77 résultats pour "widespread"
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Horse Racing.
interested parties claim the same horse at the same price, lots are drawn to determine the winning offer. Knowledgeable owners and trainers may use claiming races toobtain, at bargain prices, horses whose former owners underestimated the potential of their animals. Two other types of contests are match races and walkovers. A match race pits only two horses, almost always that season’s most successful racers, in a head-to-headduel. A walkover occurs when only one horse has not been scratched (w...
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Toys.
I
INTRODUCTION
Toys, objects that serve as playthings for children. Although the
clay. These readily available elements were also used to make more elaborate toys as human society advanced. Archaeologists have found primitive, handmade toys such as wooden or cloth dolls, clay marbles, and terracotta figures that date back thousands of years. In ancientEgypt, Greece, and Rome, people placed dolls or clay figures in the graves or tombs of children for them to play with in the afterlife. The yo-yo may seem like a 20th-century fad, but it actually dates back at least 2,500 years...
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Trinidad and Tobago - country.
III PEOPLE The history of Trinidad and Tobago is reflected in the makeup of its population, among the most ethnically diverse in the Caribbean. Blacks of African ancestry andAsians of Indian ancestry each make up about 40 percent of the population. The remainder is mainly of mixed ancestry, although there are also small groups of peopleof Chinese, European, South American, and Middle Eastern descent. The ethnic diversity of Trinidad and Tobago owes its origins to slavery and its abolition. Afr...
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Alcoholism.
Although a consensus is growing among health professionals that alcohol dependence is a disease, society’s attitudes toward individuals with drinking problems remainambivalent and confused. Until the mid-20th century, the typical picture of the alcoholic was of someone without steady employment, unable to sustain familyrelationships and most likely in desperate financial straits. But this stereotype was largely dispelled when highly respected people publicly admitted their alcoholdependence and...
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Abolitionist Movement.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799), widely seen as revolutions by citizens against oppressive rulers, transformed thisEnlightenment assertion into a call for universal liberty and freedom. The successful slave revolt that began in the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1791 was part of this revolutionary age. Led by François Dominique ToussaintLouverture, black rebels overthrew the colonial government, ended slavery in the colony, and in 1804 established th...
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Abolitionist Movement - U.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799), widely seen as revolutions by citizens against oppressive rulers, transformed thisEnlightenment assertion into a call for universal liberty and freedom. The successful slave revolt that began in the French colony of Saint-Domingue in 1791 was part of this revolutionary age. Led by François Dominique ToussaintLouverture, black rebels overthrew the colonial government, ended slavery in the colony, and in 1804 established th...
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Slavery in the United States - U.
tripled, from about 1.2 million to almost 4 million in 1860. The natural growth of the slave population meant that slavery could survive without new slave imports. Natural population growth also hastened the transition from an African to an African American slave population. By the 1770s, only about 20 percent of slaves in thecolonies were African-born, although the concentration of Africans remained higher in South Carolina and Georgia. After 1808 the proportion of African-born slavesbecame tin...
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Uruguay (country) - country.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution of Uruguay. Three-quarters of the people belong to the Roman Catholic Church. There are also sizable Protestantand Jewish congregations. The official language is Spanish, which in Uruguay has been influenced by Italian vocabulary and pronunciation. C Education Uruguay has one of the highest rates of literacy in Latin America, at 98.2 percent of the adult population. Six years of primary education is compulsory, and Uruguay isone of the few n...
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African Literature
I
INTRODUCTION
African Literature, oral and written literature produced on the African continent.
that few scholars of African culture know any African languages, and few Africans know an African language other than their own. The best-known literatures in Africanlanguages include those in Yoruba and Hausa in West Africa; Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu in southern Africa; and Amharic, Somali, and Swahili in East Africa. In West Africa, Yoruba writing emerged after Bishop Ajayi Crowther, a former slave, developed a script for the language and in 1900 published the first Yorubatranslation of the Bible...
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Fire - chemistry.
were usually natural caves. Eventually people learned to dip branches in pitch to form torches. They created crude lamps by filling a hollowed out piece of stone withmoss soaked in oil or tallow (a substance derived from animal fat). By cooking with fire, prehistoric people made the meat of the animals they killed more palatable and digestible. They learned to preserve meat by smoking it over a fire,vastly decreasing the danger of periodic starvation. Cooking also enabled them to add some for...
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John F.
by the United States, was unable to withstand the advance of Communist forces under Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung). By the end of 1949 government troops had beenoverwhelmingly defeated, and Chiang led his forces into exile on Taiwan. The triumphant Mao formed the People’s Republic of China. Truman’s critics, includingKennedy, charged that the administration had failed to support Chiang Kai-shek against the Communists. Kennedy easily won reelection to Congress in 1948 and 1950. In 1952 he decided to r...
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John F.
by the United States, was unable to withstand the advance of Communist forces under Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung). By the end of 1949 government troops had beenoverwhelmingly defeated, and Chiang led his forces into exile on Taiwan. The triumphant Mao formed the People’s Republic of China. Truman’s critics, includingKennedy, charged that the administration had failed to support Chiang Kai-shek against the Communists. Kennedy easily won reelection to Congress in 1948 and 1950. In 1952 he decided to r...
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Wars of Yugoslav Succession.
of Yugoslav succession was over. In January 1992 members of the European Community (EC; after 1993 the European Union, EU) recognized Slovenia’s independencealong with that of Croatia. The United States and other countries did so shortly thereafter. IV THE WAR IN CROATIA As the Yugoslav army withdrew from Slovenia in July 1991, a second and far more serious conflict erupted in Croatia. But the road to war in Croatia began more than ayear earlier. In April and May 1990 the Croatian Democratic U...
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Wars of Yugoslav Succession .
of Yugoslav succession was over. In January 1992 members of the European Community (EC; after 1993 the European Union, EU) recognized Slovenia’s independencealong with that of Croatia. The United States and other countries did so shortly thereafter. IV THE WAR IN CROATIA As the Yugoslav army withdrew from Slovenia in July 1991, a second and far more serious conflict erupted in Croatia. But the road to war in Croatia began more than ayear earlier. In April and May 1990 the Croatian Democratic U...
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Uganda - country.
Uganda’s population is predominantly rural and is concentrated in the south, particularly in the crescent at the edge of Lake Victoria and in the southwest. Almost allUgandans are black Africans. Foreign residents make up less than 4 percent of the population and come mostly from neighboring states. In 2008 Uganda’s population was estimated at 31,367,972. The estimated growth rate of the population in 2008 was 3.6 percent. The birth rate was 48 per 1,000people and the death rate 12 per 1,000. Th...
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Ireland - country.
F Plants and Animals Ireland’s animal life does not differ markedly from that of England or France. Over many centuries of human settlement almost all of Ireland’s natural woodlands werecleared, and indigenous animals such as bear, wolf, wildcat, beaver, wild cattle, and the giant Irish deer (a type of fallow deer) gradually disappeared. However, thehardy and versatile Connemara pony, Ireland’s only native pony breed, has been used by Irish farmers since prehistoric times. The great auk, or gar...
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Arkansas - geography.
temperature rises to the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F). C2 Precipitation Arkansas receives about 1,000 to 1,300 mm (about 40 to 50 in) of precipitation a year, and some areas receive even more. Most of the rain comes during winter andspring and at times is so heavy as to cause flooding. Snow is rare in the south but amounts to more than 250 mm (10 in) a year in the mountains. C3 Growing Season Arkansas has a long growing season. It averages 211 days for the state as a whole and ranges from 241...
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Arkansas - USA History.
temperature rises to the upper 30°s C (lower 100°s F). C2 Precipitation Arkansas receives about 1,000 to 1,300 mm (about 40 to 50 in) of precipitation a year, and some areas receive even more. Most of the rain comes during winter andspring and at times is so heavy as to cause flooding. Snow is rare in the south but amounts to more than 250 mm (10 in) a year in the mountains. C3 Growing Season Arkansas has a long growing season. It averages 211 days for the state as a whole and ranges from 241...
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Africa.
The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...
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Africa - Geography.
The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...
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Vietnam War.
rigged, since about 150,000 more people voted in Saigon than were registered. Diem then deposed Bao Dai, who had been the only other candidate, and declaredSouth Vietnam to be an independent nation called the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), with himself as president and Saigon as its capital. Vietnamese Communists and manynon-Communist Vietnamese nationalists saw the creation of the RVN as an effort by the United States to interfere with the independence promised at Geneva. III THE BEGINNING OF THE...
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Vietnam War - History.
rigged, since about 150,000 more people voted in Saigon than were registered. Diem then deposed Bao Dai, who had been the only other candidate, and declaredSouth Vietnam to be an independent nation called the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), with himself as president and Saigon as its capital. Vietnamese Communists and manynon-Communist Vietnamese nationalists saw the creation of the RVN as an effort by the United States to interfere with the independence promised at Geneva. III THE BEGINNING OF THE...
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Vietnam War - U.
rigged, since about 150,000 more people voted in Saigon than were registered. Diem then deposed Bao Dai, who had been the only other candidate, and declaredSouth Vietnam to be an independent nation called the Republic of Vietnam (RVN), with himself as president and Saigon as its capital. Vietnamese Communists and manynon-Communist Vietnamese nationalists saw the creation of the RVN as an effort by the United States to interfere with the independence promised at Geneva. III THE BEGINNING OF THE...
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Florida - USA History.
accidentally introduced into the region in the 1880s, and it spread with alarming rapidity throughout the upper reaches of the river. The plant is very difficult toeradicate, and it has also clogged the channels of other Florida rivers. To increase drainage of the Everglades, which drain naturally to Florida Bay and the Gulf ofMexico, a number of drainage channels and canals have been built across southern Florida. Among the rivers flowing from the peninsula to the Gulf of Mexico are the Suwanne...
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Missouri - geography.
Saint Francois Mountains, at the eastern end of the crest of the dome. Only in these mountains have the sedimentary rocks been sufficiently eroded away so that theunderlying igneous rocks are exposed. They form the rounded, knoblike peaks of an old mountain range. The peaks project, in isolation or in clusters, between 230 and300 m (750 and 1,000 ft) above the surrounding sedimentary basins. One of these knobs, Taum Sauk Mountain, reaches 540 m (1,772 ft) above sea level and is thehighest point...
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Missouri - USA History.
Saint Francois Mountains, at the eastern end of the crest of the dome. Only in these mountains have the sedimentary rocks been sufficiently eroded away so that theunderlying igneous rocks are exposed. They form the rounded, knoblike peaks of an old mountain range. The peaks project, in isolation or in clusters, between 230 and300 m (750 and 1,000 ft) above the surrounding sedimentary basins. One of these knobs, Taum Sauk Mountain, reaches 540 m (1,772 ft) above sea level and is thehighest point...
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South Africa - country.
The major soil zones are conditioned largely by climatic factors. In the semiarid north and west, soils are alkaline and poorly developed. In the southern part of WesternCape Province, rain falls mostly in the winter months, and soils there form slowly and are generally thin and immature. The moderate temperatures and summer rainfallof the High Veld and eastern coastal areas create conditions for more productive organic decomposition, leading to dark, fertile soils, or chernozems, similar to tho...