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Creation myths take place in some early primordial age when the world had not reached its present form. Other myths explain how the society's customs, institutions and taboos were established and sanctified. A separate space is created for folktales, which are not considered true by the people who tell them. As stories spread to other cultures or as faiths change, however, myths can come to be considered folktales. Sometimes myths and legends get merged. Their divine characters get recast as humans or as demihumans (such as giants, elves, and faeries). |
Creation myths describe the "official" belief as to how world was created. These myths differ greatly between societies, as any collection of myths clearly shows. Over the last three centuries, the power of myths over the minds of people has been challenged by the growth of science. |
Although myths are often considered to be stories of events that have not happened, many historians think myths are about actual events that have become connected with strong symbolic meaning, or that have been changed, or shifted in time or place, or even reversed. One way of thinking about this process is to imagine 'myths' as lying at the far end of an imaginary line. At one end of the line is 'dispassionate account', and 'legendary occurrence' or 'mythical status' is near the other end. As an event progresses toward the 'mythical' end of this line or continuum, the way people think, feel and say about the event changes. It may gain greater historical significance while the 'facts' become less important. By the time one arrives at the mythical end of the line, the story has "taken on a life of its own" and the facts of the original event have become almost unimportant. |
Minnesota River |
The Minnesota River is a river in the United States. It is in the northern United States, in the state of Minnesota. It is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is about 534 km long. |
The source of the river is a lake in western Minnesota. The lake is called Big Stone Lake. The lake is on the border between the state of Minnesota and the state of South Dakota. From its source, the Minnesota flows southeast. At Mankato, it turns northeast. It joins the Mississippi just south of the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. |
The Minnesota River was formed after the last ice age in North America. |
List of mythologies |
Mythology is the collection of myths for a culture. A myth is a story or series of stories used to explain the world around you and describe what is happening, such as why weather happens. Myths usually have heroes, gods, and creatures that are bigger or more fantastic than real life, or sometimes just normal people doing amazing things. Some myths try to explain the natural world. One example is the Greek myth of Arachne. She believed that she could weave far better than anyone else, including the goddess Athena. So, Athena challenged Arachne to a weaving contest. Arachne lost, then was turned into a spider. This myth explains why spiders weave webs. |
Wisconsin River |
The Wisconsin River is a river in the United States. It is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is located in the state of Wisconsin. It is approximately 692 km long. |
The source of the Wisconsin is in the forests of northern Wisconsin. The source is a small lake on the border between Wisconsin and Michigan. The river flows south across Wisconsin. It flows through a plain made by a glacier during the last ice age. It passes the cities of Wausau and Stevens Point. |
In southern Wisconsin, the river meets a moraine. The moraine was made during the last ice age. The river enters a beautiful gorge, called the Wisconsin Dells. North of the city of Madison, the river turns to the west. It flows west through the hills of southwest Wisconsin. It joins the Mississippi 15 km south of the city of Prairie du Chien. |
The river is an important source of hydroelectric power. |
Alaska |
Alaska (), officially the State of Alaska, is a state in the United States. It is in the Northwest corner of the continent of the United States West Coast. Alaska does not touch other US states. It has borders with Canada, the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Bering Strait. |
Alaska is the biggest state in the United States. It is the 3rd least populated state. It has the lowest population density of all the states. About half of the population of Alaska lives in the Anchorage metropolitan area. As of the 2011 census, 722,718 people live in Alaska. |
The United States bought Alaska from Russia on March 30, 1867. This was called the Alaska Purchase. It cost $7.2 million. Today, that would be $120 million. The price was about $0.02 per acre ($4.74/km). Alaska became an organized (or incorporated) territory on May 11, 1912. It became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. |
The name "Alaska" comes from the Aleut word "alaxsaq". This means "the mainland" or "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed." The land is also called Alyeska, which is another Aleut word that means "the great land." The Russian name was Аляска. |
The capital city is Juneau, but the biggest city is Anchorage. Alaska is the biggest state in the United States, but it almost has the least people. Alaska has almost 20% of all the land in the U.S., but only about 0.2% of the people. It is not connected to any other states by American land, but it is connected to Canada. |
Alaska has many glaciers, some of which are can be seen from passing cruise ships. Some are coastal, and others are not by the ocean. It is a popular tourist destination, as there is a very rich culture along with beautiful scenery. There are many wild animals in Alaska. Some of them are the brown bear, the moose, and the wolf. |
There are some important industries in Alaska, like oil, fishing, mining, and forestry. Oil is the biggest industry in Alaska. Most of the oil is very far north in the Alaskan arctic. A very long pipeline starts at the northern coast of Alaska and runs to the southern coast. It is over long. There were many gold rushes in Alaska. |
Many active volcanoes are found in the Aleutians in Alaska. One of the world's largest tides occur in Turnagain Arm, just south of Anchorage, where the differences in the tides can be more than 35 feet (10.7 m). |
Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest in the United States can be found in Southeast Alaska. The state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, can be found in Southeast Alaska. |
BBC |
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), known by the BBC, is an organisation in the UK. It broadcasts in the United Kingdom and other countries on television, radio and the Internet. The BBC also sells its programmes to other broadcasting companies around the world. |
The organisation is run by a group of twelve governors who have been given the job by the Queen, on the advice of government ministers. The governors appoint a Board of Management to take care of running the business of the BBC. The head of the Board of Management is called the Director General. |
The BBC is established under a royal charter, which allows the BBC to broadcast. In 2006, the British Government looked at the charter to see if it needed changing. |
Another agreement, which goes with the Charter, recognises that the BBC should be independent from any other organisation. It also says what the BBC should do for the people in Britain (the public). |
Every household in the UK that watches or records "live" programmes, (as they’re being broadcast, or distributed to the public in any other way) or watches BBC Iplayer, is required, by law, to pay for a TV Licence. As the BBC gets its money from TV licences, it does not take money from companies or shareholders, so it does not have to do what they want. Also, it is not allowed to broadcast commercials in the middle of a programme, although they can show commercials in between programmes. |
The BBC makes extra money in several ways. One way is by selling its programmes to other broadcasting companies. Another way is by selling audio tapes and CDs of its best radio programmes, and videos and DVDs of its best television programmes. Still another way is by selling books based on programmes, and magazines about science and natural history. |
In 1923, BBC Magazines started publishing a magazine which printed listings of the week's BBC radio and television programmes in the United Kingdom. The magazine was called the "Radio Times". In 1991, the magazine began to print listings of programmes broadcast by other providers in the United Kingdom. Today the magazine is still printed and provides online listings too. It also prints stories about programmes, the people who make them, and the people who appear in them. The "Radio Times" is one of the best selling magazines in the United Kingdom. In August 2011, the BBC agreed to sell the magazine to Exponent, if Britain's Office of Fair Trading approves. |
The BBC has to publish a report every year, which tells people what it has done and how much money it has made and spent. |
If someone has a complaint about something broadcast by the BBC, they can complain to the BBC, the BBC Trust, or directly to Ofcom, the government's regulator of broadcasting. |
The headquarters of the BBC is Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London. The BBC also has other offices such as the BBC Television Centre in White City, London, BBC Radio Berkshire, as well in other cities like Cardiff, Belfast, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Southampton and Newcastle upon Tyne. Rather than hire local reporters everywhere, the BBC's journalists work in many countries across the world. This means BBC workers are sometimes in danger, especially in war zones. Most recently Alan Johnston was kidnapped and held hostage for many months in Gaza before being safely released. |
Between October 2005 and 28 February 2006, the BBC offered a service called the BBC iPlayer on their website - bbc.co.uk. It allowed people to catch up on the last seven days of TV and radio on the BBC. Users could either watch (stream) it or download the content on their computers. The downloading options are for Microsoft Windows computers and Apple devices. The iPlayer service was released to the public on 25 December 2007. The slogan for BBC iPlayer is 'Making the Unmissable, Unmissable.' |
Illinois River |
The Illinois River is a river in the United States. It is in the state of Illinois. It is an important tributary of the Mississippi River. The length of the river is about 439 km. |
The source of the river is in northeastern Illinois, near the city of Joliet. It flows west across Illinois, then southwest. It passes the city of Peoria, the largest city on the river. |
It flows into southwestern Illinois. It joins the Mississippi River 40 km north of Saint Louis, Missouri. |
There is separate Illinois river that runs through the northernmost edge of Oklahoma. |
The river was used for transportation by the Native Americans. It was also used by early French trappers. It was an important route between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. |
In the 19th century a canal was built that connected the river to Lake Michigan. Large ships now use this canal to go from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. The canal goes through the city of Chicago. It is one of the reasons that Chicago became a big city. |
Milk |
Milk is a white liquid made by mammals, like cows, dogs, and humans. It is made in the mammary glands (breasts, udders, or teats) of female mammals. Because newborn babies have no teeth, they must be given milk before they can eat solid food. Milk has many nutrients to help babies grow and be healthy. It is also a rich source of calcium which is good for your bones and teeth. |
If milk is not kept cold in a refrigerator, it will become sour after some time. When milk is warmed, it turns sour. Fermentation makes this happen. Lactic acid bacteria change the milk sugar into lactic acid. Fermentation is used when making dairy products. |
Milk is often pasteurised before humans drink it. It is made into dairy products like cream, butter, yoghurt, ice cream, or cheese. Pasteurised cows' milk will turn sour if it is not kept in a refrigerator. Milk should be stored between 1° and 4° Celsius. If milk is treated with very high temperatures, it will last longer before spoiling. This means it does not have to be put in the refrigerator until it is opened. |
Milk contains a chemical called lactose. Babies make an enzyme called lactase inside their bodies. Adults make less lactase. If they do not have enough, they may not be able to digest lactose anymore. This problem is called lactose intolerance and it affects many adults. There are many medicines that help adults digest lactose. Many lactose-intolerant people drink soy milk instead of animal milk, because it does not contain lactose. Soy milk tastes similar to animal milk, but it is chemically very different and is made from soybeans. |
Goat's milk is the milk from a goat. It can be drunk, both by humans or baby goats, or cheese can be made from it. This cheese is called goat's milk cheese. |
Coconut milk is not real milk because it comes from a plant instead of an animal. However, it looks similar to real milk because it is white. It also does not have as many nutrients as real milk. It is made by removing the white "meat" from a coconut, pressing or squeezing the "meat", then adding water. It is sometimes used in cooking, for example, in Thai curry. |
Coconut cream is a thicker version of coconut milk which contains added sugar. |
Milk forms an important part of a person's daily balanced diet. It contains a lot of calcium that helps bones and teeth to grow stronger. Also, milk provides the body with high quality proteins, and helps in meeting the body's requirement for vitamins. One glass of milk gives about 44% to the recommended daily vitamins intake. Some kind of milks, though, do not have good calcium. These kind of milk products include cream, cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and cream cheese. |
Weather |
Weather is the day-to-day or hour-to-hour change in the atmosphere. Weather includes wind, lightning, storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, rain, hail, snow, and lots more. Energy from the Sun affects the weather too. |
Climate tells us what kinds of weather usually happen in an area at different times of the year. |
Changes in weather can affect our mood and life. We wear different clothes and do different things in different weather conditions. We choose different foods in different seasons. |
Weather stations around the world measure different parts of weather. Ways to measure weather are wind speed, wind direction, temperature and humidity. People try to use these measurements to make weather forecasts for the future. These people are scientists that are called "meteorologists". They use computers to build large mathematical models to follow weather trends. |
Severe weather can hurt people and their property. It can also just be a bother. Some examples of severe weather are: |
Weather happens because different parts of the Earth get different amounts of heat from the Sun. This makes different climates. The tropics get the most heat because the Sun shines straight down on them, while the poles get the least heat because the Sun shines on them from a low angle. Warmer air is lighter than cooler air and rises higher in the sky by convection. |
The air always has some water mixed with it. This is called humidity. When it cools, the water can change from a gas to a liquid through condensation. Then the water can fall from the sky as rain or snow. After the air rises, it gets colder and goes back towards the ground. Because the air lost its water before, it is dry when it comes back to the ground. When two air masses of different temperatures meet, this is called a warm front or cold front. The ways that the air moves around the Earth are called atmospheric circulation. |
British Columbia |
British Columbia (BC) is the westernmost province in Canada. It was originally two separate colonies of Great Britain, the colony of Vancouver Island, and the colony of British Columbia. British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation In 1871. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, but the city with the most people is Vancouver. |
Before European contact, British Columbia was home to large numbers of indigenous people. These people, for the large part, still live in the province. Because BC has a large amount of resources, the native people who dwelled here lived comfortably enough. The large number of resources, in particular, led to the creation of very complex hierarchical societies in British Columbia, long before the government of the Europeans. |
See Also Fort Vancouver, Oregon |
The Oregon dispute was an important factor in determining the physical shape of British Columbia, and as the political impetus for British investment in protecting her lands in British Columbia. During the middle of the 19th century, the Democratic Party of the United States, appealing to the public attraction to the Manifest Destiny (a philosophy preaching American Supremacy and expansionism), declared that the United States had a claim over the entirety of Columbia District/Oregon Territory. This attitude was reflected even further, as 54*-40' or fight, referring to the end of Columbia District, and the start of Russian Territory of Alaska. This alarming attitude, caused many in London to fear that yet another war, in less than a century, was brewing. Ultimately, however, it was resolved, at the 49th parallel. British Columbia lost Fort Vancouver (now Vancouver, Washington), and lots of the gulf islands. To this day, the Oregon Treaty is criticized by historians, as being too lenient for the Americans. |
While British Columbia was "technically" a British colony, it was the private corporation, the Hudson's Bay Company that really ran the place. The first Governor of Vancouver Island (then a separate colony), actually resigned over the fact that the Queen, had no say, above the interests of the Colony. After him, the next governor of the Island, was also, coincidentally, the head of the HBC's operations in British Columbia and Vancouver Island. |
The first major gold rush in British Columbia started in 1858, after gold was discovered, on the upper reaches of the Fraser River. The sudden onslaught of uncouth Americans led to the declaration that British Columbia shall be a crown colony, instead of the unincorporated region it was, after the Oregon spat. James Douglas was appointed the governor of the newly formed colony, as well as the Colony of Vancouver Island, and for military convenience, the Capital of British Columbia was declared Queensboro, then renamed New Westminster. As massive numbers of Americans came, fears that the Americans would try to bluster themselves another chunk of territory became more and more concrete. Thus, a contingent of Royal Engineers and Marines were deployed to New Westminster. To this day, the neighbourhood of Sapperton, is known, for its history as a site of the barracks for the Engineers, nicknamed the Sappers. The infrastructure ordered by James Douglas, to support the vast amount of capital flowing from the gold industry, caused high debt for British Columbia. By 1864, British Columbia was £200,000 in debt, plus an additional £18,000, from various spats with natives, and constant policing required to maintain law and order. Its vast amount of gold was useless, while BC was in debt. British Columbia amalgamated with Vancouver Island, forming one super-colony. Vancouver Island would undertake the debt, and British Columbia's capital would be in Victoria. |
British Columbia at the middle of the 19th century, had 3 options: Remain a colony of Britain, annex itself to the United States, or join the Dominion of Canada. The option of remaining a colony was undesirable, for Britain had long adopted a "little Briton" policy, under which the key to economic efficiency, and reduction of bloat, was to cut off connections to its various colonies. The option of joining with Canada was also viewed as impractical, and unlikely to occur; the closest Canadian neighbor lay more than a thousand kilometers away, to the east. For most British Colombians, annexation to the United States seemed most logical. Ultimately, however, British Columbia did confederate. The advocacy of the Confederation League, resulted in British Colombian's demanding that BC join Canada. On July 20, 1871, British Columbia joined Canada. In return, BC was absolved of its debt, which became Canada's responsibility, and Canada promised to build a railway to BC within 10 years. |
British Columbia's industry is primarily, and has always been, resource centered. For large parts of its history, including the entire time it was a colony, BC was dominated by the big 4: Forestry, Mining, Logging, and Agriculture, which have shaped British Columbia's culture, and society. |
British Columbia's forestry industry has always been booming. BC had a bonanza of massive trees, thanks to its location in the Pacific Rainforest region. This provided ample opportunity for entrepreneurs to build businesses. Massive sawmills sprung up, all over British Columbia, especially in what is now Vancouver and surrounding regions. However, this required massive amounts of human capital - which was surprisingly in short supply. To overcome this, massive numbers of immigrants were invited to Vancouver, and places like so. This changed BC's demographic makeup so much, that to try to stop it, the government passed several acts, to try and limit the number of immigrants. However, the change was already underway - BC subsequently became one of the most diverse places in North America, with people calling it home, from places like Asia, Europe, and even the Pacific Islands. |
British Columbia's large mineral resources also led to a large mining industry. For the most of the 19th century, and well into the 20th century, mining was highly profitable. For the immigrants, once again, this was another opportunity to exploit. Large numbers of immigrants, skilled from their experience mining at home, filled up the labour demands, and quickly, new towns were formed. The city of Nanaimo, for instance, was founded thanks to a large amount of coal found in its harbour. Coal especially, was the fuel of the industry, as coal was required for everything it the time, from ships, to trains, to the heater in everyone's homes. |
Thanks to BC's location on the coast, fishing has been very prevalent in British Columbia. Before agriculture had developed very far in BC, and well before farming fish was even a viable option, fishing was the only reliable way to get food. The native people of BC already had a very active fishing industry, with large hauls of salmon, and other creatures sustaining them. When civilization came, the fishing industry took off, as everybody needed to eat, and there was not enough agricultural goods to go around. In fishing, once again, it was the immigrants that pulled it off. Mostly Japanese workers, and their families, came. Using their rich heritage of industrialized fishing, they were able to out compete every other fisherman, that by the turn of the century, the dockyards, canneries, and fishing fleets were filled to the brim with the Japanese. Only the forced Japanese internment in WW2 put a halt to the monopoly the Japanese had on fishing in British Columbia. Today, fishing is still a powerful force, although fettered by ordinances to prevent overfishing. |
The agriculture industry in BC is, and always has been humble. However, as they say, good things come in small packages, and the agricultural goods of BC, are about as good as they come. Due to the fact that BC has only about 2% arable land, the remainder being too dry, or too cold, or too remote, or a plethora of other reasons, BC has never been able to sustain a primary food agricultural industry. Even today, BC cannot grow enough food to feed its entire population, and imports foods instead, from the eastern provinces, such as Alberta, and Saskatchewan. However, where BC does grow food, the food is scrumptious, and award-winning. The Okanagan valley, is known for its award-winning fruits, and wine-related products. However, that is not where all the food is produced. In the Fraser valley delta, large amounts of other food crops are grown, such as wheat, and berries. |
The value of real estate in British Columbia has increased a lot in recent years. Property assessed values have increased by $1-trillion since 2007. In 2018 the value was $1.861 trillion. In 2007 it was only $808 billion. |
The provincial health insurance plan in British Columbia is called Medical Services Plan (MSP). In order to join MSP a person: |
British Columbia's premier is John Horgan, leader of the provincial New Democratic Party, a social democratic party. The NDP governs British Columbia through a deal with the provincial Green Party, led by Andrew Weaver. The BC Liberal Party is the main opponent to the NDP, and is led by Andrew Wilkinson. Other parties are active in British Columbia, such as the Conservative Party, led by Scott Anderson, although only the NDP, BC Liberal Party, and Green Party currently have seats. |
The flag of British Columbia was adopted in 1960. It is based on the provincial arms and the union jack. |
20th century |
The 20th century began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000. It was the century that saw two world wars, the Soviet Union rise and fall, the coming of the telephone, sound recording, film and television, airplanes, atomic weapons, genetics and DNA, computers and electronics in general. Science and industrialization spread; medicine became more scientific. The human population increased more during this century than any previous one. |
Note: movie years before or after the twentieth century are in "italics". |
Brussels |
Brussels (, , ) is the capital city of Belgium and the European Union. |
In 2007, 145,917 people lived there. But the area around it, known as the Brussels-Capital Region, had 1,031,215 people (which makes it the largest city area in Belgium). |
The people of Brussels speak mainly French and Flemish (a type of Dutch). There are lots of other languages spoken as well, because the European Union offices are there and because many thousands of immigrants from all over the world live there. |
The city is at 50° 50 North, 04° 21 East. It has an oceanic climate ("Cfb" in the Köppen climate classification). |
Thirty-one people were killed in a terrorist attack on 22 March 2016. |
Many popular European comics came from Brussels, such as (Tintin, The Smurfs, Snorks, Lucky Luke). |
It is also well known for a style of building known as "Art Nouveau". |
The vegetables Brussels sprouts are named after the city, and Brussels is also famous for its waffles and its chocolates. |
A lot of tourists visit Brussels for "Manneken Pis". |
Thuringia |
Thuringia (German: "Thüringen") is a Bundesland of Germany. It lies in central Germany and has an area of . This means Thuringia is the sixth smallest state in Germany by area. It has 2.45 million inhabitants, so it is the fifth smallest state in Germany by population. The capital is Erfurt. |
Thuringia borders on the German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse. |
The most conspicuous geographical feature of Thuringia is the Thuringia Forest (Thüringer Wald). In the northwest Thuringia includes a small part of the Harz mountains. The Saale river runs through Jena. |
The biggest mountain in Thuringia is with 982m the Großer Beerberg in the |
Thuringia Forest. |
Saxony |
Saxony ( ; ), officially the Free State of Saxony (German: , Upper Sorbian: ), is one of 16 states of Germany. It is in the southeast of the country, north of Czech Republic. To the east of Saxony is Poland. The biggest city is Leipzig. The capital is called Dresden. It was founded in 1990. |
Saxony is the border of Germany to the two countries Poland and Czech Republic. In the north of Saxony is Brandenburg, another German state. Saxony's west border is to Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Bavaria. A big part of the border to the Czech Republic are the Ore Mountains in the south of Saxony. |
Saxony is divided into 3 administrative districts (Chemnitz, Dresden and Leipzig). These are subdivided into 10 districts: |
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