1.
Taxonomy (biology)
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Taxonomy is the science of defining groups of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those groups. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the remains, the conception, naming. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy, the broadest meaning of taxonomy is used here. The word taxonomy was introduced in 1813 by Candolle, in his Théorie élémentaire de la botanique, the term alpha taxonomy is primarily used today to refer to the discipline of finding, describing, and naming taxa, particularly species. In earlier literature, the term had a different meaning, referring to morphological taxonomy, ideals can, it may be said, never be completely realized. They have, however, a value of acting as permanent stimulants. Some of us please ourselves by thinking we are now groping in a beta taxonomy, turrill thus explicitly excludes from alpha taxonomy various areas of study that he includes within taxonomy as a whole, such as ecology, physiology, genetics, and cytology. He further excludes phylogenetic reconstruction from alpha taxonomy, thus, Ernst Mayr in 1968 defined beta taxonomy as the classification of ranks higher than species. This activity is what the term denotes, it is also referred to as beta taxonomy. How species should be defined in a group of organisms gives rise to practical and theoretical problems that are referred to as the species problem. The scientific work of deciding how to define species has been called microtaxonomy, by extension, macrotaxonomy is the study of groups at higher taxonomic ranks, from subgenus and above only, than species. While some descriptions of taxonomic history attempt to date taxonomy to ancient civilizations, earlier works were primarily descriptive, and focused on plants that were useful in agriculture or medicine. There are a number of stages in scientific thinking. Early taxonomy was based on criteria, the so-called artificial systems. Later came systems based on a complete consideration of the characteristics of taxa, referred to as natural systems, such as those of de Jussieu, de Candolle and Bentham. The publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species led to new ways of thinking about classification based on evolutionary relationships and this was the concept of phyletic systems, from 1883 onwards. This approach was typified by those of Eichler and Engler, the advent of molecular genetics and statistical methodology allowed the creation of the modern era of phylogenetic systems based on cladistics, rather than morphology alone. Taxonomy has been called the worlds oldest profession, and naming and classifying our surroundings has likely been taking place as long as mankind has been able to communicate
2.
Plant
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Plants are mainly multicellular, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. The term is generally limited to the green plants, which form an unranked clade Viridiplantae. This includes the plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns, clubmosses, hornworts, liverworts, mosses and the green algae. Green plants have cell walls containing cellulose and obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts and their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic and have lost the ability to produce amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although reproduction is also common. There are about 300–315 thousand species of plants, of which the great majority, green plants provide most of the worlds molecular oxygen and are the basis of most of Earths ecologies, especially on land. Plants that produce grains, fruits and vegetables form humankinds basic foodstuffs, Plants play many roles in culture. They are used as ornaments and, until recently and in variety, they have served as the source of most medicines. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology, Plants are one of the two groups into which all living things were traditionally divided, the other is animals. The division goes back at least as far as Aristotle, who distinguished between plants, which generally do not move, and animals, which often are mobile to catch their food. Much later, when Linnaeus created the basis of the system of scientific classification. Since then, it has become clear that the plant kingdom as originally defined included several unrelated groups, however, these organisms are still often considered plants, particularly in popular contexts. When the name Plantae or plant is applied to a group of organisms or taxon. The evolutionary history of plants is not yet settled. Those which have been called plants are in bold, the way in which the groups of green algae are combined and named varies considerably between authors. Algae comprise several different groups of organisms which produce energy through photosynthesis, most conspicuous among the algae are the seaweeds, multicellular algae that may roughly resemble land plants, but are classified among the brown, red and green algae. Each of these groups also includes various microscopic and single-celled organisms
3.
Flowering plant
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The flowering plants, also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants, with 416 families, approx. 13,164 known genera and a total of c.295,383 known species, etymologically, angiosperm means a plant that produces seeds within an enclosure, in other words, a fruiting plant. The term angiosperm comes from the Greek composite word meaning enclosed seeds, the ancestors of flowering plants diverged from gymnosperms in the Triassic Period, during the range 245 to 202 million years ago, and the first flowering plants are known from 160 mya. They diversified extensively during the Lower Cretaceous, became widespread by 120 mya, angiosperms differ from other seed plants in several ways, described in the table. These distinguishing characteristics taken together have made the angiosperms the most diverse and numerous land plants, the amount and complexity of tissue-formation in flowering plants exceeds that of gymnosperms. The vascular bundles of the stem are arranged such that the xylem and phloem form concentric rings, in the dicotyledons, the bundles in the very young stem are arranged in an open ring, separating a central pith from an outer cortex. In each bundle, separating the xylem and phloem, is a layer of meristem or active formative tissue known as cambium, the soft phloem becomes crushed, but the hard wood persists and forms the bulk of the stem and branches of the woody perennial. Among the monocotyledons, the bundles are more numerous in the stem and are scattered through the ground tissue. They contain no cambium and once formed the stem increases in diameter only in exceptional cases, the characteristic feature of angiosperms is the flower. Flowers show remarkable variation in form and elaboration, and provide the most trustworthy external characteristics for establishing relationships among angiosperm species, the function of the flower is to ensure fertilization of the ovule and development of fruit containing seeds. The floral apparatus may arise terminally on a shoot or from the axil of a leaf, occasionally, as in violets, a flower arises singly in the axil of an ordinary foliage-leaf. There are two kinds of cells produced by flowers. Microspores, which divide to become pollen grains, are the male cells and are borne in the stamens. The female cells called megaspores, which divide to become the egg cell, are contained in the ovule. The flower may consist only of parts, as in willow. Usually, other structures are present and serve to protect the sporophylls, the individual members of these surrounding structures are known as sepals and petals. The outer series is usually green and leaf-like, and functions to protect the rest of the flower, the inner series is, in general, white or brightly colored, and is more delicate in structure. It functions to attract insect or bird pollinators, attraction is effected by color, scent, and nectar, which may be secreted in some part of the flower
4.
Eudicots
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The eudicots, Eudicotidae or eudicotyledons are a monophyletic clade of flowering plants that had been called tricolpates or non-magnoliid dicots by previous authors. The close relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains was initially seen in studies of shared derived characters. These plants have a trait in their pollen grains of exhibiting three colpi or grooves paralleling the polar axis. Later molecular evidence confirmed the basis for the evolutionary relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains. The term means true dicotyledons, as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicots and have characteristics of the dicots, the term eudicots has subsequently been widely adopted in botany to refer to one of the two largest clades of angiosperms, monocots being the other. The remaining angiosperms are sometimes referred to as basal angiosperms or paleodicots, the other name for the eudicots is tricolpates, a name which refers to the grooved structure of the pollen. Members of the group have tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it and these pollens have three or more pores set in furrows called colpi. In contrast, most of the seed plants produce monosulcate pollen. The name tricolpates is preferred by some botanists to avoid confusion with the dicots, numerous familiar plants are eudicots, including many common food plants, trees, and ornamentals. Most leafy trees of midlatitudes also belong to eudicots, with exceptions being magnolias and tulip trees which belong to magnoliids, and Ginkgo biloba. The name eudicots is used in the APG system, of 1998 and it is applied to a clade, a monophyletic group, which includes most of the dicots. The eudicots can be divided into two groups, the basal eudicots and the core eudicots, basal eudicot is an informal name for a paraphyletic group. The core eudicots are a monophyletic group, a 2010 study suggested the core eudicots can be divided into two clades, Gunnerales and a clade called Pentapetalae, comprising all the remaining core eudicots
5.
Caryophyllales
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Caryophyllales is an order of flowering plants that includes the cacti, carnations, amaranths, ice plants, beets, and many carnivorous plants. Many members are succulent, having fleshy stems or leaves, the members of Caryophyllales include about 6% of eudicot species. This order is part of the core eudicots, currently, the Caryophyllales contains 33 families,692 genera and 11,155 species. As with all taxa, the circumscription of Caryophyllales has changed within various classification systems, all systems recognize a core of families with centrospermous ovules and seeds. More recent treatments have expanded the Caryophyllales to include many carnivorous plants, although the monophyly of the order has been strongly supported, their placement is still uncertain. Systematists are undecided on whether Caryophyllales should be placed within the complex or sister to the asterid clade. This primitive flower might well be found in stock as Wernham, Bessy. Caryophyllales is separated into two suborders, Caryophyllineae and Polygonineae and these two suborders were formerly recognized as two orders, Polygonales and Caryophyllales. As circumscribed by the APG III system, this includes the same families as the APG II system plus the new families, Limeaceae, Lophiocarpaceae, Montiaceae, Talinaceae. Kewaceae, Limeaceae, Macarthuriaceae, Microteaceae, and Petiveriaceae were added in APG IV, recent molecular and biochemical evidence has resolved additional well-supported clades within the Caryophyllales. The APG favours much larger orders and families, and the order Caryophyllales sensu APG should rather be compared to subclass Caryophyllidae sensu Cronquist, a part of the difference lies with what families are recognized. The plants in the Stegnospermataceae and Barbeuiaceae were included in Cronquists Phytolaccaceae, the Chenopodiaceae are included in Amaranthaceae by APG. New to the order are the Asteropeiaceae and Physenaceae, each containing a single genus, earlier systems, such as the Wettstein system, last edition in 1935, and the Engler system, updated in 1964, had a similar order under the name Centrospermae. Tree of Life Characteristics and Phylogenetic Relationships
6.
Caryophyllaceae
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Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactaceae and it is a large family, with 81 genera and about 2,625 known species. This cosmopolitan family of herbaceous plants is best represented in temperate climates. Some of the commonly known members include pinks and carnations. Many species are grown as ornamental plants, and some species are widespread weeds, most species grow in the Mediterranean and bordering regions of Europe and Asia. Despite its size and the somewhat doubtful mutual relationships, this family is rather uniform, most are herbaceous annuals or perennials, dying off above ground each year. A few species are shrubs or small trees, such as some Acanthophyllum species, most plants are non-succulent, i. e. having no fleshy stems or leaves. The nodes on the stem are swollen, the leaves are almost always opposite, rarely whorled. The blades are entire, petiolate, and often stipulate, the hermaphroditic flowers are terminal, blooming singly or branched or forked in cymes. If the terminal flowers are absent, then this can lead to monochasia, in the extreme, this leads to a single flower, such as in Githago or Arenaria. The flowers are regular and mostly with five petals and five sepals, the sepals may be free from one another or united. The petals may be entire, fringed or deeply cleft, the calyx may be cylindrically inflated, as in Silene. The stamens number five or 10, and are mostly isomerous with the perianth, the superior gynoecium has two to five carpels and is syncarpous, i. e. with these carpels united in a compound ovary. This ovary has one chamber inside the ovary, the fruit may be a utricle with a single seed or a capsule containing several seeds. Currently, Amaranthaceae and Caryophyllaceae are sister groups and considered closely related, formerly, Caryophyllaceae were considered the sister family to all of the remaining members of the suborder Caryophyllineae because they have anthocyanins, and not betalain pigments. However, cladistic analyses indicate Caryophyllaceae evolved from ancestors that contained betalain, instead of a subfamily, most ought to be treated as genera incertae sedis, but Corrigiola and Telephium might warrant recognition as Corrigioleae. The Alsinoideae, on the hand, seem to form two distinct clades, perhaps less some misplaced genera. Media related to Caryophyllaceae at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Caryophyllaceae at Wikispecies Family Caryophyllaceae - Pink Plant Life Forms
7.
Dianthus
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Common names include carnation, pink and sweet william. The species are herbaceous perennials, a few are annual or biennial. The leaves are opposite, simple, mostly linear and often strongly glaucous grey-green to blue-green, the flowers have five petals, typically with a frilled or pinked margin, and are pale to dark pink. One species, D. knappii, has flowers with a purple centre. Some species, particularly the perennial pinks, are noted for their strong spicy fragrance, hybrids include, Devon Xera – Fire Star Dianthus John Prichard The name Dianthus is from the Greek words Διός Dios and ἀνθός anthos, and was cited by the Greek botanist Theophrastus. The color pink may be named after the flower, coming from the edge of the flowers. As is also demonstrated by the name of pinking shears, special scissors for cloth that create a zigzag or decorative edge that discourages fraying. Dianthus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Cabbage Moth, Double-striped Pug, Large Yellow Underwing, also three species of Coleophora case-bearers feed exclusively on Dianthus, C. dianthi, C. dianthivora and C. musculella. In the language of flowers, pink Dianthus symbolize boldness, Dianthus gratianopolitanus – the Cheddar Pink – was chosen as the County flower of Somerset in 2002 following a poll by the wild flora conservation charity Plantlife. Dianthus Japonicus is the flower of Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Japan. List of Award of Garden Merit dianthus The Plant List
8.
Binomial nomenclature
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Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name or a scientific name, more informally it is also called a Latin name. The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs, for example, humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. The formal introduction of system of naming species is credited to Carl Linnaeus. But Gaspard Bauhin, in as early as 1623, had introduced in his book Pinax theatri botanici many names of genera that were adopted by Linnaeus. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules. Similarly, both parts are italicized when a binomial name occurs in normal text, thus the binomial name of the annual phlox is now written as Phlox drummondii. In scientific works, the authority for a name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned. In zoology Patella vulgata Linnaeus,1758, the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica, the parentheses indicate that the species is now considered to belong in a different genus. The ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made, in botany Amaranthus retroflexus L. – L. is the standard abbreviation used in botany for Linnaeus. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica, Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides, the ICN does not require that the dates of either publication be specified. Prior to the adoption of the binomial system of naming species. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature and these names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description, such polynomial names may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerards herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort, The first is called Phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort, is aptly termed Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, Soon-Fading Spiderwort of Virginia. The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels, the Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin, took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl von Linné. It was in his 1753 Species Plantarum that he first began using a one-word trivial name together with a generic name in a system of binomial nomenclature. This trivial name is what is now known as an epithet or specific name
9.
Carl Linnaeus
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Carl Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné, was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who formalised the modern system of naming organisms called binomial nomenclature. He is known by the father of modern taxonomy. Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus, Linnaeus was born in the countryside of Småland, in southern Sweden. He received most of his education at Uppsala University. He lived abroad between 1735 and 1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands and he then returned to Sweden, where he became professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants. In the 1750s and 1760s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, at the time of his death, he was one of the most acclaimed scientists in Europe. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau sent him the message, Tell him I know no man on earth. The German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, With the exception of Shakespeare and Spinoza, Swedish author August Strindberg wrote, Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist. Among other compliments, Linnaeus has been called Princeps botanicorum, The Pliny of the North and he is also considered as one of the founders of modern ecology. In botany, the abbreviation used to indicate Linnaeus as the authority for species names is L. In older publications, sometimes the abbreviation Linn. is found, Linnæus was born in the village of Råshult in Småland, Sweden, on 23 May 1707. He was the first child of Nicolaus Ingemarsson and Christina Brodersonia and his siblings were Anna Maria Linnæa, Sofia Juliana Linnæa, Samuel Linnæus, and Emerentia Linnæa. One of a line of peasants and priests, Nils was an amateur botanist, a Lutheran minister. Christina was the daughter of the rector of Stenbrohult, Samuel Brodersonius, a year after Linnæus birth, his grandfather Samuel Brodersonius died, and his father Nils became the rector of Stenbrohult. The family moved into the rectory from the curates house, even in his early years, Linnæus seemed to have a liking for plants, flowers in particular. Whenever he was upset, he was given a flower, which calmed him. Nils spent much time in his garden and often showed flowers to Linnaeus, soon Linnæus was given his own patch of earth where he could grow plants
10.
Mediterranean region
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As a rule of thumb, the Mediterranean Basin is the Old World region where olive trees grow. The Mediterranean basin covers portions of three continents Africa, Asia, and Europe and it has a varied and contrasting topography. Contrary to the sandy beach images portrayed in most tourist brochures. Mountains can be seen from almost anywhere, the Mediterranean Basin extends into Western Asia, covering the western and southern portions of the peninsula of Turkey, excluding the temperate-climate mountains of central Turkey. It includes the Mediterranean climate Levant at the end of the Mediterranean, bounded on the east and south by the Syrian. The northern portion of the Maghreb region of northwestern Africa has a Mediterranean climate, separated from the Sahara Desert, Europe lies to the north, and three large Southern European peninsulas, the Iberian Peninsula, Italian Peninsula, and the Balkan Peninsula, extend into the Mediterranean-climate zone. The Mediterranean Basin was shaped by the ancient collision of the northward-moving African-Arabian continent with the stable Eurasian continent, as Africa-Arabia moved north, it closed the former Tethys Sea, which formerly separated Eurasia from the ancient super continent of Gondwana, of which Africa was part. At about the time,170 mya in the Jurassic period. The collision pushed up a vast system of mountains, extending from the Pyrenees in Spain to the Zagros Mountains in Iran and this episode of mountain building, known as the Alpine orogeny, occurred mostly during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The Neotethys became larger during these collisions and associated folding and subduction, about 6 mya during the late Miocene, the Mediterranean was closed at its western end by drifting Africa, which caused the entire sea to evaporate. There followed several episodes of sea drawdown and re-flooding known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis, recent studies, however, show that repeated desiccation and re-flooding is unlikely from a geodynamic point of view. The end of the Miocene also marked a change in the Mediterranean Basins climate, fossil evidence shows that the Mediterranean Basin had a relatively humid subtropical climate with summer rainfall during the Miocene, which supported laurel forests. The shift to a Mediterranean climate occurred within the last 3. 2–2.8 million years, during the Pliocene epoch, much of these forests and shrublands have been altered beyond recognition by thousands of years of human habitation. There are now very few relatively intact natural areas in what was once a wooded region. The Mediterranean Region was first proposed by German botanist August Grisebach in the late 19th century, drosophyllaceae, recently segregated from Droseraceae, is the only plant family endemic to the region. Among the endemic plant genera are, The genera Aubrieta, Sesamoides, Cynara, Dracunculus, moreover, many plant taxa are shared with one of the four neighboring floristic regions only. The Mediterranean Basin is the largest of the worlds five Mediterranean forests, woodlands and it is home to a number of plant communities, which vary with rainfall, elevation, latitude, and soils. Scrublands occur in the driest areas, especially areas near the seacoast where wind, low, soft-leaved scrublands around the Mediterranean are known as garrigar in Catalan, garrigue in French, phrygana in Greek, tomillares in Spanish, and batha in Hebrew
11.
Herbaceous plant
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Herbaceous plants are plants that have no persistent woody stem above ground. Herbaceous plants may be annuals, biennials or perennials, annual herbaceous plants die completely at the end of the growing season or when they have flowered and fruited, and they then grow again from seed. Herbaceous perennial and biennial plants may have stems that die at the end of the growing season, but parts of the plant survive under or close to the ground from season to season. New growth develops from living tissues remaining on or under the ground, including roots, examples of herbaceous biennials include carrot, parsnip and common ragwort, herbaceous perennials include potato, peony, hosta, mint, most ferns and most grasses. Some relatively fast-growing herbaceous plants are pioneers, or early-successional species, others form the main vegetation of many stable habitats, occurring for example in the ground layer of forests, or in naturally open habitats such as meadow, salt marsh or desert. Some herbaceous plants can grow large, such as the Musa genus. The age of some herbaceous plants can be determined by analyzing annual growth rings in the secondary root xylem
12.
Perennial plant
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A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. The term is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs. Tomato vines, for example, live several years in their natural habitat but are grown as annuals in temperate regions because they dont survive the winter. There is also a class of evergreen, or non-herbaceous, perennials, an intermediate class of plants is known as subshrubs, which retain a vestigial woody structure in winter, e. g. Penstemon. The local climate may dictate whether plants are treated as shrubs or perennials, for instance, many varieties of Fuchsia are shrubs in warm regions, but in colder temperate climates may be cut to the ground every year as a result of winter frosts. The symbol for a plant, based on Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, is. Perennial plants can be short-lived or they can be long-lived, as are some plants like trees. They include an assortment of plant groups from ferns and liverworts to the highly diverse flowering plants like orchids. Plants that flower and fruit only once and then die are termed monocarpic or semelparous, however, most perennials are polycarpic, flowering over many seasons in their lifetime. Perennials typically grow structures that allow them to adapt to living one year to the next through a form of vegetative reproduction rather than seeding. These structures include bulbs, tubers, woody crowns, rhizomes plus others and they might have specialized stems or crowns that allow them to survive periods of dormancy over cold or dry seasons during the year. Many perennials have developed specialized features that allow them to extreme climatic. Some have adapted to hot and dry conditions or cold temperatures. Those plants tend to invest a lot of resource into their adaptations and often do not flower, Many perennials produce relatively large seeds, which can have an advantage, with larger seedlings produced after germination that can better compete with other plants. Some annuals produce many seeds per plant in one season, while some perennials are not under the same pressure to produce large numbers of seeds. In warmer and more favorable climates, perennials grow continuously, in seasonal climates, their growth is limited to the growing season. In some species, perennials retain their foliage all year round, other plants are deciduous perennials, for example, in temperate regions a perennial plant may grow and bloom during the warm part of the year, with the foliage dying back in the winter
13.
Leaf
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A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant and is the principal lateral appendage of the stem. The leaves and stem together form the shoot, Leaves are collectively referred to as foliage, as in autumn foliage. Although leaves can be seen in different shapes, sizes and textures, typically a leaf is a thin, dorsiventrally flattened organ, borne above ground. Most leaves have distinctive upper surface and lower surface that differ in colour, hairiness, broad, flat leaves with complex venation are known as megaphylls and the species that bear them, the majority, as broad-leaved or megaphyllous plants. In others, such as the clubmosses, with different evolutionary origins, some leaves, such as bulb scales are not above ground, and in many aquatic species the leaves are submerged in water. Succulent plants often have thick juicy leaves, but some leaves are without major photosynthetic function and may be dead at maturity, as in some cataphylls, furthermore, several kinds of leaf-like structures found in vascular plants are not totally homologous with them. Examples include flattened plant stems called phylloclades and cladodes, and flattened leaf stems called phyllodes which differ from both in their structure and origin. Many structures of plants, such as the phyllids of mosses and liverworts and even of some foliose lichens. Leaves are the most important organs of most vascular plants and these are then further processed by chemical synthesis into more complex organic molecules such as cellulose, the basic structural material in plant cell walls. The plant must therefore bring these three together in the leaf for photosynthesis to take place. Once sugar has been synthesized, it needs to be transported to areas of growth such as the plant shoots and roots. Vascular plants transport sucrose in a tissue called the phloem. The phloem and xylem are parallel to each other but the transport of materials is usually in opposite directions. Within the leaf these vascular systems branch to form veins which supply as much as the leaf as possible and they are arranged on the plant so as to expose their surfaces to light as efficiently as possible without shading each other, but there are many exceptions and complications. For instance plants adapted to windy conditions may have pendent leaves, such as in many willows, the flat, or laminar, shape also maximises thermal contact with the surrounding air, promoting cooling. Functionally, in addition to photosynthesis the leaf is the site of transpiration and guttation. Many gymnosperms have thin needle-like or scale-like leaves that can be advantageous in cold climates with frequent snow and these are interpreted as reduced from megaphyllous leaves of their Devonian ancestors. For xerophytes the major constraint is not light flux or intensity, some window plants such as Fenestraria species and some Haworthia species such as Haworthia tesselata and Haworthia truncata are examples of xerophytes. and Bulbine mesembryanthemoides
14.
Glaucous
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The term glaucous is also used botanically as an adjective to mean covered with a greyish, bluish, or whitish waxy coating or bloom that is easily rubbed off. The first recorded use of glaucous as a name in English was in the year 1671. The epicuticular wax coating on mature plum fruit gives them a glaucous appearance, another familiar example is found in the common grape genus. Some cacti have a coating on their stem. Glaucous coatings are hydrophobic so as to prevent wetting by rain and their waxy character serves to hinder climbing of leaves, stem or fruit by insects. On fruits, glaucous coatings may function as a deterrent to climbing and feeding by insects in favor of increased seed dispersal offered by larger animals such as mammals. The blue-grey camouflage coloring of some species of birds and sea and land animals causes their appearance to blend with their surroundings, list of colors Glaucus The dictionary definition of glaucous at Wiktionary
15.
Flower
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A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in plants that are floral. The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs, Flowers may facilitate outcrossing or allow selfing. Some flowers produce diaspores without fertilization, Flowers contain sporangia and are the site where gametophytes develop. Many flowers have evolved to be attractive to animals, so as to them to be vectors for the transfer of pollen. After fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into fruit containing seeds, the essential parts of a flower can be considered in two parts, the vegetative part, consisting of petals and associated structures in the perianth, and the reproductive or sexual parts. A stereotypical flower consists of four kinds of structures attached to the tip of a short stalk, each of these kinds of parts is arranged in a whorl on the receptacle. The four main whorls are as follows, Collectively the calyx, corolla, the next whorl toward the apex, composed of units called petals, which are typically thin, soft and colored to attract animals that help the process of pollination. Androecium, the whorl, consisting of units called stamens. Stamens consist of two parts, a called a filament, topped by an anther where pollen is produced by meiosis. Gynoecium, the innermost whorl of a flower, consisting of one or more units called carpels, the carpel or multiple fused carpels form a hollow structure called an ovary, which produces ovules internally. Ovules are megasporangia and they in turn produce megaspores by meiosis which develop into female gametophytes and these give rise to egg cells. The gynoecium of a flower is described using an alternative terminology wherein the structure one sees in the innermost whorl is called a pistil. A pistil may consist of a carpel or a number of carpels fused together. The sticky tip of the pistil, the stigma, is the receptor of pollen, the supportive stalk, the style, becomes the pathway for pollen tubes to grow from pollen grains adhering to the stigma. The relationship to the gynoecium on the receptacle is described as hypogynous, perigynous, although the arrangement described above is considered typical, plant species show a wide variation in floral structure. These modifications have significance in the evolution of flowering plants and are used extensively by botanists to establish relationships among plant species, the four main parts of a flower are generally defined by their positions on the receptacle and not by their function. Many flowers lack some parts or parts may be modified into other functions and/or look like what is typically another part, in some families, like Ranunculaceae, the petals are greatly reduced and in many species the sepals are colorful and petal-like. Other flowers have modified stamens that are petal-like, the flowers of Peonies and Roses are mostly petaloid stamens
16.
Inflorescence
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An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. Inflorescence can also be defined as the portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern. The stem holding the whole inflorescence is called a peduncle and the major axis holding the flowers or more branches within the inflorescence is called the rachis, the stalk of each single flower is called a pedicel. A flower that is not part of an inflorescence is called a solitary flower, any flower in an inflorescence may be referred to as a floret, especially when the individual flowers are particularly small and borne in a tight cluster, such as in a pseudanthium. The fruiting stage of an inflorescence is known as an infructescence, inflorescences may be simple or complex. The rachis may be one of several types, including Single, Composite, Umbel and these terms are general representations as plants in nature can have a combination of types. Inflorescences usually have modified shoots foliage different from the part of the plant. Considering the broadest meaning of the term, any leaf associated with an inflorescence is called a bract. A bract is usually located at the node where the stem of the inflorescence forms, joined to the main stem of the plant. They serve a variety of functions which include attracting pollinators and protecting young flowers, according to the presence or absence of bracts and their characteristics we can distinguish, Ebracteate inflorescences, No bracts in the inflorescence. Bracteate inflorescences, The bracts in the inflorescence are very specialised, sometimes reduced to small scales and this use is not technically correct, as, despite their normal appearance, these leaves are considered, in fact, bracts, so that leafy inflorescence is preferable. Leafy-bracted inflorescences, Intermediate between bracteate and leafy inflorescence, if many bracts are present and they are strictly connected to the stem, like in the family Asteraceae, the bracts might collectively be called an involucre. If the inflorescence has a unit of bracts further up the stem. Plant organs can grow according to two different schemes, namely monopodial or racemose and sympodial or cymose, the terminal bud keeps growing and forming lateral flowers. A terminal flower is never formed, the terminal bud forms a terminal flower and then dies out. Other flowers then grow from lateral buds, indeterminate and determinate inflorescences are sometimes referred to as open and closed inflorescences respectively. In an indeterminate inflorescence there is no true terminal flower and the stem usually has a rudimentary end, in many cases the last true flower formed by the terminal bud straightens up, appearing to be a terminal flower
17.
Cultivar
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The term cultivar most commonly refers to an assemblage of plants selected for desirable characteristics that are maintained during propagation. More generally, cultivar refers to the most basic classification category of cultivated plants governed by the ICNCP, most cultivars have arisen in cultivation, but a few are special selections from the wild. Popular ornamental garden plants like roses, camellias, daffodils, rhododendrons, trees used in forestry are also special selections grown for their enhanced quality and yield of timber. Cultivars form a part of Liberty Hyde Baileys broader grouping. Cultivar was coined by Bailey and it is regarded as a portmanteau of cultivated and variety. A cultivar is not the same as a variety, a taxonomic rank below subspecies. In recent times, the naming of cultivars has been complicated by the use of statutory plant patents, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants offers legal protection of plant cultivars to people or organisations who introduce new cultivars to commerce. UPOV requires that a cultivar be distinct, uniform and stable, to be distinct, it must have characteristics that easily distinguish it from any other known cultivar. To be uniform and stable, the cultivar must retain these characteristics under repeated propagation, a cultivar is given a cultivar name, which consists of the scientific Latin botanical name followed by a cultivar epithet. The cultivar epithet is usually in a vernacular language, for example, the full cultivar name of the King Edward potato is Solanum tuberosum King Edward. The King Edward part of the name is the cultivar epithet, the origin of the term cultivar arises from the need to distinguish between wild plants and those with characteristics that have arisen in cultivation. This distinction dates back to the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, the Father of Botany, botanical historian Alan Morton notes that Theophrastus in his Enquiry into Plants had an inkling of the limits of culturally induced changes and of the importance of genetic constitution. In Species Plantarum, Linnaeus listed all the known to him. Most of the listed by Linnaeus were of garden origin rather than being wild plants. Over time there was an increasing need to distinguish between plants growing in the wild, and those with variations that had produced in cultivation. In the nineteenth century many garden-derived plants were given names, sometimes in Latin. In the twentieth century an improved international terminology was proposed for the classification and it is essentially the equivalent of the botanical variety except in respect to its origin. However, Bailey was never explicit about the etymology of the word, and it has suggested that it is a contraction of the words cultigen and variety
18.
Rose (symbolism)
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The rose has long been used as symbols. Rose means pink or red in a variety of languages, the rose was an icon of veneration in the pre-Christian era, and was used in ancient Rome to symbolize devotion to the goddess Venus. Following the Christianization of Rome under the emperor Constantine, the rose became identified with the Virgin Mary, the rose symbol eventually led to the creation of the rosary and other devotional prayers in Christianity. The cultivation of gardens, in which the rose has often held pride of place, has a long history in Iran. In the lyric ghazal, it is the beauty of the rose that provokes the longing song of the nightingale - an image prominent, for example, in the poems of Hafez. Other well-known examples of symbolism in Sufism include, The Sufi master Jilani is known as the Rose of Baghdad and his order. Two prominent books aligned with Sufism are The Rose Garden by Saadi, catalonians have traditionally celebrated Saint Georges Day —which commemorates Saint George, the patron saint of Catalonia—as the dia dels enamorats, on which lovers exchange blood-red roses. The Tudor dynasty created the Tudor rose, which united both the white and the red roses, a symbolism dramatized by Shakespeare in his play Richard III. The traditional ballad The Rose of England recounts the seizure of the crown by Earl of Richmond, the England national rugby union team and Rugby Football Union adopted the red rose as their symbol in 1871, and the rose has appeared on players kit ever since. In 1986, the rose was adopted as the floral emblem of the United States. It is the flower of four U. S. states. North Dakota - The wild prairie rose was adopted as the state flower of North Dakota in 1907. The colors of the rose had previously adopted by the first graduating class of the University of North Dakota in 1889. Georgia - the Cherokee rose was adopted as the official floral emblem in 1916. New York - In 1955, the state adopted the rose as the state flower, portland, Oregon has counted City of Roses among its nicknames since 1888, and has held an annual Rose Festival since 1905. The city is known for its International Rose Test Garden. Pasadena, California—also nicknamed the City of Roses—has held the annual Tournament of Roses Parade since 1890, the red rose is also the official symbol for the Democratic Socialists of America. In 1930, Rosa acicularis was adopted as the provincial flower of the Canadian province of Alberta
19.
Socialism
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Social ownership may refer to forms of public, collective, or cooperative ownership, to citizen ownership of equity, or to any combination of these. Although there are varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them. Socialist economic systems can be divided into both non-market and market forms, non-market socialism aims to circumvent the inefficiencies and crises traditionally associated with capital accumulation and the profit system. Profits generated by these firms would be controlled directly by the workforce of each firm or accrue to society at large in the form of a social dividend, the feasibility and exact methods of resource allocation and calculation for a socialist system are the subjects of the socialist calculation debate. Core dichotomies associated with these concerns include reformism versus revolutionary socialism, the term is frequently used to draw contrast to the political system of the Soviet Union, which critics argue operated in an authoritarian fashion. By the 1920s, social democracy and communism became the two dominant political tendencies within the international socialist movement, by this time, Socialism emerged as the most influential secular movement of the twentieth century, worldwide. Socialist parties and ideas remain a force with varying degrees of power and influence in all continents. Today, some socialists have also adopted the causes of social movements. The origin of the term socialism may be traced back and attributed to a number of originators, in addition to significant historical shifts in the usage, for Andrew Vincent, The word ‘socialism’ finds its root in the Latin sociare, which means to combine or to share. The related, more technical term in Roman and then medieval law was societas and this latter word could mean companionship and fellowship as well as the more legalistic idea of a consensual contract between freemen. The term socialism was created by Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the founders of what would later be labelled utopian socialism. Simon coined socialism as a contrast to the doctrine of individualism. They presented socialism as an alternative to liberal individualism based on the ownership of resources. The term socialism is attributed to Pierre Leroux, and to Marie Roch Louis Reybaud in France, the term communism also fell out of use during this period, despite earlier distinctions between socialism and communism from the 1840s. An early distinction between socialism and communism was that the former aimed to only socialise production while the latter aimed to socialise both production and consumption. However, by 1888 Marxists employed the term socialism in place of communism, linguistically, the contemporary connotation of the words socialism and communism accorded with the adherents and opponents cultural attitude towards religion. In Christian Europe, of the two, communism was believed to be the atheist way of life, in Protestant England, the word communism was too culturally and aurally close to the Roman Catholic communion rite, hence English atheists denoted themselves socialists. Friedrich Engels argued that in 1848, at the time when the Communist Manifesto was published, socialism was respectable on the continent and this latter branch of socialism produced the communist work of Étienne Cabet in France and Wilhelm Weitling in Germany
20.
International Workers' Day
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Being a traditional European spring celebration, May Day is a national public holiday in several European countries. The date is currently celebrated specifically as Labour Day or International Workers Day in the majority of countries, some countries celebrate a Labour Day on other dates significant to them, such as the United States, which celebrates Labor Day on the first Monday of September. Beginning in the late 19th century, as the union and labour movements grew. In the United States and Canada, a September holiday, called Labor or Labour Day, was first proposed in the 1880s. In 1882, Matthew Maguire, a machinist, first proposed a Labor Day holiday on the first Monday of September while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union of New York. Others argue that it was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882, after witnessing the annual festival held in Toronto. In 1887, Oregon was the first state of the United States to make it a public holiday. By the time it became a federal holiday in 1894. Thus by 1887 in North America, Labor Day was an established, official holiday but in September,1 May was chosen to be International Workers Day to commemorate the 4 May 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. The police were trying to disperse an assembly during a general strike for the eight-hour workday. The police responded by firing on the workers, killing four demonstrators, the following day on 5 May in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the state militia fired on a crowd of strikers killing seven, including a schoolboy and a man feeding chickens in his yard. May Day was formally recognised as an event at the Internationals second congress in 1891. Subsequently, the May Day riots of 1894 occurred, the congress made it mandatory upon the proletarian organisations of all countries to stop work on 1 May, wherever it is possible without injury to the workers. May Day has long been a point for demonstrations by various socialist, communist and anarchist groups. May Day is one of the most important holidays in countries such as the Peoples Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba. May Day celebrations in these countries typically feature elaborate workforce parades, in 1955, the Catholic Church dedicated 1 May to Saint Joseph the Worker. Saint Joseph is the saint of workers and craftsmen, among others. It became an symbol of that period
21.
May Day
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May Day is a public holiday usually celebrated on May 1. It is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. Dances, singing, and cake are usually part of the celebrations that the day includes, in the late 19th century, May Day was chosen as the date for International Workers Day by the Socialists and Communists of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket affair in Chicago. International Workers Day may also be referred to as May Day and it is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane, most commonly held on April 30. The day was a summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of spring, May 1 was the first day of summer, hence, as Europe became Christianised, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and May Day changed into a popular secular celebration. A significant celebration of May Day occurs in Germany where it is one of days on which St. Walburga. The secular versions of May Day, observed in Europe and America, may be best known for their traditions of dancing around the maypole and crowning the Queen of May. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of May baskets, small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours doorsteps. May 1 is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers St Joseph the Worker, a carpenter, husband to Mother Mary, and surrogate father of Jesus. Replacing another feast to St. Joseph, this date was chosen by Pope Pius XII in 1955 as a counterpoint to the communist International Workers Day celebrations on May Day. In the late 20th century, many neopagans began reconstructing traditions, traditional English May Day rites and celebrations include crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole. Historically, Morris dancing has been linked to May Day celebrations, much of this tradition derives from the pagan Anglo-Saxon customs held during Þrimilci-mōnaþ along with many Celtic traditions. May Day has been a day of festivities throughout the centuries. May Day is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility and revelry with village fetes, seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons, the spring bank holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978, May Day itself – May 1 – is not a public holiday in England. Unlike the other Bank Holidays and common law holidays, the first Monday in May is taken off from schools by itself and this is because it has no Christian significance and does not otherwise fit into the usual school holiday pattern. May Day was abolished and its celebration banned by Puritan parliaments during the Interregnum, may 1,1707, was the day the Act of Union came into effect, joining England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain
22.
Estado Novo (Portugal)
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The Estado Novo, or the Second Republic, was the corporatist authoritarian regime installed in Portugal in 1933. It evolved from the Ditadura Nacional formed after the coup détat of 28 May 1926 against the democratic, together, the Ditadura Nacional and Estado Novo are recognised as the Second Portuguese Republic. Opposed to communism, socialism, anarchism, liberalism and anti-colonialism, the regime was corporatist, conservative, Portugal joined the United Nations in 1955, and was a founding member of NATO, OECD, and EFTA. In 1968 Marcelo Caetano was appointed the new head of government, on 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution in Lisbon, a military coup organized by left-wing Portuguese military officers – the Armed Forces Movement – overthrew the Estado Novo regime. Fiercely criticized by most of the community after World War II and decolonization. King Carlos I of Portugal confirmed colonial treaties of the 19th century that stabilized the situation in Portuguese Africa and these agreements were, however, unpopular in Portugal, where they were seen as being to the disadvantage of the country. Carlos responded by appointing João Franco as Prime Minister and subsequently accepting Parliaments dissolution, in 1908, Carlos I was killed in a regicide at Lisbon. The Portuguese monarchy lasted until 1910 when, through the 5 October revolution, it was overthrown, the overthrow of the Portuguese monarchy in 1910 led to a 16-year struggle to sustain parliamentary democracy under republicanism – the Portuguese First Republic. The basis of his regime was a platform of stability, in direct contrast to the environment of the First Republic. After the First Republic, when not even public order was achieved and this transfiguration of Portugal was then known as A Lição de Salazar – Salazars Lesson. Salazars program was opposed to communism, socialism, and liberalism and it was pro-Catholic, conservative, and nationalistic. It incorporated, however, the principles for its military from Benito Mussolinis system in Italy, one of the pillars of the regime was the PIDE, the secret police. Many political dissidents were imprisoned at the Tarrafal prison in the African archipelago of Cape Verde, on the island of Santiago. Strict state censorship was in place, executive authority was nominally vested in a president, elected by popular vote for a five-year term. On paper, the president was vested with sweeping executive and legislative powers, in practice, however, the real power was held by the prime minister, Salazar. The legislature was a unicameral National Assembly, elected four years. An advisory body, the Corporative Chamber, nominally represented economic, the Estado Novo enforced nationalist and conservative Roman Catholic values on the Portuguese population. The whole education system was focused toward the exaltation of the Portuguese nation, the motto of the regime was Deus, Pátria e Familia
23.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
24.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
25.
Earth
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Earth, otherwise known as the World, or the Globe, is the third planet from the Sun and the only object in the Universe known to harbor life. It is the densest planet in the Solar System and the largest of the four terrestrial planets, according to radiometric dating and other sources of evidence, Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago. Earths gravity interacts with objects in space, especially the Sun. During one orbit around the Sun, Earth rotates about its axis over 365 times, thus, Earths axis of rotation is tilted, producing seasonal variations on the planets surface. The gravitational interaction between the Earth and Moon causes ocean tides, stabilizes the Earths orientation on its axis, Earths lithosphere is divided into several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over periods of many millions of years. About 71% of Earths surface is covered with water, mostly by its oceans, the remaining 29% is land consisting of continents and islands that together have many lakes, rivers and other sources of water that contribute to the hydrosphere. The majority of Earths polar regions are covered in ice, including the Antarctic ice sheet, Earths interior remains active with a solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates the Earths magnetic field, and a convecting mantle that drives plate tectonics. Within the first billion years of Earths history, life appeared in the oceans and began to affect the Earths atmosphere and surface, some geological evidence indicates that life may have arisen as much as 4.1 billion years ago. Since then, the combination of Earths distance from the Sun, physical properties, in the history of the Earth, biodiversity has gone through long periods of expansion, occasionally punctuated by mass extinction events. Over 99% of all species that lived on Earth are extinct. Estimates of the number of species on Earth today vary widely, over 7.4 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival. Humans have developed diverse societies and cultures, politically, the world has about 200 sovereign states, the modern English word Earth developed from a wide variety of Middle English forms, which derived from an Old English noun most often spelled eorðe. It has cognates in every Germanic language, and their proto-Germanic root has been reconstructed as *erþō, originally, earth was written in lowercase, and from early Middle English, its definite sense as the globe was expressed as the earth. By early Modern English, many nouns were capitalized, and the became the Earth. More recently, the name is simply given as Earth. House styles now vary, Oxford spelling recognizes the lowercase form as the most common, another convention capitalizes Earth when appearing as a name but writes it in lowercase when preceded by the. It almost always appears in lowercase in colloquial expressions such as what on earth are you doing, the oldest material found in the Solar System is dated to 4. 5672±0.0006 billion years ago. By 4. 54±0.04 Gya the primordial Earth had formed, the formation and evolution of Solar System bodies occurred along with the Sun
26.
Cross
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A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally, a cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is also termed a saltire in heraldic terminology. The word [[wikt, cross|crossded from Old Irish, possibly via Old Norse, ultimately from the Latin crux, stake, the English verb to cross arises from the noun c. 1200, first in the sense to make the sign of the cross, the Latin word was, however, influenced by popular etymology by a native Germanic word reconstructed as*krukjo. This word, by conflation with Latin crux, gave rise to Old French crocier, Latin crux referred to the gibbet where criminals were executed, a stake or pole, but not necessarily to intersecting or cruciform beams. The Latin word derived from the verb crucio to torture, Latin crux originally referred to the tree or stake on which criminals were crucified in the pre-imperial period. This was later specified as crux acuta or crux simplex, the method of execution may have been adopted from the Phoenicians. The addition of a bar, to which the criminal would be fastened with nails or cords. The Latin name of the cross is crux decussata, the heraldic term saltire is introduced only towards the end of the medieval period. The Greek equivalent of Latin crux stake, gibbet is σταυρός stauros stake, the letter Tau was associated with the stauros or crux, while the notion of cruciform shapes, i. e. intersecting lines, were associated with the letter Chi. The Greek term for crossing was χίασμα chiasma, from a verb χιάζω chiázō to shape like the letter Chi, Latin had the comparable decussatus shaped like the numeral ten. Also of prehistoric age are numerous variants of the cross mark, including the crux gammata with curving or angular lines. Speculation of this kind became popular in the mid- to late-19th century in the context of comparative mythology seeking to tie Christian mythology to ancient cosmological myths. Influential works in this vein included G. de Mortillet, L. Müller, W. W. Blake, Ansault, in the European Bronze Age the cross symbol appeared to carry a religious meaning, perhaps as a symbol of consecration, especially pertaining to burial. The cross sign occurs trivially in tally marks, and develops into a number symbol independently in the Roman numerals, the Chinese rod numerals and the Brahmi numerals. In the Phoenician alphabet and derived scripts, the symbol represented the phoneme /t/, i. e. the letter taw. The letter name taw means mark, presumably continuing the Egyptian hieroglyph two crossed sticks, according to W. E. Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, worshippers of Tammuz in Chaldea and thereabouts used the cross as symbol of that god. The shape of the cross, as represented by the letter T, clements contemporary Tertullian rejects the accusation that Christians are crucis religiosi, and returns the accusation by likening the worship of pagan idols to the worship of poles or stakes
27.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary
28.
Jupiter (mythology)
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Jupiter, also Jove, is the god of sky and thunder and king of the gods in Ancient Roman religion and mythology. Jupiter was the deity of Roman state religion throughout the Republican and Imperial eras. In Roman mythology, he negotiates with Numa Pompilius, the king of Rome, to establish principles of Roman religion such as offering. Jupiter is usually thought to have originated as a sky god, the two emblems were often combined to represent the god in the form of an eagle holding in its claws a thunderbolt, frequently seen on Greek and Roman coins. As the sky-god, he was a witness to oaths. Many of his functions were focused on the Capitoline Hill, where the citadel was located and he was the chief deity of the early Capitoline Triad with Mars and Quirinus. In the later Capitoline Triad, he was the guardian of the state with Juno. His sacred tree was the oak, the Romans regarded Jupiter as the equivalent of the Greek Zeus, and in Latin literature and Roman art, the myths and iconography of Zeus are adapted under the name Iuppiter. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Jupiter was the brother of Neptune, each presided over one of the three realms of the universe, sky, the waters, and the underworld. The Italic Diespiter was also a sky god who manifested himself in the daylight, usually, Tinia is usually regarded as his Etruscan counterpart. The Romans believed that Jupiter granted them supremacy because they had honoured him more than any other people had, Jupiter was the fount of the auspices upon which the relationship of the city with the gods rested. He personified the divine authority of Romes highest offices, internal organization and his image in the Republican and Imperial Capitol bore regalia associated with Romes ancient kings and the highest consular and Imperial honours. The consuls swore their oath of office in Jupiters name, to thank him for his help, they offered him a white ox with gilded horns. A similar offering was made by generals, who surrendered the tokens of their victory at the feet of Jupiters statue in the Capitol. Some scholars have viewed the triumphator as embodying Jupiter in the triumphal procession, Jupiters association with kingship and sovereignty was reinterpreted as Romes form of government changed. Originally, Rome was ruled by kings, after the monarchy was abolished and the Republic established, religious prerogatives were transferred to the patres, nostalgia for the kingship was considered treasonous. Those suspected of harbouring monarchical ambitions were punished, regardless of their service to the state, in the 5th century BC, the triumphator Camillus was sent into exile after he drove a chariot with a team of four white horses —an honour reserved for Jupiter himself. His house on the Capitoline Hill was razed, and it was decreed that no patrician should ever be allowed to live there, during the Conflict of the Orders, Romes plebeians demanded the right to hold political and religious office
29.
Carnation Revolution
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The Carnation Revolution, also referred to as the 25th of April, was initially a military coup in Lisbon, Portugal, on 25 April 1974 which overthrew the regime of the Estado Novo. This movement would lead to the fall of the Estado Novo, in Portugal,25 April is a national holiday, known as Freedom Day, to celebrate the event. Portugal had been run by a dictatorship, which was considered by many to be fascist. Despite repeated appeals that the revolutionaries broadcast over the radio, asking the population to stay home, thousands of Portuguese descended on the streets and it started as a professional class protest of Portuguese Armed Forces captains against a decree law, the Dec Lei nº 353/73 of 1973. Portugals new regime pledged itself to end the wars and began negotiations with the African independence movements. By the end of 1974, Portuguese troops had withdrawn from Portuguese Guinea. This was followed by the independence of Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal also led to Portugals withdrawal from East Timor in Southeast Asia. These events prompted an exodus of Portuguese citizens from Portugals African territories. Although the regimes political police, PIDE, killed four people before surrendering, holding red carnations, many people joined revolutionary soldiers on the streets of Lisbon, in apparent joy and audible euphoria. Red is a color for socialism and communism, which were the main ideological tendencies of many anti-New State insurgents. It was the end of the Estado Novo, the authoritarian regime in Western Europe. East Timor was also offered independence, shortly before the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, after the 28 May 1926 coup détat, Portugal implemented an authoritarian regime of social-Catholic and Integralist inspiration. In 1933, the regime was recast and renamed Estado Novo, and Salazar was named as President of the Council of Ministers until 1968, when he suffered a stroke following a domestic accident. He was replaced in September by Marcello Caetano, who served as President of the Council of Ministers until he was deposed on 25 April 1974. In 1958, General Humberto Delgado—a former member of the regime—stood against the presidential candidate, Américo Tomás. Tomás won the election, but only amidst claims of electoral fraud that denied Delgado of his legitimate victory. Immediately after this election, Salazars government abandoned the practice of electing the president. During Caetanos time in office, his attempts at political reform were obstructed by the important Salazarist elements within the regime
30.
Mother's Day
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Mothers Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on days in many parts of the world. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Fathers Day, Siblings Day, in the United States, celebration of Mothers Day began in the early 20th century. However, in countries, Mothers Day has become synonymous with these older traditions. The modern holiday of Mothers Day was first celebrated in 1908, St Andrews Methodist Church now holds the International Mothers Day Shrine. Her campaign to make Mothers Day a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mothers Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. In 1908, the US Congress rejected a proposal to make Mothers Day an official holiday, in 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mothers Day, held on the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers. Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mothers Day, she became resentful of the commercialization of the holiday, by the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mothers Day cards. Jarvis believed that the companies had misinterpreted and exploited the idea of Mothers Day, as a result, she organized boycotts of Mothers Day, and threatened to issue lawsuits against the companies involved. Jarvis argued that people should appreciate and honor their mothers through handwritten letters expressing their love and gratitude, instead of buying gifts, Jarvis protested at a candy makers convention in Philadelphia in 1923, and at a meeting of American War Mothers in 1925. By this time, carnations had become associated with Mothers Day, and the selling of carnations by the American War Mothers to raise money angered Jarvis, in 1912 Anna Jarvis trademarked the phrases second Sunday in May and Mothers Day, and created the Mothers Day International Association. She specifically noted that Mothers should be a singular possessive, for family to honor its own mother. Both the secular and religious Mother Day are present in Greece, Mothering Sunday is often referred to as Mothers Day even though it is an unrelated celebration. In some countries, the date adopted is one significant to the majority religion, other countries selected a date with historical significance. For example, Bolivias Mothers Day is the date of a battle in which women participated, see the International history and tradition section for the complete list. Ex-communist countries usually celebrated International Womens Day instead of Mothers Day, some ex-communist countries, such as Russia, still follow this custom or simply celebrate both holidays, which is the custom in Ukraine. Kyrgyzstan has recently introduced Mothers Day, but year on year is increasing in status. Mothers Day is celebrated in more than 46 countries throughout the world, on this day, many people pray in churches in honor of mothers, while some gift them presents on this day to express their love
31.
Anna Jarvis
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Anna Marie Jarvis was the founder of the Mothers Day holiday in the United States. Anna Marie Jarvis was born to Granville E. and Ann Marie Jarvis on May 1,1864 in Webster, Taylor County and her birthplace, today known as the Anna Jarvis House, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979. Anna was the ninth of eleven children, seven of the siblings would die in infancy or early childhood, the family moved to Grafton, West Virginia, also in Taylor County, later in her childhood. Ann Reeves Jarvis was a social activist, founder of Mothers’ Day Work Clubs, Ann was friends with Julia Ward Howe, who had first advocated in 1870 for the idea of a Mothers Day as a call for mothers throughout the world to work together for peace. As a woman defined by her faith, she was active within the Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church community. Jarvis returned to Grafton to work in the school system, additionally joining her mother as an active church member. After her uncle, Dr. James Edmund Reeves, persuaded her to move to Chattanooga, Tennessee, the following year, Jarvis again moved, this time to live with her brother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in spite of her mother’s urging to return to Grafton. Jarvis was successful in Philadelphia, taking a position at Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company, another accomplishment was becoming a shareholder in the Quaker City Cab Company, her brother’s business. Even while she was away from Grafton, Anna Jarvis maintained a correspondence with her mother. Ann Reeves Jarvis was proud of her daughter’s achievements and the letters served to keep mother and daughter closely linked. After the death of Jarvis’ father, Granville, in 1902, both brother and sister worried about their mother’s health and Ann Reeves Jarvis ultimately agreed to move to Philadelphia in 1904 when her heart problems necessitated it. Jarvis spent the majority of her taking care of her mother as Ann Reeves Jarvis health declined, however. The International Mothers Day Shrine has been a designated National Historic Landmark since October 5,1992, although Jarvis did not attend this service, she sent a telegram that described the significance of the day as well as five hundred white carnations for all who attended the service. As she spoke in Philadelphia at the Wanamakers Store Auditorium, she moved her audience with the power of her speech. The carnation does not drop its petals, but hugs them to its heart as it dies, when I selected this flower, I was remembering my mother’s bed of white pinks. Jarvis frequently referred to her mother’s memory during her efforts to maintain the sentimental heart of the day while maintaining her own role as the founder of the holiday. In addition to her efforts to maintain her position and recognition as the holiday’s founder, among some of these forces were the confection, floral and greeting card industry. Ironically, symbols that she had valued for their sentimentality, such as the white carnation and she attempted to counter these commercial forces, creating a badge with a Mother’s Day emblem as a less ephemeral alternative to the white carnation
32.
Parents' Day
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Parents Day is a holiday combining the concepts of a Fathers Day and Mothers Day. It is the day as International Childrens Day. In the United States, Parents Day is held on the fourth Sunday of July and this was established in 1994 when President Bill Clinton signed a Congressional Resolution into law for recognizing, uplifting, and supporting the role of parents in the rearing of children. The bill was introduced by Republican Senator Trent Lott and it was supported by members of the Unification Church which also celebrates a holiday called Parents Day, although on a different date. Parents Day is celebrated throughout the United States, in South Korea, Parents Day is annually held on May 8. Parents Day is celebrated by both the public and the government, family events focus on the parents, popular actions include giving parents carnations. Public events are led by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and include public celebrations, the origins of Parents Day can be traced back to the 1930s. Starting in 1930, some Christian communities began to celebrate Mothers Day or Parents Day and this tradition was combined with Koreas traditional Confucianism culture to eventually establish Mothers Day. In 1956, the State Council of South Korea designated May 8 as an annual Mothers Day. However, the question of Fathers Day was discussed and on March 30,1973, May 8 was designated as Parents Day under Presidential Decree 6615, or the Regulations Concerning Various Holidays
33.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
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Covering an area of 255,804 km², the SFRY was bordered with Italy to the west, Hungary to the north, Bulgaria and Romania to the east and Albania and Greece to the south. In addition, it included two autonomous provinces within Serbia, Kosovo and Vojvodina, the SFRY traces back to 29 June 1943 when the Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia was formed during World War II. On 29 November 1945, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed after the deposal of King Peter II thus ending the monarchy. Following the death of Tito on 4 May 1980, rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to dissidence among the multiple ethnicities within the constituent republics. This led to the federation collapsing along the borders, followed by the final downfall and breakup of the federation on 27 April 1992. The term former Yugoslavia is now commonly used retrospectively, the name Yugoslavia, an Anglicised transcription of Jugoslavija, is a composite word made-up of jug and slavija. The Serbo-Croatian, Slovene and Macedonian word jug means south, while slavija denotes a land of the Slavs, thus, a translation of Jugoslavija would be South-Slavia or Land of the South Slavs. The term is intended to denote the lands occupied by the six South Slavic nations, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Slovenes, the full official name of the federation varied significantly between 1945 and 1992. Yugoslavia was formed in 1918 under the name Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, the name deliberately left the republic-or-kingdom question open. In 1963, amid pervasive liberal constitutional reforms, the name Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was introduced, the state is most commonly referred to by the latter name, which it held for the longest period of all. The most common abbreviation is SFRY, though SFR Yugoslavia was also used in an official capacity, particularly by the media. On 6 April 1941, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers led by Nazi Germany, by 17 April 1941, Yugoslav resistance was soon established in two forms, the Royal Yugoslav Army and the Yugoslav Partisans. The Partisan supreme commander was Josip Broz Tito, and under his command the movement soon began establishing liberated territories which attracted the attentions of the occupying forces. The coalition of parties, factions, and prominent individuals behind the movement was the Peoples Liberation Front. The Front formed a political body, the Anti-Fascist Council for the Peoples Liberation of Yugoslavia. The AVNOJ, which met for the first time in Partisan-liberated Bihać on 26 November 1942, during 1943, the Yugoslav Partisans began attracting serious attention from the Germans. In two major operations of Fall Weiss and Fall Schwartz, the Axis attempted to stamp-out the Yugoslav resistance once, on both occasions, despite heavy casualties, the Group succeeded in evading the trap and retreating to safety. The Partisans emerged stronger than before and now occupied a significant portion of Yugoslavia
34.
St. Patrick's Day
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Saint Patricks Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland. The day commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, cèilidhs, and the wearing of green attire or shamrocks. Saint Patricks Day is a holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is also celebrated by the Irish diaspora around the world, especially in Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia. Saint Patricks Day is celebrated in more countries than any other national festival, modern celebrations have been greatly influenced by those of the Irish diaspora, particularly those that developed in North America. In recent years, there has been criticism of Saint Patricks Day celebrations for having become too commercialised, Patrick was a 5th-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Much of what is known about Saint Patrick comes from the Declaration and it is believed that he was born in Roman Britain in the fourth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father was a deacon and his grandfather was a priest in the Christian church, according to the Declaration, at the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland. It says that he spent six years working as a shepherd. The Declaration says that God told Patrick to flee to the coast, after making his way home, Patrick went on to become a priest. According to tradition, Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity, the Declaration says that he spent many years evangelising in the northern half of Ireland and converted thousands. Patricks efforts against the druids were eventually turned into an allegory in which he drove out of Ireland. Tradition holds that he died on 17 March and was buried at Downpatrick, over the following centuries, many legends grew up around Patrick and he became Irelands foremost saint. Todays St Patricks Day celebrations have been influenced by those that developed among the Irish diaspora. Until the late 20th century, St Patricks Day was often a celebration among the diaspora than it was in Ireland. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, Irish traditional music sessions, there are also formal gatherings such as banquets and dances, although these were more common in the past. St Patricks Day parades began in North America in the 18th century, the participants generally include marching bands, the military, fire brigades, cultural organisations, charitable organisations, voluntary associations, youth groups, fraternities, and so on. However, over time, many of the parades have become akin to a carnival
35.
Oscar Wilde
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Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he one of Londons most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. He is remembered for his epigrams, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, his plays, as well as the circumstances of his imprisonment, Wildes parents were successful Anglo-Irish, Dublin intellectuals. Their son became fluent in French and German early in life, at university, Wilde read Greats, he proved himself to be an outstanding classicist, first at Dublin, then at Oxford. He became known for his involvement in the philosophy of aestheticism. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles, known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. The opportunity to construct aesthetic details precisely, and combine them with social themes. He wrote Salome in French in Paris but it was refused a licence for England due to the prohibition of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Unperturbed, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, at the height of his fame and success, while The Importance of Being Earnest, was still being performed in London, Wilde had the Marquess of Queensberry prosecuted for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wildes lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, the charge carried a penalty of up to two years in prison. The trial unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest, after two more trials he was convicted and imprisoned for two years hard labour. Upon his release he left immediately for France, never to return to Ireland or Britain, there he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. He died destitute in Paris at the age of 46, Oscar Wilde was born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin, the second of three children born to Sir William Wilde and Jane Wilde, two years behind William. Wildes mother was of Italian descent, and under the pseudonym Speranza and she read the Young Irelanders poetry to Oscar and Willie, inculcating a love of these poets in her sons. Lady Wildes interest in the neo-classical revival showed in the paintings and busts of ancient Greece, William Wilde was Irelands leading oto-ophthalmologic surgeon and was knighted in 1864 for his services as medical adviser and assistant commissioner to the censuses of Ireland. He also wrote books about Irish archaeology and peasant folklore, a renowned philanthropist, his dispensary for the care of the citys poor at the rear of Trinity College, Dublin, was the forerunner of the Dublin Eye and Ear Hospital, now located at Adelaide Road. On his fathers side Wilde was descended from a Dutchman, Colonel de Wilde, on his mothers side Wildes ancestors included a bricklayer from County Durham who emigrated to Ireland sometime in the 1770s. Wilde was baptised as an infant in St, marks Church, Dublin, the local Church of Ireland church
36.
The Green Carnation
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It was an instant succès de scandale on both sides of the Atlantic. The reviewer for The Observer wrote, The Green Carnation will be read, nothing so impudent, so bold, or so delicious has been printed these many years. The book features the characters of Esmé Amarinth, and Lord Reginald Hastings, the words put in the mouths of the hero and his young friend in the story are mostly gathered from the sayings of their originals. Robert Hichens spent nearly a year in the company of the men and was able to recreate the atmosphere. The book was withdrawn from circulation in 1895, but by time the damage had been done. Wilde soon stood three consecutive trials for gross indecency and was sentenced to two years at hard labour, the Green Carnation was one of the works used against him by the prosecution. The Green Carnation was republished in 1948 with an introduction by the author and it was reissued in paperback in this form in 1992, and republished again in 2006 as a hardcover with a foreword by Anthony Wynn. In the letter Wilde wrote, Sir, but with the middle-class and mediocre book that usurps its strangely beautiful name I have, I need hardly say, nothing whatsoever to do. The Flower is a work of Art, project Gutenberg edition Wildes letter to the Pall Mall Gazette denying authorship of The Green Carnation. The Green Carnation public domain audiobook at LibriVox
37.
Operetta
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Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. By this time, the part of the genre name had become misleading. With this new connotation, opéra comique had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique, most researchers acknowledge that the credit for creating the operetta form should go to Hervé, a singer, composer, librettist, conductor, and scene painter. In 1842 he wrote the little opérette, LOurs et le pacha, based on the vaudeville show by Scribe. In 1848, Hervé made his first notable appearance on the Parisian stage, with Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança, hervés most famous works are the Gounod-parody Le Petit Faust and Mamzelle Nitouche. Jacques Offenbach further developed and popularized operetta, giving it its enormous vogue during the Second Empire, Offenbachs earliest one-act pieces included Les deux aveugles, Le violoneux and Ba-ta-clan, and his first full-length operetta success was Orphée aux enfers. Offenbachs tradition was carried on by Robert Planquette, André Messager. What characterizes Offenbachs operettas is both the way they portray life, and the extremely frivolous way this is done. The character was modeled after Offenbachs female star Hortense Schneider. Considering how Zolas Nana describes an Offenbach-style operetta performance in Paris, it is not surprising that the mostly male, upper-class audiences in other cities like Vienna and Berlin longed to see these shows in their home towns as well, which inspired worldwide performance of Offenbachs works. The highly erotic way Offenbachs operettas were originally played, with stars like Hortense Schneider created a reaction from certain parts of the general public. Operetta was considered an art form. Indeed, together with its grotesque qualities, frivolity is one of the elements of authentic operetta à la Offenbach. It was only later, when audiences widened and became more middle and lower class, the most significant composer of operetta in the German language was the Austrian Johann Strauss II. His first operetta was Indigo und die vierzig Räuber and his third operetta, Die Fledermaus, became the most performed operetta in the world, and remains his most popular stage work. Its libretto was based on a written by Offenbachs librettists. In all, Strauss wrote 16 operettas and one opera, most with great success when first premiered, many of his lesser operettas are now largely forgotten, since his later librettists were less talented and he often composed independently of the plot. Strausss operettas, waltzes, polkas, and marches often have a strongly Viennese style, the Theater an der Wien never failed to draw huge crowds when his stage works were first performed
38.
Bitter Sweet
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Bitter Sweet is an operetta in three acts, with book, music and lyrics by Noël Coward. The story, set in 19th century and early 20th century England and Austria-Hungary, centres on a young womans elopement with her music teacher. The songs from the score include The Call of Life, If You Could Only Come with Me, Ill See You Again, Dear Little Café, If Love Were All, Ladies of the Town, Tokay, Zigeuner and Green Carnation. The show had a run in the West End from 1929 to 1931. The work has twice been adapted for the cinema, and the score has been recorded for CD. Coward wrote the role of Sari with Gertrude Lawrence in mind. His second choice, Evelyn Laye, refused the role because of a grievance against the producer of the show. Cowards third choice, Peggy Wood, made a success in the part. For the part of the man, Cochran and Coward toured the theatres of Europe in search of someone suitable. According to Coward, a candidate named Hans Unterfucker was ruled out because of his name. The young woman is torn between love and fortune, and Lady Shane is reminded of her own youth. Nearly 55 years earlier, in 1875, Lady Shane is the young Sarah Millick, a wealthy London girl, the spirited Sarah is engaged to Lord Hugh, a wealthy but rigid young nobleman, but she and her music teacher have fallen in love. Carl is a man of integrity and does not want to ruin Sarahs young dreams and he plans to return to his native Austria late that night but vows to think of Sarah each Spring. At the pre-wedding party, Sarah realises that her life with Lord Hugh would be very unhappy indeed, Carl is entertaining at the party, and when she sees the depth of his love for her, she agrees to run away with him to Vienna. Carls earlier love, Manon, is another entertainer at the cafe, Sarah begs Carl to quit the cafe and take them to a safer place. He agrees, but that night is busy at the cafe, Sarah is asked to dance with an army captain who handles her boldly and steals a kiss on the dance floor. Carl is enraged and strikes the military man, the captain challenges Carl to a duel and easily kills the musician with his sword. Act III Thirteen years pass, and it is the Gay Nineties, Sarah has become world-famous as an interpreter of Carls song
39.
Polish People's Republic
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The Polish Peoples Republic covers the history of Poland under Communist control between 1952 and 1990. The name was defined by the Constitution of 1952 which was based on the 1936 Soviet Constitution, between 1947 and 1952, the name of the Polish state was the Republic of Poland, in accordance with the temporary Constitution of 1947. The Soviet Union had much influence over internal and external affairs, and Red Army forces were stationed in Poland. In 1945, Soviet generals and advisors formed 80% of the cadre of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish United Workers Party became the dominant political party, officially making the country a Communist state, at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Stalin was able to present his western allies, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill, with a fait accompli in Poland. His armed forces were in occupation of the country, and his agents, the USSR was in the process of incorporating the lands in eastern Poland which it had occupied between 1939 and 1941. In compensation, the USSR awarded Poland German territories in Pomerania, Silesia and these awards were confirmed at the Tripartite Conference of Berlin, otherwise known as the Potsdam Conference in August 1945 after the end of the war in Europe. Stalin was determined that Polands new government would become his tool towards making Poland a Soviet puppet state controlled by the communists. He had severed relations with the Polish government-in-exile in London in 1943, the communists held a majority of key posts in this new government, and with Soviet support they soon gained almost total control of the country, rigging all elections. This important victory would be their last, however, as the communists, tightening their grip on power, many of their opponents decided to leave the country, and others were put on staged trials and sentenced to many years of imprisonment or execution. In June 1946 the Three Times Yes referendum was held on a number of issues—abolition of the Senate of Poland, land reform, the communist-controlled Interior Ministry issued results showing that all three questions passed overwhelmingly. Years later, however, evidence was uncovered showing that the referendum had been tainted by massive fraud, Gomułka then took advantage of a split in the Polish Socialist Party. One faction, which included Prime Minister Edward Osóbka-Morawski, wanted to join forces with the Peasant Party, another faction, led by Józef Cyrankiewicz, argued that the Socialists should support the Communists in carrying through a socialist program, while opposing the imposition of one-party rule. Pre-war political hostilities continued to influence events, and Mikołajczyk would not agree to form a front with the Socialists. The Communists played on these divisions by dismissing Osóbka-Morawski and making Cyrankiewicz Prime Minister, between the referendum and the January 1947 general elections, the opposition was subjected to persecution. Only the candidates of the pro-government Democratic Bloc were allowed to campaign completely unmolested, meanwhile, several opposition candidates were prevented from campaigning at all. Mikołajczyks Polish Peoples Party in particular suffered persecution, it had opposed the abolition of the Senate as a test of strength against the government, although it supported the other two questions, the Communist-dominated government branded the PSL traitors. This massive oppression was overseen by Gomułka and the provisional president, the official results of the election showed the Democratic Bloc with 80.1 percent of the vote
40.
International Women's Day
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International Womens Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. It commemorates the movement for womens rights, the earliest Womens Day observance was held on February 28,1909 in New York and organized by the Socialist Party of America. On March 8,1917, in the capital of the Russian Empire, Petrograd and this was the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Seven days later, the Emperor of Russia Nicholas II abdicated, March 8 was declared a national holiday in Soviet Russia in 1917. The day was celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations. The earliest Womens Day observance was held on February 28,1909 in New York and it was called National womans day. It has been claimed that the event was commemorating a strike, the story that the day originated in a protest by women garment workers in New York on March 8,1857, has been described as a myth. In August 1910, an International Womens Conference was organized to precede the general meeting of the Socialist Second International in Copenhagen, delegates agreed with the idea as a strategy to promote equal rights including suffrage for women. The following year on March 19,1911 IWD was marked for the first time, by over a people in Austria, Denmark, Germany. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone, there were 300 demonstrations, in Vienna, women paraded on the Ringstrasse and carried banners honouring the martyrs of the Paris Commune. Women demanded that they be given the right to vote and to public office. They also protested against employment sex discrimination, americans continued to celebrate National Womens Day on the last Sunday in February. In 1913 Russian women observed their first International Womens Day on the last Saturday in February, although there were some women-led strikes, marches, and other protests in the years leading up to 1914, none of them happened on March 8. In 1914 International Womens Day was held on March 8, possibly because that day was a Sunday, the 1914 observance of the Day in Germany was dedicated to womens right to vote, which German women did not win until 1918. In London there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of womens suffrage on March 8,1914, sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square. In 1917 demonstrations marking International Womens Day in Petrograd, Russia, Women in Saint Petersburg went on strike that day for Bread and Peace – demanding the end of World War I, an end to Russian food shortages, and the end of czarism. Leon Trotsky wrote,23 February was International Womans Day and meetings, but we did not imagine that this Womens Day would inaugurate the revolution. Revolutionary actions were foreseen but without date, but in morning, despite the orders to the contrary, textile workers left their work in several factories and sent delegates to ask for support of the strike… which led to mass strike
41.
University of Oxford
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The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris, after disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient universities are frequently referred to as Oxbridge. The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent colleges, All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. Being a city university, it not have a main campus, instead, its buildings. Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the worlds oldest and most prestigious scholarships, the university operates the worlds oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Britain. Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates,27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, the University of Oxford has no known foundation date. Teaching at Oxford existed in form as early as 1096. It grew quickly in 1167 when English students returned from the University of Paris, the historian Gerald of Wales lectured to such scholars in 1188 and the first known foreign scholar, Emo of Friesland, arrived in 1190. The head of the university had the title of chancellor from at least 1201, the university was granted a royal charter in 1248 during the reign of King Henry III. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled from the violence to Cambridge, the students associated together on the basis of geographical origins, into two nations, representing the North and the South. In later centuries, geographical origins continued to many students affiliations when membership of a college or hall became customary in Oxford. At about the time, private benefactors established colleges as self-contained scholarly communities. Among the earliest such founders were William of Durham, who in 1249 endowed University College, thereafter, an increasing number of students lived in colleges rather than in halls and religious houses. In 1333–34, an attempt by some dissatisfied Oxford scholars to found a new university at Stamford, Lincolnshire was blocked by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge petitioning King Edward III. Thereafter, until the 1820s, no new universities were allowed to be founded in England, even in London, thus, Oxford and Cambridge had a duopoly, the new learning of the Renaissance greatly influenced Oxford from the late 15th century onwards. Among university scholars of the period were William Grocyn, who contributed to the revival of Greek language studies, and John Colet, the noted biblical scholar. With the English Reformation and the breaking of communion with the Roman Catholic Church, recusant scholars from Oxford fled to continental Europe, as a centre of learning and scholarship, Oxfords reputation declined in the Age of Enlightenment, enrolments fell and teaching was neglected
42.
National flower
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In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a floral emblem, others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols – some are conferred by government bodies, the term floral emblem, which refers to flowers specifically, is primarily used in Australia and Canada. In the United States, the state flower is more often used. The national flower and floral emblem of Bangladesh is the shapla, or Nymphaea nouchali) See also, bhutan – Blue poppy Brunei – Simpoh Ayer Cambodia formally adopted the romduol as its national flower in the year 2005 by a royal decree. The royal decree designates the taxon as Mitrella mesnyi, however this is an illegitimate synonym for Sphaerocoryne affinis Ridley. The flower of India is also the lotus, a symbol of purity that remains immaculate despite growing from mud, keralas state floral emblem is the tree Cassia fistula. Tamil Nadus floral emblem is Glory lily, water-lily is the state flower of Andhra Pradesh. Kapau is the flower of Assam. Bihars floral emblem is kachnaar and that of Uttarakhand is the rhododendron, there are three types of floral emblems that symbolize Indonesia, the puspa bangsa of Indonesia is melati the puspa pesona is anggrek bulan the puspa langka is padma raksasa rafflesia. Melati, a white flower with sweet fragrance, has long been considered as a sacred flower in Indonesian tradition, as it symbolizes purity, sacredness. For example, on her day, a traditional Indonesian brides hair is often adorned with arrangements of jasmine. However, jasmine is also used as floral offering for spirits and deities. Moon Orchid was chosen for its beauty, while the two rare flowers, Rafflesia arnoldii and Titan arum were chosen to demonstrate uniqueness and Indonesian rich biodiversity. Each of the 33 provinces of Indonesia also has a plant as its provincial flower. Iran – red rose, tulip, Nymphaea, Cupressus sempervirens Iraq – Rose The Israeli national flower is the poppy anemone, jordan – Black iris Kuwait – Rhanterium epapposum The national flower is the plumeria, despite it being no longer endemic. The national flower of Malaysia is the bunga raya, the flower of the eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak is the orchid Phalaenopsis bellina, while that of the state of Kedah is the pokok padi. Malaccas state flower is the bread-flower, Vallaris glabra, from there, it spread into France, Italy and the Mediterranean, and eventually it was introduced to the rest of Western Europe and Britain
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Balearic Islands
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The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The four largest islands are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, there are many minor islands and islets close to the larger islands, including Cabrera, Dragonera and SEspalmador. The islands have a Mediterranean climate, and the four islands are all popular tourist destinations. Ibiza in particular is known as a party destination, attracting many of the worlds most popular DJs to its nightclubs. The islands culture and cuisine are similar to that of the rest of Spain but have their own distinctive features, the archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca as the capital. The 2007 Statute of Autonomy declares the Balearic Islands as one nationality of Spain, the co-official languages in the Balearic Islands are Catalan and Spanish. Though now a part of Spain, throughout history the Balearic Islands have been under the rule of a number of different kingdoms, the official name of the Balearic Islands in Catalan is Illes Balears, while in Spanish they are known as the Islas Baleares. The term Balearic derives from Greek, of the various theories on the origins of the two ancient Greek and Latin names for the islands—Gymnasiae and Baleares—classical sources provide two. According to the Lycophrons Alexandra verses, the islands were called Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiae because its inhabitants were often nude, the Greek and Roman writers generally derive the name of the people from their skill as slingers, although Strabo regards the name as of Phoenician origin. He observed it was the Phoenician equivalent for lightly armoured soldiers the Greeks would have called γυμνῆτας/gymnetas, the root bal does point to a Phoenician origin, perhaps the islands were sacred to the god Baal and the resemblance to the Greek root ΒΑΛ is accidental. Indeed, it was usual Greek practice to assimilate local names into their own language, but the common Greek name of the islands is not Βαλεαρεῖς/Baleareis, but Γυμνησίαι/Gymnesiai. The former was the used by the natives, as well as by the Carthaginians and Romans. The Balearic Islands are on a platform called the Balearic Promontory. They are cut by a network of northwest to southeast faults, the main islands of the autonomous community are Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera, all popular tourist destinations. Amongst the minor islands is Cabrera, the location of the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park, the islands can be further grouped, with Majorca, Minorca, and Cabrera as the Gymnesian Islands, and Ibiza and Formentera as the Pityusic Islands, also referred to as the Pityuses. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the Balearic Islands unsurprisingly have typical mediterranean climates, the below-listed climatic data of the capital Palma is typical for the archipelago, with minor differences to other stations in Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca. Little is recorded on the earliest inhabitants of the islands, though many legends exist, the story, preserved by Lycophron, that certain shipwrecked Greek Boeotians were cast nude on the islands, was evidently invented to account for the name Gymnesiae. There is also a tradition that the islands were colonised by Rhodes after the Trojan War, the islands had a very mixed population, of whose habits several strange stories are told
