1.
Bologna
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Bologna is the largest city of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy, located in the heart of an area of about one million. The first settlements back to at least 1000 BC. The city has been a centre, first under the Etruscans. Home to the oldest university in the world, University of Bologna, founded in 1088, Bologna is also an important transportation crossroad for the roads and trains of Northern Italy, where many important mechanical, electronic and nutritional industries have their headquarters. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city, Bologna is home to numerous prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions as well as one of the most impressive trade fair districts in Europe. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, the city of Bologna was selected to participate in the Universal Exposition of Shanghai 2010 together with 45 other cities from around the world. Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country, after a long decline, Bologna was reborn in the 5th century under Bishop Petronius. According to legend, St. Petronius built the church of S. Stefano. After the fall of Rome, Bologna was a stronghold of the Exarchate of Ravenna in the Po plain. In 728, the city was captured by the Lombard king Liutprand, the Germanic conquerors formed a district called addizione longobarda near the complex of S. Stefano. Charlemagne stayed in this district in 786, traditionally said to be founded in 1088, the University of Bologna is widely considered to be the first university. The university originated as a centre of study of medieval Roman law under major glossators. It numbered Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarca among its students, the medical school is especially famous. In the 12th century, the families engaged in continual internecine fighting. Troops of Pope Julius II besieged Bologna and sacked the artistic treasures of his palace, in 1530, in front of Saint Petronio Church, Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII. Then a plague at the end of the 16th century reduced the population from 72,000 to 59,000, the population later recovered to a stable 60, 000–65,000. However, there was also great progress during this era, in 1564, the Piazza del Nettuno and the Palazzo dei Banchi were built, along with the Archiginnasio, the centre of the University
2.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
3.
Italian language
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By most measures, Italian, together with Sardinian, is the closest to Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is a language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City. Italian is spoken by minorities in places such as France, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Crimea and Tunisia and by large expatriate communities in the Americas. Many speakers are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages, Italian is the fourth most studied language in the world. Italian is a major European language, being one of the languages of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. It is the third most widely spoken first language in the European Union with 65 million native speakers, including Italian speakers in non-EU European countries and on other continents, the total number of speakers is around 85 million. Italian is the working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy as well as the official language of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Italian is known as the language of music because of its use in musical terminology and its influence is also widespread in the arts and in the luxury goods market. Italian has been reported as the fourth or fifth most frequently taught foreign language in the world, Italian was adopted by the state after the Unification of Italy, having previously been a literary language based on Tuscan as spoken mostly by the upper class of Florentine society. Its development was influenced by other Italian languages and to some minor extent. Its vowels are the second-closest to Latin after Sardinian, unlike most other Romance languages, Italian retains Latins contrast between short and long consonants. As in most Romance languages, stress is distinctive, however, Italian as a language used in Italy and some surrounding regions has a longer history. What would come to be thought of as Italian was first formalized in the early 14th century through the works of Tuscan writer Dante Alighieri, written in his native Florentine. Dante is still credited with standardizing the Italian language, and thus the dialect of Florence became the basis for what would become the language of Italy. Italian was also one of the recognised languages in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Italy has always had a dialect for each city, because the cities. Those dialects now have considerable variety, as Tuscan-derived Italian came to be used throughout Italy, features of local speech were naturally adopted, producing various versions of Regional Italian. Even in the case of Northern Italian languages, however, scholars are not to overstate the effects of outsiders on the natural indigenous developments of the languages
4.
Towers of Bologna
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The Towers of Bologna are a group of medieval structures in Bologna, Italy. The two most prominent ones, known as the Two Towers, are the landmark of the city, between the 12th and the 13th century, the number of towers in the city was very high, possibly up to 180. The reasons for the construction of so many towers are not clear, one hypothesis is that the richest families used them for offensive/defensive purposes during the period of the Investiture Controversy. Besides the towers, one can see some fortified gateways that correspond to the gates of the 12th-century city wall. During the 13th century, many towers were taken down or demolished, many towers have subsequently been utilized in one way or the other, as prison, city tower, shop or residential building. The last demolitions took place during the 20th century, according to an ambitious, the Artenisi Tower and the Riccadonna Tower at the Mercato di mezzo were demolished in 1917. Of the numerous towers originally present, fewer than twenty can still be seen today, the construction of the towers was quite onerous, the usage of serfs notwithstanding. To build a tower with a height of 60 m would have required between three and 10 years of work. Each tower had a square cross-section with foundations between five and ten meters deep, reinforced by poles hammered into the ground and covered with pebble, the towers base was made of big blocks of selenite stone. Usually, some holes were left in the wall as well as bigger hollows in the selenite to support scaffoldings and to allow for later coverings and constructions. He based his analysis mostly on the archives of real estate deeds. His approach resulted in the number of 180 towers, an enormous amount considering the size. More recent estimates reduced therefore the number to a total between 80 and 100, where not all existed at the same time. They are located at the intersection of the roads lead to the five gates of the old ring wall. It was located at the site of the early medieval Gate to the Via Emilia, the taller tower is called the Asinelli while the smaller but more leaning tower is called the Garisenda. Le torri di Bologna, quando e perché sorsero, come vennero costruite, chi le innalzò, come scomparvero, associazione Guglielmo Marconi, Le due Torri Google Map view of the two towers
5.
Giovanni Visconti (archbishop of Milan)
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Giovanni Visconti was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, who was co-ruler in Milan and lord of other Italian cities. He also was a leader who fought against Florence, and used force to capture. He was the son of Matteo I Visconti and Bonacossa Borri, Giovanni Visconti was elected archbishop by the Capitol of Milan in 1317, but Pope John XXII refused to confirm the election and instead raised Aircardus from Comodeia to that position. In 1323 John excommunicated him with an accusation of heresy, and Visconti found an ally in the antipope Nicholas V, who give him the title of cardinal. In 1331 he became bishop and lord of Novara, and in 1339, after Aicardus death, he triumphantly entered Milan, officially, he thus was Archbishop of Milan from 1342 to 1354. Together with his brother Luchino, Visconti bought from the Pope the title of co-ruler of Milan, after Luchinos death, he associated in the lordship the sons of his other brother, Stefano, who were Matteo II, Bernabò and Galeazzo II. The year after Luchino Viscontis death in 1349, and with the approval of his relations, Giovanni Visconti assumed full lordship of Milan and began consolidating power in Lombardy and beyond. The same year,1350, he obtained lordship over Bologna and placed in nephew, Bernabò, afraid of his growing strength, in 1350 Florence organized a conference in Arezzo with a papal legate and representatives of other cities to form an alliance against Milan. Aware of these moves against him, Giovanni Visconti cultivated affection and alliance with the Ghibellines of Tuscany, after the death of Mastino II della Scala of Verona, who had been hostile to the Archbishop, he gained the friendship of Mastino’s son, Cangrande II della Scala. In 1351, he sent troops from Milan and Bologna, and from allies in Faenza and Forlì, all led by Bernabò, with war occurring in the Romagna region, Giovanni Visconti was able to lull the Florentines into believing that he had no intentions towards them. However, he then had many leading Bolognese citizens arrested and tortured and he used this as a justification of war against Florence and the Guelphs of Tuscany. In 1352, Giovanni Visconti became lord of Genoa, and in the following year, in 1353, Petrarch visited as his guest. Giovanni Visconti died 5 October 1354
6.
Milan
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Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
7.
House of Visconti
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Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families, the first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, the second rose to power in Milan, where they ruled from 1277 to 1447 and where several collateral branches still exist. Pope Gregory X, who reigned from 1271 to 1276, was a member of the House of Visconti, the renowned director Luchino Visconti is a scion of this latter family. This symbol is closely connected with Milan. Any link between the two families in Pisa-Gallura and Milan has yet to be proven, the first Visconti of note in Pisa was Alberto, who bore the title patrician. Albertos son, Eldizio, bore the titles patrician and consul from 1184 to 1185 and it was Eldizios sons, Lamberto and Ubaldo I, who brought the family to the height of its influence in Pisa and Sardinia. Both of them carried the title of patrician and each served a term as podestà, in 1212 various factions, pro- and anti-Visconti clashed for control over Pisa. In mid-January 1213, William I of Cagliari led a coalition of forces to victory in battle near Massa over the combined forces of Lucca. Afterward, Pisa divided power between four rectores, one of which was a Visconti, the Visconti of Sardinia continued to take a part in Pisan politics to the end of the century, but their influence there was greatly diminished after 1213. In Sardinia Eldizio had married a daughter of Torchitorio III of Cagliari, in 1207, Lamberto married Elena, the heiress of Barisone II of Gallura, thus securing control over the northeastern corner of Sardinia with his capital at Civita. In 1215, he and Ubaldo established their hegemony over the Giudicato of Cagliari in the south of the island as well, through advantageous marriages, Lambertos son, Ubaldo II, secured power in Logudoro for a time. By mid century, Pisan authority was unopposed in Sardinia thanks to intermarriages between the Visconti family and the great families of Pisa and Sardinia. Lambert Ubaldo John Nino his wife Beatrice dEste married secondly on 24 June 1300 to Galeazzo I Visconti, Lord of Milan. Joanna stepsister of Azzone Visconti of the Milan line The effective founder of the Visconti of Milan, Ottone, the family loved to claim legendary versions about its origins, while established facts reflect quite sober and almost humble beginnings. The branch of the Visconti family that came to rule Milan was originally entrusted with the lordship of Massino, a village above Lago Maggiore, which they controlled from the twelfth century. It is said that the Milanese Visconti had their origins in a family of capitanei whom archbishop Landulf of Milan had granted certain feudal holdings known as caput plebis. A document from the year 1157 says the Visconti were holders of the captaincy of Marliano, decades before that, before 1070, they had gained the title of viscount to be later inherited down the male line. The Visconti ruled Milan until the early Renaissance, first as Lords, then, from 1395, with the mighty Gian Galeazzo who endeavored to unify Northern Italy and Tuscany, Visconti rule in Milan ended with the death of Filippo Maria Visconti in 1447
8.
Lightning rod
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Lightning rods are also called finials, air terminals or strike termination devices. In a lightning protection system, a rod is a single component of the system. The lightning rod requires a connection to earth to perform its protective function, copper and its alloys are the most common materials used in lightning protection. As buildings become taller, lightning becomes more of a threat, a lightning conductor may have been intentionally used in the Leaning Tower of Nevyansk. The spire of the tower is crowned with a rod in the shape of a gilded sphere with spikes. This lightning rod is grounded through the rebar carcass, which pierces the entire building, the Nevyansk Tower was built between 1721 and 1745, on the orders of industrialist Akinfiy Demidov. The Nevyansk Tower was built 28 years before Benjamin Franklins experiment, however, the true intent behind the metal rooftop and rebars remains unknown. The church tower of many European cities, which was usually the highest structure in the city, was likely to be hit by lightning, Early on, Christian churches tried to prevent the occurrence of the damaging effects of lightning by prayers. Peter Ahlwardts advised individuals seeking cover from lightning to go anywhere except in or around a church, divišs apparatus was, according to his private theories, aimed towards preventing thunderstorms altogether by constantly depriving the air of its superfluous electricity. The apparatus was, however, mounted on a pole and probably better grounded than Franklins lightning rods at that time. After local protests, Diviš had to cease his weather experiments around 1760, although not the first to suggest a correlation between electricity and lightning, Franklin was the first to propose a workable system for testing his hypothesis. Franklin speculated that, with an iron rod sharpened to a point, The electrical fire would, I think, be out of a cloud silently. Franklin speculated about lightning rods for several years before his reported kite experiment and this experiment, it is said, took place because he was tired of waiting for Christ Church in Philadelphia to be completed so he could place a lightning rod on top of it. In the 19th century, the lightning rod became a decorative motif, Lightning rods were embellished with ornamental glass balls. The ornamental appeal of these balls has been used in weather vanes. The main purpose of these balls, however, is to provide evidence of a strike by shattering or falling off. If after a storm a ball is discovered missing or broken, the property owner should then check the building, rod, balls of solid glass occasionally were used in a method purported to prevent lightning strikes to ships and other objects. The idea was that objects, being non-conductors, are seldom struck by lightning
9.
Arson
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Arson is a crime of intentionally, deliberately and maliciously setting fire to buildings, wildland areas, abandoned homes, vehicles or other property with the intent to cause damage. It may be distinguished from other such as spontaneous combustion, accidental fires. Arson often involves fires deliberately set to the property of another or to own property in order to collect insurance compensation. A person who commits this crime is called an arsonist, more often than not, arsonists use accelerants to ignite, propel and directionalize fires. It is not required that the defendant acted intentionally or willfully for the purpose of burning a dwelling, burning – at common law charring to any part of dwelling was sufficient to satisfy this element. No significant amount of damage to the dwelling was required, any injury or damage to the structure caused by exposure to heat or flame is sufficient. Of the dwelling – dwelling refers to a place of residence, the destruction of an unoccupied building was not considered arson, since arson protected habitation, the burning of an unoccupied house did not constitute arson. Dwelling includes structures and outbuildings within the curtilage, dwellings were not limited to houses. A barn could be the subject of arson if it was occupied as a dwelling, moreover, for purposes of common law arson, possession or occupancy rather than title determines whose dwelling the structure is. Thus a tenant who sets fire to his house would not be guilty of common law arson. In many states, arson is divided into degrees, depending sometimes on the value of the property but more commonly on its use, first-degree arson – The act in which the arsonist sets fire to an occupied domain or building such as a school. Second-degree arson – The act in which the arsonist sets fire to a building such as an empty barn. Third-degree arson – The act in which the arsonist sets fire to a building or an abandoned area of space such as a field. Many statutes vary the degree of the according to the criminal intent of the accused. In the United States, the common law elements of arson are often varied in different jurisdictions, for example, the element of dwelling is no longer required in most states, and arson occurs by the burning of any real property without consent or with unlawful intent. Arson is prosecuted with attention to degree of severity in the alleged offense, first degree arson generally occurs when persons are harmed or killed in the course of the fire, while second degree arson occurs when significant destruction of property occurs. While usually a felony, arson may also be prosecuted as a misdemeanor, criminal mischief, burglary also occurs, if the arson involved a breaking and entering. A person may be sentenced to death if arson occurred as a method of homicide, as was the case in California of Raymond Lee Oyler, in New York, arson is charged in five degrees
10.
Giovanni Battista Riccioli
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Giovanni Battista Riccioli was an Italian astronomer and a Catholic priest in the Jesuit order. Riccioli was born in Ferrara, Italy and he entered the Society of Jesus on 6 October 1614. After completing his novitiate, he study of the humanities in 1616, pursuing those studies first at Ferrara. From 1620 to 1628 he studied philosophy and theology at the College of Parma, Parma Jesuits had developed a strong program of experimentation, such as with falling bodies. One of the most famous Italian Jesuits of the time, Giuseppe Biancani, was teaching at Parma when Riccioli arrived there, Riccioli mentions him with gratitude and admiration. By 1628 Ricciolis studies were complete and he requested missionary work, but that request was turned down. Instead he was assigned to teach at Parma, there he taught logic, physics, and metaphysics from 1629 to 1632, and engaged in some experiments with falling bodies and pendulums. In 1632 he became a member of a group charged with the formation of younger Jesuits and he spent the 1633-1634 academic year in Mantua, where he collaborated with Niccolo Cabeo in further pendulum studies. In 1635 he was back at Parma, where he taught theology, in 1636 he was sent to Bologna to serve as Professor of theology. Riccioli described himself as a theologian, but one with a strong and ongoing interest in astronomy since his student days and he said that many Jesuits were theologians, but few were astronomers. He said that once the enthusiasm for astronomy arose within him he could never extinguish it, eventually his superiors in the Jesuit order officially assigned him to the task of astronomical research. However, he continued to write on theology. Riccioli dealt not only with astronomy in his research, but also with physics, arithmetic, geometry, optics, gnomonics, geography and he was awarded a prize by Louis XIV in recognition of his activities and their relevance to contemporary culture. Riccioli continued to publish on both astronomy and theology up to his death and he died in Bologna at 73 years of age. One of Ricciolis most significant works was his 1651 Almagestum Novum, a work consisting of over 1500 folio pages densely packed with text, tables. Riccioli envisioned that the New Almagest would have three volumes, but only the first was completed, Riccioli is credited with being the first person to precisely measure the acceleration due to gravity of falling bodies. Books 2 and 9 of the New Almagest Riccioli included a significant discussion of and extensive experimental reports on the motions of falling bodies and he was interested in the pendulum as a device for precisely measuring time. He also reported that a pendulums period increases if the amplitude of its swing is increased to 40 degrees and he sought to develop a pendulum whose period was precisely one second – such a pendulum would complete 86,400 swings in a 24-hour period
11.
Giovanni Battista Guglielmini
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Giovanni Battista Guglielmini was an Italian physicist. Guglielminis experiments take place in the list of experiments by scientists to demonstrate the Earths rotation experimentally, Guglielmini was born at Bologna, received the tonsure in early youth and was a secular priest. His career in the Church is unknown, he died single, a protégé of Cardinal Ignazio Boncompagni, he pursued higher studies, and graduated in philosophy, in 1787, at the age of 24. In 1789 Guglielmini published his first treatise, Riflessioni sopra un nuovo esperimento in prova del diurno moto della terra, the experiments were made in the Asinelli tower of Bologna, famous from former experiments of Riccioli on the laws of falling bodies. The book bears the imprimatur of the Holy Office at Bologna, sixteen balls were dropped from a height of 241 feet, between June and September,1791, and the plumb-line fixed in February,1792, all during the night, to minimize the effects of road traffic. The mean deviations towards east and south proved to be 8.4 and 5.3 respectively, however, the tangential force that was applied to the body was known since Newton due to the rotation motion of the earth. Guglielmini therefore contributed to the understanding of the Earths rotation, gauss and Laplace to develop the correct theory of relative motion. In 1794, Guglielmini was nominated professor of mathematics at the University of Bologna, in 1801, he also filled the chair of astronomy. In 1802 Napoleon named him to the newly created chair of introduction to infinitesimal calculus, during the scholastic year 1814-15, he officiated as rector of the University. From about 1802 until 1810, Guglielmini was put in charge of the waterworks of Bologna. Guglielmini was a member of the Accademia Benedettina, of the Regio Istituto Italiano and was Elettore del Collegio dei Dotti and he was of frail health, and died at the age of 54 in his home town of Bologna. In 1837, the city ordered a marble bust of him to be erected in the pantheon of the cemetery, hathiTrust’s digitization The first version of this article was taken from, Herbermann, Charles, ed. Catholic Encyclopedia, which cites, Repertorio di tutti i professori… della famosa Università e del celebre Istituto delle scienze di Bologna, versuche über die Umdrehung der Erde, p.10, Bötticher,1845 Fallexperimente zum Nachweis der Erdrotation. German Wikipedia Extensive bibliography of Guglielmini and literature about him, in, Luigi Pepe, Dizionario biografico degli Italiani, vol.60
12.
Gravity
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Gravity, or gravitation, is a natural phenomenon by which all things with mass are brought toward one another, including planets, stars and galaxies. Since energy and mass are equivalent, all forms of energy, including light, on Earth, gravity gives weight to physical objects and causes the ocean tides. Gravity has a range, although its effects become increasingly weaker on farther objects. The most extreme example of this curvature of spacetime is a hole, from which nothing can escape once past its event horizon. More gravity results in time dilation, where time lapses more slowly at a lower gravitational potential. Gravity is the weakest of the four fundamental interactions of nature, the gravitational attraction is approximately 1038 times weaker than the strong force,1036 times weaker than the electromagnetic force and 1029 times weaker than the weak force. As a consequence, gravity has an influence on the behavior of subatomic particles. On the other hand, gravity is the dominant interaction at the macroscopic scale, for this reason, in part, pursuit of a theory of everything, the merging of the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics into quantum gravity, has become an area of research. While the modern European thinkers are credited with development of gravitational theory, some of the earliest descriptions came from early mathematician-astronomers, such as Aryabhata, who had identified the force of gravity to explain why objects do not fall out when the Earth rotates. Later, the works of Brahmagupta referred to the presence of force, described it as an attractive force. Modern work on gravitational theory began with the work of Galileo Galilei in the late 16th and this was a major departure from Aristotles belief that heavier objects have a higher gravitational acceleration. Galileo postulated air resistance as the reason that objects with less mass may fall slower in an atmosphere, galileos work set the stage for the formulation of Newtons theory of gravity. In 1687, English mathematician Sir Isaac Newton published Principia, which hypothesizes the inverse-square law of universal gravitation. Newtons theory enjoyed its greatest success when it was used to predict the existence of Neptune based on motions of Uranus that could not be accounted for by the actions of the other planets. Calculations by both John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrier predicted the position of the planet. A discrepancy in Mercurys orbit pointed out flaws in Newtons theory, the issue was resolved in 1915 by Albert Einsteins new theory of general relativity, which accounted for the small discrepancy in Mercurys orbit. The simplest way to test the equivalence principle is to drop two objects of different masses or compositions in a vacuum and see whether they hit the ground at the same time. Such experiments demonstrate that all objects fall at the rate when other forces are negligible
13.
Earth's rotation
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Earths rotation is the rotation of the planet Earth around its own axis. The Earth rotates from the west towards east, as viewed from North Star or polestar Polaris, the Earth turns counter-clockwise. The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earths axis of rotation meets its surface and this point is distinct from the Earths North Magnetic Pole. The South Pole is the point where the Earths axis of rotation intersects its surface. The Earth rotates once in about 24 hours with respect to the sun, Earths rotation is slowing slightly with time, thus, a day was shorter in the past. This is due to the effects the Moon has on Earths rotation. Atomic clocks show that a modern-day is longer by about 1.7 milliseconds than a century ago, analysis of historical astronomical records shows a slowing trend of 2.3 milliseconds per century since the 8th century BCE. Among the ancient Greeks, several of the Pythagorean school believed in the rotation of the rather than the apparent diurnal rotation of the heavens. Perhaps the first was Philolaus, though his system was complicated, in the third century BCE, Aristarchus of Samos suggested the suns central place. However, Aristotle in the fourth century criticized the ideas of Philolaus as being based on rather than observation. He established the idea of a sphere of fixed stars that rotated about the earth and this was accepted by most of those who came after, in particular Claudius Ptolemy, who thought the earth would be devastated by gales if it rotated. In the 10th century, some Muslim astronomers accepted that the Earth rotates around its axis, treatises were written to discuss its possibility, either as refutations or expressing doubts about Ptolemys arguments against it. At the Maragha and Samarkand observatories, the Earths rotation was discussed by Tusi and Qushji, in medieval Europe, Thomas Aquinas accepted Aristotles view and so, reluctantly, did John Buridan and Nicole Oresme in the fourteenth century. Not until Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543 adopted a heliocentric world system did the earths rotation begin to be established, Copernicus pointed out that if the movement of the earth is violent, then the movement of the stars must be very much more so. He acknowledged the contribution of the Pythagoreans and pointed to examples of relative motion, for Copernicus this was the first step in establishing the simpler pattern of planets circling a central sun. Tycho Brahe, who produced accurate observations on which Kepler based his laws, in 1600, William Gilbert strongly supported the earths rotation in his treatise on the earths magnetism and thereby influenced many of his contemporaries. Those like Gilbert who did not openly support or reject the motion of the earth about the sun are often called semi-Copernicans, however, the contributions of Kepler, Galileo and Newton gathered support for the theory of the rotation of the Earth. The earths rotation implies that the bulges and the poles are flattened
14.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
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RAI
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RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S. p. A. is Italys national public broadcasting company, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many DVB and Sat television channels and radio stations, broadcasting via digital terrestrial transmission and it is the biggest television broadcaster in Italy and competes with Mediaset, and other minor television and radio networks. RAI has a high television audience share of 33. 8%. Sometimes Rai 1 was received even further in Europe via Sporadic E until the switch off in July 2012. Half of RAIs revenues come from broadcast receiving licence fees, the rest from the sale of advertising time, in 1950, RAI became one of the 23 founding broadcasting organizations of the European Broadcasting Union. The Unione Radiofonica Italiana was formed in 1924 with the backing of the Marconi Company following a model adopted in other European countries, URI made its inaugural broadcast — a speech by Benito Mussolini at Teatro Costanzi — on 5 October. Regular programming began the evening, with a quartet performing Haydns Quartet No.7 in A major from the Palazzo Corradi. At 21.00 CET, Ines Donarelli Viviani announced for the first time, to all those who are listening our greetings, good evening. Guglielmo Marconis S. A. Radiofono—Società Italiana per le Radiocomunicazioni Circolari held 85% of URI shares, under the provisions of Royal Decree No.2191 of 14 October 1924 Concessione dei servizi radioauditivi circolari alla Società Anonima Unione Radiofonica Italiana. During the reconstruction following World War II, much of RAIs early programming was influenced by the Reithian style of the BBC, the emphasis was on educational content. Programs like Non è mai troppo tardi and Un viaggio al Po introduced people to life was like in other parts of the country. Over the following years RAI made various changes to its services, Rai reorganized its radio stations in November 1946 into two national networks, Rete Rossa and Rete Azzurra. Rai added the culture-based Terzo Programma in October 1950, on 1 January 1952 the Rete Rossa became the Programma Nazionale and the Rete Azzurra became the Secondo Programma. The three radio channels eventually became todays Rai Radio 1, Rai Radio 2, and Rai Radio 3. On 3 January at 11.00 CET, the first RAI television announcer presented the days schedule, at 14.30, the first regular programme in Italian television history was broadcast, Arrivi e partenze, hosted by Armando Pizzo and Mike Bongiorno. The evenings entertainment was a performance, Losteria della posta. 23.15 saw the start of the days concluding programme, RAI was originally the subsidiary of RAI Holding S. p. A. RAI Holding was absorbed into RAI as of 1 December 2004, RAI is governed by a nine-member Administrative Council
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Minoru Yamasaki
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Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century and he and fellow architect Edward Durell Stone are generally considered to be the two master practitioners of New Formalism. Yamasaki was born in Seattle, Washington, a second-generation Japanese American, son of John Tsunejiro Yamasaki and he grew up in the slums of that city and was bullied for his ethnicity. The family moved to Auburn, Washington and he graduated from Garfield Senior High School in Seattle and he enrolled in the University of Washington program in architecture in 1929, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture in 1934. During his college years, he was encouraged by faculty member Lionel Pries. He earned money to pay for his tuition by working at an Alaskan salmon cannery, in 1945, Yamasaki moved to Detroit, where he was hired by Smith, Hinchman & Grylls. The firm helped Yamasaki avoid internment as a Japanese-American during World War II, Yamasaki left the firm in 1949, and started his own partnership. One of the first projects he designed at his own firm was Ruhls Bakery at 7 Mile Road, in 1964, Yamasaki received a D. F. A. from Bates College. His firm, Yamasaki & Associates, closed on December 31,2009 and his first internationally recognized design, the Pacific Science Center with its iconic arches, was constructed by the City of Seattle for the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair. His first significant project was the Pruitt–Igoe housing project in St. Louis, despite his love of Japanese traditional design, this was a stark, modernist concrete structure. The housing project experienced so many problems that it was demolished in 1972 and its destruction is considered by some to be the beginning of postmodern architecture. In 1955, he designed the sleek terminal at Lambert–St. Louis International Airport which led to his 1959 commission to design the Dhahran International Airport in Saudi Arabia. During this period, he created a number of buildings which led to his innovative design of the 1,360 ft towers of the World Trade Center in 1964. The first of the towers was finished in 1970, many of his buildings feature superficial details inspired by the pointed arches of Gothic architecture, and make use of extremely narrow vertical windows. This narrow-windowed style arose from his own fear of heights. One particular design challenge of the World Trade Centers design related to the efficacy of the elevator system, Yamasaki integrated the fastest elevators at the time, running at 1,700 feet per minute. Instead of placing a traditional elevator shaft in the core of each tower
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Dante Alighieri
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Durante degli Alighieri, simply called Dante, was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle Ages, the majority of poetry was written in Latin. In De vulgari eloquentia, however, Dante defended use of the vernacular in literature, as a result, Dante played an instrumental role in establishing the national language of Italy. In addition, the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, Dante has been called the Father of the Italian language and one of the greatest poets of world literature. In Italy, Dante is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta and il Poeta, he, Petrarch, Dante was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, present-day Italy. The exact date of his birth is unknown, although it is believed to be around 1265. This can be deduced from autobiographic allusions in the Divine Comedy, in 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11. Dante claimed that his family descended from the ancient Romans, but the earliest relative he could mention by name was Cacciaguida degli Elisei, born no earlier than about 1100. Dantes father, Alaghiero or Alighiero di Bellincione, was a White Guelph who suffered no reprisals after the Ghibellines won the Battle of Montaperti in the middle of the 13th century. Dantes family had loyalties to the Guelphs, an alliance that supported the Papacy and which was involved in complex opposition to the Ghibellines. The poets mother was Bella, likely a member of the Abati family and she died when Dante was not yet ten years old, and Alighiero soon married again, to Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. When Dante was 12, he was promised in marriage to Gemma di Manetto Donati, daughter of Manetto Donati, contracting marriages at this early age was quite common and involved a formal ceremony, including contracts signed before a notary. But by this time Dante had fallen in love with another, Beatrice Portinari, years after his marriage to Gemma he claims to have met Beatrice again, he wrote several sonnets to Beatrice but never mentioned Gemma in any of his poems. The exact date of his marriage is not known, the certain information is that, before his exile in 1301. Dante fought with the Guelph cavalry at the Battle of Campaldino and this victory brought about a reformation of the Florentine constitution. To take any part in life, one had to enroll in one of the citys many commercial or artisan guilds, so Dante entered the Physicians. In the following years, his name is recorded as speaking or voting in the various councils of the republic. A substantial portion of minutes from meetings in the years 1298–1300 was lost, however
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Divine Comedy
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The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c.1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature, the poems imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written and it is divided into three parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. On the surface, the poem describes Dantes travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, but at a level, it represents, allegorically. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy, consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called the Summa in verse. The work was simply titled Comedìa and the word Divina was added by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce, the Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three canticas – Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso – each consisting of 33 cantos. An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, the number three is prominent in the work, represented in part by the number of canticas and their lengths. Additionally, the scheme used, terza rima, is hendecasyllabic, with the lines composing tercets according to the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc. Written in the first person, the tells of Dantes journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night before Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory, Beatrice, Dantes ideal woman, within each group of 9,7 elements correspond to a specific moral scheme, subdivided into three subcategories, while 2 others of greater particularity are added to total nine. For example, the seven sins of the Catholic Church that are cleansed in Purgatory are joined by special realms for the Late repentant. The core seven sins within Purgatory correspond to a scheme of love perverted, subdivided into three groups corresponding to excessive love, deficient love, and malicious love. In central Italys political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor, florences Guelphs split into factions around 1300, the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. The last word in each of the three canticas is stelle, the poem begins on the night before Good Friday in the year 1300, halfway along our lifes path. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a low place where the sun is silent, Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, the circles number 9, with the addition of Satan completing the structure of 9 +1 =10. Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the land in the Southern Hemisphere
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and statesman. In addition, numerous literary and scientific fragments, more than 10,000 letters and he was an early participant in the Sturm und Drang literary movement. He also contributed to the planning of Weimars botanical park and the rebuilding of its Ducal Palace and his first major scientific work, the Metamorphosis of Plants, was published after he returned from a 1788 tour of Italy. During this period, Goethe published his novel, Wilhelm Meisters Apprenticeship, the verse epic Hermann and Dorothea, and, in 1808. Goethes comments and observations form the basis of several biographical works, Goethes father, Johann Caspar Goethe, lived with his family in a large house in Frankfurt, then an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. Though he had studied law in Leipzig and had been appointed Imperial Councillor, Johann Caspar married Goethes mother, Catharina Elizabeth Textor at Frankfurt on 20 August 1748, when he was 38 and she was 17. All their children, with the exception of Johann Wolfgang and his sister, Cornelia Friederica Christiana and his father and private tutors gave Goethe lessons in all the common subjects of their time, especially languages. Goethe also received lessons in dancing, riding and fencing, Johann Caspar, feeling frustrated in his own ambitions, was determined that his children should have all those advantages that he had not. Although Goethes great passion was drawing, he became interested in literature, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. He also took pleasure in reading works on history and religion. He writes about this period, Goethe became also acquainted with Frankfurt actors, among early literary attempts, he was infatuated with Gretchen, who would later reappear in his Faust and the adventures with whom he would concisely describe in Dichtung und Wahrheit. He adored Caritas Meixner, a wealthy Worms traders daughter and friend of his sister, Goethe studied law at Leipzig University from 1765 to 1768. He detested learning age-old judicial rules by heart, preferring instead to attend the lessons of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert. In Leipzig, Goethe fell in love with Anna Katharina Schönkopf, in 1770, he anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems. His uncritical admiration for many contemporary poets vanished as he became interested in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, already at this time, Goethe wrote a good deal, but he threw away nearly all of these works, except for the comedy Die Mitschuldigen. The restaurant Auerbachs Keller and its legend of Fausts 1525 barrel ride impressed him so much that Auerbachs Keller became the real place in his closet drama Faust Part One. As his studies did not progress, Goethe was forced to return to Frankfurt at the close of August 1768, Goethe became severely ill in Frankfurt. During the year and a half that followed, because of several relapses, during convalescence, Goethe was nursed by his mother and sister
