136 résultats pour "italy"
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Byzantine Empire .
Emperor Alexius I, founder of the Comnenian dynasty, nevertheless appealed to the pope for aid against the Turks. Western Europe responded with the First Crusade(1096-99). Although Byzantium initially benefited from the Crusades, recovering some land in Asia Minor, in the long run they hastened the empire's decline. Italian merchant citieswon special trading privileges in Byzantine territory and gained control of much of the empire's commerce and wealth. The Byzantines experienced a superficialp...
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Portraiture
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INTRODUCTION
Portraiture, visual representation of individual people, distinguished by references to the subject's character, social position, wealth, or profession.
CaracallaCaracalla is a Roman portrait bust in marble of the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, probably done circa ad 215. Theson of Septimius Severus, Caracalla (as he was known) was a brutal man whose qualities come through in this piece withits dramatic realism. The bust, which is now in the Louvre, Paris, evidently served as the inspiration for Michelangelo’sbust of Brutus more than one thousand years later.Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York The first representations of identifiable ind...
- Sabines (Sabini) Roman One of the oldest peoples of central Italy.
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Church (building)
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INTRODUCTION
Church (building), a building designed for worship for groups of Christians.
nearby was a basilica; the two are now combined in one building, known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The original Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, replaced bythe present church during the Renaissance, was a huge processional basilica with projecting wings—transepts—forming a Latin cross in plan. The domed, centralizedform persisted in the Byzantine and Slavic East, where medieval churches, small in scale, often took the form of five domes arranged on a Greek cross plan. IV MEDIEVAL EUROPE...
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Black Death.
disappeared in the West. V DISAPPEARANCE OF PLAGUE Plague became less common in Europe after the 1530s. The last plague in England was in 1665, the last in Western Europe in 1722. Numerous theories have beenoffered to explain the disappearance of plague. It has been argued that black rats, the primary carriers of plague, may have been replaced by larger brown rats that donot carry the infection. A second theory suggests that increased immunity among the rodents that carried the disease or chang...
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Black Death .
disappeared in the West. V DISAPPEARANCE OF PLAGUE Plague became less common in Europe after the 1530s. The last plague in England was in 1665, the last in Western Europe in 1722. Numerous theories have beenoffered to explain the disappearance of plague. It has been argued that black rats, the primary carriers of plague, may have been replaced by larger brown rats that donot carry the infection. A second theory suggests that increased immunity among the rodents that carried the disease or chang...
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Feudalism
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INTRODUCTION
Feudalism, contractual system of political and military relationships existing among members of the nobility in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
lord”; thus, it was not rebellion for a subvassal to fight against his lord’s lord. In England, however, William the Conqueror and his successors required their vassals’vassals to take oaths of fealty to them. B Duties of a Vassal Military service in the field was basic to feudalism, but it was far from all that the vassal owed to his lord. When the lord had a castle, he might require his vassals togarrison it, a service called castle-guard. The lord also expected his vassals to attend his cour...
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Galileo
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INTRODUCTION
Galileo (1564-1642), Italian physicist and astronomer who, with German astronomer Johannes Kepler, initiated the scientific revolution that flowered in the work of
English physicist Sir Isaac Newton.
V WORK IN ASTRONOMY During most of his time in Padua, Galileo showed little interest in astronomy, although in 1595 he declared in a letter that he preferred the Copernican theory that Earthrevolves around the Sun to the assumptions of Aristotle and Ptolemy that planets circle a fixed Earth ( see Astronomy: The Copernican Theory ; Ptolemaic System). A Observations with the Telescope In 1609 Galileo heard that a telescope had been invented in Holland. In August of that year he constructed a t...
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Galileo.
V WORK IN ASTRONOMY During most of his time in Padua, Galileo showed little interest in astronomy, although in 1595 he declared in a letter that he preferred the Copernican theory that Earthrevolves around the Sun to the assumptions of Aristotle and Ptolemy that planets circle a fixed Earth ( see Astronomy: The Copernican Theory ; Ptolemaic System). A Observations with the Telescope In 1609 Galileo heard that a telescope had been invented in Holland. In August of that year he constructed a t...
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Capital Punishment.
deterrent effect. Capital punishment advocates note that because the death penalty is reserved for the most aggravated murders, the deterrent effect of capitalpunishment on such crimes may not be apparent in data on homicide rates in general. Supporters also urge that the conflicting results of various studies indicate thatthe deterrent effect of the death penalty cannot not be proven or disproven with any certainty. They maintain that in the absence of conclusive proof that the threat ofexecuti...
- Silvanus Roman An ancient god of northern Italy and then of the Romans.
- Magna Graecia (Great Greece) Greek The collective name given to Greek colonies founded by settlers in southern Italy and the island of Sicily.
- Scylla and Charybdis Greek Two mythical characters who inhabited the Straits of Messina, between mainland Italy and the island of Sicily.
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My road trip in Italy
Road trip Anglais Hello everybody, today I’m going to tell you about my road trip in Italy. I chose to visit the North of Italy, from Como Lake to Rome. I stayed there one year ago, from the 10th to 15th of March. It was the birthday present for me and my sister. So, we started our road trip from the Como Lake, one of the most famous italian lake. The lake is shaped like an inverted "Y". Each branch of the lake has its own main town: Como on the south-western branch, Lecco on the south-eas...
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Tour de France Winners.
1983 Laurent Fignon, France 1984 Laurent Fignon, France 1985 Bernard Hinault, France 1986 Greg LeMond, United States 1987 Stephen Roche, Ireland 1988 Pedro Delgado, Spain 1989 Greg LeMond, United States 1990 Greg LeMond, United States 1991 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1992 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1993 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1994 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1995 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1996 Bjarne Riis, Denmark 1997 Jan Ullrich, Germany 1998 Marco Pantani, Italy 1999 Lance Armstrong, United States 2000 Lance...
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Tour de France Winners.
1983 Laurent Fignon, France 1984 Laurent Fignon, France 1985 Bernard Hinault, France 1986 Greg LeMond, United States 1987 Stephen Roche, Ireland 1988 Pedro Delgado, Spain 1989 Greg LeMond, United States 1990 Greg LeMond, United States 1991 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1992 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1993 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1994 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1995 Miguel Induráin, Spain 1996 Bjarne Riis, Denmark 1997 Jan Ullrich, Germany 1998 Marco Pantani, Italy 1999 Lance Armstrong, United States 2000 Lance...
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Soccer's Big Show Comes to the United States.
There were many doubters, both overseas and within the United States. Some U.S. sportswriters derided the idea of holding the World Cup in the United States asakin to staging the World Series in India—how could there be any local interest? Foreign critics felt that money was the sole reason for FIFA's decision and that thesport was about to be cheapened to make it acceptable to Americans. The rumors flew: FIFA was going to enlarge the goals, it would allow timeouts (unheard of inthe sport) to ac...
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Europe .
D Vegetation Although much of Europe, particularly the west, was originally covered by forest, the vegetation has been transformed by human habitation and the clearing of land.Only in the most northerly mountains and in parts of north central European Russia has the forest cover been relatively unaffected by human activity. On the otherhand, a considerable amount of Europe is covered by woodland that has been planted or has reoccupied cleared lands. The largest vegetation zone in Europe, cuttin...
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Europe - Geography.
D Vegetation Although much of Europe, particularly the west, was originally covered by forest, the vegetation has been transformed by human habitation and the clearing of land.Only in the most northerly mountains and in parts of north central European Russia has the forest cover been relatively unaffected by human activity. On the otherhand, a considerable amount of Europe is covered by woodland that has been planted or has reoccupied cleared lands. The largest vegetation zone in Europe, cuttin...
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Middle Ages .
Saints were very important in Late Antiquity. They were considered both models of virtue and powerful miracle workers. One of the most well-known saints of the periodwas Saint Anthony. Anthony gave away all his possessions and left his hometown in Egypt to live alone in the desert and pray. Anthony was one of the first Christianmonks. The word monk comes from a term meaning 'alone.' Gradually Anthony attracted followers, and he eventually became the center of a whole community of monks who wis...
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Igneous Rock.
As a magma cools, the first crystals to form will be of minerals that become solid at relatively high temperatures (usually olivine and a type of feldspar known asanorthite). The composition of these early-formed mineral crystals will be different from the initial composition of the magma. Consequently, as these growing crystalstake certain elements out of the magma in certain proportions, the composition of the remaining liquid changes. This process is known as magmatic differentiation.Sometime...
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Greek Art and Architecture - history.
powerful independent city-states. From 334 to 323 BC, Alexander the Great extended his father's empire into Asia Minor (now Turkey), Syria, Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan, and as far as India. D The Hellenistic Period (323-31 BC) Although Alexander the Great extended Greek civilization far beyond the Greek mainland and the boundaries of the Aegean Sea, his empire did not survive his death in 323.After Alexander died, his generals and successors divided the empire into a number of kingdoms: Ptolem...
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World War I .
and troops to Europe from the United States and other overseas sources. In 1914 Britain implemented a sea blockade of Germany to prevent the delivery of importssuch as food and war materials. The same year, Germany began using submarines to disrupt Allied seaborne traffic and prevent supplies from reaching Britain. In 1915Germany instituted a submarine blockade around Britain. From February 1915 to September 1915 and again in 1917, Germany used unrestricted submarine warfare,sinking ships withou...
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Greek Art and Architecture - USA History.
The struggle between these two city-states and their allies ultimately led to the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), which Sparta won. Despite this conflict, the 5th century, often called the Classical period, is usually considered the culmination of Greek art, architecture, and drama, with its highest achievements being the Temple ofZeus at Olympia, the Parthenon in Athens, and the plays of Athenian dramatists Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. The 4th century, or Late Classical p...
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Switzerland - country.
formation over higher elevations. The wind reverses direction about sundown and moves down the valley as a cool downdraft. The foehn, which occurs during the wintermonths, is a dry and relatively warm airflow that is drawn northward over the Alps. The foehn can quickly melt snow and ice, increasing the risk of mudslides andavalanches. D Natural Resources Waterpower is the chief natural resource of Switzerland. The principal source of water is runoff from the considerable annual precipitation th...
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Western Music
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INTRODUCTION
Bizet's Carmen
Georges Bizet's Carmen, first performed in Paris in 1875, was a milestone in the history of French opera.
church ceremonies during the period from the 5th to the 7th century. Roman chant became known as Gregorian chant after Pope Gregory I, the Great, who may havecomposed some of the melodies and who actively encouraged an orderly, ritualized use of music by the church. Because Gregory and later popes preferred Gregorianchant to the varieties that had developed elsewhere in Europe, Gregorian chant eventually superseded most of the others. Gregorian and other chant styles arepreserved in many manuscr...
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Terrorism.
exploitation, ethnic discrimination, and religious persecution. Perceived inequities in the distribution of wealth and political power have led some terrorists to attempt tooverthrow democratically elected governments. To achieve a fairer society, they would replace these governments with socialist or communist regimes. Left-wingterrorist groups of the 1960s and 1970s with such aims included Germany’s Baader-Meinhof Gang, Italy’s Red Brigades, and the Weather Underground ( see Weathermen) in the...
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Vatican City - country.
return, the Roman Catholic Church recognized Italy’s government with Rome as its capital. Since that time, all popes have continued to live in Vatican City. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Roman Mythology
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INTRODUCTION
Roman Mythology, the religious beliefs and practices of the people of ancient Rome.
Aeneas and AnchisesAccording to mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan prince. After Troy fell to the Greeks during the Trojan War, Aeneas traveledto Italy and met and married a woman in the kingdom that occupied the region that would one day become Rome.Through this marriage, Aeneas was the direct ancestor of Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. In thispainting he is carrying his father, Anchises, on his back while fleeing from Troy. This painting by Lionello Spada is in theLouvre Museum...
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Roman Art and Architecture - History.
Racecourses or circuses were also built in many cities for holding chariot races and horse races. Rome’s circus-shaped Piazza Navona occupies the site of one that wasbuilt during the reign ( AD 81-96) of the emperor Domitian. The largest circus in Rome, the Circus Maximus, held about 200,000 spectators. E Public Baths Large cities and small towns alike also had public baths ( thermae ); under the Republic they were generally made up of a suite of dressing rooms and bathing chambers with hot- ,...
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Croatia - country.
III PEOPLE OF CROATIA The total population of Croatia at the time of the 1991 census was 4,784,265; a 2008 estimate was 4,491,543. During and after the war ethnic Serbs fled Croatia whileethnic Croats moved in. Croatia’s population growth rate in 2008 was -0.04 percent, despite population gains due to immigration. Croatia’s natural population growthrate, which measures births and deaths, has been negative since 1998. Life expectancy at birth was 75 years in 2008. The population density in 2008...
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Augustine
do what one knows one ought not to be doing, mark him off from ethicists of the classical Greek period. YetAugustine also preserves in his own thinking important strands of ancient Greek thought. Thus, for example, hisdevelopment of the doctrine of the Christian virtues includes an echo of Plato's idea of the unity of the virtues. Hisinsistence that 'ought' does not, in any straightforward way, imply 'can', distinguishes him, not only from hiscontemporary Pelagius, whom he helped brand...
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Diego Velázquez (artist)
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INTRODUCTION
Velázquez and Baroque Theatricality
Spanish painter Diego Velázquez presents two scenes in The Fable of Arachne (about 1656, Museo del Prado, Madrid,
Spain), also known as The Spinners.
search for a position as court painter. In 1623, however, he returned to the capital and, after executing a portrait (1623, Prado) of the king, was named official painterto Philip IV. The portrait was the first among many such sober, direct renditions of the king, the royal family, and members of the court. Indeed, throughout the later1620s, most of Velázquez's efforts were dedicated to portraiture. Mythological subjects would at times occupy his attention, as in Bacchus, also called The Drin...
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Leonardo da Vinci
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INTRODUCTION
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was known not only as a masterful painter but as an architect, sculptor, engineer, and scientist.
and conservation program made use of the latest technology to reverse some of the damage. Although much of the original surface is gone, the majesty of thecomposition and the penetrating characterization of the figures give a fleeting vision of its vanished splendor. The Virgin of the RocksThe Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci was actually painted twice. The first version, done in 1485, wascommissioned to be an altarpiece but was evidently rejected. That painting now hangs in the Louvre,...
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Rome and Its Empire
The Expansion of Rome 1. 1. Unlike the Greek city-states, the Roman republic embarked almost immediately on imperialexpansion. Utilizing its citizen armies, the republic gained control of the entire Italianpeninsula. Conquered regions were incorporated into the republic or allowed to remain asindependent allies. Rome's greatest rival in the western part of the Mediterranean was theformer Phoenician colony of Carthage in northern Africa. Between 264 and 146 B.C.E., Romedefeated Carthage in the t...
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Cattaneo, Carlo
States) (1842)), even though he did not ignore the effects of colonialism and its abuses of power ( Dell'India antica e moderna (India, Past and Present) (1846)). Progress, for Cattaneo, is made up of cultural graftings, of conflicts and exchanges of ideas and principles between different peoples and cultures. Social conditions are the source of good or evil. Not for nothing have some critics seen Cattaneo's famous Interdizioni israelitiche (Israeli Interdicts) of 1835 as containing the...
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Vatican City Facts and Figures.
Voting qualificationsLimited to cardinals under 80 years old ConstitutionApostolic Constitution of 1967, effective 1 March 1968 Armed forcesTotal number of military personnel Not available Military expenditures as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) Not available ECONOMYGross domestic product (GDP, in U.S.$) Not available GDP per capita (U.S.$) Not available GDP by economic sectorAgriculture, forestry, fishing Not available Industry Not available Services Not available Employ...
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Seychelles Facts and Figures.
Literacy rateTotal 57.7 percent (1995) Female 59.8 percent (1995) Male 55.6 percent (1995) Education expenditure as a share of gross national product (GNP) 5.7 percent (2002-2003) Number of years of compulsory schooling 10 years (2001-2002) Number of students per teacher, primary school 14 students per teacher (2002-2003) GOVERNMENTForm of government Republic Voting qualifications Universal at age 17 Constitution 18 June 1993; amended 1996 Armed forcesTotal number of military person...
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Burkina Faso Facts and Figures.
Population per hospital bed 704 people (1996) Literacy rateTotal 28.5 percent (2005 estimate) Female 18.2 percent (2005 estimate) Male 38.8 percent (2005 estimate) Education expenditure as a share of gross national product (GNP) 1.5 percent (1996) Number of years of compulsory schooling 6 years (2002-2003) Number of students per teacher, primary school 45 students per teacher (2002-2003) GOVERNMENTForm of government Multiparty republic Voting qualifications universal at age 18 Const...
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Argentina Wins World Cup.
Dutch team responded with two unanswered goals to earn the victory. In the consolation match Brazil squeaked past Italy, 2-1, in what was the final high-profileappearance of Brazilian star Roberto Rivelino, a three-time World Cup participant. The championship match was held at Río de la Plata stadium in Buenos Aires on Sunday, June 25. In a classic match-up, a methodical, disciplined European teamplayed against a spontaneous, mercurial South American squad. According to Argentina's coach, Ce...
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Men's Swimming: Olympic Gold Medalists.
1896 Alfréd Hajós Hungary 1:22.20 1904 1 Zoltán Halmay Hungary 1:02.80 1906 Charles Daniels United States 1:13.40 1908 Charles Daniels United States 1:05.60 1912 Duke Kahanamoku United States 1:03.40 1920 Duke Kahanamoku United States 1:00.40 1924 Johnny Weissmuller United States 59.00 1928 Johnny Weissmuller United States 58.60 1932 Yasuji Miyazaki Japan 58.20 1936 Ferenc Csík Hungary 57.60 1948 Walter Ris United States 57.30 1952 Clarke Scholes United States 57.40 1956 Jon Henricks Austria 55...
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Men's Swimming: Olympic Gold Medalists.
1896 Alfréd Hajós Hungary 1:22.20 1904 1 Zoltán Halmay Hungary 1:02.80 1906 Charles Daniels United States 1:13.40 1908 Charles Daniels United States 1:05.60 1912 Duke Kahanamoku United States 1:03.40 1920 Duke Kahanamoku United States 1:00.40 1924 Johnny Weissmuller United States 59.00 1928 Johnny Weissmuller United States 58.60 1932 Yasuji Miyazaki Japan 58.20 1936 Ferenc Csík Hungary 57.60 1948 Walter Ris United States 57.30 1952 Clarke Scholes United States 57.40 1956 Jon Henricks Austria 55...
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Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo's stylistic innovations are even more apparent in The Last Supper, in which he represented a traditional theme in an entirely new way. Instead of showing the 12 apostles as individual figures, he grouped them in dynamic compositional units of three, framing the figure of Christ, who is isolated in the center of the picture.Seated before a pale distant landscape seen through a rectangular opening in the wall, Christ—who has just announced that one of those present will betrayhim—repres...
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Women's Track and Field Individual: Olympic Gold Medalists.
1964 Betty Cuthbert Australia 52.00 1968 Colette Besson France 52.03 1972 Monika Zehrt East Germany 51.08 1976 Irena Szewinska Poland 49.29 1980 Marita Koch East Germany 48.88 1984 Valerie Brisco-Hooks United States 48.83 1988 Olga Bryzgina USSR 48.65 1992 Marie-José Pérec France 48.83 1996 Marie-José Pérec France 48.25 2000 Cathy Freeman Australia 49.11 2004 Tonique Williams-Darling Bahamas 49.41 . Women's Track and Field Individual: Olympic Gold Medalists (400 m Hurdles).Year Name Country Winn...
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Women's Track and Field Individual: Olympic Gold Medalists.
1964 Betty Cuthbert Australia 52.00 1968 Colette Besson France 52.03 1972 Monika Zehrt East Germany 51.08 1976 Irena Szewinska Poland 49.29 1980 Marita Koch East Germany 48.88 1984 Valerie Brisco-Hooks United States 48.83 1988 Olga Bryzgina USSR 48.65 1992 Marie-José Pérec France 48.83 1996 Marie-José Pérec France 48.25 2000 Cathy Freeman Australia 49.11 2004 Tonique Williams-Darling Bahamas 49.41 . Women's Track and Field Individual: Olympic Gold Medalists (400 m Hurdles)Year Name Country Winni...
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Senegal - country.
Although most of the population works in agriculture, Senegal has a growing industrial sector, one of the largest in West Africa. Nevertheless, two cash crops remain atthe foundation of the economy—peanuts and cotton. Important technical and economic assistance has been provided by France and other countries of the EuropeanUnion and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). In 2006 the gross domestic product (GDP) was $9.2 billion, or $760.90 a person. A Agriculture...
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Syria - country.
D Education Primary education is free and compulsory for all children aged 6 through 12. Some 78 percent of the adult Syrian population was estimated to be literate in 2005.Primary schools enrolled 2.8 million pupils in the 2000 school year, and 1.1 million students attended secondary schools and vocational institutes. In 1998, 94,110 Syrian students were enrolled in institutes of higher education. Syria has universities in Damascus, Ḩalab, Ḩim ş, and Al L ādhiq īyah. Also in Damascus isthe Ar...
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Military Religious Orders .
Hospitalers’ charitable functions were playing a secondary role to their military duties. Successes in war defending the Holy Land enriched the order with vast gifts ofproperty in Europe and Palestine. In the 12th century the Hospitalers acquired three impressive fortresses in Palestine at Krak des Chevaliers, Belvoir, and Margat. Atthe height of their power in the 13th century, the Hospitalers regularly supplied 500 knights to defend the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem against the Empire. The Crusad...
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Book Publishing
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INTRODUCTION
Book Publishing, manufacture, publication, and distribution of books.
they use advanced printers and binding techniques to run off as many books as required. Printing only as many books as needed allows companies to save money, andbeing able to store books digitally means that books can be printed whenever necessary, keeping them in print indefinitely. B Marketing and Distribution Once the book has been made, it is ready for distribution. Traditionally, trade books have been sold primarily by salespeople calling on bookstores across the countryand taking orders f...
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Mythology.
Across cultures, mythologies tend to describe similar characters. A common character is the trickster. The trickster is recklessly bold and even immoral, but through hisinventiveness he often helps human beings. In Greek mythology, Hermes (best known as the messenger of the gods) was a famous trickster. In one version of acharacteristic tale, Hermes, while still an infant, stole the cattle of his half-brother Apollo. To avoid leaving a trail that could be followed, Hermes made shoes from thebark...