59 résultats pour "prominent"
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Indian Art and Architecture
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INTRODUCTION
Art on the Indian Subcontinent
This map highlights places in India and Pakistan where prominent examples of Indian art and architecture have been
produced.
Sun Temple of KonarakThis 13th-century relief depicting a wheel of the chariot of Indian sun god Surya is situated in the Konarak temple. Thetemple, dedicated to Surya, is situated at Puri in the Gulf of Bengal.Keren Su/Corbis The arts of India expressed in architecture, sculpture, painting, jewelry, pottery, metalwork, and textiles, were spread throughout the Far East with the diffusion ofBuddhism and Hinduism and exercised a strong influence on the arts of China, Japan, Myanmar (formerly known...
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Native American Literature.
Many Native American writers of the 19th century wrote histories of their tribes. One tribal historian was David Cusick (Tuscarora), whose Sketches of Ancient History of the Six Nations (1827) was the first published tribal history. Tribal histories explained the deep ties that tribes had to their ancestral homelands. Beginning in the 18th century, these ties took on special meaning because the United States government began removing Native Americans from their traditional lands. These removal...
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Hugo Chávez.
VII 2006 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND AFTER Chávez easily won reelection in the 2006 presidential contest. Although opposition parties had boycotted legislative elections in 2005, they returned to the electoralprocess in 2006. Nevertheless, Chávez won handily with about 63 percent of the vote as most Venezuelans appeared to approve of the way the country’s oil wealth wasbeing distributed. Following the election, Chávez asked the National Assembly for the power to rule by decree for a period of 18...
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Indian Music
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INTRODUCTION
Classical Dance of South India
The southern Indian kathakali is a dance drama that dates from the 17th century.
Sangita Ratnakara, was written in the 13th century. However, subsequent writers tended to focus on the emotional connotations of individual ragas, associating them with moods, performance times, colors, and deities, and grouping them in terms of families. The modern theoretical system began in the 16th century, when ragasbegan to be classified according to scale—72 in the Karnāṭak system and 10 principal ones in the Hindustani. The 72 mela, as the Karn āṭak scales are called, are derived thro...
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American Music
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INTRODUCTION
American Music, the folk, popular, and classical music of the United States--created by American-born or American-trained composers, or originating in American
culture, or written primarily for American audiences.
The country's first permanent orchestra was the New York Philharmonic Society, founded in 1842. Among the first symphonic and operatic composers the mostprominent was William Henry Fry, who composed the first opera by an American ( Leonora, 1845). Fry is best remembered, however, for four symphonies written in the 1850s and 1860s. George F. Bristow wrote the first opera on an American theme; his Rip Van Winkle was performed in New York City in 1855. Town bands, a popular form of community mu...
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William Shakespeare
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INTRODUCTION
William Shakespeare
English playwright and poet William Shakespeare, who lived in the late 1500s and early 1600s, is regarded as the greatest
dramatist in the history of English literature.
Avon, Warwickshire, a prosperous town in the English Midlands. Based on this record and on the fact that children in Shakespeare’s time were usually baptized two orthree days after birth, April 23 has traditionally been accepted as his date of birth. The third of eight children, William Shakespeare was the eldest son of John Shakespeare, a locally prominent glovemaker and wool merchant, and Mary Arden, thedaughter of a well-to-do landowner in the nearby village of Wilmcote. The young Shakespeare...
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Los Angeles - geography.
(2006 population, 472,494), located east of the Port of Los Angeles. The city of Compton (95,701) is located north of Long Beach, on the east side of the AlamedaCorridor. On the other side of the corridor are the cities of Torrance (142,350) and Inglewood (114,914). Northwest of Inglewood and west of downtown Los Angeles are the wealthy and fashionable Santa Monica (88,050) and Beverly Hills (34,979). Both cities are enclaves:Santa Monica is surrounded by the City of Los Angeles to the north, ea...
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Los Angeles - geography.
(2006 population, 472,494), located east of the Port of Los Angeles. The city of Compton (95,701) is located north of Long Beach, on the east side of the AlamedaCorridor. On the other side of the corridor are the cities of Torrance (142,350) and Inglewood (114,914). Northwest of Inglewood and west of downtown Los Angeles are the wealthy and fashionable Santa Monica (88,050) and Beverly Hills (34,979). Both cities are enclaves:Santa Monica is surrounded by the City of Los Angeles to the north, ea...
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William Shakespeare
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INTRODUCTION
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists.
Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...
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William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...
- pantheon Greek and Roman In mythology, pantheon refers to all the gods of a people, particularly those considered to be the most prominent or most powerful.
- The Godfather The Godfather, box-office hit motion picture about the fortunes of a prominent Mafia family during the 1940s and 1950s, based on a best-selling novel by Mario Puzo.
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Isaac NewtonIINTRODUCTIONIsaac Newton (1642-1727), English physicist, mathematician, and natural philosopher, considered one of the most important scientists of all time.
B Calculus (Newton’s “Fluxional Method”) In 1669 Newton gave his Trinity mathematics professor Isaac Barrow an important manuscript, which is generally known by its shortened Latin title, De Analysi . This work contained many of Newton’s conclusions about calculus (what Newton called his “fluxional method”). Although the paper was not immediately published, Barrowmade its results known to several of the leading mathematicians of Britain and Europe. This paper established Newton as one of the...
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Isaac Newton.
B Calculus (Newton’s “Fluxional Method”) In 1669 Newton gave his Trinity mathematics professor Isaac Barrow an important manuscript, which is generally known by its shortened Latin title, De Analysi . This work contained many of Newton’s conclusions about calculus (what Newton called his “fluxional method”). Although the paper was not immediately published, Barrowmade its results known to several of the leading mathematicians of Britain and Europe. This paper established Newton as one of the t...
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Spread of Islam - History.
Muhammad died in 632 and was succeeded by Abu Bakr, the father of Muhammad’s favorite wife, Aisha. Abu Bakr was the first caliph ( khalifah, Arabic for “successor”) of Islam. Like Muhammad, Abu Bakr was a member of the Quraysh clan. While neither Abu Bakr nor any subsequent caliph claimed the role of prophet, they wereleaders of this new religious enterprise that was quickly becoming a political entity as well. The first four caliphs, all of whom were selected by some form of council ofMuslims,...
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James Monroe.
In October 1786, Monroe resigned from Congress and settled with his bride in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he began a law practice. His retirement from politics wasbrief. He was soon elected to the town council, and then once again to the Virginia legislature. However, Monroe never lost touch with national politics. He corresponded regularly with both Jefferson and Madison. In 1786 Monroe attended the AnnapolisConvention, which had been called to consider interstate commerce and other matters...
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James Monroe - USA History.
In October 1786, Monroe resigned from Congress and settled with his bride in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he began a law practice. His retirement from politics wasbrief. He was soon elected to the town council, and then once again to the Virginia legislature. However, Monroe never lost touch with national politics. He corresponded regularly with both Jefferson and Madison. In 1786 Monroe attended the AnnapolisConvention, which had been called to consider interstate commerce and other matters...
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Virginia (state) - geography.
C Coastline Virginia’s coastline, for both the mainland and the Eastern Shore counties, is 180 km (112 mi) long. The state’s tidal shoreline measures 5,335 km (3,315 mi), includingall bays, inlets, tidal estuaries, and other indentations. Major indentations include Chesapeake Bay; Hampton Roads, the excellent natural harbor on which are locatedNewport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth; and the wide tidal estuaries of the lower Potomac, James, Rappahannock, and York rivers. Cape Henry, in the southe...
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Virginia (state) - USA History.
C Coastline Virginia’s coastline, for both the mainland and the Eastern Shore counties, is 180 km (112 mi) long. The state’s tidal shoreline measures 5,335 km (3,315 mi), includingall bays, inlets, tidal estuaries, and other indentations. Major indentations include Chesapeake Bay; Hampton Roads, the excellent natural harbor on which are locatedNewport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth; and the wide tidal estuaries of the lower Potomac, James, Rappahannock, and York rivers. Cape Henry, in the southe...
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Washington, D.
structures built according to L’Enfant’s plan. During the War of 1812, British troops set fire to the White House, destroying its interior. President James Madison and hisfamily lived in the Octagon while the White House was being rebuilt. South of the Federal Triangle is the Mall, a narrow park stretching roughly 1.6 km (1 mi) from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. Although the Mall officially endsat 14th Street, landscaped greenery extends to the Potomac. The Washington Monument, whose m...
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Frederick Douglass.
proslavery document. In Britain and later in Rochester, however, Douglass met political abolitionists, who believed that it was possible to use the political system to fightslavery. They organized the antislavery Liberty Party, and called for the election of abolitionists to public office. Garrison believed the North should secede, if necessary,to free itself from the moral stain of slavery. In contrast, Douglass became convinced that this course of action would only abandon slaves to their mast...
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Frederick Douglass - USA History.
proslavery document. In Britain and later in Rochester, however, Douglass met political abolitionists, who believed that it was possible to use the political system to fightslavery. They organized the antislavery Liberty Party, and called for the election of abolitionists to public office. Garrison believed the North should secede, if necessary,to free itself from the moral stain of slavery. In contrast, Douglass became convinced that this course of action would only abandon slaves to their mast...
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Popular and Social Dance
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INTRODUCTION
The Cakewalk
The cakewalk, a dance of African American origin, was intended to lampoon high-strutting whites at fancy dress balls.
master. The dance manuals published between 1550 and 1630, written by Thoinot Arbeau of France, Cesare Negri of Italy, and other dancing masters, describe dances such asthe pavane, galliard, allemande, courante, saltarello, and volta, as well as circular branles and progressive longways dances (for a line of couples, in which each couplerepeats the pattern with one new couple after another; see Country Dance). The sense of order and harmony so important during the Renaissance gave rise to forma...
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Belarus - country.
In the last complete census conducted in the Soviet Union in 1989, the population of Belarus was 10,151,806; a 2008 estimate was 9,685,768, giving the country apopulation density of 47 persons per sq km (121 per sq mi). The most notable demographic trend since the 1950s has been the steady migration of the population fromthe villages to urban centers, and the correspondent aging of the population remaining in the rural areas. In 1959 urban residents accounted for 31 percent of thepopulation; in...
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Christmas.
The new custom of Christmas gift giving allowed the marketplace to exert an unprecedented influence on holiday celebrations. Commercial innovations such asdepartment stores and mass advertising further expanded the custom of exchanging Christmas gifts. Seasonal retail sales helped fuel the economy, causing merchantsand advertisers to become some of the season’s most ardent promoters. Many holiday celebrants regretted these changes, however, and began voicing the nowcommon lament that Christmas h...
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Algeria - country.
areas to fishing. National parks, including the giant Tassili N’Ajjer National Park in the eastern corner of the country, comprise a large proportion of the protected area. The effects of Algeria’s human population on the fragile landscape have been severe. The greatest ecological threats are deforestation and burning of scrub vegetation,conversion of steppe habitat to arable land, and soil erosion due to overgrazing and poor farming practices. Pollution of Mediterranean coastal waters is pervas...
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Magna Carta
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INTRODUCTION
Magna Carta (Latin, "Great Charter"), document sealed by King John of England on June 15, 1215, in which he made a series of promises to his subjects that he would
govern England and deal with his vassals according to the customs of feudal law (see Feudalism).
The importance of the Magna Carta lies more in its symbolism than in its words. As a result, many modern rights have been based on the Magna Carta that wereunknown in the 13th century, including habeas corpus and the principle of no taxation without representation. Neither of these concepts existed in the original Magna Carta of 1215 but both became accepted as English law during the early 17th century. At that time, members of Parliament, the English legislative assembly, who opposed the rule...
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Magna Carta .
The importance of the Magna Carta lies more in its symbolism than in its words. As a result, many modern rights have been based on the Magna Carta that wereunknown in the 13th century, including habeas corpus and the principle of no taxation without representation. Neither of these concepts existed in the original Magna Carta of 1215 but both became accepted as English law during the early 17th century. At that time, members of Parliament, the English legislative assembly, who opposed the rule...
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Woman Suffrage - U.
form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. For many years thereafter the association worked to advance women’s rights on both the state and federallevels. Besides Stone, Anthony, and Stanton, leaders and supporters of the association included the noted American feminists Harriet Beecher Stowe, Julia Ward Howe,Clara Barton, Jane Addams, and Carrie Chapman Catt. Largely as a result of agitation by the association, suffrage was granted in the states of Colorado (1893), Utahand Idaho (18...
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Eleanor Roosevelt.
disliked Washington, D.C., which she found only slightly less provincial than Albany. Moreover, she feared that the role of first lady would be a confining one. “I neverwanted to be a president’s wife,” she privately declared just after the election. At the time of Franklin’s election Eleanor was an independent journalist, making money from a monthly column in Woman's Home Companion and from radio broadcasts, where she regularly spoke out on controversial political issues. She sat on the board...
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Eleanor Roosevelt - USA History.
disliked Washington, D.C., which she found only slightly less provincial than Albany. Moreover, she feared that the role of first lady would be a confining one. “I neverwanted to be a president’s wife,” she privately declared just after the election. At the time of Franklin’s election Eleanor was an independent journalist, making money from a monthly column in Woman's Home Companion and from radio broadcasts, where she regularly spoke out on controversial political issues. She sat on the board...
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Zachary Taylor.
army fled back across the Río Grande into Mexico. When Polk got word of the victories, he promoted Taylor to major general. Congress awarded him two gold medals. B1 Battle of Monterrey In September 1846, Taylor began an invasion of northern Mexico. His army of 6000 consisted of regulars and volunteers. On September 21 he attacked the fortifiedcity of Monterrey, which was defended by more than 7000 Mexicans under General Pedro de Ampudia. Taylor divided his army, giving Brigadier General William...
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Zachary Taylor
army fled back across the Río Grande into Mexico. When Polk got word of the victories, he promoted Taylor to major general. Congress awarded him two gold medals. B1 Battle of Monterrey In September 1846, Taylor began an invasion of northern Mexico. His army of 6000 consisted of regulars and volunteers. On September 21 he attacked the fortifiedcity of Monterrey, which was defended by more than 7000 Mexicans under General Pedro de Ampudia. Taylor divided his army, giving Brigadier General William...
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Electronic Games.
arcade game of all time. With Pizza Time Theaters legitimizing the idea of arcades and hits such as Ms. Pac-Man , Asteroids , Donkey Kong , Tempest , Frogger , and Defender bringing new excitement to gaming, the coin-operated video game business boomed. In 1981 Americans spent 75,000 person-years and $5 billion playing video games at anestimated 4,300 arcades in the United States. Many popular arcade games also were translated for use on the Atari 2600 and its chief rivals in the homemarket—M...
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Country Music
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INTRODUCTION
Willie Nelson
Country singer and musician Willie Nelson gained national popularity during the 1970s for a string of country hits,
including the 1978 hits "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and "Georgia On My Mind.
Singer and mandolin player Bill Monroe is known as the father of bluegrass music. A virtuoso mandolin player, Monroe combined traditional folk ballads and gospel songswith string-band music played at very fast tempos. Monroe, with his band The Blue Grass Boys, performed from the mid-1920s until Monroe’s death in 1996. Otherwell-known bluegrass performers include banjo player Earl Scruggs, who played with Monroe during the 1940s; the Osborne Brothers, a duo from Kentucky known forits work during...
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Costa Rica - country.
protection from future deforestation is not guaranteed. Deforestation places Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity in danger. The country’s location on the cusp between Northand South America and its abundance of tropical forests make it home to a great variety of species, many of them rare and threatened. Deforestation also contributesto the country’s problematic rate of soil erosion. Costa Rica is party to international treaties concerning biodiversity, climate change ( see Global Warming), endangere...
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Berlin - geography.
boroughs of Wedding and Tiergarten. Other important central areas include Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, now united as the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough, andPrenzlauer Berg, now incorporated as a part of the Pankow borough. Tiergarten contains a large wooded park, a zoo, and a variety of public monuments as well as the large, modern Congress Hall and the Reichstag building, which wasbuilt from 1884 to 1894. The Reichstag and the surrounding area have undergone renovation to accommodate the Bun...
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Native American Art
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INTRODUCTION
Native American Art, the visual works crafted by indigenous people of North America, starting after their arrival on the continent thousands of years ago and continuing
until the present.
artists in the Ohio area cut delicate flat forms from sheets of mica in the shape of birds, human figures, and large hands. They also carved quite natural-looking birdsand animals on stone platform pipes. These figures sat on the pipe’s flat base, or platform, and on some pipes they were part of the pipe bowl. Prominent people ofthese cultures were buried with a wealth of ornaments, such as jewelry of shells and copper, and headdresses elaborated with animal forms. The period of Mississippian cu...
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United States House of Representatives.
Because of the high cost of elections and the short two-year term of office, members of the House campaign almost constantly. They spend much of their time raisingcampaign funds, and they frequently return to their districts to keep in touch with voters. Because the elections are so frequent, House members tend to pay closeattention to how their votes in Congress will be seen in the short term. House members tend to come from wealthier family backgrounds than average Americans. Few working class...
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Tajikistan - country.
by more than 100 percent due to a high birth rate and improvements in medical care. During the early 1990s, however, the growth rate began to decline due to civilwar and emigration. A Ethnic Groups and Languages Tajiks constitute the largest ethnic group in Tajikistan, making up about 65 percent of the population. The peoples who live in Gorno-Badakhshan, located in the Pamirs,are classified as Tajiks, although their languages and customs are distinct. The largest minority group in the country...
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Native American Art.
folding, braiding or weaving, could also be sewn onto the hide. The production of decorated clothing and bags increased after contact with Europeans as a greater variety of textiles and other materials became available throughtrade. Imported glass beads inspired native women, who quickly adapted quillwork techniques for the creation of beaded apparel. European curvilinear and floraldesigns of the 19th century proved as meaningful for the native women who worked with them as they were for the non...
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Lebanon (country) - country.
during the civil war. Within the country, thousands of Shia Muslim refugees fled fighting in southern Lebanon in the 1990s and moved into shantytowns in Beirut’ssouthern suburbs. Lebanon’s major cities were greatly affected by the civil war. Beirut has gradually regained most of its prewar population and remains the country’s largest city. Tripoli,the northern port, is the second largest city. Jūniyah, north of Beirut, was developed as a wartime port and subsequently had a population boom. Za ḩl...
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New York (city) - geography.
The Bronx is the fourth largest and the northernmost of the five boroughs, and the only one on the American mainland. Even so, it is surrounded by water on threesides: Long Island Sound on the east, the Harlem and East rivers on the south, and Hudson River on the west. Encompassing 109 sq km (42 sq mi), it had 1,332,650inhabitants in 2000. Largely residential, the Bronx includes dozens of vibrant neighborhoods. Fieldston is particularly elegant, with great stone houses set among spacious lawns a...
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President of the United States.
Democrats and Republicans—select delegates to attend their party conventions. Primary voters and caucus participants choose delegates who will support their favoredcandidate at the convention. The party conventions, held in the summer before the November general election, formally nominate the winner of the primaries andcaucuses. Would-be candidates crisscross the states that hold the earliest primaries, especially New Hampshire, which holds the country’s first primary, usually in mid-February....
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Map - geography.
Relief MapRelief maps are three-dimensional models of the terrain in an area; on them, color and scale are used to indicate geographicalfeatures rather than simply to delineate political boundaries. Because of this feature, relief maps are extensively used in engineeringand the military. This map shows portions of Alaska and northwestern Canada.United States Geological Survey Among the most important of the special-purpose maps are hydrographic and aviation charts. Hydrographic charts are used f...
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Vikings .
Wessex (England) and Charles II the Bald and Louis III in France could command their resources to move to fortify their towns, station fleets and naval patrols alongthe coasts, and organize localized and mobile military forces. Some Christian leaders paid ransom to the larger Viking armies of the 10th and early 11th centuries.Taxing their people to pay the “danegeld,” the tribute to the Vikings, became a regular defensive strategy. But in return for the cash, the Vikings often negotiatedpeaceful...
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Brian Mulroney.
At the party convention Mulroney was one of the candidates who ran against Clark. This time Mulroney did not have to contend with a rival candidate from Québec. Healso had the support of the remnants of the Diefenbaker faction—who disliked Clark even more than they disliked Mulroney. Mulroney was also endorsed by asubstantial group of members of Parliament; this endorsement helped allay concerns about whether he could provide effective leadership in Parliament. Mulroney waselected leader of the...
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Brian Mulroney - Canadian History.
At the party convention Mulroney was one of the candidates who ran against Clark. This time Mulroney did not have to contend with a rival candidate from Québec. Healso had the support of the remnants of the Diefenbaker faction—who disliked Clark even more than they disliked Mulroney. Mulroney was also endorsed by asubstantial group of members of Parliament; this endorsement helped allay concerns about whether he could provide effective leadership in Parliament. Mulroney waselected leader of the...
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Paul Martin.
VI CONFLICT WITH THE PRIME MINISTER Martin’s success could not have been achieved without the support he received from Jean Chrétien. Yet relations between the two men continued to deteriorate. In partthis was because of their continuing disagreement about how best to deal with the separatist challenge in Québec. In the 1993 election, a majority of Québec seats hadgone to the Bloc Québécois, and in 1994 the provincial separatist party, the Parti Québécois, won election on a platform promising...
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Paul Martin - Canadian History.
VI CONFLICT WITH THE PRIME MINISTER Martin’s success could not have been achieved without the support he received from Jean Chrétien. Yet relations between the two men continued to deteriorate. In partthis was because of their continuing disagreement about how best to deal with the separatist challenge in Québec. In the 1993 election, a majority of Québec seats hadgone to the Bloc Québécois, and in 1994 the provincial separatist party, the Parti Québécois, won election on a platform promising...