The referee controls the game.


title: Rugby union

text: The two touch-judges patrol the out-of-bounds areas. They also decide when a goal kick has been successful.


title: Rugby union

text: The TMO, or 'television match official', helps the referee with difficult decisions. Most professional games have a TMO.


title: Rugby union

text: Kicking is very important part of the rugby game. Normally, it is the back players who kick. However, you will sometimes see the forwards kick. There are different reasons why they may kick: to score points by making a drop goal, to place the ball further towards the other team's try line, or to gain distance by kicking the ball high into the air for a team mate to chase and catch.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: Ancient Greek and Roman writers said that Dido was the founder and first Queen of Carthage. Carthage was a city in the country now known as Tunisia. Dido lived in the 9th century BC (about 3000 years ago). Some parts of her life may be true. Other parts are myths. She is best known from the story about her in the "Aeneid" by the Roman poet Virgil. In some writings about her, she is called Alyssa or Elissa. She was also worshipped as a goddess in ancient Carthage.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: The oldest story about Dido was written by Timaeus. He was an ancient Greek historian who lived in the 3rd century BC. One hundred years later, a Roman historian, Pompeius Trogus, wrote about her. His story about her is now lost, but a later Roman historian, Justin, wrote a summary of Trogus' story. In the stories by Timaeus and Trogus, Dido was the daughter of the King of Tyre (a city in the country now known as Lebanon). She was married to Acerbas who was a priest of Hercules. When Dido's brother Pygmalion killed Acerbas, Dido ran away. She took some of her people with her. They went first to Cyprus, and then to the north coast of Africa in the place now known as Tunisia.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: When they got to Africa, Dido asked the Berber ruler, a man named Iarbus, if she could buy some land to for her people to start a city. He said that she could buy as much land as she could cover with the skin of a dead ox. She told her people to cut the skin into very thin strips. They laid all the strips out to mark the borders. This gave them a very big piece of land. Dido and her people built a city on the land. The city was named Carthage, and Dido was its first queen. Carthage grew and became a very rich city. Many Berbers also went to live there.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: When he saw what a rich city Carthage was, Iarbus wanted to marry Dido. He told her that if she did not marry him, he would make war on Carthage. Dido did not want to marry Iarbus. She still loved her husband . Before her wedding to Iarbus, she built a large fire. She told him that the fire was a ceremony to honor Acerbas. She said that when the ceremony was finished, Iarbus would be her new husband. Instead, she climbed onto the pyre where the fire was burning. Then she killed herself with a sword. After she died, the people of Carthage worshipped her as a goddess. Carthage stayed a very rich and powerful city for 600 years. It was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: Dido is most well known today for the story told about her in Books 3 and 4 of Virgil's "Aeneid". Virgil's story about the early life of Dido is very like those told by Timaeus and Trogus. But his story of how she died is very different. In Virgil's story, Aeneas, a prince from the ancient city of Troy, goes to Carthage after losing a war against the Greeks (the Trojan War). Aeneas and Dido fall in love. Aeneas decides to stay in Carthage with Dido. But the god Jupiter sends Mercury to tell Aeneas that he must leave Carthage and go to Italy. Aeneas does not want to go, but knows he must do what Jupiter asks. He and his men sail away from Carthage. Dido is very sad and very angry. She builds a large fire to burn all the things that belonged to Aeneas. Then she climbs to the top of the fire and kills herself with the sword that she gave Aeneas when he first came to Carthage.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: Most people say that Virgil was the first writer to make up the story about Aeneas and Dido. Others think that he got the idea from a long poem by Gnaeus Naevius called "" ("The Punic Wars"). Most of Naevius's poem is lost, so it is hard to know for sure.


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: Since Virgil's time, many plays and operas have been written about his story of Aeneas and Dido. Christopher Marlowe wrote a play about them in 1583. It was called "Dido Queen of Carthage". Henry Purcell composed an opera about them in 1688 called "Dido and Aeneas".


title: Dido, Queen of Carthage

text: The Italian poet Pietro Metastasio also used Virgil's story for a libretto (the story and words for an opera). It was called "". (Its title means "Dido " in Italian.) The first opera to use Metastasio's libretto was composed by Domenico Sarro in 1724. In the next 100 years more than 40 operas by other composers used this libretto.


title: Herbivore

text: Most modern herbivores (such as deer, elephants, horses) have teeth that are adapted to grind grass. The main present-day vegetation in most continents is grassland. Some herbivorous animals do eat eggs and sometimes other animal animal protein.


title: Herbivore

text: Animals who eat mainly fruit are called frugivores. Browsers eat mostly leaves and sometimes small tree branches. Animals that eat mostly grass are grazing animals.


title: Herbivore

text: The diet of some herbivorous animals changes with the season. In the temperate zones, some seasons are hot and some are cold, so different plants are available at different times of the year.


title: Herbivore

text: Humans are omnivores, because they eat plant food as well as meat. People who eat mostly plants are usually called vegetarian or vegan.


title: Herbivore

text: Plant cell walls are mostly made up of cellulose. No animal can digest cellulose by itself. They make use of gut flora, some of which produce an enzyme called cellulase. This is an example of symbiosis.


title: Herbivore

text: According to the theory of predator-prey interactions, the relationship between herbivores and plants is cyclic. When prey (plants) are numerous, herbivores increase in numbers. Reducing the plant population causes herbivore number to decline. The plant population recovers, starting a new cycle. This suggests that the population of the herbivore fluctuates around the carrying capacity of the food source, in this case the plants.


title: Herbivore

text: There will always be pockets of plants not found by herbivores. Eating a second plant type helps herbivores’ populations stabilize. Alternating between two or more plant types provides population stability for the herbivore, while the populations of the plants oscillate. When an invasive herbivore or plant enters the system, the balance is thrown off and the diversity can change or even collapse.


title: Herbivore

text: In some ways it is easier to be an herbivorous animal than a carnivorous (meat-eating) animal. Carnivorous animals have to find and catch the animals that they eat, and sometimes the animals that they want to eat fight them. Herbivorous animals have to find the plants that they want to eat, but they do not have to catch them. Many plants have some defence against herbivores, such as spines, toxins (poisons), or a bad taste. There are many more herbivorous animals living in the world than carnivorous animals.


title: Herbivore

text: Herbivores' effects on plant diversity vary. Herbivores might increase plant diversity or decrease plant diversity.


title: Herbivore

text: People used to think herbivores increase plant diversity by avoiding dominance. Dominant species tend to exclude subordinate species as competitive exclusion. However, the effects on plant diversity caused by variation in dominance could be beneficial or negative. Herbivores do increase bio-diversity by consuming dominant plant species, but they can also prefer eating subordinate species according to plants’ palatability and quality. In addition to the preference of herbivores, herbivores' effects on plant diversity are also influenced by other factors, defense trade-off theory, the predator-prey interaction, and inner traits of the environment and herbivores.


title: Herbivore

text: One way that plants could differ in their susceptibility to herbivores is through defense trade-off. Defense trade-off theory is commonly used to be seen as a fundamental theory to maintain ecological evenness. Plants can make a trade-off response to resource allocation, such as between defense and growth. Defenses against herbivory on plant diversity can vary in different situations. It can be neutral, detrimental or beneficial for plant fitness. Even in the absence of defensive trade-offs, herbivores may still be able to increase plant diversity, such as herbivores prefer subordinate species rather than dominant species.


title: Herbivore

text: The predator-prey interaction, especially the “top-down” regulation. The predator-prey interaction encourages the adaptation in plant species which the predator prefers. The theory of “top-down” ecological regulation disproportionately manipulates the biomass of dominant species to increase diversity. The herbivore effect on plant is universal but still significantly distinguish on each site, can be positive or negative.


title: Herbivore

text: In a highly productive system, the environment provides an organism with adequate nutrition and resources to grow. The effects of herbivores competing for resources on the plant are more complicated. The existence of herbivores can increase plant diversity by reducing the abundance of dominant species, redundant resources can then be used by subordinate species. Therefore, in a highly productive system, direct consumption of dominant plants could indirectly benefit those herbivory-resistant and unpalatable species. But the less productive system can support limited herbivores because of lack of nutrients and water. Herbivory boosts the abundance of most tolerant species and decreases the less-tolerant species’ existence which accelerates the plant extinction. Mediate productive system sometimes barely has long-term effects on plant diversity. Because the environment provides a stable coexistence of different organisms. Even when herbivores create some disturbances to the community. The system is still able to recover to the original state.


title: Herbivore

text: Light is one of the most important resources in environments for plant species. Competition for light availability and predator avoidance are equally important. With the addition of the nutrients, more competition arises among plant species. But herbivores could buffer the diversity reduction. Especially large herbivores can enhance the bio-diversity by selectively excluding tall, dominant plant species, and increase light availability.


title: Herbivore

text: Body size of herbivores is a key reason underlying the interaction between herbivores and plant diversity, and the body size explains many of the phenomena connected to herbivore-plant interaction. Small herbivores are less likely to decrease plant diversity. Because small non-digging animals may not cause many disturbances to the plant and the environment. Intermediate-sized herbivores mostly increase plant diversity by consuming or influencing the dominant plant species, such as herbivore birds, that can directly use dominant plant species. While some herbivores enhance plant diversity by indirect effects on plant competition. Some digging animals at this size local community environmental fluctuations. And the adaptation of plant species to avoid predators can also adjust the vegetation structure and increase diversity. Larger herbivores often increase plant diversity. They use competitively dominant plant species, and disperse seeds and create disorder of the soil. Besides, their urine position also adjusts the local plant distribution, and prevent light competition.


title: Herbivore

text: Therefore, the mechanisms of herbivores’ effects on plant diversity are complicated. Generally, the existence of herbivores increases plant diversity. But varies according to different environmental factors, multiple factors combined to affect how herbivores influence plant diversity.


title: Olive tree

text: The olive tree is a small tree. Its scientific name is "Olea europaea". A long time ago, it came from the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean, from Syria and the maritime (next to the sea) parts of Asia Minor and northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea. It has been farmed for a very long time. The Ancient Greeks were farming it. They spread the trees to the western part of the Mediterranean.


title: Olive tree

text: Olive trees like soil with lots of chalk in it. They grow best on limestone slopes and crags in coastal climate.


title: Olive tree

text: The Wild Olive is a small tree or shrub that grows up to 8–15 m tall with thorny branches. The leaves are opposite, 4–10 cm long and 1–3 cm wide. The leaves have a dark greyish-green color above and are pale with whitish scales below. The small white flowers, with calyx and corolla divided into four parts, two stamens and bifid stigma, are mostly on the last year's wood, in racemes coming up from the axils of the leaves. The fruit is a small drupe 1–2 cm long, thinner-fleshed and smaller in wild plants than in orchard cultivars.


title: Olive tree

text: In total, about 17.3 million tons of olives are produced every year. 60% of all olive trees are in the European Union. The top producers are:


title: Olive tree

text: Very probably, the first olive trees were grown in Syria. From there they spread rapidly. In Ancient Greece, the tree was considered to be holy. Some city states (polis) like Athens punished people for cutting down olive trees.


title: Olive tree

text: In Christianity, the olive tree can be a sign of peace, because according to the Bible, a dove brought an olive branch to Noah to show that the flood was over.


title: First language

text: A first language (also mother language, mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) often means the language that a person learns first. It helps one understand words and concepts in the style of that language.


title: First language

text: Sometimes, but not often, "first language" means the language that a person speaks best (the second language is then spoken less well than the first language, etc.). In that sense, a person could have more than one first or second language.


title: Isotope

text: The atoms of a chemical element can exist in different types that have very similar behavior, but weigh different amounts. These are called isotopes of the element. Atoms of the same element have the same number of protons, but different isotopes have different numbers of neutrons. Different isotopes of the same element have different masses because they have a different number of neutrons. Mass is the word for how much substance (or matter) something has. Things with different masses also have different weights.


title: Isotope

text: Some isotopes are not stable so they change to another isotope or element by radioactive decay. These are called radioactive isotopes. Others are not radioactive. These are called stable isotopes.


title: Isotope

text: Atoms of the same element have the same number of protons, which is called the atomic number. Different isotopes of an element have different numbers of neutrons. As a result, they also have different mass numbers, which is the number of protons plus the number of neutrons. An isotope is usually named by giving the element and the mass number. For example, the symbol for carbon is C and all carbon atoms have 6 protons. The most common isotope of carbon also has 6 neutrons, giving a mass number of 12, and it is written carbon-12 or C. The isotope of carbon that has 8 neutrons is written carbon-14 or C.


title: Isotope

text: The word "isotope", meaning "at the same place", comes from the fact that isotopes of the same element are at the same place on the periodic table.


title: Isotope

text: In any neutral atom, the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons. As a result, isotopes of the same element also have the same number of electrons and the same electronic structure. The way an atom acts is decided by its electronic structure, so isotopes of the same element have almost the same chemical behavior, such as the molecules it can form. It is very difficult to separate the isotopes of an element from a mixture of different isotopes because of how similar this behavior is.


title: Isotope

text: Heavier isotopes react chemically more slowly than lighter isotopes of the same element. This "mass effect" is large for protium (H) and deuterium (H), because deuterium has twice the mass of protium. For heavier elements, the relative atomic weight ratio between isotopes is much less, so the mass effect is usually small.


title: Isotope

text: Some isotopes are not stable so they change to a different isotope or element by radioactive decay. These are called unstable isotopes, or radioactive isotopes. The average time it takes an isotope to decay is called the half-life. Other isotopes do not decay so they are not radioactive. They are called stable isotopes.


title: Isotope

text: Every atom has an atomic nucleus, which is made from protons and neutrons that are held together by the nuclear force. Because protons have positive electrical charge, they repel each other. Neutrons are neutral and they stabilize the nucleus. The neutrons hold the protons slightly apart. This reduces the electrostatic repulsion between the protons, so the nuclear force can hold the protons and neutrons together. One or more neutrons are necessary for two or more protons to bind into a nucleus. As the number of protons increases, so does the number of neutrons needed to have a stable nucleus.


title: Isotope

text: Some elements only have a single isotope that is stable. For example, fluorine-19 (F) is the only stable isotope of fluorine. The other isotopes of fluorine decay rapidly so they are not found in nature. Other elements have many stable isotopes. For example, xenon has seven stable isotopes. It also has two isotopes that decay very slowly that are found in nature. The largest number of stable isotopes for any element is ten, for the element tin. Some elements do not have any stable isotopes, such as curium. These only exist on Earth because they are created in nuclear reactors, nuclear explosions, or particle accelerators.


title: Isotope

text: Some unstable isotopes exist naturally on Earth because they have a very long half-life. For example, uranium-238 has a half-life of 4468 million years. The half life of radium-226 is only 1600 years, and it is found in nature because it is constantly forming from the decay of uranium-238.


title: Isotope

text: Hydrogen has three common isotopes. The most common isotope of hydrogen is called protium (H), which has one proton and no neutrons. A hydrogen atom that has a proton and a neutron (atomic mass of 2) is called deuterium (H). Hydrogen with one proton and two neutrons (atomic mass of 3) is called tritium (H). Protium and deuterium are stable isotopes, while tritium is a radioactive isotope.


title: Isotope

text: The heaviest elements in the periodic table are all radioactive. All of the isotopes of radon, thorium, and uranium are radioactive, since they are very heavy. This is because the nuclear forces inside the nucleus of the atom cannot hold together all the protons and neutrons.


title: Medieval music

text: Medieval music is music from the Middle Ages. The time we call the Middle Ages is a long period from about 400 AD to 1400 AD. We do not know a great deal about music of this time because it was such a long time ago and music was not often written down. Music was used for both entertainment and religious practice.


title: Medieval music

text: In Europe there were people who went around the countryside making a living by singing and playing musical instruments. They often went to big houses where rich people lived and entertained them with their faces. These travelling musicians were called minstrels in England, and troubadours or trouvères in many other countries, or Minnesinger in Germany.


title: Medieval music

text: The minstrels often sang long songs which told stories (a ballad). This was a way to tell people about what was happening in the world. Some of the stories were made up: they were about love or about mythology.


title: Medieval music

text: Richard the Lionheart was a keen musician. He wrote many songs in the style of the trouvères. On the way back from a Crusade he was captured by Leopold of Austria. The story goes that his attendant, Blondel, was looking for him everywhere. Then he heard Richard’s voice singing a tune which he knew and so he found him. The song that he was singing was called "Ja Nuns Hons Pris" ("I am no longer captive").


title: Medieval music

text: Minstrels very often went with their masters when they went on journeys to battles. They also sang at important ceremonies, for example when people were being knighted. Many of them played instruments such as the lute or fiddle.


title: Medieval music

text: Minstrels were poets and musicians, because they made up their own words and the tunes. Sometimes we know the words of these songs because they wrote them down, but they did not write the tunes down. Walther von der Vogelweide was a famous minnesinger in Germany.


title: Medieval music

text: One famous tune that was written down is the round "Sumer is icumen in". It was written down by a monk. Monks could often read and write.


title: Medieval music

text: There were two main types of dances in medieval times: line dances and circle dances. The farandole is a line dance. It was a bit like a modern conga with people following a leader in a line. The bransle was a round dance or circle dance. The word “bransle” comes from the French word “branler” (“to sway”). It is pronounced 'Brawl'.


title: Medieval music

text: Instruments could be divided into quiet ones which were used indoors, and loud ones which were used outside. The recorder was a very popular indoor instrument. There was also the psaltery and the harp (which looked like a small Welsh harp of today).


title: Medieval music

text: The bagpipes were loud instruments for outside. They were used for dancing. They were not as loud as modern Scottish bagpipes. They were more like Northumbrian pipes or the French musettes. There was also the hurdy-gurdy which was played by turning a handle. Pipe and tabor were used for Morris dancing.


title: Medieval music

text: Many medieval plucked string instruments were similar to the modern guitar, such as the lute and mandolin. The dulcimer and zither were had strings which were hit with sticks. These are still popular in East Europe today. There were also “fiddles” (vielle) and trombones (called sackbut).


title: Medieval music

text: It was believed that if you were entertained with music while you are eating it would help you digest your food and help keep your heart healthy. And people believed that you will not get fat even if you scoffed down a load of food. Also eating food while having people dancing for you was believed to have made you fit.


title: Medieval music

text: Church music was very important. The mass was the main form of church music. It used the five parts of the mass Ordinary (the Eucharist service): "Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei". The priests in the churches wanted church music to be serious. They did not want it to become popular. They thought that if people enjoyed it too much they would forget about worshipping God. Religious plays had become very popular. They told stories from the Bible. However, the church leaders banned them, so they were performed in the streets and squares of the towns.


title: Medieval music

text: Instruments were also banned in church. The church leaders thought that they belonged to the devil. Only singing was allowed. Gradually, however, the organ started to be allowed in church. It helped people to sing. Some organs were very tiny. They were called portative organs. The large organs that were fixed in place were called “positives”. Bells were also used in church. They looked like our sleigh bells.


title: Medieval music

text: Medieval music was based on plainsong. This was a melody which sounded quite free in rhythm. Composers started adding a second part to the melody as an accompaniment. This was called organum. Sometimes it just simply followed the main tune a fourth or fifth below. This was called “parallel organum”. In the 12th and 13th centuries the original plainsong started to be put at the bottom. It became known as the cantus firmus (the “firm tune”). Sometimes antiphony was used. The simplest form of antiphony is when a leader sings something and a group (the choir) sing something back.


title: Medieval music

text: The type of plainchant that evolved was called Gregorian chant. By the 13th century all other types of chant had been forgotten in Western Europe.


title: Medieval music

text: Carols became popular at this time. At first a carol was a dancing song, but often these popular songs became used for songs for particular seasons or festivals. In later periods these developed into Christmas carols as we know them.


title: Medieval music

text: People often went around in groups, particularly at Christmas, singing at the houses of rich people. This was called Wassailing. The word means “being of good cheer” (i.e. “happy”). "The Boar’s Head" is a well-known medieval carol.


title: Medieval music

text: Mummers were groups of people who performed religious plays. They were travelling entertainers. They normally wore masks so that people did not know who they were.


title: Medieval music

text: There are not many musical manuscripts which have survived from the Middle Ages. Most of them are religious music. They were often written using a system called neumes. The pitch (music) of the music is shown by the neumes, but the rhythms were not very clear. Gradually the system of writing music we know today was evolving. Philippe de Vitry was an important composer and music theorist. He developed ways of writing rhythms.


title: Medieval music

text: Most of the medieval music we know today belongs to the last part of the Middle Ages. There was a tradition known as the “Notre Dame school”. This music dates from around 1150 to 1250. It was the time that great cathedrals were being built in Gothic architecture. The cathedral of Notre Dame was a very famous example. The music of this time was called “Ars antique”. It used a system of rhythms called “rhythmic modes”. Gradually a new way of writing was used. This was called “Ars nova” (“New art”). The most famous composer of this time was Guillaume de Machaut. He developed a kind of composition called the isorhythmic motet. He wrote a lot of songs called chansons (the French word for “song”). Other types of song were called "rondeau", "ballade", and "virelai".


title: Medieval music

text: Composers who were born at the end of the Middle Ages such as John Dunstable, Guillaume Dufay, and Gilles Binchois are often thought to belong to the next period in music history: the Renaissance period.


title: Road

text: People have been making roads for a long time. Roman roads in Britain and the Inca road system are famous. Transport by boats on waterways was usually easier and faster than transport by road. In the industrial revolution, the railway was invented. A railway is a special type of road, using railway tracks. Roads are now usually made for wheeled vehicles, like cars, to travel on.


title: Road

text: Road building and care is usually paid for by taxes. Some roads are toll roads, where people pay to use the road.


title: Basket

text: Basket makers use a wide variety of materials to create a basket, such as bark, willow rods, leaves, wire, plastic, paper, and rope. There are three basic kinds of baskets—coiled, twined, or woven. A woven basket is made of spokes and weavers: the spokes run up and down and the weavers go over and under the spokes. A coiled basket is made by sewing rings of a fibrous material to the previous ring. Twined baskets have flexible weavers that are twined around the spokes in a variety of patterns.


title: Basket

text: Basketmaking is a very old practice; it features in myths from various cultures. Baskets were often used to carry fruits, berries, and other things to be gathered. Nowadays, baskets are less practical but still common. Ancient baskets can be found in many cultures. Basket weaving is one of these activities, either for practical use or fun. In Native American culture, basket weaving is a common activity.


title: Basket

text: In basketball, the basket is an open net fixed to a metal ring in which players try to throw the ball.


title: Threesome

text: A threesome, in human sexuality, is sexual activity between three people. It can also be called troilism or a ménage à trois.


title: Yamuna

text: The Yamuna (), sometimes called Jamuna (, , ) or Jumna, is a major river in North India. It is the largest branch of a bigger river called the Ganges. It is 1370 km long. It begins at the Yamunotri, which is in the Himalayas. It goes through the Indian states of Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. At the end, it flows into the Ganges. Rivers that come out of the Yamuna include the Tons (the largest of the ones that come out of it), Chambal, Betwa, and Ken.


title: About.com

text: About.com is an online source for information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed mostly at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company.


title: About.com

text: About.com is divided into topic sites, which are grouped into channels and subjects such as home repair, pediatrics, and weather. The content is written by a network of writers, referred to as Guides, who have experience in the subject they look after. Each Guide looks after one subject only.


title: Paramore

text: Paramore is an American alternative rock band formed in 2004 in Franklin, Tennessee. At first there were 4 members, Hayley Williams, Josh and Zac Farro and Jeremy Davis. In 2009, Taylor York joined the band. Now there are 3 members - singer Hayley Williams, drummer Zac Farro, and guitarist Taylor York. They have released five studio albums: "All We Know Is Falling", "RIOT!," "Brand New Eyes", and "Paramore, After Laughter" and a live album: 'The Final Riot!' Their most successful album is "Paramore", which reached No.1 on US "Billboard" 200 and sold over 1,000,000 copies. Their song "Monster" was used in 2011 for the 3rd "Transformers" movie. Paramore also released an EP called "The Summer Tic".


title: Paramore

text: Paramore was originally formed in 2004 in Franklin, Tennessee, United States. The members then were vocalist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Josh Farro, drummer Zac Farro, and bassist Jeremy Davis. Later rhythm guitarist Jason Bynum joined. The name "Paramore" came from the name of their first bassist's mother. When they learned the meaning of the word "paramour" (it means "secret lover"), they decided to use the name under "Paramore" spelling.


title: Paramore

text: Paramore went to Orlando, Florida to start working on their first album. Shortly after, Jeremy Davis left the band for personal reasons. Hayley Williams then wrote the song "All We Know" about his leaving. The band later decided to work the album around that idea, about someone that left something. The album artwork also describes that concept. Hayley Williams explains, "The couch on the cover of "All We Know is Falling" with no one there and the shadow walking away; it's all about Jeremy leaving us and us feeling like there's an empty space." Recording took three weeks, and promotional material for the album only used the four remaining members.


title: Paramore

text: Before starting on tour, the band added bassist John Hembree. But soon, Jeremy Davis returned to Paramore after being asked by the band to replace Hembree.


title: Paramore

text: "All We Know Is Falling" released on July 24, 2005. Paramore also released "Pressure" as their first single. The music video for that song was directed by Shane Drake. The song had failed to get into the charts. In July, they released the second single, called "Emergency". In the music video, Hunter Lamb was their new rhythm guitarist, replacing Jason Bynum. The music video was directed by Shane Drake again. The third single, "All We Know", was released with the video made with live performances and backstage footage. The album reached #30 on the "" Heatseekers Chart. In 2007, Hunter Lamb left the band to get married.


title: Paramore

text: Paramore started recording their second album, called "Riot!" in January 2007. In the recording process, guitarist Josh Farro played all guitar parts because Hunter Lamb's had left. Then Farro's asked their old friend, Taylor York, to joined the band as rhythm guitarist for touring. They released "Riot!" on June 12, 2007. "Riot!" entered the "Billboard" 200 at number 20 and the UK charts at number 24. The album sold 44,000 copies in its first week in the United States.


title: Paramore

text: They called the album ""Riot"" because it meant "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotion". The first single from the album, "Misery Business", was released on June 21, 2007. Williams said, "[the song was] more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically."


title: Paramore

text: The second single from "Riot!" is called "Hallelujah". It was released on July 30, 2007. The single is only available on UK television and online. The music video features live performances and backstage footage, just like "All We Know". In August, Paramore was in New Found Glory's music video for their cover of Sixpence None the Richer's song "Kiss Me".


title: Paramore

text: The music video for "Crushcrushcrush" was released on October 11, 2007, as the third single from Riot!. The music video of "Crushcrushcrush" featured Paramore playing the song in a desert being spied on by some people, and later crushed their equipment. The single was released in the United States on November 19. It was available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. Hayley Williams did guest vocals for the songs "The Church Channel" and "Plea" for the Say Anything's album "In Defense of the Genre" that released on October 23, 2007.


title: Paramore

text: Early in February 2008, Paramore started their Europe tour. However on February 21, 2008, they said that they had canceled some shows to fix their personal issues. Williams wrote on the band's website that "the break will give that band a chance to get away and work out our personal issues". MTV.com reported rumors of problems had started earlier in the month when Josh Farro expressed his anger against the media's focus on Hayley Williams. In the middle of those problems, Paramore recorded the music video for "That's What You Get", the album's fourth single. That was released on March 24, 2008.


title: Paramore

text: On May 19, 2008, Paramore posted on their website to say they would be going on tour named "The Final Riot!" from July 25 to September 1.


title: Paramore

text: The band had 2 songs in the soundtrack of the movie "Twilight". Those songs are "Decode" and "I Caught Myself". "Decode" is the first single of the soundtrack. The band started shoot the music video in October 13. The video premiered on November 3, 2008.


title: Paramore

text: On November 25, 2008, Paramore released a live album named "The Final Riot!". The album has a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in Chicago, and a behind the scenes documentary. On 9 of April 2009, "The Final Riot!" was certified gold in the US.


title: Paramore

text: Paramore released their third studio album called "Brand New Eyes" on September 29, 2009. In this album Taylor York was already a member of Paramore. Paramore decided to named the album ""Brand New Eyes"" because it means "seeing things from a whole new perspective" after all the personal problems in the band. Williams said, "Just trying to let go of whatever we might have struggled with the past and just see each other in a new way." They released 5 singles from this album. They are "Ignorance", "Brick By Boring Brick", "The Only Exception", "Careful", and "Playing God".


title: Paramore

text: On December 18, 2010, Paramore posted on their official website that Josh Farro and Zac Farro had officially left the band. The post stated, "...A couple of months ago, Josh and Zac let us know they would be leaving the band after our show in Orlando last Sunday. None of us were really shocked. For the last year it hasn't seemed as if they wanted to be around anymore. We want Josh and Zac to do something that makes them happy and if that isn't here with us, then we support them finding happiness elsewhere. But we never for a second thought about leaving any of this behind..."


title: Paramore

text: On December 22, 2010, Josh Farro post a response on his Blogger account, telling his version about his departure. The post that Josh wrote was entirely different from the band's post. He said that the band was no more than "a manufactured product of a major-label." He also blame Hayley Williams for treating the rest of the group members as her solo project.


title: Paramore

text: On March 21, 2011, Paramore said that they were about to entering a studio in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo to record their next studio-album.


title: Prehistory

text: Prehistory (or pre-history) is the time before people began to write. The word comes from the Ancient Greek words προ ("pre" = "before") and ιστορία ("historia" = "history"). Paul Tournal first used the French word "Préhistorique". He found things made by humans more than ten thousand years ago in some caves in France. The word was first used in France around 1830 to talk about the time before writing. Daniel Wilson used it in English in 1851.


title: Prehistory

text: The term is mostly used for the period from 4.5 billion BC 3000 BC, roughly speaking, the Neolithic. Sometimes the term "prehistoric" is used for much older periods, but scientists have more accurate terms for those more ancient times.


title: Prehistory

text: Less is known about prehistoric people because there are no written records (history) for us to study. Finding out about pre-history is done by archaeology. This means studying things like tools, bones, buildings and cave drawings. Pre-history ends at different times in different places when people began to write.


title: Prehistory

text: In the more ancient stone age pre-history, people lived in "tribes" and lived in caves or tents made from animal skin. They had simple tools made from wood and bones, and cutting tools from stone such as flint, which they used to hunt and to make simple things. They made fire and used it for cooking and to stay warm. They made clothing out of animal skins, and later by weaving. Society started when people began doing specialized jobs. This is called the division of labour. The division of labor made people depend on one another and led to more complex civilizations.


title: Prehistory

text: Some important sciences that are used to find out more about pre-history are palaeontology, astronomy, biology, geology, anthropology, and archaeology. Archaeologists study things left over from prehistory to try to understand what was happening. Anthropologists study the traces of human behavior to learn what people were doing and why.


title: Prehistory

text: After people started to record events, first by drawing symbols (called "pictographs") and then by writing, it became much easier to tell what happened, and history started. These records can tell us the names of leaders (such as Kings and Queens), important events like floods and wars, and the things people did in their daily lives. The time when "prehistory" ended and "history" started is different in different places, depending on when people began to write and if their records were kept safe or lost so they could be found later on. In places like Mesopotamia, China, and Ancient Egypt, things were recorded from very early times (around 3200 BC in Ancient Egypt) and these records can be looked at and studied. In New Guinea, the end of prehistory came much later, around 1900.


title: Crimea

text: Crimea (Russian: Крым, Ukrainian: Крим) is a peninsula in the Black Sea that separates it from the Sea of Azov. Crimea has a surface of . It is about by . About 2.4 million people live there. On the Crimean peninsula live on Russians, Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, Crimean Karaites, Krymchaks and Xoraxane Roma.


title: Crimea

text: In 2022, the government of Ukraine recognized the Crimean Tatar indigenous people of Ukraine on the territory of the Crimean peninsula.


title: Crimea

text: The Crimean Khanate ruled Crimea from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Late in the 18th century, the Russian Empire won a war against the Ottoman Empire and took control. The Crimean War was fought here in the 19th century.


title: Crimea

text: Crimea was part of Russia until the Soviet Union gave it to Ukraine in 1954. Ukraine gave it a limited self-rule as an "autonomous —" . The seat of the government is Simferopol, which is also the biggest city. Other major cities are Sevastopol and Kerch.


title: Crimea

text: In March 2014, after a series of protests in Ukraine the month before, Russian troops took control of Crimea. A referendum in Crimea by Russia was held in which over 95% of voters voted to join the Russian Federation. The Crimean Parliament quickly proclaimed independence from Ukraine as a result. The area became the Republic of Crimea, a federal subject of Russia. The referendum is not recognized by the international community. Ukraine and the world community consider Crimea de jure Ukrainian territory.


title: Crimea

text: However, Ukraine and most other countries in the world continue to recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine. On March 24, Russia expelled from the G8 (which became the G7), and on March 27, the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 68/262, which states that the referendum was invalid and Crimea still belongs to Ukraine. In later months, the United States, the European Union, and other places started economic sanctions to prevent Russian people and goods from entering those countries.


title: Handel's Largo

text: "Handel's Largo" is the popular title for an aria composed by George Frideric Handel. He wrote it in 1738 for the opera "Serse" (). The opera was a failure. It closed after only five performances. One hundred years later though the aria was resurrected. It became a big hit. It was performed at solemn occasions such as funerals and weddings. It was arranged for all sorts of instruments and voices. It is known by many people as "Ombra mai fu" because those words are the first words of the aria. The title is Italian and means "Never was a shade". The aria is sung by the main character, Xerxes I of Persia. He is admiring the shade of a tree. The original tempo is larghetto (a little slow and solemn). The aria is short. It is only 52 bars long. It lasts about four minutes. In the opera, a string section accompanies the singer. These strings are first and second violins, viola, and basses. The key signature is F major. The time signature is 3/4 time.


title: Wallis Simpson

text: Wallis Simpson (born Bessie Wallis Warfield; 19 June 1896 - 24 April 1986), who later became the Duchess of Windsor, caused a serious crisis in the mid-1930s when the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom, Prince Edward, fell in love with her. However, she was married to another man, and she had already gotten a divorce from her first husband to marry him. In 1936, she divorced her second husband.


title: Wallis Simpson

text: On 20 January 1936, King George V died, and Edward became king. Edward VIII and Wallis had already started an affair. He wanted to marry her after she had divorced.


title: Wallis Simpson

text: The monarch is the head of the Church of England, which was strongly against the idea of divorce. Their affair was regarded as a sin.


title: Wallis Simpson

text: In November, King Edward consulted with British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin on a way to both marry Wallis and keep the throne. Edward suggested a morganatic marriage in which he would remain king but Wallis would not be queen, and their children could not become the monarch. The idea was rejected by Baldwin and the prime ministers of Australia and South Africa. If Edward married Wallis against Baldwin's advice, the government had decided to resign, which would cause a constitutional crisis.


title: Wallis Simpson

text: The King decided he had no choice but to abdicate so that he could marry Wallis. On 11 December 1936, Edward said in a radio broadcast, "I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love".


title: Wallis Simpson

text: After his abdication, Edward became the Duke of Windsor, and Wallis became the Duchess of Windsor. While Edward retained his style of "Royal Highness", King George VI declared Wallis would not be allowed to do the same but would be instead styled "Her Grace The Duchess of Windsor", the same style given to a non-royal duchess. The couple lived abroad, mainly in France, for most of their lives.


title: Wallis Simpson

text: During the Second World War, they moved from France to Portugal and later to the Bahamas. They were widely suspected of being sympathetic to the German Nazis. Edward himself wrote in the New York "Daily News" of 13 December 1966: "it was in Britain's interest and in Europe's too, that Germany be encouraged to strike east and smash Communism forever ... I thought the rest of us could be fence-sitters while the Nazis and the Reds slogged it out".


title: Wallis Simpson

text: After her husband's death from cancer in 1972, Wallis travelled to the United Kingdom to attend his funeral. She stayed at Buckingham Palace during her visit. The Duchess of Windsor died on 24 April 1986 at her home in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris, at the age of 89. She was buried alongside her husband in the Royal Burial Ground. She wrote about her life in 1956.


title: Geri Halliwell

text: Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell (born 6 August 1972) is an English pop music singer. She is a former member of pop group the Spice Girls. She made $30 million during her last two years in the group.


title: Geri Halliwell

text: She left the Spice Girls in May 1998 and continued singing as a solo artist. In 2007, she reunited with the Spice Girls to do a world tour.


title: Geri Halliwell

text: Nude photos of Halliwell were in a number of magazines in 1992 and 1995 including "Playboy" and "Penthouse".


title: Geri Halliwell

text: In 2012, Halliwell was a guest judge at "The X Factor" auditions in Liverpool. On 26 June she reunited with Spice Girls to promote the brand new musical "Viva Forever" based on their songs and career. 12 August 2012, she performed with the girls from the group in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in London.


title: Geri Halliwell

text: Halliwell's father was half-Swedish, half-English; her mother is Spanish. On 14 May 2006, Halliwell gave birth to her daughter, Bluebell Madonna Halliwell. Sacha Gervasi is said to be the child's father, but this has not been said by Halliwell. Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton are Bluebell's godmothers. There are rumors that Halliwell is dating Russell Brand. but in May 2015 she married racing driver Christian Horner.


title: Natural number

text: Natural numbers, also called counting numbers, are the numbers used for counting things. Natural numbers are the numbers small children learn about when they first started to count. Natural numbers are always whole numbers (integers excluding negative numbers) and often exclude zero, in which case one is the smallest natural number. The set of natural numbers can be represented by the symbol formula_1.


title: Natural number

text: There is no largest natural number. The next natural number can be found by adding 1 to the current natural number, producing numbers that go on "forever". There is no natural number that is infinite in size. Any natural number can be reached by adding 1 enough times to the smallest natural number.


title: Natural number

text: formula_19 or formula_1 is the way to write the set of all natural numbers. Because some people say 0 is a natural number, and some people say it is not, people use the following symbols to talk about the natural numbers:


title: Belfast

text: Belfast (Irish: "Béal Feirste") is the capital of Northern Ireland. It is the second largest city in Ireland, after Dublin. About 270,000 people live in the city. It became capital of Northern Ireland when Northern Ireland was created in 1921. A lot of famous ships were built by the Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff. In 1911 they built the RMS Titanic.


title: Alan Shearer

text: Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is a retired English footballer and BBC football pundit. He played for the England national team, and club teams: Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. He won the Premier League with Blackburn in the 1994/95 season. He is the person who has scored the most goals in the Premier League, as well as the 4th most goals for England. He played as a striker and was very good at taking penalties. Shearer is considered a legend in his hometown of Newcastle, and he is well respected in the rest of England as well because of his good playing for England. He also managed Newcastle for the last eight games of the 2008/2009 Premier League season. The team only got five points out of 28 possible points and were relegated to the championship for the 2009/2010 season.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: Kim Jong-un (born 8 January 1982, 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician who has been the Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: According to reports in Japanese newspapers, he went to school in Switzerland near Bern. First reports claimed Kim went to the private English-language International School in Gümligen under the name "Chol-pak" or "Pak-chol" from 1993 to 1998. Kim was described as shy, a good student who got along well with his classmates, and was a basketball fan.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: In December 2011, Kim became the leader of North Korea after his father Kim Jong-il died on 17 December 2011. His grandfather Kim Il-Sung was the first leader of North Korea.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: On 12 December 2013, North Korean news outlets reported that due to alleged "treachery", Kim had ordered the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek. Kim is thought by many to have ordered the assassination of his half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, in Malaysia in February 2017.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: As of 2016, the United Nations has created five rounds of sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear program and missile tests.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: As of March 2018, a South Korean official Chung Eui-Yong made an announcement on North Korea in the White House briefing room that the North Korean leader Kim told the South Koreans he is "committed to denuclearisation" and "North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests." and is open to meeting Donald Trump in North Korea.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: Human rights violations under the leadership of Kim Jong-il were condemned by the UN General Assembly. Press reports indicate that they are continuing under Kim.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: In his 2018 New Year Speech, Kim said he was open to talk with with South Korea, and also to taking part in the 2018 Winter Olympics in the South. The Seoul–Pyongyang hotline was reopened after almost 2 years. North and South Korea marched together in the Olympics opening ceremony under a unified flag.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: In April 2018, Kim and Moon Jae-in formally attended the inter-Korean summit of 2018 and agreed to formally end the Korean War before 2019.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: In April and May 2018, Kim met with Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. In May 2018, Donald Trump said on Twitter that he would meet with Kim on June 12 in Singapore for peace talks.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: Kim is married to Ri Sol-ju. They married in 2009. They had a daughter in 2010. He attended a state school in Switzerland from 1998 to 2000 posing as a diplomat's son. Kim is reported to have later attended the Kim Il Sung Military University in Pyongyang from 2002 to 2007. His mother died of cancer in 2004.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: In 2009, reports suggested that Kim was a diabetic and suffered from hypertension. He is also known to smoke cigarettes.


title: Kim Jong-un

text: Rumors of Kim's death happened in late April 2020. Kim had been absent on the Day of the Sun, 15 April, celebrating the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, though had been last seen four days before at a government meeting. "Daily NK" reported that Kim had gone to a hospital for a heart surgery on 12 April, but according to CNN by 21 April that Kim's state was in "grave danger" from the surgery. South Korea reported in response to these stories that there were "no unusual signs detected" in about Kim's health. "The Guardian" reported that China had sent a team of doctors on 25 April to North Korea to look at Kim's condition.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: The Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 to September 3, 1945) was a major war fought between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. It became part of World War II when Japan entered that war. Part of the Sino-Japanese war was fought in northern Burma and northeastern India. The war ended when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It started in 1937 43 years after the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894 lead by Emperor Meiji who was the father of Emperor Taishō and the Grandfather of Hirohito .


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: The Second Sino-Japanese War began when Japan invaded China in 1931. Japan used the Mukden Incident as an excuse to invade China. The invasion grew into a full-scale war after the Marco-Polo Bridge Incident. Japanese officers said that a Japanese soldier got lost and they were allowed to find him in Beiping.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: While the Imperial Japanese Army was trying to take over China, the KMT (the Nationalist Government under Chiang Kai-Shek) and the CCP (Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong) cooperated a little to try to fight off Japan together. This was called the "Chinese United Front". However, for the most part, they continued to fight each other as well.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: In 1931, the Imperial Japanese Army began to occupy China, starting in the northeast (Manchuria), where they created a puppet state called Manchukuo. In 1937, they occupied Beiping (now called Beijing), and then Nanjing. For six weeks in Nanjing, the army committed the Nanjing Massacre. During this massacre, Japanese soldiers killed between 40,000 and 300,000 Chinese people, and raped at least 20,000 women and girls.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: After six weeks, the Japanese Army left Nanjing. It finally occupied the industrial cities in southern China. Chiang moved his capital city from Nanjing to Chongqing, and began a tactic of "using space to trade for time." He was able to spread Japanese soldiers out too thin. This means they were covering too much space with too few soldiers. This made them harder to fight, and made it easier for partisans to fight back in occupied China.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: Many soldiers died on both sides at this time. However, in 1940, the Japanese Army stopped being able to move farther into China and take more land. 1940 also marked the point where China began to be able to fight back, instead of Japan continuing to take over the country.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in the United States on December 7, 1941, the Second Sino-Japanese War became part of World War II. It became a part of the area of fighting called the China-Burma-India theatre. The entrance of the United States into the war in Asia meant that the Chinese military forces started receiving lend-lease supplies from the British and Americans over the Burma Road. This helped the Chinese fight back and get much-needed modern weapons.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: The Second Sino-Japanese War had damaged Japan. It had not been able to win the war against China quickly. Instead, Japan's military had already been fighting China for four years. This made it much more difficult for Japan to keep fighting (now in the Pacific against the Allied forces). This may have been one reason why Japan eventually lost the war.


title: Second Sino-Japanese War

text: In China, the war had some important effects. It made more people support the Chinese Communist Party. It also made Chiang's Republic fall apart more quickly, in 1949.


title: Million

text: 1,000,000 (1000000, one million or one thousand thousand or million or thousand thousand for short) is a natural number between 999,999 and 1,000,001. The name is derived from Italian, where was 1,000, and 1,000,000 became a ""milione"", as 'a large thousand'.


title: Million

text: In scientific notation, the number is written as 1×10 or just 10. Physical quantities can also be explained using the SI prefix when using SI units. For example, 1 megawatt is 1,000,000 watts.


title: Million

text: The word 'million' is common to both the short-scale and long-scale numbering systems, unlike the larger numbers, which have different names in the two systems.


title: Million

text: The million is sometimes used in the English language as a metaphor for a very large number, as in 'Never in a million years' and 'You're one in a million', or as hyperbole, as in 'I've walked a million miles'.


title: Million

text: "Il Milione" is the title of Marco Polo's narration of his travels in China. The name is supposed to come from Polo's nickname after his tales of riches and multitudes.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: Kipp Christianson (born September 30, 1974) is a former American professional wrestler and a former basketball player. He is best known for his time in the WWE where he wrestled under the ring name Eli Cottonwood.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: Christianson competed on the second season of NXT. His pro was John Morrison. He was the second rookie eliminated. He returned to NXT in April 2012. He was teamed with Bray Wyatt for a short time. He asked to be released from the WWE in June 2012.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: At an independent wrestling show, Christianson announced that he would retire as a wrestler on July 10, 2014.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: Christianson attended River Falls High School and later St. John's University in Minnesota. While attending St. John's, he averaged 20 points and eight rebounds, and in his junior season there, he led the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in field goal percentage. During his basketball career, Christian played in several countries, including Lithuania and China. He played in the International Basketball Association and Continental Basketball Association, for both Quad City Thunder and Sioux Falls Skyforce. He attended a camp for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1998, and played for the Dallas Mavericks team in the NBA Summer League. On March 16, 2004, he signed a contract with the Charleston Lowgators.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: Kipp Christianson began competing in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in 2008 under his real name. In August 2009, his name was tweaked to Eli Cottonwood, and he utilized a gimmick of being recently reintroduced to society from the Kelloggs Sanitarium. He spent most of his time defeating opponents such as DJ Gabriel, Tyler Reks, and Max McGuirk. He soon aligned with Aksana and turned face.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: On June 1, 2010, it was announced that Cottonwood would be part of the second season of "WWE NXT", with John Morrison as his storyline mentor. He debuted on the June 8 episode of "NXT", teaming with Morrison to defeat Titus O'Neil and Zack Ryder. Christianson's performance in the "Talk the Talk" challenge on the July 6 edition of "NXT" earned him a clip on the following episode of E! Television's episode of "The Soup" in the "What your Boyfriend is Watching" segment.


title: Kipp Christianson

text: Christanson currently owns a Yoga/Gym business called Kipp's Life Flip in Las Vegas since June 14,2015-Feb.18,2017. And he currently owns half of Florida Hardcore Wrestling since January 20, 2014.


title: Oxford

text: Oxford is a city in England. It is on the River Thames. It is a very old city. It is the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom. Some of its buildings were built before the 12th century. It is famous for its university, Oxford University, which is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.


title: Oxford

text: About 150,200 live in Oxford. Two rivers run through the city, the Cherwell and the Thames. These two rivers meet south of the city centre.


title: Oxford

text: Besides its university, there are some buildings famous for their architecture (the style in which they were built), like the Radcliffe Camera. There are also lots of museums and other places for tourists to visit.


title: Oxford

text: The south and east of the city are less wealthy and have fewer students. Cowley used to be a separate town and has a large car factory, and Blackbird Leys is an area of mainly council housing.


title: G20

text: The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It was founded in 1999. The goal is to coordinate global policy on trade, health climate and other prominent issues as well as promoting international financial stability.


title: G20

text: Together, the nations of the G20 account for almost 80% of the global economic output. The figures have remained stable, while the G7 is shrinking.


title: Chalcedonian Creed

text: The Chalcedonian Creed is a creed which was made during the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451. This council is one of the seven ecumenical councils. It is recognised by the Eastern Orthodox, the Catholics, and by many Protestant Churches. It is the first council the Oriental Orthodox Church does not recognize.


title: Chalcedonian Creed

text: The Chalcedonian creed was written during a controversy between the Western and Eastern Churches. They could not agree about the meaning of Incarnation, the influence of the emperor in the church, and the role of the Roman Pope. The Western Churches had no problems accepting the creed, but some Eastern Churches had.


title: Chalcedonian Creed

text: The creed became doctrine in the Orthodox Church. The Coptic church of Alexandria disagreed. They used Cyril's formula instead. They said that the creed should say that Christ be acknowledged "from two natures" rather than "in two natures".


title: Down syndrome

text: Down syndrome (or trisomy 21; old name mongoloid idiocy) is a genetic disorder. Most people with Down Syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, or part of it.


title: Down syndrome

text: Down syndrome causes a mental handicap. It may be mild or severe. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, equivalent to the mental age of an 8- or 9-year-old child, but it truly depends on the person. This can vary widely, but most individuals need supervision if they are to live their lives in a satisfactory way. Children who have this condition take more time to learn new things.


title: Down syndrome

text: The condition is named after John Langdon Down, the British doctor who first described it in 1866. He called it "mongoloid idiocy" because he thought that children with Down syndrome had faces like that of Blumenbach's Mongolian race. Idiocy meant intellectual disability. People do not use the term "mongoloid idiocy" today. It is a rude term.


title: Down syndrome

text: There is sometimes discrimination against people with Down syndrome, both in the education system and in society in general. Some people with the condition have average intelligence, but may have other problems with development instead. People with Down syndrome often have a different shape of eyes than most people. A few people with the condition have severe learning difficulties.


title: Down syndrome

text: Of every 800 to 1000 babies that are born, one is diagnosed with Down syndrome. Older women have a higher chance of having a baby with Down syndrome. If they have a procedure known as amniocentesis, pregnant mothers can be told whether their foetus has Down syndrome. Sound scans may also diagnose the presence of Down Syndrome. Mothers whose foetus is diagnosed as having Downs syndrome may choose to have an abortion. In the United Kingdom and Europe 92% of such cases are aborted.


title: Down syndrome

text: They also grow differently from other children. Babies with down syndrome can be identified at birth because they may have a specific set of physical features. These features include narrow eyes, a flat nose-bridge, smaller mouths and shorter fingers. Smaller mouths can result in tongue protrusion or what looks like a large tongue. Sometimes the little fingers curve inwards as well, and there is also often a space between the big toe and the others. People with Down syndrome often have heart defects or Alzheimer's disease when they are older. About 90% of people with Down syndrome live through their teens. The lifespan of a person with Down syndrome averages between 50 and 55 years old.


title: Down syndrome

text: Down syndrome comes from a problem with the genes. Humans are diploid organisms. This means that for each chromosome, there are two copies, one from the mother, and one from the father. During meiosis the number is reduced to one set of chromosomes. People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, or part of it.


title: Down syndrome

text: There are three ways that Down syndrome is caused. The most common cause of Down syndrome is trisomy. Trisomy is when the child receives two chromosomes from the mother and one from the father. This makes it so there are three chromosomes of chromosome #21. Another way Down syndrome is caused is when new cells are made. Sometimes even when the parent cells are normal chromosome 21 can be deformed when cells reproduce. This makes it so some cells have 47 chromosomes and others have 46. This is called a mosaic disorder. Mosaic means that they have a third chromosome from the replication of cells. The third way Down syndrome can be caused is called translocation. This happens when a normal chromosome breaks into two pieces. This results in three chromosomes.


title: 9

text: 9 (IX) is a common year of the Julian calendar which started on a Tuesday. According to the Gregorian calendar, it started on a Thursday. It was the 9th year of the 1st century.


title: George Harrison

text: George Harold Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. After the group broke up in 1970, he had a solo career. He made many albums and worked with other musicians including Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Phil Spector, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, and Ravi Shankar. He was also interested in Eastern mysticism and charitable causes.


title: George Harrison

text: Harrison was born in 12 Arnold Grove in Wavertree, Liverpool, He was youngest of four children of Harold Hargreaves (or Hargrove) Harrison and Louise Harrison, He had one sister and two brothers.


title: George Harrison

text: George's best-known album was "All Things Must Pass," which he made just after the Beatles broke up. Harrison owned a mansion in England called Friar Park, where he lived from 1970 until he died. He built his own recording studio inside the mansion, which for a time was better than Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles had made their records. Having a private studio meant Harrison could work on songs and recordings anytime he wanted.


title: George Harrison

text: Ravi Shankar came to Harrison during 1971 with news about a war in Bangladesh, where thousands of people had died and millions more were refugees and starving. Shankar asked for Harrison's help to give a benefit show to buy food for them. Harrison called on many of his musician friends, who put together a charity concert with famous people to help the refugees. The "Concert for Bangla Desh", a live recording, became a best-selling album, raised money for the refugees, and brought worldwide attention to the problems in their country. It also inspired later benefits, including Live Aid in the 1980s.


title: George Harrison

text: Harrison found a new musical partner in the 1980s, when Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra began to write and record songs with him. The two men worked well together and became close friends. Harrison and Lynne formed another band, the Traveling Wilburys, with fellow musicians Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. The Traveling Wilburys recorded two albums, which became hits.


title: George Harrison

text: In 1966, Harrison married a model, Pattie Boyd, but they were divorced in 1971, and had no children. Boyd left Harrison to be with his friend, guitarist Eric Clapton, but all three remained friends. Harrison married again in 1978, to American-born Olivia Trinidad Arias, who had worked for his record company. Arias became the mother of Harrison's son Dhani, whose name is comprised of the names of two notes in the Indian music scale. Dhani grew up to be a musician like his father, fronting the band thenewno2. He went to Brown University in the United States.


title: George Harrison

text: In the late 1970s Harrison formed a movie production company, Handmade Films, which produced movies including Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits".


title: George Harrison

text: The grounds of Harrison's home, Friar Park, had been more or less open to the public, until the murder of his former bandmate John Lennon late in 1980. Harrison was very hurt and shocked by Lennon's death, and was afraid someone might try to harm him or his family. Afterwards, the gates were locked, and no-entry notices were posted. In December, 1999, an intruder broke into his home, stabbing him with a knife. Harrison and his wife Olivia stopped the intruder and called the police. Harrison recovered. The man who attacked him is schizophrenic and was acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity in November 2000 at Oxford Crown Court. He was sent to a mental hospital and released in 2002.


title: George Harrison

text: In the 1990s, decades of smoking cigarettes caused Harrison to develop throat cancer. He later developed lung cancer, which caused his death in 2001. His family issued a last statement from him: "Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another." Even music was not as important to Harrison as his wanting people to learn to get along with each other, and to make the world a better place.


title: George Harrison

text: A year after Harrison's death, Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison, the two remaining Beatles (Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr), and other musicians held the "Concert for George", which remembered Harrison's music, his life, and his gifts to humanity. All the profits from the concert were given to charity.


title: Kyrie Irving

text: Kyrie Andrew Irving (; born March 23, 1992) is an Australian born-American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He formerly played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is entering free agency in 2019. He has 2 nephews Navion Flowers and Kenyan Mackroy.


title: Kyrie Irving

text: In 2016, Irving made the shot that allowed the Cavaliers to win the NBA Finals 4–3 after a 3–1 comeback to the Golden State Warriors. On Christmas Day, he made the same winning shot and helped Cleveland beat the Warriors again.


title: Kyrie Irving

text: Irving was born in Melbourne, Victoria to African American parents. He grew up in West Orange, New Jersey. He went to Duke University before being selected as the 1st overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Cavaliers. He is a dual citizen of Australia and the United States.


title: Official language

text: An official language is a language that has special status in a country or other organization. Usually, the government does its business in the official language. They are sometimes named in a country's constitution.


title: Official language

text: Some countries, like Switzerland and Luxembourg, have more than one official language. Other countries, such as the United States and Australia, may not have a "de jure" official language set by law, but they may have one or more national languages that is considered "de facto" official because it is used by the government and people in the country.


title: Official language

text: An official language does not have to be a written language. It can be a pidgin language (like in Papua New Guinea), or a sign language (like in New Zealand).


title: Vocal cords

text: The vocal cords or vocal folds are two sets of tissue stretched across the larynx. They can vibrate when air passes through the larynx. This produces sounds. Humans use them to produce language.


title: Vocal cords

text: Men and women have different vocal fold sizes. Adult male voices are usually deeper: males have thicker cord. The male vocal folds are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length.""


title: Vocal cords

text: The difference in vocal fold size between men and women means that their voices have a different pitch. Each person's voice is different and has a slightly different pitch. This is caused by genes that influence how the larynx is made.


title: Vocal cords

text: The vocal cords are sometimes called 'true vocal cords' to distinguish them from the false vocal cords. These are a pair of thick folds of mucous membrane. They sit directly above the true vocal folds, to protect them. They have a very small role in normal speech , but are often used in musical screaming and the death grunt singing style. They are also used in Tuvan throat singing.


title: Vocal cords

text: The false cords are also called vestibular folds and ventricular folds. They can be seen on the diagram above as "ventricular folds".


title: The Lightning Thief

text: The Lightning Thief is a 2005 fantasy-adventure novel which is based on Greek mythology. It is the first young-adult book written by author Rick Riordan. It is the first book in the "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series. The series is about the adventures of a modern 12-year-old named Percy Jackson after he discovers he is a demigod (half-human, half-god). Percy is the son of a mortal woman and the Greek god Poseidon. Percy and his friends go on a quest to prevent a war between the Greek gods Zeus,


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Riordan finished writing his manuscript in 1994. "The Lightning Thief" was first bought by Bantam Books in 1997. Bantam sold it to Miramax Books. Miramax published it on June 28, 2005. The book sold more than 1.2 million copies in the next four years. The book won many awards. In 2007, it was on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for children's books. It was one of the Young Adult Library Services Association's Best Books for Young Adults. It was made into a movie named "". The movie was first shown in the United States on February 12, 2010. The next book in the series is "The Sea of Monsters".


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Planning for both "The Lightning Thief" and the series began when Riordan started making up stories for his nine-year-old son, Haley. He had started studying Greek mythology (stories) in second grade. He wanted his father to tell him stories about them before he went to sleep. Riordan had taught Greek myths as a middle school teacher. He remembered some of the myths, which he then told to his son. Soon, Riordan had told him all the stories. When Haley wanted him to make up new stories using the characters from the myths, Riordan created the character of Percy Jackson. Like Percy, Haley had ADHD and dyslexia. He made up the story of how Percy traveled across the United States to search for Zeus' master bolt. After hearing the story, Haley wanted his father to write a book about Percy and his friends.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: In June 1994, Riordan finished the story. He started looking for agents to publish it. He went to many local colleges to find an editor before finding an agent. He gave his manuscript to his agent and editor to review. At the same time, he gave the book to some sixth, seventh and eighth graders to read and tell him what was good or bad about it. They named the book and helped Riordan describe how Percy's sword (Riptide) worked. In June 1997, Riordan signed with Bantam Books to prepare the book for publishing. In 2004, Miramax Books bought the book. The money was enough for Riordan to quit his teaching job and spend his time on writing. The book was published on June 28, 2005. It sold over 1.2 million copies. The book had hardcover, softcover and audio editions. It has been translated into many languages. It has been published all over the world.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: "The Lightning Thief" is a fantasy–adventure novel which uses the ideas of ancient Greek mythology in today's world. It is written in a fast-paced, humorous (funny) style.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Percy Jackson is a 12 year old boy. He has ADHD and dyslexia. He has been thrown out of many schools. On a trip with his mother, he meets his friend Grover, a satyr (half-goat, half-human). Grover tells Percy's mother that Percy must go to a camp. When they drive towards the camp, a Minotaur (monster) attacks them and grabs Percy's mother. She dissolves into gold sparkles of light, but Grover and Percy escape.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Percy later wakes up. He learns that he is in Camp Half-Blood, which is a secret training camp for demigods. Percy has to live in the Hermes cabin because he does not know which god his father is. He is under the care of Luke Castellan, the cabin counselor (leader). During a game, the children of the war god Ares attack Percy. He is healed when he steps into a river. When Poseidon's trident appears above his head, Percy learns that he is Poseidon's son. After World War II, Poseidon, Hades and Zeus made an oath (promise) not to have any more children because they were too powerful. However, Poseidon broke the oath by having Percy.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Chiron tells Percy to find Zeus' master lightning bolt. Chiron thinks Hades stole the bolt. However, Zeus discovers that Poseidon has broken his oath, and thinks Poseidon told Percy to steal the bolt. He tells Percy that he has ten days until the summer solstice to find it. Before leaving, Luke gives Percy magic shoes. Percy gives them to Grover. Annabeth (a daughter of Athena) and Grover join Percy in his quest to find the bolt.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: They decide to travel west to reach the entrance to the Underworld, which is in Los Angeles. They meet many Greek monsters. They also meet Ares. Ares tells Percy that his mother is alive. When they come near the pit of Tartarus, Luke’s shoes try to pull Grover into it, but he escapes. Percy meets Hades, who also thinks Percy stole the Master Bolt. He also thinks Percy stole his Helm of Darkness. Percy knows that Ares has tricked him when he finds the bolt in his backpack. He runs away from the Underworld. He has to leave his mother there. Percy fights and defeats Ares by hurting the god's heel. Ares gives Percy the Helm of Darkness. Percy gives it back to Hades. Olympus is now present at the top of the Empire State Building in New York City. Percy arrives there to give the master bolt to Zeus.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Percy goes back to camp after hearing that his mother is alive. He meets Luke, who says that he stole the bolt for Kronos. He calls a poisonous scorpion which stings and nearly kills Percy. Percy kills the scorpion first. Chiron cures Percy, who leaves camp. He goes to a new school and stays with his mother instead of staying at camp.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: "The Lightning Thief" received mostly positive reviews. Common Sense Media said "there are two levels of fun in "The Lightning Thief". One is the fast-paced quest of a young hero and his friends to save the world" and added "another level of fun here – laughing at the wicked ways the author has updated the gods and monsters for the 21st century". However, it criticized some parts of the book. They described the prose as "choppy and attitude-filled" and complained that "[t]he characters aren't emotionally involving". Its overall rating was 4 stars out of 5. "The New York Times" praised "The Lightning Thief" as "perfectly paced, with electrifying moments chasing each other like heartbeats". "School Library Journal" said in its starred review (which is given to outstanding books) that the book was "An adventure-quest with a hip edge" and that "Readers will be eager to follow the young protagonist's next move". "Kirkus" praised the book and said, "Packed with humorous (funny) allusions to Greek mythology and clever updates of the old stories, along with rip-snorting <nowiki>[</nowiki>intense<nowiki>]</nowiki> action sequences, the book really shines in the depiction of Percy – wry, impatient, academically hopeless, with a cut-to-the-chase bluntness one would wish for in a hero of old." Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl, called it "A fantastic blend (mix) of mythology and modern". "Publishers Weekly" also praised the book, regarding it as "swift and humorous" and added that the book would "leave many readers eager for the next installment." On April 8, 2007, "The Lightning Thief" was ranked ninth on "The New York Times Best Seller list" for children's books. When speaking about the various awards, Rick Riordan said:


title: The Lightning Thief

text: "The Lightning Thief" was the winner of the "School Library Journal" Best Book of 2005. It was also one of the books in Chicago Public Library "Best of the Best Books List", 2005. It was also in the VOYA Top Shelf Fiction List. The book was the Red House Children's Book Award Winner (UK), 2006, and also won Askews Torchlight Award (UK), 2006, and the Mark Twain Award (Missouri Association of School Librarians), 2008. It was an "ALA" Notable Book, 2006 and a "New York Times" Notable Book (2005). It received the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award in 2009.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: In June 2004, 20 Century Fox bought feature movie rights to the book. In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to lead the project. Logan Lerman played Percy Jackson, Brandon T. Jackson played Grover Underwood, the satyr, Alexandra Daddario played the role of Annabeth while Jake Abel was cast as Luke Castellan. Pierce Brosnan played Chiron. The movie is titled "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" and was first shown in the United States on February 12, 2010. The movie made $226 combined at the box office.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: On June 28, 2005, a 10 hour 25 minute audio book version of "The Lightning Thief", read by actor Jesse Bernstein, was published worldwide by Listening Library.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: "Kirkus" said in their review, "the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced [fast paced] quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty". "AudioFile Magazine" praised the audiobook, saying both adults and children will be "spellbound" when they listen to "this deeply imaginative tale unfold." "School Library Journal" both praised and criticized the audio book saying "Although some of Jesse Bernstein's accents fail (the monster from Georgia, for instance, has no Southern trace in her voice), he does a fine job of keeping the main character's tones and accents distinguishable".


title: The Lightning Thief

text: "The Lightning Thief" is followed by "The Sea of Monsters". There, Percy and Annabeth rescue Grover, who has been taken prisoner by Polyphemus, the Cyclops. They get the Golden Fleece from Polyphemus' island to save the camp. They are joined by Percy's half brother, Tyson, and Clarisse in this mission.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: Like "The Lightning Thief", it won several prizes. It was received well by reviewers too. It sold over 100,000 copies in paperback.


title: The Lightning Thief

text: "The Lightning Thief" was published in many languages. It was published in French, German, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, Hebrew, Brazilian Portuguese, Serbian and Dutch. The French edition is known as "" (OCLC 3199424908). The German name of the book is


title: The Lightning Thief

text: ' (OCLC 2554901802). These two, along with the Spanish version ' (OCLC 748684882), were published in 2006. The three other translations of the book, ' (OCLC 23120723516), in Finnish, "O ladrão de raios", in Brazilian Portuguese, (in Portugal it is called ' meaning The Thieves of Olympus) and or "Persi G'eḳson ṿe-ganav ha-baraḳ" (OCLC 24382472372) in Hebrew were published in 2008.


title: Fraud

text: Fraud (or defrauding or scamming) is a crime in which someone tricks somebody else to get unfair or unlawful gain. Frauds are almost always about money, either directly or indirectly.


title: Fraud

text: A "fraudster" or a "fraud" is the person who commits the fraud. "Fraudulence" is the adjective, as in "He tried to pass a fraudulent cheque." To "defraud" someone is to commit a fraud against them.


title: Fraud

text: Fraudsters may find people to defraud by phone calls, emails, or websites. Fraud often starts by saying there is a free or low price item. The fraudster then asks for personal information, such as a home address and bank account numbers. Instead of giving an item, the fraudster takes their money. Fraudsters often target senior citizens.


title: Fraud

text: Fraud is a criminal wrong: a fraudster may be prosecuted and imprisoned. It is also a civil wrong: a fraud victim may sue the fraudster to get compensation.


title: Fraud

text: All societies have laws against fraud, but the details differ in each jurisdiction. In England an Act of Parliament defines three kinds of fraud.


title: Fraud

text: Lesser cases are heard in a Magistrates' Court; more serious offences are tried in the High Court (jury proceedings).


title: Bob Dylan

text: Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is one of the most famous and successful popular singers of the last 50 years.


title: Bob Dylan

text: He was born in 1941 in Minnesota. His parents were from the Russian Empire in what is now Ukraine. As a youth he was a big fan of rock and roll, and formed several bands in high school. However, Dylan first became famous as a folk musician. In 1962, he released his first album, simply called "Bob Dylan". The next year, he released the folk song "Blowin' in the Wind", which became very popular. In 1965, he began playing rock and roll. That year, Dylan released "Like a Rolling Stone", which has been called the greatest popular music song of all time. He put these two types of music together in a new way, which became very popular.