1.
Tehran
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Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. It is ranked 29th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area, in the Classical era, part of the present-day city of Tehran was occupied by a Median city that in the Avesta occurs as Rhaga. It was destroyed by the Mongols in the early 13th century, the capital has been moved several times throughout the history, and Tehran is the 32nd national capital of Iran. The city was the seat of the Qajars and Pahlavis, the two last imperial dynasties of Iran. It is home to historical collections, such as the royal complexes of Golestan, Sadabad. Large scale demolition and rebuilding began in the 1920s, and Tehran has been a destination for the migrations from all over Iran since the 20th century. Tabiat Bridge, which was completed in 2014, is considered the third symbol of the city. There have been plans to relocate Irans capital from Tehran to another area, due mainly to air pollution, to date, no definitive plans have been approved. A2016 survey of 230 cities by consultant Mercer ranked Tehran 203rd for quality of living, according to the Global Destinations Cities Index in 2016, Tehran is among the top ten fastest growing destinations. The origin of the name Tehran is uncertain, the settlement of Tehran dates back over 7,000 years. The present-day city of Tehran was a suburb of an important Median city that was known as Rhaga in Old Persian, in the Avestas Videvdat, Rhaga is mentioned as the twelfth sacred place created by the Ohrmazd. In Old Persian inscriptions, Rhaga appears as a province and it was a major area for the Iranian tribes of Medes and Achaemenids. From Rhaga, Darius the Great sent reinforcements to his father Hystaspes, in some Middle Persian texts, Rhaga is given as the birthplace of Zoroaster, although modern historians generally place the birth of Zoroaster in Khorasan. Derived into Modern Persian as Rey, it now as a city located towards the southern end of the modern-day city of Tehran. Mount Damavand, the highest peak of Iran, which is located near Tehran, is an important location in Ferdowsis Shahname, the long Iranian epic poem that is based on the ancient epics of Iran. It appears in the epics as the birthplace of Manuchehr, the residence of Keyumars, the place where Freydun binds the dragon fiend Aži Dahāka, during the Sassanid era, in 641, Yazdgerd III issued his last appeal to the nation from Rey, before fleeing to Khorasan. Rey was dominated by the Parthian Mihran family, and Siyavakhsh—the son of Mihran the son of Bahram Chobin—who resisted the Muslim Invasion, because of this resistance, when the Arabs captured Rey, they ordered the town to be destroyed and ordered Farrukhzad to rebuild the town anew. In the 9th century, Tehran was a well known village, but less known than the city of Rey, the medieval writer Najm od Din Razi declared the population of Rey about 500,000 before the Mongol Invasion
2.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
3.
Opening ceremony
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A grand opening is a publicized event at which a new establishment announces its official opening to the public. Depending on the nature of the establishment, a party atmosphere may be promoted by use of food, music, prizes, balloons, giveaways, festive signs, searchlights, a ribbon cutting ceremony is a common ritual, symbolically opening the facility to the public. Before the grand opening there are usually media previews, such openings may be by invitation only, or may welcome visitors made aware of it by word of mouth. Broadcast News Writing, Reporting, and Producing, fans Not Customers, How to create growth companies in a no growth world
4.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, known as Mohammad Reza Shah, was the Shah of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979. Mohammad Reza Shah took the title Shāhanshāh on 26 October 1967 and he was the second and last monarch of the House of Pahlavi of the Iranian monarchy. Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi held several titles, including that of Āryāmehr. His dream of the Great Civilization in Iran led to an industrial and military expansion as well as economic. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi came to power during World War II after an Anglo-Soviet invasion forced the abdication of his father, various additional controversial policies were enacted, including the banning of the communist Tudeh Party, and a general suppression of political dissent by Irans intelligence agency, SAVAK. According to official statistics, Iran had as many as 2,200 political prisoners in 1978, by 1979, political unrest had transformed into a revolution which, on 17 January, forced him to leave Iran. Soon thereafter, the Iranian monarchy was abolished, and Iran was declared an Islamic republic led by Ruhollah Khomeini. Facing likely execution should he return to Iran, he died in exile in Egypt, whose President, due to his status as the last de facto Shah of Iran, he is often known as simply the Shah. Born in Tehran to Reza Pahlavi and his wife, Tadj ol-Molouk, Mohammad Reza was the eldest son of the first Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Shah. He was born with a sister, Ashraf Pahlavi. However, Shams, Mohammad Reza, Ashraf, Ali Reza, nevertheless, Reza Shah was always convinced that his sudden quirk of good fortune had commenced in 1919 with the birth of his son who was dubbed khoshghadam. Mohammad Reza described his father in his book Mission for My Country as one of the most frightening men he had ever known, depicting Reza Khan as a dominating man with a violent temper. Reza Khan often impressed on his son his belief that history was made by men such as himself. From women, and apparently from women alone that the future Shah received whatever psychological nourishment he was able to get as a child, traditionally, male children were considered more preferable than females, and as a boy, Mohammed Reza was often spoiled by his mother and sisters. Mohammed Reza was very close to his twin sister Ashraf as she noted, It was this twinship, no matter how I would reach out in the years to come-sometimes even desperately-to find an identity and a purpose of my own, I would remain inextricably tied to my brother. Always, the center of my existence was, and is, in 1973, Mohammad Reza told the Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, A king who does not need to account to anyone for what he says and does is unavoidably doomed to loneliness. However, I am not entirely alone, because a force others cant perceive accompanies me, I have lived with God besides me since I was 5 years old. Since, that is, God sent me those visions, in his 1961 book Mission for My Country, Mohammad Reza wrote, From the time I was six or seven, I have felt that perhaps there is a supreme being, who is guiding me
5.
Shah
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Shah is a title given to the emperors, kings, princes and lords of Iran. In Iran the title was used, rather than King in the European sense. The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was Xšāyathiya Xšāyathiyānām or Šāhe Šāhān and this word is commonly confused with the unrelated and distinct Indian surname Shah, which is derived from the Sanskrit Sadhu or Sahu, meaning gentleman. Šāh, or Šāhanšāh to use the term, was the title of the Persian emperors. While the Ottoman Sultans never styled themselves as Shah, but rather Sultan, their male offspring received the title of Şehzade, or prince. The full title of the Achaemenid rulers was Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām, literally King of Kings in Old Persian, corresponding to Middle Persian Šāhān Šāh, in Greek, this phrase was translated as βασιλεὺς τῶν βασιλέων, King of Kings, equivalent to Emperor. Both terms were often shortened to their roots shah and basileus, in Western languages, Shah is often used as an imprecise rendering of Šāhanšāh. The term was first recorded in English in 1564 as a title for the King of Persia, for a long time, Europeans thought of Shah as a particular royal title rather than an imperial one, although the monarchs of Persia regarded themselves as emperors of the Persian Empire. In the twentieth century, the Shah of Persia, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, officially adopted the title شاهنشاه Šāhanšāh and, in western languages and he also styled his wife شهبانو Shahbānu. Iran no longer had a shah after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, from the reign of Ashot III, the Bagratid kings of Armenia used the title shahanshah, meaning king of kings. The title padishah was adopted from the Iranians by the Ottomans and by other monarchs claiming imperial rank. Another subsidiary style of the Ottoman and Mughal rulers was Shah-i-Alam Panah, meaning King, the Shah-Armens, used the title Shāh-i Arman. Georgian title mepetmepe was also inspired by the shahanshah title, however the precise full styles can differ in the court traditions of each shahs kingdom. This title was given to the princes of the Ottoman Empire and was used by the princes of the Mughal Empire in India. Thus, in Oudh, only sons of the sovereign shah bahadur were by birth-right styled Shahzada Mirza Bahadur, though this style could also be extended to individual grandsons, other male descendants of the sovereign in the male line were merely styled Mirza or Mirza. This could even apply to non-Muslim dynasties, for example, the younger sons of the ruling Sikh maharaja of Punjab were styled Shahzada Singh Bahadur. Shahbanu, Persian term using the word shah and the Persian suffix -banu, Empress, in modern times, shahdokht is also another term derived from shah using the Persian patronymic suffix -dokht daughter, female descendant, to address the Princess of the imperial households. Shahpur also been derived from using the archaic Persian suffix -pur son, male descendant
6.
Azadi Stadium
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The Azadi Stadium formerly known as Aryamehr Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The stadium was designed by SOM and inaugurated on 18 October 1971, it is self-owned by Esteghlal F. C. and it is also the home stadium of the Iran national football team. It has a current capacity of 78,116 spectators, though it has been able to more than that during special matches. Aryamehr, renamed after Iranian Revolution to Azadi, is the 10th largest association football stadium in the world and it was built to host the 1974 Asian Games and has hosted the 1976 AFC Asian Cup. The stadium also hosted AFC Champions League final on two occasions, in 1999 and 2002, the stadium is located in the West of Tehran, near Ekbatan district, and is easily accessible for most people living in the city. The West entrance is located on Ferdous street and the East entrance is on Farhangian street, Azadi Sport Complex was constructed by Arme Construction Company for the 7th Asian Games in 1974 with international criteria. Its land measurement is 450 Hectares and it is located in West Tehran, though a simple bowl concrete structure, the stadium is a breathtaking sight. Situated west of the capital, an arching, slightly raised outer shell appears to give way as sweeping stands sink down to pitch side, eventually political issues saw Tehran drop its bid for 1984, leaving the eventual host, Los Angeles, the only city left bidding. In 2002, the level of the stadium had seats installed. Stadium management also plans to install seats in the upper level of the stadium. The renovations were completed in 2003, stadium was refurnished with 35,000 seats, in 2004 a large jumbotron television was added, replacing the original scoreboard. This giant screen with an area of about 300 square meters. The stadium hosted two West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2004 and 2008, in 2008, AFC forced Sepahan to play the home matches in AFC Champions League in this stadium after their home stadium Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium was closed for renovation. The stadium also is the regular host for Iran U-23 for the Olympics football qualifying, in November 1975, Frank Sinatra held a concert at Aryamehr Stadium. The famous 2006 film, Offside starring Sima Mobarak Shahi and Ida Sadeghi, Azadi Stadium also hosted Ferdousi festival, organized by Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization and two major concerts in May 2013. 2015 Womens Islamic Games were also held at the stadium, the architect of the stadium were Abdolaziz Farmanfarmaian and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At the beginning, the stadium had a capacity of 120,000 visitors but was decreased to 84,000 after renovations in 2003. On the big occasions the crowd swells well beyond that, the design of the stadium amplifies the noise across the pitch
7.
1970 Asian Games
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The 6th Asian Games were held from December 9,1970, to December 20,1970, in Bangkok, Thailand. Previous host Thailand stepped in to save the Asiad and staged the Games using the funds of South Korea, a total number of 2,400 athletes, coming from 18 countries, competed in this Asiad, where yachting made its debut. The yellow boxes represent days during which medal-awarding finals for a sport were held, the numeral indicates the number of event finals for each sport held that day. On the left, the calendar lists each sport with events held during the Games, there is a key at the top of the calendar to aid the reader. The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below, the host nation, Thailand, is highlighted
8.
1978 Asian Games
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The 8th Asian Games were held from December 9,1978, to December 20,1978, in Bangkok, Thailand. Originally, the host city was Singapore but Singapore dropped its plan to host the Games due to financial problems, then Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan was decided to host the 8th Games. But Islamabad also dropped its plan to host the Asian Games due to conflicts with Bangladesh, Thailand offered to help and the Asiad therefore was held in Bangkok. On the political front, Israel was expelled from the Asian Games, a total number of 3,842 athletes, coming from 25 countries, competed in these Asian Games. Debuting sports were archery and bowling,25 out of 32 Olympic Council of Asia members participated in these games. Iran just sent only one official and did not participate in the due to the political situation in Iran at the time. The top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below, the host nation, Thailand, is highlighted
9.
Asian Games
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The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a Pancontinental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, since the 1982 Games they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia, after the breakup of the Asian Games Federation. The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games, in its history, nine nations have hosted the Asian Games. Forty-six nations have participated in the Games, including Israel, which was excluded from the Games after their last participation in 1974. The most recent games was held in Incheon, South Korea from 19 September to 4 October 2014, while the games will be held in Jakarta and Palembang. The Far Eastern Games were first held in Manila in 1913 with 6 participating nations, ten more Far Eastern Games were held until 1934. Consequently, the Far Eastern Games scheduled for 1938 were cancelled, after World War II, a number of Asian countries became independent. During the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, a conversation between sportsmen from China and the Philippines raised the idea of restoring the Far Eastern Games. As a result, he proposed to sports leaders the idea of having a new competition – which came to be the Asian Games. This led to an agreement to form the Asian Athletic Federation, a preparatory committee was then set up to draft the charter for this new body. Starting in 1962, the Games were hit by several crises, first, the host country Indonesia, refused to permit the participation of Israel and Taiwan due to political and religious issues. As a result, the IOC removed its sponsorship of the Games, the Asian Football Confederation, International Amateur Athletics Federation and International Weightlifting Federation, also removed their recognition of the Games. Prior to the Games, Japan was asked to host the Games and this edition also marked the first time the Games have a television broadcasting throughout the world. In Tehran, in 1974, the Games formally recognized the participation of China, North Korea, the last is 1978, Pakistan dropped its plan to host the Games in 1975 due to financial crisis and political issues. Thailand offered to help and the Games were once held in Bangkok. However, once again, like in 1962, Taiwan and Israel were refused the participation by Games Federation, amid political issues and security fears. Several governing bodies protested against the ban, like IAAF, threatened to bar the players from 1980 Summer Olympics. Following this series of crises, the National Olympic Committee in Asia decided to revise the constitution of the Asian Games Federation, a new association, named the Olympic Council of Asia, was created in November 1981 with the exclusion of Israel
10.
Persian language
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Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
11.
Pahlavi dynasty
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The Pahlavi dynasty was the ruling house of Iran from 1925 until 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and abolished as a result of the Iranian Revolution. He was succeeded by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, at the death of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi on 27 July 1980, his son Reza Pahlavi became the head of the Pahlavi royal family. His successor, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, announced in 1959 that both Persia and Iran were acceptable and could be used interchangeably, Rezā Shāh tried to avoid involvement with Britain and the Soviet Union. Though many of his development projects required foreign expertise, he avoided awarding contracts to British. This created problems for Iran after 1939, when Germany and Britain became enemies in World War II, Rezā Shāh proclaimed Iran as a neutral country, but Britain insisted that German engineers and technicians in Iran were spies with missions to sabotage British oil facilities in southwestern Iran. Britain demanded that Iran expel all German citizens, but Rezā Shāh refused, on 13 September 1943 the Allies reassured the Iranians that all foreign troops would leave by 2 March 1946. At the time, the Tudeh Party of Iran, a communist party that was influential and had parliamentary representation, was becoming increasingly militant. This promoted actions from the side of the government, including attempts of the Iranian armed forces to order in the Northern provinces. While the Tudeh headquarters in Tehran were occupied and the Isfahan branch crushed, thus, by November 1945 Azerbaijan had become an autonomous state helped by the Tudeh party. This puppet government of the Soviet Union only lasted until November 1946, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi replaced his father on the throne on 16 September 1941. In 1951, the Majlis named Mohammad Mossadegh as new minister by a vote of 79–12. Mossadegh was opposed by the Shah who feared a resulting oil embargo imposed by the West would leave Iran in economic ruin, the Shah fled Iran but returned when the United Kingdom and United States staged a coup against Mossadegh in August 1953. Mossadegh was then arrested by pro-Shah army forces, the Shahs government suppressed its opponents with the help of Irans security and intelligence secret police, SAVAK. Such opponents included members of the Communist Tudeh party, by the mid-1970s, relying on increased oil revenues, Mohammad Reza began a series of even more ambitious and bolder plans for the progress of his country and the march toward the White Revolution. But his socioeconomic advances increasingly irritated the clergy, the Pahlavi regime collapsed following widespread uprisings in 1978 and 1979. The Islamic Revolution dissolved the SAVAK and replaced it with the SAVAMA, Mohammad Reza fled the country, seeking medical treatment in Egypt, Mexico, the United States, and Panama, and finally resettled with his family in Egypt as a guest of Anwar Sadat. On his death, his son Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi succeeded him in absentia as heir apparent to the Pahlavi dynasty, Reza Pahlavi and his wife live in the United States in Potomac, Maryland with three daughters. Under the Qajar dynasty the Persian character of Iran was not very explicit, the Pahlavi rule was instrumental in Irans nationalisation in line with Persian culture and language which, amongst other ways, was achieved through the official ban on the use of the Azeri language
12.
Middle East
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The Middle East is a transcontinental region centered on Western Asia and Egypt. The corresponding adjective is Middle-Eastern and the noun is Middle-Easterner. The term has come into usage as a replacement of the term Near East beginning in the early 20th century. Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azeris constitute the largest ethnic groups in the region by population. Indigenous minorities of the Middle East include Jews, Assyrians and other Arameans, Baloch, Berbers, Copts, Druze, Lurs, Mandaeans, Samaritans, Shabaks, Tats, in the Middle East, there is also a Romani community. European ethnic groups form a diaspora in the region include Albanians, Bosniaks, Circassians, Crimean Tatars, Franco-Levantines. Among other migrant populations are Bengalis as well as other Indians, Chinese, Filipinos, Indonesians, Pakistanis, the history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, with the importance of the region being recognized for millennia. Most of the countries border the Persian Gulf have vast reserves of crude oil. The term Middle East may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office, however, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to designate the area between Arabia and India. During this time the British and Russian Empires were vying for influence in Central Asia, Mahan realized not only the strategic importance of the region, but also of its center, the Persian Gulf. Mahan first used the term in his article The Persian Gulf and International Relations, published in September 1902 in the National Review, a British journal. The Middle East, if I may adopt a term which I have not seen, will some day need its Malta, as well as its Gibraltar, it does not follow that either will be in the Persian Gulf. The British Navy should have the facility to concentrate in force if occasion arise, about Aden, India, mahans article was reprinted in The Times and followed in October by a 20-article series entitled The Middle Eastern Question, written by Sir Ignatius Valentine Chirol. During this series, Sir Ignatius expanded the definition of Middle East to include regions of Asia which extend to the borders of India or command the approaches to India. After the series ended in 1903, The Times removed quotation marks from subsequent uses of the term, in the late 1930s, the British established the Middle East Command, which was based in Cairo, for its military forces in the region. After that time, the term Middle East gained broader usage in Europe, the description Middle has also led to some confusion over changing definitions. Before the First World War, Near East was used in English to refer to the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire, while Middle East referred to Iran, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Turkestan. The first official use of the term Middle East by the United States government was in the 1957 Eisenhower Doctrine, the Associated Press Stylebook says that Near East formerly referred to the farther west countries while Middle East referred to the eastern ones, but that now they are synonymous
13.
Fencing
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Fencing, also called Olympic fencing, is a sport in which two competitors fight using rapier-style swords, winning points by making contact with their opponent. Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics, there are three forms of modern fencing, each using a different style of weapon and different rules, and as such the sport is divided into three competitive scenes, foil, épée, and sabre. Most competitive fencers choose to specialise in one weapon. Competitive fencing is one of five activities which have featured in every one of the modern Olympic Games, the other four being athletics, cycling, swimming. Fencing is governed by Fédération Internationale dEscrime, today, its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 145 national federations, each of which is recognised by its countrys Olympic Committee as the representative of Olympic-style fencing in that country. The FIE maintains the current rules used for FIE sanctioned international events, including cups, world championships. The FIE handles proposals to change the rules the first year after an Olympic year in the annual congress, the US Fencing Association has slightly different rules, but usually adhere to FIE standards. Fencing traces its roots to the development of swordsmanship for duels, the ancestor of modern fencing originated in Spain, where several books on fencing were written. In conquest, the Spanish forces carried fencing around the world, particularly southern Italy, Fencing was mentioned in the play The Merry Wives of Windsor written sometime prior to 1602. The mechanics of modern fencing originated in the 18th century in an Italian school of fencing of the Renaissance, the Spanish school of fencing stagnated and was replaced by the Italian and French schools. There, he taught the aristocracy the fashionable art of swordsmanship and his school was run by three generations of his family and dominated the art of European fencing for almost a century. He established the rules of posture and footwork that still govern modern sport fencing. The first regularized fencing competition was held at the inaugural Grand Military Tournament and Assault at Arms in 1880, held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, the Tournament featured a series of competitions between army officers and soldiers. Each bout was fought for five hits and the foils were pointed with black to aid the judges, the Amateur Gymnastic & Fencing Association drew up an official set of fencing regulations in 1896. Fencing was part of the Olympics Games in the summer of 1896, starting with épée in 1933, side judges were replaced by the Laurent-Pagan electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed. Foil was automated in 1956, sabre in 1988, the scoring box reduced the bias in judging, and permitted more accurate scoring of faster actions, lighter touches, and more touches to the back and flank than before. There are three weapons in modern fencing, foil, épée, and sabre, each weapon has its own rules and strategies
14.
Gymnastics
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Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance and control. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shoulders, chest, alertness, precision, daring, self-confidence and self-discipline are mental traits that can also be developed through gymnastics. Gymnastics evolved from exercises used by the ancient Greeks that included skills for mounting and dismounting a horse, most forms of competitive gymnastics events are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. Each country has its own governing body affiliated to FIG. Competitive artistic gymnastics is the best known of the gymnastic events and it typically involves the womens events of vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Mens events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, other FIG disciplines include rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and aerobic gymnastics. Disciplines not currently recognized by FIG include wheel gymnastics, aesthetic group gymnastics, mens rhythmic gymnastics and TeamGym. The word gymnastics derives from the common Greek adjective Greek, by way of the related verb γυμνάζω, whose meaning is to train naked, train in gymnastic exercise, generally to train, the verb had this meaning, because athletes in ancient times exercised and competed without clothing. It came into use in the 1570s, from Latin gymnasticus, from Greek gymnastikos fond of or skilled in bodily exercise, Gymnastics originated in ancient Spain and was originally intended for military training, where it was used by soldiers to prepare for warfare. Don Francisco Amorós y Ondeano, was born on February 19,1770 in Valencia and he was a Spanish colonel, and the first person to introduce educative gymnastic in France. Jahn promoted the use of bars, rings and high bars in international competition. The Federation of International Gymnastics was founded in Liege in 1881, by the end of the nineteenth century, mens gymnastics competition was popular enough to be included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. During the 1920s, women organized and participated in gymnastics events, the first womens Olympic competition was primitive, only involving synchronized calisthenics and track and field. These games were held in 1928, in Amsterdam, by 1954, Olympic Games apparatus and events for both men and women had been standardized in modern format, and uniform grading structures had been agreed upon. At this time, Soviet gymnasts astounded the world with highly disciplined and difficult performances, television has helped publicize and initiate a modern age of gymnastics. Both mens and womens gymnastics now attract considerable international interest, in 2006, a new points system for Artistic gymnastics was put into play. With an A Score being the difficulty score, which as of 2009 is based on the top 8 high scoring elements in a routine, the B Score, is the score for execution, and is given for how well the skills are performed. The following disciplines are governed by FIG, Artistic Gymnastics is usually divided into Mens and Womens Gymnastics
15.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
16.
1962 Asian Games
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The 4th Asian Games were held from August 24,1962, to September 4,1962, in Jakarta, Indonesia. Most notable is the exclusion of Israel and Taiwan from the Games, succumbing to pressure from Arab countries and the Peoples Republic of China, the Indonesian government refused to issue visas for the Israeli and Taiwanese delegations. It had done so against the rules of the Asian Games Federation, a total number of 1,460 athletes, coming from 17 countries, competed in this Asiad, where badminton made its debut. On May 23,1958, voting for the 1962 venue took place in Tokyo, the Asian Games federation council voted 22-20 in favour of the Indonesian capital over Karachi, the only other candidate. A total of 17 Asian NOCs sent delegations, the top ten ranked NOCs at these Games are listed below. The host nation, Indonesia, is highlighted
17.
Indonesia
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Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a unitary sovereign state and transcontinental country located mainly in Southeast Asia with some territories in Oceania. Situated between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is the worlds largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands. At 1,904,569 square kilometres, Indonesia is the worlds 14th-largest country in terms of area and worlds 7th-largest country in terms of combined sea. It has an population of over 260 million people and is the worlds fourth most populous country. The worlds most populous island, Java, contains more than half of the countrys population, Indonesias republican form of government includes an elected legislature and president. Indonesia has 34 provinces, of which five have Special Administrative status and its capital and countrys most populous city is Jakarta, which is also the most populous city in Southeast Asia and the second in Asia. The country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor, other neighbouring countries include Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, Palau, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the second highest level of biodiversity. The country has abundant natural resources like oil and natural gas, tin, copper, agriculture mainly produces rice, palm oil, tea, coffee, cacao, medicinal plants, spices and rubber. Indonesias major trading partners are Japan, United States, China, the Indonesian archipelago has been an important region for trade since at least the 7th century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Indonesia consists of hundreds of native ethnic and linguistic groups. The largest – and politically dominant – ethnic group are the Javanese, a shared identity has developed, defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a Muslim-majority population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesias national motto, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, articulates the diversity that shapes the country, Indonesias economy is the worlds 16th largest by nominal GDP and the 8th largest by GDP at PPP, the largest in Southeast Asia, and is considered an emerging market and newly industrialised country. Indonesia has been a member of the United Nations since 1950, Indonesia is a member of the G20 major economies and World Trade Organization. The name Indonesia derives from the Greek name of the Indós, the name dates to the 18th century, far predating the formation of independent Indonesia. In 1850, George Windsor Earl, an English ethnologist, proposed the terms Indunesians—and, his preference, in the same publication, one of his students, James Richardson Logan, used Indonesia as a synonym for Indian Archipelago. However, Dutch academics writing in East Indies publications were reluctant to use Indonesia, they preferred Malay Archipelago, the Netherlands East Indies, popularly Indië, the East, and Insulinde
18.
Asian Football Confederation
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The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football in Asia and Australia. Three other states located along the fringe of Asia – Cyprus, Armenia. Hong Kong and Macau, although not independent countries, are members of the AFC. One of FIFAs six continental confederations, the AFC was formed officially on 8 May 1954 in Manila, Philippines, the main headquarters is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The current president is Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa of Bahrain, the Asian Football Confederation was founded on 8 May 1954. Afghanistan, Burma, Republic of China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, the Asian Ladies Football Confederation is the section of the AFC who manage womens football in Asia. The group was founded in April 1968 in a meeting involving Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia. In 1986 the ALFC merged with the AFC, the Asian Ladies Football Confederation helped organise the AFC Womens Asian Cup, first held in 1975, as well as the AFCs AFC U-19 Womens Championship and the AFC U-17 Womens Championship. The AFC has 47 member associations split into five regions, all three competitions are held every four years. The top-ranked AFC competition is the AFC Champions League, which started in the 2002–03 season and gathers the top 1–4 teams of each country, a second, lower-ranked competition is the AFC Cup. This competition was launched by AFC in 2004, a third competition, the AFC Presidents Cup, which had started in 2005, was absorbed into the AFC Cup in 2015. The AFC also runs an annual Asian futsal club competition, the AFC Futsal Club Championship
19.
International Association of Athletics Federations
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The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded on 17 July 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation by representatives from 17 national athletics federations at the organizations first congress in Stockholm, since October 1993, it has been headquartered in Monaco. Beginning in 1982, the IAAF passed several amendments to its rules to allow athletes to receive compensation for participating in international competitions. However, the organization retained the word amateur in its name until its 2001 congress, the IAAFs president is Sebastian Coe of the United Kingdom. He was elected at the 2015 congress before the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing, the process to found the IAAF was started at a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on July 17,1912 soon after the completion of the 1912 Summer Olympics in that city. The congress that started on August 20,1913 in Berlin is when the foundation of the IAAF was formally completed, in 2015, a whistleblower leaked IAAFs blood test records from major competitions. After reviewing the results, Robin Parisotto, a scientist and leading anti-doping expert, said, so many athletes appear to have doped with impunity, and it is damning that the IAAF appears to have idly sat by and let this happen. Craig Reedie, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said his organisation was very disturbed by these new allegations, which will, once again, shake the foundation of clean athletes worldwide, and that its independent commission will investigate the claims. On 1 November 2015, former IAAF president Lamine Diack was arrested in France and is under investigation on suspicion of corruption, Diack allegedly accepted $1.2 million from the Russian athletics federation to cover up the positive doping tests of at least six Russian athletes in 2011. The report continued that the IAAF allowed the conduct to occur and must accept its responsibility and that corruption was embedded in the organization. In January 2016, as a result of the scandal and WADAs report. The BBC reported that as a result the IAAF would lose $33 million worth of revenue, the 11-year sponsorship deal with Adidas was due to run until 2019. World-record holding sprinter, Michael Johnson, described the scandal as more serious than that faced by FIFA, in February,2016, Nestle announced that it was ending its IAAF sponsorship. In June 2016, following a meeting of the IAAFs ruling council, in Ferbuary 2017, All-Russia Athletic Federation disqualified by decision of the IAAF Council for 8 years for the creation of a doping system. Since the establishment of the IAAF, it has had six presidents, The IAAF has a total of 215 member federations divided into 6 area associations
20.
International Weightlifting Federation
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The International Weightlifting Federation, headquartered in Budapest, is the international governing body for the sport of Olympic weightlifting. The IWF was founded in 1905, and has 187 member nations, the IWF president is Tamás Aján of Hungary. Originally called the Fédération Haltéphile International, it changed its name to IWF between the 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, IWF World Weightlifter of the Year Official website
21.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
22.
Financial crisis
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A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, other situations that are often called financial crises include stock market crashes and the bursting of other financial bubbles, currency crises, and sovereign defaults. Financial crises directly result in a loss of wealth but do not necessarily result in significant changes in the real economy. Many economists have offered theories about how financial crises develop and how they could be prevented, There is no consensus, however, and financial crises continue to occur from time to time. When a bank suffers a sudden rush of withdrawals by depositors, an event in which bank runs are widespread is called a systemic banking crisis or banking panic. Examples of bank runs include the run on the Bank of the United States in 1931, Banking crises generally occur after periods of risky lending and resulting loan defaults. There is no accepted definition of a currency crisis, which is normally considered as part of a financial crisis. Frankel and Rose define a crisis as a nominal depreciation of a currency of at least 25%. A speculative bubble exists in the event of large, sustained overpricing of some class of assets, however, it is difficult to predict whether an assets price actually equals its fundamental value, so it is hard to detect bubbles reliably. Some economists insist that bubbles never or almost never occur, the 2000s sparked a real estate bubble where housing prices were increasing significantly as an asset good. When a country fails to pay back its debt, this is called a sovereign default. Several currencies that formed part of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism suffered crises in 1992–93 and were forced to devalue or withdraw from the mechanism, another round of currency crises took place in Asia in 1997–98. Many Latin American countries defaulted on their debt in the early 1980s, the 1998 Russian financial crisis resulted in a devaluation of the ruble and default on Russian government bonds. Negative GDP growth lasting two or more quarters is called a recession, an especially prolonged or severe recession may be called a depression, while a long period of slow but not necessarily negative growth is sometimes called economic stagnation. Some economists argue that many recessions have been caused in part by financial crises. One important example is the Great Depression, which was preceded in many countries by bank runs and stock market crashes. The subprime mortgage crisis and the bursting of real estate bubbles around the world also led to recession in the U. S. It is often observed that successful investment requires each investor in a market to guess what other investors will do
23.
Bangkok
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Bangkok is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep. The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, over 14 million people live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, significantly dwarfing Thailands other urban centres in terms of importance. Bangkok was at the heart of the modernization of Siam—later renamed Thailand—during the late 19th century, the city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact on Thailands politics, economy, education, media and modern society. The Asian investment boom in the 1980s and 1990s led many multinational corporations to locate their headquarters in Bangkok. The city is now a regional force in finance and business. It is a hub for transport and health care, and has emerged as a regional centre for the arts, fashion. The city is known for its vibrant street life and cultural landmarks. The historic Grand Palace and Buddhist temples including Wat Arun and Wat Pho stand in contrast with other tourist attractions such as the scenes of Khaosan Road. Bangkok is among the top tourist destinations. It is named the most visited city in MasterCards Global Destination Cities Index, Bangkoks rapid growth amidst little urban planning and regulation has resulted in a haphazard cityscape and inadequate infrastructure systems. The city has turned to public transport in an attempt to solve this major problem. Five rapid transit lines are now in operation, with more systems under construction or planned by the national government and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration. The history of Bangkok dates at least back to the early 15th century, because of its strategic location near the mouth of the river, the town gradually increased in importance. Bangkok initially served as a customs outpost with forts on both sides of the river, and became the site of a siege in 1688 in which the French were expelled from Siam. After the fall of Ayutthaya to the Burmese Empire in 1767, the newly declared King Taksin established his capital at the town, in 1782, King Phutthayotfa Chulalok succeeded Taksin, moved the capital to the eastern banks Rattanakosin Island, thus founding the Rattanakosin Kingdom. The City Pillar was erected on 21 April, which is regarded as the date of foundation of the present city, Bangkoks economy gradually expanded through busy international trade, first with China, then with Western merchants returning in the early-to-mid 19th century. As the capital, Bangkok was the centre of Siams modernization as it faced pressure from Western powers in the late 19th century, Bangkok became the centre stage for power struggles between the military and political elite as the country abolished absolute monarchy in 1932
24.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
25.
Expo '70
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Expo 70 was a worlds fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan, between March 15 and September 13,1970. The theme of the Expo was Progress and Harmony for Mankind, in Japanese, Expo 70 is often referred to as Osaka Banpaku. This was the first worlds fair held in Japan, the master plan for the Expo was designed by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange helped by 12 other Japanese architects who designed elements within it. Bridging the site along an axis was the Symbol Zone. Planned on three levels it was primarily a space which had a unifying space frame roof. Osaka was chosen as the site for the 1970 World Exposition by the Bureau International des Expositions in 1965,330 hectares in the Senri Hills outside Osaka had been earmarked for the site and a Theme Committee under the chairmanship of Seiji Kaya was formed. Kenzo Tange and Uzo Nishiyama were appointed to produce the master plan for the Expo, the main theme would be Progress and Harmony for Mankind. Tange invited 12 other architects to elucidate designs for elements within the master plan and these architects included, Arata Isozaki for the Festival Plaza mechanical, electrical and electronic installations, and Kiyonori Kikutake for the Landmark Tower. Two main principles informed the idea of the master plan, the designers thought that unlike previous expositions they wished to produce a central, unifying, Festival Plaza where people could meet and socialise. They called this the Symbol Zone and covered it and the pavilions with a giant space frame roof. The designers liked the idea that like the 1851 Great Exhibition in London and they did not want the constraint imposed by the London Exhibition of having everything contained under one roof, so the space frame contained only the Festival Plaza and themed pavilions. Tange compared the concept to a tree, the idea was that although the national pavilions were like individual flowers they needed to be connected to the whole via branches and a trunk. Thus the Symbol Zone became the trunk and the pedestrian walkways. These elements were reinforced with colour, with the trunk and branches in plain white, the Symbol Zone ran north/south across the site, spanning an arterial road running east/west. The Festival Plaza was to the north of road and had the gate on its southern end. The Theme Space under the frame was divided into three levels, each designed by the artist Tarō Okamoto, The underground level represented the past and was a symbol of the source of humanity. The surface level represented the present, symbolising the dynamism of human interaction, the space frame represented the future and a world where humanity and technology would be joined. Tange envisioned that the exhibition for the future would be like a city and he asked Fumihiko Maki, Noboru Kawazoe, Koji Kamiya
26.
Osaka
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Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Japan. Historically a merchant city, Osaka has also known as the nations kitchen. Some of the earliest signs of habitation in the Osaka area at the Morinomiya ruins comprise shell mounds, sea oysters. It is believed that what is today the Uehonmachi area consisted of a land with an inland sea in the east. During the Yayoi period, permanent habitation on the plains grew as rice farming became popular, by the Kofun period, Osaka developed into a hub port connecting the region to the western part of Japan. The large numbers of increasingly larger tomb mounds found in the plains of Osaka are seen as evidence of political-power concentration, in 645, Emperor Kōtoku built his Naniwa Nagara-Toyosaki Palace in what is now Osaka, making it the capital of Japan. The city now known as Osaka was at this time referred to as Naniwa, although the capital was moved to Asuka in 655, Naniwa remained a vital connection, by land and sea, between Yamato, Korea, and China. Naniwa was declared the capital again in 744 by order of Emperor Shōmu, and remained so until 745, in 1496, Jōdo Shinshū Buddhists established their headquarters in the heavily fortified Ishiyama Hongan-ji, located directly on the site of the old Naniwa Imperial Palace. Oda Nobunaga began a siege campaign on the temple in 1570 which ultimately resulted in the surrender of the monks. Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed Osaka Castle in its place in 1583, Osaka was long considered Japans primary economic center, with a large percentage of the population belonging to the merchant class. Over the course of the Edo period, Osaka grew into one of Japans major cities and returned to its ancient role as a lively and its popular culture was closely related to ukiyo-e depictions of life in Edo. By 1780 Osaka had cultivated a vibrant arts culture, as typified by its famous Kabuki, in 1837 Ōshio Heihachirō, a low-ranking samurai, led a peasant insurrection in response to the citys unwillingness to support the many poor and suffering families in the area. Approximately one-quarter of the city was razed before shogunal officials put down the rebellion, Osaka was opened to foreign trade by the government of the Bakufu at the same time as Hyōgo on 1 January 1868, just before the advent of the Boshin War and the Meiji Restoration. Osaka residents were stereotyped in Edo literature from at least the 18th century, jippenisha Ikku in 1802 depicted Osakans as stingy almost beyond belief. Edo writers aspired to samurai culture, and saw themselves as poor but generous, chaste, Edo writers by contrast saw zeeroku as obsequious apprentices, stingy, greedy, gluttonous, and lewd. The modern municipality was established in 1889 by government ordinance, with an area of 15 square kilometres, overlapping todays Chūō. Later, the city went through three major expansions to reach its current size of 223 square kilometres, Osaka was the industrial center most clearly defined in the development of capitalism in Japan. It became known as the Manchester of the Orient, the rapid industrialization attracted many Korean immigrants, who set up a life apart for themselves
27.
Broadcasting
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Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, all forms of communication were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. Over the air broadcasting is usually associated with radio and television, the receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively small subset, the point is that anyone with the appropriate receiving technology and equipment can receive the signal. The field of broadcasting includes both government-managed services such as radio, community radio and public television, and private commercial radio. The U. S. Code of Federal Regulations, title 47, part 97 defines broadcasting as transmissions intended for reception by the general public, private or two-way telecommunications transmissions do not qualify under this definition. For example, amateur and citizens band radio operators are not allowed to broadcast, as defined, transmitting and broadcasting are not the same. Transmissions using a wire or cable, like television, are also considered broadcasts. In the 2000s, transmissions of television and radio programs via streaming digital technology have increasingly been referred to as broadcasting as well, the earliest broadcasting consisted of sending telegraph signals over the airwaves, using Morse code, a system developed in the 1830s by Samuel F. B. Morse, physicist Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail and they developed an electrical telegraph system which sent pulses of electric current along wires which controlled an electromagnet that was located at the receiving end of the telegraph system. A code was needed to transmit natural language using only these pulses, Morse therefore developed the forerunner to modern International Morse code. Audio broadcasting began experimentally in the first decade of the 20th century, by the early 1920s radio broadcasting became a household medium, at first on the AM band and later on FM. Television broadcasting started experimentally in the 1920s and became widespread after World War II, satellite broadcasting was initiated in the 1960s and moved into general industry usage in the 1970s, with DBS emerging in the 1980s. Originally all broadcasting was composed of signals using analog transmission techniques but in the 2000s. In general usage, broadcasting most frequently refers to the transmission of information, Analog audio vs. HD Radio Analog television vs.9 zettabytes. This is the equivalent of 55 newspapers per person per day in 1986. Historically, there have been several methods used for broadcasting electronic media audio and/or video to the public, Telephone broadcasting. Telephone broadcasting also grew to include telephone services for news and entertainment programming which were introduced in the 1890s. These telephone-based subscription services were the first examples of electrical/electronic broadcasting, Radio broadcasting, audio signals sent through the air as radio waves from a transmitter, picked up by an antenna and sent to a receiver
28.
Kuwait City
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Kuwait City is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Kuwait City is the political, cultural and economic center of Kuwait, Kuwait City is considered a global city. Kuwait Citys trade and transportation needs are served by Kuwait International Airport, Mina Al-Shuwaik, in 1613, the town of Kuwait was founded in modern-day Kuwait City. In 1716, the Bani Utubs settled in Kuwait, at the time of the arrival of the Utubs, Kuwait was inhabited by a few fishermen and primarily functioned as a fishing village. In the eighteenth century, Kuwait prospered and rapidly became the commercial center for the transit of goods between India, Muscat, Baghdad and Arabia. By the mid 1700s, Kuwait had already established itself as the trading route from the Persian Gulf to Aleppo. During the Persian siege of Basra in 1775–1779, Iraqi merchants took refuge in Kuwait and were instrumental in the expansion of Kuwaits boat-building and trading activities. As a result, Kuwaits maritime commerce boomed, between the years 1775 and 1779, the Indian trade routes with Baghdad, Aleppo, Smyrna and Constantinople were diverted to Kuwait. The East India Company was diverted to Kuwait in 1792, the East India Company secured the sea routes between Kuwait, India and the east coasts of Africa. After the Persians withdrew from Basra in 1779, Kuwait continued to trade away from Basra. Kuwait was the center of boat building in the Persian Gulf region, during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, ship vessels made in Kuwait carried the bulk of trade between the ports of India, East Africa and the Red Sea. Kuwaiti ship vessels were renowned throughout the Indian Ocean, regional geopolitical turbulence helped foster economic prosperity in Kuwait in the second half of the 18th century. Kuwait became prosperous due to Basras instability in the late 18th century, in the late 18th century, Kuwait partly functioned as a haven for Basras merchants fleeing Ottoman government persecution. According to Palgrave, Kuwaitis developed a reputation as the best sailors in the Persian Gulf, during the reign of Mubarak Al-Sabah, Kuwait was dubbed the Marseilles of the Gulf because its economic vitality attracted a large variety of people. In the first decades of the century, Kuwait had a well-established elite, wealthy trading families who were linked by marriage. The elite were long-settled, urban, Sunni families, the majority of which claim descent from the original 30 Bani Utubi families, the wealthiest families were trade merchants who acquired their wealth from long-distance commerce, shipbuilding and pearling. They were an elite, they traveled extensively to India, Africa. The elite educated their sons more than other Gulf Arab elite
29.
Tel Aviv
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Tel Aviv-Yafo is a major city in Israel, located on the countrys Mediterranean coastline. It is the center and the technology hub of Israel, with a population of 432,892. Tel Aviv is the largest city in the Gush Dan region of Israel, Tel Aviv is also a focal point in the high-tech concentration known as the Silicon Wadi. Tel Aviv is governed by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality, headed by Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv is a global city, and is the thirty eighth most important financial center in the world. Tel Aviv is known to have the third-largest economy of any city in the Middle East after Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, the city receives over a million international visitors annually. Known as The City that Never Sleeps and a party capital, it has a lively nightlife, the city was founded in 1909 by Jewish immigrants on the outskirts of the ancient port city of Jaffa. It is named after the Hebrew translation of Theodor Herzls 1902 novel, Altneuland, the modern citys first neighbourhoods had already been established in 1886, the first being Neve Tzedek. Immigration by mostly Jewish refugees meant that the growth of Tel Aviv soon outpaced Jaffas, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were merged into a single municipality in 1950, two years after the establishment of the State of Israel. Tel Avivs White City, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, Tel Aviv is the Hebrew title of Theodor Herzls Altneuland, translated from German by Nahum Sokolow. The name was chosen in 1910 from several suggestions, including Herzliya and it was found fitting as it embraced the idea of a renaissance in the ancient Jewish homeland. Aviv is Hebrew for spring, symbolizing renewal, and tel is a man-made mound accumulating layers of civilization built one over the other and symbolizing the ancient. Although founded in 1909 as a settlement on the sand dunes North of Jaffa. The marketing pamphlets advocating for its establishment in 1906, wrote, In this city we will build the streets so they have roads and sidewalks and electric lights. Every house will have water wells that will flow through pipes as in every modern European city. Since 1886, Jewish settlers had founded new neighborhoods outside Jaffa on the current territory of Tel Aviv, the first was Neve Tzedek, built on lands owned by Aharon Chelouche and inhabited primarily by Mizrahi Jews. Other neighborhoods were Neve Shalom, Yafa Nof, Achva, Ohel Moshe, Kerem HaTeimanim, once Tel Aviv received city status in the 1920s, those neighborhoods joined the newly formed municipality, now becoming separated from Jaffa. The Second Aliyah led to further expansion, in 1906, a group of Jews, among them residents of Jaffa, followed the initiative of Akiva Aryeh Weiss and banded together to form the Ahuzat Bayit society. The societys goal was to form a Hebrew urban centre in an environment, planned according to the rules of aesthetics
30.
Kuwait
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Kuwait /kuːˈweɪt/, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in Western Asia. Situated in the edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, it shares borders with Iraq. As of 2016, Kuwait has a population of 4.2 million people,1.3 million are Kuwaitis and 2.9 million are expatriates, expatriates account for 70% of the population. Oil reserves were discovered in 1938, from 1946 to 1982, the country underwent large-scale modernization. In the 1980s, Kuwait experienced a period of geopolitical instability, in 1990, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq. The Iraqi occupation came to an end in 1991 after military intervention by coalition forces, at the end of the war, there were extensive efforts to revive the economy and rebuild national infrastructure. Kuwait is a constitutional emirate with a political system. It has an income economy backed by the worlds sixth largest oil reserves. The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest valued currency in the world, according to the World Bank, the country has the fourth highest per capita income in the world. The Constitution was promulgated in 1962, making Kuwait the most democratic country in the region, Kuwait ranks highly in regional metrics of gender equality, as it has the regions highest Global Gender Gap ranking. During the Ubaid period, Kuwait was the site of interaction between the peoples of Mesopotamia and Neolithic Eastern Arabia, mainly centered in As-Subiya in northern Kuwait. The earliest evidence of habitation in Kuwait dates back 8000 B. C. where Mesolithic tools were found in Burgan. As-Subiya in northern Kuwait is the earliest evidence of urbanization in the whole Persian Gulf basin area, mesopotamians first settled in the Kuwaiti island of Failaka in 2000 B. C. Traders from the Sumerian city of Ur inhabited Failaka and ran a mercantile business, the island had many Mesopotamian-style buildings typical of those found in Iraq dating from around 2000 B. C. The Neolithic inhabitants of Kuwait were among the worlds earliest maritime traders, one of the worlds earliest reed-boats was discovered in northern Kuwait dating back to the Ubaid period. In 3rd century BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the bay of Kuwait under Alexander the Great, according to Strabo and Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka Ikaros because it resembled the Aegean island of that name in size and shape. Remains of Greek colonization include a large Hellenistic fort and Greek temples, in 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan, Akkaz was a Partho-Sassanian site, the Sassanid religions tower of silence was discovered in northern Akkaz
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Israel
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Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in the Middle East, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea. The country contains geographically diverse features within its small area. Israels economy and technology center is Tel Aviv, while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem, in 1947, the United Nations adopted a Partition Plan for Mandatory Palestine recommending the creation of independent Arab and Jewish states and an internationalized Jerusalem. The plan was accepted by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, next year, the Jewish Agency declared the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. Israel has since fought several wars with neighboring Arab states, in the course of which it has occupied territories including the West Bank, Golan Heights and it extended its laws to the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem, but not the West Bank. Israels occupation of the Palestinian territories is the worlds longest military occupation in modern times, efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict have not resulted in peace. However, peace treaties between Israel and both Egypt and Jordan have successfully been signed, the population of Israel, as defined by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, was estimated in 2017 to be 8,671,100 people. It is the worlds only Jewish-majority state, with 74. 8% being designated as Jewish, the countrys second largest group of citizens are Arabs, at 20. 8%. The great majority of Israeli Arabs are Sunni Muslims, including significant numbers of semi-settled Negev Bedouins, other minorities include Arameans, Armenians, Assyrians, Black Hebrew Israelites, Circassians, Maronites and Samaritans. Israel also hosts a significant population of foreign workers and asylum seekers from Africa and Asia, including illegal migrants from Sudan, Eritrea. In its Basic Laws, Israel defines itself as a Jewish, Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system, proportional representation and universal suffrage. The prime minister is head of government and the Knesset is the legislature, Israel is a developed country and an OECD member, with the 35th-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product as of 2016. The country benefits from a skilled workforce and is among the most educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree. The country has the highest standard of living in the Middle East and the third highest in Asia, in the early weeks of independence, the government chose the term Israeli to denote a citizen of Israel, with the formal announcement made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Moshe Sharett. The names Land of Israel and Children of Israel have historically used to refer to the biblical Kingdom of Israel. The name Israel in these phrases refers to the patriarch Jacob who, jacobs twelve sons became the ancestors of the Israelites, also known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel or Children of Israel. The earliest known artifact to mention the word Israel as a collective is the Merneptah Stele of ancient Egypt. The area is known as the Holy Land, being holy for all Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam
32.
Amir-Abbas Hoveyda
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Amir-Abbas Hoveyda was an Iranian economist and politician who served as Prime Minister of Iran from 27 January 1965 to 7 August 1977. He was prime minister for 13 years and is the longest serving minister in Irans history. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Mansurs cabinet, after the Iranian Revolution, he was tried by the newly established Revolutionary Court for waging war against God and spreading corruption on earth, and executed. While Hoveydas father had been a Baháí, he had left the religion and he was the nephew of Abdol Hossein Sardari, also known as Schindler of Iran. Because of the responsibilities borne by diplomats such as Ayn ol-Molk, studying in various countries gave Hoveyda a unique cosmopolitan flair that would remain being his most enduring characteristic. During the familys stay in Beirut, Lebanon, Hoveyda attended Lycée Français and his love for France and its culture are rooted in his tutelage at the lycée. French literary works by the likes of André Gide, André Malraux, Molière, some pundits suggest that it was Hoveydas intellectual prowess which initially attracted him into the Shahs folds. Cited as being the reason behind Hoveydas organizational miscalculation was the possibility of military action by an ostensibly belligerent Nazi Germany. Any future occupation of the country would have hindered his chances of attending a French university, stranded in France, Hoveyda decided to complete the required high school credits in London, England, a city that would come to depress the young man. Aside from completing his educational requisites, Hoveyda was able to sharpen his command of the English language and his ability to communicate in several languages, including Persian, French, English, Italian, German, and Arabic, helped him climb the political ladder later on in life. Hoveydas return to France in 1939 would be short lived, nevertheless, having no choice but to leave France again, Hoveyda enrolled at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium, during the same year. His stay at the university would be markedly ephemeral because of the effects of the German Blitzkrieg which used Belgian territory as a route into France. Upon his return to Iran in 1942, Hoveyda rested for a few months before enlisting as a soldier in Irans national army. His plan at the time was to use his experience as a conscript to supplement his seniority at the ministry where he applied for employment prior to being drafted. Because of his education, Hoveyda was able to bypass boot camp. Irans modern Prime Ministers, until that point, were able to avoid military service, the Foreign Ministry dispatched a message eight months later confirming Hoveydas appointment. To some, the application process is evidence enough to suggest that there were influential forces that helped expedite Hoveydas subsequent employment. These claims, however, are based on hearsay rather than substantiated facts
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Prime Minister of Iran
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In the Qajar era, prime ministers were known by different titles. The post itself was known as ataabak or ataabak-e azam, or sometimes sadr-e azam at the beginning. The title of nakhost vazir was rarely used, the prime minister was usually called by the honorific title hazrat-e ashraf. Reza Khan Sardar Sepah became the last prime minister of the Qajar dynasty in 1923, for a list of Iranian prime ministers prior to 1907 see List of Premiers of Iran. In 1925, Reza Shah became Shah of Iran and he installed Mohammad-Ali Foroughi as the prime minister. In 1941 his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became Shah and he installed Mohammad-Ali Foroughi as the prime minister too. In 1951, Mohammed Mosaddeq became Prime Minister but was overthrown in a coup détat in 1953, amir-Abbas Hoveyda became Prime minister of Iran in 1965 and remained in office until 1977. Shapour Bakhtiar was the last prime minister of Pahlavi era, after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini installed Mehdi Bazargan as the Prime Minister of an interim government, which served until November 1979. Rajai served in the post until Banisadrs impeachment in June,1981, rajai chose Mohammad Javad Bahonar as his prime minister, but they were assassinated together in Prime Ministers office only a few weeks later, on August 30,1981. The dispute was ended by interference of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. Perry-Castañeda Library collection DS271 F341995 Mohammad Taghi Bahar, Taarikh-e Mokhtasar-e Ahzaab-e Siaasi-e Iraan, Amirkabir,1978
34.
Abdol-Aziz Mirza Farmanfarmaian
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Abdol Aziz Farmanfarmaian was an Iranian architect, offspring of Iranian nobleman Abdol Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma and a member of the Qajar dynasty of Iran. In 1976, the known as AFFA was created for the design of the Aryamehr Stadium. Abdol Aziz Farman-Farmaian was born is Shiraz in 1920 as the son to Prince Abdol-Hossein Mirza Farmanfarma. In 1928, at the age of 8 he was sent to school in France, where he remained for his primary, a brief trip to Iran during the short summer of 1935 was his first contact as an adolescent with his family. His Baccalaureate degree was received in 1938 and they in fact owe to him a happy childhood and excellent education away from home. During this period of uncertainty he worked at different jobs such as, Teheran Municipality, Karnsaks. In 1942 he married with Leila Gharagozlou and formed a family having a son, the final project presented as his thesis was the design for a modern caravanserai to be situated in southern Iran. This project received the prize for “the best thesis of the year. ”In 1950 Abdol Aziz Farman-Farmaian moved back to Teheran for good until 1979, the initial years- The Razmara period followed by the Mossadegh years- where marked by an unstable political and economical situation. Abdol Aziz Farman-Farmaian started to work as a servant at the university of Teheran in the Department of Construction where he became departmental director after a few years. During the same period he was given a chair at the Teheran University school of Architecture. The legal entity that was set up was known as “Moassessehye Abdol Aziz Farman-Farmaian, the new associates were belonged to Mr. Reza Majd and Mr. Farokh Hirbod both graduates from first class American universities. AFFAs associates were increased with the years, Farman-Farmaian permanently moved to Paris in 1980 and afterwards to Spain, where he died aged 93. He was also in contact with his partner Reza Majd. In 1975 AFFAs rating in the organization was ranked first in Iran as a design. Some of these houses have been destroyed, residence of the Belgian Ambassador still exists. Eventually, the plan was ‘marginalized’ by the 1979 Iranian revolution. Azadi Stadium Daughter of Persia, Sattareh Farman Farmaian with Dona Munker, Crown Publishers, biography The Qajar Pages Qajars Dynasty Turkoman dynasty of the Shahs of Persia
35.
Politics of Iran
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The politics of Iran take place in a framework of a theocracy in a format of syncretic politics that is guided by an Islamic ideology. Iran has a president, parliament, Assembly of Experts. According to the constitution all candidates running for these positions must be vetted by the Guardian Council before being elected, in addition, there are representatives elected from appointed organizations to protect the states Islamic character. The early days of the government were characterized by political tumult. In November 1979 the American embassy was seized and its occupants taken hostage, the eight-year Iran–Iraq War killed hundreds of thousands and cost the country billions of dollars. S. Government and some others have accused Iran of sponsoring, emigration has lost Iran millions of entrepreneurs, professionals, technicians, and skilled craftspeople and their capital. For this and other reasons Irans economy has not prospered, the Islamic Republic Party was Irans ruling political party and for years its only political party until its dissolution in 1987. After the war, new reformist/progressive parties had started to form, after the election of Mohammad Khatami in 1997, more parties started to work, mostly of the reformist movement and opposed by hard-liners. This led to incorporation and official activity of other groups. After the war ended in 1988, reformist and progressive candidates won four out of six presidential elections in Iran, the Iranian Government is opposed by several armed terrorist groups, including the Mojahedin-e-Khalq, the Peoples Fedayeen, and the Kurdish Democratic Party. For other political parties see List of political parties in Iran and these are the most recent elections that have taken place. The military and the Corps of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution are charged with defending Irans borders, Irans fiscal year goes from March 21 to March 20 of the following year. Once approved by Majlis, the bill still needs to be ratified by the Guardian Council, the bill will be sent back to the parliament for amendments if it is voted down by the Guardian Council. The Expediency Council acts as arbiter in any dispute. Following annual approval of the budget by Majlis, the central bank presents a detailed monetary and credit policy to the Money. Thereafter, major elements of these policies are incorporated into the economic development plan. The 5-year plan is part of Vision 2025, a strategy for sustainable growth. A unique feature of Irans economy is the size of the religious foundations whose combined budgets make up more than 30% that of the central government
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President of Israel
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The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely a figurehead role, with executive power effectively being exercised by the prime minister. The current president is Reuven Rivlin, who took office on 24 July 2014, presidents are elected by the Knesset for a seven-year term and are limited to a single term. The president is elected by an majority in the Knesset. If no candidate has received a majority of votes by the first round of voting. When electing the president, Knesset members vote by secret ballot, the president is elected to a term of seven years, and cannot be re-elected. Until 2000, the president was elected for a five-year term, any Israeli citizen who is a resident of the State is eligible to run for president. The office falls vacant upon completion of a term, resignation, presidential tenure is not keyed to that of the Knesset in order to assure continuity in government and the nonpartisan character of the office. There is no vice president in the Israeli governmental system, if the president is temporarily incapacitated or leaves office, the speaker of the Knesset becomes acting president. The first presidential election took place on 16 February 1949, the second took place in 1951, as at the time presidential terms were linked to the length of the Knesset term. Another election took place the year after Weizmanns death. Since then, elections have been held in 1957,1962,1963,1968,1973,1978,1983,1988,1993,1998,2000,2007 and 2014, six elections have taken place with no opposition candidate, although a vote was still held. The Basic Law, The Government also includes sections on the powers of the president with reference to the government, the president signs every law and international or bilateral treaties approved by the Knesset. Presidential powers are usually exercised based on the recommendation of appropriate government ministers, the presidents most important role, in practice, is to help lead the process of forming a government. The president awards the Israel Prize on Yom Haatzmaut and the Wolf Prize, the president also serves as the main speaker at the opening ceremonies of the half-yearly Knesset conference, as well as at the annual official ceremonies for Yom Hazikaron and Yom HaShoah. Most Israeli presidents were involved in politics or Zionist activities before taking office. The first Israeli presidents were born in the former Russian Empire, the first native-born president, as well as the first with a Sephardi background, was Yitzhak Navon. The first president with a Western European background was Chaim Herzog, the first president with a Mizrahi background was Moshe Katsav, who was born in Iran
37.
Ephraim Katzir
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Ephraim Katzir was an Israeli biophysicist and former Israeli Labor Party politician. He was the fourth President of Israel from 1973 until 1978, Katzir was born Efraim Katchalski, son of Yehuda and Tzila Katchalski, in Kiev, in the Russian Empire. In 1925, he immigrated to Mandate Palestine with his family, in 1932, he graduated from Gymnasia Rehavia. Like his brother, Aharon, he was interested in science and he studied botany, zoology, chemistry and bacteriology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1938, he received an M. Sc, and in 1941, in 1939, he graduated from the first Haganah officers course, and became commander of the student unit in the field forces. He and his brother worked on development of new explosives, in May,1948, Ephraim was appointed commander of the Heyl Mada – scientific research and development corps. His brother, Aharon Katzir, chairman of the Department of Polymer Research at Weizmann Institute, was murdered in the Lod Airport Massacre, Katzir was married to Nina, born in Poland, who died in 1986. As an English teacher, Nina developed a method for teaching language. As the presidents wife, she introduced the custom of inviting children books authors and she established the Nurit Katzir Jerusalem Theater Center in 1978 in memory of their deceased daughter, Nurit, who died after inhaling gas and another daughter, Irit, killed herself. They had a son, Meir, and three grandchildren, Katzir died on 30 May 2009 at his home in Rehovot. In 1966–1968, Katzir was Chief Scientist of the Israel Defense Forces and his initial research centered on simple synthetic protein models, but he also developed a method for binding enzymes, which helped lay the groundwork for what is now called enzyme engineering. In 1973, Golda Meir contacted Katzir at Harvard University, asking him to accept the presidency and he hebraicized his family name to Katzir, which means harvest. On 10 March 1973, Katzir was elected by the Knesset to serve as the fourth President of Israel and he received 66 votes to 41 cast in favour of his opponent Ephraim Urbach and he assumed office on 24 May 1973. In November 1977, he hosted President Anwar Sadat of Egypt in the first ever visit of an Arab head of state. In 1978, he declined to stand for a term due to his wifes illness. After stepping down as President, he returned to his scientific work, in 1959, Katzir was awarded the Israel Prize in life sciences. In 2000, the Rashi Foundation established the Katzir Scholarship Program in honor of Katzir and he is also a recipient of the Tchernichovsky Prize for exemplary translation
38.
President of South Korea
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The president is directly elected to a five-year term with no possibility of re-election. While in office, the chief executive lives in Cheong Wa Dae, on February 25,2013, Park Geun-hye became the 18th President of South Korea. She was also the first woman to assume this post and she has since been impeached on corruption charges, which was confirmed by the Constitutional Court of Korea on March 10,2017, removing her from office. Prime minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has been Acting President since 9 December 2016, chapter 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states the duties and the powers of the president. The president may refer important policy matters to a referendum, declare war, conclude peace and other treaties, appoint senior public officials. Emergency measures may be taken only when the National Assembly is not in session, the measures are limited to the minimum necessary. The 1987 Constitution removed the 1980 Constitutions explicit provisions that empowered the government to suspend the freedoms. However, the president is permitted to take measures that could amend or abolish existing laws for the duration of a crisis. It is unclear whether such emergency measures could temporarily suspend portions of the Constitution itself, emergency measures must be referred to the National Assembly for concurrence. If not endorsed by the assembly, the measures can be revoked. In a change from the 1980 Constitution, the 1987 Constitution stated that the president is not permitted to dissolve the National Assembly, the official residence of the president is Cheong Wa Dae. It means the House of the Blue Roof Tiles, so it is called the Blue House in English. The president is assisted by the staff of the Presidential Secretariat, apart from the State Council, or cabinet, the chief executive relies on several constitutional organs. These constitutional organs included the National Security Council, which provided advice concerning the foreign, military, another important body is the National Unification Advisory Council, inaugurated in June 1981 under the chairpersonship of the president. The president also was assisted in 1990 by the Audit and Inspection Board, in addition to auditing the accounts of all public institutions, the board scrutinized the administrative performance of government agencies and public officials. Its findings were reported to the president and the National Assembly, Board members were appointed by the president. One controversial constitutional organ was the Advisory Council of Elder Statesmen, the government announced plans to reduce the size and functions of this body immediately after Rohs inauguration. Article 68 of the Constitution requires the president to hold new elections within 60 days
39.
Park Chung-hee
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Park Chung-hee was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea as a dictator from 1961 until his assassination in 1979. In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, after surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years, Parks first-born daughter, Park Geun-hye, later served as the 11th President of South Korea until her impeachment. Park was born on 14 November 1917, in Gumi, North Gyeongsang in Korea under Japanese rule, to parents Park Sung-bin and he was the youngest of five brothers and two sisters in a poor Yangban family. As a youth, he won admission to a school in Daegu and worked as a teacher in Mungyeong-eup after graduating with a teaching degree. During this time, he adopted the Japanese name Takagi Masao and he graduated top of his class in 1942 and was recognized as a talented officer by his Japanese instructors, who recommended him for further studies at the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in Japan. He changed his name again from Takagi Masao to Okamoto Minoru in order to engage in activities against Korean guerrillas operating in the region. The Japanese used Korean turncoats to suppress Korean armed resistance, Park returned to Korea after the war and enrolled at the Korea Military Academy. He graduated in the class of 1946 and became an officer in the constabulary army under the United States Army Military Government in South Korea. The newly established South Korean government, under the leadership of Syngman Rhee, Park was subsequently sentenced to death by a military court, but his sentence was commuted by Rhee at the urging of several high-ranking Korean military officers. While Park had been a member of the South Korean Workers Party, nevertheless, he was forced out of the army. After the Korean War began and with help from Paik Sun-Yup and he was promoted to lieutenant colonel in September 1950 and to colonel in April 1951. As a colonel, Park was the deputy director of the Army Headquarters Intelligence Bureau in 1952 before switching to artillery, by the time the war ended in 1953, Park had risen to become a brigadier general. After the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, Park was selected for training at Fort Sill in the United States. After returning to Korea, Park rose rapidly in the military hierarchy and he was the head of the Armys Artillery School and commanded the 5th and 7th Divisions of the South Korean army before his promotion to major general in 1958. Park was then appointed Chief of Staff of the First Army and made the head of the Korean 1st and 6th District Command, which gave him responsibility for the defense of Seoul. In 1960, Park became commander of the Pusan Logistics Command before becoming Chief of the Operations Staff of the South Korean Army, as such, he was one of the most powerful and influential figures in the military. On 25 April 1960, Syngman Rhee, the authoritarian inaugural President of South Korea, was forced out of office and into exile following the April 19 Movement, a new democratic government took office on 13 August 1960
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Monarchy of Thailand
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The monarchy of Thailand refers to the constitutional monarchy and monarch of the Kingdom of Thailand. The King of Thailand is the head of state and head of the ruling Royal House of Chakri, the institution was transformed into a constitutional monarchy in 1932 after the bloodless Siamese Revolution of 1932. The King of Thailands titles include Head of State, Head of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, Adherent of Buddhism, the current concept of Thai kingship evolved through 800 years of absolute rule. The first king of a unified Thailand was the founder of the Kingdom of Sukhothai, King Sri Indraditya, the idea of this early kingship is said to be based on two concepts derived from Hinduism and Theravada Buddhist beliefs. The first concept is based on the Vedic-Hindu caste of Kshatriya, or warrior-ruler, the second is based on the Theravada Buddhist concept of Dhammaraja, Buddhism having been introduced to Thailand around the 6th century CE. The idea of the Dhammaraja, is that the king should rule his people in accordance with Dharma and these ideas were briefly replaced in 1279, when King Ramkhamhaeng came to the throne. Ramkhamhaeng departed from tradition and created instead a concept of paternal rule and this idea is reinforced in the title and name of the king, as he is still known today, Pho Khun Ramkhamhaeng meaning Father Ruler Ramkhamhaeng. By the end of the kingdom, the two old concepts returned as symbolized by the change in the style of the kings, Pho was changed to Phaya or Lord. The Kingdom of Sukhothai was supplanted by the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, during the Ayutthayan period, the idea of kingship changed. Due to ancient Khmer tradition in the region, the Hindu concept of kingship was applied to the status of the leader, Brahmins took charge in the royal coronation. The king was treated as a reincarnation of Hindu gods, Ayutthaya historical documents show the official titles of the kings in great variation, Indra, Shiva and Vishnu, or Rama. Seemingly, Rama was the most popular, as in Ramathibodhi, however, Buddhist influence was also evident, as many times the kings title and unofficial name Dhammaraja, an abbreviation of the Buddhist Dharmaraja. The two former concepts were re-established, with a third, older concept taking hold and this concept was called Devaraja, which was an idea borrowed by the Khmer Empire from the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Java, especially the idea of a scholar class based on Hindu Brahmins. The king, portrayed by state interests as a figure, then became—through a rigid cultural implementation—an object of worship. From then on the monarchy was largely removed from the people, living in palaces designed after Mount Meru, the kings turned themselves into a Chakravartin, where the king became an absolute and universal lord of his realm. Kings demanded that the universe be envisioned as resolving around them, for four centuries these kings ruled Ayutthaya, presiding over some of the greatest period of cultural, economic, and military growth in Thai History. Whereas feudalism developed in the European Middle Ages, Ayutthayan King Trailokanat instituted Sakdina and this comported with the names of two kingdoms further north, Lanna Million Fields and Sip Song Phan Na Twelve Thousand Fields. Rachasap is required by court etiquette as an honorific register consisting of a special vocabulary used exclusively for addressing the king, the king was chief administrator, chief legislator, and chief judge, with all laws, orders, verdict and punishments theoretically originating from his person
41.
Bhumibol Adulyadej
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Bhumibol Adulyadej, conferred with the title King Bhumibol the Great in 1987, was the ninth monarch of Thailand from the Chakri dynasty as Rama IX. Having reigned since 9 June 1946, he was, at the time of his death, the worlds longest-serving head of state, during his reign, he was served by a total of 30 prime ministers beginning with Pridi Banomyong and ending with Prayut Chan-o-cha. Although Bhumibol did invite public criticism in a 2005 speech, the lèse majesté laws have not been revoked by the Thai parliament, in May 2014, Bhumibols wealth was once again listed as US$30 billion. After 2006, Bhumibol suffered declining health and spent extended periods at Siriraj Hospital and he was generally highly revered by the people in Thailand – many even saw him as close to divine. Notable political activists and Thai citizens who criticized the king or the institution of monarchy were often forced into exile or to suffer frequent imprisonments. His successor Vajiralongkorn does not share the popularity of his father, leading to concerns that the Thai monarchy will lose prestige and influence under the latters reign. Bhumibols U. S. birth certificate reads simply Baby Songkla, as the parents had to consult his uncle, King Rama VII, then head of the House of Chakri, for an auspicious name. The king chose a name of Sanskrit origin, Bhumibol Adulyadej, a compound of Bhūmi, meaning Land, Bala, meaning Strength or Power, Atulya, meaning Incomparable, and Tej, meaning Power. Thus, Bhūmibala Atulyateja, or Bhumibol Adulyadej as it is transliterated in Thai, literally means Strength of the Land, Bhumibol was born at Cambridge Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States, on 5 December 1927. He was the youngest son of Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, the Prince of Songkla and his father was enrolled in the public health program at Harvard University, which is why Bhumibol was the only monarch to be born in the US. Bhumibol had a sister, Princess Galyani Vadhana, and an older brother. Bhumibol came to Thailand in 1928, after his father obtained a certificate from Harvard and his father died of kidney failure in September 1929, when Bhumibol was less than two years old. He briefly attended Mater Dei school in Bangkok, but in 1933 his mother took her family to Switzerland, in 1934 Bhumibol was given his first camera, which ignited his lifelong enthusiasm for photography. When Bhumibols childless uncle Prajadhipok abdicated in 1935, his nine-year-old brother Ananda became the new King Rama VIII, however, the family remained in Switzerland and the affairs of the head of state were conducted by a regency council. They returned to Thailand for only two months in 1938, in 1942, Bhumibol became a jazz enthusiast, and started to play the saxophone, a passion that he kept throughout his life. Bhumibol ascended the throne following the death by gunshot wound of his brother, King Ananda Mahidol, on 9 June 1946, while a first government statement stated that Ananda had accidentally shot himself, an investigation committee ruled this was virtually impossible. Two palace aides were convicted of regicide and executed. Bhumibol succeeded his brother, but returned to Switzerland before the end of the 100-day mourning period, despite his interest in science and technology, he changed his major and enrolled in law and political science to prepare for his duties as head of state
42.
Track and field
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Track and field is a sport which includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing. The name is derived from the sports venue, a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and jumping events take place. Track and field is categorised under the sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, the jumping and throwing events are won by the athlete who achieves the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus and hammer. There are also combined events or multi events, such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, in these, athletes participate in a combination of track and field events. Most track and field events are individual sports with a victor, the most prominent team events are relay races. Events are almost exclusively divided by gender, although both the mens and womens competitions are held at the same venue. It is one of the oldest sports, in ancient times, it was an event held in conjunction with festivals and sports meets such as the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece. The ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook from the city of Elis, won the stadium race. According to some traditions, this was the only athletic event of the games for the first 13 Olympic festivals. In modern times, the two most prestigious track and field competitions are athletics competition at the Olympic Games and the IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The International Association of Athletics Federations is the governing body. Records are kept of the best performances in specific events, at world and national levels, however, if athletes are deemed to have violated the events rules or regulations, they are disqualified from the competition and their marks are erased. In North America, the track and field may be used to refer to other athletics events, such as the marathon. The sport of track and field has its roots in human prehistory, Track and field-style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions, as running, jumping and throwing are natural and universal forms of human physical expression. The first recorded examples of organized track and field events at a festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested, Track and field events were also present at the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this period, and they spread to Rome in Italy around 200 BC
43.
Badminton
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Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with teams, the most common forms of the game are singles and doubles. Badminton is often played as an outdoor activity in a yard or on a beach. Points are scored by striking the shuttlecock with the racquet and landing it within the opposing half of the court. Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net, play ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor or if a fault has been called by the umpire, service judge, or the opposing side. The shuttlecock is a feathered or plastic projectile which flies differently from the used in many other sports. In particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly, shuttlecocks also have a high top speed compared to the balls in other racquet sports. The game developed in British India from the game of battledore. European play came to be dominated by Denmark but the game has very popular in Asia. Since 1992, badminton has been a Summer Olympic sport with five events, mens singles, womens singles, mens doubles, womens doubles, at high levels of play, the sport demands excellent fitness, players require aerobic stamina, agility, strength, speed, and precision. It is also a sport, requiring good motor coordination. The name derives from the Duke of Beauforts Badminton House in Gloucestershire, as early as 1860, a London toy dealer named Isaac Spratt published a booklet titled Badminton Battledore—A New Game but unfortunately no copy has survived. An 1863 article in The Cornhill Magazine describes badminton as battledore and shuttlecock played with sides, the game may have originally developed among expatriate officers in British India, where it was very popular by the 1870s. Early on, the game was known as Poona or Poonah after the garrison town of Pune, where it was particularly popular. By 1875, returning officers had started a club in Folkestone. Initially, the sport was played with sides ranging from 1–4 players, the shuttlecocks were coated with India rubber and, in outdoor play, sometimes weighted with lead. Although the depth of the net was of no consequence, it was preferred that it should reach the ground, the sport was played under the Pune rules until 1887, when the J. H. E. Hart of the Bath Badminton Club drew up revised regulations, in 1890, Hart and Bagnel Wild again revised the rules
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Boxing
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Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, in the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw. In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout. While people have fought in combat since before the dawn of history. The earliest evidence for fist fighting with any kind of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete, in Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad,688 B. C, the boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue, weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to dominate. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists, eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex, Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events, however, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor and this is where the term ring came from. In AD393, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality and it was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again, however, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or Fist Fighting, as the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury
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