title: Hemichordata

text: The class Pterobranchia was established by E. Ray Lankester in 1877. It contained, at that time, the single genus "Rhabdopleura". The publication of the Challenger Report ("Cephalodiscus") in 1887, showed that "Cephalodiscus", the second genus now included in the order, had affinities in the direction of the Enteropneusta.


title: Hemichordata

text: Studies under an electron microscope have suggested that pterobranchs belong to the same clade as the extinct graptolites.


title: Glaucoma

text: Glaucoma is a disease that causes damage to the eye. If a person who has glaucoma does not get help from a doctor, they will not be able to see.


title: Glaucoma

text: This disease happens because of increased pressure in the eye. The pressure causes damage to the optic nerve. This can cause loss of vision, and may also be painful.


title: Glaucoma

text: Sometimes, it is hard for a person to know that they have glaucoma. The vision can be lost very slowly. When sight is lost from glaucoma, it cannot be recovered.


title: Glaucoma

text: There are two kinds of glaucoma, the kind that happens very fast, and the kind that happens slowly, over a long time.


title: Glaucoma

text: There is often a hereditary tendency to glaucoma. A family history of glaucoma is a risk factor. The relative risk of having what is called "primary open-angle glaucoma" (POAG) is increased about two- to four-fold for people who have a sibling with glaucoma. Glaucoma, particularly primary open-angle glaucoma, is associated with mutations in several different genes


title: Glaucoma

text: Also, the likelihood of it happening is different in different populations. Glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in African Americans, who have higher rates of primary open angle glaucoma.


title: Departments of Colombia

text: Colombia has 32 departments (Spanish: "departamentos", sing. "departamento") and a Capital District ("Distrito Capital"). Each department has a Governor ("gobernador") and a Department Assembly ("Asamblea Departamental"), elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods. Departments are country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy.


title: Moisturizer

text: A moisturizer (or moisturiser) is a liquid that is used for softening the skin, especially for naturally dry skins. They increase the skin's water content by reducing evaporation. The thickness of a moisturizer is "actually" what keeps the hydration concealed into the skin, which then creates the moisturizing effect. Due to its thickening agents, moisturizers typically "only come in lotion or night cream form".


title: Moisturizer

text: Unlike a serum, a moisturizer does not penetrate deeply into the skin. The main job of a moisturizer is to seal products into the skin, locking all the moisture and nutrients your skin needs.


title: Moisturizer

text: They can be quite a complicated chemical mixture. They may contain naturally occurring skin lipids and sterols, artificial or natural oils, emollients, lubricants,etc.


title: Moisturizer

text: Moisturizers are designed to either impart or restore hydration in the stratum corneum, which is an interactive, dynamic structure, and maintenance of hydration can impact its barrier function.


title: Catherine II of Russia

text: Catherine II of Russia (also titled Catherine the Great or Yekaterina Aleksei'evna) (April 21, 1729, Stettin, Germany – November 17, 1796 Tsarskoye Selo, Russia) was Empress of Russia. She came to power by a coup d'état that deposed her husband, who was killed.


title: Catherine II of Russia

text: Catherine greatly increased the power of the crown. In wars against the Ottoman Empire and Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth she conquered much land in the west and south. During Catherine's rule, Russia became a strong power in Europe.


title: Catherine II of Russia

text: Catherine was born in Stettin, which was a part of the Kingdom of Prussia at the time. She was the daughter of Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst and Princess Johanna Elizabeth of Holstein-Gottorp. She had five brothers and sisters. She married her cousin Peter III (who, like Catherine, was German) at age fifteen, and became empress of Russia at age 32. She was educated in three languages (Russian, German and French). She grew up as a Lutheran (Protestant). When she married Peter, she changed to the Russian Orthodox church.


title: Catherine II of Russia

text: Catherine's marriage was said to be unfaithful and distraught. Peter and Catherine were each said to have several lovers. After they had been married nine years, Catherine bore a son, Paul. Paul was born on . Both parents accepted him as legitimate, even though there had been rumors about Catherine having been unfaithful. Catherine also had a daughter Anna, born in 1757. Anna died in 1759. Catherine and Peter had a very difficult relationship. When Peter died, Catherine was left to rule Russia on her own. Catherine had many lovers, probably because of the difficult marriage; over twenty lovers are known. A few of these seem to be more important:


title: Catherine II of Russia

text: Six months after Peter took the throne, Catherine led a palace coup to overthrow him. The question of who killed him and why is still much discussed. Catherine was greatly admired by the public. She was much involved in foreign affairs, including successful Russo-Turkish Wars which conquered new territories for Russia.


title: Catherine II of Russia

text: Catherine suffered a stroke on 1. Due to the stroke, she lost consciousness. She died in her bed at 9:20 the following evening, while she was still unconscious. Catherine was buried at the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg.


The Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (English :"Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy") is a trilogy, written by Isaac Newton and published on 5 July 1687.


title: Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica

text: The three-book work describes physics and mathematics. It states Newton's laws of motion and the derivation of Kepler's Laws, and observations on gravity.


title: Collectivism

text: Collectivism is a kind of ethics based on people being a group. Its opposite is individualism which is based on people being individuals. Collectivists focus on what's good for a whole group. Individualists focus on what's good for each person. Collectivism and individualism are and are also part of politics.


title: Collectivism

text: The word "individualism" was originally used by socialists to attack their enemies. They said that individualists were selfish for not supporting socialism. Instead, individualists support people being independent and chasing their own goals. They also believe in having lots of freedoms.


title: Collectivism

text: Collectivists believe that one person is not as important as a group of many people. They often believe people should compromise to make things better for each other instead of just themselves. They also think that letting someone do whatever they want is not good if it hurts lots of other people. Collectivism has many different types. It can mean serving your community, your government, your social class, your race, or some other group.


title: Samantha Power

text: Samantha Power (born September 21, 1970) is an Irish-born American academic and diplomat. Power is the 19th and current Administrator to the United States Agency for International Development since April 2021 under the Joe Biden administration. She was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 until 2017 under the Barack Obama administration.


title: Samantha Power

text: Power was born in Dublin, Ireland. She moved to Pittsburgh when she was nine. She graduated from Yale University in 1992.


title: Samantha Power

text: Her book, "A Problem From Hell", which won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction, examines the role and responses of the United States government in the genocides and ethnic conflicts of the 20th Century.


title: Samantha Power

text: In January 2021, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Power to be the head of the United States Agency for International Development. In April 2021, her nominated was confirmed by the United States Senate with a 68 to 28 vote.


title: Anhui

text: Anhui (; ) is a province in the east of China. The capital is Hefei. The area of Anhui is 139,400 km, the population of it is roughly 62,548,000 (2017).


title: Steve Harvey

text: Steve Harvey (born January 17, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and game show host. He is currently the host on "Family Feud". He also hosted his other program "Steve Harvey's Big Time".


title: Philosophy of mathematics

text: The philosophy of mathematics is a kind of philosophy that tries to study what mathematics really is. Philosophers of math ask themselves questions like:


title: Philosophy of mathematics

text: None of those questions has a clear answer, so mathematicians are free to choose which answers they like. For example:


title: Philosophy of mathematics

text: Mathematicians who believe in Platonism think that numbers are real, just like rocks and trees. We can't see them, but we can represent them with symbols, and use them to study the world.


title: Philosophy of mathematics

text: Mathematicians who believe in Fictionalism think that math is just made up. Numbers, shapes and other things in math are just ways that we use to make science possible, but they don't really exist.


title: Philosophy of mathematics

text: Mathematicians who believe in Logicism believe that math is true because it is based on true sentences (called axioms). It does not matter if numbers and shapes exist, or not, just that they represent true things.


title: Philosophy of mathematics

text: Mathematicians who believe in Finitism think that everything that makes sense has a beginning and an end. Things like infinity don't exist.


title: André the Giant

text: André René Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993) better known by his ring name, André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for wrestling with World Wrestling Federation (WWF).


title: André the Giant

text: His size was caused by gigantism, that was caused by excess growth hormone and would later result in acromegaly. His size led to him being called "The Eighth Wonder of the World". During his professional wrestling career, he was a one time WWF champion and a one time WWF World Tag Team champion with Haku. In 1993, He became the first superstar to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.


title: André the Giant

text: On January 27, 1993, he died of congestive heart failure while he was sleeping in his Paris hotel room. He was in Paris to go to his father's funeral.


title: Coonskin cap

text: A coonskin cap is a hat made from the fur of a raccoon. Usually, the tail of the racoon is attached to the back of the hat. The coonskin cap is a symbol of the early United States frontier. Coonskin caps were first worn by the Native Americans who lived around Tennessee and Kentucky. The American settlers who moved to this area liked the caps and wore them themselves. Some famous American pioneers who wore coonskin caps are Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone.


title: Martha's Vineyard

text: Martha's Vineyard (and the smaller Chappaquiddick Island nearby) is an island off the southern coast of Cape Cod, both forming a part of the Outer Lands region. It is often called just "the Vineyard". With a land area of 87.48 square miles (231.75 km²), Martha's Vineyard is the 57th largest island in the United States. It is located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, in Dukes County, which also includes Cuttyhunk and the other Elizabeth Islands, as well as the island of Nomans Land.


title: European Parliament

text: The European Parliament (formerly European Parliamentary Assembly or Common Assembly) is the parliament of the European Union (EU). EU citizens elect its members once every five years. Together with the Council of Ministers, it is the law-making branch of the institutions of the Union. It meets in two locations: Strasbourg and Brussels .


title: European Parliament

text: The Parliament has 751 members, called "MEPs". Each member speaks for a place in Europe, for example Paris, Denmark or Sicily. Anyone can be elected, they are elected by all the EU citizens, the people who are citizens of a country in the EU. People have been elected to Parliament since 1979, before that they came from the Parliaments of each country. Because MEPs come from different countries, they speak different languages (24 in 2013) at Parliament. They have a protected right to first language (multilingualism), and the Parliament needs many interpreters.


title: European Parliament

text: Unlike other international groups of politicians, MEPs do not sit in groups of countries, but they sit next to people who they share ideas with. The two largest groups are the "European People's Party-European Democrats" and the "Party of European Socialists". But these groups work together to agree, so they do not fight to make a law if the other group dislike it.


title: European Parliament

text: The European Parliament's power depends on which area of the EU it is working in. The EU has three areas, the "Community", its representation to other countries, and things to do with police and courts. In the last two areas, it can not do much as the Council takes care of those issues, but in the Community (which is the largest area) it can change or stop any law. But the Council also has to agree, and sometimes they disagree and cannot make a law.


title: European Parliament

text: While Parliament can change a law, it cannot start a new one, it has to ask the European Commission to do that. The European Commission works on everyday work and the Parliament has to make sure it does its job properly, if it does not Parliament can make them all leave their jobs or not allow them to spend the EU budget.


title: European Parliament

text: When the Parliament wants to make a new law, they all vote at the same time. But before then, they make many small changes while talking with experts who know about the things that the new law will change. As in other parliaments, they do this in small meetings known as "Committees" of between 28 and 86 MEPs.


title: European Parliament

text: The Parliament has a President. The President is elected by the MEPs, two times every two and a half years, to organise the meetings and speak for the Parliament when meeting other leaders. Since 2022, the president has been Roberta Metsola of Malta.


title: European Parliament

text: The Parliament was made in 1952 and was then called the "Common Assembly". At this time, it did not have any power, it was only asked to comment on laws made by the "European Coal and Steel Community". In 1957, it was renamed the "European Parliamentary Assembly" and got to comment on the laws of the "European Economic Community" and the "European Atomic Energy Community". Over the following years, it was given a few powers over laws and money and it called itself the "European Parliament" in the 1960s. It wanted to be elected so it could do more, as if people voted for the people in Parliament, the Council and Commission would have to pay more attention to it (this is known as "Democratic Legitimacy", the idea that your voice is worth more if you have lots of people supporting from an election).


title: European Parliament

text: In 1979 it held its first election, and it gained more powers and also members because more countries joined the Communities and they elected people as well. In 1993 it was given even more, and power over the Commission, when the European Union took the place of the Communities. It is now known as one of the most powerful Parliaments in the world.


title: Hypertext

text: A hypertext is a text that is organized like a network. Parts of the text reference other text messages or texts which can directly be accessed. The parts that provide the reference are known as "hyperlinks". An example of a hypertext is the HTML standard used in the World Wide Web. Wikis also use hypertext.


title: FC Basel

text: FC Basel 1893 ("Fussball Club Basel 1893"), widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss football club based in Basel, in the Canton of Basel-Stadt.


title: FC Basel

text: FC Basel was started by an advertisement placed by Roland Geldner in the 12 November 1893 edition of the Basler national newspaper. He wanted that a football team is formed . Everybody who wants to play should come in the restaurant Schuhmachern-Zunft. Eleven men attended the meeting, mainly from the academic community, and founded the Fussball Club Basel on 15 November 1893.


title: FC Basel

text: Since 2009 the club also has a Women soccer team. They als play at the highest level of Swiss Women´s football, the Swiss Women's Super League.


title: Camembert cheese

text: Camembert cheese, more generally known as Camembert, is a French soft cheese. It originated in the village of Camembert in Normandy. Since 1983, the name "Camembert de Normandie" has been protected as Appellation d'Origine controlée (AOC).


title: Camembert cheese

text: Camembert is made from unpasteurized cow's milk, and is ripened by the moulds "Penicillium candida" and "Penicillium camemberti" for at least three weeks. It is produced in small rounds, about 250 grams in weight, which are wrapped in paper and boxed in thin wooden boxes.


title: Camembert cheese

text: When fresh, it is quite crumbly and relatively hard, but it characteristically ripens and becomes more runny and strongly flavoured as it ages.


title: Camembert cheese

text: Camembert can be used in many dishes, but it is popularly eaten uncooked on bread or with wine or meat, to enjoy the subtle flavour and texture which do not survive heating.


title: Camembert cheese

text: Camembert was reputedly invented in 1791 by Marie Harel, a farmer from Normandy. However, the origin of the cheese we know today as camembert is more likely to rest with the beginnings of the industrialisation of the cheese-making process at the end of the 19th century. In 1890, an engineer, M. Ridel invented the wooden box which was used to carry the cheese and helped to send it for longer distances, in particular to America where it became very popular. These boxes are still used today.


title: Camembert cheese

text: Before fungi were properly understood, the colour of Camembert rind was a matter of chance, most commonly blue-grey, with brown spots. From the early 20th century onwards the rind has been more commonly pure white, but it was not until the mid-1970s that pure white became standard.


title: Camembert cheese

text: The cheese was famously issued to French troops in the First World War, becoming firmly fixed in the French popular culture as a result. It has many other roles in French culture, literature and history. It is now internationally known, and many local varieties are made around the world.


title: Camembert cheese

text: The cheese is said to have inspired Salvador Dalí to create his famous painting, "The Persistence of Memory". Its "melting" watches were inspired by the sight of a melting wheel of over-ripe Camembert.


title: Camembert cheese

text: The Camembert de Normandie was granted a protected designation of origin in 1992 after the original AOC in 1983.


title: Camembert cheese

text: "Camembert: A National Myth" by Pierre Boisard claims that Camembert was one of the first globalised, homogenised and standardised foods.


title: Hispania

text: Hispania was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula and the provinces. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior.


title: Hispania

text: During the beginning of the Roman Empire, Hispania Ulterior was divided into two new provinces, Baetica and Lusitania, while Hispania Citerior was renamed Hispania Tarraconensis.


title: Hispania

text: The Roman invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC and used it as a training ground for tactics against the Carthaginians, the Iberians, the Lusitanians, the Gallaecians and other Celts.


title: Hispania

text: Roman emperor Augustus was not able to complete the conquest until 19 BC. Much of Hispania remained autonomous until the end of the Cantabrian Wars.


title: Hispania

text: In late 409 AD, the Germanic Buri, Suevi and Vandals moved into Iberia together with the Sarmatian Alans. The Suevi created a kingdom in Gallaecia and the Alans created a kingdom in Lusitania.


title: Hispania

text: There were conflicts between the Chalcedonian natives and the Arian Visigoths. In 589, Recared renounced his Arianism and accepted Chalcedonian Christianity, this created an alliance between the Visigothic monarchy and the native Hispano-Romans.


title: Hispania

text: On April 711, Berber Umayyad governor Tariq ibn Ziyad led around 1,700 soldiers and invaded southern Hispania from North Africa. The North Africans defeated the Visgothic army in the Battle at Guadalete in 712.


title: Wu-Tang Clan

text: Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from USA. They formed in Staten Island, New York in 1992. As a group, they debuted in 1993 with their first album "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)." GZA started the group.


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: The Human Centipede (First Sequence) is a 2009 Dutch horror movie. It is written and directed by Tom Six. The movie is about a mad doctor who wants to stick people together so they become what he calls his 'human centipede'.


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: "The Human Centipede" did not get very many good reviews, but Tom Six made two sequels to the movie called "The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)" and "The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence)".


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: Lindsay (played by Ashley C. Williams) and Jenny (played by Ashlynn Yennie) are two American girls who are on holiday in Germany. They are kidnapped by a mad doctor called Dr. Heiter (played by Dieter Laser) after their car breaks down and they go to his house to look for help. The doctor Heiter then kidnaps a Japanese man named Katsuro (played by Akihiro Kitamura). The doctor tells the three that he is world-famous for separating conjoined twins, but wants to join people together so they share a single digestive system. He tells the three how he will connect his three victims together mouth-to-anus. Lindsay tries to escape, but is captured before she can get away. The doctor then sews the three together; he sews Lindsays's mouth to Katsuro's anus, and Jenny's mouth to Lindsay's anus. This means that when he feeds Katsuro food, Katsuro defecates into Lindsay's mouth, and Lindsay defecates her feces into Jenny's mouth.


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: The doctor calls his victims his 'human centipede', and he tries to train his centipede as a pet. However, the doctor becomes very restless when he is kept awake by the screaming of his victims, and even more annoyed when Jenny starts to get ill from blood poisoning.


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: When the police visit the doctor to look for the missing people, he decides to add them to his centipede and get rid of Jenny. The doctor tries but fails to drug the detectives, and they leave the house saying they will come back later. The three try to escape, and Katsuro attacks the doctor, by stabbing him in the foot and leg, but they do not escape the house. Katsuro tells the doctor that he deserves his fate, because he had treated his family very badly in the past, then he kills himself with a piece of glass. The police come back to the house and search it, as the doctor hides near his swimming pool. One policeman finds the 'human centipede' but then hears a gunshot which he goes to investigate. He discovers the other policeman dead in the swimming pool. The doctor then shoots him in the stomach, and as he is dying he shoots the doctor in the head. The policeman then falls in the pool and is dead.


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: Jenny and Lindsay hold hands as Jenny dies from her blood poisoning. Lindsay is left alone in the house. The movie ends with her screaming into Heiter's empty laboratory, while still attached to Katsuro and Jenny.


title: The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

text: Most reviews said "The Human Centipede" was not very good. However some Horror blogs liked the idea and thought it was funny.


title: Help Wanted (SpongeBob SquarePants)

text: "Help Wanted" is the pilot episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. It is the first episode of the first season. It first aired on May 1, 1999.


title: Help Wanted (SpongeBob SquarePants)

text: SpongeBob gets ready to apply for a job at the Krusty Krab. He is encouraged by his best friend, a starfish named Patrick. When he arrives, he asks a crab named Mr. Krabs to start working. SpongeBob's neighbor, an octopus named Squidward, does not want SpongeBob to get a job. Mr. Krabs agrees to hire him if he gets a special spatula. As SpongeBob looks for it, a lot of anchovies appear at the Krusty Krab. SpongeBob returns with his spatula and cooks hamburgers for them. He is then hired by Mr. Krabs.


title: Irfan Pathan

text: Irfan Khan Pathan is an Indian cricketer from Gujarat. He is a left arm fast bowler and left handed batsman. He started with the India national cricket team in the Border–Gavaskar Trophy. Pathan was the first person to take a hat-trick in the first over. He did this achievement against Pakistan at Karachi.


title: Irfan Pathan

text: Irfan Pathan was born on 27 October 1984 in what is now Vadodara. His older brother is Yusuf Pathan. He is also a cricketer who played for the National Team of India.


title: Irfan Pathan

text: Irfan's top score in Test cricket: 102 out. Total wicket:100. ODI Top Score:83 out. Total wicket:173.


title: Human history

text: Human history (also called world history) is the study of what the entire human race did in the past. It includes the time from prehistory to the present day. It is different from natural history.


title: Human history

text: Modern human beings are called "Homo sapiens" ('wise man'). They have existed for about 250,000 years. Biologists believe that "Homo sapiens" evolved in Africa.


title: Human history

text: "Homo sapiens", lived at the same time as other "species" of human. These included "Homo erectus" ('standing man') and "Homo neanderthalensis" ('man from Neanderthal'). The theory of human evolution says that modern humans, Neanderthals, and "Homo erectus" slowly developed from other earlier species of human-like creatures.


title: Human history

text: "Homo neanderthalensis" are the first humans scientists discovered which were not "Homo sapiens". "Homo neanderthalensis" are usually called Neanderthal Man. They were discovered when the cranium of a skull was found in the Neanderthal Valley in 1856. It was different from a modern human skull so scientists believed it was from a new species. Entire Neanderthal skeletons have been found in other places since then. When ancient stone tools are found, their style often shows whether they were made by "Homo sapiens" or Neanderthals (see Palaeolithic). Neanderthals existed before modern humans. They knew how to use tools and fire.


title: Human history

text: Scientists believe that "Homo sapiens" spread from Africa to all other parts of the world, replacing "Homo neanderthalensis" in Europe and "Homo erectus" in Asia. By the end of the Stone Age, it is believed that "Homo sapiens" were the only type of humans left.


title: Human history

text: Climate is the normal weather in a place. It changes from one part of the world to another. Some areas are hot all year, and some are cold all year. Some areas are dry all year, and others are wet all year. Most areas have climates that are warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter. Most parts of the world get rain at some times of the year and do not get rain at other times of the year. Some parts of the world have oceanic climates and others have alpine climates.


title: Human history

text: Climate affects what food people eat. This is because climate affects what foods can grow. If one food is easier to grow, people usually eat that food more often than other foods. Foods that people eat more of than other foods are called staple foods. Staple foods are usually grains or vegetables because they are easy to grow. Wheat, maize, millet, rice, oats, rye, potatoes, yams, breadfruit and beans are examples of different staple foods from around the world.


title: Human history

text: Climate can affect the way people live in many other ways. It affects the types of animals that can live in any area, which affect the types of meats that are available to eat.


title: Human history

text: Climate also affects the buildings that people make, the clothes that they wear and the way that they travel.


title: Human history

text: The climate on earth has not stayed the same through human history. There are long periods of time when it is generally warmer, and there are long periods of time when it is generally colder. When it is generally colder, there is more ice on the poles of the planet. A cold period is called an ice age. There have been many ice ages in the history of the earth. Two have affected humans.


title: Human history

text: From 70,000 to around 10,000 years ago there was a big ice age which affected humans and the way that they lived. Between 1600 AD and 1900 AD there was a period called the Little Ice Age when the climate was a little bit colder than usual.


title: Human history

text: The word "Prehistory" means "before history". It is used for the long period of time before humans began to write about their lives. This time is divided into two main ages: the Paleolithic Age (or Early Stone Age) and the Neolithic Age (or late Stone Age). The two ages did not start and end at the same time everywhere. A place moved from one age to another depending on when people changed their technology.


title: Human history

text: The end of prehistory varies from one place to another. It depends on the date when that place began to use writing. In Egypt the first written documents date from around 3200 BC. In Australia the first written records date from 1788 and in New Guinea from about 1900.


title: Human history

text: The Paleolithic Era is by far the longest age of humanity's time, about 99% of human history. The Paleolithic Age started about 2.6 million years ago and ended around 10,000 BC. The age began when hominids (early humans) started to use stones as tools for bashing, cutting and scraping. The age ended when humans began to plant crops and have other types of agriculture. In some areas, such as Western Europe, the way that people lived was affected by the Ice age. In these places, people moved towards agriculture quicker than in warmer places where there was always lots of food to gather. Their culture is sometimes called the Mesolithic Era (Middle Stone Age).


title: Human history

text: During the Paleolithic Era humans grouped together in small bands. They lived by gathering plants and hunting wild animals. This way of living is called a "hunter-gatherer society". People hunted small burrowing animals like rabbits, as well as birds and herds of animals like deer and cattle. They also gathered plants to eat, including grains. Grain often grows on grasslands where herds of grass-eating animals are found. People also gathered root vegetables, green vegetables, beans, fruit, seeds, berries, nuts, eggs, insects and small reptiles.


title: Human history

text: Many Paleolithic bands were nomadic. They moved from place to place as the weather changed. They followed herds of animals that they hunted from their winter feeding places to their summer feeding places. If there was a drought,flood, or some other disaster, the herds and the people might haved moved a long distance, looking for food. During the "Ice Age" a lot of the water on Earth turned to ice. This made sea much lower than it is now. People were able to walk through Beringia from Siberia to Alaska. Bands of "Homo sapiens" ( another word for people) travelled to that area from Asia. At that time there were rich grasslands with many large animals that are now extinct. It is believed that many groups of people travelled there over a long time and later spread to other parts of America, as the weather changed.


title: Human history

text: Paleolithic people used stone tools. Sometimes a stone tool was just a rock. It might have been useful for smashing a shell or an animal's skull, or for grinding grain on another rock. Other tools were made by breaking rocks to make a sharp edge. The next development in stone tool making was to chip all the edges of a rock so that it made a pointed shape, useful for a spearhead, or arrow tip. Some stone tools are carefully "flaked" at the edges to make them sharp, and symmetrically shaped. Paleolithic people also used tools of wood and bone. They probably also used leather and vegetable fibers but these have not lasted from that time. Paleolithic people also knew how to make fire which they used for warmth and cooking.


title: Human history

text: In the "Paleolithic Era" there were many different human species. According to current research, only the modern human reached the "Neolithic Era".


title: Human history

text: The Neolithic era was marked by changes in society. During the Neolithic era, people started to settle down. They developed agriculture and domesticated animals, both of which took a very long time. Because of these two things, people did not have to migrate as much any more. Villages could grow to much larger sizes than before. Over time, villages fought and spread their control over larger areas and some became civilisations. During this time, humankind also developed further intellectually, militarily and spiritually.


title: Human history

text: When humans started to grow crops and domesticate certain animals such as dogs, goats, sheep, and cattle; their societies changed. Because people now grew crops and raised livestock, they started to stay in the same place and build permanent settlements. In most places, this happened between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. Their diet also changed. People ate more cereals and vegetables. They started to keep extra foods and seeds for later. In some years there were surpluses (extras) that could be traded for other goods.


title: Human history

text: These changes happened independently in many parts of the world. They did not happen in the same order though. For example, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. No one is sure if Britain had agriculture, or if permanent villages existed there at all. Early Japanese societies used pottery "before" developing agriculture.


title: Human history

text: Vere Gordon Childe gave the name "Neolithic Revolution" to this process in the 1920s. He thought that it was as important as the Industrial Revolution (which happened in the 18th and 19th century).


title: Human history

text: Ancient history was the time from the development of writing to the fall of the Roman Empire. The fall of the Roman Empire caused chaos in Europe, leading to the Middle Ages (also called the Dark Ages or the Age of Faith).


title: Human history

text: The first civilizations were built along major river systems. These civilizations are called river valley civilizations. River valley civilizations were the most powerful civilizations in this time period because water was needed to have an agricultural society.


title: Human history

text: Sumer was the world's first known ancient civilization. The Sumerians took over the fertile crescent region of Mesopotamia around 3300 BCE. They grew crops on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. By 3000 BCE, many cities had been built in parts of Sumerian Mesopotamia. They formed independently and each had their own government. They were called city-states and often fought with each other.


title: Human history

text: A surplus in food led to a Division of labour. This means that some people were able to stop growing crops and do other jobs, since enough crops were already grown. This brought a split in society. Today, such a split is called "social pyramid". In a social pyramid, people are grouped into social classes based on their wealth and power. In Sumer, the king, priests, and government officials were at the top of the social pyramid. Below them were the artisans, merchants, farmers, and fishers. At the bottom of the pyramid were slaves. Slaves were often prisoners of war, criminals, or people working to pay off debt.


title: Human history

text: The Sumerians created the world's first system of writing; it was called cuneiform. The oldest versions of one of the world's first literary works, the "Epic of Gilgamesh", go back to this time. In Sumer, only the sons of the rich and powerful learned how to read and write. They went to a school called "edubba". Only the boys who went to "edubba" could become scribes.


title: Human history

text: The Sumerians also invented sun-dried bricks, the wheel, the ox plow, and were skilled at making pottery. They are also thought to have invented the sailboat.


title: Human history

text: Ancient Egypt grew along the Nile river. It was created around 3500 BC. It was most powerful in the second millennium BC. When it was its biggest, it went all the way from the Nile delta to a mountain called Jebel Barkal in Sudan. It probably ended at about 30 BC when the country was invaded by the Roman Empire.


title: Human history

text: The society of ancient Egypt depended on a balance of natural and human resources, especially the irrigation of the Nile Valley so that Egyptians could grow crops.


title: Human history

text: There was a great difference between classes in this society. Most of the people were farmers but they did not own the agricultural products they produced. These were property of the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. There was slavery, but it is not clear how it was practiced.


title: Human history

text: The Egyptians are known for writing in hieroglyphs, building the famous pyramids, and building other sorts of tombs and big temples and for their military.


title: Human history

text: China began as city-states in the Yellow River valley. The Shang Dynasty (商朝) was the first dynasty of Ancient China.Turtle shells with writing on them have been carbon dated to about 1500 BC.


title: Human history

text: The Zhou Dynasty came after the Shang Dynasty. "Kong Fuzi" and Laozi lived at the end of the Zhou Dynasty. They were the greatest Chinese philosophers. They founded new philosophies, or ways of thinking. Confucius founded Confucianism and Laozi founded Daoism.


title: Human history

text: The Qin (秦) dynasty came after the Warring States Period. The Qin emperor Qin Shi Huang created the first centralized state in China in 221 BC. It was based on his based on his political philosophy of legalism. He made everyone write the same way. He fought against "Confucianism". He also started building what would later become the Great Wall.


title: Human history

text: In 202 BC the Han Dynasty took over. It was about as strong as the Roman Empire. Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, Buddhism became influential in China.


title: Human history

text: The Indus Valley Civilization lasted from about 2600 BC to 1900 BC. It was the first urban civilization on the Indian subcontinent. It was centered on the Indus River and its tributaries. The civilization is famous for its brick cities that had road-side drainage systems and multi-storied houses.


title: Human history

text: The Maurya dynasty started in 321 BCE. This was the first time most of the Indian subcontinent was united under a single government. Ashoka the Great was a famous Mauryan emperor. When he started ruling, he sought to expand his empire, but then followed a policy of ahimsa (non-violence) after converting to Buddhism. He wrote about this in the Edicts of Ashoka. The Edicts of Ashoka are the oldest historical documents from India that still exist. While Ashoka ruled, Buddhist ideals spread across all of East Asia and South-East Asia.


title: Human history

text: The Gupta dynasty ruled from around 320 to 550 AD. The Gupta Empire included only Central India, and the area east of current day Bangladesh. Gupta society was ordered in accordance with Hindu beliefs. Historians place the Gupta dynasty alongside with the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilization.


title: Human history

text: The Maya civilization is a civilization that started in Central America. They lived mostly on the Yucatán Peninsula in what is now known as Mexico, but also Honduras, Belize and Guatemala. They were the only known civilization of pre-Columbian America to have a fully developed written language. They also made great achievements in art and architecture and had a very advanced system of mathematics and astronomy.


title: Human history

text: The area where the Maya civilization developed was inhabited from around the 10th millennium BC. The first Maya settlements were built there in about 1800 BC, in the Soconusco region. This is in the modern-day state of Chiapas in Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. Today, this is called the "Early Preclassic period". At the time, humans began to settle down permanently. They started to grow livestock. Pottery and small clay figures were made. They constructed simple burial mounds. Later they developed these mounds into step pyramids. There were other civilizations around, especially in the north, such as the Olmec, the Mixe-Zoque, and Zapotec civilizations. These people mostly lived in the area of the modern-day state Oaxaca. The exact borders of the Maya empire in the north are unclear. There were probably areas where Maya culture overlapped with other cultures. Many of the earliest significant inscriptions and buildings appeared in this overlapping zone. These cultures and the Maya probably influenced one another.


title: Human history

text: There has been a long history of contact between Papuan peoples of the Papua New Guinea and the Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct Australian megafauna. Stories about that are told in the oral culture of many Aboriginal groups.


title: Human history

text: The Hallstatt era is named after the city Hallstatt in Austria, where the first artifacts were found. It lasted from about 1200 BC to about 275 BC. There were different periods, which today are mainly told apart by the kinds of brooches used at the time. These brooches changed rather rapidly, and can therefore give us good guesses at to what time they came from. Hallstatt culture sites have been found in the east of France, in Switzerland, in the south of Germany, in Austria, in Slovenia and Croatia, northwestern Hungary, southwestern Slovakia and southern Moravia. The culture can be divided into an eastern and a western one quite easily; the dividing line runs through the Czech Republic, and Austria, between longitudes 14 and 15 degrees east.


title: Human history

text: In this time, the social structure developed into a hierarchy. This can be documented by various things that were added to graves. In the Bronze Age, people used to live in big settlements. As iron became available, trade routes changed. A new richer class evolved. Unlike before, these richer class people liked to live in big houses in the countryside, as a demonstration of their wealth. Funerals also changed, from cremation burials, to burials with stone coffins. The new upper class used their wealth for import goods, mostly from the Mediterranean.


title: Human history

text: The La Tène culture is a culture that lasted from about 500 BC to about 100 AD. It is named after the city of "La Tène" (today, Marin-Epagnier, next to Neuchâtel). It was influenced a lot by the Roman and Greek cultures. There are two sources for this:


title: Human history

text: The Celts basically lived in clans. Each clan was headed by a leader, which came from the Druids or the Bards. Women were much better off than with the Romans, they were almost equal to men. There was polygamy and polyandry (A man could have several women, a woman could have several men).


title: Human history

text: Illyria is the part of west-south Balkan Peninsula populated by Illyrians whose descendants are Albanians.


title: Human history

text: They had their own language, the Illyrian language that was different from the Greek language and Latin.


title: Human history

text: What is known today as "Ancient Greece" is a very important period in history. Most people agree that it came after the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. It ended when the Romans invaded Greece, in 146 BC. Greek culture had a very powerful influence on later civilizations, especially the Romans. The Greeks developed what is now called a city-state, or a polis. There were many polises. Some of the more important ones were Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Thebes. The word "politics" comes from there. It literally means: things that are about the polis. Greek cities did not have much contact with each other, because of the mountains and many islands Greece is made up of. When a city no longer had enough food to care for all its citizens, some people were sent out to set up a new city. This was called a "colony". Each city was independent, and ruled by someone within that city. Colonies also looked to the city where they originally came from for guidance.


title: Human history

text: When Greece went to war (for example against the Persian Empire), there was an alliance of such city states, against the Persians. There were also many wars between different city states.


title: Human history

text: There were many artists and philosophers who lived in that period. Most of them are still important for philosophy today. A well-known artist was Homer. He wrote epics about the war against the Trojans, and the early history of Greece. Other well-known artists were Aristophanes and Sappho. Well-known philosophers include Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. A well known mathematician of the time was Euclid. Statesmen of the time were Pericles and Alexander the Great.


title: Human history

text: Ancient Rome was a civilization that started in modern-day Italy, in the 8th Century before Christ. The civilization lasted for 12 centuries. It ended, when Mehmed II conquered Constantinople, on May 29, 1453. According to legend, the Roman civilization was founded by Romulus and Remus, in the year 753 BC. The Roman Empire developed in wars against Carthage and the Seleucid Empire. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul, modern France, and Augustus ended the Roman republic by becoming emperor. At its biggest extent, the empire covered all of the Mediterranean. Rome became so big, because it led war against other nations and then assimilated their culture.


title: Human history

text: In 293, Diocletian organized a separate administration of the western and the eastern part of the empire. The capital of the western part was Rome, the capital of the eastern part was Constantinople. Constantine I was the first to stop discrimination against Christians (313). Christianity became state religion under the reign of Theodosius I.


title: Human history

text: The western part of the empire had many problems with barbarians. In the 5th century, the Huns migrated westwards. This meant that the Visigoths moved into the empire, to seek protection. Rome was sacked by barbarians multiple times. On September 4, 476, the Germanic chief Odoacer forced the last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustus, to quit. After about 1200 years, the rule of Rome in the West came to an end.


title: Human history

text: The eastern part had similar problems. Justinian I managed to conquer parts of North Africa and Italy. Shortly after he died, all that was left were parts of Southern Italy, and Sicily. In the east, the empire was threatened by the Sassanid Empire.


title: Human history

text: After the fall of Western Rome, the Germanic tribes that took over tried to learn from Roman civilization, but much was forgotten and up to the Renaissance not many achievements happened in Europe. But with the rise of Islam, many changes happened during the Islamic Golden Age. The Greek and Roman traditions were kept and further development took place. The Chinese civilization had a Golden Age during the Tang period, when their capital was the biggest in the world. During the Renaissance, Europe developed and made great advancements in many areas as well.


title: Human history

text: In Arabia, Muhammad founded Islam in 632. His followers rapidly conquered territories in Syria and Egypt. They soon were a danger to the Byzantine Empire. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the Byzantine Empire stopped Islamic expansion and reconquered some lost territories. In 1000 A.D. the eastern Empire was at its height: Basileios II reconquered Bulgaria and Armenia. Culture and trade flourished. In 1071 the Battle of Manzikert led the empire into a dramatic decline. For the Byzantine Empire this meant centuries of civil wars and Turkic invasions. The Muslim caliphate had an Golden Age under the Abbasids.


title: Human history

text: Their power forced Emperor Alexius I Comnenus of the Byzantine Empire to send a call for help to the West in 1095. The West sent the Crusades. These eventually led to the "Sack of Constantinople" in the Fourth Crusade in 1204. Because of this, what was left of the Empire broke into successor states. The winner of these disputes was that of Nicaea. After Constantinople was again conquered by imperial forces, the empire was little more than a Greek state on the Aegean coast. The Eastern Empire came to an end when Mehmed II conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453. The Ottoman Empire took its place and from 1400 to 1600 was the most powerful empire in the Middle East and ruled at the southern and eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.


title: Human history

text: The Tang Dynasty (618–907), with its capital at Chang'an (today Xi'an), was the biggest city in the world at the time and is considered by historians as a high point in Chinese civilization as well as a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. The Ming Dynasty ruled from 1368 to 1644. The Ming built a vast army and navy.


title: Human history

text: From around the 6th–7th century. In South India, Chola kings ruled Tamil Nadu, and Chera kings ruled Kerala. They had trading relationships with the Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. In north India, Rajputs ruled in many kingdoms.


title: Human history

text: In 1336, two brothers named Harihara I and Bukka founded the Vijayanagara Empire in an area which is now in the Karnataka state of India. The most famous king of this empire was Krishnadevaraya. In 1565, rulers of this empire were defeated in a battle. But the empire continued for about the next one hundred years.


title: Human history

text: The Heian Period in Japan is famous for its art, poetry and literature. The writing system, Kana, was developed. It was followed by the feudal period (1185–1853) during which samurai and daimyos were the leading figures and the shogun the real monarch whereas the tennō had only a role as religious head. Between the years 1272 and 1281 the Mongols tried to invade but were driven out by the Japanese.


title: Human history

text: Genghis Khan in 1209 brought together the Mongol tribes and founded the Mongol Empire, one of the largest land empires in history. Later Kublai Khan would go on to expand the empire and found the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty of China. The empire later broke into several empires, all of which were later destroyed.


title: Human history

text: The Middle Ages was the time from the fall of the Roman empire until the middle of the 15th century. From 500 to about 800 there was some decline compared with the Roman civilization. European villages were often destroyed and looted by barbarians such as the Vikings. During the High Middle Ages magnificent castles and large churches called cathedrals were built and important works of literature were written. In the later Middle Ages, there was a plague called the Black Death. The Black Death killed one-third to one-half of Europe's population.


title: Human history

text: A system called feudalism was a very important part of the Middle Ages. In this system, the king was at the top of the social pyramid. The king gave land to the lord in exchange for loyalty. The lords were the next in the pyramid. The lords gave land (called a fief) to knights in exchange for loyalty and protection. The knights came next in the pyramid. Peasants were not part of the feudal system because they did not give or receive land. They worked on a lord's manor in exchange for protection.


title: Human history

text: The Crusades were also fought during the Middle Ages. There is a theory that says the Crusades helped end the Middle Ages along with the Black Death, increased trade and better farming technology.


title: Human history

text: The Renaissance started in Italy. "Renaissance" is a French word meaning "rebirth". The Renaissance meant that people learned from the ancient Greek and Roman or "classical" cultures that had been forgotten for some time. Artists learned from classical paintings and sculptures. So they reinvented perspective and the art of free standing realistic sculptures that had been characteristic in Greek and Roman art. Some famous Renaissance artists are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. The Gutenberg printing press, invented by Johannes Gutenberg, was also developed during this time.


title: Human history

text: The Renaissance was also a time of great achievements in science (Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon), philosophy (Thomas More) and literature (Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare).


title: Human history

text: What is known as the classical period lasted from about 250 to about 900. During this time, many monuments were constructed. There are also many big inscriptions from then. In this period, the Maya moved to building large cities. This is known as urbanism. Many important intellectual and artistic developments happened in an area that is known as the "southern lowlands".


title: Human history

text: Like the Ancient Greek, the Maya civilization was made of many independent city-states. Agriculture was important around these city states like Tikal and Copán.


title: Human history

text: The most important monuments are the pyramids they built in their religious centers and the palaces of their rulers. The palace at Cancuén is the largest in the Maya area. There are no pyramids in the area of the palace. Other important things the archaeologists found include the carved stone slabs usually called "stelae" (the Maya called them "tetun", or "tree-stones"). These slabs show rulers along with hieroglyphic texts describing their genealogy, military victories, and other accomplishments. In North America, they made Mississippian culture with the largest land field from around 800 CE to 1600.


title: Human history

text: The Maya also had trade routes that ran over long distances. They traded with many of the other Mesoamerican cultures, such as Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, and other groups in central and gulf-coast Mexico. They also traded with non-Mesoamerican groups, that were farther away. Archaeologists have found gold from Panama in the Sacred Cenote of Chichen Itza.


title: Human history

text: In the 8th and 9th century, the cities in the southern lowlands had problems, and declined. At the same time, the Maya stopped making big monuments and inscriptions. Shortly afterwards, these cities were abandoned. Currently, archaeologists are not sure why this happened. There are different theories. Either ecological factors played a role in this, or the cause of this abandonment was not related to the environment.


title: Human history

text: In the north, development went on, form the 10th to about the 16th century. The influences from the outside left more traces in the Maya culture at that time. Some of the important sites in this era were Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Coba. At some point, the ruling dynasties of Chichen and Uxmal declined. Afterwards, Mayapan ruled all of Yucatán until a revolt in 1450. The area then degenerated into competing city-states until the Yucatán was conquered by the Spanish.


title: Human history

text: By 1250, there developed other city-states. The Itza maintained their capital at Tayasal. It ruled over an area extending across the Peten Lakes region, including the community of Ekckixil on Lake Quexil. Postclassic Maya states also survived in the southern highlands. One of the Maya kingdoms in this area is responsible for the best-known Maya work of historiography and mythology, the Popol Vuh.


title: Human history

text: The Spanish started to conquer Maya lands. This took them much longer than with the Inca or Aztecs, because there was no capital city. This meant that when they had conquered one city, this had little influence on the whole empire. The last Maya states were finally subdued in 1697.


title: Human history

text: The Maya people did not disappear though. There are still about 6 million of them. Some are well-integrated, others continue speak one of the Maya languages and uphold their cultural heritage.


title: Human history

text: The Aztecs built an empire in Central America, mainly in Mexico. The empire lasted from the 14th to the 16th century. They spoke the Nahuatl language. Their capital was Tenochtitlan. It was built on islands in a lake. Tenochtitlan was one of the greatest cities of the world in that time.


title: Human history

text: The Aztecs believed in polytheism. Quetzalcoatl (feathered snake), Huitzilopochtli (hummingbird of the south) and Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) were the most important Gods. Sometimes the Aztecs killed humans to please their gods. Between 1519 and 1521 the Spanish leader Hernán Cortés defeated the Aztecs and took their empire. Some Aztecs did not want to fight against the soldiers of Cortés, because they thought they were Gods.


title: Human history

text: Today many Mexicans have Aztec and other Native American forefathers. People still use Aztec symbols in Mexico. On the Mexican flag there is a picture of an eagle on a cactus with a snake in its mouth. This was an Aztec symbol. Also the name "Mexico" is an Aztec word.


title: Human history

text: The Aztecs ate a lot of plants and vegetables that could be grown easily in the Mexico area. The main food that they ate was corn, which they called maize. Another food that they ate was squash.


title: Human history

text: Aztecs also had a lot of harsh punishments for certain crimes. For the following crimes the punishment was death: adultery, wearing cotton clothes (cotton clothes were only for the nobles), cutting down a living tree, moving a field boundary making your land bigger, making someone else's smaller, major theft and treason.


title: Human history

text: The Incas were a civilized empire in western South America. The Incas are called a "pre-Columbian" empire. This means that their country was here before Christopher Columbus. They ruled parts of South America around what is now Peru for a little over 100 years, until the Spanish invasion in the 16th century.


title: Human history

text: The Incan empire or , meaning "four regions" in Quechua, only lasted for about 100 years as the arrival of the Spaniards in 1532 conquered them. Their main language was Quechua, but as the Incas were basically made up of many different groups there were probably many other different languages.


title: Human history

text: Manco Capac founded the first Inca state around 1200. It covered the area around Cusco. In the 1400s, Pachacuti began to absorb other people in the Andes. The expansion of the Inca Empire had started. The Inca Empire would become the biggest empire in the Americas before Columbus.


title: Human history

text: In 1532, the civil war ended. The brothers Huascar and Atahualpa, fought for who would succeed their father. During this time, the Spanish conquerors took possession of the Inca territory. They were led by Francisco Pizarro. In the following years the conquistadors managed to extend their power over the whole Andean region. They suppressed successive Inca rebellions until the establishment of the Viceroyalty of Perú in 1542 and the fall of the resistance of the last Incas of Vilcabamba in 1572. The Inca civilization ends at that time, but many cultural traditions remain in some ethnic groups as Quechuas and Aymara people.


title: Human history

text: Ancient Egypt and Carthage are well known civilizations of ancient Africa. But because there are not many written sources in large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, the history of Africa is not easy to write about. But with new techniques such as the recording of oral history, historical linguistics and archeology knowledge has improved, not only for the empires and kingdoms of Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nubia, Kush and Kerma.


title: Human history

text: Colonization happened after Christopher Columbus came to the Americas. European countries such as England, France, and Spain built colonies in the Americas. These settlers fought the Native Americans to take over their land. The colonisation of the Americas was the beginning of modern times.


title: Human history

text: An important part about contact with the Americas was the Columbian Exchange The Columbian Exchange brought new foods, ideas, and diseases to the Old World and New World, changing the way people lived. Historians believe that almost everyone as far as Asia was affected in some way by the Columbian Exchange.


title: Human history

text: Protestant Reformation started with Martin Luther and the posting of the 95 theses on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. At first he protested against corruption such as simony or the sale of indulgences. But then it became clear that he had different ideas about the church doctrine. He thought that Christians should only read the Bible to find out what God wants from them. That meant that they did not need priests (see: Five solas). The three most important traditions that came directly from the Protestant Reformation were the Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist, Presbyterian, etc.), and Anglican traditions.


title: Human history

text: The Counter-Reformation, or Catholic Reformation, was the Catholic Church fighting the Protestant Reformation. New religious orders, such as the Jesuits were founded and missionaries sent around the world. Decisions were taken at the Council of Trent (1545–1563).


title: Human history

text: The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain. It brought many advances in the way goods were produced. These advances allowed people to produce much more than they needed for living. The early British Empire split as its colonies in America revolted to establish a representative government.


title: Human history

text: The French Revolution lead to massive political change in continental Europe, as people following the ideas of Enlightenment asked for human rights with the slogan "liberté, egalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, fraternity). That led to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, but also to terror and the execution of King Louis XVI. The French leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, conquered and changed Europe through war up to 1815. As more and more small property holders were granted the vote, in France and the UK, socialist and trade union activity developed and revolution gripped Europe in 1848. The last vestiges of serfdom were abolished in Austria-Hungary in 1848. Russian serfdom was abolished in 1861. The Balkan nations began to regain their independence from the Ottoman Empire. After the Franco-Prussian War, Italy and Germany became unified in 1870 and 1871. Conflict spread across the globe, in a chase for empires. The search for a "place in the sun" ended with the outbreak of World War I. In the desperation of war, the Russian Revolution promised the people "peace, bread and land". The defeat of Germany came at the price of economic destruction, which was written down in the Treaty of Versailles.


title: Human history

text: From 1644 to 1912 the Qing or "Manchu Dynasty" ruled China. The dynasty was founded by the Manchu clan in northeast China (Manchuria). It expanded into China proper and its surrounding territories, establishing the "Empire of the Great Qing".


title: Human history

text: Its military power weakened during the 1800s, and faced with international pressure, massive rebellions and defeats in wars, the Qing Dynasty declined after the mid-19th century. It was overthrown in 1912.


title: Human history

text: During the Edo period, Japan had many small rulers. There were about 200 of them, called the daimyo. Out of them, the Tokugawa clan was most powerful. They ruled from a place called Edo. This place was around the present day’s Tokyo. For fifteen generations they were the most powerful clan in Japan.


title: Human history

text: Beginning from the early 17th century, the rulers (known as shogunate) started a policy of seclusion (stopping some people coming in), known as sakoku in Japanese language. They suspected that traders, merchants and missionaries wanted to bring Japan under the control of European powers. Except the Dutch and the Chinese, all foreigners, traders and merchants from other countries, missionaries were no longer allowed into Japan.


title: Human history

text: Still even during the period of seclusion, Japanese continued to gain information and knowledge about other parts of the world.


title: Human history

text: This policy of seclusion lasted for about 200 years. It ended 1868 with Meiji Restoration, when the emperor took over again and started a lot of reforms.


title: Human history

text: The Mughal Empire existed from 1526 to 1857. When it was biggest it ruled most of the Indian subcontinent, then known as Hindustan, and parts of what is now Afghanistan. It was founded by Babur in 1526 and ruled until 1530. Its most important ruler was Akbar (1556–1605). After the death of Aurangjeb (1658–1707), the Mughal Empire became weak. It continued until 1857. By that time, India came under the British Raj.


title: Human history

text: Settlement by the Spanish started the European colonization of the Americas, it meant genocide of the native Indians. The Spanish gained control of most of the Caribbean and conquered the Aztecs. So they founded the Spanish Empire in the New World.


title: Human history

text: The first successful English settlements were in North America at Jamestown (Virginia), 1607 (along with its satellite, Bermuda in 1609) and Plymouth (Massachusetts), 1620. The first French settlements were Port Royal (1604) and Quebec City (1608). The Fur Trade soon became the primary business on the continent and as a result transformed the Native Americans lifestyle. Plantation slavery of the West Indies lead to the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade.


title: Human history

text: Rivalry between the European powers created a series of wars on the North American landmass. The American Revolution led to the creation of the United States of America. Spain's hold on its colonies weakened till it had to give them independence.


title: Human history

text: During the 15th century the Portuguese began exploring Africa. At the Guinea coast they built their first fort in 1482. They started slave trade after the first European contact with America in 1492 to supply settlers from there with workers. Soon English, Spanish, Dutch, French and Danish merchants also built forts. But their influence on the inland was minor (except from decimation of population by slave trade) till during the 19th century larger colonies were founded.


title: Human history

text: The 20th century was a very important time in history. New technology and different ideas led to many worldwide changes in the time of just 100 years.


title: Human history

text: World War I was a war fought from 1914 to 1918. During the time of the war, it was called "The Great War", or "The War to End All Wars". Chemical poisons, tanks, aeroplanes, and bombs were used for the first time.


title: Human history

text: These were causes that made it likely that a war would start in Europe. The "spark" that started the war was the assassination of the heir to the throne in Austria-Hungary: Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a group of young Serbians. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and each country's allies then joined the war. This created a bigger conflict which turned into World War I.


title: Human history

text: Europe divided into two groups of allies: the Central Powers and the Allied Powers (the "Allies"). The Central Powers were made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. The Allies were made up of Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States.


title: Human history

text: World War I was fought on two fronts; the Eastern Front and the Western Front. Trench warfare was commonly used on the Eastern Front.


title: Human history

text: Because of a British blockade, Germany began using U-boats, or submarines, to sink British ships. After the sinking of two ships with Americans on board, and the public release of the Zimmermann Note, The U.S. declared war on Germany, joining the Allies.


title: Human history

text: On November 11, 1918, Germany signed the armistice, meaning "the laying down of arms", to end the war. After the war ended, the Treaty of Versailles was written and Germany was made to sign it. They had to pay $33 million in reparations (payment for damage). The influenza pandemic of 1918 spread around the world, killing millions.


title: Human history

text: After the war the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Austrian Empire ended and France and Britain got weaker.


title: Human history

text: The 1920s and 1930s had military-related fascist dictators take control of Italy, Germany, Japan and Spain. They were helped by the Great Depression starting in 1929. When Hitler in 1933 had gained power in Germany he prepared World War II.


title: Human history

text: Of all the wars ever fought, World War II involved the most countries and killed the most people. More than 60 million people died, making it the worst disaster of all time. It lasted six years in Europe, from 1939 to 1945.


title: Human history

text: It was fought between the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) and the Allied Powers. At first the Axis Powers were successful, but that ended in Europe with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943 and the invasion in Normandy in 1944. But Hitler was able to pursue his plan to annihilate Jews nearly all over Europe. Today, this plan is called the Holocaust.


title: Human history

text: In the Pacific it ended with the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal. Germany surrendered on May 8. The Soviet invasion of Japan led Japan to surrender on August 15, 1945.


title: Human history

text: After World War II the United Nations was founded in the hope that it could solve arguments among nations and keep wars from happening. Communism spread to Central and Eastern Europe, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, North Vietnam and North Korea. In 1949, China became communist. During the 1950s and 1960s, many third world countries became communist.


title: Human history

text: This led to the Cold War, a forty-year argument between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies (mainly countries that were members of NATO or the Warsaw Pact). Each country wanted to promote their type of government. The Soviet Union wanted to spread communism, and the United States wanted to spread democracy. People across the world feared a nuclear war because of the tension.


title: Human history

text: Communism became less popular when it became clear that it could not promote economic growth as well as Western states and that it was not suited for a reform that allowed freedom of speech for everybody. Therefore, the Soviet Union forced Hungary to give up its reform in 1956, it favored the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 and it stopped reform in Czechoslovakia in 1968. When in 1988/89 Gorbachev made clear that he would not force the countries of the East block to stick to Communism the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 and the Soviet Union collapsed (1991). Then the United States was the only superpower left.


title: Human history

text: After Mao Zedong's death China's communist party proved that economic reform was possible without political freedom and paved the way for enormous economic growth.


title: Human history

text: As the 20th century ended, the European Union began to rise and included former satellite states and even parts of the Soviet Union. States in Asia, Africa and South America tried to copy the European Union.


title: Human history

text: The twentieth century was a time of great progress in terms of technology. People began to live longer because of better medicine and medical technology. New communications and transportation technologies connected the world. But these advances also helped cause problems with the environment.


title: Human history

text: The last half of the century had smaller wars. Improved information technology and globalization increased trade and cultural exchange. Space exploration expanded through the solar system. The structure of DNA was discovered.


title: Human history

text: The same period also raised questions about the end of human history because of global dangers: nuclear weapons, greenhouse effect and other problems in the environment.


title: Human history

text: As the 20th century ended, globalization has continued. During this period, communications with mobile phones and the Internet have expanded, which has led to fundamental social changes in corporation, political, and individuals' personal lives. Due to the population of growth and industrialization, worldwide resource competition is becoming increasingly highly, especially in India, China and the United States. The increasing demand on the environmental degradation and global warming.


title: Human history

text: A new Great Recession affected the world in the late 2000s and the early 2010s, and the COVID-19 pandemic spread in 2020, causing further economic and political disruption. Some scientists referred to this as a "Planetary Phase of Civilization".


title: Cumbria

text: Cumbria is a county in England. It is in the very north-western part of England on the border with Scotland. The most important and biggest town is Carlisle, in the north of the county. This is the county town and there is an ancient (very old) castle in the centre of the town.


title: Cumbria

text: In 1974, Cumberland, Westmorland and bits of Yorkshire and Lancashire were put into the new county of Cumbria. The world famous Lake District national park is in Cumbria. Millions of tourists visit the Lake District to enjoy sailing on the lakes and the impressive mountains that are here. The highest mountain in England is in the Lake District, it is called Scar Fell.


title: Cumbria

text: Cumbria is very popular with people who enjoy walking although the weather is very poor here. It often rains and is cold. Many tourists from Japan and China visit Cumbria. Popular places for them and other tourists to see are the poet William Wordsworth's two houses, the home of the famous children's writer Beatrix Potter and the island and lake where the writer Arthur Ransome based his books about the 'Swallows And Amazons'.


title: Book of Jeremiah

text: The Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah (, Yirməyāhū), is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism's Tanakh, and later became a part of Christianity's Old Testament.


title: Book of Jeremiah

text: Jeremiah began began his work in the thirteenth year of king Josiah (about 627 BC) and finished in the eleventh year of king Zedekiah (586 BC), when Jerusalem went into exile. During this period, Josiah reformed their religion, Babylon destroyed Assyria and Egypt briefly made Judah their subject. Then Babylon defeated Egypt and made Judah their subject (605 BC). Judah revolted several times and after the final time, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple and took away its king and many of the leading people in 586 BC.


title: Book of Jeremiah

text: Jeremiah's name is found in the Chronicles and the Book of Ezra, both written after the exile. He said that the exile would last 70 years. This was mentioned in the Book of Daniel.


title: Book of Jeremiah

text: Christians believe that Jesus was a suffering prophet and that this was like what happened to Jeremiah in chapters 37–44, as well as to the suffering servant described in the book of Isaiah Chapter 53.


title: Algebraic geometry

text: Algebraic geometry is a type of mathematics, studying polynomial equations. Modern algebraic geometry is based on more abstract techniques of abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with the language and the problems of geometry.


title: Algebraic geometry

text: The main objects of study in algebraic geometry are algebraic varieties, which are geometric manifestations of sets of solutions of systems of polynomial equations. Examples of the most studied classes of algebraic varieties are: plane algebraic curves, which include lines, circles, parabolas, ellipses, hyperbolas, cubic curves like elliptic curves and quartic curves like lemniscates, and Cassini ovals. A point of the plane belongs to an algebraic curve if its coordinates match a given polynomial equation. Simple questions involve the study of points of special interest like the singular points, the inflection points and the points at infinity. More difficult questions involve the topology of the curve and relations between the curves given by different equations.


title: Algebraic geometry

text: Algebraic geometry takes a central place in modern mathematics. The concepts it uses connects it to diverse fields such as complex analysis, topology and number theory. At the start, algebraic geometry was about studying systems of polynomial equations in several variables. Algebraic geometry starts at the point where equation solving leaves off: In many cases, finding the properties of all the solutions in a given set of equations have, are more important than finding a particular solution: this leads into some of the deepest place in all of mathematics, both conceptually and in terms of technique.


title: Algebraic geometry

text: Much of the development of the main stream of algebraic geometry in the 20th century occurred within an abstract algebraic framework, with increasing emphasis being placed on "intrinsic" properties of algebraic varieties not dependent on any particular way of embedding the variety in an ambient coordinate space. The developments in topology, differential and complex geometry came much in the same way.


title: Algebraic geometry

text: One key achievement of this abstract algebraic geometry is Grothendieck's scheme theory. This allows one to use sheaf theory to study algebraic varieties in a way which is very similar to its use in the study of differential and analytic manifolds. This is obtained by extending the notion of point: In classical algebraic geometry, a point of an affine variety may be identified, through Hilbert's Nullstellensatz, with a maximal ideal of the coordinate ring, while the points of the corresponding affine scheme are all prime ideals of this ring. This means that a point of such a scheme may be either a usual point or a sub variety.


title: Algebraic geometry

text: This approach also enables a unification of the language and the tools of classical algebraic geometry, mainly concerned with complex points, and of algebraic number theory. Wiles's proof of the Fermat's last theorem is an example of the power of this approach.


title: Frisian languages

text: Frisian refers to three languages that come from Friesland, a province in the Netherlands. They are spoken in the Netherlands, in Eastern Germany, and in some areas of Jutland, Denmark. It is also spoken on the Frisian Isles (Wadden Isles) and Western German (East Frisian) Isles such as Borkum.


title: Frisian languages

text: They are West Germanic languages that are related to Dutch and are also the closest living languages to English. All of them have been spoken since Roman times.


title: Yvelines

text: Yvelines is a department in the Île-de-France region. Its prefecture is Versailles. About 1,395,000 people live there (2006 estimation).


title: Moulin Rouge

text: Moulin Rouge ("Red Windmill") is a traditional cabaret and nightclub which began in 1889. It is on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th "arrondissement" (district of the city). This is near the French quarter of Montmartre in the red-light district of Paris called Pigalle. The theatre can be recognized by the large red windmill on its roof.


title: Moulin Rouge

text: The Moulin Rouge puts on cabaret shows every day. It is where the famous French dance, the Can-can, was first performed. It is also famous because many artists and writers have often gone there. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec designed many posters for the cabaret. Because of this, the management always set aside a table where he could have a meal and watch the show.


title: Moulin Rouge

text: Several movies have been made about the Moulin Rouge. The latest is "Moulin Rouge!" directed by Baz Luhrmann. Jean Renoir made another film about the Moulin Rouge.


title: Julianne Moore

text: Julianne Moore (born Julie Anne Smith; December 3, 1960) is an American actress with Scottish origins. She was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards.


title: Julianne Moore

text: After studying theatre at Boston University Moore began her acting career in 1983 with minor roles. She then joined the soap opera "As the World Turns". She had several supporting roles in movies. Her performance in "Boogie Nights" (1997) brought her fame.


title: Julianne Moore

text: Her success continued with movies such as "The Big Lebowski" (1998), "The End of the Affair" (1999) and "Magnolia" (1999). She received particular praise for acting as a betrayed wife in "Far from Heaven" (2002). This won several awards. The same year, she was also nominated for several awards for her work in "The Hours". The critics have liked her for her recent performances in "The Kids Are All Right" and portraying Sarah Palin in "Game Change".


title: Julianne Moore

text: Since August 23, 2003 she has been married to Bart Freundlich. They have a son, Caleb Moore Freundlich (born on December 4, 1997) and a daughter, Liv Helen Moore Freundlich (born on April 11, 2002).


title: Ralph Puckett

text: Ralph Puckett Jr. (born December 8, 1926) is an American Army soldier and colonel. He led the Eighth Army Ranger Company during the Korean War. He was born in Tifton, Georgia.


title: Ralph Puckett

text: Puckett was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on November 25, 1950, when his company of 51 Rangers was attacked by Chinese forces at the battle for Hill 205.


title: Ralph Puckett

text: On May 20, 2021, President Joe Biden awarded Puckett the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle for Hill 205.


title: Gemini (constellation)

text: Gemini is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It was one of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd century AD astronomer Ptolemy. It is one of the 88 modern constellations today. Its name is Latin for "twins." It is from the twins Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology. Its symbol is ().


title: Gemini (constellation)

text: Gemini lies between Taurus to the west and Cancer to the east. Auriga and Lynx are to the north. Monoceros and Canis Minor are to the south.


title: Gemini (constellation)

text: The Geminids are a meteor shower that can be seen best on December 13–14. People watching it see about 100 meteors per hour at most. It one of the richest meteor showers. The Epsilon Geminids peak between October 18 and October 29. They have only been recently confirmed. They overlap with the Orionids. This makes the Epsilon Geminids hard to see. Epsilon Geminid meteors move faster than Orionids.


title: Gemini (constellation)

text: In Babylonian astronomy, the stars Castor and Pollux were known as the Great Twins (MUL.MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL). The Twins were thought of as minor gods. They were called Meshlamtaea and Lugalirra. These names meant 'The One who has arisen from the Underworld' and the 'Mighty King'. Both names can be understood as titles of Nergal, the major Babylonian god of plague and pestilence. He was king of the Underworld.


title: Gemini (constellation)

text: Castor and Pollux are the brightest stars in Gemini. They are two bright stars that appear very close together forming an o shape.


title: Gemini (constellation)

text: The Sun appears in the constellation Gemini from June 20 to July 20. In tropical astrology, the Sun is in the sign Gemini from May 21 to June 22, and in sidereal astrology, from June 16 to July 15.


title: Plywood

text: Plywood is a manufactured wood which is made by gluing several thin sheets of wood together with the grain alternately running along the sheet then across it.


title: Plywood

text: The veneer is usually about 3 millimetres thick for each layer. Interior layers of these boards are usually made from an inexpensive wood while the outer veneer layers are made from more expensive timber to give the board a nice wood grain appearance. The glued layers are heated together to make the seal become better bonded.


title: Plywood

text: A common reason for using plywood instead of plain wood is its resistance to cracking, shrinking and changing shape. It is cheaper and stronger than most plain woods.


title: Plywood

text: It is used to make a range of things from sheds, to cladding to cabinets. It is graded on the quality, from class A to class D, A being the best quality and D being the worst quality.


title: Plywood

text: Different kinds of plywood are made for different purposes. Marine plywood, for example, is especially resistant to water. There is a world-wide industry making plywood for structural purposes. IKEA is well-known for using mostly plywood and chipboard in their indoor and outdoor furniture products.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The spiny dogfish ("Squalus acanthias") is one of the most common and well known species of dogfish. It is a small species of shark, with an average length of 28-39 inches (70–100 cm), and reaching a maximum weight of 9.8 kg.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The dogfish is found in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and can be found from the surface to depths as deep as 1,460 metres. The spiny dogfish feeds mainly on pelagic fish such as herring, menhaden, capelin, sand lance, and mackerel.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The spiny dogfish has a slim, long body and a flattened head. The snout is narrow, with a pointed tip. The eyes of this species are quite large. The first dorsal fin is located about halfway between the pectoral fins and the pelvic fins. The second dorsal fin is about two-thirds the size of the first one and is located behind the pelvic fins.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: On the front of each dorsal fin there is a sharp spine attached to them, giving the spiny dogfish its name. The first spine is about half as long as the second spine. The pectoral fins form nearly perfect equilateral triangles, with rounded rear tips, and slightly concave rear margins. The pelvic fins are closer to the second dorsal fin than to the first dorsal fin. One the caudal fin, there is no notch on the upper lobe and the lower lobe is not well-developed. There is no anal fin on the Spiny dogfish.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The dorsal surface of the dogfish is slate-coloured and may have a brownish cast. There are rows of white spots along each side, from above the pectoral fins to above the pelvic fins. These spots are more visible on immature spiny dogfish, and they fade as the shark matures. With some individuals, the spots completely disappear. The edges of the dorsal fins and the caudal fin have a dusky-colour at birth, but this colour quickly fades. The ventral surface of the dogfish ranges from pale grey to pure white.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The average length of the spiny dogfish is 28-39 inches (70–100 cm), with adult males ranging from 24-35 inches (60–90 cm), and adult females ranging from 30-42 inches (76–107 cm). The maximum reported length of males is 39 inches (100 cm), and females is 49 inches (124 cm). Mature females can weigh as much as 3.2-4.5 kg (7-10 pounds), with a maximum recorded weight of 9.8 kg (22 pounds). The all-tackle game fish record is 7.14 kg (16 pounds), and was caught off the coast of Ireland in 1989.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: In the western Atlantic, the spiny dogfish ranges from Greenland to Argentina, and in the eastern Atlantic it is found from Iceland and the Murmanski Coast (Russia) to South Africa, including the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. In the western Pacific, the dogfish occurs from the Bering Sea to New Zealand, while in the eastern Pacific, this species is found from the Bering Sea to Chile.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: Spiny dogfish are benthopelagic, meaning that they are found just above the bottom of the ocean. They are found from the surface to depths as deep as 1,460 metres. Spiny dogfish can be found in brackish water, but prefer seawater, and are commonly found in waters with the temperature of 7-15 °C. Spiny dogfish are found inshore and offshore, over continental and insular (island) shelve, and upper slopes. They are often found in enclosed bays and estuaries. They have been reported to enter freshwater but cannot survive there for more than a few hours.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: Spiny dogfish have been found in the stomachs of cod, red hake, and goosefish, as well as other dogfish. Larger species of sharks, as well as seals and Killer whales also feed on the spiny dogfish. To defend itself, the dogfish curls into a ball, and strikes at predators with its spines on the dorsal fins.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The spiny dogfish usually feeds in groups. They feed mainly on pelagic fish such as herring, menhaden, capelin, sand lance, and mackerel, often consuming large numbers of them. They have been known to bite through fishing nets to be able to feed on the caught fish, usually releasing most of the fish. This has given the dogfish a bad reputation among fishermen. Other food items of this species includes molluscs (such as squid and octopus), crustacea (such as shrimp and crab), jellyfish, sea cucumber, algae, smaller sharks, and shark egg cases.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The gestation period of the spiny dogfish lasts up to 2 years. Spiny dogfish are ovoviviparous, meaning that the embryos develop inside eggs inside the female, and are nourished by yolk-filled sacs. Finally, the female gives birth to 1-20 pups, each one measuring around 20 to 33 centimeters. The spiny dogfish lives to the age of 20–75 years.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The dogfish poses little threat to humans, but if it is not handled properly, the spines on its dorsal fins can give a harmful wound. Also, the spiny dogfish has earned itself a bad reputation among fishermen due to its habit of biting through fishing nets to get at any fish which is caught in the nets.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: The spiny dogfish is the most common living shark, yet two populations in the northwest and northeast Atlantic are at great risk due to overfishing. This shark is caught for food, liver oil, and is used to make sand paper, vitamins, leather, fertiliser, and pet food. Between 1900 and 1910, when the dogfish was at its peak abundance, it was estimated that up to 27 million spiny dogfish were caught off the Massachusetts coast every year.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: Due to their long gestation period and the low number of pups they give birth to at a time, the spiny dogfish must be managed carefully. This species is extremely vulnerable to overfishing and is currently on the brink of collapse.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: Commercial fishermen target mature females because they grow to larger sizes than males. The fishing of spiny dogfish increased dramatically in the U.S.A during the 1990s, resulting in the population of mature females to decrease by 75%, leading to low number of pups. In 2001, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) voted to extend an emergency action that closes state waters to fish for the vulnerable dogfish. This was in response to heavy fishing that devastated dogfish populations during the 1990s.


title: Spiny dogfish

text: In late 2000, a fishery management plan for the spiny dogfish began to develop, followed by its approval in November 2002. Federal and state recovery plans are currently in place but are continually challenged. The National Marine Fisheries Service, with new data predicting the collapse of the spiny dogfish populations, closed federal waters to dogfish fishing in July 2003. The spiny dogfish is currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.


title: Salvatore Riina

text: Salvatore "Totò" Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called Totò 'u Curtu (; Totò being the diminutive of "Salvatore"), was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia. He known for the murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s when the assassinations of Antimafia Commission prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino occurred.


title: Salvatore Riina

text: Riina advocated the killing of women and children, and killed blameless members of the public solely to distract law enforcing agencies. Assassin Giovanni Brusca estimated he murdered 100-200 people on behalf of Riina.


title: Salvatore Riina

text: Riina died on 17 November 2017 at the hospital in Parma of sepsis caused by surgery at the age of 87.


title: Cowry

text: The shell itself is almost always very smooth and shiny. They have with a long, narrow, slit-like opening. All varieties have a porcelain-like shine and many have colorful patterns. In life the shell is covered by the slippery mantle.


title: Cowry

text: Shell sizes range from 5 mm (1/5") for some tropical species to 15 cm (6") for the tiger cowry, "Cypraea tigris".


title: Cowry

text: The slippery shell is very difficult for most animals to grip. The very narrow toothed aperture of the cowry shell makes it difficult for predators to reach into. However cowries are still vulnerable to predation:


title: Cowry

text: For nearly 200 years, every species in the family Cypraeidae was placed in one genus, "Cypraea", but in 2002 the cowries were divided into many different genera.


title: Cowry

text: Cowries (esp. "Cypraea moneta") were used as a currency in Africa (Ghanaian cedi in Ghana named after cowry shells) and elsewhere, such as in China where the shell or copies of the shell were in theory used as a means of exchange. They are also worn as jewelry or otherwise used as ornaments or charms, as they are viewed as symbols of womanhood, fertility, birth and wealth. Many find the shiny, porcelain-like shells pleasing to look at.


title: Cowry

text: Cowry shells are sometimes used in a way similar to dice, e.g., in board games like Pachisi, or in divination (cf. Ifá and the annual customs of Dahomey).


title: Cowry

text: A number of shells (6 or 7 in Pachisi) are thrown, with those landing aperture upwards indicating the actual number rolled.


title: Cowry

text: Cowries have also been used in the recent past as a frame over which sock heels were stretched for darning. The cowry ridges allowed the needle to get under the cloth more easily.


title: Cowry

text: The Ojibway aboriginal people in North America used the cowry shells in ceremonies, and the Whiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada is named after this type of shell. There is some debate about how they traded for or found these shells so far inland, away from the natural sources. Oral stories and birch bark scrolls seem to indicate that they were found in the ground, and/or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers. The cowry shells so far inland may indicate the use of them by an earlier tribe or group in the area, and an extensive trade network in the ancient past.


title: Polypropylene

text: Polypropylene (PP), or polypropene, is a type of plastic. It is a thermoplastic polymer which can be made into a fibre for yarn and fabric, film for packaging, or many other shapes.


title: Polypropylene

text: As a plastic it can be made translucent but usually is opaque and often brightly colored. It is tough, and resists many solvents, acids and bases.


title: Polypropylene

text: It can be formed into a thin thread and woven into a strong strap, often used on backpacks, bags, and other things.


title: Polypropylene

text: In 2008, the global market for polypropylene had a volume of 45.1 million metric tons, which led to a turnover of about $65 billion (~ €47.4 billion).


title: Marion County, Florida

text: Marion County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 population for the county is 316,183. Its county seat is Ocala.


title: Marion County, Florida

text: Marion County was created in 1844 from portions of Alachua, Mosquito (Orange), and Hillsborough counties. Until 1853, Marion County included most of what are now Lake and Sumter counties. The county is named after General Francis Marion of South Carolina, a guerilla fighter and hero of the American Revolutionary War. Many of the early settlers of Marion County were from South Carolina. The county motto is "Kingdom of the Sun." Farms in the county are known for breeding champion race horses such as Affirmed and Needles.


title: Marion County, Florida

text: According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of , of which (or 94.94%) is land and (or 5.06%) is water.


title: Marion County, Florida

text: Marion County is generally composed of rolling hills, some high and some low. The majority of its trees consist of live oaks, pine, and palm trees. Marion County is considered the southernmost county in North Central Florida, and the northernmost county in Central Florida.


title: Marion County, Florida

text: It is about a two hour drive from many of Florida's major cities. Orlando is 75 minutes to the southeast while Daytona Beach is about 90 minutes to the east. Tampa is about 75 minutes to the southwest. Jacksonville is roughly a two hour drive northeast. Miami is about five hours to the southeast. Fort Lauderdale is about a four-hour drive from Marion County.