1.
International Table Tennis Federation
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The International Table Tennis Federation is the governing body for all international table tennis associations. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis, the ITTF is responsible for the organization of numerous international competitions, including the World Table Tennis Championships that has continued since 1926. The ITTF was founded in 1926 by William Henry Lawes of Wymondham, the first international tournament was held in January 1926 in Berlin while the first World Table Tennis Championships was held in December 1926 in London. Toward the end of 2000, the ITTF instituted several rules changes aimed at making table tennis more viable as a spectator sport. The older 38 mm balls were replaced by 40 mm balls. This increased the air resistance and effectively slowed down the game. On 29 February 2008, the ITTF announced several changes after an ITTF Executive Meeting in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The new ruling is to encourage associations to develop their own players, the headquarters of the ITTF is in Lausanne, Switzerland. The previous president of the ITTF was Adham Sharara from Canada, the ITTF recognises six continental federations. Each continental federation has a president as its top official and owns its constitution, the following are recognised federations, There are currently 222 member associations within the ITTF. All member associations of the ITTF attend annual general meeting, agendas on changes of the constitution, laws of table tennis, applications for membership etc. are discussed and finalised through votes. Also, the president of ITTF,8 executive vice-presidents, and 32 or less continental representatives are elected at an AGM, the president, executive vice-presidents, and the chairman of the athletes commission compose executive committee. The executive committee, continental representatives and presidents of the six continental federations or their appointees compose the board of directors, the Board manages the work of the ITTF between AGMs. Several committees, commissions, working groups or panels work under the constitution of ITTF or under the Board, unlike the organisations for more popular sports, the ITTF tends to recognise teams from generally unrecognised governing bodies for disputed territory. For example, it recognises the Table Tennis Federation of Kosovo even though Kosovo is excluded from most other sports. It recognised the Peoples Republic of China in 1953 and allowed some basic diplomacy which lead to an opening for U. S. President Richard Nixon, called Ping Pong Diplomacy, in the early 1970s. For ITTF World Title events, a player is eligible to play for his association by registering with the ITTF, if the player chooses to play for a new association, he shall register with the ITTF, through the new association. The player shall not represent the new association before, the table tennis point system was reduced from a 21 to an 11-point scoring system in 2001
2.
Victorian England
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The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victorias reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities, the era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period. The later half of the Victorian age roughly coincided with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe, culturally there was a transition away from the rationalism of the Georgian period and toward romanticism and mysticism with regard to religion, social values, and arts. The end of the saw the Boer War. Domestically, the agenda was increasingly liberal with a number of shifts in the direction of political reform, industrial reform. Two especially important figures in period of British history are the prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone. Disraeli, favoured by the queen, was a gregarious Conservative and his rival Gladstone, a Liberal distrusted by the Queen, served more terms and oversaw much of the overall legislative development of the era. The population of England and Wales almost doubled from 16.8 million in 1851 to 30.5 million in 1901, Scotlands population also rose rapidly, from 2.8 million in 1851 to 4.4 million in 1901. However, Irelands population decreased sharply, from 8.2 million in 1841 to less than 4.5 million in 1901, mostly due to the Great Famine. Between 1837 and 1901 about 15 million emigrants departed the UK permanently, in search of a life in the United States, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia. During the early part of the era, politics in the House of Commons involved battles between the two parties, the Whigs/Liberals and the Conservatives. These parties were led by such prominent statesmen as Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Derby, Lord Palmerston, Gladstone, Disraeli, Victoria became queen in 1837 at age 18. Her long reign until 1901 was mainly a time of peace, Britain reached the zenith of its economic, political, diplomatic and cultural power. The era saw the expansion of the second British Empire, Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era as Britains Golden Years. There was prosperity, as the income per person grew by half. There was peace abroad, and social peace at home, opposition to the new order melted away, says Porter. The Chartist movement peaked as a movement among the working class in 1848, its leaders moved to other pursuits, such as trade unions
3.
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
4.
Paralympic Games
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There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, are held almost immediately following the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are governed by the International Paralympic Committee, the Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events by the early 21st century. Paralympians strive for equal treatment with non-disabled Olympic athletes, but there is a funding gap between Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes have, there are categories in which the athletes compete. The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible impairment types and these categories are further broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. The first athlete to do so was German American gymnast George Eyser in 1904, hungarian Karoly Takacs competed in shooting events in both the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics. He was an amputee and could shoot left-handed. The first organized athletic day for disabled athletes that coincided with the Olympic Games took place on the day of the opening of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, the first games were called the 1948 International Wheelchair Games, and were intended to coincide with the 1948 Olympics. Dr. Guttmans aim was to create a sports competition for people with disabilities that would be equivalent to the Olympic Games. The games were again at the same location in 1952. These early competitions, also known as the Stoke Mandeville Games, have described as the precursors of the Paralympic Games. There have been milestones in the Paralympic movement. The first official Paralympic Games, no longer open solely to war veterans, was held in Rome in 1960,400 athletes from 23 countries competed at the 1960 Games. Since 1960, the Paralympic Games have taken place in the year as the Olympic Games. The Games were initially only to athletes in wheelchairs, at the 1976 Summer Games, athletes with different disabilities were included for the first time at a Summer Paralympics. With the inclusion of more disability classifications the 1976 Summer Games expanded to 1,600 athletes from 40 countries, the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea, was another milestone for the Paralympic movement. It was in Seoul that the Paralympic Summer Games were held directly after the Olympic Summer Games, in the same host city and this set a precedent that was followed in 1992,1996 and 2000. It was eventually formalized in an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee in 2001, and was extended through 2020
5.
1960 Summer Paralympics
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They were organised under the aegis of the International Stoke Mandeville Games Federation. The term Paralympic Games was approved by the International Olympic Committee first in 1984, the Games were held in Rome, Italy from September 18 to 25,1960, with the 1960 Summer Olympics. The only disability included in these Paralympics was spinal cord injury, there were about 400 athletes, from 23 countries. As there were no more than three athletes or teams per event, every athlete was guaranteed a medal upon completing his or her event, archery Athletics Dartchery Snooker Swimming Table tennis Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing The top 10 NPCs by number of gold medals are listed below. The host nation, Italy, is highlighted, the number in parentheses indicates the number of participants from each NPC. The information from the International Paralympic Committee website is based on sources which does not present all information from earlier games, such as relay
6.
Table tennis at the Summer Olympics
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Table tennis competition has been in the Summer Olympic Games since 1988, with singles and doubles events for men and women. In 1992, two medals were awarded in each event. Due to Chinas dominance in the sport the format was changed for the 2012 Olympics, in 2008, the doubles events were replaced by team events to lessen the emphasis on doubles play. List of Olympic venues in table tennis
7.
Table tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics
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Table tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 13 to August 23, at the Peking University Gymnasium. The competition featured the events for the first time, replacing the doubles events competed in previous games. A total of four sets of medals were awarded for the four events contested, the Singles draw was performed on Monday, August 11,2008. International Table Tennis Federation Table Tennis at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games
8.
Parlour game
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A parlour or parlor game is a group game played indoors. During the Victorian era in Great Britain and in the United States and they were often played in a parlour, hence the name. The Victorian age was certainly the Golden Age of the parlor game, during the 19th century, the upper and middle classes had more leisure time than people of previous generations. This led to the creation of a variety of games to allow these gentlemen. Boxed parlour games were popular from around 1920 until into the 1960s. Parlour games competed for attention with the media, particularly radio, movies. Though decreased in popularity, parlour games continue to be played, some remain nearly identical to their Victorian ancestors, others have been transformed into board games such as Balderdash. Many parlour games involve logic or word-play, others are more physical games, but not to the extent of a sport or exercise. Some also involve dramatic skill, such as in charades, most do not require any equipment beyond what would be available in a typical parlour. Parlour games are competitive, but cumulative scores are not usually kept. The length and ending time of the game is not set. Parlor games are also used with carnival games such as, but not limited to, ping pong toss, dart throwing, strong man. These can be played indoors or outdoors and is usually accompanied with a token prize upon winning. By analogy, the parlour game has been used to accuse political opponents of the use of deliberately nebulous or confusing language when describing their positions on issues. Examples of parlour games include, Board game Drawing room House concert Mahjong Monopoly Party game Salon Tabletop game Times Up
9.
Presidencies and provinces of British India
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Provinces of India, earlier Presidencies of British India and still earlier, Presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in the subcontinent. Collectively, they were called British India, in one form or other they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods. During 1612–1757, the East India Company set up factories in several locations, mostly in coastal India and its rivals were the merchant trading companies of Holland and France. By the mid-18th century, three Presidency towns, Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta had grown in size, during the period of Company rule in India, 1757–1858, the Company gradually acquired sovereignty over large parts of India, now called Presidencies. However, it increasingly came under British government oversight, in effect sharing sovereignty with the Crown. At the same time it gradually lost its mercantile privileges, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Companys remaining powers were transferred to the Crown. In the new British Raj, sovereignty extended to a few new regions, increasingly, however, unwieldy presidencies were broken up into Provinces. In 1608, the English East India Company established a settlement at Surat, and it was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast, and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal. Company rule in Bengal, however, ended with the Government of India Act 1858 following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857 and these rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for British suzerainty. British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population, in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of the area, in addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan, the latter also including East Bengal, present-day Bangladesh. The term British India also applied to Burma for a time period, starting in 1824, a small part of Burma. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma commenced being administered as a separate British colony, British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka, which was a British Crown colony, or the Maldive Islands, which were a British protectorate. It also included the Colony of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula, the original seat of government was at Allahabad, then at Agra from 1834 to 1868. Bombay Presidency, East India Companys headquarters moved from Surat to Bombay in 1687, the East India Company, which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on the east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612. The company rented a trading outpost in Madras in 1639, meanwhile, in eastern India, after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal, the Company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640. Almost a half-century later, after Emperor Aurengzeb forced the Company out of Hooghly, by the mid-18th century the three principal trading settlements, now called the Madras Presidency, the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency were each administered by a Governor. After Robert Clives victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in 1772, the Company also obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal and thereby full sovereignty of the expanded Bengal Presidency
10.
Trademark
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The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, for the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are often displayed on company buildings. A trademark identifies the owner of a particular product or service. The unauthorized usage of trademarks by producing and trading counterfeit consumer goods is known as brand piracy, the owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trademark infringement. Most countries require formal registration of a trademark as a precondition for pursuing this type of action, the United States, Canada and other countries also recognize common law trademark rights, which means action can be taken to protect an unregistered trademark if it is in use. Still, common law trademarks offer the holder in general less legal protection than registered trademarks. A trademark may be designated by the symbols, ™ ℠ ® A trademark is typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these categories, such as those based on colour, smell. Trademarks which are considered offensive are often rejected according to a nations trademark law, the term trademark is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by which an individual is readily identified, such as the well-known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark, in other words, trademarks serve to identify a particular business as the source of goods or services. The use of a trademark in this way is known as trademark use, certain exclusive rights attach to a registered mark. Different goods and services have been classified by the International Classification of Goods, in trademark treatises it is usually reported that blacksmiths who made swords in the Roman Empire are thought of as being the first users of trademarks. Other notable trademarks that have used for a long time include Löwenbräu. The first trademark legislation was passed by the Parliament of England under the reign of King Henry III in 1266, the first modern trademark laws emerged in the late 19th century. In France the first comprehensive system in the world was passed into law in 1857 with the Manufacture. In Britain, the Merchandise Marks Act 1862 made it an offense to imitate anothers trade mark with intent to defraud or to enable another to defraud. In 1875 the Trade Marks Registration Act was passed which allowed formal registration of marks at the UK Patent Office for the first time. Registration was considered to comprise prima facie evidence of ownership of a trade mark, in the United States, Congress first attempted to establish a federal trademark regime in 1870
11.
Parker Brothers
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Parker Brothers was an American toy and game manufacturer which later became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883, among its products were Monopoly, Cluedo, Sorry. Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, Bop It, the trade name is now defunct, former products are marketed under the Hasbro Gaming label. Parker Brothers was founded by George S. Parker, Parkers philosophy deviated from the prevalent theme of board game design, he believed that games should be played for enjoyment and did not need to emphasize morals and values. He created his first game, called Banking, in 1883 when he was 16, Banking is a game in which players borrowed money from the bank and tried to generate wealth by guessing how well they could do. The game included 160 cards which foretold their failures or successes, the game was so popular among family and friends that his brother, Charles Parker, urged him to publish it. George approached two Boston publishers with the idea, but was unsuccessful, not discouraged, he spent $40 to publish 500 sets of Banking. He eventually sold all but twelve copies, making a profit of $100, Parker founded his game company, initially called the George S. Parker Company, in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts in 1883. When Georges brother Charles joined the business in 1888, the name was changed to its more familiar form. In 1898 a third brother, Edward H. Parker, joined the company, for many years, George designed most of the games himself, and wrote all the rules. Many games were based on important events of the day, Klondike was based on the Alaskan gold rush, the game industry was growing, and the company was becoming very profitable. In 1906, Parker Brothers published the game Rook, their most successful card game to this day, during the Great Depression, a time when many companies went out of business, Parker Brothers released a new board game called Monopoly. Although the company had rejected the game in 1934, they decided to publish it the next year. It was an instant success, and the company had difficulty keeping up with demand, the company continued to grow throughout the next several decades, producing such lasting games as Clue, Risk, and Sorry. Parker Brothers marketed its first puzzle in 1887, the most highly sought of Parker puzzles are the wooden Parker Pastimes. Parker also produced childrens puzzles, as well as the Climax, Jig-A-Jig, Jig Wood, and Paramount lines. According to Jigsaw Puzzles, An Illustrated History and Price Guide, by Anne D. Williams, Parker Bros. closed the Pastime line in the 1950s, even after George Parkers death, the company remained family-owned until 1968 when General Mills purchased the company. After this, Parker Brothers produced the first Nerf ball, which became another major national hit, in the UK during the 1970s, Parker Bros. was the games division of Palitoy, and produced a variety of releases such as Escape from Colditz
12.
Celluloid
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Celluloids are a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, with added dyes and other agents. Generally considered the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1856 and as Xylonite in 1869, Celluloid is easily molded and shaped, and it was first widely used as an ivory replacement. The main use was in movie and photography industries, which used only celluloid films prior to acetate films that were introduced in the 1950s. Celluloid is highly flammable, difficult and expensive to produce and no longer used, although its most common uses today are in table tennis balls, musical instruments. Collodion, invented in 1848 and used as a wound dressing, Parkes patented his discovery after realising a solid residue remained after evaporation of the solvent from photographic collodion. Parkes patented it as a clothing waterproofer for woven fabrics in the same year, later Parkes showcased Parkesine at the 1862 International Exhibition in London, where he was awarded a bronze medal for his efforts. The introduction of Parkesine is generally regarded as the birth of the plastics industry and he used cloth, ivory dust, and shellac, and on April 6,1869, patented a method of covering billiard balls with the addition of collodion. With assistance from Peter Kinnear and other investors, Hyatt formed the Albany Billiard Ball Company in Albany, New York, in 1870, John and his brother Isaiah patented a process of making a horn-like material with the inclusion of cellulose nitrate and camphor. Isaiah Hyatt dubbed his material celluloid in 1872, english inventor Daniel Spill had worked with Parkes and formed the Xylonite Co. to take over Parkes patents, describing the new plastic products as Xylonite. He took exception to the Hyatts claims and pursued the brothers in a number of cases between 1877 and 1884. The judge ruled all manufacturing of celluloid could continue both in Spills British Xylonite Company and Hyatts Celluloid Manufacturing Company, Hyatt used heat and pressure to simplify the manufacture of these compounds. Over the years, celluloid has become the term used for this type of plastic. English photographer John Carbutt founded the Keystone Dry Plate Works in 1879 with the intention of producing gelatin dry plates, the Celluloid Manufacturing Company was contracted for this work by means of thinly slicing layers out of celluloid blocks and then removing the slice marks with heated pressure plates. After this, the strips were coated with a photosensitive gelatin emulsion. It is not certain exactly how long it took for Carbutt to standardize his process, a 15-inch-wide sheet of Carbutts film was used by William Dickson for the early Edison motion picture experiments on a cylinder drum Kinetograph. However, the film base produced by this means was still considered too stiff for the needs of motion picture photography. By 1889, more flexible celluloids for photographic film were developed and this ability to produce photographic images on a flexible material was a crucial step toward the advent of motion pictures. Most movie and photography films prior to the move to acetate films in the fifties were made of celluloid
13.
Natural rubber
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Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds, plus water. Malaysia and Indonesia are two of the leading rubber producers, forms of polyisoprene that are used as natural rubbers are classified as elastomers. Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from the tree or others. The latex is a sticky, milky colloid drawn off by making incisions in the bark, the latex then is refined into rubber ready for commercial processing. In major areas, latex is allowed to coagulate in the collection cup, the coagulated lumps are collected and processed into dry forms for marketing. Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination with other materials, in most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio and high resilience, and is extremely waterproof. The major commercial source of rubber latex is the Pará rubber tree. This species is preferred because it grows well under cultivation, a properly managed tree responds to wounding by producing more latex for several years. Congo rubber, formerly a source of rubber, came from vines in the genus Landolphia. These cannot be cultivated, and the drive to collect latex from wild plants was responsible for many of the atrocities committed under the Congo Free State. The latex exhibits the quality as the natural rubber from rubber trees. In the wild types of dandelion, latex content is low, in Nazi Germany, research projects tried to use dandelions as a base for rubber production, but failed. In collaboration with Continental Tires, IME began a pilot facility, many other plants produce forms of latex rich in isoprene polymers, though not all produce usable forms of polymer as easily as the Pará. Some of them require more processing to produce anything like usable rubber. Some produce other desirable materials, for example gutta-percha and chicle from Manilkara species, the term gum rubber is sometimes applied to the tree-obtained version of natural rubber in order to distinguish it from the synthetic version. The first use of rubber was by the cultures of Mesoamerica. The earliest archeological evidence of the use of latex from the Hevea tree comes the Olmec culture. The Pará rubber tree is indigenous to South America, charles Marie de La Condamine is credited with introducing samples of rubber to the Académie Royale des Sciences of France in 1736
14.
USATT
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It was founded in 1933 as the United States Table Tennis Association. In addition to processing tournaments, USATT maintains a rating and ranking system. It also oversees the USA National Teams, in total, USATT has over 8,000 members. The headquarters of USA Table Tennis is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, USA Table Tennis offers a $100,000 incentive for American Olympic table tennis athletes, though no American athlete has ever won a medal for table tennis. The United States Table Tennis Association was created in 1933, the phrase Table Tennis was created because the name Ping Pong had already been trademarked by Parker Brothers. Though the legal name of the USATT remains the United States Table Tennis Association, although about 19 million Americans play for recreation, USATT has only about 8,100 members, as of April 2010. Membership costs $40 per year for adults and $20 per year for juniors, there are over 300 table tennis clubs affiliated with USATT, almost 50 of which are in California. There are almost 450 USATT Certified Coaches in the United States, started in 1931, the annual U. S. Open is the oldest table tennis event in the United States. It attracts over 600 athletes annually, the U. S. Open has been previously held in various locations, including Anaheim, California, Charlotte, North Carolina, Chicago, Illinois, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Past Menʼs Singles champions include Chen Weixing and Aleksandar Karakašević, past Womenʼs Singles champions include Zhang Mo and Li Jiawei. The 2010 U. S. Open was held at the DeVos Place Convention Center in Grand Rapids, MI, the Mens Singles champion was Achanta Sharath Kamal of India and the Womens Singles champion was Georgina Pota of Hungary. The 2011 U. S. Open will be held in Milwaukee, Nationals have been held since 1976. The tournament is closed to non-citizens of the United States, held annually, the top finishers in the mens and womens singles events of the U. S. Nationals are allowed to compete at the USA Table Tennis National Team Trials, Nationals determine the members of the USA Table Tennis Cadet and Junior Teams. Over 600 athletes registered for the 2009 U. S. Nationals, past Mens Singles champions include Eric Owens and David Zhuang and past Womens Singles champions include Jasna Reed and Wang Chen
15.
Edgar Snow
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Edgar Parks Snow was an American journalist known for his books and articles on Communism in China and the Chinese Communist revolution. He is best known for his book, Red Star Over China, Edgar was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Before settling in Missouri, his ancestors had moved to the state from North Carolina, Kentucky and he made a little money in the stock market shortly before the Wall Street Crash of 1929. In 1928 he used the money to travel around the world and he made it to Shanghai that summer, and stayed in China for thirteen years. He quickly found work with the China Weekly Review, edited by J. B. Powell and he became friends with numerous prominent Chinese writers and intellectuals, including Soong Ching-ling. In his early years in China he supported Chiang Kai-shek, noting that Chiang had more Harvard graduates in his cabinet than there were in Franklin Roosevelts. In 1932 he married Helen Foster, who was working in the American Consulate until she could begin her own career in journalism, through much of the 1930s, while living in Shanghai, Snow traveled widely through China, often on assignment for the Chinese Railway Ministry. In 1933, after a honeymoon in Japan, Snow and his moved to Beiping. They taught journalism part-time at Yenching University, one of the most prominent Christian universities in China and he and his wife studied Chinese and became modestly fluent. In addition to writing a book on Japanese aggression in China, Far Eastern Front, he edited a collection of modern Chinese short stories. They borrowed works on current affairs from the Yenching library and read the texts of Marxism. The couple became acquainted with student leaders of the anti-Japanese December 9th Movement, through their contacts with the underground communist network, Snow was invited to visit Mao Zedongs headquarters. In June 1936, Snow left Beiping with a letter of introduction from Soong Qing-ling, Snow was accompanied on the journey by George Hatem, who had written of the Chinese communists, but whose presence was kept secret for many years. Snow had been preparing to write a book on the Communist movement in China for several years, however, his most important contribution was the interviews he conducted with the top leaders of the party. When Snow wrote, there were no reliable reports reaching the West of what was going on in the Communist-controlled areas, Snow was taken through the military quarantine lines to the Communist headquarters at Baoan, where he spent four months interviewing Mao and other Communist leaders. He was greeted with crowds of cadets and troops who shouted slogans of welcome, over a period of ten days, Mao met with Snow and narrated his autobiography. After he returned to Beiping in the fall, he wrote frantically, first he published a short account in China Weekly Review, then a series of publications in Chinese. Mao was not, as had been reported, dead, and Snow reported that Mao was a political reformer, in the first four weeks after its publication, Red Star over China sold over 12,000 copies, and effectively made Snow world-famous
16.
Red Star Over China
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Red Star Over China, a 1937 book by Edgar Snow, is an account of the Communist Party of China written when they were a guerrilla army still obscure to Westerners. Along with Pearl Bucks The Good Earth, it was the most influential book on Western understanding, in Red Star Over China, Edgar Snow recounts the months that he spent with the Chinese Red Army in 1936. When Snow wrote, there were no reliable reports reaching the West of what was going on in the Communist-controlled areas. Other writers, such as Agnes Smedley, had written in detail of the Chinese Communists before the Long March. Snows status as an international journalist not previously identified with the communist movement gave his reports the stamp of authenticity, the glowing pictures of life in the communist areas contrasted with the gloom and corruption of the Kuomintang government. Snow reported the new Second United Front which Mao said would leave violent class struggle behind, although Snow made clear that Maos ultimate aim was control of China, many readers got the impression that the Chinese communists were agrarian reformers. Snows Preface to the edition of 1968 describes the books original context, The Western powers. They dreamed of a new birth of nationalism that would keep Japan so bogged down that she would never be able to turn upon the Western colonies—her true objective. Red Star Over China tended to show that the Chinese Communists could indeed provide that nationalist leadership needed for effective anti-Japanese resistance, many editions were published in China. Snow was not available to read proofs of the initial London and New York editions, the Publishers Note of the 1939 edition explains that Snow added a substantial new section of six chapters bringing the narrative up to July 1938 as well as many textual changes. Snow made the changes partly to polish but he also responded to friends. Some of them felt Snows account of party history had been too critical of Soviet policy, Snow toned down but did not remove the implicit criticisms of Stalin. The 1944 edition was allowed to go out of print in the 1950s, Edgar Snow, Red Star over China London, Left Book Club, Victor Gollancz,1937, this edition reprinted as Red Star Over China – The Rise Of The Red Army. Some changes from the London edition, --, Revised, with six extra chapters. --, Extensive revisions, with notes and annotations added, the book has been called the scoop of the century and it clearly played a role in swaying Western and Chinese opinion in favor of Mao. Indeed, Mao commented that the book had no less than Great Yu controlling the floods. But Mao omitted key elements from his accounts of party history, the account of the Long March has come under particular criticism, only to have others reassert its basic validity. In his 1966 biography of Mao, the American Sinologist Stuart R. Schram asserted that Red Star Over China was irreplaceable in learning about Maos early years
17.
Chinese Civil War
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The Chinese Civil War was fought between forces loyal to the Kuomintang -led government of the Republic of China, and forces loyal to the Communist Party of China. The civil war began in August 1927, with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-sheks Northern Expedition and it can generally be divided into two stages, the first being from 1927 to 1937, and the second being from 1946 to 1950 with the Second Sino-Japanese War separating them. The war represented a split between the Communist CPC and the KMTs brand of Nationalism. It continued intermittently until late 1937, when the two came together to form the Second United Front to counter the Japanese threat and prevent the country from crumbling. Chinas full-scale civil war resumed in 1946, a year after the end of hostilities with Japan, to this day no armistice or peace treaty has ever been signed, and there is debate about whether the Civil War has legally ended. The ROC mutually claims mainland China, and they continue the fight over diplomatic recognition. The Qing Dynasty, the last of the ruling Chinese dynasties, collapsed in 1911 and finally fell in 1912 with the abdication of the last emperor, Puyi. China fell into what became known as the era, when control of much of the country was divided among a group of powerful independent warlords. Sun Yat-sens efforts to aid from the Western countries were ignored, however. Thus the struggle for power in China began between the KMT and the CPC, in 1923, a joint statement by Sun and Soviet representative Adolph Joffe in Shanghai pledged Soviet assistance for Chinas unification. The Sun-Joffe Manifesto was a declaration of cooperation among the Comintern, KMT, Comintern agent Mikhail Borodin arrived in China in 1923 to aid in the reorganization and consolidation of the KMT along the lines of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The CPC joined the KMT to form the First United Front, in 1923, Sun Yat-sen sent Chiang Kai-shek, one of his lieutenants from his Tongmeng Hui days, for several months of military and political study in Moscow. By 1924 Chiang became the head of the Whampoa Military Academy, the Soviets provided the academy with much educational material, organization and equipment, including munitions. They also provided education in many of the techniques for mass mobilization, with this aid, Sun Yat-sen was able to raise a dedicated army of the party, with which he hoped to defeat the warlords militarily. CPC members were present in the academy, and many of them became instructors, including Zhou Enlai. Communist members were allowed to join the KMT on an individual basis, the CPC itself was still small at the time, having a membership of 300 in 1922 and only 1,500 by 1925. The KMT in 1923 had 50,000 members, however, after Sun died, the KMT split into left- and right-wing movements. KMT members worried that the Soviets were trying to destroy the KMT from inside using the CPC, the CPC then began movements in opposition of the Northern Expedition, passing a resolution against it at a party meeting
18.
1988 Summer Olympics
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The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia, in the Seoul Games,159 nations were represented by a total of 8,391 athletes,6,197 men and 2,194 women. 263 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics,11,331 media showed the Games all over the world. These were the last Olympic Games for two of the worlds dominating sport powers, the Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist before the next Olympic Games. North Korea, still officially at war with South Korea, and its allies, Albania, Ethiopia, Cuba, Madagascar, Nicaragua boycotted the games because of the U. S. military support to the Contra rebels. However, the much larger boycotts seen in the previous three Summer Olympics were avoided, resulting in the largest ever number of participating nations during the Cold War era, before the opening of the games, thousands of homeless were captured by the police and sent to work camps. Several died under torture. ′ Seoul was chosen to host the Summer Games through a vote held on 30 September 1981, below was the vote count that occurred at the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden, West Germany. After the Olympics were awarded, Seoul also received the opportunity to stage the 10th Asian Games in 1986, Soviet Vladimir Artemov won four gold medals in gymnastics. Daniela Silivaş of Romania won three and equalled compatriot Nadia Comănecis record of seven Perfect 10s in one Olympic Games, to these medals, she added a gold in the 4×100 relay and a silver in the 4×400. Just after the Games, she announced her retirement, Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100 m final with a new world record, but was disqualified after he tested positive for stanozolol. Johnson has since claimed that his positive test was the result of sabotage, the US finishes in fourth place after the completion of the optional rounds with a combined score of 390.575, three tenths of a point behind the German Democratic Republic. The USSR won their team gold medals in artistic gymnastics on both the mens and womens sides with scores of 593.350 and 395.475 respectively. The mens team was led by Vladimir Artemov, while Elena Shushunova lead the womens team, lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor in the Finn class, was in second place and poised to win a silver medal when he abandoned the race to save an injured competitor. He arrived in 21st place, but was recognized by the IOC with the Pierre de Coubertin medal honoring his bravery and sacrifice. U. S. diver Greg Louganis won back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only hitting the springboard with his head in the 3 m event final. This became a minor controversy years later when Louganis revealed he knew he was HIV-positive at the time, since HIV cannot survive in open water, no other divers were ever in danger. Christa Luding-Rothenburger of East Germany became the first athlete to win Olympic medals at the Winter Olympics and she added a cycling silver to the speed skating gold she won earlier in the Winter Olympics of that year in Calgary. Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany won six gold medals, other multi-medalists in the pool were Matt Biondi and Janet Evans
19.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
20.
Sponge (material)
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A sponge is a tool or cleaning aid consisting of soft, porous material. Usually used for cleaning surfaces, sponges are especially good at absorbing water. Sponges are commonly made from cellulose wood fibers or foamed plastic polymers, some natural sponges are still sold, with most now used either as body or facial sponges or as tools for sponge painting. Bath sponges help cleanse the skin by scraping away the dead skin, besides sponges formed from plastic polymers, the three other categories of widely available synthetic sponges are low-density polyether, PVA, and polyester. Polyester sponges can be subdivided into a variety of types, some of which are reticulated for ease of use, one type, double-blown polyester, has a high water-retention ability approaching or equaling that of PVA sponges, but with visible pores and more diverse uses. Because it is made of wood fiber, a cellulose sponge can be a medium for the growth of harmful bacteria or fungi. Several methods have used to clean sponges. Studies have investigated the use of the microwave to clean domestic sponges that have been thoroughly moistened. A2006 study found that microwaving wet sponges for two minutes killed 99% of coliforms, E. coli, and MS2 phages, but Bacillus cereus spores required four minutes. After some fires were caused by trying to replicate the results at home. A2009 study showed that the microwave and the dishwasher were both effective ways to clean domestic sponges, dishcloth Ethylene-vinyl acetate – material that craft foam is made from ethylene-vinyl and acetate Luffa aegyptiaca Polymer sponge – a medical innovation Scouring pad Sponge Sponge metal
21.
Coefficient of restitution
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The coefficient of restitution is the ratio of the final to initial velocity difference between two objects after they collide. It normally ranges from 0 to 1 where 1 would be a perfectly elastic collision, a perfectly inelastic collision has a coefficient of 0, but a 0 value does not have to be perfectly inelastic. It is measured in the Leeb rebound hardness test, expressed as 1000 times the COR, the value is almost always less than one due to initial translational kinetic energy being lost to rotational kinetic energy, plastic deformation, and heat. It is also known as Newtons experimental law, line of impact – It is the line along which e is defined or in absence of tangential reaction force between colliding surfaces, force of impact is shared along this line between bodies. During physical contact between bodies during impact its line along common normal to pair of surfaces in contact of colliding bodies, hence e is defined as a dimensionless one-dimensional parameter. E is usually a positive, real number between 0 and 1.0, e =0, This is an inelastic collision. The objects do not move apart after the collision, but instead they coalesce, kinetic energy is converted to heat or work done in deforming the objects. 0 < e <1, This is an inelastic collision. E =1, This is an elastic collision, in which no kinetic energy is dissipated. This may also be thought of as a transfer of momentum. E >1, This would represent a collision in which energy is released, for example, also, some recent articles have described superelastic collisions in which it is argued that the COR can take a value greater than one in a special case of oblique collisions. These phenomena are due to the change of rebound trajectory caused by friction, in such collision kinetic energy is increased in a manner energy is released in some sort of explosion. It is possible that e = ∞ for an explosion of a rigid system. For this short duration this collision e=0 and may be referred as inelastic phase, the COR is a property of a pair of objects in a collision, not a single object. If a given object collides with two different objects, each collision would have its own COR, a perfectly rigid wall is not possibly but can be approximated by a steel block if investigating the COR of spheres with a much smaller modulus of elasticity. Otherwise, the COR will rise and then based on collision velocity in a more complicated manner. In a one-dimensional collision, the two key principles are, conservation of energy and conservation of momentum, a third equation can be derived from these two, which is the restitution equation as stated above. When solving problems, any two of the three equations can be used, the advantage of using the restitution equation is that it sometimes provides a more convenient way to approach the problem
22.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
23.
Table tennis racket
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A table tennis racket is used by table tennis players. The table tennis racket is usually made from laminated wood covered with rubber on one or two depending on the players grip. Unlike a conventional racket, it does not include strings strung across an open frame, the USA generally uses the term paddle while Europeans and Asians use the term bat and the official ITTF term is racket. Table tennis regulations approved by the International Table Tennis Federation allow different surfaces on each side of the paddle for various amounts of spin or speed, for example, a player may have a spin-heavy rubber on one side of his paddle, and no spin on the other side. The player can flip the racket in play for different types of returns, the player has the right to inspect his opponents racquet before a match to see the type and color. Current rules state that, unless damaged in play, the paddle cannot be exchanged for another at any time during a match. The rubber coating may be of pimpled rubber, with the outward, or it may be composed of a sponge layer. Some paddles are not covered with rubber to make it spin resistant, however, it is illegal to use these types of racquet in competition as they are not approved by the ITTF. Some types of rubbers are also not approved, approved rubbers have the ITTF emblem on the base of the rubber. Choices Players have many choices and variations in rubber sheets on their racquet, although a racquet may be purchased assembled with rubber by the manufacturer, most serious tournament players will use a custom racquet. A player selects a blank blade based on his or her playing style, the type of wood or synthetic layers used to make up the blade will determine the blades speed. The different types of rubber sheets affect the level of spin, speed, racquet construction and new rubber technology contribute significantly to the amount of deviation from the expected ball flight path. Normally, a sheet of rubber is glued to a blade using various table tennis brand glues such as Butterfly, Donic, some glues may work even if it wasnt designed specifically for table tennis, such as Rubber Cement and Tear Mender. The rubber is not removed until it wears out or becomes damaged, in the 1980s, some players developed a new technique with a special glue called speed glue to apply the rubber every time he played. The glue would help provide more spin and speed by providing a catapult effect, speed glue was allowed for the last time in the 2008 Summer Olympics. From the 2012 Summer Olympics onward, the Olympic games banned speed glue, the surface of a racquet will develop a smooth glossy patina with use. The rubber surface needs regular cleaning to retain a high friction surface for ball spin, commercial cleaners or water and soap can be cleaning agents. Sun exposure may damage the rubber
24.
Ochroma
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Ochroma is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae, containing the sole species Ochroma pyramidale, commonly known as the balsa tree. It is a large, fast-growing tree that can grow up to 30 m tall, balsa wood is a very lightweight material with many uses. Balsa trees are native to southern Brazil and northern Bolivia, up to southern Mexico, a member of the mallow family, O. pyramidale is native to southern Mexico to southern Brazil, but is now found in many other countries. It is a plant, which establishes itself in clearings in forests, either man-made or where trees have fallen. It grows extremely rapidly, up to 90 ft in 10–15 years, the speed of growth accounts for the lightness of the wood, which has a lower density than cork. Trees generally do not live beyond 30 to 40 years, flowers are produced from the third year onwards, typically at the end of the rainy season when few other trees are in flower. The large flowers open in the afternoon and remain open overnight. Each may contain a pool of nectar up to 1 in deep, however most pollination occurs at night. It was once thought that the main pollinators were bats, however recent evidence suggests that two nocturnal arboreal mammals, the kinkajou and the olingo, may be the primary pollinators, ecuador supplies 95% or more of commercial balsa. In recent years, about 60% of the balsa has been plantation-grown in densely packed patches of around 1000 trees per hectare and it is evergreen or dry-season deciduous, with large weakly palmately lobed leaves. Being a deciduous angiosperm, balsa is classified as a hardwood despite the wood itself being very soft and it is the softest commercial hardwood. The trees are harvested after six to 10 years of growth, the name balsa comes from the Spanish word for raft. Balsa lumber is very soft and light, with a coarse, the density of dry balsa wood ranges from 40–340 kg/m3, with a typical density of about 160 kg/m3. The wood of the tree has large cells that are filled with water. This gives the wood a spongy texture and it also makes the wood of the living tree not much lighter than water and barely able to float. For commercial production, the wood is kiln-dried for about two weeks, leaving the hollow and empty. The large volume-to-surface ratio of the resulting thin-walled empty cells gives the wood a large strength-to-weight ratio because the cells are mostly air. Unlike naturally rotted wood, that soon disintegrates in the rainforests where balsa trees grow, however, it also is valued as a component of full-sized light wooden aeroplanes, most notably the World War II de Havilland Mosquito
25.
Terminalia superba
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Terminalia superba, the superb terminalia or limba, afara, korina, is a large tree in the family Combretaceae, native to tropical western Africa. It grows up to 60 m tall, with a domed or flat crown, the leaves are 10 cm long and 5 cm broad, and are deciduous in the dry season. The flowers are produced at the end of the dry season just before the new leaves, they are small and whitish, the fruit is a samara with two wings. The wood is either a light or with dark stripes hardwood, used for making furniture, table tennis blades, and musical instruments and prized for its workability and excellent colour and finish. The most well known example of its use in guitars is when Gibson produced their now highly sought-after Flying V, makers of table tennis blades choose limba, and in particular black limba for its flexibility and the idea that it enhances top spin play. Limba is used in some blades made by Stiga and OSP, when finished in a clear coat, white limba results in an attractive light golden colour. Contrary to popular belief, it is not rare and expensive due to overharvesting and this species is reportedly relatively secure, with little or no threat to its population within its natural growth range, according to the World Conservation Monitoring Center in 1992
26.
Cypress
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Cypress is the name applied to many plants in the cypress family Cupressaceae, which is a conifer of northern temperate regions. Most cypress species are trees, while a few are shrubs, the word cypress is derived from Old French cipres, which was imported from Latin cypressus the latinisation of the Greek κυπάρισσος. Species that are known as cypresses include, The Cupressaceae family also contains 13–16 other genera that do not bear cypress in their common names. Species of cypress with very low potential for causing allergies include, Austrocedrus females and Widdringtonia females
27.
Chamaecyparis obtusa
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Chamaecyparis obtusa is a species of cypress native to central Japan. It is a tree which grows to 35 m tall with a trunk up to 1 m in diameter. The leaves are scale-like, 2–4 mm long, blunt tipped, green above, the cones are globose, 8–12 mm diameter, with 8–12 scales arranged in opposite pairs. The related Chamaecyparis pisifera can be distinguished in its having pointed tips to the leaves. The plant is spread in Japan and it is grown for its very high quality timber in Japan, where it is used as a material for building palaces, temples, shrines, traditional noh theatres, baths, table tennis blades and masu. The wood is lemon-scented, light pinkish-brown, with a rich, straight grain, for example, Horyuji Temple and Osaka Castle are built from hinoki wood. The hinoki grown in Kiso, used for building Ise Shrine, are called 御神木 go-shin-boku divine tree and it is also a popular ornamental tree in parks and gardens, both in Japan and elsewhere in temperate climates, including western Europe and parts of North America. A large number of cultivars have been selected for planting, including dwarf forms, forms with yellow leaves. It is also grown as bonsai. Hinoki wood is used as a traditional Japanese stick incense for its light, hinoki pollen is a major cause of hay fever in Japan. Over 200 cultivars have been selected, varying in size from trees as large as the wild species, a few of the best known are, Crippsii makes a broad conic golden-green crown with a vigorous leading shoot, growing to 15–20 m or more tall. Flabelliformis is a dwarf growing with green leaves. Kosteri is a dwarf with brilliant green foliage, lycopodioides reaches up to 19 m tall, with somewhat fasciated foliage. Minima under 10 cm after 20 years with mid-green foliage, Nana Aurea has golden tips to the fans and a bronze tone in winter. Nana Gracilis has crowded fans of tiny branches producing richly textured effects, Nana Lutea A compact, slow-growing, golden yellow selection which has become very popular. A yellow counterpart to Nana gracilis, spiralis is an erect, stiff dwarf tree. Tempelhof which grows to 2–4 metres has a green-yellow foliage that turns bronze in winter, tetragona Aurea grows to around 18 m tall, with a narrow crown and irregular branching, the scale leaves in 4 equal ranks and branchlets tightly crowded, green and gold. The lignans chamaecypanones A and B, obtulignolide and isootobanone can be found in the heartwood of Chamaecyparis obtusa var. formosana, media related to Chamaecyparis obtusa at Wikimedia Commons
28.
Coin flipping
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Coin flipping, coin tossing, or heads or tails is the practice of throwing a coin in the air to choose between two alternatives, sometimes to resolve a dispute between two parties. It is a form of sortition which inherently has only two possible and equally likely outcomes, the historical origin of coin flipping is the interpretation of a chance outcome as the expression of divine will. Coin flipping as a game was known to the Romans as navia aut caput, as some coins had a ship on one side, in England, this game was referred to as cross and pile. The expression Heads or Tails results from heads and tails being considered opposite body parts, during a coin toss, the coin is thrown into the air such that it rotates edge-over-edge several times. Either beforehand or when the coin is in the air, an interested party calls heads or tails, the other party is assigned the opposite side. Depending on custom, the coin may be caught, caught and inverted, when the coin comes to rest, the toss is complete and the party who called correctly or was assigned the upper side is declared the winner. It is possible for a coin to land on its edge, however, even on a flat surface it is possible for a coin to land on its edge, with a chance of about 1 in 6000. Angular momentum typically prevents most coins from landing on their edges unsupported if flipped, such cases in which a coin does land on its edge are exceptionally rare and in most cases the coin is simply re-flipped. The coin may be any type as long as it has two sides, it need not be a circulating coin as such. Larger coins tend to be more popular than smaller ones, most high-profile coin tosses use custom-made ceremonial medallions. Three-way coin flips are also possible, by a different process – this can be either to choose two out of three, or to choose one out of three. To choose two out of three, three coins are flipped, and if two coins come up the same and one different, the different one loses, leaving two players. To choose one out of three, either reverse this, or add a regular two-way coin flip between the players as a second step. Note that the flip is 75% likely to work each time it is tried. A legacy of this coin flip was to reduce the use of coin flips to break ties in Texas sports, Coin tossing is a simple and unbiased way of settling a dispute or deciding between two or more arbitrary options. In a game theoretic analysis it provides even odds to both involved, requiring little effort and preventing the dispute from escalating into a struggle. Factors such as direction, the position of the sun. In team sports it is often the captain who makes the call, a competitive method may be used instead of a toss in some situations, for example in basketball the jump ball is employed, while the face-off plays a similar role in ice hockey
29.
Alexander Shibaev (table tennis)
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Alexander Igorevich Shibaev is a Russian table tennis player. He won the crown with Alexey Smirnov at the 2010 Slovenian Open. In 2011, he won a medal with Kirill Skachkov in the double event at the European Championships. His first appearance in a final on the ITTF World Tour was at the 2011 Polish Open. In 2012, he made it to the semifinals at the Japan Open by defeating Seiya Kishikawa, Koki Niwa and Joo Se-Hyuk consecutively
30.
Commonwealth Games
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The Commonwealth Games is an international multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946, the games are overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation, which also controls the sporting programme and selects the host cities. A host city is selected for each edition,18 cities in seven countries have hosted the event. Apart from many Olympic sports, the also include some sports that are played predominantly in Commonwealth countries, such as lawn bowls. Although there are 52 members of the Commonwealth of Nations,70 teams participate in the Commonwealth Games, the four Home Nations of the United Kingdom—England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland—also send separate teams. Only six countries have attended every Commonwealth Games, Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, Australia has been the highest achieving team for twelve games, England for seven, and Canada for one. The John Astley Cooper Committees worldwide helped Pierre de Coubertin to get his international Olympic Games off the ground, in 1911, the Festival of the Empire was held at The Crystal Palace in London to celebrate the coronation of George V. In 1928, Melville Marks Robinson of Canada was asked to organise the first British Empire Games, eleven national teams and four hundred competitors took part in six sports. Women competed in the events only. The opening and closing ceremonies as well as took place at Civic Stadium. The 1934 Games had originally been awarded to Johannesburg, but were given to London instead because of the potential for prejudiced treatment of black, seventeen national teams took part, including the Irish Free State. Once again, only six sports were featured in these particular Games, athletics took place at White City and three sports took place at Wembley, at the well established venue of the Empire Pool in Wembley Park, which later became Wembley Arena. The Empire Games flag was donated in 1931 by the British Empire Games Association of Canada, the year and location of subsequent games were added until the 1950 games. The name of the event was changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games. The first edition of the event was the 1930 British Empire Games in which 11 nations participated, the quadrennial schedule of the games was interrupted by the Second World War and the 1942 Games and the 1946 Games were abandoned. The games were revived in 1950 and underwent a name change four years later with the first British Empire, over 1,000 athletes participated in the 1958 Games as over thirty teams took part for the first time. The 1978 Games in Edmonton marked a new high as almost 1,500 athletes from 46 countries took part, the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia saw the sporting programme grow from 10 to 15 sports as team sports were allowed for the first time. Participation also reached new levels as over 3500 athletes represented 70 teams at the event, at the Games in Melbourne in 2006, over 4000 athletes took part in sporting competitions
31.
Dmitry Mazunov
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Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Mazunov is a Russian table tennis player. He won a medal, along with his brother Andrey Mazunov, in the mens doubles at the 1991 World Table Tennis Championships in Chiba, Japan. As of January 2010, Mazunov is ranked no.105 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation, Mazunov is a member of TTF Liebherr Ochenhausen in Ochsenhausen, Germany, and is coached and trained by Mikhail Nosov. He is also right-handed, and uses the attacking grip, Mazunov made his official debut, as a member of the Unified Team, at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where he competed in both the singles and doubles tournaments. In the mens doubles, Mazunov and his brother Andrey lost the match to South Koreas Kim Taek-Soo and Yoo Nam-Kyu. Representing Russia at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Mazunov lost the first round match of the singles to Belarus Vladimir Samsonov. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Mazunov teamed up with Alexei Smirnov in the doubles tournament. The Russian pair narrowly lost the medal to the Danish duo Michael Maze and Finn Tugwell. He joined with his fellow players Alexei Smirnov and Fedor Kuzmin for the mens team event. Mazunov and his team placed fourth in the pool round against Japan, Hong Kong. Dmitry Mazunov at the International Table Tennis Federation NBC Olympics Profile
32.
2013 World Table Tennis Championships
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The 2013 World Table Tennis Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from May 13 to May 20,2013. The Championships were the 52nd edition of the World Table Tennis Championships and these were the first Championships since 2003 in which China did not win all five competitions and the first since 1993 in which they won fewer than four gold medals. Chinas ten-Championships long streak of mens doubles titles came to an end as Chuang Chih-yuan, chinas eleven-Championships long streak of mixed doubles titles came to an end as Kim Hyok-Bong and Kim Jong of North Korea beat a South Korean team in the finals. However, China did have the top four finishers in both the mens and womens singles and won 14 of 20 medals overall. Zhang Jike took the title, marking his fourth consecutive World or Olympic first-place finish. Li also teamed up with Guo Yue to win the doubles title for China. As a result, Paris was selected as the host city, the decision was announced by ITTF in May 2010. The tournament was held at the 12,000 seat Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, five different events were contested at the Championships. Qualification rounds were held from May 13 to 14, entering the 2013 World Table Tennis Championship, China had not lost a single event since 2003 when Werner Schlager of Austria won the mens singles. Both mens semi-finals featured a matchup of two highly ranked Chinese players, in the first, the fourth-seed Zhang Jike dominated the world number-one Xu Xin in a victory of four sets to none. In the other semi-final, the third-seed Wang Hao triumphed four sets to two over the second-ranked Ma Long, in the mens singles final, Zhang Jike beat his countryman Wang Hao 4–2 to claim his fourth straight major title. Zhang won the first set 11–7 and the second 11–8, Wang bounced back to take the third set 11–6. He continued his surge in the set, taking an early lead. However, Zhang maintained his composure, saving 4 setpoints, Wang took the fifth set 11–5 to stay alive in the best of seven match, before Zhang finished the match with an 11–7 fifth set, winning six points in a row at the end. The victorious Zhang threw his shirt into the crowd and run into the stands to celebrate with his parents who had never attended a world competition event before and my parents had always wanted to watch me play during major world competitions, but I refused. This time I asked them to come here, he explained, Zhang had previously won the 2011 World Cup and 2012 Olympic Games, both also over Wang, as well as the 2011 World Championships. He has never lost to Wang in international competition, after the match, Wang announced it was his last World Championships, as he plans to retire in the near future. In mens doubles, Chuang Chih-yuan and Chen Chien-an captured Chinese Taipeis first ever gold medal, the duo topped Ma Lin and Hao Shuai of China four sets to two
33.
Writing implement
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A writing implement or writing instrument is an object used to produce writing. Another writing implement employed by a population, is the stylus used by blind users in conjunction with the slate for punching out the dots in Braille. These have an inherent functionality in that their useful life corresponds to the length of their existence, i. e. they cannot run out. The oldest known examples were created by incising a flat surface with a tool rather than applying pigment with a secondary object. The clay tablets were then baked to harden them and permanently preserve the marks, the Romans used lead styli with wax tablets which could be erased by rubbing the beeswax surface smooth again. In the modern era, hand held computers and certain other computer input devices use a stylus to enter information onto a screen by applying pressure rather than by depositing pigment. The concept has been revived in recent times as the core of the inkless pen, white chalk has been traditionally used in schoolrooms to write on a main blackboard at the front of the room. In the 19th century, and indeed well into the 20th century, both pencils and chalk exist in variants which can create marks in other colors, but colored pencils and colored chalk are generally considered to be art supplies rather than writing instruments. Similarly, although very young children may use colorful wax crayons to write words into their pictures, writing is not considered to be the primary use of crayons. A wax pencil resembles both a crayon and a pencil in that it contains a brightly colored wax core within a paper casing. Wax pencils are used to write onto nonporous surfaces such as porcelain or glass. Normal pencils, chalk, and crayons all share the characteristic that they run out. The useful life of these implements is closely linked to their physical existence, however, specialized accessories such as pencil sharpeners may be required to reshape the working end of the pigment core or to remove the outer casing from around the tip. These require the presence of a pigment in order to write. The pen is the most common form of writing implement and it has a hard tip which applies ink to a surface. Initially, pens were made by slicing a suitable nib point from the end of a thin, however, these ink reservoirs were relatively small, requiring the pen to be periodically dipped back into an external inkwell for replenishing. Reed pens were used by the ancient Egyptians to write on papyrus, the most common quills were taken from the wings of geese or ravens, although the feathers of swans and peacocks were sometimes favored for prestige. A dip pen has a steel nib and a pen-holder and they can be used with most types of ink, some of which are incompatible with other types of pen
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East Asia
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East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent, which can be defined in either geographical or ethno-cultural terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it includes China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, it covers about 12,000,000 km2, or about 28% of the Asian continent, the East Asian people comprise more than 1.5 billion people. About 38% of the population of Asia and 22%, or over one fifth, the overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre, about three times the world average of 45/km2. Historically, societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, major religions include Buddhism, Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in China and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, Korean shamanism in Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent among Mongolians and other populations of northern East Asia. The Chinese calendar is the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived, Chinese Dynasties dominated the region in matters of culture, trade, and exploration as well as militarily for a very long time. There are records of tributes sent overseas from the kingdoms of Korea. There were also considerable levels of cultural and religious exchange between the Chinese and other regional Dynasties and Kingdoms, as connections began to strengthen with the Western world, Chinas power began to diminish. Around the same time, Japan solidified itself as a nation state, throughout World War II, Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam all fell under Japanese control. Culturally, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia, there are mixed debates around the world whether these countries or regions should be considered in East Asia or not. Vietnam Siberia in Russia Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, however, in this context, the term Far East is often more appropriate which covers ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term Asia Pacific Region is often used in describing East Asia and this usage, which is seen in economic and diplomatic discussions, is at odds with the historical meanings of both East Asia and Northeast Asia. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea, the military and economic superpower of China became the largest economy in the world in 2014, surpassing the United States of America. Currently in East Asia, trading systems are open, and zero or low duties on imports of consumer and capital goods etc. have considerably helped stimulate cost-efficiency. Free and flexible labor and other markets are important factors making for high levels of business-economic performance. East Asian populations have demonstrated highly positive work ethics, there are relatively large and fast-growing markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds. The culture of East Asia has been influenced by the civilisation of China, East Asia, as well as Vietnam, share a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, and historically a common writing system
35.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
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Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
37.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
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Chinese people
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The Han Chinese, Han people or simply Han are an ethnic group native to East Asia. They constitute approximately 92% of the population of China, 95% of Taiwan, 76% of Singapore, 23% of Malaysia, Han Chinese are the worlds largest ethnic group with over 1.3 billion people. Similarly, the Chinese language also came to be named the Han language ever since, in the Oxford Dictionary, the Han are defined as The dominant ethnic group in China. In the Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania, the Han are called the dominant population in China, as well as in Taiwan, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the Han are the Chinese peoples especially as distinguished from non-Chinese elements in the population. The name Hanzhong, in turn, was derived from the Han River, which flows through the regions plains. The river, in turn, derives its name from such as Tianhan, Yinhan, Xinghan or Yunhan, all ancient Chinese poetic nicknames for the Milky Way. This gave rise to a commonly used nowadays by overseas Chinese for ethnic identity – Huaren. The term is used in conversation and is also an element in the Cantonese word for Chinatown. The vast majority of Han Chinese – over 1.2 billion of them – live in areas under the jurisdiction of the Peoples Republic of China, where they constitute about 92% of its population. Han Chinese also constitute the majority in both of the administrative regions of the PRC—about 95% and 96% of the population of Hong Kong and Macau. There are over 22 million Han Chinese in Taiwan, they began migrating from the coastal provinces of mainland China to Taiwan during the 13th to 17th century. At first, these migrants chose to settle in locations that bore a resemblance to the areas they had left behind in mainland China, hoklo immigrants from Quanzhou settled in coastal regions, and those from Zhangzhou tended to gather on inland plains, while the Hakka inhabited hilly areas. Clashes between these groups over land, water, and cultural differences led to the relocation of some communities, of about 40 million overseas Chinese worldwide, nearly 30 million live in Southeast Asia. They are collectively called Nanyang Chinese, according to a population genetic study, Singapore is the country with the biggest proportion of Hans in Southeast Asia. Up until the past few decades, overseas Han communities originated predominantly from areas in southern China, christmas Island has a Chinese majority at 70%, large Chinese populations also live in Malaysia and Thailand. Prior to the 1965 split, Malaysia and Singapore used to have the largest overseas Chinese population in the world and this position has since been taken by Thailand. The prehistory of the Han ethnic group is closely intertwined with both records and mythology. Han Chinese trace their ancestry from a confederation of late neolithic/early bronze-age agricultural tribes that lived along the Guanzhong, the Yellow Emperor is traditionally credited to have united with the neighbouring Shennong tribes after defeating their leader, Flame Emperor, at the Battle of Banquan
39.
Grip (tennis)
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In tennis, a grip is a way of holding the racquet in order to hit shots during a match. The three most commonly used conventional grips are, the Continental, the Eastern and the Western, most players change grips during a match depending on what shot they are hitting. In order to understand the grips, it is important to know that the handle of a racquet always consists of 8 sides or, a square shape would hurt the hand, while a round shape would not give enough friction to gain a firm grip. The eight sides of the handle are called bevels and we can number the bevels from 1 to 8 as follows, if the blade of the racquet is perpendicular to the ground, the bevel facing up is bevel #1. Rotating the racquet counter-clockwise, the bevel facing up is bevel #2, if you are right-handed, and clockwise if you are left-handed. The Continental grip, also called the Chopper grip or Hammer grip, is obtained when placing the hand such that the base knuckle of the finger is right on bevel #2. It is naturally obtained when holding the racket as if it were an axe, the Continental grip is suitable for a variety of shots and therefore is often taught to absolute beginners, so that they should not bother changing grips while learning the basics of the game. This type of grip is useful for quick volleys and strokes near the net. Since modern tennis, especially clay-court tennis, has shown an evolution towards topspin and it is still the preferred grip for serves and volleys. Additionally, the grip is used for some defensive strategies, such as chipping and blocking shots, moreover, the grip can be used offensively to hit a drop shot, which puts extreme backward spin on the ball. The rest of the strike a balance between high spin capacity on the one hand, and power on the other. The Eastern Forehand grip is obtained when placing the hand such that the base knuckle of the finger is right on bevel #3. The Eastern Forehand grip allows for fast, flat shots on the forehand, net players like it because it easily changes to the continental grip for volleys. It offers little control at high balls, and there is not enough control to sustain long rallies and it is also known as the shake hands grip. The Semi-Western grip is obtained by placing the hand such that the base knuckle of the finger is right on bevel #4. This racquet grip is popular with baseliners who like to hit with much topspin and it gets more hand behind the grip, causing shots to result with more ferocity, and provides a contact point much farther out front. This grip is used for applying extreme topspin, but is hard to play. Low balls are extremely difficult to return, the basic Two-Handed Forehand grip, is obtained by holding the racquet in a regular Continental grip, then placing the left hand above holding it in a left-handed Semi-Western Forehand grip
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