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24596 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equidae | Equidae | Equidae is a family of odd-toed ungulate that are only one surviving genus: Equus. Horses, donkeys and zebras belong in this genus. Animals of the Equus genus can have hybrid offspring, but they are usually sterile. They can have many different colours. |
24632 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx | Lynx | The Lynx is a small cat. It is a genus with four species. The four species are in Eurasia, Spain, Canada and America, and do not overlap much.
Appearance
Lynx have short tails, and usually some hair on the ears. They have large paws (feet) padded for walking on snow, and long whiskers on the face. The color of the body is from light brown to grey and is sometimes marked with dark brown spots, especially on the legs. They weigh about 5 kg or about 11 pounds (approximately the size of a large domestic cat) and can weigh up to about 30 kg (66 pounds). They are between 70 and 150 cm long, with a relative short tail - 5-25 cm. They live for about 20 years.
Lynx are similar to a regular house cat, but larger. They have a powerful body on short, furry legs attached to hefty feet, and a bobbed, black-tipped tail. The fur is spotted and yellowish-brown to grey. It has a collar of fur around the face, giving a triangular shape. They also have long black ear tufts.
Habitat
Lynx live in the high altitude forests with many shrubs, reeds and grass. They hunt only on the ground, but can climb trees and swim.
They can be found in the some places in northern Scandinavia, in North America and also in the Himalayas. Since the 1990s people try to move part of the population of the Eurasian lynx to Germany. They can also be found in Białowieża Forest (northeastern Poland), and southern Spain.
The Colorado Division of Wildlife tried to move other wild Lynx populations from Canada back to the United States.
Behaviour
Lynx are usually solitary, although a small group may travel and hunt together occasionally. Mating takes place in the late winter and once a year the female gives birth to between two and four kittens. The young stay with the mother for one more winter, a total of around nine months, before moving out to live on their own as young adults.
Lynx make their dens in crevices or under ledges. They feed on a wide range of animals from white-tailed deer, reindeer, roe deer, small red deer, and chamois, to smaller, more usual prey: snowshoe hares, fish, foxes, sheep, squirrels, mice, turkeys and other birds, and goats. They also eat ptarmigans,voles, and grouse.
The genus Lynx
Genus Lynx
Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis
Eurasian lynx, Lynx lynx
Iberian lynx or Spanish Lynx, Lynx pardinus
Bobcat, Lynx rufus
Conservation
The Iberian lynx is the most endangered feline in the world. There are only two populations (together, 300 animals), in the southern Spain.
Hunting lynxes is illegal in many countries.
References
Other websites
Canada Lynx in the Southern Rockies
The Iberian Lynx The natural history of the Iberian lynx
Hopes raised by Spain lynx births
Felines
Mammals of North America
Mammals of Europe
Mammals of Asia |
24641 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shania%20Twain | Shania Twain | Shania Twain (born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965, in Timmins, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. She was married a long time to music producer Mutt Lange. She is very successful in the country and pop music genres. She had a residency show at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late 2012.
Her 1995 album The Woman in Me brought her fame. Her 1997 album Come On Over became the bestselling album of all time by a female musician in any genre and the bestselling country album of all time. It has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.
In 2017, she released the album Now, her first in 15 years. She wrote and co-produced all of the songs. It entered at the top of the charts in Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US, where it opened with 137,000 combined copies and streams.
Personal life
Twain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993. They have a son, Eja (pronounced "Asia") D'Angelo, who was born on August 12, 2001. On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville said that Twain and Lange were separating. This was after Lange allegedly had an affair with Twain's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. Their divorce was finalized on June 9, 2010. On December 20, 2010, Twain's manager said that Twain was engaged to Swiss Frédéric Thiébaud (the ex-husband of her former best friend), an executive at Nestlé. They married on January 1, 2011, in Rincón, Puerto Rico.
Twain is a longtime vegetarian. In 2001 she was voted PETA's very first Sexiest Vegetarian Alive.
In September 2010, it was confirmed that Twain was to release her first biography, From This Moment On, on May 3, 2011. The cover work for the book was released on March 2, 2011.
Awards and honours
In addition to the awards for her singles and albums, Twain has a number of personal honours:
She was named the 1999 Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. Twain was the first non-US citizen to win the CMA award.
Twain was ranked No.7 in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.
In 2003, Twain was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
The city of Timmins (in Ontario, Canada) renamed a street for her, gave her the key to the city, and built the Shania Twain Centre in her honour.
On November 18, 2005, Twain became an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Twain was added to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards on March 27, 2011.
On June 2, 2011, Twain received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her star is the 2,442nd Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Recording.
Discography
Twain has released thirty-five singles from four studio albums, one greatest hits album, and one soundtrack album.
Studio albums
Shania Twain (1993)
The Woman in Me (1995)
Come On Over (1997)
Up! (2002)
Now (2017)
Singles
1993–99
1993 – What Made You Say That
1993 – Dance with the One Who Brought You
1993 – You Lay a Whole Lot of Love on Me
1995 – Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?
1995 – Any Man of Mine – #1 US Country
1995 – (If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here! – #1 US Country
1995 – The Woman in Me (Needs the Man in You)
1996 – You Win My Love – #1 US Country
1996 – No One Needs to Know – #1 US Country
1996 – Home Ain't Where His Heart Is Anymore
1996 – God Bless the Child
1997 – Love Gets Me Every Time – #1 US Country
1997 – Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)
1998 – When
1998 – You're Still the One – #1 US Country
1998 – From This Moment On
1998 – Honey, I'm Home – #1 US Country
1998 – That Don't Impress Me Much
1999 – Man! I Feel Like a Woman!
1999 – Come On Over
1999 – You've Got A Way
2000–17
2000 – Rock This Country
2000 – I'm Holding on to Love (To Save My Life)!
2001 – It's Alright (Dance Mix)
2002 – Up!
2002 – I'm Gonna Getcha Good!
2003 – Forever and for Always
2003 – Ka-Ching!
2003 – Thank You Baby! (For Makin' Someday Come So Soon)
2003 – She's Not Just a Pretty Face
2003 – When You Kiss Me
2004 – It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing
2004 – Party for Two
2004 – Don't!
2005 – I Ain't No Quitter
2005 – Shoes
2011 – Today Is Your Day
2017 – Life's About to Get Good
2017 – Swingin' with My Eyes Closed
References
1965 births
Living people
Canadian feminists
Canadian pop singers
Canadian singer-songwriters
Country singers
Singers from Ontario |
24642 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%20Grass%20Roots | The Grass Roots | The Grass Roots are an American rock music group. Their peak in popularity was in the 1960s and 1970s. They formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. Their biggest hit was the song "Midnight Confessions" which charted in the US at #5 in 1968. Their 1969 song "I'd Wait a Million Years" was #15 in the U.S..
Albums
Where Were You When I Needed You (1966)
Let's Live for Today (1967)
Feelings (1968)
Leavin' It All Behind (1969)
Lovin' Things (1969)
Move Along (1972)
Alotta Mileage (1973)
Grass Roots (1975)
The ABC Collection (1976)
14 Greatest (1978)
Powers of the Night (1982)
Live at Last (2000)
Symphonic Hits (2001)
Live Gold (2008)
The Complete Original Dunhill/ABC Hit Singles (2014)
Musical groups from Los Angeles
American pop music groups
Folk music groups
American rock bands |
24643 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne%20Warwick | Dionne Warwick | Dionne Warwick (born December 12, 1940) is an American R&B singer. She was born in East Orange, New Jersey.
Warwick sang many songs written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Many of these songs were hits.
In 1990, Warwick hosted and executive produced a talk show, Dionne and Friends. She was a contestant in the 2011 season of The Apprentice.
Warwick's sister Dee Dee Warwick (1942-2008), their aunt Cissy Houston (born 1933) and cousin Whitney Houston (1963-2012) were singers.
Sources
Other websites
1940 births
Living people
Actors from New Jersey
African American musicians
American movie actors
American R&B singers
American soul musicians
American television actors
American television presenters
People from East Orange, New Jersey
Participants in American reality television series
Singers from New Jersey
Television talk show hosts
Warner Bros. Records artists |
24644 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barenaked%20Ladies | Barenaked Ladies | Barenaked Ladies are a Canadian band. They formed in Toronto, Canada in 1988. The band is made up of four men. In 1991, the band was taken off the program for a New Year's Eve concert in Toronto because someone thought the name was bad. The band started as a duo with Ed Roberstson and Steven Page. Lead singer Page left the band in 2009 to begin a solo career. He was also arrested in 2008 for having the illegal drug cocaine.
Members
The current band members are:
Ed Roberston - guitar and vocals
Jim Creegan - vocals and bass
Kevin Hearn - vocals, keyboard, accordion and guitar
Tyler Stewart - vocals and drums
Television
Ed Robertson is also the host of a television programme, called Ed's Up. On the programme, he travels around Canada by airplane. A plane he was flying crashed into trees in 2008. Roberston and the other passengers were not hurt.
The theme song to the television series The Big Bang Theory is performed by Barenaked Ladies.
Recordings
The band have made 14 albums:
Gordon (1992)
Maybe You Should Drive (1994)
Born on a Pirate Ship (1996)
Rock Spectacle (1996)
Stunt (1998)
Maroon (2000)
Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (2001)
Everything To Everyone (2003)
Barenaked For The Holidays (2004)
Barenaked Ladies Are Me (2006)
Talk To The Hand: Live In Michigan DVD (2007)
Barenaked Ladies Are Men (2007)
Snacktime! (2008)
All In Good Time (2010)
References
Other websites
Ed's Up TV pages
1980s Canadian music groups
1990s Canadian music groups
2000s Canadian music groups
2010s Canadian music groups
Canadian rock bands
Musical groups established in 1988
Ontario
1988 establishments in Canada |
24645 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul%20Revere%20%26%20the%20Raiders | Paul Revere & the Raiders | Paul Revere & the Raiders were an American pop group who were popular in the 1960s. They started in Portland, Oregon in 1960.
American rock bands
Musical groups from Oregon
Musicians from Idaho
Musicians from Portland, Oregon
Singers from Idaho
Singers from Portland, Oregon
Musical groups established in 1958
1958 establishments in the United States
20th-century establishments in Oregon
Musical groups disestablished in the 1970s
1976 disestablishments in the United States
Musical groups established in 1978
1978 establishments in the United States |
24696 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendogs | Nintendogs | is a video game for the Nintendo DS. In Nintendogs, the player has dogs. At the start of the game one can choose a type of dog and give it a name. They give the dogs food and drinks if a dog is good one might get to feed them a dog biscuit or a jerky treat. The dogs can be washed, taken for a walk, taught to do tricks and put into contests. The contests are: agility trial, disc competition and obedience trial. One can find out how to compete in these contests by looking at their care books, under Supplies.
There are four versions of the game each with different breeds.
They are: Dalmatian and Friends, Chihuahua and Friends, Labrador and Friends and Dachshund and Friends. All breeds are unlockable in every version and a player can unlock dogs by increasing his trainer points. However, the player can only have three dogs at home. To get more the player must drop off one at the Dog Hotel. Every player can only drop off five dogs at a time.
If the player does not play the game for a long period of time, the dog may run away. So players need to play with their dogs daily.
A sequel, Nintendogs + Cats, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.
References
Other websites
Official website
2005 video games
Cancelled Nintendo GameCube games
Nintendo DS games
Nintendo DS-only games |
24698 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi | Luigi | Luigi is a video game character made by Nintendo. The famous game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, made him. Luigi is the younger but taller fraternal twin brother of the Nintendo mascot, Mario. He is in many games all over the Mario series, almost always as an assistant to his brother Mario.
The first game Luigi was in was Mario Bros. (Game and Watch) (1983) as a character seen working in a factory. He later appeared playable in the 1983 arcade game Mario Bros and was played by the second character. It was also done in Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and other games. The first game where he was present as the first character was Super Mario Bros. 2. In the Mario series, he is usually not the main character. However, he has his own games where is the main character, like Luigi's Mansion and Mario is Missing!. He also appears in many spin-offs, such as Mario Kart, Mario Party and the Super Smash Bros. series. Luigi has also been in every show of the three DiC TV series based on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System games.
At first he was made as a palette swap of Mario with a green color instead of red. Later in the series, he became his own character with his own personality and abilities. As his part in the Mario series progressed, Luigi became taller and thinner than his brother.
Nintendo called 2013 "The Year of Luigi" to mark the thirty years of the existence of the character. Similarly, games being released in 2013 bring attention to Luigi, such as Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, Dr. Luigi, and the level pack New Super Luigi U for New Super Mario Bros. U. In Super Mario 3D World a Luigi version of Mario Bros. called Luigi Bros. can be unlocked.
Concept and creation
The events leading to the creation of Luigi began in 1982, during the making of Donkey Kong. The Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto had created Mario (who used to be "Jumpman") hoping that he would be able to present the character in many different pars in future games. Miyamoto had been given ideas by the game Joust to create a game where two players can play at the same time. This was the cause of his development of the game Mario Bros. in 1983, with Luigi as the brother of Mario and the second playable character. The name Luigi is said to have been inspired by a pizza business near the head office of Nintendo of America in Redmond, Washington, called "Mario & Luigi's". Miyamoto noticed that the word ruiji means "similar" in the Japanese language, and that Luigi was designed to have the same size, shape and gameplay of Mario.
At first in Donkey Kong, Mario was a carpenter. In Mario Bros., Mario and Luigi were designed as Italian plumbers by Miyamoto, on the suggestion of a partner. Software limits at the time—almost the same as those that gave Mario his special look in Donkey Kong—meant the first appearance of Luigi was limited to a simple palette swap of Mario designed to be the second player. The characters were in every way the same, other than their colors. The green color for Luigi would last as one of his physical characteristics in future releases.
After the success of Mario Bros., Luigi was presented to a wider market in 1985 with the release of the console game Super Mario Bros. Once again his part was limited to a palette swap of Mario, acting as the second-player in almost the same way as Mario Bros. The Japan-only form of Super Mario Bros. 2 in 1986 (released in the west as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels in the future) marked the start of the development of Luigi becoming a separate character. As with his last appearances, Luigi was still a palette swap of Mario. However, his moves were not the same. Luigi could now jump high up and a great distance more than his brother, at the cost of motion reaction and exactness.
While this form of Super Mario Bros. 2 was released in Japan, it was thought to be too hard for the American public at the time. In 1988, as a result, an alternative release was developed to be good enough as Super Mario Bros. 2 for western players (and in the future released in Japan as Super Mario USA). This would play a key part in forming the current look of Luigi. The game was a conversion of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, with the art changed to be characters and places from the Mario series. In this release, the character of "Mama", who could jump the highest, was good enough for the model for Luigi. This caused his taller, thinner look, combined with his Mario-design outfit and green color. There were appearances of Luigi being taller than Mario before - for example, in the 1988 Famicom Disk System game Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally and before that, in a very limited 1986 anime Super Mario Bros.: Peach-Hime Kyushutsu Dai Sakusen! (though in the anime he had a yellow shirt and blue overalls). Licensed art for Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World presents Luigi with this new look. Nintendo of Japan would not change his art differences to his look within the game until the 1992 game Super Mario Kart. The appearance of Luigi from the Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic version of Super Mario Bros. 2 has been used ever since, even for games made again in which he was a palette swap to start with.
Voice
Much like his appearance, Luigi's has changed over the years. In Mario Kart 64, which voiced many characters for the first time, some characters had two different voices in relation to the region of the game. North American and European forms present a deep voice for Luigi, by Charles Martinet, who also voices Mario, Wario, Waluigi, and Toadsworth. The Japanese form uses a high, falsetto voice, by (then French translator at Nintendo) Julien Bardakoff. All forms of Mario Party present the high-pitched clips of Bardakoff from Mario Kart 64. Luigi kept this higher voice in Mario Party 2. In Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, and Mario Party 3 his voice returned to normal. Since then, in all games but Mario Kart: Super Circuit and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi has always had a medium-pitched voice. In Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Luigi's voice was the same high voice from the Japanese Mario Kart 64. In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Luigi's voice is based on Mario's voice (with clips taken from Super Mario 64), with a higher pitch. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, he has his own voice clips instead of voice clips taken from Mario.
Playable appearances
Playable only in two-player:
Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros 3
Super Mario World
New Super Mario Bros Wii
New Super Mario Bros U
Playable in one-player or two-player:
Super Mario Bros 2
Super Mario Kart
Super Smash Bros. (Hidden character)
Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart DS
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Kart 7
Luigi's Mansion
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Luigi's Mansion 3
Mario Party 1-10
Super Smash Bros. Melee (Hidden character)
Mario Kart Double Dash
Mario Power Tennis
Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football in Europe)
Mario Strikers Charged
Super Mario Galaxy (Hidden character, unlockable, static character in game)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Hidden character)
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario 3D Land
New Super Mario Bros. (Hidden in one-player)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (Hidden character)
New Super Luigi U
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
Super Mario 3D World
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Hidden character)
References
Fictional characters introduced in 1983
Fictional Italian people
Mario series characters |
24700 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID | RAID | RAID is an acronym that stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks or Redundant Array of Independent Disks. RAID is a term used in computing. With RAID, several hard disks are made into one logical disk. There are different ways this can be done. Each of the methods that puts the hard disks together has some benefits and drawbacks over using the drives as single disks, independent of each other. The main reasons why RAID is used are:
To make the loss of data happen less often. This is done by having several copies of the data.
To get more storage space by having many smaller disks.
To get more flexibility (Disks can be changed or added while the system keeps running)
To get the data more quickly.
It is not possible to achieve all of these goals at the same time, so choices need to be made.
There are also some bad things:
Certain choices can protect against data being lost because one (or a number) of disks failed. They do not protect against the data being deleted or overwritten, though.
In some configurations, RAID can tolerate that one or a number of disks fail. After the failed disks have been replaced, the data needs to be reconstructed. Depending on the configuration and the size of the disks, this reconstruction can take a long time.
Certain kinds of errors will make it impossible to read the data
Most of the work on RAID is based on a paper written in 1988.
Companies have used RAID systems to store their data since the technology was made. There are different ways in which RAID systems can be made. Since its discovery, the cost of building a RAID system has come down a lot. For this reason, even some computers and appliances that are used at home have some RAID functions. Such systems can be used to store music or movies, for example.
Introduction
Difference between physical Disks and logical disks
A hard disk is a part of a computer. Normal hard disks use magnetism to store information. When hard disks are used, they are available to the operating system. In Microsoft Windows, each hard disk will get a drive letter (starting with C:, A: or B: are reserved for floppy drives). Unix and Linux-like operating systems have a single-rooted directory tree. This means that people who use the computers sometimes do not know where the information is stored.(To be fair, a lot of Windows users don't know where their data is stored as well.)
In computing, the hard disks (which are hardware, and can be touched) are sometimes called physical drives or physical disks. What the operating system shows the user is sometimes called logical disk. A physical drive can be split into different sections, called disk partitions. Usually, each disk partition contains one file system. The operating system will show each partition like a logical disk.
Therefore, to the user, both the setup with many physical disks and the setup with many logical disks will look the same. The user cannot decide if a "logical disk" is the same as a physical disk, or if it simply is a part of the disk. Storage Area Networks (SANs) completely change this view. All that is visible of a SAN is a number of logical disks.
Reading and writing data
In the computer, data is organised in the form of bits and bytes. In most systems, 8 bits make up a byte. Computer memory uses electricity to store the data, hard disks use magnetism. Therefore, when data is written on a disk, the electric signal is converted into a magnetic one. When data is read from disk, the conversion is done in the other direction: An electrical signal is made from the polarity of a magnetic field.
What is RAID?
A RAID array joins two or more hard disks so that they make a logical disk. There are different reasons why this is done. The most common ones are:
Stopping data loss, when one or more disks of the array fail.
Getting faster data transfers.
Getting the ability to change disks while the system keeps running.
Joining several disks to get more storage capacity; sometimes lots of cheap disks are used, rather than a more expensive one.
RAID is done by using special hardware or software on the computer. The joined hard disks will then look like one hard disk to the user. Most RAID levels increase the redundancy. This means that they store the data more often, or they store information on how to reconstruct the data. This allows for a number of disks to fail without the data being lost. When the failed disk is replaced, the data it should contain will be copied or rebuilt from the other disks of the system. This can take a long time. The time it takes depends on different factors, like the size of the array.
Why use RAID?
One of the reasons why many companies are using RAID is that the data in the array can simply be used. Those using the data need not be aware they are using RAID at all. When a failure occurred and the array is recovering, access to the data will be slower. Accessing the data during this time will also slow down the recovery process, but this is still much faster than not being able to work with the data at all.
Depending on the RAID level however, disks may not fail while the new disk is being prepared for use. A disk failing at that time will result in losing all the data in the array.
The different ways to join disks are called RAID levels. A bigger number for the level is not necessarily better. Different RAID levels have different purposes. Some RAID levels need special disks and special controllers.
History
In 1978, a man called Norman Ken Ouchi, who worked at IBM, made a suggestion describing the plans for what would later become RAID 5. The plans also described something similar to RAID 1, as well as the protection of a part of RAID 4.
Workers at the University of Berkeley helped to plan out research in 1987. They were trying to make it possible for RAID technology to recognize two hard drives instead of one. They found that when RAID technology had two hard drives, it had much better storage than with only one hard drive. However, it crashed much more often.
In 1988, the different types of RAID (1 to 5), were written about by David Patterson, Garth Gibson and Randy Katz in their article, called "A Case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)". This article was the first to call the new technology RAID and the name became official.
Basic concepts used by RAID systems
RAID uses a few basic ideas, which were described in the article "RAID: High-Performance, Reliable Secondary Storage" by Peter Chen and others, published in 1994.
Caching
Caching is a technology that also has its uses in RAID systems. There are different kinds of caches that are used in RAID systems:
Operating system
RAID controller
Enterprise disk array
In modern systems, a write request is shown as done when the data has been written to the cache. This does not mean that the data has been written to the disk. Requests from the cache are not necessarily handled in the same order that they were written to the cache. This makes it possible that, if the system fails, sometimes some data has not been written to the disk involved. For this reason, many systems have a cache that is backed by a battery.
Mirroring: More than one copy of the data
When talking about a mirror, this is a very simple idea. Instead of the data being in only one place, there are several copies of the data. These copies usually are on different hard disks (or disk partitions). If there are two copies, one of them can fail without the data being affected (as it still is on the other copy). Mirroring can also give a boost when reading data. It will always be taken from the fastest disk that responds. Writing data is slower though, because all disks need to be updated.
Striping: Part of the data is on another disk
With striping, the data is split into different parts. These parts then end up on different disks (or disk partitions). This means that writing data is faster, as it can be done in parallel. This does not mean that there will not be faults, as each block of data is only found on one disk.
Error correction and faults
It is possible to calculate different kinds of checksums. Some methods of calculating checksums allow finding a mistake. Most RAID levels that use redundancy can do this. Some methods are more difficult to do, but they allow to not only detect the error, but to fix it.
Hot spares: using more disks than needed
Many of the ways to have RAID support something is called a hot spare. A hot spare is an empty disk that is not used in normal operation. When a disk fails, data can directly be copied onto the hot spare disk. That way, the failed disk needs to be replaced by a new empty drive to become the hot spare.
Stripe size and chunk size: spreading the data over several disks
RAID works by spreading the data over several disks. Two of the terms often used in this context are stripe size and chunk size.
The chunk size is the smallest data block that is written to a single disk of the array. The stripe size is the size of a block of data that will be spread over all disks. That way, with four disks, and a stripe size of 64 kilobytes (kB), 16 kB will be written to each disk. The chunk size in this example is therefore 16 kB. Making the stripe size bigger will mean a faster data transfer rate, but also a bigger maximum latency. In this case, this is the time needed to get a block of data.
Putting disk together: JBOD, concatenation or spanning
Many controllers (and also software) can put disks together in the following way: Take the first disk, till it ends, then they take the second, and so on. In that way, several smaller disks look like a larger one. This is not really RAID, as there is no redundancy. Also, spanning can combine disks where RAID 0 cannot do anything. Generally, this is called just a bunch of disks (JBOD).
This is like a distant relative of RAID because the logical drive is made of different physical drives. Concatenation is sometimes used to turn several small drives into one larger useful drive. This can not be done with RAID 0. For example, JBOD could combine 3 GB, 15 GB, 5.5 GB, and 12 GB drives into a logical drive at 35.5 GB, which is often more useful than the drives alone.
In the diagram to the right, data are concatenated from the end of disk 0 (block A63) to the beginning of disk 1 (block A64); end of disk 1 (block A91) to the beginning of disk 2 (block A92).
If RAID 0 were used, then disk 0 and disk 2 would be truncated to 28 blocks, the size of the smallest disk in the array (disk 1) for a total size of 84 blocks.
Some RAID controllers use JBOD to talk about working on drives without RAID features. Each drive shows up separately in the operating system. This JBOD is not the same as concatenation.
Many Linux systems use the terms "linear mode" or "append mode". The Mac OS X 10.4 implementation — called a "Concatenated Disk Set" — does not leave the user with any usable data on the remaining drives if one drive fails in a concatenated disk set, although the disks otherwise operate as described above.
Concatenation is one of the uses of the Logical Volume Manager in Linux. It can be used to create virtual drives.
Drive Clone
Most modern hard disks have a standard called Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T). SMART allows to monitor certain things on a hard disk drive. Certain controllers allow to replace a single hard disk even before it fails, for example because S.M.A.R.T or another disk test reports too many correctable errors. To do this, the controller will copy all the data onto a hot spare drive. After this, the disk can be replaced by another (which will simply become the new hot spare).
Different setups
The setup of the disks and how they use the techniques above affects the performance and reliability of the system. When more disks are used, one of the disks is more likely to fail. Because of this, mechanisms have to be built to be able to find and fix errors. This makes the whole system more reliable, as it is able to survive and repair the failure.
Basics: simple RAID levels
RAID levels in common use
RAID 0 "striping"
RAID 0 is not really RAID because it is not redundant. With RAID 0, disks are simply put together to make a large disk. This is called "striping". When one disk fails, the whole array fails. Therefore, RAID 0 is rarely used for important data, but reading and writing data from the disk can be faster with striping because each disk reads part of the file at the same time.
With RAID 0, disk blocks that come after one another are usually placed on different disks. For this reason, all disks used by a RAID 0 should be the same size.
RAID 0 is often used for Swapspace on Linux or Unix-like operating systems.
RAID 1 "mirroring"
With RAID 1, two disks are put together. Both hold the same data, one is "mirroring" the other. This is easy, fast configuration whether implemented with a hardware controller or by software.
RAID 5 "striping with distributed parity"
RAID Level 5 is what is probably used most of the time. At least three hard disks are needed to build a RAID 5 storage array. Each block of data will be stored in three different places. Two of these places will store the block as it is, the third will store a checksum. This checksum is a special case of a Reed-Solomon code that only uses bitwise addition. Usually, it is calculated using the XOR method. Since this method is symmetric, one lost data block can be rebuilt from the other data block and the checksum. For each block, a different disk will hold the parity block which holds the checksum. This is done to increase redundancy. Any disk can fail. Overall, there will be one disk holding the checksums, so the total usable capacity will be that of all disks except for one. The size of the resulting logical disk will be the size of all disks together, except for one disk which holds parity information.
Of course this is slower than RAID level 1, since on every write, all disks need to be read to calculate and update the parity information. The read performance of RAID 5 is almost as good as RAID 0 for the same number of disks. Except for the parity blocks, the distribution of data over the drives follows the same pattern as RAID 0. The reason RAID 5 is slightly slower is that the disks must skip over the parity blocks.
A RAID 5 with a failed disk will continue to work. It is in degraded mode. A degraded RAID 5 can be very slow. For this reason an additional disk is often added. This is called hot spare disk. If a disk fails, the data can be directly rebuilt onto the extra disk. RAID 5 can also be done in software quite easily.
Mainly because of performance problems of failed RAID 5 arrays, some database experts have formed a group called BAARF—the Battle Against Any Raid Five.
If the system fails while there are active writes, the parity of a stripe may become inconsistent with the data. If this is not repaired before a disk or block fails, data loss may occur. An incorrect parity will be used to reconstruct the missing block in that stripe. This problem is sometimes known as the "write hole". Battery-backed caches and similar techniques are commonly used to reduce the chance for this to occur.
Pictures
RAID levels used less
RAID 2
This was used with very large computers. Special expensive disks and a special controller are needed to use RAID Level 2. The data is distributed at the bit-level (all other levels use byte-level actions). Special calculations are done. Data is split up into static sequences of bits. 8 data bits and 2 parity bits are put together. Then a Hamming code is calculated. The fragments of the Hamming code are then distributed over the different disks.
RAID 2 is the only RAID level that can repair errors, the other RAID levels can only detect them. When they find that the information needed does not make sense, they will simply rebuild it. This is done with calculations, using information on the other disks. If that information is missing or wrong, they cannot do much. Because it uses Hamming codes, RAID 2 can find out which piece of the information is wrong, and correct only that piece.
RAID 2 needs at least 10 disks to work. Because of its complexity and its need for very expensive and special hardware, RAID 2 is no longer used very much.
RAID 3 "striping with dedicated parity"
Raid Level 3 is much like RAID Level 0. An additional disk is added to store parity information. This is done by bitwise addition of the value of a block on the other disks. The parity information is stored on a separate (dedicated) disk. This is not good, because if the parity disk crashes, the parity information is lost.
RAID Level 3 is usually done with at least 3 disks. A two-disk setup is identical to a RAID Level 0.
RAID 4 "striping with dedicated parity"
This is very similar to RAID 3, except that the parity information is calculated over larger blocks, and not single bytes. This is like RAID 5. At least three disks are needed for a RAID 4 array.
RAID 6
RAID level 6 was not an original RAID level. It adds an additional parity block to a RAID 5 array. It needs at least four disks (two disks for the capacity, two disks for redundancy). RAID 5 can be seen as a special case of a Reed-Solomon code. RAID 5 is a special case, though, it only needs addition in the Galois field GF(2). This is easy to do with XORs. RAID 6 extends these calculations. It is no longer a special case, and all of the calculations need to be done. With RAID 6, an extra checksum (called polynomial) is used, usually of GF (28). With this approach it is possible to protect against any number of failed disks. RAID 6 is for the case of using two checksums to protect against the loss of two disks.
Like with RAID 5, parity and data are on different disks for each block. The two parity blocks are also located on different disks.
There are different ways to do RAID 6. They are different in their write performance, and in how much calculations are needed. Being able to do faster writes usually means more calculations are needed.
RAID 6 is slower than RAID 5, but it allows the RAID to continue with any two disks failed. RAID 6 is becoming popular because it allows an array to be rebuilt after a single-drive failure even if one of the remaining disks has one or more bad sectors.
Pictures
Non-standard RAID levels
Double parity / Diagonal parity
RAID 6 uses two parity blocks. These are calculated in a special way over a polynomial. Double parity RAID (also called diagonal parity RAID) uses a different polynomial for each of these parity blocks. Recently, the industry association that defined RAID said that double parity RAID is a different form of RAID 6.
RAID-DP
RAID-DP is another way of having double parity.
RAID 1.5
RAID 1.5 (not to be confused with RAID 15, which is different) is a proprietary RAID implementation. Like RAID 1, it only uses two disks, but it does both striping and mirroring (similar to RAID 10). Most things are done in hardware.
RAID 5E, RAID 5EE and RAID 6E
RAID 5E, RAID 5EE and RAID 6E (with the added E for Enhanced) generally refer to different types of RAID 5 or RAID 6 with a hot spare. With these implementations, the hot spare drive is not a physical drive. Rather, it exists in the form of free space on the disks. This increases performance, but it means that a hot spare cannot be shared between different arrays. The scheme was introduced by IBM ServeRAID around 2001.
RAID 7
This is a proprietary implementation. It adds caching to a RAID 3 or RAID 4 array.
Intel Matrix RAID
Some Intel main boards have RAID chip that have this feature. It uses two or three disks, and then partitions them equally to form a combination of RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 or RAID 1+0 levels.
Linux MD RAID driver
This is the name for the driver that allows to do software RAID with Linux. In addition to the normal RAID levels 0-6, it also has a RAID 10 implementation. Since Kernel 2.6.9, RAID 10 is a single level. The implementation has some non-standard features.
RAID Z
Sun has implemented a file system called ZFS. This file system is optimised for handling large amounts of data. It includes a Logical Volume Manager. It also includes a feature called RAID-Z. It avoids the problem called RAID 5 write hole because it has a copy-on-write policy: It does not overwrite the data directly, but writes new data in a new location on the disk. When the write was successful, the old data is deleted. It avoids the need for read-modify-write operations for small writes, because it only writes full-stripes. Small blocks are mirrored instead of parity protected, which is possible because the file system knows the way the storage is organised. It can therefore allocate extra space if necessary. There is also RAID-Z2 which uses two forms of parity to achieve results similar to RAID 6: the ability to survive up to two drive failures without losing data.
Pictures
Joining RAID levels
With RAID different disks can be put together to get a logical disk.The user will only see the logical disk. Each one of the RAID levels mentioned above has good and bad points. But RAID can also work with logical disks. That way one of the RAID levels above can be used with a set of logical disks. Many people note it by writing the numbers together. Sometimes, they write a '+' or an '&' in between. Common combinations (using two levels) are the following:
RAID 0+1: Two or more RAID 0 arrays are combined to a RAID 1 array; This is called a Mirror of stripes
RAID 1+0: Same as RAID 0+1, but RAID levels reversed; Stripe of Mirrors. This makes disk failure rarer than RAID 0+1 above.
RAID 5+0: Stripe several RAID 5's with a RAID 0. One disk of each RAID 5 can fail, but makes that RAID 5 the single point of failure; if another disk of that array fails, all the data of the array will be lost.
RAID 5+1: Mirror a set of RAID 5: In a situations where the RAID is made of six disks, any three can fail (without data being lost).
RAID 6+0: Stripe several RAID 6 arrays over a RAID 0; Two disks of each RAID 6 can fail without data loss.
With six disks of 300 GB each, a total capacity of 1.8TB, it is possible to make a RAID 5, with 1.5 TB usable space. In that array, one disk can fail without data loss. With RAID 50, the space is reduced to 1.2 TB, but one disk of each RAID 5 can fail, plus there is a noticeable increase in performance. RAID 51 reduces the usable size to 900 GB, but allows any three drives to fail.
Making a RAID
There are different ways to make a RAID. It can either be done with software, or with hardware.
Software RAID
A RAID can be made with software in two different ways. In the case of Software RAID, the disks are connected like normal hard disks. It is the computer that makes the RAID work. This means that for each access the CPU also needs to do the calculations for the RAID. The calculations for RAID 0 or RAID 1 are simple. However, the calculations for RAID 5, RAID 6, or one of the combined RAID levels can be a lot of work. In a software RAID, automatically booting from an array that failed may be a difficult thing to do. Finally, the way RAID is done in software depends on the operating system used; it is generally not possible to re-build a Software RAID array with a different operating system. Operating systems usually use hard disk partitions rather than whole hard disks to make RAID arrays.
Hardware RAID
A RAID can also be made with hardware. In this case, a special disk controller is used; this controller card hides the fact that it is doing RAID from the operating system and the user. The calculations of checksum information, and other RAID-related calculations are done on a special microchip in that controller. This makes the RAID independent of the operating system. The operating system will not see the RAID, it will see a single disk. Different manufacturers do RAID in different ways. This means that a RAID built with one hardware RAID controller cannot be rebuilt by another RAID controller of a different manufacturer. Hardware RAID controllers are often expensive to buy.
Hardware-assisted RAID
This is a mix between hardware RAID and software RAID. Hardware-assisted RAID uses a special controller chip (like hardware RAID), but this chip can not do many operations. It is only active when the system is started; as soon as the operating system is fully loaded, this configuration is like software RAID. Some motherboards have RAID functions for the disks attached; most often, these RAID functions are done as hardware-assisted RAID. This means that special software is needed to be able to use these RAID functions and to be able to recover from a failed disk.
Different terms related to hardware failures
There are different terms that are used when talking about hardware failures:
Failure rate
The failure rate is how often a system fails. The mean time to failure (MTTF) or mean time between failures (MTBF) of a RAID system is the same as that of its components. A RAID system cannot protect against failures of its individual hard drives, after all. The more complicated types of RAID (anything beyond "striping" or "concatenation") can help keep the data intact even if an individual hard drive fails, though.
Mean time to data loss
The mean time to data loss (MTTDL) gives the average time before a loss of data happens in a given array. Mean time to data loss of a given RAID may be higher or lower than that of its hard disks. This depends on the type of RAID used.
Mean time to recovery
Arrays that have redundancy can recover from some failures. The mean time to recovery shows how long it takes until a failed array is back to its normal state. This adds both the time to replace a failed disk mechanism as well as time to re-build the array (i.e. to replicate data for redundancy).
Unrecoverable bit error rate
The unrecoverable bit error rate (UBE) tells how long a disk drive will be unable to recover data after using cyclic redundancy check (CRC) codes and multiple retries.
Problems with RAID
There are also certain problems with the ideas or the technology behind RAID:
Adding disks at a later time
Certain RAID levels allow to extend the array by simply adding hard disks, at a later time. Information such as parity blocks is often scattered on several disks. Adding a disk to the array means that a reorganisation becomes necessary. Such a reorganisation is like a re-build of the array, it can take a long time. When this is done, the additional space may not be available yet, because both the file system on the array, and the operating system need to be told about it. Some file systems do not support to be grown after they have been created. In such a case, all the data needs to be backed up, the array needs be re-created with the new layout, and the data needs to be restored onto it.
Another option to add storage is to create a new array, and to let a logical volume manager handle the situation. This allows to grow almost any RAID system, even RAID1 (which by itself is limited to two disks).
Linked failures
The error correction mechanism in RAID assumes that failures of drives are independent. It is possible to calculate how often a piece of equipment can fail and to arrange the array to make data loss very improbable.
In practice, however, the drives were often bought together. They have roughly the same age, and have been used similarly (called wear). Many drives fail because of mechanical problems. The older a drive is, the more worn are its mechanical parts. Mechanical parts that are old are more likely to fail than those that are younger. This means that drive failures are no longer statistically independent. In practice, there is a chance that a second disk will also fail before the first has been recovered. This means that data loss can occur at significant rates, in practice.
Atomicity
Another problem that also occurs with RAID systems is that applications expect what is called Atomicity: Either all of the data is written, or none is. Writing the data is known as a transaction.
In RAID arrays, the new data is usually written in the place where the old data was. This has become known as update in-place. Jim Gray, a database researcher wrote a paper in 1981 where he described this problem.
Very few storage systems allow atomic write semantics. When an object is written to disk, a RAID storage device will usually be writing all copies of the object in parallel. Very often, there is only one processor responsible for writing the data. In such a case, the writes of data to the different drives will overlap. This is known as overlapped write or staggered write. An error that occurs during the process of writing may therefore leave the redundant copies in different states. What is worse, it may leave the copies in neither the old nor the new state. Logging relies on the original data being either in the old or the new state, though. This permits backing out the logical change, but few storage systems provide an atomic write semantic on a RAID disk.
Using a battery-backed write cache can solve this problem, but only in a power failure scenario.
Transactional support is not present in all hardware RAID controllers. Therefore, many operating systems include it to protect against data loss during an interrupted write. Novell Netware, starting with version 3.x, included a transaction tracking system. Microsoft introduced transaction tracking via the journaling feature in NTFS. NetApp WAFL file system solves it by never updating the data in place, as does ZFS.
Unrecoverable data
Some sectors on a hard disk may have become unreadable because of a mistake. Some RAID implementations can deal with this situation by moving the data elsewhere and marking the sector on the disk as bad. This happens at about 1 bit in 1015 in enterprise-class disk drives, and 1 bit in 1014 in ordinary disk drives. Disk capacities are steadily increasing. This may mean that sometimes, a RAID cannot be rebuilt, because such an error is found when the array is rebuilt after a disk failure. Certain technologies such as RAID 6 try to address this issue, but they suffer from a very high write penalty, in other words writing data becomes very slow.
Write cache reliability
The disk system can acknowledge the write operation as soon as the data is in the cache. It does not need to wait until the data has been physically written. However, any power outage can then mean a significant data loss of any data queued in such a cache.
With hardware RAID, a battery can be used to protect this cache. This often solves the problem. When the power fails, the controller can finish writing the cache when the power is back. This solution can still fail, though: the battery may have worn out, the power may have been off for too long, the disks could be moved to another controller, the controller itself could fail. Certain systems can do periodic battery checks, but these use the battery itself, and leave it in a state where it is not fully charged.
Equipment compatibility
The disk formats on different RAID controllers are not necessarily compatible. Therefore, it may not be possible to read a RAID array on different hardware. Consequently, a non-disk hardware failure may require using identical hardware, or a backup, to recover the data.
What RAID can and cannot do
This guide was taken from a thread in a RAID-related forum. This was done to help point out the advantages and disadvantages of choosing RAID. It is directed at people who want to choose RAID for either increases in performance or redundancy. It contains links to other threads in its forum containing user-generated anecdotal reviews of their RAID experiences.
What RAID can do
RAID can protect uptime. RAID levels 1, 0+1/10, 5 and 6 (and their variants such as 50 and 51) make up for a mechanical hard disk failure. Even after the disk failed, the data on the array can still be used. Instead of a time consuming restore from tape, DVD or other slow backup media, RAID allows data to be restored to a replacement disk from the other members of the array. During this restoration process, it is available to users in a degraded state. This is very important to enterprises, as downtime quickly leads to lost earning power. For home users, it can protect uptime of large media storage arrays, which would require time consuming restoration from dozens of DVD or quite a few tapes in the event of a disk failing that is not protected by redundancy.
RAID can increase performance in certain applications. RAID levels 0, 5 and 6 all use striping. This allows multiple spindles to increase transfer rates for linear transfers. Workstation-type applications often work with large files. They greatly benefit from disk striping. Examples for such applications are those using video or audio files. This throughput is also useful in disk-to-disk backups. RAID 1 as well as other striping-based RAID levels can improve the performance for access patterns with many simultaneous random accesses, like those used by a multi-user database.
What RAID cannot do
RAID cannot protect the data on the array. A RAID array has one file system. This creates a single point of failure. There are many things that can happen to this file system other than physical disk failure. RAID cannot defend against these sources of data loss. RAID will not stop a virus from destroying data. RAID will not prevent corruption. RAID will not save data when a user modifies it or deletes it by accident. RAID does not protect data from hardware failure of any component besides physical disks. RAID does not protect data from natural or man made disasters such as fires and floods. To protect data, it must be backed up to removable media, such as DVD, tape, or an external hard disk. The backup must be kept in a different place. RAID alone will not prevent a disaster, when (not if) it occurs, from turning into data loss. Disasters cannot be prevented, but backups allow data loss to be prevented.
RAID cannot simplify disaster recovery. When running a single disk, the disk can be used by most operating systems as they come with a common device driver. However, most RAID controllers need special drivers. Recovery tools that work with single disks on generic controllers will require special drivers to access data on RAID arrays. If these recovery tools are poorly coded and do not allow providing for additional drivers, then a RAID array will probably be inaccessible to that recovery tool.
RAID cannot provide a performance boost in all applications. This statement is especially true with typical desktop application users and gamers. For most desktop applications and games the buffer strategy and seek performance of the disk(s) are more important than raw throughput. Increasing raw sustained transfer rate shows little gains for such users, as most files that they access are typically very small anyway. Disk striping using RAID 0 increases linear transfer performance, not buffer and seek performance. As a result, disk striping using RAID 0 shows little to no performance gain in most desktop applications and games, although there are exceptions. For desktop users and gamers with high performance as a goal, it is better to buy a faster, bigger, and more expensive single disk than it is to run two slower/smaller drives in RAID 0. Even running the latest, greatest, and biggest drives in RAID-0 is unlikely to boost performance more than 10%, and performance may drop in some access patterns, particularly games.
It is difficult to move RAID to a new system. With a single disk, it is relatively easy to move the disk to a new system. It can simply be connected to the new system, if it has the same interface available. However, this is not so easy with a RAID array. There is a certain kind of Metadata that says how the RAID is set up. A RAID BIOS must be able to read this metadata so that it can successfully construct the array and make it accessible to an operating system. Since RAID controller makers use different formats for their metadata (even controllers of different families from the same manufacturer may use incompatible metadata formats) it is almost impossible to move a RAID array to a different controller. When moving a RAID array to a new system, plans should be made to move the controller as well. With the popularity of motherboard integrated RAID controllers, this is extremely difficult. Generally, it is possible to move the RAID array members and controllers together. Software RAID in Linux and Windows Server Products can also work around this limitation, but software RAID has others (mostly performance related).
Example
The RAID levels used most often are RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 5. Suppose there is a 3 disk setup, with 3 identical disks of 1 TB each, and the probability of failure of a drive for a given timespan is 1%.
References
Other websites
RAID 6 tutorial
Working RAID pictures
RAID Levels — Tutorial and Diagrams
Animations to learn about RAID Levels 0, 1, 5, 10, and 50
Storage devices |
24703 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid%20Brezhnev | Leonid Brezhnev | Leonid Illich Brezhnev (19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a leader of the Soviet Union. Born in 1906, Brezhnev was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, effectively the dictator of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982. During the Second World War, Brezhnev was a Political Commissar, supervising various military units. There, he became a friend of Nikita Khrushchev.
Unlike Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union before him, Brezhnev did not agree with the process of destalinization, and did not support reform. Under Brezhnev, the Soviet economy mostly consisted of military spending. Because the country's resources were going to the armed forces, as they had under Joseph Stalin in wartime, consumer wants were ignored. The standard of living began to fall.
Brezhnev died of a heart attack on November 10, 1982.
1906 births
1982 deaths
Deaths from myocardial infarction
Former dictators
People of the Vietnam War
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Russian communists
Russian politicians
Soviet politicians |
24722 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximation | Approximation | An approximation is a version of a piece of information that does not describe it exactly, but is close enough to be used. An approximation may be used either when the exact piece of information is not known, or when it's too long or complicated and people need something simpler.
For example, if you wanted to add 2.0002 and 2.0003, you can add 2 and 2, and it would be an approximation.
If you are left with a balance of Dollar 78.23 you might want to say you are left with 80 dollars. In mathematics, this is written using the symbol (e.g., ).
Archimedes used polygons to approximate a circle, and to calculate an approximation for as shown below:
Related pages
Approximation theory
Diophantine approximation
Estimation
References
Measurement
Mathematical approximation |
24731 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhpBB | PhpBB | phpBB is a commonly used, free computer software for forums. As the name suggests, phpBB is written in PHP, with the use of one of SQL compatible databases.
References
Other websites
Official website
Software
Free software |
24773 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%20Health%20Organization | World Health Organization | The World Health Organization (WHO) is part of the United Nations (UN), working on international public health, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO was established by the UN on April 7, 1948. In the previous year they had already started an epidemiology service. WHO World Health Day is celebrated on April 7.
Other websites
World Health Organization
1948 establishments
Geneva
Medical and health organizations
United Nations specialized agencies |
24782 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerboa | Jerboa | A jerboa is a small desert rodent of Asia and northern Africa. It looks like a mouse, but it has a long tail and very long back legs. The jerboa moves by jumping. Jerboas have long tails, long hind legs, and short front legs.
Rodents
Arabic words and phrases
Mammals of Africa
Mammals of Asia |
24810 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aesop | Aesop | Aesop, or Æsop (from the Greek Αἴσωπος Aisopos), is known for his fables. He was, by tradition, a slave of African descent who lived from about 620 BC to 560 BC in Ancient Greece.
Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for entertainment, especially children's plays and cartoons. Aesop is said to have written thousands of fables, but none has been verified. This means we do not know whether he wrote any, or perhaps just collected them. His most famous one was perhaps The Lion and the Mouse.
No writings by him survive. Tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages. This is a storytelling tradition that continues to the present day. Many of the tales have animals and inanimate objects that speak, solve problems, and generally have human characteristics.
The tradition is that he was at one point freed from slavery and that he eventually died at the hands of Delphians. In fact, the doubt about his life has led some to deny his existence altogether.
His most famous fable is a parable of the tortoise and the hare. In this story, a rabbit challenges a tortoise to a race. The rabbit is sure of its victory and as a result, depending on the version of the story, in some way completes the race slower than the turtle. Often, the hare takes a nap or takes too many breaks. The persistent tortoise, despite being slower, wins because it persevered.
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or Aesopica refers to a collection of fables credited to Aesop. Aesop's Fables has also become a blanket term for collections of brief fables, usually involving personified animals.
The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today. Many stories included in Aesop's Fables, such as The Fox and the Grapes (from which the idiom "sour grapes" was derived), The Tortoise and the Hare (see Zeno's paradoxes) and The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf (also known as The Boy Who Cried Wolf), are well-known throughout the world.
Sources
Caxton, John, 1484. The history and fables of Aesop, Westminster. Modern reprint edited by Robert T. Lenaghan (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1967).
Caxton's famous Epilogue
Bentley, Richard, 1697. Dissertation upon the Epistles of Phalaris... and the Fables of Æsop. London.
Jacobs, Joseph, 1889. The Fables of Aesop: Selected, Told Anew, and Their History Traced, as first printed by William Caxton, 1484, from his French translation
i. A short history of the Aesopic fable
ii. The Fables of Aesop
Handford, S. A., 1954. Fables of Aesop. New York: Penguin.
Perry, Ben E. (editor), 1965. Babrius and Phaedrus, (Loeb Classical Library) Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965. English translations of 143 Greek verse fables by Babrius, 126 Latin verse fables by Phaedrus, 328 Greek fables not extant in Babrius, and 128 Latin fables not extant in Phaedrus (including some medieval materials) for a total of 725 fables.
Temple, Olivia and Robert (translators), 1998. Aesop, The Complete Fables, New York: Penguin Classics. ()
Bryn Mawr Classical Review, with Aesop bibliography
Other websites
Aesop's Fables
Aesopica.net – Over 600 English fables, with Latin and Greek texts also – Searchable
AesopFables.com – Large collection of fables, but many fables are NOT Aesopic
Free audiobook of Aesop's Fables from LibriVox
The Fables – A site primarily for children
620 BC births
560 BC deaths
Ancient Greek writers
Slaves |
24823 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smell | Smell | The term smell may refer to one of the following articles:
Olfaction, the sense of smell, that is, the ability to perceive odors
Odor - the sensation perceived by the detection of certain chemical compounds by the sense of olfaction
Basic English 850 words |
24824 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olfaction | Olfaction | Olfaction is the sense of smell. The sense of smell is how a human or animal notices a smell (or odour or odor) by using the nose. Many animals have better noses than people. Some animals can detect small particles in the air or sometimes water that people cannot.
People have special cells in the nose that can detect some chemicals. These are special nerve cells attached to the olfactory epithelium. All vertebrates have these cells. The smell is first processed by the olfactory system. The information is given to the olfactory bulb in the front of the forebrain.
In insects, smells are sensed by sensillum on the antennae and first processed by the antennal lobe.
Olfactory reception cells
The olfactory reception (OR) cells are neurons (nerve cells). Many tiny hair-like cilia stick out of these cells into the mucus covering the surface of the epithelium. The surface of these cilia is covered with olfactory receptors, a kind of protein.
There are about 1000 different genes which code for the ORs, though only about a third are functional. The rest are pseudogenes. The OR genes are the largest gene family. An odor molecule dissolves into the mucus of the olfactory epithelium and then binds to an OR. Various odor molecules bind to various ORs. The basis of the sense of smell is that different groups of scent molecules bind to different receptor cells and so fire different groups of neurons. Inside the olfactory region of the brain, the firing of neurons produces the perceived smell.
When the OR is activated, changes start in the cells. Positive ions come in and negative ions go out of the cells. This causes the neuron to fire an impulse (generate an action potential).
References
Other websites
Smells and Odours - How Smell Works
Olfaction
The importance of smell, and pheromones, to Humans and other Animals
Structure-odor relations: a modern perspective (PDF)
Olfactory network dynamics and the coding of multidimensional signals (PDF)
Sensory system |
24827 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaspoon | Teaspoon | A teaspoon is a spoon used for stirring tea, measuring sugar, and playing games such as spoons. They are also called flatspoons in American English. Longer teaspoons can be used to eat ice cream and other desserts, too. It is usually covered with silver or stainless steel.
It is also a unit of measurement, now equal to 5 millilitres.
References
Imperial units
Kitchenware
Units of volume
Tea |
24840 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camembert | Camembert | Camembert is a village in France. It is in Normandy. It is in the Orne département of the Lower Normandy region in France. It is most famous as the place where Camembert cheese originated. In 1999, 199 people lived there.
Communes in Orne |
24842 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camembert%20cheese | Camembert cheese | 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).
Production
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.
Characteristics
When fresh, it is quite crumbly and relatively hard, but it characteristically ripens and becomes more runny and strongly flavoured as it ages.
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.
History
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Camembert de Normandie was granted a protected designation of origin in 1992 after the original AOC in 1983.
Related pages
Brie, a similar cheese from a different region
References
Camembert: A National Myth by Pierre Boisard claims that Camembert was one of the first globalised, homogenised and standardised foods.
Other websites
Camembert website
Camembert AOC
Joseph Knirim, Marie Harel and the camembert cheese
Castello's Camembert
Saga Blue's Camembert
French cheeses
Normandy |
24872 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childbirth | Childbirth | Childbirth, also known as labour and delivery, is the ending of pregnancy where one or more babies leaves the uterus by passing through the vagina or by Caesarean section. In 2015, there were about 135 million births globally.
About 15 million were born before 37 weeks of gestation, while between 3 and 12 percent were born after 42 weeks.
Birth rate is important in determining the population growth rate.
Related pages
Premature birth
References
Life |
24886 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiva | Shiva | Shiva or Mahadeva is the supreme god in Shaivism tradition in Hinduism and one of the chief deities as a member of the Trimurti. Shiva is causeless auspiciousness. An embodiment of ultimate space of enlightenment. He assumed human form to guide humans in the past and thus is known as Adhiguru (first guru).
His space of enlightenment is what all spiritual seekers aspire for. All enlightened masters live in this space of Shiva. Shiva is known as the destroyer god because he removes all evil from the world. His wife is the goddess Parvati or Devi Durga.
According to Hindu legend, he has a blue neck because he swallowed a poison in order to save the universe. He has three eyes, the third eye is on his forehead. Shiva is one-third of the Hindu trimurti including Brahma and Vishnu. Lord Shiva lives in the Mount Kailash with his two sons Kartikeya and Ganesha who is known as the Remover of Obstacles. There is a statue of Shiva in Bangalore which is a great tourist attraction.
Etymology and other names
Main article: Shiva Sahasranama
An ancient sculpture of Shiva at the Elephanta Caves, Maharashtra
In the earliest of the vedic texts, the word Shiva means Auspicious, Sacred. It does not relate to any deity, but refers to the quality of being sacred and auspicious.
In later vedic texts, Shiva becomes a deity. Shiva is also called as Brahman, the supreme universal consciousness. The word shivo'ham translates as I am Shiva, conveying that one's consciousness is where the lord resides, uniting it with the supreme transcendence. In Tamil, he was called by different names other than Sivan. Nataraja (Dancing form of Shiva), Rudra (Enraged form of Shiva), and Dhakshinamoorthy (Yoga form of Shiva). Nataraja is the only form of Shiva worshipped in a human figure format. Elsewhere he is worshipped in Lingam figure. Pancha Bootha temples are located in south India. Pancha Bhoota Stalam refers to five temples dedicated to Shiva. Tamil literature is enriched by Shiva devotees called 63 Nayanmars (Nayanars).
A sculpture of Shiva with Moustache at Archaeological Museum, Goa
The Sanskrit word "śiva" (Devanagari: शिव, also transliterated as shiva) means, states Monier Monier-Williams, "auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly". The roots of śiva in folk etymology are śī which means "in whom all things lie, pervasiveness" and va which means "embodiment of grace".
The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda (approximately 1700–1100 BC), as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, including Rudra. The term Shiva also connotes "liberation, final emancipation" and "the auspicious one", this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature. The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics and the Puranas, as an auspicious deity who is the "creator, reproducer and dissolver".
Sharva, sharabha presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root 'śarv-, which means "to injure" or "to kill", interprets the name to connote "one who can kill the forces of darkness".
The Sanskrit word 'śaiva' means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism.
The Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", and "the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)".
Shiva is known by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo, Mahasu, Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra (chief of the gods), Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha (lord of the three realms), and Ghrneshwar (lord of compassion). The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets 'Mahādeva' ("Great god"; 'mahā' "Great" and deva "god"), 'Maheśvara' ("Great Lord"; 'mahā' "great" and 'īśvara' "lord"), and 'Parameśvara' ("Supreme Lord").
Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity. There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata provides one such list. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names.
Historical development and literature
See also: History of Shaivism
The Shiva-related tradition is a major part of Hinduism, found all over the Indian subcontinent, such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, such as Bali, Indonesia. Scholars have interpreted early prehistoric paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, carbon dated to be from pre-10,000 BCE period, as Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi. Rock paintings from Bhimbetka, depicting a figure with a trishul, have been described as Nataraja by Erwin Neumayer, who dates them to the mesolithic.
Indus Valley origins
Main article: Pashupati seal
Seal discovered during excavation of the Indus Valley archaeological site in the Indus Valley has drawn attention as a possible representation of a "yogi" or "proto-Shiva" figure.
Of several Indus valley seals that show animals, one seal that has attracted attention shows a large central figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic, seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position, surrounded by animals. This figure was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro as Pashupati (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit 'paśupati'), an epithet of the later Hindu deities Shiva and Rudra.
Sir John Marshall and others suggested that this figure is a prototype of Shiva, with three faces, seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined. Semi-circular shapes on the head were interpreted as two horns. Scholars such as Gavin Flood, John Keay and Doris Meth Srinivasan have expressed doubts about this suggestion.
Gavin Flood states that it is not clear from the seal that the figure has three faces, is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure. He characterizes these views as "speculative", but adds that it is nevertheless possible that there are echoes of Shaiva iconographic themes, such as half-moon shapes resembling the horns of a bull. John Keay writes that "he may indeed be an early manifestation of Lord Shiva as Pashu-pati", but a couple of his specialties of this figure does not match with Rudra. Writing in 1997, Srinivasan interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man.
The interpretation of the seal continues to be disputed. McEvilley, for example, states that it is not possible to "account for this posture outside the yogic account". Asko Parpola states that other archaeological finds such as the early Elamite seals dated to 3000-2750 BCE show similar figures and these have been interpreted as "seated bull" and not a yogi, and the bovine interpretation is likely more accurate. Gregory L. Possehl in 2002, associated it with the water buffalo, and concluded that while it would be appropriate to recognize the figure as a deity, and its posture as one of ritual discipline, regarding it as a proto-Shiva would "go too far".
Vedic origins
The Vedic literature refers to a minor atmospheric deity, with fearsome powers called Rudra. The Rigveda, for example, has 3 out of 1,028 hymns dedicated to Rudra, and he finds occasional mention in other hymns of the same text. The term Shiva also appears in the Rigveda, but simply as an epithet, that means "kind, auspicious", one of the adjectives used to describe many different Vedic deities. While fierce ruthless natural phenomenon and storm-related Rudra is feared in the hymns of the Rigveda, the beneficial rains he brings are welcomed as Shiva aspect of him. This healing, nurturing, life-enabling aspect emerges in the Vedas as Rudra-Shiva, and in post-Vedic literature ultimately as Shiva who combines the destructive and constructive powers, the terrific and the gentle, as the ultimate recycler and rejuvenator of all existence.
The similarities between the iconography and theologies of Shiva with Greek and European deities have led to proposals for an Indo-European link for Shiva, or lateral exchanges with ancient central Asian cultures. His contrasting aspects such as being terrifying or blissful depending on the situation, are similar to those of the Greek god Dionysus, as are their iconic associations with bull, snakes, anger, bravery, dancing and carefree life. The ancient Greek texts of the time of Alexander the Great call Shiva as "Indian Dionysus", or alternatively call Dionysus as "god of the Orient". Similarly, the use of phallic symbol as an icon for Shiva is also found for Irish, Nordic, Greek (Dionysus) and Roman deities, as was the idea of this aniconic column linking heaven and earth among early Indo-Aryans, states Roger Woodward. Others contest such proposals, and suggest Shiva to have emerged from indigenous pre-Aryan tribal origins.
Rudra
Three-headed Shiva, Gandhara, 2nd century AD
Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra, and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity.
The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BC based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods.
The hymn 10.92 of the Rigveda states that deity Rudra has two natures, one wild and cruel (Rudra), another that is kind and tranquil (Shiva). The Vedic texts do not mention bull or any animal as the transport vehicle (vahana) of Rudra or other deities. However, post-Vedic texts such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas state the Nandi bull, the Indian zebu, in particular, as the vehicle of Rudra and of Shiva, thereby unmistakably linking them as same.
Agni
Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is also called Rudra." The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch:The fire myth of Rudra-Śiva plays on the whole gamut of fire, valuing all its potentialities and phases, from conflagration to illumination.In the Śatarudrīya, some epithets of Rudra, such as Sasipañjara ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and Tivaṣīmati ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull, and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature.
Indra
Vima Kadphises with ithyphallic Shiva.
Coin of the Kushan Empire (1st-century BCE to 2nd-century CE). The right image has been interpreted as Shiva with trident and bull.
According to Wendy Doniger, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. Doniger gives several reasons for her hypothesis. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, the transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term 'śiva' is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra.
The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the pre-Islamic Indo-Iranian religion. The earliest iconic artworks of Shiva may be from Gandhara and northwest parts of ancient India. There is some uncertainty as the artwork that has survived is damaged and they show some overlap with meditative Buddha-related artwork, but the presence of Shiva's trident and phallic symbolism in this art suggests it was likely Shiva. Numismatics research suggests that numerous coins of the ancient Kushan Empire that have survived, were images of a god who is probably Shiva. The Shiva in Kushan coins is referred to as Oesho of unclear etymology and origins, but the simultaneous presence of Indra and Shiva in the Kushan era artwork suggest that they were revered deities by the start of the Kushan Empire.
The texts and artwork of Jainism show Indra as a dancer, although not identical generally resembling the dancing Shiva artwork found in Hinduism, particularly in their respective mudras. For example, in the Jain caves at Ellora, extensive carvings show dancing Indra next to the images of Tirthankaras in a manner similar to Shiva Nataraja. The similarities in the dance iconography suggests that there may be a link between ancient Indra and Shiva.
Later literature
Rudra's evolution from a minor Vedic deity to a supreme being is first evidenced in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (400–200 BC), according to Gavin Flood. Prior to it, the Upanishadic literature is monistic, and the Shvetashvatara text presents the earliest seeds of theistic devotion to Rudra-Shiva. Here Rudra-Shiva is identified as the creator of the cosmos and liberator of souls from the birth-rebirth cycle. The period of 200 BC to 100 AD also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva as evidenced in other literature of this period. Shaiva devotees and ascetics are mentioned in Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya (2nd-century BC) and in the Mahabharata. Other scholars such as Robert Hume and Doris Srinivasan state that the Shvetashvatara Upanishad presents pluralism, pantheism, or henotheism, rather than being a text just on Shiva theism.Self-realization and Shaiva UpanishadsHe who sees himself in all beings,
And all beings in him,
attains the highest Brahman,
not by any other means.
The Shaiva Upanishads are a group of 14 minor Upanishads of Hinduism variously dated from the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the 17th century. These extol Shiva as the metaphysical unchanging reality Brahman and the Atman (soul, self), and include sections about rites and symbolisms related to Shiva.
A few texts such as Atharvashiras Upanishad mention Rudra, and assert all gods are Rudra, everyone and everything is Rudra, and Rudra is the principle found in all things, their highest goal, the innermost essence of all reality that is visible or invisible. The Kaivalya Upanishad similarly, states Paul Deussen – a German Indologist and professor of Philosophy, describes the self-realized man as who "feels himself only as the one divine essence that lives in all", who feels identity of his and everyone's consciousness with Shiva (highest Atman), who has found this highest Atman within, in the depths of his heart.
The Shaiva Puranas, particularly the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, present the various aspects of Shiva, mythologies, cosmology and pilgrimage (Tirtha) associated with him. The Shiva-related Tantra literature, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, are regarded in devotional dualistic Shaivism as Sruti. Dualistic Shaiva Agamas which consider soul within each living being and Shiva as two separate realities (dualism, dvaita), are the foundational texts for Shaiva Siddhanta. Other Shaiva Agamas teach that these are one reality (monism, advaita), and that Shiva is the soul, the perfection and truth within each living being. In Shiva related sub-traditions, there are ten dualistic Agama texts, eighteen qualified monism-cum-dualism Agama texts and sixty-four monism Agama texts.
Shiva-related literature developed extensively across India in the 1st millennium CE and through the 13th century, particularly in Kashmir and Tamil Shaiva traditions. The monist Shiva literature posit absolute oneness, that is Shiva is within every man and woman, Shiva is within every living being, Shiva is present everywhere in the world including all non-living being, and there is no spiritual difference between life, matter, man and Shiva. The various dualistic and monist Shiva-related ideas were welcomed in medieval southeast Asia, inspiring numerous Shiva-related temples, artwork and texts in Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, with syncretic integration of local pre-existing theologies.
Assimilation of traditions
See also: Roots of Hinduism
The figure of Shiva as we know him today may be an amalgamation of various older deities into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not understood, a challenge to trace and has attracted much speculation. According to Vijay Nath, for example:Vishnu and Siva [...] began to absorb countless local cults and deities within their folds. The latter were either taken to represent the multiple facets of the same god or else were supposed to denote different forms and appellations by which the god came to be known and worshipped. [...] Siva became identified with countless local cults by the sheer suffixing of Isa or Isvara to the name of the local deity, e.g., Bhutesvara, Hatakesvara, Chandesvara."An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya.
Position within Hinduism
Lingodbhava is a Shaiva sectarian icon where Shiva is depicted rising from the Lingam (an infinite fiery pillar) that narrates how Shiva is the foremost of the Trimurti; Brahma and Vishnu are depicted bowing to Lingodbhava Shiva in the centre.
Shaivism
Main articles: Shaivism and History of Shaivism
Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and the Smarta Tradition. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. He is not only the creator in Shaivism, but he is also the creation that results from him, he is everything and everywhere. Shiva is the primal soul, the pure consciousness and Absolute Reality in the Shaiva traditions.
The Shaivism theology is broadly grouped into two: the popular theology influenced by Shiva-Rudra in the Vedas, Epics and the Puranas; and the esoteric theology influenced by the Shiva and Shakti-related Tantra texts. The Vedic-Brahmanic Shiva theology includes both monist (Advaita) and devotional traditions (Dvaita) such as Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta and Lingayatism with temples featuring items such as linga, Shiva-Parvati iconography, bull Nandi within the premises, relief artwork showing mythologies and aspects of Shiva.
The Tantric Shiva tradition ignored the mythologies and Puranas related to Shiva, and depending on the sub-school developed a variety of practices. For example, historical records suggest the tantric Kapalikas (literally, the 'skull-men') co-existed with and shared many Vajrayana Buddhist rituals, engaged in esoteric practices that revered Shiva and Shakti wearing skulls, begged with empty skulls, used meat, alcohol, and sexuality as a part of ritual. In contrast, the esoteric tradition within Kashmir Shaivism has featured the Krama and Trika sub-traditions. The Krama sub-tradition focussed on esoteric rituals around Shiva-Kali pair. The Trika sub-tradition developed a theology of triads involving Shiva, combined it with an ascetic lifestyle focusing on personal Shiva in the pursuit of monistic self liberation.
Vaishnavism
The Vaishnava (Vishnu-oriented) literature acknowledges and discusses Shiva. Like Shaiva literature that presents Shiva as supreme, the Vaishnava literature presents Vishnu as supreme. However, both traditions are pluralistic and revere both Shiva and Vishnu (along with Devi), their texts do not show exclusivism, and Vaishnava texts such as the Bhagavata Purana while praising Krishna as the Ultimate Reality, also present Shiva and Shakti as a personalized form an equivalent to the same Ultimate Reality. The texts of Shaivism tradition similarly praise Vishnu. The Skanda Purana, for example, states:Vishnu is no one but Shiva, and he who is called Shiva is but identical with Vishnu.
— Mythologies of both traditions include legends about who is superior, about Shiva paying homage to Vishnu, and Vishnu paying homage to Shiva. However, in texts and artwork of either tradition, the mutual salutes are symbolism for complementarity. The Mahabharata declares the unchanging Ultimate Reality (Brahman) to be identical to Shiva and to Vishnu, that Vishnu is the highest manifestation of Shiva, and Shiva is the highest manifestation of Vishnu.
Shaktism
Ardhanarishvara sculpture, Khajuraho, depicting Shiva with goddess Parvati as his equal half. In the Ardhanarisvara concept, the icon is presented as half-man and half woman.
The goddess-oriented Shakti tradition of Hinduism is based on the premise that the Supreme Principle and the Ultimate Reality called Brahman is female (Devi), but it treats the male as her equal and complementary partner. This partner is Shiva.
The earliest evidence of the tradition of reverence for the feminine with Rudra-Shiva context, is found in the Hindu scripture Rigveda, in a hymn called the Devi Sukta:3. I am ruler, assembler of goods, observer foremost among those deserving the sacrifice.
Me have the gods distributed in many places—so that I have many stations and cause many things to enter (me).
4. Through me he eats food—whoever sees, whoever breathes, whoever hears what is spoken.
Without thinking about it, they live on me. Listen, o you who are listened to: it’s a trustworthy thing I tell you.
5. Just I myself say this, savored by gods and men:
"Whom I love, just him I make formidable, him a formulator, him a seer,
him of good wisdom".
6. I stretch the bow for Rudra, for his arrow to smash the hater of the
sacred formulation.
I make combat for the people. I have entered Heaven and Earth.
7. I give birth to Father (Heaven) on his (own) head [Agni]; my womb is in the waters, in the sea.
Thence I spread forth across all worlds, and yonder heaven with its height I touch.
8. I, just like the wind, blow forth, grasping at all worlds,
beyond heaven, beyond this earth here—of such size in my greatness
have I come into being.
— The Devi Upanishad in its explanation of the theology of Shaktism, mentions and praises Shiva such as in its verse 19. Shiva, along with Vishnu, is a revered god in the Devi Mahatmya, a text of Shaktism considered by the tradition to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. The Ardhanarisvara concept co-mingles god Shiva and goddess Shakti by presenting an icon that is half-man and half woman, a representation and theme of union found in many Hindu texts and temples.
Smarta Tradition
Main article: Panchayatana puja
Oleograph by Raja Ravi Varma depicting a Shiva-centric Panchayatana. A bearded Shiva sits in the centre with his wife Parvati and their infant son Ganesha; surrounded by (clockwise from left upper corner) Ganesha, Devi, Vishnu, and Surya. Shiva's mount is the bull Nandi below Shiva.
In the Smarta tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is a part of its Panchayatana puja. This practice consists of the use of icons or anicons of five deities considered equivalent, set in a quincunx pattern. Shiva is one of the five deities, others being Vishnu, Devi (such as Parvati), Surya and Ganesha or Skanda or any personal god of devotee's preference (Ishta Devata).
Philosophically, the Smarta tradition emphasizes that all idols (murti) are icons to help focus on and visualize aspects of Brahman, rather than distinct beings. The ultimate goal in this practice is to transition past the use of icons, recognize the Absolute symbolized by the icons, on the path to realizing the nondual identity of one's Atman (soul, self) and the Brahman. Popularized by Adi Shankara, many Panchayatana mandalas and temples have been uncovered that are from the Gupta Empire period, and one Panchayatana set from the village of Nand (about 24 kilometers from Ajmer) has been dated to belong to the Kushan Empire era (pre-300 CE). The Kushan period set includes Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, Brahma and one deity whose identity is unclear.
Yoga
Adiyogi Shiva statue, recognized by the Guinness World Records as the "Largest Bust Sculpture” in the world; the statue is for inspiring and promoting yoga, and is named Adiyogi, which means "the first yogi", because Shiva is known as the originator of yoga.
Shiva is considered the Great Yogi who is totally absorbed in himself – the transcendental reality. He is the Lord of Yogis, and the teacher of Yoga to sages. As Shiva Dakshinamurthi, states Stella Kramrisch, he is the supreme guru who "teaches in silence the oneness of one's innermost self (atman) with the ultimate reality (brahman)."
The theory and practice of Yoga, in different styles, has been a part of all major traditions of Hinduism, and Shiva has been the patron or spokesperson in numerous Hindu Yoga texts. These contain the philosophy and techniques for Yoga. These ideas are estimated to be from or after the late centuries of the 1st millennium CE, and have survived as Yoga texts such as the Isvara Gita (literally, 'Shiva's song'), which Andrew Nicholson – a professor of Hinduism and Indian Intellectual History – states have had "a profound and lasting influence on the development of Hinduism".
Other famed Shiva-related texts influenced Hatha Yoga, integrated monistic (Advaita Vedanta) ideas with Yoga philosophy and inspired the theoretical development of Indian classical dance. These include the Shiva Sutras, the Shiva Samhita, and those by the scholars of Kashmir Shaivism such as the 10th-century scholar Abhinavagupta. Abhinavagupta writes in his notes on the relevance of ideas related to Shiva and Yoga, by stating that "people, occupied as they are with their own affairs, normally do nothing for others", and Shiva and Yoga spirituality helps one look beyond, understand interconnectedness, and thus benefit both the individual and the world towards a more blissful state of existence.
Trimurti
Main article: Trimurti
An art depiction of the Trimurti, with Shiva depicted on the right, at the Hoysaleswara temple in Halebidu.
The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Shiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity". However, the ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism feature many triads of gods and goddesses, some of which do not include Shiva.
Attributes
Shiva with Parvati. Shiva is depicted three-eyed, the Ganges flowing through his matted hair, wearing ornaments of serpents and a skull garland, covered in ashes, and seated on a tiger skin
A seated Shiva holds an axe and deer in his hands.
Third eye: Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire (Kāma) to ashes, called "Tryambakam" (Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word 'ambā' or 'ambikā' means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the Ambikās. Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess Ambikā.
Crescent moon: Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet Candraśekhara (Sanskrit: चन्द्रशेखर "Having the moon as his crest" – 'candra' = "moon"; 'śekhara' = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon.
Ashes: Shiva iconography shows his body covered with ashes (bhasma, vibhuti). The ashes represent a reminder that all of material existence is impermanent, comes to an end becoming ash, and the pursuit of eternal soul and spiritual liberation is important.
Matted hair: Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets Jaṭin, "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly.
Blue throat: The epithet Nīlakaṇtha (Sanskrit नीलकण्ठ; nīla = "blue", 'kaṇtha' = "throat"). Since Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity. Shocked by his act, Parvati squeezed his neck and stopped it in his neck to prevent it from spreading all over the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his neck to blue.
Meditating yogi: his iconography often shows him in a Yoga pose, meditating, sometimes on a symbolic Himalayan Mount Kailasha as the Lord of Yoga.
Sacred Ganga: The epithet Gangadhara, "Bearer of the river Ganga" (Ganges). The Ganga flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The 'Gaṅgā' (Ganga), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair.
Tiger skin: Shiva is often shown seated upon a tiger skin.
Serpents: Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake.
Trident: Shiva typically carries a trident called Trishula. The trident is a weapon or a symbol in different Hindu texts. As a symbol, the Trishul represents Shiva's three aspects of "creator, preserver and destroyer", or alternatively it represents the equilibrium of three Gunas of "sattva, rajas and tamas".
Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru. This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called 'ḍamaru-hasta' (Sanskrit for "ḍamaru-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the Kāpālika sect.
Axe (Parashu) and Deer are held in Shiva's hands in Odisha & south Indian icons.
Rosary beads: he is garlanded with or carries a string of rosary beads in his right hand, typically made of Rudraksha. This symbolises grace, mendicant life and meditation.
Nandī: Nandī, also known as "Nandin", is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: 'vāhana'). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name Paśupati, or Pashupati (Sanskrit: पशुपति), translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra.
Mount Kailāsa: Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount Kailāsa is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe.
Gaṇa: The Gaṇas are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. His son Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title 'gaṇa-īśa' or 'gaṇa-pati', "lord of the gaṇas".
Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered to be the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi.
Forms and depictions
According to Gavin Flood, "Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox," whose attributes include opposing themes. The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him.
Destroyer and Benefactor
Shiva is represented in his many aspects. Left: Bhairava icon of the fierce form of Shiva, from 17th/18th century Nepal; Right: Shiva as a meditating yogi in Rishikesh.
In Yajurveda, two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrifying (Sanskrit: 'rudra') and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: 'śiva') forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Śiva sect of later ages are to be found here". In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance.
The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names. The name Rudra reflects Shiva's fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud-, which means "to cry, howl". Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means "wild, of rudra nature", and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "terrible". Hara is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "one who captivates", "one who consolidates", and "one who destroys". Kramrisch translates it as "the ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as Kāla "time" and Mahākāla "great time", which ultimately destroys all things. The name Kāla appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, where it is translated by Ram Karan Sharma as "(the Supreme Lord of) Time". Bhairava "terrible" or "frightful" is a fierce form associated with annihilation. In contrast, the name Śaṇkara, "beneficent" or "conferring happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara (c. 788–820), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name Śambhu (Sanskrit: शम्भु swam-on its own; bhu-burn/shine) "self-shining/ shining on its own", also reflects this benign aspect.
Ascetic and householder
Shiva is depicted both as an ascetic yogi, and as a householder with goddess Parvati.
Shiva is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder (grihasta), roles which have been traditionally mutually exclusive in Hindu society. When depicted as a yogi, he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahāyogi ("the great Yogi: 'Mahā' = "great", Yogi = "one who practices Yoga") refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that the concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts.
As a family man and householder, he has a wife, Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. His epithet Umāpati ("The husband of Umā") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, Umākānta and Umādhava, also appear in the sahasranama. Umā in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign Pārvatī. She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother; Shakti (divine energy) as well as goddesses like Tripura Sundari, Durga, Kali, Kamakshi and Minakshi. The consorts of Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe. His son Ganesha is worshipped throughout India and Nepal as the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. Kartikeya is worshipped in South India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya.
Some regional deities are also identified as Shiva's children. As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar, and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Shasta – identified with regional deities Ayyappan and Aiyanar – is born. In outskirts of Ernakulam in Kerala, a deity named Vishnumaya is stated to be offspring of Shiva and invoked in local exorcism rites, but this deity is not traceable in Hindu pantheon and is possibly a local tradition with "vaguely Chinese" style rituals, states Saletore. In some traditions, Shiva has daughters like the serpent-goddess Manasa and Ashokasundari. According to Doniger, two regional stories depict demons Andhaka and Jalandhara as the children of Shiva who war with him, and are later destroyed by Shiva.
Iconographic forms
Chola dynasty statue depicting Shiva dancing as Nataraja (Los Angeles County Museum of Art).
The depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Sanskrit: 'naṭarāja', "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("dancer") and Nityanarta ("eternal dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: 'nṛtyamūrti') are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Shiva does it by the Tandava, and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world.
Dakshinamurthy (Dakṣiṇāmūrti) literally describes a form ('mūrti') of Shiva facing south ('dakṣiṇa'). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction.
An iconographic representation of Shiva called Ardhanarishvara ('Ardhanārīśvara') shows him with one half of the body as male and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", not as "half-man, half-woman".
Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka ('Tripurāntaka''), "ender of Tripura", refers to this important story.
Shiva Lingam with tripundra.
Lingam
Main article: Lingam
Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, he is also represented in aniconic form of a lingam. These are depicted in various designs. One common form is the shape of a vertical rounded column in the centre of a lipped, disk-shaped object, the yoni, symbolism for the goddess Shakti. In Shiva temples, the linga is typically present in its sanctum sanctorum and is the focus of votary offerings such as milk, water, flower petals, fruit, fresh leaves, and rice. According to Monier Williams and Yudit Greenberg, linga literally means 'mark, sign or emblem', and also refers to a "mark or sign from which the existence of something else can be reliably inferred". It implies the regenerative divine energy innate in nature, symbolized by Shiva. Some scholars, such as Wendy Doniger, view linga merely as an erotic phallic symbol, although this interpretation is criticized by others, including Swami Vivekananda, Sivananda Saraswati, and S. N. Balagangadhara. According to Moriz Winternitz, the linga in the Shiva tradition is "only a symbol of the productive and creative principle of nature as embodied in Shiva", and it has no historical trace in any obscene phallic cult.
The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva.
The oldest known archaeological linga as an icon of Shiva is the Gudimallam lingam from 3rd-century BCE. In Shaivism pilgrimage tradition, twelve major temples of Shiva are called Jyotirlinga, which means "linga of light", and these are located across India.
Five mantras
The 10th century five headed Shiva, Sadashiva, Cambodia.
Five is a sacred number for Shiva. One of his most important mantras has five syllables (namaḥ śivāya).
Shiva's body is said to consist of five mantras, called the pañcabrahmans. As forms of God, each of these have their own names and distinct iconography:
These are represented as the five faces of Shiva and are associated in various texts with the five elements, the five senses, the five organs of perception, and the five organs of action. Doctrinal differences and, possibly, errors in transmission, have resulted in some differences between texts in details of how these five forms are linked with various attributes. The overall meaning of these associations is summarized by Stella Kramrisch:Through these transcendent categories, Śiva, the ultimate reality, becomes the efficient and material cause of all that exists.According to the Pañcabrahma Upanishad:One should know all things of the phenomenal world as of a fivefold character, for the reason that the eternal verity of Śiva is of the character of the fivefold Brahman. (Pañcabrahma Upanishad 31)
Avatars
Puranic scriptures contain occasional references to "ansh" – literally 'portion, or avatars of Shiva', but the idea of Shiva avatars is not universally accepted in Saivism. The Linga Purana mentions twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars, however such mention is unusual and the avatars of Shiva is relatively rare in Shaivism compared to the well emphasized concept of Vishnu avatars in Vaishnavism. Some Vaishnava literature reverentially link Shiva to characters in its mythologies. For example, in the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva. The Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana claim sage Durvasa to be a portion of Shiva. Some medieval era writers have called the Advaita Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara an incarnation of Shiva.
Festivals
Main article: Maha Shivaratri
Maha Sivaratri festival is observed in the night, usually in lighted temples or special prabha (above).
There is a Shivaratri in every lunar month on its 13th night/14th day, but once a year in late winter (February/March) and before the arrival of spring, marks Maha Shivaratri which means "the Great Night of Shiva".
Maha Shivaratri is a major Hindu festival, but one that is solemn and theologically marks a remembrance of "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world, and meditation about the polarities of existence, of Shiva and a devotion to humankind. It is observed by reciting Shiva-related poems, chanting prayers, remembering Shiva, fasting, doing Yoga and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, noninjury to others, forgiveness, introspection, self-repentance and the discovery of Shiva. The ardent devotees keep awake all night. Others visit one of the Shiva temples or go on pilgrimage to Jyotirlingam shrines. Those who visit temples, offer milk, fruits, flowers, fresh leaves and sweets to the lingam. Some communities organize special dance events, to mark Shiva as the lord of dance, with individual and group performances. According to Jones and Ryan, Maha Sivaratri is an ancient Hindu festival which probably originated around the 5th-century.
Another major festival involving Shiva worship is Kartik Purnima, commemorating Shiva's victory on the demons Tripurasura. Across India, various Shiva temples are illuminated throughout the night. Shiva icons are carried in procession in some places.
Thiruvathira is a festival observed in Kerala dedicated to Shiva. It is believed that on this day, Parvathi met Lord Shiva after her long penance and Lord Shiva took her as his wife. On this day Hindu women performs the Thiruvathirakali accompanied by Thiruvathira paattu (folk songs about Parvati and her longing and penance for Lord Shiva's affection).
Regional festivals dedicated to Shiva include the Chittirai festival in Madurai around April/May, one of the largest festivals in South India, celebrating the wedding of Minakshi (Parvati) and Shiva. The festival is one where both the Vaishnava and Shaiva communities join the celebrations, because Vishnu gives away his sister Minakshi in marriage to Shiva.
Some Shaktism-related festivals revere Shiva along with the goddess considered primary and Supreme. These include festivals dedicated to Annapurna such as Annakuta and those related to Durga. In Himalayan regions such as Nepal, as well as in northern, central and western India, the festival of Teej is celebrated by girls and women in the monsoon season, in honor of goddess Parvati, with group singing, dancing and by offering prayers in Parvati-Shiva temples.
The ascetic, Vedic and Tantric sub-traditions related to Shiva, such as those that became ascetic warriors during the Islamic rule period of India, celebrate the Kumbha Mela festival. This festival cycles every 12 years, in four pilgrimage sites within India, with the event moving to the next site after a gap of three years. The biggest is in Prayaga (renamed Allahabad during the Mughal rule era), where millions of Hindus of different traditions gather at the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna. In the Hindu tradition, the Shiva-linked ascetic warriors (Nagas) get the honor of starting the event by entering the Sangam first for bathing and prayers.
Beyond the Indian subcontinent and Hinduism
Shiva has been adopted and merged with Buddhist deities. Left: Daikokuten is a Shiva-Ōkuninushi fusion deity in Japan; Right: Acala is a fierce Shiva adaptation.
The statue of Shiva engaging in the Nataraja dance at the campus of European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland.
In Shaivism of Indonesia, the popular name for Shiva has been Batara Guru, which is derived from Sanskrit Bhattaraka which means "noble lord". He is conceptualized as a kind spiritual teacher, the first of all Gurus in Indonesian Hindu texts, mirroring the Dakshinamurti aspect of Shiva in the Indian subcontinent. However, the Batara Guru has more aspects than the Indian Shiva, as the Indonesian Hindus blended their spirits and heroes with him. Batara Guru's wife in southeast Asia is the same Hindu deity Durga, who has been popular since ancient times, and she too has a complex character with benevolent and fierce manifestations, each visualized with different names such as Uma, Sri, Kali and others. Shiva has been called Sadasiva, Paramasiva, Mahadeva in benevolent forms, and Kala, Bhairava, Mahakala in his fierce forms. The Indonesian Hindu texts present the same philosophical diversity of Shaivism traditions found on the subcontinent. However, among the texts that have survived into the contemporary era, the more common are of those of Shaiva Siddhanta (locally also called Siwa Siddhanta, Sridanta).
In the pre-Islamic period on the island of Java, Shaivism and Buddhism were considered very close and allied religions, though not identical religions. The medieval era Indonesian literature equates Buddha with Siwa (Shiva) and Janardana (Vishnu). This tradition continues in predominantly Hindu Bali Indonesia in the modern era, where Buddha is considered the younger brother of Shiva.
The worship of Shiva became popular in Central Asia through the Hephthalite Empire, and Kushan Empire. Shaivism was also popular in Sogdia and the Kingdom of Yutian as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction, Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in tiger skin while his attendants are wearing Sogdian dress. A panel from Dandan Oilik shows Shiva in His Trimurti form with Shakti kneeling on her right thigh. Another site in the Taklamakan Desert depicts him with four legs, seated cross-legged on a cushioned seat supported by two bulls. It is also noted that Zoroastrian wind god Vayu-Vata took on the iconographic appearance of Shiva.
Daikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japan, is considered to be evolved from Shiva. The god enjoys an exalted position as a household deity in Japan and is worshipped as the god of wealth and fortune. The name is the Japanese equivalent of Mahākāla, the Buddhist name for Shiva. Shiva is also mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Shiva as Upaya and Shakti as Prajna. In cosmologies of Buddhist tantra, Shiva is depicted as passive, with Shakti being his active counterpart. In Mahayana Buddhist cosmology, Shiva resides in Akaniṣṭha, highest of Śuddhāvāsa (Pure Abodes) where Anāgāmi ("Non-returners") who are already on the path to Arhat-hood and who will attain enlightenment are born in.
The Japuji Sahib of the Guru Granth Sahib says, "The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Paarvati and Lakhshmi." In the same chapter, it also says, "Shiva speaks, and the Siddhas listen." In Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh has mentioned two avtars of Rudra: Dattatreya Avtar and Parasnath Avtar.
In contemporary culture
Sagar Shiv Mandir in Mauritius
In contemporary culture, Shiva is depicted in films, books, tattoos and art. He has been referred to as "the god of cool things" and a "bonafide rock hero".
Popular films include the Gujarati language movie Har Har Mahadev, the Kannada movie Gange Gowri and well-known books include Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy, which has sold over a million copies. On television, Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev, a television serial about Lord Shiva on the Life OK channel was among the most watched shows at its peak popularity. A 90's television series of DD National titled Om Namah Shivay was also based on legends of Lord Shiva.
In the Final Fantasy videogame series, Shiva is often depicted as a benevolent ancient being of Ice Element who frequently aids the heroes against mighty foes (via summoning). Shiva is also a character in the video game Dark Souls'', with the name Shiva of the East.
In Shuumatsu no Valkyrie (Record of Ragnarok), Shiva is the representative of the gods in the 5th round of Ragnarok.
References
Other websites
Aarti of Shiva BhaktiSansar.in Viewed on 2020-08-01.
Hindu gods and goddesses |
24895 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII%20art | ASCII art | ASCII art is art made out of ASCII characters. This can be simple art like "<3" (it looks almost like a heart if you turn your head sideways), or it can be more complex, with characters carefully placed out, containing many lines of characters.
ASCII art was originally used to "draw" pictures on computers that only allowed ASCII characters.
Smilies are considered ASCII art.
Other websites
ASCII Art Wiki Community
Graphics
Computing |
24896 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riddle | Riddle | A riddle can be classed as a statement with a solution. This solution, however, need not be logical. Solving riddles usually involve thinking about the question and putting it into context.
Other websites
Anglo-Saxon riddles
riddles for adults-interesting and challenging riddles for adults
Logic
Games |
24907 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novalis | Novalis | Novalis is the pseudonym of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (May 2, 1772 – March 25, 1801), who was a writer and philosopher of the early German Romanticism.
1772 births
1801 deaths
German writers |
24908 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body%20piercing | Body piercing | Body piercing or just piercing is a form of body modification, where humans of either gender pierce their skin to put jewellery through the hole later. There are many different reasons some people have piercings, such as religious or other cultural purposes. Many people, especially in North America and Europe, choose to be pierced for ornamental, or sexual pleasure.
History
In early records, it was not common to discuss the use of piercings or their meanings. However, body adornment and modification are estimated have been around for more than 5000 years, found in mummies like Ötzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest natural mummy estimated to be about 5,300 years old. Piercing of the ears, nose, and tongue have a long history in many ancient cultures, and lip piercing and stretching were more common in African tribes, especially for cultural identification.
Piercings in the 20th & 21st century
Body piercings of any kind were not popular in Western cultures in the beginning of the 20th century. After World War II, the gay subculture used piercings as a fashion statement. Other subcultures, such as "hippie" and the punk movement also began to use piercings as a form of expression in the 1960s and 1970s. Genital piercing is becoming more common. Sometimes people get genital piercings to create interest or attract attention. Some types of genital piercing are supposed to increase sexual pleasure.
References
Body art |
24909 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical | Physical | Physical can mean:
Something that is made of matter
Something about the human body
Physical anthropology
Something done by a force made when something moves to apply or create the force. (This is only a form of Kinetic energy.)
Basic English 850 words |
24910 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elonka%20Dunin | Elonka Dunin | Elonka Dunin (; born December 29, 1958) is an American video game developer. Her job is to make computer games at Simutronics Corporation, in Missouri. She also knows a lot about famous puzzles, especially a puzzle called Kryptos, which no one knows all the answers to yet.
In 2006, she wrote a book with hundreds of puzzles in it, called The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms.
References
Elonka Dunin's website (biography)
Simutronics corporation
1958 births
Living people
Writers from Missouri
Designers |
24914 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova | Supernova | A supernova is the explosion of a giant star. It usually happens when its nuclear fusion cannot hold the core against its own gravity. The core collapses, and explodes.
The biggest stars that make supernovae are hypergiants and smaller ones are supergiants. They are massive: because of gravity, they use up their energy very quickly. Normally they only live for a few million years.
During the explosion, the total energy radiated by supernovae may briefly outshine the entire output of a galaxy. They emit energy equal to that of the whole lifetime of a solar-like star. The explosion blows off its stellar material away from the star, at velocities up to 30,000 km/s or 10% of the speed of light. This drives a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust, which we see as a supernova remnant. After exploding, what is left becomes a black hole or a neutron star.
Most stars are small and do not explode. They become colder and smaller, and they become white dwarf stars.
Supernova explosions happen rarely. The last time people saw a supernova in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, was in the year 1604. We can see supernovas in other galaxies too. Every year we see 300 supernovas in other galaxies, because there are so many galaxies. Sometimes they are brighter than the whole rest of the galaxy.
Types
Supernovas are usually sorted into Type I and Type II supernovas.
Type I supernovas have absorption lines that show they do not have hydrogen in them. Type Ia supernovas are very bright for a short amount of time. Then they get less bright very quickly. Type Ia supernovas happen when a white dwarf star is orbiting a big star. Sometimes, the white dwarf star sucks matter off of the big star. When the white dwarf gets to be about 1.4 times the mass of the sun, it collapses. This makes lots of energy and light, which is why supernovas are very bright. Type 1a have mostly the same brightness. This allows them to be used as a secondary standard candle to measure the distance to their host galaxies.
Type II supernovas have absorption lines that show they do have hydrogen in them. A star must have at least 8 times, and no more than 40–50 times, the mass of the Sun to undergo this type of explosion.
In a star like the Sun, nuclear fusion turns hydrogen into helium. In very large stars, helium gets turned into oxygen, and so on. The star fuses increasingly higher mass elements, up through the periodic table until a core of iron and nickel is produced. Fusion of iron or nickel produces no net energy output, so no more fusion can take place. But, the collapse of the core is so rapid (about 23% of the speed of light) that a huge shock wave is produced. The extremely high temperature and pressure lasts long enough for a brief moment when the elements heavier than iron are produced. Depending on initial size of the star, the remnants of the core form a neutron star or a black hole.
Supernovas and life
Without supernovas there would be no life on Earth. This is because many of the chemical elements were made in supernova explosions. These are called "heavy elements". Heavy elements are needed to make living things. The supernova is the only natural way heavy elements can be made. Other elements were made by fusion in stars. Heavy elements need very high temperature and pressure to form. In a macho supernova explosion the temperature and pressure are so high that heavy elements can be made. Scientists call this supernova nucleosynthesis.
It could be dangerous if a supernova explosion happened very close to the Earth. The explosion is very big and many kinds of dangerous radiation are formed. But we do not have to be afraid. Only very big stars can explode as supernovas. There are no stars big enough near the Earth and if there was it would take millions of years for it to happen.
Important supernovas
SN 1572 was seen by Tycho Brahe. This supernova helped astronomers learn that things in space could change. SN 1604 was seen by Johannes Kepler. It was the last supernova close enough to be seen from Earth's northern hemisphere without a telescope. SN 1987A is the only supernova so close that scientists could find neutrinos from it. SN 1987A was also bright enough to see without a telescope. People in the southern hemisphere saw it.
Effects on Earth
The Earth does have traces of past supernovae. Traces of radioactive iron-60, a strong indicator of supernova debris, is buried in the sea floor right across the globe.
The "local bubble" is a ballooning region of hot gas, 600 light-years across. It surrounds the Solar System and dominates our stellar neighbourhood. It was formed by over a dozen supernovae blowing up in a nearby moving clump of stars. This happened between 2.3 million and 1.5 million years ago. This roughly corresponds with the start of the Pleistocene ice ages. The connection may be accidental.
Related pages
Luminous blue variable
Nova
References
Other websites
Supernovae (NASA)
Supernovae (GSU)
Supernova Citizendium |
24915 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk | Folk | Folk can mean:
a specific people, tribe, or nation
folklore, stories and traditions told orally.
folk art, art done in traditional styles
In music:
folk music or folksong, music by and of the common people.
folk dance, a 19th century form of dance
folk-punk, a genre of music that combines elements of folk and punk rock music
folk-rock, a kind of music that is folk music and Rock and Roll mixed together.
folk metal, a sub-genre of heavy metal that mixes it with folk music |
24916 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian | Victorian | Victorian may mean:
19th-century matters:
Victorian era
Victorian architecture
Victorian decorative arts
Victorian fashion
Victorian morality
Victorianism in esthetics and manners
Victorian literature
Victorian America
Saint Victorian (disambiguation)
Related pages
Victoria (disambiguation)
Victoriana |
24917 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem | Bethlehem | Bethlehem is a Palestinian city on the West Bank. It is most famous as the place where Jesus was born. (See Gospel of Matthew chapter 2.) It is five miles from Jerusalem in Israel.
Ancient Israel and Judah
New Testament
Old Testament |
24920 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco | Disco | Disco is a style of music that was most popular from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, featuring African-American and Latino musicians and audiences, and in private dance parties thrown in the underground gay community of New York. People usually dance to disco music at bars called disco clubs. The word "disco" is also used to refer to the style of dancing that people do to disco music, or to the style of clothes that people wear to go disco dancing. Disco music was an up-tempo form of music which included elements of soul, funk and Latin music. It had a strong beat meant for dancing, a steady four-on-the-floor rhythm, and a big bass line, and orchestral instrumentation often included string sections. Disco is dance music too.
Disco was at its most popular in the United States and Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Disco was brought into the mainstream by the hit movie Saturday Night Fever, which was released in 1977. This movie, which starred John Travolta, showed people doing disco dancing. Many radio stations played disco in the late 1970s. By the early 1980s, disco had started to fall out of popularity, and other genres, such as dance, Hi-NRG and post-disco grew in popularity. Nevertheless, disco still exerts an influence on modern day dance music, and still has occasional moments of popularity. Additionally, a different form of disco arose in Europe, known as Euro disco, which obtained some popularity.
Disco music
Disco music blends R&B with funk, soul and dance music. Disco music usually consists of a singer, electric guitars, synthesizer keyboards, electric bass guitar, and a drummer or electronic drum machine. Disco music is often very simple music, with a strong beat and a strong "bass line". Disco music often has many electronic effects.
Disco dancing
Disco dancing is often sexually suggestive. When people go disco dancing, they usually wear tight trousers, leather shoes or boots, and glittery clothes. Women going disco dancing often wore tight clothes that revealed body parts such as their thighs or the upper part of their chest. Men going disco dancing often opened up the buttons of their shirts to show the upper part of their chest.
Disco clubs
Disco music is played at disco clubs. In the late 1970s, there were famous disco clubs such as Studio 54 in New York City. Disco clubs have a large dance floor and a large pa system. A Disk Jockey (or "DJ") plays records of disco music through powerful amplifiers with a number of high wattage speakers. Disco music was usually played very loud, with lots of low bass frequencies. Disco clubs usually had coloured lights that flashed with the music called scanners, and mirror balls with hundreds of small mirrors, that reflect light onto the dancers and all corners of the room.
Disco culture
Most people who went disco dancing at disco clubs drank alcohol such as champagne and rum. Many people consumed illegal drugs such as cocaine or marijuana, so that they would become intoxicated. People who went disco dancing often had sex with people that they would meet at the disco club.
Notable musicians
(Source: All Music)
Bee Gees
Donna Summer
Village People
Sylvester
Amanda Lear
Amii Stewart
Andrea True Connection
Anita Ward
Related pages
Funk
R&B
Soul music
References
Disco |
24921 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert%20II%2C%20Prince%20of%20Monaco | Albert II, Prince of Monaco | His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco (born 14 March 1958) is the ruler of Monaco. He became ruler after his father Prince Ranier III died in April 2005. He is the only son and the middle of three children of Rainer and his wife Grace Kelly.
Titles and styles
Albert has held three positions:
14 March 1958–6 April 2005: His Serene Highness, The Hereditary Prince of Monaco, Marquis of Baux.
31 March 2005–6 April 2005: His Serene Highness, The Prince Regent of Monaco.
6 April 2005–present: His Serene Highness, The Sovereign Prince of Monaco.
Legitimate children
Prince Albert and his wife Charlene had twins:
Princess Gabriella, Countess of Carladès. (10 December 2014–present)
Prince Jacques, Hereditary Prince of Monaco. Heir to the throne of Monaco. (10 December 2014–present)
Health
On 19 March 2020, amid the large-scale outbreak of COVID-19, it was officially announced that Albert II had tested positive. This made Albert II the first monarch and head of state to have tested positive for COVID-19. On 31 March, it was announced that he had made a full recovery.
Ancestry
References
1958 births
Living people
Princes and princesses of Monaco
Recipients of the Order pro merito Melitensi
Current national leaders |
24922 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex%20Warner | Rex Warner | Rex Warner (birth name Reginald Ernest Walker; 9 March 1905 – 24 June 1986) was a classical English writer and translator.
1905 births
1986 deaths
English writers
British translators |
24923 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh%20Cook | Hugh Cook | There is also Hugh Cook (science fiction author), born in England, who also lived in New Zealand and Japan.
Hugh Cook (born 1942) is a Canadian writer.
Bibliography
Cracked Wheat and Other Stories - 1985 ()
The Homecoming Man - 1989 ()
Home in Alfalfa - 1998 ()
Cook, Hugh
1942 births
Living people |
24924 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz%20Boas | Franz Boas | Franz Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German born American anthropologist. He is considered by many to have been the 'Father of American Anthropology.' While today archaeology, cultural anthropology , linguistics, and Biological anthropology are often considered somewhat separate discipline, Boas had a holistic approach, meaning to him they were a unified discipline.
Early life
Boas was born in Germany to Jewish parents. His parents were rich, well educated, and sought to expose him to the values of the enlightenment. This resulted in Boas did not identifying as Jewish, and left him with a dislike of religion. Because of parents, he received a very strong early education. Boas studied natural history in primary school, and in secondary school he researched the natural range of plants.
Early Academic Career
Franz Boas attended Heidelberg University for one semester, before transferring to Bonn University where he studied mathematics, physics, and geography.
He received a doctorate in physics in 1881 from the University of Kiel. By today's standards Boas' doctorate would be closer to a degree in geography than physics.
Emigration to America
Boas first traveled to Baffin Island in 1883 to study the native Inuit to see what role the environment plays in their migrations. He published his findings in 1888. Boas returned to Germany for a time, but due to rising antisemitism he decided to emigrate to the United States. He worked as an editor for Science and as a docent of anthropology at Clark University. He left the university in 1892. He went north to collect ethnographic material for the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition. After the exposition the material was given to the Field museum in Chicago, here Boas became the curator for anthropology. During this time Boas became involved in the Fin de Siècle debates. It was here he argued for separating natural sciences from the humanities. He also began the ground work that would eventually grow into historical particularism: the idea that every aspect of a culture has a unique history.
University of Colombia
Boas eventually settled at the University of Colombia in 1896, creating the very first PhD program for anthropology in the United States. It was here where he taught his most famous students, which included: Alfred Kroeber, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, Edward Sapir, and Zora Neale Hurston.
Later life
Franz Boas was censored by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) in December of 1919 for a publication he wrote denouncing anthropologists who became involved with the war effort during the First World War. This persisted for the remainder of his life, not being reversed until 2005. He was very critical of Nazism as well as critical of the radical the war effort in the United States. Boas was also involved with combating racism. In 1963 Thomas Gossett claimed that "It is possible that Boas did more to combat race prejudice than any other person in history." Franz Boas died of a stroke on December 21, 1942. According to legend he died in the arms of none other than Claude Levi-Strauss.
Contributions to Anthropology
Franz Boas is often credited with the development of 'historical particularism', as well as 'cultural relativism.' Boas was a founding member of the American Anthropology Association (AAA) and served as one of the organization's first vice presidents.
References
1858 births
1942 deaths
Naturalized citizens of the United States
German scientists
American geographers
American anthropologists |
24925 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapotec%20people | Zapotec people | The Zapotec are a native tribe of people from Mexico. People think there are between 300.000 and 400.000 people. Most of them live in the state of Oaxaca. Most of them speak either Zapotec dialect continuum or the Chatino language. Before Christopher Columbus came to America, the Zapotec civilisation was highly developed. It also included a system of writing.
References
Malinowski, Sharon; Sheets, Anna, ed. (1998); "Zapotec" in The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes; Gale Research, Detroit, Michigan.
Other websites
Zapotec Culture (in English and Spanish)
Zapotec Language (including variants, in English and Spanish)
Mexico
Native American |
24926 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX | IMAX | IMAX is a kind of movie projection system, which shows movies on a very large screen. It was first introduced in Japan in 1970.
Other websites
Official site
Movie terminology |
24930 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esotericism | Esotericism | Esotericism is about secret knowledge for a small group of people. Esotericism also describes mystical, spiritual or occult viewpoints (point of view). Esotericism studies Gnosticism, Yoga, Alchemy, Magic, Spiritualism, Hypnosis, Astrology, Meditation, Mysticism, and Occultism. Many followers of Abrahamic faiths, particularly Christianity and Islam, have criticized Esotericism as black magic. Esotericism in religion is called "obscurantism".
Esotericism can also be about understanding symbolism and hidden meanings of many different books. They include religious books, philosophy books and books about history. They use these books as their texts.
Esoteric groups
Alawites
Anthroposophy
Freemasons
Hermeticism
Kabbalah
Knights Templar
Rosicrucians
Theosophy
Illuminati
References
More reading
Guénon, René (2001) Insights Into Islamic Esoterism and Taoism
Borella, Jean (2004) Guenonian Esoterism and Christian Mystery
Bhattacharyya, Benoytosh (1980) An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism
Guénon, René (2005) Insights Into Christian Esoterism
Schuon, Frithjof (2000) Survey Of Metaphysics And Esoterism World Wisdom Books, Incorporated |
24931 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh%20Cook%20%28science%20fiction%20author%29 | Hugh Cook (science fiction author) | Hugh Walter Gilbert Cook (9 August 1956 – 8 November 2008) is a science fiction author. Cook was born in Essex, England, and moved to New Zealand. Then in 1997 he moved to Japan.
1956 births
English writers |
24932 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jainism | Jainism | Jainism is a religion originally from India that teaches that "all the events in the universe are self-caused, random, fixed and are independent of previous events or external causes or god": Jain philosophy is the oldest philosophy of India that distinguishes body (matter) from the soul (consciousness) completely. It teaches that the universe is eternal and that every living being has a soul which has the power to become all-knowing (observer of all the random events). A soul which has won over its inner enemies like attachment, greed, pride, etc. is called jina which means conqueror or victor (over ignorance). The holy book of Jainism is Pravachansara.
Jainism point
Every living being has a soul.
Every soul is potentially divine, with innate qualities of infinite knowledge, perception, power, and bliss (masked by its karmas).
The universe is self-regulated, with all the events self-caused, and every soul has the potential to achieve divine consciousness (siddha) through its own efforts.
There is no supreme divine creator, owner, preserver or destroyer.
Therefore, Jainists think of every living being as themselves, harming no one and being kind to all living beings.
Every soul is born as a celestial, human, sub-human or hellish being according to its own karmas.
Every soul is the architect of its own life, here or hereafter.
When a soul is freed from karmas, it becomes free and attains divine consciousness, experiencing infinite knowledge, perception, power, and bliss.
Right Faith, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct (triple gems of Jainism) provide the way to this realization.
Navakar Mantra is the fundamental prayer in Jainism and can be recited at any time of the day. Praying by reciting this mantra, the devotee bows with respect to liberated souls still in human form (Arihantas), fully liberated souls (Siddhas), spiritual leaders (Acharyas), teachers (Upadyayas) and all the monks. By saluting them, Jains receive inspiration from them to follow their path to achieve true bliss and total freedom from the karmas binding their souls. In this main prayer, Jains do not ask for any favours or material benefits. This mantra serves as a simple gesture of deep respect towards beings who are more spiritually advanced. The mantra also reminds followers of the ultimate goal, nirvana or moksha.
Jainism stresses on the importance of controlling the senses including the mind, as they can drag one far away from true nature of the soul.
Limit possessions and lead a pure life that is useful to yourself and others. Owning an object by itself is not possessiveness; however attachment to an object is. Non-possessiveness is the balancing of needs and desires while staying detached from our possessions.
Enjoy the company of the holy and better qualified, be merciful to those afflicted souls and tolerate the perversely inclined.
It is important not to waste human life in evil ways. Rather, strive to rise on the ladder of spiritual evolution.
The goal of Jainism is liberation of the soul from the negative effects of unenlightened thoughts, speech and action. This goal is achieved through clearance of karmic obstructions by following the triple gems of Jainism.
Jains mainly worship idols of Jinas, Arihants and Tirthankars, who have conquered the inner passions and attained divine consciousness. Jainism acknowledges the existence of powerful heavenly souls (Yaksha and Yakshini) that look after the well beings of Thirthankarars. Usually, they are found in pair around the idols of Jinas as male (yaksha) and female (yakshini) guardian deities. Even though they have supernatural powers, they are also wandering through the cycles of births and deaths just like most other souls.
Citations
References of Jainism
Jainism |
24941 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sect | Sect | A sect is a small religious or political group that separates from a larger group. Sects have many of the same beliefs and practices as the original group, but often have some different doctrines. In contrast, a denomination is a large religious group.
Related pages
Cult
New religious movement
Religion
Sociology |
24951 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracal | Caracal | The caracal (Caracal caracal), also called Persian lynx or African lynx, is a wild cat. Caracals are similar to lynxes, but are more related to the serval. Caracals are the fastest of the small cats.
Look
The Caracal is 65 cm in length (about 2 feet), plus 30 cm tail (about 1 foot). It has longer legs and a look very similar to a lynx. The colour of its fur may be wine-red, grey, black, or sand-coloured (a type of yellow). Young caracals have red spots on the fur, but the only markings adults have are black spots above the eyes. A special part of the caracal body are its long black ears - the word "caracal" come from the Turkish word karakulak ("black ear"). Their ears are controlled by 20 different muscles, to help them find the animals they hunt.
Life
Caracals live in Africa and Western Asia. Their habitat is dry steppes (areas without trees, covered with grass or shrubs) and semi-deserts, but also can live in places similar to woodlands, savannas, and scrub forests. They live alone or with a mate in a territory.
A caracal may live without drinking for a long time - they get the water from the body of the animals they eat. It hunts at night (but in winter they also hunt in the daytime) for rodents, birds, and hares. It is not usual, but sometimes they hunt small antelopes or young ostriches. They prefer to eat only the external meat of the mammals they hunt, and do not eat the internal organs, and they also do not like eating fur. But they eat the feathers of small birds and rotten meat.
They can hunt birds very well; a caracal is able to snatch a bird in flight, sometimes more than one at a time. Caracals can jump and climb every well, which enables them to catch hyraxes better than any other carnivore.
Caracals and humans
Because they can learn tricks and get accustomed to live with humans, caracals are sometimes kept as pets (especially in the United States and some European countries). Farmers in Africa do not like them, because sometimes they enter in farms and eat chickens and other animals. So they make their dog chase the caracal.
It is not easy to see caracals in nature because they hide very well. Drivers in countries where caracals live, for example, Kenya and Botswana, see many animals next to roads, but it is very rare a sighting of a caracal.
Kinds of caracals
There are many species of caracals. See them and where they live:
Caracal caracal caracal, East, Central and South Africa
Caracal caracal algira, North Africa
Caracal caracal damarensis, Namibia
Caracal caracal limpopoensis, Botswana
Caracal caracal lucani, Gabon
Caracal caracal michaelis, Turkmenistan (endangered)
Caracal caracal nubicus, Ethiopia, Sudan
Caracal caracal poecilictis, West Africa
Caracal caracal schmitzi, West Asia, Iran, Arabia, Pakistan and India
References
Felines
Mammals of Pakistan |
24953 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel | Eel | True eels are teleost fish. They have long and narrow bodies like snakes. Adult eels can be as short as 10 cm or as long as 3 m. It depends on their species. The large eels can weigh up to 65 kg.
Eels have fewer fins than other fish. They do not have all the belly and chest fins. The back and anal fins are long and usually connected to the tail fin. The fins do not have spines.
The shoulder bones are separate from the skull. The scales have smooth edges or are absent.
Eels hatch from eggs. Baby (larval) eels are flat and transparent (clear). They are called leptocephalus (Greek for "thin head"). A young eel is called an elver. For a long time people did not know where eels came from, because baby eels look very different from adults. They thought the babies were a different species.
Most eels prefer to live in the shallowest parts of the ocean. They live at the bottom of the ocean, sometimes in holes. Eels in the Anguillidae family come to fresh water to live there. Eels in the Nemichthyidae family swim about 500 m below the ocean surface. Eels in the Synaphobranchidae family live as deep as 4000 m below the surface.
Hand netting (catching with nets) is the only legal way of catching eels in England. It has been done for thousands of years on the River Parrett and River Severn.
Most eels are predators. They hunt their prey.
Classification
True eels belong to the order (group) Anguilliformes (Latin for "eel-shaped").
This order has 4 suborders (smaller groups) called Anguilloidei, Nemichthyoidei, Congroidei, and Synaphobranchoidei.
The suborders are separated into 19 families. The families are divided into 110 genera. The genera are then divided into species.
There are 400 species of eels in all.
Uses
Freshwater eels (unagi) and marine eels (Conger eel, anago) are used in Japanese food. Eels are used in Cantonese (Hong Kong) food and Shanghai food.
Some people eat the European eel and other eels that live in lakes all around the world. A traditional London food is "jellied eels." The Spanish meal, angulas, consists of deep-fried elvers.
Eel skins are used to make some wallets and purses.
Suborders and families
Taxonomy based on Neslon, Grande and Wilson 2016.
Suborder Protanguilloidei
Family Protanguillidae
Suborder Synaphobranchoidei
Family Synaphobranchidae (cutthroat eels) [incl. Dysommidae, Nettodaridae, and Simenchelyidae]
Suborder Muraenoidei
Family Heterenchelyidae (mud eels)
Family Myrocongridae (thin eels)
Family Muraenidae (moray eels)
Suborder Chlopsoidei
Family Chlopsidae (false morays)
Suborder Congroidei
Family Congridae (congers) [incl. Macrocephenchelyidae; Colocongridae]
Family Derichthyidae (longneck eels) [incl. Nessorhamphidae]
Family Muraenesocidae (pike congers)
Family Nettastomatidae (duckbill eels)
Family Ophichthidae (snake eels)
Suborder Moringuoidei
Family Moringuidae (spaghetti eels)
Suborder Saccopharyngoidei
Family Eurypharyngidae (pelican eels, umbrellamouth gulpers)
Family Saccopharyngidae
Family Monognathidae (onejaw gulpers)
Family Cyematidae (bobtail snipe eels)
Suborder Anguilloidei
Family Anguillidae (freshwater eels)
Family Nemichthyidae (snipe eels)
Family Serrivomeridae (sawtooth eels)
In some classifications, the family Cyematidae of bobtail snipe eels is included in the Anguilliformes, but in the FishBase system that family is included in the order Saccopharyngiformes.
The electric eel of South America is not a true eel, but is a South American knifefish more closely related to the carps and catfishes.
Phylogeny
Phylogeny based on Johnson et al. 2012.
References
Teleosts
Edible fish |
24957 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter%20egg | Easter egg | An Easter egg is an egg, eaten and used for decoration during the Easter holidays. The egg was a symbol of the earth to celebrate spring. The oldest tradition is to use painted chicken eggs, but today chocolate eggs wrapped in coloured foil, hand-carved wooden eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as chocolate is used. It was used by early Christians as a sign of the resurrection (rising from the dead) of Jesus.
Use
The use of painted and decorated Easter eggs was first recorded in the 13th century. The church did not let people eat eggs during Holy Week, but chickens still laid eggs during that week. Because there was nothing else to do with the eggs, they were used for Easter decoration.
In modern times, chocolate eggs with a colorful wrapping are given to children to be eaten. In the United Kingdom, children receive on average 8.8 chocolate Easter eggs every year. It is unclear where this tradition comes from. Most likely, it comes from a pagan fertility ritual during spring. Sometimes on Easter, children go on egg hunts to look for Easter eggs. They can look for them indoors or outdoors.
An easter egg is also the name of something secret added in computer programs, such as a joke, a picture, or a message that can be uncovered.
History
Although there have been claims that Easter eggs came from the pagan symbols, there is no solid evidence for this. At the Passover, a hard-boiled egg dipped in salt water is a symbol of both new life and the Passover sacrifice offered at the Temple in Jerusalem. In Christian times, the egg was a symbol of new life just as a chick might hatch from the egg. The Easter egg tradition may have celebrated the end of the privations of Lent. In the Medieval Europe, people were not allowed to eat eggs on fast days. It was traditional to use up all of the eggs that they had before Lent began, and this also made the tradition of Pancake Day. Eggs were viewed as symbols of new life and fertility through the ages. It is believed that for this reason many ancient cultures, including the Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Romans, used eggs during their spring festivals. In Eastern Christianity, both meat and dairy are still not allowed to be eaten during the fast, and eggs are seen as "dairy" too.
It was during Easter that everybody was trying to get rid of the eggs before the fast. Eggs were given as gifts for children and servants, and used for decoration. And this is probably the reason why eggs came to be associated with Easter.
Gallery
References
Easter traditions |
24958 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur | Lemur | Lemurs are primates and prosimians (not monkeys). The word "lemur" comes from the Latin word lemures, which means "ghosts". Lemur are divided into eight families, with 15 genera and about 100 living species. However, lemur classification is controversial: it depends on which species concept is used. Lemur is also a genus in one of the families.
Lemurs are native only to the island of Madagascar. From there a few species got to smaller islands nearby, for example the Comoros. Madagascar, like Africa and India, was part of the ancient southern continent of Gondwana.
Lemurs weigh from 30g to the 10kg. Larger species have all become extinct since human groups moved to Madagascar. Usually, the smaller lemurs are active at night (nocturnal), and the larger ones were active during the day (diurnal).
Lemurs are endangered species because people destroy their habitat and used to hunt them, and perhaps still do so.
Physical description
Ring-tailed lemur, the most studied, are white and black with a ring tail The larger species are about 1.5 meters tall and weigh about 2 to 3.5 kilograms. They move quietly, usually at night, sometimes letting out eerie wailing cries, which some people think is the reason why they got their names.
Feeding habits and life
Lemurs mostly eat fruit, leaves, and other plant parts. They live in family groups of 5 to 42 members which is called a troop. Females are dominant and remain in the same troop for life. Males move between troops. The female's gestation period lasts four to five months, and they usually have one or two babies. Lemur mothers nurse their babies until they are about four months old. Then they begin to feed the babies solid food such as fruit. Lemurs spend most of their time in the trees. Some are great leapers, flinging themselves from tree to tree.
Communication
Lemurs communicate with a variety of hoots. They will also send messages with scents (smells). When a male lemur wants to scare another male away, he first rubs its tail on the smelly glands under its arms and then waves the tail in the other male's face. These are called "stink fights".
Lavasoa dwarf lemur
Grey bamboo lemur
Ring-tailed lemur
Aye-aye
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Silky sifaka
Related pages
Duke Lemur Center
References
Other websites
Lemurs of the East Coast of Madagascar
New lemurs found in Madagascar
Great leaping lemurs |
24959 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good%20Friday | Good Friday | Good Friday is a religious holiday usually observed by Christians. It is also called Holy Friday, Black Friday, or Great Friday. It is observed to remember the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, his death, and his rising from the dead. The holiday is often at the same time as the Jewish holiday of Passover.
The estimated year of Good Friday is AD 33, by two different groups, and at first as AD 34 by Isaac Newton by the differences between the Biblical and Julian calendars.
Biblical account
According to the Gospels, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane by the Temple Guards. This was done through the help of his disciple Judas Iscariot. Judas received money (30 pieces of silver) () for betraying Jesus. He had told the guards that whomever he kisses was the one they were to arrest. Jesus was brought to the house of Annas. Annas was the father-in-law of the high priest at that time, Caiaphas. There he was questioned. However, it was with little result. Tied up, he was sent to Caiaphas the high priest, where the Sanhedrin had come together ().
Lots of people came and said conflicting things about Jesus to make him look bad. As he heard these, Jesus said nothing. At last, the high priest tells Jesus, "I adjure you, by the Living God, to tell us, are you the Anointed One, the Son of God?" Jesus said yes: "You have said it, and in time you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, coming on the clouds of Heaven." The high priest ripped his clothes, crying out that Jesus had blasphemed God. The trial ended with a sentence of death (). While they were questioning Jesus, Peter was waiting in the courtyard. He also said that he did not know Jesus three times to people standing by. According to the Bible, Jesus already knew that Peter would say this.
In the morning, the people brought Jesus to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. They said he was troubling the nation. They also said he tried to stop people from paying taxes to Caesar, and wanted to make himself a king (). Pilate questioned Jesus. He told the people that Jesus had nothing to be sentenced for. When he learned that Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate said that Jesus should be judged by the ruler of Galilee, King Herod. At that time, Herod was in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Herod questioned Jesus, but Jesus did not answer. Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. Pilate told the people that neither he nor Herod have found Jesus guilty. Pilate wished to have Jesus whipped, then let him go ().
It was a custom during the feast of Passover for the Romans to let one prisoner go free as requested by the Jews. Pilate asked the crowd whom they would like to go free. The crowd asked for Barabbas, another prisoner. He had gone to prison for murdering people. Pilate asked what they would have him do with Jesus. At this, and they demanded, "Crucify him!" (). Pilate's wife warned Pilate to "have nothing to do with this righteous man" (). She had had a dream about him earlier that day.
Pilate had Jesus whipped, then tried to let him go. The chief priests demanded that Jesus be sentenced to death "because he claimed to be God's son." This filled Pilate with fear. He brought Jesus back inside the palace and demanded to know from where he came ().
Coming before the crowd one last time, Pilate declared Jesus innocent. He washed his own hands in water to show he has no part in this. However, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified so that the crowd would not get angry () and that he could keep his job.
Jesus carried his cross a place of the Skull, or "Golgotha" in Hebrew. In Latin it is called "Calvary". There he was crucified with two criminals ().
Jesus is hung on the cross for six hours in extreme pain. During his last 3 hours on the cross there is darkness over the whole land (; ; ). At last, Jesus cried, "It is finished". He then "gave up his spirit". There is an earthquake. Tombs break open, and the curtain in the Temple is torn from top to bottom. The centurion on guard at the crucifixion declares, "Truly this was God's Son!" ()
Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin and secret follower of Jesus, who had not said yes to his death, went to Pilate. He asked for the body of Jesus (). Another secret follower of Jesus and member of the Sanhedrin named Nicodemus brought a mix of spices and helped wrap the body of Christ (). Pilate asked the centurion to make sure that Jesus is dead (). A soldier pierced the side of Jesus, causing blood and water to flow out (). At this, the centurion told Pilate that Jesus was dead ().
Joseph of Arimathea took the body of Jesus, wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and placed it in his own new tomb that had been carved in the rock (). The tomb was in a garden. Nicodemus () also came bringing 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes, and placed them in the linen with the body of Jesus, according to Jewish burial customs (). They rolled a large rock over the entrance of the tomb (). Then they went back home and rested, because at sunset began Shabbat (). According to the Bible, on the third day, Sunday, which is now known as Easter Sunday (or Pascha), Jesus rose from the dead.
Celebration
Special prayer services are usually held on this day with readings from the Gospel accounts of the events leading up to the crucifixion. Major Christian churches say that Christ's crucifixion as a voluntary act, which he did for everyone who believed in him, and also one by which, together with resurrection on the third day, death itself was crushed.
Related pages
Easter
Ascension
Pentecost
Valladolid
References
Other websites
The Eastern Orthodox commemoration of the holiday
Episcopal Good Friday Service
Good Friday hymns at St-Takla.org
Christian holidays
Easter |
24960 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaea | Archaea | The Archaea (or Archea) are a group of single-celled organisms. The name comes from Greek αρχαία, "old ones". They are a major division of living organisms.
Archaea are tiny, simple organisms. They were originally discovered in extreme environments (extremophiles), but are now thought to be common to more average conditions. Many can survive at very high (over 80 °C) or very low temperatures, or highly salty, acidic or alkaline water. Some have been found in geysers, black smokers, oil wells, and hot vents in the deep ocean. Recent research has found ammonia-eating archaea in soil and seawater.
In the past they had been classed with bacteria as prokaryotes (or Kingdom Monera) and named archaebacteria, but this is a mistake. The Archaea have an independent evolutionary history and show many differences in their biochemistry from other forms of life. They are now classified as a separate domain in the three-domain system. In this system, the three distinct branches of evolutionary descent are the Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryota.
Archaea are, like bacteria, prokaryotes: single-celled organisms that do not have nuclei and cell organelles of the eukaryote type.
Comparison to other domains
The following table compares some major characteristics of the three domains, to illustrate their similarities and differences. Many of these characteristics are also discussed below.
=
Interesting facts about archaea:
No archaean species can do photosynthesis.
Archaea only reproduce asexually.
Archaea show high levels of horizontal gene transfer between lineages.
Many archaea live in extreme environments.
Unlike bacteria, no archaea produce spores.
Archaea are common in the ocean, and especially in the plankton. They make up to 20% of all microbial cells in the ocean.p475
Carl Woese discovered the Archaea in 1978.
Related pages
Carl Woese
Earliest known life forms
Methanogen
Further reading
Barry E.R. & Bell S.D. 2006. DNA replication in the Archaea. Microbiology and molecular biology reviews (MMBR) 70, 876-887.
Kelman L.M. & Kelman Z. 2003. Archaea: An archetype for replication initiation studies? Molecular microbiology'', 48''', 605-615.
Other websites
Archaea -Citizendium
References
Archaeans
Prokaryotes
Microbiology |
24963 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared%20Diamond | Jared Diamond | Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American author and biologist. His book Guns, Germs, and Steel won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997.
Life
Diamond was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His father was a doctor and his mother was a teacher. He received his college degree from Harvard University in 1958, and then he received a doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge in 1961.
In 1966, he became a teacher at UCLA, a university in Los Angeles, California. He has also traveled to some islands called New Guinea, which are far away from the United States, in the South Pacific Ocean. Diamond is famous for knowing a lot about the birds that lived on that island, and he has traveled there many times.
Writing
Diamond writes about science in ways that people can understand, and he has written many articles for magazines like Discover in the United States.
He also writes books. One of his first books was called The Third Chimpanzee, which talked about the way that people evolved from monkeys, and how many things are the same between humans and monkeys.
His most famous book is Guns, Germs, and Steel. In his book, Diamond explained why he thought that different parts of the Earth had people on them at different times, and why some people in some parts of the world had more science or farming than people in other parts of the world. The book went over thousands of years of human history.
In 2004, he wrote another book, called, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. In this book, Diamond wrote about why he thought that some groups of people from many hundreds of years ago were able to have their groups get very big and strong, while other groups fell apart. His book talked about what people today can maybe learn from the studying the problems from history.
Books
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005), .
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (1997), .
Why is Sex Fun? The Evolution of Human Sexuality (1997), .
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (1992), .
The Birds of Northern Melanesia: Speciation, Ecology, & Biogeography (with Ernst Mayr, 2001), .
Avifauna of the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea, Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. 12, Cambridge, Mass., pp. 438 (1972).
Family
Diamond is married to a woman named Marie. Her grandfather was an important man in the country of Poland. She also had an uncle named Raphael Kalinowski, who became a saint.
Diamond and his wife Marie have two sons, named Josh and Max. They both go to university. Josh goes to Duke University, and Max goes to Northwestern University.
References
Diamond's page at the UCLA website
1937 births
Living people
American biologists
American geographers
Writers from Boston, Massachusetts
Scientists from Boston, Massachusetts
Pulitzer Prize winners |
24964 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia%20ni%20Cristo | Iglesia ni Cristo | The (IPA: ; Filipino for Church of Christ), or INC, is a church which was made in the Philippines by Felix Manalo and not god in 1914. The INC says it was made by Jesus Christ but it is Felix Manalo who really created INC. The church does not believe in the religious teachings of the Trinity, including the teaching that Jesus is God.
Felix Manalo joined many religious organizations including anti christ organization as a young adult. He said that God gave him a mission to teach the gospel and to bring back the first church made by Jesus, which didn't really happen. The INC began with a handful of followers on July 27, 1914 in Punta, Santa Ana, Manila, with Manalo as highest minister. It has now spread to many different countries.
Iglesia ni cristo is just a family business including the Philippine Arena. If this is not a business then let random good guy from INC to be the leader of the INC.
Beliefs and teachings
Some of the teachings INC believes in are:
God is the one who made the Heavens and the Earth, and he is the only god.
There is no Holy Trinity; God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are not one.
Jesus is the Son of God.
The Holy Spirit is the power of God given to Jesus to teach and for us to help us with our problems.
Manalo was God's last messenger.
God chose INC members to serve him just as he did the early church and Israel in the past.
INC is the same church as the Christian church in the first century.
INC is God's true church, and the only way to be saved.
INC believes in baptism by dipping the whole body under water.
Members must follow the Administration and the Administration must follow the words of Christ.
Members should live a life of good.
Members must not eat food made with blood or marry a non-member.
It is everyone's job to worship God by going to worship services two times a week.
Members should treat each other like brother and sister.
The church should act as one; this includes voting.
The dead will come back to life and either be blessed or punished.
Jesus will come again very soon because the signs that He is coming back (such as World War 1 and World War 2, and widespread news of poverty, famine, earthquake and other disasters) have happened.
A holy city is being made by Jesus for INC members and all other chosen people in the past to live in when he comes back.
References
Nontrinitarianism
Protestantism |
24966 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/State%20court%20%28United%20States%29 | State court (United States) | In some countries, a municipal court is a court with limited jurisdiction, both in people and laws. Most commonly, municipal courts only deal with the laws and citizens of one city or town. But in some places they make decisions for an entire county, and may be involved with early hearings of cases that will be tried in a higher court. Some things that often involve municipal courts are traffic tickets, leash laws, and building code violations and death.
Mississippi
Municipal courts in Mississippi are "Judge Alone" courts. This means that judges alone hear the presented cases and offenders(and alleged offenders)have no right to jury trials. In felony cases in Mississippi, the Municipal court holds a preliminary hearing and then sends the case to the grand jury of the state. The Municipal court is not a court of record and its cases are summarized by docket.
North Carolina
There are no municipal court facilities in the state. All courthouses are done at the county level. For example, if a speeding ticket violation occurred, it automatically goes to the county seat in which the violation occurs whether it is in a municipality or unincorporated. In the case of some elongated counties like Chatham County, there is an alternate courtroom in Siler City as well as Pittsboro, the county seat. In other cases where there are multiple large population centers like in Guilford County, court cases are handled in Greensboro and High Point. Although a federal issue, traffic violations occurring in military bases are not subject to civilian courts.
United States law
Courts (law) |
24968 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma%20Goldman | Emma Goldman | Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was one of the most well-known anarchists from late 19th century to early 20th century. She was an anarcho-communist who was an early supporter of atheism, gay rights and feminism.
Life
Goldman was born in modern-day Lithuania (at the time it was part of the Russian Empire). She moved to Rochester, New York with her sister when she was 17.
At first she worked in a textile factory and married her co-worker Jacob Kersner. Their relationship began to blossom after Kersner found out about her prostitution business. Their marriage was short and Goldman moved to New York City and became a member of the anarchist community. She became good friends with Alexander Berkman (another anarchist) and helped him plan the attempted-assassination of Henry Clay Frick, a rich man who treated his workers badly. Berkman was unsuccessful and spent fourteen years in prison, but Goldman was not punished.
Goldman did face many legal troubles though. In 1893 she was convicted of starting a riot and spent a year in prison. She was arrested in 1901 for allegedly conspiring in the assassination of President McKinley, but was never found guilty.
In 1916 she spent time in prison for giving out information on birth control (which was a crime at the time). In 1917 she was arrested and spent two years in prison for not supporting World War I.
In 1919, Goldman and Berkman were deported (sent back) to Russia because the American government thought they were too dangerous. The Russian Revolution had just happened and Goldman was hopeful that Russia might end up being a good place. She ended up deciding that the revolution in Russia was not as good as she thought and that the Bolsheviks tricked many of the people in Russia. She thought the Bolsheviks were too controlling and were too powerful. She also did not like that the Soviet Union put lots of anarchists in jail for not agreeing with them.
She and Berkman left after two years and Goldman lived in many places in Europe, including England and France. In 1936 she moved to Spain to help the anarchists fight the fascists during the Spanish Civil War.
She died in Toronto of a stroke. She is buried near Chicago.
1869 births
1940 deaths
American anarchists
American atheists
American autobiographers
American communists
American essayists
American feminists
American philosophers
American political activists
American prisoners
Cardiovascular disease deaths in Canada
Deaths from stroke
Jewish American scientists
Jewish American writers
Jewish activists
Jewish atheists
Jewish feminists
Jewish philosophers
American LGBT rights activists
Lithuanian Jews
Naturalized citizens of the United States
People from Kaunas
Russian Jews
Soviet Jews
Writers from New York City |
24970 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer%20engineering | Computer engineering | Computer engineering is the practice of making computers and their parts. Computer engineers are always trying to make new parts smaller and better. They can also work on software, especially software for embedded systems (specialized electronics like cell-phones and satellite receivers, not a general-purpose computer).
Computers are electrical machines that run programs. So Computer engineering has parts of both electrical engineering and computer science/software engineering. In Computer engineering classes, students learn about the hardware and software of computers. This starts with learning how transistors and computer chips are made and how they work (which uses quantum mechanics). Then the student learns how the chips talk to each other and how to make a complete printed circuit board (PCB). This is the electrical part. They also learn how to program the ROM or Flash memory so the computer can do something useful.
Because Computer engineering is closely related to electrical engineering and computer science, the fields are found in the same department at many universities. Students also need to learn fundamental science subjects and mathematics, such as calculus and differential equations.
Computer engineering is difficult to learn, but computer engineers are needed. Software engineering companies, telecommunications firms, designers of digital hardware, and many other companies hire computer engineering majors upon graduation and pay them well.
Notes
Computer science
Engineering disciplines |
24971 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish%20Civil%20War | Spanish Civil War | The Spanish Civil War (18 July 1936 – 1 April 1939) was a civil war between Republicans and Nationalist. During this time, fascist General Francisco Franco and his troops wanted to take control of Spanish Republic. Many different groups worked together to help the democratic Spanish Republic stop Franco, including Basques, Catalonians and other groups. The governments of Nazi Germany, Kingdom of Italy and Second Portuguese Republic provided troops and supplies for Franco. While the Soviet Union, Mexico and French Third Republic sold the Republican weapons.
The group known as the International Brigades was formed to fight Franco, many antifa partisans internationally volunteered to fight against Franco, including people from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy.
The war ended on 1 April 1939, when the last Republican troops surrendered. Franco became dictator of Spain until he died in 1975.
Half-a-million people died in the war, and many atrocities were committed by both sides. The most famous atrocity was the bombing of Guernica. On April 26, 1937, the city was bombed by Legion Condor. It was the first time that an air bombing caused so many civilian casualties. The bombing was reported all over the world in newspapers and made people aware of the German involvement.
Related pages
Ireland and the Spanish Civil War
Proxy war
European Civil War
Spain in World War II
Surviving veterans of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Bombs (Song by The Clash)
SS Cantabria
1930s in Europe
20th century in Spain
20th century rebellions
Rebellions in Europe
Spanish Civil War |
24975 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor%20Tyutchev | Fyodor Tyutchev | Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (rus: Фёдор Иванович Тютчев, fyô'dər ēvä'nəvĭch tyū'chĭf) (December 5 1803 – July 27, 1873) was one of the most significant Russian poets. Almost 20 years of his life he spent in Munich and Turin. Tyutchev was a good friend of Heinrich Heine, knew Schelling as well. Tyutchev didn’t want people to know him as a poet. He didn’t take any part in a literary life.
Works
He has around 400 of his poems. Russian people quote them very often. His early poems are made in Russian poetic tradition of the XVIII century. In the 1830s we can find an influence of European (especially German) romanticism on Tyutchev’s lyrics. He writes philosophic poems about the universe, nature and human being. In 1840s Tyutchev wrote several articles about relations between Russia and Occidental civilization. In 1850s Tyutchev created several heartfelt poems, in which we can see love as a tragedy. These poems are combined into one cycle, named “Denisievsky”. “Denisievsky” means dedicated to a mistress of Tyutchev – Elena Alexandrovna Denisieva. In 1860s–1870s Tyutchev wrote mainly political poems.
The most famous Tyutchev's poem is “Silentium!”. This is a hard appeal to be silent. Because a man never can understand another person. A line “A word once uttered is untrue” is one of the most popular aphorisms of Tyutchev. As well as “We can’t understand Russia by the reason” and “We are not know, what will be the respond for our word”.
Other websites
Tyutcheviana (in russian)
Translations of some poems into different languages
1803 births
1873 deaths
Russian writers
Russian poets |
24989 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erythropoietin | Erythropoietin | Erythropoietin, or Erythropoetin (EPO) is a hormone produced by the kidneys. Epoetin is a synthetic version.
Erythropoietin acts on the bone marrow so that it makes more red blood cells. It is used to treat some kinds of anemia. Anemia can happen in kidney failure, or from chemotherapy to treat cancer. The man-made hormone is made with cell cultures. The hormone can be used for blood doping in endurance sports although this is illegal in all athletic competitions.
It is also responsible for inhibiting the body process "Gluconeogenesis" (a process in your body which makes glucose from products other than carbohydrates), thus contributing to cure of type2 diabetes, glucose intolerance.
Related pages
List of chemicals in doping cases in sport
Hormones
Biochemistry |
24993 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarcho-punk | Anarcho-punk | Anarcho-punk is a subculture that combines punk music and anarchist politics. Some important anarcho-punk bands include Crass, Conflict, Chumbawamba, and Subhumans. Common ideas that many anarcho-punks support are anti-war, animal rights, feminism, environmentalism, equality, anti-capitalism and other common anarchist causes.
Lifestyles |
24996 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household%20hardware | Household hardware | For the computer term, see Computer hardware.
Household hardware describes various things used mostly at home. Those things can be equipment such as fasteners, keys, door knobs, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, tools, screws and machine parts, especially when they are made of metal.
Related pages
Hardware
References
Other websites
Technology |
25000 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton | Breton | Breton can mean:
The Breton language
The Breton people, a Celtic ethnic group native to the region of Brittany
pl:Rasy z serii gier The Elder Scrolls#Breton |
25001 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavs | Slavs | Slavs live in Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, Central Asia and North Asia. Present-day Slavic peoples are classified into West Slavs (mainly Poles, Czechs and Slovaks), East Slavs (mainly Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians), and South Slavs (mainly Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, Bosniaks, Macedonians, Slovenes, and Montenegrins).
Austrians, Hungarians, Romanians (although 1/3 of Romanian population is made of Slavic population, mainly , Serbians and Bulgarians) , Estonians, Lithuanians and Latvians (and these 3 countries have sizable Russian and Poles population, so much so that they make a majority ethnic groups in those countries) live near the Slavic nations but are not Slavs themselves. There are more Slavs than any other ethnic group in Europe. Russians make up the most Slavs, followed by Poles and Ukrainians.
There are many small historic Slavic nations like Lusatia (and Lusatian Serbs, typically referred to as Sorbs, who still live in eastern Germany), Rusyn, Kashubia and others. Russia is now the most powerful and populated Slavic country, but in the 10th century Serbs and Czechs were powerful, in 13th and 14th century Serbs were powerful, and in the 16th century Poland was the strongest nation in the area.
The Slavic languages are closely related. The largest similarities can be found within the same group (for example, Polish and Slovak, both West Slavic languages), but similarities exist even between Slavic languages from other different subgroups (such as Bulgarian and Russian).
However, the greastest similarities are between Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian, which are South Slavic languages. They are considered separate by the Bosnian and Croatian governments (the separation is of political nature), but linguistically they are one language- Serbo-Croatian (since Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin are more similar than those variants of English, German, Dutch, or Hindi–Urdu, and mutual intelligibility between their speakers "exceeds that between the standard variants of English, French, German or Spanish).
Slavic languages are spoken natively by 300 million people and as second or third languages by many more people in countries as far away as Germany and China.
References |
25004 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maharbal | Maharbal | Maharbal was Hannibal's cavalry-leader during the Second Punic War. Many times he was important in Carthage's successes over Rome. In his Italian campaign, Hannibal always was able to have more cavalry than Rome, and so relied on them and Maharbal to give himself a big advantage.
Maharbal is most famous for what he said to Hannibal after the Battle of Cannae. According to Livy, a Roman historian, the conversation went like this after Maharbal said he wanted to go with the army to Rome immediately:
"I commend your zeal", Hannibal said to Maharbal; "but I need time to weigh the plan that you propose." "Assuredly", Maharbal replied, "no one man has been blessed with all God's gifts. You know, Hannibal, how to gain a victory; you do not know how to use it." -Livy, The History of Rome 22.51
In Simple English:
"I like your enthusiasm", Hannibal said to Maharbal; "but I need time to think about what you want to do." Maharbal said back, "It is true that no one is perfect. You know how to win, Hannibal; you do not know what to do after."
Livy wrote this in Latin, so Maharbal's reply is often quoted in Latin, and is a famous phrase: "Vincere scis, Hannibal; victoria uti nescis."
European people |
25005 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal | Hannibal | Hannibal (Hǎnnibal Barca, 247 BC – ? 183/2/1 BC), was a Carthaginian statesman and general. He was the greatest enemy of the Roman Republic.
Hannibal is most famous for what he did in the Second Punic War. He marched an army from Iberia over the Pyrenees mountains and the Alps mountains into northern Italy and defeated the Romans in a series of battles. At the Battle of Cannae, he defeated the largest army Rome had ever put together. The Roman army at Cannae is reckoned at 16 legions and a total of 86,000 men. Over 80% of this army was killed or captured, including many of its commanders.
Hannibal kept an army in Italy for many years. Eventually, a Roman invasion of North Africa made him return to Carthage. He lost, and the Romans made him leave Carthage. He lived at the Seleucid court, and convinced its Emperor to fight Rome. When he lost a naval battle, Hannibal fled to the Bithynian court. When the Romans told him to give up, he killed himself.
Hannibal is listed as one of the greatest military commanders in history. Military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge once called Hannibal the "father of strategy" because even his greatest enemy, Rome, copied his military ideas.
Early career
Hannibal's father, Hamilcar, was the commander of the Carthaginian forces at the end of the First Punic War. After Carthage lost the war, Hamilcar crossed to Hispania to conquer the tribes of what is now Spain. At the time of this invasion, Carthage was in a poor condition. Its navy could not carry its army to Iberia (Hispania). Hamilcar had to march towards the Pillars of Hercules and go across the Strait of Gibraltar. According to a story in Livy, Hamilcar made Hannibal promise that he would never be a friend of Rome. Hannibal told his father:
I swear so soon as age will permit... I will use fire and steel to arrest the destiny of Rome.
In return, Hamilcar agreed to take Hannibal with him to Hispania. Hamilcar spent two years finishing the conquest of Iberia south of the river Ebro. He died in 229/228 in battle, most likely drowning in the Jucar River. His son-in-law Hasdrubal took command, but was assassinated in 221 BC.
With Hasdrubal's death, Hannibal became the leader of the army. Rome feared the growing strength of Hannibal. They made an alliance with the city of Saguntum and claimed to be protecting the city. Saguntum was south of the river Ebro. Hannibal attacked the city because of this. It was captured after eight months. With this attack of a Roman ally, Rome wanted justice from Carthage. Instead, the Carthaginian government saw nothing wrong with Hannibal's actions. The war Hannibal wanted was declared at the end of the year.
Overland journey to Italy
Hannibal's army was made up of as many as 75,000 foot soldiers and 9,000 horsemen. Hannibal left "New Carthage" in late spring of 218 BC. He fought his way north to the Pyrenees. He defeated the tribes through clever mountain tactics and stubborn fighting. After marching 290 miles through Hispania and reaching the Ebro river, Hannibal chose the most trustworthy and loyal parts of his army of Libyan and Iberian mercenaries to keep going with him. He left 11,000 troops to keep watch over the newly conquered region. At the Pyrenees, he let go of another 11,000 Iberian troops. Hannibal entered Gaul with 50,000 foot soldiers and 9,000 horsemen.
Hannibal needed to cross the Pyrenees, the Alps, and many important rivers in the region. starting in the spring of 218 BC, he fought his way to the Pyrenees. He made peace deals with the Gaulic tribal leaders and reached the Rhône River. Arriving at the Rhône in September, Hannibal's army numbered 38,000 infantry, 8,000 horsemen, and thirty-seven war elephants.
Hannibal got away from a Roman force sent to fight him in Gaul. He then went up the valley of one of the streams of the Rhône River. By Autumn, he reached the foot of the Alps. His journey over the mountains is one of the most famous achievements of any military force. After this journey, Hannibal came down from the foothills into northern Italy, to the surprise of the Romans. He had arrived with only half the forces he had started with and only a few elephants. Hannibal had lost as many as 20,000 men crossing over the mountains.
Battle of Trebbia
Publius Cornelius Scipio commanded the Roman force sent to stop Hannibal. He did not expect Hannibal to cross the Alps. He expected to fight Hannibal in Spain. With a small army still in Gaul, Scipio tried to stop Hannibal. He moved his army to Italy by sea in time to meet Hannibal. Hannibal made the area behind him safer by defeating the tribe of the Taurini (modern Turin). The opposing forces fought at Carthage. Here, Hannibal forced the Romans to get out of the plain of Lombardy. This victory did much to weaken Roman control over the Gauls. The Gauls decided to join the Carthaginians. Soon all of northern Italy was unofficially allied. Gallic and Ligurian troops soon raised his army back to 40,000 men. Hannibal’s army was ready to invade Italy. Scipio retreated across the River Trebia. He camped at the town of Placentia and waited for more troops.
The Senate had ordered Sempronius Longus to bring his army from Sicily to meet Scipio and face Hannibal. Hannibal was in position to head him off. Sempronius avoided Hannibal and joined Scipio near the Trebbia River near Placentia. At Trebia, Hannibal defeated the Roman infantry by a surprise attack from an ambush on the flank.
Battle of Lake Trasimene
Arriving in Etruria in the spring of 217 BC, Hannibal decided to lure the main Roman army led by Flaminius into battle. Hannibal found Flaminius camped at Arretium. He marched around his opponent’s left side and cut Flaminius off from Rome. Hannibal made Flaminius chase him. On the shore of Lake Trasimenus, Hannibal destroyed Flaminius's army in the waters or on the nearby slopes. He killed Flaminius as well. He had got rid of the only force that could stop him from getting to Rome. He realized that without siege engines he could not hope to take the capital, so he decided to continue into central and southern Italy. He hoped this show of strength would create a revolt against the Roman government. After Lake Trasimene, Hannibal said, “I have not come to fight Italians, but on behalf of the Italians against Rome.”
Fabius
Rome was put into an immense state of panic. They appointed a dictator named Quintus Fabius Maximus. He was an intelligent and careful general.
Fabius adopted the "Fabian strategy". He refused open battle with his enemy, and put several Roman armies near Hannibal to limit his movement. Fabius sent out small forces against Hannibal’s foraging parties. Residents of small northern villages were told to post lookouts. They could gather their livestock and possessions and go to fortified towns. This would wear down the invaders’ endurance.
Hannibal decided to march through Samnium to Campania. He hoped that the destruction would draw Fabius into battle but Fabius refused to be drawn into battle. His troops became irritated by his “cowardly spirit”. His policies were not liked. Romans were used to facing their enemies in the field and the people wanted to see a quick end to the war.
The rest of Autumn continued with frequent skirmishes. After six months, Fabius was removed from his position in accordance with the Roman law.
Battle of Cannae
In the Spring of 216 BC Hannibal captured the large supply depot at Cannae in the Apulian plain, effectively placing himself between the Romans and their source of supply. The Roman Senate resumed their Consular elections in 216. They chose Caius Terentius Varro and Lucius Aemilius Paullus as Consuls. The Romans raised largest army to this point in their history to defeat Hannibal. It's estimated that the total strength of the army was around 80,000 men.
The Roman army marched southward to Apulia. After a two days’ march, they found Hannibal at the Audifus River. Consul Varro was a reckless man full of pride and was determined to defeat Hannibal. Varro's arrogance got the better of him and allowed Hannibal to drew him into a trap. With brilliant tactics, Hannibal surrounded and destroyed most of this force.
It is estimated that 50,000-70,000 Romans were killed or captured at Cannae. Among the dead were eighty senators. The Roman Senate was no more than 300 men – this was 25%–30% of the governing body. The Battle of Cannae one of the worst defeats in the history of Ancient Rome. It is also one of the bloodiest battles in all of human history in terms of the number of lives lost in a single day. After Cannae, the Romans refused to fight Hannibal in battles. They tried instead to defeat him by wearing him down. They relied on their advantages of supply and manpower.
Because of this victory most of southern Italy joined Hannibal's cause. During that same year, the Greek cities in Sicily revolted against Roman control. The Macedonian king, Philip V supported Hannibal. This started the First Macedonian War against Rome. Hannibal made his new base in Capua, the second largest city of Italy.
Stalemate
Without the resources from his allies or reinforcements from Carthage, Hannibal could not do much more and began losing ground. He continued defeating the Romans whenever he could bring them into battle but was never able to score another decisive victory.
End of War in Italy
In 212 BC conspirators in Tarentum let Hannibal into the city. They then blew the alarm with some Roman trumpets. This let Hannibal's troops pick off the Romans as they stumbled into the streets. Hannibal told the Tarentines to mark every house where Tarentines lived so they wouldn't be looted. Even with the looting the citadel held out. This stopped Hannibal from using the harbor and Rome was slowly gaining ground over Hannibal. In the same year, he lost Campania.
In 211 BC the city of Capua fell. In summer of that year, the Romans destroyed the Carthaginian army in Sicily. Meanwhile, Hannibal had defeated Fulvius at Herdonea in Apulia, but lost Tarentum. With the loss of Tarentum in 209 BC and the Romans capturing of Samnium and Lucania, his hold on south Italy was almost lost.
In 207 BC he retired into Bruttium. These events marked the end to Hannibal's success in Italy. In 203 BC, Hannibal was recalled to Carthage to lead the defence of his homeland against a Roman invasion.
End of Second Punic War (203–201 BC)
The Battle of Zama
Both Scipio and Hannibal met on the field of Zama. Hannibal had about 50,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry. Scipio had 34,000 infantry and 8,700 cavalry. For years, Hannibal had won victories with his experienced army. He now faced the best of the Roman army, while he led a makeshift army. They did not do well against the Romans.
Hannibal was defeated. 20,000 men of Hannibal’s army were killed at Zama. The same number of men were taken as prisoners. The Romans lost as few as 500 dead and 4,000 wounded. With their best general defeated, the Carthaginians accepted defeat and surrendered to Rome.
Exile and death (195–183 BC)
Seven years after the victory of Zama, the Romans demanded Hannibal's surrender. Hannibal went into voluntary exile. He journeyed to Tyre, the mother-city of Carthage, and then to Ephesus and Syria.
In 190 BC he was placed in command of a Phoenician fleet but was defeated in a battle off the Eurymedon River. Hannibal went to Crete, but he soon returned to the Asia Minor. At Libyssa on the eastern shore of the Sea of Marmora, he was going to be turned over to the Romans. Rather than letting himself be taken, he drank poison. The precise year of his death is not certain. It is believed to be 183 BC. He died in the same year as Scipio Africanus.
Hannibal in movies and television
References
Other websites
Hannibal Barca and the Punic Wars
Ancient History Sourcebook: Polybius (c.200-after 118 BC): The Character of Hannibal
"Rome and Carthage: Classic Battle Joined" Article by Greg Yocherer from Military History Magazine
Cannae A treatise by General Fieldmarshal Count Alfred von Schlieffen
Ancient Rome |
25021 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veganism | Veganism | Veganism is a philosophy that says people should not use animals. There are vegans who choose not to eat animals, and vegans who choose not to use them in any other way either.
Vegans do not eat or drink food that comes from animals, including meat, eggs and dairy products (like milk, cheese, and yogurt). A vegan diet is sometimes called a strict vegetarian diet. Some vegans also do not eat honey. Many vegans try not to use any other animal products, such as leather, wool, feathers, bone, pearl or shoes. They also try not to buy or use products that have been tested on animals. They may support animal welfare and animal rights, and may campaign for these causes.
Vegans eat fruits, vegetables, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds, and types of food made from them like vegan sweets, vegan cheese and vegan cakes.
Dorothy Morgan and Donald Watson invented the word "vegan" in 1944 when they formed the Vegan Society in the United Kingdom.
Origins
Some people become vegan because they disagree with the treatment of animals in the modern animal farm industry. Other reasons to become vegan are for health, religious reasons, to protect the environment, or because of world hunger. Animals eat a lot and take up a lot of resources. By not producing meat, milk, or eggs, a lot of food, land (as of 2006, 30% of the earth's land mass is used raising animals for food) and water can be saved. For example, it takes about 16 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of grain-fed meat, so eating plants directly takes fewer resources. There is also the issue of antibiotic use in the industry. Animals are given antibiotics so often that the risk of bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics is very possible in the near future.
Some vegans only eat foods that have not been cooked. Their diet is called raw veganism.
Another more restrictive type of veganism is fruitarianism. Fruitarians only eat foods that can be harvested without harming or killing a plant.
Vitamin B12 concerns
Vegans must make sure their diet includes enough vitamin B12, because it does not occur reliably in plant foods. Vitamin B12 deficiency can have serious bad effects on the person's health. These might include anaemia and neurodegenerative diseases. California-based dietitian nutritionist Ashley Lytwyn said “Nutrients like B12 can be tough to get with a vegan diet, and the iron in vegetables isn’t as bioavailable as iron in animal proteins.” “Even if he ate enough iron-rich vegetables, the body can’t always absorb what it needs.” Vegan societies recommend that vegans either eat foods with added B12 or take a B12 supplement. Tempeh, seaweed, spirulina, organic produce, and intestinal bacteria do not have enough B12 for a vegan diet. Vitamin D deficiency is possible in the absence of dairy products (which are normally fortified with vitamin D). Vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. In rickets, bones do not mineralize normally, causing growth retardation and skeletal deformities. It can be prevented by supplements, and by direct injections.
A typical vegan diet contains more iron than other diets. Yet, the incidence of iron deficiency in vegans is similar to omnivores. While legumes, nuts, vegetables, and dried fruits are rich in iron, vegans absorb iron less effectively.
Health
Many people think that it is not healthy to be vegan. However, a vegan diet can have all of the nutrients needed for health. It is just more difficult to get the nutrients because there are fewer foods to choose from.
Related pages
Vegetarianism
References
Other websites
Vegan Society
Vegan Wikia
Animal rights
Vegetarianism
Diets |
25027 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrophilia | Necrophilia | Necrophilia is a paraphilia of being sexually attracted to dead bodies. Some necrophiliacs have sex with dead bodies. It is usually considered bad. It is illegal in many parts of the world, but not all.
Paraphilias
Sex crimes |
25035 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait%20of%20Magellan | Strait of Magellan | The Strait of Magellan is a passageway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. It is just south of mainland South America and north of Tierra del Fuego. It goes through Argentina and Chile and a for long time the two countries argued over which one owned the land around it. Chile now owns it. The strait is named after Ferdinand Magellan. It is very foggy and stormy.
Other websites
The first map made of the Strait of Magellan. It was made in 1520
Magellan
Bodies of water of South America |
25042 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenerbah%C3%A7e%20S.K. | Fenerbahçe S.K. | Fenerbahçe is a sports club in Istanbul, Turkey. It was officially founded in 1907.
Fenerbahçe's home stadium is the Fenerbahce Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium in Kadıkoy Istanbul.
They have won the Spor Toto Super League 28 times and Ziraat Turkish Cup 6 times.
Other websites
Official website of Fenerbahce
Fenerbahceulker basketball website
Fenerbahce Ulker Spor
Fenerbahce Community Portal
Turkish football clubs |
25048 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo%20sapiens | Homo sapiens | Homo sapiens (Latin: "wise man") is the scientific name for the human species.
Homo is the human genus. H. sapiens is the only surviving species of the genus Homo. Homo Sapiens are sometimes called "anatomically modern humans".
Origin
The recent African origin of modern humans is the mainstream model of the origin and dispersal of anatomically modern humans.
The hypothesis that humans have a single origin was published in Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man (1871). The concept is supported by a study of present-day mitochondrial DNA, and with evidence based on physical anthropology of fossil humans. According to genetic and fossil evidence, older versions of Homo sapiens evolved only in Africa, between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, with members of one branch leaving Africa by 90,000 years ago and over time replacing earlier human populations such as Neanderthals and Homo erectus.
The recent single origin of modern humans in East Africa is the near-consensus position held within the scientific community.
Sequencing of the full Neanderthal genome suggests Neanderthals and some modern humans share some ancient genetic lineages. The authors of the study suggest that their findings are consistent with Neanderthal admixture of up to 4% in some populations. The reason for this admixture is not known. In August 2012, a study suggested that the DNA overlap is a remnant of a common ancestor of both Neanderthals and modern humans.
Evolution
The time frame for the evolution of the genus Homo out of the last common ancestor is roughly 10 to 2 million years ago, that of H. sapiens out of Homo erectus roughly 1.8 to 0.2 million years ago.
Scientific study of human evolution is mostly concerned with the development of the genus Homo, but usually involves studying other hominids and hominines as well, such as Australopithecus. "Modern humans" are defined as the Homo sapiens species, of which the only living subspecies is known as Homo sapiens sapiens.
Homo sapiens idaltu, the other known subspecies, is now extinct. Homo neanderthalensis, which became extinct 30,000 years ago, has sometimes been classified as a subspecies, "Homo sapiens neanderthalensis". Genetic studies now suggest that the functional DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals diverged 500,000 years ago.
Similarly, the discovered specimens of the Homo rhodesiensis species have been classified by some as a subspecies, but this classification is not widely accepted.
Earliest fossils of the species
Until recently it was thought that anatomically modern humans first appeared in the fossil record in Africa about 195,000 years ago. Studies of molecular biology suggested that the approximate time of divergence from the common ancestor of all modern human populations was 200,000 years ago. The broad study of African genetic diversity found the ǂKhomani San people had the greatest genetic diversity among the 113 distinct populations sampled, making them one of 14 "ancestral population clusters". The research also placed the origin of modern human migration in south-western Africa, near the coastal border of Namibia and Angola.
In the 1960s an archaeological site at Jebel Irhoud in Morocco was dated as about 40,000 years old but it was re-dated in the 2000s. It is now thought to be between 300,000 and 350,000 years old. The skull form is almost identical to modern humans, though the jaw is different.
The forces of natural selection have continued to operate on human populations, with evidence that certain regions of the genome show selection in the past 15,000 years.
References
Hominins
Humans |
25053 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake%20Tanganyika | Lake Tanganyika | Lake Tanganyika is large lake in the Great Rift Valley of central Africa. The lake is divided between four countries – Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia. It is the longest fresh water lake in the world and the second deepest.
Other websites
Tanganyika
Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Geography of Tanzania
Geography of Zambia
Burundi |
25108 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio%20%281940%20movie%29 | Pinocchio (1940 movie) | Pinocchio is the second animated Disney movie, made by Walt Disney Productions and first released to movie theaters by RKO Radio Pictures on February 7, 1940. Based on the story Pinocchio: Tale of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi, it was made in response to the huge success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The movie tells the story of Pinocchio, a wooden puppet made by a man named Geppetto and brought to life by the Blue fairy, after Geppetto wishes he could have a son. She tells him he can become a real boy if he proves himself "brave, truthful, and unselfish." Pinocchio must try to be good so he can become a real boy, with the help of his friend, Jiminy Cricket. Thus begins the adventures of the puppet into a real boy, which involve many encounters with a series of unpleasant characters.
The movie was adapted by Aurelius Battaglia, William Cottrell, Otto Englander, Erdman Penner, Joseph Sabo, Ted Sears, and Webb Smith from Collodi's book. The production was supervised by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, and the film's sequences were directed by Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, and Bill Roberts.
It features the song, "When You Wish Upon A Star", which has been used at the start of most Disney movies since 1985.
The story
A man called Gepetto makes a wood puppet called Pinocchio. He wishes that Pinocchio was a real boy, and the Blue Fairy makes Gepetto's wish come true. But to become a real boy instead of a live puppet, Pinocchio has to prove that he's good. The Blue Fairy assigns a cricket named Jiminy Cricket to guide him and keep him out of trouble. This is a hard job, and Pinocchio does a lot of things wrong.
On his first day of school, two crooks, a fox named Honest John and his mute sidekick named Gideon, trick Pinocchio to join Stromboli's puppet show instead. Pinocchio is popular in the show, but Stromboli is cruel to him and locks him in a bird cage. The Blue Fairy asks Pinocchio how this happened, but Pinocchio lies, and his nose grows longer. With the help of the Blue Fairy and Jiminy, Pinocchio escapes from the cage.
The crooks trick Pinocchio again, and tell him to go to Pleasure Island. He meets Lampwick, a bad boy who convinces him to gamble, smoke, drink, vandalize and other bad things. The island is magical, and the boys who act like "jackasses" (donkeys) turn into donkeys. These donkeys are sold to work in the local salt mines.
Lampwick becomes a donkey, but Pinocchio only changes part way, with donkey ears and a donkey tail. He escapes from Pleasure Island and returns to Geppetto's house. But Geppetto is not there. He has gone to sea, to search for Pinocchio.
Pinocchio and Jiminy go looking for Geppetto, but they are eaten by the huge whale Monstro. Monstro has also swallowed Geppetto. Pinocchio builds a fire to make Monstro sneeze, and this frees them all. But they are lost in the ocean and Geppetto is drowning. He tells Pinocchio to swim to shore and save himself, but Pinocchio grabs Geppetto and carries him to shore. Geppetto survives, but Pinocchio appears to be dead.
Geppetto and Jiminy are sad and return home with Pinocchio's body. The Blue Fairy decides that Pinocchio has proved that he is good enough, and brings him back to life... and also turns him into a real boy. Everyone is happy and they celebrate. The movie ends with Jiminy Cricket getting a badge of soild gold and a chorus sings a reprise of the song "When You Wish Upon A Star".
Production
The original plan for the movie was very different from what they made. Many characters and events from the original book were used in early versions. Producer Walt Disney was unhappy with this version and had them change a lot of the story and characters.
At first, Pinocchio was going to look like a real wooden puppet, with a long pointed nose, a pointed hat, and bare wood hands. He was going to act more grown-up and do bad things on purpose, instead of being tricked into doing bad things. But Walt Disney did not think that people would like this character, so they changed his appearance and the way he acted. They made him look more like a real boy, with a small nose, a child's hat, and regular hands with gloves. The only parts of him that still looked like a puppet were his arms and legs.
Jiminy Cricket (voiced by Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards) became a more important character. He was not included in the first version of the story. When they added him, he looked more like a real cricket, but Walt wanted more people to like him, so Ward Kimball changed him into "a little man with no ears. That was the only thing about him that was like an insect."
Characters
Jiminy Cricket, voiced by Cliff Edwards, is a cricket who acts as Pinocchio's "conscience" and tells parts of the story.He is the main protagonist.
Pinocchio, voiced by Dickie Jones, is a wooden puppet made by Geppetto and turned into a living puppet by the Blue Fairy.He is the deurtagonist.
Geppetto, voiced by Christian Rub, is a toymaker who creates Pinocchio and wishes for him to become a real boy.
Figaro and Cleo are Geppetto's black and white housecat and goldfish.
J. Worthington "Honest John" Foulfellow, voiced by Walter Catlett, is a sly anthropomorphic fox who tricks Pinocchio twice in the movie.Foulfellow is the major antagonist.
Gideon is Honest John's dumb, mute, anthropomorphic cat sidekick. He was originally to be voiced by Mel Blanc, but they deleted his dialogue in favour of a mute performance. However, Gideon's hiccups were provided by Blanc. Gideon is the minor antagonist.
Stromboli, voiced by Charles Judels, is a large, sinister, bearded puppet maker who forces Pinocchio to perform onstage in order to make money.He is the primary antagonist.
The Blue Fairy, voiced by Evelyn Venable, is the beautiful fairy who brings Pinocchio to life and turns him into a real boy at the end.
The Coachman, voiced by Charles Judels. A corrupt coachman who owns and operates Pleasure Island.He is the secondary antagonist.
Lampwick, voiced by Frankie Darro, is a naughty boy Pinocchio meets on his way to Pleasure Island. He turns into a donkey while the boys are hanging out.
Monstro is the whale that swallows Geppetto, Figaro, and Cleo during their search for Pinocchio.Monstro is the final antagonist.
Crew
Supervising Directors: Ben Sharpsteen, Hamilton Luske
Sequence Directors: Bill Roberts, Norman Ferguson, Jack Kinney, Wilfred Jackson, T. Hee
Supervising Animators: Fred Moore, Franklin Thomas, Milton Kahl, Vladimir Tytla, Ward Kimball, Arthur Babbitt, Eric Larson, Woolie Reitherman
Story Adaptation: Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia
Character Designers: Joe Grant, Albert Hurter, John P. Miller, Campbell Grant, Martin Provensen, John Walbridge
Original Songs by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline
Score Composed and Conducted by Paul J. Smith
Art Directors: Charles Philippi, Hugh Hennessy, Kenneth Anderson, Dick Kelsey, Kendall O'Connor, Terrell Stapp, Thor Putnam, John Hubley, McLaren Stewart, Al Zinnen
Backgrounds: Claude Coats, Merle Cox, Ed Starr, Ray Huffine
Animators: Jack Campbell, Oliver M. Johnston, Berny Wolf, Don Towsley, Don Lusk, John Lounsbery, Norman Tate, John Bradbury, Lynn Karp, Charles Nichols, Art Palmer, Joshua Meador, Don Tobin, Robert Martsch, George Rowley, John McManus, Don Patterson, Preston Blair, Les Clark, Marvin Woodward, Hugh Fraser, John Elliotte
Release
With the re-release of Snow White and then Seven Dwarfs in 1944 came the tradition of re-releasing Disney movies every seven to ten years. Pinocchio has been theatrically re-released in 1945, 1954, 1962, 1971, 1978, 1984, and 1992. The 1992 re-issue was digitally restored by cleaning and removing scratches from the original one scene at a time, getrting rid of blurry sound, and making the color lighter. The movie also received four video releases (and two DVD releases), being a big-seller in 1985 (this print was re-mastered and re-issued in 1986). Then the more complex digital restoration that was done for the 1992 re-issue was released on VHS, followed by the final VHS release (which was also the movie's first release on Disney DVD as well as the first in the Walt Disney Gold Classics Collection VHS/DVD line) in 1999. The second Disney DVD release (a 60th anniversary) premiered the following year in 2000. The third DVD release and first Blu-ray Disc release (the second Blu-ray in the Walt Disney Platinum Editions series) were released on March 10, 2009 (March 11, 2009 in Australia), and like the 2008 Sleeping Beauty release, the Blu-ray package featured two discs, and a bonus DVD of the movie also included.
Home video release history
July 16, 1985 (VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc, Classics edition)
October 14, 1986 (VHS and Betamax, remastered Classics edition)
March 26, 1993 (VHS and Laserdisc, restored Classics edition)
April 16, 1995 (VHS, Spanish-dubbed Clásicos edition)
October 26, 1999 (60th Anniversary Edition, as well as a Limited Issue DVD)
March 7, 2000 (VHS and DVD, Walt Disney Golden Classic Collection)
March 10, 2009 (70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray)
February 9, 2016 (Diamond Edition DVD and Blu-ray)
Reception
Pinocchio was not successful at the box office when first released, and Disney only earned $1.9 million against a $2.6 million budget. The movie made some success at the American box office, but was not able to profit, due to its poor performance in Europe. The timing of the move's release was a reason, with World War II cutting off European markets. Although the United States had not yet gotten into the war, people's interests may have not have meant much among Americans in seeing fantasy stories as they were in the days of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It also lacked the romance element that had proven popular in Snow White.
Nevertheless, there were positive reactions to the movie as well. Archer Winsten, who had criticized Snow White, said that "The faults (mistakes) that were in Snow White no longer exist. In writing of Pinocchio, you are limited only by your own power of expressing enthusiasm". Also, despite the poor timing of the release, the movie did do well both critically and at the box office in the United States. Jiminy Cricket's song, "When You Wish Upon a Star," became a major success and still is today, and is the fanfare for The Walt Disney Company. Pinocchio also won the Academy Award for Best Song and the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture. In 1994, Pinocchio was added to the United States National FilmRegistry as being very important in culture, history, or aesthetic. In 2001 Terry Gilliam picked it as one of the ten best animated movies of all time and in 2005 Time.com named it one of the 100 best movies of the last 80 years. Many movie historians consider this to be the movie that is the closest to technical perfection of all the Disney animated features.
Pinocchio earned $84,254,167 at the box office.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten movies in ten "classic" American movie genres. After polling over 1,500 people from the creative community, Pinocchio was acknowledged as the second best movie in the animation genre, after Snow White.
Songs
The songs in Pinocchio were composed by Leigh Harline, Ned Washington and Oliver Wallace, who had no screen credit as the film conductor while Paul J. Smith composed the incidental music score.
"When You Wish upon a Star" - Jiminy Cricket; Chorus
"Little Wooden Head" - Geppetto
"Give a Little Whistle" - Jiminy Cricket; Pinocchio
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" - J. Worthington Foulfellow
"I've Got No Strings" - Pinocchio
"Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (reprise)" - J. Worthington Foulfellow
"When You Wish upon a Star (reprise)" - Jiminy Cricket; Chorus
On Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic, this includes When You Wish upon a Star on the blue disc, Give a Little Whistle on the purple disc, and I've Got No Strings on the orange disc.
And on Disney's Greatest Hits, this also includes When You Wish upon a Star on another blue disc, I've Got No Strings on the green disc, and Give a Little Whistle on the red disc.
Songs written for movie but not used
"I'm a Happy-Go-Lucky Fellow" - Jiminy Cricket (this song eventually showed up in Fun and Fancy Free)
"As I Was Saying To the Duchess" - J. Worthington Foulfellow (this line is spoken briefly by Foulfellow in the movie, however)
"Three Cheers For Anything" - Lampwick; Pinocchio; Alexander; Other Boys
"Monstro the Whale" - Chorus
"Honest John" (this song appears as a bonus feature on the 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD)
Theme park references
Pinocchio's Daring Journey is a popular ride at Disneyland Park (Anaheim), Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Park (Paris).
Ice show
Disney on ice starring Pinocchio, toured nationally & internationally from 1987 - 1992. A Shorter version of the story is also presented in the current Disney on ice production "100 Years of Magic"
Directing animators
Fred Moore (Lampwick)
Frank Thomas (Pinocchio on strings and at the puppet show)
Ollie Johnston (Pinocchio)
Milt Kahl (Pinocchio)
Bill Tytla (Stromboli)
Ward Kimball (Jiminy Cricket)
Art Babbitt (Geppetto)
Wolfgang Reitherman (Monstro)
Eric Larson (Figaro)
John Lounsbery (J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon)
Sequence directors
Bill Roberts (Monstro)
Norman Ferguson (Foulfellow and Gideon)
Jack Kinney (Lampwick)
Wilfred Jackson (Stromboli)
T. Hee (Geppetto and Figaro)
References
Other websites
Official Site
1940 movies
Disney animated movies
American family movies
American musical movies
United States National Film Registry movies
Movies based on books
Movies composed by Oliver Wallace
Movies that won the Best Original Song Academy Award |
25109 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubbock%2C%20Texas | Lubbock, Texas | Lubbock is a city in the United States. It is in the state of Texas. More than 212,000 people live there.
It is the home of Texas Tech University.
County seats in Texas |
25111 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl | Pearl | Pearls are made of a kind of material made by mollusks, like oysters. Pearls are small and often white but sometimes in pale colors or even black. They are often round, but sometimes half-round, oval, or in different shapes. Pearls are often used for jewelry. The pearl is the birthstone for the month June.
How a natural pearl is formed
A natural pearl is formed when nacre-producing cells are displaced from the mantle tissue of an oyster. These cells are genetically programmed to produce nacre, the substance that lines the inner sides of an oyster's shell. When the cells become displaced, often by a boring parasite or damage to the outer shell, they continue to do what they are programmed to do -- produce nacre and form a pearl.
They can be very tiny (as tiny as a peppercorn) or quite big (as big as a human's fist). The world's largest pearl, found in 1934 and called the Pearl of Lao-tze, is about the size of a basketball.
Types of pearls
There are two kinds of pearls: saltwater pearls and freshwater pearls. Saltwater pearls come from oysters that live in the oceans. Freshwater pearls are found in mussels that live in rivers, lakes, or ponds.
There is also a natural pearl and a cultured pearl. Natural pearls are made by oysters accidentally, and are very rare. Cultured pearls are made by inserting small beads and a piece of donor mantle tissue (in the case of saltwater pearls) into the reproductive organ of a saltwater oyster, or simply inserting a piece of donor mantle tissue (in the case of freshwater pearls) into a small incision in the mantle of a freshwater mussel.
References
Gemstones
Birthstones |
25112 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner%20Bros. | Warner Bros. | Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly called Warner Bros.) is a large entertainment group and movie studio. It is owned by WarnerMedia. Warner Bros. is known for Looney Tunes. They own the copyrights to the Harry Potter movie series, the Batman movie series, and Superman movie series, the DC Extended Universe and the It duology. They also produced the TV show Friends.
Warner Bros. is a very large company. Warner Brothers was founded on April 4, 1923. Its founders were Jack L. Warner: Albert Warner: Harry Warner: and Sam Warner. It was founded in Hollywood, California. It has won several awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.
References
1923 establishments in the United States |
25113 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star%20Wars%20Episode%20VI%3A%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi | Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi is science fiction movie. It is the sixth film in the Star Wars film series. The movie was released in 1983. It also includes romance, action, adventure and drama.
Plot
The Empire constructs a new Death Star. Luke, Leia, and the droids rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, an evil slug-like gangster. Later, Luke learns that Leia is his sister and must confront his father (Darth Vader) and return him to the good side. The movie is also famous for introducing a group of little creatures called Ewoks who help fight the Empire's troopers.
Cast
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO
Kenny Baker as R2-D2
Frank Oz as Yoda
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca
Other websites
Official website
Return of the Jedi The Movie Database
1983 movies
1983 science fiction movies
Jungle movies
Return of the Jedi
Movies directed by Richard Marquand |
25115 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter | Quarter | Quarter might mean:
One fourth of something
Quarter (U.S. coin)
A neighborhood or section of a city, such as the Armenian Quarter |
25122 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom%20of%20religion | Freedom of religion | When people have the freedom of religion, they can either belong to any religion they choose, or belong to no religion
Where there is no freedom of religion, people can be punished and persecuted for not having the right religion. Communist countries such as Cuba, North Korea and China have also punished people for religious activities.
Related pages
Religious conversion
Religious toleration
Separation of church and state
State religion
Secularism
Other websites
Text of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Religious ethics
Human rights
Freedom
Libertarianism |
25137 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDC%20%28band%29 | MDC (band) | MDC are an anarcho-punk and hardcore punk band that started in Austin, Texas in 1979. They helped make hardcore punk popular in Austin, but in 1982 they moved to San Francisco, California, where they continued to become popular in the hardcore punk community. In 1993 the band stopped playing music, but they began again in 2000 and still play music today.
Their lyrics were very political. They did not like the police, war, capitalism or racism. They did like gay people and thought that they should be treated fairly.
The name MDC is an abbreviation and has meant many things. The band changes what it means a lot. It has meant "Millions of Dead Cops", "More Dead Cops", "Millions of Dead Children", "Multi Death Corporations", "Millions of Damn Christians", "Missile Destroyed Civilization" and "Magnus Dominus Corpus".
Other websites
X-Con Ron's Official MDC Website
Anarcho-punk bands
American punk bands
Musical groups from Texas
Musicians from Austin, Texas |
25140 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus%20Prime | Optimus Prime | Optimus Prime, known in Japan as Convoy, is a character from the Transformers franchise. Prime is the leader of the Autobots, a group of transforming robots from the planet of Cybertron. The Autobots are constantly at war with another group of transforming robots called Decepticons. According to Bob Budiansky, co-writer of the Transformers series, Dennis O'Neil made his name. In the 1986 animated film Transformers: The Movie, he is killed by his arch nemesis Megatron, who is the leader of the Decepticons. He is voiced by Peter Cullen.
Generation 1
In the Transfotmers Generation 1 cartoon series, Optimus was originally a naive and defenceless dock worker named Orion Pax. Some time later, Orion was killed by Megatron and rebuilt by Alpha Trion as Optimus Prime.
Films
In the films, Optimus does not have his original Generation 1 look or voice due to the fact they were not based on the cartoon series. In Transformers (2007), Revenge of the Fallen and Dark of the Moon, he had his original body, the one from the 2007 film. In Age of Extinction, Optimus appears battle damaged but was revealed to have been hiding from humans with the other Autobots, according to his friend Ratchet. In the movie, he was given a new look after being fixed by a human named Cade Yeager. In The Last Knight, Optimus is seen floating around in space after running low on Energon, a source of energy that transformers run on. When he appears on Cybertron, Optimus had no memory of what had happened to Cybertron, which had imploded on itself in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. In the film, Optimus is brainwashed by Quintessa, the prime of life and turned into Nemesis Prime. He also has the look he had in Transformers: Age of Extinction.
References
Bibliography
Other websites
Pages on Optimus Prime at the Transformers Wiki
Fictional characters introduced in 1984
Transformers (franchise) |
25142 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic%20strip | Comic strip | A comic strip is a series of panels with cartoon drawings in them that make a story. Sometimes comic strips are humorous, and sometimes they are serious. Famous examples of comic strips are:
Peanuts by Charles Schulz
Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson.
Motley's Crew by Ben Templeton and Tom Forman
Between Friends by Sandra Bell-Lundy
The Adventures of Tintin by Herge
Garfield by Jim Davis
Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce
There are comic strips in newspapers and on the web. Comic strips on the web are called webcomics. Penny Arcade and xkcd are famous webcomics.
Art |
25145 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz%20Ferdinand | Franz Ferdinand | Franz Ferdinand could mean:
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, whose assassination led to World War I
Franz Ferdinand (band), a Scottish band
Franz Ferdinand (album), their debut album
Franz Ferdinand (DVD), their music DVD
Franz Ferdinand, a character from the Alfred J. Kwak anime series
Related pages
Ferdinand Frantz, a German opera singer |
25147 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/First%20ScotRail | First ScotRail | ScotRail was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Abellio operating the ScotRail franchise.
History
National Express operated the ScotRail franchise from March 1997 until October 2004.
On July 28 2003 Transport Scotland announced Arriva, First and National Express had been chosen to bid for the new franchise.
On June 11 2004 Transport Scotland awarded the new franchise to First with the services operated by ScotRail moving to First ScotRail on October 17 2004. It originally traded as First ScotRail before being rebranded as ScotRail in September 2008.
On October 8 2014, Abellio were awarded the franchise beating First. They started running the trains in April 2015.
References
Transport in Scotland
Rail transport in the United Kingdom
First Group railway companies
Train operating companies
Companies of Scotland |
25150 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste%20container | Waste container | A waste container (known more commonly in British English as a dustbin, rubbish-bin or simply a bin, and American English as a trash can) is a container, usually made of plastic or metal, used to store refuse.
Rubbish (trash) is usually kept in these until it is emptied by collecters, who will take it to a landfill or incinerator.
Some bins are used specifically for recycling.
Containers
Waste |
25151 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara%20Empire | Vijayanagara Empire | The Vijayanagara empire was an Indian empire. From 1336 and afterwards, it was in the Deccan, in the peninsula and in southern India. It was founded by Harihara (Hakka) and his brother Bukka Raya. The empire is named after its capital city Vijayanagara, now Hampi in modern Karnataka, India. It began in 1336 and ended in 1660, though in its last century it began losing its power. Stories of the empire's creation and history are not certain, though tales of the empire's wealth and power were described by European travellers such as the Portuguese travelers Domingo Paes and Nuniz, and the Venetian traveler Niccolò Da Conti.
Dynasties and kings
This list is based on the book by Robert Sewell (A Forgotten Empire).
Sangama Dynasty
Harihara I (Deva Raya) 1336-1343/56(some accounts claim that there was brief period of other ruler probably a 3rd brother)
Bukka I 1343/56-1379
Harihara II 1379-1399
Bukka II 1399-1406
Deva Raya I 1406-1412
Vira Vijaya 1412-1419
Deva Raya II 1419-1444
(unknown) 1444-1449
Mallikarjuna 1452-1465 (Dates uncertain)
Rajasekhara 1468-1469 (Dates uncertain)
Virupaksha I 1470-1471 (Dates uncertain)
Praudha Deva Raya 1476-? (Dates uncertain)
Rajasekhara 1479-1480 (Dates uncertain)
Virupaksha II 1483-1484 (Dates uncertain)
Rajasekhara 1486-1487 (Dates uncertain)
Saluva Dynasty
Narasimha 1490-?
Narasa (Vira Narasimha) ?-1509
Krishna Deva 1509-1529
Achyuta 1529-1542
Sadasiva (puppet ruler in the hands of Ram Raya) 1542-1567
Tuluva dynasty
Rama (ruled in practice) 1542-1565
Tirumala (ruled in practice) 1565-1567
Tirumala (crowned ruler) 1567-1575
Ranga II 1575-1586
Venkata I 1586-1614
Aravidu (dates are not known), includes these rulers. There is certainly more than one ruler under each name.
Ranga
Venkata
Rama
Other websites
History of Karnataka - Mr. Arthikaje
Indian Inscriptions - Archeological Survery Of India
A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar: A Contribution to the History of India
http://freeindia.org/biographies/greatlkings/hakkabukka/index.htm(Biography of Hakka and Bukka.)
Vijayanagar Empire, Dr. Jyotsna Kamat
Hampi - History and Tourism
History of India
Empires
1336 establishments
1660 disestablishments
14th-century establishments in India
Disestablishments in India |
25152 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi%20Sultanate | Delhi Sultanate | The Delhi Sultanate (دلی سلطنت), or Sulthanath-e-Hind (سلطنتِ ہند) or Sulthanath-e-Dilli (سلطنتِ دلی) were the Persian-speaking dynasties of Turkic and Afghan origin, which were controlling most of the Indian subcontinent from 1210 to 1526. Many of these dynasties ruled from Delhi. This includes the Slave dynasty (1206-90), the Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (1320-1413), the Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and the Lodi dynasty (1451-1526). Later on, after the region fell to the Mughals, there was again a brief period when Humayun, son of the Mughal Babur and father of Akbar the Great, was deposed by the Pathan Suri dynasty who enjoyed a short rule then, before Humayun was reinstated in 1555.
Sultans of Delhi
Mamluk, or Slave dynasty (1206 - 1290)
Qutb-ud-din Aibak (1206 - 1210)
Aram Shah (1210 - 1211)
Shams-ud-din Iltutmish (1211 - 1236)
Rukn ud din Firuz (1236)
Raziyyat ud din Sultana (1236 - 1240) (Raziyya Sultana)
Muiz ud din Bahram (1240 - 1242)
Ala ud din Masud (1242 - 1246)
Nasir ud din Mahmud (1246 - 1266)
Ghiyas ud din Balban (1266 - 1286)
Muiz ud din Qaiqabad (1286 - 1290)
Shamsuddin Kayumars (1290)
Khilji (Khalji) dynasty (1290 - 1320)
Jalal ud din Firuz Khilji (1290 - 1294)
Ala ud din Khilji (1294 - 1316)
Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah (1316 - 1321)
Tughlaq dynasty (1321 - 1398)
Ghiyas ud din Tughluq Shah I (1321 - 1325)
Muhammad Shah II (1325 - 1351)
Mahmud Ibn Muhammad ( March 1351)
Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351 - 1388)
Ghiyas ud din Tughluq II (1388 - 1389)
Abu Bakar (1389 - 1390)
Nasir ud din Muhammad Shah III (1390 - 1393)
Sikander Shah I ( March - April 1393)
Mahmud Nasir ud din (Sultan Mahmud II) at Delhi (1393 - 1394)
Nusrat Shah at Firuzabad (1394 - 1398)
Sayyid (Syed) Dynasty (1414 - 1451)
Khizr Khan (1414 - 1421)
Mubarrak Shah II (1421 - 1435)
Muhammad Shah IV (1435 - 1445)
Aladdin Alam Shah (1445 - 1451)
Lodi (Lodhi) dynasty (1451 - 1526)
Bahlol Khan Lodi (1451-1489)
Sikandar Lodi (1489-1517)
Ibrahim II (1517-1526)
1526-1540: Mughal rule after the First Battle of Panipat
Suri, or Sur dynasty (1540 - 1555)
Sher Shah Suri (Farid Khan Suri) (1540 - 1545)
Islam Shah (1545 - 1553)
Muhammad V (1553 - 1554)
Firuz Shah ( 29 April - 2 May 1554)
Ibrahim III (1554 - 1554/5)
Sikander Shah (1554/5 - 1555)
1555: Return to Mughal Rule after brief interregnum
Related pages
The History of South Asia series) has more information at Islamic Empires in India#Delhi Sultanate
List of Indian monarchs
References
Pakistan
Braudel, Fernand, The perspective of the World, vol III of Civilization and Capitalism 1984 (original French ed. 1979)
Literature
Elliot and Dowson: The History of India as told by its own Historians, (New Delhi) reprint, 1990.
Peter Jackson The Delhi Sultanate. A Political and Military History (Cambridge) 1999
Majumdar, R. C. (ed.), The History and Culture of the Indian People, Volume VI, The Delhi Sultanate, (Bombay) 1960; Volume VII, The Mughal Empire, (Bombay) 1973.
Nizami, Khaliq Ahmad Some Aspects of Religion and Politics in India in the Thirteenth Century (Delhi) 1961 (Revised Edition Delhi 2002)
Other websites
Delhi Sultanate Dynasty
List of rulers of Delhi
History of Pakistan
History of India
1210 establishments
1520s disestablishments in Asia
Establishments in India
1526 disestablishments
1210s establishments in Asia |
25153 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoysala%20Empire | Hoysala Empire | The Hoysala Empire (Kannada: ಹೊಯ್ಸಳ) was an Indian empire. It controlled part of southern India from 1000 to 1346 A.D. Belur, Karnataka was the empire's capital. The Hoysala Empire is remembered today mostly because of its architecture. The hundreds of temples found across Karnataka are good examples of temples that were in the cities of Belur, Halebid and Somnathpura. The Hoysala kings were affected by Jainism and Hinduism. King Vishnuvardhana and the kings after him believed in Vaishnavism.
In the beginning, the Hoysalas were a small part of the Chalukyas of Kalyani. However, they began to grow until they made their own empire in Karnataka. The Hoysala period is known as one of the best times in the history of Karnataka, next only to the Vijayanagara Empire. Some famous Hoysala kings were Vishnuvardhana, Veera Ballala II and Veera Ballala III. Kannada was the main language of the Hoysala kings. The Hoysalas helped to increase Kannada and Sanskrit writing.
Kings
Nripa Kama (1000 - 1045)
Vinayaditya (1045 - 1098)
Ereyanga (1098 - 1100)
Veera Ballala I (1100 -1108)
Vishnuvardhana (1108 - 1152)
Narasimha I (1152 – 1173)
Veera Ballala II (1173 – 1220)
Narasimha II (1220 – 1235)
Vira Someshwara (1235 – 1253)
Narasimha III (1253 – 1292)
Ramanatha (1253 – 1295)
Veera Ballala III (1292 – 1342)
Other websites
www.hoysala.in
More on Hoysala art and architecture by Dr. Jyothsna Kamat
History of Karnataka by Mr Arthikaje
South Indian Inscriptions Archeological Survey of India (vols 9, 15,17,18)
Hoysala Tourism
History of India
Empires
10th-century establishments in Asia
1000 establishments
1346 disestablishments
Establishments in India
Disestablishments in India
1340s disestablishments in Asia |
25156 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia%20%28ancient%20kingdom%29 | Macedonia (ancient kingdom) | Macedonia (Greek: Μακεδονία) or Macedon was an Ancient Greek kingdom of the Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the most powerful state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was established and was at first ruled by the royal Argead dynasty, which was followed by the Antipatrid and Antigonid dynasties. Home to the ancient Macedonians, the earliest kingdom was centered on the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, and bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south.
Alexander the Great made it the most powerful kingdom in the Near East for a few years. When he died the empire fell apart and the Antigonid dynasty ruled Macedonia as a small empire. Centuries later the Roman Empire conquered Macedonia and much of Alexander's empire.
Kings
Argead dynasty
Karanus 808-778 BC
Koinos
Tyrimmas
Perdiccas I 700-678 BC
Argaeus I 678-640 BC
Philip I 640-602 BC
Aeropus I 602-576 BC
Alcetas I 576-547 BC
Amyntas I 547-498 BC
Alexander I 498-454 BC
Perdiccas II 454-413 BC
Archelaus 413-399 BC
Craterus 399 BC
Orestes 399-396 BC
Archelaus II 396-393 BC
Amyntus II 393 BC
Pausanias 393 BC
Amyntas III 393 BC
Argaeus II 393-392 BC
Amyntas III (restored) 392-370 BC
Alexander II 370-368 BC
Ptolemy I 368-365 BC
Perdiccas III 365-359 BC
Amyntas IV 359-356 BC
Philip II 359-336 BC
Alexander III (the Great) 336-323 BC
Antipater, Regent of Macedon 334-319 BC
Philip III Arrhidaeus 323-317 BC
Alexander IV 323-310 BC
Perdiccas, Regent of Macedon 323-321 BC
Antipater, Regent of Macedon 321-319 BC
Polyperchon, Regent of Macedon 319-317 BC
Cassander, Regent of Macedon 317-306 BC
Antipatrid dynasty
Cassander 306-297 BC
Philip IV 297-296 BC
Alexander V 296-294 BC
Antipater II 296-294 BC
Antigonid dynasty
Demetrius I Poliorcetes 294-288 BC
Lysimachus (divided with Pyrrhus of Epirus) 288-281 BC
Pyrrhus of Epirus (divided with Lysimachus) 288-285 BC
Ptolemy II Ceraunus 281-279 BC
Meleager 279 BC
Antipater II Etesias 279 BC
Sosthenes (Army Commander) 279-277 BC
Antigonus II Gonatas 277-274 BC
Pyrrhus of Epirus (restored) 274-272 BC
Antigonus II Gonatas (restored) 272-239 BC
Demetrius II Aetolicus 239-229 BC
Antigonus III Doson 229-221 BC
Philip V 221-179 BC
Perseus 179-168 BC
References
Books
Eugene N. Borza: Before Alexander: constructing early Macedonia. Claremont, CA: Regina Books, 1999. Pp. 89. (pb)
Review by Konrad H. Kinzl (Trent University)
Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great, Penguin Books, 1973, (pb).
Nicholas G. L. Hammond, The Macedonian State, Oxford University Press, 1989, . Pg. 12-13.
Other websites
History of Macedon
Ancient Macedonia at Macedonia, The Historical Profile, by D. Pandermalis,
Ancient Macedonia at Livius, by Jona Lendering
History of Macedonia through ages
Selian Е. The Mystery of the Name “Macedon”. In: American Chronicle, June 2009
History of Greece
Empires]
History of India |
25161 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burger%20King | Burger King | Burger King (often just called BK) is a chain of fast food restaurant that comes from the United States. It sells hamburgers, French fries, and soft drink. It was created in 1954 in Miami, Florida, by James McLamore and David Edgerton. Edgerton bought a restaurant named Insta Burger King and changed it to Burger King. More than 34 thousand people work for the company.
There are more than 15,000 Burger King restaurants world-wide in 100 countries, and almost all of them are franchises. But in Australia, since the name "Burger King" was already trademarked there, BK franchises there are called Hungry Jack's.
Burger King is owned mostly by 3G Capital, a Brazilian investment company. But it is also owned by shareholders and used to publicly trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BKW. In 2014, the chain's operations was merged with that of Tim Hortons from Canada, under the name Restaurant Brands International (). Burger King is an American global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in the unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based restaurant chain.
References
Other websites
Official website
1954 establishments in the United States
1950s establishments in Florida
American fast food restaurants
Companies based in Miami, Florida |
25162 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech%20Kaczy%C5%84ski | Lech Kaczyński | (18 June 1949 - 10 April 2010) was the President of the Republic of Poland from 2005 until his death in a plane crash in Smolensk, Russia on 10 April 2010. Kaczyński served as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002, until the day before he became president. He was a Roman Catholic and was the identical twin brother of the Prime Minister of Poland, Jarosław Kaczyński.
Related pages
Death and state funeral of Lech Kaczyński and Maria Kaczyńska
References
Other websites
Official site
1949 births
2010 deaths
Aviation deaths
Polish movie actors
Polish Roman Catholics
Mayors of Warsaw
Presidents of Poland
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
Twin people |
25163 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argead%20dynasty | Argead dynasty | The Argead dynasty (Greek: , ) was an ancient Macedonian royal house. They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC. From about 700 BC the founder of the dynasty, Perdiccas I, led the people who called themselves Macedonians eastward from their home on the Haliacmon River. Aegae (today Vergina) became the capital, and by the reign of Amyntas I (6th century BC) Macedonian power extended eastward beyond the Axius (Axiós) River to dominate the neighbouring Thracian tribes.
People of the Argead royal house supposedly believed they were descended of Heracles' family. Famous kings included Philip II of Macedon (reigned 359-336 BC) who subdued Greece and famously united the defeated Greek city states as the League of Corinth with the Macedonians as Hegemon, and his son Alexander the Great (reigned 336–323 BC) who led his army along with allied armies to conquer much of the known world at the time, creating a vast Empire stretching from Macedonia and Greece, to Egypt, and the Indus River, also defeating the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
The Argead family dynasty ended during the wars of the Diadochi when Alexander IV of Macedon and his mother Roxana were murdered.
List of Kings
Karanus of Macedon
Koinos of Macedon
Tyrimmas of Macedon
Perdiccas I of Macedon 700-678 BC
Argaeus I of Macedon 678-640 BC
Philip I of Macedon 640-602 BC
Aeropus I of Macedon 602-576 BC
Alcetas I of Macedon 576-547 BC
Amyntas I of Macedon 547-498 BC
Alexander I of Macedon 498-454 BC
Perdiccas II of Macedon 454-413 BC
Archelaus I of Macedon 413-399 BC
Craterus of Macedon 399 BC
Orestes of Macedon 399-396 BC
Archelaus II of Macedon 396-393 BC
Amyntas II of Macedon 393 BC
Pausanias of Macedon 393 BC
Amyntas III of Macedon 393 BC
Argaeus II of Macedon 393-392 BC
Amyntas III of Macedon (restored) 392-370 BC
Alexander II of Macedon 370-368 BC
Ptolemy I of Macedon 368-365 BC
Perdiccas III of Macedon 365-359 BC
Amyntas IV of Macedon 359 BC
Philip II of Macedon 359-336 BC
Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) 336-323 BC
Philip III of Macedon 323-317 BC (supposedly)
Alexander IV of Macedon 323-309 BC (supposedly)
References
Other websites
List of the Kings of Macedonia
Ancient Greece
Royal dynasties |
25164 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipatrid%20dynasty | Antipatrid dynasty | The Antipatrid dynasty was a Macedonian dynasty. It was created by Cassander in 302 BC, who was the son of Antipater. However it was not a long dynasty. It ended in 294 BC when it was taken over by the Antigonid dynasty.
Kings
Cassander (302-297 BC)
Alexander V of Macedon (297-296 BC)
Philip IV of Macedon (296-294 BC)
Antipater II of Macedon (296-294, 279 BC)
Sosthenes of Macedon (279-277 BC)
Other websites
List of the Kings of Macedonia
References
Ancient Greece
Royal dynasties |
25165 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigonid%20dynasty | Antigonid dynasty | The Antigonid dynasty was a Macedonian dynasty. The kings were part of the family of Alexander the Great's general Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-eyed"). The dynasty ended when the Roman Empire conquered the area after the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC.
Kings
Demetrius I Poliorcetes (294 BC – 287 BC)
Antigonus II Gonatas (276 BC – 239 BC)
Demetrius II (239 BC – 229 BC)
Antigonus III Doson (229 BC – 221 BC)
Philip V (221 BC – 179 BC)
Perseus (179 BC – 168 BC)
Ancient Greece
Royal dynasties |
25167 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama | Futurama | Futurama is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is in New New York City during the 31st century. The shows were first shown on Fox Network on March 28, 1999, until August 10, 2003.
In 2008 Comedy Central began airing episodes. Comedy Central later said that the seventh season would be the final season. The series finale aired on September 4, 2013, though Groening has said he will try to get it picked up by another network. Also, 4 DVD movies were made.
Plot summary
The series is about Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a lazy New York City pizza delivery boy, who froze himself by mistake on New Year's Eve, 1999. He wakes up one thousand years later on New Year's Eve, 2999, and finds himself in New New York City. Fry wants to get a new job, though in the end he is forced to be a delivery boy. Fry tries to escape from his job and afterwards goes to Planet Express, a small delivery company that goes around the galaxy owned by his distant nephew, where he becomes a delivery boy. The series then describes the adventures of Fry and the other workers as they go around the universe making deliveries.
Characters
Old Bessie - the Planet Express spaceship
Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal)– a cyclops (a creature with only one eye) who is one of Fry's friends. She is the pilot of Old Bessie and the captain of the crew. Fry falls in love with her. For a long time she does not love him back. Fry still tries to win her love many times. Finally they become boyfriend and girlfriend. Leela is brave and good at fighting. She also takes her job very seriously. That sometimes becomes a problem, because she does not give up a mission when it would be better. She has violet hair and wears a white tank top, black trousers and boots.
Bender Bending Rodriguez (John DiMaggio) – a bending robot who is Fry's best friend. He is a kleptomanic. That means that he often steals things by accident or for fun. He drinks a lot of alcohol because that is his fuel. He also smokes cigars. Bender's last name is Rodriguez because he was built in Mexico. He dreams of killing all humans except Fry and becoming a famous country singer. His catchphrases are "Kiss my shiny metal ass!" and "Let's go already!"
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (Billy West) – an inventor and head of Planet Express. He is very old and wears thick glasses, a lab coat and slippers. He is Fry's 30 times great grandnephew and his last living relative. The crew just calls him "The Professor". The Professor often invents dangerous things that the crew must get rid of. His catch phrase is "Good news everyone!" He says that before telling the crew their next mission. Usually that is not good news for the crew.
Dr. John Zoidberg (Billy West) – a crustacean-like creature from another planet. He is the doctor at Planet Express, although he does not know much about human health. He lives in the dumpster behind the Planet Express building. Dr. Zoidberg often does not know how to behave right because he is an alien. That is why the other Planet Express workers mock him. When he becomes very nervous, a comb unfolds on his head.
Amy Wong - a young woman from Mars. She assists the Professor in his experiments. Her parents are Chinese. She has black hair and wears pink jogging clothes.
Hermes Conrad - a bureaucrat from Jamaica. He does the paperwork for Planet Express and organizes everything. He is very fussy and strict about rules. Hermes is good at Limbo and likes hot food. He has a wife and a son. His son becomes friends with a clone of Professor Farnsworth.
General Zapp Brannigan - the self-absorbed leader of earth's army. He is incompetent but thinks he is the greatest. Zapp has a crush on Leela and tries to take advantage of when she is in danger. She always harshly rejects him because he is so unbearable. His alien assistant Kiff becomes Amy's boyfriend.
Nibbler - a little black alien with pointy canine teeth. The crew saves him from a collapsing planet and he becomes Leela's pet. He can eat animals that are ten times bigger than himself with one bite. He poops dark matter that is used as the fuel for Old Bessie. Nibbler wears a diaper and a red cape. He is actually very intelligent and can speak, but does not show it. He staged the accident that brought Fry to the future so Fry could save the world from an attack of giant hovering brains.
Setting
The first episode begins in the year 2999 later 3000, a time where there are many technological advancements, as well as a place where 21st century problems are treated as everyday situations. In a jab at segregation, for example, the series depicts the human prejudice against mutants as being so great that the latter have been forced to live underground in the sewers. The characters' home on Earth is the city of New New York, built over the ruins of present-day New York City, referred to as "Old New York".
There is a fictional religion named Robotology in the television show. It is similar to United States black churches.
Networks
Old episodes are now seen on Adult Swim (a part of Cartoon Network) and Too Funny To Sleep (a part of TBS) in the United States, on Teletoon in Canada, on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom plus Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three and TV6 in the UK and Republic of Ireland, on Fox8 and Network Ten in Australia, on Pro 7 in Germany and on Canal Fox in Latin America, including Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, etc.
Other websites
*
Channel Links
1999 American television series debuts
2013 American television series endings
Adult animated television series
1990s American sitcoms
1990s American animated television series
2000s American sitcoms
2000s science fiction television series
2010s American sitcoms
2010s American animated television series
2010s science fiction television series
Adult Swim
2000s American animated television series
American science fiction television series
American time travel television series
Comedy science fiction
Fox television series
Futurama
Television series set in New York City
Television series set in the future
English-language television programs |
25169 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar | Radar | Radar is a machine that uses radio waves for echolocation to find objects such as aircraft, ships, and rain.
The basic parts of a radar are:
The transmitter creates the radio waves.
The antenna directs the radio waves.
The receiver measures the waves which are bounced back by the object.
By doing this, the radar can locate the object. Radar is used in many different ways. It can measure the speed and number of cars on a road, the amount of water in the air, and many other things.
Radar was first used in 1904 by Christian Hülsmeyer. He was given a patent for radar (Reichspatent Nr. 165546). Radar was vital in the Battle of Britain and other parts of World War II. The Axis countries failed to keep up with British and American radar technology during the war.
The word RADAR was created in 1942 as an acronym for Radio Detection and Ranging. This acronym replaced the British initialism RDF (Radio Direction Finding). The word is now thought of by many people as a regular word, no longer as an acronym.
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) use several kinds of radar:
ARSR (Air Route Surveillance Radar)
ASR (Airport Surveillance Radar)
ASDE (Airport Surface Detection Equipment)
TDWR (Terminal Doppler Weather Radar)
PAR (Precision Approach Radar)
References
Other websites
Radar Technology Website
The first operational radar in France 1934
Applications of radar
Electronics
Wave physics
Acronyms
Aviation safety
Navigation |
25170 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameSpot | GameSpot | GameSpot is a website that was created in June 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein.
History
In the beginning the website was mainly about PC games. Another similar site, videogamespot.com was created in December of the same year to talk about console video game systems. In 1997, videogamespot.com became videogames.com for a short time. Afterward in 1998, videogames.com and GameSpot.com joined together to become a single site.
GameSpot makes video game and PC reviews, previews, downloads, news, and information. It is known as one of the biggest game websites on the Internet. ZDNet bought GameSpot later on. However ZDNet was later bought by CNET Networks, who were then bought by CBS Corporation in March 2008. CBS Interactive are the current owners of GameSpot.
On October 3, 2005, GameSpot changed how the website looked, making it similar to what TV.com looks like.
References
Other websites
Websites |
25171 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV.com | TV.com | TV.com is a popular website owned by the CNET Games & Entertainment family of websites, which also includes GameSpot, GameFAQs and MP3.com. The website replaced the popular TV Tome website.
The website has information about television (mostly English-language television in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Ireland). Other than episode guides, TV.com also has news, reviews, photos, trailers and TV listings.
People can also get accounts on TV.com like other CNET websites. Users get a user page and can keep track of television shows. They can also add things like episode details and cast members.
Other websites
Official website
Entertainment websites |
25172 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/1159 | 1159 |
Events
In the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinals are given the right of election of the Pope. Prior to this, the pope was selected by election by the clergy and congregation of the church.
Heiji Rebellion in Japan
Tunis is conquered by the Almohad caliphs.
Marie of Boulogne becomes the Countess of Boulogne
Deaths
September 1: Pope Adrian IV dies. |
25174 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive%20%28color%29 | Olive (color) | Olive is a color which looks like green or yellow. (when gray or black is added to yellow, the various shades of the color olive are produced). Some dark shades of olive can also be made by mixing a darker color (like brown) with green.
The most common place you will find the color olive is on an olive. It is the color of the outside of an olive. An olive's center is usually brown or sometimes orange or red.
There is a mineral called olivine that is colored a pale olive color.
Meaning of olive
Olive drab is one of the colors used for Sofia and camouflage in the military.
Olive is one of the colors used in fashion when a conservative, moderate color is desired.
Olive or earls green is sometimes used for showing vomit in animated films.
Tones of olive color comparison chart
Related pages
List of colors |
25176 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/400s | 400s |
Events
Constantine III seizes control of the Roman garrison in Britain, declares himself emperor, and crosses into Gaul.
August 22, 408 – Stilicho, military power behind the imperial throne, is executed. The Roman military is leaderless for several years until Constantius III becomes patrician.
Construction (and therefore occupation) at Great Zimbabwe begins.
Validity limit for the information on Eastern Roman Empire in the Notitia Dignitatum. |
25177 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%20Asia | South Asia | South Asia (or Southern Asia) is the southern part of the continent of Asia. It is also known as Indian subcontinent.
There are 8 countries in this region. It is surrounded by (clockwise) West Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Asia, Southeastern Asia and the Indian Ocean. Major countries in this part of the world are as follows:
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
The natural resource most used by the people is the rich land. Most of the people living there are farmers. They produce lots of cashews, rice, peanuts, sesame seeds, and tea. Lots of natural gas are there, but these resources are usually underdeveloped. Many people there raise cattle and sheep. The cattle are raised for their milk or to carry things in Hindu areas. In India, the cattle are very important to the environment because the manure is a fertilizer for agriculturists.
The climate of South Asia can be divided into three basic kinds: tropical, dry, and temperate. The northeast is from tropical to subtropical (temperate). Moving west the moisture and elevation change, causing a steppe and a desert climate that is like the Middle East. There is also a part of steppe climate in the center of the lower peninsula. Two parts of the South Asia climate especially affect the people. One like the monsoons. These changing winds bring lots of the area's rain, so when they do not come early, the land becomes very dry. Hurricanes also happen every year and sometimes destroy many things. In the extreme north of India and Pakistan, the climate is affected by the mountains. There is a mild climate near the Indus river where farmers grow crops like rice and tea.
Related pages
Central Asia
East Asia
Southeast Asia
West Asia
Indian subcontinent
References
Other websites |
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