Yoo Young-chul (born in 18 Aprile 1970) is a Sooth Korean serial killer an sel-confessed cannibal. Awtho he admittit tae murtherin 21 fowk, maistly prostitutes an wealthy auld men, the Seoul Central Destrict Court convictit him o 20 murthers (ane case wis dismissed on a technicality). Yoo burned three an mutilatit at least 11 o his victims, admittin he ett the livers o some o them. He committit his creemes atween September 2003 an Julie 2004, when he wis arrestit. Yoo explained his motives in front o a TV camera sayin "Weemen shouldna be sluts, an the rich shoud ken wha they'e duin."
He wis sentencit tae daith on Juin 19, 2005 bi the Supreme Court.

His case, which appalled Sooth Koreans, haes fueled the debate on caipital punishment in Sooth Korea. Awtho the daith penalty is still permissible unner law, it haes no been carriet oot syne 1997. It appeared caipital punishment micht be abolished prior tae Yoo's arrest, but support for the daith penalty haes grown syne then.

The Seoul Central Destrict Court said: "Murthers o as mony as 20 fowk are unprecedentit in the naition an a vera serious crime. The daith penalty is inevitable for Yoo in licht o the enormous pains inflictit on the faimilies concerned an the entire society."

Leet o events an his early creemes
 1988: Theft
 1991: Theft (sentencit 10 month in jyle)
 23 Juin 1993: Marriet his girlfriend
 1993: Theft (sentencit 8 month in jyle)
 26 October 1994: His son wis born
 1995: Sellin illegal pornografie (sentencit 3 million KRW)
 1998: Theft, forgery, identity theft (sentencit 2 years in jyle)
 2000: Child sexual abuis (rape) (sentencit 3 years 6 month in jyle)
 27 October 2000: Divorcit bi his wife
 11 September 2003: Released frae jyle

Killin spree
1st, 24 September 2003 (victims age 72, 67), Gangnam-gu, Seoul: Stabbit the first victim's neck an hit the victim's heid wi his hammer (4 kg), an killed the seicont victim (the first victim's wife) wi his hammer.
2nt, 9 October 2003 (victims age 85, 60, 35), Jongno-gu, Seoul: Killed three fowk wi the hammer
3rd, 16 October 2003 (victim age 60), Gangnam-gu, Seoul: Hit the victim's heid wi the hammer. Later the victim wis foond bi her son at 13:30 but dee'd at 14:00.
4t, 18 November 2003 (victims age 53, 87, baby), Jongro-gu, Seoul: Killed the three fowk wi the hammer, got hurt when he treed open a safe, an burned doun the hoose tae destroy evidence.
On 11 Dizember 2003, Yoo met a new girlfriend (escort girl) but later she foond oot Yoo's leet o creemes an tauld Yoo no tae see her again. He then decidit tae kill escort girls as a revenge.
5t, 16 Mairch 2004 (victim age 23), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Killed an escort girl bi chokin, mutilatit the body, trashed them on a trail near Sogang Varsity.
6t, Aprile or Mey, 2004 (victim unkent), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Lured an escort girl tae his apairtment, beat the victim unconscious wi a hammer, decapitatit the victim in a bathroom, smashed the victim's heid, mutilatit the body, then disposed o the body in a construction steid near Bongwon Temple in Seodaemun-gu.
7t, Mey, 2004 (victim age 25), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
8t, 1 Juin 2004 (victim age 35), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
9t, early Juin, 2004 (victim unkent), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
10t, 9 Juin 2004 (victim age 26), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
11t, 18 Juin 2004 (victim age 27), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
12t, 25 Juin 2004 (victim age 28), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
13t, 2 Julie 2004 (victim age 26), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
14t, 9 Julie 2004 (victim age 24 frae Aesongi escort), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
15t, 13 Julie 2004 (victim age 27 frae Aesongi escort), Mapo-gu, Seoul: Same procedur as the 6t creeme.
At 5am, 15 Julie 2004, Yoo wis captured bi polis near Grand-mart in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

In film
 The Chaser (2008), a featur film luisely based on Yoo's story.

References
 Yoo Young-cheol at Trutv.com

1970 births
Livin fowk
Fowk convictit o murther bi Sooth Korea
Fowk convictit o theft
Fowk frae Jeollanam-do
Preesoners sentencit tae daith bi Sooth Korea
Sooth Korean cannibals
Sooth Korean fowk convictit o murther
Sooth Korean preesoners sentencit tae daith
Sooth Korean serial killers

Yoo Young-chul


Owain Glyndŵr (also known as Owain Glyn Dŵr and Owen Glendower), (c. 1355 – c. 1415) was the last person born in Wales to be Prince of Wales. He was prince between 1401 and 1416. He started the Welsh Revolt against Henry IV of England's rule of Wales. In the late 19th century, the Young Wales (Cymru Fydd) movement decided that he was the father of Welsh nationalism. Since then, he has been seen as a hero by the Welsh. There is a university in Wales that is called Glyndŵr University after him.

Early life
Glyndŵr was born into an Anglo-Welsh family in about 1355. His family were reasonably rich and had large properties in the north east of Wales. He was educated in England, and later joined the English army. He took part in an attack on Scotland, and then later went back to Wales. After Richard II was overthrown by Henry IV there was a period of confusion, and Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn took the opportunity to take some of Glyndŵr's lands. Grey was a supporter of Henry IV, while Glyndŵr had supported Richard II.

Rebellion
Glyndŵr sought help from Henry IV to deal with his land being taken, but Henry refused to take action against his supporters. Glyndŵr also failed to supply soldiers to the king for another attack on Scotland. Grey called him a traitor. Glyndŵr decided to take action against Henry IV. He gave himself the title of Prince of Wales in September 1400, and began a series of attacks against Grey and towns along the borders with England. Henry IV sent his army to Wales to fight Glyndŵr and regain control, but it had the opposite effect. It became a widespread rebellion against England.

In April 1401 Glyndŵr's army captured Conwy Castle. The next year, at the Battle of Bryn Glas, also known as the Battle of Pillethl, Glyndŵr defeated the English army, and captured its leader, Edmund Mortimer. By 1404 a French army had landed, and together with the Welsh army they attacked Worcester.

By 1408 the English forces were able to defeat the Welsh, and support for the rebellion collapsed. Glyndŵr still kept up attacks and raids on the English, but this was more of a guerrilla campaign than a full scale revolt. The last mention of Glyndŵr is when the English offered terms if he surrendered in 1416. It is believed that he was already dead.

Family

Owain married Margaret Hanmer (). Her father was Sir David Hanmer. Margaret had five sons and four daughters with Owain. These children were:

Gruffudd - He was born around the year 1375. He was captured by the English people and had to live in Nottington Castle. He was then taken to the Tower of London in 1410. He died in jail in 1412 from the bubonic plague.
Madog
Maredudd
Thomas
John
Alys, married Sir John Scudamore in secret during the rebellion. After the rebellion, Alys and Scudamore lived in Kentchurch.
Jane
Janet - She married Sir John de Croft of Croft Castle
Margaret - She married Sir Richard Monnington

All of Owain's sons either died while fighting in war, taken prisoner and died as prisoners, or died with no children of their own. Owain also had children from other women who were not his wife. They were named: David, Gwenllian, Ieuan, and Myfanwy.

After his death

Tudor Dynasty

After Owain died, most people did not care if the English people ruled the country anymore. During the time of the Tudor's, men from Wales, called Welshmen, started to become more famous in English society.

A hero in Wales

Many people forgot about how important Owain was until the 1800s, when people started to celebrate his life. The "Young Wales" group made him the symbol of Welsh nationalism. Things that were owned by Owain were found in the National Library of France during this time period. They found his "Great Seal" and letters he had written to French people. A statue of him was made and put at Cardiff City Hall during World War I. Postcards were sold with Owain on them. The postcards were sold to make money to help soldiers who were injured in war.

In 1808, the Royal Navy named a Fifth-rate frigate after Owain. It was called the HMS Owen Glendower. The boat served in the Gunboat War. It helped take over the island of Anholt. During the years 1822 and 1824, the boat was in the West Africa Squadron, where it chased slave ships. It captured two ships.

Nationally, Owain is as famous as King Arthur. Organizations use his name and drawings of him as their symbols to celebrate Wales as a country and Welsh culture. In the 1980s, a group of people called "Meibion Glyndŵr" burned down vacation homes owned by English people. They used Owain as their logo. In the year 2000, parties were held across Wales to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Owain's revolt. In 1974 and 2008, stamps were made with Owain on them. There is an award that is given every year for arts and writing called the Glyndŵr Award. The band Manic Street Preachers wrote a song about Owain in 2007 called "1404". There are many statues throughout Wales of Owain.

There is a building at the University of Cape Town, called Glendower Residence, that is named after Owain. It used to be a hotel, and is now where students live.

References

1350s births
1410s deaths
Princes and Princesses of Wales
Welsh people

Owain Glyndŵr


Life Is Strange is a single-player graphic adventure video game. It was developed by Dontnod Entertainment. It was published by Square Enix. The game was released in five episodes during 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. A prequel, Before the Storm, was released in 2017. The first episode of the sequel, Life Is Strange 2, released in September 2018, with the other four parts to release over 2019.

The game features the protagonist, 18-year-old Max Caulfield, who finds out she can rewind time after saving her childhood friend, Chloe Price, from being killed. She must also try and stop an incoming storm that will hit her town Arcadia Bay, Oregon in the United States.

Episodes
 "Episode 1: Chrysalis" (30 January 2015)
 "Episode 2: Out of Time" (24 March 2015)
 "Episode 3: Chaos Theory" (19 May 2015)
 "Episode 4: Dark Room" (28 July 2015)
 "Episode 5: Polarized" (20 October 2015)

References

Other websites

2015 video games
Adventure games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation 4 games
Windows games
Xbox 360 games
Xbox One games

Life Is Strange


Polycystic ovary syndrome is one of the most prevalent female endocrine health matters. PCOS is a complex and heterogeneous problem of uncertain etiology, although there is major evidence that the PCOS can be classified as a genetic health problem. This condition produces symptoms in between five percent to ten percent of females during the reproducing ages. Problems include although are not limited to hormones resulting in acne, hirsutism, resistance to insulin (which then results in diabetes mellitus, in particular Type 2 diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults), overweight and (in some women) high cholesterol levels. The symptoms and severity vary greatly among affected women.
Treatments include weight reduction, low-dose oral contraceptive pills, medroxyprogesterone and spironolactone. Clomiphene can be used as the treatment for those women who wish to get pregnant.

Diseases and disorders of the female reproductive system
Syndromes

Polycystic ovary syndrome


Lise Meitner (November 7, 1878, Vienna –  October 27, 1968, Cambridge) was an Austrian-Swedish physicist. She had a very large role in discovering nuclear fission. She received her doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna in 1906. Her work with two other scientists influenced the discovery and creation of the atomic bomb.

Meitner was of Jewish descent and converted to Lutheranism.

Starting in 1907, Meitner worked with a man named Otto Hahn. She worked with Hahn throughout her entire career. Working together, they completed a lot of work in chemistry. Hahn won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, even though his work had been with her. The reason that she did not win the prize was that she was a woman. She did attend the ceremony though.

In 1914, Meitner volunteered as an X-ray technician in the Austrian army during World War I. Meitner was also the first female professor in Germany. She became a German professor in 1917. Throughout the 1920s, Meitner worked mostly on radiation. She won many prizes and awards. Around 1935, Meitner and Hahn worked together to learn more about uranium. The element Meitnerium is named after her. Later in Meitner's life, she had many discoveries that led to the creation of the atomic bomb. She worked to make possible the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima but she did not agree the atomic bomb.

Experiences sexism
An encyclopedia editor asked Meitner to write an article about radioactivity. He had read a paper she wrote about the physical aspects of radioactivity. The letter that she got was addressed to "Herr Meitner" (Mr. Meitner). She explained that she was female and the offer was taken away. Meitner followed gender roles later in her career. British physicist Ernest Rutherford visited Berlin Laboratory. During this visit, Meitner spent the day shopping with Rutherford's wife. Meanwhile, the men talked about work. Meitner also had lots of accomplishments. After working with Hahn and investigating behavior of beta rays, she received an appointment in the radioactivity apartment and invited Meitner to join him. Soon after, Max Planck asked Meitner to be an assistant professor and lecture at the institute for theoretical physics. Meitner was the first woman in Germany to be in her position. Many news reporters were drawn to her opening lecture.

References

Related pages
Meitnerium

1878 births
1968 deaths
Austrian physicists
Foreign Members of the Royal Society
Austrian Jewish scientists
Jews who converted to Christianity
Swedish Lutherans
Nuclear physicists
Refugees from Nazism
Scientists from Vienna
Swedish physicists

Lise Meitner


Complementary colors are pairs of opposite colors.  What is meant by opposite can be different between color science, and art and the printing process.

Color science

In color science "complementary colors" are colors opposite to each other on the color wheel.  Primary colors and secondary colors are typically paired in this way:

red and cyan ( red   cyan ) (where cyan is the mixture of green and blue)
green and magenta ( green   magenta ) (where magenta is the mixture of red and blue)
blue and yellow ( blue   yellow ) (where yellow is the mixture of red and green)

Afterimages
If a person stares at a single color for about a minute then looks at a white surface, an afterimage of the complementary color will appear. This is because of eye fatigue. For example, if the person stares at a red color, the photoreceptors (cells in the eye which catch colored light) for red light in the retina (the back part of the eye) become fatigued.  When photoreceptors are fatigued they are less able to send information to the brain. If the person then looks at white light, all photoreceptors will send information.  Because the photoreceptors for red light are fatigued, the information they send will not be as strong as the information about the colors other than red and the illusion of seeing the complementary color is created.

Art and design

Because of the limited range of colors that was available throughout most of the history of art, many artists still use a traditional set of complementary pairs, including:

 red and green
 blue and orange
 yellow and purple

The complement of each primary color (red, blue, or yellow) is roughly the color made by mixing the other two in a subtractive system (red + blue = purple; blue + yellow = green; red + yellow = orange). When two complements are mixed they produce a gray or brown.

The use of complementary colors is an important aspect of art and graphic design. This also extends to other fields such as contrasting colors in logos and retail display. When placed next to each other, complements make each other appear brighter. On an artistic color wheel, complementary colors are placed opposite one another.  Although these artistic complements may not be precise complements under the scientific definition, most artistic color wheels are laid out roughly like the HSV color wheel discussed above.

References

Color

Complementary color


Modern dance is related to ballet, but aims at different types of performance, as compared to the classical ballets. Many of its dancers have been trained in ballet, and modern dance companies are rather similar to ballet companies. Here the word "modern" is not used to mean "recent". Modern dance is over a century old, having begun (in this sense) around 1900.

The phrase 'modern dance' is also applied to ballroom dance of the English (now 'International') style. However, this page uses Modern dance as a term to describe 20th century concert dance, on stage. The modern dance style does not have set rules. Modern dancers often create their own dance routines using their emotions and moods but, on the other hand, many performances are choreographed.

Also modern dancing does not require specific costumes. So modern dancers often dance barefoot and choose whatever they want to wear. Modern dancers try to show their innermost emotions through dancing, often trying to get closer to their inner-selves. Modern dance has evolved continually. Artistic content has changed and shifted from one choreographer to another, as have styles and techniques.

History
Modern dance was developed in the 20th century, mainly in the United States and Germany. In the early 1900s, several female dancers began rebelling against the strict rules of classical ballet.

The pioneers of modern dance in the United States were Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis and Martha Graham. The pioneers of Germany were Rudolf Von Laban and Mary Wigman.

References

Further reading
Bedinghaus, Treva. What is modern dance? About.com
Love P. 1997. Modern dance terminology: the ABC's of modern dance as defined by its originators. Independent Publishers.

Dance types

Modern dance


The Dead Sea Scrolls are about 1,000 documents. They include texts from the Hebrew Bible. They were found between 1947 and 1979 in eleven caves in and around the Wadi Qumran (near the ruins of the ancient settlement of Khirbet Qumran, on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea) in the West Bank. The religious and historical texts are very important as they include practically the only known surviving copies of Biblical documents made before 100 CE. They show evidence of many different beliefs and practices within late Second Temple Judaism.

Related pages
 Shrine of the Book

Religious texts
Jewish literature

Dead Sea scrolls


A frugivore is an animal that prefers to eat fruit.

Plant and frugivore relationship
The fruit is part of a plant's sexual reproduction cycle. Plants spend a lot of energy and nutrients in creating fruit. Fruit is produced to attract animals into eating the fruit. The animal digests the pulp but not the seeds, ensuring the plant's genes are spread wherever the animal goes. Seeds can also be germinated by falling near the mother plant. Some seeds must pass through the digestive system (the stomach and intestines) before they can germinate.

Frugivores have also evolved in different ways to eat different fruit; some use teeth, others long beaks or short beaks.

Examples of frugivores
Many birds eat both fruits and insects which makes them omnivores. Mammals may eat both fruits and protein, or eat mostly fruit or nectar, such as many bats. One primate group is essentially herbivore/frugivore, the Owl Monkeys. They live in a non-seasonal area of the Amazon that supports a constant supply of fruiting trees. Elsewhere, an exclusively frugivore diet is impossible and is supplemented by insects or rougher plant matter. Some people say that humans are frugivores; this is unlikely given the evolution of man in the dry tropical region of the Rift Valley. However, the climate in the Rift valley at the time of our evolution was likely a tropical rainforest. That said, almost all primates and even carnivores will travel great distances to feast when a fruit tree has dropped its ripened fruit. Many species will remember the exact fruiting date and location of a fruiting tree which highlights fruits great nutritional benefit. Some people promote a frugivore diet for humans.

Further reading
 Levey, D. J., W. R. Silva, and M. Galetti (editors) 2002. Seed dispersal and frugivory : ecology, evolution, and conservation New York : CABI Pub. 511 p.

Other websites
View on diet and health at NHE Self-Health Care Systems: Biological Adaptations

Animals by eating behaviors

Frugivore


Nefertem was a deity honored by the ancient Egyptians. According to a creation myth, he was originally a lotus flower at the time of creation. He was worshipped as a god of healing and beauty. Since the blue lotus is a flower and a symbol of rebirth, Nefertem is often compared to it.

His father is Ptah and his mother is Sekhmet. They are all worshiped evenly.

Egyptian gods and goddesses

Nefertem


In mythology, legend or fiction, a magic sword is a sword with magical powers or other supernatural qualities. Renowned swords appear in the folklore of every nation that used swords.

In some traditions, the sword is ascribed no powers of its own. It is famous because it is the hero's sword, or because of its origin, as when a god gives it to the hero. Other swords keep their wielders safe or destroy their enemies. A more localized motif is the sword that has been broken and must be reforged, commonly found in Northern Europe. Such a sword symbolizes the initial defeat and loss of honor of its wielder. Subsequent victory and the restoration of honor is achieved by reforging it, either at the wielder's hand or that of his heir.

History
It is probable that the roots of the sentient weapon myths stem from ancient peoples belief that sword making and metallurgy was in fact a magical process. Through the fires of the forge (fire was also given spiritual connotations) a lump of earth was transformed into a shiny usable object that could be hammered into many shapes. Extending further from the transformation of ore into metal, the difficulty of actually obtaining a quality blade; which took intense concentration and skill added to its esoteric qualities. While any blacksmith could manufacture a knife or an axehead only a swordsmith could create a high quality sword. The secrets of doing so were jealously guarded as well as formulas for alloys.

The skill necessary to forge a balanced blade - one which is not too brittle or too soft and able to hold a usefully sharp edge - in the age before automated machines, blast furnaces, and the knowledge of molecular chemistry made the creation of a sword seem almost miraculous. A few degrees too hot or too cold within a very limited temperature range, which could only be discerned by the glowing hue of a hot billet, could make or break a sword. A lack of expertise in knowing when and how to apply carbon and flux and quench the blade could ruin weeks of work. Thus the swordsmith almost felt like he was one with his work, giving the process his complete devotion of concentration and thought. This led to the belief that he was actually imbuing the blade with an essence of his spirit. In Japan, the swordsmiths were so concerned with this belief that they would undergo purification rituals and meditation before even attempting to start a new blade, for fear that they might inadvertently create an evil sword.

The Vikings prized their swords above all other things, handing them down from generation to generation and giving them names. The value of the blade was not only determined by its quality but also by how many battles that it was used in. Polynesian people such as the Māori also had comparable reverence for their weapons. They believed a weapon contained a spiritual force called mana and that the weapon held the spirits of its maker, its line of owners and also stole the spirits of those it killed. These weapons where highly prized for their mana and cherished as heirlooms. The Samurai of Japan believed that their swords had their own soul that could possess them. It was not the wielder but their swords that desired to kill; Samurai were just the instrument that the sword used to complete that task. Since most of them were Buddhists (a religion that finds violence and murder abhorent), that train of thought gave them some peace of mind in their killing vocation.

Later, as the concept of demons, spiritual possession, and elementals entered the realm of mythological themes, it was only a natural leap to attribute magical properties of the swords of folklore to indwelling spirits.

Magic swords may exhibit various degrees of sentience, from being merely influenced by the wielder to being able to think for itself or even control its owner.

Biblical
The Bible relates in the Book of Genesis how God, seeking to deter Adam and Eve from returning to the Garden of Eden, "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way". By some accounts, the Cherubim are replaced with the Archangel Michael, who wields a similar weapon.
King David was given the sword of the slain giant Goliath by the priest Ahimelech, to which was attached extra-biblical mythology and traditions.
In the Book of Revelation, Jesus is symbolically described wielding a double-edged sword that proceeds out from his mouth, in reference to the "sword of the spirit" which is the "word of truth".

Mythological

Arthurian

In the legend of King Arthur, the king himself is related to two magical swords, in most variants. The first is the Sword In the Stone. Only Arthur could draw it out, thereby proving that he is the rightful king. In some tales, this is his only sword. In most variants, this sword was then broken, and he receives from The Lady of the Lake a new sword called Excalibur, arguably the most famous of magic swords. Caliburn was the original name of Excalibur. In Welsh legend, Arthur's sword is known as Caledfwlch.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain is the first non-Welsh source to speak of the sword. Geoffrey says the sword was forged in Avalon and Latinises the name "Caledfwlch" as Caliburnus. When his influential pseudo-history made it to Continental Europe, writers altered the name further until it finally took on the popular form Excalibur. However, in other variants Excalibur itself is the sword in the stone. It is not clear from the various accounts of the Arthur legend whether Excalibur itself was possessed of magical powers or merely had a magical origin, though its scabbard protected its bearer from physical harm. Many interpretations of the legend appear to endow Excalibur with a cutting strength and durability beyond that of ordinary weapons.

In Wolfram Von Echenbach's Parzival, the eponymous hero is given a sword by the Grail king, Anfortas. Parzival's cousin explains that ""The sword will withstand the first blow unscathed; at the second it will shatter. If you then take it back to the spring, it will become whole again from the flow of the water. You must have the water at the source…If the pieces are not lost and you fit them together properly, as soon as the spring water wets them, the sword will become whole again, the joinings and edges stronger than before."

Chinese
Ancient Chinese mythology relates the tale of Lü Dongbin, who "slew dragons" with a magic sword and performed "freak feats" with it.

Germanic

In Norse mythology, the god Frey "possessed a magic sword that struck out at Jotuns of its own accord". Many other swords appear in Norse legend in the hands of heroes.

Tyrfing appears in the Hervarar Saga. Svafrlami was the King of Gardariki, and a grandson of the god Odin. He caught the dwarves, Dvalin and Durin, and forced them to forge a sword with a golden hilt that would never miss a stroke, would never rust and would cut through stone and iron as easily as through clothes. The dwarves made the sword, and it shone and gleamed like fire. However, in revenge they cursed it so that it would kill a man every time it was used and that it would be the cause of three great evils. They also cursed it so that it would kill Svafrlami himself. It would cost the life of not only Svafrlami, but also the life of the Swedish hero Hjalmar.

A similar sword to Tyrfing is Dáinsleif, a sword from the legend of the eternal battle Hjaðningavíg, made by the dwarf Dáin. Like Tyrfing, Dainsleif gave wounds that never healed and could not be unsheathed without killing a man. There is also Mistilteinn, a sword from the Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, which could never go blunt and which Hrómund won from the undead witch-king Þrainn. Like Tyrfing, it was taken from a barrow-wight.

The various iterations of the story of the Völsungs include several magic swords. The first magical sword which enters the story is Gram (="wrath"), stuck by Odin into the tree Barnstokkr in the hall of the Völsungs. Only Sigmund could pull it out. This caused considerable envy and conflict. Eventually, Sigmund fought Odin disguised as an old man, and Odin shattered the sword. Sigmund left it for his son Sigurd, who reforged it to kill Fafnir. In the Nibelungenlied, Sîfrit (the Middle High German version of "Siegfried," the equivalent to Norse Sigurd) discarded Gram in exchange for another magic sword, Balmung (= "destruction").

The legendary smith Wayland Smith forged the magic sword Mimung, which appears both in the Anglo-Saxon poem Waldere and in the German/Scandinavian Þiðrekssaga.

Beowulf wielded the sword Hrunting that was according to the poem annealed in venom. The sword was useless against Grendel's Mother. In desperation Beowulf grabbed a giant sword of great age and with it took off the head of the she monster.

Japanese
In Japanese mythology, there is a magical sword called Kusanagi, which was one of the three crown jewels given to the Emperor Jimmu by the goddess Amaterasu. Additionally, the katana forged by Masamune and Muramasa were reputedly of such high quality as to be near-magical. In the case of the Masamune and Muramasa blades, it was believed that some element of the smith's personality was imputed into the blade. These three swords have been used extensively in popular culture since then, especially in the realm of video game RPGs. Despite legends about Nihontō, those three are the most famous. Excellent Japanese swords often received nicknames reflecting their cutting prowess. Also, unlike other magical swords, they exist (or still exist). There is, for example, 10 or 11 blades attributed to Masamune who still exist today, such as Kanze Masamune, Kotegiri Masamune or Musashi Masamune.

Spanish
In Spanish legends, two magic swords belonged to the warrior Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, "El Cid", according to the medieval epical poem "Cantar del mio Cid". The first, "Tizona", had a personality of its own, and its strength varied according to the person who used it. "Colada", too, had power only in the hands of a brave warrior.

France
In the Matter of France, Roland possessed an indestructible sword, Durendal, which he threw into a poisoned stream to prevent its capture. Durendal was one of a set of three swords supposedly forged by Wayland and provided as ransom for a Norse captive, the other two being variously Bishop Turpin's sword Almace, Charlemagne's Joyeuse, or Ogier's sword Curtana.

Other
In the English or Scottish medieval epic poem Greysteil, the hero uses a magic sword 'Egeking' which was made in the Far East. In the Norman Kingdom of Sicily we find 'Mikalis,' the magical sword of King Roger II.

Written fiction

Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene features a golden sword called Chrysaor, the personal weapon of Sir Artegal, the Knight of Justice. The sword was given to him by Astræa, who had been holding it since the days when Zeus had used it to battle the Titans. Because it was "Tempred [ sic ] with Adamant", it was described as being able to cleave through anything.

In Der Ring des Nibelungen, Richard Wagner drew on the legend of Gram for the sword Nothung, belonging to the hero Siegmund and later reforged by his son Siegfried and used by him to kill Fafner. It is finally used by Siegfried to shatter the spear of his grandfather, the God Wotan, thus ending his power.

The hero of Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" slays the Jabberwock with a vorpal sword. Although the poem does not define the word "vorpal" (and contains many nonsensical words with no meaning), the term has been adopted in role playing games to describe a sword which possesses a magical ability to decapitate those against whom it is wielded.

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien such as The Lord of the Rings, many magical swords, usually with powers for good, are wielded by important characters. Gandalf uses his sword Glamdring in his battle with the Balrog, which wields its own sword of flame. Glamdring's sister blade, Orcrist, is buried with Thorin Oakenshield under the Lonely Mountain in The Hobbit. Bilbo, Frodo and Samwise carry the sword Sting. It and Glamdring both glow blue when orcs are near. Aragorn bears the sword Andúril, a potent weapon against the evil of Mordor and a symbol of his right to rule. Turin Turambar, the main character of The Children of H%C3%BArin, wields the sword Gurthang. He eventually kills himself using the sword, which speaks to him before he dies, telling him it will kill him. This story is based on the Finnish hero Kullervo, whose sword also agreed to kill him. In addition, in Farmer Giles of Ham, the protagonist is given and wields a magic sword named Caudimordax which, in the story, is translated to mean "Tailbiter".

Hal Foster's Prince Valiant wields the Singing Sword, which makes its bearer undefeatable if he fights for a good cause.

In Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Darksword series the Darksword is a sword capable of absorbing magic.

Michael Moorcock created a sinister magic sword in Stormbringer, wielded by Elric of Melniboné. This black sword has the power to suck out the souls of its victims and transfer their energy to its holder. It also appears to have a mind of its own, sometimes striking against its "master's" will. Mercedes Lackey's creation, the sword Need is similarly independent, although along less sinister lines.

The Twelve Swords of Power are the primary plot device in Fred Saberhagen's Books of the Swords.

Lawrence Watt-Evans's The Misenchanted Sword (1985) involves the difficulties of dealing with the sword of the title; the protagonist must kill a man when he draws it, can only kill one, will die if he ever kills a hundred men with it – and will not die without killing them, but will ceaselessly age.

The Blue Sword contains a blue sword, known as Gonturan, that is both a symbol of power (as it can only be used by a damalur-sol, a woman hero), an amplifier of magic and a very sharp sword. It is also a sword with a mind of its own.

In Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time is the sword Callandor, which is actually not a sword, but a powerful Sa'angreal shaped as a sword and made out of crystal. It is kept within the Stone of Tear. It can only be taken by the Dragon and is a major sign of his return. Until he takes it the Stone of Tear will never fall to any invaders, but when the sword is taken the Stone is said to fall to the People of the Dragon. It is later revealed that unlike other Sa'angreals it does not have the safety mechanism that prevents a wielder from absorbing too much of the One Power through it.

Terry Goodkind's series is named for its magical weapon, the Sword of Truth. This blade, with the word "Truth" inlaid into the handle, factors into many of the moral decisions made by Richard Rahl, the series' protagonist. The blade, like most magic in the series, is focused on need. The sword's master is referred to as the Seeker of Truth. The Seeker gains the swordmastery of all those that have wielded the blade previously. Many false Seekers have carried the sword, but a true Seeker can only be named by the First Wizard (Rahl is named by his grandfather, Zeddicus Zorander). A true Seeker has the ability to turn the blade white when he kills in compassion and forgiveness. Richard has done this twice. Once, killing the Mord-Sith which captured him in Wizard's First Rule, and again to kill a Sister of the Dark in Stone of Tears.

The eponymous sword from The Sword of Shannara series, by Terry Brooks, has a distinctive pommel in the form of the druidic symbol from the series: a hand holding aloft a torch (similar to the Statue of Liberty). Otherwise it is visually unremarkable, though very well made and unworn. Its ability lies in revealing absolute truth, which can be difficult to bear. The sentiment of the enchantment follows that of the "To thine own self be true..." advice to Laertes. A prospective wielder, upon drawing the blade for the first time, is made to confront all their personal flaws, shortcomings, fears, delusions and morally questionable acts. If the being's psyche cannot deal with the revelations, they might not be permanently harmed, but the blade is unusable to them. However, if they can accept the truth of themselves, though it is still a jarring experience, they come out of it wiser for the self-knowledge. Also, they are able to wield the Sword as both a particularly strong and sharp weapon, and as a harsh mirror of Truth to those touched by the blade. This exposure to reality, like many years of counseling condensed into a moment, can actually destroy anyone "evil" enough, e.g. the Warlock Lord of the same book. It also can reveal illusions and give some protection from magical effects.

Also of note is the Sword Nightblood from the book Warbreaker. Nightblood is a sentient sword which was given a direction when awakened. This direction was to 'destroy evil.' However, being a sword, Nightblood could not judge right and wrong and killed almost indiscriminately. Simply undoing the clasp (which was extraordinarily tempting for one without a pure heart) was enough for nightblood to utterly destroy the one holding it. Nightblood was often recovered by Vasher sticking clean through a man, not even unsheathed. Nightblood, when fully drawn consumed Its user's BioChromatic breaths at an alarming rate, while sending tendrils of darkness out to destroy anything the sword deemed 'evil.' The sword could also telepathically communicate with its wielder, often asking questions such as "Hello, would you like to kill someone today?" or alternatively asking to be unsheathed.

The Harry Potter series of novels by J.K. Rowling features the Sword of Gryffindor, which is used by several of the book's prominent characters. The sword is an indestructible weapon crafted from goblin metal, the properties of which allow the sword to absorb any substance into itself that will make it stronger, in the case of the books, the immensely deadly venom of a basilisk.

In series: The Dancing Gods, by Jack L. Chalker, the protagonist, the barbarian Joe, is given "The last unnamed magical sword in Husaquahr". In order for the sword to bond with Joe, he has to give it a name, preferably something heroic. However Joe names the sword "Irving" after his son. In response to the exclamations concerning his choice of name, he states "...but I like the name Irving". Once bonded, the sword will fight for no other user, and will return to Joe if he calls it.

The Sword of Baldanders is among the swords featured in Akita Yoshinobu's Sorcerous Stabber Orphen series. being used for transforming a Killing Doll into a humanlike body, transformations of males into females and transformations of humans into beasts.

Movies and television
Movies and television across varying genres depict swords with magical qualities.

 In the Star Wars saga, which employs many themes of classical mythology, the lightsaber can be seen as a science fiction with a mythological analogue of the magic swords of myth. The device appears to defy the laws of modern technology, however studies and experiments by scientists indicate the technology to be possible in the future. Within the Star Wars universe, lightsabers are made by their wielder as part of the training to become a Jedi knight. During the early development of Star Wars, creator George Lucas called the weapons "lazer swords".
 In the movie The Golden Blade (1952), the Sword of Damaskus, which can cut anything and makes its wielder invincible, is used by Harun Al-Rashid (Rock Hudson) to free a fairy-tale Baghdad from Jafar, a usurper of the throne.
 The Masters of the Universe franchise more directly mixes magic and technology, with the titular hero deriving his power from the Power Sword.
 In the British television series Robin of Sherwood, Robin Hood carries Albion, one of the seven swords of Wayland. The sword's powers include providing visions to its bearer. It cannot hurt its master.
 The Sword of Omens in the ThunderCats animated series possesses magical powers and the Eye of Thundera in the hilt. Another sword, the Sword of Plun-Darr, was a key element to the plot of certain episodes.
 In the Samurai Jack animated series, the father of the titular hero gave his son a katana from the gods to defeat the evil Aku. Only this magic katana could harm Aku, although it could not kill him completely. This magic sword would obey only its rightful owner, making it impossible to hurt Jack when his enemy wields it. The sword was forged of the pure spirit of good that humans possess, extracted from Jack's father.
 In the animated series Thundarr the Barbarian the main character Thundarr wields the lightsaber-like sun sword.
 In the South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft", the story contains a powerful sword referred to as "The Sword of A Thousand Truths".
 A magic sword, named Sword of Triton, appears in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. According to the film's visual guide, this blade was forged in the lost city of Atlantis. The official Pirates of the Caribbean Online website implies that the sword was forged by the sea deity Triton himself and that it has passed from one ancient mariner to another. By the events of On Stranger Tides, the sword is in the possession of the notorious pirate Blackbeard, who uses it to control ships at sea. In the film, Blackbeard first used the sword to "hang" his mutinying crew with the rigging of the Queen Anne's Revenge. Blackbeard lost the sword after a duel with privateer Hector Barbossa, who wanted revenge on Blackbeard for attacking the Black Pearl (which cost Barbossa's right leg) prior to the events of the film. Barbossa claimed the sword before leaving Blackbeard to die at the Fountain of Youth. Climbing aboard the Revenge, Barbossa returned to piracy as he used the sword to sail the ship to Tortuga.
 In The Librarian, Excalibur, which appears in both the films and the television series, is shown as having been infused with magic by Merlin, giving it the ability to be summoned across vast distances and fight independently of its wielder. The sword primarily serves as a personal trainer and protector of the Library, working alongside Librarian Flynn Carsen, who gives it the nickname "Cal". In the first two episodes of The Librarians ("And The Crown of King Arthur" and "And The Sword In the Stone"), the sword is stolen by the Serpent Brotherhood, who use it to mortally wound Flynn. They then take it to the stone where it was originally forged, combining the two to steal Excalibur's magic and release it into the world. Flynn and his team manage to defeat the Brotherhood, but both he and Excalibur die of their injuries soon after. Cassandra, the Librarian responsible for these events, uses what little magic she can gather to heal them instead of herself. Excalibur makes a final appearance in the episode "And The Final Curtain", where Flynn's Guardian, Eve Baird, receives it from the Lady of the Lake. Flynn then uses it to destroy the staff of Prospero, who is subsequently erased from existence.
 In the fantasy adventure film The Bastard Sword, The titular weapon is a magical weapon similar to that of Excalibur but also has cursed properties for the one who wields it.

Anime
 In Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, the main protagonist, Hajime Nagumo, an alchemist crafted Tsumehirameki a magical replica of Kogarasumaru a famous Japanese sword which he gave to his lover Shizuku.
 The manga and subsequent anime Bleach features several magic swords, called zanpakuto ("soul-cutting swords"). These katana-like weapons are a representation of the power of the Shinigami (called "Soul Reapers" in the English translation) within the Bleach universe, and essentially - "come from within". As such, zanpakuto can grow in strength and power in tandem with its user. These swords are often personified in a humanoid form throughout the series. All zanpakuto have unique and often poetic Japanese names, such as Ichigo Kurosaki's zanpakuto called Zangetsu, which means Moon-Cutter. All zanpakuto have personalities, emotions and feelings of their own, and it is stated that in order to use the true powers of their zanpakuto (bankai, "final release"), the Shinigami wielder must conquer (master) them through training and battle - essentially forcing a part of themselves (their own power) into submission.
 In Rave Master, Haru's sword, "Decaforce Sword" is a kind of magic sword powered by Rave stones. It is used by Haru to destroy Dark stones.
 In Naruto, another Japanese manga series, based heavily on traditional folklore themes, the legendary grasscutter Kusanagi-no tsurugi makes an entrance. The sword used to be in the possession of the snake Sannin Orochimaru, as the poisonous blade complements the ninja's affinity to summoned snakes. Its counterpart is said to be the sword Totsuka, a sword wielded by the god Susanoo, capable of sealing everything it touches into a pure state of peaceful entrapment.
 Gourry Gabriev of the anime and manga The Slayers is a knight who wields the Sword of Light, a sword with a magical blade of pure light.
 In YuYu Hakusho, Kuwabara Kazuma wields his "spirit power" as a "spirit sword," a lightsaber-like energy blade coming from a wooden handle made from a broken wooden sword tip. His power was later enhanced by a magical handle.
 In the various Tenchi Muyo! media, the main character, Tenchi Masaki, gains the power of a legendary lightsaber-like weapon that accompanies a pair of energy wings that are his inherent power. Another character, Ryoko, has the ability to create a red energy blade.
 In the manga and anime videos Ogre Slayer, the main character has no name and is known by the name of his sword, Onikirimaru or ogre-slayer. The sword enables him to track and kill ogres.
 In InuYasha both the titular character InuYasha and his half-brother Sesshomaru wield magical blades created by their Inugami father's fangs, and there are many other magical swords and weapons in the series mostly gaining power from the energy of the wielder.
In the anime and manga Reborn! the 10th Vongola Rain Guardian Takeshi Yamamoto and Varia Rain Guardian Superbi Squalo use a swords. Yamamoto uses Shigure Kintoki which was given to him by his father. Squalo uses Arm-Mounted Sword.
 In Highschool DxD there exist legendary magic swords of either Divine or Demonic origins, each having supernatural powers and abilities were wielded by historical figures such as King Arthur's Excalibur, Roland's Durandal and Siegfired's Gram.

Video and role-playing games

Video games and fantasy role-playing games feature a great variety of magical armaments, most commonly represented by swords and similar archetypal weapons. These swords are rarely unique, and in many role-playing scenarios, magical weapons are so ubiquitous that the player characters are expected to come into possession of them as a matter of course.

 The Fire Emblem series regularly features magical swords that can only be used by the main protagonists of a given entry of the series, the most notable of which is called Falchion, a blade forged from a fang from the divine dragon Naga. This sword's properties include the ability to heal its wielder, inflict increased damage against dragons, and kill the final bosses of the games that it has appeared.
 Heavenly sword game features a sword by the same name wielded by the protagonist Nariko that changes into two chained blades, two short swords or a single two handed sword.
 The Legend of Zelda games feature many magic swords, the most famous of which is the Master Sword, the legendary Blade of Evil's Bane that has appeared in most of the games in the series since its first appearance in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The Master Sword was forged by the gods and possesses many mystical abilities such as the power to repel, seal, or smite evil, and protect its user from certain types of magic. The Master Sword can only be wielded by someone with great courage, and Link and his various incarnations usually must prove themselves in order to wield the blade or unlock its true powers. In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, it is revealed that the Master Sword contains a sentient spirit named Fi whose soul was imparted into the blade by the Goddess Hylia before she gave up her divinity in order to reincarnate into the mortal Princess Zelda.
In The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap the Picori Blade is re-forged into the legendary Four Sword, a magical blade that can allow its user to split into four copies.
In The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the ultimate weapon is the Phantom Sword and in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks it is the Lokomo Sword.
 The Legacy of Kain series features a powerful blade called Soul Reaver, which is used to devour souls of its victims.
 In the Soul series, the plot focuses on two magic weapons: an evil, soul-devouring sword named Soul Edge and its holy counterpart, Soul Calibur.
 The "Blades of Chaos" are a pair of divine blades forged in the fire of Hades in God of War. The series also contains the Blade of Artemis and the Blade of Olympus. Both are divine weapons used by gods to defeat the Titans in the Titanomachy.
 In the Prince of Persia trilogy, there is a blade called the Dagger of Time, which gives its wielder many time-based powers.
 In Riviera: The Promised Land, the lead character, Ein, wields a sword called the Einherjar, in exchange of losing his wings. The sword is called by other in-game characters as a Diviner, or a weapon owned by Grim Angels, capable of vanquishing demons.
 In SaGa Frontier, Sun Sword is the strongest sword in the game made of the energy of the sun and is only available to use by the player by using Light Magic to summon it.
 The Ultima series features many magical swords, the most notable and powerful being the Black Sword, which contains the powers of a demon.
 In Grand Chase, the weapon of Ronan's 4th job is called Tyrfing. Named after the Norse Mythology sword Tyrfing.
 In Warcraft III, Frostmourne is the Lich King's sword used to steal Prince Arthas' soul.
 In The Elder Scrolls series it is possible to find, and create, enchanted swords that do magical damage, absorb attributes and even capture an enemy's soul. Some of the unique artifacts common to several games take the shape of swords. The most notable is Umbra, which has a soul of its own and over time takes over the personality of its wielder.
 In Final Fantasy XI almost every legendary sword listed is an obtainable weapon from Excalibur to Joyeuse.

See also
 List of magical weapons
 Magic in fiction
 Sentient weapon

References

Fictional swords
Mythological swords
Fantasy tropes
Magic items
Supernatural legends

Magic sword


Gresham's law is commonly written: "Bad money drives out good."

If people want one thing ("good" money) more than the other ("bad" money), they will always offer the bad money in trade before the good money. Over time, the good money will be kept in pocket, and only the bad money will be found in the market. The law is named after Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-1579). Gresham founded the Royal Exchange in 1565.

Examples
Silver coins were widely circulated in Canada (until 1968) and in the United States (until 1964 for dimes (ten cents) and quarters and 1970 for half dollars). However, these countries made their coins cheaper to make by switching to cheaper metals. The silver coins disappeared from circulation as people kept them for the value of their metal. The new coins had value as coins, but less value as metal.

The same process happens now with the copper content of coins such as the pre-1997 Canadian penny (one cent), the pre-1982 United States penny and the pre-1992 UK copper pennies and two pence.
This also occurred even with coins made of less expensive metals such as steel in India.

References

Money

Gresham's law


Jing Fang (, 78–37 BC), born Li Fang (), courtesy name Junming (), was born in present-day 東郡頓丘 (Puyang, Henan) during the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD).  He was a Chinese music theorist, mathematician and astrologer. Although better known for his work in musical measurements, he also accurately described the basic mechanics of lunar and solar eclipses.

Yijing
The historian Ban Gu (32–92 AD) wrote that Jing Fang was an expert at making predictions from the hexagrams of the ancient Yijing. A book on Yijing divination attributed to him describes the najia method of hexagram interpretation, which correlates their separate lines with elements of the Chinese calendar. Not only was he instrumental in the development of Yijing correlative cosmology, but he has also shed a new light on China's history, in particular Qin and Han.

Music theory
According to the 3rd-century historian Sima Biao, Jing Fang received an appointment as an official in the Music Bureau under Emperor Yuan of Han (r. 48–33 BC).

Jing Fang was the first to notice how closely a succession of 53 just fifths approximates 31 octaves.  He came upon this observation after learning to calculate the pythagorean comma between 12 fifths and 7 octaves , and extended this method fivefold to a scale composed of 60 fifths, finding that after 53 new values became incredibly close to tones already calculated. The pythagorean comma had been published ca. 122 BC in the Huainanzi, a book is written for the prince of Huainan. Huainanzi emphasizes that the number of musical temperament and calendar reflect the path of heaven and earth.

He accomplished this calculation by beginning with a suitable large starting value () that could be divided by three easily, and proceeded to calculate the relative values of successive tones by the following method:

 Divide the value by three.
 Add this value to the original.
 The new value is now equal to  of the original, or a perfect fourth, which is equivalent to a perfect fifth inverted at the octave. (Alternatively, he would subtract  from the interval, equivalent to a perfect fifth down, to keep all of the values greater than 177147, or less than 354294, it's double, effectively transposing them all into the range of a single octave.)
 Proceed now from this new value to generate the next tone; repeat until all tones have been generated.

To produce an exact calculation, some 26 digits of accuracy would have been required. Instead, by rounding to about 6 digits, his calculations are within 0.0145 cents of exactness, which is a difference much finer than is usually perceptible. The final value he gave for the ratio between this 53rd fifth and the original was
—.

This value would later be calculated precisely by Nicholas Mercator in the 17th century (see: history of 53 equal temperaments).

Astronomy
He was also an advocate of the theory that the light emanating from the spherical Moon (as seen from Earth) was merely a reflection of sunlight.  This was known as the 'radiating influence' theory in ancient China, which stated that the light of the Moon was merely the light reflected from the Sun and that the celestial bodies were spherical. This accurate theory was dismissed by the philosopher Wang Chong (27–97 AD), yet embraced by the mathematician, inventor, and scientist Zhang Heng (78–139 AD).

Jing Fang stated:

Death
It is recorded that he was executed by beheading in the marketplace in 37 BC under the Emperor's orders after he allegedly slung false accusations at a high official for infringing upon the law.

See also
 Wen Wang Gua
 53 equal temperament
 Science and technology of the Han dynasty

Notes

References
 Huang, Xiangpeng, "Jing Fang". Encyclopedia of China (Music and Dance Edition), 1st ed.
 McClain, Ernest and Ming Shui Hung. "Chinese Cyclic Tunings in Late Antiquity," Ethnomusicology, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1979): 205-224.
Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
 Complete table of Jing Fang's hexagram values: Jing Fang Hexagram Table (obsolete)
 Comparing Jing Fang's and other hexagram sequences: Yijing Dao - Shao Yong square, Xiantian diagram, Jing Fang's 8 Palaces, biga, Mawangdui, and King Wen sequences
 Matthews, William. Cosmic Coherence a Cognitive Anthropology through Chinese Divination. Berghahn, 2022.
 LI, XIFAN. General History of Chinese Art: From the Qin Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. DE GRUYTER, 2022.

Chinese music theorists
1st-century BC Chinese astronomers
Chinese astrologers
Ancient Chinese mathematicians
1st-century BC Chinese philosophers
78 BC births
37 BC deaths
Executed Han dynasty people
Han dynasty musicians
Han dynasty government officials
People executed by the Han dynasty by decapitation
Politicians from Puyang
Executed people from Henan
Political office-holders in Hebei
Musicians from Henan
Mathematicians from Henan
1st-century BC executions
Ancient astrologers
I Ching
1st-century BC mathematicians
1st-century BC Chinese musicians

Jing Fang


Several international or multinational conferences have been called the Geneva Conference, because they were held in the city of Geneva, Switzerland. These conferences include:

The Geneva Naval Conference (1927) to discuss naval arms limitation
The Geneva Conference (1932) to discuss general arms limitation
An international conference, Geneva Conference (1954), to restore peace in Indochina and Korea, April through July 1954 that meant the division of Vietnam.
A multinational conference, Geneva Conference (1955), to discuss European security, German reunification, disarmament, and cultural exchange. Leaders from the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and France met in July 1955.
A multinational conference, Geneva Conference (1958), to discuss nuclear weapons testing, involving the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States, beginning in October of 1958.
A multinational conference, Geneva Conference (1973), to find a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Geneva Accord, a 2003 extra-governmental and therefore unofficial peace proposal meant to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Related pages
Geneva Conventions

Geneva Conference


The Bielsko-Biała Museum is a museum at Bielsko Castle, Poland. Since the 1970s there are three local branches: the Julian Fałat Museum, the Museum of Technology and Textile Industry and the Weaver's House Museum.

The castle
The castle was built in the 14th century by the Piast family, the rulers of the Cieszyn Duchy in Poland, the castle was used as one of their residences for over two centuries. In 1752 the Bielsko state became a duchy owned by the Sulkowski family. The castle was their property until 1945. After World War II the castle was taken over by the Polish State. Since 1983 its only owner has been the Bielsko-Biała Museum.

The permanent exhibition in the castle
In the west wing of the building the hunting room and armoury are located. The next two rooms display three centuries of art history from the 15th to the 17th century. Neighbouring with these rooms are a rococo concert hall and a Biedermeier room. The castle's east wing contains a gallery of the 19th and 20th century painting and graphic art. Next rooms located in the north wing display an exhibition of the history of the city and castle, as well as craftsman traditions of old Bielsko and Biała. The east wing of the castle is occupied by art gallery (the 19th century paintings displayed here include works of art representing realism and academism, Młoda Polska (Young Poland) paintings, works of artists connected with Bielsko-Biała during the twenty years of independence after World War I and during the modern times)

Museum of Technology and Textile Industry

The museum shows traditions of wool industry in Bielsko-Biała, by means of collecting machines, equipment and documents. The exhibits are stored in four rooms and show the look of old textile factory A separate room displays machines for making hats and the history of Bielsko-Biała fire brigade. There is also a little printing office and a room where all the historical household equipments, radio sets, typewriters etc., are being stored.

The weaver's house
Reconstruction of the weaver's house and workshop owned by a guild master. It shows live and work in 19th and 20th centuries. There are two main rooms – workshop on the left and living room on the right, with a kitchen and a bedroom.
The weaver's house is an original example of the old wooden house. It tries to show craftsman's work.

Julian Fałat's villa
The museum of Julian Fałat in Bystra Śląska is housed in a historical villa of the artist, called "Fałatówka" and its visitors can see the art and some biographical documents of the artist. This is the house where the artists lived after he stoped being a headmaster of the Cracow Academy of Fine Arts. The exhibition presents oil paintings and watercolours: self-portraits, portraits of his family and friends, landscapes from his travels and hunting scenes.

Related pages
Poland

Other websites

Museum in Bielsko-Biała

Museums in Europe
Castles in Europe
Buildings and structures in Poland
Education in Poland
14th-century buildings and structures

Bielsko-Biała Museum and Castle


Drama is a type of literature. A drama can be in the form of a novel, television show, movie, play or dance. Although drama is a Greek word meaning "action", most dramas focus more on the relationships between people than on the actions. Dramas usually have a serious feel to them. Drama is considered the opposite of comedy, but drama and comedy can be used at the same time. Drama is full of sensational action, dialogue, incidents etc.

Shakespeare influenced the theatre industry by showing what could be done with plot and language.

Genres
Theater

Drama


A coin is a piece of metal that is used as currency, or money. The earliest coins were in Lydia, in what is Turkey today, in 7th Century BC. They were made from electrum, an alloy found in riverbeds.

Most people use coins as currency. They usually have lower value than banknotes. Most are made in government mints.

Appearance
Many coins have unique or complicated decorations; one side often has the picture of a king or ither important person's head on it.

The different decorations on each side of a coin might be used to decide things randomly. This is called "tossing a coin".  A person can throw the coin into the air and catch it.  You then look at which side is facing up. If the head is facing up it is called "heads", if the other side is facing up it is called "tails". Before tossing the coin someone has to decide what each side means. Tossing a coin can be a type of gambling, which is illegal (against the law) in some countries.

Collecting

Because coins have been made for a very long time, some people collect old coins. They can be much cheaper than other old things, especially if they are made of cheap metals like copper. Older coins normally cost more than newer ones, but rarity matters more-some coins from the 1920s cost vast sums, while some Roman coins cost very little.

References

Coin


In ice hockey, a captain is generally a player or in certain cases, a goalie, who is assigned by the head coach or voted on by teammates, who is considered the team leader.

A captain's primary role is to talk with the referees during play stoppages and usually relays the referees explanation back to his or her coach. Other responsibilities include, motivating their teammates, taking action in their local communities and representing the team in a professional manner. Along with captains, there are also assistant captains.

Ice hockey

Captain (ice hockey)


Marina Endicott (born September 14, 1958) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Her novel, Good to a Fault, won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Canada and the Caribbean and was a finalist for the Giller Prize. Her next, The Little Shadows, was long-listed for the Giller and short-listed for the Governor General's Literary Award. Close to Hugh, was long-listed for the Giller Prize and named one of CBC's Best Books of 2015. Her latest, The Difference, won the City of Edmonton Robert Kroetsch prize. It was published in the US by W.W. Norton as The Voyage of the Morning Light in June 2020.

Personal life
Endicott was born in Golden, British Columbia in 1958, the daughter of an Anglican priest; she grew up in Vancouver, Halifax and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and Toronto, Ontario. She worked as an actor before moving to London, England, where she began to write fiction. Returning to Canada in 1984, she went west to Saskatoon and worked in theatre as a director and dramaturge. She was for many years the dramaturge of the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre. In 1992 she went farther west with husband Peter Ormshaw to Mayerthorpe, Alberta, on his first posting with the RCMP; they have since lived in Cochrane, Edmonton, and Saskatoon. They have two children: Willow (1993) and Rachel (1996). They presently (2021) live in Saskatoon.

Writing career
Endicott was an actor, director, and dramaturge before beginning a second career as a writer of fiction.  When asked why she switched, she explained:
Being an actor isn't an easy life. The work is so ephemeral... I write novels instead of plays because I like the intimate link of the silent writer and the silent reader.

Endicott's first short story appeared in Grain in 1985. Her stories have been anthologized in Coming Attractions and short-listed for the 1993 Journey Prize. Her first novel, Open Arms (2001), was a finalist for the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award and was broadcast on CBC Radio's Between the Covers in 2003. Good to a Fault was selected for the 2010 edition of CBC Radio's Canada Reads. Her long poem about the Mayerthorpe incident, "The Policeman's Wife, Some Letters", was short-listed for the CBC Literary Awards in 2006. Her third novel, The Little Shadows, published by Doubleday in 2011, was longlisted for the Giller and shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for Fiction.

She co-wrote the screenplay for the 2012 documentary film, Vanishing Point.

Her novel Close to Hugh was published in May, 2015  and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Her 2019 novel, The Difference, Knopf Canada, won the Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize and the Dartmouth Fiction Award, and was one of the Globe & Mail's Best Books of 2019. It was published by W.W. Norton in the US as The Voyage of the Morning Light in June 2020.

Prize and honours
1993 Shortlist, Journey Prize
2003 Finalist, Amazon.ca/Books In Canada First Novel Award (for Open Arms)
2008 Finalist, Giller Prize (for Good to a Fault)
2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, Canada and the Caribbean (for Good to a Fault)
2010 Longlisted, International Dublin Literary Award
2011 Longlisted, Giller Prize (for The Little Shadows)
2011 Finalist, Governor General's Award for English-language fiction, Canada, (for The Little Shadows)
2015 Longlisted,  Giller Prize (for Close to Hugh)
2020 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize (for The Difference)
2020 City of Dartmouth Fiction Prize (for The Difference)

Bibliography
 Open Arms (2001) Douglas & McIntyre
 Good to a Fault (2008) Freehand Books
 Open Arms (2009) Republished by Freehand Books
 New Year's Eve (2011) GoodReads/HarperCollins
 The Little Shadows (2011) Doubleday Canada
 Close to Hugh (2015) Doubleday Canada
 The Difference (2019) Knopf Canada
 As The Voyage of the Morning Light (2020) W. W. Norton & Co  in the United States
 The Observer (2023) Knopf Canada

References

1958 births
Living people
Canadian women novelists
People from the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District
21st-century Canadian novelists
Canadian women short story writers
Writers from Saskatchewan
21st-century Canadian women writers
21st-century Canadian short story writers

Marina Endicott


The Hekatonkheires ( - "Hundred-handed ones") are one of the three races of beings born to Ouranos and Gaia, the primordial gods of the sky and the Earth. Their names are Kottos (), Briareos () and Gyges ().

The Hekatonkheires received their name because they each have a hundred arms, fifty on each side of their bodies. Despised by their father, the Hekatonkheires were thrown into Tartarus alongside their brothers, the Elder Cyclopes, guarded by the monster Kampê. Many years later, Zeus, alongside his brothers and sisters, freed the Hekatonkheires and the Elder Cyclopes from their prison so that they might help them in their war against the Titans. During the war, the Hekatonkheires threw rocks at Mount Othrys, the Titans' base, reducing the mountain to half its original size. After the Titanomachy, the Titans were cast into Tartarus, and Zeus appointed the Hekatonkheires to be their jailers.

Greek legendary creatures

Hekatonkheires


The quadrature mirror filters (QMF) are two filters with frequency characteristics symmetric about  of sampling frequency (i.e. ). They are used especially in process of orthogonal discrete wavelet transform design.

Simple variant
In notation of Z-transform, we can create the quadrature mirror filter  to (original) filter  by substitution  with  in the transfer function of .

By doing it, the transfer characteristic of  is shifted to  by .

Impulse characteristic is therefore
  for , where  is filter length.

According to the picture above, the signal split and passed into these filters can be downsampled by a factor of two. Nevertheless, original signal can be still reconstructed by using reconstruction filters  and . Reconstruction filters are given by time reversal analysis filters.

Orthogonal filter banks
For orthogonal discrete wavelet transform  is given by
 , where  is filter length.

Impulse characteristic is
  for .

Reconstruction filters are still given by same equations.

Digital signal processing

Quadrature mirror filter


The Polonaise in A major, Op. 40, No. 1 (nicknamed the "Military" Polonaise) is a piece of music for solo piano. It was composed by Frédéric Chopin.  It was published in 1838, with the Polonaise in C minor, Op. 40, No. 2. Anton Rubinstein wrote that the Polonaise in A major is the symbol of Polish glory, while the Polonaise in C minor is the symbol of Polish tragedy.

The polonaise is a Polish dance in 3/4 time. It has a distinctive rhythmic pattern which this polonaise follows unflinchingly. The A major Polonaise is written in an A-B-A form, with the B section being a "Trio". The polonaise opens with an A major chord. It continues in a vigorously masculine manner. The tempo indication is Allegro con brio (Fast, with bravura). The trio section begins in D major. The short passage following the first section of the trio is distinguished with trills for both hands on low C-sharps an octave apart. These trills suggest drum rolls.

Charles Rosen writes, "Polonaises had been written by many composers before, including Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven; Schubert, in fact, wrote lots of them. But nothing like the violence of Chopin's military polonaises, ... The military polonaises were certainly understood as political statements of patriotism for his country, which was struggling to obtain its freedom ... these military polonaises have a decidedly popular character ..."

References

Other websites
 Polonaises sheet music available at Musopen:
No. 1
No. 2

Solo piano pieces
Compositions by Frédéric Chopin

Polonaises Op. 40 (Chopin)


Microsoft InfoPath is a piece of software that Microsoft sells. InfoPath is used to create computer-ized versions of documents people have to fill out.

InfoPath has two main parts: an 'editor' interface, used to make and design forms, and a 'form-filling' interface, used to fill out forms that have been made in InfoPath. For example, if someone had to fill out a timesheet on a regular basis, they could use InfoPath's editor to replicate the timesheet form. Every time they had to fill out the timesheet, they could open the form they made in InfoPath, fill it out using InfoPath's form-fill interface, and then save it as a file for archival and print it out if they ever needed to.

Forms that have been made in InfoPath can be put on SharePoint websites.  Forms can also be amended with XPath, Basic, or C# computer code to do mathematics or read from and write to databases.

Microsoft Office

Microsoft InfoPath


Alberto Falcone is a fictional Batman character who is also known as the Holiday Killer. He is the son of Gotham Mafia leader Carmine Falcone. He is also a mobster, but does not have control over his dad's crime organization. It was once thought that Joseph Gordon-Levitt was to play him, but ended up playing John Blake.

Batman characters
DC Comics characters

Alberto Falcone


The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House was part of the Overland Campaign of the American Civil War.  It was fought from May 8 to May 21, 1864. After the Battle of the Wilderness, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant decided to march south to get between the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. As part of the Union plans, they had to capture the important crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House. But Confederate cavalry arrived there first, followed by Confederate infantry.

Part of the Confederate line bulged outward; this part was soon called the "Mule Shoe". On May 12, Grant attacked the Mule Shoe with several thousand men. The Union attack captured part of the Confederate line but Confederate commander Robert E. Lee sent reinforcements to counterattack. The fighting lasted all day at the Mule Shoe. By the end of the day, an oak tree almost two feet wide was completely severed by all the rifle fire.

The battle continued until May 21st. Grant then decided that he could not defeat Lee at Spotsylvania, so he ordered the Union army to move southward.

References

Spotsylvania Court House, Battle of
1864 in the United States
May 1864 events

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House


Velvet Revolution (Czech: sametová revoluce, Slovak: nežná revolúcia) is a name for political changes in Czechoslovakia between November 17 and December 29, 1989. It ended with the fall of the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and start of the democratization process. The name Velvet was chosen for its softness.

After the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia ended the Prague Spring in August 1968, censorship began again and the Communist Party purged many of its members. This event during the 1970s is known as Normalization. Despite these events, the economic situation in Czechoslovakia was better than in other countries of Eastern Bloc (for example in Poland or Hungary).

Revolution
The Velvet Revolution started at an official event for 50th anniversary of the closing of Czechoslovakian universities on November 17, 1939 by the Nazis in Prague. This event continued after its official end and was violently ended by state police on the street "Národní třída". In following days people organized meetings for protest against the actions of state police. 750-800 thousand people were at one of the biggest protests on November 25.

On November 19, the Civic Forum, the political movement which led the dialogue with the communist government, was created in The Drama Club in Prague. The same day, the movement "Public Against Violence" was created in Bratislava.

On November 27 a general strike took place. On this day there was a protest at Wenceslas Square with 300,000 people. Its main slogan was "Konec vlády jedné strany" - End of one-part government.

Václav Havel was named as president of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989. He was the first non-communist president of Czechoslovakia since 1948.

References

Other websites

 Velvet Revolution on totalita.cz Detailed day-to-day history with key documents quoted (in Czech language only).
 In the footsteps of November 17 - Czech.cz

Czechoslovakia
Democracy movements

Velvet Revolution


Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider (February 11, 1776 in Gersdorf, Saxony – January 22, 1848 in Gotha, Thuringia) was a German Protestant scholar and theologian from Gersdorf, Saxony. He is noted for, among other things, having planned and founded the monumental Corpus Reformatorum. He is the father of Carl Anton Bretschneider, a mathematician.

In 1794, he entered the University of Leipzig, where he studied theology for four years. After some years of hesitation he resolved to be ordained, and in 1802 he passed with great distinction the examination for candidatus theologiae, and attracted the regard of Franz Volkmar Reinhard (1753–1812), author of the System der christlichen Moral (1788–1815), then court-preacher at Dresden, who became his warm friend and patron during the remainder of his life.

From 1804 to 1806, Bretschneider was Privatdozent at the University of Wittenberg, where he lectured on philosophy and theology. During this time he wrote his work on the development of dogma, Systematische Entwicklung aller in der Dogmatik vorkommenden Begriffe nach den symbolischen Schriften der evangelisch-lutherischen und reformirten Kirche (1805, 4th ed. 1841), which was followed by others, including an edition of Sirach with a Latin commentary.

On the advance of the French army under Napoleon into Prussia, he determined to leave Wittenberg and abandon his university career. Through the good offices of Reinhard, he became pastor of Schneeberg in Saxony (1807). In 1808, he was promoted to the office of superintendent of the church of Annaberg, in which capacity he had to decide, in accordance with the Canon law of Saxony, many matters belonging to the department of ecclesiastical law. But the climate did not agree with him, and his official duties interfered with his theological studies. With a view to a change he took the degree of doctor of theology in Wittenberg in August 1812. In 1816, he was appointed general superintendent at Gotha, where he remained until his death. This was the great period of his literary activity.

In 1820, was published his treatise on the Gospel of John, entitled Probabilia de evangelii et epistolarum Ioannis Apostoli indole et origine cruditorum, which attracted much attention. In this work, he collected with great fulness and discussed with marked moderation the arguments against Johannine authorship. This called forth a number of replies. To the astonishment of every one, Bretschneider announced in the preface to the second edition of his Dogmatik in 1822, that he had never doubted the authenticity of the gospel, and had published his Probabilia only to draw attention to the subject, and to call forth a more complete defence of its genuineness.

Bretschneider remarks in his autobiography that the publication of this work had the effect of preventing his appointment as successor to Karl Christian Tittmann (1744–1820) in Dresden, the minister Detlev von Einsiedel (1773–1861) denouncing him as the slanderer of John (Johannisschander). His greatest contribution to the science of exegesis was his Lexicon Manuale Graeco-Latinum in libros Novi Testamenti (1824, 3rd ed. 1840). This work was valuable for the use which its author made of the Greek of the Septuagint, of the Old and New Testament Apocrypha, of Josephus, and of the apostolic fathers, in illustration of the language of the New Testament.

In 1826, he published Apologie der neuern Theologie des evangelischen Deutschlands. Hugh James Rose had published in England (1825) a volume of sermons on the rationalist movement (The State of the Protestant Religion in Germany), in which he classed Bretschneider with the rationalists; and Bretschneider contended that he himself was not a rationalist in the ordinary sense of the term, but a rational supernaturalist. Some of his numerous dogmatic writings passed through several editions. An English translation of his Manual of the Religion and History of the Christian Church appeared in 1857.

His dogmatic position seems to be intermediate between the extreme school of naturalists, such as Heinrich Paulus, Johann Friedrich Röhr (1777–1848) and Julius Wegscheider on the one hand, and DF Strauss and FC Baur on the other. Recognizing a supernatural element in the Bible, he nevertheless allowed to the full the critical exercise of reason in the interpretation of its dogmas (cp. Otto Pfleiderer, Development of Theology, pp. 89 if.).

References
Autobiography, Aus meinem Leben: Selbstbiographie von K. G. Bretschneider (Gotha, 1851); translation, with notes, by George E. Day, in Bibliotheca Sacra and American Biblical Repository, Nos. 36 and 38 (1852, 1853)
Neudecker in Die allgemeine Kirchenzeitung (1848), No. 38 *Wustemann, Bretschneideri Memoria (1848)
A. G. Farrar, Critical History of Free Thought (Bampton Lectures, 1862)
Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie (ed. 1897).

1776 births
1848 deaths
People from Zwickau (district)
People from the Electorate of Saxony
19th-century German Protestant theologians
19th-century German male writers
19th-century German writers
German male non-fiction writers

Karl Gottlieb Bretschneider


Mutagen X (MX), or 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-5H-furan-2-one, is a byproduct of the disinfection of water by chlorination.  MX is produced by reaction of chlorine with natural humic acids.

MX is found in chlorinated drinking water all over the world and is an environmental carcinogen that is known to cause several types of cancer in rats when present in large enough concentrations.  It is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 2B carcinogen meaning it is "possibly carcinogenic to humans".  Although the concentration of MX in drinking water is typically 100- to 1000-fold lower than other common byproducts of water chlorination such as trihalomethanes, MX might play a role in the increased cancer risks that have been associated with the consumption of chlorinated water because of its potency in inducing DNA damage.

References

External links
California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment report on MX

Organochlorides
IARC Group 2B carcinogens
Furanones
Secondary alcohols

Mutagen X