1.
Azerbaijan
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Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a country in the South Caucasus region, situated at the crossroads of Southwest Asia and Southeastern Europe. It is bound by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bound by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first democratic state in the Muslim orient world. The country was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, the modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, prior to the official dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. In September 1991, the Armenian majority of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region seceded to form the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the region and seven adjacent districts outside it became de facto independent with the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994. These regions are recognized as part of Azerbaijan pending a solution to the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic, the country is a member state of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the NATO Partnership for Peace program. It is one of six independent Turkic states, a member of the Turkic Council. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations and it is one of the founding members of GUAM, the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Its term of office began on 19 June 2006, Azerbaijan is also a member state of the Non-Aligned Movement, holds observer status in World Trade Organization and is a correspondent at the International Telecommunication Union. The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion and all political forces in the country are secularist. However, the majority of the population are of a Shiite Muslim background, Azerbaijan has a high level of human development which ranks on par with most Eastern European countries. It has a rate of economic development and literacy, as well as a low rate of unemployment. According to the Davos World Economic Forum, Azerbaijans economy has scored 37th place within 138 countries in 2016, Global Competitiveness Index 2015 indicates that Azerbaijan scores highest in its region. ASAN services, established with Presidential Decree, are known for eliminating bribery. ASAN Service has been awarded with United Nations Public Service Award 2015, the ruling party, the New Azerbaijan Party, has been accused of authoritarianism and human rights abuses. The original etymology of name is thought to have its roots in the once-dominant Zoroastrianism. In the Avesta, Frawardin Yasht, there is a mention of âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, the name Atropates itself is the Greek transliteration of an Old Iranian, probably Median, compounded name with the meaning Protected by the Fire or The Land of the Fire
2.
Clothing
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Clothing is fiber and textile material worn on the body. The wearing of clothing is mostly restricted to human beings and is a feature of all human societies. The amount and type of clothing worn depends on type, social. Some clothing types can be gender-specific, physically, clothing serves many purposes, it can serve as protection from the elements, and can enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking. It protects the wearer from rough surfaces, rash-causing plants, insect bites, splinters, thorns, Clothes can insulate against cold or hot conditions. Further, they can provide a barrier, keeping infectious. Clothing also provides protection from ultraviolet radiation, there is no easy way to determine when clothing was first developed, but some information has been inferred by studying lice. The body louse specifically lives in clothing, and diverge from head lice about 170 millennia ago, another theory is that modern humans are the only survivors of several species of primates who may have worn clothes and that clothing may have been used as long ago as 650 millennia. Other louse-based estimates put the introduction of clothing at around 42, the most obvious function of clothing is to improve the comfort of the wearer, by protecting the wearer from the elements. In hot climates, clothing provides protection from sunburn or wind damage, shelter usually reduces the functional need for clothing. For example, coats, hats, gloves, and other layers are normally removed when entering a warm home. Similarly, clothing has seasonal and regional aspects, so that thinner materials, Clothing performs a range of social and cultural functions, such as individual, occupational and gender differentiation, and social status. In many societies, norms about clothing reflect standards of modesty, religion, gender, Clothing may also function as a form of adornment and an expression of personal taste or style. Clothing can and has in history been made from a wide variety of materials. Materials have ranged from leather and furs, to materials, to elaborate and exotic natural. Not all body coverings are regarded as clothing, Clothing protects against many things that might injure the uncovered human body. Clothes protect people from the elements, including rain, snow, wind, however, clothing that is too sheer, thin, small, tight, etc. offers less protection. Clothes also reduce risk during activities such as work or sport, some clothing protects from specific environmental hazards, such as insects, noxious chemicals, weather, weapons, and contact with abrasive substances
3.
Textile
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A textile or cloth is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, hemp, Textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or felting. The words fabric and cloth are used in textile assembly trades as synonyms for textile, however, there are subtle differences in these terms in specialized usage. Textile refers to any material made of interlacing fibres, a fabric is a material made through weaving, knitting, spreading, crocheting, or bonding that may be used in production of further goods. Cloth may be used synonymously with fabric but is often a piece of fabric used for a specific purpose. The word textile is from Latin, from the adjective textilis, meaning woven, from textus, the word cloth derives from the Old English clað, meaning a cloth, woven or felted material to wrap around one, from Proto-Germanic kalithaz. The discovery of dyed flax fibres in a cave in the Republic of Georgia dated to 34,000 BCE suggests textile-like materials were made even in prehistoric times. The production of textiles is a craft whose speed and scale of production has been altered almost beyond recognition by industrialization, however, for the main types of textiles, plain weave, twill, or satin weave, there is little difference between the ancient and modern methods. Textiles have an assortment of uses, the most common of which are for clothing and for such as bags. In the household they are used in carpeting, upholstered furnishings, window shades, towels, coverings for tables, beds, and other flat surfaces, in the workplace they are used in industrial and scientific processes such as filtering. Textiles are used in traditional crafts such as sewing, quilting. Textiles for industrial purposes, and chosen for other than their appearance, are commonly referred to as technical textiles. Technical textiles include textile structures for applications, medical textiles, geotextiles, agrotextiles. In all these applications stringent performance requirements must be met, woven of threads coated with zinc oxide nanowires, laboratory fabric has been shown capable of self-powering nanosystems using vibrations created by everyday actions like wind or body movements. Fashion designers commonly rely on textile designs to set their fashion collections apart from others, armani, the late Gianni Versace, and Emilio Pucci can be easily recognized by their signature print driven designs. Textiles can be made from many materials and these materials come from four main sources, animal, plant, mineral, and synthetic. In the past, all textiles were made from natural fibres, including plant, animal, in the 20th century, these were supplemented by artificial fibres made from petroleum. Textiles are made in various strengths and degrees of durability, from the finest gossamer to the sturdiest canvas, microfibre refers to fibres made of strands thinner than one denier
4.
Kashmir
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Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. In the first half of the 1st millennium, the Kashmir region became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism, later still, in the ninth century, in 1339, Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir, inaugurating the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Swati dynasty. Kashmir was part of the Mughal Empire from 1586 to 1751 and that year, the Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. The Sanskrit word for Kashmir was, the Nilamata Purana describes the Valleys origin from the waters, a lake called Sati-saras. A popular, but uncertain, local etymology of Kashmira is that it is land desiccated from water, an alternative, but also uncertain, etymology derives the name from the name of the sage Kashyapa who is believed to have settled people in this land. Accordingly, Kashmir would be derived from either kashyapa-mir or kashyapa-meru, the Ancient Greeks called the region Kasperia which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus and Kaspatyros of Herodotus. Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemys Kaspeiria, Cashmere is an archaic spelling of present-Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way. In the Kashmiri language, Kashmir itself is known as Kasheer, the Buddhist Mauryan emperor Ashoka is often credited with having founded the old capital of Kashmir, Shrinagari, now ruins on the outskirts of modern Srinagar. Kashmir was long to be a stronghold of Buddhism, as a Buddhist seat of learning, the Sarvāstivādan school strongly influenced Kashmir. East and Central Asian Buddhist monks are recorded as having visited the kingdom, in the late 4th century CE, the famous Kuchanese monk Kumārajīva, born to an Indian noble family, studied Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He later became a translator who helped take Buddhism to China. His mother Jīva is thought to have retired to Kashmir, vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumārajīva in the Vinayapiṭaka. Karkota Empire was a powerful Hindu empire, which originated in the region of Kashmir and it was founded by Durlabhvardhana during the lifetime of Harshavardhan. The dynasty marked the rise of Kashmir as a power in South Asia, avanti Varman ascended the throne of Kashmir on 855 A. D. establishing the Utpala dynasty and ending the rule of Karkota dynasty. According to tradition, Adi Shankara visited the pre-existing Sarvajñapīṭha in Kashmir in the late 8th century or early 9th century CE, the Madhaviya Shankaravijayam states this temple had four doors for scholars from the four cardinal directions. The southern door of Sarvajna Pitha was opened by Adi Shankara, abhinavagupta was one of Indias greatest philosophers, mystics and aestheticians. He was also considered an important musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logician – a polymathic personality who exercised strong influences on Indian culture
5.
Hamadan
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Hamadān or Hamedān is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 473,149, Hamadan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities and one of the oldest in the world. It is possible that it was occupied by the Assyrians in 1100 BCE, Hamadan has a green mountainous area in the foothills of the 3, 574-meter Alvand Mountain, in the midwest part of Iran. The city is 1,850 meters above sea level, the special nature of this old city and its historic sites attract tourists during the summer to this city, located approximately 360 kilometres southwest of Tehran. The main symbols of city are the Ganj Nameh inscription, the Avicenna monument. The majority of the population is Persian, however, there is a considerable Azerbaijani minority, according to Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Hamadan is a very old city. Hamadan was established by the Medes and was the capital of the Median Empire and it then became one of several capital cities of the Achaemenid Dynasty. Hamadan is mentioned in the book of Ezra as the place where a scroll was found giving the Jews permission from King Darius to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. Its ancient name of Ecbatana is used in the Ezra text, because it was a mile above sea level, it was a good place to preserve leather documents. During the Parthian era, Ctesiphon was the capital of the country, after the Parthians, the Sassanids constructed their summer palaces in Hamadan. In the year 633 the battle of Nahavand took place and Hamadan fell into the hands of the Muslim Arabs, during the Buwayhids, the city suffered much damage. In the 11th century, the Seljuks shifted their capital from Baghdad to Hamadan, the city of Hamadan, its fortunes following the rise and fall of regional powers, was completely destroyed during the Timurid invasion. During the Safavid era, the city thrived, Hamadan stands on the Silk Road, and even in recent centuries the city enjoyed strong commerce and trade as a result of its location on the main road network in the western region of Persia and Iran. During World War I, the city was the scene of fighting between Russian and Turko-German forces. It was occupied by both armies, and finally by the British, before it was returned to control of the Iranian government at the end of the war in 1918, Hamadan province lies in a temperate mountainous region to the east of Zagros. The vast plains of the north and northeast of the province are influenced by strong winds, the various air currents of this region are, the north and north west winds of the spring and winter seasons, which are usually humid and bring rainfall. Hamadan is in the vicinity of the Alvand mountains and has a dry continental climate, in transition with a cold semi-arid climate. In fact, it is one of the coldest cities in Iran, the temperature may drop below −30 °C on the coldest days
6.
Cashmere wool
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Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats and other types of goat. Common usage defines the fiber as wool but it is finer and softer than sheeps wool, some say it is hair, but as seen below, cashmere requires the removal of hair from the wool. The word cashmere is an old spelling of the Kashmir state in a geographical region of South Asia, currently under occupation by India, Pakistan. Cashmere is finer, stronger, lighter, softer, and approximately three times more insulating than sheep wool, in the United States, under the U. S. The average fiber diameter may be subject to a coefficient of variation around the mean that shall not exceed 24 percent, Cashmere wool fiber for clothing and other textile articles is obtained from the neck region of Cashmere and other goats. Historically, fine-haired Cashmere goats have been called Capra hircus laniger, however, they are now more commonly considered part of the domestic goat subspecies Capra aegagrus hircus. Cashmere goats produce a fleece that consists of a fine, soft undercoat or underdown of hair mingled with a straighter. For the fine underdown to be sold and processed further, it must be de-haired, de-hairing is a mechanical process that separates the coarse hairs from the fine hair. After de-hairing, the resulting cashmere is ready to be dyed and converted into textile yarn, fabrics, Cashmere is collected during the spring moulting season when the goats naturally shed their winter coat. In the Northern Hemisphere, the goats moult as early as March, in some regions, the mixed mass of down and coarse hair is removed by hand with a coarse comb that pulls tufts of fiber from the animal as the comb is raked through the fleece. The collected fiber then has a yield of pure cashmere after the fiber has been washed and dehaired. The long, coarse hair is then typically clipped from the animal and is often used for brushes, interfacings. Animals in Iran, Afghanistan, New Zealand, and Australia are typically shorn of their fleece, resulting in a higher coarse hair content, in America, the most popular method is combing. The process takes up to two weeks, but with an eye for when the fiber is releasing, it is possible to comb the fibers out in about a week. China has become the largest producer of raw cashmere and their clip is estimated at 10,000 metric tons per year, Mongolia follows with 7,400 tons as of 2014, while Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian Republics produce lesser amounts. The annual world clip is estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,000 tons, pure cashmere, resulting from removing animal grease, dirt and coarse hairs from the fleece, is estimated at about 6,500 tons. It is estimated that on average yearly production per goat is 150 grams, fabric and garment producers in Scotland, Italy, and Japan have long been known as market leaders. In the United States, the town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts was an incubator for the wool industry
7.
Ladakh
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It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Jammu and Kashmir and its culture and history are closely related to that of Tibet. Ladakh is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and culture, Aksai Chin is one of the disputed border areas between China and India. It is administered by China as part of Hotan County but is claimed by India as a part of the Ladakh region of the state of Jammu. In 1962, China and India fought a war over Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh. Since 1974, the Government of India has successfully encouraged tourism in Ladakh, since Ladakh is a part of strategically important Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian military maintains a strong presence in the region. The largest town in Ladakh is Leh, followed by Kargil, almost half of Ladakhis are Shia Muslims and the rest are mostly Tibetan Buddhists. In terms of pronunciation, the use of Ladakh, the Persian transliteration of the Tibetan La-dvags, is warranted by the pronunciation of the word in several Tibetan districts. Ladakh in the Farsi transliteration of the Tibetan La-dvags, which means on the borderland of extreme Pakistan, Ladakh has been described as The Mysterious Land of the Mystic Lamas, The Broken Moonland, or The Last Shangri-La for its unique landscape and exquisite culture. One sees no horizon here but only mountain peaks soaring up to 5 to 6 km, in the prehistoric period Ladakh formed a Great Lake. Even at present the region has some of the largest and most beautiful lakes, Pangong and it is a repository of myriad cultural and religious influences from Tibet, Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. Rock carvings found in parts of Ladakh indicate that the area has been inhabited from Neolithic times. Around the 1st century, Ladakh was a part of the Kushana empire, Buddhism spread into western Ladakh from Kashmir in the 2nd century when much of eastern Ladakh and western Tibet was still practising the Bon religion. The 7th century Buddhist traveler Xuanzang describes the region in his accounts, in the 8th century, Ladakh was involved in the clash between Tibetan expansion pressing from the East and Chinese influence exerted from Central Asia through the passes. Suzerainty over Ladakh frequently changed hands between China and Tibet, in 842 Nyima-Gon, a Tibetan royal prince annexed Ladakh for himself after the break-up of the Tibetan empire, and founded a separate Ladakhi dynasty. During this period, Ladakh acquired a predominantly Tibetan population, the dynasty spearheaded the second spreading of Buddhism, importing religious ideas from north-west India, particularly from Kashmir. The first spreading of Buddhism was the one in Tibet proper, according to Rolf Alfred Stein, author of Tibetan Civilization, the area of Zhangzhung was not historically a part of Tibet and was a distinctly foreign territory to the Tibetans. Then further west, The Tibetans encountered a distinctly foreign nation—Shangshung, mt. Kailāśa and Lake Manasarovar formed part of this country, whose language has come down to us through early documents. Though still unidentified, it seems to be Indo-European, geographically the country was certainly open to India, both through Nepal and by way of Kashmir and Ladakh
8.
Platanus
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Platanus /ˈplætənəs/ is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the living members of the family Platanaceae. All members of Platanus are tall, reaching 30–50 m in height, all except for P. kerrii are deciduous, and most are found in riparian or other wetland habitats in the wild, though proving drought-tolerant in cultivation. The hybrid London plane has proved tolerant of urban conditions. They are often known in English as planes or plane trees, some North American species are called sycamores, although the term sycamore also refers to the fig Ficus sycomorus, the plant originally so named, and to the Sycamore maple Acer pseudoplatanus. The flowers are reduced and are borne in balls, 3–7 hairy sepals may be fused at the base, male and female flowers are separate, but borne on the same plant. The number of heads in one cluster is indicative of the species, the male flower has 3–8 stamens, the female has a superior ovary with 3–7 carpels. Male flower-heads fall off after shedding their pollen, after being pollinated, the female flowers become achenes that form an aggregate ball. The fruit is a multiple of achenes, typically, the core of the ball is 1 cm in diameter and is covered with a net of mesh 1 mm, which can be peeled off. The ball is 2. 5–4 cm in diameter and contains several hundred achenes, each of which has a seed and is conical. There is also a tuft of many thin stiff yellow-green bristle fibers attached to the base of each achene and these bristles help in wind dispersion of the fruits as in the dandelion. The leaves are simple and alternate, in the subgenus Platanus they have a palmate outline. The base of the stalk is enlarged and completely wraps around the young stem bud in its axil. The axillary bud is exposed only after the leaf falls off, the mature bark peels off or exfoliates easily in irregularly shaped patches, producing a mottled, scaly appearance. On old trunks, bark may not flake off, but thickens, within subgenus Platanus, genetic evidence suggests that P. racemosa is more closely related to P. orientalis than it is to the other North American species. There are fossil records of plane trees as early as 115 million years, despite the geographic separation between North America and Old World, species from these continents will cross readily resulting in fertile hybrids such as the London plane. The following are recognized species of trees, Planes are susceptible to plane anthracnose. The most severe infections are associated with cold, wet spring weather, P. occidentalis and the other American species are the most susceptible, with P. orientalis the most resistant
9.
Brooklyn Museum
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The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York Citys third largest in physical size, the museum initially struggled to maintain its building and collection, only to be revitalized in the late 20th century, thanks to major renovations. Significant areas of the collection include antiquities, specifically their collection of Egyptian antiquities spanning over 3,000 years, African, Oceanic, and Japanese art make for notable antiquities collections as well. American art is represented, starting at the Colonial period. Artists represented in the collection include Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, Georgia OKeeffe, the museum also has a Memorial Sculpture Garden which features salvaged architectural elements from throughout New York City. The roots of the Brooklyn Museum extend back to the 1823 founding by Augustus Graham of the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library in Brooklyn Heights, in 1890, under its director Franklin Hooper, Institute leaders reorganized as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and began planning the Brooklyn Museum. The initial design for the Brooklyn Museum was four times as large as the actualized version, Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the principal designer of the pediment sculptures and the monolithic 12. 5-foot figures along the cornice. The figures were created by 11 sculptors and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, by 1920, the New York City Subway reached the museum with a subway station, this greatly improved access to the once-isolated museum from Manhattan and other outer boroughs. The Brooklyn Institutes director Franklin Hooper was the museums first director and he was followed by Philip Newell Youtz, Laurance Page Roberts, Isabel Spaulding Roberts, Charles Nagel, Jr. and Edgar Craig Schenck. Thomas S. Buechner became the director in 1960, making him one of the youngest directors in the country. Buechner oversaw a major transformation in the way the museum displayed art and brought some one thousand works that had languished in the museums archives and put them on display. Buechner played a role in rescuing the Daniel Chester French sculptures from destruction due to an expansion project at the Manhattan Bridge in the 1960s. The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997, on March 12,2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name. In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway façade, in September 2014, Lehman announced that he was planning to retire around June 2015. In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the Museums next director, member institutions occupy land or buildings owned by the City of New York and derive part of their yearly funding from the City. The Brooklyn Museum also supplements its earned income with funding from Federal and State governments, as well as donations by individuals. Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott, the museum is the site of the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball which has included celebrity hosts such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler. The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich heritage of world cultures
10.
Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
11.
Jacquard loom
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The Jacquard machine is a device fitted to a power loom that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with such complex patterns as brocade, damask and matelassé. It was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, the loom was controlled by a chain of cards, a number of punched cards, laced together into a continuous sequence. Multiple rows of holes were punched on each card, with one complete card corresponding to one row of the design, several such paper cards, generally white in color, can be seen in the images below. Chains, like Bouchons earlier use of tape, allowed sequences of any length to be constructed. It is based on earlier inventions by the Frenchmen Basile Bouchon, Jean Baptiste Falcon, a static display of a Jacquard loom is the centrepiece of the Musée des Tissus et des Arts décoratifs in Lyon. Live displays of a Jacquard loom are available at a few museums around Lyon and also twice a day at La Maison des Canuts. Both the Jacquard process and the necessary loom attachment are named after their inventor and this mechanism is probably one of the most important weaving inventions as Jacquard shedding made possible the automatic production of unlimited varieties of pattern weaving. The term Jacquard is not specific or limited to any particular loom, the process can also be used for patterned knitwear and machine-knitted textiles, such as jerseys. This use of punched cards to control a sequence of operations is considered an important step in the history of computing hardware. In former times, if figured designs were required, this was done on a drawloom, the heddles with warp ends to be pulled up were manually selected by a second operator, apart from the weaver. It was slow and labour-intensive, with limitations on the complexity of the pattern. The first important improvement of the draw took place in 1725. A continuous roll of paper was punched by hand, in sections, each of which represented one lash or tread, the Jacquard machine subsequently evolved from this. It is difficult to determine part of the Jacquard machine was designed by Jacquard himself. He may have combined the best mechanical elements of other inventors, Jacquards machine also contained eight rows of needles and uprights as compared with Vaucansons double row, of which modifications enabled him to increase the figuring capacity of the machine. In his first machine, he supported the harness by knotted cords, Jacquards invention had a deep influence on Charles Babbage. In that respect, he is viewed by some authors as a precursor of modern computing science. Each position in the card corresponds to a Bolus hook, which can either be raised or stopped dependent on whether the hole is punched out of the card or the card is solid
12.
Paisley, Renfrewshire
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Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area. The town is situated on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes, straddling the banks of the White Cart Water. The town, a burgh, forms part of the contiguous Greater Glasgow urban area. It is regularly cited as Scotlands largest town as it has yet to attain city status. By the 19th century, Paisley had established itself as a centre of the industry, giving its name to the Paisley shawl. The towns associations with political Radicalism were highlighted by its involvement in the Radical War of 1820, as of 1993, all of Paisleys mills had closed, although they are memorialised in the towns museums and civic history. Paisley is bidding for UK City of Culture in 2021 as part of plans to use culture, however, some Scottish place-name books suggest Pæssas wood/clearing, from the Old English personal name Pæssa, clearing, and leāh, wood. Pasilege and Paslie are recorded previous spellings of the name, a chapel is said to have been established by the 6th/7th century Irish monk, Saint Mirin at a site near a waterfall on the White Cart Water known as the Hammils. Though Paisley lacks contemporary documentation it may have been, along with Glasgow and Govan, a priory was established in 1163 from the Cluniac priory at Wenlock in Shropshire, England at the behest of Walter fitz Alan High Steward of Scotland. In 1245 this was raised to the status of an Abbey, the restored Abbey and adjacent Place, constructed out of part of the medieval claustral buildings, survive as a Church of Scotland parish church. One of Scotlands major religious houses, Paisley Abbey was much favoured by the Bruce and it is generally accepted that William Wallace was educated here. King Robert III was buried in the Abbey and his tomb has not survived, but that of Princess Marjorie Bruce, ancestor of the Stewarts, is one of Scotlands few royal monuments to survive the Reformation. Paisley coalesced under James IIs wish that the lands should become a single regality and, as a result, markets, trading, in 1488 the towns status was raised by James IV to Burgh of barony. Many trades sprang up and the first school was established in 1577 by the Town Council, the Paisley witches, also known as the Bargarran witches or the Renfrewshire witches, were tried in Paisley in 1697. Seven were convicted and five were hanged and then burnt on the Gallow Green and their remains were buried at Maxwelton Cross in the west end of the town. This was the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe, a horse shoe was placed on top of the site to lock in the evil. A horse shoe is still visible in the middle of busy road junction today—though not the original. The modern shoe is made of bronze and bears the inscription, Pain Inflicted, Suffering Endured, the Industrial Revolution based on the textile industry turned Paisley from a small market town to an important industrial town in the late 18th century
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Shawl". Encyclopædia Britannica. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 814.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the