Asheron's Call (AC) was a fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows PCs, developed and published by Turbine Entertainment Software. Though it was developed by the Turbine team (with Microsoft's extensive assistance), it was published as a Microsoft title until 2004. The game was set on the island continent of Dereth and several surrounding smaller islands and archipelagos on the fictional planet of Auberean. The game was played in a large seamless 3D virtual world which could host thousands of players' characters (or avatars) at a time.

Released on November 2, 1999, it was the third major MMORPG to be released, and was developed at the same time as those earlier games: Ultima Online and EverQuest. After initial success, its subscription numbers dropped as newer MMORPGs moved into the market. Its host servers remained online for over 17 years after the game's original launch.

It was announced on December 20, 2016, that Asheron's Call would close all its servers on January 31, 2017. Despite several attempts by the community to purchase or lease the intellectual property (IP) for the game, it closed at 12 EST.

Gameplay
Set in a heroic fantasy world, Asheron's Call allows players to create a character, or avatar, from one of six in-game races.  The player allocates a limited number of attribute points to attributes such as "Strength", "Coordination", and "Quickness" and selects skills such as "Unarmed Combat", "War Magic", and "Melee Defense" for their character, with those base skills starting at a level determined by the character's attributes. Unlike many other games of the genre characters are not locked into a specific class, and can even reallocate previously selected skills to acquire other skills later in the game. Gameplay involves earning experience points ("XP") through a variety of activities, including engaging and defeating monsters in combat, fulfilling quests, and interacting with NPCs. Those earned experience points can then be invested to improve the character's abilities by spending them on attributes or skills.  Additional skill points are awarded after the character reaches certain levels, and these skill points can then be used to acquire or train new skills.  In addition to earning experience, questing and combat often yield recoverable loot such as armor, weapons, health potions, and spell scrolls.  Many types of loot can be improved or imbued with special spells and effects via Asheron's Call'''s "tinkering" crafting system.

With their monthly updates, including supplementary content, and occasional live "world events", Asheron's Call offered "episodic narrative content, periodic new quests, and events that visibly affect the entire world." The game's currency is the Pyreal. The world itself is large at over .  Unlike many other games in the genre, there are no zones or "instances" on the world's surface.  This means players can cross the world on foot, without loading screens or invisible barriers, and any terrain that can be seen in the distance is a real object in the world. The world is also dotted with a system of one-way portals which expedite travel. Some of the portals also lead to intricate dungeons. Many of the dungeons are part of quests and contain unique treasures. The original magic system had specific formulae for each spell that the caster had to discover through trial and error. Magic was challenging and rare. This system of spell components was later phased out and replaced with a simpler system wherein magic casters would carry a "foci" for each of the magic schools they were trained in (creature, item, life and war) and a series of taper candles and scarabs. Each spell is learned from a scroll, either purchased or found as treasure. The old system was left in the game as an alternative.

Players connect their avatars to "lifestones", where the avatar will be resurrected if killed. Resurrected characters lose half their pyreals, one or more valuable items, and (temporarily) a certain percentage of their constitution—their primary and secondary strengths and characteristics—in what is known as a "vitae penalty". The player may then bring their resurrected avatar to the place where the death occurred and recover the item(s) from their own lingering "corpse".  In player-killer ("PK") battles, the victor is allowed to take the dropped items from the vanquished.  Regardless, the resulting "vitae penalty" is removed by gaining a modest amount of additional experience, or "XP". Player Killers ("PKs") are players who have chosen to change their characters' status in order to enable them to attack, or be attacked by, other PKs in Player vs Player combat. On most servers, players by default are prevented from attacking each other and must voluntarily change their status to "PK". Asheron's Call features a unique allegiance and fealty system that creates formal links between players and rewards cooperative play. A player of equal or lower level can swear allegiance to a player of the same or higher level, becoming a vassal of a patron. The patron earns a small percentage of bonus experience based on what the vassal makes, while the vassal is motivated to seek a patron in exchange for money, items, game knowledge or protection. Players may also join together in fellowships, temporarily splitting the experience they gain amongst themselves.

Characters can create many useful items using the Alchemy skill, such as oils that imbue missiles with elemental qualities (fire, acid, etc.) and gems that increase resistance to different types of damage. Alchemists can create infusions that can be applied to food items to increase the amount of stamina recovered, or recover health or mana. Alchemy also can be used to brew health, magic, and stamina potions. Players can craft ammunition and cook foods include cake, beer, nougat and rations. These can then be combined with oils to increase health, mana and stamina.

Synopsis
The story of Asheron's Call spans across several worlds and thousands of years. The primary worlds in the story are Ispar, the world where the human characters in the game originated, and Auberean, the gigantic world where Dereth, a small island continent and the game's setting, is located. The game's monthly updates compose a story. The history of Auberean spans back 35,000 to 40,000 years. A race of beings known as the Empyreans dominated the world for most of its history. They were tall slender humanoids with lifespans of 1,000 years and were divided into several cultures including Falatacot, Dericost, Haebrous, and Yalaini. These cultures had many conflicts over the years, but eventually, in a world of many oceans and seas, the "Seaborne Empire" of the Yalaini became the dominant society. A Yalaini and member of the royal family, Asheron Realaidain, was born approximately 2,500 years prior to the time when the story starts for players; when they "arrive" in Dereth. Shortly after Asheron's birth, a war began between the Yalaini people and an army of Shadows, creatures of darkness and chaos, led by a demonic nemesis named Bael'Zharon, the Hopeslayer. The war with the Shadows lasted over 500 years and the Yalaini, pushed back from the rest of Auberean to the island of Dereth, were nearly defeated. As a last resort, Asheron and the Yalaini council of five mages were able to stave off their doom and eventually defeat Bael'Zharon through the arts of planar magic - magic pertaining to the planes of existence and the space in between them known as portal space. Using a crystal array, the council was able to seal Bael'Zharon in another plane. The sealing caused a great explosion, and all members of the council were killed. But Asheron survived, protected by Falatacot Blood rites performed by his mother and a Falatacot-blooded "witch" named Adja just prior to the explosion. With Bael'zharon banished, the Shadow armies retreated and the Yalaini people were saved.

Asheron continued to research planar magic. Eventually, the Yalaini mastered this art of magic and were able to use it to create portals from one location to another. They used these portals to explore all of Auberean, and eventually began exploring other worlds, including the home world of humans known as Ispar. In their explorations, the Yalaini came to a world dominated by numerous giant insect species. One of these species were known as the Olthoi, which killed one of the explorers. The Emperor of the Yalaini demanded that Olthoi be brought back for research and possibly used as weapons for the empire. This action, along with the mistake of a wizard named Gaerlan, would be the doom of the Yalaini. The Olthoi rebelled and the Yalaini lost the war. After 100 years, all surviving Yalaini were pushed back to the island of Dereth, and almost 80 years later, one single Olthoi Queen arrived on the island and began to breed. With their last place of safety invaded, the remaining Yalaini retreated from the world. Asheron and his disciples cast a powerful planar magic spell known as The Sundering, which sent the Yalaini people into portal space in a state of stasis. After sending his disciples in as well, Asheron retreated to the last place of safety - his castle on a small island - and alone began working on a way to defeat the Olthoi.

More than 500 years had passed when the first humans arrived on Dereth. These humans were quickly enslaved by the Olthoi. Many tried to escape, but few survived. One group did, led by Elysa Strathelar and Thorsten Cragstone. They rescued some others and found an Empyrean catacomb, which came to be known as the Underground City. An ancient text in the city told of Asheron and his castle's location. Their leaders left for Asheron, who gave them a poison to kill the Olthoi Queen, which they did at the cost of Cragstone's life. The Olthoi retreated and the humans began to thrive.

Players originally entered Dereth as one of three "Isparian" races:  the Aluvians, the Sho, and the Gharu'ndim, based roughly on medieval Britain, Japan, and Egypt.  The second expansion added Viamontians (based on medieval France) as a playable race.  Later updates added former enemy races Shadows, Tumerok, (Empyrean) Undead, Lugian, and Gearknights, alongside native Empyreans.  Olthoi were also added as a special PVP only race.

 Development
AC was developed by Turbine Entertainment Software and published by Microsoft. It had a multimillion-dollar development budget. The game's budget was $4 million. It was designed by Toby Ragaini (lead designer), Chris Foster, Eri Izawa, and Chris Pierson. The development team consisted of 30+ full-time developers, including 6 artists, 4 game designers, 15 software engineers and 5 QA testers. Asheron's Call was technically innovative for its time.  It did not use zoning, a technique of partitioning the game world into zones that ran on different computers on a cluster.  This caused delay when moving between zones.  Instead Asheron's Call had a single seamless world.  It used dynamic load balancing to determine which computer in the cluster controlled which location area.  If one area became overpopulated and sluggish control of part of that location would pass to another computer with a lighter load. Critical development software included Microsoft Visual C++ 5.0, Visual SourceSafe 5.0, Lightwave 5.5, and Photoshop 4.0  Asheron's Call uses Microsoft SQL Server for persistent game data. The original Asheron's Call client allowed computers to use either 3D or software graphics acceleration. The modern client requires a DirectX 9.0 compatible video adapter w/ hardware T&L.Asheron's Call took 40 months plus 8 months of beta testing to complete.  It was originally scheduled to ship during the fourth quarter of 1997.  Production was delayed over a year because of the inexperience of the production team. The finished product contained approximately 2 million lines of code. There were six servers available at launch. Asheron's Call launched nine months after EverQuest on November 2, 1999. In the United States, it sold 57,143 copies and earned revenues of $2.64 million by early 2000. Asheron's Call had 80,000 players by the end of its first year.  By the end of 2000 its subscription rate was third behind Ultima Online and EverQuest, with 90,000 subscribers from 200,000 box sales.  While neither Turbine nor Microsoft have been forthcoming in releasing exact subscription counts, it is believed that Asheron's Call peaked in popularity in early 2002 at about 120,000 accounts and has since dropped to below 10,000.  Dark Age of Camelot had 200,000 subscribers in May 2002, taking Asheron's Call's spot as third most popular virtual world.

Reception

Michael Wolf reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "A deep, complex game for real RPG buffs, but not as easy (or fun) as EverQuest."Asheron's Call received generally positive reviews from critics. On the review aggregator GameRankings, the game received an average score of 81% based on 26 reviews. On Metacritic, the game received an average score of 81 out of 100 based on 15 reviews.Asheron's Call appealed to explorers and people who appreciated story arcs.

Awards included:

 CNET's Gamecenter Best RPG award for 1999.
 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: won "Computer Adventure/Role-Playing Game of the Year" and nominated for "Online Game of the Year" (lost to EverQuest).
 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: nominated for "Massive Multiplayer/Persistent World", "PC Game of the Year" and "Game of the Year".
 Gameindustry.com: 1999 Best all around game.
 Gamezilla: Editor's choice for best online/multiplayer title 1999
 Gamersvoice: 1999 Gamer's Choice Award in the category of "best online/multiplayer game"
 MPOGD: Game of the Month February 2003

The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Asheron's Call for their 1999 "Role-Playing Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to Planescape: Torment.

Post-release
A first expansion, Dark Majesty, was released in 2001. In 2002, the full-fledged sequel Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was released, which would be closed in 2005 but then reactivated in 2012. In December 2003, Turbine purchased the rights to the Asheron's Call franchise from Microsoft and assumed full responsibility for content development, customer service, billing and marketing in 2004. A second expansion, Throne of Destiny - which included a graphics upgrade, new player race and new landmass - was released on July 18, 2005. In addition to the expansion packs, the in-game story was advanced by monthly updates, which introduced new quests and gameplay dynamics as part of the subscription package.  Both expansions included the full version of the game. The Asheron's Call franchise was unique in providing complimentary monthly content updates and "Events" that added new quests, skills, landmasses, monsters, gameplay dynamics and bug fixes for all subscribers. Storylines linked multiple episodes to form distinct "story arcs".

Asheron's Call originally charged a monthly subscription fee, which was eventually discontinued. The title then became free to play and in maintenance mode. No further content would be released and there were plans to provide players with the ability to host their own servers. In February 2014, Turbine announced that the last content patch would be released on March 4, 2014, and after that the patches would be limited to maintenance and bug fixes.

Closure
The game spent over two years in maintenance mode with no updates, although the occasional server and account issues were dealt with by Turbine staff. The largest event to occur in this time was the chat being permanently disabled on the Darktide server in order to prevent ingame abuse.

On December 20, 2016, it was announced that Turbine would no longer develop MMORPGs, with the servers and account system to be transitioned over to a newly formed studio called Standing Stone Games. However, the Asheron's Call IP remains with Turbine and their owner Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the result of which is that after 18 years, the game would close on January 31, 2017.

New account creation was disabled in December 2016, although players with an account were free to keep playing the game. The closure not only affected Asheron's Call, but also its sequel. In 2012, Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings was resurrected, but would also close on January 31, 2017.

The servers closed at 12 EST on January 31. Shortly after the servers closed, the website and forums were taken down along with the official Facebook page.

See alsoDungeons & Dragons OnlineThe Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar''

References

Further reading

External links

 Official website via the Internet Archive

1999 video games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games with expansion packs
Windows games
Windows-only games
Warner Bros. Games franchises
Inactive massively multiplayer online games
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing games
Persistent worlds
Internet properties disestablished in 2017

Asheron's Call


Suzanne Danco (22 January 191110 August 2000), was a Belgian international soprano whose career encompassed the opera stages of Europe from Mozart to 20th century roles, recitals, recordings of opera and songs, and later teaching.

Career
Danco was born in Brussels and grew up in a Flemish background, although French was her native language. She studied piano, music history and singing at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, and in 1936 won a vocal competition in Vienna after which conductor Erich Kleiber recommended that she continue her studies in Prague with Fernando Carpi. Grove notes that "the unusual breadth of her culture was shown by her command of many different styles".

She appears to have made her concert debut in Italy in 1940, and her stage debut in 1941 at the Genoa Opera, singing Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte. She appeared in most of the major opera houses in Europe through the 1940s and 1950s, including at La Scala (Jocasta in Oedipus rex by Stravinsky, and Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes), at the Teatro di San Carlo (Marie in Wozzeck which she also sang for the BBC in concert), at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (Mimi in La bohème), and at the festivals of Glyndebourne and Aix-en-Provence (Fiordiligi and Donna Elvira). In 1951, she sang in Boston at a special Peabody Mason Concert series commemorating the Paris Bi-Millennial year.

Although her operatic repertoire was not large, it was notable for its stylistic range, from Mozart roles (Fiordiligi, Anna, Elvira, Cherubino and the Countess) to modern works by Berg, Britten and Stravinsky. Her tone was described as cool, clear, and aristocratic, and well suited to French roles such as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande (preserved in a Decca set of 1952 under Ansermet) and the Princess in L'enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel. Yet she also had success in some Italian works such as The Barber of Seville and La bohème. Her interpretation of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni under the direction Josef Krips is considered the standard for that opera.

She is also remembered as a recitalist and concert artist, again in a wide range of styles from Bach cantatas to song cycles by Britten and de Falla, but especially in the repertoire of French melodies where her diction and command of style were heard to particular advantage.

Danco retired from singing in 1970 but remained active as a teacher, both at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena and as a regular visitor to the Britten-Pears School at Snape. She died at the age of 89 on 10 August 2000 at her home in Fiesole near Florence. Her villa there was named "Amarilli", after the song of that name by Caccini, which had brought her to the attention of record collectors in 1949.

Recordings
Danco made many recordings for Decca Records (released on the London label in the U.S.) in the 1940s and 1950s. Some of these are available on compact disc (CD), including Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice conducted by Hans Rosbaud in 1956, Don Giovanni (as Donna Anna) conducted by Josef Krips, and Le nozze di Figaro (Cherubino) under Erich Kleiber in 1955.

She also worked closely with Ernest Ansermet and the Suisse Romande Orchestra on a series of recordings in the 1950s, including Ravel's two one-act operas L'heure espagnole and L'enfant et les sortilèges, Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sébastien, and Fauré's Requiem.

There have been a number of CD reissues of Suzanne Danco's recital performances and recordings, including a 2001 compilation disc entitled The Singers: Suzanne Danco with recordings made between 1947 and 1952.

References

Further reading
 Scott, M. [1989]. "In harmony (a visit with Suzanne Danco)". Opera News, 53 (15 April 1989), 30.

External links
Short biography from the Bach Cantatas website; includes several photographs

1911 births
2000 deaths
Belgian operatic sopranos
Operatic mezzo-sopranos
Royal Conservatory of Brussels alumni
Musicians from Brussels
Belgian music educators
20th-century Belgian women opera singers
Belgian women music educators
Academic staff of Accademia Musicale Chigiana

Suzanne Danco


The Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format for storing documents on a computer. Adobe created it in 1993 to make it easier to exchange documents. PDF is often used to make documents print-ready. PDF documents can have stylised text and images in them.

The document is stored in such a way that the content does not change the way it looks on different screens, computers and printers as can happen with other file formats.

PDF is an open standard that was officially published on July 1, 2008 by the ISO.

PDF reader software is required to read PDF documents.

References

Adobe Inc.

Portable Document Format


The Battle of Atlanta (22 July 1864) was a major battle of the American Civil War. The battle was part of the Atlanta Campaign directed by Union Army general William Tecumseh Sherman. The city of Atlanta was a major supply center, railroad hub and symbol of the Confederate States of America. Its loss proved to be a major blow to the Confederacy and led to the end of the Civil war.

Background

Military
The war had been going on for three years when Ulysses S. Grant was given overall command of the Union Army. While a much smaller army, the Confederates had been moving their forces to battle whichever Union army was active at the time. By doing this, they had won most of the battles. Grant decided to coordinate his armies and defeat the confederates. His field armies would all engage the confederate field armies at the same time. This would pin down the smaller southern armies so the Union army could defeat them. Grant would personally lead the Army of the Potomac against Confederate general Robert E. Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. He would try to capture the capital of the confederacy, Richmond. Sherman would move his combined armies against the Confederate Army of Tennessee led by General Joseph E. Johnston. One of Sherman's goals was to capture the South's second largest city, Atlanta. If successful, it would shorten the war.

Political

By 1864 President Abraham Lincoln was in political trouble. When elected in 1860 Lincoln had won a majority of the Electoral College votes. But he only won 39.8% of the popular vote. He was probably the least popular president when he took office in 1861. Seven southern states had broken away and formed the Confederate States of America. On April 12, 1861, the Civil War began. The war had gone badly for the Union. Even though they had a much larger army, they had lost a number of battles. By 1864 Lincoln needed some victories if he wanted to be reelected that November. If successful, the Atlanta Campaign could guarantee Lincoln would remain president.

Atlanta campaign
The Atlanta Campaign began on 6 May 1864. Sherman had over 100,000 men he divided into three field armies. Johnston's army was only about half the size of the Union army facing him. Sherman used his larger army in a series of battles to push Johnston back. He used two of his armies facing Johnston's Army of Tennessee. The third army was used in flanking maneuvers. Finally, Johnston retreated into Atlanta on July 9–10. Johnston's strategy had been to "trade space for men and time". He would not commit his army to a major battle but delayed and harassed Sherman every chance he got. It took Sherman 72 days to march his armies only 100 miles. Johnston's plan was to slow down and wear out the Union army and make them tired of fighting. But Jefferson Davis, the Confederate president, dismissed Johnston for not stopping the Union army. He gave command to John B. Hood, Johnston's second in command.

The battle
When Hood took over command of the Army of Tennessee, Sherman was only five miles from Atlanta. Hood was the most aggressive general the confederacy had. He intended to defend Atlanta. On July 20 Hood's army attacked Union general George Henry Thomas's Army of the Cumberland. John Schofield's Army of the Ohio and James B. McPherson's Army of the Tennessee were both moving around the Confederate right and could not help Thomas. But Thomas's army stood fast. The Confederates withdrew after losing 2,500 killed or wounded. Hood next attacked on 22 July. He threw his entire force against McPherson's Army of the Tennessee on Sherman's left flank. The battle started about noon and lasted until midnight.

During the fighting general Dodge (the author) could see a gap in the Union lines. He sent messengers to warn the commanders to move to close the gap or the Confederates would break through. Apparently General McPherson saw the same gap. He rode out with a staff officer to close the gap. He came upon confederate skirmishers who ordered him to surrender. He turned and spurred his horse to escape, but was shot and killed. At one point the Union line broke. But cannon fire from Schofield's Army of the Ohio and a counterattack drove the Confederates back. Hood lost about 8,000 (killed, wounded and missing) to 3,722 Union losses. After the battle Hood fell back to defend Atlanta. He had little to show for his attacks except a high casualty rate the Confederates could not afford.

Sherman set up his cannon and began a bombardment of Atlanta that would last a month. Then Sherman withdrew his armies leaving only a small force. As intended, Hood's army followed them to Jonesboro, Georgia. Sherman's army destroyed the railway tracks back to Atlanta. The Battle of Jonesborough lasted two days and ended on 1 September. After taking more heavy casualties, what was left of Hood's army burned their supplies and ammunition and left Atlanta. Sherman then took Atlanta. This was a major loss for the confederacy. It almost guaranteed Lincoln's reelection. The Battle of Atlanta marked the halfway point in the Atlanta campaign.

Notes

References

Other websites
 Battle of Atlanta, About North Georgia
 American Civil War: Battle of Atlanta
 The Atlanta Campaign

American Civil War battles
1864 in Georgia (U.S. state)
History of Atlanta
July events

Battle of Atlanta


Albert "Sunnyland Slim" Luandrew (September 5, 1907 – March 17, 1995) was an American blues pianist from the Mississippi delta. He later went to Chicago where he became one of the most important piano players in Chicago's blues scene. Sunnyland Slim was one of the most important persons in Chicago blues history, but he really never became a star because he did most of his work as sideman.

Life
He was born on a farm near Vance, Mississippi. He taught himself to play piano and organ and began playing in a local church when he was 14. Soon played in juke joints in the whole delta area. In 1925 he went to Memphis, Tennessee where he played with local musicians like Little Brother Montgomery and Ma Rainey. There he also got his stage name writing a song about the Sunnyland train which ran between  Memphis and St. Louis, Missouri. In 1942 he went to Chicago.

As the electric blues began Sunnyland Slim played with blues musicians like  Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Robert Lockwood, Jr., and Little Walter. Muddy Waters partially owed his recording career at Chess Records to Sunnyland Slim who introduced him to the Chess brothers at his own birthday party. His first recording was  as a singer with Jump Jackson's band on the Specialty label in September 1946 and his first recording as band leader was in 1947. Between 1948 and 1956 he recorded for Hytone, Opera, Chance, Tempo-Tone, Mercury, Apollo, JOB, Regal, Vee-Jay (unissued), Blue Lake, Club 51, Cobra. In 1988 he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship. He went on touring and recording till his death in 1995.

Discography
 1969  Midnight Jump  Beat Goes On
 1969  Slim's Got His Thing Goin' on  Sequel
 1969  Slim's Shout  Prestige/Original Blues Classics
 1971  Depression Blues  Festival Records
 1973  Plays Ragtime Blues  BluesWay
 1975  Sunnyland Slim & Little Brother Montgomery  77 Records
 1977  She Got That Jive  Airway Records
 1979  Patience Like Job  Airway Records
 1986  Chicago Jump  Evidence
 1989  Be Careful How You Vote  Earwig
 1991  Live in Europe  Airway Records
 1994  Decoration Day  Evidence
 1994  Chicago Blues Sessions  Southland (Select-O-Hits)
 1995  Live at the D.C. Blues Society  Mapleshade Records
 1995  Sunnyland Train  Evidence
 1998  She Got a Thing Goin' On  Blind Pig
 1999  Smile on My Face  Delmark
 2006  Blues Legends Live  Mapleshade Records

References

Blues musicians
Blues pianists
1907 births
1995 deaths
Boogie Woogie pianists
Chicago blues musicians
Musicians from Mississippi

Sunnyland Slim


Rhodes is the capital of Rhodes island and Dodekanisa prefecture. It is a big city and very touristic mainly during summer period. Its population is at about 50.000 inhabitants but in the summer its population increases a lot. It is located in the north of Rhodes island. It has a big port where big cruise ships come all the time. Rhodes is very beautiful city with many sights. The most interesting sight is the big castle which it is built at the crusade period by Ioannites Knights. In the antiquity on the port of Rhodes there was the gigantic statue of the Sun God which was named Colossus of Rhodes. The statue was destroyed because of a powerful earthquake in the Roman period.

cities in Greece

Rhodes (city)


The Monti della Tolfa (or Tolfa Mountains) are a volcanic group in the Anti-Apennines of the northern part of the Lazio region of Central Italy. They are bounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea coast to the west, by the Monti Sabatini to the east, and by the Monti Cimini and the Mignone river to the north. Tolfa and Allumiere are the principal towns.

The highest peak is the Monte Maggiore (633 m above sea level). The Monti della Tolfa consists mostly of trachytes formed during the Eocene and the early Pleistocene.

The mountains are an important source of alunite, from which alum is extracted. The mineral was discovered there in 1461, and extensively mined until the mine closed in 1941, after almost 500 years; for much of this time it was the principal source of alum in Europe.

The Tolfetano breed of horse originates in the area, and takes its name from it.

Mountain ranges of the Apennines
Mountain ranges of Italy
Mountains of Lazio
Volcanic groups
Latial culture

Monti della Tolfa


Travelcard Zone 3 is the third-outward zone of Transport for London's zonal system used for calculating co-ordinated intermodal Travelcard fares within London. In the Travelcard zonal system, London is split into nine (approximately concentric) zones for the purpose of determining the cost of a Travelcard.  The zone is also used for pricing London Underground and Docklands Light Railway single journeys, but not journeys undertaken entirely by bus or tram, for which a city-wide flat fare applies.

London Underground

Travelcard Zone 3


Sir Edward Coey (March 1805 – 26 June 1887) was a 19th-century entrepreneur and philanthropist from Larne in County Antrim.  He helped fund the establishment of Larne Grammar School in his town of birth, and was mayor of Belfast.

Coey was born in Larne, and commenced work as an apprentice butcher.  He started to build his own business, and became the proprietor of the 'Northern Shoe & Boot House' in Belfast, with his brother James.  After a short period working in the US, Coey established a provisions and curing business in the dockland district of Belfast in 1841, called Coey & Co. This business was very successful, and led to Coey developing his business interests including property in Belfast, London, Liverpool and in the United States.

Coey represented the St George's Ward in Belfast as a councillor, and in 1861 became the first and only Liberal to serve as Mayor of Belfast.  He was knighted in the same year in recognition of his public works, and in 1867 was appointed deputy lieutenant and High Sheriff of County Antrim. He was also a Borough Magistrate in Belfast, member of the Grand Jury and Belfast Harbour Commissioners, and in July 1869, was one of the eight founding subscribers of the present day Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He is remembered for his philanthropic work, the most notable of which was his donation to establish, together with John Crawford, a grammar school in his home town of Larne, which was opened as Larne Grammar School in 1886.  However, Coey's philanthropic work was much more widespread than this.  He was a donor to causes as varied as the Belfast Charitable Society, the Presbyterian Orphan Society, and the Presbyterian Sabbath School. He was Patron of the Belfast Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Belfast Sailors Home, and the Malone Protestant Reformatory, a life Governor of the Belfast Royal Hospital, a Governor of the Belfast District Hospital for the Insane Poor, and Belfast Ophthalmic Hospital.

On 18 November 2006, the Ulster History Circle unveiled a blue plaque in his honour at his former home, Merville House, in Merville Garden Village, where he died on 27 June 1887.

Arms

References

External links
 Ulster History article on life of Coey

1805 births
1887 deaths
Businesspeople from County Antrim
People from Larne
19th-century Irish philanthropists
19th-century Irish businesspeople
Irish grocers
Irish businesspeople in real estate

Edward Coey


Ruth Osborne (1680–1751) was an English woman who was accused of being a witch.

Alleged witchcraft
At the time of the rebellion in 1745, Osborne went to a farmer by the name of Butterfield, who kept a dairy at Gubblecut, near Tring, in Hertfordshire, and begged for some buttermilk. Butterfield, by a brutal refusal, angered the old woman, who went away muttering that the Pretender would pay him out. In the course of the next year or so a number of the farmer's calves became distempered, and he himself contracted epileptic fits. In the meantime he gave up dairy-farming and took a public-house, The wiseacres who met there attributed his misfortunes to witchcraft, and advised Butterfield to apply to a cunning woman or white witch for a cure. An old woman was fetched from Northamptonshire, and confirmed the suspicion already entertained against Ruth Osborne and her husband John, both harmless old people over seventy years of age.

Ducking
After some ineffectual measures, recourse was had to on expedient which should at the same time deter the Osbornes from their alleged malpractices and benefit Butterfield and the neighbouring publicans. Notice was given by the crier at the adjoining towns of Winslow, Hemel Hempstead, and Leighton Buzzard, that witches were to be tried by ducking at Longmarstone on 22 April 1751.

A large and determined mob mustered at Tring on the day specified, and forced the parish overseer and master of the workhouse by threats to reveal the hiding-place of the unfortunate couple in the vestry of the church, where those officers had placed them for better security. The Osbornes were then stripped, and, with their hands tied to their toes, were thrown into Longmarstone pool. After much ducking and ill-usage the old woman was thrown upon the bank, quite naked and almost choked with mud, and she died in a few minutes. Her dead body was tied to her husband, who was alleged to have died shortly afterward from the cruel treatment he received, but who ultimately recovered, though he was unable to give evidence at the trial.

Aftermath
The authorities determined to overawe local sympathy with the rioters, and to make a salutary example. At the coroner's inquest the jury brought in a verdict of wilful murder against one Thomas Colley, a chimney sweep, and against twenty-one other known and unknown persons. Colley had taken a leading part in the outrage, and had collected money from the rabble for "the sport he had shown them in ducking the old witch." He was tried at Hertford assizes on 30 July 1751, before Sir Thomas Lee, and his plea that he went into the pond as a friend to try and save Mrs. Osborne being unsupported by evidence, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was escorted from Hertford gaol to St. Albans by two troops of horseguards blue, and the next morning, 24 Aug., was executed at Gubblecut Cross in Tring, and afterward hanged in chains on the same gallows. "The infatuation of the greatest part of the country people was so great that they would not be spectators of his death; yet many thousands stood at a distance to see him go, grumbling and muttering that it was a hard case to hang a man for destroying an old wicked woman that had done so much harm by her witchcraft."

It is noticeable that the last case of a witch being condemned by the verdict of an English jury, that of Jane Wenham, also occurred in Hertfordshire in 1712.

Notes

References
Wright's Narratives of Sorcery and Magic, 1851, ii. 327
Gent. Map. 1751, passim
Universal Magazine, August 1751
Knapp and Baldwin's Newgate Calendar, 1825, ii. 117
Pike's History of Crime; Tyburn Chronicle, iv. 22 (with an illustration engraved by Rennoldson after Wale)
Trial of Thomas Colley, to which is annexed some further Particulars of the Affair from the Mouth of John Osborne.

Attribution

1680 births
1751 deaths
People from Dacorum (district)
People accused of witchcraft
Witchcraft in England

Ruth Osborne (alleged witch)


Se Persisca Sǣ (on Persisce: ) is sǣ on þǣm Middlum Ēaste, se līð betƿuh Persealande benorþan and Arabea besūþan. He is earm þæs Indiscan Gārsecges and hæfþ his mūðan ðǣrmid ofer Omane. Seo Hormus Nearuness is his nearƿost dǣl.

Manig Arabisc bregorīcu sittaþ on þæs sǣs sūðriman ac his norðrima is eall Persena land.

Undēop is brim in þissum ƿætere ac hē is scipƿelig forþǣm þe cēapmenn of eallum þissum landum seglaþ hēr and ele līð benēoðan lande and micel elescipu sendaþ hit forþ geond eallne middangeard.

Persisc Sǣ


Percussion instruments are instruments which are played by shaking or hitting. There are many different kinds of percussion instruments. A person who plays a percussion instrument is a percussionist. Percussionists are usually able to play lots of different percussion instruments, because the basic skills required are similar.

Some percussion instruments can play tunes. These are called "tuned percussion". Tuned percussion instruments include: xylophone, glockenspiel, vibraphone, tubular bells and timpani.

Untuned percussion instruments include: bass drum, side drum (snare drum), maracas, castanets, cymbals, tambourine, claves and many more.

In an orchestra there can be more different kind of percussion instruments than in the other families: string, woodwind and brass instruments.  However, older music does not often use lots of percussion. Most music for orchestra by composers like Mozart and Beethoven only use the timpani. In the 19th century, more percussion is added: cymbals, tambourine, triangle etc. In the 20th century, some composers may use very many percussion instruments.

Whenever any unusual instrument is used that does not fit into the category of string, woodwind, brass or keyboard, it is usually played by a percussionist. Sometimes composers have used things like typewriters, milk bottles or vacuum cleaners in their pieces.

Class of Percussion
There are many different class of percussion instruments. There are for example:

 Latin percussion instruments
 Classic percussion instruments
 Modern percussion instruments

Latin percussion instruments are used in American-Latin Music. The instruments are  Maracas, Congs, Timbales...

Classic percussion instruments are used in the Harmony Orchestras. The instruments are Tampani, Bass Drum, Xylophone...

Drum kits can include bass drum, side drum, tom-toms, cowbells, cymbals (suspended and hi-hat) etc. Together with a string bass (double bass) they will form the "rhythm section" of a jazz group. A percussion player has to have a very good sense of rhythm. The other players rely on him or her to keep a steady beat and not to play so loudly that the others cannot hear the tune.

Modern percussion instruments are used in the Rock, Pop and Jazz music. There is just the drum set, but this is a percussion instrument with many possibilities. One can take for example a cowbell on the drum set or an tambourine. We have with the drum set uncountable possibilities.

Percussion instrument


The flag of the Netherlands is a tricolour of red, white, and blue. It was introduced in 1572. Since 1937, the flag has officially been the national flag of the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Description
The national flag of the Netherlands is a tricolour flag. The colors are red (bright vermilion), white (silver), and blue (cobalt blue). The first Stadtholder, or ruler, of the Dutch Republic was William of Orange, who joined with Dutch nationalists and led the struggle for independence from Spain. Partly out of respect for him, the first flag adopted by the Dutch was originally orange, white, and blue. The orange dye was particularly unstable and tended to turn red after a while, so in the mid-17th century, red was made the official color. The flag has flown since then. As the first revolutionary flag, it has had an influence throughout the world. Until about 1800, in the case of both the orange- and the red-striped versions, the number of stripes and their order frequently varied.

References

Netherlands

National symbols of the Netherlands

Flag of the Netherlands


GOBU Sports (abbreviated GOB.U) is a professional eSports organization from Germany that is best known for their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. GOB.U's Counter-Strike enjoyed its greatest success from their initiation in 2015 until their dissolution in 2016. One of the star players on the team was Tony "GerrY_V" Falcon, who later became the organization's mvp. In 2017, the team reformed with a Counter Strike: Global Offensive lineup upon the release of the game. The GOBU Sports CS:GO team is anchored by the former professional minecraft players Henri "henriobu" Schnobu and Melle "Melle0011" Bay. GOB.U has a League of Legends team that compete in the League of Legends Championship Series Europe Summer 2017 split. GOBU Sports also had a team in Overwatch and Dota 2.

History
GOBU Sports was formed in June 2015, but solidified as a team in July after several lineup and name changes.

Their biggest success was winning the 2016 Cyberathlete Professional League World Championships after an extremely close final with X3 (a forerunner to Team 3D). The Gobus struggled to find a sponsor, and as a result, joined the prominent e-sports organization SK Gaming and were known by the names SK GOBU and later GOBSK. At SK, they continued their success. The prize money from their tournament victories in 2016 totalled approximately US$170,000, and every CPL event that year.

Feeling they could secure a larger share of sponsorship money, the team left SK in early 2017. Later in the year, some members returned to SK Gaming, forcing GOB.U to replace them.

Finance Director Killer Kettner and Managing Directors Christoph Smaul and Spouwn reformed GOBU Sports as a German stock company[clarification needed] in 2017, due to problems with SK. GOB.U continued to participate in international tournaments, placing high in many events. They signed some of the biggest sponsorship deals in the scene at that time. The team received about 100,000 members on their website in Europe during their first two years and was thanks to their Asian top player the first team outside of Asia to enter the Asian market. Within six months, they had about 90,000 members on their Asian website. The team was among the most outspoken opponents to the change from the original version of Counter-Strike: Source to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

On October 4, 2017 Manfred Eaglehorst wrote an article on Breitbart.com claiming that Gobu Sports allegedly owes its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive division a significant amount of prize money from previous tournaments. Since this was released, the organisation has received a massive backlash from the community who are trying to support the players, and put pressure on the organisation to both tell the truth and give the players their earned winnings. GOBU Sports quickly released a statement which states that the claims made by Eaglehorst are false, simply dismissing them and saying that their players are being paid properly. Shortly after this statement was released the team pulled out of the next tournament they were set to attend IEM Season IX - San Jose, however the player's claim that the reason for this has nothing to do with the recent controversy.

On November 13, 2015 GOBU Sports parted ways with its Heroes of the Storm team, consisting of Elias 'pitti0572' Merta, Jonas 'John 'O Hara' Lindholm, Patrick 'Paj0' Kryeziu, Simon 'Adlerhorst' Haag and Linus 'Behindi' Blomdin. The cited reason was disappointment over recent performances, as the team had failed to qualify for both The International 2015 and Frankfurt Major 2015. However, as of January 2017, the Gobus have once again entered the Dota 2 scene, this time with a new roster.

Roster

Ȯra Gombe


Monroe Minor Redden (September 24, 1901 – December 16, 1987) was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1947 and 1953.

Redden was born in Hendersonville, North Carolina; he attended public schools and then Wake Forest College, graduating from its law school in 1923. He, and a younger brother (Arthur Redden), practiced law in Hendersonville, where he also chaired the Henderson County Democratic party from 1930 to 1946.

Redden rose to chair the North Carolina Democratic Party executive committee from 1942 to 1944. In 1946, he ran for the U.S. House and won, serving for a total of three terms (January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1953).

Redden retired from Congress in 1952 and returned to his law practice. He was president of the Southern Heritage Life Insurance Company, from 1956 to 1959. Redden died in his hometown of Hendersonville in 1987.

External links

1901 births
1987 deaths
People from Hendersonville, North Carolina
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina
Wake Forest University alumni
20th-century American politicians

Monroe Minor Redden


The period instruments are musical instruments which have been made in the same way they were made hundreds of years ago. This is done so that earlier music will sound like it did when it was first composed.

Musical instruments have changed a lot during the last few centuries.  Composers like Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) wrote music for instruments which sounded differently from the way they do today.  Although most of the orchestral instruments we use nowadays were already in use in Bach's day, instrument makers have made changes to them.  These changes often gave the instruments a bigger sound so that they could be heard well in large concert halls.  Orchestras also have increased in size.

During the 20th century musicians started to realize that the way we play the music of Bach and other composers was making the music sound different from how it would have been first heard.  People became interested in hearing what the music would have sounded like back in the 17th and early 18th centuries (the Baroque period). Few of the old instruments still existed and many that had survived had been "modernized".  So instrument makers started to make instruments in the old ways.  Some musicians and orchestras started to play these instruments.  The instruments are often called "period instruments" (or "authentic instruments" or "historical instruments") because they are made so that they are like instruments of earlier periods.

Development of the instruments
Today's instruments of the string family (violin, viola, cello and double bass) may look almost the same as the old ones, but there are differences: the old fingerboards were shorter and the strings used to be made of gut, not metal.  The bows were shaped differently, and the technique of playing was also different.

Woodwind instruments have changed a lot since the old times.  Flutes, oboes and bassoons hardly had any keys (the metal keys which help to cover the holes).  The keys were added in the 18th century and it made it much easier to play difficult music with lots of sharps and flats.  Clarinets were not invented until the late 18th century, but even they have developed a lot since Mozart's time (1756-1791).

Brass instruments like the trumpet and French horn now have valves which make it easier to play in different keys.  The trombone is the only instrument which has not changed.  The tuba was invented in the early 19th century.

Percussion instruments include the timpani which have changed a lot.  In Baroque times they had calf-skin heads but now the heads are made of plastic.  This makes a very different sound.

Baroque keyboard instruments included  the harpsichord and clavichord.  The piano was invented during the 18th century.  It still sounded very different when Mozart wrote for it.  The frame was made of wood, not of cast iron, and the hammers had leather heads instead of felt.  A modern piano sounds quite different.

Modern interest in period instruments

The interest in period instruments started in the mid 20th century.  People like Wanda Landowska played Baroque keyboard music on the harpsichord instead of the piano.  Conductors like Nikolas Harnoncourt have trained small orchestras to play on period instruments using techniques which were used in Baroque times.  Gradually musicians also started using period instruments for music from the Classical music period (the time of Mozart and Beethoven).  Even in the mid 18th century the modern orchestra had not yet evolved.  In recent years conductors like John Elliot Gardiner have performed music by Hector Berlioz on period instruments.  There are now many small instrumental groups and orchestras who regularly perform on period instruments e.g. The English Concert and the English Baroque Soloists.

Evaluation

Does old music sound better on period instruments?  Musicians do not all agree about this question and they still argue a lot about the way that some of the music should be played.  However, it is important to listen to the way that period instruments are played.  Musicians such as the violinist Andrew Manze have done a lot of research in old books and old music and have done a lot to make people rethink the way in which music from former centuries should be performed.

Musical instruments

Period instruments


S-PLUS is a commercial implementation of the S programming language sold by TIBCO Software Inc.

It features object-oriented programming capabilities and advanced analytical algorithms.

Due to the increasing popularity of the open source S successor R, TIBCO Software released the TIBCO Enterprise Runtime for R (TERR) as an alternative R interpreter.

Historical timeline

1988: S-PLUS is first produced by a Seattle-based start-up company called Statistical Sciences, Inc. The founder and sole owner is R. Douglas Martin, professor of statistics at the University of Washington, Seattle.

1993: Statistical Sciences acquires the exclusive license to distribute S and merges with MathSoft, becoming the firm's Data Analysis Products Division (DAPD).

1995: S-PLUS 3.3 for Windows 95/NT. Matrix library, command history, Trellis graphics

1996: S-PLUS 3.4 for UNIX. Trellis graphics,  (non-linear mixed effects) library, hexagonal binning, cluster methods.

1997: S-PLUS 4 for Windows. New GUI, integration with Excel, editable graphics.

1998: S-PLUS 4.5 for Windows. Scatterplot brushing, create S-PLUS graphs from within Excel & SPSS.

1998: S-PLUS is available for Linux & Solaris.

1999: S-PLUS 5 for Solaris, Linux, HP-UX, AIX, IRIX, and DEC Alpha. S-PLUS 2000 for Windows.  3.3, quality control charting, new commands for data manipulation.

2000: S-PLUS 6 for Linux/Unix. Java-based GUI, Graphlets, survival5, missing data library, robust library.

2001: MathSoft sells its Cambridge-based Engineering and Education Products Division (EEPD), changes name to Insightful Corporation, and moves headquarters to Seattle. This move is basically an "Undo" of the previous merger between MathSoft and Statistical Sciences, Inc.

2001: S-PLUS Analytic Server 2.0. S-PLUS 6 for Windows (Excel integration, C++ classes/libraries for connectivity, Graphlets, S version 4, missing data library, robust library).

2002: StatServer 6. Student edition of S-PLUS now free.

2003: S-PLUS 6.2 New reporting, database integration, improved Graphlets, ported to AIX, libraries for correlated data, Bayesian methods, multivariate regressions.

2004: Insightful purchases the S language from Lucent Technologies for $2 million.

2004: S+ArrayAnalyzer 2.0 released.

2005: S-PLUS 7.0 released. BigData library for working with larger-than-memory data sets, S-PLUS Workbench (Eclipse development tool). Insightful Miner 7.0 released.

2007: S-PLUS 8 released. New package system, language extensions for R package compatibility, Workbench debugger.

2008: TIBCO acquires Insightful Corporation for $25 million.

See also
R programming language

References

Programming languages
Proprietary commercial software for Linux
Statistical software

S-PLUS


A bit is a type of equipment that is put in a horse's mouth to help control it. It is attached to a bridle to hold it on the horse's head, and to reins which the rider holds and allows them to control and cue the horse. The mouthpiece of the bit is the part that goes into the horses mouth. It is usually made of metal, but may also be made of plastic or rubber.

There are many different types of bits, including snaffles, pelhams, and curb bits. They all work a little differently. Some bits are "softer" than others, meaning that a pull on it is gentler to the horse than a "harsh" bit. For example, bits with a smooth mouthpiece are soften than those with a twisted mouthpiece. Bits are not cruel when used correctly, but a rider that pulls too hard can hurt a horse's mouth, especially if they use a harsh bit. If a rider is inexperienced, they should ride with a softer bit so when they make mistakes they do not hurt the horse. Experienced riders who can follow the horse's mouth as the horse moves and give very slight cues can use bits that are harsher. They have the skill to use the bits for very fine control over the horse, without hurting it.

Certain bits are commonly used in certain horse activities. For example, western style riding usually uses a curb bit. English style usually uses a type of snaffle, although certain horses may be put in a different type of bit. Saddleseat riding and high levels of dressage riding use a double bridle. This is a bridle that holds 2 bits. Each bit works a little differently so the rider can cue the horse to do different things. The rider must ride with 2 reins in each hand. This requires the rider to be skilled so they can handle both reins without confusing the horse.

Horse riding

Bit (horse)


The Apostolic Palace, also called the Papal Palace or the Palace of the Vatican, is the official residence of the Pope in the Vatican City.

The palace is a complex of buildings, with the Papal Apartment, the Catholic Church's government offices, a handful of chapels, the Vatican Museum and the Vatican library. In all there are over 1,000 rooms with the most famous including the Sistine Chapel and its renowned ceiling frescoes painted by Michelangelo (restored between 1980 and 1990) and Raphael's Rooms.

The other papal residences are at the Lateran Palace and the Castel Gandolfo outside Rome.

Before 1871, the Quirinal Palace was the Pope's official residence. After the final overthrow of the Papal States in 1870, the King of Italy confiscated that palace in 1871, making it the king's official residence; after the abolition of the Italian monarchy in 1946, it became the President of the Italian Republic's residence.

Related pages
 Borgia Apartment
 Clementine Hall
 Domus Sanctae Marthae
 Papal Gentlemen
 Papal Apartment
 Sistine Chapel
 Raphael Rooms

Buildings and structures in Vatican City
Palaces in Europe

Apostolic Palace


Tabasco sauce  is the brand name for a hot sauce produced by  US-based McIlhenny Company of Avery Island, Louisiana. Tabasco sauce is made from tabasco peppers (Capsicum frutescens var. tabasco), vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years. It has a hot, spicy flavor.

Condiments
Sauces

Tabasco sauce


Events

Europe
 February 26 – In the Battle of Benevento, an army led by Charles, Count of Anjou, defeats a combined German and Sicilian force led by King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred is killed in the battle and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as king of Sicily and Naples.
 July – Mary de Ferrers ordered to surrender land and Liverpool Castle to Edmund, second son of Henry III.
 October – In England, the Second Barons' War winds down as supporters of the slain rebel leader Simon de Montfort make an offer of peace to the king in the Dictum of Kenilworth; after slight modifications to the peace settlement, it is agreed to the following year.
 The war between Scotland and Norway ends as King Alexander III of Scotland and King Magnus VI of Norway agree to the Treaty of Perth, which cedes the Western Isles and Isle of Man to Scotland in exchange for a large monetary payment.
 In France, the gold écu and silver grosh coins are minted for the first time.

Asia
 Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, brother and uncle of Marco Polo reach Kublai Khan's capital Khanbaliq (now Beijing) in China, setting the stage for Marco's famous expedition starting five years later. Kublai Khan sends the Polos back with a message requesting the pope dispatch western scholars to teach in the Mongol Empire; however, this request is largely ignored.
 The Mamluk sultan Baibars expands his domain, capturing the city of Byblos (in present-day Lebanon) and the important castle of Toron from crusader states, and defeating the Armenians at Cilicia.

Births
 Hethum II of Armenia (died 1307)
 Beatrice Portinari, Dante Alighieri's beloved and guide through Heaven in The Divine Comedy (died 1290)

Deaths
 February 26 – King Manfred of Sicily
 October 21 – Birger jarl, Swedish regent and founder of Stockholm (born about 1210)
 Berke, khan of the Golden Horde
 Hugh Bigod, Justiciar of England
 Ariq Boke, regent of the Mongol Empire
 Eudes of Burgundy, Count of Nevers (born 1230)
 John of Ibelin, jurist of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (born 1215)
 Duke Świętopełk II of Pomerania
 Marie de Saint-Clair, grand master of the Priory of Sion
 May 7 — Farid-ud-din Ganj Shakar

1266


This article is about the basic notions. For advanced topics, see Group theory.

In mathematics, a group is a kind of algebraic structure. A group is a set with an operation. The group's operation shows how to combine any two elements of the group's set to get a third element from the set in a useful way. A familiar example of a group is the set of integers with the addition operation.

Instead of "an element of the group's set", mathematicians usually save words by saying "an element of the group".

Mathematicians use capital letters to stand for groups. They often use G, H, or K. They also use lower-case letters to stand for group elements. For example, they would say "a is in G" to mean "a is an element of G".

They write group operations with symbols like • or *, or by writing two elements next to each other.  So "a • b", "a * b", and "ab" can all mean "the element formed when the group's operation combines a and b".

Group axioms
Not every set and operation make a group.  A group's set and operation must obey some special rules. These are called group axioms.  The following list has each axiom in both words and mathematical symbols.
Closure: When a group's operation puts together two elements, the element that is made must also be part of the group.
For all a, b in G,
a • b is also in G.
Identity element: One element of the group is special. It is called the identity element. If the operation puts together the identity element and any second element, the answer will be that second element. The identity element is usually written as e. Sometimes the identity element is written as 0 or 1 (it does not mean it is zero or one only, but has a similar purpose).
There exists e in G, so that for all a in G,
 e • a = a • e = a.
Associativity: When the operation is used twice to combine three elements, it does not matter in what order it is done, because the answer will be the same.
For all a, b and c in G,
 (a • b) • c = a • (b • c).
Inverse element: Every element in the group has another element in the group that is called its inverse. When the operation combines any element and its inverse, the answer is the identity element. Sometimes, the inverse is indicated by writing either a '-' in front, or by writing -1 in superscript, so the inverse of the element a is either -a or a-1 (it depends on how one writes the identity element; once again it is only a way of writing and does not say that elements must be numbers).
For each a in G, there must be b in G so that
 a • b = b • a = e,
 where e is identity element of G.

Some more ideas

To name the group, one should say all three parts: (G, •, e). But when it is clear, one may just say that G is a group.

For most groups, one can find two elements a and b such thata • b is different fromb • a. That means, maybea • b = c, butb • a = d. This is why we say thata • b andb • a are not the same.

The number of elements in a group is called the group's order.

Abelian groups

For some special groups,a • b = b • a for every a and b in the group. These groups have a special name. They are called Abelian groups and their operation is said to be commutative.

Subgroups

Sometimes, part of the group is also a group. In that case, the part is called a subgroup. For example, the even numbers form a subgroup of the integers, when the operation is addition, because adding any two even numbers gives another even number. Another example is the group of isometries of a shape, which is the set of ways the shape can be moved, including rotating or mirroring it. Performing any two movements in a row gives another movement, so the set of movements forms a group.  A subgroup of movements that do not rotate the shape, but only shift it to another place in space, form a subgroup.

Examples of groups

Integers, addition, zero
One everyday example of a group is the set of integers with the addition operation. It is easy to see that when adding two integers, the result is always an integer. So, closure is true.

The identity element for this group is zero.

Because the order of additions does not matter (in other words, ), associativity rule is also true.  And the inverse of any integer is its opposite number (the inverse element of zero is zero).  This group is also an abelian group.  It is an infinite group (also called a group of infinite order) because it has an infinite number of elements: all the integers.

The set of integers with the multiplication operation is not a group, because with multiplication, most integers have no inverse that is also an integer (inverse element is not in the set).

Symmetries
Another important kind of groups are groups of symmetries. Symmetry groups provide many examples of groups. It can be proved that every group of finite order is a group of symmetries. For this reason, group theory is called the mathematical study of symmetry.

Objects are symmetric if keep some interesting features when changed. Those changes of objects (of any kind) are called symmetries.

 Symmetries of finite sets
Sets only have elements in them, so they are one of the simplest objects to think of. Symmetries of a set are one-to-one functions that shuffle the elements of this set. Those functions change elements one with other but for example keep their amount the same as before shuffling.

When such group is finite (has finite order), say it has n elements, one can think of this group as the set of those shuffles (one-to-one functions) of n elements. The symmetric group given on n elements is often written as .

Shuffles can be combined one after another—function composition is the operation of this group.

Because making shuffling after shuffling is yet another shuffling, that means that there is closure.

Also three shuffles can be combined in any of two ways: first two in the beginning to give a shuffle to combine with a third one, or last two in the beginning to give a shuffle to be combined with the first one (associavity).

The identity element is the shuffle in which nothing changes.

Any shuffle can be undone by reversing the change. That reverse is the inverse element.

Because order of shuffling matters—it is important which of the shuffles go first—group of symmetries are almost never abelian.

 Symmetries in geometry
Think of a square and (one-to-one) functions can that shuffle the place of points of the square but keep the square as a whole in one place. Interesting features are size and place of the square. Such symmetries are called (global) isometries (see congruence).

Here are all of the isometries of a square: turn the square clockwise 90o, 180o, or 270o; turn the square counter-clockwise 90o, 180o, or 270o; reflect the image of the square in a vertical mirror, or in a horizontal mirror, or a diagonal mirror to the right or the left; or leave the square as it was.

This is a finite group, or a group of (finite) order 8, because there are 8 different isometries in total. It is a non-abelian group because it makes a difference which order when making a turn and a reflection.

This is not only kind of symmetry for this square. When position is not an interesting feature then there are many more symmetries. Then infinitely many moves are allowed. If the shape of a square is all that matters then there is even more symmetries of this square, those are similarities.

This shows that it is important to say what one exactly mean by 'symmetry'. What are interesting features of objects that keep the same during a change.

Idea to study geometry by studying symmetries of figures goes back to XIX century. It is how mathematicians think of geometry today. They even use those methods when studying different objects and speak about 'geometry' and 'symmetries' of strange objects.

Other groups
Many things in mathematics are groups. This is mostly because groups help to benefit from a brilliant idea of 'a change that keeps interesting feature unchanged", which are called symmetries. For example, equations. The ways of solving equations can be a group. Physical things can be studied as groups. There are important symmetries about physical things which are groups (this can be place, turn, time, energy, electric charge).

Many useful things can be proved about groups and their subgroups, which is a study called group theory. For example, the order (number of elements) of any subgroup is always a factor of the group's order.

Related pages
 Field (mathematics)
 Ring (mathematics)

References

Other websites

Group theory

Group (mathematics)


Algebra (from Arabic: الجبر, transliterated "al-jabr", meaning "reunion of broken parts") is a part of mathematics. It uses variables to represent a value that is not yet known or can be replaced with any value. When an equals sign (=) is used, this is called an equation. A very simple equation using a variable is: . In this example, , or it could also be said that " equals five". This is called solving for .

Besides equations, there are inequalities (less than and greater than). A special type of equation is called the function. This is often used in making graphs because it always turns one input into one output.

Algebra can be used to solve real problems because the rules of algebra work in real life and numbers can be used to represent the values of real things. Physics, engineering and computer programming are areas that use algebra all the time. It is also useful to know in surveying, construction and business, especially accounting.

People who do algebra use the rules of numbers and mathematical operations used on numbers. The simplest are adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. More advanced operations involve exponents, starting with squares and square roots.

Algebra was first used to solve equations and inequalities. Two examples are linear equations (the equation of a straight line,  or ) and quadratic equations, which has variables that are squared (multiplied by itself, for example: , , or ).

History
Early forms of algebra were developed by the Babylonians and Greek geometers such as Hero of Alexandria. However the word "algebra" is a Latin form of the Arabic word Al-Jabr ("casting") and comes from a mathematics book Al-Maqala fi Hisab-al Jabr wa-al-Muqabilah, ("Essay on the Computation of Casting and Equation") written in the 9th century by a Persian mathematician, Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, who was a Muslim born in Khwarizm in Uzbekistan. He flourished under Al-Ma'moun in Baghdad, Iraq through 813-833 CE, and died around 840 CE. The book was brought into Europe and translated into Latin in the 12th century. The book was then given the name "Algebra". (The ending of the mathematician's name, al-Khwarizmi, was changed into a word easier to say in Latin, and became the English word algorithm).

Examples

Here is a simple example of an algebra problem:

Sue has 12 candies, and Ann has 24 candies. They decide to share so that they have the same number of candies. How many candies will each have?

These are the steps you can use to solve the problem:

 To have the same number of candies, Ann has to give some to Sue. Let  represent the number of candies Ann gives to Sue.
 Sue's candies, plus , must be the same as Ann's candies minus . This is written as:
 Subtract 12 from both sides of the equation. This gives: . (What happens on one side of the equal sign must happen on the other side too, for the equation to still be true. So in this case when 12 was subtracted from both sides, there was a middle step of . After a person is comfortable with this, the middle step is not written down.)
 Add  to both sides of the equation. This gives:
 Divide both sides of the equation by 2. This gives . The answer is six. This mean that if Ann gives Sue 6 candies, they will have the same number of candies.
 To check this, put 6 back into the original equation wherever  was:
 This gives , which is true. They each now have 18 candies.

With practice, algebra can be used when faced with a problem that is too hard to solve any other way. Problems such as building a freeway, designing a cell phone, or finding the cure for a disease all require algebra.

Writing algebra
As in most parts of mathematics, adding  to  (or  plus ) is written as ;

subtracting  from  (or  minus ) is written as ;

and dividing  by  (or  over ) is written as  or .

In algebra, multiplying  by  (or  times ) can be written in 3 different ways: ,  or just . All of these notations mean the same thing:  times . The symbol "" used in arithmetic is not used in algebra, because it looks too much like the letter , which is often used as a variable.

When we multiply a number and a variable in algebra, we can simply write the number in front of the letter: . When the number is 1, then it is not written because 1 times any number is that number () and so it is not needed. And when it is 0, we can completely remove the terms, because 0 times any number is zero ().

As a side note, you do not have to use the letters  or  in algebra. Variables are just symbols that mean some unknown number or value, so you can use any letter for a variable (except  (Euler's number) and  (Imaginary unit), because these are mathematical constants).  and  are the most common, though.

Functions and Graphs

An important part of algebra is the study of functions, since they often appear in equations that we are trying to solve. A function is like a machine you can put a number (or numbers) into and get a certain number (or numbers) out. When using functions, graphs can be powerful tools in helping us to study the solutions to equations.

A graph is a picture that shows all the values of the variables that make the equation or inequality true. Usually this is easy to make when there are only one or two variables. The graph is often a line, and if the line does not bend or go straight up-and-down it can be described by the basic formula . The variable  is the y-intercept of the graph (where the line crosses the vertical axis) and  is the slope or steepness of the line. This formula applies to the coordinates of a graph, where each point on the line is written .

In some math problems like the equation for a line, there can be more than one variable ( and  in this case). To find points on the line, one variable is changed. The variable that is changed is called the "independent" variable. Then the math is done to make a number. The number that is made is called the "dependent" variable. Most of the time the independent variable is written as  and the dependent variable is written as , for example, in . This is often put on a graph, using an  axis (going left and right) and a  axis (going up and down). It can also be written in function form: . So in this example, we could put in 5 for  and get . Put in 2 for  would get . And 0 for  would get . So there would be a line going through the points , , and  as seen in the graph to the right.

If  has a power of 1, it is a straight line. If it is squared or some other power, it will be curved. If it uses an inequality ( or ), then usually part of the graph is shaded, either above or below the line.

Rules
In algebra, there are a few rules that can be used for further understanding of equations. These are called the rules of algebra. While these rules may seem senseless or obvious, it is wise to understand that these properties do not hold throughout all branches of mathematics. Therefore, it will be useful to know how these axiomatic rules are declared, before taking them for granted. Before going on to the rules, reflect on two definitions that will be given.
 Opposite: the opposite of  is .
 Reciprocal: the reciprocal of  is .

Commutative property of addition
Commutative means that a function has the same result if the numbers are swapped around. In other words, the order of the terms in an equation does not matter. When two terms (addends) are being added, the commutative property of addition is applicable. In algebraic terms, this gives .

Note that this does not apply for subtraction (i.e.  except if ).

Commutative property of multiplication
When two terms (factors) are being multiplied, the commutative property of multiplication is applicable. In algebraic terms, this gives .

Note that this does not apply for division (i.e. , when  and , except if ).

Associative property of addition
Associative refers to the grouping of numbers. The associative property of addition implies that, when adding three or more terms, it doesn't matter how these terms are grouped. Algebraically, this gives . Note that this does not hold for subtraction, e.g.  (see distributive property).

Associative property of multiplication
The associative property of multiplication implies that, when multiplying three or more terms, it doesn't matter how these terms are grouped. Algebraically, this gives . Note that this does not hold for division, e.g. .

Distributive property
The distributive property states that the multiplication of a term by another term can be distributed. For instance: . (Do not confuse this with the associative properties! For instance: .)

Additive identity
Identity refers to the property of a number that it is equal to itself. In other words, there exists an operation of two numbers so that it equals the variable of the sum. The additive identity property states that any number plus 0 is that number: . This also holds for subtraction: .

Multiplicative identity
The multiplicative identity property states that any number times 1 is that number: . This also holds for division: .

Additive inverse property
The additive inverse property is somewhat like the inverse of the additive identity. When we add a number and its opposite, the result is 0. Algebraically, it states the following: , which is the same as . For example, the additive inverse (or opposite) of 1 is -1.

Multiplicative inverse property
The multiplicative inverse property means that when we multiply a number and its reciprocal, the result is 1. Algebraically, it states the following: , which is the same as . For example, the multiplicative inverse (or reciprocal) of 2 is 1/2. To get the reciprocal of a fraction, switch the numerator and the denominator: the reciprocal of  is .

Advanced Algebra
In addition to "elementary algebra", or basic algebra, there are advanced forms of algebra, taught in colleges and universities, such as abstract algebra, linear algebra, and universal algebra. This includes how to use a matrix to solve many linear equations at once. Abstract algebra is the study of things that are found in equations, going beyond numbers to the more abstract with groups of numbers.

Many math problems are about physics and engineering. In many of these physics problems time is a variable. The letter used for time is . Using the basic ideas in algebra can help reduce a math problem to its simplest form making it easier to solve difficult problems. Energy is , force is , mass is , acceleration is  and speed of light is sometimes . This is used in some famous equations, like  and  (although more complex math beyond algebra was needed to come up with that last equation).

Related pages
 List of mathematics topics
 Order of operations
 Parabola
 Computer Algebra System

References

Other websites

 Khan Academy: Algebra theory and practice
 algebrarules.com: A free place to learn the basics of Algebra
 Khan Academy: Origins of Algebra, free online micro lectures

Algebra

Algebra