The Solvay process or ammonia-soda process is the major industrial process for the production of sodium carbonate. The ammonia-soda process was developed into its modern form by Ernest Solvay during the 1860s; the ingredients for this are available and inexpensive: salt brine and limestone. The worldwide production of soda ash in 2005 has been estimated at 42 million metric tons, more than six kilograms per year for each person on Earth. Solvay-based chemical plants now produce three-quarters of this supply, with the remaining being mined from natural deposits; this method superseded the Leblanc process. The name "soda ash" is based on the principal historical method of obtaining alkali, by using water to extract it from the ashes of certain plants. Wood fires yielded potash and its predominant ingredient potassium carbonate, whereas the ashes from these special plants yielded "soda ash" and its predominant ingredient sodium carbonate; the word "soda" referred to certain plants that grow in salt solubles.

The cultivation of such plants reached a high state of development in the 18th century in Spain, where the plants are named barrilla. The ashes of kelp yield soda ash, were the basis of an enormous 18th century industry in Scotland. Alkali was mined from dry lakebeds in Egypt. By the late 18th century these sources were insufficient to meet Europe's burgeoning demand for alkali for soap and glass industries. In 1791, the French physician Nicolas Leblanc developed a method to manufacture soda ash using salt, sulfuric acid, coal. Although the Leblanc process came to dominate alkali production in the early 19th century, the expense of its inputs and its polluting byproducts made it apparent that it was far from an ideal solution, it has been reported that in 1811 French physicist Augustin Jean Fresnel discovered that sodium bicarbonate precipitates when carbon dioxide is bubbled through ammonia-containing brines –, the chemical reaction central to the Solvay process. The discovery wasn't published.

As has been noted by Desmond Reilly, "The story of the evolution of the ammonium-soda process is an interesting example of the way in which a discovery can be made and laid aside and not applied for a considerable time afterwards." Serious consideration of this reaction as the basis of an industrial process dates from the British patent issued in 1834 to H. G. Dyar and J. Hemming. There were several attempts to reduce this reaction with varying success. In 1861, Belgian industrial chemist Ernest Solvay turned his attention to the problem, his solution, a 24 metres gas absorption tower in which carbon dioxide bubbled up through a descending flow of brine. This, together with efficient recovery and recycling of the ammonia, proved effective. By 1864 Solvay and his brother Alfred had acquired financial backing and constructed a plant in Couillet, today a suburb of the Belgian town of Charleroi; the new process proved more economical and less polluting than the Leblanc method, its use spread. In 1874, the Solvays expanded their facilities with a new, larger plant at France.

In the same year, Ludwig Mond visited Solvay in Belgium and acquired rights to use the new technology. He and John Brunner formed the firm of Brunner, Mond & Co. and built a Solvay plant at Winnington, near Northwich, England. The facility began operating in 1874. Mond was instrumental in making the Solvay process a commercial success, he made several refinements between 1873 and 1880 that removed byproducts that could slow or halt the process. In 1884, the Solvay brothers licensed Americans William B. Cogswell and Rowland Hazard to produce soda ash in the US, formed a joint venture to build and operate a plant in Solvay, New York. By the 1890s, Solvay-process plants produced the majority of the world's soda ash. In 1938 large deposits of the mineral trona were discovered near the Green River in Wyoming from which sodium carbonate can be extracted more cheaply than produced by the process. With the closing of the original Solvay, New York plant in 1986, there have been no Solvay-based plants operating in North America.

Throughout the rest of the world the Solvay process remains the major source of soda ash. The Solvay process results in soda ash from limestone; the overall process is: 2 NaCl + CaCO3 → Na2CO3 + CaCl2The actual implementation of this global, overall reaction is intricate. A simplified description can be given using the four different, interacting chemical reactions illustrated in the figure. In the first step in the process, carbon dioxide passes through a concentrated aqueous solution of sodium chloride and ammonia. NaCl + CO2 + NH3 + H2O → NaHCO3 + NH4Cl In industrial practice, the reaction is carried out by passing concentrated brine through two towers. In the first, ammonia is absorbed by it. In the second, carbon dioxide bubbles up through the ammoniated brine, sodium bicarbonate precipitates out of the solution. Note that, in a basic solution, NaHCO3 is less water-soluble than sodium chloride; the ammonia buffers the solution at a basic pH.

A lightning rocket is a rocket device about the size of a man, that trails behind a conductor, such as a fine copper wire or other medium, conductive, to conduct lightning charges to the ground. Lightning strikes derived from this process are called "triggered lightning." A conducting lightning rod, grounded and positioned alongside the launch tube in communication with the conductive path to thereby control the time and location of a lightning strike from the thundercloud. The conductor trailed by the rocket can be either a physical wire, or column of ionized gas produced by the engine. A lightning rocket using solid propellant may have cesium salts added, which produces a conductive path when the exhaust gases are discharged from the rocket. In a liquid propellant rocket a solution of calcium chloride is used to form the conductive path; the system consists of a specially designed launch pad with lightning conductors attached. The launch pad is either controlled wirelessly or via pneumatic line to the control station to prevent the discharge traveling to the control equipment.

The fine copper wire plays out from the rocket as it ascends. The initial strike is as a result unusually straight; as the wire is vaporized by the initial strike, subsequent strikes are more angular in nature and follow the ionization trail of the initial strike. Rockets of this type are used for both lightning lightning control; the Betts lightning rocket, patented by Robert E. Betts in 2003, consists of a rocket launcher, in communication with a detection device that measures the presence of electrostatic and ionic change in close proximity to the rocket launcher that fires the rocket; this system is designed to control the location of a lightning strike. As the rocket flies to the thundercloud this liquid is expelled aft forming a column in the air of particles that are more electrically conductive than the surrounding air. In a similar fashion to the system employing a solid propellant as the conductive producer this conductive path conducts a lightning strike to ground to thereby control the time and location of a lightning strike from the thundercloud.

July 25, 2002, triggered lightning video U. S. Patent 6,597,559, Lightning rocket, July 22, 2003 30 January 2003 Space.com article Transient Response of a Tall Object to Lightning IEEE Xplore - Induced voltage measurements on an experimental distribution line during nearby rocket triggered lightning flashes Lightning protection system EP 0654187 B1 Self-feeding lightning protection device EP 0139575 A2 Lightning Strikes And Rockets Fly, Untended. New York Times, June 11, 1987. Production Of Artificial Fulgurite By Utilizing Rocket Triggered Lightning "Triggered Lightning". Popular Science Jun 1983. Page 70-72

For the painting of this title, see The Reading Room. The Reading Room is a 2005 television film that premiered on Hallmark Channel, it was directed by Georg Stanford Brown. William Campbell is a wealthy businessman, he decides to make good on a promise he made her by opening a free reading room in an inner-city neighborhood where he grew up. Despite his good intentions, problems in the neighborhood threaten his establishment from local gang members and a preacher who questions Campbell's motives. James Earl Jones as William Campbell Georg Stanford Brown as Rahim Joanna Cassidy as Diana Weston Keith Robinson as Darrel Douglas Spain as Javier Monique Coleman as Leesha Jessica Szohr as Dayva Gabby Soleil as Majoli Austin Marques as Edgar Tim Reid as Douglas Camie Won Image Award Nominated for Outstanding TV Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Vision Award Nominated for Best Drama WGA Award Nominated The Reading Room on IMDb The Reading Room at AllMovie

Thomas Joseph Thorpe is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender. A product of the youth academy of Manchester United, Thorpe was loaned to Championship club Birmingham City in 2014, he was called into the Manchester United first team in September 2014 and made his Premier League debut shortly after. Released in 2015, he went on to play in the Football League for Rotherham United, Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers, for ATK of the Indian Super League, he represented England at all youth levels from England U16 to England U21, was a member of the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship-winning team. Born in Manchester, Thorpe joined Manchester United as a first-year academy scholar in July 2009 at the age of 16, after playing six times for the club's under-18 team during the 2008–09 season, his debut came against Liverpool on 13 December 2008 and he played the whole game as Manchester United won 3–1. He began the 2009–10 season as part of the under-17s team that won the Milk Cup for the second consecutive year, conceding just two goals in their five games in the tournament.

He became a regular for the under-18s during the season, playing in 24 of the team's 28 league matches on the way to winning Group C of the Premier Academy League. He scored his only goal of the season – his first for the under-18s – in a 4–1 away win over Middlesbrough on 17 April 2010, just four days after getting his first taste of reserve team action. After signing his first professional contract over the summer, Thorpe was again included in the Manchester United squad for the Milk Cup in 2010, but defeat to the ASPIRE Academy from Qatar in their second game meant they were unable to defend their title; the under-18s began the Premier Academy League season with an eight-game unbeaten run, during which Thorpe scored once against Huddersfield Town, on 27 September 2010, he made his first appearance for the reserves, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Reece Brown in a 2–2 away draw with Blackburn Rovers. He had a three-game run in the reserves in November 2010, scored his first goal for the team against Bolton Wanderers on 2 November.

Because of his increased involvement with the reserves, Thorpe made only 17 league appearances for the under-18s in 2010–11, but, made up for by a successful run as captain in the FA Youth Cup. Thorpe made the step up to the reserves on a permanent basis in 2011–12, but injuries kept him from securing a regular place in the team for the first month of the season, he impressed enough in his two Manchester Senior Cup appearances in September 2011 to earn himself a place on the bench for the first team's League Cup third round match against Leeds United on 20 September. Thorpe only made 12 league appearances for the reserves during their title-winning season, most of them in an unfamiliar central midfield role, but he was an integral part of the team that went on to win the Manchester Senior Cup, coming on as a substitute in their 2–0 victory over Manchester City in the final. After the summer break, he played in the final of the 2011–12 Lancashire Senior Cup, helped Manchester United keep a clean sheet as they beat Accrington Stanley 4–0.

With his injury woes behind him, Thorpe took over as captain of the reserve team for the 2012–13 season and was ever-present in the league as Manchester United claimed the inaugural Under-21 Premier League title. Thorpe scored twice during the season, first with a header from an Adnan Januzaj corner away to Newcastle United on 12 November a rising shot from 20 yards against Tottenham on 15 February. From the end of February, the team went on a run of 10 games that included eight clean sheets, Thorpe's performances earned him a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Team Player of the Year Award. Thorpe was ever-present for the under-21s in the first half of the 2013–14 season, his performances in helping Manchester United to the best defensive record in the league attracted the attention of Birmingham City, who signed him and two fellow United youngsters, defender Tyler Blackett and forward Federico Macheda, on 31 January 2014 on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season, he made his senior debut the following day, starting a Championship match against Derby County, but was stretchered off after only 14 minutes after injuring an ankle.

He returned to Manchester United for treatment after suffering ligament damage, the loan was terminated on 3 March. Thorpe rejoined Birmingham City until the end of the season on 27 March, but returned to Manchester United again with two games of the season remaining to undergo treatment, having suffered a recurrence of an ankle injury in April 2014. On 25 September 2014, Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal confirmed in his weekly press conference that youngsters would be drafted in to the first team to help ease the club's injury crisis at the centre-back position. Ahead of a Premier League match against West Ham United at Old Trafford t

The 1998 UCF Golden Knights football season was the twentieth season for the team and Mike Kruczek's first as the head coach of the Golden Knights. Kruczek led UCF to its best season at the time with a 9–2 record in 1998. Daunte Culpepper finished 6th in the Heisman Trophy voting and set the NCAA record for completion percentage that year. UCF started out with a bang, routing Eastern Illinois. Daunte Culpepper accounted for seven touchdowns against Eastern Illinois, earning him the USA Today Player of the Week honors. At 2-0, the Golden Knights faced Purdue on September 19, it was UCF's first game nationally televised on ESPN. The Golden Knights faltered and lost 35-7. Twice the Golden Knights were deep inside the red zone, but a pick-six interception and a turnover on downs were the results. On November 7 at Auburn, the team experienced one of the most heartbreaking losses in school history. UCF entered with a record of 7-1, hoped for a huge upset, working towards a possible at-large bowl bid; the Knights led 6-3 late in the game when inside the red zone, quarterback Daunte Culpepper fumbled away a bad shotgun snap.

Auburn recovered, drove down the field. With one minute left, Auburn scored. Karsten Bailey eluded a tackle at midfield, managed a tightrope run down the sidelines for the game-winning score. Following the disappointment at Auburn, UCF returned home to rout Ball State and New Mexico and finished with an impressive 9–2 record. UCF received a tentative verbal agreement to play in the Oahu Bowl. However, the arrangement fell through in the final week of the season, when Miami upset undefeated UCLA; the resulting shuffle in the bowl berths left UCF out, dashed their hopes for their first bowl appearance. Following the season, Culpepper was drafted with the 11th pick in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings, marking the highest draft pick of a UCF player to that point until Blake Bortles would break it in 2014 as the 3rd pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars. UCF Knights UCF Knights football List of UCF Knights football seasons List of University of Central Florida alumni List of UCF Knights head football coaches

Miķeļi or Miķeļdiena is a Latvian autumn equinox and annual harvest festival and market. Latvian Miķeļi dainas referred to good and rich husbands as bread fathers, who are associated with the autumn harvest ripening. In different regions, the Miķeļi celebration was called Mīkaļiem or Mīklāli, but it is known to other households as Sila Miķelis, Miega Miķelis, Miega Mača. According to an old calendar, this holiday is celebrated around autumn equinox time, when the duration of night is same as the duration of day; the Latvian name of this holiday is Apjumības or Appļāvības, because this day was the last one when grains could have been harvested. A characteristic Miķeļdiena pagan ritual was finding Jumis, through which farmers sought to ensure the fertility of the fields in the coming year; the Miķeļi's house was considered to be pine forest's sandy soils, since he expressed his protection to gatherers of forest's riches. Miķeļdiena name is derived from a name of an honorable Christian archangel Michael, whose day is celebrated during the autumn solstice time.

In Latvian mythology, it replaced a time to celebrate the autumn equinox of Apjumības or Appļāvības, the last harvest day, which with the help of magic rituals sought to ensure the success next year and to obtain the favor of Jumis. According to ancient beliefs, cereals farmers lived with fertility deity Jumis and only with the owner, in whose cereals dwelt Jumis, growing fine bread. Therefore, they had to always leave a tithe of grains, to placate Jumis and so that he would not leaves the fields forever, since if only once one field is left without a grain patch, Jumis will become upset and he will never return; when on Miķeļi a family solemnly went to mow the last field, all of the mowers reaped grain from all sides toward the middle of the fields, where they left a small bundle of cereal. It is tied in a knot and is used for magical activities, that Jumis is hiding in there. Sometimes a bundle is tied in the form of the roof, dug the ground on Jumis roots, dug out worms and insects, who were below the last sheaf, calling upon Jumīšus.

If insects, who appeared at the excavation, hastily fled back to where they came from it meant that the future will be all good. It was the same with mice and other critters escaping from the last sheaf, since they were considered to be the creatures of Jumis. During the harvest, the collected Jumīšus were woven into a crown or a belt. Jumis' crown was carried to the receiver's home and put on the landlady's head, while a sowed belt was put around the landlord's waist; the found Jumīšus was brought home, inserted into built-in slot and was stored all winter. It was believed, that only the house owner will receive the variety of benefits, while Jumis finders will still be the same after autumn. In other rituals every mowers flung their scythes over left shoulder. Whose scythe was thrown furthest. On Miķeļi people sacrificed a ram, goat or piglet, which were fed on this day and called upon Miķeļi; the hostess of the holiday feast baked a special loaf of Jumis bread. It mentioned in the description, that the landlord took grains from each type of seeding cereal to make malt beer.

Latvian dainas mention Miķeļi as a celebration of beer employer. Since Miķeļi falls into the most opulent season, the feast table on that day is full of food. Miķeļi is a time of feast and singing about Jumis, flower giving, while each dish was given to Houses gods, before they could eat themselves. During Jumis catching unmarried maidens observed insects, who were believed to be an embodiment of natural fertility. If the found beetle was beautiful maidens believed they would have a beautiful husband. Miķeļi was the last summer day, when men did drinking bets. After Miķeļi the proposing had to be postponed for another year. Since the Miķeļdiena began the veļu laiks, farmers donated wax, bread, meat and money on Miķeļi day. In 1570, the Duchy of Courland's church enforced the law of collecting, taught how to look, in order for Latvian farmers to not practice "soul feast" from Miķeļi till All Saints' Day, it prohibited the sacrifice of wax, wool, egg, butter etc. Miķeļdiena, similar to Jurģi, the time of spring solstice, repeated rooster sacrifice and greased the stable door with blood, in order for evil spirits to never enter the stables, only the holy Miķeļi could.

Medieval Catholic traditional archangel Michael was the soldier's guardian. Miķeļi Day is celebrated by Northern European people. Germans call this celebration Michaelis or Michaeli, Englishmen call it Michaelmas, Swedes - Mickelsmäss, Danes - Mikkelsdag, Norwegians - Mikkelsmess, Finns - Mikkelinpäivä, while Estonians call it Mihklipäev. Since the Middle Ages up to the 18th century, this festival served as a tax deadline and lease payment; the traditional festive meal that day was a roasted goose. Ancient Latvian solar calendar