1.
Fence
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A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length, alternatives to fencing include a ditch. Brushwood fencing, a fence made using wires on either side of brushwood, slate fence, a type of palisade made of vertical slabs of slate wired together. Commonly used in parts of Wales and this type of fence is commonly used for privacy. Vaccary fence, a fence to restrain cattle, made of upright thin slabs of stone, the slabs are not necessarily linked to each other. Found in various places in the north of the UK where suitable stone can be found, vinyl fencing Wattle fencing, of split branches woven between stakes. Wood-panel fencing Wrought iron fencing, made from steel, also known as ornamental iron. Hedge, including, Cactus fence Hedgerows of intertwined, living shrubs Live fencing is the use of woody species for fences. Transformer stations are surrounded with barbed-wire fences. Around mast radiators, wooden fences are used to avoid the problem of eddy currents, common disagreements include what kind of fence is required, what kind of repairs are needed, and how to share the costs. In some legislatures the standard height of a fence is limited, servitudes are legal arrangements of land use arising out of private agreements. Under the feudal system, most land in England was cultivated in common fields, by the sixteenth century the growth of population and prosperity provided incentives for landowners to use their land in more profitable ways, dispossessing the peasantry. Fences redefined the means by which land is used, resulting in the law of servitudes. In the United States, the earliest settlers claimed land by simply fencing it in, ownership of a fence on an ownership boundary varies. Generally title deeds will show which side owns the fence, using a T symbol, commonly the cladding is on non-owners side, enabling access to the posts for the owner when repairs are needed but this is not a legal requirement. They may then erect a fence or hedge on the spoil, exceptions often occur, for example where a plot of land derives from subdivision of a larger one along the centre line of a previously-existing ditch or other feature. On private land in the United Kingdom, it is the responsibility to fence their livestock in. Conversely, for land, it is the surrounding landowners responsibility to fence the commons livestock out
2.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
3.
Weapon
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A weapon, arm, or armament is any device used with intent to inflict damage or harm to living beings, structures, or systems. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, self-defense. In a broader context, weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a strategic, something that has been re-purposed, converted, or enhanced to become a weapon of war is termed weaponized, such as a weaponized virus or weaponized lasers. The use of objects as weapons has been observed among chimpanzees, however, this can not be confirmed using physical evidence because wooden clubs, spears, and unshaped stones would not have left an unambiguous record. The earliest unambiguous weapons to be found are the Schöninger Speere, the first defensive structures and fortifications appeared in the Bronze Age, indicating an increased need for security. Weapons designed to breach fortifications followed soon after, for example the battering ram was in use by 2500 BC, although early Iron Age swords were not superior to their bronze predecessors, once iron-working developed, around 1300 BC in Greece Alex Webb, Metalworking in Ancient Greece. Domestication of the horse and widespread use of spoked wheels by ca.2000 BC, led to the light, the mobility provided by chariots were important during this era. Spoke-wheeled chariot usage peaked around 1300 BC and then declined, ceasing to be militarily relevant by the 4th century BC. Cavalry developed once horses were bred to support the weight of a man, the horse extended the range and increased the speed of attacks. Ships built as weapons or warships such as the trireme were in use by the 7th century BC and these ships were eventually replaced by larger ships by the 4th century BC. European warfare during the Post-classical history was dominated by groups of knights supported by massed infantry. They were involved in combat and sieges which involved various siege weapons. Knights on horseback developed tactics for charging with lances providing an impact on the enemy formations, whereas infantry, in the age before structured formations, relied on cheap, sturdy weapons such as spears and billhooks in close combat and bows from a distance. As armies became more professional, their equipment was standardized and infantry transitioned to pikes, pikes are normally seven to eight feet in length, in conjunction with smaller side-arms. In Eastern and Middle Eastern warfare, similar tactics were developed independent of European influences, the introduction of gunpowder from the Far East at the end of this period revolutionized warfare. Formations of musketeers, protected by pikemen came to dominate open battles, the European Renaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of firearms in western warfare. Guns and rockets were introduced to the battlefield, firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they release energy from combustible propellants such as gunpowder, rather than from a counter-weight or spring. This energy is released very rapidly and can be replicated without much effort by the user, therefore even early firearms such as the arquebus were much more powerful than human-powered weapons. During the U. S. Civil War various technologies including the gun and ironclad warship emerged that would be recognizable and useful military weapons today
4.
1896 Summer Olympics
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The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was the first international Olympic Games held in modern history. Organised by the International Olympic Committee, which had created by Pierre de Coubertin, it was held in Athens, Greece. Winners were given a medal, while runners-up received a copper medal. Retroactively, the IOC has converted these to gold and silver, ten of the 14 participating nations earned medals. The United States won the most gold medals,11, host nation Greece won the most medals overall,46, the highlight for the Greeks was the marathon victory by their compatriot Spyridon Louis. The most successful competitor was German wrestler and gymnast Carl Schuhmann, the main venue was the Panathenaic Stadium, where athletics and wrestling took place, other venues included the Neo Phaliron Velodrome for cycling, and the Zappeion for fencing. The opening ceremony was held in the Panathenaic Stadium on 6 April, during which most of the athletes were aligned on the infield. After a speech by the president of the committee, Crown Prince Constantine. Afterwards, nine bands and 150 choir singers performed an Olympic Hymn, composed by Spyridon Samaras, the 1896 Olympics were regarded as a great success. The Games had the largest international participation of any sporting event to that date, the Panathenaic Stadium, the only Olympic stadium used in the 1800s, overflowed with the largest crowd ever to watch a sporting event. However, the 1900 Summer Olympics were already planned for Paris and, except for the Intercalated Games of 1906, during the 19th century, several small-scale sports festivals across Europe were named after the Ancient Olympic Games. The 1870 Olympics at the Panathenaic stadium, which had been refurbished for the occasion, had an audience of 30,000 people. In 1890, Coubertin wrote an article in La Revue Athletique, Coubertin also took inspiration from the earlier Greek games organised under the name of Olympics by businessman and philanthropist Evangelis Zappas in 1859,1870 and 1875. This the Greek government did despite the fact that the cost of refurbishing the stadium in marble had already been funded in full by Evangelis Zappas forty years earlier. With deep feeling towards Baron de Coubertins courteous petition, I send him, on 18 June 1894, Coubertin organised a congress at the Sorbonne, Paris, to present his plans to representatives of sports societies from 11 countries. Following his proposals acceptance by the congress, a date for the first modern Olympic Games needed to be chosen, Coubertin suggested that the Games be held concurrently with the 1900 Universal Exposition of Paris. Concerned that a waiting period might lessen public interest, congress members opted instead to hold the inaugural Games in 1896. With a date established, members of the congress turned their attention to the selection of a host city and it remains a mystery how Athens was finally chosen to host the inaugural Games
5.
Foil (fencing)
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A foil is one of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing, all of which are metal. It is flexible, rectangular in section, and weighs under a pound. As with the épée, points are scored by contact with the tip. A foil fencers uniform features the lamé, a vest, electrically wired to record hits in such cases and it is the most commonly used weapon in competition. There are two types of foils, the nonelectric foil—also known as steam or dry—and the electric. The components common to both varieties are the pommel, grip, guard, thumb pad, and blade. The blades of both varieties are capped with a plastic or rubber piece, with a button at the tip in electric blades, lacking the button and associated electrical mechanism, a judge is required to determine the scoring and the victor in a tournaments with nonelectric foils. Nonelectric ones are used for practice. The blade itself is subdivided into 3 regions, the foible, or weak, the last third of the blade near the tip, the medium, and the forte, or strong, the third of the blade near the guard. Inside of the grip is the tang, which is threaded at the end to allow the pommel to fasten the foil assembly together. When an Italian grip is used, see below, a ricasso extends from under the guard, inside of the grips quillons, into the tang. The guard is fastened to the blade, plug, and grip assemblies by the pommel, a type of threaded fastener, beginning with the 1956 Olympics, scoring in foil has been accomplished by means of registering the touch with an electric circuit. A switch at the tip of the foil registers the touch, the electric foil contains a socket underneath the guard that connects to the scoring apparatus via the body cord and a wire that runs down a channel cut into the top of the blade. Electric foil sockets are fixed so that the body cord plugs into the weapon at the fencers wrist, the tip of the electric foil terminates in a button assembly that generally consists of a barrel, plunger, spring, and retaining screws. Color-coding is used, white or yellow indicates hits not on the target area. The modern foil is descended from the weapon for the small-sword. Rapier and even longsword foils are also known to have been used, although the foil as a blunted weapon for sword practice goes back to the 16th century, the use as a weapon for sport is more recent. The foil was used in France as a weapon in the middle of the 18th century in order to practise fast
6.
Sabre (fencing)
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The sabre is one of the three weapons of modern fencing, and is alternatively spelled saber in American English. The sabre differs from the modern fencing weapons, the épée and foil, in that it is possible to score with the edge of the blade, for this reason, sabreur movements. For the other two weapons, valid touches are only scored using the point of the blade, like the foil, but unlike the épée, sabre uses the convention of right-of-way to determine who acquires the touch. The term sabreur refers to a fencer who fences with a sabre. The cross-section of the blade is l - or V-shaped, unlike the quadrangular shape of the foil. Adult blades are 88 cm in length, at the end of the blade, the point is folded over itself to form a button, although no actual button exists. The bell guard of the sword is curved around the handle, on electrical sabres, a socket for the body wire is found underneath the bell guard. A fastener known as a pommel is attached to the end of the sword to keep the bell guard, the handle of a sabre is standardly a straight sabre grip, as other grips are incompatible with the bell guard. Pistol grips are incompatible with the sabre, the entire weapon is generally 105 cm long, the maximum weight is 500g, but most competition swords are closer to 400g. It is shorter than the foil or épée, and lighter than the épée, the sabres blade is sometimes likened to a matchstick insofar as it is easy to snap but relatively cheap to replace. Like other weapons used in fencing, the modern sabre uses a connection to register touches. The sabreuse wears a lamé, a conductive vest, to complete the circuit, sabre was the last weapon in fencing to make the transition over to using electrical equipment. This occurred in 1988,32 years after foil and 52 years after the épée, unlike the other two weapons, there is very little difference between an electric sabre and a steam or dry one. The blade itself is the same in steam and electric sabres, an electric sabre has a socket, which is generally a 2-prong or bayonet foil socket with the two contacts shorted together. The electric sabre also has insulation on the pommel and on the inside of the guard to prevent a connection between the sabre and the lamé. This is undesirable because it extends the lamé onto the sabre. Early electric sabres were equipped with a capteur socket, the capteur was a device that was intended to detect a parry by use of an accelerometer. If a parry was detected, the electronics were supposed to invalidate any subsequent closing of the circuit due to the flexible blade whipping around the parry
7.
Singlestick
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Singlestick, also known as cudgels, refers to both a martial art that uses a wooden stick as well as the weapon used in the art. It began as a way of training sailors in the use of such as the saber or the cutlass. Canne de combat, a French form of fighting, is similar to singlestick play. The singlestick itself is a slender, round wooden rod, traditionally of ash, singlesticks are typically around 36 inches in length and 1 inch in diameter and thicker at one end than the other. It bears approximately the same relationship to the backsword as the foil to the sword in being a sporting version of the weapon for safe practice. The original form of the singlestick was the waster, which appeared in the 16th century and was merely a wooden sword used in practice for the backsword, and of the same general shape. By the first quarter of the 17th century wasters had become simple clubs known as cudgels with the addition of a sword guard. When the basket hilt came into use about twenty five years later. The guards, cuts and parries in singlestick play were at first identical with those of backsword play, in 16th century England, hits below the girdle were considered unfair. In the 18th century, all parts of the person became valid targets, by the turn of the 19th century, the target area had been restricted to the upper body and the upper part of the forward leg. These rules are in use today by the Association for Historical Fencing, historically, the target area has varied, with bouts sometimes only being decided by the drawing of blood from the head of one of the contestants, in the manner of the Mensur. Towards the end of the 18th century the play became very restricted, the players were placed near together, the feet remaining immovable and all strokes being delivered with a whip-like action of the wrist from a high hanging guard, the hand being held above the head. Thomas Hughess story Tom Browns School Days contains a description of cudgel-play during the first half of the 19th century. The point was introduced and leg hits were allowed, american President Theodore Roosevelt and his friend General Leonard Wood were fond of this sport and used to emerge from a contest quite bruised from their rounds. However doubt has been raised on this theory and it is very unlikely that Theodore Roosevelt or General Wood ever practiced the British sport of Singlestick but more likely the French art of canne de combat. Singlestick was an event at the 1904 Summer Olympics, but the sport was already in decline, again recent investigation found that most likely singlestick was not present at the 1904 Olympics, but rather a form of cane fighting. With the introduction of the light Italian fencing sabre in the early 20th century, in the UK, Singlestick competition ceased in the Services in the 1950s, although the skills continue to be passed down from one generation of fencing Professor to the next. Stickplay with wooden swords as a school for the cutlass remained common in some navies, the art, occasionally practised by a few fencing veterans in the United Kingdom, was revived by the Royal Navy in the 1980s
8.
Swordsmanship
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Swordsmanship or swordfighting refers to the skills of a swordsman, a person versed in the art of the sword. The term is modern, and as such was used to refer to smallsword fencing. The word gladiator itself comes from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword, the sword in ancient Egypt was known by several names, but most are variations of the words sfet, seft or nakhtui. The earliest bronze swords in the date back 4000 years. The khopesh was used region-wide and is depicted as early as the Sixth Dynasty and it was thick-backed and weighted with bronze, sometimes even with gold hilts in the case of pharaohs. The blade may be edged on one or both sides, and was made from iron or blue steel, the double-edge sword had a leaf-shaped blade, and a handle which hollows away at the centre and thickens at each end. These swords are of lengths, and were paired with shields. Middle Eastern swords became dominant throughout North Africa after the introduction of Islam, the process of both iron smelting and forging was introduced to Sub-Saharan Africa from the north, thus many African swords were of Egyptian derivation. Among some communities, swords were restricted to royalty or tribal leaders, forms vary from one area to another, such as the billao of Somalia, boomerang-sword in Niger or the single-edge swords of the Gold Coast. The Abyssinian shotel took the form of a sickle, like the Egyptian khopesh. The edge was on the inside of the blade, which has a mid-rib running along its entire length, double-edge swords similar to those of Europe and ancient Arabia occurred in some areas such as the takoba and kaskara. Two types of sword existed in Zanzibar, the shortsword and the standard sword with a blade measuring 3–3.5 feet. The latter weapon was wielded with both hands like a quarterstaff, greece provides the foundation for the widespread use of the sword as a weapon in its own right in the West. The Roman legionaries and other forces of the Roman military, until the 2nd century A. D. used the gladius as a short thrusting sword effectively with the scutum, gladiators used a shorter gladius than the military. The Empires legionary soldiers were trained and prided themselves on their disciplinary skills. This probably carried over to their training with weaponry, but we have no Roman manuals of swordsmanship, one translation of Juvenals poetry by Barten Holyday in 1661 makes note that the Roman trainees learned to fight with the wooden wasters before moving on to the use of sharpened steel. In fact, it is found that Roman gladiators trained with a wooden sword. This training would have provided the Roman soldier with a foundation of skill
9.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
10.
Historical European martial arts
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Historical European martial arts refers to martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms. The term Western martial arts is sometimes used in the United States and in a wider sense including modern, during the Late Middle Ages, the longsword had a position of honour among these disciplines, and sometimes historical European swordsmanship is used to refer to swordsmanship techniques specifically. Modern reconstructions of some of these arose from the 1890s and have been practiced systematically since the 1990s. The so-called MS I.33, dated to ca,1300, is the oldest surviving fechtbuch, teaching sword and buckler combat. The central figure of medieval martial arts, at least in Germany, is Johannes Liechtenauer. Though no manuscript written by him is known to have survived, from the 15th century into the 17th, numerous Fechtbücher were produced, of which some several hundred are extant, a great many of these describe methods descended from Liechtenauers. Some Fechtbücher have sections on dueling shields, special weapons used only in judicial duels, important 15th-century German fencing masters include Sigmund Ringeck, Peter von Danzig, Hans Talhoffer and Paulus Kal, all of whom taught the teachings of Liechtenhauer. From the late 15th century, there were brotherhoods of fencers, most notably the Marx brothers, an early Burgundian French treatise is Le jeu de la hache of ca. The earliest master to write in the Italian was Fiore dei Liberi, in the 16th century, compendia of older Fechtbücher techniques were produced, some of them printed, notably by Paulus Hector Mair and by Joachim Meyer. In the 16th century, German fencing had developed sportive tendencies, the treatises of Paulus Hector Mair and Joachim Meyer derived from the teachings of the earlier centuries within the Liechtenauer tradition, but with new and distinctive characteristics. The printed fechtbuch of Jacob Sutor is one of the last in the German tradition, in Italy, the 16th century is a period of big change. It opens with the two treatises of Bolognese masters Antonio Manciolino and Achille Marozzo, who describe a variation of the eclectic knightly arts of the previous century. Towards the mid-century, however, polearms and companion weapons beside the dagger, in 1553, Camillo Agrippa is the first to define the prima, seconda, terza and quarta guards, which would remain the mainstay of Italian fencing into the next century and beyond. From the late 16th century, Italian rapier fencing attained considerable popularity all over Europe, the fencing styles practice also needed to conform with the new ideals of elegance and harmony. Significant masters of Destreza included Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and Luis Pacheco de Narváez, Girard Thibault was a Dutch master influenced by these ideals. The French school of fencing also moves away from its Italian roots, developing its own terminology, rules, French masters of the Baroque period include Le Perche du Coudray, Besnard, François Dancie and Philibert de la Touche. Fabris was followed by Italian masters such as Nicoletto Giganti, Ridolfo Capo Ferro, Francesco Alfieri, Francesco Antonio Marcelli, the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras produce English fencing writers, such as the Gentleman George Silver and the professional fencing master Joseph Swetnam. The English verb to fence is first attested in Shakespeares Merry Wives of Windsor, the French school of fencing originates in the 16th century, based on the Italian school, and develops into its classic form in the Baroque period
11.
Classical fencing
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Classical fencing is the style of fencing as it existed during the 19th and early 20th century. One must not forget that this regularity is not possible unless the adversary is a party to it and it is a conventional bout, which consists of parries, attacks, and returns, all rhyming together. Classical fencing weapons included the standard foil, épée, and sabre, during the classical period, fencing was used both for sport and preparation for the duel. Fencing as a sport was one of the events in the Olympic Games and widely practiced at schools. Additionally, there were professional fencers competing for prize money, Fencing tournaments were extremely popular events, with spectators flocking to see the most celebrated swordsmen battle it out on the piste. In many cases, fencers of the period trained for sport fencing the same way they trained for duels—indeed, many fought highly celebrated duels. Dueling went into decline after World War I, following the wartime deaths of many members of the classes that practiced it. After World War II, dueling went out of use in Europe except for rare exceptions, training for a duel, once almost mandatory for males of aristocratic backgrounds, all but disappeared, along with the classes themselves. Fencing continued as a sport like boxing or karate, with tournaments, however, the need to prepare for a duel with sharps all but vanished. Scoring was done by means of four judges who determined if a hit was made, two side judges stood behind and to the side of each fencer, and watched for hits made by that fencer on the opponents target. A director followed the fencing from a point several feet away from the center of the action, at the end of each action, after calling Halt. the director would describe the action, and then poll the judges in turn. The judges would answer Yes, Yes, but off-target, No, if the judges differed or abstained, the director could overrule them with his vote. This method was used, but had limitations. There also were problems with bias, well-known fencers were often given the benefit of mistakes, aldo Nadi complained about this in his autobiography The Living Sword in regard to his famous match with Lucien Gaudin. The article in the Daily Courier described a new invention, the scoring machine. Starting with épée in the 1930s, side judges were replaced by an electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed. The scoring box reduced the bias in judging, and permitted more accurate scoring of faster actions, lighter touches, the advent of the electrical scoring apparatus had far-reaching consequences. The electrical scoring apparatus and the 20th centurys overall modernization of athletic activities occurred alongside an increase in the emphasis on fencing as a sport
12.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
13.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
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Athletics at the Summer Olympics
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Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics, the modern program includes track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. Cross country running was also on the program in earlier editions, the events contested have varied widely. From 1900 to 1920, tug of war was considered to be part of the Olympic athletics programme, although the sports of tug of war, no new events have been added to the mens athletics programme since the 1952 addition of the short racewalk. The roster of events has not changed since then, with the exception of the omission of the long racewalk in 1976, the last womens event added to the roster was the 3000 metres steeplechase in 2008. A total of 52 different events have held in the mens competition. The current list comprises 24 events, many of the discontinued events were similar to modern ones but at different lengths, especially in the steeplechasing, hurdling, and racewalking disciplines. Team racing events have been eliminated after appearing in six editions of the Games. The athletic triathlon and pentathlon events were phased out in favor of the decathlon. Standing jump competitions are no longer held, nor are the various modified throwing events which were experimented with in 1908 and 1912, cross country running was on the program from 1912 to 1924 and is the most prominent form of athletics not to feature at the Olympics. Womens competition in athletics began at the 1928 Summer Olympics Nearly every nation that has competed at the Olympics has entered the athletics competition, the number in each box represents the number of athletes the nation sent. Updated after the 2016 Summer Olympics, considering stripped medals as of February 10,2017 Sources, Olympic sports
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Cycling at the Summer Olympics
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Cycling has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics, at which a road race and five track events were held. Mountain bike racing entered the Olympic programme in Atlanta, GA,1996, followed by BMX racing in 2008. All events are speed races - there is no BMX freestyle or dirt jumping for example, womens cycling did not enter the Olympic programme until the road race at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Women have competed in events as well since 1988. However, women have shorter distances for some events, as of the 2016 Summer Olympics Cyclists who have won 6 or more Olympic medals. As of the 2016 Summer Olympics Cycling at the Summer Paralympics Cycling at the Youth Olympic Games List of Olympic venues in cycling Media related to Cycling at the Olympics at Wikimedia Commons
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Swimming at the Summer Olympics
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Swimming has been a sport at every modern Summer Olympics. It has been open to women since 1912, along with track & field athletics and gymnastics, it is one of the most popular spectator sports at the Games. Swimming has the second largest number of events, the International Olympic Committee recognise the best performances in all 32 current pool-based swimming events at the Games as Olympic records. In the first four Olympics, competitions were not held in pools, the 1904 Olympics races were the only ones ever measured in yards, instead of the usual metres. A 100-metre pool was built for the 1908 Olympics and was located in the centre of the stadiums track. The 1912 Olympics, held in the Stockholm harbour, marked the beginning of electrical timing, male swimmers wore full body swimsuits up until the 1940s, which caused more drag in the water than their modern swim-wear counterparts. Also, over the years, pool designs have lessened the drag, some design considerations allow for the reduction of swimming resistance making the pool faster. The 1924 Olympics were the first to use the standard 50 metre pool with marked lanes, in the freestyle, swimmers originally dove from the pool walls, but diving blocks were incorporated starting at the 1936 Summer Olympics. The flip-turn was developed by the 1950s, swimming goggles were first allowed in 1976. The butterfly stroke events were not held until 1956, previous rules permitted the butterfly stroke in breaststroke races. After 1956, when rules were changed, butterfly became its own stroke entirely. Women were first allowed the distance of 800 metres freestyle in 1968. Up until then, women were considered to be too delicate to swim a race this long, both men and women were granted the 200 metre freestyle race in 1968, giving swimmers an intermediate distance race between 100 metres and 400 metres. Womens teams were first granted the 800 metre freestyle race in 1996 - even though there had been a mens relay race at that distance since 1912. At six Olympiads, the men had two freestyle relay races, but the women only had one, the medley relay races were not held for men or for women until 1960, but they have continued in every Olympiad since then. Starting in 2008, both men and women compete in 10 km open water swim events
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Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics
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Gymnastics events have been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. For 32 years, only men were allowed to compete, beginning at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, women were allowed to compete in artistic gymnastics events as well. Rhythmic gymnastics events were introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, nations competing in artistic gymnastics, and the number of gymnasts each nation brought to each Olympics, are shown below
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Lausanne
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Lausanne is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and the capital and biggest city of the canton of Vaud. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva and it faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura Mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 kilometres northeast of Geneva, Lausanne has a population of 146,372, making it the fourth largest city in Switzerland, with the entire agglomeration area having 420,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area of Lausanne-Geneva was over 1.2 million inhabitants in 2000, Lausanne is a focus of international sport, hosting the International Olympic Committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and some 55 international sport associations. It lies in a noted wine-growing region, the city has a 28-station metro system, making it the smallest city in the world to have a rapid transit system. Lausanne will host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, by the 2nd century AD it was known as vikanor Lousonnensium and in 280 as lacu Lausonio. By 400 it was civitas Lausanna and in 990 it was mentioned as Losanna, after the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current centre, a hilly site that is easier to defend. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy, then it came under Bern from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Lausanne became a place of refuge for French Huguenots. In 1729 a seminary was opened by Antoine Court and Benjamin Duplan, by 1750 ninety pastors had been sent back to France to work clandestinely, this number would rise to four hundred. Official persecution ended in 1787, a faculty of Protestant theology was established at Montauban in 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, the citys status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, in 1964 the city hosted the Swiss National Exhibition, displaying its newly found confidence to host major international events. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the district of Renens. The city has served as a refuge for European artists, while under the care of a psychiatrist at Lausanne, T. S. Eliot composed most of his 1922 poem The Wasteland. Hemingway also visited from Paris with his wife during the 1920s, in fact, many creative people - such as Edward Gibbon, an historian, and Romantic era poets Shelley and Byron - have sojourned, lived, and worked in Lausanne or nearby. The city has been quiet, but in the late 1960s. Later demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices, the most important geographical feature of the area surrounding Lausanne is Lake Geneva. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake and the Alps, in addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the centre of the city is the site of an ancient river, the Flon, which has been covered since the 19th century
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National Olympic Committee
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A National Olympic Committee is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their peoples participation in the Olympic Games and they may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and training of coaches, there are also nine dependent territories with NOCs, Four territories of the United States, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. Three British Overseas Territories, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, one territory from the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean, Aruba. The Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee was dissolved at the 123rd IOC session in July 2011 as the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist on 10 October 2010, hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. Following an amendment to the Olympic Charter in 1996, NOC recognition can only be granted recognition as an independent state by the international community. The states which thus qualify to participate in the future are the Vatican City, a UN observer state, and Niue, other disputed states face obstacles to being recognized by the IOC. Dependent territories such as Curaçao, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Macau, athletes from those territories can only participate in the Olympics as part of their parent nations national team. This section lists the current,206 National Olympic Committees who are recognised by the International Olympic Committee,8 National Olympic Committees who are recognised by their continental Olympic Associations, but are not recognised by the International Olympic Committee. These committees, however, are not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, all 22 national governing bodies that form UANOC are also members of both AOC and are eligible to send athletes to either the African or Asian Games. National Olympic Committees from UANOC member countries are noted in the list below, many of these committees were founded many years before their official recognition, while others were immediately accepted after being founded. Former states, are not listed, only the current states derived from them, for example and it was later transformed into the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee, and, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, was re-recognized in 1993. It has, however, participated in the Paralympic Games, the Faroe Islands have a recognised National Paralympic Committee. South Ossetia intends to establish a National Olympic Committee, and representatives from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic take part in Armenia’s National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee List of IOC country codes District of Columbia Olympic Committee National Olympic Committees. Association of National Olympic Committees website Official website
20.
Fencing practice and techniques
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The modern weapons for sport fencing are the foil, épée, and sabre. A fencing bout takes place on a strip, or piste, two meters either side of the midpoint, there are two en-garde lines, where the fencers stand at the beginning of the bout. There are also two warning lines two metres from end of the strip, to let a retreating fencer know that he/she is nearly out of space. Retreating off of the scores a touch for the opponent. There are at least three people involved, two fencers and a referee, formerly called a Director or President of the jury, the referee may be assisted by a jury of two or four line-judges. This was common prior to the introduction of electronic scoring. Their function is similar to that of linesmen in soccer. Their primary job used to be to watch for hits scored, consequently, the arrival of the electronic scoring apparatus has rendered them largely redundant. Under current FIE rules, a fencer may ask for two side-judges if they think that the referee is failing to notice some infringement of the rules on their opponents part, the referee stands at the side of the piste. The fencers walk on piste fully dressed, aside from the mask, if necessary, they plug their body wires into the spools connected to the electronic scoring apparatus and test their weapons against each other, to make sure everything is functioning. They then retreat to their en-garde lines, prior to starting a bout, the fencers must salute each other. Refusal to do so can result in a suspension or disqualification. Both fencers must salute each other and the referee and they may choose to salute the audience. In non-electric events the four judges should also be saluted, the most likely source of the modern fencing salute is the Present arms command from military drill, which originated in the 16th century. After the salutes are completed, the referee will call En garde, the fencers put on their masks and adopt the fencing stance with the front foot behind the en-garde line and, in foil, with the blade in the sixte line. They are now in the on-guard position, in some countries, the fencers are required to confirm that they are. Finally the referee will call Play. or Fence. and the bout will start, judging is often done in French, in which case the referee will say En garde. Or, if both fencers are female, En garde and this is the start of a phrase i. e. an any unbroken chain of recognisable offensive and defensive actions, such as lunging or parrying performed by the two fencers
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Leiden University
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Leiden University, located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family and Leiden University still have a close relationship, Queens Juliana and Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander are all former students. Leiden University has seven faculties, over 50 departments and enjoys an international reputation. Shanghai Jiao Tong Universitys 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Leiden University as the 29th best university worldwide, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings consistently rank Leiden University as the best university in Continental Europe for Arts and Humanities. During this time Leiden was home to figures as René Descartes, Rembrandt, Christiaan Huygens, Hugo Grotius, Baruch Spinoza. The university is a member of the Coimbra Group, the Europaeum, Leiden University houses more than 40 national and international research institutes. In 1575, the emerging Dutch Republic did not have any universities in its northern heartland, the only other university in the Habsburg Netherlands was the University of Leuven in southern Leuven, firmly under Spanish control. It is said the choice fell on Leiden as a reward for the defence of Leiden against Spanish attacks in the previous year. Ironically, the name of Philip II of Spain, Williams adversary, appears on the foundation certificate. Philip II replied by forbidding any subject to study in Leiden, renowned philosopher Baruch Spinoza was based close to Leiden during this period and interacted with numerous scholars at the university. At the end of the century, Leiden University again became one of Europes leading universities. At the world’s first university low-temperature laboratory, professor Heike Kamerlingh Onnes achieved temperatures of one degree above absolute zero of −273 degrees Celsius. In 1908 he was also the first to succeed in liquifying helium, Kamerlingh Onnes was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1913. In 2005 the manuscript of Einstein on the theory of the monatomic ideal gas was discovered in one of Leidens libraries. Of the seventy-seven Spinozapremie, nineteen were granted to professors of the Universiteit Leiden, literary historian Frits van Oostrom was the first professor of Leiden to be granted the Spinoza award for his work on developing the NLCM centre into a top research centre. Among other leading professors are Wim Blockmans, professor of Medieval History, the portraits of many famous professors since the earliest days hang in the university aula, one of the most memorable places, as Niebuhr called it, in the history of science. The University Library, which has more than 5 and it houses the largest collections worldwide on Indonesia and the Caribbean. Scholars from all over the world visit Leiden University Library, the oldest in the Netherlands, the anatomical and pathological laboratories of the university are modern, and the museums of geology and mineralogy have been restored
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History of fencing
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The oldest surviving manual on western swordsmanship dates to around 1300, although historical references date fencing schools back to the 12th century. Modern fencing originated in the 18th century in the Italian school of fencing of the Renaissance, the Spanish school didnt become prominent until the 19th century. Nowadays, these three schools are the most influential around the world, the English term fencing, in the sense of the action or art of using the sword scientifically, dates to the late 16th century, when it denoted systems designed for the Renaissance rapier. It is derived from the latinate defence, the verb to fence derived from the noun fence, originally meaning the act of defending, etymologically derived from Old French defens defence, ultimately from the Latin. The first attestation of Middle English fens defence dates to the 14th century, the first known English use of Spain in reference to Renaissance swordsmanship is in William Shakespeares Merry Wives of Windsor, Alas sir, I cannot fence. This specialized usage replaced the generic fight, the origins of armed combat are prehistoric, beginning with club, spear and axe. Fighting with shield and sword developed in the Bronze Age, bladed weapons such as the khopesh appeared in the Middle Bronze Age and the proper sword in the Late Bronze Age. The first historical evidence from archaeology of a fencing contest was found on the wall of a temple within Egypt built at a time dated to approximately 1190 B. C. Tomb frescoes from Paestum show paired fighters with helmets, spears and shields, Romans who frequented the gymnasia and baths often fenced with a stick whose point was covered with a ball. Vegetius, the Late Roman military writer, described practicing against a post, vegetius describes how the Romans preferred the thrust over the cut, because puncture wounds enter the vital organs directly whereas cuts are often stopped by armour and bone. Raising the arm to deliver a cut exposes the side to a thrust and this doctrine was exploited by Italian fencing masters in the 16th Century and became the primary rationale behind both the Italian and French schools of fencing. Sword fighting schools can be found in European historical records dating back to the 12th century, in later times sword fighting teachers were paid by rich patrons to produce books about their fighting systems, called treatises. Sword fighting schools were forbidden in some European cities during the medieval period, the earliest surviving treatise on sword fighting, stored at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, England, dates from around 1300 AD and is from Germany. It is known as I.33 and written in medieval Latin and Middle High German and deals with a system of using the sword. From 1400 onward, a number of sword fighting treatises survived from across Europe, with the majority from the 15th century coming from Germany. Some treatises cover weapons available to the classes, such as großes Messer and sword. Wrestling, both with and without weapons, armoured and unarmoured, was featured heavily in the early sword fighting treatises. The very first manual of fencing was published during 1471, by Diego de Valera, Fencing practice went through a revival, with the Marxbruder group, sometime about 1487 A. D. the group having formed some form of Fencing Guild
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Duel
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A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules. Duels in this form were chiefly practiced in early modern Europe with precedents in the code of chivalry. During the 17th and 18th centuries, duels were fought with swords. But beginning in the late 18th century in England, duels were more commonly fought using pistols, fencing and pistol duels continued to co-exist throughout the 19th century. The duel was based on a code of honor, on rare occasions, duels with pistols or swords were fought between women, these were sometimes known as petticoat duels. Legislation against dueling goes back to the medieval period, the Fourth Council of the Lateran outlawed duels, and civil legislation in the Holy Roman Empire against dueling was passed in the wake of the Thirty Years War. From the early 17th century, duels became illegal in the countries where they were practiced, Dueling largely fell out of favor in England by the mid-19th century and in Continental Europe by the turn of the 20th century. Dueling declined in the Eastern United States in the 19th century and by the time the American Civil War broke out, dueling had begun to decline, public opinion, not legislation, caused the change. In Western society, the concept of a duel developed out of the medieval judicial duel. In Medieval society, judicial duels were fought by knights and squires to end various disputes, countries like Germany, United Kingdom, and Ireland practiced this tradition. Judicial combat were of two forms in society, the feat of arms and chivalric combat. The feat of arms were done to settle hostilities between two parties and supervised by a judge. The battle was fought when one partys honor was disrespected or challenged upon in which the conflict cannot be resolved in court, a spiked hand guard for pumbling, and extra grip for half swording. The duel lasted until the party was too weak to fight back. In early cases, the party was then subsequently executed. If a traveling venans did not have weapons or horse to meet the challenge, one might be provided, if a lady passed unescorted, she would leave behind a glove or scarf, to be rescued and returned to her by a future knight who passed that way. The Roman Catholic Church was critical of dueling throughout medieval history, judicial duels were deprecated by the Lateran Council of 1215, but the judicial duel persisted in the Holy Roman Empire into the 15th century. The word duel comes from the Latin duellum, cognate with bellum, during the early Renaissance, dueling established the status of a respectable gentleman, and was an accepted manner to resolve disputes
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Self-defense
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Self-defense is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many jurisdictions. Physical self-defense is the use of force to counter an immediate threat of violence. Such force can be armed or unarmed. In either case, the chances of success depend on a number of parameters, related to the severity of the threat on one hand. Many styles of arts are practiced for self-defense or include self-defense techniques. Some styles train primarily for self-defense, while other martial or combat sports can be applied for self-defense. Some martial arts train how to escape from a knife or gun situation, or how to break away from a punch, a wide variety of weapons can be used for self-defense. The most suitable depends on the threat presented, the victim or victims, legal restrictions also greatly influence self-defence options. In many cases there are legal restrictions. Non-injurious water-based self-defense indelible dye-marker sprays, or ID-marker or DNA-marker sprays linking a suspect to a scene, would in most places be legal to own. Tie-wraps double as an effective restraint, weapons such as the Kubotan have been built for ease of carry and to resemble everyday objects. Ballpoint pen knives, swordsticks, cane guns and modified umbrellas are similar categories of concealed self-defense weapons that serve a dual purpose, mental self-defense is the ability to get into the proper mindset for executing a physical self-defense technique. Many martial arts schools and self-defense classes focus primarily on the nature of self-defense. If you are skilled in the aspects of a defensive technique. Controlled environments cannot easily mimic the stress and adrenaline dump which occurs during an attack, there is a very real need to be able to enter the proper warrior mindset if one is to have a realistic chance of surviving a potentially deadly encounter. The ability to go over, under, around or through any obstacle is the essence of this never quit mindset - similar to that of the Samurai of Japan, being aware of and avoiding potentially dangerous situations is one useful technique of self-defense. Attackers will typically select victims they feel they have an advantage against, such as physical size
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The Merry Wives of Windsor
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The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the character Sir John Falstaff, the fat knight who had previously featured in Henry IV Parts 1 and 2. It has been adapted for the opera on several occasions, the play is one of Shakespeares lesser-regarded works among literary critics. In all other respects, the play implies a contemporary setting of the Elizabethan era, Falstaff arrives in Windsor very short on money. He decides, to financial advantage, that he will court two wealthy married women, Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. Falstaff decides to send the women identical love letters and asks his servants – Pistol, when they refuse, Falstaff sacks them, and, in revenge, the men tell Ford and Page of Falstaffs intentions. Page is not concerned, but the jealous Ford persuades the Host of the Garter Inn to introduce him to Falstaff as a Master Brook so that he can find out Falstaffs plans, meanwhile, three different men are trying to win the hand of Pages daughter, Anne Page. Mistress Page would like her daughter to marry Doctor Caius, a French physician, Anne herself is in love with Master Fenton, but Page had previously rejected Fenton as a suitor due to his having squandered his considerable fortune on high-class living. Hugh Evans, a Welsh parson, tries to enlist the help of Mistress Quickly in wooing Anne for Slender, the Host of the Garter Inn prevents this duel by telling both men a different meeting place, causing much amusement for himself, Justice Shallow, Page and others. Evans and Caius decide to work together to be revenged on the Host, when the women receive the letters, each goes to tell the other, and they quickly find that the letters are almost identical. This all results in embarrassment for Falstaff. Mr. Ford poses as Mr. Brook and says he is in love with Mistress Ford and he offers to pay Falstaff to court her, saying that once she has lost her honour he will be able to tempt her himself. Falstaff cannot believe his luck, and tells Brook he has arranged to meet Mistress Ford while her husband is out. Falstaff leaves to keep his appointment and Ford soliloquises that he is right to suspect his wife, when Falstaff arrives to meet Mistress Ford, the merry wives trick him into hiding in a laundry basket full of filthy, smelly clothes awaiting laundering. When the jealous Ford returns to try and catch his wife with the knight, the wives have the basket taken away, although this affects Falstaffs pride, his ego is surprisingly resilient. He is convinced that the wives are just playing hard to get him, so he continues his pursuit of sexual advancement, with its attendant capital. Again Falstaff goes to meet the women but Mistress Page comes back and they try to think of ways to hide him other than the laundry basket which he refuses to get into again. They trick him again, this time into disguising himself as Mistress Fords maids obese aunt, Ford tries once again to catch his wife with the knight but ends up beating the old woman, whom he despises, and throwing her out of his house
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Domenico Angelo
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Domenico Angelo, was an Italian sword and fencing master, also known as Angelo Domenico Malevolti Tremamondo. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Angelo was the first to emphasize fencing as a means of developing health, poise, as a result of his insight and influence, fencing changed from an art of war to a sport. It also calls his treatise, L’École des armes a classic, soon after arriving in England he established Angelos School of Arms in Carlisle House, Soho, London. He was fencing instructor to the Royal Family, one of his tenants at Soho Square was the composer Johann Christian Bach, harpsichord instructor to the Queen. With the help of artist Gwyn Delin, he had a book published in England in 1763 which had 25 engraved plates demonstrating classic positions from the old schools of fencing. He then handed that school over to a son, and established himself at Eton, by his wife Elizabeth Johnson, Angelo had at least six children, Henry Charles William, born 5 April 1756. Florella Sophia, born 1759, Dame at Eton, catherine Elizabeth, born 1766, married to Mark Drury, Second Master at Harrow school, and brother of Joseph Drury, Headmaster of Harrow. There was perhaps also a son Michael Angelo, from him there are 15 new generations of daughters and sons He died at his daughter Florellas house at Eton. The play Tremamondo - The Angel of Fencing, written by Alberto Bona and directed by Giampaolo Zennaro, was staged at the Teatro Carlo Goldoni, descendants of Angelo Domenico Tremamondo Fencers of Fame and Fiction, Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewski, B. F. A
27.
Soho
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Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and is part of the West End of London, England. Since the 1980s, the area has undergone considerable gentrification and it is now predominantly a fashionable district of upmarket restaurants and media offices, with only a small remnant of sex industry venues. Soho is a small, multicultural area of central London, a home to industry, commerce, culture and entertainment, record shops cluster in the area around Berwick Street, with shops such as Phonica, Sister Ray and Reckless Records. On many weekends, Soho is busy enough to warrant closing off some of the streets to vehicles, Westminster City Council pedestrianised parts of Soho in the mid-1990s, but later removed much of the pedestrianisation, apparently after complaints of loss of trade from local businesses. The name Soho first appears in the 17th century, Most authorities believe that the name derives from a former hunting cry. James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, used soho as a call for his men at the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685. The Soho name has been imitated by other entertainment and restaurant districts such as Soho, Hong Kong, Soho, Málaga, SOHO, Beijing, SoHo, London, Ontario, Canada, and Palermo Soho, Buenos Aires. SoHo, Manhattan, gets its name from its location SOuth of HOuston Street, however, apart from Oxford Street, all of these roads are 19th-century metropolitan improvements, so they are not Sohos original boundaries. Soho has never been a unit, with formally defined boundaries. The area to the west is known as Mayfair, to the north Fitzrovia, to the east St Giles and Covent Garden, and to the south St Jamess. According to the Soho Society, Chinatown, the area between Leicester Square to the south and Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, is part of Soho, Soho is part of the West End electoral ward which elects three councillors to Westminster City Council. In 1536, the land was taken by Henry VIII as a park for the Palace of Whitehall. In the 1660s, ownership of Soho Fields passed to Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans and he was granted permission to develop property and quickly passed the lease and development to bricklayer Richard Frith. Soho was part of the ancient parish of St Martin in the Fields, as the population started to grow a new church was provided and in 1687 a new parish of St Anne was established for it. The parish stretched from Oxford Street in the north, to Leicester Square in the south and it therefore included all of contemporary eastern Soho, including the Chinatown area. The western portion of modern Soho, around Carnaby Street was part of the parish of St James, building progressed rapidly in the late 17th century, with large properties including Monmouth House, Leicester House, Fauconberg House, Carlisle House and Newport House. Soho Square was first laid out in the 1680s on the former Soho Fields, firth built the first houses around the square, and by 1691,41 had been completed. It was originally called King Square in honour of Charles II, several upper-class families moved into the area
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London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
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Aristocracy
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Aristocracy is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning rule of the best, at the time of the words origins in Ancient Greece, the Greeks conceived it as rule by the best qualified citizens—and often contrasted it favourably with monarchy, rule by an individual. In later times, aristocracy was usually seen as rule by a group, the aristocratic class. The Greeks did not like the concept of monarchy, and as their democratic system fell, in Ancient Rome, the Republic consisted of an aristocracy—as well as consuls, a senate, and a tribal assembly. In the Middle Ages and early modern era, aristocracies primarily consisted of an aristocratic class, privileged by birth. Since the French Revolution, aristocracy has generally been contrasted with democracy, however, this distinction is often oversimplified. In exchange feudal aid is received from tenants or vassals, oaths of military allegiance, however an oligarchy, nobility or royalty had the right to set taxes, assemble or raise armies and command loyalty by virtue of traditional authority. In the 1651 book Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes describes an aristocracy as a commonwealth in which the representative of the citizens is an assembly by part and it is a system in which only a small part of the population represents the government. Modern depictions of aristocracy tend to regard it not as the ancient Greek concept of rule by the best, history, John Cannon, Oxford University Press,1997, ISBN 978-0-19-866176-4 Aristocracy in the Modern World, Ellis Wasson, Palgrave Macmillan,2006
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Human position
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Human positions refer to the different physical configurations that the human body can take. There are several synonyms that refer to human positioning, often used interchangeably, the sway of quiet standing is often likened to the motion of an inverted pendulum. There are many mechanisms in the body that are suggested to control movement, e. g. a spring action in muscles. Although standing isnt dangerous per se, there are associated with it. One short term condition is orthostatic hypotension, and long term conditions are sore feet, stiff legs, sitting requires the buttocks resting on a more or less horizontal structure, such as a chair or the ground. Special ways of sitting are with the horizontal, and in an inclined seat. While on a chair the shins are usually vertical, on the ground the shins may be crossed in the position or be placed horizontally under the thigh in a seiza. Squatting is a posture where the weight of the body is on the feet but the knees, in contrast, sitting, involves taking the weight of the body, at least in part, on the buttocks against the ground or a horizontal object such as a chair seat. It is possible to squat with one leg and assume another position with the other leg, crouching may involve squatting, kneeling or a combination of the two. Among Chinese, Southeast Asian, and Eastern European adults, squatting often takes the place of sitting or standing, when in lying position, the body may assume a great variety of shapes and positions. The following are the basic recognized positions, supine position, lying on the back with the face up. Prone position, lying on the chest with the face down, lying on either side, with the body straight or bent/curled forward or backward. The fetal position is lying or sitting curled, with close to the torso. Kneeling is a human position where one or both knees touch the ground. It is used as a position, during childbirth and as an expression of reverence. It is common to kneel with one leg and assume another position with the other leg, to crouch means to bend down, to stoop low, to lie close to the ground with legs bent, as an animal when waiting for prey or in fear. Crouching may involve kneeling, squatting or a combination of the two and this is the static form of crawling which is instinctive form of locomotion for very young children. It is a commonly used position in non-Western cultures
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Footwork (martial arts)
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Footwork is a martial arts and combat sports term for the general usage of the legs and feet in stand-up fighting. Footwork involves keeping balance, closing or furthering the distance, controlling spatial positioning, the boxer relies on push stepping. In which the leading leg advances first, then the rear, for the pugilist, footwork is to be deft and simplistic, allowing the fighter to move in and out of striking range as quickly as possible. Footwork is key to generating sufficient power in the basic strikes shared between the major boxing styles, during the jab, the lead foot can move forward to close distance or remain stationary. During the cross, the rear foot pivots inward to launch the rear shoulder forward, during the left hook, the lead foot pivots in an inward manner to transfer body weight. The right hooks pivot is identical to the cross, the lead uppercut, like the jab does not use any pivotal motion, the power comes from the transfer of body weight to the lead foot. The rear uppercut employs the same pivot as the cross. To maintain balance, both feet can step, pivot or slide as appropriate, the jab may be thrown while moving forward or backward, for the other punches it is advisable not to throw while in motion. Kickboxing employs the same basic pattern as the styles that focus only on the upper body, with the one key difference lying in the defense. Radical pivoting and sudden lead changes also accommodate the wider, more powerful movement of the knees, in Thailand, Muay Thai fighters will often provoke attack by tapping their lead foot or by letting it rest in the air, both considered grievous insults within that nation. Perhaps the most stark example of linear footwork, however, is used in European fencing. Linear footworks direct, sharp movements are natural for most grappling systems, shooting, or rushing for the legs in order to execute a takedown, is a universal action that is an example of linear footworks application. Linear or triangular footwork involves moving in triangular fashion as opposed to the forward or lateral movement present in boxing. Users of triangular footwork appear as if zigzagging along the points of many diamonds in randomized directions, movement in a linear fashion is achieved, principally, by a step and slide. The fighter will first move to the point on the triangular matrix. From this position, the practitioner either rests ones foot to facilitate an attack or defense, or shoot his foot out to point to complete another step. The majority of the arts that utilize triangular footwork can effectively be practiced in either right or left leads interchangeably, a Panantukan fighter will use his unique footwork to attempt to zone his opponent to achieve the perfect striking position. Circular footwork is also the method of movement in Enshin karate
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Fencing
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Fencing, also called Olympic fencing, is a sport in which two competitors fight using rapier-style swords, winning points by making contact with their opponent. Fencing was one of the first sports to be played in the Olympics, there are three forms of modern fencing, each using a different style of weapon and different rules, and as such the sport is divided into three competitive scenes, foil, épée, and sabre. Most competitive fencers choose to specialise in one weapon. Competitive fencing is one of five activities which have featured in every one of the modern Olympic Games, the other four being athletics, cycling, swimming. Fencing is governed by Fédération Internationale dEscrime, today, its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The FIE is composed of 145 national federations, each of which is recognised by its countrys Olympic Committee as the representative of Olympic-style fencing in that country. The FIE maintains the current rules used for FIE sanctioned international events, including cups, world championships. The FIE handles proposals to change the rules the first year after an Olympic year in the annual congress, the US Fencing Association has slightly different rules, but usually adhere to FIE standards. Fencing traces its roots to the development of swordsmanship for duels, the ancestor of modern fencing originated in Spain, where several books on fencing were written. In conquest, the Spanish forces carried fencing around the world, particularly southern Italy, Fencing was mentioned in the play The Merry Wives of Windsor written sometime prior to 1602. The mechanics of modern fencing originated in the 18th century in an Italian school of fencing of the Renaissance, the Spanish school of fencing stagnated and was replaced by the Italian and French schools. There, he taught the aristocracy the fashionable art of swordsmanship and his school was run by three generations of his family and dominated the art of European fencing for almost a century. He established the rules of posture and footwork that still govern modern sport fencing. The first regularized fencing competition was held at the inaugural Grand Military Tournament and Assault at Arms in 1880, held at the Royal Agricultural Hall, the Tournament featured a series of competitions between army officers and soldiers. Each bout was fought for five hits and the foils were pointed with black to aid the judges, the Amateur Gymnastic & Fencing Association drew up an official set of fencing regulations in 1896. Fencing was part of the Olympics Games in the summer of 1896, starting with épée in 1933, side judges were replaced by the Laurent-Pagan electrical scoring apparatus, with an audible tone and a red or green light indicating when a touch landed. Foil was automated in 1956, sabre in 1988, the scoring box reduced the bias in judging, and permitted more accurate scoring of faster actions, lighter touches, and more touches to the back and flank than before. There are three weapons in modern fencing, foil, épée, and sabre, each weapon has its own rules and strategies
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Parry (fencing)
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A parry is a fencing bladework maneuver intended to deflect or block an incoming attack. To execute a parry, fencers strike the opponents foible, or the area near the tip of the blade, with their forte and this deflects the opponents blade away from them, protecting them and placing them in a good position to strike back. Approximations of the precise parries are made often during bouts, but are usually enough to be classed as parries. In épée, because of absence of priority rules, a parry can be classed as any deflection of the blade that prevents the attack from landing. It can also be used in allowing the performance of a certain task, the primary function of a parry is to prevent an opponents attack from landing. During a bout, parries are commenced from the en garde position, a parry is usually followed by a riposte, which is an attack back against the original attacker. In foil and sabre, the governing the parry give it tactical significance as well, In foil and sabre, there is a rule known as priority. The first fencer to commence an attack gains the priority, if the attack results in a successful hit, only the fencer who has the priority is awarded a touch. A successful parry causes the attack to fail, and hence the priority is transferred to the defender, there are eight parries in the classical systems of épée and foil fencing. Parries are classified based on three attributes, 1) The direction of the blade in relation to the hand, up or down, 2) The position of the blade in relation to the fencing line, inside or outside. 3) The rotation of the wrist in the holding the weapon
34.
Health
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Health is the level of functional and metabolic efficiency of a living organism. In humans it is the ability of individuals or communities to adapt, other definitions have been proposed, among which a recent definition that correlates health and personal satisfaction. The definition of health has evolved over time, although this definition was welcomed by some as being innovative, it was also criticized as being vague, excessively broad, and was not construed as measurable. For a long time it was set aside as an impractical ideal, just as there was a shift from viewing disease as a state to thinking of it as a process, the same shift happened in definitions of health. Again, the WHO played a role when it fostered the development of the health promotion movement in the 1980s. This brought in a new conception of health, not as a state, the 1984 WHO revised definition of health defined it as the extent to which an individual or group is able to realize aspirations and satisfy needs, and to change or cope with the environment. Health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living, it is a concept, emphasizing social and personal resources. Thus, health referred to the ability to maintain homeostasis and recover from insults, since the late 1970s, the federal Healthy People Initiative has been a visible component of the United States’ approach to improving population health. Progress has been limited for many objectives, leading to concerns about the effectiveness of Healthy People in shaping outcomes in the context of a decentralized and uncoordinated US health system. Healthy People 2020 gives more prominence to health promotion and preventive approaches, a new expanded digital interface facilitates use and dissemination rather than bulky printed books as produced in the past. The impact of changes to Healthy People will be determined in the coming years. Systematic activities to prevent or cure health problems and promote health in humans are undertaken by health care providers. Applications with regard to animal health are covered by the veterinary sciences, studies have shown that high levels of stress can affect human health. Generally, the context in which an individual lives is of importance for both his health status and quality of their life. The concept of the field, as distinct from medical care. The report identified three interdependent fields as key determinants of an individuals health, the maintenance and promotion of health is achieved through different combination of physical, mental, and social well-being, together sometimes referred to as the health triangle. The WHOs 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion further stated that health is not just a state, Health is a positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical capacities. Health and illness can co-exist, as people with multiple chronic diseases or terminal illnesses can consider themselves healthy
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Royal Agricultural Hall
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The Royal Agricultural Hall is a Grade II listed building, which opened in 1862 in the district of Islington in London, England, for holding agricultural shows. It was the home of the Royal Smithfield Clubs Smithfield Show from 1862 to 1938 and it hosted the Royal Tournament from its inauguration in 1880 until the event became too large for the venue and moved to Olympia in the early years of the 20th century. It hosted the first Crufts dog show in 1891, the hall then remained unused and empty until it was converted to its present use as the Business Design Centre in 1986. Following some 40 years of exhibiting, first in Smithfield at Wooton’s Livery Stables near Smithfield Meat Market then at a site in the Barbican, it moved in 1839 to premises in Baker Street. However it outgrew these and it was proposed that the club erect a hall large enough to accommodate their annual display. The foundation stone was laid in 1861 – although a part of the building had already been completed. When built it was one of the largest exhibition halls in the world and it was this building that was the original basis of the present hall, which has expanded on this site since the foundation stone was laid in 1861. The main exhibition hall covers 65,000 square feet and it hosted the Royal Tournament from its inauguration in 1880 until the event became too large for the venue and moved to Olympia in the early years of the 20th century. Sporting events included six-day cycle races – the first event being held at the Agricultural Hall in 1878 and it also hosted the first Crufts dog show in 1891. It has been designated a Grade II listed building, the hall then remained unused and empty until it was bought and converted to its present use as the Business Design Centre by Sam Morris in 1986. In 2006,2009 and 2010 Made in Brunel, a design exhibition hosted by the engineering. London Art Fair, the largest contemporary art fair in the United Kingdom, is held annually at the Business Design Centre, the centre is owned by the Morris family. Official website Images of England page — architectural description Business Design Center Events Calendar Archival material relating to the Royal Agricultural Hall
36.
Islington
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Islington is a district in Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. Islington grew as a sprawling Middlesex village along the line of the Great North Road and this gave rise to some confusion, as neighbouring districts may also be said to be in Islington. This district is bounded by Liverpool Road to the west and City Road and its northernmost point is in the area of Canonbury. The main north-south high street, Upper Street splits at Highbury Corner to Holloway Road to the west, Islington was originally named by the Saxons Giseldone, then Gislandune. The name means Gīslas hill from the Old English personal name Gīsla, the name later mutated to Isledon, which remained in use well into the 17th century when the modern form arose. In medieval times, Islington was just one of many small manors thereabouts, along with Bernersbury, some roads on the edge of the area, including Essex Road, were known as streets by the medieval period, possibly indicating a Roman origin, but little physical evidence remains. What is known is that the Great North Road from Aldersgate came into use in the 14th century and this was along the line of modern Upper Street, with a toll gate at The Angel defining the extent of the village. The Back Road, the modern Liverpool Road, was primarily a road where cattle would be rested before the final leg of their journey to Smithfield. Pens and sheds were erected along this road to accommodate the animals, the first recorded church, St Marys, was erected in the twelfth century and was replaced in the fifteenth century. Islington lay on the estates of the Bishop of London and the Dean, there were substantial medieval moated manor houses in the area, principally at Canonbury and Highbury. In 1548, there were 440 communicants listed and the atmosphere, with access to the City and Westminster, made it a popular residence for the rich. The local inns, however, harboured many fugitives and recusants, the Royal Agricultural Hall was built in 1862 on the Liverpool Road site of William Dixons Cattle Layers. The hall was 75 ft high and the glass roof spanned 125 ft. It was built for the annual Smithfield Show in December of that year but was popular for other purposes, including recitals and it was the primary exhibition site for London until the 20th century and the largest building of its kind, holding up to 50,000 people. It was requisitioned for use by the Mount Pleasant sorting office during World War II, the main hall has now been incorporated into the Business Design Centre. The hill on which Islington stands has long supplied the City of London with water and these included Sadlers Wells, London Spa and Clerkenwell. The river was opened on 29 September 1613 by Sir Hugh Myddelton and his statue still stands where Upper Street meets Essex Road. The course of the river ran to the east of Upper Street, the Regents Canal passes through Islington
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British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
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British Gymnastics
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British Gymnastics, also known as the British Amateur Gymnastics Association, is the sports governing body for gymnastics in the UK. It was founded in 1888 as the Amateur Gymnastics and Fencing Association, Gymnastics had been adopted in this country, having been invented in Germany by Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, to improve the health and fitness of its soldiers. The rings, pommel horse, parallel bars, and horizontal bar were developed by Jahn, in the late 1800s gymnastics became popular for men thanks to the Army Physical Training Corps which was formed in 1860. Walter Tysall won the silver medal in the 1908 Olympics. After this time the Swedish form of gymnastics became popular, a more artistic version developed by Pehr Henrik Ling which was for men and women. Women first competed at the Olympics in gymnastics at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, after the Second World War, the German and Swedish forms of gymnastics were combined. The 1960 Rome Olympics were the first to be televised, and this Olympics had been dominated by Russian female gymnasts. He developed the BAGA Awards, a scheme for young gymnasts. The BAGA Awards started to produce results for Britain, Gymnastics was given superstar status by the 1972 Olympics at Munich. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an individual Bronze for Louis Smith was a breakthrough with the first medal in decades, British Stefan gymnastics BAGA was registered as a company on 20 April 1982. In 1979 the Sports Council had built a gym at Lilleshall, equipped to international standards in 1980, in 1981 a £18,000 feasibility study looked at developing Lilleshall into a national centre, and in October 1982 the Sports Council allocated £1 million to develop a national centre. Anne, Princess Royal opened the £1.75 million Princess Royal Hall at Lilleshall on 26 April 1988, there is also the King George VI Hall and Ford Hall. Use of Lilleshall for gymnastics increased greatly throughout the late 1970s under Derek Tremayne, in 1997 BAGA became British Gymnastics. It is the sport governing body for gymnastics throughout the UK, developing gymnasts, coaches clubs
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Fencing at the 1896 Summer Olympics
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At the 1896 Summer Olympics, three fencing events were contested at the Zappeion. They were prepared and organized by the Sub-Committee for Fencing, the épée event for men was cancelled. All fencing was done to three touches, Events were held on 7 April and 9 April 1896. 15 athletes from four nations competed,8 fencers from 3 nations won one medal each and these medals are retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee, at the time, winners were given a silver medal. De Coubertin, Pierre, Philemon, P. J. Anninos, the Olympic Games, BC776 – AD1896. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary, the Invention of the Modern Olympic Games
40.
Summer Olympic Games
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The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad, first held in 1896, is an international multi-sport event that is hosted by a different city every four years. The most recent Olympics were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the International Olympic Committee organizes the games and oversees the host citys preparations. In each Olympic event, gold medals are awarded for first place, silver medals are awarded for second place, and bronze medals are awarded for third, the Winter Olympic Games were created due to the success of the Summer Olympics. The Olympics have increased in scope from a 42-event competition with fewer than 250 male competitors from 14 nations in 1896 to 302 events with 10,768 competitors from 204 nations in 2012, eighteen countries have hosted the Summer Olympics. The United States has hosted four Summer Olympics, more than any other nation, four cities have hosted two Summer Olympics, Athens, Paris, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. Tokyo is the first city outside of the Western world to host the Summer Olympics multiple times, asia has hosted the Summer Olympics four times in Japan, South Korea, and China. The only Summer Olympics held in the Southern Hemisphere have been in Australia, the 2016 Games are the first Summer Olympics to be held in South America and the first to be held during the local winter season. Africa has yet to host a Summer Olympics, only five countries—Greece, Australia, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland—have been represented at every Summer Olympic Games. The only country to have won at least one medal at every Summer Olympic Games is Great Britain. The United States leads the medal table. Qualification rules for each of the Olympic sports are set by the International Sports Federations that governs that sports international competition, for individual sports, competitors typically qualify through attaining a certain place in a major international event or on the IFs ranking list. There is a rule that maximum three individual athletes may represent each nation per competition. Nations most often qualify teams for team sports through continental qualifying tournaments, each nation may be represented by no more than one team per competition a team is two people in some sports. The United States has hosted four Summer Olympic Games, more than any other nation, the United Kingdom hosted the 2012 Olympic Games, its third Summer Olympic Games, in its capital London, making London the first city to host the Summer Olympic Games three times. Australia, France, Germany, Greece, and Japan have all hosted the Summer Olympic Games twice. Other countries that have hosted the Summer Olympics are Belgium, Brazil, China, Canada, Finland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, the Soviet Union, asia has hosted the Summer Olympics three times and will host again in 2020. In 2016, Rio de Janeiro hosted the first Summer Olympics in South America, three cities have hosted two Summer Olympic Games, Los Angeles, Paris, and Athens. Stockholm has hosted events at two Summer Olympic Games, having hosted the games in 1912 and the events at the 1956 Summer Olympics—which they are usually listed as jointly hosting
41.
Referee
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The term referee originated in association football. Originally the team captains would consult each other in order to resolve any dispute on the pitch. Eventually this role was delegated to an umpire, each team would bring their own partisan umpire allowing the team captains to concentrate on the game. Later, the referee, a neutral official was added. The referee did not take his place on the pitch until 1891, in this case, the role of the linesmen is limited to indicating out of play and cannot decide off side. An umpire is an official in the sport of Australian rules football, games are overseen by one to three field umpires, two to four boundary umpires, and two goal umpires. A game of bandy is officiated by a referee, the authority and enforcer of the rules, the referee may be assisted by one or two assistant referees. On any question, the umpire has the final call. In international basketball and in basketball, the referee is the lead official in a game. In the National Basketball Association, the official is referred to by the term crew chief. In boxing a referee is the person who enforces the rules during the fight, in cricket, the match referee is an off-field official who makes judgements concerning the reputable conduct of the game and hands out penalties for breaches of the ICC Cricket Code of Conduct. On-field decisions relevant to the play and outcome of the game itself are handled by two umpires, although an off-field third umpire may help with certain decisions. In cue sports, such as billiards and snooker, matches are presided over by a referee, the referee will determine all matters of fact relating to the rules, maintain fair playing conditions, call fouls, and take other action as required by these rules. A commissaire is an official in competitive cycling, a fencing match is presided over by a referee. An umpire in field hockey is a person with the authority to make decisions on a field in accordance with the laws of the game. Each match is controlled by two umpires, where it is typical for umpires to aid one another and correct each other when necessary. Referees for international events are trained by the International Skating Union, there are two levels of referee, International Referee and ISU Referee, with ISU Referees ranking higher. In Synchronized Ice Skating, there are two Referees, one, sits with the Judges as with ordinary competition and operates a touch screen computer, inputing deductions and marking the skaters
42.
Personal protective equipment
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Personal protective equipment refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearers body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat, chemicals, biohazards, Protective equipment may be worn for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, as well as for sports and other recreational activities. Protective clothing is applied to categories of clothing, and protective gear applies to items such as pads, guards, shields, or masks. PPE is needed there are hazards present. PPE has the limitation that it does not eliminate the hazard at source. Any item of PPE imposes a barrier between the wearer/user and the working environment and this can create additional strains on the wearer, impair their ability to carry out their work and create significant levels of discomfort. Any of these can discourage wearers from using PPE correctly, therefore placing them at risk of injury, ill-health or, under extreme circumstances, death. Good ergonomic design can help to minimise these barriers and can help to ensure safe. Practices of occupational safety and health can use hazard controls and interventions to mitigate workplace hazards, the hierarchy of hazard controls provides a policy framework which ranks the types of hazard controls in terms of absolute risk reduction. At the top of the hierarchy are elimination and substitution, which remove the hazard entirely or replace the hazard with a safer alternative. If elimination or substitution measures cannot apply, engineering controls and administrative controls, Personal protective equipment ranks last on the hierarchy of controls, as the workers are regularly exposed to the hazard, with a barrier of protection. The hierarchy of controls is important in acknowledging that, while personal protective equipment has tremendous utility, Personal protective equipment can be categorized by the area of the body protected, by the types of hazard, and by the type of garment or accessory. The protective attributes of each piece of equipment must be compared with the expected to be found in the workplace. More breathable types of protective equipment may not lead to more contamination. Respirators serve to protect the user from breathing in contaminants in the air, there are two main types of respirators. One type functions by filtering out chemicals and gases, or airborne particles, the filtration may be either passive or active. Gas masks and particulate respirators are examples of type of respirator. A second type protects users by providing clean, respirable air from another source and this type includes airline respirators and self-contained breathing apparatus
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Cotton
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Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the family of Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will tend to increase the dispersal of the seeds. The plant is a native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa. The greatest diversity of wild species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds, the fiber is most often spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile. Current estimates for world production are about 25 million tonnes or 110 million bales annually, China is the worlds largest producer of cotton, but most of this is used domestically. The United States has been the largest exporter for many years, in the United States, cotton is usually measured in bales, which measure approximately 0.48 cubic meters and weigh 226.8 kilograms. Cotton cultivation in the region is dated to the Indus Valley Civilization, the Indus cotton industry was well-developed and some methods used in cotton spinning and fabrication continued to be used until the industrialization of India. Between 2000 and 1000 BC cotton became widespread across much of India, for example, it has been found at the site of Hallus in Karnataka dating from around 1000 BC. Cotton fabrics discovered in a cave near Tehuacán, Mexico have been dated to around 5800 BC, the domestication of Gossypium hirsutum in Mexico is dated between 3400 and 2300 BC. Cotton was grown upriver, made into nets, and traded with fishing villages along the coast for supplies of fish. The Spanish who came to Mexico and Peru in the early 16th century found the people growing cotton and this may be a reference to tree cotton, Gossypium arboreum, which is a native of the Indian subcontinent. According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, Cotton has been spun, woven and it clothed the people of ancient India, Egypt, and China. Hundreds of years before the Christian era, cotton textiles were woven in India with matchless skill, in Iran, the history of cotton dates back to the Achaemenid era, however, there are few sources about the planting of cotton in pre-Islamic Iran. The planting of cotton was common in Merv, Ray and Pars of Iran, in Persian poets poems, especially Ferdowsis Shahname, there are references to cotton. Marco Polo refers to the products of Persia, including cotton. John Chardin, a French traveler of the 17th century who visited the Safavid Persia, during the Han dynasty, cotton was grown by Chinese peoples in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan. Mohamed Ali Pasha accepted the proposition and granted himself the monopoly on the sale and export of cotton in Egypt, and later dictated cotton should be grown in preference to other crops
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Nylon
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Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers, more specifically aliphatic or semi-aromatic polyamides. They can be melt-processed into fibers, films or shapes, the first example of nylon was produced on February 28,1935, by Wallace Carothers at DuPonts research facility at the DuPont Experimental Station. Nylon polymers have significant commercial applications in fibers, in shapes. Nylon is made of repeating units linked by bonds and is a type of polyamide and is frequently referred to as such. Nylon was the first commercially successful synthetic thermoplastic polymer, commercially, nylon polymer is made by reacting monomers which are either lactams, acid/amines or stoichiometric mixtures of diamines and diacids. Mixtures of these can be polymerized together to make copolymers, Nylon polymers can be mixed with a wide variety of additives to achieve many different property variations. Nylon was invented accidentally by Julian W. Hill, a chemist for DuPont under Wallace Carotherss supervision and it was only given this name at the 1939 New York Worlds Fair. The patents were owned by DuPont, Nylon was intended to be a synthetic replacement for silk and substituted for it in many different products after silk became scarce during World War II. It replaced silk in military applications such as parachutes and flak vests, after initial commercialization of nylon as a fiber, applications in the form of shapes and films were also developed. The main market for nylon shapes now is in auto components, in 1940, John W. Eckelberry of DuPont stated that the letters nyl were arbitrary and the on was copied from the suffixes of other fibers such as cotton and rayon. A later publication by DuPont explained that the name was intended to be No-Run. Since the products were not really run-proof, the vowels were swapped to produce nuron, for clarity in pronunciation, the i was changed to y. Most nylons are made from the reaction of an acid with a diamine or a lactam or amino acid with itself. In the first case, the structure is so-called ABAB similar to polyesters and polyurethanes, in the second case, the repeating unit corresponds to the single monomer. It is difficult to get the proportions exactly correct, and deviations can lead to termination at molecular weights less than a desirable 10,000 daltons. To overcome this problem, a crystalline, solid nylon salt can be formed at room temperature, using an exact 1,1 ratio of the acid, the salt is crystallized to purify it and obtain the desired precise stoichiometry. Heated to 285 °C, the salt reacts to form nylon polymer with the production of water, Wallace Carothers at DuPont patented nylon 66, but overlooked the possibility to use lactams. That synthetic route was developed by Paul Schlack at IG Farben, leading to nylon 6, the peptide bond within the caprolactam is broken with the exposed active groups on each side being incorporated into two new bonds as the monomer becomes part of the polymer backbone
45.
Kevlar
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Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, this material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires. Typically it is spun into ropes or fabric sheets that can be used as such or as an ingredient in composite material components and it is also used to make modern drumheads that withstand high impact. When used as a material, it is suitable for mooring lines. A similar fiber called Twaron with roughly the same structure was developed by Akzo in the 1970s, commercial production started in 1986. Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide – branded Kevlar – was invented by Polish-American chemist Stephanie Kwolek while working for DuPont, in 1964, her group began searching for a new lightweight strong fiber to use for light but strong tires. The polymers she had been working with at the time, poly-p-phenylene-terephthalate and polybenzamide, formed liquid crystal while in solution, the solution was cloudy, opalescent upon being stirred, and of low viscosity and usually was thrown away. However, Kwolek persuaded the technician, Charles Smullen, who ran the spinneret, to test her solution and her supervisor and her laboratory director understood the significance of her accidental discovery and a new field of polymer chemistry quickly arose. By 1971, modern Kevlar was introduced, however, Kwolek was not very involved in developing the applications of Kevlar. Kevlar is synthesized in solution from the monomers 1, 4-phenylene-diamine, the result has liquid-crystalline behavior, and mechanical drawing orients the polymer chains in the fibers direction. Hexamethylphosphoramide was the solvent initially used for the polymerization, but for safety reasons, DuPont replaced it by a solution of N-methyl-pyrrolidone, as this process had been patented by Akzo in the production of Twaron, a patent war ensued. Kevlar production is expensive because of the difficulties arising from using concentrated sulfuric acid, needed to keep the water-insoluble polymer in solution during its synthesis and spinning. Several grades of Kevlar are available, Kevlar K-29 – in industrial applications, such as cables, asbestos replacement, brake linings, Kevlar K49 – high modulus used in cable and rope products. When Kevlar is spun, the fiber has a tensile strength of about 3,620 MPa. The polymer owes its high strength to the many inter-chain bonds and these inter-molecular hydrogen bonds form between the carbonyl groups and NH centers. Additional strength is derived from aromatic stacking interactions between adjacent strands, the presence of salts and certain other impurities, especially calcium, could interfere with the strand interactions and care is taken to avoid inclusion in its production. Kevlars structure consists of relatively rigid molecules tend to form mostly planar sheet-like structures rather like silk protein. Kevlar maintains its strength and resilience down to temperatures, in fact
